Reel Deep Dive

Reel Deep Dive

By Ryan ValentineArtsPerforming Arts
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Reel Deep Dive episodes

  • Sonic The Hedgehog (2020)

    In the interest of keeping his guests engaged (and broadening his horizons beyond the stuff he's already interested in), Ryan likes to alternate the choosing of Reel Deep Dive's subjects. The consequence of this policy is that Toby, Ryan's nine year old nephew, chose the 2020 Sonic the Hedgehog film as the focus of this week's episode. Ryan had little interest in deconstructing this film (or even watching it), but it was Toby's turn to pick the movie and fair's fair.


    Most of the chatter surrounding the promotion and release of this video game adaptation centered upon the internet's severely negative response to the title character's initial design (and the studio's scramble to replace it with a more palatable figure at the last minute). Ryan and Toby are almost obligated to touch upon that, but time is also given to the character's origins, the film's cookie-cutter plot, Jim Carrey's attempt to recapture the manic performances that made him a star in the 1990's, the movie's attempt to throw some fanservice at nostalgic millennial parents, and the dialogue's awkward attempts to shoehorn in some product placement.

    Ryan was about as unimpressed with Sonic the Hedgehog as he suspected he was going to be, but Toby greatly approves of this movie and takes some pains to defend it. Ryan half-expected Toby to flip-flop in an attempt to impress him, so Ryan was pleasantly surprised to see Toby stick to his principles. 

    29 min
  • Sherlock Jr. (1924)

    One of the most beloved comedies of the silent era, Sherlock Jr. is a brisk, economically-edited film whose layers belie its short running time. Over the course of 45 minutes, Sherlock Jr. functions as a platform for madcap slapstick, a showcase for ludicrously-dangerous stunts, an opportunity to show off trick photography, a conduit for relatable physical acting, and plenty more.


    Ryan is joined by Rachel for a chat about this enduring movie; discussion topics include how the loose plot is structured around the gags, the movie's connection to the still-notorious Fatty Arbuckle scandal, how Sherlock Jr. is referenced by James Bond of all things, and how Buster Keaton blazed a trail for every other actor who markets their films around how they almost killed themselves in a dangerous stunt for our amusement. 

    34 min
  • Phantom of the Paradise (1974)

    Change is constant, but Hollywood was in an especially volatile position of flux in the late 60's and early 70's. The prestige musical, one of the most reliable moneymaking formats in filmmaking from the Depression onward, had crashed and burned with the failures of Doctor Dolittle (1967) and Hello Dolly (1969). Suddenly, the dependable formulas weren't working anymore.  


    This period saw film studios take moderate gambles on young, artful directors who grew up watching movies, internalized lots of theoretical ideas in film school, and wanted to do self-serious takes on the pop culture trash they loved as children. This resulted in the "New Hollywood" era, where maverick filmmakers made a slew of daring, gritty, unconventional, grounded, and moody films like Easy Rider (1969), The Godfather (1972), and Taxi Driver (1976). Naturally, a few of these directors had ideas about how to modernize the stodgy, played-out genre of the Hollywood musical.   

    Brian De Palma's 1974 rock opera, a mash-up of Phantom of the Opera, Faust, and The Picture of Dorian Gray, is one of the most idiosyncratic movies ever distributed by a major Hollywood studio. Ryan is joined by Cheryl, an outspoken fan of the film. Together, they discuss Phantom of the Paradise as a criticism of art as commerce, they delve into how Paul Williams' songs reflect pop music history, they touch upon De Palma's distinctive quirks as a visual storyteller, and they bring up how #beefdidnothingwrong.

    48 min
  • Double Feature: Much Ado About Nothing (1993 & 2012)

    So far, every conversational topic in an episode of Reel Deep Dive has centered on a single film. In the hopes of shaking things up, Ryan and Rachel are breaking down two cinematic spins on the Bard's famous romantic comedy. The first one is Kenneth Branagh's 1993 effort starring Emma Thompson, Keanu Reeves, Michael Keaton, Kate Beckinsale, Denzel Washington, and Robert Sean Leonard. The other subject is Joss Whedon's 2012 film starring Amy Acker, Alexis Denisof, Fran Kranz, Nathan Fillion, Jillian Morgese, Clark Gregg, and Sean Maher.


    There's naturally going to be some comparing and contrasting when it comes to how each actor tackled their respective parts, but Ryan and Rachel also talk about how the two films differ in terms of set design, cinematography, musical choices, and thematic emphasis (Beatrice's "If I Were A Man" monologue gets a lot of attention). There's also plenty of talk about how Shakespeare has been interpreted by various people throughout the ages.   

    In addition to all that, Ryan takes a moment to explain why Claudio is an "Aristotle Fuckboy".

    1 hr 7 min
  • Thor: Ragnarok (2017)

    The interconnected web of Marvel Studios films is easily the most successful movie franchise of the 21st century. Naturally, it's impossible  for something this massive to get along without drawing some detractors. 2017's Thor: Ragnarok is one of the earliest Marvel films to conscientiously reflect some of the common criticisms leveled against its predecessors (bland color grading, boring musical score, unremarkable villain, cookie-cutter direction, homogeneous tone, etc). Also, the film has an interesting dichotomy between its lighthearted approach and the heavy themes present in the story's subtext.


