We Love the Love

We're easing out of the Oscars with a Best Picture nominee from ten years ago, David O. Russell's adaptation of Silver Linings Playbook !  Join in as we discuss peak Jennifer Lawrence, diner dates, Abbott Elementary , and this movie's surprising darkness.  Plus: Why did Nicky and her lover set up a boombox? Why did Pat's brother buy him an away jersey? Why are Pat and Tiffany in competit...

In preparation for the 94th Academy Awards next Sunday night, we're rating the believability of the romance in all ten of this year's Best Picture nominees, from Belfast to West Side Story .  Join in as we discuss Jamie Dornan's 2021, the timeline of Licorice Pizza , the true villain of West Side Story , and the impending #OscarsFanFavorite debacle.  Plus: Why doesn't Don't Look Up work? What is M...

We're taking a long look at the age of our youth as we examine the on- and off-the-field romance of the 2006 Shakespeare modernization She's the Man , starring Amanda Bynes and Channing Tatum as star-crossed roommates.  Join in as we discuss DVD trailer packages, terrible taglines, baffling accents, and the Teen Choice Awards.  Plus: Channing Tatum is back in theaters with Dog and The Lost City ,...

We're looking at bad romance in the 1975 sci-fi horror classic The Stepford Wives , based on the novel by Ira Levin.  Join in as we discuss star Katharine Ross, doppelgangers, robot boobs, TV sequels, and The Princess Switch 3 .  Plus: How does this adaptation compare to the 2004 remake starring Nicole Kidman? Why did Betty Friedan call on women to boycott it?  Why did screenwriter...

We're looking at a capital-R Romance this week as we dissect the sweeping midcentury romance in Eugene Ashe's underseen 2020 film Sylvie's Love , starring Tessa Thompson and Nnamdi Asomugha.  Join in as we discuss songs of the summer, confident job-seeking, standardized tests, and the movie's charming love of television.  Plus: Why didn't this movie have more of an impact? Is it weird th...

Romance is back on the big screen (and also Peacock), so we're taking a look at Marry Me , the new movie starring Jennifer Lopez and Owen Wilson as a pop star and a math teacher who get spontaneously married during a concert.  Join in as we discuss the movie's surprisingly grounded plot, JLo's cultural moment, the loneliness of fame, and the resurgence of Ben Affleck.  Plus: Where was the officiat...

For the most love-loving day of the year, we're looking at more romances than we can handle in the first of Garry Marshall's holiday starstraganzas, Valentine's Day !  Join in as we discuss our own top V-Day stories, our favorite performances, Taylor Swift's film debut, and Marshall's rules for filmmaking.  Plus: Why is Anne Hathaway taking sex calls on her work phone? How does this movi...

We're continuing our look at the Best Picture nominees of 1988 with a look at Alan Parker's lily-white Civil Rights drama Mississippi Burning , starring Gene Hackman and Willem Dafoe as FBI agents investigating the murders of three Freedom Summer activists.  Join in as we discuss the trouble with movies clearly based on - but not telling the story of - a specific event, the film's portrayal o...

We're staring at ourselves in the mirror as we tackle the complex but minor romance of John Woo's 1997 action classic Face/Off , in which FBI agent John Travolta swaps faces with mercenary terrorist Nicolas Cage.  Join in as we discuss the Archer family's weird forms of affection, the mechanics of the face swap, the '97 box office, and, once again, the Nicole Kidman AMC video.  Plus: Wha...

We're looking at a listener suggestion with the premise of a joke in Edward Norton's directorial debut, the 2000 priest-rabbi-tech lady love triangle Keeping the Faith .  Join in as we discuss karaoke, The Incredible Hulk , a surprising dye job, and a pleasantly low-stakes romantic gesture.  Plus: What does Anna's company do? Will her finances survive the dot com bubble? Are garter cell...

We're dreaming of Manderley again as we take a look at the tortuous romance of Alfred Hitchcock's 1940 adaptation of Daphne du Maurier's gothic romance Rebecca .  Join in as we discuss du Maurier's controversial life, Joan Fontaine's performance as the unnamed protagonist, Mrs. Danvers, and gambling at sea.  Plus: How did Hitchcock limit the interference of producer David O. Selznick? Wh...

We've unearthed a movie we've attempted to cover multiple times: the 2011 undead noir Dylan Dog: Dead of Night , adapted from the hit Italian comic book and starring erstwhile Superman Brandon Routh.  Join in as we discuss hyper-specific weapons, magnets, zombie fluids, spare mausoleums, and guest behavior we simply cannot believe.  Plus: How does Dylan decide which old technology to use? Why does...

