Seeing and Believing

Two women filmmakers are highlighted on the show this week! First up is Celine Sciamma, whose critically acclaimed Portrait of a Lady on Fire has finally had its wide release. Do Wade and Kevin fall within the critical consensus on this one? Another acclaimed filmmaker, Dee Rees of Mudbound fame, offers her follow-up to that film with another Netflix release, an adaptation of Joan Didion's political thriller The Last Thing He Wanted.

Music interlude by the Bright Skies, "Tokyo." Used under Creative Commons license 3.0.

Theme music by Alexander Osborn and Lindsey Mysse. Used under Creative Commons license 3.0.

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After weeks of agonizingly paring their favorite films of the past decade down to a list of ten, Wade and Kevin are finally ready to share what they think are the finest examples of cinematic art to come out since 2010. Which films most closely captured the zeitgeist from this eventful decade? How did the guys weigh them against personal favorites? All those questions, and more, are answered in this long-in-the-making episode.

Music interlude by Wayne John Bradley, "Blessed." Used under Creative Commons license 3.0.

Theme music by Alexander Osborn and Lindsey Mysse. Used under Creative Commons license 3.0.

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The guys are back on the comic-book beat this week! Harley Quinn isn't exactly a superhero or a super-villain in Cathy Yan's Birds of Prey, but the Margot Robbie-starring film still looks to have some anarchic fun. On the more serious side of things is Horse Girl, the Sundance-featured film (written by and starring Alison Brie) about a disturbed young woman trying to find solid footing in a life filled with difficulties.

Music interlude by Scurvy Rickets, "Breaks Upon." Used under Creative Commons license 3.0.

Theme music by Alexander Osborn and Lindsey Mysse. Used under Creative Commons license 3.0.

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It's an episode of dynamic duos this week! Director Os Perkins follows up his horror flick The Blackcoat's Daughter with Gretel and Hansel, a dark reimagining of the Grimm brothers' (already pretty dark) fairy tale about two intrepid youngsters and an evil witch. The guys also take some time to hang out with two of St. Peter's successors with their review of The Two Popes, the acting showcase that nabbed its stars, Jonathan Pryce and Anthony Hopkins, two Oscar nominations.

Music interlude by madbello, "Tonight." Used under Creative Commons license 3.0.

Theme music by Alexander Osborn and Lindsey Mysse. Used under Creative Commons license 3.0.

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It's a new episode of Seeing & Believing, innit? The guys review The Gentlemen, Guy Ritchie's return to the "verbose Cockney gangsters" genre. Is it a triumphant return? Also on the docket: Makoto Shinkai's animated follow-up to his trans-Pacific hit Your Name. Weathering with You is another teen romance, this time centering around a runaway and his relationship with a young woman who possesses the supernatural ability to control the weather.

Music interlude by Bu, "Wind." Used under Creative Commons license 3.0.

Theme music by Alexander Osborn and Lindsey Mysse. Used under Creative Commons license 3.0.

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We round out our coverage of the big Oscar players with this week's episode. First up is the World War I epic 1917, which has been wowing audiences by presenting all of its action as one single, unbroken take. Then Wade and Kevin take on Bombshell, which netted acting nominations for Margot Robbie and Charlize Theron for their portrayal of journalists fighting back against the harassment of disgraced Fox News head Roger Ailes. Are these two films worthy of the accolades they've been receiving?

Theme music by Alexander Osborn and Lindsey Mysse. Used under Creative Commons license 3.0

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Wade and Kevin have spent the last year watching movies, and now they're ready to share which ones they thought were the cream of the crop. With fellow critics Jeffrey Overstreet, Joel Mayward, Sarah Welch-Larson, and Steve Norton sharing their own number-one picks, the guys close out 2019 with a bang in this can't-miss episode.

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Ring in the New Year (a couple of days late) with a new Seeing & Believing! This week, Wade and Kevin review a couple of films that had Christmas releases. Greta Gerwig's Little Women adapts Louisa May Alcott's much-adapted novel; does her perspective set her film apart from the crowd? Meanwhile, Josh and Benny Safdie's Uncut Gems casts Adam Sandler as a self-destructive jeweler who takes the audience on a tour of his attempts to score big, pay off his debts, and pull the wool over everyone's eyes. The guys contemplate whether Sandler's Oscar hopes are justified and whether the film provides roller-coaster thrills or just roller-coaster nausea.

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It is the end of an era as Wade and Kevin visit a galaxy far, far away to see the end of the Skywalker saga with J.J. Abram's return to Star Wars with The Rise of Skywalker. Then the duo takes a short hop back in time to examine the docu-drama from director Clint Eastwood Richard Jewel.

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Noah Baumbach's new film about a wrenching divorce carries the title Marriage Story, but the new film from Terrence Malick could be titled the same thing, with its narrative of an Austrian couple facing down burgeoning nationalism in their rural village and governmental oppression from the Nazis. Wade and Kevin tackle Malick's latest, probing at its spiritual explorations and discussing Malick's unique moral vision. They then relocate to sunny, modern-day California and its abundant open spaces for a discussion of Baumbach's film, examining what it has to say about family, divorce, fidelity, and understanding.

Music interlude by Jack Nash, "Under the Tracks." Used under Creative Commons license 3.0.

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