American film critic
POPULARITY
105 episodes with siskel
28 episodes with siskel
22 episodes with siskel
14 episodes with siskel
24 episodes with siskel
21 episodes with siskel
20 episodes with siskel
5 episodes with siskel
4 episodes with siskel
8 episodes with siskel
7 episodes with siskel
4 episodes with siskel
5 episodes with siskel
10 episodes with siskel
4 episodes with siskel
4 episodes with siskel
3 episodes with siskel
4 episodes with siskel
Gay homosexuals Nick and Joseph review The Girl That Got Glue Stuck in Her Hair - a 2025 film directed by Alvin Gray, starring Tessica Brown. Additional topics include:Siskel & EbertThe Real Friends of WeHoParis Jackson's noseBrad Goreski leaving Canada's Drag RaceThe deaths of Sally Kirkland, Tatsuya Nakadai, and Homayoun ErshadiJoin us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/FishJellyFilmReviewsWant to send them stuff? Fish Jelly PO Box 461752 Los Angeles, CA 90046Find merch here: https://fishjellyfilmreviews.myspreadshop.com/allVenmo @fishjellyVisit their website at www.fishjellyfilms.comFind their podcast at the following: Anchor: https://anchor.fm/fish-jelly Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/388hcJA50qkMsrTfu04peH Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/fish-jelly/id1564138767Find them on Instagram: Nick (@ragingbells) Joseph (@joroyolo) Fish Jelly (@fishjellyfilms)Find them on Letterboxd: https://letterboxd.com/ragingbells/ https://letterboxd.com/joroyolo/Nick and Joseph are both Tomatometer-approved critics at Rotten Tomatoes: https://www.rottentomatoes.com/critics/nicholas-bell https://www.rottentomatoes.com/critics/joseph-robinson
For their fourth film together, Yorgos Lanthimos and Emma Stone get weird and go bald in BUGONIA with Jesse Plemons as Stone's conspiracy-obsessed kidnapper. Adam and Josh discuss, along with reviews of Lynne Ramsay's DIE MY LOVE starring Jennifer Lawrence, Kelly Reichardt's THE MASTERMIND with Josh O'Connor, and film-of-the-year candidate IT WAS JUST AN ACCIDENT, the latest from Jafar Panahi. This episode is presented by Regal Unlimited, the all-you-can-watch movie subscription pass that pays for itself in just two visits. (Timecodes and chapter starts may not be precise with ads.) Intro (00:00:00-00:02:36) Bugonia (00:02:37-00:30:40) Die My Love (00:30:41-00:48:44) Filmspotting Family (00:48:45-00:51:48) The Mastermind (00:51:49-01:14:08) Mastermind Prize (01:14:09-01:17:49) It Was Just an Accident (01:17:50-01:34:18) Next Week / Notes (01:34:19-01:45:55) Polls (01:45:56-01:56:08) Credits / New Releases (01:56:09-02:00:04) Links: -Poll: Actor/Director Duos Since 2000 https://poll.fm/16260111 -Siskel & Ebert at 50: Lone Star with Adam and Michael https://luma.com/pwlqid75 -Fear Not! (50% Off + Free Shipping; code CONFSHIP, select Media Mail) https://wipfandstock.com/9781666738520/fear-not/ -London Meetup w/Josh on Dec. 11 https://forms.gle/rUcgUKicTddzwFBs5 RSVP: Feedback: -Email us at feedback@filmspotting.net. -Ask Us Anything and we might answer your question in bonus content. Support: -Join the Filmspotting Family for bonus episodes and archive access. http://filmspottingfamily.com -T-shirts and more available at the Filmspotting Shop. https://www.filmspotting.net/shop Follow: https://www.instagram.com/filmspotting https://letterboxd.com/filmspotting https://facebook.com/filmspotting https://twitter.com/filmspotting https://letterboxd.com/larsenonfilm https://www.instagram.com/larsenonfilm https://bsky.app/profile/larsenonfilm.bsky.social Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Our adventures in film review webcasts continue with our look at On Cinema at the Cinema, Seasons 1 and 2 (from 2012-13)! It's a comedic riff on Siskel and Ebert from Tim Heidecker and Gregg Turkington. But will Parker Bowman, noted Tim skeptic, give it five bags of popcorn? Or only four? Also! We chat about the good/bad/ugly movies that Tim and Gregg reviewed over a decade ago! So #DonloydNow and enjoy this bite-sized Junk Food Supper. We got all this plus Parker's Survival Status vs his Thriving Rate, faintly sweet memories of a sticker (puffed), struggles to sleep while the rooster crows, Sean Byron's patented Star Trek Chats segment, the amazing directorial career of the director of the sequel to RZA's Man with the Iron Fists movie, sneezes, blank stares, gleeks and so much more!! Direct Donloyd Here Got a movie suggestion for the show, or better yet an opinion on next week's movies? Drop us a line at JFDPodcast@gmail.com. Or leave us a voicemail: 347-746-JUNK (5865). Add it to your telephone now! JOIN THE CONVERSATION! Also, if you like the show, please take a minute and subscribe and/or comment on us on iTunes, Stitcher, Blubrry or Podfeed.net. Check us out on Facebook and Twitter! We'd love to see some of your love on Patreon - it's super easy and fun to sign up for the extra bonus content. We'll rewatch The Hobbit for your love and support. With picks like these, you GOTTA #DonloydNow and listen in!
The two rival newspaper critics began their landmark pairing on Chicago public television.
In 2027 immigration will be completely illegal and armed troops will roam the streets imposing a brutal military dictatorship on us all! Also we're watching Children of Men, this time on Harmless Phosphorescence! Support the show and get early access and exclusive content on Patreon! Watch us on YouTube! Buy some Merch! https://www.teepublic.com/stores/attention-hellmart-shoppers Check out Executive Producer Michael Beckwith's movie website at https://upallnightmovies.com/ Siskel and Ebert Scale Josh - Up Brian - Up Al - Up Thoreau - Up
Send us a text7:46 Predator: Badlands21:02 Die My Love27:54 Christy34:59 Nuremberg42:43 Sentimental ValueIt's a 5-movie week here on 'Roger (Ebert) & Me,' the only comprehensive 'Siskel & Ebert'-style review show out there. A film criticism podcast. Mark did 15. Show-off! Please rate and review on Apple Podcasts. Even if you're on Spotify or YouTube, jump over there and throw us 5 stars. We can't get on RottenTomatoes until 200 people rate it! 'Roger & Me' is a movie review podcast covering all new releases, both theatrical and streaming, every Friday, modeled after 'Siskel & Ebert.' Hosted by Mark Dujsik of markreviewsmovies.com & Brett Arnold of Yahoo Entertainment and The New Flesh podcast, a show about horror movies that is currently celebrating its tenth year.Support the show
Send us a textThis week on the show!Only Monsters play God in Del Toro's:Frankenstein (that's in limited theatrical release right now but releases on Netflix Nov 7th.) Who took Riley Brennan in: Shelby Oaksand finally It all starts with something Magnificent Emma Stone stars in:Bugonia*Support the show by leaving a review on Apple podcast or Spotify! *You can now listen to The Movie Wire on YouTube! Listen and subscribe here!Make sure you check out The Gaming Views PodcastListen Here followed, or subscribed to The Cultworthy Cinema Podcast and The Movie Wire's crossover show Back 2 the Balcony, now is your time, because this week, we shake things up with a quiz show! This week I quiz Antonio with some memorable Siskel and Ebert reviews to see if he can guess the movie! Listen HereSupport the show
Columnist and film critic Richard Roeper joins Bob Sirott to talk about complaints about smoking on the CTA and how they would address a smoker in that situation. He also shares details about a celebration honoring Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert and how he will participate in the events.
This week we bring back the SISKEL AND EBERT QUIZ SHOW!It's Justin's turn to quiz me - he brings a handful of clips from the tv show and I get to guess what film they are reviewing!How did I do??SUBSCRIBE TODAY!Visit thecultworthy.comVisit https://www.themoviewire.comVideo: https://www.youtube.com/@back2thebalcony
Lesbian panic and Emos and myspace oh my! We're watching Jennifer's Body, this time on Haunted Phosphorescence! Support the show and get early access and exclusive content on Patreon! Watch us on YouTube! Buy some Merch! https://www.teepublic.com/stores/attention-hellmart-shoppers Check out Executive Producer Michael Beckwith's movie website at https://upallnightmovies.com/ Siskel and Ebert Scale Josh - Up Brian - Up Al - Up Thoreau - Up
Spooky Season is officially over, and the boys are trading ghouls and goblins for birthday cake! It's Ryan's birthday, and he got to pick any two movies he wanted. Staying true to his Siskel & Ebert roots, Ryan went bold, choosing two of the only three movies Gene Siskel ever walked out of. (Don't worry, we're saving the third one for a couple weeks from now!) Neither of these movies are officially on the Two Thumbs Down list, but they still capture the spirit of Siskel the curmudgeon.
