A Reel Pain

"GET TO THE CHOPPA!" This week on A Reel Pain, John brings one of the most iconic action movies of the 1980s to the table: Predator (1987), starring Arnold Schwarzenegger. But there's a catch. Matthew is watching this Millennial favorite for the very first time, and he's already seen Prey. Can the original live up to the reputation, or is nostalgia doing some of the heavy lifting...

A haunted house, some surprisingly adult jokes, and one basement scene that divides the room. This Halloween, A Reel Pain revisits Monster House (2006), a Gen Z childhood favorite that Millennial host John Choate is watching for the first time. Matthew Pursell remembers finally getting to see the movie his mom thought was too scary—but how does it land with a dad watching alongside his own kid? Jo...

In space, no one can hear you argue about movies. This week on A Reel Pain, John brings Matthew aboard the Event Horizon (1997), the cult-classic sci-fi horror film starring Sam Neill and Laurence Fishburne. What starts as a rescue mission quickly turns into a nightmare, and the real question is whether this terrifying piece of '90s cinema still holds up nearly 30 years later. John revisits a...

Matthew’s pick sends A Reel Pain back to 1999 with Y2K (2024), where the computers turn deadly and Fred Durst might be humanity’s best hope. Matthew thinks this horror comedy is a future cult classic, but he might have accidentally picked the perfect movie for John. Between the dial-up nostalgia, ridiculous robot kills, and Kyle Mooney’s sense of humor, this Millennial has a lot to love. John and...

John heads back to 1994 for his Millennial pick with Street Fighter, the video game adaptation starring Jean-Claude Van Damme as Guile and Raul Julia as M. Bison. John remembers this one being a childhood banger, but revisiting it decades later raises a much tougher question: was Street Fighter ever actually good, or was nostalgia doing most of the work? Matthew gets his first-ever Jean-Claude Van...

Matthew thinks Fantastic Mr. Fox is nearly flawless. John likes it—but getting this Millennial to call it a masterpiece might take more than great animation and a bottle of hard cider. This week on A Reel Pain, Matthew brings one of his favorite movies to the table as John watches Wes Anderson’s stop-motion adventure for the first time. From George Clooney’s effortlessly charming voice work to the...

John takes Matthew back to 1994 with Little Giants, the Rick Moranis and Ed O’Neill football comedy packed with underdogs, ridiculous trash talk, go-karts, fart jokes, and of course, John Madden. John’s nostalgia is working overtime as he argues that Little Giants still holds up as one of the best kids movies of his generation, while Matthew has to decide whether the movie’s charm, comedy, and sur...

Matthew remembers childhood heartbreak. John had no idea what he was walking into. This week on A Reel Pain, we revisit Bridge to Terabithia (2007) as a Millennial watches this Gen Z childhood staple for the first time. Does it hold up beyond the emotional damage? From imaginary battles and surprisingly relatable childhood memories to a teacher subplot that raises some serious questions, John and...

John remembered 2002’s Resident Evil as a ridiculously cool mix of zombies, action, hard rock, and one unforgettable roundhouse kick to a zombie dog. Matthew came in with almost no attachment to the franchise. Somehow, they ended up in almost exactly the same place: wondering what the hell happened. This week on A Reel Pain, the guys revisit Milla Jovovich’s first trip into the Hive and try to fig...

Matthew grew up with The Game Plan . John grew up knowing Dwayne Johnson as THE ROCK. Somehow, those two realities collide this week on A Reel Pain . For Matthew, the 2007 Disney comedy is a childhood classic — and somehow his introduction to Dwayne Johnson’s acting career. For John, that fact alone is almost impossible to comprehend. But after revisiting Joe Kingman, Peyton, ballet lessons, footb...

A bus. A bomb. And one very important rule: don’t drop below 50 mph. This week on A Reel Pain , it’s John’s Millennial pick as he introduces Matthew to the 1994 action classic Speed , starring Keanu Reeves, Sandra Bullock, Dennis Hopper and Jeff Daniels. John grew up with this one—but can a Gen Z first-time viewer get past the ridiculous physics, impossible bus jumps and peak ’90s action-movie log...

It’s time for one of Gen Z’s sacred childhood movies. Matthew makes John watch Diary of a Wimpy Kid for the first time, a movie Matthew remembers being so convincing as a kid that it genuinely made him nervous about going to middle school. Now, more than 15 years later, does the movie still hold up without the nostalgia? John and Matthew revisit the Cheese Touch, Rowley’s undeniable greatness, Rod...

