Podcast · 197 episodes
Filmspotting
by Filmspotting · English
Adam Kempenaar and Josh Larsen review new and classic movies, offering "affable, insightful film analysis since 2005" (NY Times). This show includes AI-generated content.
Latest episodes
Avengers: Endgame | ArchiveA Filmspotting review (with spoiler section) of Avengers: Endgame, focusing on how it balances personal vs planetary stakes, delivers closure for the original Avengers, and uses humor (especially…30 Sep 2026 · 47 min
Netflix’s Unabomber Is the Worst Law & Order Episode Ever Made | SVUFilmSpottingSVU reviews Netflix’s Unabomber (about Ted Kaczynski) and argues it fails to meaningfully engage with his manifesto or the real psychological science it borrows.29 Sep 2026 · 1 h 39 min
"Be Natural" with Marya E. Gates | The Movie RacketThe “Be Natural” axiom in filmmaking, traced to early director Alice Guy-Blaché’s two-word instruction (“Be natural”) posted at her Solax studio in Fort Lee, New Jersey. Mariah E.28 Sep 2026 · 50 min
All episodes
Avengers: Endgame | ArchiveA Filmspotting review (with spoiler section) of Avengers: Endgame, focusing on how it balances personal vs planetary stakes, delivers closure for the original Avengers, and uses humor (especially…30 Sep 2026 · 47 min · 21 chapters
Netflix’s Unabomber Is the Worst Law & Order Episode Ever Made | SVUFilmSpottingSVU reviews Netflix’s Unabomber (about Ted Kaczynski) and argues it fails to meaningfully engage with his manifesto or the real psychological science it borrows.29 Sep 2026 · 1 h 39 min · 43 chapters
"Be Natural" with Marya E. Gates | The Movie RacketThe “Be Natural” axiom in filmmaking, traced to early director Alice Guy-Blaché’s two-word instruction (“Be natural”) posted at her Solax studio in Fort Lee, New Jersey. Mariah E.28 Sep 2026 · 50 min · 22 chapters
Resident Evil and Top 5 Comedy Boom Movies, plus The Incomer | #1082Film Spotting episode #1082 discusses (1) Resident Evil as a video-game movie, (2) a “Comedy Boom” top five list of early-2000s to early-2010s studio comedies, and (3) The Incomer (a new film set in…25 Sep 2026 · 2 h 35 min · 58 chapters
Ethan Hawke | ArchiveEthan Hawke discusses his 2018 press interview about directing and starring in the biopic Blaze Foley, arguing it’s not a conventional celebrity-driven biopic.23 Sep 2026 · 26 min · 9 chapters
Netflix’s Best of the Best is Actually Kind of the Best | SVUFilmSpotting SVU reviews Netflix’s Best of the Best (Bollywood college dance competition), then recommends similar dance films and “Rex Egg” picks, plus a listener request for “bottle movies”…22 Sep 2026 · 1 h 27 min · 37 chapters
Hazard Pay, Pt. 1 — SorcererThe podcast episode discusses “Sorcerer” (1977), focusing on its premise (men hired to transport decayed dynamite/nitroglycerin across deadly terrain), why it was risky at the time (a cynical…22 Sep 2026 · 1 h 4 min · 22 chapters
“A picture that stays with you is made up of a hundred or more hidden things” with Alonso Duralde | The Movie RacketVincent Minnelli’s idea that a memorable picture is built from “a hundred or more hidden things,” meaning countless unspoken choices in research, design, camera movement, performance, props, and…21 Sep 2026 · 56 min · 22 chapters
Featuring: Table Read Podcast | PV & FRANNY - Part 2PV and Franny form a band, investigate a “hate note,” navigate dating rules, recruit Ruzo (triangle), and enter the school’s “Gentle Mediation of the Bands,” ending with a participation-trophy twist.19 Sep 2026 · 18 min · 12 chapters
Blue Velvet at 40: Beneath the Surface | #1081A 40th-anniversary discussion of David Lynch’s 1986 film Blue Velvet, focusing on why it still endures despite (and partly because of) its scandal, its use of 1950s nostalgia imagery, and its…18 Sep 2026 · 1 h 39 min · 31 chapters
