PODCAST · tv
The Kick
by Chance Solem-Pfeifer
Go on a themed movie kick with host Chance Solem-Pfeifer. We're currently on Kick #6 ... "Vampires of America." It all leads up to Ryan Coogler's "Sinners."
Episodes
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'After Hours' with Noah Ballard | Homers & Roamers
We wrap our “Odyssey” series on an endless SoHo night. It turns out Martin Scorsese’s “After Hours” works wonderfully as an unofficial "Odyssey" adaptation, and we have precisely the guest to speak to New York City’s sense of cosmic justice. Noah Ballard is back to talk Scorsese’s ‘80s comeback,...
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'The Return' with Tim Lundy | Homers & Roamers
Two short years ago, another adaptation of “The Odyssey” hit movie theaters. This one cast a jacked Ralph Fiennes and mysterious Juliette Binoche as Odysseus and Penelope, chronicling only the “back on Ithaca” conclusion of the epic poem. My lifelong friend Tim Lundy is here to review “The…
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'O Brother, Where Art Thou?' with Grace Solem-Pfeifer | Homers & Roamers
In true "Odyssey" fashion, we're adding a few more stops to this Homeric kick. Today, it's the Coen Brothers' 2000 adaptation of "The Odyssey" — a banjo-picking romp full of scoundrels, sirens, and Depression-era commentary on the battle between newness and nostalgia. My sister Grace is here to...
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'The Odyssey' with Bennett Campbell Ferguson | Homers & Roamers
They said I’d never make it back, but they were wrong. Chance ends an extended paternity leave to explore the biggest movie in the world — Christopher Nolan’s “The Odyssey.” We’ve got Ben Campbell Ferguson (Fools Who Dream) with us to answer some pressing questions. Is this Nolan’s “Spielberg in...
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'The Lost Boys' with Noah Ballard | Vampires of America
Our “Vampires of America” kick has one last burning question—what if vampires were teen fashion icons? "The Lost Boys" (1987) gives us a vampire corruption tale that mixes post-hippie paranoia with a dash of "The Goonies," Peter Pan, music video sheen, and the costume-conscious filmmaker who…
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'Sinners' with Bennett Campbell Ferguson | Vampires of America
I’ll put it this way — “Sinners” has everything you could want as the centerpiece of a “Vampires of America” podcast series. Tommy guns, blues guitars, two Michael B. Jordans, vampires as jig-dancing cult leaders, and visually entrancing commentary on folk art and oppression. Bennett Campbell...
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'Near Dark' with Sarah Welch-Larson | Vampires of America
Brimming with vicious bloodletting, neon beer signs, and Bill Paxton hootin’ and hollerin’, “Near Dark” might be the high watermark for vampire Westerns. I’m elated to have film critic and author Sarah Welch-Larson (Bright Wall/Dark Room) on the pod this week. She’s a “Near Dark” turbofan, with…
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'Ganja & Hess' with Lea Anderson | Vampires of America
Forget the vampire tropes this week; let’s hallucinate and appreciate. Horror scholar Lea Anderson (Fangoria, Shudder) is here to look deep into 1973’s "Ganja & Hess" (and honestly, help me understand it). This beguiling Black vampire story stars Marlene Clark and Duane Jones as a pair of cursed,...
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'Blacula' with Odie Henderson | Vampires of America
Today, this “Vampires of America” kick lifts the coffin lid on the Blaxploitation era and 1972’s "Blacula." I’m thrilled to be joined by Odie Henderson, author of “Black Caesars and Foxy Cleopatras” and film critic for The Boston Globe. We analyze William Marshall’s Shakespearean performance as...
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'Fright Night' with Susan Tomorrow | Vampires of America
I'm not breaking news by saying that seduction often factors into vampire movies. But has it ever been done better than by Chris Sarandon in "Fright Night" (1985)? This horror-comedy toys with suburban paranoia by casting the vampire as the debonair stranger next door and drinking in his charisma...
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'From Dusk Till Dawn' with Matthew Jackson | Vampires of America
Awaken, my friends. We’re on a stateside vampirism kick—no Transylvanian castles allowed. This run begins south of the border with “From Dusk Till Dawn” (1996) a horror-action romp that begs the question, what if pistol-toting outlaws stumbled into a biker bar run by the undead? Matthew Jackson...
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'Furiosa' with Ian Berry | 2024 Passion Projects
We close out Year 1 of this podcast with my favorite movie of 2024. Luckily, Ian Berry (artist, programmer, trivia host, and all-around Astoria film hero) is even more into "Furiosa" than I am. We talk about what it means to have Chris Hemsworth's villain almost steal the show, why the Mad Max...
