The Kick
284 episodes - English - Latest episode: 20 days ago - ★★★★★ - 42 ratingsGo on a themed movie kick with host Chance Solem-Pfeifer. We're currently on Kick #2 ... Sports Romances. Seven episodes leading up to the release of "Challengers."
Homepage Apple Podcasts Google Podcasts Overcast Castro Pocket Casts RSS feed
Episodes
'Wildlife' (feat. Paul Dano) | Episode 108
November 01, 2018 16:47 - 38 minutes - 52.8 MBWhen the guys heard about Paul Dano's directorial debut, "Wildlife," they both admitted to pre-judging it as good-bad: a period piece, a troubled marriage, a child bearing witness to fighting. But much like the characters on screen, the film revealed itself to be much more nuanced than they had imagined. Today, we dive deep into this quiet Richard Ford adaptation and discuss the multitudes therein: a captivating Carey Mulligan, a simmering score, and a director clearly influenced by the great...
The Horror of John Carpenter (feat. Niela Orr and Andy Crump) | Episode 107
October 25, 2018 17:34 - 1 hour - 126 MBAt these dark times (read: Halloween, not the burning hellscape of our democracy, come on!) we look to the “Prince of Darkness” himself for frights and insights into the state of horror. This week, Chance and Noah watch and review John Carpenter’s “Halloween,” “The Fog” and “The Thing.” We’re joined by Andy Crump and Niela Orr to unpack articles they wrote for The Hollywood Reporter and The Ringer, respectively, about the legacy of 1978’s “Halloween” as it celebrates its 40th birthday and hit...
The State of the YA Adaptation (feat. Krystie Yandoli) | Episode 106
October 18, 2018 18:49 - 1 hour - 53.9 MBForget John Hughes and Freddie Prinze, Jr.! 2018 was a watershed year for high school movies as Hollywood has turned to best-selling YA novels to inform the future of "10 Things I Hate About You" and "Sixteen Candles." In this episode, Chance and Noah apply their maybe too lofty standards to "The Hate U Give," "Love, Simon" and "To All the Boys I've Loved Before." The guys break down all the racial fairy tales, internet hate crimes and the sex appeal of Peter Kavinsky, plus we welcome BuzzFee...
Reeled In: 'A Star Is Born' | Episode 105
October 11, 2018 16:08 - 32 minutes - 44.3 MBIn this special in-person episode recorded in a hotel room in Lincoln, Nebraska, Chance and Noah reunite to watch and review "A Star is Born." The guys discuss everything from the film's portrayal of pop music, what it means to be a songwriter, why the hell Dave Chappelle is in this movie, and how Bradley Cooper can play sweaty, drunk and sexy at the same time. While Chance believes this movie is the great Vanessa Carlton/Caleb Followill (Kings of Leon) love story that no one ever asked for, ...
Jukebox Heroes (feat. Ruthie Fierberg) | Episode 104
September 28, 2018 11:00 - 1 hour - 92.3 MBIt's not easy building a musical narrative from the pieces of one artist's catalogue. That's one thing Chance and Noah learned this week when they reviewed three jukebox musical movies: "Mamma Mia," "Rock of Ages," and "Across The Universe." In experiencing cinematic delivery systems for ABBA, The Beatles, and the worst of '80s rock, your hosts gained a little appreciation for the jukebox musical form while also struggling with some of its conventions. Luckily, Playbill editor Ruthie Fierberg...
Take Me To The River, Drop Me In The Water | Episode 103
September 17, 2018 17:32 - 1 hour - 74.8 MBIf you're looking for a late-summer/early-fall adventure, might we suggest NOT taking a rafting trip? Ample evidence of why rafting is a terrible idea is provided by classic river pictures "Deliverance" (1972), "The River Wild" (1994) and "Without a Paddle" (2004). Even if you have enough river savvy to navigate the white water of the Gauntlet or the burning marijuana fields of Oregon, you're definitely going to get picked off (or picked up) by the river hillbillies! Chance and Noah investiga...
