Reel Roundtable – Ep. 5: Reel Roundtable's First Guest
We grill fellow film student and sound design expert Jacob on how audio shapes cinema across genres—probing blockbuster booms, indie silences, and everything in-between. From "sound mistakes in major releases" to "upgrading classics with Dolby Atmos," we hit targeted questions of deep conversational flow. Game: Pitch your own movie ideas.

Join the conversation:

Tell us your all time favorite sound moments in movies and why you love them so much.

Next Episode
In Episode 6, we sit down to rank some of the weirdest characters that cinema has even given us. Prepare for some more heated moments, of which you may actually physically see...

Support the show

How to Support the Show
Follow, Rate & Review:
If you liked the episode, a quick rating or one‑sentence review helps a ton.

Our socials:

Instagram / TikTok: @reelroundtablepodcast

And you can find us individual members here:

Erick Marmolejo: @erickmarshmallow

Dean Vais: @deanvais3000

Ethan Stafford: @ethan_stafford4321

Reel Roundtable – Ep. 4: Discussing our favorite Directors

We pit three visionary directors against each other: Ridley Scott’s epic world-building, Edgar Wright’s kinetic pop-culture mashups, and Stanley Kubrick’s icy perfectionism. Lightning game: Name a director's filmography.

Main Movies mentioned:

Alien (1979)

Exodus: Gods and Kings (2014)

Shaun of the Dead (2004)

Last Night in Soho (2023)

The Running Man (2025)

2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)

Barry Lyndon (1975)

Paths of Glory (1957)

Join the conversation:

Tell us your all time favorite directors and why you love them so much.

Next Episode
In Episode 5, we sit down to talk with our first guest on the podcast, a fellow film student and friend of the podcast who specializes in sound.

Support the show

How to Support the Show
Follow, Rate & Review:
If you liked the episode, a quick rating or one‑sentence review helps a ton.

Our socials:

Instagram / TikTok: @reelroundtablepodcast

And you can find us individual members here:

Erick Marmolejo: @erickmarshmallow

Dean Vais: @deanvais3000

Ethan Stafford: @ethan_stafford4321

Reel Roundtable – Ep. 3: Giving our Hot Takes

We share our juicest film hot takes and determine which of us has the most baffling ones to share.

Main movies mentioned:

Rocky III (1982)

Eternals (2021)

Citizen Kane (1941)

Halloween III (1982)

Avatar (2009)

Joker: Folie à Deux (2024)

Join the conversation:

Tell us your all time juiciest hot takes.

Next Episode
In Episode 4, we each discuss a prominent film director and what we consider to be both their best and worst film. You can also share your all-time favorite directors on our socials.

Support the show

How to Support the Show
Follow, Rate & Review:
If you liked the episode, a quick rating or one‑sentence review helps a ton.

Our socials:

Instagram / TikTok: @reelroundtablepodcast

And you can find us individual members here:

Erick Marmolejo: @erickmarshmallow

Dean Vais: @deanvais3000

Ethan Stafford: @ethan_stafford4321

Reel Roundtable – Ep. 2: Dissecting our Favorite Movies

We reveal Oscar prediction scores (bragging rights winner + social penalty loser), share what hooked us into film, then deep-dive into some of our all-time favorite movies. Lightning game: Guess the movie from Letterboxd taglines.

Main Movies mentioned:

Back to the Future (1985)

Garden State (2004)

Whiplash (2014)

Join the conversation:

Tell us your all time favorite movies and why you love them so much.

Next Episode
In Episode 3, we each bring our juiciest film hot takes to the table. We’ll dig into why we think them and most likely get heated a little along the way. You can also share your all-time craziest movie hot takes on our socials.

Support the show

How to Support the Show
Follow, Rate & Review:
If you liked the episode, a quick rating or one‑sentence review helps a ton.

Our socials:

Instagram / TikTok: @reelroundtablepodcast

And you can find us individual members here:

Erick Marmolejo: @erickmarshmallow

Dean Vais: @deanvais3000

Ethan Stafford: @ethan_stafford4321

Reel Roundtable – Ep. 1: Oscar Crystal Ball (2026 Awards Predictions)

Welcome to the very first episode of Reel Roundtable, where three film-obsessed college students—a Film Theory major, and two Film Production majors—sit down to argue about the movies that everyone’s talking about (and a few they aren’t).

In this debut episode, we crack open the 2026 Oscars race, walk through our ballots, and make a case for which film actually deserves the night’s biggest prize. Lightning Game: Guess the movie from Letterboxd reviews.

Main Movies Mentioned
Oscar race focus:

Hamnet (2025)

Sinners (2025)

One Battle After Another (2025)

Other films referenced in passing:

Recent awards contenders, festival favorites, and a few chaos‑pick shoutouts from our “favorite movie of the week” segment.

Join the conversation:

Tell us your “will win vs should win” picks for Best Picture.

Next Episode
In Episode 2, we step away from awards season and each bring one all‑time favorite movie to the table. We’ll dig into why those films made us fall in love with cinema in the first place—and probably roast each other’s taste a little along the way. You can also share your all-time favorite movies on our socials.

Letterboxd's 2026 Oscars Ballot: file:///C:/Users/User/Downloads/letterboxd-2026-oscars-ballot.pdf

Support the show

How to Support the Show
Follow, Rate & Review:
If you liked the episode, a quick rating or one‑sentence review helps a ton.

Our socials:

Instagram / TikTok: @reelroundtablepodcast

And you can find us individual members here:

Erick Marmolejo: @erickmarshmallow

Dean Vais: @deanvais3000

Ethan Stafford: @ethan_stafford4321

Reel Roundtable is a show where we explore cinema. We'll look at different movies, genres, and topics in our own respective lenses and experiences. It's a show that will give movie-lovers something new to think about. You can follow the podcast on Instagram and TikTok @reelroundtablepodcast and follow our individual Instagrams @erickmarshmallow, @deanvais3000, and @ethan_stafford4321.

Support the show

How to Support the Show
Follow, Rate & Review:
If you liked the episode, a quick rating or one‑sentence review helps a ton.

Our socials:

Instagram / TikTok: @reelroundtablepodcast

And you can find us individual members here:

Erick Marmolejo: @erickmarshmallow

Dean Vais: @deanvais3000

Ethan Stafford: @ethan_stafford4321