Film

On this week’s show, Dan Webster, Nathan Weinbender, and Mary Pat Treuthart discuss two films that tackle polar-opposite themes in an attempt to create cinematic art. The first is “Bugonia,” written and directed by the Greek-born filmmaker Yorgos Lanthimos. The second is “Train Dreams,” a film directed and co-written by Clint Bentley.

Clint Bentley’s “Train Dreams” is a visual meditation on loss, the nature of grief and the healing power of nature, Dan Webster says.

On this week’s show, Dan Webster, Nathan Weinbender, and Mary Pat Treuthart discuss “Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere,” Scott Cooper’s study of Bruce Springsteen’s struggle to record his album “Nebraska,” followed by “It Was Just an Accident,” which is Iranian writer-director Jafar Panahi’s study of revenge and redemption.

Jafar Panahi challenges Iran's government with his new film "It Was Just an Accident," Dan Webster says.

On this week’s show, Nathan Weinbender, Mary Pat Treuthart, and Dan Webster try to provide an answer to the question, "what exactly is the point of movie criticism... or, more to the point, movie critics?"

In The Mastermind, Josh O’Connor is a 1970s family man who briefly moonlights as an art thief. Nathan Weinbender says this quiet, low-key drama is one of director Kelly Reichardt’s best.

On this week’s show, Dan Webster and Nathan Weinbender discuss a pair of films by critically-acclaimed filmmakers that swim, or sink, based on the strength of their screenplays.

Rebecca Miller’s 5-part Apple TV series “Mr. Scorsese” is an entertaining crash course in the revered director’s work. It may be preaching to the converted, Nathan Weinbender says, but the women in Scorsese’s life offer some fresh insights.

What scares you about on-screen villains may say a lot about you, says Dan Webster.

Director Kathryn Bigelow’s “A House of Dynamite” is an intense post-Cold War thriller—until it’s not, says Dan Webster.