George Clooney is JAY KELLY in Noah Baumbach’s latest film…and that might be true in more ways than one. The film chronicles the career of a fictional movie star. Speaking of chronicles, we’re joined by actor and filmmaker Justin Tyler, voice of the titular Derf in MaxFun’s newest show, The Young Old Derf Chronicles. And we have a movie quiz about real actors playing fictional actors on film!

What’s Good
Alonso - “Buy a Christmas tree that’s considered too big for your apartment.”
Drea - Forks Out on Sesame Street
Justin - end of year check-out
Kevin - Paranormal Activity play

ITIDIC

• Netflix/Warner Bros. Monopoly Insanity
• Original Star Wars film to be Rereleased in Theaters for 50th Anniversary

Christmas Movie Minute
The Christmas Cup (Hallmark)
She’s Making a List (Hallmark)

Staff Picks
Drea - Goodbye June
Alonso - The Swimmer (1968)
Justin - Blue Moon
Kevin - Three Kings

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With
Kevin Avery
Drea Clark
Alonso Duralde

Produced by Marissa Flaxbart
Sr. Producer Laura Swisher

What’s Good
Alonso - the magic of podcasting
Drea - the magic of a repainted bathroom
Kevin - the magic of live jazz improvisation (The Tyler Hammond Jazz Experience)

[Morgan Freeman falling asleep clip]

ITIDIC

1. 2020 and 2021 Titles Coming to Indie Theaters for ‘Lost Films of COVID’ Series
2. Shrek 5 is back in the news as 3 actors are cast as his triplets

Staff Picks
Alonso - BLKNWS: Terms and Conditions
Drea - Wild Rose
Kevin - Hamlet 2

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With
Kevin Avery
Drea Clark
Alonso Duralde

Produced by Marissa Flaxbart
Sr. Producer Laura Swisher

The new film from the team behind JOCKEY and SING SING is a lyrical life story starring Joel Edgerton. We’ve got casting director Nicole Arbusto with us to discuss this, and take on a Hotline question asking for professional shoutouts. Plus our annual Turkeys of the Year and the first post-Thanksgiving Christmas Movie Minute!

What’s Good
Alonso - magazines
Drea - Buzz Ballz/BeatBox/Cutwater cocktail challenge
Nicole - LA cloud formations lately
Kevin - “books I haven’t even cracked open”

Staff Picks
Drea - All That’s Left of You
Alonso - Jesus’ Son
Nicole - A Little Prayer
Kevin - Zero Dark Thirty

Pick up Have Yourself a Movie Little Christmas

Leave a message for the Hotline!

Get some Maximum Film! merch

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With
Kevin Avery
Drea Clark
Alonso Duralde

Produced by Marissa Flaxbart
Sr. Producer Laura Swisher

An ode to a classic of French New Wave cinema – Jean-Luc Godard’s Breathless (A Bout de Souffle) – Nouvelle Vague is more than a heady film nerd love fest. It’s a Linklater movie, which means it’s a hangout film; it’s just that the gang we’re hanging with happens to be reinventing modern cinema, whether they know it or not. We’ve got writer, actor, and teacher Tarik R. Davis (The Amber Ruffin Show) with us to talk about the petite charms of this Cannes premiere. Then we pitch our own making-of hangout movies!

What’s Good
Alonso - “Trans Images on Film” on TCM (w/Caden Mark Gardner and Willow Catelyn Maclay)
Drea - Library Tool Checkout
Tarik - a really good rehearsal
Kevin - Conduct Your Own Orchestra (Golden Records)

ITIDIC

1. Filmmakers Meet the Pope (text of the pope’s full address is here)
2. D&D: Honor Among Thieves Team Working on new Star Trek Movie

Staff Picks
Alonso - Faces Places
Drea - Rental Family
Tarik - Brother John
Kevin - For Your Consideration

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With
Kevin Avery
Drea Clark
Alonso Duralde

Produced by Marissa Flaxbart
Sr. Producer Laura Swisher

CW: discussion of domestic abuse

We get into the good the bad and the ugly of the new boxing biopic CHRISTY, which tells the story of pioneering boxer Christy Martin and her dark power struggles both in and outside the ring. Then we have a movie quiz about bio pics with first-name titles. 

What’s Good
Alonso - successful Parker House rolls trial run
Drea - remembering a detail of Arrival
Daresha - screening her new film to big crowd at a Black church in Cambridge, MA
Kevin - was in a play!

ITIDIC

1. Kristen Stewart declares "state of emergency" over gender inequality in film
2. Warners Making ‘Gremlins 3’ With Steven Spielberg, Chris Columbus Returning

Staff Picks
Drea - Rebuilding
Alonso - Little Amelie or The Character of Rain
Daresha - Natchez 
Kevin - Unknown Number: The High School Catfish

Love, Joy, & Power at DOC NYC

Alonso’s book, Have Yourself a Movie Little Christmas

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With
Kevin Avery
Drea Clark
Alonso Duralde

Produced by Marissa Flaxbart
Sr. Producer Laura Swisher

Yorgos Lanthimos can be counted on for a weird, wild time, and this time around he’s back with Emma Stone and Jesse Plemons, plus newcomer Aidan Delbis, comedian Stavros Halkias, and even a bit of Alicia Silverstone. Former producer Casey O’Brien (co-host of Dear Movies, I Love You) joins us to take an up-close look at movie loaded with close-ups. Then we name some of our favorite actor-director frequent pairings.

