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The Long Take ReviewThe Materialists ReviewIf you were Dakota Johnson, would you choose Pedro Pascal or Chris Evans? (And no, both is not an option.) On the surface, The Materialists seems to pose this as a pleasurably difficult question, in glossy rom com fashion. That’s a considerable departure from Celine Song’s last film, the Oscar-nominated indie and LTR favorite, Past Lives. Is the marketing for the film creating a bait and switch situation, or is Song’s second film a genuinely more commercial play? Antonio, Greg, and I reveal our answers to this question as we delve into what Song has to say ab...2025-06-281h 26
The Long Take ReviewThunderbolts Review*It’s difficult to write an intro to a Marvel movie review without feeling like a broken record: Marvel has been in a slump, it’s no longer king of the Hollywood hill, fans are out, theatrical releases aren’t an event anymore, yada yada yada. To be honest, I’ve grown very tired of talking about how far Marvel has fallen, so it is an absolute delight to be able to review an MCU film that everyone else seems to like: Jake Schreier’s Thunderbolts*. In this episode of The Long Take Review, Greg and I rejoice in critics’ d...2025-05-201h 24
The Long Take ReviewRevenge of the Sith 20th Anniversary SpecialHello there, and May the 4th be with you! We’re so happy Revenge of the Sith (2005) returned to theaters this spring because it gave us an excuse to talk about Star Wars on the show. Greg, P.T., and I provide a retrospective look at how we experienced the film in 2005 vs. how we see it now. We discuss the impact of audience expectations, how this film influenced the future of franchise filmmaking, and share our list of favorites. Let us know in the comments if we had the high ground by the end! Image Credit: In...2025-05-122h 08
The Long Take Review2025 Movie Hype DraftMany critics, pundits, and podcasters have told us that the mantra for movie studios and theaters has been “survive until ‘25.” And now that 2025 is here and we know what movies are slated to come out for the rest of the year, our question is will we survive or thrive in 2025? In this episode of The Long Take Review, the whole crew gathers together to try to answer this very question. We take turns picking four of our most anticipated films in our annual Movie Hype Draft. Which films will go first? Will anyone steal another co-host’s top pick before t...2025-04-252h 01
The Long Take ReviewElectric State ReviewThe Russo brothers became household names for many Marvel fans after directing four of the biggest films in the MCU: Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014), Captain America: Civil War (2016), Avengers: Infinity War (2018), and Avengers: Endgame (2019). It’s no wonder, then, that Netflix was willing to give them a $320 million budget to create a science fiction action-adventure starring pop franchise superstars Chris Pratt and Millie Bobby Brown and featuring a slew of high profile supporting actors. With unilaterally negative reviews from critics and a decent but far from record-breaking streaming numbers, is Electric State proof that the Russo brothers no lo...2025-04-1155 min
The Long Take ReviewCaptain America: Brave New World ReviewIt’s never a good sign when the McDonalds toys for your movie come out long before the movie actually does, and it’s an even worse sign that not all of the characters represented in those toys made it into the final cut of the film. After delays and reshoots, the latest cinematic entry in the MCU, Captain America: Brave New World, released in theaters this past Valentine’s Day to mixed to poor reviews and a decent box office, holding as the second highest grossing film in 2025, but 28th out of all 35 films to date. On thi...2025-04-031h 10
The Long Take ReviewMickey 17 ReviewParasite (2019) is arguably one of the best Best Picture winners of the last decade, and it certainly put its director, Bong Joon Ho, on the global cinema map in a way he had not been before. It’s no surprise, then, that a big studio like Warner Bros. would essentially offer him a blank check to make his next film, Mickey 17. The film’s release has been far from a success, however. Warner Bros. delayed the film’s release nearly a year, and then changed the 2025 release date three more times. With a $118 million production budget and only having made $...2025-03-211h 42
Force Ghost ConversationsCelebrating Kathleen Kennedy! [206]Did you know that Kathleen Kennedy has over 100 producing credits to her name on IMDB? She has had a historic run as President of Lucasfilm and we are here to celebrate her. To look back at the successes and trials of the last 13 years at Lucasfilm, our host is joined by Greg Cass (EyeOnCanon) and Jen Sopchockchai Bankard.Topics Discussed Include:1. Why People are Obsessed with Kennedy's Downfall2. What Was In/Not In Her Control3. Potential Successors at LucasfilmSupport the show on...2025-03-162h 18
The Long Take ReviewFlow ReviewFor many critics and fans (including us), one of the happiest upsets at this year’s Oscars was Flow winning Best Animated Feature, beating out acclaimed titans from much bigger animation studios like The Wild Robot and Inside Out 2. The film’s tiny team from Latvia, led by Director Gints Zilbalodis, went home national heroes, as their statuette now sits in the Latvian National Museum of Art, with people waiting in line for hours just to see it. It’s much easier for viewers at home to see the film itself, as it is now available to stream on Max. 2025-03-1354 min
The Long Take ReviewOscar Reactions 2025What a night, especially for Sean Baker, the director of Best Picture winner, Anora! The film won five of the six of its Oscar nominations, surprising even those who had predicted it to win Best Picture. What does the indisputable success of a small indie film made for $6 million dollars (for reference, Wicked cost $150 million) with a 40-person crew mean for the future of movies? On this episode of The Long Take Review, we try to answer this question as well as react to the winners and losers more generally. Which wins made us happiest? Which were disappointing? Who...2025-03-051h 40
