We Love the Love

We're talking about jobs we stumbled into as we look at the romance of the 2007 adaptation of The Nanny Diaries , starring Scarlett Johansson as a would-be anthropologist caring for a kid with a dumb name.  Join in as we discuss villain Paul Giamatti, a standout Laura Linney, and the best sequel titles.  Plus: Who was Mrs. X? Is Harvard Hottie a liar? And does Marc remember any of these...

The 95th Academy Awards are right around the corner, so it's time to get some definitive rankings on the believability of all ten Best Picture nominees!  Join in as we discuss Colonel Tom Parker, Jenny the Donkey, Sammy Fabelman's girlfriend, and our queen Lydia Tar.  Plus: Is Evelyn from Everything Everywhere All at Once deliberately committing tax fraud? Is George R.R. Martin responsib...

Just in time for Creed III , we're going back to the start of America's favorite boxing franchise for a look at the Best Picture winner that started it all.  Join in as we discuss the movie's real-life inspirations, Sylvester Stallone's original sequel pitches, the Philadelphia Rocky statue, and our good friend M3gan.  Plus: Why did they shoot the final fight sequence in reverse? How cou...

We're looking at one of the biggest romances of the 1990s as we spin the pottery wheel of Jerry Zucker's 1990 Best Picture nominee Ghost !  Join in as we discuss Zucker's career, the first trip of writer Bruce Joel Rubin, the 1990 box office, and the film's complete lack of ghost sex.  Plus: Is this set in the Ghostbusters universe? What's going on with the Saturn Awards? And, most impor...

We're singing songs and selling papes as we watch Kenny Ortega's directorial debut, the 1992 Disney musical Newsies !  Join in as we discuss the real-life newsboy strike of 1899, the Vatican newspaper, Kid Blink, and other musicals about orphans and labor.  Plus: What's Medda's deal exactly? Why can't the newsies go to school? What is Jack's plan when the movie ends? And where does Newsi...

In honor of Magic Mike's Last Dance opening this Friday, we're taking a look at the unlikely romance of Steven Soderbergh's 2012 original!  Join in as we discuss star/inspiration Channing Tatum, Matthew McConaughey's Dallas, balancing tones, and the MTV Movie Award for Best Shirtless Performance.  Plus: Is Mike's furniture good? Is The Boys the most "straight dude" show on TV? What happe...

We're rolling dice, spinning spinners, and filling out our character sheets as we look at the surprisingly grown-up romance of the 2018 comedy mystery Game Night , starring Jason Bateman and Rachel McAdams.  Join in as we discuss our own favorite game night games, bringing food into the movies, and the past and future of MoviePass.  Plus: Why don't Max and Annie have cooler taste in game...

We're talking about movies that scared us as children as we look at Walter Murch's notoriously scarring 1985 film Return to Oz - Disney's first complete attempt to adapt L. Frank Baum.  Join in as we discuss Murch's storied career, the magical properties of chickens, the 2022 AARP Movies for Grownups Awards, and the trouble with trying to adapt Oz stories after 1939.  Plus: How did the chicken get...

Now that the holidays are over, we've got enough distance to look at one of the most stressful Christmases ever put to film: the awkward dramedy of The Family Stone !  Join in as we discuss movie allergens, the film's deliberate abrasiveness, and twin romance swaps.  Plus: Is Claire Danes the only normal person in this movie? Is it time to recast the Boss Baby? Should this movie be narra...

We're going all in on Municipal Darwinism as we climb aboard a traction city to talk about our favorite box office bomb of 2018, Christian Rivers's Mortal Engines !  Join in as we discuss cyborgs, the Big Tilt, writer-producer Peter Jackson, and our bff Shrike (the resurrected man).  Plus: How does everyone know Pandora Shaw? Why does Tom only want to date Valentine's relatives? Should this movie...

We're ending the year with a new direction for our frenemies at DreamWorks Animation as we look at their long-delayed Puss in Boots movie!  Join in as we discuss the new DreamWorks intro, assess the villains of The Last Wish, dig into the studio's new animation style, and bond over going to the bathroom during the trailer for Shazam 2 .  Plus: Is Elvis gonna win Best Picture? Should Top...

We're ending this year's Christmas series with a movie that came out in June: Tim Burton's surprisingly violent and horny superhero sequel, Batman Returns !  Join in as we discuss animal resurrection, the loose continuity of the 89-97 Batman movies, the evolution of the Penguin, our own favorite Batmen and Alfreds.  Plus: Why didn't Catwoman die? Can she reach the Heaviside Layer when sh...

