Classic Movies Live!

Few directors working today are both as prestigious and prolific as Ridley Scott. And few historical figures are as infamous as Napoleon Bonaparte. Finally, the two figures meet in Scott's latest film, a biopic about the ruthless French emperor starring Joaquin Phoenix in the titular role! Covering Napoleon's entire life in a mere two and a half hours, Napoleon is nothing short of a true historical epic. But does it live up to that responsibility, or is it just very, very long? This week on Classic Movies Live! our hosts discuss Scott's filmography, Phoenix's tendency to be a weird little dude, and how big Vanessa Kirby's role is in this movie! For more on Napoleon, his life, and his legacy, check out the series over on OverSimplified!

On this week's episode of Classic Movies Live!, our hosts talk about one of the most infamous behind-the-scenes misfires of all time: The Island of Dr. Moreau. Originally a passion project for British director Richard Stanley, Moreau would drop Stanley partway through filming in favour of veteran director John Frankenheimer, who then proceeded to clash with the enormous personalities of stars Marlon Brando and Val Kilmer. Ultimately the film would release a critical failure and box office disappointment but would go on to have an oversized legacy thanks to absurd behind-the-scenes shenanigans. Drawing from Lost Soul: The Doomed Journey of Richard Stanley's Island of Dr. Moreau, Kilmer's 2022 documentary Val, and the film itself, Pierre and Jeff discuss the Dr. Moreau's wild ride on the 27th (plus 2 months, almost) anniversary of the film's debut!

Welcome to Director Showdown! In this new series, we pit 64 of the biggest directors to debut since 1998 against each other in an elimination bracket to determine who will be crowned the greatest director of the last 25 years! In each episode, we'll examine thematically similar movies from two different directors, comparing how each tackles that week's themes, as well as the achievements each filmmaker brings to their respective film. To start things off, Pierre and Jeff examine the nature of systemic corruption, as depicted in Antoine Fuqua's Training Day and Pete Docter's Monsters, Inc. Both movies were nominated for Academy Awards at the 74th ceremony, with Training Day earning Denzel Washington the Oscar for Best Actor. But only one movie can come out on top, and one director will end their journey with the show in the first round! Join us as we debate Fuqua vs. Docter in the first ever Director Showdown! This episode was inspired by Rotten Tomatoes' Best Director Showdown, which was conducted among RT users over the summer of 2023. The results of that competition are summarized in this article.

On Classic Movies Live!, it's customary for our hosts to, occasionally, talk about a true, certified classic. On today's episode, Pierre and Jeff are joined by Bhavna Sharma, one half of the Bloody Broads to talk about just such a film: Mad Max: Fury Road! Released in 2015, Fury Road took the world by storm. The first Mad Max film in 30 years, Fury Road featured a complete cast reset, with Tom Hardy taking over as Max Rockatansky, joined by Charlize Theron as Imperator Furiosa and Nicholas Hoult as Nux the Warboy. Fury Road is a pure adrenaline rush from start to finish, with each of the leads turning in career-best performances, while also cementing composer Junkie XL as an essential voice in cinematic scoring. The film would go on to be nominated for 10 Oscars -- beaten only by The Revenant in number of nominations -- winning 6, the most of any movie at that year's ceremony. Did Fury Road deserve the acclaim? Does it hold up 8 years later? The short answer is "absolutely. Without a doubt." For the long answer, you'll have to tune in as Pierre, Jeff, and Bhavna dissect this classic movie... live*! You can find Bhavna on every social media site as @theluckysharms, including Twitter, bluesky, and Instagram (where she's got an underscore after her name). You can also hear Bhavna with her co-host Jamie on their podcast, Bloody Broads, available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and wherever else you like to listen to podcasts. You can find all their links, including socials, right here. They also just launched merch, which you should check out! This episode was produced during the 2023 SAG-AFTRA strikes. Without the labour of the actors currently on strike, the films being discussed in this show wouldn't exist. To learn more about the ongoing strike, go to https://www.sagaftrastrike.org/

After almost a decade, the YouTube sensation from the one and only Scott Cawthon finally comes to the big screen! Five Nights at Freddy's is in theatres now, just in time for Halloween! Of course, our hosts were first in line to see the new film from Emma Tammi and Blumhouse, starring Josh Hutcherson and Matthew Lillard alongside a host of Jim Henson animatronics! Is Five Nights, like The Super Mario Movie before it, the greatest video game movie ever made? Or are its scares as rancid as a child's corpse? Tune in as Pierre and Jeff give their thoughts on Freddy, Chica, Foxy, and Bonnie! For more behind the scenes of Five Nights, check out this video from The Film Theorists detailing what it was like on set! This episode was produced during the 2023 SAG-AFTRA strikes. Without the labour of the actors currently on strike, the films being discussed in this show wouldn't exist. To learn more about the ongoing strike, go to https://www.sagaftrastrike.org/

