The Long Take Review

The Venice Film Festival went wild for Benny Safdie’s The Smashing Machine, based on the life and struggles of MMA/UFC Fighter Mark Kerr. When the film opened in theaters last weekend, however, the box office was a huge disappointment. What is the decision of The Long Take Review crew? Host Jen Sopchockchai is joined by Greg Cass and Antonio Elefano to discuss the Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson showcase. We go into SPOILER MODE at the 19:25 minute mark. If you don’t want to go another round, you can listen safely until then.Image Credit: IndieWireYou can listen to The Long Take Review on Substack, Spotify, Apple, YouTube, or wherever you get your podcasts.All music licensed through Epidemic Sound.Logo art: Illustration 73265080 © Worldofvector | Dreamstime.com Get full access to The Long Take at thelongtake.substack.com/subscribe

The superlatives that have already been bestowed upon the new PTA (Paul Thomas Anderson) movie that just hit theaters last weekend are, quite honestly, hard to believe: to many, it’s PTA’s best film, Leonardo DiCaprio’s career best performance, the best film of the year, and even the best film of the decade. How could the film, which chronicles an ex-freedom fighter’s frenzied chase away from a wing of the U.S. military and towards wherever his missing daughter might be, possibly live up to all that? On this episode of The Long Take Review, we each share the extent to which we felt One Battle After Another lived up to the extreme hype, unpack why the film feels both timely and timeless, give shoutouts to the MVPs of the cast (spoiler: there are several), dissect characters’ motivations, and speculate whether or not the film has what it takes to go all the way at the Oscars. It’s a wild ride; hop in.We go into SPOILER MODE at the 21:34 minute mark. If you can’t remember the password for spoilers, you can listen safely until then.Image Credit: VarietyYou can listen to The Long Take Review on Substack, Spotify, Apple, YouTube, or wherever you get your podcasts.All music licensed through Epidemic Sound.Logo art: Illustration 73265080 © Worldofvector | Dreamstime.com Get full access to The Long Take at thelongtake.substack.com/subscribe

With the major film festivals completed, we launch into award season with the kind of prestige drama that was designed for the fall: an adaptation of Ben Shattuck’s The History of Sound. Host Jen Sopchockchai is joined by Greg Cass and Antonio Elefano to talk about the decades-spanning drama about a singer, played by Paul Mescal, and a musicologist, played by Josh O’Connor, who meet by chance and forever change one another’s lives. This time, everyone on the episode has read the source material, so get ready for some serious book club time! We go into SPOILER MODE at the 21:43 minute mark. If you are not ready to sing spoilers with us, you can listen safely until then. Image Credit: DeadlineYou can listen to The Long Take Review on Substack, Spotify, Apple, YouTube, or wherever you get your podcasts.All music licensed through Epidemic Sound.Logo art: Illustration 73265080 © Worldofvector | Dreamstime.com Get full access to The Long Take at thelongtake.substack.com/subscribe

If you’ve ever argued back while listening to us prognosticate, now is your chance to show us up! We’re competing in Vulture’s Movies Fantasy League, and we want you to join our mini-league, “ltrpod,” so that we can all follow this year’s Oscar season together. The task is deceptively simple: use 100 fake dollars to buy eight movies that will earn you the most points for awards, box office, and critical reception. Should you spend big on films with a lot of hype? Or should you rifle through the bargain bin and take a chance on what could be a sleeper hit? P.T. and I offer our best advice, assess Antonio and Greg’s rosters, and provide detailed instructions about how to join in the fun. When you register for Vulture’s Movie Fantasy League, type ltrpod under “League Name (optional).” (See screen shot below.)Image Credit: VultureYou can listen to The Long Take Review on Substack, Spotify, Apple, YouTube, or wherever you get your podcasts.All music licensed through Epidemic Sound.Logo art: Illustration 73265080 © Worldofvector | Dreamstime.com Get full access to The Long Take at thelongtake.substack.com/subscribe

When our favorite critics and journalists travel across the globe — from Venice to Colorado and Toronto — to watch and review new movies, Oscar addicts like us sit up and pay attention. Films from high profile, beloved directors can flop. New films from unknowns can break out onto the scene. It’s never what anyone expects. On this episode of The Long Take Review, P.T. and I pass the mic back and forth to share our winners, losers, and head-scratchers coming out of recent festival premieres. Whose hype draft weathered the storm? And what will the Oscar race look like going forward? Which film’s buzz prompted P.T. to buy tickets to not one but two screenings? Listen and learn. Image Credit: Next Best PictureYou can listen to The Long Take Review on Substack, Spotify, Apple, YouTube, or wherever you get your podcasts.All music licensed through Epidemic Sound.Logo art: Illustration 73265080 © Worldofvector | Dreamstime.com Get full access to The Long Take at thelongtake.substack.com/subscribe

