We enjoy a clever and ironical look at black cinema this episode as we watch the hilarious and heartfelt Oscar-nominated feature American Fiction, and then compare it to the 1961 Chicago drama A Raisin in the Sun. Plus we see the return of the Two Reel Book Club, as we’ve also read the book and the play that gave birth to each film. But how do the two films differ in their explorations of racism? Which film could have made life even harder for its characters? Which film uses anti-cinematic photography to tell its story? And most importantly, which film has the best gags?

Plus a fragrant message from our new sponsors, a viewing of an unmissable new feature from Ana DuVernay, a tour of the Musée Rodin in Paris, a caution from the Cliche Squad about stock characters, a worldwide search for the Blue Zones, and a handful of synthetic thoughts. 

If you enjoyed the show, find us on social media:

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Or come to our website, where we’ll be writing about the movies we cover in the show and a few more things besides: https://tworeelcinemaclub.com

As George W Bush famously once asked, ‘Is our children learning?’ Join us in the specially commissioned TRCC Popcorn Counter Lecture Theatre as we celebrate our 100th episode. There we try to distill the lessons we’ve garnered from recording two years of podcasts into ten condensed nuggets of insight. Has all that viewing and talking about films made us any wiser, or just hoarser? Can we apply the intelligence of George Orwell to the podcaster’s craft? Why does Oppenheimer get mentioned not once but twice? And have we come up with the perfect sequel to Groundhog Day?

Thanks to all our listeners for sticking with us over the first one hundred episodes, and here's hoping you'll join us in raising a half empty soda can to the next hundred.

If you enjoyed the show, find us on social media:

Instagram: @tworeelcinemaclub

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Or come to our website, where we’ll be writing about the movies we cover in the show and a few more things besides: https://tworeelcinemaclub.com

After watching Dogtooth recently, we’re convinced that endings are hard. Or are they? Join us at the Popcorn Counter as we take a look at movie endings good and bad from the history of cinema, Including: John Sayles’ Limbo, Birdman, The Long Good Friday, North by Northwest, Planet of the Apes, Fight Club, Top Gun Maverick, 2001: A Space Odyssey, and The Libertine. (…How do you like us now?)

If you enjoyed the show, find us on social media:

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Contact us at [email protected]

Or come to our website, where we’ll be writing about the movies we cover in the show and a few more things besides: https://tworeelcinemaclub.com

A new Hayao Miyazaki film from Studio Ghibli has appeared! The Boy and the Heron is the master animator’s first feature length work in more than ten years, and on this week’s episode we dive deep into its mysterious, dreamlike world and measure it up against what might be the studio’s greatest feature, 1988’s My Neighbour Totoro. It’s no great surprise to find a lot of common ground here, with both films examining magic, love, fear and family crises. But which of the two is filled with so many ideas it risks incoherence? Which offers a barely disguised guest appearance from Mussolini? Which film vividly reminds us of our own endless summers? And which one stars our new favourite animated characters, the Potato Puff People?

Plus an extra special ‘Also Playing’ segment, a look at new Portland-based feature film ‘Hangdog’, a novel peripheral for your television, a visit to a shooting location for a well known science fiction series, and the startling realisation that maybe the whole world is actually just a 13 piece block puzzle…

If you enjoyed the show, find us on social media:

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Contact us at [email protected]

Or come to our website, where we’ll be writing about the movies we cover in the show and a few more things besides: https://tworeelcinemaclub.com

How many times has Frankenstein been made into a movie? More times than we remember, it turns out. There’s Frankenstein, Bride of Frankenstein, Young Frankenstein, Bride of Frankenstein 2, yes, yes, yes. But what about Robocop? The Fly? The Six Million Dollar Man? Even one of our own scripts was a Frankenstein story. What does Frankenstein have in common with socialism? And what connects Mary Shelley to Philip K Dick? Join us at the Popcorn Counter as we slowly figure out that Frankenstein is the cinematic story that will simply never die…

If you enjoyed the show, find us on social media:

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Or come to our website, where we’ll be writing about the movies we cover in the show and a few more things besides: https://tworeelcinemaclub.com

What happens when you put the brain of a baby in the body of an adult woman? You get Sexy Frankenstein, apparently. At least that’s the opinion of the new Yorgos Lanthimos picture Poor Things starring Emma Stone, which is out in the UK this week. We’re comparing it to Lanthimos’ 2009 feature, Dogtooth, which first brought him to international prominence. And it turns out there’s plenty of common ground between these two curious, violent, comic fables. But which film reminds us of Terry Gilliam? Which film shares a premise with The Croods? And which film serves as a lesson on what the French will give out awards for?

