First Look, Final Word

Pete straps an excited Trevor to his back as they set off on their journey to see Predator: Badlands. Starring Elle Fanning and Dimitrius Schuster-Koloamatangi, the movie follows a young “Yautja” navigating through a hostile planet with the help of a dismembered android. On the way to the theatre, we discuss our history with Predator and Dan Trachtenberg’s role in reviving the franchise through Prey and Killer of Killers.

We also enter week 8 of our ongoing Project Last Action Heroes. This week we discuss Steven Seagal through the lens of 1992’s Under Siege (Tommy Lee Jones, Gary Busey, Erika Eleniak, and Colm Meaney).

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Under Siege (17:28)

Predator Review (40:31)

Spoilers (1:06:27)

Pete and Trevor shaved their heads, lathered themselves up in antihistamine, and hit the road to see Bugonia. The film stars Emma Stone (in her fourth collaboration with Yorgos Lanthimos), Jesse Plemons, Aidan Delbis, Stavros Halkias, and Alicia Silverstone. Listen to hear our immediate reaction after leaving the theatre.

We also returned to our ongoing Project Last Action Heroes. This week we examine the career of Chuck Norris through his breakout Lone Wolf McQuade.

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Intro and our history with Yorgos (0:00)

Lone Wolf McQuade (16:05)

Bugonia spoiler-free review (35:14)

Spoilers (50:38)

Pete and Trevor did not record their episode on House of Dynamite from a bunker built to withstand a nuclear holocaust. There is no need to worry. House of Dynamite, featuring an ensemble casts including Rebecca Ferguson, Idris Elba, Jared Harris, Tracy Letts, Greta Lee, and Anthony Ramos, is director Kathryn Bigelow’s first feature film in 8 years. These people are also not in a bunker, again, everything is fine.

We return to our ongoing project Last Action Heroes with a focus on Sigourney Weaver (Alien, Ghostbusters, Starship Troopers), specifically her role in James Cameron’s Aliens. Next week we will be covering Steven Segal, please comment below or email us at [email protected] with your suggestions on what movie to cover.

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Introduction - 0:00

Aliens Chat - 11:10

House of Dynamite review - 41:00

Spoilers - 59:50

Pete and Trevor step into the octagon, well mostly a boxing ring, to see Benny Safdie’s The Smashing Machine, starring Dwayne Johnson and Emily Blunt. The A24 produced movie focuses on the life Mark Kerr, an early MMA and UFC fighter, and marks a clear transition in Johnson’s career to more serious roles. Does the gambit pay off?

Continuing our Project Last Action Heroes, we discuss the career of Bruce Willis through the lens of Tony Scott’s The Last Boyscout.

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Intro: 0:00

Last Boy Scout: 15:54

Smashing Machine Review: 40:13

Spoilers: 1:00:57

Pete and Trevor, and special stowaway Justin, set off to catch One Battle After Another, Paul Thomas Anderson’s modern thriller/drama/satire starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Sean Penn, Benicio del Toro, Regina Hall, Teyana Taylor, and Chase Infiniti. We also met our friend Anthony at the theatre who was able to join us for a quick recap. Like good cinephiles, we saw this in 70mm IMAX. Did this movie live up to the hype? Spoiler: yes, it’s very excellent.

Listen to our immediate spoiler-free reactions after leaving the theatre, before we give plenty of warning when heading into spoiler-talk.

This was week three of our ongoing project ‘Last Action Heroes’. We talk about the careers of Jean-Claude Van Damme and Dolph Lundgren via Roland Emmerich’s Universal Soldier. Tune in next week for our discussion of a Bruce Willis movie, comment below or email [email protected] to weigh in on what movie we should cover.

Don’t forget to enter our ongoing contest to win a subscription to Letterboxd Patron:

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Intro and our history with PTA (0:00)

Review of Universal Soldier (16:35)

Review of One Battle After Another (45:29)

Anthony jumps out of the car (56:37)

Spoilers (1:11:00)

Pete and Trevor watched Spike Lee’s new movie Highest 2 Lowest, a bold reimagining of Kurosawa’s classic High and Low. Starring Denzel Washington, Jeffrey Wright, and A$AP Rocky, we’re asking the question: will this remake be worth it?

We’re also continuing our ongoing project Last Action Heroes, where we track the big guns of action cinema one film at a time. This week we’re riding shotgun with Sly Stallone, diving into the neon-soaked, leather-jacketed, pizza scissor cutting chaos of Cobra.

Don’t forget to enter our ongoing contest to win a subscription to Letterboxd Patron:

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Intro (00:00)

Cobra Review (16:17)

Spoiler-free review of Highest 2 Lowest (46:27)

Spoiler-talk (59:00)

Pete and Trevor lace up their shoes and step onto the endless road for this week’s feature: The Long Walk. Adapted from one of Stephen King’s earliest and most enduring stories, the film stars Cooper Hoffman, David Jonsson, Garrett Wareing, Tut Nyuot, Charlie Plummer, Ben Wang, Roman Griffin Davis, Judy Greer, and Mark Hamill.

As a coincidence, we’re also kicking off our new series, Project: The Last Action Heroes, beginning with Arnold Schwarzenegger in The Running Man—another King tale adapted for the big screen, though with a very different kind of energy. 

Next week we will be talking Sylvester Stallone. Comment below or write to [email protected] to suggest what movie best sums up Sly’s action career. 

Intro (00:00)

The Running Man (04:40)

Spoiler-free review of The Long Walk (43:40)

Spoiler-talk (01:04:54)

Pete and Trevor step through the looking glass and into the shadows of the Conjuring Universe for the grand finale: The Conjuring: Last Rites. With Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga returning as the Warrens, does this send-off stick the landing for one of horror’s biggest franchises, or does it creak under the weight of its own lore?

As prep for the finale, we are bringing Project Conjuring to a close. We watched The Nun II and The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It to get the full picture before diving into Last Rites.

Intro (0:00)

Review of The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It (3:10)

Review of The Nun II (22:34)

Spoiler-free review of Last Rites (39:17)

Spoiler talk (56:45)

Next project (1:17:05)

Pete and Trevor are back from their career ending injuries to see Darren Aronofsky’s Caught Stealing, his pivot into comedy-crime-thriller territory starring Austin Butler, Regina King, Zoë Kravitz, Matt Smith, Liev Schreiber, Vincent D’Onofrio (and Bad Bunny apparently?). How does this film fits into Aronofsky’s unpredictable career? Is it a calculated retreat, or is he just cutting loose with something pulpy and violent?

Meanwhile, Project Conjuring continues. This week we discuss The Curse of La Llorona and Annabelle Comes Home, and next week we’ll close things out with The Nun II and The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It, all leading up to the feature of the series, The Conjuring: Last Rites.

Intro and history with Aronofsky (0:00)

Review of The Curse of La Llorona (15:13)

Review of Annabelle Comes Home (26:40)

Spoiler free review of Caught Stealing (39:38)

Spoiler-talk (55:00)

Pete and Trevor dive into one of the buzziest films of 2025: Relay, the stylish new crime thriller from David Mackenzie (Hell or High Water), starring Riz Ahmed, Lily James, Sam Worthington, and Ariyon Bakare.

We’re also pushing forward with Project Conjuring, our deep dive through every film in the Conjuring universe. This week we’re covering The Nun (2018), Corin Hardy’s gothic horror that expands the mythology of Valak. Next week, we’ll be tackling The Curse of La Llorona (2019) and Annabelle Comes Home (2019).

Intro (0:00)

Review of The Nun (2018) (9:20)

Spoiler-free review of Relay (34:27)

Spoiler talk (49:21)