The Kick

On this week’s mini-episode, we’re laid up recovering from Sofia Coppola’s “The Beguiled.” The Southern Gothic tale of a wounded Union soldier stuck on a Virginia plantation of exclusively women, Coppola’s remake of the 1971 original is an achievement in tension and character dynamics. Still, we argue over its ambition and historical considerations. The first 15 or so minutes of today’s show are spoiler-free.

Find all our shows at bereelpodcast.com.

By happenstance or by hijacking, we tackle three films this week in which getting from A to B goes horribly wrong. We start with 1974's "The Taking of Pelham One Two Three," our first example of the triangle formed among helpless passengers, a mysterious invader, and the everyman hero who tries to intervene. At 18 minutes, we hop aboard a similar movie that's about twice as long and twice as fast (at least over 50 mph). It's 1994's "Speed," and we discuss what would be different if Tom Cruise played the role of Officer Travern instead of Keanu Reeves. Lastly, we revisit the Miracle On The Hudson with 2016's "Sully." Only in Clint Eastwood's version of events, airline suits and talk show hosts are the bad guys. Nothing to do now but hang on.

Ramp up the violence and turn down the storytelling; it's Part Two of our Alien franchise reappraisal! This week, we pick up with "Alien 3" and analyze why it's so fit for reclamation from fans and cinephiles alike. At the 24-minute mark, Chance is joined by the hosts of the Alien universe podcast "Perfect Organism." Jaime Prater and Ryan Zeid discuss why the narrative hardship of "Alien 3" appeals to them and why the cutesy self-awareness of "Alien: Resurrection" certainly does not. At 44 minutes, your hosts jump back into "Resurrection" and consider whether creative gore is enough to merit a "bad-good" rating. Finally, at 59 minutes, Noah and Chance debate whether the fact that "Alien Vs. Predator" is better than you might think is actually a good thing. It's six more hours of aliens and a lifetime of images you can't un-see!

Listen to our guests' wonderful podcast here: https://perfectorganism.podbean.com/

The Alien franchise’s five-decade journey has crossed genres, intersected the careers of preeminent filmmakers and wavered wildly from classic to culty to catastrophic. With the recent release of the disturbing and philosophical “Alien: Covenant,” we set out to reappraise all the chest-bursting and face-hugging in Part One of our franchise retrospective:

2:02 - Noah and Chance give some franchise background, and Noah wonders why “Covenant” is two movies.

14:15 - Vulture’s Kevin Lincoln joins the show to discuss what contemporary franchises can learn from the villainous android David.

29:10 - Chance stands up for the headiness of “Covenant” and Noah makes a superb “Frasier” comparison.

38:00 - The New Republic’s Josephine Livingstone stops by to assess the role of androids in the franchise and their centrality to the new film.

54:10 - Your hosts try to identify if there’s anything wrong at all with 1979’s “Alien.”

1:04:20 - A disagreement ensues about whether “Aliens” deserves classic status like its predecessor.

A statue of Rocky Balboa looms over most people’s visions of boxing and boxing films alike, but that hasn’t stopped contemporary filmmakers from mining the gritty world of professional pugilism for its comeback stories and unlikely heroes. On this week’s show, we watched three such films, starting with "Chuck," the new biographical film about Chuck Wepner, the club fighter who largely inspired the Rocky story when he lasted 15 rounds with Muhammad Ali in 1975.

"Chuck" director Philippe Falardeau guests on the program, talking with Chance about Wepner’s rare comedic and charming persona in the world of boxing and what it was like to cast for iconic figures like Stallone and Ali. At the 30-minute mark, Chance and Noah meet the 2016 film "Bleed For This" at the center of the ring to discuss the vanity and traditionalism that goes into making a stock Hollywood boxing drama. At the 43-minute mark, they reappraise 2010’s "The Fighter" and have somewhat different thoughts on the merits of David O. Russell’s shifty Micky Ward biopic. Ready? Touch gloves.

In the wake of 4/20, Chance and Noah try to fan away the smoke around the genre of stoner movies. They start with 1998’s HALF BAKED, which is to say, they start out frustrated.

