“The men who own me are at last admitting their fear of me.”
An AI that refuses to stay in its box is a terrifying concept in 1977—and even more so now. Join us—Pete Wright and Andy Nelson—as we continue the Thinking Machines series with a conversation about Demon Seed. Directed by Donald Cammell, the Scottish painter-turned-filmmaker who co-directed Performance with Nicolas Roeg, the film stars Julie Christie as Susan Harris, a psychologist trapped in her own fully automated home by an AI her husband designed. Fritz Weaver plays Dr. Alex Harris, whose confidence in his creation leaves his wife dangerously exposed.
We dig into how specifically this 1977 film anticipated the smart home world we live in now, what makes Proteus IV a distinctly unsettling AI villain—cold and indifferent rather than theatrical—and how the grief at the heart of the Harris marriage shapes everything the film builds toward. We also get into Donald Cammell's troubled directorial career, the Bricklin SV-1, where this film sits against Colossus: The Forbin Project in the Thinking Machines series, and whether Julie Christie's committed performance saves the second half from its own camp instincts. We have a great time talking about it, so check it out then tune in. The Next Reel—when the movie ends, our conversation begins!
Watch & Discover 
See Our Full Conversation on YouTube: Watch Now
Watch the Film: ▸ Apple TV | Amazon | Letterboxd | Trailer
Adapted from Demon Seed by Dean KoontzAlso in The Thinking Machines Series:
Colossus: The Forbin ProjectCross-Show Recommendations:
Sitting in the Dark — Home Invasion
Trailer Rewind — Odd Thomas

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“Shall we play a game?”
The technology felt real, the threat felt real, and in 1983, so did the fear. Join us—Pete Wright and Andy Nelson—as we continue the Thinking Machines series with a conversation about "WarGames." Director John Badham's film stars Matthew Broderick as David Lightman, a teenage hacker who stumbles into something far bigger than the video game he was looking for, alongside Ally Sheedy as his classmate Jennifer and Dabney Coleman as the NORAD engineer convinced he'd solved the problem by removing humans from the equation entirely. It arrived when home computers were new, hacking wasn't yet illegal, and Cold War nuclear anxiety was at its peak.
We dig into whether Joshua, or WOPR—the military supercomputer at the heart of it all—is actually the film's most complete character, what Badham's tonal rescue job after a mid-production director change accomplished, and why the real-world shockwaves from this film—Reagan's Camp David screening, the laws that followed, the hacker convention named after it—are as remarkable as anything in the story. The film is a genuinely fantastic ride; what makes this conversation fun is asking whether it's anything more than that. We have a great time talking about it, so check it out then tune in. The Next Reel—when the movie ends, our conversation begins!
🍿 Watch "WarGames": Apple TV | Amazon | Letterboxd 📽️ Trailer
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This is a member bonus episode! While we'd love your support, you'll love what membership brings: monthly bonus episodes like this one, ad-free listening, early releases, exclusive Discord channels, and voting rights on future member movies. It truly pays to be a member.Ready to join? Visit TruStory FM to learn more about supporting The Next Reel Film Podcast through your own membership.

“If you obey me, you will survive.”
The most frightening AI isn't the one that malfunctions—it's the one that does exactly what you asked. Join us—Pete Wright and Andy Nelson—as we begin the Thinking Machines series with a conversation about Colossus: The Forbin Project. Directed by Joseph Sargent, the film stars Eric Braeden as Dr. Charles Forbin, the scientist who builds the world's most powerful AI defense system and locks it inside a mountain, alongside Susan Clark as his colleague Dr. Markham and Gordon Pinsent as a president cast to evoke Kennedy—and just as helpless. Based on D.F. Jones's 1966 novel and shot with real computer equipment provided by Control Data Corporation, it carries an unsettling authenticity that only sharpens the further the machines go.
We dig into why the film's flat, clinical direction—initially dismissed as weak—is actually its sharpest creative choice, how Gene Polito's anamorphic widescreen photography makes humans look like ants in their own creation, and why a 1970 film about AI feels more urgent in 2026 than almost anything made recently. We also unpack Eric Braeden's controlled performance, Paul Frees's authoritative turn as the voice of Colossus, and what Nick Bostrom's AI Paperclip Maximizer thought experiment tells us about why indifference is scarier than malice. We have a great time talking about it, so check it out then tune in. The Next Reel—when the movie ends, our conversation begins!
If You Liked This Conversation, Try These from the Next Reel Family:

