Mamoru Hosada’s new anime BELLE is the latest take on a certain tale as old as time, one that was previously enshrined in the animated feature canon with 1991’s BEAUTY AND THE BEAST, one of the touchstones of Disney’s storied late-20th-century renaissance. This week we crack open the clamshell VHS case on Disney’s version, in particular its labored-even-by-Disney-standards development process, its unforgettable Ashman/Menken music, what made it stand out in the animation landscape back then, and how those same elements look compared to the film’s modern-day successors.  Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about either version of BEAUTY AND THE BEAST, BELLE, or anything else in the world of film, by sending an email to [email protected], or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Our look back at 2021 in film concludes with Tasha, Keith, and Scott’s picks for films number five through one on their respective top 10 lists—or at least their top 10s as they stood at the tail end of December. All three acknowledge that the year offered several quality releases that on any other given day might have made their way onto one of these lists, but for the overlapping factors of time, availability, and the inherently mercurial nature of annual list-making. And so they also dig into the films they weren’t able to see in time for this episode, as well as the honorable mentions that just missed the cut. If you have thoughts you’d like to share on our picks, your picks, or anything else about the past year in film, you can send an email to [email protected] or leave a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We’re kicking off 2022 by setting aside our usual format for a look back at 2021 in film, via that tried and true structure, the Top 10 list. Keith, Scott, and Tasha have each come to this two-part episode bearing their individual top 10 lists, as well as broader thoughts on a year in which established moviegoing models seem to be shifting more rapidly than ever. This week covers the films at the 10 through 6 slots on their lists, as well as an abbreviated discussion of the film that’s number one on the list of films we wish we could have covered on the main show. If you have thoughts you’d like to share on our picks, your picks, or anything else about the past year in film, you can send an email to [email protected] or leave a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Guillermo del Toro’s new NIGHTMARE ALLEY is a first for the director, a film with no supernatural or fantasy elements at all, and yet it is still arguably more recognizable as a del Toro film than as a remake of the 1947 Edmund Goulding noir of the same name. Why this project, for this director, and with these actors? We’re joined once again by our friend and critic Noel Murray to hash out our varied reactions to del Toro’s project, before bringing Goulding’s version of NIGHTMARE ALLEY back into the discussion to examine what makes each version of this story distinct. Plus Your Next Picture Show, where we share recent viewing experiences in hopes of putting something new on your radar. Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about either version of NIGHTMARE ALLEY, both versions, or anything else in the world of film, by sending an email to [email protected], or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.  Show Notes Works Cited: • “The Theme That Ties All of Guillermo del Toro’s Movies Together” by Tasha Robinson (gizmodo.com/io9) Your Next Picture Show: • Noel: VOIR on Netflix • Tasha: Jasmila Žbanić’s QUO VADIS, AIDA? • Scott: Maggie Gyllenhaal’s THE LOST DAUGHTER Outro Music: “Spookshow Baby” by Rob Zombie Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Guillermo del Toro has emphasized that his new NIGHTMARE ALLEY is not a remake of Edmund Goulding’s 1947 noir of the same name, but rather an attempt to more faithfully adapt the 1946 novel by author William Lindsay Gresham, about a carnival con artist who expands his hustle into spiritualism and subsequently opens himself up to disaster. Nonetheless, this week in preparation of our discussion of del Toro’s NIGHTMARE we’re taking a deeper look at Goulding’s, with an assist from our friend and critic Noel Murray, to see how it follows and diverts from the noir tradition, particularly in its trio of distinctive female characters and performances, and how the morality of its tacked-on ending undercuts its deeper themes. Plus, our recent episode on THE POWER OF THE DOG has inspired a lot of feedback, which we begin digging into with some thoughts on its Hitchcockian and literary connections. Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about either version of NIGHTMARE ALLEY, or anything else in the world of film, by sending an email to [email protected], or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.  Outro music: “Carnival Games” by Nelly Furtado Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices