The Take-Up Podcast

John Boyega, Jamie Foxx, and Teyonnah Paris headline the sci-fi satire They Cloned Tyrone . Juel Taylor's debut feature is Andrew's pick for the Gems of '23 series, highlighting the best of the underrated or underseen films of the year. First, they'll talk Todd Haynes' May December and Yorgos Lanthimos' Poor Things in Now Showing. After Tyrone , they've got a few suggestions for Academy members. F...

The blood-sucking Brady Bunch is back with Dark Dream Cinema's Michael Morlaine picking The Lost Boys for QU66R COD6D. Before getting into Joel Schumacher's 1987 vampy vampire cult hit, Andrew and Josh go long on some killers: David Fincher's The Killer and Martin Scoresese's Killers of the Flower Moon . Later, the Take-Up critics preview the 32nd St. Louis International Film Festival , presented...

Andrew picks Tomas Alfredson's contemporary classic, Let the Right One In , for the QU66R COD6D series. Before getting into its trans (non-)allegories and whether they should let in American remake Let Me In , they'll talk The Exorcist: Believer , Fair Play , and The Royal Hotel in Now Showing. Finally, they recommend (more than) One More Thing with a lot of Stanley Kubrick talk and just a bit abo...

It's the most wonderful time of the year... Spooky Season, of course! For the first episode in the QU66R COD6D program, a celebration of queer horror, Joshua picks a childhood favorite: Robert Aldrich's follow-up to What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? , the Gatekeep/Gaslight/Girlboss thriller Hush... Hush, Sweet Charlotte . Before launching into the 1964 camp classic featuring Bette Davis, Andrew and...

CRUNCH! CRUNCH! Joshua picks Eaten Alive , Tobe Hooper's killer-crocodile follow-up to The Texas Chain Saw Massacre , for the final episode of the Cinema Speculation program. As if that weren't enough to satiate hungry listeners, he and Andrew also cover Hooper's 1981 meta-slasher The Funhouse . After this Hooper Fest, the critics pick their most anticipated films from the fall fests. Crocs! Hamag...

For the next Cinema Speculation episode, Andrew picks Escape from Alcatraz , the 1979 prison-break from Don Siegel. Before they discuss star Clint Eastwood in possibly too much detail, Joshua and Andrew talk what's Now Showing: DC's Blue Beetle , Ira Sach's Passages , and Between Two Worlds with Juliet Binoche. After, they'll play Quoting Tarantino. Finally, they're recommending One More Thing. Ne...

Joshua and Andrew are joined on a perilous journey by author and critic Katharine Coldiron , when the three of them discuss her pick for the Cinema Speculation program, Deliverance . Did QT get it right saying the first half of John Boorman's 1972 classic is better than the second? First up, the three talk Barbenheimer , Meg 2: The Trench , and Afire . Later, they find out what the cast of Deliver...

For the 23rd annual St. Louis Filmmakers Showcase hosted by Take-Up partners Cinema St. Louis , Joshua moderated a panel of esteemed St. Louis film critics called "Film Criticism in Flyover Country". Former guests Elliott Collins and Cliff Froehlich joined colleagues Eileen G'Sell and Diane Carson to bring their diverse experiences as film critics to this master class. The panel was recorded live,...

Cliff Froehlich , critic for The Riverfront Times and former Executive Director of Cinema St. Louis, joins Joshua and Andrew to chat about Quentin Tarantino's latest work, Cinema Speculation , and Cliff's pick from the film-essay memoir, Rolling Thunder . Before diving into that 1977 revenge-o-matic cult classic, Andrew and Joshua review Mission: Impossible: Dead Reckoning - Part One, The Miracle...

It's the final pick in our  New Black Film Canon  program, and Andrew has selected Ousmane Sembène's 1966 classic  Black Girl . Before going long on what Joshua calls his favorite film they've covered, they'll review Disney/Pixar's Elemental and two films that they think are among the best of the year: Celine Strong's Past Lives and Wes Anderson's Asteroid City . After talking Ousmane "revolutiona...

It's a big one, folks! Go down the cinematic rabbit holes of Cheryl Dunye's Black queer classic  ⁠The Watermelon Woman , Joshua's pick for for  ⁠The New Black Film Canon⁠  program. Before that he and Andrew review a bevy of new releases, including: You Hurt My Feelings , The Little Mermaid remake, About My Father , The Eight Mountains , and In the Dusk . After taking up Dunye's film, Joshua and An...

Elliott Collins of Movie Files on YouTube is here for Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse , his pick for the first episode in The New Black Film Canon program. First, Joshua and Andrew discuss new releases Book Club 2: The Next Chapter , De Humani Corporis Fabrica , and The Starling Girl . After talking about the "instant classic" animated Spider-Man feature, they'll all Match the Multi-Verse. Final...

