The Playlist Podcast Network

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  Alan Ritchson On The Nearly Silent ‘Motor City,’ Systemic Rage & The “Carrie”-Level Bloodshed Of ‘Reacher’ Season 4 [The Discourse Podcast] 22.07.2026 22min

  “Motor City” feels like somebody found a filthy ’70s revenge movie in the trunk of a burned-out Cadillac, wiped off the blood, and restored the whole thing in 4K and Dolby Atmos. It is loud, violent, strangely romantic and, thankfully, almost entirely uninterested in people sitting around explaining themselves. The fists, engines, needle drops and occasional shotgun blast handle most of the talking.Directed by Potsy Ponciroli ("Greedy People," "Old Henry") and written by Chad St. John, the film stars Alan Ritchson (“Reacher") as John Miller, a working-class Detroit mechanic framed by a wealthy gangster after falling in love with the man’s girlfriend, Sophia, played by Shailene Woodley. After spending years behind bars, Miller emerges with revenge on his mind and very little concern for whether he survives long enough to enjoy it.Ben Foster, Pablo Schreiber, Lionel Boyce, Ben McKenzie and Amar Chadha-Patel also star in the nearly dialogue-free action thriller, which arrives in theaters on July 24 through IFC Films.
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  Jonathan Tropper & Cassie Pappas On ‘Lucky,’ ‘Star Wars: Starfighter’ & The Lost Ronda Rousey ‘Road House’ [Bingeworthy Podcast] 16.07.2026 20min

  Apple TV’s “Lucky” joins the platform’s growing collection of prestige shows about attractive, deeply stressed people having the worst week of their lives. “Presumed Innocent,” “Hijack,” “Your Friends & Neighbors”—the streamer has become weirdly good at watching people sprint from one life-altering disaster to the next.Anya Taylor-Joy’s title character has a slightly more complicated relationship with disaster than most. Raised by a con artist, Lucky became an exceptional one herself before spending years trying to leave that life behind. When a multimillion-dollar job goes wrong, she is forced back into the world she escaped, pursued by law enforcement, criminals, and a family history she has never completely outrun.READ MORE: ‘The Agency’ Season 2: Jeffrey Wright & John Magaro Talk Spycraft, ‘The Batman: Part II,’ ‘Presumed Innocent’ Season 2 & More [Bingeworthy Podcast]
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  ‘The Invite’: Rashida Jones & Will McCormack On the Whirlwind Writing Process, Their Wild Eight-Day Workshop, & ‘Tom And Jerry’ [The Discourse Podcast] 08.07.2026 20min

  There is no graceful way to ask another married couple whether they would like to have sex with you. There are only varying degrees of disaster. That is the combustible premise behind “The Invite,” a sharp, funny, and increasingly bruising relationship comedy directed by Olivia Wilde. Wilde and Seth Rogen play Angela and Joe, a married couple who have become more like irritated roommates than romantic partners. Then their upstairs neighbors, Hawk and Piña, played by Edward Norton and Penélope Cruz, come downstairs for dinner and float a proposition that turns one awkward evening into an excavation of everybody’s marriage.READ MORE: ‘The Death Of Robin Hood’: Director Michael Sarnoski Finds The Brutal Roots Of A Legend, Talks Hugh Jackman, ‘Logan’ Comparisons & His ‘Death Stranding’ Film [The Discourse Podcast]On this episode of The Discourse, host Mike DeAngelo is joined by screenwriters Rashida Jones and Will McCormack to talk about adapting the film, rewriting it with its formidable cast, and finding the hurt underneath a premise that could have easily become a much broader sex comedy.
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  ‘Enola Holmes 3’: Millie Bobby Brown, Louis Partridge, and Director Philip Barantini On Following ‘Adolescence,’ Eleven’s ‘Stranger Things’ Future, & More [The Discourse Podcast] 30.06.2026 29min

