Author: James Ruzicka

Popcorn Counter: Chicken Jockey!

Okay, that’s it.  We don’t understand anything anymore.  This week we went to see A Minecraft Movie. It’s not a masterpiece. But we spent more time watching the audience than watching the film. Join us at the Popcorn Counter as we talk about the meme-ification of cinema, the Rocky Horror Picture Show, TikTok and the […]

Mickey17 vs Blade Runner: Attack of the Clones

We’re going off-world this episode, joining Robert Pattinson on an ice planet in Bong Joon Ho’s new satirical clone adventure Mickey17, before crashing back to a ruined, rainy Earth to compare it to Ridley Scott’s flawed 1982 masterpiece Blade Runner. Two films about artificial humans and the value of life, but which one deals eloquently […]

Popcorn Counter: Netflix’s Old Movie Problem

You may have read as we did recently in The Hollywood Reporter about ‘Netflix’s Old Movie Problem’. But is there really a problem? Does it matter if old movies aren’t available on Netflix? Join us at the popcorn counter where we’ll talk about discoverability, Quentin Tarantino, algorithms and the BBC Moviedrome. Which country has the […]

Popcorn Counter: Small Gold Man

We’re sending our tuxedos back to the dry cleaners once again now that awards season is over. But did the Oscars thrill or disappoint this year? And more importantly, did we get it right? Which gong did we cheer at home, and which left us shrugging our shoulders? What do we think about the screenplay […]

September 5 vs Munich: September in Munich

We’re taking a trip back to the 1970s this episode, as we watch the new Oscar-nominated, Munich Olympics-based reconstruction-drama September 5, and compare it to Steven Spielberg’s film about the aftermath of those same events, 2006’s Munich. Two tense movies about truthfulness, integrity and violence. But which one features accountants chasing accountants? Which one takes […]

Popcorn Counter: Guillermo’s Labyrinth

After spending the week in Mexico last episode, we’re drinking a Corona at the Popcorn Counter and reflecting on Mexican cinema as a whole. Is there more to Mexican movies than Día de Muertos and narco-gangsters? Which Mexican director used to hang out with Andres at the coffee shop all the time? Which movie made […]