With BACK TO THE FUTURE back in theaters for its 40th anniversary, Adam and Josh take the opportunity to give it Sacred Cow consideration. Plus, reviews of the Bruce Springsteen biopic DELIVER ME FROM NOWHERE, Richard Linklater's BLUE MOON, and Kathryn Bigelow's nuclear thriller A HOUSE OF DYNAMITE. This episode is presented by Regal Unlimited, the all-you-can-watch movie subscription pass that pays for itself in just two visits. (Timecodes and chapter starts may not be precise with ads.) Intro (00:00:00-00:00:56) Back to the Future at 40 (00:00:57-00:46:31) Filmspotting Family (00:46:32-00:51:07) Blue Moon (00:51:08-01:08:36) Deliver Me From Nowhere (01:08:37-01:19:01) Notes / Next Week (01:19:02-01:26:01) Polls (01:26:02-01:34:17) A House of Dynamite (01:34:18-01:45:43) Spoilers: A House of Dynamite (01:45:44-01:56:17) Credits / New Releases (01:56:18-02:00:45) Links: -Poll: 2nd Best Zemeckis https://poll.fm/16177171 -50 Years of Siskel & Ebert: "Lone Star" https://luma.com/pwlqid75 -The Mastermind Prize Pack Email us your favorite Reichardt character Feedback: -Email us at feedback@filmspotting.net. -Ask Us Anything and we might answer your question in bonus content. Support: -Join the Filmspotting Family for bonus episodes and archive access. http://filmspottingfamily.com -T-shirts and more available at the Filmspotting Shop. https://www.filmspotting.net/shop Follow: https://www.instagram.com/filmspotting https://letterboxd.com/filmspotting https://facebook.com/filmspotting https://twitter.com/filmspotting https://letterboxd.com/larsenonfilm https://www.instagram.com/larsenonfilm https://bsky.app/profile/larsenonfilm.bsky.social Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Send us a text5:58 Ballad of a Small Player14:36 Hedda21:23 Stitch Head27:11 It Was Just An Accident33:23 Anniversary39:06 Violent Ends45:03 Radu Jude's Dracula54:02 Self-Help59:28 If I Had Legs I'd Kick YouIt's a 9-movie week here on 'Roger (Ebert) & Me,' the only comprehensive 'Siskel & Ebert'-style review show out there. A film criticism podcast. Please rate and review on Apple Podcasts. Even if you're on Spotify or YouTube, jump over there and throw us 5 stars. We can't get on RottenTomatoes until 200 people rate it! 'Roger & Me' is a movie review podcast covering all new releases, both theatrical and streaming, every Friday, modeled after 'Siskel & Ebert.' Hosted by Mark Dujsik of markreviewsmovies.com & Brett Arnold of Yahoo Entertainment and The New Flesh podcast, a show about horror movies that is currently celebrating its tenth year.Support the show
While this was originally posted in the fall of 2019, for the third year in a row I'm reduxing it. It is, again, an appropriate meditaion for this quiet time of year, as the football games are starting to pass us by even if their music is still in the air. The warmth of the summer is still around, sometimes, but mostly it's cooling down, and it's a time for comfort food and old memories and people not seen in a long time. And, certainly, thoughts of mortality , of the time gone and the time left. "Never let a night like tonight go to waste." ==================================================== Considering whether Gen X views of life, death, and immortality were shaped by two mid-80s films: Highlander (1986) and The Lost Boys (1987) Yes yes yes, I said Steward Copeland at about 9:12 and realized just moments ago that I completely meant Douglas Coupland, who wrote Generation X: Tales For an Accelerated Culture in 1991 https://www.coupland.com/books/generation-x-tales-for-an-accelerated-culture And my point there is that in 1987 the Lost Boys was certainly depicting Gen X characters with Gen X actors, but nobody called them Gen X at the time. Interview with the Vampire was published in 1976 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interview_with_the_Vampire Its sequel, The Vampire Lestat, was 1985 The Mystery of Dracula's Castle - a scooby doo mystery in all but name, with inspiration from Christopher Lee's Dracula over and over. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0068985/ The Hunger https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0085701/ The Lost Boys - straight to the tagline https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0093437/taglines Highlander https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0091203/ Cocoon https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0088933/ Siskel and Ebert - Lost Boys starts at 9:44 - https://siskelebert.org/?p=2948 Highlander is the first one here, about 1:30 - they both disliked it rather a lot https://siskelebert.org/?p=1496 First chapter of The Golden Bough - Frazer calls the King a "murderer" rather than a "killer" so I'll randomly note that A) in the 1536 battler in Highlander, the Macleods are fighting the Frasers and B) "Matador" is literally "killer" in Spanish The Spirit of Christmas, which spawned South Park, references Highlander's repeated line "There Can Be Only One" https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0122264/ When talking about Reactives and the Awakening, probably worth looking at this previous entry on my blog https://crisis.generationalize.com/2014/01/reactiveness.html Unrelated but it's a photo series called Lost Boys - millennials back at home after college or high school or whatever they decided they could do. https://www.businessinsider.com/liz-calvi-lost-boys-photo-project-2014-9#calvi-started-with-her-good-group-of-guy-friends-but-eventually-branched-out-to-look-for-more-subjects-in-town-nolan-pictured-here-is-currently-studying-graphics-in-college-and-he-lives-with-his-parents-for-the-summer-2 Here's the archive she set up https://seulementdanslereve.tumblr.com/archive And her home page https://www.lizcalvi.com/commissions "Vampire of the Mists" (1991) was a few years later, so probably influenced by Anne Rice and The Lost Boys and everything. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vampire_of_the_Mists Wikipedia sayeth that Peter Pan first appeared in a novel in 1902, while the play first appeared in 1904. He's very much of the Nomad archetype. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Pan Completely unrelated, except insofar as Aiken Drum (the character) is much like Peter Pan and has other Nomad / Reactive archetype indicators https://manycolored.fandom.com/wiki/Many-Colored_Wiki Pogonip club house http://deepbluemoon.com/misc/pogonip/ Other locations - the interiors were on a set at Warner Brothers https://www.visitcalifornia.com/attraction/lost-boys-santa-cruz-tour Gregory Widen, screenwriter for Highlander. Born in 1958, he's a late Boomer. He also wrote Backdraft. https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0927074/ Russel Mulcahy - his director credits here include the music videos - which included Video Killed the Radio Star by Buggles, which unfortunately I can't find, so here are some others. https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0611683 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Uxc9eFcZyM https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iyv905Q2omU Max has mission style outdoor lamps - not too common at the time. (Although it was becoming popular again) https://casetext.com/case/l-jg-stickley-inc-v-canal-dover-furn Grandpas house is here (interiors were a set at Warner Bros.) - a very 1900s house http://www.mobileranger.com/santacruz/pogonip-the-cowell-family-polo-and-a-poltergeist/ CSUN Queen show, 1989 - there will be another episode one day about why this matters….but I didn't even have a chance to get into, here, how I and Angela and 150 of our closest friends did a field show with two songs from Highlander, plus Bohemian Rhapsody https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZjkHl0paHbM
Part stoner comedy, part Lovecraftian existential horror, all awesome. We're watching Cabin in the Woods, this time on Haunted Phosphorescence! Support the show and get early access and exclusive content on Patreon! Watch us on YouTube! Buy some Merch! https://www.teepublic.com/stores/attention-hellmart-shoppers Check out Executive Producer Michael Beckwith's movie website at https://upallnightmovies.com/ Siskel and Ebert Scale Josh - Up Brian - Up Al - Up Thoreau - Up
Send us a text6:27 Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere21:48 Bugonia33:23 Shelby Oaks42:10 A House of Dynamite54:57 The Hand That Rocks the Cradle01:00:38 Queens of the Dead01:07:04 In Our BloodIt's a 7-movie week here on 'Roger (Ebert) & Me,' the only comprehensive 'Siskel & Ebert'-style review show out there. A film criticism podcast. Please rate and review on Apple Podcasts. Even if you're on Spotify or YouTube, jump over there and throw us 5 stars. We can't get on RottenTomatoes until 200 people rate it! 'Roger & Me' is a movie review podcast covering all new releases, both theatrical and streaming, every Friday, modeled after 'Siskel & Ebert.' Hosted by Mark Dujsik of markreviewsmovies.com & Brett Arnold of Yahoo Entertainment and The New Flesh podcast, a show about horror movies that is currently celebrating its tenth year.Support the show
Sports journalist and professor J.A. Adande joins Chuck Todd for a wide-ranging conversation on how money, media, and power are reshaping the world of sports. From the Big Ten’s potential $2 billion private equity deal to the rise of The Athletic and the collapse of local sports coverage, Adande explains how financial literacy has become essential for sports reporters — and why sports journalism remains one of the few thriving corners of the media industry. They dig into how gambling, influencer culture, and social media are transforming how fans consume sports — and how shows like Around the Horn and PTI paved the way for today’s single-voice, personality-driven debate model. Adande also reflects on the increased diversity in sports media, the tension between advocacy and escapism, and why issues like Latino discrimination and trans inclusion in sports are becoming defining cultural flashpoints. He also explains why the sports world has gotten out of the social justice advocacy business… and likely won’t be coming back. It’s a candid look at how sports coverage mirrors — and sometimes predicts — the shifts happening across American journalism. Got injured in an accident? You could be one click away from a claim worth millions. Just visit https://www.forthepeople.com/TODDCAST to start your claim now with Morgan & Morgan without leaving your couch. Remember, it's free unless you win! Timeline: 00:00 J.A. Adande joins the Chuck ToddCast 01:00 Big Ten seeking $2 billion dollar private equity infusion 02:15 Money would keep current Big Ten setup for 2 decades 03:30 Knowledge of finance & business is a must for sports reporters 06:00 Sports journalism is one of the only growth areas in journalism 08:30 Why ESPN was a better option for J.A. than Sports Illustrated 09:15 The Athletic is the final destination for sportswriting 10:30 The role of sports journalism in rebuilding local news/media 12:00 The Athletic is evolving into a national sports outlet 13:30 Local sports reporting doesn’t scale 14:30 Where do sports fans go to now for localized coverage? 15:30 It’s more efficient for teams to leak stories to one national reporter 16:30 There is plenty of localized sports discussion, but not breaking news 18:30 There’s no FOIA in sports coverage, reporters aren’t entitled to access 20:00 Teams can shut out journalists and still get word out to the public 22:00 The impact of the pandemic on journalism and in-person access 23:00 Sports is one of the last places where people are debating the facts 24:00 Sports talk has become formulaic and like pro wrestling 25:15 The template for PTI was Siskel & Ebert 27:00 Around the Horn premised on winning a subjective argument 29:00 There’s a huge audience for fake, manufactured competition 30:00 Sports talk moving to the singular influencer model 30:45 Cutting production costs is reason for centering shows on one talent 32:00 News will likely move to the sports talk, licensing model 33:45 Streamers haven’t moved to pick up sports debate shows 34:30 Podcasts are a more intimate experience for the audience 36:15 The impact of the infusion of sports gambling into sports journalism 37:15 Journalists have to be more precise with gambling coverage 39:00 Newspapers would discourage gambling & still publish lines 41:00 Sports gambling journalism is a form of service journalism 42:15 Far more gender diversity now in sports journalism schools 44:15 There’s never been a better time to be a woman in sports media 46:45 There’s been a retreat from social commentary in sports media 48:15 Trans women in sports debate is dividing women 49:30 Baseball should be leading the fight against latino discrimination 51:30 Latino integration or expulsion will be a defining fight of our time 55:00 Sports will not be at the forefront of fighting for social justice 57:15 Sports as a source for escape vs a source of advocacySee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
