GO!

Reel Film Chronicles fans rejoice! We're taking a spin around the circuit today with the often misunderstood classic SPEED RACER, directed by the incredibly talented Wachowskis. Once we got our paws on the newly released 4K UHD, we knew it was a movie that belonged in the pantheon of the Chronicles. And it shows: we have an absolute blast recording this and I think our enthusiasm really shines through.

Speed Racer (2008)

Directed by: Lana Wachowski - Lilly Wachowski

Starring: Emile Hirsch - Christina Ricci - John Goodman - Susan Sarandon - Matthew Fox

Genres: action - family - adventure - comedy

Runtime: 135 minutes

Our Website: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Reel Film Chronicles⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Our Letterboxd Profiles: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Brian⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ | ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Nathan⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Nathan's Site: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Feed the Voices⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Letterboxd⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠| ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠IMDb⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Chapters

0:00: Introduction and Overview

13:36: Feature Discussion (with spoilers)

49:17: Ratings Game/Guesses

52:30: Our Ratings

57:06: Closing Thoughts

Episode 98

Speed Racer

Speed Racer is a young and brilliant racing driver. When corruption in the racing leagues costs his brother his life, Speed must team up with the police and the mysterious Racer X to bring an end to the corruption and criminal activities.

Credits

Music by ⁠⁠Alexi Action⁠⁠ from ⁠⁠Pixabay

YOU asked for it, and we're delivering! Wait...did anyone ask for this? Regardless, you're here and we appreciate you.

We present our worst films of the year for 2025, and this year is special because not only do you get five bummer picks from each of us, but a shared bonus, sixth movie that we both agreed was actually the worst film of the year (and don't imagine too many would disagree with).

Check out the chapters in the episode to skip around to films you're interested in hearing about, and we save the mystery film for last (spoiler alert: it's War of the Worlds).

Do you agree on our picks? We'd love to hear from you!

Thanks again for listening!

Our Website: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Reel Film Chronicles⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Our Letterboxd Profiles: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Brian⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ | ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Nathan⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Nathan's Site: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Feed the Voices⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Episode 97

2025 Bottom 5

Chapters

• 0:00 - Introduction, Context and Disclaimers
• 1:50 - 5: Peter Pan's Neverland Nightmare
• 3:30 - 5: Fountain of Youth
• 5:46 - 4: The Ritual
• 7:24 - 4: Alarum
• 10:10 - 3: Flight Risk
• 12:17 - 3: Alma and the Wolf
• 15:21 - 2: Fear Street: Prom Queen
• 18:08 - 2: Jurassic World Rebirth
• 24:11 - 1: Wolf Man
• 29:10 - 1: The Electric State
• 33:53 - War of the Worlds
• 38:58 - Closing Thoughts and Conclusion

Music by Alexi Action from Pixabay

It's that time again, for the exclusive top ten lists of our favourite films from the past year! The value is incredible: you're getting Brian and Nathan's top ten of 2025, but also a whole host honourable mentions that didn't quite make the list.

And chapters! Look at that, if your podcast player supports it, give it a go to scoot around the episode at your leisure. We try out best to avoid spoilers for the films.

We also want to hear from you! What are your top films of the year?

And lest we forget: next episode will be our bottom 5 of 2025, which is always a fun episode with our fair share of hot takes and disappointments.

Thanks again for listening!

Our Website: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Reel Film Chronicles⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Our Letterboxd Profiles: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Brian⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ | ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Nathan⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Nathan's Site: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Feed the Voices⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Episode 96

2025 Top 10

Chapters

• 0:00 - Introduction, Context and Disclaimers
• 4:56 - 10: Weapons
• 8:02 - 10: Black Bag
• 10:38 - 9: Superman
• 14:19 - 9: Life of Chuck
• 19:12 - 8: Marty Supreme
• 22:21 - 8: Predator Badlands
• 26:55 - 7: Black Bag
• 29:25 - 7: The Surfer
• 33:30 - 6: Predator Badlands
• 37:27 - 6: F1
• 43:59 - 5: Companion
• 47:41 - 5: Wake Up, Dead Man
• 52:40 - 4: Bugonia
• 57:10 - 4: Weapons
• 1:01:49 - 3: Train Dreams
• 1:05:11 - 3: 28 Years Later
• 1:10:40 - 2: One Battle After Another
• 1:14:31 - 2: Sinners
• 1:20:01 - 1: Sinners
• 1:23:48 - 1: Train Dreams
• 1:31:33 - Honourable Mentions
• 1:42:03 - Closing Thoughts

Music by ⁠Alexi Action⁠ from ⁠Pixabay

Y’all need a pilot?

We're a bit behind but better late than never, right? Do you remember seeing Flight Risk last year? Now for the skill testing question: did you actually see the movie or did you just watch the trailer that gave everything away? We sat down, watched the entire film and ran from the wreckage directly to our mics to try and dissect what what wrong, but mostly just lament about all the bad things about this movie. We have fun doing so, and think you'll enjoy this episode too!

Flight Risk (2025)

Directed by: Mel Gibson

Starring: Mark Wahlberg - Michelle Dockery - Topher Grace

Genres: action - thriller

Runtime: 91 minutes

Our Website: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Reel Film Chronicles⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Our Letterboxd Profiles: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Brian⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ | ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Nathan⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Nathan's Site: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Feed the Voices⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Letterboxd⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠| ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠IMDb⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Episode 95

Flight Risk

A pilot transports a U.S. Marshal accompanying a government witness to a trial in New York. As they cross the Alaskan wilderness, tensions soar and trust is tested, as not everyone on board is who they seem.

Music by ⁠Alexi Action⁠ from ⁠Pixabay

Although SHELBY OAKS may have a 2024 tag, the crowd-sourced indie film truly received a wide release in 2025. We may have missed the theatrical run for Chris Stuckmann's directorial debut, but we caught the film on streaming and had plenty to say about the effort, as well as the story of how this film came together. It's that kind of movie-making magic that we tend to forget about sometimes as we are inundated with big budget films throughout the year.

I wanted to say thank you again for listening, and more apologies for an inconsistent release schedule. It's been a tough year: although we've recorded plenty of times, we stepped back from the mics and the editing process to focus on our sanity. Seeing folks come back and listen is really amazing, and we're fortunate to be able to put this podcast together. We have a handful of recorded episodes that will hit the editing bay soon. If you have any recommendations for films for us to cover, please let us know!

Shelby Oaks (2024)

Directed by: Chris Stuckmann

Starring: Camille Sullivan - Sarah Durn

Genres: horror - mystery

Runtime: 91 minutes

Our Website: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Reel Film Chronicles⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Our Letterboxd Profiles: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Brian⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ | ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Nathan⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Nathan's Site: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Feed the Voices⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Letterboxd⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠| ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠IMDb⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Episode 94

Shelby Oaks

Music by ⁠Alexi Action⁠ from ⁠Pixabay

Listen, over here at the Reel Film Chronicles, we adore a good super hero movie. We're instinctively drawn to them - every theatrical release, each direct to streaming movie - but we're getting a bit worn out. Superhero fatigue, Disney+ MCU series, etc. We've got a lot to say about the industry, what's grinding our gears, but also what we really enjoy. With a focus on the newest Captain America movie, we find light within the dark, and I say this simply because I really haven't seen any positive discussions about the movie. Well, in this podcast episode we nearly get there.

Regardless, this was a fun one to do, and we hope you forgive us for the long hiatus. I promise we have more episodes in progress and a loose plan to record some more soon. Thanks for listening and supporting us!

