Join us for a Jurassic Park 7 roundtable review, and place bets on which panelist will fall asleep first.

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• Watch the Jurassic World: Rebirth (2025) trailer.

• Support all of Earth's Mightiest Critics at their various outlets:

  • Check out Mark "The Movie Man" Krawczyk's The Spoiler Room Podcast.

  • Keep up with Jeff York's criticism and caricatures at The Establishing Shot and Pipeline Artists.

  • Get seated with The Blonde in Front!

  • Follow David Fowlie's film criticism at Keeping It Reel.

  • Get educated with Don Shanahan at Every Movie Has a Lesson…

    • ...And Film Obsessive

    • ...and the Cinephile Hissy Fit Podcast.

  • Keep up with Annie Banks at The Mary Sue.

    • ...and We Got This Covered.

  • Make Nice with Mike Crowley of You'll Probably Agree.

  • And save your celluloid soul with Dave Canfield’s Substack, "Creature Feature Preacher".

Ian recommends skipping the new Superman. But there's another recent release that demands your attention--and offers everything James Gunn's empty, ill-fitting tights cannot!

Also, he makes a bold commitment that will change the direction of this channel...forever!

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• Watch the Superman (2025) trailer.

• Not all of Earth's Mightiest Critics agree with Ian's take on the film! Prepare for the Internet battle of the century as the gang goes at it live next Wednesday (7/16) at 8pm CST!

• Support all of Earth's Mightiest Critics at their various outlets:

  • Check out Mark "The Movie Man" Krawczyk's The Spoiler Room Podcast.

  • Keep up with Jeff York's criticism and caricatures at The Establishing Shot and Pipeline Artists.

  • Get seated with The Blonde in Front!

  • Follow David Fowlie's film criticism at Keeping It Reel.

  • Get educated with Don Shanahan at Every Movie Has a Lesson…

    • ...And Film Obsessive

    • ...and the Cinephile Hissy Fit Podcast.

  • Keep up with Annie Banks at The Mary Sue.

    • ...and We Got This Covered.

  • Make Nice with Mike Crowley of You'll Probably Agree.

  • And save your celluloid soul with Dave Canfield’s Substack, "Creature Feature Preacher".

Summer 2025 has been the IP killer, with once-mighty franchises bombing harder than the climax of Dr. Strangelove.

But, wait! What's that coming around the track? Why, it's Brad Pitt behind the wheel of the ultimate racing flick, F1: The Movie!

This week, Earth's Mightiest Critics are revved and ready to make the case that Joseph Kosinski's latest IMAX spectacle is one of the best films of the year--and a danger to commuters everywhere! While Ehren Kruger's screenplay won't set the world on fire, F1 is packed with classic performances, hard-driving race photography, and enough Dude Energy to fuel ten Top Gun: Maverick’s!

Join us as we drive circles around other movie review podcasts with fair, spoilerific, and high-octane analysis! We also take your questions, comments, and SuperChats!

Public Service Announcement: If you're planning to see this summer sleeper hit, we implore you to see it in IMAX, or whichever premium-format experience is nearest to you. This is the reason such experiences exist!

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• Watch the F1: The Movie (2025) trailer.

• Support all of Earth's Mightiest Critics at their various outlets:

  • Check out Mark "The Movie Man" Krawczyk's The Spoiler Room Podcast.

  • Keep up with Jeff York's criticism and caricatures at The Establishing Shot and Pipeline Artists.

  • Get seated with The Blonde in Front!

  • Follow David Fowlie's film criticism at Keeping It Reel.

  • Get educated with Don Shanahan at Every Movie Has a Lesson…

    • ...And Film Obsessive

    • ...and the Cinephile Hissy Fit Podcast.

  • Keep up with Annie Banks at The Mary Sue.

    • ...and We Got This Covered.

  • Make Nice with Mike Crowley of You'll Probably Agree.

  • And save your celluloid soul with Dave Canfield’s Substack, "Creature Feature Preacher".

Earth's Mightiest Critics return to the dystopian hellscape of Danny Boyle and Alex Garland's stop-and-start franchise with a look at 28 Years Later!

Nearly three decades after a "rage virus" wrecked Great Britain, a small island commune attempts to restore normalcy while staying ever vigilant against the mainland's ongoing horrors. The latest film centers on a family's struggle to shape a timid preteen into a zombie killer and to find a cure for mom's mysterious illness--and also to uncover more unsettling mysteries stalking the woods!

Is this third chapter as "highly anticipated" as the media claims? Have the filmmakers bungled their own continuity by (rightfully) ignoring the second film ever existed?

And what about that ending?

We'll get into it all during this positively infectious (and oh-so-spoilerific) roundtable review--in which we also take your questions, comments, and SuperChats!

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Show Links

• Watch the 28 Years Later (2025) trailer.

• Support all of Earth's Mightiest Critics at their various outlets:

  • Check out Mark "The Movie Man" Krawczyk's The Spoiler Room Podcast.

  • Keep up with Jeff York's criticism and caricatures at The Establishing Shot and Pipeline Artists.

  • Get seated with The Blonde in Front!

  • Follow David Fowlie's film criticism at Keeping It Reel.

  • Get educated with Don Shanahan at Every Movie Has a Lesson…

    • ...And Film Obsessive

    • ...and the Cinephile Hissy Fit Podcast.

  • Keep up with Annie Banks at The Mary Sue.

    • ...and We Got This Covered.

  • Make Nice with Mike Crowley of You'll Probably Agree.

  • And save your celluloid soul with Dave Canfield’s Substack, "Creature Feature Preacher".

Our "Bond & Determined" series emerges from deep cover for a 60th anniversary review of Thunderball!

Sean Connery's fourth big-screen outing as the MI6 super-spy finds James Bond tracking down stolen nuclear warheads while dodging SPECTRE's second-in-command! Packed with gutsy gals, groovy gadgets, and gorgeous underwater cinematography, this decades-old adventure outshines just about anything at the multiplex today.

In this spoilerific episode, Ian and Jeff look at how Thunderball fits into the Bond legacy; the ways in which the character comes into his own four movies in; and whether or not the franchise should have a future--and what that might entail!

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• Watch the Thunderball (1965) trailer.

• You can pick up Thunderball, and 5 other Connery Bond titles, recently remastered in 4K from Warner Bros!

• Keep up with Jeff York's criticism and caricatures at: The Establishing Shot and Pipeline Artists!

• Spy on our other "Bond & Determined" episodes in our series playlist!

This month, "Accademia Giallo" cranks it up to "11" with a roundtable review of Murder-Rock: Dancing Death!

In Lucio Fulci's mid-80s thriller, the owner of a prestigious New York ballet school teams up with a male model to solve a series of bizarre student murders. Does this gonzo 80's experiment stack up to Fulci's earlier, more buttoned-up work?

Join us for a bloody-good, spoilerific jam session and find out! We also take your questions, comments, and SuperChats, and pay tribute to a very special long-time fan of the show!

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• Watch the Murder-Rock (1984) trailer.

• As mentioned in the show, you can catch up with our recent "Credito Extra" episode, in which Ian interviews Guido and Lucas Henkel--the father/son powerhouse behind the Celluloid Dreams home video label!

• Support all of our terrifying teachers' axe-tracurricular activities!

  • Stay studious with Aaron Christensen at Horror101 with Dr. AC!

  • And subscribe to his YouTube channel!

  • If you dare, venture down into Kitley's Krypt with Jon Kitley!

    • And listen to Jon's scary-good podcast, Discover the Horror!

  • Stalk Bryan Martinez in The Giallo Room!

  • Buy J. Blake Fichera's "Scored to Death" Volume I and II on Amazon (mentioned in the show).

    • Catch up with classic episodes of his Saturday Night Movie Sleepovers podcast!

• Continue your education with our "Accademia Giallo" Playlist!

The outer boundaries of Hammerland are in sight, but no daring escape would be complete without a blown tire at the worst possible moment; that blown tire is the 1956 Quatermass knock-off X The Unknown!

Co-directors Leslie Norman and Joseph Losey bring us a tale of slow-moving space slime that terrorizes a Scottish military base. Only an American scientist and his Atomic Energy Agency liaison stand in the way of face-melting global dominance.

While not a homerun like some of the other films discussed in this series, there's a good deal to like in X The Unknown--a fact that Ian gradually learns in real time, thanks to a handful of post-viewing insights and trivia provided by the ever-patient AC! Join us for a look at "The Blob before The Blob"!

Note: As mentioned in the video, this review was recorded in late May--almost exactly a month ago. After several weeks of nail-biting computer drama, I realized the video footage had not, in fact, been eaten. I recovered the conversation and am ecstatic to share it with you. Enjoy!

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Show Links

• Watch the X The Unknown (1956) trailer.

• Read AC's written review of The Phantom of the Opera at Horror 101 with Dr. AC!

• Order AC's books on essential and obscure horror movies, Horror 101 and Hidden Horror!

• Subscribe to AC's YouTube channel, Horror 101 with Dr. AC.

• Grab only what you can carry as we "Escape from Hammerland"!

• Hitch a ride with our entire 2024 series in the "Return to Hammerland" Playlist!

• It’s not too late to catch up with our 2023 trip “Beyond Hammerland”!

• Check out 2022's year-long journey, "Son of Hammerland"!

• And watch the series that started it all: "Hammerland"

In 1972, Bernardo Bertolucci's Last Tango in Paris pierced the cinema landscape with its gritty and unrelenting portrayal of animalistic sex, grief, and urban malaise.

