The Kick

While 2020 kept so many families painfully apart, three acclaimed indies from last year made the opposite case: "Why do I see these people again?" Playing a little 2021 catch-up, Chance and Noah drop by to visit "Spencer," "Shiva Baby," and "The Humans" to explore how families—be they English royalty or middle-class Americans—banter, bristle, covet nostalgia, push buttons, and flirt with genuine h...

To celebrate the 80th birthday of the eternal G.O.A.T., Chance dives deep into Muhammad Ali's cinematic legacy. Morgan Campbell of CBC Sports joins to discuss the unwavering supply of Ali documentaries and films, plus the necessity of preserving context around Ali's life and legacy as an activist athlete. Then, to finish, Chance runs down his three favorite Ali films. Happy birthday, champ.

To close the book on 2021 movies, Chance is joined by Conner Reed (Portland Monthly) to celebrate their favorite films and performances in the following categories: Oregon Feature, Documentary, Foreign Film, Blockbuster, Comedy, Horror, Acting Newcomer, Ensemble, Supporting Performance, Lead Performance, and Top 3 Movies of 2021. Happy new year, all!

One doesn’t simply walk into a “Lord of the Rings” episode—at least not without a 20-year anniversary and amateur Tolkien scholar Brent Rivers on one’s side. On today's blockbuster episode, our fellowship reflects on an all-time great film trilogy, assessing LOTR’s bizarre relationship to star power, how Peter Jackson adapted almost anti-modern novels, and how the trilogy’s approach to franchise f...

After many Thanksgivings spent recording supersized Be Reels, we finally do the sensible thing and just cover films about Turkey Day itself. The trio of “Planes, Trains and Automobiles” (1987), “Home For The Holidays” (1995) and “The Ice Storm” (1997) explores the great lengths to which families go to gather, despite cornucopias of evidence they shouldn’t. To all those surviving delayed flights an...

In the debut of a "Guest's Choice" format, Portland writer and film programmer Aaron Colter joins Chance to discuss a pair of '80s movies about New York vampires: "The Hunger" (1983) and "Vampire's Kiss" (1989). The former is Tony Scott's first movie (dark, entrancing, and with David Bowie), while the latter finds Nicolas Cage channeling Nosferatu to ends we still don't understand. Portlanders can...

By the year 1991, Wes Craven had already solidified his place in the Hollywood "master of horror" pantheon. But for his third act, the "Nightmare on Elm Street" creator began asking, "What's the point of all this slashing?" as he embarked on a series of socially critical and self-reflexive scary movies: "The People Under The Stairs" (1991), "New Nightmare" (1994) and "Scream" (1996). For your Hall...

Reflecting on Sept. 11, 2001 twenty years later, we watched three films depicting the post-9/11 psyche at its most charged and wounded. "25th Hour" (2002), "Worth" (2021) and "Reign Over Me" (2007) consider 9/11 from grieving standpoints, but they also tell on themselves, revealing how difficult meaningful reflection actually is, whether from swaggering New Yorkers, bereaved Adam Sandlers, or the...

Our fraternity of microphones and movie opinions celebrates its 200th episode this month, so we're taking the opportunity to review films about brothers and their criminal gambits. From the thousand-car pileups of "The Blues Brothers" (1980) to the street-crime insanity of "Four Brothers" (2005) to the dapper cons of "The Brothers Bloom" (2008), we tip our caps to the unbreakable bonds and wild sq...

Before the DM or chatroom, if you wanted to connect with a stranger pseudo-anonymously, you bought a personal ad. This week, we seek three films with classified ads as inciting incidents: “Desperately Seeking Susan” (1985), “Single White Female (1992) and the now 20-year-old “Ghost World” (2001). Romance, murder and vicarious living abound, plus the story of Chance and Noah answering an ad.

It's not even August, and this summer has already smothered the country in multiple record-breaking heatwaves. As with any crisis, we look to the movies for wisdom, catharsis and lunacy. This week, it's three heatwave pictures: "The Seven Year Itch" (1957), "Do The Right Thing" (1989) and Weekend at Bernie's (1989).

In honor of "Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory" turning 50, we’ve constructed a podcast category about bizarro adults and their puzzling worlds. After unpacking the general discomfort of watching candymen, goblin kings and world-builders covet innocent children for mysterious ends, we plunge into the alternate realities of “Willy Wonka” (1971), “Labyrinth” (1986) and “Tomorrowland” (2015).

So says every warden on today's podcast, Alcatraz was the most secure prison ever constructed. Film directors, of course, took that as a challenge and gave us movies about prisoners with dreams too big for the famous San Francisco jail. These famed inmates will try and escape one way or another. We watched "Birdman of Alcatraz" (1962), "Escape From Alcatraz" (1979) and "The Rock" (1996).

