Shows
Mise en ScreenRed RoomsRed Rooms, a 2023 psychological horror film written and directed by Pascal Plante. It follows Kelly-Anne (Juliette Gariépy), a fashion model who takes an interest in the murder trial of Ludovic Chevalier (Maxwell McCabe-Lokos). She becomes acquainted with another observer, Clementine (Laurie Babin), who will tell anyone who will listen that Chevalier is innocent. As time goes on they learn more about the case, and each other, and the things they may or may not have in common. Time Stamps: (01:15) siskelebert.org news (13:40) Red Rooms (42:40) Spoilers (58:11) Next Time: Bugonia Works Cited: BOMB Magazine | Pascal Pl...
2025-10-311h 00Mise en ScreenEpisode 15: Virginia Film Festival 2025Ben was able to attend the Virginia Film Festival in Charlottesville, VA and saw 12 feature films and one short film collection. He recorded some onsite reactions and introductions to each film and we intercut those with our post-festival conversational Q&A. Red Rooms discussion will follow tomorrow and our regular programming will resume next Thursday with Bugonia! Sound Credit: drumroll2.aif by ddohler -- https://freesound.org/s/34258/ -- License: Attribution 4.0 Works Cited Resurrection (2025, Bi Gan) Kontinental '25 (2025, Radu Jude) The Eyes of Ghana (2025, Ben Proudfoot) SirÂt (2025, Oliver Laxe) The Plague (2025, Charlie Polinger) G...
2025-10-302h 06Mise en ScreenAfter the Hunt Review and DiscussionAfter The Hunt is a 2025 film directed by Luca Guadagnino and written by Nora Garrett. It stars Julia Roberts as Alma Imhoff, a philosophy professor at Yale on the verge of tenure. Ayo Edebiri plays Maggie, a star student of Alma's and Andrew Garfield as Hank, a fellow professor also on the verge of tenure. Alma is caught between the two when Maggie confides in Alma that Hank sexually assaulted her after a party one night. Michael Stuhlbarg and Chloe Sevigny star in supporting roles as Alma's husband Frederik and a school doctor/therapist respectively. Timestamps (01:36) E...
2025-10-231h 59Mise en ScreenAnemone Review & DiscussionAnemone is a 2025 film directed by Ronan Day-Lewis, written by Ronan with his father Daniel Day-Lewis, starring Daniel Day-Lewis as Ray Stoker, and Sean Bean as Jem Stoker, with supporting performances from Samantha Morton as Nessa Stoker, Samuel Bottomley as Brian Stoker, and Safia Oakley-Green as Hattie. In this film Jem seeks out his brother Ray, who has lived in isolation for an extended period of time, in order to bring him back to help aid the young Brian through a tumultous and consequential crossroads of his life. Timestamps (01:14) Artemis Fowl (19:30) Field of Dreams (39:43) The Treasure...
2025-10-161h 51Mise en ScreenThe Smashing MachineThe Smashing Machine is a 2025 film directed, written, produced, and edited by Benny Safdie and starring Dwayne Johnson as Mark Kerr, Emily Blunt as Dawn Staples, Ryan Bader as Mark Coleman, and Bas Rutten as himself. We follow Mark Kerr from 1997-2000 as he wins his first title in a Brazilian tournament before skipping forward to focus on a fight in Tokyo, Kerr's tumultuous relationship with his girlfriend Dawn, his addiction to painkillers, and his participation in the Pride Grand Prix 2000 again in Tokyo where his former coach Mark Coleman might end up being his final opponent if he c...
2025-10-091h 55Mise en ScreenEpisode 11: One Battle After AnotherLeftist guerillas Perfidia Beverly Hills (Teyana Taylor) and her lover "Ghetto" Pat Calhoun (Leonardo DiCaprio) leading their revolutionary group the French 75 in storming and liberating a migrant holding facility operated by race pervert Colonel Steven Lockjaw (Sean Penn). But after a bank robbery turns deadly the group is shattered and scattered, with Perfidia vanishing and Pat going into hiding with their infant daughter Charlene. Sixteen years later Pat is living in a Colorado sanctuary city in a haze of drugs, under the assumed name of Bob Ferguson. His paranoia makes him an overbearing parent to his daughter, raised as...
