Movie Madness

The first Blu-ray show of 2024 with Peter Sobczynski and Erik Childress has got a little of everything. From Bob Hope to Brigitte Bardot and Chuck Norris to Charles Bronson. The directorial debuts of Andrew Davis and the Coen Bros. gets an upgrade as do the trilogies of Satyajit Ray and Park Chan-Wook (at least the second part of his.) Plus does Eddie Murphy’s stand-up hold up and how much is there to remember about Varsity Blues?

0:00 - Intro

2:34 - Criterion (Blood Simple 4K, Apu Trilogy 4K)

12:19 - Decal (Oldboy 4K)

16:49 - Paramount (Varsity Blues 4K, Raw)

36:32 - MGM (Romantic Comedy)

44:27 - Freestyle (Stony Island)

52:47 - Shout Factory (Forced Vengeance, St. Ives, Telefon)

1:09:28 - Kino (Road to Hong Kong, Split Image, Please Not Now)

1:25:08 - RLJE (Suitable Flesh)

1:26:40 - Universal (The Holdovers)

1:29:04 – New Blu-ray Announcements

1:31:59 - Outro

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On our annual show, Erik Childress and Steve Prokopy make their choices for the standout films of 2023. They are joined once again by Collin Souter of the Christmas Movies Actually podcast to unveil his list as well. Their top 20 is punctuated with a lot of titles you are going to want to remember as they have. What are the ten films that found a spot on all three of their full lists and the four that each made their top tens? Stick until the end to hear their choices in a number of specialty categories that helped make the year so memorable.

0:00 - Intro

3:24 - #20-16

8:59 - #15-11

29:36 - #10-5

54:51 - #5-1

1:25:26 – Special Film Category Shout-Outs

2:05:53 - Outro

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Erik Childress and Steve Prokopy close out 2023 with 11 reviews of the season’s most anticipated films and award season hopefuls. Steve checks out the latest crime comedy from Francois Ozon (The Crime is Mine) while families can check out the latest animated work from Illumination (Migration). Jeffrey Wright is a professor tired of stereotypical depictions of black life in literature (American Fiction) and now there is a feature version of the musical version of Alice Walker’s novel (The Color Purple). Sports play a central role in films from directors George Clooney (The Boys in the Boat), Sean Durkin (The Iron Claw) and Michael Mann (Ferrari) while Bradley Cooper can’t help but get in on the biopic trend (Maestro). Can a new rom-com with Sydney Sweeney and Glen Powell loosen things up (Anyone But You) or will pure fantasy need to be satisfied by the likes of Zack Snyder (Rebel Moon – Part One: A Child of Fire) and James Wan closing out the DC Extended Universe (Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom)?

0:00 - Intro

2:33 - The Crime Is Mine

8:34 - American Fiction

21:35 - The Color Purple

37:03 - The Boys in the Boat

49:55 - The Iron Claw

1:03:53 - Ferrari

1:17:30 - Maestro

1:30:39 - Anyone But You

1:48:54 - Migration

1:59-42 - Rebel Moon - Part One: A Child of Fire

2:17:00 - Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom

2:31:59 - Outro

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Erik Childress and Steve Prokopy play a little catchup this week after being off the previous. This week’s review show includes a pair of documentaries about classic bands (Immediate Family) and a legendary filmmaker (Werner Herzog: Radical Dreamer). Erik checks in a wintry monster movie (A Creature Was Stirring) and Steve looks at a filmed stage musical (Waitress: The Musical) and another Dumas adaptation (The Three Musketeers: D’artagnan). It’s the end of the year so it must mean apocalyptic disaster with a pair of films (Concrete Utopia, Leave the World Behind). Mark Wahlberg is another secret killer with a homelife (The Family Plan) which will not be mistaken for two of this year’s award contenders about being outside the walls of Auschwitz (The Zone of Interest) and Emma Stone breaking down the walls of womanhood (Poor Things). Finally, families have their choice between Hayao Miyazaki (The Boy and the Heron), Aardman Studios (Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget) and the origins of a candy maker (Wonka).

