Screen Thoughts - Movie & Tv Reviews

Moovision? Julia Roberts' first forays into television; Annette Bening (20th Century Women) to head the world's oldest film festival; Robert Redford (A Walk in the Woods) and Jane Fonda (Grace and Frankie) to star in their 4th joint feature. ​At 5:08: An anti-morality tale travelogue? Hollister & O'Toole weigh in on Netflix' new series Ozark. Starring Jason Bateman and Laura Linney (The Dinner); written by Bill Dubuque (The Accountant). ​19:02: A gender divide? Christopher Nolan's visual tale of WW2 communal heroism: Dunkirk. Cinematography by Hoyte Van Hoytema; score by Hans Zimmer. Starring Oscar-winner Mark Rylance (Bridge of Spies), Kenneth Branagh, and marking the acting debut of One Direction's Harry Styles. 37:04: Writer-director Christopher Nolan inspires this week's #BlastFromThePastFilm: Memento (2000). ​40:16: Changing course with a 180-degree turn of the wheel: This week's #ListOfSix: The 6 Funniest Scenes on the Big Screen. In our humble opinions. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megap

Two new series take a look at friendship: is one "The Big Chill" of the social media generation? ​Hollister opens with a Burning Question. ​At 5:58: The Bold Type (Freeform). 3 millennials finding their way at a women's magazine called "Scarlet". Created by Sarah Watson; inspired by (and Executive Produced by) former Cosmo editor Joanna Coles. Starring Katie Stevens, Aisha Dee, Meghann Fahy and Melora Hardin as their positive role model boss. ​19:38: From Scarlet to Crimson: Friends from College (Netflix). 6 Harvard friends regroup 20 years later. Created by Harvard alumni (and husband and wife) Francesca Delbanco and Nicholas Stoller. Starring Keegan-Michael Key (Don't Think Twice), Annie Parisse, Jae Suh Park, Fred Savage, Nat Faxon, Cobie Smulders, Greg Germann, and Billy Eichner. 41:10: Hollister & O'Toole take on some icons. This week's #ListOfSix: The 6 Most Miscast Leads - and Who Should Have Played The Role Instead. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Over-the-top news from Down Under: a potential reboot of McLeod's Daughters? Then it's on to God, ghosts, comas, and villains. ​At 3:04: Oprah's SuperSoul Sunday leads Hollister on a spiritual quest to The Shack, where Octavia Spencer (Hidden Figures) plays God. ​5:56: Ghostly boos or critics' boos? Kristen Stewart and Olivier Assayas (Clouds of Sils Maria) reteam in Personal Shopper. ​11:18: Truth stranger than fiction? Kumail Nanjiani (Silicon Valley) and Emily V. Gordon script their real-life meet cute in The Big Sick. Also starring Zoe Kazan, Holly Hunter, Ray Romano, and Bollywood legend Anupam Kher. Directed by Michael Showalter (Hello, My Name is Doris); produced by Judd Apatow (Trainwreck). ​28:50: This week's #ListOfSix: Fatal Audition? Our 6 Favorite Female Villains (of the big screen). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Hollister was right: this guy can sing, dance, and, apparently, drive a car. Baby Driver's Ansel Elgort. ​At 2:44: The new season 3 of Broadchurch looks crime-filled and promising; how Reese Witherspoon was cast in Home Again; why O'Toole wants to be cast as the next Aunt May in the Spider-Man franchise. ​5:40: Cold Mountain meets The Others? Sofia Coppola remakes The Beguiled, based on the book by Thomas Cullinan. A Gothic tale starring Nicole Kidman, Kirsten Dunst (Hidden Figures), Elle Fanning (20th Century Women), and Colin Farrell (The Lobster). ​22:40: Has any other monarch inspired so much screen time? Our #BlastFromThePastFilm: The Young Victoria (2009); directed by Jean-Marc Vallée (Big Little Lies) and written by Julian Fellowes (Downton Abbey); starring Emily Blunt (Sicario) and Rupert Friend (Homeland). Hollister reveals what QE2 thought about the film. ​29:44: Get us a couch, as we psychoanalyze our binge-watching of Netflix' new 10-part series Gypsy. Starring Naomi Watts as an increasingly u

150 episodes - and Hollister & O'Toole are still speaking! ​At 0:57: Hollister revisits National Geographic's Genius, starring Geoffrey Rush as Albert Einstein. ​4:24: Will Oscar-record-holder Daniel Day-Lewis' newest retirement really stick? ​7:47: Downward Dog (it's not about yoga). 10:16: It's my wedding; I'll go alone if I want to: O'Toole on The Wedding Plan, written and directed by Rama Burshtein. 16:40: Hollister on The Perfect Family (2011) - does it conjure up The Real O'Neals? Starring Kathleen Turner, who inspires this week's #BlastFromThePastFilm - Body Heat (1981). 19:48: More original programming from Netflix: Glow. Starring Alison Brie (How To Be Single), and Hair That Is High. Does Hollister give it a Glow-ing review? ​26:34: This week's #ListOfSix: Our 6 Favorite Ensemble Casts in a TV Series. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

