Stephen King contains multitudes. He may be more well known for classic horror stories like Carrie and The Shining, but he’s also responsible for equally successful emotional dramas like The Shawshank Redemption and Stand By Me. Whatever the genre or tone, his works almost always beg an adaptation to the big screen. That’s where Director Mike Flanagan comes in. Best known for Doctor Sleep (2019), Flanagan has an affinity for adapting King’s work. This year he brings us the 2024 Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) audience award winner, The Life of Chuck, out in theaters this weekend. The genre-bending film is part science fiction, part coming of age musical, with plenty of surprises built in as it contemplates life, death, and the vast cosmos. Can Flanagan balance King’s different narrative flavors in this ambitious film? On this episode of The Long Take Review, we debate this very question, identifying the highlights of the film on the one hand and scratching our heads trying to figure out how it all hangs together on the other. It was a rich conversation in which we worked hard to figure this one out. Thanks, Chuck!

We go into SPOILER MODE around the 20:00 minute mark. If you are not ready to dance with spoilers, you can listen safely until then.

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The Oscars recently announced that their 100th ceremony in 2027 will feature a brand new Best Stunt Design category, and the timing for Tom Cruise and his infamously death-defying Mission: Impossible series could not be worse, as Mission: Impossible — The Final Reckoning, the eighth and potentially final installment released in theaters this past weekend. The marketing for the film heavily implies that this is the end for Cruise’s iconic portrayal of IMF agent Ethan Hunt, but is this actually his last mission? Even at the film’s world premiere, there were reports that he dodged questions about the franchise’s future.

On this episode of The Long Take Review, we debate this question, but not before diving into what we thought of the film itself. What were our favorite callbacks to past films? Who was our MVP in the supporting cast? How were the themes different than the preceding film, Mission: Impossible — Dead Reckoning? And what is our final rank(en)ing of all the M:I films?

We go into SPOILER MODE around the 19:53 minute mark. If you are not ready to accept this mission, you can listen safely until then.

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It’s difficult to write an intro to a Marvel movie review without feeling like a broken record: Marvel has been in a slump, it’s no longer king of the Hollywood hill, fans are out, theatrical releases aren’t an event anymore, yada yada yada. To be honest, I’ve grown very tired of talking about how far Marvel has fallen, so it is an absolute delight to be able to review an MCU film that everyone else seems to like: Jake Schreier’s Thunderbolts*. In this episode of The Long Take Review, Greg and I rejoice in critics’ declaration that Marvel is back on track, unpack the darker themes of this anti-hero team-up story, and, because we can’t help ourselves, debate what this film tells us about the future of Marvel’s slate.

We go into SPOILER MODE around the 17:43 minute mark. If you are still undecided as to whether or not you want to team-up with spoilers, you can listen safely until then.

Please note that we did actually record this right after Thunderbolts’ opening weekend on Monday May 5th, but had to hold the episode to make way for our very topical Guest List episode about Conclave with Karl LaClair and our Star Wars Day celebration of the 20th Anniversary of Revenge of the Sith.

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We have wanted to get more guests on the show for some time now, but didn’t necessarily want to subject them to the pace of our regular coverage of new releases and award season. Thus, we’d like to welcome you to The LTR Guest List, a special series in which we ask our friends to pick a movie – any movie – to discuss with us on air.

Our guest for this inaugural episode, Karl LaClair, is the co-host of one of our favorite Star Wars podcasts, The Wampa’s Lair. When we’re not talking to him about Star Wars, he’s the Chaplain & Coordinator of Christian Life at Brandeis University. Considering his day job, it’s no wonder that Karl chose Edward Berger’s Conclave, a political thriller set in the Vatican. This pick could not have been more timely: real-life Pope Francis, sadly, died just a few weeks ago on April 21, and the very day we recorded this episode, Pope Leo XIV was elected at the conclusion of a two-day conclave.

In this episode, we discuss what this film has to say about the Catholic Church, politics, and humanity at large. How accurately does it portray the Vatican and modern day Catholicism? What lessons would we want real-life cardinals to learn from the film? What did we notice or consider upon a rewatch? Did this film deserve more Oscars? And how awesome is Ralph Fiennes really (spoiler: very)? Join us to hear a whole new conversation on the film, influenced by Karl’s unique perspective as an expert of both theology and Star Wars storytelling.

SPOILER WARNING: Unlike our regular reviews, LTR Guest List episodes will be in Spoiler Mode from the beginning so that our guests can feel as unencumbered as possible. So if you have not yet seen Conclave and do not want it spoiled, come back here after you’ve seen it.

Conclave is available to stream on Peacock and Amazon Prime Video.

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Hello there, and May the 4th be with you! We’re so happy Revenge of the Sith (2005) returned to theaters this spring because it gave us an excuse to talk about Star Wars on the show. Greg, P.T., and I provide a retrospective look at how we experienced the film in 2005 vs. how we see it now. We discuss the impact of audience expectations, how this film influenced the future of franchise filmmaking, and share our list of favorites. Let us know in the comments if we had the high ground by the end!

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Anyone following movie news lately will likely know that Ryan Coogler’s new film Sinners is a sensation. After some controversial discourse surrounding its box office success, the film quieted all its skeptics when it only dropped off 6% in its second weekend, which is the smallest decline since James Cameron’s Avatar in 2009 and the smallest ever for an R-rated film. Most recently, the film has already been invited back to IMAX theaters on May 15, and tickets are selling fast.

