As awards season kicks into high gear, Matt and Ed talk about who they think are the best actors working today, a discussion which inevitably gets derailed by talk about Method Acting as an exercise in performative masculinity, the ways in which critics devalue comedic performances, and Adam Driver's chest.
00:00:00 - 00:27:28 - Intro & News
00:27:28 - 01:14:51 - Matt & Ed talk about the best actors working today
01:14:52 - 01:19:20 - SRS Recommends & Outro
It's a brand new year, which means it's time to look ahead at what 2018 has to offer. After laying out their New Year's Resolutions, Matt and Ed sift through the release schedule to highlight some of their most anticipated movies coming out between now and August (with one October release that they forgot to remove from the episode plan), as well as some which they don't have high hopes for but which could still be interesting. They also talk about German New Year's traditions, become possibly the first podcast in history to joke about the long-forgotten ABC sitcom Teen Angel, and accidentally come up with a title for the next great Sundance sensation.
You can see the sketch Dinner for One, which Matt talks about in the intro, on YouTube.
00:00:00 - 00:12:42 - Intro
00:12:43 - 00:20:42 - News
00:20:43 - 02:04:29 - Matt & Ed Preview the Year's Movies
02:04:30 - 02:09:59 - SRS Recommends & Outro
As the last hours of 2017 slip away, Matt and Ed sit down to look back on the past 12 months and discuss the highs and lows. What movies were shocking successes? What films flopped unexpectedly? And what were the prevailing stories that leapt out to them? They also discuss David Ayer's Bright, a late but strong contender for worst film of the year, before running down the ten best films of the year, as chosen by Shot Reverse Shot's guest contributors.
00:00:00 - 00:03:06 - Intro
00:03:07 - 00:30:50 - A rundown of some of the big news stories of the year
00:30:51 - 00:47:35 - Matt and Ed discuss Bright and other cinematic lowlights
00:47:36 - 00:50:32 - Honourable Mentions
00:50:33 - 01:40:07 - The Shot/Reverse Shot Top Ten Films of 2017
01:40:08 - 01:40:47 - Outro
It's December, and you know what that means: new Star Wars! Matt and Ed search their feelings and discuss the considerable merits of Rian Johnson's The Last Jedi, and their own wildly different responses to its bold aesthetics, thrilling action sequences, and surprising complexity.
It goes without saying that there are a lot of spoilers. Like, tons.
00:00:00 - 00:19:30 - Intro & News
00:19:31 - 01:41:44 - Matt & Ed discuss Star Wars: The Last Jedi
01:41:45 - 01:47:30 - SRS Recommends & Outro
This week saw the release of James Franco's The Disaster Artist in the U.K., as well as its wide release in the U.S. Based on the book of the same name by Greg Sestero and Tom Bissell, Franco's movie tells the story of the making of The Room, the legendarily terrible "drama" directed by Tommy Wiseau. Matt talks with guest Louise Le Cornu about The Room in general, his experiences organising screenings of the film, and the clear love and affection for it on display in The Disaster Artist, then rejoins Ed to talk about the cult fascination surrounding Wiseau, and the ways in which Franco draws out the pathos of an outlandish figure. They also talk about candle-making, whether John Goodman would be a good dinner guest, and dinosaur court cases. It's a silly one.
You can watch David Ehrlch's Best Films of 2017 countdown video here.
You can watch Sufjan Stevens' Tonya Harding video here.
00:00:00 - 00:09:19 - Intro
00:09:20 - 00:34:26 - News
00:34:27 - 01:10:06 - Matt & Louise talk about The Room
01:10:07 - 01:36:26 - Matt & Ed talk about The Disaster Artist
01:36:26 - 01:42:06 - SRS Recommends & Outro
Matt and Ed trudged to cinemas on their respective sides of the Atlantic to watch Justice League, the film that was meant to be the DC universe's answer to The Avengers, but which has underperformed to a startling degree. They discuss the film's difficult production, the missteps that Warner Bros. took over multiple movies that led to Zack Snyder and Joss Whedon having to introduce half the cast of the movie instead of getting on with the plot, and what, if anything, about the movie gives them hope for future DC movies. They also talk end up talking about awards season, the Infinity War trailer, and SM:TV Live.
