We Love the Love

As is tradition, this week we're tackling the romances of all ten Best Picture nominees, from Sinners to Train Dreams!

Join in as we discuss our favorite un-nominated romances, an unusually good(ish) year for Best Original Song, transportation logistics, and a few small beers.

Plus: Are recliners bad for cinema? Why does Frankenstein look like that? Do we need to bring back projectionists? And is there any romance in Bugonia after all?

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Next week: Him (2025)

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Key sources and links for this episode:

• "Oscars: Film Academy Establishes Stunt Design Award" (The Hollywood Reporter)
• "KPop Demon Hunters is Officially Eligible for the Oscars" (Associated Press)
• "Only Two Original Song Nominees to Perform Live at Oscars" (Variety)
• "Matt Damon Says Netflix Wants Movies to Restate the Plot 'Three or Four Times in the Dialogue' because Viewers are on 'Their Phones while They're Watching'" (Variety)
• "Benicio Del Toro on Bonding with Leo, Rewriting PTA, and His First Oscar Nom in Decades" (The Hollywood Reporter)
• "I Survived the Long Walk Treadmill Challenge" (IndieWire)
• Cahiers du Cinema's rave review of Ella McCay (via Letterboxd)
• "The Secret Agent's Kleber Mendonca Filho and Wagner Moura on Brazil's Urban Legend of the Hairy Leg" (Deadline)

Our series on Hollywood's pronoun films reaches its peak with a look at hte marriage between Lupita Nyong'o and Winston Duke in Jordan Peele's 2019 horror classic Us!

Join in as we discuss Peele's striking visual sense, rabbit cinema, nontraditional weapons, and the movie's satisfying but controversial refusal to give real answers to its mysteries.

Plus: Why does Nyong'o work so infrequently? How much time does the central family spend at this vacation home? How widespread is the tether underground? What's going on with Peele's next movie? And, most importantly, what real-life figure inspired Nyongo's voice as the villainous Red?

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Next week: 2025 Oscars Extravaganza!!!

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Key sources and links for this week's episode:

• "Jordan Peele on Us: 'This is a Very Different Movie than Get Out'" (The Guardian)
• "The All-American Nightmares of Jordan Peele" (Rolling Stone)
• "This is Lupita Nyong'o. Hollywood, Please Keep Up" (New York Times)
• "Jordan Peele Explains the Significance of the Michael Jackson Imagery in Us" (Mashable)
• "Lupita Nyong'o Apologizes after Us 'Evil' Voice Disability Row" (The Guardian)
• "How Universal Drove Jordan Peele's Us to $70m Opening" (Deadline)
• "How Monkey Man went from Netflix Orphan to Theatrical Event" (The Wrap)
• "Michael Jackson Biopic must Reshoot Entire Third Act" (Vulture)

Our series on pronoun films jumps back to the 1950s for a look at the romance of the 1954 monster classic Them!

Join in as we discuss nuclear fear, ant-shaped spacecraft, failed 3D, and the shamefulness of listening to podcasts.

Plus: What happened to the little girl from the beginning? Who exactly do the ant scientists work for? Why are there so many movies about ants anyway? And, most importantly, do two women ever share the screen in this movie?

Make sure to rate, review, and subscribe!

Next week: Us (2019)

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Key sources and links for this episode:

• Them! in the AFI Catalog
• Turner Classic Movies writeup
• "70 Years of Them!" (BFI)

We're headed into the sewers looking for love as we begin our new miniseries "This Whole Thing Smacks of Gender," in which we look at the romance of Hollywood's finest pronoun-based films - and we're kicking off with Andy Muschietti's blockbuster 2017 adaptation of (half of) Stephen King's IT!

Join in as we discuss our own favorite King adaptations, Bill Skarsgard's performance as Pennywise the clown, the various versions of the movie that almost got made, and the film careers of Game of Thrones stars.

Plus: How does this film compare to the 1990 TV version? What was Pennywise doing before humans arrived in America? What's going on with that one scene everyone (wisely) refuses to adapt? And what was up with all those clown sightings in 2016?

Make sure to rate, review, and subscribe!

Next week: Them! (1954)

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Key sources and links for this episode:

• "Cary Fukunaga Offers New Details on Why IT Remake Fell Apart" (Variety)
• "IT, Stephen King Adaptation, is Top Horror Pre-Seller in History" (Variety)
• "How does the new IT movie deal with Stephen King's orgy scene?" (Vulture)
• "Stephen King: It's 'fascinating' people are more offended by IT's child orgy than its child murders" (Vulture)
• "How does the IT movie compare to Cary Fukunaga's script?" (Vulture)
• Cary Fukunaga and Chase Palmer's IT screenplay
• "Creepy clown hoaxes lead to 12 arrests in multiple states" (New York Times)
• "Prada Villains Runway Explained" (Yahoo!)
• "Global film industry shrugs off renewed Trump movie tariff threat" (Reuters)

We're closing the book on this year's unfinished business with a look at the romance of Stuart Hazeldine's 2017 faith film The Shack, based on the smash novel(?) by Wm. Paul Young.

Join in as we discuss the film's racially diverse godhead, Sam Worthington's struggling performance, and our own experiences attempting to parse the book's bizarre theology.

Plus: Why was this movie such a hit in Brazil? Why does it have a rom com score? Is having the faith of a child actually a good idea? And, most importantly, could Bones have solved this murder more quickly than Officer Tommy and the FBI?