2025-10-021h 54Mise en ScreenHIM (2025)HIM follows Cameron "Cam" Cade (Tyriq Withers) an up and coming college quarterback star who suffers a serious head injury before the draft combine. Unable to participate, Cam finds himself singled out and selected by his idol, Isaiah White (Marlon Wayans) who invites Cam to his isolated compound to train for a week as a test to see if he is capable of succeeding White as the San Antonio Saviors next quarterback. The training quickly descends into ritualistic violence as Cam discovers a deep secret behind White's superstar career. Timestamps (00:00) The Substitute 3: Winner Takes All (24:06) Billy...
2025-09-251h 44Mise en ScreenThe Long WalkThe Long Walk is the latest film adaptation of a Stephen King novel and takes place in an alternate 1970s United States in which a past war has ruined the country economically. The totalitarian regime that now runs the country has devised a new annual event to encourage larger GDP growth: a marathon walk in which one kid from each state is chosen via voluntary raffle. Each individual must walk at least 3mph, should they fail to do so after three warnings they are killed and the walk lasts until only one remains. The film's focus is mainly on...
2025-09-181h 36Mise en ScreenEpisode 08: Honey Don't!Private eye Honey O'Donahue (Margaret Qualley) begins investigating the suspicious death of one of her clients, who turns up dead in a car accident before they can even meet. Her sleuthing, with the help of MG (Aubrey Plaza), a police officer she hooked up with, points to the Four Ways church of Reverend Drew Devlin (Chris Evans), a sleazy preacher who brings new meaning to the term 'Come to Jesus,' all while she is trying to help her sister keep her niece Corrine (Talia Ryder) out of trouble. Timestamps (01:35) The Ladykillers (18:44) Jennifer's Body (32:09) The Hudsucker...
2025-09-111h 33Mise en ScreenEpisode 07b: Ne Zha 2 Full SpoilerWe get into the nitty gritty details of the back half of Ne Zha 2 as well as dive into the cultural war between the US and China and specifically China's rapid gains in dominating the worldwide box office seemingly all on its own. Timestamps (00:00) Na Zha 2 spoilers (37:20) China, America, the global box office, and international influence (1:15:05) American culture, past and future Works Cited Avengers: Endgame (Russo Brothers, 2019) The Battle at Lake Changjin (Chen Kaige, Tsui Hark, Dante Lam, 2021) Barbie (Greta Gerwig, 2023) Beowulf (Robert Zemeckis, 2007) Black Myth: Wukong (Game Science, 2024) The Boy and...
2025-09-051h 29Mise en ScreenEpisode 07a: Ne Zha 2 (Non Spoilers)Ne Zha 2 is the fifth highest grossing film of all time worldwide, so why hasn't anyone in the US really seen or heard about it? We talk about the awful, no good animated film Foodfight! (2012) first, followed by our guessing game for related screenings, then get into Investiture of the Gods, Ne Zha 1 from 2019 and Ne Zha 2 released earlier this year in China and subbed in the US and most recently dubbed in English for another release that has landed with a thud stateside. Our follow up episode tomorrow will get into both spoilers for Ne Zha 2 and a...
2025-09-041h 47Mise en ScreenEpisode 06b: Highest 2 Lowest (Full Spoilers)This is our spoiler filled section for not only Spike Lee's Highest 2 Lowest but also the original Akira Kurosawa film High and Low. We talk about pretty much everything that happens in the second half of both films, what we liked and did not like about how each film handles the same overarching scenario and how they differ in execution. Next week we will be discussing Ne Zha 2 the Chinese animated fantasy adventure comedy film written and directed by Jiaozi, as well as the original Ne Zha. Works Cited "Akira Kurosawa: Composing Movement" (Every...
2025-08-291h 05Mise en ScreenEpisode 06a: Highest 2 Lowest (No Spoilers)In this non-spoiler episode we discuss both Spike Lee's latest joint Highest 2 Lowest which sees the famed director reteaming with Denzel Washington in a reinterpretation of the classic Akira Kurosawa film from 1963: High and Low. We discuss the first half of both films, their differences and similarities in focus and execution of the same premise (taken from the novel King's Ransom: An 87th Precinct Mystery is a novel by Evan Hunter). Tomorrow (Friday, August 29) we will premiere the spoiler section of our show and announce the next film we will be watching. Works Cited "...
