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On this episode of ReelTalk, we’re kicking off a special two-part countdown of our picks for the Top 20 Christmas Movies.
If you’re looking for which Christmas movies to watch this month, hop in our sleigh for our picks for the Christmas movies you should make part of your season.
Now, this isn’t just a list of the usual suspects. Yes, the timeless classics are here: those films wrapped in tinsel, nostalgia, and enough sentiment to warm even Scrooge’s heart. But we’re also celebrating the nontraditional favorites—the offbeat, the genre-benders, the movies that may not be wrapped in red and green, but if you took Christmas out, the movie would cease to deliver the same experience—or at the very least, lose its magic. Whether the result is heartwarming, hilarious, haunting, or explosively nontraditional… it belongs here.
That’s the guiding principle for our lists: Christmas must be either a well-defined backdrop that shapes the world of the film, an integral driver of the plot, or the thematic heartbeat that gives meaning to the journey.
Because Christmas in cinema isn’t just about Santa and snow. It’s about human connection, second chances, generosity, redemption, chaos, catharsis, and sometimes… just sometimes… running barefoot across broken glass in a skyscraper. But we’ll get to that later.
Joining us for the merry countdown is a voice that is familiar to you—Brad from the Cinema Speak podcast!

On this episode of Sound Sessions, host Tom Hoots invites returning guest artists Jack and Jen back into the studio in support of the year-end WKGC fund drive--the first in ten years! Donate today at WKGC.org.

On this episode of ReelTalk, we are reviewing Wicked: For Good—the flashy, ambitious sequel that promised to defy gravity, but for many of us landed with a thud. And while the heart for the material is undeniably present—director Jon M. Chu’s affection radiates through nearly every frame—the execution is fraught with problems that prevent the film from casting the spell it so eagerly attempts.
It’s a movie overloaded with spectacle yet starved of narrative discipline, regrettably proving that sometimes a production can have all the right ingredients and still mix the potion incorrectly. On paper, this is a movie with everything: a beloved Broadway pedigree, vivid Ozian visuals, big names attached, and a fanbase expecting magic.
But, passion alone isn’t enough to carry a movie. What we got instead was spectacle without structure, heartbreak with hurried pacing, and ambition tangled in contradictions. The show stopping musical numbers never fail to impress—yet the movie struggles both emotionally and narratively.
My guest and I will talk pacing, plotting, legacy versus adaptation, and whether this movie—ordained to “defy gravity”—ever truly lifted off the Yellow Brick Road.

On this week's ReelTalk, host R.L. Terry invites returning guest film critic Sean Boelman to join him to celebrate the Clue 40th anniversary!
1985's CLUE is one of the most brilliantly bonkers comedies ever put to film. The all-star cinematic farce took a simple board game and spun it into a madcap symphony of wit, absurdity, and razor-sharp timing.
But CLUE wasn’t always the beloved cult classic it is today. In 1985, it was a box office flop. Audiences didn’t quite know what to do with a movie that offered three different endings—each shown in different theaters. A marketing gamble? Absolutely. Ahead of its time? Without question. But that creative swing, that willingness to break the rules, is part of what makes CLUE such a comedic treasure. It’s a movie built on the joy of surprise, the pleasure of misdirection, and the absolute commitment of a cast who understood that the only way through the chaos was to sprint full-speed into it.
And what a cast. This is an ensemble where every performer fires on all cylinders—Madeline Kahn, Tim Curry, Eileen Brennan, Michael McKean, Christopher Lloyd… the list goes on. These actors weren’t just funny; they were fearless. Their delivery is so airtight, so exquisitely timed, that the film still feels fresh forty years later.
Who could forget the Singing Telegram Girl’s abrupt entrance—and even more abrupt exit—or Madeline Kahn’s volcanic ad-lib, “Flames, fl–fl–flames… on the side of my face,” which remains one of the greatest comedic line deliveries in cinema history?!?
Forty years later, CLUE endures because it’s a rare combination of comedic precision, narrative playfulness, and sheer audacity. It knew exactly what it was, even if the box office didn’t.

On this week's Sound Sessions, host Tom Hoots invites the band Lucky Mud into the studio to play and talk about their careers and places where they will soon be performing. 

