The Long Take Review

Jen Sopchockchai Bankard
  • 4.6 (10)
  • Film Reviews
  • Updated Weekly

Four college professors talk film — providing insight, not assigning homework. thelongtake.substack.com

  1. May 27

    The Mandalorian and Grogu Review

    The Internet can’t seem to decide if The Mandalorian and Grogu is actually doing well at the box office so far. Many news article frame the opening weekend as a failure, saying it is a “disappointment” that hits a “series low.” Meanwhile, other articles have crowned the action adventure film as the winner of the long weekend. According to box office analyst Scott Mendelson, the early performance of The Mandalorian and Grogu resembles Solo: A Star Wars Story, but, importantly, has a much smaller budget hurdle because it didn’t have all of the production turmoil that Solo did. Solo had to recoup a $275 million budget while Mando and Grogu needs to surpass $165 million to break even. This is all to say that while this film likely won’t compete with bigger hits from this year like Project Hail Mary, it’s still going to do “fine.” But will any of its moderate success be deserved? That’s the big question we debate on this episode of The Long Take Review. And to help us assess what many critics call a glorified television episode, Star Wars author and podcaster Dan Zehr joins us to discuss the questions of audience, story, character development, and Star Wars mythology that surround baby Yoda’s first movie. Dan also shares some insights he has gained from his experience attending the Hollywood premiere and interviewing the creators behind the film. You can find Dan and all his amazing work at coffeewithkenobi.com. We go into SPOILER MODE at the 33:52 minute mark. If spoilers are not party of your bounty hunter assignment, you can listen safely until then. Image Credit: IndieWire You can listen to The Long Take Review on Substack, Spotify, Apple, YouTube, or wherever you get your podcasts. All music licensed through Epidemic Sound. Logo art: Illustration 73265080 © Worldofvector | Dreamstime.com Get full access to The Long Take at thelongtake.substack.com/subscribe

    2h 8m

  2. May 20

    Star Wars Movie Rankings

    Star Wars is about to return to cinemas with Jon Favreau’s The Mandalorian and Grogu, which is just days away from its opening weekend. To celebrate Star Wars on the big screen, and, frankly, to calm our nerves as we restlessly await the new film, we recorded an extra long take in which we rank all twelve films from the franchise that were released in theaters. (In case your math is not mathing, we included the 2008 animated film The Clone Wars.) For an added challenge, we forced (no pun intended) ourselves to come to a consensus to build one ranked list together. Where will we agree? Where will we put up a fight? And how will our micro-generational differences manifest in our individual placement proposals? Listen to find out as we start at the bottom and work our way to the top. We’d also love to hear your rankings! So please feel free to drop those in the comments. Image Credit: Star Wars News Net You can listen to The Long Take Review on Substack, Spotify, Apple, YouTube, or wherever you get your podcasts. All music licensed through Epidemic Sound. Logo art: Illustration 73265080 © Worldofvector | Dreamstime.com Get full access to The Long Take at thelongtake.substack.com/subscribe

    2h 60m

  3. May 11

    The Devil Wears Prada 2 Review

    Strike a pose and prepare your finest fit montage because we’re reviewing The Devil Wears Prada 2! Having looked back at the original film last week, Greg, P.T., and I size up one of the most anticipated sequels of the summer movie season. What surprised us about this reunion 20 years later? What delighted us? And how might this film be the perfect encapsulation of life, media, and technology in 2026? Follow us down the runway to find out. We go into SPOILER MODE at the 27:30 minute mark. If spoilers are not your style, you can listen safely until then. Image Credit: LA Times You can listen to The Long Take Review on Substack, Spotify, Apple, YouTube, or wherever you get your podcasts. All music licensed through Epidemic Sound. Logo art: Illustration 73265080 © Worldofvector | Dreamstime.com Get full access to The Long Take at thelongtake.substack.com/subscribe