Losing It Over Leo is back with another Scorsese picture, and the first movie to feature both Leonardo DiCaprio and Robert DeNiro since This Boy's Life! Killers of the Flower Moon tells the story of the Osage Indian Murders, a series of murders perpetrated against the Osage tribe in Oklahoma during the early 20th century. While Killers features many indigenous people both in front of and behind the camera, the film is nevertheless told by Martin Scorsese, focusing on the non-native perspective. An ideal version of this story would be told by an Osage filmmaker, and we encourage you to seek out indigenous voices in film. You can support indigenous film through organizations like ImagineNative. Be sure to check out Osage reviews of film as well, like this one from Robert Warrior. This episode was produced during the 2023 SAG-AFTRA strikes. Without the labour of the actors currently on strike, the films being discussed in this show wouldn't exist. To learn more about the ongoing strike, go to https://www.sagaftrastrike.org/

In this extra spooky episode of Classic Movies Live! our hosts dissect a true horror classic from one of the most influential voices in modern horror: James Wan's The Conjuring! The "true story" of demonologists Ed and Lorraine Warren's most haunting case, The Conjuring stars Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga as expert ghost hunters who must perform an exorcism for the Perrons, a family of seven in Rhode Island. As they learn more about the ghosts, the Warrens and the Perrons must battle their personal demons, but mostly the quite literal ones that have taken up residence on their lawn! The Conjuring would go on to spawn two direct sequels and two spin-off series, and became career-defining work for Wan and Wilson. It was also the first entry in a sprawling cinematic universe the likes of which horror hasn't seen since the Universal Monsters. So why The Conjuring? What makes this film a true classic? The answers to this and other questions on this week's episode of Classic Movies Live! Referenced in this episode: check out Alisha Mughal's review of The Exorcist: Believer! This episode was produced during the 2023 SAG-AFTRA strikes. Without the labour of the actors currently on strike, the films being discussed in this show wouldn't exist. To learn more about the ongoing strike, go to https://www.sagaftrastrike.org/

It's the spookiest time of year, and nothing is spookier than..... Rogue One director Gareth Edwards! On this week's episode of Classic Movies Live!, Pierre and Jeff talk about The Creator, an original sci-fi film from Edwards starring John David Washington, Gemma Chan, and Ken Watanabe. Releasing at the most topical of times, The Creator takes on human-AI relations while heavily integrating East Asian themes and aesthetics... for better and worse. Referenced in this episode is this video by Patrick H Willems about the state of the modern film industry. For more thematic analysis on The Creator, check out this review by Siddhant Adlakha on Joysauce. This episode was produced during the 2023 SAG-AFTRA strikes. Without the labour of the actors currently on strike, the films being discussed in this show wouldn't exist. To learn more about the ongoing strike, go to https://www.sagaftrastrike.org/

It's that time of year again, and this October, our hosts have a whole host of horrific haunts on the horizon! In the first episode of the spookiest season, Pierre and Jeff talk about Scream! All of them! 😱 From the series' origins with Wes Craven and Kevin Williamson to the requel series directed by Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett, we break down the themes and screams of all 6 movies. Major spoilers for the whole series abound in this episode! This episode was produced during the 2023 WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes. Without the labour of the writers and actors currently on strike, the films being discussed in this show wouldn't exist. To learn more about the ongoing strikes, go to https://www.sagaftrastrike.org/ and https://www.wgacontract2023.org/strike-hub

This week on Classic Movies Live!, our hosts talk about the one, the only, the legend Kenny B! For his third Inspector Poirot film, Kenneth Branagh adapts the lesser-known Agatha Christie mystery Hallowe'en Party. Moving the action to Venice instead of rural England, A Haunting In Venice finds a retired Poirot reluctantly brought back to investigate a several-years-old murder alongside mystery writer Ariadne Oliver (Tina Fey) and medium Joyce Reynolds (Michelle Yeoh). But when another murder happens, Poirot must reckon with the ghosts not only of the deceased, but of his own past, as he slowly realizes that there's more to the people in the house with him than he originally thought... This episode was produced during the 2023 WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes. Without the labour of the writers and actors currently on strike, the films being discussed in this show wouldn't exist. To learn more about the ongoing strikes, go to https://www.sagaftrastrike.org/ and https://www.wgacontract2023.org/strike-hub

The 48th Toronto International Film Festival just ended, and we sent one of our hosts to go watch every movie he could! On today's episode of Classic Movies Live! Pierre interviews Jeff about his experience at #TIFF23. What were the best, worst, and most interesting movies to screen at the festival? We cover as many as we can in this hour-long wrap-up of Canada's biggest film festival! Tune in for in-depth (spoiler-free) reviews of Next Goal Wins, Origin, Dicks: The Musical, Hit Man, AGGRO DR1FT, The Teachers' Lounge, Green Border, Sleep, Hate to Love: Nickelback, The Holdovers, The Monk and the Gun, and others! And when you're done listening to this episode, check out some of Jeff's reviews over on Letterboxd, as well as Jeff's guest appearance on the TIFF episode of Contra Zoom Pod. Jeff also wrote reviews for two TIFF movies not discussed in this episode, I Don't Know Who You Are and Humanist Vampire Seeking Consenting Suicidal Person. Finally, check out this review from David Ehrlich of AGGRO DR1FT, mentioned in this episode. In the time since this episode was recorded, Hit Man has found distribution with Netflix. Make sure to watch it in theatres when it releases! This episode was produced during the 2023 WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes. Without the labour of the writers and actors currently on strike, the films being discussed in this show wouldn't exist. To learn more about the ongoing strikes, go to https://www.sagaftrastrike.org/ and https://www.wgacontract2023.org/strike-hub

