Two Reel Cinema Club

Popcorn Counter: Inner City Blues

Welcome to the ‘urban planning’ section of the podcast, as we meet at the popcorn counter this week and talk about why the inner city gets such a bad rep in cinema. Who is London’s most famous inner city resident? What does ‘NF’ stand for in the world of Shane Meadow’s ‘This is England’? And why should ‘Boyz N The Hood’ be remade as ‘Boyz N The Garden’?
If you enjoyed the show, find us on social media:
Twitter: @tworeelcineclub
Instagram: @tworeelcinemaclub
Or come to our website, where we’ll be writing about the movies we cover in the show and a few more things besides: tworeelcinemaclub.com

The Substitute vs La Classe: A Tale of Two Teachers

We return to school again this episode, spending a semester with new Argentine Netflix feature The Substitute, before graduating to a course with 2008 Palme d’Or-winning French drama La Classe. Both films examine the challenges of inner city schooling, but while The Substitute makes teaching look like a Sicario spin off, La Classe is more realistic and subtle. Which film sees two teachers sneak off at lunchtime for a little afternoon delight? Which film shows that there isn’t much of a difference between the staff and the pupils? And which film features a kid rapping? Yes, rapping. Is that what lessons are like these days? Must be some kind of inner city school thing.
Plus a strange James Corden film that might have been a fever dream, a revisit of the greatest action adventure movie of all time, a revelation about the difference between American and British schools, and a merger announcement from this episode’s sponsors. Plus we enjoy some novel mathematical nomenclature and a Venn diagram. Every day is a school day, isn’t it?
If you enjoyed the show, find us on social media:
Twitter: @tworeelcineclub
Instagram: @tworeelcinemaclub
Or come to our website, where we’ll be writing about the movies we cover in the show and a few more things besides: tworeelcinemaclub.com

Popcorn Counter: Young, Queer and in Love

Listen to us get completely out of our depth in tonight’s episode, discussing our encounters with LGBTQ cinema over the years, and its role in advancing social change. Which is our favourite date movie? Who is the Countess von Bismark? Where does Al Pacino fit in? And what happens when you write the words ‘there is a song and dance number’ in a script?
If you enjoyed the show, find us on social media:
Twitter: @tworeelcineclub
Instagram: @tworeelcinemaclub
Or come to our website, where we’ll be writing about the movies we cover in the show and a few more things besides: tworeelcinemaclub.com

Close vs Boys Don’t Cry: Close Boys

(Let’s start with a content warning, as this episode’s films contain scenes of extreme violence, self harm and suicide.) If you’re happy to continue, join us as we watch two films about the many forms of love this time: new Belgian drama Close and 1999’s classic Boys Don’t Cry. They form a great double bill, outstanding, beautiful, moving, absorbing, tragic and transformative. But which film reminds us vividly of our ‘happy place’? And which film feels so contemporary it’s a shock when one of the characters uses a landline phone?
You can also hear us fail to remember the name of Nic Cage’s best film, try to figure out what ‘Benelux’ means, and discuss the difference between ‘hot potatoes’ and ‘living in each other’s pockets’. Plus a quick look at a classical music movie, a thumbs down for the Spielberg biopic, a laugh with a robotic doll assassin, and a brief word from our sponsor - although we’re not sure if what they’re saying is an ad or a warning….
If you enjoyed the show, find us on social media:
Twitter: @tworeelcineclub
Instagram: @tworeelcinemaclub
Or come to our website, where we’ll be writing about the movies we cover in the show and a few more things besides: tworeelcinemaclub.com

Popcorn Counter: VHS

Join us as we hide in a little bubble of nostalgia at the popcorn counter this week. Before AI and chatbots, before Netflix and YouTube, before dvd, there was VHS. We explain why we think those chunky cassettes might possibly have been the most important thing to happen to cinema ever, both for film viewers and for film makers. So what if you spent half your evening adjusting the tracking and then had to watch the movie through a fog of static that would get even blurrier just before the good bit? It was ANALOG. You can’t beat that. ANALOG. Do you hear? ANALOG!
If you enjoyed the show, find us on social media:
Twitter: @tworeelcineclub
Instagram: @tworeelcinemaclub
Or come to our website, where we’ll be writing about the movies we cover in the show and a few more things besides: tworeelcinemaclub.com

Popcorn Counter: Welcome to our New AI Overlords

You can’t move for blog posts and YouTube videos about ChatGPT at the moment, but what is it going to mean for working writers? Will AI help us, giving every writer a patient editor and a sympathetic sounding board to ease them through the painful development process? Or will it steal all the jobs and throw us away, leaving us no option but to look for employment in an Amazon warehouse or sweeping up at the local cinema? Join us at the popcorn counter as we give what we like to call ‘CheatGPT’ some writing assignments of our own, and come to our own rather downbeat conclusions as it answers our questions in its irritatingly bland and cheerful tone…
If you enjoyed the show, find us on social media:
Twitter: @tworeelcineclub
Instagram: @tworeelcinemaclub
Or come to our website, where we’ll be writing about the movies we cover in the show and a few more things besides: tworeelcinemaclub.com

Warriors of Future vs Ghost in the Shell: Straight to the Amygdala

We’ve seen the future in this episode’s films, and frankly it doesn’t look like a place we’d want to visit. Netflix’s new Hong Kong Chinese sci-fi action movie Warriors of Future paints a bleak picture of the rest of the 21st century, with killer plants, killer robots, killer air pollution and killer civil engineers to contend with. We compare it to 1995 anime classic Ghost in the Shell, which adds urban flooding, malign AI, existential crises and brain hacking to the mix. But which film fights for the greater good, and which film exudes noirish resignation? Which film has the biggest spider-shaped armoured tank in it? And which film sees the protagonist’s clothes fall off every time they need to start shooting? Plus a run in with the garbage collectors, a quick look at an anime sequel, a farewell to a veteran film journalist, and a singalong chant about dog adoption.
If you enjoyed the show, find us on social media: 
Twitter: @tworeelcineclub
Instagram: @tworeelcinemaclub
Or come to our website, where we’ll be writing about the movies we cover in the show and a few more things besides: tworeelcinemaclub.com

Popcorn Counter: White Lines

Back in the 80s, when we were naive enough to think that the song ‘White Lines’ was a road safety anthem, cocaine was a big thing in movies - and not a small thing in the movie industry. Join us in a cramped toilet cubicle for a few snorts of our favourite cocaine films, including Die Hard, Annie Hall and Maria Full of Grace. Plus a quick look at drug slang, a celebration of Melle Mel, and a little insight into how medical grade cocaine is used legally.
If you enjoyed the show, find us on social media:
Twitter: @tworeelcineclub
Instagram: @tworeelcinemaclub
Or come to our website, where we’ll be writing about the movies we cover in the show and a few more things besides: tworeelcinemaclub.com