Why Solo Underperformed, Reviewing Kubrick's 2001 in 70mm, & #StarWarsBlend Can we use the "D" word -- disappointment -- when it comes to Solo: A Star Wars Story's box office? This becomes the first major topic of conversation on ReelBlend Episode 23, where co-hosts Sean O'Connell , Kevin McCarthy and Jake Hamilton do a Monday Morning Quarterback analysis of Ron Howard's Star Wars adventure. The movie did fine at the box office, earning an estimated $103 million over the Memorial Day four-da...
May 30, 2018•1 hr 22 min•Ep. 23
Guest Rob Liefeld (Deadpool Creator/Artist), Deadpool 2 SPOILERS & David Fincher's Best Film Deadpool creator Rob Liefeld joined the guys for a full hour. And if you like the Deadpool movies, Marvel Comics and the MCU, and basically superhero entertainment in general, this one is a CAN'T MISS! Rob Liefeld has been the driving (X)force behind Deadpool since the character's creation in 1990. Rob has endured X-Men: Origins -- Wolverine. He celebrated Tim Miller's proper Deadpool movie in 2016. ...
May 22, 2018•1 hr 8 min•Ep. 22
Deadpool 2 Spoiler-free Reviews, Solo: A Star Wars Story Reactions & the Best Godfather Film This week Sean O'Connell (CinemaBlend), Kevin McCarthy (Fox 5 Washington DC) and Jake Hamilton (Fox 32 Chicago) give their SPOILER-FREE reviews of Deadpool 2 (Starring Ryan Reynolds, Josh Brolin and Zazie Beetz), discuss the news of a possible Lando and/or Obi-Wan Star Wars spinoff, give their early impression of Solo: A Star Wars Story, debate which Godfather film is the best, and more. Follow the s...
May 18, 2018•1 hr 9 min•Ep. 21
Childish Gambino's New Music Video, Summer Movie Preview & John Williams Best Score This week's episode is mainly focused on the Summer Movie season, so ReelBlend hosts Sean O'Connell , Kevin McCarthy and Jake Hamilton break the slate down into various categories: Most Anticipated; Least Anticipated; Highest Grossing (not named Avengers: Infinity War); and Indie/Off-the-Radar. The guys kick off with a spirited discussion about the potential Avengers 4 title... and whether they care at all wh...
May 09, 2018•1 hr 24 min•Ep. 20
Avengers: Infinity War Spoiler Discussion w/ Guest Erik Davis (Fandango) To help us settle a few of these key issues with Infinity War, we called in some help. Erik Davis is the Managing Editor over at Fandango, and a long-time friend of the guys. He knows his stuff when it comes to movies, and especially the Marvel Cinematic Universe. So we asked him on ReelBlend, and he was an awesome guest. Listen to what he has to say. There were a lot of questions Jake Hamilton , Kevin McCarthy and Sean O'C...
May 01, 2018•1 hr 27 min•Ep. 19
SPOILER-FREE Avengers: Infinity War Reviews & Tarantino's Best Movie Avengers: Infinity War is upon us! The boys were all lucky enough to have seen the film earlier this week, and are here to get you hyped with their spoiler-free discussion of Marvel and perhaps cinema's most ambitious project to date. Sean O'Connell , Jake Hamilton , and Kevin McCarth y discuss the wonderfully surprising success of the films many plot points, and use of character, the humor, heartbreak, and even terror that...
Apr 26, 2018•1 hr 14 min•Ep. 18
Special Guest Brad Peyton (Rampage & San Andreas Director) & Juicy Infinity War Rumors As it turns out, The Rock + Large-Scale Chaos + Towering CGI Creatures = Box Office Success! Over the weekend, Brad Peyton's Rampage squeaked out a box office win over John Krasinski's terrifying A Quiet Place, becoming the number 1 movie in the U.S. and around the globe. So it thrills us to report that, as part of his victory lap, Peyton hopped on the ReelBlend podcast as a very special guest to discu...
Apr 18, 2018•1 hr 31 min•Ep. 17
Special Guest Zak Penn (Ready Player One & The Avengers Screenwriter) & Meryl Streep's Best Performance If you've listened to ReelBlend the past few weeks -- and if you haven't, what's wrong with you? -- then you know that we have been strong advocates for Steven Spielberg's Ready Player One. The blockbuster legend was an ideal choice to adapt Ernie Cline's best-selling page-turner, itself a story that's drenched in nostalgia for a pop-culture era that Spielberg helped to create and shap...
