A Reel Education

This episode, we watch the classic French film “La belle et la bete” (Beauty and the Beast). Jean Cocteau’s artistic rending of the classic French fairy tale is a clear influence of the adaptations that followed up to and including the well known Disney version. We talk a lot about the artistry of the film as well as the clear influences on other works.  We also spend some time looking at the production filmed in post WWII France.

For our next episode, we will be watching Stagecoach!

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One episode later than promised, we watch the 1925/1929 version of The Phantom of the Opera!  Why do we list two dates?  You’ll have to listen to the podcast to find out!  Not only do we discuss this fine silent film, Tim also spends a not insignificant amount of time ranting about the 2004 musical.  If you happened to like the 2004 musical, you may want to skip past that part of the podcast because he will destroy your dreams.  Aside from Tim’s epic hatred of the musical, we do talk about some of the color processing involved in the film, Lon Chaney’s makeup, and a lot of other things that involve the film we actually watched.

Our next film will be La Belle et la Bette!

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Those of you who listened to our last episode may have noticed we said this episode would be about The Phantom of the Opera.  Surprise!  With The Hateful Eight leaving theaters soon, we decided we should shuffle off to the movie theater and check out Quentin Tarantino’s latest offering.  Melissa actually saw the film in 70mm glory while Tim and Jena got to see the digital print from the front row.  We’ll talk about the film and a lot of the social implications contained in the film.  Somehow, we fail to talk about the score.  But it was really good.

Our next movie will, for totally sure, be The Phantom of the Opera!

The post Episode 63 – The Hateful Eight appeared first on A Reel Education.

We’ve been circling this one for a while.  Having watched Ed Wood, Plan 9 From Outer Space, and Horror of Dracula, it is finally time to look at the role that both defined and trapped Bela Lugosi: Dracula.  Our first Universal horror film and one of the best known, we took a look at this classic retelling of Bram Stoker’s novel.  After watching the movie, we talked about the careers of many of the actors, the legacy of Universal horror films and – as always – a bunch of other stuff.

Up next, we stick with classic horror and watch The Phantom of the Opera!

The post Episode 62 – Dracula appeared first on A Reel Education.

For this episode, we take a look at one of the most famous films out of the Hammer Horror studio – Horror of Dracula!  We decided to watch the movie because Sir Christopher Lee was in Hugo and this film is one of his breakout roles.  We explore his career as well as that of Peter Cushing.  For some reason, we spend a long time talking about The Hound of the Baskervilles.

Our next film is, somewhat predictably, Dracula!

The post Episode 61 – Horror of Dracula appeared first on A Reel Education.

Note: We apologize for the late posting of this episode.  This episode, we return to the works of director Martin Scorsese to watch the film Hugo.  Jena was unable to join us so we appointed stunt Jena Sean O’Laughlin to watch the film with us.  Hugo is notable for being a film almost completely unlike any other film by Martin Scorsese.  It starts out as a children’s movie and morphs into a love letter about film preservation.  It is also visually amazing.  We dissect all of this in our conversation after watching the film.

A few things to watch if you have the time:

This video showing a breakdown of the final shot in the film.

A full length, color version of George Melies’ Le Voyage Dans la Lune.

Our next episode will be about Horror of Dracula!

The post Episode 60 – Hugo appeared first on A Reel Education.

We’ve been watching a lot of recent movies lately so for this episode, we slid all the way back to the silent film era and comedy legend Harold Lloyd!  Lloyd is the third of the great solo silent comedians.  We’ve already taken a look at Buster Keaton and Charlie Chaplin and, like most people, we’ve passed over Lloyd until now.  Safety Last is his best known work. The film is engaging and, notably, Tim’s eleven-year-old son was completely enthralled by the film when we watched it.  Even though it involves a set piece with a clock, this is a movie that is truly timeless.

Our next movie will be Hugo!

The post Episode 59 – Safety Last! appeared first on A Reel Education.

In part two of our exploration of movies about Baseball, we watched Bull Durham.  Pat Wick acts as our stunt Jena but it is Melissa who has never seen the film.  The film is one of the more quotable ones we’ve watched and is actually about baseball.  At least it is a little bit like baseball.  Susan Sarandon, Tim Robbins, and Kevin Costner star in this film that is as good as people have told you.

Our next movie will be Safety Last!

The post Episode 58 – Bull Durham appeared first on A Reel Education.

With this episode, we embark on a two episode exploration of baseball movies.  Moneyball stars Brad Pitt and it takes a look at the evolution of the way modern baseball teams are assembled.  Like most baseball movies, this movie isn’t about the game so much as it is about the people who make a living within the game.  This the second movie in a row that Melissa hasn’t seen.  If we can find about three more, that will probably encompass cover every movie she’s never seen!

Our next movie is another movie Melissa hasn’t seen!  We’ll be watching Bull Durham!

The post Episode 57 – Moneyball appeared first on A Reel Education.

Having watched Akira Kurosawa and Sergio Leone tackle the same story, this episode considers John Broderick’s take on the same material.  We know what you’re thinking: who is John Broderick?  Exactly.  Frequent guest Kelvin Hatle joins us for a sword and sandal retelling of Yojimbo that is, in almost every conceivable way, a complete disaster.  The Warrior and the Sorceress takes elements we have grown familiar with and inserts bad fight choreography, gratuitous nudity, and a bizarre puppet lizard.  You have not lived until you’ve seen this film and you will never forget it once you do.

We will save you, dear listeners, from watching Last Man Standing.  Our next movie will be Moneyball!

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