Reels & Wheels: Recent Episodes
sid@thesidagency.com (Sid Bridge, James Rodatus)
It's the height of the 80's. Coming off the success of The Lost Boys, the world has gone nuts for the two Coreys. And lovers of car-spotting definitely need to revisit License To Drive!
TriangleRAD's Christopher Scott joins us to talk about a movie that might center around a 1972 Cadillac, but today, the cars just hanging around in the background steal the show!
Find out what it's like to revisit a movie like this one and see how it's become a fun bit of 80's nostalgia. Also, make sure you check out the raddest car club in North Carolina, TriangleRAD at www.trianglerad.com!
Reels and Wheels returns with guest Brandon Forbes, a car enthusiast who writes the "Readers' Rides" feature for The Autopian.
...and once again, we're discussing an H. B. "Toby" Halicki car-crash fest that just happens to be a movie. It's the original Gone in 60 Seconds.
Do you like to see cars get stolen and wrecked? Do you like to see car chases that last longer than the rest of the movie? Do you like H.B. Halicki? Brandon joins James and Sid to try and cover the ridiculous number of cars in this movie, as well as the stunts, and the, um, "plot."
Derek Williams returns to help James and Sid make heads or tails of the follow-up to Initial D, MF Ghost.
It's something, all right.
Find Derek @Derek5Letters on social media and give him a follow!
Ok, The Man from Uncle is not a bad movie. It's not a good movie. It's a movie. Our guest picked it out and we couldn't be more excited.
Robert Dunn of the Aging Wheels (beep beep) YouTube channel joins us and he found the one movie that features a car chase between a Trabant and Wartburg!
Robert is a Trabant owner and his YouTube channel (go here. Subscribe. It's awesome) features a lot of amazing, quirky content on bizarre automobiles.
James and Sid discuss the all-time question, what's more deadly? Werewolves or Land Rovers.
Yep. It's Dog Soldiers. There's some thoughtful back and forth here as Sid sees this as a top-5 example of a good low-budget Werewolf movie, while James found it a bit schlocky.
Either way, we have two Land Rovers. Find out what unlikely vehicles they actually represent on the newest episode of @ReelsandWheels!
Sid and James tackle the cult classic meow movie about State Troopers who can't take their job seriously. It's fun. But... meow why?
It's a long story that Sid tells meow at the beginning of the podcast about the sad end to his meow Thunderbird and his recent meow NA Miata purchase.
Oh, and meow Super Troopers has a Miata. So there.
Meow.
James Dean had a short career as a movie star and died tragically before his fame was in full effect. Rebel Without a Cause is a stand-out for Dean, but we delve into his personal life to talk about the cars he raced as well.
Joining us is Patrick Fransko of Speedster Dreams. Patrick has a wealth of knowledge about James Dean and he has incredible stories from building his own James Dean tribute Speedster - learn more at www. speedsterdreams.com!
Derek Williams - Comedian, voice talent, expert gamer and Anime lover - is back on Reels and Wheels and he has a great Anime for us.
The obscure(ish) Riding Bean!
This one kind of defies description. It's a 45-minute one-off short movie that never led to a longer series. The story follows Bean, an accomplished Chicago driver as he gets caught up in a kidnapping plot as convoluted as The Big Lebowski.
But... the cars! Sure, we have plenty of well-drawn, brand name vehicles, but Bean's car is a bizarre amalgam of vehicles so well-put together, that no two people see the same influences.
Make sure you follow Derek (@DerekFiveLetters) and follow Reels and Wheels and leave us some feedback!
Ready for a very unique episode of Reels and Wheels?! For the first time, (and it's about time!) we talk locomotives! This is the 1926 classic Buster Keaton silent film, The General.
Joining James and Sid is one of our favorite cinematic experts (and a guy who knows his Buster Keaton), Brett Stillo!
The General is silent comedy based on a real life civil war locomotive chase. We also answer the always looming question... Can a silent film still captivate an audience today?
Spoiler alert - with this film, YES. Make sure you catch up with Brett Stillo on social media and keep up with his own movie project.
Make sure you subscribe to Wheels and Wheels on your favorite podcast platform and leave us some feedback!
Happy Holidays from Reels and Wheels! For this episode, Sid & James get into the holiday season with Planes Trains & Automobiles - a John Hughes classic about the worst attempt at holiday travel ever.
This movie definitely delivers in the "Planes, Trains and Automobiles" department, with a glorious assortment of malais-era cars, but it's also an excellent movie that rises above comedy by creating two deep, relatable characters.
Plus we have a who's who of 1980's background character actors and an unlikely Star Trek actor cameo. Send us your feedback, @ReelsandWheels!
It's Halloween, so let's talk Halloween! This 1978 John Carpenter really kickstarted the slasher genre - and it was 1978, so there we plenty of scary malaise era cars to talk about.
Joining Sid and James is Mike Moran, comedian, musician and host of the Confessional Podcast!
Make sure you check out Mike Moran and the Confessional Podcast here: https://moranmichaelj.podbean.com/
Follow @ReelsandWheels on social media and subscribe!
It's Halloween, so let's talk Halloween! This 1978 John Carpenter really kickstarted the slasher genre - and it was 1978, so there we plenty of scary malaise era cars to talk about.
Joining Sid and James is Mike Moran, comedian, musician and host of the Confessional Podcast!
Make sure you check out Mike Moran and the Confessional Podcast here: https://moranmichaelj.podbean.com/
Follow @ReelsandWheels on social media and subscribe!
It's a car movie starring a young Tommy Lee Jones as a sex symbol. And it's not Black Moon Rising. We already did that one. No, this movie is MUCH MUCH WEIRDER. The Betsy pretends to be a car movie, but it's possibly got the least car content of any movie we've covered here on Reels and Wheels (and we include Spaceballs in that tally).
Joining us for this podcast is Joe Ligo. Joe is a filmmaker working on a documentary about American Motors... and that's how he discovered The Betsy. In a rare moment, AMC allowed the cameras to roll at their headquarters and everyone he interviewed for the documentary talked about it.
But... but... this movie. It's all over the place. It's an attempt at a dramatization of Henry Ford's life, with a lot more sordid details added in (and given Henry Ford's life, adding more sordid details is an accomplishment). It's just bizarre. And bad.
Find out more about Joe's documentary here: https://www.facebook.com/AmericanMotorsMovie
and consider helping out Joe's production at their GoFundMe page here: https://www.gofundme.com/f/the-last-independent-automaker-a-documentary
It's 1982. It's Eddie Murphy's first acting role. It's Nick Nolte when he was still considered a handsome leading man. It's a time when a 1964 Cadillac was considered a shitbox.
Sid and James are joined once again by Derek Williams, comedian, 80's expert, and alpha geek of comedy!
Reels and Wheels is back! And by request, Matt Cole, our resident Nicholas Cage expert, has returned to talk about the 2000 remake of Gone in 60 Seconds!
This movie definitely has some baffling moments. It's also got kind of a crazy backstory regarding it's relationship to the H.B. Halicki original. But... is it enough Nicholas Cafe? James, Sid and Matt discuss...
In 1991, an attempt was made to reboot Knight Rider with a new Pontiac Banshee-inspired version of KITT. It failed.
However...
It's worth a second watch. Is it good? Not really. Does it do a good job predicting the year 2000? Mostly no. Is it a PG rip-off of RoboCop? Strangly, yes!
James and Sid have a lot of weird things to talk about, not the least of which is the presence of Chevy Beretta police cars. Weird.
Ghostbusters Afterlife tries to strike the right balance between appealing to a new generation and diving into rich nostalgia for old-school Ghostbusters fans.
Joining Sid and James for this episode is comedian, podcaster and convention fixture George Plank!
We discuss the great story behind this movie's version of Ecto-1 and the other interesting cars that make up the supporting cast!
Get Shorty is a very 90's movie. And it features the Cadillac of minivans, the Oldsmobile Silhouette!
Joining us for this episode is Amanda Marks of the Sis & Tell Podcast!
How many movies can you name that started a religion? The Big Lebowski brought us Dudeism. It also happens to be an awesome movie, however... Get ready for an off-the-rails episode of Reels & Wheels as James and Sid are joined by Brad and Adam of the Gutterballs Podcast, two guys who really embody the ideals of Dudeism.
Consequently, the conversation meanders a lot. Still, The Big Lebowski and its cars get a lot of love here and there's a mystery that you can help us solve in the process.
Make sure you visit Gutterballs: The Podcast at Gutterballs.tv and enjoy!
Is reality all it's cracked up to be? Does the value of fiction outshine real life? This is Big Fish.
Joining us to discuss this Tim Burton masterpiece is Jalopnik's resident wrencher, adventurer, David Tracy!
David gets the opportunity to introduce Sid and James to his favorite movie and talk about choosing a life of adventure.
Find David's articles at Jalopnik.com and following his adventures on Instagram @DavidnTracy. Follow @SidBridgeComedy and @S2KJames - make sure you subscribe to @ReelsandWheels and leave some feedback!
James and Sid are joined by the biggest Nicolas Cage resource around. He's an actor, improv comic, and podcast host - Matt Cole!
This episode is hard to describe in a couple of paragraphs. Yes, we talk about the cars - especially the Corvette and the GTI, but this podcast has an insanity level that lives up to Nicolas Cage expectations.
Make sure you follow @ReelsandWheels and hosts @SidBridgeComedy and @S2KJames on social media! Spread the word about Reels and Wheels and leave us some feedback!
In part two of our episode on Clouzot's Wages of Fear, we discuss its along with its remake, Sorcerer.
Clouzot's 1953 thriller The Wages of Fear was a groundbreaking movie and was later remade into Sorcerer, a favorite movie of ours.
Joining Sid and James once again is Remi Treuer, comedian and host of "Say the X" on Twitch.
Part one of this episode focuses on The Wages of Fear - its characters, its setting, and its artful build-up of tension. It's a true classic.
Can American auto workers get along with their new Japanese bosses? That was the big question in the mid-1980's as Ron Howard's Gung Ho, inspired by real events, tried to tackle the subject as an inspirational comedy.
In hindsight, it's an awkward movie to watch, riddled with racist/xenophobic assumptions about both the Japanese and American auto workers.
But hey, we need to talk about the cars! And joining us is Jason Torchnisky, Jalopnik writer, published author of Robot Take the Wheel, and legendary Changli owner!
