Rock N' Reel

After a small delay involving missing audio files, Rock and Reel is back for a grand episode number 10. With double-digits comes a show that's as packed as ever with goodness. This episode, Kevin and I talk all about the first big summer blockbuster, "Iron Man". With Kevin being a huge comic book geek and my own hands almost never having touched a comic book before, we technically have the bases covered for those familiar with the back story to those who just went simply because it looked cool and Robert Downey Jr. is awesome in general. But despite these good signs for the film, did it pass our litmus test for a superhero film? Listen and find out. Following that, we give our Album of the Week a Chicago-centric touch by reviewing the new record by Local H, titled "12 Angry Months". It's a concept album about the ups and downs (mostly downs) of ending a relationship. Singer Scott Lucas reportedly wrote it after a year of struggling when his girlfriend broke up with him. The idea is nothing new, however does it sound fresh? And where does it stand in terms of the Local H catalogue? We've got the scoop for you. To help wrap things up, we're introducing a new segment that's music-focused, aptly titled Roots and Influences. The concept is easy in that we talk about the various bands and artists that have played a major role in the development of sound for another particular band or artist. For our first Roots and Influences we keep with the Local H theme and discuss how their sound has evolved. You'll also be able to hear a couple songs by some of the bands we mention, so if you're a fan of grunge and punk this is not to be missed. Next episode we'll be reviewing the movie "Redbelt" starring Chiwetel Ejiofor and Tim Allen, and we'll also give our opinions on the new Death Cab for Cutie album "Narrow Stairs." Check back for that soon! 0:00-0:51 Intro 0:51-21:05 Movie Review: Iron Man 21:05-38:41 Album of the Week: Local H - 12 Angry Months (feat. song "Jesus Christ, Did You See The Size Of That Sperm Whale?") 38:41-1:00:50 Roots and Influences (new segment!): Local H (feat. songs by Nirvana and Cheap Trick) 1:00:50-1:02:47 Closing/Preview of Next Week (click on the podcast icon above for the show, or subscribe with podcatcher software) Subscribe and let us know what you think! Email us your comments, questions, and death threats. Remember, you can subscribe to the RSS feed of this site using any aggregator software!

Hahahahaha! It's time for a brand new episode of Rock and Reel, this time dubbed "The Comedy Show," because we talk about all sorts of comedy-related things. Here's the text-filled details of what you can find on the audio of this grand Episode Nine: We give our review of "Forgetting Sarah Marshall," starring Jason Segel from the TV show "How I Met Your Mother," (fyi he was also in "Knocked Up" in a small role, as well as "Freaks and Geeks" and "Undeclared" for those of you who are nuts about those sorts of details). Speaking of "nuts," aside from Segel's nude scene, we also talk about how good this comedy is and whether or not it's a modern day "classic" as some critics have already carefully stated. There's also a moment in here where Kevin and I have a really good laugh over certain comments. Following that, we talk about the new album from New Zealand's 4th most popular folk parody duo known as Flight of the Conchords. Their self-titled debut is in stores now, and it follows a successful first season of their HBO show, which is coincidentally also on DVD. Find out if we think the CD filled with songs from that show is worth your time. Finally, we introduce a new segment titled "Please Kill Me Now," in which we watch bad movies so you don't have to, and then describe the ways in which we'd like to be killed rather than watch the film again. For our inagural discussion we tackle the now-failed classic video game film "Street Fighter" from the 90s, starring most notably Jean-Claude Van Damme. 'Tis a thing of laughable beauty. Next episode: We talk about the first big blockbuster of the summer, "Iron Man," along with the new album from Chicago band Local H, titled "12 Angry Months." 0:00-1:15 Intro 1:15-28:15 Movie Review: Forgetting Sarah Marshall 28:15-42:33 Album of the Week: Flight of the Conchords - Flight of the Conchords (feat. song "Bowie") 42:33-55:51 Please Kill Me Now (new segment!): Street Fighter 55:51-56:36 Closing (click on the podcast icon above for the show, or subscribe with podcatcher software) Subscribe and let us know what you think! Email us your comments, questions, and death threats. Remember, you can subscribe to the RSS feed of this site using any aggregator software! Check us out on Odeo! My Odeo Channel (odeo/57507af5b5be6753)

