Tomorrow, our intrepid podcasters Glenn and Daniel venture to an actual theater to check out The Interview. But we don’t expect we’ll have nearly as much to say as we did about two end-of-the-year awards contenders. First, we experience our first Angelina Jolie-directed film, the WWII survival drama, Unbroken. Then we venture into a refreshingly dark and complex take on the sports genre, Foxcatcher, featuring a terrifying and transformative performance from Steve Carell. Strap in and enjoy this holiday double-header – we certainly did! (57:44)

May contain NSFW language.

FilmWonk rating (Unbroken): 4 out of 10
FilmWonk rating (Foxcatcher): Daniel – 10/10, Glenn – 9/10

Show notes:

• [02:27] Review: Unbroken
• [13:31] Spoilers: Unbroken
• [26:35] Review: Foxcatcher
• [39:45] Spoilers: Foxcatcher
• [56:09] Holiday blooper. We’re not proud.
• Music for tonight’s episode is the track “Miracles” by Coldplay, from the soundtrack to Unbroken, followed by “Fame” by David Bowie, from the Foxcatcher soundtrack.
• We referred to Kate Winslet‘s delightful self-parody on Extras. You can watch her scenes in full here, and the part where she talks about her motivation for making an award-worthy film starts at 03:19.
• As Daniel noted, the future of wrestling at the Olympics is somewhat in doubt. Under new cost-cutting rules, the IOC has adopted a system where 25 “core sports” would continue indefinitely at future Olympics – but “non-core” sports would be selected on a year-by-year basis. Wrestling was originally a core sport, but after the 2012 Olympics in London, the IOC voted to make wrestling a non-core sport. In September 2013, wrestling won the bid as a non-core sport, so it will appear in the 2020 Summer Olympics.
• Mark Schultz did indeed go on to fight at UFC 9.

Listen above, or download: Unbroken, Foxcatcher (right-click, save as, or click/tap to play on a non-flash browser)

Foxcatcher, Unbroken, Angelina Jolie, Steve Carell, Jack O’Connell, Miyavi, Domhnall Gleeson, Movies, Podcast