Another week, another prequel. We review A Quiet Place: Day One, directed by pod favorite filmmaker Michael Sarnoski (Pig). Will a new Quiet Place away from the Abbott Family sidestep prequel doldrums? Will Sarnoski once again subvert genre convention with the human element? Tune in and find out!By Amir Touray, Derek Wong, Jeff Zhang

Just through star power alone, Jeff Nichols' The Bikeriders is an elegy for the home of a band of outsiders and misfits, eroded by time into something much more sinister and encroaching. We discuss the trio of movie stars at the film's center and its surprising power through familiar tropes.By Derek Wong, Jeff Zhang, Amir Touray

The fourth installment of the Bad Boys franchise finds Mike Lowery (Will Smith) and Marcus Burnett (Martin Lawrence) on the run from a criminal conspiracy. 2020's Bad Boys For Life struck gold with new directors Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah taking over the action reins from Michael Bay. Will they succeed again? Tune in and find out.…

Funny and sexy cinema is back! This week, we tackle Richard Linklater's latest film: Hit Man. We discuss the filmmaker's storied oeuvre, the film's capital "M" movie star performances in Glen Powell and Adria Arjona, and its knottier-than-expected questions of identity. It's steamy, uproarious, and just a little twisted.…

One of the best shows on TV finally makes its return. This week, we review the first four episodes of Interview with the Vampire's second season. The second season finds Louis and Claudia on the run after supposedly killing Lestat, and the pair travel the world in search of more of their own kind. Does the new season live up to the series' pristine…

George Miller has huge shoes to fill: his own. A follow-up to one of the best action movies ever made, Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga is a long-awaited prequel to the 2015 high-octane whirlwind. Nearly a decade later, does Miller have what it takes to live up to an impossible standard, or is he doing something completely different? Tune in and find out.…

We are back with our second annual Summer Box Office Wager! After our disastrous guesses last year (bad for us, entertaining for you), we're back for another round of predicting this season's biggest movies. Have we learned our lessons? Or will we miss big again? Find out and follow along!By Jeff Zhang, Derek Wong, Amir Touray

Back by popular demand, we're catching up with Marvel's hit animated series: X-Men '97. We spent the first episode praising the first stretch of the season for its freshness and surprisingly mature handling of its mutant heroes. Does it stick the landing? We review the rest of the season and its sprawling three-part finale.…

This week, we review Luca Guadagnino's electrically charged tennis drama, Challengers. Joined by special guest Ashley Zhang, we discuss the trinity of great performances from Zendaya, Mike Faust, and Josh O'Connor, as well as sing our praises for a rare blockbuster-level crowdpleaser that’s still full of blood, vitality, and texture.…

It's nun week as we head into a rare double feature episode, this time covering Michael Mohan's Immaculate and Arkasha Stevenson's The First Omen. Nunsploitation is back! Or is it? We tackle these twin movies with eerily similar subject matters and themes, both movies centered around young novitiates who uncover sinister conspiracies within their c…

This week we are talking about Alex Garland’s new film, Civil War. A movie that attempts to sidestep politics to tell a story about wartime journalists, Garland’s latest is another stab at ambitious speculative fiction. We discuss its touted "apoliticism," its technical prowess, and its treatise on the state of journalism. Does it succeed, and more…

This week, we review Dev Patel's debut as director and action star: Monkey Man. A passion project years in the making marred by delays and production troubles only to be saved last-minute by producer Jordan Peele, Patel's kinetic actioner has plenty to prove. Can it rise above its muddled storytelling to deliver its throat punches and kicks in the …

Obvious nostalgia bait or the start of something special? This week we're discussing the Disney Plus revival of X-Men: The Animated Series. Bringing back the iconic series right where the original left off over 25 years ago, X-Men '97 reunites new and old talent for Marvel's first big push for mutants before the live action movie.…

This week we review director Rose Glass' sophomore feature, Love Lies Bleeding. A lesbian crime thriller in the vein of The Wachowskis' Bound, the film stars Kristen Stewart, Katy O'Brian, Ed Harris, Jena Malone, and Dave Franco. Does it live up to Glass' searing debut, 2019's Saint Maud? Tune in and find out.…

We're a week late, but here's our coverage of the 96th annual Academy Awards in the year of Barbenheimer. As usual, we discuss snubs, surprises, the good, the bad, and the ugly. Who won? Who should've won? Once again, we give the rundown.By Jeff Zhang, Amir Touray, Derek Wong

The long-awaited Dune: Part Two is finally here. Does director Denis Villeneuve land all the wondrous, brutalist tableaus thrown in the air over three years ago with Part One? Does he successfully merge dense, sci-fi imagemaking with Frank Herbert’s heady and prescient themes? We review Dune: Part Two.…

Starting a new tradition this year, this is our first annual "Most Anticipated Films" episode. We put forth our individual ballots for what we're most excited for, culminating in a list of 15 movies that are on our radars.By Amir Touray, Jeff Zhang, Derek Wong

