Are You Screening? Podcast

This week we're finally nailing down our Best of the Year lists, and despite the fact that we say every year is crazy, this one is really nuts when it comes to our lists... at least if you compare them to a lot of other critics. So much money was dumped into things that were supposed to launch onto everyone's radar this year, and so many of them bombed, were rather awful, or both. So what gets on the list, and how does that compare to titles that won awards? Tune in to find out and learn about the movies that shined in '24 Plus, we get to Mickey 17, which should have gotten a lot more attention, even if we didn't exactly love it.

We have a few episodes left in our republishing effort and this week we've got Nosferatu. We kick off taking a shot at Eggers and an interview celebrating the box office success of the film, and then let you in on all the reasons it is mostly underwhelming.

It's that time again, we have to get on to our yearly lists, but before we dive in there, we thought we better touch on the movies we haven't covered, because we don't want people thinking we just didn't see the films that pop up on other people's lists... or that got nominated for things... or won things. We're checking boxes as fast as we can and running though films this week, and you may be surprised to learn which films we need to highlight (because they probably won't be on our Best List)

Awards season has wrapped with the Oscars, but before we get to a rundown of noteworthy films we haven't covered next week, and our Best of the Year lists the week after, we have to visit a truly underwhelming Marvel film. Captain America: Brave New World could barely hold our attention, and it seems fitting to get it out of the way before we start talking about good films.

We continue our insane adventure of republishing/catching up with Joker: Folie a Deux, Brothers, and My Old Ass. It's the strange kick off to the year's film with huge budgets that bombed and a couple of smaller titles that were quite a bit better than expected. The sequel to the massive hit ought to have made plenty of money, but it had trouble long before it came out, and rightly so. We'll let you in on these and more... including just some director bashing.

We're continuing our insane republish/catch-up extravaganza with The Instigators & Jackpot!...two movies that, depending on which of us you side with, maybe are at best unnecessary. We also run through some TV this week, because... at the time... there was a lot we wanted to champion and weren't sure they would get enough attention. Check out our thoughts and share, like, subscribe, and otherwise trick your friends into listening to us.

We continue our catch up/republish adventures with Deadpool & Wolverine, as wild and screwy a movie as 2024 could manage. We also take a helluva shot at the Olympics and the insanity of events.

As we continue with our catch up/republish episodes, we get to Inside Out 2, one of the best of the year, and the impossible to search IF (Imaginary Friends), and finally Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F. It made for a strange episode, because Inside Out 2 was almost indescribably good, but somehow wasn't quite a 10/10, and the other two were passable while filled with flaws that make them potentially annoying.

As we continue to catch up/republish we look at Furiosa and Hitman this week. Two movies that coud hardly be more different, and both a bit disappointing in their own ways. Furiosa, while serviceable and filled with moments of fun, doesn't live up to the expectations set for it, and Hitman just couldn't seem to get out of its own way and wouldn't commit to a story. Give a listen for all the details and be sure to subscribe and share.

This week (?) we're bringing you our Can't Win Awards (again... sort of), and The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare. Massive apologies to our fans as many of our episodes over the last six months have been up and down, seemed to be up but weren't really, and have had all sorts of other problems. And, that doesn't even cover some serious delays in publishing. We'll be catching up rather quickly, so further apologies as we shotgun many episodes from the past few months.

This week we look at The Fall Guy and if there's one overall theme to looking at this one, it's that we were both surprised that it worked out pretty well, despite some goofy moments, AND we were just as much surprised by the extent to which this bears no resemblance to the original show... at all. Still, it's mostly a fun, popcorn jaunt with some heart and it surely serves its purpose and hasn't really, in our humble opinion, managed reviews that make a lot of sense, by some anyway.   To our fans, some technical and personal difficulties have thrown us for a loop over the summer, and episodes that seemed to be live weren't. Because of this, we'll be pushing out quite a few in fairly rapid succession. Thanks for tuning in, and rest assured we aren't going anywhere.

Two movies that... serve a purpose perhaps, but don't offer much. "Roadhouse" and "Ricky Stanicky" both had more potential, and both can't get out of their own way. Remember, you can also catch the video version of our podcast now on YouTube.

It's that time again, and as much as it is perhaps unnecessary to rewarn people of the worst movies last year, it's now in a list! Thankfully, we don't need to overly revisit bad movies, which means we can also bring you a couple of recent Netflix releases, Damsel and Spaceman. We'll let you know what to stay away from, if you've managed it so far, and who knows what else we'll get up to.

The second part of the Dune extravaganza actually managed to surprise, though it had some flaws and a strange ending. As much as we liked the first installment, there was a lot that could go wrong. Tune in and find out what we thought about the massive undertaking, why it worked, and why it occasionally didn't.

This week we are taking on the Best of the Year, but it's also our first episode that we are also doing on video.  Things might sound a little strange here and there, and that'll be why. Also, this one got away from us a bit on length, mostly because we had a lot of Honorable Mentions. It was a wild year to be sure, which made lists both easier and harder, but at the very least ours aren't the same as everyone else's. Please also check us out on YouTube, and like and subscribe there, etc.

This week we actually just cranked through a lot of films to end the year before next week when we dare to offer you our Best of the Year list. We hit too many to go over, including such winners as Past Lives and Dream Scenario, and ended up with some of our biggest differences ever, which was really surprising in some cases. This was largely a result of Shane hating everything and me being a sucker... apparently. Tune in to find out about several movies you need to check out so that you are fully informed (let's say) going into the Best of the Year.

As we run headlong toward our Best of the Year list, and the Can't Win Awards, we're trying like hell to get through as many films as possible... and it only works so well. This week we finally get to Oppenheimer, which hit us pretty much as we expected... tune into to find out what that means. We're also looking at two real gems of the year, even if we didn't rate one of them that highly, May December and American Fiction.

This week we finally look at Killers of the Flower Moon as we head into our wrap up of as many movies we didn't get to as possible before our Best of the Year list and our "Can't Win" Awards. Killers didn't really impress us, as is perhaps the case with several of the biggest titles this year, and we'll let you know exactly why. Also, in a bit of a strange move as we waste time when we have better things to do, we talk about the Oscar snubs and how I unfortunately caused them, or predicted them, or something. Finally, we're briefly revisiting The Night Agent and only because I mentioned it previously on the show after only watching three episodes.

The Critics Choice Awards happened and it was a great show once again. This week we look over the winners and let you know how we feel about them (and sometimes what I actually voted for), and we review (though rather quickly) The Holdovers and Saltburn. The Holdovers got Paul Giamatti the win, and as we mentioned in a previous episode, he deserved it, and it was a year with some serious competition. Saltburn hasn't managed a lot of love, and is becoming famous simply for the talk surrounding a couple of... well, odd, scenes, but the follow up to Promising Young Woman is still quite good... if odd.

You may be expecting our usual, end of year shotgun blast of reviews where we try to hit as many movies as possible each episode, but because this year threw off our ability to get a couple of episodes out - even as we prepare to add video to the mix - we've decided to run through some of the major categories of the Critics' Choice Awards nominations in order to highlight and discuss said nominees that way. We will get you our take on several of the most noteworthy films that way, and review them "better" later, so at least you have some ideas going into award season. We are also covering Leave the World Behind this week, though briefly, and mostly for a quick laugh.