Filmspotting

Jordan and Matt break format - and Zeus’s Law? - for an Odyssey-themed episode, including thoughts on the new blockbuster film, favorite Christopher Nolan films, and streaming recommendations inspired by the Homeric epic. And then a game, which Jordan dubs "My Big Fat Greek Filmspotting Game."    The Odyssey (00:00:00–00:23:33) #1 Nolans (00:23:34–00:47:08) Rec Seg: Odyssey-inspired recommendations (00:47:09–01:04:23) Game: My Big Fat Greek Filmspotting Game (01:04:24–01:24:05) New to Streaming / Credits (01:24:05–01:31:47) Show Notes Now Streaming on Bazooga - A Filmspotting: SVU Archive⁠ https://letterboxd.com/samvanhallgren/list/now-streaming-on-bazooga-a-filmspotting-svu/⁠ Pre-Order Matt's book "Funny Business: The Old-School Wedding Crashers and Knocked-Up Virgins Who Changed Comedy Forever" (Coming October 6th):⁠ https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/790241/funny-business-by-matt-singer/⁠ Feedback: Email us at feedback@filmspottingSVU.com Follow Matt on B

Story analyst Billy Mernit joins Michael Phillips to test one of Hollywood’s most enduring (and slippery) unofficial rules: Howard Hawks’ idea that a good movie is three good scenes and no bad ones.Mernit, an instructor and writer known as the “guru of rom-com,” brings nearly three decades of reading studio scripts and a working knowledge of how films get evaluated before they ever reach the screen. Together, they dig into what makes a “good scene” in the first place.Is Hawks’ dictum still useful? Or, like so many Hollywood rules, is it less a law of motion pictures than a reflection of how we choose to remember them?See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Is Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey a cinematic gift, or is it a Trojan Horse filled with the director’s narrative obsessions? Maybe both. In their review, Adam and Josh talk about the ways Nolan diverges from Homer’s epic tale, and which of the director’s previous films offer the best insight into his latest. This episode is presented by⁠ Regal Unlimited⁠⁠, the all-you-can-watch movie subscription pass that pays for itself in just two visits. Use code FILMSPOT26 to take 15% off. 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 complete archive access. http://filmspottingfamily.com -Filmspotting Shop for T-shirts and more.⁠ ⁠ ⁠https://www.filmspotting.net/shop⁠⁠⁠⁠ Follow: -Watch Filmspotting on YouTube: ⁠https://youtube.com/filmspotting⁠ -Adam/Filmspotting: ⁠Letterboxd⁠ |⁠ Instagram⁠ |⁠ Facebook⁠ | ⁠Bluesky⁠ -Josh/LarsenOnFilm: ⁠Letterboxd⁠ | ⁠In

As part of 2020’s Christopher Nolan Oeuvre-view, Adam and Josh revisited The Prestige (2006), which – alongside his current The Odyssey – is among the rare Nolans adapted from existing material. Unlock the full archive, Filmspotting Discord, ad‑free + bonus episodes, and more when you ⁠join the Filmspotting Family⁠.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Matt and Jordan give Hulu’s new multiverse revenge thriller Redux Redux a spin, crediting Kevin and Matthew McManus’s film for its low-budget stylishness and its central performance (by another McManus, sister Michaela). Then some Redux-inspired streaming recommendations, answers to a listener request for off-the-grid heist movies, and a game (“Multi-Box Letter-Verse”) hosted by Producer Sam. Intro / The Odyssey (00:00:00–00:11:36) Redux Redux (0:11:37–00:28:27) Rec Seg (00:28:28–00:45:35) Listener Request Recs: Off-the-Grid Heist Movies (00:45:36–01:02:42) Game: Multi-box Letter-verse (01:02:43–01:29:32) New to Streaming / Credits (01:29:33–01:38:12) Show Notes Now Streaming on Bazooga - A Filmspotting: SVU Archive⁠ https://letterboxd.com/samvanhallgren/list/now-streaming-on-bazooga-a-filmspotting-svu/⁠ Pre-Order Matt's book "Funny Business: The Old-School Wedding Crashers and Knocked-Up Virgins Who Changed Comedy Forever" (Coming October 6th):⁠ htt

