Movie Madness

Erik Childress and Peter Sobczynski have a lot to say about this week’s batch of physical media. Maybe not as much as the most successful franchise entry amongst them, but certainly about Ernst Lubitsch’s romantic comedy about thieves in love. Most definitely about Monty Python’s religious-skewering masterpiece. But there is also the troubled transports carrying George Kennedy and the out-of-control one that ranks as one of the great action films of the 1980s. An obscure, hard-to-find comedy about UFO seekers is the first of two Fred Ward headliners this week which leads into two films the guys have some fondness for including Orion’s attempt at an American James Bond and one of the very first masked do-gooders.

4:29 - Criterion (Trouble in Paradise (1932) (4K), Monty Python’s Life of Brian (4K))

22:57 - Universal (Meet the Fockers (4K))

29:46 - Kino (Death Ship (4K), Runaway Train (4K), UFOria 4K, Remo Williams: The Adventure Begins (4K), The Phantom (4K))

1:41:12 - More New Titles (Becoming Led Zeppelin, Hearts of Darkness: The Making of the Final Friday, Midwinter Break)

1:42:31 - New Blu-ray Announcements

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

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’s a light week for physical media but that doesn’t mean that Erik Childress and Peter Sobczynski don’t have you covered. There is one of the great film noirs, particularly for fans of The Shawshank Redemption. A magnificent wonder in fantasy filmmaking from over a century ago that looks better than many films today. Meiko Kaji’s martial arts double feature gets the Arrow treatment. Finally, exploitation fans will have a field day this week with the essential Russ Meyer film as well as the film personally endorsed by none other than Bill Murray.

1:34 - Criterion: (Gilda (4K))

Kino (The Thief of Bagdad (1924))

RM Films (Faster Pussycat Kill Kill)

Synapse (Frankenhooker 4K)

Arrow (Wandering Ginza Butterfly Collection)

NEW (V/H/S Halloween, Mercy, Peacock, The Mysterious Gaze of the Flamingo)

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

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 review six movies this week. Erik looks at a Netflix true crime documentary about the murder of a rising cyclist (The Truth and Tragedy of Moriah Wilson) as well as a couple trying to re-ignite a passion they moved on from (A Love Like This). There is a comedy about the friendship that develops between an aging actress and the unemployed neurotic who becomes her nanny (Fantasy Life). Two roommates sample a synthetic drug and only food can save them from the wacky side effects (Pizza Movie). The billion dollar Nintendo franchise returns with a sequel (The Super Mario Galaxy Movie). Finally Zendaya’s secret may be enough to ruin her engagement to Robert Pattinson (The Drama).

1:14 - The Truth and Tragedy of Moriah Wilson

6:40 - Pizza Movie

17:32 - A Love Like This

22:48 - The Super Mario Galaxy Movie

37:10 - Fantasy Life

45:05 - The Drama

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

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.

Leading a very classic and cult-like week in physical media, Erik Childress and Peter Sobczynski have got you covered. Unlike Madonna. It’s a week filled Fred Astaire, Ginger Rogers and Bob Hope (including one of our Why-Is-This-Not-On-Blu-Ray titles). There is also James Caan at his best, Jamie Foxx winning an Oscar and some cool martial arts titles. Dustin Hoffman trying to stop a virus, Ernest Borgnine trying to summon Satan and Adam Sandler as the son of said Satan. You also have an upgrade for Tobe Hooper’s Stephen King adaptation. And getting back to Madonna, the guys can’t help talk about the crazy, ridiculous erotic thriller now available in all its unrated 4K glory.