She.T.? Hollister hits the Spielberg vs. Banks punching bag. At 6:45: Thelma & Louise with a life insurance premium? O'Toole on Wild Oats, starring Shirley MacLaine and Jessica Lange (Feud: Bette and Joan). 8:08: Score: A Film Music Documentary is released. Our bonus podcast here. 9:00: In honor of Wonder Woman's personal trainer, and House of Cards' Resident-in-Chief, this week's #ListOfSix: Our 6 Favorite Things about Robin Wright. 14:03: Pay it Forward with a crime? Hollister on The Book of Henry. ​18:20: Healers embracing their Inner Killers? O'Toole on Beatriz at Dinner, starring Salma Hayek, Connie Britton (Me and Earl and the Dying Girl), and John Lithgow (The Crown). ​26:02: Hollister follows her Sandra Oh-So-Fabulous to Catfight. Do Hollister & O'Toole come to blows? Co-starring Anne Heche; with Alicia Silverstone. ​31:51: Catfight inspires this week's #BlastFromThePastFilm: Donnie Brasco (1997) - starring Al Pacino, a pre-pirate Johnny Depp, and Anne Heche. Learn more about your ad choices.

Hollister & O'Toole strike a power pose, while our listeners weigh in on Wonder Woman. ​At 4:26: Our discussion of the renewal of Luther for a 5th season (BBC), inspires this week's #BlastFromThePastFilm - which is actually another British TV series: Helen Mirren as DCI Jane Tennison in Prime Suspect. ​7:56: In honor of Father's Day, this week's #ListOfSix: Our 6 Favorite Screen Dads. ​Then our podcast goes to the dogs? ​13:31: Kate Mara (House of Cards) stars as real-life Marine corporal Megan Leavey, who shares a special bond with her military combat dog. Co-starring Oscar-winner Common (Selma), Bradley Whitford (Get Out) and Edie Falco. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week it's all about heroes (and a few anti-heroes). Hollister on House of Cards Season 5 (click here for Hollister's written review of Season 4), fake documentaries, and Shakespeare's gender. At 6:18: Paradise Island? Wonder Woman, directed by Patty Jenkins (The Killing), breaks all kinds of records. Starring Gal Gadot, Robin Wright, Chris Pine (as Lois Lane?), Connie Nielsen, and Lucy Davis. 22:25: Lie detector tests and bondage? What O'Toole learned about the creator of Wonder Woman from The Secret History of Wonder Woman by Jill Lepore. And click here for Amy Cuddy's TED Talk on the real-life benefits of doing Wonder Woman's "power pose". 29:58: In honor of Lynda Carter and the original Wonder Woman series: this week's #ListOfSix: The 6 Best TV to Big Screen Adaptations. Live long and prosper: how Leonard Nimoy came up with the Vulcan salute. 38:44: O'Toole on The Hero, starring Sam Elliott (Grace and Frankie), Laura Prepon (Orange is the New Black), Nick Offerman (A Walk in the Woods), and Kath

Notes from our listeners - which war films we missed in last week's #ListOfSix. ​At 3:35: Hollister takes aim at Brad Pitt in Netflix' War Machine. ​6:42: O'Toole on Season 3 of Amazon Prime's Catastrophe, and saying goodbye to Carrie Fisher all over again. 8:42: A search for the truth: Hollister on The Keepers, a 7-part docuseries on Netflix. ​15:38: O'Toole on The Lovers, starring 3x-Oscar nominee Debra Winger and Pulitzer winner Tracy Letts (Indignation). ​25:04: Hollister on Year by the Sea, based on the book by Joan Anderson; starring Karen Allen and S. Epatha Merkerson. ​28:00: This week's #ListOfSix: Our 6 Favorite Summer Blockbusters. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The latest from La Croisette: which Oscar winner has four movies screening at the Cannes Film Festival this week; and which film was the first to be booed (and why). At 5:28: In honor of Memorial Day, this week's #ListOfSix: Our 6 Favorite War/Soldier/Veteran Movies. 11:27: Eleanor Coppola makes her narrative feature debut at the age of 80. O'Toole on Paris Can Wait (starring Diane Lane, Alec Baldwin, and Arnaud Viard). Paris Can Wait inspires this week's #BlastFromThePastFilms: Cairo Time (2009), Unfaithful (2002) and A Walk on the Moon (1999). 17:39: Then it's on to Anne with an E, Netflix' adaptation of the beloved children's book Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery. How does it compare to the Emmy-winning 1985 series? What is Hollister's criticism of the criticism? And why does it make O'Toole think of Liza Minnelli? 26:10: The biggest Ponzi scheme of all time: Robert De Niro and Michelle Pfeiffer as Bernie & Ruth Madoff in Barry Levinson's The Wizard of Lies (HBO). Based on the best-selling book

