After making a splash at Cannes, THE CHRONOLOGY OF WATER is finally getting released to theaters around the US. It’s a faithful film adaptation of the memoir by Lidia Yuknavitch, and we’re joined by both a memoirist and a filmmaker to discuss it all — Roxane Gay (HUNGER, BAD FEMINIST, and much more) and Alain Martin (The Forgotten Occupation). Then we’ll name some of our favorite memoir adaptations, and some memoirs we’d like to see adapted to film  

What’s Good?
Alonso - The Hunger: Film Writing 2012-2024 by Melissa Anderson
Drea - TasteBuds NYC videos
Roxane - Heated Rivalry book series
Alain - LA trip (for local premiere of The Forgotten Occupation!)
Kevin - Buzz Ballz for Drea

ITIDIC

1. Golden Globes 2026 Happened
2. Alamo Drafthouse Shifting from Pen-and-Paper to Mobile Menu Ordering

Staff Picks

Alonso - The Swimmer
Drea - Sound of Falling
Alain - Nouvelle Vague
Roxane - Hedda
Kevin - Cedar Rapids

Follow us on BlueSky, Facebook, Instagram, or Letterboxd

With
Kevin Avery
Drea Clark
Alonso Duralde

Produced by Marissa Flaxbart
Sr. Producer Laura Swisher

Josh Safdie directed it, Timothée Chalamet stars in it, awards groups are crazy for it, and it’s seriously stressing us out. This week we’re back in the swing of things and talking about MARTY SUPREME. Then, in honor of main character Marty Mauser, we’re naming some of our favorite world-class assholes of cinema.

What’s Good?
Alonso - The meme feedback loop of Heated Rivalry
Drea - Taskmaster (and the show’s quiet inclusivity)
Kevin - Batman Bomber Jacket (and getting Alonso’s book for J)

ITIDIC
Betty Boop and Blondie Enter Public Domain in 2026
John Mayer and McG Buying the Henson Studio Lot and Name it Chaplin Studios

Staff Picks
Drea - Predator: Badlands
Alonso - Familiar Touch
Kevin - We Bury the Dead

Leave us a message with your movie query! MaximumFun.org/Hotline

Follow us on BlueSky, Facebook, Instagram, or Letterboxd

With
Kevin Avery
Drea Clark
Alonso Duralde

Produced by Marissa Flaxbart
Sr. Producer Laura Swisher

We’re celebrating the end of the movie year that was and the start of the movie year to come, plus our first year (minus a few months in the middle there) with Kevin at the helm! We’ve got our annual Maxie Awards, movies we’re looking forward to in 2026 and, most importantly, each host’s 10 favorites from 2025.

What's Good?
Alonso - Barebells
Drea - Warm (True) Spring
Kevin - a year of hosting (sorta)!

*indicates a film we covered on the show!

Drea
10. Twinless*
9. Lurker
8. Hamnet*
7. Bugonia*
6. Sentimental Value
5. Sorry, Baby
4. The Secret Agent
3. Train Dreams*
2. One Battle After Another*
1. Sinners*

Alonso
10. Happy End
9. A House of Dynamite
8. Rebuilding
7. It Was Just an Accident
6. One Battle After Another*
5. Train Dreams*
4. Caught by the Tides
3. My Undesirable Friends: Part I — Last Air in Moscow
2. Eephus
1. Sinners*

Kevin
10. Good Fortune
9. Hedda*
8. The Long Walk*
7. Twinless*
6. Weapons*
5. Thunderbolts**
4. F1
3. Superman*
2. Sinners*
1. 40 Acres*

Follow us on BlueSky, Facebook, Instagram, or Letterboxd

With
Kevin Avery
Drea Clark
Alonso Duralde

Produced by Marissa Flaxbart
Sr. Producer Laura Swisher

Jingle jingle, ya’ll! We’ve got comedian Ben Katzner joining us under the mistletoe for the holiday movie about a recovering improviser and a divorced dentist that you didn’t know were missing. Then we have a Hotline question about holiday movies that center Black Joy for a change! #4Brothers4Christmas

What’s Good
Alonso - LAFCA Citation for Gardena Cinema; Support Your Local Film Society
Drea - Pipsly.org
Ben - Sam Evans’ comedy special, Down a Mom
Kevin - moving boxes and having a space

WETIDIC
a).  Several Stories about films in development:

• Live Action Teddy Ruxpin Movie Coming from AmazonMGM and 7 Bucks
• Social Network 2 In the Works 
• Miss Piggy’ Movie In Development With Cole Escola Writing

b). Rick Moranis Returns to Acting for Spaceballs 2

c). Ariana Grande Grabber Sentenced to 9 Days in Prison

Christmas Movie Minute
A Make or Break Holiday
The Christmas Baby
The Best Thing About Christmas

Staff Picks
Alonso - Boys Go to Jupiter
Drea - The Muppet Christmas Carol
Ben - One of Them Days
Kevin - Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers

Watch Supple Harlot
Troll Hole Podcast

Follow us on BlueSky, Facebook, Instagram, or Letterboxd

With
Kevin Avery
Drea Clark
Alonso Duralde

Produced by Marissa Flaxbart
Sr. Producer Laura Swisher

The Flop House’s Elliot Kalan joins us to put his “Mad about Mads”-ness where his mouth is as we discuss a stylized new horror-ish thriller from director Bryan Fuller. Then we’ll talk about movies that would make good genre entry points for kids who are ready.

What’s Good
Drea - Heated Rivalry
Elliott - Latke Night, his new book Joke Farming, & Werner Herzog’s A Guide for the Perplexed
Kevin - Yuletide Unc gets his decorations up

ITIDIC

a.) Zootopia 2 Becomes the Year’s Highest Grossing Film
b). Famed Variety Oscars Party Moves to LACMA

Christmas Movie Minute
Single on the 25th
Oy to the World
A Suite Holiday Romance
The Christmas Writer
(and a shout out to yet-unseen The Christmas Baby premiering on Hallmark on 12/21/25)

Staff Picks
Drea - The Princess Bride
Elliott - This Is Spinal Tap (see also, A Fine Line Between Stupid and Clever: The Story of Spinal Tap) 
Kevin - Misery

Follow us on BlueSky, Facebook, Instagram, or Letterboxd

With
Kevin Avery
Drea Clark
Alonso Duralde

Produced by Marissa Flaxbart
Sr. Producer Laura Swisher

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

Follow us on BlueSky, Facebook, Instagram, or Letterboxd

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

Follow us on BlueSky, Facebook, Instagram, or Letterboxd

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

Follow us on BlueSky, Facebook, Instagram, or Letterboxd

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

Follow us on BlueSky, Facebook, Instagram, or Letterboxd

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

Follow us on BlueSky, Facebook, Instagram, or Letterboxd

With
Kevin Avery
Drea Clark
Alonso Duralde

Produced by Marissa Flaxbart
Sr. Producer Laura Swisher