How much Dune is too much Dune? We're fixing to find out this March on Maximum Film! We're starting with the 1984 Lynch/Dino De Laurentiis space opera that was a theatrical flop, yet remains an enduring (cult?) classic. Then we'll pitch some outside-the-box auteur/book series pairings to fantasize about.

What’s Good
Alonso - Schmigadoon Season 2
Drea - GORP-Core and scroggin
Guy - Whenever I Call You Friend at a steakhouse
Ify - performing at Leicester Square

ITIDIC

1. Dune 2 Makes a Huge Debut
2. Bootleg Willy Wonka Experience to become a literal horror movie 
3. AMC Theaters Launching “New” Nicole Kidman Pre-Show Spots

Dune “Glossary” handed out in theaters in 1984

Staff Picks
Alonso - The Straight Story
Drea - Love Lies Bleeding
Guy - The Taste of Things
Ify - Police Academy

Follow us on BlueSky, Facebook, Instagram, or Letterboxd

With
Kevin Avery
Drea Clark
Alonso Duralde

Produced by Marissa Flaxbart
Sr. Producer Laura Swisher

This one is a wild ride, y’all. Ethan Coen and Tricia Cooke have teamed up to make a wacky, raunchy lesbian road trip crime comedy, and (almost) everyone has an opinion about the results! Then, a hotline question about “litmus test” movies.

What’s Good
Alonso - reading more James Baldwin (The Fire Next Time)
Drea - voting and progressive voter guides
Ever - bench record and new goals
Ify - Naomi’s diorama

ITIDIC

• Tyler Perry Puts $800m Studio Expansion on Hold Because of AI
• Only 30% of the 100 Top Grossing Movies of 2023 Had Female Leads
•  Spirit Awards Were Last Sunday!

Staff Picks

Alonso - Gay USA
Drea - I Didn’t See You There
Ever - The Gay Revolution by Lillian Faderman & Old Yeller
Ify - Dune: Part Two

Y’all Gay podcast
Ever’s upcoming show dates

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With
Kevin Avery
Drea Clark
Alonso Duralde

Produced by Marissa Flaxbart
Sr. Producer Laura Swisher

Madame Web is Dakota Johnson seeing the future, barefoot villains with ADR as bad as their intentions, and a surprising dearth of Spider Women fighting crime. But is it the next Morbius? Is it time to #ReleaseTheClarksonCut? We’ve got resident Spider-Man-man Jordan Morris on the case! Then, a movie quiz about 2003 (did we mention this movie is set in 2003?) 

What’s Good
Alonso - Olive Oil Chocolate Cake
Drea -  “Who the F did I marry?” TikToks
Jordan - Pluto.tv & the Coneheads credits rap (see also: Dragnet rap, “City of Crime”)
Ify - Helldivers 2

ITIDIC

1. Ridley Scott is Making a Biopic about the BeeGees
2. Martin Scorsese’s Powell and Pressburger Doc Picked up by MUBI
3. Travis Kelce is a Movie Producer Now

Staff Picks
Alonso - Date and Switch
Drea - The Promised Land
Jordan - American Fiction, Anatomy of a Fall, The Holdovers
Ify - Starship Troopers

Pre-Order Jordan’s New Comic, Youth Group
Listen to Free With Ads, starting 2/27/24

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With
Kevin Avery
Drea Clark
Alonso Duralde

Produced by Marissa Flaxbart
Sr. Producer Laura Swisher

Today's movie takes on the guise of a weird '80s teen comedy, then adds in some supernatural phenomena and some axes. So we consult THE JV CLUB's Janet Varney on the peculiarities of Lisa's high school experience, and then make up some Monster Mash-up movies of our own.

What’s Good
Alonso - RO-TEL Dip
Janet - Mochi Muffins from Third Culture Bakery
Drea - Chocolate-dipped Twinkies

ITIDIC

1. The Oscars Are Adding a New Category: Best Casting
2. 2023 Sundance Darling FANCY DANCE Finally Finds a Home
3. Crunchyroll Merges with Funimation…Now Funimation Digital Downloads Will Disappear

Staff Picks
Alonso - Perfect Days
Janet - Housebound 
Drea - Players

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With
Kevin Avery
Drea Clark
Alonso Duralde

Produced by Marissa Flaxbart
Sr. Producer Laura Swisher

With one extremely emotive stroke of the metaphorical podcast baton, we complete the magnum opus that is Best Picture Oscar Nominees 2023!  Is Bradley Cooper's Leonard Bernstein too big to fit on the small screens at Netflix? Find out in our MAESTRO discussion, for which we're joined by Vanity Fair's chief critic, Richard Lawson. Then, a fun movie quiz about composer biopics (well, it's fun for some of us!).

What’s Good
Alonso - Tracy Chapman & Luke Combs singing Fast Car at the Grammys
Drea - Tracy Chapman singing Stand By Me on Letterman
Richard - Australian Survivor
Ify - Levels Nigerian Cuisine in St. Louis

ITIDIC

1. America Ferrera Sets Her Directorial Debut
2. Universal Studios Florida Reveals More Plans for “Epic Universe” Theme Park
3. Pedro Almodovar’s Next Film Will Be His First English Language Feature

Staff Picks
Drea - Amélie
Alonso - Thirty Two Short Films About Glenn Gould
Richard - Death Trap
Ify - The Hangover

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With
Kevin Avery
Drea Clark
Alonso Duralde

Produced by Marissa Flaxbart
Sr. Producer Laura Swisher

We catch up with Cord Jefferson's Oscar-nominated comedy that's about more than you might have guessed. Then, we've got new nominees for the Hall of Excellence: Best Fictional Books!