On this episode of the Chuck ToddCast, Chuck dives into the chaotic new reality of Trump’s second term — one defined by self-interest, spectacle, and staggering corruption. As the president literally tears down the East Wing of the White House to build a grander event space, Chuck explores how the optics reflect a leader consumed by vanity rather than governance. From meme coin millions and Gulf state real estate deals to the blatant abuse of the pardon power, the episode unpacks how Trump has turned the presidency into a personal profit machine. With billions made, laws bent, and supporters still loyal, the question looms: is there any line Trump can cross that will finally cost him his base? Then, sports journalist and professor J.A. Adande joins Chuck Todd for a wide-ranging conversation on how money, media, and power are reshaping the world of sports. From the Big Ten’s potential $2 billion private equity deal to the rise of The Athletic and the collapse of local sports coverage, Adande explains how financial literacy has become essential for sports reporters — and why sports journalism remains one of the few thriving corners of the media industry. They dig into how gambling, influencer culture, and social media are transforming how fans consume sports — and how shows like Around the Horn and PTI paved the way for today’s single-voice, personality-driven debate model. Adande also reflects on the increased diversity in sports media, the tension between advocacy and escapism, and why issues like Latino discrimination and trans inclusion in sports are becoming defining cultural flashpoints. He also explains why the sports world has gotten out of the social justice advocacy business… and likely won’t be coming back. It’s a candid look at how sports coverage mirrors — and sometimes predicts — the shifts happening across American journalism. Finally, he answers listener’s questions in the “Ask Chuck” segment, and gives his weekend college football preview. Got injured in an accident? You could be one click away from a claim worth millions. Just visit https://www.forthepeople.com/TODDCAST to start your claim now with Morgan & Morgan without leaving your couch. Remember, it's free unless you win! Timeline: (Timestamps may vary based on advertisements) 00:00 Chuck Todd’s introduction 03:30 Trump is tearing down the entire east wing of the White House 04:15 Optics of the White House demolition are extremely jarring 05:30 Trump more consumed with himself and his image than voters 07:15 Over time, Trump always manages to wear out his welcome 08:30 Trump is not putting America first 09:45 Trump shaking down his own DOJ for over $200 million 11:30 WH needed a bigger event space, but not without permission 12:30 Trump has entered “Let them eat cake” territory 14:00 Trump family has made billions on meme coin 15:30 Meme coin purchases could be straight up bribery 17:00 Trump has made millions from settlements 18:15 Trump family has made multiple real estate deals with gulf states 19:30 Trump’s personal fortune is now between 5-6 billion dollars 20:00 Trump’s abuse of the pardon power has undone the rule of law 21:00 Pardoned J6’ers have gone on to commit crimes 22:30 Trump has pardoned scores of Republican politicians 24:15 Claiming “political persecution” earns you a pardon from Trump 25:45 Trump has traded America foreign policy for personal gain 27:45 Trump is testing the premise he can do anything and not lose support 31:30 J.A. Adande joins the Chuck ToddCast 32:30 Big Ten seeking $2 billion dollar private equity infusion 33:45 Money would keep current Big Ten setup for 2 decades 35:00 Knowledge of finance & business is a must for sports reporters 37:30 Sports journalism is one of the only growth areas in journalism 40:00 Why ESPN was a better option for J.A. than Sports Illustrated 40:45 The Athletic is the final destination for sportswriting 42:00 The role of sports journalism in rebuilding local news/media 43:30 The Athletic is evolving into a national sports outlet 45:00 Local sports reporting doesn't scale 46:00 Where do sports fans go to now for localized coverage? 47:00 It's more efficient for teams to leak stories to one national reporter 48:00 There is plenty of localized sports discussion, but not breaking news 50:00 There's no FOIA in sports coverage, reporters aren't entitled to access 51:30 Teams can shut out journalists and still get word out to the public 53:30 The impact of the pandemic on journalism and in-person access 54:30 Sports is one of the last places where people are debating the facts 55:30 Sports talk has become formulaic and like pro wrestling 56:45 The template for PTI was Siskel & Ebert 58:30 Around the Horn premised on winning a subjective argument 1:00:30 There's a huge audience for fake, manufactured competition 1:01:30 Sports talk moving to the singular influencer model 1:02:15 Cutting production costs is reason for centering shows on one talent 1:03:30 News will likely move to the sports talk, licensing model 1:05:15 Streamers haven't moved to pick up sports debate shows 1:06:00 Podcasts are a more intimate experience for the audience 1:07:45 The impact of the infusion of sports gambling into sports journalism 1:08:45 Journalists have to be more precise with gambling coverage 1:10:30 Newspapers would discourage gambling & still publish lines 1:12:30 Sports gambling journalism is a form of service journalism 1:13:45 Far more gender diversity now in sports journalism schools 1:15:45 There's never been a better time to be a woman in sports media 1:18:15 There's been a retreat from social commentary in sports media 1:19:45 Trans women in sports debate is dividing women 1:21:00 Baseball should be leading the fight against latino discrimination 1:23:00 Latino integration or expulsion will be a defining fight of our time 1:26:30 Sports will not be at the forefront of fighting for social justice 1:28:45 Sports as a source for escape vs a source of advocacy 1:30:30 Chuck's thoughts on interview with J.A. Adande 1:31:15 Ask Chuck 1:32:15 Why aren't we mandating watermarks on every piece of AI content? 1:36:15 Where was the No Kings energy on election day? 1:41:00 How can you have meaningful debate when you can't agree on facts? 1:47:45 Why have Hegseth, Bondi and RFK Jr. been able to cement their roles? 1:51:30 Why not do a "Where Chuck was right/wrong" segment similar to Cowherd? 1:55:45 How can Democrats uphold core values without sounding preachy? 2:00:15 College football previewSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
By Walt HickeyWelcome to the Numlock Sunday edition.This week, I spoke to Alyssa Rosenberg, Sunny Bunch and Peter Suderman, the three panelists of the outstanding film podcast Across the Movie Aisle. I really enjoy the show and have been a longtime fan of their individual work.I think that they're a group with genuinely diverse opinions but who have a lot of love for cinema and as a result have some of the most deeply interesting conversations about the art form of any show I listen to. The show just split off from The Bulwark's network and is striking it out independently. Do check them out!This interview has been condensed and edited. Hey, Across the Movie Aisle. Thank you so much for coming on Numlock. I really appreciate it.Absolutely.Thank you for having us.Yes, this is the first three-on-one conversation that I've ever done here, so we're gonna have to juggle a bit. Either way, I am just such a fan of the show. I really, really enjoyed it, subscribed to the Bulwark for it when I heard that you guys were going independent. I was really excited to see what was motivating that, what opportunities you were seeing out there. It's just such a really fun program, and I think it's so unique in the space.Before we get into talking about the movies, do you wanna talk a little bit about where this show came from, where it started, then what you would say your perspective on the film industry is?Sonny: Sure.Alyssa: Who wants to tell the story?Sonny: The origin of the show was back in 2019. I started working for an independent film studio that's based in Dallas, where I live now. I moved here for the job. The pitch was, “it's like Fangoria,” but for action movies and thrillers and heist movies, that sort of thing. And one of the things I wanted to do when we came over was a little podcast network. We were gonna have some shows, some storytelling things, et cetera. And one of the things I had wanted to do for a while (and hadn't really had an outlet for) was a show I had envisioned as like Crossfire or McLaughlin Group or something like that, but by way of movies.So Across the Movie Aisle — I've always shorthanded it as Siskel and Ebert meets Left Right Center. And the idea here is that I am a conservative. I don't know how other people would describe me, but I still think of myself as a center-right person. Alyssa is the center-left person.Peter: Would you even say that you are a neoconservative?Sonny: Well, I'm a neoconservative with libertarian tendencies, which is a funny thing.Peter: “You work at the Weekly Standard,” is a good way to think about your politics? And they basically haven't changed since you worked at The Weekly Standard. Is that fair? That's the long and the short of it.Sonny: Then Peter is whatever Peter is. I'll let him define himself. But the idea here was you have three people with differing political views talking about movies and other stories about movies. The show has two segments. The first is called Controversies and Nontroversies. The second is a review. And the Controversies and Nontroversies segment was initially thought of as we tackle some dumb internet outrage of the day and decide if it's really worth being mad about.And that evolved into something slightly different, right? Right, guys? I feel like it's now more about the business of Hollywood.Alyssa: Yes, exactly. But I think it's worth noting that our story actually starts way before 2019. The three of us were all critics in some respect or other. I was over at ThinkProgress running their culture and sports verticals. Sonny, were you at the Weekly Standard when we started or were you at the Free Beacon then?Sonny: I think I was at the Washington Free Beacon when we met. So it must've been 2012 or 13.Alyssa: The three of us were going to screenings every week and somehow just gravitated towards each other. We would sit together. We were the people who were hanging out and hashing