It's another week of Spielberg here on Classic Movies Live! This week, we talk about one of the movies from the year Spielberg finally got his Best Directing Oscar! If you thought that means we're talking about Schindler's List, think again, we're actually talking about Jurassic Park! A classic tale of hubris and the man who weaponized his to make an island full of dinosaurs, Jurassic Park would go on to spawn one of the biggest franchises of all time. Groundbreaking in the fields of visual effects and Jeff Goldblum usage, Jurassic Park is held up by many today as one of the best movies ever made. But will our hosts agree? Tune in as Pierre and Jeff discuss Jurassic Park on this week's episode of Classic Movies Live! This Episode was produced during the 2023 WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes. Without the labour of the writers and actors currently on strike, the films being discussed in this show wouldn't exist. To learn more about the ongoing strikes, go to https://www.sagaftrastrike.org/ and https://www.wgacontract2023.org/strike-hub

Despite their vast, ineffable knowledge of cinematic history, Pierre and Jeff do indeed have a few blindspots, so for the next couple episodes, our hosts are revisiting some old classics. First up, it's the movie that put Steven Spielberg on the map! Jaws was Spielberg's big break! His third film for Universal, second collaboration with John Williams, and first film in his long career of major successes that would come to define the modern blockbuster, Jaws is a film with a legacy a big as the titular shark! It's also a film that at least one of our hosts hadn't actually seen before this episode! Viewing Jaws as an unfamiliar movie, how does it hold up? Even more interestingly: what can the rest of Spielberg's filmography tell us about Jaws... and vice-versa for that matter! All these answers and more on today's bonus-sized episode of Classic Movies Live! Spoilers in this episode for Jaws and Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. This Episode was produced during the 2023 WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes. Without the labour of the writers and actors currently on strike, the films being discussed in this show wouldn't exist. To learn more about the ongoing strikes, go to https://www.sagaftrastrike.org/ and https://www.wgacontract2023.org/strike-hub

This week on Classic Movies Live!, our hosts discuss the biggest shark in cinema! The Meg series of films stars Jason Statham as Jonas Taylor, a marine biologist/diver/eco-terrorist who repeatedly encounters Megalodons, a species of prehistoric giant shark. Based on a series of novels by Steve Alten, there's certainly more to it than that, but you really can't go wrong with "Statham vs. Shark"! Also in this episode, our hosts give their thoughts on the state of Statham's other big franchise: The Fast and the Furious! Spoilers in this episode for The Meg, Meg 2: The Trench, and Fast X. This Episode was produced during the 2023 WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes. Without the labour of the writers and actors currently on strike, the films being discussed in this show wouldn't exist. To learn more about the ongoing strikes, go to https://www.sagaftrastrike.org/ and https://www.wgacontract2023.org/strike-hub

On this week's episode of Classic Movies Live!, we're letting our (g)hosts get spooky! Adapted from the Disney theme park ride of the same name, The Haunted Mansion features a family of colour moving into a secluded mansion only to discover that it's inhabited by 999 ghosts... but there's always room for one more. To avoid becoming the 1000th ghost, the family teams up with a wacky band of characters including a short man and Madame Leota - a long-dead fortune teller who is trapped inside a crystal ball - to thwart the sinister plot of the owner of the haunted house. The same thing happens in Haunted Mansion 20 years earlier, but different! This Episode was produced during the 2023 WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes. Without the labour of the writers and actors currently on strike, the films being discussed in this show wouldn't exist. To learn more about the ongoing strikes, go to https://www.sagaftrastrike.org/ and https://www.wgacontract2023.org/strike-hub

This week on Classic Movies Live!, we're talking about a Netflix Original! From first-time director Juel Taylor, They Cloned Tyrone stars John Boyega, Teyonah Paris, and Jamie Foxx as three friends who uncover a vast cloning conspiracy below their town. But if that sounds strange, buckle up because that's hardly the half of it! Reminiscent of blaxploitation films of the 70s and 80s, as well as weird modern sci-fi hits like Sorry To Bother You, Taylor's debut is certainly one of the most original movies ever to premiere as a Netflix Original. Is it also one of the best? This Episode was produced during the 2023 WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes. Without the labour of the writers and actors currently on strike, the films being discussed in this show wouldn't exist. To learn more about the ongoing strikes, go to https://www.sagaftrastrike.org/ and https://www.wgacontract2023.org/strike-hub

