Low Key

Invincible, from Amazon Prime, is the work of a super team. Created by The Walking Dead mastermind Robert Kirkman, produced by Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg (who have developed a spectacular track record), and voiced by A-listers led by JK Simmons and recent Oscar nominee Steven Yeun, it's the most impressive cartoon we've seen in a damn long time. There are many reasons we consider if the superhero Game of Thrones.We also talk about the breaking news that occurred a few hours before this episode: A new report on the search for a Black Superman, and all the interesting reactions to it. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

This week, we cover why this year's Oscars were weird, whether movies are doomed, and how The Falcon and the Winter Soldier continues a Marvel tradition of murderers with perfectly reasonable ideas.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

In the Oscar-nominated short film Two Distant Strangers, a young Black man (Joey Bada$$) finds himself trapped in a hellish time loop, relentlessly targeted by a racist white cop.The film is written by Emmy winner Travon Free, who directs with Martin Desmond Roe. Free says the film is meant to illustrate the exhausting, horrific repetition of police killings of unarmed Black people. (You can listen to his interview over at the MovieMaker podcast.)Keith talks in this episode about how watching Two Distant Strangers reminded him of the emotional death he's felt too many times before, after past police killings.We also talk about police who kill and get away with it, whether there's any point in talking with racists, and how real events in the past week — including Derek Chauvin's trial for killing George Floyd — prove the film's point. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Concrete Cowboy is a coming of age story with cowboys but also with Black people in Philly; maybe not the combination you were expecting. The film pulls off most of what it intends to do, including one of the better story arcs for estranged parents seeking to help their child through a difficult time of their life. And surprisingly, there are a ton of parallels in narrative structure to the award-winning movie Nomadland that we discuss in detail. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, from showrunner Malcolm Spellman, builds on our nostalgia for buddy movies like Lethal Weapon 2. But it also offers a glimpse at what might have been if HBO had moved forward with Confederacy, a proposed show from the creator of Game of Thrones that Spellman was to have worked on. Spellman and his team have managed to include real-world racial struggles and nuance in a show about super soldiers. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

When you think of garbage, don't think of Coming 2 America: We very much enjoyed the Coming to America sequel, despite the debate around the film and quibbles with the Zamundan system of succession. If you miss this episode you'll also miss out on some solid recommendations for underrated Wesley Snipes films. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

In awards-season darling Nomadland, Frances McDormand plays a woman named Fern who takes to the open road when her husband — and town — dies. We talk about what Fern wants, whether the movie should be harder on American businesses, and some interesting similarities between Nomadland and Borat Subsequent Moviefilm. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

I Care a Lot is about a crooked legal guardian (Rosamund Pike) who makes a living stripping seniors of all their worldly possessions. Things go great (or terribly, if we're talking about morality) until she targets Jennifer Peterson (Diane Wiest), who is connected to the worst person you could ever cross (Peter Dinklage). The film has gotten good reviews, but criticism from viewers who don't like movies about people they don't like. We also talk about double standards around bad onscreen men like Walter White and bad onscreen women like the protagonist of I Care a Lot. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Keith, Aaron and special guest Sam from the Sam Said It podcast discuss Judas and the Black Messiah, starring Daniel Kaluuya and LaKeith Stanfield.Believe the marketing — the protagonist is federal informant William O’Neal and not the groundbreaking leader he got assassinated, Fred Hampton.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Malcolm and Marie is a movie about a tense, revealing argument between a budding filmmaker and an aspiring actress after his critically acclaimed directorial debut. The premise sounds tame on the surface but the film goes in unexpected directions and features an acting masterclass between people in front of the camera - John David Washington and Zendaya. Check out this episode for a spoiler filled review and hilarious discussions on poor judgment during relationship spats. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Three episodes into WandaVision, the guys discuss what seems to be happening so far, and share some theories. Is Wanda Maximoff (Elizabeth Olsen) controlling everything?it seems like we get some explanations in the fourth episode, out this weekend, so we're eager to see if our guesses prove correct. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Now that everyone has had time to see Pieces of a Woman — or at least find out what the astonishing Kornél Mundruczó film is about — we can discuss Vanessa Kirby's Oscar-calibre turn as a woman whose pregnancy ends tragically. Please rate, review and subscribe, follow us on IG @thelowkeypod, and check out our interview with Mundruczó over at the MovieMaker podcast. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Regina King's directorial debut One Night in Miami imagines a conversation between Malcolm X, Jim Brown, Sam Cooke and Cassius Clay... who will soon become Muhammad Ali. We talk on this episode about the expectations of Black stars who are often expected to be activists as well as celebrities. And, since we recorded this on the last night of the Trump presidency, we talk about how Black leaders have often been the ones to make America live up to its own stated principles.We're joined by special guest Sam from the Sam Said It podcast — check out the podcast and follow him on @SamSaidItDFW.And you can check out MovieMaker's Regina King interview here. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Pixar's Soul is the story of a jazz musician named Joe (Jamie Foxx) who is on the brink of achieving his dreams... when he falls in a manhole and dies. From there, he meets 22 (Tina Fey) an entitled being who doesn't want to be alive. We start off rooting for Joe as he desperately clings to life. But then we're supposed to root for 22. And then their interests come into conflict.Where should our loyalties lie? See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

