Medium Literate

Obsession

Director/writer Curry Barker's first feature film Obsession really split the podcast right down the middle: Monika hated it, and Emily loved it so much she saw it twice. We discuss our very different takeaways from this horror movie about a wish gone wrong, while also discovering some things we actually agree on. **This is a Full Spoiler Conversation**

The Sheep Detectives and Hokum

This week we did an extremely normal double feature!! First up is Hokum, a dark Irish folklore horror written and directed by Damian McCarthy and starring Adam Scott. Hokum is part witch story and part "uh oh, the real villain is MAN." They spend the first twenty minutes here before moving on to the main event... (25:09) The Sheep Detectives is a live action talking animal cozy mystery from Amazon MGM, written by Craig Mazin (you know, the Chernobyl and The Last of Us guy?) and directed by Kyle Balda the director of the Minions movies! The Sheep Detectives has an all star cast including Hugh Jackman, Bryan Cranston, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Nicholas Braun, Regina Hall, Brett Goldstein, Rhys Darby, Chris O'Dowd and Bella Ramsey. A gentle vegetarian shepherd is murdered and his sheep decide to solve the crime. It is also, somehow, an incredibly moving meditation on grief. Monika does not like children's media...Monika cried?

The Devil Wears Prada 2

This week we're talking about the long awaited buzzy new sequel to the 2006 classic. In the years between, the villain has switched from mean boss to a media landscape run by billionaires, but the clothes are still fun. We also get into our thoughts on basic modern movie theater manners.

Mother Mary

Mother Mary (A24) had one of the most exciting casts of the year with Anne Hathaway and Michaela Coel. Despite that, Monika and Emily have complicated feelings about this movie. They'll talk about it all! ✅ Having a complicated creative history with someone ✅ A ghost made of red fabric ✅ How the whole movie feels like it was meant to be a stage play What worked? What didn't? What did the ending mean? (please, we're really asking!)

Sirāt

Sirāt just hit Hulu and if you've seen it you already know why we had to cover it.  We break down one of the most shocking and emotionally devastating films in recent memory, a movie that starts in one place and ends somewhere you will never see coming.  Come process this one with us. Spoiler warning big time with this one! We also get into Emily's takes on The Mummy, Faces of Death and Our Hero Balthazar, and Monika covers The Christophers, Mile End Kicks and Normal.