The Worst Thing We Watched in 2024

December 19, 2024·2 hr 11 min·10 clips

A film critic explains exactly why digitally resurrecting dead actors creates an uncanny valley nightmare that ruins movies.

The opening is mostly ad fog. Matt Bellany promotes The Town, Vuori gets its first-purchase offer, and The Home Depot rolls in before the show really starts. Then Megalopolis takes over. A listener setup gives the host room to riff on Francis Ford Coppola recruiting young performers for his expensive, self-financed magnum opus. The bit is dry and a little ridiculous in the right way. Cheap wine, weed, George Lucas impressions, and Terminator warnings all get folded into the movie's imagined backstory. The clip hits hard. Adam Driver and Natalie Emmanuel's exchange is treated like one of the year's most viral cinematic clips, because it basically has that energy. The host is still generous about it. He says he loves the listeners, wants to champion them, and even kind of enjoyed Megalopolis himself. Then he admits the slog. The movie gets framed as Roman Empire obsessed and somehow very interested in the September 11 attacks. That strange mix is where the fun lives: the episode respects the ambition while leaving the absurdity right out in the open. Jon Voight gets flagged too. The host notes this is one of two movies on the day's list involving him, which gives the conversation a neat little warning light. The ending wanders off instead of snapping shut. The group drifts into animal ambassadors, rescued exotic pets, and advocacy around animals people should not keep at home. It is weirdly gentle. Red foxes, cows, marmosets, staff walkarounds, and pet cams become a soft landing after a chaotic movie conversation. The show sounds relaxed because it is. A worst-of-year premise turns into a listener handoff, a running argument, and a stray recommendation to watch animals chill all day.

As heard by us

A sharp, uneven discussion of Megalopolis that finds its footing after a slow start.

This episode stays focused on Megalopolis, treating it as the costly, self-funded spectacle it is. The hosts move between doubt and amusement, and the back-and-forth feels grounded in the movie's performances and strange ambitions rather than broad reaction.

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Why you'd press play

If you want a smart, messy argument about Megalopolis, press play here.

Read the full recommendation in PlayNext →

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