Movie Madness
By: Erik Childress
Language: en
Categories: Tv, Film, Arts, Visual
Movie Madness is a weekly podcast hosted by Chicago film critic Erik Childress presenting movie reviews, interviews, film festival coverage, DVDs, awards, box office and much more! erikthemovieman.substack.com
Episodes
Episode 623: Scorched Earth, Crushed Souls & Ripped Faces
Jan 09, 2026The movie year of 2026 begins in earnest this week on the podcast with Erik Childress and Steve Prokopy looking at ten films, some of which are expansions of 2025 releases. There’s a Harry/Sally-like rom-com (People We Meet on Vacation). Steve checks out a documentary of a famed writer and Holocaust survivor (Elie Wiesel: Soul on Fire), plus a pair of true stories with Lucy Liu caring for her schizophrenic son (Rosemead) and the tale of an emergency call from a six-year-old trapped in a car in Gaza (The Voice of Hind Rajab). The true stories continue with Kristen St...
Duration: 01:39:05Episode 622: Why Is This Not On Blu-ray? 2026
Jan 06, 2026A yearly tradition continues with Erik Childress and Peter Sobczynski carried over from our time with the late, great Sergio Mims as they ask the question that is the very title of these episodes. Both Erik and Peter have selected 10 titles each of films that are still languishing only on DVD and not in a higher-grade format (at least not in North America.) They include classic modern comedies of the ‘80s and ‘90s, a heist film, and one of the earliest appearances of a beloved comedian and the song that became their staple, not to mention a film based on a...
Duration: 02:52:54Episode 621: The Best Films of 2025
Jan 02, 2026As we always do to kick off the new year we take one more look at last year. Focused primarily on the positive (with maybe a couple parting shots), Steve Prokopy once again joins Erik Childress to countdown their top ten films along with their runners-up. They are once again overjoyed to continue their yearly tradition and welcome Collin Souter of the Christmas Movies Actually podcast to join them with his list. A lot of great films for everyone to catch up with plus shout-outs of more movies with a number of specialized categories where we honor everything from...
Duration: 01:55:12Episode 620: James Cameron Blue Himself Again
Dec 19, 2025On the final Movie Madness episode for 2025, Erik Childress and Steve Prokopy review nine movies for the holidays. They include a documentary about Seymour Hersh breaking the stories on human rights atrocities (Cover-Up) while Wagner Moura is up against political turmoil in Brazil (The Secret Agent). Even water polo has bullies as it turns out (The Plague) and the job market becomes actual murder in the latest from Chan Wook-Park (No Other Choice). Will Arnett separates from Laura Dern and tries stand-up comedy (Is This Thing On?) while Hugh Jackman and Kate Hudson get together to perform Neil Diamond...
Duration: 01:56:28Episode 619: That’ll Do For The Year In Blu
Dec 15, 2025Erik Childress and Peter Sobczynski close out the year in physical media with a lot of suggestions for your Christmas baskets. For the more adventurous who don’t mind a little darkness with their holidays you have Paul Thomas Anderson’s adult film industry epic and the booze-filled trip through sin city that won Nicolas Cage his Oscar. There is sci-fi anime, David Cronenberg’s tale of infection and the Wachowskis’ epic journey of conspiracy and souls. Joe Dante’s sprawling dare of a film experience finally comes home…if you can get it. For those who need to laugh, four...
Duration: 02:51:59Episode 618: Will You Take The Ella McCay Challenge?
Dec 12, 2025As we approach the end of the year, Erik Childress and Steve Prokopy still have six reviews for this week. They include a documentary about the inventor of Pantone (The King of Color) as well as Mamoru Hosoda’s anime about a princess avenging her father’s death (Scarlet). The Ripley-like influencer from a 2022 thriller is on the prowl again (Influencers) as is the guy from the ‘80s who dressed like Santa Claus and killed a bunch of people but this time with a derivative twist (Silent Night, Deadly Night). The creator of Pushing Daisies and Hannibal makes his debut...
Duration: 01:08:29Episode 617: You Pre-What Now?
Dec 09, 2025Just a few weeks until Christmas and there is plenty of physical media to fit under the tree as Erik Childress and Peter Sobczynski’s roundup this week’s selections. They include a little Powell and Pressburger and some Oscar nominees from Penny Marshall and Mira Nair. There is some more from Dan Curtis, a giant snake and one of Robert Altman’s more obscure oddities. Lionsgate alone has one of the great making of documentaries of all time, Kevin Smith’s hilarious riff on religion and faith plus the film that makes Tarantino lash out on The Hunger Games. T...
