We're Watching What?!

The Fall Guy is a love letter to the Hollywood blockbuster. The Idea of You may not live up to the fantasy. The Contestant is the true story of The Truman Show meets Naked and Afraid meets Extreme Couponing.

It's The Truman Show meets Naked and Afraid meets Extreme Couponing? We welcome documentary director Clair Titley and the prizewinning participant himself, Nasubi, to talk about their stranger than fiction look at The Contestant.

More about The Contestant:

This true story of a Japanese reality TV star left naked in a room for more than a year, tasked with filling out magazine sweepstakes to earn food and clothing, prompts innumerable questions about our culture of oversharing.
Before the onslaught of reality television in the West, there was an ominous harbinger in Japan of what was to come in our oversharing-obsessed culture. The Contestant traces the experience of aspiring comedian Tomoaki Hamatsu, nicknamed Nasubi, who unwittingly became an extreme case study.
In 1998, Nasubi thought he was attending an audition when a successful Japanese TV producer, Toshio Tsuchiya, enlisted him to take part in a challenge. Tsuchiya led Nasubi into a room, ordered him to strip naked and left him with a stack of magazines. Nasubi’s task was to fill out contest coupons in order to win what he needed to survive — food, clothing, appliances, etc. — until he reached the prize goal of one million yen.

Although Nasubi could have left at any time, he stayed for months with a fierce determination to complete his mission. He was cut off from all contact with his family and the world except for occasional interactions with Tsuchiya.

What Nasubi didn’t realize was that his experiences were being broadcast to over 15 million people in a TV show called Denpa Shonen: A Life in Prizes. Without his knowledge or consent, Nasubi became the most famous television personality in Japan.

Are we in Love or is it a Love for Challengers (sports jokes!) and we venture into more Sandman adjacent supernatural stories with Dead Boy Detectives.

Welcome Dead Boy Detectives star Yuyu Kitamura to chat trinkets, aura projection, and formative fish fables.

More about Dead Boy Detectives:

Do you have a pesky ghost haunting you? Has a demon stolen your core memories? You may want to ring the Dead Boy Detectives.

Meet Edwin Payne (George Rexstrew) and Charles Rowland (Jayden Revri), “the brains” and “the brawn” behind the Dead Boy Detectives agency. Teenagers born decades apart who find each other only in death, Edwin and Charles are best friends and ghosts… who solve mysteries. They will do anything to stick together – including escaping evil witches, Hell and Death herself. With the help of a clairvoyant named Crystal (Kassius Nelson) and her friend Niko (Yuyu Kitamura), they are able to crack some of the mortal realm’s most mystifying paranormal cases.

As part of The Sandman Universe for Netflix and based on the beloved comic series from Neil Gaiman, DEAD BOY DETECTIVES was developed for television by Steve Yockey, who serves as co-showrunner alongside Beth Schwartz and is brought to you by Greg Berlanti. Jeremy Carver and Sarah Schechter also serve as executive producers. The series also stars Jenn Lyon, Briana Cuoco, Lukas Gage, David Iacono and Ruth Connell.

Welcome Dead Boy Detectives star Kassius Nelson to talk ghost currency, weather challenges, and personal hells.

More about Dead Boy Detectives:

Do you have a pesky ghost haunting you? Has a demon stolen your core memories? You may want to ring the Dead Boy Detectives.

Meet Edwin Payne (George Rexstrew) and Charles Rowland (Jayden Revri), “the brains” and “the brawn” behind the Dead Boy Detectives agency. Teenagers born decades apart who find each other only in death, Edwin and Charles are best friends and ghosts… who solve mysteries. They will do anything to stick together – including escaping evil witches, Hell and Death herself. With the help of a clairvoyant named Crystal (Kassius Nelson) and her friend Niko (Yuyu Kitamura), they are able to crack some of the mortal realm’s most mystifying paranormal cases.

As part of The Sandman Universe for Netflix and based on the beloved comic series from Neil Gaiman, DEAD BOY DETECTIVES was developed for television by Steve Yockey, who serves as co-showrunner alongside Beth Schwartz and is brought to you by Greg Berlanti. Jeremy Carver and Sarah Schechter also serve as executive producers. The series also stars Jenn Lyon, Briana Cuoco, Lukas Gage, David Iacono and Ruth Connell.

Don't let the marketing for Challengers fool you, but still prepare to meet it on the court. Dead Boy Detectives is about to be your new supernatural obsession. Boy Kills World is violence for the sake of violence. Baby Reindeer thrills with nuanced twists and turns.

We're all in on Abigail in spite of some of the monster inconsistencies. We'd rather watch wheat grow than whatever Rebel Moon- Part Two: The Scargiver is.

