Shows
Book and Film Globe PodcastBFG Podcast #195: The State of American Moviegoing and 'Drop' (Unrelated)On this week's BFG Podcast, we welcome in our friend Richard Rushfield, who takes time away from his deli-going schedule from time to time to stop by to talk to host Neal Pollack about issues and trends in Hollywood. Richard is recently back from Cinemcon, the annual Las Vegas convention for theater owners, who always have one question: "Does your movie star Dwayne Johnson, or does it star Ryan Reynolds?" Headier artistic questions don't concern them.For the first time in many years, Richard says, major franchises had no representation at Cinema Con. There was no Fast...
2025-04-1736 minBook and Film Globe PodcastBFG Podcast #191: 'Black Bag' and a Roundup of the "Last" SXSWHas Steven Soderbergh retired? Because his retirement looks an awful lot like making two movies a year. BFG Chief film critic Stephen Garrett, who knows more about film on Tuesday than you'll know in a lifetime, has interviewed Soderbergh several times and says that "retirement" is really more of a euphemism for DIY filmmaking. With 'Black Bag', an admittedly $50 million studio picture, he brings the DIY mentality to a star-studded spy drama that's loaded with wit and sexiness and everything else that's missing from movies for adults these days. Stephen and Neal Pollack liked it somewhat, even though it's...
2025-03-1934 minBook and Film Globe PodcastBFG Podcast #186: 'I'm Still Here,' 'Companion,' and 'Severance' Season 2It's a typically great show this week as host Neal Pollack welcomes the heavily compromised but still insightful Stephen Garrett, who worked on the trailer for the Brazilian Oscar nominee I'm Still Here. But Stephen would have to have a heart of stone to not like this beautiful and thoughtful movie, and he doesn't. Neal is full of praise for the film's passionate defense of human rights, and its beautiful elegy for a time and place that's no more. And they are both enthralled, as is everyone else, by the lead performance of Fernanda Torres, who, like her character...
2025-02-1941 minBook and Film Globe PodcastBFG Podcast #186: 'I'm Still Here,' 'Companion,' and 'Severance' Season 2It's a typically great show this week as host Neal Pollack welcomes the heavily compromised but still insightful Stephen Garrett, who worked on the trailer for the Brazilian Oscar nominee I'm Still Here. But Stephen would have to have a heart of stone to not like this beautiful and thoughtful movie, and he doesn't. Neal is full of praise for the film's passionate defense of human rights, and its beautiful elegy for a time and place that's no more. And they are both enthralled, as is everyone else, by the lead performance of Fernanda Torres, who, like her character...
2025-02-1241 minBook and Film Globe PodcastBFG Podcast #183: 'Wolf Man' and an Appreciation of David LynchThis week, the BFG Podcast pays tribute to David Lynch, of whom there is nothing bad to say. Stephen Garrett's wife and daughter may not be into Lynch, but Stephen and Neal Pollack (and Neal's wife Regina) loved him, and so does most of the rest of the world. Stephen buries the lead and talks about the time he interviewed Lynch at a film festival, and the story is as idiosyncratic as the rest of Lynch's work. We cover as many bases as we can, from 'Mullholland Drive' to 'Dune' to 'Wild at Heart,' spending some time lingering...
2025-01-2233 minBook and Film Globe PodcastBFG Podcast #165: 'Beetlejuice Beetlejuice,' 'Strange Darling,' and 'Kaos' BFG Podcast! BFG Podcast! BFG Podcast! Host Neal Pollack once again summons up the world's finest pop-culture critics to talk about culture high and low this week. First up is Stephen Garrett, appearing from the film-critic underworld to discuss Tim Burton's new hit sequel 'Beetlejuice Beetlejuice.' It's messy and too stuffed with exposition, but both Neal and Stephen think it's kind of fun, even if they don't like Justin Theroux in it at all. The major point of dispute comes over Willem Dafoe, who plays a TV cop in the underworld. Neal found it hilarious, Stephen thought it...
2024-09-1239 minBook and Film Globe PodcastBook and Film Globe Podcast #163: ‘Alien: Romulus’ and’ It Ends with Us,’ on this week’s chart-topping podWe’re charting! Did you know that this podcast regularly earns a spot on the lists of top entertainment podcasts in several countries, including Sweden, Gambia, Poland, Australia and Canada? It’s true. The Book and Film Globe podcast has even cracked the Top 200 in the US a couple times, as well as UK. We are grateful to all our fans, everywhere—thanks for listening.We’ve got a shortish episode this week as Neal Pollack, our site’s fearless editor — and this podcast’s host — embarks on an odyssey of non-trivial consequence. But as Peter Parker's uncle said, with...
2024-08-2135 minBook and Film Globe PodcastBFG Podcast #158: 'Longlegs,' 'Fly Me To The Moon,' and the Alice Munro scandalThe Book and Film Globe podcast returns this week with another fantastic episode. The world of American politics may be roiling, but we continue to cover the culture, because politics is downstream from culture, or something along those lines.First, we travel north of the border, where Canadian literary society is in crisis after the Nobel Prize-winning writer Alice Munro finds herself posthumously embroiled in a terrible scandal. She essentially attempted to cover up the alleged sexual abuse of her own daughter. Host Neal Pollack and contributor Michael Washburn in no way condone Munro's actions, but they...
