Movie Madness
Episode 605: Seeking A Song For The End Of The World
Erik Childress and Steve Prokopy have another 11 reviews for you this week. It starts all the way back at last year’s Toronto Film Festival with Crispin Glover finding no way out of a mysterious hotel (Mr. K). Justin Lin adapts the true story of a young missionary and a lost tribe (Last Days). A ‘90s thriller gets updated (The Hand That Rocks The Cradle), an imaginary demon terrorizes people (Shelby Oaks) and zombies go after drag queens (Queens of the Dead). Kelly Reichardt tells the story of the man behind a ‘70s art heist (The Mastermind) and Richard Linklater returns with Ethan Hawke on a notable night for a songwriting legend (Blue Moon). Jesse Plemons kidnaps Emma Stone in the latest from Yorgo Lanthimos and Kathryn Bigelow returns after eight years to put us on the brink of WWIII (A House of Dynamite). The author of It Ends With Us gets her latest melodramatic adaptation (Regretting You) while The Boss finally gets a crucial part of his journey told (Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere)
Episode 604: Please William, Don’t Hurt ‘Em
This week in physical media with Erik Childress and Peter Sobczynski there is a whole lot of murder. Viggo Mortensen kills a bunch, Mia Goth gets in on the action, Yancy Butler does some drownings, Klaus Kinski does some biting, Brian Benben tries to solve some and Michael Biehn attempts to defend them. It’s also still the month of horror and even though a double bill of Cronenberg doesn’t exactly fit entirely, there is still plenty to be found for your October fill.
Episode 603: Stop Grabbing People!
Erik Childress and Steve Prokopy have seven reviews for you this week. They include a pair of the best films from Sundance this year – the harrowing documentary of the worst woman next door (The Perfect Neighbor) and the equally harrowing tale of motherhood anxiety with the great Rose Byrne (If I Had Legs I’d Kick You). One of the greatest to ever do it gets a five-part documentary on Apple TV (Mr. Scorsese). Guillermo Del Toro finally makes the film his entire career has been building towards (Frankenstein). Aziz Ansari swaps lives with Seth Rogen thanks to angel Keanu Reeves (Good Fortune). Julia Roberts gets caught in the middle of collegiate accusations (After The Hunt) and Ethan Hawke returns in your dreams as The Grabber (Black Phone 2).
Episode 602: I’m Afraid You’re Just Too Scary. Not You, Rob.
It’s another packed week in October for physical media, especially on the horror side. But Erik Childress and Peter Sobczynski also serve up some Jean-Paul Belmondo, Alain Delon and Larry David for you. But yes, horror, of course. This week you have Hammer horror from Frankenstein to anthologies, Adrian Lyne’s hell on Earth with Tim Robbins and Georges Franju’s classic tale of facial reconstruction. Also if you must there is a double feature presented by Joe Bob Briggs as well as films by Rob Zombie and Eli Roth. It’s all leading up to a trilogy for everyone as Erik talks about his favorite movie of all-time and why it remains so to this day.
Episode 601: End Of Line. For So Much.
Another October week and another ten movie reviews for you from Erik Childress and Steve Prokopy. They look a new rom-com with the star of the recent Strangers films (Maintenance Required) and a new Dakota Fanning horror film from the director of the original Strangers (Vicious). They go back a couple Sundances for a father/daughter story amidst the AIDS crisis (Fairyland), the same era that gave us the inspiration for a new ‘80s remake (Deathstalker). On the documentary front after Raoul Peck scares you into where our country is today (Orwell: 2+2=5) you can curl up with a film about a comic legend (John Candy: I Like Me). Jennifer Lopez takes center stage in a musical version of an Oscar winner (Kiss of the Spider Woman) while Keira Knightley tries to solve a mystery on a yacht (The Woman In Cabin 10). Finally, Channing Tatum is a criminal on the lam in a Toys ‘R’ Us (Roofman) and we go back to the world of the grid, this time with Jared Leto (Tron: Ares)
Episode 600: Welcome To Silverado. Not You, Bob.
This week in physical media with Erik Childress and Peter Sobczynski features films for its rabid fanbases as well as a string of live-action big screen failures and Schwarzenegger battling for the devil. Jennifer Lopez tries to get an Oscar and the world is introduced to Mario Bava. Westerns got a bit of a revival 40 years ago and this week features an upgrade to the best of them as well as Sam Raimi’s attempt ten years later to try to have his own fun with the genre. There is an incredible Peanuts set for all ages and a bookend that includes David Lynch’s derided and reappraised big-screen prequel to his legendary TV show and the film that has been bringing together audiences for 50 years.
Episode 599: Bizarro Speed And The Not-So-Raging-Bull
It is a packed week of reviews on the show with Erik Childress and Steve Prokopy, an even dozen in fact. They include one of the best documentaries of the year (Predators) and a film as bad as The Substance is good (Shell). Steve looks at Daniel Day-Lewis’ return to the big screen (Anemone) while Erik looks at a charming family film about competitive pumpkin gardening (Grow). It’s also October so that must mean horror. So there’s another terror-filled tale about double-booking (Bone Lake) as well as the family that must barricade at home for the terror outside (Coyotes). There’s a scary film from the POV of a canine (Good Boy) and another in the long-running anthology series (V/H/S Halloween). Cillian Murphy works at a home for trouble youth (Steve) and Matthew McConaughey tries to save children from one of the worst wildfires in history (The Lost Bus). Mark Wahlberg takes on a character played by the likes of Lee Marvin, Mel Gibson and Jason Statham in the latest from Shane Black (Play Dirty) and Wahlberg’s Pain and Gain co-star, Dwayne Johnson, plays one of the early stars of MMA fighting (The Smashing Machine).
Episode 598: The Good, The Bad, And The Box Sets
Collections are the thing in this week’s look at physical media with Erik Childress and Peter Sobczynski. Criterion has nearly the entire oeuvre of Wes Anderson. Vinegar Syndrome has a pair of Larry Fessenden works while Universal has packaged up a bunch of Draculas in 4K. Kino has a bunch of Dan Curtis and the Airport films while Warner Bros. has Freddy Krueger in a new 4K set. There is also the shorts of Creepshow, the beginning of American Pie and Yorgo Lanthimos plus one of the great action films of the new millennium that you may have missed.
Episode 597: Big, Bold Love, Lies & Death
Erik Childress and Steve Prokopy play a little catch-up this week but also replay their early review of Paul Thomas Anderson’s One Battle After Another, opening this week in case any of you missed it. Before that though they talk about a tribute to an iconic cult film celebrating its 50th anniversary (Strange Journey: The Story of Rocky Horror). Gabriel Byrne reexamines his troubled life (Death of a Ladies Man) while Renny Harlin delivers the sequel to his horror reboot (The Strangers: Chapter Two) and Jordan Peele produces a very confused horror film about football (Him). If Emma Thompson with a Fargo accent trying to thwart a kidnapping on a frozen lake is more your speed they have you covered (Dead of Winter). Or maybe its about June Squibb lying about being a Holocaust survivor in Scarlett Johansson’s directorial debut (Eleanor the Great). Finally there are also a pair of romantic fantasies involving tests that lead you to your soulmate (All of You) and the latest from filmmaker Kogonada with Margot Robbie and Colin Farrell in a title that speaks for itself (A Big Bold Beautiful Journey).