The Strange Harbors Podcast

What's the best MCU trilogy? Where does Guardians of the Galaxy land? We're reviewing Vol. 3 this week, and It’s one last hurrah as the Guardians race against the clock to save a grievously injured teammate, touring through James Gunn’s warped imagination in a surprisingly personal goodbye.

This week, we're talking guts, gore, and Deadite fun with Lee Cronin's Evil Dead Rise. The latest installment of the Evil Dead franchise that originated with Sam Raimi's highly-regarded trilogy from 1981 to 1992, this new film transplants the cabin in the woods terror to a condemned LA high-rise. We run through our rankings of the series and the nasty surprises the new film has in store. Come get...

This week, we discuss the indie drama-slash-thriller How to Blow Up a Pipeline. The surprise hit out of last year's Toronto Film Festival, Daniel Goldhaber's gutsy call to action about sabotage in the face of impending climate disaster finds a gripping, procedural heist within its incendiary message. But before we dive into the film we answer some listener mail, as we parse through our feelings ab...

Road rage comes to Netflix in Lee Sung Jin's dark comedy, Beef. Starring Steven Yeun, Ali Wong, Young Mazino, Joseph Lee, and David Choe, the ten-episode series revolves around a down-on-his-luck contractor and a wealthy entrepreneur whose traffic run-in escalates into dangerous obsession. We talk about the series' mostly Asian cast, the pitfalls of representation, and the harmful Netflix binge mo...

Is Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves the first surprise hit of 2023? We sit down and discuss this breezy fantasy comedy, breaking down its surprising craft, uproarious gags, and who is the best Hollywood Chris.

2023's first action movie extravaganza is here in John Wick: Chapter 4. The eagerly anticipated end (or is it?) of the John Wick saga pulls out all the stops, and we discuss this exhilarating, metal-as-hell ballet of bullets that blows the doors off action filmmaking.

Almost two weeks later, we discuss the 95th Academy Awards — winners, losers, triumphs, and gaffes. Letting the awards marinate, we cover Everything Everywhere All at Once's historic evening, as well as some of the surprises the ceremony had in store for us. Who won? Who should've won? We give the rundown.

This week, we wrap up our coverage of the first season of HBO's "The Last of Us." We run down its explosive final set piece, its cannibal-fueled lead-up, and recap all the things we loved - and didn't love - about this inaugural season.

Michael B. Jordan makes his directorial debut with the highly-anticipated "Creed III," the ninth installment of the "Rocky" franchise. With a whole new style without mainstay Sylvester Stallone, can Jordan pull off his anime-inspired, boxing vision? We review the film and take a look back at the long-running franchise.

Our journey through "The Last of Us" continues with our penultimate recap of the season, covering episodes 6 and 7, titled "Kin" and "Left Behind." A brief detour in Jackson, Wyoming leads to another devastating flashback, this time focusing on Ellie (Bella Ramsey) and her tragic past. We discuss the trajectory of the series right before the finale while Derek breaks down the expectations and real...

The Marvel Cinematic Universe kicks off Phase Five with Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania. Jettisoning the fleet caper energy of the first two films, the latest Scott Lang adventure finds the titular shrinking hero at odds with a new multiverse-threatening big bad: Jonathan Majors' Kang the Conquerer. Is this new chapter for Marvel a fresh start? Or a dire miscalculation? Tune in and find out our...

After a critically acclaimed third episode of its first season, can HBO's The Last of Us keep its winning streak alive? We sit down and discuss episodes 4 and 5, titled "Please Hold to My Hand" and "Endure and Survive," respectively, diving deep into its brand new mini-arc with guest actress Melanie Lynskey as well as Joel and Ellie's budding camaraderie. Also, one of the game's most heartbreaking...

Director M. Night Shyamalan returns with his single-location home invasion thriller, Knock at the Cabin. Based on Paul Tremblay's novel Cabin at the End of the World, the film stars Jonathan Groff, Ben Aldridge, Kristen Cui, Dave Bautista, and Rupert Grint. Does Shymalan's filmmaking chops stack up to the gut punch of its source material's shocking ending? Tune in and find out if we can come to a...

