The Playlist Podcast Network

Released almost 30 years ago, “Twister” has stood the test of time to be a favorite among film fans. Now, decades later, we finally get a sequel to the original, titled "Twisters." And filmmaker Lee Isaac Chung has joined The Playlist Podcast to talk about it.

In this week’s episode of The Discourse, host Mike DeAngelo finds redemption in “The Convert.” The film follows a preacher sent to British-occupied New Zealand in the 1830s and caught up in the middle of a Maori tribal war. The Lee Tamahori (“Mulholland Falls,” “Along Came a Spider,” “The Devil’s Double”) film stars Guy Pearce, Tioreore Ngatai-Melbourne, Jacqueline McKenzie, Lawrence Makoare, Antonio Te Maioha, and more.  READ MORE: ‘The Convert’ Review: Guy Pearce Stars In Lee Tamahori’s Stunning, Sweeping & Action-Packed Historical Epic [TIFF] Guy Pearce joins the podcast to discuss his role as the preacher, Thomas Munro, and his long relationship with director Lee Tamahori despite being unable to find a project to work on together until now.

In today’s episode of Bingeworthy, our TV and streaming podcast host Mike DeAngelo returns to the multiverse of “Dark Matter.” The first season finale is available to stream now on Apple TV+. The series is based on the Blake Crouch book of the same name and follows a college professor who is abducted into an alternate universe and has to fight his way back to his old life and real family. The show stars Joel Edgerton, Jennifer Connelly, Alice Braga, Jimmi Simpson, and more. READ MORE: ‘Dark Matter’ Review: Joel Edgerton & Jennifer Connelly Traverse The Multiverse For Adults & Consider Existential Regrets Joining Bingeworthy to discuss spoilers the mind-bending sci-fi thriller (Yes, SPOILER WARNING) is star Joel Edgerton and Writer/Showrunner, Blake Crouch. During the interviews, Edgerton and Crouch finally dove into “Dark Matter” spoilers for the series, but not before Crouch initially discussed the initial intention to make “Dark Matter” into a film instead of a show. 

In today’s episode of Bingeworthy, our TV and streaming podcast host Mike DeAngelo gets killed off in episode one while discussing “Scott Pilgrim Takes Off.” The Netflix series is based on the Bryan Lee O’Malley Manga book series and the Edgar Wright-directed cult hit film of the same name and follows an alternate take on Scott Pilgrim falling in love with Ramona Flowers, only to find that he has to fight her seven evil exes. The animated show sees all of the film cast returning, including stars Michael Cera, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Kieran Culkin, Chris Evans, Anna Kendrick, Brie Larson, Alison Pill, Aubrey Plaza, Brandon Routh, Jason Schwartzman, and more. READ MORE: ‘Scott Pilgrim Takes Off’ Review: Bryan Lee O’Malley’s Series Levels Up with Exciting New Adventure Joining Bingeworthy to discuss the hilarious new take on Scott Pilgrim are the co-showrunners, Bryan Lee O’Malley (Creator of Scott Pilgrim) and BenDavid Grabinski (“Happily,” “Are You Afraid of the Dark?”). During the interview, O’Malley and Grabinski discussed the origins of the series.

In this week’s episode of The Discourse, host Mike DeAngelo goes on a joyride with one of the stars of “The Bikeriders.” The film follows the members of a Chicago-area biker gang from their innocent inception in the 1960s to their descent into a darker underworld. The Jeff Nichols (“Mud,” “Midnight Special,” “Take Shelter”) film stars Austin Butler, Jodie Comer, Tom Hardy, Michael Shannon, Norman Reedus, Boyd Holbrook, and more.  READ MORE: ‘The Bikeriders’ Review: Jodie Comer & Tom Hardy Rule The Road In Jeff Nichols’ New Drama [Telluride] Jodie Comer joins the podcast to discuss her role as Kathy, a woman who stumbles into the world of the biker gang through her relationship with one of the members. The film is primarily seen through Kathy’s eyes, with her being the primary narrator. During the interview, Comer discussed taking the role due to the amazing script from writer/director Jeff Nichols. She also spoke about her time on "Killing Eve," how the fans reacted to her character's death, Danny Boyle's "28 Years Later" which she is filming now, and being slightly miffed that she's become good friends with Hugh Jackman and Ryan Reynolds, but was not invited to be in "Deadpool & Wolverine."

In today’s episode of Bingeworthy, our TV and streaming podcast host Mike DeAngelo rides his dragon back to Westeros for “House of the Dragon.” The show premiered the first episode of season two on Max this past weekend and follows the internal war within House Targaryen 172 years before the birth of Daenerys Targaryen. The show stars Matt Smith, Emma D’Arcy, Olivia Cooke, Rhys Ifans, Fabien Frankel, Eve Best, Steve Toussaint, Ewan Mitchell, and more. READ MORE: ‘House Of The Dragon’ Season 2 Review: ‘Game Of Thrones’-Level Intrigue Still Not Yet Achieved Joining Bingeworthy to discuss the hit Game of Thrones prequel series is showrunner, Ryan Condal (“Colony,” “Rampage”). During the interview, Condal openly discussed the bleak ending to the season 2 opener, which treated many fans unfamiliar with the “Fire and Blood” book to a dark, bloody conclusion. But was it too dark? Did they not go far enough?

