Alternate Ending - Movie Review Podcast

Well, we successfully rallied together to compile our Summer Movie Preview 2021 pull ourselves from our pessimistic trenches and look forward towards a new year with new theatrical possibilities! We know you may not share our optimism, just yet, but with the possibility of seeing A Quiet Place Part II together in a theater on the horizon, nothing can crush our spirits. For fun, we even went back to our last Summer movie preview and it's hard to believe that was TWO YEARS AGO. Personally, I think we've come up with some very fine lists, most of which I'm excited to see (except F9, because Tim's the last person that actually watches those). While it certainly doesn't feel laden with masterpieces, there's enough to keep us interested taking our freshly vaccinated-selves to a well-spaced theater. Throughout the Summer, we'll each pick away at each other's lists until we've seem all of the films we've discussed on the episode. When all is said and done, Tim will lock himself away and crunch the numbers to see who collectively had the best list of the year. On this episode's worth mentioning we cover two patreon requests (and also two of Tim's favorites) F is for Fake and House (1977), as well as, Army of the Dead. Our next Movie Club meetup is coming! Movie Club Movie Meetup is Thursday, May 27th – Mark your calendars! If you're not a Movie Club member, you can sign up here! ***************************************************************** Love the Podcast? Leave us a review! Other places to follow Alternate Ending. Facebook | Instagram | YouTube | Twitter Tim Letterboxd – Rob Letterboxd – Carrie Letterboxd

There was a tie in the poll for this month's Bride of Alternate Ending, so Tim and Brennan are moving one of those fateful picks on over to the main feed and picking up a Carrie along the way! That's right, we're talking CASPER and the mass Devon Sawa sexual awakening that struck America's tweens in 1995.

With the 14-month freeze at the North American box office starting to melt over the last few weeks, and looking to melt even more over the next few weeks, the Alternate Ending crew thought this would be a great time to celebrate the theatrical experience. Our next episode is dedicated to our picks for the top 5 movies to see on the big screen, the kind of film where watching it even on your fancy 4K home theater rig just isn't enough, whether because of the sheer scale of the images, the need for a raucous, enthusiastic crowd, or the chance to give strangers handjobs in the dark. In Worth Mentioning we cover Stowaway, Things Heard and Seen, and The Kid Detective.

As a followup to Alternate Ending's Oscars recap episode, Tim is joining Brennan this week to discuss EUROVISION SONG CONTEST: THE STORY OF FIRE SAGA, the Oscar-nominated song "Húsavík," and the state of the Best Original Song Oscar in general!

The Oscars are over and I think we can say a collective "well, that was weird". The location, the speeches, the music trivia? On this 93rd Academy Awards dedicated episode we cover all of our Oscars 2021 reactions. We take a look at the best and worst moments, out thoughts on the upsets and the usual end to the whole affair. To be fair, it's not all bad. In fact, we find a whole handful of things that we really enjoyed. Most notably, it seems highly probable that somebody phoned in the 75+ humor troop, but I digress. I should mention that there is a glaring miss on talking about the best dressed, so to be clear it was of course Viola Davis. **sizzle** I would be remiss not to mention the Oscar Predictions contest! The rankings among us came in where you might expect, but with Tim bringing in 17 correct predictions that left Rob and I only 2-3 behind! That said, there are wiser (or better guessing) humans amongst us, so with a 19 correct answers, we announce the winner(s) of the 2021 Oscar Prediction Contest! Thanks for playing along with us! In worth mentioning, we share our thoughts on the newest installment of Mortal Kombat and it's own highs and lows. Tim brings his "I'm not going to commit that it's the best film of the year, but I think it's probably the film of the year" pick with Twentieth Century. Our next Movie Club meetup is coming! Movie Club Movie Trivia is Friday, April 30th – Mark your calendars! If you're not a Movie Club member, you can sign up here! ***************************************************************** Love the Podcast? Leave us a review! Other places to follow Alternate Ending. Facebook | Instagram | YouTube | Twitter Tim Letterboxd – Rob Letterboxd – Carrie Letterboxd

We made it to The Falcon and the Winter Soldier SEASON FINALE and we're feeling pretty proud. I guess the old adage is true "misery loves company," because I was feeling pretty solid about the collective AE jabs at the cheesy writing and blatant social commentary. Though, I overheard a gal tell Rob on a work call that she is "absolutely loving The Falcon and the Winter Soldier," that it's her "favorite Marvel series" and that she "loves it way more than Wandavision. Of course all of this feels completely absurd, but to each their own. As I've mentioned (so many times) this show has led us down so many different tangents. We've met so many characters and only somewhat understand their motivations and we're left conflicted about what would even be satisfying for us at the point. The Falcon and the Winter Soldier SEASON FINALE ends up attempting the not-so-small feat of tying up every possible loose end. To add to the intrepidness, they roll all of this into the last 10 minutes of the episode. To focus on the positive a bit, we do see that The Falcon has emerged anew, which some slick new gear. He is in fact, no longer The Falcon, but instead a flying Captain America. I have a whole set of issues with this, but you can listen to the episode to see if you agree. All in all, would we personally recommend this series? Well, we'll talk about that on the episode too! In our shows Worth Mentioning segment, we get a little personal comfort food, if you will. Brennan brings his thoughts on one his his childhood favorites, Animorphs. Rob talks about a new docuseries This Is A Robbery, that he's been watching when I fall asleep at 9pm. I cover the first episode of My Love: Six Stories of True Love, which I feel embarrassed about even as I type (but I'm probably going to keep watching on the ole' Nordictrack). Share your thoughts on the episode in the comments or pre-submit your thoughts on The Falcon and the Winter Soldier episode we're covering to [email protected] to get in on the discussion! Episodes in this series: New World Order S1 E1 The Star-Spangled Man S1 E2 Power Broker S1 E3 The Whole World Is Watching S1 E4 Truth S1 E5 Episodes will be released every Wednesday! Next Up! By Patreon request, we'll be diving head first into the first season of The Nevers. We hope you'll watch along with us! ***************************************************************** Love the Podcast? Leave us a review! Other places to follow Alternate Ending. Facebook | Instagram | YouTube | Twitter Brennan Letterboxd – Rob Letterboxd – Carrie Letterboxd

5 episodes down, 1 to go! The Falcon and the Winter Soldier S1 E5, brings us... honestly, it's hard to remember. We recorded the episode 3 days ago and it's already a blur. If I'm remembering the high points correctly, it went something like: The fake Captain America gets relieved of his hero status and they ask nicely for him to return his shield whenever is convenient for him. Then the Falcon decides to pass off his wings to Torres, begging the question of whether or not this will make his Super Hero name awkward (maybe Wingless Wonder? Un-wing? We'll keep wordsmithing it a bit more). We get a random, but always welcome, cameo from "Elaine-from-Seinfeld" which only adds to the open questions that need to be resolved in this week's final episode. We were excited see Isaiah Bradley again, who provided some sage advice to The Falcon. These keen insights from his experienced mentor are completely disregarded, leading to a strange (and very lengthy) training montage that indicates Captain America's shield can be easily wielded by, just about everyone. The Falcon and the Winter Soldier S1 E5 has continued to bring us new characters and at this point we think it's best bet for ending would be to conclude like The Bob Newhart Show. We shall see! In our shows Worth Mentioning segment, we get a little personal comfort food, if you will. Brennan brings his thoughts on The Office (which is probably retro for him, while Rob and I watched them "live" back in the old days). Rob talks about this super fun show Mythic Quest, which is basically the equivalent of The Office for gamers. And my show, well, I don't want to talk about it.

We are literally a week away from the Oscars and we're all (just Rob and I, actually) scrambling to see as many Oscar nominees as we can, in advance. Like all good procrastinators, we're taking our time to look back at years past at the best awards winners in the Academy's history, with our picks for the Top 5 Acting Oscar Winners! For an added treat, Tim also drops in his bottom 5 acting Oscar winning performances. We all breathed a deep sigh of relief when Jessica Tandy narrowly escaped his list. We had a lot to catch up on and lots of news to share! In worth mentioning, Rob reviews The Sleepover, Tim shares his big feelings on Chaos Walking and the crew decides to gang up on Carrie for her lack of film watching, while she was away at her Grandfather's memorial service this week. Our Amazon movie rental winner for their Top 5 Acting Oscar Winners submission was Snad321, yay you! And, we are ever-so sorry for making it weird and accidentally calling you Snads. Rob needs more sleep. Movie Club Movie Trivia is Friday, April 30th - Mark your calendars! ***************************************************************** Love the Podcast? Leave us a review! Other places to follow Alternate Ending. Facebook | Instagram | YouTube | Twitter Tim Letterboxd – Rob Letterboxd – Carrie Letterboxd

