It's the beginning of a new year, and you know what that means: getting caught up on releases from the previous year for Best of 2025 lists and awards season! This week we talk about Dead Man's Wire (premiering this Friday, January 9!), Avatar: Fire and Ash, If I Had Legs I'd Kick You, Hamnet, Wake Up Dead Man, Marty Supreme, Train Dreams, and more!

If you'd like to participate in Maddie's Female Filmmaker Challenge, you can find the guidelines here!

Movies discussed (* indicates spoilers):

• Dead Man’s Wire
• Marty Supreme*, Train Dreams*, Hamnet*, Eddington, One Battle After Another, Wake Up Dead Man*, Sentimental Value*, Peter Hujar’s Day
• Avatar: Fire and Ash*, F1, Avatar, Avatar: The Way of Water, The Irishman
• If I Had Legs I’d Kick You*, Die My Love*, Nightbitch, Her Smell
• Little Women (2019), Arrival
• It Was Just An Accident, The Secret Agent, Resurrection, Safe
• Knives Out, Glass Onion, Emma., Good Luck to You Leo Grande
• The Smashing Machine
• Bugonia*, Kinds of Kindness, Call Me By Your Name, Moonlight, Green Book, Darkest Hour, Phantom Thread, Get Out, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, Killers of the Flower Moon

The Smartest People in the Room is hosted by Rachel Casey and Maddie Weiner. It is edited by Maddie Weiner. Original theme and interstitial music is by Scott Boice - follow him on Instagram @yeah.boice and find more of his work on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Bandcamp⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.