The more rubbishy bits of the podcast. We share what we’ve been watching, how to navigate airport security without losing it completely, and the beauty of a well-curated playlist.
Enjoy?
Hit the like button and subscribe at the pod source of choice.
The Spotify playlist for this episode can be found at
Editor-in-Chief at Moviescramble. A Fan of all things cinematic with a love of Film Noir, Sci-Fi and Julia Roberts in Notting Hill. He hopes to grow up some day.
John and Mary discuss Anora, one of the films in award contention at the moment. It also featured in a couple of our top ten of the year lists. Head to the website to check out our picks
You can find the Spotify playlist accompanying the review at
Editor-in-Chief at Moviescramble. A Fan of all things cinematic with a love of Film Noir, Sci-Fi and Julia Roberts in Notting Hill. He hopes to grow up some day.
Editor-in-Chief at Moviescramble. A Fan of all things cinematic with a love of Film Noir, Sci-Fi and Julia Roberts in Notting Hill. He hopes to grow up some day.
Editor-in-Chief at Moviescramble. A Fan of all things cinematic with a love of Film Noir, Sci-Fi and Julia Roberts in Notting Hill. He hopes to grow up some day.
Editor-in-Chief at Moviescramble. A Fan of all things cinematic with a love of Film Noir, Sci-Fi and Julia Roberts in Notting Hill. He hopes to grow up some day.
Editor-in-Chief at Moviescramble. A Fan of all things cinematic with a love of Film Noir, Sci-Fi and Julia Roberts in Notting Hill. He hopes to grow up some day.
Editor-in-Chief at Moviescramble. A Fan of all things cinematic with a love of Film Noir, Sci-Fi and Julia Roberts in Notting Hill. He hopes to grow up some day.
Inspired by The Phoenix Lights, the largest mass UFO sighting in U.S. history, Star People is a sci-fi thriller that tells the story of a photographer who receives a tip that could finally shed light on her childhood UFO sighting, but a deadly heatwave and unexpected guests threaten to derail her obsessive search for answers.
The film stars actor and recording artist Kat Cunning, McCabe Slye, Connor Paolo, Eddie Martinez, Bradley Fisher, and Adriana Aluna Martinez.
Adam Finberg (Writer/Director/Producer) grew up in Phoenix, Arizona and moved to Southern California to attend the American Film Institute’s directing program. He’s worked the past 20 years as a writer, director and editor. Star People is his first feature length narrative film.
Adam began his career directing music videos (Armin van Buuren, Malbec, Otis) before moving on to commercial work (Napoleon Perdis, Go Daddy). His first documentary, After Katrina: Rebuilding St. Bernard Parish, shined a light on the perils and pains of post-Hurricane Katrina New Orleans. His first feature documentary, The Business of Recovery, dove into the secret lucrative world of the American addiction treatment industry. The film was featured on Last Week Tonight With John Oliver as it sparked conversations about the rehab industry and was even showcased at the International Drug Policy Reform Conference in Washington, DC to help guide policy decisions.
Star People will have its world premiere at Dances with Films: LA 2025 on the 28th of June.
Editor-in-Chief at Moviescramble. A Fan of all things cinematic with a love of Film Noir, Sci-Fi and Julia Roberts in Notting Hill. He hopes to grow up some day.
Dreaming of You: The Making of The Coral follows the story of six childhood outsiders from Merseyside as they transform into one of the most influential British guitar bands of the new millennium. Their high-energy blend of psychedelic rock ‘n’ roll revitalised the doldrums of the post-Britpop music scene.
Narrated by the band, the film is an immersive experience that creatively combines reconstruction, archive footage, and animation to capture the early 2000s era through the eyes of six northern teenagers, who together created their own strange, endlessly creative escapist universe. As the friends leave their sleepy hometown of Hoylake in pursuit of musical glory, the spotlight eventually finds them, but is it fame they’re after, or is it just being together?
With appearances from The Lightning Seeds, The Zutons, and Tramp Attack, Dreaming of You: The Making of The Coral is a dreamscape of friendship, fame, and fuzzy guitars. The film commemorates The Coral from their working-class Merseyside roots, through their rise in Liverpool’s Bandwagon Scene, going on to become one of the UK’s most influential bands.