2024-07-1742 minBook and Film Globe PodcastBFG Podcast #131: 'Wonka,' 'Godzilla Minus One,' and 'The Boy and the Heron' It's a magical, fantastical, confection-filled week on the BFG podcast. Host Neal Pollack welcomes in always-guest Stephen Garrett to talk about 'Wonka,' starring Timothée Chalamet as a truly child-friendly young Willy Wonka, who the movie re-invents as a gee-whiz paragon of goodness and light. Stephen liked the movie more on the show than he did in his review. Neal found it cloying and cynically calculated. They were deeply split on Hugh Grant's Oompa-Loompa, who Neal enjoyed but Stephen found weird. In general, 'Wonka' seems to have generated more debated among our two critics than it deserves. Listen u...
2023-12-1837 minBook and Film Globe PodcastBFG Podcast #125: 'Five Nights At Freddy's,' 'Slayers,' and the cowardice of writers and entertainers who refuse to condemn Hamas We get political this week on the BFG Podcast. Guest Rebecca Kurson joins host Neal Pollack in condemning Hamas, sure, but also offering a lot of disdain for Western intellectuals and actors who refuse to condemn Hamas. Neal is especially angry at a coalition of writers, his former peers perhaps, like Jonathan Lethem, Michael Chabon, and Ben Lerner, who published an open letter in the Guardian calling for a ceasefire. Lame, and morally weak.Rebecca is quite angry at Tilda Swinton, who is wide-open when it comes to sexual and gender identity, calling for a ceasefire. Does she really think...
2023-10-3134 minBook and Film Globe PodcastBFG Podcast #121: 'The Creator,' Fantastic Fest, and the end of the WGA Strike Much to celebrate this week, even as we say goodbye to our beloved friend and contributor Daniel Cohen. The WGA Strike is over! Rob Kutner, BFG strike captain, stops by the virtual studios to talk to host Neal Pollack about the deal the Guild secured. The studios were "fighting the last war," as Rob put it, and the WGA got just about every concession for which it asked. Neal is most impressed about the strong stand the Guild took against AI in scriptwriting, forestalling the rise of the writing machines at least until the next contract negotiation. Rob warns that...
2023-10-0541 minBook and Film Globe PodcastBFG Podcast #115: 'Blue Beetle,' 'Strays,' and MovieTok The dog days of August content are here, and we're featuring a movie about talking dogs, among other topics. Host Neal Pollack brings all the podcast fun as usual. Here's what we offer:• Pablo Gallaga stops by our professional podcasting studios to discuss 'Blue Beetle.' As a certified Latino, Pablo appreciates the DC superhero film's Mexican-culture deep cuts, including Maria del Barrio, El Chapulin Colorado, and George Lopez's crazy tio energy. Both he and Neal agree that the Blue Beetle is a bit of a formulaic origin story, and the action and CGI could have been better. But lead Xo...
2023-08-2237 minBook and Film Globe PodcastBFG Podcast #113: 'Mutant Mayhem,' 'Justified', and the 'British Miracle Meat' With Barbenheimer receding, our podcast host Neal Pollack turns his pop-culture eye to what comes next. And this week, that's 'Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem,' the animated offering that critic Pablo Gallaga calls the best on-screen version of TMNT ever. Neal knows little about the Ninja Turtles, as he wasn't a kid even when they debuted, but Pablo is the adult target audience for this movie, having annoyed his family for years with his Ninja Turtle obsession. Real teenagers voice the turtles, but Paul Rudd's cameo voice nearly steals the show.Onto more adult-themed offerings, Neal welcomes the...
2023-08-0732 minBook and Film Globe PodcastBFG Podcast #097: 'John Wick Chapter 4,' 'Swarm,' and 'Party Down'In this week's essential episode of the BFG podcast, Neal Pollack welcomes not one, but two Gallaga brothers into the pod dome to talk about the culture. First up, Pablo Gallaga, who reviewed 'John Wick: Chapter 4' for us. Pablo felt like the movie took a little long to get going. But once it gets going, it contains some legendary set pieces that will remain iconic as long as the projectors roll in theaters. "If you like action movies, you're not going to do better this year than John Wick 4," Neal says. Truth!Omar Gallaga had the tougher assignment of...
2023-03-2938 min
Gab with PabAndrew TateGab and Pab talk less about the imprisoned idiot and more about the implications of his unchecked rise to fame and riches.
