Split Tooth Media

Shane and Bennett give three cheers for the red, white and blue on Nichols' underwhelming political late-Nineties comedy. This week's Reel Rap looks back at Mike Nichols’ 1998 feature 'Primary Colors.' Shane and Bennett find little of value in the folksy rendering of the American electoral landscape. Shane shares his Kathy Bates story, Bennett measures the value of John Travolta and they express d...

Jason and Jim are coming back from Hell. Cinesthesia returns with new episodes Monday, Feb. 10. Listen as two confused men struggle to comprehend that they even have a podcast. Come hear what we see. Join a filmmaker (and sometimes film teacher) and a film teacher (and sometimes filmmaker) as they venture into the dark heart of their own befuddled relationship to culture, the youth, the internet,...

Reel Rap is taking a break from Elaine May and Mike Nichols to discuss their favorite films of the 2010s, and, most importantly, to point out how great their taste is. Bennett selects 11 inscrutable films that he couldn't shake, films that introduced him to new favorite filmmakers and made him invest in the people's careers who made them. Shane, with his admittedly small sample of films seen last...

After an extended stretch through Elaine May's filmography, Reel Rap jumps back to Mike Nichols' films with 1996's The Birdcage. With an Elaine May-written screenplay, the comedy features Robin Williams and Nathan Lane as a gay couple pretending to play straight when Williams' son brings his fiancee's family to meet them. Bennett also talks smoking cigarettes off the ground and ponders if John Tra...

"Telling the truth can be dangerous business/ Honest and popular don't go hand-in-hand." Shane and Bennett do a lot of truth-telling in their examination of Elaine May's Ishtar famously misunderstood comedy. They express great admiration for the film and relate heavily to Rogers and Clarke — Warren Beatty and Dustin Hoffman's bumbling singer/songwriter characters — even trying their hand at crafti...

Reel Rap welcomes you to 2020, the year we are existing in! We have compiled a best of the pre-Split Tooth Cassavetes and Cassavetes series focusing on the disparate films from John Cassavetes and Nick Cassavetes. We appreciate you listening, laughing with us and supporting us, and we will resume Season 6 on Elaine May and Mike Nichols shortly. Enjoy this look at the highs and lows of our Cassavet...

John Cassavetes and Peter Falk star in May's 1976 film that reflects the chaotic nature of life and teaches about film in a way that no class or textbook could ever convey. Bennett and Shane declare Mikey and Nicky one of the best films ever made and May an unrivaled genius — a far cry from previous Reel Rap films and directors. They also discuss smoking on a train, belt hygiene and drinking out o...

Elaine May's second film is another relationship comedy that fires on all cylinders. Charles Grodin, Jeannie Berlin and Cybill Shepherd star in Elaine May's second film — an all-time-great comedy — The Heartbreak Kid. In this episode Bennett also reveals the official Reel Rap opinion of Alec Baldwin and they debate the prospect of swallowing chewing gum. A comedy duo straight out of William Penn’s...

Reel Rap pivots to Elaine May's filmography in this week's episode. May stars in her 1971 directorial debut, A New Leaf, alongside Walter Matthau in the high-society comedy about a rich man who goes broke and decides the quickest way to rebuild his fortune is marry a rich woman (May) and kill her. Shane and Bennett marvel at May's near-perfect comedic timing on script and screen, the film's abilit...

Everyone's favorite sophomoric philosophers tackle Mike Nichols' best-known, Oscar winning effort with 1967's The Graduate. Along with special guest Ryan McClosky, Shane and Bennett discuss how their appreciation for the film has shifted through the years and how the leads —Dustin Hoffman, Anne Bancroft and Katharine Ross — and various side characters read differently more than 50 years later. A c...

Legendary comedy-duo-turned-filmmakers Elaine May and Mike Nichols are the subject of the sixth season of Reel Rap. Shane and Bennett kick things off with Nichol's directorial debut, Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? Adapted from Edward Albee's hit 1962 play, Nichols' sharp-tongued, star-studded 1966 film lets the booze flow and the insults fly between Elizabeth Taylor, Richard Burton, George Segal...

After a brief break for Split Tooth Media's 31 Days of October Horror series, Shane and Bennett are back in top form to continue talking through Sofia Coppola's filmography. In this episode they discuss the Civil War drama of a wounded Union soldier (Colin Farrell) being taken in by a group of women (including Nicole Kidman, Kirsten Dunst and Elle Fanning) in a boarding school in what Bennett call...

