Movie Madness

There are a couple of great battles in the films reviewed on this episode, but Erik Childress and Steve Prokopy leave no film behind this week before debating their merits. Ten films on the docket including films about pigs with no dialogue (Gunda), werewolves with some songwriting (Bloodthirsty) and Lovecraftian fish people who want to spawn with a couple (The Deep Ones). Ed Helms wants Patti Harrison to carry his baby (Together Together) and William Jackson Harper wants to know why Aya Cash won’t marry him (We Broke Up). A pair of documentaries explore the origins of a unique celebrity (Tiny Tim: King for a Day) and a beloved children’s program (Street Gang: How We Got To Sesame Street) while Anna Kendrick, Toni Collette and Daniel Dae Kim head to Mars with an uninvited guest (Stowaway). But if battles are what you are looking for get ready for The Mitchells vs. the Machines and the long-awaited “R”-rated adaptation of the video game, Mortal Kombat   0:00 - Intro 2:42 – Gunda 7:54 – Bloodthirsty 15:37 - Together Together 29:34 – We Broke Up 40:48 – The Deep Ones 51:58 – Tiny Tim: King for a Day 1:07:16 – Street Gang: How We Got To Sesame Street 1:19:27 – Stowaway 1:38:28 – The Mitchells vs. the Machines 1:49:59 – Mortal Kombat 2:08:03 – Outro

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From their WHPK radio show out of the University of Chicago, The Bad Mutha Film Show, Sergio Mims and Erik Childress do another round on the current state of theaters. Where are we headed after Godzilla vs. Kong and is it really the blockbuster titles that we should be looking at to pave the way? Did Paramount make a colossal blunder in moving the Top Gun sequel off the summer schedule and what studio could take advantage of that? They also discuss the closing of the Navy Pier IMAX theater in Chicago and Sergio continues to wonder if Warner Bros. is willing to pull an audible on Denis Villeneuve’s Dune while Erik is skeptical about that and its prospects in general.   0:00 – Intro 4:14 – Godzilla vs. Kong and The Shifting Summer Season 31:13 – Did Paramount Screw Up With Top Gun: Maverick? 50:58 – The Closing of Navy Pier IMAX 1:02:16 – The Dune Situation

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We’re only halfway through April 2021 and the good movies are few and far between. But Erik Childress and Steve Prokopy may actually have a few recommendations for you this week and it arrives with horror in all its manifestations. There is a haunted house (The Banishing), backwoods farmers (Honeydew) and the woods themselves (In the Earth). But there are also toxic relationships (Monday, Slalom), shadow organizations (Trigger Point, The Rookies) and Ruby Rose running down jobs for a wheelchair-bound Morgan Freeman (Vanquish). But there is nothing horrible about the wonderful Barbara Crampton getting a chance to sink her teeth into a lead role in Travis Stevens’ Jakob’s Wife and the duo expand upon their praise from SXSW.   0:00 - Intro 4:12 – The Banishing 11:14 - Trigger Point 17:19 – Slalom 23:40 – Monday 35:51 -  The Rookies 45:37 – Jakob’s Wife 58:24 – Vanquish 1:12:19 - Honeydew 1:27:59 - In the Earth 1:40:08 – Outro

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After the recent film, Malcolm & Marie, went off on a diatribe against film critics, Erik Childress and Sergio Mims decided to look at the way films (and even television) have treated critics of all times. Sometimes satirically, but often as a reaction or a way for filmmakers to enact revenge on those who have taken shots at their work. Are film critics influenced negatively – or even positively – when they are acknowledged in unflattering (or even unfair) terms but those holding a grudge? Can we laugh at ourselves when the opportunity arises or be held to account when justified?

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Erik Childress and Steve Prokopy look at six movies on this week’s show. They review a story of the brutal military service of South Africa (Moffie), what a refugee will do to flee civil war (The Man Who Sold His Skin), a visual landscape brought to you by one of Terrence Malick’s cinematographers (Awaken) and how one survives the night shift at a haunted hospital (The Power). Most of their discussion this week is reserved for how Ben Falcone is failing Melissa McCarthy in their fifth collaboration (Thunder Force) and what happens when a filmmaker tries to mask the classic story he’s really telling by ignoring the more interesting one he’s created (Voyagers.)   0:00 - Intro 1:46 - Moffie 5:51 - The Man Who Sold His Skin 10:15 - Awaken 14:51 - The Power 21:19 - Thunder Force 41:51 - Voyagers 1:03:40 - Outro

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Erik Childress and Steve Prokopy are back with this week’s movie reviews. Six films in a somewhat lackluster week, albeit a few recommendations. But which film(s) will it be? Can it be another corporate rise-and-fall documentary (WeWork: The Making and Breaking of a $47 Billion Unicorn)? Is Michelle Pfeiffer as a rich socialite the draw (French Exit) or is it Idris Elba as an urban cowboy (Concrete Cowboy)? Maybe its Jeffrey Dean Morgan fighting against Christian horror (Roe v Wade – sorry, The Unholy) or a young Jewish woman in a den of disappointment directed at her (Shiva Baby)? No, surely it’s the long-in-the-works film about the landmark abortion case in the hands of conservative fact-fudgers (The Unholy – sorry, Roe v Wade)? Also, if you are looking for the show on favorite screen villains, that is one episode earlier.   2:31 – WeWork: The Making and Breaking of a $47 Billion Unicorn 11:42 – French Exit 22:31 – Concrete Cowboy 35:16 - Shiva Baby 46:04 – The Unholy 59:35 – Roe v Wade 1:15:41 - Outro

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As part of their recent show on WHPK Radio, Sergio Mims and Erik Childress discussed some of their favorite film villains. They range from Nazis to Comic Books and Serial Killers to Blaxploitation Adversaries. Evidence is provided of their evil ways and you may even hear one of them meet their deserved demise. What goes into a great villain and why do these choices stand out? The pair discuss everything from James Bond to Athletic Antagonists and this may only be the beginning.

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Ten new films get time on the weekly review edition of the podcast. Erik Childress tells you about a Star Trek III reunion (Senior Moment), stealing back Francis Drake’s treasure (The Vault) and what kids sing about at Christian camp (A Week Away). Steve Prokopy covers Nazis in not one, but two historical dramas (The Good Traitor, Six Minutes to Midnight) and also takes delight in The Truffle Hunters. Then the duo decide just how funny Eric Andre’s Bad Trip actually is, look at the new Tina Turner documentary on HBO and watch Bob Odenkirk go all John Wick in Nobody. That is all a buildup to the biggest mano-a-mano this week – in more ways than one – with a title match of Godzilla vs. Kong.   2:47 – The Good Traitor 10:16 – Senior Moment 15:52 – The Truffle Hunters 20:18 – A Week Away 27:58 – Six Minutes to Midnight 35:46 – The Vault 42:58 – Bad Trip 57:18 – Tina 1:11:55 – Nobody 1:24:32 - Godzilla vs. Kong 1:55:24 - Outro

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The first fully virtual SXSW Film Festival is in the books and while they are already planning a return to an in-person event in 2022, Erik Childress and Steve Prokopy run down over a dozen films that played this year. It was a remarkable year for female-centric stories including standouts by Barbara Crampton, Olivia Munn and Andrea Risborough. Documentaries introduced us to the world’s greatest domino toppler, those who mounted Alien as a stage production and many of the great women in stand-up comedy. Not everything was played for laughs as there were harrowing stories about Demi Lovato and Selma Blair but spirits lifted with musical tales about Tom Petty and the legendary AIR studios in Montserrat. Ironically as honest and laid bare some of these films were, the duo talk about maybe the least transparent doc of them all about a filmmaker who has been anything but shy throughout their career.   0:00 - Intro 1:21 – Virtual vs. In-Person SXSW 8:38 – The Fallout 15:37 – Introducing, Selma Blair 24:13 – Lily Topples the World 35:54 – Demi Lovato: Dancing with the Devil 53:14 – Alien On Stage 1:04:58 – Hysterical 1:14:10 – Language Lessons 1:17:05 – Violet 1:22:17 – Tom Petty: Somewhere You Feel Free 1:28:15 – Under the Volcano 1:37:42 – Jakob’s Wife 1:46:56 – When Claude Got Shot 1:51:48 – Here Before 1:54:41 – Clerk 2:12:59 – Steve’s Recommendations (Alone Together, In the Same Breath, Poly Styrene: I Am A Cliche, Subjects of Desire, We Are The Thousand) 2:16:15 – Erik’s Recommendations (Without Getting Killed or Caught, United States vs. Reality Winner, The Lost Sons, Our Father, Spring Valley) 2:20:57 – Outro

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In an epic episode of the podcast, Erik Childress & Sergio Mims rundown a whole swath of new Blu-ray and DVD titles to add to your library. They talk Cecil B. DeMille epics from Paramount and a whole batch of titles from Warner Archive including one from their Not-On-Blu-Ray show. Sergio talks again of his love for Bob Hope, Billie Holliday and a Criterion title that either inspired Beyonce (or she stole from.) He also has a new commentary track available. Erik reveals one of his biggest surprises of the year, talks the only good Paul W.S. Anderson film and what he feels is the most underappreciated film on the new John Hughes set. He also reveals a major project announcement that is headed your way in a few months. So strap in for hours of movie talk.   0:00 - Intro 3:52 – Film Movement (The Belles of St. Trinian’s) 8:13 – Criterion (Mandabi, Touki Bouki) 16:57 – Shout Factory (Event Horizon) 23:13 – RLJE (Psycho Goreman) 32:44 – Warner Archive (The Man Who Would Be King, Red Sun, What’s Up Doc?, Damn Yankees!, Isle of the Dead, Crossfire, Pump Up the Volume) 1:17:19 – Paramount (Lady Sings the Blues, The Greatest Show On Earth, The Ten Commandments 4K, John Hughes 5-Film Collection) 1:59:24 – Kino (Rosebud, The Choirboys, Doc, Caught in the Draft, My Favorite Blonde, Nothing But The Truth, The Don Is Dead) 2:38:08 – Erik’s Big Career Announcement 2:48:42 – Outro

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