Can We Still Be Friends? – A Movie Podcast

Nate and Ryan are back to discuss one of the greatest cult comedy classics of all time, Waiting for Guffman. On top of giving them a chance to talk about one of their favorite comedies, Waiting for Guffman gives them a chance to remember the legacy of comedy legend Catherine O’Hara, whose… Continue reading

“Imagine Me, Without Fear” by Phantom Tentacles Imagine me, without fear I wait for love to draw me near Guitars: Ryan Ebling and Nate Gass Lyrics: Ryan Ebling Arranged and recorded by Ryan Ebling and Nate Gass Mixed and mastered by Nate Gass Original artwork by Ryan Ebling Continue reading

It’s T. Hanksgiving again, and that means ’tis the season to give thanks for all things Tom Hanks. This year, we’re finally doing the big one: Forrest Gump, the film that gave Hanks his second straight Best Actor Oscar, and continued his unparalleled run of hit after hit after hit. Forrest… Continue reading

‘Tis the season for our first ever 5-star Holiday Spooktacular! Nate and Ryan talk about the 1979 sci-fi/horror classic, Alien, a 5-star movie in both of their books. While we could all use a Halloween away from Earth, Ridley Scott’s masterclass reminds us that things can be scary off-planet too. Where… Continue reading

Nate and Ryan don’t go into the water. This episode, they discuss 5-star, absolute classic Jaws, directed by Steven Spielberg. Jaws is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year, so what better time to talk about one of the all-time great movies, directed by one of the all-time great directors? Listen in… Continue reading

Nate and Ryan discuss their summer movie watching and try to decide which action movies are worth watching. A recent viewing of 1987’s The Running Man with an eye to Edgar Wright’s upcoming remake fuel a conversation that hits heavily on Jackie Chan’s 1985 classic Police Story. They also discuss Friendship, the… Continue reading

Our 5-star movie discussions continue with a deep-dive into the 1984 masterpiece Amadeus, directed by Milos Forman. Adapted from his stage play, Peter Shaffer’s examination of the ersatz rivalry between Mozart (Tom Hulce), a prodigious genius, and his traditional-minded admirer/covetous underminer, Salieri (F. Murray Abraham). On top of the heaps of… Continue reading

Nate and Ryan are breaking ground yet again with our very first Bonus Features episode. We discuss the Oscar movies we still needed to catch up on. A conversation about A Complete Unknown leads to a discussion of better than average music biopics. Ryan shares his recent obsession with Steven… Continue reading

Nate and Ryan rewatch Harold and Maude, Hal Ashby’s 1971 cult classic, and another entry in our discussions of 5-star movies. Upon its release, audiences and critics had no idea what to make of this offbeat dark comedy. As the years went on, it gained a cult following and is widely… Continue reading

Nate and Ryan start their journey through their 5-Star movies by discussing The Apartment, the 1960 classic starring Jack Lemmon and Shirley MacLaine. Winning a swath of Oscars signaled the love people had for The Apartment early on, but over the years, its legend has only grown. Directed by Billy Wilder, it’s… Continue reading

Happy T. Hanksgiving! It’s that wonderful time of year when we give thanks for Hanks. This year we’re celebrating by rewatching a ’90s classic, Apollo 13, directed by Ron Howard and starring, of course, the man himself: Tom Hanks. Coming right in the middle of his epic run of iconic ’90s… Continue reading

Get ready for another Holiday Spooktacular, as Nate and Ryan watch Godzilla Minus One, last year’s Oscar-winning hit monster movie from Japan! Who knew we needed another Godzilla movie, and a prequel at that, but director Takashi Yamazaki delivered a blend of monster action and historical fiction heart, bound together by… Continue reading

Nate and Ryan talk about 2023’s American Fiction, written and directed by Cord Jefferson and starring Jeffrey Wright. Both Nate and Ryan are big fans of author Percival Everett and his novel Erasure, which American Fiction is adapted from. For that reason, expectations were high for this Academy-Award winning movie. Critics all loved it,… Continue reading

Nate and Ryan complete the second leg of Barbenheimer with a discussion about 2023’s smash hit Barbie, directed by Greta Gerwig. Barbie‘s popularity boom and subsequent backlash and Oscars buzz and subsequent Oscars backlash have come and gone, so we decided it would be a good time to see what it’s like… Continue reading

Once again, the Academy picked our movie for this month, so Ryan and Nate are re-watching Oppenheimer, 2024’s Best Picture Oscar winner, written and directed by Christopher Nolan. On top of continuing this year’s theme of revisiting 2023, Ryan and Nate realized they’ve never talked about a Christopher Nolan movie on… Continue reading

For this episode, Nate and Ryan picked from the slate of Best Picture nominees and decided to re-watch Past Lives, their favorite movie from 2023, and a stunning directorial debut from playwright Celine Song. While it’s not a front-runner for any Oscars, Past Lives has been widely recognized as something special, which… Continue reading