  The “Enola Holmes” films have never been short on charm and wits, but “Enola Holmes 3” gives the franchise a little more room to breathe and, dare I say, mature. The mystery is still there. The cheeky banter is still there. Enola is still starting fires and solving crimes. But this time, the story heads to Malta and lets Enola and Tewkesbury deal with a mystery that makes them grow up and face their respective legacies.On this episode of The Discourse, host Mike DeAngelo speaks with director Philip Barantini and stars Millie Bobby Brown and Louis Partridge about the film, which hits Netflix July 1. Brown returns as Enola Holmes, with Partridge back as Tewkesbury. It follows Enola as she heads to Malta to marry, while her aspirations merge with her most complex and dangerous case yet. The film also features Henry Cavill, Helena Bonham Carter, Himesh Patel, Sharon Duncan-Brewster, and more.READ MORE: ‘The Bear’: Jeremy Allen White, Liza Colón-Zayas, Lionel Boyce & Matty Matheson On Saying Goodbye, Spinoff Ideas, ‘The Social Reckoning’ & More [Interview]
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  ‘The Agency’ Season 2: Jeffrey Wright & John Magaro Talk Spycraft, ‘The Batman: Part II,’ ‘Presumed Innocent’ Season 2 & More [Bingeworthy Podcast] 30.06.2026 30min

  “The Agency” approaches espionage less as a series of action beats and more as a study in information, perception, and control. The show is at its absolute best when it leans into that tension, allowing seemingly ordinary conversations to simmer with unease while drawing on its wealth of densely fleshed-out characters, each carrying their own agendas, vulnerabilities, and secrets. Conversations are rarely straightforward, motives are constantly in question, and even routine interactions can reshape the balance of power inside the CIA. In Season 2, the Paramount+ with Showtime drama deepens those tensions, following agents and analysts as personal loyalties, institutional pressures, and a growing sense of distrust begin to collide. But this time around the action and pacing is increasing by the second.Based on the acclaimed French series “Le Bureau des Légendes,” “The Agency” follows Michael Fassbender as Martian, a CIA agent whose personal and professional lives continue to collapse into one another. Season 2 picks up with Martian still trying to save Samia, played by Jodie Turner-Smith, while the agency itself is pulled into a wider web of internal suspicion, shifting loyalties, and a mole hunt that turns the office into its own kind of battlefield.READ MORE: ‘Maximum Pleasure Guaranteed’: Tatiana Maslany, Jake Johnson, David Gordon Green & David Rosen On Lonely Screens, Bad Decisions, ‘She-Hulk,’ ‘Spider-Verse’ & More [Bingeworthy Podcast]The series also stars Jeffrey Wright, Richard Gere, Katherine Waterston, John Magaro, Dominic West, and more. And truly, one of the joys of Season 2 is watching a cast this deep make even the smallest exchanges feel like fully loaded scenes. Wright, who plays Henry Ogletree, and Magaro, who plays Owen Taylor, both spoke with Bingeworthy host Mike DeAngelo about the new season, the ensemble’s unusual chemistry, and what it takes to make all that spy-world jargon feel lived-in rather than laminated.
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  ‘The Death Of Robin Hood’: Director Michael Sarnoski Finds The Brutal Roots Of A Legend, Talks Hugh Jackman, ‘Logan’ Comparisons & His ‘Death Stranding’ Film [The Discourse Podcast] 18.06.2026 21min

