Movie HighLow
Movie HighLow is a podcast that discusses the best—and worst—that cinema has to offer. Each episode, the hosts go either HIGH or LOW and break down exactly what works, what doesn’t, and what went completely off the rails. From iconic classics to fascinating disasters, they explore why some movies are great, some are terrible, and some are both. The show features film analysis, movie breakdowns, and reviews.
Episodes
JAWS (1975) | Less Is More (High)
We went High on Jaws, because of course we did. But the reason Jaws (1975) still works is not just “the shark is scary.” The shark is barely in the first half of the movie. What makes Steven Spielberg’s Jaws an American classic is restraint: character, geography, patience, silence, dread, and the confidence to let the audience imagine more than the movie actually shows.
That is the whole argument
SUPER MARIO BROS. (1993) | Never Deserved The Hate (Low)
On this week's Movie HighLow, we went Low on Super Mario Bros., but with a pretty major asterisk: this movie never deserved the hate it got. We won't argue that Super Mario Bros. (1993) is a great adaptation, or that it cleanly captures the spirit of the Nintendo games, or that the story makes sense in any normal way. It is messy, compromised, weird, overdesigned, and occasionally completely insan
WHIPLASH (2014) | In Spite Of Fletcher? Or, Because Of Him? (High)
On this week's Movie HighLow, we go High on Whiplash because it is one of the rare movies about greatness that does not let greatness off the hook. It looks like an inspirational story about a young jazz drummer pushing past his limits, but the more we talk about it, the darker it gets. Whiplash (2014) is not just asking whether Andrew Neiman becomes great. It is asking what he has to cut out of h
THE HAPPENING (2008) | Be Scientific, Douchebag (Low)
The Happening is a bad movie with a genuinely good idea trapped inside it, which might be the most frustrating kind of bad movie. On paper, M. Night Shyamalan making an R-rated eco-horror film about nature turning against humanity should at least be creepy. The planet mounting a defense against us? Plants communicating through airborne neurotoxins? Mass panic spreading through the Northeast? There
TAXI DRIVER (1976) | Martin Scorsese’s Most Disturbing Masterpiece (High)
Taxi Driver is not great because Travis Bickle is cool, misunderstood, or secretly right. It is great because Martin Scorsese, Paul Schrader, Robert De Niro, and Bernard Herrmann drag us close enough to understand him without ever letting us feel safe around him. That is the central tension of this Movie HighLow episode: Taxi Driver (1976) still feels disturbingly alive because the movie understan
Movie HighLow Returns June 5th!
Movie HighLow is back.
After a very reasonable, not-at-all-concerning multi-year pause, Dom and Dee return June 5 with new episodes about the best and worst that cinema has to offer.
Some episodes are HIGH episodes: classics, masterpieces, and movies worth revisiting. Some episodes are LOW episodes: disasters, trainwrecks, and movies where you start wondering if anyone on set knew they were making
THE FANATIC (2019) | A Complete Tonal Mess (Low)
This movie never decides what it wants to be.
In The Fanatic, you’ve got a character study, a thriller, and a dark comedy all fighting each other… and none of them really win.
And somehow, that’s what makes it so... fascinating?
We break down:
Why the tone is completely all over the place
The strange (but committed) performance from John Travolta
How the movie keeps undercutting its own serious
GIGLI (2003) | A Hollywood Disaster That Embarrasses Everyone (Low)
GIGLI is more than a notorious flop. In this episode, we get into why it feels so uniquely humiliating: a tabloid-era Bennifer vehicle, a studio-mangled gangster movie turned awkward rom-com, and a cast stranded inside material that never finds the right tone.
We talk about the film’s broken kidnapping plot, Ben Affleck’s bizarre performance choices, Jennifer Lopez’s underwritten “tough” character
BACK TO THE FUTURE (1985) | Why It Still Feels Like Movie Magic (High)
BACK TO THE FUTURE is one of those movies that can feel endlessly familiar and still hit like the first time. In this episode, we get into why Robert Zemeckis’ classic still feels so alive: the perfect Marty McFly and Doc Brown pairing, the airtight script, the escalating stakes, the DeLorean as an all-time great movie image, and a finale that still plays like pure cinematic adrenaline.
We also ta
TITANIC (1997) | Overrated… or a Masterpiece? (High)
James Cameron’s TITANIC is one of those movies that became so huge it almost invited backlash, but revisiting it now, the real story is why it still lands. In this episode, we talk about the film as both a massive technical achievement and an unapologetically emotional crowd-pleaser, with a romance that can feel corny and deeply effective at the same time.
