Maybe it’s his general uprightness or the fact that he looks like Jesus in the proper light, but Liam Neeson is the actor you put in a film about Christian colonialism — be it 13th century Jerusalem, 17th century Japan, or 18th century Argentina. The Irish stalwart binds this week’s trio of movies about Christian missionaries and the […]
Author Archives: Chance Solem-Pfeifer
“La La Land,” “Rogue One,” And 2016-In-Review
The boys are back to belatedly send out 2016. They start with a full-on review of LA LA LAND, arguing whether its half-commitment to the musical genre is a problem. At 16:20, they apply their rating system to ROGUE ONE, trying to divorce its quality from the STAR WARS universe. At 21:25, they hand out […]
A Christmas Carol: The Remixes
More than 170 years since its writing, the Charles Dickens novella A CHRISTMAS CAROL still looms large as the seminal text on how not to be a penny-pinching goon during the holidays. And why not? It’s mostly secular and it makes capitalism seem compassionate if you can spare a few shillings. This December, Noah and […]
The MegaPod, Vol. 2
Over the Thanksgiving holiday, we set about on our now-apparently-annual tradition of watching three pairs of twin movies — same subject matter, same year(ish). We took in the power and limits of an Old West lawman in TOMBSTONE (1993) and WYATT EARP (1994). We asked how creatively CAPOTE (2005) and INFAMOUS (2006) ought to treat the […]
Reeled In: “Moonlight”
On this new mini-episode, Noah and Chance review MOONLIGHT, perhaps the most acclaimed American film of 2016 thus far. Well, we don’t diverge too far from that line. With a camera that’s imperfectly beautiful, director Barry Jenkins presents a coming-of-age triptych on race and sexuality that’s both quiet and stirringly acted.
Noah & Chance Watch Some Porno
From Chance’s couch in Portland, your trusty hosts exchanged many looks (but mostly held it together) through three movies about the adult film industry. We begin with the new film KING COBRA, a depiction of rival production teams in the 2000s gay porn business. It’s very James Franco. At 17:45, we move on to the […]
Reeled In: “Arrival”
This week, Noah and Chance saw the artful new alien invasion film “Arrival.” Directed by Denis Villeneuve, it stars Amy Adams and Jeremy Renner as scientists charged with discovering shell-shaped spacecrafts’ purpose on Earth. That familiar premise led Noah and Chance to argue whether “Arrival” is a relative of movies we’ve seen before or something […]
Get Off My Plane
The boys were together in Portland last week for a category they’d been sitting on for awhile: battling invaders at cruising altitude. First, they revisit “Snakes On A Plane” for its 10th anniversary –- a movie that must be bad-good, but is it? Then it’s on to “Air Force One” and conspiracy theories about the […]
You Can’t Go Home Again, Except In These Movies
On this week’s show, we watched a trio of movies about adults returning to the small towns they abruptly left as teenagers. Comprising GROSSE POINTE BLANK, SWEET HOME ALABAMA and THE JUDGE, this genre raises all sorts of questions about self-reflection, the meaning of roots, and forgiving your younger self for handing out judgment. So […]
Reeled In: “Cocktail”
This week, Noah and Chance order up the 1988 Tom Cruise vehicle “Cocktail.” Never seen it? Somehow we hadn’t either, despite the fact that it features one of the brashest, most encompassing Cruise performances ever. He plays a showman bartender who twirls bottles, gyrates to ’80s hits, parties with the clientele, competes poisonously with his […]