ReelBlend

Wendy Director Benh Zeitlin Talks Adapting The Peter Pan Mythos & More

Following his Oscar nominated debut, Beasts of the Southern Wild, Benh Zeitlin has spent the last 8 years crafting a very original adaptation of the Peter Pan story we all know and love. He stopped by the podcast to talk about working with young, non-professional actors, building his Neverland in the real world as opposed to a set, why they shifted the story's focus from Peter Pan to Wendy and so much more. 

Also in this week's show, the guys finally get to discuss the reveal of Robert Pattinson's Batsuit. We touch on where we think the tone of Matt Reeves' new Batman is headed, and the rad idea that his suit's Bat symbol could be made from the proverbial gun that killed his parents. 

Unfortunately, both Kevin and Sean lost the friendly Oscars wager, granting Jake the power to force them to watch any movie he desired. So this week, they return with painful stories of sitting through the infamous Human Centipede III: Final Sequence. Don't worry, we don't get nearly as graphic as the film, and you can laugh along with Jake throughout. 

The major release hitting theaters this weekend is The Call of the Wild starring Harrison Ford. Jake and Kevin were both able to see the film, and interview Indiana Jones himself. Be sure to stick around for Jake's amazing story about asking him a "fan question" from one Mark Hamill. It is pure gold. 

And finally, it wouldn't be an episode of ReelBlend without an awesome BlendGame. We were challenged to chose our favorite movie taglines of all time, and many of you lovely folks played along online using #TaglineBlend. You can play along next week using #Underrated80sBlend, when we'll debate our favorite movies from the 1980s that we think don't get enough appreciation. 
 

This Week In Movies

• Seberg (limited release; starring Kristen Stewart, Jack O'Connell, Margaret Qualley)
• The Night Clerk (limited release; starring Ana de Armas, Helen Hunt, Tye Sheridan)
• Brahms: The Boy II (starring Katie Holmes, Owain Yeoman, Christopher Convery)
• The Call of the Wild (starring Harrison Ford, Karen Gillan, Dan Stevens)

3:51 - Weekly Poll: Which is Harrison Ford's best role?
12:01 - Benh Zeitlin Interview
41:30 - Robert Pattinson Batsuit Reveal Reactions
49:20 - Human Centipede 3...reactions
1:00:00 - This Week In Movies
1:00:45 - Call of the Wild Review & Interviewing Harrison Ford
1:26:50 - #TaglineBlend

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Parasite Wins Big, The Broadcast Falls Flat & More 2020 Oscars Reactions
 

The awards race has officially come to a close, and in the spirit of our original name, AwardsBlend, we are here with our reactions to the very long telecast. Bong Joon Ho and Parasite won big. While only Producer Gabe was in love with the film, we are all very excited to see it win, and give our reactions to what this could mean for the future of the Academy. 

After last week's show, news broke that Sam Raimi is in talks to take over Doctor Strange 2. Our resident comic book movie expert, Sean O'Connell, has a lot thoughts about what this means for that project, and the MCU/Spider-verse at large. Birds of Prey didn't quite take the box office by storm as many expected in its opening weekend. We give our thoughts on why that might be, and where the marketing for the film maybe went wrong.

This Week In Movies

• Enter the Fat Dragon (limited release; starring Donnie Yen)
• Ordinary Love (limited release; starring Liam Neeson, Lesley Manville)
• Downhill (limited release; starring Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Will Ferrell)
• Fantasy Island (limited release; starring Lucy Hale, Maggie Q, Portia Doubleday)
• To All the Boys: P.S. I Love You (Netflix; starring  Lana Condor, Noah Centineo, Ross Butler)
• The Photograph (starring Lakeith Stanfield, Issa Rae)
• Sonic The Hedgehog (starring Jim Carrey, Ben Schwartz, James Marsden)

Timestamps

3:24 - Weekly Poll: Did the right movie win Best Picture?
4:16 - Oscar Reactions
46:25 - Sam Raimi In Talks For Doctor Strange 2
54:22 - Birds of Prey Box Office 
59:28 - This Week In Movies
1:05:15 - Sonic The Hedgehog Reviews
1:09:33 - #JimCarreyBlend

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Birds of Prey Director Cathy Yan Talks Margot Robbie, Ewan McGregor & Directing Action

On this week's show, we are joined by director Cathy Yan to discuss her latest film, Birds of Prey, starring Margot Robbie, Ewan McGregor and Mary Elizabeth Winstead. She talks about working with Margot and her input on the Harley Quinn character, what it took to pull of some of the huge action set pieces, why the film doesn't need Jared Leto's Joker and so much more. Stick around for later in the show when Jake and Sean also give their spoiler-free reviews of Birds of Prey. (Spoiler: It's really fun!)