things out together after the screening ended. When I moved to the Washington Post, I ended up bringing Sonny over as a contributor to the blog that I was working on there. They were invited to my wedding. We were authentically contentiously friends years before we started the podcast.I think that's been a little bit of the special sauce for us, right? We are capable of having conversations that are somewhat harder to have elsewhere because (even before we started working together) there were five, six years of trust built up in in-person conversations and discussions over beers at the really terrible bar near the former AMC in Friendship Heights. Nobody is here on this podcast to blow each other up. But it's also not like “We're friends for the camera!”I think the show has always been like both a reflection of our dynamic. It's also the way that we hang out every week, even though Sonny lives in Dallas, and Peter lives in Boston some of the time. So for me, it's like my night out.I mean, as a listener, I really find the appeal to be exactly that. I think that having different perspectives on something as universal as film makes the show super compelling to listen to, even if I don't always necessarily agree with the perspective on it. What makes movies just so good to view from multiple different angles? There are lowercase “c” conservative films, there are lowercase “l” liberal films, that stuff. How do you guys find approaching the current state of the film industry from these different points of view?Peter: Alyssa talked about how our story goes back even before 2019, when the podcast started. And just for people who may not be familiar with the dynamic of Washington that all of us came up in in our 20s, Alyssa was working for ThinkProgress, which was the journalism arm of the Center for American Progress, which is this leading democratic or democratic affiliated think tank. Sonny was working for the Weekly Standard and then for the Washington Free Beacon, these feisty, conservative journalistic outlets.I actually started writing movie reviews for National Review for a couple of years. When I moved over full-time to Reason Magazine, which is where I've been for more than 15 years now, and also to the Washington Times, which is someplace that both Sonny and I wrote for. It's a conservative-leaning paper that has undergone many transformations. If you live in Washington, your social circle and your conversations and your life are so frequently segmented by politics.What we liked about being friends with each other and seeing movies with each other was that we saw that it didn't have to be the case. Movies and art and pop culture, even disagreements about them, were ways that we could come together and maybe not even agree, but like learn about each other. We're really good friends, but we also like each other's minds. This is something that is really important and drew us all together. I have learned a lot about movies from Sonny. I have learned about culture from Alyssa. I don't know if they've learned anything from me. Maybe they've been annoyed about how I'm fine with A.I.Having those perspectives, it's not just that it's like, “Oh, that's nice that you're a little different.” This is a learning opportunity for all of us. It also makes the act of watching movies together much richer. When you're watching the movie, if you're watching it next to Alyssa, I know what she's thinking. Maybe not what I'm thinking, but it's like having another set of eyes. If you're a critic, if you're somebody who likes movies, if you are somebody who likes movies for the social aspect of them, seeing them with somebody else and talking about them afterwards just makes it so much more enjoyable. The fact that we then get to have that conversation in public for an audience that seems to enjoy this is really rewarding.Alyssa: I have a very hard time with certain kinds of violence in movies. But I can sit in a theater with Peter, and he can tell me when I need to cover my eyes, but also when I'm gonna be okay when it's over. And he's always right, right? And that's the thing that we get.Peter: But also when we see the Taylor Swift movie, I show up, and Alyssa has friendship bracelets for us. Everybody's bringing something to the party here.Alyssa: Peter, you joked about whether or not we've gotten anything from you. And I actually think that in some ways, I'm the one of us whose politics and aesthetics have changed most as a result of doing the show with both of you. I came up in an era of lefty cultural criticism when there were real incentives for tearing things apart. And I think I, in some ways early in my career, helped advance a fairly doctrinaire vision of what political conversations about art should be. And I have some regrets about some of the things that I wrote and some non-regrets too. I did a lot of work at that point in my career that I liked a lot.But one of the things I've come to believe in my conversation with these guys is that art is at its most politically powerful not when it affirms an agenda or a worldview that is defined by a political movement, but it is at its most powerful and interesting when it creates space for conversations that are not possible in conventional political formats and political venues. I think the unpredictability of movies and the inability to shove movies neatly into a partisan schema is where their power comes from.It is not in being subordinate to an agenda, but in opening the space for new possibilities. And I think that having a space to come to that conclusion made me a better critic and a better person. Maybe less employable as someone who writes about this stuff full-time in a predictable way. But I really enjoy seeing the world through the lenses that Peter and Sonny helped me apply to all of this.Peter: And just to underline that really quickly, a little bit more. One of the things that brings all of us together is that we are all three people who moved to Washington to work in political journalism, to work in discourse about politics. We have very strongly held beliefs. At the same time, I think all three of us come to movies, to art and to culture thinking, “You know what, you can make good art. You can make a great movie that maybe I find doesn't in any way align with my beliefs, right?” It has nothing to do with my political world or is even critical of my political worldview, but it's still a great movie.And this is a thing that you see very rarely in Washington and political discussions of art and film, but also in criticism. You have so much criticism that is out there, especially in the movie criticism world, that is just straightforwardly, politically determined. I don't think that that is the best way to approach art and to live a life that is about art because. Of course, it engages with politics. And of course you have to talk about that. And of course, you have to deal with that, but it's not just politics. If what you want from a movie is for it to be an op-ed, then what you want isn't a movie, it's an op-ed.I think that's really interesting. And actually, let's dive into that real quick. We'll go around the horn, perhaps. Peter, you brought it up. What is an example of a film or a piece of media that maybe either subverts or goes upstream compared to your personal politics that you nevertheless enjoyed? Or you, nevertheless, in spite of where you were coming from on that, really tended to like?Peter: So we all had mixed reactions to Paul Anderson's, P.T. Anderson's One Battle After Another, which is quite a political film, just came out. All of us thought that on a micro level, scene by scene, as a piece of filmmaking, it's genius. But on a macro level, its big ideas are kind of a mess. I go back to another Paul Anderson film from the aughts, There Will Be Blood, which is fairly critical of capitalism and of the capitalist tendencies that are deeply rooted in America. And it's not just a polemic, just an op-ed. It's not something that you can sum up in a tweet. It is quite a complex film in so many ways. And I'm a capitalist. I am a libertarian. I am a markets guy. And it is, I love that movie.Sonny and I frequently have arguments over whether There Will Be Blood is the first or second best movie of the last 25 years or so. Sonny thinks it's maybe the best. I think it's the second best. This is a movie that I think offers a deep critique of my ideology and my political worldview. But it is so profound on an artistic character narrative, just deep engagement level. I could talk about it for a long time. It's a movie I really love that doesn't support what I believe about politics in the world.Yeah, Sonny, how about you?Sonny: Bernardo Bertolucci's The Last Emperor is commie agitprop, but it's also very good. It's one of those movies where the lesson of the movie is literally “The elite overclass needs to be taught how to pee correctly in a bucket, so as not to annoy the normals.” But it's a beautiful movie, including the bucket. You don't have to agree with a film's politics to recognize that it is a great movie. It certainly doesn't hurt. I flipped through my rankings, and a lot of it does line up.But another one is JFK. Oliver Stone's JFK is a movie that is nonsense as history. If you look at it as a history text, you are reading the film wrong. What it excels at and the way that it is great is that it's the absolute perfect distillation of sitting next to an insane conspiracy theorist and hearing them ramble. The way that Oliver Stone edits together all of these disparate ideas — the way he edits is like hearing a conspiracy theorist talk.The way a conspiracy theorist talks is that they overwhelm you with information. They will just throw out random things and be like, “And this is connected to this, and this is connected to this.” And you are not able to actually judge these things because you have no idea really what they're talking about. You're not steeped in this stuff like they are, but it all sounds right. And all of a sudden, yeah, I believe that the military industrial complex murdered JFK at the behest of a fascist homosexual conspiracy, which is just another amusing little element to JFK by Oliver Stone.Those would be two examples, I would say.I love that. Alyssa, how about you?Alyssa: I would say Dirty Harry. I did a huge project about 10 years ago on depictions of the police in pop culture. And the ways in which law enforcement, as an industry, has actually really shaped their depictions on film. And look, I don't think the police always get everything right. And I think that shooting people is not a viable solution to a crime, especially without a trial. But God damn, does Clint Eastwood make like a sweater and a blazer and a real big gun look awesome, right?Sonny: Those are things that look awesome. Of course, they look awesome on Clint Eastwood.Alyssa: Of course, they look awesome, but they look especially awesome on Clint Eastwood. And they look even more awesome when he's shooting a crazed hippie who has commandeered a busSonny: Full of children.Alyssa: Yes, a bus full of children. The evil hippie deserves to get shot, and Clint Eastwood is the man to set things right. The thing about aesthetics is that they can get you to set aside your politics momentarily in a theoretical way. But I also think that good movies can get you access to spaces and mindsets that you might not have access to otherwise.When you asked that question, the movie that I immediately thought of, not necessarily of challenging my politics, but like bringing me a place I can't go, is Alex Garland's Warfare from earlier this year. It is one of the best movies I've seen this year. And also a movie about (both as a social and cultural environment) an