The Reel Take Podcast: Recent Episodes
The Reel Take
A podcast by film fans, for film fans. Every week three people who think they know more about movies than you do tackle a different cinematic topic...or cine-topic. Cine-Subject? Movie-matters? It's a podcast about films, alright.
It's that time of year again when although there may be many things from which we have not profited, I dare say, when it has come round, I have always thought of this time of year as a good time; a kind, forgiving, charitable, pleasant time; the only time I know of, in the long calendar of the year, when Sinead, Ross and Niall seem by one consent to open their shut-up hearts freely, and to think of people below them as if they really were fellow-passengers to the grave, and not another race of creatures bound on other journeys.
(...plus, it's the only time of year when THE REEL TAKE hosts do a ridiculous Christmas episode).
And therefore, though it has never put a scrap of gold or silver in my pocket, I believe that this podcast has done me good, and will do me good; and I say, God bless it!
It has been a little difficult to get this episode out in a timely fashion as we had recorded it when the seventh part of the series was still in cinemas...
...and taking on all seven films in the MI franchise could be said to be taking on a mission that some might see as difficult...
...and there's three podcast hosts that on their best days could be called difficult...
...but then this is not Mission Difficult, so difficult should be a walk in the park.
Death defying life, endangering stunts from Ross, cool and collected instructions from Sinead and a giant ego who knows he's the reason people return to the franchise again and again from Niall.
Mission accepted.
It's time for spotlight, and this week we're shining it on the 2017 thriller directed by Tommy Wirkola WHAT HAPPENED TO MONDAY starring Noomi Rapace as not one, not two, but seven characters.
In a world where overpopulation has compelled governments to adopt the one-child policy, a set of identical septuplets live a hide-and-seek life, swapping out their central identity on different days of the week, but when Monday goes missing, they embark on a search for their missing sister.
What Happened to Monday? Not just something Ross asks when he goes drinking Sunday night and wakes up Tuesday morning.
This week we have noticed a gap in the podcast market. No one seems to be discussing Star Trek!
So who better than three podcast hosts to fill that gap... Niall who has seen every Trek episode, film, animated series and owns several collectibles... Sinead who doesn't know her Treks from her Wars from her Gates and Ross who just wants to get lost in Chris Pine's deep blue eyes.
We're going to need some help, so we've put out a distress call and the amazing Seán Ferrick, writer, presenter, content creator and expert on all things Trek has beamed in to educate, illuminate and elucidate on Trek culture!
THE SNAPPER turned 30 this year and has probably got a job in the finance sector but will never be able to afford their own house!
Based on the novel by Roddy Doyle, part of the Barrytown trilogy that also brought us The Commitments and The Van, the story of 20-year old Sharon Curley and her unexpected pregnancy is a classic slice of 90's Ireland.
Starring Tina Kellegher, Ruth McCabe and the living legend that is Colm Meaney, it's film that never fails to put a smile on your face, and crying with laughter.
Jaysus I haven't cried since I was a kid.
Sober. Sharon. Sober. Drunk doesn't count.
It's the spookiest time of the year.... but that doesn't mean we can't have a good old guffaw.
This All Hallows Eve we're back and looking at some great Horror Comedies! (...mostly because we're big old fraidy cats).
Frights and laughter go hand in skeletal hand this episode as we talk about some great movies that will bring a rictus smile to your zombified face this Halloween. Mwah-Ha Ha!
So if there's something strange, in your Netflix queue... what ya gonna do? Just watch it!
(We don't do Ghostbusters).
Worn Out, Played Out, Strung Out. No, not your three podcast hosts, but the characters in Baz Black's DUBLIN CRUST, the story of a punk band who reunite for one last gig.
After our summer holidays we're back with a bang and a special guest. We don our Doc Martens, pull on our tartan trousers and stick a safety pin through our nose as we talk to Actor/Writer/Producer/Drummer Baz Black about his career, one of his favourite films and DUBLIN CRUST, out in cinemas now.
They said it couldn't be done.... they said it shouldn't be done. But yes, THE REEL TAKE has hit 100 episodes...
So what better time to sit back, take stock, and indulge in a well deserved round of self congratulations.
We've covered topics as diverse as 'Films we love but everyone else hates' and 'Films we hate but everyone else loves', we've shone a spotlight on many an under-rated gem (and Blank Check), we've murdered enough scenes to get life and we've had some fantastic guests over this last century of takes.
So as we reach this milestone, we invite you once more to sit down, and grab a glass. Sinead, Ross and Niall have made 100 episodes of their podcast!
Leonardo DiCaprio is an earthy type who wants to come up in the world. Kate Winslet is a free spirit, unwilling to confine herself to the norms of society. But this time there's no big boat, and no tragic end.
After their icy dip Kate and Leo reunited for 2008's REVOLUTIONARY ROAD, based on the novel by Richard Yates and directed by Sam Mendes. It's the story of Frank and April Wheeler, a young couple who meet at a party, get married and create a suburban life with a nice house, a manicured lawn, "modern" furniture, two kids, a job in the city for him, housework for her, and martinis, cigarettes, boredom and desperation for both of them.
It's not really 'What would have happened if Rose scooched over and made room on that doorframe for Jack', but it's a close as we'll get.
So join the morning march of grey men in grey suits and grey hats to a job you hate, or spend your day vacuuming and dreaming of a better life in Paris as we put the spotlight on REVOLUTIONARY ROAD.
This week we welcome back guest SNILLOC NOSAJ to finally put to bed the question of whether Christopher Nolan's time bending 2020 film TENET is a classic of cinema or just too difficult for Ross to understand.
The case for the prosecution features Jason and Ross, who spend the entire episode repeating over and over "We didn't understand it, it's a bad film" and scratching their heads in confusion, whereas the distinguished defense counsel of Sinead and Niall put forward an ironclad argument as to why this somewhat divisive movie might ask a lot of its audience, and need more than one watch (and the on subtitles at some point), but yields great reward.
So strap yourself in, because voices get raised, tempers get frayed and nothing is sacred as we ask if TENET is worth a watch... then a rewatch backwards... then a re-rewatch forwards... then a re-re-rewatch backwards.
This week Niall and Ross are a pair of renegade Chicago cops (one's funny and one can tap dance), living on adrenalin and the edge as they take down the bad guys. But when the duo have one close call too many, their hard-ass captain Sinead rips them a new one and insists they take a vacation. Cut to a montage of roller skating/drinking/fishing all set to an 80's classic by a Doobie Brother.
Will Niall and Ross get to retire to the sun kissed Florida Keys and run the bar they dream of? Will they make sure their last two weeks on the mean streets see them bring Gonzales to justice? Will Sinead stop being such a hard-ass? And what exactly is a 'Man Sized Love'?
This week we answer all these questions and more as we spotlight 1996's RUNNING SCARED from director Peter Hyams and starring Billy Crystal and Gregory Hyams.
Before there was Murtaugh and Riggs, there was Costanza and Hughes.
RMS Titanic sank in the North Atlantic Ocean on 15 April 1912, and has fascinated the world ever since.
Not least of all James Cameron, whose multi million blockbuster TITANIC, made for an estimated $200 million is now 25 years old. "I made Titanic because I wanted to dive to the shipwreck, not because I particularly wanted to make the movie. When I learned some other guys had dived to the Titanic to make an IMAX movie, I said, 'I’ll make a Hollywood movie to pay for an expedition and do the same thing."
The crew were unwittingly dosed with PCP laced chowder, Cameron threatened to fire employees who took bathroom breaks so Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet have admitted to relieving themselves in the on-set water tank, and it should have been a disaster.
But it wasn't. It was a film to remember.
This week we're heading off for a relaxing getaway south of the border. Lots of sun, salsa and cerveza as all our troubles melt away.
