Filmspotting

With the new Oasis doc Don't Look Back in Anger coming soon to theaters—and inspiring this month's ⁠Movie Death Match⁠ (The Last Waltz vs. Stop Making Sense)—we're sharing Adam and Josh's Top 5 Music Docs from 2023.

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From the writer/directors of Game Night and Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves, Apple TV’s Cold War comedy Mayday was a promising title on the 2026 streaming movie calendar. Unfortunately, Matt and Jordan agree that the film isn’t the equal to those earlier films (no thanks to a phoned-in performance from Ryan Reynolds), despite a clever premise and the presence of Kenneth Branagh, who is having the time of his life. Matt digs into Branagh’s strange career in the Rec Seg, suggesting an early Branagh effort (as both director and star) as an alternative, and Jordan answers with a film that finds Christian Bale as a fighter pilot caught behind enemy lines. Plus, Bran-agh Flakes!, a Jordan-hosted game.

(Timecodes will not be precise with ads.)

Intro (00:00:00–00:05:43)

Mayday (00:05:44–00:26:32)

Rec Seg! (00:26:33–00:44:40)

Game: Bran-agh Flakes (00:44:41–01:02:24)

New to Streaming / Credits (01:02:25–01:11:29)

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.

Alexander Ullom’s feature debut, It Ends, has been billed as a horror movie, but it’s more of an existential exercise wrapped inside a genre premise. That same description could be applied to Solaris, though Andrei Tarkovsky’s 1972 science-fiction classic takes nearly twice as long to ponder the nature of life in a situation where death has no meaning anymore. So this week we’re discussing whether Solaris’ deliberate pace and opaque symbolism work toward or against its emotional core, its relative accessibility compared to Tarkovsky’s other work, and what about the film invites its reputation as the “anti-2001.” Then in Feedback, a listener brings an alternative reading to our recent discussion of War of the Worlds as a response to 9/11.

Please share your thoughts about Solaris, It Ends, 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.

Chris Klimek convenes a battle of the bands between two of the most acclaimed concert films ever made: Jonathan Demme's Stop Making Sense and Martin Scorsese's The Last Waltz.

One is a lean, propulsive document of Talking Heads at the height of their powers, transforming a live performance into something theatrical and strangely transcendent. The other is a star-studded farewell to The Band that expands beyond a single concert into a sweeping elegy for an era of rock and roll itself.

Arguing for The Last Waltz is Steven Hyden (Is This It: The Never-Ending Rise and Fall of The Strokes and Rock and Roll), who contends that Scorsese's film is more than a concert movie: it's the definitive cinematic statement on rock music and its mythology. Representing Stop Making Sense is Elizabeth Cantwell (Bright Wall/Dark Room), who makes the case that Demme's film remains the more immersive, inventive, and enduring work of cinema.

Is the greatest concert film about a band, or about rock and roll itself? Which movie best captures the power of live music on screen? Choose your winner at moviedeathmatch.com.

CHAPTERS

Intro / Meet the Advocates (00:00:00-00:09:55)

Rd. 1 The Movies in Their Time (00:09:56-00:45:03)

Rd. 2 The Movies in Our Time (00:45:04-01:14:53)

Rd. 3 The Movies for All Time (01:14:54-01:29:55)

The Verdict / Credits (01:29:56-01:35:42)

More From Elizabeth:

-One Must Imagine Talking Heads Happy

https://www.brightwalldarkroom.com/2025/07/11/stop-making-sense-one-must-imagine-talking-heads-happy/

-Bright Wall/Dark Room Podcast

https://www.brightwalldarkroom.com/podcast/

-Assault on Precinct 13 and Schrödinger's Cat

https://www.brightwalldarkroom.com/2026/06/15/assault-on-precinct-13-john-carpenter-schrodingers-cat/

More From Steven:

-Indiecast

https://art19.com/shows/indiecast

-Evil Speakers | Substack

https://stevenhyden.substack.com/

-There Was Nothing You Could Do

https://www.dacapopress.com/titles/steven-hyden/there-was-nothing-you-could-do/9780306832062/

-Your Favorite Band Is Killing Me

https://www.hachettebookgroup.com/titles/steven-hyden/your-favorite-band-is-killing-me/9780316259156/

More From Chris:

Reviewing the opening of David Byrne’s 2008-9 Everything That Happens Will Happen Today tour for the Washington Post

Pop Culture Happy Hour: David Byrne’s American Utopia

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SUBURBAKNIGHT: Act Three

Walter Knope has spent most of his life avoiding confrontation.

