Screen Thoughts - Movie & Tv Reviews

Director Whit Stillman, Kate Beckinsale & Chloë Sevigny (The Last Days of Disco) reteam in this film adaptation of Jane Austen's novella Lady Susan (which the author herself never submitted for publication). Given their usual sense and sensibility, Hollister & O'Toole needed no persuasion - they were both sure they would love Love & Friendship. Alas, only one declared a victory for Austen Powers. Was one too proud - or the other too prejudiced? ​ Podcast extras include:  excerpts from Steven Spielberg's 2016 Harvard Commencement Address. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Hollister & O'Toole are at opposing wits' ends in this week's podcast - one calls the film brilliant; the other thinks that Nice Guys, well, finish last. An ode to Abbott & Costello? Or a film that makes How To Be Single look like Ms. Magazine? Listen in - and let us know what you think! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Hostage thriller meets Morality Tale: Money Monster makes its premiere at the 69th annual Cannes Film Festival. Starring George Clooney, Julia Roberts, Jack O'Connell (Unbroken), and Dominic West (The Affair). Directed by Jodie Foster, who was aiming for Sidney Lumet-esque (Network) - did she achieve it? Also mentioned: #Flatgate and the unwritten rules of the Cannes Red Carpet; The Man Who Knew Infinity, starring Dev Patel (Marigold Hotel); and Aaron Sorkin's directorial debut. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Oscar-winner Tilda Swinton (Michael Clayton; Trainwreck) and director Luca Guadagnino (I Am Love) re-team in A Bigger Splash, an adaptation of the 1969 French film La Piscine. Can Hollister & O'Toole crack the film's symbolism? Co-starring Ralph Fiennes (The English Patient), Dakota Johnson (How to be Single; Fifty Shades of Grey), and Matthias Schoenaerts (The Danish Girl). Also mentioned: saying goodbye to the 7-year gift of The Good Wife (*sigh* slap-slap), and saying hello to Season 2 of Grace and Frankie. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Tom Hanks reteams with director Tom Tykwer (Cloud Atlas) in A Hologram for the King, based on Dave Eggers' acclaimed novel, a 2012 National Book Award finalist. Co-starring Alexander Black, Sarita Choudhury (Learning to Drive), and Sidse Babett Knudsen (Borgen) - with Ben Whishaw (Spectre, London Spy) as the hologram. A LitLovers selection, Hollister & O'Toole discuss both book and movie. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A real-life premise even Hollywood couldn't dream up: December, 1970. An uninvited Elvis shows up at the White House, requesting a meeting with President Nixon (and asking to be made a federal agent at large). The result: the most requested image in the history of the National Archives. Amazon Studios marks its theatrical debut with Elvis & Nixon (starring Michael Shannon & Kevin Spacey). Find out who liked the music (but thought there should be more meat in the meeting) and who couldn't handle the mockery. For more on the Elvis & Nixon meeting, click here to access the National Archives exhibit (including a transcript of the actual letter Elvis sent Nixon): http://www.archives.gov/exhibits/nixon-met-elvis/ Also discussed: Beyoncé's visual album #Lemonade; the 75th annual Peabody Awards; 112 Weddings. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Night Manager - the bestselling novel by John le Carré (A Most Wanted Man) is adapted for the big screen in a 6-part miniseries (BBC/AMC). Directed by Oscar-winner Susanne Bier (After the Wedding) and starring Tom Hiddleston (the next Bond?) as the night manager-turned-avenging-angel/spy, Olivia Colman (Broadchurch) as the British intelligence chief (a part originally written for a man), and Hugh Laurie (House) as "the worst man in the world". By the way, did you know Dr. House can sing (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l3pGknJ9ymI)? At least 15 le Carré novels have made it to the big screen; visit us at http://www.screenthoughts.net/#!blank-4/dmrnh to read what he himself thinks of this latest adaptation. While watching the series, be sure to keep an eye out for the author - he makes a cameo. And marking the 25th anniversary of the nationally televised October, 1991 Senate hearings which sparked a nationwide debate on sexual harassment, HBO brings us Confirmation - starring Scandal's Kerry Washington as

Shonda Rhimes' Year of Yes. Scandal & #TGIT (unless you're about to get chaired). Reese Witherspoon as Hollywood tastemaker. American Crime Story and the trial of O.J. Simpson. Catastrophe and Season 2 on Amazon Prime - would Rob Delaney and Sharon Horgan offer creativity time management seminars already. For our podcast on Catastrophe Season 1, click here: https://soundcloud.com/screen-thoughts/catastrophe Nothing Left Unsaid: Gloria Vanderbilt & Anderson Cooper (the newest doco from 2x-Oscar-nominee Liz Garbus). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Screen Thoughts turns its lens on 3 new network TV offerings: Shondaland's latest - The Catch (ABC); The Real O'Neals (ABC); and Crowded (NBC). Find out who feels no shame in indulging a guilty pleasure, and where Hollister & O'Toole stand on sitcoms. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Hollister & O'Toole pay tribute to 2x-Oscar winner Sally Field - one of the first actors ever to successfully make the transition from TV to film - and discuss her new movie Hello, My Name is Doris. Also discussed: Everything is Copy, the new HBO documentary about Nora Ephron - directed by her son, Jacob Bernstein. For more on Nora, don't miss our previous tribute at https://soundcloud.com/screen-thoughts/nora-ephron-tribute Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Hollister & O’Toole interview writer/director Joe Castelo (The War Within; American Saint) & producer Travis Burgess about the making of their award-winning film The Preppie Connection (starring Thomas Mann, Logan Huffman and Lucy Fry) - and inspired by a real-life drug-smuggling scandal at Choate. Aspiring filmmakers will want to hear what Joe and Travis have to say about how to get an independent film made - from casting and financing to the Holy Grail of distribution. Tune in to discover Joe’s connection to Dakota Johnson and Rooney Mara; what he learned from director Doug Liman (The Bourne Identity); and what Joe was doing in the apartment of screenwriting legend William Goldman (The Princess Bride). The Preppie Connection is currently the 3rd most watched trailer on imdb.com. Written by Joe Castelo and Ashley Rudden; additional producers Joe Mensch, Adam Folk, Carlo Sirtori, Eric Schultz, and Billy Raftery. Currently in theaters; also available on iTunes and Amazon. Learn more about your ad choices.