Nate and Ryan discuss the Golden Globe winning and Oscar nominated Alexander Payne comedic drama The Holdovers. Much has been made of the reunion of Paul Giamatti and Alexander Payne after 20 years. Added to their alchemy are Da’Vine Joy Randolph (in yet another standout performance) and newcomer Dominic Sessa. What… Continue reading

For our Gap Year T. Hanksgiving, Nate and Ryan watch The ‘Burbs, the 1989 Tom Hanks cult classic directed by Joe Dante. Featuring a stacked cast, including Carrie Fisher, Bruce Dern, and Corey Feldman, in addition to the man himself, The ‘Burbs is a horror/comedy that kind of befuddled audiences and critics… Continue reading

‘Tis the season for our 10th annual Holiday Spooktacular, and as part of our Gap Year, we’re watching Hereditary, Ari Aster’s 2018 hit horror film starring Toni Collette. Hereditary took audiences by storm and continued studio A24’s rise to prominence in the current film conversation. It’s a career-making first feature for… Continue reading

Nate and Ryan watch Bringing out the Dead, a Gap Year movie by one of their favorite directors, Martin Scorsese. Released in 1999, Bringing out the Dead was largely ignored by audiences and remains one of Scorsese’s forgotten works. Listen in as Nate and Ryan dig into the merits of this underappreciated… Continue reading

Nate and Ryan get in the summer blockbuster mood by watching Predator (1987) for the first time. As part of our Gap Year series, we’re catching up on this action classic over 35 years later. As often happens, Predator is now looked at quite differently from when it was first released. Nate… Continue reading

Nate and Ryan watch Under the Tuscan Sun with special guest Rachel Hughes Gates. As we continue to rectify blind spots during this Gap Year, Rachel suggested that we watch Under the Tuscan Sun, a movie that has stuck with her ever since she saw it in theaters 20 years ago. Though… Continue reading

Nate and Ryan watch and discuss Sicario, directed by Denis Villeneuve. As the beginning to what we’re calling our Gap Year, where we fill in gaps in our viewing history, we’ve chosen to watch Sicario, with an unbelievable cast and crew that includes cinematographer Roger Deakins, and screenwriter Taylor Sheridan, not to… Continue reading

Really quick announcement: We will NOT be discussing Marcel the Shell with Shoes On for our March episode and will instead be watching and discussing Sicario. Watch it with us! Continue reading

Nate and Ryan re-watch Everything Everywhere All at Once. In addition to being the top nominated movie at this year’s Oscars (11 nominations), Everything Everywhere All at Once is also one of our favorite movies from last year. Despite, or maybe because of its mind-bending multiversal action, audiences flocked to see it… Continue reading

For their annual Holiday episode, Nate and Ryan re-watch the ultimate Christmas movie: A Charlie Brown Christmas. It’s the first TV special on this podcast, and there couldn’t be a more fitting choice. A staple since it’s debut in 1965, A Charlie Brown Christmas has brought joy and melancholy to generations. Listen… Continue reading

Nate and Ryan discuss You’ve Got Mail to celebrate this year’s annual T. Hanksgiving! Rom-Com Tom Hanks won America’s hearts throughout the ’90s, so listen in as Nate and Ryan take a look at Hanks and Meg Ryan at the peak of their powers. Directed and written by Nora Ephron… Continue reading

Nate and Ryan celebrate their 9th Holiday Spooktacular by watching Get Out, Jordan Peele’s 2017 Oscar-winning horror contemporary classic. We’re continuing our Back to School series with another movie that Ryan teaches in his high school class. Listen in as we discuss the philosophical and social implications in Peele’s razor-sharp writing… Continue reading

Nate and Ryan revisit No Country for Old Men, the Coen brothers’ 2007 Best Picture Oscar winner. No Country for Old Men is one of the movies Ryan teaches in his high school class, so for our September episode, Nate wanted to go back to school and hear what Mr. Ebling has… Continue reading

Nate and Ryan invite long-time friend Andrew Johnson in to discuss 2001’s Josie and the Pussycats, a flop when it was released 21 years ago, but now a film that many are rethinking as its lasting impact is more apparent. Andrew has championed Josie ever since he first saw it in college,… Continue reading

Nate and Ryan invite Kris Hiew in to talk about Top Gun, the 1986 hit whose recent hit sequel has Tom Cruise wowing audiences again. Kris and Nate have a long history with Top Gun and bring all that childlike wonder into the conversation. With the sequel, Top Gun: Maverick proving to be… Continue reading

For their first volume of underappreciated movies, Ryan and Nate discuss Spencer and Happy Go-Lucky. Listen in as they discuss two powerhouse performances that are criminally underrated. While quite different in tone, both movies feature women who are trying to navigate worlds that don’t know what to do with their unique… Continue reading

For this episode, Nate and Ryan watch the most recent Best Picture winner, CODA. Its story of a deaf family portrayed by deaf actors is an important step in diverse representation and storytelling. Even before its historic Oscar win for Troy Kotsur – the first deaf man to win an… Continue reading

Nate and Ryan talk about Hayao Miyazaki’s Oscar-winning masterpiece, Spirited Away. Miyazaki is undoubtedly a legend of cinema, and with Spirited Away celebrating the 20th anniversary of its US release, the time is perfect to revisit one of the most iconic animated films of all time. Whether it’s the first time or… Continue reading

For their 100th episode, Nate and Ryan name the movies that have defined them as people and as movie-watchers. After a century of episodes over 8 years, Nate and Ryan haven’t really talked about how certain movies have shaped them over the course of their lives. With the help from… Continue reading

As Nate and Ryan prepare to share the five movies that define them in their 100th episode, they check in to share a few of their favorites from 2021. We also invite you to share the movies that define you (however you define that). Give us all 5 or just… Continue reading

For this year’s holiday celebration, Nate and Ryan watch a staple from their childhood, Home Alone, the 1990 smash hit directed by Chris Columbus and written by John Hughes. An annual tradition for many people, is Home Alone a movie people can even talk about objectively? Listen in as they discuss what … Continue reading

For this year’s T. Hanksgiving, Nate and Ryan watch Tom Hanks’ writing and directing debut That Thing You Do! Dripping in ’60s nostalgia, That Thing You Do! tells the story of The Wonders a fictional rock band who rise to the top of the charts with the titular song. Even though That… Continue reading

It’s our 8th annual Holiday Spooktacular and this year, Nate and Ryan are talking about a true horror classic: The Silence of the Lambs, celebrating its 30th anniversary this year. One of the rare horror movies to be nominated for Best Picture, The Silence of the Lambs is in even rarer company… Continue reading

Nate and Ryan welcome Watson Jones III to discuss The King’s Speech, 2010 winner of the Best Picture Oscar directed by Tom Hooper. The King’s Speech was a somewhat improbable winner in an especially strong movie year. It was in that backlash-filled atmosphere that many people watched Colin Firth act his way… Continue reading

Nate and Ryan are back with a brief update for the next episode and a response to a listener question about our 2014 episode about The Avengers. Listen in as they revisit their predictions and reactions from 7 years ago and reflect on how their ideas hold up now that the… Continue reading

Nate and Ryan welcome Ryan’s long-time friend Dr. Bradley Rettler to discuss Hamilton, the 2015 Broadway hit that made its film debut on Disney+ in 2020. Listen in as they discuss what there is to love about Lin-Manuel Miranda’s complex musical, what is different about watching the show 6 years later,… Continue reading

Nate and Ryan welcome Phil Vickers back to talk about Labyrinth, one of Phil’s favorite childhood movies, that also happens to be a Jim Henson classic that is celebrating its 35th anniversary this year. Nate and Ryan don’t have the long history with the movie that Phil does, so they discuss… Continue reading

Nate and Ryan share that they took a small break and discuss what they’ve been watching so far this summer. Don’t forget to watch Labyrinth with us as we prepare for our next episode with special guest Phil Vickers! Labyrinth is available to stream on HBOMax or check your local library. Continue reading

Nate and Ryan welcome very special guest Kelsey Ebling (Ryan’s wife) to discuss The Tree of Life, Kelsey’s most recent favorite movie. In 2011, The Tree of Life was Terrence Malick’s long-awaited return after more than a decade, and his semi-autobiographical mediation on grief, God, and grace was highly praised by… Continue reading

Nate and Ryan welcome Andrew Milam and Nate Cox from the Two Beards Please podcast to discuss MASH and Pollock. Andrew and Nate each picked a movie that has been influential on their lives, and we give them the Can We Still Be Friends treatment. We help the Beards dig… Continue reading

Nate and Ryan discuss the 1988 Eddie Murphy classic Coming to America and its 2021 sequel, Coming 2 America. The original is held in high regard, but the sequel has received mixed reviews, even by ardent fans of the 1988 smash hit that cemented Eddie Murphy’s place as a comedy… Continue reading

Nate and Ryan presented an hour-long talk on the best movies available on the free streaming services Kanopy and Hoopla, which many people can access through their public libraries. The presentation was hosted virtually by Wauconda Area Library in Wauconda, IL. It was an honor to be asked to present… Continue reading

Nate and Ryan discuss Steve McQueen’s ground-breaking anthology series Small Axe. In a Can We Still Be Friends first, we watch and discuss 5 movies as one, and only a masterpiece like Steve McQueen’s Golden Globe nominated series could compel us to attempt something so monumental. Listen in as we break down… Continue reading