The air is turning crisp and the coffees are getting pumpkin spiced, but before we head into Fall Festival (and Oscar!) season, we want to do a quick recap on Summer Blockbuster season. On this episode of The Long Take Review, host Jen Sopchockchai is joined by P.T. McNiff, Antonio Elefano, and Greg Cass to debrief the season that was, reliving the highs (biplanes!), the lows (mutant dinosaurs!), and the forgotten (What is an Elio?). Listen along as we reveal our superlatives, such as “most athletic” and “cutest couple.” For some, we needed to reopen previous discussions, and, for others, we shined a spotlight on some underrated finds. Image Credit: SlashFilmYou can listen to The Long Take Review on Substack, Spotify, Apple, YouTube, or wherever you get your podcasts.All music licensed through Epidemic Sound.Logo art: Illustration 73265080 © Worldofvector | Dreamstime.com Get full access to The Long Take at thelongtake.substack.com/subscribe

Is an author allowed to deny any interpretations of his film? That’s exactly what Director Zach Cregger (Barbarian 2022) has done on his press tour for Weapons, which is playing in theaters now. Most of his interviews emphasize a personal tragedy of his that inspired the movie, rather than the various political valences one might place upon a story about 17 kids who mysteriously disappear in the middle of the same night. On this episode of The Long Take Review, we debate how much the film is trying to say something vs. what it’s actually saying to us, as well as why the film is structured in the way it is and how scary it actually is. Please note that we recorded this episode more than a week before the tragic events at Annunciation Catholic Church and School in Minneapolis. There is indeed a broader discussion of school shootings in the episode, but we do not reference this recent school shooting because at the time of recording it had not yet occurred. If our conversation helps you process this devastating news in some way, please reach out to us or share your thoughts in the comments. We go into SPOILER MODE at the 21:28 minute mark. If you are not ready to investigate, you can listen safely until then.Image Credit: IndieWireYou can listen to The Long Take Review on Substack, Spotify, Apple, YouTube, or wherever you get your podcasts.All music licensed through Epidemic Sound.Logo art: Illustration 73265080 © Worldofvector | Dreamstime.com Get full access to The Long Take at thelongtake.substack.com/subscribe

In more ways than one, The Fantastic Four: First Steps did not perform as expected. In spite of superhero fatigue, Matt Shakman’s retro futuristic adaptation of Marvel’s first family was well-received by many critics. Brandon Yu of the New York Times, for example, called it a “refreshingly new direction” and Amy Nicholson of the LA Times said she felt comforted by the film’s evocation of “classic sci-fi.” The box office, however, took a turn for the worst after opening weekend, with a 66% drop-off in sales. Currently, it ranks ninth in the worldwide box office for this year. That’s just before the other two MCU movies this year, Captain America: Brave New World and Thunderbolts*, both of which have been deemed financial disappointments. But that doesn’t mean we at The Long Take Review were personally disappointed in the slickly styled summer blockbuster! In this episode, we share a range of reactions to the film, and then proceed to debate what works and what doesn’t work. Did we favor Reed Richards/Pedro Pascal, Sue Storm/Vanessa Kirby, Johnny Storm/Joseph Quinn, or Ben Grimm/Ebon Moss-Bacharach? How did we feel about the ethical dilemmas the film proposes? And what do we think this film indicates about the future of the MCU? We talk everything from stingers to the Silver Surfer!We go into SPOILER MODE at the 28:25 minute mark. If you are not ready to launch into outer spoiler space, you can listen safely until then. (We WILL protect you.)Image Credit: IndieWireYou can listen to The Long Take Review on Substack, Spotify, Apple, YouTube, or wherever you get your podcasts.All music licensed through Epidemic Sound.Logo art: Illustration 73265080 © Worldofvector | Dreamstime.com Get full access to The Long Take at thelongtake.substack.com/subscribe

Assuming you were all on the edges of your respective seats, waiting with bated breath to hear the rest of our Top 10 Best Films of the 21st Century lists, here is the long-awaited second half of our response to The New York Times’ list of “The 100 Best Movies of the 21st Century.” Starting with our number six spots, we each take turns revealing our #1-6 picks of the best films made from 2000 to 2025. How did we do overall? Whose personal list do you like the best? What would you have put on your own list? Please share your thoughts with us in the comments below or by emailing us at thelongtakereview@gmail.com. Image Credit: Rolling StoneYou can listen to The Long Take Review on Substack, Spotify, Apple, YouTube, or wherever you get your podcasts.All music licensed through Epidemic Sound.Logo art: Illustration 73265080 © Worldofvector | Dreamstime.com Get full access to The Long Take at thelongtake.substack.com/subscribe

