The Rolling Tape

Taking a break from the silver screen, we look back on the TV shows that made us and the progression of Queer representation in television. Looking back on our childhood watches, teen dramas, and what’s hot right now, we break down the best and worst of Queer television and what we are looking for next. 

Follow along as we continue to celebrate Queer Cinema with discussions on international and person-of-color representation next week! 

On this episode:
Sara Ciplickas
Claire May Lewis
Red Broadwell
Mariana Fabian
Jake Fittipaldi 

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Subscribe for Early Access and Video:
The Rolling Tape Patreon

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Podcast Website Link
Website & Publications: www.therollingtape.com
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Credits:

• Theme music: Eugene Rocco Utley & Karl Vincent
• Artwork: Danny Jarabek
• Editor: Danny Jarabek
• Assistant Producer: Evan Miller

Why do we fall? So we can learn to pick ourselves up. Let’s dive into the films.

RETRO//RANKED is a Rolling Tape network series ranking the individual entries of beloved franchises and filmographies, timed to major new releases. For season 7, we're diving into the complete filmography of Christopher Nolan, building episode by episode, two films at a time, toward the release of his latest film, The Odyssey.

Insomnia is the third feature film from director Christopher Nolan. It was released on May 24, 2002. As of today, this is the only film directed by Nolan in which he does not have an official writing credit - even though he wrote the final draft of the screenplay himself.

Batman Begins is Nolan’s fourth movie. Co-written by Nolan and David S. Goyer, the film released on June 15, 2005.

Enjoy all VIDEO episodes of SEASON 7 one week ahead of their public audio-only release.

Our current collaborative ranking so far:

1. Memento
2. Following

On this episode:
Evan Miller
Paul Rai
Timmy Lee

Support the show

Subscribe for Early Access and Video:
The Rolling Tape Patreon

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Spotify
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Have questions? Email [email protected]

Podcast Website Link
Website & Publications: www.therollingtape.com
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Credits:

• Theme music: Eugene Rocco Utley & Karl Vincent
• Artwork: Danny Jarabek
• Editor: Danny Jarabek
• Assistant Producer: Evan Miller

Steven Spielberg — you know the name. He's one of our greatest living filmmakers on the planet. The man has created cinematic classics and enduring masterpieces that have and will stand the test of time. Yet early on in his career, he had a fascinating relationship with the Academy Awards, starting with his infamous home video in which he sarcastically reacts to not receiving a Best Director nomination for Jaws during the announcement of the 48th Academy Award nominations. "I got beaten out by Fellini," he joked. 

This rocky relationship continued even as he made blockbusters and heartfelt dramas all the way up until he won Best Director and Best Picture for Schindler's List at the 1994 ceremony.

Spielberg's filmography has amassed dozens of nominations above and below the line over the past 50 years. So with the release of his 35th directorial effort, Disclosure Day, we decided to do something massive in scale: a Steven Spielberg Awards Draft, where each of us will competitively draft Oscar nominations and wins from Steven Spielberg films that have been recognized by the Academy. 

We close the episode with a discussion of the awards potential for Disclosure Day at next year's Academy Awards. 

On this episode:
Paul Rai
Tate Fowler
Jacob Diedenhofer
Danny Jarabek

Support the show

Subscribe for Early Access and Video:
The Rolling Tape Patreon

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Have questions? Email [email protected]

Podcast Website Link
Website & Publications: www.therollingtape.com
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Credits:

• Theme music: Eugene Rocco Utley & Karl Vincent
• Artwork: Danny Jarabek
• Editor: Danny Jarabek
• Assistant Producer: Evan Miller

Christian Sprenger has spent eighteen years in television, but his collaboration with director Hiro Murai is in a category of its own. Together they have built a creative language across more than fifty episodes of television, from Atlanta to Mr. and Mrs. Smith, and now to Widow's Bay, the Apple TV+ comedy horror series created by Katie Dippold that has become one of the most talked-about shows of 2026. On Widow's Bay, Sprenger serves not only as cinematographer alongside co-DP Cody Jacobs, but also as a producer, a role he first stepped into during season three of Atlanta. 

Danny Jarabek spoke with Sprenger about the camera techniques he used to straddle the genre line between horror and comedy, the excitement of working with Ti West as the director of Episode 6, and how the colorist team reverse-engineered the filmic look of the show to give it the nostalgic, pre-digital feeling.

