Here for the Reels

The Time Machine is a 2002 American science fiction film loosely adapted by John Logan from the 1895 novel of the same name by H. G. Wells and the screenplay of the 1960 film of the same name. The film stars Guy Pearce, Orlando Jones, Samantha Mumba, Mark Addy, and Jeremy Irons. The film is set in New York City instead of London, and contains new story elements not present in the original novel nor the 1960 film adaptation, including a romantic backstory, a new scenario about how civilization was destroyed, and several new characters such as an artificially intelligent hologram and a Morlock leader. The film received mixed reviews and grossed $123 million worldwide. It was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Makeup (John M. Elliot Jr. and Barbara Lorenz) at the 75th Academy Awards, but lost to Frida. This was Jake L's pick, yet we had all seen the movie before. But which of us liked The Time Machine in 2022? Here for the Reels is a part of the SnackStudios podcast network. Find us on Instagram and TikTok: @_snackstudios Also check out our other podcast, Here for the Rolls, a Dungeons and Dragons audio adventure featuring nearly 100 episodes.

Willow is a 1988 American high fantasy adventure film directed by Ron Howard. The film was executive produced by George Lucas and written by Bob Dolman from a story by Lucas. The film stars Warwick Davis, Val Kilmer, Joanne Whalley, Jean Marsh, and Billy Barty. The majority of filming took place in Wales as well as a small section in New Zealand. Industrial Light & Magic created the visual effects sequences, which led to a revolutionary breakthrough with digital morphing technology. The film was released in 1988 to mixed reviews from critics with some praising the special effects and character designs while some criticized the direction and plot. It grossed $137.6 million worldwide against a $35 million budget. While not the blockbuster some expected, it turned a profit based on international box office returns and strong home video and television returns. Additionally, it received two Academy Award nominations. A television series based on the film is scheduled to be released on Disney+ in 2022. This was Teanca's pick, and the rest of us were skeptical at first but where did we end up? Listen now to find out! Here for the Reels is a part of the SnackStudios podcast network. Find us on Instagram and TikTok: @_snackstudios Also check out our other podcast, Here for the Rolls, a Dungeons and Dragons audio adventure featuring nearly 100 episodes.

Suicide Kings is a 1997 American crime thriller black comedy film directed by Peter O'Fallon and starring Christopher Walken, Denis Leary, Sean Patrick Flanery, Johnny Galecki, Jay Mohr, Jeremy Sisto and Henry Thomas. Based on Don Stanford's short story The Hostage, the film follows the group of students who kidnap a respected Mafia figure. It has a 34% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes and grossed $1.7 million on a $5 million budget in the US. This is a movie with huge potential that maybe didn't fully execute in the ways that it could have. Trent picked it because he found the movie back in '98 and enjoyed it for Walken's performance and the plot twists. How do the rest of the squad rate it, and what's it like in 2022? Here for the Reels is a part of the SnackStudios podcast network. Find us on Instagram and TikTok: @_snackstudios Also check out our other podcast, Here for the Rolls, a Dungeons and Dragons audio adventure featuring nearly 100 episodes.

Bedazzled is a 2000 fantasy romantic comedy film directed by Harold Ramis and starring Brendan Fraser and Elizabeth Hurley. It is a remake of the 1967 British film of the same name, written by Peter Cook and Dudley Moore, which was itself a comic retelling of the Faust legend. "Hopeless dweeb Elliot Richards is granted seven wishes by the Devil to snare Allison, the girl of his dreams, in exchange for his soul." The film did reasonably well at the box office, earning $90 million worldwide on a $48 million budget. This is Jake H's pick. He was 8 when this movie came out and his grandma  rented it from Blockbuster for a weekend watch; and he loved it. How good is it in 2022? Here for the Reels is a part of the SnackStudios podcast network. Find us on Instagram and TikTok: @_snackstudios Also check out our other podcast, Here for the Rolls, a Dungeons and Dragons audio adventure featuring nearly 100 episodes.

Baby Geniuses is a 1999 American family comedy film directed by Bob Clark and written by Bob Clark and Greg Michael and starring Kathleen Turner, Christopher Lloyd, Kim Cattrall, and Peter MacNicol. The film has the distinction of being the first full-length feature to use computer-generated imagery for the synthesis of human visual speech. 2D warping techniques were used to digitally animate the mouth viseme shapes of the babies which were originally shot with their mouths closed. The viseme shapes were sampled from syllables uttered by the babies on the set. The film grossed over $36 million worldwide on a $12 million budget. In 2004, it was followed by a sequel, Superbabies: Baby Geniuses 2, which was a box office bomb, and received reviews even more critical than the first film, getting nominated for Worst Picture at the 25th Golden Raspberry Awards. This...was an experience for all of us. Nate picked this one as he enjoyed the film during childhood. Does it hold up today?  Here for the Reels is a part of the SnackStudios podcast network. Find us on Instagram and TikTok: @_snackstudios Also check out our other podcast, Here for the Rolls, a Dungeons and Dragons audio adventure featuring nearly 100 episodes.

