Can We Still Be Friends? – A Movie Podcast

Nate and Ryan pick out their 5 favorite movies of 2020 and take time to dig deeper into I’m Thinking of Ending Things written and directed by Charlie Kaufman, and Time, a moving documentary directed by Garrett Bradley. For this episode, Nate and Ryan each picked a movie from 2020 that they… Continue reading

The holiday season winds down as Nate and Ryan discuss The Holiday, the 2006 romantic-comedy from writer/director Nancy Meyers. Listen in as we discuss the highs and lows of all that star power, what this movie gets right, and how much we’ve missed Jude Law. Is The Holiday in your holiday… Continue reading

For the second annual T. Hanksgiving, a celebration of all things Tom Hanks, Nate and Ryan are watching A League of Their Own, the 1992 hit directed by the late, great Penny Marshall. Listen in as we discuss Hanks as not quite leading man, praise the strength and brilliance of Geena… Continue reading

Nate and Ryan celebrate the most wonderful fright of the year by re-watching The Babadook, written and directed by Jennifer Kent. We wish you and yours a very merry (and scary) 7th annual Holiday Spooktacular! As usual, we’re celebrating by watching a horror movie, and this year’s choice might be a… Continue reading

For the first time, Nate and Ryan review a movie from this year, breaking our routine for the one and only Spike Lee and his 2020 film Da 5 Bloods streaming on Netflix. Nate and Ryan chose this movie before the heartbreaking news of Chadwick Boseman’s death, but as anyone who… Continue reading

Reflecting on their own history with learning about racism, Nate and Ryan re-watch American History X. As it was for so many people (especially white men) their age, American History X served as one of the first visceral looks at racism in modern America. However, the rhetoric of Edward Norton’s Derek Vineyard… Continue reading

Nate and Ryan talk about what they’ve been watching with all this time on their hands. Listen in as they share recommendations and explore what makes them gravitate to a certain sort of movie during these uncertain times. We apologize for the change in our plans to watch Bend it Like… Continue reading

Nate and Ryan watch an under-seen gem in Elaine May’s curve ball of a gangster movie, Mikey and Nicky. The story of the making of the movie is almost as quietly legendary as the film itself, as May shot an unbelievable 1 million feet of film and took 3 years… Continue reading

Nate and Ryan watch Bridget Jones’s Diary and discuss their feelings about it, until they turn their critical eyes on themselves. The episode ends up being quite a departure for CWSBF as we realize just how problematic it is that we feel the need to weigh in on movies that aren’t… Continue reading

Nate and Ryan rewatch Mary Harron’s 2000 horror satire American Psycho and discuss how frighteningly timeless her vision of greedy late ’80s masculinity is. Christian Bale’s Patrick Bateman has become iconic, but is he iconic for the right reasons? Listen in as Nate and Ryan talk about the humor and the… Continue reading

In a CWSBF first, Nate and Ryan talk about their favorite ten movies of the last decade. On top of the list of movies, listen in as Nate and Ryan reflect on the last ten years in movies and make new-decade resolutions for the next ten years of movie watching.… Continue reading

This month, Nate and Ryan celebrate T. Hanksgiving by re-watching Cast Away. In what may be a new tradition, this November Nate and Ryan give thanks for Tom Hanks by discussing his performance as Chuck Noland in Robert Zemeckis’ 2000 film about a man lost on a deserted island with… Continue reading

Nate and Ryan re-watch Tim Burton’s 1994 homage to the world’s worst director, Ed Wood, to celebrate the 6th annual Holiday Spooktacular! Tim Burton and Johnny Depp teamed up to bring the life and work of Ed Wood to new audiences, and in the process, offered a celebration of underdogs and outsiders… Continue reading

Nate and Ryan watch Roger & Me (1989), Michael Moore’s groundbreaking documentary about the rapid decline of Flint, MI after the shuttering of several GM plants. 30 years later, the plight of Flint and the struggles of the United Auto Workers continue to be in the news. Listen in as… Continue reading

Nate and Ryan are back from a brief break to discuss Spike Lee’s masterpiece Do the Right Thing. In celebration of the film’s 30th anniversary, Nate and Ryan are doing an appreciation episode to give a much deserved re-watch to a movie that has proven to be more timely and prescient… Continue reading

Nate and Ryan discuss Bob Fosse’s 1979 semi-autobiographical fever dream, All That Jazz. Listen in as they plumb the depths of their knowledge of dance, compare Bob Fosse with Kanye West, and try to figure out what’s going on in those damn hospital scenes. What are your thoughts on All That Jazz?… Continue reading

Nate and Ryan put on their Sketchers and Prada backpacks and roam the halls of Padua High School as they rewatch 10 Things I Hate About You, the ’90s teen rom-com to end all ’90s teen rom-coms. Join in as they reminisce on nights at Blockbuster video, gush over the eternally… Continue reading

Nate and Ryan kick-off the summer blockbuster season with Guillermo Del Toro’s 2004 adaptation of Hellboy. While the moody, lovelorn Hellboy might not exactly fit into today’s world of gigantic comics cinematic universes, Nate and Ryan talk about where Hellboy fits in the landscape of Del Toro’s monstrous heroes and how… Continue reading

Nate and Ryan return to the ’90s to re-watch Good Will Hunting, the movie that made Matt and Ben household names. The charm of director Gus Van Sant’s biggest commercial hit never really stuck with Nate and Ryan, so they’re giving it another go. Listen in as they find out… Continue reading

Nate and Ryan invite back special guest Evan Mather to talk about Alfonso Cuaron’s 2006 Children of Men. Though not especially successful on its release, Children of Men has received new attention as critics and fans can’t help but notice that Cuaron seemed to know exactly what issues the world would be… Continue reading

Nate and Ryan revisit the widely loved comedy Step Brothers to talk about what is so appealing about the team of Will Ferrell, John C. Reilly, and Adam McKay. With Ferrell and Reilly back in theaters to much uninterested shrugs, and Adam McKay nominated for his 5th Oscar after winning his… Continue reading

It’s a romantic Christmas for Nate and Ryan as they discuss Love Actually, the 2003 holiday rom-com starring Keira Knightley, Hugh Grant, and most of the other British movie stars you can think of in the pre-Benedict-Cumberbatch era of British movie stars. Celebrating its 15th anniversary, Love Actually has become an annual… Continue reading

In 2010, the conversation around Facebook was mainly something like, “Holy crap, my parents are on Facebook. Should I delete my account?” Eight years later, the conversation is more like, “Holy crap, an enemy power hijacked our democracy and nationalism has a very visible platform and white supremacists have a… Continue reading

For the 5th Annual Holiday Spooktacular, Nate and Ryan discuss another bona fide classic, John Carpenters’ Halloween. John Carpenter’s cheap, fast horror flick defied the odds and set a new standard for the genre, and as it’s celebrating its 40th anniversary, it seemed like the perfect time to relive “the night HE… Continue reading

Nate and Ryan discuss their first Alfred Hitchcock classic, 1958’s Vertigo. As the film has gained more and more respect over the years, Nate and Ryan decided that it was time for them to really examine this beloved psychological mind-bender. Like so many hallmarks of cinema before and since, Vertigo befuddled critics and… Continue reading

Nate and Ryan escape the summer heat by watching Bull Durham, a sports classic from 1988 that helped catapult Kevin Costner into Hollywood super-stardom. Bull Durham is often hailed as the best sports movie of all time, so Nate and Ryan decided to weigh in for themselves. After 30 years, how does this… Continue reading

As the school year winds down and summer brings life-long change (or so teen comedies would have us believe), Nate and Ryan discuss Can’t Hardly Wait. Released 20 years ago, some of the hallmarks of late ’90s and early ’00s teen comedies can be traced back to Can’t Hardly Wait, yet it doesn’t quite… Continue reading

Nate and Ryan talk about The Big Lebowski (one of their favorites), which is celebrating its 20th anniversary this year. They welcome back their good friend Tim Yoder to discuss what is so special about this movie and what the expansive cult fan base indicates about its appeal. Grab a white… Continue reading

Nate and Ryan invite special guest Anne Singleton back to talk about The Departed, Martin Scorsese’s violent, vulgar crime thriller. Like most film fans, Nate and Ryan are big fans of Scorsese, but The Departed is the first of his films on this podcast. Although many of Scorsese’s films have been important… Continue reading

Nate and Ryan watch Moonstruck, the perfect movie to either keep the romance of a successful Valentine’s Day going, or the perfect movie to make up for a lackluster holiday. This 1987 hit won Best Actress and Supporting Actress Oscars for stars Cher and Olympia Dukakis as well as Best Original… Continue reading

In a year that has everyone talking about presidential scandals, corruption, and collusion, Nate and Ryan felt it only appropriate to revisit the 1976 classic All the President’s Men. Listen as Nate and Ryan discuss what makes this film brilliant, and how it feels to watch this movie in light of… Continue reading

For our fourth annual Holiday Extravaganza, we’re re-watching Elf, the 2003 Will Farrell comedy hit that has become a must-see for many people each year. Our feelings for Elf have deteriorated over the years, so we wanted to watch it again to see if there’s something we’re missing. This is the first… Continue reading

For some reason, something about November makes us want to watch movies with wizards. As per a listener suggestion, we’re watching Willow, the 1988 George Lucas-conceived, Ron Howard-directed fantasy epic. For many people, Willow was a special part of their childhood, but in the pantheon of classic children’s movies, Willow rarely seems to… Continue reading

Welcome to our 4th Annual Holiday Spooktacular. This year, Nate and Ryan discuss John Carpenter’s The Thing, a 1982 horror flop that has become a bona fide classic. Listen as they discuss what has made The Thing into such a beloved film and how it has aged over the past 35 years. … Continue reading

Nate and Ryan continue their unofficial tour through 1997 by watching director Paul Verhoeven’s divisive sci-fi cult classic, Starship Troopers. Joined by guest (and Starship Troopers fan) Dan Wartsbaugh, Nate and Ryan try to find out if this is a scathing, brilliant satire, skewering the tropes of violence-worshiping blockbuster action flicks, or… Continue reading

For most of the ’90s, Mike Meyers’ catchphrases were repeated ad nauseam everywhere from dorm rooms to boardrooms (We’re guessing. We weren’t in a single boardroom in the ’90s, but you get it). With Wayne’s World celebrating its 25th anniversary and Austin Powers celebrating its 20th, Nate and Ryan decided to watch both… Continue reading

In 2006, Sofia Coppola’s follow-up to her Oscar-winning smash Lost In Translation was the hotly anticipated, but tepidly received Marie Antoinette. She recently returned to the spotlight as she won Best Director at Cannes with her most recent film The Beguiled. With the middle of summer bringing the celebration of Bastille Day, Nate… Continue reading

Nate and Ryan rewatch Close Encounters of the Third Kind, the other sci-fi classic released 40 years ago. Directed by Steven Spielberg, Close Encounters solidified Spielberg’s aesthetic and helped bring hard(ish) sci-fi into the mainstream. With all the hallmarks of great Spielberg movies wrapped up nicely in one movie, Nate and Ryan… Continue reading

Not ones to be left out, Nate and Ryan decide to see what all the fuss is about with this The Fast and the Furious franchise. With The Fate of the Furious setting records at the box office, it seemed high time that they give the original a shot. For help, they brought in… Continue reading

Note: This episode and its clips contain language not suitable for all audiences. Also, as might be expected, this episode is pretty politically charged. We welcome your comments (and your anger), but please keep it civil. For their 50th episode, Nate and Ryan take a look at how Network (1976) and… Continue reading

Nate and Ryan invite special guest Anne Singleton to revisit their high school days and watch Titanic, released 20 years ago. Titanic cemented its legacy when it won a record-tying 11 Oscars and became one of the highest-grossing films of all time. Nate, Ryan, and Anne discuss how the film has held… Continue reading

As La La Land continues to be an Oscar favorite (14 nominations), Nate and Ryan explore what might be the most revered of all movie musicals: Singin’ in the Rain. Though Singin’ in the Rain didn’t garner any Oscar wins (and only 2 nominations), it has lived on to be adored by fans,… Continue reading

It’s our 3rd Holiday Spectacular, and this year, Nate and Ryan are watching a more contentious entry into the Holiday Movie Canon: 1988’s Die Hard. For a Holiday Spectacular this outside the box, Nate and Ryan called in some back up. Friend of the program and most frequent guest Evan Mather… Continue reading

Nate and Ryan revisit the launching of a cinematic empire by watching Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone in celebration of its 15th anniversary. Additionally, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them was released to enormous box office success nearly 15 years to the day that the first Harry Potter movie was… Continue reading

It’s our 3rd Halloween episode, and Nate and Ryan are taking the opportunity to watch The Wicker Man, another classic horror movie that’s always been on their list. Though it had an inauspicious release in 1973, The Wicker Man has become the epitome of a cult classic, with various versions making the… Continue reading

Nate and Ryan talk about their first western, The Magnificent Seven, starring Yul Brynner and Steve McQueen and directed by John Sturges. With Antoine Fuqua’s remake still in theaters, Nate and Ryan discuss how the original (itself a remake of Akira Kurosawa’s The Seven Samurai) holds up today. While The Magnificent Seven isn’t… Continue reading

With Labor Day just behind us, and summer more or less over, Nate and Ryan watch and discuss Rob Reiner’s much loved coming-of-age movie Stand by Me. Based on a short story by Stephen King, Stand by Me was released 30 years ago, meaning many of its original fans have 10-year-olds of… Continue reading

Nate and Ryan revisit Oliver Stone’s controversial classic from 1991: JFK. Inspired by the incredible light-shedding documentary OJ: Made in America, Nate and Ryan wanted to rewatch another film that explores the details of one of the most famous events in history. The film follows New Orleans attorney Jim Garrison (Kevin Costner)… Continue reading

Nate and Ryan invite their friend Tim along to rewatch the 1984 hit comedy Ghostbusters, in anticipation of the new reboot. Many people have cried out against this new film, saying that changing it will “ruin their childhood.” Since this movie wasn’t really a part of Nate or Ryan’s childhoods, they… Continue reading

Nate and Ryan are no strangers to their own nostalgia, but for this episode, they rewatch LA Confidential and discuss how Hollywood handles nostalgia. LA Confidential‘s view of 1950s Hollywood takes the tropes of noir and the glamour of old Hollywood and exposes the corruption that lurks just barely below the surface.… Continue reading