Maximum Film!

What’s the drama behind director Kristoffer Borgli’s new film, THE DRAMA? And, unlike Mary J. Blige, do we want said drama? We unpack all that with film critic Ariel LeBeau, and then talk about some movies that were secretly darker than advertised.

 

What’s Good

Alonso - Flossing first

Drea - Artemis II

Ariel - soft boiled eggs for breakfast (6m)

Kevin - rediscovering Billy Joel

ITIDIC

Writers Guild Reaches Tentative 4-Year Deal with Studios

“It’s Not Your Imagination: Movies ARE Getting Longer”

Staff Picks

Alonso - Marc by Sofia

Drea - The Christophers

Ariel - Dogfight

Kevin - One Hour Photo

this episode edited by Gabe Mara

Follow us on BlueSky, Facebook, Instagram, or Letterboxd
With
Kevin Avery
Drea Clark
Alonso Duralde
Produced by Marissa Flaxbart
Sr. Producer Laura Swisher

Ryan Gosling is on a one-man mission to save the universe...but he's not alone. We've got film critic Rendy Jones with us to discuss PROJECT HAIL MARY from directing duo Phil Lord and Christopher Miller. Then we share some of our favorite science fiction concepts from cinema.

What’s Good

Alonso - Free airplane Wifi

Drea - skin flooding

Rendy - taking time to rest

Kevin - taking down Christmas decorations

ITIDIC
K-Pop Demon Hunters 2 Is a Big Payday for Its Directors
Lord and Miller to Produce Murder She Wrote Film With Jamie Lee Curtis

Staff Picks

Drea - Europa Report

Alonso - UFOria (available on 4K UHD)

Rendy - Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs

Kevin - Warrior

Follow us on BlueSky, Facebook, Instagram, or Letterboxd
With
Kevin Avery
Drea Clark
Alonso Duralde
Produced by Marissa Flaxbart
Sr. Producer Laura Swisher

We’re capping off a month at looking at different films directed by women with Hannah Berryman’s documentary, Spacewoman. Kevin Smokler, author of Breaking the Frame: Conversations with Women Filmmakers joins us to talk about this close look at the stellar career of astronaut Eileen Collins, the first woman to pilot, and later command, a Space Shuttle mission.

What’s Good

Alonso - Calm for naps

Drea - getting a doctor’s appointment

Kevin S. - Memorizing Oscar winners as a sleep aid

Kevin A. - 3 hour Celebrity game

ITIDIC

AI-Generated Val Kilmer Will Appear in Movie Kilmer Was to Shoot Before His Passing

April Wolfe/Chloe Okuno Project Bad Hand Lands at Searchlight

Staff Picks

Alonso - Late Shift

Drea - Mike & Nick & Nick & Alice

Kevin S. - Say Amen Somebody

Kevin A. - A Teacher

Directors Mentioned in C-Block:

Patricia Cardoso

Debra Granik

Amy Heckerling

Anna Boden

Rose Troche

Donna Deitch

Cheryl Dunye

Joan Micklin Silver

Lizzie Borden

Wanuri Kihiyu

Melanie Laurent

Maggie Gyllenhaal

Allison Anders

Gillian Armstrong

Celine Sciamma

Lynn Shelton

The Wachowskis

Penny Marshall

Martha Coolidge

Vera Drew

Jane Schoenbrun

Alice Maio Mackay

Mira Nair

Věra Chytilová

Ida Lupino

Dorothy Arzner

Alice Guy-Blaché

Caitlin Adams

Susan Seidelman

Nia DaCosta

Kathryn Bigelow

Julia Hart

Dee Rees

Catherine Breillat

Mary Harron

Regina King

Dyan Cannon

Follow us on BlueSky, Facebook, Instagram, or Letterboxd
With
Kevin Avery
Drea Clark
Alonso Duralde
Produced by Marissa Flaxbart
Sr. Producer Laura Swisher

We’re taking a good hard look in the mirror with our guest, actor/writer/director Michelle Krusiec as we discuss SXSW;s 2025 Grand Jury Prize winner, Amy Wang’s darkly comedic body horror, SLANTED. Then we’ll share some of our favorite movies that feature the prom, well…prominently.

What’s Good

Alonso - Alain Guiraudie Poster for Cannes Critics’ Fortnight (Quinzane des Cineastes)

Drea - Jessie Buckley singing Sinead O’Connor’s “Troy” (and the Jessie Buckley rabbit hole)

Michelle - not getting kidnapped (taking nothing for granted)

Kevin - People who come to FYC events for the buffet

ITIDIC
Oscars 2026 Recap
- Variety's Coverage
- Indiewire's Coverage

Letterboxd List of our "PROMinent Features" movies

Staff Picks

Drea - Good Luck, Have Fun, Don’t Die

Alonso - It’s Dorothy! and Videoheaven

Michelle - All of Us Strangers (also Saving Face)

Kevin - Black Panther: Wakanda Forever

3/21/26, 7pm: Alonso and Christy’s After Hours Screening at the Gardena Cinema

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With
Kevin Avery
Drea Clark
Alonso Duralde
Produced by Marissa Flaxbart
Sr. Producer Laura Swisher

Podcaster and writer Harmony Colangelo joins the gang to track the many movements of THE BRIDE! Then we talk about actors we’d love to see paired up on the big screen. 

What’s Good

Alonso - matzoh

Drea - filing (not clipping!) nails

Harmony - definitely NOT Daylight Saving Time

Kevin - zero degrees of Kevin Bacon??

ITIDIC

Disney Releasing Fully Re-animated ASL Versions of Several Movie Songs

Annapurna May Be Back

A24 Opening a Vegas Wedding Chapel to Promote ‘The Drama’

Staff Picks

Alonso - Ladies and Gentlemen, The Fabulous Stains

Drea - Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of Harley Quinn)

Harmony - Baby Assassins

Kevin - Promising Young Woman

Listen to Harmony and BJ’s show This Ends at Prom

Or check out their book, Sleepaway Camp

Thanks to Christian Dueñas and Gabe Mara for production support on this episode.

Follow us on BlueSky, Facebook, Instagram, or Letterboxd
With
Kevin Avery
Drea Clark
Alonso Duralde
Produced by Marissa Flaxbart
Sr. Producer Laura Swisher