The Rolling Tape

We talk with grip, lighting designer, and filmmaker Win Marks about his experiences lighting sets on stage and on exterior sets. We also discuss Win’s sensibility about light in film by talking about everything from Godard to Jordan Peele’s Nope to David Lowery's The Green Knight in a discussion about the state of Hollywood imagery. The Rolling Tape is a multimedia film and entertainment outl...

As a post-Oscars bonus episode, The Rolling Tape takes its first look at the small screen with HBO’s hit video game adaptation series, The Last of Us starring Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey. With guest Sean Place, we break down the entire first season analyzing everything from HBO’s release strategy to the development of the show’s theme through each episode to our predictions for Season 2. The Rol...

The 2023 Oscars and a wrap and we recap with guest Landon Defever everything that went down at the 95th Academy Awards. We assess the highs and lows of the night, what we were most surprised, disappointed, and happiest about and look ahead to next year to see what we can learn for our predictions in 2024. The Rolling Tape is a multimedia film and entertainment outlet for podcasts, online publicati...

The 95th Academy Awards ceremony has happened! Here is our live, uncut reactions to the full night from the red carpet to the Best Picture. We will return next week with a full recap and breakdown of the results. The Rolling Tape is a multimedia film and entertainment outlet for podcasts, online publications, and film production. The podcast is a TRT production covering weekly film reviews, indust...

Jay Rosenblatt has been nominated for two Oscar’s throughout his career as a filmmaker, with the most recent being this year for his documentary short, How Do You Measure a Year? The film follows Jay asking his daughter Ella a series of the same questions every year from age 2 to age 18. It follows their relationship over time and the many ways that Ella comes of age through this recurring ritual....

As the final episode before the 95th Academy Awards, we take a look back through the remaining Best Picture nominations we have yet to review on the show. In a speed run, we discuss Avatar: The Way of Water, Elvis, Top Gun: Maverick, Triangle of Sadness, and revisit our review from Episode 001, Everything Everywhere All at Once. We also announce the winners of the first annual TRT Awards. Chapter...

In the final week before the 95th Academy Awards, we are joined by guest David Gonzalez as we cast our final predictions for the Oscars winners in all categories. With all of the major precursor award winners announced, we take a full look over the state of the awards season race before it comes to a close on the night of March 12th at the Oscars. Chapter Timestamps: 0:00:00 Introduction 0:11:42 D...

Dan Mirvish is a filmmaker, author, and co-founder of Slamdance Film Festival. His most recent film 18 ½ follows a White House transcriber thrust into the Watergate scandal when she obtains the only copy of the infamous 18½ minute gap in Nixon's tapes. Danny Jarabek speaks with Mirvish on the challenges of the film’s COVID-halted production, his interest in speculative history, and the 70’s e...

In one of the most meme-worthy, yet highly anticipated comedy thrillers of the year, Elizabeth Banks’s loosely based on real life events film Cocaine Bear is sure to leave its mark early in 2023. Joined by guest Jamie Arena, we review the film starring Ray Liotta, Keri Russell, Margo Martindale, and one coke-snorting mammal. Chapter Timestamps: 0:00:00 Introduction 0:04:19 Cocaine Bear Non-Spoiler...

The Oscar for Best Picture at the Academy Awards is the highest award that can be allotted to a film in the Hollywood Film Awards Circuit. With the 95th Oscars upcoming, we take a look back at last year’s winner CODA paired with a previous Best Picture voted by our listeners, The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King. We discuss what elements of a film can lead to a Best Picture film and analy...

With the third installment in this franchise which has now reached a trilogy, Steven Soderbergh is bringing the magic of Mike Lane back to the big screen this week in theaters. We review Magic Mike’s Last Dance as well as announce the nominations for the 1st annual TRT Awards and cover industry news including the start of the Berlin Film Festival and new trailer releases. Chapter Timestamps: 0:00:...

The romance film is a genre that elevates in popularity during the Valentine’s day season, but the classic romance film relationship with the protagonists getting back together against all odds isn’t for everyone. Real life relationships are often much messier and grounded than the Hollywood romance idealization, and that’s where the anti-romance comes in. For the Valentine’s Day cynics out there,...