Our biweekly coverage of HBO's "The Last of Us" continues, as we discuss episodes 2 and 3 of the first season of the hit show. We review the rollicking, streamlined shocker of "Infected," and the very much talked about "Long Long Time," which features the biggest deviation from the game so far.

Keeping up our annual tradition of talking about Oscar nominations and then a horror movie, this year we are diving head first into Kyle Edward Ball's viral sensation, Skinamarink. We discuss the snubs, surprises, and predictions for the upcoming Academy Awards, and then segue into an our very different opinions about the hottest indie movie of the season. We've never been more divided!

Two newbies and a veteran sit down and discuss the pilot of the highly anticipated HBO series: The Last of Us. Based upon the hit video game of the same name, the new series by Chernobyl's Craig Mazin and Naughty Dog's own Neil Druckmann finds Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey in the roles of Joel and Ellie. We talk about our different perspectives of the series, our expectations, and our thoughts on...

It's that time again: the biggest, longest episode of the year in which Jeff, Derek, and Amir run down their top 10 films of the past 365 days. After two-plus years floundering in the pandemic, it seems that the film industry is finally regaining its legs. This year, Top Gun: Maverick and Avatar: The Way of Water blasted off, the Daniels’ multiverse-hopping stunner Everything Everywhere All at Onc...

Return to the world of Pandora with our episode on the last huge blockbuster of the year, Avatar: The Way of Water. A dazzling gallery frame around cinematic technology in the hands of one James Cameron, its wild spectacle, unbelievable detail, and technical wizardry will blast the eyeballs out of your sockets, but its honest and sincere undercurrents just might be its secret weapon. In the last e...

This week, we're talking about director Luca Guadagnino's latest, the sweetly sick cannibal romance: Bones and All. Starring Taylor Russell, Timotheé Chalamet, and Mark Rylance, the film follows two star-crossed lovers as they embark upon a roadtrip through Middle America while grappling with their forbidden cravings of human flesh. What did we think of the movie? Tune in and find out!

This week we discuss director Steven Spielberg's most personal film yet, his autofiction as self-therapy: The Fabelmans. We examine our differing opinions on the film, its all-star cast, and we have a heated debate over a pointless Twitter prompt that leaves some of our jaws on the floor. Tune in!

This week we're diving into Todd Field's first film in over 16 years: the searing, thorny Tár. We talk about the film's timely themes, its surprising humor, and the towering performances by Cate Blanchett and Nina Hoss. A portrait of a woman undone by the ego of her own genius, Tár is one of the year's most talked about films.

The sequel to Ryan Coogler's game-changing, culture-shifting Black Panther is finally here. Reconfiguring an already-written screenplay as a moving tribute to the late Chadwick Boseman, Wakanda Forever already gets points for degree of difficulty alone. It’s sprawling, shaggy, and overstuffed, but leave it to Ryan Coogler to pull off the miraculous feat of deftly threading real-life tragedy with c...

Men and their decimated kinships unraveled upon the screen, richly textured and frequently uproarious, Martin McDonagh's The Banshees of Inisherin explores evaporating bonds, crushing loneliness, and enmity in grotesque escalation. We discuss the playwright's latest and his intimate account of a detonating friendship, starring Colin Farrell, Brendan Gleeson, Barry Keoghan, and Kerry Condon. This i...

“The closer you look, the harder you fall.” Park Chan-wook cross-pollinates a police procedural with a femme fatale romance in his latest film. Swirling around two lost souls navigating a web of murder, deceit, and desire to desperately cling to their perverse affair, Decision to Leave is a sensual puzzle box. We discuss the illustrious director's filmography, the painterly craft behind the movie,...

This week, we're wrapping up our discussion of the first season of House of the Dragon and its final three episodes. Derek is on vacation for one more week, so Jeff and Amir sit down and discuss the home stretch of the inaugural season of this much-hyped Game of Thrones spinoff. Does it stick the landing? Tune in and find out.