The Next Reel Film Podcast

“We must destroy it before it’s born.” Condon goes for lust, horror and a bit of camp We return to Forks, Washington, to join Edward and Bella at their wedding. We also join them on their honeymoon and then struggle with them as they figure out how to deal with a vampire baby. That’s right – we’re back in Twilight territory. Join us – Pete Wright and Andy Nelson – as we continue our Twilight serie...

“Let’s face it – I AM hotter than you.” The melodrama continues between Bella and Jacob and Edward David Slade takes the helm with the third adaptation of Stephenie Meyer’s supernatural romance novels, but how does it do to advance the story? Join us – Pete Wright and Andy Nelson – as we continue our series on the Twilight films with Slade’s 2010 film The Twilight Saga: Eclipse.  Here’s a hint at...

“I guess the wolf’s out of the bag.” Bella’s plight continues – who will she choose? We’re here for it! Bella continues pining for Edward long after he’s moved away, but Jacob’s there for her. That’s right, we’re talking about vampires, werewolves, Volturi and more! Join us – Pete Wright and Andy Nelson – as we continue our journey through the Twilight series in our discussion about Chris Weitz’ 2...

“I’ve never given much thought to how I would die, but dying in place of someone I love seems like a good way to go.” It’s time to explore the vampire romance Twilight! Make fun of us all you want. We thought exploring the romance novel vampire series would be worth the conversation. That’s right, we’re looking at all five films adapted from Stephenie Meyer’s books. Does it work for us, two middle...

“They're not cops anymore. They're in my world now.” Expanding the Universe with The Raid 2. We often talk about world building on our podcast. We also talk about leveling up and not simply remaking the first film when you make a second one. With The Raid 2, writer-director Gareth Evans proves he understands all of this. The world building expands in exciting ways, and the film levels up to take u...

“Just because you see what I do as wrong doesn’t mean I can’t be good at it.” We’re heading in to take down the big bad in The Raid. Gareth Huw Evans wasn’t making headway with his directing career in his home country of Wales, so moving to Indonesia to work in a project there at the suggestion of his wife – who happens to be from Indonesia – seemed like a good idea. It was there he learned more a...

“Like sunlight, sunset, we appear, we disappear. We are so important to some, but we are just passing through.” Time to wrap things up with Jesse and Céline The conclusion of our 18-year journey with the two principal characters in Richard Linklater’s Before Trilogy lands in division. When we started this series, we were divided because of the Gen-X nature of the characters. With the second film,...

“Why didn’t we just exchange phone numbers and stuff?”Jesse and Céline are a bit more grown up in Before Sunset. The sequel wasn’t an immediate thought on the minds of the group behind 1995’s Before Sunrise, but certainly was something that writer/director Richard Linklater, co-writer Kim Krizan, and actors Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy all felt strongly about. They’d all grown close to the characte...

“If there’s any kind of magic in this world, it must be in the attempt of understanding someone, sharing something.” Looking at Richard Linklater’s Before Sunrise. There’s often been a sense of the arthouse style of storytelling with Richard Linklater’s films. Even after big Hollywood success, he still returns to his roots. Early in his explorations of minimalist, conversational storytelling, he d...

“You’ve been a very naughty girl, Turnip-Top!”The Bellas Are Back, But Should They Have Stayed Away? Making a sequel that’s more successful than its predecessor often means the studio wants to keep the ball rolling to make even more money – even when a third film isn’t needed. With the massive success of Pitch Perfect 2, they jumped at the chance to get #3 off the ground. Does it wrap things up as...

“You are such a dis-a-ca-ppointment.”   Back to Barden, the Bellas, the Treblemakers and more! We’re back to talk a cappella! That’s right, we return to Barden University to rejoin the Barden Bellas as they struggle to find their new sound, deal with being shut out of the ICCAs, and decide to compete at the World Finals. Producer Elizabeth Banks takes on the director’s role here with Kay Cannon ba...

“Nothing makes a woman feel more like a girl than a man who sings like a boy.” Time to warm up those vocals, Pitches. With Pete’s history in collegiate a cappella, it’s a surprise that it took us this long to get to the Pitch Perfect trilogy, but we’re finally here. Join us – Pete Wright and Andy Nelson – as we kick off our new series with a discussion about Jason Moore’s 2012 film Pitch Perfect....

