Who knew the most unexpectedly popular movie of the summer would be an animated feature about KPop stars who protect the world from demons with both their music and their deadly weapons? We at the Long Take Review (and most other critics, it seems), surely didn’t. The latest offering from Sony Pictures Animation (Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse) has not only topped Netflix’s charts but musical charts like Spotify and Billboard as well, besting many real-life KPop groups. On this episode, I bring in two of my own idols to discuss KPop Demon Hunters: returning listener-turned-co-host Hasib and our mutual friend Ann. We share why we were so impressed with what we saw, pick our favorite songs, break down the themes of the story, and Ann drops her extensive knowledge about the influence of Korean culture on the film. It’s a fit check for our Napalm era.

We go into SPOILER MODE around the 23:46 minute mark. If you’re not ready to slay spoilers, you can listen safely until then.

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It’s a bird…it’s a plane…it’s…the biggest movie of the summer? Superman is certainly the central focus of Director James Gunn, who left Marvel Studios to become the Co-Chairman & CEO of the shop across the street, DC Studios, in 2022. So did he do it? Did he do this iconic comic book character justice? Did he successfully launch the new DCU? On this episode of The Long Take Review, we debate this question among others. Greg and P.T. let hot takes fly, Jen gets in a fight with Greg, and we all do our best to discern the extent to which Gunn’s film meaningfully engages with world politics in 2025.

We go into SPOILER MODE around the 21:49 minute mark. If spoilers are your kryptonite, you can listen safely until then.

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Did you think The Shape of Water was romantic or just weird? In this Oscar Fairy Flashback episode, we look back at the 90th Academy Awards, which brought us one of the most polarizing Best Picture winners, Guillermo del Toro’s dark fantasy about a woman who falls in love with a fish man imprisoned in a government lab. Will we downsize some of its wins in favor of some other big nominees this year. Will anyone step forward to defend Martin McDonagh’s Three Billboards Outside of Ebbing, Missouri? Will we do right by Jordan Peele’s Get Out, Greta Gerwig’s Ladybird, Luca Guadagnino’s Call Me By Your Name, and Paul Thomas Anderson’s Phantom Thread? It’s a stacked year, so we had some tough choices to make.

If you’ve never listened to an Oscar Fairy Flashback episode before, P.T. designed a point spending system for us to revise a slate of Oscar nominees and winners for a chosen year. Each co-host receives 10 points for the round, and carry over any leftover points from the previous Oscar Fairy Flashback if they 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 very competitive year?

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Even if you yourself don’t follow Formula 1 racing, it’s hard to deny its global popularity, with an audience of 750 million, according to Nielsen Sports. But does that mean Director Joseph Kosinski (Top Gun: Maverick) can lap other movies at the box office this weekend with F1: The Movie? So far, news outlets like the New York Times have declared that the underdog sports action drama is a hit, with Deadline reporting a $57 million domestic and $89.3 million international opening weekend. That’s promising, and positions the film, which stars Brad Pitt as a washed up race car driver ready for a comeback, as the potential winner of the summer.

On this episode of The Long Take Review, Greg and I speculate about F1’s future success, both in terms of box office and awards. We try to articulate what makes this such a exceptional cinematic experience, debate the screenplay’s feelings towards its main character, and discuss the impact Tom Cruise, Apple, and corporate synergy might have on the film’s release. Plus, we have a bonus movie news update about a high profile director recently announced as taking on the Bond franchise. Buckle up because, as always, this Long Take is an endurance test.

We go into SPOILER MODE around the 28:30 minute mark. If you are not ready to make that turn, you can listen safely until then.

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If you were Dakota Johnson, would you choose Pedro Pascal or Chris Evans? (And no, both is not an option.) On the surface, The Materialists seems to pose this as a pleasurably difficult question, in glossy rom com fashion. That’s a considerable departure from Celine Song’s last film, the Oscar-nominated indie and LTR favorite, Past Lives. Is the marketing for the film creating a bait and switch situation, or is Song’s second film a genuinely more commercial play? Antonio, Greg, and I reveal our answers to this question as we delve into what Song has to say about dating, marriage, and market value.

We go into SPOILER MODE around the 17:59 minute mark. If you are not ready to go on a date with spoilers, you can listen safely until then.

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Most film historians would say that when Steven Spielberg made Jaws in 1975, he changed Hollywood filmmaking forever. Not only would the shark tale launch his career into the stratosphere, making him a leading voice in American cinema, but it invented the summer blockbuster season and movie marketing that we easily take for granted now. This year (to the day, in fact!) marks Jaws’ 50th Anniversary, and we couldn’t be happier to celebrate it with our longtime friend and loyal listener, Sarah Hastings. As a huge horror fan and English professor who has taught courses on horror literature and film, Sarah was the perfect guest to help us celebrate this milestone anniversary. We pinpoint what makes this film hold up after 50 years, break down Spielberg’s use of genre, and Antonio shares his recent experience seeing Jaws for the very first time. Dive into the discussion with us!

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 Jaws and do not want it spoiled, return to us after you’ve seen it.

Jaws is currently available to stream on Peacock, including a (brief) special message from Steven Spielberg in honor of the film’s 50th.

In case you missed the first installment, the LTR Guest List is a special series in which we ask our friends to pick a movie – any movie – to discuss with us on air. If you’re a friend of the show and you have a movie you’d like to pitch, you can email us at [email protected].

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Calling all girl dads! Wes Anderson has a new film for you. Starring Benicio del Toro as business tycoon Zsa Zsa Korda and Mia Threapleton as his estranged daughter Liesl, The Phoenician Scheme begins when Zsa Zsa calls upon Liesl to become the legal heir to his vast fortune as more and more of his rivals attempt to assassinate him. Hijinks ensue as the two face off against the customary starry ensemble.

On this episode of The Long Take Review, we shoutout our favorite players from Anderson’s troupe, compare The Phoenician Scheme to his other films, and try to discern what the film might be saying about family, religion, global politics, and how to live your best life.

We go into SPOILER MODE at the 22:54 minute mark. If you are not ready to scheme with spoilers, you can listen safely until then.

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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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All music licensed through Epidemic Sound.

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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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