all-male combat unit in the US military and a situation (the war in Iraq) that I have no access to. I cannot go there. My being in the space would fundamentally transform the space. And that opening sequence with this platoon watching this music video in a weird, sexualized group bonding ritual, I just found fascinating and oddly touching in a way that I think is interesting to watch, especially if you're steeped in left-leaning critiques of traditional masculinity in all-male spaces.And I found that movie, despite how harrowing it was, kind of beautiful and tender to watch in a way. And I just felt very grateful for it.Awesome. Yeah, again, I really appreciate how much thought goes into viewing not only movies as cultural entities, but also their space in politics, but also how the culture can overwhelm that. I really think that you guys have such fun takes on this. I wanna back out a little bit and talk a little bit about this year and this moment. I think one thing I really enjoy about your show is that it's obvious how much you guys really enjoy going to the movies, enjoy consuming this stuff. I know that there's a lot of fairly understandable doom and gloom sometimes around the movie industry, around the exhibition industry. A lot of that, I think, comes from some of the more industry side of things and infects the viewing public's view.I'll just throw it to you. What is a trend or something going on these days within movies or Hollywood that you actually think is a good thing, that you're actually enjoying? Or a transitional moment that you think could be fun? I guess, Sunny, I'll start off with you. I don't know.Sonny: That's a hard question to answer because everything is bad right now.Alyssa: To be clear, this is Sonny's default position about all eras and all things. All things.Peter: He's a cheerful man.Sonny: All things, really. No, everything is bad. But if I were looking at a few green shoots, I like the rise of the draft house style theater, a combination of dining, bar, movie space. I know some people have issues with the waiters scurrying back and forth. And it's not my real cup of tea either, but that's all right. You mentioned this question right before we started taping. I was trying to sketch something out, so I didn't have nothing.But I do think the rise of the boutique Blu-ray and 4K UHD retailers has been a good thing. I don't know that it's enough to save physical media in the film context, but the rise of your Vinegar Syndromes. Criterion, of course, is the longest player in this space, and they've been doing it since the days of Laserdisc. They're very good at what they do, and they have a great catalog.But even smaller places, like your Vinegar Syndromes or your Shout Factory and your Scream Factory. The studios themselves are getting into it. Lionsgate has their Lionsgate limited thing that they do, which is just sucking money out of my pockets. A24 has also been good in this space. I like the idea that there is a small but committed cadre of collectors out there. And it's not just ownership for the sake of ownership. It's not the high fidelity, “the things you own matter. So you should show them off so everybody can see them and see how cool you are” kind of thing. There are actual quality differences to having a disc as opposed to a streaming service, which always come in at lower bit rates, and they look and sound worse.But this is so niche. Very few people who collect this stuff (Blu-rays, 4Ks, et cetera) really understand how niche they are.If you look at the monthly pie chart of sales of discs every month, it's still 50 percent DVD, 20 percent to 25 percent Blu-ray, and then 25 percent to 30 percent 4K, depending on what's out at any given time. But 50 percent of discs are still being bought by people browsing Walmart shelves, like “Ooh, I'll watch this new movie for $5. Sure, why not?”Yeah, having something for the sickos is always something viable, right? Peter, I'll throw it to you.Peter: So, on this podcast, I have probably been the biggest MCU, Marvel Movie Universe booster. What I think is a good thing that is happening right now is that the MCU is in a decline, or at least a reset period. It's not overwhelming Hollywood in the way that it was throughout the 2010s. It's hurting theaters and exhibition because those movies are not performing the way they used to, and that's a downside for real.But what it is doing is creating a space for young filmmakers and for young acting talent to rise up without having to immediately be sucked into the MCU or something comparable, like the DC movies that were trying to start up and never really got going. Now they've rebooted the DC universe with the James Gunn Superman film. But, it really felt like in the 2010s, anyone who was in their 20s or 30s and was a really promising actor or a really promising director was gonna make one or two movies. And then they were gonna get sucked into the Marvel or maybe the Star Wars machine, one of these big franchise things.It wasn't like even 25 years ago when Sam Raimi was making Spider-Man films, and they were very distinctly Sam Raimi films. I mean, you watch the Dr. Octopus POV sequence in Spider-Man 2, and it's the same thing he was doing in Evil Dead, except he had $150 million to make that movie, right?These weren't even altruistic superhero films. They were just being brought in to lend their names a small amount of flavor to whatever it was they were doing. And now, in an era in which the MCU is not gone, but is diminished, a lot of acting talent and a lot of directing talent are going to be free to spend that formative period of third, fourth, fifth, sixth movies to make the things that they wanna make and to experiment.Like I said, this does have downsides. This is not great for theatrical exhibitors who are suffering right now because there are fewer movies and because the big movies are not as big. But in that space, you get the opportunity to try new things. And I love seeing new things, and I love watching new talent develop.That is cool. I like that. Alyssa?Alyssa: I'm glad you said that, Peter, because what I was gonna say is I am delighted to see some of the directors who did time in the MCU or other franchises coming back and making original movies. Obviously, Sinners is one of the big success stories of the year. It's also a success story because Ryan Coogler is not only making franchise movies.I saw Seeing Fruitvale, which turned Fruitvale Station, at the Sundance Film Festival. It was like a seminal moment for me early in my career as a critic. I was like, “Holy God, this guy is great.” Even though I like what he did with the Rocky movies and I like the first Black Panther, I just felt this sense of profound regret for him getting diverted from telling these original stories. I'm really excited for Chloe Zhao's Hamnet. I expect to be emotionally incapacitated by that movie. Honestly, it is great for people who love movies that Immortals was just such a disaster.Peter: Eternals.Sonny: Eternals, that's how good it is we can't even remember the title.Alyssa: Yes, Destin Daniel Cretton is working on a Shang-Chi sequel, but he is also collaborating with Ryan Coogler on a project that I think is drawn from their childhoods.Sonny: He's directing a new Spider-Man movie right now.Alyssa: But there's other stuff coming. There's the possibility of life outside franchises. And, I'm excited to see what some of these folks do when they're not in front of a green screen and when they're telling stories about actual human beings. I am excited to just see more movies like Weapons, like Materialists, coming from younger directors who are still figuring things out, but have interesting things to say. And this year, at least, appears to be able to do okay at the box office.I love that. People are recovering from their exile in Atlanta and have a chance to make some cool movies. You guys have been so generous with your time. I do want to just finish on one last note: where do you assess Hollywood's position within the world to be?Obviously, in the States, they've had a lot of pressure from things like TikTok coming from below, things like the federal government coming from above. But even internationally and geopolitically, you've seen international players start to compete with Hollywood at the Oscars. For instance, in Best Animated Film last year, as well as some big markets shutting down for them, like China is not really doing anything. From a political perspective, where do you assess the state of Hollywood right now?Peter: From a political perspective, I think Hollywood is going to start producing movies that read less overtly liberal, less conventionally left-leaning. I think we're already seeing some of that. I don't mean that Hollywood is suddenly going to be MAGA, that it's suddenly gonna be like reading Buckley's National Review or anything like that. I just mean that at the margins, you're gonna see more movies that don't toe the line in the way that you saw movies before. There was a moment, especially right before and right after the pandemic, where it really felt like too many movies were towing a very predictable left-of-center political line. And it was obvious and there was no nuance to it.Again, I do not oppose movies that may have a different worldview than mine, but it felt like they were running scared in a lot of cases. I mean, in sports, if your team is behind, that's the time when you try new stuff. You don't use the same strategy if you are losing. Hollywood's losing right now. They're losing economically and they're losing as a cultural force. While that's in some ways not great for the art form, that is going to be good for experimentation. And that's gonna be formal and craft experimentation. That's going to be talent. We're going to see new and interesting people. And that's also going to be ideas both for stories and for politics and ideology.Sonny: A big question is what happens with the retrenchment of the global box office? Because I do think, for a long time, you could count on basically two-thirds of the box office of a major Hollywood release coming overseas and one-third coming domestically. And those numbers have, in some cases, inverted. It's closer to 50/50 for more of them. It's not universally true. F1 did more business overseas than domestically, which you might expect for something that's based on F1 racing. But the big question is what happens if the rest of the world is like, “We're not that interested in the big Hollywood blockbuster stuff that we have been eating up for the last 15 or 20 years”?This goes hand in hand with Alyssa's point about originals. That's probably a good thing, honestly. It's probably a good thing to get away from the theory of the movie industry being like, “We need to make things that appeal despite language barriers.” Language matters; words matter. And tailoring your words to the correct audience matters. American movie studio should tailor their stuff to American audiences.Alyssa: And also getting away from the idea of appealing to the Chinese censors who controlled which American movies got access to Chinese markets, which was not the same thing as appealing to Chinese audiences. But yeah, I totally agree.My father-in-law works in the foreign exchange industry, and he said something that I've been thinking about a lot. They're just seeing real declines in people who want to come here or feel comfortable coming here. Until July, I was the letters editor at The Washington Post, and it was astonishing to me just how much rage Canadians were feeling towards the United States. I don't know that these will translate into a rejection of American movies. American culture exports have been unbelievably