The Establishing Shot

In stop-motion animation, Wes Anderson found the perfect medium for his controlled, detail filled style while still being tangible enough an animation style to surprise you with emotion. To celebrate his Fantastic Mr. Fox and Isle of Dogs, we did a stop-motion animation movie draft! We talk about everything from Henry Selick and Jack Skellington to Chicken Run and more. This is definitely an artform that deserves way more recogniti...

Tintin is a unique film in the Spielberg filmography as his only fully animated film. Because of this, this discussion is full of interesting topics like his forging into motion capture technology, the sense of playfulness felt in the film, and much more. I might even get into a bit of Movie-Dad talk with my guest Daniel Howat of Next Best Picture, talking about movies we have enjoyed showing our kids. This was a fun episode for a ...

Desert settings always make for a great cinematic experience! This was just as true for Nolan’s Oppenheimer even if the desert was being used for something highly problematic. In this episode, we take turns drafting our favorite movies with desert settings. They span a wide variety of genres from sci-fi to thriller to classic epics to animated musicals! And as it turns out, talking desert movies is not so dry after all.

With Oppenheimer turning into a cultural phenomenon (aka Barbenheimer) in the lead up to its release alongside Barbie and its subsequent financial success and critical acclaim, Christopher Nolan has emblazoned his name onto the list of historically important filmmakers. We talk about the significance of a 3 hour experimental biopic making summer blockbuster levels of money, the incredible artistry and storytelling on display, the N...

The 1990s and 2000s were some of Spielberg’s most successful decades! We see him come into his own as a director and mogul of the movie industry. He solidifies his legacy as a household name, and silences his harshest critics by showing his ability to make both popcorn blockbusters and “important” and artful films. This episode looks at takeaways from the middle career of Spielberg and then looks forward to the last stretch of his ...

There is nothing quite like a scene that happens underwater. One of my favorites comes from The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou when Steve and the rest of his crew have a transcendent moment encountering the infamous Jaguar Shark that ruined Steve’s life. In this episode we explore other such scenes with a draft of underwater scenes in movies. We took somewhat different approaches to this draft to very fun results!

Harrison Ford has been one of the most treasured American actors since his breakout role as Han Solo in Star Wars and was solidified as a film icon as Indiana Jones when Raiders of the Lost Ark released only a few years later. This week we talk about his Hollywood and acting personas, the ups and downs of his career (mostly ups even in his lesser films), and most importantly do a movie draft where we take our favorite performances ...

Nearly 20 years after Indiana Jones rode off into the sunset with his father, Spielberg returned to our favorite tomb-raiding professor of archaeology in his older years with Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. In the opinion of my guest and I, this film certainly has its flaws with some undercooked characters and questionable CGI but is largely undeservedly maligned for all the wrong reasons. We talk about the making of the film, its re...

Hostage and kidnapping stories actually have a rich history in film. From serious dramas, to edge-of-your-seat thrillers, to comedies, there was a lot of great cinema to choose from for this week’s movie draft. This draft follows up our discussion of Spielberg’s Munich, and it is fully of fun discussion of some of the most fun and/or thrilling hostage movies.

Munich is one of Spielberg’s least discussed movies and undeservedly so. It displays some of his best action set pieces, contains serious contemplative political and ethical questions, and has all of the iconic Spielbergian shots and framing. And that is not even to mention that its subject matter dealing with Israeli-Palestinian conflict is still just as relevant as ever. My guest and I marvel at what this movie accomplishes (cine...

As a belated companion to our Catch Me If You Can episode, we are doing a movie draft of Leonardo DiCaprio performances! Leo is arguably the biggest movie star of his era. Making the turn from young heartthrob to a medium for auteurs to explore conflicted characters through was impressive. And he has worked with nearly all of the great directors of a generation. An old friend and avid Leo fan joins me to talk about all this and mor...

With his adaptation of the sci-fi classic War of the Worlds, Spielberg continues his 2000s science fiction fun with yet another 9/11 coded film with a broken family and troubled father. Join me and the Nerds & Jesus podcast as we talk about these themes, the Tom Cruise factor, Dakota Fanning’s breakout child performance, the mix of practical and digital effects, and the blockbuster-ness of it all in this week’s episode. 

Have you ever thought of watching movies as a spiritual practice? Abby Olcese’s book Film for All Seasons: Experiencing the Church Year at the Movies explores this idea by taking the stories that inspired the church calendar and connecting those occasions with films that explore similar themes. In this interview, we talk about how Abby got her start in writing about film, the art of storytelling as it relates to human experience, a...

With The Terminal, Tom Hanks rejoins Steven Spielberg for their third collaboration and certainly their most lighthearted to date. This film represents some of the worst and best of Spielberg. It is charming and fun at times with its fun cast and remarkable set. But it is also weighed down by an inscrutable plot, strangely motivated characters, and bad jokes. We talk about all of its highs and lows this week with our guests from th...

The 2025 Oscars are here! With the ceremony coming up this Wednesday, I went through all the categories from production to design to cinematography to the big categories of acting, directing, and best picture. Some categories like lead actress, editing, and animated feature are pretty tough to choose this year. But I give my best predictions for what will win, and I also give my own personal nominations for most of the categories. ...

What do you get when you combine the star studded power of Leonardo DiCaprio and Tom Hanks with the blockbuster filmmaking genius of Steven Spielberg with a globe-trotting, fast paced crime drama? Turns out you get a really good and entertaining movie in Catch Me if You Can! During our discussion of this movie we talk about the incredibly fast production, the star studded cast, the Spielbergian family drama at the center of it, and...

The stardom of Tom Cruise might have been at its peak in the 80s and 90s, but his steady work throughout his career shows that he has that timeless star quality that people go to the movies to see. He has moved from fatherless son to protective father personas; he has moved from making his way through working with many auteur directors to creating his own franchise; and it would be reasonable to say that he has never been in a movi...

Minority Report feels like the deepest dive into hard sci-fi that Steven Spielberg has ever attempted, and it is also his first collaboration with fellow Hollywood superstar Tom Cruise. That combination makes for an interesting conversation in this episode as we discuss everything from working with a star to inventive sci-fi visuals to existential questions that are common to the genre and more!

While artificial intelligence has burst on the scene as a huge cultural topic in recent years, there is a long history of AI stories in film. This week, we do a movie draft of films dealing with artificial intelligence. We talk about the ways the films we choose explore the topic, how so many of these films are more relevant today than ever, and enjoy discussing the wide variety of styles and storytelling in these AI movies. Plus, ...