Screen Thoughts - Movie & TV Reviews

Remarkably Bright Creatures is one of the quietest films I’ve seen in years, and maybe one of the most powerful because of it. Starring Sally Field and Lewis Pullman, the film unfolds slowly, patiently, almost tenderly, as it explores grief, loneliness, friendship, aging, and the strange ways human beings find each other again after heartbreak. And at the center of it all is an octopus named Marcellus, who may understand more about...

In this episode I take a deep dive into The Reluctant Fundamentalist, a film that should have been front-row center but never got its moment. I talk about Riz Ahmed’s extraordinary performance, the quiet brilliance of Mira Nair’s direction, the music that pulls you into another cultural syntax, and the way the film exposes America’s post-9/11 blind spots without shouting. It is a story about identity, belonging, and the small humil...

Merser and Wilder could not wait to unpack Season Three of The Diplomat, which Merser calls “the best of the three, by a diplomatic mile.” After a quick walk through Seasons One and Two, they dive into the complex and ingenious storytelling that defines this season.

You cannot talk about The Diplomat without invoking The West Wing and Homeland, and Debora Cahn, who wrote for both, shows how to fuse the best of those worlds while mak...

"May December," featuring a star-studded cast including Julianne Moore and Natalie Portman, is much more than the torrid story of a seventh-grade teacher who ensnared her student, went to prison for it, and married him upon her release. It transcends that narrative, offering a profound exploration of complex themes. Don't miss the discussion on the film's production, including the techniques employed by Todd Haynes. His interpretat...

Christine Merser AKA Hollister has nothing but praise for Jesse Eisenberg from the start of this week's episode, as she dives into his latest film, A Real Pain, which he wrote, directed, and starred in. Starring alongside Eisenberg is Kieran Culkin, as the two portray mismatched Jewish-American cousins traveling to Poland to honor their late grandmother—taking us on a heartfelt, funny, and emotional journey.

In a surprising first, C...

Christine Merser aka Hollister has a solo episode for us after watching and being left speechless by Netflix's new documentary, Martha, about Martha Stewart. Christine marvels about Martha being our first real influencer and first female self-made billionaire, her sense of excellence and what that sometimes means for the people around her, and concludes with a heartfelt apology. And, at the end Who should watch this? Any woman in b...

Christine’s review of Adolescence, Netflix’s #1 series about an eleven-year-old boy who kills his classmate, will have you turning off her video to start watching it—if you haven’t already. Starring Stephen Graham and Owen Cooper, the show addresses, in a new and painfully palatable way, the demise of our tweens and teens and the perils they face growing up in a society that has unwittingly nurtured these outcomes. And for film buf...

Christine Merser (AKA Hollister) goes this one alone. Fresh Kills, according to her review, should have been front and center at the Academy Awards. Was it overlooked because it's the first mafia genre film told from a woman's perspective? How could it have been overlooked? According to Hollister, it provides a perfect script, amazing acting, and a plotline that explores not only insight into mafia life but also inner family relati...

High schooler Addie Tedrow, a lover of all things Hunger Games, joins Christine Merser to discuss the latest in the series, The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, as well as the other stories in the iconic Hunger Games franchise. Don't miss their interesting, intergenerational discussion of this film. Christine's fear of snakes coils around the difficulty of some of the scenes. P.S. we do include some spoilers in thi...

"The Holdovers," bringing back 70s and 80s boarding school films, heads toward awards season with Paul Giamatti finding his way to front-page news. Why hasn't he had more starring roles when he's such a strong actor? We have our theories. And "NYAD", where Annette Bening and Jodie Foster save the day. NYAD's swim is an amazing feat, no question about that. How they made it into a movie is up for discussion.

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This week it's all about Lessons in Chemistry on AppleTV+. It should not come as a surprise to regular listeners of Screen Thoughts that Hollister and Wilder hold differing opinions on the show, on pretty much every front. And, just in time for Halloween, Hollister shares some insider information on the 25th anniversary of "Practical Magic," starring Sandra Bullock and Nicole Kidman.

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Hollister welcomes the writers back to work and comments on the opening line of the new contract, which is something out of Star Wars to be sure. First up is 'The Super Models,' the documentary (Hollister takes offense that it's even in that category) surrounding the four super models of the eighties; Naomi Campbell, Christy Turlington, Cindy Crawford and Linda Evangelista and how they found their way to superstardom. But the highl...

Merser and Wilder talk The Morning Show, reviewing this new season and commenting on the past two seasons, all the while discussing women's increasing power in the making of film & television and what an exciting time it is for our ability to showcase women in film and history. Such a great show this week. Part of the strike is still on, but hope springs eternal that the role of women will continue to grow!

**This podcast wa...

Christine and Wilder speed through their review of the three hour Oppenheimer, singing its praises, its importance and so many behind the scenes extras. Is it about Nolan, the director? The acting acumen of everyone, from Cillian Murphy to Robert Downey? The cinematography tricks? So many things to consider. One of Christine’s recommendations is to watch Fat Man and Little Boy, the 1989 film about the Manhattan Project before you s...

Christine (AKA Hollister) and Wilder dissect Apple’s the Crowded Room, and address Christine’s POV around the futility of the writer’s strike, while Wilder defends it. And, Somebody Somewhere, season two on HBO? Christine speaks to the enormity and importance and talent of Bridget Everett’s hit. Golda, Helen Mirren’s portrayal of Golda Meir, comes out in August and Screen Thoughts has tickets for the preview and video of an intervi...

The names of many of the heroes of the Civil Rights movement are well known to us today: MLK, Malcolm X, Medgar Evers—the list goes on. But there were unsung heroes of the movement as well. Among these were white men of the cloth in rural towns and small cities of the American South, whose congregations might be wearing white cloaks on Saturday night before attending services the next morning, believing that they could both be good...

On a very special episode of Screen Thoughts, Christine Merser, Bryan Cohen and Shanette Barth Cohen give a review of Netflix's The Diplomat, kicking the episode off with praise for the show's creator Debora Cahn. They are chock full of admiration and talk about the comparisons to so many past TV shows; The West Wing, Grey’s Anatomy, Homeland, all of whom Debora wrote for. Some say it’s the best series on television. Don’t miss thi...