    1h 51m

  4. May 5

    The Devil Wears Prada (2006) Review

    Gird your loins! The first movie of the summer movie season, The Devil Wears Prada 2, is in theaters now. To prepare for our review, we wanted to turn back the clock twenty years and revisit (or, for some of us, watch for the first time) the original film starring Meryl Streep, Anne Hathaway, Stanley Tucci, and Emily Blunt. What feels dated? What holds up? Is this the Meryl Streep show or an ensemble film? Does Miranda Priestly’s behavior make us smile or call HR? Join us for a fashionably long conversation. (We’re sorry, do you have some prior commitment? Some hideous skirt convention you have to go to?) Since The Devil Wears Prada is a vintage design, we get into spoilers pretty quickly. You can catch the film on Disney+ or Hulu and then come back in style with us after you’ve seen it. Image Credit: IndieWire You can listen to The Long Take Review on Substack, Spotify, Apple, YouTube, or wherever you get your podcasts. All music licensed through Epidemic Sound. Logo art: Illustration 73265080 © Worldofvector | Dreamstime.com Get full access to The Long Take at thelongtake.substack.com/subscribe

    1h 43m

  5. Apr 24

    The Thin Red Line with Anthony King on the LTR Guest List

    When Oscar nerds think back to the 71st Academy Awards, they remember Shakespeare in Love, which won seven Oscars, Saving Private Ryan, which won five, and maybe Life is Beautiful, which won 3. (I still remember actor/director Roberto Benigni climbing on the seats to get to the stage when his film won in what is now the International Feature category.) Too often, though, people forget that the same year Spielberg’s film about WWII Normandy hit big at the box office, another epic war drama with a large, star-studded ensemble came out that year: Terrence Malick’s The Thin Red Line. Luckily, friend of the show and host of the Force Ghost Conversations podcast, Anthony King, joins us on this LTR Guest List episode to rescue Malick’s work from history. He shares his wealth of knowledge about WWII and behind the scenes stories of the film’s production as we dissect what can only described as a transcendental experience. How does Malick portray war differently than other filmmakers? Which young up and coming actor from the 90s did we enjoy best? And what’s going on with all the cutting to shots of nature or Miranda Otto? Army crawl with us as we traverse the many hills of this film. SPOILER WARNING: Unlike our regular reviews, LTR Guest List episodes will be in Spoiler Mode from the beginning so that our guests can feel as unencumbered as possible. So if you have not yet seen The Thin Red Line and do not want it spoiled, return to us after you’ve seen it. The Thin Red Line is currently available to rent or buy on platforms such as Apple TV, Amazon Prime, etc. The LTR Guest List is a special series in which we ask our friends to pick a movie – any movie – to discuss with us on air. If you’re a friend of the show and you have a movie you’d like to pitch, you can email us at thelongtakereview@gmail.com. Image Credit: RogerEbert.com You can listen to The Long Take Review on Substack, Spotify, Apple, YouTube, or wherever you get your podcasts. All music licensed through Epidemic Sound. Logo art: Illustration 73265080 © Worldofvector | Dreamstime.com Get full access to The Long Take at thelongtake.substack.com/subscribe

    2h 15m

  6. Apr 15

    The Drama Review

    For once, a trailer didn’t spoil the movie! The marketing materials for Kristoffer Borgli’s The Drama, playing in theaters now, have kept one big reveal fundamental to the plot of the film a secret. And considering it made $14 million its opening weekend and is currently at over $46 million worldwide, it seems as though that decision has paid off. Was it purely the intrigue and mystery of the plot that drove people to theaters? Or were its megawatt stars, Zendaya and Robert Pattinson, enough to draw them out of their homes? In this episode of The Long Take Review, Greg, P.T., and I try to dance around spoilers big and small while still helping those who have not yet seen it decide whether or not they would like it. Then we let loose and dive deep into an examination of what the film has to say about marriage, relationships, moral judgment, and memory. We go into SPOILER MODE at the 21:11 minute mark. If spoilers give you pre-wedding day jitters, pause your listening then. Image Credit: New York Times You can listen to The Long Take Review on Substack, Spotify, Apple, YouTube, or wherever you get your podcasts. All music licensed through Epidemic Sound. Logo art: Illustration 73265080 © Worldofvector | Dreamstime.com Get full access to The Long Take at thelongtake.substack.com/subscribe