Ah yes, time for yet another episode of Rock and Reel. Despite some heavy-ish themes this week in the films and album we discuss, I'd call this our funniest episode yet. And this isn't by any means a stand-up comedy podcast. My guess is that Kevin and I were particularly punchy (i.e. drunk) when we recorded this, and as such there's a certain candidness that crosses a line or two throughout this episode. Here's what we cover: "Street Kings" may not be in very many first-run theatres currently, but it was when we recorded this a few weeks back, and with any luck you'll be able to find it in second-run theatres or on DVD in the next few months. If you're one of the people who has yet to see it, make sure you check out our review of the film as a means of attempting to discover if this film might be for you. Also, if you HAVE seen the movie, maybe give a listen and find out if you agree with our extra-long assessment of the film, which stars Keanu Reeves and Forrest Whittaker, among others. Our Album of the Week is from the band Foals and their debut record "Antidotes." It has some danceable qualities to it, along with a little bit of math rock stylings. If you don't know what "math rock" is, fear not for we attempt to define it during our review. Also, the song "Balloons" is contained in this segment, and at the very least I suggest you give that a listen and see if it's your cup of tea. We close things out with a new segment, simply titled "Pre-View Review," where we do the impossible and judge a book by its cover, or rather a film by its trailer. With the summer blockbuster season already in full gear, we tackle the upcoming M. Night Shyamalan film "The Happening" starring Mark Wahlberg and Zooey Deschanel. Did we like this entire film based upon the 2 minutes of carefully edited footage the studio put together for us? The fun part is that after the film gets released we'll follow up and give a legitimate review just to see how accurate we were in the end. The segment is a lot of fun, and I guarantee there will be more "Pre-View Reviews" in upcoming shows. Next episode is our comedy-themed show, with our reviews of the Judd Apatow-produced laugh-fest known as "Forgetting Sarah Marshall" and the album by New Zealand's 4th most popular folk parody duo Flight of the Conchords. We'll also debut yet another new segment, appropriately titled "Please Kill Me Now," where we watch a really bad movie and then describe ways in which we'd rather be killed than watch it again. Fun! 0:00-1:20 Intro 1:20-31:15 Movie Review: Street Kings 31:15-45:45 Album of the Week: Foals - Antidotes (feat. song "Balloons") 45:45-53:00 Pre-View Review: The Happening 53:00-57:19 Preview of Next Week/Closing (click on the podcast icon above for the show, or subscribe with podcatcher software) Subscribe and let us know what you think! Email [email protected] your comments, questions, and death threats. Remember, you can subscribe to the RSS feed of this site using any aggregator software! Check us out on Odeo! My Odeo Channel (odeo/57507af5b5be6753)

This week Rock and Reel returns, after another slight delay in postings. We promise that we're working on improving our turn-around; we both have had some pretty crazy schedules. We should improve on that within the next month or so! First up comes the beach-novel-thriller-cum-Young-Adult-Horror-movie, The Ruins. This film wasn't provided to critics for early reviews; typically, this is a bad sign. Does this film fall prey to that stereotype, or is this a case of a studio not giving a film enough of a chance? Following that, we introduce the long-in-the-making segment, Knock Off Theatre. In this segment, we introduce and review a film that's been released direct-to-video in an effort to steal some of the thunder of a much bigger release. This week: The Transmorphers! Then its time for the album of the week. Kim Deal of the Pixies and her twin sister Kelley return with their band The Breeders (best known for their song "Cannonball") for their new CD Mountain Battles. They've not released an album since 2002's disappointing Title TK, and we were both interested to see how this one would turn out. We then introduce something new: our Theme Mix Tape! This week, to follow the sisterly duo of the Deals, we feature several songs from bands whose members have the same last name: The Ramones (song: "We're A Happy Family") Oasis (song: "Cigarettes and Alcohol") Los Campesinos! (song: "Death to Los Campesinos!") The White Stripes (song: "Sister, Do You Know My Name?") Radiohead (song: "Anyone Can Play Guitar") Tegan and Sara (song: "You Wouldn't Like Me") And that's the show for this week! Stay tuned though: shows featuring Forgetting Sarah Marshall, Flight of the Conchords, and Iron Man are in the process of being edited, and will be posted as soon as possible! :00-1:03 Intro 1:04--23:37 - Our discussion of The Ruins 23:38-34:18 - Knock Off Theatre: The Transmorphers 34:19-41:22 - Album of the Week The Breeders' Mountain Battles (Featuring "Bang On") 41:23-1:03:48 - Music Mix Tape: Bands with the Same Last Name (Feat. The Ramones, Oasis, Los Campesinos, White Stripes, Radiohead, and Tegan and Sara) 1:03:49-1:05:08 - Preview of next week/Closing (click on the podcast icon above for the show, or subscribe with podcatcher software) With weekly posts to follow up this, subscribe and let us know what you think! Email [email protected] your comments, questions, and death threats. Remember, you can subscribe to the RSS feed of this site using any aggregator software! Now with Odeo! My Odeo Channel (odeo/57507af5b5be6753)

Another couple weeks, another show. Not that we're trying to churn these things out over longer periods of time, but both Kevin and I happen to have been extremely busy these past few weeks. That pattern still continues, actually. But we have more episodes in the can that are just awaiting the magical touch of editing, so we'll post them as soon as we're able. This week's show is a Neil Marshall double feature on the movie side, and a couple of interesting and fun music choices. For those unfamiliar, Neil Marshall is a film director. You may not have seen any of his films. His feature film debut was a movie called "Dog Soldiers," which came out a few years back, and Kevin starts things off by giving his analysis of the werewolf tale. Later on in the show, we both tackle the most recent Neil Marshall film, "Doomsday," which seemed to be in-and-out of movie theatres after about a week. Still, give a quick listen to our analysis of this killer virus action flick and make your own choice about either trying to seek it out in second-run theatres or possibly renting it on DVD when that happens. And for the record, perhaps the best-reviewed and most seen Neil Marshall film in recent memory is "The Descent," which is a horror film about a group of women exploring a cave. We briefly discuss it during the Neil Marshall double dip, but I thought it'd be worth mentioning in this summary in case you were still wondering who Neil Marshall was and by chance had seen "The Descent." On the music side of things, we talk about the new R.E.M. record, "Accelerate," and one of us reveals a secret prejudice against the band. Who do you think it will be? Why does this person hold a grudge? Find out those answers, as well as hear the track "Supernatural Superserious," as part of this episode. We also introduce a new feature, simply titled "Song of the Week." The premise is to pick a song from an album that has not yet been released. As a matter of fact we're just in time with the song "Ladies of the World" by the band Flight of the Conchords. Their self-titled album is in stores on Tuesday. Also, keep an eye out in a coming episode for our full review of that album. That about covers it for this week! Here's the show rundown if you like to skip around: :00-0:55 Intro 0:55-15:38 Classic Neil Marshall Movie Review: Dog Soldiers 15:38-29:40 Album of the Week: R.E.M. - Accelerate (feat. song "Supernatural Superserious") 29:40-50:02 Current Neil Marshall Movie Review: Doomsday 50:02-56:27 Song of the Week: Flight of the Conchords - "Ladies of the World" 56:27-57:11 Preview of next week/Closing (click on the podcast icon above for the show, or subscribe with podcatcher software) Subscribe and let us know what you think! Email [email protected] your comments, questions, and death threats. Remember, you can subscribe to the RSS feed of this site using any aggregator software!