The cars of the fictional Assan Motors are represented mostly by Fiat Regattas, but the movie has quite a few interesting featured cars!
Find Jason Torchinsky at Jalopnik.com or on social media @JasonTorch / @JasonTorchinsky and remember to subscribe to Reels and Wheels and leave some feedback!
Few shows nail nostalgia so perfectly while simultaneously endearing us to new characters. Cobra Kai knocks it out of the park.
Cars have always been a key part of the Karate Kid franchise, from Mr. Miyagi's collection of classics to Mrs. Larusso's Malibu wagon to Johnny's Avanti II, Cobra Kai had a lot to live up to... and it does. Nicely.
Comedian, Comedy Instructor and friend of the podcast Tim Loulies joins us to talk Cobra Kai!
Find Tim Loulies online at @Big44Comedy and make sure you subscribe to Reels and Wheels!
CONVOY!
Hear us out on this one...
As a production, Convoy was a bit of a train wreck. A drug-fueled, past-his-prime Sam Peckinpaw was trying to direct a dark film that made a statement about unfair laws. The studio wanted something more like Smokey and the Bandit, which came out the year before. Neither side one.
The result is a tonally strange movie, but somehow... somehow... it's super relevant today. Derek Williams once again joins Sid and James to discuss this bizarre movie that has way more to it than you think. It's actually a strong statement against police using the wrong enforcement tactics and a reminder that black lives matter.
Remember to subscribe and leave us feedback!
In this special, co-branded episode of Reels and Wheels, Sid and James are joined by Brad McMurran and Sean Devereux of The Pushers, hosts of the Nerds of Comedy podcast!
...and what amazing, special, exciting movie could possibly be important enough to bring these two podcasts together? Cannonball Run 2, of course!
All kidding aside, Hal Needham's second Cannonball movie is mindless fun. It's ridiculous. It's over-the-top. It makes no sense. And it's just awesome.
Sean and Brad are partners at The Push Comedy Theater. Like most comedy venues, it has had to close down during the COVID-19 Pandemic. The theater is not only a great place to experience comedy, it is also a key training ground for comedic talent in southeastern Virginia. Please consider going to www.pushcomedytheater.com and making a donation!
Don't forget to send us your feedback - and subscribe on all the podcast services you can find us on! @SidBridgeComedy & @S2KJames
There can be only one!!!
Sid and James tackle the 1986 classic Highlander, the story of an immortal, caught in a centuries-long struggle to claim a prize by beheading other immortals. And he drives a Porsche 356 Speedster.
A discussion ensues on the virtues and not-virtues of the 356 and we take a look at the other cars of Highlander. We also feel the need to single out Clancy Brown, who's portrayal of The Kurgan gave us an outstanding villain.
This episode was inspired by a Twitter conversation with our good friend, Lovell Porter - find him on Twitter @AboveAverageLLP. Make sure you subscribe to Reels and Wheels and leave us some feedback! @SidBridgeComedy and @S2KJames
David Michod's The Rover is a bleak, Australian post-apocalypse story. Sound familiar? It's definitely not Mad Max.
Michod's anarchic landscape lacks hope... or even a real hero. The movie is a slog, depressing and gritty from start to finish. It's kind of character piece you would expect from a film that was chosen to be screened at Cannes.
James liked it. Sid hated it. Both agree: While relevant, it's a depressing watch during the COVID-19 pandemic. Save it for later and listen to Reels and Wheels instead.
This is the movie we've been waiting for. This is a story so crazy we're surprised it took this long to become a movie. This is Ford V Ferrari.
Joining James and Sid is racecar driver Aditya "Deech" Madhaven as we talk about the incredible story of Carroll Shelby and Ken Miles. Ford V Ferrari is a rare example of a car movie that is so good that it can be enjoyed by people who aren't into cars.
Deech brings tons of knowledge to the table and this episode is entertaining and informing - and it was a blast to record. It's a bit longer than usual because we enjoyed this movie so much.
Make sure you follow us online - @ReelsandWheels, @S2KJames, @SidBridgeComedy!
Stuber is a movie where the hero car is an all-electric Nissan Leaf. It also stars WWE-wrestler-turned-actor Dave Bautista as a trigger-happy cop with bad eyesight.
Joining us for this episode is Lovell Porter, creator of BlaqueRabbit.com and writer/play-by-play analyst for WrestleZone!
So, is the Leaf a cool car? Can James become a wrestling fan? Is Stuber worth watching?
Find Sid @SidBridgeComedy and James @S2KJames online. Subscribe to Reels and Wheels in Stitcher, iTunes or Google Play and leave us some feedback! Find Lovell at BlaqueRabbit.com and at WrestleZone.com!
Merry Christmas from Reels and Wheels! On this special Christmas episode, James and Sid talk about Christmas Vacation and the bizarre 1989 Ford Taurus wagon with custom wood paneling!
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@SidBridgeComedy
If there's one thing to be said for animation, it's that the sky's the limit. Whatever craziness is hiding in your imagination - if you're good enough to draw it - can become a movie.
Redline is a 2009 animated film that takes inspiration from all over the place - Death Race 2000, Aeon Flux, Aliens - you name it! This movie has dystopian governments, mutant bio-weapons, cyborgs, over-the-top hot rods, and a hero who sports a pompadour.
Joining us for this episode is Anime aficionado Remi Treuer, who drops plenty of knowledge on us as we try to process this insane movie.
Find Remi at SayTheXPod.com and @SayTheXPod on social - don't forget to follow @SidBridgeComedy and @S2KJames and leave us some feedback!
It's our Halloween episode! It's become traditional at Reels and Wheels to pick a horror movie with a car or two in it to discuss on Halloween and this year it's the movie that gave us the modern definition of zombies - the original Night of the Living Dead (and it's 1990 remake)!
Joining Sid and James is their good friend and zombie expert, Derek Williams!
Zombies! Classic Pontiacs! Classic Pickups! What more could you ask for?
Find Derek online @Derek5letters - and follow @ReelsandWheels and leave us some feedback! @SidBridgeComedy and @S2KJames
Want to cry? Want to be sad? Have we got the movie for you!
The Art of Racing in the Rain is a sad movie based on Garth Stein's really sad book of the same name. It chronicles all the sad stuff that happens to Denny, a racecar driver, through the eyes of his dog, Enzo.
It does a great job of showing the blue collar side of car racing. And it does a great job of making you cry. A lot. Joining Sid and James to cry together is JG Pasterjak of Grassroots Motorsports. JG has met the author and, as a racer himself, has a great take on the movie.
Cry with Sid @sidbridgecomedy
Cry with James @s2kjames
Cry with JG at www.grassrootsmotorsports.com
Cry with @Reelsandwheels on iTunes, Stitcher or GooglePlay!
Breaking the sound barrier. Going to space. The story didn't require a ton of embellishing to make a great movie. These pilots had the right stuff and speed was their life - from the planes they flew to the horses they rode to the cars they drove.
Our good friends Josh Horowitz and Brett Stillo from the 5 Minutes of Trouble and 5 Minutes of Banzai podcasts join us once again to talk about a great 1980's movie that gave us real heroes in some really cool 1950's cars.
Make sure you subscribe to Reels and Wheels on iTunes, Stitcher or Google Play and leave us some feedback!
@SidBridgeComedy, @S2KJames
And find 5 Minutes of Trouble here:
http://5minutesoftrouble.com/
Fans of the original Transformers toys/cartoons finally got the movie they wanted in Bumblebee - the first Transformers movie to diverge from the Michael Bay explosion-fest to bring us back to the 1980's.
Sid and James are joined by The Salty Seaman, Gabriel Owens, host of the Military Bulls**t podcast in this co-branded episode.
Bumblebee kind of took a risk in appealing to all the 40-somethings who loved Transformers when they were kids instead of trying to sell a new generation on new toys.
What we got was a great tribute to the 1980's, with some really great cars in the background - including a car chase featuring a Vista Cruiser!
Gabe has plenty to bring to the conversation - enjoy as we geek out over Bumblebee!
Make sure you subscribe to Reels and Wheels on iTunes, Stitcher or Google Play and leave us some feedback!
@SidBridgeComedy
@S2KJames
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Find Gabe's podcast here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCNJGW1TV7r_K4lsd7-wEf0A
Did you know that a young, often shirtless Tommy Lee Jones starred in a 1986 heist movie with Linda Hamilton where they had to steal a Knight Rider-esque concept car?
Neither did we! Thanks to our friend and guest from Plaid Dad Blog, Christian Lee for turning us on to this obscure movie that's so packed with 1980's tropes you'll automatically grow a mullet while watching it.
Once we get past all the bizarre casting choices and plot contrivances, there's a hell of a story to tell about the hero car, the Wingho Concordia II. Listen to this one. It's good.
Find Christian at Plaid Dad Blog and at Dadsews.com as well as his many other projects!
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Subscribe on iTunes, Stitcher or Google Play!
In this mini-episode, James and Sid do something different - reviewing the trailers for two upcoming movies, Ford vs. Ferrari and The Art of Racing in the Rain.
Ford vs. Ferrari is basically covers everything James and Sid always argue about and The Art of Racing in the Rain is about a dog. Both are exciting in their own way.
@ReelsandWheels - iTunes, Stitcher, Google Play
@S2KJames
@SidBridgeComedy
Ask anybody to name the greatest cars in TV history and the list is often topped by the General Lee. Controversy over confederate imagery aside, the Duke boys and their 1968 Dodge Charger somehow struck a chord with car lovers everywhere.
The first episode of The Dukes of Hazzard is a lot more adult-oriented because the show runners had no idea it would become beloved by kids. It does a great job presenting the characters, their motivations and all of the quirks in pretty short order.
...and the cars! While the General Lee takes center stage with its obnoxious orange paint and improbably jumps, the supporting cast of vehicles is nothing to sneeze at - from Daisy's 1973 Roadrunner to Roscoe's police Monaco to the rare muscle cars that get bumped around because in the 80's nobody knew they were rare... this show is a car lover's dream.
Follow @ReelsandWheels on social media! Subscribe on iTunes, Stitcher or Google Play! Follow Sid (@SidBridgeComedy) and James (@S2KJames) and let us know what you think! Also, we will soon be publishing this episode on YouTube so watch for us there, too!