In this week's episode of Classic Movies Live!, our hosts are once again talking about Turtles! Longtime listeners will remember that both Pierre and Jeff are lifelong fans of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles franchise, so it only makes sense that our hosts cover the latest reboot from Seth Rogen and Jeff Rowe! Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem features the titular turtles as you've never seen them before: portrayed as teenagers! Featuring a huge cast including Ice Cube, Jackie Chan, Seth Rogen, Paul Rudd, Maya Rudolph, and four relative newcomers as the turtles, Mutant Mayhem puts a unique spin on the turtles' origins and characters. Do the creative risks pay off? Tune in to hear our hosts break down Rowe's directorial debut! This Episode was produced during the 2023 WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes. Without the labour of the writers and actors currently on strike, the films being discussed in this show wouldn't exist. To learn more about the ongoing strikes, go to https://www.sagaftrastrike.org/ and https://www.wgacontract2023.org/strike-hub

It's part two of our Barbenheimer coverage, this time talking about Barbie! The third solo-directed film from Greta Gerwig, Barbie features Gerwig's biggest budget, biggest cast, and first foray into an existing IP. In a world where a three-hour-long scientist biopic can sell out IMAX theatres for weeks, Barbie is doing ever better, on track to become the biggest movie of 2023, and the biggest female-helmed movie of all time! In this episode, Pierre and Jeff break down the Margot Robbie vehicle. What do its themes say about capitalism and feminism? How does the portrayal of toxic masculinity and patriarchy land? Is this the film that will win Ryan Gosling his Oscar? And to close everything out, we discuss the state of the Hollywood today! Despite the biggest opening weekend in history, the ongoing writers' and actors' strikes leave the film industry in a pretty curious position. What could this mean for Saw Patrol? This Episode was produced during the 2023 WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes. Without the labour of the writers and actors currently on strike, the films being discussed in this show wouldn't exist. To learn more about the ongoing strikes, go to https://www.sagaftrastrike.org/ and https://www.wgacontract2023.org/strike-hub

If you've been paying attention to movies in 2023, you already know there's not a single event more important this year than Barbenheimer Weekend! The simultaneous release of Barbie and Oppenheimer produced one of the biggest box-office weekends of all time, with both movies already garnering commercial and critical acclaim! It's official: Audiences love Bobby Oppenheimer! In the first of two Barbenheimer episodes, Pierre and Jeff address the implications of such a massive cinematic event. Is this just the shot in the arm the movie industry needs? Will it ever be replicated again? What about Saw Patrol? Then, our hosts break down Nolan's three-hour epic biopic. Nolan-regular Cillian Murphy stars in the title role alongside Robert Downey, Jr., Emily Blunt, Florence Pugh, Alden Ehrenreich and Josh Hartnett, as well as dozens of massive names! Deeply personal and politically poignant, Oppenheimer is a movie that sticks with you long after the credits roll. So what did our hosts think of it? Tune in to find out! For more Oppenheimer content, you can check out Jeff's review over on Letterboxd. This Episode was produced during the 2023 WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes. Without the labour of the writers and actors currently on strike, the films being discussed in this show wouldn't exist. To learn more about the ongoing strikes, go to https://www.sagaftrastrike.org/ and https://www.wgacontract2023.org/strike-hub

This week on Classic Movies Live!, Tom Cruise is back to save cinema yet again! Dead Reckoning, Part One is the seventh movie in the Mission: Impossible franchise that's regularly seen Cruise perform death-defying stunts over the course of almost thirty years! As one of Hollywood's oldest currently active franchises, and one of Cruise's proudest achievements, how is the franchise doing seven installments in? Our hosts discuss their thoughts on Mission: Impossible, Tom Cruise, newcomer Pom Klementieff, and the dearly missed Henry Cavill! This Episode was produced during the 2023 WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes. Without the labour of the writers and actors currently on strike, the films being discussed here wouldn't exist. To learn more about the ongoing strikes, go to https://www.sagaftrastrike.org/ and https://www.wgacontract2023.org/strike-hub

After a brief hiatus, we're back with another episode of Classic Movies Live! And with the entirety of June behind them, it's time to recap some of the biggest (and dud-iest) movies of the summer! In this episode, Pierre and Jeff run through the movies they each saw during June, including The Flash, Asteroid City, and Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny. Were any of this year's most hotly-anticipated June blockbusters worth the wait? Well, the answer isn't entirely no! Also in this episode, Jeff references a review of Transformers: Rise of the Beasts by friend of the show and Awesome Friday co-host Simon Best, which you really should read.

This week on Classic Movies Live!, our hosts talk about one of the biggest animated blockbusters of 2023! Debuting to incredible critical and commercial success, Spider-Man: Across the Spiderverse continues the stories of Miles Morales and Gwen Stacy as they fall in with a legion of multiversal Spider-People. Joining our heroes this time are Indian Spiderman Pavitr Prabhakar (Karan Soni), Spider-Punk Hobie Brown (Daniel Kaluuya), and Spider-Man from the year 2099, Miguel O'Hara (Oscar Isaac). As a sequel to one of the most influential movies of the last decade, expectations were high for Across the Spiderverse. But while the movie ups the ante from Into the Spiderverse in many ways, is it able to clear the high bar of quality Lord and Miller set with its predecessor? Tune in as Pierre and Jeff break down part one of the epic conclusion to the Spider-Verse saga!

This week on Classic Movies Live!, our hosts are joined by Mark Morgan of the Academy of Death Racers to discuss a film so monumental it redefined the concept of sci-fi horror! Set aboard the mining ship Nostromo, Alien follows a crew of seven blue-collar workers attempting to survive after an SOS call goes horribly wrong. What starts out as a routine investigation quickly becomes a paranoid nightmare as crewmates are killed off one by one by a never-before-seen extraterrestrial lifeform that's made its way onto the ship. Released in 1979, Alien would become the breakout role for Sigourney Weaver, while giving a boost to the career of a young John Hurt as well. It would turn new director Ridley Scott into a household name, and later become not just a pivotal film in his career, but a pivotal era, as Scott would go on to expand Alien into a franchise that today consists of seven main-series films with more on the way! And of course, Alien would spawn iconic scenes, and leave a legacy and impact on pop-culture larger than anyone at the time could have possibly imagine. So what is the combination of these elements that truly turns Alien from just a well-known film into an undisputed classic? Join us as we break down the film and its legacy! Mark was last heard in Season 4, Episode 11: Women Tárking, where he shared his review of the film Tár. Before that, he joined our hosts on Kickin' It With Kendrick Episode 26: Featuring Mark Morgan (Dummy)! Mark is one of the co-directors of the Academy of Death Racers Film Festival, which you can learn more about at aodr.net. You can also find him over on Discord, where he'll be happy to explain to you several reasons why Minding the Gap ought to have won Best Documentary Feature at the 91st Academy Awards.

On this week's episode of Classic Movies Live!, our hosts take on one of the best movies ever made about the greatest American hero. Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse exploded into theatres in winter of 2018 and made waves throughout the animation industry. Opening to critical acclaim and commercial success, Spider-Verse would go on to win the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature, sweep the Annies, and usher in a new golden age of mixed 2D/3D hybrid animation. Not even 5 years later the influence of Spider-Verse is felt in animated films from nearly every active studio. With the sequel Across the Spider-Verse around the corner, Pierre and Jeff revisit the movie that started it all and share some of their thoughts on Sony Animation, Lord and Miller, and what Spider-Man means to them.

This week on Classic Movies Live!, Pierre and Jeff talk about the biggest Canadian movie since 2021's PAW Patrol: The Movie! From director Matt Johnson, BlackBerry chronicles the rise and fall of Research in Motion, the Waterloo, ON company headed by Mike Lazaridis and Jim Balsillie that created the Blackberry phone, and with it, the modern smartphone industry. As you're about to hear, BlackBerry is already one of the best movies of 2023, so if you're looking for a movie to check out this weekend, let our hosts convince you that it should be the one about Waterloo, where the vampires hang out!

This week on Classic Movies Live!, Pierre and Jeff talk about James Gunn's final movie in the Marvel Cinematic Universe: Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 3! After the events of The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special, Star-Lord (Chris Pratt), Nebula (Karen Gillan), Mantis (Pom Klementieff), and Drax (Dave Bautista) are back along with newcomers Adam Warlock (Will Poulter) and Cosmo (Maria Bakalova) in a galaxy-spanning adventure to save their friend, Rocket (Bradley Cooper) -- who is not a raccoon. Vol. 3 is not only the third Guardians movie, but also the thirty-second MCU movie. But which is it more? Does Gunn leave his band of space-misfits with a satisfying ending, or is Vol. 3 just another movie in the world's longest-running silver-screen TV show? Tune in as our hosts break down the latest from Marvel Pictures!

This week on Classic Movies Live!, Pierre and Jeff are joined by Rachel Ho from Contra Zoom Pod to talk about one of the quintessential 90s action movies: Speed! Starring Keanu Reeves and Sandra Bullock, and releasing just a week before the most famous real-life car chase of all time, Jan de Bont's film about a bus that can't slow down endures almost 20 years after its debut! But what is the legacy of Speed? Is its influence on action still felt today? Tune in as Rachel makes the case that Speed truly is a Classic Movie, Live! For more of Rachel's content, you can check out her website rachelkh.com, or follow her over on Twitter. Rachel can also be regularly heard over on Contra Zoom Pod, including their latest episode discussing the Best Films of 2014, the 20th anniversary year of Speed! Rachel has also guested on Classic Movies Live! before, including in Kickin' It With Kendrick Episode 15: The Voices and Kickin' It With Kendrick Episode 11: Christmas With Contra Zoom!

Do you like basketball? What about basketball shoes? What about Nike internal politics related to basketball shoes? On this week's episode of Classic Movies Live!, Pierre and Jeff talk about sports - or rather, sports-adjacent capitalism - as they take on Air, the newest movie about the 80s from 90s dream team Ben Affleck and Matt Damon! Also starring Chris Tucker, Viola Davis, and Jason Bateman, Air is a movie about Michael Jordan and his influence on the world of sports and celebrity endorsements... but without any appearances by Mr. Jordan himself! Also on this episode: our hosts reveal their thoughts on Argo, the DC Universe, and which sports teams they root for! On an unrelated note, the Oilers lost to the Kings 4-3 on the date of recording this episode. That's relevant to the episode, kind of.

This week on Classic Movies Live!, our hosts discuss the biggest movie of 2023! Based on the consistently acclaimed Nintendo games, The Super Mario Bros Movie sees Illumination Studios -- perhaps best known for the Minions franchise -- bringing the most famous gaming mascot this side of Sonic the Hedgehog to the silver screen! Jam-packed with names like Jack Black, Chris Pratt, Charlie Day, and Anya Taylor-Joy, The Super Mario Bros Movie has name recognition at just about every level. But does it also have quality at every level? Tune in as Pierre and Jeff break down Shigeru Miyamoto's productorial debut!

Here on Classic Movies Live! we regularly talk about classic franchises based on tabletop games! And instead of fact-checking that, you can check out this week's episode, in which our hosts dive into the new Dungeons and Dragons movie: Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves! Starring Chris Pratt, Michelle Rodriguez, and Hugh Grant, Honor Among Thieves brings the rich world of Faerun to life in a story ripped from a long Saturday session around a tabletop! Blending thrills, humour, and heartfelt character moments, Honor Among Thieves is an excellent fantasy flick filled with references and a love of D&D that roleplaying fans will find immediately endearing. But did our hosts find it immediately endearing? Tune in for this week's hottest takes only on Classic Movies Live! Also on this episode: we present Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson with a special award only 2 other people have received!

Do/Do-Over examines the similarities and differences between a film and its remake, or a film it heavily inspired. This time, we're looking at the 1958 Akira Kurosawa film The Hidden Fortress, and the film it most famously influenced, 1977's Star Wars by George Lucas. In the past, we've done similar episodes looking at Citizen Kane and Mank, and Yojimbo and A Fistful of Dollars. Be sure to check those out, or peruse this handy Letterboxd list for links to all of our episodes! Joining us today is Dakota Arsenault of Contra Zoom Pod! Dakota was most recently heard on Season 4, Episode 12: The 95th Academy Awards!, and was last a featured guest in Kickin' It With Kendrick, Episode 15: The Voices.

What's your favourite franchise? Well, for our hosts, John Wick would have to be a strong contender! On this week's episode of Classic Movies Live! we discuss the epic conclusion to Chad Staheleski's breakout directorial series! Starring all of Jeff's favourite guys! Donnie Yen, Shamier Anderson, Bill Skarsgard, Hiroyuki Sanada, and Scott Adkins join Keanu Reeves for nearly 3 hours of non-stop action! Cinematography! An incredible soundtrack! Amazing fight choreography! John Wick: Chapter 4 has it all, and our hosts are here to go through all of it in this spoiler-light episode! This episode contains fragments of the songs "Genesis" by Justice, "Plastic Heart" by Nostalghia, and "LED Spirals" by Le Castle Vania, and "Got Yourself A Gun" by Nas.

In this week's spoiler-filled episode of Classic Movies Live!, our hosts tackle the new DC Universe... or maybe the remnants of the old one! The sequel to 2019's Shazam!, Fury of the Gods sees Billy Batson and his superpowered siblings once again take on an ancient evil in the form of Helen Mirren and Lucy Liu! Described by director David F. Sandberg as a "mini-Avengers movie", Fury of the Gods features a huge cast of characters -- a tough balancing act in any film! So does DC's latest turn a teenage team-up into a successful sequel, or is this last gasp of the DC Universe more of a yawn?

With all the Best Picture nominees behind us, it's time to talk about the big event: the Oscars! In today's episode, Pierre and Jeff discuss the Oscars - both before the ceremony, and after! Also, learn about the results of the Academy of Death Racers Awards (The Deathies), hosted the night before the Oscars by your favourite hosts! Director/Producer of the Deathies and friend of the show Astro joins us to discuss the 3rd annual ceremony, which you can still watch on YouTube! This episode features call-ins from a number of guests! Including.... Adele, last heard on Kickin' It With Kendrick Episode 3: The Twilight Saga! Dakota Arsenault, co-host of Contra Zoom Pod, last heard on Kickin' It With Kendrick Episode 15: The Voices! Calum Macnab, co-host of SCARETRODUCING, last heard on Kickin' It With Kendrick Episode 25: The Day Shall Come! Matthew Simpson, co-host of Awesome Friday, last heard on Kickin' It With Kendrick Episode 22: Rapture-Palooza! And of course SlightAstro, or Ian, co-founder of the Academy of Death Racers, last heard on Season 4, Episode 3: Paddington 2!

This week on Classic Movies Live! It's the last episode going through each of the Best Picture nominees, and boy did our hosts leave the best for last! First, Pierre and Jeff break down Women Talking. From Canadian director Sarah Polley, Women Talking features an ensemble cast including Jessie Buckley, Frances McDormance, Clare Foy and Rooney Mara. After years of suffering at the hands of the men of their isolated Mennonite colony, a group of women discuss whether to leave the colony, forgive the men, or stay and fight. Taking place entirely within one location, and featuring primarily discussions, Women Talking is certainly unique amongst this year's nominees. But how does it stack up against the others? Following that, our hosts discuss Todd Field's first film in 13 years: TÁR! Featuring Cate Blanchett in, frankly, the role of a lifetime, TÁR is a layered character study tailor-made for the post-MeToo landscape. While there's likely not a soul alive unfamiliar with EGOT-winner Lydia Tár, Field's profile tears down her character, and tells the story of her fall from grace in a way unlike any we've seen yet! This segment features a soon-to-be classic conversation from our hosts, so make sure you don't miss it! Also in this episode, we have call-ins from Rach and Mark! Rach was last heard on Kickin' It WIth Kendrick, Episode 21: Romantic Comedies and Mr. Right, and can be found over on TikTok, YouTube or Substack. Mark was last heard on Kickin' It With Kendrick, Episode 26: Featuring Mark Morgan (Dummy)!, and he's one of the key members of the Academy of Death Racers, which you can learn more about over on AoDR.net! Finally, we talk a lot about friend of the show Paulo Bautista talking about Top Gun: Maverick on this episode. If you want context for that, check out his appearance over on this recent episode of Contra Zoom Pod!

