Weekend Roundtable: Movie and Home Theater Podcasts

If you’re reading this page, then you already know that High-Def Digest is the best site on the internet to read about movies and home theater. Sadly, we don’t have a podcast yet. Do you listen to any of those, and what are your favorites?

Shannon Nutt

I listen to a number of movie related podcasts.

My favorite, which also includes coverage of television, entertainment and pop culture in general, is Kevin Smith and Ralph Garman’s weekly Hollywood Babble-On podcast.

A more serious, but still fun, movie-focused podcast comes from /Film and is hosted by David Chen.

Finally, I listen Rebel Force Radio, hosted by Jason Swank and Jimmy Mac, for my weekly dose of ‘The Force Awakens’ news and all things ‘Star Wars’.

I’d have a pretty hard time getting through my normal full-time job without the above podcasts making a day or two of the week feel a bit shorter.

Mike Attebery

I haven’t jumped into podcasts with both feet yet, but I’ve been sampling a few of them lately as my wife tells me which ones to check out. So far, my favorite (and the most expensive since it adds to my media purchase shopping list) is NPR’s Pop Culture Happy Hour, hosted by Linda Holmes and a wide variety of media addicts like you and me.

I also listen to Here’s the Thing, but that podcast, like my tolerance for Alec Baldwin, can be sporadic.

M. Enois Duarte

Although I don’t listen to movie-related podcasts regularly, I do have a few I enjoy from time to time.

For discussions about the latest theatrical releases, I like Dana Stevens’ Spoiler Specials. With various guests, the senior film critic for Slate magazine provides great discussion and analysis of new films, but you should only listen after having watched the film being discussed.

Then there’s Screen Rant Underground, where Ben Kendrick talks about the latest movie-related news and films.

As good as those shows are, however, I find myself more often listening to discussions about bad movies. Although they haven’t had a new episode for a while, regular Grantland contributors Alex Pappademas and Wesley Morris (who also wrote for the Boston Globe), discuss the those with pop culture in Do You Like Prince Movies?

I also like How Did This Get Made? with comedians Paul Scheer, Jason Mantzoukas and June Diane talking about the worst new releases.

Once in a while, I’ll also listen to The Flop House. Hosts Stuart Wellington, Elliot Kalan and Dan McCoy hilariously talk about bad movies that are quickly forgotten and later found in the bargain bin.

Luke Hickman

I’ve never been one to listen to podcasts. I can’t do audiobooks either. I wouldn’t have a problem with them if I could listen to them while working, but the type of work I do doesn’t allow me to put my thoughts elsewhere.

Having said that, back in my full-time movie-reviewing days, I used to participate in a three-man podcast. The Talking Pictures was a blast. Without getting too blunt, I’ll say that it’s an easy and fun thing to do when you’re accompanied by others with whom you can banter, debate and discuss. When one or more participants have no character or charisma, it’s absolutely painful.

Josh Zyber

I’ve recently taken to listening to a lot of podcasts during my daily commute to and from work.

While hosts Adam Kempenaar and Josh Larsen will occasionally discuss the latest mega-budget blockbusters, I find that the real value of Filmspotting is letting them guide you to art films and independent productions that might otherwise fly under the radar, and rediscover classics you never got around to watching.

By design, the American Cinematographer podcast can be a little technical, but often provides fascinating insight into the making of your favorite movies and TV shows, both new and old.

Full disclosure: Toronto film critic Norm Wilner is an old friend of mine, so I’m perhaps a little biased on this one. I think he does a great job hosting the new podcast Someone Else’s Movie, in which he invites an actor, director or other industry figure to talk about movies they didn’t make.

It was through Norm that I also discovered the very fun Let’s Scare Matthew Price to Death, in which the Modern Superior host explores his relationship with the horror genre by inviting friends to make him watch the scariest movies they can think of.

For discussion about the techie side of the home theater hobby, I like Home Theater Geeks with Scott Wilkinson of AVSForum, AV Rant with Tom Andry from Audioholics, and The HT Guys with former Sony sound engineers Ara Derderian and Braden Russell.

Use the Comments below to recommend some more movie and home theater podcasts we should be listening to.

11 comments

  1. Don’t really understand the podcast thing. What are the benefits as opposed to internet? On an unrelated topic, hey Josh, are there any cool movie stores in the Boston area? We’re spending Father’s Day weekend there and if i can find a shop like that, it would be really cool.

  2. Shayne

    I mostly listen to Marvel related podcasts, Marvel Movie News, Making Mine Marvel and a couple general movie and superhero review ones Now Playing and Modern Myth Media.

  3. Chris B

    I noticed in the introduction of this post you stated “we don’t have a podcast, yet”. Does that mean that something is in the works? May I suggest at the very least, a weekly 1-2 hour “Weekend Roundtable” show in which everybody discusses/argues over their submissions for that particular topic? As a regular reader of this blog I don’t think I’m alone in saying that would be a hell of a lot of fun to listen to…

  4. Ian

    I listen to quite a few podcasts while I work, and I find that the conversational nature and focused discussions of podcasts are very enjoyable. For movie related podcasts, I would recommend The Movie Crypt with Adam Green and Joe Lynch (great conversations with a wide variety of people in filmmaking), The Q & A with Jeff Goldsmith (primarily focused on the screenwriting process), James Bonding with Matt Mira and Matt Gourley (Each episode brings on a guest to watch and discuss a specific film in the 007 series), and Denzel Washington is the Greatest Actor of All Time Period with W. Kamau Bell & Kevin Avery (Conversations on Denzel Washington’s filmography and rating each on it’s amount of Denzelishness).
    Fatman on Batman with Kevin Smith is excellent as well, taking on all aspects of the Batman films, TV shows and comics and marathon interviews with a few of the guests and really fun commentary tracks for the 4 Burton and Schumaker films.

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