Author Archives: Chance Solem-Pfeifer

He’s been called the Lizard King, the Iceman, the Dark Knight, and is constantly applying for the post of your Huckleberry. Val Kilmer is one of the most fascinating and elusive screen presences of the last 40 years. In the wake of his new memoir, Noah and Chance chronicle the highlights (and a few lowlights) […]

American independent film lost a guiding light this month with the sudden passing of Lynn Shelton. From 2006 to 2019, Shelton created a multi-film roadmap for considering the dimensionality of place (often Seattle) and deep personal meaning from simple conversation. This week, Be Reel looks back at “We Go Way Back” (2006), “Humpday” (2009), “Your […]

Hollywood and Bollywood both suffered an incalculable loss last month with the untimely passing of actor Irrfan Khan. Known to American audiences for his character work in “Life of Pi” and “Jurassic World”, the icon in India spent 30 years embodying quiet masculinity in chameleonic performances, notably: “Paan Singh Tomar” (2012), “The Lunchbox” (2013), and […]

With theaters still closed, the Be Reel guys turn their sights to Ryan Murphy’s Netflix original miniseries “Hollywood,” a send-up/revisionist history of postwar… Hollywood. Over seven hour-long episodes, we follow the cast and crew of the fictional film “Meg” as they rewrite American movie lore and vanquish countless obstacles for LGBTQ artists and artists of […]

To celebrate Al Pacino’s 80th birthday, Be Reel zeroes in on one of the acting legend’s favorite archetypes—the ragged police detective. Today, we trace Pacino’s investigative methods all the way from iconic “Serpico” (1973) to controversial “Cruising” (1980) to charged “Sea of Love” (1989) to unimpeachable “Heat” (1995) to perhaps underrated “Insomnia” (2002), all the […]

This week, Chance and Noah decipher the back half of Alex Garland’s “Devs.” With the help of sci-fi writer Tochi Onyebuchi, the guys examine the exciting, loose-end-tying, head-scratching, quantum-defying final episodes of the FX on Hulu series. Be Reel gives many thanks to this episode’s sponsors: Podcorn and California College of the Arts’ Writing MFA […]

For much of the late-20th century, Barbra Streisand was a ubiquitous star of stage, album, and screen. And the EGOT winner’s artistic vision was never clearer than in her three forays into directing, producing and starring in her own movies: “Yentl” (1983), “The Prince of Tides” (1991) and “The Mirror Has Two Faces” (1996). Each […]

It’s Old Rob versus New Rob, Sad Rob versus Not As Sad Rob, Zoë Kravitz versus John Cusack, Brooklyn versus Chicago, and sad music versus sad people on this week’s TV recap. The Be Reel guys take on Hulu’s “High Fidelity” (2020) and compare and contrast it to the other Nick Hornby adaptations they covered […]

Welcome to the arrested world of Nick Hornby. In the movie adaptations of his books, you’ll find man-children of all stripes, from John Cusack’s iconic role in “High Fidelity” (2000), Hugh Grant’s lovable cad in “About a Boy” (2002) and Ethan Hawke’s loser indie rocker in “Juliet, Naked” (2018). We dive into this overly witty […]