Download Podcasts as MP3
Search for a podcast, browse episodes, and download MP3 files directly from the publisher's website. Transcripts included when available.
Episodes from Blank Check with Griffin & David
The Year of Living Dangerously with Tracy Letts
Tracy Letts - Pulitzer and Tony winner, but most importantly The King of Physical Media - makes his much-anticipated Blank Check debut on an episode about a film that has no legitimate BluRay release. The irony! This week, we're discussing Peter Weir's The Year of Living Dangerously, a romantic drama set against the backdrop of Indonesian political unrest. We're discussing the star-power of Mel Gibson, the improbable performance of Linda Hunt, and, because this is Blank Check - the trench run at the end of Star Wars. Plus, we present the King of Physical Media with some meticulously chosen...
Gallipoli with Jennifer Kent
This week, we are honored to welcome Australian filmmaker Jennifer Kent to the podcast as we discuss Peter Weir's devastating classic Gallipoli. In addition to bringing much needed context on the history of Australian cinema, this episode also delves into the significance of the Gallipoli Campaign in the Aussie national consciousness, the undersung career of actor Mark Lee, and the genius of Peter Weir's approach to telling this story. Plus, we get to ask Jennifer about her role in Babe: Pig in the City AND we ask her to tell her buddy Justin Kurzel how much Ben loves his...
The Last Wave with BenDavid Grabinski
Peter Weir's follow up to Picnic at Hanging Rock - 1978's The Last Wave - deals with similar themes, with colonialism butting against the wild mysticism of Australia's land and people. However, this time...it's WET AS HELL. BenDavid Grabinski - the filmmaker behind the upcoming Mike & Nick & Nick & Alice - joins us to talk about this beguiling film, apocalyptic thinking, Richard Chamberlain's status as the king of TV miniseries, and Tom Shadyac's Dragonfly, weirdly enough. Watch BenDavid's new movie Mike & Nick & Nick & Alice If you're in New York, be sure to go to Sunken...
Critical Darlings: The 2026 Oscars Ceremony with Griffin Newman
It’s Critical Darlings’ biggest morning! After a marathon season, we react to this year’s Academy Awards: the winners, losers, presenters, performances, and awkward play-offs. One Battle After Another and Sinners nearly split the ballot with One Battle and Paul Thomas Anderson taking the biggest prizes in Best Director and Best Picture, while Sinners took home Best Actor, Score, Adapted Screenplay, and Cinematography. But for as many questions as the ceremony answered, it raised more: Do Sinners and Amy Madigan’s wins signal a shift in how the Academy sees horror? What exactly is the Best Casting...
Picnic at Hanging Rock with Jane Schoenbrun
On St. Valentine's Day in 1900, a group of podcasters set out to record an episode about Peter Weir's Picnic At Hanging Rock. Some were never to return...because they got addicted to the calming sounds of pan flute! Filmmaker Jane Schoenbrun joins us to chat about this 1975 classic of Australian cinema, and we're getting into the eerie qualities that make this film such an enduring mystery. From Rachel Roberts' wig drama to frame rate manipulation...from the Aboriginal concept of "dream time" to the casting of actual private school girls...there's much to unpack. But don't worry, we also...
Critical Darlings: One Battle After Another And Oscar Predictions with David Sims
What time is it? It’s time to study the revolutionary texts with David “Rocketman” Sims! On our last episode before The Oscars, we’re talking about One Battle After Another, Paul Thomas Anderson’s epic about parental legacy, revolutionary identity, and a dad trying to charge his Goddamn phone. But first we reflect on the influx of last-minute Oscar narratives, before getting into One Battle After Another’s plot and politics, sidebar on Leonardo DiCaprio’s legacy at the Oscars, and finally give our official Critical Darlings Oscar Predictions for Sunday’s ceremony. Read more about Richard’s predictions at Pr...
The Cars That Ate Paris
Bonjour! Erm...we mean...G'day mates! Our Peter Weir series PODNIC AT HANGING CAST kicks off with Weir's 1974 feature debut The Cars That Ate Paris, a film about the guy who plays Napoleon in the Bill & Ted movies getting stranded in a quirky and murderous Australian town. We're getting into the origins of the Australian New Wave, the various "calling card" projects that Weir made in the beginning of his career, and this film's spiky car which Ben has a lot of affection for, obviously. Check out the Steve Martin Cold Open - Saturday Night Live <...
Critical Darlings: Sinners And The Academy’s Growing Genre Acceptance with Sam Sanders
This week we’re joined by Sam Sanders of The Sam Sanders Show to discuss Sinners, the most nominated film in Academy Awards history. With sixteen nominations across directing, writing, music, and acting categories, Sinners is a somewhat surprising record breaker, as genre films, especially films with horror elements, are rarely awarded by The Academy. On this episode we discuss the film, why it was able to break through, if Sinners counts as a genre film; and if so, what genre it represents. We also get into what effect the Warner Bros. Paramount merger might have...
The Eleventh Annual Blank Check Awards with Joe Reid
Live from our windowless studio in Downtown Brooklyn, it's the 11th Annual Blankies! Joe Reid joins us once again to give out golden Wattos to our favorite films, performances, and craftspeople of the year. Some of our picks are certainly part of the greater award season conversation. Others are Materialists. Join us as we honor the best Putters and Murmurs, the Wettest flicks of the year, and as Griffin debuts his latest Billy Crystal opening showtune. Listen to This Had Oscar Buzz Watch Igby Goes Down Sign up for Check Book, the Blank...
Critical Darlings: Sentimental Value and Belated Oscar Breakthroughs with Joe Reid
This week we’re in hygge mode, uncovering traumas in our generational home with the host of This Had Oscar Buzz, Joe Reid! One of the breakout Oscar films of the year is Joachim Trier’s Sentimental Value, a warm, realist Norwegian film about a difficult but brilliant director (Stellan Skarsgard), his two daughters (Renate Reinsve and Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas), and an American actress cast in the auteur’s new film (Elle Fanning). All four performances earned Oscar nominations, along with nominations for Best Picture, Best International Feature, Best Film Editing, and Best Original Screenplay. Sentimental Value also high...
Die My Love with Alison Willmore
Our Lynne Ramsay series comes to a close with last year's Die My Love, which brings us to the realization - damn, have we really never talked about Jennifer Lawrence before? Join us and Vulture's Alison Willmore as we do a full career deep-dive on J.Law, and grapple with this film and Mubi's decision to purchase it out of Cannes for a buttload of money. Read the NY Mag profile of Darren Aronofsky from 2017 Read Alison's work at Vulture Sign up for Check Book, the Blank Check newsletter featuring even more “real ne...
Critical Darlings: The Secret Agent And The Increasingly International Academy
Viva Brazil! Today we discuss Best Picture nominee The Secret Agent, the simmering, colorful Brazilian thriller about a man on the run, starring the dreamy Wagner Moura and directed by Kleber Mendonça Filho. The story, about retaining personal and political memory under authoritarianism, has proven resonant with an international audience and awards bodies, garnering three additional Oscar nominations for Best International Feature, Best Casting, and Best Actor for Moura. On this episode, we discuss The Secret Agent itself, how it fits into and subverts the tropes of international films at the Oscars, the Eurovision-like process for international nominations, chec...