This week, Noah and Chance climb out of hell with three contract killers left for dead. They begin with “Kill Bill, Vol. 1,” asking whether this is a turning point in the scope of Tarantino’s genre bloodbaths. At 18:10, they analyze Mel Gibson’s lost and compromised stardom in “Payback” (1999) and quibble over when this […]
Author Archives: Chance Solem-Pfeifer
Come Blow Your Whistle
Few instances invite “based on a true story” films like individuals amid massive conspiracies and cover-ups stepping up to the plate and blowing the whistle. Edward Snowden knows it. And Oliver Stone really wants you to know it in his 2016 Snowden biopic. We begin the show in conversation with GQ culture writer Scott Meslow, […]
Reeled In: “Everybody Wants Some!!”
From the mind that brought you “Boyhood,” sit back and enjoy … “Brohood”? In this week’s mini-episode, Noah and Chance move in with the much-praised 2016 Richard Linklater film “Everybody Wants Some!!” Set in a Texas house of college baseball players in 1980, it’s easygoing, it examines every inch of a social group, and it’s […]
One Day Romances
A love so great it spawned a movie and this podcast episode. Thanks, Obamas. We lead off our discussion of romance movies set during a single day with the new film “Southside With You.” First, Chance speaks with LA Weekly’s lead film critic April Wolfe about the movie’s ambitious premise, odd diction and political bubble. (Find […]
Americans In Mexico
Cinematic Americans cross the border for myriad reasons: to unwittingly liberate a village with their theatrical abilities, to chase down an ornamental pistol with a deep folklore, or to tell a cartel chief what’s what. Off the screen, our Noah Ballard went to Mexico for the pools and the margaritas. This week, he calls in […]
Reeled In: “Love & Mercy”
Our long summer continues with a mini-episode on the 2015 music biopic “Love & Mercy.” Chance and Noah are torn on this two-headed telling of the Brian Wilson story. One is a deep studio dive into Wilson’s orchestral pop genius and the other is an overcast, nearly unrelated custody drama.
Only “Bad” Movies
You know we’ll wave the flag for a few bad movies. Hell, we have a whole category on the show for them (bad-good). But are we fans of “Bad” movies? The kind that take a career or societal station and stand on a premise of someone doing a heinously poor job at it? This week, […]
Reeled In: “Twister”
At a certain point in life we all make that choice: Are we chasing tornados because they killed our dads or are we corporate posers who barely even listen to classic rock in pursuit of a cyclone? You have until the end of our mini-episode on 1996’s Twister to decide. Also discussed — oh, that’s too much Paxton, […]
Camp Movies: “They’re Like Westerns for Children”
Right, so let me introduce you to your bunkmates. This is Moonrise Kingdom (2012), meticulously packed and maybe too earnest. This is Heavyweights (1995), vaguely inspirational and with an insane look in its eye. And this is Sleepaway Camp (1983). Who knows what the hell’s going on with it. Play your cards right, and this […]
Was That Our Exit?
Toss the kids in the back and chart a winding course to a kitschy destination — we’re at the wheel of three American road trip comedies this week. Pit stops include a deep psychological analysis of Clark Griswold, a theory on how you market indie pop and questions about whether Netflix is making the new cable […]