Movie Madness

This week in physical media certainly plays to the cult audiences that embraced them. That may not include an inspirational Ron Howard sports movie or the unnecessary remakes on the pile but Erik Childress and Peter Sobczynski talk you through an early Lizzie Borden film and one of the craziest near-lost crime films of the ‘70s. There is fun stuff too from the film that launched the film careers of Bill Murray and Ivan Reitman to one of the greatest comedies and mockumentaries of all-time. Even Peter is down with this week’s geek offerings from Disney’s revolutionary move to computer animated effects in 1982 to the goofy sci-fi/fantasy from the director of Breaking Away.

5:00 - Criterion (Born In Flames, This is Spinal Tap (4K))

27:36 - Lions Gate (Meatballs 4K)

42:17 - Universal (Cinderella Man 4K, Speak No Evil 4K)

1:00:11 - Kino (Maedchen in Uniform, The Wrong Arm of the Law, Night of the Juggler (4K))

1:21:29 - Disney (Tron 4K, Tron Legacy 4K)

1:40:41 - Sony (Krull (4K Steelbook))

1:56:39 - New Theatrical Titles On Blu-ray (Vulcanizadora, My Dead Friend Zoe)

1:57:21 - New Blu-ray Announcements

CLICK ON THE FILMS TO RENT OR PURCHASE AND HELP OUT THE MOVIE MADNESS PODCAST

Be sure to check out

Erik’s Weekly Box Office Column – At Rotten Tomatoes

Critics’ Classics Series – At Elk Grove Cinema in Elk Grove Village, IL

Chicago Screening Schedule - All the films coming to theaters and streaming

Physical Media Schedule - Click & Buy upcoming titles for your library.

(Direct purchases help the Movie Madness podcast with a few pennies.)

Erik’s Linktree - Where you can follow Erik and his work anywhere and everywhere.

The Movie Madness Podcast has been recognized by Million Podcasts as one of the Top 100 Best Movie Review Podcasts as well as in the Top 60 Film Festival Podcasts and Top 100 Cinephile Podcasts. MillionPodcasts is an intelligently curated, all-in-one podcast database for discovering and contacting podcast hosts and producers in your niche perfect for PR pitches and collaborations.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Erik Childress and Steve Prokopy are back on the review beat with seven new films this week. Steve looks at a documentary about model and photographer Bunny Yeager (Naked Ambition) as well as the conclusion of everyone’s beloved big house (Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale). Corey Hawkins deals with a mysterious offer from Willem Dafoe (The Man In My Basement) and Dev Patel gets put through the folk horror wringer (Rabbit Trap). The film which opened this year’s Chicago Critics Film Festival is one of the best you will see this year (The Baltimorons). Stephen King’s Vietnam-era novel finally gets its adaptation from the director of The Hunger Games sequels (The Long Walk). Finally, 41 years in the making itself, everyone’s favorite dysfunctional rock trio returns (Spinal Tap II: The End Continues)

3:36 - Naked Ambition

9:37 - The Man in My Basement

20:32 - Rabbit Trap

30:03 - The Baltimorons

40:48 - Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale

49:29 - The Long Walk

1:02:49 - Spinal Tap II: The End Continues

CLICK ON THE FILMS TO RENT OR PURCHASE AND HELP OUT THE MOVIE MADNESS PODCAST

Be sure to check out

Erik’s Weekly Box Office Column – At Rotten Tomatoes

Critics’ Classics Series – At Elk Grove Cinema in Elk Grove Village, IL

Chicago Screening Schedule - All the films coming to theaters and streaming

Physical Media Schedule - Click & Buy upcoming titles for your library.

(Direct purchases help the Movie Madness podcast with a few pennies.)

Erik’s Linktree - Where you can follow Erik and his work anywhere and everywhere.

The Movie Madness Podcast has been recognized by Million Podcasts as one of the Top 100 Best Movie Review Podcasts as well as in the Top 60 Film Festival Podcasts and Top 100 Cinephile Podcasts. MillionPodcasts is an intelligently curated, all-in-one podcast database for discovering and contacting podcast hosts and producers in your niche perfect for PR pitches and collaborations.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Erik Childress and Peter Sobczynski look ahead in the world of physical media and reveal what you can add to your library this week and next. For those who have seen Spike Lee’s remake, Highest 2 Lowest, Crtierion offers up the Kurosawa original in OK. You may have been issued it when you first bought your DVD player but now you can get the TV sci-fi adaptation with a unique stake in box office history. Universal has upgraded a pair of Best Actress-winning biopics and Warner upgrades a horror original in time for its final sequel. Oliver Stone has James Woods in one of his very best performances. Dwayne Johnson gets 4K’d in one of his few good movies. There are a pair of detective stories including the unfairly maligned sequel to Chinatown. Plus Walter Hill’s prison boxing film is also worth another look

4:20 - Criterion (High and Low (4K), Compensation)

17:13 - Arrow (Lost in Space (1998) (4K))

28:21 - Universal (Coal Miner's Daughter (4K), Erin Brockovich (4K))

45:09 - Shout Factory (Salvador (4K))

55:14 - Warner (The Conjuring (4K))

1:01:50 - Kino (Huckleberry Finn (1931), Father Brown Detective, The Two Jakes (4K), The Lords of Discipline (4K), Smoke/Blue in the Face, The Rundown (4K), Undisputed (4K))

1:56:21 - New Theatrical & TV Titles On Blu-ray (Ballerina: From the World of John Wick (4K), Jurassic World: Rebirth (4K), Elio (4K), Materialists, Ice Road: Vengeance, The Surfer, Clown in a Cornfield (4K), The Ritual, Bride Hard, Little House on the Prairie: The Complete Series (1974-1983))

2:02:51 - New Blu-ray Announcements

CLICK ON THE FILMS TO RENT OR PURCHASE AND HELP OUT THE MOVIE MADNESS PODCAST

Be sure to check out

Erik’s Weekly Box Office Column – At Rotten Tomatoes

Critics’ Classics Series – At Elk Grove Cinema in Elk Grove Village, IL

Chicago Screening Schedule - All the films coming to theaters and streaming

Physical Media Schedule - Click & Buy upcoming titles for your library.

(Direct purchases help the Movie Madness podcast with a few pennies.)

Erik’s Linktree - Where you can follow Erik and his work anywhere and everywhere.

The Movie Madness Podcast has been recognized by Million Podcasts as one of the Top 100 Best Movie Review Podcasts as well as in the Top 60 Film Festival Podcasts and Top 100 Cinephile Podcasts. MillionPodcasts is an intelligently curated, all-in-one podcast database for discovering and contacting podcast hosts and producers in your niche perfect for PR pitches and collaborations.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

It is Labor Day weekend, the unofficial end of summer, and just before festival and awards season begins, Erik Childress and Steve Prokopy serve up 12 films to review and talk about. The wayback machine gets set to 2023 when they first reviewed the absolutely lovely new film with David Strathairn and Jane Levy from Sundance now in theaters (A Little Prayer). The machine goes back even further to reminisce upon Prince’s concert film (Sign O’ The Times) and the 50th anniversary Steven Spielberg’s masterpiece (Jaws) both back in theaters. Can a cycle of revenge be explained to a newborn (The Workout) and can there be another family version of an old tale (Robin and the Hoods)? What happens when a toxic workplace is all about the toxic internet (American Sweatshop) and what happens when a toxic fan worms his way into a singer’s entourage (Lurker)? A gaggle of British retirees team up to solve a crime and save their home (The Thursday Murder Club) and Peter Dinklage takes on Troma’s iconic hero in a new update (The Toxic Avenger). Benedict Cumberbatch and Olivia Colman suffer the consequences of marriage in another 1980s remake (The Roses) while the makers of The Climb take on open relationships with Dakota Johnson (Splitsville). Finally, Darren Aronofsky puts Austin Butler through the ringer in a new action comedy (Caught Stealing).

3:53 - A Little Prayer

18:30 - Jaws (50th Anniversary)

29:13 - Prince - Sign O' The Times

36:35 - The Workout

43:53 - Robin and the Hoods

50:41 - American Sweatshop

1:00:53 - The Thursday Murder Club

1:11:33 - The Toxic Avenger

1:21:31 - Lurker

1:31:37 - The Roses

1:46:50 - Splitsville

1:54:15 - Caught Stealing

CLICK ON THE FILMS TO RENT OR PURCHASE AND HELP OUT THE MOVIE MADNESS PODCAST

Be sure to check out

Erik’s Weekly Box Office Column – At Rotten Tomatoes

Critics’ Classics Series – At Elk Grove Cinema in Elk Grove Village, IL

Chicago Screening Schedule - All the films coming to theaters and streaming

Physical Media Schedule - Click & Buy upcoming titles for your library.