strong for a long time.But I do see an opening for Korean pop culture, which has already been very popular abroad. I think there's a real chance that we will see a rejection of American culture in some ways. And, it will take Hollywood a while to respond to that. It always lags a little bit. But I do think it would be very interesting to see what more aggressively American movies look like. And I think that could take many forms.But scale is in many ways the enemy of interestingness. If there is not and opportunity to turn everything into a two billion dollar movie because you sell it overseas, what stories do you tell? What actors do you put on screen? What voices do you elevate? And I think the answers to those questions could be really interesting.Peter: I agree with all of this in the sense that I think it will be good for the art form, like I have been saying. But there's a cost to this that all of us should recognize. When budgets get smaller and the market shrinks, that is going to be bad for people who work in the industry. And in particular, it's going to be rough for the below-the-line talent, the people whose names you see at the end credits — when these credits now scroll for 10 minutes after a Marvel movie because they have employed hundreds, maybe even a thousand people.And there was a story in The Wall Street Journal just this summer. You mentioned the time in Atlanta about how Marvel has moved most of its production out of Atlanta. There are people there who had built lives, bought houses, had earned pretty good middle-class incomes, but weren't superstars by any means. Now they don't know what to do because they thought they were living in Hollywood East, and suddenly, Hollywood East doesn't exist anymore.We may be in a position where Hollywood West, as we have long know it, L.A., the film center, also doesn't exist anymore, at least or at least as much smaller, much less important and much less central to filmmaking than it has been for the last nearly 100 years. And again, as a critic, I like the new stuff. I often like the smaller stuff. I'm an American; I want movies made for me. But also, these are people with jobs and livelihoods, and it is going to be hard for them in many cases.Sonny: Oh, I'm glad to see the A.I. King over here take the side of the little guy who's losing out on his on his livelihood.Peter: I think A.I. is going to help the little guy. Small creators are going to have a leg up because of it.Sonny: Sure.All right. Well, I love some of those thoughts, love some of those lessons. Publicly traded companies are famously risk-taking, so we're going to be fine, definitely. Either way, I really do love the show. I really, really enjoy it. I think it's one of the best discussion shows, chat shows about any movie podcast out there. It is really, really fun. It is very cool to see you guys go independent.I just want to throw it to you a little bit. What is your pitch? What is the show? Where can they find it? What's the best way to support it? And where can they find you all?Sonny: The show's a lot like this, like what you just listened to.Alyssa: Peter has developed this catchphrase when Sonny asked him how he's doing to kick off the show, and he always says that he's excited to be talking about movies with friends. We want to be your movie friends. You should come hang out with us. Hopefully, we will be going live a little bit more, maybe meeting up in person some. I will hopefully be doing some writing for our sub stack, if you have missed my blatherings about movies and movie trends.But yeah, come hang out with us every week. We're fun.Sonny: Movieaisle.substack.com. That's where you should go. You should I'm I'm I'm sure I'm sure there will be a link to it or something. Movieaisle.substack.com is where it lives now. We'll have a proper URL at some point.Terrific. And wherever you get your podcasts?Sonny: And wherever you get your podcasts!That's great. Peter, Alyssa, Sonny, thank you so much. This is really, really fun. Again, I really dig the show so much. I'm very, very happy for you guys being able to spring out independent. So really, thanks for coming on.Edited by Crystal WangIf you have anything you'd like to see in this Sunday special, shoot me an email. Comment below! Thanks for reading, and thanks so much for supporting Numlock.Thank you so much for becoming a paid subscriber! Send links to me on Twitter at @WaltHickey or email me with numbers, tips or feedback at walt@numlock.news. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.numlock.com/subscribe
Send us a text5:38 Black Phone 217:50 Good Fortune25:54 The Mastermind36:54 Truth & Treason44:30 Frankenstein54:26 Blue Moon01:01:13 Stiller & Meara: Nothing Is Lost01:07:40 Other01:12:19 The TwitsIt's a 9-movie week here on 'Roger (Ebert) & Me,' the only comprehensive 'Siskel & Ebert'-style review show out there. A film criticism podcast. Please rate and review on Apple Podcasts. Even if you're on Spotify or YouTube, jump over there and throw us 5 stars. We can't get on RottenTomatoes until 200 people rate it! 'Roger & Me' is a movie review podcast covering all new releases, both theatrical and streaming, every Friday, modeled after 'Siskel & Ebert.' Hosted by Mark Dujsik of markreviewsmovies.com & Brett Arnold of Yahoo Entertainment and The New Flesh podcast, a show about horror movies that is currently celebrating its tenth year.Support the show
March 2-8, 1996 This week Ken welcomes comedian behind the comedy special "Bougie on a Budget", Denise Winkelman. Ken and Denise discuss pouring rain in New England, growing up in Minnesota, Ken confusing Minnesota with Michigan, the coldest spot in the country in the Winter, growing up in a very rural town, the magic of cable bringing Pro Wrestling to your home, Wrestling magazines, local wrestling, mad scientists, how Wrestling is basically an improv group, NYPD Blue, nudity on television, Dennis Franz, CSI, David Caruso, Christine Baranski, the legend of The Marlboro Man, ads that work with any tag line, the 90s trend of "one of the guys" girl who smoke cigars, creepy mail order dolls, American Girl Dolls, Empty Nest, American shows CBC ran, The Kids in the Hall, WKRP, Walker Texas Ranger, wrestling alligators, Powers Booth and Peter Coyote, forbidden love, why everyone can't be the wacky neighbor, High Incident, when the whole neighborhood watches you, communist Russia, Eastern Europeans, comedians who become politicians, Hallmark Entertainment on Fox presenting In the Lake of the Woods, Bette Midler, John Travolta, French and Saunders, Joanna Lumley, the US phenomenon of Ab Fab, The Comedy Awards, Richard Pryor, The Jim Henson Hour, trying to do the Muppets without Jim Henson, Michelle Pfeiffer, selling your soul for the corporate dollar, The Babe with John Goodman vs Babe with a pig, 1996, roided baseball hits, Siskel and Ebert, and how it's never appropriate to Jeer Bob Balaban.
I've looked at clouds from both sides now and I really don't know chimps at all. We're watching Jordan Peel's Nope, this time on Haunted Phosphorescence! Support the show and get early access and exclusive content on Patreon! Watch us on YouTube! Buy some Merch! https://www.teepublic.com/stores/attention-hellmart-shoppers Check out Executive Producer Michael Beckwith's movie website at https://upallnightmovies.com/ Siskel and Ebert Scale Josh - Up Brian - Up Al - Up Thoreau - Up
Send us a text6:12 Tron: Ares19:29 Roofman25:51 Kiss of the Spider Woman32:40 After The Hunt42:54 The Woman in Cabin 1048:25 The Perfect Neighbor53:35 John Candy: I Like Me,58:46 Vicious01:05:16 Urchin01:10:14 DeathstalkerIt's a 10-movie week here on 'Roger (Ebert) & Me,' the only comprehensive 'Siskel & Ebert'-style review show out there. A film criticism podcast. Please rate and review on Apple Podcasts. Even if you're on Spotify or YouTube, jump over there and throw us 5 stars. We can't get on RottenTomatoes until 200 people rate it! 'Roger & Me' is a movie review podcast covering all new releases, both theatrical and streaming, every Friday, modeled after 'Siskel & Ebert.' Hosted by Mark Dujsik of markreviewsmovies.com & Brett Arnold of Yahoo Entertainment and The New Flesh podcast, a show about horror movies that is currently celebrating its tenth year.Support the show
It's spooky season again, and we're kicking things off this year with a journey to paradise. We're watching Broken Lizard's Club Dread this time on Haunted Phosphorescence! Support the show and get early access and exclusive content on Patreon! Watch us on YouTube! Buy some Merch! https://www.teepublic.com/stores/attention-hellmart-shoppers Check out Executive Producer Michael Beckwith's movie website at https://upallnightmovies.com/ Siskel and Ebert Scale Josh - Up Brian - Up Al - Up Thoreau - Up
Send us a text**RARE SPOILER WARNING: BONE LAKE gets discussed in more detail than usual. I think we give ample warning, but be aware!** 5:54 The Smashing Machine14:05 V/H/S Halloween22:40 Play Dirty28:29 Good Boy34:47 Bone Lake41:32 Coyotes47:49 Are We Good?It's a 7-movie week here on 'Roger (Ebert) & Me,' the only comprehensive 'Siskel & Ebert'-style review show out there. A film criticism podcast. Please rate and review on Apple Podcasts. Even if you're on Spotify or YouTube, jump over there and throw us 5 stars. We can't get on RottenTomatoes until 200 people rate it! 'Roger & Me' is a movie review podcast covering all new releases, both theatrical and streaming, every Friday, modeled after 'Siskel & Ebert.' Hosted by Mark Dujsik of markreviewsmovies.com & Brett Arnold of Yahoo Entertainment and The New Flesh podcast, a show about horror movies that is currently celebrating its tenth year.Support the show
Send us a textEpisode 570"Revenge of the Nerds"Actor: Robert CarradineRobert joins me to talk about his new podcast "The Party Nerds Pop-Cast"We also dive into his filmography, talking about some of the more underrated entries.We conclude the interview with a deep dive of "Revenge of the Nerds"The topics we touch on are:1. Why Revenge of the Nerds divides so many people (I believe its generational)2. The fact that Siskel and Ebert loved it.3. What seems to get lost is that this is not a perfect movie, but it has a big heart. It's a movie about standing up for yourself, confronting bullies and be ok in your own skin. It is absolutely a feel good story.4. That remarkable cast.This and much more.Welcome, Robert Carradine.www.mmcpodcast.com#80s #80smovies #revengeofthenerds #80sfilms #comedyfilms #comedymovies #80svibes #fyp #davidcarradine #podcast #interview #comedy #80spopculture #booger #funnymovies #funnymovie #classicmovies Reach out to Darek Thomas and Monday Morning Critic!Instagram: / mondaymorningcritic Facebook: / mondaymorningcritic TikTok: / mondaymorningcritic Mondaymorningcritic@gmail.com
We're going to the 80s for our 162nd show. You know we're all about Hidden Gems and there was some talk about doing Wishamster 2 for this podcast, since we had such a great time covering the original last show. But instead we decided to honour the director of Wishmaster 2 by covering another of his films. One of several he made for New Line Cinema back in the 80s. This guy is not very well known and neither is this film, which makes it perfect for the podcast. So we hope you enjoy as we give the Horror 101 treatment to Jack Sholder's The Hidden from 1987. Show Highlights:01:00 Prelude to Terror04:45 Choosing The Hidden...10:40 Bank Robbery and Chase...16:50 Transference...19:20 Miller's Massacre...25:05 The Stripper...34:55 The Dog...40:10 Police Station Assault...46:30 Assassination...48:45 Final Transfer...53:00 Siskel and Ebert Weigh in...55:00 Scoring the Film...61:20 Final Thoughts and ConclusionThanks for Listening!
