Podcast Like It's ...

Our Mike Nichols 2000s miniseries continues with one of the director’s strangest career anomalies: Charlie Wilson’s War. Phil and Emily are joined by critic and writer Sonia Saraiya to unpack how Nichols, Aaron Sorkin, Tom Hanks, and Julia Roberts came together to make a political dramedy that feels breezy on the surface but carries enormous historical weight underneath.

The conversation digs into the true story behind the film ...

This week, we continue our Mike Nichols miniseries with a deep dive into Closer (2004), joined by Sean Fennessey of The Big Picture. It’s a film that captivated many of us in our early 20s only to unravel under rewatch with age, perspective, and healthier emotional boundaries.

We unpack why Closer once felt like “grown-up cinema,” how its theatrical origins shape its structure, and why its four leads Julia Roberts, Jude Law, Nat...

In the conclusion to their Mike Nichols miniseries, Phil and Emily welcome Joe Reid (Vulture, This Had Oscar Buzz) to unpack Angels in America: Part Two Perestroika.

The trio dives deep into how Nichols translated Tony Kushner’s monumental stage play into one of HBO’s most ambitious miniseries exploring its themes of prophecy, identity, queer resilience, and the intersection of politics and spirituality in 1980s America. They di...

This week on Podcast Like It’s The 2000s, Phil and Emily begin their deep dive into Mike Nichols’ monumental HBO miniseries, Angels in America with special guest Adam B. Vary (Variety).

Together, they unpack Tony Kushner’s sweeping adaptation of his Pulitzer Prize winning play, exploring how Nichols brought the AIDS crisis, politics, and spirituality to television with raw emotional power. From Meryl Streep’s transformative per...

This week on Podcast Like It’s The 2000s, Phil and Emily welcome writer Emily Hughes to discuss Paranormal Activity — the micro-budget phenomenon that redefined horror for a generation. Together they dig into the film’s scrappy origins, the ingenious use of found footage to build dread, and how Oren Peli’s minimalist approach reshaped studio thinking about what a blockbuster could be.

From its DIY filmmaking roots to its massive...

This week on Podcast Like It’s The 2000s, hosts @pmiscove and @emilystjams kick off a brand new Halloween miniseries, Somebody Scare Phil, with guest Louis Peitzman (Chasing Amy Adams). Together, they dive into the bloody brilliance and DIY spirit of James Wan and Leigh Whannell’s 2004 indie phenomenon Saw a film that reshaped horror on a shoestring budget and gave rise to a genre-defining franchise.

The trio break down Saw’s gr...

Phil and Emily continue their deep-dive into Mike Nichols’ work from the 2000s with Wit , the acclaimed HBO adaptation of Margaret Edson’s Pulitzer Prize–winning play. Joined by writer and producer Eliza Clark (Y: The Last Man, Animal Kingdom), they explore how Nichols recalibrated his directorial voice after What Planet Are You From? with this intimate, emotionally devastating story of a scholar facing terminal illness.

The con...

Phil and Emily kick off a brand-new miniseries exploring the films and television of legendary director Mike Nichols in the 2000s. First up: the notorious 2000 sci-fi romantic comedy “What Planet Are You From?”, starring Gary Shandling, Annette Bening, and John Goodman.

Joined by critic and returning guest Emma Stefansky, the trio dive deep into this infamous box-office bomb unpacking its chaotic tone, lack of internal logic, an...

Phil and Emily wrap up their Oscar-winning Best Director follow-ups mini series with Joel and Ethan Coen’s Burn After Reading. They’re joined by Brooke Solomon and Jordan Gustafson, from the podcast The Queer Quadrant, to dig into this razor-sharp dark comedy that skewers espionage, bureaucracy, and human foolishness in equal measure.

From the Coens’ tonal whiplash to the film’s biting satire of post-9/11 paranoia, the conversat...

