Episode 473: 'The Musical' with Jessica McKenna and Zach Reino

This week we've got expert musical improvisors Jessica McKenna and Zach Reino with us to discuss a movie about a middle school musical gone way off course, at the hands of a drama teacher pushed to the edge. Part comedy, part film noir, it's the feature debut of director Giselle Bonilla, and it was a Sundance premiere. THE MUSICAL! Then we talk about other films that use film noir tropes to comedic ends, and pitch some actually-pretty-genius new movies in that genre too.Look out for Jess and Zach's movie, Mock TrialListen to Off Book (or see it live!)What’s GoodAlonso - Get your colonoscopy!Drea - Bob the Drag Queen even makes the Love Island Reunion show funJess - The Gilded Age on a planeZach - The Wolves of Glendale, Go to the WoodsKevin - seeing the Rams liveITIDICAMC Burbank Pepper-Spray Guy: Villain or Hero?New California Post Production Tax Credit Becomes LawStaff PickAlonso - You Had to Be ThereJess - Original Cast Album: Company (w/”Co-Op” double feature)Drea - The IncomerZach - The Court JesterKevin - Resident Evil 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

The stars of the original Practical Magic stars are back (at least, most of them) and just as cursed as ever. We have Hollywood Reporter TV Critic Angie Han with us to weigh in on whether this film left us feeling charmed, or like we'd been hit by a truck. Then, in honor of a family that has two sisters in every generation, we have a movie quiz about two-sister films! What’s Good?Alonso - Meg Stalter’s Emmys ensembleDrea - uno spaghettoAngie - TrüFrü Dark and White Chocolate Covered Freeze Dried StrawberriesKevin - Movie theater seat snobberyITIDIC‘Woman Unknown’ Wins Venice Film FestivalMPA Projects Proposed Federal Tax Credit would Add 143,000 Film & TV JobsStaff PicksDrea - If I Go Will They Miss MeAlonso - Now, VoyagerAngie - The History of ConcreteKevin - Martha Marcy May MarleneHere's a Letterboxd list of Two- and Three-Sister Movies 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

Casper Kelly might be most famous for his this-shouldn't-be-so-creepy comedy short "Too Many Cooks." Now he's got his feature directorial debut on his hands (but don't sleep on Yule Log 2, according to Alonso), and It's Buddy, a comedy horror that owes a debt of gratitude to the insistent cheerfulness of Barney the Dinosaur. We'll get into all that, and then talk about some of our favorite times TV crossed over onto the big screens.What's Good:Alonso: kouign amannDrea: Minnesota State FairKevin: Costco beltITIDIC• Summer U.S. Box Office Hits All-Time $4.76B Record: How Audiences Surrendered To Moviegoing• Telluride’s Top-Secret Film Was a Documentary and people are abuzz (You Can See Everything, Nathan Fielder and Lance Oppenheim’s Elizabeth Holmes doc)Staff Picks:Alonso: We Are PatDrea: Oasis: Don't Look Back in AngerKevin: Colony (Gunche) 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***Shelved after completion in 2023, COYOTE VS. ACME has finally detonated onto big screens everywhere. We have director David Kittredge (whose doc BOORMAN AND THE DEVIL is finally making it to theaters as well!) with us to follow this courtroom-drama-by-way-of-Merrie-Melodies. Then we'll talk about the fictional lawsuits that the characters of other films might have on their hands.What’s GoodAlonso - But Have You Read the Book? Romance Edition by Kristen LopezDrea - Daisy Chain Fields Festival (link is to non-profit beneficiaries if you want to donate!)David - Boorman and the Devil on the big screen, and people going back to the cinemasKevin - French press coffeeITIDICNew AMC Theaters Venture Aims to Put Smaller Films on Big ScreenRemembering Dolly Parton and Tim Curry, Movie StarsStaff PicksAlonso: Common Threads: Stories from the QuiltDrea: Hadestown: the MusicalDavid: Buffet Infinity and BuddyKevin: The End of Oak Street  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 *** The main character of TONY is Anthony Bourdain, but Matt Johnson’s latest film is not exactly a biopic. We have film critic Katie Walsh with us to discuss Dominic Sessa, Antonio Banderas, and the rest of the kitchen crew in this unusual coming of age movie. Then we’ll think up some other personalities we’d like to see inspire coming-of-age/early-life pics.  What’s Good Drea: actors with real teeth Katie: Matt Johnson’s biceps Kevin: finding childhood books (Chilling Ghost Stories, and Choose Your Own Adventure: The Cave of Time and Revenge of the Rainbow Dragons) ITIDIC Sold-Out Silent Film Fest Showcases Brand New Silent Films IndieWire: The Prescience of Disney’s Direct-to-Video Sequels Staff PicksDrea: The Cycle of LoveKatie: The Rivals of Amziah KingKevin: The Conversation 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 *** 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