We Love the Love

We're racing away from murder accusations and towards age-gap romance as we look at Alfred Hitchcock's 1959 classic North by Northwest!

Join in as we discuss the relationship between stars Cary Grant and Eva Marie Saint, the iconic cropduster scene, the movie's frank sexuality, and its connection to a World War II British plot.

Plus: Who would be the funniest president to be on Mount Rushmore? What happened to Roger Thornhill's (Grant's) previous two marriages? Does this movie make any sense whatsoever? And, most importantly, is Roger still wanted for murder when the movie ends?

Make sure to rate, review, and subscribe!

Next week: Rear Window (1954)

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Key sources and links for this episode:

• Which Lie Did I Tell? More Adventures in the Screen Trade by William Goldman (2000)
• "The Making of Mount Rushmore" (Smithsonian Magazine)
• "Cary Grant and Randolph Scott's Hollywood Story" (Vanity Fair)

We're returning to our favorite movie of 2021 for a look at the romance of the pandemic's instant comedy cult classic Barb and Star Go to Vista Del Mar!

Join our talking club as we discuss fishbowl drinks, official couples, the 2020 Best Original Song category, and the film's deliberately oblique trailer.

Plus: Is this a musical? Are Barb and Star good at their jobs? Can Edgar join the talking club? And, most importantly, why haven't more podcasts taken a stand against murder?

Make sure to rate, review, and subscribe!

Next week: North by Northwest (1959)

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• "Kristen Wiig and Annie Mumulo Talk Barb and Star Songs and the Controversy with the 2015 Joy Script" (Variety)
• "Annie Mumulo Tells the Stories behind Seven of Barb and Star's Biggest Gags" (Vulture)
• "Jamie Dornan Tore Several Shirts for his Big Barb and Star Scene" (Vulture)

In anticipation of director Will Gluck's new film One Night Only, we're taking a look at his most recent release, 2023's surprise rom com hit Anyone but You!

Join in as we discuss the current positions of stars Sydney Sweeney and Glen Powell, the film's word-of-mouth success, and that giant wrench.

Plus: Who was behind those Sweeney/Powell dating rumors? Why is the movie's wedding in Australia? And, most importantly, who behaves this way??

Make sure to rate, review, and subscribe!

Next week: Barb and Star Go to Vista Del Mar (2021)

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Key sources and links for this episode:

• "After Anyone but You, Sydney Sweeney Nabs Big Pay Raise on Next Movies" (The Hollywood Reporter)
• "Sydney Sweeney and Glen Powell on How Anyone but You Beat the Rom Com Odds" (New York Times)
• "Glen Powell is the Rom Com Stud We Deserve" (Rolling Stone)
• "Every Time Glen Powell and Sydney Sweeney Promoted their Rom Com a Little Too Well" (Vulture)
• "Sydney Sweeney Promises She and Glen Powell Didn't Lean In" (Vulture)
• "Sydney Sweeney's Republican Voter Registration Revealed amid Jeans Ad Controversy" (The Guardian)
• "Is Sydney Sweeney Today's Most Perplexing Movie Star?" (New York Times)
• "Miles Teller Says He Got Sick on the Set of Top Gun: Maverick because there was Jet Fuel in his Blood" (Business Insider)

We're closing out our look at the New Queer Cinema of the 1990s with a dive into the doomed relationship of Wong Kar-wai's Happy Together!

Join in as we discuss travel nightmares, navigating by lamp, and the film's reception in Asia.

Plus: Why does Lai Yu-fai (Tony Leung) take his ex-boyfriend's passport? Why was Happy Together chosen as the title for the English language release? And why has Will been watching so many Seth Rogen movies?

Make sure to rate, reivew, and subscribe!

Next week: Anyone but You (2023)

We're celebrating 450 episodes with a look at TWO movies this week: The late 2010s yeti two-punch of Smallfoot and Abominable!

Join in as we discuss the odd surfeit of yeti films, sort-of-Chinese animation studio Pearl Animation, plot-essential billboards, and of course "Zendaya is Meechee."

Plus: Why was Abominable banned throughout Southeast Asia? Why is Sarah Paulson's character pretending to be British? How are Smallfoot's Stonekeepers chosen? And, most importantly, which of these movies is less bad?

Make sure to rate, review, and subscribe!

Next week: Happy Together (1997)

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Key sources and links for this episode:

• Interview with Smallfoot director Karey Kirkpatrick (Collider)
• "Sony ImageWorks Provides Big Effects, Animation for Warner's Smallfoot" (Post Perspective)
• "Smallfoot: Singing with Sasquatch and Friends" (Animation Magazine)
• "'Zendaya is Meechee' is a Post-Vine Vine" (New York Times)
• "Oriental DreamWorks Rewrites its Chinese Production Strategy" (Variety)
• "Abominable: A DreamWorks Movie, a Map, and a Huge Regional Row" (BBC)

Our look at the New Queer Cinema continues with the first feature directed by an out Black lesbian, Cheryl Dunye's The Watermelon Woman!