After a brief Easter break and all sorts of other goings-on, we're back with yet another episode of Rock and Reel! This week we're tackling a couple indie films and a couple indie albums (including one true classic). First up we talk about the new Jason Statham/Saffron Burrows film "The Bank Job," about a group of not-so-professional criminals who scheme to rob...a bank. I know, unpredictable, right? What you can't really predict though is what we thought of the film. So listen to our review and find out. After that we give some insight on the debut album from the duo known as She & Him, a band featuring actress Zooey Deschanel and musician M. Ward. Is this celebrity music project better than most? Or does it go the way of people like Russell Crowe and Keanu Reeves? The song "Why Do You Let Me Stay Here?" is also part of our review. That's followed by a very fresh review of the brand new movie "My Blueberry Nights," the first English-language feature film by director Wong Kar Wai, starring singer Norah Jones in her very first acting role. It plays off the nice parallel of singers/actors what with Zooey Deschanel's music project also in this podcast. Find out if Norah Jones actually can perform on camera as well as she does on stage with a piano. Finally, we close out the show with a look back at the 10-year-old album "In the Aeroplane Over the Sea" by the band Neutral Milk Hotel. You can also hear the title track as part of that retrospective. As an additional note, we've now included audio of the actual movie trailers for the films we're reviewing, so we hope you find that an added bonus and something to get you more informed about what each movie is about (aside from our own summaries). Next time we'll have reviews of 2 films by director Neil Marshall. First, his old horror film "Dog Soldiers," followed by his latest film "Doomsday." You'll also get our review of the new R.E.M. album "Accelerate" along with some new music by the comedy band Flight of the Conchords. 0:00-1:10 Intro 1:10-14:30 Movie Review: The Bank Job 14:30-28:26 Album Review: She & Him - Volume One 28:26-51:45 Movie Review: My Blueberry Nights 51:45-1:03:55 Classic Album: Neutral Milk Hotel - In the Aeroplane Under the Sea 1:03:55-1:04:55 Preview of next week/Closing (click on the podcast icon above for the show, or subscribe with podcatcher software) Subscribe and let us know what you think! Email [email protected] [email protected] your comments, questions, and death threats. Remember, you can subscribe to the RSS feed of this site using any aggregator software!

When we last left our heroes, they were on a quest to find Nazi gold... ...okay, not really. But it is time for another dose of music and movie talk, and this week is a marathon of a show. Starting out, we "Swede" our way through a review of the Jack Black/Mos Def comedy "Be Kind Rewind," which we advise you don't fast forward through. That's followed by talk about the just-released new album by the punk band Be Your Own Pet, which is titled "Get Awkward." Somehow it sounds like the most normal thing we discuss in the show. You can also find the Be Your Own Pet track "The Kelly Affair" as part of this podcast. More movie talk happens after that, with a review of the Will Ferrell sports comedy "Semi-Pro." We'll tell you if it's a slam dunk or an air ball. Next up, we have a frank and almost scary discussion of the surprise Nine Inch Nails release, "Ghosts I-IV." The release of this record was unconventional and in some ways revolutionary, so if you don't know anything about it we're here to let you know. Or something like that. Finally, we close the show with our first-ever ADVANCE movie review. Yes, we were lucky enough to see the Simon Pegg/Thandie Newton/Hank Azaria movie "Run, Fat Boy, Run" before it hit theatres, so you can find out if it'll be worth your time when it gets released or if it's just dead weight. As a small aside, the movie is the directorial debut of Mr. David Schwimmer, who you may remember from that TV show "Friends." Find out if we're friendly to his movie. As for next week, though the in-podcast preview may be a little hazy as to what'll be covered, I'll tell you right here: -Movie Review: The Bank Job -ADVANCE Movie Review: My Blueberry Nights -Album Review: She & Him - Volume One -Classic Album Under Review: Neutral Milk Hotel - In the Aeroplane Under the Sea That about sums it up. Sorry about all the puns in this podcast summary. I hope they're more enjoyable for you than they were painful for me to write. 0:00-2:02 Intro 2:02-16:03 Movie Review: "Be Kind Rewind" 16:03-26:14 Album Review: Be Your Own Pet - "Get Awkward" (feat. track "The Kelly Affair") 26:14-37:20 Movie Review: "Semi-Pro" 37:20-55:15 Album Review: Nine Inch Nails - "Ghosts I-IV" 55:15-1:01:35 Advance Movie Review: "Run, Fat Boy, Run" 1:01:35-1:02:38 Preview of next week/Closing (click on the podcast icon above for the show, or subscribe with podcatcher software) Subscribe and let us know what you think! Email [email protected] [email protected] your comments, questions, and death threats. Remember, you can subscribe to the RSS feed of this site using any aggregator software!

