Maximum Film!

We go into a whole song and dance this week over Tim Burton's new BEETLEJUICE BEETLEJUICE,. with Riley Silverman as our special guest. Then we'll remember (and suggest) some movies that made/would make for pretty bizarre Saturday Morning cartoons. What’s Good Alonso - Big Ice Cubes™ Drea - Ross Taylor’s NYC exhibit, A knowing History Riley - Reading streak Ify - Chris Tucker’s protection of his ca...

Naomi Ackie and Channing Tatum lead an ensemble cast of blissful (and, for a while, blissfully unaware) island-timers in mind- and genre-bending new movie BLINK TWICE.  Amber Benson (filmmaker, writer, and actor) joins us to uncover the secrets of Slater King’s mysterious island. Then we do a movie quiz about actors who’ve dabbled (and then some) in directing. What’s Good Alonso - general food qua...

A book adaptation with cast of leading ladies to die for, three life stories, and only two hours to get it all out! We've got the smart and radiant Shar Jossell (newly elected President of NABJLA!) here with us to fill in the gaps. Then, we pitch some movies of our own, about unexpected celebrities in unexpected places. What’s Good Alonso - WHAMMY! Drea - Photobook from Gidget Shar - Strawberry ho...

We’re getting into that 2008 headspace with Sean Wang’s narrative feature debut, Dìdi. Then, a not-quite-a-Hotline “call” from Marissa about movies that showcase how media worked in the past. What’s Good Alonso - a nice, cold meal Drea - her movie to screen in White Bear Lake, MN Ify - meeting Alonso’s nephew at a CommandFest ITIDIC Despicable Me Director On Idea of Live-action Minions Movie: “God...

It’s a thriller. It’s a Josh Hartnett vehicle. It’s…a comedy? But is it the kind of trap you want to fall into, or the kind you want to avoid? Our mileage varies, but one thing is for sure: cinema yappers and movie snitches are both likely to get bonechilling glares from a MaxFilm host. We’ve got culture writer and film critic Fran Hoepfner along for these Shyamal-antics, plus a hotline question a...

Colman Domingo does it again, this time alongside a cast of mostly real-life former participants in the Rehabilitation Through the Arts program at Sing Sing penitentiary. The Boston Globe 's Odie Henderson is with us to take a closer look at a film that is, in fact, one of A24's latest. Then, a movie quiz that is much sillier than the film at hand! What’s Good Alonso - Hollywood Black on MGM+ Drea...

This week, Ify is reunited with the host of Very Important People , but not dressed as a purple alien this time, AND Alonso gets to meet the star of his favorite Hallmark movie of last year ( Round and Round )...and oh hey, it’s the same person, TWISTER superfan Vic Michaelis! It’s all in celebration of some tornado chasin’ (and Glen Powell in the rain in a white t-shirt) in Lee Isaac Chung’s TWIS...

Today we're taking a look at a movie from director Luke Gilford that started out as a book of photographs taken on the Gay Rodeo circuit and became a lot more. It's NATIONAL ANTHEM, with EUROVANGELISTS' own Oscar Montoya as our very special guest! Plus, we're naming favorite instances of drag on film and pitching fresh Westerns that deserve that angel investor capital. What’s Good Alonso - McConne...

Listener Harrison gave us a great shortlist of films to choose from this year – a prize Harrison became eligible for by supporting the show at MaximumFun.org/join . We went with Nahnatchka Khan’s slasher comedy from last year, TOTALLY KILLER (starring Kiernan Shipka as a teen who ends up back in time and tries to catch a murderer…before the murderer catches her! That inspires our latest slate of H...

The third installment of Ti West's maybe-a-trilogy, MaXXXine follows up on the bloody sagas of X and Pearl . And it does so in 1980s LA drag. Writer and critic Sarah Gorr joins us to share her big feelings about it! Then most of us take a Hotline email about introductions to horror for the horror-averse. What’s Good Alonso: Corpses, Fools and Monsters by Willow Maclay and Caden Gardner Drea: Europ...

Director Erica Tremblay's narrative feature debut stars Lily Gladstone and Isobel Deroy-Olson as an aunt and niece on the Seneca-Cayuga rez. After a long search for distribution, it's finally found its home on AppleTV+. We'll tell you why you should look out for it, and then round out the aunt-ly experience with a movie quiz all about the Aunts of Cinema. What's Good Alonso - the hand fan Drea - D...

June Squibb’s film career has always defied expectations for what an actor can do at what age. So why not star in your first headlining role - an action movie no less- at 94? We talk THELMA, then pitch some frankly amazing ideas for future action thrillers with unlikely stars. What’s Good Alonso - Sasha Geffen’s article on Frankie Goes to Hollywood, Welcome to the Pleasuredome Drea - returning to...