The Greatest Hits stars Justin H. Min, Lucy Boynton, and writer / director Ned Benson are here to chat formative first films, time travel fatigue, and unorthodox meeting places. More about The Greatest Hits: Harriet (Lucy Boynton) finds art imitating life when she discovers certain songs can transport her back in time – literally. While she relives the past through romantic memories of her former boyfriend (David Corenswet), her time travelling collides with a burgeoning new love interest in the present (Justin H. Min). As she takes her journey through the hypnotic connection between music and memory, she wonders – even if she could change the past, should she?

The Greatest Hits is out streaming now on Hulu.

Time to get campy and vampy with Abigail. While The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare comes from a rich history it's light on the Richie style. The Spiderwick Chronicles doesn't squander it's second shot at screen adaptation.

Producer and showrunner Ben Roy is here to talk about the new Netflix nature docuseries Our Living World, diva cicadas, interwoven climates, and Cate Blanchett - beekeeper extraordinaire.

More about Our Living World:

This is the wondrous, untold story of the most magical, powerful force on Earth: life itself, and how it shapes the world through incredible physical connections and astonishing webs, producing a planetary life support system that sustains and protects us all. Spanning continents and oceans, fueled by wind and water and fire, this network allows the densest forests to impact the coldest glaciers, and the deepest oceans to feed the hottest deserts. But with Earth now changing at unprecedented speeds due to human activity, our living world’s network is malfunctioning – and it will take all creatures, great and small, to return its balance.

Our Living World is out streaming now on Netflix.

We're understandably split on Civil War and impressed by Dev Patel's uneven but action packed directorial debut, Monkey Man.

The new series Fallout continues to break the video game adaptation curse. Civil War will certainly be divisive. The Greatest Hits finds a sweet chord to strike.

Dev Patel means serious ape business in Monkey Man. Girls State builds on the issues of its predecessor while continuing to charm.

It's clear that Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire will certainly not be our Roman Empire. Olivia Colman and Jessie Buckley have a blast in Wicked Little Letters.

Sydney Sweeney's Immaculate is messier than intended. Palm Royale was tailor made for this group. Shōgun episode 05 continues to shake things up.

While Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire ain't afraid of no ghosts, it is afraid of taking risks. Don't underestimate the unnecessary Road House remake. Immaculate lacks faith in the core premise. Late Night with the Devil rates high in our book. Palm Royale is elevated soap opera meets prestige comedy.

We're smitten with Love Lies Bleeding and are fans of the fan work in Shōgun. Meanwhile Lindsay Lohan takes a tax break trip to Ireland for Irish Wish.

Love Lies Bleeding is a tale of love at first bicep curl? The American Society of Magical Negroes has a great concept but mushy execution. Consider yourself lucky that Lindsay Lohan has dropped a new romcom with Irish Wish.

Were things Messi enough at the 96th Academy Awards for us? Shōgun continues to enrapture us. We discover dragons are the sharks of the skies in Damsel.

Does Kung Fu Panda 4 feel too (fortune) cookie cutter? Can Millie Bobby Brown save Damsel from distress? Forget whether anyone can see John Cena in Ricky Stanicky, and find out if anyone should WANT to?

"I don’t eff with Lady Jessica much. Cause I think she’s reckless" and other such deep thoughts as we dive into Dune: Part Two. Plus Shōgun has us enraptured. We have NO idea what J. Lo is doing in This is Me... Now: A Love Story but are along for the ride. Finally we feel oppressed by the first episode of The Regime.

Consider our lives spectacularly spiced up thanks to the long awaited Dune: Part Two. Also the latest adaptation of Shōgun is a feast for the eyes.

We close the passport books on Expats and reach for the stars with Constellation. Meanwhile can the latest Avatar: The Last Airbender bring us to great heights? And how do we get away from Drive-Away Dolls?

Drive-Away Dolls fails to get us into gear, while the latest live action take on Avatar: The Last Airbender manages to finally heat things up.

Madame Web has us caught in her net of ridiculousness and there's nowhere else we'd rather be. We close the case of True Detective: Night Country and prepare to extract ourselves from Expats.

Can Madame Web swing into the same cultural zeitgeist spot that Morbius holds? Do we even want that to happen?

Writer / Director Laura Chinn is here to talk about Florida tropes, finding representation as a mixed kid, and her new film Suncoast.

More about Suncoast:

Inspired by the semi-autobiographical story of a teenager (Nico Parker) who, while caring for her brother along with her audacious mother (Laura Linney), strikes up an unlikely friendship with an eccentric activist (Woody Harrelson) who is protesting one of the most landmark medical cases of all time.

Suncoast is out streaming now on Hulu.

Diablo Cody knows how to build a world, and we think Lisa Frankenstein is really going to hit it off with the Wednesday audience. As True Detective: Night Country winds down we're sad to see it go, but are in awe of the pacing self awareness.

