Book and Film Globe Podcast: Recent Episodes
Book and Film Globe
Everyone’s favorite literature and pop culture site is now a podcast. Entertaining, enlightening chat about books, film, streaming TV, and more with Neal Pollack editor of Book and Film Globe and its top writers. www.bookandfilmglobe.com
Pop goes the podcast this week as Neal Pollack welcomes Scott Gold to talk about two very different comic book shows now streaming. First up, there's 'The Penguin,' starring Colin Farrell and Cristin Milioti. Scott was curious as to whether or not a Gotham-set show without Batman would work. But both he and Neal have totally bought into The Penguin's gritty mix of street-level action, car chases, mob intrigue, and endless F-bombs. "It's dark, even for a Batman show," Scott says. But it's also crisply-written, well-paced, and brilliantly acted. It comes with our highest stamp of approval.
'Agatha All Along,' the Halloween-themed witch show from Marvel, also gets extremely high marks from Neal and Scott. Unlike 'The Penguin,' this show, a spinoff of the groundbreaking 'Wandavision,' doesn't take itself too seriously. But it does delve deep into witch lore, and subsumes witchcraft into the larger Marvel Cinematic Universe framework. Kathryn Hahn hams it up to great effect, and Marvel has surrounded her with a harmonious supporting cast that includes Aubrey Plaza, Sameer Zamata, Debra Jo Rupp, and, in an incredible casting coup, Broadway megastar Patti LuPone. It's a star-stuffed ensemble even by Marvel standards, and the show is fun, a little scary, but still light enough to watch with your eyes fully open.
We can't say the same thing about 'The Substance,' the new feminist body horror movie from French director Coralie Fargeat. Neal couldn't actually watch this movie because he hates things coming out of other things. But Stephen Garrett is mercifully not so squeamish, and he appreciated the over-the-top metaphor about female aging and how our society treats women over 50. Demi Moore gives a signature performance, Margaret Qualley plays a villain with unhinged vigor, and Dennis Quaid gorges on shrimp in the most disgusting way. And this is the year's most disgusting movie, but people are digging it so we give it high marks even though Neal Pollack is a total coward.
Enjoy the show!
It's a podcast ripped straight from the headlines this week, or at least the extremely-online headlines. Elisa Albert joins Neal Pollack to discuss the recent cancellation of a book panel at the Albany Book Festival. Two young writers didn't want to appear with Albert because she's a "Zionist." This is the latest and most appalling act of antisemitism yet in the literary world. Even though Albert admits that she is "very much a Zionist, and proudly so," the panel was about coming-of-age novels. Pollack and Albert call out this act of disgusting cowardice. "It's a lot of ignorance and a lot of performativity," Albert says. "There are a lot of opportunists. You can really fake it as an artist in many ways...this year has exposed a lot of garbage behavior from a lot of garbage people."
Writer Meghan Daum, the founder of the Unspeakeasy community for women who have dangerous thoughts, joins Neal to talk about the dangerous-thinking movie 'Am I Racist?' a documentary from conservative online personality Matt Walsh that takes on the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion industry. Neal has his criticisms of Am I Racist? as a movie, but neither he nor Meghan can find much fault with his taking the piss out of DEI hustlers. Meghan has actually interviewed Saira Rao and Regina Jackson, two of the people that the movie calls out, and she has some insider-baseball insight about why they're successful. It has something to do with the "weaponization of female rage," or maybe grievance, which Neal knows nothing about but Meghan does.
This is a great episode, the reason we do what we do, featuring two of the smartest and most contrarian thinkers in the literary world. If this doesn't put our podcast at the top of the conversational board, then nothing will. Enjoy the show, and share it with Zionist friends.
This week, our hero and host, Neal Pollack, welcomes back Greg Ford to the podcast to talk about 'The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power.' It's the second season of The Rings of Power, and the makers of that show have doubled down on what was bad about the first season: Boring characters, slow storylines, and nonsensical world building. For resident Tolkien fans, it's a real disappointment, though the show does look terrific despite the extremely mediocre acting and lame fan service. We cannot recommend it with good conscience.
But Stephen Garrett can recommend many of the films coming out of this year's Toronto International Film Festival with good conscience. There was tons of crowd-pleasing Oscar bait this year, including the Papal succession movie Conclave, Babygirl, starring Nicole Kidman on all fours, a documentary about Pharrell Williams where everyone is a Lego figure, and a biopic about Robbie Williams where the star is played by a chimpanzee. You heard it here first! Listen up and get your fall movie viewing calendar ready. It should be fun.
Why does this new Ronald Reagan biopic feature a narrator, played by Jon Voight, who's an ex-KGB agent? If you're trying to turn nonbelievers into Reagan fans, this is not the way to do it. Contributor Adam Hirschfelder joins Neal to talk about the strange trip that is 'Reagan.' Dennis Quaid plays Ronald Reagan, a good bit of casting. Apparently, Ronald Reagan single-handedly defeated Communism and had nothing to do with the Iran-Contra Affair. Is that true? It's not up for this podcast to decide. But we can certainly decide that 'Reagan' is a silly film, an unintentional comedy that plays like a sketch-show parody of a Reagan biopic.
OK, that's all we wrote. We thank you for listening, this week and every week!
BFG Podcast! BFG Podcast! BFG Podcast! Host Neal Pollack once again summons up the world's finest pop-culture critics to talk about culture high and low this week. First up is Stephen Garrett, appearing from the film-critic underworld to discuss Tim Burton's new hit sequel 'Beetlejuice Beetlejuice.' It's messy and too stuffed with exposition, but both Neal and Stephen think it's kind of fun, even if they don't like Justin Theroux in it at all. The major point of dispute comes over Willem Dafoe, who plays a TV cop in the underworld. Neal found it hilarious, Stephen thought it was stupid and unnecessary. Let's remember, after all, that this is a 'Beetlejuice' movie. Let's not overthink it.
It's possible, however, to overthink 'Strange Darling,' now playing at a grind house near you. Neal saw 'Strange Darling' at the Vista Theater in Los Angeles, appropriate since JT Mollner's film owes such a huge debt to Quentin Tarantino. Pablo Gallaga, who has seen Strange Darling TWICE, has nothing but praise for the film, for first-time cinematographer Giovanni Ribisi, and especially for the film's star, Willa Fitzgerald. Both he and Neal agree that Fitzgerald is a major actor in the making, and that this odd serial killer love story with an unconventional narrative structure could be her signature role.
Then there's Jeff Goldblum as Zeus in the Netflix show 'Kaos.' Critic Samuel Porteous joins Neal to deconstruct this "very British" take on the Greek gods. Sam enjoys the "world building" of the show, but wishes there were more grandeur and less overtly, or at least less obvious, political posturing. It all tries a little bit too hard and is a little bit less fun than it should be. Kaos is less of a "masterpiece" and more of an interesting failure, he says.
Unlike the BFG Podcast, which is always a success. Enjoy!
It's a Jewish-themed episode of the BFG Podcast this week. What else is new, you're asking, and you will be right to some extent, but that's just how the dreidel fell, content-wise. First up, host Neal Pollack visits the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures in Los Angeles, and finds the Jewish content extremely wanting, particularly in the 'Hollywoodland' exhibit, which purports to be about the Jewish founders of the eight major studios of Hollywood's golden age but quickly descends into stereotypes, calling the studio heads "predators" and tyrants" and not spending any time interested in their actual Judaism. Neal laments the lack of pride in Jewish identity in the exhibit.
Special guest Michael Kaplan, a former writer for Roseanne and Frasier (not Friends), part of a group of L.A. writers who have protested the exhibit, laments the obvious tokenism of the museum display, as well as its smallness and lack of consequence. Not once, he points out, does the exhibit celebrate the Jewish tradition of storytelling that led the founders to establish the movie business in the first place. The exhibit is a cryin' shame, and both Neal and Michael worry about the imprint it will have on the many thousands of schoolchildren who march through the museum every year.
Speaking of Jewish storytelling, Rebecca Kurson drops in to talk to Neal about 'Between the Temples,' a new movie that celebrates ordinary Judaism in all its messy glory. Becky saw Between the Temples on the date that we learned Hamas had murdered six Jewish hostages, and boy did she need this tonic, which depicts American Jewish life and celebrates it as not only normal, but necessary. Carol Kane, in full Ruth Gordon mode, is an older lady who decides, late in life, to become a Bat Mitzvah. Despite some twitchy direction, this is one of the best and most accurate depictions of Jewish devotional life in recent memory. If only the Academy Museum would have done the same.
If you're listening this week, then Mazel tov!
We’re charting! Did you know that this podcast regularly earns a spot on the lists of top entertainment podcasts in several countries, including Sweden, Gambia, Poland, Australia and Canada? It’s true. The Book and Film Globe podcast has even cracked the Top 200 in the US a couple times, as well as UK. We are grateful to all our fans, everywhere—thanks for listening.
We’ve got a shortish episode this week as Neal Pollack, our site’s fearless editor — and this podcast’s host — embarks on an odyssey of non-trivial consequence. But as Peter Parker's uncle said, with great brevity comes great wit. Or something like that.
Neal speaks about Alien: Romulus with Pablo Gallaga, who feels that the Fede Alvarez installation to the series can’t quite make up its mind about what it wants to be.
[caption id="attachment_25944" align="alignright" width="269"] Photo of Jennifer Shirk courtesy of the author.[/caption]
Next up is Laura Roberts, who gets into it about It Ends with Us, the new Justin Baldoni-directed romantic drama with Blake Lively based on the novel by Colleen Hoover. If you’re wondering where to buy Colleen Hoover’s books, you’ve come to the right place -- our indie book store The Book House sells a ton of It Ends With Us and all of Ms. Hoover’s considerable output. With just a few weeks left of summer, head to Millburn or Long Branch to stock up on this prolific author’s paperbacks.
And speaking of The Book House …
When you finish The Book and Film Globe podcast, please give our new podcast a spin. The Book House podcast is hosted by journalist and author Liz Alterman, who every week opens a window on the business of publishing, interviewing a different author or editor. In this week’s episode, Liz talks to Jennifer Shirk, the USA Today bestselling and award-winning author of 12 sweet and funny romance novels. Jennifer’s latest, Resorting to Romance, was released on July 2. The South Jersey author actually got her bachelor's degree in pharmacy and was contemplating a doctorate before turning to fiction. Listen to The Book House podcast on Apple or Spotify.
And don’t forget to like, review and follow the Book and Film Globe podcast, also on Apple and Spotify.
Podcast host Neal Pollack revisits his roots this week as he interviews his old friend Arthur Bradford, the director of 'To Be Destroyed', a new short documentary about the efforts of the school district of Rapid City, South Dakota, to ban a bunch of books, including the novel 'The Circle' by Dave Eggers.
If you mess with Dave Eggers, you'd best not miss. And they did miss. Arthur was once a writer but is now a documentary filmmaker. He and Eggers had been talking about doing a documentary, but this was the obvious topic. Eggers went to South Dakota and met with students, and Arthur accompanied him. A crusade against injustice ensued. Neal and Arthur talk about the film and the issues at hand, and also about Neal's "psychological issues" surrounding his former colleague and mentor Eggers. A revealing conversation ensues about the realities of book banning and why Neal wants a camera crew to "follow me to Trader Joe's."
A more conventional but still insightful segment follows. Contributor Greg Ford joins Neal to talk about the strange new adaptation of Giovanni Boccaccio's 'The Decameron', now airing on Netflix. They both enjoyed the performance of main character Tanya Reynolds but also found the adaptation to be overly long and needlessly silly. Greg, who has actually read 'The Decameron,' also notes that the show isn't nearly as bawdy as the book itself, which was controversial in its time for its overtly sexual and anti-clerical content, two issues that are not a problem today.
Enjoy the show!
The fourth-most-popular entertainment news podcast in The Gambia returns this week with a great dog days of summer episode. First up, host Neal Pollack welcomes Sharyn Vane for another important eat-your-veggies segment. Apparently, the literary world has decided that apolitical writer Gabrielle Zevin, author of the bestselling 'Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow' is a "Zionist" because her novel features an Israel character and she once gave an interview to Hadassah magazine. This is annoying at the least, and quite dangerous at the most, and Book and Film Globe will continue to stand strong against forces in the literary world that insist on marginalizing and discriminating against Jewish authors. We should be long past this as a society.
But we are not long past M. Night Shyamalan movies, and JonPaul Guinn joins our Rotten Tomatoes-approved editor-in-chief to discuss M. Night's wacky new locked-room serial-killer movie 'Trap,' which is almost a comedy, and is quite a lot of fun. JP way prefers Trap to Longlegs, and both he and Neal way prefer it to the previous Shyamalan movie A Knock At The Cabin, which collapsed under the weight of its own pretentiousness. There's nothing pretentious about Trap, it's fun. You will have fun. Have fun at it.
There's also nothing pretentious about the Apple+ TV adaptation of Time Bandits, though Scott Gold, our resident Time Bandits effort, admits that showrunners Taika Waititi and Jemaine Clement lack the artistry of Terry Gilliam, who made the original Time Bandits. But for men of a certain age, which Scott and Neal most definitely are, a Time Bandits reboot is nostalgic catnip. Scott says the show is funny, if not a surrealist masterpiece like the original. A little warm glow of time-traveling nostalgia. No pop-culture product ever really dies, and the new Time Bandits is no exception.
Enjoy the show!
We discuss the most popular movie in the world on this week's podcast, and also discuss two...books. We are BOOK and Film Globe, after all. You can't pigeonhole us.
Frequent sci-fi and fantasy reviewer Dan Friedman joins Neal Pollack on the podcast to discuss 'The Bright Sword,' a very modern retelling of the Arthurian legend from Lev Grossman, who wrote The Magicians series. Did you know Sir Bedivere was gay? Lev Grossman does! In any case, The Bright Sword is quite engaging and fun to read, and both Dan and Neal reserve praise for this book, which injects fresh life into a moldy mythology.
'The Book of Elsewhere,' by China Mieville and, we guess, Keanu Reeves, is a bit more of a lift, despite being half the length. Based on an ultra-violent comic book series by Reeves, this is the story of 'B,' an 80,000-year-old immortal warrior who cannot die, or who at least comes back to life after he dies. Think John Wick meets Highlander. It's not as much fun as it sounds, if it sounds fun at all. Mieville fills the pages between grisly action sequences with philosophical rumination on the meaning of identity, approach at your own risk. Both Dan and Neal found this book to be a bit much.
Stephen Garrett crosses over from another realm in the multiverse to discuss 'Deadpool & Wolverine' with Neal. They both found this meta-entry in the MCU to be kind of cheap and a load of fun. There's not much else to say about the #1 movie in the world, other than "Marvel is back," and nothing is going to stop it from reasserting its dominance over the pop-culture landscape. They also discuss, along those lines, the return of Robert Downey Jr. to the MCU. The years of Dr. Doom are in front of us. It's Marvel's multiverse, and we just live in it.
Enjoy the show, people of The Gambia!
Politics and culture intersect bigly on this week's podcast. Adam Hirschfelder, a pundit-in-the-wings, joins host Neal Pollack to talk about the J.D. Vance phenomenon. Specifically, they discuss how 'Hillbilly Elegy,' Vance's memoir, was once the publishing-industry standard bearer for understanding Appalachia and the "Trump voter." "This book was embraced by liberals across the country," Adam says. Boy, have times changed. Neal points out the irony that a memoirist is potentially one step away from the Presidency. Neal compares Vance to Barack Obama, but Obama's memoirs, while well-written "actual books" were clearly part of a political strategy. No one saw Vance coming at the time in 2016. Maybe Vance did.
"It's as if one of my memoirs had become a huge best-seller, and then I became a Senator from Texas, and now was Kamala Harris's Vice-President." That would be quite a multiverse timeline. Meanwhile, 'Hillbilly Elegy' is "off the chains." "Those houses in the Hamptons don't build themselves," Adam says.
Meanwhile, Donald Trump cannot stop invoking "the late, great Hannibal Lecter" on the campaign trail. Not much to say here other than it's hilarious and ridiculous. Also, Hannibal Lecter is a fictional character. And he's not dead even in his fictional universe.
Jake Harris joins the podcast to talk about 'Twisters.' He saw it in a screening in Dallas with a bunch of meteorologists. Talk about a receptive audiences! 'Twisters' has a strong female protagonist, weather porn, lots of trucks and red-dirt country music, beautiful Oklahoma landscapes, and a realistic rodeo scene. It's the perfect summer blockbuster to appeal to Red and Blue America alike, the film that will bring us all together. Neal refers to costar Glen Powell as the "emotional support dog" for the protagonist, played by Daisy Edgar-Jones. If you feel it, chase it!
Adam Hirschfelder returns after 10 minutes in the green room to talk about his favorite subject, Kevin Costner. Why did Costner leave 'Yellowstone' to make 'Horizon,' a 12-hour Western epic? We don't know. Adam sat through the first three hours in a theater, the second three hours remains unreleased, and the fate of the saga's back end is unknown. Does 'Horizon' do anything differently than 'Centennial,' 'Lonesome Dove,' 'Dances With Wolves,' 'Unforgiven,' 'Deadwood,' or any other modern Western. It does not. Kevin Costner, you have broken Adam Hirschfelder's heart.
It's a great episode. Please enjoy!
The Book and Film Globe podcast returns this week with another fantastic episode. The world of American politics may be roiling, but we continue to cover the culture, because politics is downstream from culture, or something along those lines.
First, we travel north of the border, where Canadian literary society is in crisis after the Nobel Prize-winning writer Alice Munro finds herself posthumously embroiled in a terrible scandal. She essentially attempted to cover up the alleged sexual abuse of her own daughter. Host Neal Pollack and contributor Michael Washburn in no way condone Munro's actions, but they wonder why the literary world is so quick to pass judgment on someone who, when she died a couple of months ago, they hailed as the greatest short-story writer of all time. What are we actually doing here? The BFG podcast wants us all to slow our roll.
Stephen Garrett stops by to talk to Neal about the lousy space-race comedy 'Fly Me To The Moon,' though he balks when Neal refers to co-star Channing Tatum as a "himbo." It is highly unlikely that the government would have been able to set up a fake moon landing in an empty hangar on the site of the Apollo 11 launch. Neal spends a lot of time pointing out the outfits of Scarlett Johansson and her assistant, which is a real problem when you're talking about a movie about the moon landing. What a turkey.
However, we do recommend 'Longlegs,' or at least Pablo Gallaga does. Neal gets scared easily at movies, and Pablo tells him that Longlegs is, in fact scary. But it's scary in the way that 'Zodiac' is scary. Neal does not find Zodiac scary. Look, who knows, this is a horror movie. Pablo likes it. It's a huge hit. And we're on top of things here at BFG.
Enjoy this episode!
It's six degrees of Kevin Bacon and J.K. Rowling on this week's podcast, as we discuss two movies that feature Kevin Bacon and one online controversy that definitely features J.K. Rowling.
First up, special guest Kat Rosenfield, a columnist for the Free Press, appears to talk about her recent column on last week's ridiculous online tumult that went down after a millennial on X discovered an old Rowling interview where Rowling called Vladimir Nabokov a "love story." That's about as stupid as it sounds, but Kat and host Neal Pollack pick it apart quite intelligently. The conversation is a riff on Rosenfield's take: "People, in their fervor for recreational hatred, are rendering themselves functionally illiterate." Amen to that.
Stephen Garrett shows up on the podcast like he does nearly every week. This time, he and Neal discuss 'MaXXine,' the "thesis" movie from director Ti West, if a thesis movie can be an artsy riff on 1980s direct-to-video horror movies and also the sleaziness of the 1980s porn industry. Needless to say, this is not a family film. Stephen thinks it's a little cold, studied, and pretentious, but there's no denying that MaXXXine is true to its pulp sensibility, and it really captures a certain kind of 1980s vibe. Highly recommended, or not, depending on your sensibility.
Eddie Murphy is back, not on the podcast, but in 'Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F'. Resident Beverly Hills Cop JP Guinn joins Neal to sass-talk the ultimate cinematic sass-talker. JP places this new Netflix number somewhere between Beverly Hills Cop 2 and the disastrous Beverly Hills Cop 3 on the Axel Foley timeline. There's not much good to say here, though "Neutron Dance" remains a fun song for a dumb action sequence, even if that action sequence involves a snowplow destroying downtown Detroit. "What are we really being nostalgic for here?" Neal asks. Good question.
From high to low, we cover it all on BFG. Enjoy the show!
BFG serves up an unpretentious meal of pop-culture criticism in this week's podcast. Stephen Garrett enters the room quietly to talk to noisy host Neal Pollack about 'A Quiet Place: Day One.' After dodging brief accusations of misogynoir, Stephen admits that the prequel is well-made and that Lupita Nyong'o is beautiful and talented, but he just cannot get around how stupid the aliens are in the movie. They don't eat anything. They just hate noise. It's a jump-scare franchise and nothing else. If you like that sort of thing, you will like this flick. Stephen does not like this sort of thing.
Greg Ford doesn't like The Bear at all. He tried, oh he tried. Neal also really wanted to like The Bear, but in Season 3, the show is clearly high on its own supply, over-enamored with its own artistry and gorging on self-importance. We are not alone in taking on The Bear here. Critical opinion has flipped quickly. Our beloved new TV restaurant changed its menu, and people don't like what it's serving. Neal and Greg certainly do not.
But Neal and Stephen DO like Kinds of Kindness, the new film from Yorgos Lanthimos, starring a "fearless" and occasionally naked Emma Stone. Neal likens the film to a short-fiction anthology, sort of a sexy Kafka set in Louisiana, with sex cults. It's kind of a great film, Neal and Stephen agree. Willem Dafoe also gets naked.
Enjoy the podcast!
Host and editor Neal Pollack has returned from the World Series of Poker, where he did pretty well, not great, but pretty well, to deliver steaming-hot pop-culture takes on a new episode of the BFG podcast.
Neal came home from Las Vegas and immediately started mainlining as much TV as possible. The first priority was a new season of House of the Dragon, now airing on Max. Omar Gallaga, the world's greatest House of the Dragon recapper, joins Neal to talk about season 2. Neal loves HOD, he finds it reminiscent of the early seasons of Game of Thrones, when we were all much younger and the world was a happier, more innocent place. Omar is entertained, in the classical sense, but he also sees HOD as more of a faux-Shakespearian history and less of a faux-Shakespearian tragedy. It's based on a fake history book by George RR Martin, as opposed to GOT, which was a novel adaptation, so Omar regrets that the characters don't have the rich interior lives they need to make this show great. Neal just wants dragon fights.
William Schwartz joins Neal to talk about the new season of The Boys. They parse the "controversy" surrounding the show. The right-wing expresses outrage that The Boys satirizes the right wing, which it always has. But stupid liberals also come under the microscope. As do corporate diversity programs. The Boys takes the piss out of our superhero-saturated culture like no other cultural property ever could, and any critique of it is essentially invalid. Season 4 is just as wild and gross and outrageous as ever, and Neal and William both love it.
Meanwhile, at the movies, The Bikeriders has opened Stephen Garrett saw this film a year ago and barely remembers it, but Neal saw it last week and found it surprisingly effective. Jodie Comer is as Midwestern as a British woman has ever been, and Tom Hardy and Austin Butler give filthy greaser biker-guy star turns. As Neal said in his review, The Bikeriders is a 1960s Village Voice article, but in movie form, and it's one of the entertainment year's most pleasant surprises.
Enjoy our show!
On this week's podcast, guest host and site contributor Scott Gold discusses some of the biggest pop-culture recent releases from the big and small screen.
First up, Scott and fellow Star Wars nerd, author and TV writer Rob Kutner discuss whether the latest Disney+ series to tap into a galaxy far, far away, The Acolyte, gets far enough away from the Skywalker saga to make things interesting again. Does switching the tone and theme to something darker and more mystery focused shed fresh light on what makes Jedi the way they are? And it it all enough to make casual fans as excited about this show as we all were when The Mandalorian exceeded expectations?
Next, film critic Stephen Garrett gets in our heads with a discussion of Pixar's much-anticipated sequel Inside Out 2, which continues the story of Riley Andersen as puberty brings a whole new set of personified emotions including Anxiety and Ennui. How does it measure up the the beloved original? Did you happen to catch that Bing Bong Easter Egg?
Last but not least, Sharyn Vane explores Netflix's wildly popular true-crime story Dancing for the Devil, a three-part docudrama about the 7M TikTok cult. Sharyn talks about the internet rabbit hole she fell down getting to know these personalities long before Netflix came to the party with its own twisty take on the church that was producing popular dance content.
Enjoy the show!
This week, special guest Richard Rushfield, columnist for 'The Ankler' and one of the sharpest observers of the entertainment business, joins host Neal Pollack in the pod dome to discuss this summer's "catastrophic" box office. "What is Garfield to you?" Richard challenges Neal. "Is it not entertainment?" It is, but the summer box office performance for the adult-facing movies has been bad. But, Rushfield posits, in an average summer 'The Fall Guy' and 'Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes' wouldn't be considered disasters, they would be filler movies between blockbusters. But there are problems in the pipelines, studios are consolidating. The "ecosystem" depends on 120 movies a year, but will fall way short of that number.
But the studios have only themselves to blame, Rushfield says. You can't blame the strikes. "It's like saying, I had to do my homework but went to the beach instead, so of course I didn't do my homework. What do you expect?"
Later, Rushfield has praise for Michael Douglas as Benjamin Franklin and for 'Masters of Air,' and says that he is hate-watching Season 3 of 'Hacks,' though he does like Jean Smart essentially playing Joan Rivers. He finds the rest of the show "amateurish." His aesthetic judgment is golden. Neal also forces Rushfield to talk about 'For All Mankind' on Apple+, which hasn't aired new episodes since January but which Neal has been bingeing much to the chagrin of his wife. Rushfield considers For All Mankind one of the top 5 shows of the streaming era, and Pollack agrees.
Two grumpy old Jewish dads discussing the entertainment industry. It's why podcasts exist! Check it out.
BFG goes to the movies this week even if no one else is. We cover three recent releases with the comprehensiveness they deserve.
Stephen Garrett is back from Cannes to review 'Furiosa' with host Neal Pollack. He calls it "one of the great prequels ever made," and Neal can't really disagree. Yet there's an element of surprise missing from this 'Fury Road' origin story that has left it somewhat high and dry with audiences. Chris Hemsworth really chews the scenery, Anya Taylor-Joy does a lot of grunting, and there are plenty of exploding glider attacks on truck convoys if you like that sort of thing. We do!
Gillian Gear returns to the show to talk with Neal about 'Back to Black,' the Amy Winehouse biopic. Gillian was bored by the movie. Neal said it pales in comparison with any Amy Winehouse documentary from a decade ago. It's a minor film trying and mostly failing to capitalize on the massive success of Bohemian Rhapsody from a few years back. The music isn't as central to Back in Black as it should be. Though Neal liked the two leads, Gillian was too bored to really care about them. This movie should go to rehab, HEYO.
Saving the best movie for last, Omar Gallaga stops in to talk to fellow Austinite Pollack about 'Hit Man,' the years most Austin movie even though it takes place in New Orleans. Richard Linklater directs a script by himself and the movie's star Glen Powell, adapted from a Texas Monthly article. Powell and Adria Arjona steam up the screen in the hottest comedy crime-romance since Clooney and Lopez hooked up in Out of Sight, and that was a long time ago. It's a small-screen Netflix project in a lot of ways, but it still warrants a big-screen viewing if that's available to you. Highly recommended by us at BFG.
Enjoy the show!