Actually, we've been recruited by an elite government task force to aid in the war on drugs as we put the spotlight on Denis Villeneuve's taut and tightly wound thriller from 2015, SICCARIO.
Emily Blunt, Josh Brolin and Benicio Del Toro lead a top notch cast in a film wound so tightly you'll need a relaxing vacation afterwards... just maybe not to Juárez.... and suggests that the longer we cling to our morals, the more susceptible we are to becoming sheep in a land of wolves.
For the week that's in it, as Ireland's premiere film podcast (are there others? we're not aware...) this week we thought we'd serve you up a bit o' the old blarney as we look at Walt Disney's 1959 celebration of Irish folklore and myth DARBY O'GILL AND THE LITTLE PEOPLE starring Albert Sharpe and Jimmy O'Dea along with some Scottish fella.
From the director of MARY POPPINS and BEDKNOBS AND BROOMSTICKS, it was the film that brought a young Sean Connery to the attention of Bond producers, was wheeled out every March 16th in classrooms around the country and traumatised an entire generation of schoolchildren with a still very scary banshee.
Slip through the portal with us now as we visit the realm of the wee folk, fiddle our hearts out and make three wishes, the last of which is that you have a Happy St. Patrick's Day!
It's time for another spotlight episode kids! And as some certain Banshees of a certain Inisherin are getting such acclaim, we thought it a good excuse to look at 2012's SEVEN PSYCHOPATHS, from director Martin McDonagh and Colin Farrell, among others.
Colin Farrell is Marty, a man in search of a screenplay. He has a title but no story to go along with it. His friend Billy played by Sam Rockwell makes a living by kidnapping rich people's dogs with his friend Hans (Christopher Walken) then returning them and collecting the reward. But when they kidnap the beloved pooch of a gangster (Woody Harrelson) the fur flies.
Sharp dialogue, gleeful violence and a sly commentary on the state of cinema, as one character points out: “This thing’s got layers.”
We're back baby, for a whole new season in 2023 and what better way to kick things off than discussing one of the most seminal film directors of the last 50 years. A certain Stephen Allan Spielberg... perhaps you've heard of him.
His new semi-kind-sorta-autobiographical film THE FABLEMANS is still in cinemas and is poised to take home a few little gold men, but whatever happens, it's undeniable that his influence on cinema has been just as epic as his films.
Whether he's turned his lens on aliens, sharks, whip cracking archeologists, dinosaurs or Tom Hanks, you're guaranteed value for the price of your cinema ticket.
Mister Spielberg, we salute you.
Inspired by VIOLENT NIGHT (in cinemas now) we decided to devote this year's Yuletide episode to Christmas Action Movies! And of course, if there's one of the Reel Take triumvirate who loves an actioner, it's Ross Leahy!
He's hoping to spend Christmas with his estranged podcast hosts who have gone on to bigger and better things, but when a group of international thieves... I mean terrorists, they're definitely terrorists, not thieves, take over the newly opened Reel Take Podcast Tower, one man must crawl through air ducts in his bare feet to save the day.
We may even get to discuss a few films.
Yippee-ki-yay, melon farmers.
This week we're turning our attention to 1988's Midnight Run, a buddy action comedy in which Robert De Niro finally got the chance to fully try out his comic talents. In a cinema landscape of Lethal Weapons, Beverly Hill's Cops and 48 Hours', Midnight Run remains a forgotten gem.
Director Martin Brest brings the brest out of De Niro as bounty hunter Jack Walsh, happy to subvert his tough guy persona and his quarry, deadpan master of drolery Charles Grodin as ex-mob accountant Jonathan 'The Duke' Mardukas. There's a rogues gallery of great character actors lending able support, but the show belongs to De Niro and Grodin.
One of the premiere names in film for the last 50 years, Martin Scorsese has just turned 80. So it's about time he got a little scrutiny from The Reel Take.
If you think he's all about gangsters and gritty crime drama, we can't blame you. But there's a lot more to his CV than that.
Unfulfilled wannabe singers no longer known at this address, yuppies who go into the wrong part of town after dark, and Emergency Medical Technician's who are haunted by their failures...and that's just scratching the surface.
Happy Birthday Marty!
Anthony Hopkins became history’s oldest best actor Oscar-winner in 2021 for his role in THE FATHER from writer/director Florian Zeller.
The story of Anthony, a mischievous 80 year old, living defiantly alone and rejecting the carers that his daughter, Anne (Olivia Colman), insists he needs. Adamant that he doesn't need help, Anthony's grip on reality is unraveling. Or is he being gaslit by those closest to him. As the viewer experiences the ebb and flow of his memory, the film blends genuine fear with overwhelming sadness, and asks the question 'What is it like to grieve for a person who is still alive'.
Film: a series of static images creating the illusion of movement. And what purer form of that definition is there than animation. In many ways, it could be argued that all film is animation. A trompe l'oeil, deceiving the brain into thinking that what the eye sees is a representation of reality.
If all that seems a little high-brow, it's because this week we're taking a look at animated movies aimed at adults. And if you're still worried it's a little high brow, fear not, apart from searing socio-political commentary about life in Afghanistan, and a deep examination of existential angst that makes you question if it is ever possible to relate to the world, there's also horny hot dogs, sexy buns and racial stereo-types to beat the band.
This week we're looking at Edward Norton's 2019 neo noir MOTHERLESS BROOKLYN. He produces, he directs, he stars, he adapts the original novel! No wonder people find him difficult to get on with.
Based on Jonathan Lethem’s best-selling crime thriller published in 1999, Norton liked the book so much he got a copy of it before it was published, immediately bought the rights and proceeded to transplant its contemporary setting to 1950's New York.
Every private detective needs a flaw and Lionel Essrog, an unlikely gumshoe with Tourette syndrome, a tic that means he will convulsively yelp disjointed phrases, is our hero as he tries to unravel the reason behind his bosses murder and gets embroiled in a conspiracy that goes all the way to the top!
Forget it Lionel, it's Brooklyn-town.
This week it's order up as we get you to pull up a booth and look at those iconic movie scenes set in Diners.
Whether you're a criminal cartel planning a heist, a group of muppets trying to make it big on broadway, or just a pair or friends faking an orgasm, there's no better place to sit down, grab a cuppa kwoffy and some grub and progress the plot of your movie.
So sit right down and make yourself at home as we fire up the grill and get you started with a little dirty water, hold the yum yum.
This week we turn our attention to the 1992 gem SNEAKERS. Robert Redford leads an all star team of a high-tech (for the time) hackers in this caper made in a post-cold war, pre-internet world when virtual reality was in its infancy and fears surrounding domestic surveillance and cyberwarfare were mounting. Luckily we don't need to worry about that 30 years later!
So spill out all the scrabble tiles and discover the truth about 'Montereys Coast', 'My Socrates Note', 'Cootys Rat Semen' and 'Seetec Astronomy'.
Well, Guys and Ghouls, it's the most Spooktackular time of the year once more! And do you know what the most shocking thing bout this Halloween is? It's that your three terrifyingly terrible podcast hosts all have blind spots when it comes to famous horror franchises! So despite their fraidy cat hearts, they have undertakered to watch those pillars of the horror genre which they have heretofore avoided.
So on this spectral special, Niall will be trying against all odds to stay away in the hopes that a certain Frederick Bartholomew Kreuger doesn't invade his dreams as he looks at A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET, Ross will be learning a valuable lesson against the hazards of unsafe nail-gun use while attempting home DIY as he watches HELLRAISER and Sinead will wake up in a dingy basement bathroom, chained to the wall with a stranger and a dead body (so just a usual weekend for her) and she'll also watch SAW.
Happy Halloween!
