Silver Screen Queens

This movie went from zero to “might win J.Lo an Oscar” in no time at all. As a woman-directed female-led crime story, we couldn’t wait to see it.

We didn’t really want to watch this, but we absolutely had to be part of the conversation. When people start maligning our much-loved comic book movies and thinking they can do it better, we need to get in there and see for ourselves. Joaquin Phoenix plays this (apparently) grittier, more realistic version of the Joker, directed by The Hangover’s Todd Phillips, trying to reinvent himself as an auteur. Did it deserve the top prize at Venice? We discuss.

In 2018, documentary filmmaker Rachel Lear’s followed four non-traditional female candidates for the congressional primaries. One of those candidates was Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and so this film has a ringside seat to the rise of one of the most exciting new progressive voices of our age.

Brad Pitt is getting some later-career Oscar buzz for this performance as a lone astronaut journeying across the solar system to find his missing dad. We love a good sci-fi, and that premise had us intrigued.

This new Netflix sci-fi may be only a middling look at motherhood, but less than 24 hours after this episode was recoded, Mel gave birth. Starring Hillary Swank, newcomer Clara Rugaard and a robot voiced by Rose Byrne, this film tells the story of a robot raising human children in a secure facility designed to repopulate the ruined Earth. Shot in 30 days in South Australia, with an able assist from New Zealand’s Weta, we thought it was worth our time. Now we also wonder if it had prophetic powers.

The second half of Stephen King’s IT gets the big budget, big star treatment (and nearly three hours of run time).

Oscar Isaac, Pedro Pascal and Ben Affleck in a Netflix movie? As former special forces soldiers taking on South American drug lords? Count us in! A new instalment of the long-running ‘Katie watches Oscar Isaac’s entire filmography’ series.

Mindy Kaling gave Emma Thompson the great gift of this role as the host of a long-running late night show facing oblivion as her show nears three decades on air. Kaling takes her expert-level rom-com game and applies it here to the story of a diversity hire in a white, male world, taking us on a tour of how race and gender play out in Hollywood with a comedic touch. Please also enjoy the dulcet tones of baby burbling as Mel recorded this episode with her seven week old daughter strapped to her chest.

SSQ fave Randall Park teams up with comedian Ali Wong to make a Netflix comedy about a high-flying chef reunited with her stuck-in-high-school childhood best friend after a long absence. Featuring a buzzy Keanu Reeves cameo, we had to give it a go.

Chris Pine in a Netflix movie! Where he gets naked! Sign us up! Our favourite Starfleet Captain/Superhero Love Interest/Indie Darling takes on the juicy role of 12th century rebel Scottish leader Robert the Bruce, ably supported by Aaron Taylor-Johnson and Tony Curran, and reteaming with Hell or High Water director David Mackenzie.

The Fast & Furious franchise gives its two biggest stars their own spin-off, and finally teams The Rock with Jason Statham (ably assisted by Idris Elba and Vanessa Kirby). The explosions are as big as the muscles as car nerdery gives way to more generic, physics-denying stunts, exotic locations and showy cameos as Universal wrings every last dollar out of their superhero franchise.

We missed this highly-regarded film from Korean director Park Chan-Wook (director of one of our oft-overlooked favourites, Stoker) because it missed out on an Australian release back in 2016. Based on an English novel, it tells the story of two women brought together in unusual circumstances in Japanese-ruled Korea in the 1930s. We finally caught it on Netflix in 2018.

Your friendly neighbourhood Spider-Man takes Europe, and helps Marvel audiences recover from the Endgame! We were a little late in getting this episode out, due to the small matter of the arrival of a new human.

This reboot of DIRTY ROTTEN SCOUNDRELS arrived with little fanfare, but the involvement of Anne Hathaway and Rebel Wilson meant we were all over it!

Fresh off winning the Palme d’Or at Cannes, the latest film from Snowpiercer director Bong Joon-Ho hits cinemas. It’s less supernatural than his other work, but no less intense. We get into it.

A few weeks ago, while we watched the trailer for TOY STORY 4 in a busy cinema, a small child asked loudly “why are they making a Toy Story 4?”. This week, we explore that pertinent question.

After their successful team-up in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Tessa Thompson and Chris Hemsworth join forces in an attempt to revitalise the Men In Black franchise.

