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In the most stunning return since MacArthur landed at Inchon, former Book and Film Globe editor Neal Pollack has come back with a new episode of the beloved Book and Film Globe podcast. Pollack welcomes back the Sancho Panza to his Don Quixote, chief film critic Stephen Garrett, so they can preview this weekend's Oscars together. In surgical fashion, they whittle the list of 10 Best Picture nominees down to five that really matter: One Battle After Another, Sinners, Bugonia, Hamnet, and Marty Supreme, analyze the good and bad of each, and, as they're wont to do, solve all the world's problems in a mere 25 minutes. No one loves movies more than Stephen and Neal do, which is why we love them. They did not, however, love The Bride!, Maggie Gyllenhaal's bizarre reinterpretation of the Frankenstein mythos. Jessie Buckley may win the Oscar this year. But she's going to win a Razzie next year. The Bride! is an all-time turkey. BFG likes to be on the right side of history. Enjoy the show! Hopefully there will be more. [ED'S NOTE: The Holocaust story from Marty Supreme is actually based in fact]

On this edition of the totally revived BFG Podcast, host Neal Pollack brings back more of his beloved guests. First up, contributor Omar Gallaga reports from South By Southwest in Austin. Even though Austin has torn down the convention center, leaving SXSW without a clear central point or identity, Omar still had a blast at the festival, catching surprise musical performances, watching movies, and attending panels. Some highlights: A preview of the new Larry David sketch comedy show appearing on HBO later this year, a new musical drama called Power Ballad, from the man who directed Sing Street and Once, starring Paul Rudd and Nick Jonas, and an Apple TV comedy, starring Elle Fanning, called Margot's Got Money Troubles. Neal then relays his own SXSW experiences, which involved, in its entirety, falling down on the sidewalk in broad daylight when he wasn't even drunk. Next up, BFG Editor-In-Chief and resident science-fiction expert Dan Friedman stops by the Pod Dome to talk with Neal about the hit film Project Hail Mary, which he reviewed for the site. Dan wasn't as charmed by either book or film versions of Project Hail Mary as the public in large, finding the science a bit soggy and the buddy comedy less than totally amusing. Neal liked the film more than Dan, though he continues, deep into his dotage, to hate flashback-style narratives and believes that astronauts should never cry in space. Finally, contributor Robert Dean stops by to make a meal of Guy Fieri's Tournament of Champions. Both he and Neal watch this food-competition show, but there's something kind of unseemly about watching these formerly Top Chef contenders turn into dancing circus performers for our, and Fieri's amusement. And there's something extremely unseemly about the dire financial circumstances in which they find themselves. Neal also discusses other cooking competitions like Top Chef itself as well as CBS's new America's Culinary Cup, which seem like quality programming, but to what end? They don't feed us, but they do feed the hungry Guy Fieri entertainment machine. Enjoy our show!

In this edition of the new and improved but also exactly the same BFG Podcast, Neal Pollack welcomes his trivia teammate, former trivia rival, and pop-culture savant Jessica Babbitt into the podcast dome to talk about variety pack of topics. First, Jessica, who runs a specialty TikTok where she data-analyzes reality-TV trends, picks apart Survivor's 50th season. Despite a lot of enthusiasm going into the milestone season, there's actually quite a bit of fan fatigue afoot. Too many gimmicks, too many spearfishing expeditions with Zac Brown. Let's get back to basics. Next, Neal and Jess talk about Age of Attraction, the reality-dating show on Netflix where people hook up despite not knowing each other's ages, which leads to some very awkward encounters indeed. Neal wonders why everyone has such a blank gaze in the show, but Jessica reminds him that people don't go on these shows because they're substantial. If you're looking for interesting conversations, look elsewhere. The show switches up in the second half as Neal and Jess talk about The Forsytes, a desecration of the legendary Forsyte Saga now airing on PBS's Masterpiece. The Forsyte Saga is one of the great works of 20th century British literature, was a landmark British TV show in the 1960s, and was one of the best-ever Masterpiece adaptations in 2002. The Forsytes is dumb Bridgerton. This is a miniseries for a post-literate ages, featuring some of the worst hair, costumes, and dancing you'll ever see on TV. Also, you should still watch Fackham Hall on HBO Max, as Neal reviewed on the site weeks ago. Thanks for tuning into the show!

