Reels & Wheels

Sid and James tackle the cult classic meow movie about State Troopers who can't take their job seriously. It's fun. But... meow why?

It's a long story that Sid tells meow at the beginning of the podcast about the sad end to his meow Thunderbird and his recent meow NA Miata purchase.

Oh, and meow Super Troopers has a Miata. So there.

Meow.

James Dean had a short career as a movie star and died tragically before his fame was in full effect. Rebel Without a Cause is a stand-out for Dean, but we delve into his personal life to talk about the cars he raced as well.

Joining us is Patrick Fransko of Speedster Dreams. Patrick has a wealth of knowledge about James Dean and he has incredible stories from building his own James Dean tribute Speedster - learn more at www. speedsterdreams.com! 

Derek Williams - Comedian, voice talent, expert gamer and Anime lover - is back on Reels and Wheels and he has a great Anime for us. 

The obscure(ish) Riding Bean! 

This one kind of defies description. It's a 45-minute one-off short movie that never led to a longer series. The story follows Bean, an accomplished Chicago driver as he gets caught up in a kidnapping plot as convoluted as The Big Lebowski.

But... the cars! Sure, we have plenty of well-drawn, brand name vehicles, but Bean's car is a bizarre amalgam of vehicles so well-put together, that no two people see the same influences. 

Make sure you follow Derek (@DerekFiveLetters) and follow Reels and Wheels and leave us some feedback!

Ready for a very unique episode of Reels and Wheels?! For the first time, (and it's about time!) we talk locomotives! This is the 1926 classic Buster Keaton silent film, The General.

Joining James and Sid is one of our favorite cinematic experts (and a guy who knows his Buster Keaton), Brett Stillo!

The General is silent comedy based on a real life civil war locomotive chase. We also answer the always looming question... Can a silent film still captivate an audience today? 

Spoiler alert - with this film, YES. Make sure you catch up with Brett Stillo on social media and keep up with his own movie project.

Make sure you subscribe to Wheels and Wheels on your favorite podcast platform and leave us some feedback!

Happy Holidays from Reels and Wheels! For this episode, Sid & James get into the holiday season with Planes Trains & Automobiles - a John Hughes classic about the worst attempt at holiday travel ever.

This movie definitely delivers in the "Planes, Trains and Automobiles" department, with a glorious assortment of malais-era cars, but it's also an excellent movie that rises above comedy by creating two deep, relatable characters.

Plus we have a who's who of 1980's background character actors and an unlikely Star Trek actor cameo. Send us your feedback, @ReelsandWheels!

It's Halloween, so let's talk Halloween! This 1978 John Carpenter really kickstarted the slasher genre - and it was 1978, so there we plenty of scary malaise era cars to talk about.

Joining Sid and James is Mike Moran, comedian, musician and host of the Confessional Podcast! 

Make sure you check out Mike Moran and the Confessional Podcast here: https://moranmichaelj.podbean.com/

Follow @ReelsandWheels on social media and subscribe!

It's a car movie starring a young Tommy Lee Jones as a sex symbol. And it's not Black Moon Rising. We already did that one. No, this movie is MUCH MUCH WEIRDER. The Betsy pretends to be a car movie, but it's possibly got the least car content of any movie we've covered here on Reels and Wheels (and we include Spaceballs in that tally).

Joining us for this podcast is Joe Ligo. Joe is a filmmaker working on a documentary about American Motors... and that's how he discovered The Betsy. In a rare moment, AMC allowed the cameras to roll at their headquarters and everyone he interviewed for the documentary talked about it.

But... but... this movie. It's all over the place. It's an attempt at a dramatization of Henry Ford's life, with a lot more sordid details added in (and given Henry Ford's life, adding more sordid details is an accomplishment). It's just bizarre. And bad. 

Find out more about Joe's documentary here: https://www.facebook.com/AmericanMotorsMovie

and consider helping out Joe's production at their GoFundMe page here: https://www.gofundme.com/f/the-last-independent-automaker-a-documentary

It's 1982. It's Eddie Murphy's first acting role. It's Nick Nolte when he was still considered a handsome leading man. It's a time when a 1964 Cadillac was considered a shitbox.

Sid and James are joined once again by Derek Williams, comedian, 80's expert, and alpha geek of comedy!

Reels and Wheels is back! And by request, Matt Cole, our resident Nicholas Cage expert, has returned to talk about the 2000 remake of Gone in 60 Seconds!

This movie definitely has some baffling moments. It's also got kind of a crazy backstory regarding it's relationship to the H.B. Halicki original. But... is it enough Nicholas Cafe? James, Sid and Matt discuss...

In 1991, an attempt was made to reboot Knight Rider with a new Pontiac Banshee-inspired version of KITT. It failed. 

