Film music historian and journalist ⁠Tim Greiving⁠, author of John Williams: A Composer's Life, joins Michael Phillips to explore one of the foundational dilemmas of movie music, courtesy of legendary composer Max Steiner: "The hardest thing in scoring is to know when to start and when to stop." From King Kong and The Adventures of Robin Hood to Jaws and Star Wars, Michael and Tim trace the history of film scoring through competing philosophies: wall-to-wall music versus strategic restraint, foreground versus background, spectacle versus psychology. And yes, even The Odyssey enters the conversation They discuss Williams's lasting influence, memorable director-composer partnerships, and whether the best movie music tells us what we're seeing or reveals what the characters themselves cannot say. Join the conversation by emailing ⁠[email protected]⁠.

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Is The End of Oak Street the best Spielberg movie of 2026? Or is one of your hosts committing movie heresy? Adam and Josh review David Robert Mitchell's dinosaur-filled family adventure and consider whether there's more on its mind than blockbuster thrills. Plus: thoughts on the Anthony Bourdain biopic Tony, Willem Dafoe in Late Fame, and Adam's conversation with the creators of the Table Read podcast.

This episode is presented by⁠ Regal Unlimited⁠⁠, the all-you-can-watch movie subscription pass that pays for itself in just two visits. ⁠Use code FILMSPOT26 to take 15% off.⁠

(Timecodes will not be precise with ads.)

Intro (00:00:00-00:02:23)

The End of Oak Street (00:02:24-00:49:09)

Spoiler Talk: The End of Oak Street (00:49:09-01:10:34)

Filmspotting Family (01:10:35-01:17:04)

Tony (01:17:05-01:22:22)

Late Fame (01:22:23-01:41:26)

MLB at Field of Dreams on Netflix (01:41:27-01:45:52)

Introducing: Table Read Podcast (01:45:53-01:59:42)

Massacre Theatre (01:59:43-02:08:57)

Credits / Releases (02:08:58-2:11:44)

Notes:

-Myth of the American Sleepover Review | Ann Arbor Observer

⁠https://annarborobserver.com/myth-of-the-american-sleepover/⁠

Feedback:

-Email us at ⁠[email protected]⁠⁠⁠

⁠⁠⁠⁠-⁠⁠Ask Us Anything⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ and we might answer your question in bonus content.

Support:

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Kristen Stewart is back in theaters with The Wrong Girls, which is an excuse to share our Top 5 KStew Scenes from 2017. 

Unlock the full archive, Filmspotting Discord, ad‑free + bonus episodes, and more when you ⁠join the Filmspotting Family⁠. Promo code: summer for 20% off through Aug. 31.

"Personal Shopper and the Movies That Haunt Us"

Scott, Morris - Great Performances of 2016

Stewart: Hiding In Plain Sight

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It’s all fine and good to be sealed up in a house with Wagner Moura and Greta Lee, but the longer Netflix’s new The Last House keeps us there, the more time Matt and Jordan have for questions about the why and the how and… is that broccoli you’re growing in the floorboards, Greta? Matt and Jordan also discuss Netflix’s curious fascination with apocalyptic tales. Then, some Last House-inspired streaming recommendations (Universal Monsters! H.P. Lovecraft!) and a listener streaming request inspires recommendations for a forgotten Emma Thompson movie from the early 90s and a literary adaptation from Roger Corman. And Jordan hosts this week’s game: The Gaul of These People!

Welcome/Intro (00:00:00–00:2:54)

The Last House (00:2:55–00:27:17)

H.P. Lovecraft and Universal Monsters (Rec Seg!) (00:27:18–00:44:30)

Emma Thompson, Roger Corman, and Vincent Price (Listener Request Seg!) (00:44:31–01:03:16)

MLB's Field of Dreams Game on Netflix  (01:03:17–01:09:26)

Game: The Gaul of these People! (01:09:27–01:26:10)

New to Streaming / Credits (01:26:11–01:31:04)

Show Notes

Now Streaming on Bazooga - A Filmspotting: SVU Archive⁠ https://letterboxd.com/samvanhallgren/list/now-streaming-on-bazooga-a-filmspotting-svu/⁠

Pre-Order Matt's book "Funny Business: The Old-School Wedding Crashers and Knocked-Up Virgins Who Changed Comedy Forever" (Coming October 6th):⁠ https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/790241/funny-business-by-matt-singer/⁠

Feedback: Email us at [email protected]

Follow Matt on Blue Sky: @mattsinger.bsky.social

Follow Jordan on Blue Sky: @jhoffman.bsky.social

Follow the Show:⁠ https://www.instagram.com/superpulse/⁠⁠ https://www.facebook.com/FilmspottingSvu⁠

Follow the Show:⁠ https://www.instagram.com/superpulse/⁠⁠ https://www.facebook.com/FilmspottingSvu⁠

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Matt Johnson’s new biopic Tony sidesteps the infamous Walk Hard trap by narrowing its scope to a single summer that would end up shaping the rest of Anthony Bourdain’s life, but not necessarily defining it. Whether that approach is ultimately satisfying to fans of the late celebrity chef and author is up for debate this week, as we’re once again joined by Vulture critic Roxana Hadadi to discuss how Tony plays into and against our expectations of a Bourdain narrative. Then we bring Ratatouille back in for Connections, to compare how these two films introduce us to kitchen culture through the eyes of a newbie. Then for Your Next Picture Show, we recommend two more recent films to fill out a Matt Johnson triple feature.