Join in as we discuss our favorite mockumentaries, the film's semiprofessional cast, its discussion of interracial relationships, and that incredible Camille Paglia scene.

Plus: Why didn't Dunye use actual period photos? What exactly is Diana (Guinevere Turner) doing with her life? And how did this movie cause yet more conflict for the National Endowment for the Arts?

Make sure to rate, review, and subscribe!

Next week: Smallfoot (2018) and Abominable (2019)

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Key sources and links for this episode:

• "The Watermelon Woman at 25" (BFI)
• "Slice of Life: The Watermelon Woman Refreshes" (Boston Phoenix)
• "The NEA Gets Gay-Bashed" (The Advocate)
• "Cheryl Dunye's Alternative Histories" (Interview Magazine)
• "The Radical Classic that's Finally Coming to the Criterion Collection" (Slate)
• "The Real History of Rent" (OUT Magazine)

Our look at the queer cinema of the 1990s continues with the debut feature by Lily and Lana Wachowski: 1996's lesbian noir Bound!

Join in as we discuss the casting of Jennifer Tilly and Gina Gershon, Joe Pantoliano's wig, a surprisingly speedy seduction, and The Devil Wears Prada 2.

Plus: Is this the coolest title card ever? How does the movie subvert the noir genre? And is Tilly mostly playing Betty Boop? Make sure to rate, review, and subscribe!

Next week: The Watermelon Woman (1997)

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• "The Wachowskis Refuse to Take No for an Answer" (BuzzFeed)
• Interview with the Wachowskis in Gadfly Magazine
• Jennifer Tilly profile in Now Toronto
• Jennifer Tilly interview in DIVA Magazine
• "Bound: Be Gay, Do Crime" (Criterion)
• "Joel Kim Booster on the Pressures of Teeth in Hollywood" (Vulture)
• "Nub City" video by Zach Woods on veneers

Pride Month 2026 continues with a look at Gus Van Sant's New Queer Cinema classic, My Own Private Idaho!

Join in as we discuss stars Keanu Reeves and River Phoenix, the 90s indie cinema moment, and Van Sant's creative ways of keeping the movie below NC-17.

Plus: How did Phoenix reconceive the character of Mike? Is that really how narcolepsy works? And is this the start of the 90s teen Shakespeare trend?

Make sure to rate, review, and subscribe!

Next week: Bound (1996)

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Key sources and links for this episode:

• "The Enduring Power of My Own Private Idaho" (OUT Magazine)
• "My Own Private Idaho is a Queer Masterpiece" (The Ringer)
• Interview with Keanu Reeves and River Phoenix (Interview Magazine)
• "My Own Private Idaho: Private Places" (Criterion)

We're kicking off Pride 2026 with a look at Todd Haynes's 1991 feature debut, Poison - one of the defining films of the New Queer Cinema movement!

Join in as we discuss Haynes's early career, the way the movie's subject and structure challenge convention, and the rise of the Sundance Film Festival.

Plus: Why did this movie cause trouble for the National Endowment for the Arts? Which of the three stories is the most unbelievable? And an explanation of why you should give Haynes's Dark Waters a second chance.

Make sure to rate, review, and subscribe!

Next week: My Own Private Idaho (1991)

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Key sources and links for this episode:

• Down and Dirty Pictures: Miramax, Sundance, and the Rise of Independent Film by Peter Biskind (2004)
• "New Queer Cinema" by B. Ruby Rich (Sight & Sound)
• "On the Margins: Todd Haynes's Poison" (Criterion)
• "Todd Haynes's Poison" (Art Forum)
• "The Todd Haynes Poison Controversy Explained" (SlashFilm)
• "Todd Haynes Rewrites the Hollywood Playbook" (New Yorker)
• "Transcendent Transgression: Looking Back at Todd Haynes's Poison" (Sundance)

• Superstar: The Karen Carpenter Story (YouTube)
• Cloud Atlas extended trailer (YouTube)
• "Serial Killer Documentary Takes Horrible Turn" by Cole Escola (YouTube)
• "Investigation into Bishop Bransfield finds Harassment, Gross Misuse of Funds" (National Catholic Reporter)

We're closing out our Dadvice series with one of the all-time great family movies: Brad Bird's 2004 animated superhero classic, The Incredibles!

Join in as we discuss the film's place in Bird's career, Michael Giacchino's iconic score, the retro-futurist design, and our favorite Pixar shorts.

Plus: What makes this movie look so much better than its peers all these years later? Is Bob fighting robots every time he goes to a "conference"? What happens to Mirage? And, most importantly, is Bomb Voyage the greatest villain in film history?

Make sure to rate, review, and subscribe!

Next week: Poison (1991)

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Key sources and links for this episode:

• IGN interview with Brad Bird
• "The Incredibles Rejected Villain Xerek Explained" (Comic Book Resources)
• "Incredibles Edna Mode is Based on these Fashion Mavens" (New York Post)
• "Jack Black Regrets Turning Down The Incredibles" (Variety)
• "The Passion of Brad Bird" (The Atlantic)
• Anthony Lane's weirdly horny review of Incredibles II (New Yorker)