Chance and Noah were reunited in Lincoln, Nebraska, over the holidays, and three hours of it was spent watching Quentin Tarantino’s new time-bomb of a bottle Western. With love for the performances and camera work, they dive into “The Hateful Eight,” its narrative incongruities and they ask why his trademark ultra-violence doesn’t work so well […]
Author Archives: Chance Solem-Pfeifer
2015 In Review: The Trailer Pod
We love a good year-end list as much as the next people who begrudgingly buy into a completist mentality where art and entertainment are ranked. But you can read insightful lists everywhere online and a bunch of the movies on them aren’t available to you yet. So, why not absurdly swing the other way? In […]
Reeled In: “The Holiday”
‘Tis nearly the season to swap romance-devoid lives with someone halfway around the world. In this mini-episode, Noah and Chance discuss the 2006 Nancy Meyers film “The Holiday.” Their actual holiday episode might be a little rougher, so here’s one for those starry-eyed lovers with a real taste for rom-com tropes. As it turns out, […]
Action Movie Twins (Or “The Megapod!”)
A few times in recent Hollywood history, we’ve seen nearly identical movies come down the pipe in the same year. And over Thanksgiving weekend, Noah and Chance doubled their duty and watched six movies, three pairs of action movie twins. There’s the gargantuan “Armageddon” and the trying-to-be-smarter “Deep Impact” that sent celestial killers toward earth […]
Reeled In: “Spectre”
Chance calls Noah, who’s stranded in the Minneapolis airport, to talk about the new James Bond movie, “Spectre.” They unpack its flaws and the larger problem of self-seriousness gone array in the Daniel Craig-led Bond films.
Lawyers Out Of Their Depth
It doesn’t matter if you specialize in insurance, personal injury or petty naval law, Hollywood knows attorneys can do anything when the gavel starts pounding. We watched three movies about lawyers in way over their heads, fighting that good fight. Spielberg’s new “Bridge of Spies” pits Tom Hanks against an amoral Cold War world. “My […]
Reeled In: “Beasts Of No Nation”
Look — sometimes we want to bring you topical reviews, but want to save ourselves from watching three movies on a given topic, like say, the indoctrination of child soldiers. So, we bring you the first “Reeled In” mini-episode of the podcast. They’ll be more of these bite-sized episodes to come, and for the first […]
The Non-Biopic
In light of Aaron Sorkin’s new snapshot take on Steve Jobs, Noah and Chance watched three movies hinging on only a chapter (or so) of biography. They go back and forth on “Steve Jobs,” though not on Michael Fassbender’s riveting portrayal. Then, it’s on to “Invictus” and “The Queen” to discuss the dangers of character […]
The Lonely Planet
Humanity’s laws and best interests be damned, let’s go to space and see what happens when one person (but maybe robot) is stranded on a planet (but maybe moon). Noah and Chance watched the biggest movie in the world, The Martian, and parlayed that into a discussion of 2009’s Moon and 2008’s Wall-E. Episode highlights include: a surprise visitor, Noah accusing […]
The Crimes Of Johnny Depp
Johnny Depp’s acting career may be remembered most for the whimsical and fantastical roles via his Tim Burton partnership, but he’s taken turns as three violent gangsters, as well. That’s where we turn our steely gaze this week. The Whitey Bulger biopic “Black Mass” hit theaters this month, Depp portrayed an elusive John Dillinger in […]