Audio Cookie Dough and A Film By...
500 episodes listed below
Director talk with rewatch-club energy.
A Film By... treats movies as shared memory, trivia hunt, and friendly argument. Its conversations move from director spotlights and casting what-ifs to Star Trek recaps, screenplay studies, and affectionate side roads through genre history.
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A Film By... is a movie and franchise conversation show with a broad appetite and a relaxed table-talk rhythm. It is not trying to sound like a formal lecture. It works more like a prepared hangout, where research, memory, disagreement, and digression all get a turn. The main feed often frames episodes around a director and one film, from Brian Helgeland's A Knight's Tale to Rob Cohen's The Fast and the Furious, Alejandro Amenabar's The Others, and Robert Altman's A Prairie Home Companion. The discussion tends to start with a premise, a bit of context, or a quick challenge, then branch into the details fans actually argue about afterward. Casting is a frequent pressure point. The show lingers on what-if choices, feature debuts, actor trajectories, and the odd ways a role becomes impossible to imagine with anyone else. It also likes texture: costumes, music choices, release-era reputation, genre expectations, and the chemistry between performers. Some episodes are warm and nostalgic. Others are more skeptical, especially when a beloved filmmaker, franchise entry, or performance choice gives the table something to push against. The feed also includes A Script By, where Brad Kozo approaches screenplays through story, setting, and why certain pages still hold power. Those entries are more deliberate, but they still belong to the same larger curiosity about how films are built. The Star Trek strand, Phasers Set to Stun, is its own recurring lane. David Burns, Scott Hoffman, and Wayne Whited cover Trek television, animation, movies, directors, merchandise, conventions, and new episodes with clear spoiler warnings. Those conversations are recap-forward, trivia-friendly, and comfortable inside franchise continuity. Recent installments track Starfleet Academy episodes, classic Trek milestones, book reviews, and convention guest chatter. The show can be messy in a human way, including miscommunications, live adjustments, and jokes that reveal the recording room rather than hiding it. That looseness is part of the appeal. A Film By... suits listeners who want film criticism with enthusiasm still intact, not criticism sealed behind glass.
Made for: For film and Star Trek fans who enjoy trivia, casting stories, franchise continuity, and relaxed debate more than formal criticism. It especially suits listeners who like rewatches, screenplay context, and production backstories.
What sets it apart: The show pairs director-centered movie discussion with side-series coverage of screenplays and Star Trek, giving it more range than a single-lane film podcast. Its strength is the mix of prepared notes and visibly unsanded conversation.
A Film By... is a podcast co-created and hosted byJeff Johnson and his team. Together, they wax intellectual about Hollywood's biggest film directors, their underrated movies, and the things we love about them.
Based on 5 episodes we listened to · September 2026
Director-focused discussion, casting history, and energetic disagreement give familiar films and Star Trek episodes fresh critical context.
A Film By... builds its movie conversations around directors, production choices, and the arguments that surface when familiar films get another close look. Brad Kozo and Jeff Johnson move easily between research and disagreement.
Timothy Olyphant as Dom Toretto is the alternate Hollywood timeline waiting for you here.
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Short reviews from the PlayNext desk, based on the episodes we processed.
Warm Trek banter that doubles as a useful convention-season check-in.
A loose Star Trek check-in gives this episode its shape, with Wayne Whited and David Burns using convention news and franchise housekeeping as the starting point. The conversation stays friendly and fan-literate, moving from GalaxyCon plans to the broader A Film By...
Casting what-ifs give this Fast conversation its best spark.
This episode settles into a brisk Fast casting-what-if discussion, with the strongest stretch centered on Mia, Eminem, and the studio's push for Timothy Oliphant as Dom.
A spoiler-aware Trek conversation that keeps its energy while guiding newcomers through DS9's final season.
Phasers Set to Stun closes out Starter Trek with a spoiler-light guide to Star Trek Deep Space Nine Season 7, aimed at first-time viewers and shaped around the season's essential episodes.
A loose, conversational Rocky Balboa episode that links legacy sequel logic to Creed.
Brad Kozo and Jeff Johnson open the season with Rocky Balboa and use it to set up a look at the bigger movie run of 2001 and 2006. The episode works best when it moves past nostalgia and into the logic of legacy sequels, especially when it reaches the case for why this film…
A lively case for Brick's weird, high-school noir logic.
Brick is presented as Rian Johnson's 2005 first film, and the discussion makes a solid case for why that odd mix of Hammett and high school works.
Josh Clark and Chuck Bryant explain one topic per episode, from the bicameral mind to Boeing's MCAS.
Multi-part dramatized retellings of scandals like OceanGate's Titan and the Lehman Brothers collapse.
Sean Fennessey and Amanda Dobbins dissect Oscar races, new releases, and Hollywood news.
