On the final show of 2024, Erik Childress and Steve Prokopy check out eight new movies that include a Danish serial killer from 1919 (The Girl with the Needle) and Nicole Kidman as a CEO who enters into an affair with an intern (Babygirl). Tyler Perry tells the story of undelivered mail during wartime (The Six Triple Eight) and the Sega Genesis hero returns to battle Jim Carrey (Sonic the Hedgehog 3). Robert Eggers offers his take on the Dracula legend (Nosferatu) and James Mangold tells another story of a musical artist (A Complete Unknown). Finally, Barry Jenkins helps tell a pair of wildly different tales. He writes Rachel Morrison’s directorial debut of an Olympic female boxer (The Fire Inside) and then he takes the reins himself of Disney’s prequel to one of their biggest stories (Mufasa: The Lion King).

0:00 - Intro

1:34 - The Girl with the Needle

7:30 - Babygirl

18:12 – The Six Triple Eight

26:55 - Nosferatu

38:58 - Sonic the Hedgehog 3

46:01 – The Fire Inside

57:27 – A Complete Unknown,

1:15:00 - Mufasa: The Lion King

1:32:25 - Outro

There will not be a lot of movement in the rankings through the end of the year. Not until we get into January when many of the major guilds and BAFTA add to the chorus of voices this awards season. So on this episode we look at why its unfortunate we have to consider the Critics Choice Association as one of those voices. For better or worse the numbers do factor in as many of the major races begin to take some shape. We will not be without surprises but Erik Childress offers some hope over worries that Marianne Jean-Baptiste might still be passed over for a nomination and he looks at the Oscar shortlists that were announced.

One last physical media show for 2024 and still time to get those last-minute Christmas gifts. Erik Childress and Peter Sobczynski take you through a bundle that includes two of the all-time masterpieces by John Ford and Francis Ford Coppola. Land is very much in the conversation from films by Ron Howard and Michael Winterbottom. There are aliens in the water, in the womb and something else aboard a submarine from WWII. We’ve got conspiracies, punks and missing thumbs plus the films of Steve De Jarnatt. John Wayne and Cary Grant in 4K plus a couple of solid Sylvester Stallone films including one from 50 years ago and another set in the future. Finally, one of the greatest TV shows of all-time gets the 4K upgrade it deserves as the duo recount some of their favorite episodes and moments from Seinfeld.

0:55 - Criterion (Evil Does Not Exist)

5:08 – Studio Canal (The Conversation 4K)

11:33 - Warner Archive (The Tall Target, Black Eye, Heavy Traffic)

20:33 - Sandpiper (The Lords of Flatbush, The Pope of Greenwich Village)

31:10 - Sony (The Talk of the Town 4K)

34:50 - Warner Bros. (The Searchers 4K)

43:33 - Kino (Hatari 4K, Cherry 2000, Miracle Mile, Internal Affairs 4K, Snake Eyes 4K, The Claim, The Beast Within, Below 4K)

1:38:42 - Shout Factory (Far and Away 4K, The Faculty 4K)

1:56:02 - Arrow (Demolition Man 4K)

2:09:46 – Seinfeld 4K

2:16:40 – New Theatrical Titles On Blu-ray/DVD (Transformers One, Joker: Folie A Deux, Terrifier 3, Apartment 7A, Absolution, Piece by Piece, Sleep)

2:19:30 – New Blu-ray Announcements

Erik Childress and Steve Prokopy continue to wade into December’s offerings with nine new films on the slate. They include the directorial debut of Jack Huston (Day of the Fight) and Eva Green leading a team of female operatives against ISIS (Dirty Angels). The director of The Act of Killing does an apocalyptic musical (The End) while the daughter of a synthesizer inventor takes a joyous and complicated journey learning about her deceased father (Resynator). Paul Schrader takes his own trip through the life of a dying Richard Gere (Oh, Canada) while Angelina Jolie takes us through that of opera’s Callas (Maria). 46 years after Ralph Bakshi, Tolkien gets animated again (The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim) or you can stay home and watch TSA agent Taron Egerton face off against terrorist Jason Bateman in an airport (Carry On). Finally, Sony’s Spider-Man spinoff anti-hero line of Marvel movies supposedly comes to an end (Kraven the Hunter).

0:00 - Intro

1:31 - Day of the Fight

9:40 - Dirty Angels

16:40 - The End

24:31 - Resynator

32:35 - Oh, Canada 

41:26 - Maria 

53:09 - The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim

59:47 - Carry On 

1:12:01 - Kraven the Hunter

1:26:51 - Outro

We continue our march through awards season madness as we look at a fresh batch of nominations and announcements that have started to part the clouds a little on how its all playing out. Thanks to LA, Chicago and even lesser on-the-level groups like the Golden Globes and the National Board of Review (whose statistics can nevertheless not be entirely denied) Erik Childress runs you down the current depth charts on the Big 8 categories which can certainly change week-to-week.

The Movie Madness Podcast presents this bonus extension of the show with a dive into the 2024-25 awards season. A breakdown of the various groups with their victories and nominations in an effort to present an ongoing State-of-the-Race up until the final Oscar nominations on Jan. 17, 2025. Statistics, commentary and a running scoreboard are in store for you starting with announcements from the Gothams and the New York Film Critics. Strap in cause its going to be a ride.

