It was Matt's birthday a few weeks ago, and as is tradition, he chose the topic for this week's episode. To that end, and since Matt will be leaving the show at the end of the year, he and Ed discuss how the film and television landscape has changed over the eight years they've been doing the show together, the state of film criticism and the dreaded Discourse, and some of their favourite moments from the podcast.

Inspired by Robert Eggers' The Lighthouse, Emily and Ed discuss movies with small casts, and which genres and sub-genres are particularly suited to using a handful of actors. There's also a bunch of talk about Disney+, the benefits of releasing TV episodes weekly instead of all at once, and Sonic.

00:00:00 - 00:27:50 - Intro & News

00:27:51 - 01:06:38 - Ed & Emily discuss movies with small casts

01:06:39 - 01:11:45 - SRS Recommends & Outro

Matt and Ed break down some of the news that happened over the past few weeks, including Benioff & Weiss leaving/getting fired from Star Wars and the escalating streaming wars, then Ed is joined by Emily to discuss instances where an actor being cast in a movie adds extra resonance and power to the performance thanks to the audience's prior knowledge of the star.

00:00:00 - 00:42:09 - Intro & News

00:42:10 - 01:25:24 - Ed & Emily discuss movies that are about their stars

01:25:25 - 01:31:22 - SRS Recommends & Outro

Inspired by the release of Francis Ford Coppola's The Cotton Club Encore, Matt and Ed discuss minor works by great filmmakers, including recent entries to the sub-genre like Ang Lee's Gemini Man and Steven Soderbergh's The Laundromat.

00:00:00 - 00:28:16 - Intro & News

00:28:17 - 01:10:14 - Matt & Ed discuss minor works by great filmmakers

01:10:15 - 01:16:19 - SRS Recommends & Outro

Inspired by Ghosteen, the new album by Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, Emily and Ed discuss the artists they love who changed drastically over the course of their careers, as well as artists who tried to change but wound up falling back on old habits. They also talk about Martin Scorsese, the trailer for Dolittle, and the death of Robert Forster.

Here is Harry Brewis's talk from XOXO about his Donkey Kong 64 charity livestream, and here is Scout Tafoya's video essay on grief and Russian Doll (CW: discussion of suicide) as mentioned by Emily in Recommendations.

00:00:00 - 00:28:46 - Intro & News

00:28:47 - 00:56:24 - Emily & Ed discuss artists who changed over the course of their career

00:56:25 - 01:01:25 - SRS Recommends & Outro

With awards season creeping around the corner, it's time for Matt and Ed to engage in the annual tradition of looking at the movies coming out in the final months of the year that they're really excited about. There's also a lot of talk about Tetris for some reason.

00:00:00 - 00:16:42 - Intro & News

00:16:43 - 01:18:28 - Matt & Ed Preview the Autumn and Winter movie season

01:18:29 - 01:23:40 - SRS Recommends & Outro

Matt and Ed are in the same bloody room this week, talking about Ed's time at the London Podcast Festival, Hustlers, and the ways in which Goodfellas is invoked in discussions about fairly disparate films based on real-life events.

Jon Bois' The Bob Emergency, which Ed mentions in recommendations, can be found on YouTube:

Part 1

Part 2

Ten years ago, Marc Webb's (500) Days of Summer was released to generally positive reviews from most people (and acute irritation from Ed). To celebrate(?) this milestone, Ed and Emily discuss the disconnect between the central performances and the movie around them, its queasy and unsuccessful attempt to make sexist jokes without being sexist, and whether it qualifies as an "elevated" romcom.

Here is Weighing the Value of Director's Cuts: Scanline, as recommended by Ed towards the end of the episode.

Inspired by The Man Who Killed Don Quixote improbably now being available for all to see after decades of fitful progress, Emily and Ed discuss "wounded bird" movies: those flawed, mistreated, or merely strange films that they can't help but take into their hearts. They also try to make sense of the just announced awards from the Venice film festival, Ben Wheatley and Amy Jump making a Tomb Raider sequel, and the rise and fall of the Jeremy Renner app.

Here is Stefan Heck's piece on the Jeremy Renner app, as mentioned in the news section.

00:00:00 - 00:23:21 - Intro & News

00:23:22 - 00:52:04 - Emily & Ed discuss wounded bird movies

00:52:05 - 00:57:19 - SRS Recommends & Outro

After a quick catch-up, in which Emily talks about her experience doing a show at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, she and Ed discuss themes, tropes and stories that always work on them. They also go over Disney's baffling approach to their repertory titles, Richard Linklater's exceedingly optimistic plan to spend 20 years adapting Merrily We Roll Along, and how great Kirsten Dunst is.

