Movie Madness

It is a light week for physical media but that does not mean there aren’t some heavy hitters. Erik Childress and Peter Sobczynski are here to catch you up including a pair of grim anti-war films from Kon Ichikawa. There is a whole new batch of martial arts films from the Shaw Brothers. Peter Weir’s dad-movie maritime epic gets an upgrade as does a great starring vehicle for David Dastmalchian. They talk about Sam Peckinpah’s song-inspired Hal Needham film and the 40th anniversary of a John Cusack teen classic. Though few films will compare to the majesty of a masterpiece among masterpieces from Billy Wilder that belongs on every movie lover’s shelf.

3:45 - Criterion (Fires on the Plain 4K, The Burmese Harp 4K)

10:23 – Shout Factory (Shaw Brothers Classics: Volume Seven)

13:32 - Disney (Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World (4K Steelbook))

23:55 - Paramount (Sunset Boulevard (4K), Better Off Dead (4K))

51:06 - IFC (Late Night with the Devil (4K Steelbook))

1:13:57 - Kino (Convoy (4K))

1:13:57 – New Theatrical Title On Blu-ray (Friendship)

1:15:09 - 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.

Erik Childress and Peter Sobczynski guide you through a wacky week of physical media. It includes the breakthrough comedies from Jim Carrey and Adam Sandler. Eddie Murphy makes his first foray into fantasy and Norm MacDonald gets three versions of his first starring role. A cinephile incel turns to murder. Meanwhile, Pulp Fiction gets a spinoff and Diabolik gets three. There is blaxploitation, Elaine May, Jon Cryer going back to school and Fu Manchu. Find out who Cliff Twemlow is and what William Conrad directed. Another William (Friedkin) directs his reported favorite movie that got the How Did This Get Made treatment while a pair of titles also got the MST3K stamp. We also got one from our Why Is This Not On Blu-Rays shows making the leap from DVD to 4K

3:12 - Shout! Factory (Fade to Black, Ace Ventura: Pet Detective (4K Steelbook))

21:55 - Kino (Billy Madison (4K), Hiding Out (4K), Curdled (4K), The Diabolik Trilogy)

45:21 - Severin (Bloody Legend: The Complete Cliff Twemlow Collection)

54:49 - Warner Archive (Brainstorm (1965), Melinda)

1:03:52 - Blue Underground (The Blood of Fu Manchu (4K), The Castle of Fu Manchu (4K))

1:09:00 - Vinegar Syndrome (Fire Maidens from Outer Space 4K, A New Leaf (4K), Let’s Scare Jessica to Death 4K, The Golden Child 4K, Dirty Work (4K), Jade (4K), We're No Angels (1989))

2:14:19 - New Theatrical Titles On Blu-ray (The Phoenician Scheme, Rust, Thunderbolts* (4K))

2:16:16 – 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.

Erik Childress and Steve Prokopy review seven movies for you this week. They include a documentary about one of the most famous journalists of her time (Barbara Walters: Tell Me Everything). Erik check out Hell in the Pacific meets the Creature from the Black Lagoon (Monster Island) while Steve looks at a new romantic thriller from Michael Winterbottom (Shoshana). They catch up on a quirky relationship comedy they saw at Sundance (Oh, Hi!). Pete Davidson goes the horror route with a mysterious elderly facility (The Home) while another SNL veteran returns to maybe his most popular character after 30 years (Happy Gilmore 2). Finally, Steve gets to check in on his thoughts on the latest from the Marvel Cinematic Universe (The Fantastic Four: First Steps).

3:08 - Barbara Walters: Tell Me Everything

17:29 - Monster Island

23:16 - Shoshana

29:19 - Oh, Hi!

41:14 - The Home

52:14 - Happy Gilmore 2

1:07:38 - The Fantastic Four: First Steps

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.