The Long Take ReviewFinal Oscar Predictions 2025The Oscars are finally here! If you haven’t had time to watch all the films, but find yourself looking to predict some winners, we at The Long Take Review have got you covered. In an epic, record-breaking episode, we discuss who will win and who should win in every. single. category. So this is your one stop shop for help with your Oscar pool. We’ve tiered the episode so you can opt in depending on your level of mania: first, all four of us talk the major “above the line” categories, then three of us stick around to talk...2025-02-273h 35
The Long Take ReviewNickel Boys ReviewEarly speculation about films for 2024 frequently highlighted an adaptation of Colson Whitehead’s Pulitzer-prize-winning novel, The Nickel Boys, purely based on the source material’s notoriety. Few film critics, however, could have known then that Ramell Ross’ adaptation, Nickel Boys, would be so bold in its aesthetic choices. Ross reconfigures conventional film continuity to create what he calls a “sentient POV,” in which the camerawork reflects a sensory experience, as if the camera were a person. This radical, experimental style, deeply rooted in ideological resistance, has dazzled some critics while putting off others. It also seems to have had an impact...2025-02-201h 31
The Long Take Review100th Episode Special!It’s hard to believe, but The Long Take Review podcast has made it to 100 episodes! To commemorate this milestone, P.T., Greg, Antonio, and I take a break from our Oscar season coverage to ask each other some probing questions, both about the films we have covered during the first 100 episodes and more generally about our filmgoing lives. What has been our most memorable theatrical experience? What unpopular film would we defend? What film have we covered that we most associate with the other co-hosts? And if we were casting the pod, who would be in the ensemble? Fi...2025-02-182h 40
The Long Take Review2025 Oscar Nominations ReactionsEveryone over at The Long Take Review got up bright and early Thursday morning to watch the live announcement of this year’s Oscar nominations. We share our thoughts on the broadcast, as well as the nominees. How many did Jen correctly predict? How many has Greg already seen? What is P.T.’s mastermind theory about which films have a path to winning Best Picture? And why did we spend so much time talking about monkeys? Listen to find out! Image Credit: New York Times, The New Yorker, Vogue, Mubi, and SlateYou can list...2025-01-241h 42
The Long Take ReviewThe Brutalist ReviewDirector Brady Corbet gave not one but two acceptance speeches at The Golden Globes, as he won for Best Director and his film, The Brutalist, won Best Motion Picture Drama. Star Adrien Brody also won Best Actor Motion Picture Drama. There were two predominant themes amongst those three speeches: that immigrant stories matter, and that film studios should take more chances on filmmakers’ artistic visions (especially when their ideas don’t seem as commercially viable). Those who have seen the two-part period drama know that these themes also manifest in the epic story of fictional architect, László Tóth. 2025-01-222h 13
The Long Take ReviewGladiator II ReviewWe’re far enough away from “Glicked” weekend that we can declare a box office victor, and it wasn’t Gladiator II, Ridley Scott’s long-awaited follow-up to Best Picture-winning Gladiator (2000). Despite that, will the sword and sandals epic still get a thumbs up from the Academy? On this episode of The Long Take Review, P.T., Greg, and I deliberate this question (and celebrate Denzel Washington) after unpacking our diverse reactions to the film. Who had the best time? Who knows about the previous pitches that never got green-lit? And who is the biggest (OG) Gladiator super fan? Lend us yo...2024-12-211h 25
The Long Take ReviewA Real Pain ReviewMost will recognize Jesse Eisenberg as an actor, if not for his iconic portrayal of Mark Zuckerberg in David Fincher’s The Social Network (2010), then for his turn as Lex Luthor in Zack Snyder’s DC films. Fewer will know him as a director, and yet his second film, A Real Pain, is currently in the Oscars conversation. The film follows two cousins, Benji (Kieran Culkin) and David (Jesse Eisenberg), who sign up for a Holocaust tour of Poland, in an attempt to honor the memory of their immigrant grandmother. Their personalities clash as they confront both the pain of t...2024-12-041h 12
The Long Take ReviewBlitz ReviewSteve McQueen’s filmography has had an eclectic filmography: Hunger (2008) is about the 1981 Irish hunger strike, Shame (2011) is about sex addiction, Widows (2018) is a heist thriller, and Best Picture winner 12 Years a Slave (2013) adapts the 1853 memoir of Solomon Northrup, a free-born Black man kidnapped and sold into slavery. McQueen’s newest film, Blitz, focuses on a mother and son separated during the bombing of London during WWII, and while this is a return to the historical drama genre for McQueen, Blitz has not been unilaterally embraced by critics as 12 Years a Slave was. Despite the more muted reception, could McQu...2024-11-201h 08
The Long Take ReviewAnora ReviewThe Palm d’Or, the top prize at the Cannes Film Festival, is a big deal. And it has become an even bigger Oscar bellwether in recent years, as the Academy has expanded, diversified, and, as a result, become more international. The winners have certainly been international, as American films have won only 13 times during the award’s 80+ year history. In fact, an American film has not won since 2011 when Terence Malick’s The Tree of Life took the prize (and, later, three Oscar nominations). That all changed this year when Sean Baker’s romantic dramedy (maybe rom-com-dram?), Anora, earned t...2024-11-081h 33
