Late to the Movies

Oscar season rolls on with the (as I'm writing this) odds-on Best Picture favorite - Christopher Nolan's Oppenheimer! By the time this episode comes out, we'll know exactly how many of it's near-record 13 Oscar nominations it won. What we do know for now - in this episode, Ben and Robbie discuss the less-pink half of the biggest movie event of the last several years. Written and directed by Christopher Nolan and starring Cillian Murphy, Emily Blunt, Matt Damon, Robert Downey Jr., Florence Pugh, and Josh Hartnett. Third Annual Laties Awards (link to vote here! (https://forms.gle/7MboAmjEcUTLvyeW6))

It's Oscar Season! We'll be covering a quartet of Oscar nominated movies this month PLUS the Third Annual Laties Awards (link to vote here! (https://forms.gle/7MboAmjEcUTLvyeW6)) in March. First up - Celine Song's instant-classic debut feature, Past Lives! Ben, Greg, Lindsey, and Ray discuss a collective favorite from a great movie year. Written and directed by Celine Song and starring Greta Lee, Teo Yoo, and John Magaro.

Romcom Month Strikes Back heats up with Norman Jewison's 1987 classic, Moonstruck! Ben and Martha discuss Cher's Oscar-winning turn and Nic Cage's breakout performance in this witty, bizarre, endlessly quotable film. Directed by Norman Jewison, written by John Patrick Shanley, and starring Cher, Nicolas Cage, Danny Aiello, Olympia Dukakis, and Vincent Gardenia.

Romcom Month Strikes Back... belatedly! Sorry! We're back with Garry Marshall's 1990 smash-hit Pretty Woman! Ben, Greg, and Ray discuss Julia Roberts' breakout film. Directed by Garry Marshall, screenplay by J. F. Lawton, starring Richard Gere and Julia Roberts, and featuring Héctor Elizondo, Ralph Bellamy, Laura San Giacomo, and Jason Alexander.

A new month means a new theme, but in a first ever for the podcast, it's a SECOND episode on the same movie! Fittingly, Groundhog Day kicks off Romcom Month Strikes Back, a sequel to our first ever themed month back in February 2022. Ben, Anthony, and Sam get (time)loopy talking about Harold Ramis' classic existential romantic comedy. Directed by Ramis and starring Bill Murray, Andie MacDowell, and Chris Elliott.

Dumpuary: Battle of the Genres comes to an epic conclusion with the combatant from the action genre, from Miami, Florida - Bad Boys For Life! Ben and Sam discuss the wildly successful (for a 2020 release) Will Smith / Martin Lawrence buddy cop film. Directed by Adil & Bilall, starring Will Smith and Martin Lawrence, and featuring Vanessa Hudgens, Alexander Ludwig, Paola Núñez, Charles Melton, Kate del Castillo, Nicky Jam, and Joe Pantoliano.

Dumpuary: Battle of the Genres continues with a new fighter, representing the Romance genre, hailing from Vienna - Richard Linklater's 1995 franchise-starter, Before Sunrise! Ben, Greg, Lindsey, Marshall, and Ray discuss Jesse and Celine's really long walk around Vienna in June. Directed by Richard Linklater and co-written by Linklater and Kim Krizan. Starring Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy.

In the Sci-Fi corner, hailing from Perfection, Nevada, our next combatant in 'Dumpuary: Battle of the Genres' is Tremors! Ben, Noah, and Robbie discuss the January 1990 flop-turned-home-video-hit and homage to schlocky '50s creature features, starring Kevin Bacon. Directed by Ron Underwood, written by Underwood, Brent Maddock, and S. S. Wilson, and starring Kevin Bacon, Fred Ward, Finn Carter, Michael Gross, and Reba McEntire.

A new combatant approaches as Dumpuary: Battle of the Genres continues with its horror representative - From Dusk till Dawn! Ben and Vaz discuss Robert Rodriguez' 1996 crime drama/vampire movie mashup. Directed by Robert Rodriguez, written by Quentin Tarantino, and starring Harvey Keitel, George Clooney, Tarantino, Juliette Lewis, and Salma Hayek.

