This week on Someone Else’s Movie, I welcome screenwriter, producer and now novelist Aaron Barnett, who’s a Bluesky pal I’ve been hoping to land for a while. And with his new movie Mutiny opening this past Friday and his novelization of the Matthew Bright movie Freeway arriving Sunday from Echo On Publications, this seemed like the perfect time to have him on.

Aaron chose State of Grace, Phil Joanou’s 1990 crime drama about an undercover cop who comes back home to Hell’s Kitchen to infiltrate the Irish mob, because it’s now run by his childhood pals and he’s also still in love with their sister. Sean Penn is the cop; Ed Harris, Gary Oldman and Robin Wright are the mob family and John Turturro is Penn’s short-tempered handler, and the combination of those actors is nothing short of incendiary. But it had the misfortune to open against GoodFellas, and its home-video release was messed up by Orion Pictures’ financial troubles, so State of Grace never really built an audience. But I’ve loved it ever since the press screening, and Aaron is even more of a defender, so here’s an hour of us talking about why you should catch up to it. And you really, really should.

Subscribe to the show on Apple, Spotify, YouTube Podcasts or your podcatcher of choice, or download the episode directly from the web and listen to it while you sit at the bar, trying to figure out how the hell you’re going to get yourself out of this.

Another way to stall for time is to catch up on Shiny Things, because last week I reviewed the new 4K restorations of Severin Films’ The War Game and Threads and Warner’s Mars Attacks!, because the world can end in a lot of different ways, thank you very much.

I also tackled It Ends, HBO’s Lanterns and the return of It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia in Friday’s What’s Worth Watching missive for paid subscribers, because I am conscientious like that. This week’s edition will include my exclusive review of Coyote Vs. ACME, which you are going to want to read … and for just five bucks a month, you can! Update that subscription, I beg you!

Also, if you’re reading this on Tuesday and you’re in Toronto, maybe come down to Harbourfront Centre for this summer’s second-last Free Flicks screening? Tonight we’re showing Beach Blanket Bingo,  the 1965 Frankie and Annette trifle that represents a very different approach to the summertime movie. It’s also the only film in this season’s lineup that’s older than me, so that’s fun.

Join us, won’t you? The popcorn is free, and the chairs are limited, so bring your own if you’re able. And if you can’t make it tonight, please join us next week for our last screening, This Is Spinal Tap. I honestly can’t believe we’re getting to play that one.

I am old now, so it makes sense that this week’s episode of Someone Else’s Movie should feature a film even older than me. And thankfully, my guest stepped right up to provide one.

The guest is Aaron Merke, an actor, improviser, puppeteer and makeup effects artist who you’ve seen in a whole bunch of stuff — most recently Ben Wheatley’s Normal, Andrew Kevin Walker’s Psycho Killer and the new Netflix adaptation of Little House on the Prairie. And he’s in the new TV series American Hostage, which is premiering in the Primetime program at TIFF next month. He’s everywhere!

And for his SEMcast, Aaron wanted to talk about The Ladykillers, the beloved 1955 Ealing Studios comedy starring Alec Guinness, Peter Sellers and Herbert Lom as thieves who rent a basement from a little old lady to pull off the perfect heist … only to find the little old lady a far more formidable opponent than any ten men in Scotland Yard. Aaron discovered the movie in the middle of a Guinness binge and fell in love with its weird mixture of English propriety and slapstick mayhem, and honestly that was the exact right reaction. So we talk about it, and the Coen brothers’ misbegotten remake, and the Safdies are in there somehow as well, and … eh, just listen, it’ll all make sense.

You know how this goes: Subscribe to the show on Apple, Spotify, YouTube Podcasts or your podcatcher of choice, or download the episode directly from the web and listen to it while you’re pretending to be rehearsing for that musical performance you’re never, ever going to give.

