Movies For Life

Baseball Movies: A LEAGUE OF THEIR OWN and THE BAD NEWS BEARS

Batter up, Movies for Life listeners, because we're talking about a pair of great baseball movies today on the show! Though there are a lot of movies to pick from in this category, we picked the two that have either touched us the most or, in Michele's case, have meant a lot to us our whole lives. So first up is that movie, Michele's choice of Penny Marshall's A LEAGUE OF THEIR OWN (1992). This one has a ton of great moments but we try to focus on the core of what makes it a great movie - Tom Hanks' performance, the sister relationship, etc. We also give our answers to the big question about the ending - does Dottie drop the ball on purpose? Then we get into another comedy, one a bit more rough around the edges but still with a lot of heart, and that is THE BAD NEWS BEARS from 1976. This story of an alcoholic Walter Matthau coaching the worst Little League team is equal parts hilarious and heartfelt in its portrayal of relationships and lessons learned while playing the game that is America's past time. Enjoy the episode!

Follow us on social media:

Movies for Life Podcast: @MovieLifePod

Brian Keiper: @Brianwaves42

Michele Eggen: @micheleeggen

Coming of Age: STAND BY ME and NOW AND THEN

Do you guys wanna go see a dead body?

 

Well okay, we don't have one to show you but one of the movies we're talking about today does! That's right, we're jumping on our bikes and going on an adventure together as we tackle two coming of age movies. First up is Brian's choice, the seminal, needs-no-introduction classic STAND BY ME from 1986. Then we talk about basically the STAND BY ME for girls, the (in Michele's opinion) overlooked NOW AND THEN from 1995. Both of these movies are filled with great performance by fantastic child actors, and they give us a chance to reminisce about a bygone era from a lot of our childhoods. We hope you enjoy the discussion!

BONUS: What We’ve Been Watching

We hit a snag in trying to schedule a time to record our next full episode so we've got a bonus one for you! Join us for a quick discussion of some of the movies we've been catching up on watching over the last month or so - from practically the dawn of cinema, to movies from this year! We hope you enjoy!

Find us on social media:

Movies For Life podcast: @MovieLifePod

Brian Keiper: @Brianwaves42

Michele Eggen: @micheleeggen

Robots: THE MITCHELLS VS THE MACHINES and WALL-E

In this episode we tackle our very first animated films that both happen to be about robots. We start with the delightful family comedy THE MITCHELLS VS. THE MACHINES from 2021, a movie that reminds us to be weird because being weird might lead to saving the world. We follow it up with one of the greatest movies of the century so far, Pixar's masterpiece WALL-E from 2008. It's a science fiction-comedy-romance-action-animated piece of cinematic perfection with a lot to say about who we are and who we could be. 

Find us on social media:

Movies for Life podcast: @MovieLifePod

Brian Keiper: @Brianwaves42

Michele Eggen: @micheleeggen

Oldest Profession: BELLE DE JOUR and LAST NIGHT IN SOHO

On this week's Movies for Life, we're heading back to the swingin' 60s with two very different tales about women working in the world's oldest profession (ie sex work). Our first movie is Michele's pick of Luis Bunuel's BELLE DE JOUR from 1967, a fascinating and at times complex and complicated story of a woman's choice to secretly enter sex work as a way to work through her issue and explore her masochistic fantasies. Then we jump to the 2021 movie LAST NIGHT IN SOHO for Brian's choice. While dealing the same profession, the character in this film has a much different and darker story, wrapped up in an equally intriguing, colorful, and at times totally bonkers, tale about the dangers of nostalgia. 

Find us on social media:

Movies for Life podcast: @MovieLifePod

Brian Keiper: @Brianwaves42

Michele Eggen: @micheleeggen

Social Media: INGRID GOES WEST and VENGEANCE

You know sometimes we at Movies for Life think we don't record our episodes... all we do is translate...

Today we're tackling a topic that has become a big one with both of us lately - that of the pros and cons of social media, and the effects that it can have on people. And the two movies that we've chosen for this are ones that we mentioned pretty recently as some of our favorite discoveries, so we hope you dig them too! Brian's choice is first and it is INGRID GOES WEST from 2017. Starring Aubrey Plaza and Elizabeth Olsen, it is probably the one that is most directly about social media and how it can affect people on both sides of the influencer/fan parasocial relationship. Then we get into Michele's movie, VENGEANCE from 2022, written, directed, and starring BJ Novak. This one is about a lot of things in our modern technology culture, and has some very deep thoughts on topics like true crime and social media. But no matter what we say about the pitfalls of social media in this episode, remember friends and listeners that we truly love you mucho, and appreciate all the support.

Ironically, here is where you can find us on social media:

Movies for Life podcast: @MovieLifePod

Brian Keiper: @Brianwaves42

Michele Eggen: @micheleeggen

Male Buddy Movies: DELIVERANCE and BEAVIS AND BUTT-HEAD DO AMERICA

We are both downright giddy about this episode because we haven't had a pairing like this on Movies for Life since SINGIN' IN THE RAIN and ONE CUT OF THE DEAD! Because we talked about a couple of female buddy movies on our last episode, naturally we're doing male buddy movies now - and we reallly couldn't have come up with a more bonkers - yet wonderful - double feature. First we discuss Michele's pick which is literally one of the best movies ever made - John Boorman's DELIVERANCE from 1972. It's a brilliant, powerful, and truly deep look at male friendship and bonding, masculinity and how it is portrayed and tested, and what it really means to "be a man." Then we switch ALL the gears for our next film - the equally brilliant (though probably not as deep) BEAVIS AND BUTT-HEAD DO AMERICA from 1996. We talk about the charming appeal of the two quintessential slackers, but mostly we spend the episode laughing at our favorite lines and situations and doing our best imitations of Beavis and Butt-head. We really hope you enjoy this one!

Follow us on the socials:

Movies for Life podcast: @MovieLifePod

Brian Keiper: @Brianwaves42

Michele Eggen: @micheleeggen

Female Buddy Movies: A SIMPLE FAVOR and BARB AND STAR GO TO VISTA DEL MAR

Get ready for a real tit-flapper of an episode! We're going full bonkers fun for both of our movie picks for this episode. We fill the oopsie jar, we get a soul douche... and frankly we just really loved talking about these two movies all about female friendship. First up is Michele's choice of 2018's A SIMPLE FAVOR, directed by Paul Feig and starring Anna Kendrick and Blake Lively. It's a twisty plot with a very complicated yet fascinating look at female companionship - plus it's just a feast for the eyes and hilarious to boot! Then things get even crazier when we dive into the second movie, BARB AND STAR GO TO VISTA DEL MAR from 2021! There's a lot of laughter as we try to talk seriously through the plot of this zany (but super sweet) movie starring Kristen Wiig and Annie Mumolo. We've got fun cameos, Kristen Wiig in a dual role, talking crabs... really, what DOESN'T this movie have?! We hope you enjoy the discussion and laugh along with us!

Follow us on social media:

Movies For Life podcast: @MovieLifePod

Brian Keiper: @Brianwaves42

Michele Eggen: @micheleeggen

End of the World: NIGHT OF THE COMET and LAST NIGHT

Are you prepared for the end of the world?! Well, on today's episode of Movies for Life, we bring you two ways that situation can be handled... at least in the movies. First up is Michele's choice of 1984's NIGHT OF THE COMET, a strangely eerie apocalyptic tale with two of the best horror heroines that the genre has seen. Then it's on to Brian's movie pick with LAST NIGHT from 1998. It's a deeper, more character-driven, and more contemplative look at the end of the world (as we know it) - and it also stars David Cronenberg!

Follow us on the social medias:

Movies for Life podcast: @MovieLifePod

Brian Keiper: @Brianwaves42

Michele Eggen: @micheleeggen

Friends’ Forever Favorites: ROCKY with Mike Snoonian

We are joined by Mike Snoonian of The Pod and the Pendulum and Psychoanalysis podcasts to discussed one of the most beloved movies of all time, Rocky. We discuss our history with the film and series, background about its making, the characters, iconic moments, and top it all off with our personal rankings of the franchise. It's an episode that's sure to make you want to guzzle down raw eggs, run up stairs three at a time, and do one armed pushups by the hundreds. This episode eats lightning and craps thunder!

Follow the guest, hosts, and show online

Movies for Life on Twitter and Instagram: @movielifepod

Mike Snoonian on Twitter and Instagram: @mike_snoonian

Michele Eggan on Instagram: @micheleeggen

Brian Keiper on Twitter and Instagram: @Brianwaves42