The Strange Harbors Podcast

Jan 31 2025 241 ep. 50 mins 198

The Strange Harbors Podcast artwork

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.

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The Most Anticipated Films of 2025

Jan 31 2025 49 mins

As per tradition, we follow up the best of 2024 with our Most Anticipated Films of 2025 episode as Jeff, Derek, and Amir list what's got them excited going into the new year. Running the gamut of indie gems to the massive blockbusters, tune in to find out what's on our hotlist for 2025!

The Best Films of 2024

Jan 21 2025 82 mins

Another year of cinema in the rear view as we count down our personal top tens of 2024. A year that highlighted the limits of accessibility for some of its best films, 2024 gave us the most varied lists we've ever had on the show with showings across all genres. What made Jeff, Derek, and Amir's lists? What were honorable mentions? Tune in and find out.

"Juror #2"

Jan 09 2025 37 mins

At 94-years young, Clint Eastwood is still going strong with his latest meat-and-potatoes legal thriller, Juror #2. Featuring a murderers' row of actors and a premise to die for, is Eastwood's latest just a redux of your dad's favorite movie from the mid 90s? Or is there something more than meets the eye?

"Nosferatu"

Jan 04 2025 43 mins

Happy new year! We ring in 2025 by reviewing podcast favorite filmmaker Robert Eggers' latest historical horror: his grim vision of the vampire classic, Nosferatu. We talk vampires, Dracula, and Eggers' slavish devotion to granular detail. Does it continue his streak of bracing period terror, or is it more of a hindrance this time around? Tune in and find out.

"Anora"

Dec 19 2024 35 mins

This week, we review Cannes and awards season darling Anora. Another exploration of director Sean Baker's working class milieus, this story of a fiery stripper who falls in with an immature son of Russian oligarch is a barnburner showcase for Mikey Madison, Mark Eydelshteyn, and Yura Borisov. Does it live up to its festival hype?

"The Beast"

Dec 15 2024 46 mins

For better or worse, Bertrand Bonello's The Beast is one of the most memorable movies of 2024. A discombobulating sci-fi trip through time that stars Lea Seydoux and George Mackay, it explodes the kernel of loneliness at the center of Henry James' 1903 novella - The Beast in the Jungle - into something much more...perplexing.

"Gladiator II" and "Wicked"

Dec 06 2024 54 mins

2024's challenger to last year's "Barbenheimer" phenomenon is here in the form of the Gladiator II and Wicked double feature. We review both highly anticipated films, and our discussion just might surprise you! Tune in and find out!

"Conclave"

Nov 22 2024 39 mins

This week we review Edward Berger's Conclave, a papal conspiracy thriller in the guise of a serious business, hiding a goofed-up B-movie underneath. We talk about its twists and turns, its murderers' row of a cast, and its absolutely preposterous ending. Will this make our best-of-the-year lists? Tune in and find out!

"A Different Man"

Nov 15 2024 40 mins

This week, we review Aaron Schimberg's under-the-radar indie darling, A Different Man, an unlikely companion piece to this year's The Substance and may even overtake it as the essential 2024 text on self-hatred and the self-wounding blade of wish fulfillment. Effortlessly smart without an ounce of ostentatious force, this is a movie with a million layers underneath its cruel, nasty

"Red Rooms"

Nov 08 2024 39 mins

This week we review Pascal Plante's Red Rooms, an under-the-radar indie that's taken the horrorsphere by storm. A serial killer thriller that finds power in its restraint and shocking prescience, Red Rooms is an evil — yet vital — film to understand the stranglehold of postmodern, screen-abetted detachment. We discuss our culture of macabre obsessions, parasocial madness, and g