Acting! The craft! To inhabit the soul of a character and bring it to life is a talent not granted not many. Yes, medical professionals and first responders may save lives, yes, scientists may work to discover solutions to humanity's problems... but an actor Acts!
And there's nothing an actor likes more than those rare occasions when they are given a chance to give due respect to their chosen profession and portray a fellow performer.
So on this week's episode we salute those sons and daughters of Thesbis who, egoless, have allowed themselves to be transformed, to become another of their calling... to perform as a performer... to act the actor!
(...and scene!)
This week we're using the power of friendship to overthrow a sadistic regime and throw a spotlight on Indian Telugu-language epic action drama R.R.R. (Rise! Roar! Revolt!).
Set in 1920s India, the film follows two historical figures in the resistance to the British empire: Alluri Sitarama Raju and Komaram Bheem. They never met in real life, but this film asks, what if they did?... and what if their intimate friendship, their almost super human fighting skills and their desire for freedom lit the spark of rebellion?
It's a film that goes toe to toe with the biggest Hollywood can offer, and like its two central characters, although you might think that the odds aren't in their favour, you' just might be surprised.
With the recent release of Olivia Wilde's DON'T WORRY, DARLING, all the speculation on the behind the scenes going's on, all the scrutiny of its Canne premiere and all the talk about who hates who, we thought it a good opportunity to look at some of cinema's most troubled productions.
We discuss wet-movies, opulent-movies, sweaty-movies and dangerous-movies, all with one thing in common... they were hell to make. And we ask the question we ask ourselves every time we post a new episode... the ultimate question. Was it worth it?
But don't worry darling listeners, no matter how much hell we go through making great pod for you every week, no matter how sweaty Niall gets, how diva like Sinead's behavior is or how many times Ross threatens us with an axe, the answer's always yes.
This week it's time for another spotlight episode as we figuratively travel back to early 20th century Florence and cinematically travel back to 1985 to look at one of Sinead's famourites, A ROOM WITH A VIEW.
When Lucy Honeychurch and her aunt Charlotte discover that they have been assigned a room 'sans' view in the Florentine pensione, the Emersons come to the rescue. She quickly falls in love with the impetuous George Emerson, but back home in England her fiancee awaits her return.
In the same way that 2008's Iron man kicked off a cinematic universe, this 1985 film brought about a Merchant-Ivoryverse, where the gentleman were impeccably dressed for dinner, the ladies prone to fainting spells and the poor, well, we didn't really talk about the poor.
Beloved '80s classic E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial is getting a theatrical re-release this year to celebrate the film's 40th anniversary, so what better time to take a look back at the film that went down in cinema history and launched a plethora of less than stellar knock-offs.
This week it's a case of E.T. and Mac and Me, and Nukie and Xtro (the black sheep of the family) as we look at not only the little alien who was afraid, totally alone and 3 million light years from home when cinema goers took him into their hearts in 1982, but also all of his cursed brethren.
Burn them. Burn them with fire.
A rambling loner teams up with a group of misfits to bring justice to a lawless landscape. But enough about our podcast!
This week, it's time to saddle up as we shine the spotlight on 1985's SILVERADO, written and directed by Lawrence Kasdan.
Scott Glenn, Kevins Kline and Costner, Danny Glover, Jeff Goldblum, Brian Dennehy, John Cleese, Linda Hunt and more find their fates entwined in the troubled town of Silverado, when four drifters tangle with a greedy rancher, a gang of guns for hire and a corrupt Sheriff who has unfinished business with one of their number.
Yee-Haw!
After our summer sabbatical, we're back baby! And since at this time of year everyone gets fixated on the return to school, we thought it a good time to look at some of cinema's less than perfect mentors.
Whether they've actually obtained their teaching qualifications and stand at the head of the class with a lesson plan, or they're more of a mentor who takes an impressionable young charge under their wing, the one thing these characters have in common is that they shouldn't be allowed impart any of their dubious life lessons on the younger and more impressionable.
So pare your pencils, pack your lunches and keep your wits about you as we get a bad education and look at some of cinemas worst teachers.
In our second special episode on the inaugural Boyne Valley International Film Festival, which took place at Droichead Arts Centre in August of 2022, we talk to many of the film makers whose work was shown as part of a great weekend of short film.
Set against the beautiful backdrop of the Boyne Valley, curated by filmmaker and Boyne Valley native Frank W. Kelly and Collette Farrell, Droichead Arts Centre Director, the two day event featured some amazing short films from around the country, and the world, and made in the region.
We caught up with producers, actors, directors and had an amazing time. Can't wait for next year.
The inaugural Boyne Valley International Film Festival, takes place at Droichead Arts Centre over Friday 12th and Saturday 13th August.
Set against the beautiful backdrop of the Boyne Valley, curated by filmmaker and Boyne Valley native Frank W. Kelly and Collette Farrell, Droichead Arts Centre Director, this two day event features the best short films from around the country, and the world, with a special focus on films made in the region.
And as the premiere film podcast based in the Boyne Valley, it would be remiss of us if we didn't elbow our way in and share some of the glory, so in the first of two special episodes focusing on the festival, we caught up with Frank to talk about the #BVIFF, his experience as an independent film maker and some of the films he loves.
It's the final episode of the season so your podcast hosts are off to recharge their batteries; Ross will be letting it all let it all hang out at an exclusive nudist beach, Sinead will receiving a complete blood transfusion at a luxury Swiss spa resort and Niall shall be seeking enlightenment at a remote monastery in the Himalayas. But before we take our leave, we thought it would be a good time to look at some of the great final performances committed to celluloid.
It is always sad when beloved actors pass away or retire from the business but an actor's body of work remains that fans can enjoy for years to come. It's always very special when an actor leaves the audience with one final great performance to end on, to show the immense talents of the actors that have moved on. Whether in the midst of a career that ended too soon or the perfect culmination of along legacy, this week is all about memorable farewells.
But you're not getting rid of us. We'll see you soon.
FM104's Thomas 'Crossy' Crosse is used to rubbing elbows and hob-nobbing with the celeb great and good from all over the world, (hanging out in Disney with some Marvel Movie stars... check! Getting the low down on the celebs that are not as nice as we'd like...check! Finding out what people shout at Julia Roberts in the street...check!)
So we're were delighted he had a window in his schedule and deigned to slum it with us as our final guest of the season!
We also managed to tear ourselves away from all the hot red carpet goss to talk about his favourite comfort film, which made us simultaneously hungry, spiritual and romantic (as well as making us wondering if we should get our teeth done).
We had a great time talking with Crossy, we're sure you'll have a great time listening.
All work and no play makes Calvin a dull boy in this week's spotlight film, 2012's RUBY SPARKS. From the directors of Little Miss Sunshine Johnathon Dayton and Valerie Faris, it centers on author Calvin Weir-Fields (played by cinema's favourite weirdo Paul Dano), who after a prolonged episode of writer’s block, writes a scene about a woman named Ruby Sparks, (played by the film's writer, Zoe Kazan), his ideal partner. After writing about Ruby and feeling she's almost real, Calvin dreams about her and when he wakes up, she’s in his house.
As much a psychological horror story as it it a romance, this movie puts the manic into manic pixie dream girl.
This week we pop in for a quick pre-podcast sharpener as we look at drinking movies! And whether your tipple of choice is a glass of vino while touring the vineyards of California, an aged malt from the Highlands or something a little fruitier served up by a Top Gun, we are sure to have something that will quench your thirst and help you leave your troubles behind.
We usually write a bit more for these show notes, but to be completely honest, after all that we're feeling a little fragile.
I've heard of updating your operating system, but what 2013's HER from director Spike Jonze posits is 'What if you could date your operating system?'.