(Direct purchases help the Movie Madness podcast with a few pennies.)

Erik’s Linktree - Where you can follow Erik and his work anywhere and everywhere.

The Movie Madness Podcast has been recognized by Million Podcasts as one of the Top 100 Best Movie Review Podcasts as well as in the Top 60 Film Festival Podcasts and Top 100 Cinephile Podcasts. MillionPodcasts is an intelligently curated, all-in-one podcast database for discovering and contacting podcast hosts and producers in your niche perfect for PR pitches and collaborations.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Physical media is serving up a smorgasbord of films with reevaluations and those that have found their audiences over the year. They include a pair of LBGTQ films hovering around their 20th anniversaries. Horror remakes, prequels and sequel adjacent films as well a package of hard-to-find Larry Cohen projects. Martin Scorsese went to bat for a 1952 paranoia that was spoofed on MST3K while Quentin Tarantino found inspiration in the first of Shout Factory’s remastered Asian action releases. Michael Caine is a badass in a classic British crime film and one of the funniest films of all-time celebrates its 50th Anniversary with a new edition.

3:51 - Criterion (Saving Face)

7:51 - Lionsgate (But I’m a Cheerleader)

16:05 - Arrow (The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2003) (4K), The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning 4K)

25:26 - Vinegar Syndrome (The Rage: Carrie 2 (4K), The Card Player (4K), Mac and Me (4K))

48:29 - Film Masters (Invasion, U.S.A. (1952))

54:03 - Shout (City On Fire (4K), Larry Cohen: Mystery and Misdirection)

1:13:51 - Warner Archive (Get Carter (1971) (4K))

1:19:25 - Kino (Scoop)

1:24:46 - Sony (Monty Python and the Holy Grail (4K Steelbook))

1:36:59 - New Theatrical & TV Titles On Blu-ray (Lilo & Stitch (2025) (4K), Karate Kid: Legends (4K), Ghostlight, The King of Kings, Huckleberry Hound Show (Complete Series), Emergency!: The Complete Series (1972-1979))

1:40:51 - New Blu-ray Announcements

CLICK ON THE FILMS TO RENT OR PURCHASE AND HELP OUT THE MOVIE MADNESS PODCAST

Be sure to check out

Erik’s Weekly Box Office Column – At Rotten Tomatoes

Critics’ Classics Series – At Elk Grove Cinema in Elk Grove Village, IL

Chicago Screening Schedule - All the films coming to theaters and streaming

Physical Media Schedule - Click & Buy upcoming titles for your library.

(Direct purchases help the Movie Madness podcast with a few pennies.)

Erik’s Linktree - Where you can follow Erik and his work anywhere and everywhere.

The Movie Madness Podcast has been recognized by Million Podcasts as one of the Top 100 Best Movie Review Podcasts as well as in the Top 60 Film Festival Podcasts and Top 100 Cinephile Podcasts. MillionPodcasts is an intelligently curated, all-in-one podcast database for discovering and contacting podcast hosts and producers in your niche perfect for PR pitches and collaborations.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

The summer continues to wind down but Erik Childress and Steve Prokopy still have eight reviews for you this week. Steve takes a look at one of the most successful films of all-time, outside of the United States (Ne Zha 2) as well as a Sophie Turner thriller the studio apparently wanted nobody to see or even hear about (Trust) while Erik looks at the new romance from Lasse Hallstrom (The Map That Leads To You). Then its time for Samara Weaving as a getaway driver (Eenie Meanie) and Riz Ahmed providing cover for whistleblowers (Relay). A group of college kids try to avoid growing up (Pools) and a bunch of adults escape wartime society in the new film from Ron Howard (Eden). Finally, Ethan Coen gives it another shot without brother Joel (Honey, Don’t).

3:10 - Ne Zha 2

11:13 - The Map That Leads To You

19:46 - Trust

29:14 - Eenie Meanie

40:22 - Pools

54:26 - Relay

1:07:55 - Eden

1:18:07 - Honey, Don't

CLICK ON THE FILMS TO RENT OR PURCHASE AND HELP OUT THE MOVIE MADNESS PODCAST

Be sure to check out

Chicago Screening Schedule - All the films coming to theaters and streaming

Physical Media Schedule - Click & Buy upcoming titles for your library.

