Erik Childress and Steve Prokopy play a little catchup this week after being off the previous. This week’s review show includes a pair of documentaries about classic bands (Immediate Family) and a legendary filmmaker (Werner Herzog: Radical Dreamer). Erik checks in a wintry monster movie (A Creature Was Stirring) and Steve looks at a filmed stage musical (Waitress: The Musical) and another Dumas adaptation (The Three Musketeers: D’artagnan). It’s the end of the year so it must mean apocalyptic disaster with a pair of films (Concrete Utopia, Leave the World Behind). Mark Wahlberg is another secret killer with a homelife (The Family Plan) which will not be mistaken for two of this year’s award contenders about being outside the walls of Auschwitz (The Zone of Interest) and Emma Stone breaking down the walls of womanhood (Poor Things). Finally, families have their choice between Hayao Miyazaki (The Boy and the Heron), Aardman Studios (Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget) and the origins of a candy maker (Wonka).

The last physical media show of 2023 is here just in time to get your last minute Christmas gifts. They include some wonderful stuff for families including one of the great short films of all time, the animation of Masaaki Yuasa and Shaun the Sheep plus one of the best versions of Pinocchio. One of Spike Lee’s early films gets the 4K upgrade as does films from Walter Hill, David Cronenberg and arguably the best of John Woo’s American resume. Peter Sobczynski and Erik Childress look at the end of the ‘80s 3-D era, a trio of horror titles throughout the decades and a remote-dropper musical. They also look at a trio of mysteries including an ‘80s cult classic, Peter Falk in all his complete ‘70s glory and the ultimate one from the ‘60s brought to vivid life by Oliver Stone in the ‘90s that is one of the must-owns to end out the year.

Sony removed over 1,200 titles from their PlayStation store now gone from your library if you purchased them. That doesn’t happen with physical media and, as always, Erik Childress and Peter Sobczynski have got you covered. You can get Terrence Malick in 4K and one of the crazier Christmas noirs you’ve ever seen. The Coreys and Stephen King are also in 4K not to mention upgrades for James Cameron and Steven Spielberg. Indiana Jones goes for one final ride and you can also discover the origins of the Star Wars Holiday Special. Plus, Peter and Erik debate the merits of both Point Break and Young Guns now getting their own 4K upgrades.

Awards season is upon us and both Erik Childress and Steve Prokopy are preparing their Chicago ballots. But is there anything amongst the seven new titles this week that will fit? There are a pair of documentaries from the legendary Frederick Wiseman (Menus Plaisirs – Les Troisgros) and about a tumultuous year in the life of award-winning musician Jon Baptiste (American Symphony). Steve has some words for an apocalyptic horror film (Everyone Will Burn) and Erik wishes that title applied to the latest body-switch comedy with Jennifer Garner (Family Switch). Do family holiday comedies get any better when you add Eddie Murphy battling the 12 Days of Christmas (Candy Cane Lane) or how about when John Woo takes dialogue away from his gunplay (Silent Night)? Finally the latest in the ultimate kaiju arrives from Toho Studios (Godzilla Minus One). Where does it rank within the series?

Black Friday is gone but maybe Cyber Monday will extend to add these titles to your shopping list or your personal library. Peter Sobczynski joins Erik Childress to talk about remastered films from Bernardo Bertolucci, Michael Mann and an ‘80s cult classic from Fred Dekker and Shane Black. There are films with early roles for Annette Bening, Theresa Russell and a campy sci-fi classic with Jane Fonda. We’ve got a Peppard alert! Plus maybe one of the better horror anthologies, one of the better straight-to-video sequels and, without debate, one of the funniest films of all-time getting the 4K upgrade.

Erik Childress and Steve Prokopy take you into the Thanksgiving holiday with six new reviews. They include a Melissa McCarthy Christmas film from the writer of Love Actually (Genie) and a documentary about one of the most infamous Christmas presents ever (Billion Dollar Babies: The True Story of the Cabbage Patch Kids). There are two new animated films including one from Disney (Wish) and another from Adam Sandler (Leo). Which do you think is the better one? Then Oscar-winner Emerald Fennell follows up Promising Young Woman with another sociopathic narrative (Saltburn) and Ridley Scott unveils his edited-down version of a big man-baby general (Napoleon).

Just in time to bulk up your holiday shopping lists there are some choice selections being released this week on Blu-ray from the classic to the pure nostalgic. Peter Sobczynski and Erik Childress guide you through it. Criterion has got some Scorsese and Chabrol while Kino goes Burt Reynolds and a bizarro ‘80s Christmas tale. Speaking of Scorsese, there’s another Lily Gladstone performance to check out from this year and Lions Gate releases two of their franchise players from the theaters as well. Erik and Peter go through the history of the Police Academy series while the same studio releases a complete set of a terrific sci-fi series Erik caught up with this year. For the moms (and lovers of all things love) there’s a classic Christmas romcom debuting in 4K and for the Dads (when they are done with Burt) Harrison Ford gets the 4K treatment on the run and Christopher Nolan’s latest is here for your stocking stuffers.

Erik Childress and Steve Prokopy have nine new reviews on this episode. They include documentaries about the tragedy of a Harry Potter stunt double (David Holmes: The Boy Who Lived) and another about a forgotten woman’s sexuality activist (The Disappearance of Shere Hite). There’s a feature about the unsung architect of the March on Washington (Rustin) and another from Taika Waititi about the World Cup team that lost 31-0 (Next Goal Wins). The comedy trio from Saturday Night Live craft their first feature (Please Don't Destroy: The Treasure of Foggy Mountain), Eli Roth crafts a feature out of his Grindhouse trailer (Thanksgiving) and The fuzzy-haired musical creatures are back for their third film (Trolls Band Together). Todd Haynes, Natalie Portman and Julianne Moore team up for a squirmy tale ripped from the tabloids (May December) and may the odds be ever in your favor for a new franchise prequel (The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes).

This week in physical media, Peter Sobczynski joins Erik Childress to talk up a pair of Larry McMurtry tales. Shirley MacLaine and Nicolas Cage are in two of this week’s selections and one of them together. Erik gets one of his titles from the Why-Is-This-Not-On-Blu-Ray series and Peter looks back at the time Nicolas Roeg went to Showtime with Mimi Rogers and Bryan Brown. A crowd-pleasing underdog tale gets a director’s cut in 4K as does a Billy Wilder film with Peter Graves in prison (not a Turkish one.) There is stop-motion Christmas for the kids and a stage adaptation of Miyazaki. And sometimes you are being followed whether it be by a giant truck or Ron Silver.

Erik Childress and Steve Prokopy check in with six new movies this week. They include another slasher twist on a holiday classic (It’s a Wonderful Knife) and Jesse Eisenbeg either doing a riff on Fight Club or one of his own movies about toxic masculinity (Manodrome). A comedy legend gets a well-deserved tribute (Albert Brooks: Defending My Life) and Nicolas Cage haunts everyone in their sleep (Dream Scenario). Then see how the new David Fincher film stands up to the rest of his work (The Killer) and Steve gets his shot to weigh in on the latest from the MCU (The Marvels).