Be Reel

With “Parasite” reaching levels of film geek ubiquity, Chance and Noah took this week to look at the buzzy import and the other essential films of its director, Bong Joon-ho. Notably, it’s also a major milestone for the Be Reel guys: they once swore to never discuss “Snowpiercer” on the podcast because of the unrest it caused their friendship upon its initial release in 2013. “The Host” (2006) rounds out this trio of genre pictures that are not anything what they seem. (**Please note: if you don't want Parasite spoilers, avoid minutes 15 through 36.) Be Reel is brought to you by California College of the Arts' Writing MFA program. Start your journey at cca.edu/writingmfa.

Charlie Chaplin lampooning Hitler’s bombast and fragility in “The Great Dictator” (1940) marked one of comedy’s all-time “truth to power” moments. But 80 years after WWII, how best to laugh at fascists when they seldom don the brownshirt? With the release of Taika Waititi’s “Jojo Rabbit”—a would-be charming comedy about a Hitler youth whose imaginary friend is der Führer—we’re again asking ourselves why, how, and when skewered Nazis are funny. After reviewing “Jojo,” Chance and Noah duck back to “The Producers” (1967) and “Top Secret!” (1984) to examine how Nazis became a source of irony and camp in pop culture. As always—down with Hitler; all the way down.

As much as people say, "You're your own worst enemy!", it's never been truer than for the protagonists of "Gemini Man" (2019), "Fight Club" (1999) and "Us" (2019). Whether through movie-science cloning, mental illness or oppressive class structures (with a healthy dose of late capitalism in all three), this week, the Be Reel guys are looking at movies that pit protagonists against literal manifestations of themselves. Around the 28-minute mark, Noah and Chance are thrilled to be joined by Brad Pitt devotee and Letterboxd queen Mia Vicino to examine “Fight Club” on its 20th birthday and celebrate “The Year of Pitt.”

It’s a cold, dark place we find ourselves in the space adventure genre, where the themes owe themselves more to therapy couches than astronomy. Today's trio of the new Brad Pitt-starring "Ad Astra" (2019), the challenging and disturbing "High Life" (2019), and the ever-loving "Interstellar" (2014) shuttles the weight of children and fathers into deep space. And speaking of important relationships, Noah and Chance recorded this episode together in Brooklyn! C'mon, that's gotta be enough reasons to press play. Be Reel is brought to you by California College of the Arts' Writing MFA program. Learn more at cca.edu/writingmfa.

Nobody tells you about the bonus round after the million-dollar question—the one where we ask, "Why have we obsessed for 70 years over the TV game show in all its inherent fakeness, exploitation, and only a lottery ticket's chance of actually paying the common person their money?" This week, BE REEL is buzzing in, to reappraise "Quiz Show" on its 25th anniversary, "Slumdog Millionaire" one decade after it took home the Oscars' highest honor, and "The Running Man" because it's a very silly movie that clearly set the stage for "American Gladiators." Press play; you might win something! Be Reel is brought to you by California College of the Arts' Writing MFA program. Learn more at cca.edu/writingmfa.

Making a great impression on your loved one's parents is hard enough. But then imagine they want to hunt you ("Ready Or Not"), bust you for false crimes ("Meet The Parents") or poison you for seemingly no reason ("Monster In Law"). Then, you've got yourself a matrimonial Be Reel trio of comedic horrors and horrifying comedies. Better be an open bar, at least. Be Reel is brought to you by California College of the Arts' Writing MFA program. Learn more today at cca.edu/writingmfa.

The new Cate Blanchett/Richard Linklater film "Where'd You Go, Bernadette" launches Noah and Chance into a Be Reel category about mothers who reject motherhood. All in vastly different life situations, the protagonists of "Bernadette" (2019), "Ricki and the Flash" (2015) and "Second Act" (2018) find a common bond in pursuing much more than what society (real or imagined) tells them they deserve. If that sounds too serious, Meryl Streep growls Springsteen, Jennifer Lopez hurls a man into a Christmas tree, and Cate Blanchett rips Seattle a new one. Let's go. Be Reel is brought to you by California College of the Arts' Writing MFA program. Learn more at cca.edu/writingmfa.

Aisling Franciosi stars in "The Nightingale," which is the summer's bravest drama or toughest watch depending whom you ask. It could be both, which is fitting of Franciosi's character, Clare, a very complicated woman out for justice against British Army officers in 1825 Australia. In this interview, Franciosi tells Chance how 'Nightingale' director Jennifer Kent would push her actors on set (and get pushed back, sometimes literally). Plus, a quick story about the day Franciosi got the call to play Lyanna Stark despite knowing nothing about "Game of Thrones." Be Reel is part of The Playlist Podcast Network. Subscribe wherever you get your podcasts and visit ThePlaylist.net for more.

Every so often a "Be Reel" category arises that makes us wonder if we didn't unknowingly orchestrate the films ourselves, solely to podcast about them later. Today we discuss three films all from 1989 about deep-sea divers encountering alien life. While James Cameron's "The Abyss" is the headliner (happy 30th this week), "DeepStar Six" and "Leviathan" may have their lower budget charms as well. In addition to evaluating all the mining teams and goofy beasts of this genre, we mostly ask, "What the hell were you thinking, 1989?" Be Reel is brought to you by California College of the Arts' Writing MFA program. Learn more at cca.edu/writingmfa.

