Erik Childress and Steve Prokopy hit the magic number again this week. Ten movie reviews for your curiosity including a trio of horror films to kick off October (Bingo Hell, Black As Night, No One Gets Out Alive). For lighter fare you can choose between Danielle McDonald wanting to become an opera singer (Falling for Figaro) or a pair of sisters trying to comically rescue their grandmother from a nursing home at the beginning of the pandemic (Stop and Go). Dan Stevens plays a robot trying to be the perfect companion in Germany’s official entry for the Oscars (I’m Your Man). The animated version of Charles Addams’ macabre household are back (The Addams Family 2) as are those from the Sopranos clan in a live-action prequel (The Many Saints of Newark) and also Tom Hardy’s anti-hero version of the Spider-Man nemesis (Venom: Let There Be Carnage). But can any of them compare to the experience of Julia Ducournau Palme d’Or winning film that takes its audience on one wild ride (Titane).

Another eight movies are on the docket for Erik Childress and Steve Prokopy this week. They include documentaries about the young star of Luchino Visconti’s Death in Venice (The Most Beautiful Boy in the World) and a non-binary black activist (My Name Is Pauli Murray). Ben Whishaw snaps, takes to the streets and goes on a crime spree (Surge) and Freida Pinto tries to solve a mystery happening under her own roof (Intrusion). Tom Skerritt goes off on a journey after a cancer diagnosis to potentially end his life (East of the Mountains) while Melissa McCarthy tries to go on with life after a tragedy (The Starling). Jake Gyllenhaal attempts to solve a crisis as a police dispatcher in Antoine Fuqua’s remake of a recent acclaimed Danish thriller (The Guilty) and, finally, Erik and Steve try to answer the question that so many are asking about Dear Evan Hansen. Why?

Eight new films are reviewed on the show by Erik Childress and Steve Prokopy. They include two documentaries that take us out of this world (The Wonderful: Stories from the Space Station) and out of the mind of singer St. Vincent (The Nowhere Inn). Steve discusses an immigration romance (Blue Bayou) and both look at Aubrey Plaza’s attempt to revive a publishing house with Michael Caine’s surly author (Best Sellers). Steve also has his eyes on a biopic of the infamous televangelists (The Eyes of Tammy Faye) and then it’s Macho Man time with Nicolas Cage on the hunt for Sofia Boutella (Prisoners of the Ghostland), Gerard Butler with a contract out on Frank Grillo (Copshop) and Clint Eastwood showing quien es mas macho (Cry Macho).

Erik Childress and Steve Prokopy once again go the extra mile reviewing a total of 12 new films on the show. They go from Mark Duplass and Natalie Morales looking at each other on Zoom (Language Lessons) to Sydney Sweeney looking at everything else – and us right back (The Voyeurs). There’s another mountain climber documentary (The Alpinist) as well as the relationship of two icons at their peak (Blood Brothers: Malcolm X & Muhammad Ali). Stop if you seen Riz Ahmed as a rocker with a degenerative health defect (Mogul Mowgli) or a poisoned assassin protecting another child (Kate). A group of filmmakers take advantage of the pandemic to film an anthology (The Year of the Everlasting Storm) and Kristen Bell scams the coupon system (Queenpins). Three old friends see their reunion go from laughter to darkness (Small Engine Repair) and Oscar Isaac is out for redemption in Paul Schrader’s latest (The Card Counter). Finally while Steve updates on the latest horror film premiering on Shudder (Martyrs Lane), the pair square off over the new James Wan film Warner Bros. didn’t want critics to see and may now be regretting that decision (Malignant).

