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Reels & Wheels

Reels & Wheels with comedians Sid Bridge and James Rodatus is a podcast about movies where cars play a key role.
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Now displaying: Page 3
Apr 26, 2018

It's the movie that kicked off the most prolific car movie franchise ever - The Fast and the Furious. It's a wake up call to the world - the tuner community has arrived and it's time to accept it.

Sid and James are joined by Kristen Lee of Jalopnik to talk about the influence this movie had on car culture and whether it was a good thing or a bad thing.

So... how about the movie itself? Good? Bad? Unrealistic? Is it okay that the racing is unrealistic? Should we just relax and enjoy this movie for what it is?

Kristen Lee is part of the wonderful team at Jalopnik.com - if you listen to this podcast, you should be visiting Jalopnik daily. 

Make sure you tell your friends about Reels and Wheels! Subscribe on iTunes or Stitcher and leave some feedback! Follow us on FaceBook and Twitter @ReelsandWheels, @SidBridgeComedy and @S2KJames!

Also check out Jalopnik's podcast, Tempest: https://jalopnik.com/why-the-best-cars-are-underdog-cars-1825419124

 

Apr 12, 2018

On this episode, James and Sid tackle Battle Truck. It's a movie about a TRUCK that's (get this...) equipped for BATTLE.

This post apocalyptic Max Mad/The Road Warrior wannabe actually had it's US release one month before The Road Warrior. It's got everything that made Mad Max successful - an ambitious director with a vision, a cool truck and a, um, villain. Only difference is that Battle Truck is terrible. 

Well, James enjoyed it. Sid likens it to the Negan storyline of Walking Dead TV show, but without the zombies. Which is bad. 

But hey, the truck is cool so there's that.

Subscribe to Reels and Wheels on iTunes or Stitcher and leave some feedback! @ReelsandWheels @S2KJames @SidBridgeComedy

 

Mar 29, 2018

Ok, maybe it doesn't make sense to leave an unstable prototype alone in a warehouse where anyone can reactivate it without at least taking the wheels off, but dammit KARR was awesome.

The original Knight Rider gave us two episodes featuring KITT's evil prototype, the Knight Automated Roving Robot (KARR!) and each featured a different take on what was possibly KITT's greatest nemesis.

Trust Doesn't Rust introduces us to KARR, voiced by Peter "Optimus Prime" Cullen. This KARR is somewhat naive, but self-centered and dangerous. KARR returns in "KITT vs. KARR", this time with an amber scanner and the voice of Paul Frees - an equally accomplished voice actor. Now KARR is pure evil, manipulative and bent on revenge.

James and Sid are joined by Tobias Ellis, the person who helped get Reels and Wheels started, to drop some knowledge and nostalgia into the conversation. Maybe these shows weren't perfect, but they were freaking awesome.

Follow @ReelsandWheels, @S2KJames and @SidBridgeComedy and leave us some feedback! Subscribe on Stitcher or iTunes today!

Mar 8, 2018

Cars 3... Is it a shameless cash grab to sell toys or an homage to the fans of the first movie? 

The answer is probably both. The Cars universe expands quite a bit with plenty of great new toys to sell to your kids. However, Cars 3 also goes back to the successful formula that made the first movie a hit.

Sound familiar? It's taken the same path as the first three Toy Story movies and the first three Indiana Jones movies. But that's the strength of the Cars franchise - it lifts big pieces of successful movies and adapts them to its own universe. 

Sid and James are joined by the Alpha Geek himself, Derek Williams - stand up comic, voice actor and co-founder of Geek Night Comedy to talk about Cars 3 as we scratch a bit below the surface of another fun Pixar movie.

Follow @ReelsandWheels, @SidBridgeComedy, @S2KJames and @Derek5Letters - subscribe to Reels and Wheels on Stitcher or iTunes and leave us some feedback!

Feb 15, 2018

Sure, it's a stoner movie. But it's a stoner movie with character growth, literary significance, great dialogue and some insightful car choices. Heck, how often do we get to do an episode of Reels and Wheels where the hero car is a Toyota Camry?

It was time! It was the Camry's time! Sure, it's boring and it's basic, but that's the point. If you need a car - a reliable car - to get you from point A to point B, there is nothing better than the Camry. As car enthusiasts, that's a tough one for James and Sid to recognize, but hey, Harold had it figured out, right?

Enjoy this episode about the Camry and about how weed should be legal. Follow @ReelsandWheels, @SidBridgeComedy and @S2KJames! Subscribe on iTunes or Stitcher and leave feedback!