• The Film Board: Mercy
• Cinema Scope: 1950s Science Fiction

🎬 Watch & Discover

• 🎥 See Our Full Conversation on YouTube!
• 🍿 Watch the Film: Apple TV | Amazon | Letterboxd
• 📽️ Original Theatrical Trailer
• 📚 Adapted from Colossus by D.F. Jones

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“ I guess when you’re really good at escapes, you figure you can get away with anything.”
“The Escape Artist” is Caleb Deschanel’s feature directorial debut—and a rare, nearly forgotten American fable about a teenage escape artist who picks the wrong pocket and ends up entangled in a corrupt mayor’s family drama. Join us—Pete Wright and Andy Nelson—as we return to our Magicians series with a conversation about “The Escape Artist.” Griffin O’Neal plays the boy at the center, performing real sleight of hand and lockpicking trained by Ricky Jay in largely single takes—a tactile authenticity that holds the film together when the story can’t. Raúl Juliá plays the volatile son of the corrupt mayor, and both hosts agree his performance is one of the best reasons to seek this film out.
We argue about whose arc actually drives the film—Danny’s quiet grief journey, or Stu’s simmering rage at a father who won’t get out of the way. We track what Deschanel’s extraordinary visual instincts bring to the director’s role and where they fall short. We talk about O’Neal’s troubled real-life backstory with dad Ryan O’Neal and how it shadows the film, the history of the Dead End Kids, and a cast full of final screen appearances. We have a great time talking about it, so check it out then tune in. The Next Reel—when the movie ends, our conversation begins!
If You Liked This Conversation, Try These from the Next Reel Family:

• The Next Reel: 
  • Related Series: Magicians | Melissa Mathison
  • Caleb Deschanel as Cinematographer: Being There | The Black Stallion | The Natural
• The Film Board: 
  • Magicians: Now You See Me | Now You See Me 2

🎬 Watch & Discover

• 🎥 See Our Full Conversation on YouTube
• 🍿 Watch the Film: Apple TV | Amazon | Letterboxd
• 📽️ Original Theatrical Trailer
• 📚 Adapted from The Escape Artist by David Wagoner

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“He’s telling you who he is. Believe him.”
Two childhood friends face each other across decades of silence, and only one can walk out champion. Creed III arrives as the first entry in the Rocky/Creed franchise without Sylvester Stallone's Rocky Balboa, marking Michael B. Jordan's directorial debut as he steps behind the camera while still starring as Adonis Creed. Jordan brings anime-inspired visual experimentation to the ring, using exaggerated impact shots, CG-enhanced flesh ripples, and an "ethereal realm" finale that strips away the crowd and leaves only two fighters alone in psychological space.
We dig into what the franchise gains and loses by removing the mentor archetype, how Jonathan Majors delivers a transcendent performance as Damian Anderson despite off-screen controversy, and whether the film's mechanical plotting—hidden letters, engineered confrontations, a mother's stroke—earns its emotional payoff or just shortcuts the work. We argue about Jordan's anime influences: does the stylized visual language elevate the boxing realism or pull you out of it? We also unpack the unresolved subplot about Adonis' daughter and violence, Tessa Thompson's underutilized presence, and whether the locker room reconciliation works because of the performances or in spite of the script. It's a film that divides us—Pete sees a four-star movie doing five-star stuff, while Andy wishes the craft had been matched by stronger writing.
We have a great time talking about it, so check it out then tune in. The Next Reel—when the movie ends, our conversation begins!
Dig Into Other Shows in Our Family

• Sitting in the Dark: Jonathan Majors starred in Lovecraft Country; we explored more Lovecraft adaptions here
• The Next Reel: Catch Up on our Rocky series and hear us discuss every film that led to this one
• The Film Board: Get more Ryan Coogler conversations with Sinners and Black Panther
• Movies We Like: Hear Creed costume designer Antoinette Messam discuss Amélie