What’s Good
Alonso - Barbara Streisand’s memoir
Drea - Mom’s Dave confusion
Ellie - new season of True Detective
Ify - clear spheres/foggy balls 

ITIDIC
Godzilla Minus One Inching Towards a Near-Record Box Office Run
Sundance Concluded With Some Big Sales
Oscar Nominations Came out Last Week…

Staff Picks
Alonso - Household Saints
Drea - Plus One
Ellie - The Zone of Interest
Ify - Beetlejuice [also showing at Vidiots on 2/3/24]

Follow Ellie Foumbi on Instagram

Leave a message for the Hotline! 

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With
Kevin Avery
Drea Clark
Alonso Duralde

Produced by Marissa Flaxbart
Sr. Producer Laura Swisher

You’ve heard the Plastics and the Art Freaks talk about their lives and loves. But what if you could hear them SING about it? That’s the service the new Mean Girls musical (adapted from the Broadway show) will provide, should you so desire. We’ve got writer/critic/musical theater wonk B.J. Colangelo with us to navigate the halls of the new North Shore High. Then, we’ll pitch some new grist for the book -> movie -> stage musical -> movie musical mill.

What’s Good
Alonso - Magic Coke Machine recipe
Drea - Ariel Bissett’s YouTube
BJ - Finding the Queen Beryl dress
Ify - Warhammer Old World and Sketchfest

ITIDIC

• Motive for Ruby Slipper Theft Revealed
• Lindsay Lohan Sets ‘Our Little Secret’ at Netflix
• Sundance Kicks Off, Celebrating Its 40th Birthday

Staff Picks
Drea - Totem
Alonso - Heathers the Musical (Live Stage Capture) on Roku
BJ - Crush
Ify - The Nice Guys

Little Women “Christopher Columbus” video

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With
Kevin Avery
Drea Clark
Alonso Duralde

Produced by Marissa Flaxbart
Sr. Producer Laura Swisher

We've been keeping tabs on today's movie for a while -- either a couple years or a couple decades, depending on how you count it. To discuss the movie musical adaptation of the stage musical adaptation of the movie adaptation of Alice Walker's classic novel, we brought in Tre'vell Anderson, noted Fantasia Barrino expert (and also a journalist, author, critic and expert in other things). 

What’s Good
Alonso - The Cannon Film Guide, Volume I by Austin Trunick
Drea - try turning it off and on again
Tre’vell - customized ice cream 
Ify - “StIfy-core“

ITIDIC

1.  Chelsea Handler Hosted the Critics Choice Awards… 
2. Broadway’s Shucked Is Becoming a Movie
3. Paramount Marketing Exec Doesn’t Want to Call new Mean Girls a Musical

Staff Picks
Drea - Advice on Sundance Advance Online ticket sales (Dìdi (弟弟), Exhibiting Forgiveness, In the Summers, The Mother of All Lies, FRIDA)
Alonso - The Burial of Kojo
Tre’vell - Camp
Ify - Port Authority

Historically Black Phrases Live

Follow Tre’vell

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With
Kevin Avery
Drea Clark
Alonso Duralde

Produced by Marissa Flaxbart
Sr. Producer Laura Swisher

Based on the tragic real-life story of the wrestling family known professionally as the Von Erichs (liberties were taken, but most of them seem to have tamped the sheer tragedy down somewhat, rather than the other way around), The Iron Claw has been anxiously anticipated by some wrestling fans. Fans like our guest, Danielle Radford, who co-hosts Tights and Fights! After discussing the movie where actors played some real-life wrestlers, we dish about our favorite wrestlers-turned actors.

What’s Good
Alonso - Capote's Women by Laurence Leamer
Drea - All You Can Eat (and seeing its creators at the Spirit Awards Brunch)
Danielle - Old Nintendo games on the Switch
Ify - homemaking accomplishments

ITIDIC

1. Christopher Nolan Was Dunked on by His Peloton Instructor
2. Alamo Drafthouse Doing Rep Screenings All Year Long
3. Golden Globes “Recap” (but mostly we fixate on one major element of the show)

Staff Picks
Alonso -  I Am Santa Claus
Drea - Miss Shampoo
Danielle - Red, White & Royal Blue
Ify - Godzilla Minus One

The Dark Side of the Ring, “The Last of the Von Erichs” on Tubi

Follow Danielle Radford, listen to Tights and Fights, or watch Cracked’s “Staff Picks”

Follow us on BlueSky, Facebook, Instagram, or Letterboxd

With
Kevin Avery
Drea Clark
Alonso Duralde

Produced by Marissa Flaxbart
Sr. Producer Laura Swisher

We kick things off with New Movie Year Resolutions for 2024. Then, as promised in our Best of '23 episode, we've collected our thoughts on Jonathan Glazer's heavy and chilling new film -- the one the LA Film Critics Association voted as best of the year. Then, we lighten the mood with a movie quiz about who lives next door (to movie protagonists). 

What’s Good
Alonso - AGNÈS VARDA: DIRECTOR'S INSPIRATION 
Drea - spearmint tea
Alison - Vidiots’ huge rental library, It’s His Red Carpet to Lose
Ify - Slamdance, Sundance, SF Sketchfest Dozen

Staff Picks
Drea - The Sisters Brothers
Alonso - Clue
Alison - The Beat That My Heart Skipped
Ify - The Driver

Follow us on BlueSky, Facebook, Instagram, or Letterboxd

With
Kevin Avery
Drea Clark
Alonso Duralde

Produced by Marissa Flaxbart
Sr. Producer Laura Swisher