Now Playing Podcast Presents: The Fast and Furious Retrospective Series

Born This Way

Joaquin Phoenix indulges in a Folie A Deux (aka “Madness of Two”) by restaging the Joker sequel as a musical duet with psycho fangirl Lady Gaga. Will the jury in his high-profile murder trial plug their ears once this incarcerated clown starts singing his defense in full makeup?  Or can lawyer Catherine Keener (Get Out) convince them that Arthur Fleck suffers from multiple personality disorder and never wanted to dance with the Devil in the pale moonlight as Gotham City burned?  Listen Now to find out if director Todd Phillips leaves the hosts crying or smiling.

I’d still take 8 years of civil war over 8 hours at the DMV

Rosario Dawson (Ahsoka) attempts to mend her broken family and America’s political divide in a post-apocalyptic Demilitarized Zone (aka DMZ) formerly known as Manhattan. Can she break the influence that tyrannical baby daddy Benjamin Bratt (Catwoman) has on their graffiti artist son Freddy Miyares (When They See Us) by backing political rival Hoon Lee (Banshee)? And can director Ava DuVernay (Selma) take an obscure DC/Vertigo comic book from 2005 and find new political relevance for today’s streaming audience? Eyes Forward Love to find out now!

Roll Models

The story of Autobots and Decepticons begins with the 2024 animated epic Transformers One. What makes lowly miner droid Orion Pax (Chris Hemsworth) so optimistic that he will find the Matrix of Leadership and lead his cog-less peers to a new destiny on the surface of Cybertron?  And how does his friendship with bestie Brian Tyree Henry (Into The Spider-Verse) transform into such a bitter rivalry?   Listen Now to find out how well Hasbro incorporates Scarlett Johansson, Jon Hamm, Keegan-Michael Key, and Steve Buscemi into their iconic toy line.

The Silence of the Low Men

Stephen King tries his hand at touching coming-of-age drama with the 2001 adaptation of Hearts In Atlantis. So why are the Now Playing Podcast hosts so terrified by the stranger danger posed to 11-year-old Anton Yelchin (Star Trek) by neighbor Anthony Hopkins? Is single mother Hope Davis (American Splendor) smart to leave her son unsupervised with this supernatural tenant and trust that his fatherly lessons in gambling and kissing girls won’t get the pair into trouble with the FBI agents swarming small town Connecticut? Listen Now, and don’t miss a minute of it.

”I’m Ready for My Close-Up, Mr. Murnau”

The silent movie Nosferatu: A Symphony of Horror may be a counterfeit version of Dracula, but it boasts the most authentic undead performance in cinema history, according to Shadow of the Vampire. Has director John Malkovich made a pact with the devil by casting actual bloodsucker Willem Dafoe as his lead actor?  And will co-stars Catherine McCormack (Braveheart) and Eddie Izzard (Ocean’s 13), along with crew Cary Elwes (Saw) and Udo Kier (Andy Warhol’s Dracula), be sacrificed in the artistic pursuit of ultimate realism? “Iris In” and Find Out Now!

Little Miss Sunset

Six kidnappers abduct Abigail in a get-rich-quick scheme that backfires once they realize the wee ballerina is Dracula’s Daughter. Can ex-junkie Melissa Berrera (Scream), bad cop Dan Stevens (Legion), hacker Kathryn Newton (Quantumania), wheelman Angus Cloud (Euphoria), muscle Kevin Durand (Locke & Key), and sniper William Catlett (Black Lightning) find a way out of this babysitting bloodbath?  And does directing team Radio Silence revive the Universal Monsters brand better than the recent Renfield and Last Voyage of the Demeter? Listen Now!

My Body, Main Course

Will it be another cannibal holocaust for tweeting college activists after their 2015 plane ride crashes into the very same Green Inferno that Ruggero Deodato documented in his notorious 1980 found footage shocker?  Director Eli Roth (Thanksgiving) certainly isn’t letting these social justice warriors off any hooks or impaling sharp objects as they attempt to live-stream a stand-off between an oil company destroying the rainforest and a local tribe of headhunters. Find out if Final Girl Lorenza Izzo, and the Now Playing hosts, can withstand the abuse now.

No Animals Weren’t Harmed In The Making Of This Movie

Four documentary filmmakers disappear into the “green inferno” of the Amazon rainforest and end up the main dish in a Cannibal Holocaust. But will the recovered footage of their final moments in the jungle actually prove that modern-day Americans are the real savages?  And why is porn star Robert Kerman the only one arguing that snuff films shouldn’t air on prime-time television?  Find out if Arnie, Stuart, and Jakob taste like chickens as they dish on Italian splatter director Ruggero Deodato’s notorious 1980 found footage landmark  Listen Now!

Custodians of the Galaxy

Cate Blanchett steps away from her Oscar bait prestige pictures to go vault hunting with fellow Academy Award winner Jamie Lee Curtis in a s***hole adaptation of Borderlands. Is Barbie tyke Ariana Greenblatt the key to opening up this blockbuster video game franchise to mass movie audiences accustomed to a less filthy Pandora planet?  And will funnyman Kevin Hart get short with Jack Black’s wise-cracking robot for stealing all the one-liners?  Listen Now to learn if Thanksgiving director Eli Roth has a prayer of making a sequel to this costly Arcade effort.

Echidna not, we’re back in the Now Playing Arcade

Those schmucks Stuart, Justin, and Arnie tried taking an extended break from video game movies but are finally ready to knuckle down and review the hit Sonic The Hedgehog miniseries that broke Paramount Plus streaming records in 2024. Can Idris Elba punch his way into the hardened hearts of the hosts as he trains klutzy deputy Adam Paley to crush the competition at a Reno bowling tournament?  Or does the spin-off screech to a halt without movie stars Jim Carey and James Marsden in the picture? Enjoy a Knuckles sandwich when you Listen Now!