Shows
The Long Take ReviewThe Smashing Machine ReviewThe Venice Film Festival went wild for Benny Safdie’s The Smashing Machine, based on the life and struggles of MMA/UFC Fighter Mark Kerr. When the film opened in theaters last weekend, however, the box office was a huge disappointment. What is the decision of The Long Take Review crew? Host Jen Sopchockchai is joined by Greg Cass and Antonio Elefano to discuss the Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson showcase. We go into SPOILER MODE at the 19:25 minute mark. If you don’t want to go another round, you can listen safely until then.Image Credit...
2025-10-091h 27
The Long Take ReviewThe History of Sound ReviewWith the major film festivals completed, we launch into award season with the kind of prestige drama that was designed for the fall: an adaptation of Ben Shattuck’s The History of Sound. Host Jen Sopchockchai is joined by Greg Cass and Antonio Elefano to talk about the decades-spanning drama about a singer, played by Paul Mescal, and a musicologist, played by Josh O’Connor, who meet by chance and forever change one another’s lives. This time, everyone on the episode has read the source material, so get ready for some serious book club time! We g...
2025-09-251h 42
The Long Take ReviewSummer SuperlativesThe air is turning crisp and the coffees are getting pumpkin spiced, but before we head into Fall Festival (and Oscar!) season, we want to do a quick recap on Summer Blockbuster season. On this episode of The Long Take Review, host Jen Sopchockchai is joined by P.T. McNiff, Antonio Elefano, and Greg Cass to debrief the season that was, reliving the highs (biplanes!), the lows (mutant dinosaurs!), and the forgotten (What is an Elio?). Listen along as we reveal our superlatives, such as “most athletic” and “cutest couple.” For some, we needed to reopen previous discussions, and, for othe...
2025-09-042h 00
The Nostalgia Test Podcast110. 🤓 Nostalgia 101: LIVE! from the Southwest Popular Culture/American Culture Association Conference w/ The Long Take Review
The Nostalgia Test Podcast recorded LIVE from the Southwest Popular/American Culture Association Conference in Albuquerque, NM w/ USC colleagues Jen Sopchockchai Bankard & P.T. McNiff of the Long Take Review podcast. Shoutout to SWPACA, the tech guy who helped make this happen, and everyone that came out to support!
Our presentation, "Between Two Scholastic Worlds: Teaching, Blogging, and Podcasting," looked at how we negotiate our lives in the pop-culture world with our academic lives, how we use our podcasting and pop-culture curiosity in the classroom, the pressures of being an independent podcaster, and we...
2024-03-261h 24
The Long Take ReviewPast Lives ReviewCeline Song’s directorial debut, Past Lives, garnered an immense amount of critical praise, with strong (and very early!) Oscar buzz coming out of the Sundance Film Festival in January. Antonio Elefano and I discuss whether the film lives up to the hype, dissect the the themes, and explain how the screenplay redefines romance. The film will play in theaters everywhere starting June 23rd. Movie News Check-In :52The Short Take 16:00The Recommendation Algorithm (Spoiler Free) 26:53SPOILER MODE 36:18The Rhetorical Situation 36:50Oscars Watch 1:43:00Image Credit: LA Ti...
2023-06-191h 51
The Long Take ReviewOscars After-Party with Antonio Elefano and P.T. McNiffThe Oscars aired this past Sunday; it went as expected in some categories, with a few surprises in others. P.T. McNiff and Antonio Elefano join me to share their reactions to the winners, how their predictions panned out, and what the results might mean for the Oscars in the future. Image Credit: CBSIntro and outro music is “Divers,” by Hara Noda, licensed through Epidemic Sound.Logo art: Illustration 73265080 © Worldofvector | Dreamstime.com Get full access to The Long Take at thelongtake.substack.com/subscribe
2023-03-151h 37
The Long Take ReviewOscars 2023: Above the Line with Antonio ElefanoEnjoy The Long Take’s first…audio edition? Proto-podcast?Fellow Oscars enthusiast and writing professor Antonio Elefano joins me to debate who will win Oscars in the Academy’s eight biggest categories, as well as share who we think should win. (And, in some cases, who we think should have been nominated.) Image Credit: The Hollywood ReporterI plan to post our written thoughts as well, complete with a Short Take and Long Take for each category we discuss here. Some but not all points overlap between this recording and the text you’ll see s...
2023-03-031h 09
Lunch Break Stories formerly Deconstructing Aesop’s Fables with Jon WilkinsItaly by Antonio Elefano - Episode 12This was a story I found on a BuzzFeed article title 29 short Stories to Read Before You are 30. I'm way older than 30 and enjoyed it. I have added it to the podcast because it is that good. Give Italy a listen!Great Short Stories for Free: Italy by Antonio Elefano Narrated by Jon Wilkins Antonio Elefano is an associate professor of Writing at the University of Southern California. Before coming to USC, he was a corporate litigator in New York City and a writing fellow/visiting assistant professor at the University of Houston. He has...
2021-02-2627 min
2019-07-0824 min