It’s a big week at the theaters with the highly anticipated A24 release The Green Knight (starring Dev Patel, Alicia Vikander and Joel Edgerton), Jungle Cruise (starring Emily Blunt and Dwayne Johnson), as well as Matt Damon’s latest drama Stillwater. Before we get to our reviews of those films though, we have to touch on the Director’s Guild recent rule change which will exclude films without a theatrically exclusive release window from competing for their awards show next year. This puts HBO M...
Jul 27, 2021•1 hr 12 min•Ep. 175
Writer/director M. Night Shyamalan joins the show to talk bout his new film Old hitting theaters this week. We discuss his incredible camera work, how he chooses an aspect ratio for any given film, casting and working with actors, the moment from his childhood which seemingly sent him down the path of making thrillers and so much more. What an honor! We also discuss Black Widow dropping a considerable amount in its second week at the box office. The trailer for Ridley Scott’s new film The Last D...
Jul 22, 2021•1 hr 49 min•Ep. 174
Director Adam Robitel joins the show to discuss his new horror sequel Escape Room: Tournament of Champions. He touches on the resurgence of genre films, his approach to a sequel, his upcoming series with Darren Aronofsky and more. We have’t yet had the chance to chat about Marvel’s return to the big screen on the show. So this week we spend some time breaking down Black Widow’s triumphant box office performance, the potential lasting effects of its success on Disney+ and of course review Scarlet...
Jul 14, 2021•1 hr 54 min•Ep. 173
The legend Quentin Tarantino returns. This time, we sat down with the filmmaker at the launch of his novelization of Once Upon a Time in Hollywood in front of a wonderful crowd at The New Beverly Cinema in Los Angeles. We discuss moments and scenes in the book which were excluded from the film, why he gives us more details on Cliff Booth’s ambiguous past, some of Uma Thurman’s reservations on her iconic Kill Bill tracksuit, his 10th and final film and more. ReelBlend Premium Sign up for an extra...
Jul 06, 2021•1 hr 44 min•Ep. 172
Josh Lucas stars in the new Purge installment, The Forever Purge , from director Everardo Gout, and he joins the show for an incredible discussion on making the film. Not only that, but we cover some moments throughout his decade-spanning career, the directors and cinematographers he’s chased after, the few he has left on his list, and a great story about turning down Martin Scorsese. ReelBlend Premium Sign up for an extra episode a week, a bi-weekly newsletter from Sean, and ad-free episodes at...
Jul 02, 2021•46 min
Chris McKay, director of The Tomorrow War starring Chris Pratt, Yvonne Strahovski and J.K. Simmons, joins the show. We discuss working with a mega-star like Chris Pratt, working with practical effects on such a massive scale, and if his Nightwing movie will ever see the light of day. This week is packed with the releases so get right into our reviews of some of the major films hit theaters and streaming services. This includes Steven Soderbergh’s No Sudden Move , Janicza Bravo’s Zola , The Forev...
Jul 01, 2021•1 hr 5 min•Ep. 171
Director Janicza Bravo joins us for a great chat about the making of her new film Zola , starring Taylour Paige, Riley Keough and Colman Domingo. The film is based on viral Twitter thread chronicling a stripper named Zola’s truly wild journey on a road trip to Florida. ReelBlend Premium Sign up for an extra episode a week, a bi-weekly newsletter from Sean, and ad-free episodes at bit.ly/reelblendpremium . ReelBlend on YouTube Be sure to subscribe to ReelBlend on YouTube (YouTube.com/ReelBlendPod...
Jun 25, 2021•28 min
Steven Soderbergh, the legend himself, joins the show to discuss his new film No Sudden Move , starring Don Cheadle, Benicio Del Toro, Jon Hamm. We cover moments from across his filmography, from Sex, Lies and Videotape to Ocean’s Eleven to Contagion. F9: The Fast Saga hits theaters in the US this weekend, and our opinions couldn’t be differ any more. Let us know on social what you thought of the latest in the Fast and Furious franchise. In other news for the week, Steven Spielberg’s Amblin Ente...
Jun 23, 2021•1 hr 52 min•Ep. 170
Director Justin Lin joins the show to discuss F9: The Fast Saga , the latest in the Fast and Furious franchise, starring Vin Diesel, Michelle Rodriguez and the rest of the fam. He discusses opening the film with a vintage Universal Pictures logo, shooting on film, weighing practical effects with visual effects and more. This week, we also review Disney Pixar’s Luca , Netflix’s Fatherhood (starring Kevin Hart), and The Hitman’s Wife’s Bodyguard (starring Ryan Reynolds, Samuel L. Jackson, Salma Ha...
Jun 16, 2021•1 hr 32 min•Ep. 169
We were able to screen the first two episodes of Marvel’s new Disney+ series Loki starring Tom Hiddleston and Owen Wilson. We give our spoiler-free takes on the series so far, and it’s shaping up to be the best Marvel series to date. Jake was able to screen Jon M Chu’s In the Heights before it hits theaters this week, and gives us his thoughts on the hotly anticipated musical from the mind of Hamilton’s Lin-Manuel Miranda. This Week In Movies - Loki (Disney+) - Peter Rabbit 2: The Runaway - In t...
Jun 08, 2021•52 min•Ep. 168
The Conjuring franchise’s 8th installment, The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It (starring Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson) hits theaters and HBO Max this week, and director Michael Chaves took time to sit down and discuss his process in taking over the core of the franchise from James Wan. We also discuss the triumphant return of the movies with A Quiet Place Part II’s massive opening weekend, AMC’s potential acquisition of ArcLight Cinemas and more. This week’s BlendGame celebrates the Summer...
Jun 02, 2021•1 hr 31 min•Ep. 167
Writer/Director/Actor John Krasinski joins the show to discuss A Quiet Place Part II. Last year, before the theater-going industry shuttered, we were able to sit down in person with the director to chat about his horror follow up starring Emily Blunt, Cillian Murphy and Djimon Hounsou. A plethora of new trailers dropped over the past week, so we also give our initial reactions to The Eternals, Last Night In Soho, Gunpowder Milkshake, and The Tomorrow War. We discuss Amazon’s acquiring MGM. Sean ...
May 27, 2021•2 hr 3 min•Ep. 166
On this week’s show, Kevin returns with his review of Zack Snyder’s Army of the Dead , and the guys debate why the film only landed a 4/5 stars in each of their reviews. We also react to new trailers for Dear Evan Hansen starring Ben Platt, and Snake Eyes starring Henry Golding. Sean caught up with Joe Wright’s The Woman in the Window which hit Netflix last week, and things did not go so well. Also, some major industry news dropped late last week that Disney would be shrinking its theatrical rel...
May 19, 2021•1 hr 22 min•Ep. 165
Spiral director Darren Bousman joins the show to discuss working with Chris Rock, Samuel L. Jackson and Max Minghella on this new spin on the Saw franchise. We discuss how they design the various traps from across the series of films, he shares a jaw-dropping story about the work that went into creating Saw II’s infamous syringe set piece and more. Stay tuned to our YouTube channel for some additional spoiler conversation from our interview with Darren which is not included in this episode. This...
May 13, 2021•1 hr 41 min•Ep. 164
David Oyelowo joins the show to discuss his directorial debut feature The Water Man . The film which critics are describing as “Spielbergian” stars Rosario Dawson, Maria Bello, Alfred Molina and David Oyelowo himself. David shares an incredible behind-the-scenes story about how he was thrust into the director’s chair just before filming, his principles for telling a “live-action Pixar” story and more. Marvel dropped dates and footage from across their Phase 4 slate, but we also discuss some nota...
May 04, 2021•1 hr 22 min•Ep. 163
Kari Skogland, director of the Disney+ Marvel series The Falcon and the Winter Soldier , joins the show to discuss the series finale, the brutal bloody shield scene, where Steve Rogers might be and whether or not she’s interested in directing Captain America 4 . The awards season came to a close with the Academy Awards broadcast, and so we give our final thoughts on what was a rather lacking show. Also, Jake won the Oscars wager yet again this year, and he reveals what Sean and Kevin will have t...
Apr 30, 2021•1 hr 27 min•Ep. 162
BAFTA-nominated writer/director Ben Sharrock joins Sean for a discussion on his debut film Limbo about a Syrian refugees seeking asylum in Scotland. They discuss the film’s use of a taller aspect ration to convey a sense of othering, the film’s crazy run through the film festival and awards circuit, and more. ReelBlend Premium! Sign up for an extra episode a week, a bi-weekly newsletter from Sean, and ad-free episodes at bit.ly/reelblendpremium . ReelBlend on YouTube Be sure to subscribe to Reel...
Apr 28, 2021•19 min
Mortal Kombat director Simon McQuoid joins the show! We chat about adapting the iconic video game franchise, and creating edge-of-your-seat fight scenes. He also gets into the details behind deciding which of the fan-favorite characters had to bite the dust, and how they set themselves up for a sequel. We also get into some spoilers about the movie’s new character it’s introducing to the franchise, but don’t worry this episode is spoiler free. Keep an eye on our social channels for that clip to ...
Apr 22, 2021•1 hr 52 min•Ep. 161
Writer/director Ben Wheatley joins the show to chat about his new horror film In the Earth which he wrote and shot in the past year while some of his larger projects have been put on hold. He discusses some of the film’s visual tricks, the origins of the story and characters, working under strict safety protocols and how that might change the outlook of The Meg 2. In the main show, we react to the new trailer for Zack Snyder’s upcoming zombie action flick Army of the Dead, as well as the trailer...
Apr 14, 2021•1 hr 31 min•Ep. 160
Writer/director Neil Burger joins the show to discuss his new movie Voyagers (starring Colin Farrell, Tye Sheridan, Lily-Rose Depp) which hits theaters this week. He talks about the film’s resemblance to Lord of the Flies, Colin Farrell’s impact on set and more. We also get into some of his previous works discussing whether we’ll ever get the final Divergent film, and what it was like releasing The Illusionist weeks before Christopher Nolan’s The Prestige. Additionally, while Sean is away with f...
Apr 08, 2021•1 hr 51 min•Ep. 159
Godzilla vs. Kong director Adam Wingard joins the show! We discuss how they built scenes surrounding two CGI characters, why Kong is so effective for an audience emotionally and we even touch on some of his previous work in established franchises like Blair Witch and Death Note. You know we couldn’t have the director of the upcoming Face/Off sequel on without asking him about it, and he gave us a massive hint at where they’re headed with it. In rare fashion, we had some major news break during t...
Mar 24, 2021•1 hr 36 min•Ep. 158
It happened. Zack Snyder joins the show to celebrate and discuss the release of his of Justice League cut 4 years after the original, theatrical cut debuted, stirring up a fanbase like never before. We were able to chat with Zack on the day his Justice League hit HBO Max and streaming services around the world, and so we dive deep into full spoiler territory covering cameos, new footage shot, and even where he wanted to take the next two Justice League films if he had the chance. ReelBlend Premi...
Mar 22, 2021•37 min
Director Mary Wharton joins Sean to discuss her new documentary Tom Petty: Somewhere You Feel Free which is currently headlining the virtual SXSW festival. They touch on the process of working on a documentary during the pandemic, trying to find and tell a story with archival footage and inspiring collaboration between Tom Petty and Rick Rubin which the documentary focuses on. ReelBlend Premium Sign up for an extra episode a week, a bi-weekly newsletter from Sean, and ad-free episodes at bit.ly/...
Mar 18, 2021•19 min
Zack Snyder’s Justice League hits HBO Max this week! The guys dive in to a pretty much spoiler-free review of the new cut of Justice League, although if you want to go in knowing nothing, feel free to jump ahead and come back for our full thoughts. Basically though, we all really love it. The Oscars have finally announced their nominations for this year’s ceremony, and as always they’re bonkers on many fronts. We comb through some of the main categories and major stories that came from the annou...
Mar 16, 2021•1 hr 20 min•Ep. 157
Director Craig Brewer joins the show to discuss working with Eddie Murphy on Coming 2 America. He talks about how his perception of the film’s release changed throughout quarantine, shooting the film without a rating in mind, finding a role for Tracey Morgan and more. WandaVision finally wrapped up last week so the boys dig in to a full, spoiler-filled chat on the MCU’s first foray into TV storytelling. Marvel alums, The Russo Brothers’ new film Cherry starring Tom Holland is finally hitting App...
Mar 11, 2021•1 hr 30 min•Ep. 156
Robin Wright and Demián Bichir join the show to discuss their new film, and her directorial debut, Land. Land is a gorgeous, subtle film, and an impressive debut feature from Wright. They both have now in fact sat in the director’s chair on occasion, and so we discuss some of the lessons they took from directors while acting, and the major do’s and don’ts of the job. We also dig into the film’s gorgeous cinematography from Bobby Bukowski and why Robin chose to shoot an image much taller than you...
Mar 04, 2021•1 hr 39 min•Ep. 155
Director Tim Story joins the show to discuss his latest, Tom and Jerry. He gets into his love for the source material, how they developed Tom’s “traps” for the movie, building the sound design from the Hanna-Barbera archives and we even get to his take on one of his Fantastic Four characters making the jump to the MCU. Also on this week’s show, Spider-Man 3’s title, Spider-Man: No Way Home, has finally been revealed after a shaky social media announcement. Sean was able to see a couple scenes fr...
Feb 25, 2021•1 hr 36 min•Ep. 154
Composer Ludwig Göransson has worked on some incredible properties such as Black Panther at Marvel, The Mandalorian for LucasFilm and now Tenet with Christopher Nolan. He joins the show this week to discuss his work with Nolan, the process behind designing the score for the film and even how his music was able to influence how the film was actually shot. He also describes meeting Ryan Cooler in film school, their early student projects together, and their breakout feature Fruitvale Station. Reel...
Feb 23, 2021•36 min
Director Cathy Yan joins ReelBlend once again to discuss her debut film Dead Pigs. The film has had an interesting journey as it was originally completed, and ran the festival circuit before Cathy landed Birds of Prey. That said, the film is finally available for audiences to enjoy on the MUBI streaming service. You may have heard of the streamer most recently when Martin Scorsese called them out alongside The Criterion Channel as rare examples of platforms which actually curate their film selec...
Feb 19, 2021•25 min
Director Josh Greenbaum joins the show to discuss Barb and Star Go to Vista Del Mar (starring Kristen Wiig, Annie Mumolo, Jamie Dornan). He gets into the pure absurdity that guided the comedy of the film, Kristen Wiig's unbelievable duel performance, Jamie Dornan's amazing comedic turn and more. ReelBlend Premium! Sign up for an extra episode a week, a bi-weekly newsletter from Sean, and ad-free episodes at bit.ly/reelblendpremium . ReelBlend on YouTube Be sure to subscribe to ReelBlend on YouTu...
Feb 16, 2021•33 min