When The New York Times released its full list of “The 100 Best Movies of the 21st Century,” we quickly realized that this cinephile’s feast deserved an entire episode. Then, once we recorded for a little over three hours, we realized that we needed to split up our conversation into two episodes. So in this episode you’ll find our general discussion of the NYT list, how we put our individual top 10 lists together, and the on-air reveal of picks #7-10. (Picks #1-6 will be revealed in next week’s episode, Part Two.) Can you predict what we each chose? And what would you put on your top ten?Image Credit: The New York TimesYou can listen to The Long Take Review on Substack, Spotify, Apple, YouTube, or wherever you get your podcasts.All music licensed through Epidemic Sound.Logo art: Illustration 73265080 © Worldofvector | Dreamstime.com Get full access to The Long Take at thelongtake.substack.com/subscribe

Who knew the most unexpectedly popular movie of the summer would be an animated feature about KPop stars who protect the world from demons with both their music and their deadly weapons? We at the Long Take Review (and most other critics, it seems), surely didn’t. The latest offering from Sony Pictures Animation (Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse) has not only topped Netflix’s charts but musical charts like Spotify and Billboard as well, besting many real-life KPop groups. On this episode, I bring in two of my own idols to discuss KPop Demon Hunters: returning listener-turned-co-host Hasib and our mutual friend Ann. We share why we were so impressed with what we saw, pick our favorite songs, break down the themes of the story, and Ann drops her extensive knowledge about the influence of Korean culture on the film. It’s a fit check for our Napalm era. We go into SPOILER MODE around the 23:46 minute mark. If you’re not ready to slay spoilers, you can listen safely until then.Image Credit: IndieWireYou can listen to The Long Take Review on Substack, Spotify, Apple, YouTube, or wherever you get your podcasts.All music licensed through Epidemic Sound.Logo art: Illustration 73265080 © Worldofvector | Dreamstime.com Get full access to The Long Take at thelongtake.substack.com/subscribe

It’s a bird…it’s a plane…it’s…the biggest movie of the summer? Superman is certainly the central focus of Director James Gunn, who left Marvel Studios to become the Co-Chairman & CEO of the shop across the street, DC Studios, in 2022. So did he do it? Did he do this iconic comic book character justice? Did he successfully launch the new DCU? On this episode of The Long Take Review, we debate this question among others. Greg and P.T. let hot takes fly, Jen gets in a fight with Greg, and we all do our best to discern the extent to which Gunn’s film meaningfully engages with world politics in 2025. We go into SPOILER MODE around the 21:49 minute mark. If spoilers are your kryptonite, you can listen safely until then.Image Credit: The Hollywood ReporterYou can listen to The Long Take Review on Substack, Spotify, Apple, YouTube, or wherever you get your podcasts.All music licensed through Epidemic Sound.Logo art: Illustration 73265080 © Worldofvector | Dreamstime.com Get full access to The Long Take at thelongtake.substack.com/subscribe

Did you think The Shape of Water was romantic or just weird? In this Oscar Fairy Flashback episode, we look back at the 90th Academy Awards, which brought us one of the most polarizing Best Picture winners, Guillermo del Toro’s dark fantasy about a woman who falls in love with a fish man imprisoned in a government lab. Will we downsize some of its wins in favor of some other big nominees this year. Will anyone step forward to defend Martin McDonagh’s Three Billboards Outside of Ebbing, Missouri? Will we do right by Jordan Peele’s Get Out, Greta Gerwig’s Ladybird, Luca Guadagnino’s Call Me By Your Name, and Paul Thomas Anderson’s Phantom Thread? It’s a stacked year, so we had some tough choices to make. If you’ve never listened to an Oscar Fairy Flashback episode before, P.T. designed a point spending system for us to revise a slate of Oscar nominees and winners for a chosen year. Each co-host receives 10 points for the round, and carry over any leftover points from the previous Oscar Fairy Flashback if they participated. To swap out a nominee in a below-the-line category (the technical and production crew categories as well as speciality film categories like International, Animated, Documentary), we have to spend 1 point; swapping out a nominee in an above-the-line category (screenplay, acting, or directing) requires 2 points; and swapping out a best picture nominee is 3 points. To change the winner within a given category costs double points: so 2 points to change the winner below-the-line, 4 points for above, and 6 points for best picture. How would you spend your points to change this very competitive year?You can listen to The Long Take Review on Substack, Spotify, Apple, or wherever you get your podcasts.All music licensed through Epidemic Sound.Logo art: Illustration 73265080 © Worldofvector | Dreamstime.com Get full access to The Long Take at thelongtake.substack.com/subscribe

