Alternate Ending - Movie Review Podcast

When I was in my mid-twenties, I spent my days in a cubical, mindlessly tinkering with the calculator on my desk, figuring out how much I had to save to retire at 40. Sometimes, I would organize my post-it notes in rainbow color order, and the pens too, if I wasn't too busy. There was a coffee shop in my building, so every few hours, I'd sucker a co-worker into grabbing a caramel latte with me. I'm horrified when I look back on these years, I mean, do you have any idea how many calories are in one of those lattes?! Kourtney Bell on the other hand Kourtney Bell knew she wanted to become an actress when she was 7. She developed a plan. She got involved in high school theatre. Bell compromised with her parents, that she could pursue something in Hollywood, as long as it was agreed to that education was on the life plan. From there, Bell went on to study at the University of Michigan and majored in the arts, while balancing a few acting opportunities. I'm always so envious of people whose goals are so clearly defined. What I know for sure, is that Kourtney Bell would have absolutely known that multiple caramel lattes a day, wasn't good for anybody. Chatting with Bell was an absolute delight and she is so clearly poised for success. I will say, her polish led me astray a bit. At one point in the interview we went down the path of childhood Hollywood crushes. Naturally, as a good child of the 90's I said "Devon Sawa"....to which I could see her quickly searching her memory bank, for who the world he is. A nervous moment later, she met me with "Noah Centineo"...to which I agreed, while frantically searching my phone for a photo. Incidentally, this has turned into my first lie on an interview... A bit about Don't Look Back Don't Look Back is the newest feature written and directed by Jeffery Reddick (writer of Final Destination). This supernatural thriller follows a young woman (Kourtney Bell) who is working through overcoming her traumatic past. When she finds herself among several witnesses, who see a man fatally assaulted and don't intervene, they find themselves targeted by someone, or something, out for revenge. The film will push you to self-actualize. If you were a bystander, witnessing something uncomfortable or even violent, would you step in? Would you run away? Would you film it? Of course many of us think we would rip open our suit jackets donning the first letter of our name and heroically sweep in to save the day. But the truth is, for most people, fear would supersede our best intentions.

If you give me just 2 seconds I'm going to blow your mind. Love and Monsters is going to be your favorite movie of 2020. There I said it. Admittedly, it's not mine. But it will be yours. That's because it's TIED for my favorite movie of the year with Spontaneous. Which, I realize it cheating, but there are no rules around here. First a bit about Michael Matthews… I have no idea how old Michael Matthews is, but what I'm coming to find is that by the time you're making great movies in Hollywood, you're more than likely just-about my age. I pressure test this by dropping breadcrumbs for them to disclose their favorite movies. If they say something like, The Machinist, I'm thinking "hmmm good taste, but favorite?"... if they something like (500 Days of Summer), again I'm thinking "Cute, but you're wrong" and if they say Inception, I just assume they're 15 years old and know nothing of cinema and I hang up on them. Or they're Rob. But let me tell you what happened, I dropped my breadcrumb. Matthews throws out Jurassic Park and Indiana Jones and that's when I knew. We were going to be best friends forever (don't tell him, he doesn't know yet) and that he's probably 37-ish. Michael Matthews is a South African director whose feature Five Fingers for Marseilles, won the award for best film at the Africa Movie Academy Awards. His film also received 10 nominations, including awards for best film, best first feature film by a director and best cinematography. The film was also nominated for Best Achievement in Directing - Feature Film at 2017 South African Film and Television Awards. For his role in the production of Apocalypse Now Now, a short film based on the book of same name, Matthews won best short film at the 12th South African Film and Television Awards. We'll get into the movie in a sec, but Love and Monsters is a massively well-crafted movie. However, to hear Matthews talk about the movie, it would seem that it's something we could all do. Just a few drawings here and a few ideas there and POOF... you've got yourself a blockbuster. I of course know this to not be true, as it takes me 45 minutes to put together a 30 second video for social media. Matthew really was a treat to talk to so we hope you enjoy hearing about the making of Love and Monsters as much as we did! Now Love and Monsters I've already told you that it's going to be your favorite movie of this year, so that's probably a bit of a spoiler. And don't go being one of those contrarian people (like me) who says they don't love it just because I told you, you would. Seven years after the Monsterpocalypse, Joel Dawson (Dylan O'Brien), along with the rest of humanity, has been living underground ever since giant creatures took control of the land. After reconnecting over radio with his high school girlfriend Aimee (Jessica Henwick), who is now 80 miles away at a coastal colony, Joel begins to fall for her again. As Joel realizes that there's nothing left for him underground, he decides against all logic to venture out to Aimee, despite the dangerous monsters that stand in his way. Now onto the monsters. A movie can be made or broken on the quality of its monsters. Matthew says they're not meant to be fantastical. But sorry, they're fantastical. They're glowing and beautiful and edgy and scary. To hear Matthew talk about how the conceptualized these beasts is something you can really feel in the film. The other real highlight is the casting of Dylan O'Brien, as somebody you probably know from his tough-as-nails character in Maze Runner, seeing him as this tender, insecure guy who is trying to find himself is a mental shift. Paired with the hilarious script and O'Brien's comedic timing, we were laughing the whole way through. Supported by, Ariana Greenblatt, Michael Rooker and Jessica Henwick, the cast felt entirely complete. Let this trailer wash over your face... https://youtu.be/-19tBHrZwOM Love and Monsters is available on streaming October 16th and we can't recommend seeing it enough!

October is shaping up to be a big month for Netflix original movies, between Radha Blank's Sundance prizewinner The 40-Year-Old Version (premieres 10/9). Aaron Sorkin's The Trial of the Chicago 7 (premieres 10/16), Ben Wheatley's Rebecca (premieres 10/21), Glen Keane's Over the Moon (premieres 10/23), and maybe, if the right rumors hold, David Fincher's Mank. To commemorate all of these - as well as the fact that we've all been spending 2020 basically watching nothing but streaming shit, and have thus all become experts on the subject - our next episode will be celebrating Netflix's five-year history as one of the American film industry's most prolific studios. Join us as we discuss our picks for the top five Netflix original movies to date, in the hopes that they will soon be joined by more. In Worth Mentioning, we cover The Personal History of David Copperfield, SCARE ME and Dick Johnson is Dead. Be sure to take 1-minute to complete our SURVEY to help us get podcast sponsorship! If you fill out the survey, shoot us an email to let us know and you'll have a chance at a free Amazon movie rental to be announced at our next episode!

Here's the headline, in our interview with Josh Ruben writer/director/star of the new feature SCARE ME, Rob is 95% sure Josh tells him he's good looking. To be sure, you'll need to listen for yourself. For added hilarity, you can see the live reaction when Rob *thinks* that Josh tells him he's good looking. Imagine when Charlie sees that he's found the golden ticket. So SCARE ME... Two writers of varying success, end up holed up in a cabin in the middle of nowhere, after a power outage has thwarted their plans to spend the weekend writing in solitude. To pass the time, the pair decide to have a "scare off" of sorts, to see who reigns as the best storyteller. Tensions build as feelings of inferiority creep in, for one of the two. What you'll love is the films clever weaving together of both horror and comedy tropes, that have your heart racing one minute and questioning why you're laughing the next. Josh Ruben as Fred SCARE ME is Josh Ruben's first feature film and he has a lot on the line. For some, that might mean searching for purpose or a sense of life's meaning. For others, it could be the one shot they're giving themselves before they decide to sell their soul to corporate America (like me). But no, I'm not talking about any of that. I'm talking about cold hard cash. Josh li-ter-ally cashed out his 401K to make this movie.... let's pause there for a second... ...I immediately internalized this information. "What if Rob had a big dream, would I support him cashing out our life savings, because I know it means everything in the world to him?" "Am I the kind of spouse that recognizes that life is short and that we should embrace the now, because we might save our whole lives and then fall off a bridge and never enjoy it?" After carefully evaluating I decided that no, no I am definitely not that person. So back to Josh Ruben. Josh plays Fred, who you will quickly find is the "lesser" writer. He's endearing enough, but has a short fuse that keeps his character edgy and unpredictable. After the interview, Rob and I have a really honest conversation about which character we were rooting for, and frankly I think our instinctual leanings end up being ironically part of the message the film is trying to send. I realize that this won't make sense until you go out and watch it, so go stream it on Shudder! Aya Cash as Fanny Aya Cash is outstanding. If you're a The Boys fan (which I am not, but Rob LOVES it), you'll recognize her as the evil and highly unlikeable villain, Stormfront. In Scare Me, she is playing Fanny, a successful horror writer who's confidence comes accross as both empowering and narcissistic. Fanny is in the driver seat as she pushes Fred to dig deeper to unearth a truly scary story. Ugh, I just spent like a good 2 hours trying think of a concise way to summarize this movie and then I realized the trailer does it so much better. Check it out! https://youtu.be/NeYWT7CnFK0 What we think you'll love about Josh Ruben Well first, we're sure that you'll love hearing Josh talk about his passion for his film and some of the motivations behind how he structured the film. We also think you'll find the way he built character chemistry interesting. Most importantly, we think you'll love his hair. I realize that seems shallow, but he does in fact, have that Patrick Dempsey hair thing going on that seems effortless, but it just can't be. You can find SCARE ME streaming on Shudder now and we highly recommend giving it a watch.

Our next podcast topic comes to us courtesy of Patreon subscriber Martha, who wants us to help shed some light on one of the film industry's most notorious shortcomings: the challenges facing women who want to direct movies at every level, from thorny little indies to massive blockbusters (such as Wonder Woman 1984, helmed by Patty Jenkins, which was supposed to open next week till it got pandemicked away). As former Ottawa mayor Charlotte Witton once said, "Whatever women do they must do twice as well as men to be thought half as good. Luckily, this is not difficult", and we'll proving that with our picks for the best women directors of all time, talented artists who had to make some of the best films ever just to get overlooked and forgotten about only some of the time. In Worth Mentioning, we cover Antebellum, Cuties, Spontaneous and The Conversation, thanks to Patreon Travis Neely.

Spontaneous will have you simultaneously contemplating your own mortality and igniting your need to seize the day [Interview with writer/director Brian Duffield ] Director Brian Duffield talks about how he keeps a positive vibe on set, his experience working with the A-Team cast of Katherine Langford, Piper Perabo, Hayley Law and Charlie Plummer and the difficult balance of keeping a movie about exploding teenagers light and breezy Here's what happened. Rob was like "Ohmigosh... we're going to talk to Brian Duffield next week about his new movie Spontaneous!" **Crickets** "Jane Got a Gun?" **Crickets** "The Babysitter?" **Crickets** "Underwater...Kristen Stewart? Oh c'mon, you're on a movie podcast!" So as you can imagine, I was super psyched to check out this dude's movie, who apparently everybody knows, by the way. Per usual, I didn't watch the trailer or read a single thing about the film before starting, which I'm convinced really does make for the best viewing experience. I can't tell how weirdly excited I got when Katherine Langford (13 Reasons Why/ Love Simon) came on screen. I love her. Like, love love, her. I'm certain we would be the kind of best friends that snuggle and drink cocoa together on a chilly Fall day. Katherine Langford in Spontaneous I digress. Spontaneous is an absolutely bonkers movie. It's not a spoiler to say that the premise of the movie is that high schoolers are randomly and asymptomatically, spontaneously combusting. It might surprise you to know that this fact ends up being very little of what the movie is about. Instead, Spontaneous explores love and friendship and how you treat every moment differently when you realize that every moment that follows might be your last. Post-spontaneous combustion of a classmate. You never feel overtaken by extreme emotions. Duffield balances tragedy with humor and grief with the possibility of tomorrow. We discuss the importance of not overwhelming the audience, with what is a very grim story. At the same time, Duffield aims to infuse just enough shock, that you leave feeling compelled to live your life a little differently. We hope you enjoy listening to Brian Duffield as much as we did. Spontaneous is available October 2nd on October 6th on VOD.

Our next podcast topic comes to us courtesy of Patreon subscriber Travis, who has given us a prompt as direct as it is merciless: name our picks for the worst films of the 1990s. It was in some ways a magnificent decade for terrible films, perhaps the last time when truly godawful boondoggles could still sneak their way through the studio system, while the rise of the American indie film scene encouraged people who'd never picked up a camera before to find their cinematic voice, with results that could be great, and could be... not. From the biggest to the littlest productions, we'll savage them all, as we turn our attention to the 5 worst films of the '90s. In Worth Mentioning, we cover Mulan, Host and Tread.

It was a very special week in the lives of your humble podcast hosts - Carrie and Rob are celebrating their tenth wedding anniversary! So that you can join in the festivities, we've decided to make this episode all about the best, most stable, most loving, and all-around enviable marriages in cinema. We're looking at our Top 5 married couples in the movies, and while there maybe aren't as many candidates as there were when we when we looked at our favorite movies about divorce (whoever would have thought?), we're pretty sure this episode is going to be a lot more uplifting and optimistic. In Worth Mentioning, we cover Tenet, Bill & Ted Face the Music, Scenes From a Marriage (thanks to Patreon Brian Fowler) and 12 Angry Men (thanks to Patreon Julian DeBerry)

Bombardier Blood follows the journey of man with a severe bleeding disorder, determined to summit the world's highest 7 mountains [Interview with Chris Bombardier and documentarian Patrick James Lynch] Chris Bombardier talks about the motivation behind risking his life in the making of Bombardier Blood, how his family supported him and how he continues to redefine his mission. Documentarian Patrick James Lynch, shares his own life experience that moved him to dedicating his film career to giving a voice to the unheard. Before the Bombardier Blood interview: Rob and I talk a lot about what we admire in people and what we can do to emulate those qualities. We also spend a lot of time talking about the best way to spend our own short time on this planet (mostly because of my intense anxiety about dying, without having accomplished anything of real value to the world, but I digress). In every conversation, despite the conversational tangents about website content and podcast topics, the root of what brings us the most happiness is in the moments we feel like we've made somebodies day, just a little bit better. When we hear your stories about how the podcast got you through a rough patch or that Tim's movie reviews bring you a sense of community, that really matters to us. I'll admit though, we struggle with not feeling like we're doing enough. We talk about leaving our secure jobs and instead going to work for a non-profit or moving to Africa and digging wells for water. But we to be honest, it's hard to take those risks. It's scary to lose security and so, we continue to just admire. Leading up to the interview: Needless to say, we felt quite a bit of pressure sitting down with two people who are so wholly living in a way that serves the world for better. Two people who have taken their obstacle, and instead made it a job and a mission. Two people we truly admire. [caption id="attachment_44790" align="alignnone" width="392"] Chris Meeting with Nepal Hemophilia Community[/caption] Chris Bombardier is the first person with hemophilia to climb the Seven Summits, to raise awareness of the disparity in treatment for those with bleeding disorders in developing countries. He is the executive director at Save One Life, an international nonprofit that assists people with hemophilia, where care is limited. Then, Chris reaches out to award-winning filmmaker and global health advocate Patrick Lynch and their connection is instant. Patrick also lives with hemophilia and spends much of his professional career advocating for many important causes. Their mutual passions were the perfect mix to bring Bombardier Blood to life. [caption id="attachment_44791" align="alignnone" width="392"] Chris Infusing with Guide Ryan Waters at Base Camp[/caption][caption id="attachment_44789" align="alignnone" width="399"] Chris on Summit with Save One Life Flag[/caption] During the interview: I had one question that was really important for me to ask. I wasn't exactly sure how it would come off, but I needed to know. Was becoming the first person to climb to the top of 6 giant mountains and then traveling to and summiting Mount Everest over the course of 50+ days, whilst infusing their blood with clotting medication enough? The pursuit of success and meaning and purpose is such a tricky thing and I needed to know if me (probably getting trapped on the side of a mountain and Rob having to send a rescue team) accomplishing an amazing physical feat would somehow bring that desired sense of success and completionism. We hope you enjoy Chris and Patrick as much as we did. Check out the trailer for Bombardier Blood and find it on streaming now! [embed]http://vimeo.com/435815756[/embed]

If you're anything like us, the months and months of endless quarantining might have you contemplating taking an axe to the people you've been stuck inside with. If only for a chance to do something new for a change. Fortunately, we have a good way too let off some of that steam: a whole bunch of violent slasher movies. By request of Patreon subscriber Brian Fowler, we're going to be taking a look at director Adam Green's Hatchet series, the over-the-top throwbacks to the most excessive extremes of '80s slasher movies. None of us have seen any of them, so we're flying blind.

