Naomi Ackie and Channing Tatum lead an ensemble cast of blissful (and, for a while, blissfully unaware) island-timers in mind- and genre-bending new movie BLINK TWICE.  Amber Benson (filmmaker, writer, and actor) joins us to uncover the secrets of Slater King’s mysterious island. Then we do a movie quiz about actors who’ve dabbled (and then some) in directing.

What’s Good
Alonso - general food quality in Italy/Europe
Drea - the Paralympics (and the release of A New York Story!)
Amber - pugs
Ify - traveling to London for his show at Leicester Square Theatre

ITIDIC

• TikTok May Be Driving More Folks to Theaters
• California Senate Passes a Law Requiring Consent for AI Replicas of Deceased Actors

Staff Picks
Alonso - Lover of Men
Drea - Rebel Ridge (and A New York Story!)
Amber - The Last of Sheila
Ify - Skywalkers: A Love Story

Slayers: A Buffyverse Story on Audible

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With
Kevin Avery
Drea Clark
Alonso Duralde

Produced by Marissa Flaxbart
Sr. Producer Laura Swisher

A book adaptation with cast of leading ladies to die for, three life stories, and only two hours to get it all out! We've got the smart and radiant Shar Jossell (newly elected President of NABJLA!) here with us to fill in the gaps. Then, we pitch some movies of our own, about unexpected celebrities in unexpected places.

What’s Good
Alonso - WHAMMY!
Drea - Photobook from Gidget
Shar - Strawberry horchata smoothie
Ify - LARP Bar with Amanda Turner in Austin

ITIDIC
Now Entering the Streaming Service Arena…Chick-fil-A?
Lionsgate Gets Into Trouble With Megalopolis Trailer

Staff Picks
Alonso - Something New
Drea - Tokyo Cowboy
Shar - Waiting to Exhale
Ify - Caligula: The Ultimate Cut

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With
Kevin Avery
Drea Clark
Alonso Duralde

Produced by Marissa Flaxbart
Sr. Producer Laura Swisher

We’re getting into that 2008 headspace with Sean Wang’s narrative feature debut, Dìdi. Then, a not-quite-a-Hotline “call” from Marissa about movies that showcase how media worked in the past.

What’s Good
Alonso - a nice, cold meal
Drea - her movie to screen in White Bear Lake, MN
Ify - meeting Alonso’s nephew at a CommandFest

ITIDIC

1. Despicable Me Director On Idea of Live-action Minions Movie: “God I Hope Not”
2. James Gunn Doubts There Will Be Much Need for Reshoots on his Superman
3. Borderlands Is Headed to Streaming Like, Now

Staff Picks
Drea - Eighth Grade
Alonso - Close to You
Ify - North Hollywood, mid90s

Ify’s FBI Story

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With
Kevin Avery
Drea Clark
Alonso Duralde

Produced by Marissa Flaxbart
Sr. Producer Laura Swisher

It’s a thriller. It’s a Josh Hartnett vehicle. It’s…a comedy? But is it the kind of trap you want to fall into, or the kind you want to avoid? Our mileage varies, but one thing is for sure: cinema yappers and movie snitches are both likely to get bonechilling glares from a MaxFilm host. We’ve got culture writer and film critic Fran Hoepfner along for these Shyamal-antics, plus a hotline question about memorable moviegoing experiences.  

What’s Good
Alonso - Imane Khelif’s gold medal, but really her cyberbullying lawsuit
Drea - Seeing Ify in a short, but really her new movie, A New York Story!
Fran - Albero dei Gelati yellow bell pepper gelato
Ify - Gundams survived the big quake

ITIDIC

1. At D23, An Announcement about…Nine Inch Nails?
2. Dominic Sessa will play Anthony Bourdain
3. Joaquin Phoenix Made an 11th-Hour Exit from the next Todd Haynes Film

Staff Picks
Alonso - The Stepfather
Drea - Jackpot! (also Virgin Suicides)
Fran - Rap World
Ify - The Faculty

Alonso Duralde presents No Time for Love at the Los Feliz 3

Fran on Letterboxd

Leave us a Hotline message!

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With
Kevin Avery
Drea Clark
Alonso Duralde

Produced by Marissa Flaxbart
Sr. Producer Laura Swisher

Colman Domingo does it again, this time alongside a cast of mostly real-life former participants in the Rehabilitation Through the Arts program at Sing Sing penitentiary. The Boston Globe's Odie Henderson is with us to take a closer look at a film that is, in fact, one of A24's latest. Then, a movie quiz that is much sillier than the film at hand!

What’s Good
Alonso - Hollywood Black on MGM+
Drea - time with friends in the Midwest
Odie - “Blaxploitation, Baby!” Film Festival at Film Forum
Ify - Naomi getting into CoraQuest

ITIDIC
Britney Spears Biopic Set at Universal
On Hot Ones, Vince Vaughn Predicts the Return of R-Rated Comedies
Tom Cruise Rumored to Be Doing a Hollywood Stunt to Mark Handoff of Summer Games

Double Trouble on Letterboxd

Staff Picks
Alonso - Daughters
Drea - Jockey
Odie - Quiz Show
Ify - Life

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With
Kevin Avery
Drea Clark
Alonso Duralde

Produced by Marissa Flaxbart
Sr. Producer Laura Swisher

This week, Ify is reunited with the host of Very Important People, but not dressed as a purple alien this time, AND Alonso gets to meet the star of his favorite Hallmark movie of last year (Round and Round)...and oh hey, it’s the same person, TWISTER superfan Vic Michaelis! It’s all in celebration of some tornado chasin’ (and Glen Powell in the rain in a white t-shirt) in Lee Isaac Chung’s TWISTERS!