Two coming of age tales of young women, (both featuring their own forms of morbidity) with Lisa Frankenstein and Suncoast.

Matthew Vaughn's Argylle has us more itchy with discomfort than fawning over fashion. We're 2/3 the way through True Detective: Night Country and Expats and are not sure where they're both headed but are delighted to be along for the ride.

Argylle has a great premise but bumpy execution. Scrambled is an egg-cellent time. Orion and the Dark shines when it's being esoteric. The Tiger's Apprentice may need to go back to school.

A dark week as we venture to despair and loss in Expats from Lulu Wang. Then somehow things get even darker up north for True Detective Night Country.

Snoop Dogg takes it to the G-gridiron with The Underdoggs aka bobo Bad News Bears. Lulu Wang returns in full force with her Nicole Kidman led limited series, Expats.

Who was missing and who do we have high hopes for with the Oscar nominations this year? Plus a heavy slate with the necessary viewing of Ava DuVernay's Origin, the unbelievable horrors of American Nightmare, and cured the "fleshsicle" of True Detective Night Country.

We explore the unknown and possibly underpromoted depths of the I.S.S. Ava DuVernay breaks our hearts with Origin.

Did we need to try to make fetch happen again with the new movie musical version of Mean Girls? Also Alaqua Cox is deserving of the spotlight in Marvel's Echo.

Making Mean Girls fetch (and into a musical) is a bold choice to attempt. Jason Statham + bees, what more could you want from The Beekeeper? Marvel's Echo deserves more than the spotlight. Finally everyone's favorite lewd bear, Ted, gets a funny but uneven prequel series.

Kicking (literally) things off right with Michelle Yeoh in The Brothers Sun. Trying to figure out how quickly we'd turn cannibal post Society of the Snow viewing, and facing the delightful facts of American Fiction.

Kicking off 2024 with 4 options: Godzilla Minus One which is a shockingly deep. Ferrari is more of a lemon than a sports car. The Boys in the Boat is rather bland in transit. Thankfully The Brothers Sun is a Michelle Yeoh vehicle to be reckoned with.

We're ringing in 2024 by wringing out some of the remainder of the things we saw at the end of 2023. Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom leaves us befudddled at fish tits... Anyone But You is nearly irredeemable. Our other aquatic based hero is in Percy Jackson and the Olympians and the waters are starting to at least warm a little.

Our last roundtable of 2023 leaves us a house divided over Rebel Moon: Part One - A Child of Fire. We're agreed but also not in sync over Maestro, and finally set our sights on what we hope will turn out to be a divine adaptation (eventually) of Percy Jackson and the Olympians.

The latest adaptation of The Color Purple sings from stage to screen. We wish Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom had considered staying lost. Anyone But You is about the most accurate title we've seen for a film all year. Finally Rebel Moon: Part One - A Child of Fire is a flaming mess.

The deluge of end of year awards contenders continues with the based on a true story wrestling tale of The Iron Claw, the biting commentary of American Fiction, the bloated "genius" of Maestro, and the exploration of the Queer identity in All of Us Strangers.

It feels like Wonka is more sugar substitute than sweet. Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget is full of jokes that fail to fly. We're not sure who The Family Plan is intended for.

We admire the superior craftsmanship of Poor Things, and are left baffled by Eileen. Plus our holiday binge recurs with A Christmas Frequency.

Poor Things builds a wild and rich world. Miyazaki's latest film, The Boy and the Heron might be one of his most personal. Finally, The Garden: Commune or Cult is more reality show than reality, but still watchable.

Is Natalie Portman TOO good for May December? We also continue our unhealthy holida binge with Christmas in Notting Hill, and get sucked into Love Has Won: The Cult of Mother God.

You'll be surprised who gives the best performance in May December. Silent Night is like the John Wickiverse met John Woo. Eileen has some unexpected twists and turns.

Napoleon shows us we would have aggressively failed world history. Priscilla is a non-existent conversation. Finally A Biltmore Christmas! triggers the need for a holiday movie intervention.

Writer / Director Emerald Fennell is here to dig in to the dirt on making love at first sight work on film in Saltburn, reflective weaknesses, and insect incarnations,.

More about Saltburn:

Academy Award winning filmmaker Emerald Fennell (Promising Young Woman) brings us a beautifully wicked tale of privilege and desire. Struggling to find his place at Oxford University, student Oliver Quick (Barry Keoghan) finds himself drawn into the world of the charming and aristocratic Felix Catton (Jacob Elordi), who invites him to Saltburn, his eccentric family’s sprawling estate, for a summer never to be forgotten.
Barry Keoghan, Jacob Elordi, Rosamund Pike, Richard E. Grant, Alison Oliver, Archie Madekwe, and Carey Mulligan

Saltburn is out in theaters now.