Episodes

  • 157. Body Heat (w/ Alex Kugelman)
    Jan 16 2026

    Players, chimes, noir conventions, screenwriting tips, running hot, tacit communication, and horny lawyers can only mean one thing -- we're discussing BODY HEAT! Joining us is Alex Kugelman, writer/director of the new hit film DON'T TRIP (streaming now on Tubi). Can you handle the heat??!?


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    1 hr and 10 mins
  • 156. When Harry Met Sally
    Jan 2 2026

    To celebrate the life and work of Rob Reiner, we wanted to cover our favorite of his films, which also happens to be a great NEW YEAR'S film! So join us to discuss the mysteries of love, and disagree about how to interpret the interstitial older couple interviews. Here's to 2026!

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    1 hr and 7 mins
  • 155. The Santa Clause (w/ Emily St. James)
    Dec 19 2025

    Oh no Scott Calvin (maybe) killed Santa Claus and now through the power of legally binding contracts he has to become the Big Man himself! Will the power of belief triumph over police and psychiatry? Who will be crowned champion of the elves-only cocoa-making competition? Who are those puppets hanging out in Santa's room? All this and more!!


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    1 hr and 9 mins
  • 154. Amelie (w/ Brianna Ashby)
    Dec 5 2025

    Join us and Brianna Ashby (Bright Wall / Dark Room) to discuss 2001's AMELIE! We discuss loneliness, color theory, mediated interactions, breaking through stasis, and whether this is a post-COVID movie made before COVID!

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    56 mins
  • 153. Grave of the Fireflies (w/ Sam Liao)
    Nov 21 2025

    We are joined by Sam Liao (Philosophy, University of Puget Sound) to discuss our first animated film on the show: Isao Takahata's Grave of the Fireflies! We discuss childhood, innocence, war, societal collapse, and much more!

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    1 hr and 9 mins
  • 152. Parasite (w/ Rachel Fraser)
    Nov 7 2025

    We sit down with Rachel Fraser (MIT, Philosophy) to discuss Bong Joon Ho's Academy Award winning movie PARASITE! What do Freud, Jane Eyre, and Marx have to do with a movie about three families in South Korea? Psychoanalysis, transgression, class consciousness, ideology, ghosts, Hitchcock, and lots more!

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    1 hr and 59 mins
  • 151. Rec (w/ Pete Turner)
    Oct 25 2025

    Continuing spooky season, we sit down with Pete Turner (Oxford Brookes University) to discuss found footage horror and the now-classic entry into the genre, REC! We discuss why this isn't "found footage"(!) although it is diegetic camera horror, and how the film uses the limited perspective to shape our identification with its characters. Don't go in the attic!!

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    1 hr and 6 mins
  • 150. Red Rooms (w/ Emily St. James)
    Oct 10 2025

    Join us and Emily St. James to surf the dark web and hopefully not stumble upon any RED ROOMS. We discuss image management in the era of hyper-connectivity, Arthurian legends, Tennyson poems and 19th Century Chinese pirates, and of course, serial killers. Is this a comfort watch or a perfect horror for a brisk fall evening or BOTH?

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    1 hr and 14 mins