It's time for a spotlight episode and this week we're looking at the story of one man and his love for an artificial intelligence. Joaquin Phoenix
is Theodore Twombly, a man desperate to connect, whose profession is composing beautiful handwritten letters for people he'll never meet, and Scarlett Johannson is Samantha, the OS that has read all his e-mails, looked in that folder called 'Tax Documents', but still seems to love him despite all that.
Grosse Pointe Blank, the 1997 movie about assassin Martin Q. Blank, played by John Cusack, who begrudgingly returns to his hometown for his 10 year high school reunion, is 25 years old! So it's the perfect opportunity to talk about this hit man experiencing an existential crisis, and a few others, who it's fair to say, aren't.
When did the hired killer become cool? Whether it be Alain Delon in trench coat and fedora in Le Samourai, Vincent and Jules talking fast food in Pulp Fiction, or Lil Natalie Portman proving you're never too young to learn a trade in Leon, cinema loves a cold blooded professional without a moral compass or a compassionate bone in their blood spattered body. They're all about the job and usually like to keep things strictly business... until things inevitably get personal. The contract killer is a cinematic cultural icon, a legitimate lynchpin of film; from action to drama, comedy to something more complicated, they know their target audience.
In this week's episode we shine the spotlight on 2001's HEIST.
As intricate as a Swiss watch, David Mamet's tale of a veteran thief out for one last score before he retires might not sound like it's anything new, but with a stellar cast like Gene Hackman, Delroy Lindo, Rebecca Pidgeon, Sam Rockwell and Danny DeVito firing off zingers like bullets - (plus firing off actual bullets), it's must see for fans of cunning crime capers.
So join us as we get the crew together, go over the blueprints one last time, make sure we've planned the perfect get away and most importantly of all, look out for the double cross and we'll see you at the rendezvous to divvy up the loot. Honest.
In the words of Joshua, the super-computer from the 1983 film Wargames, shall we play a game?
Much like Global Thermonuclear War, when it comes to Hollywood's attempts to adapt video games into a successful movie franchise, the only way to win might be not to play. It's a world-wide billion dollar industry with a built in devoted audience, recognisable characters and visuals that should be right at home on the big screen... but despite trying and trying and trying again, it seems impossible to make a good movie based on a computer game.
From moustachioed plumbers to hooded assassins to street fighters to raiders of tombs (charted and un), the response of filmgoers to most if not all film adaptations of best selling video games ranges from 'meh' to 'my God what a mess!'
Always willing to accept a side-quest and level up for a big boss fight, this week your three intrepid podcast hosts are tackling video game movies! Let's hope it's not Game Over.
For this week's Spotlight episode we travel to 2005 in order to actually travel back to the mid 70's to talk about Catherine Hardwicke's LORDS OF DOGTOWN, a fictionalized take on the true story of a group of brilliant young skateboarders raised in the mean streets of Santa Monica, California as they perfect their craft in the empty swimming pools of unsuspecting suburban homeowners, pioneering a thrilling new sport and eventually moving into legend.
We recommend you wear the appropriate safety gear as we're not liable for any injuries incurred in listening to this episode.
Cinema’s history is littered with criminals making film goers an offer you can't refuse... to take a seat at the table and carve out a piece of the action. Gritty or romantic, coolly silent or loaded with tough talk, gangster movies are the films where crime pays.... at least for a while.
Although it came many years after the gangster explosion of the 30s and 40s, Francis Ford Coppola's 1972 masterpiece is arguably the godfather of them all, and as it celebrates it's 50th Anniversary, it would be a sign of great disrespect if we did not offer up this tribute, an episode on all things gangster!
Join us for our tour of speakeasies, gambling dens, back alleys as we look for a big score and spend some time with cinema’s criminal classes.
For this week's spotlight episode we put on our Asics Gel-Nimbus 24s (Runner's World Best in Test 2022), cue up our 'Thumpin Techno' playlist on Spotify and hit the streets to talk about 1998's Lola rennt (Run Lola Run).
Forget Sandy and Keanu on a bus, this is one of the finest depictions of speed committed to film. At once a high octane breakneck thriller that leaves you gasping for breath, Tom Tykwer's film is also an existential examination of free will versus determinism.
We only have 50 minutes to reach the other side of the city and encapsulate why we love this film so much! Join us, won't you, if you think you can keep up.
This week we forgo the flashy thrills of Hollywood to take you around the world in 80 minutes (actually closer to 90) as we look at some gems of International film.
And there really is something for all tastes on our menu this week. Fancy a pitch black comedy about a couple that may just have irreconcilable differences, all the way from the fjords of Norway, well then may we recommend I ONDE DAGER (THE TRIP) from 2021.
If something a little grittier is more to your tastes, you'll find 2002 was a very good year CIDADE DE DEUS (CITY OF GOD) from Brazil, a brutal look at what it takes to survive in the favelas of Rio de Janeiro.
And for the stylish and impeccably dressed romantics out there, might we draw your attention to 花樣年華 (IN THE MOOD FOR LOVE) from 2000. A tale of stolen glances, desire and unfulfilled promise all the way from Hong Kong.
Plus, we talk about one of the best love letters to cinema ever committed to celluloid, 1988's CINEMA PARADISO.
1988 ‧ Drama ‧ 2h 35m
You know the kind of movie that never gets old and whenever you see it you laugh just as hard as you did the first time you watched it. For some people it might be a workplace comedy about a group of teenagers trying to save a music store. For others it might be a tremendously problematic children's movie about how consumerism and venality are things to aspire to. And for other's it might be this under rated gem.
Sandwiched between Wayne Campbell and Austin Danger Powers, Mike Myers made this romantic comedy (heavy on the comedy) about a man facing up to his fear of commitment (and axe murderers).
So tell the Heid in front of ya to move their giant bonce and let you see the telly, 'cos we're watching 1993's SO I MARRAID AN AXE MURDERER.
It's that time of year when the whole world turns green and all eyes are on the island of Ireland. So what film classic have we chosen to mark St. Patrick's Day this year? The classic John Ford film THE QUIET MAN, showcasing the Duke's on screen chemistry with our own Maureen O'Hara? Nah.
DARBY O'GILL AND THE LITTLE PEOPLE, a film that traumatised generations of Irish schoolchildren with it's depiction of the Banshee and Death Coach (and Sean Connery singing). Nope.
This St. Patrick's Day we wanted to shine a light on the 2012 Horror Sci-Fi film GRABBERS. Imagine if John Carpenter set THE THING on Craggy Island and was everyone was drunk.
With a title like She's All That, you would be forgiven for thinking this might be a spotlight episode on the 1999 teen comedy of the same name, but as it's being released on International Women's Day, we thought it a perfect opportunity to spotlight the career of one of the most International of Women in cinema, Meryl Streep.
Polish in Sophie's Choice, English in the Iron Lady, Australian in A Cry in Dark, Italian in The Bridges of Madison County, Danish in Out of Africa, Irish in...well we won't talk about that. Meryl can do it all.
And she does it so well. Action movies, comedies, romances, gut wrenching dramas, musicals... she excels at every genre of film.
Nominated for an Oscar a staggering fifteen times, she has three on her mantle. Out of nineteen Golden Globe nominations, she has nine wins. She received three primetime Emmys for her work in Television. But now she will receive the highest accolade of all. An episode of The Reel Take dedicated to her films.
Meryl Streep. She is indeed, all that.
The world of film is about to go batty once more with the long awaited release of THE BATMAN, from director Matt Reeves and featuring Robat Battinson as Bruised Wayne.
So it's the perfect time to take a look at the cinematic career of the caped crusader, stretching all the way back to 1943 when he first appeared in the Columbia Pictures serial BATMAN, right up to his most recent iteration in what has become known as the Snyderverse.