Also this week, we have our final Oscars predictions! The guys have set a friendly wager on who can guess the most Oscar categories correctly, and the losers will have to watch an unbearable movie of the winner's choice. We also want to hear your predictions so write them down, and let us know how you do on Oscar night.

This Week In Movies

• And Then We Danced (Limited Release)
• Waiting For Anya (Limited Release; starring Anjelica Huston, Noah Schnapp, Jean Reno)
• The Lodge (Limited Release; starring Richard Armitage, Riley Keough, Jaeden Martell)
• Birds of Prey (starring Margot Robbie, Ewan McGregor, Mary Elizabeth Winstead)

Timestamps

1:52 - Weekly Poll: Which is Margot Robbie's Best Role?
4:30 - Cathy Yan Interview
30:18 - Final Oscars Predictions & Wager
1:14:02 - Birds of Prey Review
1:18:18 - #Underrated70sBlend

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We were so happy to sit down with Reed Morano to talk about her new film, The Rhythm Section, a spy, action, revenge flick starring Blake Lively and Jude Law. She discusses her career as a long-time cinematographer, and how that influenced her work as a director and with cinematographer Sean Bobbitt. She also dives into some of the creative decisions behind much of the film's action, and Blake's character overall. Be sure to stick around until later in the show for Sean's spoiler-free review!

The Academy Awards are nearly here, and with the DGA Awards in the rearview, we have to touch on where the race stands, and our predictions. We look ahead at Super Bowl weekend, and some trailers we are hoping to drop during the game. Jake and Kevin had the sat down with Jim Carrey, and have some sweet stories to tell. And finally, we debate our favorite last line in movie history with #FinalLineBlend. Play along next week when we'll be discussing our FAVORITE underrated movie from the 70s with #Underrated70sBlend.

This Week In Movies

• Gretel & Hansel (starring Sophia Lillis, Alice Krige)
• The Rhythm Section (starring Blake Lively, Jude Law, Sterling K. Brown)

Timestamps
2:45 - Weekly Poll: Most Anticipated February Release?
6:25 - Reed Morano Interview
24:37 - DGA Awards Reactions & Oscars Discussion
41:41 - Interviewing Jim Carrey
52:00 - This Week In Movies
52:48 - The Rhythm Section Review
55:40 - #FinalLineBlend

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Following their staggeringly successful opening weekend, directors Bilall Fallah and Adil El Arbi sat down with ReelBlend to discuss the early box office results, working with Michael Bay for the cameo and the advice he gave about handling his "baby." They also dive into their approach to filming the movie's action, working with Eddie Murphy and Netflix on Beverly Hills Cop 4 and more.

Outside of our awesome conversation with these filmmakers, the guys react to the official announcement of Martin Scorsese's next film to co-star Robert De Niro and Leonardo DiCaprio. This past weekend, the Screen Actors Guild held their annual awards show, and we dive into what the winners and losers say about the race to the Oscars. Parasite took home the major prize, and with a possible win at the DGA looming, Bong Joon Ho's piercing deconstruction of classism appears to be a new favorite to take home Best Director or even Best Picture.

Guy Ritchie's The Gentlemen hits theaters this week. Be sure to stick around for our spoiler-free discussion, and in honor of its release we take a look back at Matthew McConaughey's career with #MatthewMcConaugheyBlend. Play along next week by sending in your FAVORITE last line in a movie using #FinalLineBlend on Twitter.

