Movie Draft Episodes

The horror genre is a beloved one, and it is teeming with multitudes of subgenres. We explore all of these subgenres in this week’s movie draft. From slashers to paranormal to monster movies and more, the exploration of our fears and anxieties are taken on in these various forms. We draft everything from old classic Universal monster movies to modern horror hits and everything in between. https://www.establishingshotpod.com/ Feedback: Email us at establishingshotpod@gmail.com Leave a voicemail f...

Sometimes a new director comes out firing on all cylinders and puts out a great film with their very first feature film. In this week’s movie draft, we explore some great debut films from directors, everyone from Sydney Lumet, Rob Reiner, and even Sam Raimi may get shoutouts amongst other great directors! The main stipulation: no directors with less than 4 films (at the time of recording). As we look to close out our Spielberg series next week, looking back on his films from Duel to The Fabelman...

Movie Musicals used to be a staple of the movie industry, but despite them being far from driving the industry in modern times, we still have plenty of great ones! In this movie draft, we choose from 21st Century movie musicals, a draft inspired by our discussion of Spielberg’s West Side Story (which is the main honorable mention for this one). We take everything from adaptations of stage musical classics to fully original conceptions to our favorite animated musicals. We even discussed which 21...

Motion Capture technology has been around since the late 90s in feature films, starting with Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace. Spielberg has had his own run of utilizing MoCap in various capacities with The Adventures of Tintin, The BFG, and Ready Player One. In lieu of that, we took the opportunity to do a movie draft where we drafted our favorite MoCap performances. Spoiler: Andy Serkis was of course taken more than once. https://www.establishingshotpod.com/ Feedback: Email us at establ...

Whether it is journalism, novels, songs, or even emails, there are a plethora of films that celebrate writers. With this movie draft, we aim to do the same thing! In this draft, we take our favorite “writers in movies”, using that category with creative freedom. This draft was originally done to go with a discussion of Wes Anderson’s The French Dispatch, but this release is in accordance with a discussion of Steven Spielberg’s The Post. https://www.establishingshotpod.com/ Feedback: Email us at ...

Cold War movies have been releasing since the end of WWII, and in this movie draft, we explore the plethora of options. There are spy movies, political thrillers, sci-fi metaphors, satires, sports movies, and so many more genres to choose from. We had a lot of fun discussing the nuances of these movies, what thematic aspects make them Cold War coded, and end up with a diverse spread of films. https://www.establishingshotpod.com/ Feedback: Email us at establishingshotpod@gmail.com Leave a voicema...

Presidents are portrayed in movies in so many different ways: fictional presidents, real presidents, real presidents in a fictional role, satirical presidents, and so many more. Our movie draft this week, in which we draft both real and fictional portrayals of US presidents covers these wide varieties as we discuss what we love most about some of the best film versions of our commander in chief. This draft was in honor of our discussion of Spielberg’s Lincoln last week, so Daniel Day-Lewis’ Linc...

Animals in movies are great! When a character gets to ride a cool animal in a movie…even better! This week, we are doing a draft of “ridden animals” in movies in honor of our discussion of Spielberg’s War Horse last week. Horses, mythical creatures, giant lizard things…who knows what we will pick?! Listen to find out if we picked your favorite ridden movie animals! https://www.establishingshotpod.com/ Feedback: Email us at establishingshotpod@gmail.com Leave a voicemail from the button on the ri...

In stop-motion animation, Wes Anderson found the perfect medium for his controlled, detail filled style while still being tangible enough an animation style to surprise you with emotion. To celebrate his Fantastic Mr. Fox and Isle of Dogs, we did a stop-motion animation movie draft! We talk about everything from Henry Selick and Jack Skellington to Chicken Run and more. This is definitely an artform that deserves way more recognition and celebration. (Also, I have since seen Phil Tippett’s Mad G...

Desert settings always make for a great cinematic experience! This was just as true for Nolan’s Oppenheimer even if the desert was being used for something highly problematic. In this episode, we take turns drafting our favorite movies with desert settings. They span a wide variety of genres from sci-fi to thriller to classic epics to animated musicals! And as it turns out, talking desert movies is not so dry after all. https://www.establishingshotpod.com/ Feedback: Email us at establishingshotp...

There is nothing quite like a scene that happens underwater. One of my favorites comes from The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou when Steve and the rest of his crew have a transcendent moment encountering the infamous Jaguar Shark that ruined Steve’s life. In this episode we explore other such scenes with a draft of underwater scenes in movies. We took somewhat different approaches to this draft to very fun results! https://www.establishingshotpod.com/ Feedback: Email us at establishingshotpod@gma...

Harrison Ford has been one of the most treasured American actors since his breakout role as Han Solo in Star Wars and was solidified as a film icon as Indiana Jones when Raiders of the Lost Ark released only a few years later. This week we talk about his Hollywood and acting personas, the ups and downs of his career (mostly ups even in his lesser films), and most importantly do a movie draft where we take our favorite performances and talk through what makes him great. https://www.establishingsh...