We get in depth on a few of the Bat-films, speculate on our hopes for the new one and generally have a good old time chatting about all things Batman. Join us, won't you.
This week we travel back to 1994 and ask the question, what if Kevin McAllister was actually an even less likeable materialistic sociopath as we look at the film that made a wide eyed young Ross Leahy into the covetous, selfish, venal, avaricious egomaniac he is today.
Disney's BLANK CHECK tells the story of twelve-year-old Preston Waters who after a run in with a criminal, receives a blank check for one million dollars, which he promptly cashes. Can he enjoy his windfall, evade the gang of thugs who want their money back and win the girl? Girl? She's a grown woman! She shouldn't be kissing a twelve year old!
More importantly, can Sinead and Niall survive this hideous blot on the landscape of film and can they convince Ross to get the help he so badly needs.
Sidney Poitier broke the mold of what a Black actor could be in Hollywood, consistently playing leading roles in major films, Poitier projected ideals of respectability and integrity.
In 1964 he became the first Black person to win the Oscar for lead actor with “Lilies of the Field", the same year Martin Luther King won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964 and solidified his place as Hollywood’s first major Black box office star.
He passed away in January of this year at the age of 94 and so in this week's episode we do our best to cover a man and a career that literally changed the face of cinema.
Bad news everyone! We left Sinead to lock up last night and in an incredibly rash move, she grabbed the podcast takings and went to Atlantic City where she lost it all! So that means The Reel Take has just 3 days before our callous owner sells us off to an evil heartless corporate giant.... or worse, Spotify.
Actually, now that I think of it, I may be confusing real life with the plot of 1995's EMPIRE RECORDS in which a group of misfits who work at a small, independent record shop help their manager collect enough cash to buy the store, damn the man and save the Empire.
After a well earned break through January, we have emerged from our hibernation, blinking into the bright February sun and are back with a look at a beloved film franchise that has spawned five movies, a cartoon show, a smash hit Netflix series...as well as a lot of school yard accidents as children around the world emulated the crane stance. Yes, we're taking a look at all things Karate Kid!
So tie your tenugui around your head, catch a fly with chopsticks, wax the car, creosote the fence and maybe, just maybe you'll be ready to listen to the episode.
But remember to adjust your bass, your treble and your balance. Balance good, podcast good, everything good.
It's the most wonderful time of the year so since you've been good all year as a gift to all our loyal listeners, we present to you a very special Christmas episode where we discuss in depth, a perennial holiday favourite... HOME ALONE.
You didn't think we were talking about another film, did you?
It's a beloved Christmas classic which has spawned no fewer than five sequel/reboots including this year's Disney+ debacle HOME SWEET HOME ALONE.
We all love the story of cherubic sociopath Kevin McCallister being abandoned by his neglectful parents during the Christmas time... we even like when he ran amok in the big city, almost bankrupting his father and hanging out with history's worst president. But what of the others? Well, there's no need to watch them, because we did it so you don't have to.
Merry Christmas, you filthy animals.
Time for another spotlight episode and this week we travel into the genetically perfect future to examine the double helix genome that makes up 1997's high concept sci-fi GATTACA.
A stellar cast, a clever concept and suits so sharp they'll poke your eye out if you're not careful, this sci-fi film noir was somewhat overlooked on it's initial release but has come to be reevaluated since then. Not least by its star Ethan Hawke who say 'Gattaca is among the best first films in the history of cinema.' So there.
At the grand age of 88 and with over 150 movies under his belt, Maurice Joseph Micklewhite Jr. or Michael Caine to you, has announced he's calling it a day and retiring to write thrillers. We're not so sure we've seen the last of him, but it's a good excuse to take a look at the career of the iconic actor.
So don your national health spectacles as we examine the diverse filmography that swayed from swinging London to Hollywood and back and includes lounging lotharios, crooked conmen, grim faced gangsters and madcap muppets. Not a lot of people know that.
It's time for another spotlight episode and this week we're looking at RUBBER from 2010. Director Quentin Dupieux's tale of a car tyre that comes to life with the power to make people explode and goes on a murderous rampage through the Californian desert has been called both a work of post modern genius and one of the worst films ever made. Either way, it's the best film you'll see about a killer tyre this year.
Let's get rollin'!
Episode 50 sent us to movie jail, so we missed last week, but we have been released into the general population for episode 51. However, due to extreme studio interference, we have all adopted pseudonyms, lest this episode tarnish our hitherto (mostly) unblemished reputations.
This week we're looking at the career of one of Hollywood's longest-working and most diverse filmmakers, Alan Smithee. It is no exaggeration to say that he ranks among the most industrious directors in tinseltown, with more than 100 features, innumerable screenplays and a raft of production credits to his name.
And for those that didn't know, from 1968 that name was the official pseudonym used by film directors who wanted to disown a project, until it was formally discontinued in 2000. In those years it was the sole pseudonym used by members of the Directors Guild of America (DGA) when a director wished to disown themselves from the final product, after proving that they had not been able to exercise creative control over a film.
So are there any hidden gems in his filmography, was he merely a patsy, a fall guy who had to take the bullet for better known film makers? Or does he deserve his sullied reputation? Join us as we delve into the career of one Alan Smithee and find out.
It's our 50th episode and some may say that we went off the rails quite some time ago. So no better excuse to look at some of the films that derailed the careers of well known actors and directors.
They were fan favourites, darlings of the box office, too big to fail... and then they come out with a stinker so bad that they're put in movie jail. Some languish there forever, some are released on good behaviour only to offend once more and a rare few serve their time and come out rehabilitated, having learned the error of their ways.
Batman and Robin. the comic book catastrophe that temporarily killed the bat-franchise, Jupiter Ascending, a shocking sci-fi slip up from a pair of legendary directors, and Southland Tales, a disastrously dire follow up to cult hit Donny Darko. We discuss them all.
It's time to go back to 1987 and go back to high school with a spotlight episode focusing on one of Sinead's favourites SOME KIND OF WONDERFUL.
Focusing on an artsy high school outcast from the wrong side of the tracks Keith (Eric Stoltz) , who tries to land a date with popular girl Amanda Jones (Lea Thompson) with some help from his tomboy best friend, Watts (Mary Stuart Masterson) much to the chagrin of Amanda's snobby rich boy ex, Hardy Jenns (Craig Sheffer), who makes plans to get even. But matters are further complicated when Watts realizes she likes Keith as more than just a friend and tries to convince him to stop pursuing Amanda.
What will artsy outcast from the wrong side of the tracks Niall think of popular girl Sinead's film choice? And will snobby rich boy Ross spoil everyone's fun because he has no soul? Find out by listening in.
It's that time of year when the barriers are down between the real and the unreal, and the dead might be looking in to sit by our fires of turf and listen to a film podcast...Yes, it'sHalloween... the festival of Samhain! What better time to talk horror and the one franchise synonymous with the season.
And because your three regular podcast hosts are big ole 'fraidy cats, we have enlisted the help of two experts in surviving until the end of the credits, Eimear and Grace from the horrific (in a good way) BECAUSE YOU WERE HOME podcast where each week they delve into the world of horror movies.
So bolt your doors, check the windows are locked and settle in as the hills run red with the blood of the animals and children sacrificed to our pagan gods while talk all things Halloween!
The year was 1986, VHS was the best way to see movies, there was nothing more thrilling than finding a hidden gem at the back of the video shop, and there was one name that meant action, adventure and excitement! Stargrove. Lance Stargrove.
John Stamos is Lance Stargrove, son of a legendary superspy played by George Lazenby, who must team up with sultry secret agent Danja Deering (played by singer Vanity), to stop a plot by the villainous Velvet Von Ragnar (played by singer Gene Simmons) who intends to poison the city's water supply with the help of his post apocalyptic acolytes!
