Filmspotting – Movie Reviews

By Filmspotting.net

TV & Film

What's Filmspotting – Movie Reviews about?

Hosts Adam Kempenaar and Josh Larsen review new and classic movies, offering "affable, insightful film analysis since 2005" (NY Times).

4.6

3,596 ratings

Download our free app to listen on your phone

LAST EPISODE

#921: Top 5 Films of 2023 (...

05.26.2023

Michael Phillips drops in for a look back at the first half of the year in film, including praise for "Showing Up," Nicole Holofcener's "You Hurt My Feelings," "Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret" and more. -Top 5 Films ...

Filmspotting – Movie Reviews episodes:

05.26.2023 #921: Top 5 Films of 2023 (So Far) with Michael Phillips Michael Phillips drops in for a look back at the first half of the year in film, including praise for "Showing Up," Nicole Holofcener's "You Hurt My Feelings," "Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret" and more. -Top 5 Films ...
05.19.2023 #920: Master Gardener, BlackBerry, Marker's Sans Soleil (Sight & Sound #5) What seemed like a one-off, late-career masterpiece from ‘70s icon Paul Schrader (2017’s “First Reformed”) has now become a loose series of films about solitary men struggling with past sins. Where does the new MASTER GARDENER rank among the director’s ...
05.12.2023 #919: Summer Movie Preview, Tarkovsky’s Mirror (Sight & Sound #4) New films from Christopher Nolan, Greta Gerwig, and Wes Anderson may be the auteur-driven must-sees of the summer, but Adam and Josh go deeper for their Top 5 Summer Movie Questions. -Summer Movie Preview (02:51) -Next Week/Notes, Polls (43:43) -Marathon ...
05.05.2023 #918: Is Guardians Vol. 3 the Worst of the MCU? Plus, MCU Villains Draft It's been six years since the last "Guardians of the Galaxy" movie, and while Josh finds VOL. 3 wildly misguided, Adam will slow-motion strut with the crew. Plus, Draft Day for Killmonger and Thanos. -Draft: MCU Villains (02:16) -Review: “Guardians ...
04.28.2023 #917: Top 5 Joaquin Phoenix Performances, Beau Is Afraid, R.M.N. Enigmatic, tortured, funny. It’s the Oscar-winning actor’s best from his '90s breakthrough to his partnerships with Shyamalan, Gray, PTA—and Todd Phillips. -Top 5: Joaquin Phoenix Performances (03:21) -R.I.P. Harry Belafonte (28:00) -Review (JL): “R.M.N.” (30:53) -Review: “Beau Is Afraid” (50:59) ...
04.14.2023 #916: How to Blow Up a Pipeline, ’60s Madness Champ, Jason Isbell Doc, and Ali: Fear Eats The Soul Daniel Goldhaber's "How to Blow Up a Pipeline" shows impressive craft and is fueled by real generational anxiety about the climate crisis, but does his approach answer any questions or just raise new ones? -Review: "How To Blow Up A ...
04.07.2023 #915: New Releases with Michael Phillips, Kelly Reichardt (Showing Up) Michael Phillips (Chicago Tribune) joins Adam for reviews of Ben Affleck’s “Air” and more new releases. Plus Adam’s conversation with Kelly Reichardt about her latest starring Michelle Williams, “Showing Up.” -Review: "Air: Courting a Legend" (04:14) -Review: “Paint” (17:32) -Review: ...
03.31.2023 #914: John Wick: Chapter 4 - Endurance Test or Series’ Best, '60s Madness, Imitation of Life ('59) John Wick 4's 169-minute run time could be seen as a betrayal of its lean and mean origins or a welcome embrace of its byzantine mythology and increasingly ambitious action set pieces. And maybe a little of both. -Review: "John ...
03.24.2023 #913: Books That Should Be Adapted Into Movies with Kristen Lopez and ‘60s Madness Elite 8 The new book from film writer Kristen Lopez asks, “But Have You Read The Book?” Kristen joins Adam and Josh for a conversation about books they have read—that they also want to see adapted for the big screen. Interview: Kristen ...
03.17.2023 #912: The Big Lebowski at 25 (New Sh*t Has Come To Light), '60s Madness, Rodeo, and Sansho the Bailiff 25 years ago, the Coen Brothers followed up their Oscar-winning "Fargo" with a stoned shaggy dog riff on film noir. It bombed at the box office only to become a beloved cult film. Also like their best, everything matters. 'Sacred ...
