The Strange Harbors Podcast

After our Luca Guadagnino episode, we are continuing our coverage of director in their "pump 'em out" phase with Yorgos Lanthimos' third film in as many years — Bugonia. Once again re-teaming with his muse Emma Stone, Lanthimos delivers an uproarious, mean-spirited conspiracy thriller. We discuss director jail, an updated rundown of Lanthimos' filmography, and a review of the film.

Luca Guadagnino directs his third movie in two years with After the Hunt. A "cancel culture" drama set in 2019, Guadagnino's latest collides academia with an attempted snapshot of the #MeToo era. Will it complete a barn burner trifecta after Challengers and Queer last year? Or is 2025 too late to put the finger on the pulse of 2019? Tune in and find out.

As we head into a jam-packed end of 2025, we give a refreshed list of what we're looking forward to, plus a little rundown of what we've been watching on both the big and small screens. Some topics from our lowkey hangout episode: HBO's Peacemaker, Alien: Earth, The Smashing Machine, and a rundown of New York Film Festival.

Short and sweet episode this week as Derek is on a much-deserved vacation. Jeff and Amir give a quick review of The Long Walk, the latest Stephen King adaptation. A movie that grew with its buzz, it features some of the best performances of the year in Cooper Hoffman and David Jonsson, but is it enough to carry its relatively simple premise for 108 minutes? Plus, an in-depth discussion of a long h...

"No fear. Like Tom f---ing Cruise." One Battle After Another is Paul Thomas Anderson like you've never seen him before. Gripping you from the first second of its barnburner opening montage, Anderson synthesizes his typical mastery of emotional stakes with the very unexpected: action chops. We discuss his love for Terminator 2, another all-timer Leonardo DiCaprio performance, and the star turn of o...

This week we review Highest 2 Lowest, Spike Lee's brazen remake of the 1963 black and white Akira Kurosawa classic, High and Low. A divisive movie with its own modern mind apart from its predecessor, Highest 2 Lowest split audiences at Cannes this year and has now split us on the podcast as well. Akira Kurosawa at the height of his power or Spike Lee's late style curio? We talk about aging masters...

It's that time of year again where we reveal the winner of our annual summer box office wager. Amir has taken the crown since the 2023 inception of this standing contest among hosts. Will he do it again this year? Or can Derek or Jeff finally win one? We discuss the movies of the summer: surprise hits, dark horse picks, and the biggest disappointments. Plus, a brief recap of the Emmys.

Darren Aronofsky follows up his divisive Oscar-winner, The Whale, with a throwback to 90s capers. Caught Stealing is an After Hours pastiche without any ego and a studio potboiler aimed right down the middle of the road, it just happens to star one of the most charismatic casts assembled in 2025. Jeff and Derek discuss the star power of Austin Butler, the few surprises the film has in store, and t...

Xenomorphs get the prestige television treatment with Noah Hawley's Alien: Earth. Mashing up extraterrestrial horror with corpo-palace intrigue, the eight-episode first season looks to expand the world of the Ridley Scott classic. Does Hawley's acclaimed pedigree with Legion and Fargo hold promise for his new series? We review the first five episodes.

Zach Cregger follows up his 2022 surprise hit Barbarian with another bout of sneaky horror with Weapons. Centered around a town grappling with a singular classroom of missing children, Cregger's sophomore feature-length film turns a microscope into a Fresnel lens to heat up the rot of an empathy-starved community: safety, routine, and comfort crumbling into dust amidst hidden dangers and inexplica...

Leaving Cannes critics perplexed and polarized this spring, Ari Aster's Eddington takes aim at the fabric of the American zeitgeist. Is it the defining finger on the pulse of COVID-abetted brain rot? Or is it as groan-worthy as an "Ari Aster COVID movie" sounds? We discuss the film, Aster's filmography, and the prospect of assembling a political perspective through a fractured, dogshit Internet.

New Earth. Fresh start. The MCU's latest brings Marvel's First Family to the big screen in a retro-futuristic, sci-fi epic. Will a red-hot, A-list cast and a heavy-hitting, non-cloud Galactus finally give The Fantastic Four the movie it deserves? Or will a flagging franchise's recent pain points once again prove that Marvel is running out of steam? Tune in as we review The Fantastic Four: First St...