  Robin Hood has been a lot of things over the centuries: noble thief, romantic outlaw, swashbuckling folk hero, animated fox, Kevin Costner with an accent that wanders wherever it pleases. But in Michael Sarnoski’s hands, the myth becomes something darker, sadder, and more spiritually eviscerated. His new film, “The Death of Robin Hood,” is less interested in the legend as a heroic brand than in the man who might be trapped beneath its curse.Written and directed by Sarnoski, “The Death of Robin Hood” stars Hugh Jackman as an aging, haunted Robin Hood, a man grappling with a life of violence after a battle leaves him gravely injured. In the care of a mysterious Prioress played by Jodie Comer, he’s offered something that might look like salvation, if he can survive long enough to accept it. The film also stars Bill Skarsgård, Murray Bartlett, and Noah Jupe, and arrives in theaters June 19 via A24.READ MORE: ‘Obsession’: Curry Barker On His Twisted Wish-Fulfillment Horror Breakout, Inde Navarrette’s Wild Performance, ‘Texas Chainsaw Massacre,’ & More [The Discourse Podcast]Sarnoski joined The Playlist’s The Discourse podcast to talk about stripping away centuries of heroic varnish, finding the emotional soul of Robin Hood, reuniting with cinematographer Pat Scola, and writing the upcoming “Death Stranding” movie. And early in the conversation, he acknowledged a thread that has become increasingly clear across his work, from “Pig” to “A Quiet Place: Day One” to “The Death of Robin Hood”: these are stories about people who, in some way, already feel dead before the movie begins.
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  ‘Spider-Noir’: Oren Uziel On Building Season One with Nic Cage, The Black-And-White/Color Gamble, Season 2 Hopes & ‘Fast Forever’ [Bingeworthy Podcast] 15.06.2026 22min

  Just when you think Spider-Man has lost all novelty, “Spider-Noir” finds its spark by going backward into smoke, shadow, bruised conscience, silly accents, and old Hollywood fatalism. It’s still a comic-book story, complete with masks, villains, superpowers, and a hero trying to decide whether he can outrun the thing he was built to become, but its real trick is tonal. The series treats noir not as a costume rack, but as an emotional statement.On this episode of Bingeworthy, host Mike DeAngelo is joined by writer, producer, and showrunner Oren Uziel to talk about Season 1 of “Spider-Noir,” the live-action Marvel/Sony series starring Nicolas Cage as Ben Reilly (No, not Peter Parker), a washed-up private investigator in 1930s New York forced to confront his past as the masked vigilante known as The Spider. The series, which is now streaming on Prime Video after its MGM+ debut, also stars Lamorne Morris, Li Jun Li, Karen Rodriguez, Brendan Gleeson, Jack Huston, and more.
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  ‘Dutton Ranch’: Kelly Reilly, Cole Hauser & Annette Bening On Beth & Rip’s Texas Reset, ‘Batman Returns,’ & Taylor Sheridan’s Shadow, & More [Bingeworthy Podcast] 03.06.2026 25min

  Following up on a cultural phenomenon like “Yellowstone” is no easy task. Any spin-off has to balance honoring what made the original series a hit while finding its own fresh ground. With “Dutton Ranch,” especially after the letdown of “Marshals,” that challenge falls on Beth Dutton and Rip Wheeler, who leave Montana behind for Texas in hopes of building something new, only to discover that new beginnings come with familiar dangers. Maybe they’re magnets for this kind of thing.“Dutton Ranch,” the new “Yellowstone” spin-off that follows Beth Dutton and Rip Wheeler as they gamble everything on a new life in Texas. Kelly Reilly and Cole Hauser return as the fan-favorite couple, with Finn Little back as Carter. This time, the Dutton orbit expands to include Annette Bening as Beulah Jackson, a formidable Texas rancher whose power, control, and family legacy put her directly in Beth’s path. The series also stars Ed Harris, Jai Courtney, J.R. Villarreal, Marc Menchaca, Juan Pablo Raba, Natalie Alyn Lind, and more.READ MORE: ‘Dutton Ranch’ Review: Beth and Rip’s Texas Reset Is Mostly A ‘Yellowstone’ Rehash With Fewer Culture-War DetoursOn this episode of Bingeworthy, host Mike DeAngelo speaks with Reilly, Bening, and Hauser about carrying the “Yellowstone” legacy into a new chapter. The conversations cover Beth and Rip’s move from Montana to Texas, Beulah’s dangerous grip on power, the show’s darker Episode 4 turn, and how the creative team approached evolving characters that fans already know inside and out.
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  ‘Maximum Pleasure Guaranteed’: Tatiana Maslany, Jake Johnson, David Gordon Green & David Rosen On Lonely Screens, Bad Decisions, ‘She-Hulk,’ ‘Spider-Verse’ & More [Bingeworthy Podcast] 19.05.2026 39min

