The Rolling Tape

Today we’ll be conducting a review of Bradley Cooper’s sophomore feature, Maestro telling the story of Leonard Bernstein alongside his wife Felicia with Cooper in front of and behind the camera. The film is currently streaming on Netflix. Podcast Website Link Website & Publications: www.therollingtape.com Instagram: @therollingtape Twitter: @therollingtape Letterboxd: @therollingtape Support o...

With two major award bodies - the Golden Globes and the Critics Choice Awards -  making their nominations for their 2024 ceremonies, our team breaks down the nominations, our thoughts on them, and how we believe they offer insight for this year's everchanging Oscars race. Follow our team online: Danny Jarabek Website , Letterboxd , Instagram , Twitter , TikTok , and Linktree Eugene Rocco Utle...

Yorgos Lanthimos and Emma Stone reunite to tell the fantastical tale of Bella Baxter, a young woman brought back to life by an unorthodox scientist. Poor Things stars Stone alongside Willem Dafoe, Mark Ruffalo, and Ramy Youssef as they journey through Bella’s evolution into a free and liberated woman as she experiences the vastness of the world around her. Chapter Timestamps: 0:00:00 Introduction...

Continuing coverage and updates on the award race for the 96th Oscars season, our team discusses the implications and potential impact that the American Film Institute's and National Board of Review's ten best films lists have on the awards race; along with predict another three sets of nominations between Best Original Score, Best Original Song, and Best Sound. Follow our team online: E...

After eight years since his previous film and supposed retirement, Hayao Miyazaki returns with his twelvth feature film, The Boy and the Heron, giving us what seems to be one of his most personal and self-reflective efforts to date. Seeing success both critically and through box offices, this film delivers the adventures of Mahito struggles and adventures while proccessing the death of his mother;...

Continuing the conversation leading up to the 96th Oscars, our team dives into their predictions of what will be nominated for Best Cinematography, Best Editing, and Best Visual Effects.   Follow our team online: Eugene Rocco Utley on Letterboxd , Instagram , and Twitter Paul Rai on Letterboxd , Instagram , and Twitter Evan Miller on Letterboxd , Twitter , Instagram , and TikTok Films mentioned: L...

Todd Haynes directs one of his most provocative films yet with May December now streaming on Netflix. Tabloid romances, psychosexual perversion, and a shortage of hot dogs define the film starring Natalie Portman, Julianne Moore, and Charles Melton based on a screenplay by Samy Burch. Chapter Timestamps: 0:00:00 Introduction 0:08:01 May December Non-Spoilers 0:24:07 May December Spoilers 1:43:02 O...

Studio Ghibli was founded in 1985 by directors Isao Takahata and Hayao Miyazaki, and since has grown massive acclaim within not only the world of animation, but within cinema as a whole. Between its recognizable animation style and consistently magical stories, the studio has established a singular presence worth examining. For this, we will be discussing the action epic Princess Mononoke (1997) a...

Emerald Fennell is back with her sophomore feature and another incisive look into human nature at a crossroads of social hierarchy. Saltburn features Barry Keoghan as Oliver Quick, an Oxford student drawn to the air of aristocracy played by Jacob Elordi, Archie Madekwe, and Rosamund Pike. Chapter Timestamps: 0:00:00 Introduction 0:26:42 Saltburn Non-Spoilers 0:46:52 Saltburn Spoilers 0:00:00 Oscar...

The world of the Hunger Games returns with The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, a prequel to the previous four films in the franchise. Adapted from the novels of Suzanne Collins, The Hunger Games has been a widely popular franchise for over a decade, but is now expanding to share a glimpse into Panem 64 years before meet Katniss Everdeen. Chapter Timestamps: 0:00:00 Introduction 0...

Join us for a "Noir" vember-themed double feature looking at the theme of Film Noir through the lens of two 1940's classics: Double Indemnity (1944) and Out of the Past (1947). Follow our team online: Eugene Rocco Utley on Letterboxd , Instagram , and Twitter Sara Ciplickas on Letterboxd , Instagram , and Twitter Gabe Lillianthal on Letterboxd , Twitter , Instagram , and TikTok Film...

We’re getting into the Christmas spirit a little bit early this year, but don’t let Alexander Payne know that we all will be reviewing the warm and fuzzy feelings of The Holdovers starring Paul Giamatti, Da’Vine Joy Randolph, and Dominic Sessa. Grab a Miller High Life with us, the champagne of beers, and listen in to our review. Chapter Timestamps: 0:00:00 Introduction 0:20:40 The Holdovers Non-Sp...