Comedian Erin Foley joins the gang to take a look back at the best lesbian neo-noir 1996 has to offer…which is also probably the best of all of those things that any year has to offer. The first movie directed by the Wachowskis, Bound gets more intriguing as time marches on. And now it also has has 4K Blu-Ray restoration from Criterion . Then we take a hotline call from a listener wondering about...

What happens when a Spanish director adapts an American graphic novel into a dialogue-free animated film? Laughter, tears, and an Oscar nomination, apparently. Sierra Katow joins us to get into this conversation (which we've carefully cordoned off with warnings and chapter markers to avoid any big spoilers)! Then everyone shares some animated films that delivered adult-level gut-punch moments.  Wh...

From Pamela Adlon (her feature debut as a director!) and comedy pals Ilana Glazer and Michelle Buteau, the comedy Babes is expanding this week across US theaters.  We are joined by director (and mom)  Trish Sie  ( Players ,  PitchPerfect 3 ) to talk about the film, which may or may not be anything like Bridesmaids . Then the gang will pitch some movies about personal experiences which the movies r...

Our friend Maria Lewis joins us from Australia once again, this time to break down George Miller’s highly anticipated follow-up to FURY ROAD (that’s also a prequel to FURY ROAD). Then we answer a hotline call about “stereotypical” characters that don’t rub us the wrong way for some reason. What’s Good Alonso - TIME Magazine issue from his birthday Drea - “digital pebbling”  Maria - the healing pow...

The latest (and second) film from director Jane Schoenbrun is a glimpse into the void, into the ‘90s, and into a whole lot more – it all depends on how you’re watching. We’re joined by MaxFilm producer (and now host of the new show, Primer ), Christian Dueñas to see it all. Then, we have a fast and loose movie quiz about…Justice! What’s Good Alonso - Jenny Nicholson’s 4-Hour Deep Dive into the Sta...

David Leitch, the director of Atomic Blonde , Bullet Train , and Hobbs & Shaw , got his Hollywood start as a stunt man. Now he’s coming full circle, making an action/comedy/romance about that stunt life, with a pair of Oscar-nominated Barbenheimer love interests at the center. And we’ve got filmmaker April Wright , director of Stuntwomen: The Untold Story , here to offer an insider’s perspective!...

Luca Guadagnino’s latest film (and biggest to date) has been the talk of cinema circles since its release. Whether it’s causing a thirst for threesomes, a craving for churros, or a burning desire to pick up a racket, folks have been talking about it, and now we are too, with help from LAFCA President and critic Robert Abele ! Then we’ll hear a lot more about Alonso’s forthcoming book, HOLLYWOOD PR...

Writer/director (and Chicago native) Minhal Baig’s newest film centers around Malik and Eric, two young kids going through the things young kids go through, with the added complications of life in the Cabrini Green housing projects of the ‘90s. Robert Daniels (another Chicagoan) is here to help us talk through it. Then, a Hall of Excellence update and a Hotline letter that inspires a plethora of s...

Studio Ghibli’s GKIDS has a new film out about a little girl who just wants her mom to cook her a really specific dinner. If that sounds like not quite enough for a movie to be about, then you haven’t seen CHICKEN FOR LINDA! We’ve got returning guest, film critic Carlos Aguilar , on to join the conversation, and we’re even pitching some childhood memories of our own that could become future featur...

We’ve seen the Sasquatch(es)! We head into the woods to talk wild animal actors, convincing bigfoot suits, bodily functions, and the legend of Sasquatch itself, with comedian and writer Joey Clift. Then, a new set of HALL OF EXCELLENCE nominations, this time for best non-speaking performance! What’s Good Alonso - It Was Vulgar and It Was Beautiful by Jack Lowery Drea - wool dryer balls Joey - Furi...

Vera Drew’s very personal, exceedingly irreverent, and definitely unauthorized THE PEOPLE’S JOKER got its TIFF premiere in 2022, but has been fighting a path to (legally) be shown in theaters ever since. That fight is finally over, and THE PEOPLE’S JOKER can be seen by the people…though certain folks seem to be forming their opinions on the movie sight-unseen. We get into the film, plus pitch our...

The second feature from director Rose Glass has been on our watchlist since Sundance…even longer in the case of our guest Mallory O’Meara ( Reading Glasses ), who had the film’s poster on her wall far before its premiere. Now that we’ve left Arrakis in the rearview, we’ve got our hands free to take on the buff and bloody (and yes, horny)  LOVE LIES BLEEDING.   What’s Good Drea - graphite chopstick...

It’s the final episode of Dune Month, aka “How You Dune? Month”...and it’s also the final days of #MaxFunDrive! If you’ve got the means and you’ve been putting it off, please join or upgrade to keep the MaxFilm flowing (much like the spice must flow). Head to maximumfun.org/join . And remember to email a screenshot of your confirmation email to maximumfilm@maximumfun.org to get a Staff Pick from o...