As a decade comes to a close, so does No Excuses. The last three years of this show has been a joy to do, but we must move on to new and (hopefully) great things. To close out the show, Mike and Jenny count down their top ten favorite films of the last ten years, which may include a couple of pictures you can hear full episodes about in the archive. Thank you so much for listening to No Excuses, whether it was Mad Men discussion that brought you in or you're a brand new listener. Hope you...

Mike and Jenny return to Bong Joon-ho, whose really hot right now if you are looking at the indie movie scene, to watch his 2003 murder mystery film Memories of Murder. They discuss the satisfaction of an unsolved mystery, the real case the film is based on and its recent developments, the darkness of Korean cinema in 2003, and the future of the podcast. Leave us reviews on Apple Podcasts! Follow Us: @NoExcusesPod, @MikeShutt15, @JennyLeighx33 E-Mail Us: [email protected]

Mike and Jenny go back to the weird, wonderful world of the Coen Brothers to discuss their 1991 Palme d'or winning film Barton Fink. They discuss the perfect casting of John Turturro and John Goodman, the Coens' first collaboration with cinematographer Roger Deakins, movies about moviemaking, and the vast array of ways to read the what the film is about. Leave us reviews on Apple Podcasts! Follow Us: @NoExcusesPod, @MikeShutt15, @JennyLeighx33 E-Mail Us: [email protected]

Mike and Jenny are joined by Griffin Schiller from Filmspeak and The Playlist to discuss the 2015 directorial debut of Deniz Gamze Ergüven, Mustang. They discuss the crushing patriarchy in the modern day, the full realization of the ensemble cast, the impressive performances from child actors, and how effective the use of location creates scope and claustrophobia. Leave us reviews on Apple Podcasts! Follow Us: @NoExcusesPod, @MikeShutt15, @JennyLeighx33, @GriffSchiller E-Mail Us:...

Mike and Jenny dive into one of Ingmar Bergman's most celebrated masterpieces, Persona. They discuss the different experimental film techniques Bergman uses, the excellent two central performances, and the many, many different interpretations one could take from the film. Leave us reviews on Apple Podcasts! Follow Us: @NoExcusesPod, @MikeShutt15, @JennyLeighx33 E-Mail Us: [email protected]

Ariel Fisher joins Mike and Jenny for the third time to discuss the food movie classic Tampopo. They discuss their relationships to food, how the isolated sketches fair against the main narrative, how much of a Western is this, and what movie scenes make them hungry. Leave us reviews on Apple Podcasts! Follow Us: @NoExcusesPod, @MikeShutt15, @JennyLeighx33, @Afis8 E-Mail Us: [email protected]

Mike and Jenny head back to the theaters to check out a couple of new releases from August 2019, Jennifer Kent's The Nightingale and Gurinder Chadha's Blinded by the Light. They discuss Bruce Springsteen, the ability to see yourself in art made by people seemingly completely different than you, the reclaiming by women of the rape-revenge story, and their ability to watch bleakness. Leave us reviews on Apple Podcasts! Follow Us: @NoExcusesPod, @MikeShutt15, @JennyLeighx33 E-Mail Us:...

Mike and Jenny are joined by Horror Queers co-host and Bloody Disgusting contributor Trace Thurman to discuss Paul Verhoeven's cult favorite Showgirls. They discuss whether the film is camp classic or a pointed satire, the insanity that is Elizabeth Berkley's performance, if the movie is erotic in anyway, and many, many, MANY other things. Leave us reviews on Apple Podcasts! Follow Us: @NoExcusesPod, @MikeShutt15, @JennyLeighx33, @TracedThurman E-Mail Us: [email protected]

Mike and Jenny return to discuss Abbas Kiarostami's 1990 part documentary/part fiction breakthrough film Close-Up. They discuss the motives behind our main character's fraud, the effectiveness of deciphering what makes a film, and how they respond to Kiarostami's more experimental tendencies. Leave us reviews on Apple Podcasts! Follow Us: @NoExcusesPod, @MikeShutt15, @JennyLeighx33 E-Mail Us: [email protected]

Mike and Jenny are joined by Alisha Grauso, the Editorial Lead at Atom Tickets, to discuss Alan J. Pakula's Watergate investigation film All the President's Men. They discuss the cultural relevance of the need for investigative journalism, the film's complicated sound mixing, the perfect casting of Robert Redford and Dustin Hoffman, and Gordon Willis' love of a dark frame. Leave us reviews on Apple Podcasts! Follow Us: @NoExcusesPod, @MikeShutt15, @JennyLeighx33, @AlishaGrauso E-Mail Us:...

Mike and Jenny tackle two much anticipated films released this past month with Ari Aster's Hereditary follow-up, Midsommar, and what will supposedly be Quentin Tarantino's penultimate film Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood. They discuss whether their anticipation was met for each film, the ambition of each of the filmmakers, Tarantino's knack for casting, and the coincidence that both these films involve cults. Leave us reviews on iTunes! Follow Us: @NoExcusesPod, @MikeShutt15,...

