Loading...

PODCAST

The Strange Harbors Podcast

Derek Wong, Amir Touray, Jeff Zhang

Welcome to The Strange Harbors Podcast. Hosted by Derek Wong, Jeff Zhang, and Amir Touray, The Strange Harbors Podcast is a weekly discussion of all things pop culture, with an emphasis on film and television. Join us every week as we dive deep into big blockbusters, indie favorites, and under-seen hidden gems.

tv & film film reviews

All Episodes

00:55:21

"The Pitt" Season 2

The Strange Harbors Podcast ·

2026/03/19

Everyone's favorite medical drama — The Pitt — is back. A new day in the emergency room brings new challenges for the Pittsburgh Trauma Medical Center, and we discuss — with our own in-house medical professional, Dr. Amir Touray — how the new season is progressing, specifically, the first nine episodes. Does The Pitt continue its winning run? Was the first season just lightning in a bottle? Will Dr. Robby survive this season? We talk about it all right before the other shoe drops in the last

en

00:42:46

"A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms"

The Strange Harbors Podcast ·

2026/03/12

HBO's Game of Thrones is back with yet another spinoff, this time based on George R.R. Martin's Dunk and Egg novellas. A departure from the palace intrigue and massive scale of both Game of Thrones and House of the Dragon, A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms digs into more lighthearted slice-of-life drama, at least until its explosive climax. We discuss the short first season, its pitch-perfect casting, and its memorable roster of Westerosi characters.

en

00:41:44

"Good Luck, Have Fun, Don't Die"

The Strange Harbors Podcast ·

2026/03/04

Gore Verbinski returns with his first film in nine years with his time travel comedy "anthology" film: Good Luck, Have Fun, Don't Die. This time around, he tries his hand at satire and topicality — a movie about our obsession with screens, our inability to cope with tragedy-filled modernity, and the encroaching threat of AI. Is he successful? Tune in and find out.

en

00:46:43

"Send Help"

The Strange Harbors Podcast ·

2026/02/16

2026 has blessed us with a new Sam Raimi original in the form of Send Help, a deserted island survival thriller. Do Rachel McAdams and Dylan O'Brien have what it takes to return Raimi to his roots? After years in the IP game — Oz, Doctor Strange — has the Drag Me to Hell and Evil Dead mastermind retained his horror chops?

en

00:49:59

The Most Anticipated Films of 2026

The Strange Harbors Podcast ·

2026/02/05

Keeping with tradition, we follow up our best of 2025 episode with its natural companion: our episode on the most anticipated films of 2026. After an odd 2025 where many of our most exciting picks turned out to fall short of expectations, we can only hope that 2026 might fare better. Indie gems, huge blockbusters in Nolan's The Odyssey and Dune: Messiah, and other new projects from beloved auteurs, 2026 is shaping up to pack quite a punch. Tune in and find out our individual picks!

en

00:43:53

"28 Years Later: The Bone Temple"

The Strange Harbors Podcast ·

2026/01/29

Hot off a placement of 28 Years Later on all of our 2025 top ten lists last week, its sequel — The Bone Temple — has quite large shoes to fill. Can Nia Dacosta capture the same humanist magic of one of last year's best movies? We discuss the villainous Jimmies, Ralph Fiennes continuing barn burner performance as Dr. Kelson, and yet another surprising ending in the 28 franchise.

en

01:12:55

The Best Films of 2025

The Strange Harbors Podcast ·

2026/01/22

It's that time of year again. We're counting down Derek, Jeff, and Amir's favorite movies of last year. 2025 was a year of great movies but also a year of crushing disappointments: many films we were looking forward to the most fizzled out. Fortunately that makes room for plenty of big surprises and dark horses in our top ten lists. What made the cut? What were some of the honorable mentions? Tune in and find out!

en

00:48:37

"Pluribus"

The Strange Harbors Podcast ·

2026/01/15

For our first TV review of 2026, we discuss Vince Gilligan's Apple TV smash hit, Pluribus, which just wrapped its first season on Christmas Eve of last year. We dive deep into Gilligan's illustrious pedigree, the state of streaming and TV, and the many ways in which Pluribus is bucking convention.

en

00:52:38

"Marty Supreme"

The Strange Harbors Podcast ·

2026/01/07

Happy New Year from The Strange Harbors Podcast! For the first episode of 2026, we review Josh Safdie's Marty Supreme, a 1950s sports comedy-drama in the world of professional table tennis. We discuss Timothée Chalamet's barn burner performance, his Marty Mauser marketing persona, and what makes a Safdie movie a Safdie movie. Is Marty Supreme just Uncut Gems or Good Time with $50 million tacked onto its budget? Or is there much, much more under the hood?

en

00:52:14

"Avatar: Fire and Ash"

The Strange Harbors Podcast ·

2025/12/24

The Strange Harbors Podcast returns to Pandora as we review the third installment of the mega-blockbuster sci-fi epic, Avatar. We once again catch up with the Sully clan in their quest to liberate their world from human colonization, this time with the added wrinkle of a new Na'vi threat. The gang is all here: Jake, Neytiri, their kids, Quaritch, and our boy Payakan, but is Fire and Ash a worthy successor to The Way of Water? Or is it just treading the Pandoran seas? Tune in and find out.