'Crazy Rich Asians' feat. Vivian Lee | Episode 102
September 10, 2018 20:47 - 46 minutes - 53 MBIn this pseudo-mini pod (oops, it's long!) Chance and Noah watch and discuss the end of summer's biggest hit, "Crazy Rich Asians." It's the first major Hollywood movie to feature an all-Asian cast in 25 years, and your hosts are on hand to unpack its romantic comedy tropes, its visions of excess and cultural specificity, and to pick out some favorite players from this giant cast. While attempting not to get distracted by just how beautiful Henry Golding is, the guys analyze the difficult pede...
Sharks That Still Aren't 'Jaws' (feat. Caroline Moss) | Episode 101
August 23, 2018 05:37 - 1 hour - 84 MBBa da. Ba da. Bum bum bum bum bum. Just when you thought it was safe to go back to the movies, Hollywood (and China) releases a new shark picture—and it commands the summer box office! Chance and Noah use this as an opportunity (as if they needed a better reason) to talk Sharks that Aren’t “Jaws” one more time: this summer’s "The Meg", "Open Water" (2003) and Johannes Roberts’ "47 Meters Down” (2017). They’re joined by author and “The Meg” enthusiast Caroline Moss to explain the simple plea...
Director Interview: Rachel Dretzin on 'Far From The Tree'
August 17, 2018 07:08 - 23 minutes - 26.6 MBIn today's mini-episode, Chance talks to veteran documentarian Rachel Dretzin about her new film "Far From The Tree." They discuss her surprisingly close collaboration with bestselling author Andrew Solomon and how to be ethically curious when interviewing people with disabilities. "Far From The Tree" opens this weekend in select cities.
Mission ImPODible | Episode 100
August 09, 2018 14:54 - 1 hour - 108 MBWhat’s more impressive: that Tom Cruise is still making Mission: Impossible movies into his 50s or that Chance and Noah recorded 100 episodes of Be Reel? Feels like a toss-up, and reviewing all six MIs is our chosen victory lap. Inspired by the current box office hit, “Fallout”, Chance and Noah look to the Brian de Palma origins of the franchise, the John Woo growing pains, and the JJ Abrams-ification of the Cruise-produced series. Does Tom’s personal/tabloid life almost perfectly mirror th...
MI: Fallout, the Bathroom Brawl, and Ilsa Gets Her Due (feat. Sheryl Oh)
August 07, 2018 18:55 - 15 minutes - 18 MBIn this special prelude to our Mission: Impossible super show, Chance calls up Sheryl Oh. The Film School Rejects writer breaks down the character development and camera work that together make "Fallout" a new high point in the MI franchise. Then, Chance and Sheryl look backward at "Mission Impossible" and "MI2" and wonder when this series shifted genres. Read Sheryl's "Fallout" piece here: https://filmschoolrejects.com/how-mission-impossible-fallout-gets-immersive-action-right/
I'm Just Drawn That Way (feat. Gus Van Sant) | Episode 99
July 23, 2018 16:38 - 1 hour - 86.9 MBDo you ever stop and look at a New Yorker cartoon or a sardonic comic book and wonder, "Huh! I wonder what sort of deviant mind would create this"? Lucky for you, dear listener, there are at least three movies about such people--one fiction, two biopics. This week, with the release of Gus Van Sant's "Don't Worry, He Won't Get Far On Foot" (about the late John Callahan), Chance and Noah look at movies about cynical cartoonists: Harvey Pekar in "American Splendor" and fictional writing duo Hold...
Where The Wild Dads Are (feat. Debra Granik) | Episode 98
July 10, 2018 15:32 - 1 hour - 84.4 MBOh, dads! They love things like the great outdoors and mansplaining political movements. But where does one draw the line between normal dad and egomaniac, survivalist dad? Does your father rant about consumerism or the coming nuclear holocaust? Does he ship your family off to the jungle to act out a colonialist fantasy? On this episode of Be Reel, Chance and Noah look at movies about wild dads and their wild dad ways. From Harrison Ford in “Mosquito Coast” to Viggo Mortensen in “Captain Fant...
Reeled In: Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom | Episode 97.5
June 28, 2018 15:47 - 33 minutes - 38.2 MBFriends of the podcast and dear listeners, welcome to the Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom mini pod! The park is gone and the characters’ basic desires have been totally rewritten, but that won’t stop Universal from releasing another unholy beast of a movie for our viewing pleasure. Come along as Chance and Noah dissect how this movie fits (or doesn’t) into the JP Universe, as well as the new sci-fi ground this film endeavors to break. Pod will find a way!