After taking a short break for Split Tooth Media's 31 Days of October Horror series, Shane and Bennett resume their deep dive into Sofia Coppola's filmography. Episode 4 covers 2010's Somewhere, her subdued follow-up to the critically maligned Marie Antoinette (2006). They also share stories about bad bar experiences and discuss the gossip surrounding Benicio del Toro's elevator cameo. A comedy du...

Day 30. The Cinesthesia boys are getting close to the light at the end of the tunnel, but first they have to get through Frank Darabont's The Mist (2007). Jim gives Jason's Secret Window a good ol' fashioned Dark Halfin' (yes, it's late enough in the month where they have started speaking in Kingisms) and guest star Frankie Vanaria immediately regrets agreeing to be on the show. Join a filmmaker (...

Having plumbed the depths of King-based media, having trodden to hell and back, the young bucks of Cinesthesia (with the help of returning guest and referee Frankie Vanaria) break down every single adaptation and relive their entire soul-crushing month in this, their longest and most nutrient-rich episode. Join a filmmaker (and sometimes film teacher) and a film teacher (and sometimes filmmaker) a...

If '1408' has a fault it is in being too competently made. This leaves our Cinesthetes with little to latch on to, but they nonetheless discuss the film for the requisite amount of time. John Cusack is a famous author who is in a room, who is tortured by said room. Samuel L. Jackson is able to be his best self — an angry, yelling man. Join a filmmaker (and sometimes film teacher) and a film teache...

Ancient daggers, inexplicable dream logic and the scariest sound of all — Shane's impression of a burping crow. Reel Rap stands divided on this 1973 experimental blaxploitation vampire film and reflects on a letter from director Bill Gunn to white critics about how black art is received by mainstream media. A comedy duo straight out of William Penn’s backyard, Bennett Glace, an adult Disney fan, a...

Open-carrying oars in public, Johnny Depp barking like a dog and the baffling rise of Depp from outsider actor to one of the most famous people on the planet. Cinesthesia gazes through the 'Secret Window' and are unimpressed by what it holds. David Koepp's 2004 adaptation of Stephen King's novella "Secret Window, Secret Garden" is full of great moments but ultimately serves as a turning point in D...

A useful batch of keywords to accompany your viewing experience of Dreamcatcher: Shitweasel Grayboy Dumb guy psychics Morgan Freeman's eyebrows Gunphone Portentous farting The worst theatrically released Punisher but it's not his fault Oxycontin Inexplicable Wahlberg Special guest Mike Daley returns to help Jason and Jim sift through Lawrence Kasden's adaptation of a novel Stephen King wrote in cu...

Clearly sleep-deprived and falling apart at their basal cortices, Jason and Jim try to harness a wobbling conversation in the direction of 'The Night Flier,' but mostly talk about how much they love Miguel Ferrer. Also they put out a call for knowledge regarding the names of specific pratfalls. Join a filmmaker (and sometimes film teacher) and a film teacher (and sometimes filmmaker) as they ventu...

Stephen's attempt to take back his novel from Stanley Kubrick, this miniseries doesn't really work at all because it is a cranky argument instead of a movie, but it is an interesting argument to talk about for a minute. The boys discuss good actors being ill-used and rain down spite upon Mick Garris. Join a filmmaker (and sometimes film teacher) and a film teacher (and sometimes filmmaker) as they...

Ted Levine fights his own jacket, Jim auctions off his eyeballs and Jason introduces his son to "spooky skulls." Episode 23 of Hell to the King covers the misunderstood Tobe Hooper production of The Mangler (1995), a movie that guest star Victoria Quamme Rhoden returns to for the first time since the film inspired an early childhood trauma. Join a filmmaker (and sometimes film teacher) and a film...

A crossover episode with Reel Rap host Shane Pfender ends the only way it possibly could — in a podcast feud. A heavy-set man is cursed to grow forever thinner after he runs over a Gypsy man's daughter. Cinesthesia hosts Jason and Jim trek through Richard Bachman's horny portrayal of cosmic revenge in what Jason calls the King film that comes closest to encapsulating the feeling of reading a trash...

A whole lotta mackerel snappin' goin' on... Hell to the King vaults across Jason's concentric circles and into the realm where all the rules are thrown out. Logan Taylor guests on this episode about Needful Things, a Stephen King adaptation that plays like a more murderous It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World. Also, everyone involved swoons over Max von Sydow. Join a filmmaker (and sometimes film teach...

Jim thinks Jason is mad at him for forcing him to watch this miniseries. Cinesthesia has decided 'The Tommyknockers' has precisely 10 good moments in a miniseries that is all too long. Lipstick vaporizers, charming machines and ancient architecture in the woods provide bright spots in a series that struggles to stretch itself to three hours. Cinesthesia has decided The Tommyknockers has precisely...