Shot/Reverse Shot

This past Saturday, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Leslie Odom, Jr. and Phillipa Soo left the cast of the Broadway show Hamilton, a wildly successful musical which has grown in prominence and cultural heft over the past year, to the extent that their departures were given the same treatment afforded to news surrounding popular TV shows and films. Since this represents an important transitional moment for the musical, Matt and Ed thought it would be a good time to take stock of the Hamilton phenomenon, their own thoughts and feelings about the play, and the way in which it addresses the difference between the past and history through a revolutionary mixture of Broadway, hip-hop, and actual history. They also mourn the passing of the great Iranian director Abbas Kiarostami, unpack the minor furore surrounding Sulu being gay in the latest Star Trek film, and talk about experiencing "Felicity Huffman-esque intensity".

Following a week of terrible sadness in the real world, this week's episode is about finding solace in art and entertainment. Matt and Ed discuss times in their lives when art helped them cope with heartbreak, bereavement and wrenching change, create a fictional Canadian basketball team, and try to describe one scene from Up without crying. 

After discussing disastrous movies last week, Matt and Ed talk about Disaster Movies this week. Specifically, they contrast the more human-centric stories of the genres '70s heyday against the inhumanity of the '90s force of nature entries into the genre, and the out-and-out disaster porn that has come to define so much of blockbuster filmmaking over the past decade. They also talk about Larry David maybe bringing back Curb Your Enthusiasm, the complexity of the Jack Frost series, and wonder which of his films Kevin Smith will cannibalise after he fails to make a Mallrats TV series.

In this slightly delayed episode, Matt and Ed complete their Sex, Drugs and Rock & Roll trilogy with, funnily enough, an episode on Rock & Roll. They discuss films about musicians (both real and fictional), movies starring musicians, and take plenty of time to talk about the notorious 2000 gangster movie Honest, starring three quarters of All Saints and a Nazi lobster. They also pitch ideas for the latest Halloween film, reminisce about their youthful misunderstandings about Spinal Tap, and bemoan the dickishness of John Carney. Matt also provides compelling evidence for why Sexy Beast and OK Computer are basically the same.

The second part of the Sex, Drugs and Rock n' Roll trilogy finds Matt and (an intensely sick and croaky) Ed discussing representation of drug use in film and TV, how cinema reflects shifting attitudes to different substances, and the ways in which Requiem for a Dream and Reefer Madness are basically the same film. They also discuss the slew of TV cancellations that occurred last week, imagine a crazier version of Easy Rider than the one we have, and Matt discusses the less glamorous side of the Cannes film festival.

Inspired by the release of 10 Cloverfield Lane, which no one knew about until mere weeks before it was due to come out, this week's episode is all about secrecy, and the problem of maintaining a sense of surprise when it comes to filmmaking. Could someone make a film completely in secret and release it to the world the same way that Kendrick Lamar released an album unannounced? What's the best way to sell a film without ruining it? Is Dave Stewart from Eurythmics a serial killer? All of these questions get addressed in one form or another. There's also a lot of talk about Indiana Jones 5, some talk about Brett Gelman's iBrain routine, and a little talk about Oscar Isaac's dick. Typical show, basically.

On February 9th, 2011, one of the greatest TV shows of all time left the field for the last time. To mark the five-year anniversary of its passing, Matt and Ed pay tribute to Friday Night Lights by discussing what was unique about it, its influence, and its place in the pantheon of great television shows. They draw heavily on this oral history of the show from the dearly departed Grantland, which is well worth reading, particularly when it comes to the details of the show's production.

In honour of this year's big game, this episode is all about Sports movies, from earnest documentaries to rousing crowdpleasers, with a sprinkling of talk about how insane it is that Joseph Fiennes has been cast to play Michael Jackson. 

To mark the end of the Sundance film festival for another year, Matt and Ed discuss some of the big news coming out of Park City, what films from the festival have piqued their interest, and what Sundance's place in the culture is now compared to its heyday in the mid-to-late '90s. They also establish the many ways in which Kevin Smith is exactly the same as a cartoon dog.

Annoying real-life things like families and that prevented Matt and Ed from being able to record a full episode this week. Instead, they decided to talk before the release of The Force Awakens about what they hope to see (and not to see) in one of the most anticipated films of all time, their favourite (and least favourite) Christmas movies, and how shit turkey is. Think of it as a stocking stuffer ahead of next week's bumper end of year spectacular!