Jan 25, 2018

Hey, look! It's a new movie that is supposed to be like "The Fast & The Furious" but in France! Let's watch it and talk about it on Reels and Wheels!

...and that's where things went downhill. Overdrive (2017) sucks. The dialogue is terrible, the plot makes no sense, and whoever wrote it clearly wasn't really a car person. But we watched it. We suffered so you wouldn't have to. 

Do yourself a favor - listen to this episode of Reels and Wheels. It's way more entertaining than "Overdrive."

@SidBridgeComedy
@S2KJames
@ReelsandWheels

Subscribe. Leave great feedback. Share with your friends. You owe it to us after we sat through this one for you.

Jan 11, 2018

How do you bring NASCAR to a mainstream audience in movie form? Tom Cruise, I guess. I mean, it beats Stroker Ace. Days of Thunder was actually the last of an era - the last time producers Jerry Bruckheimer and Don Simpson got to do a high budget action movie before the studio got too mad at them to do it again.

There is a lot to love, though - the portrayal of racing as a dangerous obsession by infantile people who grasp at an illusion of control hits right at home, especially with our guest, Andie Albin - who works for the SCCA and races herself!

What do you think about early 1990's NASCAR and the Chevy Lumina? How about Tom Cruise's character crossing the line while hitting on Nicole Kidman's Dr. Luwicki? And you wouldn't believe how many scenes in this movie are based on real events!

Follow Sid and James - @SidBridgeComedy and @S2KJames. Keep up with Andie at www.scca.com! Don't forget to subscribe to @ReelsandWheels on iTunes or Stitcher. Share it and leave feedback!

Dec 28, 2017

Sid and James are joined by their good friends Josh Horowitz and Brett Stillo of the "5 Minutes of Banzai" podcast for a quintessential cult classic - The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension!

If you're a Reels and Wheels listener, you probably remember Josh and Brett from the Big Trouble in Little China episode and their "5 Minutes in China" podcast. We enjoy going on each other's podcasts so much we decided to do it again!

Buckaroo Banzai isn't a big car movie, but the rocket car (made from a Ford F-350) is worth an episode and Josh and Brett's knowledge of the movie makes for a great discussion!

Find Josh and Brett at 5minutesofbanzai.com! Subscribe to Reels and Wheels on iTunes or Stitcher and make sure you share and leave feedback! @ReelsandWheels, @S2KJames, @SidBridgeComedy

Dec 14, 2017

It was the car of the future! In the late 1940's, a charismatic man named Preston Tucker got America excited about his innovative, futuristic car design...

Sid and James welcome Steve Lehto, attorney, author and automotive journalist to talk about Tucker: The Man and His Dream, Francis Ford Coppola's surprisingly accurate portrayal of a man who sold his dream to the country, only to get squashed by the government and the big three.

Steve has some amazing stories and the group also discusses Tucker's eerie similarity to Elon Musk. We also talk about the car itself, the Tucker 48 (sometimes called the Tucker Torpedo) and its quirky, ahead-of-its-time features!

Follow @ReelsAndWheels, @SidBridgeComedy and @S2KJames on social media. Subscribe on Stitcher or iTunes and leave some feedback!

Find Steve all over the place:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCMljRGC0eBJrxbUorWEnasg
http://lehtoslaw.com/
http://www.roadandtrack.com/author/3026/steve-lehto/
https://www.amazon.com/Steve-Lehto/e/B001JPA7O4
https://jalopnik.com/tag/steve-lehto

 

Nov 30, 2017

Phantasm is a brilliant horror movie that bends reality and deals with heavy situations of confronting mortality and loss. It's also got a kick-ass 1971 HemiCuda that went on to become a mainstay vehicle of the Phantasm movie series.

For this episode, James and Sid are honored to be joined by one of the stars of the Phantasm series, Reggie Bannister and his wife, Gigi. Not only are they a great couple to talk to with lots of great information on the movie, they are both huge car enthusiasts.

Want to find out what sleeper Reggie drag raced when he was young? Want to find out what kind of experimental car Gigi got to drive (and crash)? You're only going to find it here on Reels and Wheels!

A big Reels and Wheels thank you to Reggie and Gigi for joining us on the podcast - please drop by their website, www.reggiebannister.com to find out what's going on, including a big project they are working on. Follow @ReelsandWheels, @SidBridgeComedy and @S2KJames, subscribe on iTunes or Stitcher and leave some feedback!

