Mindframe(s)

About Mindframe(s)

Each week Dave and Michael talk about film and where it fits in the larger social story.

Publisher

Dave Canfield and Michael Cockerill

Category

arts · tv & film

Language

en

Explicit

No

First episode

26 Oct 2018

Latest episode

1 Aug 2026

Latest episodes

122 episodes in the feed.

1. 

   1 Aug 2026

   Spider-Man: Brand New Day

   Spider-Man: Brand New Day (2026) Directed by: Destin Daniel Cretton Written by: Chris McKenna & Erik Sommers (based on the Marvel comic by Stan Lee & Steve Ditko) Starring: Tom Holland, Zendaya, Sadie Sink, Jacob Batalon, Jon Bernthal, Michael Mando, Mark Ruffalo, Liza Colón-Zayas, Florence Pugh IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt22084616/ Episode Summary In this episode of Mindframes, Michael and Dave discuss Spider-Man: Brand New Day (2026), a soft-reboot superhero film that finds Peter Parker fighting crime full-time in a New York that no longer remembers he exists. The discussion explores whether the film's quieter, more introspective first act successfully re-energizes a fatigued genre, the wisdom of internalizing Spider-Man's central struggle as his own spider-DNA begins to take over ("spider puberty"), and a plot the hosts agree is overstuffed with characters and motivations. Along the way: Jon Bernthal's softened Punisher, Sadie Sink's tangential villain, an unnecessary Hulk, and some of the most aggressive BMW product placement either host can remember. Reference points include Sam Raimi, The Empire Strikes Back, and the boring-superhero cautionary tales of Superman Returns and Man of Steel. On-air verdicts: Dave — 4/5. Michael — 3/5. (Dave really enjoyed it; Michael landed mixed — "10% greatness, 90% mid" — praising the third act while faulting the loaded first two.) Thematic Discussion Spider-Man: Brand New Day explores loneliness, and the idea that community is vulnerability. The film suggests that even with superhuman strength, no one gets through isolation alone — that reaching out, being earnest, and letting people back in is the actual work, and the only real cure. Peter erased himself from everyone he loved to keep them safe; the film argues that choice was the wound, not the protection. Both hosts landed on the thematic point being earned: the melancholy is felt, the reconnection with Ned and MJ is left meaningfully ambiguous rather than reset, and Sadie Sink's character works as a dark-mirror counterpoint — the same loss, but a person who pushes everyone away instead. Timestamps Time Segment 00:00 Intro & setup 02:59 The soft reboot: smart move or gimmick? 07:28 Jon Bernthal's Punisher 10:55 The cast: Ned, the villains, a Benedict Wong tangent 14:36 Technical analysis: look, sound, pacing & product placement 24:02 An overstuffed plot and thin villain motivation 25:43 Director context: Raimi, Empire, and Cretton's roots 27:27 Spoiler-free verdicts 35:18 Spoiler section begins 35:29 Thematic deep dive: loneliness & connection as vulnerability 39:16 Is the ending earned? The Ned handshake debate 43:51 Set design, Jean Grey as counterpoint, "I'm both" 48:34 The banya scene: playing with vulnerability 53:41 Closing thoughts & what's next Films & Directors Mentioned Sam Raimi / the Raimi Spider-Man films The Empire Strikes Back Destin Daniel Cretton — Short Term 12, Just Mercy, Shang-Chi Superman Returns, Man of Steel, Godzilla (the "boring superhero" cautionary tales) Bryan Singer — X-Men, X2, Apt Pupil Supergirl, Fantastic Four Iron Man & Watchmen (iconic mask removals) Doctor Strange (Benedict Wong) Baby Driver, The Odyssey, Weapons, Marco Polo, Breaking Bad, Stranger Things Contact Web: https://mindframesfilm.com Facebook: Mindframes Network: Now Playing Network Email: info@mindframesfilm.com

2. 

