This week we've got expert musical improvisors Jessica McKenna and Zach Reino with us to discuss a movie about a middle school musical gone way off course, at the hands of a drama teacher pushed to the edge. Part comedy, part film noir, it's the feature debut of director Giselle Bonilla, and it was a Sundance premiere. THE MUSICAL! Then we talk about other films that use film noir tropes to comedic ends, and pitch some actually-pretty-genius new movies in that genre too.

Look out for Jess and Zach's movie, Mock Trial
Listen to Off Book (or see it live!)

What’s Good
Alonso - Get your colonoscopy!
Drea - Bob the Drag Queen even makes the Love Island Reunion show fun
Jess - The Gilded Age on a plane
Zach - The Wolves of Glendale, Go to the Woods
Kevin - seeing the Rams live

ITIDIC
AMC Burbank Pepper-Spray Guy: Villain or Hero?
New California Post Production Tax Credit Becomes Law

Staff Pick
Alonso - You Had to Be There
Jess - Original Cast Album: Company (w/”Co-Op” double feature)
Drea - The Incomer
Zach - The Court Jester
Kevin - Resident Evil

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With
Kevin Avery
Drea Clark
Alonso Duralde

Produced by Marissa Flaxbart
Sr. Producer Laura Swisher

The stars of the original Practical Magic stars are back (at least, most of them) and just as cursed as ever. We have Hollywood Reporter TV Critic Angie Han with us to weigh in on whether this film left us feeling charmed, or like we'd been hit by a truck. Then, in honor of a family that has two sisters in every generation, we have a movie quiz about two-sister films! 

What’s Good?
Alonso - Meg Stalter’s Emmys ensemble
Drea - uno spaghetto
Angie - TrüFrü Dark and White Chocolate Covered Freeze Dried Strawberries
Kevin - Movie theater seat snobbery

ITIDIC
‘Woman Unknown’ Wins Venice Film Festival
MPA Projects Proposed Federal Tax Credit would Add 143,000 Film & TV Jobs

Staff Picks
Drea - If I Go Will They Miss Me
Alonso - Now, Voyager
Angie - The History of Concrete
Kevin - Martha Marcy May Marlene

Here's a Letterboxd list of Two- and Three-Sister Movies

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With
Kevin Avery
Drea Clark
Alonso Duralde

Produced by Marissa Flaxbart
Sr. Producer Laura Swisher

Casper Kelly might be most famous for his this-shouldn't-be-so-creepy comedy short "Too Many Cooks." Now he's got his feature directorial debut on his hands (but don't sleep on Yule Log 2, according to Alonso), and It's Buddy, a comedy horror that owes a debt of gratitude to the insistent cheerfulness of Barney the Dinosaur. We'll get into all that, and then talk about some of our favorite times TV crossed over onto the big screens.

What's Good:
Alonso: kouign amann
Drea: Minnesota State Fair
Kevin: Costco belt

ITIDIC
• Summer U.S. Box Office Hits All-Time $4.76B Record: How Audiences Surrendered To Moviegoing
• Telluride’s Top-Secret Film Was a Documentary and people are abuzz (You Can See Everything, Nathan Fielder and Lance Oppenheim’s Elizabeth Holmes doc)

Staff Picks:
Alonso: We Are Pat
Drea: Oasis: Don't Look Back in Anger
Kevin: Colony (Gunche)

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With
Kevin Avery
Drea Clark
Alonso Duralde

Produced by Marissa Flaxbart
Sr. Producer Laura Swisher

Hey, you! Be a buddy and take our listener survey! It'll help us keep the show great and maybe even...make it better?! 
THANK YOU IN ADVANCE! - Producer Marissa and the MaxFilm Gang
***

Shelved after completion in 2023, COYOTE VS. ACME has finally detonated onto big screens everywhere. We have director David Kittredge (whose doc BOORMAN AND THE DEVIL is finally making it to theaters as well!) with us to follow this courtroom-drama-by-way-of-Merrie-Melodies. Then we'll talk about the fictional lawsuits that the characters of other films might have on their hands.

What’s Good
Alonso - But Have You Read the Book? Romance Edition by Kristen Lopez
Drea - Daisy Chain Fields Festival (link is to non-profit beneficiaries if you want to donate!)
David - Boorman and the Devil on the big screen, and people going back to the cinemas
Kevin - French press coffee

ITIDIC

1. New AMC Theaters Venture Aims to Put Smaller Films on Big Screen
2. Remembering Dolly Parton and Tim Curry, Movie Stars

Staff Picks
Alonso: Common Threads: Stories from the Quilt
Drea: Hadestown: the Musical
David: Buffet Infinity and Buddy
Kevin: The End of Oak Street

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With
Kevin Avery
Drea Clark
Alonso Duralde

Produced by Marissa Flaxbart
Sr. Producer Laura Swisher

Hey, you! Be a buddy and take our listener survey! It'll help us keep the show great and maybe even...make it better?! 
THANK YOU IN ADVANCE! - Producer Marissa and the MaxFilm Gang

The main character of TONY is Anthony Bourdain, but Matt Johnson’s latest film is not exactly a biopic. We have film critic Katie Walsh with us to discuss Dominic Sessa, Antonio Banderas, and the rest of the kitchen crew in this unusual coming of age movie. Then we’ll think up some other personalities we’d like to see inspire coming-of-age/early-life pics. 