The Long Take ReviewConclave ReviewWith an especially close Presidential Election only three days away, it’s nearly impossible to watch Edward Berger’s papal thriller Concalve without drawing a parallel to the American political process. The pope has died, and a conclave has assembled to elect another. But with so many scandals and secrets, can they find a suitable candidate? Which candidates will cling to their ideals? How many must inevitably compromise theirs? And will ambition or a pursuit of the truth win the day?Oscar pundits all wonder the extent to which the winner this Tuesday will have a direct impa...2024-11-032h 02
The Long Take ReviewSaturday Night ReviewNext year, 2025, will mark the 50th anniversary of Saturday Night Live (SNL), and NBC is planning a big live special in February to celebrate. In the meantime, though, Director Jason Reitman, whose own father, Ivan, had a close connection to the sketch comedy series, has made Saturday Night, out in theaters now. The film careens in “real” time towards the moment the first episode of SNL aired in 1975, and stars Gabriel LaBelle (The Fabelmans) as Lorne Michaels, along with a vast ensemble of exciting young actors playing the original SNL cast and well-loved veterans like J.K. Simmons and Will...2024-10-171h 58
The Long Take ReviewThe Wild Robot ReviewAt a time when so much of public discourse surrounding A.I. swirls in fear and doom, it is rare to find a movie about a robot that does not tap into that sentiment. From Minority Report (2002) to Ex Machina (2014), Hollywood often adopts the position of a canary in the coal mine, trying to warn everyone about our robot overlords. And considering corporate interest in using artificial intelligence to replace human creators, I don’t necessarily blame them for wanting to do that, especially now. Chris Sanders’ The Wild Robot, however, defies that popular narrative, with a fres...2024-10-111h 13
The Long Take ReviewMegalopolis ReviewWhen legendary artists have really made it, they should be able to do anything, right? Their creativity unfettered and untethered from pleasing others or financial concerns. By this margin, Francis Ford Coppola is living the dream. He became an icon for classics such as The Godfather (1972) and Apocalypse Now (1979). And for forty years he has been working on his magnum opus called Megalopolis. He funded the entire film — $120 million — by taking a line of credit out on his own winery No one could put a damper on his creative vision. And the result, suffice it to say, is u...2024-09-271h 37
The Long Take Review2024 Fall Film Festival Winners and LosersFor movie nerds and, more fervently, awards season nerds like me, fall is a wonderful time of year because it is nothing but possibility and potential. Like Schrodinger’s cat, movies are both good and bad until you actually see them for yourself. As I impatiently wait to do that, though, there are some indicators: reactions from critics and journalists attending film festivals, awards given by festivals, and whether films without a home score a deal with a big distributor. In this episode of The Long Take Review, Greg, P.T., and I process and analyze all the...2024-09-192h 08
The Long Take ReviewBeetlejuice Beetlejuice ReviewBox office, box office, box office! Tim Burton’s long-awaited sequel to his 1988 hit has conjured a successful opening weekend at $111 million domestic. This may indicate that audiences show no sign of fatigue for nostalgia-laden sequels (which is good news for Gladiator 2, perhaps?). But how does Beetlejuice Beetlejuice fare as a 36 years later follow-up to one of Burton’s best? Does it contain clunky fan service moments like Alien: Romulus? Or is it more of a fun, don’t-think-about-it-too-hard hang like Deadpool & Wolverine? How well does the Beetlejuice ethos jive with 2024 sensibilities?These are the questions we try to...2024-09-121h 50
The Long Take ReviewAlien: Romulus ReviewThe Alien franchise, suffice it to say, has legs. Xenomorphs and facehuggers are among the most iconic sci-fi creatures in movie history. And multiple directors, including legends Ridley Scott and James Cameron, have made nine Alien films in 45 years. And it would seem that the latest installment, Fede Álvarez’s Alien: Romulus, shows that interest in watching people fight gooey space parasites has not waned. The worldwide box office currently sits at $289.5 million, and it had the second highest opening weekend of any Alien movie to date. In this episode of The Long Take Review, P.T., Gre...2024-09-061h 53
The Long Take ReviewDidi ReviewDirector Sean Wang has arrived. His documentary short film, “Nǎi Nai & Wài Pó,” landed an Oscar nomination and, a few months later, his first narrative feature film, Didi, won the Audience Award for the U.S. Dramatic Competition at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival.While “Nǎi Nai & Wài Pó” has been available to watch on Disney+ for some time, Didi just released in theaters at the end of July. It offers a window into the life of Chris, a Taiwanese-American teenager, the summer before he starts high school. He must traverse friends, family, girls, parties, and o...2024-08-271h 09
The Long Take ReviewSing Sing ReviewWhen I think of the genre of prison drama, what do I think of? As a child of the 90s, Shawshank Redemption (1994) and The Green Mile (1999) come to mind first; the former in particular defined the genre forever thereafter. I think of the struggle to survive, full of violence and terror. I think of the bleakness of never getting out and the desperate scheming to escape or undermine the system. I think of crime and corruption perpetuated within the carceral system itself.Greg Kwedar’s Sing Sing, in theaters now, defies all of these expectations. While it do...2024-08-201h 18