We have a Caucasian male, late 50s, presenting as overly snarky and cynical, complaining of excessive exposure to hot doctors on TV. Another white male, approximately the same age, somewhat less cynical. And a Caucasian woman in her 30s, quite optimistic, some would even call her a fan. They're here to comprehensively discuss Season 2 of The Pitt, which just concluded it run on HBO Max. Editor-in-chief Dan Friedman, former editor-in-chief Neal Pollack, and now-frequent BFG podcast contributor Jessica Babbitt break down the highs and lows, but mostly highs, of the season, discuss their doctor crushes, and dissect the politics of The Pitt, the most sneakily political show on TV, in detail so granular, you'd think that they might need an MRI. You have to listen to this episode until you're done with your charting. Enjoy!

An interesting mix of topics and points of view highlights this week's episode of the BFG podcast. Host Neal Pollack welcomes Sharyn Vane to talk about the somewhat sinister trend of conservative legislators and legislatures trying to defund libraries. Sharyn says this is an extension of the movement to keep kids away from sexualized literature, particularly literature about transgendered culture and politics. But public libraries are a non-ideological good that provide multiple public services to people of all ages, politics, and walks of life. Surprise surprise, we are against defunding them.We're also against the idea that people should ban or refuse to screen the films of Woody Allen. But the Cannes Film Festival has decided to do just that with Allen's latest film, Coup de Chance, which he shot in Paris, starring a cast entirely of French actors. Michael Washburn stops in to say "we're seeing a lack of moral courage on the part of the festival's organizers." Neal and Michael discuss the modern films of Woody Allen, but the politics of his lingering abuse scandal, however exonerated he might be, continue to hover over his career. Maybe Book and Film Globe will host a screening of the movie when they get the chance!Finally, it's time for Stephen Garrett to appear, reviewing the movie of the week, Ari Aster's 'Beau Is Afraid,' a deeply bizarre psychological comedy about maternal obsession, neurosis, and anxiety, starring Joaquin Phoenix. Stephen admires Ari Aster's "original vision," but says "it just doesn't gel". Neal calls it the "ultimate Jewish theater kid with mommy issues movie." If you want to see Ari Aster's id on the screen, this is the movie for you. It is not the movie for us, particularly.Enjoy our show.

It's your favorite hour of the week, the listening of the BFG podcast! This week, Neal Pollack welcomes Ayun Halliday to the BFG podcast dome to discuss the box-office non-success 'Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret,' an adaptation of a 50-plus-year-old Judy Blume novel about a young suburban girl's coming of age. Neal found the movie sweet and sentimental, but Ayun, who was really looking forward to this product, didn't appreciate the film's wan attempts at modern social relevance. It's soft-focused and natural-seeming. But, our critic wonders, where is the menstrual blood? Good question, a question that only BFG can ask.Over on Disney+, Peter Pan gets another adaptation, this one from David Lowery, director of The Green Knight. Neal Pollack and Stephen Garrett, two boys who did grow up, found this thing kind of lame. For one, Peter Pan himself is a dishrag. And Stephen, while he liked the young woman who played Wendy, found himself desperately underwhelmed by Jude Law as Captain Hook. There was also no menstrual blood in this movie.Nor is there, as far as we have seen, in Grease: The Rise of the Pink Ladies, an unwanted prequel series to the 1978 musical, now airing on Paramount+. Paula Shaffer stops by to complain about the lousy autotune soundtrack and the production's weird insistence on setting itself in 1954, before the "50s" really started. For something set in the age of segregation, it sure is an integrated world. A lame product that most people will quickly forget. But it's worth talking about, and there will, apparently, be a second season of this High School Musical knockoff.That's it. That's the podcast. Enjoy!

