Movie Madness
Episode 261: The Last Duel But Not The Last Halloween
Erik Childress and Steve Prokopy return for the weekly movie reviews with the lighter lineup but no less lively a discussion. They look at the various scenes of a writer’s marriage in Mia Hansen-Love’s Bergman Island and the history of a legendary band in Todd Haynes’ documentary, The Velvet Underground. Bobcat Goldthwait and Dana Gould go on with their comedy tour after a bad car accident in the documentary, Joy Ride. Ridley Scott began his career with The Duellists and now brings us the historical, if still timely, drama The Last Duel. And if its lively discussion you seek, the duo breakdown the failure of David Gordon Green’s sequel, Halloween Kills.
Episode 260: Moment By Moment – Catching Up On Blu-rays
Erik Childress and Sergio Mims have a lot of Blu-ray releases to catch-up on and they begin here with the latest from their friends at Indicator, Paramount, Warner Bros. and Kino. They discuss the confusion over the ending to Jagged Edge, the legacies of both Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory and Mommie Dearest. They also go through an array of titles from Kino including films from Billy Wilder and Cecil B. DeMille as well as a pair of new commentary tracks that Sergio has contributed and are available now.
Episode 259: October Is Actually Some Time To Die
Erik Childress and Steve Prokopy continue to show why you can’t do this on the radio when they take the time to review another ten movies available this week including revisiting a film they disagreed on from Sundance this year (Mass). With Jason Reitman’s reboot just a month away, Erik takes a look at a documentary about the original (Cleanin’ Up the Town: Remembering Ghostbusters). He also discusses Jason Sudeikis and Evangeline Lilly as a star-crossed couple thrust into a film noir plot (South of Heaven). Being October, there is plenty of horror and the guys split duties on the latest from Amazon’s Blumhouse releases (The Manor, Madres), go through another anthology from Shudder (V/H/S 94), and a Netflix slasher film from the director of the Creep films (There’s Someone Inside Your House). There are also variations of horror seen in a couple’s tragedy answered with a miracle (Lamb) and the remarkable true life story of the trapped Thai soccer team told by the divers themselves (The Rescue). Plus there is this little James Bond film you may have waited a couple years for that Steve gets his chance to weigh in on (No Time To Die).
Episode 258: Time To Talk Some Bond
An episode two years in the making. Or 15. Or nearly 60, depending on if you want to start with the beginning of the James Bond franchise, the stay of the Daniel Craig era or when his final outing as 007 was supposed to come out. It is finally time for No Time To Die and Bond expert, Sergio Mims, joins Erik Childress to do a full dive into the series. They talk Connery, Moore, Dalton, Brosnan and even Lazenby. Their early experiences with the movies and before that, the books, are discussed. What is the Bond film that purists hate but at least one of them has a fondness for? Ultimately it is all sprinkled in to the discussion of the 25th Bond film, their full reaction to it (with spoilers) and whether or not it was a worthy finale to Craig’s arc.
Episode 257: The 2021 Toronto International Film Festival
Continuing the recent trend of covering major film festivals virtually, Erik Childress is once again joined by Sergio Mims who gets to add the discussion with a lot more movies. They wade through a lineup that included a number of music documentaries ranging from rock to jazz, a pair of stunning crime docs about real-life standoffs with police in the 1970s and even one for the foodies. They discuss some of the worst films they saw which gives Erik the opportunity to weigh in on The Eyes of Tammy Faye. But there is plenty of room for positivity as well as they reveal their favorite films from the fest as well.
Episode 256: Get Outta My Past, Get Into My Car
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).
Episode 255: Mysteries, Suicides and Songs
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?
Episode 254: Macho, Macho Men (And Tammy Faye)
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).
Episode 253: It’s Time To Cut Out A Dozen Reviews
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).
Episode 252: What Is Influencer Cinema Worth?
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)