Plus a rewatch of All About Eve, a few tips on dissecting a worm, a caution from the Cliche Squad, the return of the Two Reel Cinema Book Club, a refresher in Greek mythology, and a tribute to TRCC dog Dino.

If you enjoyed the show, find us on social media:

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Contact us at [email protected]

Or come to our website, where we’ll be writing about the movies we cover in the show and a few more things besides: https://tworeelcinemaclub.com

Ines Braga hangs out at the Popcorn Counter with us this week, where she confesses that she really doesn’t like musicals. But there are a few notable exceptions, including last week’s masterpiece West Side Story. Is there a rule that distinguishes good movie musicals from bad ones? Why do The Lion King, Frozen and Moana succeed where others do not? Is it possible to go wrong when you have the Beatles catalogue to draw from? And how does Clint Eastwood fit in to all this?

If you enjoyed the show, find us on social media:

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Or come to our website, where we’ll be writing about the movies we cover in the show and a few more things besides: https://tworeelcinemaclub.com

Tonight, tonight, we’re joined by screenwriter Ines Braga to sing a song of two musical pictures, the new Leonard Bernstein biopic Maestro, helmed by A Star is Born director Bradley Cooper, and Bernstein’s own 1961 masterpiece, West Side Story. They’re both very enjoyable, but which one has more to say about contemporary la la la la la l’America? Which one paints the most vivid picture of toxic masculinity? Which one can’t quite decide whose story it wants to be? And who forced Stephen Sondheim to change his lyrics before they’d accept a part?

Plus the return of Gary Oldman to Apple TV+, one of us is abducted by a low budget 1950s UFO thriller, we hear a message to Bee Kind from our sponsor, we make an observation about what happens to people who cough in movies, and we watch a Project Runway episode so exciting it makes us pull the cable out of our microphone.

If you enjoyed the show, find us on social media:

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Or come to our website, where we’ll be writing about the movies we cover in the show and a few more things besides: https://tworeelcinemaclub.com

It’s the show we’ve been anticipating for the last twelve months, the Two Reel Cinema Club Film of the Year Show. We’ve seen some masterpieces this year, we’ve seen some real clunkers, we’ve seen some incredible performances and we’ve seen some very eye catching hats. Who will win, who will get a dishonourable mention, and who will leave the ceremony emotional, drunk and bitter as their personal security staff roll them into the back of a white limo with lightly stained upholstery?

We’ve kept our nominations secret from each other, so join us for some lively debate that includes Sergio Leone, Sydney Sweeney, Ralph Fiennes, Cillian Murphy, Da’Vine Joy Randolph, a Hollywood horse, a mini miracle, a disguise based on the outfit of a German tourist and much more.

If you enjoyed the show, find us on social media:

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Contact us at [email protected]

Or come to our website, where we’ll be writing about the movies we cover in the show and a few more things besides: https://tworeelcinemaclub.com

Happy Holidays from the Two Reel Cinema Club, as we watch one of the funniest, dourest and most heartfelt Christmas films we’ve seen in years, Alexander Payne’s The Holdovers. We discover it perched under the mistletoe kissing a film forty years its senior, 1983’s English private school drama Another Country. These two films both examine privilege, wealth and class, while simultaneously exploring the depths of the human heart. But which one features a triple tragedy? Which revolves around a wonky drainpipe? And which one is so good it is more or less 100% cliche resistant?

Plus a preview of a new podcast about Elon Musk, a cameo from the LoFi HipHop girl, our most confessional game of ‘Who Am I?’ yet, a new Netflix misfire, a trip through a Japanese time travel comedy, a highly detailed local weather report, a quick lesson on treating a dislocated shoulder, and a French film that turns out to be a Spanish film when we actually pull the dvd off the shelf…

If you enjoyed the show, find us on social media:

Instagram: @tworeelcinemaclub

Contact us at [email protected]

Or come to our website, where we’ll be writing about the movies we cover in the show and a few more things besides: https://tworeelcinemaclub.com