It's the end of the world and the end of an empire on this week's podcast. We know that sounds heavy, but host Neal Pollack and his guests, BFG contributors Omar Gallaga and Stephen Garrett, keep it relatively light.
First up, Omar Gallaga joins Neal to talk about 'Nuclear War: A Scenario,' a book by Annie Jacobsen that scared the hell out of him, and will scare you, too. Jacobsen posits what would happen if a "Mad King," like, say, the one currently in North Korea, decided to test the limits of their nuclear arsenal. The answer: nothing good. There will be no hope. The only positive takeaway, Omar says, is that the Earth will regenerate without us. So let's all get on with our days, shall we?
We could, for instance, watch 'Fallout' on Amazon Prime, which is based on a post-nuclear apocalypse video game and is a lot more fun to watch than the war-room scenarios depicted in Jacobsen's book. Omar was totally hooked on the show, which BFG recommends highly.
As for Francis Ford Coppola's 'Megalopolis,' which debuted this week at Cannes, well, god bless him, Stephen Garrett says. The 40-year-old script is the equivalent, he says, of a pool shot that rips the fabric of the table and sends the ball flying into the wall. But it's also big and fun in a campy sort of way. Megalopolis is Coppola's moonshot, and at a press conference in Canness (which Stephen attended), he said he'll still be making movies in 20 years, which would make him 105 years old. Sure, why not? Go for it!
Other highlights of Cannes include a new movie from 'Poor Things' director Yorgos Lanthimos, and a bunch of other stuff that sounds very depressing. Stephen will be spending the week seeing many more movies and drinking lukewarm rosé at beach parties. This is how he suffers for his art.
Enjoy the show!
It's hard to imagine, but the BFG Podcast celebrates its 150th episode this week. We started out by recording it on a party line on Clubhouse, an app that people thought had potential back in 2021. Then for a while host Neal Pollack interviewed people via Skype. That's why, in its earliest iterations, the show sounds like we recorded it through tin cans at the bottom of a submarine. Gradually, Neal got some decent equipment and learned how to plug in his microphone properly, and we now use Zencastr, an easy-to-apply podcasting platform that only occasionally gives us problems. And what do you know? We are huge in Albania and Poland and Switzerland, and have even made the podcasting charts in countries where English is the primary language. We're so proud of our show, thank you for staying with us.
Now, onto this week's podcast fare. Stephen Garrett is here as always, first to talk to Neal about 'The Fall Guy,' which Stephen found fun and charming. He bought into the popcorn-movie vibes entirely. Neal is a grouchy old man and hated the screenplay and didn't actually think Emily Blunt and Ryan Gosling had good chemistry. Too much cutesy-pie insider Hollywood baseball, not enough stunt mechanisms. Stephen thought the whole thing worked pretty well.
Neither Neal nor Stephen liked 'Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes.' Where are the cool ape houses and the groovy leather jackets? Whither Dr. Zaius? Why is the story taking so long to develop? Why does May's skin look like she just visited Sephora? What the hell is William H. Macy doing there? So many questions, and this movie is so dumb.
Not particularly dumb is 'Sugar,' on Apple+ TV. Chris Farnsworth joins Neal to discuss the Colin Farrell detective series that actually looks like it's a stealth Martian Manhunter series. Neal and Chris are apparently both huge nerds, and they buy into the detective series-ness of it all and definitely are buying into the John Sugar Is An Alien twist. That definitely gives the series a little something extra, makes it iconic, even.
At this point, we're determined to get to episode 200. Why not 300? Why not indeed? There will still be books and films and streaming TV in three years. That's our prediction. Enjoy the show!
Host Neal Pollack is full of self-righteous and justified rage this week at the actions of his fellow PEN America members, who absolutely refuse to participate in awards ceremonies or the World Voices Festival until the Zionist menace is eradicated from this Earth. Pollack and BFG contributor Sharyn Vane go off on PEN members in this week's podcast episode, as writers are more concerned with trendy social-justice concerns than freedom of speech, which really should be their primary concern. They sound like college sophomores, not published authors. It's an outrageous trend that needs immediate correction.
Pollack also reviews 'Knife,' the new memoir from Salman Rushdie about his near-fatal stabbing at the hands of an ignorant jihadist. While Pollack admires Rushdie's description of the attack and the resulting medical trauma, and has much respect for him as an outspoken defender of free speech, he also thinks Rushdie isn't hard enough on his fellow PEN America members, who are a real menace to the values that Rushdie supposedly stands for and holds so dear. Maybe you're seeing a theme to this week's show.
But for dessert, Stephen Garrett joins Neal on the podcast to discuss 'Challengers,' the new tennis melodrama from director Luca Guadagnino. Zendaya, Mike Faist, and Josh O'Connor burn up the screen as a racket-based love triangle. Neal and Stephen both love the script, the performances, and the general adult-drama vibe of the picture. Neal, as always, has trouble with the non-linear narrative structure. Stephen got a little tired of the aggressive musical cues. But you can forgive Challengers its little sins, because overall, the movie is a lot of fun, and allows us to forget for a while that contemporary "writers" hate freedom of speech and sound like a bunch of Maoist propagandists.
Enjoy the tennis movie! Enjoy our show!
As part of the legendary first-ever Book and Film Globe Festival, we recorded an episode of our legendary podcast at The Book House in Long Branch, New Jersey, the hottest new bookstore on the Jersey Shore. Host Neal Pollack traveled thousands of miles to talk to some of his favorite contributors about the important cultural products of the day. It was delightful, and we drank much Pelican Punch.
Stephen Garrett and Neal reunited on a couch to talk about Alex Garland's 'Civil War.' Neal appreciated the aesthetics of the movie but despised its politics. Stephen didn't mind the politics but didn't really think the story works. Neal says the movie is an absolute projection of liberal neurosis about the possible re-election of Donald Trump. Neal likens it to 'Red Dawn,' which Stephen thinks is vaguely ridiculous, but the comparison is apt. What kind of American are you? Hopefully not the kind of American who thinks 'Civil War' is a documentary. Does this movie imagine what a Civil War would be like in modern America? Sure. But it's still a paranoid fantasy.
On the opposite end of the cultural spectrum is the fun and funny Girls 5Eva. we suppose your mileage may vary on this Tina Fey comedy about an aging 90s girl group. Contributor Matthew Ehrlich journeyed from New York City to the Jersey Shore to have a delightful conversation with Neal about the Tina Fey comedy factor, the fabulous Renée Elise Goldsberry, and who sings the Fuck the Police parody, "Ducks Are Mean Geese."
Thanks to Stephen and Matthew for making the trip, and thanks for Sea of Reeds Media for operating such amazing bookstores. This will not be our last live recording ever. Thanks for listening at all times, and in all formats!
It's a vibrant BFG podcast this week, as host Neal Pollack just keeps on having opinions about things. Stephen Garrett pops into the scene to discuss 'Monkey Man,' directed, written, and starting Dev Patel. They both find the movie stylish, fun, and exciting, but maybe Dev Patel could have used someone telling him no, and could have used an editor, and could have given some of his characters name. But for everything that's wrong with Monkey Man, there's a lot that's right, and Neal, who went to yoga school, reads a lot into the serious critique of Indian society that Patel offers up. It's not just a John Wick-style knockoff. If only it didn't have so many flashbacks.
Rachel Llewellyn appears to talk with Neal about 'Ripley,' the new eight-hour black-and-white adaptation of 'The Talented Mr. Ripley,' now airing on Netflix. Neal finds the new 'Ripley' way too self-consciously literary. A lot of people have been asking Neal if he's been watching Ripley, and he has been watching Ripley. Though he finds the black-and-white cinematography quite gorgeous, and has no issues with Andrew Scott's performance as Ripley, this "Ripleyist Ripley" ever made might be a little too much. It's a TV show for people who still subscribe to the New York Review of Books. Our memories of the 1990s 'The Talented Mr. Ripley' loom large. The new one looks gorgeous, but lacks glamour.
'X-Men '97' also likes glamour, but it's not supposed to be glamorous. It's supposed to bring back a classic 1990s Marvel Saturday morning cartoon. Scott Gold joins Neal to wax geekily about this fantastic reboot of a very influential show. The new X-Men cartoon is so true to the old X-Men cartoon that it feels like a direct continuation. But in a lot of ways, it's better, telling classic comic-book stories in a way that old cartoons just simply couldn't. If you like weird comics lore, this is the show of the year.
And this is the podcast of the year! Enjoy.
Neal Pollack is recovering from gout but still delivers a whopper of a podcast this week, with three familiar guests and a great variety of topics. Stephen Garrett comes in to chat about the bizarre 'Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire,' which features his new favorite scene in a movie: King Kong using Baby King Kong as a club to beat up some other super underground apes. What a weird movie this is, perfect for a 10- year-old boy, essentially a Transformers movie starring King Kong and Godzilla (and Mother!) and Dan Stevens as the world's coolest animal dentist.
Not as good or as fun is '3 Body Problem' on Netflix, which guest William Schwartz describes as being about how great scientists are but not really actually caring about what science does. That sums up a big problem in our culture, and in the show, which is about a super-team of super-scientists who get together to be attractive and stop a global threat, but does not even begin to approach the philosophical depth of the Chinese novel series on which it's based. We consider this a shallow disappointment over at BFG.
We talk about food on the podcast, as we often do. Robert Dean stops by to praise and also make fun of 'Guy Fieri's Tournament of Champions,' which both he and Neal find entertaining, but they also find themselves wondering: What are we doing here? Why are we watching this? No one actually has the skill to cook like this in real life? Why is cooking now a sport, and not a daily activity for nourishment? And what's with all the nicknames?
We ask the important questions on the BFG podcast. Thanks for listening.
Spring is here and we have a fun and light spring menu this week on the podcast. Stephen Garrett hops into frame and tries to answer host Neal Pollack's question: Why do we need a Ghostbusters: The Next Generation? Stephen says that 'Frozen Empire' is far better and more fun than the previous maudlin Ghostbusters reboot, but there are too many busters, too much lore, too much reverence. Neal makes the point that the original Ghostbusters was irreverent and almost conservative in its middle finger to the liberal Hollywood establishment. Stephen points out that it was a shit-talking working-man hangout movie. 'Frozen Empire' is awash in nostalgia for culture it doesn't even begin to understand.
'Top Chef' has managed to reboot itself without its host Padma Lakshmi, replacing her with former champion Kristin Kish. Rachel Llewellyn joins Neal and they basically have nothing but nice things to say about Kish's vibe on the show, about the production quality, and about the quality of the cooking, the competition, and of its narrative abilities. In a food-media world oversaturated with cooking competitions, Top Chef remains state of the art, and we're glad to have it back.
Magically, Stephen Garrett returns to the podcast to wax enthusiastically about the reboot of 'Road House.' Neal points out that the movie basically has no plot and no real character development, but Stephen doesn't seem to think those things are necessary in a movie. He argues that we should accept Road House on its own terms and just let the dumb wide-angle action carry us along. They agree to disagree, then bash each other over the head with a chair.
Enjoy the show!
It's an excellent and thoughtful podcast this week. Host Neal Pollack welcomes Sharyn Vane and Michael Washburn to discuss their recent articles about questionable attitudes toward Israel and Jewish people in general in the literary world. Sharyn discusses the cancellation of actor Brett Gelman's recent book tour, tying it to how progressives don't want to approach the Israel-Hamas conflict with anything even close to nuance. Michael, who wrote about a South African writer returning a prestigious literary medal in protest of the German government's support of Israel, says that antisemitism on the left is a real problem. Neal is just concerned about anti-Jewish sentiment in general among writers, who have, at least in his lifetime, been strong allies of the Jewish people. That calculus has clearly changed, and we will continue to cover this change on Book and Film Globe.
We will also continue to cover lesbian road-trip crime movies if they make any more, which they probably won't. Regardless, Stephen Garrett is here so he and Neal can be two straight guys talking about lesbian road-trip crime movies. Stephen makes the interesting point that 'Love Lies Bleeding' and 'Drive Away Dolls' both take place in the past, because only in the past would gay female relationships be an issue that would create any kind of dramatic tension. They both praise Katy O'Brien's magnetic performance in Love Lies Bleeding, and Neal liked the ironic ending, but Stephen found the movie too self-satisfied and didn't really admire the empty artistic flourishes.
'Drive Away Dolls' from Ethan Coen, on the other hand, is the kind of embarrassing lesbian movie "grandpa" would make, Stephen says, though, like Neal, he found the central relationship sweet and Margaret Qualley's lead performance really compelling. Both these movies suffer from script problems and relevance problems, though they're relevant enough for us to talk about.
Enjoy our show, which is always relevant!
We are finally clear of the Oscars, and host Neal Pollack leads off this week's podcast with an audio version of his rant we published early this week. The Oscars are for the special people, not for the regulars of life. And yet we keep falling into their trap, because we love to watch movies.
We do not, however, love to watch 'Spaceman' starring Adam Sandler. Omar Gallaga reviewed Spaceman for us and just does not buy Adam Sandler as a sad Czech astronaut in an alternative 1980s. Dan Friedman actually read the book upon which Spaceman is based, and he says the movie doesn't even come close to approximating the book's satire of post-Cold War Czech identity. Dan also had trouble with the Carey Mulligan wife character, who's stuck back on Earth with nothing to do. They both kind of liked the odd imaginary space spider, voiced by Paul Dano, but this movie is a big miss overall.
Not missing is 'The Tourist,' whose second season is on Netflix right now. Jenny Parrott joins Neal to talk about The Tourist, a show that she likes and that our dad likes. It's a deep dive into identity and consciousness, and also a great adventure show and a surprisingly moving romance. Neal senses comic elements of the Coen Brothers in The Tourist, and he thanks Jenny for bringing this fun show to our attention.
And we hope you enjoy this podcast as well!
One pop-culture phenomenon blots out the sun over Arrakis this week, and Stephen Garrett joins Neal Pollack on the podcast to talk about Denis Villennueve's 'Dune 2'. Not surprisingly, Stephen likes 'Dune 2' much more than Neal does, though Neal grudgingly admits that you're not going to get a better adaptation of Frank Herbert's 'Dune' novels than this. It is a monumental achievement of pop culture and is the best sci-fi epic of our time. That doesn't mean it's not pretentious and boring in places. Neal likes Léa Seydoux's cameo as a witch-spy, and Austin Butler as a charismatically weird bald antagonist. Stephen makes apologies for Timothée Chalamet's stiff performance, Neal has no time for that. Regardless, the spice is flowing, the worms are zooming through the sand, the interstellar political intrigues are intriguing.
Bonus: Neal complains at great length about the eating habits of the woman who sat next to him at the Alamo Drafthouse during his screening!
Finally this week, Michael Washburn enters the podcast dome to school Neal on the historical realities behind the excellent FX miniseries remake of Shōgun, currently running. The series, to its credit, doesn't shy away from some of the more ethnocentric aspects of feudal Japanese culture, and paints both its Asian and Western protagonists as complicated and flawed. For straightforward historical drama, you don't get much better than this. It's an epic saga of the world on the brink of modernity, and it's well worth your hours.
Enjoy the podcast!
This week's show gets right into what's important in our culture. Host Neal Pollack welcomes Jennifer Lopez obsessive Adam Hirschfelder to the podcast, and he is all about 'This Is Me...Now,' J. Lo's music video and album that has recast J. Lo's image as someone who's both ironically and unironically finding herself. She has learned to love herself and Ben Affleck, and the video, airing on Amazon Prime, features her in therapy and also dancing on the set of Singin' In The Rain. Neal can't quite suss out what the big deal is about J. Lo, but Adam, who has some regional identification with the former Jenny from the Block, says her great subject is the nature of celebrity itself. We don't know if it's that calculated, but maybe it is.
Ryan Murphy is back doing Ryan Murphy things in 'Feud: Capote Versus the Swans,' and Neal and Matthew Ehrlich break it down. Matthew's main criticism is that Capote had plenty of feuds in his life, but his feud with the swans was really more like an excommunication. They examine the various actors doing their various swan schticks, and while Matthew thinks that Tom Hollander does a pitch-perfect Capote impression, he finds this version of Truman quite creepy and not at all magnetic and compelling.
Kingsley Ben-Adir's Bob Marley is the opposite of creepy. Adam Hirschfelder returns to the show to discuss Bob Marley: One Love, which he likens to the posters for Bob Marley's Legend greatest hits album that adorned the walls of many white people in college dorms in the 1980s and 1990s. The film, which Marley's estate made in full consultation with the director, is a continuation of Marley's hagiography. Adam wanted more explanation and information, Neal wanted either more or less religion, but audiences seem not to care, as the music is a huge hit, because Marley's music is eternal.
Enjoy the podcast!
Our podcast has resumed production, though it also never ceased production, which is good because it continues to be an amazing show with an increasingly worldwide reach. This week we talk about 'Madame Web,' the most important bad-good movie of the year so far. Host Neal Pollack welcomes London Faust, an avowed Dakota Johnson fanatic, who did not find succor in the Dakota Johnson-heavy 'Madame Web.' London marvels at the movie's bad voice-dubbing and misuse of Zosia Mamet and Sydney Sweeney. Neal points all all the inconsistencies in the Spider-Verse world building. And they barely scratch the surface of how bad this movie actually is.
On a more positive note, JP Quinn drops by to talk to Neal about 'Mr. And Mrs. Smith,' which Donald Glover produced and stars in along with Maya Erskine. This is a long way off from the Brangelina action movie of the aughts, yet it still has glamorous locations and exciting action. It's sexy but also deeply ironic, able to embrace the spy genre while also deconstruction yet. Donald Glover is the smartest person in the room as usual.
Jon Stewart is also the smartest person in the room and he is back with new Monday episodes of The Daily Show. Jake Harris shows up to discuss with Neal the backlast to Stewart's first monologue, which was absurd, and also about how it's a huge relief to have Stewart back in the TDS chair and to see that he has not lost a step, even as he implores you to look deep into his eyes to see how much he's aged.
Enjoy the show!
The Oscars are still a month away for some reason, but it's time for us to offer up our annual Oscar podcast preview episode. Stephen Garrett joins host Neal Pollack to admit that 'Oppenheimer' is going to run rampant over the major awards, though Neal offers up 'The Zone of Interest' as a value upset Best Picture picture and he and Stephen posit that maybe Sterling K. Brown's abs will defeat Robert Downey, Jr. for Best Supporting Actor. They also give love to Da'Vine Joy Randolph from 'The Holdovers' and Neal sort of persuades Stephen that Lily Gladstone will win Best Actress. In other news, 'Godzilla Minus One' got a nomination for best visual effects, but in a just world, it would have been nominated for Best Picture or at least Best International Feature.
But that's not all! We also talk about the amazing Netflix narco crime drama 'Griselda.' First-time guest Jenny Parrott joins Neal to praise Sofia Vergara's amazing performance, her amazing jewelry and lipstick, and all the amazing narco gun-battle action on the cruel streets of 1970s Miami. It's a top-notch drug melodrama with more than faint echoes of 'Scarface, and it gets the BFG podcast's highest signal of approval.
Enjoy the program!
Some weeks on the podcast, we discuss things that we love. Other weeks, we discuss things that we do not love, and this is one of those not-love weeks.
First, Michael Washburn does not love the way SAG-AFTRA is trying to run cover for Alec Baldwin in the shooting case on the set of the movie 'Rust.' New Mexico brought new charges against Baldwin last week, and Michael breaks down the nature of the charges and the nature of how the Hollywood elite is trying to protect one of its own in one of the most tragic on-set disasters in Hollywood history.
Matthew Ehrlich does love, or at least likes, the new 'True Detective' series 'Night Country,' but host Neal Pollack pretty much disagrees with him, as does the rest of the Internet. But Matthew has found himself drawn in by Jodie Foster's performance and by the puzzlebox nature of the show. He's on Reddit discussing Easter eggs with fellow obsessives, and maybe you will be too after listening to his take on the show.
No one is on Reddit discussing 'Argylle,' least of all Stephen Garrett, who just despised the Matthew Vaughn action-spy comedy, which he found "exhausting," and he has no interest in spending any more time with that "damn expressionless cat in a backpack." Don't worry, Stephen, the cultural drought of January and early February is almost over. Movies and TV will get good again soon, and we'll be here soon enough to talk about things we love.
Hope you love our show!
On a packed episode of this week's podcast, host Neal Pollack welcomes Sara Stewart to discuss the "snub" of Barbie director Greta Gerwig by the Academy. Neal plays devil's advocate, or maybe just the devil, and points out that Barbie DID get eight nominations. Sara recognizes that but also makes the strong point that only eight woman have been nominated for Best Director in Oscar history, and maybe the director of one of the biggest box-office hits of all time deserves a nod. But they both agree that the discourse went far off the rails when Hillary Clinton, always culturally tone-deaf, tweeted about it.
Stephen Garrett is back from Sundance, and is feeling extremely inconvenienced! He had to wait for buses, sometimes for 20 minutes, to take him to his next movie. How inconvenient! He recommends films like 'A Real Pain,' directed by Jesse Eisenberg and starring Eisenberg and Kieran Culkin, and 'Love Lies Bleeding,' a "lez-ploitation" bodybuilding and crime movie from director Rose Glass. Sounds good, as do documentaries about Devo and Brian Eno.
Rachel Llewellyn stops by the Blue Zone to talk about the Netflix docuseries 'You Are What You Eat,' which she slams as an advertisement for the processed vegan-food industry. A hot take from the BFG Dietary Institute. Neal recommends a diet comprised of 80 percent movie-theater popcorn. It works for him!
Enjoy the show.
As the Internet explodes with Barbie Oscars debate (a subject we will cover in full soon), our podcast has other interests right now. Host Neal Pollack welcomes in Rebecca Kurson to discuss 'The Zone of Interest,' a chilling and masterful Holocaust picture from director Jonathan Glazer. Both Neal and Rebecca are just amazed at the cold, documentary-style filmmaking, of the matter-of-fact script and performances, and, most importantly, of the film's eerie soundscape. The best, most morally-uncompromising movie you'll see all year, discussed on the best, most morally-uncompromising podcast.
Scott Gold appears to talk about 'Echo,' the new Disney+ Marvel show that is part street-level violence, part warm-and-fuzzy Disney lady-powers show. Both he and Neal love Vincent D'Onofrio as the Kingpin, amazing as always, and have good things to say about the supporting cast. But they both agree that the lead actor, Alaqua Cox, could be a little better, the tone a little more consistent, and the ending action sequence a little sharper. Echo pays nice tribute to the Choctaw culture of Oklahoma, but as a superhero show, it's a little schizo.
Robert Dean stops in to lambaste the new George Carlin AI special now available on YouTube. Neal plays devil's advocate, or maybe just the devil, and says he doesn't think that the AI is a bad imitation of George Carlin, and actually discusses contemporary topics in a relevant way. Robert wants nothing to do with AI, except for maybe to help him check his grammar, and says it's "destroying the middle class." Hard to argue with him. Support your local standups, and enjoy our podcast.
On this week's vital BFG podcast, host Neal Pollack welcomes Stephen Garrett to be two white guys talking about a black-directed movie making fun of liberal white people reacting to a black-written book. We're talking, of course, about 'American Fiction,' and while Stephen loved the warm, neurotic upper-middle-class black family saga that the literary satire was hiding, Neal wanted more satire and less family saga, because the trailer promised satire. Neal also wonders if the satire is a little dated, and they didn't even really talk about the ambiguous ending of the movie, which may or may not have worked brilliantly. Anyway, 'American Fiction' is definitely an NPR discussion piece, this is Fresh Air, I'm Terry Gross.
Kristin Clifford shows up to discuss the somewhat less discussable 'Mean Girls' musical adaptation, which both she and Neal agree is fine but kind of a weak cash grab. It can't compare to the original 'Mean Girls' in terms of star power, and the songs, which are OK, take time away from some of the original movie's best jokes, and even end up kicking certain characters to the curb. It's kind of like a pretty good community theater production of 'Mean Girls,' fine if you like that sort of thing. We didn't, really.
Neal is a mega-nerd, and so is Paula Shaffer, so their discussion of the 60th anniversary special episodes of 'Doctor Who' reach nerdy podcast heights. They both feel relief to have Russell T. Davies back in the showrunner chair instead of Chris Chibnall, are thrilled to see the brief return of David Tennant, and both have high hopes for the charming Ncuti Gatwa in the TARDIS for a few seasons. It's not the nerd-hip thrill of 1976 or 2007, the peaks of Doctor Who in popular culture, but the show has successfully regenerated for Gen Z, and we're here for it.
And we're definitely here for you. Enjoy the show!
It's comedy and muscle this week on the BFG Podcast, why not? Host Neal Pollack leans heavily on the expertise of standup comedy expert Robert Dean to discuss the wildly popular new specials from Dave Chappelle and Ricky Gervais. Robert loves Chappelle but agrees with Neal that he's gotten so famous that he doesn't really need to work out new materials anymore, compared with, say, Joe Rogan, who spends years honing his set in small clubs, perfecting the joke structure. Gervais, Robert likens more to "Richard Dawkins with a laugh track." He then says something like "I'd rather hear a joke about a guy fucking a jar of peanut butter than listen to 20 minutes about why God doesn't exist." Fair enough! We break down the world of standup comedy, complete with dark-horse recommendations.
Reacher is no longer a dark horse. JP Guinn steps in as a naysayer on Season 2 of the popular Amazon show, saying it lacks the snap and wit of the first season, features boring supporting characters, and has a questionable morality despite the fun side entertainment of watching Reacher mess up cars in creative ways. Something about the season makes JP feel uncomfortable, and JP is not a squeamish person. Regardless, BFG is your one-stop shop for all things Reacher.
Neal likens the Canadian show Letterkenny to It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia, but Robert Dean says, at its heart, Letterkenny is all about people who take care of one another even if they don't like each other, whereas It's Always Sunny is about total scumbags. But they are both long-running sitcoms that kind of came out of nowhere. Letterkenny emerged from a failed actor's YouTube show with his buddies. It's a beer-league hockey underdog success story. "It makes you interested in hockey," Robert says. That's an accomplishment. Letterkenny, now available to watch forever on Hulu.
Enjoy the show, it is good!
This week on the BFG Podcast, we have a classical-music picture, a car-racing picture, and a wrestling picture. It's not like the 1930s where the studios would crank out dozens of movies in each genre every year, but regardless, these movies fold right into traditional genres. They are pictures, and on the podcast, we present the big picture.
First up, darling, Steven Garrett joins host Neal Pollack to discuss 'Maestro,' Bradley Cooper's love letter to Leonard Bernstein. Steven liked this picture more than Neal did, admiring the over-the-top passion that Cooper brings to his larger-than-life subject. Neal found the movie pretentious and Oscar-baitey. But they both liked the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Snoopy balloon cameo.
Steven Macaulay, no relation, pops in next to school Neal on a little automotive history. Neal liked 'Ferrari,' he found the racing scenes exciting and admired Penelope Cruz's performance as Enzo Ferrari's wife, Laura. And, as it turns out, the history that the movie depicts is pretty accurate. A stylish Michael Mann outing, a must for any car buff, a maybe not for any car non-buff.
Stephen Garrett returns to the ring to discuss 'The Iron Claw', Sean Durkin's wrestling tragedy about the battling Von Erich family of Denton, Texas, one of the most headline-grabbing wrestling acts of the 1980s. Stephen found the whole wrestling milieu a little ridiculous, but Neal admired the passion that Durkin brought the subject, and also the "secret weapon" of Jeremy Allen White, in his first major motion picture role. "It could have been directed by Richard Linklater," Neal says, delivering a high compliment almost as powerful as the Iron Claw itself.