Nov 9, 2017

Wouldn't it be great if there was a line of toys that took everything you loved about your other toys and mashed them all together?! Like if you could have the best of Transformers AND GI Joe AND James Bond's cars AND the Spy Hunter car AND Bruce Wayne's gadgets?!

That was M.A.S.K. This 1985 cartoon was Kenner's attempt to market a high-quality line of toys with a TV show meant to stoke kids' imaginations. It wasn't as successful and enduring as other toy lines or cartoons, but it sure was awesome.

James and Sid talk about the pilot episode of M.A.S.K. - it's a strange mixture of excellent and terrible. It's both smart and dumb at the same time. It defies description. Watch it again with Reels and Wheels. 

@ReelsAndWheels
@S2KJames
@SidBridgeComedy

Oct 26, 2017

Could this be the greatest movie ever? At Reels and Wheels, we don't need to spend a lot of time extolling the virtues of Evil Dead 2 - Sam Raimi's brilliant directing and visuals, Bruce Campbell's amazing physical acting skill - it speaks for itself. We're just here to talk about a special 1973 Oldsmobile Delta 88.

Alan Vannucchi - comedian and horror movie expert - joins Sid and James to talk about the movie and the car. 

Dubbed "The Classic" by Raimi, the Oldsmobile is HIS car - since he was a teenager. It somehow sneaks into every Sam Raimi movie (kind of like his brother, Ted). 

Just how omnipotent is this Olds? Do Alan and Sid do a good job making James love this movie? Can Sid make the case that the 1973 Delta is really a beautiful car that deserves praise among collectors?

Subscribe and follow us! @Alan_Vann_, @S2KJames, @SidBridgeComedy, @ReelsandWheels and leave us some feedback!

Groovy.

Oct 12, 2017

This week, Sid and I review the 90s Blockbuster spectacular, The Rock.  Starring Nicholas Cage, Sean Connery, and Ed Harris, a Humvee, a Ferrari, and hours of helicopters.

We are joined by Tobias Ellis on this one, and it's loads of fun.

Sep 28, 2017

In 1991, Ridley Scott took a break from directing stuff like Alien and Blade Runner and allowed himself to be convinced to helm Thelma and Louise - and that was history.

Joining Sid and James is a great friend and hilarious comedian, Holly Owens. 

Thelma and Louise is an iconic feminist road movie. It's a slice of life on film that is beautifully shot, painfully realistic, and packed with great characters - even the car.

The 1966 Ford Thunderbird driven by our protagonist gets refreshingly characterized, accompanying Thelma and Louise throughout their struggles. 

Follow @ReelsandWheels on social media - subscribe on iTunes or Stitcher and leave feedback! Find Holly online (@HollyPoops) and catch her show, The Sunday Funnies, every Sunday at 8pm at Cozzy's Comedy Club. Don't forget to follow Sid (@SidBridgeComedy) and James (@S2KJames), too!

Sep 14, 2017

If you were anywhere near childhood in the 1980's, KITT was probably your hero and Knight Rider was probably the greatest TV show EVER. At least, that's how Sid & James felt then and still feel today.

Christian Lee of PlaidDadPlog.com and DadSews.com joins Sid and James to talk about Knight of the Phoenix, the pilot that began KITT's illustrious TV career. To Christian, it didn't hold up as good TV - oh well. You can't win 'em all...

One thing's for sure - The Knight 2000 - a car with a distinguished voice and plenty of awesome gadgetry - is a scene stealing hero and attempts to replicate him in the new millenium have fallen painfully short.

What made this so awesome? Why was it better to create a car show without corporate support from the carmaker at first? Get ready to relive your childhood and learn a few things!

Subscribe! Follow @ReelsandWheels on social media! Follow Sid - @SidBridgeComedy and James - @S2KJames and find Christian at www.plaiddadblog.com and at www.dadsews.com! 

Aug 31, 2017

GoldenEye was a turning point for the James Bond Franchise - both in terms of actors and cars! After years of delay, Pierce Brosnan was finally able to step into the roll he was born to play in a movie that represents a generational shift in the franchise.

GoldenEye also marks the first of a three-movie deal with BMW to provide the trademark James Bond supercars. BMW turned up the hype with the introduction of the beautiful Z3 roadster, but the car got very little screen time.

How did things work out with BMW? Why was the car barely in the movie? How does this movie rank among other Bond films?

Joining us is comedian and car enthusiast David Beck! David jumps right in and helps us understand how some of the cars in the movie would really fair against each other.

Subscribe to Reels and Wheels on iTunes or Stitcher and leave us feedback! Follow @ReelsandWheels on social media and follow Sid (@SidBridgeComedy) and James (@S2KJames), too! Find David Beck on Facebook and at www.whoisdavidbeck.com!