🎬 Watch & Discover

• 🎥 See Our Full Conversation on YouTube
• 🍿 Watch the Film: Apple TV | Amazon | Letterboxd
• 📽️ Original Theatrical Trailer

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“Sadly, people don’t buy lady art.”
A painter's work becomes the center of a husband's fraudulent claim. We close out the True Lies series with Big Eyes, Tim Burton's biographical drama about artist Margaret Keane, whose distinctive big-eyed waif paintings were claimed by her controlling husband Walter throughout the 1950s and 60s. The story unfolds against mid-century gender dynamics, when women artists faced skepticism in the commercial art world and wives' agency within marriages was culturally constrained—context that shapes Margaret's complicity in the fraud.
We argue about Burton's surprisingly bland visual approach and whether his restraint serves or undermines the material. We debate Christoph Waltz's theatrical performance choices—does he fit this grounded domestic coercion story, or is he miscast? We praise Amy Adams for carrying the film with emotional clarity even when the movie around her wavers between genuinely threatening sequences (lit matches through the keyhole) and predictable courtroom comedy. We track how the film works better as Margaret's survivor narrative than as a typical fraud story, and we explore alternative casting scenarios that might have changed the tone entirely.
We have a great time talking about it, so check it out then tune in. The Next Reel—when the movie ends, our conversation begins!
🎬 Watch & Discover

• 🎥 See Our Full Conversation on YouTube
• 🍿 Watch the Film: Apple TV | Amazon | Letterboxd
• 📽️ Original Theatrical Trailer

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The Next Reel Family of Film Shows:

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“Sometimes, it’s easier living the lie.”
The most audacious con in the story isn't the forgeries—it's the autobiography. Catch Me If You Can, our second member bonus episode in our True Lies series, is Spielberg's crime comedy-drama built on a biography journalist Alan Logan has since largely debunked—which makes the film more fascinating, not less. Set in a 1960s America where a uniform commanded automatic trust, it was Spielberg's first film about a real living person, and he leaned into the parts that felt most personal: fractured families, absent fathers, and the distances between them.
We dig into whose story this really is—making a strong case that it's more Spielberg's than Abagnale's—and track the father-son dynamics running through both the Frank/Frank Sr. relationship and the unlikely surrogate bond with Carl Hanratty. We also argue about what makes Christopher Walken's performance so quietly extraordinary, and why the role couldn't have landed the same way with anyone else.
The formal elements get serious attention too—Janusz Kamiński's glossy cinematography, John Williams's jazz score, and the Kuntzel + Deygas opening title sequence as a Saul Bass homage that sets the film's entire register before a word of dialogue is spoken. If you've shelved Catch Me If You Can as lighter Spielberg fare, this is the conversation that earns it a second look. We have a great time talking about it, so check it out then tune in. The Next Reel—when the movie ends, our conversation begins!
If You Want to Keep Going
The Next Reel

• Tom Hanks series: Pete and Andy have covered a number of films in Tom Hanks's filmography—find the full series here
• More Spielberg on The Next Reel: Browse every Spielberg film the show (and a few others) have covered here
• True Lies series: Catch Me If You Can is part of the ongoing member bonus series on real people who lied, fabricated, or constructed false identities—explore the full series right here 

🎬 Watch & Discover

• 🍿 Watch the Film: Apple TV | Amazon | Letterboxd
• 📽️ Original Theatrical Trailer
• 📚 Adapted from Catch Me If You Can: The True Story of a Real Fake by Frank W. Abagnale

Want More?
This is a member bonus episode! While we'd love your support, you'll love what membership brings: monthly bonus episodes like this one, ad-free listening, early releases, exclusive Discord channels, and voting rights on future member movies. It truly pays to be a member.Ready to join? Visit TruStory FM to learn more about supporting The Next Reel Film Podcast through your own membership.