Plenty of pictures to watch and to discuss. Enjoy the show!
It's the last BFG podcast of the year, and we wrap it up with a year's-end roundtable with Omar Gallaga and Scott Gold, who offer their TV-watching perspective with host Neal Pollack, who watches TV 18 to 20 hours a day. Best shows include 'Reservation Dogs,' 'Succession,' 'Scavenger's Reign,' and a sitcom called 'Primo' which Neal has never heard of but which you should watch. Worst shows include Season 3 of 'The Witcher,' 'Squid Game: The Challenge,' and Omar's controversial selection of the final season of 'The Other Two.' The critics also did not like the reboots of 'Frasier,' 'Night Court,' or 'That 70's Show' which is now 'That 90's Show.' Essential listening about essential viewing.
Neal also spends many minutes talking to film critic Stephen Garrett about 'Poor Things,' a surrealist horror sex comedy that's in theaters now, just begging for Oscar nominations. Neal and Stephen admired Emma Stone's fully committed performance, and the movie's odd syntax and sex design, but both found its extended scenes in a French brothel to be kind of gratuitous and weirdly exploitative. Your mileage may vary. That's why God made critics and Book and Film Globe.
Happy New Year!
It's a magical, fantastical, confection-filled week on the BFG podcast. Host Neal Pollack welcomes in always-guest Stephen Garrett to talk about 'Wonka,' starring Timothée Chalamet as a truly child-friendly young Willy Wonka, who the movie re-invents as a gee-whiz paragon of goodness and light. Stephen liked the movie more on the show than he did in his review. Neal found it cloying and cynically calculated. They were deeply split on Hugh Grant's Oompa-Loompa, who Neal enjoyed but Stephen found weird. In general, 'Wonka' seems to have generated more debated among our two critics than it deserves. Listen up, and see it for yourself, and join the conversation.
There is no split, however, about 'Godzilla Minus One,' which Neal proclaims one of the year's best pictures. Our critic London Faust isn't quite as enthusiastic, but does appreciate how GMO manages to create some human-scale characters worth caring about, even while it does deploy a somewhat hammy Japanese acting style. Neal appreciated the historical depth of the screenplay and frankly found Godzilla himself quite terrifying. You must see this film.
'The Boy and the Heron', on the other hand, is only for Miyazaki and Studio Ghibli complete list. Critic Pablo Gallaga and Neal both admire the movie's beauty and off-kilter character design, but agree the world-building and the story just aren't up to the usual snuff. This film feels more serious and message-y than Miyazaki's previous animes, and it suffers from the old master trying to teach us a lesson.
But we're not trying to teach you a lesson at BFG, we're just trying to present the best pop-culture podcast on Earth. And we succeed, every week. Enjoy the show!
Happy holiday podcast from all of us at BFG! This week is the podcast of your dreams. First up, contributor Robert Dean joins host Neal Pollack to talk about the Max biopic series 'Julia,' all about the early years of Julia Child, TV chef. It's a delight in troubled times, and Robert assures us that Julia's boeuf bourguignon recipe still holds up. Consume voraciously!
Stephen Garrett steps out of Neal's dreams to talk to him about 'Dream Scenario,' which Stephen found "delightful." Neal won't go so far as to proclaim the Nicolas Cage movie, made by a Danish director, a "delight," but it is original and funny and thought-provoking, kind of a modern take on 'Adaptation' or 'Being John Malkovich,' which clearly are part of its DNA.
Rachel Llewellyn parks her sleigh at the door to discuss with Neal the ironic millennial and Gen-Z appropriation of cheesy Hallmark Christmas movies, which have found a new audience with younger viewers who enjoy clowning on the clichés of the genre, though we suspect that they, too, want to meet a handsome amnesiac royal who is wearing a nice Christmas sweater in a small town. Who doesn't?
Ho ho ho, it's our podcast! Give us a listen.
Two provocative new movies get the BFG podcast treatment this week. Host Neal Pollack begins the show with a wicked audio rendition of his piece excoriating stupid pundits who say that Hollywood has a new "Blacklist" because some people are expressing dumb opinions about the Israel-Hamas conflict. Spoiler alert: there is no Blacklist, not even a show starring James Spader Let's lay that discussion to rest.
JP Guinn appears on leave from his semester at Oxford to discuss 'Saltburn' with Neal. They both agree that this move is "very horny" and that it's fun to watch it in a theater with people who it makes uncomfortable. Neal thinks it's more than a bit of a Talented Mr. Ripley knock-off, while not as good as The Talented Mr. Ripley. JP says it's a huge leap forward for Emerald Fennell as a filmmaker. And they both love Rosamund Pike and Richard E. Grant. It's a real talking-piece of a film, which is why we're talking about it.
But we're really talking about Todd Haynes's 'May December', which Stephen Garrett and Neal give their highest recommendation. Neal reads it as a comedy, Stephen as a tragedy, but why not both? Regardless, it's "peak Todd Haynes," which is saying something in a career that has already had so many peaks. Both Stephen and Neal agree that this Netflix release about Hollywood exploiting people involved in childhood sex-abuse scandals is one of the year's best films.
Enjoy our show!
This week's BFG podcast is a feast for the brain. Michael Washburn engages host Neal Pollack in a discussion of Sandra Newman's provocative and "very raunchy" novel 'Julia', a brilliant and extended riff of the world of Oceania in George Orwell's '1984.' Neal somewhat wondered what Newman was getting at, but Michael found her extension of the world extremely compelling and disturbing, a fresh warning about the dangers of totalitarianism. BFG book club recommends it!
'Napoleon' has finally arrived in theaters, and Stephen Garrett stops by to talk with Neal about the ultimate dad movie. They both really enjoyed the battles of Austerlitz and Waterloo and some of Joaquin Phoenix's campier lines. Stephen would like to see more of the charisma that made Bonaparte so beloved to the French people. Totally fair. But Neal will brook no criticism of Ridley Scott's Napoleon, the movie of the year if not even close to the best movie of the year.
'The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes,' the Hunger Games prequel, took both Neal and contributor Sara Stewart by surprise. They both enjoyed the gritty early days of Panem vibe, both appreciated the good-quality country-style music, and found the performances persuasive. There's a reason it's a hit, though the love story is unconvincing and the act 3 coda goes on a bit too long. Still very much worth watching, just as the show is very much worth listening to.
Enjoy!
The culture goes up, and the culture goes down, and the BFG Podcast covers it all. On the downward slope this week is the Marvel Cinematic Universe, which has suffered its first genuine bust with 'The Marvels.' The world is not entirely sure how to handle this phenomenon but host Neal Pollack and guest Scott Gold tackle it. They both agree that Iman Vellani is quite delightful as Kamala Khan/Ms. Marvel, but the rest of the cast seems to be phoning it in. The cringe-inducing musical sequence in the middle does the movie no favors, though the end scene and the mid-credits sequence do point toward a better, more crowd-friendly MCU. This movie is probably more of a placeholder than a death knell.
Neither Neal nor Stephen Garrett can get over a revelation that the main character in Alexander Payne's 'The Holdovers' "smells like fish." It's the most disgusting character detail in a movie in a long time. Both critics like the perforamances of Da'Vine Joy Randolph and Dominic Sessa, but they found Paul Giamatti very grating, and the "realistic" 1970 setting of the movie too cute by half. A dissent from our two BFG professional critics!
On the other hand, both Neal and Omar Gallaga love Nate Bargatze and Taylor Tomlinson, who in recent weeks have risen to the top of the comedy world. Skirting the verge of "family-friendly," both these comics are white and are from Red-tinged political zones, but both deliver a brand of humor that people across the political spectrum can enjoy. Maybe this is the actual way forward for popular entertainment. We could do much worse and we couldn't do much better.
Enjoy the show!
On this week's special episode of the BFG Podcast, host Neal Pollack indulges his nerdy childhood fantasy of hosting a Siskel and Ebert-like movie review show. Frequent contributor Stephen Garrett joins Neal to review four new, or relatively new, movies. The only thing that's missing from the equation is disagreement and mutually despising each other, but that will come in time!
First up, Neal and Stephen review 'Priscilla,' the excellent new film from director Sofia Coppola about the young woman who found herself trapped in a strange marriage to Elvis Presley. They both found it a little sleepy, but also quite affecting, and they both praise Jacob Elordi, who steals the show as The King even though the movie isn't really about him. Another excellent dissection of celebrity from Coppola, who knows her way around the topic.
Their next movie is The Killer, a gorgeously-crafted, pretentious bore from director David Fincher. Stephen found the story unrealistic and ridiculous. Neal hated the screenplay and the overbearingly pretentious narration. There are some great set pieces and meticulously crafted images, but nothing can save the movie's "scriptboner," as Neal calls it. A minor work from a director who seems to be descending a little bit into self-parody.
After that comes this year's Cannes-award-winning film Anatomy of a Fall. Stephen admires the subtlety and ambiguity of the murder-mystery script. Neal likes the child and dog performances. Neither of them think "she did it" but neither of them is exactly sure. It's the perfect art film for the NPR-tote-bag-loving person in your life, 'Gone Girl' for subscribers to The New Yorker. Our critics say go have a sophisticated night at the cinema.
Or watch Fair Play on Netflix. This nasty, wicked, fun erotic Wall Street thriller from Chloe Domont won raves at the festivals and is kind of sitting around on the back of the platform, not doing much. But it's an effective David Mamet-style morality play about sex and violence and hedge funds, and a perfect capper to a perfect episode.
Neal has fulfilled his Siskel and Ebert dreams! Give them a listen.
We get political this week on the BFG Podcast. Guest Rebecca Kurson joins host Neal Pollack in condemning Hamas, sure, but also offering a lot of disdain for Western intellectuals and actors who refuse to condemn Hamas. Neal is especially angry at a coalition of writers, his former peers perhaps, like Jonathan Lethem, Michael Chabon, and Ben Lerner, who published an open letter in the Guardian calling for a ceasefire. Lame, and morally weak.Rebecca is quite angry at Tilda Swinton, who is wide-open when it comes to sexual and gender identity, calling for a ceasefire. Does she really think Hamas is her friend? Neal urges her to reconsider her approbation for Sam Heughan from Outlander, who signed an open letter and then publicly apologized on Instagram. She needs to forgive him because there are more episodes of Outlander to come. "They just got off the ship in Scotland," she says. "I have to know what happens."Then we pivot to the less serious. Pablo Gallaga appears to talk about the Five Nights At Freddy's movie, which seems to be popular among the kids, but isn't very popular among the critics, including Pablo. Admittedly, Pablo never played the video games, but he does know horror movies very well, and has a lot of negative stuff to say about the movie's boring plot, and, most damningly, lack of jump scares. How can a movie adaptation of one of the scariest video games ever not be scary? Inquiring minds must know. Also, Neal asks, why does Freddy Fazbear's need a security guard if it's abandoned?Also, why do we have a Buffy the Vampire Slayer audiobook series without Buffy the Vampire Slayer and without Joss Whedon? Well, that is 'Slayers,' and Paula Shaffer is here to talk about this return to the Buffyverse. The show is not entirely successful, but Paula seems to enjoy visiting Spike and Cordelia and all her old Buffyverse friends. Everyone seems to be having fun. Isn't that what we want out of our entertainment?Enjoy your entertaining podcast!
This week's BFG podcast starts serious, stays serious, and gets a little less serious by the end, but we cover the cultural waterfront like no one else.Sharyn Vane opens the proceedings by talking about her recent article on Scholastic Publishing's recent decision to segregate various "diverse" titles at book fairs to try and work around conservative state government attempts to restrict access to children's literature. We've covered these attempts in the past, and think they're wrong, but Scholastic has come up with a clumsy workaround. This has appalled writers and publishing professionals and librarians, and Sharyn is on the beat as always.Stephen Garrett stops by to talk about Martin Scorsese's 'Killers of the Flower Moon,' a worthy adaptation of the David Grann nonfiction bestseller that both Neal and Stephen think is too long, too reverent, and hampered by a somewhat weird Leonardo DiCaprio performance. There's much to admire in this movie, but neither Neal and Stephen think they will watch it again, and they will watch just about anything again.Scott Gold appears like an apparition to review 'The Fall of the House of Usher.' If you love Edgar Allan Poe, this is the Poe you will get in the 21st Century. Gold loves creator Mike Flanagan's writing, and both he and Neal admire the performances, particularly TV veterans Bruce Greenwood and Carl Lumbly. Neal doesn't like the non-linear narrative structure, but maybe he's an old grump who you should ignore sometimes. Maybe.Enjoy our podcast!
This week's BFG Podcast is a nutrient-rich stew of content, sure to appeal to young and old alike.Nothing could be more relevant than the opinions of two middle-aged men regarding Taylor Swift. Stephen Garrett actually saw the Taylor Swift "Eras" concert movie, and while he admires the music and the songwriting, found the stagecraft to be a little managed and almost cold, while acknowledging that this is a generation-defining event. BFG editor Neal Pollack is far too cheap to pay the $19.89 ticket, but he did see the reissue of 'Stop Making Sense,' the Talking Heads concert movie from 1984. Now that is old-guy musicianship that both he and Stephen can get behind, and they cleverly compare and contrast the two productions, made nearly 40 years apart.Omar Gallaga stops by to talk about the "bonkers" Apple+ drama 'The Morning Show,' loaded with excellent actors but burdened by stark-bonkers writing. It's a juicy, soapy hate watch that tries to be relevant, but really the main attraction is a steamy Jon Hamm/Jennifer Aniston sex scene. Few people have thought about 'The Morning Show' as much as Omar, and his knowledge is full on display in this week's show.BFG contributor Scott Gold comes to the microphone to complain with Neal about season 2 of 'Loki,' which, despite a delightful rapport between Tom Hiddleston and Owen Wilson, seems to have mired itself in the Marvel Cinematic Universe's over-plotting problem. Neal and Scott agree on that, though have a small dispute over the usefulness of Oscar winner Ke Huy Quan, who plays a funny character that seems to exist only to serve up dire exposition about the ending of the known universe. We know, we know. The known universe is ending. But I bet we'll make it through.Enjoy the show!
Host Neal Pollack is all-in on streaming TV this week. He welcomes Michael Washburn to the BFG Podcast to discuss four new short films by Wes Anderson that adapt classic, if lesser-known, Roald Dahl short stories. Michael is less sold on Anderson's cinematic style, but he admits that these short Netflix films really do justice to Dahl's work. Both he and Neal are happy that this 20th Century humorist is getting such broad play, beyond Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. The Roald Dahl cinematic universe is very much alive in Wes Anderson's hands.Reservation Dogs, the Native American comedy, has recently finished its run on FX and Hulu. Omar Gallaga appears to sing its praises and its nuanced portrayal of Native American life and of life in Oklahoma in general. It's also a seedbed of talent. Future Oscar winner Lily Gladstone plays a prominent supporting role as the imprisoned mother of one of our main "shitass" teens in the show, and it's clear that she's going to be a huge star. Omar is envious of Neal, who hasn't seen too much Reservation Dogs, and is going to spend the next few months immersing himself in the show.Neal is already immersing himself in Gen V, the college-age spinoff of The Boys R-rated superhero universe. Gen V has all the gore and sex and degeneracy of The Boys, but also some genuine anger at how our educational institutions have failed and abused its young people. That undertone lifts Gen V above the usual superhero fare, and we praise it highly here at the BFG Podcast.Enjoy this week's show!
Much to celebrate this week, even as we say goodbye to our beloved friend and contributor Daniel Cohen. The WGA Strike is over! Rob Kutner, BFG strike captain, stops by the virtual studios to talk to host Neal Pollack about the deal the Guild secured. The studios were "fighting the last war," as Rob put it, and the WGA got just about every concession for which it asked. Neal is most impressed about the strong stand the Guild took against AI in scriptwriting, forestalling the rise of the writing machines at least until the next contract negotiation. Rob warns that there will be some contraction, but thinks that the industry will bounce back strong in 2024. Great job, WGA! You are our heroes, as much as writers can ever be heroes.Neal and Pablo Gallaga both attended Fantastic Fest, the genre film festival, in Austin last week. Neal had not much good to say about The Toxic Avenger, the opening night film, but mostly enjoyed Totally Killer, the closing night film. Pablo agrees with his opinions and also saw 26 other movies at the festival, so he knows what he's talking about. Tune in for what he liked and what he didn't, and for a discussion of the Alamo Drafthouse South Lamar redesign to appear even more like The Overlook Hotel in The Shining.Stephen Garrett had the great misfortune of writing up 'The Creator' for us, a movie that some people like but that he and Neal definitely did not. Both of them thought the robots were cool, but were put off by the movie's weird focus on Southeast Asia and by its inconsistent worldbuilding, strange, inconsistent script, and oddly bad acting. The Creator is an ambitious, original turkey, but it is a turkey nonetheless. At least it led to an amusing podcast conversation.Enjoy the show!
In this week's episode of the BFG podcast, Jamie Mason joins host Neal Pollack for a segment on Canadian politics. Yes, that's right, Canadian politics! In particular, the actions of one school district in Ontario to clear library shelves of any book published prior to 2008 to meet amorphous "Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion" standards. Jamie is a closer watcher of the leftward authoritarian creep in the Canadian government. He says this isn't just some sort of random occurrence from a provincial school district; the district is following federal guidelines, and this could be a harbinger of things to come. Aren't you glad you live in a free country like the U.S.A. or wherever you live, and not in a fascist country like Canada? Stay tuned for continuing coverage of Canadian censorship.Meanwhile, Max has cancelled 'Winning Time,' their docudrama about the L.A. Lakers's 1980s NBA dynasty. This has some observers upset, but not former NBA 12th man and current BFG contributor Paul Shirley. From experience, he knows how hard it is to make good TV about professional basketball. The players are so superhuman in size and ability that it's hard to make any simulated game seem really. You can't hide them under helmets or in baggy uniforms like in productions about football and baseball. It's really hard to fake hoops. Come for the discussion of 'Winning Time,' stay for Neal's Phoenix Suns fanboy slavishness.William Schwartz is back on the show to discuss 'One Piece,' a fun pirate comedy-drama on Netflix, based on an extremely popular anime. Unlike previous anime adaptations, this one captures the spirit of the original production without over-lapsing into cartoonishness. William says that's because by contract, the producers must consult with the original creator of the IP, and he's got a winning laid-back spirit that translates to the characters in the show. 'One Piece' is fun for most of the family, and Neal and William recommend it highly.Enjoy our podcast!
This week's BFG podcast has a strong international flavor. For some chichetti, how about a visit to the Venice Film Festival? Kaveh Jalinous made his annual pilgrimage to the Lido and is here to talk to Neal Pollack about what he saw. In particular, he saw 'Poor Things' from Yorgos Lanthimos, which he describes as the pinnacle of Emma Stone's career. That's saying a lot. On the negative side of the ledger, Kaveh warns us away from the new Harmony Korine and Roman Polanski films. We're listening. The festival was more crowded than ever, but because of the Hollywood strikes, it lacked star power. If the strikes are still going on at this time next year, we've got bigger problems than actors not watching their premieres in Venice.We go into the film archives for our next segment. Kenji Fujishima stops by to discuss a restored 'Oldboy,' Park Chan=Wook's masterpiece, as well as Park's entire Vengeance trilogy. Neal saw Oldboy for the first time recently, and it blew him away. The depth of emotion, the intensity of the violence, the stunning reveal toward the end: It's essential world cinema, and Neal and Kenji encourage you to see the restored Oldboy if it's available to you.In the "less required viewing" category, we have season 2 of The Wheel of Time, now airing on Amazon Prime. Critic Paula Shaffer calls it "not completely terrible." She and Neal have some good sport with Rosamund Pike's stiff delivery and ren-faire cosplay costumes. Still, Paula says, "I'm watching it," and what else do you want if you make a TV show. They are, after all, meant to be watched.Enjoy the podcast!
In this week's excellent edition of the BFG Podcast, host Neal Pollack calls up Daniel Cohen to talk to him about 'Telemarketers,' the three-part Max docuseries about phone scams that Neal calls "one of the best shows of the year." If you want a time-capsule depiction of what America was really like in the early 21st century, you could do a lot worse than this show by and about loser New Jersey telemarketing drones. Yet those drones, Sam Lipman-Stern and the great Patrick J. Pespas, manage to perform the greatest act of documentary investigative journalism since Roger and Me. They uncover terrifying truths about the police, non-profit fundraising, and governmental indifference, and do it all in their unintentionally wacky working-guy way. You have to watch this show.You do not have to watch 'And Just Like That.' In fact, Matthew Ehrlich isn't even sure why he's watching what is essentially a modern version of Sex and the City. As Matthew pointed out in his recent BFG article, the original SATC was garbage, but it was also garbage that contained coded messages for gay men, who didn't have the same voice in society that they have now. It was water-cooler gossip fodder. Now the show has moved onto new frontiers of queerness, but no one is talking about it. Yet Matthew keeps watching, an act that he equates to eating a snack food that's bad for him, and that he doesn't even like, but he just eats out of habit.Robert Dean, meanwhile, is back in the football habit, and he prepared for the coming season by watching a couple of Netflix documentaries. The first is a short "Untold" film about "Johnny Football," Johnny Manziel, who committed the grave sin of putting College Station, Texas, on the map, and then blowing his Heisman Trophy accolades in an incredibly stupid binge of partying and drugs. The film doesn't exactly gloss over Manuel's flaws, but the majority of it is just Manziel telling his own story, making it feel a bit like spin control.And the NFL is engaging in a bit of modern spin control itself with a "what it takes" documentary series called 'Quarterback' that lionizes three very different types of NFL leaders: Patrick Mahomes, Kirk Cousins, and Marcus Mariota. Mahomes is, at this point, a commercial for himself, but the show is an interesting peek into two slightly less successful field generals. If you want to get hyped for the coming NFL season, you could do worse.From straight to gay back to straight, it's the BFG Podcast. Enjoy!
This week's BFG podcast is a load of fun! Host Neal Pollack invites Scott Gold in to talk about 'Ashoka,' yet another Star Wars offering from Disney+. Scott is about as much of a Star Wars nerd as we could possibly have on retainer, so he has consumed all 104 hours of The Clone Wars and Star Wars: Rebels, animated series that will give you the advanced degree required to understand everything that's going on in 'Ashoka.' Neal thinks the show is good enough to watch, but is definitely kind of at sea with the plot line. Scott is a fan, and he is feeling well-serviced.Everyone loves 'Bottoms,' the new Ayo Edibiri/Rachel Sennott high-school lesbian sex comedy. Kristin Clifford joins Neal Pollack to talk about the show, which Neal says is the spiritual heir to 'Superbad,' 'Mean Girls,' and 'Heathers,' with some modern gender politics. It's also quite violent and really funny. Both Neal and Kristin marvel at the comic stylings of Marshawn Lynch, the NFL's Beast Mode himself, who plays the only fleshed-out character in the movie, a homeroom teacher who has some seriously hilarious issues with woman. And, as Kristin points out, this is the rare high-school comedy that doesn't involve drinking or drugs–at all. Though there is plenty of violence.On the more man-leaning end of the movie spectrum. we have 'Gran Turismo,' a two-hour commercial for Playstation and Nissan masquerading as an auto-racing movie. Nevertheless, Jack Helbig, who has never played the game Gran Turismo, joins Neal, who has also never played the game, to talk about the movie based on the game. Jack hasn't seen a car-racing movie for decades, and is surprised that the emotional beats are still the same in this formula. Neal then reveals his secret automotive past, and you thought he couldn't be any cooler.A great program this week, enjoy.
The dog days of August content are here, and we're featuring a movie about talking dogs, among other topics. Host Neal Pollack brings all the podcast fun as usual. Here's what we offer:• Pablo Gallaga stops by our professional podcasting studios to discuss 'Blue Beetle.' As a certified Latino, Pablo appreciates the DC superhero film's Mexican-culture deep cuts, including Maria del Barrio, El Chapulin Colorado, and George Lopez's crazy tio energy. Both he and Neal agree that the Blue Beetle is a bit of a formulaic origin story, and the action and CGI could have been better. But lead Xolo Maridueña gives a star-making turn, and the movie's warm embrace of Mexican family dynamics distinguishes it a bit from the mid-superhero movie pack.•Rachel Llewellyn has a surprise rave for 'Strays,' the talking-dog movie from the guys who brought you all the other movies. Beneath the excessive scatology is a semi-deep warning about the dangers of pet abuse. Neal found some of the non-poop-related dog humor funny, and both he and Rachel agree that Strays might be a little underrated. It's definitely not for kids, though. If you took the kids to this, we're calling Parent Control on you.•Chris Lambert is back to rage against the rise of MovieTok. A recent New York Times article about the MovieTok phenomenon drove Chris to TikTok, and he did not like what he saw: Paid shills with a raft of extremely uninteresting opinions. They may think they're younger and cooler than "computer"-based old-school critics, but they're not. They have very little to say, and much of what they do have to say is wrong. Neal does take some schadenfreude in watching millennials, the worst generation of all time, suffering at the thought that they are slowly becoming obsolescent with a younger generation replacing them. But it serves them right!No matter your age, though, you're definitely listening to our cast this week. Thanks for checking it out.
In this dog days edition of the BFG podcast, host Neal Pollack welcomes new contributor Chris Lambert to discuss the most important issue of our time: People taking photos of movies while they are in movies. This should be a crime, though Chris remembers a time when movies used to be "more chill." He recalls going to see 'Saw' with his friends in a year when Neal was already a full-blown adult. Regardless of the reason, both Neal and Chris think this trend needs to stop, and they hope that once people readjust to going out in public sometime later this decade, they will stop taking photos of movies while they are in movies. Elsewhere in the world, school districts in Florida are flagging 'Romeo and Juliet' for inappropriate content. Houston, Texas, is closing school libraries and turning them into detention centers. Looks like it's back-to-censorship time. Sharyn Vane joins Neal for a semi-annual discussion of all the ways that school districts are restricting access to books for teenagers. One district is even making it illegal to check books out for yourself if you're under 18 years old. We're not just arguing about 'Gender Queer' anymore. BFG will always be on top of these issues.And we'll always be on top of 'Twisted Metal,' the Peacock adaptation of the 1990's apocalyptic road-rage video game series. Scott Gold is all over this topic, he loves Anthony Mackie and Stephanie Beatriz, who bring a kind of sweet romance to a Mad Max-end-of-the world scenario. And Scott and Neal have nothing but praise for "Sweet Tooth," the crazed blood-soaked clown who rules over Las Vegas and may or may not be based on either Bugsy Siegel or Britney Spears. Regardless, all hail Sweet Tooth, thanks for making August a little more fun.Enjoy the show!
With Barbenheimer receding, our podcast host Neal Pollack turns his pop-culture eye to what comes next. And this week, that's 'Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem,' the animated offering that critic Pablo Gallaga calls the best on-screen version of TMNT ever. Neal knows little about the Ninja Turtles, as he wasn't a kid even when they debuted, but Pablo is the adult target audience for this movie, having annoyed his family for years with his Ninja Turtle obsession. Real teenagers voice the turtles, but Paul Rudd's cameo voice nearly steals the show.Onto more adult-themed offerings, Neal welcomes the mysterious Stephen Macaulay to discuss 'Justified: City Primeval,' the Detroit-set reboot of the adventures of Elmore Leonard's Kentucky-born U.S. Marshal Raylan Givens. Even though they filmed the series mostly in Chicago, Stephen says they did a great job capturing the Detroit vibe, even though "I have no idea what casino that is." Neal was not down with the girl who played Raglan's daughter, who is apparently actor Timothy Olyphant's actual daughter. But Boyd Holbrook's Clement Mansell is definitely the slimiest villain of the TV year.But nothing is quite as slimy as the British Miracle Meat, made from human flesh. At least that's the premise of a fake Channel 4 food documentary that shocked the U.K. a couple of years ago. Food correspondent Daniel Cohen joins us to talk about the sensation, about the U.K.'s tragic "cost of living crisis" and about annoyingly posh food shows on TV. As always when we talk about food on the podcast, it's delicious.Enjoy the show!