  Some shows walk into the room with a genre label pinned neatly to their shirt. They wear it like a badge of honor and adhere to all rules therein. “Maximum Pleasure Guaranteed” kicks the door open, knocks over the lamp, checks its phone (Where's my phone?!), spirals emotionally, and somehow still has time to become a murder mystery. It's part divorce drama, part paranoid thriller, part loneliness comedy, and part “please stop making that decision, Paula” anxiety machine. Better yet, it knows exactly how messy that cocktail should taste, and, boy, does it taste good.The new Apple TV+ series stars Tatiana Maslany as Paula, a lonely single mother caught in the meat grinder of divorce, custody fights, work stress, and modern connection. When she reaches out through her computer for something that looks like intimacy, or maybe just proof that she still exists outside everyone else’s demands, she tumbles into a voyeuristic thriller that writer David Rosen described as a “modern day Rear Window.” The series also stars Jake Johnson as Carl, Paula’s ex-husband and co-parent, a man who often looks like the reasonable adult in the room until reason starts feeling a little too much like the wrong kind of control.On this episode of Bingeworthy, host Mike DeAngelo speaks with Maslany, Johnson, Rosen, and director David Gordon Green about building the show’s live-wire tone, turning a broken relationship into a suspense engine, and finding humor inside a life that already feels like it has 19 browser tabs open.
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  ‘Obsession’ Interview: Curry Barker On His Twisted Wish-Fulfillment Horror Breakout, Inde Navarrette’s Wild Performance, ‘Texas Chainsaw Massacre,’ & More [The Discourse Podcast] 13.05.2026 23min

  Be careful what you wish for, sure. But maybe be even more careful what you confuse for love, because Curry Barker’s “Obsession” takes one of horror’s oldest tricks and turns it into something queasy, funny, tragic, and deeply uncomfortable. It is the kind of movie that starts with a premise simple enough to fit on a cursed greeting card, then keeps tightening the rope until everyone in the room starts laughing from sheer discomfort. Written, directed, and edited by Barker, “Obsession” follows Bear (Michael Johnston), a music store employee, as his crush on his childhood friend and co-worker, Nikki (Inde Navarrette), leads him to buy a strange object called the One Wish Willow. He wishes for Nikki to love him more than anyone else in the world. The wish works, which is exactly the problem. The film also stars Cooper Tomlinson, Megan Lawless, and Andy Richter, and opens in theaters on May 15 from Focus Features.Barker joined The Discourse to discuss the new horror film, which arrives after his micro-budget YouTube breakout “Milk & Serial” and his acclaimed short “The Chair.” The conversation covered the film’s uncomfortable festival reactions, the dark emotional machinery behind unearned love, Navarrette’s knockout performance, the possibility of more One Wish Willow stories, and his upcoming work on “Texas Chainsaw Massacre” and “Anything But Ghosts.”
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  ‘From’ Season 4: Harold Perrineau On Boyd’s Psychological Collapse, Wild Fan Theories, ‘Lost,’ & More [Bingeworthy Podcast] 07.05.2026 20min

  The town on “From” has always felt less like a place and more like an emotional pressure cooker with monsters hiding in the walls. Every season cranks that pressure a little higher on the survivors, then asks them to keep pretending they can still function as leaders, parents, lovers, or even just regular people. Season 4 somehow makes all of that feel even more unstable. Hope is not dead in this show. It’s worse than that. Hope is absolutely exhausted.The hit MGM+ horror mystery returned recently for Season 4 and continues through the end of June, once again following the trapped residents of a nightmarish town where escape seems impossible and the creatures outside only scratch the surface of what’s really wrong here. Season 4 stars Harold Perrineau, Catalina Sandino Moreno, David Alpay, Elizabeth Saunders, Scott McCord, and more, as the series continues pulling at threads that somehow only create bigger knots.On this episode of Bingeworthy, host Mike DeAngelo is joined by Harold Perrineau to discuss Boyd’s deteriorating mental state, the exhausting psychology of the series, wild fan theories, the legacy of “Lost,” and even why making “The Matrix” nearly short-circuited his inner fanboy.‘The Boys’ Season 5: Karl Urban, Jack Quaid, Karen Fukuhara, Jensen Ackles, Erin Moriarty, and Laz Alonso On Ending The Series, and Potential Spin-Offs [Bingeworthy Podcast]Yes, season 4 finds Boyd in especially brutal shape, something Perrineau immediately acknowledged when discussing where the character is emotionally this year.
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  ‘Hokum’: Director Damian McCarthy On Haunted Hotels, Folk Horror Roots, and His Next Film [The Discourse Podcast] 30.04.2026 26min

