The Next Reel Film Podcast

With all the franchises, spin-offs and films based on other mediums these days, it seems rare to find original sci-fi films. That inspired us to do a series of original sci-fi films, and we're starting with one of our favorites. In 1998, Alex Proyas created a fantastic and wholly unique science fiction film, Dark City, that unfortunately bombed at the box office but has since proven to be a cult h...

There's something about memories of childhood and baseball that seem to go hand in hand. Perhaps it's the tradition of baseball — it feels as tied into good ol' Americana as much as fireworks on the Fourth of July or hot apple pie, things that can certainly define childhood memories. Perhaps it's just that it was one of those things you did as a kid that helped shape who you would become. Regardle...

It's spring training season again, and we're back to discuss more baseball movies! In 2011, Bennett Miller directed Moneyball, a fascinating film — one of our favorites — that details the 2002 season of the Oakland A's, and particularly how General Manager Billy Beane decided to use a new statistical approach nicknamed moneyball to buy players, bucking all tradition within the game. The film was a...

It's Valentine's Day, and what better way to end our current John Huston series than with his 1985 romantic mafia comedy, Prizzi's Honor? Huston was struggling with his health in the 80s but still a vibrant and essential director when he made this film that garnered 8 Oscar nominations. Join us — Pete Wright and Andy Nelson — as we celebrate love and death in this quirky film. We chat about what w...

When people list off caper films, it's a long list that comes to mind — Ocean's Eleven, Rififi, The Killing, The Ladykillers, Kelly's Heroes, The Italian Job, The Usual Suspects, even more recently Inception — but the film that really kicked it all off was 1950s masterpiece, The Asphalt Jungle. John Huston co-adapted W. R. Burnett's novel and turned it into one of his greatest directorial achievem...

In 1948, John Huston managed to crank out two of his most well-known films — The Treasure of the Sierra Madre, a masterpiece that received many accolades but took a while to warm up at the box office, and Key Largo, a noirish crime film that takes place during a hurricane on the Florida Keys which did great at the box office but didn't create a big splash in the awards circles. Join us — Pete Wrig...

It's a classic (and oft misquoted) line from one of the greatest films of all time, John Huston's classic film from 1948, "The Treasure of the Sierra Madre." This week, join us — Pete Wright and Andy Nelson — as we delve into this fascinating and tragic film, once considered a difficult film that received more praise from critics than it did from audiences at the time even though now it's consider...

That's right, ladies and gentlemen, this week join us — Pete Wright and Andy Nelson — as we talk about one of the most unforgettable films in the history of cinema, "The Maltese Falcon." As a part of our periodic and ongoing John Huston series, this is a film we've looked forward to talking about for a great long while. We have a wonderful time discussing the importance of this film. It's John Hus...

Divisive before it even opened, Kathryn Bigelow's film Zero Dark Thirty depicts, in a very procedural way, the steps it took to find Bin Laden after the 9/11 attacks. While you can argue whether Bigelow should have received a Best Director nomination in the recent Oscar announcement, it's clear that she's a filmmaker at the top of her form making a film that tracks this decade-long manhunt through...

Kathryn Bigelow made a big change in her career direction as a film director when she made 2009's "The Hurt Locker." While it still had the adrenaline action sensibilities she displayed in her prior films, this film was less of a Hollywood action movie and more of an honest portrayal of soldiers in a war. This week on The Next Reel, join us — Pete Wright and Andy Nelson — as we delve into Bigelow'...

Based on a dream James Cameron had in 1985, Strange Days came out in 1995 and strangely took place only 4 years in the future — during the 48 hours leading up to the year 2000. Cameron's ex-wife Kathryn Bigelow, helmed the film, bringing her skills at directing action to the forefront to create what at the time was a wild, mind-bending, noirish tale that looked at people in LA dealing with the lat...

Happy holidays, everybody! It's time for our annual holiday episode here on The Next Reel. This year, we — Pete Wright and Andy Nelson — are talking about a film that doesn't actually take place at Christmas time. In fact, it's a movie that doesn't even really have anything to do with the holiday except that the name's in the title. It's Preston Sturges' 1940 forgotten gem, "Christmas in July." Ok...

There's something about the wacky sci-fi fantasy eye-gasm The Fifth Element that is very divisive. On one side, it's a bizarre, nonsensical, mess that hardly has a story worth talking about. On the other, it's groundbreaking in its visual effects, inventive in its production and costume design, and a romping, mind-numbing good time. While the characters who aren't weird muppet-y aliens would be be...

It's the perfect description of the awkward yet touching relationship between a simple 40-something assassin and a wise-beyond-her-years pre-teen girl, and it's at the heart of our next pick in our Luc Besson series, his first foray into English-language cinema, 1994's Leon: the Professional, or more simply just Leon. Join us — Pete Wright and Andy Nelson — as we talk about this fascinating film t...

We're starting off our Luc Besson series with a film that fascinates us, even if it sometimes devolves into a cartoonish atmosphere. This week, we chat about Besson's 1990 film Nikita, or La Femme Nikita if you're so inclined. Join us — Pete Wright and Andy Nelson — as we start off this series with this Pygmalion-like tale of a young woman trained to be a government assassin. We discuss what works...

Ryan Gosling plays such a mysterious, quiet character in Nicolas Winding Refn's 2011 film, "Drive," that he's never even given a name — he's simply credited as Driver. The film has shades of noir and of 80s crime films, creating a dreamy neon quality interrupted by horribly violent outbursts that wake you up. It's a fascinating film that critics really took notice of when it was released. Join us...

One of John Frankenheimer's best films came late in his career — 1998's Ronin. A seemingly simple story about a group of mercenaries who take a job trying to get a mysterious case is twisted around with double-crosses and plot twists, and becomes a perfect example of Hitchcock's MacGuffin. Join us — Pete Wright and Andy Nelson — on this week's episode of Movies We Like as we continue our great car...

It's our ONE YEAR ANNIVERSARY, everyone! That's right, we've been doing the "Movies We Like" podcast for one year now, and what better way to celebrate than with the next in our Great Car Chase series—William Friedkin's 1971 Best Picture Oscar-winner, "The French Connection." Join us—Pete Wright and Andy Nelson—as we celebrate one of our absolute favorite films. We talk about the fantastic car cha...

Steve McQueen was one of the coolest actors out there. He brought amazing performances to the screen time and time again. The Magnificent Seven. Papillon. The Thomas Crowne Affair. The Great Escape. The Getaway. The Sand Pebbles. The list goes on. In 1968, he played Frank Bullitt in Peter Yates' film Bullitt, and brought incredible realism, sensitivity and intelligence to the role of a San Francis...

"Hey, there's something down here." These aren't words you want to hear when you're stuck on a spelunking trip, particularly when you find out that the "something" that's down here wants to eat you. That's what happens to the cast of six ladies on an adventure trip in Neil Marshall's 2005 film, "The Descent." It's the final episode in our month of horror series, and what a way to end! Join us—Pete...

"Is everyone there dead?" "Yeah, in the sense that they all sort of fell down, and then... got up and... started eating each other." Zack Snyder's 2004 "Dawn of the Dead" remake of George A. Romero's 1978 zombie classic may not be trying to say much, but it sure provides a good, fun scare. Join us—Pete Wright and Andy Nelson—on this week's episode of Rash Pixel's "Movies We Like" as we continue ou...

"This is what I've seen in the four weeks since infection: people killing people, which is much what I saw in the four weeks before infection and the four weeks before that and before that as far back as I care to remember. People killing people." Zombies had notoriously been slow entities—let's face it, the walking dead just don't move so fast. But then Danny Boyle came along and, with writer Ale...

In 1982, John Carpenter's "The Thing" was released but had a tough time competing against other big sci-fi films released at the same time—E.T. the Extra Terrestrial and Blade Runner. It also was viewed by critics as being overly gory and wretched. With time, however, the film has gained a big cult following, big enough to warrant a prequel, a comic book series, a video game and a potential sequel...

"You are young. Life has been kind to you. You will learn." With these words early on in Tim Burton's 2007 film adaptation of Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, we instantly get a sense of the dark place that the character of Sweeney Todd, played marvelously by Johnny Depp, has come from. This isn't your typical happy-go-lucky musical. No, this is dark and bloody and beautifully grim....

"You know about icebergs, Dad?" "Do I? I saw an iceberg once. They were hauling it down to Texas for drinking water. They didn't count on there being an elephant frozen inside. The wooly kind. A mammoth!" The only thing better than a great story is a great storyteller, and Edward Bloom certainly fits the bill. Not a moment goes by in Tim Burton's 2003 film "Big Fish" when young Edward, played by E...