Movie Nights with Dad

You Can't Take It With You (1938) won Best Picture and Best Director for Frank Capra, and this week it kicks off our Summer from the Stage series — episodes where Mark has personally performed in a theatrical production of the film being reviewed. For this one, Mark played Boris Kolenkhov, the boisterous Russian ballet instructor at the center of the story's most chaotic scenes. Riley and Mark get into what Capra understood about ensemble filmmaking, what James Stewart and Jean Arthur bring to their scenes together that feels completely unforced, and what changes when you review a film you've actually lived inside as a performer. Mark brings not just his theater lens but his personal history with this specific material.

New episodes every Sunday at 5PM CT. Find us on YouTube, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and everywhere you listen.

Funny Girl (1968) is carried almost entirely on the back of one of the most magnetic screen debuts in Hollywood history. This week Riley and Mark close out Musical May reviewing Barbra Streisand's Oscar-winning performance as Fanny Brice, getting into what she does in this role that simply cannot be taught, how Omar Sharif manages to hold his own opposite her, what the film gets right and where it runs out of steam, and whether a movie this dependent on one performer actually deserves the legendary status it has. Mark brings his theater lens to a performance that blurs every line between stage and screen, and Riley makes the case that the reason you watch Funny Girl has very little to do with the film itself.

New episodes every Sunday at 5PM CT. Find us on YouTube, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and everywhere you listen.

One year before this episode, Mark played Tevye in a community theater production of Fiddler on the Roof. Reviewing the 1971 film adaptation with that kind of experience in the room makes for a very different conversation.

This week Riley and Mark get into what Norman Jewison got right and where the stage version still has the edge, what Topol brings to Tevye that caught Mark off guard, whether the film justifies its three-hour runtime, and the character who sits at the emotional center of the whole story and never really gets her own moment.

Mark brings his theater experience and his personal time inside this role, and Riley makes the case that "Do You Love Me?" deserved a lot more than four minutes.

New episodes every Sunday at 5PM CT. Find us on YouTube, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and everywhere you listen.

Calamity Jane (1953) has been filed away as a cheerful Doris Day musical for decades — and that filing is doing it a disservice. This week Riley and Mark review the film starring Doris Day as the hard-riding, sharp-shooting Jane, digging into what Day actually pulls off in this role that tends to get ignored, why the friendship between Jane and Katie quietly outperforms every romantic subplot in the film, what the movie is really saying about gender and performance in 1953, and what a version of this story that committed to its most interesting ideas might have looked like. Mark brings his theater lens to one of classic Hollywood's most underappreciated physical performers, and Riley makes the case that the film's best relationship never needed the men to resolve it.

New episodes every Sunday at 5PM CT. Find us on YouTube, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and everywhere you listen.

Singin' in the Rain (1952) is the kind of film that makes you wonder how it exists at all. Gene Kelly co-directed and choreographed most of it himself while starring in it. Debbie Reynolds had almost no formal dance training when filming began. Donald O'Connor shot "Make 'Em Laugh" in a single day and was bedridden for a week afterward.

This week Riley and Mark review Stanley Donen and Gene Kelly's undisputed classic, digging into what makes the three-way chemistry feel so effortless, whether Debbie Reynolds gets overshadowed or holds her own, what the film's Hollywood backdrop is really saying about an industry terrified of change, and whether Lina Lamont is actually the villain the movie wants you to think she is. Mark brings his theater lens to one of the most technically demanding casts ever assembled for a Hollywood musical, and Riley makes the case for why the system — not Lina — is the real villain of the film.

New episodes every Sunday at 5PM CT. Find us on YouTube, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and everywhere you listen.

A Hard Day's Night (1964) wasn't trying to invent anything — and it invented everything. This week Riley and Mark review Richard Lester's Beatles mockumentary, the film widely credited with creating the music video format and directly inspiring the Monkees' TV show, all on a seven-week shoot with four non-actors and a modest budget. They dig into whether the Beatles are actually performing or just being themselves, why Ringo gets the most genuine character work of any of the four, what it means that a film with almost no plot holds together as well as it does, and how accidental genius compares to intentional filmmaking. Mark brings his theater lens to four of the most famous performers of the 20th century — none of whom trained for a single day — and Riley makes the case that Ringo Starr is the only one in the film actually acting.

New episodes every Sunday at 5PM CT. Find us on YouTube, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and everywhere you listen.

The Lady Eve (1941) is one of the smartest screwball comedies ever made — and it's been criminally underseen for decades. This week Riley and Mark review Preston Sturges' razor-sharp classic starring Barbara Stanwyck as a con artist who falls for the wrong man, gets burned, and comes back as an entirely different person for revenge. They dig into Stanwyck's total command of every scene, whether Henry Fonda's bumbling millionaire actually deserves the film's sympathy, what the film is really saying about who holds the power in relationships, and why Preston Sturges deserves to be mentioned alongside the greatest Hollywood directors of the era. Mark brings his theater lens to one of classic Hollywood's most technically gifted actresses, and Riley makes the case that the film lets its male lead off far too easy.

New episodes every Sunday at 5PM CT. Find us on YouTube, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and everywhere you listen.

The Apartment (1960) won Best Picture — but Billy Wilder wasn't making a feel-good film.

This week Riley and Mark review one of classic Hollywood's most deceptively dark comedies, starring Jack Lemmon as a corporate nobody who loans his apartment to his bosses for their affairs, and Shirley MacLaine as the woman who makes him question everything. They dig into whether Baxter is actually a victim or an active participant in his own exploitation, MacLaine's career-defining performance, and what Wilder was really saying about loneliness and ambition in corporate America. Mark brings his theater lens to two of Hollywood's most technically gifted performers, and Riley makes the case that the film lets its protagonist off far too easy.

New episodes every Sunday at 5PM CT. Find us on YouTube, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and everywhere you listen.

"Garbo Laughs."

That was the entire marketing campaign for Ninotchka (1939) — and it worked.

This week Riley and Mark review Ernst Lubitsch's classic comedy starring Greta Garbo as a Soviet envoy who travels to Paris and slowly, reluctantly, loses her ideological armor. They dig into Garbo's performance, whether Melvyn Douglas earns his place as the romantic lead, the film's surprisingly sharp political satire, and what it means that Hollywood was poking fun at both capitalism and communism in 1939.

Mark brings his theater lens to one of classic Hollywood's most iconic stars, and Riley makes the case for why Leon might be harder to root for than the film wants you to think.

New episodes every Sunday at 5PM CT.

Find us on YouTube, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and everywhere you listen.

It Happened One Night (1934) swept every major Oscar — Best Picture, Director, Actor, Actress, and Screenplay — and it only happened one other time in history. This week Riley and Mark review Frank Capra's screwball classic starring Clark Gable and Claudette Colbert, breaking down the performances, the chemistry, the class dynamics at the heart of the story, and whether a film from 1934 can still feel genuinely alive today. Mark brings his theater lens to two of classic Hollywood's biggest stars, and Riley makes the case for why this one still earns its reputation.

New episodes every Sunday at 5PM CT. Find us on YouTube, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and everywhere you listen.