  Director Damian McCarthy really loves to hit that dread button, and in “Hokum,” he absolutely wears that thing out. Not with loud shocks or cheap jolts, but with the kind of slow, creeping unease that just sits there, staring back at you. The longer you watch, the more it feels like the movie isn’t escalating so much as tightening, quietly, deliberately, until there’s nowhere left to go. Then he slaps you across the face for good measure.READ MORE: ’ Hokum’ Review: Adam Scott Is Haunted By A Hotel Full Of Scares, Death, & Secrets [SXSW]Written and directed by McCarthy, “Hokum” stars Adam Scott, Peter Coonan, David Wilmot, and Austin Amelio. The film follows novelist Ohm Bauman, who retreats to a remote Irish inn to scatter his parents’ ashes, only to become consumed by stories of a witch tied to the hotel’s honeymoon suite. Disturbing visions and a sudden disappearance begin to fracture whatever control he has left, forcing him to confront a past that doesn’t stay buried.On this episode of The Discourse, McCarthy joins the podcast to break down how “Hokum” came together, why he stripped the story down rather than build it out, and how he balances supernatural horror with something far more immediate and human. The starting point was as simple as it gets.
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  ‘Man On Fire’: Yahya Abdul-Mateen II & Steven Caple Jr. On Reinventing Creasy, Emotional Action, ‘Wonder Man,’ ‘I Am Legend 2’ and More [Bingeworthy Podcast] 28.04.2026 27min

  Lots of action shows begin with some no-nonsense badass fully in charge of their faculties, but “Man On Fire” starts with a man who just plain isn’t. Before anything even happens in the story, Creasy is a suicidal, messy shell of his former peak CIA agent self. But, as with other iterations, that lack of stability is the hook. This isn’t "Reacher," and a muscular heroic soldier boy doesn't blow into town to set things right. "Man on Fire" is about a once-capable man on the brink of collapse forced into a heroic situation, which is far more emotionally compelling. The new Netflix series based on the A.J. Quinnell "Creasy" book series and the 2004 Tony Scott action film, revisits John Creasy, an ex-agent pulled back into danger to protect a young girl while dealing with emotional damage that doesn’t switch off just because the job demands it. Yahya Abdul-Mateen II takes on the role, and Steven Caple Jr. (“Creed II,” “Transformers: Rise Of The Beasts”) directs the first two episodes, setting a tone that stays rooted in character even as the scale expands.
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  ‘Stranger Things: Tales From ’85’: Eric Robles On Expanding Hawkins, Keeping The Stakes Real, & Why This Isn’t Just ‘Stranger Things For Kids’ [Bingeworthy Podcast] 23.04.2026 20min

