This week, James, Jerah, and Jon are covering Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire. Screenplay by Terry Rossio, Simon Barrett, and Jeremy Slater, story by Terry Rossio, Adam Wingard, and Simon Barrett, directed by Adam Wingard, and starring Rebecca Hall, Brian Tyree Henry, Dan Stevens, Kaylee Hottle, Alex Ferns, and Fala Chen. Together, the guys debate whether or not the movies are back, who are/aren't, in fact, the "big two," the specifics of Hollow Earth, the kaijus' general relationship with humanity, Mothra, just how elaborate the Godzilla franchise as a whole is, which of the recent kaiju film ..read more

This week, James, Jerah, and Jon are covering Big Momma's House, the 2000 crime comedy written by Darryl Quarles and Don Rhymer, directed by Raja Gosnell, starring Martin Lawrence, Nia Long, Paul Giamatti, and Terrence Howard. Together, they cover the importance of Lawrence's career to the podcast, who did and didn't pop in comedy films in the 2000s and 2010s, what still works about the movie, what doesn't, just how much Madea owes to Big Momma, Kat Williams, and more. SUBSCRIBE TO EXCLUSIVE CONTENT AND OUR BACK CATALOG OF 400+ EPISODES:  https://app.redcircle.com/shows/7655b7ec-dc57-47c ..read more

This week, James, Jerah, and Jon are covering Blue Beetle, one of the last movies made before DC's James Gunn era. Written by Gareth Dunnet-Alcocer, directed by Ángel Manuel Soto, and starring Xolo Maridueña, Adriana Barraza, Damián Alcázar, Raoul Max Trujillo, Susan Sarandon, and George Lopez, the film released in August of 2023. Together, the guys cover the strong performances, whether or not origin stories can land at this late stage of the comic book movie boom, the host of factors that ultimately hampered its box office run, the family dynamic anchoring the plot, what the Scarab means for ..read more

It's a special, off-format episode in solidarity with the SAG-AFTRA strike! This week, Jon, Jerah, and James interview Ahmed Best and Dylan Marron about their new podcast, The Redemption of Jar Jar Binks. Together, everyone gets into the vitriolic backlash to Jar Jar in The Phantom Menace, what the response to Jar Jar led to for Black actors in performance capture film making, and what brought Ahmed and Dylan together to make the podcast. Find the show below! https://www.ted.com/podcasts/the-redemption-of-jar-jar-binks SUBSCRIBE TO EXCLUSIVE CONTENT AND OUR BACK CATALOG OF 400+ EPISODES:&nbs ..read more

This week, James, Jerah, and Jon are covering the 2024 Oscars. Together, they talk about Bray's experience attending in-person, the awards they were surprised by, the awards they weren't, the stage banter that worked, John Cena's naked presenting, what it was like to see certain films pick up momentum while others didn't, their viewing experiences, Wes Anderson the short filmmaker, and more. SUBSCRIBE TO EXCLUSIVE CONTENT AND OUR BACK CATALOG OF 400+ EPISODES:  https://app.redcircle.com/shows/7655b7ec-dc57-47c9-ab96-1a8fa02f6573/exclusive-content  JOIN OUR PATREON: https://www.patr ..read more

This week, James, Jerah, and Jon are covering Dune: Part Two, the follow-up to 2021's Dune. Written by Denis Villeneuve and Jon Spaights, directed by Denis Villeneuve, and starring Timothée Chalamet, Zendaya, Rebecca Ferguson, Josh Brolin, and Austin Butler, the film came out in March of 2024. Together, the guys cover how this latest installment pairs with the first, Zendaya's role as a lead, upcoming Zendaya projects, the power of spice, the intricate politics of Arrakis, worms, the franchise's relationship to religion, bald Austin Butler, and more. SUBSCRIBE TO EXCLUSIVE CONTENT AND OUR BAC ..read more

This week, James, Jerah and Jon dive deep on Bob Marley: One Love, written by Terence Winter, Frank E. Flowers, Zach Baylin, and Reinaldo Marcus Green, directed by Reinaldo Marcus Green, and starring Kingsley Ben-Adir, Lashana Lynch, and James Norton. Together, they cover the film's awards prospects despite its February release, its much better-than-projected opening at the box office, the strong performances, where it sits among the likes of other recent music biopics such as Rocketman and Bohemian Rhapsody, just how handsome Kingsley Ben-Adir is, wigs, and a whole lot more. SUBSCRIBE TO EXC ..read more

This week, James and Jon are joined by writer Lo Howard (Grown-ish) to tackle Passing, an adaptation of Nella Larsen's 1929 novel of the same name. Written and directed by Rebecca Hall and starring Tessa Thompson, Ruth Negga, André Holland, and Bill Camp, the film premiered on Netflix in 2021. Together, they talk Hall's adaptation choices, the surprising backstory to her taking on the book, both the practical and story logic to the film's use of black and white, whether or not the cast totally works for the material, how successful the project is in its consideration of colorism and racial pas ..read more

This week, Jerah and Jon dive deep on the 1993 rap world mockumentary CB4, written by Chris Rock, Nelson George, and Robert LoCash, directed by Tamra Davis, starring Chris Rock, Allen Payne, Deezer D, Charlie Murphy, Khandi Alexander, and Phil Hartman. Together, they cover why CB4 doesn't have the lasting cultural reputation of Spinal Tap, its many great bits, the GRAMMYs, Charlie Murphy, and what has and hasn't aged well about the film. SUBSCRIBE TO EXCLUSIVE CONTENT AND OUR BACK CATALOG OF 400+ EPISODES:  https://app.redcircle.com/shows/7655b7ec-dc57-47c9-ab96-1a8fa02f6573/exclusive-co ..read more

This week, James, Jerah, and Jon dive deep on the 2023 sci-fi comedy They Cloned Tyrone, written by Juel Taylor and Tony Rettenmaier, directed by Taylor, and starring John Boyega, Teyonah Parris, Jamie Foxx, and Keifer Sutherland. Together, they cover how the film connected with audiences despite premiering on Netflix, talk through its dense, fun story logic, and dive into the filmmaker's technical approach to the material. SUBSCRIBE TO EXCLUSIVE CONTENT AND OUR BACK CATALOG OF 400+ EPISODES:  https://app.redcircle.com/shows/7655b7ec-dc57-47c9-ab96-1a8fa02f6573/exclusive-content  J ..read more