The Next Reel Film Podcast

Hey folks! Please listen to this episode! We tried to keep it short, but we need to tell you about a few things you'll be seeing come January 2016 which, if you don't listen now, may come as a surprise later. In short, new shows, new shirts, new stuff, new membership program. Thanks for tuning in, and happy new year from all of us at The Next Reel!

“Everybody in the car. Boat leaves in two minutes, or perhaps you don’t want to see the second largest ball of twine on the face of the Earth, which is only four short hours away?!”Harold Ramis’ second foray into feature film directing introduced the world to the Griswolds – Clark, Ellen, Rusty and Audrey – as they drive from Chicago to LA on a 2-week vacation with the aim of visiting an obvious D...

“Razzle dazzle!” Harold Ramis made his big screen debut acting in Ivan Reitman’s 1981 military comedy “Stripes,” which he also co-wrote for Reitman, having worked on “Animal House” and “Meatballs” with him a few years before. He’d go on to appear in a number of films throughout his career, and generally played the straight man to people like Bill Murray. Join us – Pete Wright and Andy Nelson – as...

“So I got that going for me, which is nice.” With a background at Second City and National Lampoon, comedy was right up Harold Ramis’ alley, and while he had early opportunities to write and perform comedy, it wasn’t until the third feature film on which he was involved that gave him the opportunity to direct. Luckily for him, that movie was “Caddyshack” and the rest, as they say, is history. Join...

Since we started using Flickchart to rank movies, we realized we had a few old ones to add. Pete and Andy jump back in and go through everything to sort it all out. Yeah, it’s a right thrill. Support The Next Reel Family of Film Podcasts: Become a member for just $5/month or $55/year Join our Discord community of movie lovers The Next Reel Family of Film Podcasts: Cinema Scope: Bridging Genres, Su...

“Don’t think badly of me. I only want her near me.” It’s time for another Listener’s Choice episode, and boy, do we have a doozy this week. Listener Diego Luis Contreras López wanted us to talk about a film from Spain and settled on Luis Buñuel’s return to his home country (and immediate departure thereafter) with his 1961 film “Viridiana.” Join us – Pete Wright and Andy Nelson – as we delve into...

With the 2013 release of “The Wind Rises,” his eleventh feature film, Hayao Miyazaki retired from making his beautiful animated films. Animation fans worldwide were disappointed to hear this, yet thrilled to see him go out on such a high note. Join us – Pete Wright and Andy Nelson – as we close our Miyazaki series with his final film “The Wind Rises.” We talk about the direction of Miyazaki’s care...

With the creation of Studio Ghibli, Hayao Miyazaki and the other filmmakers involved had created a place where they could create the films they wanted to make. With “My Neighbor Totoro,” Miyazaki’s third feature film and second he directed under the Ghibli banner, it was crystal clear what Miyazaki wanted to bring forth from his films — the relationship between man and nature, the purity and innoc...

Hayao Miyazaki began his career with television and it was the show “Lupin III” that gave him the chance to direct both for the small screen as well as for the big screen with the second story about Lupin the Third in 1979. Join us — Pete Wright and Andy Nelson — as we begin our short Hayao Miyazaki series with his first theatrical feature film, Lupin the Third: The Castle of Cagliostro. We talk a...

“He wants you too, Malachai!" Stephen King may not like the film version of ’Children of the Corn,’ but considering it spawned 7 sequels and a remake, we’d like to think that he’s at least making a decent profit on his short story from 1977. This movie started careers for Linda Hamilton, Courtney Gains, John Franklin and Peter Horton and has created quite the cult following, no matter what King —...

“Don’t be frightened. It was only the wind, my dear." Thus far, our series to celebrate Halloween — the Naughty Children series — hasn’t really been that scary. “The Bad Seed” is labeled a crime/drama/horror but comes across a bit more as a comedy now with the over-the-top performances. “Village of the Damned” is labeled a horror/mystery/sci-fi but doesn’t have much in the way of horror. This week...

“Is there no limit to the power of these children?" John Wyndham’s 1957 novel “The Midwich Cuckoos” is the foundation for Wolf Rilla’s 1960 film “Village of the Damned.” It’s hard to say which title may actually be worse, but the story in both seems to work for most people. It’s a decent sci-fi story that, while dated, creates an interesting scenario with all the women in a village being impregnat...