Follow our interviewee online:
Christian Sprenger IMDb, Instagram, Website

Follow our interview host online:
Danny Jarabek

Support the show

Subscribe for Early Access and Video:
The Rolling Tape Patreon

Listen Here:
Spotify
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Have questions? Email [email protected]

Podcast Website Link
Website & Publications: www.therollingtape.com
Social Platforms on Linktree

Credits:

• Theme music: Eugene Rocco Utley & Karl Vincent
• Artwork: Danny Jarabek
• Editor: Danny Jarabek
• Assistant Producer: Evan Miller

RETRO//RECAP is the spin-off of RETRO//RANKED where we hit pause on the rankings and rewind the tape to catch you up on everything that’s happened in a franchise or filmography before the next entry hits theaters. 

Previously, we’ve recapped the Scream Franchise and The Devil Wears Prada, and this time we’re recapping Pixar’s most successful franchise that dates back to 1995 and includes four primary film entries, two spin-offs, and a television series. The first Toy Story was the first feature-length film to be made entirely using computer-generated imagery. The first two films were directed by John Lasseter, the third film by Lee Unkrich, the fourth film by Josh Cooley, the upcoming fifth film by Andrew Stanton. 

Bring out your Woody and Buzz Lightyear toys and let’s recap before previewing what's ahead for Toy Story 5.

On this episode:
Danny Jarabek
Paul Rai
Joshua Mbonu

Support the show

Subscribe for Early Access and Video:
The Rolling Tape Patreon

Listen Here:
Spotify
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Have questions? Email [email protected]

Podcast Website Link
Website & Publications: www.therollingtape.com
Social Platforms on Linktree

Credits:

• Theme music: Eugene Rocco Utley & Karl Vincent
• Artwork: Danny Jarabek
• Editor: Danny Jarabek
• Assistant Producer: Evan Miller

If you found out we weren't alone, if someone showed you, proved it to you, would that frighten you? That is one of many questions we approach today while discussing Steven Spielberg’s Disclosure Day which has been theatrically released by Universal as of June 11. We’ve been in eager anticipation of the film which is directed by Spielberg and written by David Koepp since April of 2024 when news first hit that Spielberg’s next film would be a UFO movie. 

The world stands poised on the brink of World War III, cybersecurity specialist Daniel Kellner steals a piece of extraterrestrial technology and related files detailing various events of human-alien contact dating back to the Roswell incident from the Wardex Corporation, a secret arm of the U.S. government. The film stars Emily Blunt, Josh O'Connor, Colin Firth, Eve Hewson, and Colman Domingo.

We review the newest sci-fi addition to his legendary catalog and tier rank his entire filmography. 

Our pre-episode Patreon exclusive conversation features:

• Gatto teaser
• The Social Reckoning teaser
• Whalefall trailer
• Justice department approves WB acquisition
• 24 Jump Street announced

On this episode:
Danny Jarabek
Joshua Mbonu
Mariana Fabian
Tate Fowler
Timmy Lee

Support the show

Subscribe for Early Access and Video:
The Rolling Tape Patreon

Listen Here:
Spotify
Apple Podcasts
All Listening Platforms

Have questions? Email [email protected]

Podcast Website Link
Website & Publications: www.therollingtape.com
Social Platforms on Linktree

Credits:

• Theme music: Eugene Rocco Utley & Karl Vincent
• Artwork: Danny Jarabek
• Editor: Danny Jarabek
• Assistant Producer: Evan Miller

Following the North American premiere of Just Look Up at the Tribeca Festival, Jeremy Strong moderated a panel discussion with journalist and author David Wallace-Wells (“The Uninhabitable Earth”), psychologist and Climate Emergency Fund Board Chair Margaret Klein Salamon, Climate Defiance Founder Michael Greenberg, and Climate Defiance activist Cheyenne. What followed was a conversation about the state of climate activism under the second Trump administration, the gap between public alarm and political action, and what it means to act in proportion to the scale of an emergency. 

The film had its North American Premiere at the Tribeca Festival on June 11, with additional screenings on June 12, 13, and 14. Danny Jarabek was in attendance at the premiere to record the panel.

