Two Reel Cinema Club

We get down to business at the Two Reel Cinema Club this episode, as we watch the very entertaining new Canadian comedy-drama Blackberry, which explores the multi-billion-dollar early days of the smartphone, and compare it to Paul Thomas Anderson’s 2007 masterpiece There Will Be Blood. They’re two stories about big money, separated by a century, but with many touchstones in common. But which film had to recast a central character well into shooting? Which film has the most incredible soundtrack? And which film do we dub ‘Oppenheimer’s Little Brother’?

Plus we watch a 1930s James Whale classic on 16mm film, digitally deconstruct some Impressionist paintings, launch a series of original new websites, ask whether Michael Ironside’s sides are still made of iron, and demonstrate exactly what people mean by the phrase ‘when one door closes, another one opens’…

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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

Money is all we can think about at the popcorn counter this week, after watching two films about money last week. What are our top five financial films of all time? And can we answer five trivia questions about the insanity of film financing? What film made the most money, who got the biggest payday ever, and what clunker lost the most money? Do we prefer films about stealing money or saving it? And see if you can spot our own clunker when we forget who made American Graffiti… (Disclaimer: the value of your investments can go down as well as up, always seek expert financial advice and never, ever invest in the film business.)

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 losing money hand over fist in this week’s episode. Or maybe making money? Or buying… um… options? We have no idea what we’re doing to be honest, but neither do many of the protagonists in this week’s films. Dumb Money, from the director of Cruella, is the first film we’ve ever seen that’s based on a Reddit thread, and is a surprisingly funny and warm hearted comedy about money that ends up being about something much more important. Trading Places, now forty years old, covers much of the same territory but with a lot more gratuitous nudity. Which film treats its female characters with respect? Which film breaks the fourth wall? Which film explains the financial markets in one sentence? And which film features a character who in real life almost certainly went to Andres’ school?

Plus a new animated version of Romeo and Juliet, a Kurosawa classic on a scratchy print, a beautiful and eloquent short film about Philadelphia, a recommendation from Naomi Klein, a shocking confession about our Hulu viewing habits, and our first sponsor to offer an optional epipen with their product…

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

Spencer Brown, director and co-writer of T.I.M., the number one Netflix feature, joins us at the Popcorn Counter this episode, to discuss the making of his film about an AI companion that becomes the world’s most effective and threatening stalker. He has some fascinating insights into the writing process and his methods of collaboration with his wife, best selling novelist Sarah Govett. But what was the kernel of the idea? How does he approach rewriting scenes that aren’t working? What is ‘thinking in 3D’? And will we get through a whole podcast without having to let the dog out? (Spoiler: no.)

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

Join us on the road not taken this episode, as we watch new Korean-American feature Past Lives and compare it to a very 90s take on similar themes in Sliding Doors. Past Lives is like a tiny serving of understated New York drama, filled with comfortable silences and autobiographical details. But we have to ask: does enough actually happen? Meanwhile, London based Sliding Doors might have the opposite problem, packing the screen with events until it effectively crams two whole films into less than 100 minutes. Which film feels most authentic? Which film loves its home city the most? And which meet cute is the cutest?

Plus we sign up for a quick burst of Jury Duty, accept a sponsorship offer from a definitely legal cryptocurrency speculator, make an observation about anaesthetists on screen, watch Owen Wilson cycle around a French town, and ponder what kind of man would write a serious, literary book called ‘Boner’. 

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

There have been more than 450 spy films released in the last 12 months* (*citation needed) and yet most spy films seem to involve very little actual spying. James Bond has spent vastly more of his career running, driving, shooting and drinking than he has LOOKING AT THINGS CAREFULLY. At the popcorn counter this week we ask which spy films get it right and which do not. Which is the best Bond film? Which spy did Benedict Cumberbatch play to a tee? And which one of us knows a CIA agent in real life…?

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

TRCC favourite Tom Cruise returns this episode, as we look at Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning: Part One, the seventh film in the ever growing franchise, and compare it to the 1935 Hitchcock classic The 39 Steps. Trains, chases, handcuffs and the very latest technology pepper the screen with bullet holes in both films, even though they were made 88 years apart. But which film nearly ended Andres’ marriage? Which film features cinema’s most notable milkman? And how does the finest moment from one of these films revolve around one woman’s hairstyle?

Plus we namecheck Rush song ‘Big Money’, question who really wrote ‘Macbeth’, watch Martin Short joking with Selena Gomez, get a soft and squishy new sponsor, discuss Aristotelian story space, and ask: does Venice have a coliseum? And if so, what’s it made of?

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

Jeanne Dielman, 23 Quai du Commerce, last week’s film, is now broadly acknowledged as The Greatest Film Of All Time. Do we agree? And what, to quote LL Cool J, is on our lists of the Greatest Of All Time? Will we include works by Kubrick, Hitchcock and the Cohen Brothers, or will we play it safe and stick to Zack Snyder? How many of our favourites are not in English? How many of them are suitable for family viewing? How many were made in the twenty first century? And how often can we be interrupted during the recording of one podcast, by car horns, doorbells or dogs? There are some profound thoughts in this podcast, but the greatest of them is probably — BING BONG! RUFF! RUFF! RUFF! HONK! HONK! 

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 part two of our interview with A list Hollywood sound recordist at the Popcorn Counter this week. We talk about the early days of VHS film making, the joys of the ‘Control Track’ and in-camera effects, Mike’s secret technique for beating the popcorn counter at its own game, and why every short film ought to be a remake of Taxi Driver.

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

 

Who had any expectations for a Barbie movie? But somehow the heavily branded toy franchise has given birth to a smart and witty satire that’s started a lot of conversations about the lives of women in the 21st century. We talk about what we enjoyed and what we missed, and compare it to the 1975 ‘slow cinema’ masterpiece now acknowledged by Sight and Sound as the greatest film of all time: Jeanne Dielman, 23 Quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles. It’s two sides of the same coin once again. But which film wants to smash the patriarchy, which film presents the greatest shock, and which film wants to sell you a Chevrolet? 

In between, we manage to forget Mitt Romney (an understandable mistake if ever there was one), launch a brand new social network under the banner of a single letter of the alphabet (which letter did we choose, do you think?), rewatch a recent hit with new (googly) eyes, learn about the invention of sonar, and discuss the complexities of plastic surgery.

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