Episode #468: 'The Wrong Girls' with Hay Beacon

Comedian Hay Beacon joins us to discuss THE WRONG GIRLS, Dylan Meyer’s feature debut as a writer/director, starring Kristen Stewart and Alia Shawkat. Meyer has said that the movie is not for everyone, but it’s really for the people it’s for. So…are we those people? Plus, we chat about our favorite “serious” actors to see take comedic turns . What's Good? Alonso: Widows Bay Drea: "Mamdani!" social media posts (and that they're being addressed) Hay: the dog they found! Kevin: finding a great hotel pen ITIDICMarvel Unveils Its New X-Men Cast at D23Pleasantville 4K Release Removes Reese Witherspoon “slut” line Staff Picks Alonso: Never Going Back Drea: It Ends Hay: Leviticus Kevin: Ocean's Eight Listen to Hay's podcast, No Contact. Help support this show and unlock bonus content! Become a member at https://maximumfun.org/joinmaxfilm Follow us on BlueSky, Facebook, Instagram, or LetterboxdWithKevin AveryDrea ClarkAlonso DuraldeProduced by Marissa FlaxbartSr. Producer Laura Swisher

Hey, you! Be a buddy and take our listener survey! It'll help us keep the show great and maybe even...make it better?! THANK YOU IN ADVANCE! - Producer Marissa and the MaxFilm Gang *** Director Jane Schoenbrun's latest film has had a certain kind of movie fan salivating for months now, and it's finally in theaters. So, are we still...salivating? Is this getting gross? Editor of RUE MORGUE Magazine, Andrea Subissati, joins us to discuss. Then, we get our tongues tied up with a movie quiz about film titles even longer than TEENAGE SEX AND DEATH AT CAMP MIASMA. What's Good Alonso: Jeni's Dark Chocolate Bombe Drea: Full-body skin care Andrea: Double cone, the American way Kevin: finally solving the Vitamin C face care situation (Paula's Choice C5 Superboost Moisturizer) ITIDICEllison Says Paramount Will Exit CA if Suit Isn’t Settled By OctoberWB Promotes The End of Oak Street on AI Dog PodcastOne Night Only Director Removed Says Audiences Don’t Like Sex Scenes All titles from our  Long Titles Movie Quiz as a Letterboxd list Staff Picks Alonso: Trick (1999) Drea: Wet Hot American Summer Andrea: Milk & Serial Kevin: Undertone   Help support this show and unlock bonus content! Become a member at https://maximumfun.org/joinmaxfilm Follow us on BlueSky, Facebook, Instagram, or LetterboxdWithKevin AveryDrea ClarkAlonso DuraldeProduced by Marissa FlaxbartSr. Producer Laura Swisher

Hey, you! Be a buddy and take our listener survey! It'll help us keep the show great and maybe even...make it better?! THANK YOU IN ADVANCE! - Producer Marissa and the MaxFilm Gang *** Ken Plume -- author, filmmaker, and longtime host of A Bit of a Chat with Ken Plume -- joins us to talk about the movie that everyone seems to be talking about. Is it a great Spider-Man movie, or the greatest Spider-Man movie? Then, we answer a Hotline call (yes, we still take those!) about forbidden films of our youths.  What’s Good? Alonso - Friends with pools Drea - Texting other people in a group Zoom Ken - Guy Montgomery’s Guy Mont Spelling Bee Kevin - Summer tabs! Urgent tabs! ITIDIC Netflix Sued Over Loss of Hard Drive With Unreleased Nicolas Cage Film Sundance to Expand Competition as Fest’s Debut in Boulder Grows Nearer Staff Picks Drea - Late Fame Alonso - Nights of Cabiria Ken - 1941 Kevin - Practical Magic Help support this show and unlock bonus content! Become a member at https://maximumfun.org/joinmaxfilm Follow us on BlueSky, Facebook, Instagram, or LetterboxdWithKevin AveryDrea ClarkAlonso DuraldeProduced by Marissa FlaxbartSr. Producer Laura Swisher

