For 14 episodes, the ReelBlend podcast (formerly the AwardsBlend podcast), has broken down the best and most interesting angles of movie and Oscars news. Regular listeners know the familiar voices of co-hosts Sean O'Connell, Kevin McCarthy and Jake Hamilton. But this week, for the first time in ReelBlend history, the trio breaks ground by inviting a guest!
Juan Fernandez-Paris is the film critic for Wapa America. He's a longtime veteran of the junket circuit, where he has passed hours, days and years geeking out about movies with Sean, Jake and Kevin in cities around the world. And as an ardent supporter of this week's biggest release -- Steven Spielberg's Ready Player One -- we invited him on to provide his insights into Spielberg's latest, and to play along with Coen Brothers Blend!
What is Coen Brothers Blend? Well, it's part of an ongoing game that we brought to ReelBlend where we pick a beloved director (or filmmaking team) and then debate their BEST movie. Not our favorite movie by them. Their BEST. And we try to convince the other guys that our opinion is right. We also ask YOU to participate by using a hashtag on social media. In the past, we have debated Martin Scorsese, Christopher Nolan, Paul Thomas Anderson and more. This week, it was #CoenBrosBlend, and your responses were all over the board. So were ours. Listen to the podcast to see which movies we chose.
This week, we also dive deep into Ready Player One, a movie that the guys really loved, for totally different reasons. In a spoiler-free fashion, they try and explain why you need to get to a theater and see Steven Spielberg's new film as soon as possible.
But the best conversation from the week ends up being a heated debate inspired by an off-hand Spielberg comment, in which the legendary director says movie's that debut on Netflix shouldn't be eligible for an Academy Award. Spielberg is trying to protect and defend the theatrical experience, but it overlooks some hard truths about the current distribution models in Hollywood, and the ReelBlend guys get into a passionate debate about which side is right.
ReelBlend is a LIVE podcast that we do on CinemaBlend's Facebook page. As soon as we are done on Facebook, you can download the latest episode (and all of our past episodes) for FREE on our iTunes page! Visit. Subscribe. Like and comment. Review! Apple loves when you have star ratings and reviews, so if you listened, and you liked it (or even if you didn't), let us know. We also are on Spotify. And Google Play. And basically everywhere that you download podcasts. So download us!
Meanwhile, follow the guys on Social Media at @Sean_OConnell, @JakesTakesand @KevinMcCarthyTV. We will be back at it next week, LIVE on CinemaBlend's Facebook page. See you then!