Some background on this episode - Last time we had Steve Lehto on the podcast (for Tucker: The Man and his Dream), we started talking about the Chrysler Turbine Car. It was Steve who told us it actually was center stage in an obscure movie, so...
Steve Lehto of Lehtoslaw.com joins us once again to discuss The Lively Set! This 1964 movie is almost a propaganda piece for Chrysler's engineering division and their efforts to make a turbine powered car.
The legend at the center of it is Chrysler's experimental Turbine Car - they made 55 of them. 54 were painted bronze and one was painted white just for this movie.
Steve is the definitive authority on the Turbine Car. He literally wrote the book on it. He is the source for most of the Wikipedia page, and he got invited by Jay Leno to drive the Turbine Car in his collection.
Needless to say you're in for some fascinating stories. This episode is required listening. Enjoy!
Follow Sid (@SidBridgeComedy) and James (@S2KJames) on social media! Subscribe on Stitcher, iTunes or Google Play and leave some feedback!
Find Steve Lehto, well, everywhere. A great place to start is on his website, www.lehtoslaw.com.
An episode of Reels and Wheels about Star Trek? Thanks to the classic gangster episode from season 2, absolutely!
James and Sid let out their inner Trekkie and geek out for the Cadillac V-12 that Captain Kirk attempts to drive. A Piece of the Action represents everything good and bad about the original Star Trek.
The episode was hokey, but it made great use of a low budget and really capitalized on the interplay between Kirk, Spock and McCoy.
Make sure you subscribe to Reels and Wheels on iTunes, Stitcher or Google Play and leave us some feedback!
@SidBridgeComedy
@S2KJames
@ReelsandWheels
This is our first episode covering a movie from the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and joining us for the occasion is one of our favorite guests, Ed Carden - a resident MCU expert and member of the Pushers comedy troupe!
Ant Man and the Wasp shows a light-hearted, fun side of the MCU and we like it because it takes playing with Matchbox Cars to a whole new level. Besides, Reels and Wheels has a moral obligation to cover any movie that includes a chase down Lombard Street.
Enjoy the new episode and leave us some feedback - @ReelsandWheels, @SidBridgeComedy, @S2KJames and find Ed at www.pushcomedytheater.com!
It's a movie about the guy making the movie that references his other movies. H.B. Halicki gave us the classic movie "Gone in 60 Seconds." That gave him enough movie to film himself crashing cars over and over again and show off his collectibles while a flimsy "plot" happened around him.
The Junkman - It's a bad movie, but it's still kind of fun to watch. Joining James and Sid for this episode is Ethan Tufts of the Hello Road YouTube channel.
There are almost too many cars to cover in this malaise-era movie, and most of them get destroyed. The stunts are thoroughly reckless and you can see plenty of places where stunt drivers almost died, so, yeah - fun to watch. Kind of.
Make sure you subscribe to @ReelsandWheels on Stitcher, iTunes or Google Play and leave us some feedback!
Check out Ethan's YouTube Channel, Hello Road while you're at it - it's more than just driving interesting cars - it's interesting destinations in those cars: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCASdNl0eESlmjmCVJ2U0D7A
Some men are Baptists, others Catholics; my father was an Oldsmobile man.
A Christmas Story - It's a silly movie about a very real family dynamic. It's also a tale of a love/hate relationship with an Oldsmobile that would freeze up in the middle of Summer on the equator!
James and Sid talk about this holiday classic and the father/car/family dynamic it captures so perfectly.
Happy Holidays from Reels and Wheels!
@SidBridgeComedy
@S2KJames
The 80's was all about exploiting our fear of the power of computers and Weird Science, another John Hughes classic, is a modern-day Frankenstein playing to our fear of keyboards, CRT monitors and phone modems.
High school nerds Gary and Wyatt use a computer to create the perfect girl (and Kelly LeBrock fits that part nicely), who provides them with not only the confidence and popularity they have dreamed of, but also a few really cool automobiles.
Joining us is David Obuchowski, Jalopnik writer and host of the Tempest Podcast, helping us take a look back and see how this movie holds up.
Does it hold up today? How strange was their choice of Ferraris? Any other 1980's kids remember the 928 as their introduction to what a Porsche is?
Follow James (@S2KJames) and Sid (@SidBridgeComedy) - subscribe to @ReelsandWheels and leave us some feedback! Find David's podcast on www.jalopnik.com and catch him on Twitter @DavidOfromNJ!
Reels and Wheels celebrates Halloween by sitting down on Halloween night and talking about Quentin Tarantino's tribute to classic Grindhouse movies, Death Proof!
Death Proof is a Horror/Thriller for car guys, layered with references to all the great classic car chase movies covered on this podcast, like Vanishing Point, Dirty Mary Crazy Larry, and Bullitt.
It's also a Tarantino movie, so there's tons of snappy dialogue and a few key points of extremely graphic violence. We have some amazing cars - the psychotic Stuntman Mike, played to perfection by Kurt Russell, choose both a 1971 Chevy Nova and a 1969 Charger. Our protagonists show up in a 1972 Mustang, dead set on getting a test drive of an Alpine white 1970 Challenger similar to the Vanishing Point car!
How much Tarantino is too much Tarantino? How deep to the tributes and references go? How unintentionally creepy is the movie?
Make sure you subscribe on iTunes, Stitcher or Google Play and leave us some feedback! @SidBridgeComedy, @S2KJames, @ReelsandWheels
On this episode Reels and Wheels pays tribute to the late Burt Reynolds with a great movie - White Lightning. Joining us once again is racer, writer & comic JG Pasterjak!
White Lightning celebrates the ethos of running moonshine and was one the cutting edge of the "small town with corrupt sheriff" movie trope.
Smuggling moonshine is how NASCAR was born, but it really qualifies as its own category of car racing - it requires a large car that can carry all the cargo AND a large engine so it can outrun the police. The Ford Custom 500 was perfect for the role.
What kind of car would you run moonshine in? Do towns like this still exist?
Find JG Pasterjack at www.grassrootsmotorsports.com! Find Sid (@SidBridgeComedy) and James (@S2KJames) online - subscribe to Reels and Wheels on iTunes, Stitcher or GooglePlay and leave some feedback!
Diamonds are Forever! It was Sean Connery's last official James Bond movie (not counting the non-Eon Never Say Never Again) and it was an interesting mixture of classy and campy; providing a precursor to the Roger Moore era.
It also had some interesting car choices - A Triumph Stag, a 1971 Mustang Mach I and a moon buggy created by legendary car customizer Dean Jeffries! Joining Sid and James is friend of the podcast and cohost of Five Minutes of Trouble/Five Minutes of Banzai, Brett Stillo!
Can James come to terms with Sid's recent purchase of a Triumph Spitfire? Can one "drive British" in a Mustang Mach I? What extremely cool (before they were famous) cameo is buried in this movie?
Find Brett at http://5minutesoftrouble.com/ - Catch Sid (@SidBridgeComedy) and James (@S2KJames) on social! Subscribe to Reels and Wheels on Itunes, Stitcher or Google Play and leave some feedback!
Son, you got a panty on your head.
Raising Arizona - a masterpiece of a comedy/satire from the Coen brothers is a memorable, quotable and purely enjoyable movie from a time when Nicolas Cage wasn't just a walking punchline.
Kyle Phalen (who previously joined us for Rain Man) joins us to talk about the movie and gets an education on Malaise Era cars in the process.
What did the 1972 Impala mean for America? Was there automotive optimism in the post-muscle car age? Was Reagan really to blame for the problems of the mid 1980's?
Kyle challenges Sid and James in ways they just plain weren't ready for - you're gonna enjoy this episode.
Subscribe on Stitcher, iTunes or Google Play and leave us some feedback! Connect with us online @ReelsandWheels, @S2KJames and @SidBridgeComedy!
Netflix made a movie! And it's got Forrest Whitaker in it! And it sucks!
We love post-apocalypse movies at Reels and Wheels, so we had high hopes for How it Ends, the Netflix original that scrounged up enough cash to hire Forrest Whitaker. Sadly, the movie is just not good.
Will wants to marry Samantha, but Samantha's father, Tom hates his guts. Then the apocalypse happens and Will and Tom have to drive 2,000 miles to find Samantha because of course they do.
Suffering through the movie with us is Tom's Cadillac CTS - not a CTS-V, so don't get too excited, but still an interesting choice for a post-apocalyptic road trip.
Hopefully it gets better from here, Netflix. Subscribe to Reels and Wheels on iTunes, Stitcher or Google Play and leave some feedback! @ReelsandWheels @S2KJames @SidBridgeComedy
Cobra (1986) is an 80's cop movie that you can absolutely love (in theory) if you get past how reprehensible it is. Sylvester Stallone is a cop who plays by his own rules. His peers don't like the fact that he kills everyone he should be arresting, but they let it go because he "gets the job done."
Joining us to talk Cobra and its iconic 1950 Mercury is podcaster and comic Matthew Carter. Matt actually watched this movie when he was 8, which is a little disturbing, but we can cut him some slack because the cars in this movie are so much fun!
There are so many cool 80's cars in the background, everyone has a personal experience to share just by watching the periphery of Cobra. And yeah, Cobra is disturbing. As good guys go, Stallone is a little murder-happy.
Remember to subscribe to @ReelsandWheels on Stitcher, iTunes or Google Play and leave feedback! Go a movie or guest to suggest? Let us know on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/ReelsandWheels/?ref=br_rs)! Also follow @SidBridgeComedy, @S2KJames and find Matt @MattCFunny
Wax on, wax off! The Karate Kid (1984) is a classic that still inspires people today and is still talked about - and it's a great car movie to boot.
From Mrs. Larusso's Chevelle wagon to Johnny Lawrence's Avanti II to Mr. Miyagi's collection of 1940's classics, cars were almost as integral to The Karate Kid as... well, Karate.
Learn a lot of interesting facts in this episode as James and Sid talk about the bizarre Avanti II, Daniel's 1949 Ford Special Deluxe birthday present and more!
Subscribe to Reels and Wheels on Stitcher or iTunes and follow us on Facebook! Catch @ReelsandWheels, @S2KJames and @SidBridgeComedy on Twitter, too!
The apocalypse happens. Jan-Michael Vincent is pretty chill about it. George Peppard suggests driving from southern California to Albany, New York in an armored all-terrain vehicle. They do that. Movie over.