As Jeff calls it on his Letterboxd review: "A movie of surprisingly gentle compassion but also dudes getting their entire spinal columns hauled out of their neck holes." This week we review the reunion of Danny Boyle, Alex Garland, and Anthony Dod Mantle for 28 Years Later, over two decades after 28 Days Later changed the zombie genre forever. We talk about the film's emotional surprises, its misl...

James Gunn stewards a new DC Cinematic Universe with the hotly anticipated Superman. Starring David Corenswet, Rachel Brosnahan, Nicholas Hoult, Nathan Fillion, and Edi Gathegi, this new version of the Big Blue Boy Scout attempts to turn over a new leaf for a floundering franchise by taking pages from a rich tapestry of comics. Is it successful? We review the film, rank the silver screen Supermen,...

Jeff is on vacation this week, so it's up to Derek and Amir to pull off the rare double feature episode. In a week of dueling popcorn blockbusters, which crowdpleaser — John Wick spinoff Ballerina or racing drama F1 — will reign supreme? We talk Ana De Armas, Brad Pitt, and the highs and lows of both movies.

Celine Song's followup to 2023's gem Past Lives explores the world of matchmaking through a spin on the classic love triangle. Song turns her signature gentle tension on its head with a take on modern dating and transactional matrimony. Is it successful? Will lightning strike twice for the Oscar-nominated filmmaker? Tune in and find out...

This installment of our What We're Watching series is a television catchup episode, where we discuss two big, recent hits — both in their second seasons — that we just haven't had time to cover in full: The Last of Us and The Rehearsal. Both headliners for Max (soon to be HBO Max again), the two series' sophomore seasons take giant swings. Do they connect? Listen to our review now.

Arguably one of the best action franchises of all time comes to a presumed end with Mission: Impossible — The Final Reckoning. Somehow, the most divisive entry yet, Christopher McQuarrie and Tom Cruise's latest attempt to save movies as champions of the analog finds Ethan Hunt once again fighting the rogue AI known as The Entity. Are its two barnburner stunt extravaganza's enough to stick the fran...

Critically-acclaimed Andor has returned. Politically sophisticated and emotionally bracing, Tony Gilroy's Star Wars series about the birth of a rebellion has returned for a second and final season. Does it live up to its first season's incredible highs and adult-minded storytelling? We discuss and review the show, its odd release schedule, and where it ranks within the shaky Star Wars canon.

It's that time of the year again where we make our friendly bet on the season's box office results. After two years in a row of Amir taking the bag, Derek and Jeff are trying extra hard in 2025 to take down the reigning champ, but will everyone's lists be different enough? Tune in as we predict the winners, losers, and wild cards of the summer.

Ryan Coogler's Sinners is one of the year's best films: a purposefully messy vampire metaphor just overflowing with passion and ideas, painted across a tapestry of folklore, diegetic blues, and epic horror. It’s why we go to the movies. We discuss its deep roster of incredible performances and its myriad of themes that catapult it beyond standard bloodsucker fare.

On this week's podcast, we review the latest streaming sensation on Max and the spiritual successor to ER, The Pitt. A medical drama like no other, the series prides itself on its realism and its real-time, 15-episode conceit. It just so happens that one of our co-hosts, Dr. Amir Touray, is well-equipped to review the series in a way most of us aren't able to. How accurate is the show? Is this the...

Director David Ayer re-teams with Jason Statham for another professionally titled actioner: A Working Man. Following up last year's The Beekeeper, will the duo recapture the absurd magic of their debut? We review the film and discuss the careers of both Ayer and Statham.

For our first television episode of 2025, we review the long-anticipated revival of Marvel's Man Without Fear — Daredevil: Born Again. Is the new series able to find the best version of itself despite extensive reshoots and behind-the-scenes shakeups? Charlie Cox and Vincent D'Onofrio slip back into the roles like a pair of comfortable shoes, but is it enough to carry it all? Tune in and find out...