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'The Substance' with Alex Barr | 2024 Passion Projects
You can't tell the story of a movie year without the indie shockwave. In 2024, that breakout hit was "The Substance"—the body horror firehose that drowned audiences in gooey viscera and provocations about "chasing the dragon of youth." That's how my guest Alex Barr puts it. She's here to talk...
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'My Old Ass' with Ray Gill Jr. | 2024 Passion Projects
Today's episode proved the point of this whole "2024 Passion Projects" exercise. Ray Gill Jr. (Portland Mercury, Willamette Week) nominated a movie I was maybe going get to? And it ended up a favorite of the year. In "My Old Ass," Maisy Stella and Aubrey Plaza play the same character at different...
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'Rebel Ridge' with Noah Ballard | 2024 Passion Projects
A strong contender for the year’s best action movie, "Rebel Ridge" is currently Noah Ballard’s favorite of 2024—bar none. On this episode of our year-end series, we dive into Aaron Pierre’s otherworldly calm, Don Johnson’s shit-eating grin, Jeremy Saulnier’s penchant for stomach-dropping bursts…
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'Sometimes I Think About Dying' with Bennett Campbell Ferguson | 2024 Passion Projects
We’re closing Year 1 of The Kick by asking guests to nominate a film from 2024 that they couldn’t stop thinking about. This first choice is right over the plate for me. Ben Campbell Ferguson returns to discuss “Sometimes I Think About Dying,” a sweet yet crushing character study set right here in...
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'Eyes Wide Shut' with John DiLillo | Grand Finales & Follies
You can't end a career with more enduring mystery than Stanley Kubrick's "Eyes Wide Shut." John DiLillo returns to explore how the film still reverberates (perhaps too conspiratorially) in the culture, the volumes it suggests about Tom Cruise, and why it's a movie about learning the hard way to...
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'Varda by Agnès' with Jennifer Jones and Laura Glazer | Grand Finales & Follies
"If all great filmmakers would make a documentary about their lives right before they died, wouldn't that be so handy?" Couldn't put it better than Jennifer Jones does in this episode. She and Laura Glazer are the co-founders of the Agnes Varda Forever project, and they're here to talk about…
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'Megalopolis' with Bennett Campbell Ferguson | Grand Finales & Follies
What is "Megalopolis" about? The 40-year dream of Francis Ford Coppola to make his opus? A reclusive inventor who holds the key to utopia? Deviant capitalism? Cyclical violence? Aubrey Plaza giving *the* comedic performance of 2024? Bennett Campbell Ferguson is here to talk about the vast...
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'Julie & Julia' with Erin Carlson | Grand Finales & Follies
Arguably the most influential rom-com voice in movie history, Nora Ephron ended her reign in 2009 with an ode to marriage, butter, and idealizing Paris. "Julie & Julia" is this week's career finale, and author Erin Carlson is here with anecdotes from both her Meryl Streep and Nora Ephron books,...
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'Horizon' with Noah Ballard | Grand Finales & Follies
In honor of "Megalopolis," we begin a new series on great filmmakers' last big swings. Today, it's Kevin Costner's all-in bet on himself, as he rewrites the frontier myth once again. Noah Ballard (Verve) is here to talk "Horizon: An American Saga - Chapter 1," its baffling number of plot lines,...
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'The Bikeriders' with Bennett Campbell Ferguson | Motorcycle Rebels
End of the road for this kick, gang. And fittingly enough "The Bikeriders" (2024) is all about how nothing lasts. But it's also about a lot of actors—Tom Hardy, Jodie Comer, Austin Butler, Michael Shannon, and 15 more—bringing wildly different acting styles to the table in this requiem for a...
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'Ghost Rider' with Noah Ballard | Motorcycle Rebels
Nic Cage brings the boys back together for a weekend of Ghost Rider. In search of the motorcycle rebel's most demonic representation, we watched “Ghost Rider” (2007) and “Ghost Rider: The Spirit of Vengeance” (2011). What did we find? Floating skulls, hot chains, performances stuck between a Cage...
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'Rumble Fish' with Ray Gill Jr. | Motorcycle Rebels
“The Motorcycle Boy Reigns” as our kick arrives at “Rumble Fish” (1983). It’s not set on the highway, but perhaps no movie in this series uses the idea of the motorcycle rebel to such cool, elusive effect as Francis Ford Coppola’s dreamlike crime drama, starring a young Mickey Rourke. Ray Gill…
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'Easy Rider' with The Bear | Motorcycle Rebels
I've said from the beginning that this podcast represents freedom—specifically the freedom to beg far-flung thinkers to talk about canonical movies. This week, our Motorcycle Rebel kick arrives at "Easy Rider" (1969), and motorcycle bard / journalist J. Peter Thoeming, aka THE BEAR, is on the…
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'The Wild One' with Burt Kearns | Motorcycle Rebels
Let's start the engines on a new kick! Now through the end of June (when "The Bikeriders" hit theaters), we're tracing the archetype of the motorcycle rebel. Most historians agree the first biker picture was "The Wild One" (1953) starring an iconically moody and leather-clad Marlon Brando. Today,...
