Lara gets to utilise her English degree and her South London upbringing this week as we dig into The Local Stigmatic, Al's pet project during his on-screen hiatus. Terrible accents abound, bets are placed at the dawg track, and we explore the best site on the internet. Digressions include Friends, David Thewlis, Basic Instinct 2, Withnail & I, Top Gun, Thief, NT Live, Yentl, Shakespeare, Martin McDonagh, Breakfast Wine, No Time to Die, Billy Magnussen, and Pulp Fiction. Al Pacino by...

We're exploring middle-aged sexuality in the dying breaths of the erotic thriller this week as we discuss Sea of Love, Al's cinematic comeback after spending four years on Diane Keaton's sofa. New York is a character, John Goodman is a star, and Ellen Barkin is a top. Digressions include Basic Instinct, Minnie and Moskowitz, Crimes of Passion, Body Heat, Michael Mann, Christopher Nolan, Monsters, Inc., Cars, and Paul Newman. A "Sea of Love" Among Men by Nickolas Pappas Find us on Twitter |...

Al’s flop era reaches its climax with the American Revolutionary War epic that, fittingly, nearly destroys the British film industry. He’ll never work in this town again, and this town is Norfolk: this week, Maddy and Lara discuss Hugh Hudson’s Revolution. Congress is coming! Digressions include The Mission, First Cow, There Will Be Blood, Assassin’s Creed, Silence, Klaus Kinski, Tom Cruise, Winona Ryder, and Al’s long history of hat and scarf wearing. Maddy describes Chariots Of Fire as...

Say hello to my little podcast! Friend of the show Ciaran joins Maddy and Lara to talk about the immense cultural impact and deluge of Hawaiian shirts in Brian De Palma’s gangster odyssey Scarface. He also pitches us on Isabelle Huppodcast, which we encourage all our listeners to support. Digressions include Ghostbusters, Mission Impossible: Fallout, Any Given Sunday, Married to the Mob, the Kardashian-West family, Timothee Chalamet, The Lonely Island’s ‘Jack Sparrow’, and assorted titles...

Al invokes Lara's wrath this week as we discuss his first true comedic turn (and his entry into DILF canon) in Arthur Hiller's Author! Author! (1982) with dear friend Aleisha Murphy. Digressions include Marriage Story (2019), Shakespeare, An Unmarried Woman (1978), Kramer Vs Kramer (1979), All That Jazz (1979), The Muppets, Mrs Doubtfire (1993), Something's Gotta Give (2003), Robert De Niro's late-period comedies, Shark Tale (2004), the Jack Black oeuvre, Bob & Carol & Ted &...

On this week's episode we're joined by dear friend Frances Harvey to discuss gaze, gays, and various forms of penetration in William Friedkin's unfairly maligned S&M thriller Cruising (1980). Digressions include Looking for Mr. Goodbar (1977), Rope (1948), Robert Mapplethorpe, Tom of Finland, Blow Out (1981), Zodiac (2007), Fifty Shades of Grey (2015), Possession (1981), Poison (1991), and In the Cut (2003). The Mineshaft by Jack Fritscher The Cruising Controversy by Edward...

This week, Maddy and Lara discuss Norman Jewison's tonally bizarre (but still pretty good) 1979 legal dramedy And Justice for All. Digressions include Moonstruck, eighties cinema, The Verdict, Nashville, Born on the Fourth of July, Dustin Hoffman, Daniel Day-Lewis, My Cousin Vinny, Mikey and Nicky, The Trial of the Chicago 7, and Warren Beatty Get in touch via Twitter / Instagram / Email

This week, Maddy and Lara are entering Al's flop era with Bobby Deerfield, a deeply ambient movie but one that represents a fascinating moment in Al's career. Digressions include racing pictures past, Tom Cruise, All That Jazz, John Green, Robert Pattinson, Robert De Niro, The Last Tycoon, Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice, Meryl Streep, Jeremy Strong, The Farewell Waltz, The Wind Rises, and Nancy Meyers. The Year of the Death Wish (Fran Hoepfner on Tom Cruise and Free Solo)

Be gay, do crime: it's time for Maddy and Lara to discuss power and the media in their favourite Pacino picture yet, Sidney Lumet's Dog Day Afternoon. Digressions include Inside Llewyn Davis, Mad Men, The Social Network, The Trial of the Chicago 7, The Golden Globes, The Deer Hunter, Mikey and Nicky, Heat, The King of Comedy, and The Rocky Horror Picture Show. Elizabeth Debbie Eden Get in touch via Twitter / Instagram / Email

This week, Lara and Maddy go deep on both family and The Family as they discuss the saddest movie ever made: The Godfather: Part II.  Digressions include Hi, Mom!, Succession, The Sopranos, The Irishman, Bob and Al's dating histories, and Solo: A Star Wars Story. Letterboxd review by vivian Al and Bobby in GQ whosdatedwho dot com Get in touch via Twitter / Instagram / Email

On this episode, Maddy and Lara discuss the political and sartorial choices in Sidney Lumet's 1973 corrupt cop drama Serpico.   Digressions include Bradley Cooper's Maestro, the 1974 Oscars, the 2021 Oscars (this episode was recorded in December so there's a lot of conjecture happening here), TikTok recasting, Robert De Niro, Solo: A Star Wars Story, and Jeremy Strong.  Francis Ford Coppola in conversation with Bilge Ebiri in Vulture Get in touch via Twitter / Instagram / Email

It’s Hollywood’s Smallest Night! In a very special episode that emerged from the ashes of another very special episode, Maddy and Lara take a week off from Al Studies to celebrate their favourite performances of the year, the ins and outs of a very strange award season, and the man himself’s history with the Academy. Digressions include The Irishman, Riverdale, celebrity director couples, Ben Is Back, Jane Campion, and, as always, The Sopranos. Nice boys of varying heights appear throughout,...

Maddy and Lara discuss American masculinity in Scarecrow, Jerry Schatzberg's charming buddy comedy/grim drama. Digressions include Mikey and Nicky, Midnight Cowboy, Nomadland, Cool Hand Luke, Holes, Paddington 2, Blue Collar, and the Coppola clan. Al in conversation with Bilge Ebiri in the Village Voice Get in touch via Twitter / Instagram / Email

It's the third episode, and Lara and Maddy are talking about perhaps the greatest and most influential film ever made. How do you say "jumping the shark" in Sicilian? Digressions include Shark Tale, Kylo Ren, The Sopranos (again), Married to the Mob, Goodfellas, James Caan's Twitter account, and vests for men. You're Wrong About, "The Godfather" Al's auditions for The Godfather

Lara and Maddy discuss Jerry Schatzberg's grim (but romantic?) heroin drama The Panic in Needle Park. Digressions include A Star is Born, You, Terraced House, Inside Llewyn Davis, some minor Sopranos spoilers, After Hours, The Exorcist, American Zoetrope, and Scoot McNairy. Jerry Schatzberg’s photography

Lara and Maddy introduce the podcast and (perhaps unnecessarily) its subject. They then discuss Al's early career, including bit parts in the N.Y.P.D. episode "Deadly Circle of Violence" and the indie movie Me, Natalie. Digressions include The Sopranos, Ocean’s Thirteen, Glee, Robert De Niro, movie star stock analysis, and podfade. Al on Letterman Al discussing his childhood Al and De Niro talking to GQ