Catchy theme songs, fast cars, beautiful women, explosions and high tech gadgets... it's no wonder that NEVER TOO YOUNG TO DIE was a huge box office success and spawned countless sequels. With news that John Stamos is retiring from the role this year, the question on everyone's lips is, who will be the next Stargrove?
There comes a time in the life of any long running franchise when, out of fresh new ideas, the creators rely on the familiar old trope of the body swap. Not so in the case of this week's episode. We ran out of new ideas months ago.
In this week's installment, the hosts learn a little about themselves, a little about life and maybe, a little about each other when they all touch a magical totem at the same time while reciting an ancient incantation and swap bodies.
So no better time to discuss movies where the protagonists find themselves in the same predicament. Mothers, daughters, teenagers, serial killers, married men, bachelors, they're all here, just all mixed up.
So join us, if you will as we change things up, get our freak on and call us by your name.
In this week's episode, we turn the spotlight on, only to discover hundreds of bugs scuttering across the kitchen floor. Is this the beginning of an invasion from beyond the stars or just the result of poor housekeeping. Either way we're ready to do our part because we've watched 1997's STARSHIP TROOPERS directed by Paul Verhoeven.
Super advanced space ships, killer alien arachnids, government propaganda, soap opera love triangles and lots and lots of gore. Critically reviled on its initial release, will the film find its way into the hearts of our intrepid hosts?
If you want to know more, listen and find out.
To mark the long awaited release of NO TIME TO DIE, the 25th entry in the James Bond franchise, in this week's episode of The Reel Take we dust down the tuxedo, order a martini shaken not stirred and celebrate everything we love about this hugely successful film series, from the gadgets, the cars, the bad guys and the cheesy one-liners it's all here.
And stepping into the role of quartermaster, or Q if you will, we have asked a man who knows his way around a top ten movie list, he's a self confessed Bond mega-fan and he has some of the hottest film takes on the twittersphere, thank you for joining us, Stephen Gibbons... we've been expecting you.
An overnight success over a decade in the making, writer, actor, director Mark Duplass, (along with his brother Jay) has directed over 10 feature films, created multiple television shows and produce more than 40 movies, as well as acting in various projects such as FX comedy 'The League' and Apple TV's 'Morning Show'.
If you don't know his name, it's probably your fault, as he's consistently been working, encouraging others in their work and just getting work done for the last 20 years.
In the world of filmmaking, he straddles independent achievement, mainstream accomplishment and as someone one year older than him who has achieved none of that, he sickens me.
But as if he didn't need it, we're highlighting him in this week's episode. Enjoy.
In the first of our new Spotlight episodes, where we'll be focusing on one film during a slightly shorter show, this week we're talking about a movie that celebrates its 30th birthday this year, Gus Van Sant's MY OWN PRIVATE IDAHO.
It's a road movie, a riff on Shakespeare’s Henry IV and an essential text of queer cinema (and did we mention it stars River Phoenix as a sensitive narcoleptic who dreams of the mother who abandoned him and Keanu Reeves as the wayward son of a big city mayor, both on a quest along the grungy streets and open highways, in search of an elusive place called home? Well it does.)
MY OWN PRIVATE IDAHO is a deeply moving look at unrequited love and life on society’s margins, and there's never been a better time to revisit this visually dazzling and thematically groundbreaking film.
(Don't worry... we're doing STARSHIP TROOPERS next).
Sorting through some old boxes the other day, I happened upon a photo of the old Reel Take crew back in the day. In those days, we were the film podcast by film fans, for film fans, and what we lacked in logical tag lines, we more than made up for in access to IMBD trivia. Overcome by memories and poor ventilation in the attic, I found the old R9000 Stereo Podmaster, popped a cartridge of an old episode in and let nostalgia take me away. 1 hour and 45 minutes of movie chat later, one thing was clear: it was time to get the gang back together.
Sure, we had all gotten older...you could say that Niall had never lived up to his early potential, that Ross was lying when he said he invented Post-Its and that Sinead didn't understand the difference between a reunion movie and a sequel, but it wouldn't take long for us to fall back into our old dynamic, even after so many weeks apart.
So dig in the back of the wardrobe and see if that old t-shirt still fits as you join us for The Reel Take Reunion. We're back, baby!
It's the final episode of the season before we take a short break so it's time for another Dealer's Choice where one of the hosts gets to chose a film maker to put under the miscroscope. This time Sinead is in the hot seat as we look at the varied career of one of her favourite directors, indy behemoth James Robert Jarmusch.
Film director, screenwriter, actor, producer, editor, composer and owner of one of the most distinctive hair styles in cinema, there's not many type of film Jim Jarmusch hasn't dabbled in, but just what makes a Jarmusch joint? Join us, won't you, as we endeavour to find out.
We'll be back with new episodes before you know it but while you're waiting, why not make sure you're up to dat on out back catalogue, and you can always recommend us to a fellow film fan.
This week we once again ask the enchanted French candelabra to lead our magical anthropomorphised household items in song as we invite a fellow film fan to 'Be Our Guest'.
Director, actor, writer and Drogheda native Darren Thornton is behind the IFTA award-winning TV series Love is the Drug, as well as the IFTA award winning feature film A Date For Mad Mary. He kindly took time off from polishing his IFTAs (not a euphemism in his case), to join us for a chat about his career and one of his favourite films, 2004's Summer of Love.
In this episode of THE REEL TAKE we present to you an episode of REEL REVIEWS: PART DEUX, our short lived spiritual predecessor/prequel podcast...
Recorded way back in early 2020 with all of the hosts in the same actual room, (Ross was wearing pants) it has all of the features you would come to know and love from The Reel Take, yet it seems altogether younger and more optimistic. So step back in time with us as we discuss Spiritual Sequels.
When is a sequel not a sequel? When it's a spiritual successor, of course. In this episode, we look at movies that are a natural follow up to a well known predecessor, without being explicitly part of the same world or story as the original. Sequels 'in spirit'.
Sinead Brassil, Ross Leahy and Niall O'Brien reunite after the success of the last episode, playing totally different characters in a totally different story, but one which relies heavily on your knowledge of what has come before.
In short, a spiritual successor to what has come before.
We're now well into our third season so it's only right that we take on a question that has baffled cine-philes for centuries: Nicholas Cage - Good or Bad?
In this episode we settle once and for all whether or not Nicolas Kim Coppola (look it up) is a good actor who takes on bad roles because he has money problems, a bad actor who just likes to scream and yell but manages to shine when cast in the right part or if he's actually an acting god operating on a level so advanced that terms like good or bad can't apply.
Join us in the cage, but be aware, not everyone leaves with their sanity intact.
Summertime has arrived and so no better excuse for us to relax by the pool, cool down with an umbrella drink and examine those movies set during the summer months. From childhood summers that you wished could last an eternity to family holidays where you prayed for them to come to an abrupt end, the sun shines brighter, the evenings are longer, and there is a good chance you might just fall in love, learn a few life lessons or get killed by a machete wielding maniac....ah summer!
So let's pack up the old Reel Take station wagon and make sure Ross uses the toilet before we leave, as we head off in search of summer movies!
It's time to take a trip in the old DeLorean as this week we once again look at the "Best Pictures" from the year of one of the hosts birth. It's the turn of baby of the podcast, L'il Wossie, as we often call him, so we're catching up with the nominees for Best Picture at the 61st annual Academy Awards in 1989! There were Girls Working, Men Raining, Burnings Mississippian, Tourists Accidental and Liaisons Dangerous, plus one of the most infamous opening numbers in Oscar history.
So get ready to say goodbye to the 80's, usher in a new decade and ask 'Has everything gotten worse since Ross was born?'