(Direct purchases help the Movie Madness podcast with a few pennies.)

Erik’s Linktree - Where you can follow Erik and his work anywhere and everywhere.

The Movie Madness Podcast has been recognized by Million Podcasts as one of the Top 100 Best Movie Review Podcasts as well as in the Top 60 Film Festival Podcasts and Top 100 Cinephile Podcasts. MillionPodcasts is an intelligently curated, all-in-one podcast database for discovering and contacting podcast hosts and producers in your niche perfect for PR pitches and collaborations.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

This week in physical media with Erik Childress and Peter Sobczynski they look at everything from Italian neo-realism to blaxploitation. There is also James Stewart and his invisible rabbit, Jane Austen and her lovelorn sisters plus a little Jess Franco. One of Leslie Nielsen’s lesser known parodies is discussed along with the Coneheads feature and one of Adam Sandler’s most beloved characters. Erik goes to bat for what he feels is an underappreciated Ron Howard film and Peter goes into the bizarro world of Xanadu.

3:41 - Criterion (Shoeshine (4K))

7:43 - Universal (Harvey 4K)

17:25 - Sony (Sense and Sensibility 4K)

24:57 - Shout (Blaxploitation Classics Vol. 2 (4K))

41:07 - Arrow (Perpetrator)

44:33 - Kino (The Vengeance of Doctor Mabuse, Gung Ho, Repossessed, Coneheads (4K), Happy Gilmore (4K), Xanadu (4K))

1:42:36 - New Blu-ray Announcements

CLICK ON THE FILMS TO RENT OR PURCHASE AND HELP OUT THE MOVIE MADNESS PODCAST

Be sure to check out

Chicago Screening Schedule - All the films coming to theaters and streaming

Physical Media Schedule - Click & Buy upcoming titles for your library.

(Direct purchases help the Movie Madness podcast with a few pennies.)

Erik’s Linktree - Where you can follow Erik and his work anywhere and everywhere.

The Movie Madness Podcast has been recognized by Million Podcasts as one of the Top 100 Best Movie Review Podcasts as well as in the Top 60 Film Festival Podcasts and Top 100 Cinephile Podcasts. MillionPodcasts is an intelligently curated, all-in-one podcast database for discovering and contacting podcast hosts and producers in your niche perfect for PR pitches and collaborations.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

It is another epic review week on the show with Erik Childress and Steve Prokopy tackling 11 films. They range from a documentary about comedians navigating their worst condition (Anxiety Club) to an animated film about horny dogs (Fixed). A black family deals with the aftermath of an intruder in their home (The Knife) while a toxic dead mother intrudes on the bodies of her wife and son (Went Up The Hill) not to mention the widowed rancher trying to keep her family and business together (East of Wall). Two friends fight against being abducted by aliens in an apartment (Jimmy & Stiggs) while two infamous cable staples from 1985 get reimagined without imagination (Witchboard, Red Sonja). Bob Odenkirk returns as a man of action (Nobody 2). Vanessa Kirby spends all night trying to gather money to save her home (Night Always Comes) and Spike Lee reteams with Denzel Washington in the best remake of the week; let alone one from Akira Kurosawa (Highest 2 Lowest).

3:06 - Anxiety Club

10:22 - Fixed

17:13 - The Knife

24:55 - Went Up the Hill

32:34 - East of Wall

40:17 - Witchboard

51:28 - Red Sonja

1:02:38 - Jimmy and Stiggs

1:12:47 - Night Always Comes

1:25:47 - Nobody 2

1:37:42 - Highest 2 Lowest

CLICK ON THE FILMS TO RENT OR PURCHASE AND HELP OUT THE MOVIE MADNESS PODCAST

Be sure to check out

Chicago Screening Schedule - All the films coming to theaters and streaming

Physical Media Schedule - Click & Buy upcoming titles for your library.

(Direct purchases help the Movie Madness podcast with a few pennies.)

Erik’s Linktree - Where you can follow Erik and his work anywhere and everywhere.

The Movie Madness Podcast has been recognized by Million Podcasts as one of the Top 100 Best Movie Review Podcasts as well as in the Top 60 Film Festival Podcasts and Top 100 Cinephile Podcasts. MillionPodcasts is an intelligently curated, all-in-one podcast database for discovering and contacting podcast hosts and producers in your niche perfect for PR pitches and collaborations.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

This week in physical media with Erik Childress and Peter Sobczynski they look at a staple of Egyptian film noir as well as a noir box that features an early version of Gatsby. There’s a double feature with Sylvia Sidney and a double dip of Sleepaway Camp. Hear about the horror film that Peter despises as well as the better one also getting the 4K upgrade. The Poseidon Adventure gets a modern remake and Oliver Stone does his 9/11 film. Erik also proves to be a bit fonder of the trio of anniversaries being released, particularly the one he considers to be one of the absolute best of modern comedies and kicked off an era that many wish would return to the big screen.

3:16 - Criterion (Cairo Station)

6:55 - Kino (Confessions of a Co-Ed/Ladies of the Big House, The Farmer's Daughter, Film Noir: The Dark Side of Cinema XXVI)

22:58 – Shout Factory (World Trade Center (4K), Sleepaway Camp II: Unhappy Campers (4K), Sleepaway Camp III: Teenage Wasteland (4K))

35:08 – Lions Gate (High Tension 4K, It Follows 4K)

50:21 - Arrow (Poseidon (4K))

54:59 - Universal (Meet the Parents (2000) (4K), Casper (4K), The 40-Year-Old Virgin (4K))

1:22:35 - New Theatrical Titles & TV on Blu-ray (The Accountant 2 (4K), How to Train Your Dragon (2025) (4K), 1923: A Yellowstone Origin Story: Season Two, A Good Girl's Guide to Murder: Season One)

1:24:39 - New Blu-ray Announcements

CLICK ON THE FILMS TO RENT OR PURCHASE AND HELP OUT THE MOVIE MADNESS PODCAST

Be sure to check out

Chicago Screening Schedule - All the films coming to theaters and streaming

Physical Media Schedule - Click & Buy upcoming titles for your library.

(Direct purchases help the Movie Madness podcast with a few pennies.)

Erik’s Linktree - Where you can follow Erik and his work anywhere and everywhere.

The Movie Madness Podcast has been recognized by Million Podcasts as one of the Top 100 Best Movie Review Podcasts as well as in the Top 60 Film Festival Podcasts and Top 100 Cinephile Podcasts. MillionPodcasts is an intelligently curated, all-in-one podcast database for discovering and contacting podcast hosts and producers in your niche perfect for PR pitches and collaborations.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Lots of movies this week on the show. 11 of them to be precise with full reviews from Erik Childress and Steve Prokopy. Steve flies solo with Jamie Lee Curtis and Lindsay Lohan back in the wrong bodies (Freakier Friday) plus a new serial killer thriller (Strange Harvest) and a documentary focusing on the fandom of Eminem (Stans). Erik looks at a story of young sisters trying to avoid being separated after their mom dies (What We Hide). There’s an actual music documentary about an artist taken too soon (It’s Never Over, Jeff Buckley) and another pending paternal anxiety with a sci-fi twist (Descendent). An all-star cast forms Kristen Scott-Thomas’ personal directorial debut (My Mother’s Wedding) and Eddie Murphy teams up with Pete Davidson for some armored truck action (The Pickup). A young girl’s drawings come to life causing havoc around town (Sketch). The pair catch up on the new reboot of a comedy classic (The Naked Gun) and finish off with the mysterious disappearance of children from the director of Barbarian (Weapons).

3:25 - Freakier Friday

12:13 - What We Hide

18:29 - Strange Harvest

23:20 - Stans

29:20 - Descendent

39:09 - It's Never Over, Jeff Buckley

47:23 - My Mother's Wedding

57:52 – The Pickup

1:07:50 - Sketch

1:19:09 - The Naked Gun

1:33:58 - Weapons

CLICK ON THE FILMS TO RENT OR PURCHASE AND HELP OUT THE MOVIE MADNESS PODCAST

Be sure to check out

Chicago Screening Schedule - All the films coming to theaters and streaming

Physical Media Schedule - Click & Buy upcoming titles for your library.

(Direct purchases help the Movie Madness podcast with a few pennies.)

Erik’s Linktree - Where you can follow Erik and his work anywhere and everywhere.

The Movie Madness Podcast has been recognized by Million Podcasts as one of the Top 100 Best Movie Review Podcasts as well as in the Top 60 Film Festival Podcasts and Top 100 Cinephile Podcasts. MillionPodcasts is an intelligently curated, all-in-one podcast database for discovering and contacting podcast hosts and producers in your niche perfect for PR pitches and collaborations.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.