Duration: 02:12:49Episode 616: Christmas Means Trees, Existential Crises & Pizza Robots
Dec 05, 2025Erik Childress and Steve Prokopy kick off December with 11 reviews for you. On the photography and journalism side Steve has a pair of documentaries to talk about (Steve Schapiro: Being Everywhere, The New Yorker At 100) while Erik looks at the story of Christmas Tree sellers (The Merchants of Joy). There is a horror film about the trail of an infamous piece of footage (Man Finds Tape) as well as survivalist Mel Gibson protecting a woman from the cartel after her (Hunting Season). Michelle Pfeiffer goes for mom of the year during Christmas (Oh. What. Fun.) while Dangerous Liaisons meets...
Duration: 01:46:24Episode 615: Lucinda Dickey: His Girl Friday Or Killer?
Dec 01, 2025Black Friday may be behind us but December has so much to gift your loved ones. Erik Childress and Peter Sobczynski have some great new suggestions this week on physical media. Parents have a chance to introduce their kids to the entire collection of Tom & Jerry while dad can revisit their ‘80s memories of Heather Thomas and Kim Cattrall. Speaking of which, Lucinda Dickey’s legendary mix of Flashdance and ninjas gets the 4K upgrade as does one of John Woo’s masterpieces and one of the greatest comedies of all-time.
4:19 - Criterion (His Girl Friday (4K))
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Duration: 01:18:14Episode 614: To Be…Or Not…Wake Up!
Nov 28, 2025It’s Thanksgiving week and there are movies to see. Some great ones too and seven of them are covered this week by Erik Childress and Steve Prokopy. Shih-Ching Tsou, a producer of Sean Baker’s films, returns behind the camera with a unique family drama on Netflix (Left-Handed Girl) where you can also see a fascinating journalistic mystery about the Vietnam War (The Stringer: The Man Who Took The Photo). Brendan Fraser takes on a unique acting challenge in Japan (Rental Family) while Miles Teller & Elizabeth Olsen die and must figure out if they want to spend the afte...
Duration: 01:26:35Episode 613: Live To Tell The Juns “Fidelio”
Nov 25, 2025Just in time for Black Friday week, Erik Childress and Peter Sobczynski get you caught up on this week’s collection of physical media. There’s no less than four classic Abbott and Costello titles and five Death Wish films. One of the great Jane Austen adaptation celebrates its 20th anniversary in 4K. Sean Penn battles his criminal father, Christopher Walken, while William Powell and Myrna Loy team up again outside of the Thin Man films. The sword and sandals are represented twice in the ‘80s from The Barbarian Brothers (and Eva LaRue) plus the Don Coscarelli film that may be...
Duration: 01:51:53Episode 612: It’s Time To Start Running…Away From The Wicked
Nov 21, 2025Eight movies are reviewed this week with Erik Childress and Steve Prokopy including a little catch-up from our previous week off. Steve checks out a Minka Kelly rom-com (Champagne Problems) and a film that owes a lot to the world of Euro-spy films (Reflection in a Dead Diamond). Speaking of which Mark Wahlberg’s Morgan family is back for their own European intrigue (The Family Plan 2) while a documentary charts the business angle that is thriving from school children being in actual danger (Thoughts & Prayers) and Josh O’Connor tries to pick up the pieces after a wildfire (Rebuilding). Ther...
Duration: 01:30:49Episode 611: De Plane! De Plane!
Nov 17, 2025It’s a week in physical media that would make current Secretary of Transportation, Sean “I can’t guarantee safety” Duffy, blush. Erik Childress and Peter Sobczynski take you through a week that includes the film that sent The Color Purple home empty, one of the Mars movies of 2000-01 and a decade-old adaptation of a Broadway smash. There’s also another prestige Oscar winner from Merchant Ivory, the Marx Brothers go to the circus and Simon Pegg & Nick Frost pay tribute to science fiction. One of John Woo’s most memorable films gets an upgrade in a new set and if y...
Duration: 01:37:02Episode 610: We All Go A Little Cuckoo Sometimes
Nov 10, 2025It’s a packed week on physical media this week, thanks at least to one filmmaker. But Erik Childress and Peter Sobczynski have plenty of good stuff for your libraries this week. They include one of the great filmmaking documentaries with Werner Herzog. There are a pair of Oscar-winning Best Pictures making their 4K debuts as well as a pair of Jim Carrey upgrades. Alex Winter’s ‘90s cult film gets an incredible new package and one of Peter’s favorite directors gets a package worth celebrating. If you’re a fan.