The Long Take ReviewStar Wars Spotlight: D23 News and The Acolyte Season ReviewAs summer blockbuster season winds down and awards season just starts to warm up with a flurry of fall film festivals, P.T., Greg, and I thought it would be a great time to nerd out about Star Wars. First, we react to some recent news coming out of the D23 Expo (including a movie! finally!), and then we review the entire season of The Acolyte that concluded on Disney+ a few weeks ago. That naturally brings us to a ranking exercise. We debate, negotiate, and conciliate to put all the Disney+ Star Wars series in order from best...2024-08-162h 25
The Long Take ReviewTwisters ReviewLook. We know that Deadpool & Wolverine is about to take over theaters and probably dominate the summer box office narrative. We, too, are excited to see the merc with a mouth team up with everyone’s favorite clawed hero. But, what we fear may get lost in the MCU shuffle is another fun summer blockbuster already out in theaters: Lee Isaac Chung’s Twisters. This sequel to the 90s hit that put disaster movies on the map stars Glen Powell, Daisy Edgar-Jones, Anthony Ramos, and a slew of other up and coming actors who all give charismatic perf...2024-07-251h 52
The Long Take ReviewDeadpool & Wolverine RetrospectiveWe are less than five days away from Deadpool & Wolverine! Though, based on how much marketing has been coming at us, if you didn’t know that already, you may be living under a rock. As we so often say with the MCU these days, a lot is riding on this movie. The expectations for the box office, despite it being a Rated R film, have gone sky high. With Marvel/Disney scaling back and slowing down its offerings on the big and small screen, critics are left wondering if this film will impact the recent trajectory of the MC...2024-07-221h 41
The Long Take ReviewThe Hidden Movie Gems of 2024Have you recently found yourself endlessly scrolling through Netflix, not knowing when to press play? Are you looking for a something to watch while you wait for the next big summer blockbusters (and our reviews of them)? Whether you’re impatiently awaiting Greg’s hype draft pick, Twisters, on July 19 or, more realistically (sorry, Greg), Deadpool & Wolverine on July 26, we’ve got recommendations for smaller films from this year that we think are worth seeing. Many are available to watch at home, while others have just arrived in theaters. For this episode of The Long Take Review, we’ve...2024-06-271h 46
The Long Take ReviewInside Out 2 ReviewWhen Inside Out came out in 2015, critics and fans showered it with praise for its innovative storytelling, as it translated a series of basic human emotions — joy, sadness, anger, fear, and disgust — into lovable characters who work in an elaborate visualization of the human mind. It was a commercial hit and an award-winning film. It seemed then like Pixar could do no wrong; little did critics know that from that point forward Pixar would steadily decline, losing its apex position in the animation industry. Much to everyone’s surprise in the face of such a downturn, Inside Out 2 h...2024-06-191h 38
The Long Take ReviewHitman ReviewGlen Powell’s having a great year. He arguably entered the movie star chat with 2022’s Top Gun: Maverick (in which he played Hangman), but this year alone he has had/will have three big releases. Despite middling reviews, Anyone But You, Powell’s rom com with Sydney Sweeney did exceedingly well at the box office this past winter. Looking ahead, Powell will star in a sequel to the 1996 disaster film Twister. (And yes, it’s called Twisters.) The trailers and press for that film indicate that if the film is a hit, it could launch Powell into a new leve...2024-06-141h 02
The Long Take ReviewGodzilla Minus One ReviewGodzilla Minus One is finally back! On June 1st, without much warning, the acclaimed film finally became available to watch at home on Netflix. Obviously we had to scramble to squeeze in a review as soon as we could. Back in December of 2023, Godzilla Minus One, produced by Toho, the Japanese studio from which the character originated, quietly came out in theaters in U.S., yet blew up in cinephile and pop culture circles very quickly. Passion for the film grew and grew, yet Oscar pundits weren’t sure if it was enough to garner any nominations fo...2024-06-111h 09
The Long Take Review2015 Oscar Fairy FlashbackAt the Long Take Review, we have one eye always on the Oscar race. Usually, that means we are looking forward to the upcoming Academy Awards, talking through the race as it happens. But given our collective history of caring about these silly awards, we thought it would be fun to occasionally step back and train our eye on an earlier year in Oscar history. Regular listeners know we frequently talk about what we would change in the current race if we had the power of an Oscar Fairy; we decided to use that magic wand on the past...2024-06-082h 12
The Long Take ReviewFuriosa: A Mad Max Saga ReviewThis past weekend, George Miller’s long-awaited follow-up to Mad Max: Fury Road (2015) unfortunately became the impetus for headlines about a failing film industry. After the rom com stunt spectacular The Fall Guy underperformed at the box office and then whimpered onto home video much earlier than expected, Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga has emerged as another big disappointment, opening during a holiday weekend to a measly $32 million domestically. As a result, trade journalists have already begun to question whether the next Mad Max film, which George Miller has referred to as The Wasteland, will even get made now....2024-05-302h 16
