Late to the Movies

This year's Oscar Month reaches its apex with the 2025 edition of THE LATIES! On Late to the Movies' trademark awards show, Ben, Greg, Jordan, Ray, and Robbie consider who they'd pick for the top awards in cinema, with some help from fan voting.

Oscars Month continues with Edward Berger's Conclave! Ben, Brady, and Patrick cast their votes for this pulpy papal thriller. Directed by Edward Berger and written by Peter Straughan, based on the 2016 novel by Robert Harris. Starring Ralph Fiennes, Stanley Tucci, John Lithgow, Sergio Castellitto, and Isabella Rossellini.

It's Oscars Month! Kicking off AFTER the 97th Academy Awards, the podcast will spend this month focused on some of the nominees that vied for Best Picture this year. Up first, Anora! Recorded the week before the ceremony, Ben, Greg, Ray, and Robbie discuss the film that would give director/writer/producer/editor Sean Baker the most Oscar wins in one night for a single film. Written, directed, produced, and edited by Sean Baker and starring Mikey Madison, Mark Eydelshteyn, Yura Borisov, Karren Karagulian, Vache Tovmasyan, and Aleksei Serebryakov.

The jellicle choice is made, as Catshog Month comes to a merciful conclusion. Ben, Greg, and Ray discuss what could be the worst movie they've ever seen seven times (and counting). One more time, it's CATS! "Directed" by Tom Hooper, and "starring" James Corden, Judi Dench, Jason Derulo, Idris Elba, Jennifer Hudson, Ian McKellen, Taylor Swift, Rebel Wilson and Francesca Hayward.

HELP! Catshog Month's reign of terror continues as Ben, Bree, Sam, and Vaz compete to be the jellicle choice in part three of the most confusingly-received theme we've ever done! It's CATS! again! "Directed" by Tom Hooper, and "starring" James Corden, Judi Dench, Jason Derulo, Idris Elba, Jennifer Hudson, Ian McKellen, Taylor Swift, Rebel Wilson and Francesca Hayward.

Catshog Month continues (it really sounds better out loud than written) as Ben and a new crop of jellicle cats (Noah and Robbie) return to the heaviside layer to discuss 2019's CATS! "Directed" by Tom Hooper, and "starring" James Corden, Judi Dench, Jason Derulo, Idris Elba, Jennifer Hudson, Ian McKellen, Taylor Swift, Rebel Wilson and Francesca Hayward.

It's Catshog Month on the podcast, so you know what that means! Every episode this month will be on Tom Hooper's 2019 film adaptation of Andrew Lloyd Webber's CATS! Ben, Josh, and Mimi kick off the most jellicle month in the jellicle history of the jellicle show. "Directed" by Tom Hooper, and "starring" James Corden, Judi Dench, Jason Derulo, Idris Elba, Jennifer Hudson, Ian McKellen, Taylor Swift, Rebel Wilson and Francesca Hayward.

Big Tilda Swinter comes to its thrilling conclusion with Luca Guadagnino's Suspiria! Ben, Bree, and Sam discuss the 2018 remake of Dario Argento's classic. Directed by Luca Guadagnino and starring Dakota Johnson, Tilda Swinton, Mia Goth, Tilda Swinton, Elena Fokina, Tilda Swinton and Chloë Grace Moretz.

Big Tilda Swinter, AKA We Need to Talk About Tilda rolls along with the 2007 legal thriller Michael Clayton! Ben, Greg, Lindsey, Marshall, and Ray discuss George Clooney's starring role in Tony Gilroy's acclaimed directorial debut. Written and directed by Tony Gilroy and starring George Clooney, Tom Wilkinson, Tilda Swinton, and Sydney Pollack.

Big Tilda Swinter continues with Constantine! Ben, Brady, and Patrick discuss Tilda's supporting, but integral role in the quasi-cult classic 2005 comic adaptation. Directed by Francis Lawrence and starring Keanu Reeves, Rachel Weisz, Shia LaBeouf, Tilda Swinton, Gavin Rossdale, and Peter Stormare.

