The first movie we chose for 2026 is Rental Family by director Hikari. It talks about a special service in Japan ...

... which seems strange from a western perspective. Some of the examples of these movies are complicated, to say the least.

Our perspectives were quite different on this movie and subject, so we hope you have a blast listening!

Would you hire a Rental Family? Let us know in the comments!

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We kick off 2026 with a last bike trip back to Hawkins, to dive into the Upside Down of Stranger Things. We recap the major plot points and emotional beats that captured us. We discuss the characters, their development, the writing when it worked and when it didn't entirely win us over.

What were your favorite moments of the last season? Let us know in the comments!

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On our last episode of this year, we update our watchlists for 2026 and discuss our favorite series and movies of 2025.

What were your favorite movies and series of 2025? Let us know in the comments! We’re always looking out for interesting things to watch.

Timestamps

(01:19) - Movies we’re dying to see

(14:16) - Diving into series: What to watch next year

(27:10) - Our favorite series of 2025

(45:05) - Our favorites movies of 2025

(1:22:31) - Our favorite episodes

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What happens when fame loses its shine and everything you built your life around starts to crumble?

In this episode we dive into Jay Kelly, Noah Baumbach’s new film with George Clooney and Adam Sandler. We unpack the movie’s slippery identity, revisit whether the title and central figure really match the story, and probe why the film keeps its main character just out of emotional reach.

Tune in as we untangle what the film gets right and where it leaves us unsettled.

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Join us for a banger of a conversation as we unpack Kathryn Bigelow’s high-stakes thriller A House of Dynamite. We explore the film’s pulse-pounding narrative — as seen through three interlocking perspectives: the White House Situation Room, U.S. Strategic Command, and the President himself. We dive into themes of leadership under pressure, moral paralysis, and how people can be haunted by the weight of decisions that could end everything.

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On this show, we’re dissecting Guillermo del Toro's version of Frankenstein, based on Mary Shelley's novel. We try to connect the dots between the different scenes and themes of the movie: abusive parent's toxic masculinity, legacy, otherness and forgiveness.

If you can't tell by the length of the episode, one of us was really moved by this motion picture!

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On this show, we’re dipping into… comedy?
Aziz Ansari wrote and directed Good Fortune, where he plays a poor guy whose life gets swapped by — wait for it — Keanu Reeves, playing an angel, with Seth Rogen’s rich guy.
The twist? Turns out, money actually fixes all the poor guy’s problems.

We also rant a bit (okay, mostly Michael) about going to the cinema, how that ties into the movie’s themes, and what just didn’t work for us.---

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With One Battle After Another Paul Thomas Anderson delivers what’s probably the best movie of 2025 — and we’re all in for this rollercoaster ride. We dive deep into characters that may seem like caricatures at first but reveal surprising complexity and nuance.

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Here is Michael's ranking of PTAs movies.

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