The Broad Perspective

The 96th Academy Awards have come and gone and in this episode host, Megan Cruz, is joined by guest Chelsea Garlock to talk about the winners, losers and what the Oscars really mean to us.

The Oscars are almost upon us and host, Megan Cruz, finally gets to wax poetic about two of her personal favorite Best Picture nominees this year, Poor Things & Anatomy of a Fall. Journalist and cohost of the podcast This Ends At Prom, BJ Colangelo joins to discuss the themes that run across both of these films in their depiction of feminine identity under patriarchy.

What is the deal with modern rom coms? Anyone But You has set box office records for the genre but is it the kind of film we really need right now? Host, Megan Cruz, and rom com aficionado, Chelsea Garlock, give extremely thorough reasonings for the case against Anyone But You, and try to get to the bottom of how rom coms got here. We talk some of our favorite modern rom coms and what they get so right about updating the genre and we find another reason to hate what the streaming model has done to hollywood.

Madame Web might be the worst superhero movie of all time but what are its similarities to other female centric comic book movies? Is it indicative of a pattern unique to the super-heroine genre that predestined it to be bad or is there something much more sinister at play with the reception and creation of these films? Host, Megan Cruz, unpacks the unpleasant realities of being sold a "strong female character" and the discomfort that comes with finding yourself on the wrong side of internet discourse. Madame Web, the Marvels, and Birds of Prey are all part of the larger discussion on what we get, what we deserve, and why these movies are the way they are.

Hell is a teenage girl... Jennifer's Body has become a cult classic in the 15 years since it released to majority negative reviews in 2009. In honor of Valentine's Day, host Megan Cruz and guest Chelsea Garlock discuss the film Megan describes as both a horror comedy and a tragic romance for the ages. They go over everything from the overtly queer themes of the film, to how the public perception of Megan Fox impacted the way people reacted to it.

Host Megan Cruz is joined by guests Tayler Scriber, a phd candidate in film studies at Northwestern university, and friend of the pod, Chelsea Garlock, to discuss Killers of the Flower Moon and American Fiction! We get into so many topics from the ethics of human exploitation in storytelling to seeing movies alone.

We continue our deep dives into all the best picture nominees this week with a discussion about Past Lives and Maestro. Host Megan Cruz, is joined by film and pop culture commentators, Mike Collado, sometimes known as watchwithmike, and Nirupam Dhakal, or hugeasmammoth.films.

The Oscar nominations are finally and host Megan Cruz reacts to the surprises and snubs with guest Chelsea Garlock. We're counting down to the Oscars with deep dives on every best picture nominee and starting out with what else but Barbenheimer, very different films that created a shared cultural phenomenon. We talk our thoughts on Oppenheimer and Barbie, the gender politics at play and the many readings and interpretations of the films.

Incredible film critics, Angelique Jackson of Variety and Perri Nemiroff of Collider, get into the highs and lows of award season so far this year and share some of their personal favorite films of 2023.

The incredible and charming Emma Caulfield Ford talks Breaking Bad, her love of James Cameron's films and what it was like to bring back her character, Anya, in her new audible podcast series Slayers.