Co-Host Bella Efstratis and Producer Sonja Mereu discuss the power of documentaries and how modern technology and ingenuity shaped some of 2025's most powerful films.

- The Alabama Solution

- The Perfect Neighbor

- Mr. Nobody Against Putin

These films are not only a masterclass in editing but also an important tool for empathy and a call to action. Let us know what you think of these films and your favorite documentary of 2025.

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You can keep up with Bella on Instagram @portraitofacinephile or Letterboxd
You can keep up with Nick: on Instagram @nicholasybarra, on Twitter (X) @nicholaspybarra, or on Letterboxd

Shout out to contributor and producer Sonja Mereu. A special thanks to Anselm Kennedy for creating Gimme Three's theme music. And another special thanks to Zoe Baumann for creating our exceptional cover art.

On this week’s episode, we honor one of the greatest comedic minds ever to grace the silver screen. Catherine O’Hara. In particular, we explore her wildly impressive improvisational collaborations with Christopher Guest. These films highlight some of the most impressive elements of O’Hara’s talents: her improv skills, her dramatic range, her world-building, and her overall magnetic star power.

• We start with the small-town mockumentary Waiting for Guffman, where O’Hara plays Sheila Albertson, a travel agent with big dreams of Broadway stages and Hollywood lights.
• Next, O’Hara plays Cookie Fleck in the iconic mockumentary about the highly competitive and cut-throat world of dog shows in Best In Show.
• Finally, Catherine O’Hara plays Marilyn Hack, a struggling actor looking to climb her way back up the ladder in the biting industry satire, For Your Consideration.

Let us know what you think of these films and what is your favorite Catherine O’Hara performance ever?

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Sign up for our Patreon for exclusive Bonus Content.

Follow the podcast on Instagram @gimmethreepodcast

You can keep up with Bella on Instagram @portraitofacinephile or Letterboxd
You can keep up with Nick: on Instagram @nicholasybarra, on Twitter (X) @nicholaspybarra, or on Letterboxd

Shout out to contributor and producer Sonja Mereu. A special thanks to Anselm Kennedy for creating Gimme Three's theme music. And another special thanks to Zoe Baumann for creating our exceptional cover art.

For Women’s History Month, the Gimme Three Podcast is spotlighting a filmmaker whose name was nearly lost to history: Alice Guy-Blaché.

Before Hollywood existed, before the language of cinema had even fully formed, one woman was already experimenting with storytelling on screen—directing hundreds of films and helping shape what movies could become.

So why don’t more people know her name?

In this episode, Nick and Bella explore three of Alice Guy-Blaché’s fascinating and wildly entertaining short films: Madame’s Cravings (1906), The Consequences of Feminism (1906), and A Fool and His Money (1912).

Along the way, they uncover the remarkable story of a filmmaker who was decades ahead of her time—pushing the boundaries of comedy, visual storytelling, and social satire in the earliest days of cinema.

More than a century later, these films are still funny, inventive, and clearly influential.

Join Nick and Bella as they rediscover the work of a true cinematic trailblazer—and ask how someone so important could almost disappear entirely from film history.

Also! Sonja Mereu's Movie Minute spotlights the great Chloé Zhao for her extraordinary work on Hamnet. For an instant mood boost, check out this video from her Hamnet set: https://www.tiktok.com/@focusfeatures/video/7597484850001612087

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Support the show

Sign up for our Patreon for exclusive Bonus Content.

Follow the podcast on Instagram @gimmethreepodcast

You can keep up with Bella on Instagram @portraitofacinephile or Letterboxd
You can keep up with Nick: on Instagram @nicholasybarra, on Twitter (X) @nicholaspybarra, or on Letterboxd

Shout out to contributor and producer Sonja Mereu. A special thanks to Anselm Kennedy for creating Gimme Three's theme music. And another special thanks to Zoe Baumann for creating our exceptional cover art.

Today, we celebrate the birthday of a tremendous actor who elevates every film that he’s in. Of course, we are talking about Mr. Oscar Isaac. In his prolific career, Isaac has helmed many blockbuster franchises. Still, he hasn’t shied away from layered, mysterious, and sometimes horrifying characters - those are the type of performances that we tackle in this week’s episode.

• We start with Oscar Isaac’s star-making performance as a struggling folk singer in the Coen Brothers’ Inside Llewyn Davis.
• Next, in what is perhaps Isaac’s most haunting and complex performance to date, he plays William Tell, a mysterious gambler with a nightmarish past in Paul Schrader’s The Card Counter.
• Finally, Isaac tackles a role that many great actors have tackled before: Victor Frankenstein. But in Guillermo Del Toro’s Frankenstein, Oscar Isaac breathes new life and pain into the iconic character.

Have you seen these films? Which is your favorite? What is your favorite Oscar Isaac film?

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Sign up for our Patreon for exclusive Bonus Content.