1:16 - Criterion (A Man and a Woman, The Blade (4K))

9:51 - Warner Archive (The Gay Divorcee, The Man Who Came to Dinner)

22:52 - Universal (The Big Broadcast of 1938, Give Me a Sailor, Variety Girl)

36:32 - Cinematographe (The Gambler 4K)

45:10 - MGM (The Great Smokey Roadblock)

49:35 - Kino (Ray 4K)

56:06 - Shout (Outbreak (4K), Little Nicky (4K Steelbook))

1:11:45 - Severin (The Devil’s Rain 4K, Vampyros Lesbos (4K), She Killed in Ecstasy 4K)

1:27:34 - Vinegar Syndrome (Body of Evidence 4K)

1:40:51 - Arrow (Eiichi Kudo’s Samurai Revolution Trilogy, Salem’s Lot (4K))

1:56:16 - New TV and Theatrical Titles on Blu-ray (Scooby’s All-Star Laff-A-Lympics, Greenland 2, The SpongeBob Movie: Search for SquarePants, Marty Supreme (4K))

1:57:38 – New Blu-ray Announcements

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

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 have a busy, if not a great week, with 11 movie reviews for you. If documentaries are what you crave Steve has a trio for you with a potentially soon-to-be-outdated tale of how we’re all going to die (The AI Doc: Or How I Became an Apocaloptomist), one about a legendary rocker of the ‘80s (Billy Idol Should Be Dead) and another about a famed fashion designer by a Coppola or (Marc by Sofia). He also looks at the latest animated work from the creator of The Triplets of Belleville (A Magnificent Life). Marisa Tomei tries to prevent her daughter from making a big mistake (You’re Dating a Narcissist!) while Julia Ducournau’s latest has another mother trying to keep her daughter safe from a mysterious infection (Alpha). Steve Zahn chaperones his daughter to a dance competition (She Dances) while a group of young ballerinas try to fight their way out of a dirty European hotel (Pretty Lethal) and Zazie Beetz tries to do the same against immortal satan worshippers (They Will Kill You). Not to be outdone, a mean girl clique dabbles in witchcraft but eventually end up in Final Destination (Forbidden Fruits). Finally, Vince Vaughn tries to undo a fatal mistake in an action-comedy with a twist. (Mike & Nick & Nick & Alice)

1:44 - The AI Doc: Or How I Became an Apocaloptomist

10:59 - You’re Dating a Narcissist!

19:05 - Billy Idol Should Be Dead

30:04 - Pretty Lethal

40:32 - She Dances

50:09 - Alpha

1:03:24 - A Magnificent Life

1:10:19 - Forbidden Fruits

1:21:16 - Marc by Sofia

1:27:44 - They Will Kill You

1:37:37 - Mike & Nick & Nick & Alice

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

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.

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This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit erikthemovieman.substack.com

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

After a week off, Erik Childress and Peter Sobczynski return to catch you all up on the world of physical media. This week there are war films and after-war films, both with Gene Hackman. There are movies with dogs and giant insects, Looney Tunes, Loony Porno and the lunacy of Antonio Margheriti. They discuss another underrated Coen Bros. film as well as a film that is not far removed from another of their loony classics. Criterion adds the latest Scorsese to their collection and Nirvanna the Band the Show the Movie fans should check out Matt Johnson’s previous film. Finally, one of the goofiest of 1980s sword-and-sorcery films gets the glorious Arrow treatment and God bless them.

1:19 - Criterion (Classe Tous Risques (The Big Risk) (4K), Killers of the Flower Moon (4K))

16:52 - Warner Archive (Looney Tunes Collector’s Vault (Volume 2))

20:52 - Magnolia (Bad Luck Banging or Loony Porno)

25:57 - Severin (Antonio Margheriti and the Jungles of Doom 4K)

32:43 - Kino (Jack Benny Comedy Classics, A Bridge Too Far (4K), Uncommon Valor (4K), House Calls, K2 (4K), Beethoven, Mimic 4K)

1:26:33 - Radiance (Cutter’s Way)

1:35:32 - Shout (Hail, Caesar! (4K))

1:46:59 - IFC (Blackberry)

1:54:08 - Arrow (The Birthday (4K), Red Sonja (4K))

2:20:36 - New Theatrical Titles On Blu-ray (Anaconda (2025) (4K), The Housemaid (4K), Good Boy, Return to Silent Hill (4K), David, We Bury the Dead, Rebuilding, The Accidental Getaway Driver, Zodiac Killer Project, Swamp Dogg Gets His Pool Cleaned)

2:23:18 - New Blu-ray Announcements

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

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.