This Week In Movies

• The Last Full Measure (starring Samuel L. Jackson, Sebastian Stan, Christopher Plummer)
• The Turning (starring Mackenzie Davis, Finn Wolfhard)
• The Gentlemen *(starring Matthew McConaughey, Hugh Grant, Charlie Hunnam, Colin Farrell)

TIMESTAMPS
1:40 - Weekly Poll: Which Bad Boys Movie Is Best?
12:00 - Interview with Bilall Fallah and Adil El Arbi
40:17 - Martin Scorsese's Next Film
50:20 - SAG Awards Reactions
1:03:37 - This Week In Movies
1:12:40 - #MatthewMcConaugheyBlend

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The nominees for the 2020 Academy Awards are out, and boy do we have some opinions. There are some heroes to root for, and plenty of snubs to detest so strap in for our reactions to the Oscars' ever-contentious list of nominations. Uncut Gems stayed true to the name, and couldn't make the cut for a single category, Lupita Nyong'o's jaw-dropping performance in Jordan Peele's Us appears to have been completely forgotten, and if you're Kevin, 1917 seems to be getting way too much credit.

Also in this week's show, we dig in to our favorite scenes from all of film history, and we loved seeing the great responses from you at home using #SceneBlend. For our next show, you can play along using #MatthewMcConaugheyBlend as we'll be revisiting his filmography to determine our favorite performance from Matthew McConaughey.

2:40 - Weekly Poll: Should We Do More Live Shows?
4:47 - Oscar Nominations Reactions
40:23 - This Week In Movies
42:22 - #SceneBlend

This Week In Movies

• Dolittle (starring Robert Downey Jr., Michael Sheen, Antonio Banderas)
• Bad Boys for Life (starring Will Smith, Martin Lawrence, Vanessa Hudgens)

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To celebrate our 100th episode, we invited a bunch of Blenders to meet us at the AMC Georgetown 14 in Washington D.C. for a special LIVE recording of the show! We get into the 5 films that we, as a show, are the most excited for in 2020, we give our FAVORITE films of the decade, and hear from many of the fans that made the trip to see us.

For next week's BlendGame, we're looking out favorite scenes of all time. Play along on social using #SceneBlend, and you might hear your pick read on the show.

This Week In Movies

• 1917 (starring Dean-Charles Chapman, George MacKay, Colin Firth)
• Just Mercy (starring Michael B. Jordan, Jaime Foxx, Brie Larson)
• Like a Boss (starring Salma Hayek, Tiffany Haddish, Rose Byrne)
• Underwater (starring Kristen Stewart, T.J. Miller, John Gallagher Jr.)

4:42 - Most Anticipated Films of 2020
5:14 - #5: Top Gun: Maverick
12:14 - #4: Wonder Woman 1984
17:12 - #3: Mank
20:27 - #2: Dune
27:29 - #1: Tenet
36:24 - This Week In Movies
38:31 - #2010sBlend

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Welcome to another awesome bonus episode of ReelBlend, this time featuring documentary director Tara Wood. Tara dives deep into the career of Quentin Tarantino with interviews featuring some of his many collaborators from Samuel L. Jackson to Jennifer Jason Leigh to Kurt Russell and more. We discuss some her favorite aspects of Tarantino's work, what she learned and adapted to during the process of making the doc, and reacts to some of the controversies surrounding his work and career.

We could not be more grateful to share some time with Tara Wood, and we hope you take the time to check out her work now on VOD.

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It's the end of another amazing year in movies, and the guys are here to breakdown their 10 favorite films of 2019 for you all. Enjoy!

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If there's one thing all Star Wars fans have in common, it's passion. That passion often brings us together in ways that only cinema and Star Wars can, but it can also drive us to opposite ends when it comes to debating what makes Star Wars good, and what doesn't. The "sequel trilogy" of Star Wars films that we've all come to enjoy (to varied degrees) over the past few years of been some of the most divisive additions to canon of all time.

Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, as the conclusion to the epic saga spanning 9 films and numerous decades, may prove to be the most divisive yet, and we, as many groups of friends are, find ourselves split right down the middle. However, that makes for a really fun show! Some of you may love it. Some of you may hate it. Either way, in episode 98 of ReelBlend, you'll find something to relate to. Enjoy!

This Week In Movies

• Spies in Disguise (starring Will Smith, Tom Holland, Karen Gillan)
• Just Mercy (starring Brie Larson, Jamie Foxx, Michael B. Jordan)
• 1917 (starring George MacKay, Andrew Scott, Benedict Cumberbatch)
• Little Women (starring Saoirse Ronan, Emma Watson, Florence Pugh)
• Cats (starring Taylor Swift, Idris Elba, Jennifer Hudson)
• Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker (starring Daisy Ridley, Adam Driver, John Boyega)

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