Improv comic and movie buff James Roach joins James and Sid to talk about Damnation Alley, a movie where NOTHING HAPPENS. Enjoy long scenes where a guy shaves and discusses the rotation for taking showers? No? Neither does anyone.
Damnation Alley is bad. It's worse than a BattleTruck/Killdozer marathon. Listen to this podcast instead of watching it.
Find us online @ReelsandWheels, @S2KJames, @SidBridgeComedy - https://www.facebook.com/ReelsandWheels/
Subscribe on iTunes or Stitcher and be sure to comment, thanks!
Remember when they did a post-apocalyptic pilot for a new Knight Rider series that never got picked up? Probably not. Knight Rider 2010 was part of a group of attempts at syndicated shows called the Action Pack. Unlike the Action Pack's successes (Hercules, Xena), it never got to be a series - but at least we got this bizarre pilot!
Ed Carden of The Pushers and The Push Comedy Theater turned us on to this movie thanks to his love of post-apocalyptic strangeness.
This movie shares very little with Knight Rider. There is a super car and it does (kind of) talk, and it is piloted by one man trying to make a difference, but that's where the similarity ends.
It's a 1994 take on a future that includes a strange vision of cyberspace, immigrant smuggling, black market human organ trade, and (there's no delicate way to put this) a sexual relationship with the car.
Just, um, just listen.
Find Ed Carden and The Pushers at The Push Comedy Theater and catch a show there! www.pushcomedytheater.com
Subscribe to @ReelsandWheels on Stitcher or iTunes and leave us some feedback! Catch Sid (@SidBridgeComedy) and James (@S2KJames) online and say hi!
It's the movie that kicked off the most prolific car movie franchise ever - The Fast and the Furious. It's a wake up call to the world - the tuner community has arrived and it's time to accept it.
Sid and James are joined by Kristen Lee of Jalopnik to talk about the influence this movie had on car culture and whether it was a good thing or a bad thing.
So... how about the movie itself? Good? Bad? Unrealistic? Is it okay that the racing is unrealistic? Should we just relax and enjoy this movie for what it is?
Kristen Lee is part of the wonderful team at Jalopnik.com - if you listen to this podcast, you should be visiting Jalopnik daily.
Make sure you tell your friends about Reels and Wheels! Subscribe on iTunes or Stitcher and leave some feedback! Follow us on FaceBook and Twitter @ReelsandWheels, @SidBridgeComedy and @S2KJames!
Also check out Jalopnik's podcast, Tempest: https://jalopnik.com/why-the-best-cars-are-underdog-cars-1825419124
On this episode, James and Sid tackle Battle Truck. It's a movie about a TRUCK that's (get this...) equipped for BATTLE.
This post apocalyptic Max Mad/The Road Warrior wannabe actually had it's US release one month before The Road Warrior. It's got everything that made Mad Max successful - an ambitious director with a vision, a cool truck and a, um, villain. Only difference is that Battle Truck is terrible.
Well, James enjoyed it. Sid likens it to the Negan storyline of Walking Dead TV show, but without the zombies. Which is bad.
But hey, the truck is cool so there's that.
Subscribe to Reels and Wheels on iTunes or Stitcher and leave some feedback! @ReelsandWheels @S2KJames @SidBridgeComedy
Ok, maybe it doesn't make sense to leave an unstable prototype alone in a warehouse where anyone can reactivate it without at least taking the wheels off, but dammit KARR was awesome.
The original Knight Rider gave us two episodes featuring KITT's evil prototype, the Knight Automated Roving Robot (KARR!) and each featured a different take on what was possibly KITT's greatest nemesis.
Trust Doesn't Rust introduces us to KARR, voiced by Peter "Optimus Prime" Cullen. This KARR is somewhat naive, but self-centered and dangerous. KARR returns in "KITT vs. KARR", this time with an amber scanner and the voice of Paul Frees - an equally accomplished voice actor. Now KARR is pure evil, manipulative and bent on revenge.
James and Sid are joined by Tobias Ellis, the person who helped get Reels and Wheels started, to drop some knowledge and nostalgia into the conversation. Maybe these shows weren't perfect, but they were freaking awesome.
Follow @ReelsandWheels, @S2KJames and @SidBridgeComedy and leave us some feedback! Subscribe on Stitcher or iTunes today!
Cars 3... Is it a shameless cash grab to sell toys or an homage to the fans of the first movie?
The answer is probably both. The Cars universe expands quite a bit with plenty of great new toys to sell to your kids. However, Cars 3 also goes back to the successful formula that made the first movie a hit.
Sound familiar? It's taken the same path as the first three Toy Story movies and the first three Indiana Jones movies. But that's the strength of the Cars franchise - it lifts big pieces of successful movies and adapts them to its own universe.
Sid and James are joined by the Alpha Geek himself, Derek Williams - stand up comic, voice actor and co-founder of Geek Night Comedy to talk about Cars 3 as we scratch a bit below the surface of another fun Pixar movie.
Follow @ReelsandWheels, @SidBridgeComedy, @S2KJames and @Derek5Letters - subscribe to Reels and Wheels on Stitcher or iTunes and leave us some feedback!
Sure, it's a stoner movie. But it's a stoner movie with character growth, literary significance, great dialogue and some insightful car choices. Heck, how often do we get to do an episode of Reels and Wheels where the hero car is a Toyota Camry?
It was time! It was the Camry's time! Sure, it's boring and it's basic, but that's the point. If you need a car - a reliable car - to get you from point A to point B, there is nothing better than the Camry. As car enthusiasts, that's a tough one for James and Sid to recognize, but hey, Harold had it figured out, right?
Enjoy this episode about the Camry and about how weed should be legal. Follow @ReelsandWheels, @SidBridgeComedy and @S2KJames! Subscribe on iTunes or Stitcher and leave feedback!
Hey, look! It's a new movie that is supposed to be like "The Fast & The Furious" but in France! Let's watch it and talk about it on Reels and Wheels!
...and that's where things went downhill. Overdrive (2017) sucks. The dialogue is terrible, the plot makes no sense, and whoever wrote it clearly wasn't really a car person. But we watched it. We suffered so you wouldn't have to.
Do yourself a favor - listen to this episode of Reels and Wheels. It's way more entertaining than "Overdrive."
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Subscribe. Leave great feedback. Share with your friends. You owe it to us after we sat through this one for you.
How do you bring NASCAR to a mainstream audience in movie form? Tom Cruise, I guess. I mean, it beats Stroker Ace. Days of Thunder was actually the last of an era - the last time producers Jerry Bruckheimer and Don Simpson got to do a high budget action movie before the studio got too mad at them to do it again.
There is a lot to love, though - the portrayal of racing as a dangerous obsession by infantile people who grasp at an illusion of control hits right at home, especially with our guest, Andie Albin - who works for the SCCA and races herself!
What do you think about early 1990's NASCAR and the Chevy Lumina? How about Tom Cruise's character crossing the line while hitting on Nicole Kidman's Dr. Luwicki? And you wouldn't believe how many scenes in this movie are based on real events!
Follow Sid and James - @SidBridgeComedy and @S2KJames. Keep up with Andie at www.scca.com! Don't forget to subscribe to @ReelsandWheels on iTunes or Stitcher. Share it and leave feedback!
Sid and James are joined by their good friends Josh Horowitz and Brett Stillo of the "5 Minutes of Banzai" podcast for a quintessential cult classic - The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension!
If you're a Reels and Wheels listener, you probably remember Josh and Brett from the Big Trouble in Little China episode and their "5 Minutes in China" podcast. We enjoy going on each other's podcasts so much we decided to do it again!
Buckaroo Banzai isn't a big car movie, but the rocket car (made from a Ford F-350) is worth an episode and Josh and Brett's knowledge of the movie makes for a great discussion!
Find Josh and Brett at 5minutesofbanzai.com! Subscribe to Reels and Wheels on iTunes or Stitcher and make sure you share and leave feedback! @ReelsandWheels, @S2KJames, @SidBridgeComedy
It was the car of the future! In the late 1940's, a charismatic man named Preston Tucker got America excited about his innovative, futuristic car design...
Sid and James welcome Steve Lehto, attorney, author and automotive journalist to talk about Tucker: The Man and His Dream, Francis Ford Coppola's surprisingly accurate portrayal of a man who sold his dream to the country, only to get squashed by the government and the big three.
Steve has some amazing stories and the group also discusses Tucker's eerie similarity to Elon Musk. We also talk about the car itself, the Tucker 48 (sometimes called the Tucker Torpedo) and its quirky, ahead-of-its-time features!
Follow @ReelsAndWheels, @SidBridgeComedy and @S2KJames on social media. Subscribe on Stitcher or iTunes and leave some feedback!
Find Steve all over the place:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCMljRGC0eBJrxbUorWEnasg
http://lehtoslaw.com/
http://www.roadandtrack.com/author/3026/steve-lehto/
https://www.amazon.com/Steve-Lehto/e/B001JPA7O4
https://jalopnik.com/tag/steve-lehto
Phantasm is a brilliant horror movie that bends reality and deals with heavy situations of confronting mortality and loss. It's also got a kick-ass 1971 HemiCuda that went on to become a mainstay vehicle of the Phantasm movie series.
For this episode, James and Sid are honored to be joined by one of the stars of the Phantasm series, Reggie Bannister and his wife, Gigi. Not only are they a great couple to talk to with lots of great information on the movie, they are both huge car enthusiasts.
Want to find out what sleeper Reggie drag raced when he was young? Want to find out what kind of experimental car Gigi got to drive (and crash)? You're only going to find it here on Reels and Wheels!
A big Reels and Wheels thank you to Reggie and Gigi for joining us on the podcast - please drop by their website, www.reggiebannister.com to find out what's going on, including a big project they are working on. Follow @ReelsandWheels, @SidBridgeComedy and @S2KJames, subscribe on iTunes or Stitcher and leave some feedback!
Wouldn't it be great if there was a line of toys that took everything you loved about your other toys and mashed them all together?! Like if you could have the best of Transformers AND GI Joe AND James Bond's cars AND the Spy Hunter car AND Bruce Wayne's gadgets?!
That was M.A.S.K. This 1985 cartoon was Kenner's attempt to market a high-quality line of toys with a TV show meant to stoke kids' imaginations. It wasn't as successful and enduring as other toy lines or cartoons, but it sure was awesome.
James and Sid talk about the pilot episode of M.A.S.K. - it's a strange mixture of excellent and terrible. It's both smart and dumb at the same time. It defies description. Watch it again with Reels and Wheels.