03.10.2023 #911: Is Creed III Worthy of Jonathan Majors? Plus Scream VI and '60s Madness Rd. 2 It takes a star of great confidence to play opposite the electrifying Jonathan Majors. And while CREED III's Michael B. Jordan is up to the challenge of his rival, can the same be said about the movie itself? Review: "Creed ...
03.03.2023 #910: '23 Oscars Special w/Michael Phillips and ’60s Madness Rd. 1 Adam and Josh compare Oscar ballots with the Chicago Tribune's Michael Phillips, sharing picks for who will win, who should win, and who should have been nominated in the Supporting and Lead Actor and Actress categories (02:49). Then they introduce ...
02.24.2023 #909: Mean Streets and Badlands Turn 50, plus '60s Madness Play-Ins Coming on the heels of the era-defining “The Godfather” in ’72, the 1973 movie year had a lot to live up to. But if Adam and Josh’s Top 5 of 1973 (02:56) is any indication, it more than delivered. Featuring ...
02.17.2023 #908: Top 5 Magic-est Mike Moments, Quantumania, Magic Mike's Last Dance With Steven Soderbergh's sly, sexy, and exuberant contribution to the musical genre coming to a close with the release of the third and, presumably, final film in the Magic Mike trilogy, Adam and Josh see the series off with the ...
02.10.2023 #907: Hitchcock's Psycho Still Thrills and Oscars Homework After a string of lush, star-filled productions in the ‘50s, Alfred Hitchcock went small(er) and sinister with Psycho, which went on to become Hitchcock's best-known film and one of the most influential films of the last sixty years. For this ...
02.03.2023 #906: Top 5 Shyamalan Moments / Knock at the Cabin M. Night Shyamalan is on the short list of big-budget filmmakers who reliably bring original stories to the multiplex, which means that enthusiasm for his new work can be somewhat out of step with his recent track record. But with ...
01.27.2023 #905: 2023 Movie Preview / Skinamarink Gerwig, Nolan, Wes, Scorsese. The new movie year is full of promise. For their 2023 MOVIE PREVIEW, Adam and Josh look to avoid getting burned by the promise of films that disappear from the movie schedule like desert mirages (will ...
01.24.2023 Reaction Shot: 2023 Oscar Nominations Pleasant surprises, notable snubs, and some conflicted feelings about diversity and representation were all part of the conversation for this "Reaction Shot" to the 2023 Oscar nominations. Note: Michelle Yeoh is the first person who identifies as Asian to ever ...
01.20.2023 #904: Scenes of the Year w/Griffin Newman, Dana Stevens, Alison Willmore and Matt Singer Delayed nearly three years by the pandemic, but, in many ways, 18 years in the making, the show's live NYC debut was worth all the waiting. Joined by Slate's Dana Stevens and Griffin Newman from the Blank Check podcast, plus ...
01.13.2023 #903: White Noise / Top 5 Noah Baumbach Characters With the help of regular collaborators Adam Driver and Greta Gerwig, Noah Baumbach leaves the big city - and reality - behind for his ambitious adaptation of Don DeLillo's WHITE NOISE. An absurdist meditation on death nested in a consumerist ...
12.22.2022 #902: Top 10 Films of 2022 with Michael Phillips and Marya Gates In 2005, Filmspotting established an elite list of the top films of the year. Its purpose was to teach the lost art of filmmaking and to ensure that the handful of films that made the list were the best in ...
12.21.2022 Introducing Letterboxd's New Awards Season Podcast "Best in Show" Adam introduces Letterboxd's limited series awards-season podcast "Best in Show" featuring hosts Mia Vicino, Brian Formo, and Gemma Gracewood recapping recent ceremonies and chatting with awards contenders and industry insiders. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
12.13.2022 Avatar: The Way of Water It's been so long since the first "Avatar" that it came out two years before Josh was even on the show. But back in 2009, Josh was a fan of James Cameron's 3D game-changer. And he wasn't alone. The film, ...
12.09.2022 #901: Best Performances of 2022 / Sight & Sound / Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio / Empire of Light With Adam and Josh facing a deadline for submitting their Chicago Film Critics Association best of the year ballots, they use this episode to hash out their picks for the best supporting and lead performances of the year—from heavy hitters ...
