In 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, […]
Author Archives: Chance Solem-Pfeifer
“Suburbicon” / “The Killing of a Sacred Deer”
For those who fondly remember last year’s The Lobster for its high concept and array of deadpan dialogue, you’re likely recalling the film’s first half. That’s the introduction of an emotionally impotent Colin Farrell into the film’s premise of mandatory coupling (with the one way out, of course). Acclimating to the rules of this universe, […]
“The Snowman”
There are several moments at which one might realize The Snowman is a special sort of bad movie, that it belongs to a strain of ineptitude rarely bought for $35 million these days. One might realize this when — after 45 minutes of piecing together the titular serial killer’s seemingly ideological motivation for dismembering several […]
“Blade Runner 2049”
Reaction time is a factor in this so please pay attention. Answer as quickly as you can. Are the best parts ‘Blade Runner’ mythos or idiosyncrasy? Fate or chance? Can it be both? And which do you think Denis Villeneuve prefers? Blade Runner 2049 is a monument to the 1982 original. In fact, it’s full […]
Keaton Off The Deep End
Once 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 […]
“Battle Of The Sexes”
Ninety million people watched the Battle of the Sexes in 1973. That’s twice the viewership of any modern Super Bowl. It’s a population share closer to the number of Americans who vote in presidential elections than the audience for a smash-hit TV program. (It’s five times more people than watched the Game of Thrones season […]
Back To Boarding School
The 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 prep academies in 1959, these boarding school movies all hinge on […]
Reeled In: “It”
In 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 […]
“Mother!”
To watch Mother! is to wonder what’s going on, and whether Darren Aronofsky will be merciful enough to actually tell us. The writer-director, whose narratives are so rife with ambiguity, while his touch and tonality are anything but, opens his new thriller just inches from an immolating woman’s visage. Her face is actively burning, and […]
Plugging Into “The Matrix” Trilogy
On 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 […]