Movie Madness

Erik Childress Erik Childress

Episode 650: Yes Virginia, You Can Loop A Chopper

Erik Childress and Peter Sobczynski were off last week at the Chicago Critics Film Festival but return to catch you up on the world of physical media. There are serial killers played by Matt Dillon and another stopped by Charles Bronson. Criterion puts out more Kurosawa and there’s a documentary on George Stevens as well. A Disney animated film from the ‘50s gets the upgrade as does a sci-fi film from the era. A comedy classic and one of the great baseball films celebrate their 15th anniversaries. The pair look back at the lasting power of David Fincher’s adaptation of male insecurity and culminate with one of the great action films of the 1980s and the TV series it spawned in its wake.

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Erik Childress Erik Childress

Episode 649: You’re Not Writing That, Are You?

Erik Childress and Steve Prokopy will be at the Music Box Theatre handling the Chicago Critics Film Festival this week, but they managed to squeeze in seven reviews for movies you can see (after you attend the fest.) They include the latest from RZA behind the camera (One Spoon of Chocolate). Erik looks at a family on a road trip after behind evicted (Omaha) and another family with a troubled son seen through the eyes of their daughter (Blue Heron). Steve sees Adam Scott haunted by old secrets and possibly a witch (Hokum). Andy Serkis does a new animated adaptation of George Orwell’s other classic (Animal Farm). Renny Harlin returns to planes and sharks (Deep Water) and the whole team returns to the journalistic side of fashion (The Devil Wears Prada 2).

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Episode 648: You See Outlaw Josey Wales? What a Flick!

A lot of collections this week in physical media which Erik Childress & Peter Sobczynski guide you through again. They include a trio of films from John Singleton as well as the works of Jess Franco and the weird legacy of one Andy Milligan. There are also films from Lucio Fulci and Olivier Assayas. Nancy Meyers figures in twice in the conversation including a title from our most recent Why Is This Not On Blu-ray show (WE GOT ONE!). We’ve also got Abbott, Costello and DeVito and how a Paul W.S. Anderson figures into the early part of Erik’s career. But if you haven’t seen this week’s Joe Dante title or shown it to the loved ones in your life, do yourself a favor.

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Erik Childress Erik Childress

Episode 647: If You Believe, Clap Your Hands!

There’s no slowing down this week on the show as Erik Childress and Steve Prokopy have nine reviews for you. They include a documentary on a female punk band (Pretty Ugly: The Story of the Lunachicks) and the Tourettes film that the BAFTAs just loved (I Swear). A woman on holiday decides if she wants to hook up with Charli XCX again (Erupcja), Anthony Mackie fights for the women of Arabia (Desert Warrior) and Aaron Taylor-Johnson must deal with a WWII bomb found in London (Fuze). Charlize Theron is hunted through the wilderness by Taron Egerton (Apex) while Jason Segel & Samara Weaving’s plans to kill each other get interrupted (Over Your Dead Body). Anne Hathaway’s singer needs a dress in the new film from David Lowery (Mother Mary) and the King of Pop gets part of a biopic from Antoine Fuqua and the Jackson estate (Michael).

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Erik Childress Erik Childress

Episode 646: Makin’ Stone Cold Whoopee For $93,000

It’s another week of physical media and Erik Childress is joined again by Peter Sobczynski to take you through a selection of Universal classics featuring W.C. Fields. There is also an all-star cast crime-and-court film, Johnny Depp as a book detective and even some original J-horror. There is also Lee Marvin defining the role of Donald Westlake’s anti-hero Parker, Michelle Pfeiffer, the Bridges brothers and a couple pianos and, of all things, the signature Brian Bosworth action film.

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Erik Childress Erik Childress

Episode 645: Well It’s No Ally Sheedy’s Frankenstein

Erik Childress and Steve Prokopy fly solo on most of the movies this week, but they still have nine titles to talk about. Lena Headey discovers she may have created the bullet that killed her son (Ballistic). A strange friendship develops between two disparate young men when one tries to maybe stop the other from committing a school shooting (Our Hero, Balthazar). Barbie Ferreira plays a music critic who gets involved with the band she is covering (Mile End Kicks). The latest comedy from Peter Farrelly has Mark Wahlberg and Paul Walter Hauser as the creators of a very unusual condom (Balls Up). Keanu Reeves is a Hollywood star trying to prevent an embarrassing video from getting out (Outcome). There’s a documentary about the creator of Saturday Night Live (Lorne). Bob Odenkirk is in action mode again taking on a whole town in the latest from Ben Wheatley (Normal). Steven Soderbergh’s latest has Ian McKellen as an artist who hires a forger to finish his paintings (The Christophers). Finally, the director of Evil Dead Rise gets his name above the familiar title of his even more familiar horror film. (Lee Cronin’s The Mummy).

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Episode 644: Blessed Are The Cheesemakers, We Used To Make Failed IP

Erik Childress and Peter Sobczynski have a lot to say about this week’s batch of physical media. Maybe not as much as the most successful franchise entry amongst them, but certainly about Ernst Libitsch’s romantic comedy about thieves in love. Most definitely about Monty Python’s religious-skewering masterpiece. But there is also the troubled transports carrying George Kennedy and the out-of-control one that ranks as one of the great action films of the 1980s. An obscure, hard-to-find comedy about UFO seekers is the first of two Fred Ward headliners this week which leads into two films the guys have some fondness for including Orion’s attempt at an American James Bond and one of the very first masked do-gooders.

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Episode 643: Tell Me About The Birds And The Cats

It’s a light week for physical media but that doesn’t mean that Erik Childress and Peter Sobczynski don’t have you covered. There is one of the great film noirs, particularly for fans of The Shawshank Redemption. A magnificent wonder in fantasy filmmaking from over a century ago that looks better than many films today. Meiko Kaji’s martial arts double feature gets the Arrow treatment. Finally, exploitation fans will have a field day this week with the essential Russ Meyer film as well as the film personally endorsed by none other than Bill Murray.

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Episode 642: Do You Want Pizza Or Drama?

Erik Childress and Steve Prokopy review six movies this week. Erik looks at a Netflix true crime documentary about the murder of a rising cyclist (The Truth and Tragedy of Moriah Wilson) as well as a couple trying to re-ignite a passion they moved on from (A Love Like This). There is a comedy about the friendship that develops between an aging actress and the unemployed neurotic who becomes her nanny (Fantasy Life). Two roommates sample a synthetic drug and only food can save them from the wacky side effects (Pizza Movie). The billion dollar Nintendo franchise returns with a sequel (The Super Mario Galaxy Movie). Finally Zendaya’s secret may be enough to ruin her engagement to Robert Pattinson (The Drama).

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Episode 641: Your Body is A WonderWeapon

Leading a very classic and cult-like week in physical media, Erik Childress and Peter Sobczynski have got you covered. Unlike Madonna. It’s a week filled Fred Astaire, Ginger Rogers and Bob Hope (including one of our Why-Is-This-Not-On-Blu-Ray titles). There is also James Caan at his best, Jamie Foxx winning an Oscar and some cool martial arts titles. Dustin Hoffman trying to stop a virus, Ernest Borgnine trying to summon Satan and Adam Sandler as the son of said Satan. You also have an upgrade for Tobe Hooper’s Stephen King adaptation. And getting back to Madonna, the guys can’t help talk about the crazy, ridiculous erotic thriller now available in all its unrated 4K glory.

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