The Next Reel Film Podcast

Kathryn Bigelow made a big change in her career direction as a film director when she made 2009’s “The Hurt Locker.” While it still had the adrenaline action sensibilities she displayed in her prior films, this film was less of a Hollywood action movie and more of an honest portrayal of soldiers in a war. This week on The Next Reel, join us — Pete Wright and Andy Nelson — as we delve into Bigelow’s independent war film that made her the first woman to win a Best Director Oscar.

Based on a dream James Cameron had in 1985, Strange Days came out in 1995 and strangely took place only 4 years in the future — during the 48 hours leading up to the year 2000. Cameron’s ex-wife Kathryn Bigelow, helmed the film, bringing her skills at directing action to the forefront to create what at the time was a wild, mind-bending, noirish tale that looked at people in LA dealing with the latest “drug” craze — living other people’s experiences through futuristic recording devices.

Happy holidays, everybody! It’s time for our annual holiday episode here on The Next Reel. This year, we — Pete Wright and Andy Nelson — are talking about a film that doesn’t actually take place at Christmas time. In fact, it’s a movie that doesn’t even really have anything to do with the holiday except that the name’s in the title. It’s Preston Sturges’ 1940 forgotten gem, “Christmas in July.”

It’s the perfect description of the awkward yet touching relationship between a simple 40-something assassin and a wise-beyond-her-years pre-teen girl, and it’s at the heart of our next pick in our Luc Besson series, his first foray into English-language cinema, 1994’s Leon: the Professional, or more simply just Léon.

We’re starting off our Luc Besson series with a film that fascinates us, even if it sometimes devolves into a cartoonish atmosphere. This week, we chat about Besson’s 1990 film Nikita, or La Femme Nikita if you’re so inclined. Join us — Pete Wright and Andy Nelson — as we start off this series with this Pygmalion-like tale of a young woman trained to be a government assassin.

One of John Frankenheimer’s best films came late in his career — 1998’s Ronin. A seemingly simple story about a group of mercenaries who take a job trying to get a mysterious case is twisted around with double-crosses and plot twists, and becomes a perfect example of Hitchcock’s MacGuffin.

It’s our ONE YEAR ANNIVERSARY, everyone! That’s right, we’ve been doing this podcast for one year now, and what better way to celebrate than with the next in our Great Car Chase series—William Friedkin’s 1971 Best Picture Oscar-winner, “The French Connection.”