Aug 17, 2017

Ok, we admit it. This is a super fun movie. Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby features Will Ferrell in full Will Ferrell mode. In retrospect, the guy is extremely funny. What really knocks this movie out of the park is an excellent supporting cast, most of whom are playing against type.

Joining Sid and James to talk about this movie and the state of NASCAR is comedian Tim Loulies! Tim gives great insight into the NASCAR experience and all the pieces that make this movie a quotable and extremely fun comedy.

And James talks some Formula One jargon just to balance things out.

Tim Loulies is a touring comic and the teacher at the Virginia Beach Funny Bone comedy school. He runs comedy shows at Derls and Mario's restaurants as well as on the Spirit of Norfolk. Find Tim on social media by searching "Tim Loulies!" As always, follow @ReelsandWheels on Facebook and follow Sid (@SidBridgeComedy) and James (@S2KJames). Don't forget to leave us some feedback!

Aug 3, 2017

A touch of creativity and the help of a good writer COULD HAVE produced a noteworthy sequel to one of the greatest car movies of all time, Smokey and the Bandit. Instead, everybody failed. Our hero Hal Needham failed to produce anything more than a week retread of the previous movie, our stars (with the exception of Jerry Reed) failed to show much interest in their own performances, and Pontiac failed by producing the most anemic, gawdy, Trans Am with 1980 Turbo Trans Am.

Smokey and the Bandit II might have made a few kids happy. It might have made its money-grabbing producer happy, and it might have made Hal Needham happy on payday, but it sent what could have been a bankable franchise into a downward spiral it would never recover from.

Jerry Reed tries his best to make this movie great - and it's not without its moments - indeed, a stunt man performs a record-setting jump that's mostly buried in the climactic game of chicken at the end of the movie - but it's not enough. 

This movie, like Burt Reynolds' flagging career and the malaise-era, underpowered turbo Trans Am, is just plain terrible. 

Don't watch this movie. Listen to this podcast. Learn where the best scenes are, then be happy you missed it. If you saw it, sorry. Follow us! @SidBridgeComedy, @S2KJames, @ReelsandWheels! Leave us some feedback! Anybody want to defend this movie? Let us know!

Jul 20, 2017

Edgar Wright has created a masterpiece. This kick-ass car movie isn't just set to music... it's part of the music. Baby Driver goes a step beyond when it comes to car chase choreography and it's a car movie with great characters and plenty of fun easter eggs.

Ed Carden of The Pushers (owners of The Push Comedy Theater) once again joins James and Sid, this time to bring his expertise as a huge fan of Edgar Wright's work. 

This movie is going to be a requirement for any car lover's collection. How confident was Edgar Wright in this movie? Pretty confident - the entire opening chase featuring a red Subaru WRX is available for free on YouTube. 

How amazing was the choreography? What would your getaway car be?! Enjoy this episode of Reels and Wheels!

Find Ed Carden at the Push Comedy Theater - www.pushcomedytheater.com - we especially recommend you catch him during one of their legendary "Improvaggedon" shows!

Catch Sid @SidBridgeComedy and James @S2KJames on Facebook or Twitter. Subscribe to Reels and Wheels on iTunes or Stitcher and leave some feedback! @ReelsandWheels

Jul 6, 2017

The Love Bug... Cute Disney movie? Yes. Awesome racing movie? Even more so, yes! Sid and James are joined by Jason Torchinsky of Jalopnik to talk about the movie that started the Herbie franchise, the awesome cars that played supporting roles, and the surprisingly great racing scenes of The Love Bug.

Not only is Jason a writer for Jalopnik, but he's also a VW Beetle owner and he's unusually passionate about this movie. When you give The Love Bug a second viewing as an adult, you start to understand why. Herbie is up against some amazing race competition - C2 Corvettes, Jaguars, Lamborghinis, and of course the ultra rare, Buick V8 powered Apollo GT.

Racing scenes convey a sense of danger and excitement that you honestly wouldn't expect from a kids movie, and Herbie - a sentient VW that doesn't talk, manages to convey quite a few complex emotions, including a pretty intense suicide attempt. 

The laughs are there, too - with Buddy Hackett shedding his foul-mouth stand-up persona to play the silly sidekick and David Tomlinson flying headfirst into the villain role with dastardly brilliance. 

