Nighthawks' Podcast

On this, the Blackest of Fridays, Matt is joined by guest co-host Greg Orme. Greg is a stand up comedian emeritus, a comedy promoter, and punk rocker and he tests his constitution by joining Matt on a ten-film journey through the original Hellraiser franchise.
Featuring the high points of the original trilogy, the low points of the franchise's diminishing returns, and a surprising thumbs-up for a mid-franchise entry.
Keep up with Greg's band The Zissous on Facebook.

Like Laurie Strode we emerge from our nightmare (Monstoberfest be thy name) into the dawn of a new day...BUT the Halloween season has one more surprise for Matt and Trevor.
Wrapping up Monstoberfest 2022, Matt and Trevor find out exactly how HALLOWEEN ENDS via the movie of that name from David Gordon Green and Danny McBride. It's closing out a reboot sequel trilogy in a franchise whose continuity is more convoluted than Highlander.
Witness a new direction for the classic slasher franchise, are the boys up for the change in direction? Is it enough change to breathe life into Halloween for one more rodeo?

Take a seat in the booth at the Nighthawks Diner where they're about to party like it's 1999! As we discuss horror sequels, remakes, and retreads for this year's Monstoberfest, one franchise dares to look back...back to a simpler time of Y2k panic, The Matrix fandom, and ball busting elder millennials.
You need not be familiar with any other V/H/S films to enjoy V/H/S 99, but you'll want to have watched V/H/S 99 before listening, because this is a SPOILER LADEN EPISODE. THERE WILL BE NO FORMAL SPOILER CURTAIN.
If you want a spoiler-free review of V/H/S 99, listen to Matt and Trevor join the panel discussion at OneOfUs.net's Screener Squad.
V/H/S is a series of horror anthology features that have been a historical mixed bag. Will the conceit of the impending millennium bring anything new to this nostalgic series of horror shorts?

Matt and Trevor off of the current release menu for Monstoberfest this year, first up is an examination of the rebooted/retooled/relaunced HELLRAISER film released in 2022. Fans seem bitterly divided about changes made to the franchise, other seem okay with the direction the new film is going in. The Nighthawks weigh in over coffee and pie to talk about this seasonal horror offering from Hulu.

WHYBW – What Have You Been Watching?

The latest fairy tale from a beloved film auteur as well as several tips into horror for the upcoming Halloween season. Pull up a seat in the booth and join the boys for a discussion of what they've been watching lately.

3,000 Years of Longing– A modern fable from a modern master. Matt checked out this new genie-in-a-bottle movie from Mad Max creator George Miller.

The Black Phone- C. Robert Cargill and Scott Derrickson queue up a balloon bouquet of horror, from a short story by Joe Hill. 

Nope– According to Matt: Hit it as cold as possible.

Bodies Bodies Bodies– Horror comedy skewers the elite influencer class in this unique take on the slasher genre.

Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2022)– Leatherface vs. Hipsters

Hammer Dracula- Trevor has seen all the Hammer Dracula films featuring either Peter Cushing, Christopher Lee or both. What did he learn?

WHYBW – What Have You Been Watching?

Matt and Trevor wade out of the shadow of their own absence, and into the bright light of controversy. It's an al Big-time franchise streaming TV discussion in the booth at the Nighthawks conceptual diner.

Quit bitching about the color of fictional characters in fictional stories- Just quit it.

LOTR The Rings of Power– Aside from the controversial addition of melanin to the Lord of the Rings Franchise, Matt and Trevor discuss the new Amazon Prime offering, based on the works of the legendary J.R.R. Tolkien.

Obi-Wan Kenobi– Stopping at Tatooine, a planet described as being the furthest to a bright center of the universe, the boys check in on their favorite hermit-in-space. We'll also stop briefly over to discuss The Book of Boba Fett, but mostly it's just talking about how fine things are.

Moon Knight– It’s not your typical Marvel Series, but is that a good thing? Is it a bad thing?

She-Hulk Attorney at Law– Matt discusses what he likes in a giant hero lady lawyer, and what he likes in this goofy new series from the Marvel stables.