Just a few weeks after their incredible disappointment with James Gunn’s Superman (which they briefly revisit), Erik Childress and comic book expert Erik Laws dive back into comic book cinema with Marvel’s latest attempt to do justice to the Fantastic Four. After two films by Tim Story and the infamous disasters of 2015 and the shelved Roger Corman version of the ‘90s, the foursome has never endeared itself to Childress but the results may surprise you. They delve into the creation and treatment of Galactus and the Silver Surfer, how the new cast adheres to the intentions of the comic book family and why that is important to its ultimate success. The film is not without its flaws but does manage to further highlight some of the flaws they found in Superman. Could Marvel be inching their way back to creative consistency? The title may just have a dual meaning in that manner.

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.

Physical media offers a lot of pleasures this week. Do Erik Childress and Peter Sobczynski feel guilty about any of them? Certainly not of Jack Nicholson’s collaboration with Mike Nichols or one of their “Why Is This Not On Blu-ray” titles getting the 4K treatment. There’s a little history of the nudie plus Bertolucci does a family film. An MST3K selection may not be worth all the skewering though neither was Joe Dante’s snakebit summer effort from 1998. All that plus Larry Cohen’s grossly satirical take on consumerism and what Beverly Hills Cop might have been like if it starred Sylvester Stallone.

3:22 - Criterion (Carnal Knowledge (4K), You Can Count On Me (4K), All We Imagine as Light)

21:44 - Shout! Factory (Strangers with Candy (Collector's Edition))

27:16 - Kino (Mr. Peters' Pets / Everybody Loves It / 50,000 B.C. Before Clothing (1962-1964), Danger: Diabolik (4K), Silent Scream (4K), Little Buddha (4K))

57:08 - Paramount (Small Soldiers (4K Steelbook))

1:12:30 - Arrow (The Nightwatch Collection,The Stuff (4K), Cobra (4K))

1:51:12 - New TV & Theatrical Titles On Blu-ray (Bewitched: The Complete Series (60th Anniversary Special Edition), Knight Rider: The Complete Series (4K), Ash, Fight or Flight, Final Destination: Bloodlines (4K))

1:56:10 – 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.

Seven new movies are available in theaters and on streaming this week. At least the seven reviewed by Erik Childress and Steve Prokopy this week. They include the latest thriller from Kiyoshi Kurosawa (Cloud) and the latest wannabe thriller starring Bella Thorne (Saint Clare). TV pioneer Shari Lewis finally gets her own documentary (Shari & Lamb Chop) while a cinema-loving young woman gets a chance to mingle with the people she thought she dreamt about (Finally Dawn). Embeth Davidtz makes his directorial debut adapting a South African childhood memoir (Don’t Let’s Go to the Dogs Tonight) while five dum-dums wish they did not have to revisit another season of death (I Know What You Did Last Summer). Finally, Ari Aster adds to his repertoire of anxiety-laden horror by exploring America in the early days of the pandemic (Eddington).

4:45 - Cloud

11:05 - Saint Clare

18:35 - Shari & Lamb Chop

30:02 - Finally Dawn

40:01 - Don't Let's Go To The Dogs Tonight

48:53 - I Know What You Did Last Summer

1:07:48 - Eddington

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.

Physical media serves up some classics as well as some that deserve more modern classic status. Peter Sobczynski may disagree with some of them but he joins Erik Childress again this week to bring you the latest and greatest. They include a restored series from Francois Truffaut as well as some oddities involving Fred MacMurray and the “involvement” of The Three Stooges. There are sequels for Robocop and the Ghoulies as well as some more WWII hijinks for Brad Pitt. One of the great westerns of all-time is up for debate. Though there is nothing but love for one of the better low-budget sci-fi films of its day and Bill Paxton making one of the best directorial debuts ever.

