Peak Viewing

The Bourne Ultimatum

The Bourne Ultimatum was once the end of the franchise, and it is the epitome of going out on a high note. This action-packed thriller has got something to say, which is why we spend nearly two hours trying to figure out what exactly is it saying! Whether it’s mid-2000s American geopolitics, Bourne’s relationship to water, the perils of a multi-billion dollar entity operating with no oversight, or just how much Matt Damon seems to have hated Tony Gilroy’s first draft, we attempt to cover it all. Plus: a Moby fact bigger than any house.

The Bourne Supremacy

Paul Greengrass has entered the Bourne franchise, which can mean only one thing: it’s time to activate the shaky cam! The Bourne Supremacy may not achieve the same highs as The Bourne Identity, but this follow-up gives us two instances of perhaps Bourne’s most iconic move: calling people on the phone while staring at them through a window! Come for the convoluted web of conspiracies that is the plot of this movie, stay for the exhaustive breakdown of the many tattoos of Moby.

The Bourne Identity

In preparation for the second season of Andor, we’re diving headfirst into Bourne, the early-to-mid-2000s action franchise written for the screen (mostly) by Tony Gilroy. This efficient thriller holds up surprisingly well given the time period, and it’s making us ask lots of questions. Questions like: How much of Bourne’s amnesia is a parallel for the PTSD veterans experience? What does the color red have to do with this movie? Who is still checking out Ludlum’s original novels from the library? And can sleeper agents receive orders in the form of emoji? Shut it down.

Mickey 17

After a release date that has changed damn near seventeen times, Mickey 17 is finally here! Bong Joon Ho’s follow-up to the Oscar-winning Parasite is a big-budget sci-fi romp that carries over several themes from his previous work. But we’re left wondering: why does it feel so unserious? Are we really in a good place to receive Mark Ruffalo’s performance? Why are there ten more Mickeys than the book? What else is different from the book? And what the hell was going on with pigeon man?

It Happened One Night

This week we are finally jumping on a bus bound for New York City to talk about the definitive film from the 7th Academy Awards: It Happened One Night. This wildly successful film became the template for practically all romcoms for the ensuing 90 years, but we’ve got some questions. Questions like: Have the Oscars ever been good about rewarding the best films? What should you eat with this movie, raw carrots or coffee and donuts? Why are hotel rooms in 1934 the same cost as sending a telegram? How the heck did Claudette pronounce Colbert? And why does smoking look so incredibly good?

Manhattan Melodrama

We cannot stress this enough: if you have not watched any of the movies in this miniseries, you owe it to yourself to check out Manhattan Melodrama. This crime drama about two brothers is easily the best written (it did win Best Original Story at the 7th Academy Awards, after all) of the bunch, and as a result it holds up remarkably well. We discuss some of our favorite shots from old “one take Woody”, how we plan to adapt this story to modern day (featuring New York’s hottest brother combo), and give a Peak Viewing recommendation that includes, of all things, a book. And yes, you can have a hot dog.

One Night of Love

The third and final musical of this miniseries gets covered this week with One Night of Love. Is this the most forgettable one from the bunch? Maybe. However, by this point we come to some genuine insights around how prolific musicals were at this time in Hollywood, as well as how much the gender dynamics of these films has to say about the 1930s. Also we have a revolutionary idea for pizza boxes and we hate opera music.

Cleopatra

Cleopatra is the last of the “unstreamables” in our miniseries on the 7th Academy Awards, and despite its costume designs it was actually released after the Code was being enforced. This historical epic from Cecil B DeMille might be historically inaccurate and say more about 1930s society than it does the fall of the Roman Republic, but at least it features an opulent seduction sequence on a barge and perhaps the most maximalist battle montage of all-time!

Eskimo

(CW: There are brief discussions of sexual assault from about 48:00 to 54:00. There is also discussion throughout of a wolf being killed with someone’s bare hands, a real thing that really happens in this movie. Maybe skip this week if you don’t want to hear about either of those topics!)
This week’s film walks a very fine line between racist caricature of Inuit people, and empathetic portrayal of their average every day lives. It’s a film full of peaks and valleys, with some incredible nature photography interspersed with the worst rear projection you have ever seen. We talk about the film’s ultimately anti-colonialist message, how hard it is to see this one (unless maybe it’s on YouTube still?), and tangents about other unrelated films about bitter tea and hundreds of semiaquatic rodents.