On this episode of The Long Take Review, P.T., Antonio, Hasib, and I try to explain why Coogler’s technically impressive and deeply felt film is deserving of all the sales and acclaim. We share our favorite moments and peel back many, many layers of meaning packed into this story, closing out with some serious (and hopefully clear-eyed) Oscar talk.

We go into SPOILER MODE around the 16:07 minute mark. If you are still undecided as to whether or not you want to invite spoilers in, you can listen safely until then.

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Many critics, pundits, and podcasters have told us that the mantra for movie studios and theaters has been “survive until ‘25.” And now that 2025 is here and we know what movies are slated to come out for the rest of the year, our question is will we survive or thrive in 2025? In this episode of The Long Take Review, the whole crew gathers together to try to answer this very question. We take turns picking four of our most anticipated films in our annual Movie Hype Draft. Which films will go first? Will anyone steal another co-host’s top pick before they have a chance to choose? Who will end up with the summer’s biggest blockbusters? Whose picks will win the most Oscars? And who will pick the films that will make their little cinephile heart the happiest? Play along with us to find out.

[EPISODE SPOILER WARNING BELOW: This episode is SPOILER FREE because we haven’t seen any of these movies yet, but if you keep scrolling after the thumbnail image in this post, you will see our complete rosters. If you would prefer to learn each of our picks by listening to the episode (and we highly recommend that!), wait until you’ve finished before you scroll down, review our draft picks, and then vote for your favorite line-up.]

Image Credit: The Hollywood Reporter, IGN, and Variety

P.T.’s Picks

Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning (dir. Christopher McQuarrie)

One Battle After Another (dir. Paul Thomas Anderson)

Materialists (dir. Celine Song)

Highest 2 Lowest (dir. Spike Lee)

Antonio’s Picks

Wicked: For Good (dir. Jon M. Chu)

Jay Kelly (dir. Noah Baumbach)

The Life of Chuck (dir. Mike Flanagan)

Hamnet (dir. Chloe Zhao)

Greg’s Picks

The Phoenician Scheme (dir. Wes Anderson)

Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery (dir. Rian Johnson)

The Mastermind (dir. Kelly Reichardt)

The History of Sound (dir. Oliver Hermanus)

Jen’s Picks

Frankenstein (dir. Guillermo del Toro)

After the Hunt (dir. Luca Guadanigno)

Sentimental Value (dir. Joachim Trier)

The Running Man (dir. Edgar Wright)

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It’s been a minute, but we are so happy to be back with our Oscar Fairy Flashback project, in which we reexamine a slate of Oscar nominees and winners to “correct” them, as if we had the power of an all-powerful Oscar fairy. This time, we’re looking at the 89th Academy Awards — the infamous Moonlight vs. La La Land year, in which a card mix-up wreaked havoc when La La Land was announced as the winner of Best Picture when Moonlight had in fact won the award. Which film should have won Best Picture? Which song from La La Land should have won original song? How much did we agree overall? Have we even seen the same movies from this year? Tune in to find out.

If you’ve never listened to an Oscar Fairy Flashback episode before, you should know that to spice up the discussion, P.T. designed a point spending system. Each co-host will receive 10 points for this round, and carry over any leftover points from the previous Oscar Fairy Flashback if we participated. To swap out a nominee in a below-the-line category (the technical and production crew categories as well as speciality film categories like International, Animated, Documentary), we have to spend 1 point; swapping out a nominee in an above-the-line category (screenplay, acting, or directing) requires 2 points; and swapping out a best picture nominee is 3 points. To change the winner within a given category costs double points: so 2 points to change the winner below-the-line, 4 points for above, and 6 points for best picture. How would you spend your points to change this year?

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The Russo brothers became household names for many Marvel fans after directing four of the biggest films in the MCU: Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014), Captain America: Civil War (2016), Avengers: Infinity War (2018), and Avengers: Endgame (2019). It’s no wonder, then, that Netflix was willing to give them a $320 million budget to create a science fiction action-adventure starring pop franchise superstars Chris Pratt and Millie Bobby Brown and featuring a slew of high profile supporting actors. With unilaterally negative reviews from critics and a decent but far from record-breaking streaming numbers, is Electric State proof that the Russo brothers no longer have a golden touch?

On this episode of The Long Take Review, Greg and I debate this very question, as we unpack why this film was not a hit. What worked and didn’t work for us? What other films does this one remind us of? And what do we think this film is trying to say about robots, our relationship with technology, or shaggy haircuts? It’s all here in the shortest episode we’ve ever recorded.

We go into SPOILER MODE around the 16:22 minute mark. If you are still undecided as to whether or not you want to sneak into the Exclusion Zone with us, you can listen safely until then.

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It’s never a good sign when the McDonalds toys for your movie come out long before the movie actually does, and it’s an even worse sign that not all of the characters represented in those toys made it into the final cut of the film. After delays and reshoots, the latest cinematic entry in the MCU, Captain America: Brave New World, released in theaters this past Valentine’s Day to mixed to poor reviews and a decent box office, holding as the second highest grossing film in 2025, but 28th out of all 35 films to date.

On this episode of The Long Take Review, we have the added perspective of discussing what this film means in the context of the latest Avengers: Doomsday casting announcement, giving big clues about who will be involved in — and which films’ storylines will matter in — the upcoming phase of Marvel storytelling. Greg and I share what actually worked about us with this film, acknowledge its flaws, and speculate how it may or may not fit into the future of the MCU.

We go into SPOILER MODE around the 16:34 minute mark. If you are still undecided as to whether or not you want to hulk out with us, you can listen safely until then.

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