The Marvel Cinematic Universe enters the next phase of its current phase with Eternals, Chloe Zhao’s now follow-up to her Oscar-winning Nomadland. Erik Childress brings back comic book expert, Erik Laws, to dive into the comic’s history as well as the film which has drawn quite the discourse from critics. Has Marvel fatigue reached an apex where even the only second woman to ever win Best Director can’t satisfy the longing for something different? Childress leans into this part of the discussion as varying opinions about the film itself continue on the show, though maybe not the way you expect.

Aside from all their duties as film critics, journalists, radio show hosts and TV guests, Erik Childress and Sergio Mims also each produce film festivals in the city of Chicago. Erik created the Chicago Critics Film Festival, the only event curated entirely by film critics and Sergio has been producing the Black Harvest Film Festival for over 25 years. Both events are taking place this year in November and each are teaming up to tell you all about what is in store for you if you can attend either. But first they also have some films they saw at the Chicago International Film Festival and they have a little love to give there before unveiling what they have helped put together this year.

It’s a light week on the weekly review show, but there is a still a half-dozen titles to discuss between Erik Childress and Steve Prokopy. They include Michael Shannon trying to bring a collegiate rowing team together (Heart of Champions) and hypnotherapy going wrong for Kate Siegel (Hypnotic). For those who wanted an Army of the Dead prequel sans the zombies, you got it (Army of Thieves), but you may want a different Netflix throwback instead with an all-star, guns-a-blazin’ western (The Harder They Fall). Finally on Halloween weekend you have your chosen between a horror film from the director of Crazy Heart and Black Mass (Antlers) or Edgar Wright’s tribute to London horror and Italian giallo (Last Night in Soho). Are either worth your time in theaters or is Netflix your choice this week?

It’s Blu-ray time again on the podcast. Erik Childress and Sergio Mims concentrate on just a few studios but a lot of titles including films from a silent film comedian. Sergio goes over some recent musicals released by Warner Archive as well as an Errol Flynn war film. If you ever wanted to see Strother Martin in a horror film, Arrow Video has one for you along with a couple of new 4K titles. One from Dario Argento is there for your Halloween viewing and the other is there to re-evaluate David Lynch’s version of the adaptation being hyperbolized to a fault. Is the 1984 Dune as bad as its reputation or does a new sheen make its visuals as impressive as people believe the 2021 version to be?

You want movie reviews? You get them here as Erik Childress and Steve Prokopy give you the standard they love to hit with ten reviews, including revisiting the emotional powerhouse from SXSW (Introducing, Selma Blair), another documentary about the January 6th insurrection (Four Hours at the Capitol) and even another about one of the legendary makeup artists (Smoke and Mirrors: The Story of Tom Savini). They catch up on some festival horror films they did not get to on the shows from Sundance & SXSW (Broadcast Signal Intrusion, Knocking) and another trying to blend vampires with Michael Mann (Night Teeth). Families are given another theatrical offering (Ron’s Gone Wrong) while adults who like quirk with their historical tales can try Benedict Cumberbatch painting cats (The Electrical Life of Louis Wain) and the latest from Wes Anderson (The French Dispatch). Finally, it all comes down to the film fans of Frank Herbert have been waiting for over 55 years (after initially waiting 19) as Denis Villeneuve’s Dune hits the big screen (and HBO MAX). Is it worth the wait and the vast improvement over David Lynch’s version that everyone hoped it would be? The guys each have a lot to say about it.

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.

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.

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).

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.

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.