I Used To Go Here is deeply personal for anybody who has struggled with defining and redefining their personal success [Interview with director Kris Rey] Director Kris Rey talks about her own life experiences that inspired the events of her most recent feature film, I Used To Go Here. Kris talks about how she wrangled the all-star cast of Gillian Jacobs and Jemaine Clement and what it's like to promote a film during a pandemic. You know when you watch a movie and you can just tell that the mind behind it is super cool? I Used To Go Here is smart and funny and relatable, in sort of an unnerving way. We could tell right out of the gate that Kris Rey was going to be so much hipper than us. To level the playing field a bit, I took extensive notes titled "Carrie's list of uncool things to not say." I also wore a dress from my Grandma's funeral last year to add balance my enthusiasm that can sometimes be hard for me to contain. All of these things seem silly now. Kris was just so pleasant and approachable, albeit still WAY out of our league on the cool-scale. Writer/Director Kris Rey A bit about the movie: Following the launch of her new novel, 35-year-old writer Kate (Gillian Jacobs, most known for her role in Life of the Party ) is invited to speak at her alma matter by her former professor David (played by Jemaine Clement). After accepting the invitation, Kate finds herself deeply engrained in the lives of a group of super fun college students. The film is about navigating the complexities of finding and embracing success. Gillian Jacobs in 'I Used to Go Here' It's an empathy trip to be sure for anybody who is a bit (or a lot) removed from their wild college days. Beyond that, the movie explores how we seek adoration and the physical/emotional trap that can be. What we loved was the character arch, of finding empowerment in whatever way serves you best. Jemaine Clement plays the long-time admired professor in 'I Used to Go Here' We hope you enjoy listening to Kris Rey as much as we did. I Used to Go Here is available August 7th on Amazon and iTunes.

1BR Probably Shouldn't Have Been Made [Interview with writer/director/cast] Director David Mamor talks about how this edgy horror/cult-thriller was born of his experience moving to LA, Naomi Grossman gushes over the entire cast (totally neglecting her own awesome performance) and Producer Alok Mishra has us all in tears with his super descriptive stories about the rocky road to 1BR being made If we're being honest, Rob and I were really nervous for the 1BR interview. We've done a few interviews over the years, but this was going to be the first time we sat down using video. What if I had stuff on my face? Or what if Rob accidentally picked his nose, like he sometimes does? Or what if I mispronounced somebodies name (which I did, g-damnit)? So, the good news is, they were really nice, guys... and not scary at all. Rob did the thing that he does where he was all polished and prepared and asked great questions. Meanwhile, I did the thing that I do where I laugh awkwardly and veer off from talking about the movie, to instead focus on things like hair and drugs. They totally rolled with it (I think). We talk about everything from 1BR, to Northwestern, to COVID, to eating hallucinogenic worms to how they lost their original female lead days before filming. A bit about Naomi Grossman: You probably know Naomi Grossman best as the fan-favorite "Pepper" on FX's American Horror Story: Asylum & Freak Show. Naomi was also was a Primetime Emmy nominee for her role in Ctrl Alt Delete. And gosh darnit if she wasn't sweet and funny with the best smile (picture below does not represent her actual smile). A bit about David Marmor A San Francisco native, David Marmor studied computer science at Harvard and directing at USC. Don't worry, I made sure to point out that I went to Augustana College, to level the playing field. His award-winning short films have screened at more than 60 festivals worldwide and aired on television on IFC and CBC. 1BR is his first feature, and it is a strong debut. A bit about 1BR: A young woman named Sarah leaves behind a painful past to follow her dreams and ends up scoring the perfect Hollywood apartment. But something is not right. Unable to sleep, tormented by strange noises and threatening notes, her new life quickly starts to unravel. By the time she learns the horrifying truth, it's too late. Caught in a waking nightmare, Sarah must find the strength to hold onto her crumbling sanity...or be trapped forever in an existential hell. 1BR premiered at Fantasia Fest in Montreal and had a terrific festival run. It was later picked up for distribution by Dark Sky Films. Check out the interview and more importantly check out 1BR, on whichever streaming service you use! For all you aspiring filmmakers out there, here is the Joe Bob Briggs video Alok mentioned where he talks about making a film no matter what.

Acting is very hard work even for people who've spent their whole lives honing their craft; it must be unimaginably hard when the whole life in question doesn't span an entire decade. That's why we're using our next episode to celebrate our favorite performances by children: the young actors who go on to become great stars, the one who fizzle out once they hit the ugly part of puberty, the ones who just showed up that one time and blew us all away with a talent that never had a chance to develop. In Worth Mentioning, we cover Greyhound, 1BR and Strasbourg 1518!

There are some movies that are so great that you make them treasured friends, revisiting them every now and then to appreciate once again how special they are. There are some movies that you obsessively watch over and over again, trying to absorb them right into your soul. And then there are the movies so great that you simply can't go back: one time is all the more you dare risk watching them - maybe to preserve the surprise, maybe to avoid the heartache, or for any other reason that one time simply had to be enough. We're devoting a whole episode to these last films, the ones that we love so much that there's no chance in hell of our ever revisiting them. In Worth Mentioning, we cover Palm Springs and Bedevil.

We're turning our attention to movie stars for our next episode - specifically, to movie stars right at the beginning of their stardom. We're looking at our all-time favorite acting debuts, the very best performances by new actors who manage to prove in their very first time in front of a camera that they have what it takes to hold our attention, to make us cry, to make us laugh, and to stick around for years to come. In Worth Mentioning we cover Irresistible and Homecoming.

Some movies become big, beloved successes right off the bat, celebrated by one and all. Some movies need to fight for it: they're overlooked, undervalued, and just plain dismissed, treasured only by a tiny audience biding the day that might never come when the object of their affection finally gets its moment in the sun. For this episode, we're celebrating our favorite examples of these wonderful, idiosyncratic little gems, with our picks for the best cult movies of all time, no matter how big or small the cult. In Worth Mentioning we cover: Da 5 Bloods, You Should Have Left and The King of Staten Island.

We've looked at our favorite movie moms. And we've looked at our favorite example of movies about daddy issues, that most reliable crutch for lazy screenwriters. But with Father's Day coming up, we decided it was long since time that we gave good dads their time in the sun, which is why our next episode is going to be all about our very favorite dads in the movies. Maybe they're kind sources of wisdom, maybe they're fun buddies who teach their children the importance of getting out there and living life, and maybe they're the heads of powerful mafia families manipulating the lifes of dozens of people just to give their sons a good chance at a better future. We love 'em all, and we're excited to share with you our picks for the best movie dads. In Worth Mentioning we cover The Half of It, Barefoot Gen, The Message thank to Patreon, Gavin.