Even if you yourself don’t follow Formula 1 racing, it’s hard to deny its global popularity, with an audience of 750 million, according to Nielsen Sports. But does that mean Director Joseph Kosinski (Top Gun: Maverick) can lap other movies at the box office this weekend with F1: The Movie? So far, news outlets like the New York Times have declared that the underdog sports action drama is a hit, with Deadline reporting a $57 million domestic and $89.3 million international opening weekend. That’s promising, and positions the film, which stars Brad Pitt as a washed up race car driver ready for a comeback, as the potential winner of the summer. On this episode of The Long Take Review, Greg and I speculate about F1’s future success, both in terms of box office and awards. We try to articulate what makes this such a exceptional cinematic experience, debate the screenplay’s feelings towards its main character, and discuss the impact Tom Cruise, Apple, and corporate synergy might have on the film’s release. Plus, we have a bonus movie news update about a high profile director recently announced as taking on the Bond franchise. Buckle up because, as always, this Long Take is an endurance test. We go into SPOILER MODE around the 28:30 minute mark. If you are not ready to make that turn, you can listen safely until then.Image Credit: IndieWireYou can listen to The Long Take Review on Substack, Spotify, Apple, YouTube, or wherever you get your podcasts.All music licensed through Epidemic Sound.Logo art: Illustration 73265080 © Worldofvector | Dreamstime.com Get full access to The Long Take at thelongtake.substack.com/subscribe

If you were Dakota Johnson, would you choose Pedro Pascal or Chris Evans? (And no, both is not an option.) On the surface, The Materialists seems to pose this as a pleasurably difficult question, in glossy rom com fashion. That’s a considerable departure from Celine Song’s last film, the Oscar-nominated indie and LTR favorite, Past Lives. Is the marketing for the film creating a bait and switch situation, or is Song’s second film a genuinely more commercial play? Antonio, Greg, and I reveal our answers to this question as we delve into what Song has to say about dating, marriage, and market value. We go into SPOILER MODE around the 17:59 minute mark. If you are not ready to go on a date with spoilers, you can listen safely until then.Image Credit: VarietyYou can listen to The Long Take Review on Substack, Spotify, Apple, YouTube, or wherever you get your podcasts.All music licensed through Epidemic Sound.Logo art: Illustration 73265080 © Worldofvector | Dreamstime.com Get full access to The Long Take at thelongtake.substack.com/subscribe

Most film historians would say that when Steven Spielberg made Jaws in 1975, he changed Hollywood filmmaking forever. Not only would the shark tale launch his career into the stratosphere, making him a leading voice in American cinema, but it invented the summer blockbuster season and movie marketing that we easily take for granted now. This year (to the day, in fact!) marks Jaws’ 50th Anniversary, and we couldn’t be happier to celebrate it with our longtime friend and loyal listener, Sarah Hastings. As a huge horror fan and English professor who has taught courses on horror literature and film, Sarah was the perfect guest to help us celebrate this milestone anniversary. We pinpoint what makes this film hold up after 50 years, break down Spielberg’s use of genre, and Antonio shares his recent experience seeing Jaws for the very first time. Dive into the discussion with us!SPOILER WARNING: Unlike our regular reviews, LTR Guest List episodes will be in Spoiler Mode from the beginning so that our guests can feel as unencumbered as possible. So if you have not yet seen Jaws and do not want it spoiled, return to us after you’ve seen it.Jaws is currently available to stream on Peacock, including a (brief) special message from Steven Spielberg in honor of the film’s 50th. In case you missed the first installment, the LTR Guest List is a special series in which we ask our friends to pick a movie – any movie – to discuss with us on air. If you’re a friend of the show and you have a movie you’d like to pitch, you can email us at thelongtakereview@gmail.com. Image Credit: IndieWireYou can listen to The Long Take Review on Substack, Spotify, Apple, YouTube, or wherever you get your podcasts.All music licensed through Epidemic Sound.Logo art: Illustration 73265080 © Worldofvector | Dreamstime.com Get full access to The Long Take at thelongtake.substack.com/subscribe