Mike and Jenny set sail on another 100 episodes with a discussion of Christian Petzold's post-World War II noir Phoenix. They discuss the tremendous performance of Nina Hoss, changing the visual palette of a WWII film, and how bothered does it make you if the central conflict of a story could be cleared up in a conversation. Leave us reviews on iTunes! Follow Us: @NoExcusesPod, @MikeShutt15, @JennyLeighx33 E-Mail Us: [email protected]

Mike and Jenny celebrate their 100th episode by reminiscing on a few of their favorite film discoveries from the podcast and talk Ang Lee's wuxia epic Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. They discuss bad accents, incredible fight choreography, Lee's brilliant implementation of repressed emotion, and the loss of the romantic epic. Leave us reviews on iTunes! Follow Us: @NoExcusesPod, @MikeShutt15, @JennyLeighx33 E-Mail Us: [email protected]

Mike and Jenny are so close to hitting their 100th episode as Jenny brings to the table Amy Heckerling's 1995 teen comedy Clueless. They discuss the sadness of the loss of Brittany Murphy, the agelessness of Paul Rudd, whether or not the stylized dialogue is fun or grating, and Mike's character actor love of Dan Hedaya and Wallace Shawn. Leave us reviews on iTunes! Follow Us: @NoExcusesPod, @MikeShutt15, @JennyLeighx33 E-Mail Us: [email protected]

Mike and Jenny are joined by return guest Ariel Fisher (Editor of Shudder's The Bite) do talk about Steven Spielberg's 1993 Holocaust drama Schindler's List. They discuss Ariel's familial history with the Holocaust, the dangers of complacency, whether Spielberg is sensationalistic in his Holocaust depictions, and why this film is more important than ever in today's political climate. Leave us reviews on iTunes! Follow Us: @NoExcusesPod, @MikeShutt15, @JennyLeighx33, @Afis8 E-Mail Us:...

Mike and Jenny are back with a discussion of heavily acclaimed 2007 film Secret Sunshine from South Korean auteur Lee Chang-dong. They discuss Cannes Best Actress winner Jeon Do-yeon's performance, how the film treats toxic masculinity, the effectiveness of what the film says about religion, and how we process grief. Leave us reviews on iTunes! Follow Us: @NoExcusesPod, @MikeShutt15, @JennyLeighx33 E-Mail Us: [email protected]

Mike and Jenny return to the world of Mike Leigh to talk about the 1996 Palme d'Or winner Secrets & Lies. They discuss Mike's emotional reactions to stories about adoption, whether or not the film is able to transcend racial stereotypes with a white filmmaker, the crowded Best Actress Oscar race of 1996, the undervaluing of Timothy Spall, and how much meat is required for a barbecue. They also discuss the series finale of HBO's Game of Thrones. Leave us reviews on iTunes! Follow Us:...

Mike and Jenny have returned from a busy couple of months to pick right back up where they left off with a discussion on the film they promised to talk about at the end of the previous episode: Abbas Kiarostami's final narrative feature, Like Someone in Love. They discuss the film's unique, the intimacy that can be felt in a large city, and whether the film gives each of its characters a fair shake. They also discuss the divisiveness of the final season of HBO's Game of Thrones and the...

Mike and Jenny are joined by Muppet obsessive Griffin Newman, from Amazon's The Tick and the Blank Check podcast, to discuss the felt gang's first foray into motion pictures: 1979's The Muppet Movie. They discuss the physical discomfort of being a Muppet performer, the smart uses of meta-narrative and breaking of the fourth wall, our Muppet histories, the injustice of "Rainbow Connection" losing the Best Original Song Oscar, and much more, Muppet related and not. Leave us reviews on iTunes! ...

Mike and Jenny venture to the lavish world of Bollywood for a discussion of the romantic melodrama musical legal thriller Veer-Zaara. They discuss Jenny's history with Bollywood, Shah Rukh Khan's bad old age wig and highly questionable frosted tips, how well the musical numbers are integrated into the story, and whether or not Mike's description of scenes in movies where people watch movies makes sense. Leave us reviews on iTunes! Follow Us: @NoExcusesPod, @MikeShutt15, @JennyLeighx33 ...

Mike and Jenny are joined by Ryan Oliver from The Playlist Podcast to reminisce about the year that was 2018 in cinema, as they give their nominees and winners for the best of the year. From performance to cinematography to music, 2018 gave us so much cinematic excellence that is only right to present this excellence with what we dub the "Scusies". Leave us reviews on iTunes! Follow Us: @NoExcusesPod, @MikeShutt15, @JennyLeighx33, @RyOllie90 E-Mail Us: [email protected]

Mike and Jenny arrive at what Mike considers the best film of the 2010s, Joel and Ethan Coen's tragicomedy masterpiece Inside Llewyn Davis. The discuss Oscar Isaac's brilliant performance, Bruno Delbonnel's stunning cinematography, whether or not the Coens are cruel to their characters, and how terrific all the music is. They also give you their first impressions on this year's Academy Award nominations. Leave us reviews on iTunes! Follow Us: @NoExcusesPod, @MikeShutt15, @JennyLeighx33 ...

Mike and Jenny go back to the turn of the millennium (whether you consider it 2000 or 2001) to discuss Hou Hsiao-hsien's Millennium Mambo. They discuss their admiration of lead actress Shu Qi, the film's memory structure, the authenticity of an abusive relationship, and exciting camera framing. Leave us reviews on iTunes! Follow Us: @NoExcusesPod, @MikeShutt15, @JennyLeighx33 E-Mail Us: [email protected]

Mike and Jenny take a trip to 1885 to talk about Mike Leigh's Gilbert and Sullivan biopic Topsy-Turvy. They discuss Leigh's insane but brilliant creative process, the joy of period specific dialogue, the racism of The Mikado, and how well the film depicts how a piece of entertainment comes together. Leave us reviews on iTunes! Follow Us: @NoExcusesPod, @MikeShutt15, @JennyLeighx33 E-Mail Us: [email protected]

Mike and Jenny ring in the new year with their first episode of 2019 by looking back at a couple of new releases from December of 2018, Rob Marshall's musical sequel Mary Poppins Returns and Pawel Pawlikoowski's forbidden romance Cold War. They discuss the brilliance of Emily Blunt, the benefits and hinderances to holding back information from the audience, the wacky Golden Globe winners, and heap praise on the charming new Broadway musical The Prom. Leave us reviews on iTunes! Follow Us:...