Filmspotting

"Hollywood's like Egypt, full of crumbled pyramids" with Laura Friedman & Ron Falzone | The Movie Racket

Hollywood has been dying for more than a century. At least, that's what people keep saying. This week, Michael Phillips explores one of the industry's favorite prophecie

Digger and Primetime, plus Chicago International Film Fest Preview | #1084

Not everyone hates Digger. The big swing from star Tom Cruise and director Alejandro González Iñárritu was met with chilly box office and hostility from critics, but Adam

Trial By Media, Pt. 1 — Sweet Smell of Success

Lance Oppenheim’s Primetime paints problematic TV phenomenon To Catch a Predator — and especially its host, Chris Hansen — as an enterprise fueled by ambition, amorality,

Top 5 Tom Cruise Performances | Archive

With Cruise back in ac-tor mode in Alejandro González Iñárritu's Digger, we're sharing our 2017 consideration of the long and storied career of "the last movie star." U

The Low-Budget Gumption of Shudder’s Goody Goody | SVU

For the first show of Scare-tober, Jordan and Matt take a look at the Shudder Original Goody Goody, a low-budget home-birth horror tale from first-time feature director R

Halloween ('78) vs. A Nightmare on Elm Street | Movie Death Match

Chris Klimek convenes a showdown between arguably the two most influential slasher films ever made: John Carpenter's "Halloween" and Wes Craven's "A Nightmare on Elm Stre

The Freshman (1925) with Sean Crosson | Field of Scenes

For the debut episode of their new sport and film podcast, Adam Kempenaar and University of Iowa Journalism and Mass Communication colleague Travis Vogan, PhD, are joined

Mulholland Drive at 25, plus If I Go Will They Miss Me and You Had to Be There | #1083

Two weeks after their Pantheon Project review of David Lynch’s Blue Velvet, Adam and Josh take on the director’s 2001 mind-bender, Mulholland Drive, to celebrate its 25th

Hazard Pay, Pt. 2 — The Weight

There’s a lot to enjoy about The Weight: the tactile 1930s Oregon setting, strong performances from Ethan Hawke and Russell Crowe, a premise that allows for multiple susp

Avengers: Endgame | Archive

Ahead of December's Doomsday, Avengers: Endgame is back in theaters. Here's Adam and Josh with their original 2019 review—including spoilers. Unlock the full archive, F

Netflix’s Unabomber Is the Worst Law & Order Episode Ever Made | SVU

Starring Russell Crowe and an all-grown-up Jacob Tremblay (“Room” “”Wonder”), Netflix’s Unabomber was a promising title on the fall streaming slate. Unfortunately, direct

"Be Natural" with Marya E. Gates | The Movie Racket

Film critic and author Marya E. Gates joins Michael to explore perhaps the simplest, most influential direction ever given to an actor: "Be natural." The phrase is assoc

Resident Evil and Top 5 Comedy Boom Movies, plus The Incomer | #1082

Adam and Josh welcome Filmspotting SVU co-host Matt Singer for the Top 5 Comedy Boom Movies. Singer’s new book, “Funny Business: The Old-School Wedding Crashers and Knock

Ethan Hawke | Archive

With Ethan Hawke back in theaters in the period adventure The Weight, we're sharing Adam's 2018 interview with the always thoughtful and insightful actor. Unlock the fu

Netflix’s Best of the Best is Actually Kind of the Best | SVU

The new Netflix comedy Best of the Best introduced Matt and Jordan to the world of collegiate competitive Bollywood dance, and they left converts: to the dancing, to star

Hazard Pay, Pt. 1 — Sorcerer

Padraic McKinley’s The Weight isn’t a remake ofThe Wages of Fear, though it feels deeply indebted to the H.G. Clouzot classic in its thrilling depiction of a group of out

“A picture that stays with you is made up of a hundred or more hidden things” with Alonso Duralde | The Movie Racket

Film critic and author Alonso Duralde joins Michael Phillips to explore a piece of filmmaking wisdom from Vincente Minnelli: that a picture which stays with an audience i

Featuring: Table Read Podcast | PV & FRANNY - Part 2

PV & FRANNY A girl with a glockenspiel. A boy with a guitar. A high school full of weirdos, mascots who may or may not be unhinged, and a mystery that isn’t what anyone

Blue Velvet at 40: Beneath the Surface | #1081

As David Lynch's Blue Velvet turns 40, Adam and Josh revisit the film that shocked audiences and helped define modern American cinema. Is it Lynch's masterpiece? Plus: Ma

Top 5 David Lynch Scenes | Archive

Blue Velvet turns 40 this month—Adam and Josh have a Sacred Cow review coming later this week—so we're going back to 2014 for our Top 5 David Lynch Scenes. See omnystudi