"Shot in the back by Buford Tannen, over a matter of eighty dollars? What kind of a future do you call that?” We Follow Marty and Doc to the Old West in Back to the Future Part IIIBack-to-back film production doesn’t occur often because it could potentially prove costly for the production company. With the success of Back to the Future, however, Universal saw it had an audience and likely could ea...

“What’s wrong, McFly? Chicken?” Joining Marty and Doc Again in Back to the Future Part IIThe sequels weren’t part of the plan when Robert Zemeckis and team made the first Back to the Future film. With its success, however, it was inevitable for Universal to want to return to the property and build a franchise. so Zemeckis and his co-writer/co-producer Bob Gale decided to make not just one sequel b...

"Last night, Darth Vader came down from planet Vulcan and told me that if I didn't take Lorraine out, that he'd melt my brain." We Go Back to BACK TO THE FUTUREFrom the time we first saw this film, it’s safe to say that it’s been one of our favorites. It was popular at the time and has become a cornerstone in cinematic time traveling movies. Join us – Pete Wright and Andy Nelson - as we kick off o...

“Nobody criticizes my food, nobody squirts condiments on my apron, and nobody bonks me on the head with a baguette!” Let’s talk about Paddington 2!Paddington 2 had become the best-reviewed film on Rotten Tomatoes, unseating Citizen Kane, until a lone critic lobbed a negative review at it, bringing it down a peg. But what does that say about this film? Is it really one of the greatest films ever ma...

It’s so easy to love Paddington Producer David Heyman had been wanting to adapt the “Paddington” series of children’s books for a while, announcing his plans to produce it in 2007. It took a bit to get it where it needed to be, but with director Paul King, they managed to get the film made and released it in 2014 to much acclaim. So how does it fare overall? Does it stand up as an exemplary adapta...

We return to Return of the Jedi Three years after the success of The Empire Strikes Back, George Lucas made his conclusion to his original Star Wars trilogy – helmed by director Richard Marquand – Return of the Jedi. How does it work as the wrap-up to this trilogy? What do we think of Luke’s cool new black duds? How about Han’s somewhat neutered character? Join us – Pete Wright and Andy Nelson – a...

Does The Empire Strikes Back Suffer From Middle-Film-Itis? There’s a complaint about trilogies that are designed to be one long story that the middle film suffers the most because it neither feels like it has a beginning or an ending. Is that a problem with this film? What about being a sequel? Does it do more than the original did? Join us – Pete Wright and Andy Nelson – as we continue our series...

“You think there’s something wrong with me or something? You think I’m wacko or something?”Talking About John Cassavetes’ 1974 film ‘A Woman Under the Influence with our guest Tami ReikerIn this episode of The Speakeasy, we’re joined by award-winning cinematographer Tami Reiker to talk about one of her favorite movies, John Cassavetes’ 1974 film A Woman Under the Influence. This is a film Tami has...

“Only Imperial Storm Troopers are so precise.” Star Wars – The Start of Something Big For our twelfth season, we’re looking at franchises and series of films that for one reason or another, we just haven’t gotten around to yet. To start things off, we look at the original Star Wars trilogy. Join us – Pete Wright and Andy Nelson – as we start this series with George Lucas’ 1977 classic Star Wars ....

Waiter, there’s a fly in my soup...We’ve been running the show for over a decade now and want to keep going. One of the things we’re doing to keep the lights on is the addition of dynamic advertising during the episodes, both past episodes and moving forward. If you’d like to keep listening but don’t want to hear the ads, you can still support the show by becoming a member .Members get early acces...

“Did the penguin tell you to do this?” Tamra Davis came on as director for Billy Madison after they’d already been filming for a few days of production as the studio felt the original director wasn’t funny enough. Davis had already met with Sandler and they connected. Plus, it helped that she found him funny. Because of this, she ended up in the director’s seat, taking over the project and deliver...

“How could you guys eat with a dead man at the table?” With an Oscar nomination under her belt for a short film and connections to many in Hollywood, Stacy Title was in a great position to make her first feature. She and screenwriter Dan Rosen made a black comedy that tackled liberals and conservatives along with bombastic one-way thinking with their collaboration The Last Supper . Join us – Pete...

“So, okay, you’re probably going, ‘Is this, like, a Noxema commercial or what?’ But seriously, I actually have a very normal life for a teenage girl.” Amy Heckerling started a project about a positive high school student for TV. She wrote several iterations before it stalled out, but when she switched agents, her new agent said it was too good for TV. So she switched it to be a feature film. And w...