Book and Film Globe Podcast

This is the final episode of the BFG Podcast. We're as sad to see it go as you are, but editor and host Neal Pollack has a new job at the U.S. edition of The Spectator [http://www.thespectatorworld.com], the world's oldest magazine, and will no longer be seeing and talking about movies for a living. We had an extraordinary four years on the podcast, bringing you news and commentary nearly every week on a shoestring budget, but it's time to end our amazing little show. Neal welcomes his one and only guest this week, film critic Stephen Garrett, to discuss two new films and a bunch of older ones. First up, Wes Anderson's The Phoenician Scheme [https://bookandfilmglobe.com/film/the-phoenician-scheme-wes-andersons-macho-whimsy/], which both Neal and Stephen agree stands above the usual fare that Anderson has been producing in recent years. That has a less to do with Anderson's endlessly arch visual style and more to do with emotional and fun performances from the film's three leads, Benicio del Toro, Mia Threapleton, and Michael Cera. There's also a fun basketball segment in the middle, and a poignant ending that makes this feel more like a movie and less like an art-school experiment. There's nothing particularly art-school about Ballerina [https://bookandfilmglobe.com/film/ballerina-a-kinetic-explosion-of-slapstick-violence/], a side-sequel of sorts to the John Wick saga. Stephen and Neal both were able to see past the self-seriousness of John Wick and Wick-adjacent movies to see the slapstick heart at the film's center. There's an extended flamethrower battle toward the end that is one of the zaniest action sequences ever put to film. And Ana de Armas, while about the size of a peanut, has enough movie-star charm to hold it all together. Plus, there's an extended Keanu Reeves cameo. This is pretty fun. Finally, Neal and Stephen reconsider the hundreds of movies they've reviewed since 2018, when Neal took over the reigns. Mostly, they focus on the five-star movies, films that are good, but that reviewers reacted to in a personal way. They argue extensively about Once Upon A Time...In Hollywood, which Neal likes way more than Stephen, and First Man and Ad Astra, which Stephen likes way more than Neal. If you can take any one thing away from Neal Pollack's tenure at BFG, it's that he doesn't like movies where astronauts cry. Astronauts should never cry. They are in space. It is their dream. That's all from us at the BFG podcast. Thank you so much for listening over the years, and enjoy our final episode!

After a two-week hiatus, the BFG Podcast is back, and the culture belongs to us as usual. Host Neal Pollack has returned from his anniversary trip to the Continent, and Stephen Garrett was in Europe as well, covering the Cannes Film Festival [https://bookandfilmglobe.com/film/the-politics-of-cannes/] like he has done every year since before he can remember. This year, Iranian dissident filmmaker Jafar Panahi won the Palme D'Or for his film 'It Was Just An Accident,' the sixth straight year a film distributed by Neon has taken the prize. Neal and Stephen discuss that and then Stephen does a speedy run-through of the festival, covering all the awards winners and other significant films, including the new Spike Lee movie, which he gets in just under the wire as Neal attempts to close out the segment. Nathan Fielder [https://bookandfilmglobe.com/television/the-rehearsal-nathan-fielder-levels-up/] delivered a brilliant six episodes of television with Season 2 of The Rehearsal, which ostensibly is about airplane safety, and is about airplane safety, but is also about so much more. Omar Gallaga appears to talk with Neal about The Rehearsal's narrative sleight-of-hand, which they both love. But there's a curious phenomenon: It's mostly men who jibe with Nathan Fielder's comedy. Neal and Omar, or actors playing them, try to break down this curious situation. In the tradition of Nathan Fielder, they both fail and succeed at the same time. Stephen Garrett is back, to discuss Mission: Impossible: The Final Reckoning [https://bookandfilmglobe.com/film/mission-finale/], which he saw at Cannes and which Neal saw at his usual spot, the Alamo Drafthouse Lakeline in Austin. Either way, it's a bombastic edition of the long-running action franchise. Both Neal and Stephen loved the extended submarine action sequence in the middle, and enjoyed a taste of the biplane action scene toward the end, but found the overwrought dialogue tiring, the characters thin at best, and some of the plot laughably stupid. It's about as subtle as a hammer to the face or a nuclear bomb that must be defused in five minutes. Did we mention that the podcast is back? Enjoy!

Hollywood in crisis! When is Hollywood not in crisis? This week on the podcast, the tariffs [https://bookandfilmglobe.com/film/trump-vows-to-protect-us-from-foreign-made-films/] have come home to roost in Tinseltown. Neal Pollack hosts Richard Rushfield of The Ankler to discuss what in the hell is going on. Why couldn't Jon Voight stop Trump from issuing tariff threats? Is Trump serious? Maybe it's good to have a President who's actually engaging in issues that threaten the movie industry. Maybe he wants to help? No one has any idea what's happening, which makes it all suspenseful and vaguely fun, like a good studio genre picture. Richard empties what's left of his brain and he and Neal try to break down the issues. There are no issues with 'Thunderbolts [https://bookandfilmglobe.com/film/thunderbolts-what-about-bob/],' a current hit from that underdog Marvel Studios. Richard went to the world premiere in Los Angeles, and, frankly, he found the buffet kind of wanting. I mean, it tasted good, but was maybe a little skimpy. You could say the same about Thunderbolts, which, let's face it, is trying to sell us some C-list heroes as A-list heroes and it's hard to tell if people are going to bite permanently or not. There's so much Bob, so little Spider-Man. And that buffet? My lord. Matthew Ehrlich makes a late-episode appearance to absolutely ravage Tina Fey's remake of a very dated Alan Alda movie called 'The Four Seasons [https://bookandfilmglobe.com/television/the-four-seasons-a-prestige-parody-that-forgot-to-be-funny/].' Except that this isn't a movie. It's a four-hour miniseries on Netflix. No one cares about these three couples who are somehow supposed to be able to afford to take four luxury vacations a year. Together. Matthew wonders why the gay couple, half of whom is Colman Domingo, would even consider going on holiday with such boring straight people. Once, maybe, because they went to Vassar together. But four times? In a year? What are we doing here, people. Everyone loved Alan Alda back in the day, but Matthew broaches the unthinkable: That maybe Tina Fey has peaked. We will rue such words, I'm sure. Enjoy the podcast!