   24 Jul 2026

   Episode 122 - The Odyssey

   The Odyssey (2026) Directed by: Christopher Nolan Written by: Christopher Nolan Starring: Matt Damon, Anne Hathaway, Tom Holland, Robert Pattinson, Charlize Theron, Samantha Morton, Zendaya, Lupita Nyong'o, Elliot Page, John Leguizamo, Benny Safdie, Jon Bernthal, Himesh Patel, Mia Goth, Bill Irwin, Travis Scott IMDB: [IMDB LINK] Episode Summary In this episode of Mindframes, Michael and Dave discuss The Odyssey (2026), Christopher Nolan's three-hour adaptation of Homer — a $250 million epic and the first narrative feature shot entirely on IMAX 70mm. The discussion covers Nolan as an auteur and whether the "never made a bad movie" claim holds up, the practical-effects approach to the Cyclops and Circe, the deliberately cold Northern palette imposed on the Mediterranean, Ludwig Göransson's score, and an ensemble so large the hosts concede they can't get to everyone. After the ratings, the spoiler section turns to the film's central choice: the Olympian gods have been removed while the monsters remain, and what that does to Odysseus' moral agency. Comparisons range across Nolan's own filmography, Troy, The Northman, and the sword-and-sandal epics of the 1950s and '60s. Reviews Michael: 4.5 / 5 — came out thinking four, and it has only grown in his esteem since. Praises the baseline of visual and musical quality, Damon working better as a lead than expected, and a supporting cast that carries every stop on the journey. Docks it for a cast so crowded it distracts, and for an ending too in love with its own moralism. Dave: 4.5 / 5 — would watch it again in a heartbeat. Calls it a film that grabs hold of empire, heroism, reverence, and humility all at once, and rates the separation of gods from monsters as pitch perfect. His one dent in the fender: the film plays a little episodic, a series of very large encounters rather than a single build. Thematic Discussion The Odyssey removes the Olympians but keeps the monsters. Circe, the Sirens, and the Cyclops are all simply part of the natural world here; it's Athena and Zeus who stay shadowy and inferred. Michael's reading is that this absence exists to hand moral agency back to Odysseus — if the gods were visibly steering, his guilt over the Trojan Horse wouldn't be his to carry. That guilt is framed through xenia, the Greek code of hospitality. Odysseus offered a gift that turned out to be murder, and comes to believe that breaking that norm is what set his civilization's collapse in motion. The hosts draw the parallel to the erosion of political and social norms in contemporary America, and to the film's closing turn — the Bronze Age is ending because of the Sea Peoples, and the Greeks realize they are the Sea Peoples. The episode's central disagreement is over Athena. Dave reads her as constructed: she wears the face of a priestess Odysseus watched his own men murder in her temple, and the film is showing how humans build gods out of guilt and the sense that something is sacred. Michael pushes back that the film sustains a genuine ambiguity — the idea that gods appear in human form is planted repeatedly, and the priestess is decapitated at the exact moment Athena's statue is, which leaves open that Odysseus may believe they killed a god. He points to the same ambiguity in the Cyclops' cry to Poseidon, which some of the crew claim to hear and neither Odysseus nor the audience does. Neither host resolves it, and both prefer it that way. Michael's position is that the ambiguity is the answer rather than the absence of one — something underpins their world that they don't fully see and are damaging anyway, whether that's Zeus and Poseidon or simply decency and the value of human life. Dave, arriving from a position of religious faith, says he likes that Odysseus has to live in the same uncertain world the rest of us do. The structural evidence they land on: Homer ends with a deus ex machina, Athena descending to stop the cycle of revenge. Nolan cuts it. Nobody intervenes, so Odysseus abdicates, gives the throne to Telemachus, and sails west with Penelope — a change that hands the ending's moral weight entirely to the man. Timestamps Time Segment 00:00 Intro & setup 05:08 Nolan's filmography — is he an auteur? 08:51 Practical filmmaking and visual style 09:37 IMAX 70mm and the limits of the format 14:40 Hoyte van Hoytema 17:16 Why the Mediterranean looks cold 19:39 Ludwig Göransson's score 25:20 Travis Scott, the bard, and the casting discourse 28:56 The ensemble 39:39 Reviews & ratings 49:56 Spoiler section begins 52:18 Xenia and the collapse of norms 54:50 The gods and moral agency 56:12 The Athena reveal 1:01:46 The case for ambiguity 1:05:03 "We're the Sea Peoples" 1:09:02 The ending Nolan changed 1:19:36 Final interpretation debate — are the gods there? 1:26:49 Closing thoughts Films & Directors Mentioned Memento — Christopher Nolan Inception — Christopher Nolan The Prestige — Christopher Nolan Interstellar — Christopher Nolan Dunkirk — Christopher Nolan Tenet — Christopher Nolan Oppenheimer — Christopher Nolan Troy The Northman Dune Saving Private Ryan Fruitvale Station — Ryan Coogler Creed — Ryan Coogler Black Panther — Ryan Coogler Sinners — Ryan Coogler Minority Report The Whale Anemone Disclosure Day — Steven Spielberg Barbie Michael John Ford and Monument Valley Hans Zimmer The sword-and-sandal epics of the 1950s and '60s Contact Web: https://mindframesfilm.com Facebook: Mindframes Network: Now Playing Network Email: info@mindframesfilm.com

3. 