Rebecca Kurson, who was host Neal Pollack's literary agent nearly 25 years ago, joins the show to discuss "bloodletting" in the publishing industry, as Penguin Random House has cut loose editors with decades of experience. Rebecca and Neal lament what this means for publishing. It's getting harder and harder for editors to champion literary writers who may not have a ton of commercial potential, but are meaningful to readers. Yes, publishing is a business, but the mildest is vanishing. More tragically, so are long lunches, which is what writers used to sustain themselves. This is a fine, mournful, yet good-humored segment.Neal liked the new season of 'Futurama' more than contributor Rachel Llewellyn, who joins him to talk about the fourth iteration of the animated Matt Groening sci-fi comedy. Rachel thought the writing felt a little dated and the satire of modern life was a little too on-the-nose. Neal was like "shut up and take my money!" Regardless, the season is only 10 episodes, streaming on Hulu, it will take you two and a half hours.Good Omens 2, on Amazon Prime, will take forever, on the other hand. Paula Shaffer joins Neal to talk about the second coming of the whimsical Neil Gaiman series about a demon and angel frolicking on Earth. Neal and Paula agree that the show feels like warmed-over Monty Python, and that this is what happens when you take material based on a novel and veer away from the source material. However, Paula points out, if you're looking for Jon Hamm man-candy, this show has a lot of that. There's even an extended scene of Jon Hamm's wiggly butt. That's got to be worth something.Enjoy the shows, and this show!
Barbenheimer has arrived at last, a cultural moment more significant than anything we've experienced this decade, and BFG is ON IT.Neal Pollack welcomes Josh Flanders and Sheri Flanders to talk about Greta Gerwig's Barbie. Both Neal and Josh, while they enjoyed the movie, felt a bit like strangers in a strange land among the pink-wearing influencer audience in Barbie World. Sheri, on the other hand, is happy to finally see a very mainstream movie acknowledge the difficulties and contradictions of modern womanhood, while also being a fun take on the ironies and joys of a beloved childhood toy. No one faults the performances, the saturated color design, or Ken's musical number at the end. All agree that the plot became a little convoluted in the second half, and there were several characters who just kind of dangled out there with nothing to do. But you can't deny Barbie's cultural power.On a more serious note, Christopher Nolan's Oppenheimer. Stephen Garrett has seen it twice already, a significant outlay of time since Oppenheimer is three hours long. Neal and Stephen have nothing but praise for the movie's morally nuanced portrayal of the creation of the atomic bomb, and though the McCarthy-era court intrigue could maybe have been a little shorter, you can't really fault any performance or any choice that Nolan made. Less fun than Barbie, but also less ambiguous and controversial, despite its literally incendiary subject matter. Listen up as we dive deep into this atomic-age masterpiece.Rob Kutner is also here to talk about serious matters of the moment: SAG-AFTRA joining the Writer's Guild Strike. As all of Hollywood seethes with terrified outrage over the rise of AI, and just plain old-fashioned outrage at the greed of the big studio heads, Rob tries to keep his spirit up, and at least he got to meet one of his daughter's favorite sitcom actors. Neal and Rob break down the issues facing Hollywood, which should be celebrating one of its biggest weekends ever, but instead is marching around treeless streets, begging for pennies.It's our Barbenheimer show! Enjoy!
This week's podcast is alive and well! Host Neal Pollack welcomes Michael Washburn to talk about everyone's favorite 90s dorm-room novelist, Milan Kundera. But Kundera was about far more than a 30-year-old undergraduate vogue, Washburn argues. He was a perennial Nobel Prize candidate whose best works laughed in the face of totalitarian oppression and showed a deep warmth and humanity. He understood the human condition as well as any writer has, and was a legitimate heir to Franz Kafka, but without Kafka's austerity. We bid him a fond goodbye.On a lesson serious note, 'Mission: Impossible–Dead Reckoning, Part One' is here. Stephen Garrett and Neal both hate the overwrought, nonsensical AI-oriented plot, and Tom Cruise's over-publicized motorcycle stunt doesn't impress Stephen. But there are some fun action set pieces they both like, and Neal is maybe a little over-enthusiastic about Cruise's many beautiful platonic female co-stars. But that's just par for the course in this ridiculous but fun summer action extravaganza that no one is taking particularly seriously.And no one is taking the new season of 'The Witcher' seriously at all. Scott Gold joins the The Witcher's disappointed fanbase in lamenting the overwrought politics storyline and the lack of monsters for Henry Cavill to fight. And once Cavill leaves the cast for season 4, The Witcher is going to vanish into the pop-culture mists pretty fast. Unlike this podcast, which covers the cultural waterfront now and forever. Enjoy!
On the newest BFG podcast, we turn back time to talk about 'Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny,' in theaters now and for at least the next three weeks. Neal Pollack found grumpy old Harrison Ford charming. Stephen Garrett thought the movie was a bit of a wet noodle, and hated the fake-looking first half hour. Your mileage may vary on whether or not you like the wispy mustache on the bland new character of "Teddy." Neal did not, Stephen didn't mind him much.There's also a lengthy discussion with contributor Lani Gonzalez about corporate layoffs and restructuring at Turner Classic Movies. Warner Brothers Discovery David Zaslav is clearly the sinister media villain of the moment, and placing TCM on the chopping block is the most villainous thing he's done yet. TCM has been a film education for millions, Neal and Lani included, and they both agree that taking it off the air, or making it hard to find, would be akin to getting rid of public libraries. It's not going anywhere just yet, thanks to our advocacy, as well as a small push from Martin Scorsese and Steven Spielberg.The Bear Season 2 is definitely not going anywhere. It's quality TV for people who like quality TV. Our critic Daniel Cohen loved it with few reservations, the rare restaurant situation that doesn't involve reservations. Neal's take is more skeptical. He thinks The Bear is "high on its own supply." Heed his warning: what we think is good TV often doesn't seem so good down the road. Daniel says "don't listen to Neal," and that is also usually good advice.
In this week's space-tinged episode of the BFG podcast, Neal Pollack welcomes JP Guinn to discuss 'Asteroid City,' the delightful new Wes Anderson film that pays homage to the 1950s in many different ways. Neal liked the goofy songs, JP loved the off-kilter humor, they both enjoyed the stop-motion animation. According to our critics, who are not all critics but are the best critics, this was a delightful addition to the Wes Anderson canon, and they discuss the film delightfully.The new season of 'Black Mirror' is a bit more of a mixed bag. Omar Gallaga joins Neal to talk about the the direction that Charlie Brooker has taken his tech sci-fi anthology show. While they don't necessarily hate the swerve toward more generalized horror and suspense, there is some wistful nostalgia (for a show that mocks nostalgia) about the days when Black Mirror showed us how twisted our modern technology really is. More like 'Joan is Awful,' please!And less like 'Secret Invasion'. Marvel has taken a turn toward the dour and un-fun in its latest Disney+ TV offer, which brings Samuel L. Jackson back to Earth to deal with shape-shifting aliens, in a show that shouldn't be boring but is kind of boring. Scott Gold, former podcast usurper, joins Neal to lament this dull MCU turn. They are not grown men talking about comic books at all, no sir!Enjoy the show.
Hot podcast comin' atcha this week! Host Neal Pollack welcomes contributor Chris Farnsworth to discuss the life and literary legacy of Cormac McCarthy. As he said in his excellent obituary for the site, Chris admires how McCarthy wrote what he wanted, how he wanted, and when he wanted, without compromising anything for commercial considerations. His works were stark and horrifying and both Neal and Chris agree that it's amusing that they're now all over the bestseller list. There will be some surprising beach reads this summer.'The Flash' is here, and Neal and Stephen Garrett pick it apart. Neal found Ezra Miller's lead performance unappealing, and Sasha Calle's Supergirl almost as unappealing. They're both suffering from multiverse fatigue. But they both are happy to see Michael Keaton back as Batman one last time. Hopefully, this is the last we'll see and talk about The Flash.That's certainly the case with 'Elemental,' which may be nice to look at, but Stephen hates the storytelling. He finds it dumb and predictable. Neal wonders how Dreamworks animation somehow managed to lap Pixar. Stephen says the studio that invented modern animation definitely needs a creative boost. Pixar fatigue is also real.But no one is tired of 'Outlander,' especially not our correspondent Rebecca Kurson, who attended the new season premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival. Exciting things are coming as the show moves into the American Revolution. She does have to correct Neal that the male lead character's name is not "Jamie Lannister." And she informs us, as a true fan would, that Catriona Balfe drinks a lot of whiskey.Enjoy the show.
BFG delivers another great podcast episode this week. Host Neal Pollack welcomes guest Michael Washburn to discuss the curious recent decision by The Criterion Channel to edit out a sequence featuring a racial slur from the 1971 Oscar-winning film, 'The French Connection.' Neal ties this decision into recent efforts to bowdlerize popular classic works of British fiction. And Michael points out that the film deploys that language to show that the main character, Popeye Doyle, is flawed, to say the least. They both agree that there's really no way to apply consistent standards of what's culturally acceptable across all films at all times. A really strange and ultimately cowardly act by Criterion, which, as the standard bearer of film culture, should know better.No one will ever be censoring 'Transformers: Rise of the Beasts.' Brave film critic JP Guinn went to see this film, which he found harmless and more in the gee-whiz spirit of the old Transformers cartoons. If you like to see robots beating each other up, he says, you will enjoy Rise of the Beasts. We also find out that as a child, JP alphabetized his Star Wars figures.Meanwhile, over on Max, Matthew Ehrlich endured the premiere of 'The Idol,' the controversial new show from Sam Levinson, creator of 'Euphoria.' Matthew's main criticisms are as follows: the show is not fun to watch and Lily-Rose Depp, while beautiful, doesn't exude superstar charisma like Lady Gaga or Madonna. Also, Vanity Fair reporters don't just wander onto a celebrity's estate, so the show gets its pilot's central conflict all wrong. Also, Matthew takes extreme issue with the main character's name, "Jocelyn." "Why not just call her Agnes?" he asks. Why not, indeed?Enjoy the show!
It's a blockbuster podcast this week as host Neal Pollack returns from the well-managed wilds of America to once again parse the culture with our ace critics. Stephen Garrett is back from Cannes to review 'Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse,' the sequel to an Oscar-winning animated film from five years ago. Stephen marvels, literally, at the exciting animation, the fun action set pieces, and the genuine heartfelt emotion of the script. Neal finds a lot to admire in the movie but thinks it's a little too much and also he has a heart of stone and despises genuine emotion.Then it's Sara Stewart's turn, offering her hot take on Disney's 'The Little Mermaid' live-action remake. Sara is not in the "Little Mermaid shouldn't be black" camp, but she is in the "movie is too long for kids and also the cinematography is murky" camp. Also, she doesn't like the new Lin-Manuel Miranda song starring Awkwafina as a rapping seagull, a very 2023 problem.Omar Gallaga stops by to prove that for 50 seconds there are monsters on the Earth as he discusses 'I Think You Should Leave With Tim Robinson,' the greatest TV show ever made in the history of TV. Neal spends five minutes describing the content of various sketches while Omar is just glad that Neal is on Tim Robinson's team because now he can get him to click on www.thedrivingcrooner.com. This show is vital and essential to the survival of humanity, please watch it.And enjoy our podcast!
Book and Film Globe Editor in Chief Neal Pollack is taking a well-deserved Memorial Day jaunt across America. Pinch-hitting as host this week — and doing a swell job — is frequent BFG contributor Scott Gold, who's written for the site about The Mandalorian, Moon Knight and tons of other Disney and Star Wars and adjacent properties.This week, Scott talks to Jonpaul Guinn about Fast X, whose Dominic Toretto character has provided Vin Diesel and crew with a lifetime of speedy chasecraft. "Dom sticks that landing and many fiery, infrastructure-puncturing other ones while racing to save his family," concludes Guinn's article and the podcast goes into depth befitting a 10-chapter cinematic universe.Next up is Jeopardy expert (and 0ne-time contestant) Daniel Cohen, who talks to BFG about Jeopardy Masters, the new sort of playoffs for past champs. They dive deep in the weeds here, but the big question on the minds of most will be "Who the hell authorized the disclosing of Daily Double locations to the audience before play begins?"Finally, Scott talks to Dan Friedman about Silo, the new Rebecca Ferguson dystopian mystery on Apple TV+. We learn that barely anything has survived the apocalypse, except for Apple II computers and badass leather jackets.
Our podcast has arrived this week! We show the breadth of our range, we go heavy, we go light. To start, Rob Kutner comes by to discuss the WGA Strike with host Neal Pollack. Both Rob and Neal are "inactive" WGA members, but Rob is out on the pickets with a Guild almost entirely united in solidarity. The producers and the big corporations are really putting the screws to writers these days. Neal and Rob talk about the inadequacy of the compensation, the inequity within the Guild itself, and the looming specter of AI that hangs over the entire industry. And they close with a rousing chorus of 'Solidarity Forever.'Next up, James Porter, a contributor to our sibling publication, Rock and Roll Globe, appears to discuss his review of the terrific new Little Richard documentary, 'I Am Everything.' A passionate Little Richard fan, James is happy to see one of his musical heroes getting his due. He and Neal both really enjoyed the interviews with old bandmates and family members, Neal liked the information about fringe drag performers in the 1950s, and James enjoyed the clips from Little Richard's old blues numbers before he became a megastar in the mid-1950s. Neal could take or leave the academic talking heads, who get too much screen time, but James is correct when he states that they don't actually say anything wrong. Really fun movie, worth checking out.And while 'Guardians of the Galaxy 3' needs no extra boost, Neal and guest Scott Gold both had a good time at James Gunn's swan song to the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Scott says that the movie maybe relies a little too much on slow-motion walking scenes. Neal isn't in love with the more modern music choices. And they both feel like the two-and-a-half hours leads to some repetitive scenes, if not some narrative bloat. But there can be no doubt that Guardians 3 is still fun and weird, and, especially as regards the origin story of Rocket Raccoon, genuinely scary and gruesome. A finger-wagging "no so fast" to anyone who says that the MCU is dead.My god, isn't that enough? Enjoy the podcast!
It's your favorite hour of the week, the listening of the BFG podcast! This week, Neal Pollack welcomes Ayun Halliday to the BFG podcast dome to discuss the box-office non-success 'Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret,' an adaptation of a 50-plus-year-old Judy Blume novel about a young suburban girl's coming of age. Neal found the movie sweet and sentimental, but Ayun, who was really looking forward to this product, didn't appreciate the film's wan attempts at modern social relevance. It's soft-focused and natural-seeming. But, our critic wonders, where is the menstrual blood? Good question, a question that only BFG can ask.Over on Disney+, Peter Pan gets another adaptation, this one from David Lowery, director of The Green Knight. Neal Pollack and Stephen Garrett, two boys who did grow up, found this thing kind of lame. For one, Peter Pan himself is a dishrag. And Stephen, while he liked the young woman who played Wendy, found himself desperately underwhelmed by Jude Law as Captain Hook. There was also no menstrual blood in this movie.Nor is there, as far as we have seen, in Grease: The Rise of the Pink Ladies, an unwanted prequel series to the 1978 musical, now airing on Paramount+. Paula Shaffer stops by to complain about the lousy autotune soundtrack and the production's weird insistence on setting itself in 1954, before the "50s" really started. For something set in the age of segregation, it sure is an integrated world. A lame product that most people will quickly forget. But it's worth talking about, and there will, apparently, be a second season of this High School Musical knockoff.That's it. That's the podcast. Enjoy!
An interesting mix of topics and points of view highlights this week's episode of the BFG podcast. Host Neal Pollack welcomes Sharyn Vane to talk about the somewhat sinister trend of conservative legislators and legislatures trying to defund libraries. Sharyn says this is an extension of the movement to keep kids away from sexualized literature, particularly literature about transgendered culture and politics. But public libraries are a non-ideological good that provide multiple public services to people of all ages, politics, and walks of life. Surprise surprise, we are against defunding them.We're also against the idea that people should ban or refuse to screen the films of Woody Allen. But the Cannes Film Festival has decided to do just that with Allen's latest film, Coup de Chance, which he shot in Paris, starring a cast entirely of French actors. Michael Washburn stops in to say "we're seeing a lack of moral courage on the part of the festival's organizers." Neal and Michael discuss the modern films of Woody Allen, but the politics of his lingering abuse scandal, however exonerated he might be, continue to hover over his career. Maybe Book and Film Globe will host a screening of the movie when they get the chance!Finally, it's time for Stephen Garrett to appear, reviewing the movie of the week, Ari Aster's 'Beau Is Afraid,' a deeply bizarre psychological comedy about maternal obsession, neurosis, and anxiety, starring Joaquin Phoenix. Stephen admires Ari Aster's "original vision," but says "it just doesn't gel". Neal calls it the "ultimate Jewish theater kid with mommy issues movie." If you want to see Ari Aster's id on the screen, this is the movie for you. It is not the movie for us, particularly.Enjoy our show.
In this tremendous milestone for BFG, for BFG editor-in-chief Neal Pollack, for Sea of Reeds Media, and for the history of the world in general, this week we celebrate the 100th episode of our podcast! And by "celebrate," we mean, "do what we've always done on the show at a high level, and with a funky new theme song."Neal summons frequent guest Stephen Garrett to discuss the vampire action-comedy 'Renfield.' No one has a bad word to say about Nic Cage as Dracula. Who could? But Neal in particular found the screenplay to be a tonal mess, with a useless drug-lord subplot taking away what is good and fun about the movie. Stephen, a happier person, tends to only see the good and fun. You be the judge, and beware if you invite Nicolas Cage into your house.There's no dissent about 'How To Blow Up A Pipeline,' though. Sara Stewart joins Neal to praise the indie environmental activism thriller, now in theaters. It reminds them both of gritty, realistic 1970s political movies. And there's the added juice that studios refused to touch the movie because of its politics and because they are funded by oil companies. But it's a raw and engrossing film with nary an ounce of narrative fat. It's the most left-wing movie you'll see all year, but whatever your politics, check it out.'Beef' is our TV show of the week. Susie Bright joins Neal to heap praise on this Netflix show, which, she wisely points out, has all the elements of classic Korean revenge dramas. The show is Korean-American by birth, and Susie also informs us that Korean filmmakers are steeped in classical French film techniques as well. She even susses out elements of classic French farce in the narrative. Neal agrees the show is good, but is also deeply raw and emotional, and asks "why are we watching this?" I guess you could ask that about anything, which we do every week on the podcast.Enjoy the episode! See you for #200!
On this week's BFG Podcast, host Neal Pollack welcomes special guest Clifton Duncan.Before the pandemic era hit, Clifton's career on Broadway and in television was beginning to take off. But after the culture he loved shut down, he moved to Atlanta to find work. There he saw a society that was functioning with relative normalcy, unlike the dystopian New York City that he'd left. He began to question lockdowns, masks, and other COVID policies. And when he refused to take the COVID vaccine because he'd already recovered from COVID, he found himself on the outs of the industry.Neal and Clifton talk about his story and about how absurd it is that Hollywood is still pursuing its "Return To Work" COVID policies years after the rest of the world returned to relative normal. But he no longer wanted to be one of "these pampered, pretentious so-called 'artists' thumbing their noses at people they called Trump supporters but were actually just trying to make a living."After that hefty meal, it's time for a Stephen Garrett dessert, as he and Neal discuss 'Air,' the new Ben Affleck movie about the creation of the Air Jordan sneaker in 1984. It's breezy, brotastic, and funny, but Stephen and Neal both wonder what we're celebrating with this movie. And why is there suddenly a full slate of films about the miraculous creation of corporate products? When did the overdog become the underdog?Deep conversations, presented amusingly and intelligently. That is the BFG way. Enjoy the show!
A great episode of the BFG podcast this week, as host Neal Pollack welcomes Jamie Mason to the pod-dome to talk about the plague of sensitivity readers that is smothering big publishing, particularly in the U.K. Despite no "hue and cry," as Jamie puts it, the readers are changing classic Agatha Christie novels to bring them up-to-date with modern sensibilities. Jamie posts that there's no real need for this, that it's "make-work" for disaffected liberal arts graduates. But it's happening, and we have to keep an eye on the censors, because we can't let them win.On a cheerier note, 'Dungeons and Dragons: Honor Among Thieves' has come to theaters, and it's surprisingly successful. Neal and contributor Jim Arndorfer, who aren't nerds at all, no sir, give the movie high marks for its rollicking sense of adventure, silly sense of humor, and surprising fealty to the D&D game itself. Again, they are not nerds, just guys who went to a movie.Matthew Ehrlich closes out the proceedings with a chat about the fourth and final season of 'Succession,' now airing on HBO. The saga of the Roy family has grown maybe a little stale, he and Neal conclude. But they're still watching. And 'Succession' has the good grace to end while it's ahead. Unlike other cultural properties like it, the show isn't overstaying its welcome.And either is our podcast! Enjoy.
In this week's essential episode of the BFG podcast, Neal Pollack welcomes not one, but two Gallaga brothers into the pod dome to talk about the culture. First up, Pablo Gallaga, who reviewed 'John Wick: Chapter 4' for us. Pablo felt like the movie took a little long to get going. But once it gets going, it contains some legendary set pieces that will remain iconic as long as the projectors roll in theaters. "If you like action movies, you're not going to do better this year than John Wick 4," Neal says. Truth!Omar Gallaga had the tougher assignment of writing and talking about 'Swarm,' the serial killer comedy-drama on Amazon Prime from executive producer Donald Glover. The first two episodes premiered at SXSW to enthusiastic response, but when the final episodes appeared, the praise muted down to a whisper. The world is ready for a Black female serial killer character. But some of the late episodes revealed pathologies that you could kindly refer to as "problematic." Omar suggests watching the first two episode and then proceeding at your own risk. And he has nothing but praise for star Dominque Fishback. But unlike in 'Swarm,' we aren't Stans. We are critics. And sometimes our judgement is harsh.However, we reserve nothing but love for the third season of 'Party Down,' the catering comedy that's back on Stars after a hiatus of more than a decade. Adam Scott and Ken Marino are back serving the wealthy of the L.A. metropolitan area, with typically sad and hilarious results. Contributor William Schwartz stops by to discuss the show with Neal, pointing out that Parks and Recreation, the show that poached Adam Scott from Party Down, has vanished into the mists of pop-culture time, its stars onto bigger things. But Party Down keeps going, and is still relevant. There will always be failure and disappointment in life,. Party Down celebrates the people who didn't quite make it big.Enjoy the show!
In this week's excellent show, Neal Pollack welcomes Scott Gold to explain what's going on in The Mandalorian to him. Apparently Din Djarin has to bathe in the living waters and is the Moses of the Black Sword and has a Naboo Spaceship number one or some such thing. Regardless, Neal goes into the segment getting ready to make fun of the show and by the end Scott has convinced him again that Star Wars is cool. How much longer can this go on?Next, we travel to Shanghai, China, by way of Samuel Porteous, who was not exactly a fan of Shazam! Fury of the Gods. It seems that Neal liked the new Shazam! more than Sam did, or at least it appreciates it was light in comparison with the turgid mess that was Black Adam. Sam wonders how many CGI companies DC employed to make this new film possible. It was too many, or not enough, and Fury of the Gods appears to be headed for the remainder bin.A much more reliable sequel is Top Chef, now in its 20th season. The Bravo gold-star cooking competition brings in the best of the best from around the globe to showcase the cuisine of London, which is more than mushy peas. Our food and gaming expert Daniel Cohen stops by to lay the odds but he and Neal instead go off on an extended rant about the Guy Fieri Food Network cooking competition show Tournament of Champions, which is a lot easier to make fun of than Top Chef, which just continues to shake off scandals and live at the top of the cooking-show pyramid.Enjoy our program! It is clearly a winner.
Host Neal Pollack succeeds in feeling like a failure on this week's show. He welcomes in the pride of Ontario, Canada, Steven Marche, to talk about Steven's new book 'On Writing and Failure.' Hear Steven talk about the poverty-stricken Herman Melville! And how James Joyce wasn't good enough to teach English in Italy! Listen to Neal complain about how no one loves him anymore. Neal continues to take issue with Steven's statement that he would still complain if he'd made $100 million as a writer. Not likely. But what a treat it is to hear a couple of bitter literary relative successes talk shop.
Then it's time for a long dessert as Neal welcomes Rob Kutner and Paula Shaffer to listen to him rant endlessly about Mel Brooks's History of the World Part 2, now streaming on Hulu. It's very clear that History of the World Part 2 means more to Neal than it does to any human on Earth. So if you want to listen to an in-depth analysis of the joke construction that basically ends up with Judas peeing on Jesus's feet, you need to go no further. This show is the final word, as it is about everything.
Enjoy!
In this week's fascinating edition of the BFG Podcast, host Neal Pollack welcomes Michael Washburn to talk about the recent "sensitivity" rewriting of Roald Dahl's novels. Among the things no longer acceptable: mentioning that a character likes to read Joseph Conrad, saying that women work as cashiers, and talking disparagingly about people who wear wigs. We join the universal chorus of the people who disdain this development, and hope it ends soon, though it probably won't. Neal and Michael break it down in full.
At last, Cocaine Bear has arrived in theaters. Stephen Garrett and Neal acknowledge that it has some narrative flaws and characters that are thinner than the ozone layer. But at the same time, there is a bear who does cocaine, and rowdy, pulpy movies are back live. So even if Cocaine Bear isn't great, which it isn't, this is the world that Cocaine Bear made and it's more fun than the world was before Cocaine Bear.
But while Cocaine Bear is super-gory, it's not sexy, and that's because there's no longer sex in movies. In fact, kids online are calling for the return to the Hays Code, when movies were called Pillow Talk and could only vaguely imply that sex even existed. Why is this new Puritarianism happening? Neal talks to Jake Harris to figure it all out.
What a great show, enjoy!
The BFG podcast has returned to stun and amaze you with our breadth of pop-culture knowledge. Host Neal Pollack, the editor of BFG, welcomes Stephen Garrett, as usual, to talk about 'Magic Mike's Last Dance.' Stephen thought the movie was corny and slight but found its love letter to midlife romance charming. Neal thought it was flat stupid and was annoyed that the script didn't give the backup dancers more to do. Your mileage may vary depending on whether or not you attend a "Rowdy Screening."
Rachel Llewellyn stops in to chat about 'Poker Face,' the Natasha Lyonne murder-mystery vehicle from creator Rian Johnson. Lyonne wanders about the Mountain West, encountering murder and mayhem. Some people are comparing this to 'Columbo,' some are not. Regardless, Rachel is totally hooked by this story of a woman who knows when you are lying.
Neal's pick of the week is 'Cunk on Earth," starring Diane Morgan as Philomena Cunk, the most blissfully clueless history-show host you'll even encounter. Most of this segment involves Neal telling his favorite jokes from the show, so let's not spoiler the spoilers. Just listen to the BFG podcast and be the best-informed pop-culture enthusiast in your pod.
Enjoy the show!