Captain America: Brave New World (2025)

Directed by: Julius Onah

Starring: Anthony Mackie - Harrison Ford - Danny Ramirez - Shira Haas - Tim Blake Nelson

Genres: science fiction - action - thriller

Runtime: 119 minutes

Our Website: ⁠⁠⁠⁠Reel Film Chronicles⁠⁠⁠⁠

Our Letterboxd Profiles: ⁠⁠⁠⁠Brian⁠⁠⁠⁠ | ⁠⁠⁠⁠Nathan⁠⁠⁠⁠

Nathan's Site: ⁠⁠⁠⁠Feed the Voices⁠⁠⁠⁠

⁠⁠⁠⁠Letterboxd⁠⁠ ⁠⁠| ⁠⁠⁠⁠IMDb⁠⁠⁠⁠

Episode 93

Captain America: Brave New World

Music by ⁠Alexi Action⁠ from ⁠Pixabay

Because we exist now in a purgatory between reality and unreality and all original thought has been expunged, filtered out through a cosmic sieve that we can neither perceive nor define, we are now subject to a neverending cavalcade of remakes, reboots, reminaginings, and sequels. Gladiator II is not just a legacy sequel to an Oscar-winning film that has become revered among fans and critics alike; it is yet another herald of the New Age, in which our collective consciousness is only capable of telling stories that have already been told and consuming those same stories again, and again, and again in an endless cycle until the heat death of this universe and our reabsorption into the next link in the Great Chain of Being. Fortunately for us, some of those stories are told by Ridley Scott and are still spectacles worthy of the big screen. Gladiator II is a direct sequel to Gladiator, catching us up on the state of the Roman Empire since the heroic General Maximus gave his life to bring down a corrupt leader and provide a glimmer of hope for the oppressed and the outcast. As always, Ridley Scott has his finger on the pulse, and shows that Maximus' sacrifice led to... the rise of not one but two insane Emperors drunk on their own power and slowly destroying their own empire. But a new her will arise in Hanno, a warrior who is enslaved and forced to fight as a gladiator but who secretly holds the power to overthrow the empire... Listen, if you've seen the first one you know the drill, but you also know the old saying; if it ain't broke, don't fix it. If you have the constitution, then journey with The Reel Film Chronicles into this fantasy world that vaguely resembles ancient Rome to see if the second time really is the charm and whether Gladiator II answers the age-old question that echoes in eternity: Are you not entertained?

GLADIATOR II (2024)

Directed by: Ridley Scott

Starring: Paul Mescal - Denzel Washington - Pedro Pascal - Connie Nielsen

Genres: drama - action - adventure

Runtime: 148 minutes

Our Website: ⁠⁠⁠Reel Film Chronicles⁠⁠⁠

Our Letterboxd Profiles: ⁠⁠⁠Brian⁠⁠⁠ | ⁠⁠⁠Nathan⁠⁠⁠

Nathan's Site: ⁠⁠⁠Feed the Voices⁠⁠⁠

⁠⁠⁠Letterboxd⁠⁠ ⁠| ⁠⁠⁠IMDb⁠⁠⁠

Music by ⁠Alexi Action⁠ from ⁠Pixabay

Episode 92

Gladiator 2

Will they be, though? Will they? We confirm that things WILL be different, as your intrepid hosts delve into a time-twisty lo-fi sci-fi thriller that focuses on two siblings hiding from the law in a house that seems to exist outside our regular time. Yeah, it's a great concept and honestly, a pretty great film, especially if you're into these kind of indie concept films. With some great performances and intriguing story that's rife with meaning, Things Will be Different is a film that's worthy of your time. So check it out, then swing back to our discussion on the movie, which, I guess, is no different than our other episodes in terms of the format we follow, but still, the conversation is good, and we appreciate your company.

THINGS WILL BE DIFFERENT (2024)

Directed by: Michael Felker

Starring: Adam David Thompson - Riley Dandy

Genres: science-fiction - thriller - horror

Runtime: 102 minutes

Our Website: ⁠⁠Reel Film Chronicles⁠⁠

Our Letterboxd Profiles: ⁠⁠Brian⁠⁠ | ⁠⁠Nathan⁠⁠

Nathan's Site: ⁠⁠Feed the Voices⁠⁠

⁠⁠Letterboxd⁠⁠ | ⁠⁠IMDb⁠⁠

Music by ⁠Alexi Action⁠ from ⁠Pixabay

Episode 91

Things Will be Different