We get into James Horner’s haunting score
12 MONKEYS (1995) | Time Travel, Madness, and the End of the World (High)
Why do Terry Gilliam’s movies always feel just a little… off?
In this episode, we get into why the film still feels so unsettling and alive, from its warped visual language to the way it turns time travel into something tragic, paranoid, and psychologically unstable.
We talk about Gilliam’s direction and why his surreal style is such a perfect fit for James Cole’s fractured point of view, the fil
JAWS: THE REVENGE (1987) | The Shark Franchise Breaking Point (Low)
Jaws: The Revenge is where one of the greatest blockbusters ever made finally turns into pure franchise absurdity. In this episode, we talk about how the movie turns shark terror into family vendetta nonsense, and why that makes it both embarrassing and weirdly entertaining.
We get into the movie’s wildest choices, from the idea of a shark personally targeting the Brody family to Ellen Brody’s nea
BIG (1988) | This Movie Hits WAY Different as an Adult (High)
You ever watch Big as an adult and realize… it’s not the same movie?
This week on Movie HighLow, we revisit Big—the classic Tom Hanks film that somehow hits even harder the older you get. What starts as a fun “kid becomes an adult overnight” story turns into something way deeper.
🎡 A wish gone wrong
🧸 A dream job at a toy company
💔 And a reminder that growing up isn’t always what you think
KNIVES OUT (2019) | The Most FUN Murder Mystery in Years (High)
This is how you do a modern murder mystery.
This week on Movie HighLow, we break down Knives Out—the insanely fun, layered whodunit from Rian Johnson that surprised us way more than we expected.
🕵️♂️ A dead mystery novelist
🏡 A house full of suspects
🎭 And a detective with a very questionable accent
At first, it feels like a classic whodunit… …but then the movie flips the formula on its he
JACOB’S LADDER (2019) | This Remake Shouldn’t Exist… (Low)
Did this remake need to happen at all?
This week on Movie HighLow, we’re diving into Jacob’s Ladder (2019)—a remake of a cult classic that… doesn’t quite justify its existence.
🪖 A war medic haunted by trauma
🧠 Hallucinations that blur reality
😈 And a story that never quite lands
At first, it feels like it might work…
…but the deeper it goes, the more it falls apart.
We get into:
Why t
ETERNAL SUNSHINE OF THE SPOTLESS MIND (2004) | The Most Honest Love Story Ever (High)
If you could erase someone you loved… would you?
This week on Movie HighLow, we’re diving into Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind—a film that’s as heartbreaking as it is brilliant.
💔 A relationship falling apart
🧠 Memories being erased
❄️ And two people who can’t seem to stay away from each other
This isn’t your typical love story. It’s messy. Honest. Painful. …and uncomfortably real.
W
THE IRISHMAN (2019) | Scorsese’s Final Word on the Mob (High)
What if the gangster story… doesn’t end in glory?
This week on Movie HighLow, we’re diving into The Irishman—Martin Scorsese’s long, quiet, and brutally honest look at the cost of a life in the mob.
🧓 Aging hitmen
🤝 Loyalty vs betrayal
⚰️ And a life that ends not with violence… but loneliness
This isn’t Goodfellas. It’s what comes after.
We get into:
Why this feels like Scorsese’s “final wo
THE WICKER MAN (2006) | So Bad It’s Iconic (Low)
How does a movie this bad become this entertaining?
This week on Movie HighLow, we’re diving into The Wicker Man (2006) — a movie that somehow failed as a thriller… and accidentally became a comedy classic.
🐝 Nicolas Cage vs. bees
🐻 A bear suit for no reason
👊 Punching his way through an entire island
What was supposed to be a dark, psychological remake turns into something completely diffe
BATTLEFIELD EARTH (2000) | This Was Hard to Finish (Low)
This isn’t just a bad movie… it’s an endurance test.
This week on Movie HighLow, we take on Battlefield Earth (2000) — a sci-fi epic that somehow became one of the most infamous flops of all time.
👽 Psychlos
🐀 Man-animals
📉 9 Razzies (yes, NINE)
What was supposed to be a massive sci-fi franchise starter turns into a confusing, overlong, and honestly exhausting experience.
We get into:
Why
THE DARK KNIGHT (2008) | The Best Superhero Movie Ever? (High)
Is The Dark Knight still the greatest superhero movie ever made?
On the very first episode of Movie HighLow, we start with a HIGH—and it doesn’t get much higher than The Dark Knight.
🃏 A Joker with no rules
🦇 A hero pushed to the edge
⚖️ And a city forced to choose what it stands for
This isn’t just a comic book movie.
It’s a crime story.
A character study.
And a film that completely chang