Support the show

Subscribe for Early Access and Video:
The Rolling Tape Patreon

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Have questions? Email [email protected]

Podcast Website Link
Website & Publications: www.therollingtape.com
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Credits:

• Theme music: Eugene Rocco Utley & Karl Vincent
• Artwork: Danny Jarabek
• Editor: Danny Jarabek
• Assistant Producer: Evan Miller

Happy Pride! We are back with year two of our Pride Mini-series, celebrating Queer artists in Film and Media. After tracking the progression of Queer Cinema last year, the team is back to discuss various topics and give you new recommendations in this four-part series.

This week, the team discusses ‘Queer Bending,’ inspired by Hedda (2025), and what it means to tell a known story from a Queer perspective. They also break down ‘Queer Baiting’ and what that means in 2026. On top of it all, they give their recs, hot takes, and rants as we dive deeper into Queer media and history. 

Check out our full Pride Watchlist on Letterboxd here! 

On this episode:
Sara Ciplickas
Claire May Lewis
Mariana Fabian
Jake Fittipaldi 

Support the show

Subscribe for Early Access and Video:
The Rolling Tape Patreon

Listen Here:
Spotify
Apple Podcasts
All Listening Platforms

Have questions? Email [email protected]

Podcast Website Link
Website & Publications: www.therollingtape.com
Social Platforms on Linktree

Credits:

• Theme music: Eugene Rocco Utley & Karl Vincent
• Artwork: Danny Jarabek
• Editor: Danny Jarabek
• Assistant Producer: Evan Miller

In his debut feature documentary, Director Eddie Sánchez paints a vulnerable portrait of his family and their experience as immigrants in the U.S. Mexicanamerican introduces us to his parents, Lalo and Beby Sánchez who, like many immigrants and refugees, came to the U.S. in hope of opportunity and a better future. Sánchez joins The Rolling Tape to discuss his experience creating this independent documentary, his relationship to his family, and how the film acts as a love letter to his parents and a reclamation of his Mexican heritage. 

The film employs a mix of Lalo’s VHS home movies that he would send to family back in Mexico to act as life updates, and contemporary interviews shot by Eddie with Lalo and Beby about their lives. Mexicanamerican is Eddie’s aim to analog and digital bridge to connect with his parents in a new way – cultivating his very own home movie. 

The film had its World Premiere at the Tribeca Festival on June 9, with additional screenings on June 10, and June 14.

Follow our interviewees online:
Eddie Sánchez, IMDB, Instagram 

Follow our interview host online:
Mariana Fabian

Support the show

Subscribe for Early Access and Video:
The Rolling Tape Patreon

Listen Here:
Spotify
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Have questions? Email [email protected]

Podcast Website Link
Website & Publications: www.therollingtape.com
Social Platforms on Linktree

Credits:

• Theme music: Eugene Rocco Utley & Karl Vincent
• Artwork: Danny Jarabek
• Editor: Danny Jarabek
• Assistant Producer: Evan Miller

We tried to get Guy Pearce on the phone to see if he’d like to appear on today’s episode. He said he was game, but when we called back to give him a rundown of everything, he acted like he had no memory of our conversation and no idea who I was. Very unprofessional.

RETRO//RANKED is a Rolling Tape network series ranking the individual entries of beloved franchises and filmographies, timed to major new releases.

Today marks the beginning of what might be our biggest season yet, and for once, we actually mean it. We're diving into the complete filmography of Christopher Nolan, building episode by episode, two films at a time, toward the release of his latest film, The Odyssey.

This premiere episode kicks things off with Following and Memento, which means we'll be debating non-linear storytelling, the finer points of anterograde amnesia, and whether you'd drink the beer that Carrie-Anne Moss spits into in that diner scene. No wrong answers.

Joining host Evan Miller for the occasion is a RETRO//RANKED first: the show's debut guest, Derrick Murray. 

Enjoy all VIDEO episodes of SEASON 7 one week ahead of their public audio-only release exclusively on Patreon.

On this episode:
Evan Miller
Claire May Lewis
Danny Jarabek
Timmy Lee

Support the show

Subscribe for Early Access and Video:
The Rolling Tape Patreon

Listen Here:
Spotify
Apple Podcasts
All Listening Platforms

Have questions? Email [email protected]

Podcast Website Link
Website & Publications: www.therollingtape.com
Social Platforms on Linktree

Credits:

• Theme music: Eugene Rocco Utley & Karl Vincent
• Artwork: Danny Jarabek
• Editor: Danny Jarabek
• Assistant Producer: Evan Miller