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'Challengers' with Alex Barr | Sports Romances
It's match point of our sports-romance kick and hooooo, baby. "Challengers" is here, and we've got writer Alex Barr on the program to discuss this year’s sweatiest, hungriest, horniest movie. We talk tennis as sex, sex as tennis, the movie's use of food, unexplained bruises, a different side of...
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'Point Break' with Bennett Campbell Ferguson | Sports Romances
A cop and robber touch souls—and bods while skydiving at 120 mph—on the penultimate episode of our sports-romance kick. It's "Point Break" week, baby. Bennett Campbell Ferguson is here to dig into everyone's favorite surfing-skydiving-beach football spectacular. We break down good vs. goofy…
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'Bend It Like Beckham' with Jessie Tu | Sports Romances
This week, dreams of soccer stardom clash with a host of familial and cultural expectations. Writer Jessie Tu (Women’s Agenda, “The Honeyeater”) is here to break down how "Bend It Like Beckham" (2002) changed the culture, showcased heartfelt father-daughter relationships, and everything happening...
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'Blue Crush' with Emma Specter | Sports Romances
Tie the boards to the ‘61 Chevy, and let's take this sports-romance series into the waves! Writer Emma Specter (Vogue) is here to discuss why "Blue Crush" is the ultimate women’s sports "sleepover movie." We also get into the power of Michelle Rodriguez on a jet ski, a healthy fear of the ocean,...
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'Love & Basketball' with Jordan Robinson | Sports Romances
Four quarters, two players, one game for your heart. No movie in this sports-romance series creates team chemistry between the "sports" and "romance" like LOVE & BASKETBALL. The fantastic Jordan Robinson (Queens of the Court) joins the program to discuss the movie's on-court realism, athlete...
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'Wimbledon' with Noah Ballard | Sports Romances
What if a washed-up tennis journeyman (Paul Bettany) and a rising phenom (Kirsten Dunst) made a pact to hook up before every round of Wimbledon? That's a big swing from this 2004 rom-com, but how's its follow-through? Noah Ballard (Verve) joins our sports-romance kick to analyze the darker movie…
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'The Cutting Edge' with Emily L. Newman | Sports Romances
She's a pairs figure skater who keeps rejecting partners; he's a washed-up hockey player. Can they win gold by falling in love and performing an unthinkable maneuver? With a setup like that, "The Cutting Edge" (1992) is the perfect launchpad for our Sports Romances kick. Emily L. Newman (Texas…
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'Dune: Part Two' with Bennett Campbell Ferguson
At last, we've arrived at our first kick's climactic question: Is "Dune: Part Two" a superior sequel? Bennett Campbell Ferguson (Willamette Week) is here to answer emphatically. We talk sandworm setpieces, Chalamet's gravitas or lack thereof, and this sequel's complex relationship to fate and...
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'Doctor Sleep' with Molly Henery
Heeeere's Danny! On the penultimate episode of our "Superior Sequels" kick, horror specialist Molly Henery nominates "Doctor Sleep," the 2019 sequel to "The Shining." A bold take? Perhaps! But Stephen King certainly agrees, and Molly goes deep on the film's sweeping character development and…
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'House II: The Second Story' with Susan Tomorrow
“Like a kids’ movie for adults,” Susan Tomorrow describes the joyful anarchy of "House II: The Second Story." For her Superior Sequel, the Clinton Street Theater programmer and co-owner nominates this 1987 horror-comedy where any dimension, genre, or plot U-turn is possible in the next room over....
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'The Bourne Supremacy' with Bennett Campbell Ferguson
Sometimes, "superior sequel" status is declared right in the movie's title. This week, Bennett Campbell Ferguson is here to nominate "The Bourne Supremacy" (2004) for its frenetic action, underrated love story, and Matt Damon's cargo shorts. We also break down Greengrass vs. Liman, sing the…
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'Home Alone 2: Lost In New York' with Noah Ballard
Some folks think "Home Alone 2" is just the same movie again (and they're right). But to others, it's an "obscene artifact"—and a superior sequel at that. On today's show, old friend and literary agent extraordinaire Noah Ballard makes his case for why Kevin McCallister's Christmas déjà vu…
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'Avatar: The Way of Water' with John DiLillo
You hear that? ... Is it Eywa's heartbeat? Or the birth of a new podcast? Today, we start our first-ever kick with "Avatar: The Way of Water" (2022). It's a sequel with twice the cast, twice the mo-cap, and twice the reasons for Jim Cameron never to doubt himself. Fantastic writer (and some would...
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Introducing... 'The Kick'
Starting next week in this feed, you'll get the first episodes of "The Kick," a new movie podcast from Chance Solem-Pfeifer. The pod will unfold in themed miniseries, the first of which is "Superior Sequels." For 6 weeks, guests will nominate and celebrate sequels they prefer to the original…
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Dolly de Leon on Her Life-Changing 'Triangle of Sadness' Performance (Be Reel archive)
It's rare for a journey-woman actor to suddenly garner an international spotlight in her 50s, but equally rare to grab a film by the horns the way Dolly de Leon does in "Triangle of Sadness." The Golden Globe-nominated de Leon swung by the podcast to talk about crafting character backstory that...
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Bye Bye, Barbarians (Be Reel archive)
After nearly 8 years, dear listeners, 'Be Reel' is riding off into the sunset. But not before we talk about one of the year's most intriguing horror films (and maybe films, period)—"Barbarian." If basements and plot twists aren't your thing, you can skip to 37:28 to hear a retrospective game/quiz...
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Man vs. Alaska (Be Reel archive)
Man versus beast movies often make for electric Hollywood skirmishes, but Alaskan settings heighten the conflict even further. On today's Be Reel, Chance and Noah discuss "The Edge," "The Grey" and "Hold The Dark"—a trio of films about how outsiders to The Last Frontier find their lives (and...
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David Fincher's Serial Killers (Be Reel archive)
One of Hollywood’s foremost chroniclers of obsession and a legendary obsessive himself, David Fincher has made serial killers and their pursuers central to his career in films like “Se7en” (1995), “Zodiac” (2007) and “The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo” (2011). Ahead of Fincher's 60th birthday, Be...
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Wes Studi and Dale Dickey on Acting Bucket Lists, Typecasting and 'A Love Song' (Be Reel archive)
In a rare treat, two unmistakable character actors join the pod: Wes Studi and Dale Dickey. If you don't know their names, you certainly know their indelible faces from movies like "The Last of the Mohicans" and "Winter's Bone." They star together in the tender, dusty new romance film, "A Love...
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Work Spouses (Be Reel archive)
When your job is your life, a work spouse is there with a listening ear, comforting rapport, and maybe even soup--at least when that work marriage is functioning platonically and properly. On today's episode, Noah's work spouse, Elise, joins the program to break down what "Broadcast News" (1987),...
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'Apples' Director Christos Nikou on Memory, 'The Truman Show' and Yorgos Lanthimos | Ep. 216
The acclaimed new Greek film "Apples" imagines a world in the grips of an amnesia epidemic. Director Christos Nikou swings by the pod to remember the origins of his debut feature, as well as what he learned from working with Yorgos Lanthimos on "Dogtooth."
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Magic Mikes | Ep. 215
For the 10th anniversary of “Magic Mike,” we make it rain critical reflection on Channing Tatum’s career-defining role and other standouts of the male stripper sub-genre like “The Full Monty” (1997) and “Chocolate City” (2015). Suffice it to say, if this episode had a stage name, it would…
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'Brian and Charles' Director Jim Archer on Lovable, Rebellious Robots | Ep. 214
First director interview in a minute! Today we're talking to Jim Archer, who's made a new comedy called "Brian and Charles" about a kooky inventor (David Earl's Brian) who builds a 7-foot-tall robot (Chris Hayward's Charles) anxious to learn all it can about this world of ours. Jim discusses some...
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Fun With Nuns | Episode 213
Rap our knuckles and yank our ears if you must, but we watched three irreverent nun movies for today’s show. From the musical-comedy of “Sister Act” (1992) to the demonic possession of “The Nun” (2018) to the perverse wonderment of “Benedetta” (2021), these sisters play by their own rules in the...
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Frequently Asked Questions
How many episodes does The Kick have?
The Kick currently has 287 episodes available on PodParley. New episodes are automatically indexed when they're published to the podcast feed.
What is The Kick about?
Go on a themed movie kick with host Chance Solem-Pfeifer. We're currently on Kick #6 ... "Vampires of America." It all leads up to Ryan Coogler's "Sinners."
How often does The Kick release new episodes?
The Kick publishes regularly with 287 episodes available. Check the episode list for the typical release schedule.
Where can I listen to The Kick?
You can listen to The Kick on PodParley by clicking any episode. We provide an embedded audio player for direct listening, and you can also subscribe via your preferred podcast app using the RSS feed.
Who hosts The Kick?
The Kick is created and hosted by Chance Solem-Pfeifer.
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