Peak Viewing

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.

The Tragedy of Macbeth

It should come as no surprise that a film adaptation of one of the greatest plays of all time directed by a visionary auteur starring some of the greatest actors of their generations is a wonderful time at the movies. But what no one could have predicted was simply how much this movie is for the sickos! Freaky witches, light from nowhere, Macbeth as a tragic pawn versus an inevitable tyrant, sparse landscapes, Shakespeare dialog that no one understands, it’s all here this week! Plus our closing thoughts on Denzel Washington and the announcement of our next miniseries!

Fences

This week we’re getting in the backyard (or maybe it’s a stage?) and covering the play-to-movie sensation that is 2016’s Fences. In addition to being a directorial effort from Denzel (the first we’ve covered in this miniseries), this also marks the start of his August Wilson adaptations, and his transition into more producing behind the scenes. We get into all that, plus Viola Davis’ astonishing monologues, how niche it can be to actually seek out and experience plays, and the difficulty of finding a new newborn baby.

Flight

It’s a bird! It’s a plane! Wait, specifically it’s a plane being flown upside down by a drunk Denzel Washington! That’s right, we’re covering Flight this week, a movie with incredible peaks and valleys. The peak of course being Denzel’s performance and the stunningly authentic portrayal of addiction, and the valleys being… kinda everything else? Other topics discussed include Robert Zemeckis’s shaky 2000s career, Don Cheadle’s scene-stealing performance, and our woeful ignorance of drugs in all forms.

Inside Man

A bank heist! A hostage situation! A man! Inside! 2006’s Inside Man marks the fourth collaboration between Spike Lee and Denzel Washington, and for the occasion they made an incredibly fun thriller. Is Clive Owen kind of a wet bag? Yes! Is Jodie Foster’s character really cool but ultimately kinda pointless? Also yes! We get into all that plus Spike’s distinctive dolly shots, his New York sensibilities, and the tagline this poster desperately needs.

The Manchurian Candidate (2004)

Podcast listeners. Peak Viewing podcast listeners. Peak Viewing listeners. You want to turn on this episode and listen to Henry and Samuel discuss the forgotten 2004 remake of The Manchurian Candidate, starring Denzel Washington. You will listen to their tangents and anecdotes about the brilliant ’62 film, the messed up ’59 book, Pokemon that look like they’re wearing diapers, and their woeful miscalculations of who stars in One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest. Of course, when it’s over you’ll have no memory of ever listening to it…

Training Day

Have you ever had an awful first day on the job? Multiply that experience by a thousand, and you might have something resembling Training Day. This movie might not feature Denzel’s best performance, but is it the performance where he’s having the most fun? What movie has the most realistic portrayal of being high? What’s Henry’s ultimate theory on sleep? When did we stop dual-wielding pistols? What are glue balloons?

Remember the Titans

Remember the Titans? We saw them play this week, and even we barely can. Join us for the fourth episode in our Denzel Washington miniseries as we discuss several hot and controversial topics, including: high school football not being that good, treacly movies like this generally aging terribly, and the subpar naming of Kansas City’s two premier soccer teams. Also, can we solve racism by giving up all our awards?

Crimson Tide

We’re taking control back from Gene Hackman this week with 1995’s Crimson Tide! This tense thriller might be one of the most watchable films we’ve covered so far, but is it even the best submarine movie? Where do all the officers belong on the alignment chart? Should we cover Tony Scott?! All that, plus some shocking implications for our oldest president!

Philadelphia

For the second film in our Denzel Washington miniseries, we’re heading to the streets of Philadelphia. This episode has everything: tangents about wine prices, punny Halloween costumes, where to sit while watching this movie, and our thorny feelings about this ostensibly being a movie made for straight people. Nothing we say is advice!

Malcolm X

What better way to start our next miniseries than with maybe the greatest biopic ever made? Look, nobody needs our opinions on Malcolm X, both the film and the person, but we’re gonna give them to you anyway! Spike Lee is directing his ass off, Denzel Washington is disappearing into his role, and we’re patenting ideas on how to break up long movies (The Popcorn Pause™).

Borderlands

Listen up all you vault hunters, it’s time to travel to Pandora! No, not the moon with blue people, the desert hellscape where that forgettable 2024 movie Borderlands takes place! This might be the ultimate “dead dove do not eat” of bad movies, but Samuel’s here to provide us with all the Borderlands video game knowledge, including all the shocking ways this movie changes major aspects of characters. Plus: our video game movie rankings, and the announcement of our next miniseries!