Marlon Brando stars as Paul, a recent middle-aged widower who meets 20-year-old Jeanne (Maria Schneider) while looking for an apartment. The two decide to shack up for three hedonistic days, blocking out the sad concerns of the world outside. The result is a portrait of mutual and self-destruction, helmed by a director so bent on "authenticity" that he permitted an actual assault to take place on his set.

This year, co-writer/director Jessica Palud brought us Being Maria, a biopic about Schneider and the aftermath of Last Tango's scandalous shoot/release, with Matt Dillon and Anamaria Vartolomei turning in commendable interpretations of the film's iconic actors.

In today's episode, Ian and David examine both films and walk through the various reasons neither come close to being as memorable (or, frankly, as good) as they ought to be--outside the sensationalism inherent in the infamous "butter" scene. They also look at critic Pauline Kael's 1972 New Yorker review and how it brushes right up against contemporary social mores.

Show Links

• Watch the Being Maria (2025) trailer.

• Being Maria is now available On Demand and on Blu-ray, courtesy of Kino Lorber.

• Keep up with all of David Fowlie's film criticism at Keeping It Reel.

• As mentioned in the show, you can read critic Pauline Kael's 1972 review of Last Tango in Paris.

• Plus! Listen to Ian and David's other recent (and very raucous) reviews of:

  • The Unholy Trinity (2025)

  • A Real Pain (2025)

  • Rebel Ridge (2024)

  • Duchess (2024)

  • The Old Oak (2024)

  • What Remains (2024)

Dreamworks has entered the "live action remake" arena with How to Train Your Dragon, and Earth's Mightiest Critics have a take or two on the déjà vu!

Dean DeBlois returns with an update of the 2010 animated hit, which he co-directed with Chris Sanders (Lilo & Stitch, The Wild Robot). He's riding solo this time and, depending on who you ask, the "new" version is either so faithful that it puts Disney's recent live-action efforts in their place--or renders the whole experience "toothless"!

This week's EMC panel promises fire-breathing spectacle nonpareil, as our animated animation fans present both POV's with gusto!

Join us for a look at the good, the bad and the repetitive. We also take your questions, comments, and SuperChats!

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• Watch the How to Train Your Dragon (2010) trailer.

• Watch the How to Train Your Dragon (2025) trailer.

• Bonus! Catch the "Target Audience's" take on the new How to Train Your Dragon film, with Ian and Luke's latest review!

• Support all of Earth's Mightiest Critics at their various outlets:

  • Check out Mark "The Movie Man" Krawczyk's The Spoiler Room Podcast.

  • Keep up with Jeff York's criticism and caricatures at The Establishing Shot and Pipeline Artists.

  • Get seated with The Blonde in Front!

  • Follow David Fowlie's film criticism at Keeping It Reel.

  • Get educated with Don Shanahan at Every Movie Has a Lesson…

    • ...And Film Obsessive

    • ...and the Cinephile Hissy Fit Podcast.

  • Keep up with Annie Banks at The Mary Sue.

    • ...and We Got This Covered.

  • Make Nice with Mike Crowley of You'll Probably Agree.

  • And save your celluloid soul with Dave Canfield’s Substack, "Creature Feature Preacher".

Forget comic book movies and video game adaptations: low-budget Westerns are charging over the pop culture horizon!

Today, Ian and David look at Richard Gray's The Unholy Trinity, starring Pierce Brosnan, Samuel L. Jackson, and Brandon Lessard. Unlike many of the Saban Films the guys have reviewed in the past, this one is actually out in theatres--and one of your two intrepid hosts heartily recommends it!

Yes, this twisty tale of multi-pronged revenge, found family, and buried gold is either a standard-issue I-guess-we-can-shoot-here cash grab, or it's an above-average adventure with witty dialogue, unexpectedly fun developments, and a main cast that does far more than sleepwalk across the plains!

Notice, we said "main cast".

In this spoiler-lite episode, Ian and David talk about the perils of casting modern young actors in period parts--along with how The Unholy Trinity stumbles as much as it strides, and whether you should rush out to the theater or wait 'til it hits home (on the range)!

Subscribe, like, and comment on Kicking the Seat here on YouTube, and check us out at:

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Show Links

• Watch the The Unholy Trinity (2025) trailer.

• Support all of Earth's Mightiest Critics at their various outlets:

  • Check out Mark "The Movie Man" Krawczyk's The Spoiler Room Podcast.

  • Keep up with Jeff York's criticism and caricatures at The Establishing Shot and Pipeline Artists.

  • Get seated with The Blonde in Front!

  • Follow David Fowlie's film criticism at Keeping It Reel.

  • Get educated with Don Shanahan at Every Movie Has a Lesson…

    • ...And Film Obsessive

    • ...and the Cinephile Hissy Fit Podcast.

  • Keep up with Annie Banks at The Mary Sue.

    • ...and We Got This Covered.

  • And make Nice with Mike Crowley of You'll Probably Agree.