The Long Take ReviewMad Max RetrospectiveThirty years after the original Mad Max films — Mad Max (1979), Mad Max 2: Road Warrior (1981), and Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome (1985) — George Miller wowed critics and Academy voters with Mad Max: Fury Road (2015). The dystopian post-apocalyptic action spectacle won six Oscars, and has earned a spot on countless best of lists for 2015, the decade, and even the century. It stands to reason, then, that many eagerly await the next installment in the franchise: Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga. The prequel film, which premieres at the Cannes Film Festival tomorrow and hits theaters May 23rd, recounts the traumatic past of Fury Road’s most...2024-05-141h 56
The Long Take ReviewThe Phantom Menace 25th Anniversary SpecialMay the 4th be with you! Just in time for Star Wars Day this year, The Phantom Menace, the 1999 prequel film written and directed by George Lucas, returned to theaters in honor of its 25th anniversary. In those 25 years, the film has been on a tumultuous journey. After its initial release, it withstood harsh reviews from critics and backlash from fans. The more toxic among them harassed actors like Jake Lloyd and Ahmed Best. Fast forward to today and the film seems to be beloved by many. In fact, to the surprise of The Hollywood Reporter, The Phantom Menace c...2024-05-072h 30
The Long Take ReviewDune: Part Two...with friends!We’ll basically take any excuse to talk about Dune on this show, but for this episode we had two fairly good reasons. Denis Villeneuve’s Dune: Part Two recently became available to rent or buy at home, and it likely won’t be long before the science fiction epic hits streaming services — I would guess on Max this summer. Now that the film has become more widely accessible, we thought that it would be a great time to revisit it and dig a little deeper. Meanwhile, we have a cadre of Star Wars podcaster friends who have not...2024-04-262h 06
The Long Take ReviewMonkey Man ReviewMonkey Man, directed by and starring Dev Patel, opened this past weekend. That, apparently, was a small miracle. The cast crew had to maintain a covid “bubble” during the pandemic, Dev Patel broke his hand during filming on location in Indonesia, Netflix dumped the film, their co-financier Bron Studios went bankrupt, and then, after all seemed lost, Academy Award winner Jordan Peele and Universal Studios swooped in to revive it. Now, the film seems to have risen above all that, receiving rave reviews out of the SXSW Film Festival, where it premiered, and recouping its 10 million dollar budg...2024-04-102h 01
The Long Take Review2024 Movie Hype DraftWith the Oscars for 2023 releases in the rearview mirror, we look to the movie slate for the rest 2024. And we’re left with a lot of questions. With the studios’ slow resolution of the actor and writer strikes halting production for months, for example, will the release schedule feel thinner than years past? And considering Marvel has scaled back in the wake of recent flops and the loss of an actor who was supposed to play their primary villain for the foreseeable future, will the handful of summer blockbusters lined up be enough to keep the box office afloat? Will...2024-04-032h 19
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 ReviewOscar Reactions 2024That’s a wrap, folks! We have arrived at the end of awards season, with one of the better Oscar telecasts in recent memory. Oppenheimer’s predicted success largely came to fruition, but there were also some key surprises in categories Oppenheimer did not take. In this episode of The Long Take Review, Greg, P.T., and I share our experience watching the 96th Academy Awards, evaluate this year’s Oscars as a televised show, and dissect all the winners, diagnosing the surprises and celebrating what made us happy. Which jokes landed? What do the upsets tell us abo...2024-03-121h 41
The Long Take ReviewFinal Oscar Predictions: Part OneHappy Oscars week, everyone! Hollywood’s biggest night is this Sunday, March 10. The ceremony will air live on ABC at 4PT/7ET. Voting closed last week, and all the guilds and other awards groups have given out their prizes. So we have all the clues we’re going to get to predict who takes home a gold statuette this weekend. Need some help with your office Oscar pool? Want to be more informed at the party you’ve been invited to? We at The Long Take Review are here to help. Across two episodes, we will share our fin...2024-03-061h 58
The Long Take ReviewDune: Part Two ReviewDenis Villeneuve’s Dune: Part Two is finally here! And only one weekend into its opening, the prestige blockbuster has already delivered at the box office, bringing in $81.5 million domestic and $178.5 million global at the time of this post. Meanwhile, speculation percolates as to whether or when Villeneuve plans to make a third Dune film, presumably based on Frank Herbert’s Dune Messiah. Warner Bros. has not yet confirmed that there will be a third film. How long will fans hang in the balance, hungry for more?In this episode of The Long Take Review, Greg, P.T...2024-03-041h 57
The Long Take ReviewDune Retrospective: The Hype Must FlowAfter multiple delays due to historic Hollywood labor disputes, Denis Villeneuve’s Dune: Part Two finally arrives in theaters this weekend. His 2021 hit Dune: Part One made $433 million worldwide, and cleaned up at the Oscars with six Academy Awards. The film was not immune to discourse, however. Many critics claimed they couldn’t pass judgment upon the film until they saw how the story completed in Part Two. Others were upset that they only got half a movie. Regardless, early reviews of Part Two seem very positive, with a 4.5 (out of 5) average on Letterboxd and 96% on Rotten Tomatoes. So it s...2024-02-292h 03
The Long Take ReviewSAG Awards Reactions and Maestro ReviewOut of all the Best Picture nominees this year, Bradley Cooper’s Maestro has probably generated the most “discourse,” amongst film critics and Internet users alike. The film in general has been polarizing, but narratives like “it’s just Oscar bait” or “Bradley Cooper is so desperate to win an Oscar” have also formed. The Academy nominated the film for seven Oscars: Best Picture, Best Actress, Best Actor, Original Screenplay, Makeup and Hairstyling, Cinematography, and Sound, but it has won very little since nomination day. Is this film getting a fair shake? Would it have performed in any other year?Maes...2024-02-271h 58
