The Next Reel Film Podcast

"You are my superior officer. You are also my friend. I have been, and always shall be, yours." The ‘failure’ of the first Star Trek film put Paramount in the frame of mind where they needed to do a few things if they were to keep the franchise moving forward. 1) Drop the budget to something much more meager. 2) Add some action to the story. 3) Get rid of the needy creator and producer Gene Rodden...

"The creator has not answered." It wasn’t until syndication that Paramount realized that it had a property they could continue milking in Gene Roddenberry’s Star Trek TV series. Even then, however, they struggled to get a film adaptation made. After dropping the idea and settling for a new TV series called Star Trek: Phase II which they began developing, the theatrical releases of Star Wars and Cl...

"Prepare to feel the wrath of the League of Evil Exes!" After making Shaun of the Dead , Edgar Wright signed on to direct the adaptation of Bryan Lee O’Malley’s graphic novel “Scott Pilgrim’s Precious Little Life” but due to project delays, it would be another six years before his film would hit the screen. In the interim, Wright would continue his Cornetto trilogy with Hot Fuzz and O’Malley would...

"He dared to be born right on the border with China." Regardless of whether you are a Buddhist or not, the story of Tenzin Gyatso is an interesting one that certainly provides drama that can draw you in. Born as the 14th reincarnation of the Dalai Lama, Gyatso grew up as the leader of Tibet. China, however, had other plans and eventually took Tibet, leaving the Dalai Lama no choice but to flee Chi...

"I’m keeping him." Steven Spielberg didn’t have a sense that his little, personal alien film was going to blow up like it did when he was making it. Universal Studios saw it as another kids film that likely would only be seen by moms taking their kids to the theatre. But E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial managed to touch pretty much the hearts of everyone who saw it, turning it into the #1 film in the w...

"We’re gonna show everybody that he’s the fastest horse in the world." Francis Ford Coppola’s successes in the 70s put him in a place where he was able to help a good number of people get projects off the ground. One of those people was his friend from college, Carroll Ballard. Nearly broke, Coppola’s call came just in time and Ballard found himself on board to direct The Black Stallion . Another...

"Nothing but witches and wizards ahead." Hayao Miyazaki did not attend the Oscars to pick up his Academy Award for Best Animated Film for Spirited Away because he was protesting the Iraq War. When it came time to make his next film, he took his frustration with the war and added a strong anti-war element to Howl’s Moving Castle . Diane Wynne Jones’ original novel, upon which the movie was based, d...

"If I hear one little complaint out of you, you’ll be joining your parents in the pigpen!" Hayao Miyazaki’s 2001 film Spirited Away shot to the top of the Japanese box office and still holds the spot as the highest grossing film in Japanese history, sinking box office juggernaut Titanic . Perhaps it says a lot that it’s a Japanese story that is so universally appealing and that it’s for all ages....

"When you’re going to kill a god, let someone else do the dirty work." Hayao Miyazaki has always had a strong relationship with nature that he’s portrayed in a number of his films, but nowhere has it grown as dark as it did in his 1997 film Princess Mononoke . While an animated film, the level of violence is very high and the themes are much more adult than his previous films, particularly fare li...

"Happiness is in your hands." The role of advertising in politics is constantly evolving. From radio to TV to the internet and now to specifically pinpointed Facebook ads and beyond, it’s amazing how complex the system has grown. But watching how advertising affected the Chilean dictatorship of Pinochet and brought about his downfall in the late 80s in Pablo Larraín’s film No , it’s clear that tho...

“I can’t apologize. I’m not going to apologize for this. You know what I will do? I will apologize on behalf of Ernest Hemingway because that’s who’s to blame here." The Next Reel’s Speakeasy is an ongoing series of ours in which we invite an industry guest to join us and bring along one of their favorite movies to talk about. In this episode, film composer Harry Gregson-Williams joins us to talk...

"I’ll talk to them. I have a position now." Pablo Larraín was born when Pinochet was already in power but the military coup that brought Pinochet to power always fascinated him, largely because it wasn’t something that was discussed until after the dictatorship ended in 1990. On top of that, Larraín became fascinated by the little people who got wrapped up in big moments in history. One that pique...

"Once the film is out of fashion, you think they’ll still follow you? No way." Pablo Larraín didn’t intend to direct three films that took place during the Pinochet dictatorship – it just happening that way. Looking at Tony Manero , the first film in what is dubbed as his ‘unintentional trilogy,’ it’s clear that Larraín is not one to shy away from challenging his audience. But in doing so, is he p...