After the Oscar nomination announcements, we are joined by Reece Beaumont to break down the results by analyzing all of the expected nominations we received along with the surprises and snubs. We reveal how accurate our final predictions were before we move into analyzing the final phase of Oscar campaigning leading up to the announcement of the winners of March 12th. Chapter Timestamps: 0:00:00 I...

The biopic genre is one that has come to dominate Hollywood studios in recent years but has also been present in filmmaking since the earliest era of cinema. Often featuring a well-known public figure in history that dramatizes an event or time in their lives, films of this “biography” style have become well acquainted with Academy Awards and audiences alike who are well connected to the lives of...

Oscar Nominations for the 95th Academy Awards have been announced! Here are our live, uncut reactions to the nomination announcement ceremony. The Rolling Tape is a multimedia film and entertainment outlet for podcasts, online publications, and film production. The podcast is a TRT production covering weekly film reviews, industry updates, and awards season news. Find The Rolling Tape everywhere:...

With Oscar nomination morning just around the corner on January 24, we break down category by category our final predictions for what will be nominated at the 95th Academy Awards this coming March. We discuss our predictions for everything from Best Makeup & Hairstyling to Best Picture and all of the categories in between by giving our Academy predictions as well as honorable mentions that we...

The “Silent Film Era” was the foundational period of film history that saw the earliest innovations to cinematic storytelling. This era of filmmaking from the 1890’s to the 1920’s lacked the ability to record synchronized sound as we recognize it today, but also set forth many technical achievements that are still utilized today. Films of this period were forced to convey emotion and narrative thr...

With 2022 and the first calendar year of The Rolling Tape in the books, we celebrate the year’s best moments in cinema by talking about our favorite movies, performances, and scenes before releasing our team’s Top 15 films of 2022. We then look ahead at 2023 and talk about our most anticipated releases that will be screening and streaming for the next 365 days along with our team’s movie watching...

Women Talking (2022) directed and written by Sarah Polley is an adaptation of a novel of the same name by Miriam Toews. The novel is a fictionalized response to the true story of a Mennonite community in Bolivia in which 150 women and young girls experienced sexual abuse, resulting in the imprisonment of 8 men. Polley’s film adaptation adds another layer to this story, centering the narrative on t...

Coming of age movies come in many shapes and sizes, but it is a subgenre of films that often evokes a sense of nostalgia for its central characters who are dealing with the challenges of growing up in varying capacities. These films often follow the primary arc of a protagonist moving into the next stage of their lives and center around major changes and milestones, making them frequently relatabl...

The holiday season is one of the best times of the year to celebrate cinema and all of the movies that utilize Christmas as setting or subject to their stories. To celebrate this magical season, we discuss the winner of the Best Christmas Movie bracket, It’s a Wonderful Life directed by Frank Capra in 1946. Considered one of the most recognizable foundations to the “Christmas movie” we discuss why...

In Darren Aronofsky’s first film since 2017, he returns with The Whale , an adaptation of a play by Samuel D. Hunter of the same name. Starring Brendan Fraser as a reclusive English teacher suffering from grief and obesity, the film also features Hong Chau, Sadie Sink, and Samantha Morton. The Whale opened at Venice International Film Festival and is currently in theaters, so we discuss our review...

Ever since the advent of color in the 1930's before it became mainstream in filmmaking in the 50's and 60's, filmmakers have found creative ways to utilize color as a tool in storytelling. Often utilized as a storytelling device to tell something more about the story that cannot be conveyed by the performances alone, color can be used to translate emotions, imbue symbolism, and have...

Damien Chazelle has returned with his first film since 2018 in the form of a grand epic about the transition in early Hollywood to “talkies.” Starring Margot Robbie, Diego Calva, Brad Pitt, and Jean Smart, the film is among the last to release in 2022 with a December 23, 2022 wide release date. We are joined by guest Sean Place to review Babylon and the efforts of Chazelle and his collaborators an...

Guillermo del Toro returns to the big screen to bring us the latest iteration of the classic tale of Pinocchio, this time in stop-motion form. Now in theaters and on Netflix, del Toro brings a new visionary approach to a story that has been adapted multiple times, yet manages to bring new life through the precision handicraft he brings to the stop-motion approach. We also discuss news surrounding...