"The Movie Guy" With Tim Reid and Debbie Rochon

Two views of Debbie Rochon and Tim Reid, hosts of "The Movie Guy".

The following was a review originally written about "The Movie Guy: Tim Reid and Debbie Rochon". Sadly, the show, along with all weekend programming, has been terminated by eyada.com, due to financial considerations. The review that follows was posted while the show was, obviously, still on the air. Links to the page have been removed to avoid future confusion by people who don't read notices such as this one.

To most B-Movie fans out there, it isn’t exactly earth-shattering news that indie diva Debbie Rochon co-hosts a streaming audio show dedicated to the world of low-budget movies on eyada.com on Saturday and Sunday nights at 8pm Eastern Standard Time. For those out there who were not aware of this fact… well, now you are, and if you continue to mis it, you have no one to blame but yourself.

“The Movie Guy” refers to host Tim Reid, who invited Debbie to co-host the show two years ago, and together they interview celebrities great and small in the film community. Recent guests have included Joe Berlinger (Blair Witch 2: Book of Shadows, the immensely superior Paradise Lost), the Chiodo Brother (Killer Klowns from Outer Space), Mike Raso (Seduction Cinema co-founder and producer of The Erotic Survivor), and Chaim Bianco (Split). Those with super-duper computers can listen to these shows accompanied by streaming visual media, which include webcams from inside the studio and low-res streams of horror movie clips.

Tim and Debbie have a good rapport with each other, and play off the other very well, making for quite the entertaining show. At first listen, it would seem that Reid has fallen into the trap of most DJs (i.e., finding himself more interesting to listen to than the guests), but that is merely a result of his hyper-active personality. Reid is a film geek of the utmost order, and that, of course, is a compliment in this day and age. It’s nice to listen to interviews conducted by people who are just as excited to be talking to the guests as the audience would be. Tim and Debbie are both movie fans, and this love definitely comes across during their shows and the interviews. Another refreshing change from the “been there/done that” apathy that has become the standard in talk radio.

Of the two, Debbie comes off as the more reserved of the pair (which makes it all the more entertaining when her enthusiasm for a certain guest bubbles forth), and is often overshadowed on the show by the more perspicacious Reid. This is not to say that he shouts her down; quite the contrary, the respect the two hosts have for each other is just as evident as their love of movies. Another nice change from the norm.

The show also boasts a live online chat moderated by Debbie, in which listeners can post their opinions as the show plays, and Debbie reads many of these messages right on the air. This gives “The Movie Guy” an added sense of intimacy and interaction.

If any fault can be found, it is with the limitations of the medium. The technology of streaming media is still in its infancy, and still falls victim to hollow audio, net congestion interrupting the flow of the show, and other technical "glitches". If these can be overlooked, then a good time can be adequately had by most.

All in all, “The Movie Guy” is a show for everyone who loves movies. Even those with only a passing interest in indie or genre films are advised to give the show a try. This is easily done as at least a week’s worth of shows are archived on the eyada.com website. Drop on by. You won’t be disappointed. (And if, incredibly, you are, then the fault obviously lies with you and you should look into becoming a professionally-employed speedbump, for that’s all you’re good for, you humorless stick of wood!)*