The Movie Podcast Deep Dive

Listening to 18 different movie podcasts is probably not a lot in the grand scheme of things, but I wanted to listen to a number that was at least in the double digits so I could have a decent sample size. My goal with this deep dive was to figure out what makes a movie podcast enjoyable for me and I wanted to find some new ones to listen to on a regular basis.

Before starting this, I took to Twitter to ask for some recommendations. This way my conclusion wasn’t come to based on podcasts I was already familiar with and/or already enjoyed. I received several suggestions and added them to my list.

Here are the shows I listened to (in no particular order):

• Blank Check

• With Gourley and Rust

• How Did This Get Made?

• Cobwebs Podcast

• 70mm

• The Suspense Is Killing Us

• Video Archives

• Out of Touchstone

• Pure Cinema Podcast

• The Force Five Movie Podcast

• The Letterboxd Show

• Beyond the Screenplay

• The Big Picture

• Best Film Ever

• The Rewatchables

• Screen Drafts

• What Went Wrong

• The Filmcast

I went back and forth on how specific I wanted to be with this deep dive because so much of podcast listening is about personal preference. So just know that I am speaking about these shows based on what I prefer in a movie podcast.

On that note, we’ll quickly start with the two whose episodes I did not finish: The Suspense Is Killing Us and Best Film Ever. The episodes I chose for both were about 2 hours and 40 minutes and nearly 4 hours, respectively. It took a while for each of the episodes to get into the topic, which was the main reason I just couldn’t get into them. I’m all for some banter, but it’s easy to lose new listeners if you take too long to get into the movie discussion and that’s what happened with me.

Also, I’m going to be honest, if any podcast is over 2.5 hours, it’s going to be hard for me in general, no matter how much I like the podcast. Since I edit podcasts all day, my tolerance for lengthy episodes has gone WAY down.

That brings me to my main observation: a lot of movie podcasts are long. Of the episodes I listened to, only 5 came in under 1.5 hours and of those 5, 3 of them were just barely under that. Only 1 was under an hour.

Here’s the nice thing about movie podcasts, though. You don’t have to listen to every episode! There’s no plot line to follow. However, there are some shows like With Gourley and Rust and Blank Check that will refer back to things that have happened previously or they’ll have some inside jokes that you might not pick up on if you haven’t listened. I noticed that with both of those shows, though, it was easy enough for me to get past that since I think the hosts are all entertaining.

There are 4 shows that I didn’t have any issues with, but they just didn’t quite hit for me. Those were Video Archives, Out of Touchstone, Pure Cinema Podcast, and The Force Five Movie Podcast. I know that it might be wild to not enjoy Quentin Tarantino talking about movies in particular, but a lot of the movies discussed on Video Archives happen to be ones I haven’t seen. For the same reason, I had a tough time picking episodes to listen to for all of these.

The rest on the list were all ones I enjoyed to varying degrees. The two that I think have a more unique approach are How Did This Get Made? and What Went Wrong because they talk about some of the ridiculous things that have happened in the movie industry. It’s refreshing to have a bit of a different spin on the movie conversation every once in a while.

I should also note that the episode of Screen Drafts that I picked to listen to happened to be a Patreon episode that they ended up releasing on their main feed. So I have to admit that it wasn’t the best selection, but I didn’t know that until I was already listening to it. But drafts are always fun, so I had a good time with it regardless.

The Big Picture is a fun one as I like Sean Fennessey, but it’s not one that I feel compelled to listen to every episode of. I pop in and out of that one every once in a while, and the same goes for The Rewatchables.

I also listened to an episode of The Filmcast with Patrick H. Willems, who is one of my favorite YouTubers, so I wasn’t surprised to find myself enjoying their Oppenheimer episode.

I know I didn’t break down every single one here as this was more of a deep dive on the listening end given how time consuming it was. However, I did find some shows that I would like to listen to on a regular basis, which was partially my goal, as well. Those ones are: Blank Check, 70mm, With Gourley and Rust, and The Letterboxd Show.

Due to time, it remains to be seen how many I will actually manage to keep up with. But in conclusion, here are my main takeaways:

• A lot of movie podcasts are long!

• I need to find the hosts funny and engaging to keep my attention

• I especially enjoy shows that take unique angles

• Having on knowledgeable guests is a plus

• Sometimes your sense of humor doesn’t mesh with the show’s and that’s okay!!

If you have some movie podcasts that you think I should check out that didn’t make this deep dive, feel free to hit reply or get in touch!