Rafer Guzman

Jonah Hill returns to his slacker comedy roots as an overgrown man child who finds work as a babysitter in his most recent film entitled "The Sitter." Known for his hilarious roles in movies such as "Superbad" and "Knocked Up," Hill recently dropped some weight and starred next to Brad Pitt in "Moneyball." But the actor tries to bring back the laughs with his latest slapstick film. Takeaway Movie Date podcasters Rafer Guzman and Kristen Meinzer give us their critique.

Margaret Thatcher is known as the somewhat belligerent former prime minister of the United Kingdom, and a new film starring Meryl Streep looks into the life of this historic figure. "Iron Lady" follows Thatcher's life as the young daughter of a grocer to a one of the most powerful heads-of-state in a male dominated world. But is "Iron Lady" engaging enough to match the charismatic, strong-willed personality of Thatcher? Takeaway Movie Date podcasters Rafer Guzman and Kristen Meinzer tell us if this movie is worth a date.

Stephen Spielberg's adaptation of the Michael Morpurgo novel "War Horse," the adaptation of Jonathan Safran Foer's novel "Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close," and Cameron Crowe's "We Bought a Zoo" are slated to be this week's newly-released, big box office winners. "The Artist," which topped many years' best lists and has only been in a handful of theaters, also opens across the country this weekend. 

It's Christmas week, and Oscar season, which means lots and lots of movies. Our Movie Date podcasters try to cut through the muck and get to the quality films by looking at this week's releases. Find out what they think about the self-explanatory feel-good story "We Bought a Zoo," the new blockbuster "Mission Impossible — Ghost Protocol," the bestseller-turned-feature film "Girl With the Dragon Tattoo" and much more.

Three big movies come out this weekend as we head into the holidays: "Sherlock Holmes," "Mission Impossible" and "Carnage," a black comedy directed by Roman Polanski. Co-hosts of the Movie Date Podcast Kristen Meinzer and Rafer Guzman review this week's big releases.

Every Friday, The Takeaway looks at the weekend's new releases. Opening this weekend: slacker comedy "The Sitter" with Jonah Hill; and "New Year's Eve" starring Sarah Jessica Parker among many others. Rafer Guzman, film critic for Newsday, and Takeaway producer Kristen Meinzer, co-hosts of The Takeaway Movie Date podcast, give their recommendations on this weekend's new movies.

Want to subscribe to Movie Date? It's easy on the Movie Date iTunes page.

Who doesn't get chills when they hear the opening banjo riff to "Rainbow Connection"? That was the popular tune payed by a lovable Kermit the Frog in the original 'Muppet Movie' way back in 1979. This week, 'The Muppets' return to the screen after a long hiatus. When Muppet-master Jim Henson died in 1990, some thought these lovable puppets might be gone for good. But they got the whole band back together for a Muppets reunion, with help from Jason Segel and Amy Adams.

Takeaway 'Movie Date' podcasters Rafer Guzman and Kristen Meinzer take a trip down memory lane and talk about what the new installment of the series brings to the table.

It's the day before Thanksgiving, one of the biggest movie release dates of the year. Among the major releases this year is Martin Scorsese's ode to movie history, "Hugo," and "My Week with Marilyn," starring Michelle Williams and Kenneth Branagh. And of course, "The Muppets" which has everyone as eager to talk about music as they are about movies.

Yes, it's finally here; the first part of the last installment of the "Twilight" movies. And it's got everything the others didn't: vampire marriage, sex, pregnancy, baby monsters. Kristen and Rafer talk about the latest (and possibly greatest?) movie that all the tweens are talking about. What do a couple of grown adults think? They kind of liked it! Find out why in this week's podcast.

This week's big releases include the animated family film "Happy Feet 2," "The Descendants," starring George Clooney, and the eagerly awaited fourth Twilight movie "Breaking Dawn." Rafer Guzman, film critic for Newsday,and Kristen Meinzer, Takeaway culture producer, are co-hosts of the Movie Date podcast. They give their thoughts on the new movies this week.

This week's new movie releases include "Jack and Jill," starring Adam Sandler as both the title characters, "J. Edgar," with Leonardo DiCaprio as the original head of the FBI, and a smaller film by Lars Von Trier and starring Kirsten Dunst, called "Melancholia." 

This week's big new releases at the multiplex are "A Very Harold and Kumar Christmas in 3D," starring John Cho and Kal Pen; and "Tower Heist," starring Ben Stiller, Eddie Murphy, Alan Alda, Judd Hirsch, and Matthew Broderick. Rafer Guzman, film critic for Newsday,;and Kristen Meinzer, The Takeaway's culture producer, are co-hosts of The Takeaway’s Movie Date Podcast, and give their reviews of this week's new movies.

From "Hellraiser" to "Halloween," we are in the middle of scary movie season. To some that's a horror; to us, it's a delight. Movie Date podcast hosts Kristen Meinzer and Rafer Guzman gave us some of their favorite picks, and you did too. Combine those with the favorite options from our hosts, and you've got a set of truly hair-raising titles. Post your scream-inducing flicks here, if you dare. 

Want to subscribe to Movie Date? It's easy on the Movie Date iTunes page.

Newsday critic and Takeaway contributor, Rafer Guzman shares what pop music he's looking forward to this fall.

It brought in the big bucks, but did "Paranormal Activity 3" actually scare our intrepid movie date podcasters? Well, the review is mixed. Neither really lost any sleep about it, even though Kristen has a long history of being kept up by scary ("The Shining") and non-scary ("The Hulk") movies and TV shows. Unsurprisingly, the podcast turns into a discussion of Kristen and Rafer's favorite scary movies as well as a review of the latest blockbuster. 

Forget about classics — what are the odds for success when you're remaking a film that was cheesy the first time around? Well, depending on who you talk to, cheesy movies can be a good thing, especially if they involve Kevin Bacon. That's why the new version of "Footloose" will be judged with scrutiny. Kristen and Rafer discuss how it stacks up, from the soundtrack to the dance moves. 

This weekend, two of the season's biggest star vehicles are opening in theaters. "The Ides of March," with George Clooney as a distinctly pre-2008 Obama-like candidate, and Ryan Gosling as an idealistic campaign staffer. "Real Steel" stars Hugh Jackman as a boxer eight years in the future, when robot boxing has replaced actual human boxing as America's favorite bloodsport.