The Kick

To celebrate Al Pacino’s 80th birthday, Be Reel zeroes in on one of the acting legend’s favorite archetypes—the ragged police detective. Today, we trace Pacino’s investigative methods all the way from iconic “Serpico” (1973) to controversial “Cruising” (1980) to charged “Sea of Love” (1989) to unimpeachable “Heat” (1995) to perhaps underrated “Insomnia” (2002), all the way to VOD schlock like “Han...

This week, Chance and Noah decipher the back half of Alex Garland's “Devs.” With the help of sci-fi writer Tochi Onyebuchi, the guys examine the exciting, loose-end-tying, head-scratching, quantum-defying final episodes of the FX on Hulu series. Be Reel gives many thanks to this episode’s sponsors: Podcorn and California College of the Arts’ Writing MFA program. -PODCORN: Explore sponsorship oppor...

For much of the late-20th century, Barbra Streisand was a ubiquitous star of stage, album, and screen. And the EGOT winner’s artistic vision was never clearer than in her three forays into directing, producing and starring in her own movies: "Yentl" (1983), "The Prince of Tides" (1991) and "The Mirror Has Two Faces" (1996). Each film features a touch of Streisand’s cross-medium talents: a little m...

It’s Old Rob versus New Rob, Sad Rob versus Not As Sad Rob, Zoë Kravitz versus John Cusack, Brooklyn versus Chicago, and sad music versus sad people on this week’s TV recap. The Be Reel guys take on Hulu’s “High Fidelity” (2020) and compare and contrast it to the other Nick Hornby adaptations they covered last week. Key moments include a debate about cancel culture, the original music on the show...

Welcome to the arrested world of Nick Hornby. In the movie adaptations of his books, you'll find man-children of all stripes, from John Cusack's iconic role in "High Fidelity" (2000), Hugh Grant's lovable cad in "About a Boy" (2002) and Ethan Hawke's loser indie rocker in "Juliet, Naked" (2018). We dive into this overly witty but emotionally stunted category to celebrate and examine the 20th birth...

In March 2015, we started a movie podcast that was a little raw, a little tipsy, a little too much "White House Down." We've kept the pod going these five years and over 500 movie reviews for our friendship, for our relationship to friends and colleagues who listen and for all the tremendous (and even bad-good) films we never would've watched otherwise. We thank you kindly for spending some time w...

With theaters closed indefinitely, today we fully acknowledge streaming as the overlord of the moment. Alex Garland ("Ex Machina," "Annihilation") has a new FX/Hulu show called "Devs," which unravels the mind-bending and violent workings of a quantum computer company. Wanna watch along with us? Episode discussion time stamps below: 0:00 - Show Overview 16:50 - Episode 1 Spoilers 26:00 - Episode 2...

When it comes to contemporary sci-fi, Alex Garland sits at the highest level of Hollywood writers/directors/creators. Whether penning original ideas about humanity’s undoing (“Ex Machina,” “28 Days Later,” “Sunshine”) or adapting bestselling books (“Annihilation,” “Never Let Me Go”) to his own specifications, Garland has had a hand in several of the most intriguing sci-fi and horror films of the p...

Before the entire world shut down, there was an extremely good Kelly Reichardt movie ("First Cow") halfway into theaters. Now it's shelved, but our career-spanning look at the American independent stalwart continues. Known for their lived-in detail, complex female leads and incisive social commentary, Reichardt titles like "Wendy and Lucy" (2008), "Meek's Cutoff" (2010) and "Night Moves" (2013) ex...

Who do you become when no one can see you? Well, today’s Be Reel category doesn’t take a rosy view of how already powerful dudes would use this new superpower. In light of the new "Invisible Man" film starring Elisabeth Moss, we rope in an additional trio of invisible pictures, including "The Invisible Man" (1933), "Memoirs of an Invisible Man" (1992) and "Hollow Man" (2000). BE REEL is brought to...

With the restoration and re-release of Elem Klimov's underappreciated war epic "Come and See," we steel ourselves to revisit the film's famously immersive, brutal, even dangerous portrayal of the WWII Eastern Front. (A child actor's hair literally turned white.) Listen as we dive back into the Russian film’s production history, myth, canonization, and assess the lines between majesty and gratuitou...

We lost a great one this month with the passing of Hollywood icon Kirk Douglas at the age of 103. But what made him such an era-defining star in classics like "Spartacus"? That indomitable chin? That triangle torso? No, there’s something deeper and cannier to how the heartthrob-turned-super-producer cemented his own role as a prophet in the mid-century American movie religion. This week, Be Reel l...