Send us a text4:35 One Battle After Another20:18 The Strangers: Chapter 229:22 Eleanor the Great33:49 Dead of Winter39:36 All the Devils Are HereIt's a light 5-movie week here on 'Roger (Ebert) & Me,' the only comprehensive 'Siskel & Ebert'-style review show out there. A film criticism podcast. Please rate and review on Apple Podcasts. Even if you're on Spotify or YouTube, jump over there and throw us 5 stars. We can't get on RottenTomatoes until 200 people rate it! 'Roger & Me' is a movie review podcast covering all new releases, both theatrical and streaming, every Friday, modeled after 'Siskel & Ebert.' Hosted by Mark Dujsik of markreviewsmovies.com & Brett Arnold of Yahoo EntertainmentSupport the show
Send us a text5:30 Him15:54 A Big Bold Beautiful Journey24:24 The Lost Bus33:23 The Senior40:13 Swiped45:49 London Calling51:41 Megadoc01:02:32 Chain Reactions01:09:31 Predators01:16:01 Plainclothes01:22:46 Prisoner of War01:27:32 Compulsion01:33:06 Night of the ReaperIt's a 14-movie week here on 'Roger (Ebert) & Me,' the only comprehensive 'Siskel & Ebert'-style review show out there. A film criticism podcast. Name another podcast doing fourteen movies a week, we'll wait!Please rate and review on Apple Podcasts. Even if you're on Spotify or YouTube, jump over there and throw us 5 stars. We can't get on RottenTomatoes until 200 people rate it! 'Roger & Me' is a movie review podcast covering all new releases, both theatrical and streaming, every Friday, modeled after 'Siskel & Ebert.' Hosted by Mark Dujsik of markreviewsmovies.com & Brett Arnold of Yahoo EntertainmentSupport the show
Episode 157.1: Asteroid Landing, Celebrity Obsession, Siskel and Ebert, The Plague, Fleas on Rats, and Wild Turkey Private Selection SB
Today on the show, Paul and Ben do a new concept idea where they cover their futures with apropo pull quotes, such as defrauding gorillas, vampire mites, safe living spaces, the BBCBS, how social media and banks will be around forever, thomas jefferson wrote the declaration of independence in 1492, it's an honor to have your date used to train AI, improv 401, Bert and Ernie predating Siskel and Ebert, the comedy duo archetype, Ben on Almost Live, Weapons, Chicago weather, and L train safety.
What if the west was just an allegory for man's suffering? We're watching mumblecore master Jim Jarmusch's classic Dead Man this time on Harmless Phosphorescence! Support the show and get early access and exclusive content on Patreon! Watch us on YouTube! Buy some Merch! https://www.teepublic.com/stores/attention-hellmart-shoppers Check out Executive Producer Michael Beckwith's movie website at https://upallnightmovies.com/ Siskel and Ebert Scale Josh - Up Brian - Up Al - Up Thoreau - Up
Send us a text8:05 The Long Walk20:44 Spinal Tap II: The End Continues34:36 The Man in My Basement34:37 Bang Bang39:49 Code 345:26 SplitsvilleIt's a 6-movie week here on 'Roger (Ebert) & Me,' the only comprehensive 'Siskel & Ebert'-style review show out there! A film criticism podcast. Please rate and review on Apple Podcasts. Even if you're on Spotify or YouTube, jump over there and throw us 5 stars. We can't get on RottenTomatoes until 200 people rate it! 'Roger & Me' is a movie review podcast covering all new releases, both theatrical and streaming, every Friday, modeled after 'Siskel & Ebert.' Hosted by Mark Dujsik of markreviewsmovies.com & Brett Arnold of Yahoo EntertainmentSupport the show
Send us a text6:31 The Conjuring: Last Rites17:25 Twinless26:45 The Threesome32:20 The Cut39:19 The Baltimorons46:13 Riefenstahl It's a 6-movie week here on 'Roger (Ebert) & Me,' the only comprehensive 'Siskel & Ebert'-style review show out there! A film criticism podcast. Please rate and review on Apple Podcasts. Even if you're on Spotify or YouTube, jump over there and throw us 5 stars. We can't get on RottenTomatoes until 200 people rate it! 'Roger & Me' is a movie review podcast covering all new releases, both theatrical and streaming, every Friday, modeled after 'Siskel & Ebert.' Hosted by Mark Dujsik of markreviewsmovies.com & Brett Arnold of Yahoo EntertainmentSupport the show
This is a story all about how a really terrible movie got made. We're watching Wild Wild West, this time on Harmless Phosphorescence! Support the show and get early access and exclusive content on Patreon! Watch us on YouTube! Buy some Merch! https://www.teepublic.com/stores/attention-hellmart-shoppers Check out Executive Producer Michael Beckwith's movie website at https://upallnightmovies.com/ Siskel and Ebert Scale Josh - Down Brian - Down Al - Up Thoreau - Down
Send us a text4:10 Caught Stealing16:22 The Roses27:09 The Toxic Avenger38:04 The Thursday Murder Club44:03 A Little Prayer50:45 American Sweatshop57:39 Vice Is BrokeIt's a 7-movie week here on 'Roger (Ebert) & Me,' the only comprehensive 'Siskel & Ebert'-style review show out there! A film criticism podcast. Please rate and review on Apple Podcasts. Even if you're on Spotify or YouTube, jump over there and throw us 5 stars. We can't get on RottenTomatoes until 200 people rate it! 'Roger & Me' is a movie review podcast covering all new releases, both theatrical and streaming, every Friday, modeled after 'Siskel & Ebert.' Hosted by Mark Dujsik of markreviewsmovies.com & Brett Arnold of Yahoo Entertainment4Support the show
"Siskel & Ebert & Jay & Alice" (March 12, 1995) Finally, we get around to discussing one of our more formative comedic experiences, and it's one shared more or less exclusively by elder millennials: The Critic, which somehow managed to be both more grown up and more juvenile than The Simpsons. In this episode, we discuss how the two seasons of this cult favorite repeatedly insinuated that the title character was gay, and how and episode guest-starring Siskel and Ebert manages to be the gayest episode of all. The Mr. President episode of our bonus series The Fox Files is free to listen to on Patreon, even if you're not pledging money! Listen to Talking Simpsons discuss Capitol Critters so you don't have to watch it yourself. And listen to us guest on Talking Simpsons to discuss the other Al Jean & Mike Reiss effort, Teen Angel.
