Sorry it’s so late, but this week we discuss Sinners, The Phoenician Scheme, Brokeback Mountain, and the New York Times’ top movies of the century so far! (Episode recorded on 7/9/25).
Maddie’s ballot: Mulholland Drive (2001), Spirited Away (2002), Margaret (2011), The Master (2012), Under the Skin (2014), Carol (2015), Moonlight (2015), Phantom Thread (2017), First Reformed (2018), Portrait of a Lady on Fire (2019)
Rachel’s ballot: Mad Max: Fury Road (2015), Napoleon Dynamite (2004), Children of Men (2006), Y Tu Mamá También (2001), Brokeback Mountain (2005), Silence (2016), There Will Be Blood (2007), Moneyball (2011), Ocean’s Eleven (2001), A Hidden Life (2019)
Links:
The 100 Best Movies of the 21st Century - The New York Times
Maddie’s Letterboxd list The America I Love
Movies discussed (* indicates spoilers):
- Sinners*, Black Panther, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever
- The Odyssey (2026), Juror #2, Superman (2025), The Batman, The Fantastic Four: First Steps, Weapons, Wolf Man, The Royal Hotel
- Brokeback Mountain, This Is Spinal Tap
- The Phoenician Scheme, Asteroid City, The Royal Tenenbaums, The Grand Budapest Hotel
- Parasite, Mulholland Drive, Memories of Murder, Bloody Nose Empty Pockets, Titane, Love Lies Bleeding, Spirited Away, Margaret, The Master, Magnolia, There Will Be Blood, Phantom Thread, Under the Skin, Tár, The Zone of Interest, Moonrise Kingdom, Carol, Moonlight, We’re All Going to the World’s Fair, I Saw the TV Glow, Phantom Thread, First Reformed, Portrait of a Lady on Fire, Mad Max: Fury Road
- Superbad, Children of Men, The Worst Person in the World, Michael Clayton, Fish Tank, Interstellar, The Gleaners & I, The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, Past Lives, Anchorman, Napoleon Dynamite, Everybody Wants Some!!, The Tree of Life, Aftersun, Everything Everywhere All At Once, O Brother Where Art Thou?, Ratatouille, Ocean’s Eleven, Spotlight, Oppenheimer, Killers of the Flower Moon, Silence, Gone Girl, The Irishman, Little Miss Sunshine, Inception, Pan’s Labyrinth, Before Sunset, The Lives of Others, Almost Famous, Roma, Moneyball, Eephus, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, Oldboy, Amélie, Ladybird, Call Me By Your Name, Suspiria (2018), A Serious Man, Bridesmaids, Lost in Translation, Marie Antoinette, Arrival, The Dark Knight, Anatomy of a Fall, Her, Boyhood, Wolf of Wall Street, Zodiac, Y Tu Mamá También, Brokeback Mountain, Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon, City of God, Inglourious Basterds, The Social Network, Get Out, Nope, Us, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, No Country for Old Men, In the Mood for Love
The Smartest People in the Room is hosted by Rachel Casey and Maddie Weiner. It is edited by Maddie Weiner. Original theme and interstitial music is by Scott Boice - follow him on Instagram @yeah.boice and find more of his work on Bandcamp.