With theaters around the U.S. either open or on that path, we're exploring films that hinge on the theatrical experience, narratively speaking. From “The Last Action Hero” (1993) to “The Majestic” (2001) to “The Blob” (1958), today's episode pays tribute to how films depict movie houses for magical purposes, nostalgic ambiance and self-aware carnage. See you back at the theater soon. We'll be ones...

With one more week until your hosts are fully back in action, please enjoy this episode from our Patreon archives on "The Pelican Brief." We talk John Grisham adaptations, hot Stanley Tucci, whispering Denzel, and much more. Also, if you'd like to join us for this Sunday's "Point Break" watch party, email bereelyguys@gmail.com for the link. Cheers!

We're on a short break in May, so please enjoy a bonus episode from our Patreon! This one being a review of 1999’s “The Mummy” which we enjoyed at our March watch party. And if you haven’t checked out the BR Patreon yet, we’d love your support and to spend even more time talking at you about these damn movies: https://www.patreon.com/bereel

John Woo’s unparalleled directing career is best known for blazing barrels, shadow selves and slow-motion “heroic bloodshed.” To celebrate the Hong Kong legend’s 75th birthday, we talk Woo's full arc with film scholar Karen Fang. Then, we focus on a sweet spot in Woo’s oeuvre, when he maxed out his Hong Kong street operas with "Hard Boiled"(1992) and transitioned to inimitable American shoot-em-up...

If you don't know Henry Selick by name, you certainly know his puppets. The Stop Motion guru behind "The Nightmare Before Christmas" (1993), "James and the Giant Peach" (1996) and "Coraline" (2009) has been capturing children's imaginations—and perhaps lovingly scarring them, too—for 30 years. On today's show we're joined by sculptor and constant Selick collaborator Damon Bard to reflect on a one-...

And your lower-case hosts said, "Let there be Passover Pod." This Passover, Noah and Chance watch three Hollywood adaptations of the Moses story: "The Ten Commandments" (1956), "The Prince of Egypt" (1998) and "Exodus: Gods and Kings" (2014). It's eight hours of plagues and partings, as we pass judgment on epic Exodus, animated Exodus and atheist Exodus. Behold!

In the amnesia puzzler's golden age (1996-2001), blank-slate protagonists from Christopher Nolan, David Lynch and Shane Black generated their own stories. In every case, these histories ended up rosier and nobler than the depraved violence just beneath the surfaces of "Memento" (2001), "Mulholland Drive" (2001) and "The Long Kiss Goodnight" (1996). So let's retrace our steps through this forgetful...

Decades before he carried Batman's breakfast and launched a thousand Cockney impersonations, Michael Caine mostly played transgressors. In late-60s and early 70s films like ALFIE, GET CARTER and THE MAN WHO WOULD BE KING, Caine brought a streetwise intelligence to a gallery of anti-social rogues: philanderers, killers and colonialists. Ahead of Caine's 88th birthday, Noah and Chance dive into the...

Former actor Kasi Lemmons has charted her own cinematic path since tiring of "best friend" roles in mid-90s. The director of "Eve's Bayou" (1997), "Talk To Me" (2007), and "Harriet" (2019) has gradually cultivated a fascinating directorial career. To discuss this pioneering Black female filmmaker and versatile dramatist, we're thrilled to be joined by Professor Christina N. Baker, author of "Kasi...

On Valentine's Day, "The Silence of the Lambs" celebrates 30 years of haunting imaginations and changing serial-killer cinema forever. On this week's Be Reel, Noah and Chance appreciate the many inimitable qualities of Jonathan Demme's 1991 classic before exploring the full menu of Thomas Harris adaptations: "Manhunter" (1986), "Hannibal" (2001), and "Hannibal Rising" (2007).

Alan J. Pakula was an under-celebrated voice in 1970s American cinema. Most famous for “All the President’s Men," Pakula built a career focused on rule-breakers and the vast conspiracies they untangle. With Criterion Collection releasing “The Parallax View” (1974) this month, Be Reel takes the opportunity to dive into Pakula’s conspiracy/mystery standouts, focusing on “The Parallax View,” “Klute”...

Dolly Parton is a genuine American icon. For her 75th birthday, we revisit the country superstar and EGOT nominee’s three most significant film roles in “9 to 5” (1980), “The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas” (1982), and “Steel Magnolias” (1989). Also, thank you for funding the Moderna vaccine, Dolly; we will alwaaaaaays love you.