The Cold Open Podcast

In the Cold Open #60, Robert Sickels and special guests Kalani Buchl and Tallulah Sickels have a spoiler heavy conversation about writer/director James Gunn’s new Superman film, his first as the Co-Chairman and CEO of DC Studios. They discuss his updating of Superman, Lois Lane, and Lex Luthor for our contemporary moment, his characteristic use of humor and color, the fine line he walks between respecting DC’s long history and his desire to do something new, its real life political and cultural parallels, the various reasons the film is doing boffo business in America while struggling in foreign markets, and, ultimately, if it’s the best Superman movie ever. Our intro for this edition is Noah and the Whale’s “5 Years Time” and our outro is Teddybears and Iggy Pop’s “Punkrocker,” both of which are on the Superman Original Motion Picture Soundtrack.

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In the Cold Open #59, Robert Sickels and special guests Alicia Nevarez and Tallulah Sickels discuss Celine Song’s second feature, Materialists. Over the course of their conversation, they cover the film’s intentionally deceptive marketing campaign, the casting and performances of the film’s respective players, Song’s emerging authorial touches, and a deep dive into the ways the film depicts the transactional elements of contemporary dating culture. Our intro for this edition is Baby Rose’s cover of the Velvet Underground’s “I’ll Be Your Mirror” and our outro is Japanese Breakfast’s “My Baby (Got Nothing at All),” both of which are on the Materialists Original Soundtrack.

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In the Cold Open #58, Kynde Kiefel & Robert Sickels dissect Wes Anderson’s 12th feature film, The Phoenician Scheme, about which they are unexpectedly divided. The intro and outro for this edition are snippets of “The Trans-Mountain Locomotive Tunnel,” from Alexandre Desplat’s Phoenician Scheme Original Score.

The Cold Open Podcast is available on Apple Podcasts and Spotify, so please subscribe!

In the Cold Open #57, Robert Sickels and special guest star Lee Ackerman begin with a spoiler heavy deep dive into two new mid-budget films, Steven Soderbergh’s Black Bag and writer/director Alex Scharfman’s debut feature, Death of a Unicorn. They then veer into a discussion on Gen Z’s movie consumption habits. Our intro and outro are David Holmes’ “Black Bag” and “Feet First” from the Black Bag Soundtrack.

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In the Cold Open #56, Kynde Kiefel, Robert Sickels , and Matt Reynolds discuss their wildly disparate responses to Mickey 17, Bong Joon-Ho’s new film. Our intro and outro are “Set Off” and “Bon Appetit with Strings” from Jung Jaeil’s Mickey 17 soundtrack.

The Cold Open Podcast is available on Apple Podcasts and Spotify, so please subscribe!

In the Cold Open #55, Robert Sickels and Matt Reynolds discuss the (mostly) reviled Megalopolis, the likely swan song of Francis Ford Coppola’s wildly fascinating career.

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In the Cold Open #54, Kynde Kiefel and Robert Sickels survey the summer and early fall film and television landscape before diving into a detailed discussion of HBO’s The Penguin.

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In the Cold Open #53, Kynde Kiefel, Robert Sickels , and returning champion Matt Reynolds discuss the state of contemporary horror in the context of two buzzy summer horror films, MaXXXine and Longlegs.

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In the Cold Open # 52, Kynde Kiefel and Robert Sickels contemplate the general malaise currently gripping the entertainment industry as it pumps out meh movies in too many theaters and B minus TV shows on too many streaming services. Along the way, they discuss a few choice texts that they think have qualitatively separated themselves from the bland pack: Furiosa, Inside Out 2, Shōgun, and the newest season of Hacks.

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In the Cold Open # 51, Kynde Kiefel and Robert Sickels wax poetic about the many reasons they both adore Sofia Coppola’s Priscilla. Our intro and outro this week are Spectrum’s “How You Satisfy Me” and Dan Deacon’s “The Crystal Cat” from the Priscilla (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack).

The Cold Open Podcast is available on Apple Podcasts and Spotify, so please subscribe!