Mystery Mondays: Popcorn Counter

Trust the Canadians to save cinema: Cineplex’s new Mystery Monday screenings are hoping to revive the flagging exhibition industry. But do we think it will work? And if it doesn’t, how would we save cinema? Featuring costumed actors, great food, locality, curation, communality, microcinemas, using Netflix’s biggest weapon against it, and finding a teenager who’ll agree to jiggle your seat around wildly while you watch The Empire Strikes Back.

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

Bugonia vs Save the Green Planet: Save Bugonia

A surprising amount of lightning at the Two Reel Cinema Club this week, as we watch the new Yorgos Lanthimos picture Bugonia, and compare it to the Korean film it’s based on, 2003’s Save the Green Planet. Two kidnaps, two investigations, two conspiracy theories. But how do these two films differ? What is it they want to say? Which film is a prime example of ‘scrap of paper film making’? Why did the remake remind us of Tears for Fears? And who exactly is Jesse Plemons married to?

Plus some animated dinosaurs, a raucous one man band, a Spanish time travel thriller, some fetching knitwear, Neil Young playing a baby shoe, a host of new words including ‘metronomic’ and ‘both-sides-isms’, a VCR floating in space, and a definitive answer to the question: how much electricity can you send through a human body?

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

Musical Biopics: Popcorn Counter

We’re humming along at the popcorn counter this week as we pitch the musical biopics we’d like to see – ones which are little less bland than some of the music movies we’ve watched recently. Join us as we travel from Canada’s greatest rock trio to the Chairman of the Board, from Jamaica’s tallest export to m-m-m-my Sharona. We get three biopics each, but which is the most obscure? Which is the weirdest? And which one writes itself?

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

Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere vs The Night of the Hunter: Night of the Boss

We’re dancing in the dark this week, as we watch the new movie Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere and then study the film that makes a cameo in that rock and roll biopic, 1955’s The Night of the Hunter. Two bad fathers, two rivers, two tales of growing up poor. But which of the two features the sweatiest man? Which of the two has the most riverside wildlife? Which of the two is wearing twenty undervests and a fake chin? And which movie do we consider a mediocre film that everyone should watch?

Plus a twentieth century ghost story, a short film about migration, a soccer semi-final, an almost silent music producer, a no-show for Courtney Cox and a forest’s worth of the King of England’s trees.

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

Coens vs PTA: Popcorn Counter

We’re doing a bit of fantasy programming at the Popcorn Counter this episode, as we reflect on last week’s encounter with two of the major forces in 21st century Hollywood film making: the Coen brothers and Paul Thomas Anderson. They’re both straddled the arthouse and the multiplex, and they both have an outstanding body of work behind them. But which do we personally rate? Whose films would we prefer to watch? And why does one appeal more than the other?

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

One Battle After Another vs The Big Lebowski: Big Battles

At last, two good films in one podcast! This week we’ve watched One Battle After Another, the new Paul Thomas Anderson picture with Leonardo DiCaprio, and we’re comparing it to the film that it doffs its revolutionary cap to, 1998’s comedy classic The Big Lebowski. Two stoners, two missing women, two dirty bathrobes. But which film feels out of time? Which film made us reminisce over payphones? Which film is broadcasting the revolution on AM radio? And which film is a remake of The Big Sleep?

Plus ripping up a copy of the Yellow Pages, the early pregnancy of Obama, a Monty Python Beatles spoof, Seth Rogan exposing Hollywood, Tom Hanks in a FedEx ad, Georgie Orwell and James Baldwin, another film about rocks, and we play a round of the hot new game ‘Six Degrees of Aimee Mann’.

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

Sons of Trivia: Popcorn Counter

Welcome to Jeopardy at the Popcorn Counter this week, where we’re pretending to be Alex Trebek with twenty movie related answers, but can you guess the questions? Some of them are doable … and some of them are frankly not. Do you know your Mount Rushmores from your Nostromos? Play along and see if you can beat our score.

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

Fast Funny Five: Popcorn Counter

Success is hard to measure in life, but easy to measure in comedy: does it make you laugh or not? After enduring Spinal Tap II last week we’re returning to some of our favourite comedies at the popcorn counter. But what is in our top five, and do we have any overlaps? How does Justin Trudeau fit in to all this? Are popstars funny? Where did we go for Andrew Curtis’ birthday party? And is there a connection between being funny and being objectionable?

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

Spinal Tap II vs This is Spinal Tap: Taps

For those about to rock, we salute you this week, as we put on our poodle wigs and tune up our Gibsons to watch the new comedy feature Spinal Tap II: The End Continues and compare to the film that started it all, 1984’s This Is Spinal Tap. Is the old film still funny? Does the new film live up to its predecessor? Which film sets up gags it never pays off? Which film has the cleverest cameos? And which film made us think of a martial arts movie?

Plus an early Halloween treat from 2017, a Hollywood spoof with Seth Rogan, an amusing brush with cryptocurrency, Stephen King’s best book, echoes of Bill and Ted, another look back at Don’t Look Back, and an Eric Idle film from the 1970s. Rock on!

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

Noir: Popcorn Counter

Join us as we sit in the darkness at the popcorn counter this week and muse on why Noir seems to be the second most enduring genre in all of cinema. After jiggling our brains a little, we think we can come up with a significant noir film from every decade of the last ninety years. But have we ever tried to write a noir project? And how do noir mysteries trace their origins to bible stories…?

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