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Cinema Effect · May 4 · 1 hr 3 min

#292 - Is This Thing On?

We may have unfortunately lost a good chunk of the opening of this episode to technical issues, but that was not going to stop us from diving into Is This Thing On? (2025), the latest film from master auteur Bradley Cooper. The big question going in, can he make a movie that isn't awards bait? Following a struggling New York couple at a crossroads, the story centres on Will Arnett’s character as he unexpectedly tries his hand at stand up comedy while navigating a fractured relationship with Laura Dern. With a low budget indie feel and Searchlight Pictures backing, the film leans into an intimate New York setting that we were immediately on board with. Arnett’s naive charisma makes him an engaging lead, while Cooper shows up in a performance that feels self aware and slightly parodic. We get into whether the writing around the central relationship and its resolution fully lands. Then after the review, we break down ours and your least favourite comedians. Join a crew of wannabe film critics review a different movie every week, and discuss other nonsense. Listen to new episodes every Monday. Record your own podcasts with Zencastr at https://zencastr.com/?via=cinemaeffect to get 30% off today. Timestamps ;) 0:00 - Intro 00:36 - Is This Thing On? Review 35:40 - News Chat 42:54 - Question Of The Week

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We may have unfortunately lost a good chunk of the opening of this episode to technical issues, but that was not going to stop us from diving into Is This Thing On? (2025), the latest film from master auteur Bradley Cooper. The big question going in, can he make a movie that isn't awards bait? Following a struggling New York couple at a crossroads, the story centres on Will Arnett’s character as he unexpectedly tries his hand at stand up comedy while navigating a fractured relationship with Laura Dern. With a low budget indie feel and Searchlight Pictures backing, the film leans into an intimate New York setting that we were immediately on board with. Arnett’s naive charisma makes him an engaging lead, while Cooper shows up in a performance that feels self aware and slightly parodic. We get into whether the writing around the central relationship and its resolution fully lands. Then after the review, we break down ours and your least favourite comedians.


Join a crew of wannabe film critics review a different movie every week, and discuss other nonsense. Listen to new episodes every Monday.


Record your own podcasts with Zencastr at https://zencastr.com/?via=cinemaeffect to get 30% off today.


Timestamps ;)

0:00 - Intro

00:36 - Is This Thing On? Review

35:40 - News Chat

42:54 - Question Of The Week

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