Movies That Matter
Movies that Matter is the podcast going beyond basic film criticism to boldly explore a social issue affecting people's lives.
Episodes
Stacy, Adam, Garret, Lexy, Justin and Nicole give a final send-off to the podcast. The hosts reflect on making the podcast, memorable moments on mic and off, and favorite episodes. We thank everyone who participated and everyone who listened along the way. We'll miss you.
Lexy, Garret, and Nicole discuss Wicked and how much of society still operates like status in high school. We rave about the movie from the performances, to the costumes, to the cinematography, and the utter triumph Jon Chu created. The social issues in the movie are presented through the lens of high school and the movie's most popular song, Popular, which is resonant to the way we seek status in our adult lives.
Stacy, Lexy, Adam, Justin and Nicole discuss the Gladiator sequel and its cynical cash grab. Everyone disliked the movie although most were entertained mainly finding fault with shoddy writing and Paul Mescal and liking the fights and Denzel Washington. We talk about the legacy of sword and sandal movies and the first Gladiator. We find the movie as a pretty cynical cash grab without any meaning or purpose.
Justin recommends Black ...
Lexy, Garret, and Nicole discuss Conclave and election and how we decide what our future should be. We praise the craft of the movie from the lighting to the cinematography to the costume design. We wrap our head around a movie about an election recording the day after our U.S. presidential election. We talk about how the decisions of the conclave between left and right mirrors the most recent U.S. election.
Lexy recommends Agatha ...
Justin, Stacy, and Lexy discuss The Wild Robot and the trope of unexpected parenthood. We praise the movie's animation and emotional beats. We also discuss the time-honored trope of a childless loner finding themselves accidentally a parent. We find the movie still finds unexplored territory, surprising us with a more modern view of motherhood. The movie tackles the challenges of being a parent along with the rewards and the need f...
Nicole, Adam, Garret, Justin, and Lexy discuss Beetlejuice Beetlejuice and the trend of capitalizing on nostalgia in movies. In part II, we discuss what we term "legacy sequels" or the sequel that comes decades afer the original. We explore whether the audiences are demanding these sequels or if the studios are pushing them.
Nicole, Adam, Garret, Justin, and Lexy discuss Beetlejuice Beetlejuice and the trend of capitalizing on nostalgia in movies. In part I, we discuss the movie in comparison to the original. We mostly enjoyed the movied but found the script lacking.
Stay tuned for part II where we dive into selling audiences nostalgia and IP.
Garret and Nicole discuss IF and how imaginary friends, and imagination in general, can help get us through the dark times. Unlike most critics, we both liked the movie and its exploration of coping through loss, lonelieness, aging, and the other trials life throws our ways. Yes. There's a lot of crying.
Garret recommends self care and Dr. Seuss. Nicole recommends Drop Dead Fred and Hadestown.
Stacy and Nicole discuss I Saw The TV Glow and the beauty of using allegory to tell a trans story. Stacy relates to the suffocation of suburbia where Nicole enjoys a unique story told in a unique way. While enjoying the movie for different reasons, we discuss our alternate views on the ending. We discuss the setting of the late 90s and the understanding of transgenderism in that time period for mainstream suburbia.
Lexy and Nicole discuss Challengers and the dearth of fun sexiness in movies and tv. We disagree on the craft and entertaiment value of the film. We talk about how flirtiness and light-hearted sexy times have gone out of style and why people might want it back.
Lexy recommends Joy Ride. Nicole recommends The Thinking Woman's Guide to Real Magic.
Justin and Nicole discuss The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare and how we think about the morality of war. We find the movie entertaining but technically not particularly adept. We talk about the morality of war in general and of the world wars tackling what it means to have rules of war.
Justin recommends Shogun and X-Men '97 . Nicole recommends Brooklyn 99 and Who Killed the Video Store.
Adam and Nicole discuss Civil War and the movie's meditation on war photojournalism. We appreciated all the technical aspects of the movie, editing, cinematography, soundtrack, and sound design. All of the elements worked together to create a nuanced, almost meditative view on the role of photojournalism in war reporting. The movie tackles the inherent contradiction in taking a great photo of something horrific.
Adam recommends Mi...
Nicole, Lexy, Justin, and Stacy tackles the Oscars covering the best performances-- supporting actor/actress and leading actor/actress. We share our thoughts on the nominees and the films we saw in 2023.
Christopher and Nicole with special guest, Dan, discuss The Farewell and the issues that come along with generational conflicts that cross international boundaries as well. We disagree about the actual quality of the filmmaking particularly the bizarre score, Dan discusses the dissonance between what was considered funny by Asian vs non-Asian audiences, and the tension between the families who emigrate and the families who stay. It...
Nicole and Stacy talk with Sari about Get Out, the fear of being black in white spaces, white fragility, and horror movie tropes. Mentioned in the episode is a an interview with Jordan Peele on the Nerdist podcast.
Recommendations this week: This Is Us and Tucker and Dale vs. Evil.
Garret and Nicole gush over Wonka and the movie's whimisical and joyful pure imagination. We love the cast, the costumes, the sets, and the world the movie created. We literally tear up talking about getting enveloped by this movie. We talk about the value of having genuine emotional experiences at the movies without having to tackle all the world's ills.
Garret recommends reading Charlie and the Chocolate Factory out loud to anot...
Adam and Nicole discuss Napoleon and what makes for a good war movie. We don't know what this movie was about and found it a failure of a narrative. Beyond that, the acting and casting choices didn't work, the soundtrack made no sense, and only the costumes were worthy of praise. We discuss what makes for a good war movie including having stakes, an understanding of the cause, and perspectives from among the ranks. Also you actuall...
Garret, Stacy, and Nicole discuss the Hunger Games: Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes after also reading the book. As fans of the Hunger Games, we all enjoyed the movie and the look back at how Katniss and Peeta's games came to be. We praise the cast diversity, but disagree on the success of the rewind back to earlier times presented in the movie. We discuss what it means to play the Hunger Games and to win them. We dig into how our b...
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