The Movie Group Chat

Doug Ellin, creator of Entourage, joins The Movie Group Chat to discuss one of the movies that helped shape his approach to comedy: The In-Laws (1979).Doug explains why Peter Falk and Alan Arkin’s chemistry — especially Arkin’s incredible reactions — had such an impact on him as a kid and how lessons from The In-Laws eventually found their way into Entourage.We talk about Doug’s obsession with dialogue, why he wanted audiences to miss jokes until their second viewing, the challenge of writing plot versus character, and why friendship and loyalty were always at the heart of Entourage.Doug also reveals why E was the Entourage character most like him, tells the story of LeBron James identifying his own real-life E, Drama, and Turtle, and shares his perspective on the show’s legacy more than two decades after its debut.Plus, we get into remake culture, AI and the future of filmmaking, Swingers, Goodfellas, Alan Arkin, Peter Falk, and why the smallest lines can sometimes become the ones you remember forever.We believe in movies. Join The Movie Group Chat.

Barbarian — Brilliant Horror or Completely Absurd? with Xavier StilesFor the final movie of spooky season, Xavier Stiles joins The Movie Group Chat to discuss Zach Cregger’s Barbarian — and it quickly turns into one of our biggest movie debates.Xavier and Chet are willing to embrace the movie’s absurdity, unconventional structure, and perspective. Jeremy and Justin keep coming back to one question: How many questionable character decisions can a movie ask you to accept before it stops working?We break down Georgina Campbell, Justin Long, and Bill Skarsgård’s performances, the movie’s biggest twists, its approach to the female perspective, horror-movie logic, and whether Barbarian actually earns the suspension of disbelief it demands.Then the conversation gets bigger: What is horror actually supposed to accomplish? Why are comedy filmmakers increasingly drawn to the genre? And why has horror become one of Hollywood’s best spaces for original, strange, risky filmmaking?It’s part Barbarian breakdown, part horror debate, and exactly the kind of movie argument The Movie Group Chat was built for.We believe in movies. Join The Movie Group Chat.

Friday the 13th Part III — The Birth of an IconFriday the 13th Part III is where Jason Voorhees finally puts on the hockey mask — and horror history is never the same.For our latest audience pick, the guys head to Camp Crystal Lake to talk about why this version of Jason became so iconic, whether the movie still works more than 40 years later, and what Friday the 13th Part III tells us about the wild world of 1980s horror.Jeremy argues that Jason’s sheer size and the way he’s framed make him uniquely intimidating. Justin explains why Chucky and Ghostface can “catch these hands,” but Jason is a completely different problem. And Chet somehow starts wondering whether Jason’s victims represent the seven deadly sins.Then the group gets into everything else: the movie’s smart final girl, its unmistakable 3D gimmicks, some absolutely insane dialogue, the very ’80s approach to smoking and diversity, and why this might have been a much better movie to experience with a packed theater full of friends.And then Justin drops the take that could get us banned from horror movie conversations forever:90s horror is better than 80s horror.Finally, the guys answer the question that really matters: if The Movie Group Chat were trapped in a Friday the 13th movie, who dies first?We believe in movies. Join The Movie Group Chat.

The Social Reckoning — Did Aaron Sorkin Lose the Social Network Magic?Sixteen years after The Social Network, Aaron Sorkin returns to the world of Facebook and Mark Zuckerberg with The Social Reckoning — and The Movie Group Chat could not be more divided.Jeremy liked it. Chet hated it. Brick thought it failed to make him care. Justin thinks the movie occasionally finds Sorkin’s magic but never consistently captures the rhythm and urgency audiences expect from his best work.The guys debate whether The Social Reckoning should even be considered a true sequel, what’s missing without David Fincher’s direction, and whether Aaron Sorkin’s famous dialogue still has the musicality of The West Wing, The Newsroom, Moneyball and The Social Network. Pasted textThey also get into Jeremy Strong’s very different interpretation of Mark Zuckerberg, Jeremy Allen White’s ability to handle Sorkin dialogue, the casting of Mikey Madison, and why Bill Burr and Betty Gilpin may be two of the actors who best understand Sorkin’s rhythm. Pasted text Pasted textBut the biggest debate is about the movie’s message: what is the actual reckoning? Is the movie showing us consequences, or simply reminding us of things we already know about social media?And after more than an hour debating Facebook’s effect on society, the episode ends with the most ironic Movie Group Chat advice possible:Delete social media — but follow and subscribe to us first. Pasted textWe believe in movies. Join The Movie Group Chat.

This week, The Movie Group Chat takes on Curry Barker’s Obsession — and the group definitely does not agree on everything.Is Obsession genuinely a great horror movie, or is it an iconic cultural moment that became bigger than the movie itself? Jeremy, Justin, and Chet debate the difference between great and iconic, why Curry Barker’s success matters for independent filmmakers, and what it means to see a younger generation getting excited about going to the movies. They also break down the performances of Inde Navarrette, Michael Johnston and Cooper Tomlinson, the filmmaking details Chet caught on a second viewing, and Justin’s biggest problems with the screenplay. Then things get philosophical: Is the movie about wishful love, control, possession, obsession, or people who simply don’t understand what love actually is? And after debating Bear, Nikki and the mysterious one-wish willow, the guys arrive at an unexpected candidate for the movie’s real villain: Ian. Love it or hate it, Obsession gave us plenty to argue about.We believe in movies. Join The Movie Group Chat.