In the past on this podcast, host Neal Pollack and guest Scott Gold have occasionally steered listeners awry, we'll admit it. After watching the first couple episodes of genre shows like The Acolyte or Daredevil: Born Again, they've encouraged people to watch the shows, and then had to sit back and cringe for weeks as the shows not only failed to stick the landing, but flopped entirely. With pretty good confidence, we can say that's not going to be the case with Season 2 of 'Andor [https://bookandfilmglobe.com/television/andor-embraces-the-darkness/],' which will surely be one of the best TV shows of the year when all is said and done. While it may sometimes be a little too "grownup" for its own good, 'Andor' is still thrilling and intelligent entertainment, a Star Wars not really for kids, with great action scenes, a skilled cast, nuanced writing, and gorgeous costumes. It's about the best you could hope for out of a TV show, particularly a Star Wars one. Neal and Scott feel no shame. Stephen Garrett pops into the pod-dome to discuss the surprisingly popular 'The Accountant 2 [https://bookandfilmglobe.com/film/no-accountant-for-taste/],' which Stephen didn't really like much. It takes a brotastic genre turn away from the moody character piece that was the first 'Accountant' movie several years ago. While Stephen admires it when a sequel breaks so far from the original source material, he found this one just plain goofy. Unable to comment on 'The Shrouds [https://bookandfilmglobe.com/film/the-shrouds-david-cronenberg-loses-the-plot/]' from David Cronenberg because of a professional conflict of interest, Stephen mostly lets Neal have at this film, which is weird and awkward and stiff and throws away cool ideas and amazing future tech on a weird conspiracy plotline about sinister Chinese doctors helping the CCP throw a surveillance blanket over the entire world--by using dead bodies. It's not a bad conceit for the movie, but there's lots of telling, not showing. Stephen breaks character to say he thinks The Shrouds is a profound meditation on mortality and grief. That's true, but it buries its depth beneath six feet of plot exposition. Meanwhile, Neal and Stephen are celebrating, because the box-office is through the roof. It's a glorious time to go to the movies, and to be a movie fan. At last, movies are back. We never lost faith at the BFG podcast. Just please keep your devices silent and out of sight, and no talking unless you're at a special screening of A Minecraft Movie. Enjoy the show!

No half-measures on the podcast this week as we cover some of the year's best content. On the movie side, we talk about 'Sinners [https://bookandfilmglobe.com/film/sinners-blows-open-the-doors-of-modern-filmmaking/],' Ryan Coogler's mind-blowing 1930s historical Delta blues movie–with vampires. Stephen Garrett hadn't even heard of this movie until about two weeks ago, and it was a five-star shocker for him. Neal Pollack, equally skeptical, equally and totally blown away. Coogler delivers a show-stopping musical number at the movie's midpoint, at which point a ton of vampire mayhem sets in and completely transforms the narrative. But it's testimony to how amazing Sinners is that the movie is perfectly entertaining even before the vampires take over. And then, once they do, it's as thrilling a horror movie as you'll ever see. Michael B. Jordan gives a career-defining performance as the twins at the center of the narrative. Hallee Steinfeld absolutely steams off the screen as a femme fatale for the ages. Jack O'Connell is one of the most sinister and compelling movie villains that we've seen in a long time, and Delroy Lindo lands a sure Oscar nomination as an old Delta bluesman who's comic relief, except when he's not. This is one of the best American movies in a long while, and it will be certain to be a huge contender for an awards season that doesn't start for another nine months. Sinners gets the BFG podcast's highest recommendation. Also heavily in the plus column, though maybe not quite as heavily, is the new season of Black Mirror [https://bookandfilmglobe.com/television/black-mirror-season-7-is-in-your-brain/]. Omar Gallaga swoops into the pod dome to talk to Neal about the seventh season of Charlie Brooker's tech dystopia sci-fi anthology show. By this point we're all comfortable enough with Black Mirror's twists and tropes that they've ceased to be shocking, but there are few things on TV as satisfying as a well-executed Black Mirror episode. And this season is well-executed even by Black Mirror standards. Omar thinks that some of them run a bit long, but there are still plenty of twists and and thought-provoking ideas about tech, as well as some dark laughs and plenty of Easter eggs for true fans. It's a great week to be a fan of pop culture, and to listen to the BFG Podcast!