6:05 - Criterion (Burden of Dreams (4K))
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Duration: 01:58:37Episode 609: If It Bleeds, We Can Milk It
Nov 07, 2025Eight reviews are on the docket this week with Erik Childress and Steve Prokopy. They include a film about a recording of a photographer telling us about their day (Peter Hujar’s Day). Steve covers many of the elements with a documentary about one of the biggest franchises ever (Fire and Water: Making the Avatar Films) and the hunts for millions in the tundra (Ice Fall). Sydney Sweeney becomes one of the most successful female boxers ever (Christy) and Russell Crowe is on trial for being Hitler’s second-in-command (Nuremberg). A non-binary teenager is kicked out of thei...
Duration: 01:37:17Episode 608: Baby, This Ain’t No Flare Gun
Nov 03, 2025Its physical media time again on the show with Erik Childress and Peter Sobczynski talking about the film that got Dillinger killed a pre-Lady Eve comic mystery with Barbary Stanwyck & Henry Fonda. Apple goes back to physical media to add an Oscar winner to your shelf. There’s an all-star cast in a late ‘70s Godfather wannabe plus Peter Hyams’ western in space. Tim Burton gets an upgrade for one of his very best films as does the great John Woo with an action film (and baby) for the ages. Plus Criterion upgrades their entry from the John Hughes era wh...
Duration: 01:28:55Episode 607: I’ve Glimpsed Our Future…Go Back
Oct 31, 2025It’s Halloween weekend and there isn’t a lot of horror but Erik Childress and Steve Prokopy still have eight films to talk about. They include a documentary about an archbishop who wrote the gay disco anthem of the ‘70s (I Was Born This Way) and another true story about drugs, family and revenge in the Ozarks (Violent Ends). There are some holiday-themed titles including a daughter realizing her mom may have fallen into a cult (Self-Help) and an animated Frankenstein-esque tale for kids (Stitch Head). The director of Conclave has Colin Farrell gambling away in Macau (Ballad of a S...
Duration: 01:29:18Episode 606: Have You Read Sutter Cane?
Oct 27, 2025It’s another week of horror, weirdness and cult titles on physical media but also another addition from our annual “Why Is This Not On Blu-ray?” shows. Erik Childress and Peter Sobczynski guide you through this week on physical media including the works of Dan Curtis, Richard Stanley and Guillermo Del Toro. Abel Ferrara’s infamous revenge picture gets the upgrade as does one of the great Godzilla films. John Carpenter’s best film of the ‘90s gets its due praise while there is a deep dive into one of the infamous slasher spoofs of the ’80s. Finally, Mike Nichols’ adapt...
Duration: 01:45:28Episode 605: Seeking A Song For The End Of The World
Oct 24, 2025Erik Childress and Steve Prokopy have another 11 reviews for you this week. It starts all the way back at last year’s Toronto Film Festival with Crispin Glover finding no way out of a mysterious hotel (Mr. K). Justin Lin adapts the true story of a young missionary and a lost tribe (Last Days). A ‘90s thriller gets updated (The Hand That Rocks The Cradle), an imaginary demon terrorizes people (Shelby Oaks) and zombies go after drag queens (Queens of the Dead). Kelly Reichardt tells the story of the man behind a ‘70s art heist (The Mastermind) and Richard Linkla...
Duration: 02:02:57Episode 604: Please William, Don’t Hurt ‘Em
Oct 20, 2025This week in physical media with Erik Childress and Peter Sobczynski there is a whole lot of murder. Viggo Mortensen kills a bunch, Mia Goth gets in on the action, Yancy Butler does some drownings, Klaus Kinski does some biting, Brian Benben tries to solve some and Michael Biehn attempts to defend them. It’s also still the month of horror and even though a double bill of Cronenberg doesn’t exactly fit entirely, there is still plenty to be found for your October fill.
3:40 - Criterion (Altered States (4K), A History of Violence (4K), The Shrouds)
Episode 603: Stop Grabbing People!
Oct 17, 2025Erik Childress and Steve Prokopy have seven reviews for you this week. They include a pair of the best films from Sundance this year – the harrowing documentary of the worst woman next door (The Perfect Neighbor) and the equally harrowing tale of motherhood anxiety with the great Rose Byrne (If I Had Legs I’d Kick You). One of the greatest to ever do it gets a five-part documentary on Apple TV (Mr. Scorsese). Guillermo Del Toro finally makes the film his entire career has been building towards (Frankenstein). Aziz Ansari swaps lives with Seth Rogen thanks to angel Kean...
