After a week off the Friday reviews are back in what looks to be a jam-packed August. Erik Childress and Steve Prokopy do a little catch-up to get Steve’s thoughts on the new Spider-Man and Erik’s on the dumped M3GAN universe film (Soulm8te). They have a pair of documentaries to talk about including the latest from the great Penny Lane about an owl that escaped from the Central Park Zoo (Wild Inside) and the Girl Scouts annual sale through the eyes of the labor force (Cookie Queens). There is a comedy about a Jewish summer camp (The Floaters). Mysteries are abound when a lord takes a stand against a warlord in 16^th century Japan (The Samurai and the Prisoner) and a strange storm keeps a family from leaving their house (The Last House). Eli Roth is back with some sinister child mayhem (Ice Cream Man) as are the Broken Lizard gang with the characters that put them on the map (Super Troopers 3). Finally, can you make a rom-com set on the evening when pre-marital sex is legal? The duo have questions (One Night Only).

The beginning of each month always seems to be slow for physical media but Erik Childress and Peter Sobczynski have some choice titles for you, especially if you ever wanted to see James Cagney and Mickey Rooney do Shakespeare. A couple hit comedies from Universal get a 4K upgrade as does one of Christopher Nolan’s favorite movies. You can also see the Todd Haynes film that helped put Julianne Moore on the map and one of the great films about defending the First Amendment, as timely today as it was 30 years ago about a time a couple decades before then.

Time for another special episode as Erik Childress is joined by comic book expert, Erik Laws, to break down the latest entry in the Tom Holland Spider-Man Universe. After perhaps reaching a peak with No Way Home, the series has a new director and an opportunity to rebuild in more ways than one. The dynamic Erik duo discuss what works and what doesn’t work about the film. What is The Punisher’s role in all this and does he even belong? Literally, what is Sadie Sink’s role and does her mystery reveal add or detract from the future of the MCU? There is a lot to cover from the action to Holland & Zendaya’s chemistry in another super-sized look at the latest from Marvel.

A bit of a super-sized week of physical media (box sets will do that to you) but one worthy of appreciation and curiosity. Thankfully there are a number of very economical (in length) classics from the film noir era to appreciate. If you don’t already know one of the big plot twists of the ’70s sci-fi era you get your chance. You get one of the best films from the respective careers of Mario Bava and Elvis Presley. There is some early Wes Craven and late Tobe Hooper. Rock Hudson and Doris Day’s classic rom-com gets an upgrade. A brat packer become a serial killer (no, not Andrew McCarthy). WE GOT ONE of our Why-Is-This-Not-On-Blu-Ray titles, a classic farce from the 1980s. Plus, Quentin Tarantino’s Kill Bill is edited into one singular complete vision.

In a week where Hollywood studios have cleared the deck in the wake of The Odyssey, Erik Childress and Steve Prokopy still have a bunch of reviews for you. They revisit one of the year’s best protest documentaries from Sundance (Everybody to Kenmure Street). Steve talks about seeing the musical on stage that was filmed for cinema (Hadestown: The Musical). Yorgos Lanthimos’ co-writer crafts another quirky, unpleasant family (Rosebush Pruning) and Nicolas Winding Refn delivers a tale of fathers, daughters and a serial killer (Her Private Hell). Kevin Hart joins a Gen-Z bachelor party weekend (72 Hours) while Jake Johnson plays pickleball to save his family club (The Dink). Reacher’s Alan Ritchson seeks revenge of both the deadly and silent type (Motor City). Finally, Sundance isn’t the only revisitation this week. As part of “Review Catch-Up” Erik took a second look at Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey. Did another viewing change his opinion at all?

Erik Childress and Peter Sobczynski take you through another week of physical media. Criterion has you covered from Mike Mills to Nagisa Ôshima. Butch and Sundance make na early appearance alongside Barbara Stanwyck. Giancarlo Giannini tries to solve some giallo murders, Ray Harryhausen takes you to an island of monsters or you can travel to one with Glen Powell and Sydney Sweeney. Ray Liotta is a bad cop after Kurt Russell’s wife and Michael Douglas is an ordinary guy looking to bring some sense to society. Or is he? We certainly know where he would end up in Gary Ross’ wondrous debut fantasy. It’s all part of a show with films that may be even more relevant today than when they premiered.

Erik Childress and Steve Prokopy only have three movie reviews for you this week. But in their own rights they are all massive accomplishments. They begin with a new 4K Restoration of Ross McElwee’s landmark “Meditation on the Possibility of Romantic Love In the South During an Era of Nuclear Weapons Proliferation” (Sherman’s March). Fast-forward 40 years and they also discuss McElwee’s new documentary exploring the loss of his son (Remake). Finally, Christopher Nolan’s returns after winning his Oscar by adapting the basis for modern storytelling and maybe even a bit of his own (The Odyssey). You may be surprised by how the discussion plays out.

Erik Childress and Peter Sobczynski take you through another week of physical media that includes three bangers from Criterion including Paul Newman at his baddest, early Scorsese and the Neil Jordan twist that rocked the world. There are gunslingers and hit men, William Wyler and Marlene Dietrich and one of the great modern sitcoms in a new set. Plus it is the 40^th anniversary of one of the most infamous flops of the 1980s. Time for a reappraisal or is it still as baffling as ever?

Erik Childress and Steve Prokopy have six movie reviews for you this week. They include documentaries about a Pulitizer-winning poet (Mary Oliver: Saved by the Beauty of the World) an an eager filmmaker hired to create shlock (Mockbuster). There’s a family on the run from an alien presence (The Outer Threat) while a teenage girl goes searching for info about her parents (Romeria). A retirement community deals with scam calls and an odd patient (Night Nurse). Zoey Deutsch looks to get even with her cheating fiancé (Gail Daughtry and the Celebrity Sex Pass). The Deadites are back and nastier than ever (Evil Dead Burn). Finally, another live-action Disney remake arrives just ten years after the original. Did we need it? (Moana).

Despite the news that Sony is no longer producing physical discs for its Playstation consoles, Blu-rays are not going anywhere. That despite this being one of the smallest tallies of titles that Erik Childress and Peter Sobczynski have ever covered. (Cause we don’t like to repeat ourselves.) That being said you have David Lynch’s Oscar-nominated biopic and Tim Burton adapting a wacky soap opera. Besides the Criterion sale is on at Barnes & Noble so it’s a good week for your budget.