  When networks spin off popular series, it's easy to come at them with arms folded and write them off as cash grabs. A "Stranger Things" animated spin-off really could have failed. A version of this show exists, in another reality, as something like a Saturday morning cartoon with “Stranger Things” as a disguise: bright colors, low stakes, perhaps Dustin and a sweet monster learning to be friends. Luckily, “Stranger Things: Tales From ’85” appeared from a different portal.This version remembers that Hawkins is a town where children don't tell their parents the truth, quarrel with their friends, and then, from time to time, confront something that really shouldn't be there.The animated series is placed between the second and third seasons of "Stranger Things", fitting into that odd, in-between period when things should be calm. They aren't, though. Instead, the show manages to feel like a lost season that just happens to be animated - the same tension, the same complicated feelings, and the same sense that one poor choice is about to cause five even worse ones, along with some new mysteries.‘The Boys’ Season 5: Karl Urban, Jack Quaid, Karen Fukuhara, Jensen Ackles, Erin Moriarty, and Laz Alonso On Ending The Series, and Potential Spin-Offs [Bingeworthy Podcast]On this episode of Bingeworthy, host Mike DeAngelo is joined by showrunner Eric Robles to discuss entering the wider world of the Upside Down and finding ways to have fun with the characters and story without ruining them.
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  ‘Over Your Dead Body’ Interview: Jason Segel, Samara Weaving & Jorma Taccone On Balancing Brutality & Comedy, ‘Shrinking’ Season 4 & More [The Discourse Podcast] 23.04.2026 30min

  We’ve all probably been incredibly annoyed with our partner at one point or another, and thought (just for a second!) “I could kill them,” then went and made dinner as a perfectly functioning adult. The comedy thriller “Over Your Dead Body” from director Jorma Taccone (“Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping,” “Macgruber”) starring Jason Segel, Samara Weaving as the warring couple, asks what would happen if you didn’t let that thought go. What if you actually planned it… and it was a really, really awful plan?And that’s what the film is about. It’s not about professional killers or brilliant criminals. It’s about a couple in a relationship that’s on the rocks who think they are clever enough to get away with murder, and almost immediately show that they absolutely are not.What happens next isn’t a neat and tidy thriller. It’s more like a series of awful choices triggering each other, poorly thought-out plans, and doing things in a panic. The film’s style changes as it goes along, beginning as a sharply funny look at a failing relationship, becoming a farcical murder attempt, and then becoming far more chaotic than you’d anticipate.
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  ‘Apex’: Charlize Theron, Taron Egerton, & Director Baltasar Kormákur On Surviving A Brutal Shoot, Cliff Jumps, and More [The Discourse Podcast] 23.04.2026 27min

  Some films are just…films. Others feel as though a hugely skilled group of people were challenged to beautifully suffer in front of the camera. “Apex,” the new survival thriller on Netflix on April 24th, absolutely falls into that second category. It’s stark, pared-back, and wonderfully, not-so-slightly crazy. There are two people, a seriously awful predicament, and a huge number of bad choices about to be made. There’s no unnecessary explaining, no safety net, simply nature & some creepy guy slowly asserting dominance."Apex" is directed by Baltasar Kormákur, and is about two strangers (Charlize Theron & Taron Egerton) trapped in a brutal, increasingly desperate battle for survival across harsh land. It's deliberately simple, almost to an extreme. A Man hunts a woman. Both are pushed to their limits. Who comes out on top?!On this episode of The Discourse, Charlize Theron, Taron Egerton, and Baltasar Kormákur talk about creating a film that, at times, sounds less like a typical film production and more like a carefully managed survival test. And “managed” might be overstating it, depending on who you ask.
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  ‘Balls Up’: Mark Wahlberg, Paul Walter Hauser & Peter Farrelly Go All-In On R-Rated Chaos, ‘Transformers,’ ‘Resident Evil’, ‘I Play Rocky,’ Marvel & More [The Discourse Podcast] 16.04.2026 31min

