Breakfast All Day movie reviews

Get your mallets out and take a swing with us this week on Breakfast All Day. Christy, Matt and Alonso review "Birds of Prey (And the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn)," which is a complete blast; "The Lodge," which is moody but perhaps not as effectively creepy as "Goodnight Mommy"; the Netflix documentary "Taylor Swift: Miss Americana," which we all enjoyed way more than we'd expected; and we catch up with "Tyler Perry's A Fall From Grace," which is ... a Tyler Perry movie. Of course, because it's Oscar weekend, we have some wishes and predictions. And over at our Patreon, we discuss the latest episode of HBO's "The Outsider," which keeps getting better. It's an honor just to be nominated, so thanks for listening.

Cinematographer Benjamin Kasulke has had a prolific career, with films including "Safety Not Guaranteed," "Your Sister's Sister," "Laggies" and "The Off Hours." So we had a ton to talk about on the latest A La Carte conversation. Ben discusses growing up in Saranac Lake in far upstate New York, the video store and the boarding school that shaped his early tastes, studying film at Ithaca College, beginning his career as a negative cutter in Seattle and connecting with directors Lynn Shelton and Guy Maddin, with whom he'd go on to work frequently. He also talks about the best advice he ever got, the challenges and opportunities in shooting low-budget movies and what the collaborative process is like with a director. And now Ben has made his own feature directing debut, the hilarious and sweet "Banana Split," coming out this spring. Listen and enjoy!

It's Super Bowl weekend, which is traditionally a pretty quiet time at the movies. The main one opening this week is the Blake Lively action thriller "The Rhythm Section," which Alonso, Matt and Christy review on the latest episode of Breakfast All Day. We also play catch-up with "The Two Popes" because we realized it was the main Oscar nominee we hadn't discussed yet (and you can watch it, as well, on Netflix). And over at our Patreon, we discuss the chilling latest episode of "The Outsider" on HBO. Whip up a batch of queso, invite some friends over and join us.

Vincent Grashaw is a talented and busy filmmaker who's currently in post-production on his third feature, "What Josiah Saw." So it was nice to have a chance to sit down with him for the first time in a while for this A La Carte conversation. Vince discusses growing up in the San Fernando Valley (including the Northridge earthquake), making his own movies and music videos with friends as a teenager, jumping right into the film world out of high school rather than going to college (and the crazy work he did to stay afloat during the lean years), learning who to trust in this business and how his work as a producer on the thrilling, micro-budget "Bellflower" put him on the map in 2011. And of course, he talks about directing his own features, "Coldwater" and "And Then I Go." Christy so admires Vince's vision and work ethic so it was a joy to pick his brain. Hope you find our discussion enlightening, too.

Stylish criminals and ghosts -- as well as a talking monkey who sounds an awful lot like David Lynch -- join us this week on Breakfast All Day. Matt, Alonso and Christy review Guy Ritchie's star-studded crime comedy "The Gentlemen" and the Gothic horror adaptation "The Turning." We also catch up with the haunting Senegalese drama "Atlantics" and a delightfully strange David Lynch short called "What Did Jack Do?" both of which you can watch right now on Netflix (and you should). Over at our Patreon, we recap the latest episode of the excellent HBO series "The Outsider" and we review the latest Off the Menu movie you've chosen for us, the original 1976 "Freaky Friday," which is available through Disney+. Thanks for slogging through January with us!

TV news anchor and reporter Courtney Friel has been sober for over a decade, and she's telling her story in a new book as well as here on Breakfast All Day A La Carte. Courtney discusses getting drunk for the first time at 15, beginning her cocaine use in college, finally going to rehab and how she stays sober, even through some of the hardest times of her life. She also discusses her career in television news which included several years at "Fox News Channel" (and we do talk about "Bombshell") and her work here at KTLA. Her new book, "Tonight at 10: Kicking Booze and Breaking News," chronicles her struggles with substance abuse and the current joys of her alcohol-free life. She also has a podcast of her own, "Keepin' It Friel: Conversations on Recovery," where she talks to her friends about their addiction and sobriety. Christy is so grateful to Courtney for sharing her story — hopefully, you'll find it beneficial, as well.

Robert Downey Jr. talks to the animals in "Dolittle" ... but should he? We're still trying to figure out what we just saw on the latest episode of Breakfast All Day. It's a truly strange film and a bit of a disaster, but not even in an interesting way like "Cats." We also discuss the re-teaming of Will Smith and Martin Lawrence in "Bad Boys for Life" (including a brief spoiler talk from 24:46 to 26:47), the gorgeous Japanese anime fantasy "Weathering With You" and "Les Miserables," the French drama that's up for an Oscar for best foreign language film. Along those lines, we also have some thoughts on this week's Academy Award nominations. And over at our Patreon, we discuss the first two episodes of the thrilling HBO series "The Outsider," and we chat about a few new trailers. It's our 100th episode! Christy, Matt and Alonso are so thankful to you for joining us.

Box office guru Paul Dergarabedian is incredibly knowledgable about film, of course, but also a variety of other topics as you'll hear in our wide-ranging Breakfast All Day A La Carte interview. Paul discusses growing up on the Palos Verdes Peninsula with an early love of music, fast cars and — of course — movies, with a rocket-scientist father who was a huge influence. He talks about studying at Cal State Long Beach and USC, getting his start in the business of tracking box office, working with the studios, how analysis has changed over the years and why certain movies are surprise hits or flops. And since Oscar nominations came out today, we discuss awards season and how being a contender or winning can give a movie a boost. We're all over the place on this one but it's a really great conversation. Hope you enjoy.

We are very much in January on Breakfast All Day with reviews of some mediocre-to-terrible films. But Matt, Alonso and Christy also find time to catch up with a couple of movies that came out at the tail end of last year that are worthwhile. We review "Underwater" — which is essentially "Alien" in the ocean — as well as the raunchy R-rated comedy "Like a Boss." We also discuss the death row drama "Just Mercy," which opens nationwide this week, and "Clemency," in which Alfre Woodard does some of her best work yet. Over at our Patreon, we chat about the state of awards season ahead of Monday's Oscar nominations, and we return to Trailer Talk with the latest "Harley Quinn" clip, "A Quiet Place Part II" and "The Woman in the Window." Thanks for diving in with us!

Robin Sax wears many hats, brilliantly and stylishly. She's a lawyer, author, media expert, mediator and clinical therapist, and she talks about all of those varied careers — and how she blends them together now to make a difference in the world — on the latest Breakfast All Day A La Carte. Robin discusses growing up in Los Angeles (she and Christy were born the same year in the same hospital), attending UC Santa Barbara and Pepperdine University law school, starting her career as a prosecutor in the LA County District Attorney's office, making the leap into work as a TV legal analyst and making the next leap in her 40s to get her master's degree in social work at USC (which includes traveling to China). Robin has melded all her expertise and experience in her new website, DearCoParent.com, where she helps couples communicate as they're divorcing and co-parenting. Robin is so thoughtful and inspiring, and Christy loved having this time with her. Listen and enjoy, and Happy New Year!