Ep. 113: Predator

Nate and Ryan get in the summer blockbuster mood by watching Predator (1987) for the first time. As part of our Gap Year series, we’re catching up on this action classic over 35 years later. As often happens, Predator is now looked at quite differently from when it was first released. Nate and Ryan share their first impressions and whether or not another over-the-top action movie is an appropriate means of critiquing over-the-top action movies. Get to the choppa for a ride full of explosions, biceps, and foreign policy that oversteps through overuse of military! As always, let us know your thoughts on this movie!

 

Links

Predator Turns 35: A Look Back at Sci-Fi’s Most Subversive Creature Feature by Cole Burgett (Christ and Pop Culture)

Predator: Why is it So Good? – Rossatron on YouTube

Predator: The Smartest Genre Mash-Up Ever? Probably!Patrick (H) Willems on YouTube

Every Predator Movie is Worth Watching by Jesse Hassenger (Polygon)

 

Contact

Follow Can We Still Be Friends? on Facebook and Instagram and don’t forget to rate and review us on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.

Send us a message anytime.

Follow Nate on Letterboxd. Follow Ryan on Letterboxd.

Ep. 111: Sicario

Nate and Ryan watch and discuss Sicario, directed by Denis Villeneuve. As the beginning to what we’re calling our Gap Year, where we fill in gaps in our viewing history, we’ve chosen to watch Sicario, with an unbelievable cast and crew that includes cinematographer Roger Deakins,  and screenwriter Taylor Sheridan, not to mention stars Emily Blunt, Josh Brolin, Benicio Del Toro, Daniel Kaluuya, and Jon Bernthal. As fans of everyone involved, there was no clear reason why we haven’t seen this tense political action thriller.

Share with us your thoughts on Sicario!

 

Watch 1 Brilliant Moment of Tension by Cinefix – IGN Movies & TV for a great breakdown of the Juarez convoy sequence.

 

Follow Can We Still Be Friends? on Facebook and Instagram and don’t forget to rate and review us on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Send us a message anytime.

Follow Nate on Letterboxd. Follow Ryan on Letterboxd.

Ep. 104: Top Gun (feat. Kris Hiew)


Nate and Ryan invite Kris Hiew in to talk about Top Gun, the 1986 hit whose recent hit sequel has Tom Cruise wowing audiences again. Kris and Nate have a long history with Top Gun and bring all that childlike wonder into the conversation. With the sequel, Top Gun: Maverick proving to be one of the biggest movies of the year, listen in as we discuss what it is about the original that has endured almost 30 years later, and what might not work so well.

What are your thoughts on Top Gun and Top Gun: Maverick? Let us know!

 

Follow Can We Still Be Friends? on Facebook and Instagram and don’t forget to rate and review us on Apple Podcasts. Send us a message anytime.

Ep. 51: The Fast and the Furious

Not ones to be left out, Nate and Ryan decide to see what all the fuss is about with this The Fast and the Furious franchise.  With The Fate of the Furious setting records at the box office, it seemed high time that they give the original a shot.  For help, they brought in their good friend Phil Vickers to talk about the series’ impact on the modern movie landscape and what the first movie looks like after watching the sequels.

What are your thoughts on the Fast and/or Furious franchise?  Is it too late to try to catch up?  How much wrench time have you put into your car?  Let us know!

Todd VanDerWerff’s thorough and enthusiastic primer of the Fast & Furious series.

Correction: The original Racer X article appeared in VIBE, not VICE.

Ep. 30: Mission: Impossible

Ethan-Hunt-Screencaps-mission-impossible-34541174-1920-800

Inspired by the release of the newest Mission: Impossible installment, Nate and Ryan go back to where it all began (well…began again) and rewatch Brian De Palma’s 1996 action thriller. In the cold light of adulthood, Nate and Ryan discuss whether the things that thrilled them as children still work.  They also try to sort out that convoluted mess of a plot…

Mission: Impossible has been enough of a success to keep packing theaters for almost 20 years. The series typically wows audiences (M:I2 not included), but fails to totally charm critics.  What do you think of the Mission: Impossible movies?  Do you have fond memories of the 1996 reboot?  Where do you fall in the polarizing Tom Cruise debate?  Let us know in all our possible realms, and do us a solid by leaving a rating in iTunes.