City of Ember is a 2008 American science fiction adventure film based on the 2003 novel The City of Ember by Jeanne DuPrau. Directed by Gil Kenan in his live-action directorial debut, the film stars Saoirse Ronan, Harry Treadaway, Bill Murray, and Tim Robbins. Produced by Tom Hanks and Gary Goetzman, City of Ember was theatrically released on October 10, 2008 by 20th Century Fox, two months after the release of the final book in the series, The Diamond of Darkhold. The film received mixed reviews from critics and was a box office bomb, grossing only $17.9 million against a budget of $55 million. This was Jake L's pick. He had a significant interest in the movie and book series back in 2008. Does that still hold up today? Here for the Reels is a part of the SnackStudios podcast network. Find us on Instagram and TikTok: @_snackstudios Also check out our other podcast, Here for the Rolls, a Dungeons and Dragons audio adventure featuring nearly 100 episodes.

Joe Versus the Volcano is a 1990 American romantic comedy film written and directed by John Patrick Shanley and starring Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan. Hanks plays a man who, after being told he is dying of a rare disease, accepts a financial offer to travel to a South Pacific island and throw himself into a volcano on behalf of the superstitious natives. Along the way, he meets and falls in love with the woman taking him there. The film received mixed reviews overall, but positive reviews from some critics, including Roger Ebert, who described the film as "new and fresh and not shy of taking chances". It was a minor box office success in the US with an earning of $39.4 million on a $25 million budget. It has since become a cult film. This was Teanca's pick, and has been an important family movie for her growing up. Does she still feel that way though?   Here for the Reels is a part of the SnackStudios podcast network. Find us on Instagram and TikTok: @_snackstudios Also check out our other podcast, Here for the Rolls, a Dungeons and Dragons audio adventure featuring nearly 100 episodes.

The Ice Pirates is a 1984 American comic science fiction film directed by Stewart Raffill, who co-wrote the screenplay with Krull writer Stanford Sherman. The film stars Robert Urich, Mary Crosby and Michael D. Roberts; other notable featured actors are Anjelica Huston, Ron Perlman, Bruce Vilanch, John Carradine and former football player John Matuszak. The film was made at MGM, then under David Begelman, with John Foreman as producer. It was originally called The Water Planet and had a $20 million budget. However, as MGM was in financial difficulty, its bankers put a limit of $8 million on all films. Raffill said he would have to rewrite it and make it more comic, and they agreed. Rafill and Foreman said pirate movies like The Crimson Pirate were the main inspiration and they deliberately did not watch Star Wars. This was Trent's pick. Trent had not watched the movie since it's literal release in 1984 when he was 13 years old. Needless to say, it wasn't the same viewing experience this time around...   Here for the Reels is a part of the SnackStudios podcast network. Find us on Instagram and TikTok: @_snackstudios Also check out our other podcast, Here for the Rolls, a Dungeons and Dragons audio adventure featuring nearly 100 episodes.

The Cable Guy is a 1996 American dark comedy film directed by Ben Stiller, written by Lou Holtz Jr. and starring Jim Carrey and Matthew Broderick. It was released in the United States on June 14, 1996. The film co-stars Leslie Mann and Jack Black and features some high-profile cameos including Owen Wilson, David Cross, and Bob Odenkirk. In the film, Carrey plays an eccentric cable installer who talks with a lisp and becomes overly intrusive in the life of a customer, played by Broderick. The film was a box office success, though not to the extent of many of Carrey's previous films. It received mixed reception from critics, but has since attained a cult following. This was Jake H's pick. He originally discovered the movie at age 14 and was a big fan of Jim Carrey's creepily hilarious character. But are his antics still funny in 2022?    Here for the Reels is a part of the SnackStudios podcast network. Find us on Instagram and TikTok: @_snackstudios Also check out our other podcast, Here for the Rolls, a Dungeons and Dragons audio adventure featuring nearly 100 episodes.