Make sure to rate, review, and subscribe!

Next week: It (2017)

We're celebrating a beloved American holiday by looking at the romance of Harold Ramis's 1993 classic, Groundhog Day!

Join in as we discuss the film's iconic status in the time loop canon, the 1993 Saturn Awards, Andie MacDowell's film debut in Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan, and typical Bill Murray production stories.

Plus: How did screenwriter Danny Rubin land on the idea of a time loop? How long was Phil caught in the loop? How much did he spend on his last day? And, most importantly, which holiday mascot would be easiest to kidnap?

Make sure to rate, review, and subscribe!

Next week: The Shack (2017)

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Key sources and links for this episode:

• American Eagle Foundation live cam (YouTube)
• "Ryan Coogler Says DCOM Luck of the Irish Influenced Sinners" (Deadline)
• "The Secrets Behind that Other Tarzan Movie - the One that Earned a Dog a Screenwriting Oscar Nomination" (The Hollywood Reporter)

We're headed back to the Stone Age for a look at the (b)romance of Brian Levant's feature film adaptation of The Flintstones, starring John Goodman, Rick Moranis, and a whole lot of other comedy stars.

Join in as we discuss our favorite background gags, the 1994 box office, the movie's infamously large writing team, and our complete befuddlement at Kyle MacLachlan's evil plan.

Plus: How was John Goodman pressured into taking the role of Fred? Why didn't Barney know everyone else would be at the restaurant? Why does the theme song play three separate times? And, most importantly, what about this was supposed to appeal to children?

Make sure to rate, review, and subscribe!

Next week: Groundhog Day (1993)

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Key sources and links for this episode:

• Siskel and Ebert episode discussing the movie (YouTube)
• "Bedrock's Unsolved Mysteries" (Entertainment Weekly)
• "John Goodman Breaks Down His Most Iconic Characters" (GQ on YouTube)
• "Roundtable Writing: A Headache for the Guild" (Los Angeles Times)
• "Joe Biden Dog Commander Bit Secret Service Agents at Least 24 Times" (BBC News)

We're dipping once more into the graveyard of failed franchises with a look at the romance of Stefan Fangmeier's 2006 adaptation of Christopher Paolini's novel Eragon!

Join in as we discuss our own memories of the Inheritance Cycle, the film's lackluster visuals, the first round of Avengers: Doomsday teasers, and Avril Lavigne's "Keep Holding On."

Plus: How long do dragons live? How much time passes during this movie? Why didn't it get a sequel? And, most importantly, where is the line between a genre trope and just being derivative?

Make sure to rate, review, and subscribe!

Next week: The Flintstones (1994)

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Key sources and links for this episode:

• Interview with Stefan Fangmeier at MovieWeb
• Interview with Jeremy Irons at IndieLondon
• "Eragon TV Series in Development at Disney+" (Variety)
• "He Was a Teenage Spy, Surrounded by Treacherous Adults" (New York Times)
• "Shailene Woodley is Officially Passing on the Divergent TV Movie" (Vanity Fair)
• "Crazy Rich Asians Co-Writer Exits Sequel Amid Pay Disparity Dispute" (The Hollywood Reporter)
• Avengers: Doomsday teaser synched up with a pharmaceutical ad

We're attempting to assemble a coherent romance from the incomplete parts of Chris Wedge's 2005 BlueSky film Robots - and mostly failing.

Join in as we discuss impractical public transit systems, William Joyce's great character and world design, and our favorite (of many) fart jokes.

Plus: How do robots die? Do they have souls? Why is this movie's premise so impossibly dark? Why do the female robots have nothing to do? And why was the Meet the Robinsons trailer so incredibly memeable?

Make sure to rate, review, and subscribe!

Next week: Eragon (2006)

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Key sources and links for this episode:

• "Robots Pushes Animation Envelope" (Sydney Morning Herald)
• "Chris Wedge and Bill Joyce Talk Epic" (Animation World Network)
• "If They Could Turn Back Time: How Tech Billionaires are Trying to Reverse the Aging Process" (The Guardian)
• "Startup City Groups Say They're Meeting Trump Officials to Push for Deregulated Freedom Cities" (WIRED)

We're starting the new year with a look at our favorite movies of 2025, and also at DreamWorks Animation's 2015 film Home for some reason.

Join in as we discuss Rihanna's acting career, Steve Martin's performance as Captain Smek, and the 2025 box office.

Plus: What was the death toll of the Boov invasion of Earth? Who were our favorite weird little freaks? And what were the worst movies we saw this year?

Make sure to rate, review, and subscribe!

Next week: Robots (2005)

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Key sources and links for this episode:

• Almost Home prequel short (YouTube)
• "Building a New Foundation" (Animation Magazine)
• Tim Johnson interview with the Huffington Post
• Tim Johnson interview at the Animation Home Network
• "How and Why Barry Jenkins Made Mufasa for Disney" (Vulture)
• “George Clooney Says the ‘Old’ but ‘Smart’ Ocean’s Eleven Gang will ‘Work around their Limitations’ in Upcoming Sequel” (People)
• "Adam Driver on Jarmusch, Star Wars, and Putting Filmmakers First" (Associated Press)
• “Filmmaker Jafar Panahi is Sentenced Again in Iran as Hollywood’s Awards Season Starts” (NPR)