Considering The Odyssey is one of the most famous and influential stories of all time, there had been relatively few attempts to directly translate Homer’s epic poem to the big screen until Christopher Nolan came along to do it at a blockbuster scale. It’s been more common for filmmakers, such as Joel and Ethan Coen, to use it as the loose framework for a flawed hero’s journey home, such as the one undertaken by Ulysses Everett McGill in O Brother, Where Art Thou?, a Depression-era musical comedy that maps on to Homer’s version only in the broadest of strokes. But revisiting O Brother through the lens of its stated source material, as we’re doing this week, is a revealing lesson in the malleability of adaptation, as well as the Coens’ ability to make even one of the most familiar tales in all of storytelling uniquely theirs. Then in Feedback, we finally break our silence on the indie-horror phenomenon that is Obsession. Please share your t

Film critic Amy Nicholson joins host Michael Phillips to test a set of unofficial Hollywood axioms: Preston Sturges’ 11 Rules for Box Office Appeal.Written (or so the story goes) in the early 1940s, the list is equal parts joke and provocation, a series of blunt, sometimes baffling claims about what makes movies work. But taken together, the rules point toward something more coherent: a theory of cinema built on movement, rhythm, and the constant opening of possibilities.Amy and Michael dig into what still holds up and what these rules reveal about the way comedy — and movies — create momentum. Is Sturges simply being playful? Or is there real wisdom hiding inside the punchlines?See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Dissident Cinema Marathon continues with Marcel Ophuls’s towering 1969 documentary The Sorrow and the Pity, which challenged the so-called “Gaullist myth” that the French people had largely resisted Nazi occupation.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Adam and Josh take stock of the movie year with their Top 5 Films of 2026 (So Far), making picks that reflect the strength of of the year’s genre offerings, comedies, and intimate dramas. Plus: Massacre Theatre, and Best of ‘26 poll results. This episode is presented by⁠ Regal Unlimited⁠⁠, the all-you-can-watch movie subscription pass that pays for itself in just two visits. Use code FILMSPOT26 to take 15% off. (Timecodes/chapters may not be precise with ads.) Intro (00:00:00-00:03:03) Top 5 of 2026 (00:03:04-00:32:36) Filmspotting Family: ‘20s/’30s Madness (00:32:37-00:40:52) Poll: Best of ‘26 (So Far) (00:40:53-00:49:36) Top 5 of 2026, cont. (00:49:37-01:17:26) RIP Sam Neill / Massacre Theatre (01:17:27-01:26:54) Credits / Releases (01:26:55-01:28:56) Links: Alison Willmore on Blue Heron | Vulture https://www.vulture.com/article/review-the-masterful-blue-heron-uses-cinema-as-a-sance.html Feedback: -Email us at feedback@filmspotting.net⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠-⁠Ask Us Anything⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ and we might

A good chunk of Supergirl’s DNA can be traced back to True Grit by way of the comics miniseries the film is adapting, which is why we paired it with Joel and Ethan Coen’s 2010 version of that story. But as our discussion of Craig Gillespie’s new entry in James Gunn’s revamped DC Universe details, Supergirl often feels less indebted to its space-western source material than to several other superhero films that preceded it, including some of Gunn’s. That makes it tough to balance a film we all consider okay-at-best against a stone-cold Coens classic, but we attempt to anyway in Connections as we consider these two films’ shared interest in vengeance, western tropes, and really, really bad guys with murky motivations. Then in Your Next Picture Show, we honorTrue Grit’s star-making performance with a recommendation for another Hailee Steinfeld film that’s a favorite of this podcast, The Edge of Seventeen. Please share your thoughts abo

