As has become an annual tradition, we sat down to watch the Academy Award winner for Best Picture of 2014, Birdman: Or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) ! We marveled at the amazing Cinematography and the unexpected score. We had a thoughtful conversation about the meaning of the film’s ending. In other words, we watched the movie and then we talked about it. Which is sort of our thing! The next film on our list is The Usual Suspects ! Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) (2014) Ra...
Apr 15, 2015•38 min
This episode, we managed to find another animated film Jena hasn’t seen, which is quite the challenge! In addition to being only our second animated film, it is also our second foreign language film. We watched “ Persepolis ,” which is a phenomenal film about growing up in post revolutionary Iran. If you are feeling particularly ambitious, we would suggest that this film pairs quite nicely with Argo . Our next episode will be about the winner of the 2015 Academy Award for Best Picture: Birdman: ...
Apr 01, 2015•29 min
Having recently watched The Ten Commandments , we decided that Jena needed more Anne Baxter in her life. What better way to mainline Anne Baxter than with All About Eve ! A delightfully witty script and fantastic performances by five great actresses are all you need to know. If you haven’t watched this movie yet, you should rush out and fix that as soon as possible! Our next episode will be about Persepolis ! All About Eve (1950) Rating: 8.2/10 (145,739 votes) Director: Joseph L. Mankiewicz Writ...
Mar 17, 2015•36 min
Our episode was recorded live at the Trylon theater in Minneapolis. We watched the only adaptation of an Agatha Christie novel that the author actually liked, Murder on the Orient Express . The cast is full of A-list stars including Ingred Bergman, who won an Oscar for her performance in this film. After the movie, audience members joined us for a discussion of the film. Our next episode will introduce Jena to Bette Davis as we watch All About Eve ! Murder on the Orient Express (1974) Rating: 7....
Mar 02, 2015•33 min
For our latest episode, we watch a modern take on classic noir as we watch L.A. Confidential . A not yet all star cast including Kevin Spacy, Kim Basinger, Russell Crowe and Guy Pearce headline this film that is recognized among film buffs but mostly forgotten by others. We hope you take the time to check out this movie if you aren’t already a fan. Our next episode will be recorded live at the Trylon theater on Sunday, February 22nd. We’ll be watching Murder on the Orient Express ! L.A. Confiden...
Feb 15, 2015•32 min
On our latest episode, we explore the world of the Biblical epic via Cecil B DeMille’s Ten Commandments ! Charlton Heston is our guide as we explore a time of plagues, lust and burning bushes! We are once again reminded of the awesomeness of Vincent Price and, finally, get to introduce Jena to Anne Baxter. We also spend a little time talking about Exodus: Gods and Kings . Join us for this rollicking trip through the old testament complete with water turning to blood! At the end of the episode, w...
Feb 01, 2015•36 min
Having recently watched Mystery of the Wax Museum , we needed to take the time to watch the more famous remake, House of Wax . Once again we enjoy the screen presence of the great Vincent Price while we experience the birth of 3D! We also run into Reel Education favorite Charles Bronson. Our next episode will take a closer look at the biblical epic The Ten Commandments ! House of Wax (1953) Rating: 7.0/10 (21,509 votes) Director: André De Toth Writer: Crane Wilbur, Charles Belden Stars: Vincent ...
Jan 15, 2015•34 min
For our holiday episode, we returned to the fabulous Trylon Microcinema to watch and discuss Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence . We not only discussed the film but we found ourselves pulled into a conversation about the Hayes code and about 80’s synth tracks! Jena was saddened that this film featured a lot of David Bowie but not a lot of his package. Well, you can’t win them all. Happy New Year! Our next episode, we’ll be watching House of Wax ! And we’ll be returning to the Trylon in February for Mu...
Jan 01, 2015•32 min
This episode focuses on a rather obscure film that is a favorite of Tim and Melissa. Mystery of the Wax Museum has lots of things working for it. It has Fay Wray (of King Kong fame) and is directed by Michael Curtiz (who also directed Casablanca ). The film would later be remade into House of Wax , starring Vincent Price. It may take a little while to find this film but the search will be worth it. Enjoy! Our next episode will be with a live audience from the Trylon Microcinema where we watched ...
Dec 23, 2014•27 min
We were glad to return to the Trylon Microcinema for a live recording this episode! We enjoyed Steve Martin and John Candy in the dramedy Planes, Trains and Automobiles . Tim got to share his own story of travel hell although he was quick to point out that his car never caught on fire. The first part of the episode was recorded in a coffee shop so enjoy the background noise! Our next episode will be about Mystery of the Wax Museum . Planes, Trains & Automobiles (1987) Rating: 7.6/10 (168,521...
Dec 01, 2014•28 min
We talked about this movie as far back as Episode 1 and it is finally here! Jena gets shown one of the great classic noir films that she had, until this point, only known about through an episode of the Animanianiacs. We talk about Humphrey Bogart, Sidney Greenstreet, Mary Astor, Peter Lorre, maguffins and one of the most famous movie props of all time. Enjoy our conversation about The Maltese Falcon ! Our next episode will be recorded live at the Trylon Theater on Sunday, November 30th. We’ll b...
Nov 15, 2014•30 min
In our last episode , we watched a documentary. This episode, we watched a mockumentary ! We showed Jena a film by a group of gifted comedians who have sort of mastered the genre. A Mighty Wind is a fabulously funny film about folk music. Created by Christopher Guest and Eugene Levy, it has a smart approach to the topic and even manages to be poignant every now and again. It’s one of Tim’s favorite movies. We hope it will be one of yours as well! Our next episode will be about The Maltese Falcon...
Nov 01, 2014•31 min
For this episode, we took a look at a genre that has, as yet been untouched by our podcast – the documentary! We chose the 2009 Oscar winner, Man on Wire . The movie tells the story of one amazing stunt and at the same time, it tells the story of two buildings. We talk about this film as well as the genre of documentaries in general. The film is streaming on Netflix so we highly recommend checking it out. Our next episode will be about A Mighty Wind ! Man on Wire (2008) Rating: 7.7/10 (59,935 vo...
Oct 15, 2014•27 min
Jena had a last minute conflict so we were forced to enlist an emergency stunt Jena. Fortunately, Tim’s wife Pat was available. We had to make an alteration in movie (Pat has seen Man on Wire) so we pulled out The Dirty Dozen ! This classic example of a mission movie involves a great cast trying to save the world from the Nazis. Because that’s what heroes do. They save the world from the Nazis. Our next movie will, we promise, be Man on Wire ! The Dirty Dozen (1967) Rating: 7.7/10 (82,152 votes)...
Oct 01, 2014•42 min
We’ve finally arrived at “the greatest movie ever made” – Citizen Kane ! We tackle Orson Welles’ groundbreaking film as well as it’s reputation. We encounter a stable of great actors and talk about Welles’ career. Is this film the greatest move ever? That is certainly a matter of taste. We spend a lot of time talking about the film’s legacy and that may be more important than the film itself. We also say the next movie we watch will be “ Man on Wire .” Turns out we were wrong. It will be “ The D...
Sep 16, 2014•40 min
Having tackled Tim Burton’s Ed Wood , we used our latest episode to look at Ed Wood’s magnum opus, Plan 9 From Outer Space ! The film, rightly or wrongly, is hailed as the worst movie of all time. Our friend and bad movie aficionado Kelvin Hatle joins us once again to explore what will forever be known as Bela Lugosi’s last film. Listen as we talk about how this film got made and how it went from obscurity to cult classic. Our next episode will be all about one of the best movies ever made: Citi...
Sep 02, 2014•36 min
This episode, we enter the world of Tim Burton and his homage to the king of bad movies, Ed Wood ! What is true and what is not true about this story is nowhere near as important as the personal touch Burton brings to this story. You can tell that this is a movie dedicated to everyone who wanted to be an artist so badly, the fact they had no talent was of little consequence. Our next episode is inspired by this one. We’ll be watching Plan 9 From Outer Space ! Ed Wood (1994) Rating: 7.8/10 (188,5...
Aug 16, 2014•35 min
Our newest installment was once again recorded live at the Trylon microcinema in Minneapolis! We watched Metropolis with live accompaniment from Fugitive . Jena was treated to what many would consider the first true Science Fiction film with original music composed specially for the showing! A sold out house joined us for a great experience and many of them stayed behind to discuss the film. It was a great discussion cut short only because we wanted to make sure the folks at the Trylon could go ...
Aug 01, 2014•33 min
July is silent film month at A Reel Education! For our newest episode, we had Jena watch Buster Keaton’s best known work – The General ! Not only was this our first Buster Keaton film, it was our first trip into the world of silent film. We talk a lot about how the musical accompaniment changes the experience of watching one of these films. Speaking of silent films and musical accompaniment, our next episode will be recorded live at the Trylon theater on July 20th! We’ll be watching Metropolis w...
Jul 15, 2014•32 min
This week’s episode was recorded live at the Trylon theater in Minneapolis. We watched Francis Ford Coppola’s classic thriller The Conversation featuring Gene Hackman. Afterward, we had a spirited conversation with several members of the audience. Because we were live in the theater, some of the conversation might be a little bit quiet for some listeners. Sorry about that! Our next episode will be all about Buster Keaton’s The General ! The Conversation (1974) Rating: 7.7/10 (132,598 votes) Dire...
Jul 01, 2014•30 min
Jena wasn’t able to make it to the recording of this episode but that’s OK, we bought in a stunt Jena! This week’s stunt Jena was…Melissa! Turns out Cabaret was one of the few films that she had never seen. With Melissa our acting Jena, we were down one expert. Enter our friend Windy Bowlsby! Windy is a huge fan of the film and of Bob Fosse so she provided a great expert perspective. Enjoy our conversation about the only Oscar winning musical set in pre-Nazi Germany that we know about! Our next ...
Jun 15, 2014•39 min
For our newest episode, we subjected Jena to the 1984 train wreck that is David Lynch’s Dune ! We are joined by two special guests. First is Kelvin Hatle, who has an unholy love for bad movies great and small. Second is Jerry Belich who, along with Melissa, produced a Swede version of the film that you can (and should) watch on Youtube! We try to make sense of a film that almost works on many levels and yet completely fails on all of them. Who knows if we succeeded? We added the horrible song th...
Jun 01, 2014•48 min
This month, we began our new relationship with the Trylon microcinema in Minneapolis! They have great popcorn! For our first film, we watched David Lean’s epic masterpiece The Bridge on the River Kwai featuring Sir Alec Guiness and William Holden. There was much whistling and a bridge was destroyed! Nary a lightsaber was to be seen! We had great fun talking about this movie with the attendees of the film and you can hear how much fun if you only listen to the episode! Our June 1st episode will f...
May 15, 2014•28 min
Hard to believe we’ve made it this far in the life of our little podcast without getting down with some Martin Scorsese! Have no fear, this episode we take a look at one of his masterworks, Goodfellas ! DeNiro, Pesci and Liotta take us through the world of the gangster in a way that is very nearly Shakespearean. Larger than life characters play across the screen until we start to understand that they are are all seduced by their own ideas of their lives. Enjoy our trip through the lives of gangs...
May 01, 2014•36 min
In what is becoming a tradition, we watched this year’s Academy Award winner for Best Picture, 12 Years a Slave ! In an unusual twist, Tim was the only host who had actually seen the film already. The movie inspired a lot of discussion about slavery, the Oscars and, oddly, Gravity . We hope you enjoy our annual trip to the Academy Awards! Next time, we’ll be discussing one of Martin Scorsese’s greatest works: Goodfellas ! 12 Years a Slave (2013) Rating: 8.1/10 (769,342 votes) Director: Steve McQ...
Apr 15, 2014•39 min
This week, we dive into Billy Wilder for a walk along Sunset Boulevard ! William Holden and Gloria Swanson guide us through a wonderfully cynical look at Hollywood. We go down the meta rabbit hole as we discuss the casting on this film. We also spend far too much time talking about the horrible musical that was inspired by the film. Accept no substitutes! Our next episode, on April 15th, will be about the 2014 Academy Award Winner for Best Picture: 12 Years a Slave ! Sunset Boulevard (1950) Rati...
Apr 01, 2014•30 min
One of the challenges we’ve faced is finding an animated film that Jena hasn’t seen. While we can toss just about anything else in front of her, she’s watched almost everything by Disney. What a delight it was, then when we discovered that she had never seen one of the most underrated Disney films of all time, The Emperor’s New Groove ! She had seen the straight to video sequel but not the hilarious original. We have managed to rectify that situation so sit back and enjoy our conversation about ...
Mar 15, 2014•39 min
Following up on our last episode about Seven Samurai , this episode looks at the American remake. Yul Brynner, Steve McQueen, James Coburn, Charles Bronson and more up the manly quotient to unbearable levels in The Magnificent Seven ! The movie is a remarkably close adaptation of Kurosawa’s classic. We talk about the similarities as well as some of the very important differences. Tim even comes up with a convoluted and frighteningly logical explanation of how this movie is actually remake of The...
Mar 01, 2014•36 min
It is time for some Reel Education subtitled action courtesy of the great Akira Kurosawa’ s masterpiece, Seven Samurai ! While Jena speculates there will be flips in this film, she finds nary a one. Instead, she finds one of the greatest films ever along with some truly racist Japanese accents courtesy of Melissa and Tim! Seven Samurai enter! How many leave? That would be a spoiler! Seven Samurai (1954) Rating: 8.6/10 (388,416 votes) Director: Akira Kurosawa Writer: Akira Kurosawa, Shinobu Hashi...
Feb 15, 2014•40 min
Jena was unable to make our recording at Pepito’s this episode so we pulled in a Stunt Jena. Joining us at the Parkway was Tim’s son Alex, who got to watch his first Noir on the big screen. Our movie was the Noir classic Double Indemnity by Billy Wilder. People betrayed each other. People died. Insurance was sold. Yep. Insurance. Enjoy our conversation about a great film! Double Indemnity (1944) Rating: 8.3/10 (176,292 votes) Director: Billy Wilder Writer: Billy Wilder, Raymond Chandler, James M...
Feb 01, 2014•27 min