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Could this be the greatest movie ever? At Reels and Wheels, we don't need to spend a lot of time extolling the virtues of Evil Dead 2 - Sam Raimi's brilliant directing and visuals, Bruce Campbell's amazing physical acting skill - it speaks for itself. We're just here to talk about a special 1973 Oldsmobile Delta 88.
Alan Vannucchi - comedian and horror movie expert - joins Sid and James to talk about the movie and the car.
Dubbed "The Classic" by Raimi, the Oldsmobile is HIS car - since he was a teenager. It somehow sneaks into every Sam Raimi movie (kind of like his brother, Ted).
Just how omnipotent is this Olds? Do Alan and Sid do a good job making James love this movie? Can Sid make the case that the 1973 Delta is really a beautiful car that deserves praise among collectors?
Subscribe and follow us! @Alan_Vann_, @S2KJames, @SidBridgeComedy, @ReelsandWheels and leave us some feedback!
Groovy.
This week, Sid and I review the 90s Blockbuster spectacular, The Rock. Starring Nicholas Cage, Sean Connery, and Ed Harris, a Humvee, a Ferrari, and hours of helicopters.
We are joined by Tobias Ellis on this one, and it's loads of fun.
In 1991, Ridley Scott took a break from directing stuff like Alien and Blade Runner and allowed himself to be convinced to helm Thelma and Louise - and that was history.
Joining Sid and James is a great friend and hilarious comedian, Holly Owens.
Thelma and Louise is an iconic feminist road movie. It's a slice of life on film that is beautifully shot, painfully realistic, and packed with great characters - even the car.
The 1966 Ford Thunderbird driven by our protagonist gets refreshingly characterized, accompanying Thelma and Louise throughout their struggles.
Follow @ReelsandWheels on social media - subscribe on iTunes or Stitcher and leave feedback! Find Holly online (@HollyPoops) and catch her show, The Sunday Funnies, every Sunday at 8pm at Cozzy's Comedy Club. Don't forget to follow Sid (@SidBridgeComedy) and James (@S2KJames), too!
If you were anywhere near childhood in the 1980's, KITT was probably your hero and Knight Rider was probably the greatest TV show EVER. At least, that's how Sid & James felt then and still feel today.
Christian Lee of PlaidDadPlog.com and DadSews.com joins Sid and James to talk about Knight of the Phoenix, the pilot that began KITT's illustrious TV career. To Christian, it didn't hold up as good TV - oh well. You can't win 'em all...
One thing's for sure - The Knight 2000 - a car with a distinguished voice and plenty of awesome gadgetry - is a scene stealing hero and attempts to replicate him in the new millenium have fallen painfully short.
What made this so awesome? Why was it better to create a car show without corporate support from the carmaker at first? Get ready to relive your childhood and learn a few things!
Subscribe! Follow @ReelsandWheels on social media! Follow Sid - @SidBridgeComedy and James - @S2KJames and find Christian at www.plaiddadblog.com and at www.dadsews.com!
GoldenEye was a turning point for the James Bond Franchise - both in terms of actors and cars! After years of delay, Pierce Brosnan was finally able to step into the roll he was born to play in a movie that represents a generational shift in the franchise.
GoldenEye also marks the first of a three-movie deal with BMW to provide the trademark James Bond supercars. BMW turned up the hype with the introduction of the beautiful Z3 roadster, but the car got very little screen time.
How did things work out with BMW? Why was the car barely in the movie? How does this movie rank among other Bond films?
Joining us is comedian and car enthusiast David Beck! David jumps right in and helps us understand how some of the cars in the movie would really fair against each other.
Subscribe to Reels and Wheels on iTunes or Stitcher and leave us feedback! Follow @ReelsandWheels on social media and follow Sid (@SidBridgeComedy) and James (@S2KJames), too! Find David Beck on Facebook and at www.whoisdavidbeck.com!
Ok, we admit it. This is a super fun movie. Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby features Will Ferrell in full Will Ferrell mode. In retrospect, the guy is extremely funny. What really knocks this movie out of the park is an excellent supporting cast, most of whom are playing against type.
Joining Sid and James to talk about this movie and the state of NASCAR is comedian Tim Loulies! Tim gives great insight into the NASCAR experience and all the pieces that make this movie a quotable and extremely fun comedy.
And James talks some Formula One jargon just to balance things out.
Tim Loulies is a touring comic and the teacher at the Virginia Beach Funny Bone comedy school. He runs comedy shows at Derls and Mario's restaurants as well as on the Spirit of Norfolk. Find Tim on social media by searching "Tim Loulies!" As always, follow @ReelsandWheels on Facebook and follow Sid (@SidBridgeComedy) and James (@S2KJames). Don't forget to leave us some feedback!
A touch of creativity and the help of a good writer COULD HAVE produced a noteworthy sequel to one of the greatest car movies of all time, Smokey and the Bandit. Instead, everybody failed. Our hero Hal Needham failed to produce anything more than a week retread of the previous movie, our stars (with the exception of Jerry Reed) failed to show much interest in their own performances, and Pontiac failed by producing the most anemic, gawdy, Trans Am with 1980 Turbo Trans Am.
Smokey and the Bandit II might have made a few kids happy. It might have made its money-grabbing producer happy, and it might have made Hal Needham happy on payday, but it sent what could have been a bankable franchise into a downward spiral it would never recover from.
Jerry Reed tries his best to make this movie great - and it's not without its moments - indeed, a stunt man performs a record-setting jump that's mostly buried in the climactic game of chicken at the end of the movie - but it's not enough.
This movie, like Burt Reynolds' flagging career and the malaise-era, underpowered turbo Trans Am, is just plain terrible.
Don't watch this movie. Listen to this podcast. Learn where the best scenes are, then be happy you missed it. If you saw it, sorry. Follow us! @SidBridgeComedy, @S2KJames, @ReelsandWheels! Leave us some feedback! Anybody want to defend this movie? Let us know!
Edgar Wright has created a masterpiece. This kick-ass car movie isn't just set to music... it's part of the music. Baby Driver goes a step beyond when it comes to car chase choreography and it's a car movie with great characters and plenty of fun easter eggs.
Ed Carden of The Pushers (owners of The Push Comedy Theater) once again joins James and Sid, this time to bring his expertise as a huge fan of Edgar Wright's work.
This movie is going to be a requirement for any car lover's collection. How confident was Edgar Wright in this movie? Pretty confident - the entire opening chase featuring a red Subaru WRX is available for free on YouTube.
How amazing was the choreography? What would your getaway car be?! Enjoy this episode of Reels and Wheels!
Find Ed Carden at the Push Comedy Theater - www.pushcomedytheater.com - we especially recommend you catch him during one of their legendary "Improvaggedon" shows!
Catch Sid @SidBridgeComedy and James @S2KJames on Facebook or Twitter. Subscribe to Reels and Wheels on iTunes or Stitcher and leave some feedback! @ReelsandWheels
The Love Bug... Cute Disney movie? Yes. Awesome racing movie? Even more so, yes! Sid and James are joined by Jason Torchinsky of Jalopnik to talk about the movie that started the Herbie franchise, the awesome cars that played supporting roles, and the surprisingly great racing scenes of The Love Bug.
Not only is Jason a writer for Jalopnik, but he's also a VW Beetle owner and he's unusually passionate about this movie. When you give The Love Bug a second viewing as an adult, you start to understand why. Herbie is up against some amazing race competition - C2 Corvettes, Jaguars, Lamborghinis, and of course the ultra rare, Buick V8 powered Apollo GT.
Racing scenes convey a sense of danger and excitement that you honestly wouldn't expect from a kids movie, and Herbie - a sentient VW that doesn't talk, manages to convey quite a few complex emotions, including a pretty intense suicide attempt.
The laughs are there, too - with Buddy Hackett shedding his foul-mouth stand-up persona to play the silly sidekick and David Tomlinson flying headfirst into the villain role with dastardly brilliance.
Find Jason and his wonderful articles at www.jalopnik.com! Subscribe to Reels and Wheels on iTunes or Stitcher and leave us some feedback! @ReelsandWheels, @SidBridgeComedy and @S2KJames
Ah, the glorious world of late 1980's horror. In Warlock, a witch hunter doing battle with the titular Warlock in colonial America follows his adversary forward in time to the 1980's in order to stop him from destroying the world.
Dragged into the middle of this mess is our protagonist, played by Lori Singer, who joins Redfearn the Witch Hunter on his quest to save the world from evil paganism - all while depending on a daily driver that's unsafe at any speed. Yep, our hero drives a Corvair.
James makes Sid pull double duty as host AND guest, as Sid has previously owned two Corvairs and can talk about the car from first hand experience.
Was this movie really bad? Was it good? What factors sabotaged it from being great? And was the Corvair all that bad?! Was it actually unsafe at any speed or was Ralph Nader just an idiot? (Actually you probably know the answer to that one).
Subscribe to Reels and Wheels on iTunes or Stitcher and leave us some feedback! Follow @ReelsandWheels, @SidBridgeComedy and @S2KJames!
YES IT'S A CAR MOVIE! Sorry. We've already had that question a few times before people even knew we were recording this episode. Comedian/Member of Plan B Improv and friend of the show CB Wilkins joins James and Sid to talk about Spaceballs!
In this epic Mel Brooks comedy, the Star Wars universe is parodied so well that George Lucas himself blessed the movie, telling Brooks it would be a great action film even without the Star Wars references. And he's right. Brooks did an amazing job constructing this parody of the scifi universe, creating great characters and an infinite number of quotable lines.
And yes, there are iconic cars - particularly Lonestar's ship, which is a barely modified 1986 Winnebago. Princess Vespa cruises in a space Mercedes, and the evil Spaceballs comb the desert in a Volkswagen Thing!
Subscribe to Reels and Wheels on iTunes or Stitcher and leave us some feedback! Find CB Wilkins online @CBWilkinsTweets and www.planbimprov.com. Find us, @ReelsAndWheels, Sid @SidBridgeComedy and James @S2KJames on twitter!
Celebrating 40 years of Smokey and the Bandit, Reels and Wheels recently hosted a meetup at a screen of one of the greatest car movies of all time. James was joined by a group of autocrossers who debate what would make a great bandit car today. It's a fun conversation and a great way to celebrate one of our favorite movies!