And then catch up on your Shiny Things reading! Last week I covered the new discs of Project Hail Mary, Hokum and Exit 8, and subscribers to the paid tier got my exclusive reviews of Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma, The Wrong Girls and Furious. You didn’t, because you’re not a paid subscriber? It’s as easy as clicking this link and getting all signed up. Five bucks a month! That’s practically free!

And you know what is free? Tonight’s Harbourtfront Free Flicks screening of Baz Luhrmann’s Moulin Rouge, which kicks off at 8:30pm down by the lake and offers dazzling costumes, eye-popping sets and the finest melodrama money can buy — as well as one of the best soundtracks of the 21st century. Come on down, theater kids! There’s even free popcorn!

This week on Someone Else’s Movie, I welcome documentary filmmaker Alison Reid — whose new feature The Art of Adventure, about the lifelong friendship between renowned wildlife painter Robert Bateman and  biologist Bristol Foster, is now streaming on Hollywood Suite in Canada after an acclaimed festival run — to discuss Jon Avnet’s Fried Green Tomatoes, a movie she loves dearly and which I have not thought about in literally 35 years.

Now, it’s not that Fried Green Tomatoes is a bad movie, mind you, or that its cast aren’t  doing complex and interesting work. It’s just that … well, Fried Green Tomatoes is a really weird movie, both for what it’s about and how it is about it. We get into that, and why we have the opinions we have about it, and it’s a pretty engaging conversation.

Curious?  Subscribe to the show on Apple, Spotify, YouTube Podcasts or your podcatcher of choice, or download the episode directly from the web and listen at the diner while you’re making that very special batch of chili barbecue stew. The one with the secret ingredient.

After that, get yourself caught up on Shiny Things, because there’s all sorts of good stuff in there. Last week I wrote about the new releases of Is God Is, Mortal Kombat II and Pressure, and subscribers to the paid tier got my exclusive reviews of The Samurai and the Prisoner, Sterling Point and the return of Ted Lasso in Friday’s What’s Worth Watching circular. Not one of those lucky few? There’s an easy fix for that!

And if you’re in Toronto, come on down to Harbourfront tonight — Tuesday August 11th, that is — for this week’s Free Flicks screening! We’re serving up DisneyPixar’s Soul, the one where Jamie Foxx voices a frustrated jazz musician who gets to see his life from an entirely new perspective, if you know what I mean. Show starts at 8:30pm; there’s free popcorn and the weather’s supposed to be quite pleasant. Plus, my voice works again! See you there?

Given the near-universal love for Joel and Ethan Coen’s Barton Fink, it seems preposterous that it’s taken 618 episodes for someone to bring it onto Someone Else’s Movie. But it has, and oddly, I’m grateful for that. This is a movie that’s aged beautifully, and now the podcast can mark its 35th anniversary with someone who loves it.

That someone is Peter Glanz, a writer and director whose eclectic career includes both co-writing a Captain America movie and writing and directing an 18th century comedy of manners. The former is Brave New World; the latter is Savage House, which stars Richard E. Grant and Claire Foy and is now available on VOD for your wicked little pleasure.

And as for Fink? In the rear view, it’s clear that the Coens’ fourth feature was the first to incorporate both Joel’s moody, textured intensity and Ethan’s more arch and antic silliness — and to prove such a fusion was sustainable. It’s  a symphony of heightened tones, and the key to everything they’ve done since, apart and together. Also? Pretty funny.

Anyway, you know the drill. Subscribe to the show on Apple, Spotify, YouTube Podcasts or your podcatcher of choice, or download the episode directly from the web and listen to it in an attempt to drown out the voices on the other side of the wall. Oh, the voices.

After that, you can check out the latest editions of Shiny Things, because I have been busy. Caught up to a whole mess of catalogue releases: Severin’s splendid The Worlds Of Lucile Hadžihalilovi? box set, Canadian International Pictures’ The Other French New Wave, Vol. 2 and Warner Archive’s Late Summer in one blast, and Imprint’s Once a Thief, Henry & June and The Trigger Effect, Cohen Media Group’s Maurice, Sony’s The 7th Voyage of Sinbad (Dynamation in 4K!) in another.