Hostage and kidnapping stories actually have a rich history in film. From serious dramas, to edge-of-your-seat thrillers, to comedies, there was a lot of great cinema to choose from for this week’s movie draft. This draft follows up our discussion of Spielberg’s Munich, and it is fully of fun discussion of some of the most fun and/or thrilling hostage movies. https://www.establishingshotpod.com/ Feedback: Email us at establishingshotpod@gmail.com Leave a voicemail from the button on the right si...

As a belated companion to our Catch Me If You Can episode, we are doing a movie draft of Leonardo DiCaprio performances! Leo is arguably the biggest movie star of his era. Making the turn from young heartthrob to a medium for auteurs to explore conflicted characters through was impressive. And he has worked with nearly all of the great directors of a generation. An old friend and avid Leo fan joins me to talk about all this and more as we get as pumped as Jordan Belfort in The Wolf of Wall Stree...

The stardom of Tom Cruise might have been at its peak in the 80s and 90s, but his steady work throughout his career shows that he has that timeless star quality that people go to the movies to see. He has moved from fatherless son to protective father personas; he has moved from making his way through working with many auteur directors to creating his own franchise; and it would be reasonable to say that he has never been in a movie where his co-star was ever even close to stealing the show from...

While artificial intelligence has burst on the scene as a huge cultural topic in recent years, there is a long history of AI stories in film. This week, we do a movie draft of films dealing with artificial intelligence. We talk about the ways the films we choose explore the topic, how so many of these films are more relevant today than ever, and enjoy discussing the wide variety of styles and storytelling in these AI movies. Plus, you get to vote on who had the better draft! https://www.establis...

If you are like me, you likely grew up watching Disney Animated Classics! There are a ton of great ones from early films like Snow White and Pinocchio to more recent additions like Moana and Encanto. In this movie draft, we battle it out for our favorite Disney classics to see who can build the best group of films, and we might just go on a few nostalgia trips along the way. This draft was originally a segment from Episode 4 of the show. https://www.establishingshotpod.com/ Feedback: Email us at...

This is a rerun of a movie draft we did of films in the Top 100 of all-time worldwide box office earnings back in Episode 3. It makes for an interesting draft because the list is surprisingly bereft of really incredible movies with a few exceptions. You are mostly choosing from blockbuster crowd pleasers. I am happy with the results, though! Only 6 films have broken into the Top 100 since that draft was recorded: Inside Out 2, Barbie, Deadpool & Wolverine, Oppenheimer, Despicable Me 4, and Guard...

Happy Thanksgiving! This week, we are playing a rerun of the movie draft we held all the way back on episode 2 of the show with Jacob Phillips: the Movie Sequels Draft. This was a really fun draft! I hope you enjoy revisiting it or hearing it for the first time! https://www.establishingshotpod.com/ Feedback: Email us at establishingshotpod@gmail.com Leave a voicemail from the button on the right side of the screen on our website https://www.establishingshotpod.com/ Support the Show: Join The Est...

Spielberg’s Amistad, the telling of a true historical event in which enslaved Africans took over their slave ship and were then captured and put on trial to determine their freedom, has some things going for it. It looks great, the acting is really good (phenomenal, in fact, for Djimon Hounsou in his breakout role), and the design of the film is on par with any good historical drama. However, there can be problems that arise when a white filmmaker takes on a story that should be centered around ...

Sometimes science goes all wrong, and sometimes that happens in movies! This week we do a draft of our favorite movies where some sort of scientific endeavor goes all wrong, whether technological, biological, or sometimes both like in Spielberg’s Jurassic Park which inspired this draft. We had a great time talking about these movies and what is interesting about them, and we hope you have fun listening! https://www.establishingshotpod.com/ Feedback: Email us at establishingshotpod@gmail.com Leav...

We follow up our discussion of Spielberg’s Hook with a semi-related Disney Villains Draft! Disney fan Colby Ewert joins me to go back and forth picking our favorite villains from Disney and Pixar films. We compiled some great lists along with some great discussion of these villains and what makes them great. We also start off the conversation with a bit of fantasy football talk, another love of both me and Colby. https://www.establishingshotpod.com/ Feedback: Email us at establishingshotpod@gmai...

Which movie decades are the best? We are doing a rerun of our very first movie draft from our first episode this week! In this first movie draft, we took turns taking movie decades, trying to amass the best group of decades. This endeavor made for some good discussion, and it is great to have it as a standalone episode now. You can decide who got the best group of 4 decades! https://www.establishingshotpod.com/ Feedback: Email us at establishingshotpod@gmail.com Leave a voicemail from the button...

It is movie draft time! This week we celebrate the completion of the original Indiana Jones trilogy on the show by doing a draft of movie trilogies! Guest Christiaan Funkhouser and I take turns choosing 7 of our favorite film trilogies, and you get to decide who ended up with the best collection. Enjoy our discussion of how to define a trilogy, of these trilogies that we chose, and of course all of our honorable mentions. https://www.establishingshotpod.com/ Feedback: Email us at establishingsho...