For this week's Archive episode, we go back to 2014 for the Top 5 Movie Tattoos (That We'd Get). The "we" being Adam and Josh. 16 years later... no tats yet. But they're sticking by (most) of their picks. Unlock the full archive, Filmspotting Discord, ad‑free + bonus episodes, and more when you ⁠join the Filmspotting Family⁠.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Matt and Jordan deep-dive into the free, ad-supported streaming platform Tubi. They evaluate the platform across five distinct categories: library; playback/interface; reliability; originals; and price. Plus, recommended titles to watch on Tubi, and a recommendations for a listener who is looking for a hangout comedy like semi-obscure 2005 comedy. And Producer Sam hosts this week’s game: Tubi or Not Tubi. The State of Streaming: Tubi (00:00:00–00:49:36) Rec Seg: Watch on Tubi (00:49:37–01:01:23) Listener Request Recs: Hangout Comedies (01:01:24–01:17:23) Game: Tubi or Not Tubi (01:17:24–01:38:35) New to Streaming / Credits (01:38:36–01:45:49) Show Notes Now Streaming on Bazooga - A Filmspotting: SVU Archive⁠ https://letterboxd.com/samvanhallgren/list/now-streaming-on-bazooga-a-filmspotting-svu/⁠ Pre-Order Matt's book "Funny Business: The Old-School Wedding Crashers and Knocked-Up Virgins Who Changed Comedy Forever" (Coming October 6th):⁠ https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/b

Welcome to The Movie Racket, a new Filmspotting production hosted by Michael Phillips. Each week, we’ll test a so-called "law" of cinema — a bit of received wisdom about how movies work, or don’t. For our debut episode, actor Michael Shannon joins the show to examine a provocative claim from François Truffaut: that every film about war ends up being pro-war. Is it true that a movie about combat, survival, and heroism can never escape the pull of spectacle and the way cinema inevitably renders violence compelling? Shannon reflects on that inherent tension and revisits his experience working on Michael Bay’s Pearl Harbor, a film that presents this question of representation head-on. So: was Truffaut right? Or does cinema allow for something more complicated than a binary verdict? Join the conversation at movieracket@filmspotting.net.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Adam and Josh celebrate Fargo's 30th anniversary with a Pantheon Project review (the show’s longest ever) of the Coen Brothers' career-altering 1996 film. Plus, Olivia Wilde's The Invite, David Wain's Gail Daughtry's Celebrity Sex Pass, and listeners choose the best pair of '90s blockbusters. This episode is presented by⁠ Regal Unlimited⁠⁠, the all-you-can-watch movie subscription pass that pays for itself in just two visits. Use code FILMSPOT26 to take 15% off. (Timecodes/chapters may not be precise with ads.) Intro (00:00:00-00:03:33) Fargo at 30 (00:03:34-01:16:58) Filmspotting Family (01:16:59-01:21:34) The Invite (01:21:35-01:25:46) Gail Daughtry’s Celebrity Sex Pass (01:25:47-01:33:56) Polls (01:33:57-01:41:34) Credits / Releases (01:41:35-01:44:08) Links: -Josh’s Fargo Video Essay https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qaRRXpfTyfU Feedback: -Email us at feedback@filmspotting.net⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠-⁠Ask Us Anything⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ and we might answer your question in bonus content. Support: -Join the Filmspott

This week's archive episode is Adam and Josh's 2018 Sacred Cow review of the Coen Brothers' period gangster film Miller's Crossing.  Unlock the full archive, Filmspotting Discord, ad‑free + bonus episodes, and more when you ⁠join the Filmspotting Family⁠.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Matt and Jordan review Netflix’s new comedy Little Brother, which stars Eric Andre as a chaos agent who disrupts the life of a tightly wound real estate agent played by John Cena. Hijinx, nudity, and parabolas of urine ensue. Then, in Rec Seg, they offer some related streaming titles, including a musical dramedy about brothers and a classic ‘70s comedy. And in reply to a listener streaming request, a pair of international films from the early ‘60s. And Producer Sam hosts a John Cena-inspired round of trivia.    Intro, Little Brother (00:00:00–00:24:16) Rec Seg: Little Brother-Inspired Streaming Recs (00:24:17–00:39:27) Listener Request Recs for an Artsy Down Under Movie Club (00:39:28–01:00:06) Trivia: So You’ve Cen-a Lotta Movies, Have You? (01:00:07–01:24:51) New to Streaming / Credits (01:24:52–01:32:35) Show Notes Now Streaming on Bazooga - A Filmspotting: SVU Archive⁠ https://letterboxd.com/samvanhallgren/list/now-streaming-on-bazooga-a

