Movie Madness

Erik Childress Erik Childress

Episode 494: Moe, Larry, Shemp, Curly – Take ‘Em Down!

Lots on the Blu-ray front this week and Peter Sobczynski joins Erik Childress to talk you through it. Criterion has a clean sweep nine-time Oscar winner in 4K and Arrow has something for the Sam Worthington fans out there. They talk fondly of a dark Seth Rogen effort and a much lighter comedy with violence that has given Rachel McAdams a line delivery for the ages. They’ve got some Mellville, Bava and Elvis. Peter has an early ‘90s horror film you may want to look at again. Dick Tracy gets a collection and they are all-in on a new Stooges collection. (Find out who their favorite Stooges are.) Plus, another week, another Chuck Norris. And this time one of the better ones.

Read More
Erik Childress Erik Childress

Episode 493: Bad Dads And Worse Husbands

After a three-week hiatus involving vacations and other commitments, Erik Childress and Steve Prokopy are back on the weekly movie review stint. Naturally they begin with a film they reviewed at Sundance eight months ago but with good reason for reminder cause the title says it all (Good One). Steve looks at a film about Samuel Beckett (Dance First) and Erik handles a biopic of Milli Vanilli (Girl You Know It’s True). Matt Damon and Casey Affleck try to rob a corrupt politician (The Instigators) and Hunter Schafer tries to solve the weird goings-on at a secluded resort (Cuckoo). Erik offers his thoughts on Blake Lively and the adaptation of Colleen Hoover’s popular novel about abuse (It Ends With Us) and the pair get their eyes on Eli Roth’s three-year-old video game adaptation (Borderlands).

Read More
Erik Childress Erik Childress

Episode 492: Welles, Lola, Norris, Lasso (And San Dimas high school Football) Rules!

Films are getting the 4K upgrade this week on the physical media show. Peter Sobczynski joins Erik Childress to talk about why Orson Welles made his fourth film along with the great fun of Run Lola Run. Perhaps the craziest tales are reserved for what became and almost became of one of Chuck Norris’ mid-80s Cannon fodder. There’s also a little Gucci, a little Lasso, some Babes and a breakdown of one of the most unlikeliest trilogies ever from its subject matter, its sweet endurance and ingenuity and how all of them seem to have barely gotten released.

Read More
Erik Childress Erik Childress

Episode #491: Deadpool & Wolverine

On a special episode of the podcast, comic book expert Erik Laws returns to join Erik Childress to discuss the much ballyhooed release of Marvel’s team-up of Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman meant to correct past sins and hopefully plug the creative and success leak of their recent output. Does the film live up to its promise? Are the stakes there or is it just a service for the fans? How does its cameos and surprises measure up and is it weird to take shots at what is supposed to be an ally now? They also weigh in on the latest news of Robert Downey Jr. returning to the MCU, what his appearance as Victor Von Doom could mean and is it just an act of desperation to combat the comic book fatigue which may finally be real?

Read More
Erik Childress Erik Childress

Episode 490: There’s No Way Out, You Can’t Stop The Nuts

This week in physical media expands the gauntlet between masterpieces, greatness, exploitation and outright garbage. In other words, Erik Childress and Peter Sobczynski have a little something for everyone. They include a film from the ‘60s that was lost until the ‘90s, one of the first films from Jonathan Demme, one of the last films of Howard Hawks and hopefully not the last from Philip Kaufmann. There’s a box set of the works of Nico Mastorakis and a director’s cut featuring David Bowie and Rosanna Arquette. Two films from the great runs of Frank Oz and Kevin Costner get 4K upgrades and Peter tells you about one of the sexiest scenes he’s ever seen. Spoiler that it involves neither an infamous 1980 musical with The Village People or any of the Jaws sequels; both of which practically get their own episodes here.

Read More
Erik Childress Erik Childress

Episode 489: Time Of Your Life, Huh Kid?