There is a certain class of actor who you may rarely notice but often see. They appear in various works, filling their roles faithfully but when you notice them individually, you remember seeing them before but never where it was and you can never say their name but are forced to just exclaim "Hey, it's them from that thing."
Last season we celebrated 'That Guy' actors by talking about some of the most recognisable male faces in film whose names may not be household...Now it's the turn of those talented women who pop up all the time, whose face you know but whose name you just can't place.
It's a very special episode this week as all the way from Los Angeles we talk to bass player, producer, and music director Paul Bushnell about his life as a jobbing musician and his experience working on the seminal Irish movie from 1991, The Commitments.
You can't move for '30 year retrospectives' about Alan Parker's film at the moment and, never one to miss a bandwagon as it rolls by, The Reel Take is is proud to bring you this very special f--kin episode.
This week The Reel Take goes to War! But because we are delicate souls we have elected to encase ourselves in several inches of armored plating and cocoon in a massive mobile killing machine designed only for destruction.
On the suggestion of a loyal listener, this episode we will be discussing the 1998 film The Beast (also known as The Beast of War), the story of the crew of a Soviet tank who take a wrong turn at Albuquerqueduring the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan and find themselves surrounded by hostiles, both without and within.
But not satisfied with just one film, we also discuss the very best cinema has to offer when it comes to tanks. Surprisingly, there's not too many, but we manage to unearth a few doozies.
We have hit the lofty heights of episode 31, the first episode of a brand new season, and since it's a debut of sorts, what better time to look at those first outings from our favourite film-makers.
We have it all: premiere outings that mark artists as ones to watch, whether they be a Hollywood legend that would go on to cast a long shadow in a 60 year career, a previously unknown stage actor who would become a household name or a talented women who decided to write and direct the kind of roles that they weren't getting offered.
So join us, won't you, as after 30 episodes in training, we get down to looking at people who just got it right first time out.
It's the end of the world this week (not really, but we are taking a few weeks off as we've hit Take 30!) so what better time to look at endings and apocalypses of all types....we got your alien armageddons, your ape dystopias, your overcrowded hell-scapes, your environmental doomsdays and of course, your killer viruses, guaranteed to turn you into a brain munching zombie or a fanatical robe wearing, bomb worshipping loon!
So pull up a rock, help yourself to some Soylent Green and regale the other survivors in your bunker with tales of that film podcast you used to listen to before 'the event'.
It's us against the world this week as we fight the prevailing tide of popular opinion and tackle those films where we think we're right and everybody else is wrong...
Whether it's a classic of cinema that everyone loves and Ross hates, a children's favourite that leaves Sinead cold, or a gory Game of Thrones style bloodbath that came 12 years too soon for everyone except Niall, buckle up and get ready to find out why everything you think you know is a lie.
It's time for another special guest. This week, we talk to a fellow film fan who is also a musician, a writer, an actor, a stand-up comedian, (and he has a podcast and throws a great dinner party...) but don't trust him with your whistle.
We are delighted to speak with Joe Rooney about one of his favourite films, Terrence Malick's 1978 masterpiece DAYS OF HEAVEN, as well as some of his fondest film memories and why FORREST GUMP should be left on the trash heap.
Happy Easter! As well as our regularly scheduled special Easter episode this week, we thought we'd treat you to a segment from the archives. Way back in 2019, on our radio segment Reel Reviews, we did a special feature about 'Easter Eggs' in movies - no not the chocolate variety, but the little inside jokes that film makers often add to their movies for those in the know. So sit back, treat yourself to something bad for your teeth and marvel at how young and hopeful we all sound.
Easter is almost upon us and while some of our hosts believe it a time to reflect on hope, renewal, new life and how no winter lasts forever and no spring skips its turn, one of us (Sinead) thinks it's just an excuse to indulge their most decadent inclinations with the rich flavor of delicious chocolate.
Whichever side of the debate you favour, this episode has something for everyone! The life of Jesus from the writer of Taxi Driver? Check. Time travelling action movie with a faith based message and a massive body count? Check. A mouthwatering treat about a charming chocolatier with some magical coco beans? Check. Music? Check. Singing? Check. Dancing? Check. Checklists? Check.
Interested? Good. Out of the door, line on the left, one cross each.
It's time for another Dealer's Choice episode, and this week, we turn our attention to an actor whose career spanned over half a century. He was best known as the epitome of suave seductive danger in the role of Commander James Bond, but he went on to great things outside Her Majesty’s Secret Service. From troubled cops to Victorian master criminals and Franciscan sleuths, it's time to look at some of the lesser heralded films of Thomas Sean Connery.
Letsh roll titlesh.
It's S. Patrick's Day, so what better time for a parade of some of cinema's most heinous wrongs against the Irish people. From atrocious accents to puerile paddywhackery, we cover offences from misdemeanors to capital crimes, including the most recent entry on the charge sheet, 2020's Wild Mountain Thyme.
We answer questions like: Why is a film about Irish people in Ireland named after a Scottish folk song? If you have an outfit you like when you're 9, is it okay to still wear it when you're 38? And was every Irish actor working in the UK on police procedurals the month this film was being made?
Happy St. Patrick's Day!
To celebrate International Women's Day (alright, we know we're a day late but two thirds of this podcast is done by men, so what do you expect?) we decided to look at three female directors whose work we admire. A trailblazing actress turned director from the golden age of Hollywood, a writer/director responsible for some of the most famous romantic comedies of all time and a woman who defined the American teenager in not one, but two iconic teen movies, this trio of talented women are worth celebrating every day of the year.
This week we once again take a trip back in time as we fill in some gaps in our cinema knowledge by catching up with the year's nominees for Best Picture at the 56th annual Academy Awards in 1984 visit the dystopian hell-scape that was 1984 to fill in some gaps in our cinema knowledge Mr. Orwell would tell you it was a dystopian hell-scape ruled over by a ruthless regime intent on stripping the populace of it's very identify, but it was also the year that welcomed a bouncing baby Sinead into the world and Terms of Endearment seemed to endear itself to the Academy, while The Right Stuff pushed the envelope and Tender Mercies had some hard words about how life can chew you up and spit you out.
In this week's episode, we present a salute to 'That Guys'. We’ve all been there: You’re watching a film, and you recognize the actor on screen, you've seen him in a million movies, but you just can’t name him.
Though most often appearing in supporting roles, these unsung heroes of cinema deserve to have a spotlight shone on them, and what better way than devoting an entire episode The Reel Take to these stalwart journeymen who make movies more interesting, turning good films great, great films classic, and terrible films almost watchable.
It's thirty years since the world fell in love with Anthony Hopkins as a whacky cannibal by the name of Hannibal (even though we'd already met the character five years before when Brian Cox did a turn in Michael Mann's neo-noir Manhunter, and we would go Mads for Mr. Mikkelsen's interpretation on the small screen). It's still Tony's performance opposite opposite Jodie Foster in Jonathan Demme's multi oscar winning film that became the gold standard for on screen cannibals, destroyed the liver industry and that most people think of every time they hear fava beans.
So, to celebrate its anniversary, we take a look at the film, as well as some of the others based on the work of Thomas Harris as we do a deep dive into The Silence of the Lambs.
On this day, in 2019, on LMFM radio, Sinead, Ross and Niall met for the first time for Reel Reviews on the 11-1 Show to talk about film. It's still going every Friday at 12.15, although Ross has left for bigger and better things. But two years and a good few podcast episodes later, these three are still at it. Here, as a special Valentines Day gift to listeners of the Reel Take is the first ever time this trio of film fans ever got together to talk movies. Louis, I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship.
It's almost Valentine's Day so like a thoughtless spouse, we bring you the same gift we got you last year....