The Game Is On (feat. Tag Brother Joe Tombari) | Episode 97
June 19, 2018 15:41 - 1 hour - 73.4 MBIt was Ben Franklin or George Bernard Shaw or someone who said, "We don't stop playing because we grow old; we grow old because we stop playing." Luckily, this also happens to be a Be Reel tailor-made genre! On today's show, Chance and Noah review "Tag," "Game Night" and the classic "Clue" as we look at adults refusing to grow out of their childlike need to play games. As it happens, this genre is also a great referendum on both the legacy and current health of the broad comedy. When it com...
Enterprising Americans (feat. Bart Layton) | Episode 96
June 07, 2018 19:17 - 1 hour - 71.5 MBBoredom, boldness and a proper mark — those are the three ingredients shared by today's category of "American" criminal films. It matters not if it's New York in the '70s or a sleepy college campus in 2004; flying too close to the sun for that big score is apparently a national pastime. We start the episode in the true crime realm with a discussion of the new film "American Animals" and the dramatization of its stranger-than-fiction premise. Chance interviews director Bart Layton to ask abo...
Seemingly Unnecessary Prequels (feat. John DiLillo) | Episode 95
June 01, 2018 15:16 - 1 hour - 80.3 MBSequels are so 20th century; in the 21st, we supposedly want origin stories. Starting with the relative disappointment that is Disney's new "Solo: A Star Wars Story," Chance and Noah look at other more or less successful prequels: "Red Dragon" (prequel to "Silence of the Lambs") and "Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them" (prequel to the Harry Potter films). The guys pick apart what makes these films nominally successful or totally grating: How many links does one need to the films that cam...
Stoner Odysseys (feat. Marshall Shaffer) | Episode 94
May 24, 2018 16:10 - 1 hour - 76.1 MBA couple 4/20's ago, we spent a day on the couch with the genre of Cult Weed Movies ("How High," "Bongwater," etc.), but today our chosen stoner movies are on a mission, maybe to nowhere. In this week's episode, we unpack the wild and circuitous journeys of some unlikely high heroes. “Inherent Vice” is groovy and insane (5:00), “Dude, Where’s My Car?” is the featherweight sci-fi prequel to “The Hangover” (37:50), and “Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle” is actually more about race than weed ...
The Old Modern Family | Episode 93
May 17, 2018 18:52 - 49 minutes - 56.2 MBHere's the story, of guys watching movies, and these movies are all linked around a theme. All of them are about adaptions, of TV series, about families with a dream. It's a podcast, where Chance made Noah, watch three TV Land movies on his own. They were weird and, without context, maybe didn't stand alone. 'Til the one day Chance and Noah were recording, and they knew it was much more than a hunch, that quality of these films would not be equal, when they reappraised the merits of The Bra...
Social Media Terror (feat. Emily Sundberg) | Episode 92
May 10, 2018 05:30 - 1 hour - 91 MBYou don’t get to a couple hundred listeners without making a few social media observations. On this episode, Chance and Noah collect all their likes and reposts and subtweets to analyze how terrifying being online can be. Through "Ingrid Goes West" (6:15), "Unfriended" (39:55), and "The Social Network" (52:10), they look at the thin line between follower and stalker, trend and obsession, and friend and frenemy. In the middle of it all (23:10), Instagram influencer and The Cut editor Emily S...
The American Psychos of Bret Easton Ellis | Episode 91
May 04, 2018 21:07 - 1 hour - 75.5 MBBret Easton Ellis is a writer, commentator and real-life character almost too easily defined by the word "problematic." The quintessentially '80s novelist who struck a cultural chord with his borderline-nihilistic tales of excess, perversion and violence has aged into a fascinating person to do a podcast about. This week, Noah and Chance drop in on the most famous three films adapted from Easton Ellis' novels: "Less Than Zero" (1987), "The Rules of Attraction" (2002), and "American Psycho" (2...
