The Open Queue

Open Queue productions, LLc

A podcast where we talk about entertainment, pop cultural and the daily life of navigating the entertainment industry as a creative.

  1. 28/10/2025

    Cuffing Season, Cinema, and Compromise

    Send us a text Love doesn’t care about your boxes—but your boxes care a lot about love. We dive into the romance surge shaping film and TV, then get spicy about A24’s The Materialist: gorgeous images, heavy longing, and a pace that dares your attention span. Does a love‑vs‑security triangle work if the characters feel emotionally numb? We unpack why chemistry needs timing, why “attributes” aren’t intimacy, and how representation rings hollow when New York City is diverse in background shots but narrow at the center. Then we shift to Forever, a Judy Blume adaptation that actually breathes. Young love collides with ADHD, viral shame, and real parenting—stern yet soft, especially through a Black father who models boundaries without breaking his kid. We talk about what the show gets right: the difference between effort and neurology, how social media amplifies stakes, and why TV’s longer runway often builds better romance than a two‑hour film can. We also revisit Love & Basketball with older eyes, naming both the magic and the mess. From Definitely, Maybe to The Big Sick and But I’m a Cheerleader, we share the rom‑coms that still land—and what they teach about maintenance, compromise, and the myth of the perfect plan. The thread through it all: love is work, not a checklist. If your “non‑negotiables” are really armor, you may be protecting yourself from the very thing you want. Enjoy the conversation, then tell us your GOAT romance or the one hot take you’re ready to defend. Subscribe, leave a rating, and share this with someone who needs a little hope—and a nudge to drop one box on their list.

    1h 1m
  2. 14/10/2025

    From Highest to Lowest: Creativity vs. Conglomerates

    Send us a text The headlines won’t stop: a rumored Paramount–Warner tie-up, whispers that Oracle could take over TikTok. We dig into what consolidation really does to creativity—why too many layers stall bold ideas, how “safe bets” become a reflex, and where small studios and scrappy teams still break through. From there, we pivot to the power of personal taste: a child’s K‑pop phase that becomes pure joy, and Demon Slayer’s Infinite Castle as a reminder that great craft cracks open empathy, even for villains we’re primed to hate. That empathy thread leads us into Spike Lee’s Highest 2 Lowest. We wrestle with the film’s split identity: a rich tribute to New York and Black culture—yet undercut by a score mixed so loud it bulldozes nuance. We unpack the central dilemma (pay to free your driver’s kidnapped child or protect the company), the social-media engine that turns a crime into clout, and the line that anchors the film: “All money isn’t good money.” There’s praise for Denzel Washington and Jeffrey Wright, debate over stage-play choices on screen, and a candid look at how monologues and cameos affect pacing and tone. We widen the lens to A24: can the indie king scale into music, theater, and maybe games without sanding off its edges? We highlight favorites—from Ex Machina and Green Room to Minari, Past Lives, and Everything Everywhere All at Once—and the studio’s knack for pairing culturally specific stories with universal stakes. Then we get practical: festival strategy beyond blind submissions, shorter theatrical windows and word-of-mouth runs, co-productions, and decentralized funding models that are quietly shipping real films. Underneath it all is a simple choice creatives face daily: guard your taste, or let the market make it for you. If this conversation hits your brain and your gut, follow the show, share it with a friend, and leave a quick review. Tell us: which indie film deserved more love, and where do you think the line is between growth and selling out? Your take might fuel our next deep dive.

    52 min

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A podcast where we talk about entertainment, pop cultural and the daily life of navigating the entertainment industry as a creative.