Classic Movies Live!

This week on Classic Movies Live, our hosts once again talk about our favourite Irish director*, Martin McDonagh! We last discussed one of Mr. McDonagh's films when The Banshees of Inisherin released in 2022. In 2026, McDonagh is back with Wild Horse Nine!

Wild Horse Nine stars John Malkovich and Sam Rockwell as CIA agents in Chile just before the rise of Pinochet. While Pinochet hasn't quite taken over yet, it's close enough for Chris (Malkovich) and Lee (Rockwell) to go on a bit of a victory tour to Easter Island to soak in the sun and look upon some big heads. Also while they're there, Chris has decided he might not come back.

Wild Horse Nine premiered at Venice earlier this summer, and was a big hit at TIFF and Telluride in the weeks following. With its public release, McDonagh's latest continues to receive critical praise, especially for Malkovich's performance. How do Pierre and Jeff come down on it? You'll have to tune in to find out... live!

This week on Classic Movies Live! our hosts talk about a LAIKA movie for the first time since Kickin’ It With Kendrick, Episode 10: Animation/ParaNorman! And this time, it's a big one!

Wildwood is the second animated film directed by Travis Knight, and inarguably the biggest production ever to come out of his Portland-based studio. In active production since at least 2021, and some level of development since about 2011, Wildwood is a stop-motion odyssey of staggering scale. When Prue McKeel (Peyton Elizabeth Lee) wanders into the woods outside Portland in search of her baby brother, she stumbles into a vast, fantastical world of magic and talking animals, ruled over by the villainous Dowager Governess Alexandra (Carey Mulligan). To save her brother, Prue, along with her friend Curtis (Jacob Tremblay), will have to unite the disparate factions of the Wildwood to take down the Dowager Governess before she can bend the forest to her will.

In this episode, our hosts get into the beauty of stop-motion animation, the adaptation of YA novels, and the fascinating mind of Travis Knight!

It's Halloween! Which means it's time for our hosts to talk about a spooky, scary comic book movie!

Clayface is the third movie in James Gunn's DC Universe, following Superman and Supergirl. It's the first that isn't Super, and easily the most grounded, with nary a superhero in sight! Instead, Clayface focuses on Matt Hagen (Matthew Rhys Harries), an Oscar-nominated actor who runs afoul of the Gotham City mob and ends up disfigured and unable to re-enter the public eye. When an experimental surgery gives him the opportunity to be beautiful again, and finally get back to his dream of acting, Hagen jumps at the opportunity... maybe jumps at it too hard, even.

Written by Mike Flanagan (who our hosts last talked about on Classic Movies Live Season 6, Episode 12 – Two By King) and directed by James Watkins, director of Speak No Evil, Clayface has impressive pedigree behind it. Does the DCU's first foray into street-level fare live up to the legacy of Detective Comics, or is it more in the vein of Sony's Cinematic Universe of Spider-Man Villains?

Note: Jeff claims in this that "Clayface [in the comics] is always an actor." Matt Hagen, in his original appearance, was a treasure hunter, and at least a few characters have held the Clayface mantle with other backstories.

This week on Classic Movies Live, you can see everything! Or well, hear everything at least.

Nathan Fielder's latest project is a collaboration with director Lance Oppenheim (who we last talked about with just two episodes ago with Primetime). In this unique and confounding documentary, Fielder spends just over a month living with former Theranos CEO and convicted fraudster Elizabeth Holmes. What happens next will leave you speechless.

This is a full spoilers discussion, so if you want to see the movie first, we'll be here when you're finished!

Tom Cruise is back in his first auteur-driven project since Vanilla Sky (or maybe Tropic Thunder if you subscribe to Ben Stiller auteur theory). And this time, he's teamed up with two-time Best Director Oscar winner Alejandro G. Iñárritu!

We last talked about Iñárritu on an episode of Director Showdown, where his film Babel was up against Steve McQueen's Widows. Today, Iñárritu's latest film Digger is up by itself, and boy is it a doozy! Join Pierre and Jeff as they walk through everything about arguably the year's biggest swing!

There's no way to talk about Digger without spoiling it. At least, our hosts couldn't think of a way, so keep in mind that this episode will be full spoilers after a brief introduction where we talk about the other movie news of the day: David Ellison!

This week on Classic Movies Live, our hosts dive deep into the world of 2006!

As the War on Terror rages on, one man has the idea to tackle an ancient evil Stateside for Dateline NBC. Robert Pattinson stars as Chris Hansen in Lance Oppenheim's narrative feature debut Primetime! Primetime takes on the newsman and his show To Catch A Predator, examining the cultural phenomenon as a skeleton key for the early 'aughts and our modern entertainment landscape. Pattinson puts in an incredible performance as Hansen, with Skyler Gisondo and Merritt Wever matching him in supporting roles.

After its premiere at Venice, Primetime went straight to the top of Pierre and Jeff's most anticipated list for 2026. Does it live up to the hype?

Also in this episode, our hosts discuss the 2025 documentary by David Osit about many of the same events: Predators.

After a short break, we're back to talk about the Festival of Festivals! Toronto International Film Festival's TIFFty-First edition just wrapped up, and Jeff was on the scene! In this episode, Pierre and Jeff discuss some key selections from the TIFFty-odd films Jeff saw. What were the highlights? The lowlights? What will you hear more about on this season of Classic Movies Live?

Tune in as our hosts go through the best and worst of #TIFF26!

And for more TIFF coverage, you can check out Jeff's reviews of a few films from TIFF over on Contra Zoom Pod, including reviews for Misty Green, Angh, and The Last Photograph. Jeff also did an interview with Matthew Rankin for his film Ladies and Gentlemen, Brian Mulroney, winner of this year's People's Choice Midnight Madness Award, as well as a separate TIFF wrap-up with Dakota Arsenault and Thomas Stoneham-Judge.

This week, for the first time in 5 years, Classic Movies Live! is recorded in person with a live studio audience!

Our hosts met up in Toronto and went to the movies, and now they're here to tell you all the amazing story of the little film that could: Coyote vs. Acme!

Directed by Dave Green and adapted from an article by Ian Frazier, Coyote vs. Acme fuses classic Looney Tunes shenanigans with earnest legal drama as Wile E. Coyote takes his favourite company to court for years of defective products. Though suing the biggest company in the world at first seems a fool's errand, it quickly becomes clear that Coyote has a pretty solid case... though it might be a more difficult one than his lawyer, Kevin Avery (Will Forte) can handle.

Coyote vs. Acme is reminiscent more of Dark Waters and Erin Brockovich than it is of Looney Tunes Back in Action or Space Jam. And yet, perhaps the unexpected stylistic choice pays off? Did Coyote vs Acme nail what it went for, or are we all being asked to settle?

This episode is also available on YouTube!

You can also check out Jeff's review of Coyote vs. Acme over on Contra Zoom Pod.

It's been 10 years since Warren Beatty stood on stage at the Dolby Theatre and watched in horror as Faye Dunaway announced La La Land to be the winner of the 89th Academy Award for Best Picture. Why in horror? Well, because, as it turned out, La La Land was not the winner of that year's award.

However, 10 years on, the movie has remained a cultural touchstone of the 21st century. Not only did it get as close as you possibly can to winning BP (without actually doing so), the film made Damien Chazelle the youngest ever recipient of an Oscar for Best Directing, scored Emma Stone her first acting Oscar, and helped cement both her and Ryan Gosling as two of our generation's biggest movie stars.

In 2026, what is the enduring legacy of La La Land, and more importantly: how does it hold up? Our hosts discuss Chazelle's modern Hollywood musical in the context of its year, his career, and what it feels like to watch it with older eyes.

Also in this episode: Jeff shows how bad he is at recognizing happy endings!

This week on Classic Movies Live, our hosts become the last people on Earth to talk about the only thing on anyone's mind: the return of Spider-Man to the silver screen!

Spider-Man: Brand New Day is the fourth Spider-Man movie in the MCU, the 9th live-action Spider-Man movie since 2000, and the 10th overall. It's the 8th movie to feature Tom Holland as Marvel's premiere webhead (although one of those is an uncredited cameo in a Venom movie, so maybe the 7th). It's the highest-grossing movie of 2026, and the 2nd fastest movie to reach a billion-dollar box office.

You may be thinking: "That's a lot of numbers!" You'd be right! But of course, movies aren't just numbers, so we've brought together Canada's finest minds to determine the answer to the question you're really interested in: is it good?

Does Brand New Day accomplish what so many fans wanted from a "street-level" Spidey story? What happens after the status quo change at the end of No Way Home? Is this year's villain cool?

This episode contains spoilers for the movie Kraven the Hunter.