Before there was THE REEL TAKE, there was REEL REVIEWS PART DEUX, and because all the shops were shut and there were no flowers left at the petrol station, here's the our Reel Reviews Part Deux 2020: Rom Com Special.
It's all the same great film banter, but we're looking each other in the eye as we talk matters of the heart and get to the heart of the matter, looking at Rom-Com jobs, Rom-Com tropes and the creepy reality of Rom-Coms.
Plus: A special Valentine's Day Rom-Com Quiz! And the introduction of a new segment SINEAD AND ROSS MAKE NIALL WATCH A BAD FILM HE ACTUALLY KIND OF LIKES, and of course we ruin another classic of cinema in our MURDER A SCENE: VALENTINE'S SPECIAL.
You had me at podcast.
1975 and a little film about a great white shark terrorising a resort town changes the landscape of cinema forever. It created the summer blockbuster as we know it, launched the career of arguably one of the best known directors in Hollywood history and it made an entire generation wary of what lies beneath the waves.
So it makes sense that in setting out to tackle such a behemoth, we enlist the aid of a salty sea dog. Radio presenter, master of the meme, and most importantly, fellow film fan, Jason Collins joins us this week as we head out to sea in search of his favourite film, Steven Spielberg's Jaws.
Just wish he'd stop trying to take of his pants and show us his scars.
Buckle up and prepare to hit the road, as this episode we're getting all vehicular for a high octane discussion about car movies and road-trips.
Three desperate characters with nothing to lose ...trapped in a hot metal box on wheels ...desperately trying to cover as much distance as possible and escape the demons of our past.
Will Niall avoid the road blocks and evade the po-po to make it across country in time, will Sinead finally get the rain she's hoping will come and wash all this scum off the streets, or will she need to get the power washer out and do it herself, and will Ross recover that x-rated video tape and keep his 'Worlds greatest Boyfriend' mug?
LIsten in and find out.
Have you heard? Rumour has it that this week's episode of The Reel Take is all about movie myths! From ghostly apparitions in 80's comedies to X-rated shenanigans in Disney animation, we look at the true and not so true famous legends connected to films down through the years. So get out your ball of red yarn and prepare to make connections the 'sheeple' are too blind to see, as we delve deeply into the world of cinema curses, urban myths and hearsay.
It's a case of Three Podcasters and a Little Episode this week in our first outing for the new year of 2021....and since the year is newly minted and but a baby we decided to look at movies about babies. So join us won't you, as we bicker about whether to let Ross cry or self-soothe, who's turn it is to do Niall's 3am feed, and exactly who gave Sinead refined sugar when they know it makes her hyper!
Marley was dead, to begin with. There is no doubt whatever about that. The register of his burial was signed by the clergyman, the clerk, the undertaker, and the chief mourner. Scrooge signed it. And Scrooge’s name was good upon ‘Change for anything he chose to put his hand to. Old Marley was as dead as a doornail.
Tired of coming up with funny descriptions for these episodes. Niall resolved to let Charles Dickens do some of the hard lifting for this, the Reel Take Christmas special.
Merry Christmas everybody.
Take a trip back in time with us this week when we visit 1975 and fill in some gaps in our cinema knowledge by catching up with that year's nominees for Best Picture at the 47th annual Academy Awards. The Godfather Part II went home with the gold and has been baptised into the pantheon of film classics. But in this age of mass surveillance, why aren't more people talking about The Conversation? Is it inflammatory to say The Towering Inferno is a good movie? Does Lenny stand-up? Forget it, Jake, it's Chinatown.
In a very special episode of the podcast, much like an anthropomorphic candelabra voiced by Jerry Orbach, we invite you to 'Be Our Guest'. Well, more specifically, we invite actor, musician, illustrator and all round nice guy Will Guppy (the talent behind our theme tune) to be our guest. And what a charming guest he turns out to be. We sit down with Will and discuss one of his favourite films, 1963's 'From Russia with Love' as well as asking him about his movie memories.
In the first of our Dealer's Choice episodes, where we examine the career of one particular movie maker, Ross has selected screen writer, director and sometimes actor Shane Black. He began his career being eviscerated by the Predator and went on to become one of Hollywood's most well-known action screenwriters. But perhaps most pertinently, he is also responsible for kicking off Ross' favourite ever film franchise, as the writer of the first Lethal Weapon movie. So join us, won't you, as days before retirement, Sinead and Niall are pulled into a maelstrom of violence, explosions and chaos by an unstable partner on a path of self destruction who doesn't care if we live or die.
The saying goes 'A good beginning is half the task', and so it is for our favourite filmic fore-wards. The opening of a movie can set the tone for what's to come, and some of them even earn a place in cinematic history. From a snow globe slipping from the fingers of a dying millionaire as he mouths the mysterious word 'Rosebud', to the plucky blockade runner Tantive IV being captured by the Imperial Star Destroyer Devastator over Tatooine, a good opening stays with us long after the closing credits have passed. So join us for our eleventh episode, as we jump into the great, wide opening of memorable movie openers...
There are, as the old adage goes, no small parts, only small actors and in this week's episode of the podcast, we put that to the test when we look at those scene stealing cameos that might be light on screen time, but live long in the memory of film goers.
During this lockdown, it can be tough when you're stuck in the same place, hour after hour, day after day. Tempers can become frayed and even the closest of podcast hosts can fall out over the silliest of things...like how Sinead keeps leaving the toilet seat up, like how Ross' beauty products are everywhere and how Niall spends every evening practicing Mongolian throat singing. But even though we may bicker and squabble over the little things, we have put our differences aside to bring you another episode of the podcast. This week, we look at those isolated movies set in one location all about confinement, both physical and emotional. Deep.
Freedom-loving people everywhere! In this edition of The Reel Take, to mark the 2020 US elections, we head on the campaign trail to make podcasts great again as we look at Presidents in the movies. So ask not what this podcast can do for you, ask what you can do for this podcast. Listen to it. That's what you can do.
'Tis now the very witching time of year, when churchyards yawn and hell itself breathes forth contagion to the world. The division between this plane and the next is at its thinnest, and gruesome fiends walk abroad. Fiends like Slithering Sinead Brassil, Wretched Ross Leahy and Nocturnal Niall O'Brien, who once more form an unholy alliance to bring you this Spooktacular Halloween special....and as the armless torso once said, with fiends like these, who needs extremities!
....Listen if you dare!! Mwaaahaahahahahaha
To celebrate 60 years since the release of Alfred Hitchcock's 'Psycho' The Reel Take dive head first into the Bates Motel to examine what makes this movie so chilling and check out its legacy in the sequels and, because we all go a little mad sometimes, a particular shot for shot remake.
In this week's episode we go all the way back to the nerve-wrecking, hormone-saturated, angst-ridden days of high school (or secondary school in our case) to look at some of the very best teen movies in history...
In this week's episode we look at comedians who take a turn for the dramatic rather than funny. Funny how? I mean, what's funny about it? Funny how, I mean funny, like a clown? To amuse you. To make you laugh? I'm here to amuse you? Whattya you mean funny?
In this week's installment of The Reel Take, we discuss those movies that became smash hits, but are actually pretty terrible. Looking at the state of the film industry, you might think this episode will be 5 hours long, but we manage to contain ourselves.
In the second episode of The Reel Take, Sinead, Ross and Niall talk about films that have flopped at the box office; both the turkey's that deserved to bomb and the hidden gems that didn't. Plus, Ross watches one more movie before we kill him and we once again murder a scene.
In our first episode, the podcast formerly known as 'Reel Reviews: Part Deux' gets a reboot/remake/revamp/rebrand and is gloriously reborn as 'The Reel Take'...and what more fitting a subject for this relaunch than Reboots, Remakes, Revamps and Rebrands.