Nothing gives a movie narrative more energy than a plot involving conflict. And it doesn’t matter whether that conflict involves real people or fictional characters. On this week’s show, Dan Webster, Nathan Weinbender, and Mary Pat Treuthart discuss two films that represent the two sides of that equation: "Warfare" is a film based on an actual U.S. military operation in 2006, while "Sinners" features a face-off between twin brothers and a supernatural evil.

On this week’s show, co-host Nathan Weinbender regales Dan Webster, Mary Pat Treuthart, and anyone else willing to listen with tales of his recent trek to New Orleans to snack on beignets and feast on a menu of horror films at the Overlook Film Festival. They also discuss the independent film “Sacramento,” which opened in Spokane last week.

It used to be that the very best of cinema could be found only on the screens of a movie theater. Clearly though, that is no longer the case. On this week’s show, Dan Webster, Nathan Weinbender, and Mary Pat Treuthart discuss two cinematic efforts that are examples of what can be done given a bit of directing skill and the power of superior acting. The first is a four-part Netflix limited miniseries out of England titled "Adolescence," and the second is the latest entertainment from Steven Soderbergh, titled "Black Bag."

As anyone who is a regular listener to Movies 101 knows, co-hosts Dan Webster, Nathan Weinbender and Mary Pat Treuthart are inveterate movie fans. They spend each week discussing what they’ve seen, and often agree—though not always. And that may be true this week as they do something just a bit different. Yes, they discuss a specific movie, namely the British import “The Penguin Lessons,” starring Steve Coogan. After that, though, they take a look at the upcoming summer movie season and lay out what they’re most excited, if anything, about seeing—such summer schedules being, as they traditionally are, full of sequels, remakes and movies that feature either superheroes or exploding cars. And sometimes both.

As much as most of us who love film are fans of American-made cinema, we also open our hearts to work from the rest of the world. On this week’s show, Dan Webster, Nathan Weinbender, and Mary Pat Treuthart discuss two non-American-made films—one from Canada, titled “Universal Language,” and the other from Italy, titled “Parthenope.”

In its third decade of existence, the Spokane International Film Festival continues to prove that there is an appetite for quality film in our fair city. On this week’s show, Dan Webster, Nathan Weinbender, and Mary Pat Treuthart preview this year's festival, which began March 7th and ran through the 9th. They also have a few words to say about the recent Oscars broadcast.

Nothing excites the film industry more than the prospect of winning an Oscar. And we’ll discover who the 2025 recipients of the gold-plated statuette will be on Sunday. On this week’s show, Dan Webster, Nathan Weinbender, and Mary Pat Treuthart preview the annual Academy Awards broadcast, which will be carried both on ABC and the streaming service Hulu, beginning at 4 PM Pacific Daylight Time.

Here at Movies 101 headquarters, we always seek out as many Academy-Award-nominated films as we can in advance of the annual broadcast, which will be held March 2 on ABC and Hulu. On this week’s show, Dan Webster, Nathan Weinbender, and Mary Pat Treuthart discuss a trio of films—“Soundtrack to a Coup d’Etat,” “Sugarcane” and “No Other Land”—each of which is in contention for the Best Documentary Feature Oscar.

We all have our favorite filmmakers whose work we’ll seek out every time they release a new movie. On this week’s show, Dan Webster, Nathan Weinbender, and Mary Pat Treuthart discuss a trio of movies—at least two of which are considered, by many, the work of master filmmakers. The first is “Hard Truths,” the latest by UK writer-director Mike Leigh. They follow that with “Presence,” directed by Oscar-winner Steven Soderbergh. And they finish with “The Seed of the Sacred Fig,” written and directed by Iranian filmmaker Mohammad Rasoulof.

Whether it’s because they open too late in the year or because they just don’t have enough clout to warrant a wide release, many of any year’s best films arrive late… if they arrive at all. On this week’s show, Dan Webster, Nathan Weinbender, and Mary Pat Treuthart discuss two late arrivals that deserve to be listed among the very best films that 2024 had to offer. The first is “Nickel Boys,” a drama about two young men confined to a Florida reform school, and the second is “September 5,” which tells the story of the ABC Sports team that covered the terrorist attack during the 1972 Olympic Games.