"Wicked: For Good"

This week, we review the third film in the whodunnit series of Benoit Blanc mysteries: Wake Up Dead Man. After Knives Out and Glass Onion, director Rian Johnson returns to the reins of his favorite genre. We discuss the franchise's increasingly charismatic roster of secondary protagonists, the year of Josh O'Connor, and whether or not Johnson's penchant for heavy-handed topicality once again derails a Benoit Blanc tale.

Last year's Wicked: Part One, despite its shortcomings, was bolstered by infectious energy, powerhouse performances, and bop-worthy songs. Can this year's followup, For Good, pull off the same magic trick again? Once again, our resident Wicked fan faces off with the two laymen of the podcast to review the second half of the hit adaptation.

Two of our hosts watch their first Lynne Ramsay film with Die My Love, a relationship thriller that tests the boundaries of expression with its D+ CinemaScore and divisive reactions. In Die My Love, new mother Grace (Jennifer Lawrence) molds away at home while her aloof husband Jackson (Robert Pattinson) is at work. With only her baby, a barking dog, and her own thoughts to keep her company, she begins to unravel. We discuss its mixed reception, the economics of auteurism, and dive deeper into our fractured consensus on the film.

Guillermo del Toro's long-gestating passion project, Frankenstein, is here. Perhaps one of the famed Mexican filmmaker's greatest influences, Mary Shelley's horrifying creature once again graces the big screen, this time with del Toro's signature, gothic sensibilities. We discuss the monster's history, its many adaptations, and review its latest incarnation.

After our Luca Guadagnino episode, we are continuing our coverage of director in their "pump 'em out" phase with Yorgos Lanthimos' third film in as many years — Bugonia. Once again re-teaming with his muse Emma Stone, Lanthimos delivers an uproarious, mean-spirited conspiracy thriller. We discuss director jail, an updated rundown of Lanthimos' filmography, and a review of the film.

Luca Guadagnino directs his third movie in two years with After the Hunt. A "cancel culture" drama set in 2019, Guadagnino's latest collides academia with an attempted snapshot of the #MeToo era. Will it complete a barn burner trifecta after Challengers and Queer last year? Or is 2025 too late to put the finger on the pulse of 2019? Tune in and find out.

As we head into a jam-packed end of 2025, we give a refreshed list of what we're looking forward to, plus a little rundown of what we've been watching on both the big and small screens. Some topics from our lowkey hangout episode: HBO's Peacemaker, Alien: Earth, The Smashing Machine, and a rundown of New York Film Festival.

Short and sweet episode this week as Derek is on a much-deserved vacation. Jeff and Amir give a quick review of The Long Walk, the latest Stephen King adaptation. A movie that grew with its buzz, it features some of the best performances of the year in Cooper Hoffman and David Jonsson, but is it enough to carry its relatively simple premise for 108 minutes? Plus, an in-depth discussion of a long history of Stephen King movies.

"No fear. Like Tom f---ing Cruise." One Battle After Another is Paul Thomas Anderson like you've never seen him before. Gripping you from the first second of its barnburner opening montage, Anderson synthesizes his typical mastery of emotional stakes with the very unexpected: action chops. We discuss his love for Terminator 2, another all-timer Leonardo DiCaprio performance, and the star turn of one Chase Infiniti. Even middle-of-the-road PTA is good enough for a spot in the best of the decade. Hell, make it two decades.

This week we review Highest 2 Lowest, Spike Lee's brazen remake of the 1963 black and white Akira Kurosawa classic, High and Low. A divisive movie with its own modern mind apart from its predecessor, Highest 2 Lowest split audiences at Cannes this year and has now split us on the podcast as well. Akira Kurosawa at the height of his power or Spike Lee's late style curio? We talk about aging masters, baffling scores, and Lee's storied oeuvre as a whole.