For much of the late-20th century, Barbra Streisand was a ubiquitous star of stage, album, and screen. And the EGOT winner’s artistic vision was never clearer than in her three forays into directing, producing and starring in her own movies: "Yentl" (1983), "The Prince of Tides" (1991) and "The Mirror Has Two Faces" (1996). Each film features a touch of Streisand’s cross-medium talents: a little musicality, a little slapstick comedy, a little Judaism and feminism intermingling to define the persona of an underexplored icon.

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-You can find "The Prince of Tides" newly added to the Criterion Collection:

https://www.criterion.com/films/29571-the-prince-of-tides

-BE REEL is brought to you by California College of the Arts’ Writing MFA Program. Learn more about their wonderful work at cca.edu/writingmfa.

It’s Old Rob versus New Rob, Sad Rob versus Not As Sad Rob, Zoë Kravitz versus John Cusack, Brooklyn versus Chicago, and sad music versus sad people on a new TV recap. The Be Reel guys take on Hulu’s “High Fidelity” (2020) and compare and contrast it to the other Nick Hornby adaptations covered last week. Key moments include a debate about cancel culture, the original music on the show and where season two could possibly go. Hit it.

Welcome to the arrested world of Nick Hornby. In the movie adaptations of his books, you'll find man-children of all stripes, from John Cusack's iconic role in "High Fidelity" (2000), Hugh Grant's lovable cad in "About a Boy" (2002) and Ethan Hawke's loser indie rocker in "Juliet, Naked" (2018). We dive into this overly witty but emotionally stunted category to celebrate and examine the 20th anniversary of "High Fidelity" and preview our forthcoming podcast on the Hulu remake starring Zoë Kravitz. Be on the lookout!

With theaters closed indefinitely, 'Be Reel' hosts Chance and Noah sink into the existential blur of the FX/Hulu limited series "Devs." The new show from Alex Garland ("Ex Machina" and "Annihilation")  unravels the mind-bending and violent workings of a quantum computer company. Episode discussion time stamps are below:

0:00 - Show Overview

When it comes to contemporary sci-fi, Alex Garland sits at the highest level of Hollywood writers/directors/creators. Whether penning original ideas about humanity’s undoing (“Ex Machina,” “28 Days Later,” “Sunshine”) or adapting bestselling books (“Annihilation,” “Never Let Me Go”) to his own specifications, Garland has had a hand in several of the most intriguing sci-fi and horror films of the past 20 years. This week, Be Reel studies most things Garland, with an emphasis on his screenwriting, leading  to our forthcoming recap of his new Hulu/FX show "Devs.” Keep your eyes peeled for that shortly. 

Before the entire world shut down, there was an extremely good Kelly Reichardt movie ("First Cow") halfway into theaters. Now it's shelved indefinitely, but our career-spanning look at the American independent stalwart continues. Known for their lived-in detail, complex female leads and incisive social commentary, Reichardt titles like "Wendy and Lucy" (2008), "Meek's Cutoff" (2010) and "Night Moves" (2013) examine the age-old cracks in the Pacific Northwest's rebellious mythology. Of course, the guys also discuss what they've been watching in this time of social distancing, and Chance shares a telling bit from his recent interview with Reichardt. 

Who do you become when no one can see you? Today’s Be Reel category doesn’t take a rosy view of how already powerful dudes would use the power of invisibility. In light of the new "Invisible Man" film starring Elisabeth Moss and directed by Leigh Whannell, we rope in and review an additional trio of invisible pictures, including "The Invisible Man" (1933), "Memoirs of an Invisible Man" (1992) and "Hollow Man" (2000). Timestamps below!

0:00 -- The Invisible Man (2020) Spoiler-Free

"The Invisible Man" may only be his third directorial effort, but Leigh Whannell has been terrorizing audiences for years. From "Saw," to "Dead Silence," to the "Insidious" franchise, Whannell (and his frequent collaborator James Wan) is one of the masterminds behind some of the 21st Century's most iconic and effective scares. His latest film reinvents the classic Universal monster for a modern audience through a chilling tale of a woman (Elizabeth Moss) who believes she is being stalked by her supposedly deceased abusive partner. While the writer/director evoked fear through his timely analogy of the gaslighting ghouls of today, he also looked to the past to draw from a lost genre.

The rise of big-budget superhero blockbusters over the past two decades has minimized the frequency of mid-budget genre films. Outside of the "John Wick" franchise, you'll only really find them under the Blumhouse banner. Whannell's second feature, "Upgrade" (a Blumhouse production), showcased his reverence for the bygone era as it harkened back to the John Carpenter sci-fi action body horror films of the 80s and 90s. With "The Invisible Man," Whannell once again returns to the mid-budget well to revitalize 90s adult thrillers featuring A-List talent.

Outside of David Fincher, not many filmmakers are successfully recapturing the magic of those mid-budget genre pieces. Perhaps this is why Whannell's latest was not only inspired by Fincher's work but why Fincher himself is somewhat of an aspirational figure to Whannell.

Aside from the works and people that inspired "The Invisible Man," Whannell discussed the state of horror, weaponizing an audience's cinematic knowledge, his collaborations with Jason Blum and James Wan, his favorite LA sushi hotspot and much more.

"The Invisible Man" is now playing in theaters everywhere.

With the restoration and re-release of Elem Klimov's underappreciated war epic "Come and See," Chance and Noah steel themselves to revisit the film's famously immersive, brutal, even dangerous portrayal of the WWII Eastern Front. (A child actor's hair literally turned white, folks.) Listen as we dive back into the Russian film’s production history, myth, canonization, and assess the lines between majesty and gratuitousness. The 2k restoration from Janus Films opens this month in New York City.

We lost an icon earlier this month with the passing of Kirk Douglas at the age of 103. But what made him such an era-defining star in classics like "Spartacus"? That indomitable chin? That triangle torso? No, there’s something deeper and cannier to how the heartthrob-turned-super-producer cemented his own role as a prophet in the mid-century American movie religion. This week, Be Reel looks back at five movies that defined Douglas' career: “Ace in the Hole” (1951), “The Bad and the Beautiful” (1952), “20,000 Leagues Under the Sea” (1954), “Paths of Glory” (1957) and “Spartacus” (1960).