Some movies survive purely on nostalgia. School of Rock might actually be better than we remembered. This week on A Reel Pain , John introduces Matthew to the 2003 Jack Black classic School of Rock — a movie that somehow slipped completely past a music-loving Gen Z kid. From Dewey Finn’s questionable substitute-teaching methods and the ridiculously talented kids to Joan Cusack, “sticking it to the...

Matthew brings one of his ultimate childhood movies to the podcast: TMNT, the edgy 2007 animated adventure filled with mutant monsters, Linkin Park energy and enough early-2000s attitude to fuel an entire generation. John is watching it for the first time, but Matthew may have first seen it on a highly questionable bootleg DVD. The guys revisit the film’s aging animation, relentless one-liners, su...

The first rule of A Reel Pain is apparently to immediately talk about Fight Club . This week, John revisits David Fincher’s 1999 cult classic while Matthew watches it with the movie’s biggest twist somehow still intact. What starts as a review quickly becomes a debate about Tyler Durden, consumerism, masculinity, cult behavior and whether this is one of the most creatively edited movies of its era...

What happens when a group of terminally online Gen Z friends lose power, lose cell service, and immediately begin accusing each other of murder? This week on A Reel Pain , Matthew brings the 2022 slasher-comedy Bodies Bodies Bodies for John to watch for the first time. John and Matthew break down the movie’s chaotic characters, surprisingly smart satire, phone-powered cinematography, atmospheric s...

Arnold Schwarzenegger has battled Terminators, Predators, and heavily armed criminals—but none of them compare to a classroom full of kindergarteners. This week, John introduces Matthew to the 1990 action-comedy classic Kindergarten Cop to see whether Arnold’s most unexpected role still holds up. The guys discuss the movie’s surprisingly dark opening, Arnold’s endlessly quotable one-liners, the jo...

This week on A Reel Pain , Matthew brings John into the hidden world of The Spiderwick Chronicles , the 2008 fantasy adventure movie starring Freddie Highmore that made a whole generation wonder if goblins, fairies, ogres, and secret creatures were hiding just beyond the backyard. Matthew remembers The Spiderwick Chronicles as a creepy, magical Gen Z childhood favorite, while John watches it for t...

Happy 4th of July from A Reel Pain, where John brings Matthew into the wonderfully over-the-top world of Independence Day. This week, the crew breaks down the 1996 alien invasion classic starring Will Smith, Jeff Goldblum, Bill Pullman, and Randy Quaid — a movie packed with exploding landmarks, inspirational president speeches, chaotic character introductions, and one very questionable dolphin eng...

Matthew’s Gen Z pick takes A Reel Pain straight into the unsettling world of Backrooms , and John may never look at an empty mall hallway the same way again. Fresh from the theater, the guys break down why this eerie, internet-born horror story feels so effective, from the found-footage sequences and sound design to the strange, liminal fear that makes the whole movie feel wrong in the best way. T...

This week on A Reel Pain, John brings one of his millennial-era comfort movies to the table: Tango & Cash. Sylvester Stallone and Kurt Russell team up as two “best cops in L.A.” who get framed, sent to prison, tortured, break out, clear their names, and somehow end the movie holding hands after a high five. Matthew experiences the full 80s fever dream for the first time, from the cartoony vill...

Matthew is bringing John into the Glade with his pick, The Maze Runner — the 2014 dystopian thriller that hit at the perfect time for middle school Gen Z kids, but apparently looked “pretty dumb” to John when it first came out. Now, John is watching it for the first time to see if the maze, the Grievers, and the whole YA dystopian era still hold up. The guys talk about being dropped into the story...

John brings his millennial pick to the table with Masters of the Universe from 1987, the live-action He-Man movie starring Dolph Lundgren, Courteney Cox, Skeletor, Castle Grayskull, and a whole lot of unexpected Earth-based chaos. Matthew goes in with almost no He-Man knowledge outside of the memes, while John revisits a childhood-adjacent universe that he quickly realizes may not hold up quite th...

Matthew brings The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie from 2004 to A Reel Pain , forcing John to experience SpongeBob, Patrick, Goofy Goober, David Hasselhoff, and peak early-2000s Nickelodeon chaos for the very first time. As the Gen Z host with deep SpongeBob nostalgia, Matthew makes the case for why this movie is more than just a kids’ cartoon — it’s the true ending of the original SpongeBob era, pack...

Kenyon Murray joins A Reel Pain for a three-generation movie debate as he brings in his pick: Weird Science — the 1985 John Hughes comedy that was a full-blown nostalgic classic for 13-year-old Kenyon, but hits a little differently on a rewatch at 52. With John representing the Millennial perspective, Matthew coming in as Gen Z, and Kenyon bringing the Gen X nostalgia, this episode gets into wheth...