Reeled In: 'A Quiet Place' | Episode 90.5
April 30, 2018 15:14 - 16 minutes - 19.4 MBIt's this year's unexpected horror smash... but is "A Quiet Place" actually good-good? Is the cinematic ingenuity of this pseudo-indie picture enough to overcome some Cloverfield-level world-building? Chance and Noah break down the hokey premise (sound aliens), potentially pro-life politics (or lack thereof), and whether Jim from "The Office" could be a believable father even without a beard in this mini appraisal of John Krasinski's third directorial effort.
Beauty and the Creep (feat. Abbey Bender) | Episode 90
April 09, 2018 18:47 - 1 hour - 83.6 MBSince early fairy tales, the wolf and red riding hood have done battle towards grandmother’s house. Of course in the late 20th and early 21st centuries, this predator/prey relationship continues in our cinema—usually ending in murder. On this week’s episode, we look at cult classic "Wild Things," and two recent additions to this genre of teen girls plotting against skeezy older men, "Thoroughbreds" and "Flower." As we unpack these femme Lolitas, there’s sex, horse murder and Adam Scott’s weir...
The One Constant, Through All The Costner, Has Been Baseball (feat. Hunter Atkins) | Episode 89
March 29, 2018 06:21 - 1 hour - 87.9 MBThirty years after "Bull Durham," Kevin Costner remains one of baseball's most recognizable avatars. Between 1988 and 1999, the square-jawed, iron-armed movie star made three films about the quintessentially American aura of the game: "Field of Dreams," "Bull Durham," and "For Love Of The Game." This week, we're joined by Houston Chronicle reporter and Astros beat writer Hunter Atkins to assess Costner's baseball abilities, update Susan Sarandon's "Bull Durham" character, and question whether...
La Femme Espionage | Episode 88
March 20, 2018 15:06 - 1 hour - 70.2 MBThere's nothing more compelling than an unlikely spy — especially a good femme fatale out of her depth! Noah and Chance gather their best intelligence (read: listening to Marc Maron's podcast) and are fully authorized to debrief you on Jennifer Lawrence in "Red Sparrow," Angelina Jolie in "Salt" and Melissa McCarthy in "Spy." We talk star power, agency in female-led action movies and why Paul Feig might need to reassess the way he spoofs genres. Much the way Chance recently hoisted razor cl...
Our Research Mission Is Still Not What It Seems (feat. Ciara Wardlow) | Episode 87
March 06, 2018 16:05 - 1 hour - 85.1 MBAre you a top scientist gearing up to investigate an unexplainable phenomenon at a great distance from home? We warned you in one of our very early episodes to be careful. The rule still applies as Chance and Noah dissect Alex Garland’s sophomore film "Annihilation," Netflix’s Super Bowl Hail Mary “The Cloverfield Paradox,” and Paul W.S. Anderson’s cult classic “Event Horizon” in this deep dive into sci-fi horror. Aided by the insights of film critic and biology student Ciara Wardlow, the f...
Chance Helps Noah 'Win' His Office Oscars Pool | Episode 86.5
March 01, 2018 15:34 - 23 minutes - 26.4 MBIt’s that time again, movie-lovers! The Oscars — aka the Yom Kippur of cinema — are upon us again. It's five hours of network television so the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences can remember its 2017 highs (and lows) and take its own political temperature. This year, our preview takes the form of Chance chiming in while Noah fills out his office's Oscar ballot. They talk dark horses and snubs while returning to the eternal Oscar pool question: "Do you wanna pick good movies, or do y...
Alan Moore Cannot Abide This Podcast (feat. Scott Meslow & Jake Dilley) | Episode 86
February 23, 2018 18:16 - 1 hour - 95.4 MBAlan Moore is inarguably among the best regarded comic writers of all time, but he’s also a mystery wrapped in an enigma. This week, Chance and Noah break down three comic-to-film adaptations in search of the man behind "The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen," "V for Vendetta" and "Watchmen." The guys are joined by Jake Dilley (24:10) of St. Louis' Comic HQ store to give a bit of context on Alan Moore and how comic enthusiasts view these adaptations. Then, GQ’s Scott Meslow (48:35) returns to...