Then, we get our Hall of Excellence results (Best Time Travel Movie) and we fantasize about our dream 4DX experiences. Ify even predicts some 4DX news about TWISTERS! 

What’s Good
Alonso -  weaponizing “creepy”
Drea - Regional ads
Ify - Comic-Con speed run
Vic - the repartee?

Staff Picks
Drea - My Old Ass
Alonso - Faye
Vic - Twisters, Rachel
Ify - American Honey

Equality Florida

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With
Kevin Avery
Drea Clark
Alonso Duralde

Produced by Marissa Flaxbart
Sr. Producer Laura Swisher

Today we're taking a look at a movie from director Luke Gilford that started out as a book of photographs taken on the Gay Rodeo circuit and became a lot more. It's NATIONAL ANTHEM, with EUROVANGELISTS' own Oscar Montoya as our very special guest! Plus, we're naming favorite instances of drag on film and pitching fresh Westerns that deserve that angel investor capital.

What’s Good
Alonso - McConnell’s x See’s Candy Ice Cream Collab
Drea - Minnesota State Fair’s “Fried Ranch”
Oscar - Platform Crocs
Ify - going to the beach (esp Carbon, Zuma)/ “listening to me”

Drag Moment Movie Mentions
See them as a Letterboxd List!

Sylvia Scarlett
Some Like it Hot
Yentl
Victor/Victoria
Bugs Bunny
Port Authority
Romeo + Juliet
To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything, Julie Newmar
Legend 

Cole Escola’s “Our Home Out West”

Staff Picks
Alonso - Small Town Gay Bar
Drea - A Quiet Place: Day One (and Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe)
Oscar - Hellzapoppin’
Ify - Boys in the Sand (FYI: NSFW)

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With
Kevin Avery
Drea Clark
Alonso Duralde

Produced by Marissa Flaxbart
Sr. Producer Laura Swisher

Listener Harrison gave us a great shortlist of films to choose from this year – a prize Harrison became eligible for by supporting the show at MaximumFun.org/join. We went with Nahnatchka Khan’s slasher comedy from last year, TOTALLY KILLER (starring Kiernan Shipka as a teen who ends up back in time and tries to catch a murderer…before the murderer catches her! That inspires our latest slate of Hall of Excellence nominees: Best Time Travel Movie. (Vote for your winner at facebook.com/groups/maximumfilm before July 29, 2024).

What’s Good
Alonso - Not watching the news
Drea - cat ordeal over at last
Ify - WHOOP band

Hall of Excellence Nominees
Alonso - Time After Time
Drea - Peggy Sue Got Married
Ify - Interstellar

Staff Picks
Drea - The Final Girls
Alonso - Let It Snow
Ify - The Blackening

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With
Kevin Avery
Drea Clark
Alonso Duralde

Produced by Marissa Flaxbart
Sr. Producer Laura Swisher

The third installment of Ti West's maybe-a-trilogy, MaXXXine follows up on the bloody sagas of X and Pearl. And it does so in 1980s LA drag. Writer and critic Sarah Gorr joins us to share her big feelings about it! Then most of us take a Hotline email about introductions to horror for the horror-averse.

What’s Good
Alonso: Corpses, Fools and Monsters by Willow Maclay and Caden Gardner
Drea: European election relief
Sarah: Sister’s first visit to LA
Ify: Sundresses, day parties…etc

ITIDIC

1. John Cena is Retiring from the WWE
2. Toho Will Release My Hero Academia: You’re Next in the US
3. Mark Ruffalo Got The Avengers Cast Together to Dub the Film in the Lakota Language

Staff Picks
Alonso - FTA
Drea - Dandelion
Sarah - Mother, Couch
Ify - A Nightmare on Elm Street

Sarah’s Letterboxd list, “Horror 101"

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With
Kevin Avery
Drea Clark
Alonso Duralde

Produced by Marissa Flaxbart
Sr. Producer Laura Swisher

Director Erica Tremblay's narrative feature debut stars Lily Gladstone and Isobel Deroy-Olson as an aunt and niece on the Seneca-Cayuga rez. After a long search for distribution, it's finally found its home on AppleTV+. We'll tell you why you should look out for it, and then round out the aunt-ly experience with a movie quiz all about the Aunts of Cinema.

What's Good
Alonso - the hand fan
Drea - Diet Cherry Ginger Ale ("Fruit Splash")
Ify - not the hockey clinic, but Arizona Hard Iced Tea

ITIDIC

• IATSE and Studios Reach a Tentative Agreement
• Wicked Release Moved Up to Nov 22 – The Same Weekend as Gladiator 2
• World’s Largest Screen X Auditorium to Open at a New Jersey Mega-Mall

Staff Picks
Alonso - Catch the Fair One
Drea - Frybread Face and Me
Ify - Sorry to Bother You

Look out for: Justin Simien’s BLACK HOLLYWOOD on MGM+
Alonso's screening in Tennessee 

Follow us on BlueSky, Facebook, Instagram, or Letterboxd

With
Kevin Avery
Drea Clark
Alonso Duralde

Produced by Marissa Flaxbart
Sr. Producer Laura Swisher