Top 5 David Lynch Scenes | ArchiveFilmSpotting’s “Archive” episode where hosts and a listener discuss David Lynch scenes, counting down a “Top 5” list (from 2014’s picks) plus honorable mentions.16 Sep 2026 · 41 min · 18 chapters
Existential Zones, Pt. 2 — It EndsThe Next Picture Show discusses It Ends (2025), a micro-budget existential horror/drama about four college friends trapped on a forest road with no exits, attacked by faceless people who want the…15 Sep 2026 · 1 h 3 min · 21 chapters
We Can’t Look Away From Netflix’s Untold Raygun: Breaking Badly | SVUReview and discussion of Netflix’s Untold Raygun: Breaking Badly, a documentary about Australian Olympic breakdancer Rachel “Raygun” Gunn and the backlash after her Paris 2024 performance.15 Sep 2026 · 1 h · 20 chapters
"All you need to make a movie is a girl and a gun" with Rachel Walther | The Movie RacketThe episode examines the “girl and a gun” (or “sex and danger”) movie principle—often credited to Jean-Luc Godard or Howard Hawks—and how it shapes film noir and popular cinema, including its…14 Sep 2026 · 1 h · 24 chapters
Introducing: Table Read Podcast | PV & FRANNY - Part 1A “table read” style introduction to a story about two Seattle high-schoolers, PV Gornick and Franny Blevins, who form a band while navigating identity, school politics, and growing romantic…12 Sep 2026 · 21 min · 13 chapters
Coyote vs. Acme and The Rocky Horror Picture Show | #1080Film Spotting episode #1080 covers two main things: a review of Coyote vs.11 Sep 2026 · 1 h 37 min · 38 chapters
Top 5 Music Docs | ArchiveFilm Spotting Archive’s “Top 5 Music Docs” episode, prompted by Oasis: Don’t Look Back in Anger and the return of Stop Making Sense to theaters; they discuss five music/musician documentaries and why…9 Sep 2026 · 46 min · 18 chapters
Kenneth Branagh Can’t Rescue Apple TV’s Mayday | SVUFilmSpotting SVU reviews the Apple TV streaming movie Mayday (1987-set Cold War action comedy).8 Sep 2026 · 1 h 12 min · 29 chapters
Existential Zones, Pt. 1 — Solaris (1972)The Next Picture Show episode analyzes Andrei Tarkovsky’s 1972 Solaris as an existential, grief-centered film: what happens when death and meaning break down, and how an alien “ocean” interfaces with…8 Sep 2026 · 1 h 8 min · 23 chapters
Stop Making Sense vs. The Last Waltz | Movie Death MatchMovie Death Match pits 1978’s The Last Waltz against 1984’s Stop Making Sense, arguing which concert film is greater and should endure.7 Sep 2026 · 1 h 36 min · 40 chapters
Featuring: Table Read Podcast | SuburbaKnight - Act 3The trio (Bobby Joe Williams, Walter, and Samantha) infiltrate Richard’s house to rescue kidnapped daughter Mia, only to find a blood-soaked succubus orgy.5 Sep 2026 · 46 min · 14 chapters
Ridley Scott Draft with Roxana Hadadi and Filipiñana | #1079FilmSpotting’s “Ridley Scott draft” where Josh Larson and Adam Kempinar (plus guest Roxanna Hadadi of Vulture) each make picks from Ridley Scott’s filmography across multiple rounds, debating auteur…4 Sep 2026 · 2 h 7 min · 49 chapters
Blade Runner with Michael Phillips | ArchiveArchive Drop Wednesday discussion of Ridley Scott’s Blade Runner (2017/2019 setting), focusing on why it flopped in 1982, how its visuals and sci-fi-noir fatalism hold up, narrative/story weaknesses,…2 Sep 2026 · 35 min · 11 chapters
What Is Hulu’s Desert Warrior and Who Is It For? | SVUFilmSpotting SVU reviews Hulu’s Desert Warrior, focusing on why it looks spectacular but plays like a confusing, boring historical epic.1 Sep 2026 · 1 h 42 min · 42 chapters