The Long Take Review

Jane Schoenbrun’s I Saw The TV Glow was one of the buzziest titles to premiere at the Sundance Film Festival this year, and P.T. and I were very disappointed that it was only available to screen in person. Fortunately, it’s now out and theaters and we were finally able to see what all the fuss was about.

The film follows two teenagers, Maddy and Owen, as they strike up a friendship over a supernatural teenage drama called “The Pink Opaque.” That fictional series strongly evokes shows like Buffy the Vampire Slayer, The X-Files, Are You Afraid of the Dark, Goosebumps, ‘Eerie, Indiana,’ Pete and Pete, and even Twin Peaks. To assume that this film is merely a trip down a collective memory lane, however, would be a huge mistake.

In this episode of The Long Take Review, P.T. mostly helps me come to terms with the film’s ambiguities as we work our way through what it all means. There’s a lot to unpack, and we relish that task in typical Long Take Review fashion.

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

Image Credit: Rotten Tomatoes

Movies News Update We catch up with The Cannes Film Festival. For which films has our hype increased or decreased? 3:55

The Short Take We each share our general impressions of I Saw The TV Glow. 26:20

The Recommendation Algorithm Who should see this film? What genre best represents it? How should viewers set their expectations about the kind of film this is? 31:18

SPOILER MODE What is this film trying to say? To what extent are this film’s themes universal vs. specific to the trans or queer experience? Why does this film take place in the 90s? 49:00

The Rhetorical Situation How does the mode of exchange alter the consumption and interpretation of popular culture? When does popular culture facilitate identity actualization vs. threaten it? How might nostalgia interfere with…everything? 1:14:20

Oscars Watch Does I Saw The TV Glow have any Oscars potential? 1:39:46

Notes:

P.T. references this Letterboxd review by mesh509 during the episode.

When Jen compares the use of musical performances in this film to Twin Peaks, she is primarily thinking of David Lynch’s Twin Peaks: The Return (2017).

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Thirty years after the original Mad Max films — Mad Max (1979), Mad Max 2: Road Warrior (1981), and Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome (1985) — George Miller wowed critics and Academy voters with Mad Max: Fury Road (2015). The dystopian post-apocalyptic action spectacle won six Oscars, and has earned a spot on countless best of lists for 2015, the decade, and even the century. It stands to reason, then, that many eagerly await the next installment in the franchise: Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga. The prequel film, which premieres at the Cannes Film Festival tomorrow and hits theaters May 23rd, recounts the traumatic past of Fury Road’s most beloved character.

On this episode of The Long Take Review, P.T., Greg, and I try to pass the time as we impatiently wait for Furiosa by looking back at the entire franchise to date. We recall our initial reactions to all the films (some made as recently as this past weekend!), try to trace common themes and elements across them, and rank them all based on personal preference. We eventually focus in on Fury Road and try to determine what made it so exceptional. Along the way, P.T. shares fascinating behind-the-scenes stories that re-contextualize a lot of what we notice in Miller’s work. The episode concludes with our discussion of early reviews of Furiosa as well as our speculation for it and the summer box office more broadly. Rev your engines and buckle up for another deep dive of an episode!

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

Image Credit: Variety, LA Times, and IMDb

The Mad Max Franchise We each share how we have engaged with the franchise and what our reactions to the different films are. What appeals to us about this franchise? What common themes or elements can we trace across all the films? 4:58

To what extent has the role of women and feminism in these films evolved? 29:59

What context about the production or George Miller’s history can help us understand the franchise better? (There’s more of this throughout the rest of the episode as well.) How are we supposed to think about the original trilogy in relation to Fury Road? 41:46

P.T. asks Jen to guess what happens at the end of Beyond Thunderdome. 54:45

We very quickly rank all four films. 1:14:40

Oscars Watch Why did Fury Road win so many Oscars? Why is it so exceptional? 1:18:01

Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga Preview How do we think Furiosa will compare to Fury Road? What have early reviews of the film been saying? And what does the success of this film mean for the summer box office? 1:29:50

Show Notes:

The Kyle Buchanan piece from The New York Times that P.T. referred to during the episode.

And here are pieces on early reviews of Furiosa: Screen Rant on Hideo Kojima, The Hollywood Reporter, and Variety.

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May the 4th be with you! Just in time for Star Wars Day this year, The Phantom Menace, the 1999 prequel film written and directed by George Lucas, returned to theaters in honor of its 25th anniversary. In those 25 years, the film has been on a tumultuous journey. After its initial release, it withstood harsh reviews from critics and backlash from fans. The more toxic among them harassed actors like Jake Lloyd and Ahmed Best. Fast forward to today and the film seems to be beloved by many. In fact, to the surprise of The Hollywood Reporter, The Phantom Menace came in second at the box office this past weekend, beating out Zendaya’s new film, Challengers.