Well, we're still here. Here at Alternate Ending, we're nothing, if not resilient. I'm sort of joking, but as we make our way through The Falcon and the Winter Soldier S1 E4, the lingering feeling that this show was made solely for my Dad, is growing. I know we mentioned on our last episode that there were quite a few plot points to wrap up, but this episode has chosen to only unravel the spool more. The Falcon and the Winter Soldier S1 E4 brings us my favorite Marvaleers - the Wakandans are in town and they are NOT happy with Zemo. Ayo gives Barnes eight hours to use Zemo before the Wakandans take him. Zemo helps find sweet, innocent Carly Morgenthau at a funeral for her adoptive mother. Wilson speaks with Morgenthau alone and attempts to persuade her to end the violence, but because he sucks and nobody wants to listen to him, a fight breaks out. Lots more fighting, lots more wanting the super serum and yada yada. Morgenthau accidentally kills Hoskins and yada yada. THEN Walker wigs out and that's pretty much the episode. We still don't know who the Power Broker is, Captain Underpants, I mean Walker is rogue and Zemo is just meandering around giving kids candy. It really does force you to ask yourself, how can this possibly resolve itself and more importantly, do we even care? In our shows Worth Mentioning segment, things get a little weird (and it's always my fault) as I bring to the table docuseries about essential oils and the tantra (tAHntra? taaaantra?) to the dismay of everybody. Meanwhile Brennan brings something that sounds much more interesting with the show Money Heist and Rob shares a bit of insight into his odd obsession with youth sports with his review of the Netflix series Last Chance U. OH! And Rob and I are also pretty deep into Made for Love, the new hit on HBO Max, and we're really into it! Share your thoughts on the episode in the comments or pre-submit your thoughts on The Falcon and the Winter Soldier episode we're covering to [email protected] to get in on the discussion! Episodes in this series: New World Order S1 E1 The Star-Spangled Man S1 E2 Power Broker S1 E3 Episodes will be released every Wednesday! ***************************************************************** Love the Podcast? Leave us a review! Other places to follow Alternate Ending. Facebook | Instagram | YouTube | Twitter Brennan Letterboxd – Rob Letterboxd – Carrie Letterboxd

As a followup to Alternate Ending's Top 5 Rivalries episode, Brennan is sitting down with Take 2 virgin Rob to discuss TWILIGHT, how it ended up on his list, and why he took it right the hell off!

Well, we made our way through The Falcon and the Winter Soldier S1 E3, we're half way there! This episode brought a few fun surprises, a flurry of new characters and a hefty smattering of loose ends. There is absolutely no way that this show can resolve itself in any sort of satisfying way, in only 3 more episodes, but godspeed to the writers. The Falcon and the Winter Soldier S1 E3 provides us more insight into the motivations of the Flag Smashers and leaves us grappling with who we really should to be rooting for (not a point that we entirely agree on). We also meet a few powerhouse ladies and dive into the different aspects of representation Marvel is infusing in each episode. In our "shows worth mentioning" segment, Brennan brings a recap of all of the Animated Oscar Shorts and I brought my perspective on this terrible little mini-doc The Last Cruise. Share your thoughts on the episode (or shows that you're loving!!) in the comments or pre-submit your thoughts on The Falcon and the Winter Soldier episode we're covering to [email protected] to get in on the discussion! Episodes in this series: New World Order S1 E1 The Star-Spangled Man S1 E2 Power Broker S1 E3 Episodes will be released every Wednesday! ***************************************************************** Love the Podcast? Leave us a review! Other places to follow Alternate Ending. Facebook | Instagram | YouTube | Twitter Brennan Letterboxd – Rob Letterboxd – Carrie Letterboxd

With Godzilla squaring off against King Kong (for the second time!), we've turned our attention to some of the best versus-es in cinema history. We're getting ready to fight about the top 5 rivalries in movie history, the antagonism and fighting and lifelong grudges and discovering that you both have mothers with the first name "Martha", and all of it. In Worth Mentioning, we cover Godzilla vs Kong, Assassin 33 A.D. and WeWork.

I'm calling it now, I don't think this is going to be my favorite show of all time (we can't all be Friends), but nevertheless, we're back with The Falcon and the Winter Soldier S1 E2, because it's fun to commiserate about the flare and flaws that come with millions of Disney's dollars. Admittedly, we were feeling the love (well more like, a solid first date where nobody does anything creepy) for episode 1. I don't know if the high just wore off a bit, but we collectively were feeling a bit blaahhh about The Falcon and the Winter Soldier S1 E2. If you've seen the episode, you be the judge if our thoughts jive with yours or if we just were feeding off of each others pessimism. In other good news, my Dad reached out this week and after 3 short months of Rob telling him about Wandavision being on Disney+, he called to confirm how to login to his TV and wondered how to find WonderWanda. So what I'm saying is, this TV advocacy is really paying off. We hope you'll share your thoughts on the episode (or shows that you're loving!!) in the comments or pre-submit your thoughts on The Falcon and the Winter Soldier episode we're covering to [email protected] to get in on the discussion! Episodes will be released every Wednesday for the next 6 weeks. ***************************************************************** Love the Podcast? Leave us a review! Other places to follow Alternate Ending. Facebook | Instagram | YouTube | Twitter Brennan Letterboxd – Rob Letterboxd – Carrie Letterboxd

As a followup to Alternate Ending's Top 5 Belated Sequels, Brennan is sitting down with Carrie to discuss a movie both of them just watched for the very first time… ROCKY! Join us as we discuss the moments in the film that haven't aged quite so well, Carrie drops a bizarre truth bombs about the biology of empathy pain, and we generally just have a conversation that certainly won't make anyone mad under any circumstances!

As soon as we hit 4 content feedback survey submissions and with 50% of those saying they were interested in a podcast dedicated to television, Rob deemed it necessary that the Alternate Ending community know our immediate feelings on The Falcon and the Winter Soldier. Unlike Tim, who after a long, stressful day unwinds with a little Salò, or the 120 Days of Sodom, sometimes Rob and I just won't make it through a 2-hour-and-something movie, by the time the kids have come down 17 times to tell us their thirsty or remind us that they hate school. So instead, what usually happens is we have a mini-marital spat about "somebody finding something good" (it's actually not that mini, it's one of our biggest rage-triggers) and one of us ends up wielding the unwanted power of finding something interesting for the next 45 minutes before we drift off. So we'll just say it in hushed voices. We love TV. There. It's out there. We love movies too, but we also love what TV has to offer our fatigued-parent lives. The other thing is, we love talking about TV too... we bore our friends and neighbors with all of our favorites. It's fair to say that Rob is desperate for TV community... even my Dad is ghosting him... All that said, the only way Rob could get me on board with starting a pod spin-off is to call this what it is, this is a podcast pilot. A 6 episode pilot - A Worthy Binge, where Rob and I will be joined by Brennan Klein to pick our way through the first season of The Falcon and the Winter Soldier! Episodes will be released every Wednesday for the next 6 weeks. We hope you'll share your thoughts on the episode in the comments or submit your questions our pre-submit your thoughts on The Falcon and the Winter Soldier episode we're covering to [email protected] to get in on the discussion! In Worth Mentioning, we cover Search Party, Servant and BrainDead. ***************************************************************** Love the Podcast? Leave us a review! Other places to follow Alternate Ending. Facebook | Instagram | YouTube | Twitter Brennan Letterboxd – Rob Letterboxd – Carrie Letterboxd

With a big thank you to Patreon subscriber Carter, we officially had the most fun we've had in a LONG TIME covering our Top 5 belated sequels. Despite having more overlap than we've had in awhile, we still manage to find ourselves carefully belittling each others picks. You know, like real friends do. We had a lot to catch up on and lots of news to share! In worth mentioning, Rob reviews Flora & Ulysses and Carrie brings her loving feelings for I Care A Lot. Tim shares is not so loving feelings on Cherry but is able to rebound with much admiration for the Across 110th Street, in celebration of the life and many great performances of Yaphet Kotto. Tim and Rob both commiserate on Zack Snyder's Justice League Parts 2-3, while Carrie briefly naps in her chair. Thanks to a hilarious "Tim's Sack" submission we all share our most horrifying movie date experience. Ahhhh sweet memories. Our Amazon movie rental winner this week was Hunter Allen, highly recommend using it to rent Mary Poppins Returns. Upcoming news: Thanks to everybody who has already responded to our 2021 Feedback Survey! We've been overwhelmed by the thoughtful feedback and constructive criticism. Your thoughts will directly help us decide where to dedicate our time in Alternate Ending over the next year. If you haven't responded, the survey is open until April 5th! Movie Club Movie Trivia is Friday, March 26th at 8p cst! ***************************************************************** Love the Podcast? Leave us a review! Other places to follow Alternate Ending. Facebook | Instagram | YouTube | Twitter Tim Letterboxd – Rob Letterboxd – Carrie Letterboxd

As a followup to the Spoiler Alert episode discussing Kurosawa's Kagemusha and Ran, Brennan is sitting down with Tim to discuss the Godzilla franchise, many of which were directed by Kurosawa's compatriot Honda Ishiro! Join us as we discuss the various horrible forms that baby Godzilla has taken throughout the years, our top (and bottom) 3 Godzilla films, and even get a scoop on next week's main feed episode!"