No publication online covers the highs and lows of culture quite like BFG, and this week's podcast is no exception. Neal Pollack gives us a complete rundown of the week that was.
Then Stephen Garrett appears to ask Neal: What's the big deal about Ant-Man. Neal proceeds to give a complete nerdy history of Kang the Conqueror, and they both wonder why 'Quantumania' didn't include more Bill Murray. The new Ant-Man movie is a huge hit, despite the critics. Neal and Stephen don't really take a side. Like Thanos, Marvel movies are inevitable. They simply acknowledge that it's Ant-Man's world, and we're just living in it. Remember what it was to be a child while watching movies. That's what Marvel movies are like. And that's what the BFG podcast is like.
Enjoy the program!
It's Oscar season, which gives our many Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critics a sense of duty and purpose. Host Neal Pollack, who has seen all ten of the nominated pictures, welcomes Sara Stewart and Stephen Garrett as they make their selections and make fun of the Best Song category. It's a wonderful night for Oscar. Oscar Oscar! Who will win?
Meanwhile, Stephen has to listen to Neal rant about 'Knock at the Cabin,' which will win no Oscars, but will set new standards for depicting the Progressive apocalypse on film. Dave Bautista can act? Who knew?
The BFG podcast! Your one-stop shop for everything in entertainment. Please enjoy the show.
In the latest soon-to-be-award-winning edition of the BFG podcast, Neal Pollack welcomes Sara Stewart and Stephen Garrett back to the show. Stephen went to Park City, Utah, to see all the Sundance movies, and Sara watched them from home. Sundance is back, the movies are back, and this was one of the best festivals in years! They both loved the Wall Street-set erotic thriller 'Fair Play.' Stephen loved a quirky movie called 'Theater Camp,' though Sara has an extreme aversion to its star, Ben Platt. And let's get the discourse going again about 'Cat Person,' now a movie adapted from a New Yorker short story.
BFG provides the most comprehensive coverage of Sundance anywhere. A roundtable for the ages.
Meanwhile, we welcome Susie Bright to the BFG podcast stage for the first time, to talk about Sarah Polley's "B+" film 'Women Talking,' a theatrical interpretation of a decade-old horrific sex-abuse scandal that occurred in a Bolivian Mennonite colony. Neal and Susie both admire the performances, and the excellent writing, but agree that the film sometimes drags a bit and hits the same conversational beats over and over again. Still, this is the kind of "quality" film, Susie says, that will finally bring perpetually terrified NPR listeners back to the movie theaters. Neal begins one of his rants about how movie theaters never should have been closed to begin with, but they get back to talking about the movie pretty quickly, so don't worry.
Finally, Paula Shaffer pops in to talk about the reboots of 'Night Court' and 'That 70s Show' currently on TV, even though 'That 70s Show' is actually 'That 90s Show' now. Neither show is particularly bad, though 'Night Court' exists in a weird kind of temporal limbo. Both Neal and Paula agree that 'That 90s Show' is a bit better and seems to know what it wants to do with itself. Regardless, old TV shows never die, and either does the BFG podcast.
Enjoy!
BFG Editor-in-chief Neal Pollack rounds up the best culture critics in the world once again for this week's show. Let's start with Omar Gallaga, talking about 'The Last of Us.' Neal doesn't play many video games and is afraid of zombies and hates apocalypses. Omar has no such aversions, and 'The Last of Us,' which broke video-game fans' hearts, appears to be ready to do the same in the excellent HBO adaptation. Omar reserves praise for Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey, who play the series leads, and likes the clever intro that explains the fungus outbreak that threatens humanity. High marks from us, but not the last of us.
Low marks, however, for another HBO Max product, Mindy Kaling's obnoxious 'Velma,' a Scooby-Doo cartoon without Scooby-Doo. The show is relentlessly bitter, mean, unpleasant, and unfunny, a legendary disaster that everyone hates, including our critic, Paula Shaffer, a "contrarian" by nature who "really wanted to like it." The right hates it because it's too "woke," the left hates it because it's "turning people into Republicans," and we just hate it because it's not charming or funny.
Stephen Garrett makes his appearance to talk about the 'House Party' reboot. Stephen has seen the original 'House Party' a dozen times, and loves its charming innocence and depiction of a still-underdog hip-hop culture. For the reboot, he does enjoy Kid Cudi's wacky supporting role as himself, but the movie feels very corporate and cynical, much like LeBron James, the King, himself.
Then Stephen listens to Neal review 'A Man Called Otto,' a family-friendly or at least grandma-friendly two-tissue weeper about a grumpy old man who finds meaning late in life despite carrying around a massive duffel bag of disappointment and grief. Is there anything Tom Hanks can't do? A Man Called Otto isn't really 'good,' but people love it anyway, so we need to pay attention.
Enjoy the show!
In this edition of the BFG podcast–now with vastly improved sound quality!–host Neal Pollack welcomes the well-read Michael Washburn to discuss the work and legacy of the novelist Russell Banks, who died recently at the age of 82. Michael and Neal have nothing but praise for Banks's two best-known novels, Affliction and The Sweet Hereafter, both of which became popular and critically-acclaimed movies. But they also recommend you check out his novel Continental Drift, and Michael has special affection for Banks's short stories, which so accurately describe the struggles of working-class New Hampshire residents. They aren't so keen on his later works, when Banks drifted away from what he knows best, but he still leaves behind a literary legacy worth celebrating.
Aubrey Plaza is just getting started with her legacy, and Neal welcomes Rachel Llewellyn to talk about Plaza's new indie film 'Emily the Criminal,' now streaming on Netflix. Neal loves the show's gritty crime-drama feel, which resembles breaking bad, and praises Plaza's nuanced performance, which carries the movie above the usual genre fare. Rachel also mentions Plaza's work in Black Bear, Neal talks about her in Ingrid Goes West, and it's probably pretty certain that The White Lotus comes up at some point. It's not as though Aubrey Plaza is some sort of hidden gem, she's quite famous at this point, but her cultural footprint will certainly only grow from here.
Rachel sticks around to talk about 'The Rig,' a new eco-sci-fi thriller series now airing on Amazon Prime. She praises the way the show tackles difficult issues with subtlety, and then occasionally it sounds like an extended Facebook thread argument about climate change. But creator David MacPherson grew up around Scottish oil workers, so he understands their politics and their point of view on the world much better than the average script writer would. A very tense ocean thriller that does not, according to Rachel, feature The Loch Ness Monster.
In this week's audio-enhanced edition of the BFG Podcast, editor Neal Pollack, an AI-assisted lifeform, welcomes contributors JonPaul Guinn and Pablo Gallaga. JP proves his versatility and then some, starting off by talking about the Noah Baumbach adaptation of Don DeLillo's 'White Noise.' JP prefers the middle part of the movie, when the "Airborne Toxic Event" means there's actually some action, and also the closing credits, a dance sequence in a 1980s grocery store set to an LCD Soundsystem song. The rest of the movie, not so much. He doesn't find statements like "men are killers. They kill" to be very profound. And both he and Neal agree that DeLillo's jokes about "Hitler Studies", made in a novel nearly 40 years ago, have aged quite poorly. An arthouse rendition of a book we previously thought was unfilmable, this is definitely not family fun.
Later, JP pops back to talk about season 3 of 'Jack Ryan.' This is an odd show, he says, because there's no actual spy intrigue, and not a lot of fun chase scenes. It's just kind of boring, and no one will ever be as good a Jack Ryan as Alec Baldwin was in The Hunt For Red October. He and Neal find the Jack Ryan universe so unengaging that they actually end up talking about better pulp-fiction characters who have become TV heroes, like 'Reacher' and 'Bosch." And then they make fun of the CIA for a bit.
Pablo Gallaga had the fun job of reviewing 'M3GAN' for us, and he and Neal both really appreciate the spot-on satire of artificial intelligence, as well as the many memorable and meme-able creepy doll movements sprinkled throughout the Blumhouse pulp hit. Pablo's thesis is that horror movies have moved out of their brutal dissection-of-personal trauma phase, and have now just transitioned into bonkers fun.
Just like BFG itself. Enjoy the show!
Welcome to 2023! The BFG podcast has turned the calendar with you, with no changes whatsoever, as it's a perfect show. Host Neal Pollack switches it up and welcomes Stephen Garrett back for the 70th time. This week Neal and Stephen talk about 'Glass Onion.' This big, expensive sequel to 'Knives Out' resembles a big-budget live-action adaptation of Scooby-Doo, but it's fun as long as you don't take it too seriously. And if you are taking it too seriously, you might want to consult a doctor. Stephen immediately knocks down the idea that Janelle Monae might get an Oscar nomination. No nominations forthcoming for this picture, now on Netflix.
'Babylon', directed by Damien Chazelle, will also not get an Oscar nomination, but it has a chance to sweep the Razzies, thanks to over-the-top performances, insane scatology, and a manic stupidity and pretentiousness that just won't quit. Stephen seems to like the film more than Neal does, and he certainly knows more about the silent-film era of Hollywood, but no one can deny that the movie lacks humor, character development, or the courage to unfold a plot that makes any sort of sense. One of the great turkeys of all time, that's what we say!
Associate professor of Duttonology Adam Hirschfelder stops by the podcast bank to talk about '1923,' the latest prequel to 'Yellowstone that Taylor Sheridan has churned out of its factory. Not only does this show star Harrison Ford and Helen Mirren, it also gives the most detailed account of life inside "Indian Boarding Schools" ever put to film. The great project of American history-telling is underway. And Hirschfelder is here for it, without having to convene a New York Times focus group. No one covers the Yellowstone universe like Adam. It is his entire life.
Happy New Year! Enjoy the program.
The holidays are in full force but BFG never stops bringing you the culture. This week's podcast features editor Neal Pollack talking with critic Sara Stewart about 'Avatar 2: The Way of Water.' Sara is a devoted Avatar-head. Though she liked the long-awaited sequel, she admits that she's "exhausted" after its nearly three and a half hour runtime. Both Neal and Sara admire the film's technical accomplishments and action setpieces, but admit that the characterizations and dialogue, not James Cameron specialties, leave much to be desired. Sara is happy to see Jemaine Clement in action. Neal is unhappy about the character of Spider, a "Monkey Boy" who really chews up a lot of screen time. Regardless, The Way of Water is here. Our discussion covers the waterfront.
We do the same with a roundtable discussing the year's best and worst TV shows. JonPaul Guinn and Paula Shaffer join Neal to go over the disasters of "Mexican Week," House Hunters, 'She Hulk: Attorney At Law,' and various Star Wars shows. The usual suspects make our top lists, like The White Lotus, The Bear, Severance, Better Call Saul, and House of the Dragon, while JP chooses 'Our Flag Means Death' as an idiosyncratic choice, and Paula has nothing but good things to say about Upload on Amazon Prime. It's our usual idiosyncratic assortment, the kind that only BFG can bring. We will all be watching TV until we die, which may be soon. So watch more TV.
On this week's podcast, Neal Pollack welcomes in Stephen Garrett for an exhaustive conversation about 'Jeanne Dielman, 23 quai du commerce, 1080 Bruxelles,' which the once-a-decade Sight and Sound poll recently named the 'Greatest Film of All Time.' Such things are inherently subjective, and maybe two middle-aged men aren't the ones to discuss the film, but Stephen thinks it's a fascinating experiment and Neal mostly marvels at the fact that he actually lived in Brussels in 1975. I mean, who does that? In any case, Jeanne Dielman is waiting for you, for the next decade and beyond.
Paula Shaffer stops in to discuss 'Wednesday.' She says it looks great but is not "fun." It would seem that "fun" is important for a show set in the Addams Family universe, but producer Tim Burton decides to take that universe in the "dark fantasy" direction of Sabrina the Teenage Witch and Riverdale. It's what the kids want, maybe.
We have entered the Harry and Meghan discourse, as Matthew Ehrlich discusses the first half of 'Harry & Meghan,' the Netflix documentary. Matthew doubts the "falling in love" narrative that the documentary presents. Neal is surprised to learn that, by the end of the documentary, Harry & Meghan aren't even married yet. Are they heroes? Villains? Are they winning just because we're talking about them on the podcast? Probably.
It's December, my dudes, and The BFG podcast is back on the air! This week we lead off with a discussion of another podcast, American Public Media's 'Sold A Story,' which has ignited a furious debate over how we teach children to read. Writer Sharyn Vane joins host Neal Pollack to discuss the difference between the old-school phonics method and the new-school, more context-based method of reading instruction, which appears to be the culprit in America's continually declining reading scores. While both Neal and Sharyn learned how to read contextually, as "early readers," this may not apply to everyone. Not every kid lives in a house with, as one of the new-school reading proponents did, with "monogrammed bath towels." A lively debate, and we're in the fray.
Then Sara Stewart pops up to talk about 'She Said,' a new movie about the journalists who uncovered the Harvey Weinstein sexual assault scandal. Sara says that the Weinstein affair affects more people than Watergate, the subject of 'All the President's Men." Neal disagrees with her there, but admits that #metoo scandals are certainly more contemporary and relevant. Then they struggle to remember that Charlize Theron played Megan Kelly in 'Bombshell.' Shame on these two Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critics!
Finally, Stephen Garrett appears because we say his name three times to talk about Steven Spielberg's autobiographical love letter to the cinema, 'The Fabelmans.' Stephen loved the movie's exploration of childhood trauma and neurosis, Neal found it all a little overlong and self-serving, but they both really liked the fantastic cameo at movie's end. Check it out, experience the wonder...of our podcast.
Happy Thanksgiving, Book and Film Globe podcast fans. We're thankful for your support as we continue to press our nose against the glass on the low end of the Podcast 100.
We've got a great episode for this holiday week, as Neal speaks to Stephen Garrett about The Menu, whose trailer kinda said it all. Then Chris Lites stops by to discuss something that's proven almost impossible -- successfully adapting William Gibson for the screen. Johnny Mnemonic was but one forgettable attempt. ‘The Peripheral' gets off to a promising start and might just cross the finish line as worthy visual companion to the rich and complex dystopias Gibson has created in print.
Finally Paula Shaffer joins Neal to ponder: why are sitcoms no longer funny? They discuss Reboot, the new one from Modern Family creator Steven Levitan, and Blockbuster. The former feels precious and unfunny and the latter is "a clueless, clumsy sitcom that can’t even muster nostalgia for itself, much less the golden age of video rental stores."
On this week's podcast, "Marvel normie" Stephen Garrett is honored to join host Neal Pollack, a Marvel completist. Neal gives Stephen all the backstory of 'Black Panther: Wakanda Forever,' especially when it comes to Prince Namor, formerly of Atlantis, now of Talokan. Neal found Wakanda Forever an emotional sendoff for Chadwick Boseman, but was disappointed by the poorly-developed, visually murky underseas scenes. Stephen marvels at how the movie is full of strong Black heroines. And then he and Neal have to pick themselves off the floor after over-admiring Lupita N'yongo, who is in this movie, looking fine.
Matthew Ehrlich checks in to discuss Season 2 of 'The White Lotus.' Matthew has lots of problems with this show, but he still finds himself tuning in eagerly on Sunday nights. Neal loves 'The White Lotus,' he thinks it's sexy and juicy and fabulous, qualities not always apparent in TV shows. And they both agree that Jennifer Coolidge is a comic masterpiece who must be protected at all costs.
Finally, Danny Gallagher visits the show to discuss 'Weird,' the Weird Al Yankovic biopic. What could be more appealing than listening to two Gen-X guys talk about why Weird Al is awesome and funny? Nothing, we say! We have the courage to like Weird Al here at BFG. Screw all the haters, of which there are none.
Enjoy the podcast!
We lead off this edition of the BFG podcast with a discussion of Nobel Prize laureate Bob Dylan. That’s the Literature Prize to you. Dylan has written a new book called Philosophy of Song, about songs he likes, and it’s as inscrutable as the rest of his body of work. Book and Film Globe contributor Jim Sullivan joins host Neal Pollack to talk about his review of The Philosophy of Modern Song. And they make fun of rock critics as well as Dylan’s somewhat purplish prose style. This might just be a joke that Dylan is playing on all of us.
Halloween may be in the past, but vampire shows are still on TV. Scott Gold joins Neal Pollack to talk about Interview with the Vampire, a new adaptation of the classic Anne Rice novel. Scott admires the new setting in Jazz Age New Orleans, and finds the lead vampires dynamic and magnetic, but a bad casting decision of the orphan vampire Claudia brings the proceedings down a little.
Just as biting is the Showtime adaptation of the classic Swedish vampire movie Let The Right One In. The setting is now America, and the girl vampire’s caretaker is now her aging father. But the basic premise remains the same. Scott has good things to say about the show but is critical of some somewhat convenient plot choices.
In non-vampire news, it’s the Jeopardy! Tournament of Champions. Neal and Daniel Cohen go deep into the weeds of the TOC, talk about why some players are favored over others, and discuss efficacy of using flash cards to study for trivia competitions. If you’re not ready, you’re not going to win. Also, Neal laments the fact that they never ask any questions about Park Chan-Wook on the show.
Enjoy our podcast, this week and every week!
Chelsea Clinton disappoints in the finale of 'Derry Girls' in this week's edition of one of the world's most popular entertainment podcasts. Host Neal Pollack begins with a five-minute discourse on the absurdity of members of the "literary community" calling upon Random House to not publish the new Amy Coney Barrett memoir. They call it a "human rights violation." This is absurdity at its highest level, Stalinist garbage. Neal tells them where they can stick their "duty of care."
Then Rachel Llewellyn stops by to lighten the mood by talking to Neal about the ridiculous Chelsea Clinton cameo at the end of 'Derry Girls.' Rachel found it annoying, but in general she thought the third and final season of Derry Girls was stretching the joke a bit thin. But they could have been on top if only they hadn't given Chelsea Clinton the final scene.
Next our podcast welcomes the host of three other podcasts, Margo Donohue, the author of the new book 'Filmed In Brooklyn'. We liked her print interview with us so much that we invited her along to talk about Brooklyn movies again. Neal and Margo talk about 'The French Connection,' 'Saturday Night Fever,' 'Do the Right Thing', and 'Smoke,' alongside other Brooklyn films.
Finally it's Stephen Garrett time again. Stephen seemed to like 'Armageddon Time' from James Gray pretty well, though he and Neal nearly come to blows over whether or not Charlie Hunnam (who starts in another James Gray movie) is a good actor. He is not. But Armageddon Time is warm and heartfelt.
You can't say the same for 'Triangle of Sadness,' a vicious anti-capitalist satire that got a standing ovation and a Palme D'Or from all the rich socialists at the Cannes Film Festival. Neal and Stephen agree it's a film to be admired, not enjoyed. Stephen found the satire obvious. Neal liked the performances, especially Dolly DeLeon as a put-upon maid who takes her revenge.
As always, our podcast has range. Enjoy the show!
We go high and we go low on this edition of the BFG Podcast. Let's start with contributor Michael Washburn, in to discuss his "nuanced" take on Annie Ernaux, the French writer who won the Nobel Prize for Literature this year. Washburn praises Ernaux's spare, deeply-personal, highly-emotional novels. But he also wonders if she might be more emblematic of a certain style of French writing than an actual master herself. He has high words for other French writers who take a broader, more global perspective. Host Neal Pollack says "what about Michel Houllebecq"? But he's about as likely to win a Nobel Prize as Jordan Peterson is. C'est bon!
Our brows remain elevated with a discussion of 'Decision To Leave,' a new romantic thriller/film noir homage from Korean director Park Chan-Wook. Contributor Omar Gallaga and editor Neal Pollack marvel at the film's shifting perspectives, unique camera angles, and moral ambiguity, while also making sure to let us know that the movie isn't boring. There are chase scenes and murders. A highly-recommended film for us, and a possible Oscar contender.
You can't say the same thing about 'Ticket to Paradise,' and 'Black Adam,' the two big hits of last weekend. Critic Sara Stewart saw 'Ticket to Paradise' and "laughed exactly once." That's not very many times. And it's about the same number of times that Pollack laughed during 'Black Adam.' 'Ticket' does not take full advantage of its stars, George Clooney and Julia Roberts, while 'Black Adam' takes FULL advantage of The Rock. If you want to see The Rock bulge out of a Spandex suit, this is your dream movie. Also, Hawkman is in it, for all you Hawkman fans. It won't win any awards except for maybe the odd Razzie. But it will make a lot of money.
Enjoy the show!
This has been an unprecedented fall season of blockbuster TV. So we decided to revisit the big hitters on this week's podcast. Resident Tolkienologist G.L. Ford has made up his mind on 'The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power,' and he is APPALLED. As is editor-in-chief Neal Pollack, who can't get over the bad writing, the bad acting, and the confusing characters. The occasional decent fantasy action scene can't cover up ROP's many flaws.
On the other hand, despite occasional flaws with House of the Dragon, Neal loves this show, calling it "as close to Shakespeare with dragons as we're ever going to get. His guest Mr. Ford has never seen anything Game of Thrones-related. But now is the time. This show is sick, we tell you, good sick.
Then comes Scott Gold to talk with Neal about She-Hulk: Attorney At Law. Scott's expectations were low for this program, so it met all of them. Both he and Neal enjoyed seeing Daredevil again, and they both appreciate the fourth-wall-breaking mega-irony. Neal has some criticisms of the show's L.A. girl boss feminism, which he thinks rings a little hollow and privileged, but Scott doesn't really seem to care, so they let it drop.
Scott has even kinder words for 'Andor', the dark Star Wars show currently airing, including a sixth-episode heist sequence that he says is worthy of Michael Mann at his finest. High praise for Star Wars! We say keep checking it out.
Then our "hirsute Mexican-American" critic Pablo Gallaga comes around to soothe Neal's fears about werewolves, and particularly about Werewolf By Night, the new Disney+ Marvel horror special. While it does contain some horror elements, this special is also a buddy comedy between a scary werewolf and a cuddly large swamp monster named Man-Thing. Neal, who is also quite hairy, feels like werewolf content hews too close to home, but Pablo is proud of him for facing his fears.
It's another marvelous edition of the world's most popular entertainment podcast. Host Neal Pollack takes it to David O. Russell's 'Amsterdam,' slamming the movie for its hammy performances, clunky writing, and pretentious self-importance. Stephen Garrett kind of disagrees, saying the movie doesn't totally hold together, but he finds the central relationships touching, and believes 'Amsterdam' has a lot to offer audiences. Audiences, however, disagree, as the movie has flopped.
Stephen has kind words for 'Tár,' a movie about a troubled genius conductor played by Cate Blanchett. Director Todd Field digs deep into the arcana of the contemporary music world, featuring several gripping extended conversations about classical music that have riveted audiences despite the fact that they're extended conversations about classical music. Stephen found the movie's denouement a little disappointing and quick but otherwise highly recommends this film.
Pablo Gallaga stops by the podcast barn to talk about the 'Hellraiser' reboot currently on Hulu. Pinhead is now a lady priest, but the Cenobites remain as perverted as ever, and the Lamentation Puzzle or whatever you call it still summons up deadly stuff whenever you solve it. Don't solve it, that's what we say.
Enjoy the program!
In this week’s BFG podcast, contributor Matthew Ehrlich makes a vaunted return to the proceedings with a savage denunciation of ‘Blonde‘, the brutal and unpleasant Marilyn Monroe biopic now taking up space on Netflix. It features not one, but two abortion scenes from the point of view of Marilyn Monroe’s vagina. If that sounds fun, then Blonde is the nearly three-hour movie for you!
Sharyn Vane and Michael Washburn join host Neal Pollack next to discuss trends in censorship. Sharyn is very disturbed by the recent trend of people emailing bomb threats to public libraries. Michael doesn’t condone that, but points out that the threats haven’t led to any actual bombings. Yet. He finds himself more concerned that defenders of free speech seem committed to defending books with trendy and “woke” points of view, but classics like To Kill A Mockingbird don’t inspire the same passion. Neal, as is his tendency, straddles the middle path and agrees with both of them. A great discussion.
Then Matthew Ehrlich returns to talk to Neal about ‘Bros,’ the Billy Eichner gay romantic comedy that definitely doesn’t owe its lack of success at the box office to homophobia. Matthew (and his boyfriend) found the central relationship flat. Neal found Eichner’s character whiny and self-pitying, though he liked some of the pop-culture parodies.
On the latest episode of the podcast to end all entertainment podcasts, host Neal Pollack welcomes resident Star Wars expert Scott Gold to talk about ‘Andor.’ After being burned by later episodes of ‘The Book of Boba Fett’ and ‘Obi-Wan Kenobi,’ there’s no way that Neal and Scott are going to fall into the trap again by saying that Andor is good. Or will they? It’s a dark, gritty espionage drama with not a Jedi or large monster in sight. And it’s in no way drawing in our critics to later disappoint them.
Meanwhile, Paula Shaffer is reading TikTok sensation author Colleen Hoover so you don’t have to. Young women in hopeless relationships with toxic surgeons named Chance seem to love this writer. Neal wonders if he should take to TikTok to sell his own books. That will go great.
Finally, Daniel Cohen appears to chat about the latest season of The Great British Baking Show. Both he and Neal agree that full-time nanny, amateur boxer, and knockoff Drake lookalike Sandro is both the show’s leading thirst trap and also the presumptive winner, or at least a finalist. Neal offers Daniel some tips on how to watch the show. It goes better with frosting.
It’s all about the Canadians and the mermaids this week. BFG editor-in-chief Neal Pollack opens the podcast proceedings with a discussion with his favorite guest–himself–about whether or not it’s OK that there’s a Black Little Mermaid. Spoiler alert: It is, but it’s also OK to criticize Black actors for their performances. So much nuance in that five minutes!
Then comes film critic Stephen Garrett to discuss his recent trip to the Toronto International Film Festival. He and Neal discuss ‘Glass Onion,’ ‘The Menu,’ ‘The Fablemans,’ ‘The Banshees of Inisherin,’ ‘The Whale,’ and a couple of movies that TIFF banned at the last minute, among other movies and topics. It’s the kind of high-end movie discussion you can get here and only here. Listen and get ready for “quality movie season”!
In this week’s jam-packed edition of the BFG podcast, editor Neal Pollack welcomes Jake Harris to talk about the unfortunate practice of review-bombing. Unfortunately, they conclude, it’s here to say and there’s nothing we can do to police the bombers. Maybe we can summon the Department of Homeland Security.
Next up, resident Tolkien expert G.L. Ford stops by the podcast to talk about the review-bombed ‘The Rings of Power,’ the Lord of the Rings prequel series now airing on Amazon Prime. Unlike many online critics, Ford doesn’t care about the fact that there are Black Elves and Dwarves, and doesn’t think Tolkien would have cared either. He does care about the thin motivations and lack of moral seriousness of some of the characters. But he prefaces all his criticisms with “so far,” because the series still has a shot to deliver.
Kaveh Jalinous is spending this fall on the continent, la di da, and filed a report for us from the Venice Film Festival. He and Neal talk about new projects from directors Todd Field, Lars Von Trier, Noah Baumbach, Alejandro González Iñárritu, and Luca Guadagnino. If you’re going to see a movie at 8:30 a.m., be sure to see it with a strong Italian coffee in hand. Words to live by.
Enjoy the show!
In this week’s 70th anniversary edition of the BFG Podcast, editor-in-chief Neal Pollack and contributor Chris Farnsworth welcome special guest Meg Gardiner, a crime writer who’s just collaborated with director Michael Mann on Heat 2, a sequel novel to his cult classic 1995 heist film. Gardiner and Mann share a literary agent, and the adventure began from there. She describes ride-alongs with the LAPD and conversations with professional bank robbers. Mann shared his treasure trove of photographs from a city in Paraguay where anything goes, and they shared scenes and manuscript pages until a seamless collaboration emerged. Great insight into a bestselling crime novel, only on BFG.
