Month: June 2026

394 – Queer (with Mitchell Beaupre!)

Letterboxd head of editorial Mitchell Beaupre returns to us this week to close out Pride month with one of Luca Guadagnino’s most divisive films. In 2024, with audiences still under the spell of Challengers, the director also brought to the screen a long-gestating passion project: an adaptation of William S. Burroughs’ Queer. Starring Daniel Craig as Burroughs alter ego William Lee, the film baroquely mines queer longing in an addiction story that earned as many fans as it did detractors.

This episode, we talk about Guadagnino’s preference for Queer over Challengers in the 2024 race and how Craig was in the Best Actor race until the final minute. We also talk about expectations that Guadagnino would return to Call Me By Your Name territory, how this film might troll critics of that film’s sexual modesty, and Lesley Manville’s brief turn as wild doctor in the jungle.

Topics also include Drew Starkey’s breakthrough role as Allerton, Craig plagued by Bond questions, and Jason Schwartzman playing gay in a fat suit.

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393 – C’Mon C’Mon

On deck this week is a sentimental recent fav, Mike Mills’ beautiful black-and-white tribute to modern day youngsters and the state of mind that is “uncle.” C’Mon C’Mon casts Joaquin Phoenix as a radio journalist who takes in his sister’s kid when she has to handle the father’s mental health crisis. With Gaby Hoffman and Scoot McNairy giving great performances as the parents, the film was a gently composed gem that earned its share of ardent fans but failed to garner Oscar nominations.

This episode, we talk about Mike Mills’ emotionally expansive directorial efforts, starting with his 2005 breakthrough Thumbsucker. We also discuss Woody Norman’s surprisingly naturalistic performance, the film’s optimistic vantage on the mind of America’s youth, and how the film was one of many that struggled to gain an audience amidst the Omicron season.

Topics also include A24 in 2021, CODA as the year’s anointed movie about family, and Mills’ upcoming Criterion box set.

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392 – Robin Hood (2010)

We’re back to discussing the filmography of director Ridley Scott this week, though this episode was recorded… before the news of his Honorary Oscar. Nope, there is also a new riff on a Robin Hood this week, so we’re talking his ongoing collaboration with Russell Crowe and their 2010 take on the fable. Arriving at the beginning of the summer, the film did respectable business but failed to match the respect and Academy love for their first epic together Gladiator.

This episode, we discuss the film’s intended origins as a Sheriff of Nottingham film and its final approach as an ensemble piece of political intrigue. We also talk about Oscar Isaac’s eyeliner-forward performance, the miscasting of Cate Blanchett as a Marion more derivative of other female action characters, and Scott’s stretch of darker movies post-Gladiator.

Topics also include the 2010 Cannes Film Festival, the non-controversy of The King’s Speech’s set locations, and slow mo bow and arrows.

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391 – The BFG (with Kyle Amato!)

With Steven Spielberg returning to theatres with this week’s Disclosure Day, we’re taking the rare opportunity to discuss one of his films! Kyle Amato returns to talk about Spielberg’s take on Roald Dahl’s classic children’s fable The BFG. The film was a reuniting of Spielberg with his recent Oscar winning actor Mark Rylance in the role, all brought to life through ever-evolving motion capture technology. While Spielberg has found some of his greatest successes in family friendly fare, The BFG was one of his most underwhelming at the box office and went quickly forgotten.

This episode, we’re talking about Spielberg’s less well-received films and the many flaws that make this film feel like one of his weakest. We also talk about Rylance’s Tony tally prior to his Oscar win, motion capture discourse, and the dire summer offerings from 2016.

Topics also include Penelope Wilton as a Queen Elizabeth stand-in, Dahl adaptations, and Backrooms.

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390 – Les Miserables (1998)

We’re back after our May Miniseries and it’s Tonys week! Rather than a musical, we’re talking about a movie that disappointed in part because it wasn’t a big screen version of the Broadway smash… In 1998, director Bille August brought a condensed version of Victor Hugo’s Les Miserables to the screen. With Liam Neeson headlining as the legendary man imprisoned for stealing a loaf of bread, Jean Valjean, the film is a hyper focused version of Hugo’s sprawl that is nevertheless a droning bore.

This episode, we talk about August’s two Palme d’Or wins and what this story loses by focusing so closely on only the Valjean/Javert storyline. We also talk about Neeson’s period between his sole Oscar nomination and becoming an action star, Geoffrey Rush cementing his typecast here, and Uma Thurman back-to-back misfires in Batman and Robin and The Avengers.

Topics also include this year’s Cannes, Shine as forgotten Oscar winner, and Claire Danes backbackback again.

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