Send us Fan Mail This week on Excuse the Intermission, we're catching up on everything we missed over the past few months. We break down the latest box office trends, discuss the growing dominance of franchise filmmaking, and dive into Marvel's newest casting shakeups and industry partnership news. We also revisit some of our favorite discoveries from earlier in 2026, sharing the films that surprised us, stuck with us, and are worth adding to your watchlist. It's a packed episode full of movi...

Send us Fan Mail Max and Alex reunite after a lengthy break to discuss Christopher Nolan's The Odyssey, one of the most anticipated films of 2026. They praise the film's scale, ambition, performances, and theatrical experience while debating where it ranks within Nolan's filmography. Although both enjoyed the movie and expect to revisit it, they question whether it's truly Nolan's masterpiece, arguing that many of its themes—leadership, war, identity, and homecoming—are compelling but not esp...

Send us Fan Mail It’s time to close the book on 2025 and look ahead to what’s coming next. In this episode of Excuse the Intermission, we each count down our Top 10 favorite movies of 2025, breaking down the films that stuck with us, surprised us, and sparked the most debate. From awards contenders to genre standouts, we revisit a year that delivered big swings and unforgettable moments. Then, we turn our attention to 2026, previewing the upcoming releases we’re most excited about — the direc...

Send us Fan Mail A monster is born, a father is made, and a legend gets a new pulse. We brought filmmaker Justin Robert Vinall into the studio to dive headfirst into Guillermo Del Toro’s Frankenstein, pulling apart what this adaptation embraces from Mary Shelley and what it boldly rewires. We start with the immediate gut checks why the production design is breathtaking, how the exteriors can feel oddly digital, and where the Arctic bookends unlock fidelity to the novel while straining the fin...

Send us Fan Mail Five conversations. One weekend that proves short films can carry more than most features. We sat down at the Gig Harbor Film Festival with filmmakers who turned everyday pressure into unforgettable cinema—starting with a travel-phobe who literally becomes a shoe. That hybrid live action-animation pivot wasn’t a gimmick; it was a smart, budget-aware way to visualize dissociation, sharpened by a one-man animation army and razor-sharp improv that had audiences grinning at micro...

Send us Fan Mail The landscape of Hollywood is shifting before our eyes. From massive studio consolidations to the passing of icons, Alex and Max dive deep into what these changes mean for the future of cinema. Following a month-long hiatus, the hosts catch up on industry news that could fundamentally alter how movies reach audiences. Skydance's acquisition of Paramount and potential bid for Warner Brothers raises urgent questions: What happens when streaming giants own historic studios? Wil...

Send us Fan Mail The magic of filmmaking often lies in that sweet spot between meticulous planning and creative spontaneity. Andrew "Ducky" Dutkiewiczz embodies this balance as he joins us to discuss his upcoming short film "Call This Land Mother" – a story about an Irish immigrant recalling his first summer in America and the mysterious girl who can speak to his dead mother. Ducky pulls back the curtain on his crowdfunding journey through Seed&Spark, revealing both the struggles and une...

Send us Fan Mail When 17 children from the same third-grade classroom vanish into the night, a small suburban town becomes the epicenter of a nightmare that defies explanation. "Weapons," Zach Crager's sophomore directorial effort following his breakout hit "Barbarian," delivers a masterclass in atmospheric horror that will leave you checking the locks on your doors. The film's brilliance lies in its unconventional structure, following multiple characters whose lives have been upended by the...

Send us Fan Mail What defines the greatest films of our still-young century? When The New York Times published their reader-selected Top 100 Films of the 21st Century, we couldn't resist diving into this cultural touchstone that had over 200,000 cinephiles weighing in on what matters most in modern cinema. With Bong Joon-ho's "Parasite" claiming the top spot and Christopher Nolan dominating with five entries (including both "Interstellar" and "The Dark Knight" in the top 10), the list reveal...

Send us Fan Mail The theatrical landscape of 2025 tells a fascinating story through its box office patterns and creative trends. Animation continues its unstoppable theatrical dominance across multiple studios, while long-running franchises like Mission Impossible and Jurassic World show unmistakable signs of fatigue. Has the time come to put these decades-old properties to rest? Our midyear film roundup reveals a striking preference for original storytelling over franchise continuation. Fro...