Phil and Emily continue their Oscar-Winning Best Director Follow-Ups miniseries with Ang Lee’s provocative espionage drama Lust, Caution. Joined by Danette Chavez (Editor-in-Chief of The A.V. Club), they dig into the film’s bold mix of eroticism, politics, and moral ambiguity, exploring how Lee followed Brokeback Mountain with a risky and divisive project that tested both audiences and censors. From the performances of Tony Leung a...

Phil and Emily continue their mini series on Oscar-winning Best Director follow-ups from the 2000s with Clint Eastwood’s Flags of Our Fathers. Joined by Mitchell Beaupre, editor and podcast host at Letterboxd, they dig into Eastwood’s haunting take on the Battle of Iwo Jima and the myth making around Joe Rosenthal’s famous photograph of soldiers raising the flag.

The conversation unpacks Eastwood’s bold decision to explore both ...

Phil and Emily continue our Patreon mini series on Oscar-winning Best Director follow-ups from the 2000s with Peter Jackson’s ambitious epic King Kong. Joined by critic, screenwriter, and podcaster Drew McWeeny, they revisit Jackson’s sprawling remake of the 1933 classic and unpack how the film reflects both his greatest strengths and his boldest excesses in the wake of The Lord of the Rings.

From Naomi Watts’s luminous performa...

Phil and Emily continue their mini series on Oscar-winning Best Director follow-ups from the 2000s with Oliver Twist (2005), Roman Polanski’s adaptation of Charles Dickens’ classic. They’re joined by writer and producer Bryan Cogman, who may be one of the few people to have actually seen the film in theaters.

The conversation dives into Polanski’s unexpected choice to follow The Pianist with this family-oriented Dickens adaptati...

Phil and Emily continue their miniseries on Oscar winning Best Director follow ups from the 2000s with Ron Howard’s The Missing. With guest Patrick Cotnoir (The George Lucas Talk Show), they revisit this overlooked Western thriller starring Cate Blanchett and Tommy Lee Jones.

The discussion explores Blanchett’s powerful performance, Jones’ turn as an estranged father, Daniel Craig’s early role, and why the film faded from memory...

Phil and Emily continue their miniseries on Oscar winning Best Director follow ups from the 2000s with Road to Perdition, Sam Mendes’ ambitious second feature after American Beauty. Joining them is film journalist and podcaster Blake Howard (One Heat Minute Productions), who helps unpack the film’s technical brilliance, subdued emotional core, and unique place in early 2000s cinema.

Together, they dive into Mendes’ leap from sta...

Phil and Emily continue their miniseries on Oscar-winning Best Director follow-ups from the 2000s with Steven Soderbergh’s effortlessly cool Ocean’s 11. Joined by screenwriter Liz Hannah and producer Brian Millikin, they unpack how this slick, stylish remake redefined the modern heist film. From its razor-sharp script and effortless ensemble chemistry to Soderbergh’s precision, tonal balance, and inventive production choices, the d...

We are kicking off a brand new miniseries on Oscar-winning Best Director follow-up films from the 2000s, starting with Steven Spielberg’s bold and deeply divisive “A.I. Artificial Intelligence.” TV critic and Vulture writer Roxana Hadadi joins Phil and Emily for a wide-ranging conversation that digs into the movie’s legacy, Kubrick’s influence, and how the film hit differently post-Oscars and post-9/11.

They dive into the unique...

Emily and Phil close out their “Films of the Todds” mini series, spotlighting the distinct visions of Haynes, Phillips, Solondz, and Field, with a thoughtful conversation about Todd Solondz’s darkly comic Life During Wartime (2009). Joining them is film critic and podcaster Chris Feil, who brings sharp insight to this follow-up to Happiness and its meditation on forgiveness, trauma, and the ways the past lingers in the present.

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Emily and Phil continue their “Films of the Todds” mini series, exploring the work of Haynes, Phillips, Solondz, and Field. This week, they take a look at Todd Phillips’ culture-shifting comedy The Hangover. Joining them is writer and cultural critic Jude Ellison Doyle, who brings a sharp, thoughtful perspective to one of the 2000s most talked-about comedies.

Together, they discuss how The Hangover redefined studio comedy, the f...