Guess which Oscar winner will be fêted at the Hamptons International Film Festival this year. (Hint: she might arrive via umbrella.) At 4:44: Either Hollister was kidnapped, or she snuck out and saw Snatched. Is the Amy Schumer-Goldie Hawn vehicle a Trainwreck? 9:34: O'Toole picks Cactus Flower (1969) - and Goldie Hawn's Oscar-winning turn - as this week's #BlastFromThePastFilm. Don't miss this clip - a dance scene with Goldie Hawn and Ingrid Bergman (yes, that Ingrid Bergman). Then it's on to pure genius (the non-dancing variety). 10:06: This week's #ListOfSix: Our 6 Favorite Math/Science Movies. 20:45: National Geographic's first foray into dramatic programming: Genius, a 10-episode series re-teaming the Oscar-winning duo of Executive Producers Ron Howard and Brian Grazer (A Beautiful Mind; Apollo 13). Based on Einstein: His Life and Universe by Walter Isaacson; starring Oscar-winner Geoffrey Rush as the older Einstein. O'Toole shares her 3 favorite Einstein facts (only one involves his brain). 32:49:

Screen Thoughts (almost) hits a milestone; Emma Watson (Beauty and the Beast) on her gender-free MTV Award. At 4:11: This week's #ListOfSix: Our 6 Favorite Screen Moms. ​15:16: No objections here: David E. Kelley strikes again with Goliath (Amazon), a legal thriller starring Billy Bob Thornton, William Hurt, Nina Arianda, and Maria Bello. ​22:18: Herman Koch's bestselling novel The Dinner adapted for the third time. Starring Richard Gere (Norman), Laura Linney, Steve Coogan, and Rebecca Hall (Christine). Did Mr. Koch himself stay through all the courses? Richard Gere and Laura Linney inspire this week's #BlastFromThePastFilms: Primal Fear (1996) and The Mothman Prophecies (2002). ​30:21: The Secret Garden meets Charlie and the Chocolate Factory? Hollister weighs in on This Beautiful Fantastic - starring Jessica Brown Findlay (Downton Abbey) and Tom Wilkinson (Selma). ​34:24: Keep Calm and Finish That WW2 Script: Their Finest, starring Gemma Arterton (100 Streets), Sam Claflin (Me Before You), Jake Lacy (

This week's focus: dystopian views of the future. Tribeca Film Festival spotlights VR (Virtual Reality). Will it be the end of "flatties"? At 4:40: Silence of the Lambs: This week's #ListofSix remembers the late, great Jonathan Demme. 10:53: Richard Gere as Willy Loman? Norman: The Moderate Rise and Tragic Fall of a New York Fixer. 17:47: The Circle. Starring Emma Watson (Beauty and the Beast) and Tom Hanks. Written and directed by James Ponsoldt (The End of the Tour). Based on the novel by Dave Eggers (A Hologram for the King). 30:08: Hulu brings Margaret Atwood's 1985 novel The Handmaid's Tale to the small screen. Starring Elisabeth Moss (The One I Love; Mad Men) and Alexis Bledel (Gilmore Girls). 47:43: Netflix pushes the documentary genre with Casting JonBenet. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week: we're feeling pretty literary. At 0:22: Find out who Hollister would choose as her Baby Daddy - clue: The Tonys (finally) chose him, too. 2:01: The X-Files will be re-opened (again). 4:30: Fashionably late? Netflix' Girlboss - Britt Robertson (A Dog's Purpose) stars as the real-life Nasty Gal entrepreneur Sophia Amoruso. 10:35: It's a wrap(per): Cynthia Nixon stars as Emily Dickinson in Terence Davies' A Quiet Passion. Co-starring Jennifer Ehle (Little Men) as the poet's sister. Discover why Cynthia Nixon thinks Emily Dickinson would have been big on Twitter had she lived today.​ 18:52: Margaret Atwood's novel, The Handmaid's Tale, is back and as dystopian as ever. In preparation for Hulu's version, Hollister deems the 1990 big screen version (starring Natasha Richardson and Faye Dunaway) this week's #BlastFromThePastFilm. Extra credit if you can name the Nobel laureate who wrote the screenplay. ​23:37: A tough cell? Oprah stars in HBO's The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks (based on the nove