Saying goodbye to Downton Abbey; House of Cards Season 4; and the 33rd annual Miami International Film Festival - where Oscar-winner Gavin Hood was on hand to discuss his latest film, Eye in the Sky. Helen Mirren in a part written for a man. The late great Alan Rickman in his last on-screen role. A morality tale about drone warfare and its collateral damage; a master class in maintaining suspense. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Hollister & O’Toole, or, in keeping with the title’s NATO Phonetic Alphabet, Hotel & Oscar debate the merits of Tina Fey’s latest offering: Whiskey Tango Foxtrot. Directed by Glenn Ficarra & John Requa (Crazy, Stupid, Love). Cinematography by Xavier Grobet. Screenplay by Robert Carlock; based on a fictionalized account of Kim Barker’s book "The Taliban Shuffle: Strange Days in Afghanistan and Pakistan”*. Produced by Tina Fey and Lorne Michaels. Also starring Margot Robbie, Martin Freeman, Alfred Molina, Christopher Abbott, and Billy Bob Thornton. Cameos by Josh Charles (Will lives!) and Cherry Jones. *Though the film is based on Kim Barker’s book, Tina Fey’s character is Kim Baker (without the first “r”). O’Toole swears that at one point in the movie someone addresses Tina Fey as “Tina”. Is O’Toole crazy? (Wait, don’t answer that.) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Hollister and O’Toole weigh in on the 2016 Oscars. O'Toole is fascinated by the history behind the Academy Awards: whose idea they were; who gave them their nickname; and what happened in 1941 to cause the first female president of the Academy to resign in frustration. As for this year's ceremony, hear which acceptance speech was Hollister's favorite, what she thinks of the Best Picture winner, and what her hopes are for the future. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A singular critique of Hollywood’s take on How to Be Single (loosely based on the book by SATC writer and co-author of He’s Just Not That Into You, Liz Tuccillo). Starring Dakota Johnson and Rebel Wilson. Find out what Hollister identifies as the common thread running between this film, Lena Dunham’s Girls, and Judd Apatow’s new series Love. Hear which movie O’Toole touts above all others as truly depicting How to Be Single and what she has to say about the passing of Harper Lee, who brought us To Kill a Mockingbird and Atticus Finch (who, by the way, the U.S. Census Bureau would have classified as single). Screen Thoughts welcomes all your thoughts at screenthoughts@gmail.com (and, let’s be honest, both Hollister and O’Toole could use a little cheering up). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Taking a look at an actress known for The Look: Dame Charlotte Rampling, in her Oscar-nominated turn in 45 Years - a haunting and intimate look at the potential fragility of a long and stable marriage. How well does one really know one's own spouse? Co-starring Tom Courtenay; written and directed by Andrew Haigh; based on the short story "In Another Country" by David Constantine. Also, hear what Hollister & O'Toole think of the BBC series Happy Valley (re-teaming the creator and star of Last Tango in Halifax); which movie Hollister watched on Valentine's Day; and how 45 Years reminds O'Toole of Liane Moriarty's The Husband's Secret. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Pride and Prejudice... and Zombies. Hear which of us thinks it's nothing short of sacrilege; and which actually welcomes the inversion of the typical marriage plot. Based on the international bestseller by Seth-Grahame Smith (Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter); screenplay and direction by Burr Steers (who also wrote How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days). Starring Lily James and Sam Riley as zombie-fighters Lizzie Bennet and Darcy. Also discussed: the end of an era (The Good Wife); the upcoming start of a new season (House of Cards); and whether or not Hollister hails Caesar. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

"It is a truth, universally acknowledged, that a zombie in possession of brains, must be in want of more brains." For this month's LitLovers selection, Hollister & O'Toole discuss Pride and Prejudice and Zombies - both the international best-seller* by Seth-Grahame Smith (Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter) and the film adaptation starring Lily James and Sam Riley as zombie-fighters Lizzie Bennet and Darcy. Hear which of us thinks it's nothing short of sacrilege; and which actually welcomes the inversion of the marriage plot (even if Mrs. Bennet herself would still rather see her daughters "with husbands than muskets"). *For those who worry about Jane Austen rolling in her grave, if it makes you feel any better, you could instead opt to read the book in Japanese, Chinese, Hungarian, Polish, Serbian or Croatian. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

#TGIT! Hollister & O'Toole return to Shondaland with a look at Scandal - a show that still has America talking, averaging about 300,000 Tweets per episode. Also: Hollister discusses American Crime Story's upcoming The People v. O.J. Simpson and the Gilmore Girls re-boot, while O'Toole reports from the St. Augustine Film Festival. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Hollister and O'Toole cover a lot of territory this week - as does Chelsea Handler in her new 4-part docuseries on Netflix (Marriage; Racism; Silcon Valley; Drugs). Hollister, who thinks we're becoming a nation of serial murderer series binge-watchers (seriously), swears she's going to take a murder hiatus - but not before discussing the BBC's new series London Spy (starring Ben Whishaw and Jim Broadbent). Also mentioned: Meet the Patels, The Staircase, Learning to Drive, and... Downton Abbey! Seatbelts on! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices