Be Reel

Maybe it's his general uprightness or the fact that he looks like Jesus in the proper light, but Liam Neeson is the actor you put in a film about Christian colonialism — be it 13th century Jerusalem, 17th century Japan, or 18th century Argentina. The Irish stalwart binds this week's trio of movies about Christian missionaries and the ethics of that mission. After a quick Neeson primer, we begin at the 5-minute mark with THE MISSION. That's the 1986 epic in which Robert De Niro and Jeremy Irons team up to save an indigenous South American tribe from slavery, and also serve God's will. At 21:20, we discuss 2005's KINGDOM OF HEAVEN, which is Ridley Scott riffing on The Crusades for three hours. His characters are very into serving God's will. At 34:20, we come to the new Martin Scorcese film SILENCE, which pits the faith of two Jesuit priests (and their desire to serve God's will) against a Japanese state deadset on stamping out their influence. It's nearly nine hours of film and two people completely unqualifie

The boys are back to belatedly send out 2016. They start with a full-on review of LA LA LAND, arguing whether its half-commitment to the musical genre is a problem. At 16:20, they apply their rating system to ROGUE ONE, trying to divorce its quality from the STAR WARS universe. At 21:25, they hand out some BRG superlatives for 2016 in film, like who acted most shamelessly, what performers caught the break they needed, and they shout out Viola Davis, Ryan Reynolds, and more. They wrap up at 30:20, taking down awful trailers for Jan + Feb movies and previewing 2017. Happy new year, listeners! Hang in and hang out.

More than 170 years since its writing, the Charles Dickens novella A CHRISTMAS CAROL still looms large as the seminal text on how not to be a penny-pinching goon during the holidays. And why not? It's mostly secular and it makes capitalism seem compassionate if you can spare a few shillings. This December, Noah and Chance watched three Hollywood spins on A CHRISTMAS CAROL to see which gimmicky retelling comes out best. They start with 1992's THE MUPPET CHRISTMAS CAROL and its rather classical baseline, save the singing puppets. And boy does Noah have some thoughts about those! At 14:00, they switch to 1988's SCROOGED with complaints on just how deplorable Bill Murray's Scrooge archetype is. At 23:00, they finish out with 2000's THE FAMILY MAN, a movie in which Nicolas Cage is sort of transformed by Christmas, but isn't it strangely aspiring to so much more? Thanks for listening, and happy holidays from our tiny BRG family.

Over the Thanksgiving holiday, we set about on our now-apparently-annual tradition of watching three pairs of twin movies — same subject matter, same year(ish). We took in the power and limits of an Old West lawman in TOMBSTONE (1993) and WYATT EARP (1994). We asked how creatively CAPOTE (2005) and INFAMOUS (2006) ought to treat the epitome of creative non-fiction. And we've seen what can go wrong — in plots and in whole films — when magicianship is about more than just tricks in THE ILLUSIONIST (2006) and THE PRESTIGE (2006). If you want, skip around using these timestamps: 2:20 - A leading TOMBSTONE scholar guests on the show. 23:45 - Three hours of WYATT EARP is flunked in a few minutes. 31:20 - CAPOTE peers grimly and carefully at the world. 41:25 - INFAMOUS lightly reimagines Truman Capote as theater. 49:45 - Why won't you reveal your trick, THE ILLUSIONIST? 1:01:35 - How to watch THE PRESTIGE if you know the twists.

On this new mini-episode, Noah and Chance review MOONLIGHT, perhaps the most acclaimed American film of 2016 thus far. Well, we don’t diverge too far from that line. With a camera that’s imperfectly beautiful, director Barry Jenkins presents a coming-of-age triptych on race and sexuality that’s both quiet and stirringly acted. Find all episodes at bereelguys.com.

