Two Reel Cinema Club

The New York Times recently published their list of the top 100 films of the twenty first century, and hoo hah, that has certainly stirred up some strong reactions! Does the list just reinforce our suspicion that cinema is on its death bed? Or is the list full of joyful surprises and incredible revelations? Which films on the list do we agree with? Which left us scratching our heads? And what are the conspicuous omissions? 

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

We’re strapping on our helmets and climbing into our bucket seats this week, as we watch maybe the most heavily branded film we’ve ever seen, the new Apple feature F1: The Movie, and answer the question: how much phallic imagery can be crammed into a single two and half hour period? We’re comparing it to the film with probably the most famous car chase in cinematic history, 1968’s Bullitt. But which film has the most montages? Which film demonstrates the power of casting? Which film touched us with a surprising personal moment? Which film has a cameo from friend of the pod Mike Primmer? And which of us had a unique personal experience while watching Steve McQueen blow up a car?

Plus some geeky dinosaurs, some symbolic fountains, a low budget Hal Hartley tribute from Colin Trevorrow, a fine jazz soundtrack, and a surefire method to avoid police prosecution. Start your engines!

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

BlueSky: @tworeelcinemaclub

Instagram: @tworeelcinemaclub

Contact us at tworeelcinemaclub@gmail.com

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

There are good films with bad names, and there are bad films with good names. And sometimes, rarely, there are films that hit both targets dead centre. Join us at the Popcorn Counter where we’re discussing movie titles this week – ones we love, ones we hate, ones we’re proud of and ones we just don’t understand. Where did the name for Blade Runner really come from? Which is better, Snakes on a Plane, or just plain Plane? Which Kubrick film has two titles? And how did The Unbearable Lightness of Being re-emerge recently?

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

BlueSky: @tworeelcinemaclub

Instagram: @tworeelcinemaclub

Contact us at tworeelcinemaclub@gmail.com

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

Join us on the isle of Berk this week, as we go lizard taming with the vikings in the new live action remake How to Train Your Dragon. And then stay with us as we set sail for an unnamed 10th century Moorish city in the 1964 action epic The Long Ships. It’s a manly podcast about Gerard Butler and Richard Widmark, with more beards that you can shake an axe at. But is there a gentler message at the heart of either of these films? How does the new film quote from the old one? Which film takes us into a mirror world? And what’s the real reason why this new version of an animated classic was made at all?

Plus Tom Cruise goes all Jesus on us, we investigate dinosaurs’ mating habits, we discover what a Norse AmEx card looks like, we thrill at the mare of steel, we drink some sheep’s milk, we meet some Viking red shirts, we learn about the origins of Bluetooth, and finally we hide in a vestibule…

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

BlueSky: @tworeelcinemaclub

Instagram: @tworeelcinemaclub

Contact us at tworeelcinemaclub@gmail.com

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

We’re sick of these false teeth and black cloaks, but we’re going to wear them anyway, because we’re reflecting on vampire movies this week at the Popcorn Counter. (But obviously not in a mirror.) How do rules-based stories work and why do we love them? Which vampire movies did we enjoy and which did we avoid? Why don’t teenagers know the vampire rules any more? And what exactly is the difference between ‘undead’ and ‘alive’? Including Let the Right One In, What We Do in the Shadows, Gremlins, Cronos, Twilight, Nosferatu (both of them), Shadow of the Vampire, Alien, Interview with the Vampire, From Dusk Til Dawn, and a preview of our new script, ‘Don’t Tell Graham it’s Tuesday’.

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

BlueSky: @tworeelcinemaclub

Instagram: @tworeelcinemaclub

Contact us at tworeelcinemaclub@gmail.com

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

We’re sucking blood and playing the blues this week, after watching the new Ryan Coogler Mississippi vampire picture Sinners and 1992’s Francis Ford Coppola’s Bram Stoker’s Dracula. Is Sinners an early contender for film of the year? What do the two films have to say about racism, cultural appropriation and ‘the other’? Which film has a lot of sexy talk and which one has more boobs than a straight-to-video erotic thriller? Which character is living their best life? And which film features a cameo from Geddy Lee?

Plus a bipolar superhero picture, a new spoof of the billionaires’ club, a month spent with Monica Bellucci, some very polite monsters, and a visit from the Cliché Squad on horseback.

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

BlueSky: @tworeelcinemaclub

Contact us at tworeelcinemaclub@gmail.com

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

We’re talking about housing at the popcorn counter this week. After watching the real estate adventures of Secret Mall Apartment last week, we got to thinking about cinema’s function as a feeder of fantasy. Out of all the places that we’ve visited through the screen over the years, which are the ones we really wish we lived in? Which are our top five movie homes, and why? Do we prefer mansions or hammocks, quiet islands or cities, black and white or colour? Including two sea monsters, a volcano, a Frank Lloyd Wright house and a beach getaway. Plus toads in the basement, the search for the real orgasmatron, an apology to Wes Anderson, a lesson on simultaneity, a night spent with Hemingway, and a secret tunnel that features free food and a long, long drop…

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

BlueSky: @tworeelcinemaclub

Contact us at tworeelcinemaclub@gmail.com

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

We’re in real estate agent mode this week, as we watch two films with unique takes on the property market. Secret Mall Apartment is a new documentary about an art collective who moved into a disused corner of a Rhode Island mall in the early 2000s, while 1960’s The Apartment sees sparks fly between Jack Lemmon and Shirley MacLaine in Billy Wilder’s landmark Oscar winning comedy. Two films with some profound themes, including love, art, death, urban living and takeout food. But what do the two films have to say about capitalism? Which film short changes its female characters? Which film has more mirrors than The Lady of Shanghai? Which film was made with a camera small enough to fit in an Altoids can? And which film teaches a great lesson in how to grab an audience?

Plus an excessively mannered new feature film from Wes Anderson, an okay debut movie set in a boat, a debate about the meaning of the word ‘squat’, a very famous brother, a big set of keys, and one of us confesses to a serious crime.

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

BlueSky: @tworeelcinemaclub

Contact us at tworeelcinemaclub@gmail.com

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

Popcorn seems to have got more expensive like everything else recently. And now we may be looking at tariffs on the film business. But how would these proposed tariffs work? And what might they mean for movie fans as well as moving picture professionals?

Join us at the popcorn counter as we discuss Jon Voight’s proposals for MAGA’s film industry master plan with special guest Mike Primmer, and try to figure out what it all means. Are we looking at a renaissance for domestic film production? Or are we facing purity tests and a flurry of conservative movies? And will the whole thing last more than a week before the news cycle moves on to the next big story?

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

BlueSky: @tworeelcinemaclub

Contact us at tworeelcinemaclub@gmail.com

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

We’re joined by the film industry’s premier sound recordist this episode, as Mike Primmer sits down with us to talk about dog movies. We’ve seen The Friend, the new Bill Murray/Naomi Watts light drama, recorded by Mike, and we’re comparing it to the much loved Swedish 1985 coming of age picture My Life as a Dog. Two films about loss, grief, change, wagging tails and vinyl records. But which film reminded us of a Hallmark picture? Which film is based on the best book we’ve read this year? And what secrets will Mike reveal about the making of the film?

Plus a quick trip to a dystopian TV future, a trip to see a choral masterwork, a revisit of a 2005 modern classic about bats, a flashback to a marriage proposal, and we get Pavlov in to ring the spoiler bell.

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

BlueSky: @tworeelcinemaclub

Contact us at tworeelcinemaclub@gmail.com

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