Some great titles to put into your physical media library this week and Peter Sobczynski is here with Erik Childress to help guide you through them. It all begins with one of the great films of the 1980s that put Tom Cruise on the path to stardom. Tom Hanks missed an Oscar nom but delivered one of his best performances for Paul Greengrass and Ang Lee did get the Oscar but the Academy went for another film in 2005. There are also vehicles for Burt Reynolds, Dirk Benedict and the film that Ben Affleck was the bomb in. Other underground dwellers can be found at bikini bottom and Criterion also has a pair of Wim Wenders films. Finally there are new 4K editions of one of the great sci-fi classics and the entire series that carries the name of the beloved character created by Sylvester Stallone.

Read More
Erik Childress Erik Childress

Episode 488: Bullshit Or Not?

Before each of them take their respective vacations, Erik Childress and Steve Prokopy have nine movies for you to check out or throw away. They include Guy Pearce in a Lee Tamahori film about warring Maori tribes (The Convert) and Baltasar Kormákur decades-spanning romantic saga (Touch). Documentaries cover the range of the career of one of our great actresses (Faye) and the horrible behavior that derailed Louis C.K.’s, at least temporarily (Sorry/Not Sorry). Things get strange when Ewan McGregor’s mother won’t leave a furniture store (Mother, Couch) and things get even stranger in a film so baffling it may become a midnight staple (Lumina). KiKi Layn is a musician trying to be heard (Dandelion). Scarlett Johansson tries to sell America’s space race with Channing Tatum (Fly Me to the Moon) and Ozgood Perkins tries to have Nicolas Cage freak us out (Longlegs).

Read More
Erik Childress Erik Childress

Episode 487: It’s Turning Green

Peter Sobczynski has the rundown on this week’s physical media with Erik Childress. Leading the way are French classics by Jean-Pierre Melville and Patrice Leconte. They talk about the controversies surrounding Todd Solondz third feature and the strange hiatus of director Robert Butler. 4K tries to clean-up a second helping of the Ghoulies and a Thailand based creature feature “not to be confused with Alligator.” Finally they go back and forth on the 1996 mega-hit that finally spawned a sequel 28 years later.

Read More
Erik Childress Erik Childress

Episode 486: Choose Your Warrior Of Justice

Erik Childress and Steve Prokopy do not skimp this week serving up 11 new reviews for you. Erik looks at Paul Raci as a spiritual guru who may have achieved a new kind of grief transcendence (The Secret Art of Human Flight) while Emma Roberts does Legally Blonde Goes To NASA (Space Cadet). Steve has a film about the Eichmann trial (June Zero) and that of a different kind of bloodsucker (Humanist Vampire Seeking Consenting Suicidal Person) which also partially sums up his review of Despicable Me 4. They look at different sides of altruism in the true story of a community and their collective adoptions (Sound of Hope: The Story of Possum Trot) and the fantastic documentarian Penny Lane on her personal journey of donating a kidney (Confessions of a Good Samaritan). Yorgos Lanthimos takes on a three-pronged tale of abusive relationships (Kinds of Kindness) and Eddie Murphy returns to his most iconic role (Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F). Finally, choose your warrior – the commando at the center of a bandit-filled train (Kill) or Mia Goth’s survivor in the conclusion of Ti West’s horror trilogy (MaXXXine).

Read More
Erik Childress Erik Childress

Episode 485: Who’s That Talking To Me With Those Irish Accents?

There is not a lot to add to your physical media collection this week. But what there is you will want to get your hands on. Peter Sobczynski joins Erik Childress to talk about the tortured history of one of Sam Peckinpah’s greatest westerns. Music stars in movies gets a little sillier with Weird Al Yankovic and Madonna. Silliness gets raised to an artform with the first of the Will Ferrell/Adam McKay collaborations. Though maybe not as silly as the accents from Jeff Bridges and Tommy Lee Jones in the second of 1994’s summer bomber movies. Peter Hyams gets another shout-out and one of Martin Scorsese’s masterpieces finally gets a standalone release in 4K.

Read More