Ms. Marvel- It's another origin story from Marvel, but does it aspire to be original enough to stand out from the pack? Matt says that Trevor needs to make time for this one.

If it bleeds, we can kill it...

And this particular entry in the PREDATOR franchise seeks to kill a different kind of "it" as they attempt to give new life to a C- franchise.

"Kill it" they do, and Trevor and Matt are in the Nighthawks Conceptual Diner to parse out what might be the best Predator sequel since the original film was released in 1987. The iconic monster has done battle over multiple media against humans, animals, Aliens, and themselves- but this time the warrior hunter race is out hunting 18th century first nations tribes.

A prequel by definition, Prey could serve as a stand alone entry, or even a jumping on point for this sci-fi horror series, with a special treat of a cast primarily made up of first nations actors.

Whose house?!  ARThouse!
I said whose house?! ARThouse!

After a long stint of Hollywood blockbusters and major franchises, the Nighthawks order something off the International Menu at the conceptual diner.
Director Andrei Tarkovsky's, STALKER is a Soviet era Russian film about three characters wandering into a heavily guarded exclusion zone where some untold calamity has rendered the area allegedly uninhabitable. Stalkers are people who you can hire to ferry you in and out of the exclusion zone for a price.
Why would anyone do this? Legend has it that a room, inside an abandoned building, in the heart of The Zone has the ability to grant the heart's desire of anyone who enters.
A far cry from most modern filmmaking with high paced action and fast cuts, STALKER is an example of deliberate and effective long-fuse filmmaking. The shot length in Stalker averages out to under one shot per minute. It's a pensive and existential examination of art, science, faith, humanity, and so many other things...or is it?

No. Really. We're not being intentionally incomplete. We don't know.

Matt and Trevor check into their regular booth at the Nighthawks conceptual diner to just chin wag a little bit about some of the movies and projects they've been watching lately.

Morbius- Dr. Michael Morbius is a sickly but brilliant doctor who uses his big brain and his equally sick friend's big wallet to fund radical bat research. Radical in that it is out of the ordinary, not in the Tony Hawk sense. This mad science goes awry and now Jared Leto is a vampire...or something like that. The new Spider-man extended universe is leaving Matt feeling like he bought a Marvel movie off of Wish.

Uncharted- Based on the wildly successful Playstation game franchise this globetrotting treasure hunt features Mark Wahlberg, Antonio Banderas, and (controversially) Tom Holland as the rugged Nathaniel Drake. Going in with a heart full of hate meant that this one surpassed expectations for Matt.

Jackass Forever- It's Jackass, but a fourth movie. The torch is passed, the guys get hurt, and the world looks back on an over 20 years of doing dumb stuff in front of video cameras. Blessedly, this one was not in 3D...which is not to say that the effects in part 3 weren't spectacular.

Human Resources- What if we take the concept of Big Mouth, only go into more adult territory. Not adult as in R-rated, but adult like grown-ups dealing with aging parents. It's a juvenile humor take on the problems that adults can face in everyday life. Also there are horny monsters getting all over each other.

There it is folks! CODA wins best picture, Troy Kotsur wins Best Supporting Actor, Dune took home the most Oscars of the evening, and Encanto lost out on best song.

Nothing else happened.

Except the thing that most folks, Oscar fans or not, seem to be talking about.

Yes, we will talk about Will Smith and Chris Rock. We will talk about "The Slap" (the news event not the limited television series. But before you get the tea on the Fresh Prince making the entire night awkward for everyone, you have to hear about how good some of these movies are.

We can't avoid talking about the controversy, but that's also, really, not why we're here.

In the meantime be sure to get out and see CODA.

It’s Tinseltown’s most glamorous night out and you are invited to the conceptual Nighthawks Diner's after party. 

Oscar Czar and house band musician Cameron Maris, Nineteen Cent Feast, joins Matt and Trevor to talk about the results of the 94th Annual Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences’ Awards, aka The Oscars.

Slide up with a slice of pie and a cup of coffee and talk about this Hollywood’s best...and Hollywood's worst.