Sorry it’s so late, but this week we discuss Sinners, The Phoenician Scheme, Brokeback Mountain, and the New York Times’ top movies of the century so far! (Episode recorded on 7/9/25).

Maddie’s ballot: Mulholland Drive (2001), Spirited Away (2002), Margaret (2011), The Master (2012), Under the Skin (2014), Carol (2015), Moonlight (2015), Phantom Thread (2017), First Reformed (2018), Portrait of a Lady on Fire (2019)

Rachel’s ballot: Mad Max: Fury Road (2015), Napoleon Dynamite (2004), Children of Men (2006), Y Tu Mamá También (2001), Brokeback Mountain (2005), Silence (2016), There Will Be Blood (2007), Moneyball (2011), Ocean’s Eleven (2001), A Hidden Life (2019)

Links:

The 100 Best Movies of the 21st Century - The New York Times

Maddie’s Letterboxd list The America I Love

Movies discussed (* indicates spoilers):

• Sinners*, Black Panther, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever
• The Odyssey (2026), Juror #2, Superman (2025), The Batman, The Fantastic Four: First Steps, Weapons, Wolf Man, The Royal Hotel
• Brokeback Mountain, This Is Spinal Tap
• The Phoenician Scheme, Asteroid City, The Royal Tenenbaums, The Grand Budapest Hotel
• Parasite, Mulholland Drive, Memories of Murder, Bloody Nose Empty Pockets, Titane, Love Lies Bleeding, Spirited Away, Margaret, The Master, Magnolia, There Will Be Blood, Phantom Thread, Under the Skin, Tár, The Zone of Interest, Moonrise Kingdom, Carol, Moonlight, We’re All Going to the World’s Fair, I Saw the TV Glow, Phantom Thread, First Reformed, Portrait of a Lady on Fire, Mad Max: Fury Road
• Superbad, Children of Men, The Worst Person in the World, Michael Clayton, Fish Tank, Interstellar, The Gleaners & I, The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, Past Lives, Anchorman, Napoleon Dynamite, Everybody Wants Some!!, The Tree of Life, Aftersun, Everything Everywhere All At Once, O Brother Where Art Thou?, Ratatouille, Ocean’s Eleven, Spotlight, Oppenheimer, Killers of the Flower Moon, Silence, Gone Girl, The Irishman, Little Miss Sunshine, Inception, Pan’s Labyrinth, Before Sunset, The Lives of Others, Almost Famous, Roma, Moneyball, Eephus, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, Oldboy, Amélie, Ladybird, Call Me By Your Name, Suspiria (2018), A Serious Man, Bridesmaids, Lost in Translation, Marie Antoinette, Arrival, The Dark Knight, Anatomy of a Fall, Her, Boyhood, Wolf of Wall Street, Zodiac, Y Tu Mamá También, Brokeback Mountain, Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon, City of God, Inglourious Basterds, The Social Network, Get Out, Nope, Us, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, No Country for Old Men, In the Mood for Love

The Smartest People in the Room is hosted by Rachel Casey and Maddie Weiner. It is edited by Maddie Weiner. Original theme and interstitial music is by Scott Boice - follow him on Instagram @yeah.boice and find more of his work on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Bandcamp⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.

TW: eating disorders

Last episode of 2024 and an important reminder that Rachel and Maddie are shrill feminist buzzkills with hater energy :) This episode we discuss Megalopolis, Emilia Pérez, Wicked, "live action" remakes of animated films, The Substance, and Conclave.

Links:

The episode of On Point that Rachel mentions: https://www.wbur.org/onpoint/2024/12/02/trump-authoritarianism-ruth-ben-ghiat-voters-strongmen

Movies discussed (* indicates spoilers):

• Megalopolis*, The Substance*, Emilia Pérez*, The Zone of Interest, TÁR, Joker: Folie à Deux, Honeyboy
• Nosferatu, The Iron Claw, Wicked, Crazy Rich Asians, West Side Story (2021)*, Singin’ in the Rain, West Side Story (1961)
• Moana 2, Moana, Inside Out, Inside Out 2
• How to Train Your Dragon (2025), How to Train Your Dragon trilogy, The Lion King (2019), The Little Mermaid (2023), Mufasa
• The Apprentice, Magic Mike XXL, The Terrifier series, Suspiria (2018), Nightbitch, Showgirls, The Souvenir*, The Souvenir: Part II, Tenet
• Conclave*, All Quiet on the Western Front (2022), The Brutalist, Nickel Boys, The Holdovers, Marcel the Shell with Shoes On, La Chimera, Gladiator II, Heretic, A Real Pain, Anora, His Three Daughters, I Saw the TV Glow, A Different Man, Sing Sing, The People’s Joker*, Batman Forever, Babygirl, Will & Harper, Hale County This Morning, This Evening, A Complete Unknown, Queer

The Smartest People in the Room is hosted by Rachel Casey and Maddie Weiner. It is edited by Maddie Weiner. Original theme and interstitial music is by Scott Boice - follow him on Instagram @yeah.boice and find more of his work on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Bandcamp⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.

We are now in awards pre-season and we have a lot to discuss. How are we going to get to 10 Best Picture nominees? Can James Mangold pull off A Complete Unknown? Will Nightbitch be good? (Answer: yes, it's Marielle Heller). Why are there so many horror movies about pregnancy right now, and romcoms with older women age gap relationships? (Not complaining!) Listen and find out!

Movies discussed (* indicates spoilers):

• The Brutalist
• Anora, Sing Sing, Conclave, Maria (2024), Jackie, Spencer, Dune: Part Two, Emilia Perez, Blitz, Nickel Boys, Gladiator II, A Complete Unknown, The End (2024), Mother Mary, The Governesses
• Tár, Vox Lux, The Order (2024), Bram Stoker’s Dracula
• Saturday Night, The Piano Lesson (2024), Joker: Folie à Deux, A Real Pain, Past Lives, Everything Everywhere All At Once, CODA (2021)
• Sentimental Value
• All Quiet on the Western Front (2022)
• Mrs. Doubtfire, Wanted
• The Substance, The Apprentice, The Witch, A Different Man, Under the Skin, Walk the Line, Ford v Ferrari
• Christmas Eve in Miller’s Point, Heretic, Babygirl, Queer, The Room Next Door, A Strange Way of Life, The Killing of a Sacred Deer
• Nightbitch, Jeanne Dielman, 23, quad du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles, Honeyland, The First Omen, A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood, Can You Ever Forgive Me?, Diary of a Teenage Girl, Tully
• The Godfather, Her Smell, Wildlife, Gone Girl, Pride & Prejudice (2005), Pirates of the Caribbean series, The Boston Strangler, Colette, Silent Night
• The Idea of You, Anyone But You, Eileen, Twisters, Immaculate, The Deliverance, Madame Web, Bohemian Rhapsody, The Running Man, Barbarella
• Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Lawrence of Arabia, The Ten Commandments, Chinatown, The Witches of Eastwick, The Bucket List, As Good As It Gets, The Shining, Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb, The Taste of Things, The French Connection, Easy Rider
• Presence, No Sudden Move, A Star Is Born (2018), House of Gucci, Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga, Mad Max: Fury Road, The Bikeriders, Molly’s Game, John Wick
• Red Rocket, Beetlejuice Beetlejuice

The Smartest People in the Room is hosted by Rachel Casey and Maddie Weiner. It is edited by Maddie Weiner. Original theme and interstitial music is by Scott Boice - follow him on Instagram @sc00gle and find more of his work on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Bandcamp⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.