Getting you ten movie reviews a week is becoming a standard here on the show. Erik Childress and Steve Prokopy deliver again with Shea Whigham as a social worker trying to protect single mother Olivia Munn (The Gateway) and Guy Pierce as a P.I. in the future looking for a missing person in a city of androids (Zone 414). Three neighborhoods you don’t want to move into include Gracie Gillam’s host from hell (Superhost), Taryn Manning’s super racist white lady (Karen) and Pat Healy’s unhinged father in a lockdown crisis (We Need To Do Something). “Influencer Cinema” gets in their hits this week with Victoria Justice dying with some unfinished personal business (Afterlife of the Party), one pop singer, Matsumi, discovering her destiny (Yakuza Princess) and another, Camila Cabello, making her debut in the jukebox musical version of a classic story (Cinderella). Finally they have Michael Keaton in the true story of the creation of the 9/11 compensation fund (Worth) and Steve gets to put in his two cents on Marvel’s latest (Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings)

Not often does the Movie Madness Podcast dedicate an entire show to a single film. But there is one opening this week that can’t be done justice on the regular weekly review segment. Even one that has to do with justice with a character actually named Justice. Coke Daniels’ Karen with Taryn Manning in the lead role of an overtly racist white women hits so many buttons on the unintentionally hilarious button that Erik Childress and Sergio Mims had to discuss it at length. They go over all the boxes the film hopes to check, discuss how racial trauma is often exploited in film and whether or not the film could have succeeded as a straight comedy. Is this film headed for “so bad it’s good” status or is it just another film we’d just as soon forget about?

The Movie Madness Podcast celebrates its 250th episode with a look into one of the things that has made the theatrical experience so memorable over the years. It’s you. It’s us. It’s them. Erik Childress and Sergio Mims have had some memorable times at the movies going back decades and they are here to share a handful of the ones they cannot forget. Whether it be a rapturous response or a furious walkout the movies can inspire powerful emotions in all of us and as the industry struggles through a global pandemic they wonder if new memories like this can still be on the horizon, especially if more people begin to stay home.

The title suggests something equally sweet and horrible and art can be both. There is certainly a lot of art and artists on this week’s movie review episode. There are influencers and a photographer in the remake of She’s All That (He’s All That). The music and life of Guy Clark is featured in a new documentary (Without Getting Caught or Killed). There’s the story of a domino artist named Lily Hevesh (Lily Topples the World) and a guy who is good with numbers but bad with social interaction and fumigation (Mosquito State.) But there is also another relationship on pandemic lockdown (Together) and another film about the final days of Ted Bundy (No Man of God). It’s enough to want to get away with John Cena and Lil Rel Howery (Vacation Friends). But wait, there’s more art in the tragic story of a beloved painter (Bob Ross: Happy Accidents, Betrayal & Greed) and the whole damn shady world of art is exposed in a fascinating new documentary (The Lost Leonardo). Finally, there is another artist featured in Nia DaCosta’s updating of Bernard Rose & Clive Barker’s Candyman. Does the film have the right palette? Tune in and hear the opinions of Erik Childress and Steve Prokopy.

Marvel’s latest entry, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, is here to introduce a new character into their universe. Which is not to say he does not have his own history and comic book expert, Erik Laws, joins Erik Childress for another adaptation breakdown. They discuss the problematic history of his primary antagonist, The Mandarin, and what changes have been made for modern audiences. They also certainly have a lot to say about the film itself, breaking through much of the hyperbole to discuss where the film disappoints and where it could go from here.

The weekly movie review edition of the show is here with Erik Childress and Steve Prokopy reviewing ten new films. They remind you of a ‘80s music documentary from SXSW (Under the Volcano) as well as docs about noted activists (Unapologetic, Not Going Quietly). Steve covers a dyslexia drama (Confetti) and the new film by Sean Penn starring his daughter (Flag Day) while Erik settles for Jason Momoa getting sweet revenge vs. Big Pharma (Sweet Girl). After that they tackle new horror films from Neill Blomkamp (Demonic) and David Bruckner (The Night House), a sci-fi noir from one of the creators of Westworld (Reminiscence) and the new action film from Martin Campbell starring Maggie Q and Michael Keaton (The Protégé).