A plot summary of "Heart of the Beast" amounts to the entire plot: a military veteran played by Brad Pitt and his dog, itself a combat scout veteran, are on a survival trek through the Alaskan wilderness. In this episode, HCC film professors Marie Westhaver and Mike Giuliano talk about how well Pitt and the dog act amidst strikingly beautiful scenery. Although Mike has his usual share of quibbles, Marie points out that this is an endearing dog movie. Our critics also discuss "Primetime," in which Robert Pattinson portrays Chris Hansen, whose TV show "To Catch a Predator" ran from 2004 to 2007. Marie and Mike agree that Pattinson and others in the cast give strong performances, but the film itself skims the surface of the troubling legal and ethical issues involved here.

Director Ridley Scott is 88 years old and just keeps going strong. However, his latest film, "The Dog Stars," is not strong. HCC film professors Marie Westhaver and Mike Giuliano use this podcast episode to tabulate all of the ways in which it is disappointing. Set in the wake of a population-devastating pandemic, the film stars Jacob Elordi as a lonely widower who spends a lot of time flying an old airplane through the Colorado skies. Without spoiling anything within the apocalyptic plot, the film lurches uncertainly between overtly sentimental scenes and bizarrely violent scenes that seem lifted from a "Mad Max" movie. Marie and Mike also discuss "The Rivals of Amziah King," in which Matthew McConaughey plays a beekeeper in rural Oklahoma. Marie loves this film and Mike, well, does not love it. One of the few things they agree on is that the film's title is awkward.

Link to Episode Transcript Available Below:

https://www.howardcc.edu/discover/arts-culture/dragon-media/dragon-podcasts/podcast-transcripts/at-the-movies/the-dog-stars--the-rivals-of-amziah-king.php

Director Christopher Nolan is no slouch when it comes to making a cinematic spectacle, and "The Odyssey" has really delivered both critically and at the box office. HCC film professors Marie Westhaver and Mike Giuliano have a lot to discuss as this podcast episode analyzes Nolan's 172-minute epic. Although Mike believes the film owes more to Hollywood than to Homer, he agrees with Marie that the Trojan horse and other famous episodes are impressively staged. Matt Damon portrays a PTSD-afflicted Odysseus, and others in the starry cast include Anne Hathaway, Tom Holland, Zendaya, Bill Irwin, Charlize Theron, Robert Pattinson, Samantha Morton, Lupita Nyong'o and John Leguizamo. Marie and Mike also discuss a very different film, director Olivia Wilde's deliberately claustrophobic "The Invite," in which a couple played by Wilde and Seth Rogen invite the upstairs neighbors, played by Penelope Cruz and Edward Norton, for a dinner party. Their awkward and at times acrimonious conversations take "The Invite" into quirky psychological territory. Every scene may not totally convince, but you'll be an alert viewer.

Link to Episode Transcript Available Below:

https://www.howardcc.edu/discover/arts-culture/dragon-media/dragon-podcasts/podcast-transcripts/at-the-movies/the-odyssey--the-invite.php