Our first television episode in a while and the first of 2024, we're reviewing the new Amazon Prime Video series from creators Donald Glover and Francesca Sloane: Mr. & Mrs. Smith. A reimagining of the 2005 hit movie (and a short-lived 1996 television show), the series follow John (Donald Glover) and Jane (Maya Erskine), two spies who agree to comp…

2023: a tumultuous, but also exciting year for cinema that saw the bottoms fall out of once unstoppable franchises and the rise of new and old masters. Characterized by surprise blockbusters, stinging excavations of the human condition, and a few bold oddities, this year was a cornucopia of great film. This is always our favorite episode to do ever…

Our lead-up to The Best Films of 2023 episode continues as we cover Yorgos' Lanthimos' ribald, fisheye fantasy: Poor Things. Is it the Greek filmmaker's most accessible film? We talk Emma Stone, fearless performances, and the sweetly demented world constructed for this raunchy coming-of-age fable.By Jeff Zhang, Derek Wong, Amir Touray

The feel good film that took holiday moviegoers by storm, Alexander Payne's The Holdovers follows a cranky history teacher at a remote prep school that is forced to remain on campus over the holidays with a troubled student who has no place to go. We discuss the trifecta of affecting performances in Paul Giamatti, Da'Vine Joy Randolph, and first-ti…

"Two objects cannot occupy the same point in space or the same moment in time.” Michael Mann’s Ferrari disguises the fissures of masculinity in the typical rhythms of biographical fare, but does it fit in with the famed director's late oeuvre of between-the-lines human feeling? We discuss the movie, Adam Driver, Penelope Cruz, and its shocking raci…

Action maestro John Woo is back with his first stateside movie in 20 years, Silent Night. A dialogue-free revenge flick soaked in blood, chrome, and improvised explosives, the film finds Joel Kinnaman on a one-man quest to take down those responsible for the death of his son. Is Woo back and better than ever? Or has he lost his touch. We discuss.…

This week, Derek, Amir, and Jeff sit down with the latest Toho monster flick to wash up on American shores, Godzilla Minus One. A Japanese film that has taken the U.S. box office by storm, Minus One combines disaster movie spectacle with a surprisingly strong human element. We review the movie and discuss its anti-war messaging, its shockingly low …

A thorny balancing act of different tones that drills straight into sordid psychodrama and the elusive nature of performance, Todd Haynes’ May December is high wire cinema at its finest. We review the film and dive deep into the trinity of powerhouses that is Julianne Moore, Natalie Portman, and Charles Melton.…

This week, Derek, Amir, and Jeff review Nia DaCosta's The Marvels, the 33rd entry in a flagging Marvel Cinematic Universe. With the three leads of Brie Larson, Teyonah Parris, and Iman Vellani, it's certainly aiming higher, further, and faster. But is it another Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3? Or is it another Quantumania? We discuss.…

David Fincher returns with his take on the hitman yarn with The Killer. Starring Michael Fassbender as the titular assassin whose world is turned upside down after a botched job, Fincher's latest strips down the archetype to its nuts and bolts. Is it a minor entry in the perfectionist director's legendary oeuvre? Or are there hidden layers undernea…

Sofia Coppola aims her dreamlike sights at Elvis Presley with Priscilla, a not-quite biopic of its titular Queen of Rock and Roll. The perfect convergence of subject matter and a filmmaker’s particular wheelhouse, Coppola’s spotlight on the wife of Elvis Presley twists the director’s potent examinations of girlhood adolescence with the nightmare of…

This week, we take a look at Martin Scorsese's three-and-a-half-hour epic tragedy, Killers of the Flower Moon. A deliberate indictment of insidious American exceptionalism, the film explores an oft-overlooked atrocity from the country's ignoble past. Focusing on a real-life conspiracy of murder to rob the Indigenous Osage of Oklahoma of their wealt…

Director Kevin Greutert returns to the franchise that birthed his feature-length career with Saw X, a precise and brutal affair that knows exactly what its audience wants. Tobin Bell returns as John Kramer and Shawnee Smith returns as Amanda Young in this punch-in-the-arm midquel, but is it enough to revitalize the series?…

Star Wars: Rogue One director Gareth Edwards returns with his sprawling, sci-fi epic, The Creator. Breathing rarefied air as an original, non-IP, non-sequel, non-franchise movie, Edwards new vision finds itself sitting in an uphill, cinematic landscape. Does it deliver on its buzzed-about promise?By Derek Wong, Jeff Zhang, & Amir Touray

This week we are reviewing Hulu's buzzy alien abduction thriller, Bryan Duffield's No One Will Save You. With white-knuckle suspense and a stylish dialogue-free conceit, can the film sustain its bravura across 93 minutes? Tune in and find out what we thought.By Derek Wong, Jeff Zhang, & Amir Touray

Kenneth Branagh returns for a third installment of his Agatha Christie adaptations with A Haunting in Venice. Is the third time the charm for this lukewarm franchise of diminishing returns? Is Kenneth Branagh in his flop era, or is he finally cooking with gas? We investigate and review A Haunting in Venice.…