Then, Chance’s city doesn't need a special day to celebrate marijuana, but it has been 20 years since Portland produced the forgotten ‘90s slacker film BONGWATER. Chance met up with writer Jay Horton to discuss his Willamette Week feature on the cult film that wasn't (which stars Luke Wilson, Brittany Murphy, and Jack Black, among others). Around the 23-minute mark, hear Jay describe incinerating decrepit houses for movies and what the star-studded cast got up to while filming in Portland.

After a Noah theory on how the latest Taco Bell commercial connects to this genre’s gender politics, your hosts round things out with a review of 2001’s HOW HIGH. Method Man and Redman burn more than a few down, and almost the Harvard campus too. How high indeed.

On this week's show, fateful duffle bags turn desperate people into unstable people. It's all based on the release of Netflix's new film WIN IT ALL, which stars Jake Johnson as a gambling addict with one job to do — don't open that bag an old acquaintance left at his apartment. After reviewing Joe Swanberg's WIN IT ALL, we transition to A SIMPLE PLAN (1998) at 21:40, in which Bill Paxton and Billy Bob Thornton try not to freak out about finding $4 million or about how much their movie resembles FARGO. At the 35 minutes, we wrap up with MONEY FOR NOTHING (1993) and discuss how the movie's star-studded cast can't make up for its rickety tone. Just think of what we could do with a podcast about this much money! Our lives are changed forever!

Disney's recent streak of reimagining its animated classics has been stylish, sometimes transformative, and a bit uncanny. But the films also look a bit like a sign that reads "Just leave your $400 million here, America." This week, we're discussing the remakes that Disney is reanimating in the style of live action, even though CGI is still the dominant tool at work. We begin with the new and relatively faithful Beauty & The Beast remake before looking back at the Glenn Close-starring 101 Dalmatians (at the 20-minute mark). Then at 34 minutes, we examine how last year's Jungle Book remake tried to have and eat every cake available in the kids' movie/comic book playbook.

Also, our show has a new name, but all else remains the same! Find all the old episodes at bereelpodcast.com.

Spike Lee turning 60 this week gives us ample reason to reflect on the pioneering American filmmaker. With the help of two guest scholars, Chance and Noah revisit three of the writer-director's collaborations with Denzel Washington.

5:00 - Chance interviews veteran critic and author David Sterritt to set the table for discussing Spike Lee's legacy and status as an American icon.

20:00 - Your hosts review 1990's MO BETTER BLUES, which features a fresher-than-fresh Denzel Washington making and destroying his life with jazz.

33:55 - We move to 1998's HE GOT GAME to discuss a movie starring NBA legend Ray Allen and which is "trying to be The Natural for basketball."

47:00 - University of Vermont film professor Todd McGowan talks to Chance about Spike Lee's work through the lens of "excess" and why INSIDE MAN (2006) might be his best work.

1:01:30 - Noah and Chance wrap up with a skirmish over whether INSIDE MAN is ruined by its prolonged twist ending.

Where in the present day can you find the stakes of high society match-making or puritanical persecution? Try high school. This week, we're discussing high school comedies that find their roots in canonical English literature.

Chance starts the show in conversation with novelist JoAnna Novak, whose forthcoming book I MUST HAVE YOU explores the voices of '90s teenagers and briefly riffs on CLUELESS. At 25:40, Noah and Chance weigh in on how CLUELESS manages to be both of its time and quite aware of that fact. At 37:30, your hosts review 10 THINGS I HATE ABOUT YOU, arguing the merits of Julia Stiles, the virtues of plastic pants, and what the movie does with its TAMING OF THE SHREW plot. At 51 minutes, they jump to this decade and wrap up with EASY A, wondering if high schoolers today are really so Hawthorne-ian about sexual politics. Have fun, and may we please remind you it does not say RSVP on the Statue of Liberty.

*JoAnna's novel is out May 9 via Skyhorse. Buy it here:

http://skyhorsepublishing.com/titles/12228-9781510719415-i-must-have-you