12.04.2022 Jeanne Dielman, 23 quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles Greatest film of all time? You better believe it belongs in the conversation. From Sept. 2020, Adam and Josh discuss their first experience with Chantal Akerman's masterpiece as part of their Overlooked Auteurs Marathon. RELATED LINKS Filmspotting's (Unofficial) Sight & ...
12.02.2022 #900: The Fabelmans / The Eternal Daughter / Sr. With THE FABLEMANS, what appeared to be Steven Spielberg’s portrait of the filmmaker as a young man turns out to be a more complicated autopsy of a family coming apart at the seams—that happens to have a budding filmmaker there ...
11.23.2022 #899: The Art of Adaptation with David Kajganich (Bones and All) Luca Guadagnino's BONES AND ALL is a coming-of-age story with an unusual twist: cannibalism. Starring Timothée Chalamet and Taylor Russell, the film was adapted by writer David Kajganich from a 2015 novel by Camille DeAngelis. Kajganich had previously written adaptations ...
11.18.2022 #898: Glass Onion / Wakanda Forever / She Said / Nanny For the second installment in his "Knives Out" series, Rian Johnson leaves the family squabbling behind for a trip to a luxury island where murder most foul befalls the filthy rich. GLASS ONION: A KNIVES OUT MYSTERY shows Johnson hasn't ...
11.11.2022 #897: Top 5 Father-Daughter Duos / Aftersun / Weird Director Charlotte Wells's AFTERSUN documents a holiday that 11-year-old Sophie takes with her loving but troubled father (played by Paul Mescal). The debut feature is one of the best and most sneakily heart-rending films of the year. It also inspires ...
11.09.2022 A Conversation About the New Filmspotting Family Josh, Sam, and Adam discuss the launch of the new Filmspotting Family membership platform and how you can help support and grow the show. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
11.04.2022 #896: Armageddon Time / Causeway / Wendell & Wild / Triangle of Sadness / Descendant Adam and Josh cover lots of new releases on this week's show, including James Gray's guilt-ridden coming-of-age film ARMAGEDDON TIME and Ruben Östlund's eat-the-rich Palme d'Or-winner TRIANGLE OF SADNESS, along with a return to form from Jennifer Lawrence in CAUSEWAY ...
10.28.2022 #895: Top 5 Bromances / The Banshees of Inisherin / Ticket To Paradise In Martin McDonagh's new THE BANSHEES OF INISHERIN, Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson play a couple of longtime friends whose relationship takes a sudden and mysterious turn. Along with their review of the film - one of the year's best ...
10.21.2022 #894: Top 5 Cops In Love / Decision To Leave Korean auteur Park Chan-wook's DECISION TO LEAVE is something of a departure for a director best known for the violent and sexual provocations of films like "Oldboy," "The Handmaiden," and "Stoker." His latest involves a murder, but Park's camera is ...
10.14.2022 #893: TÁR / Amsterdam Director Todd Field ("In The Bedroom," "Little Children") returns after a sixteen-year hiatus with TÁR, the most acclaimed film of his career and possibly of the year. Cate Blanchett stars as an accomplished composer and conductor who faces a personal ...
10.07.2022 From Chicago, this is Filmspotting. Weekly film podcast featuring in-depth reviews, top 5 lists, interviews, and more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
10.07.2022 #892: Most Anticipated at Chicago Film Festival / Quotable '80s Movies / God's Creatures The 58th annual Chicago International Film Festival closes out the fall fest season with screenings of highly anticipated titles from Sarah Polley, Rian Johnson, Martin McDonagh, Park Chan-wook, Noah Baumbach, and others. But with 90+ features playing over CIFF's ten ...
09.30.2022 #891: Don't Worry Darling / Top 5 Utopias Gone Wrong Caught up in a storm of bad press following its festival debut earlier in the month, Olivia Wilde’s highly anticipated DON’T WORRY DARLING finally opened in theaters and was met with mostly scornful reviews. But the movie has its defenders—including ...