From Chance's couch in Portland, your trusty hosts exchanged many looks (but mostly held it together) through three movies about the adult film industry. We begin with the new film KING COBRA, a depiction of rival production teams in the 2000s gay porn business. It's very James Franco. At 17:45, we move on to the porn movie monolith, BOOGIE NIGHTS, except we don't agree on just how great the saga of Dirk Diggler is. At 31:45, we wrap up with ZACK AND MIRI MAKE A PORNO, asking whether Kevin Smith had lost his best self by the time of this unsteady spoof. Overall, if you think delivering really explicit dialogue as though you're describing the weather is funny, you're home. Find all our episodes at bereelguys.com.

This week, Noah and Chance saw the artful new alien invasion film "Arrival." Directed by Denis Villeneuve, it stars Amy Adams and Jeremy Renner as scientists charged with discovering shell-shaped spacecrafts' purpose on Earth. That familiar premise led Noah and Chance to argue whether "Arrival" is a relative of movies we've seen before or something more meditative with stranger designs. Spoilers are broached in the back half of the show; plus, is this a comforting picture of human potential in the wake of the presidential election? Find all episodes at bereelguys.com.

The boys were together in Portland last week for a category they'd been sitting on for awhile: battling invaders at cruising altitude. First, they revisit "Snakes On A Plane" for its 10th anniversary –- a movie that must be bad-good, but is it? Then it's on to "Air Force One" and conspiracy theories about the president being drunk while literally beating back communism. They wrap up with "Executive Decision," a movie in which Steven Seagal gives a decent performance, Kurt Russell stays calm, and the title makes not one iota of sense. Find all episodes at bereelguys.com.

On this week's show, we watched a trio of movies about adults returning to the small towns they abruptly left as teenagers. Comprising GROSSE POINTE BLANK, SWEET HOME ALABAMA and THE JUDGE, this genre raises all sorts of questions about self-reflection, the meaning of roots, and forgiving your younger self for handing out judgment. So naturally, we had to have Noah's little brother (a high school freshman) on the podcast. Find timestamps for the different movie discussions below, and find all episodes at bereelguys.com. 3:45 - Grosse Pointe Blank (1997, John Cusack) 18:45 - Sweet Home Alabama (2002, Reese Witherspoon) 29:50 - The Judge (2014, Robert Downey Jr.)

This week, Noah and Chance order up the 1988 Tom Cruise vehicle "Cocktail." Never seen it? Somehow we hadn't either, despite the fact that it features one of the brashest, most encompassing Cruise performances ever. He plays a showman bartender who twirls bottles, gyrates to '80s hits, parties with the clientele, competes poisonously with his mentor, and fancies himself "the world's last barman poet." Hard to believe we found something to talk about in there. Find all episodes of the show at bereelguys.com. "Cocktail" is streaming now via HBO.

This week, Noah and Chance climb out of hell with three contract killers left for dead. They begin with "Kill Bill, Vol. 1," asking whether this is a turning point in the scope of Tarantino's genre bloodbaths. At 18:10, they analyze Mel Gibson's lost and compromised stardom in "Payback" (1999)and quibble over when this Hollywood noir riff is set. When "John Wick" is approached at 28:15, they ask if you can reverse engineer a good-good movie by starting with Keanu Reeves as a ridiculous sleeping giant and adding enough style and world to make it sing. Find all episodes at bereelguys.com.

Few instances invite “based on a true story” films like individuals amid massive conspiracies and cover-ups stepping up to the plate and blowing the whistle. Edward Snowden knows it. And Oliver Stone really wants you to know it in his 2016 Snowden biopic. We begin the show in conversation with GQ culture writer Scott Meslow, discussing his recent piece on Snowden’s ascendance as a blockbuster theme and token, and whether there’s a real conversation about surveillance happening in films like SPECTRE, JASON BOURNE or even Oliver Stone’s SNOWDEN. At 17:00, Chance and Noah turn a watchful eye on SNOWDEN, assessing why and how these whistleblower movies aren’t good at depicting home lives and also, what are you doing here, Nic Cage? At 31:00, we move to 2000’s ERIN BROCKOVICH (currently on Netflix) and chat about why this is quintessential Julia Roberts and Steven Soderbergh. Then, at 45:00, we wrap up with 1999’s THE INSIDER, which is Al Pacino and Russell Crowe taking on Big Tobacco. Like so many Michael Mann

From the mind that brought you "Boyhood," sit back and enjoy ... "Brohood"? In this week's mini-episode, Noah and Chance move in with the much-praised 2016 Richard Linklater film "Everybody Wants Some!!" Set in a Texas house of college baseball players in 1980, it's easygoing, it examines every inch of a social group, and it's an idealist's take on just duding around in the days before class starts.