Need more? Check out our original episode on Smokey and the Bandit:
http://reelsandwheels.libsyn.com/smokey-and-the-bandit
William Friedkin directed The Exorcist and The French Connection. If you ask him which film he considers to be his magnum opus, his will proudly name his biggest box office failure, Sorcerer!
Sorcerer (1977) is a film about four desperate men stuck in third world South America forced to truck unstable explosives through the jungle. Confused yet? There's nothing supernatural about this movie, unless you count the two trucks - a pair of 1951 GMC M211's named Lazaro and Sorcerer.
Sorcerer failed in the box office because many factors: It's misleading name, people being confused since the first 15 minutes are not in English, and it just happen to hit the theaters at the same time as Star Wars.
It's a shame because this movie is awesome. Joining us to soak in the awesomeness is script writer, film buff and comedian Jeff Davis. We discuss the craziness behind the scenes of this film, the nature of the trucks, and how to bring great films like this one to a wider audience.
Follow @ReelsandWheels and subscribe on Stitcher and iTunes. Find Sid and James- @SidBridgeComedy and @S2KJames on social media. Find Jeff online - @JefDavis23
Paul Newman was a fixture in the car racing universe. How did it happen? Winning. Newman saw the script for the 1969 movie about a car racer and his love life and decided to make sure it was elevated from movie-of-the-week status to big budget box office picture.
Winning was about a race car driver who focused on succeeding at Indianapolis at the expense of his marriage. And it kind of sucked. Joining us is Heyward Wagner, Director of Experiential Programs for the Sports Car Club of America. Heyward has first hand knowledge of Newman's impact on the SCCA racing scene and agrees with James and Sid that the movie kind of sucked.
How accurate was its portrayal of various forms of racing? What good came from the movie? (Spoiler: Lots of good came from the movie) Can a "great" racing movie be made today?
Follow @ReelsandWheels and subscribe on Stitcher and iTunes. Find Sid and James- @SidBridgeComedy and @S2KJames on social media. Interested in all the great things Heyward is doing for the SCCA? Find out more here! https://www.scca.com/
So you need a sequel to your exciting car racing movie, but your Disney overlords want you to sell tons of toys and give them more Larry the Cable Guy... Do you blow them off or go all in?
Well, Pixar went all in. Cars 2 is one of the most critically panned movies Pixar ever created. In some ways, it's terrible. In some ways, it's positively brilliant. Pixar doesn't half-ass anything and Cars 2 is a fun spy thriller with plenty of shiny toys for the kids and lots of in-jokes for adults.
Joining us to talk Cars 2 is one of our favorite repeat guests, comedian Derek Williams! Derek and James defend the movie to Sid, who kind of sees their point. Yeah, it's a little ridiculous, but for us car guys it's not a bad thing - it's actually a good way to expose our kids to different forms of racing outside of NASCAR thanks to the variety of race cars in the movie.
Which is the best race car? Does the movie treat lemons fairly? What's Sig from Deadliest Catch doing in there anyway?!
Follow @ReelsandWheels on iTunes and Stitcher and leave feedback. Find us online - @SidBridgeComedy, @S2KJames and @Naamco03 and let us know what you think!
Animal House. It invented the view of fraternities in movies. Heck, it could be argued that it even reshaped the fraternity experience on college campuses nationwide (even though it was based on real experiences that were tamed DOWN for the movie). No matter how you look at it, National Lampoon's Animal House is a groundbreaking comedy that stands the test of time.
And, oh yeah. It's a car movie. Central to the plot of this movie is the 1964 Lincoln Continental with it's iconic suicide doors, trusted to Kent Dorfman by his brother... only for it to become THE DEATHMOBILE!
Joining us for this podcast is Rick Bruner. Rick knows his comedy. He's the manager of the Virginia Beach Funny Bone. He also grew up working around cars - including a time when he worked in a car museum that housed such iconic vehicles as the Muenster Coach, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, and cars owed by Clark Gable and Greta Garbo.
We have a lot of fun talking about the college experience, the cars, the comedy and trying to figure out how the Delta's ended up driving some of the cars they have in the movie.
Make sure you subscribe to Reels and Wheels on iTunes or Stitcher and leave us some feedback! Find Rick at the Virginia Beach Funny Bone, where the best touring comics are always dropping in - www.vabeachfunnybone.com! Find us @ReelsandWheels, James @S2KJames and Sid @SidBridgeComedy on FaceBook or Twitter!
In 2007, Transformers returned to the big screen. A new generation was turned on to new versions of the toys that made it so fun to be a kid in the 1980s, but now Michael Bay was in charge.
Joining Sid and James to talk about 2007's Transformers is Gabriel Owens, AKA The Salty Seaman (YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/recharge138). Gabriel has a show called Military Bullshit where he points out inaccuracies in movie portrayals of the military. He joins us to talk about the cars of Transformers and the military BS.
Between explosions and Megan Fox running in slow motion, Transformers is actually a fun movie. James and Gabriel plead the case to Sid that Michael Bay's insanity doesn't ruin this movie - sure, there are the usual complaints, but in retrospect, it's a fun shot of energy to something we grew up with.
General Motors paid to play in this movie so most of the good guys are GM cars. How did those choices work out? How does this movie stack up from a military standpoint?
Subscribe to Reels and Wheels on iTunes or Stitcher and leave some feedback! Follow us: @S2KJames, @SidBridgeComedy and @ReelsAndWheels and subscribe to Gabriel's YouTube Channel (https://www.youtube.com/user/recharge138)!
On this episode of Reels and Wheels, Sid and James tackle another essential car movie... the 1973 classic, American Graffiti! They are joined by Brett Stillo of the 5 Minutes of Trouble podcast... and someone who has had some close encounters with the cars of American Graffiti and with its director, George Lucas.
American Graffiti launched an entire genre. George Lucas was looking to make a movie with a soul that also documented his youth around a long gone car culture. Cruising was how people kept up with each other because the internet existed and before gas shortages, over-regulation and insurance companies ruined cars in 1973.
Make sure you subscribe to Reels and Wheels on Stitcher or iTunes and leave feedback! Follow us @ReelsandWheels, @S2KJames and @SidBridgeComedy, and find Brett @5MinutesofTrouble!
Love... The International Language! Love abounds on Reels and Wheels Podcast's new episode as we discuss the classic 1985 romantic comedy, Better Off Dead!
Sid and James are joined by Alicia Camden, co-host of the Invitation to Love Podcast to get some insight into relationships... and give her some insight into classic cars. Better Off Dead seems on the surface like a fun, outlandish comedy, but the truth is that a lot of its content is based on the real life of the director, Savage Steve Holland.
It also features a sad, sad Ford LTD station wagon, two race-happy Asian immigrants in a Falcon sedan, and the infamous Camaro - a car whose post-movie story is quite interesting!
Learn about love and automobiles on Reels and Wheels!
Find Alicia Camden online - @aliciacamden and find the Invitation to Love Podcast at http://invitationtolove.podbean.com/ (or subscribe on iTunes!).
As always, find James (@S2KJames) and Sid (@SidBridgeComedy) and @ReelsandWheels! Subscribe on iTunes or Stitcher and leave feedback!
It's back to Back to the Future for Reels and Wheels! On this episode, James and Sid cover Back to the Future Part 2 and 3! (Kind of. Part 3 didn't have much to talk about when it came to cars)
Joining us for this show is Doug DeMuro, writer for Auto Trader and YouTube car reviewer! Doug just released a new video where he drives an exact replica of the Back to Future Delorean: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S5dtcoCfKw4
Doug brings first hand knowledge of the famous time machine and we have some great conversations about the "future cars" that show up in Back to the Future 2! What cars from today would freak out people from 30 years ago? How did the movies skew your impression of the Delorean? Enjoy this great episode of Reels and Wheels!
Find Doug at AutoTrader.com or on his YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCsqjHFMB_JYTaEnf_vmTNqg
Twitter and FaceBook: @DougDeMuro
Find James and Sid, too: @ReelsandWheels, @S2KJames, @SidBridgeComedy - follow us on Facebook, subscribe on iTunes or Stitcher and leave us some feedback!
Risky Business: It made Tom Cruise a star and and it also made a star out of Porsche. The Porsche 928 went against the grain - front engine, rear wheel drive, V8 power wasn't what Porsche was known for. However, to a generation of 80's kids, thanks to Risky Business, when you said Porsche, we all thought 928.
Risky Business is a great movie - funny and exciting with a great cast and an awesome car. Need we say more? Well, yeah, actually - listen to the podcast!
Follow Sid (@SidBridgeComedy), James (@S2KJames) and @ReelsAndWheels. Subscribe on Stitcher or iTunes and leave feedback!
How obnoxious was your group of friends? On this episode of Reels and Wheels, James and Sid are joined once again by Ed Carden of The Pushers to talk about 1984's Bachelor Party, a movie where Tom Hanks showed his versatility by being thoroughly obnoxious.
As a car movie, Bachelor Party is pretty fun! Sure, there's a 1974 Porsche 911 Targa (Take the car! No! Take Debbie! No! The car! I'd hate to be in your shoes, pal!), but the only car chase is between a school bus and a utility truck.
Ed, Sid and James have a blast talking about school bus stories, obnoxious friends, and how influential this movie was on modern comedies.
Find Ed Carden online @TheEdCarden or at www.PushComedyTheater.com! Find Sid @SidBridgeComedy and James @S2KJames online and follow @ReelsandWheels. Subscribe on iTunes or Stitcher and leave feedback!
Drive (2011) stars Ryan Gosling. Sid hates it. James loves it. JG Pasterjak of Grassroots Motorsports returns to join James in liking the movie.
A part time movie stunt driver/mechanic/getaway car driver/race car driver gets caught up in a whole bunch of issues with organized crime just by being a good neighbor. He doesn't talk much and the director really wanted to impress everybody at Cannes.
James and JG defend the movie while trying to convince Sid that buying a Dodge Charger is a bad idea. Sid defends his hatred of the movie while trying to convince everyone else that the Charger is a great car filling an important place in the world. Oh yeah, and Ryan Gosling drives a 1973 Malibu that he restored himself and we all talk about what makes that car special.
Subscribe to Reels and Wheels on iTunes or Stitcher and leave us some feedback! Find James online @S2KJames and Sid - @SidBridgeComedy! Find JG at www.grassrootsmotorsports.com!