What’s Good

ITIDIC

Staff Picks
Drea: The Cycle of Love
Katie: The Rivals of Amziah King
Kevin: The Conversation

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With
Kevin Avery
Drea Clark
Alonso Duralde

Produced by Marissa Flaxbart
Sr. Producer Laura Swisher

Hey, you! Be a buddy and take our listener survey! It'll help us keep the show great and maybe even...make it better?! 
THANK YOU IN ADVANCE! - Producer Marissa and the MaxFilm Gang

Comedian Hay Beacon joins us to discuss THE WRONG GIRLS, Dylan Meyer’s feature debut as a writer/director, starring Kristen Stewart and Alia Shawkat. Meyer has said that the movie is not for everyone, but it’s really for the people it’s for. So…are we those people? Plus, we chat about our favorite “serious” actors to see take comedic turns .

What's Good?

ITIDIC
Marvel Unveils Its New X-Men Cast at D23
Pleasantville 4K Release Removes Reese Witherspoon “slut” line

Staff Picks

Listen to Hay's podcast, No Contact.

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With
Kevin Avery
Drea Clark
Alonso Duralde

Produced by Marissa Flaxbart
Sr. Producer Laura Swisher

Hey, you! Be a buddy and take our listener survey! It'll help us keep the show great and maybe even...make it better?! 
THANK YOU IN ADVANCE! - Producer Marissa and the MaxFilm Gang

Director Jane Schoenbrun's latest film has had a certain kind of movie fan salivating for months now, and it's finally in theaters. So, are we still...salivating? Is this getting gross? Editor of RUE MORGUE Magazine, Andrea Subissati, joins us to discuss. Then, we get our tongues tied up with a movie quiz about film titles even longer than TEENAGE SEX AND DEATH AT CAMP MIASMA.

What's Good

ITIDIC
Ellison Says Paramount Will Exit CA if Suit Isn’t Settled By October
WB Promotes The End of Oak Street on AI Dog Podcast
One Night Only Director Removed Says Audiences Don’t Like Sex Scenes

All titles from our  Long Titles Movie Quiz as a Letterboxd list

Staff Picks

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With
Kevin Avery
Drea Clark
Alonso Duralde

Produced by Marissa Flaxbart
Sr. Producer Laura Swisher

Hey, you! Be a buddy and take our listener survey! It'll help us keep the show great and maybe even...make it better?! 
THANK YOU IN ADVANCE! - Producer Marissa and the MaxFilm Gang

Ken Plume -- author, filmmaker, and longtime host of A Bit of a Chat with Ken Plume -- joins us to talk about the movie that everyone seems to be talking about. Is it a great Spider-Man movie, or the greatest Spider-Man movie? Then, we answer a Hotline call (yes, we still take those!) about forbidden films of our youths. 

What’s Good?

ITIDIC

Staff Picks

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With
Kevin Avery
Drea Clark
Alonso Duralde

Produced by Marissa Flaxbart
Sr. Producer Laura Swisher

Hey, you! Be a buddy and take our listener survey! It'll help us keep the show great and maybe even...make it better?! 
THANK YOU IN ADVANCE! - Producer Marissa and the MaxFilm Gang

Is it possible for a sports comedy to fit the formula, but still break the mold? Josh Greenbaum, director of Barb and Starr Go to Vista Del Mar, takes a whack at it with THE DINK, starring Jake Johnson and Mary Steenburgen. It's streaming now on AppleTV. And we have comedian (and yes, pickleball enthusiast) Jaron Myers with us to discuss! Then we get some pitches together for thoroughly modern movies that wouldn't have made sense a few years (or decades) ago. 

What's Good?

ITIDIC
Sony, Alamo Drafthouse, to Reopen Cinerama Dome/Arclight at Long Last
Comic-Con 2026 – Hits and Misses
Paramount/WB Merger Paused Until June 2027, Or Court Ruling

Staff Picks

PS: Get 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

Everybody's talking about Christopher Nolan's latest film...and so are we! We've got Eurovangelists co-host Dimitry Pompée with us to discuss the first movie ever shot in 70mm IMAX film, adapted from one of history's oldest and most famous works of literature...it's THE ODYSSEY! Then we'll talk about some of the books we read in high-school that have been (or should be) adapted for the big screen.

What's Good?

ITIDIC
Hollywood Deems the Box Office “Back” – Big Time
A Rotoscoped TEXAS CHAIN SAW MASSACRE is in production

The Odyssey/We Bought a Zoo meme

A Letterboxd List: High-School Reads

Staff Picks

Listen to Eurovangelists!

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With
Kevin Avery
Drea Clark
Alonso Duralde

Produced by Marissa Flaxbart
Sr. Producer Laura Swisher