Adam Kempenaar and Josh Larsen debate new releases, classics, and their own film rankings.
This episode discusses Brian Helgeland's 2001 medieval action comedy film 'A Knight's Tale', focusing on its themes of jousting and anachronistic elements.
Hosts Wayne Whited and David Burns preview Star Trek's 2026 slate on the show's 60th anniversary, covering Strange New Worlds Season 4 (rumored Muppet episode, casting Thomas Jane as McCoy and Kai Murakami as Sulu for Season 5), and confirming Star Trek Starfleet Academy's cancellation after two seasons despite a fan petition reaching 25,000 signatures.
Hosts Jeff Johnson and Garrett Gibson discuss director Rob Cohen's 2001 film The Fast and Furious, revealing that Cohen is a 1970s Hollywood 'baby mogul' who directed a key Miami Vice episode before moving to blockbusters, and that the film originated from Paul Walker asking for a Days of Thunder and Donnie Brasco mashup.
This episode analyzes the screenplay of 'The Last Picture Show' by Peter Bogdanovich and Larry McMurtry, exploring its themes of a dying town and teenage uncertainty in 1951 Texas.
The host and guest discuss personal beliefs about ghosts, sharing a touching story about hearing their deceased family dog's presence as an example of unexplained supernatural experiences.
The hosts recap and discuss Season 1 Episode 10 of Starfleet Academy titled 'Rubicon', focusing on plot details and spoilers about the Athena's mission in an Omega-47 particle minefield.
This episode features a chaotic and humorous conversation about hosting a show related to Robert Altman's 'A Prairie Home Companion' movie, with the hosts unprepared and improvising.
The hosts recap and discuss the Starfleet Academy episode '300th Night', analyzing plot points and character developments.
The episode discusses Baz Luhrmann's 2001 film Moulin Rouge, analyzing its high-concept comic tragedy style.
The hosts recap and discuss the latest episode of Star Trek: Starfleet Academy, focusing on the cadets' struggles with PTSD.
The hosts discuss their favorite clothing items, with a humorous tone, before likely transitioning into film discussion.
The episode analyzes William Goldman's screenplay for Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, exploring its charm and myth-versus-reality approach.
The hosts discuss Ron Howard's film The Da Vinci Code, analyzing its themes and puzzle-solving elements.
This episode explores John Carpenter's musical career and his impact on electronic music in cinema.
The hosts introduce a new season celebrating films from 2001 and 2006, starting with a discussion of Wes Anderson's The Royal Tenenbaums.
Season 7 ends the ride.
A new season means bigger movies.
The movie gets a defense as high-school noir.
A podcast that analyzes Hollywood film directors and their underrated movies, with this episode focusing on Star Trek.
The hosts discuss the underrated 2010 film Rare Exports, adding it to their list of holiday classics.
The hosts discuss favorite cinematic dancers and then introduce the underrated film White Nights by director Taylor Hackford.
The hosts discuss non-traditional Christmas movies and reflect on their first season episode about Richard Donner's Scrooged.
The hosts discuss their top ten episodes of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, focusing on Season 5 and the challenge of selecting episodes due to strong story arcs.
The hosts discuss Wolfgang Petersen's film The Perfect Storm on its 25th anniversary, analyzing its themes and the director's style.
The hosts discuss the new opening theme and title sequence for Star Trek Deep Space Nine Season 4.
The hosts discuss their excitement for Black Panther: Wakanda Forever and begin analyzing Ryan Coogler's film Fruitvale Station.
The hosts discuss awkward family gatherings as a lead-in to analyzing a film by director Mike Nichols.
The hosts introduce their podcast series about Star Trek and begin discussing recommended starter episodes for new viewers of Deep Space Nine.
The hosts discuss hypothetical adventures in wild places, tying into the time period of a movie they are analyzing.
This episode features a discussion between host Jeff Johnson and guests Amanda Janik and Chuck Bryan about Wes Craven's 1981 folk horror film 'Deadly Blessing'.
The hosts discuss the film The Blob (1988) directed by Chuck Russell, after reminiscing about their interview with actress Kat Lester from the Phantasm series.
This episode discusses Guillermo del Toro's 2001 gothic ghost film The Devil's Backbone as part of a series on scary movies in October.
The hosts discuss paying tribute to actress Diane Keaton by sharing Amber Lewis's top 10 favorite film roles of hers during their Halloween-themed scary movie series.
This episode presents a spoiler-free curated list of the top ten episodes from Star Trek: Deep Space Nine season two, starting with a discussion of the opening episode 'The Homecoming'.
This podcast episode discusses Adam Green's 2006 slasher film 'Hatchet' in the context of classic horror icons like Leatherface, Michael Myers, Jason Voorhees, and Freddy Krueger.