3:22 - Criterion (The Adventures of Antoine Doinel (4K))

12:30 - Kino (Exclusive, Shane 4K)

27:39 - Arrow Films (Crumb Catcher)

34:19 - Sony (Stop! Look! and Laugh!, Fury 4K)

45:19 - Shout! Factory (Battle Beyond the Stars 4K, Robocop 2 4K Steelbook)

1:05:41 - Lions Gate (Ghoulies Go to College , Frailty 4K)

1:23:44 - New TV & Theatrical Titles On Blu-ray (Manifest: The Complete Series, The Surfer)

1:25:38 – 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.

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 review nine movies for you this week with four of them coming in a unique bundle. Those include a group of friends sheltering in place when they believe a nuclear missile is coming for them (Nuked), a pregnant woman confined to a house when a mysterious man threatens her safety (Push), an introvert and an extrovert confined to an apartment trying to avoid becoming one with the world (Else) and another couple on the outs stuck in an apartment complex seemingly with no way out (Brick). Beyond that there is the implication that Van Helsing was not the man he said he was (Abraham’s Boys) nor do the lucid dreams of a grieving man reflect the reality of his relationship (Daniela Forever). Steven Spielberg’s immortal masterpiece celebrates a birthday with a new documentary (Jaws@50: The Definitive Inside Story). Jacob Tremblay comes to realize his anti-government father may not be the best role model (Sovereign). Finally, Steve gets to throw in his two cents on this week’s big comic book reboot (Superman).

1:02 - Abraham's Boys: A Dracula Story

11:44 - Nuked

18:40 - Push

22:46 - Else

27:10 - Brick

38:09 - Daniela Forever

45:46 - Jaws @ 50: The Definitive Inside Story

1:01:41 - Sovereign

1:18:55 - Superman

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

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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.

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

For years on the Movie Madness Podcast, comic book expert Erik Laws has joined Erik Childress to discuss in-depth the various superhero and graphic novel adaptation to the big screen from Marvel to DC and the heights to the very lows. In this episode they discuss how James Gunn’s long-awaited takeover and reboot of the DC Universe is not just a massive disappointment but may represent a new low. They break it all down from David Corenswet’s portrayal of Superman and Clark, the lack of genuine stakes, the reliance on an overly jokey tone and the way Krypto is utilized throughout. No stone is left unturned from Superman tropes to a screamy Lex Luthor, idiotic plot turns and right back to Gunn’s own statements about the movie that does not exist on the screen. This is not hyperbole. This is not for clicks or yuks. This is how it is from two honest takes.

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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.

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

There’s a lot to talk about this week in the world of physical media. Peter Sobczynski joins Erik Childress to talk about a Stanley Kubrick epic finally getting the release it deserves. Oliver Stone revisits a final cut for his own epic and there is also some epic destruction from the ‘70s. Denzel Washington looks for a serial killer, though not the one traipsing through the woods like he was Terrence Malick. They’ve got film noir with Glenn Ford, horror meeting blaxploitation and Peter offering his thoughts on Ryan Coogler’s huge 2025 success. Finally the pair discuss Mike Nichols’ now quaint adaptation of politics leading up to the Clinton years and Amy Heckerling’s teen film from the ‘90s still entertaining generations decades later.

2:30 - Criterion (The Big Heat (4K), Barry Lyndon (4K))

21:23 – Shout Factory (Primary Colors (4K), Alexander Revisited: The Final Cut (4K), Abigail (4K))

50:08 - Kino (Sugar Hill)

55:37 - RJLE (In a Violent Nature (4K))

1:04:59 - WB (The Little Things (4K))

1:12:44 - Universal (Earthquake (4K))

1:31:32 - Paramount (Clueless (4K))

1:44:51 - New Theatrical & TV Titles On Blu-ray (Warfare (4K), Death of a Unicorn, The Amateur (4K), The Legend of Ochi, , Shadow Force, The Rule of Jenny Pen, Hell of a Summer, Until Dawn (4K), Sinners (4K), Fallout: Season One (4K), Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman (1993-1997), See (The Complete Series))

1:53:30 – New Blu-ray Announcements

Check eligibility

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.

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