The Long Take Review

How far would you be willing to go to look younger and more beautiful? That is the question that Carolie Fargeat’s The Substance horrifically asks and answers. In what some are calling a career best performance, Demi Moore plays an iconiclfilm and television actress who discovers an alluring new drug called The Substance just as the men in control of her career want to show her the door. It seems many viewers are interested to see what happens next, as the film marks MUBI’s most successful release to date, and has already collected several awards nominations and, in some cases, wins such as Best Screenplay at the Cannes Film Festival.

On this episode of The Long Take Review, we discuss how this high concept film might appeal to a larger audience outside of horror fans, how the genre of body horror might be the perfect way to engage with the film’s themes, and whether or not a film like this can break through the Oscars’ historical bias against horror.

We go into SPOILER MODE at the 21:28 minute mark. If you are still on the fence about whether or not you can stomach The Substance, you can listen safely until then.

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The Palm d’Or, the top prize at the Cannes Film Festival, is a big deal. And it has become an even bigger Oscar bellwether in recent years, as the Academy has expanded, diversified, and, as a result, become more international. The winners have certainly been international, as American films have won only 13 times during the award’s 80+ year history. In fact, an American film has not won since 2011 when Terence Malick’s The Tree of Life took the prize (and, later, three Oscar nominations). That all changed this year when Sean Baker’s romantic dramedy (maybe rom-com-dram?), Anora, earned the distinction and immediately zoomed to the front of the Oscar race.

Anora or Annie is an erotic dancer living in Brighton Beach who becomes involved with Vanya, the playboy son of an obscenely wealthy Russian oligarch. Once his parents find out about their relationship, however, they threaten to fracture Anora’s fairytale romance. The film is playin in theaters now, and will eventually become available to stream on Hulu.

On this episode of The Long Take Review, Greg, P.T., Antonio, and I debate how far this film can really go at the Oscars, what this film has to say about sex work, money, class, and power, and share our reactions to the film’s unexpected ending. Also, if you were ever wondering what some of us sound like with a thick New York accent…

As a bonus, you’ll also find in this episode a shorter conversation I had with Greg about his experience seeing RaMell Ross’ Nickel Boys and Brady Corbet’s The Brutalist before the rest of us. That conversation is spoiler free and takes place towards the beginning of the episode, before our Anora review. If you’d like more details to help you hop around the episode, see the time stamps below.

* Greg gives his spoiler-free reactions to Nickel Boys and The Brutalist. 3:58

* The Short Take and The Recommendation Algorithm for Anora (spoiler free) 37:16

* SPOILER MODE for Anora 50:12

* Oscar Watch for Anora 1:21:16

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With an especially close Presidential Election only three days away, it’s nearly impossible to watch Edward Berger’s papal thriller Concalve without drawing a parallel to the American political process. The pope has died, and a conclave has assembled to elect another. But with so many scandals and secrets, can they find a suitable candidate? Which candidates will cling to their ideals? How many must inevitably compromise theirs? And will ambition or a pursuit of the truth win the day?

Oscar pundits all wonder the extent to which the winner this Tuesday will have a direct impact on the sumptuous and shocking film’s awards prospects. Berger’s adaptation of All Quiet on the Western Front won four Oscars, but it arguably did not have as much (if any) potential for controversy or backlash. On this episode of The Long Take Review, P.T., Antonio, Greg, and I debate what kind of political discourse that this film may generate as well as how that discourse may, at least in part, determine how many Oscar nominations it can get. We also delight in the film’s thriller elements, and celebrate the numerous strong performances.

We go into SPOILER MODE at the 27:46 minute mark. If you are on the fence about whether or not you want to go see Conclave, you can listen safely until then.

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Yes, this is the movie with the carousel horse.

After enjoying/enduring viral Internet fame long before its release, John Crowley’s We Live in Time is now in theaters and we can finally see the derpy carousel horse in context. Meme lovers may be disappointed, though, as the non-linear love story is unambiguously sincere in its meditation on life, death, and love. Luckily, Andrew Garfield and Florence Pugh are here with an onscreen chemistry that overshadows any meme humor. Garfield plays Tobias, a cereal company employee who just ended a long-term relationship and Pugh plays Almut, a competitive chef who just opened her own restaurant. This is an A24 film and therefore will likely be available to stream on Max over the holidays or by early January.

During this episode of The Long Take Review, we debate whether or not the film’s non-linear structure works, share which parts of the film were the most emotionally impactful for each of us, and casually philosophize about time. Two of us loved the movie and two of us were less keen on it. Can you guess who was on which side?