   25 Jun 2026

   Episode 121 : Disclosure Day

   Mindframes Show Notes Episode 121 — Disclosure Day (2026) Directed by: Steven Spielberg Written by: David Koepp Starring: Emily Blunt, Josh O'Connor, Colin Firth, Colman Domingo, Eve Hewson, Wyatt Russell IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt15047880/ Special guest: Tarek Fayoumi (movieswithtarek.com), director of the Chicago Independent Film Critics. Episode Summary In this episode of Mindframes, Michael and Dave — joined by returning guest Tarek Fayoumi — discuss Disclosure Day (2026), Steven Spielberg's return to the alien genre and his first big sci-fi swing since War of the Worlds. The conversation works through Spielberg's recurring obsessions (renegade heroes, shadowy government forces, ordinary people swept into something enormous), Janusz Kamiński's return to the diffused-light, lens-flare look, and John Williams' 30th collaboration with the director — before splitting hard over whether the film's hopeful thesis actually lands. Comparisons run from Close Encounters of the Third Kind, E.T., and War of the Worlds to Contact, Minority Report, and Coppola's Megalopolis as a fellow "late master with something to say." Verdicts split three ways: Michael 2.5/5, Dave 3/5, Tarek 4/4. Thematic Discussion Disclosure Day asks whether an undeniable, truthful image can still unite people in a cynical age — Brian Tallerico's "undeniable image" framing, run through the show's central question: not is there proof? but does proof still work on us? Michael argues the truthful image isn't wounded but dead — a shared reality the film is nostalgic for, but one that no longer functions when people deny what they're shown. Dave counters that the film's real hope is empathy and human-to-human connection replacing the broken image, while conceding Spielberg doesn't earn that buy-in the way his early work did. The film ends not on a revelation but on Margaret turning to the camera, saying "Listen," and cutting to black — proof getting humanity to the threshold, with faith and empathy left to carry it the rest of the way. Timestamps Note: recording was split into two files; Part 2 times below assume the parts run continuously (Part 2 offset by ~50:03). Verify against the stitched audio. Time Segment 00:15 Intro & setup; welcoming guest Tarek Fayoumi 02:33 Spielberg as a director — recurring themes 03:21 Premise & the Wardex setup (spoiler-free) 08:43 Return to the alien genre vs. his recent dramas 10:01 Cinematography — Kamiński, lens flares, the "awe" look 28:12 John Williams' 30th collaboration; film & score preservation 31:17 Spoiler-free reviews begin 31:47 Michael's review (2.5/5) 38:47 Dave's review (3/5) 43:02 Tarek's review (4/4) ~45:10 Spoiler section begins ~45:42 The alien reveal & the decades of "disclosure" footage ~55:27 Thematic debate: empathy vs. the image ~56:08 "The truthful image is dead" — Michael's core position ~60:17 The ending: "Listen" and the cut to black ~74:31 Closing thoughts — can we still believe in a unifying image? ~74:56 Next episode tease Films & Directors Mentioned Close Encounters of the Third Kind (Steven Spielberg) E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (Steven Spielberg) War of the Worlds (Steven Spielberg) A.I. Artificial Intelligence (Steven Spielberg) Minority Report (Steven Spielberg) Jaws (Steven Spielberg) Schindler's List / Saving Private Ryan (Steven Spielberg) The Terminal / Catch Me If You Can (Steven Spielberg) The Fabelmans / West Side Story (Steven Spielberg) Jurassic Park / Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (David Koepp & Spielberg) Contact (Robert Zemeckis / Carl Sagan) Explorers (Joe Dante) 2001: A Space Odyssey (Stanley Kubrick) Megalopolis (Francis Ford Coppola) Super 8 (J.J. Abrams) Watching the Skies (Norwegian sci-fi) Poltergeist / Gremlins (Spielberg-produced, 1980s) The Outer Limits — "The Architects of Fear" Contact Web: https://mindframesfilm.com Facebook: Mindframes Network: Now Playing Network Email: info@mindframesfilm.com

Reach and audience

Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.

Apple Podcasts (US)

4.4 / 5

5 ratings

Spotify

5.0 / 5

1 ratings

Podcast Authority Score: 49 / 100

A composite of feed quality, social presence, YouTube performance and engagement. Read the methodology.

Quality

71

Social presence

0

YouTube

0

Engagement

68