I love my kids. Though, between you and me, I also really loved my life before kids too. I've definitely sunken into all of the parenting cliches of glueing finger paintings all over my house, seeing my friends almost never and saying things like "because I said so" a million times a day. The thing is, I swear used to be fun. I never missed a party (like never ever, actually, I probably should have skipped a few). I traveled, hiked, biked, spiked... I was in a band for Godsakes! But having kids is like a constant battle, waged on your sense of self, and they usually win. I said I love my kids, right? The thing about Yes Day... I don't think it's a film for everybody. In fact, I know Tim is going to want to claw his ear drums out. But the thing about Yes Day is that I feel seen. Miguel Arteta and the writing team know me. They know that I used to be fun. They know that I thought I was going to be the "fun parent." They know I can't be because my husband is made of unset pudding and can't bear to tell the kids "no". They know that I'm the one that understands the importance of not wasting food. They know that I'm doing the right thing when I don't help them clean up all of their messes. They know that most of the time I feel like a terrible Mom, because trying to raise good humans sometimes means "saying no." **Deep inhales** Talking with Miguel Arteta I know I say this all the time, but gosh, what a nice guy. Miguel Arteta is a Puerto Rican director known for his independent film Chuck & Buck , The Good Girl and Like a Boss. It seems like directors are always so relieved when we love their movies. There was an audible weight lifted as we shared that our whole family gave Yes Day a big thumbs up. It's been hard for us to find family films that all of four of us connect with, so lately we've defaulted to some of the classics (DON'T re-watch The Mighty Ducks, DO re-watch Jumanji). We hope you enjoy hearing more about Yes Day, from Miguel Arteta. Yes Day is available on streaming March 12, 2021! ***************************************************************** Love the Podcast? Leave us a review! Other places to follow Alternate Ending. Facebook | Instagram | YouTube | Twitter Tim Letterboxd – Rob Letterboxd – Carrie Letterboxd

Real talk. The most common question I get from friends about Alternate Ending is, "how do you juggle it all, on top of jobs and kids and the rest of your life?" The motivational speech answer is, we juggle and take on too much, until one of us feels like we're on the verge of a panic attack and then the other person rises to the occasion, if the other breaks. Feel free to write that down in your wellness journal. On this particular occasion, Rob was on day 5 of the same pair of sweatpants and his face was twitching. And that, is the story of how I ended up going-it-alone on a press interview for Language Lessons with Mark Duplass and Natalie Morales. So many questions about making Language Lessons Without having participated in a press junket, I over-planned and prepped a million questions, because what if nobody else remembered to join? Or what if there were only two of us and the other interviewer underprepared and I had to carry the conversation? OR what if Mark Duplass and Natalie Morales realized at the exact same moment that we were destined to be best friends and we ended up talking for hours? As it turns out, real press don't forget about their interviews with movie stars or get confused with time zones and they come prepared with really great questions that make me question everything about my originality. Why You'll Love Mark Duplass and Natalie Morales Few movies focus on true platonic friendship. There always seems to be an underlying romantic intent, but in the case of Language Lessons it's ends up being so much more about how our need for human connection and how our empathy drives us forward. I should mention the the film is almost entirely captured on ZOOM, but the screens that separate them do not detract from the characters chemistry. The film's premise is that Adam (Mark Duplass) has been gifted Spanish lessons from his partner Will (Desean Terry) with a young Cuban woman Cariño (Natalie Morales). The film takes such unexpected gut-punching turns that make "another ZOOM" movie uniquely fresh. Read the full Language Lessons review here from Brennan Klein ***************************************************************** Love the Podcast? Leave us a review! Other places to follow Alternate Ending. Facebook | Instagram | YouTube | Twitter Tim Letterboxd – Rob Letterboxd – Carrie Letterboxd

Our next podcast topic comes courtesy of Patreon subscriber Andrew, who had a simple request: watch and discuss two of the richest, most exhausting costume dramas ever filmed. It's a Spoiler Alert this time around, as we dive deep into the late epics by the legendary Japanese director Kurosawa Akira: the 1980 Palme d'Or winner Kagemusha, and the monumental King Lear adaptation Ran, from 1985. That's almost six hours of the most sumptuous pageantry Japanese cinema (or world cinema, for that matter) has to offer, and six hours of the most morally complicated anti-war fury as well. It's no small task to undertake both of these movies in one go, but we're up for the challenge! In Worth Mentioning we're cover Tom & Jerry, Coming 2 America, The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge on the Run, Raya and the Last Dragon, Language Lessons and Yes Day.

At the Ready premiered at Sundance 2021 and I was super excited about it. It appeared on my most anticipated films of Sundance list, in fact. The headline reads "a group of seniors train to become border control agents at El Paso's Horizon High School, near the US/Mexico border." I surmised that the film would feature stupid kids that don't have a big-picture view on humanity. Then, over the course of At the Ready I was going to feel all warm and fuzzy as these kids are given an education on empathy and how we treat other humans. Well, I was wrong. The the small-minded view on humanity, instead fell on me. A bit about At the Ready At the Ready is a documentary that aims to show the world "in the gray". Immigration is such a polarizing topic and the last several years have pushed us into very tightly woven perspectives. At the Ready focuses on El Paso, Texas because its demographic is predominantly hispanic, so the officers who police the border are largely of Mexican descent. At the Ready focuses on the lives of a handful of students that are a part of this "border control" training program so that we can better understand the perspectives of why in the world this job would be appealing. I'll offer a bit about the gray parts (but I encourage you to see At the Ready for yourself). Not to mince words, these jobs are very well-paid and offer solid benefits. Beyond that, in El Paso, border agents are seen as jobs that actually are a service to not only the US, but also to families coming to the border. In fact, the perspective is as a border agent you are helping to guide and provide needed services. The job is respected and valued in the community. Admittedly, with my 2000 mile away view from Madison, WI, I just always pictured a bunch of dudes with buzz cuts, that got picked on in high school and decided they wanted to exert control over people in need. But see, there's that small-minded view. Sitting down with Maisie Crow I told Crow right out of the gate that I see the world in black and white. Then she told me she sees the world in the gray (which is the accurate way to see the world, btw). So what I'm saying is, the interview went well. Crow shared how her background in reporting enables her to share the origins of perspectives she may not sure. I asked her if it's difficult to not feel the frustration of documenting the adults and educators who express ideologies incongruous to her own. She said no, it's not hard. Because she's a documentarian and not an emotionally-charged psychopath like me. Well, she didn't say that last part, but she thought it for sure. **************************************************************** Love the Podcast? Leave us a review! Other places to follow Alternate Ending. Facebook | Instagram | YouTube | Twitter Tim Letterboxd – Rob Letterboxd – Carrie Letterboxd

Welcome to the inaugural episode of Take 2, a sideshow hosted by AE contributor Brennan Klein, where every other week we will dive deep into a movie mentioned on the previous episode. As a followup to the Top 5 Love Scenes episode, Brennan is sitting down with Carrie to discuss a movie she had never seen before: 2005's BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN! Join us as we discuss our differing opinions on who is the more frustrating partner, Carrie goes to great lengths to make sure she can see every detail of the tent scene, and Brennan teaches her about a LOT of gay sex stuff!

Wild Indian made it's debut at Sundance 2021 Wild Indian stars Makwa (Michael Greyeyes), a young Anishinaabe boy, is dealing with two pretty terrible parents.. He's abused, he's neglected and all of the trauma pours over into his mental health. He and his only friend, Ted-O, like to escape by playing in the woods, until the day Makwa murders a schoolmate. It's a shocking and unexpected moment that leaves you considering whether to blame nature or nurture. After covering up the crime, the two boys go on to live verydifferent lives. Now, as adult men, we see these two different paths converge and the outcome is once again, unsettling. Makwa has become professionally powerful but has not shed the ghosts from his past. Makwa is juggling the married man life with his wife (Kate Bosworth), his executive life where we meet his eager employee (Jesse Eisenberg) and his sociopathic/creeper life. Talk about a lot going on. A bit about composer Gavin Brivik It was a pleasure to sit down with the mind behind the film score of Wild Indian Gavin Brivik. The candid conversation flowed easily and could have probably continued for a few more hours. Brivik is a composer best known for his work on the Netflix original series Living Undocumented (2019), the 90th Academy Award Nominated film My Nephew Emmett(2018) and the Blumhouse/Netflix Original film Cam (2018). We talk about breaking into the industry, hitching your cart the "right horse" and how sometimes you have to place bets on yourself and a film to get your foot in the door into Hollywood. Albeit for many of these up-and-coming score designers, the cart has no wheels and the the bets are free. Wild Indian hasn't been picked up for release yet, but in the meantime, enjoy Gavin Brivik's work! ********************************************************************** Love the Podcast? Leave us a review! Other places to follow Alternate Ending. Facebook | Instagram | YouTube | Twitter Tim Letterboxd – Rob Letterboxd – Carrie Letterboxd

Valentine's Day is just behind us, but we're still feeling a little swoony and amorous. That's why our next episode is going to be dedicated to those movie moments that make us feel all tingly and gushy inside, with our picks for the top 5 love scenes in movie history. Maybe they're as sweet as a first kiss on a spring day; maybe they're as hot and steamy as the lead-up to a round of athletic screwing; maybe they involve very prim Brits in seventeen layers of clothing finding the moral strength to refer to each other by first names. Whatever the case, if it made us feel that pang of romantic longing, you can expect to see it on our lists. In Worth Mentioning we cover Little Fish, The Mauritanian and Rams.

You've probably never heard of Little Fish and that's a real problem. It's like when you hear some 14 year old, who is also an Inta-Snap-Tic-Tac-Toe influencer, makes bazillions of dollars singing auto-tuned rhymes, while the actual musical geniuses are eating ramen and playing at dive bars in Chicago. I'll get this out of the way first, the "will love prevail in the face of imminent disaster?" trope has my name all over it It worked for me in Eternal Sunshine, and Perfect Sense and it worked for me big time in Little Fish. It probably helps to add that our love story begins with Olivia Cooke and Jack O'Connell, whose chemistry will ignite your own memories of those first intense months of a relationship, destined for more than smooches (if you know what I'm sayin'). As we all come to find, relationships can be hard. They're made even more difficult when a global virus is spreading quickly and robs you of your memories. I'll just leave the plot there, because Little Fish ends up being so much more about the experience of the film than anything else. Mattson Tomlin based Little Fish on a short story by Aja Gabel and is brought to life by the creative mind of Chad Hartigan. We had a chance to sit down with Hartigan and talk about how he was able to capture the intensity of their fear, grief and love, simultaneously making us feel a bit like we were either dreaming or on drugs. We really enjoyed our time with Hartigan and we hope you will too! Watch Little Fish with your partner who doesn't like to watch movies with you Just some unsolicited relationship advice, that's all. There's something in it for you, there's something in it for them and for any couple that has defied the dire current relationship statistics, compromise is almost always the answer. *************************************************************************** Love the Podcast? Leave us a review! Other places to follow Alternate Ending. Facebook | Instagram | YouTube | Twitter Tim Letterboxd – Rob Letterboxd – Carrie Letterboxd

I'll put my hand on the bible right now and tell you right now that Mother Schmuckers will be the weirdest movie you'll see all year. Weirder than The Holy Mountain. Well, maybe equally weird but in such different ways. There's fecal consumption and bestiality and plenty of unshaven-body nudity. What am I even saying, it's exactly The Holy Mountain. I'm going to plagiarize the Sundance's synopsis of Mother Schmuckersbecause frankly, I have no idea what I saw Two low-down, rotten brothers named Issachar and Zabulon are starving and can't seem to scrounge up a meal anywhere. Things only get worse when they lose the beloved dog belonging to their mom, Cashmere, who kicks them out of the family apartment until they return her nippy little January Jack. Things are going to get uncomfortably bizarre with these two dopes on the run in the ruthless urban jungle of Brussels. Filthy and yet oh-so-charming, the Belgian filmmaking duo of Harpo and Lenny Guit (who will likely never be confused with the other Belgian directing duo, the Dardenne brothers) are quite the Midnight discovery. Their madcap adventure goes gross Three Stooges. It's sparkling with energy, lo-fi visual trickery, and the ingenuity to make every creative decision equal parts surprising and ridiculous. Mother Schmuckers is sure to offend some—hell, that's the point—but it is destined to find cult comedy status. Contains graphic depictions of animal abuse, sexual violence, and other subject matter that could be offensive to some viewers. Not suitable for audiences under 18. Not suitable for audiences under 38, actually Mother Schmuckers was all a bit overwhelming for my sensibilities. Its gross gags build on each other, each time becoming more shocking. To be clear, it started with pan-fried poop. What's even more shocking is that somewhere in its 70 min runtime, a bit of charm emerges. If you put your brain on pause and forget the horrifying nature of what you're watching, you see two very wildly imaginative young directors who are having so much fun. They are trying to shock you and to make you uncomfortable. They hope that you're questioning whether you should turn it off, but end up watching until the end. For these things, Mother Schmuckers is a huge success. ***************************************************************** Love the Podcast? Leave us a review! Other places to follow Alternate Ending. Facebook | Instagram | YouTube | Twitter Tim Letterboxd – Rob Letterboxd – Carrie Letterboxd

In the chaos of Sundance we had about 10 minutes to spare. Luckily Raspberry was just 7 breezy minutes between me and snagging some lunch. At minute 1 my eyes were quickly pooling with water, by minute 2 I had tears streaming down my face, by minute 3 I was laughing, at minute 4 I was laughing through sobs, coming in at minute 5 I was audibly crying and sucking back nose drool, rolling on to minute 6 I was in shock and by the final minute I had a tension headache. Raspberry is a film you have to experience for yourself There is basically one plot point that is a spoiler, so don't worry, I'll steer clear. A family is grieving the timely loss of their father and husband. With almost no dialogue, we have a sense of the family dynamics and each child's relationship with their Dad. What's more, we understand their fears and insecurities and how they are respectively dealing with their personal tragedy. The experience of Raspberry is deeply personal and offers its viewer a glimpse into the sometimes awkward situations we can't avoid. While it was mostly ugly crying for me, there is some levity brought by Raymond Lee. It's little things like movements and ever-so slightly jarring sounds, that make you giggle. Julian Doan played my heart like a mandolin In our interview with writer/director Julian Doan, he basically explains to us that every single emotional beat was planned. Every noise, every gesture was expertly created to sear my heart. Like I said, Raspberry feels born of personal experience and because of that, Doan sharing the film being a way to process his final moments with his own father was slightly less of a gut punch. I mean, it was still like when you catch your pinky toe on the coffee table, but at least I felt like I saw it coming. I know you're probably shaking your head because I know you think I'm a giant mush-ball that's an easy-sell for a movie like this, so if you don't believe me, maybe you'll believe Tim. ***************************************************************** Love the Podcast? Leave us a review! Other places to follow Alternate Ending. Facebook | Instagram | YouTube | Twitter Tim Letterboxd – Rob Letterboxd – Carrie Letterboxd

I'm going to tag this post as #journalingforwellness and #freetherpy and hope that you don't throw rotten tomatoes at me as a traverse my feelings on Cowboys. The last few years has forced me to grapple with some hard truths about myself. I've spent the majority of my life thinking that I was "good" just because I don't care what you look like, who who love or how you live your life. But that complacency has made me so terribly ignorant. Somehow I thought I was "better" because I didn't ask questions, because being inquisitive means that you see somebody differently and because I DON'T CARE, I now have so much to learn. Ugh. A bit about Cowboys... The story at its core introduces us to Josie "Joe" (Sasha Knight), who is a 10 year old kid that is acutely aware he was born in the "wrong body" and identifies as a boy. Joe gets up the courage to tell his parents that he wants to nix the dresses his Mom keeps pushing on him and live and present as a young man. His parents' response is mixed and friction arrises between Troy (Steve Zahn) and Sally (Jillian Bell). At this point, Troy does what all good spouses do when you disagree on parenting - he flees the state with his son, in search of Canada (because everybody is kind there, as you know). Though, it's much more complicated than that. While you're probably thinking "GO ZAHHHN!", he struggles with fractures in his own mental health that make running off into the wild, not the most solid parenting decision. Preparing for our interview with the cast of Cowboys... Two interviews were ahead of us. The first with Sasha Knight and Steve Zahn, followed by a conversation with Jillian Bell and Anna Kerrigan. While Sasha is playing a trans character, he is also trans "in real life." It was so, so (so) important to me to non-creepily convey my admiration for his bravery to represent the trans community. I'm still not really sure if I succeeded, but you can listen to the interview to judge me quietly. Admittedly, while we were thinking through our questions for Knight and Zahn, I felt overwhelmed by all of my potential missteps or any possibility that I might hurt a single feeling. So, I phoned a friend (well, two actually). Our good friends daughter came out as trans a couple years ago and not only are they wonderfully supportive of their daughter, they are wonderfully supportive of educating their friends. I asked so many nit picky questions - "can I say in the trans community? because if I say that, does it imply that you're not in MY community?" Like, REALLY nit picky. I spent so must time worrying about what I wanted to say to Knight, I ran out of time to fully think through what I wanted to say to Steve Zahn and Jillian Bell. Did the fear meet reality... My goodness. Sasha Knight is the first child-actor I've interviewed and realize now that it totally triggered Mom-mode. I sort of forgot Zahn was there for a bit and zeroed in on school and how much fun he had being a part of such a big movie. I was so impressed by the poise and polish of this young 10 year old, whose confidence is no doubt built on the foundation of his supportive parents (who were sweetly whispering in the background of the interview). Zahn reminded us that he was a part of the movie by jumping in on a few questions too. We also had a chance to talk to Jillian Bell and director Anna Kerrigan. If you were wondering, Rob was able to squeeze in a joke about "running a marathon" with Bell, which received an audible eye roll (ha!). With these two we spent more time talking about the message of movie and what they hope viewers take away. And while I probably agree with with Brennan's review, that Cowboys is entry level LGBTQ cinema, we all have to start somewhere! ***************************************************************** Love the Podcast? Leave us a review! Other places to follow Alternate Ending. Facebook | Instagram | YouTube | Twitter Tim Letterboxd – Rob Letterboxd – Carrie Letterboxd

Jockey didn't make my most anticipated list of Sundance, because frankly, horse movies usually depress me. The horse always gets injured or dies or gets injured and then dies and who amongst us really needs that kind of heartbreak right now? Well shame on me for judging In a surprising turn, I don't even really remember much about a horse in Jockey. I mean, there definitely is a horse and there is definitely horse racing but the tragedy is wrapped up in the self-destructive addiction to a profession, which he believes gives him purpose. In so many ways it's reminiscent of Sound of Metal, in that you'll be tightly clenching your teeth and yelling "JUST STOP" with exasperation, for most of the film. A bit more about Jockey from the festival program Seasoned horse jockey Jackson (Clifton Collins Jr.) has weathered decades of races on the riding circuit, but he now finds himself facing what could be his last season as his health deteriorates. With the help of Ruth (Molly Parker) and a promising new horse, Jackson starts to prepare for the upcoming championship. His plans take a left turn when a budding young jockey (Moisés Arias) shows up and claims to be his son. Caught between yearning for a connection and uncertainty about his own future, Jackson confronts difficult questions regarding his legacy. Shot at a live racetrack and with a keen eye for veracity, Jockey gives us an achingly personal window into a world we've never seen up close before, where fortunes are flipped upside down from one moment to the next and the freedom of riding comes at a grueling physical price. Collins delivers an intimately layered performance guided by director Clint Bentley, whose own experiences imbue authenticity and naturalism into this moving portrait of a sport unlike any other. Clifton Collins Jr. undoubtedly gives an outstanding performance that earned him the U.S. Dramatic Special Jury Award for Best Actor. Personally, I thought that Moisés Arias' (who you might remember as the best part of Five Feet Apart) performance was really great, as well. About the interview with the cast from Jockey We had a link to a panel conversation following the movie, which usually are the cast on a ZOOM link with a moderator asking questions. It was 8pm, so I jumped up to put our kiddos to bed and Rob decided to pop in to check out the conversation (from bed, in his nighty shirt). When I came back 20 minutes later, Rob was nowhere to be found. He did emerge finally from the basement (after I had dealt with 30 minutes of the kids demanding water and snacks and other absurd things). The story goes, that when Rob joined the ZOOM, he was one of 4 other press members and Clifton asked why "this Rob Jarosinski guy wasn't joining on the video." Which triggered a frantic search for a hat and a race to the basement to plug in and record. So please enjoy this unique episode with Clifton Collins Jr., Clint Bentley and Greg Kwedar! ***************************************************************** Love the Podcast? Leave us a review! Other places to follow Alternate Ending. Facebook | Instagram | YouTube | Twitter Tim Letterboxd – Rob Letterboxd – Carrie Letterboxd

Well, Sundance is over and we're all breathing a collective sigh of exhausted relief. Over the course of 5 days, we cumulatively watched over 50 features and shorts. While our experiences were wildly different, with Tim watching at least 7 films a day and cranking out reviews, while Rob and I averaged 3-4 films a day and stressed about prepping for interviews. On this episode we talk about some of the highs and lows of Sundance and our varied perspectives on the best movies. There was certainly a wild mix of movies, from dudes with testicles flying off to 90's beastiality comedy (was that a thing?!). To be fair, there were some really great movies too that made us feel good about humanity warmed our hearts, but I guess I don't need to keep talking about Tim's #1 pick. In Worth Mentioning we cover Cowboys and Earwig and the Witch. *********************************************************** Love the Podcast? Leave us a review! Other places to follow Alternate Ending. Facebook | Instagram | YouTube | Twitter Tim Letterboxd – Rob Letterboxd – Carrie Letterboxd

Eight for Silver made the Most Anticipated Movies of Sundance lists for both Rob AND Tim. Despite our often differing tastes, there are still through lines that connect us. For this film, "extreme violence and gore," meets werewolves, was all they needed to know. I'll tell you my worry, for this Eight For Silver interview For starters, Boyd Holbrook and Alistair Petrie. These two edgy bad-guys top my list of favorites. I loved Holbrook in Logan and Petrie in Rogue One, but with my penchant for revennge and holding grudges, I wasn't sure I wanted to meet these two. Nevertheless, Rob reminded me that they are in fact "actors" and are probably lovely in real life and they were lovely, indeed. We also had a chance to talk with the mind behind this wild horror-haunting-monster genre mash-up, Sean Ellis. I mean, the dude clearly has incredible talent, that is obvious even if you're not a "extreme gore" fan. Metro Manila and Anthropoid were two of his more popular films. Three interviews for the price of one We met with Holbrook first and his mellow Kentuckian disposition, put us right at ease. He was funny and casual and as you probably can guess, my favorite parts of the conversation are when we deviate from talking about movies (ha!). So, in particular, I really in enjoyed talking about family and kids and juggling all of that, on top of a career. Then on to Petrie, which is where things get a bit more intimidating. English people, right? There is just a shift is presence and polish that puts my insecurities on edge. I probably just didn't breathe for the first five minutes or so, as I tried to settle in to his sense of humor. Of course this always-villain was incredibly gregarious and warm, gosh, why would I ever have thought differently. The conclusion of our interview is something best caught on video. All I'll say is that Rob's ZOOM dropped, immediately after he's caught Petrie off guard asking about his foundation Borne, which is something he is passionate about, given his personal experience with premature birth and miscarriage. My heart skipped 17 beats, as attempted to plug in and carry the conversation without any premeditated questions. I still haven't played it back to see the horror on my face, probably never will. At long last, Sean Ellis. He came to us from his closet and admitted he hadn't brushed his hair. We commiserated, but truth be told, we don't usually brush our hair and still did for this interview. I hadn't heard of his name before Sundance this year. However, Ellis proactively offered that his preference is to not have his name known, so the film's success is marked by the story and its characters. A mini snapshot of Eight For Silver, that it no way prepares you for what you're about to see In the late nineteenth century, brutal land baron Seamus Laurent (Alistair Petrie) slaughters a Roma clan, unleashing a curse on his family and village. In the days that follow, the townspeople are plagued by nightmares, Seamus's son Edward (Max Mackintosh) goes missing, and a boy is found murdered. The locals suspect a wild animal, but visiting pathologist John McBride (Boyd Holbrook) warns of a more sinister presence lurking in the woods. It's pretty grim and it's definitely filled with more than one cringe-worthy jump scare, but it's also incredibly beautiful and provides an interesting commentary on some of the social issues of the time. And, if you're like Rob and Tim, it's pretty extreme and violent and gory and you'll probably love it. ***************************************************************** Love the Podcast? Leave us a review! Other places to follow Alternate Ending. Facebook | Instagram | YouTube | Twitter Tim Letterboxd – Rob Letterboxd – Carrie Letterboxd

While the experience of the students at Lowell High School is many standard deviations from my own, its exploration is an empathy trip, nevertheless. The college application process has become increasingly rigorous and the competition for top tier schools is tight. The teens in Try Harder! have centered their entire high school experience around joining the "right" clubs, making the "correct" connections and constantly seeking perfection in the name of "Stanford". Granted, Lowell kids aren't your average students, but their plight is shared by so many teens today. Try Harder! reminds us how relieved we are that high school is over Filmmaker Debbie Lum, takes us on a eye-opening anxiety ride (I do mean that kindly) that follows 5 students with very different familial and socioeconomic backgrounds. Beyond that, the film explores the realities of racial bias and its role in educational opportunities. For a moment, we get a peek into these teens lives and boy, it's stressful. Catching up with filmmaker Debbie Lum I had mentally prepared for Rob to unknowingly alienate me from the conversation as he and Lum exchanged "Thurston Howell" chuckles about the good-old-days of being in advanced high school programs. To be clear, this premonition didn't come from a place of insecurity, but rather born of Try Harder!'s connectedness to "nerd culture" in high performing schools. But I was wrong (you can blame that on my 23 I got on the ACT). Lum's intimate portrait of high school's many intense pressures was really just the work of an experienced filmmaker. In fact, her experience was much like mine. Sorry Rob. We hope you enjoy the conversation as much as we did - you can check out Try Harder! when it releases on February 12, 2021. Catch our video interview with Debbie Lum! ****************************************** Love the Podcast? Leave us a review! Other places to follow Alternate Ending. Facebook | Instagram | YouTube | Twitter Tim Letterboxd – Rob Letterboxd – Carrie Letterboxd

From sleeping amongst the wildlife to building set pieces from scratch, Robin Wright went all in on Land Robin Wright hasn't done many interviews on her new film Land. We know, because we googled like crazy to capture a glimpse of her, in an effort to baseline our conversational expectations. So why us, we thought? We're not professional interviewers, by any stretch, and we're not exactly People magazine. The truth is, our chat with Wright about her directorial debut, Land, will forever remain one of those magical mysteries that make life wild and unpredictable. Leading up to the interview we joked a lot about how we could infuse questions about The Princess Bride and House of Cards, but all the sarcasm flew out the door 15 minutes leading up to our interview. My left arm pit was sweating like crazy, my right eye was rapidly twitching and Rob had started doing the thing he does where he talks more intensely and asks me lots of questions, which only makes my arm pit sweat more. Then, there she was. Gosh darnit, we thought we were prepared, but if she wasn't even more lovely than we could have ever imagined. To tell you that all of my anxiety melted away would be mostly true, but I'm also not sure I could have told you exactly what we talked about more than 10 seconds after our conversation ended, either. The conversation flowed easily with Wright's careful and measured responses. We had to literally bite our lower lips to not jump in during the small gaps of silence. Wright shares her perspective on the timeliness of Land and the urgency of its message. She also shares candidly, "I wanted to do this movie in particular because it came to me during the time when the world and America was experiencing the random shootings that were going on, almost bi-weekly and I'm just thinking about the level of grief these poor people are experiencing and how do you get through that?" I've gotten ahead of myself a bit, so let me tell you a bit about Land When Edee's (Robin Wright) life is tragically altered (it's really bad), she loses the ability to connect with the world and people she once knew. She retreats to a forest in the Rocky Mountains with a few supplies and leaves her old life behind indefinitely. The beauty of her new surroundings is undeniable yet quickly humbling as she struggles to adjust and prepare for the winter ahead. When Edee is caught on the brink of death, a local hunter (Demián Bichir) and his family miraculously save her, but she alone must find a way to live again. The film has other layers too. It's about resilience and hope and perseverance, but Land doesn't suggest that these things can or should be solved alone. Rather, we need the help of others, with community and friendship, being at the core of our wellness. The secret to why Land will be successful for Robin Wright Connection and community, indeed. Wright was quick to elevate the work of her fellow castmates and crew. From the team who erected the dilapidated cabin to her literal hero in the movie (Demián Bichir). Wright reminds us that being genuine and having compassion, really matters. With a director and a cast who lives those values, it makes it a whole lot easier for us to believe it on the screen. PS. If you're like us and you had no idea that Robin runs a jammie company, you should definitely check out Pour Les Femmes. Video coverage of the interview with Robin Wright! ****************************************** Love the Podcast? Leave us a review! Other places to follow Alternate Ending. Facebook | Instagram | YouTube | Twitter Tim Letterboxd – Rob Letterboxd – Carrie Letterboxd

The Alternate Ending gang is going to the Sundance Film Festival! Or, anyway, the Sundance Film Festival is coming to us: due to the ongoing public health crisis, the 2021 edition of the fest is going to be conducted entirely online from January 28-February 3, meaning that we don't even have to brave the snowy mountains of Utah to get a peek at the wide world of indie films. We can do it right from the equally snow fields of Wisconsin. But at least we don't have to deal with mountains! Um... Either way, we have a wide assortment of 72 films to pick from, and we're going to spend our next episode getting ready for the festival by discussing some of the movies we're most excited to see, from new works by major directors to exciting debuts, from gritty documentaries to feverish genre films. Our Sundance 2021 preview will also give us a chance to compare notes on the best way to tackle a film festival in strange times like these. Check out the Sundance schedule! In Worth Mentioning, we cover Monty Python's Life of Brian thanks to Patreon, Jack Chivers and The Father. Rob: 5. John in the Hole 4. CODA 3. Eight For Silver 2. Land 1. Judas and the Black Messiah Carrie: 5. Searchers 4. Passing 3. Together Together 2. At The Ready 1. CODA Tim: 5. Eight For Silver 4. Judas and the Black Messiah 3. In The Earth 2. President 1. Prisoners of the Ghostland

So we've reached the end of another very normal year, full of very normal movies, and there's only one thing to do: painstakingly sort through all the many, many films available to us, to select our top ten best movies of 2020. Join us as we share notes on our many adventures with streaming, our very few (and genuinely nerve-wracking experiences with post-pandemic movie theaters, and all the time we've had to catch up on great movies from years past. Reliving the last 12 months might sound like the worst decision you could possibly make right now, but with Rob, Carrie, and Tim by your side, we promise it will be... probably still pretty horrible, but at least with dick jokes! Rob: 10. The Climb 9. The Painter and the Thief 8. Boys State 7. Sound of Metal 6. The Invisible Man 5. The Nest 4. Let Him Go 3. Love and Monsters 2. Palm Springs 1. The Trial of the Chicago 7 Carrie: 10. Run 9. Happiest Season 8. The Trial of the Chicago 7 7. Never Rarely Sometimes Always 6. Spontaneous 5. Love and Monsters 4. My Octopus Teacher 3. Promising Young Woman 2. Sound of Metal 1. Soul Tim: 10. Corpus Christi 9. Bacurau 8. Emma. 7. Tenet 6. City Hall 5. Zombi Child 4. The Wild Goose Lake 3. Ride Your Wave 2. First Cow 1. Wolfwalkers

Almost as much as Santa Claus and reindeer, you can't have a Christmas movie without some miserable SOB who starts out by humbugging their way through throngs of cheerful celebrants and has, by the end of the second hour, learned the True Meaning of Christmas, whatever it might be in this case. To help our own hearts grow two-and-a-half sizes at the end of this tough year, we're looking at our top five curmudgeons in Christmas movies, the bitter old souls who just need a dew-eyed child, or a festive song, or a kindly old man in a red hat, or a hellfire vision of their own death, to be jolted into feeling peace and goodwill for all humankind. In Worth Mentioning we cover Wild Mountain Thyme, Bad Education, Peppermint and the recent Warner Bros. announcment.

This week's podcast topic comes from Patreon subscriber Jack Chivers, who has asked us to look at our favorite films from the United Kingdom, a national cinema broad enough to include stories about nice people laughing while having tea, crying while having tea, and getting shot by gangsters while having tea. There are films as intimate as a working class romance and as epic in their sprawl as the Harry Potter series, as hilarious as the work of Monty Python and as horrifying as a Carry On sequel. As long as it's from Britain, it's fair game for our list of the Top 5 British films. In Worth Mentioning we cover Hillbilly Elegy, The Christmas Chronicles: Part Two and The Day the Earth Stood Stillthanks to Patron Zev Burrows.

If there's one thing The Nest is not, it's light and breezy. It's heavy and chest tightening and emotionally dense. So naturally, with so much to unpack, our first question for Sean Durkin was if he saw any resemblance between Jude Law and Rob Jarosinski. There was awkward laughter, but no confirmation. A bit about Sean Durkin Born in Canada (lucky feller), Sean Durkin won his first cinematic accolade at the 2011 Sundance Film Festival for his first feature Martha Marcy May Marlene. His short film, Mary Last Seen, on the same theme as Martha, won the award for best short film at the 2010 Cannes Film Festival. Nearly a decade later, Durkin released his second film, The Nest(which feels a lot more like a sixth or seventh). The film had its world premiere at the 2020 Sundance Film Festival. On his newest feature The Nest Like I said, The Nest is pretty gut wrenching, but in a way I haven't felt watching a movie before. The story follows and Englishman, Rory O'Hara (Jude Law) and his American wife, Allison (Carrie Coon), who are raising their two children in New York City. The pair seem to have the perfect little hamster wheel life that so many parents live in, but Rory starts rattling the cage when he convinces his wife to move to England in search of better work opportunities. Don't get me wrong, I'm all about being supportive, but when the family movies into this massive mansion and Rory starts buying horses and cars and enrolling his kids in private school, I started to give Rob the side-eye. The next hour-or-so, is a painful slog through relationship complexities. Rory's unhealthy obsession with success and money alienates his family and everybody around him. Meanwhile, his wife who has been trying to hold her family together, starts to question her own sanity, from the constant gaslighting of her loving husband. The Nest is available on streaming - check it out and let us know what you think! ****************************************************************** Facebook Instagram YouTube Twitter Tim Letterboxd – Rob Letterboxd – Carrie Letterboxd

I'll admit it, because I'm nothing if not honest, I had no idea who the director of Run, Aneesh Chaganty was by name (I still question how I got roped into this movie podcast thing, but anyway). But then, I saw that he was the writer/director of Searching, which I really loved and suddenly, the pressure felt a bit greater. Just a bit about Aneesh Chaganty Sometimes you meet people and they just have a presence about them, a magnetic vibe, if you will. I'm absolutely certain I had a weird grin plastered on my face for the entire entire interview (I won't be playing it back to find out). So this guy's 29. When Chaganty was 23, he made a two minute short film called Seeds. It quickly became an internet sensation and garnered more than 1 million YouTune views in 24 hours. Following its success, Chaganty was invited to join the Google 5 team at Google Creative Lab in New York City. He spent two years writing and directing Google commercials. After working on over 25 short films and videos, Chaganty directed his first feature film, Searching, which one the Alfred P. Sloan Feature Film Prize at Sundance. On his newest feature Run Even though the spoilers come early, I will tread lightly for fear of exposing the twists! Run is a edgy thriller that follows Diane (Sarah Paulson) who gives birth very prematurely. Seventeen years later, we find Diane living as the doting (micromanaging) mother of Chloe (Kiera Allen). Chloe has a whole bevy of health issues, but in spite of her challenges, she is incredibly smart, self-sufficient and hell-bent on going away to college. Like I said, Run quickly takes some really dark turns. You're guaranteed to find your fists clenched, your heart pounding and maybe even your left arm pit a bit sweaty (is it weird that it's only the one? I'll get that checked out). ****************************************************************** Facebook Instagram YouTube Twitter Tim Letterboxd – Rob Letterboxd – Carrie Letterboxd

Freaky Friday the 13th You can't keep a good slasher killer down, so we've got even more Freaky Behind the Scenes coming your way! This time I had the opportunity to sit down with co-screenwriter Michael Kennedy, who notoriously teamed up with director and co-writer Chris Landon in a pitch rehearsal turned creative partnership! We sat down to chat about what it means to write an openly queer character in a slasher movie, some fun sequel ideas, and how it feels to have your debut film suddenly become the only film in the back quarter of 2020. I feel like I already expended most of my Freaky analysis in the blog intro to Chris' interview, so it's time to get a glimpse into my glitzy and glamorous Hollywood lifestyle. I first met Michael in the summer of 2018, when I was brought on to produce Attack of the Queerwolf, the queer horror podcast I ended up co-hosting with Michael, Nay Bever, and Mark Fortin. Before and after recordings we would all talk shop and chat about what was going on in our lives. It was a delight to watch Michael go from an elated "I have a meeting with Chris!" to a tight-lipped "I can't say anything at this time" to a boisterous "holy shit, Freaky is actually happening!" Michael's primary goal is to make people laugh and have a good time, and it was an incredible privilege to watch that dream come true and unfold before our eyes (in feature film form at least, he wrote for television before Freaky came together - this isn't his first rodeo). And between you and me, it's always nice when the friend you're supporting turns out work that's actually good and you don't have to fake it, so what a lucky break for me! Freaky is in drive-ins and select theaters Friday, November 13 and on digital VOD December 4th!

All week, Rob annoyingly wandering around the house talking about our upcoming Let Him Go interview with Thomas Bezucha. He was using a thick Italian mobster accent and probably mispronouncing his name "Ba-zooooo-ka." By the time we got to the interview, it was so burned in my brain, that there's a fair chance I referred to him as a large rocket launcher weapon. Thomas Bezucha in a nutshell Please, please comment below if you read the above headline and instantly thought about Robin Williams. I need to know, so we can be friends forever. Anyway, Thomas Bezucha is an American screenwriter and film director. If you don't recognize his name you'll certainly recognize his filmography. He wrote and directed the films Big Eden (2000), The Family Stone (2005) and Monte Carlo (2011). He also co-wrote the films The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society (2018) and The Good House. Admittedly, I haven't seen any of his earlier films. I asked Rob not to share, but like in all good relationships, he failed me. On his newest release Let Him Go In a diversion from his previous films, Let Him Go is a 2020 American neo-Western drama, based on the 2013 novel of the same name by Larry Watson. After the death of their son, Diane Lane and Kevin Costner, a retired sheriff, set out to save their only grandchild. Basically, you find out real quick that their daughter-in-law's new family she's married into is bonkers weird and violent. So, we have to count on Costner and Lane to come in and bust some faces, and that's where I'll leave that. We didn't talk about something during the interview, because we found out the hard way on our Top 5 Jump Scares episode, when Rob criticized his parents participation in Halloween, that my in-laws apparently listen to our podcast. But let it be known, that Blanche Weboy (Lesley Manville) the horrifying matriarch of this abusive family is TOTALLY my mother-in-law. (Please note: she's not violent, but she is pretty cray). The film is tense and stressful and really beautiful. On one hand, I was super sucked into the thriller/suspense aspect of the movie. On the other hand, I'm super frustrated that anybody would have to deal with the situation altogether. The film was theatrically released in the United States on November 6, 2020, by Focus Features, check out and let us know what you think! You can also read Tim's review of Let Him go. ****************************************************************** Facebook Instagram YouTube Twitter Tim Letterboxd – Rob Letterboxd – Carrie Letterboxd

I have been extremely lucky in my life as an entertainment personality-type person to have already had the chance to podcast with Chris Landon twice before (most recently about the movie Carrie). Not only is Chris the writer-director of Happy Death Day, Happy Death Day 2U, Paranormal Activity: The Marked Ones, and his new upcoming feature Freaky, co-written with Michael Kennedy, but he's also one of the most genuinely nice guys working in the industry today. He did nothing to dim that impression when we sat down for this interview where we chat about Freaky, how a pitch rehearsal turned into a full-on partnership, the importance of giving a queer character time to shine, how to turn your home into the perfect Freaky viewing environment, and (definitely most importantly) what we're watching during quarantine. One thing that we hit on in our discussion is the queer element of Freaky, which is certainly foregrounded: one of the lead characters is a queer teen. But that isn't the only way Freaky, which was written by two gay men, is a queer film. At the center of Freaky is the idea of the body swap, a concept that most would look on as fodder for comedy and wacky impressions. And yes, of course it provides that. But for queer audiences in particular, this can resonate more deeply. There's nobody in the world who hasn't wished their body looked different at some point in their life. But the very notion of being queer means rebelling against the strict parameters that society has set for the type of body you live in, from how you look and who you love, all the way on down to little things like what movies you'll like or what color clothes you should wear. Having an identity that doesn't match the body you were born in obviously comes with the territory for trans and nonbinary folks, but even cisgender queer people ("cisgender" means that your gender identity matches your birth sex) feel societal pressure about their behavior not matching the meat puppet they're piloting around. There are few cis gay men who haven't at least once wish they could have been born with a vagina so that they could publicly hold hands with a guy they're dating without fear of blowback. Or cis lesbians who feel it would have been a damn sight more convenient to have been born with a penis so they wouldn't be ostracized for the mere act of loving. These concepts might seem too highbrow for a simple slasher comedy, but I assure you they're not. The body, and all the expectations placed on it, form the backbone of Freaky. Vince Vaughn might not be delivering a Socratic seminar about queer theory in this movie, but the idea that this film is born from would be treated much differently if it were written by a pair of straight, cisgender people. But enough from me! Let's hear from the man in his own words as we dissect everything that went into making this wild movie a reality!

Have you ever noticed the pattern of successful entertainment personalities, having experienced some sort of adversity or hardship when they were young? The comedian whose Dad was an abusive jerk. The actor who was bullied for their acne or their off-brand jeans or their haircut (you know the important stuff that bullies care about). As a creator, you can control the narrative and ultimately, the outcome for your characters (what should happen). For Jacob Chase, Come Play, has a message about loneliness, about empathy and about overcoming the qualities in ourselves that challenge us most. A bit about Come Play It's fair to say (I double checked with Jacob Chase) that Come Play is a blend of The Babadook and ET. Despite the heart-racing jump scares and sweat-inducing practical effects, when the terrifying monster Larry emerges, I kind of wanted to reach out my finger and say "Lar-Ry Phone Home." In fact, all Larry wants is a friend. The story centers around a little boy named Oliver (Azhy Robertson) who has a severity of autism that leaves him unable to communicate verbally. Oliver's Mom, Sarah (Gillian Jacobs), is doing her best to navigate the challenges that come with this, while also dealing with the deterioration of her marriage to Marty (John Gallagher, Jr.). The thing of the movie, is that Larry lives inside your smart phone or your tablet (I'll probably use this explanation with my kids to get them off those ridiculous package opening YouTube videos) and he grows strength and emerges from the technology as you read his story. The thing is, yeah, Larry is a monster who wants to suck Oliver into his dark world. And sure, Larry will probably kill you if he has the chance. But Larry just wants a friend, after all, and who can't empathize with that? Our interview with Jacob Chase We had such a nice time chatting with Jacob Chase. Everything from, his motivations for making the movie, his wife's work that inspired the film and his overall passion for all things that go bump-in-the-night. The making of Larry and how the practical effects came together, also gave us a different perspective on the film. We hope you enjoy hearing about the making of Come Play too! Prefer video? Put down your coffee and check out the trailer! https://youtu.be/LQwiqhdMQ7g You can also read Tim's review of Come Play. ****************************************************************** Facebook Instagram YouTube Twitter Tim Letterboxd – Rob Letterboxd – Carrie Letterboxd

Screen legend Sean Connery passed away on October 31 at the age of 90, and we at Alternate Ending celebrate his career by devoting this podcast to the highlights of his career - the best performances, the best movies, and the most sadly appropriate opportunity Carrie has ever had to put Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade at #1 on her top 5 list. In Worth Mentioning we cover Come Play, Let Him Go and The Dark and the Wicked. Don't forget to fill out our survey for a chance to win a free Prime Video rental! Once you've filled out the survey, just shoot us an email at [email protected] to let us know.

This week we had the chance to sit down with The Dark and the Wicked producer, Adrienne Biddle. We talked about the making of the film and our feelings on the movie, but we ended up spending a good chunk of time discussing her path to becoming a film producer. Schooling, early grunt-jobs, relationship building, the whole thing. It was such an enlightening conversation because I've always wondered what a producer actually does. But before we talk about The Dark and the Wicked Indulge me for a little only somewhat relevant story. Back in 2008, I was at a wedding (with a date that wasn't Rob) and it was kind of fancy shindig. The groom, was my then-boyfriend's uncle. He was one of those guys who sometimes acted and sometimes bought and sold sports tickets and sometimes probably sold drugs (who knows). I remember there was a "special guest" coming and everybody was being weird about ensuring this guy and his wife were getting the real VIP treatment. My job was to ensure my car was void of candy wrappers and random clothes (your car was gross when you were 25, too) and I needed to be on time to pick up them up from the airport. When I arrived at O'hare (probably late), he introduced himself as Stratton Leopold and his wife, as Mary. I had no idea who he was, but I was pretty confident he was a big deal with a name like Stratton Leopold (insert regal-sounding accent). Being the nosy person I am, I asked what he did for a living. He shared that he and his wife owned an ice cream shop in Savannah, GA and he did some work in Hollywood. As it turns out, even all those years ago, I was still pretending to know about film. Our conversation from there: Me: "Ooooooh.... Hollywood, love it, what do you do in Hollywood?" Stratton Leopold: "I work as a movie producer" Me: "Oh yep, yep, HUGE movie lover... what movies?" Stratton Leopold: "The Adventures of Baron Munchausen" Me: "Hmmmm, must have missed that one" Stratton Leopold: "The Sum of all fears" Me: "Oh gosh, meant to catch that one..." Stratton Leopold: "The Generals Daughter" Me: "Ooooh the one with Nicholas Cage!" Stratton Leopold: "No...Mission Impossible 3???" Me: "....................." Stratton Leopold: "......................" Let's fast forward to 2020 and our meeting with Adrienne Biddle Knowing the goal of the interviewee is to promote their movie, we of course spent at least 3 minutes talking about The Dark and the Wicked. The truth is, when Rob dropped out of film school, it wasn't because he didn't love movies, but he just didn't really see a path that he could be successful at. Through the years, and working in business roles, he's probably said about 100-ish times, "I think I would be good at producing". Supportively, I nod and say "hmm mmm, sounds great, you should totally do that" but really I'm thinking "dude, if this is you asking me to leverage our savings to make a movie the answer is N-O." All that said, we were both pretty eager to hear more about Adrienne's role as a producer on The Dark and the Wicked, how she met Bryan Bertino and document every life choice she's ever made, to get to where she is today. The bad news for Rob is that apparently it takes a lot of consistent hard work, dedication and acceptance of less than glamorous responsibilities, as you work your way up the ladder. The good news is that the role lends itself to people who are workaholics and excellent planners, who like control. So...we'll see what the future holds. About The Dark and The Wicked On a secluded farm in a nondescript rural town, a father is terminally ill. His children (Marin Ireland and Michael Abbott, Jr.)come back to the farm to mourn. It doesn't take long for super-creepy-weirdness to take place, marked by waking nightmares and a growing sense that something evil is taking over the family. It's grim and dark and freaky and weird. It's also edgy and jumpy and there are some super cringeworthy scenes that you'll probably think "oh heck no, they won't..." and then they do. If you're into grim horror, this may just be your bag! Get your heebie-jeebie on - watch the trailer! https://youtu.be/Hk1mVaGq_t0 The Dark and the Wicked releases November 6th on VOD! ********************************************************************************** Facebook Instagram YouTube Twitter Tim Letterboxd – Rob Letterboxd – Carrie Letterboxd

Ten minutes into The True Adventures of Wolfboy, we were triggered. You see, I usually shut off movies about bullying and Rob is super self-conscious about his body hair (he has the perfect amount of body hair), so when a young kid with hypertrichosis gets verbally abused by some douchebags at a carnival, tensions were high. About The True Adventures of Wolfboy The True Adventures of Wolfboy follows a young boy named Paul (Jaeden Martell) who has hypertrichosis, an affliction which causes you to grow hair, everywhere. He's living a somewhat sheltered life with his Dad (Chris Messina), who is encouraging him to face society, but not necessarily pushing him the right ways. I love the idea that he wants so much for his kid to be strong and feel confident, but his approach really does just feel like he's throwing him to the wolves (yea, I know what I said). Desperate to find a place where he doesn't feel so ostracized, his Dad searches out a boarding school for "unique children". In response, Paul runs off in search of his estranged mother (Chloe Sevigny) and answers to his family history. Along the way, Paul's experiences lead him to relationships that begin to shape a new perspective. About our interview with Martin Krejčí The most nervous we get for any interview is in the 3 seconds between when you see that the interviewee has joined the meeting, but not yet started their camera. There's this flash of self-doubt where you think "oh gawd, what if they think my face is weird, or that my hair is weird, or worse what if they think I look like a BORING MOM THAT DOESN'T KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT MOVIES." While I feel that way right before all interviews, these feelings are particularly ironic for talking about The True Adventures of Wolfboy. Martin Krejčí studied documentary filmmaking at Prague's prestigious Academy of Performing Arts before going on to hone his craft on countless critically acclaimed advertising projects. As a result he was named as one of the top ten advertising directors in the world. Martin is a visual conductor who orchestrates many disciplines through his work, and pushes the possibilities of any given script. His keen curiosity and theatrical influences have allowed him to experiment, perfect and surprise us throughout his career – reminding us that film-making is truly an art form. I'll also report that at no point in our chat, did I get the sense that he thought my face and hair were weird. We hope you enjoy our conversation with Martin Krejčí and getting a behind the scenes look at the making of The True Adventures of Wolfboy. The True Adventures of Wolfboy is scheduled to be released on October 30, 2020, by Vertical Entertainment. Prefer video? Check it out here.

Welcome to the inaugural episode of Bride of Alternate Ending! Tim and AE contributor Brennan have joined forces for a monthly Patreon show covering everything horror! We're starting out our run with a special Halloween preview on the main feed dicussing the 1975 cult classic THE ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW! Topics include unpopular opinions on the live show experience, the largely ignored tributes to 50's science fiction, whether or not this movie is truly "bad," and the refractory period of U.S. presidents! For further episodes of this show, join the Alternate Ending Patreon at the $3 tier or above here: https://www.patreon.com/alternateending

Halloween is almost upon us, which means it's time for our annual dive into the spooky and scary. This year, we're going to be blunt and to the point: our top 5 jump scares in movie history. The simplest, most brutal way a filmmaker can give audiences a good wallop, jump scares sometimes get slagged for being too cheap and artless, but used well, they can be one of the most portent tools in the horror director's arsenal. To prove it, we're going to look at our very favorite examples of the form along with a special guest. In Worth Mentioning, we cover Borat 2, The Witches and Synchronic.

Rob and I got into a marital tift the other night because I made the claim that I never lie. He didn't agree. He contests that I omit details in a way that leads people to believe something that isn't true. That's not lying right? That's just a totally healthy need for people to like me. So, in our interview with Justin Benson and Aaron Moorehead, this plays out something like this, - "I have to tell you, in the first 2 minutes of Synchronic I was totally getting vibes of Midsommar…" and what I was about to say was "THANK GOD it wasn't like that, because that movie was the WORST" but Moorehead jumped in to let me know that "If I loved Midsommar… I should definitely check out his film "The Endless" to which I replied, "Ooooh… I'll definitely have to check that out!" But see, I didn't say what movie or when I would be checking it out…so see? Not a lie. (Edit: It turns out, I've see The Endless...shhh don't tell) A bit about Synchronic Two friends Steve (Anthony Mackie) and Dennis (Jamie Dornan) are best friends and are working as paramedics on the night shift. They begin to encounter a series of strange deaths and people in hypnotic-like states that they link to a new designer drug, Synchronic. In the mix of all of this Dennis's daughter Brianna (Ally Ioannides) goes missing and the story unravels the more details about this trending drug and it's true effects. Time travel! Steve discovers something about himself that motivates him to buy up all the Synchronic in town to protect others, and to take it himself and chronicle how the pill works with different forms of ingestion, how it causes you to time travel with the goal of discovering what happened to Brianna. A bit about our interview with Justin Benson / Aaron Moorehead Rob was super nervous about talking to the creative duo of Benson and Moorehead because he really admires their collective movie-making skills. I had only seen parts of two of their previous films, because murder-horror-thrillers always have a way of lulling me into a good sleep. This isn't to say I don't like their movies (I liked Spring), I'm just still an exhausted Mom, at the end of the day. We really enjoyed catching up with Benson and Moorehead. Admittedly, we had a whole bevy of questions for them that we weren't able to get to because of time constraints, but we hope you enjoy the time with had with this talented duo! Synchronic trailer! https://youtu.be/XGCrg1OAYfs Synchronic releases on VOD October 23rd!

The truth is, if I'd known what Cicada was going to be about, I'm not sure I would have watched the film. I would have read the three sentence synopsis and surmised that it would be too painful, too grueling and that it would break my heart - and it was, and it did. Though, beyond the stomach-knots and frustrated tears, there is so much beauty and love I would have otherwise missed. To me, the cliche of having to know pain to know joy is only sometimes true. There is nothing purposeful or deserving about any of this, which just sort of ends up making me want to go find a few people depicted in this movie and slash their tires, but I digress. Deep Breaths… Let me tell you about Cicada (Disclaimer: I was really hoping to find a Wiki link to the plot synopsis, because a writer I am not. Also, as a straight, cis, white woman, I'm feeling particularly fraudulent. That said, Cicada deserves to be represented in the best way. And alas, there isn't a Wiki page, but it's important to me that you know about this film, so here we go, and I am ever-so sorry in advance.) Cicada is a queer love story that follows Ben (Matthew Fifer) who is the co-writer/director of the film. Fifer plays a fictionalized version of himself and allows us to watch the story of his own very personal struggles unfold. It's alluded to early on that something has happened to Fifer as a child, through a series of brief flashbacks. The film opens with a pretty intense montage of Ben's numerous sexual encounters (TMI, but I've dated ~4 people in my life, so after the first 20 minutes, it did take me a bit of time to scrape my jaw off the floor). For Ben, it's not about who, but more about how much and how often. Beyond this, Ben feels perpetually ill (you're unsure if it's legit or hypochondria, but what matters is that he doesn't feel well) and continuously looks for ways to self-medicate (in ways your Doctor would not recommend). There is reprieve, as we are introduced to some of Ben's family. His Mom, Debbie (Sandra Bauleo) is overtly supportive of Ben's sexuality and his sister, Amber (Jazmin Grace Grimaldi) talks about Ben's conquests with breezy indifference. In what seems like Ben's next potential sexual encounter, we meet Sam (Sheldon D. Brown), who is the co-writer/director of the film. Sam is a young Black man who is walking a seemingly endless tightrope of shaping his public persona to align himself for corporate success and getting comfortable with his personal identity as a gay black man. We also come to find that Sam has not shared his sexuality with his family. While disheartening, it leads to one of my favorite scenes of the movie, when the couple has dinner with Sam's father (Michael Potts). The meeting of Ben and Sam is where the film pivots. For a while, the melancholy seems to melt away. Suddenly you're swept up in the swirl of fresh starts and the possibilities that come when you meet a person you really connect with. I would compare what comes next to how I felt watching Before Sunrise. It's breezy and conversational, you know, when you're still figuring each others' favorite foods and colors (before you discover they pre-soak their dishes for 48 hours and they have weird tics about leaving the car keys in a small bowl on your kitchen counter). You are a fly on the wall of a budding connection and if almost feels as if you're intruding on their intimate experience. The couple faces a lot together. Each must grapple with their respective traumas and discover their paths towards emotional and physical healing. Deeper Breaths… Let me tell you about Matt Fifer There were only 14 tiny hours between watching Cicada and sitting down to talk to the film's writer, director and star, whose life the film was based on. My emotions were still tangled with anger and frustration, hope and admiration. Fifer was quick to point out that this is not just his story. It's Sheldon Brown's story. It's co-director Kieran Mulcare's story. And you know what, it's my story too. And it's your story. We all have things about ourselves we're afraid to share, for fear of how people will react. Our inclination is to think the deeper we bury something the less it will consume us. But instead, the catharsis ends up being in our vulnerability. I'm still reeling from Cicada's honesty. In our chat with Fifer, I wanted to touch on his goals in making the film. Was it to normalize queer or interracial relationships or was it a personal catharsis for his experienced trauma? Before I had a chance to get there, Fifer was quick to share that this project was something that he needed to do. His vulnerability. His catharsis. This was the point in the interview where I almost shared my plans to slash tires and hand out some free knuckle sandwiches, but I kept my cool. Instead, I offered what I hope you will also offer this film: admiration for the film's truth and vulnerability and reverence for bringing a voice to those who have not yet found their own.