What better way to celebrate Christmas than to kick back with a new episode of Reels and Wheels, a podcast hosted by a Jew and an Atheist!?
In celebration of the holidays, Sid and James are going to talk about Gremlins! Yep, Gremlins! Sandwiched in all that cutsy movie-turned horror flick goodness are a few cars. I mean, barely enough to make an episode of Reels and Wheels, but what the hell!
Enjoy this fun discussion of the Volkswagen Beetle's nefarious origins and a good 'ol American plow! Gremlins!
@ReelsAndWheels, @SidBridgeComedy, @S2KJames - subscribe on Stitcher or iTunes and leave feedback!
You just take my advice on a dark and stormy night when the wind is howling and the rain is coming down in sheets thick as lead... Tune into Reels and Wheels as James and Sid are joined by Josh Horowitz to talk Big Trouble in Little China!
Josh is the founder of WingKong.net, a long-running Big Trouble in Little China web site and the cohost of "5 Minutes of Trouble" a podcast that talks Big Trouble in Little China five minutes at a time. Suffice it to say, he knows this movie.
How great is John Carpenter at matching cars to characters? Is the 1986 Pontiac Trans Am a purely awesome vehicle or is it terrible? Were you rooting for the AMC Gremlin?
Learn lots of interesting facts and enjoy as James, Sid & Josh have a blast talking about a movie they all agree is just plain awesome.
Find Josh Horowitz at www.wingkong.net! Follow @ReelsandWheels, @SidBridgeComedy & @S2KJames on Twitter! Subscribe on iTunes or Stitcher and leave us some feedback!
In this mini-episode of Reels and Wheels, Sid and James give their top ten movie picks for Thanksgiving. Looking for the perfect car movie for your specific Thanksgiving situation? We've got you covered!
Follow Sid (@SidBridgeComedy), James (@S2KJames) and @ReelsAndWheels. Subscribe on Stitcher or iTunes and leave feedback!
Muscle cars, classic rock and not much else. On this Reels and Wheels, James and Sid take a look a Dazed and Confused, an early 1990's movie that literally provided a snapshot of high school life in 1976.
On its surface, it's a two hour car show set to a great soundtrack. Most of us would kill time ogling American muscle cars and listening Black Sabbath anyway, so it's nice to have the excuse of "I'm watching a great movie" to get away with it. Under the surface, it's an anthropological look at high school life that isn't far from accurate.
Will James and Sid survive digging up their own high school past? Is this a sufficient distraction from the culmination of a messed-up presidential election? Either way, you need to relax, get away from it all and get Dazed and Confused with Reels and Wheels.
@ReelsandWheels, @S2KJames, @SidBridgeComedy
Stitcher, iTunes
Happy Halloween from Reels and Wheels! Today's episode is about the horror masterpiece, Killdozer! Actually, everybody but Sid hated it and technical difficulties kept this podcast shorter than usual, but you should listen anyway! James and Sid are joined by Autocrosser/Comic/Bulldozer Operator Randall Rutledge to talk about a movie where 4 out of 6 construction workers are killed off by a murderous bulldozer with a top speed of 9mph.
Enjoy Reels and Wheels on iTunes or Stitcher, subscribe and leave feedback! Find us online - @ReelsandWheels, @S2KJames, and @SidBridgeComedy!
Automotive journalist and racer Mark Baruth (AKA, Bark M) joins Sid and James because he really wanted the hosts of Reels and Wheels to watch The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift.
Toyko Drift was an attempt to reboot/save a franchise that had gone from terrible to horrendously awful with a movie that was moderately bad. So, sure, it was pretty fun to watch and the driving scenes were quit impressive, but was there anything else to like about it?
Mark and James tag team their way through trying to sort out this movie and sing the praises of Japan's greatest automobiles to muscle-car-loving Sid. Spoiler alert: They don't win him over, but this show is a hell of a ride. Kind of like the movie. It also has the most unique ending we've ever recorded to a podcast.
Follow, subscribe, leave feedback and tell your friends about @ReelsandWheels!
Used Cars (1980) is a film with no good guys in it at all. Every character - even the dog - behaves reprehensibly. And it's funny. James and Sid are joined by actor/comedian Thomas Maddin (who also happens to work in car sales) to talk about a movie that pulls no punches when it comes to cars and politics.
Kurt Russell stars as a used car salesman with political ambitions in a corrupt world, caught in the middle of a family feud over the car lot he works on. It's a unique movie for Reels and Wheels in that it has so many cars, it's hard to pick a few to focus on (outside of the iconic Edsel).
What made Edsel synonymous with failure? What can we learn from this movie's take on corrupt politics leading up to this year's ridiculous presidential election? What about those outfits?!
Subscribe to Reels and Wheels on iTunes or Stitcher and leave feedback! Find us online - @SidBridgeComedy, @S2KJames, @ReelsandWheels and our guest, @ThomasMaddin
On this peculiar edition of Reels and Wheels, James and Sid are joined by... James. Yep, Co-host James Rodatus doubles up as the guest this time as he puts his experience as a lawyer to work so that we can talk about My Cousin Vinny.
This 1992 comedy starring Joe Pesci was lauded for its realistic, positive portrayal of our legal system. So I guess technically this is an episode of Reels and Lawyers and Wheels. Either way, My Cousin Vinny is a thoughtful, enjoyable, and fun movie that uses the inner workings of a 1964 Buick Skylark and a 1963 Pontiac Tempest as a key plot point.
So how accurate was this movie? How unique was the cast? What about the car we didn't see - find out what made the first generation Pontiac Tempest one of the most unique cars GM ever built!
Find our special guest James Rodatus online @S2KJames and find Sid @SidBridgeComedy - leave us some feedback! Subscribe to @ReelsAndWheels on iTunes and Stitcher and spread the word!
The original 1983 National Lampoon's Vacation is considered one of the greatest comedies of all time, and it is. The centerpiece of this saga about a family trip gone horribly wrong is the Wagon Queen Family Truckster - a vehicle that embodies everything that was wrong with the American family car at the height of the malaise era.
James and Sid are joined by comedian Jim Seward to talk Vacation - both the movie and their personal experiences on long trips with kids in the car and every family's love/hate relationship with the American station wagon.
Did the Family Truckster help put an end to the station wagon? Was the Truckster really that different from the Ford LTD Country Squire it was based on? Did the big 3 make these station wagons because they hated their customers?
Enjoy Reels and Wheels on iTunes or Stitcher, subscribe and leave feedback! Find us only - @ReelsandWheels, @S2KJames, and @SidBridgeComedy! Jim Seward is a wonderful stand up comic out of Nashville who tours regularly - find him online at www.JimSewardComedy.com or @JimSewardComedy. Photo Credit: Adam Lautenbach, Music Credit: Ben Sounds.
Initial D is the go-to Anime about street racing in Japan, so James and Sid once again welcome comedian Derek Williams to talk about the show. Derek is a huge Anime fan and has plenty of experience with the Initial D arcade game from his time managing an arcade!
Initial D follows the life of reluctant racing prodigy Takumi as he dazzles the local street racing community racing his "8-6" (A Toyota Corolla to Americans, the legendary Trueno in Japan) on the treacherous Akino downhill.
What's so special about the 8-6? Is the racing jargon used in Initial D real? Is Sid going to survive this episode even though he doesn't like Anime?
Subscribe to Reels and Wheels on iTunes or Stitcher and leave us some feedback! Find us online:
Derek Williams: @Naamco003
James Rodatus: @S2KJames
Sid Bridge: @SidBridgeComedy
Reels and Wheels: @ReelsandWheels
The original Ghostbusters - most will agree it's one of the greatest movies of all time. At Reels and Wheels, we love it because of Ecto-1 - a 1959 Cadillac Miller Meteor conversion turned into the greatest ghost-hunting machine ever!
...and did we find the best guest EVER to discuss Ghostbusters with?! The conversation goes into overdrive as James and Sid welcome Chris Balassone, owner and founder of Tri-City Paranormal! He's the real deal - a paranormal researcher and part of the TAPS family (of Ghost Hunters fame).
What did Ghostbusters get right? What kind of headaches does the movie cause for real paranormal researchers? Just what are ghosts anyway? How many different angles are there to an investigation?
The conversation swings from scientific to religious to medical to automotive in one of the most interesting episodes we've ever recorded!
Subscribe to Reels and Wheels on iTunes or Stitcher and leave feedback! Find Sid @SidBridgeComedy and James @S2KJames on social media! Check out what Chris is up to at www.tricityparanormal.com - and find Chris on FaceBook or Twitter @ChrisBalassone.
Reels and Wheels continues its odd relationship with favorite director Hal Needham, talking about what in retrospect was one of his most disturbing movies - Stroker Ace!
Sid and James are joined by JG Pasterjak, comedian and writer for Grassroots Motorsports to take a look at the movie that effectively ruined Burt Reynolds' career.
So how many Ford Foxbody vehicles can you squeeze into one movie? How great was early 1980's NASCAR? How patently disturbing was this movie?
Subscribe to Reels and Wheels (@ReelsAndWheels) on iTunes or Stitcher and leave feedback! Find James (@S2KJames) and Sid (@SidBridgeComedy) on social media! Find JG Pasterjak on social media and at www.grassrootsmotorsports.com!
Why did you do this to us, Hal Needham? We loved you for Smokey and the Bandit and the Cannonball Run. But Megaforce?!
Barry Bostwick leads a team of caricatures in strange "high tech" assault vehicles to help a fictional country win a war against a fictional country. Joining us is comedian and 1980's movie aficionado, Tim Loulies.
This movie was a shining piece of Tim's childhood for kind and innocent reasons. It has a timeless message - war is awesome and nobody dies. The loser just laughs and gives the winner a big ATTABOY!
And there's a Bronco. There's always a Bronco.
Subscribe to Reels and Wheels on iTunes or Stitcher and leave some feedback! @ReelsandWheels @S2KJames @SidBridgeComedy
Find Tim Loulies online at www.timloulies.com and @thebig44!
Father's Day just happened, so James and Sid thought it would be fun to cover a movie that a father and son could watch together, Pixar's Cars! Joining us for the ride on this one is the host of What Are We Watching and creator of the Plaid Dad Blog, Christian Lee! To make things even more interesting, Christian is joined by his son, Carlin, who gives a kid's perspective on the movie and forces us to keep our mouths clean.