this week’s episode of The Discourse, host Mike DeAngelo goes back in time to realize not much has changed with the film, “Firebrand.” Directed by Karim Ainouz (“Invisible Life,” “Futuro Beach”), the film follows Catherine Parr (Alicia Vikander), the sixth wife of Henry VIII (Jude Law), who finds herself fighting for survival when the paranoid king grows more suspicious of her actions. The film also stars Eddie Marsan, Simon Russell Beale, Erin Doherty, and more.  READ MORE: ‘Firebrand’ Review: Karim Aïnouz Paints A Dull Version Of History In Handsome Period Drama [Cannes] During the interview, Law and Vikander discussed their parts being filled with “so many colors to play” that the roles were almost irresistible and so many other aspects of their career. Not only did they discuss "Firebrand," but Vikander's time on the 'Tomb Raider' franchise, Jude Law's tenure on Marvel and the upcoming 'Star Wars' project 'Skeleton Key,' but also almost appearing as Superman in a version of the film with Colin Farrell and Brett Ratner from almost 20 years ago.

In this week's episode of Bingeworthy, our TV and streaming podcast host Mike DeAngelo powers up to take on “The Boys.” The show is premiering its fourth season on Prime Video on June 13th and follows a group of vigilantes who set out to take down corrupt superheroes who abuse their superpowers. The show stars Karl Urban, Antony Starr, Jack Quaid, Erin Moriarty, Chace Crawford, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, and more. READ MORE: ‘The Boys’ Season 4 Review: Prime Video’s Hit Superhero Show Returns With A Great, Confident Season Joining Bingeworthy to discuss the hyper-violent, filthy take on superheroes is Writer, Creator, and showrunner Eric Kripke (“Supernatural,” “Timeless”). During the interview, Kripke discussed this fourth season being the darkest yet, but for a very real reason.

In today’s episode of Bingeworthy, our TV and streaming podcast host Mike DeAngelo gets all of the answers while investigating “Under the Bridge.” The true crime Hulu series follows two women, a cop, and a reporter, who attempt to uncover the truth at the center of a young girl’s murder. The show stars Lily Gladstone, Riley Keough, Vritika Gupta, Chloe Guidry, Izzy G., Javon Walton, and more. READ MORE: ‘Under The Bridge’ Review: Riley Keough, Lily Gladstone Ground Heartbreaking True Crime Mini-Series Joining Bingeworthy to discuss the thrilling true crime mini-series is Lily Gladstone (“Killers of the Flower Moon,” “Fancy Dance”). During the interview, Gladstone discussed this being the first part written with her in mind. 

Pixar Reportedly Considering Reboots Including ‘The Incredibles’ & ‘Finding Nemo’   How times change. There once was an era when Pixar just didn’t think it needed sequels and could just go from original story to original story. In fact in 2016, Pixar’s president Jim Morris said there were no Pixar sequel plans after Brad Bird’s “The Incredibles 2,” something of a response to the underwhelming reception to “Cars 2” and to a lesser degree, “Toy Story 3.”   “Most studios jump on doing a sequel as soon as they have a successful film, but our business model is a filmmaker model, and we don’t make a sequel unless the director of the original film has an idea that they like and are willing to go forward on,” Morris said at the time.   While Pixar has certainly tried to stick to that—six of the ten movies they’ve released since the summer of 2016 have been original— since Morris’ remarks, they’ve released “Toy Story 4” (even when they said ‘3’ was the finale), the spin-off “Lightyear,” and this summer’s upcoming “Inside Out 2.”   A “Toy Story 5” is in the works, and now a new report from Bloomberg— discussing many of Pixar’s recent layoffs and woes— says not only are sequels still game, but Pixar is considering rebooting some of its classic films.   According to the Bloomberg piece, “Every hit of yesteryear is being considered for a reboot, with Finding Nemo and The Incredibles regarded as particularly strong candidates for new titles.”     Pixar’s new strategy to turn around their financial problems” involves balancing original movie ideas with sequels and spinoffs, the better to remind audiences what they once loved about Pixar.”   The new aim is apparently to make three new movies every two years, which is historically much less frequent to their usual, one film a year cadence, “with every other title a sequel or spinoff and the rest standalone concepts or potential seeds for new franchises.”   This also sounds a lot like Bob Iger and Disney’s less is more approach and their dialing back at Marvel and Lucasfilm.   On May 21, Pixar announced the company’s largest restructuring, cutting 175 jobs as the studio refocuses on big-screen films instead of Disney+ projects—also not dissimilar to the way Marvel and Lucasfilm are heading, back to the big screen with a deemphasis on Disney+ programming.   It's a sign of the times, unfortunately, and financially they are not great at the moment, a trend that is affecting the entire industry.  Will they follow through? This industry is fickle, so we shall see, but if the box office of 2024 is any indication, these alarming trends may just continue to dominate for the foreseeable future. In this week’s episode of The Discourse, host Mike DeAngelo roams the forest in search of his next victim while discussing “In A Violent Nature.” The movie follows a resurrected killer through the woods as he stalks his victims, all while searching for his stolen necklace. The film is written and directed by Chris Nash and stars Ry Barrett, Josh Lucas, Andrea Pavlovic, Cameron Love, Reece Presley, and more.  READ MORE: ‘In a Violent Nature’ Review: Chris Nash’s Debut Heralds a Major New Voice in Horror [Sundance] During the interview, Chris Nash discusses not only the obvious homages to '80s slashers like “Friday the 13th” but also the less-expected influences that just as heavily influenced the tone and approach to his first feature film.