Artistic Director of Cinema St. Louis Chris Clark joins Joshua to break down everything QFest St. Louis 2023 , running May 4-10 at Cinema St. Louis' new home at the historic Hi-Pointe Theatre. The 16th edition of St. Louis' LGBTQIA+ festival features award-winning films, stars, local filmmakers, a newly restored punk classic, and much more! Tickets and information are available at cinemastlouis.or...

Before they take up their new program, ⁠The New Black Film Canon⁠ , Joshua and Andrew break down several of April's newest releases in a special bonus episode. They agree that Nic Cage-starring Renfield sucks, but have a slate of their own new reviews, including Ari Aster's Beau is Afraid , the Dardennes' Tori and Lokita , docs-fiction The Plains , Nike backstory Air , and Suzume , from the direct...

Dr. Ana Quiring joins Joshua and Andrew once more for the Sister Kristen program and Joshua's pick, the Stewart-starring Charlie's Angels reboot directed by Elizabeth Banks. It's a movie you definitely remember happened! They talk feminism, old and new, and neat haircuts, with plenty of tangents along the way. First, Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves is Now Showing, as well as Hulu's Rye...

The long-awaited second part of the Certain Women episode is here! First, they're screaming bloody murder about Boston Strangler , Scream VI , and John Wick: Chapter 4 . Then they cool it way, way down with our Top 3 Kelly Reichardt film performances. Will Sister Kristen Stewart, object of affection for certain people, appear on either Josh or Andrew's lists? How many times will Michelle Williams...

It's what everyone's been asking for... A two-part, two-hour podcast episode (mostly) about Kelly Reichardt's 2017 anthology "western" Certain Women ! Andrew and Josh go long for Andrew's pick in the Sister Kristen program. Certain women are certainly discussed: Laura Dern's consternation, Lilly Gladstone missing in action, Michelle Williams smoking a cigarette, and why Kristen Stewart is everyone...

We're breaking dawn with guest Dr. Ana Quiring , who picks Twilight for the new Sister Kristen program, celebrating Kristen Stewart and her collaborations with female filmmakers. Ana gives Andrew and Joshua a proper education on everything about Catherine Hardwicke's 2008 Y.A. vampire romance, including its Mormon conservatism, queer interpretations, sparkly aesthetics, Acting , and more!  Up next...

It’s a horror-heavy episode when Jessica Scott of WeWhoWalkHere.com joins Joshua and Andrew to talk about You Won’t Be Alone . Before they talk about Andrew’s witchy pick for the Gems of 2022 program, they’ll talk The Outwaters , Attachment , Huesera: The Bone Woman , and the ultimate horror show of Marvel’s Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania . This episode’s game celebrates our favorite Best Suppo...

Cinema St. Louis' The Lens is now The Take-Up , a place to gather when the film is over. For our first/twenty-something-th podcast episode, we're processing Claire Denis' Stars at Noon , featuring Margaret Qualley and Joe Alwyn sweating all over Nicaragua. First, what the heck is The Take-Up? Kayla's back to join Andrew and Joshua to talk about their new adventure in film criticism. After, the guy...

Jason Bollinger of the Cinema Spin podcast joins the Lens podcast with his pick for an underrated and underseen film of 2022, the Aubrey Plaza character thriller Emily the Criminal . After getting existentially criminal with Emily and Jason, Andrew and Joshua count down their top ten favorite films of the year and more. Will battle lines be drawn? Will the two critics fulfill early promises for th...

Critic Katie Carter gets in front of The Lens to talk about a gem of 2022 and one of her favorites of the year, Strawberry Mansion . Before she joins Andrew and Joshua to dive into the trippy lo-fi love story from Albert Birney and Kentucker Audley, they'll discuss the St. Louis Film Critics Association 2022 award-winners, including Avatar: The Way of Water, Everything Everywhere All at Once, and...

Goodbye, 2022! Hello, new mini-series! The Lens is back and focusing on some underseen 2022 films, and for the first episode, guests Drew Wendt and Billy Rock of Do You Like Apples? pick Kogonada's After Yang . Before that, Andrew and Joshua talk Avatar: The Way of Water and She Said . After breaking down the Colin Farrell-starring Yang , Joshua quizzes everyone about A24's highest-grossing films....

In this bonus episode, Andrew and Joshua come out of a brief hibernation to talk about a handful of recent releases. First up, Rian Johnson has his " Knives Out " again with " Glass Onion ." Then, Luca Guadagnino takes a bloody road trip in " Bones and All ." Andrew covers two Netflix streamers: the Florence Pugh-headlining " The Wonder " and Cartoon Saloon's " My Father's Dragon ." Joshua spends...

In this very special episode, Andrew and Joshua preview #SLIFF31 A.K.A. the 31st Annual Whitaker St. Louis International Film Festival . They really only scratch the surface of the bounty of offerings in the 2022 edition of the fest, including buzzy year-end award hopefuls, international and indie critical darlings, daring docs, and shorts in every color . The SLIFF schedule, tickets, and informat...