On this episode of ReelTalk, host R.L. Terry is joined by DJ Jax of WKGC's Morning Cast to dive into a film that proves not all magic tricks are created equal. In fact… some should’ve stayed in rehearsal.
The real magic of Now You See Me: Now You Don’t—and I say this with all sincerity—is how it made it past opening night.
Borrowing a line from Madeline Kahn in Clue, ‘he was an illusionist… he wasn’t a very good illusionist,’ and that sentiment fits this tertiary entry all too well.
What should’ve been a clever caper bursting with sleight of hand and misdirection instead plays like a streaming movie that wandered into the multiplex by accident.
Couple that with a plot more hole-ridden than a jury ignoring the obvious, stakes that vanish faster than a bad magician’s assistant, and social commentary delivered with all the nuance of a bumper sticker, and you have a film that desperately wants to dazzle but never flickers.
After the show today, perhaps you’ll decide for yourself whether or not this card trick flopped, whether or not this budding franchise might be running on fumes, or whether this movie should—like any failed illusion—simply disappear. Let’s get into it.
Since we ultimately have two generations of Horsemen in this movie, it makes sense to approach it from two generational perspectives. 
Enjoy!

On this episode of ReelTalk, host R.L. Terry is heading into the cinematic desert with Predator: Badlands—a movie that's the equivalent of a Let’s Play video (on YouTube) with bigger explosions. It's a movie that’s all flash and no feeling—like watching someone else have fun while you sit there wondering when it’s your turn to play.
But reviews have been both positive and negative, of which the negative reviews, appear to be the contrarians in the cinematic discourse.
Many critics and fans have found a lot to enjoy in this hyperkinetic Predator entry—the visuals, the sound design, and some even the stripped-down storytelling.
In R.L.'s opinion, Badlands is what happens when you try to “optimize engagement” instead of crafting a narrative, resulting in the film equivalent of clickbait dressed in billion-dollar armor.
But his guest, today, most likely has counterpoints to make, so get ready for a dynamic cinematic discourse.

On this week's ReelTalk, host R.L. Terry is joined by returning guest and friend of the show Paul Bonnette to celebrate the 40th anniversary of Back to the Future! 
Hard to believe that it’s been four decades since Marty McFly first jumped into that DeLorean, slammed it into gear, and blasted through time at 88 miles per hour.
Released in the summer of 1985, it wasn’t just a hit—it was lightning in a bottle. A film that blended science fiction, comedy, adventure, and heart in a way that felt effortless, even though every frame was perfectly calculated.
Robert Zemeckis and Bob Gale gave us more than a story about time travel. They gave us a story about identity, destiny, and the strange, sometimes awkward realization that our parents were once just as confused and hopeful as we are.
Back to the Future remains that rare blockbuster that never goes out of style—because it’s about what always matters: who we are, where we come from, and how far we’re willing to go to shape the future.
Forty years later, Back to the Future still feels alive—its humor sharp, its heart sincere, its imagination untamed. Maybe that’s the real trick of time travel: a great story doesn’t just take us back. It moves us forward, too.

On this episode of Sound Sessions, host Tom Hoots welcomes back singer-songwriter Tracy Mick into the studio to play live and talk about the growing live music scene along the Emerald Coast.

On this episode of ReelTalk, host film critic R.L. Terry invites returning guest film critic E.J. Moreno and first-time guest film critic Sean Boelman to countdown their picks for Top Ten Halloween Movies. 
Now, when we think “Halloween,” our minds go straight to horror—monsters, masked killers, things that go bump in the night. But the beauty of this season is that it’s so much more than blood and screams. Halloween is about atmosphere and iconography—crisp autumn nights, the glow of a jack-o’-lantern, that electric sense of magic in the air. And yes, sometimes that magic comes in the form of a iconic slasher, but it can also be found in a trio of mischievous witches or even a certain pumpkin king.
And, we’re not just counting down the scariest films—we’re celebrating the spirit of Halloween. From gothic classics and supernatural thrillers to nostalgic family favorites, these are the movies that capture the trick, the treat, and everything in between.
So grab your candy corn, dim the lights, and get ready because we are going on a cinematic journey through haunted houses, enchanted forests, and maybe even a dance with death itself.