A baby boomer and a millennial sit down together to review old and new movies on a show called “The Reel Generation Gap.”
Fred Sottile, the baby boomer, is a professional musician, mechanic, generational financial planner, and business manager. Rudy Ruiz, the millennial, is a filmmaker with a background in cinematography and editing.
“We bring two unique and interesting perspectives, we have fun, but the reviews are serious,” said Sottile. “My personal goal is to turn, especially young people, on to movies that no one else in their lives ever would.”
The show is filmed at The Epoch Times Studio in El Monte, California. The show can be found on YouTube, and some episodes are available on California Insider.
The movies the duo have reviewed include “Gladiator” (2000), “Gladiator II” (2024), “Conclave” (a 2024 mystery thriller), “They Live” (a 1988 science fiction horror film written and directed by John Carpenter), “The Third Man” (a 1949 movie starring Orson Welles), and “Line in the Sand” (a 2024 documentary by James O’Keefe).
Sottile, a father of seven, brings a philosophical perspective to the show. He has published seven books and studied law, religion, philosophy, and stoicism extensively, being a fan of Marcus Aurelius.
“This is a large part of the strength of the show; philosophical perspectives alone are unique in today’s highly socially guarded environment,” said Sottile.
He said modern society is very stifled philosophically, with attacks on free speech.
Courtesy of ‘The Reel Generation Gap’
Ruiz has worked on sets for feature films, music videos, short films, and other projects as a production assistant, camera operator, assistant camera, and cinematographer.
With on-set experience, Ruiz brings a technical and creative perspective to the reviews, bringing to light some things that average audiences don’t usually notice.
“When I watch a movie I’m paying attention to writing choices and directing choices, shot choices, lens choices, camera movement, color palette, and how all of that comes together to convey information or provoke an emotional response,” he said. “I try my best to keep those thoughts suppressed until I can see a movie more than once, but it’s very difficult to do that once you know how the sausage is made.”
Ruiz also studies film history and film reviews from critics both past and contemporary.
“I watch a lot of old ‘Siskel and Ebert’ episodes, and I’ll read Roger Ebert’s website from time to time to compare my thoughts with his and see how he articulates his feelings in his reviews,” he said. “I’ve recently begun to read Pauline Kael’s reviews as well.”
Ruiz said he makes it a point to watch movies in the theater as often as possible, especially older films that he hasn’t seen before.
“I grew up watching cinema from other countries and not just America, so I have a wide range of films to pull from,” he said. “Most reviewers don’t watch older films or foreign films, so they don’t appreciate or understand that most of what they watch has been done before or is heavily influenced by films from the past.”
He said he likes all types of movies but is more drawn to horror and drama. Some of his favorite movies are “Blood In, Blood Out” (1993), “Taxi Driver” (1976), “Night of the Living Dead” (1968), “The Wild Bunch” (1969), and “Strange Darling” (2024).
As for Sottile, he said he doesn’t care who the director is while viewing a film; he’s into the magic of the movie. He likes to immerse himself in the story and the characters.
“When I see them, I really get taken in,” he said.
Watching the movie “Rocky,” he said he likes to think that Sylvester Stallone is a real boxer; while watching old westerns is like watching the real old west.
Courtesy of ‘The Reel Generation Gap’
“I really enjoy that,” he said.
Ruiz said each scene should move the plot forward and not get stagnant, and if the movie has some sort of message it should be delivered in a creative way using the visual medium of film to get the point across; the movie should not preach or lecture the audience.
He added that each scene, character, color, shot choice, etc., should work to tell the story in the best way possible rather than exist just because it “looks cool.”
Ruiz also noted that being in the correct mindset to just enjoy the movie is also important.
Ruiz said that he grew up on the cusp of when the internet and cell phones became normal, and he leans toward the older generation in his way of thinking.
Sottile said the two of them “see eye to eye most of the time but have different levels of sense of humor and sometimes patience.”
There have been two previous co-hosts for the show, and Ruiz is the third.
“Since I’ve taken over as co-host, I think we’ve seen eye to eye more often than not because I’ve always had a steady diet of older films in my repertoire that previous hosts didn’t have,” said Ruiz.
Sottile said the show demonstrates that the generations are not that far apart, and creating categories and grouping people into them is an intellectual failure born of a political agenda.
Ruiz, who shoots and directs his own short films, also produces and hosts the podcast “Drinks and a Movie,” in which he reviews spirits and movies with different co-hosts. These co-hosts include friends, other podcasters, and industry professional guests such as gaffers, cinematographers, TV/film directors, special effects artists, and university professors.
