#315 - The Social Reckoning

With a title like Love of Your Life and an exclusive release on Amazon Prime Video, it’s hard not to expect the kind of romantic slop the streamer has become known for. Instead, we were pleasantly surprised to discover a genuinely moving romantic drama that takes us on a journey spanning years of love, loss, and tragedy. Margaret Qualley stars as a young woman navigating relationships and the overwhelming grief that comes with losing someone close to her, giving audiences the full Qualley experience in what might just be the best performance of her career so far. She’s supported by equally compelling and charming scene partners in Gabriel Basso, Patrick Schwarzenegger, and Aaron Pierre, who each bring something memorable to the table. Despite tackling some heavy emotional territory, the film manages to feel relatable and moving without relying on tired romantic clichés, while some excellent editing and beautiful cinematography capturing the landscapes of Europe elevate the experience even further. It’s a surprising film that packs a real emotional punch at times. After the review, we catch up on the latest Heat 2 news before calling out our friends for some of the completely random movies they’ve decided to watch for reasons we may never understand.Record your own podcasts with Zencastr at https://zencastr.com/?via=cinemaeffect to get 30% off today.Timestamps ;)0:00 - Review48:43 - News Chat1:03:04 - What We've Been Watching1:17:48 - Question Of The WeekQuestion Of The Week: What is a memory your convinced isn’t real?Post your answer in the comments below to be featured on next week's episode.Next Week's Film: The Fall (Foxtel)Join our Discord: https://discord.gg/Xd86SSFt7cFollow us on Instagram: https://instagram.com/cinema_effect?igshid=lsz7ohc33id6Subscribe on YouTube: https://youtube.com/channel/UC2T2RXUUT7jXwZVl1k9boqQ?sub_confirmation=1

It’s been far too long since we last reviewed the work of one of cinema’s all time masters, Stanley Kubrick, so recording on Halloween gave us the perfect excuse to finally tackle his legendary psychological horror classic The Shining (1980). Starring Jack Nicholson, Shelley Duvall, Danny Lloyd, and Scatman Crothers, the film follows a struggling writer who takes a job as the winter caretaker of the isolated Overlook Hotel, where sinister supernatural forces begin to unravel his sanity and threaten his family. Somehow, Zac had embarrassingly never seen the film before, making this a particularly exciting first viewing. It’s also remarkable that 46 years after the film’s release, Stephen King’s work continues to inspire so many new film and television adaptations, something we find fascinating enough to get distracted by before even beginning the review. Once we dive in, there is an enormous amount to unpack, from the mysterious supernatural powers at play to the film’s disturbing themes of domestic abuse, alcoholism, and generational trauma. But all of that is really just the cherry on top of an exceptionally crafted piece of cinema. Kubrick’s masterful direction, unsettling score, meticulous editing, and extraordinary production design combine to create some of the most disturbing and iconic images in horror history. It’s a special film that has lost none of its impact. After the review, we keep the Halloween spirit alive by discussing our favourite jump scares in film and video games.Record your own podcasts with Zencastr at https://zencastr.com/?via=cinemaeffect to get 30% off today.

We're aren't really that brat but we can be for the moment.Question Of The Week: What is your favourite jumpscare?Post your answer in the comments below to be featured on next week's episode.Next Week's Film: The Shining (1980)Timestamps ;)0:00 - Review54:05 - What We've Been Watching1:08:20 - Question Of The Week

Do people still seriously use facebook?Question Of The Week: What is your favourite cultural moment?Post your answer in the comments below to be featured on next week's episode.Next Week's Film: The Moment (2026)Timestamps ;)0:00 - Review1:01:42 - News Chat1:12:25 - What We've Been Watching1:13:21 - Question Of The Week

Digg or die baby and we are digging Digger!Question Of The Week: What is the worst thing you've posted on social media?Post your answer in the comments below to be featured on next week's episode.Next Week's Film: The Social ReckoningTimestamps ;)0:00 - Review1:22:00 - What We've Been Watching1:27:10 - Question Of The Week

We're over 300 episodes in, we really need to stop ending so many of our sentences with 'I don't know'. My close personal friend Paul Anderson returns yet again; this time, however, he is unable to avoid the scathing remarks of my narrow-minded co-host (Zac). The Three Musketeers (2011) is a liberally adapted swashbuckling family adventure film that may have Dumas rolling in his grave, but given that we haven't read the source material, who really knows. The film boasts an incredible cast, some of whom are giving genuine performances; others (Macfadyen) couldn't care less, creating an odd contrast in many of his scenes. The breezy and camp nature of the film works to varying degrees on us, as some aspects feel under-explored or neglected, but ultimately, we all see eye-to-eye on the fact that the inclusion of James Corden crosses the line.Question Of The Week: What is your favourite weird movie?Post your answer in the comments below to be featured on next week's episode.Next Week's Film: Digger (Cinemas)Timestamps ;)0:00 - Review51:54 - What We've Been Watching58:57 - Question Of The Week

Don't look now! For if you do you will be stuck with a terribly dull and underwhelming legendary film for the next 100 minutes. That's right we're not afraid to diss Nicolas Roeg on this show, and to be frank he kinda deserves it for putting this out. Like many of his other works, Don't Look Now is considered essential viewing within the classic cinema cannon and in regards to the craft behind the film it isn't to hard to understand why. However, a messy story, unsatisfying through lines and a lack of Donald's 'southern lands' despite an extensive love scene left us looking for so much more from this adaptation of Daphne Du Maurier adaptation. Question Of The Week: What is you favourite Mads Mikkelsen character?Next Week's Film: The Three Musketeers (2011)Timestamps ;)0:00 - Review51:10 - News Chat56:59 - What We've Been Watching1:06:46 - Question Of The Week

The actors play themselves, the story is super meta, the camera hardly cuts and its one of the best movies we've ever reviewed. Alejandro G Iñárritu's seminal, Best Picture winning film gets the final seal of approval that YOU have been waiting for to know whether it's worth watching. The glowing comments are accompanied by an in depth conversation about characters, themes and technical elements that has probably been had before but this time it's less concise and eloquent, and features a lot more sentences that end in "I don't know" than previously thought possible. We also take a quick look at the Emmy results where Zac spurts his usual shit before capping off the episode going over misleading film trailers.Question Of The Week: What is the worst holiday experience in fiction?Post your answer in the comments below to be featured on next week's episode.Next Week's Film: Don't Look NowTimestamps ;)0:00 - Review1:16:49 - News Chat1:23:54 - What We've Been Watching1:34:45 - Question Of The Week

We’re going all the way back to the early days of the career of mythic director Terrence Malick with our first viewing of Days of Heaven (1978), starring Richard Gere, Brooke Adams, and Sam Shepard. The film follows an impoverished couple posing as siblings while working on a wealthy farmer’s land in the 1910s, where a deceptively simple plan gradually develops into a tragic love triangle. Its journey to the screen was tumultuous, with the script largely abandoned during shooting, the production going over budget, and Malick spending two years piecing together the final edit, all before the film struggled at the box office and caused his 20 year exile from filmmaking. Nearly 50 years later, however, we found an incredible piece of work. Its brisk editing creates a remarkably efficient and flowing 90 minute experience, painting a portrait of the impoverished working class against much larger biblical themes. The film’s extraordinary, Oscar winning cinematography is among the best we’ve seen, capturing both the beauty and destruction of the countryside and its wildlife in unforgettable images. The narrative itself is fascinating in its simplicity, leaving plenty of room to read between the lines as we break down the characters, their motivations, and what Malick is ultimately trying to say. Needless to say, we came away from this discussion incredibly impressed with Days of Heaven.Join a crew of wannabe film critics review a different movie every week, and discuss other nonsense. Listen to new episodes every Monday.Record your own podcasts with Zencastr at https://zencastr.com/?via=cinemaeffect to get 30% off today.Timestamps ;)0:00 - Days Of Heaven Review1:16:10 - News Chat1:27:57 - What We've Been Watching1:36:24 - Question Of The Week

My close, personal friend Paul WS Anderson makes his much awaited return to the show.The consensus the second time around from the skeptics? He's still doing pretty good! Event Horizon has garnered a significant cult following post its rocky box office debut and these days is considered as one of the best efforts of the director. A sci-fi horror tale that strongly embraces its inspirations and still carves out a path of it's own, the film does all it can to stun its audience even after being gutted by the studio. Following the review Liam and Zac discuss the new Harry Potter trailer with varying energies before we cap the episode with a chat about your favourite mid budget sci-fi pictures. (We know that this film technically isn't mid-budget given the time that it was created)Question Of The Week: What is your favourite film in the Criterion catalogue?Next Week's Film: Days of Heaven (SBS)Timestamps ;)0:00 - ReviewNews Chat - 54:09What We've Been Watching - 1:03:00Question Of The Week - 1:14:45