Nate and Ryan escape the summer heat by watching Bull Durham, a sports classic from 1988 that helped catapult Kevin Costner into Hollywood super-stardom.  Bull Durham is often hailed as the best sports movie of all time, so Nate and Ryan decided to weigh in for themselves.  After 30 years, how does this tale of small-time baseball players, small-town romancers, and has-been talents hold up?  Nate and Ryan discuss if Bull Durham has any life left in it.

Where does Bull Durham rank for you?  Is there another sports movie that takes the top spot for you?  Do you believe in opening presents on Christmas Day or Christmas Eve? Let us know!

Also, let us know your thoughts on our next movie: Vertigo.

As the school year winds down and summer brings life-long change (or so teen comedies would have us believe), Nate and Ryan discuss Can’t Hardly Wait.  Released 20 years ago, some of the hallmarks of late ’90s and early ’00s teen comedies can be traced back to Can’t Hardly Wait, yet it doesn’t quite hold a place among the “Teen Comedy Classics.”  Nate and Ryan discuss whether it belongs there, and what qualifies a film for a place among the beloved. They also get unexpectedly serious in discussing whether a movie that accurately depicts the troubling social dynamics of its day has a place in today’s culture.

Was Can’t Hardly Wait a part of your teen years?  What is your favorite teen comedy?  What makes a “great” teen comedy in your mind? Let us know!

Nate and Ryan talk about The Big Lebowski (one of their favorites), which is celebrating its 20th anniversary this year.  They welcome back their good friend Tim Yoder to discuss what is so special about this movie and what the expansive cult fan base indicates about its appeal.  Grab a white Russian and lay out on your best rug as we wax philosophical about this cult favorite.

What is your history with The Dude?  What are your favorite lines?  Which lines are you sick of hearing?  Let us know!

Nate and Ryan invite special guest Anne Singleton back to talk about The Departed, Martin Scorsese’s violent, vulgar crime thriller.  Like most film fans, Nate and Ryan are big fans of Scorsese, but The Departed is the first of his films on this podcast.  Although many of Scorsese’s films have been important to the foundations of contemporary American cinema, the Best Picture and Best Director Oscars eluded him until the Academy smiled upon this gritty remake of Infernal Affairs from Hong Kong directors Andrew Lau and Alan Mak.  Nate, Ryan, and Anne discuss how much impact the movie has more than 10 years later.

What are your memories of The Departed?  Where does it rank among Scorsese’s movies?  How many times should one director use the same song in a movie?  Let us know!

Check out Ann’s Best Picture film blog.

Nate and Ryan watch Moonstruck, the perfect movie to either keep the romance of a successful Valentine’s Day going, or the perfect movie to make up for a lackluster holiday.  This 1987 hit won Best Actress and Supporting Actress Oscars for stars Cher and Olympia Dukakis as well as Best Original Screenplay for John Patrick Shanley.  Both Nate and Ryan had always planned on seeing Moonstruck, but up until now had found a way to watch anything else instead.  Listen as they discuss what took them so long, and whether Moonstruck  (directed by Canadian Norman Jewison) was worth the wait.

What is your favorite romantic comedy?  Where does Moonstruck rank among romantic comedies?  Can Cher do any wrong?  On the scale of lunatic Nicolas Cage performances, how crazy is Ronnie?  Let us know!

Check out the Steven Benedict Moonstruck podcast episode Nate mentioned.

In a year that has everyone talking about presidential scandals, corruption, and collusion, Nate and Ryan felt it only appropriate to revisit the 1976 classic All the President’s Men.  Listen as Nate and Ryan discuss what makes this film brilliant, and how it feels to watch this movie in light of so many similar current events.

Robert Redford, Dustin Hoffman, and director Alan J. Pakula immortalized the story of Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein as they doggedly pursued a story no one had any real interest in.  Nate and Ryan discuss how they were able to make a movie that is 80 percent phone conversations into a tense political thriller.

What are your thoughts on All the President’s Men?  How quickly and irreversibly do you get lost in Robert Redford’s eyes?  Is it irresponsible to watch a historical movie through a contemporary political lens?  Let us know!

For our fourth annual Holiday Extravaganza, we’re re-watching Elf, the 2003 Will Farrell comedy hit that has become a must-see for many people each year.  Our feelings for Elf have deteriorated over the years, so we wanted to watch it again to see if there’s something we’re missing.  This is the first time we’ve watched a Christmas movie that neither of us are big on, and we know that many of our listeners do like this movie. As the spirit of the season dictates, we watched with a generous mind and an open heart.  Though we can’t say that it made much of a difference…

Share your thoughts!  Are we just being Grinches?  What do you love about Elf? If you’ve never liked it, how have you managed to stay under the radar so the Elf fanatics don’t forcibly decorate your house?  Let us know!

For some reason, something about November makes us want to watch movies with wizards.  As per a listener suggestion, we’re watching Willow, the 1988 George Lucas-conceived, Ron Howard-directed fantasy epic.  For many people, Willow was a special part of their childhood, but in the pantheon of classic children’s movies, Willow rarely seems to enter the conversation.

Listen in as we explore Willow‘s merits and absurdities and discuss whether it’s something we’d pass on to our children.

Is Willow a part of your childhood?  Does it still hold up?  What is your favorite Willow memory?  Let us know!

Welcome to our 4th Annual Holiday Spooktacular.  This year, Nate and Ryan discuss John Carpenter’s The Thing, a 1982 horror flop that has become a bona fide classic.  Listen as they discuss what has made The Thing into such a beloved film and how it has aged over the past 35 years.  This is also Can We Still Be Friends first John Carpenter movie, and we were glad to have the chance to celebrate another master filmmaker.

Is The Thing one of your go-to horror movies?  What are your thoughts on it?  Where does it rank among horror movies?  Where does it rank among Kurt Russel movies?  How long was it before you slept soundly after that stomach bit off those hands?  Let us know!

Nate and Ryan continue their unofficial tour through 1997 by watching director Paul Verhoeven’s divisive sci-fi cult classic, Starship Troopers.  Joined by guest (and Starship Troopers fan) Dan Wartsbaugh, Nate and Ryan try to find out if this is a scathing, brilliant satire, skewering the tropes of violence-worshiping blockbuster action flicks, or a dumb, dumb, dumb, dumb, silly violence-worshiping blockbuster action flick.  The movie’s stock has certainly risen in the 20 years since its release, as many critics have revisited the movie and praise Verhoeven’s incisive anti-war spin on Robert Heinlein’s pro-military novel.

But are claims of a satiric vision enough?  What are your thoughts on Starship Troopers?  Has your mind changed over the years?  How much schlock can be forgiven in the name of satire?  Is it ever not cool to watch alien bug explosions?  Let us know!