As Christmas approaches, we check in on the military record of jolly old Saint Nick in the famously terrible 1964 Santa Claus Conquers the Martians .  Join in as we discuss holiday specials, Pia Zadora, Martian naming conventions, and Mrs. Claus's screen debut.  Plus: How much conquest actually occurs in this movie? Were Martian kids sad before they had TV? Is the theme for this movie good? And, m...

We're continuing our sort-of Christmas with a look at the romance of Billy Wilder's 1960 Best Picture winner The Apartment , starring Jack Lemmon, Shirley MacLaine, and a shocking amount of adultery.  Join in as we discuss our favorite movie apartments, the split reaction to this movie, the real-life Hollywood sex scandal that (partially) inspired it, and the upcoming film Jesus Revolution .&...

We're kicking off the Christmas season with a Yuletide thriller as Robert Redford exposes CIA secrets in Sydney Pollack's Three Days of the Condor .  Join in as we discuss "technically Christmas" movies, the differences between the movie and its source novel, the cultural and political environment of the 1970s, and the career of animation director turned RHOBH guest star Rob Minkoff.  Plus: Is The...

As the 2022 awards season gets underway, we're taking a look at the last pre-podcast Best Picture winner: Barry Jenkins's quiet masterpiece, Moonlight .  Join in as we discuss movies we've never seen, our love of Nicholas Britell, the differences between the movie and Terrell Alvin McRaney's play, and - of course - what might be the craziest Oscars moment ever.  Plus: Where does La La La...

We're celebrating the Thanksgiving holiday by checking into a possibly-unsavory resort in Yorgos Lanthimos's 2016 art-house favorite The Lobster !  Join in as we discuss Lanthimos's ups and downs in the US, the Oscar history of star Colin Farrell, European film financing, and vengeful elephants.  Plus: What are the rules for determining someone's definint trait? Does Lea Seydoux actually...

We've got a real-life geologist on the show this week to walk us through the tectonic and platonic relationships of the 2003 disaster movie The Core , starring Aaron Eckhart and Hilary Swank.  Join in as we discuss unobtanium, the Earth's magnetic field, our favorite movie rocks, the hard life of a terranaut.  Plus: Is this movie a reverse Armageddon ? Was it a mistake to open The Core opposite th...

We're ringing in our fifth birthday with our first dive into Christian cinema for a look at the 2008 Kendrick Brothers hit Fireproof !  Join in as we discuss Kirk Cameron, chain emails, stress relief, and The Love Dare .  Plus: Where does this fit in the history of Christian cinema? Does Catherine have an Elektra complex? Is James Bond a moral exemplar? And, most importantly, did former...

We're ending our spooky season with a possibly-cursed episode on Dan Curtis's 1976 haunted house movie Burnt Offerings !  Join in as we discuss our favorite Halloween traditions, Bette Davis's onset feuds, the death of Oliver Reed, and the silent hearse driver.  Plus: Is this whole vacation made up of chores? What's the deal with the Allardyce kids? Why do the only transfers of this movi...

We're not sure whether it should count as part of our Halloween spooktacular, but the advertising for Darren Aronofsky's 2017 film mother! certainly led us to believe it should!  Join in as we discuss the varied discourses of mother!'s release, the film's surprisingly effective (if blunt) storytelling, the PETA Oscats, and Christ allegories.  Plus: What's in that yellow drink? Why didn't mother br...

We're continuing our October spooktacular with a look at the romance of James Whale's 1933 adaptation of The Invisible Man !  Join in as we discuss fictional drugs, the Invisible Woman, the film's complete lack of an opening act, its groundbreaking visual effects, and, of course, the Dark Universe.  Plus: Why did Claude Raines and James Whale fight onset? What is Flora and Jack's relatio...

We're celebrating the release of Halloween Ends by looking at the franchise's original threequel: 1982's Season of the Witch !  Join in as we discuss doomsday plans, the continuity of the Halloween franchise, deceptive app ads, and how to spice up your financially-strapped relationship.  Plus: Why are there so many unrelated movies called "Season of the Witch"? Is this movie's reputation...

In honor of its long-awaited sequel, we're taking a look at the teenage romance of Kenny Ortega's beloved(?) holiday classic(?), Hocus Pocus !  Join in as we discuss Ortega's career, our favorite cinematic witches, the movie's long development, and the iconic Salem-California rivalry.  Plus: When did the cat learn to talk? Why doesn't Sarah Jessica Parker's spell work on the main charact...

In 1992, Eddie Murphy, director Reginald Hudlin, and the writers of Coming to America made a foray into the world of romantic comedies with Boomerang , a movie about a playboy who decides it's time to settle down.  Join in as we discsus the movie's shockingly racist critical reaction, the changes to the script along the way, token white people, and the 1992 MTV Movie Awards.  Plus: Remem...