In this episode of The Long Take Review, P.T., Greg, and I take a trip down memory lane to our initial reactions to and relationship with The Phantom Menace, as well as reflect on our experience seeing the film again in theaters this past weekend. We try to make sense of the public perception of this film over the years, contemplate its broader influence on the history of cinema, share all of our favorites, and end by, of course, discussing what Oscars the epic space opera could have or should have won. Every podcast has a beginning, and it does seem as though this film was a genesis moment for all three of us.

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

Image Credit: StarWars.com

Looking Back at 1999 We each share memories about the first time we saw The Phantom Menace. 3:52

The Legacy of The Phantom Menace How did this film forever change filmmaking? 17:48

Our Re-Release Experience in 2024 We each share our experience seeing The Phantom Menace in theaters this past weekend. What did we notice this time around? 33:45

The Rhetorical Situation Jen pathetically attempts to explain the concept of homosocial male desire from literary theory and how it guided her interpretation of the film. 1:06:53

Our Own (Unsolicited) Notes What would we go back and change about this film if we could? 1:31:55

Our Favs We try (and mostly fail) to name our favorites in a lightning round fshion. Includes favorite character, glup schitto, cringy line of dialogue, Queen Amidala fit, pod racer, Jedi council member, scene, and shot. 1:55:37

Oscars Watch Did this film get nominated for any Oscars? In which categories would we have given it a golden statue? 2:20:15

Show Notes:

This is the TED podcast with Ahmed Best that Greg referred to during the episode.

Jen referred to “Dave Filoni’s transcendent” monologue about how The Duel of the Fates connects to Return of the Jedi. Here’s an IGN article about it. You can also watch the whole thing during the episode of the Disney Gallery about The Mandalorian (on Disney+).

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After a strike-induced 8-month delay, Luca Guadagnino’s psychosexual sports drama, Challengers has finally bounced into theaters. The film follows a tennis coach and her star player husband who find themselves competing against a former friend and lover. A powerhouse trio comprises the cast: household name Zendaya, Mike Faist, who stood out as Riff in West Side Story, and Josh O’Connor, is best known for playing Prince Charles on Netflix’s The Crown. Guadagnino, for those who might not know, directed Oscar-winner Call Me By Your Name (2017), starring Timothee Chalamet. Since Amazon MGM Studios has distribution rights in the U.S., Challengers will likely be available to stream on Amazon Prime Video after its theatrical run. 

In this episode of The Long Take Review, Antonio, P.T., and I volley a variety of reactions to and interpretations of the film, which is aggressive and bold in its style yet subtle or ambiguous in its storytelling. Antonio lends his expert knowledge of tennis to our discussion as we assess this as a sports movie, Jen overanalyzes the relationship drama, and P.T. brings a critical eye to the film form and character development. For about 15 seconds there, we were actually podcasting.

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

Image Credit: The Hollywood Reporter

Movies News Update Quentin Tarantino makes a big announcement. 3:35

The Short Take We each share our general impressions of Challengers. 6:16

The Recommendation Algorithm Who should see this film? Do you need to be a tennis fan to enjoy it? Does the marketing of the film set false expectations about how much sex is in it? 13:08

SPOILER MODE What actually happened in that final scene? 26:07

The Rhetorical Situation Jen pathetically attempts to explain the concept of homosocial male desire from literary theory and how it guided her interpretation of the film. 1:02:55

Which character is our favorite/for whom were we rooting during the film? 1:15:24

Oscars Watch Does Challengers have a shot at any Oscar nominations? 1:37:54

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We’ll basically take any excuse to talk about Dune on this show, but for this episode we had two fairly good reasons. Denis Villeneuve’s Dune: Part Two recently became available to rent or buy at home, and it likely won’t be long before the science fiction epic hits streaming services — I would guess on Max this summer. Now that the film has become more widely accessible, we thought that it would be a great time to revisit it and dig a little deeper. 

Meanwhile, we have a cadre of Star Wars podcaster friends who have not had a designated place to geek out about the Dune franchise. So, for this episode, we recruited Greg McLaughlin of The Rebel Base Card Podcast and Ross Hollebon of The Album Cockpit Podcast to reflect on what makes Dune: Part Two so exceptional. They share their respective experiences watching it, their prior relationship to it, and, since we’re all Star Wars fans, we contemplate the extent to which Star Wars and Dune intersect or influence one another. After that, we round out the conversation by picking our favorite characters and scenes, with a little bit of Oscars talk thrown in at the very end. Keep listening after the outro for our own “extended edition” of the episode. 