Please share your thoughts about Ratatouille, Tony, or anything else in the world of film, by sending an email or voice memo to [email protected], or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

Next Pairing: David Robert Mitchell’s The End of Oak Street and Steven Spielberg’s The War of the Worlds

This episode is presented by⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Regal Unlimited⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, the all-you-can-watch movie subscription pass that pays for itself in just two visits. Use code NEXTPIC26 for 15% off.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Screenwriter and producer David Kajganich (Suspiria, Bones and All) joins Michael Phillips to test a provocative rule of adaptation from filmmaker Whit Stillman: "You owe everything to the movie and nothing to the original [source]."

But what about the opposite approach? As the Coen brothers once joked about adapting Cormac McCarthy's No Country for Old Men: "One of us types into the computer while the other holds the spine of the book flat." Between those two extremes lies the art of adaptation.

Drawing on more than two decades of adapting novels, memoirs, plays, and films, Kajganich explores when fidelity serves a movie, when it becomes a trap, and why great adaptations sometimes have to break the bones of the original work. As you'd expect, Christopher Nolan's The Odyssey enters the conversation, along with Howards End, The Shining, The Zone of Interest, and Where the Wild Things Are.

Is the best adaptation the one that faithfully recreates its source? Or the one that expresses something new? Join the conversation: email [email protected]

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Adam and Josh share their favorite discoveries, performances, and scenes from the recently completed Dissident Cinema Marathon, which included Chaplin’s The Great Dictator, Kurosawa's No Regrets for Our Youth, and Rossellini’s Rome, Open City.

Links:
-The Circle Ending Revealed | BFI
⁠old.bfi.org.uk/sightandsound/review/1960⁠

-Filmspotting Marathons
https://www.filmspotting.net/marathons

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

SUBURBAKNIGHT: Act One

Walter Knope is having a bad week.

His antique store is bankrupt. The bank has locked him out. His house is now filled with everything he couldn't sell. His teenage daughter thinks he's embarrassing, his marriage has seen better days, and Walter is beginning to suspect middle age may just be a long series of humiliations ending in death.

Then Richard Sarandon moves in across the street.

Richard is rich, handsome, charming and spectacularly confident. The neighborhood women can't stop looking at him. The husbands barely notice. Walter notices everything.

Especially the two body bags carried out of Richard's house in the middle of the night.

Then Walter sees Richard do something no human being should be able to do.

Written by Nick Bannister, SUBURBAKNIGHT is a wicked suburban horror-comedy about marriage, jealousy, masculinity and the nightmare of discovering that the impossibly perfect man next door may actually be a monster.

Walter calls the police. They find nothing. Richard smiles. Walter looks insane.

Then comes the neighborhood party. Pool. Booze. Barbecue. Husbands watching football. Wives watching Richard.

With help from Andy, his beer-bellied neighbor and resident horror-movie expert, Walter finally puts a name to what moved in across the street.

An incubus.

A demon that seduces women and feeds on their life force.

Now Richard knows Walter is onto him. Walter knows Richard wants Samantha. And the fight Walter thought was about his pride, his marriage and his rapidly collapsing life is about to become something much worse.

Luckily, Walter's house is currently filled with swords, crossbows, armor and medieval weapons nobody wanted to buy.

Maybe the antique business wasn't such a bad idea after all.

Starring Darin Toonder, Jim O'Heir, Jade Tailor, Jack Daniel, Rob Fitzgerald, Logan Laurel, Emily Brolin, Ashley Platz, and Zeke Alton.

Produced by Table Read Podcast and Manifest Media Productions, LLC.

Executive Produced by Jack Levy, Shaan Sharma, and Mark Knell.

Find The Show: Table Read Podcast

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Jane Schoenbrun’s uncategorizable third feature, Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma, marks the director as among the most assured and provocative filmmakers of their generation. Adam and Josh agree that it’s the film of the year so far. Plus, other notable third features this decade, listeners pick their favorite Spider-Man movie, and Adam reviews The Brink of War.

This episode is presented by⁠ Regal Unlimited⁠⁠, the all-you-can-watch movie subscription pass that pays for itself in just two visits. Use code FILMSPOT26 to take 15% off.

(Timecodes will not be precise with ads.)

Intro (00:00:00-00:02:38)

Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma (00:02:39-00:45:20)

Filmspotting Family (00:45:21-00:51:21)

The Brink of War (00:51:22-01:01:11)

Polls (01:01:12-01:11:25)

Credits / Releases (01:11:26-01:15:26)

Feedback:

-Email us at [email protected]⁠⁠

⁠⁠⁠⁠-⁠Ask Us Anything⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ and we might answer your question in bonus content.

Support:

-Join the Filmspotting Family for bonus episodes and complete archive access.

http://filmspottingfamily.com

-Filmspotting Shop for T-shirts and more.⁠ ⁠

⁠https://www.filmspotting.net/shop⁠⁠⁠⁠

Follow:

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See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Anthony Bourdain, whose early experience working in a restaurant kitchen is chronicled in the new biopic Tony, once singled out Ratatouille as Hollywood’s best depiction of working in a restaurant kitchen, which is all the invitation we need to revisit Brad Bird’s 2007 Pixar classic. So this week, with the help of Vulture critic Roxana Hadadi, we consider how Ratatouille trusts its viewers to accept an audacious premise, and rewards them in emotional payoff; parse the nuances and contradictions of its “anyone can cook” mantra; and lament that its lone female character of consequence falls victim to Trinity Syndrome. And yes, of course this group of critics has some thoughts on Anton Ego and the film’s take on criticism. Then in Feedback, we discuss a short excerpt from a much longer, in-depth analysis we received in response to our O Brother Where Art Thou? episode.

Please share your thoughts about Ratatouille, Tony, or anything else in the world of film, by sending an email or voice memo to [email protected], or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

This episode is presented by⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Regal Unlimited⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, the all-you-can-watch movie subscription pass that pays for itself in just two visits. Use code NEXTPIC26 for 15% off.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.