In honor of its 50th anniversary, Jaws emerges from the depths of the cinematic sea to remind us why it remains the archetype of the summer blockbuster, forever shaping our fear of the ocean and giving sharks a bad rep. Join Laura Gommans and Tom Ooms as they dissect Spielberg’s masterstroke, from its thrilling mechanics to the happy accidents that made it an instant classic.

This episode also explores the evolution of creature features, tracing how this genre once thrived on tangible, terrifying creatures—and why such films are rarely made the same way today.

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Get tickets to CC Film Club: Charlie's Angels @ LAB111

Back from a summer hiatus, Laura Gommans and Elliot Bloom reunite to trade notes on the hot new releases. Zach Cregger’s hotly anticipated Weapons has horror fans buzzing—though for producer Elliot, he can only manage to watch it through his fingers. They also dive into Sorry, Baby, Eva Victor’s quietly devastating debut, a tender comedy-drama about how life insists on moving forward no matter what.

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Get your tickets to Sorry, Baby @ LAB111

In this episode, Kiriko sits down with Dutch filmmaker Morgan Knibbe to discuss his blistering debut fictional feature The Garden of Earthly Delights—a formally audacious, emotionally harrowing portrait of the post-colonial legacy in the Philippines. Through a fictional lens, Knibbe confronts the ongoing violence of Western capitalism, power, and desire, exposing the devastating asymmetry between those who are seen and those who are never heard.

But why has a film this urgent and unflinching been met with near silence? Kiriko and Morgan explore the limits of representation, the discomfort of telling hard truths, and the price artists pay for making the invisible visible.

This week on Review Roundup, host Laura Gommans and Elliot Bloom head south for the summer with a sun-drenched revisit of Plein Soleil—René Clément’s slow-burning 1960 thriller that introduced the world to a dangerously magnetic Alain Delon, as we dip our toes into the Mr. Ripley universe.

Alongside Clément’s shimmering noir, they spotlight more scorchers from LAB111’s Heatwave program—including Aftersun, The Parent Trap, and Do the Right Thing—to explore what keeps us coming back to summer cinema: the heat, the heartbreak, and the haze of memory...or just a good old AC system.

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Get tickets to Kingdoms of Rain: The Films of Akira Kurosawa @ LAB111

This week, Elliot and Kiriko dive into the legendary world of Akira Kurosawa—Japan’s master filmmaker and, let’s be honest, probably your favorite director’s favorite director. From samurai epics like Seven Samurai and Rashomon to powerful character dramas like Ikiru and High and Low, Kurosawa knew how to tell a story that hits you in the heart and keeps you on the edge of your seat.

They unpack the big questions his films tackle—truth, justice, mortality—and connect the dots between Kurosawa’s personal life and the unforgettable worlds he brought to the screen. Whether you’re a longtime fan or just Kurosawa-curious, this episode is a love letter to one of cinema’s all-time greats—and a reminder that great storytelling never goes out of style.

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With 28 Years Later lurching toward the screen, Laura Gommans and Tom Ooms revisit the undead legacy of the zombie in cinema — a genre that, much like its subject, refuses to stay buried.

From its racist roots in early 20th-century depictions of Haitian slavery to its reinvention as a metaphor for mass consumption, pandemic anxiety, and societal collapse, the zombie has shuffled through countless cinematic incarnations. But what keeps this creature so relentlessly alive in the cultural imagination? Why are they always so hungry for brains, and why, despite their numbers, can they never quite organize?

In this episode, our hosts unearth the genre’s origins, dissect key works from White Zombie to Night of the Living Dead, 28 Days Later, and beyond, and share personal favorites that speak to the zombie’s enduring power.

With Dogme 95 turning 30 this year, hosts Laura Gommans and Elliot Bloom reflect on the radical movement that dared to strip cinema down to its bare bones—and what that legacy means today. Returning to last episode's ranking of Wes Anderson's films, the duo discuss The Phoenician Scheme, the American director's latest film that only seems to reinforce the “all style, no substance” label. Rounding out the episode is a look at David Lynch’s TV series Twin Peaks, soon to be screened at LAB111 on June 18. Laura and Elliot explore its haunting genius and why it still feels ahead of its time.

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Get tickets to The Complete Filmography of Wes Anderson @ LAB111

Get tickets to The Phoenician Scheme @ LAB111

Reporting from the Croisette, host Hugo Emmerzael is joined by fellow film critic Savina Petkova who together reflect on two unforgettable selections from the 2025 Cannes Film Festival—films that stood apart amid a blur of screenings and industry spectacle.

Joachim Trier’s Sentimental Value, led by a luminous Renate Reinsve, is a quietly devastating meditation on memory, loss, and emotional inheritance. Meanwhile, Óliver Laxe's Sirat propels us into a dystopian rave-scape, where pulsing techno and stark imagery evoke a world on the brink of collapse.

Together, Hugo and Savina unravel the layers of these two very different films, offering a glimpse into the bold cinema we can look forward to on screen at LAB111.

To mark LAB111’s full Wes Anderson retrospective, hosts Laura Gommans and Tom Ooms rank every film in his colorful, quirky career. They dive into what makes his work so distinct—asking whether it’s all style and no substance, or if there’s real emotional depth beneath the surface. Along the way, they share which actors they’d love to see in the Wes Anderson universe, and Laura makes the surprising case that one of his films doesn’t have enough color. Producer Elliot, ever the skeptic, adds his own take on the Anderson mythos.

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In this edition of Review Roundup, host Laura Gommans is joined by Elliot Bloom to dive into the re-release of Persepolis, Marjane Satrapi’s searing, stylish memoir of growing up in Iran through revolution, repression, and rebellion—newly restored by Odyssey Classics. They also take on Steven Soderbergh’s Black Bag, a spy thriller that trades action for dry wit and quiet unease . And with Showgirls back in sparkling form for its 30th anniversary, they ask: was Elizabeth Berkley in on the joke all along?

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Get tickets to Showgirls @ LAB111