However...

It's worth a second watch. Is it good? Not really. Does it do a good job predicting the year 2000? Mostly no. Is it a PG rip-off of RoboCop? Strangly, yes!

James and Sid have a lot of weird things to talk about, not the least of which is the presence of Chevy Beretta police cars. Weird. 

Ghostbusters Afterlife tries to strike the right balance between appealing to a new generation and diving into rich nostalgia for old-school Ghostbusters fans.

Joining Sid and James for this episode is comedian, podcaster and convention fixture George Plank!

We discuss the great story behind this movie's version of Ecto-1 and the other interesting cars that make up the supporting cast!

Get Shorty is a very 90's movie. And it features the Cadillac of minivans, the Oldsmobile Silhouette!

Joining us for this episode is Amanda Marks of the Sis & Tell Podcast!

How many movies can you name that started a religion? The Big Lebowski brought us Dudeism. It also happens to be an awesome movie, however... Get ready for an off-the-rails episode of Reels & Wheels as James and Sid are joined by Brad and Adam of the Gutterballs Podcast, two guys who really embody the ideals of Dudeism.

Consequently, the conversation meanders a lot. Still, The Big Lebowski and its cars get a lot of love here and there's a mystery that you can help us solve in the process. 

Make sure you visit Gutterballs: The Podcast at Gutterballs.tv and enjoy!

Is reality all it's cracked up to be? Does the value of fiction outshine real life? This is Big Fish. 

Joining us to discuss this Tim Burton masterpiece is Jalopnik's resident wrencher, adventurer, David Tracy!

David gets the opportunity to introduce Sid and James to his favorite movie and talk about choosing a life of adventure.

Find David's articles at Jalopnik.com and following his adventures on Instagram @DavidnTracy. Follow @SidBridgeComedy and @S2KJames - make sure you subscribe to @ReelsandWheels and leave some feedback!

James and Sid are joined by the biggest Nicolas Cage resource around. He's an actor, improv comic, and podcast host - Matt Cole!

This episode is hard to describe in a couple of paragraphs. Yes, we talk about the cars - especially the Corvette and the GTI, but this podcast has an insanity level that lives up to Nicolas Cage expectations.

Make sure you follow @ReelsandWheels and hosts @SidBridgeComedy and @S2KJames on social media! Spread the word about Reels and Wheels and leave us some feedback!

In part two of our episode on Clouzot's Wages of Fear, we discuss its along with its remake, Sorcerer.

Clouzot's 1953 thriller The Wages of Fear was a groundbreaking movie and was later remade into Sorcerer, a favorite movie of ours.

Joining Sid and James once again is Remi Treuer, comedian and host of "Say the X" on Twitch. 

Part one of this episode focuses on The Wages of Fear - its characters, its setting, and its artful build-up of tension. It's a true classic.

Can American auto workers get along with their new Japanese bosses? That was the big question in the mid-1980's as Ron Howard's Gung Ho, inspired by real events, tried to tackle the subject as an inspirational comedy.

In hindsight, it's an awkward movie to watch, riddled with racist/xenophobic assumptions about both the Japanese and American auto workers.

But hey, we need to talk about the cars! And joining us is Jason Torchnisky, Jalopnik writer, published author of Robot Take the Wheel, and legendary Changli owner!

The cars of the fictional Assan Motors are represented mostly by Fiat Regattas, but the movie has quite a few interesting featured cars!

Find Jason Torchinsky at Jalopnik.com or on social media @JasonTorch / @JasonTorchinsky and remember to subscribe to Reels and Wheels and leave some feedback!

Few shows nail nostalgia so perfectly while simultaneously endearing us to new characters. Cobra Kai knocks it out of the park. 

Cars have always been a key part of the Karate Kid franchise, from Mr. Miyagi's collection of classics to Mrs. Larusso's Malibu wagon to Johnny's Avanti II, Cobra Kai had a lot to live up to... and it does. Nicely.

Comedian, Comedy Instructor and friend of the podcast Tim Loulies joins us to talk Cobra Kai!

Find Tim Loulies online at @Big44Comedy and make sure you subscribe to Reels and Wheels!

CONVOY!

Hear us out on this one...

As a production, Convoy was a bit of a train wreck. A drug-fueled, past-his-prime Sam Peckinpaw was trying to direct a dark film that made a statement about unfair laws. The studio wanted something more like Smokey and the Bandit, which came out the year before. Neither side one.

The result is a tonally strange movie, but somehow... somehow... it's super relevant today. Derek Williams once again joins Sid and James to discuss this bizarre movie that has way more to it than you think. It's actually a strong statement against police using the wrong enforcement tactics and a reminder that black lives matter.

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