Find Jason and his wonderful articles at www.jalopnik.com! Subscribe to Reels and Wheels on iTunes or Stitcher and leave us some feedback! @ReelsandWheels, @SidBridgeComedy and @S2KJames

 

Jun 22, 2017

Ah, the glorious world of late 1980's horror. In Warlock, a witch hunter doing battle with the titular Warlock in colonial America follows his adversary forward in time to the 1980's in order to stop him from destroying the world.

Dragged into the middle of this mess is our protagonist, played by Lori Singer, who joins Redfearn the Witch Hunter on his quest to save the world from evil paganism - all while depending on a daily driver that's unsafe at any speed. Yep, our hero drives a Corvair.

James makes Sid pull double duty as host AND guest, as Sid has previously owned two Corvairs and can talk about the car from first hand experience.

Was this movie really bad? Was it good? What factors sabotaged it from being great? And was the Corvair all that bad?! Was it actually unsafe at any speed or was Ralph Nader just an idiot? (Actually you probably know the answer to that one).

Subscribe to Reels and Wheels on iTunes or Stitcher and leave us some feedback! Follow @ReelsandWheels, @SidBridgeComedy and @S2KJames!

Jun 8, 2017

YES IT'S A CAR MOVIE! Sorry. We've already had that question a few times before people even knew we were recording this episode. Comedian/Member of Plan B Improv and friend of the show CB Wilkins joins James and Sid to talk about Spaceballs!

In this epic Mel Brooks comedy, the Star Wars universe is parodied so well that George Lucas himself blessed the movie, telling Brooks it would be a great action film even without the Star Wars references. And he's right. Brooks did an amazing job constructing this parody of the scifi universe, creating great characters and an infinite number of quotable lines.

And yes, there are iconic cars - particularly Lonestar's ship, which is a barely modified 1986 Winnebago. Princess Vespa cruises in a space Mercedes, and the evil Spaceballs comb the desert in a Volkswagen Thing!

Subscribe to Reels and Wheels on iTunes or Stitcher and leave us some feedback! Find CB Wilkins online @CBWilkinsTweets and www.planbimprov.com. Find us, @ReelsAndWheels, Sid @SidBridgeComedy and James @S2KJames on twitter!

Jun 2, 2017

Celebrating 40 years of Smokey and the Bandit, Reels and Wheels recently hosted a meetup at a screen of one of the greatest car movies of all time. James was joined by a group of autocrossers who debate what would make a great bandit car today. It's a fun conversation and a great way to celebrate one of our favorite movies!

 

Need more? Check out our original episode on Smokey and the Bandit:

http://reelsandwheels.libsyn.com/smokey-and-the-bandit

 

May 25, 2017

William Friedkin directed The Exorcist and The French Connection. If you ask him which film he considers to be his magnum opus, his will proudly name his biggest box office failure, Sorcerer!

Sorcerer (1977) is a film about four desperate men stuck in third world South America forced to truck unstable explosives through the jungle. Confused yet? There's nothing supernatural about this movie, unless you count the two trucks - a pair of 1951 GMC M211's named Lazaro and Sorcerer.

Sorcerer failed in the box office because many factors: It's misleading name, people being confused since the first 15 minutes are not in English, and it just happen to hit the theaters at the same time as Star Wars.

It's a shame because this movie is awesome. Joining us to soak in the awesomeness is script writer, film buff and comedian Jeff Davis. We discuss the craziness behind the scenes of this film, the nature of the trucks, and how to bring great films like this one to a wider audience.

Follow @ReelsandWheels and subscribe on Stitcher and iTunes. Find Sid and James- @SidBridgeComedy and @S2KJames on social media. Find Jeff online - @JefDavis23

May 11, 2017

Paul Newman was a fixture in the car racing universe. How did it happen? Winning. Newman saw the script for the 1969 movie about a car racer and his love life and decided to make sure it was elevated from movie-of-the-week status to big budget box office picture. 

Winning was about a race car driver who focused on succeeding at Indianapolis at the expense of his marriage. And it kind of sucked. Joining us is Heyward Wagner, Director of Experiential Programs for the Sports Car Club of America. Heyward has first hand knowledge of Newman's impact on the SCCA racing scene and agrees with James and Sid that the movie kind of sucked.

How accurate was its portrayal of various forms of racing? What good came from the movie? (Spoiler: Lots of good came from the movie) Can a "great" racing movie be made today?

Follow @ReelsandWheels and subscribe on Stitcher and iTunes. Find Sid and James- @SidBridgeComedy and @S2KJames on social media. Interested in all the great things Heyward is doing for the SCCA? Find out more here! https://www.scca.com/

 

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