Duration: 01:44:04Episode 602: I’m Afraid You’re Just Too Scary. Not You, Rob.
Oct 13, 2025It’s another packed week in October for physical media, especially on the horror side. But Erik Childress and Peter Sobczynski also serve up some Jean-Paul Belmondo, Alain Delon and Larry David for you. But yes, horror, of course. This week you have Hammer horror from Frankenstein to anthologies, Adrian Lyne’s hell on Earth with Tim Robbins and Georges Franju’s classic tale of facial reconstruction. Also if you must there is a double feature presented by Joe Bob Briggs as well as films by Rob Zombie and Eli Roth. It’s all leading up to a trilogy for ever...
Duration: 01:55:24Episode 601: End Of Line. For So Much.
Oct 10, 2025Another October week and another ten movie reviews for you from Erik Childress and Steve Prokopy. They look a new rom-com with the star of the recent Strangers films (Maintenance Required) and a new Dakota Fanning horror film from the director of the original Strangers (Vicious). They go back a couple Sundances for a father/daughter story amidst the AIDS crisis (Fairyland), the same era that gave us the inspiration for a new ‘80s remake (Deathstalker). On the documentary front after Raoul Peck scares you into where our country is today (Orwell: 2+2=5) you can curl up with a film ab...
Duration: 01:46:21Episode 600: Welcome To Silverado. Not You, Bob.
Oct 06, 2025This week in physical media with Erik Childress and Peter Sobczynski features films for its rabid fanbases as well as a string of live-action big screen failures and Schwarzenegger battling for the devil. Jennifer Lopez tries to get an Oscar and the world is introduced to Mario Bava. Westerns got a bit of a revival 40 years ago and this week features an upgrade to the best of them as well as Sam Raimi’s attempt ten years later to try to have his own fun with the genre. There is an incredible Peanuts set for all ages and a bo...
Duration: 01:41:47Episode 599: Bizarro Speed And The Not-So-Raging-Bull
Oct 03, 2025It is a packed week of reviews on the show with Erik Childress and Steve Prokopy, an even dozen in fact. They include one of the best documentaries of the year (Predators) and a film as bad as The Substance is good (Shell). Steve looks at Daniel Day-Lewis’ return to the big screen (Anemone) while Erik looks at a charming family film about competitive pumpkin gardening (Grow). It’s also October so that must mean horror. So there’s another terror-filled tale about double-booking (Bone Lake) as well as the family that must barricade at home for the terror outsid...
Duration: 01:59:35Episode 598: The Good, The Bad, And The Box Sets
Sep 29, 2025Collections are the thing in this week’s look at physical media with Erik Childress and Peter Sobczynski. Criterion has nearly the entire oeuvre of Wes Anderson. Vinegar Syndrome has a pair of Larry Fessenden works while Universal has packaged up a bunch of Draculas in 4K. Kino has a bunch of Dan Curtis and the Airport films while Warner Bros. has Freddy Krueger in a new 4K set. There is also the shorts of Creepshow, the beginning of American Pie and Yorgo Lanthimos plus one of the great action films of the new millennium that you may have mi...
Duration: 02:14:56Episode 597: Big, Bold Love, Lies & Death
Sep 26, 2025Erik Childress and Steve Prokopy play a little catch-up this week but also replay their early review of Paul Thomas Anderson’s One Battle After Another, opening this week in case any of you missed it. Before that though they talk about a tribute to an iconic cult film celebrating its 50th anniversary (Strange Journey: The Story of Rocky Horror). Gabriel Byrne reexamines his troubled life (Death of a Ladies Man) while Renny Harlin delivers the sequel to his horror reboot (The Strangers: Chapter Two) and Jordan Peele produces a very confused horror film about football (Him). If Emma Th...
Duration: 01:42:01Episode 596: Zombies, Nazis & Disney
Sep 22, 2025This week in physical media definitely has a type and Erik Childress and Peter Sobczynski are here to let you know what to buy (or choose not to buy) this week. They include a trio of titles from Criterion including a recent Oscar winner. There is everything from Tsui Hark to Dolly Parton plus a dive into the creation of a sequel to one of the best and most successful comedies ever. Variations of zombies are created by Tom Savini, Danny Boyle and Tim Burton. Plus it is a helluva week for a capitulating studio to release a film...
