Is This Reel Life? is a podcast which examines the real world implications of a myriad of films; it is run by two outspoken, liberal, atheist ladies who have some serious opinions to share.
Kristen is a talented videographer with a degree in film studies. Growing up in Louisiana as a trans woman was definitely not easy, but Kristen has allowed those experiences to formulate an excellent sense of humor and a brilliant perspective on the world around her.
Bethany has a degree in psychology and a background in film noir. A firebrand atheist and pansexual polyamorous woman from Kentucky, Bethany has a truly unique point of view.
We watch movies of all genres and attempt to reconcile Hollywood with the real world.
0 Available Episodes (37 Total)Average duration: 01:01:35
Jul 12, 2017
ITRL Temporary Hiatus
00:00:39
Hey Listeners! We're going on a hiatus for a little while. We're ok! Kristen needed some time for personal reasons.
Bethany, however, will be starting TWO NEW podcasts!!! One about atheism-related current events in historical context (@SheTalksAtheism) and another about true crime (@CrimeyWimeyStuff)! As well as a couple of other side projects - keep an eye on @BethanyLFutrell on Twitter for updates.
Jul 05, 2017
ITRL Episode 34 - Whodunit - Clue
01:14:47
WE LOVE CLUE. We know you do, too. Everyone loves Clue (1985). If you've never seen it by all means doooooo.
Joining us on this adventure is Jess Larsen, who lends her expertise to this new installment of our Whodunit series on murder mysteries.
It wasn't us; it was the one-armed man! For this installment of Whodunit, we're covering The Fugitive (1993). It's fun, it's fast, and it's got plenty of one-liners to keep you happy.
We adore murder mysteries, so for this series, we're doing Whodunit? which is basically that - mysteries. The first episode is on The Conversation (1974), which follows a wire tapper (on point at the moment) who has surveilled a conversation between a man and a woman and is really wracked with the feels about it.
Fair warning - nothing really happens for 39 minutes of the film.
For the final episode of our series on musicals covering La La Land (2016), we invited cinephile and owner of a spectacular laugh, Steve Kleumpers to help us break it down. Patrons will remember Steve from this month's Best of the Worst episode onBloodsport. (Steve really doesn't like musicals)
Spoiler Alert: This movie is really about a couple (Sebastian and Mia) who try but really can't make their relationship work in Hollywood because they both want to live their dreamsnow. They probably could've made it work, but one of them would have had to give up his dream temporarily (*cough cough* Sebastian). We also noticed that both of these main characters did stupid things that didn't make sense.
Today's episode covers the quintessential musicalRent(2005). We discuss the character flaws and the beautiful music, and we talk through the way this film makes us think about the world differently. Both Kristen and Bethany saw this movie when it came out, and there's some discussion about how Rent is vastly different when viewed during the optimism of youth versus the cynicism of adulthood.
These characters don't know how to adult. Everyone is a dick.
Rent is all about fighting AIDS in this bohemian community in the 1980s.
Today, we are still fighting HIV and AIDS, and the scientific community is advancing. If you had told us in 2005 when Rent was released that in 2017 we would be reviewing it on a podcast at the same time that scientists were working on a vaccine for HIV, it's possible we wouldn't have believed you.
Join Kristen and Bethany as they discuss Prince,Purple Rain(1984), and the upsetting themes in the film. The 80's were a time of montages and music, and we love that, even the big purple motorcycle. We don't really love domestic abuse; actually, we hate domestic abuse.
You guys know South Park, right? You know The Book of Mormon musical on Broadway? Surely you know Trey Parker and Matt Stone.
Did you know that Trey Parker made a musical while he was in college? It's described as a "black comedy horror musical film" and it's super low budget and crazy weird. The plot covers the story of Alferd Packer, who was accused of cannibalism while he and his party were headed to Breckenridge, Colorado in search of gold.
We hope you enjoy our review ofCannibal! The Musical(1993) - and have a shpadoinkle day!
Here we go again - my, my, how could we resistMamma Mia(2008)? This lovely flick was requested by our current top patron Meagan, who we have to thank for an excellent time discussing such a silly and fun movie.
Thanks, Meagan! We appreciate you giving us a good one!
ITRL Episode 25 - God's Not Dead 2 (Part 2) - Reloaded
02:21:14
We sincerely apologize for the software error which caused Andrew not to appear on part 2 when it was initially released and the issue with part 1 which made it appear that Bethany and Andrew were talking over each other. We are re-releasing part 2 today, and we hope you enjoy it.