The monster film brings our darkest fears to screen. It puts us face-to-face with the things we fear most as a collective society. Today, we examine how the monster film has changed over time and place in film history, what makes a great movie monster, and how history and culture has changed our perception of what to fear. For this, we will be examining the original Godzilla (1954) and its histori...

Today we discuss one of the year's most highly anticipated and high-caliber pedigree films in Martin Scorsese’s Killers of the Flower Moon. One of our greatest living filmmakers is back and possibly bigger than ever, blending his trademark crime drama with the western depicting the 1920’s depiction of Osage nation murders. Chapter Timestamps: 0:00:00 Introduction 0:20:04 Killers of the Flower...

We are introducing 4 more prediction categories covering all of the performance categories including Best Lead Actor, Best Lead Actress, Best Supporting Actor, and Best Supporting Actress. We’ll break down all of the major contenders in each to discuss who has the best shot at composing this year’s acting quarter at the Oscars. Follow our team online: Danny Jarabek Website , Letterboxd , Instagram...

The western is a genre most popular from the 1940s to 1960s that takes the frame to the vast and lawless American West, exploring a land amidst its transition from a frontier to a country. Within a world yet to be tamed, we see an America stripped down to its survival, and thus, showing some of its true colors and values within it. We examine two films: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly (1966) a qui...

Continuing the conversations of this year's awards season, we move onto our next set of categories to predict for the 96th Academy Awards, including Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay, and Best Original Screenplay. We will continue adding predictions for all 23 categories with each successive news episode. Follow our team online: Danny Jarabek Website , Letterboxd , Instagram , Twitter ,...

With spooky season coming around, today we are discussing October's first big horror film The Exorcist: Believer directed by David Gordon Green starring Leslie Odom Jr., Ann Dowd, and Ellen Burstyn. We discuss how this continuation of the iconic horror franchise alters its legacy, for better or for worse. Follow our team online: Sara Ciplickas on Letterboxd , Instagram , and Twitter Paul Rai...

For today’s double feature topic, we’re discussing the idea of media representation in film, how mass media in the form of television or other sources has been depicted in film as a way to configure and shape reality for entertainment and profit. The first film that we selected in this pairing is Sidney Lumet’s 1976, Network, and you voted to pair Peter Weir’s The Truman Show from 1998 for two pre...

Set against a war between humans and robots, today we are reviewing The Creator directed by Gareth Edwards starring John David Washington, Allison Janney, and Gemma Chan. We’re diving deep into the world of artificial intelligence, but I promise we’re all human today on this podcast. Follow our team online: Danny Jarabek Website , Letterboxd , Instagram , Twitter , TikTok , and Linktree Paul Rai o...

With TIFF coming to a close, we recap the festival with our two press correspondents Matt Minton and Bryan Sudfield reviewing their experiences in Toronto with the films they saw and covered. We also begin to look ahead into awards season and cast our first early season predictions for Best Picture for the 96th Academy Awards. We will continue adding predictions for all 23 categories with each suc...

In 2021, a group on Reddit called Wall Street bets triggered a short squeeze on the stock of Gamestop, a company Wall Street believed was dying and bet against. We’re reviewing Dumb Money directed by Craig Gillespie and starring Paul Dano and Pete Davidson telling the story of this internet forum’s revolution against the hedge fund managers who lost billions in the process. Chapter Timestamps: 0:0...

Single day films utilize the technique of a closed period of time to tell their stories, often making time an additional character of the film creating a sense of urgency or embedding deadlines for the character’s lives and actions. We look at two films, La Haine (1995) and Do the Right Thing (1989) that utilize this technique to convey their impactful and interconnected themes and narratives. Cha...

Kenneth Branagh’s A Haunting in Venice features the return of the director/star as the enigmatic Hercule Poirot, the long-running Agatha Christie detective. This iteration features Poirot, now retired and exiled, who agrees to a case after witnessing a murder. We review the film through the canals and secrets of Venice while unraveling the mysteries of the latest case. Chapter Timestamps: 0:00:00...

Jen Markowitz is a Canadian film and television director and producer, whose feature documentary film debut Summer Qamp  premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival in 2023. The documentary follows a camp in rural Alberta where queer, non-binary, and trans teens get to just be kids in a supportive space, surrounded by counselors who can relate to their experience. Markowitz previously wor...