We're kicking off the new year with our fifteenth look at the films of DreamWorks Animation, this time discussing the 2006 comic strip adaptation Over the Hedge , about animals who mostly go through one.  Join in as we discuss turtle shells, bangs, "unrated" versions of movies, our experiences with the funny pages.  Plus: Why can't you see Verne's tail when his shell is off? Is this Bruc...

We're finishing off the year with a movie that has one sequence set at New Year's and zero that involve mermaids: the 1990 60s-set coming-of-age movie Mermaids , starring Cher, Winona Ryder, and Christina Ricci - none of whom, and we cannot stress this enough, plays a mermaid.  Join in as we discuss Catholic fandom, child performances, abortive attempts to get the movie going with Lasse Halls...

We're finishing up this year's Christmas romances with a look at the one that started it all: 1945's Christmas in Connecticut , starring Barbara Stanwyck and Dennis Morgan.  Join in as we discuss our ideal frauds, Stanwyck's politics and careers, Mary's incomprehensible plot, and saying goodnight to cows.  Plus: What is Jones being fed at the hospital? Why does Elizabeth agree to marry J...

We continue our look at this year's holiday romances with Netflix's Single All the Way , starring Michael Urie and Philemon Chambers - and, more importantly, Kathy Najimy and Jennifer Coolidge.  Join in as we discuss sexy holiday characters, the inevitable commercialization of Juneteenth, and our ideas for the tenth Fast and Furious movie.  Plus: Did Netflix steal this idea from Will and...

We're beginning our holiday season with Candy Coated Christmas , the first ever scripted movie from the Food Network, which was advertised as though it starred "Pioneer Woman" Ree Drummond, despite the fact that she barely appears.  Join in as we discuss the stunningly dumb lead characters, a terrible and violent meet-cute, the Twelve Days of Christmas, and the movie's astonishing lack of can...

We're tackling another listener request as we look at the mostly offscreen romance of George Cukor's 1939 adaptation of The Women , starring Norma Shearer, Rosalind Russell, and Joan Crawford.  Join in as we discuss the wild life of playwright Clare Booth Luce, the technicolor fashion show, Nevada divorce ranches, and, of course, Nicole Kidman's AMC video.  Plus: What happened to the all...

Start spreading the news, because - as Will and Marc were somehow surprised to learn - the iconic song "Theme from New York, New York " actually comes from this week's movie, the 1977 musical New York, New York , directed by Martin Scorsese and starring Liza Minelli and Robert De Niro.  Join in as we discuss this homage to Golden Age movie musicals, our own backgrounds with Scorsese, the movi...

We're traveling in time to 2004 for a look at the romance between Jennifer Garner and Mark Ruffalo in the age up/time travel movie 13 Going on 30 .  Join in as we discuss the teen films of 2004, the 2005 Teen Choice Awards, Judy Greer's doppelganger, Garner's physical performance, and realism in rom coms.  Plus: Has Matty ever hung out with anyone but Jenna? Should the government be regu...

Take out your phones and hit record, because we're looking at one of the earliest feature films shot on an iPhone: Sean Baker's 2015 Christmas(?) movie about trans sex workers in Los Angeles, Tangerine .  Join in as we discuss the performances by Mya Taylor and Kitana Kiki Rodriguez, the process of shooting on an iPhone 5S, the worst movie theaters in the DC area, and that time Bella Thorne l...

We're headed to an explicitly undefined time period for a look at Otto Bathurst's 2018 Robin Hood , starring Taron Egerton and a host of other hotties in a movie so dreadful it circles around again to being a delight.  Join in as we discuss automatic bows, sequel teases, a bizarre conspiracy theory, and the youth vote.  Plus: Is Jamie Foxx doing an accent? Is Bathurst in a cult? What exa...

We're finishing up our spookiest month with a look at the 2000 horror parody film Scary Movie .  Join in as we discuss iconic taglines, the parody films of the 2000s, many unfortunate jokes, and the crucial difference between comedy and reference.  Plus: Where did Scary Movie fit into the 2000 box office? How is it connected to those other parodies? What would a Gladiator sequel be about...

We're dipping out toes into the slasher genre for a look at the many doomed romances of the 1980 camp classic Friday the 13th .  Join in as we discuss camp counselors, our experience with slasher movies, Betsy Palmer's performance, and the rules of strip monopoly.  Plus: Why has this movie entered the queer cinema canon? Why did screenwriter Victor Miller disavow the sequels? And was Cam...

We're headed back into movie theaters for a look at Stephen Chbosky's would-be Oscar contender Dear Evan Hansen , starring twenty-eight year-old Ben Platt in the teenage role that won him a Tony Award several years ago.  Join in as we discuss school assemblies, the film's strengths and weaknesses as an adaptation, the story's clumsy handling of mental illness, and our star songwriters Pasek a...