    1h 42m

  7. Apr 12

    Quick Takes Catching Up on 2026 Movies

    Now that Oscar season has ended, we finally have a chance to catch our breath and talk about new movies in 2026! Greg and P.T. give their SPOILER-FREE takes on eight movies that they’ve enjoyed. So if you’re in the market for recommendations, but you don’t want to go into a spoilery deep dive with them, this episode is for you. They also managed to mention nearly every other movie that has been released, giving us a comprehensive sense of the broader theatrical and streaming landscape. Countdown their ranked picks to see what they think has been the best movie of the year so far! (Not including Project Hail Mary, which we reviewed a couple weeks ago when it came out.) Image Credit: The New York Times You can listen to The Long Take Review on Substack, Spotify, Apple, YouTube, or wherever you get your podcasts. All music licensed through Epidemic Sound. Logo art: Illustration 73265080 © Worldofvector | Dreamstime.com Get full access to The Long Take at thelongtake.substack.com/subscribe

    1h 42m

  8. Apr 1

    2026 Movie Hype Draft

    We might still be riding the high of Project Hail Mary’s massive success at the box office, but it really seems like 2026 might be a movie year defined by abundance. With multiple big, epic blockbusters from legendary directors and several actors putting out not one, but in some cases two or three movies in one year (Anne Hathaway has six!), it seems as though we will have nothing but choices. But what would we choose if we could only see five movies? That’s the premise of this episode of The Long Take Review: our annual Movie Hype Draft! Greg, P.T., and I take turns picking movies that we reasonably think will come out between now and the end of the year. What will we snatch up in the first round? What will we groan about when someone else gets something from our wish list? And what weird wild card picks will each of us make? Listen to find out, and then share what your roster would look like in the comments! [This episode is SPOILER FREE because we haven’t seen any of these movies yet, but if you keep scrolling after the thumbnail image in this post, you will see our complete rosters, which would spoil the episode. If you would prefer to learn each of our picks by listening first (and we highly recommend that!), wait until you’ve finished before you scroll down, review our draft picks, and then vote for your favorite line-up.] Image Credit: Entertainment Weekly, IMDB, LA Times, Reddit, and the Hollywood Reporter Jen’s Picks The Odyssey (Christopher Nolan) Behemoth! (Tony Gilroy) The Mandalorian and Grogu (Jon Favreau) All of a Sudden (Ryuske Hamaguchi) Narnia: The Magician’s Nephew (Greta Gerwig) P.T.’s Picks Dune: Part Three (Denis Villaneuve) Godzilla Minus Zero (Takashi Yamazaki) Wild Horse Nine (Martin McDonagh) Werwulf (Robert Eggers) Coyote vs. Acme (Dave Green) Greg’s Picks Disclosure Day (Steven Spielberg) The Adventures of Cliff Booth (David Fincher) Digger (Alejandro G. Iñárritu) Fjord (Cristian Mungiu) The Only Living Pickpocket In New York (Noah Segan) You can listen to The Long Take Review on Substack, Spotify, Apple, YouTube, or wherever you get your podcasts. All music licensed through Epidemic Sound. Logo art: Illustration 73265080 © Worldofvector | Dreamstime.com Get full access to The Long Take at thelongtake.substack.com/subscribe

    2h 16m
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Ratings & Reviews

4.6
out of 5
10 Ratings

About

Four college professors talk film — providing insight, not assigning homework. thelongtake.substack.com

Information

  • Creator
    Jen Sopchockchai Bankard
  • Years Active
    2023 - 2026
  • Episodes
    164
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © Jennifer Sopchockchai Bankard
  • Show Website
    The Long Take Review

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