It’s the X-Men movie you forgot was happening! The younger generation of mutants re-tell the story of Jean Grey’s metamorphosis into Dark Phoenix. Sophie Turner, aka Sansa Stark, is in the title role, but the franchise also features the not-insignificant talents of James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender, Nicholas Hoult, Jessica Chastain and Jennifer “I would like for my contract to be done now” Lawrence. It sure is another film in the X-men franchise!

Hot on the heels of the mega-hit Bohemian Rhapsody, Elton John gets the movie musical treatment from uncredited Rhapsody (co-)director Dexter Fletcher and hot Welsh double threat Taron Egerton. Unlike that film, Rocketman takes a more fantastical approach, crafting a good old fashioned musical from Elton’s wonderful back catalogue. Unusually for a biopic, it also benefits from the involvement of its subject, who is not afraid to share the less filmic aspects of his life.

Disney continues its “let’s re-make our beloved animated properties as live action” cash grab with Guy Ritchie’s take on the 1992 classic. Will Smith takes on Genie duties, joined by sweet newcomers Mena Massoud and Naomi Scott as Aladdin and Jasmine.

After a surprise hit, John Wick got a sequel. Now it’s become a franchise, and you know what that means: bigger names, bigger fights and a bigger universe. We process our feelings about this.

Is this a cute, funny way for the Pokémon franchise to make its way to the big screen? Or wacky Ryan Reynolds vanity project? Two Pokémon newbies investigate!

Charlize Theron continues to dominate everything she turns her hand to, starring in this romantic comedy with Seth Rogen. Theron plays a high-ranking politician planning to run for President, and Rogen is the idealistic journalist she brings on to punch up her speeches. We laugh. A lot.

It’s here! The most anticipated finale in history. Who lives, who dies, who tells the story? No spoilers for the first five minutes of the podcast (see the chapter markers), followed by 80 minutes of intense discussion, and more than a few disagreements.

Five years after THE LEGO MOVIE delivered a huge smash hit, a Lego-saturated audience delivered a resounding ‘meh’ as its sequel was gradually released around the world. It’s a shame, because THE LEGO MOVIE 2: THE SECOND PART is just as funny, and learned a few important lessons from the criticism of the first film. Nevertheless, it gave us a great chance to laugh at the one-liners, and get into a discussion of favourite Chrises.

Captain Marvel herself, Brie Larson has directed a movie, and it just dropped on Netflix. Unicorn Store tells the story of a whimsical young artist who finds herself stuck back at her parents place and temping for a terrible boss, when the offer of a pet unicorn gives her a new purpose.

Long-time SSQ fave Zachary Levi got a superhero movie and we couldn’t be more delighted. Shazam! tells the story of a hardscrabble foster kid given a sudden…boost.

Last Christmas, Jordan Peele scared the internet with a trailer featuring Lupita Nyong’o and Winston Duke being terrorised by their creepy doppelgängers. This week, we got to see it!

Based on the real-life story of WWE wrestler Paige, FIGHTING WITH MY FAMILY is supported by the producing and cameo-ing power of The Rock, but really it’s a feel-good British family drama with a sports movie twist.

We didn’t know what would happen last week in Christchurch, New Zealand when we watched this film, which is based on the real-life stories of the staff and guests of the Taj Hotel in Mumbai, caught up in a terrorist attack on 26 November 2008. We still want to review the film, because we think it’s important that these stories are told, but we understand that some listeners may find both the film and the discussion of it upsetting. An Indian-Australian co-production, from first-time director Anthony Maras, and featuring the wonderful Dev Patel and Armie Hammer, Hotel Mumbai gives an incredibly tense and taut view of a coordinated terrorist attack unfolding and the people caught up in it.

After many years of wishing and hoping and never quite believing Marvel would do the right thing, Carol Danvers Captain Marvel is here, starring Brie Larson, a delightfully de-aged Samuel L. Jackson, and a cat named Goose.

In 2017, we got way more enjoyment than we expected out of a small-budget horror flick called HAPPY DEATH DAY, and barely 18 months later, we got the sequel. Very much building on the first film, the murderous time loop adventures of Tree (Jessica Rothe) continue with new friends and, maybe, a new killer?

Based on a well-known anime, Alita is a cyborg trying to find her way in a dystopian future. Directed by Robert Rodriguez and produced and written by James Cameron, it’s a little different from what either of those two normally do.

It’s Oscar week, and our 300th episode, so we review Best Picture favourite ROMA, and do a little bonus preview of the big show, which, this year, has lost a little of its lustre.