  The comedy “Balls Up” isn’t messing around. Yes, the title is a dick joke. The plot is a dick joke. And yes, the script is packed with dick jokes. It’s as immature and as dumb as they come, and yet, it oddly works because it just commits so hard and earnestly to the bit. Directed by Peter Farrelly—who knows a thing or two about immature, purile comedies with lots of dick jokes like “Dumb and Dumber,” “There’sSomething About Mary,” etc. — “Balls Up” does not ease you into its insanity. It sprints straight at you with it and keeps building, stacking absurdity on top of absurdity, until it becomes this weirdly impressive feat of endurance. And thanks to the sure hands of its director and stars, it somehow works.The film follows two condom marketing executives/salespeople, Brad (Mark Wahlberg) and Elijah (Paul Walter Hauser), who pitch a bold full‑coverage condom sponsorship with the World Cup. After their drunken antics in Brazil spark a global scandal, they must outrun furious fans, criminals, and power-hungry officials to salvage their careers and make it home alive.On this episode of The Discourse, Mike DeAngelo is joined by Mark Wahlberg, Paul Walter Hauser, and director Peter Farrelly (“Green Book”) to break down how you even begin to make a movie like this, why commitment is everything in comedy, and how something this dumb can actually be smart.
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  “Normal”: Bob Odenkirk & Derek Kolstad On Building A Genre-Swerving Action Oddity Independently, ‘John Wick’ Exits, & ‘The Room’ Remake [The Discourse Podcast] 16.04.2026 20min

  Bob Odenkirk playing a small-town interim sheriff squaring off against the Yakuza is not a sentence that should make sense, let alone sell a movie. It sounds like a dare, or the kind of idea you giggle at before moving on. And yet, “Normal” takes that slightly absurd premise and treats it with just enough sincerity, grit, and tonal whiplash to make you lean in instead of check out (read our review).The film, starring Bob Odenkirk (“Better Call Saul,” “Nobody”) and written by Derek Kolstad— the screenwriting architect behind all the “John Wick” films— follows a small-town sheriff named Ulysses who finds himself pulled into a spiraling situation involving organized crime, buried history, and a small, quiet town that’s about to get a lot louder.READ MORE: ‘Balls Up’: Mark Wahlberg, Paul Walter Hauser and Peter Farrelly Go All-In On R-Rated Chaos, ‘Transformers,’ ‘Resident Evil’, ‘I Play Rocky,’ Marvel and More [The Discourse Podcast]It works because “Normal” doesn’t behave like a single movie. It slyly shapeshifts. A dry, slightly offbeat character piece suddenly turns tense and violent, then veers into dark comedy, a thriller, and back again. The movie wants you to feel those shifts, to adjust in real time, preferably with a crowd that’s hooting and hollering right alongside you.
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  ‘Beef’ Season 2: Jake Schreier On Lies, Class Warfare, Generational Divide, & Why It All Matters For ‘X-Men’ [Bingeworthy Podcast] 13.04.2026 18min

  What made the first season of “Beef” so good is that it refused to shrug off a ridiculously small thing, a little bit of road rage. It didn't let that incident seem small. Instead, it became a complete and total falling apart for two people. They just kept making a conflict that should have ended in a parking lot get bigger and bigger, until it was uncomfortably, painfully true to life. It flourished in specifics, being both amusing, shockingly harsh, and really honest about how quickly people can lose it when they don't feel like anyone notices them.Season two of “Beef” pulls the same kind of nasty trick, but it begins with something incredibly simple & contained. A couple happens to witness something they shouldn't. They really ought to just walk away. They don't. They decide to use what they’ve seen, and that’s what launches Season 2 into pure petty chaos.
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  ‘Thrash’: Adam McKay & Kevin Messick On Climate Chaos, Shark Horror, & Why Reality Is Catching Up To The Movies [The Discourse Podcast] 09.04.2026 23min

  Adam McKay and Kevin Messick have spent the last decade-plus pinballing across genres with a kind of deliberate, morbid curiosity. One project dissects the financial system (“The Big Short”), another stares down extinction with a grin (“Don’t Look Up”), and another turns boardrooms into bloodsport (“Succession”). So no, a lean, camp-tinged shark thriller isn’t the obvious next stop. But “Thrash” feels less like a detour and more like the same thesis wearing a shark costume: what happens when systems strain, snap, and spill into chaos?On this episode of The Discourse, host Mike DeAngelo is joined by Adam McKay and Kevin Messick, the producers behind “Thrash,” a storm survival movie that starts in a recognizable climate-disaster lane and then, with a grin, tips over into something sharper, stranger, and a little meaner. The hook, at least at the start, is that balance between plausible and pulpy.