0:00 - Intro

1:33 – Concrete Utopia

3:16 – The Three Musketeers: D’artagnan

5:02 – Waitress: The Musical

9:30 - Werner Herzog: Radical Dreamer

16:32 - A Creature Was Stirring

26:56 - Immediate Family

33:48 - Leave the World Behind

49:54 – The Boy and the Heron

1:00:10 - Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget

1:11:50 – The Zone of Interest

1:24:27 – The Family Plan

1:38:35 - Poor Things

1:53:32 – Wonka

2:07:52 – Preview of Next Week

2:09:23 - Outro

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The last physical media show of 2023 is here just in time to get your last minute Christmas gifts. They include some wonderful stuff for families including one of the great short films of all time, the animation of Masaaki Yuasa and Shaun the Sheep plus one of the best versions of Pinocchio. One of Spike Lee’s early films gets the 4K upgrade as does films from Walter Hill, David Cronenberg and arguably the best of John Woo’s American resume. Peter Sobczynski and Erik Childress look at the end of the ‘80s 3-D era, a trio of horror titles throughout the decades and a remote-dropper musical. They also look at a trio of mysteries including an ‘80s cult classic, Peter Falk in all his complete ‘70s glory and the ultimate one from the ‘60s brought to vivid life by Oliver Stone in the ‘90s that is one of the must-owns to end out the year.

0:00 - Intro

1:08 – Criterion (The Red Balloon, Guillermo Del Toro’s Pinocchio 4K)

10:06 - Warner Archive(The Great Ziegfeld)

13:53 – Sony (School Daze 4K)

17:12 – VCI (Horrors of the Black Museum)

23:52 - Film Masters (The Terror 60th Anniversary)

29:55 – Kino (House of the Long Shadows, The Man Who Wasn’t There, Running Scared, Suspect Zero 4K, Columbo: The Complete Series, Face/Off 4K)

1:01:56 – Arrow (Savage Guns/The Warriors)

1:09:25 – Shout Factory (Last Man Standing, The Dead Zone 4K, Clue 4K, Shaun the Sheep Complete Series, Masaaki Yuasa: Five Films, Weird: The Al Yankovic Story 4K, JFK 4K)

1:52:31 – Recent Theatrical Releases

2:06:50 - Outro

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Sony removed over 1,200 titles from their PlayStation store now gone from your library if you purchased them. That doesn’t happen with physical media and, as always, Erik Childress and Peter Sobczynski have got you covered. You can get Terrence Malick in 4K and one of the crazier Christmas noirs you’ve ever seen. The Coreys and Stephen King are also in 4K not to mention upgrades for James Cameron and Steven Spielberg. Indiana Jones goes for one final ride and you can also discover the origins of the Star Wars Holiday Special. Plus, Peter and Erik debate the merits of both Point Break and Young Guns now getting their own 4K upgrades.

0:00 - Intro

1:14 - Criterion (Blast of Silence, Days of Heaven)

15:02 – Arrow (The Day of the Locust)

25:24 – Sony (Stand By Me 4K Steelbook)

33:34 – Shout Factory (Silver Bullet, Point Break)

50:55 – Paramount (Titanic)

1:02:35 – Warner Bros. (The Color Purple)

1:12:57 – Lions Gate (Young Guns)

1:25:07 – Kino (Tokyo Pop)

1:31:20 – Allied (A Disturbance in the Force)

1:47:16 - Indiana Jones Dial of Destiny (Disney)

1:53:44 – New Blu-ray Announcements

1:55:45 - Outro

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Awards season is upon us and both Erik Childress and Steve Prokopy are preparing their Chicago ballots. But is there anything amongst the seven new titles this week that will fit? There are a pair of documentaries from the legendary Frederick Wiseman (Menus Plaisirs – Les Troisgros) and about a tumultuous year in the life of award-winning musician Jon Baptiste (American Symphony). Steve has some words for an apocalyptic horror film (Everyone Will Burn) and Erik wishes that title applied to the latest body-switch comedy with Jennifer Garner (Family Switch). Do family holiday comedies get any better when you add Eddie Murphy battling the 12 Days of Christmas (Candy Cane Lane) or how about when John Woo takes dialogue away from his gunplay (Silent Night)? Finally the latest in the ultimate kaiju arrives from Toho Studios (Godzilla Minus One). Where does it rank within the series?