What’s Good
Drea - Toners in spray bottles
Casey - BuzzBallz
Kevin - Costco cashews

ITIDIC

1. A Hello Kitty Movie is Coming in 2028
2. Taylor Sheridan Broke Up with Paramount, But He’s Back In for ‘Call of Duty’

Staff Picks
Drea - Sentimental Value
Casey - The Hidden
Kevin - The Menu

Physical Media merch at maxfunstore.com

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With
Kevin Avery
Drea Clark
Alonso Duralde

Produced by Marissa Flaxbart
Sr. Producer Laura Swisher

Just us chickens here this week to talk about the wild party we just witnessed...in Nia DaCosta's HEDDA, a modernized (but not modern-day) adaptation of the classic Ibsen play, HEDDA GABLER. Then we get into what works and doesn't work for us in stage-to-screen adaptations.

What’s Good
Alonso - Christmas creep!
Drea - “...There she is.”
Kevin - A weekend of artistic experiences

ITIDIC

1. A Memo Reveals that the Pentagon is Mad About ‘House of Dynamite’
2. LA Times: Horror May Have Its Moment at the Oscars
3. ‘Kidz Bop Live: The Concert Movie’ Set to Premiere in Theaters

Staff Picks
Drea - Nouvelle Vague
Alonso - It Was Just an Accident
Kevin - Good Fortune

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With
Kevin Avery
Drea Clark
Alonso Duralde

Produced by Marissa Flaxbart
Sr. Producer Laura Swisher

Josh O’Connor stars in a heist movie to end all heist movies – or at least end our illusions that the person pulling the heist is pretty cool and awesome. Comedian and friend Myq Kaplan is along to watch things unfold, and unravel, in THE MASTERMIND. Then we take a Hotline question about what film school courses we’d like to teach.

What’s Good
Alonso - Programme 4   
Drea - First women to cross the Atlantic unsupported (in their girthy canoe)
Myq - Communing with friends [Rini (and Rini), John Fugelsang appearance, Separation of Church and Hate, tea with Abby Wambaugh] 
Kevin - new mic cable and arm; guesting on How to Survive

Bernie & Phyl’s ad 

ITIDIC

• Penske Reportedly Offers Golden Globe Bribe Opportunity to Right-Wing Podcasters
• BUGONIA Offering Free Screening for Bald Audience

Staff Picks
Drea - La Chimera
Alonso - A House of Dynamite
Myq - The Life of Chuck
Kevin - Roofman

10/25: American Cinema Editors Short Film Showcase – The First Day of Your Last Period

11/2: Myq at Dynasty Typewriter

Alonso's book: Have Yourself a Movie Little Christmas

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With
Kevin Avery
Drea Clark
Alonso Duralde

Produced by Marissa Flaxbart
Sr. Producer Laura Swisher

A little gritty political drama, a little technicolor musical, a little revolutionary politics, a little ahead-of-its-time queer representation…Kiss of the Spider Woman has been a novel, a play, an Oscar-winning movie, a Tony-winning Broadway musical, and now a Bill Condon movie musical starring Jennifer Lopez, Diego Luna, and relative newcomer Tonatiuh. LA-based film critic Carlos Aguilar joins us to get into the enduring allure of Spider Woman, and to name some bleak movies that could be jazzed up with a little old-timey movie-musical interlude.

What’s Good
Alonso - Bulgarian State Woman Choir on Johnny Carson in 1990
Drea - Bed Bands (wholesome)
Carlos - New episode of Storage Wars
Kevin - The Craft at Cinespia

ITIDIC

1. Apple TV Streaming Drops “+” From its Name
2. The TiVo Era Has Ended, Officially Now
3. Annie Hall Returning to Cinemas in Honor of Diane Keaton

Staff Picks
Alonso - Orwell: 2+2=5
Drea - Blue Moon
Carlos - It Was Just an Accident
Kevin - Battle Royale

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With
Kevin Avery
Drea Clark
Alonso Duralde

Produced by Marissa Flaxbart
Sr. Producer Laura Swisher

If you’ve got Amazon Prime, you can put PLAY DIRTY (starring Mark Wahlberg, Rosa Salazar, LaKeith Stanfield, Tony Shaloub, and many more) right now. But should you? That’s where we come in, careening into your remote-wielding hand like a car chase onto a horse racing track in the first few minutes of PLAY DIRTY.

Speaking of which, we’re also nominating Hall of Excellence candidates in the category Best Car Chase. All with Danielle Radford riding shotgun!

What’s Good
Alonso - Zach Bryan
Drea - mom's girls trip to Portland (and a drag show)
Danielle - Hello Kitty Island Adventure (and no IMdB-ruiner encounters)
Kevin - Rocky Horror Picture Show @ Cinespia (starring Barry Bostwick, FYI)

ITIDIC

• Amazon Disarmed a James Bond Poster, then Undid it when folks noticed
• Tarantino’s ‘Kill Bill: The Whole Bloody Affair’ Sets Theatrical Release

Hall of Excellence Noms
Terminator 2
What’s Up Doc?
Mad Max Fury Road
The Matrix Reloaded

Staff Picks
Drea - If I Had Legs I’d Kick You
Alonso - Strange Journey: The Story of Rocky Horror
Danielle - Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master
Kevin - Guillermo del Toro’s Frankenstein

Follow us on BlueSky, Facebook, Instagram, or Letterboxd

With
Kevin Avery
Drea Clark
Alonso Duralde

Produced by Marissa Flaxbart
Sr. Producer Laura Swisher