00:00:00 - 00:32:24 - Intro & News

00:32:25 - 01:02:51 - Emily & Ed discuss their Pet Themes

01:02:52 - 01:06:45 - SRS Recommends & Outro

Since Disney's D23 fan convention occurred this weekend and they released a ton of new information about their forthcoming streaming service, shows and movies, Matt and Ed talk about the current cultural dominance of the company, what the next year or so looks like, and the quandary of being excited for things made by a company whose actions could be so damaging. They also discussion the sudden returns of The Matrix and Jesse Pinkman, and going too hard, too early at festivals.

00:00:00 - 00:27:58 - Intro & News

00:27:59 - 01:12:03 - Matt & Ed discussion D23

01:12:04 - 01:17:46 - SRS Recommends & Outro

The death of Peter Fonda inspires Matt and Ed to ruminate on the legacy of the American counterculture that Fonda, thanks to his work on Easy Rider, came to embody. They also run through an all-Disney news segment, pretty much all of which is bad!

Here is Art Spiegelman's introduction to a Marvel collection which is mentioned in the News section.

00:00:00 - 00:30:03 - Intro & News

00:30:04 - 01:08:21 - Matt & Ed discuss the Counterculture

01:08:22 - 01:14:45 - SRS Recommends & Outro

It was Ed's birthday this week, and as is tradition, he got to pick any topic for this week's episode. He chose Video Games, so he and Matt have a long chat about their own personal history with video games, the titles that resonated with them, and what genres elude them. There's also some teeth talk, and a breakdown of how and why Universal decided to cancel the release of the thriller The Hunt.

Apologies for the sound issues in this episode: Ed's mic had problems which only became apparent once the episode was recorded and being edited.

00:00:00 - 00:12:11 - Intro & News

00:12:12 - 01:08:22 - Matt & Ed discuss Video Games

01:08:23 - 01:14:12 - SRS Recommends & Outro

Inspired by an article in the Hollywood Reporter about Leonardo DiCaprio, Emily and Ed discuss the changing nature of movie stardom in an age of social media and Constantly Being On. They also talk about Emily's time at the Edinburgh Fringe (where she is performing her show Big Wendy), CBS All Access taking big swings with its adaptations of The Man Who Fell to Earth and The Stand, and the first trailers for The Irishman, The Lighthouse and 1917.

00:00:00 - 00:34:07 - Intro & News

00:34:08 - 01:04:30 - Ed & Emily discuss movie stardom in the year 2019

01:04:31 - 01:08:34 - SRS Recommends & Outro

Matt's back from holiday, and he and Ed had meant to do an episode on a specific topic, but they wound up talking about a packed news week for the duration. Stories include the Emmy nominations, behind-the-scenes drama on Big Little Lies, Netflix losing subscribers, Marvel's two-year plan, and, oh boy, the Cats trailer.

HBO's Barry wrapped up its second season a few weeks back, and Ed and Emily were both very taken with Bill Hader and Alec Berg's hitman comedy/drama. They talk about the ways in which it balances psychological insight with hilarious comedy, Hader's considerable skill as a dramatic actor, and the ways in which the show has deepened its ensemble in the second season, with plenty of SPOILERS along the way. They also discuss the debut of Neon Genesis Evangelion on Netflix, Bryan Singer being removed from the Red Sonja remake, and I Think You Should Leave being renewed for season two.

Here is the Google talk with Bill Hader that Emily references during the Barry discussion.

00:00:00 - 00:24:33 - Intro & News

00:24:34 - 00:52:21 - Emily & Ed discuss Barry

00:52:22 - 00:56:48 - SRS Recommends & Outro

Whilst Ed has his trotters up in Florida, Matt and Emily hit the wonderful Sheffield DocFest - now in it's 26th year - for a few days of films, masterclasses and *checks notes* algorithmic perfumery. They muse over the wonder of the conversation with Werner Herzog, the sheer inventiveness of the Alternate Realities stranded and get thoroughly flumped by more Harvey Weinstein than they are prepared for.

Much like the cast of an all-time great television series, Matt and Ed reunite this week for a spoiler-filled talk about Deadwood: The Movie, the long-awaited follow-up/conclusion to David Milch's bleak, hilarious and profane Western series. They also discuss some recent trailers, pitch some fixes for Pixar's Onward, and reminisce about odd people they knew at University.

00:00:00 - 00:35:52 - Intro & News

00:35:53 - 01:02:39 - Matt & Ed discuss Deadwood: The Movie

01:02:40 - 01:07:58 - SRS Recommends & Outro

There's no full episode this week, so Ed runs through some news stories from the week - including the success of Guy Ritchie's Aladdin, The Lonely Island pulling a Lemonade, and Sony deciding to just start making their own damn video game movies - in this minisode.

Here is Lindsay Ellis' video essay on the original Aladdin and Robin Williams' role in animation history, as mention at the end of the episode.

In a break from the usual format, Matt is joined by not one, but three special guests to discuss the final, divisive season of HBO's wildly popular TV show Game of Thrones. Suffice to say, there's spoilers, so don't listen unless you're all caught up.