On this week's episode of Classic Movies Live! our hosts take a quick break from Oscar movies to talk about the start of MCU's Phase Five: Ant Man and the Wasp: Quantumania! Introducing Jonathan Majors as Kang the Conqueror, alongside a host of new and returning characters, Quantumania aims to fully explore a completely new side of the Marvel Universe... So does it succeed? Tune into this extra-long episode to hear Pierre and Jeff break down Paul Rudd's latest starring vehicle!

On this week's episode of Classic Movies Live! our hosts ponder war. What is it good for? Absolutely nothing? Well, the British Academy of Film would have you believe otherwise! All Quiet On The Western Front, the third adaptation of the major German WWI novel recently won Best Film at the BAFTAs, and is nominated for an astonishing 9 Academy Awards! Tune in for our thoughts on war, but also Edward Berger's latest film!

It's another Best Picture nominee on this week's episode of Classic Movies Live! In this episode, Pierre and Jeff discuss Ruben Östlund's second (!) Palme d'Or winning film, Triangle of Sadness! Featuring an interesting ratio of social commentary to potty humour, Östlund's latest is definitely one of the funner picks at this year's Academy Awards! But is it any good? Tune in as our hosts break down the good, the bad, and the ugly of the Swedish auteur's influencer comedy! This episode contains a segment of the song "New Noise" by Refused

It's another Spielberg episode! On this week's episode of Classic Movies Live!, Pierre and Jeff discuss the Steven Spielberg sort-of-biopic The Fabelmans! Nominated for seven Academy Awards including Best Picture, is The Fabelmans all it's made out to be? How does it rank among Spielberg's mountain of masterpieces? Tune in today to find out! Want to hear Pierre and Jeff talk even more about The Fabelmans, but with a little more of an Oscar bent? Check out our hosts' recent guest appearance on Contra Zoom Pod: https://open.spotify.com/episode/2tFAMcpsOqdbqJbdM8gGcy?si=5c5d0be97b6343b9

On this week's episode of Classic Movies Live!, our hosts tackle the best genre for the best month: Horror in January! First up, Pierre and Jeff discuss Blumhouse's latest AI horror-comedy M3GAN, starring Allison Williams! Following that, Pierre interviews Jeff about Brandon Cronenberg's latest Canadian classic: Infinity Pool! Also in this episode: what makes horror special? What makes January special? What happens when the two are fit so lovingly and perfectly together? And a very special guest!

In the thrilling fifth episode of the fourth season of Classic Movies Live!, Pierre and Jeff take on not a sequel, but a remake! Based on the book and award-winning Swedish film A Man Called Ove, A Man Called Otto stars Tom Hanks as a grumpy old man with a big heart... in more ways than one! Tune in to hear just how our hosts ended up being pleasantly surprised by this small film with a giant heart!

This week, on Classic Movies Live!, our hosts discuss the third sequel of the season, Puss In Boots: The Last Wish! Releasing over ten years after the previous Puss in Boots, The Last Wish is a major departure from the rest of the Shrek franchise! Most obviously, the animation style is completely different from previous entries, but the storytelling and tone isn't exactly the same either! Is this new direction good for Antonio Banderas, Mike Meyers, and the rest of Dreamworks' Darlings? Or is The Last Wish likely to be The Last Good Movie from Dreamworks? Tune in to hear our hosts' thoughts!

In 2019, one of the ideas floated around by two friend who would later become beloved hosts of the greatest movie podcast of all time* was to invite experts to suggest a movie, then host a discussion with said expert live after showing the movie. It could be thought of, in a way, as a sort of discussion of a Classic Movie, Live!, if you will. While the format has since changed, the idea lives on in this, the fourth season of Classic Movies Live! In this week's episode, Pierre and Jeff are joined by Ian (also known as SlightAstronomer3) of the Academy of Death Racers to discuss a veritable modern classic: Paddington 2! Directed by Paul King, Paddington 2 was at least for a time the highest-rated movie on Rotten Tomatoes, and was recently revealed as Nic Cage's favourite movie in The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent. Is it all a meme? Ian certainly doesn't think so! Tune in this week as our hosts and guest dissect every part of Paddington 2 to determine what makes it a Classic Movie, Live! And when you're finished with this episode, consider checking out the 2023 Academy of Death Racers Festival! Running until January 22nd, the 2nd annual AoDR Fest has over 50 short films you can watch at home! For only $5, you can grab yourself an all-access virtual pass over at aodr.net! That pass includes entry into a trivia competition at 11 PM GMT on Saturday the 14th as well. Come show off your movie knowledge against our hosts!