That is about to become difficult.

Walter, Samantha and Bobby Joe cross the street armed with a sword, a crossbow, a mace, a revolver and one deeply impractical suit of medieval armor.

Richard is waiting.

So is the rest of the neighborhood.

Inside Richard's house they discover the party has evolved into something considerably less HOA-approved. Music. Neon. Blood. An orgy full of succubi. Richard sitting above it all like Satan's sexiest homeowners association president.

Samantha asks where her daughter is.

Then shoots Richard through the eye with a crossbow.

It barely slows him down.

Written by Nick Bannister, SUBURBAKNIGHT reaches its gloriously unhinged conclusion as Walter's fight to save his family becomes a full-scale supernatural war over everything he thought he had already lost.

Richard separates them.

Walter gets beaten nearly unconscious. Samantha is pulled into a seductive nightmare built from everything she thinks she wants. And Bobby Joe does what any legendary demon hunter would do when confronted with actual demons.

He runs.

Unfortunately, Richard isn't finished with him either.

Bobby Joe finds himself inside the greatest fantasy of his life: back on the set of Terror Vision, surrounded by beautiful women telling him he's brilliant.

Even Bobby Joe eventually realizes something is wrong.

When the illusion breaks, he finds Mia.

Or at least something wearing Mia.

One conveniently placed antique mirror later, Bobby Joe finally discovers that some of his monster-movie bullshit may actually be useful.

For perhaps the first time in his life, Bobby Joe Williams earns the title:

Demon Hunter.

Mia is safe.

Her parents aren't.

So Bobby Joe locks her in his van and goes back inside.

Walter and Bobby Joe reunite, fight their way through Richard's newly demonic neighbors and discover something hidden beneath the perfect suburban house.

A passageway.

An underground chamber.

And portraits proving Richard has been doing this for centuries.

At the end of the tunnel, Walter finds Samantha.

Richard has already gotten to her.

Now Walter has to do something harder than fighting a demon.

He has to remind his wife why she loved him in the first place.

College. Their first night together. Bringing Mia home. Losing his father. Twenty years of marriage, mistakes, resentment, forgiveness and everything that somehow survived underneath it.

For once, Walter gets the words right.

And Richard discovers that a disappointing middle-aged husband with an antique sword, a pissed-off wife and a washed-up horror host can be surprisingly difficult to kill.

What follows involves swords, guns, fire, a full-size demon, one extremely unfortunate anatomical injury and Bobby Joe's panel van.

Because sometimes saving your marriage takes work.

Sometimes it takes therapy.

And sometimes it takes blowing up an incubus.

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 

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With The Dog Stars in theaters, Adam and Josh invited Vulture’s Roxana Hadadi to the show for a Ridley Scott Draft. Picks one and two are easy: Alien or Blade Runner. But what about the third pick? And will divisive Scott films like Prometheus and Kingdom of Heaven get any love? Plus, a Golden Brick nomination for the new Filipiñana, thoughts on the passing of Dolly Parton and Tim Curry, and Massacre Theatre.