After a few technical errors and troubles in editing, this week's Rock and Reel episode is a little later than usual. Apologies for that, hopefully there won't be more issues of this nature in the future. That said, this week on Rock and Reel, we've got plenty more music and movie discussion, as usual. We start with a review of the film "Jumper," starring Hayden Christensen and Samuel L. Jackson. That's followed by a hypothetical discussion about "Charlie Bartlett," and question exactly how the actual film and cast came together for the project. At the end of all that we also give a brief review of the movie. Then there's some Radiohead talk. The band has set the first leg of its North American tour, but the second half of the North American dates are currently not announced, save for a couple dates. We talk about the potential for other spots the band will visit, including whether or not they will be doing Lollapalooza or not (note: this discussion took place before sources suggested the band would more than likely be playing Lollapalooza). After that Kevin introduces his new segment called "Kevin's Horror Corner," where he talks about some "classic" (in some senses) scary movies. This week, it's the historically great film "Basket Case," about two formerly-conjoined brothers who kill people...but one of them is actually so tiny he lives inside a basket. Yes, it's that good. Finally, this week's album pick is Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks with their record "Real Emotional Trash." You can hear the 6+ minute track "Baltimore" as part of this here podcast. More to come next week, including reviews of "Be Kind Rewind," "Semi-Pro," and a sneak peek of "Run, Fat Boy, Run." Plus talk about the new Be Your Own Pet album "Get Awkward" along with the new Nine Inch Nails instrumental experiment "Ghosts I-IV." So listen to this podcast and prepare next week for all that! 0:00-1:23 Intro 1:23-17:00 Movie Review of the Week: "Jumper" 17:00-28:50 A Hypothetical Discussion of the film "Charlie Bartlett" 28:50-34:25 Talk of Radiohead's North American Tour Dates 34:25-42:07 Kevin's Horror (Film) Corner: "Basket Case" 42:07-52:45 Album of the Week: Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks- "Real Emotional Trash" (feat track "Baltimore") 52:45-55:08 Preview of next week/Closing (click on the podcast icon above for the show, or subscribe with podcatcher software) Subscribe and let us know what you think! Email [email protected] your comments, questions, and death threats. Remember, you can subscribe to the RSS feed of this site using any aggregator software!

This week on the Rock and Reel show, we start to settle into our usual format, featuring news, reviews and other witty banter. We start with Chris reviewing the Bonnarroo lineup, and we discussing various bands and our opinions on them. We then take a belated talk on the Writer's Strike and it's potential impact now that it is over. This week in our reviews we go over the Romanian film 4 luni, 3 saptamani si 2 zile (aka 4 Months, 3 Weeks & 2 Days) and the Champaign/Urbana band, Headlights' latest release, and we include their track, "Cherry Tulips." Finally, we close up with some DVD talk and a preview of the coming week. Future episodes will include various segments on horror and indie films, along with some guests and interviews and various musical tidbits. We're excited about the future, and hope you stay with us! 0:00-0:30 Intro 0:30-25:00 - Bonnarroo lineup discussion 25:00-33:00 - Writer's Strike talk 33:00-41:45 - Movie Review of the Week: 4 months, 3 weeks and 2 days 41:45-51:05 - album of the week: Headlights - "Some Racing, Some Stopping" (feat track "Cherry Tulips") 51:05-58:50 - DVD talk 58:50-1:01:09 - Preview of next week/Closing (click on the podcast icon above for the show, or subscribe with podcatcher software) With weekly posts to follow up this, subscribe and let us know what you think! Email [email protected] your comments, questions, and death threats. Remember, you can subscribe to the RSS feed of this site using any aggregator software!

Welcome to the inaugural Rock and Reel podcast; the movies and music show! Due to this being our first show, we wanted to make this a bit of a special episode, and we feature our top ten lists for movies of the year. The Oscars are coming! However, we do manage to include a review of John Rambo, the film in which Sly Stallone attempts a one-two punch following Rocky Balboa for name-titled films resurrecting 80s pop idols. Does he hit another knock out, or does it die a bloody death? After the top ten list, we follow it with a review of indie music sensation Bon Iver's explosive debut, For Emma, Forever Ago. Featuring the track "Skinny Love," be sure to see where we fall on this new critical darling. 0:00:00-0:03:35 Intro 0:03:35-0:10:55 Movie Review of the Week - John Rambo 0:10:55-0:55:40 Top Ten Movies of the Year Extravaganza 0:55:40-1:01:35 Music Review of the Weel - Bon Iver, "For Emma, Forever Ago" (feat. track "Skinny Love") 1:01:35-1:02:50 Closing. (click on the podcast icon above for the show, or subscribe with podcatcher software) With weekly posts to follow up this, subscribe and let us know what you think! Email [email protected] your comments, questions, and death threats.