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Five years out, and it's time to look back on TENET with a replay of our episode from 2021. In it, we talk about parenthood, emotions, time inversion, free will, buddies, why this can't be done in any other medium, and also why the movie kicks butt! If you haven't given Tenet a second shot, now's the time!

Players, chimes, noir conventions, screenwriting tips, running hot, tacit communication, and horny lawyers can only mean one thing -- we're discussing BODY HEAT! Joining us is Alex Kugelman, writer/director of the new hit film DON'T TRIP (streaming now on Tubi). Can you handle the heat??!?

To celebrate the life and work of Rob Reiner, we wanted to cover our favorite of his films, which also happens to be a great NEW YEAR'S film! So join us to discuss the mysteries of love, and disagree about how to interpret the interstitial older couple interviews. Here's to 2026!

Oh no Scott Calvin (maybe) killed Santa Claus and now through the power of legally binding contracts he has to become the Big Man himself! Will the power of belief triumph over police and psychiatry? Who will be crowned champion of the elves-only cocoa-making competition? Who are those puppets hanging out in Santa's room? All this and more!!

Join us and Brianna Ashby (Bright Wall / Dark Room) to discuss 2001's AMELIE! We discuss loneliness, color theory, mediated interactions, breaking through stasis, and whether this is a post-COVID movie made before COVID!

We are joined by Sam Liao (Philosophy, University of Puget Sound) to discuss our first animated film on the show: Isao Takahata's Grave of the Fireflies! We discuss childhood, innocence, war, societal collapse, and much more!

We sit down with Rachel Fraser (MIT, Philosophy) to discuss Bong Joon Ho's Academy Award winning movie PARASITE! What do Freud, Jane Eyre, and Marx have to do with a movie about three families in South Korea? Psychoanalysis, transgression, class consciousness, ideology, ghosts, Hitchcock, and lots more!

Continuing spooky season, we sit down with Pete Turner (Oxford Brookes University) to discuss found footage horror and the now-classic entry into the genre, REC! We discuss why this isn't "found footage"(!) although it is diegetic camera horror, and how the film uses the limited perspective to shape our identification with its characters. Don't go in the attic!!

Join us and Emily St. James to surf the dark web and hopefully not stumble upon any RED ROOMS. We discuss image management in the era of hyper-connectivity, Arthurian legends, Tennyson poems and 19th Century Chinese pirates, and of course, serial killers. Is this a comfort watch or a perfect horror for a brisk fall evening or BOTH?

We are joined by Max Evry (author of A Masterpiece in Disarray: David Lynch's Dune) to discuss another sci-fi epic of the same generation, this one starring Captain Kirk and Mr. Spock! Exploration, practical effects, V'GER!, mystery, AI, leaping beyond logic!! Star Trek: The Motion Picture (1979), check it out!

We're joined by Andrew Overbye and Hannah Blechman from the Authorized Novelizations Podcast to explore near-death experiences, spirituality, brat packs, and more during our discussion of Joel Schumacher's 1990 film FLATLINERS!

Alex Garland's second film in two years traces the true story of co-director Ray Mendoza's experiences in Iraq. We discuss the film with Jim Penola (An Invitation Productions), considering what drove Garland to the project, heroic sacrifice, decontextualizing violence, and the film's commitment to realism. Find us at www.cowspod.com! New shirts and hats at shop.cowspod.com!

We do, in fact, read Sutter Cane! Carly Severn (KQED San Francisco) returns to explore the world of mass market paperbacks that portend the return of the Old Ones and the end of humanity in John Carpenter's homage to Lovecraft. Is it Mommy's Day? Sadly, yes, it is.

Life, death, and rebirth are on the exam table as we pull up the chart on Stuart Gordon's RE-ANIMATOR (1985). Scout Tafoya (Ignite Films) returns to explore the film, its impact and legacy, men's desire to procreate without women, practical effects, consent, horror, and of course, H.P. Lovecraft!

The spy life. Espionage. Trust. Betrayal. Boring office parties. It's the anti-James-Bond. Abe Mathew (Philosophy, Notre Dame) joins us to discuss Le Carre and the 2011 film adaptation of his most famous novel. Trust no one! Cowspod.com! Buy a T-Shirt at our NEW merch site!