This week, we review Jennifer Lawrence and Robert Pattinson’s new film, Die My Love, and wrestle with director Lynne Ramsay’s esoteric approach. Jennifer Lawrence and Robert Pattinson star in director Lynne Ramsay’s Die My Love. The film debuted in theaters last weekend and received an audience-based Cinemascore rating of D+. But that’s a typical reaction to films that […]

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Megan’s back on the podcast this week to riff on ‘Hamnet,’ ‘I Love LA,’ and Sidney Sweeney at SCAD Savannah Film Festival. Megan returns from the SCAD Savannah Film Festival where she was supposed to chat with Christy star Sidney Sweeney. Did the chat happen? Find out as Megan recaps her experience at the south’s premiere […]

The post ‘I Love LA:’ Do We Love Rachel Sennott’s GenZ Comedy? [VIDEO] appeared first on The Contending.

Joey and Clarence dip into terrifying Stephen King territory in their review of HBO MAX’s IT: Welcome To Derry.  While Megan’s away, the boys will play. Or cower in terror at the new HBO MAX series It: Welcome To Derry. A prequel to the recent IT films, Derry revisits an early era in the life of Bill Skarsgård’s […]

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Mark Johnson joins the Water Cooler as he and Joey reveal everything that went down at the 2025 Middleburg Film Festival. Joey returned from his third year covering the Middleburg Film Festival for The Contending. This week, he and podcast special guest Mark Johnson dish on the details of the festival. Hosted at the luxurious […]

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In a very special podcast, Megan McLachlan is joined by Grits & Gab’s Tarcia Bush and Animation World Network’s Victoria Davis to preview the 2025 SCAD Savannah Film Festival. The 2025 SCAD Savannah Film Festival runs from Saturday, October 25, through Saturday, November 1, and this year the Savannah College of Art and Design is […]

The post Podcast: 2025 SCAD Savannah Film Festival Preview with Grits & Gab’s Tarcia Bush, Animation World Network’s Victoria Davis appeared first on The Contending.

On this week’s podcast, we’re remembering the great Diane Keaton, lamenting the Spider Woman roll-out, and much more! It’s a bit of a potpourri this week as we have much to cover. First up, the legendary Oscar-winning actress Diane Keaton suddenly passed away this weekend. Megan leads a reminiscence about her career, our favorite films […]

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This week, the two dog owners of Contending at the Water Cooler talk about what they love about Ben Leonberg’s supernatural pup flick, Good Boy. As the cats across the country advance their plot for world domination… There are so many horror films that include dogs, but there aren’t any that give us a canine’s […]

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‘One Battle After Another’ and ‘A House of Dynamite’ currently both have great-to-good reviews. But which is the real Oscar contender? We’ve all finally caught up to Paul Thomas Anderson’s One Battle After Another. Coming into its debut weekend, the film boasted a reputation as The 2026 Best Picture Winner. After seeing the film with […]

The post ‘One Battle,’ ‘Dynamite’ Enter the Oscar Race [PODCAST] appeared first on The Contending.

This week, we look at the new Hulu documentary ‘Lilith Fair: Building a Mystery’ which details the creation and legacy of the first female-driven music concert. In the late 1990s, Sarah McLachlan and other major female artists banded together to kick off Lilith Fair. Against all odds, the concert series flew in the face of […]

The post Lilith Fair: Exploring the ‘Mystery’ Of a Female-Driven Sensation [VIDEO] appeared first on The Contending.

Team Contending gathers around the Water Cooler to recap the 77th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards. Plus, we create the 2026 Emmy Time Capsule. In our annual tradition, Team Contending gathers around the Water Cooler to share their thoughts on the 77th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards. We chat about the ceremony and how the host, Nate […]

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