Hey, you! Be a buddy and take our listener survey! It'll help us keep the show great and maybe even...make it better?! THANK YOU IN ADVANCE! - Producer Marissa and the MaxFilm Gang *** Is it possible for a sports comedy to fit the formula, but still break the mold? Josh Greenbaum, director of Barb and Starr Go to Vista Del Mar, takes a whack at it with THE DINK, starring Jake Johnson and Mary Steenburgen. It's streaming now on AppleTV. And we have comedian (and yes, pickleball enthusiast) Jaron Myers with us to discuss! Then we get some pitches together for thoroughly modern movies that wouldn't have made sense a few years (or decades) ago.  What's Good? Alonso - Severin Films’ Disco Italiana box set Drea - Bob the Drag Queen recapping Love Island on YouTube Jaron - Big Brother 24-Hour Feed recap podcasts Kevin - SDCC ‘26 (check out Minister FarraComic-Con) ITIDICSony, Alamo Drafthouse, to Reopen Cinerama Dome/Arclight at Long LastComic-Con 2026 – Hits and MissesParamount/WB Merger Paused Until June 2027, Or Court Ruling Staff Picks Drea: Mustache Alonso: Family Plot Jaron: Heavyweights Kevin: Paper Lion PS: Get PHYSICAL MEDIA merch at MaxFunStore.com! Help support this show and unlock bonus content! Become a member at https://maximumfun.org/joinmaxfilm Follow us on BlueSky, Facebook, Instagram, or LetterboxdWithKevin AveryDrea ClarkAlonso DuraldeProduced by Marissa FlaxbartSr. Producer Laura Swisher

Everybody's talking about Christopher Nolan's latest film...and so are we! We've got Eurovangelists co-host Dimitry Pompée with us to discuss the first movie ever shot in 70mm IMAX film, adapted from one of history's oldest and most famous works of literature...it's THE ODYSSEY! Then we'll talk about some of the books we read in high-school that have been (or should be) adapted for the big screen. What's Good? Alonso: vegetables that don't give you explosive diarrhea Drea: Blue Diamond Dill Pickle Nut-Thins Dimitry: The Ottoman Empire (Rise of Empires: Ottoman on Netflix) Kevin: the Other Mommy trailer ITIDICHollywood Deems the Box Office “Back” – Big TimeA Rotoscoped TEXAS CHAIN SAW MASSACRE is in production The Odyssey/We Bought a Zoo meme A Letterboxd List: High-School Reads Staff Picks Alonso: The Good House Drea: The Return Dimitry: Polite Society Kevin: The Long Walk and other great movies to fall asleep to, if you're Kevin Listen to Eurovangelists! Help support this show and unlock bonus content! Become a member at https://maximumfun.org/joinmaxfilm Follow us on BlueSky, Facebook, Instagram, or LetterboxdWithKevin AveryDrea ClarkAlonso DuraldeProduced by Marissa FlaxbartSr. Producer Laura Swisher

As a MaxFunDrive milestone goal, we set the challenge that if we got enough new/upgrading/joining supporters of Maximum Film!, one of those folks would get to pick a movie for us to do an episode on. Well, thanks to supporters like Molly, we hit that goal, and this episode is the result: PHANTOM OF THE PARADISE (one of Molly's faves) is a 1974 rock musical fantasmagoria from early in writer/director Brian DePalma's career. It's box-office flop-turned cult classic. And it is heavily reliant on the dubious cultural power of songwriter and actor Paul Williams.   As if this episode needed to be MORE special, we also mark the mid-year by naming some of our favorite films of the year so far. What's Good? Alonso - oh, let's call it "current events" Drea - fixing her own portable AC unit Marissa - Paramount+ (sorry) has a 90s sitcom "live" channel Kevin - reading Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow ITIDICGLAAD Study Shows Drop in LGBTQ Characters in FIlmA Look Back at the Pop Culture of 1974… Staff Picks Drea - Horsegirls Alonso - Ishtar Marissa - Tommy Kevin -  River [Ribâ, nagarenaide yo]   Kevin at Comic-Con: Malcolm & Friends Panel: Thursday, 12:30pm, Room 6AThe Pitching Hour: Friday, 12pm, Room 32AB   Help support this show and unlock bonus content! Become a member at https://maximumfun.org/joinmaxfilm Follow us on BlueSky, Facebook, Instagram, or LetterboxdWithKevin AveryDrea ClarkAlonso DuraldeProduced by Marissa FlaxbartSr. Producer Laura Swisher

Peabody Award-winning filmmaker Amber Sealey joins us to discuss the new marriage dramedy from Olivia Wilde, which premiered at Sundance and is now opening across the country. Costarring Wilde, Seth Rogen, Edward Norton, and Penelope Cruz, it provokes laughs, anger, rug envy, and that perennial question: are the straights okay? Then we discuss our favorite films that are set in a single location! What’s Good Alonso - Christian Marclay’s The Clock returns to LACMA; Spain in World Cup quarterfinals Drea - Emily Wilson’s translation of THE ODYSSEY Amber - potpourri basket of hippie gum; Skylight Books opening an Eagle Rock location Kevin - young love drama before Shrek at Cinespia ITIDICAlamo Drafthouse to Begin Screening Unsold Festival DarlingsUniversal Opts to Skip “Influencer Screenings” for THE ODYSSEY Staff Picks Alonso - Splitsville Drea - Widow’s Bay (because An Unmarried Woman and The Heartbreak Kid aren’t streaming)  Amber - Such Brave Girls Kevin - The Invitation Help support this show and unlock bonus content! Become a member at https://maximumfun.org/joinmaxfilm Follow us on BlueSky, Facebook, Instagram, or LetterboxdWithKevin AveryDrea ClarkAlonso DuraldeProduced by Marissa FlaxbartSr. Producer Laura Swisher

It’s neither a bird, nor a plane, nor Superman. It’s Supergirl, the newest film from James Gunn’s DC that has some folks talking, but probably not as many as Warner Bros. would like. We’ve got LA Times film critic, Unspooled co-host, and friend of the show Amy Nicholson along to talk about the stellar highs and dank cave lows, plus we name some of our favorite superhero movie acting performances. What’s Good Alonso - binging THE BOYS Drea - watching an accidentally funny moment on repeat in the film Jefferson in Paris for the Supporting Actresses podcast Amy - watching The World Cup (and YouTube videos of dog agility competitions) Kevin - digging through original Backrooms videos, and other short films (Alone Time, The Hole) ITIDIC'Michael’ Becomes the Highest-Grossing Biopic EverNetflix Announces Weird Willy Wonka Project Staff Picks Drea - True Grit Alonso - Minions & Monsters Amy - Buffet Infinity Kevin - Aline Help support this show and unlock bonus content! Become a member at https://maximumfun.org/joinmaxfilm Follow us on BlueSky, Facebook, Instagram, or LetterboxdWithKevin AveryDrea ClarkAlonso DuraldeProduced by Marissa FlaxbartSr. Producer Laura Swisher

LEVITICUS is the new Australian horror movie that turns (already quite frightening) gay conversion rituals into something even more haunting. And with us to unpack it is our friend Justin Kirkland, who just happens to have a new podcast exploring (with good humor!) how the Bible has been yielded as a weapon. Then we imagine some classic romances with a devilish twist. What's Good? Alonso - UDM14.com Drea - Bentonville Film Festival 2026! Justin - Launch of This is Not a Weapon podcast Kevin -  life-changing coasters ITIDICAmazonMGM Bails on Guadagnino’s Almost-Complete Sam Altman MovieMadonna Says Her Biopic was Scrapped at Universal Over Budget Staff Picks Alonso - The Boys in the Band (1970) (in new 4K UHD!) Drea - Color Book and Maddie's Secret Justin - The Birdcage Kevin - Invaders from Mars (1953)   Help support this show and unlock bonus content! Become a member at https://maximumfun.org/joinmaxfilm Follow us on BlueSky, Facebook, Instagram, or LetterboxdWithKevin AveryDrea ClarkAlonso DuraldeProduced by Marissa FlaxbartSr. Producer Laura Swisher

Steven Spielberg's new film may be about conspiracies, coverups, and car chases, but it all hinges around the concept of journalism you can trust...so who better to join us than our favorite trusted journalist (and movie podcaster, with UNCLEAR AND PRESENT DANGER), NYT columnist Jamelle Bouie! We put DISCLOSURE DAY under the microscope, then talk about some directors whose filmographies reveal hidden secrets. What's Good? Alonso - chicken soup Drea - Lawrence, KS welcoming Algeria for the World Cup Jamelle - making your own stock Kevin - Guy Branum's My Life as a Goddess ITIDICAMC Postpones Concert Simulcast Plan to Make More Room for…MoviesSean Penn Directing a Jan 6 Movie Starring Bradley Cooper (maybe?)SUPERGIRL’s Cape Uses Fabric from Original Reeve Superman Cape Staff Picks Drea - The Furious Alonso - Jewel's Catch One Jamelle - George Wallace (1997) Kevin - September 5 Help support this show and unlock bonus content! Become a member at https://maximumfun.org/joinmaxfilm Follow us on BlueSky, Facebook, Instagram, or LetterboxdWithKevin AveryDrea ClarkAlonso DuraldeProduced by Marissa FlaxbartSr. Producer Laura Swisher