Reeled In: "Black Panther" | Episode 85.5
February 20, 2018 21:48 - 17 minutes - 19.8 MBBecause there aren't enough opinions out there about Ryan Coogler's "Black Panther," broken white boys Chance and Noah unpack the political read and narrative construction of this Marvel blockbuster. Is Wakanda a utopia or an acknowledgement of violence's place in society? Is globalism a responsibility or a danger for a tech- and resource-rich country? Unclear! But what is clear is that both guys have a real affection for Michael B. Jordan. Noah can't get over the ancestral plane, and Chance'...
Do You Believe In Winter Olympic Miracles?! Affirmative. | Episode 85
February 16, 2018 19:56 - 59 minutes - 68 MBLet the flags wave, the trumpets sound, and the Pink Eye medication take effect quickly! Chance and Noah are here to represent their podcast at the Winter Olympics of movies past. After some initial thoughts on the 2018 games, your hosts get into Miracle (2004), Cool Runnings (1993), and Eddie The Eagle (2016). They're all movies inspired by true underdog stories with the sap, grandstanding, and training montages you'd expect when it's ... [pauses for effect] ... inside what counts. From hock...
I Wanna Dance With Somebody (feat. Meryl Cates) | Episode 84
February 12, 2018 16:49 - 1 hour - 86.3 MBIt takes two to tango, and Chance and Noah try not to step on each other’s feet in this week’s episode of Be Reel. Your hosts unpack the romances, trials and tropes of dance movie classics and upstarts alike with “Dirty Dancing,” “Save the Last Dance” and “Step Up,” questioning why these movies were made, if boppin’ around in your seat is a litmus test for quality, and why your mom (plus one of your hosts) is obsessed with Patrick Swayze. Meryl Cates, who's written about dance for The New ...
You're A Bad Dad, Nicolas Cage (feat. Andy Crump) | Episode 83
February 01, 2018 17:40 - 1 hour - 86 MBWhat better way to deconstruct the method to Nicolas Cage's apparent madness than by looking at telling moments in which he played dads ... bad dads! In the newly released "Mom and Dad," Cage loses his cool and endeavors to murder his children (5:05). Plus, film critic Andy Crump joins our show to discuss why this new VOD horror outing contains the best Cage freakout in a decade (23:20). In "Matchstick Men," OCD Cage attempts to connect with his estranged daughter by teaching her how to be a ...
Pop & Doc: It's My Story (feat. Obligatory Mention of the Fans) | Episode 82
January 26, 2018 18:21 - 1 hour - 68.8 MBChance and Noah do a podcast, and you're going to hear us ROAR! On this week's episode, we take on pop musicians by unpacking their self-produced documentaries. In Demi Lovato's "Simply Complicated," the guys are torn about objectivity and ulterior motives. In Justin Bieber's "Never Say Never," Chance and Noah spar over whether Bieber is a talented performer or a symptom of parasitic celebrity culture. Finally, in Katy Perry's "Part of Me," Chance would maybe grab a beer with this surprising ...
At the End of the Day-Lewis | Episode 81
January 11, 2018 19:52 - 58 minutes - 66.6 MBOnce every five (or so) years, Academy Award-winning actor Daniel Day-Lewis takes to the screen to embody a powerful masculine figure. On the heels of his announcement that this month's "Phantom Thread" will be his final picture, Chance and Noah look back at career touchstones of an actor with the chiseled features of piece of coinage. From this year's Reynolds Woodcock to Bill "The Butcher" Cutting ("Gangs of New York") to Nathaniel "Hawkeye" Poe ("The Last of the Mohicans"), Day-Lewis alway...
We Watched Star Wars (And Other Movies) | Episode 80
January 01, 2018 18:57 - 1 hour - 79.1 MBYou know how when you have 10 days off work you basically just start devouring movies? Press play to hear your hosts dig into "Star Wars: The Last Jedi," "Call Me By Your Name," "I, Tonya," and "Bright." From *perhaps* the best Star Wars ever made to the worst thing Netflix ever spent 90 million dollars on, happy new year, friends.