We go into SPOILER MODE at the 21:38 minute mark. Listen up until then to decide whether or not you want to go see We Live in Time!

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We did a thing! P.T., Antonio, and I were fortunate enough to attend three screenings as a part of the Newport Beach Film Festival: Steve McQueen’s Blitz, Mike Leigh’s Hard Truths, and Malcolm Washington’s adaptation of August Wilson’s The Piano Lesson. Meanwhile, Antonio and P.T. got to see an early screening of Edward Berger’s Conclave, hosted by USC’s School of Cinematic Arts in collaboration with Outside the Box [Office] and Focus Features. Great times were had by all; seeing so many films before they come out in theaters made us feel like real film critics for once.

In this episode of The Long Take Review, we reflect on our experience at these screenings and then give our spoiler-free thoughts, ranking the four films against each other. We round out the episode by checking in on awards season in general, speculating about which films are the most likely to be in the Best Picture 10 and which actors could have a shot at a nomination. Who needs to campaign hard to get voters’ attention? Who’s a shoe-in? Who’s a complete unknown (besides James Mangold’s Bob Dylan biopic)? Listen to find out!

This ENTIRE episode is spoiler free, so have at it regardless of whether or not you’ve seen the films mentioned above.

Notes:

We make a lot of references to the promotional materials used during The Newport Beach Film Festival, so checking out these trailers/ads first might help you appreciate our discussion even more. Thank you again to the Newport Beach Film Festival for showing us such a great time! (An especially big thank you to all the volunteers who helped run the screenings.)

Newport Beach Film Festival trailer

An ad for visiting Newport Beach (which everyone should do!) that played before each screening.

This star-studded highlight reel for the Newport Beach Film Festival will give you a sense of the party scene that the three of us largely missed.

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All music licensed through Epidemic Sound.

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Next year, 2025, will mark the 50th anniversary of Saturday Night Live (SNL), and NBC is planning a big live special in February to celebrate. In the meantime, though, Director Jason Reitman, whose own father, Ivan, had a close connection to the sketch comedy series, has made Saturday Night, out in theaters now. The film careens in “real” time towards the moment the first episode of SNL aired in 1975, and stars Gabriel LaBelle (The Fabelmans) as Lorne Michaels, along with a vast ensemble of exciting young actors playing the original SNL cast and well-loved veterans like J.K. Simmons and Willem Dafoe in supporting roles.

After premiering at the Telluride Film Festival to mixed-positive reviews, Saturday Night has been doing okay but not exceptionally well at the box office. Will that hurt its Oscar chances? Will the film meet the same fate as many seasons of SNL, with everyone too busy debating whether or not it’s good that they forget to appreciate the thing itself?

In this episode of The Long Take Review, P.T., Greg, Antonio, and I dissect our own reactions and value judgments of the “put on a show” psuedo-biopic comedy. We shoutout our favorite performances, share our own personal histories with SNL, and contemplate the film’s use of time and space. After our usual Oscars Watch, we do our own SNL cast member draft! After you listen to the episode, vote in the poll below for who you think won.

We (hastily) go into SPOILER MODE at the 23:19 minute mark. If you’re still not yet sure whether you want to check out the film, pause there! Our SNL Cast Draft, which should also be spoiler free, starts at 1:09:06.

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At a time when so much of public discourse surrounding A.I. swirls in fear and doom, it is rare to find a movie about a robot that does not tap into that sentiment. From Minority Report (2002) to Ex Machina (2014), Hollywood often adopts the position of a canary in the coal mine, trying to warn everyone about our robot overlords. And considering corporate interest in using artificial intelligence to replace human creators, I don’t necessarily blame them for wanting to do that, especially now.

Chris Sanders’ The Wild Robot, however, defies that popular narrative, with a fresh take has been welcomed by critics. Many go so far as to suggest that the film deserves to be nominated not only for Best Animated Feature at the Oscars, but for Best Picture, joining the ranks of the few animated films that have made that jump: Beauty and the Beast (1991), Up (2009), and Toy Story 3 (2010). But how justified is that hype?

In this episode of The Long Take Review, P.T., Greg, Antonio, and I debate how well the film could do (and deserves to do). We also discuss what parts of the film had an emotional impact on us, what the film is trying to say about A.I., how this adaptation differs from its source material, what voice performances stand out, and more.

