“Bad boys, bad boys / whatcha gonna do / whatcha gonna do when we rate and review?” It’s 2020, and Columbia Pictures has dug deep into its intellectual property vault for a 17-year dormant Will Smith franchise with no meaningful reason to continue. Sounds like a job for Noah and Chance. Be Reel is brought […]
Author Archives: Chance Solem-Pfeifer
The ‘Little Women’ of 2019, 1994, and 1949
For the first Be Reel of 2020, Noah and Chance visit the March family in their seventh turn on the big screen. With a new structure and perhaps all-time best cast, Greta Gerwig’s “Little Women” feels revisionist and affectionate toward the 1868 story all at once. Then, in search of more context, we review the […]
Our Best, Worst and Wonkiest of 2019 Films
With December all but gone and neither of them having seen CATS, Noah and Chance reflect on the year in film with a series of semi-original accolades. What was their favorite 2019 performance with no awards potential? What movie will be talked about differently in 2029? In the end, we give our Top 10 lists […]
The Talented Mr. Ripleys
This week, Chance and Noah dare to ask a question posed by many conned, spurned and murdered Patricia Highsmith characters: “Who are you, Tom Ripley?” As we celebrate the 20th anniversary of Anthony Minghella’s seminal Matt Damon vehicle “The Talented Mr. Ripley,” we seek out the character’s origins in the acclaimed Highsmith novels and the […]
‘Uncut Gems’ Is One of the Best Gambling Movies Ever
Much like the Safdie Brothers, the compulsive gambler has a fascinating relationship with control. For him, it’s easier to drive the car going 100 than 25. It’s easier to exist in the jet stream of a long shot bet than with two feet on the ground. Sure, there’s the potential payoff, but to Howard Ratner […]
Gerwig’s ‘Little Women’ Thoughtfully Highlights Adult Compromises
Coming out of the biographical specificity of Lady Bird (2017), it took me about an hour to accept that Greta Gerwig directs a fairly formalized piece of source material in Louisa May Alcott’s Little Women. Jo March (Saoirse Ronan) will always seem 1860s-writerly in her ambitions, Marmee March (Laura Dern) will always be unconditionally affectionate, […]
The Star Wars Saga
That’s no moon… this week, we throw caution to the hot winds of Tatooine and discuss every in-trilogy Star Wars movie, leading up to “The Rise of Skywalker.” To keep things not-10-hours-long, the Jedi Council has assigned Noah and Chance a special approach on this show: try to give one fresh(ish) observation on each installment, […]
The Crime Epics of Martin Scorsese
Noah and Chance look back through the spiritual trilogy of GOODFELLAS, CASINO and THE IRISHMAN for the groundbreaking style of Martin Scorsese, the sometimes goofy repetitions of that style, and the shadow history of America created by 10 hours of mafiosos, teamsters and their middlemen. Oh, and Chance’s dad—a Vegas craps dealer circa 1978—stops by […]
Queen & Slim Are Ready For Their Poster
Police violence, or the threat of it, against unarmed black folks has been depicted in many films this decade: Fruitvale Station, Widows, Detroit (as a clear present-past resonance), The Hate U Give, Get Out and more. Of course, you could argue this wave of depiction is quite late. Police violence in its current form is […]
‘Ford v Ferrari’ is Actually a Tale of Goliath Fighting Himself
It’s been an unkind autumn to 50-year-old movie stars hoping to galvanize audiences by making ‘em like they no longer make ‘em, brother. Even in the year of Our Lord Brad Pitt, Ad Astra didn’t exactly burn down the house. With its cloning idea from 1998 literally and figuratively, Gemini Man was a financial disaster […]