The Long Take ReviewBAFTA Reactions and The Zone of Interest ReviewJonathan Glazer’s The Zone of Interest is one of the ten Best Picture nominees at the Oscars, as well as one of the films nominated for Best International Feature. Even the Producer’s Guild of America, which typically favors more mainstream blockbusters rather than arthouse films — nevermind international ones — included the disturbing Holocaust film in its nominations. The film adopts an immersive fly-on-the-wall view of the family of Auschwitz’s manager or commandant, who live just on the other side of a wall, next to the concentration camp. We never see what’s happening on the other side of...2024-02-222h 03
The Long Take ReviewAmerican Fiction ReviewWhile Internet fires continue to rage after Barbie visionaries Greta Gerwig and Margot Robbie did not get nominated for Best Director and Best Actress respectively, Cord Jefferson’s directorial debut, American Fiction, quietly over-performed with five Oscar nominations. Supporting Actor was a little unexpected, and Score was a total surprise, indicating broader strength and support for the film. The relatively small dramedy, adapted from Percival Everett’s novel, Erasure, follows a professor and fiction writer named Thelonious “Monk” Ellison as he struggles to write a best seller because, according to his editor, his books aren’t “Black” enough. While...2024-01-301h 49
The Long Take ReviewThe Boy and the Heron ReviewLegendary director Hayao Miyzaki was set to retire after The Wind Rises in 2013. He later decided that he had at least one more film in him: The Boy and the Heron, which is playing in theaters now. At a later date, it will presumably stream on Max, where most other Studio Ghibli films reside. Is this Miyazaki’s last film, for real this time? There are already rumors from studio executives that he may already have an idea for yet another film. How might that uncertainty influence how we view The Boy and the Heron, which is on...2023-12-191h 57
The Long Take ReviewNapoleon ReviewRidley Scott, the director who brought us game-changing blockbusters like Alien, Bladerunner, and Gladiator, takes on one of history’s most notorious figures in his new film, Napoleon. The 2-hour and 38-minute historical epic follows not only his military career but his relationship with his wife and empress, Josephine. The film stars Academy Award winner Joaquin Phoenix (Joker, The Master) as Napoleon and Academy Award nominee Vanessa Kirby (Mission: Impossible — Fallout, The Crown) as Josephine. It’s playing in theaters now, but Sir Ridley himself has said that there will be a 4-hour director’s cut on AppleTV+ at a later...2023-12-041h 46
The Long Take ReviewPriscilla ReviewA little more than a year after the release of Elvis, Baz Luhrmann’s bombastic and glitzy biopic, Sofia Coppola’s Priscilla provides an alternative view by adapting Priscilla Presley’s memoir, Elvis and Me. In stark contrast to Elvis, Priscilla is a quiet, sobering look at the relationship between Elvis and Priscilla Presley, who was 14 when they met. Coppola’s film stars Cailee Spaeny as Priscilla and Jacob Elordi as Elvis, and is playing in theaters now. Since its distributor, A24, doesn’t have an exclusive contract with a streaming service, it’s unclear where the film will land for hom...2023-11-291h 43
The Long Take ReviewA Long Take ThanksgivingWhether you’re hosting or traveling for Thanksgiving, watching movies can be a great way to spend time with your loved ones. To help guide you through that tryptophan-assisted down time, P.T., Greg, and I put together a series of recommendations in four different categories: 1.) movies playing in theaters, 2.) family films to stream at home, 3.) films for grownups to stream at home, and 4.) movies just coming out in theaters that we’re excited to see. You can listen to The Long Take Review on Substack, Spotify, Apple, or wherever you get your podcasts.Movie News...2023-11-201h 36
The Long Take ReviewThe Marvels ReviewWith new “state of the MCU” articles coming out every day, The Marvels enters a precarious discursive climate. And, unfortunately, Nia DaCosta’s superhero team-up space comedy now has the distinction of the lowest grossing opening weekend of any Marvel movie. How much does that reflect the quality of the film, though? On this episode of The Long Take Review, Greg and I explain why we still had a great time with The Marvels, despite its flaws. We then try to diagnose the MCU’s much-discussed downturn, consider various reasons why The Marvels underperformed at the box office...2023-11-152h 01
The Long Take ReviewThe Holdovers ReviewAlexander Payne — the director behind Sideways, The Descendants, Election, Nebraska, and About Schmidt — has a new film out in theaters: The Holdovers. The title refers to a group of boarding school students stuck on campus for the holidays, along with their begrudging chaperone, a hard-nosed history teacher, played by Paul Giamatti. Hilarious and heartfelt shenanigans ensue. Comedian Da’vine Joy Randolph and new discovery Dominic Sessa accompany Giamatti in a trio of smart, funny, and authentic performances. As the runner-up for the audience award at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF), this Christmas comedy drama already has a lot of Osc...2023-11-082h 24
The Long Take ReviewKillers of the Flower Moon ReviewLegendary director and champion of cinema Martin Scorsese adapted David Grann’s 2017 non-fiction book Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI, with some significant shifts that have sparked debate amongst a variety of film critics. The film stars Leonardo DiCaprio, Lily Gladstone, and Robert De Niro, who all give indelible performances. It is currently playing in theaters and will stream on Apple TV+ later this year. In this episode of The Long Take Review, P.T., Greg, and I enter the discourse about the representation of American history and indigenous peoples, offer ou...2023-10-252h 13