Chet picks Nirvanna the Band the Show the Movie, Matt Johnson’s wildly inventive time-travel comedy about two lifelong friends still chasing the same dream 17 years later. Jeremy, Justin, and Chet break down the movie’s chaotic filmmaking style, its incredible 2008 references, low-budget creativity, seamless visual tricks, and the moments that made them wonder, “How did they actually do that?”But the conversation goes deeper than the comedy. Is the movie really about fame? Friendship? Growing up? Or realizing that success means very little if you lose the people you wanted to share it with?Plus, the guys debate the ending, talk Back to the Future, The Hangover, BlackBerry, and introduce Chet’s newest recurring obsession: Font Score. Join The Movie Group Chat.

David Wallace has entered the group chat.This week, Andy Buckley joins us to revisit The Other Guys — the Adam McKay action-comedy that put him on screen with Will Ferrell, Mark Wahlberg, Michael Keaton and one of the deepest comedy casts of its era. Andy tells the incredible story of nearly losing the role because of another movie, getting the schedule worked out at the last minute, and walking onto a set surrounded by actors he considered heroes. We talk about Will Ferrell improvising for minutes at a time, Adam McKay’s loose directing style, Mark Wahlberg breaking Andy during takes, Michael Keaton being every bit as cool as you’d hope, and what it was actually like standing on that ledge nine stories above New York. Andy also gets into his unusual path from actor to stockbroker and back again, why The Office was once literally his “side hustle,” and how The Other Guys became a major boost for his acting career. Then the group debates whether movies like The Other Guys can still get made today, celebrates Michael Keaton’s comedy career, gives out the latest Amy Madigan Award, and naturally quotes half the movie.Aim for the bushes and join The Movie Group Chat.

This week, The Movie Group Chat revisits Martin Scorsese’s Gangs of New York.Justin asks everyone to watch the movie from Bill the Butcher’s perspective, leading to a conversation about whether Daniel Day-Lewis is actually playing two versions of the same man: William Cutting underneath, and the larger-than-life Bill the Butcher persona he presents to the world. The guys also dig into what the movie says about America — immigration, class, corruption, violence, identity, and Jeremy’s biggest takeaway: progress is ugly. They debate whether this is some of Scorsese’s best work, where it ranks against Goodfellas, The Departed, Taxi Driver, and The Wolf of Wall Street, whether Leonardo DiCaprio was replaceable in the role of Amsterdam, and why Daniel Day-Lewis towers over nearly everyone around him. Plus Cameron Diaz, John C. Reilly, Christian Bale as a hypothetical Bill the Butcher, and a lot of terrible impressions.Where does Gangs of New York rank for you in Scorsese’s filmography?Join The Movie Group Chat.

Jeremy brings Ryan Coogler’s Sinners to The Movie Group Chat.On the surface, it’s a period vampire film starring Michael B. Jordan. Underneath, the group finds a much bigger conversation about freedom, identity, oppression, religion, music and what it means to choose your own path. Is every character in Sinners actually a sinner — or are they simply refusing to live by somebody else’s rules?The guys debate the meaning of the title, the sympathy we sometimes feel for the vampires, Remmick’s role as an oppressed person who becomes an oppressor, and how Ryan Coogler uses music to connect different cultures and generations. They also talk about Delroy Lindo’s unforgettable Delta Slim, Michael B. Jordan’s performance, the movie’s post-credit scene, and why Sinners may have become something even bigger than a great movie.Justin makes the case that it could be one of the most important films of the decade because it proved an original, R-rated, majority-Black theatrical movie could still become a major event — while Jeremy looks at the film as part of the larger fight to keep the theatrical moviegoing experience alive. And Chet argues that Sinners represents a watershed moment for filmmakers with singular voices: proof that audiences will still show up when filmmakers bet on something original. Is Sinners one of the defining movies of the 2020s — or did the hype go too far?Welcome to The Movie Group Chat.

Filmmaker Kenny Chang joins The Movie Group Chat and brings a classic with him: Pretty Woman.Kenny considers it a top-five — maybe even top-three — romantic comedy. But more than 35 years after its release, does the movie still work? And could the relationship between Vivian and Edward actually happen today? The conversation quickly turns to Julia Roberts and a bigger question: If Pretty Woman never happened, would she still have become one of the biggest movie stars in Hollywood?We break down Roberts’ magnetic performance, Richard Gere’s restraint opposite her, their nonverbal acting and chemistry, and why so much of the Julia Roberts we would eventually see throughout her career is already present in this performance. Then we debate where Gere belongs among the great rom-com leading men and whether Hollywood could still make a movie like Pretty Woman today.Before we get there, Kenny and Chet also take us inside the making of Piece of Chet and what can happen when filmmakers stop waiting for permission and simply make something with the resources they have.Where does Pretty Woman rank for you — and was Julia Roberts always going to become a movie star?Join the group chat and tell us what movie we should watch next.