After 6 years on HBO, Lena Dunham brings Girls to a close. At 7:47: Original Spanish-language programming from Netflix: Ingobernable, starring Kate del Castillo as the indomitable on-the-run First Lady of Mexico. ​12:35: Gifted, starring Chris Evans, Mckenna Grace, Lindsay Duncan (Le Week-End), and Octavia Spencer (Hidden Figures). Directed by Marc Webb (500 Days of Summer). ​18:21: Oprah Winfrey to star this coming week in The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks on HBO. ​19:10: "The Down Under Downton": A Place to Call Home. O'Toole says this show is going to turn her acorn.tv subscription into an oak. Marta Dusseldorp and Noni Hazlehurst (Truth) star (and spar). ​24:18: Amanda Seyfried and Shirley MacLaine in The Last Word - which is what Hollister reserves for herself to make The Turning Point (1977) our #BlastFromThePastFilm of the week. ​28:43: This week's #ListOfSix: Inspired by La Famille Bélier, Our 6 Favorite French Films. Oh là là! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Amazon gives Amy Sherman-Palladino's The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel a two-season run. ​At 1:25: The 50th anniversary of The Graduate - here's to you, Mrs. Robinson. #BlastFromThePastFilm. 4:50: A Quiet Passion: Cynthia Nixon takes on the role of Emily Dickinson. ​6:12: TV cancellations? 8:00: Can TV characters leave their core environment without losing their audience? 10:12: Hollister on Showtime's The Beach Boys: Making Pet Sounds. ​16:13: This week's #ListofSix: Our 6 Favorite Bank Robbery/Heist Movies. 22:31: Going in Style? Did Morgan Freeman, Michael Caine, and Alan Arkin pull off their film heist? ​25:53: The RiverRun International Film Festival honors Jane Alexander as their 2017 Master of Cinema. On The Great White Hope (1970) with James Earl Jones, and how the film still resonates today. Why Jane Alexander didn't get to save the world in Terminator Salvation, but might just do it with her new book, Wild Things, Wild Places. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Nothing could be finer: we're recording live from Winston-Salem, North Carolina, home for many years to one of O'Toole's heroes: Maya Angelou. This week's #ListOfSix: Our 6 Favorite Things About the 19th Annual RiverRun International Film Festival - can we limit ourselves to just six? At 7:18: Hollister on Amazon v. Netflix at your local cineplex. And then it's Books to Screen: ​10:10: The much buzzed-about conclusion of the 7-part HBO series Big Little Lies (based on Liane Moriarty's bestselling novel). ​And at 28:24: The Zookeeper's Wife - based on the book by conservationist Diane Ackerman - which itself was based on the diary of Antonina Zabinski. Starring Jessica Chastain (Miss Sloane), Johan Heldenbergh (The Broken Circle Breakdown), and Daniel Brühl (Woman in Gold). Directed by Niki Caro (Whale Rider). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It has been said that music is the emotional language of a film. This bonus Screen Thoughts podcast discusses Matt Schrader's Score: A Film Music Documentary, screened at the RiverRun International Film Festival in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Rob Davis, the festival's new executive director, shares a Bette Davis anecdote - and Hollister & O'Toole agree: Rob deserves his own theme song. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Hollister hangs her head in shame over last week's #ListOfSix; Netflix' "shock and awe" spending. At 3:36: It just doesn't get Bette-r than this: O'Toole on the Divine Miss M back where she belongs: on Broadway. 5:55: This week's #ListOfSix: Our 6 Favorite Movies Based on Broadway Musicals. 9:40: Halt and Catch Fire on Netflix. 11:20: Grace and Frankie Season 3. 17:23: Ireland's new #1 drama: Striking Out (on acorn.tv). 24:28: The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel. Amy Sherman-Palladino (Gilmore Girls) captains a new pilot - hopefully Amazon will give this stand-up series lift-off. 33:18: A Red Nose Day special: Love Actually 2. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

At 2:02: Does The Eagle Huntress soar? 4:08: In honor of Beauty and the Beast, this week’s #ListOfSix: Our 6 Favorite Remakes. 6:04: O’Toole caps off her Sabrina dispute with Hollister (see www.screenthoughts.net/beauty-and-the-beast for the Harrison Ford visual). 11:59: A Tale as Old as Time: the Disney marketing machine strikes again. Find out who Emma Watson took to the premiere; how her star power caused a UN website to crash; and why Dan Stevens (Downton Abbey) had to read 148 novels in 8 months. Hollister brings a feminist critique: does Belle’s love for the Beast romanticize the Stockholm syndrome? O’Toole’s response might surprise you. Directed by Bill Condon; with Emma Thompson, Ian McKellen, Kevin Kline, Audra McDonald, Ewan McGregor, Stanley Tucci, and Gugu Mbatha-Raw. Podcast extras: excerpts from an interview with 8x-Oscar-winning composer Alan Menken; and Angela Lansbury as Mrs. Potts in the 1991 phenom - the first animated film ever nominated for Best Picture. Learn more about you