Our podcast has arrived this week! We show the breadth of our range, we go heavy, we go light. To start, Rob Kutner comes by to discuss the WGA Strike with host Neal Pollack. Both Rob and Neal are "inactive" WGA members, but Rob is out on the pickets with a Guild almost entirely united in solidarity. The producers and the big corporations are really putting the screws to writers these days. Neal and Rob talk about the inadequacy of the compensation, the inequity within the Guild itself, and the looming specter of AI that hangs over the entire industry. And they close with a rousing chorus of 'Solidarity Forever.'Next up, James Porter, a contributor to our sibling publication, Rock and Roll Globe, appears to discuss his review of the terrific new Little Richard documentary, 'I Am Everything.' A passionate Little Richard fan, James is happy to see one of his musical heroes getting his due. He and Neal both really enjoyed the interviews with old bandmates and family members, Neal liked the information about fringe drag performers in the 1950s, and James enjoyed the clips from Little Richard's old blues numbers before he became a megastar in the mid-1950s. Neal could take or leave the academic talking heads, who get too much screen time, but James is correct when he states that they don't actually say anything wrong. Really fun movie, worth checking out.And while 'Guardians of the Galaxy 3' needs no extra boost, Neal and guest Scott Gold both had a good time at James Gunn's swan song to the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Scott says that the movie maybe relies a little too much on slow-motion walking scenes. Neal isn't in love with the more modern music choices. And they both feel like the two-and-a-half hours leads to some repetitive scenes, if not some narrative bloat. But there can be no doubt that Guardians 3 is still fun and weird, and, especially as regards the origin story of Rocket Raccoon, genuinely scary and gruesome. A finger-wagging "no so fast" to anyone who says that the MCU is dead.My god, isn't that enough? Enjoy the podcast!

Book and Film Globe Editor in Chief Neal Pollack is taking a well-deserved Memorial Day jaunt across America. Pinch-hitting as host this week — and doing a swell job — is frequent BFG contributor Scott Gold, who's written for the site about The Mandalorian, Moon Knight and tons of other Disney and Star Wars and adjacent properties.This week, Scott talks to Jonpaul Guinn about Fast X, whose Dominic Toretto character has provided Vin Diesel and crew with a lifetime of speedy chasecraft. "Dom sticks that landing and many fiery, infrastructure-puncturing other ones while racing to save his family," concludes Guinn's article and the podcast goes into depth befitting a 10-chapter cinematic universe.Next up is Jeopardy expert (and 0ne-time contestant) Daniel Cohen, who talks to BFG about Jeopardy Masters, the new sort of playoffs for past champs. They dive deep in the weeds here, but the big question on the minds of most will be "Who the hell authorized the disclosing of Daily Double locations to the audience before play begins?"Finally, Scott talks to Dan Friedman about Silo, the new Rebecca Ferguson dystopian mystery on Apple TV+. We learn that barely anything has survived the apocalypse, except for Apple II computers and badass leather jackets.

It's a blockbuster podcast this week as host Neal Pollack returns from the well-managed wilds of America to once again parse the culture with our ace critics. Stephen Garrett is back from Cannes to review 'Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse,' the sequel to an Oscar-winning animated film from five years ago. Stephen marvels, literally, at the exciting animation, the fun action set pieces, and the genuine heartfelt emotion of the script. Neal finds a lot to admire in the movie but thinks it's a little too much and also he has a heart of stone and despises genuine emotion.Then it's Sara Stewart's turn, offering her hot take on Disney's 'The Little Mermaid' live-action remake. Sara is not in the "Little Mermaid shouldn't be black" camp, but she is in the "movie is too long for kids and also the cinematography is murky" camp. Also, she doesn't like the new Lin-Manuel Miranda song starring Awkwafina as a rapping seagull, a very 2023 problem.Omar Gallaga stops by to prove that for 50 seconds there are monsters on the Earth as he discusses 'I Think You Should Leave With Tim Robinson,' the greatest TV show ever made in the history of TV. Neal spends five minutes describing the content of various sketches while Omar is just glad that Neal is on Tim Robinson's team because now he can get him to click on www.thedrivingcrooner.com. This show is vital and essential to the survival of humanity, please watch it.And enjoy our podcast!

