Spoiler Alert - Movie Outsiders

Co-writer/Director Sam Mendes (Jarhead) takes the audience into the trenches and through the hellscape of WWI in 1917. Nominated for 10 Academy Awards and the winner of the BAFTA, PGA, and Golden Globe for Best Picture, 1917 is a technical trick to be sure, but a harrowing emotional journey as well. Co-hosted by Ellen, this episode (recorded weeks ago) also discusses the Academy Award nominations. Posted JUST in time.

Writer J.J. Abrams (Gone Fishin’), who also directed this film, returns to close out the mega-opus Skywalker saga with Star Wars Episode IX: The Rise of Skywalker. Coming off the stinkbomb of The Last Jedi, Abrams had quite a hole to dig out of. Rather than claw his way towards the light, the filmmakers plumbed new depths. A posthumous turn from Carrie Fisher (It’s Christmas, Carol!) lends this whole affair a creepy vibe from which it never recovers. Overstuffed with fan service and an attempt to wrap up all the loose threads in the saga and to ret-con the most dumb portions of Rian Johnson’s (The Last Jedi) The Last Jedi, this bloated, exposition-heavy film splits the uprights by pleasing nearly no one. It has made a billion dollars already because this is the world in which we live.

Writer/Director Rian Johnson (Star Wars: The Last Jedi) delivers a funny, fast, and wry whodunnit packed with character actors, has-beens, and Daniel Craig (Cowboys & Aliens). Don Johnson (Machete), Jamie Lee Curtis (Beverly Hills Chihuahua), Chris Evans (Fantastic 4: Rise of the Silver Surfer), and Michael Shannon (Jonah Hex) add color and crazy to the endeavor. Johnson finds a way to turn the murder-mystery-formula on its head and keep the audience engaged until the thrilling finish.

Director Martin Scorsese (Boxcar Bertha) teams with screenwriter Steve Zaillian (Exodus: Gods and Kings) to deliver a thrilling, sad, contemplative mobster movie with The Irishman. Starring Robert DeNiro (Dirty Grandpa), Al Pacino (Jack and Jill), and Joe Pesci (Gone Fishin’), along with a strong supporting cast, great editing, and a killer soundtrack, The Irishman delivers the goods. And then he steals some. But you cannot prove it. Which is sort of the plot of the first twenty minutes or so of this movie. Spoiler Alert.

Disney (Song of the South) looks to add to their record-breaking box office year with a sequel one of the biggest animated hits ever. Frozen 2 hits a lot of the beats that made the first film so enjoyable and brings back the entertaining cast on an exciting adventure.

Writer/Director Bong Joon Ho (Snowpiercer) delivers a brilliantly complex, richly rewarding, and thoroughly entertaining film with Parasite. The Winner of the Palme d’Or at the 2019 Cannes Film Festival, look for this knockout to make a dent come awards season. This week we welcome a special co-host to the show!

Writer/Director Robert Eggers (The Witch) provides a bleak, haunting, and confounding film experience with The Lighthouse starring Willem Dafoe (Aquaman) and Robert Pattinson (Water for Elephants). The dark, dreary, sad, and scary film is really something very different. Check it out.

Renee Zellwegger (Me, Myself, and Irene) plays screen and stage legend Judy Garland in Judy. Spanning a few weeks late in the legend’s life, Judy hits the highs and lows of an impressive Hollywood career.

Writer/Director Todd Phillips (Road Trip) and star Joaquin Phoenix (SpaceCamp) offer a gritty, ugly, sad take on DC Comic’s legendary villain with Joker. With nary a hero in sight, this film takes the “comic book universe” idea to a new level giving audiences a bleak, dark, scary peek into a troubled mind lost in a chaotic world.

Director Cecil B. DeMille (The Ten Commandments) delivers a divisive Best Picture Winner with The Greatest Show on Earth. Starring Charlton Heston (True Lies) and Jimmy Stewart (Airpot ‘77), the film tracks a traveling circus on their season around the country delighting and bewildering suit-wearing audiences who haven’t learned how to eat ice cream without getting it all over themselves.

Brittany Runs A Marathon is sweet, funny, tart, challenging, and a great film for any runners or would-be runners out there. Any amateur athletes should be able to identify with the selfish, spiteful, insecure, paranoid lead character and her journey towards health and having her life on track.

Director Andy Muschietti (It) returns to conclude his six-hour horror film opus based on the monstrous, 1,000 page plus horror opus written by Stephen King. The story ping pongs around time through flashbacks and parallel stories. Jessica Chastain (Dark Phoenix), James McAvoy (Dark Phoenix), and Bill Hader (Power Rangers) headline the adult cast in this sequel to the 2017 hit.

Ready or Not is a comedic thriller, or a humorous horror movie, or a tense date film with Satanic overtones…you know what? Don’t worry about trying to categorize it. It’s one of the most fun movies we’ve seen this year. It’s just fresh enough to keep you on the edge of your seat with impressive production values and plenty of dark laughs. Be sure to catch this one.

Special guest host Dan, a serious Bruce Springsteen fan, joins us to discuss the well-reviewed but little-seen film Blinded by the Light. Directed by Gurinder Chadha (Bend it Like Beckham), this film is a love letter to Springsteen and the power of his prose to cross cultural divides and shine a light on the common human experience. Or something. Also, it may or may not be a musical. But it’s a period piece which also examines the economic woes of Thatcher-era Britain and features a violent race riot. But it’s also about finding young love, or following your dreams, or fighting with your dad? I don’t know anymore. There’s a lot going on here…

Once upon a time a new film from Quentin Tarantino (Death Proof) was a big deal. Love him or hate him, Tarantino (writer of True Romance) was never boring. That is, until he decided to give us his newest film Once Upon a Time in… Hollywood starring Leonardo DiCaprio (Celebrity), Brad Pitt (The Devil’s Own), and Margot Robbie (Whiskey Tango Foxtrot) along with a slew of Hollywood has-beens, notable character actors, and Tarantino regulars. This overly long, unnecessary film delights in getting all the period details of late 1960s California exactly right without giving any of the interesting characters anything interesting to do.

1933’s Cavalcade packs in decades of drama, melodrama, intrigue, war, love, drama, more melodrama, overacting, Stiff Upper Lips, and a pinch of drama. It’s a lot.

Director Jon Favreau (Zathura) delivers his second Walt Disney “re-imagining” with an updated animated version of The Lion King. The cast includes Donald Glover (The Muppets), Beyonce (Austin Powers: Goldmember), James Earl Jones (Scary Movie 4), and Chiwetel Ejiofor (2012). Blurring the line between animation and photorealism, this film will confound you as your friends call it “live action.”

Director Danny Boyle (28 Days Later) tries to inject his typical visual flair and kinetic energy but cannot keep up with the complete joy and immense power of the Beatles’ catalog. Himesh Patel (Aeronauts) and Lily James (Downtown Abbey) star in this fun film which could have been INCREDIBLE. Both guys liked it. Check out the episode below.

Pixar returns to the characters who started it all with Toy Story 4. Adding a chapter to their nearly-perfect trilogy was either gutsy or an enormous act of hubris. Your call. The movie is fun, though your favorite character likely receives little screen time as old characters get pushed aside for new friends. Visually stunning and surprisingly philosophical.

Writer/star Mindy Kaling (Ocean’s 8) and co-star Emma Thompson (Junior) headline a comedy about a comedy legend who nobody finds funny who spent decades warming America’s hearts in hilarious interviews but who struggles to connect with almost any human on almost any level. Sound funny?