Big Tilda Swinter is has arrived! In this month-long look at Tilda Swinton, we'll watch a bunch of Tilda Swinton movies... this one is not as conceptual as some recent months! Up first, Lynne Ramsay's We Need to Talk About Kevin! Ben and Anthony need to talk about the performances, visuals, and substance of one of Tilda Swinton's showcase roles. Directed by Lynne Ramsay, co-written by Ramsay and Rory Stewart Kinnear, and starring Tilda Swinton, John C. Reilly, and Ezra Miller.

Released on Christmas Day Month continues/ends with another Leo joint - The Wolf of Wall Street! Ben and Patrick discuss the decade-long debate over the excess and morals of Martin Scorsese's 2013 darkly comic, loosely biographical film about Jordan Belfort. Directed by Martin Scorsese, written by Terence Winter, and starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Jonah Hill, Margot Robbie, Matthew McConaughey, and Kyle Chandler.

Released on Christmas Day Month begins/continues (long story) with Django Unchained! Ben, Greg, Lindsey, Marshall, and Ray discuss Quentin Tarantino's 2012 revisionist Western to get in the holiday spirit. Written and directed by Quentin Tarantino, starring Jamie Foxx, Christoph Waltz, Leonardo DiCaprio, Kerry Washington, and Samuel L. Jackson.

Sword and Sandals Month concludes with Stanley Kubrick's blockbuster 1960 collaboration with Kirk Douglas, Spartacus! Ben and Patrick break down the vaugely-historical epic to decide once and for all: sword OR sandals?! Directed by Stanley Kubrick, adapted by Dalton Trumbo, and starring Kirk Douglas, Laurence Olivier, Charles Laughton, Peter Ustinov, Jean Simmons, and Tony Curtis.

Sword and Sandals Month continues with 1963's Jason and the Argonauts! Ben and Brady discuss all the swords, sandals, and classic Ray Harryhausen stop-motion creatures in this loose mythological adaptation. Directed by Don Chaffey with visual effects by Ray Harryhausen. Starring Todd Armstrong, Nancy Kovack, Honor Blackman, and Gary Raymond.

November is Sword and Sandals month! All month, we'll focus on mythical and mythic-ish movies, starting with 2010's Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief! Ben, Bree, Sam, and Vaz break down the watered-down (ha!) first attempt at adapting Rick Riordan's Percy Jackson series. Directed by Chris Columbus, starring Logan Lerman, Brandon T. Jackson, and Alexandra Daddario, and featuring Sean Bean, Pierce Brosnan, Steve Coogan, Rosario Dawson, Catherine Keener, Joe Pantoliano, and Uma Thurman.

Sam Neilloween culminates with John Carpenter's In the Mouth of Madness! Ben, Greg, and Ray discuss the goofy eldritch hijinks of Sam Neill's trip to northern New England. Directed by John Carpenter, written by Michael De Luca, and starring Sam Neill, Julie Carmen, Jürgen Prochnow, David Warner and Charlton Heston.

Sam Neilloween vamps it up with 2009's_ Daybreakers_! Ben and Patrick discuss the surprisingly star-filled, surprisingly ambitious Spierig Brothers dystopian sci-fi/action/horror/thriller film. Written and directed by Michael and Peter Spierig and starring Ethan Hawke, Willem Dafoe, AND Sam Neill.

Sam Neilloween blasts off to somewhere near Neptune with 1997's Event Horizon! Ben, Sam, and Vaz discuss Sam Neill's predictably full-send performance in the Paul W.S. Anderson... classic? Directed by Paul W. S. Anderson, written by Philip Eisner, and starring Laurence Fishburne, Sam Neill, Kathleen Quinlan, and Joely Richardson.

Sam Neilloween continues with Andrzej Żuławski's 1981 cult-classic, Possession! This week finds our hero caught in a psychological domestic divorce horror opposite a Cannes Best Actress-winning performance from Isabelle Adjani. Ben, Cory, and Noah discuss the fully... committed? unhinged? performances and vague plot of Possession. Directed by Andrzej Żuławski and starring Sam Neill and Isabelle Adjani.

