The Next Reel Film Podcast

‘Tis the holiday season, which means it’s time for another Next Reel Christmas movie, and how better to share in the joy and festivities of the Christmas season than with some wacky laughs and slimy gore from Joe Dante’s 1984 horror comedy “Gremlins.” Join us – Pete Wright and Andy Nelson – as we celebrate another end of the year with some holiday cheer (and mayhem), this time with Gizmo, Stripe, Billy, Kate, Mrs. Deagle, Barney and the rest of the residents of Kingston Falls (aka Universal’s backlot).

Hey folks! Please listen to this episode! We tried to keep it short, but we need to tell you about a few things you’ll be seeing come January 2016 which, if you don’t listen now, may come as a surprise later.

Harold Ramis’ second foray into feature film directing introduced the world to the Griswolds – Clark, Ellen, Rusty and Audrey – as they drive from Chicago to LA on a 2-week vacation with the aim of visiting an obvious Disneyland replacement for legal reasons, Walley World. It’s a wonderful film and proved to be another box office success for Ramis, who wouldn’t direct another hit like this for 10 years with ‘Groundhog Day.’ Join us – Pete Wright and Andy Nelson – as we wrap up our very short Harold Ramis series with the classic 1983 road trip comedy “National Lampoon’s Vacation.”

With a background at Second City and National Lampoon, comedy was right up Harold Ramis’ alley, and while he had early opportunities to write and perform comedy, it wasn’t until the third feature film on which he was involved that gave him the opportunity to direct. Luckily for him, that movie was “Caddyshack” and the rest, as they say, is history. Join us – Pete Wright and Andy Nelson – as we begin our Harold Ramis series with his directorial debut from 1980 – “Caddyshack.”

Pete and Andy go through the tedious… yet entertaining?… task of re-ranking our Flickchart feed.

With the 2013 release of “The Wind Rises,” his eleventh feature film, Hayao Miyazaki retired from making his beautiful animated films. Animation fans worldwide were disappointed to hear this, yet thrilled to see him go out on such a high note. Join us – Pete Wright and Andy Nelson – as we close our Miyazaki series with his final film “The Wind Rises.”

With “My Neighbor Totoro,” Miyazaki’s third feature film and second he directed under the Ghibli banner, it was crystal clear what Miyazaki wanted to bring forth from his films — the relationship between man and nature, the purity and innocence of youth and the imaginative look at characters who didn’t quite fit the world as we know it. Join us — Pete Wright and Andy Nelson — as we continue our brief Miyazaki series with his 1988 film, “My Neighbor Totoro.”