Another year, another Year In Review! On this episode of Classic Movies Live!, our hosts talk about 5 of their favourite movies from 2022, excluding any already discussed in their own episode! If you've been dying to hear Pierre and Jeff discuss the year's horror heavyweights, or festival favourites, you're in for a treat! This is a spoiler-light episode for all films involved! A full list of the movies discussed is below: Pierre's List: Slumberland The Adam Project Smile Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio Scream Jeff's List: Inu-Oh Women Talking Leonor Will Never Die Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio Babylon This episode also contains segments of the song "Call Me Manny" by Justin Hurwitz, written for the soundtrack of the movie Babylon.

Back in 2019, co-hosts Pierre Frigon, p.g.a and Jeff Bulmer, p.g.a. were recording episodes of Classic Movies Live! while waiting with baited breath for a few movies to release that, at that time, seemed like they would never come out. New Mutants, Top Gun: Maverick, and Avatar 2 were all stuck behind so many delays, they seemed distant dreams. But now, at the end of 2022, not only have each of those films released, but they've all been featured on their own episodes of Classic Movies Live! Ushering in the first episode of our fourth season is the first film by the legend himself, James Cameron, in over a decade! Tune in as our hosts return to Pandora and immerse themselves in The Way of Water! If you haven't seen it yourself, be warned that this episode is full spoilers after the 30 minute mark! Also in this episode, hear how our hosts got their new titles!

Last week, you heard an oral history of Heatwave Radio, but you only got to hear pieces of each interview! In this special Bonus Episode, you can hear each of the interviews we conducted in full, with the only editing done in service of removing radio silence, ums, and ahs. Timestamps for each interview are below! 01 - Interviewee: Meredith Lister, Interviewers: Pierre and Jeff - 0:03:44 02 - Interviewee: Afua Asante, Interviewer: Jeff - 0:28:22 03 - Interviewee: Taylor Wilson, Interviewer: Jeff - 0:37:57 04 - Interviewee: Brian Su, Interviewers: Pierre and Jeff - 0:52:16 05 - Interviewees: Yuvarna Govender and Pierre, Interviewer: Jeff - 1:08:49 06 - Interviewee: Jeff, Interviewers: Pierre and Yuvarna - 1:43:20 07 - Interviewee: Tyron Lake, Interviewer: Jeff - 2:16:37 08 - Interviewee: Rosemary Jean Thomson, Interviewer: Jeff - 2:43:56

It's the season 3 finale of Heatwave Radio's Classic Movies Live!, this week! But while you certainly know all about classic movies, you may not be as familiar with Heatwave Radio! In an episode months in the making, Pierre and Jeff are about to take you through 8 years of behind-the-scenes with a definitive (unofficial) history of UBC-Okanagan's premiere campus and community radio station! This episode features interviews with several current and former members of Heatwave Radio, including Pierre and Jeff, Yuvarna Govender, Afua Asante, Meredith Lister, Tyron Lake, Rosemary Jean Thomson, and our very own editor Brian Su! Stay tuned in the following days for a bonus episode with the full interviews with each of our guests! Curious about what Heatwave Media is up to now? You can check them out over on Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube! You can hear more of Afua on Gaywire over at CJSR! Tyron and his fiance regularly stream over on Twitch at pierazzplays!

After almost 60 episodes, it's almost time to wrap up this season of Classic Movies Live!, but not before we talk about the epic near-conclusion of the MCU's Phase Four: Black Panther: Wakanda Forever! In the sequel to the smash hit from 2018, Wakanda is at a crossroads. Still grieving the death of their heroic king T'Challa, the formerly isolated African nation suddenly finds itself at the centre of an international conflict involving another formerly undiscovered nation: the sunken kingdom of Talokan! What's more, this sunken kingdom also has a massive amount of Vibranium! Is Black Panther 2 just Wakanda vs. Wakanda-but-water? Or does director Ryan Coogler have a bit more up his sleeve than first impressions would suggest? Also in this episode, our hosts attempt to answer the age-old question: what makes a classic movie?

This week on Classic Movies Live!, our hosts talk about Martin McDonagh's latest film, The Banshees of Inisherin! Starring The Batman-star Colin Farrell alongside the legendary Brendan Gleeson, Banshees is a lot of things. It's a film about loss and friendship, the breaking of seemingly unbreakable bonds, daily life and legacy. But more than anything, it's a movie about an awkward situation that hits too close to home. Tune in as Pierre and Jeff work through their respective traumas, and also talk a little bit about Peter Dinklage!

The hierarchy of the DC Universe is about to change. This week, our hosts talk about Black Adam, the most important movie Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson has ever made! Tune in as Pierre and Jeff talk about the origins of this incarnation of Black Adam, the faithfulness of The Rock's character to the one in the comics, and the current state of the DC Universe! Also in this episode: our hosts ponder the possibility of getting a celebrity on the podcast! Box office tendencies in China! Patriotic narcissism!