Erik Childress and Peter Sobczynski continue to add to your Christmas carts with a variety of great gift ideas for the movie lovers in your life. They talk about the Coen Bros. big Oscar winner and Fellini’s most beloved film now both in 4K. Peter goes to bat for Abel Ferrara’s vampire tale and a Henry James adaptation from this year. Erik talks the 10th Anniversary of a Christopher Nolan film and offers some defense of Ron Howard’s collaboration with Geoge Lucas and Seth MacFarlane’s debut. A Martha Coolidge film that was part of the Why-Is-This-Not-On-Blu-Ray series finally gets its due and a controversial 1980s horror film gets an upgrade. Finally Peter shows love to a rockin’ high school movie as well the Cracking Collection of Wallace & Gromit.

0:00 - Intro

1:25 - Criterion (No Country for Old Men 4K, 8 1/2 4K, The Beast)

24:30 - Arrow (The Addiction 4K)

35:28 - Disney (Willow 4K)

46:39 - Paramount (Interstellar 4K)

1:00:11 - Kino (Rambling Rose, Daytime Revolution)

1:16:55 - Shout (Rock n Roll High School 4K, Ted 4K, Riddick 4K, Wallace and Gromit The Complete Cracking Collection 4K, Silent Night Deadly Night 4K)

2:11:25 – New Blu-ray Announcements

2:14:05 - Outro

MOVIE MADNESS BONUS EPISODES NOW AVAILABLE ON PATREON

https://www.patreon.com/c/moviemadnesschicago

For just $1 a month (with the current first episode available for free) The Movie Madness Podcast presents this bonus extension of the show with a dive into the 2024-25 awards season. A breakdown of the various groups with their victories and nominations in an effort to present an ongoing State-of-the-Race up until the final Oscar nominations on Jan. 17, 2025. Statistics, commentary and a running scoreboard are in store for you starting with announcements from the Gothams and the New York Film Critics. Strap in cause its going to be a ride.

Erik Childress and Steve Prokopy have nine films to talk about this week. They include Kyle Mooney’s take on the computer glitch of 1999 (Y2K) and what happens when a supermoon infects the world (Werewolves). Ralph Fiennes completes Homer’s odyssey (The Return) while Nick Frost just wants to take his family on vacation to see a scary Swedish tradition (Get Away). There is the true story of one-legged wrestler Anthony Robles (Unstoppable) and the drug-fueled scribblings of William Burroughs through the eyes of Daniel Craig (Queer). Jude Law gruffly goes after white supremacists in the 1980s (The Order).The potential end of the world is told without words and through animated animals (Flow) while Amy Adams may be turning into an animal in a film that tries to use all the words to define motherhood (Nightbitch).  

0:00 - Intro

1:12 - Y2K

8:24 - Werewolves

18:22 – The Return

23:54 - Get Away

30:55 - Flow

38:32 - Unstoppable

50:48 - Queer

1:00:50 – The Order

1:12:19 - Nightbitch

1:23:02 – Next Week’s Movie

1:25:32 – Outro & Special Announcement

MOVIE MADNESS BONUS EPISODES NOW AVAILABLE ON PATREON

https://www.patreon.com/c/moviemadnesschicago

For just $1 a month (with the current first episode available for free) The Movie Madness Podcast presents this bonus extension of the show with a dive into the 2024-25 awards season. A breakdown of the various groups with their victories and nominations in an effort to present an ongoing State-of-the-Race up until the final Oscar nominations on Jan. 17, 2025. Statistics, commentary and a running scoreboard are in store for you starting with announcements from the Gothams and the New York Film Critics. Strap in cause its going to be a ride.

Black Friday and Cyber Monday may be gone but the physical media buying season is in full effect for the movie lovers in your life. Erik Childress and Peter Sobczynski go through the week’s offerings. Sure they include the infamous later films of Ed Wood have been unearthed along with a “Reefer Madness for the Sexual Revolution” plus a goofy Michael Crichton adaptation. But there are also masterpieces from Wim Wenders and Werner Herzog plus a pair of beloved horror and sci-fi comedies. Not to mention an overlooked film from Sam Raimi and the great pre-South Park musical from Trey Parker and Matt Stone. 

0:00 - Intro

1:00 - Criterion (Paris, Texas 4K)

10:28 - Shout Factory (Aguirre: The Wrath of God 4K, The Gift 4K)

22:04 - Kino (The Visit 4K)

30:05 - Sony (Legends of the Fall 4K)

34:43 - Paramount (Galaxy Quest 4K)

45:05 - Universal (Shaun of the Dead 4K Steelbook)

56:04 - Severin (Hard Wood, Scala)

1:07:38 - Vinegar Syndrome (Looking for Mr Goodbar 4K, Cannibal: The Musical 4K, Congo 4K)

1:29:38 – New TV & Theatrical On Blu-ray

1:33:16 – New Blu-ray Announcements

It’s Thanksgiving week and the pickings are slim on the movie front. But Erik Childress and Steve Prokopy may have something for you to watch with the family. Hint that it involves a pair of music documentaries focusing on the arrival of Liverpool’s finest to the States (Beatles ’64) to the soothing sounds of the ‘70s and ‘80s (Yacht Rock: A Dockumentary). You can also hear about the latest from David Gordon Green as Ben Stiller attends to his ill-behaved nephews (Nutcrackers) and the new film from the Farrelly Bros. involving Jack Black answering a young boy’s Christmas call as Satan (Dear Santa). Finally, Disney turns one of their beloved films into a series and then back into a theatrical sequel (Moana 2).  

0:00 - Intro

1:20 - Beatles '64

8:25 - Yacht Rock: A Dockumentary

17:32 - Nutcrackers

29:20 - Dear Santa

38:07 - Moana 2

45:53 - Outro