The Obsessive Viewer
Film and TV Reviews and Podcasts
In this episode, I welcome my friend Kim C from The Year of Underrated Stephen King Podcast onto the show to chat about the magic of Mike Flanagan and his latest limited series, Midnight Mass.
Frank Herbert’s Dune is a highly respected work of science fiction that’s influenced storytellers for decades. The novel tells the story of Paul Atreidis, a young man who has visions of his destiny while his present is rife with conflict and danger as his House arrives at the nearly inhospitable planet Arakkis so they can assume control over the planet’s Spice (a hallucinogenic substance needed for interstellar travel) production for the Empire.
One of the best movies of the year, which never forgets to put the characters’ difficult emotions first.
The rare independent animated film that wears its influences on its sleeves.
An interview with writer/director Anna Baumgarten on her debut feature.
Season two comes to an end, with hope for the future but frustration for the present.
Introduces new conflicts for the finale, and brings long-simmering conflicts from throughout the season to a head.
A beautiful film that avoids easy narrative answers in exchange for emotional honesty about the creative process.
In this episode, Ben and I review Clint Eastwood’s latest film, Cry Macho and the feature film adaptation of the Tony Award winning musical, Dear Evan Hansen. We also briefly discuss the Emmys, a busy October at the movies, and more.
The show returns after last week’s divergence with some mostly positive character drama
In this episode, I welcome my friend and colleague from the Indiana Film Journalists Association, Sam Watermeier to the show to discuss James Wan’s latest film, Malignant in all its crazy glory. We also discuss the upcoming Heartland Film Festival, Sam’s involvement with the Heartland Horror category, and some recent movies he’s seen.
A weird Scorsese riff comes out of nowhere after the emotional highs of last week’s episode.
Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster sets an intriguing pace from the start and carries the human side of the plot through the majority of its runtime. Despite holding back on introducing the titular monster until nearly the end of the film, Ghidorah still manages to be engaging by focusing on the human story without devolving into melodrama like films before it.
A mostly conventional biopic that seeks to redeem its main subject, featuring one of the year’s best performances.
In this episode, Tiny, Ben, and I continue our journey through Roger Ebert’s Great Movies List. In this installment, we discuss Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey, Tarkovsky’s Solaris, and Lumet’s Dog Day Afternoon. We also pay tribute to Michael K Williams, discuss the trailer for The Matrix Resurrections, and share our thoughts on the latest Christopher Nolan news.
Ted Lasso’s longest episode yet may also be its best.
In this episode, Mike and I review CODA (currently on AppleTV+) and Candyman (currently in theaters. We also discuss the Spider-Man: No Way Home trailer and mounting MCU fatigue!
While the film invites direct comparisons to Sound of Metal, Mogul Mowgli has different ambitions on its mind.
“Headspace” doesn’t introduce new conflicts; rather, they feel like natural extensions of what the show has been building towards throughout the season.
A dynamic central performance and a solid directorial effort makes Anne at 13,000 Ft. a film that’s not to be missed.
If anything, “The Signal” shows that Ted Lasso can handle dramatic turns as well as it can the comedic moments.
Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings brings the MCU’s first Asian superhero to the screen in a film that dazzles with elaborate set pieces and an energetic buddy energy between leads Simu Liu and Awkwafina. With impressive visual effects in its third act, Shang-Chi is certainly one of the MCU’s best looking films to date (outside of the colorful and vibrate Guardians of the Galaxy films). But even with fantastic action and visual effects, the film suffers a bit from origin story issues and, specifically, its handling of important exposition through inconsistent and repetitive flashbacks.