“I thought I seen some mean little gals in my time, but you’re the meanest." It’s October, which means it’s time for some scares! This year, we’re celebrating with those lovable little children who just are downright bad. Our first film of the series gives us a young girl who turns out to be a malicious killer, but only because it’s her way to get the things that she wants. Join us — Pete Wright a...

“Know your place. Keep your place. Be a shoe." Bong Joon-ho’s “Snowpiercer” made waves upon its US release because its distributor decided to give it a limited theatrical release the same day they released it digitally. It was a risky move — theatre owners rely on the window between theatrical release and subsequent releases to remain around six months roughly so as to ensure they get as much mone...

“You’re not even worth the dirt on my son’s toenail." Bong Joon-ho’s follow-up feature to his massive success “The Host” was about a murder and the person trying to figure out what happened. To some people, it sounded awfully like his second film “Memories of Murder” and they were afraid he was returning to the safety of familiar territory. But 2009’s “Mother” ended up being a very different film...

“Is all of your family so dumb all the time?" Bong Joon-ho’s third film, “The Host," ended up becoming the highest grossing South Korean film of all time straight out of the gate with it playing on a record number of screens in its home country — it made the South Korean record books with its box office performance during its opening weekend alone. Quentin Tarantino loves it. Harry Knowles loves i...

“The truth does not make it easier to understand, you know." When a choice is referred to as a “Sophie’s Choice” most people understand that the choice must be an impossibly difficult one between two unbearable options. But if it wasn’t for Meryl Streep’s performance in the 1982 film directed by Alan J. Pakula (and to a lesser extent William Styron’s novel upon which it was based), that phrase wou...

“You have planted a dagger in me, and your damned freedom gives you license to twist it in my heart!" Meryl Streep received her first nomination for Best Actress in a film that one would think had been lost in time if not for the recent Criterion Collection release — Karel Reisz’s 1981 film “The French Lieutenant’s Woman.” She lost to Katherine Hepburn in “On Golden Pond,” which makes sense, but S...

“I didn’t know it’d happen to me." Meryl Streep won the first of her three Oscars for her supporting role in Robert Benton’s 1979 film “Kramer vs. Kramer.” Of course, as of this episode, it’s the second nomination for her out of nineteen nominations — more nominations than any other actor. And when you watch “Kramer vs. Kramer,” it’s hard not to wonder why she won for supporting actress rather tha...

“I’m happy to be able to defend Volunteers, and maybe you can have me back to defend Mannequin Two." In 237 episodes of The Next Reel and nearly 200 movies as a part of the weekly show, we try to do solid service to the creators of the work that we talk about. Most of the time, we think we do a pretty good job. Sometimes, we drop the ball. A few weeks back, as part of our guilty pleasure series, w...

“One shot." Michael Cimino’s 1978 film “The Deer Hunter” is definitely a divisive film, one about which a LOT of people have found plenty of things to say and argue about. Aside from all of that, it’s also the film for which Meryl Streep received her first Oscar nomination. Join us — Pete Wright and Andy Nelson — as we begin our Meryl Streep series, specifically looking at films for which Streep r...

“The truth is when reality is staring you in the face and you’re afraid to die, very few of us are heroic." It’s time for another Listener’s Choice episode, this time with our friends Per Johansson and Gustav Larsed from the Filmpodden podcast in Sweden. They selected something from the home country — Ruben Östlund’s 2014 film “Force Majeure.” Join us — Pete Wright and Andy Nelson — as we take on...

“Yes, Christopher lived for all women, but he died for one." Prince has always been a flamboyant and eclectic musician, and with the album and film “Purple Rain,” he found a new art form he enjoyed. And one he won an Oscar for — Best Original Song Score. With his next film, he had conflicts with the director so took over and directed it himself. Join us — Pete Wright and Andy Nelson — as we wrap u...

“It’s not that I can’t help these people, it’s just that I don’t want to."It’s time for some guilty pleasures! Yes, the two of us — Pete Wright and Andy Nelson — dig up some films that we love but are generally not considered the greatest of movies. This week, it’s Andy’s turn with his guilty pleasure — Nicholas Meyer’s 1985 Peace Corps comedy “Volunteers.” That’s right, more Tom Hanks action from...

“I thought you had enough of flyers?" Howard Hawks and Cary Grant had already given the world the hilarious “Bringing Up Baby” in 1938, and lucky for us, they liked working together. They’d work on four more films together, including their very next one — “Only Angels Have Wings.” Join us — Pete Wright and Andy Nelson — as we finish our series on films from 1939 with Hawks’ and Grant’s second coll...