The Long Take ReviewWes Anderson's Netflix Shorts ReviewWes Anderson, the director behind The Grand Budapest Hotel and, more recently, Asteroid City, adapted four short stories by Roald Dahl for Netflix: “The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar,” “The Swan,” “The Rat Catcher,” and “Poison.” These films feature a troupe of famous faces, including Benedict Cumberbatch, Sir Ben Kingsley, Ralph Fiennes, Dev Patel, Rupert Friend, and Richard Ayoade. In this episode, Greg, P.T., and I unpack their meaning, consider them in the context of both Wes Anderson’s filmography and Roald Dahl’s biography, share our favorites, and contemplate the Netflix of it all. You can listen to The Lo...2023-10-172h 17
The Long Take ReviewAhsoka Season 1 ReviewP.T., Greg, and I love Star Wars as much as we love movies, so we’re dipping a toe into television waters with a review of the first season of Ahsoka, the new Star Wars series that recently concluded on Disney+. We discuss the extent to which Star Wars animation is a prerequisite, how the series moves forward in light of the tragic loss of actor Ray Stevenson, what this series tells us about the future of Star Wars, and much more. You can listen to The Long Take Review on Substack, Spotify, Apple, or wherever yo...2023-10-102h 08
The Long Take ReviewThe Creator ReviewThis week, Gareth Edwards, the director behind Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, debuted his original science fiction epic, The Creator. P.T., Greg, and I break down what makes the film worth seeing — even dazzling in some respects — while also acknowledging the flaws in the story. The wide-ranging conversation includes AI, the Vietnam War, and a slew of other science fiction films. You can listen to The Long Take Review on Substack, Spotify, Apple, or wherever you get your podcasts.Movie News Check-In: A huge strike update, plus what else we’ve been watching this week. 1:50T...2023-10-021h 55
The Long Take ReviewHot Takes Summer 2023Before we become engrossed in all the Oscar bait that awaits this fall, Greg, P.T. and I thought it would be fun to give a series of “awards” to movies we watched over the summer. Greg finds every opportunity to talk about Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, P.T. tries to backdoor reviews of Dungeons and Dragons: Honor Among Thieves and TMNT:Mutant Mayhem, and Jen just wants to give Rocket Raccoon a hug. This one has a lot of laughs, so come join us in celebrating a great summer at the movies. Movies News...2023-09-262h 12The Nostalgia Test Podcast96. 🤠Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark w/ The Long Take Review PodcastDan & Manny invite Jen Sopchockchai Bankard & Greg Cass from The Long Take Review Substack & Podcast to put the 1981 adventure film Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark to the ultimate test--THE NOSTALGIA TEST! This is an old school deep-dive, tangent filled, super nerdy episode. They get into their favorite scenes, the Indiana Jones humor, what really is archeology, what didn't age well, their pre-Dial of Destiny Indiana Jones franchise ranking, and so much more. Then, Manny surprises Greg and Jen with a 4 question Nostalgia Test Lightning Round!
Some Episode Notes
The Long Tak...2023-09-221h 27
The Long Take ReviewPremature Oscar Predictions: Part OneIs it still too early to make Oscar predictions? Yes. Will that stop P.T. and me from making them? Not a chance. After a rundown of what’s slated for all the major film festivals this year and a discussion of their role in the Oscar race, we speculate about nominations in 8 categories: animated feature, international feature, documentary feature, original score, original song, production design, makeup and hairstyling, and visual effects. We also get a little help from Greg Greg , who breaks some bad news. Stay tuned for Part Two, in which we discuss the rest of...2023-08-302h 12
The Long Take ReviewMission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One ReviewThe new Mission: Impossible movie is exclusively in theaters, and Tom Cruise wouldn’t want it any other way. After shining a light on the actor’s strike that began this week and discussing some of the contentious issues in the context of Dead Reckoning Part One, P.T., Greg, and I unpack (and clarify) the dense spy thriller plot, rejoice over our favorite action set pieces, and compare our notes on characters old and new. We’ll be your parachute as you float down from a blockbuster high. Movie News Check-In 2:04The Hollywood Strike in the...2023-07-182h 34
The Long Take ReviewIndiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny ReviewBuckle up your prop plane seat for our wide-ranging discussion of Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny. First-time guest, as well as dear friend and colleague, Jim Clements Jim Clements joins P.T., Greg, and me to compare this fifth film to its predecessors, contemplate whether or not anyone under the age of 40 cares about this genre, nerd out about what we liked, pinpoint what didn’t work for us, and daydream about Harrison Ford winning an Oscar someday. We had the widest variety of takes (of all temperatures!) of any episode of The Long Take Review thus fa...2023-07-041h 48
The Long Take ReviewIndiana Jones and the Retrospective of Destiny (or Doom?)We are on the precipice of a new Indiana Jones film in theaters, so P.T., Greg, and I *had* to have an episode dedicated to the four preceding films. We share what we love about the character and the franchise, try to figure out what makes Harrison Ford so singular, rank all the films, and parse our expectations for Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny. Grab your fedora and join us on Substack, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Image Credit: VarietyIntro and outro music is “Divers,” by Hara Noda...2023-06-292h 16