For director James Slater, the creative direction for the film was as important as the story itself, speaking on this James said, “I wanted Dreaming of You to be an immersive experience—one that transports us back to Northwest England in the late ’90s and early 2000s. …The visual aesthetic of the film is further enhanced by the formats used to shoot both the GVs and reconstructions—Mini DV, Hi-8, 16mm, and 8mm—all mediums that were used to document the band at the time. This rich visual tapestry is accompanied not only by the band’s musical archive but also by a layered sound design that further immerses us in the era, embedding us deeply within the time and place.”
On celebrating the World Premiere at Sheffield Doc Fest, director James Slater commented, “It’s an honour to be part of Sheffield DocFest, especially alongside such an incredible line-up of films. Dreaming of You is a northern coming-of-age story at heart, so it feels especially fitting for the journey to begin here…”.
Dreaming Of You: The Making Of The Coral will premiere at the Sheffield Doc Fest on the 21st of June.
Editor-in-Chief at Moviescramble. A Fan of all things cinematic with a love of Film Noir, Sci-Fi and Julia Roberts in Notting Hill. He hopes to grow up some day.
Yesterday, this year’s Cannes Film Festival ended, and the jury, headed by Juliette Binoche, was ready to hand out the Cannes Awards 2025. The Palme d’Or was given to It Was Just an Accident by Jafar Panahi. It was an unexpected choice, and the title could refer to something that happened in the jury, causing it to win the Palme. I watched the film during the Awards ceremony yesterday, and when someone shouted, “Palme D’Or” after the screening, I thought he was referring to his emotions rather than the actual outcome. It is not a bad film, but a rather pedestrian one with a predictable ending. Panahi won the Citizenship Award earlier during the day, which made more sense.
Jafar Panahi at the Citizenship Award ceremony.
The Cannes Awards 2025 biggest mistake
If the Palme d’Or fell into the wrong hands, that was nothing compared to the mind-boggling decision to give Joachim Trier’s Sentimental Value the Grand Prix. I described why in my review of the film and will not repeat myself here. It is the weirdest decision this side of Anatomy of a Fall. The festival’s three best films were not forgotten but landed minor awards. Sirát by Oliver Laxe and Sound of Falling by Mascha Schilinski shared the Jury Prize or rather got one each. Both would have been more worthy winners of the two top awards.
Mascha Schilinski at the Winners’ Press Conference at Cannes 2025.
The same goes for The Secret Agent by Kleber Mendonça Filho. However, that it missed out on the two top awards is acceptable since it won both the Best Director award as well as Best Actor for Wagner Moura. If anything, that film is characterised by its superb direction and Moura’s performance. The latter was not present at the award ceremony since he was shooting a film in London. However, the director called him during the following press conference.
The Best actress award went to Nadia Melliti in La petite dernière by Hafsia Herzi. I chose not to watch it. The prize for Best Screenplay went to the Dardenne Brothers, and it was the ninth award for their films, including acting awards. They were part of the 1999 edition when they and Bruno Dumont won almost everything, prompting one of Cannes’ most significant rule changes ever. Finally, a Special Award was given to Bi Gan’s Resurrection—a film that sadly failed to live up to its promise or premise.
Un Certain Regard
The main prize in the Un Certain Regard section was given to The Mysterious Gaze of the Flamingo by Diego Céspedes. I didn’t manage to watch it. The unfounded rumours floating around on the Croisette that I avoided the film because the title sounded dangerously Angelopoulosian is utterly false. The Jury Prize went to Un Poeta by Simón Mesa Soto. Harry Lighton won the Best Screenplay for Pillion, while the Best Director award went to twin brothers Arab and Tarzan Nasser for Once Upon a Time in Gaza. A film that boasted foley work by Estonian foley artist Anna-Maria Jams (interviewed here).
The Camera d’or for Best First Feature went to Hassan Hadi for The President’s Cake, screened in the Quinzaine des Cinéastes section. A Special Mention was given to Akinola Davies Jr for My Father’s Shadow.
Regarding the competition, it was clearly more substantial than the last two years, with three really good films. On the other hand, there were many bad or mediocre films. The worst one I saw was, without a doubt, Eddington. The film was Ari Aster’s Cannes debut but was universally maligned. The biggest disappointment of the fest was Lynne Ramsay’s Die My Love. Jennifer Lawrence is a powerhouse, but apart from that, the film was weak and didn’t even look good. Being a major fan of the director, I hope the film was rushed to Cannes and is not entirely finished. Some reviews hinted at that.
Stay tuned for reviews of the winners and other films as well.