"I just knew if I didn’t start driving, I wasn’t gonna see you again." Kelly Reichardt’s most recent film, last year’s Certain Women , is a bit of a departure for her in that it’s a film consisting of three separate stories that are only loosely connected (other than thematically). But in this structure, it’s interesting to see Reichardt at her best as perhaps the stories each end up getting as mu...

"Is he ignorant or is he just plain evil?" The story of the real Meek’s Cutoff is an interesting and tragic tale in the early days of the Oregon Trail. Many pioneers lost their lives as they followed their guide, Stephen Meek, and proceeded to get lost. For her follow-up to Wendy and Lucy , Kelly Reichardt chose to make a film about this historical journey and the people who suffered while on it....

"Don’t be a nuisance. We don’t need that." Kelly Reichardt has been called a minimalist film director, and if you’re comparing her to someone like Michael Bay or Steven Spielberg or the Hughes brothers, that certainly seems to be the case, at least based on her 2008 film Wendy and Lucy . This film doesn’t have a lot of pizazz or a large cinematic sense. What it does have, though, is a character st...

"Stay on the path." Right from the start, it was clear that Albert and Allen Hughes knew how to put films together. Whether paying homage to filmmakers they admire or playing with their own showy techniques, they know how to play with the visual tools they have available. In their post-apocalyptic film The Book of Eli , they make a very compelling film that’s exciting and entertaining while still...

"No man amongst you is fit to judge the mighty art that I have wrought." The Hughes brothers hadn’t really had a big hit by the time they were offered to direct the adaptation of Alan Moore’s and Eddie Campbell’s graphic novel “From Hell,” detailing the characters involved in the ‘Jack the Ripper’ slayings in 1888 London. It offered an opportunity to tell a gritty story that still dealt with the p...

"Being a black man in America isn’t easy. The hunt is on and you’re the prey." When 20-year-old twin brothers Albert and Allen Hughes directed their first feature film in 1993,  Menace II Society , they immediately showed audiences everywhere that they were storytellers who weren’t afraid to tell risky stories and filmmakers who understood the language of the medium. The film seemed dangerous. It...

"The situation in Sweden must be real bad as even lice have begun to emigrate to America." It’s time for our first 2017 Listener’s Choice episode! Pony Prize winner Finn Frode, who’s from Norway but living in Sweden, won and selected a Swedish film with one of his favorite Norwegian actresses – Liv Ullmann. The film he selected is the first half of Jan Troell’s epic tale of immigration – 1971’s  T...

Zhang Yimou's 2016 fantasy blockbuster "The Great Wall" follows William, a mercenary played by Matt Damon, who stumbles onto the Great Wall of China and finds himself caught up in a war between a color-coded Chinese army and a horde of intelligent monsters driven by greed. It's the most unexpected film in any serious director's catalog—and Pete and Andy both came out of it more entertained than th...

Zhang Yimou's 2002 wuxia epic "Hero" follows Nameless, played by Jet Li, a prefect who arrives before the King of Qin claiming to have defeated three legendary assassins. As he tells his story, the king doubts it and offers his own version—and then a third account emerges that may be closest to the truth. Shot across China with a cast including Tony Leung, Maggie Cheung, Zhang Ziyi, and Donnie Yen...

Zhang Yimou's 1991 period drama "Raise the Red Lantern" follows Songlian, a young educated woman who becomes the fourth wife of a wealthy household in 1920s China—played with devastating precision by Gong Li. Every night, the master chooses one wife to visit: her lanterns are lit, she receives a foot massage, and she picks the meal. The other three wait. The film traces how this system strips Song...

Directed by Zhang Yimou and Yang Fengliang, the 1990 tragedy "Ju Dou" follows a young woman sold as a wife to an abusive dye-mill owner in rural China, and the forbidden desire that develops between her and his adoptive nephew—a relationship that becomes an allegory for oppression, loyalty, and the costs of rigid social systems. Shot in three-strip Technicolor, it's a visually stunning film that h...

"You helped bring Lili to life, but she was always there." The Danish Girl  certainly took a long time getting to the big screen. The script went through dozens of iterations after David Ebershoff’s book was first was optioned. The cast changed numerous times. Directors passed it back and forth. Finally, after fifteen years of floating around, Tom Hooper’s film was released. And while the lead per...