0:00 - Intro

1:42 - Menus Plaisirs – Les Troisgros

10:50 - American Symphony

23:47 - Everyone Will Burn

29:52 - Family Switch

38:40 - Candy Cane Lane

49:17 - Silent Night

59:17 - Godzilla Minus One

1:13:08 – Preview of Next Week

1:14:29 - Outro

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Black Friday is gone but maybe Cyber Monday will extend to add these titles to your shopping list or your personal library. Peter Sobczynski joins Erik Childress to talk about remastered films from Bernardo Bertolucci, Michael Mann and an ‘80s cult classic from Fred Dekker and Shane Black. There are films with early roles for Annette Bening, Theresa Russell and a campy sci-fi classic with Jane Fonda. We’ve got a Peppard alert! Plus maybe one of the better horror anthologies, one of the better straight-to-video sequels and, without debate, one of the funniest films of all-time getting the 4K upgrade.

0:00 - Intro

2:17 - Arrow Films (Barbarella (4K), Blackhat (4K), Tremors 2: Aftershocks (4K))

27:57 - RaroVideo (The Conformist)

30:58 - Kino (The Emerald Forest, The Last Tycoon, The Carpetbaggers, Valmont, The Monster Squad (4K))

1:00:13 - Shout! Factory (Death Wish (NEW) (4K), Tales from the Darkside: The Movie (4K))

1:20:18 - Paramount (The Naked Gun (4K))

1:31:16 – New Theatrical and TV Titles

1:34:52 - New Blu-ray Announcements

1:37:09 - Outro

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Erik Childress and Steve Prokopy take you into the Thanksgiving holiday with six new reviews. They include a Melissa McCarthy Christmas film from the writer of Love Actually (Genie) and a documentary about one of the most infamous Christmas presents ever (Billion Dollar Babies: The True Story of the Cabbage Patch Kids). There are two new animated films including one from Disney (Wish) and another from Adam Sandler (Leo). Which do you think is the better one? Then Oscar-winner Emerald Fennell follows up Promising Young Woman with another sociopathic narrative (Saltburn) and Ridley Scott unveils his edited-down version of a big man-baby general (Napoleon).

0:00 - Intro

1:18 - Genie

11:44 - Billion Dollar Babies: The True Story of the Cabbage Patch Kids

26:46 - Leo  

37:28 - Saltburn

51:24 - Wish

1:04:57 - Napoleon

1:20:04 – Preview of Next Week / Outro

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Just in time to bulk up your holiday shopping lists there are some choice selections being released this week on Blu-ray from the classic to the pure nostalgic. Peter Sobczynski and Erik Childress guide you through it. Criterion has got some Scorsese and Chabrol while Kino goes Burt Reynolds and a bizarro ‘80s Christmas tale. Speaking of Scorsese, there’s another Lily Gladstone performance to check out from this year and Lions Gate releases two of their franchise players from the theaters as well. Erik and Peter go through the history of the Police Academy series while the same studio releases a complete set of a terrific sci-fi series Erik caught up with this year. For the moms (and lovers of all things love) there’s a classic Christmas romcom debuting in 4K and for the Dads (when they are done with Burt) Harrison Ford gets the 4K treatment on the run and Christopher Nolan’s latest is here for your stocking stuffers.

0:00 - Intro

1:40 - Criterion (Mean Streets (4K), La Ceremonie)

14:33 - Music Box (The Unknown Country)

20:32 - Kino (Babes in Toyland (1986), White Lightning, Gator, More 4K Recommendations)

36:44 - Shout! Factory (The Police Academy Collection, Farscape: The Complete Series (25th Anniversary Edition))

56:51 - Warner Bros. (The Fugitive (4K))

1:06:18 - Universal (Love Actually (4K), Oppenheimer)

1:22:02 - Lions Gate (Saw X, Expendables 4)

1:33:15 - New Blu-ray Announcements

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