The Kick

It's rare for a journey-woman actor to suddenly garner an international spotlight in her 50s, but equally rare to grab a film by the horns the way Dolly de Leon does in "Triangle of Sadness." The Golden Globe-nominated de Leon swung by the podcast to talk about crafting character backstory that altered Ruben Östlund's biting, hysterical script and how starring in a Palme d'Or winner changes her career. "Triangle of Sadness" is on VOD now and highly recommended.

After nearly 8 years, dear listeners, 'Be Reel' is riding off into the sunset. But not before we talk about one of the year's most intriguing horror films (and maybe films, period)—"Barbarian." If basements and plot twists aren't your thing, you can skip to 37:28 to hear a retrospective game/quiz we whipped up to celebrate 700 movies reviewed and reappraised. We can't thank you enough. Please do keep this feed in your heart/eyeline for whatever comes next. And for once in your life...

Man versus beast movies often make for electric Hollywood skirmishes, but Alaskan settings heighten the conflict even further. On today's Be Reel, Chance and Noah discuss "The Edge," "The Grey" and "Hold The Dark"—a trio of films about how outsiders to The Last Frontier find their lives (and masculinity) threatened by howling winds and howling wolves. (We would like to dedicate this episode to Bart the Bear and saying "Charles" without pronouncing the 'r'.)

One of Hollywood’s foremost chroniclers of obsession and a legendary obsessive himself, David Fincher has made serial killers and their pursuers central to his career in films like “Se7en” (1995), “Zodiac” (2007) and “The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo” (2011). Ahead of Fincher's 60th birthday, Be Reel investigates all the absurd kinship, crippling loneliness and gallows humor at the dark heart of Fincher’s career-defining murder mysteries.

In a rare treat, two unmistakable character actors join the pod: Wes Studi and Dale Dickey. If you don't know their names, you certainly know their indelible faces from movies like "The Last of the Mohicans" and "Winter's Bone." They star together in the tender, dusty new romance film, "A Love Song." Studi and Dickey tell Chance all about finally getting to kiss anyone on screen, plus plenty of talk about acting bucket lists, "Reservation Dogs" and improv battles with Jennifer Lawrence.

When your job is your life, a work spouse is there with a listening ear, comforting rapport, and maybe even soup--at least when that work marriage is functioning platonically and properly. On today's episode, Noah's work spouse, Elise, joins the program to break down what "Broadcast News" (1987), "Jerry Maguire" (1996), and "The Intern" (2015) say about high-stakes careers and the office life partners that make them navigable.

The acclaimed new Greek film "Apples" imagines a world in the grips of an amnesia epidemic. Director Christos Nikou swings by the pod to remember the origins of his debut feature, as well as what he learned from working with Yorgos Lanthimos on "Dogtooth."

For the 10th anniversary of “Magic Mike,” we make it rain critical reflection on Channing Tatum’s career-defining role and other standouts of the male stripper sub-genre like “The Full Monty” (1997) and “Chocolate City” (2015). Suffice it to say, if this episode had a stage name, it would probably be “Cash Rich” or “Threatened Masculinity.”

First director interview in a minute! Today we're talking to Jim Archer, who's made a new comedy called "Brian and Charles" about a kooky inventor (David Earl's Brian) who builds a 7-foot-tall robot (Chris Hayward's Charles) anxious to learn all it can about this world of ours. Jim discusses some of the film's documentary inspirations, shopping for mannequin heads and how to direct an actor who's inside a box. "Brian and Charles" is in theaters now, from Focus Features.

Rap our knuckles and yank our ears if you must, but we watched three irreverent nun movies for today’s show. From the musical-comedy of “Sister Act” (1992) to the demonic possession of “The Nun” (2018) to the perverse wonderment of “Benedetta” (2021), these sisters play by their own rules in the face of retribution and damnation. This episode has Whoopi, Valak and Paul Verhoeven making us talk dirty. Forgive us, listeners, for we have reappraised.