Send us a text7:27 Eden22:11 Honey Don't!30:11 Relay38:11 Eenie Meanie46:33 Lurker53:56 We're Not Safe HereSorry for the delay! Brett was moving.It's a 6-movie week here on 'Roger (Ebert) & Me,' the only comprehensive 'Siskel & Ebert'-style review show out there! A film criticism podcast. Please rate and review on Apple Podcasts. Even if you're on Spotify or YouTube, jump over there and throw us 5 stars. We can't get on RottenTomatoes until 200 people rate it! 'Roger & Me' is a movie review podcast covering all new releases, both theatrical and streaming, every Friday, modeled after 'Siskel & Ebert.' Hosted by Mark Dujsik of markreviewsmovies.com & Brett Arnold of Yahoo EntertainmentSupport the show
THIS WEEK WE DISCUSS HUDSON HAWK!Thief extraordinaire Hudson Hawk (Bruce Willis) has just been released from prison and all he wants is a nice cappuccino. However, before he can savor his favorite beverage, the highly eccentric and wealthy Darwin Mayflower (Richard E. Grant) and his equally odd wife, Minerva (Sandra Bernhard), rope Hawk into an ambitious series of heists. Soon Hawk is stealing no less than major works by Leonardo Da Vinci, priceless pieces that the Mayflowers plan to use in an exceedingly nefarious way.Hear our take on the film and on the review of SISKEL and EBERT.SUBSCRIBE TODAY!Visit thecultworthy.comVisit https://www.themoviewire.comVideo: https://www.youtube.com/@back2thebalcony
We're heading out west for the first episode in our Western mini series. We're watching the John Ford classic, The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, this time on Harmless Phosphorescence! Support the show and get early access and exclusive content on Patreon! Watch us on YouTube! Buy some Merch! https://www.teepublic.com/stores/attention-hellmart-shoppers Check out Executive Producer Michael Beckwith's movie website at https://upallnightmovies.com/ Siskel and Ebert Scale Josh - Up Brian - Up Al - Up Thoreau - Up
Send us a text4:04 Nobody 213:58 Highest 2 Lowest29:31 Night Always Comes36:50 Witchboard43:22 East of Wall51:04 Suspended Time57:44 The Glassworker01:06:27 The Knife01:12:20 Fixed1:15:45 Went Up the Hill01:21:01 Jimmy & StiggsIt's an 11-movie week here on 'Roger (Ebert) & Me,' the only comprehensive 'Siskel & Ebert'-style review show out there! A film criticism podcast.Please rate and review on Apple Podcasts. Even if you're on Spotify or YouTube, jump over there and throw us 5 stars. We can't get on RottenTomatoes until 200 people rate it! 'Roger & Me' is a movie review podcast covering all new releases, both theatrical and streaming, every Friday, modeled after 'Siskel & Ebert.' Hosted by Mark Dujsik of markreviewsmovies.com & Brett Arnold of Yahoo EntertainmentSupport the show
This week we discuss the film EXCALIBUR! The magical sword of Excalibur starts off in the hands of British lord Uther Pendragon (Gabriel Byrne) and then, years later, finds its way to his bastard son, Arthur (Nigel Terry), the knave destined to become king. Aided by the sorcerer Merlin (Nicol Williamson), Arthur fulfills his fate by bringing together the Knights of the Round Table at Camelot and unifying the country. However, this flawed monarch faces greater tests ahead in pursuit of love, the Holy Grail and his nation's survival. Hear our take on the film and on the review of SISKEL and EBERT.SUBSCRIBE TODAY!Visit thecultworthy.comVisit https://www.themoviewire.comVideo: https://www.youtube.com/@back2thebalcony
Kirk gets racist and Spock is such a Samantha. We're watching Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country, this time on Harmless Phosphorescence! Support the show and get early access and exclusive content on Patreon! Watch us on YouTube! Buy some Merch! https://www.teepublic.com/stores/attention-hellmart-shoppers Check out Executive Producer Michael Beckwith's movie website at https://upallnightmovies.com/ Siskel and Ebert Scale Josh - Up Brian - Up Al - Up Thoreau - Up
Send us a text6:03 Weapons29:15 Freakier Friday40:23 Sketch50:08 The Pickup58:06 Harvest01:07:31 Descendant01:13:35 Strange Harvest01:21:18 Shaman01:27:16 VideoheavenIt's a 7-movie week here on 'Roger (Ebert) & Me,' the only comprehensive 'Siskel & Ebert'-style review show out there! A film criticism podcast.Please rate and review on Apple Podcasts. Even if you're on Spotify or YouTube, jump over there and throw us 5 stars. We can't get on RottenTomatoes until 200 people rate it! 'Roger & Me' is a movie review podcast covering all new releases, both theatrical and streaming, every Friday, modeled after 'Siskel & Ebert.' Hosted by Mark Dujsik of markreviewsmovies.com & Brett Arnold of Yahoo EntertainmentSupport the show
This week we tackle the 1987 Comedy / Drama GOOD MORNING VIETNAM! The film, directed by Barry Levinson, stars Robin Williams as Adrian Cronauer, a real-life Armed Forces Radio Service (AFRS) DJ stationed in Saigon during the Vietnam War. Cronauer's irreverent humor and unconventional approach to radio broadcasting made him immensely popular with the troops but created friction with his superiors. The film is celebrated for its blend of humor, drama, and social commentary, offering a unique perspective on the Vietnam War through the lens of radio broadcasting. Hear our take on the film and on the review of SISKEL and EBERT.SUBSCRIBE TODAY!Visit thecultworthy.comVisit https://www.themoviewire.comVideo: https://www.youtube.com/@back2thebalcony
Send us a text3:36 The Naked Gun12:33 Together20:53 She Rides Shotgun28:50 War of the Worlds36:48 Souleymane's Story43:24 To Kill a Wolf49:44 River of BloodIt's a 7-movie week here on 'Roger (Ebert) & Me,' the only comprehensive 'Siskel & Ebert'-style review show out there! A film criticism podcast.Please rate and review on Apple Podcasts. Even if you're on Spotify or YouTube, jump over there and throw us 5 stars. We can't get on RottenTomatoes until 200 people rate it! 'Roger & Me' is a movie review podcast covering all new releases, both theatrical and streaming, every Friday, modeled after 'Siskel & Ebert.' Hosted by Mark Dujsik of markreviewsmovies.com & Brett Arnold of Yahoo EntertainmentSupport the show
Are you there God, it's me William Shatner. He's going to take us down to Paradise City in Star Trek V: The FInal Frontier, this time on Harmless Phosphorescence! Support the show and get early access and exclusive content on Patreon! Watch us on YouTube! Buy some Merch! https://www.teepublic.com/stores/attention-hellmart-shoppers Check out Executive Producer Michael Beckwith's movie website at https://upallnightmovies.com/ Siskel and Ebert Scale Josh - Up Brian - Up Al - Up Thoreau - Up
Send us a text4:43 The Fantastic Four: First Steps25:03 Happy Gilmore 243:37 The Home54:07 House on Eden01:00:24 Oh Hi01:07:41 Monster IslandIt's a 6-movie week here on 'Roger (Ebert) & Me,' the only comprehensive 'Siskel & Ebert'-style review show out there! A film criticism podcast.Please rate and review on Apple Podcasts. Even if you're on Spotify or YouTube, jump over there and throw us 5 stars. We can't get on RottenTomatoes until 200 people rate it! 'Roger & Me' is a movie review podcast covering all new releases, both theatrical and streaming, every Friday, modeled after 'Siskel & Ebert.' Hosted by Mark Dujsik of markreviewsmovies.com & Brett Arnold of Yahoo EntertainmentSupport the show
Another probe is headed towards Earth and this time the only way to stop it is to travel back in time and get silly in 1986. We're watching Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home, this time on Harmless Phosphorescence! Support the show and get early access and exclusive content on Patreon! Watch us on YouTube! Buy some Merch! https://www.teepublic.com/stores/attention-hellmart-shoppers Check out Executive Producer Michael Beckwith's movie website at https://upallnightmovies.com/ Siskel and Ebert Scale Josh - Up Brian - Up Al - Up Thoreau - Up
“There're piles of skulls, which of course I appreciate” - Steve on the set design On this week's episode, Totally Cool Awesome 80s Month and the Summer Blockbuster Extravaganza pay tribute to the late, great Val Kilmer with a convo about the super-fun Ron Howard fantasy flick, Willow! How amazing are Warwick and Val together on screen? Isn't it refreshing that Davis was just allowed to put a shirt on and be this character, without getting covered in prosthetics or whatever else? Wouldn't things have been just fine in this movie without the Brownies flying around? And how amazing is that two-headed Siskel & Ebert monster? PLUS: Queen Bavmorda accidentally touches The Ooze and becomes Super Bavmorda (and is also played by Kevin Nash)! Willow stars Warwick Davis, Val Kilmer, Joanne Whalley, Jean Marsh, Patricia Hayes, Billy Barty, Mark Northover, Pat Roach, David Sternberg, Phil Fondacaro, Tony Cox, Kevin Pollak, Rick Overton, and Gavan O'Herlihy as Airk; directed by Ron Howard. Don't miss our next Worldwide Digital Event, happening Friday, June 20th at 9pm/eastern where we'll be LIVE talking about a total superhero all-timer, Superman II! Join us that night to revel in all the fun with Zod & Friends, everyone at the Daily Planet, and the two legendary performances from Christopher Reeve and Gene Hackman! Replay available for 14 days after broadcast! Tickets are going fast for our three-night residency during the Oxford Comedy Festival! We'll be doing six shows over three nights from July 18 through 20. Tickets are going fast—our shows on Quantum of Solace and Hellraiser are already SOLD OUT—so don't wait, snag your tix today! Throughout 2025, we'll be donating 100% of our earnings from our merch shop to the Center for Reproductive Rights. So head over and check out all these masterful designs and see what tickles your fancy! Shirts? Phone cases? Canvas prints? We got all that and more! Check it out and kick in for a good cause! Original cover art by Felipe Sobreiro.
© 2020-2025 Ivy Podcast Discovery LLC