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

Image Credit: Elle

Note: The Director’s Cut DGA Podcast episode with Steven Spielberg and Denis Villeneuve that Greg C. referred to during the episode.

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At the Long Take Review, we have one eye always on the Oscar race. Usually, that means we are looking forward to the upcoming Academy Awards, talking through the race as it happens. But given our collective history of caring about these silly awards, we thought it would be fun to occasionally step back and train our eye on an earlier year in Oscar history. Regular listeners know we frequently talk about what we would change in the current race if we had the power of an Oscar Fairy; we decided to use that magic wand on the past with this Oscar Fairy Flashback, in which we’ll discuss what we would, in hindsight, like to change about the nominees and winners from a chosen year.

To spice up the discussion, P.T. designed a point spending system. Antonio, P.T., and I each start out with 10 points. 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.

In this episode’s Oscar Fairy Flashback, we go back a decade to the 86th Academy Awards, held on March 2, 2014 and honoring the films of 2013. Some of the big contenders that year were American Hustle, 12 Years a Slave, The Wolf of Wall Street, Captain Phillips, The Dallas Buyer’s Club, and Nebraska. Which got more nominations than they deserved? Which will we refuse to touch because they were so good? What other films from that year deserved to be in the Oscars conversation to begin with? And will P.T. whine about Martin Scorsese not winning enough? (Spoiler: he will.)

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

Movie News Update: WGA winners, Cannes Film Festival Line-up, and CinemaCon buzz. 3:22

Oscar Fairy Flashback:

P.T. reviews the rules and provides an overview of that year’s big winners. 12:15

We share who we were and what we were doing during the year leading up to the 2014 Oscars. 16:38

We propose our desired changes and hash it all out from there. 29:27

Editor’s Note: P.T. checked the math on our final picks after we finished recording, and it turns out he did have enough points left for all the screenplay changes he proposed. So he gave 2 points back to Antonio and used his remaining points. The changes we made as a group do not change; only who spent the points on those changes.

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Monkey Man, directed by and starring Dev Patel, opened this past weekend. That, apparently, was a small miracle. The cast crew had to maintain a covid “bubble” during the pandemic, Dev Patel broke his hand during filming on location in Indonesia, Netflix dumped the film, their co-financier Bron Studios went bankrupt, and then, after all seemed lost, Academy Award winner Jordan Peele and Universal Studios swooped in to revive it.

Now, the film seems to have risen above all that, receiving rave reviews out of the SXSW Film Festival, where it premiered, and recouping its 10 million dollar budget opening weekend, second only to Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire, whose budget was upwards of $150 million.

The brutal action film marketed as “John Wick in India” tells the story of Kid, a monkey-masked fighter who plots to avenge crimes committed against his village and family. In the process, he realizes the extent to which corruption, capitalism, globalization, and the vestiges of colonial rule have systemically oppressed the poor and powerless around him. 

In this episode of The Long Take Review, Greg, P.T., and I debate to what extent the John Wick comparison is accurate. We then go on to unpack the many narrative layers of the story, share our thoughts on the style of filmmaking, and try our best to examine how contextual factors such as the tumultuous production, the globalized political milieu, and Jordan Peele’s potential editorial influence impacted this film.

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

Image Credit: Variety

The Short Take We each share our general impressions of Monkey Man. 2:55

The Recommendation Algorithm Who should see this film? How much is it actually like John Wick? 13:19

SPOILER MODE How simple or complicated is this story? How are the different layers working together? What does this film have to say about Indian society? Politics? Religion? Mythology? Socioeconomic disparities? 25:05

The Rhetorical Situation We attempt to piece together the timeline of challenges Monkey Man faced in its making. Why did Netflix drop the film? How has the rise of global tech companies influenced filmmaking? What influence did Jordan Peele have on the final version? 1:09:28

Oscars Watch Does Monkey Man have a shot at any Oscars? 1:50:00

Notes:

Here are the news articles that informed our discussion:

Slate’s “Dev Patel’s Monkey Man Has a Bold New Vision.”

Vulture’s “How Did Monkey Man Swing from Netflix to Universal?”

Deadline’s “Dev Patel On How Jordan Peele Swung A Theatrical Release For ‘Monkey Man.’”

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With the Oscars for 2023 releases in the rearview mirror, we look to the movie slate for the rest 2024. And we’re left with a lot of questions. With the studios’ slow resolution of the actor and writer strikes halting production for months, for example, will the release schedule feel thinner than years past? And considering Marvel has scaled back in the wake of recent flops and the loss of an actor who was supposed to play their primary villain for the foreseeable future, will the handful of summer blockbusters lined up be enough to keep the box office afloat? Will there be less competition at the Oscars next year?