New year, new month, new theme! January 2024 is Dumpuary: Battle of the Genres! We're celebrating what is traditionally considered the worst month of the year to release a movie with a month full of January releases, all from different genres. First up, in comedy - 1997's Waiting for Guffman! Ben and Anthony discuss Christopher Guest's urtext for the talking-head-mockumentary style that would go on to become a dominant sitcom format in the decades since its modest release. Directed by Christopher Guest, written by Guest and Eugene Levy, and starring Guest, Levy, Catherine O'Hara, Fred Willard, and Parker Posey.

Holiday Month hits peak-merriment with Christmas in Connecticut! Ben and Anthony discuss the 1945 classic, in which screen legend Barbara Stanwyck hosts a total goof-fest in order to... preserve gender roles? Or maybe to critique them, if you're being generous? Listen along and decide for yourself! Directed by Peter Godfrey and starring Barbara Stanwyck, Dennis Morgan and Sydney Greenstreet.

Holiday season continues with the 1984 comedy-horror classic, Gremlins! Ben, Cory, Noah, and Robbie hop in their Kentucky Harvesters, take a ride on faulty stair lift, and break all three simple rules for Mogwai care while discussing Joe Dante's tonal mashup. Directed by Joe Dante, executive produced by Steven Spielberg, and written by Chris Columbus. Starring Zach Galligan and Phoebe Cates, with Howie Mandel providing the voice of Gizmo.

Continuing December's Holiday theme, this week we've got one of the all-time classics - Frank Capra's 'It's a Wonderful Life'! Ben, Greg, Lindsey, and Ray discuss the 1946 film. Directed by Frank Capra, starring James Stewart, Donna Reed, Lionel Barrymore, and Henry Travers.

This December, we're getting in the holiday spirit with a full month of Christmas movies! Up first, the very wholesome, family friendly Black Christmas! Ben, Bree, and Sam discuss the 1974 Canuxploitation cult-classic, considered to be the first slasher. Directed by Bob Clark, written by A. Roy Moore, and starring Olivia Hussey, Keir Dullea, Margot Kidder, Andrea Martin, Lynne Griffin and John Saxon.

Bird Month comes to a soaring conclusion with a classic noir - The Maltese Falcon! Ben, Greg, and Ray discuss the twists, turns, and amazing characters of John Huston's directorial debut. Written and directed by John Huston, based on the 1930 novel of the same name by Dashiell Hammett, and starring Humphrey Bogart, Mary Astor, Gladys George, Peter Lorre and Sydney Greenstreet.

We take a break from Bird Month to focus on the only bird that matters this week - turkey! As in, Thanksgiving! Ben, Andy, Jeffrey, Kate, and Kay tackle two TV specials featuring iconic comic characters - one holiday classic, A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving (1973), and one complete trainwreck, Garfield's Thanksgiving (1989).

Bird Month flaps ahead with Alfred Hitchcock's bird-filled classic, The Birds! Ben, Bree, Sam, and Vaz dive in to all the pecks, squawks, and oedipal weirdness of the Master of Suspense's fowl-est film. Directed by Alfred Hitchcock, written by Evan Hunter, and starring Rod Taylor and Tippi Hedren and featuring Jessica Tandy, Suzanne Pleshette, and Veronica Cartwright.

November is Bird Month! Flying in first, it's Aardman's 2000 classic, Chicken Run! Ben and Anthony discuss the highest grossing stop motion animated film of all time. Directed by Peter Lord and Nick Park from a screenplay by Karey Kirkpatrick.

Spooky Subtitles Month takes us BACK to South Korea to catch a ride aboard Train to Busan! Ben and Anthony discuss the high-speed zombie action of this 2016 thrill ride. Directed by Yeon Sang-ho and starring Gong Yoo, Jung Yu-mi, Ma Dong-seok, Kim Su-an, Choi Woo-shik, Ahn So-hee and Kim Eui-sung.

Spooky Subtitles Month heads back to Europe for 2007's Spanish found-footage classic [•REC]! Ben, Greg, and Ray discuss the ins and (legally not allowed to come back) outs of one of the most thrilling and acclaimed films in modern horror. Co-written and directed by Jaume Balagueró and Paco Plaza and starring Manuela Velasco.