This week, Chance and Noah offer some premium content* for the Be Reel subscribers by sharing their holistic takes on the movie everyone is talking about: "Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood." It's the 9th offering from video store flunkie cum Hollywood auteur Quentin Tarantino. Part pastiche, part homage, part alternate history, this 1969 La La Land-set buddy picture stars Leonardo DiCaprio, Brad Pitt and Margot Robbie as movie folks battling irrelevance and the Manson Family. Spoilers abound! *this show remains totally free, so what are we talking about Be Reel is brought to you by California College of the Arts' Writing MFA program. Learn more at cca.edu/writingmfa.

On a new Be Reel, we examine the ample evidence for why you shouldn't try to save your marriage with a movie. Chance and Noah check in with “Eyes Wide Shut” (1999) as the infamous Stanley Kubrick-directed interrogation of Tom Cruise and his marriage to Nicole Kidman turns 20. We also look back at the lovechild of “Liz” Taylor and “Dick” Burton, “Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?” (1966) and the honeymoon-cum-couples therapy “By The Sea” (2015), which self-analyzes Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt's sinking ship of a union. New York Magazine's Lila Shapiro joins the show to discuss seeing "Eyes Wide Shut" 100 times and what it taught her about how we discuss sexual politics. Be Reel is brought to you by California College of the Arts’ Writing MFA program. Learn more at cca.edu/writingmfa.

If modern life has you down, consider a spiritual summer fling with the oracles and the lotus eaters in this week's movies. First, Noah and Chance reckon with the cruel, entrancing, maybe even hilarious horror of "Midsommar" (2019) in which a Swedish death cult plays host to the fallout of a bad relationship. Then, it's on to "Children of the Corn" (1984) and "The Wicker Man." That's the 2006 "Wicker Man" unfortunately, but Chance fills us in on what's actually good about the 1973 original. Oh, and don't ask questions about our special tea; just drink up. Be Reel is brought to you by California College of the Arts’ Writing MFA program. Learn more at cca.edu/writingmfa.

Striking an unlikely balance between gentrification treatise and Great American fantasy, “The Last Black Man In San Francisco” is among 2019’s most striking debut films. This week, Chance and Noah unpack the new A24 drama and speak with its star, co-scribe, and inspiration Jimmie Fails. Be Reel is brought to you by California College of the Arts’ Writing MFA program. Learn more at cca.edu/writingmfa.

Treading water on television is a good way to not be on television, as we learn from this week's movies about TV institutions getting new life through new blood. In the new office comedy "Late Night," Mindy Kaling shakes up a white, apolitical comedy show, just as Rachel McAdams saves a GMA knock-off in "Morning Glory" and Christina Applegate rocks an absurdist boys club in "Anchorman." Change is good, these movies tell us, but do they apply the same lessons to themselves? Let's watch.

With college looming, there’s a certain class of high-school comedy that races the clock. This week, Chance and Noah watched “Booksmart” (2019) “Superbad” (2007) and “Can’t Hardly Wait” (1998) for a trio of movies about graduating seniors with one last chance to ace their social lives. Big questions include: -Does the women-led “Booksmart” strike the balance between heightened comedy and teenage truth? -Does “Superbad’ fall victim to the yuck of the 17-year-old boy? -Why in god’s name do the protagonists of “Can’t Hardly Wait” not know each other? -Will those jerks ever pay for turning Noah away from their party in 2006? Be Reel is brought to you by California College of the Arts' Writing MFA program. Learn more at cca.edu/writingmfa.

With the untimely passing of writer/director/producer John Singleton last month, the guys take stock of his life, times and film career. From the seminal “Boyz N the Hood” to the endlessly meme-able “Poetic Justice” to the unsung epic “Rosewood,” Chance, Noah, and author Tochi Onyebuchi reflect on Singleton's role as a preeminent black filmmaker and all the beauty and ugliness wrapped up in his both timely and timeless portraits of America. Be Reel is brought to you by California College of the Arts' Writing MFA program.

This week, Chance and Noah dive into the one-inch pool of movies based on fan fiction — writing that takes the characters of more popular sources and, apparently, has them do weird sex stuff. In addition to the new YA film "After" (2019), our case study includes the mega-franchise “Fifty Shades of Grey” (2015) and one-note joke of a movie “Pride & Prejudice & Zombies” (2016). Plus, Kathleen Newman-Bremang (of Refinery29)breaks down why this genre so defined by sex isn't particularly sexy. Be Reel is brought to you by the good folks at California College of the Arts' Writing MFA Program. Learn more about CCA.edu/writingmfa.

Writer and director Madeleine Olnek first considered that Emily Dickinson might have been an actual human being with desires, muses, and ambitions when she read a 1998 New York Times investigation of the famed poet's original drafts. The result was the play "Wild Nights With Emily", now an inventive literary comedy starring Molly Shannon, Amy Seimetz and Brett Gelman. Press play for a discussion of Olnek's new movie, her meeting Molly Shannon in college, and battling the painted-over legacies of historical women.

All it takes is a carnival coin-trap, a packet of Party City fairy dust, or a wizard who needs you as his champion and — SHAZAM! — that pesky childhood is over in an instant. But is being thirty, flirty and thriving all it's cracked up to be? This week, "Big" (1988), "13 Going On 30" (2004), and "Shazam!" get the Be Reel treatment. There's Penny Marshall, a smoke monster, and six more smoke monsters! Be Reel is brought to you by the good folks at California College of the Arts' Writing MFA Program. Learn more about CCA.edu/writingmfa.

On an interview edition of Be Reel, Chance talks with director Emma Tammi about her new horror film "The Wind" (out now from IFC Films). They discuss how Tammi made the transition from documentary filmmaking to genre mashups, how the wind haunted real-life pioneers, and why trauma is having its day in the horror genre. Be Reel is brought to you by the California College of the Arts' Writing MFA.