Calling all girl dads! Wes Anderson has a new film for you. Starring Benicio del Toro as business tycoon Zsa Zsa Korda and Mia Threapleton as his estranged daughter Liesl, The Phoenician Scheme begins when Zsa Zsa calls upon Liesl to become the legal heir to his vast fortune as more and more of his rivals attempt to assassinate him. Hijinks ensue as the two face off against the customary starry ensemble. On this episode of The Long Take Review, we shoutout our favorite players from Anderson’s troupe, compare The Phoenician Scheme to his other films, and try to discern what the film might be saying about family, religion, global politics, and how to live your best life. We go into SPOILER MODE at the 22:54 minute mark. If you are not ready to scheme with spoilers, you can listen safely until then.Image Credit: IndieWireYou can listen to The Long Take Review on Substack, Spotify, Apple, YouTube, or wherever you get your podcasts.All music licensed through Epidemic Sound.Logo art: Illustration 73265080 © Worldofvector | Dreamstime.com Get full access to The Long Take at thelongtake.substack.com/subscribe

Stephen King contains multitudes. He may be more well known for classic horror stories like Carrie and The Shining, but he’s also responsible for equally successful emotional dramas like The Shawshank Redemption and Stand By Me. Whatever the genre or tone, his works almost always beg an adaptation to the big screen. That’s where Director Mike Flanagan comes in. Best known for Doctor Sleep (2019), Flanagan has an affinity for adapting King’s work. This year he brings us the 2024 Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) audience award winner, The Life of Chuck, out in theaters this weekend. The genre-bending film is part science fiction, part coming of age musical, with plenty of surprises built in as it contemplates life, death, and the vast cosmos. Can Flanagan balance King’s different narrative flavors in this ambitious film? On this episode of The Long Take Review, we debate this very question, identifying the highlights of the film on the one hand and scratching our heads trying to figure out how it all hangs together on the other. It was a rich conversation in which we worked hard to figure this one out. Thanks, Chuck! We go into SPOILER MODE around the 20:00 minute mark. If you are not ready to dance with spoilers, you can listen safely until then.Image Credit: Vanity FairYou can listen to The Long Take Review on Substack, Spotify, Apple, YouTube, or wherever you get your podcasts.All music licensed through Epidemic Sound.Logo art: Illustration 73265080 © Worldofvector | Dreamstime.com Get full access to The Long Take at thelongtake.substack.com/subscribe

The Oscars recently announced that their 100th ceremony in 2027 will feature a brand new Best Stunt Design category, and the timing for Tom Cruise and his infamously death-defying Mission: Impossible series could not be worse, as Mission: Impossible — The Final Reckoning, the eighth and potentially final installment released in theaters this past weekend. The marketing for the film heavily implies that this is the end for Cruise’s iconic portrayal of IMF agent Ethan Hunt, but is this actually his last mission? Even at the film’s world premiere, there were reports that he dodged questions about the franchise’s future. On this episode of The Long Take Review, we debate this question, but not before diving into what we thought of the film itself. What were our favorite callbacks to past films? Who was our MVP in the supporting cast? How were the themes different than the preceding film, Mission: Impossible — Dead Reckoning? And what is our final rank(en)ing of all the M:I films? We go into SPOILER MODE around the 19:53 minute mark. If you are not ready to accept this mission, you can listen safely until then.Image Credit: IndieWireYou can listen to The Long Take Review on Substack, Spotify, Apple, YouTube, or wherever you get your podcasts.All music licensed through Epidemic Sound.Logo art: Illustration 73265080 © Worldofvector | Dreamstime.com Get full access to The Long Take at thelongtake.substack.com/subscribe

It’s difficult to write an intro to a Marvel movie review without feeling like a broken record: Marvel has been in a slump, it’s no longer king of the Hollywood hill, fans are out, theatrical releases aren’t an event anymore, yada yada yada. To be honest, I’ve grown very tired of talking about how far Marvel has fallen, so it is an absolute delight to be able to review an MCU film that everyone else seems to like: Jake Schreier’s Thunderbolts*. In this episode of The Long Take Review, Greg and I rejoice in critics’ declaration that Marvel is back on track, unpack the darker themes of this anti-hero team-up story, and, because we can’t help ourselves, debate what this film tells us about the future of Marvel’s slate. We go into SPOILER MODE around the 17:43 minute mark. If you are still undecided as to whether or not you want to team-up with spoilers, you can listen safely until then.Please note that we did actually record this right after Thunderbolts’ opening weekend on Monday May 5th, but had to hold the episode to make way for our very topical Guest List episode about Conclave with Karl LaClair and our Star Wars Day celebration of the 20th Anniversary of Revenge of the Sith. Image Credit: IndieWireYou can listen to The Long Take Review on Substack, Spotify, Apple, YouTube, or wherever you get your podcasts.All music licensed through Epidemic Sound.Logo art: Illustration 73265080 © Worldofvector | Dreamstime.com Get full access to The Long Take at thelongtake.substack.com/subscribe