Can We Still Be Friends? – A Movie Podcast

Baz Luhrmann’s 2001 musical Moulin Rouge! became a bit of a slow burn hit. Its unfiltered story of Truth, Beauty, Freedom, and Love struck a chord with some movie goers, but the unique and frenetic visual style left some viewers exhausted and annoyed. Spurred on by the popularity of Hamilton, another… Continue reading

For this episode, Nate and Ryan go back to their college years to re-watch Borat, a movie they haven’t seen since they were undergrads 10 years ago. Sacha Baron Cohen has a new movie, The Brothers Grimsby, in theaters, and a recent illuminating interview on WTF with Marc Maron made Nate and Ryan wonder… Continue reading

Inspired by the recent release of the latest Coen Brothers film Hail, Caesar!, Nate and Ryan revisit Barton Fink. Despite winning three major awards at Cannes in 1991, the film is usually one of the underseen, if not forgotten film in the Coen Brothers Canon. Though both Nate and Ryan had seen this… Continue reading

With the Academy failing to nominate a single non-white actor in any acting category for the second year in a row, Nate and Ryan watch John Singleton’s breakout 1991 film Boyz N the Hood. The film earned the first-time writer/director nominations for Best Original Screenplay and Best Director, making him not… Continue reading

This episode contains explicit language. Following Birdman’s Best Picture win at the Oscars last year, director Alejandro G. Inarritu seems poised once again to be the front-runner this year with his new film The Revenant. Nate and Ryan have often debated the merits of Inarritu, and his 2005 movie Babel remains one of… Continue reading

For this holiday season, in the spirit of togetherness, Nate and Ryan discuss The Muppet Christmas Carol. Last year’s Christmas episode turned out to be one of their bitterest episodes yet. In an effort to undo the negativity of that episode, Nate and Ryan discuss a movie they agree is one… Continue reading

Nate and Ryan reach way back into the James Bond archives to watch Goldfinger, the third installment of the James Bond franchise, starring Sean Connery. As Daniel Craig’s latest Bond adventure Spectre hit theatres, Nate watches one of Ryan’s favorite Bond films for the first time. Nate and Ryan discuss how well some… Continue reading

As Halloween approaches, Nate and Ryan prepare by watching A Nightmare on Elm Street, the slasher classic written and directed by horror master Wes Craven. A Nightmare on Elm Street helped write the rules for slasher horror pics and was the forebearer to a number of imitation slasher cash-ins. Freddy Krueger… Continue reading

Thirty years ago, Terry Gilliam triumphed over studio exec Sid Sheinberg to bring his version of 1985’s Brazil to theaters. Gilliam’s final cut proved to be a truly unique piece of cinema and was perhaps the first and last time Gilliam would really see his vision for a movie fully realized.… Continue reading

Inspired by the release of the newest Mission: Impossible installment, Nate and Ryan go back to where it all began (well…began again) and rewatch Brian De Palma’s 1996 action thriller. In the cold light of adulthood, Nate and Ryan discuss whether the things that thrilled them as children still work. They also… Continue reading

Nate and Ryan invite back Erick Fortmann to discuss Gone With the Wind, the 1939 classic that has always captivated moviegoers. However, over time, the reception of the movie and its messages have been called into question. Most recently, in the wake of the controversy over the Confederate flag, the image… Continue reading

Nate and Ryan discuss Pixar’s 2004 hit The Incredibles, directed by Brad Bird. Though Nate and Ryan don’t disagree on many Pixar movies, they have never agreed on where The Incredibles fits into the overall Pixar universe. With Inside/Out once again proving the Pixar can entertain children while bringing adults to tears,… Continue reading

This week marks the 35th anniversary of the release of The Blues Brothers, the much-loved comedy starring Dan Aykroyd and John Belushi as the titular brothers. The Blues Brothers was the first movie to come from Saturday Night Live and is widely regarded as one of the best to come out of the… Continue reading

With all the feverish praise that George Miller’s Mad Max: Fury Road is garnering, Nate and Ryan watch and discuss the film that started it all, 1979’s Mad Max, starring Mel Gibson. Set in the near future, Mad Max tells the tale of a decaying world where roaming biker gangs terrorize peaceful… Continue reading

Nate and Ryan get ready for one of the the most anticipated sequels of the year by watching Pitch Perfect, the 2012 film starring Anna Kendrick that struck gold with its acapella take on the classic underdog story. Pitch Perfect struck a chord with audiences with its blend of humor and pop… Continue reading

For this episode, Nate and Ryan watched The Net, the 1995 thriller starring Sandra Bullock. The movie celebrates its 20th anniversary this year, and with the recent passage of Net Neutrality by the FCC, they decided to watch this cautionary tale of the dangers of the internet. Truth be told, Nate… Continue reading

Nate and Ryan welcome special guest Erick Fortmann to discuss the seminal documentary Grey Gardens, directed by the late Albert and David Maysles. The Maysles established themselves as pioneers of documentary in a time when documentaries were the stuff of newsreels and educational film. They made their name with 1968’s Salesman and… Continue reading

Birdman‘s Best Picture win at this year’s Oscars made Nate and Ryan want to revisit Michael Keaton’s turn as a superhero in Tim Burton’s 1989 blockbuster Batman. This movie was a staple of Nate’s childhood, but one that Ryan only saw as an adult. They discuss how the movie has held up… Continue reading

Even though Wes Anderson’s Grand Budapest Hotel didn’t win big at the Oscars (you’ll notice we recorded the episode before the show, thereby sounding woefully out of touch), Nate and Ryan were still glad to rewatch Anderson’s 2007 film The Darjeeling Limited. Even among ardent Wes Anderson fans, The Darjeeling Limited seems… Continue reading

Inspired by the Oscar chances of Richard Linklater’s brilliant film Boyhood, Nate and Ryan go back to where it all began for Linklater and watch his breakout 1991 film Slacker. Slacker is often praised as one of the landmark films of the early ’90s independent film renaissance and served to jump start Linklater’s… Continue reading

The violent division of our last episode is healed as Nate and Ryan discuss Punch-Drunk Love, Paul Thomas Anderson’s 2002 romantic comedy starring Adam Sandler. Nate and Ryan discuss the intricacies of a movie that can seem inaccessible and confusing to first-time viewers, but might be simpler than they think. Let… Continue reading

Nate and Ryan have it out over 1983’s beloved A Christmas Story just in time for the most wonderful time of the year: Christmas movie season. This is one of their earliest film fights, and time has done little to calm the storm. As with any good blizzard, it’s best to… Continue reading

In this episode Nate and Ryan finally watch a movie they’ve both been meaning to get around to: The Ice Storm. Directed by Ang Lee and released in 1997, The Ice Storm explores the ennui of 1970s suburban Connecticut during an unseasonably cold Thanksgiving week, appropriately enough. Kevin Kline plays Ben Hood, a… Continue reading

With the recent release of the trailer for The Avengers: The Age of Ultron, Nate and Ryan decided to revisit Joss Whedon’s 2012 blockbuster The Avengers. Considered by many to be the crown jewel in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers broke box office records and was hailed by comic book geeks and… Continue reading

As trees shed their leaves, and people frantically find ways to make a sexy version of any and every costume, Nate and Ryan celebrate Halloween by watching The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, one of the most revered horror films of all time. Made in 1974 on a small budget and with… Continue reading

Quick Update- Contrary to what we said in our last episode, we will not be discussing Babel in our next episode. We are liars! Instead, we’ve decided to do something more festive. We will be watching and discussing the original 1974 The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. Neither of us has seen… Continue reading

In this episode, Nate rights a nearly 20-year wrong and gets Ryan to watch Braveheart for the first time. Nate’s been a fan since childhood, and given Ryan’s well known aversion to epic period movies, this has the makings of a battle worthy of…well, an epic war movie. With Scottish freedom on… Continue reading

In this episode, Nate and Ryan discuss the listener-suggested, landmark 1999 documentary American Movie. Director Chris Smith profiles independent filmmaker Mark Borchardt, a Milwaukee native who dreams of finally making the film that has been brewing inside him from childhood. With aspirations only outsized by his debts and with self-motivating talk… Continue reading

Ten years after the release of Garden State, writer/director/star/punching bag Zach Braff has come out with a new movie, Wish I Was Here. The reception was ambivalent to negative, a stark contrast to the general reception of Garden State. Nate and Ryan hadn’t seen Garden State in years, but couldn’t help but notice that… Continue reading

The recent death of Robin Williams came as a shock to everyone. It was especially shocking to us, as just days before Williams’ death, we recorded this episode on Hook. Though we couldn’t have known what would happen, we are glad that we had so recently been able to discuss and… Continue reading

We’re in full summer movie swing with a discussion about Edgar Wright’s 2010 action-comedy Scott Pilgrim vs. The World. This energetic adaptation of Bryan Lee O’Malley’s graphic novel series stars Michael Cera as the titular hero. In this episode, Ryan and Nate square off in an epic battle which sees Ryan… Continue reading

Nate and Ryan welcome Evan Mather back to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the release of A Hard Day’s Night, starring The Beatles and directed by Richard Lester. Along with their appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show, A Hard Day’s Night was America’s first introduction to The Beatles. What was originally conceived… Continue reading

In honor of the 20th anniversary of the release of Pulp Fiction, Nate and Ryan invite their good friend Tim Yoder in to point guns at one another while screaming about the polarizing figure that is writer/director Quentin Tarantino. Pulp Fiction is a brilliant film that marked a change in… Continue reading

As a way of ringing in summer blockbuster season and celebrating the 30th anniversary of a great year in movies (see our list of 5 great ones from 1984), Nate and Ryan watched Gremlins, a film that, for some reason, neither of them had seen. Though this episode didn’t start out as… Continue reading

Evan Mather joins us once again to discuss Pinocchio, the 1940 Disney Classic that was recently named by Time Out New York as the best animated movie ever made. Since we hadn’t seen Pinocchio in a long time, we rewatched it to see if we agree with the experts who compiled the… Continue reading

With summer just around the corner, we discuss a movie from our childhood that makes us long for the days of no school and no responsibilities. The Sandlot enjoys a place of unalterable honor in many people’s minds, Nate’s included. Ryan doesn’t hold it in such high esteem. In this… Continue reading

In this episode, Nate and Ryan tackle All About Eve, a (nearly) universally lauded classic. Nate thinks that maybe the praise is undeserved, and the movie’s reputation has clouded people’s judgement. Ryan affirms that this movie is as good as everyone thinks because it continues to be relevant and biting. Inspired… Continue reading

In preparation for the March 28 release of Darren Aronofsky’s epic Noah, starring Russell Crowe, Nate defends another Russell Crowe epic set in ancient times: Gladiator. Ryan and Nate clash with the fury of slaves forced to fight for their survival. This is the showdown you’ve been waiting for. Do you… Continue reading

In this episode, Nate Gass and Ryan Ebling invite their friend Evan Mather to join them as they weigh in on who got snubbed, who will win, and who should win in the major categories. Unfortunately, Evan’s views were so controversial, his mic began rebelling. Sorry for the resulting echo. Continue reading

Inspired by the brilliant and Oscar nominated Her, in our very first episode, Ryan Ebling tries to convince Nate Gass that Spike Jonzes’ 1999 film Being John Malkovich is much better than Nate gives it credit for. Nate attempts to make Ryan see that the film might not be as flawless as… Continue reading