On the last Low Key podcast of the year, Keith Dennie, Aaron Lanton and Tim Molloy talk about the deceptively straightforward Ma Rainey's Black Bottom, directed by George C. Wolfe and based on the play by August Wilson.We talk about what we thought of Chadwick Boseman's final performance, what the film says about religion, and if there's a Marxist argument at work in the story of arguing musicians one hot day in 1927. Like every episode of the Low Key podcast, this one is good. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

In The Sound of Metal, Riz Ahmed plays a heavy metal drummer who suddenly loses his hearing. You share his nightmarish sense of his entire life disappearing, along with his sense of sound. Director Darius Marder teaches us how to watch and listen to the film, with completely immersive and innovative use of sound. But it's also a spectacularly well-crafted script, and beautifully-acted film. We liked it! Keith and Aaron discuss the film, but missing co-host Tim agrees with everything they said. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Lovers Rock, the magnificent second film in Steve McQueen's Small Axe series, takes viewers inside a 1980 house party filled with young British and Caribbean people, looking for love. As the party unfolds, we realize this small get-together, DJ'd by the immaculate Mercury Sound System, is fraught with politics: Why don't these Black young people feel welcome at clubs? Why can't they wander too far from the house without being accosted by local hoodlums? And what are the sexual and class dynamics at play?This makes it sound like Lovers Rock is a heavy-handed message movie — and it's the opposite. Steve McQueen has the lightest, deftest touch, and lets the story flow so freely you barely detect the film's arc until it's swept over you. Lover's Rock is a seductive mix of emotions as smoothly delivered as the songs the Mercury crew spins all night. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

If you've thought about making a movie, but really don't know where to start, start here.Every week on Low Key, we talk about TV shows and movies other people made. Except this week! Keith Dennie, one of your co-hosts, wrote a script in quarantine, got a crew and actors together, and finished principle photography. His film, The Moment, is about a young woman named Logan (Randell Robertson) whose humdrum relationship is threatened by an intriguing new man (Tony Williams).Keith talks about how COVID-19 motivated him to make the film, and how he handled every aspect of it, from the dialogue to finding actors to talking them through scenes and editing. He also talks about how doing people favors will come around, giving special thanks to producer Charles W. Bush of Appointed Productions, first AD Sheran Keaton, and DP Michael Bradley.We're also sending out love to the Lanton family, and look forward to Aaron Lanton's return! See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

The Queen's Gambit stars Anya Taylor-Joy as Beth Harmon, an orphan who becomes a 1960s chess prodigy — and addict. In this episode we talk about whether child prodigies are real or an exaggerated phenomenon, nature v. nurture, and the Netflix series' approach to gender and race. Also we try to imagine a world without Street Fighter. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

His House is a haunted house story where the characters have a good reason for not leaving the house: If they do, they'll be returned to the horrors of tribal violence in their native South Sudan.Set in the United Kingdom, His House follows the story of Rial and Bol Majur (played by Wunmi Mosaku and Ṣọpẹ Dìrísù), a married couple seeking asylum to escape the horrors of tribal violence.The debut feature from Remi Weekes is scary, unexpectedly funny, and provocative — it inspires a talk among Keith, Aaron and Tim about our own immigration policy, and the ways people dehumanize each other.If you like this episode, check out Tim interview with Remi Weeks at the MovieMaker Interviews podcast. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.