Fresh from returning from this year’s SXSW Film Festival, Erik Childress returns to review six movies with Steve Prokopy. They range from Mena Suvari as Elizabeth Bathory (Vampires of the Velvet Lounge) to a documentary on feminine representation in genre films (1000 Women In Horror). Rose Byrne is a homeless woman who loses her car (Tow) while Samara Weaving plays another deadly game of hide and seek (Ready or Not 2: Here I Come) and podcasters get some horrific audio problems (Undertone). Finally, Ryan Gosling goes into space to save the planet, but it is about the friend he makes along the way (Project Hail Mary).

1:22 - Vampires of the Velvet Lounge

11:21 - 1000 Women In Horror

20:17 - Tow

26:40 - Ready or Not 2: Here I Come

36:11 - Undertone

45:23 - Project Hail Mary

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

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.

This week in physical media, Erik Childress and Peter Sobczynski guide you through a week that includes a pair of lesser Peter Sellers efforts as well as a Southern melodrama known more for the way Marlon Brando is beaten up. There is also some Billy Dee Williams and River Phoenix and a little Bunuel. Cult audiences have a lot to cheer this week from the horror of the late 70s to romance of the early 80s. Keanu Reeves squares off against Al Pacino’s devil and there is a lot of love for Kenneth Branagh’s Hitchcockian mystery that may still remain his best and most entertaining film.

1:24 - Criterion (Viridiana (4K))

6:18 - Alliance (The Chase)

13:38 - Synapse (Blue Sunshine (4K))

19:30 - Shout (Devil’s Advocate (4K))

29:39 - Kino (Scott Joplin, The Return of the Pink Panther (4K), The Prisoner of Zenda, Somewhere in Time (4K), A Night in the Life of Jimmy Reardon, Dead Again (4K))

1:20:46 - New TV & Theatrical Titles On Blu-ray (Resident Alien (The Complete Series), Little Amelie or the Character of Rain, Little Trouble Girls)

1:21:42 - New Blu-ray Announcements

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

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 have seven movie reviews for you this week including a remake of a 40-year old hockey film (Youngblood). A reckless young man is held captive like a dog (Heel) and a woman is held captive like a child (Dolly) while Milla Jovovich goes on the offensive to rescue her daughter from sex traffickers (Protector). Alan Ritchson faces off against an alien presence (War Machine). Pixar’s latest has a girl who becomes a beaver (Hoppers) and Maggie Gyllenhaal offers her brand new take on an even older classic (The Bride!)

1:17 - Hoppers

7:38 - Youngblood

15:53 - Dolly

23:26 - Protector

33:12 - Heel

46:40 - War Machine

57:39 - The Bride!

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

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.

USE COUPON “MOVIEMADNESS” TO GET 10% OFF ALL DUBBY PRODUCTS

SIGN UP FOR AUDIBLE

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit erikthemovieman.substack.com

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 one of the rarely talked about Coen Bros. films, John Ford basically doing Red Dust again and Herschell Gordon Lewis’ film about a Chicago garage band. There’s also the Karate Kid series continuation, a Sundance short that became a Sundance film plus a whole bunch of Christopher Lee and Asia Argento.

1:52 - Criterion (The Man Who Wasn’t There)

13:15 - Warner Archive (Mogambo)

20:58 - AGFA (Blast-Off Girls)

29:40 - Sony (D.E.B.S.)

37:07 - Severin (The Eurocrypt of Christopher Lee Collection 3 (1960-2024))

45:06 - Vinegar Syndrome (The Phantom of the Opera (1998) (4K))

52:36 - Cinematographe (New Rose Hotel)

58:33 - IFC (The Last Mistress)

1:02:15 – New Television on Blu-ray (Cobra Kai (The Complete Series), Strange New Worlds Season 3)

1:08:09 - New Theatrical Titles On Blu-ray (Zootopia 2 (4K), The Running Man (2025) (4K), Hamnet (4K), Lurker, Merrily We Roll Along, Ella McCay)

1:14:50 - New Blu-ray Announcements

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

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.