Whether their torment is played for laughs, cold shivers, or #MeToo rage, assistants get a raw deal on screen. This week, as Kitty Green’s incisive new drama “The Assistant” rolls out around the country, Chance and Noah look at the role of assistants in cinema, also revisiting “The Devil Wears Prada” (2006) and “Secretary” (2002). They're joined by Daily Beast writer Cassie Da Costa to discuss her...

After years of cratering in Noah's office Oscar pool, we've dispensed with the official bubbling and brought in a third voice to make sense of Hollywood's biggest (and obtusest) night. "Sweet & Low" author Nick White returns to the program to predict and critique the 2020 favorites. Highlights include Noah's surprise anointing of "The Irishman" for Oscars glory, Chance's historical theories re: "1...

"Bad Boys, bad boys / whatcha gonna do / whatcha gonna do when we rate and review?" It’s 2020, and Columbia Pictures has dug deep into its intellectual property vault for a 17-year dormant Will Smith franchise with no meaningful reason to continue. Sounds like a job for Noah and Chance. Be Reel is brought to you by California College of the Arts' Writing MFA Program. Learn more at CCA.edu/writingm...

For our first episode of 2020, we're visiting the March family in their seventh turn on the big screen. With a new structure and perhaps all-time best cast, Greta Gerwig's "Little Women" feels revisionist and faithful toward the 1868 story all at once. Then, in search of more context, we review the “Little Women” of 1994 and 1949. From these films, we discuss the Jo March of Winona Ryder and the A...

With December all but gone and neither of them having seen CATS, Noah and Chance reflect on the year in film with a series of semi-original accolades. What was their favorite 2019 performance with no awards potential? What movie will be talked about differently in 2029? In the end, we give our Top 10 lists and bid the 2019 movies a fond farewell. Happy new year!

This week, Chance and Noah dare to ask a question posed by many conned, spurned and murdered Patricia Highsmith characters: "Who are you, Tom Ripley?" As we celebrate the 20th anniversary of Anthony Minghella’s seminal Matt Damon vehicle "The Talented Mr. Ripley," we seek out the character’s origins in the acclaimed Highsmith novels and the many resulting film adaptations. In addition to the 1999...

That's no moon... this week, we throw caution to the hot winds of Tatooine and discuss every in-trilogy Star Wars movie, leading up to "The Rise of Skywalker." To keep things not-10-hours-long, the Jedi Council has assigned Noah and Chance a special approach on this show: try to give one fresh(ish) observation on each installment, rate that womp rat, and move on. 8 movies, 16 takes, and 2 white gu...

Noah and Chance look back through the spiritual trilogy of GOODFELLAS, CASINO and THE IRISHMAN for the groundbreaking style of Martin Scorsese, the sometimes goofy repetitions of that style, and the shadow history of America created by 10 hours of mafiosos, teamsters and their middlemen. Oh, and Chance's dad—a Vegas craps dealer circa 1978—stops by for a lightning round of questions about “Casino....

With “Parasite” reaching levels of film geek ubiquity, Chance and Noah took this week to look at the buzzy import and the other essential films of its director, Bong Joon-ho. Notably, it’s also a major milestone for the Be Reel guys: they once swore to never discuss “Snowpiercer” on the podcast because of the unrest it caused their friendship upon its initial release in 2013. “The Host” (2006) rou...

Charlie Chaplin lampooning Hitler’s bombast and fragility in “The Great Dictator” (1940) marked one of comedy’s all-time “truth to power” moments. But 80 years after WWII, how best to laugh at fascists when they seldom don the brownshirt? With the release of Taika Waititi’s “Jojo Rabbit”—a would-be charming comedy about a Hitler youth whose imaginary friend is der Führer—we’re again asking ourselv...

As much as people say, "You're your own worst enemy!", it's never been truer than for the protagonists of "Gemini Man" (2019), "Fight Club" (1999) and "Us" (2019). Whether through movie-science cloning, mental illness or oppressive class structures (with a healthy dose of late capitalism in all three), this week, the Be Reel guys are looking at movies that pit protagonists against literal manifest...

It’s a cold, dark place we find ourselves in the space adventure genre, where the themes owe themselves more to therapy couches than astronomy. Today's trio of the new Brad Pitt-starring "Ad Astra" (2019), the challenging and disturbing "High Life" (2019), and the ever-loving "Interstellar" (2014) shuttles the weight of children and fathers into deep space. And speaking of important relationships,...

Nobody tells you about the bonus round after the million-dollar question—the one where we ask, "Why have we obsessed for 70 years over the TV game show in all its inherent fakeness, exploitation, and only a lottery ticket's chance of actually paying the common person their money?" This week, BE REEL is buzzing in, to reappraise "Quiz Show" on its 25th anniversary, "Slumdog Millionaire" one decade...