Some great titles in physical media this week and Erik Childress is joined by Peter Sobczynski to convince you to pick them up. They include a great modern con artist noir from Criterion and a lost film from Paul Bartel. The ‘70s bring us some sexploitation horror and Sherlock Holmes hunts Jack the Ripper while the ’80s gave us one of the most unique and divisive slasher films. Peter goes to bat for a pair of 4K upgrades from John Carpenter and Tarsem. Finally, there is a trio of new 4Ks from Quentin Tarantino that includes one of Peter’s favorite films and one of Erik’s favorite music cues.

Erik Childress and Steve Prokopy look at eight new movies this week including a unique documentary that combines a video game with Shakespeare (Grand Theft Hamlet). Julia Stiles makes her directorial debut with a romantic weepie (Wish You Were Here) and a locksmith goes on a wild evening (Night Call). Scott Eastwood and Willa Fitzgerald play spies who go off the grid and are sucked back into duty (Alarum) while Jamie Foxx and Cameron Diaz play spies who go off the grid and are sucked back into duty (Back in Action). There is the tale of the newsroom covering the terrorist attack at the 1972 Olympics (September 5) and a raunchy hangout film with Keke Palmer and SZA (One Of Them Days). Finally, Leigh Whannell continues the alterna-Dark Universe with a new take on a classic Universal monster (Wolf Man).

The final pieces are in place as BAFTA and the Producers/Writers Guilds have unveiled their nominations. That means its time to give it a whirl at what the final Oscar lists are going to look like. Just how much did the BAFTAs influence the acting categories. Did the Writer’s Guild really make a difference in predicting screenplays when half of them were disqualified? If the Producers Guild holds about an 80% predictability rate, which two films get left off? Erik Childress looks at no less than eight films that could be vying for one final Best Picture slot. While he feels confident in the other nine nominees, there is also the potential for an epic bunch of so-called snubbing in all the categories.

Physical media is still here in 2025! Like every other year. Erik Childress and Peter Sobczynski are back to run through the new releases with you. They include a pair of upgraded Kurosawas and Richard Pryor examining his life. John Turturro directs a musical, William Shatner does a horror film in Esperanto and the pair share some fondness for John Frankenheimer’s final film. You will hear about the film that was literally like pulling teeth for Erik while two of Brad Pitt’s best films get fantastic new packages.

Erik Childress and Steve Prokopy are back to start 2025 with reviews…of a lot of 2024 movies. Albeit ones opening wider across the country now. But there are also some brand new releases including documentaries on a film that never was (George A. Romero’s Resident Evil) and the songwriter who never wins an Oscar (Diane Warren: Relentless). Then a family is trapped amidst a pole reversal (Survive) and Adrien Brody tries to build a life in America (The Brutalist). Robbie Williams gets the musical biopic treatment as a chimpanzee (Better Man) while Julianne Moore & Tilda Swinton face a tough life together in Pedro Almodovar’s latest (The Room Next Door). Pamela Anderson finds herself aging out in Vegas (The Last Showgirl) and Marianne Jean-Baptiste gives one of the year’s best performances in the new film from Mike Leigh (Hard Truths). Finally, Gerard Butler returns as Big Nick to get the mastermind robber he lost the first time (Den of Thieves : Pantera).  

An annual tradition that goes back to the days of WHPK Radio at the University of Chicago where Erik Childress joined Sergio Mims to discuss all things movies and certainly physical media, Erik is now joined by Peter Sobczynski for it to endure. Each of them has chosen ten films that to this day remain only on DVD (or not at all) that they believe deserve the upgrade. There are films about the circus, about priests and prostitution, love triangles and the dark side of Hollywood. There is politics and courtrooms, games of skill, concerts and debuts in front of and behind the camera. Even if they kinda know the answer to the main question, this is a time for everyone to work together to bring these works of art (and even some lesser art) to a proper format so they can be preserved, protected and enjoyed for generations to come.

Oscar voting has begun and the week before the unveiling of the nominations is jam-packed with implications. Various guilds to impact the Best Picture race from Producers to Directors to Writers. All that on top of the Screen Actors Guild announcement and how the BAFTA shortlists put the best case scenarios forwards for many in the acting categories. Did the Golden Globes impact the races (or at least people’s viewing preferences)? The Best Actress could become a Thunderdome right up to the nominations on Jan. 17. Which performances have the most to gain and lose down the stretch and how many films are fighting for the final two or three Best Picture slots? All this on a penultimate bonus episode before final predictions next week.

What better way to kickoff 2025 than a look back at the some of the greatness of 2024. On this annual show, Erik Childress and Steve Prokopy invite back Collin Souter so they can condense the entire year into the absolute best in their individual opinions. Only three films cracked all of their lists so there is a wide swath of analysis in a year that demanded it. Where is the common ground? What are the outliers? This is a great way to make your own lists on what to catch up on before we start doing it all again in the new year.

On the final show of 2024, Erik Childress and Steve Prokopy check out eight new movies that include a Danish serial killer from 1919 (The Girl with the Needle) and Nicole Kidman as a CEO who enters into an affair with an intern (Babygirl). Tyler Perry tells the story of undelivered mail during wartime (The Six Triple Eight) and the Sega Genesis hero returns to battle Jim Carrey (Sonic the Hedgehog 3). Robert Eggers offers his take on the Dracula legend (Nosferatu) and James Mangold tells another story of a musical artist (A Complete Unknown). Finally, Barry Jenkins helps tell a pair of wildly different tales. He writes Rachel Morrison’s directorial debut of an Olympic female boxer (The Fire Inside) and then he takes the reins himself of Disney’s prequel to one of their biggest stories (Mufasa: The Lion King).

There will not be a lot of movement in the rankings through the end of the year. Not until we get into January when many of the major guilds and BAFTA add to the chorus of voices this awards season. So on this episode we look at why its unfortunate we have to consider the Critics Choice Association as one of those voices. For better or worse the numbers do factor in as many of the major races begin to take some shape. We will not be without surprises but Erik Childress offers some hope over worries that Marianne Jean-Baptiste might still be passed over for a nomination and he looks at the Oscar shortlists that were announced.