    Ryan is joined by his sister Sarah and his 9 year old nephew Toby; they discuss Thor: Ragnarok's use of humor, its departures from prior films in the series, its approach to anti-colonialism, its playful take on sibling dynamics, and its roots in the drama of classical antiquity. Toby also recites an essay he wrote about his favorite fictional character; Ryan and Sarah definitely intend to play this episode to Toby when he's a teenager in order to embarrass him in front of whoever he's dating.

    Ryan, Sarah, and Toby conclude by weighing in on the film's most important question: Who would really win in a fair fight between Thor and The Hulk?  

    45 min
  • Clone High (2002-2003)

    Reel Deep Dive starts commenting on television with this episode, a discussion about an MTV cartoon that built up a significant cult audience after its cancellation. While the program did launch the careers of noted directors Phil Lord and Christopher Miller, it's still best-known for its intriguing concept involving a high school filled with teenage clones of historical figures.


    Ryan and Rachel focus upon four episodes in Clone High's brief run. Throughout their breakdown, they chat about the program's lampooning of family sitcoms and teen movies, its deluge of history nerd jokes, its talent for stretching its limited budget to suit its storytelling, and the controversy surrounding how the show depicted Mahatma Gandhi. Ryan also teases Rachel about her terrible Kennedy impersonation despite the fact that his take is even worse.

    This episode was recording several months before a Clone High revival was announced; this means that the section where Ryan and Rachel talk about the slim likelihood of a Clone High reboot has already become dated. 

    1 hr 1 min
  • Clue (1985)

    Most box office duds fade to obscurity once their underperforming theatrical runs have concluded, but a lucky handful stumble into positive reappraisal and a lengthy post-release afterlife. The most prominent example is arguably Frank Capra's 1946 Christmas perennial It's A Wonderful Life, but a number of other films earned enduring cult status once the advent of cable television spurred numerous stations to pad their programming blocks with then-unpopular films whose broadcast rights were cheap to acquire. This phenomenon was especially generous to 1980's cheese like Beastmaster (1982), Dragnet (1987), and several films directed by John Carpenter.


    The subject for this episode is 1985's Clue, a broad spoof of the locked-room murder mystery modeled after the board game of the same name. Ryan is joined by McKenzie as they talk about Clue's talented ensemble cast, its scene-stealing performances from Tim Curry and Madeline Kahn, its fancy costumes, and its lush mise-en-scène. Thematic motifs under discussion include the film's references to the communist witch hunts of Joseph McCarthy, its subtextual digs at mid-20th century sexual stigmas, and its playful riffs upon the tropes of Agatha Christie and John Dickson Carr.

    Ryan and McKenzie also compare Clue to the much more successful Knives Out (2019). 

    34 min
  • Rope (1948)

    Any podcast devoted to movie nerd minutiae is obligated to talk about Alfred Hitchcock at some point. In addition to that, a podcast devoted to movie nerd minutiae is probably also required to touch upon auteur theory during its existence.


    Reel Deep Dive has decided to kill two birds with one stone by focusing on Rope, arguably the Hitchcock film with the most precise, distinct, and meticulous scene-blocking. Yes, that's a bold claim to make, but we stand behind it.

    Rachel and Ryan chat about Rope's "single take" gimmick, but they also delve into the nature of suspense, the real-life murder that Rope is based upon, the scientific accuracy of the film's "real time" presentation, and Rope's significant amount of queer subtext. Rachel also decided to subject the listener to her Jimmy Stewart impression.

    35 min
  • Teen Titans Go! To The Movies (2018)

    Parody lies at the bedrock of human expression. People have been poking fun at genre tropes ever since the first genre trope calcified into being.


    With that in mind, it's useful to mention that parody will still be a novel concept to the next generation. For many, Teen Titans Go! has served as their introduction to the burlesque, winking lampoon. In fact, Teen Titans Go! was many a child's first foray into the superhero genre, lampoon or otherwise.

    Ryan is joined by Sarah and Toby for this discussion of the feature film extension of Teen Titans Go! This was the first movie that Toby was able to sit through in the theater, a fact that Ryan credits to the film's barrage of toilet humor. Fart and poop jokes are parsed through, but the dialogue also delves into the movie's songs, the talent of its voice cast, the weirdly-hateful backlash that Teen Titans Go! receives from self-serious comic nerds, and how Teen Titans Go! To The Movies can be interpreted as "Baby's First Deadpool".

    And yes, there is some chatter about Michael Bolton's role as an upbeat (UPBEAT!) Sibertian tiger. 

    28 min
  • Airplane! (1980)

    There aren't many films that can be credited with creating an entire subgenre, but Airplane! certainly qualifies. It's difficult to imagine what the past four decades of parody films would've been like if this weird little lampoon hadn't been as big of a hit as it was. Airplane! turned the Zucker/Abrahams/Zucker team into a cottage industry and it completely changed the career trajectory of character actor Leslie Nielsen, but its impact left even more ripples. Airplane! defied the assumptions of what kind of comedic film could make money. Airplane! redefined how a comedy film could be structured. Hell, it isn't even that much of a stretch to argue that the rapid fire, 13-gags-per-second pace of Airplane! influenced everything from The Simpsons to 30 Rock.


    Ryan is joined by Rachel for an episode where they defy conventional wisdom and examine why they think certain jokes are funny. Talking points include Leslie Nielsen's status as an American treasure, the complexities behind this film's casting of Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, and how Airplane! was a minor miracle that nobody could quite recreate in many, many subsequent attempts.

    36 min

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