The notorious RBG finally gets the biopic treatment. Focusing on a famous gender equality case argued by a young Ruth Bader Ginsburg, ON THE BASIS OF SEX treats us to some of the life story of everyone’s favourite Supreme Court justice.

We knew we’d have to see it eventually.

Saoirse Ronan takes on the role of Mary Stuart, the wilful and vindictive 16th century queen of Scotland, and is aided by Margot Robbie as Mary’s cousin and rival, Elizabeth I. British theatre director Josie Rourke takes on her first feature, and Katie takes on yet another period piece.

Being musical theatre nerds, we’ve been waiting for Mary to return. The magical nanny is given a sequel with the best possible combination of a delightful cast and competent director, and we…had different experiences of it…

Also known as the Lucas Hedges gay conversion film, this had some early Oscar buzz around its (mostly Australian) cast and crew. We are always here for Lucas Hedges, and we are always here for gay teens, so it seemed like it might be a good fit for us.

We haven’t had the greatest experiences with Yorgos Lanthimos’s work (see our episode from last year on The Killing of a Sacred Deer), but THE FAVOURITE opened to near-universal acclaim, has more traditional subject matter, and features some of our favourite actresses really going for it, so we dove in.

The latest addition to the DC film universe tackles one of the perpetual laughingstocks of the comic book world and makes him hot and charismatic in the form of Jason Momoa. Directed by action master James Wan, AQUAMAN also features Nicole Kidman demonstrating her range, the delightful Temuera Morrison, Willem Dafoe playing against type, and…Dolph Lundgren, enjoying a late career Lundgrenaissance.

Miles Morales finally gets his own movie (animated, but still), and it turns out to be one of the most innovative animated films in years, melding comic book and cutting edge computer animation (as long as you aren’t epileptic - this film is NOT accessible). Dropping in the week before Christmas, it’s quite the gift.

Based on the memoir of Lee Israel, a talented writer who turned to literary forgery when she fell on hard times, this gem of a movie celebrates an unapologetically queer, cranky woman trying to make it in an inhospitable world. Melissa McCarthy and Richard E. Grant star as the eccentric leads, lightly moving through an impeccably-rendered 1990s New York.

This is one set of YA novels that had passed us by, but they didn’t pass by Peter Jackson, who handed it over to his long-time storyboarder and special effects guy Christian Rivers to direct. The plucky heroine of this series is Hester Shaw, a scarred young woman hell-bent on avenging her mother’s murder. She’s joined by a blue-eyed angel in the form of Robert Sheehan as Tom, and Anna Fang, played by K-Pop star Jihae, who is worth the price of admission alone.

CREED was the best film of 2015 that hardly anyone saw (although clearly enough people saw it to make Michael B Jordan, Tessa Thomson and Ryan Coogler into stars). The sequel loses Coogler, but we are still here for it.

Steve McQueen made a heist movie starring Viola Davis, Cynthia Erivo, Elizabeth Debicki and Michelle Rodriguez and we were There For It. Packed with stars, both in front of and behind the camera, WIDOWS is also a smart, socially conscious take on an old genre.

Even though we enjoyed the first fantastic Beasts film in 2016, this sequel has been surrounded by trouble since its inception, something that has continued into the reviews, which are universally terrible. Still, we are die hard Harry Potter fans, maybe there will be something for us in there?

Suspiria is now considered a classic of both the horror genre and Italian cinema. At a recent film festival, we were lucky enough to see a remastered print. Current darling of Italian cinema, Luca Guadagnino decided to follow up the phenomenal success of Call Me By Your Name by remaking this colourful and creative piece of art.

Obviously, Damien Chazelle and Ryan Gosling’s follow up to LA LA LAND is…a Neil Armstrong biopic. We have an argument about it.

For the ninth episode in the long-running franchise, Jamie Lee Curtis returns to her iconic role as Laurie Strode, in a film that is definitely a sequel to the 1978 original, but only kinda sorta a sequel to its seven other sequels. Billed as Laurie’s final* showdown with legendary slasher Michael Myers, we find her isolated from her family (daughter Judy Greer and granddaughter Andi Matichak), and needing to tap reserves of strength and preparation built up over four decades living in fear. * refer to HALLOWEEN’s box office to see if you think there will be another film in the franchise…

“From director Bradley Cooper…” proclaimed the (excellent) trailer, and so it is. We had to wait a couple of weeks to see this in Australia, which only gave the hype train time to build up steam. So, does it live up to expectations?