New Release

This week on New Release … lil’ runts Derrick and Drew traverse the violent underbelly of Rio de Janeiro. City of God captures the extreme highs and extreme lows of life in the favela. We follow The Tender Trio, Rocket, Carrot, Benny, Li’l Dice, Knockout Ned, and dozens more characters playing the shitty hands they were dealt as best they can. Their stories are told with so much energy and verve and life that it hurts even more when tragedy inevitably brings things to a standstill. How did this low budget Brazilian movie with inexperienced actors become an international hit? Authenticity for one. Slick filmmaking combines with gritty subject matter to make the experience hit that much harder. 2003 is coming out hot, so search ‘New Release’ on Spotify or Apple to subscribe.

*Season 4 Premiere* This week on New Release … old fools Ashley, Derrick, and Drew look ahead to looking back at a life changing year for movies. 2003 perfectly encapsulates the beautiful mess that is early aughts cinema. We get to bounce between formative indies like Thirteen and Lost in Translation to the dramatic conclusions of both the Lord of the Rings and Matrix franchises. And who could forget that leg scene from Cabin Fever—or—“You’re my boy, Blue!”. Hold on, The Terminator is governor of California? Whatever, it’s time for New Release to flip high school the bird and go streaking back to college. If you think you have what it takes to join this unsanctioned fraternity for film lovers, then search ‘New Release’ on Spotify or Apple to subscribe. Believe me, 2003 is absolutely—without a doubt—going to be—the BEST YEAR EVER!

New Release presents Episode #4—the final one—of our first annual KILLER CHRISTMAS miniseries … nogged-up Drew welcomes Jamie and Meg to the party to ring in Christmas with a POW, pal! Join us for our yearly tradition of marveling over Bruce Willis’ greased up tank and totally bare feet in Die Hard. Nakatomi Plaza is the only place to be this holiday season … come on up to the 30th floor and don’t mind the male shampoo models with machine guns, they’re probably just lost. Anywho, I bet you’re dying to know which drinking rules the Movie Shots Club cohort have concocted for you to play along with at home. So listen closely as we celebrate Holly being a boss and Hans damn near stealing the show. HO-HO-HO, who wouldn’t know to search ‘New Release’ on Spotify or Apple to subscribe. Till next year, homies.

New Release presents Episode #3 of our first annual KILLER CHRISTMAS miniseries … attic addicts Ashley, Derrick, and Drew watch in horror as a groundbreaking slasher movie gets remade and butchered time and time again. Four years before Halloween, Black Christmas laid the groundwork that so many future psycho killers would follow. Obscene phone calls (coming from where???). Memorable deaths. Female leads. And, most remarkably, a final girl with real ambition and agency. I mean, what could go wrong when the Weinstein bros remake this progressive classic 30 years later? Or maybe you prefer the overt feminist lens applied to the 2019 version—made by a female creative duo. We do our best to highlight the virtues of all three in this spectacular holiday triple feature. Share the love by searching ‘New Release’ on Spotify or Apple to subscribe. Killer Christmas concludes next week.

New Release presents Episode #2 of our first annual KILLER CHRISTMAS miniseries … animatronic Ashley, Derrick, and Drew, with a special call-in by Jamie, bite off two giant patties of holiday beef to gnaw on this week. Hopper from Stranger Things dons a Santa suit in the action-packed Violent Night (in theaters now). Meanwhile, a robot terminator Santa axe murders hipsters in Christmas Bloody Christmas (on Shudder). The holiday fear meter is off the charts with this combo of Die Hard + Home Alone + RoboCop + The Terminator. A killer equation divisible by the square root of too many skull squishes to count. If you enjoy the formula, then you’ll want to search ‘New Release’ on Spotify or Apple to subscribe. We’ve got plenty more presents to unwrap this season … and most of them are leaking. Everywhere.

New Release presents Episode #1 of our first annual KILLER CHRISTMAS miniseries … all month long we’re wrecking your halls with HOWWLS and OWWWies. This week, naughty little helpers Ashley, Derrick, and Drew go abroad to ring in Christmas in Paris. Joyeux Noël, witches. A year before the release of Home Alone —aka ‘Mommy I Missed the Plane’—something called Dial Code Santa Claus (among other names) premiered at the Laon Film Festival. Whether John Hughes was aware of this home invasion movie featuring a resourceful kid setting traps to defend his turf on Christmas Eve—or not—remains a mystery. What we do know is that the sense of threat and violence in the R-rated Deadly Games is for real compared to Home Alone’s family-friendly hijinks. If you like beaucoup peril with your holiday fare, this movie should get you in the Killer Christmas spirit. Remember, you can get on our good list by searching ‘New Release’ on Spotify or Apple to subscribe. Happy bloody holidays, and to all a RED night.

This week on New Release … trout sniffers Ashley, Derrick, and Drew galavant around NYC playing a deadly game of cat and mouse. Home Alone 2: Lost in New York is exactly the same as Home Alone except the Wet Bandits be Sticky and that misunderstood Old Man is now a Pigeon Gal. New city, same old Kev. Armed with a Talkboy and wads of cash, it’s time for this plucky kid to kick ice cream and eat butt—WAIT—that’s backwards. Anyway, if you’ve been dying to see what a G-rated Saw movie would be like, this is your ticket. Besides, it’s not Christmas until you learn the true meaning of family from a kid’s movie. Join us for one wet and wild sleigh ride by searching ‘New Release’ on Spotify or Apple to subscribe. Ho-ho-Home Alone!

This week on New Release … count Derrick and coo-coo Drew explore the tragic origins of an OG vampire. Bram Stoker’s Dracula, directed by The Godfather himself, is a gothic romance spanning oceans of time. Costumes, hair, blood, boobs … Coppola dials everything up to the absolute max in this beautiful movie—except for maybe Keanu’s energy. Dude is chill AF considering the circumstances. Regardless, every frame is a visual feast and Gary Oldman never met line of dialogue he wouldn’t make sweet love to. Listen as we do our best to navigate this unwieldy beast of orgiastic cinema. When the seas are choppy, we push harder. When the dirt is evil, we desecrate it. You too can join Van Helsing and his band of merry horses by searching ‘New Release’ on Spotify or Apple. That’s where you subscribe.

This week on New Release … Disney babies Ashley, Drew, and special call-in guest Jamie discuss an animated film for the first time ever on the podcast. What? How is that possible? Right from the jump, Aladdin is magical musical adventure ride we wouldn’t dare get off. Robin Williams slays as Genie. The vibrant desert setting is intoxicating. The romance is borderline PG-steamy. And Jafar can suck sand. If you grew up anywhere near the 90s, you’ll have a blast reliving the childhood wonder of this Disney classic. About time we revisit one of the movies we actually watched a million times as kids. What other movie podcast can hop from Reservoir Dogs to Aladdin in a two-week span? None! Search ‘New Release’ on Spotify or Apple to subscribe.

This week on New Release … scumbags Ashley and Drew finally get down on some classic Tarantino pulpy-puppy goodness. Reservoir Dogs is a heist movie minus the heist that focuses more on colorful characters and whiz-bang smack talk than action. The story unfolds through flashbacks intercut with the aftermath of a robbery gone south. The music, the pop culture speeches, the buckets of blood … all of Tarantino’s signature moves are on display here despite the smaller scale. Where does RD rank in an epic 9-film career that has spanned most of our lives as budding film lovers? Tune in to see which Tt we BOTH picked for #1 and even find out who won the 1992 Presidential Election! It’s a historic week on New Release and you can ride along by searching ‘New Release’ on Spotify or Apple to subscribe.