The group discusses the real and unreal characters of cars, the insane uber-geek detail of Pixar's animators, the stories behind the cars, and whether or not Larry the Cable Guy is a great comedian. Carlin is very tolerant.
Subscribe to Reels and Wheels on Stitcher or iTunes and leave feedback! Follow James (@S2KJames) and Sid (@SidBridgeComedy)! Find Christian Lee on social media and at PlaidDadBlog.com where you can learn more about all of Christian's great endeavors, including What Are We Watching and his sewing (yes, sewing) show.
On this episode of Reels and Wheels, Movies and cars collide with professional wrestling! Sid and James are joined by Derek Montilla of The Steel Cafe Podcast to discuss Body Slam - a glorious masterpiece of the 1980's complete with The A-Team's Dirk Benedict, Rowdy Roddy Piper and a whole bunch of wrestling Samoans - all directed by Reels & Wheels hero Hal Needham!
As a favor to Sid, who is a huge wrestling fan with a pretty big twitter following in the wrestling community, James gets his first exposure to the world of professional wrestling and finds it surprisingly enjoyable. Helping us sort through everything is Derek Montilla, a podcaster who knows his wrestling.
If you're keeping score, Sid and Derek help James understand wrestling while James and Sid help Derek understand cars. It all makes for a really fun episode of Reels and Wheels and a loving shout out to the Twitter circus that follows Sid and Derek during wrestling shows. Enjoy!
Subscribe to Reels and Wheels on iTunes or Stitcher and leaves us some feedback! Find us online, too - @SidBridgeComedy, @S2KJames, @ReelsAndWheels - and find Derek @Cap_Kaveman and his podcast, @TheSteelCage and online www.thesportskave.com - Enjoy!
Who knew mafia intrigue, large scale robbery, massive traffic jams and reckless endangerment could be so fun?! The Italian Job takes it all on with tongue planted firmly in cheek as Michael Caine uses Mini Coopers to make the most adorable getaway EVER.
Sid and James are joined by Steven Duckworth, a champion autocrosser who knows his front wheel drive cars for a fun talk about the original Italian Job and the capabilities of those little Minis.
Can Sid survive a podcast about a movie with cars so far out of his element that it's like being on a different planet? Can a front wheel drive car hang with the rear drive elite? Would you drive a car on the roof of a building if you had the opportunity?
Subscribe to Reels and Wheels on iTunes or Stitcher and leave some feedback! @ReelsandWheels @S2KJames @SidBridgeComedy
Rain Man was a movie based roughly on a real person that brought attention to the challenges faced by an autistic savant. An unfortunate side effect is that the character came of as silly and led to numerous misunderstandings about autism. Oh, and it's also a great road movie about a gorgeous 1949 Buick Roadmaster and its ability to create and destroy relationships.
Sid and James are joined by Kyle Phalen, a brilliant comedian who also happens to be on the autism spectrum. Kyle talks about how this movie impacted his life and speaks very frankly about the positive and negative impact of the movie.
So is Rain Man a good or bad thing? Can a car really be the driving force (pun intended) in a relationship? Why the hell does the Cadillac Cimarron keep cropping up in our podcasts?!
Enjoy Rain Man on Reels and Wheels! Subscribe on iTunes or Stitcher and leaves us feedback! Find @ReelsandWheels hosts Sid @SidBridgeComedy and James @S2KJames, as well as Kyle @KylePhalen1!
Ah, the wedge! Remember when the hottest cars in the world were shaped like a wedge?! No? Remember when Roger Moore was all the rage as James Bond? No?
Sid and James are joined by Reels and Wheels Bond expert Kris Roley to talk about 007 is The Spy Who Loved Me, the movie that brought us an iconic Lotus Esprit that turned into a submarine. How awesome is that?! Many agree that Moore was the silliest actor to play James Bond, but the Lotus is highly regarded as a Bond car, second only to Sean Connery's Aston Martin.
So what's the verdict on the Lotus? What was the fate of the car from the movie? What kind of car would you turn into a submarine?
Subscribe to Reels and Wheels on iTunes or Stitcher and leave feedback! Follow us, too - @SidBridgeComedy, @S2KJames, @ReelsandWheels and find everything Kris Roley is up to at www.krisroley.com!
Since the dawn of Reels and Wheels, James and Sid have been the victim of a vicious curse, the "Mad Max Curse!" All attempts to record episodes about these beloved movies have met with unexpected technical difficulty, especially when it comes to The Road Warrior... but this time James and Sid stood up against fate, fought the curse head on and are proud to bring you an episode of Reels and Wheels about The Road Warrior!
This movie is glorious. It has one of the greatest villains of all time. And it has some extremely interesting vehicles.
How did James and Sid do fighting the "Mad Max Curse?" What's the deal with post-apocalyptic cars?!
Subscribe to Reels and Wheels on iTunes or Stitcher and leave feedback! Follow James and Sid on social media - @ReelsandWheels @S2KJames and @SidBridgeComedy and tell your friends!
This is it. This is the car chase that set the bar. This is the car chase that captured our imaginations and made us love it when two muscle cars duel to the death. This is Bullitt.
For this epic occasion, James and Sid are joined by movie stunt driver Christopher Almon, who has worked as a driver/stunt man on numerous car movies.
Do we even need to ask what makes this chase so awesome? Or about how awesome these cars are? The rest of the movie on the other hand... Well, let's just say there's some spirited debate about Steve McQueen's acting.
Listen on iTunes or Stitcher - subscribe and leave feedback! Find James online @S2KJames and find Sid @SidBridgeComedy. Learn more about Christopher Almon here: https://m.facebook.com/Topher170/
@ReelsandWheels
Ridiculous. Hilarious. Outlandish. Real. The Cannonball Run wasn't the first movie about the legendary illegal cross-country race, but it was the most iconic. Penned by Car and Driver editor Brock Yates and helmed by Stunt Driver/Smokey and the Bandit director Hal Needham, The Cannonball Run is one of the happiest accidents in movie history.
James and Sid are joined by comedian Derek Williams to discuss this 1981 ensemble masterpiece that probably should have been terrible. Filmed in only a few weeks with an cast that was basically a bunch of Burt Reynolds' friends hanging out and being drunk, Needham somehow captured lightning in a bottle and set the course for 1980's pop culture.
What was the goal of this movie? What exactly was Roger Moore doing here? How did Derek learn to drive a manual? Enjoy the latest Reels and Wheels!
Subscribe on Stitcher or iTunes and leave feedback! Follow us! @ReelsAndWheels @S2KJames @SidBridgeComedy
Punk rock, drugs, 80's fashion and decaying aliens in the trunk. Only 1984's Repo Man could bring such greatness together and contain it on one screen. Joining Sid and James to help understand this complicated/insane movie is Ed Carden of The Pushers - a renowned sketch comedy group who runs The Push Comedy Theater.
Emilio Estevez and Harry Dean Stanton carry this cult classic which also happens to star a sinister 1964 Chevy Malibu with radioactive alien corpses in the truck that vaporize anyone who dares to open it and take a peek.
What was this movie really about? What other magical powers did some of the cars have? Did you know that Ed Carden used to have a Volkswagen Quantum?! Find out more on this episode of Reels and Wheels! Follow us on social media - @TheEdCarden, @ReelsandWheels, @SidBridgeComedy and @S2KJames. Subscribe on iTunes or Stitcher and leave us feedback!
In the early 1970's, outlaw culture was at its height and car chase movies with jarring endings were all the rage - Like Vanishing Point and Two Lane Blacktop, Dirty Mary Crazy Larry is a chase movie with an outlaw protagonist, fueled by Detroit muscle.
James and Sid are joined by the Educated Redneck Dan Ellison, a touring comic who knows his cars and has plenty of insight about what life was like when this movie came out.
What was the true lesson of this movie? Are we supposed to root for the outlaw? And how about those cars - a sleeper Chevy Impala and a flamboyant Dodge Charger steal every scene in this movie.
Subscribe to Reels and Wheels on iTunes or Stitcher and leave us feedback! Follow @ReelsandWheels on social media and follow Sid (@SidBridgeComedy) and James (@S2KJames), too! Find Dan Ellison at www.educatedredneck.com, @educatedredneck.
Rarely do James and Sid agree that both a movie and its cars are awesome. When it comes to Death Race 2000, both hosts give it a thumbs up and that's pretty disturbing.
Death Race 2000 is Roger Corman's masterpiece of satire - poking fun at the dumbing down of society years before Idiocracy came about. Innocent people are killed with deadpan/slapstick comic timing and characters are ridiculous/off the wall.
And then there's the cars. Customizer Dick Dean goes all out to give us some of the wildest, personality-filled and unreliable cars ever filmed.
Why is this movie so amazing? Why didn't the cars run? Why should a car be an extension of your own personality? Is this movie for real?
Subscribe to Reels and Wheels on iTunes or Stitcher and leave feedback! Follow us on FaceBook and Twitter - @ReelsAndWheels, @S2KJames and @SidBridgeComedy and leave us feedback!
Quentin Tarantino never misses a detail, so the vehicular choices of the main characters in Pulp Fiction make for a pretty exciting episode of Reels and Wheels. James and Sid are joined by CB Wilkins. CB is a stand up comic, member of Plan B Improv and really knows his Tarantino.
What did the cars say about the characters? Can James talk about an Acura NSX without needing a cold shower? How far off the rails will a discussion go if the word "monocoque" gets used?
Subscribe to Reels and Wheels on iTunes and Stitcher and leave us feedback! Follow @ReelsandWheels on Facebook and Twitter! Also find Sid - @SidBridgeComedy, James - @S2KJames, and CB - @CBWilkinsTweets and let us know what you think!
Another must-see for fans of great car chases, Reels and Wheels talks The French Connection. Based on a true story, The French Connection includes a history, 5-minute car chase that pits a basic 1971 Pontiac Lemans sedan against an L-Train!
James and Sid talk about New York City's abusive relationship with cars and how the muscle car age was an inconvenience to them. Were the cars in the true story more interesting than the movie? Why were the sedans so awful compared to the coupes?
And how about that chase? How much danger were people really in due to the reckless actions of director William Friedkin? Enjoy Reels and Wheels! Follow @ReelsandWheels on Twitter and Facebook. Subscribe on iTunes and Stitcher and leave us feedback! Follow Sid @SidBridgeComedy and James @S2KJames, too!