This year's October theme is Sam Neilloween! We'll be going deep on one of the most underrated and fearless actors of modern cinema, watching only Sam Neill-starring films all month. First up: the re-re-release of our episode on Jurassic Park, originally released in July 2022. Ben, Greg, Kyle, Lyndsey, and Ray discuss Neill's biggest film, the 1993 Steven Spielberg blockbuster that set a new standard for special effects in film (and also has that weird laugh that Jeff Goldblum does). It's weird they never made any legacy sequels to this one! Directed by Steven Spielberg and starring Sam Neill, Laura Dern, Jeff Goldblum, and Richard Attenborough.

"(Going) Back to (Look at) the Future Month" reaches its epic conclusion with Stanley Kubrick's "2001: A Space Odyssey." Ben, Greg, Lindsey, Marshall, and Ray discuss this vision of 2001 from the perspective of 1968; one of the most referenced, parodied, discussed, dissected, and imitated films of all time. Directed by Stanley Kubrick, written by Kubrick and Arthur C. Clarke, and starring Keir Dullea, Gary Lockwood, William Sylvester, and Douglas Rain.

"(Going) Back to (Look at) the Future Month" leaves dystopian futures behind (finally) and delves into the surrealist dreamscape of Satoshi Kon's Paprika (2006)! Ben, Cory, and Noah join the dream parade to discuss the animated classic, set in 2006's near-future. Directed by Satoshi Kon, co-written by Satoski Kon and Seishi Minakami, and based on the 1993 novel of the same name by Yasutaka Tsutsui.

"(Going) Back to (Look at) the Future Month" continues with Paul Michael Glaser's 1987 vision of a dystopian 2019 - The Running Man! Ben and Anthony discuss the unapologetically dumb, one-liner filled, Schwarzenegger-starring, incredibly loose adaptation of the Stephen King novel of the same name. Directed by Paul Michael Glaser and starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, María Conchita Alonso, Richard Dawson, Yaphet Kotto, and Jesse Ventura.

Going Back to (Look at) the Future month continues with 1995's somewhat-reclaimed Johnny Mnemonic! Ben and Brady discuss the William Gibson-penned, Robert Longo-directed, Keanu Reeves-starring, notorious cyberpunk flop that predicted a 2021 that included a global pandemic... hmm! Directed by Robert Longo and written by William Gibson, adapting his own short story. Starring Keanu Reeves, Takeshi Kitano, Dolph Lundgren, Ice-T and Dina Meyer.

New month, new theme... after spending last month looking at the past, in September we're "going back to (look at) the future!" That means we'll be talking about movies set in the future relative to film's release but in a year that has already happened in the real world. For instance: 1990's Predator 2, set in near-future 1997 in Los Angeles. Ben, Bree, Sam, and Vaz discuss the extremely sweaty, trash-strewn action of this non-Arnold sequel. Directed by Stephen Hopkins and starring Danny Glover, Gary Busey, Ruben Blades, María Conchita Alonso, Bill Paxton, and Kevin Peter Hall.

1999 Month rolls on with the very chill, very non-divisive Eyes Wide Shut! Ben, Greg, Ray, and Robbie all totally agree while discussing the unquestionably (maybe!) masterful Stanley Kubrick classic. Directed and co-written by Stanley Kubrick and starring Tom Cruise, Nicole Kidman, and Sydney Pollack.

1999 Month continues with Anthony Minghella's The Talented Mr. Ripley! Ben and Brady discuss the twists, turns, and idyllic Italian setting of the Matt Damon-starring thriller. Written and directed by Anthony Minghella, starring Matt Damon, and featuring Jude Law, Gwyneth Paltrow, Cate Blanchett, and Philip Seymour Hoffman.

This month we're gonna podcast like it's 1999! We're turning the clock back to pre-Y2K to celebrate the 25th anniversary of some of the best films in a great year for movies. First up: M. Night Shyamalan's The Sixth Sense! Ben and Anthony discuss the twists and turns of Shyamalan's most celebrated, most Oscar nominated, and most dead-people-seeing thriller. Written and directed by M. Night Shyamalan and starring Bruce Willis, Haley Joel Osment, and Toni Collette.