Billboards, Blade Runner, and Be Reel's 2017 Recap | Episode 79
December 21, 2017 15:06 - 1 hour - 81.6 MBOur year-end episode has arrived, friends, and here's what's on the agenda: 2:40 - Noah took himself to "Blade Runner 2049," so we catch up on Denis Villeneuve's towering dystopian sequel. 18:25 - We circle back to review "Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri," a movie in which Frances McDormand tries to burn down the whole world with her eyes. 33:20 - Your hosts begin to wrap up 2017, each counting down their five favorite characters from the year in film, including entries from Get ...
The Director Has No Clothes (feat. Josh Spiegel) | Episode 78
December 14, 2017 19:53 - 1 hour - 89.6 MBIf you've seen "The Room," you know it transcends the filmic category of "so bad it's good." There's a sense of tragedy, ambition, and madness all bubbling somewhere in that 2003 cult phenomenon, a phenomenon celebrated and investigated by James Franco's "The Disaster Artist." This week, with the help of film critic and Mousterpiece Cinema host Josh Spiegel, we dig into three films about movie directors producing real trash, on shoestring budgets and dragging along bands of conspirators. We...
The MegaPod, Vol. 3 | Episode 77
December 01, 2017 17:39 - 1 hour - 107 MBEvery Thanksgiving, your strangely committed hosts watch six movies for something they call The MegaPod. For the third iteration, we drafted movies from franchises we thought we might otherwise not get to in the course of our normal episode selections. As always, our families just loved that we had to watch 12 hours of movies over the weekend. Check out the choices and timestamps below. 6:40 - "Jaws: The Revenge" - Positing that there's a psychological bond between a grieving widow and a sha...
The MegaPod Vol. 3 Preview — Drafting Our Movies
November 21, 2017 18:38 - 9 minutes - 11.2 MBOur annual MegaPod approaches! Oh, you don't know what that is? Don't sweat it. It just means we watch six movies instead of three. This year we've selected six candidates from whatever film franchises we want, draft-style. They're all free on streaming services, so listen here for our surprise picks, the ensuing cheers and guffaws, watch along with us, and get ready for the full episode to drop after the long weekend!
Reeled In: "Lady Bird" | Episode 75.5
November 20, 2017 16:51 - 24 minutes - 27.8 MBOn this new mini-episode, Noah and Chance discuss "Lady Bird," the witty and affecting new film portrait of a teenage girl's last lap around Catholic high school in 2002 Sacramento. The directorial debut from Greta Gerwig has garnered near-universal acclaim, and we add our voices to that choir, praising the film's accessible star performance and appreciating how Sacramento makes both for a great anywhere and a hyper-specific somewhere. Visit bereelpodcast.com for some writing and all our epis...
The Medium Chills | Episode 76
November 16, 2017 07:40 - 56 minutes - 65 MBWhen friend groups reunite in country houses, this week's genre teaches us that old songs, old wounds, and binge drinking aren't far behind. Having just hung out in the Poconos two weeks ago (and gone 2 outta 3 from that list), we decided to watch three movies that all owe something to "The Big Chill" and the experience of getting out of town with old buds. We watched "Peter's Friends" (1992) and its parade of English talent before they were Dr. House and Elinor Dashwood, "Hot Tub Time Machin...
The Fall Classic 2K17 presents "The Recruit" | Episode 75
November 08, 2017 16:36 - 40 minutes - 46.1 MB2003's "The Recruit" is about a CIA recruiter played by Al Pacino recruiting a CIA recruit played by Colin Farrell. But can a CIA recruiter played by Al Pacino be trusted? 2017's Fall Classic celebration was, in some small part, about Noah and Chance recruiting a dozen other people to watch a middling action-thriller instead of enjoying the natural beauty of the Poconos. Could the hosts of Be Reel be trusted? We answer these questions and more in our first-ever episode to feature 10+ gues...
The Season Of The Witch (feat. Heather Mason) | Episode 74
October 31, 2017 15:45 - 1 hour - 81.2 MBIn our Halloween episode, we read the tea leaves of three movies about crews of witches supporting each other, fighting demonic men, and (in one case) sucking the lifeblood from small children. And while "Practical Magic," "Hocus Pocus" and "The Witches of Eastwick" might appear to cry out for a #CovenGoals celebration of witchy power, these movies are a pretty wild broom-ride of giant performances, confounding gender politics, and having no idea what magic is. This week, we're thrilled to be...