09.23.2022 #890: Top 5 Movie Queens / The Woman King / Moonage Daydream With the passing of Queen Elizabeth II in the news and Her Majesty Viola Davis currently on screens in Gina Prince-Bythewood’s THE WOMAN KING, Adam and Josh devote this week’s Top 5 to a consideration of movie monarchs. Making the ...
09.16.2022 #889: Blonde / Double Indemnity (Stanwyck #6) / Hockeyland Andrew Dominik's long-in-the-works Marilyn Monroe tale BLONDE (based on the 1999 novel by Joyce Carol-Oates), offers a nightmarish portrayal of the actress and icon that avoids some of the pitfalls of celebrity biopics (thanks in part to its impressive formal ...
09.02.2022 #888: Three Thousand Years of Longing / Honk For Jesus. Save Your Soul / Ball of Fire (Stanwyck #5) When George Miller's THREE THOUSAND YEARS OF LONGING premiered at the Cannes Film Festival earlier in the year, it was met with some pans, some shrugs, and some raves (including a six-minute standing ovation). Most agreed, however, that it was ...
08.26.2022 #887: Top 5 Fall Movie Questions The fall movie season has lots of intriguing titles that raise all sorts of questions. De Armas as Marilyn. Black Panther without Chadwick Boseman. Spielberg in autobiographical mode. This week, it's a Fall Movie Preview in the form of Adam ...
08.19.2022 #886: Bodies Bodies Bodies / Meet John Doe (Stanwyck #4) If Dutch director Halina Reijn's BODIES BODIES BODIES doesn't remain the definitive snapshot of Zillennial life in the early 2020s, that won't be the fault of the ace ensemble, featuring standout performances from Rachel Sennott ("Shiva Baby"), Maria Bakalova ("Borat ...
08.12.2022 #885: A24 10th Anniversary Draft / Prey Indie distributor A24 started memorably, if modestly, back in 2012 and 2013, with titles like Harmony Korine's "Spring Breakers" and Sofia Coppola's "The Bling Ring." Within the next couple of years, they'd launched the directing careers of Alex Garland ("Ex ...
08.05.2022 #884: Top 5 Brad Pitt Performances / Bullet Train When Brad Pitt arrived on screen 30+ years ago, he was a pretty face with a surprising sinister side. That brief turn in Ridley Scott's "Thelma and Louise" proved to be a template for the actor's diverse and increasingly accomplished ...
07.29.2022 #883: Nope / The Gray Man / The Lady Eve (Stanwyck #3) With their potent mix of horror, comedy, and social satire, the films of Jordan Peele are the rare Hollywood films that succeed in entertaining while also puzzling, sending audiences out of the theater sifting through clues in an attempt to ...
07.15.2022 #882: Thor: Love & Thunder / Top 5 Chris Power Ranking Taika Waititi helming another Thor movie was always going to mean a great deal of silliness along with whatever planetary crisis the MCU brain trust cooked up, but with THOR: LOVE & THUNDER, the question has become: how much silliness ...
07.08.2022 #881: Stanwyck #2 - Stella Dallas / Marcel the Shell With Shoes On / Top 5 Movie Mother-Daughters As a social climber turned selfless mother in the heartbreaking 1937 melodrama STELLA DALLAS, Barbara Stanwyck earned the first of her four Oscar nominations. And two films into their Stanwyck Marathon, Adam and Josh remain in awe of both the ...
07.01.2022 #880: Stanwyck #1 - Baby Face (1933) / 1930s Starter Pack The frank sexuality of 1933's BABY FACE has made it one of the defining films of Hollywood’s precode era, with new Filmspotting marathon subject Barbara Stanwyck as Lily Powers, a young woman who escapes the abuse and exploitation facing her ...
07.01.2022 #880: Stanwyck #1 - Baby Face (1933) / 1930s Starter Pack The frank sexuality of 1933's BABY FACE has made it one of the defining films of Hollywood’s precode era, with new Filmspotting marathon subject Barbara Stanwyck as Lily Powers, a young woman who escapes the abuse and exploitation facing her ...
06.24.2022 #879: Top 5 Movie Summers / Elvis / Lightyear The summer movie season offers the promise of a special kind of escape. With our brains and bodies fried from the heat, we go to the multiplex less for the subtlety of great cinema and more for big pleasures: belly ...