Sometimes - when you're feeling a bit gloomy, for example, or when you've locked your doors against the onslaught of a global pandemic - you just need to have fun. And sometimes, that fun is pretty disreputable and embarrassing, but do you care? No! Well... maybe just a little. And that's what makes a guilty pleasure: a film that you're almost not ashamed to love, and certainly the love more than beats out the shame, though you would, perhaps, not want to admit that love to God, the world, and everybody on a podcast. And yet, that's just exactly what we're going to do on our next episode: reveal the mortifying (but gratifying!) truth about our very favorite guilty pleasure movies, be they corny romances, racist action movies, dumb musicals, or Swedish nudism documentaries. In Worth Mentioning, we cover Scoob!, The Lovebirds and A Separation by request of Patreon, Jaiden Vanmali.

We had such a good time re-watching Back to the Future that we've decided to keep the fun going with a whole episode dedicated to our favorite examples of time travel in the movie. Whether it's killer robots from the future, accidentally screwing up the past, or just going on a tour of whatever costume drama sets the producer could get for cheap, we'll be hopping back and forth across the decades. In Worth Mentioning we cover The Willoughby's, Emma and The Rhythm Section.

It's time for one of our favorite annual traditions, the summer preview episode! We always love to try to predict what upcoming releases we're going to enjoy the most, out of all the big summer tentpoles and smaller counter-programming. Unfortunately, with no movies coming out until July (at best!), it would be a pretty thin episode. But just because summer 2020 is shot to hell, doesn't mean we can't still have fun thinking about summer blockbusters! So instead of looking ahead, we're going to look backwards, to our favorite blockbuster movies of summers past. Butter up some popcorn and throw on the AC, and join us for a celebration of all the best big budget razzle-dazzle that Hollywood has thrown at us for the past few decades. In Worth Mentioning, we cover Extraction, Sonic the Hedgehog, and A Brighter Summer Day.

Looking at the world outside our windows - certainly not visiting it- what could be better than watching a movie about the swirling paranoia of a world that is on the brink of collapse and there's nothing you can do about it? Certainly nothing we can think of which is why this episode is about the 2001 cult classic Donnie Darko, by request of Patreon subscriber Gavin. We look at not just at the original version of Richard Kelly's dreamy and nightmarish fantasy about teenage suburban angst, but also the controversial 2004 director's cut.

There are a lot of ways you can ride out a pandemic. You can gather all of your beautiful rich friends, hole up in a villa outside of Florence, and tell dirty stories to each other for ten straight days. Or you can throw a lavish party with several color-coded rooms that represent the decaying, corrupted soul of the age. Maybe you can keep a diary that will be treasured centuries from now as an irreplaceable historical document. Or maybe you can just masturbate a lot. Here at Alternate Ending, we're going to spend our time watching movies, naturally enough. And since the world is scary out there right now, our next episode is celebrating our favorite pick-me-up movies, the ones we watch when we're tired and achy and just generally feeling crummy, curled up on the couch in a blanket. These are the cinematic equivalent of a big bowl of chicken soup, the movies we watch when we need to feel warm and protected and cozy. Because whether you're sick with a virus or just sick of being stuck in the house, you're probably sick of something right now, and there's nothing like a good familiar movie to help you feel better. In Worth Mentioning, we cover The Hunt, Bloodshot and Lady and the Tramp.

Between A Quiet Place: Part II depicting how humanity might look after civilization has been destroyed by blind, man-eating aliens, and COVID-19 preventing us from going out to the movie theaters to see it (EDIT: In a much more direct way than I had initially meant, as it turns out), it's an exciting time for fans of apocalypses. To celebrate - or prepare? - we're taking a look at our favorite films about what happens after the end of everything. We share our top five apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic movies, all those merry and uplifting tales of how nuclear war, environmental collapse, zombies, or, yes, pandemics have destroyed the world and left behind only the abandoned ruins for scavengers to pick over. In Worth Mentioning we cover Onward, Timmy Failure: Mistakes Were Made and Hook.

We intended to start the year off on a positive note, with our most favorite films of the 2010's, and leave it at that. But we would be completely remiss if we didn't slip into the deep, dark, cinematic sadness of the last decade, to look at the worst films of the last 10 years, too. Hearts are already breaking at the mention of Orson Welles and Fred Rogers' names, but we won't get ahead of ourselves here. We'll be taking a look at our Bottom 10 of the 2010's and we think you should join us! In Worth Mentioning, we discuss The Invisible Man, Ride Your Wave and Jacob's Ladder, thanks to Patreon Jason Dohla.

With Tim away partying it up with other cinephiles, Carrie and Rob recap the 2020 Oscars. From the musical performances, to the speeches to the upsets, we cover it all. We also announce the winners of our Oscar Ballot contest.

It's our first-ever Top 10 episode, as we look at our very favorite films of the 2010s: the films that best embody a whole decade's worth of cinema. From game-changing popcorn epics like 2012's The Avengers to delicate art films like 2019's Honeyland; from the austerity of 2011's The Deep Blue Sea to the maximalism of 2015's Mad Max: Fury Road; from the cynicism of 2010's The Social Network to the coziness of 2018's Won't You Be My Neighbor - it's been a wide-ranging and full decade, and we're celebrating it in all its variety. In Worth Mentioning we cover The Gentlemen.

We're back! And for our first podcast of the new decade, we're looking at all the films of the year that's just wrapped up. From the big Disney blockbusters to the other big Disney blockbusters to the modestly successful films that Disney had nothing to do with; from the most impenetrable art films to the most warmly satisfying crowd-pleasers; from lighthouse keepers' semen to Mr. Rogers' cardigans, we're sharing our picks for the top 5 films of 2019. Plus, we'll be talking about the nominations for the 92nd Academy Awards, reflecting on our predictions for the films of fall 2019, and maybe even making some new predictions for the unsullied expanse of 2020 stretching out in front of us. In Worth Mentioning, we cover Cats, Underwater and Light of My Life.

To help fill the void in your weekly listening, Carrie and Rob are bringing you Weeklies - a review of the last 7-days of movie new...with a twist! Rob has gathered all the 10 best pieces of movie news and Carrie will only be able to pick 5 The New Mutants Trailer 'Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness' Loses Director Scott Derrickson Next 'Mission: Impossible' Movies Cast Nicholas Hoult Oscars to Go Hostless Again for 2020 Ceremony on ABC Gretel & Hansel Trailer Who Will Christian Bale Play in 'Thor: Love and Thunder'? Timothee Chalamet to Play Bob Dylan in Biopic From James Mangold Warner Bros. Will Use Artificial Intelligence to Help Decide Which Movies to Greenlight 'McMillions' Trailer: Documentary Explains the Wild Story of Why You Never Won Those McDonald's Monopoly Games Matt Reeves Confirms Colin Farrell as The Penguin in 'The Batman' [Updated]

To help fill the void in your weekly listening, Carrie and Rob are bringing you Weeklies - a review of the last 7-days of movie new...with a twist! Rob has gathered all the 10 best pieces of movie news and Carrie will only be able to pick 5 A Quiet Place 2 Trailer Women Directed Record 12% of Top 100-Grossing Films in 2019, Study Finds The Climb Trailer Golden Globes 2020 Predictions: Expect Wins for Scorsese, Tarantino and Bong Joon Ho Hollywood Reporter Reader Poll: What Is the Most Anticipated Movie of 2020? 'Murder Mystery' Is Most Popular Netflix Title in 2019, Company Says Tenent Trailer Barack Obama Loves 'Fleabag' Just as Much as You Do: See His Favorite Films and TV of 2019 Downhill Trailer 'Uncut Gems' Has the Seventh Most F-Bombs in Cinema History

For our last episode of 2019, we're celebrating the career of an Australian superstar Nicole Kidman on the occasion of the release of Bombshell, a media biopic in which she co-stars as former Fox News talking head Gretchen Carlson. In Worth Mentioning, we cover The Report and Carrie finally catches up with Hustlers.

To help fill the void in your weekly listening, Carrie and Rob are bringing you Weeklies - a review of the last 7-days of movie new...with a twist! Rob has gathered all the 10 best pieces of movie news and Carrie will only be able to pick 5 'Jojo Rabbit' Breakout Archie Yates to Lead 'Home Alone' Reboot First 'Wonder Woman 1984' Trailer Brings Back Gal Gadot's Warrior Golden Globes Snubs: Robert De Niro, Shia LaBeouf, 'When They See Us' First 'Ghostbusters: Afterlife' Trailer Brings Back the Scares and Nostalgia 'Mulan' and the New Type of Disney Remake 'Honey, I Shrunk the Kids' Director Joe Johnston, Josh Gad in Talks for Reboot New 'Planet of the Apes' Movie in the Works With 'Maze Runner' Filmmaker Wes Ball (Exclusive) 'Black Widow' Trailer: Scarlett Johansson's Assassin-Turned-Avenger Confronts Her Past Ryan Reynolds Gets Standing Ovation as He Debuts First 'Free Guy' Trailer in Brazil The Worst Movies of the Decade

Just in time for the holidays, Noah Baumbach's Marriage Story premieres on Netflix, documenting in by-all-accounts harrowing detail the psychological torment that befalls a couple as their marriage disintegrates. To celebrate, Rob and Carrie have finally decided we're going to look at all of our favorite films about the inevitable death of love and the acrimony and rage that come when two people violently sever their matrimonial ties, in brazen defiance of God's will. An especially fun and bubbly time is guaranteed for all! In Worth Mentioning we cover Marriage Story, Honey Boy, The Farewell and Children of Men thanks to Patreon Tristan Frayling!

As we give thanks to all our listeners on Thanksgiving, we have a special Patreon episode thanks to Andrew Milne we have a fun-filled spoiler episode of both Jin-Roh: The Wolf Brigade and Illang: The Wolf Brigade. In Worth Mentioning we cover Frozen II, The Irishman and Knives Out. Speaking of Knives Out, if you've seen it and weren't sure what happened, check out: Knives Out ending explained: who was the real killer in this whodunit? (plot and spoilers!)

There are few pieces of U.S. mythology more potent than the romantic outlaw - the iconoclastic misfit for, through mischance or their own glamorous antiheroism, has ended up on the wrong side of society, and now has to make their way stealing, cheating, and otherwise scrabbling on the outer fringes of the world. Later this month, Queen & Slim offers up a race-inflected version of the Bonnie and Clyde story, and we're taking the opportunity to share our favorite outlaws in movies - noble heroes driven by fate, monstrous criminals driven by greed, and everything in between. In Worth Mentioning we cover: A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood, Ford v Ferrari and Pain & Glory.

To help fill the void in your weekly listening, Carrie and Rob are bringing you Weeklies - a review of the last 7-days of movie new...with a twist! Rob has gathered all the 10 best pieces of movie news and Carrie will only be able to pick 5 'Little Mermaid' Live-Action Remake Finds Its Prince Eric in Jonah Hauer-King Oscars: Why the Animation Race Is the Most Competitive in Years Paul Thomas Anderson Sets 1970s High School Movie for 2020 Production New 'Sonic' Trailer Sees Redesigned Character With Bigger Eyes, Fewer Teeth Damien Chazelle's 'Babylon' Lands at Paramount With Brad Pitt, Emma Stone Circling 'Scoob!' Trailer Reveals How Scooby-Doo and Shaggy First Met Chris Pratt's Sci-Fi Thriller 'Tomorrow War' Lands Christmas 2020 Release Michael Pena Welcomes Guests to Nightmare Resort in 'Fantasy Island' Trailer Box Office: 'Midway' Battles Past Comatose 'Doctor Sleep' With $17.5M Disney+ Adds Disclaimer of "Outdated Cultural Depictions" in Classic Movies

To help fill the void in your weekly listening, Carrie and Rob are bringing you Weeklies - a review of the last 7-days of movie new...with a twist! Rob has gathered all the 10 best pieces of movie news and Carrie will only be able to pick 5 Lionsgate Lands Gerard Butler's 'The Plane' 'The Current War' Director Alfonso Gomez-Rejon Joins 'Newsflash' Elisabeth Moss Fights Off Abusive Ex in 'The Invisible Man' Trailer Jamie Foxx Encourages Others to Pursue Passions in Pixar's 'Soul' Teaser Trailer Chris Evans, Elijah Wood and More Criticize James Dean CGI Casting: "This Shouldn't Be a Thing"' The Batman': Colin Farrell in Talks to Play The Penguin Anthony Mackie and Samuel L. Jackson Fight Racial Oppression in 'The Banker' Trailer 'Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse' Sequel Sets Spring 2022 Release Date Director Jeremy Saulnier To Team With John Boyega On Upcoming Thriller 'Rebel Ridge' Netflix Picks Up 'The Unsound' Movie Adaptation From 'Shazam' Director David F. Sandberg

To judge from the films that get produced, there's never been a single screenwriter in the history of the art form who had a good relationship with their dad. To mark the occasion, we're taking a look at our own favorite dysfunctional relationships and broken homes in the movies. In Worth Mentioning, we cover Doctor Sleep, Parasite and Doctor Sleep.

To help fill the void in your weekly listening, Carrie and Rob are bringing you Weeklies - a review of the last 7-days of movie new...with a twist! Rob has gathered all the 10 best pieces of movie news and Carrie will only be able to pick 5 The Grudge - Official Trailer Drops Terminator Star Linda Hamilton Called Her Marriage to James Cameron "Terrible on Every Level" Anna Faris to Play Twin Sisters in Comedy Summer Madness Olivia Wilde Criticizes Censorship of Booksmart Lesbian Sex Scenes on Airlines Star Wars Shocker: 'Game of Thrones' Duo Quits Planned Trilogy Netflix Plan to Test Varying Play Speeds Meets Filmmaker Backlash How Martin Scorsese Saved The Current War After The Weinstein Co. Collapse Chernobyl Creator Craig Mazin Tackling Pirates of the Caribbean Reboot Frozen II Tracking for $100M-Plus Thanksgiving Debut Your Halloween horror-scope: Movies sure to terrify you, based on your astrological sign

Halloween is right around the corner, and we're in the mood for some horror! This time around, we're going to be talking about our very favorite movies about every low-budget filmmaker's favorite monster: zombies, the brain-hungry reanimated corpses that have been munching guts ever for over half a century, and were busy harvesting sugar crops even before that. As a special guest, we have the creator of several Zombie comic books, Robert Rios. In Worth Mentioning, we cover Parasite.

To help fill the void in your weekly listening, Carrie and Rob are bringing you Weeklies - a review of the last 7-days of movie new...with a twist! Rob has gathered all the 10 best pieces of movie news and Carrie will only be able to pick 5 'Aeronauts' Trailer Sees Felicity Jones and Eddie Redmayne Fighting for Their Lives in Hot Air Balloon New 'Purge' Thriller Finds Lead in Ana de la Reguera (Exclusive) Neill Blomkamp Prepping Sci-Fi Thriller 'Inferno,' Taylor Kitsch to Star Young Boy Helps Supernatural Creature in 'Antlers' Trailer 'Once Upon a Time in Hollywood' to Be Rereleased in Theaters With Extra Footage 'Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker' Smashes Presale Records Adam Driver in Talks to Star Alongside Matt Damon in Ridley Scott's 'The Last Duel' 'Hocus Pocus 2' Moving Forward at Disney+ with Writer Jen D'Angelo Christian Bale and Matt Damon Will Both Compete in Best Actor for 'Ford v Ferrari' Robert Zemeckis in Talks to Direct Disney's Live-Action 'Pinocchio' Movie

To help fill the void in your weekly listening, Carrie and Rob are bringing you Weeklies - a review of the last 7-days of movie new...with a twist! Rob has gathered all the 10 best pieces of movie news and Carrie will only be able to pick 5 'The Batman': Paul Dano to Play The Riddler Live-Action 'Barney' Movie Coming from Producer Daniel Kaluuya Blumhouse's 'The Craft' Remake On the Way with David Duchovny (Du-coven-y) Ryan Reynolds & John Krasinski Teaming Up for Fantasy Comedy 'Imaginary Friends' Kevin Feige Promoted to Chief Creative Officer of Marvel; Here's What It Means New 'Lady and the Tramp' Trailer Further Reveals Disney's Doggo Remake First 'Dolittle' Trailer Finds Robert Downey Jr. Walkin' & Talkin' with the Animals 'Venom 2' Gets a Second Villain With Shriek, Carnage's Longtime Love Interest Adam Sandler and Jennifer Aniston Are Forcing Another 'Murder Mystery' On Us 'Jungle Cruise' Trailer: Dwayne Johnson and Emily Blunt Search for the Tree of Life

Jojo Rabbit, winner of the TIFF Audience Award and Best Picture Oscar hopeful, hits theaters in which a little boy deals with the stress and confusion of childhood by concocting an imaginary friend, in the form of bloodthirsty dictator Adolf Hitler. Most imaginary friends are a bit more innocuous than that, of course, and we're going to talk about those non-genocidal imaginary friends in our next episode, from invisible rabbits to evil rabbits to bossy rabbits with curious hostility for bouncing tigers. In Worth Mentioning, we cover Joker, Gemini Man, Monos and The Night of the Hunter, thanks to Patreon Cameron Shaw.

To help fill the void in your weekly listening, Carrie and Rob are bringing you Weeklies - a review of the last 7-days of movie new...with a twist! Rob has gathered all the 10 best pieces of movie news and Carrie will only be able to pick 5 Martin Scorsese's Claim That Marvel Movies Aren't Art Has Sparked a Passionate Debate 'Matrix 4' Adds 'Aquaman's Yahya Abdul-Mateen II Len Wiseman Set To Direct Female-Centric 'John Wick' Spinoff 'Ballerina' Robert Downey Jr. Bluntly Turns Down His Own 'Avengers' Oscars Campaign: 'Let's Not' CAA Signs Francis Ford Coppola; Mission Is To Get Epic 'Megalopolis' Made Exclusive: 'Training Day' Prequel in the Works at Warner Bros. Daveed Diggs in Talks to Play Sebastian in Disney's 'Little Mermaid' Edward Norton Says Marvel Went Back On Its Word Over Dark 'Hulk' Film New 'Inspector Gadget' Live-Action Movie in the Works From Disney Jared Leto Was "Alienated and Upset" at Not Getting to Star in 'Joker' Don't forget to support the podcast by filling out this short survey linked here.

To help fill the void in your weekly listening, Carrie and Rob are bringing you Weeklies - a review of the last 7-days of movie new...with a twist! Rob has gathered all the 10 best pieces of movie news and Carrie will only be able to pick 5 Pippi Longstocking Film in Works From StudioCanal, Heyday Films New 'Treasure Island' Movie in the Works at Universal, Mandeville Films Tom Holland's Last-Minute Appeal Helped Seal a 'Spider-Man' Deal 'Borat' Writer Dan Mazer in Talks to Direct 'Home Alone' Reboot for Disney+ Eddie Murphy on 'Beverly Hills Cop 4' and Returning to 'Saturday Night Live' in December How Moviegoers Can Experience 'Gemini Man,' From Standard 2K to the "Whole Shebang" '1917' Filmmaker Sam Mendes on Crafting His World War I Drama in a Single Shot Matt Damon Says He Turned Down Lead 'Avatar' Role: "I Couldn't Do It" Real-Life 'Terminator': Major Studios Face Sweeping Loss of Iconic '80s Film Franchise Rights Timothee Chalamet Seems Into Playing DCEU's Robin Don't forget to support the podcast by filling out this short survey linked here.

Batman's arch-enemy, the Joker, is getting his very own movie, and we're celebrating by looking at our all-time favorite movie villains. From wicked witches to evil space cyborg wizards to petulant octopus women, it's all about the colorful monsters who are the very best at being very bad. In Worth Mentioning we discus Abominable, Hustlers, Batman Ninja and Toy Story 4.

To help fill the void in your weekly listening, Carrie and Rob are bringing you Weeklies - a review of the last 7-days of movie new...with a twist! Rob has gathered all the 10 best pieces of movie news and Carrie will only be able to pick 5 Midsommar Therapy Sessions: Article Link, Video Link Casting News for The Batman: Article Link Will Ferrell and Ryan Reynolds Christmas Movie: Article Link Movie Trailer Survey: Article Link Princess Bride Remake: Article Link Moviepass Alive: Article Link Fear the Joker: Article Link Jurassic World 3 Casting and Movie Short: Article Link, Movie Short Link Jason Bateman Directing Clue: Article Link Will Smith as a Bad Guy: Article Link Don't forget to support the podcast by filling out this short survey linked here.

Our latest podcast topic comes courtesy of Patreon Not Fenimore, who's asked us to take a look at one of film history's most legendary, acclaimed trilogies: The Godfather (1972), The Godfather, Part II (1974), and The Godfather, Part III (1990). And lest you think that the internet can't possibly need another analysis of the Godfather films, there's a twist: for one of our trio (not naming names!) this will be the very first time seeing these monolithic classics. As an added bonus, we talked to Anderson Cowan of The Film Vault podcast, on the occasion of his leap into feature filmmaking with Groupers. Grab your tickets to the theatrical release while you can! In Worth Mentioning we also covered Ad Astra and My Brother's Wedding. Be sure to help us get some podcast sponsors by filling out this short survey.

Before we get too far into the fall and awards season, we place a bow on the summer by sharing our picks for the best films of Summer 2019! Find out how well we did at predicting what films we'd like (...not so well), and find out what unexpected gems we stumbled into along the way. In Worth Mentioning we cover Hustlers, It Chapter Two and Set it Up thanks to Patreon Ann Yourell!

We're recharged from our summer vacation and coming back with the 2019 edition of our annual fall preview: our picks for the releases between now and the end of the calendar year that have us the most excited, be they popcorn extravaganzas, picturesque art films, violent action pictures, or the most unfathomably evil-looking adaptation of a stage musical in the history of cinema. In Worth Mentioning, we cover Hobbs & Shaw, Ready or Not, The Peanut Butter Falcon, and Hangover Square thanks to Patreon Zev Burrows.

Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw looks to redeem a fairly dry summer with its action-packed story of two dudes swapping sarcastic banter while constantly trying to one-up each other and generally getting on each other's nerves. In honor, we'll be sharing all of our other favorite examples of two unlikely figures being thrust together by fate to star in an action film together, quipping all the way. In Worth Mentioning we cover The Lion King and Once Upon a Time in Hollywood.