Before we dive into The Wild Robot, however, we check in to discuss our picks for Vulture’s Movie Fantasy League, in which players must draft 8 movies that were pre-priced based on buzz. Who made a big play for box office numbers? Who went for potential awards attention? Who just went with their heart? Listen to about the first 30 minutes of this episode to find out! Registration for the draft has closed, but if you already registered, you can still join us by emailing [email protected] to say that you’d like “The Long Take Review” to be your “mini-league” before October 14th. We are just one person short of being able to compete for prizes, so please help us out if you can! Plus, our highest-scoring mini-league member will be able to come on the show and discuss a film of their choice.

The Movie Fantasy League talk ends at 30:46 when we start the Short Take on The Wild Robot. We later go into SPOILER MODE at the 42:24 minute mark. If you’re still not yet sure whether you want to check out the film, pause there!

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What if The Scarlet Witch from the MCU, Nora Durst from The Leftovers, and Charlie Cale from Poker Face were trapped in a tiny New York City apartment for several days? I jest, in part; Elizabeth Olsen, Carrie Coon, and Natasha Lyonne play characters who are distinct from their more well-known roles, but they do get to flex their acting muscles in His Three Daughters, a dramatic chamber piece now streaming on Netflix.

The film’s story follows three semi-estranged women who reunite to guide their father through his final days of life. The astringent dialogue offers a thoughtful character study as the claustrophobic milieu facilitates a poignant meditation on death and dying. But could this film be too small and too insular to get any Oscar love?

In this episode of The Long Take Review, P.T., Antonio, and I laud all three of these actresses for their outstanding work and, at the end of the episode, contemplate the film’s Oscar prospects. When dissecting the film itself, we contemplate why it feels so much like a stage play, debate why that might enhance or detract from the film, consider what the film has to say about death, dying, and family, and, because we couldn’t help ourselves, we share which of the three daughters we would each be.

You can hear our official plug for this at the very end of the episode, but we’d love for listeners to join us in Vulture’s Movie Fantasy League, in which players must draft 8 movies that have been pre-priced based on buzz. After registration closes tomorrow night, Thursday October 3rd at 11:59, your team can gain points for box office success (if it hasn’t come out yet), critical reception, and awards recognition. You can play this game with us by entering “The Long Take Review” as your “mini-league.” Join us in movie nerdom and all the Oscar season insanity!

We go into SPOILER MODE around the 21:57 minute mark. If you’re not yet sure whether you want to check out the film, listen up until then.

You can listen to The Long Take Review on Substack, Spotify, Apple, YouTube, or wherever you get your podcasts.

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When legendary artists have really made it, they should be able to do anything, right? Their creativity unfettered and untethered from pleasing others or financial concerns. By this margin, Francis Ford Coppola is living the dream. He became an icon for classics such as The Godfather (1972) and Apocalypse Now (1979). And for forty years he has been working on his magnum opus called Megalopolis. He funded the entire film — $120 million — by taking a line of credit out on his own winery No one could put a damper on his creative vision.

And the result, suffice it to say, is unlike anything any of us have ever seen. But is that a good thing? Is this film going to change cinema forever because it’s so experimental? Or is this more of an emperor’s new clothes situation? On this episode of The Long Take Review, Antonio, Greg, P.T., and I share our fairly unanimous response to the film, and then go on to try to make sense of its themes, socio-political commentary, and stylistic choices. You’ll have to hear us talk about it to believe it!

We go into SPOILER MODE pretty quickly on this one, around the 14:51 minute mark.

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For movie nerds and, more fervently, awards season nerds like me, fall is a wonderful time of year because it is nothing but possibility and potential. Like Schrodinger’s cat, movies are both good and bad until you actually see them for yourself. As I impatiently wait to do that, though, there are some indicators: reactions from critics and journalists attending film festivals, awards given by festivals, and whether films without a home score a deal with a big distributor.

In this episode of The Long Take Review, Greg, P.T., and I process and analyze all these indicators coming out of three festivals that have recently concluded: Venice (yes, the one in Italy), Telluride (that’s in Colorado), and Toronto (a.k.a. TIFF). We present our conclusions by listing a set of “winners” and “losers,” though we introduced the idea of “soft” and “hard” losers and it got complicated from there. Listen to find out which movies we’re more excited to see, which we can almost certainly dismiss, and who, if anyone, has emerged as a frontrunner in this early, but very real, phase of the Oscar race.

You can listen to The Long Take Review on Substack, Spotify, Apple, YouTube, or wherever you get your podcasts.

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