This week, in lieu of covering a movie or show, we are delivering a primer on the concurrent WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes in Hollywood. We talk about wage disparities, worsening working conditions, the inequities in residual payments from digital platform, and the blurring line between journalist and promoter.…

With Labor Day, thus concludes our first Summer Box Office Wager, and the results are nothing short of...disastrous. Listen to how poorly we did predicting the Barbenheimer phenomenon, a recap of this summer's releases, as well as what we're looking forward to for the rest of the year.By Jeff Zhang, Derek Wong, & Amir Touray

This week on The Strange Harbors Podcast, we talk about the horror sensation of the year, Danny and Michael Phillipou's Talk to Me. When a group of friends get swept up in a viral trend of demonic possession, they become hooked on the new thrill — until one of them unleashes terrifying supernatural forces. Does Talk to Me live up to the hype? Tune …

Part two of our Barbenheimer extravaganza finds us in a world of dolls, fashion, and existential crises. With special guest Ashley Zhang, the show reviews Greta Gerwig's much-anticipated Barbie. We talk everything from Gerwig's much-lauded filmography to the state of IP-driven cinema. Is Barbie the high watermark? Or is it another shallow cash grab…

Theory vs. practice. Creation vs. destruction. Christopher Nolan’s paradoxically sprawling, intimate Oppenheimer is a deconstruction of the “great man” biopic. Navigating the vast gulf between science and empathy, Nolan’s latest delivers a harrowing drama about the moral cost of unleashing upon the world the most horrible weapon it has ever known. …

Christopher McQuarrie returns to the Mission: Impossible franchise, along with the president of movies himself, Tom Cruise. The last movie star's crusade for analog supremacy finally becomes text as the IMF team battles a sinister AI. What death-defying stunts await in Dead Reckoning Part One? Tune in and find out as we barrel through the setpieces…

This week, Derek and Amir review the fifth movie in the Indiana Jones franchise, Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny. A departure from previous installments, James Mangold takes the reins from Steven Spielberg. This time, we follow along as Indiana Jones must work alongside his goddaughter, played by the talented Phoebe Waller-Bridge, as they rac…

This week, Jeff and Derek review Celine Song's feature film debut, Past Lives. A quiet, restrained movie about roads not taken and choices we make, Past Lives follows Nora and Hae Sung, two deeply connected childhood friends separated after Nora's family emigrates from South Korea. Decades later, they are reunited for one fateful week as they confr…

The DC Extended Universe winds down with the long-gestating solo outing for its resident speedster: The Flash. Can the film overcome its controversial star and troubled production to deliver the definitive Barry Allen story? Will it crumble under the fan service of its relentless cameos, or will it score another win for multiverse storytelling? Tun…

We're taking a break from new releases this week to celebrate the 15th anniversary of one of Jeff's favorite horror movies, the 2008 cult sleeper: Lake Mungo. A profoundly sad exploration of grief, guilt, and the secrets we keep from the ones we love most, Lake Mungo is a gut punch disguised as a ghost story mockumentary.…

The highly anticipated Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse is finally here. With huge shoes to fill in a changing cinematic zeitgeist, does this Spider sequel live up to its acclaimed predecessor? We discuss the new film's groundbreaking artistry and keen deconstruction of wall crawler’s metafiction.…

The Fast and the Furious franchise has never met a villain it couldn't reform, a dead fan favorite it couldn't resurrect. After blasting off into space in the last movie, does the series still have the sauce or has it jumped the shark? We review the latest adventure of Vin Diesel's ridiculous family, discuss its ham sandwich of a villain, and muse …

The start of a new Strange Harbors Podcast tradition begins here with our first annual summer box office wager. Jeff, Derek, and Amir write in their ballots for what they think will be the top ten biggest movies this summer. Can the Disney juggernaut be toppled? Will Top Gun mania boost Mission: Impossible? Is the Transformers series cooked? Come l…

This week, we dive into horror maestro Ari Asters latest film, the wildly divisive Beau Is Afraid. Coined by the filmmaker as a Jewish Lord of the Rings about a man visiting his mother, Beau Is Afraid is the ultimate subversion of the mommy issues monomyth. We talk dream logic, the film's surprising humor, and the hero's journey. Is Ari Aster three…

What's the best MCU trilogy? Where does Guardians of the Galaxy land? We're reviewing Vol. 3 this week, and It’s one last hurrah as the Guardians race against the clock to save a grievously injured teammate, touring through James Gunn’s warped imagination in a surprisingly personal goodbye.By Derek Wong, Jeff Zhang, & Amir Touray

This week, we're talking guts, gore, and Deadite fun with Lee Cronin's Evil Dead Rise. The latest installment of the Evil Dead franchise that originated with Sam Raimi's highly-regarded trilogy from 1981 to 1992, this new film transplants the cabin in the woods terror to a condemned LA high-rise. We run through our rankings of the series and the na…

This week, we discuss the indie drama-slash-thriller How to Blow Up a Pipeline. The surprise hit out of last year's Toronto Film Festival, Daniel Goldhaber's gutsy call to action about sabotage in the face of impending climate disaster finds a gripping, procedural heist within its incendiary message. But before we dive into the film we answer some …