00:00:00 - 00:04:16 - Intro
00:04:17 - 00:40:25 - News
00:40:26 - 01:35:42 - Matt and Ed discuss Justice League
01:35:43 - 01:45:16 - SRS Recommends & Outro
It's Matt's Birthday, which means he has free rein to talk about any subject he wants this week. Topics include the biggest pricks in cinema history, male role models in movies, and planning a birthday film festival.
00:00:00 - 00:16:55 - Intro & News
00:16:56 - 00:56:25 - Matt & Ed discuss a bunch of stuff
00:56:26 - 01:05:50 - SRS Recommends & Outro
Thirty years ago, the world was first introduced to Frances "Baby" Houseman and Johnny Castle. In the years since, Dirty Dancing has spawned legions of fans, a successful musical adaptation, a misbegotten prequel and a TV remake best left forgotten, which is good going for a low-budget movie starring two relative unknowns with a plot that hinges on an abortion. Matt and Ed are joined by returning guest Michaela Livingstone-Banks to talk about Dirty Dancing as a phenomenon, their favourite moments from the movie, and what, if anything, Johnny has to do with the JFK assassination.
00:00:00 - 00:03:52 - Intro
00:03:53 - 00:24:32 - News
00:24:33 - 01:16:42 - Matt, Ed & Michaela talk about Dirty Dancing
01:16:43 - 01:22:17 - SRS Recommends & Outro
The third film in the Thor strand of the MCU hit US theatres this past weekend and was met with a tidal wave of positive reviews and huge financial success. Perhaps more excitingly, at least from Matt and Ed's point of view, Thor: Ragnarok is the latest film from New Zealand writer/actor/director Taika Waititi. They discuss the ways in which Waititi retained his personality and sense of humour despite a vastly increased budget and higher scrutiny, whether Ragnarok represents a change in direction for Marvel, and how weirdly funny Jeff Goldblum is in the movie. They also talk about the latest batch of sexual assault scandals coming out of Hollywood, Amazon's mad idea to remake Lord of the Rings as a TV show, and how hard it is to explain Bonfire Night to non-British people.
Here is the article about Taika Waititi insisting on hiring Aboriginal people to work on Ragnarok.
Here is the Every Frame a Painting video about the MCU's bland musical palette.
00:00:00 - 00:03:02 - Intro
00:03:02 - 00:29:42 - News
00:29:43 - 01:27:19 - Matt & Ed discuss Thor: Ragnarok and the state of Marvel movies in general
01:27:20 - 01:37:08 - SRS Recommends & Outro
It's Halloween, and Matt and Ed are joined by returning guest Kayleigh Donaldson to discuss a suitably spooky subject: Stephen King, the prolific and influential horror writer who, between It, Gerald's Game and 1922 (less so The Dark Tower) is having something of a moment. They also discuss the Phantom Thread trailer, pick over the complete implosion of Suburbicon, and they pitch Terrence Malick on a potential film for his purported return to more conventional filmmaking.
00:00:00 - 00:22:22 - Intro and News
00:22:23 - 01:11:52 - Matt, Ed and Kayleigh discuss Stephen King's work
01:11:53 - 01:13:26 - Outro
Inspired by their shared re-evaluation of Blade Runner a few weeks ago, Matt and Ed talk about movies they misjudged, either because they dismissed them only to later discover that they were masterpieces, or fully endorsed before shamefacedly backtracking at a later date. They also discuss Netflix's decision to spend $8 billion of making original movies and $1 on marketing them, getting old, and James Toback. Ed also finds time to rail against Apple's truly appalling update to their podcasting app.
