This week, Morgan and Gavia dive into Todd Haynes' 2002 masterpiece Far From Heaven, starring Julianne Moore as a 1950s housewife, Dennis Quaid as her closeted husband, and Dennis Haysbert as the gardener with whom she falls in love. They discuss the film's relationship to Douglas Sirk's 1950s women's pictures, its recreation and subversion of period aesthetics and attitudes, the stunning performances from the main cast members, and much more.
Read MoreThis week, Gavia and Morgan discuss Baz Luhrmann's directorial debut, the beloved Australian classic Strictly Ballroom (1992), starring Paul Mercurio as a would-be champion ballroom dancer and Tara Morice as his unlikely partner. Topics include the development of Luhrmann's distinct aesthetic, the film's successful deployment of tropes and queer subtext, and much more.
Read MoreThis week, Gavia and Morgan discuss Mike White's buzzy summer hit The White Lotus, starring Jennifer Coolidge, Murray Bartlett, Steve Zahn, and many more as the guests and staff at a luxury resort in Hawaii. Topics include the show's rushed production due to COVID, its treatment of class and colonialism, its extraordinary cast, and much more.
Read MoreThis week, Gavia and Morgan delve into Jaws (1975), Steven Spielberg's breakthrough film and arguably the first American blockbuster. Topics include the film's enduring political resonance; its clever deployment of suspense (and that shark animatronic); performances by Roy Scheider, Richard Dreyfuss, Robert Shaw; and much more.
Read MoreThis week, Gavia and Morgan discuss Ganja & Hess, Bill Gunn's classic experimental horror film, starring Duane Jones and Marlene Clark. Topics include the film's beleaguered initial release, its engagement with blaxploitation and vampire tropes, its unconventional narrative and visual style, and more.
Read MoreThis week, Morgan and Gavia take a seasonal break to discuss the 2017 Christmas hit A Bad Moms Christmas, starring Mila Kunis, Kristen Bell, and Kathryn Hahn as the titular trio of bad moms who have to contend with their own bad moms, played by Christine Baranski, Cheryl Hines, and Susan Sarandon, showing up for the holiday. Topics include gender roles in mainstream American comedy, this film's financial success, the divine presence of Christine Baranski, and more.
Read MoreThis week, Gavia and Morgan discuss newly crowned Palme d'Or winner Julia Ducournau's previous feature, Raw (2016), a deliciously gruesome horror film about a young veterinary student who discovers the allure of cannibalism. Topics include the film's genuinely shocking moments of violence, its treatment of teenage female sexuality, excellent performances by stars Garance Marillier and Ella Rumpf, and more.
Read MoreThis week, Gavia and Morgan break down Marvel's disappointing Loki show, starring Tom Hiddleston as the titular god of mischief. They discuss the show's failure to escape now-familiar MCU problems, critique its handling of its beloved central character, ponder the state of Tom Hiddleston's career, and more.
Read MoreThis week, Morgan and Gavia discuss No Sudden Move, Steven Soderbergh's new neo-noir film now streaming on HBO Max, featuring a dazzling cast that includes Don Cheadle, Benicio del Toro, Amy Seimetz, Jon Hamm, Ray Liotta, and many many more. They consider the film in the context of classic noirs as well as Soderbergh's filmography, debate the merits of its storytelling approach, praise its actors, and more.
Read MoreIn this week's episode, Gavia and Morgan find themselves unexpectedly at odds over classic movie musical The Music Man (1962), starring Robert Preston as small-time conman Harold Hill and Shirley Jones as the librarian who falls for him in spite of herself. Is this movie justifiably beloved or an interminable purgatory? You be the judge.
Read MoreThis week, Gavia and Morgan discuss millennial children's classic The NeverEnding Story, Wolfgang Petersen's adaptation of Michael Ende's bestselling novel. They delve into the making of the film, critique its wobbly plot structure, compare it to other beloved fantasy films of the 1980s, and more.
Read MoreThis week, Gavia and Morgan discuss The Empty Man, an under-seen horror gem from 2020 rapidly approaching cult status. Directed by David Prior and starring James Badge Dale and Marin Ireland, this film follows an ex-cop whose investigation into a missing teenager leads him deeper and deeper into a mysterious cult. Topics include the film's tortured production history and delayed release, its provocative mixture of conventional horror aesthetics and more deeply disturbing ideas, a spoilery discussion of the twist ending, and more.
Read MoreThis week, Gavia and Morgan discuss the classic anime film Akira (1988), directed by Katsuhiro Otomo. Topics include the film's storied production history and rich worldbuilding, its influence and legacy, and its allegorical treatment of nuclear war.
Read MoreThis week, Gavia and Morgan discuss acclaimed German film System Crasher, starring Helena Zengel as a traumatized girl living in a series of residential homes for troubled children. Topics include the film's sensitive handling of its young protagonist and the system attempting to help her, director Nora Fingscheidt’s approach to working with a child actor, other films about wild children, and more.
Read MoreThis week, Gavia and Morgan discuss Rose Glass' critically acclaimed debut feature, the indie horror flick Saint Maud, starring Morfydd Clark as an intensely religious hospice nurse and Jennifer Ehle as her terminally ill patient. Topics include the film's sensational technical accomplishments, superb performances from Clark and Ehle, the film's engagement (or lack thereof) with Catholic iconography, and much more.
Read MoreThis week, Morgan and Gavia discuss Preston Sturges' gloriously cynical screwball classic The Lady Eve, starring Barbara Stanwyck as a con artist and Henry Fonda as her gullible mark. Topics include Sturges' unique approach to romantic comedy, this film's place within the genre of films about competent women romancing dolts, Barbara Stanwyck's dazzling career, and much more.
Read MoreThis week, Morgan and Gavia discuss the first installment in Alan Pakula's paranoia trilogy, the 1971 film Klute, starring Jane Fonda and Donald Sutherland. Topics include Fonda's career and star persona, the film's relationship to both the paranoia thriller genre and to second wave feminism, its depiction of sex work, and more.
Read MoreThis week, Gavia and Morgan discuss the beloved 2011 alien invasion movie Attack the Block, written and directed by Joe Cornish and starring John Boyega and Jodie Whittaker. Topics include the film's superb screenplay and slick direction, its smart fusion of genre and social commentary, Boyega's breakout performance and star persona, and more.
Read MoreThis week, Gavia and Morgan investigate what went wrong with David Lynch's adaptation of Frank Herbert's mammoth fantasy novel Dune. They discuss the film's tormented production history, the peculiar and not tremendously good film that resulted, Lynch's disavowal of the finished product, and more.
Read MoreThis week, Gavia and Morgan take a critical look at Oscar darling Promising Young Woman, the debut film from Emerald Fennell that stars Carey Mulligan and Bo Burnham. Topics include the film's dubious approach to rape revenge narratives, its generally lackluster screenplay, its hollow aesthetic, and more. (TW for discussions of rape and sexual violence)
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