BFG delivers another great podcast episode this week. Host Neal Pollack welcomes guest Michael Washburn to discuss the curious recent decision by The Criterion Channel to edit out a sequence featuring a racial slur from the 1971 Oscar-winning film, 'The French Connection.' Neal ties this decision into recent efforts to bowdlerize popular classic works of British fiction. And Michael points out that the film deploys that language to show that the main character, Popeye Doyle, is flawed, to say the least. They both agree that there's really no way to apply consistent standards of what's culturally acceptable across all films at all times. A really strange and ultimately cowardly act by Criterion, which, as the standard bearer of film culture, should know better.No one will ever be censoring 'Transformers: Rise of the Beasts.' Brave film critic JP Guinn went to see this film, which he found harmless and more in the gee-whiz spirit of the old Transformers cartoons. If you like to see robots beating each other up, he says, you will enjoy Rise of the Beasts. We also find out that as a child, JP alphabetized his Star Wars figures.Meanwhile, over on Max, Matthew Ehrlich endured the premiere of 'The Idol,' the controversial new show from Sam Levinson, creator of 'Euphoria.' Matthew's main criticisms are as follows: the show is not fun to watch and Lily-Rose Depp, while beautiful, doesn't exude superstar charisma like Lady Gaga or Madonna. Also, Vanity Fair reporters don't just wander onto a celebrity's estate, so the show gets its pilot's central conflict all wrong. Also, Matthew takes extreme issue with the main character's name, "Jocelyn." "Why not just call her Agnes?" he asks. Why not, indeed?Enjoy the show!

Hot podcast comin' atcha this week! Host Neal Pollack welcomes contributor Chris Farnsworth to discuss the life and literary legacy of Cormac McCarthy. As he said in his excellent obituary for the site, Chris admires how McCarthy wrote what he wanted, how he wanted, and when he wanted, without compromising anything for commercial considerations. His works were stark and horrifying and both Neal and Chris agree that it's amusing that they're now all over the bestseller list. There will be some surprising beach reads this summer.'The Flash' is here, and Neal and Stephen Garrett pick it apart. Neal found Ezra Miller's lead performance unappealing, and Sasha Calle's Supergirl almost as unappealing. They're both suffering from multiverse fatigue. But they both are happy to see Michael Keaton back as Batman one last time. Hopefully, this is the last we'll see and talk about The Flash.That's certainly the case with 'Elemental,' which may be nice to look at, but Stephen hates the storytelling. He finds it dumb and predictable. Neal wonders how Dreamworks animation somehow managed to lap Pixar. Stephen says the studio that invented modern animation definitely needs a creative boost. Pixar fatigue is also real.But no one is tired of 'Outlander,' especially not our correspondent Rebecca Kurson, who attended the new season premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival. Exciting things are coming as the show moves into the American Revolution. She does have to correct Neal that the male lead character's name is not "Jamie Lannister." And she informs us, as a true fan would, that Catriona Balfe drinks a lot of whiskey.Enjoy the show.

In this week's space-tinged episode of the BFG podcast, Neal Pollack welcomes JP Guinn to discuss 'Asteroid City,' the delightful new Wes Anderson film that pays homage to the 1950s in many different ways. Neal liked the goofy songs, JP loved the off-kilter humor, they both enjoyed the stop-motion animation. According to our critics, who are not all critics but are the best critics, this was a delightful addition to the Wes Anderson canon, and they discuss the film delightfully.The new season of 'Black Mirror' is a bit more of a mixed bag. Omar Gallaga joins Neal to talk about the the direction that Charlie Brooker has taken his tech sci-fi anthology show. While they don't necessarily hate the swerve toward more generalized horror and suspense, there is some wistful nostalgia (for a show that mocks nostalgia) about the days when Black Mirror showed us how twisted our modern technology really is. More like 'Joan is Awful,' please!And less like 'Secret Invasion'. Marvel has taken a turn toward the dour and un-fun in its latest Disney+ TV offer, which brings Samuel L. Jackson back to Earth to deal with shape-shifting aliens, in a show that shouldn't be boring but is kind of boring. Scott Gold, former podcast usurper, joins Neal to lament this dull MCU turn. They are not grown men talking about comic books at all, no sir!Enjoy the show.

