The Next Picture Show

With M. Night Shyamalan’s new GLASS purporting to be the culmination of his so-called Eastrail 177 trilogy, we’re returning to the film that set it in motion, and that many rank among the divisive writer-director’s best: UNBREAKABLE. How does this brooding, stylistically bold superhero origin story look today, in a culture where both comics and their movie adaptations play a much more central role than they did in 2000? How do Shyamalan’s various auteur signatures, good and bad alike, play out in  this film and his filmography more generally? We get into all that and more, with some bonus disagreement on Shyamalan’s breakthrough, THE SIXTH SENSE, and some feedback on our recent episodes on THE FAVOURITE and INTO THE SPIDERVERSE. Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about UNBREAKABLE, GLASS, or any other corner of the Shyamalaniverse by sending an email to

The remarkable new animated film SPIDER-MAN: INTO THE SPIDERVERSE has us thwipping through the beloved web-slinger’s cinematic history to see how it culminated in a Miles Morales origin story that doubles as a giddy trip through Spidey-lore. After some collective swooning over SPIDERVERSE’s unique and eye-popping style and clever conceit, we put the new film in conversation with another top-tier Spider-man film, Sam Raimi’s 2004 sequel SPIDER-MAN 2, to see what the films share, and how they differ, in their respective handling of their various Spider-entities, their villains, and their setting. Plus, Your Next Picture Show, where we share recent filmgoing experiences in hopes of putting something new on your cinematic radar. Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about SPIDER-MAN 2, INTO THE SPIDERVERSE, or both by sending an email to

Spider-Man, the web-slinging comics creation of Stan Lee and Steve Ditko, has made the leap to movie screens many times, but arguably never as successfully as in Sam Raimi’s 2004 sequel SPIDER-MAN 2 — or, perhaps, in the new animated entry INTO THE SPIDER-VERSE. This week we’re putting two of Spidey’s cinematic high-water marks in conversation, beginning with a deep dive into why SPIDER-MAN 2 holds up so well, how its performances and action work together to honor its comic-book roots, and whether we prefer our web-shooters organic or engineered. Plus, some feedback on recent episodes and a reader question about whether different generations regard the film canon differently. Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about any and all Spider-men (or Spider-women, or Spider-pigs) by sending an email to

Our trip through Girl World makes its second stop with Yorgos Lanthimos’ new period piece THE FAVOURITE, to see how its portrayal of women battling for social advantage in Queen Anne’s court looks next to the more contemporary high-school machinations of 2004’s MEAN GIRLS. After sharing our reactions to THE FAVOURITE and pinpointing its most “Lanthimosian” characteristics, we pit these two films against each other to see which portrayal of the cruelty and backbiting of Girl World—and Guy World!—is ultimately more fetch. Plus, Your Next Picture Show, where we share recent filmgoing experiences in hopes of putting something new on your cinematic radar. Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about MEAN GIRLS, THE FAVOURITE, or both by sending an email to

Yorgos Lanthimos’ THE FAVOURITE is, in the words of star Rachel Weisz, a bit like a “high-stakes MEAN GIRLS”: It’s the story of a woman in power challenged by a fresh young outsider, only it plays out in the halls of court rather than the halls of a suburban high school. In this half of our pairing examining the power plays and back-biting of “Girl World,” we look back first at Mark Waters’s MEAN GIRLS to ask whether the much-quoted Tina Fey-penned comedy is still totally fetch, and which of its insights about teen girl-dom circa 2004 still resonate today. Plus, some feedback on recent episodes and a discussion of other pairings we considered for THE FAVOURITE. Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about MEAN GIRLS, THE FAVOURITE, or both by sending an email to