In this episode of The Long Take Review, P.T., Greg, Antonio, and I try to wrap our heads around the rest of the year in film via a Movie Hype Draft. Each of us must select four different films that we think are the most anticipated — in the eyes of the public, critics, Oscar voters, or maybe just our hearts. In the process, we discuss sequels and prequels, rising stars, insanely early Oscar buzz, and the types of movies we can never resist.

We plan to score our picks this time next year, using three combined metrics: box office, awards, and our own happiness score. Once a film was selected, it was no longer eligible, which means that some of us tried to strategize based on our turn order and what we thought our friends would pick. After you’ve listened to the episode, we’d love to hear your thoughts on whose roster gets you the most hyped.

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

[SPOILER WARNING: I will list our final picks below. If you have not listened to the episode and would prefer to hear our discussion before voting, please turn back now!]

Antonio’s Picks

Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga (dir. George Miller)

Ella McCay (dir. James L. Brooks)

We Live in Time (dir. John Crowley)

Hard Truths (dir. Mike Leigh)

Greg’s Picks

Megalopolis (dir. Francis Ford Coppola)

Monkey Man (dir. Dev Patel)

The Nickel Boys (dir. Ramell Ross)

Twisters (dir. Lee Isaac Chung)

Jen’s Picks

Blitz (dir. Steve McQueen)

Nosferatu (dir. Robert Eggers)

Deadpool & Wolverine (dir. Shawn Levy)

Bird (dir. Andrea Arnold)

P.T.’s Picks

The Lord of the Rings: War of the Rohirrim (dir. Kenji Kamiyama)

Kinds of Kindness (dir. Yorgos Lanthimos)

I Saw the TV Glow (dir. Jane Schoebrun)

Evil Does Not Exist (dir. Ryusuke Hamaguchi)

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Last month, P.T. and I traveled to Albuquerque for an academic conference hosted by the Southwest Popular and American Culture Association. Like Oppenheimer, we thought that if we could find a way to combine podcasting with New Mexico, our lives would be perfect. We presented on a panel titled “Pedagogy and Popular Culture Roundtable: Between Two Scholastic Worlds: Teaching, Blogging, and Podcasting” with our dear colleague and host of The Nostalgia Test Podcast, Dan Dissinger. It’s a lot of shop talk and behind-the-scenes-stories about what it’s like to be an academic and a podcaster. We hope you enjoy it and learn a little something about what we do to make this show along the way. 

A big thank you to SWPACA for having us, and to everyone in the live audience, especially those who asked us questions! A special shout-out goes to the A/V team supporting the conference. We wouldn’t have been able to record this without them.

We’ll be back to our regular programming next week, hopefully with a Movie Hype Draft for upcoming releases for the rest of the year!

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

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When Yorgos Lanthimos’ Poor Things premiered at the Venice International Film Festival last year, many critics were blown away by it, but unsure whether or not it would be “too weird” for the Academy. Months later, the fantastical dark comedy would win four Oscars: Production Design, Makeup and Hairstyling, Costume, and, of course, one of the biggest surprises of the night, Emma Stone for Best Actress. 

The nouveau-Frankenstein tale was the only Best Picture nominee that we never got around to reviewing before the Oscars. But it recently became available to stream on Hulu, and as such a discussion of the film becomes timely once again.

Poor Things follows the growth and development of Bella Baxter, a woman subjected to the experiments of mad scientist turned adoptive father, Godwin Baxter. It’s a dark comedy that is as much about patriarchal control over the female body as it is about the exaltations and harsh realities of being alive. 

On this episode of The Long Take Review, P.T. and I offer up theories as to why Yorgos Lanthimos makes so many of the bold artistic and narrative choices that he does, and do our best to unpack all the meaning we can find. We talk Brechtian defamiliarization, female hysteria in Victorian literature, social norms, monsters, and ideologies. It’s one of the nerdiest conversations we’ve ever had.

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

Image Credit: IndieWire

Movie News Update Another Yorgos Lanthimos film on the way. All that SXSW Film Festival buzz. 4:21

The Short Take We each share our general impressions of Poor Things. 16:11

The Recommendation Algorithm Who should see this film? Will it, in fact, be too weird for some? 24:07

SPOILER MODE What is Poor Things trying to say? How does its style facilitate its substance? What do we make of the criticisms of this film? 34:23

The Rhetorical Situation What role does ideology play in this film? 1:45:27

Notes:

Here’s a link the Viktor Shklovsky essay P.T. quotes in this episode.

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