Keaton Off The Deep End (feat. Billy Yost & Alison Macor) | Episode 72
October 05, 2017 21:16 - 1 hour - 105 MBOnce Batman, now Birdman, Michael Keaton either became world famous by accident, and then went missing on purpose, or the other way around. The 68-year-old actor’s circuitous career is marked by distinct eras — from zany ‘80s comedies, to block-busting New Hollywood fare, to 15 pretty lean years, to a comeback in 2014. On this week’s show, we watched three films where Keaton plays his favorite concerto — losing his mind on camera. It’s “Birdman” (2014), “Beetlejuice” (1988) and “Mr. Mom” (1...
Back To Boarding School (feat. Brent Rivers) | Episode 71
September 25, 2017 18:32 - 57 minutes - 65.7 MBThe air is chilling, the leaves are changing, and, boy, do these back-to-school films love to show us just that. On this week’s podcast, we discuss three films shaped around a new year at boarding school. Whether at Hogwarts in 2004 or Ivy League feeder academies in 1959, these boarding school movies all hinge on how an outsider fits into an environment steeped in WASP-ness, wealth, and tradition. English teacher and returning friend-of-the-pod Brent Rivers sits in with us to discuss how “Dea...
Reeled In: "It" | Episode 70.5
September 19, 2017 06:17 - 25 minutes - 28.8 MBIn this week's mini-episode, Noah and Chance review and rate the new, smash-hit adaptation of Stephen King's "It." While Noah is almost finished with King's dictionary-sized 1986 novel, Chance came completely cold to this story about an evil force terrorizing small-town kids in the form of a killer clown. While Noah fills Chance in on the issues director Andrés Muschietti's adaptation doesn't touch from the original novel, your hosts also grapple with how to judge horror movies with their r...
Plugging Into The Matrix Trilogy (feat. Sean Finnegan) | Episode 70
September 04, 2017 23:12 - 1 hour - 68.9 MBOn a new Be Reel, we enter the Matrix trilogy, which is streaming in its entirety on Netflix. The franchise, of course, begins with one of the most iconic action films of modern times, and we bring in IGN's Sean Finnegan to discuss how and why "The Matrix" is still relevant and surprising 18 years after its release. Then, it's on to the nearly five hours of sequels: "The Matrix Reloaded" and "The Matrix Revolutions." The words "stupid" and "nearly ruins" are tossed about. And in its own, un...
The Other Toy Stories (feat. Shelley Kramer) | Episode 69
August 16, 2017 15:58 - 1 hour - 69.7 MBIn 1995, "Toy Story" set the gold ... well, polyurethane standard for toys springing to life in film. But it's not an uncommon concept. From "Ted" to "Annabelle," it's not hard to see what's cute, creepy, or ironically crass about playthings suddenly speaking in adult voices. On this week's show, we watch and review three Toy Tales (they're off-brand toy stories), including "Child's Play" (1988), "Small Soldiers" (1998), and "The Indian In The Cupboard" (1995). At the 22-minute mark, Noah s...
Charlize In Charge (feat. Oktay Ege Kozak) | Episode 68
August 09, 2017 16:03 - 1 hour - 72.4 MBGiven "Mad Max: Fury Road," the Fast franchise, and now "Atomic Blonde," Charlize Theron seems dead set on spending her forties as an action star. But the South African actor has been working across genres for two decades, stealing scenes, elevating co-stars, and portraying complicated, sharp-edged characters with tumultuous internal lives. On today's show, we discuss three of Theron's boldest anti-heroine roles: "Atomic Blonde" (2017), "Young Adult" (2011), and "Monster" (2003). With help fr...
Saving Privates Not Named Ryan (feat. Joe Kozal) | Episode 67
July 27, 2017 17:16 - 1 hour - 79.2 MBWith the film world abuzz about "Dunkirk" this week, we paired the new war epic from Christopher Nolan with two other military rescue films: "Behind Enemy Lines" and "Black Hawk Down." After Noah shares the story of his transcendental evening with Phish, we dig into "Dunkirk" and argue over whether Nolan's manipulation of time is a gag or a successful bit of orchestration. At 25 minutes, we're joined by Nolan superfan and friend of the pod Joe Kozal, who lays down a "Proposal" about where the...