Apr 11, 2018•1 hr 10 min•Ep. 16
Tom Hank's Best Performance & Sean's Unpopular Lord of the Rings Opinion Tom Hanks is an American treasure. Tom Hanks is a two-time Academy Award winner for Best Actor. Tom Hanks is freaking Woody, from the beloved Toy Story franchise! But what is Tom Hanks' BEST performance? This is the challenge laid down before the co-hosts of ReelBlend -- Sean O'Connell , Kevin McCarthy and Jake Hamilton . Which Hanks movie did they choose? On this week's episode, the guys also discuss Ready Player One's...
Apr 04, 2018•1 hr 14 min•Ep. 15
Ready Player One (spoiler-free) Reviews & Netflix vs Theatrical Release (Special Guest: Juan Fernández-Paris) Regular listeners know the familiar voices of co-hosts Sean O'Connell , Kevin McCarthy and Jake Hamilton . But this week, for the first time in ReelBlend history, the trio breaks ground by inviting a guest! Juan Fernández-Paris is the film critic for Wapa America. He's a longtime veteran of the junket circuit, where he has passed hours, days and years geeking out about movies with Se...
Mar 30, 2018•1 hr 7 min•Ep. 14
Pacific Rim Uprising, Avengers Box Office, & Scorsese's Best Pacific Rim Uprising is making its way to theaters. So Sean O'Connell, Jake Hamilton and Kevin McCarthy are diving into Steven S. DeKnight's robot-on-monster blockbuster, which Kevin liked, and Sean says is a coming out party for John Boyega as a franchise-carrying leading man. That discussion triggered a debate about the best sequels that came from directors who DIDN'T launch the franchise. How often does a series change hands, an...
Mar 22, 2018•1 hr 20 min•Ep. 13
Avengers: Infinity War Set Visit & A Wrinkle In Time Reactions It's a brand new day! The AwardsBlend podcast has undergone a change, and what once focused mainly on the Oscar race has expanded its scope. Welcome to ReelBlend! As Kevin McCarthy puts it on social media , "New show name. New logo. Same nerds." Those nerds are Kevin McCarthy , Jake Hamilton , and Sean O'Connell. And in this week's podcast, the trio starts off with a run through the top news stories of the day. Sean is finally ab...
Mar 14, 2018•1 hr 6 min•Ep. 12
2018 Academy Awards Recap & BIG ANNOUNCEMENT Welcome to Episode 11 of AwardsBlend! The Oscars have finally come, and Sean O'Connell , Kevin McCarthy , and Jake Hamilton are here to discuss. They talk about the shows nearly 4 hour runtime and record-low ratings, Jimmy Kimmel's performance as this year's host, the wins they're most happy about (including THE SHAPE OF WATER for Best Picture & Jordan Peele's GET OUT for Best Original Screenplay), the fact that Roger Deakins finally won, and ...
Mar 06, 2018•42 min•Ep. 11
Final Oscar Predictions & Spielberg's Best Film EVER Welcome to another episode of AwardsBlend! This is our final episode be fore the BIG show, and we couldn't be more excited. Sean O'Connell , Jake Hamilton , and Kevin McCarthy discuss Kevin Smith's recent health scare (wishing him and his the best), go through their picks for who will take home an Academy Award this year, and debate which of Steven Spielberg's films is his definitive best. The process wasn't easy, and we thank everyone who...
Mar 02, 2018•1 hr 22 min•Ep. 10
Who Could Win "Best Picture" & Black Panther Box Office Reactions Raise your hand if you haven't yet seen Black Panther? No one? Good, then you all can listen to the latest episode of AwardsBlend, where co-hosts Sean O'Connell , Kevin McCarthy and Jake Hamilton kick off their weekly film-geek discussion with a breakdown of Ryan Coogler's Marvel masterwork, then lay out their personal Top 5 Marvel movies to see if Black Panther makes the cut. From there, the guys dive into a discussion on the...
Feb 26, 2018•1 hr 6 min•Ep. 9
Black Panther Review & Breaking Down "Best Actor/Actress" Nominees This week, we're down a co-host, as Fox 32 Chicago's Jake Hamilton has to deal with a tooth problem. (The way he tells it, he chipped his tooth saving a bevy of adorable puppies, but we're guessing that's an embellishment.) So, AwardsBlend co-hosts Sean O'Connell and Fox 5 DC's Kevin McCarthy hold down the fort, and they kick off their discussion with a spoiler-free review of Ryan Coogler's new Black Panther. AwardsBlend dive...
Feb 14, 2018•1 hr 4 min•Ep. 8
Arguing Over Christopher Nolan's Best Film & 'Best Director' Breakdown What is Christopher Nolan's best film? Is it the twisty dream-infiltrating thriller Inception? Or the galaxy-hopping Interstellar? Maybe you'd choose one of his Batman films, or something else entirely? It's a question that the AwardsBlend hosts -- Sean O'Connell , Jake Hamilton and Kevin McCarthy -- tackle in this week's episode of the AwardsBlend podcast. You too can provide input by tweeting at the gang with #NolanBlen...
Feb 09, 2018•1 hr 25 min•Ep. 7
Celebrity Encounters & Best Supporting Actress & Actor Breakdown AwardsBlend is your weekly catch-up on all things Oscars as we inch closer and closer to the Academy Awards, which will be held on March 4 this year. Why in March? How come we haven't had this ceremony already? For real, these movies have been in theaters for weeks... even months. It seems like we easily could have had the Oscar ceremony already. The guys -- CinemaBlend Managing Director Sean O'Connell ; Fox 5 DC Entertainm...
Feb 03, 2018•1 hr 22 min•Ep. 6
Oscar Nominations Revealed & SAG Awards Reactions AwardsBlend co-hosts Sean O'Connell , Kevin McCarthy and Jake Hamilton hop behind their microphones this week to talk about the various Oscar nominations, where Guillermo del Toro's sci-fi creature romance The Shape of Water led all contenders with 13 noms, but Jordan Peele's Get Out followed right behind. Peele and his colleague, Greta Gerwig, also made headway as first-time filmmakers who broke into the coveted Best Director race. And we ma...
Jan 24, 2018•1 hr 25 min•Ep. 5
Critics' Choice Awards & Oscar Predictions This is AwardsBlend, a regular podcast on the CinemaBlend podcast network that is hosted by Managing Director Sean O'Connell Fox 5 Washington D.C. Entertainment Reporter Kevin McCarthy, and Fox 32 Chicago Entertainment Reporter Jake Hamilton . Sean and Kevin start off by talking about the Critics' Choice Awards, an event they were both able to attend (Jake was missed). From there, the show dives into the controversy swirling around a few current awa...
Jan 18, 2018•1 hr 11 min•Ep. 4
AwardsBlend #3: Golden Globe Reactions & Most Anticipated Movies of 2018 AwardsBlend #3 finally has the guys talking about an actual Awards telecast, as the Golden Globes handed out trophies to Lady Bird and Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, as well as wins for the likes of Saoirse Ronan, James Franco, Frances McDormand and Gary Oldman. What does this mean for the Oscar race? And what surprising wins might we see out of the Critics' Choice Movie Awards, which are handed out on Thurs...
Jan 10, 2018•1 hr 17 min•Ep. 3
AwardsBlend #2: Star Wars: The Last Jedi Reviews & Top 5 Movies of the Year In AwardsBlend #2, Sean , Kevin and Jake talked about Star Wars: The Last Jedi, and its awards chances (they are slim). They discussed their disappointment in the film, and the backlash being thrown at Rian Johnson by Star Wars fans. From there, the trio offered up their individual Top 5 films of the year. And if you know Kevin McCarthy, then you know that Christopher Nolan's Dunkirk received a lot of love. Enjoy! Dr...
Jan 10, 2018•1 hr 28 min•Ep. 2
AwardsBlend #1 - Welcome to the Show! CinemaBlend Managing Editor Sean O'Connell , Fox 5 Washington D.C. Entertainment Reporter Kevin McCarthy and Fox 32 News Chicago Entertainment Reporter Jake Hamilton are seasoned veterans of the film and entertainment beat. All three are members of the Broadcast Film Critics Association. And they are long-time friends who spend way too of their own free time discussing movies -- usually on a text-message chain that keeps them busy for days. Well, they are ta...
Jan 08, 2018•1 hr 12 min•Ep. 1