The Long Take ReviewAsteroid City ReviewIt’s a Wes Anderson jubilee! Greg, P.T., and I share our thoughts on the beloved yet polarizing director’s newest film, Asteroid City. We attempt to unpack its dense layers, pulling out themes and connections between the various frame narratives. After a robust discussion, we speculate about the film’s Oscars chances and share our top five Wes Anderson films of all time. I felt privileged to be a part of this conversation; P.T. and Greg shared so much insight, and we were having a good time every single second. You can’t wake up until you’ve p...2023-06-282h 44
The Long Take ReviewSpider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse ReviewWith dazzling animation and a superb screenplay, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, the follow-up to Oscar-winner Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, has performed heroically at the box office. Greg Cass Greg and I try to pinpoint the source of the film’s success, dissect how the creators have seeded themes into the story so effectively, share our favorite scenes and Easter eggs, and much more. Stick around until the end of the recording to learn just how deep a certain cameo’s connection to Spider-Man really goes. Movie News Check-In: 1:16The Short Take (Spoiler-Free): 11:58The Reco...2023-06-091h 45
The Long Take ReviewMay the Fourth Be With You 2023We are movie lovers and Oscar prognosticators, but we are also dedicated Star Wars fans. In honor of Star Wars Day (May 4th) 2023, P.T., Greg, and I share our memories of Return of the Jedi as well as our experiences seeing the 1983 film on the big screen during its recent 40th anniversary re-release. We then transition to a discussion of the Star Wars franchise as a whole, especially from a film perspective. Listen for our takes on The Mandalorian Season 3, the recently announced Dave Filoni “event film,” storytelling continuity, and the joy that a Galaxy Far, Far, Away brin...2023-05-041h 50
The Long Take ReviewAir ReviewBen Affleck and Matt Damon are together again, this time to tell the story of how Nike signed Michael Jordan and revolutionized sports marketing and fashion with his own shoe line. Greg and I share our thoughts about some big Star Wars film news before we share our overall reactions to “Air,” highlight some of our favorite performances, and try to figure out if this film has enough of a point of view to swish into the Oscars conversation. Movie News Check 1:47The Spoiler-Free Short Take 14:40The Recommendation Algorithm (also spoiler-free) 22:07Spoi...2023-04-111h 24
The Long Take ReviewOscars 2023: Features, Shorts, and Score with Greg CassWe’re back with another Oscars breakdown. This time, I’m joined by my former grad school officemate, longtime friend, fellow movie nerd, and author ofEye On Canon, Greg Cass. He miraculously watches every single Oscar-nominated film (in all categories!) every year, so I really needed his help to parse these categories. Image Credit: CNNI will publish a couple posts to have a shorter text only version of our predictions shortly. You can opt for one or the other depending on how you’d like to consume our takes. Intro and outro music...2023-03-091h 32
The Rebel Base Card PodcastQuestions ANDor Breakfast: Andor Episode 6 - The EyeA Star Wars Andor series podcast that asks more questions than it answers: Today for breakfast, we are asking questions on the Andor series Episode 6: The Eye, which dropped Wednesday October 12th. Along with Gregory Cass, from @eyeoncanon, we welcome back to the show, Jen Bankard @sopchockchai from The Long Take Substack, (https://thelongtake.substack.com) and Director Bennic himself, Ben Brophy, aka @zenkenobi from Twitter & Instagram.
The show has works like this, Greg, Jen, Ben and I will take turns asking questions on the show. These questions spur some great conversation, and all pressure is off to get the...2022-10-151h 30
The Rebel Base Card PodcastLeave the Breakfast, Take the Kenobi: Chapter 4This is a special insert podcast series from The Rebel Base Card. Gregory Cass from @eyeoncanon , along with special guests: Jen Bankard from @sopchockchai and first timer Ben Brophy, aka Director Bennic (@zenkenobi) and I will take turns asking questions on Obi-Wan Kenobi Chapter 4: which aired first on Disney+ on Wednesday, June 8th. All of us trade questions and try to figure out just what the heck is going on
The show works like this, Greg, Jen, Ben and I will take turns asking questions that we have not talked about yet, so there is of course a chance we...2022-06-111h 36
The ColbyCastThe ColbyCast Episode 15- Star Wars Night at Disneyland and More Celebration!In this episode, I talk to Jen Sopchockchai-Bankard and Greg Cass about Disneyland After Dark: Star Wars Night, things to do around the Anaheim Convention Center and what they are looking forward to during Star Wars Celebration.
You can find Jen on Twitter @Sopchockchai and you can find her TV and movie reviews here: https://thelongtake.substack.com/
You can find Greg on Twitter and Instagram @eyeoncanon
This is your place for community and conversation about pop culture and storytelling! 2022-05-1757 min
The Rebel Base Card PodcastLeave the Breakfast, Take the Kenobi: Trailer 2This is a special insert podcast series from The Rebel Base Card. Gregory Cass from @eyeoncanon , Jen Bankard from @sopchockchai and The Long Take and I will take turns asking questions on the Obi-Wan Kenobi Trailer #2: which aired first on Wednesday, May 4th. All of us trade questions and try to figure out just what the heck is going on and our thoughts on the series as well as thoughts on Celebration Anaheim, which will be going on at the same time the first two episodes drop. Take the Kenobi will return, hopefully, with a full show recorded at Star...2022-05-0757 min