The Pagemaster is a 1994 American live-action/animated fantasy adventure film starring Macaulay Culkin, Christopher Lloyd, Whoopi Goldberg, Patrick Stewart, Leonard Nimoy, Frank Welker, Ed Begley Jr., and Mel Harris. The film was released by 20th Century Fox on November 23, 1994.  Join us as we revisit Nate's pick, the Pagemaster, and see if it still has that same magic it brought to our VCRs in 1994. Culkin stars as a timid boy who uses statistics as an excuse to avoid anything he finds uncomfortable in life. But after reluctantly undertaking an errand for his father, he gets caught in a storm, which forces him to seek refuge in a library. He then finds himself trapped inside the library, where he must battle his way through literary classics come to life if he is to find his way home. The Pagemaster bombed at the box office. It made $13.7 million on a $34 million budget. On Rotten Tomatoes the film has an approval rating of 21% based on 19 reviews and an average rating of 4.39/10. Audiences surveyed by CinemaScore gave the film a grade A− on scale of A to F.  

Futureworld is a 1976 American science fiction thriller film directed by Richard T. Heffron and written by Mayo Simon and George Schenck. It is a sequel to the 1973 Michael Crichton film Westworld, and is the second installment in the Westworld franchise. The film stars Peter Fonda, Blythe Danner, Arthur Hill, Stuart Margolin, John Ryan, and Yul Brynner, who makes an appearance in a dream sequence; no other cast member from the original film appears.  The film attempted to take the plot in a different direction from Westworld, but it was not well-received by critics. Jake L is a big Westworld fan, and enjoyed these movies growing up. How does Futureworld hold up in 2022? Here for the Reels is a part of the SnackStudios podcast network. Find us on Instagram and TikTok: @_snackstudios Also check out our other podcast, Here for the Rolls, a Dungeons and Dragons audio adventure featuring nearly 100 episodes.

Xanadu is a 1980 American musical fantasy film written by Richard Christian Danus and Marc Reid Rubel, and directed by Robert Greenwald. It stars Olivia Newton-John, Michael Beck and Gene Kelly in his final film role. The film features music by Newton-John, Electric Light Orchestra, Cliff Richard, and The Tubes. A box office disappointment, Xanadu earned negative critical reviews and was an inspiration (along with Can't Stop the Music) for the creation of the Golden Raspberry Awards to recognize the worst films of the year. Despite the lackluster performance of the film, the soundtrack album became a huge commercial success around the world, and was certified double platinum in the United States. A definite cult classic for the music, how do Jake, Jake, Trent and Nate react to Teanca's childhood gem? Here for the Reels is a part of the SnackStudios podcast network. Find us on Instagram and TikTok: @_snackstudios Also check out our other podcast, Here for the Rolls, a Dungeons and Dragons audio adventure featuring nearly 100 episodes.

Encino Man (known as California Man in France, Great Britain, Asia and New Zealand) is a 1992 American comedy film directed by Les Mayfield and starring Sean Astin, Brendan Fraser, and Pauly Shore. The plot revolves around two geeky teenagers from Encino,  CA, who discover a caveman in the backyard, frozen in a block of ice. He then has to learn to live in the 20th century while teaching the teenagers about life. The film was released on May 22, 1992. Despite negative reviews, Encino Man was a box-office success, grossing $40.7 million worldwide on a $7 million budget. It was followed by a made-for-television spin-off, Encino Woman, in 1996. Another Trent and Jake favorite from the 90s, they decide to share it with the crew and find out if this movie is still at all funny. Here for the Reels is a part of the SnackStudios podcast network. Find us on Instagram and TikTok: @_snackstudios Also check out our other podcast, Here for the Rolls, a Dungeons and Dragons audio adventure featuring nearly 100 episodes.

Teen Wolf was released on August 23, 1985 and received mixed reviews. It was a commercial success, grossing over $80 million on a $1.2 million budget. Due to its success, the film spawned an animated series adaptation in 1986 and a 1987 sequel that featured Hampton and Holton as the only returning cast members.  Teen Wolf also influenced a supernatural drama series of the same name that aired on MTV from 2011 to 2017. Another film cherished by Trent and Jake H in the 80s and 90s, respectively; how does it taste in 2022? Here for the Reels is a part of the SnackStudios podcast network. Find us on Instagram and TikTok: @_snackstudios Also check out our other podcast, Here for the Rolls, a Dungeons and Dragons audio adventure featuring nearly 100 episodes.

The original Grease was a monster musical hit when it opened - but the film's 1982 sequel, Grease 2, didn't fare nearly as well...Panned by critics and filmgoers alike, Grease 2 ranks up there with Speed 2: Cruise Control and Means Girls 2 as one of the most notoriously bad sequels in Hollywood history. That being said, it holds a special place in Jake H's heart. How will the rest of the crew feel about it? Here for the Reels is a part of the SnackStudios podcast network. Find us on Instagram and TikTok: @_snackstudios Also check out our other podcast, Here for the Rolls, a Dungeons and Dragons audio adventure featuring nearly 100 episodes.