Erik Childress and Peter Sobczynski guide you through a wacky week of physical media. It includes the breakthrough comedies from Jim Carrey and Adam Sandler. Eddie Murphy makes his first foray into fantasy and Norm MacDonald gets three versions of his first starring role. A cinephile incel turns to murder. Meanwhile, Pulp Fiction gets a spinoff and Diabolik gets three. There is blaxploitation, Elaine May, Jon Cryer going back to school and Fu Manchu. Find out who Cliff Twemlow is and what William Conrad directed. Another William (Friedkin) directs his reported favorite movie that got the How Did This Get Made treatment while a pair of titles also got the MST3K stamp. We also got one from our Why Is This Not On Blu-Rays shows making the leap from DVD to 4K.

Erik Childress and Steve Prokopy review seven movies for you this week. They include a documentary about one of the most famous journalists of her time (Barbara Walters: Tell Me Everything). Erik check out Hell in the Pacific meets the Creature from the Black Lagoon (Monster Island) while Steve looks at a new romantic thriller from Michael Winterbottom (Shoshana). They catch up on a quirky relationship comedy they saw at Sundance (Oh, Hi!). Pete Davidson goes the horror route with a mysterious elderly facility (The Home) while another SNL veteran returns to maybe his most popular character after 30 years (Happy Gilmore 2). Finally, Steve gets to check in on his thoughts on the latest from the Marvel Cinematic Universe (The Fantastic Four: First Steps).

Just a few weeks after their incredible disappointment with James Gunn’s Superman (which they briefly revisit), Erik Childress and comic book expert Erik Laws dive back into comic book cinema with Marvel’s latest attempt to do justice to the Fantastic Four. After two films by Tim Story and the infamous disasters of 2015 and the shelved Roger Corman version of the ‘90s, the foursome has never endeared itself to Childress but the results may surprise you. They delve into the creation and treatment of Galactus and the Silver Surfer, how the new cast adheres to the intentions of the comic book family and why that is important to its ultimate success. The film is not without its flaws but does manage to further highlight some of the flaws they found in Superman. Could Marvel be inching their way back to creative consistency? The title may just have a dual meaning in that manner.

Physical media offers a lot of pleasures this week. Do Erik Childress and Peter Sobczynski feel guilty about any of them? Certainly not of Jack Nicholson’s collaboration with Mike Nichols or one of their “Why Is This Not On Blu-ray” titles getting the 4K treatment. There’s a little history of the nudie plus Bertolucci does a family film. An MST3K selection may not be worth all the skewering though neither was Joe Dante’s snakebit summer effort from 1998. All that plus Larry Cohen’s grossly satirical take on consumerism and what Beverly Hills Cop might have been like if it starred Sylvester Stallone.

Seven new movies are available in theaters and on streaming this week. At least the seven reviewed by Erik Childress and Steve Prokopy this week. They include the latest thriller from Kiyoshi Kurosawa (Cloud) and the latest wannabe thriller starring Bella Thorne (Saint Clare). TV pioneer Shari Lewis finally gets her own documentary (Shari & Lamb Chop) while a cinema-loving young woman gets a chance to mingle with the people she thought she dreamt about (Finally Dawn). Embeth Davidtz makes his directorial debut adapting a South African childhood memoir (Don’t Let’s Go to the Dogs Tonight) while five dum-dums wish they did not have to revisit another season of death (I Know What You Did Last Summer). Finally, Ari Aster adds to his repertoire of anxiety-laden horror by exploring America in the early days of the pandemic (Eddington).

Physical media serves up some classics as well as some that deserve more modern classic status. Peter Sobczynski may disagree with some of them but he joins Erik Childress again this week to bring you the latest and greatest. They include a restored series from Francois Truffaut as well as some oddities involving Fred MacMurray and the “involvement” of The Three Stooges. There are sequels for Robocop and the Ghoulies as well as some more WWII hijinks for Brad Pitt. One of the great westerns of all-time is up for debate. Though there is nothing but love for one of the better low-budget sci-fi films of its day and Bill Paxton making one of the best directorial debuts ever.

Erik Childress and Steve Prokopy review nine movies for you this week with four of them coming in a unique bundle. Those include a group of friends sheltering in place when they believe a nuclear missile is coming for them (Nuked), a pregnant woman confined to a house when a mysterious man threatens her safety (Push), an introvert and an extrovert confined to an apartment trying to avoid becoming one with the world (Else) and another couple on the outs stuck in an apartment complex seemingly with no way out (Brick). Beyond that there is the implication that Van Helsing was not the man he said he was (Abraham’s Boys) nor do the lucid dreams of a grieving man reflect the reality of his relationship (Daniela Forever). Steven Spielberg’s immortal masterpiece celebrates a birthday with a new documentary (Jaws@50: The Definitive Inside Story). Jacob Tremblay comes to realize his anti-government father may not be the best role model (Sovereign). Finally, Steve gets to throw in his two cents on this week’s big comic book reboot (Superman).

For years on the Movie Madness Podcast, comic book expert Erik Laws has joined Erik Childress to discuss in-depth the various superhero and graphic novel adaptation to the big screen from Marvel to DC and the heights to the very lows. In this episode they discuss how James Gunn’s long-awaited takeover and reboot of the DC Universe is not just a massive disappointment but may represent a new low. They break it all down from David Corenswet’s portrayal of Superman and Clark, the lack of genuine stakes, the reliance on an overly jokey tone and the way Krypto is utilized throughout. No stone is left unturned from Superman tropes to a screamy Lex Luthor, idiotic plot turns and right back to Gunn’s own statements about the movie that does not exist on the screen. This is not hyperbole. This is not for clicks or yuks. This is how it is from two honest takes.

There’s a lot to talk about this week in the world of physical media. Peter Sobczynski joins Erik Childress to talk about a Stanley Kubrick epic finally getting the release it deserves. Oliver Stone revisits a final cut for his own epic and there is also some epic destruction from the ‘70s. Denzel Washington looks for a serial killer, though not the one traipsing through the woods like he was Terrence Malick. They’ve got film noir with Glenn Ford, horror meeting blaxploitation and Peter offering his thoughts on Ryan Coogler’s huge 2025 success. Finally the pair discuss Mike Nichols’ now quaint adaptation of politics leading up to the Clinton years and Amy Heckerling’s teen film from the ‘90s still entertaining generations decades later.

As we head into our mid-summer holiday, Erik Childress and Steve Prokopy have seven movies for you to consider. They revisit their praise of Eva Victor’s Sundance wonder (Sorry, Baby) chosen for their Chicago Critics Film Festival along with Danielle Deadwyler trying to protect her family and farm during another cinematic apocalypse (40 Acres). Alicia Silverstone chooses the wrong sugar daddy (Pretty Thing) while Alex Ross Perry takes us through decades of video stores in movies in a three-hour cinematic essay (Videoheaven). John Cena and Idris Elba are their country’s leaders caught in an assassination plot (Heads of State) and Charlize Theron is back with her band of immortals only without her powers (The Old Guard 2). Finally, Gareth Edwards tries to do what he was called to do for Godzilla and Star Wars for the seventh film in the franchise (Jurassic World: Rebirth).