00:00:00 - 00:10:00 - Intro
00:10:01 - 00:33:54 - News
00:33:55 - 01:30:04 - Matt & Ed talk about movies that they were wrong about
01:30:05 - 01:38:29 - SRS Recommends & Outro
One of the most talked about pop culture events of this summer was the unlikely resurrection of Twin Peaks, David Lynch and Mark Frost's landmark work which brought a new level of visual, thematic and philosophical sophistication to American television before flaming out in glorious fashion with one of the most harrowing series finales of all time.
Befitting a series which left its hero (Agent Dale Cooper, played by Kyle Maclachlan) trapped in a strange netherworld for a quarter of a century, Twin Peak returned feeling both familiar and not. The cast (at least, those who had not passed away in the intervening years) were back, but the tone was darker, more abrasive, and the story flew in the face of all conventions of the medium. Once the show had finished airing there had been time to take in a fuller view of Lynch and Frost's work, Ed sat down with writer and producer Emily Benita, who is currently the producer of the great history podcast Past Tense, to talk about The Return in a wide-ranging discussion that involved good, evil, grace, nostalgia, misogyny, stagnation...basically everything, and they didn't even scratch the surface.
Before all that, Matt and Ed talk about the week's news, including the latest fallout from the Harvey Weinstein scandal, Sylvester Stallone taking over as director of Creed 2, and James Corden being spectacularly terrible. But, like, more so than usual.
00:00:00 - 00:01:27 - Intro
00:01:28 - 00:30:17 - Matt and Ed discuss the news
00:30:18 - 02:22:45 - Ed and Emily discuss Twin Peaks: The Return
02:22:46 - 02:24:21 - Outro
The long-gestating sequel to Ridley Scott's sci-fi classic Blade Runner hit theatres this week to glowing reviews and disappointing box office. As two recently converted Blade Runner skeptics, Matt and Ed talk about Denis Villeneuve's Blade Runner 2049, an ambitious movie which, like its predecessor, raises a lot of questions: Was Deckard a replicant? How much does it owe to the work of Andrei Tarkovsky? And is Jared Leto "perfectly tolerable" in this movie?
They also discuss the fallout of the Harvey Weinstein scandal, the spectacularly dumb Rick and Morty/Szechuan sauce farrago, and whether Jessica Williams joining the cast of the Fantastic Beasts... sequel could possibly balance out the Eddie Redmayne-shaped void at the heart of that franchise.
00:00:00 - 00:01:47 - Intro
00:01:48 - 00:35:11 - News
00:35:12 - 01:26:41 - Matt & Ed talk about Blade Runner 2049 (Spoilers abound!)
01:26:42 - 01:33:44 - SRS Recommends & Outro
After a gap of twelve years, Star Trek is back on television! Sort of.
The latest iteration of Gene Roddenberry's sci-fi classic, Star Trek: Discovery, debuted on CBS All Access and Netflix (depending on your location) last week, so Ed (a Star Trek fan) and Matt (a Star Trek skeptic) watched the first two episodes and debated their merits, and ask what does a new Star Trek have to say about 2017? Also, is there too much exposition? Why are there so many Dutch Angles? And how is Discovery like The Lost Boys? Some of these questions are answered on this week's show.
00:00:00 - 00:01:18 - Intro
00:01:19 - 00:26:52 - News
00:26:53 - 01:07:50 - Matt & Ed talk about Star Trek: Discovery
01:07:51 - 01:13:57 - SRS Recommends & Outro
Pump up the world! Matt's returned from travelling around the real world and is ready to put the film world on notice.
After talking about all the amazing places he visited over nine months of travel, Matt and Ed discuss some of the big stories of the year that they weren't able to cover in his absence, including Moonlight winning Best Picture, the fragility of Star Wars directors, and the horrendous summer box office. Then they talk about a very current scandal rocking the film critic and cinephile communities: the sexual assault allegations against AICN's Harry Knowles, and the broader crisis of a film culture which is a male-dominated space that's at best unwelcoming to women.
