Nate and Ryan welcome very special guest Kelsey Ebling (Ryan’s wife) to discuss The Tree of Life, Kelsey’s most recent favorite movie. In 2011, The Tree of Life was Terrence Malick’s long-awaited return after more than a decade, and his semi-autobiographical mediation on grief, God, and grace was highly praised by critics. It also made a strong impact on Nate, Ryan, and Kelsey, whose own religious upbringings heavily informed their viewing experiences. Listen in as they discuss how their own parenthood has changed the way they identify with the story Malick tells.

What are your thoughts on The Tree of Life? Let us know!

Revisit our Decade in Review episode from 2019 where Nate and Ryan first shared some thoughts on this movie.

Because Nate butchered the pronunciation so badly, the composer of Lacrimosa is Zbigniew Preisner and the album is Requiem for my Friend.

It’s always worth your time to read an Ebert review.

Nate and Ryan welcome Andrew Milam and Nate Cox from the Two Beards Please podcast to discuss MASH and Pollock. Andrew and Nate each picked a movie that has been influential on their lives, and we give them the Can We Still Be Friends treatment. We help the Beards dig into the ways the movies have influenced them and how their thoughts on the movies have changed over the years.

What are your thoughts on MASH and Pollock? How have they aged? Let us know!

6:30 – MASH

48:20 – Pollock

Nate and Ryan discuss the 1988 Eddie Murphy classic Coming to America and its 2021 sequel, Coming 2 America. The original is held in high regard, but the sequel has received mixed reviews, even by ardent fans of the 1988 smash hit that cemented Eddie Murphy’s place as a comedy superstar. Eddie Murphy brings back as many of those in the original cast as he could, but does he bring the magic of the original back?

What does Coming to America mean to you? Is Coming 2 America a worthy sequel? What’s your favorite Eddie Murphy movie? Let us know!

Sources

Clown Princes: Eddie Murphy and Arsenio Hall on Coming 2 America. New York Times.

How Coming to America Flipped the Script on Eddie Murphy’s Career. Vulture.

Coming 2 America review by Odie Henderson. Rogerebert.com.

Coming 2 America review by Eric Kohn. IndieWire.

Nate and Ryan presented an hour-long talk on the best movies available on the free streaming services Kanopy and Hoopla, which many people can access through their public libraries. The presentation was hosted virtually by Wauconda Area Library in Wauconda, IL. It was an honor to be asked to present and we wanted to share it (the audio at least) with all of you. Enjoy!

Nate and Ryan discuss Steve McQueen’s ground-breaking anthology series Small Axe. In a Can We Still Be Friends first, we watch and discuss 5 movies as one, and only a masterpiece like Steve McQueen’s Golden Globe nominated series could compel us to attempt something so monumental. Listen in as we break down each movie and discuss the impact of the anthology as a whole.

What are your thoughts on Small Axe? What is your favorite Steve McQueen film? Which of the 5 episodes stands out for you? Let us know!

14:22 – Mangrove

23:47 –Lover’s Rock

38:08 – Red, White, and Blue

46:15 – Alex Wheatle

56:50 – Education

Watch – Esquire interview with Steve McQueen on Small Axe, racist inequality in the UK, and the summer’s Black Lives Matter protests

The Music of Steve McQueens Small Axe Series – American Songwriter interview with music supervisor Ed Bailie

Nate and Ryan pick out their 5 favorite movies of 2020 and take time to dig deeper into I’m Thinking of Ending Things written and directed by Charlie Kaufman, and Time, a moving documentary directed by Garrett Bradley. For this episode, Nate and Ryan each picked a movie from 2020 that they wanted to talk more about. Listen in as they discuss the striking ways the movies explore the capacity of people to continue on (or give up).

What are your favorite movies of 2020? What’s up with that dance scene? Let us know!

13:23 – Our top 5 Movies of 2020

27:55 – I’m Thinking of Ending Things

1:01:55 – Time

Charlie Kaufman explains I’m Thinking of Ending Things (Indiewire)

Director Garret Bradley talks about Time (Time Magazine)

The holiday season winds down as Nate and Ryan discuss The Holiday, the 2006 romantic-comedy from writer/director Nancy Meyers. Listen in as we discuss the highs and lows of all that star power, what this movie gets right, and how much we’ve missed Jude Law.

Is The Holiday in your holiday movie rotation? How much do you love Jack Black, romantic-comedy leading man? Mansion or English cottage? Let us know!

Read Further

Nancy Meyers reveals the secrets of her successful writing and directing process.

Maybe Nancy Meyers doesn’t want you to stop focusing on her beautiful movie kitchens

Um, Actually, The Holiday is a Good Movie by Fran Hoepfner – Bright Wall/Dark Room

For the second annual T. Hanksgiving, a celebration of all things Tom Hanks, Nate and Ryan are watching A League of Their Own, the 1992 hit directed by the late, great Penny Marshall. Listen in as we discuss Hanks as not quite leading man, praise the strength and brilliance of Geena Davis, and really knock it out of the park with our baseball knowledge.

Why do you love Tom Hanks? Where does A League of Their Own rank among his performances? How long was your recovery after you tried to recreate the classic catch-the-foul-ball-while-doing-the-splits thing? Let us know!

Nate and Ryan celebrate the most wonderful fright of the year by re-watching The Babadook, written and directed by Jennifer Kent. We wish you and yours a very merry (and scary) 7th annual Holiday Spooktacular! As usual, we’re celebrating by watching a horror movie, and this year’s choice might be a little bit too on-the-nose for 2020 and the time of quarantine. The fear is in full effect this year, though the fears might be more familial than top-hatted-monster based.

So don you now your spookiest Holiday cheer, join in the fun of another Holiday Spooktacular, and make sure you don’t let him in!

The Babadook Is a Frightening, Fabulous New Gay Icon by Eren Orbey – The New Yorker (2017)

For the first time, Nate and Ryan review a movie from this year, breaking our routine for the one and only Spike Lee and his 2020 film Da 5 Bloods streaming on Netflix. Nate and Ryan chose this movie before the heartbreaking news of Chadwick Boseman’s death, but as anyone who has watched Da 5 Bloods knows, his death puts his performance as Stormin’ Norman in a poignant new light.

As for Spike Lee’s filmmaking, few people deny the impressive scope of what he is seeking to accomplish with this movie, but not everyone agrees on whether he stuck the landing. Nate and Ryan take their best shot at discussing everything going on.

Have you seen Da 5 Bloods? What are your thoughts? Let us know!

Please read Odie Henderson’s review of Da 5 Bloods over on RogerEbert.com

Spike Lee and the Battlefield of American History (New York Times)

For more Spike Lee discussion from Nate and Ryan, check out our Do The Right Thing episode.