On the newest BFG podcast, we turn back time to talk about 'Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny,' in theaters now and for at least the next three weeks. Neal Pollack found grumpy old Harrison Ford charming. Stephen Garrett thought the movie was a bit of a wet noodle, and hated the fake-looking first half hour. Your mileage may vary on whether or not you like the wispy mustache on the bland new character of "Teddy." Neal did not, Stephen didn't mind him much.There's also a lengthy discussion with contributor Lani Gonzalez about corporate layoffs and restructuring at Turner Classic Movies. Warner Brothers Discovery David Zaslav is clearly the sinister media villain of the moment, and placing TCM on the chopping block is the most villainous thing he's done yet. TCM has been a film education for millions, Neal and Lani included, and they both agree that taking it off the air, or making it hard to find, would be akin to getting rid of public libraries. It's not going anywhere just yet, thanks to our advocacy, as well as a small push from Martin Scorsese and Steven Spielberg.The Bear Season 2 is definitely not going anywhere. It's quality TV for people who like quality TV. Our critic Daniel Cohen loved it with few reservations, the rare restaurant situation that doesn't involve reservations. Neal's take is more skeptical. He thinks The Bear is "high on its own supply." Heed his warning: what we think is good TV often doesn't seem so good down the road. Daniel says "don't listen to Neal," and that is also usually good advice.

This week's podcast is alive and well! Host Neal Pollack welcomes Michael Washburn to talk about everyone's favorite 90s dorm-room novelist, Milan Kundera. But Kundera was about far more than a 30-year-old undergraduate vogue, Washburn argues. He was a perennial Nobel Prize candidate whose best works laughed in the face of totalitarian oppression and showed a deep warmth and humanity. He understood the human condition as well as any writer has, and was a legitimate heir to Franz Kafka, but without Kafka's austerity. We bid him a fond goodbye.On a lesson serious note, 'Mission: Impossible–Dead Reckoning, Part One' is here. Stephen Garrett and Neal both hate the overwrought, nonsensical AI-oriented plot, and Tom Cruise's over-publicized motorcycle stunt doesn't impress Stephen. But there are some fun action set pieces they both like, and Neal is maybe a little over-enthusiastic about Cruise's many beautiful platonic female co-stars. But that's just par for the course in this ridiculous but fun summer action extravaganza that no one is taking particularly seriously.And no one is taking the new season of 'The Witcher' seriously at all. Scott Gold joins the The Witcher's disappointed fanbase in lamenting the overwrought politics storyline and the lack of monsters for Henry Cavill to fight. And once Cavill leaves the cast for season 4, The Witcher is going to vanish into the pop-culture mists pretty fast. Unlike this podcast, which covers the cultural waterfront now and forever. Enjoy!

Barbenheimer has arrived at last, a cultural moment more significant than anything we've experienced this decade, and BFG is ON IT.Neal Pollack welcomes Josh Flanders and Sheri Flanders to talk about Greta Gerwig's Barbie. Both Neal and Josh, while they enjoyed the movie, felt a bit like strangers in a strange land among the pink-wearing influencer audience in Barbie World. Sheri, on the other hand, is happy to finally see a very mainstream movie acknowledge the difficulties and contradictions of modern womanhood, while also being a fun take on the ironies and joys of a beloved childhood toy. No one faults the performances, the saturated color design, or Ken's musical number at the end. All agree that the plot became a little convoluted in the second half, and there were several characters who just kind of dangled out there with nothing to do. But you can't deny Barbie's cultural power.On a more serious note, Christopher Nolan's Oppenheimer. Stephen Garrett has seen it twice already, a significant outlay of time since Oppenheimer is three hours long. Neal and Stephen have nothing but praise for the movie's morally nuanced portrayal of the creation of the atomic bomb, and though the McCarthy-era court intrigue could maybe have been a little shorter, you can't really fault any performance or any choice that Nolan made. Less fun than Barbie, but also less ambiguous and controversial, despite its literally incendiary subject matter. Listen up as we dive deep into this atomic-age masterpiece.Rob Kutner is also here to talk about serious matters of the moment: SAG-AFTRA joining the Writer's Guild Strike. As all of Hollywood seethes with terrified outrage over the rise of AI, and just plain old-fashioned outrage at the greed of the big studio heads, Rob tries to keep his spirit up, and at least he got to meet one of his daughter's favorite sitcom actors. Neal and Rob break down the issues facing Hollywood, which should be celebrating one of its biggest weekends ever, but instead is marching around treeless streets, begging for pennies.It's our Barbenheimer show! Enjoy!