"Halloween in June: Part II - July" returns to the franchise that gives the month's theme its name with_ Halloween III: Season of the Witch_! Ben, Greg, and Ray discuss the Irish Stonehenge magic in this Michael Myers-less installment of the classic series. Written and directed by Tommy Lee Wallace and starring Tom Atkins, Stacey Nelkin, and Dan O'Herlihy.

"Halloween in June: Part II - July" returns to the Nightmare on Elm Street franchise with Wes Craven's New Nightmare! Ben and Patrick discuss the meta-slasher that Wes Craven made before Scream, a box office bomb that killed Freddy Krueger for almost a decade but is actually pretty good! Written and directed by Wes Craven and starring Robert Englund, Heather Langenkamp, and Miko Hughes.

"Halloween in June: Part II - July" continues our monthlong exploration of inexplicable sequels to horror movies we've done before with Jason X! Ben, Cory, and Noah discuss the self-parodic, "what if Jason went to space?" plotting of the tenth entry in the Friday the 13th series. Directed by Jim Isaac, written by Todd Farmer and starring Lexa Doig, Lisa Ryder, Chuck Campbell, and Kane Hodder.

Get ready for 'Halloween in June: Part II - July!' This month, we're talking about poorly received sequels to horror movies we've done in the past. First up, a kind-of prequel to one of our earliest episodes - Alien - it's Ridley Scott's Prometheus! Ben, Bree, Robbie, Sam, and Vaz discuss the lore-dense film, fifth in the Alien franchise, that was meant to kickoff a still-unfinished prequel trilogy about a maybe evil, definitely sexy robot. And, also, there's eventually xenomorphs. Directed by Ridley Scott and co-written by Jon Spaihts and Damon Lindelof. Starring Noomi Rapace, Michael Fassbender, Guy Pearce, Idris Elba, Logan Marshall-Green, and Charlize Theron.

Pride Month continues with Barry Jenkins' Moonlight! Ben, Brady, and Patrick discuss the Oscar winning film. Written and directed by Barry Jenkins, based on Tarell Alvin McCraney's unpublished semi-autobiographical play In Moonlight Black Boys Look Blue. It stars Trevante Rhodes, Mahershala Ali, Naomie Harris, Ashton Sanders, Jharrel Jerome, Janelle Monáe, and André Holland.

Pride Month continues with Céline Sciamma's Portrait of a Lady on Fire! Ben, Greg, Lindsey, Marshall, and Ray discuss the instant classic, which ranked 30th on the 2022 edition of Sight and Sound's critics' list of the greatest films of all time. Written and directed by Céline Sciamma, starring Noémie Merlant and Adèle Haenel.

It's Pride Month and we're kicking it off with 1999's But I'm a Cheerleader! Ben, Andy, Aquielle, and Kate discuss Jamie Babbit's conversion camp cult classic, starring Natasha Lyonne and Clea Duvall. Directed by Jamie Babbit, written by Brian Wayne Peterson, and starring Natasha Lyonne, Clea DuVall, Melanie Lynskey, RuPaul, and Cathy Moriarty.

It's the final episode of DCOM May, and we're blasting off with Zenon: Girl of the 21st Century! Ben, Kyle, Steph, and Miss Southeastern MA Teen 2024 Jaime discuss the 1999 Disney Channel classic. Directed by Kenneth Johnson and starring Kirsten Storms and Raven-Symoné.

DCOM May rolls on with 1999's Smart House! Ben, Andy, Cheddar, and Aquielle discuss the pre-Y2K-typifying millenial... classic? Directed by LeVar Burton and starring Katey Sagal, Ryan Merriman, Katie Volding, Kevin Kilner, and Jessica Steen.

DCOM May, our month-long look at Disney Channel Original Movies, continues with 2001's Motocrossed! Ben and Anthony tackle the second Twelfth Night adaption that we've covered after She's the Man and discuss who well it holds up... if at all! Directed by Steve Boyum and starring Alana Austin, Riley Smith, Mary-Margaret Humes, and Trever O'Brien.

May is DCOM Month! By shockingly popular request, this month we're covering Disney Channel Original Movies and our first one is the third one ever: 1998's Brink! Ben, Sam, and Vaz get worked by this totally phat time capsule "film" from Greg Beeman, extremely loosely based on "Hans Brinker, or the Silver Skates" by Mary Mapes Dodge. Directed by Greg Beeman, starring Erik von Detten, Sam Horrigan, Christina Vidal, and David Graf.

For the last week of One Night Only Month we're talking about 2007's Superbad! Ben, Andy, Aquielle, and Kate discuss Greg Mottola's totemic millennial buddy-comedy. Directed by Greg Mottola, written by Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg, and produced by Judd Apatow. Starring Jonah Hill and Michael Cera and featuring Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Seth Rogen, Bill Hader, and Emma Stone.

One Night Only Month turns the clocks back to 1985 to stay up way too late with Martin Scorcese's After Hours! Ben and Vaz discuss the nocturnal misadventures of Griffin Dunne's protagonist, Paul, in this New York classic. Directed by Martin Scorsese, written by Joseph Minion, starring Griffin Dunne, and featuring Rosanna Arquette, Teri Garr, Linda Fiorentino, Verna Bloom, Cheech Marin, Tommy Chong, John Heard, and Catherine O'Hara.

One Night Only Month burns the midnight oil with Mike Nichols' directorial debut - Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? Ben, Greg, Lindsey, Marshall, and Ray discuss the ups and downs of the Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton-starring 1966 classic. Directed by Mike Nichols, adaptated from Edward Albee's 1962 play of the same name. Starring Elizabeth Taylor, Richard Burton, George Segal, and Sandy Dennis.

One-Night-Only Month continues with The Cabin in the Woods! Ben, Bree, and Sam discuss Drew Goddard's 2011 horror-comedy satire. Directed by Drew Goddard, written by Joss Whedon and Goddard, and starring Kristen Connolly, Chris Hemsworth, Anna Hutchison, Fran Kranz, Jesse Williams, Richard Jenkins, and Bradley Whitford.

New month, new theme! All April long will be One Night Only - a celebration of films that (mostly) take place in just one night. First up is our latest look at a John Carpenter classic - Escape from New York! Ben and Anthony discuss the debut of Kurt Russell's most iconic character, Snake Plissken, the bizarre-yet-cool tone created by Carpenter (and cinematographer Dean Cundey), and the free production value of shooting this movie in St. Louis... which just kind of looked like that at the time. Co-written, co-scored and directed by John Carpenter, and starring Kurt Russell, Lee Van Cleef, Ernest Borgnine, Donald Pleasence, Isaac Hayes, Adrienne Barbeau, and Harry Dean Stanton.

Oscar Month concludes with the Third Annual Laties Awards Best Picture winner - Yorgos Lanthimos' Poor Things! Ben, Bree, Sam, and Vaz discuss the stacked cast, bizarre tone, and Oscar-winning design of the instant classic. Directed by Yorgos Lanthimos, written by Tony McNamara, and starring Emma Stone, Mark Ruffalo, Willem Dafoe, Ramy Youssef, Christopher Abbott, and Jerrod Carmichael.

It's finally here! Oscars Month hits its undisputed high point with the awards show we've all been for - The Third Annual Laties Awards! Ben, Greg, Jordan, Ray, and Robbie (and the all-important fan votes!) decide what 2023 movies will take home the hardware. Will sentimental favorite Past Lives" break "Poor Things' heart? Will Messi the dog (from Anatomy of a Fall) win our first ever animal award?? Will Barbie OR Oppenheimer win anything meaningful (aside from hundreds of millions of dollars)?!? Listen now to find out!! Theme song: "In to the Deep" by Robbie

The actual Oscars may have already happened, but it's still Oscar Month on the pod! This week's Best Picture nominee - Greta Gerwig's Barbie! Ben, Andy, Aquielle, Jeffrey, and Kate discuss 2023's highest-grossing movie. Directed by Greta Gerwig, screenplay by Gerwig and Noah Baumbach, starring Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling, and featuring America Ferrera, Michael Cera, Kate McKinnon, Issa Rae, Rhea Perlman, and Will Ferrell.

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.