en

00:36:13

"Wake Up Dead Man"

The Strange Harbors Podcast ·

2025/12/17

This week, we review the third film in the whodunnit series of Benoit Blanc mysteries: Wake Up Dead Man. After Knives Out and Glass Onion, director Rian Johnson returns to the reins of his favorite genre. We discuss the franchise's increasingly charismatic roster of secondary protagonists, the year of Josh O'Connor, and whether or not Johnson's penchant for heavy-handed topicality once again derails a Benoit Blanc tale.

en

00:51:17

"Wicked: For Good"

The Strange Harbors Podcast ·

2025/12/10

Last year's Wicked: Part One, despite its shortcomings, was bolstered by infectious energy, powerhouse performances, and bop-worthy songs. Can this year's followup, For Good, pull off the same magic trick again? Once again, our resident Wicked fan faces off with the two laymen of the podcast to review the second half of the hit adaptation.

en

00:45:03

"Die My Love"

The Strange Harbors Podcast ·

2025/12/03

Two of our hosts watch their first Lynne Ramsay film with Die My Love, a relationship thriller that tests the boundaries of expression with its D+ CinemaScore and divisive reactions. In Die My Love, new mother Grace (Jennifer Lawrence) molds away at home while her aloof husband Jackson (Robert Pattinson) is at work. With only her baby, a barking dog, and her own thoughts to keep her company, she begins to unravel. We discuss its mixed reception, the economics of auteurism, and dive deeper into our

en

00:37:25

"Frankenstein"

The Strange Harbors Podcast ·

2025/11/20

Guillermo del Toro's long-gestating passion project, Frankenstein, is here. Perhaps one of the famed Mexican filmmaker's greatest influences, Mary Shelley's horrifying creature once again graces the big screen, this time with del Toro's signature, gothic sensibilities. We discuss the monster's history, its many adaptations, and review its latest incarnation.

en

00:47:21

"Bugonia"

The Strange Harbors Podcast ·

2025/11/13

After our Luca Guadagnino episode, we are continuing our coverage of director in their "pump 'em out" phase with Yorgos Lanthimos' third film in as many years — Bugonia. Once again re-teaming with his muse Emma Stone, Lanthimos delivers an uproarious, mean-spirited conspiracy thriller. We discuss director jail, an updated rundown of Lanthimos' filmography, and a review of the film.

en

00:44:04

"After the Hunt"

The Strange Harbors Podcast ·

2025/11/05

Luca Guadagnino directs his third movie in two years with After the Hunt. A "cancel culture" drama set in 2019, Guadagnino's latest collides academia with an attempted snapshot of the #MeToo era. Will it complete a barn burner trifecta after Challengers and Queer last year? Or is 2025 too late to put the finger on the pulse of 2019? Tune in and find out.

en

00:51:36

What We're Watching, Fall 2025

The Strange Harbors Podcast ·

2025/10/28

As we head into a jam-packed end of 2025, we give a refreshed list of what we're looking forward to, plus a little rundown of what we've been watching on both the big and small screens. Some topics from our lowkey hangout episode: HBO's Peacemaker, Alien: Earth, The Smashing Machine, and a rundown of New York Film Festival.

en

00:27:01

"The Long Walk"

The Strange Harbors Podcast ·

2025/10/17

Short and sweet episode this week as Derek is on a much-deserved vacation. Jeff and Amir give a quick review of The Long Walk, the latest Stephen King adaptation. A movie that grew with its buzz, it features some of the best performances of the year in Cooper Hoffman and David Jonsson, but is it enough to carry its relatively simple premise for 108 minutes? Plus, an in-depth discussion of a long history of Stephen King movies.

en

01:00:00

"One Battle After Another"

The Strange Harbors Podcast ·

2025/10/05

"No fear. Like Tom f---ing Cruise." One Battle After Another is Paul Thomas Anderson like you've never seen him before. Gripping you from the first second of its barnburner opening montage, Anderson synthesizes his typical mastery of emotional stakes with the very unexpected: action chops. We discuss his love for Terminator 2, another all-timer Leonardo DiCaprio performance, and the star turn of one Chase Infiniti. Even middle-of-the-road PTA is good enough for a spot in the best of the decade

en

00:42:26

"Highest 2 Lowest"

The Strange Harbors Podcast ·

2025/09/26

This week we review Highest 2 Lowest, Spike Lee's brazen remake of the 1963 black and white Akira Kurosawa classic, High and Low. A divisive movie with its own modern mind apart from its predecessor, Highest 2 Lowest split audiences at Cannes this year and has now split us on the podcast as well. Akira Kurosawa at the height of his power or Spike Lee's late style curio? We talk about aging masters, baffling scores, and Lee's storied oeuvre as a whole.

en

306 results

Similar Podcasts

3 MOVIES THAT CHANGED YOUR LIFE

Stuart Wright

Place to Be Nation POP Experience

Place To Be Nation Pop Experience

Film at Lincoln Center Podcast

Film at Lincoln Center

Pilot TV

Empire Magazine

Sons of a Gunn: A DC Podcast

Comic Book Club