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 (00:00:00-00:02:08)

Ridley Scott Draft, Pt. 1 (00:02:09-01:05:14)

Filmspotting Family (01:05:15-01:11:14)

Ridley Scott Draft, Pt. 2 (01:11:15-01:42:50)

Brickspotting: Filipiñana (01:42:51-01:46:50)

RIP Dolly Parton, Tim Curry (01:46:51-01:53:04)

Massacre Theatre (01:53:05-01:59:42)

Credits / Releases (01:59:43-1:48:48)

Notes: 

-Who won the Ridley Scott Draft?

https://www.filmspotting.net/top-5-lists-archive/1079-ridley-scott-draft

-"Eva Green rules the much longer, much better director’s cut of Kingdom of Heaven"

https://www.avclub.com/eva-green-rules-the-much-longer-much-better-director-s-1846466625

-"Alexander Siddig Answers Every Question We Have About Kingdom of Heaven"

https://www.vulture.com/article/alexander-siddig-tells-us-everything-about-kingdom-of-heaven.html

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 shows, archive access, and more.

http://filmspottingfamily.com

-Filmspotting Shop for T-shirts and more.⁠ 

⁠https://www.filmspotting.net/shop⁠⁠⁠⁠

Follow:

-Watch Filmspotting on YouTube:

⁠https://youtube.com/filmspotting⁠

-Adam/Filmspotting:

⁠Letterboxd⁠ |⁠ Instagram⁠ |⁠ Facebook⁠ | ⁠Bluesky⁠

-Josh/LarsenOnFilm:

⁠Letterboxd⁠ | ⁠Instagram⁠ |⁠ Facebook⁠ | ⁠Bluesky

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

With Ridley Scott's The Dog Stars in theaters and our own Ridley Scott Draft (with Vulture's Roxana  Hadadi) coming Friday, we're sharing this 2017 Sacred Cow review of Scott's sci-fi classic. Michael Phillips joined Adam and Josh.

Unlock the full archive, Filmspotting Discord, ad‑free + bonus episodes, and more when you ⁠join the Filmspotting Family⁠. 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

When the story of a movie’s financing and troubled post-production are more compelling than the movie itself, you’ve got problems. And in this case, you’ve got Desert Warrior, a 7th-century, Saudi Arabia-set — and financed — epic starring Anthony Mackie along with Sir Ben Kingsley and Sharlto Copley. Matt and Jordan review the Rupert Wyatt-directed curiosity, and use the film to recommend an American desert-set indie from the early 2000s and another (undeservedly) unloved Rupert Wyatt film. Plus, a listener request for “sad man” movies on the Criterion Channel, and a game that has Matt and Jordan remembering — or trying to remember — summer movies from the year 2012.  

Intro (00:00:00–00:04:10)

Desert Warrior (00:04:11–00:31:57)

Rec Seg! (00:31:58–00:48:14)

Listener Request Seg! (00:48:15–01:08:01)

Game: Mark My Words! (01:08:02–01:32:32)

New to Streaming / Credits (01:32:33–01:42:15)

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/⁠

The Best and Worst Movies of Summer 2012 (According to Us)

https://screencrush.com/best-worst-movies-summer-2012/

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.

The Platt family is barely surviving, and that’s before their neighborhood is inexplicably dropped millions of years into the past and overrun by hungry dinosaurs. The End of Oak Street isn’t nearly as concerned with explaining that premise or exploring its characters as it is with facilitating dino mayhem and nostalgia for the films of writer-director David Robert Mitchell’s youth. That can be to the film’s benefit and detriment, both of which we cover in this week’s discussion, before bringing Steven Spielberg’s War of the Worlds back in to see how these two family survival narratives compare in their respective ideas about flawed parents, imperiled children, and the universal human desire to not get eaten. Then in Your Next Picture Show we consider a couple of possible alternate pairing for Oak Street, one featuring aliens, one featuring dinosaurs, and both underrated.

Please share your thoughts about War of the Worlds, The End of Oak Street, 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: Alexander Ullom’s It Ends and Andrei Tarkovsky’s Solaris

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.

Film critic Robert Daniels (⁠RogerEbert.com⁠, The New York Times) joins Michael Phillips to test one of Hollywood's most enduring bits of studio wisdom, attributed to producer Samuel Goldwyn: "Pictures are for entertainment, messages should be delivered by Western Union." From I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang, High Noon, and The Best Years of Our Lives to Origin, Don't Look Up, and Triangle of Sadness, Michael and Robert discuss why some films are elevated by their ideas while others collapse under them, and whether the most effective message movies are the ones that never look like message movies at all. Join the conversation by emailing ⁠[email protected]⁠.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.