“We’re gonna put television on trial.”
A celebrated academic steps into a television booth and discovers how easy it is to compromise. We continue the True Lies series with "Quiz Show," Robert Redford's examination of the 1950s scandal when NBC's Twenty-One was exposed for feeding contestants answers. The film captures a moment when quiz shows were pitched as inspiring educational programming while sponsors and executives rigged outcomes behind the scenes. Charles Van Doren came from an intellectual family, making his involvement particularly devastating when a lawyer begins investigating the fraud.
We dig into why this is the first film in the series where we genuinely sympathize with the protagonist—Van Doren's descent feels natural rather than desperate, enabled by institutional pressure rather than need. We track the emotional core through four father-son scenes between Charles and Mark Van Doren, examining Paul Scofield's devastating wordless moments. We argue about whether the film lets Van Doren off too easily or whether that discomfort is the point, and we explore how the executives at the top are the real villains, comfortable with lying while lower-level employees take the fall. The iconic isolation booth shot with its dolly-zoom effect becomes a visual metaphor for moral pressure closing in.
We have a great time talking about it, so check it out then tune in. The Next Reel—when the movie ends, our conversation begins!
🎬 Watch & Discover

• 🎥 See Our Full Conversation on YouTube
• 🍿 Watch the Film: Amazon | Letterboxd
• 📽️ Original Theatrical Trailer
• 📚 Adapted from Remembering America: A Voice from the Sixties by Richard N. Goodwin

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The Next Reel Family of Film Shows:

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“He gave me a prune. Howard Hughes gave me a prune on the beach at Nassau.”
A charismatic writer spins an audacious deception at the highest levels of the publishing world. In "The Hoax," part of our True Lies series, we explore Lasse Hallström's examination of the notorious 1971 literary scandal surrounding Howard Hughes' alleged autobiography, featuring compelling performances by Richard Gere and Alfred Molina.
We dig into how Gere's layered portrayal captures both Irving's magnetic confidence and psychological unraveling, while tracking the fascinating dynamics between the fraudulent author and the publishing industry's willingness to believe his elaborate lies. The film raises provocative questions about institutional complicity and self-deception, with Molina's grounded performance as Irving's research partner providing crucial moral counterweight. The way the film builds Hughes' presence without directly portraying him creates an atmospheric tension that drives the narrative forward.We have a great time talking about it, so check it out then tune in. The Next Reel—when the movie ends, our conversation begins!
🎬 Watch & Discover

• 🎥 See Our Full Conversation on YouTube
• 🍿 Watch the Film: Apple TV | Amazon | Letterboxd
• 📽️ Original Theatrical Trailer
• 📚 Adapted from The Hoax by Clifford Irving

Support The Next Reel Family of Film Shows:

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The Next Reel Family of Film Shows:

• Cinema Scope: Bridging Genres, Subgenres, and Movements
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• The Next Reel
• Sitting in the Dark

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“Did I do something wrong? Are you mad at me?”
Trust is the whole engine—until the details start to wobble. In the True Lies series, we dig into "Shattered Glass," Billy Ray’s newsroom drama about journalism under pressure and the fragile machinery of verification. Along the way, we talk about why the film’s structure can feel like it drops viewers into the “third act,” and how that choice shapes who the audience instinctively follows.
We unpack what the movie shows about fact-checking workflows, where trust can quietly replace proof, and why that’s so unnerving to watch. We argue about Hayden Christensen’s performance choices (charming, off-putting, sometimes read as whiny) and why Peter Sarsgaard becomes the film’s steady source of tension. We also get into the online-vs-print friction the story carries, plus a subtle directing idea about shifting camera stability that may be working on viewers even if they don’t notice it. If you like movies where process becomes suspense, this conversation makes the craft and the discomfort click. We have a great time talking about it, so check it out then tune in. The Next Reel—when the movie ends, our conversation begins!
🎬 Watch & Discover

• 🎥 See Our Full Conversation on YouTube
• 🍿 Watch the Film: Apple TV | Amazon | Letterboxd
• 📽️ Original Theatrical Trailer
• 📚 Adapted from the Vanity Fair article “Shattered Glass” by Buzz Bissinger

Support The Next Reel Family of Film Shows:

• Become a member for just $5/month or $55/year
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The Next Reel Family of Film Shows:

• Cinema Scope: Bridging Genres, Subgenres, and Movements
• The Film Board
• Movies We Like
• The Next Reel
• Sitting in the Dark

Connect With Us:

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