The new Supergirl isn’t an outright adaptation of the comic-book miniseries Woman of Tomorrow, but it retains enough of its shape that it evokes that comic’s own source of inspiration, True Grit. Either of the two film adaptations of Charles Portis’ 1968 Western novel about a young girl enlisting a reluctant, drunken hero to help her enact revenge would have provided plenty of connections to Supergirl, but we opted for Joel and Ethan Coen’s 2010 version starring Hailee Steinfeld and Jeff Bridges. So this week we’re discussing what distinguishes True Grit as both a Coens movie and a Western, the film’s overlapping notions of vengeance and justice, and how it utilizes two frequently abused elements — sincerity and voiceover narration — sparingly and effectively. Then in Feedback, we respond to a listener’s misgivings about accepting Disclosure Day’s premise at a time when conspiracy theories don’t feel as h

Welcome to the sophomore installment of Movie Death Match. Host Chris Klimek presides as two Christopher Nolan films go head to head in anticipation of The Odyssey. Arguing for Inception is Bilge Ebiri (Vulture), while Abigail James (@popculturescientist) advocates for Interstellar. Which film offers the more emotionally resonant lead performance and better captures Nolan’s vision of time — its dilation and psychological weight? Vote now at moviedeathmatch.com. Intro (00:00:00-00:12:22) Opening Statements (00:12:23-00:23:21) In Their Time (00:23:22-00:48:11) In Our Time (00:48:12-01:07:36) For All Time (01:07:37-01:22:20) The Verdict / Close (01:22:21-01:29:45) LINKS – ABI -The biggest plot hole in Interstellar? -Can We Escape Gravity? | Interstellar’s Biggest Lie Explained LINKS – BILGE -The Hidden ‘Inception’ Within Inception  -When to hit the Bathroom During Inception -Six New Things We Learned From the Inception Blu-ray -How Many Times Each Inception Cha

Adam and Josh celebrate the holiday weekend with a "Blind Cow" review of Independence Day, the #1 movie at the box office back in '96. Thirty summers after its release, Adam catches up with Roland Emmerich's alien-invasion spectacle, and Josh (originally a fan) sees if it holds up. Plus, a summer-themed edition of Massacre Theatre and a recap of last weekend's 2nd annual Filmspotting Fest, which featured appearances from Trey Edward Schultz (Krisha), Marguerite Moreau (Wet Hot American Summer), Agnés Varda biographer Carrie Rickey, and Michael Phillips. This episode is presented by⁠ Regal Unlimited⁠⁠, the all-you-can-watch movie subscription pass that pays for itself in just two visits. Use code FILMSPOT26 to take 15% off. (Timecodes/chapters may not be precise with ads.) Intro (00:00:00-00:02:06) Independence Day at 30 (00:02:07-00:52:41) Filmspotting Family (00:52:42-00:56:03) Filmspotting Fest II: Recap (00:56:04-01:08:26) Notes (01:08:27-01:14:07) Massacre Theatre (01:14:08-01:21:34) Credits / Rele

As part of their 2020 Christopher Nolan "Oeuvre-view," Adam and Josh revisited 2014's Interstellar, a film they'd split on six years earlier.  Unlock the full archive, Filmspotting Discord, ad‑free + bonus episodes, and more when you ⁠join the Filmspotting Family⁠.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.