(0:17) – Intro
(1:13) – We live in a society
(3:00) – Social media and the internet
(5:00) – The young misogynist pipeline
(8:41) – Gab's Final Thought™
2023-02-0109 min
Gab with PabPabcast – SkinamarinkPab goes to sleep with the childhood nightmare that is Skinamarink. SPOILER WARNING
(0:32) Intro
(2:35) Background
(2:45) Reaction
(3:16) SPOILERS
(5:58) Pab's rating
Spoiler-free review: https://anchor.fm/pablo-gallaga/episodes/Pabcast--Skinamarink-Spoiler-free-e1tovtr
2023-01-2006 min
Gab with PabPabcast – Skinamarink [Spoiler-free]Pab goes to sleep with the childhood nightmare that is Skinamarink
(0:32) Intro
(2:35) Background
(2:45) Reaction
(3:41) Pab's rating
Spoiler review: https://anchor.fm/pablo-gallaga/episodes/Pabcast--Skinamarink-e1tp0du
2023-01-2004 min
2023-01-1810 minBook and Film Globe PodcastBFG Podcast #086: 'White Noise,' 'M3GAN,' and 'Jack Ryan'In this week's audio-enhanced edition of the BFG Podcast, editor Neal Pollack, an AI-assisted lifeform, welcomes contributors JonPaul Guinn and Pablo Gallaga. JP proves his versatility and then some, starting off by talking about the Noah Baumbach adaptation of Don DeLillo's 'White Noise.' JP prefers the middle part of the movie, when the "Airborne Toxic Event" means there's actually some action, and also the closing credits, a dance sequence in a 1980s grocery store set to an LCD Soundsystem song. The rest of the movie, not so much. He doesn't find statements like "men are killers. They kill"...
2023-01-1034 min
Gab with PabPabcast — 2022 End of YearPab recaps the year in film that was 2022
(0:50) Pab's Top 10 Films of the Year
(4:20) Pab's State of Film 2022
(5:58) And a roundup of recent holiday releases
2022-12-3008 min
Gab with PabWalk with Pab: Fantasy Fast FoodIntroducing yet another spin-off of Gab with Pab! Meet Miles Walk who will be joining Pab in a format we're still figuring out.
This episode we're running a fantasy draft of our favorite fast food items of all-time.
The ground rules: (1:18)
And with the first pick in the 2022 Fantasy Fast Food Draft, Pab selects... (3:58)
Pick 2 – Walk (4:40) Let's not make this political
Pick 3 – Walk (5:45) Eleven
Pick 4 – Pab (8:06) The water burger
Pick 5 – Pab (8:41) "Fuck Chick-Fil-A," he seemed to say
Pick 6 – Walk (9:09) The chicken is the bread
Pick 7 – Walk (10:09) It's in the name
Pick 8 – Pab (12:12) Spicy
Pick 9 –...
2022-10-1945 min
Gab with PabPabcast — Fantastic Fest 2022Pab returned to Fantastic Fest this year to let his Fantastic Fiend flag fly. Here's what he saw. (Spoiler-free)
2022-09-3006 min
Gab with PabReal EstateGab and Pab talk about real estate. From TikTok to Tiny Homes, home is where the fart is.
2022-09-0118 min
Gab with PabPete DavidsonPete Davidson and Kim Kardashian broke up! Gab and Pab will never be the same again.
2022-08-1507 min
Gab with PabPabcast – Nope [Spoiler-free]Pab reviews Jordan Peele's Nope and says Yup, with some caveats. Spoiler-free!
2022-07-2502 min
Gab with PabPabcast – NopePab reviews Jordan Peele's Nope and says Yup, with some caveats. SPOILER WARNING
2022-07-2508 min
2022-07-1417 min
Gab with PabPabcast – Thor: Love and Thunder [Spoiler-free]Pab reviews THOR: LOVE AND THUNDER and realizes there really is such a thing as too much of a good thing. Spoiler-free!
2022-07-1103 min
Gab with PabPabcast – Thor: Love and ThunderPab reviews THOR: LOVE AND THUNDER and realizes there really is such a thing as too much of a good thing. Spoiler warning!
2022-07-1107 min
2022-06-3008 min
Gab with PabNick CannonGab and Pab have decided to do an episode about Nick Cannon. Is this a good idea? No.
2022-06-2306 min
Gab with PabPabcast - RRRPab can barely process the joy that is S.S. Rajamouli's Indian action masterpiece RRR.
2022-06-2203 min
Gab with PabBritney's WeddingIt's time for some wedding gossip! Nuptials and what's uptials and, yes, ok, I'll stop. Britney Spears got married, and Gab and Pab are on the beat.
2022-06-1207 min
Gab with PabPabcast - Top Gun: MaverickPab reviews Top Gun: Maverick and feels the full brunt of nostalgia culture. Spoiler warning.
2022-06-0505 min
Gab with PabPabcast - Top Gun: Maverick [spoiler-free]Pab reviews Top Gun: Maverick and feels the full brunt of nostalgia culture.
2022-06-0502 min
Gab with PabThe 'Heard' Heard 'Round the WorldGab and Pab weigh in on the Johnny Depp v. Amber Heard defamation trial even though they should probably just keep their mouths shut about it like everyone else should.
2022-06-0307 min
Gab with PabEverythingGab and Pab discuss the —well— everything of it all. If you've been feeling a little overwhelmed lately with the state of the world, you're not alone. Come comfort yourself with us, lovelies.
2022-05-3008 min