The Merry Widow

Our second musical this miniseries is a raunchy adaptation of a raunchy operetta, it’s Ernst Lubitsch’s The Merry Widow. This one stands as a great example of a pre-Code film released post-Code, but even with the pre-Code changes restored it’s unfortunately not a very good film! Topics discussed include the lackluster soundtrack, a reoccurring poor son of a bitch, and our personal theories about how good Danilo must be in the sack. And what happened to the black dog?

Viva Villa!

Viva Villa! is a hard movie to find, any honestly, for good reason! This pretty racist biopic starring a white man as Pancho Villa is probably the most problematic movie we’ve covered, and as a result it’s not a very easy movie to appreciate. We walk through how this misguided Oscar-winning film came to be, discuss how it’s content is a good example of the pre-Code era, and read quotes from one of the greatest non-apologies in film history.

The Gay Divorcee

It’s time to go back! We’re starting the year off by going back 90 years and covering the winners at the 7th Academy Awards in 1935, beginning with The Gay Divorcee which won Best Song. This musical was the second of many collaborations between Ginger Rogers and Fred Astaire, but it also features a diverse cast of overbearing aunts, bumbling lawyers, and concertina-playing racist stereotypes! Listen along as we dance the Continental and try to recap a plot so bizarre it reduces us to befuddled single syllable noises on multiple occasions.

Best Art of 2024

This week we’re carrying over an annual tradition from our previous podcast, and going over some of our favorite art that came out last year! Join us as we share our lists of favorite movies, books, TV shows, YouTube videos, poker games, 4X expansions, comedy shows, rap battles, board games, and much more.

Nosferatu (2024)

The time has come to succumb to the darkness. Bunker down, because we are an appetite which will only be satiated by spending over two hours talking about the new Nosferatu film. In between discussing how this fits into both the Eggers filmography and the storied vampire canon, we also discuss the multitude of nightmarish sequences, the themes (or lack thereof), and the Count’s truly magnificent visual design. Plus: our personal choices for favorite Dracula characters in film, and the announcement of our next miniseries!

Dracula 2000

Who remembers Dracula 2000? Even having watched it this week, we struggle to recall this Weinstein-produced adaptation that features Dracula going where he’s never gone before: New Orleans! We also discuss the wonderful retail chain Virgin Megastores (#sponsored), the problems with modernizing this particular story, and the dubious science behind the cross-section of blood and DNA. Plus: what does our “dream Dracula” look like?

Bram Stoker's Dracula

In many ways, Francis Ford Coppola’s Bram Stoker’s Dracula is the most faithful adaptation to the source novel. In many other ways, it is approximately ten times hornier. In between trying to make sense of those two contrasts, we also grapple with the American actors in this movie, the many physical transformations of Dracula himself, the barrage of unique stylistic visual effects, and our own personal feelings on a certain election that happened recently. (Look, we usually record a month in advance, sometimes we’re a bit late on breaking news.)

Nosferatu: Phantom der Nacht

Nosferatu: Phantom der Nacht (which was simply called Nosferatu the Vampyre in America) is perhaps the most “out there” movie in this series so far. It is slow, nihilistic, and cruel, but those are all things we really appreciate about it. (Or maybe not, Samuel might hate this movie by the end of the podcast!) Join us as we recap it and talk about what wet foods Jonathan reminds us of, the terrible true stories behind the rat infestation shots, and Henry goes on a long tangent about how this movie helped alleviate an anxiety we all probably felt in the beginning of November 2024.

Dracula (1958)

Hang on a minute, is the Hammer Film version of Dracula the definitive Dracula movie? This adaptation from 1958 (which was called Horror of Dracula over here in the States) takes some intense tonal swings, while somehow staying the truest to the source novel. Topics discussed include what would happen if we drank a lot of blood, why this movie is so much better than the other Hammer productions we’ve seen, and saving Dracula sequels for prison.

Dracula (1931)

Is there any vampire performance more iconic than Bela Lugosi as Dracula? Probably not, but boy do we wish the movie around him were a bit more compelling! Before recapping this frankly kind of dry movie, we also do a deep dive on the original 1897 novel, along with its themes and some theories about Bram Stoker. We also go on several tangents around confusing vampire lore, half-buried gigantic skeletons, and the Spanish language version of this movie.

Nosferatu (1922)

Nosferatu: A Symphony of Horror is by far the oldest movie we have ever covered. The 102-year-old German Expressionist film is perhaps one of the most beloved works of horror from the silent film era, and it was almost lost forever. We unpack the incredible behind the scenes story of this unauthorized Dracula adaptation, along with our thoughts on how this movie adapts (and changes!) the story from Bram Stoker’s iconic novel.