00:00:00 - 00:01:29 - Intro
00:01:30 - 00:54:41 - Matt & Ed catch up and discuss the big stories of the year so far
00:54:42 - 01:11:02 - Discussion of the Alamo Drafthouse/Fantastic Fest/Harry Knowles scandal
01:11:03 - 01:18:32 - SRS Recommends & Outro
To mark the end of the summer blockbuster season and the rapidly approaching glut of prestigious autumn releases, Ed is joined by returning guest and friend of the show John Hunter to discuss the movies that they're looking forward to over the next four months. They also run down the best movies of the summer, try to figure out which awards season movies are secretly Cloverfield sequels, and mourn the death of Tobe Hooper.
00:00:00 - 00:06:31 - Intro & News
00:06:32 - 00:36:56 - Summer Movie Wrap-Up
00:36:57 - 02:09:57 - Ed & John preview the next four months of movies
02:09:58 - 02:17:38 - SRS Recommends & Outro
On this week's show, Ed is joined by returning guest, and producer of the upcoming London Podcast Festival, Zoë Jeyes to talk about The Leftovers, HBO's wildly ambitious post-apocalyptic drama which recently aired its third and final season (so lots of SPOILERS ahead). In addition to tracking the way in which the show evolved from season to season, debating the meaning of the finale, and marveling at Justin Theroux's a̶b̶s̶ acting talent, they talk about London Podcast Festival Presents: Wrestling, a day devoted to podcasts celebrating the wonderful world of kayfabe.
Apologies in advance for some of the audio issues in this episode. We tried to reduce them as much as possible.
00:00:00 - 00:04:23 - Intro/Ed & Zoë talk about the London Podcast Festival
00:04:24 - 00:57:50 - Ed & Zoë discuss The Leftovers
00:57:51 - 01:02:49 - SRS Recommends & Outro
Film critic (and newly minted podcaster) Nathanael Smith returns to the show to talk about the recently completed Polygon web series Car Boys, an immensely funny show about crashing computer generated cars which wound up being intensely surreal and moving. They also talk about Nathanael's new podcast The VOD Pod, a show which provides a guiding light for those looking for something good to watch on streaming services, and look back on the first six months of 2017 and try to figure out if cinema is dead or not. Ed also finally gets to rant about Kong: Skull Island.
- Tony Zhou's video essay about Satoshi Kon, which Nathanael references towards the end of the episode, can be watched on his YouTube channel here.
00:00:00 - 00:06:10 - Intro/Ed and Nathanael talk about The VOD Pod
00:06:11 - 00:19:25 - Ed & Nathanael share their highlights from the first six months of 2017
00:19:26 - 00:45:18 - Ed & Nathanael talk about Car Boys
00:45:19 - 00:54:29 - SRS Recommends/Outro
In this minisode, Ed breaks down Twin Peaks for newcomers (or old fans who may have forgotten the salient details) ahead of the long-awaited revival of the show. He lays out the plot (not to mention the subplots), the reasons why the show's original run fell apart, and why people are so excited about the return of a show which ended ignominously more than 25 years ago. Ed also pays tribute to Car Boys, the recently completed YouTube series from Polygon.
00:00:00 - 00:02:30 - Intro
00:02:31 - 00:32:51 - Ed talks about Twin Peaks
00:32:52 - 00:38:34 - SRS Recommends & Outro
In an episode years in the making, Ed sits down with historian and friend Jack Rhoden to discuss the work of Kevin Costner. In addition to talking about specific films from the actor/director's back catalogue, they examine his status as a movie star, the almost mythic way in which he is used by some filmmakers to evoke a sense of Americana, and the peaks and valleys of a career that has had plenty of both. They also manage to compare Costner to both Lyndon Baines Johnson and indie-rock stalwarts Spoon, which is a pretty decent spectrum.
00:00:00 - 00:06:10 - Intro
00:06:11 - 01:03:21 - Ed & Jack discuss the career of Kevin Costner
01:03:22 - 01:09:23 - SRS Recommends & Outro
