The Kick

The new Cate Blanchett/Richard Linklater film "Where'd You Go, Bernadette" launches Noah and Chance into a Be Reel category about mothers who reject motherhood. All in vastly different life situations, the protagonists of "Bernadette" (2019), "Ricki and the Flash" (2015) and "Second Act" (2018) find a common bond in pursuing much more than what society (real or imagined) tells them they deserve. If that sounds too serious, Meryl Streep growls Springsteen, Jennifer Lopez hurls a man into a Christmas tree, and Cate Blanchett rips Seattle a new one. Let's go.

Be Reel is brought to you by California College of the Arts' Writing MFA program. Learn more at cca.edu/writingmfa.

Aisling Franciosi stars in "The Nightingale," which is the summer's bravest drama or toughest watch depending whom you ask. It could be both, which is fitting of Franciosi's character, Clare, a very complicated woman out for justice against British Army officers in 1825 Australia. In this interview, Franciosi tells Chance how 'Nightingale' director Jennifer Kent would push her actors on set (and get pushed back, sometimes literally). Plus, a quick story about the day Franciosi got the call to play Lyanna Stark despite knowing nothing about "Game of Thrones."

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Every so often a "Be Reel" category arises that makes us wonder if we didn't unknowingly orchestrate the films ourselves, solely to podcast about them later. Today we discuss three films all from 1989 about deep-sea divers encountering alien life. While James Cameron's "The Abyss" is the headliner (happy 30th this week), "DeepStar Six" and "Leviathan" may have their lower budget charms as well. In addition to evaluating all the mining teams and goofy beasts of this genre, we mostly ask, "What the hell were you thinking, 1989?"

Be Reel is brought to you by California College of the Arts' Writing MFA program. Learn more at cca.edu/writingmfa.

This week, Chance and Noah offer some premium content* for the Be Reel subscribers by sharing their holistic takes on the movie everyone is talking about: "Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood." It's the 9th offering from video store flunkie cum Hollywood auteur Quentin Tarantino. Part pastiche, part homage, part alternate history, this 1969 La La Land-set buddy picture stars Leonardo DiCaprio, Brad Pitt and Margot Robbie as movie folks battling irrelevance and the Manson Family. Spoilers abound!

*this show remains totally free, so what are we talking about

Be Reel is brought to you by California College of the Arts' Writing MFA program. Learn more at cca.edu/writingmfa.

On a new Be Reel, we examine the ample evidence for why you shouldn't try to save your marriage with a movie. Chance and Noah check in with “Eyes Wide Shut” (1999) as the infamous Stanley Kubrick-directed interrogation of Tom Cruise and his marriage to Nicole Kidman turns 20. We also look back at the lovechild of “Liz” Taylor and “Dick” Burton, “Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?” (1966) and the honeymoon-cum-couples therapy “By The Sea” (2015), which self-analyzes Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt's sinking ship of a union. New York Magazine's Lila Shapiro joins the show to discuss seeing "Eyes Wide Shut" 100 times and what it taught her about how we discuss sexual politics.

Be Reel is brought to you by California College of the Arts’ Writing MFA program. Learn more at cca.edu/writingmfa.

If modern life has you down, consider a spiritual summer fling with the oracles and the lotus eaters in this week's movies. First, Noah and Chance reckon with the cruel, entrancing, maybe even hilarious horror of "Midsommar" (2019) in which a Swedish death cult plays host to the fallout of a bad relationship. Then, it's on to "Children of the Corn" (1984) and "The Wicker Man." That's the 2006 "Wicker Man" unfortunately, but Chance fills us in on what's actually good about the 1973 original. Oh, and don't ask questions about our special tea; just drink up.

Be Reel is brought to you by California College of the Arts’ Writing MFA program. Learn more at cca.edu/writingmfa.

Striking an unlikely balance between gentrification treatise and Great American fantasy, “The Last Black Man In San Francisco” is among 2019’s most striking debut films. This week, Chance and Noah unpack the new A24 drama and speak with its star, co-scribe, and inspiration Jimmie Fails.

Be Reel is brought to you by California College of the Arts’ Writing MFA program. Learn more at cca.edu/writingmfa.

Treading water on television is a good way to not be on television, as we learn from this week's movies about TV institutions getting new life through new blood. In the new office comedy "Late Night," Mindy Kaling shakes up a white, apolitical comedy show, just as Rachel McAdams saves a GMA knock-off in "Morning Glory" and Christina Applegate rocks an absurdist boys club in "Anchorman." Change is good, these movies tell us, but do they apply the same lessons to themselves? Let's watch.

With college looming, there’s a certain class of high-school comedy that races the clock. This week, Chance and Noah watched “Booksmart” (2019) “Superbad” (2007) and “Can’t Hardly Wait” (1998) for a trio of movies about graduating seniors with one last chance to ace their social lives. Big questions include:

-Does the women-led “Booksmart” strike the balance between heightened comedy and teenage truth?

-Does “Superbad’ fall victim to the yuck of the 17-year-old boy?

-Why in god’s name do the protagonists of “Can’t Hardly Wait” not know each other?

-Will those jerks ever pay for turning Noah away from their party in 2006?

Be Reel is brought to you by California College of the Arts' Writing MFA program. Learn more at cca.edu/writingmfa.

With the untimely passing of writer/director/producer John Singleton last month, the guys take stock of his life, times and film career. From the seminal “Boyz N the Hood” to the endlessly meme-able “Poetic Justice” to the unsung epic “Rosewood,” Chance, Noah, and author Tochi Onyebuchi reflect on Singleton's role as a preeminent black filmmaker and all the beauty and ugliness wrapped up in his both timely and timeless portraits of America.

Be Reel is brought to you by California College of the Arts' Writing MFA program.