Biopic: A Podcast Story

Rena and Sara dive into this unflinching look at the life and times of the singular Dewey Cox, one of the most influential artists of the 20th century. 

We discuss: What if Nate Cox had survived? Why…

Have you ever wanted to watch a movie about paint drying? You’re in luck. Sara and Rena are joined by Fry and Bry from Pontifacts to discuss the “will he or won’t he” tale of Michelangelo’s painting …

It’s a special week of watching Sara’s absolute favorite biopic, Bob Fosse’s masterpiece Star 80 (Note: All Fosse movies are masterpieces). Star 80 tells the story of Dorothy Stratten, a lovely young…

It’s the movie that, along with Ray, spawned a hundred other movies that follow this precise template, Walk the Line. James Mangold’s film about the addict-y and self-destructive parts of Johnny Cash…

Happy birthday to Rena and Roger Daltrey! We’re delighted to be joined by the brilliant Elana Levin from the Graphic Policy podcast (https://graphicpolicy.com/radio/, on Bluesky @Levin) for the compl…

We buckle up for the inspiring but also totally depressing story of Shirley Chisolm, the fearless Brooklynite who became the first major-party female candidate for President. Shirley is inspiring bec…

Responsible for this podcast’s existence and our term “Eazy-E Crying,” Straight Outta Compton is a straight-up delight — a biopic about the seminal rap group NWA whose excellence defies “and-then-i-n…

Description: Black History Month continues, and numerical kismet isn’t the only thing we love this week: We LOVE 42, the 2013 biopic about Jackie Robinson’s first year as the first Black Major League…

It’s our first episode in Black History Month, and we’re starting with a bang – the story of one Harriet Tubman. Ms. Tubman is among the historical figures whose life most closely resembles that of a…

How DOES it feel to be a total genius? It’s a burden for our dear friend Bob Dylan. A Complete Unknown is a big hit and is nominated for a billionty-five Academy Awards, so we went to the theaters to…

In honor of Sara’s natal day, we attempt to deconstruct her weird obsession with character actors as we enjoy this delightful film about the blacklist and one of its central heroes, Dalton Trumbo. Ab…

How gorgeous is Sofia Coppola’s delicious, vibes-filled Marie Antoinette? So gorgeous that we brought on a special guest, Belle, the host of Silhouettes: The Fashion History Podcast, to discuss.

In a…

How do two astonishing gifted women—director Marjane Sartrapi and actor Rosamund Pike—make a movie together about 2x Nobel Prize winner Marie Curie and have it come out this boring? Start by combinin…

We all are Spartacus this week. Sara and Rena watch this astonishing epic that masterfully Trojan-horses a bunch of crazy messages about communism, righteousness, and self-sacrifice in a movie that p…

People wanted this, so we did it, and one of us is WAY happier about it than the other. Is Bohemian Rhapsody an efficient, joyful look at the life and genius of Freddie Mercury and his fellow geniuse…

Maria is nominally about a profoundly gifted opera singer, but seems a bit more about how ponderous and remote character studies never fail to trap the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Tw…

Why are we watching yet another movie about trashy royals, this one from 1933? Because this one’s pretty seminal: it introduced the world to auteur filmmaking pioneers Charles Laughton and director/p…

Rena and Sara venture into the much-documented world of Elvis Presley and the people who he trapped in his hunka-hunka-burning-emotional-tractor beam from a heretofore unconsidered POV: his wife, Pri…

Presidential month continues apace as Sara and Rena watch Tennessee Johnson, a garbage movie that would be better titled Battle Cry of FreeDumb.

Outrage, the likes of which our microphones and househ…

Apparently we watched this movie. Amistad is an unusually mediocre (for him, and only for him) and sort of forgettable Steven Spielberg movie about a captive mutiny against slave runners, John Quincy…