Stephen Garrett takes time out of his busy schedule to talk to Neal about 3000 Years of Longing, the latest film from George Miller, director of Babe and Mad Max: Fury Road. This film, about a “narratologist” who unearths a sexy Idris Elba genie while at a conference in Istanbul, doesn’t match up with Miller’s previous work. It’s an ode to the wonder of storytelling that doesn’t tell much of a story. But Stephen and Neal are amusing when they talk about it.
Finally, Ty Pearson sails in from the Iron Islands to hail ‘House of the Dragon‘, the new Game of Thrones prequel now airing on HBO-related products. It’s Game of Thrones all over again. They use the same sets, the same costumes, even the same theme song. And it’s got GOT fans remembering what they liked about the original show in the first place. Nothing will ever top early days GOT mania, but HOD is good enough for now. This is modern pop culture, after all, where no intellectual property ever really dies.
The streaming business is changing, and we’re all over it! Ace reporter Jake Harris drops into the podcast to talk to host Neal Pollack about big changes at HBO Max and Paramount+. If you watch Star Trek, you can shop at Walmart for free, just as Gene Roddenberry intended. Neal suggest that BFG get into the business by bundling streaming TV, books, and Girl Scout cookies. Big changes are coming.
Meanwhile, the golden era of TV came to a somber end with the final episode of Better Call Saul on AMC. Samuel Porteous joins Neal to praise the show and lament its end. Just like classic noir movies give us important insight into what life was like in post-WW2 (black and white) America, Vince Gilligan has left us with a forever impression of life in Albuquerque in the 90s and aughts. A BFG farewell to Slippin’ Jimmy.
And the green age of TV has begun with the much-anticipated arrival of She-Hulk: Attorney At Law, on Disney+. Neal welcomes special guest and Marvel expert Douglas Wolk to discuss the comics history of the emerald goddess and whether or not a superhero legal comedy is a good idea. The verdict is out on the show, but Neal and Douglas both agree it was a long time coming.
TV lawyers are in and out of love on this week’s podcast. Enjoy!
In this week’s excellent episode of our podcast, host and editor Neal Pollack welcomes contributor Pablo Gallaga. Pablo and Neal first start by praising ‘The Sandman‘, on Netflix, to the skies. Pablo loves how closely it hews to Neil Gaiman’s source material. Neal mostly agrees, though is a little skeptical of Patton Oswalt’s voice work as “Matthew the Raven.” It’s pretty good, though, a real geek’s delight.
Speaking of geek’s delight, Pablo sticks around to talk about ‘Prey,’ the ‘Predator’ prequel set in the early 1700s among the Comanches of the Great Northern Plains. “This is how you do inclusion,” Neal says. And they both love Amber Midthunder as the intrepid young Comanche woman who proves to be an excellent match for a trophy hunter from outer space. Also, ‘Prey’ contains the best dog performance in recent memory. Highly recommend for anyone who loves action, movies, and action movies.
And then, Rachel Llewellyn appears on the podcast to talk about the Beavis and Butt-Head revival currently on Paramount+. The two horny teenage dorks may now live in 2022, but their interests in stuffing their faces with junk food, starting fires, and thinking about chicks have stayed very much the same. It’s hard (heh heh ‘hard’) to imagine life without them.
The podcast is back, and we’ve got a winner! Editor Neal Pollack welcomes Stephen Garrett to argue with him about Jordan Peele’s Nope. As a loser in the Hollywood wars, Pollack likes Nope’s central theme of Hollywood chewing up and spitting out talent. Stephen thinks the movie is all over the place and is too clever for its own good. However, they both love the “Gordy’s Home” scenes and wonder if that should have been the whole movie.
Omar Gallaga returns to our stages to talk to Neal about Nathan Fielder’s ‘The Rehearsal‘ on HBO Max. Nathan sets up various absurd simulations to help people prepare for difficult life simulations. Omar seems to like it though he’s not sure what Nathan is really up to. It’s dark and weird and very meta. And Neal’s conversation with Omar is just a rehearsal for the actual conversation.
Then Daniel Cohen comes by to talk with Neal about Hulu’s ‘The Bear,’ the most realistic depiction of restaurant life ever put to film. Neal also admires the realistic way The Bear depicts Chicago. It’s like going to see community theater on Sheridan Road on a Friday night. Great performances from the whole cast, especially Jeremy Allen White and Ebon Moss-Bachrach. After some questioning by Daniel, Neal determines that he wants his Italian beef hot and dipped. It’s the only way to go. And this is the only entertainment podcast you need all week!
In this week’s edition of the BFG Podcast, editor Neal Pollack celebrates the return of the movies. Box-office receipts are 30 percent up from the summer of 2019, and it’s time to celebrate! Let’s never again let the powers that be lock us down and tell us we can’t go to the movies.
Meanwhile, there’s still TV. Paula Shaffer drops by the podcast hut to talk to Neal about the hilarious new season of the vampire comedy What We Do In The Shadows, which is now airing. They concur that the show is so good that not even Kristen Schaal, the Ted McGinley of modern sitcoms, can ruin it.
Finally, Stephen Garrett appears to talk about The Gray Man, a Netflix movie that is sort of in theaters but mostly on TV. Critics hate this movie, but Stephen does not hate it, and thinks that Ryan Gosling brings a sort of wry fun to his secret-agent character, and that Chris Evans is agreeably wacky as the film’s heavy. Then Neal and Stephen both agree they like the “female energy” of Ana de Armas.
Enjoy the movies, and enjoy the show!
In this week’s edition of the BFG Podcast, editor-in-chief Neal Pollack throws a Molotov cocktail into the face of Stranger Things. It’s the most significant new pop-culture universe in years, he says. So why does it always feel like the show is hitting you in the face with a shovel? These are some of the great mysteries of Stranger Things.
Another mystery: Why is Disney+ continually pandering to the cultural left? This week, it’s Baymax from Big Hero Six showing a transgender person where to buy tampons. Thanks, helper robot! Disney has now alienated half its audience from a show no one was watching anyway. William Schwartz stops by to parse the controversy.
It’s another podcast week, so Pollack and Stephen Garrett must be discussing a Marvel movie. This week it’s ‘Thor: Love and Thunder,’ a loud and silly movie from Taika Waititi. It’s not bad, but Stephen found the fight scenes underwhelming, and Valkyrie underused. Neal hated Thor’s sidekick Korg. Listen for yourselves and draw your own opinions, as long as you agree with us!
Enjoy the show.
Happy 4th of July from BFG to you! Why not celebrate America’s birthday by listening to America’s best pop-culture podcast? That’s what we’re doing, on repeat, all day.
New BFG contributor Kaveh Jalinous breaks in to talk about the controversy surrounding a lesbian kiss in Pixar’s ‘Lightyear.’ Host Neal Pollack points out that the right is using this as another plank in its war against sexualizing children. Young Kaveh says it doesn’t bother him at all, but isn’t fond of the movie. It’s closer in content and quality to a streaming show on Disney+, he concludes. And also, the last major Pixar theatrical release was Toy Story 4. This is a spinoff of the Toy Story franchise. Meanwhile, Pixar has released Soul and Turning Red, both far superior movies, for streaming services. So Lightyear’s misfire has much more to do with that than a gay kiss.
Michael Washburn comes by to talk to Neal about ‘Lost Illusions,’ the award-winning French adaptation of the Honoré de Balzac novel. Neal compares the corrupt media circus that the film and novel depict to the Gawker empire. Michael agrees somewhat, but believes that it’s a warning shot and a reminder about the corrupt media at large. Both agree that it’s a sumptuous, exciting, fun, and satirical period piece, with not one wasted scene or one false note. Check it out.
Finally, the hardworking Rachel Llewellyn appears to talk about everything that’s appearing on your streaming services in June. In the widest-ranging conversation in BFG podcast history, they talk about Stranger Things, Jane Austen, Virgin River, various Hollywood Chrises, What We Do In The Shadows, House Party, and more. Oh beautiful for spacious skies, it’s the BFG podcast!
On this week’s BFG podcast, we talk about the hit movie ‘Elvis.’ And also about other movies starring Elvis. And about Elvis in general. It’s Elvis Week! Enjoy the show.
Gillian Gaar joins editor-in-chief Neal Pollack to discuss the history of Elvis biopics. She concludes that the currently Elvis, Austin Butler, is the best screen Elvis. Naturally, she likes 1979’s Kurt Russell Elvis, but Butler gets the nod because he takes the performance into Vegas Elvis and overweight decline Elvis. What a performance. Also, she notes, Kurt Russell was once in an Elvis movie, playing a kid who kicks Elvis in the shins. Who else on Earth gets that distinction? No one!
Stephen Garrett emerges from backstage to discuss the Baz Luhrmann movie ‘Elvis‘. He asks, “Is anyone going to see this movie?” And Neal warns him not to underestimate the passion of Elvis fans. Sure enough, the movie did good box office. Stephen praises the lush production design. Both he and Neal love the music and Butler’s performance. But Tom Hanks as Colonel Tom Parker gets bad reviews. Neal proposes that Hanks get a Razzie nomination. Butler has to be a favorite to get an Oscar nomination. Let it all come true, baby!
Dan Friedman interviews BFG editor Neal Pollack about his new novel satirizing pandemic policies.
I helped Book and Film Globe mark the release of ‘Edge of Safety,’ a new satirical novel by its editor in chief Neal Pollack by reading the book and talking to him about it!
Pollack titled “Edge of Safety” after a ubiquitous edutainment soap opera that dramatizes the dangers of veering from health ministry edicts in the near-future Canada where the novel mostly takes place. The book traces the adventures of happily bourgeois Amelia Stewart and her dog Little Miss Daisy as Amelia evades and engages her employer, an autocratic Health Ministry that mandates lockdowns and markets social distancing regardless of any actual epidemics. She crosses the closed border to the United States, visiting a fourth-term Snoop Dogg-like President and enjoys the ongoing White House parties in the new capital– a domed Phoenix, Arizona.
Neal and I chatted about his experience of “lockdown” in Austin, Texas, where a 15-minute drive one way from his home led to a locked-down ghost town while a similar drive the other way led to a Texas suburb where the pandemic barely disturbed normality. We discussed satire, pandemic rules and how he portrays the leadership of the United States as well as the “Canada of the mind” in a book subtitled “The Very True Story Of How The Citizens Of Canada Had The Courage To Stay Home So No One Ever Died.”
On this week’s BFG Podcast, editor Neal Pollack welcomes Lily Moayeri to town to discuss: Which superhero show should you watch with your kids, Ms. Marvel, or The Boys? The question is ironic and the answer is obvious, but the discussion is not! Lily and Neal both agree that Ms. Marvel is a charming minor-key show for kids, with a charismatic protagonist and some fun comic-book touches. Lily says, “it’s Never Have I Ever, but with superpowers.”
The Boys, on the other hand, is “a lot.” This season of Amazon Prime’s superhero action-satire triples down on the outrageousness, with one of the most disgusting setpieces in TV history within the first five minutes. Then there’s the scene where The Deep eats a live octopus, not to mention Episode 6’s insane “Herogasm” scene. Neal and Lily say: Watch The Boys. Lily warns: Do not binge-watch it, you will go insane.
Back on the lighter side of things, Stephen Garrett pops by to talk about Lightyear, a frothy concoction from Pixar that asks the important question: What was the movie starring Buzz Lightyear that Andy from Toy Story liked. Look, no one needed Lightyear. And it’s highly unlikely that a movie from 1995 would feature a Black lesbian marriage. But both Neal and Stephen agree that it’s always good when a movie features a robot pet.
Daniel Cohen puts down his napkin to come talk about cooking shows with Neal. ‘MasterChef: Back To Win” is first on the menu. Daniel is amazed that so many of the former contestants on MasterChef have found careers in the culinary world. Neal is amazed that so many people actually dream of becoming chefs. And Daniel corrects him by saying, “people dream of becoming TV chefs.” There’s a big difference.
Speaking of TV chefs, don’t sleep on ‘Iron Chef: Quest for An Iron Legend,” now streaming on Netflix. ‘The Chairman’ is in fine form this season, Neal and Daniel agree, and they both like the hosts, Alton Brown and Kristen Kish. But they also both agree that the food, with some notable exceptions, isn’t as spectacular-looking as on the old Iron Chef. And there’s some confusion as to how the show selected some of the Iron Chefs, and how the various entities competing for food TV dollars have constructed their lineups. Who gets to be an Iron Chef, and why?
Enjoy the BFG Podcast. Allez Cuisine!
In this week’s 60th! edition of the BFG podcast, editor Neal Pollack welcomes new contributor Dan Stahl to celebrate Pride Month. In this case, they’re talking about Fire Island, where Dan has spent many a summer day. Now ‘Fire Island‘ is a movie on Hulu, a gay and largely Asian adaptation of ‘Pride and Prejudice.’ And why not? We all need a Mr. Darcy type in our lives.
Then Ayun Halliday makes a celebrated appearance on the show. Ayun has written an excellent guide to making art without attachment to results, financial or otherwise. ‘The Small Potato Manifesto‘ is a wonderful motivator for anyone, of any age, who is thinking of “jamming econo” and making art without much expectation of making money or getting famous. An excellent conversation between two dedicated lifelong small potatoes.
Then Stephen Garrett returns to the BFG stage. He suffered through Jurassic World: Dominion, and has decided that The Flintstones is actually probably a more accurate representation of what life would be like if humans and dinosaurs intermingled. Haven’t we all dreamed of having a dinosaur as a vacuum cleaner? Jurassic World has no such sense of humor
Stephen and Neal then pivot to talking about David Cronenberg’s ‘Crimes of the Future.’ What could be more appealing than listening to two middle-aged men describe Kristen Stewart as “sexy”? The movie headlines itself as “surgery is the new sex,” but it’s actually a profound meditation on human evolution, adaptation, and change. Neal and Stephen loved it, your mileage may vary.
Enjoy the show!
In this week’s astonishing edition of the BFG podcast, editor Neal Pollack destroys passers-by and celebrates what looks to be a legendary summer of pop culture. First it’s the Old Punks segment as Neal welcomes Jim Sullivan to talk about ‘Pistol,’ Danny Boyle’s terrific miniseries about the rise and fall of The Sex Pistols. Jim assures Neal that Malcolm McLaren, who he met in person, really was like that. And Johnny Rotten in the show may not look much like Johnny Rotten, but he sounds and acts like him, and that’s good enough. Sod off, you wankers.
Then it’s Old Nerds on parade, as Rob Kutner and Scott Gold join Neal for a legendary ‘Obi-Wan Kenobi‘ round table. “It’s a Chewie, not a chubby,” Rob says, establishing the high level of discourse right away. Everyone loves sad middle-aged Obi-Wan and everyone agrees that this iteration of Darth Vader is freaking terrifying. The men of BFG also manage to criticize Moses Ingram’s portrayal of Reva, ‘The Third Sister,’ without being racist, which is nice. And Scott closes with a joke about the bounty hunter Bossk that you must hear to believe.
Finally, it’s ‘Stranger Things’ time. Neal is planning to write a ‘Stranger Things’ article, but this season of Stranger Things is twice as long as The Ring Cycle, so it’s taking him a while to get through. He and Chris Lites both like the goings-on in Hawkins, Indiana, with the monster fighting, and find all the side plots distracting and annoying.
SMASH CUT TO AN EGG IN A FRYING PAN.
No, that’s just something that ‘Stranger Things’ does for no reason…every scene. At the BFG Podcast, we’re much more subtle.
SMASH CUT TO A CAR TRUNK SLAMMING WHILE AN 8os SONG PLAYS.
Enjoy the show.
It’s Top Gun: Maverick week at the movies and in the real world. Neal Pollack and Stephen Garrett break down the Tom Cruise Is God vehicle in this week’s BFG podcast. Neal and Stephen both agree that the movie is fun and exciting and a genuine sequel to a movie that inspires more nostalgia than critical acclaim. Maverick is a lot of fun and it definitely is bringing the excitement back to the multiplex.
Our brows then go higher when Chris Lites stops by to talk about the excellent Amazon Prime sci-fi show ‘Outer Range.’ It’s David Lynch meets Lost meets Yellowstone. Sounds good!
Thanks for listening, thanks for reading BFG. We love having you.
In this week’s essential edition of the BFG Week in Review, film critic Stephen Garrett dials in from France, where he’s seen dozens of movies unmasked and generally seems in a good mood. Stephen, who has attended every Cannes since 1996, finds it grimly amusing that the audience applauds an address by the Ukrainian President, and then watches a zombie comedy from the director of ‘The Artist.’ Stephen is having a good time and loving the crowds and the movies. Catch his article about Cannes here.
Most of us, though, are just at home watching TV. Paula Shaffer is watching broadcast TV. She appears on the show to talk about recent network cancellations, including a total house-clearing at the CW, and also renewals. Apparently, broadcast networks still debut a fall slate. Coming soon: a show about what happens after Batman dies, a reboot of Quantum Leap, and two separate shows about middle-aged women having midlife crises while working at newspapers. Newspapers!
Finally, Matt Hanson returns to the podcast to discuss Season 3 of ‘Barry.’ Topics covered include Bill Hader’s odd face, the increasingly dark tone of a show that was once a comedy, and the greatness of the character Noho Hank.
Enjoy the show!
In this week’s shocking and amazing edition of the BFG Week in Review podcast, editor Neal Pollack tackles the topic of abortion. Just what you wanted: To hear Neal Pollack talk about abortion. Well, fortunately, he brings in BFG contributor Paula Shaffer to talk about her article on how TV has handled the topic of unwanted pregnancy over the years. As you might expect, Jane the Virgin takes the crown. Shonda Rimes also gets a passing grade. We’re sure she’ll be relieved to hear that.
Then special guest star Philip Fracassi appears to plug his own terrific AudioHopper podcast, ‘The Dark Word.’ Philip describes what makes his show so good: Listening to writers talk about the nuts and bolts of the publishing business rather than their own divine inspiration. Things veer a bit when Neal starts to ramble about his own publishing successes and failure. Apparently, the publishing business, and the entertainment business in general, are dark and evil because they’ve failed to fully reward his genius. Philip patiently waits for Neal to get back on topic.
Finally, Rachel Llewellyn stops by to chat with Pollack about the ‘Kids In The Hall‘ reboot, now airing on Amazon Prime. Rachel praises the Kids’s ability to craft a show despite their well-chronicled creative differences. Neal marvels at how well they’ve updated a 30-year-old show for modern sensibilities, crafting it around the themes of middle-aged decay while still keeping what made the show so funny and popular in the first place.
We’re crushing your head! Thanks for listening.
What a week it’s been in the culture, and we at BFG are always down to cover developments. Editor-in-chief Neal Pollack welcomes in Stephen Garrett to talk about ‘Dr. Strange in the Multiverse of Madness,’ the only movie. Neal liked it more than Stephen did. But they both agree that the Sam Raimi kitsch horror elements raise this somewhat above the usual superhero movie fare. However, neither of them liked The Scarlet Witch’s search for her children “Billy and Tommy,” the lamest 10-year-olds in movie history. “They sit around all day watching ‘Snow White’?” Stephen says. “What’s up with that?”
Resident Koreaologist William Schwartz stops by the BFG studios to talk about his problems with the Apple+TV series ‘Pachinko,’ based on the popular novel. Schwartz has many specific complains about the show. But most prominently, he says that Pachinko misrepresents Koreans who have emigrated to Japan, many of whom consider themselves Japanese, not Korean. He and Neal get deep in the semantic weeds, and it’s all very interesting.
Then Stephen Garrett returns to trash the ‘Avatar‘ trailer, which he saw at a 3D press screening and Neal saw at a regular old 2D movie. “How are they going to milk five movies out of the world of Pandora?” Stephen wonders. But then he remembers: Never count out James Cameron when it comes to sequels. We all hate Avatar, but we’re all going to see it.
Enjoy the show!
After last week’s smashing Viking-themed content, we return to our regularly-scheduled programming with an excellent edition of the BFG Week in Review. Neal Pollack welcomes back Matthew Ehrlich to talk about ‘The Flight Attendant,’ a show on HBO Max that depicts a fantasy world where airline travel is still glamorous. The Kaley Cuoco star vehicle has entered its second season. “What if they made a sequel to North By Northwest?” Matthew wonders. It is a good question!
Jake Harris enters thunderdome to talk about trouble at Netflix. He and Neal conclude that reports of the streaming giant’s demise are greatly exaggerated. But the era of one-price-fits-all and no commercials is definitely coming to an end. Neal doubts Jake’s premise that the Big Red N is drifting in the direction of interactive video games. Anyone who has played ‘Trivia Quest’ should quickly be able to disabuse consumers of that notion.
Then Jake stays around to discuss the recent controversy over ‘King Tut,’ the Steve Martin 1978 comedy bit that “resurfaced” last week so cultural Twitter would have something to do. Steve Martin is not going anywhere. King Tut is harmless fun, and you have to put it in the context of its times. Most disturbingly, Jake says his parents “hadn’t even started dating” in 1978. Give that Neal was eight years old and listening to that song on the Dr. Demento show, it makes for unsettling news for our BFG editor in chief.
Enjoy the show!
Follow the Bifrost to Valhalla, it’s VIKING WEEK on the Book and Film Globe podcast. Vikings are all the rage in pop culture, and we cover the frozen waterfront.
First, Neal Pollack discusses the arrival of Natalie Portman’s “Lady Thor” to the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Haters are going to hate, but a female Thor is canon now. Not only buff blond men are worthy of wielding the mighty hammer.
Then comes Stephen Garrett with a guttural wolf howl to review ‘The Northman.’ He and Neal both enjoyed the bone-rattling action, and all the “realism” that comes with a naked sword fight at the rim of a volcano. Any movie that features a blind Bjork, a noseless warrior, and Nicole Kidman as a slave/queen is OK with us.
Finally, G.L. Ford sails over to talk about ‘The Last Kingdom.’ Compared with ‘The Northman,’ The Last Kingdom is an episode of Barney and Friends. But it’s also a brutal representation of British/Danish history and certainly has its own library of slit throats and severed limbs.
Viking times were brutal. But they are fun to watch. Please give our delightful Viking episode of the podcast a listen. And play ‘Ja Ja Ding Dong.’ PLAY IT.
In this week’s exciting edition of the BFG Week in Review, Dan Friedman endures Neal Pollack’s rants about how bad most pandemic novels are. Emily St. John Mandel’s ‘Sea of Tranquility‘ is, Friedman says, kind of a weak “étude” in COVID anxiety (in sci-fi form), but he doesn’t find it offensive. Pollack does find it offensive, but somehow the conversation remains friendly.
Meanwhile, Stephen Garrett comes into the pod barn to listen to Pollack make fun of the Fantastic Beasts franchise. Pollack revels in the relative decline of the Harry Potter universe, whereas Garrett calls the new ‘Secrets of Dumbledore‘ a “nothingburger.” It’s all just intellectual property anyway. There are no more good Harry Potter stories.
Ryan Kallberg makes his podcast debut to talk about ‘Halo,’ a show that only exists on Paramount Plus for a small number of people. It’s weird to make a TV show about a sci-fi shooter game that doesn’t contain much shooting. As a ‘Halo‘ fan, ‘Halo’ disappoints Kallberg because it doesn’t contain enough Halo.
‘Tokyo Vice’ on HBO Max doesn’t disappoint him at all, and even though Pollack hates Ansel Elgort, Kallberg reassures him that Tokyo Vice mostly mutes his Elgortitude. However, there is one narrative convention that Kallberg doesn’t like, and that leads to another Pollack rant.
It’s the rantiest episode of the BFG podcast yet! Check it out.
This week on the BFG Week In Review podcast, editor Neal Pollack and film critic Stephen Garrett sound the alarm about Michael Bay’s ‘Ambulance.’ Actually, Stephen liked this big, dumb loud action flick pretty well and the segment includes the added bonus of hearing our contributors try to pronounce the word “ambulance” in Castilian Spanish.
Sharyn Vane is back on the show to talk about “book challenges” and “soft censorship,” two terms that we wish we didn’t have to put into quotes. Regardless, mid-list authors, particularly young-adult novelists, are facing all kinds of resistance from school districts and conservative political groups as they try to get their work out to their audience. BFG will cover this issue as long as it’s going on, so probably forever.
Meanwhile, Scott Gold and Neal spent plenty of time the last couple of weeks watching ‘Moon Knight’on Disney+ and reading old Moon Knight comics, and a supremely nerdy conversation about a pretty good superhero show results. Come for the praise of Ethan Hawke, stay for a mockery of Oscar Isaac’s Cockney accent.
Enjoy!
In this week’s groundbreaking 50th! episode of the BFG Week in Review, editor Neal Pollack welcomes Rachel Llewellyn into the pod dome to talk about the proliferation of lady scammer shows. Rachel posits that it’s easy to turn popular podcast material into drama, and that this is just an IP ploy by streaming services. Regardless, Neal says, these are entertaining shows and movies that will provide award bait and also entertain people of years to come. And then he tries to draw Rachel into a pyramid scheme.
Stephen Garrett appears to discuss the “nothingburger” second-tier movie ‘Morbius‘. In true counterintuitive fashion, Stephen doesn’t hate Morbius as much as other movie critics, but he also says it feels like the first act of a longer story. He also doesn’t agree with Neal that ‘The Lost Boys’ is a vampier movie classic. He much prefers Francis Ford Coppola’s ‘Dracula,’ which just goes to show that being the editor of a pop-culture publication doesn’t mean you have good taste.
We close with a hot disco number from the George Hamilton 1970s vampire comedy ‘Love At First Bite.’ Join us for the world’s sexiest and smartest pop-culture podcast! Fifty episodes, my goodness.
Where were you when Will Smith hit Chris Rock at the Oscars?
An Emergency Episode of the Book and Film Globe Podcast.
In this week’s exciting edition of the BFG Week in Review podcast, we do not cover last night’s Oscar ceremony. That’s coming soon in what we like to call a “Special Edition” of the show. However, we do cover other things ongoing in a culture, and there are a lot of them.
First, William Schwartz stops by the Pod Dome to discuss why politician Stacey Abrams plays an idealized version of herself in the season finale of ‘Star Trek: Discovery.’ When celebrities appear on shows, it should be goofy, not lionizing. Both Schwartz and host Neal Pollack lament that Star Trek no longer occupies the central place in our culture that it once did. What was once seamlessly progressive is just another woke signpost.
A wild Stephen Garrett appears to talk with Neal about many movies, including ‘The Lost City,‘ which he found goofy fun at first but ultimately kind of a drag, and the Nicolas Cage vehicle, ‘The Unbearable Weight Of Massive Talent,’ which both he and Neal found appropriately meta, pretty funny, and not too annoying. Meanwhile the erotic thriller ‘Deep Water,’ an adaptation of a Patricia Highsmith novel,comes in for a massive roasting. Neal has special fun with one of the screenwriters, Zach Helm, who once wrote a manifesto talking about how he’d never compromise his artistic values. And now he writes a late-era Adrian Lyne thriller about a wife who bites penises.
Finally, Daniel Cohen returns to the cast to talk about food. He laments that this season of ‘Top Chef’doesn’t have any noticeable villains, though there have been several entertaining eliminations, including a chef making Asian food who has clearly never made Asian food before, and a guy trying to make vindaloo for Padma Lakshmi. Bonus content: They discuss Guy Fieri’s ‘Tournament Of Champions.’ Cooking competitions are a universe onto themselves, and we cover them hungrily at BFG.