And I still found time to cover I Want Your Sex, the new season of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds and Dan Harmon’s new animated goofaround President Curtis for paid subscribers in Friday’s What’s Worth Watching. Didn’t get that? All it takes is one little upgrade and you’ll be on the list! Come on, the paid tier is so nice and comfy.

Finally, if you’re in Toronto and reading this on Tuesday August 4th, I’m introducing Steven Spielberg’s West Side Story at Harbourfront tonight. It’s the highlight of the program, if I do say so myself, and because of its length we’re starting a little earlier than usual. So come on down to the lake at 8:15pm and see one of the great modern movie musicals!

And if you’re reading this after the 4th, there are still four more movie nights on the menu. Come catch one!

I’ve been in the UK for the last week, and I am exhausted in the best possible way. Spent time with family, went to a castle, went to a museum, went to the shops, found a few movies I’d been hoping to find — and one I figured I’d never get my hands on. So that’s been great. Less great is the heat, which may be dry but still melts you. I took three showers on Saturday. Or maybe it was Sunday. Possibly both.

I’m coming home today, and landing in time to introduce tonight’s Harbourfront Free Flicks screening of Chicago at 8:30 pm. That’ll be fun! But first you should listen to a brand-new episode of Someone Else’s Movie, in which Vancouver director Gloria Mercer joins me to talk about Robert Altman’s Thieves Like Us, a film that doesn’t directly inform her first feature, A Safe Distance … but it doesn’t not inform it, either.

Give it a listen on Apple, Spotify, YouTube Podcasts or your podcatcher of choice, or download the episode directly from the web and listen to it while you circle the block waiting for your pals to come strolling out of the local depository with big bags of loot.

And if you’re in the Montreal area you should go see A Safe Distance at Fantasia, where it’s having its Canadian premiere Thursday night, with a second screening Friday morning. It’s good!

Things have been a little quiet on the Shiny Things front, since I’ve been largely AFK over here, but paid subscribers did get my exclusive reviews of William Woods‘ The Outer Threat and the new Prime Video series Ride or Die; sadly I wasn’t provided with an advance look at the new season of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds but I’ll get to that this week. Make sure you don’t miss it by upgrading that subscription! But if you just want the free stuff, I understand. Times are tough for everybody.

It’s a little chaotic around here, as I’m off to the UK tonight — heading directly to the airport after I introduce The School of Rock at Harbourfront, weather permitting. (And if the weather does permit, you should come down — last week’s season launch was packed, and Dirty Dancing always plays well with a crowd.)

But while I’m doing all my running around, you can kick back and enjoy a fresh new episode of Someone Else’s Movie, in which longtime producer William Woods, whose feature debut The Outer Threat opens across Canada on Friday, offering a surprisingly gentle contrast to Spielberg’s Disclosure Day. Will wrote his movie well before Spielberg’s came to light, but it’s a remarkable coincidence — and a nice demonstration of how a movie can turn its limitations into strengths.

It’s perhaps not a coincidence that Will wanted to talk about M. Night Shyamalan’s Unforgiven, another ground-level take on a fantastical story — and one that showcases all of Shyamalan’s strengths and reveals very few of his weaknesses. Really, the only flaw here is that something was wrong with my mic when we recorded the episode, and my voice has this weird buzz on it. I’ve since solved the problem, but it affected next week’s recording as well. Hopefully you can focus past it. My guests sound great, and that’s the important bit.

Subscribe to the show on Apple, Spotify, YouTube Podcasts or your podcatcher of choice, or download the episode directly from the web and listen to it while you deadlift increasingly larger weights. Who knows what your top strength will be? Lift a car!

And then, get caught up on your Shiny Things reading! Last week’s releases The Christophers, Obsession, Mother Mary, Deep Water,  Fuze and Lee Cronin’s The Mummy, and in Friday’s What’s Worth Watching dispatch for paid subscribers I reviewed The Odyssey, Lucky and Jesse Noah Klein’s Best Boy. Have you upgraded your subscription yet? C’mon! It’s a moral duty, probably!

