The Rolling Tape

Break out your cranberry juice, your microprocessors, and your Nokia flip phones, because we're celebrating the 20th anniversary of Martin Scorsese's The Departed with special guest Ryan Casselman!
One caveat, though: the film was released theatrically on October 6, 2006, so upon release, we're still six days away from the actual anniversary. But we do have an amazing retrospective planned for next week, so consider this killing two rats with one bullet. 
Anyway, The Departed is Scorsese's 20th narrative feature and stars Leonardo DiCaprio, Matt Damon, Jack Nicholson, Mark Wahlberg, Vera Farmiga, Martin Sheen, and Alec Baldwin. The film was written by William Monahan, who adapted it from Andrew Lau and Alan Mak's 2002 Hong Kong film Infernal Affairs.
The Departed grossed approximately $291 million worldwide, making it Scorsese's highest-grossing film at the time, until it was eclipsed by The Wolf of Wall Street in 2013. For our conversation on The Awards Tape, we'll also breakdown how it became an unexpected awards contender. Associate producer Emma Tillinger Koskoff recalled that Scorsese initially assumed the film had little chance with the Academy, saying, "Here's the good news: we're not going to be traveling the world and hitting the pavement on the awards circuit because there is no way — this movie is so vile and violent."
Obviously, he was wrong.
At the 79th Academy Awards, The Departed won four Oscars: Best Picture, Best Director for Scorsese, Best Adapted Screenplay for Monahan, and Best Film Editing for Thelma Schoonmaker. More importantly, it earned Scorsese his first Best Director Oscar after five previous nominations.
So, do we love The Departed as much as the Academy did? Maybe, maybe not. Stay tuned to find out how The Departed became Warner Bros.' unexpected awards contender.
Our guest:
Ryan Casselman
On this episode:
Paul Rai
Patrick J. Regal
Timmy Lee
Support the show
Subscribe for Early Access and Video:
The Rolling Tape Patreon
Listen Here:
Spotify
Apple Podcasts
All Listening Platforms
Have questions? Email info@therollingtape.com
Podcast Website Link
Website & Publications: www.therollingtape.com
Social Platforms on Linktree
Credits:
Theme music: Eugene Rocco Utley & Karl Vincent
Artwork: Danny Jarabek
Editor: Danny Jarabek
Assistant Producer: Evan Miller

“You know how this looks right?”
Primetime premiered in the main competition of the 83rd Venice International Film Festival on September 5, 2026, where it competed for the Golden Lion. It has since been released theatrically by A24 as of September 25. 
Primetime follows the production of the hit NBC reality television series To Catch a Predator where Robert Pattinson stars as series host Chris Hansen pushing the ethical boundaries of the show to increase ratings. Merritt Wever, Skyler Gisondo, and Phoebe Bridgers play supporting roles.
Today, our normal host Danny unfortunately got caught up taking a last-minute double-pay job to transport a high-priority organ cooler through a snowy mountain pass. We wish him the best. In his stead, Adam and Gabe review the Lance Oppenheim-directed film and blind rank Robert Pattinson's filmography.
Our pre-episode Patreon exclusive conversation features:
Godzilla Minus Zero NYFF World Premiere reactions
Forgotten Island quick thoughts
Robert Eggers sets next project with Romeo & Juliet
You Can See Everything trailer
On this episode:
Adam Patla
Gabe Lillianthal
Support the show
Subscribe for Early Access and Video:
The Rolling Tape Patreon
Listen Here:
Spotify
Apple Podcasts
All Listening Platforms
Have questions? Email info@therollingtape.com
Podcast Website Link
Website & Publications: www.therollingtape.com
Social Platforms on Linktree
Credits:
Theme music: Eugene Rocco Utley & Karl Vincent
Artwork: Danny Jarabek
Editor: Danny Jarabek
Assistant Producer: Evan Miller