On this week’s BFG Week in Review, editor Neal Pollack welcomes Rachel Llewellyn to deconstruct the ‘Turning Red‘ discourse. Rachel talks about the online controversy surrounding the movie and also praises its hybrid 2D/3D animation style. Hopefully Neal and Rachel don’t say anything offensive while comparing ‘Turning Red’ with other Pixar movies and with ‘Teen Wolf.’
Then it’s time for Omar Gallaga to make his first podcast appearance in a good long while. Neal and Omar were both at opening night of South By Southwest in Austin, where they took in the world premiere screening of ‘Everything Everywhere All At Once.’ They found the hot-dog fingers very moving. And they are both curious to see how the world at large accepts this strange A24 genre mashup. After all, SXSW could debut a two-hour video of a paperclip on a desk and people would give it a standing ovation.
Meanwhile, Omar caught Jenny Slate’s animated feature, ‘Marcel the Shell with Shoes On,’ and says that there were people sobbing in the theater. Let’s not get carried away, people, but Omar says this movie is a funny and moving meditation on loss and divorce and traffic.
Meanwhile, out in the world, both Neal and Omar realize that we haven’t yet fully returned to 100 percent to pre-pandemic norms. The last time they convened the festival, more than 75,000 people attended. Omar says this year the number was half that. On the one hand, we like it because it means more SXSW for the rest of us. On the other hand…well, there is no other hand. Enjoy the show!
In this week’s exciting BFG podcast, editor Neal Pollack welcomes in Michael Washburn, and together they take the bold stance that banning Russian authors is bad. Washburn points out, in the fact of a recent attempt to cancel a Dostoyevsky course, that Dostoyevsky himself was an anti-authoritarian who risked his life and career to oppose censorship. We know which side he’d be on today.
Our contributor Lani Gonzalez comes on over to graciously listen to Neal rant for 20 minutes about the greatness of ‘Abbott Elementary‘, an ABC school sitcom. Both express some skepticism over the “fake documentary” format but really enjoy the show’s depiction of the lives of teachers, in a time when teachers face a lot of political pressure from all sides.
The most incisive cultural commentary anywhere, plus cool music. What more could you want from a podcast? Nothing, we say!
In this week’s groundbreaking edition of the BFG Week in Review Podcast, editor Neal Pollack welcomes Michael Washburn to discuss why, 100 years after its publication, ‘Ulysses‘ still generates controversy. Then Neal and Michael discover they both participated in the same Bloomsday reading of ‘Ulysses’ in 2001. In Philadelphia. It’s a small, small world.
Adam Hirschfelder, our Taylor Sheridan correspondent, pops by to give his assessment of ‘1883‘, the historical extension of the ‘Yellowstone’ extended universe. Neal and Adam agree that the Western is back, and that Sheridan is tapping into something primal and popular in American taste. Adam also has lots of praise for the star-making turn of Isabel May, who plays the season’s heroine.
Stephen Garrett heeds the signal and joins Neal to talk about ‘The Batman,’ which he praises for its atmospherics and semi-fresh take on the Caped Crusader, though he does think it’s too long. Neal is not so hot for this Batman. He prefers dumb, fun Batman. To each their Bat-own, we say.
See you next week, same BFG time, same BFG channel.
In this week’s thrilling and amazing editing of the BFG Week in Review Podcast, old white guys Neal Pollack and Stephen Garrett unpack the intergenerational trauma of Disney’s Colombia-set ‘Encanto.’ Stephen enjoyed the clever wordplay of the Lin-Manuel Miranda lyrics, but Neal thought the movie was just plain bad. However, Neal is pretty much certain it’s going to win the Oscar for Best Animated Picture. Stephen prefers ‘The Millers Vs. The Machines,’ which seems like a long shot.
They also talk about ‘Flee,’ a very interesting animated documentary from Scandinavia about a gay Afghan refugee. It also received an Oscar nomination. You can’t ask for two different types of movies, which shows that, once again, the animated category is more interesting and culturally relevant than the live action one.
Speaking of animation, BFG contributor Rachel Llewellyn stops by the ol’ podcast barn to talk about #Bendergate, the cause of John DiMaggio, the man who voices Bender on ‘Futurama,’ which is about to get new episodes on Hulu. DiMaggio is refusing to do the voice unless they pay him more. Rachel draws comparisons between this struggle and the recent near-strike by Hollywood industrial employees. It takes more than actors, directors, and producers to make our beloved content. BFG stands with the front line! Or at least covers it.
Finally, JonPaul Guinn makes his debut appearance on this podcast, or any podcast, to talk about ‘Reacher,’ the new adaptation on Amazon Prime of the adventures of novelist Lee Child’s popular ex-military investigator, and current headbreaker, angel of vengeance, and “gentleman hobo.” JP is a fan of the Reacher books, and he’s a fan of this TV show. You will be too, and you’re certainly a fan of this podcast.
Thank you for listening!
In this week’s exciting edition of the Book and Film Globe Week in Review podcast, editor Neal Pollack asks the important question: Why do we enjoy watching shows that eliminate chefs? Contributor Daniel Cohen stops by to ponder the answer, and concludes that we all have to make dinner every night, and cooking competitions are almost like fantasy football. Meanwhile, Neal and Dan make fun of the new Gordon Ramsay show ‘Next Level Chef,’ which is almost like Ramsay on Xanax. You get the sense that he really doesn’t care if the turbot on the descending platform makes it down to the basement kitchen.
But before all that nonsense, Neal welcomes Paula Shaffer to talk about the disastrous Hulu miniseries ‘Pam & Tommy,’ which grossly underserves the abuse that Pamela Anderson had to endure, and also strangely focuses on Seth Rogen’s handyman character over the two more glamorous leads. Then there’s the strange case of Tommy Lee’s penis, one of the oddest missteps and screenwriting choices in TV history. Paula concludes that the show is just “wrong.”
But there’s nothing wrong about the new season of Ozark. TV critic Matthew Ehrlich says the characters and relationships are deeper than ever before, the pathos more pathetic, and the action more tense now that the story of the money-laundering Byrde family is moving toward its probably unhappy conclusion. And both Neal and Matthew have lots of praise for Julia Garner, the show’s breakout star.
Reader…you have been Chopped. Enjoy the podcast show!
In this week’s very nuanced Book and Film Globe Week in Review podcast, editor Neal Pollack and Canadian correspondent Jamie Mason examine the Joe Rogan controversy. You see, crime writer Don Winslow responded to The Rock issuing a statement of support for Rogan. Winslow pointed out that Rogan has a history of using the N-Word. Then Twitter pointed out that Winslow has a history of using the N-Word. Neal and Jamie both conclude that censorship is bad and we should ban no speech, whether people deploy it artistically or not. And then the conversation turns to Canadian politics, in a first for the BFG podcast. Apparently, there’s a lot of liberal intolerance for opposing views in Canada. We stand on guard for there.
Then following a charming musical interlude, Sara Stewart and Stephen Garrett stop by the ol’ conversation barn to offer up their takes, along with Neal, on this year’s Oscar nominations. Sara laments the lack of female directors nominated, despite the fact that Jane Campion is probably going to win. Neal laments ‘The Power of the Dog’ in general. Stephen remains somewhat upbeat about the whole affair and defends the nomination of ‘Don’t Look Up’. But mostly, Sara just finds it disappointing that ‘Barb and Star Go To Vista del Mar’ has eluded the Academy for yet another year.
Stephen sticks around to talk to Neal about ‘Death on the Nile,’ which he really liked, particularly the origin story of Hercule Poirot’s legendary mustache. Neal remains skeptical of the new version’s star power, given that the old one featured Bette Davis and David Niven. Stephen points out that those actors were really long in the tooth by then and that the cast of the Kenneth Branagh version is quite a bit fresher. But they both agree that ‘Murder By Death’ is the greatest whodunnit of them all. Or at least Neal does.
Enjoy our marvelous show!
In this week’s exciting edition of the BFG Week in Review podcast, Neal Pollack expresses his disdain for the work of Julian Fellowes. He and contributor Matthew Ehrlich do a little Google search and cannot figure out whether or not Fellowes is gay or just very British. Regardless, his new HBO show ‘The Gilded Age‘ is a real turkey. Matthew pans the acting, writing, and costumes. He closes his segment with a dramatic comparison between The Gilded Age and the 1986 “gay porn classic” The Pizza Boy: He Delivers.
Then Rachel Llewellyn stops by the podcast hamlet to talk with Neal about ‘The Woman In The House Across The Street From The Girl In The Window,’ starring Kristen Bell. The show has people wondering: Is it a parody of bad “mom in peril” novels from the last decade? Or Netflix crime procedurals? Of both? Does it actually take itself seriously? Neal admitted that he was unable to watch all eight episodes but still got the gist. He and Rachel both found themselves vaguely interested in tuning into the inevitable Season 2.
Finally, Sara Stewart comes in to talk about Jackass Forever. There’s something quite touching, she says, watching this worse-for-the-wear crew continue to hurtle itself into oblivion and hit themselves in the nuts. Mortality is near, and they are still hilarious. However, she does think that the Jackass franchise should re-examine how it treats animals. Fair enough.
Enjoy the show!
In this week’s (40th!) Book and Film Globe Week In Review podcast, editor Neal Pollack welcomes not one, but two film critics who are attending the virtual Sundance film festival. Stephen Garrett misses the crowds and the fanfare, but enjoyed holing up with a friend in upstate New York and watching 27 movies in five days. Sara Stewart doesn’t miss the real festival at all and says that despite its reputation as a downer this year, Sundance actually is the same celebration of indie film that it always is.
The conversation turns to documentaries, like W. Kamau Bell’s four-hour exploration of the sinister legacy of Bill Cosby, and Evan Rachel Wood’s exploration of her abuse at the hands of Marilyn Manson. Those docs got most of the buzz at Sundance, but don’t sleep on cool, innovative features, say Sara and Stephen, like ‘Emergency’ and ‘Blood.’ There’s also a film where Sebastian Stan is a cannibal who only eats women.
Speaking of eating women, Paula Shaffer stops by the wheelhouse to talk about the hit Showtime series ‘Yellowjackets’, which remembers a time when teenage girls turned into cannibals after plane crashes because they didn’t have cell phones. Paula says Yellowjackets deserves all the hype, and praises the performances both of the adult performers and the teenager performers. It’s ‘Lost’ for a new generation, combined with ‘It,’ and hopefully they’ll wrap it all up smoothly.
Rob Kutner appears to talk about the John Cena superhero comedy series ‘Peacemaker,’ and has mostly good things to say about the series’ rapid-fire humor and mostly good-natured shaggy dog attitude. Plus, Neal cannot stop talking about the show’s theme song, as performed by the Swedish band Wig Wam. Do you really wanna taste this podcast? You know you do.
In this week’s record-setting 39th episode of the Book and Film Globe Week in Review podcast, Neal Pollack welcomes renowned Star Wars geek Scott Gold to talk about ‘The Book of Boba Fett‘. Neal and Scott, both of whom are still eight years old, are loving the extended looks that the series gives the rancor, the Tusken Raiders, the Twi’leks, and so much more. Scott marvels at how good Jennifer Beals, hidden from us all those years, still looks. And they both praise Temuera Morrison’s fantastic performance as Boba Fett, the man himself. They’re more divided on the space Vespa-riding “mods,’ who seem transplanted from another franchise, but let’s not forget that, at its core, this is a series for children.
Speaking of not for children, Stephen Garrett comes by to talk about Joel Coen’s ‘The Tragedy of Macbeth,’ which no children are watching unless their parents are especially brutal home-school tyrants. Stephen has nice things to say about the performances and the occasional strokes of cinematographic genius. But this Macbeth often feels like Shakespeare by the numbers at best. And at worst, it aesthetically resembles a 1980s TV perfume ad.
Finally, Paula Shaffer steps into the podcast box to eviscerate the new Hulu sitcom ‘How I Met Your Father,’ which is like How I Met Your Mother, only without the star power, catchphrases, or good jokes. This will almost certainly not join the ranks of sitcom legend.
Surprisingly, though, ‘Ghosts‘ on CBS has a better shot at longevity. This year’s most popular new sitcom is about a bunch of wacky historical ghosts who haunt a millennial couple that inherit an old house. Paula praises the show’s goofy, sweet charms, and she loves its star, Rose McIver.
Let our podcast haunt you for days! Or at least for a half house. Thanks for listening.
In this week’s groundbreaking episode of the BFG Week in Review, editor Neal Pollack welcomes writer Kristin Clifford to discuss the meta-meta ‘Scream‘ reboot. Or is it ‘Stab’? Regardless, Kristin attended a sold-out opening-night showing in Los Angeles. Fans were cheering when their favorite characters appeared. Pop culture is not dead, and either are the movies, apparently.
Meanwhile, everyone, even now people on the coasts, has now seen ‘Yellowstone.’ Adam Hirschfelder, from Marin County, California, has been skiing in Montana. So he’s the perfect choice to review the most popular TV show in America. Yellowstone’s over-the-top family melodrama and endless rodeo scenes really impress Adam. It may not be “woke,” but it presents the lives on Montana Native Americans and Black cowboys on the universe’s largest ranch with intelligence and nuance.
Jamie Mason stops our podcast ranch by to talk about Neal’s favorite topic, Cobra Kai. Themes of personal honor and integrity are key to martial-arts culture, and the latest installment in the endless Karate Kid saga addresses those themes head-on. How is this show even possible? Plus the martial-arts scenes are good and realistic.
Enjoy!
In this week’s undeniably exciting BFGWeek in Review, renowned book critic Carolyn Kellogg joins Neal Pollack to talk about the posthumous Norman Mailer controversy, wherein Random House strangely pulled a Mailer book at the 11th hour, sending it over to a conservative pres. Carolyn refers to the second half of Harlot’s Ghost as a great book, and says that even when she didn’t agree with Mailer’s outrageous opinions, he always gave her something interesting to argue about. She also marvels at how Joyce Carol Oates always seems to be on the absolute wrong side of every Twitter controversy. It’s almost like a superpower. Neal, as usual, boldly states that all censorship is wrong.
Then William Schwartz swings by the BFG podcast barn to talk about the discourse surrounding ‘Don’t Look Up.’ This is the rare movie where what’s actually in the movie matters less than the discussion around it. Both Neal and William marvel at the strange bedfellows lining up to either praise or disparage Don’t Look Up. Traditional categories of high and low, left- and right-wing don’t apply here. William concludes that Don’t Look Up may be a more potent conversation piece than usual because Adam McKay put it on Netflix, where everyone can watch it more or less for free, and forever.
Finally, Nellie Kuh visits Neal in the House of Sad, as they both lament losing more than $150,000 each to James Holzhauer, Trivia Crusher of Dreams, on the ABC game show The Chase. Both Neal and Nellie are driving discount cars in the slow lane today, but they offer all kinds of insight on what it takes to make it to the game-show spotlight, and what it takes to win.
It’s the greatest entertainment podcast on Earth. Enjoy!
In this extraordinary edition of the BFG podcast, the first of 2022, editor Neal Pollack reveals, for the first time, that he didn’t really like ‘The Power of the Dog.’ Well, actually, it’s the third time. But our critic Sara Stewart did like the Jane Campion revisionist Western. She places it on her list of the best movies of last year. Other winners include BFG favorites ‘Dune,’ ‘Pig,’ ‘West Side Story,’ and ‘Barb and Star Go To Vista del Mar.’ Sara concludes that people will continue to “assess risk” when deciding whether or not they’re going to the movies. Neal doesn’t care about such things and will continue to see whatever, whenever. But they both love movies, and so do we.
Meanwhile, semi-professional game-show contestants Neal Pollack and Daniel Cohen talk about the craziest year in Jeopardy!’s history. The year began, they remind us, with Alex Trebek still officially hosting the show. After months of gut-wrenching scandal and court intrigue, the show finally settled down as some of the best contestants in its history began rattling off incredible win streaks. Neal and Daniel have watched it all and have the full summary.
Meanwhile, there are few bigger fans of ‘The Witcher’ than Scott Gold, who has played more than 400 hours of the video games on which Netflix has based its fantasy franchise. Neal has watched some of the show, so he lets Scott do the gushing, and explain why some fans aren’t thrilled with developments in Season 2. However, they both agree that Henry Cavill gives one of the most legendary performances in fantasy history. That man IS The Witcher. Toss him a coin.
Enjoy the show!
There’ll be much mistletoeing, And hearts will be glowing, And podcast hosts will be all-knowing. That’s right, America, it’s the most wonderful time of the year and editor in chief Neal Pollack’s got you covered. The world’s best writers on books, film and quality tv have weighed in with their best of 2021 lists.
In condensed episode #035 of the Book and Film Globe podcast, Neal starts the conversation with Sharyn Vane, who covered “The Year in Censorship” for the site. Sadly, there was an abundance of source material here, with a slew of books facing the wrath of the closed-minded—up a discouraging 60 percent in just a year.
Early in 2021, according to Vane, the estate of Dr. Seuss revealed early this year that “it would no longer publish six of the legendary children’s author’s early books because they contained ‘hurtful and wrong’ content.’ By Fall, challenges were mounted against Angie Thomas’ The Hate U Give, Laurie Halse Anderson’s Speak and Alex Gino’s Melissa (formerly George), Ashley Hope Pérez’s Out of Darkness, Jonathan Evison’s Lawn Boy, Maia Kobabe’s Gender Queer, and George M. Johnson’s All Boys Aren’t Blue.
Then BFG pod regular Stephen Garrett joins Neal to discuss a movie that seems to have gone entirely off the rails. Garrett reveals why he awarded The Matrix: Resurrections’ a paltry one-star review. He cites not just the unforgivable absence of Laurence Fishburne (Morpheus) Hugo Weaving (nefarious A.I. program Agent Smith) but also the alarming number of predictable cliches: “Among the film’s exhausting cinematic callbacks: our heroes will run up the walls while shooting guns, unloading bucketloads of ammo. Most of the villains will have bad aim, and [director Lana] Wachowski will use slo-mo with impunity.”
In this week’s edition of the BFG Week in Review Podcast, our loud editor Neal Pollack welcomes sci-fi correspondent Dan Friedman to review the year’s best science-fiction novels. Not only was it a good year for sci-fi, but it was also a diverse year for sci-fi, a genre that keeps expanding its reach. Neal expresses skepticism about reading a sci-fi verse novel in the dialect of the Orkney Islands, but Dan encourages him to eat his vegetables.
From vegetables straight to dessert, Stephen Garrett pops in to talk about Spider-Man: No Way Home. He enjoyed the latest offering from the Marvel Cinematic Universe. You’d have to be dead inside not to enjoy it. But Stephen wonders if this is how it’s going to be from now on, endless iterations of the same character played by interchangeable actors in an infinite number of interchangeable settings. “Welcome to comic books,” Neal says.
Finally, Kathy O’Neill makes an appearance to warn about the new Sex and the City episodes, titled ‘And Just Like That.’ She’s more than faintly embarrassed that she and her girlfriends once thought this show was cool. No one is thinking that anymore, that’s for sure. “It’s so bad,” Kathy says, as we all mourn what we’ve lost.
Enjoy the show!
In this week’s suspenseful and brilliant episode of the BFG Week in Review Podcast, editor Neal Pollack welcomes first-time guest Philip Fracassi, who runs down a terrific year for horror fiction. A horror writer himself, Fracassi covers the community for BFG, and he’s amazed both by the prolific genre writers who brought out new stuff this year and also a new wave of diverse authors who are transforming this genre. It’s a Horrorsance! And we’re covering it all at BFG.
Then here comes Stephen Garrett, loving up Steven Spielberg’s ‘West Side Story,’ which, despite its lack of box-office success, is getting lots of praise from critics. Garrett is no exception. He praises the dancing, the score, and fabulous performances from Mike Faist and Ariana DeBose.
Then William Schwartz returns to the podcast to chat with Neal about ‘The Expanse,’ which has just launched its sixth season on Amazon Prime. Schwartz and Pollack both love The Expanse for its action, grittiness, and complex political narrative. Schwartz also points out that The Expanse has a far more realistic view of politics and the military than Star Trek, which can seem over-optimistic and naive by comparison.
So watch ‘The Expanse,’ go see ‘West Side Story,’ and read horror fiction. And listen to the podcast! You will be a pop-culture-saturated citizen of the Milky Way.
In this week’s essential episode of the Book and Film Globe Week in Review podcast, editor Neal Pollack calls the new Jane Campion revisionist Western, ‘The Power of the Dog,’ “sour and misanthropic.” Film critic Stephen Garrett has nicer things to say about the movie, praising Campion for her gorgeous Montana landscapes and for her ability to juggle a variety of well-written characters. It’s also interesting, he says to see a female director’s take on “toxic masculinity.” He cannot turn Neal, though, and they both mock the movie’s over-used “repressed gay cowboy tropes.” “I’m gonna oil my rope and give you my rope,” Stephen says. Long live Bronco Henry!
Chris Farnsworth visits the ol’ podcast ranch for a discussion of the year in comics, highlighting great new series in the Eternals, Watchmen, and Sandman universe. He and Neal also discuss the delightful new Marvel TV show ‘Hawkeye‘ on Disney+, based on a comic-book series that Chris also read, and they’re both glad to see the “Pizza Dog” finally make his screen debut.
Then Matthew Ehrlich makes his podcast debut to discuss why no one on Succession is likable. Mathew also endures a long-ish Neal Pollack rant about why no one on Curb Your Enthusiasm is wearing masks, even though it’s set in pandemic-era Los Angeles and takes place mostly in restaurants, doctor’s offices, and airports. Very curious!
It’s a great podcast episode, please listen, thank you.
In this week’s thrilling edition of the Book and Film Globe Week in Review, editor Neal Pollack welcomes Ayun Halliday to talk about ‘Our Country Friends,‘ the new novel from Gary Shteyngart. This first real COVID-19 novel isn’t about the virus at all, but is, instead, a juicy comedy of manners about fancy art-type people trying to escape New York City. Ayun highly recommends this book, an homage to Anton Chekhov that is also very much of the moment.
Stephen Garrett pops by to talk about two new movies. First up, ‘House of Gucci,’ a tonal mess and total disappointment from Ridley Scott. It can’t decide whether to be a serious family business drama or some sort of camp classic. So it ends up being neither. But ‘Licorice Pizza,’ directed by Paul Thomas Anderson, comes with Stephen’s highest recommendation. This tale of young love in the early 1970s evokes the glories of the San Fernando Valley in much sweeter mode than ‘Boogie Nights‘.
Then it’s TV time with Paula Shaffer, who at least has gotten to see the Amazon Prime adaptation of the high-fantasy novel series ‘The Wheel of Time.’ Paula read the books while she was recovering from COVID. Now she’s well again and liking the show well enough. Neal is watching it too, and he thinks it’s ridiculous. But that’s what makes ‘Lord of the Rings’ knock-off horse races.
Enjoy the show!
In this week’s exciting edition of the Book and Film Globe Week in Review, editor Neal Pollack bravely addresses his longstanding one-sided literary rivalry with author Dave Eggers. Contributor Raymond Cummings has no such baggage and is able to discuss Eggers’s new novel, ‘The Every,’ with a degree of neutrality. Cummings finds The Every to be an exciting dystopian satire that has a lot to say about how we interact with ourselves and our corporate masters, both online and off.
From the once and future Vonnegut to the actual Vonnegut. Ayun Halliday calls in to discuss the wonderful new Kurt Vonnegut documentary ‘Unstuck In Time,’ which features long-buried footage of the literary master as well as tremendously funny and revelatory interviews with his family. This long-awaited tribute to one of our greatest writers won’t disappoint fans, and Halliday, as a fellow Hoosier, has many special connections to Vonnegut.
Film critic Stephen Garrett has no particular special connection to Ghostbusters, but he liked ‘Ghostbusters: Afterlife‘ fairly well, even though it’s an oversentimentalized mess that can’t quite determine what it’s doing. It’s an affectionate tribute to a long-standing piece of popular culture, featuring a digitized Harold Ramis who leaves everyone feeling verklempt.
Who you gonna call? Book and Film Globe!
In this week’s record-setting 29th episode of the Book and Film Globe Week in Review podcast, Neal Pollack talks about Neal Stephenson (no relation) with Dan Friedman (also no relation). Stephenson tackles the subject of climate change in his latest semi-speculative novel ‘Termination Shock.’ One of the results of climate change, Stephenson posits, will be the evolution of man-eating feral hogs in Texas. Pollack says “that’s just another Saturday night at the bars down here.”
Stephen Garrett and his terrible Irish accent stop by to talk about ‘Belfast‘, Kenneth Branagh’s artsy black-and-white Oscar contending film. Stephen praises the movie for Branagh’s subtle character writing and ability to work with actors, not so much for the cinematography.
Finally, Sara Stewart talks about Kristen Stewart (no relation) playing Princess Diana in the new art-house movie ‘Spencer‘. From Twilight to Lady Di, Kristen Stewart has come a long way. The camera loves her in this movie, and so did both Sara and Neal.
Goodbye, England’s rose. Hello, podcast! Thanks for listening.
In this groundbreaking episode of the Book and Film Globe Week in Review Podcast, editor-in-chief Neal Pollack takes his usual bold stand against censorship. Whether you’re warning parents about Beloved or pulling Lord of the Flies from shelves because it promotes the patriarchy or just plain sending threatening letters to Texas school boards, censoring what kids read in school is wrong.
Then here comes Stephen Garrett to talk with Neal about ‘Eternals,’ the latest Marvel movie that Neal calls “a legendary turkey.” Stephen praises the mega-inclusive casting, but agrees that the movie is overlong and a tonal mess. Together, they come to the conclusion that the movie is definitely bad but occasionally harmless fun.
Finally, William Schwartz stops by to talk about his successful piece on the Netflix animated show ‘Inside Job,’ which is ostensibly about conspiracy theories but doesn’t actually seem to know much about conspiracy theories.
Please give this episode a whirl, it will take you 30 minutes and you will be happy! Thank you, the management.
In this week’s thrilling edition of the Book and Film Globe Week In Review Podcast, editor-in-chief Neal Pollack puts his irrational anti-Jonathan Franzen bias aside to absorb Ted McClelland’s glowing review of Franzen’s new novel ‘Crossroads.’ As a middle-aged Midwestern Protestant man, Ted stands right in Franzen’s bullseye for this first book in a proposed trilogy called “The Key to All Mythologies.”
Stephen Garrett makes his weekly appearance, this week talking about Edgar Wright’s ‘Last Night in Soho,’ a stylish but empty thriller that deconstructs the mythos of Swinging London. Didn’t Austin Powers do that already? Neal manages to get a dig in at Lily James’s Southern accent in ‘Baby Driver,’ something he’s been waiting to do for a long time.
Finally, Sara Stewart stops by to reminisce with Neal about the golden days of journalistic expense accounts as they talk about Wes Anderson’s cinematic homage to the classic New Yorker Magazine, ‘The French Dispatch.’ Neal and Sara also add many sentences to the growing Timotheé Chalamet discourse.
Enjoy the podcast show!
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In this week’s brief but thrilling edition of the Book and Film Globe Week in Review podcast, Neal Pollack and Stephen Garrett talk about movies! Yes, it’s two white guys talking about movies. You don’t get that anywhere else. Stephen Garrett loves the new version of ‘Dune.’ It’s epic and gripping and even occasionally funny. He recommends you see it on the big screen. Don’t watch it on your phone!
Neal grapples with ‘Titane.’ On the one hand, it’s gross and weird and tense. On the other hand, there’s never been another movie quite like it. Again, it’s probably a film you should see on the big screen if possible.
Then Paula Shaffer stops into the podcast zone to talk with Neal about the miraculous Mel Brooks sequel to History of the World Part 1. Neal and Paula agree that History of the World Part 1 isn’t even that good, but there’s also nothing quite like it. History of the World Part 2 is certain to save the dying art of comedy.
It slices, it dices, it fills your heart with love. It’s the Book and Film Globe week in review podcast!
In this week’s electric episode of The Book and Film Globe Week in Review podcast, editor Neal Pollack welcomes sometimes guest editor Sharyn Vane to talk about the insane trend of parents trying to ban books that are not about pedophilia–but which they claim are about pedophilia–from school reading lists. This is a strange and disturbing trend that we’ll continue to cover.
Then first-time contributor Matt Brown joins Neal to talk about the ludicrous hagiographical documentary ‘Fauci’, now airing on Disney+. Neal asks Matt if he’ll be staying away from family during the holidays as the doctor suggests. That seems unlikely.
Dave Chappelle continues to linger in the news, and Neal speaks with contributor Michael Patrick Welch about Chappelle’s new special ‘The Closer.‘ Michael, who runs a restaurant in the New Orleans area, says that Chappelle’s supposedly controversial views about transgendered people actually resonate with his customers.
Finally, G.L. Ford appears to talk about the Netflix show ‘Maid,’ and he and Neal both agree that though Maid can sometimes be painful to watch, it’s also one of the best shows ever made about the difficulties of being poor in America, especially when you’re a parent.
This is a great episode (our 25th!) that deserves your ears. Thanks for listening!
In this week’s death-defying episode of The BFG Week in Review Podcast, editor-in-chief Neal Pollack dies while reading the Booker Prize novels so you don’t have to. Always literary, never fun, the Booker novels inspire Neal to great vitriol, especially this year’s entry that summons the beginning of its story with the words “Come, dust.”
Then it’s time to talk about movies with BFG chief film critic Stephen Garrett, who this week reviews the finally-arrived James Bond movie, ‘No Time To Die.’ Stephen admires the film’s technical skill and feels like it gives Daniel Craig an appropriate Bond sendoff. But, he warns, you might need a flowchart to keep track of all the plot strands at the end of this extended five-film cycle. At times, maybe this Bond needs a little more genuine cheek and fewer forced one-liners.
Then Matt Hanson stops by the BFG podcast hut to talk about ‘The Many Saints of Newark.’ As a Sopranos-head from way back, Matt finds this prequel movie disappointing and unfocused. It spends way too much time on a hard-to-believe doomed love affair. While the Sopranos broke the mob-movie mold, this one lingers too much on cliché and leans too hard on mannerisms.
Finally, Elijah Pollack, son of editor, comes home to tell dad about ‘Squid Game,’ the TV show sweeping the world with visions of people playing childhood games to the death. Elijah loves Squid Game. Everyone loves Squid Game. But he admits that he probably wouldn’t be very good at the Squid Game himself, because he’s not very coordinated.
Listen to the show. You will like it!
In this week’s exciting edition of the Book and Film Globe Week In Review Podcast, editor Neal Pollack welcomes contributor and fellow novelist Chris Farnsworth to discuss ‘Cloud Cuckoo Land,’ the new book from bestselling novelist Anthony Doerr. Chris loves this big fat book. While Neal says he’s sick of books that imply we’re all connected along gossamer strands of time, Chris disagrees and says, you’ll like this one, I swear. It’s a masterpiece.
Venom: Let There Be Carnage is no masterpiece, says our chief film critic Stephen Garrett. But it’s good light family fun, at least for families with older kids. It definitely corrects some of the grim tonal mistakes of the first movie in the Venom series. Any movie where Woody Harrelson plays a psychopath is a good movie!
Neal Pollack does not like the Apple+ adaptation of Isaac Asimov’s Foundation books. He finds the show slow, grim, pretentious, and flat. Hard pass for everyone.
But Pablo Gallaga does like Midnight Mass, on Netflix, this season’s Halloween offering from the creator of The Haunting of Hill House and The Haunting of Bly Manor. It’s a creepy island-set thriller that encourages everyone to go to church. But the Book and Film Globe Week in Review Podcast with Neal Pollackis your church. Thanks for listening
On this week’s fabulous edition of the Book and Film Globe Week in Review podcast, Neal Pollack welcomes Sharyn Vane to talk about censorship….again. Schools in Ohio and Pennsylvania and Texas are bringing in elected officials, and, in some cases, the police, to control what teenagers are reading. Unsurprisingly, Sharyn and Neal think this trend needs to stop.
Then Rachel Llewellyn stops by to talk about the new biopic, ‘The Eyes of Tammy Faye.’ While Rachel has good things to say about Jessica Chastain’s all-out performance as Tammy Faye Bakker Messner, she says the movie both sugarcoats Tammy Faye’s opinions about the gay community while also not really delving into the Christian spirit that animated her words and actions. It’s a complex analysis by a complex writer about a complex person trapped in a simplistic film.
Samuel Porteous braves the time difference from Shanghai, China, to talk to Neal about the vast new realities of our pop culture’s obsession with multiverses. Sam goes all the way back to the comics of the 1960s, when DC Comics. first posited the existence of alternate realities, and finds the multiverse’s roots in actual science. He concludes this can all only end in a DC-Marvel battle royale.
Finally, Adam Hirschfelder has sacrificed his brain and his time to watching the Netflix show ‘Clickbait.’ It’s like an afterschool special about the dangers of the Internet, written by someone from 20 years ago. Adam couldn’t get enough of the show, naturally.
And you won’t be able to get enough of this podcast. Enjoy!
In this week’s wondrous edition of the Book and Film Globe Week in Review podcast, editor Neal Pollack welcomes in our film-critic exiles from the Toronto International Film Festival. Sara Stewart stops by to ponder the strange casting decision to have 27-year-old Ben Platt reprise his Broadway role in the movie adaptation of the teen-suicide musical ‘Dear Evan Hansen.’ Like so many critics, Stewart left the movie a little less sympathetic to modern teenagers, though she did like supporting performances from Kaitlyn Dever and Amandla Stenberg.
Then Stephen Garrett returns to the podcast to report that Denis Villenueve’s adaptation of ‘Dune’ is about as good as possible. He urges you to see it on an IMAX screen if at all possible. Stephen also gives a lengthy report on several other Toronto International Film Festival offerings, including the Indian movie ‘Dug Dug,’ which, as Neal astutely points out, the filmmakers did not adapt from the 198os video game ‘Dig Dug.’
Finally, Scott Gold enters the chat to talk about the long-awaited TV adaptation of the apocalyptic comic book ‘Y: The Last Man.’ Scott praises for the show but wishes it retained some of the absurdist humor of the comic. As the last two male critics on Earth, Neal and Scott are in agreement there.
This week, editor-in-chief Neal Pollack welcomes Art Edwards to talk about the new Colson Whitehead period crime novel, ‘Harlem Shuffle‘. Edwards acknowledges Whitehead’s immense gifts but wonders if the hype outreaches the content on this book. He’s disappointed in the low-stakes vibe of the plot, and feels like the book is mostly atmosphere, no sizzle.
Then Neal celebrates the box-office success of ‘Shang Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings,’ emphasizing that it’s safe to go to the movies and always has been. Despite attempts to keep the population in a state of current COVID anxiety, stadiums and movie theaters are full, let’s not lock down again.
Finally, William Schwartz stops by Podcast Central to talk about ‘Nine Perfect Strangers,’ the Hulu show that resembles, but in the end is nothing like the hit ‘The White Lotus.’ And he and Neal have a lot of fun with the weird new Amazon Prime ‘Cinderella‘ movie, which talks about smashing the patriarchy in a world completely ruled by queens. Give it a listen, you won’t be sorry!
In this week’s excellent edition of the Book and Film Globe Week in Review podcast, editor-in-chief Neal Pollack welcomes Sharyn Vane to talk about the strange and unsettling phenomenon of parents “opting out”of their children’s school reading list. This justifiably outrages Sharyn, and Neal says, “short of The Turner Diaries, there’s nothing I would mind my kids reading in school.”
That societal problem solved, Neal moves on to talk to Pablo Gallaga about ‘Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings,” the latest Marvel Cinematic Universe tentpole feature. They both enjoyed the movie, and Pablo points out that some of the things Neal didn’t care for, such as frequent training flashbacks, are actually common features of kung fiction. It’s a fun picture, check it out.
Finally, Paula Shaffer drops by for a little chat about the new Steve Martin/Martin Short Hulu comedy ‘Only Murders In The Building.’ The show is a delight, and Paula is grateful to have it, because “usually I watch a lot of hot garbage.” This show is not a lot of hot garbage, and Steven Martin and Martin Short are back!
Give it a listen, you’ll be happy.
A neat-and-tidy week — we got books, a movie and a tv show that’s become a surprise hit.
Editor-in-chief Neal Pollack talks to Lily Moayeri, who’s not only a skilled journalist but a teacher and librarian IRL. Moayeri’s piece last week “A Realistic List of Books You Can Get Young Adults To Actually Finish” explains the surprisingly wide gap between the books Time magazine says young adults ought to be reading and what they actually are reading. “As a Gen Xer, Judy Blume novels signposted my youth. I not only read Little Women, but Louisa May Alcott’s entire catalog over and over again. Madeleine L’Engle is still my favorite author. These authors made the Time list, but personal love for their work isn’t enough to convince Zoomers to go past the cover of their books.”
Then BFG film critic Stephen Garrett jumps on the podcast to discuss the sequel to Candyman, 30 years after the Chicago menace made his debut. “Nia DaCosta’s wickedly smart Candyman conjures the pain with a pulpy wit and stylish thrills, all while fueling a red-hot undercurrent of social-justice fury.”
And the fun concludes with GL Ford and Neal discussing the surprise success of ‘The Chair,’ the Netflix academic farce that’s triggering professors everywhere. Sandra Oh leads a cast that makes “clear that there’s more at stake than just the egos of professors and deans, though those are not in short supply.” As Ford’s story observed, “making a Nazi salute, even as a joke, isn’t the best of moves, no matter how popular a teacher you might be.”
Here we are again, in Book and Film Globe podcast land! Editor-in-chief Neal Pollack has a bone to pick with Ted Lasso, and pick it he does! But first, Neal welcomes William Schwartz to talk about Lin-Manuel Miranda’s curious interpretation of Cuban culture in ‘Vivo.’ Then Adam Hirschfelder takes time out of his busy, busy schedule to wonder why we need a second season of HBO’s ‘The White Lotus.’ Adam also hilariously states that critics are part of the “one percent,” probably because he hasn’t fully internalized our pay rates yet.
Finally, Scott Gold steps into the executioner’s chair, forced to listen to Neal Pollack rant about the ‘Ted Lasso’ Christmas episode to him for 12 minutes. Scott is a brave man. Brave than all of us, really.
On this week’s exciting edition of the Book and Film Globe Week in Review podcast, editor-in-chief Neal Pollack welcomes contributor Sharyn Vane (and the Beach Boys) to talk about censorship. It seems that the Leader Independent School District in Central Texas has taken it upon itself to ban a series of popular award-winning young-adult books, yet again. We don’t take too kindly to censorship at Book and Film Globe.
Then Rachel Llewellyn drops by the podcast barn to talk about the autobiography of the legendary character actor Danny Trejo. Rachel and Neal have both spent significant time in the recovery community, so they can relate to Trejo’s stories of addiction, recovery, and redemption.
Finally, Ayun Halliday returns both to the website and to the movies, and found herself unexpectedly delighted by the Ryan Reynolds/Disney vehicle ‘Free Guy.’
If you love this site, and you do, check out the show!
In this week’s exciting edition of the BFG Week in Review Podcast, editor Neal Pollack welcomes Rachel Llewellyn to expand on her piece on the cancellation of the ‘Cops Vs. Monsters’ anthology. Rachel points out the irony that women and writers of color seem to be bearing the brunt of literary cancellations.
But Scarlett Johansson has her own problems. Jake Harris appears in the chat to talk about her lawsuit against Disney+ to try to get some of that sweet, sweet streaming money. Jake gives us a history of subsidiary rights struggles in Hollywood, which is a lot more entertaining than it sounds.
Then we do some movie reviews. Stephen Garrett gave ‘The Suicide Squad‘ three stars, but he thought it was pretty gory and derivative and kind of heartless. Sara Stewart loved ‘Val,’ the new documentary about Val Kilmer, which gives great insight into the life and work of one of Hollywood’s most soulful stars.
Finally, Daniel Cohen drops in to talk about LeVar Burton’s semi-disastrous stint as the guest host of Jeopardy!, disappointing Burton’s legions of fans with one unforced error after another. They also cover the incredible run of contestant Matt Amodio, who, as of this BFG writing, is still Jeopardy! champion. Neal also points out the irony that Jeopardy!’s new host is going to be Mike Richards, the show’s executive producer. It’s reminiscent of the time when Dick Cheney chose himself to be Vice President, though with probably less disastrous real-world consequences.
On this week’s exciting edition of The Book and Film Globe Week in Review, editor-in-chief Neal Pollack welcomes Lily Moayeri to talk about her investigative piece about the true origins of the Summer of Soul documentary. Pablo Gallaga stops by to trip out about ‘The Green Knight.’ Stephen Garrett, a real-life film critic who has apparently never heard of Jon Lovitz’s ‘The Critic,‘ wishes ‘Jungle Cruise’ had been as good as the movies it blatantly rips off. It’s a film that longs for the golden year of 1916, apparently.
Then, it’s TV time. G.L. Ford wonders why Kevin Smith made a He-Man reboot without actually featuring much He-Man or Skeletor. Then Adam Hirschfelder manifests to talk about Manifest, a show that called him during quarantine. Finally, Sara Stewart stops by to kibitz with Neal about ‘Schmigadoon!’ and they both agree that if you don’t love the song ‘Corn Puddin”, then you are dead inside! Check out our Week in Review!
In this week’s exciting edition of the Book and Film Globe Week in Review, editor Neal Pollack meets up with contributor Scott Gold to chat about ‘Pig,’ starring Nicolas Cage. Scott says the food satire in ‘Pig’ is “right out of Portlandia,” but that it goes to a deeper, darker level. Then Stephen Garrett pops by to make fun of M. Night Shyamalan’s new movie ‘Old,’ and Neal hopes that Night doesn’t make a sequel called ‘Old 2: The Oldening.’
Finally, Jake Harris calls in for an extended segment. First, he and Neal discuss ‘Roadrunner,’ the new Anthony Bourdain documentary. Jake enjoyed the movie but found the film’s treatment of Bourdain’s suicide troubling and somewhat manipulative.
On the other hand, Jake had nothing but good things to say about the series of ‘Fear Street’ movies on Netflix, which are a fun throwback to old-school scream-queen horror. But they also represent an innovative model for streaming films. Neal then closes the action with an obscure little song called ‘Don’t Fear the Reaper,’ which no one has ever heard before.
In this week’s excellent edition of the Book and Film Globe Week in Review, editor Neal Pollack reveals the sad unspoken truth behind his “rivalry” with the writer Dave Eggers. He also welcomes Sharyn Vane, live from the parking lot of a Chicago pizza joint, to talk about the new literary thriller ‘Such A Quiet Place.’ Then Neal and Sharyn continue their endless debate over censorship in the book industry as they break down the controversy at the Society of Childrens Book Writers and Illustrators.
Michael Washburn drops into the Clubhouse to discuss Dave Eggers’ new short story ‘The Museum of Rain,’ and also to memorialize the Dutch crime journalism Peter de Vries, shot and killed in Amsterdam two weeks ago.
Then we pivot into film, as Jake Harris comes on to talk about the marketing horrors of the new ‘Space Jam’ movie and also the old ‘Space Jam‘ movie, ending with the startling revelation that Space Jam basically exists to sell us stuff.
Stephen Garrett appears, only slightly jet-lagged from his visit to the Cannes Film Festival, where he underwent many spit tests and sat in crowded auditoriums, as the world’s most glamorous film festival returned. While it was no 2019, where Parasite and Once Upon A Time In Hollywood premiered on the same day, this was still a worthy and memorable entry in Cannes history. Stephen had fun, the new Wes Anderson movie is just OK.
Then Neal and Stephen break down the Black Widow movie, which featured a lot of helicopters flying into buildings. Finally, Neal rants about ‘Loki’ and suddenly realizes that the Marvel Cinematic Universe is just a ploy to get people to buy comic books. “Everything is a comic book…” Neal says, “Joanna Hogg’s ‘The Souvenir’ is a comic book.’ OK, old man. Enjoy the show!
It’s the exciting 11th edition of the Book and Film Globe Week In Review podcast, recorded live on Clubhouse! Editor-in-chief Neal Pollack chats with G.L. Ford about big woke trouble at the Tolkien society. Mr. Ford doesn’t think that contemporary political concerns should enter into Tolkien’s world of “Fairy Stories.” Meanwhile, Sara Stewart stops in to offer a counter-perspective on the movie ‘Zola,’ throwing the brakes on people’s praise of it, finding the “funny” celebration of sex work a little unseemly.
Then it’s Stephen Garrett time. This week, he talks with Neal about Steven Soderbergh’s latest heist thriller. How does Stephen Soderbergh do it? Neal wonders. We all wish our retirements were so productive. Neal compares himself and Stephen to “Jeffrey Lyons and Michael Medved run through the Multiplicity machine about five times.” He proceeds to complain about the hacky Vietnamese hit movie ‘Bo Gia.’ Stephen makes the point that maybe this is like a Tyler Perry movie, so culturally specific that you’re not supposed to get it. Good point, says Neal.
Finally, Paula Shaffer makes a visit, to praise ‘Special,’ a Netflix show about an awkward gay man with cerebral palsy. She also has kind words for ‘The Bold Type,’ a Freeform show about young women making it in the magazine business. “I’m eternally 14 years old,” Paula observes. Aren’t we all?
Finally, Neal Pollack announces that he’ll be off next week, taking a “mental health break” by laying in a banana-leaf covered pit in his backyard. We wish him luck. Mental health is very important in these trying times. Sharyn Vane will be hosting this fine show in his stead.
Where were you the night the lights went out in New York City? Were you listening to the Book and Film Globe Week in Review podcast? Probably! Editor-in-chief Neal Pollack opens the show by talking to Sharyn Vane about the new teen-romance New York anthology ‘Blackout,’ which Sharyn says is a landmark for inclusivity in publishing. Then Stephen Garrett pops into the Clubhouse to talk about ‘F9,’ which he and Neal agree would be a great movie to watch at a Thai youth hostel.
Jake Harris appears to brilliantly compare ‘In The Heights‘ with ‘It’s a Wonderful Life,’ and Neal defends Lin-Manuel Miranda against charges of racial insensitivity. Then Rachel Llewellyn makes her weekly podcast appearance to discuss the brilliance of Annie Murphy in ‘Kevin Can F**k Himself,’ the ultimate savage attack on Masshole Sitcoms. Rachel sticks around to talk about the tragedy of the cancellation of ‘Kim’s Convenience’, and then everyone grooves to the smooth sounds of BTS, 2021’s hottest boy band.
It’s the grooviest podcast of the summer. Can you stand the heat?
On this week’s exciting edition of the Book and Film Globe Week in Review podcast, editor Neal Pollack talks to reporter Katie Smith about content warnings in books, and decides they aren’t a good thing. Then Omar Gallaga appears to tell Neal that he did not, in fact, kill Davy Crockett. They talk about the terrific new book ‘Forget the Alamo,’ a fresh interpretation of Texas history. Stephen Garrett drops in from his vacation to review ‘The Hitman’s Wife’s Bodyguard‘ and complain about Italian stereotypes in Pixar’s new movie, ‘Luca’. Rachel Llewellyn appears to discuss the great character actor Jean Smart. Rachel and Neal both praise Smart’s performance in a 20-year-old production of ‘The Man Who Came to Dinner.’
Finally, Nick Tangborn takes some time out of his busy, busy day to discuss the history of Loki’s genderfluidity, and the history of superhero families in comics. When it comes to comic content, everything new is old again. It’s just that now it’s on Disney+.
In this week’s exciting Book and Film Globe Week in Review podcast, recorded live on the Clubhouse app, editor-in-chief Neal Pollack opens up with a rant about how entitled readers are forcing publishers to censor works of fiction...after they publish them. This is wrong. Then Neal welcomes Paula Shaffer to join him in eviscerating ‘Sex and Vanity’ novelist Kevin Kwan’s despicable and vulgar modern take on ‘A Room With A View.’ “I’ve read catalogs that are more entertaining,” Shaffer says.
Neal then proceeds to regale film critic Stephen Garrett with a story about how he once got a trivia question right about ‘In the Heights.‘ Stephen indulges Neal and then reviews the movie, praising it for its affectionate portrayal of New York City’s Boricua and Dominican culture and says it will be with us for a long time to come.
Then Jamie Mason, a 55-year-old man whose taste runs toward Charles Bronson movies, beams in from Canada to discuss the delightful Netflix girl-meets-girl romantic dramedy ‘Feel Good‘, which is stuffed with excellent supporting performances to supplement its two charming leads. Finally, Neal and Rob Kutner offer grumpy middle-aged comedy guys takes on Bo Burnham, the young and beautiful performer who brings us the new Netflix special ‘Inside,’ which is iconic, generation-defining, and incredibly annoying, all at the same time.
There’s tons of music in this episode, as well as all the insight and perspective you’ve come to expect from the Internet’s single most important culture publication. So give it a listen and come sail away with us!
This week, guest host Sharyn Vane leads an exciting episode of the Book and Film Globe Week in Review podcast. Adhering to Neal Pollack’s can’t-miss books-to-movies-to-tv formula, Vane speaks first about her own review of the hot summer read “The Other Black Girl” with BFG contributor Katie Smith. They cover the “delicious irony” of how one of the must-reads this season from an overwhelmingly white publishing industry struggling with inclusivity is a Black author’s thriller depicting exactly that struggle. Then Dan Friedman joins to discuss his take on Martha Wells and the Hugo-nominated Murderbot Diaries, featuring a wry half-robot SecUnit. He loves it, concluding that “the profoundly capable Wells … provides a creative, entertaining outing for one of the most endearing of contemporary science fiction characters.”
Kenji Fujishima takes the mic to lead the podcast’s film section, discussing with Vane his reviewof “Undine.” Fujishima concluded that the director Christian Petzold, “arguably the most fascinating and mysterious” of the recent generation of German filmmakers informally known as the Berlin School, has a “mysterious magic of his films, an aesthetic that reaches a wondrous zenith in Undine.”
Zakiya Dalila Harris (Photo by Nicole Mondestin Photography)
Listeners to last week’s podcast probably remember Stephen Garrett’s lively discussion of Cruella. Lani Gonzalez has had it with this “endless mining of properties” in search of backstories. She keynotes her brilliant piece “The Rise of the Prequels,” with a look at Wonka, but ponders whether we really need a whole movie about the “plot” of the Grease song “Summer Nights.” What’s next? A look at how mean Regina George was in 3rd grade?
And finally, Scott Gold talks about The Bad Batch, a spinoff of The Clone Wars. Cohen tells us that the latest entry in the Star Wars canon is “a highly entertaining, even thrilling start to a series, showcasing Dave Filoni and company, riding high from their success on The Mandalorian, as the most narratively adroit creative force in Star Wars land at the moment.” Order 66, inhibitor chips, being a “good soldier and following orders” … what’s not to love?
On this exciting edition of the Book and Film Globe Week in Review podcast, recorded live on the Clubhouse app, editor-in-chief Neal Pollack shares his not-so-fond memories of summer camp. He talks to Maya Sinha about ‘The Unbroken Thread,’ a book of parental wisdom by the editorial page editor of The New York Post. Amanda Fortini stops by to discuss her review of the new Jhumpa Lahiri novel and the burgeoning genre of books about aimless child-free middle-aged women wandering the world while having existential crises.
Pablo Gallaga appears to discuss the anime boom and the popularity of ‘Demon Slayer: Mugen Train,’ and then he sticks around to offer his thoughts on ‘A Quiet Place: Part II.’ Last but never least, Stephen Garrett reviews ‘Cruella,’ and Joel Keller wonders aloud why daytime and late-night TV are still pretending like we’re at the height of the pandemic. Why listen to anything else?
On this week’s exciting edition of The Book and Film Globe Week in Review podcast, recorded live on Clubhouse, editor Neal Pollack rants about Michael Lewis and COVID-19, Jake Harris breaks down the Golden Globes controversy, Stephen Garrett reviews ‘The Underground Railroad,’ Sara Stewart lights into ‘The Woman in the Window,’ “a power smoothie of unreliable female narrator books.” Meanwhile, Kimberly Chrisman-Campbell undresses ‘Halston,’ Katie Smith reviews the Philadelphia accent work in ‘Mare of Easttown,’ and much more. Join us! You will be happy.
On this week's exciting BFG Week In Review podcast, nine of our contributors join editor Neal Pollack to discuss what's going on in the culture. Katie Smith talks about Bookstagram and BookTok, Neal argues with Sharyn Vane about cancel culture and censorship in the publishing industry, and Dan Friedman stops by the Clubhouse to discuss the new Andy Weir novel, 'Project Hail Mary.' We also discuss the new Guy Ritchie/Jason Statham movie, Sara Stewart reviews the new Dutch movie 'The Columnist', Lily Moayeri savages the Iranian-American sitcom 'Chad,' Kevin L. Jones talks about a VICE TV wrestling documentary series, and Omar Gallaga can't recommend 'Made For Love' highly enough. Check out the most informative cultural podcast ever created!
On this week’s edition of the Book and Film Globe Week in Review podcast, recorded live on the Clubhouse app, editor-in-chief Neal Pollack talks to Sharyn Vane about the week’s literary controversies. Kenji Fujishima discusses the new film from Swedish auteur Roy Andersson. Neal and film critic Stephen Garrett break down the Oscars. Stephen talks about his review of ‘Stowaway.’ Paula Shaffer discusses the new Netflix YA adaptation ‘Shadow and Bone.‘ And Pablo Gallaga warns us all away from ‘Them,’ a new terror anthology series on Amazon Prime. Plus, everyone does ‘Da Butt.’
In this second edition of the Book and Film Globe Week in Review podcast, recorded live on the Clubhouse app, BFG editor-in-chief Neal Pollack talks to Lily Moayeri about Iranian fiction. Pablo Gallaga stops by to chat about the new 'Mortal Kombat' movie. Michael Giltz appears to review this year's New York Independent Film Critics awards. And a panel of BFG contributors previews this year's Oscars show. Check it out!
The Book and Film Globe podcast made its debut this week on Clubhouse. Every Friday at 1 pm EST, BFG editor in chief Neal Pollack will discuss the week’s best stories with the writers who created them. This week on the podcast, Neal talks about his story on the demise of LA’s beloved Arclight movie theater with the site’s chief film critic Stephen Garrett. They also discuss Stephen’s take on ‘My Octopus Teacher.’ Oddsmaker Daniel Cohen joins Neal to ponder who is most likely to replace Alex Trebek as permanent host of Jeopardy! As a bonus, they also handicap who will win the pandemic edition of Top Chef. And finally, Omar Gallaga joins the show to discuss Thunder Force and reveals himself to be a “Melissa McCarthy apologist, no matter how many times she hurts me.”