Anyway, must dash, pip pip. I’ll be back next Tuesday in time to introduce Chicago. Wanna see how I look after a day of transcontinental travel? Of course you do!

On this week’s episode of Someone Else’s Movie, I’m joined by the Cornish filmmaker Mark Jenkin, who’s been making movies about the collision of the mundane with the uncanny formore than a decade now; if you’ve seen Bait or Enys Men, you understand exactly what I’m talking about. Shooting in 16mm, playing with sound in an immediately disquieting way, his cinema has a displaced quality that asks us to pay close attention and divine its meaning.

And with his new film, Rose of Nevada, Mark has upped his game considerably, spinning a seductive and subtly unnerving story of two young men who take jobs on a fishing boat and find themselves propelled into an impossible situation. It’s been rolling across North America since last month, and this Friday it pulls into theaters in Toronto, Hamilton and Vancouver. (Paid subscribers to Shiny Things read my review last Friday.)

Mark surprised me by picking John Milius’ Big Wednesday for his SEMcast, which is … not a movie I would have thought he’d choose, let alone make a case for it as one of the last masterpieces of the New American Cinema. But he did, and he does, and I think you’ll enjoy listening to us talk about the Cornish attraction to surf cinema, the tragedy of Jan-Michael Vincent and the sheer weirdness of Milius’ career trajectory.

Subscribe to the show on Apple, Spotify, YouTube Podcasts or your podcatcher of choice, or download the episode directly from the web and listen to it while you paddle out into the blue, thinking about how it’s the only place you’ve ever been happy. And special thanks to Simi Khosa of Route 504 PR for rescuing the episode when my recording failed. That was an awful few minutes.

Once you’re towelled off, go get caught up on Shiny Things, because last week I tackled the new releases of It Was Just an Accident, The Drama, EPiC: Elvis Presley in Concert and They Will Kill You and reviewed Rose of Nevada, Gail Daughtry and the Celebrity Sex Pass and Mockbuster in Friday’s What’s Worth Watching dispatch for paid subscribers. Missed that one? Up that sub so this Friday’s edition comes straight to your inbox!

And if you’re in Toronto, come on down to Harbourfront Centre tonight as I kick off the 2026 Summer Free Flicks series with Emile Ardolino’s Dirty Dancing. Show starts at 8:30pm, just as the sun starts to set; seating is limited this year so bring a chair or a blanket. What better way to beat this heat than to watch attractive people sweat?

… from all the dancing, I mean.

On the latest episode of Someone Else’s Movie, I’m joined by writer-director Jesse Noah Klein, whose new film Best Boy is available on VOD this very day.

Best Boy is all about tangled familial relationships, with friend of the show Aaron Abrams, Caroline Dhavernas and Marc Bendavid  as three adult siblings trying to honor their dead father the way he would have wanted, in an increasingly absurd and punishing manner. It’s great, and you should watch it as soon as possible.

It is thus perhaps not a surprise that Jesse wanted to talk about Thomas Vinterberg’s Dogme 95 breakthrough The Celebration, which is also about siblings confronting the horrors of their upbringing — and a lot of other things besides. Best Boy is a very different film, but the two works are certainly in conversation with each other, and we have a really good conversation about that. I invite you to listen, perhaps while clutching a stress ball.

Subscribe to the show on Apple, Spotify, YouTube Podcasts or your podcatcher of choice, or download the episode directly from the web and listen to it while you stare off into the middle distance, thinking about your own happy, unblemished childhood. I know that’s what I did!

And then, get caught up on your Shiny Things reading! Last week I wrote up the new discs of The Mastermind and Crime 101, and covered The Invite, Touch Me and Hold the Fort in Friday’s What’s Worth Watching dispatch for paid subscribers. Not one of those? Why not level up so you don’t miss this week’s? Don’t be a misser-outer! Be the Best Boy!

Oh, and if you’re looking for some fun, free outdoor entertainment next week: The Harbourfront Free Flicks series is back for 2026, and it’s a full run of musicals starting with Dirty Dancing next Tuesday, July 14th.  Show starts at 8:30pm; please be advised that for some reason there is no seating at the Concert Stage this year, so you should bring your own lawn chair or blanket or stool or whatever.

(Why am I telling you about this year’s series? No reason. No reason at all.)

On this week’s episode of Someone Else’s Movie, I welcome the gifted French genre auteur Lucile Hadžihalilovic, who’s been making beautifully realized and profoundly disquieting studies of children and corruption for more than twenty years now. Those films — Innocence, Evolution, Earwig and The Ice Tower — have been collected into an impressive Blu-ray boxed set, The Worlds of Lucile Hadžihalilovic, which is out today from Severin Films and Yellow Veil Pictures.

But first, you should listen to Lucile on Alain Resnais’ 1961 masterpiece Last Year at Marienbad, which is eerie and claustrophobic in ways that are very different from her own work but casts the same unsettling hold over the audience. I’m surprised no one has brought this movie onto the show before, given its stature in avant-garde cinema … but I can’t really complain, since the delay led to this wonderful conversation. I invite you to join us … but just be warned, you might never leave.

Subscribe to the show on Apple, Spotify, YouTube Podcasts or your podcatcher of choice, or download the episode directly from the web and listen while you try to find a safe space on the grounds of the grand estate where you appear to be trapped. But of course there is no safe space, is there.

Fortunately, you’re safe as houses over at Shiny Things, where there’s plenty to enjoy — last week, I spun up new discs of The Late Show, Eraser, 50 First Dates and Slither, and  this week I’ve already dropped reviews of The Mastermind and Crime 101, with more new releases to come. (Lucile’s collection gets its own spotlight next week. There’s a lot to go through.) And if you’re a paid subscriber, last week you got my reviews of Among Us and new stand-up specials from Patton Oswalt and Kumail Nanjiani.

Not on the paid tier? Up that sub! It’s five bucks a month and you get all this glorious copy!

Anyway, it’s Canada Day tomorrow and we’re looking at a record heat wave. Go have some ice cream, and I’ll see you on the other side.

You know how it took eleven years for Night of the Living Dead to make it to Someone Else’s Movie? Well, it must have unlocked a gate somewhere because we have another zombie classic for you this week: Zack Snyder’s Dawn of the Dead, which used George A. Romero’s 1978 sequel as a jumping-off point for a hyper-adrenalized take on the apocalypse, as screenwriter James Gunn remixed Romero’s characters and setting to create something new and brutally efficient. Plus, Sarah Polley’s in there!

My guest is writer-director Alex Noyer, a documentarian turned feature filmmaker whose new movie Love Is the Monster — about a couple whose trip to a Finnish retreat threatens more than their intimacy — debuts on VOD today. And he absolutely loves what Gunn and Snyder did in their Dawn, leading to one of the liveliest episodes of the podcast in a while. Which is great, because horror can be fun too!

Wanna listen? Subscribe to the show on Apple, Spotify, YouTube Podcasts or your podcatcher of choice, or download the episode directly from the web and listen to it while you board up those mall doors. It’s fine, you’re not going anywhere.

After that, why not catch up on Shiny Things? Last week I wrote about the new releases of Scream 7 and Undertone, which offer two very different takes on modern horror, and paid subscribers also got my exclusive reviews of Toy Story 5, Leviticus, Maddie’s Secret and Over Your Dead Body because there’s a lot of good stuff out there right now. Didn’t get it? Upgrade your subscription so you don’t miss the next one! Jeez!

Oh, and speaking of Toy Story 5, I was on CBC’s Day 6 over the weekend, talking about where that film fits on the Pixar trauma continuum. (Surprise: It’s actually quite sweet and not at all designed to punch you in the heart!) If you missed it you can listen to the segment right here.