2025-08-281h 34Mise en ScreenEpisode 05: Shin GodzillaIn present-day Japan, a series of destructive offshore phenomena leads to the appearance of a unidentified giant lizard-like creature. The mysterious nature of the beast and the destruction it leaves in its wake causes political confusion and paralysis within the Japanese government. A task force is created to research the creature and solve the puzzle of an enigmatic chart left behind by Goro Maki, a disgraced, anti-nuclear zoology professor, that might hold the key to stopping the creature. This week we discuss Shin Godzilla from 2016 as it is being re-released in theaters due to a 4K remaster. ...
2025-08-211h 41Mise en ScreenThe Naked GunIn this episode we both watched awful, terrible, no-good films as punishment for losing the guessing game last episode. We then get back to regular scheduling with guessing and talking about two related films to our main feature: The Naked Gun, directed by Akiva Schaffer as well as written by Schaffer, Dan Gregor, Doug Mand, and starring Liam Neeson as Lieutenant Frank Drebin Jr. who is pulled off a bank robbery case due to his excessive force and reassigned to a traffic suicide whose victim's sister, Pamela Anderson, insists was actually a murder. Danny Huston plays a tech billionaire...
2025-08-141h 56Mise en ScreenTogether (2025)In this episode we discuss Together, written and directed by Michael Shanks and starring Dave Franco and Alison Brie as a couple in a relationship currently going through troubled times that is only exacerbated by a supernatural effect that begins to forcibly push the two together with horrific outcomes. Spoilers begin at 1:03:00 and end at 1:22:38 Next week we will be discussing The Naked Gun starring Liam Neeson and Pamela Anderson. Works Cited: "I Want to Talk About "Elevated Horror"" (Mariana Colin, 2025) "Men (2022) - Movie Review" (Tim Brayton, 2022) Find us elsewhere! Ben...
2025-08-071h 32Mise en ScreenOpus (2025)In this episode we discuss Mark Anthony Green's musical thriller Opus (2025)! Starring Ayo Edebiri, John Malkovich, Amber Midthunder, and some other people. First we guess at each others repertory film and discuss followed by our general thoughts on Opus with a spoiler section afterwards. Next week we will be discussing Togther starring Dave Franco and Alison Brie. Find us elsewhere! Ben Verschoor https://cinema-purgatorio.ghost.io/ https://letterboxd.com/jamn4sure/ @benverschoor.bsky.social Steven Santana https://breakingarrows.substack.com/ https://letterboxd.com/number8axel/ @number8axel.bsky.social Ope...
2025-07-311h 13Mise en ScreenEddington (2025)In this episode we discuss Ari Aster's perplexing Covid provocation Eddington (2025)! First we guess at each others repertory film and discuss followed by our general thoughts/non spoilers conversation on Eddington before diving deep into the film. Find us elsewhere! Ben Verschoor https://cinema-purgatorio.ghost.io/ https://letterboxd.com/jamn4sure/ @benverschoor.bsky.social Steven Santana https://breakingarrows.substack.com/ https://letterboxd.com/number8axel/ @number8axel.bsky.social Opening music is Root Beer Rag by Billy Joel Closing music is G-Spot Tornado by Frank Zappa Apple Podcasts: Mis...
2025-07-242h 09Mise en ScreenEpisode 00: Letterboxd Q&AThis is our very first episode in which we introduce the concept and origin of the podcast, pull up each other's Letterboxd to do a Q&A session, and answer film, theater, and other related rapid fire questions we came up with beforehand. Our first real episode will be on Eddington (2025) directed, written, and produced by Ari Aster. Films discussed/mentioned: Green Room (2015) Love, Antosha (2019) Rebel Ridge (2024) The Matrix (1999) Back to the Future (1985) Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me (1992) Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004) Alien (1979) Alien Romulus (2024) Alien 3 (1992) Inside Llewyn Davis (2013) Frank (2014) West...
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