Author Archives: Chance Solem-Pfeifer

I’ve said from the beginning that this podcast represents the freedom of the individual … specifically my freedom to beg far-flung thinkers to talk about movies. This week, our Motorcycle Rebel kick arrives at “Easy Rider” (1969), and motorcycle bard/journalist J. Peter Thoeming, aka THE BEAR, is on the show. Relying on The Bear’s half-century […]

Let’s start the engines on a new kick! Now through the end of June (when “The Bikeriders” hit theaters), we’re tracing the archetype of the motorcycle rebel. Most historians agree the first biker picture was “The Wild One” (1953) starring an iconically moody and leather-clad Marlon Brando. Today, author Burt Kearns joins the show to […]

It’s match point of our sports-romance kick and hooooo, baby. “Challengers” is here, and we’ve got writer Alex Barr on the program to discuss this year’s sweatiest, hungriest, horniest movie. We talk tennis as sex, sex as tennis, the movie’s use of food, unexplained bruises, a different side of Zendaya, bafflingly inventive cinematography, and so […]

A cop and robber touch souls on the penultimate episode of our sports-romance kick. It’s “Point Break” week, baby. Bennett Campbell Ferguson is here to dig into everyone’s favorite surfing-skydiving-beach football spectacular. We break down good vs. goofy Keanu, assess how Kathryn Bigelow’s first big hit epitomized her directing style, and try to figure out […]

This week, dreams of soccer stardom clash with a host of familial and cultural expectations. Writer Jessie Tu (Women’s Agenda, “The Honeyeater”) is here to break down how “Bend It Like Beckham” (2002) changed the culture, showcased heartfelt father-daughter relationships, and everything happening in that one dizzying nightclub scene. Plus, is this another movie where […]

Tie the boards to the ‘61 Chevy, and let’s take this sports-romance series into the waves! Writer Emma Specter (Vogue) is here to discuss why “Blue Crush” is the ultimate women’s sports “sleepover movie.” We also get into the power of Michelle Rodriguez on a jet ski, a healthy fear of the ocean, and whether […]

Four quarters, two players, one game for your heart. No movie in this sports-romance series creates team chemistry between the “sports” and “romance” genres quite like LOVE & BASKETBALL. Podcaster, sports journalist, and former college hooper Jordan Robinson joins the program to discuss the movie’s on-court realism, athlete couples, the enormous pressures on college basketball […]

What if a washed-up tennis journeyman (Paul Bettany) and a rising phenom (Kirsten Dunst) made a pact to hook up before every round of Wimbledon? That’s a big swing from this 2004 rom-com, but how’s its follow-through? Noah Ballard (Verve) joins our sports-romance kick to analyze the darker movie at the core of “Wimbledon,” savor […]

She’s a pairs figure skater who keeps rejecting partners; he’s a washed-up hockey player. Can they win gold by falling in love and performing an unthinkable maneuver? With a setup like that, “The Cutting Edge” (1992) is the perfect launchpad for our Sports Romances kick. Emily L. Newman (Texas A&M Unversity-Commerce) is here to break […]

At last, we’ve arrived at our first kick’s climactic question: Is “Dune: Part Two” a superior sequel? Bennett Campbell Ferguson (Willamette Week) is here to answer emphatically. We talk sandworm setpieces, Chalamet’s gravitas or lack thereof, and this sequel’s complex relationship to fate and character development. Many, many thanks to you, listeners, and the Now […]