Older episodes

Filmspotting – Movie Reviews

What's Filmspotting – Movie Reviews about?

Download our free app to listen on your phone

Filmspotting – Movie Reviews episodes:

#921: Top 5 Films of 2023 (So Far) with Michael Phillips

#920: Master Gardener, BlackBerry, Marker's Sans Soleil (Sight & Sound #5)

#919: Summer Movie Preview, Tarkovsky’s Mirror (Sight & Sound #4)

#918: Is Guardians Vol. 3 the Worst of the MCU? Plus, MCU Villains Draft

#917: Top 5 Joaquin Phoenix Performances, Beau Is Afraid, R.M.N.

#916: How to Blow Up a Pipeline, ’60s Madness Champ, Jason Isbell Doc, and Ali: Fear Eats The Soul

#915: New Releases with Michael Phillips, Kelly Reichardt (Showing Up)

#914: John Wick: Chapter 4 - Endurance Test or Series’ Best, '60s Madness, Imitation of Life ('59)

#913: Books That Should Be Adapted Into Movies with Kristen Lopez and ‘60s Madness Elite 8

#912: The Big Lebowski at 25 (New Sh*t Has Come To Light), '60s Madness, Rodeo, and Sansho the Bailiff

#911: Is Creed III Worthy of Jonathan Majors? Plus Scream VI and '60s Madness Rd. 2

#910: '23 Oscars Special w/Michael Phillips and ’60s Madness Rd. 1

#909: Mean Streets and Badlands Turn 50, plus '60s Madness Play-Ins

#908: Top 5 Magic-est Mike Moments, Quantumania, Magic Mike's Last Dance

#907: Hitchcock's Psycho Still Thrills and Oscars Homework

#906: Top 5 Shyamalan Moments / Knock at the Cabin

#905: 2023 Movie Preview / Skinamarink

Reaction Shot: 2023 Oscar Nominations

#904: Scenes of the Year w/Griffin Newman, Dana Stevens, Alison Willmore and Matt Singer

#903: White Noise / Top 5 Noah Baumbach Characters

#902: Top 10 Films of 2022 with Michael Phillips and Marya Gates

Introducing Letterboxd's New Awards Season Podcast "Best in Show"

Avatar: The Way of Water

#901: Best Performances of 2022 / Sight & Sound / Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio / Empire of Light

Jeanne Dielman, 23 quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles

#900: The Fabelmans / The Eternal Daughter / Sr.

#899: The Art of Adaptation with David Kajganich (Bones and All)

#898: Glass Onion / Wakanda Forever / She Said / Nanny

#897: Top 5 Father-Daughter Duos / Aftersun / Weird

A Conversation About the New Filmspotting Family

#896: Armageddon Time / Causeway / Wendell & Wild / Triangle of Sadness / Descendant

#895: Top 5 Bromances / The Banshees of Inisherin / Ticket To Paradise

#894: Top 5 Cops In Love / Decision To Leave

#893: TÁR / Amsterdam

From Chicago, this is Filmspotting.

#892: Most Anticipated at Chicago Film Festival / Quotable '80s Movies / God's Creatures

#891: Don't Worry Darling / Top 5 Utopias Gone Wrong

#890: Top 5 Movie Queens / The Woman King / Moonage Daydream

#889: Blonde / Double Indemnity (Stanwyck #6) / Hockeyland

#888: Three Thousand Years of Longing / Honk For Jesus. Save Your Soul / Ball of Fire (Stanwyck #5)

#887: Top 5 Fall Movie Questions

#886: Bodies Bodies Bodies / Meet John Doe (Stanwyck #4)

#885: A24 10th Anniversary Draft / Prey

#884: Top 5 Brad Pitt Performances / Bullet Train

#883: Nope / The Gray Man / The Lady Eve (Stanwyck #3)

#882: Thor: Love & Thunder / Top 5 Chris Power Ranking

#881: Stanwyck #2 - Stella Dallas / Marcel the Shell With Shoes On / Top 5 Movie Mother-Daughters

#880: Stanwyck #1 - Baby Face (1933) / 1930s Starter Pack

#880: Stanwyck #1 - Baby Face (1933) / 1930s Starter Pack

#879: Top 5 Movie Summers / Elvis / Lightyear

Other shows like Filmspotting – Movie Reviews: