Category: Podcast

You may not know it, but they’re always there. Lurking in the shadows. Lying in wait in otherwise abandoned subway tunnels. Standing by themselves in the corner at parties. Ghoulish freaks clinging to the tattered edges of civilization. Until you dare enter their dark domain, and they ask you the question you’ve feared your entire life, that query that fills your heart with an existential dread: Have you seen SPECIES? Episode 11 of the Reel Film Chronicles sees your intrepid hosts tackle this staple of ‘90s cult cinema and its host of sequels, which embody the very essence of the phrase “diminishing returns.” Join Nathan and Brian as they explore a personal favourite and do their best to spread the SPECIES love. So settle in and prepare to join the elite ranks of SPECIES fans. There are literally dozens of us!

Did we do a bonus episode? You betcha! With a backlog of episodes to edit, we felt it pertinent to give you a taste of a more “casual” (and I use this term lightly) episode that falls outside our usual routine. We’re here to talk about the 2021 film, JUNGLE CRUISE, starring none other than Dwayne Johnson, Emily Blunt, Jack Whitehall, Paul Giamatti and Jesse Plemons in another entry in Disney’s theme-park ride adaptations. This film falls suspiciously in line with PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN, but is so much worse. 

We cut right to the chase for IN THE EARTH, a movie shot during the pandemic about a very topical – yet vague – virus that has ravaged the world. Directed by Ben Wheatley, starring Joel Fry and Ellora Torchia (among others, of course), IN THE EARTH follows Martin and Alma as they head into a dangerous forest to find a research site. There’s a bit of intrigue, mystery and some quite horrific, gory special effects that finishes off in a pretty surreal climax.  Nathan and Brian begin the show by giving their initial, spoiler-free impressions and recommendation on the film, then head into full spoiler territory to discuss the movie in depth.

Eight episodes in and I don’t think we mentioned David Fincher yet, so we’re going all in for our talk about MANK on episode nine! Nathan and Brian start the show by ranking all of Fincher’s feature-length films, which is no easy feat. In addition to our standard spoiler warning, this episode carries another warning: we might in fact be “Fincher Fanboys”, as we struggle to find anything negative to say about the director’s filmography. It’s all in good fun though, as we don’t take things too seriously and head into a discussion on the 2020 film MANK, released on Netflix and nominated for 10 Academy Awards, including best picture. 

The duo jump head first into the MORTAL KOMBAT reboot! Opinions are mixed but we find plenty to talk about for this 2021 fantasy action film. We get the discussion started with a bit of context as we both describe our experience with the video games, and finish off the episode with our ranking of the three Mortal Kombat films.

We discuss Nicolas Cage’s latest eclectic movie WILLY’S WONDERLAND! Before we dive into the main feature, we spend some time talking about our favourite and memorable Nicolas Cage films.  As always with our feature-specific episodes, we do get into spoilers throughout. In this particular episode we do discuss some of the gore in this R-rated film that may not be appropriate for younger listeners.

Nathan and Brian discuss the 2020 natural disaster film Greenland, starring Gerard Butler and Morena Baccarin. Although we don’t mention it in the episode, we do head into spoiler territory, so please be warned! Before tackling the film, we discuss our favourite disaster films, including the films that that we grew up with, adored and point out some of the lowest points of the genre.

Join us as we jump into the much anticipated director’s cut of ZACK SNYDER’S JUSTICE LEAGUE! As we work our way through the general plot of the film, we stay pretty positive as we discuss our favorite changes to this version of film’s story, characters, special effects and new aspect ratio. Also be warned: we do not hold back on spoilers in this episode.

Starting with a discussion of our beloved time travel films, this episode has the Chronicles delving into the 2020 sci-fi film by Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead: Synchronic! Starring Anthony Mackie and Jamie Dornan, Synchronic continues the directing duo’s trend of thought-provoking, mind-bending combination of science fiction and drama. We couldn’t recommend this film enough, and this episode doesn’t hold back in spoilers.