Favorite movies, better conversations.
Movie Crush treats a favorite movie as a door into personality, not just a title to rank. Episodes move from Spirited Away, Arthur, Starter for 10, and Six Feet Under into childhood viewing habits, movie lessons, family stories, and the odd detour that makes a movie hang feel alive.
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Movie Crush is a film-conversation show where the chosen title is usually only the starting point. A favorite movie becomes a reason to talk about memory, taste, work, family, and the small emotional logic behind why certain stories stick. It is casual, but not careless. The show has enough film literacy to follow a thread through animation, comedy, TV drama, casting, and movie lessons, while still sounding like people enjoying each other's company. An episode on Spirited Away can turn into a discussion of animated viewing order, children's tolerance for intense stories, and the nervous charm of trying to win over another parent. A conversation around Arthur can open onto the values tucked into romantic comedies, teenage friendship, self-worth, and what a movie can leave behind. Mini Crush episodes make the format more snackable. They move quickly through trailers, actor wish lists, SNL speculation, ageless Paul Rudd jokes, and whatever else the room seems ready to chase. The tone is warm and lightly teasing. It is not a scoreboard show built around definitive rankings. It is more interested in why a person reaches for one movie again and what that choice reveals once the banter settles. That gives the conversations a looseness that can feel pleasantly unplanned. The show often lets people wander before pulling the conversation back to a clean question or recap. Janet Varney, Todd Garner, Alan Ball, Bobby Seagull, Minnie Driver, and Chuck point to the show's broad lane: people talking about screen stories from the inside and the couch. There are movie details, but they are usually attached to lived experience. There are opinions, but they rarely harden into critic-panel stiffness. The best stretches catch people connecting movies to parenting, ambition, nostalgia, friendships, and creative compromise. Movie Crush works especially well for listeners who like film talk with a human face. It has a hangout rhythm, a curious ear, and a soft spot for the way movies become personal shorthand.
Made for: For film and TV fans who enjoy casual, personality-driven conversations more than formal criticism. It especially suits listeners who like interviews, screen stories, and friendly tangents around movie taste.
What sets it apart: Movie Crush treats favorite films as character studies of the people discussing them. Its strength is the easy shift from screen talk to lived experience, without losing the movie thread entirely.
Chuck Bryant of Stuff You Should Know sits down with your favorite people to talk about their favorite movies. Simple enough, but what we get is much more than that. It’s a look at what makes a favorite thing, and why someone’s favorite movie says so much about who they are. More conversation than interview, Movie Crush, at its heart, is about the love affair we all have with the silver screen.
Based on 5 episodes we listened to · September 2026
Chuck Bryant turns conversations about particular films into revealing discussions of character, craft, memory, and the lives surrounding a favorite movie.
Movie Crush uses a film as the opening question, then lets Chuck Bryant's guest conversations follow the personal and creative associations around it.
Chuck Bryant's Phantom Thread chat finds power in quiet words, if that's where your movie brain goes.
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Short reviews from the PlayNext desk, based on the episodes we processed.
A warm Spirited Away episode turns family-approval nerves into funny, tender personal storytelling.
This Spirited Away episode settles on the vulnerable comedy of trying to make a good impression on Ruby's mom. Its funniest bits come from the oddly perfect objects chosen to prove good intentions: a baseball mitt and a child-size princess tiara, both treated as affectionate…
Todd Garner links producing, moral movie themes, parenting advice, and the complicated image of his profession.
Todd Garner comes through as a producer who likes commercial movies to carry a clear moral pulse. He talks about slipping lessons into projects such as Isn't It Romantic, 13 Going on 30, and Senior Year, with an emphasis on self-acceptance, looking past shallow popularity, and…
A breezy movie hang where Shyamalan, Paul Rudd, and SNL fuel affectionate, lightly skeptical detours.
Mini Crush Monday turns movie chatter into a loose, funny loop through a new M. Night Shyamalan trailer, Paul Rudd's famously ageless screen image, and the possible exits of Kate McKinnon and Kenan Thompson from SNL.
A precise reading of Alma, Woodcock, Cyril, and the quiet power shifts between them.
This review frames the episode around Alma's control, treating her less as someone trapped under Woodcock's authority than as a person steadily learning how to move inside it.
A comedy conversation about moving forward when the group that made you has stalled.
Movie Crush is strongest when it sits with the uneasy aftermath of making a career move before everyone else is ready. The guest traces Viva Variety back to a sketch Tom wrote for The State, while also acknowledging that the new show left people feeling shut out and hurt.
Cult cinema talk with the edges left on.
Star Wars reactions with sharp fan instincts.
Screen nostalgia, argued properly.
Chuck Bryant interviews guests about their favorite movies, exploring why those films resonate with them personally.
Chuck Bryant and guest Adam Pranica conclude their Paul Thomas Anderson series by dissecting his 2017 film Phantom Thread.
Chuck Bryant interviews comedian Michael Ian Black about his favorite movie, 'Flirting with Disaster'.
Movie Crush host interviews actor and voice artist Janet Varney in the final regular weekly episode of the series, discussing Spirited Away, the Avatar franchise, and voice acting.
Todd Garner, the producer behind movies like Black Hawk Down, 13 Going on 30, Triple X, and Mortal Kombat, talks about Arthur and what a producer actually does.
Caleb Landry Jones is cast as a "good face" who can also make music like "Tom Waits meets Sergeant Pepper."
Movie Crush hosts Charles Bryant and Noel Brown discuss how summer movies become attached to release dates, weather, travel, friendships, and theater experiences.
Movie Crush: Mini Crush Monday features Chuck and Noel discussing Ruby’s drama-camp casting, including her wish to play corn and the value of enjoying an unexpected role.
Chuck Bryant interviews guests about their favorite movies, exploring what makes a favorite and what it reveals about the person.
Chuck Bryant introduces a crossover episode with Minnie Driver's show Minnie Questions, then begins an interview about his podcast success.
Chuck Bryant interviews guests about their favorite movies, exploring what makes a favorite and what it reveals about personality.
Chuck Bryant interviews celebrities about their favorite movies, exploring what makes a favorite film and what it reveals about the person.
Chuck Bryant interviews guests about their favorite movies, exploring what makes a favorite and what it reveals about the person.
Chuck Bryant interviews guests about their favorite movies, exploring what makes a favorite and what it reveals about the person.
Chuck Bryant interviews guests about their favorite movies, exploring why those films resonate personally.