*TIFF Recap recorded BEFORE the People's Choice Announcement*
See all of The Rolling Tape's TIFF 2026 coverage here.
By the time you're listening to this, the 51st Toronto International Film Festival will have wrapped up its 11-day run, which featured world premieres of Siân Heder's Being Heumann, Chris Rock's Misty Green, Peter Farrelly's I Play Rocky, and many more films coming off festivals like Sundance, Berlin, Cannes, and Venice. Famously dubbed the "People's Festival," Toronto gives movie fans and critics the opportunity to see some of the most acclaimed films of the year.
This year, The Rolling Tape also had the privilege of having five of its members on the ground in Toronto: Cameron Ritter, Nadia Arain, Kasey Dunifer, Jacob Diedenhofer, and Evan Miller.
This year's winners have already been announced, with Javier Ambrossi and Javier Calvo's La Bola Negra taking the People's Choice Award, Peter Farrelly's I Play Rocky finishing as the first runner-up, and Siân Heder's Being Heumann finishing as the second runner-up. Since 2008, 16 of the 18 People's Choice Award winners have gone on to receive Best Picture nominations at the Oscars, with Slumdog Millionaire, The King's Speech, 12 Years a Slave, Green Book, and Nomadland ultimately winning Best Picture.
Today, we're going to recap some of the films that played, the reception they received, and what we think their prospects might be heading into the rest of awards season. We'll also bookend the episode with an abridged conversation about our post-fall Oscar predictions across several categories.
On this episode:
Paul Rai
Adam Patla
Jacob Diedenhofer
Evan Miller
Support the show
Subscribe for Early Access and Video:
The Rolling Tape Patreon
Listen Here:
Spotify
Apple Podcasts
All Listening Platforms
Have questions? Email info@therollingtape.com
Podcast Website Link
Website & Publications: www.therollingtape.com
Social Platforms on Linktree
Credits:
Theme music: Eugene Rocco Utley & Karl Vincent
Artwork: Danny Jarabek
Editor: Danny Jarabek
Assistant Producer: Evan Miller

After seven live action films in the video game adaptation franchise, Resident Evil is back in business with Zach Cregger at the helm coming off the meteoric Oscar sensation for Amy Madigan in Weapons in his third feature. 
Resident Evil is directed by Zach Cregger and written by Cregger and Shay Hatten, based on the Resident Evil video game franchise. It follows Bryan (Austin Abrams), a medical courier who must fight through an outbreak of infected monsters in Raccoon City. Zach Cherry, Kali Reis, and Paul Walter Hauser feature in supporting roles.
We review the film and play a mini-game at the end guessing video game movies based on ambiguous Letterboxd reviews.
Our pre-episode Patreon exclusive conversation features:
Narnia first look images
Digger unofficial reactions
Minotaur selected by France
On this episode:
Danny Jarabek
Mariana Fabian
Joshua Mbonu
Red Broadwell
Support the show
Subscribe for Early Access and Video:
The Rolling Tape Patreon
Listen Here:
Spotify
Apple Podcasts
All Listening Platforms
Have questions? Email info@therollingtape.com
Podcast Website Link
Website & Publications: www.therollingtape.com
Social Platforms on Linktree
Credits:
Theme music: Eugene Rocco Utley & Karl Vincent
Artwork: Danny Jarabek
Editor: Danny Jarabek
Assistant Producer: Evan Miller

Bachata music dominates the world today. With artists like Luis Vargas, Anthony Santos, Juan Luis Guerra, and Romeo Santos, the upbeat tunes with the somber lyrics are a staple of Hispanic and Latino clubs, parties, weddings, and so on. The music has a long history – it’s one that contemporary audiences might not know, and it’s part of what Agridulce, Frank Pavich’s new documentary, is trying to showcase. 
Producer of the film, Benjamin de Menil joins The Rolling Tape to talk about his experience founding The Academia de Bachata, his reasoning for making Agridulce, the importance of bachata and music for society and humanity, and more.
Follow our interviewee online:
Benjamin de Menil
Follow our interview host online:
Mariana Fabian
Support the show
Subscribe for Early Access and Video:
The Rolling Tape Patreon
Listen Here:
Spotify
Apple Podcasts
All Listening Platforms
Have questions? Email info@therollingtape.com
Podcast Website Link
Website & Publications: www.therollingtape.com
Social Platforms on Linktree
Credits:
Theme music: Eugene Rocco Utley & Karl Vincent
Artwork: Danny Jarabek
Editor: Danny Jarabek
Assistant Producer: Evan Miller