OUR RATING:
A Podcast for People Who Can’t Let Go
Did the world desperately need another podcast where more middle-aged film bros explaining why “Heat” is actually the greatest cinematic achievement since the invention of the camera? Probably not. Nevertheless, this show has carved out a good spot for itself amidst the tidal wave of movie podcasts available to your greedy little ears.
“The Rewatchables,” is a podcast dedicated to dissecting movies that people apparently can’t stop watching. You know those people. Maybe you’re even one of them, i.e. you’re convinced that the forty-seventh time rewatching “The Shawshank Redemption” will somehow yield a new and profound understanding of life.
Hosted by Bill Simmons and a rotating cast of The Ringer’s finest, this podcast operates on the revolutionary premise that talking about scenes you’ve already seen hundreds of times somehow enhances your life. The hosts discuss films with the wide-eyed enthusiasm of people who’ve just discovered that water is wet or that Christopher Nolan likes to make things complicated. Each episode features categories like “Most Rewatchable Scene” and “What’s Aged the Worst,” because apparently these movies need to be taxonomized like rare insects.
The podcast thrives on nostalgia, that warm blanket we wrap ourselves in to avoid confronting new art that might challenge us. Why experience something fresh and unknown when you can listen to grown adults debate whether Denzel Washington’s swagger in “Training Day” deserves its own national holiday? The hosts reminisce about these films with such reverence you’d think they were discussing sacred religious texts rather than “Point Break.”
What’s equal parts remarkable and at times baffling is the hosts’ ability to transform a two-hour movie into a three-hour discussion without contributing a single original insight. They excel at stating the obvious with the confidence of someone revealing the secrets of the universe. “You know what makes ‘Die Hard’ good? The action scenes.” Groundbreaking analysis, truly. Someone get these folks a Pulitzer.
It’s a delicate balancing act, really, making listeners feel like they’re part of an exclusive club while also reminding them they’re not nearly obsessive enough to qualify as true cinephiles.
Perhaps the most charming aspect of the podcast is the hosts’ conviction that their subjective opinions are objective facts. “This movie is empirically better than that movie because I said so” seems to be the underlying philosophy. When a host declares “The Godfather” superior to “Goodfellas,” you can almost hear them expecting the Vatican to issue a formal statement confirming this as doctrine.
The podcast does deserve credit for one thing: its ability to make you feel better about your own movie-watching obsessions. Sure, you might watch “The Princess Bride” every Christmas, but at least you’re not recording a podcast breaking down Westley’s sword techniques for three hours. There’s always someone further down the rabbit hole, and The Rewatchables serves as a comforting reminder of this fact.
In the end, “The Rewatchables” is the audio equivalent of comfort food, familiar, satisfying in the moment, and likely to leave you feeling a bit empty afterward. It’s for people who want to feel intellectual about their pop culture consumption without doing the work of developing actual critical thinking skills. But hey, at least it gives you something to listen to while you rewatch “The Social Network” for the twentieth time. (Don’t get me wrong, I loved that freakin’ movie… and the soundtrack? Perfection.
Where to listen to The Rewatchables
Episodes.fm | Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Overcast | Pocket Casts | Castro