Follow the podcast on Instagram @gimmethreepodcast

You can keep up with Bella on Instagram @portraitofacinephile or Letterboxd
You can keep up with Nick: on Instagram @nicholasybarra, on Twitter (X) @nicholaspybarra, or on Letterboxd

Shout out to contributor and producer Sonja Mereu. A special thanks to Anselm Kennedy for creating Gimme Three's theme music. And another special thanks to Zoe Baumann for creating our exceptional cover art.

In the third and final installment of our Lord of the Rings episodes, co-host Nicholas Ybarra and producer Sonja Mereu discuss the epic finale to one of the most impactful trilogies in cinematic history.

Return of the King concludes the epic tales of Middle-earth, Frodo, Gollum, Gandalf, Samwise, and Aragorn.

Join us as we get Nicholas' final verdict on the trilogy and another gushing tale of love from Sonja. Also, hear loads of trivia and fun facts from Return of the King and the trilogy as a whole.

Have you seen Return of the King? Which Lord of the Rings film is your favorite?

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Support the show

Sign up for our Patreon for exclusive Bonus Content.

Follow the podcast on Instagram @gimmethreepodcast

You can keep up with Bella on Instagram @portraitofacinephile or Letterboxd
You can keep up with Nick: on Instagram @nicholasybarra, on Twitter (X) @nicholaspybarra, or on Letterboxd

Shout out to contributor and producer Sonja Mereu. A special thanks to Anselm Kennedy for creating Gimme Three's theme music. And another special thanks to Zoe Baumann for creating our exceptional cover art.

We return with our Lord of the Rings deep dive. This week, we explore the pulse-pounding second installment, The Two Towers. Peter Jackson and team raise the stakes, sharpen their skillset, and deliver a whollop of a sequel.

In this episode, co-host Nicholas Ybarra and producer Sonja Mereu discuss their favorite moments from the film, Andy Serkis's incredible performance as Gollum, and the painstaking effort the cast and crew put into making this film happen.

Where does The Two Towers rank for you? Is it your favorite Lord of the Rings film? Let us know!

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Support the show

Sign up for our Patreon for exclusive Bonus Content.

Follow the podcast on Instagram @gimmethreepodcast

You can keep up with Bella on Instagram @portraitofacinephile or Letterboxd
You can keep up with Nick: on Instagram @nicholasybarra, on Twitter (X) @nicholaspybarra, or on Letterboxd

Shout out to contributor and producer Sonja Mereu. A special thanks to Anselm Kennedy for creating Gimme Three's theme music. And another special thanks to Zoe Baumann for creating our exceptional cover art.

For the first time, the Gimme Three Podcast is slowing things down and taking it one movie at a time. Co-host Nick Ybarra and producer Sonja Mereu began their in-depth analysis of the Lord of the Rings Trilogy.

In this episode, we take a look at 2001's Fellowship of the Ring.

Peter Jackson's hypnotic and game-changing fantasy film broke the mold and set the stage for one of the most impactful trilogies ever made.

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Support the show

Sign up for our Patreon for exclusive Bonus Content.

Follow the podcast on Instagram @gimmethreepodcast

You can keep up with Bella on Instagram @portraitofacinephile or Letterboxd
You can keep up with Nick: on Instagram @nicholasybarra, on Twitter (X) @nicholaspybarra, or on Letterboxd

Shout out to contributor and producer Sonja Mereu. A special thanks to Anselm Kennedy for creating Gimme Three's theme music. And another special thanks to Zoe Baumann for creating our exceptional cover art.

Love is in the air… and it just might kill you. We’re celebrating Valentine’s Day early with a trio of unconventional love stories from the horror-romance genre.

The twisted sisters are back at it again. Special guest Jessica McLaughlin joins co-host Bella Efstratis to gush over some of our favorite monster love stories—films about obsession, intimacy, and connection that push romance to its most extreme ends. From vampires to werewolves to cannibals, there’s truly something—or someone—for everyone in this episode.

• Up first, Jess introduces Bill Gunn’s influential cult classic Ganja & Hess (1973), a hypnotic, genre-defying vampire love story unlike anything else.
  
  
• Next up is Good Manners (2017), a Brazilian dark fairytale about romance, motherhood, and what it really means to embrace your inner wolf.
  
  
• Finally, Bella brings us home with Luca Guadagnino’s Bones and All (2022), starring Taylor Russell and Timothée Chalamet as two star-crossed cannibals willing to fight for their love or die trying.

It’s a Valentine’s Day episode for anyone who likes their romance a little messy, a little dangerous, and very memorable. What's your go-to Valentine's Day movie? ❤︎⁠

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Support the show

Sign up for our Patreon for exclusive Bonus Content.

Follow the podcast on Instagram @gimmethreepodcast

You can keep up with Bella on Instagram @portraitofacinephile or Letterboxd
You can keep up with Nick: on Instagram @nicholasybarra, on Twitter (X) @nicholaspybarra, or on Letterboxd

Shout out to contributor and producer Sonja Mereu. A special thanks to Anselm Kennedy for creating Gimme Three's theme music. And another special thanks to Zoe Baumann for creating our exceptional cover art.