A love so great it spawned a movie and this podcast episode. Thanks, Obamas. We lead off our discussion of romance movies set during a single day with the new film "Southside With You." First, Chance speaks with LA Weekly's lead film critic April Wolfe about the movie's ambitious premise, odd diction and political bubble. At 27 minutes, Noah and Chance move to "Before Sunrise," discussing what makes Richard Linklater so sneaky great and whether you have to believe love exists to put up with Ethan Hawke's performance. At the 37-minute mark, they conclude with "A Single Man" and whether Tom Ford successfully transformed a voice-driven novella about a man's last day of life into a meaningful clothing and home decor catalog. Find past episodes of the show at bereelguys.com.

Cinematic Americans cross the border for myriad reasons: to unwittingly liberate a village with their theatrical abilities, to chase down an ornamental pistol with a deep folklore, or to tell a cartel chief what's what. Off the screen, our Noah Ballard went to Mexico for the pools and the margaritas. This week, he calls in with his old pal Brent to discuss ¡Three Amigos! (1986), The Mexican (2001) and Traffic (2000). As goofy as singing shrubbery and as serious as a failed war on drugs, this is "Americans in Mexico." Listen to all BRG episodes at bereelguys.com.

Our long summer continues with a mini-episode on the 2015 music biopic "Love & Mercy." Chance and Noah are torn on this two-headed telling of the Brian Wilson story. One is a deep studio dive into Wilson's orchestral pop genius and the other is an overcast, nearly unrelated custody drama. Listen to all episodes of BRG at bereelguys.com. Love & Mercy is streaming now on Hulu and Amazon.

You know we'll wave the flag for a few bad movies. Hell, we have a whole category on the show for them (bad-good). But are we fans of "Bad" movies? The kind that take a career or societal station and stand on a premise of someone doing a heinously poor job at it? This week, we're talking "Bad Moms" (2016), "Bad Company" (2002) and "Bad Lieutenant" (1992). Misbehaving never felt so good, baby. (Nor has it previously created such an odd, deranged quasi-genre of movies.) Find all our episodes at bereelguys.com.

At a certain point in life we all make that choice: Are we chasing tornados because they killed our dads or are we corporate posers who barely even listen to classic rock in pursuit of a cyclone? You have until the end of our mini-episode on 1996's "Twister" to decide. Also discussed — oh, that's too much Paxton, there are no other tornado films, and what movie does Philip Seymour Hoffman think he's in? Find all past episodes of the show at bereelguys.com.

Right, so let me introduce you to your bunkmates. This is Moonrise Kingdom (2012), meticulously packed and maybe too earnest. This is Heavyweights (1995), vaguely inspirational and with an insane look in its eye. And this is Sleepaway Camp (1983). Who knows what the hell's going on with it. Play your cards right, and this could be the best summer of your life. Find all episodes of Be Reel, Guys at bereelguys.com.

Toss the kids in the back and chart a winding course to a kitschy destination — we're at the wheel of three American road trip comedies this week. Pit stops include a deep psychological analysis of Clark Griswold, a theory on how you market indie pop and questions about whether Netflix is making the new cable movie. Chance begins the episode in conversation with writer Saul Austerlitz. They discuss his book, "Another Fine Mess" (a history of American comedy film), as well as the 1941 road trip classic "Sullivan's Travels." At 15 minutes, Noah and Chance transition to "National Lampoon's Vacation." At 26:30, they give "Little Miss Sunshine" a push. And at 37:45, why does nothing bad happen in the Netflix original "The Fundamentals of Caring"?