Duration: 01:30:00Episode 595: Viva la Revolución
Sep 19, 2025No one is being silenced on this podcast and we are keeping free speech going by reviewing 11 films this week. Erik Childress and Steve Prokopy go back to last year’s Fantastic Fest to revisit Alexandre O. Phillippe’s latest essay on The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (Chain Reactions). Mike Figgis goes behind the scenes of Francis Ford Coppola’s passion project (Megadoc) and there’s another documentary on a filmmaker who would probably be making ones for the Trump Administration today (Riefenstahl). In lighter fare, a virginal Lily Singh becomes a sex-ed professor (Doin’ It) and Josh Duhamel trains a LARPer t...
Duration: 01:40:47Episode 594: Smell The Glaive
Sep 15, 2025This week in physical media certainly plays to the cult audiences that embraced them. That may not include an inspirational Ron Howard sports movie or the unnecessary remakes on the pile but Erik Childress and Peter Sobczynski talk you through an early Lizzie Borden film and one of the craziest near-lost crime films of the ‘70s. There is fun stuff too from the film that launched the film careers of Bill Murray and Ivan Reitman to one of the greatest comedies and mockumentaries of all-time. Even Peter is down with this week’s geek offerings from Disney’s revolutionary move t...
Duration: 01:59:32Episode 593: A Fine Line Between Stupid & Clever
Sep 12, 2025Erik Childress and Steve Prokopy are back on the review beat with seven new films this week. Steve looks at a documentary about model and photographer Bunny Yeager (Naked Ambition) as well as the conclusion of everyone’s beloved big house (Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale). Corey Hawkins deals with a mysterious offer from Willem Dafoe (The Man In My Basement) and Dev Patel gets put through the folk horror wringer (Rabbit Trap). The film which opened this year’s Chicago Critics Film Festival is one of the best you will see this year (The Baltimorons). Stephen King’s Vietna...
Duration: 01:15:30Episode 592: Highs, Lows and Dicks (Private & Public)
Sep 01, 2025Erik Childress and Peter Sobczynski look ahead in the world of physical media and reveal what you can add to your library this week and next. For those who have seen Spike Lee’s remake, Highest 2 Lowest, Crtierion offers up the Kurosawa original in OK. You may have been issued it when you first bought your DVD player but now you can get the TV sci-fi adaptation with a unique stake in box office history. Universal has upgraded a pair of Best Actress-winning biopics and Warner upgrades a horror original in time for its final sequel. Oliver Stone has Ja...
Duration: 02:04:34Episode 591: We’re Gonna Need A Bigger Podcast
Aug 29, 2025It is Labor Day weekend, the unofficial end of summer, and just before festival and awards season begins, Erik Childress and Steve Prokopy serve up 12 films to review and talk about. The wayback machine gets set to 2023 when they first reviewed the absolutely lovely new film with David Strathairn and Jane Levy from Sundance now in theaters (A Little Prayer). The machine goes back even further to reminisce upon Prince’s concert film (Sign O’ The Times) and the 50th anniversary Steven Spielberg’s masterpiece (Jaws) both back in theaters. Can a cycle of revenge be explained to a newbor...
Duration: 02:09:22Episode 590: Buy These Blu-rays Or We Will Taunt You A Second Time
Aug 25, 2025Physical media is serving up a smorgasbord of films with reevaluations and those that have found their audiences over the year. They include a pair of LBGTQ films hovering around their 20th anniversaries. Horror remakes, prequels and sequel adjacent films as well a package of hard-to-find Larry Cohen projects. Martin Scorsese went to bat for a 1952 paranoia that was spoofed on MST3K while Quentin Tarantino found inspiration in the first of Shout Factory’s remastered Asian action releases. Michael Caine is a badass in a classic British crime film and one of the funniest films of all-time celebrates it...
Duration: 01:43:22Episode 589: Ethan, Don’t. Just…Don’t!
Aug 22, 2025The summer continues to wind down but Erik Childress and Steve Prokopy still have eight reviews for you this week. Steve takes a look at one of the most successful films of all-time, outside of the United States (Ne Zha 2) as well as a Sophie Turner thriller the studio apparently wanted nobody to see or even hear about (Trust) while Erik looks at the new romance from Lasse Hallstrom (The Map That Leads To You). Then its time for Samara Weaving as a getaway driver (Eenie Meanie) and Riz Ahmed providing cover for whistleblowers (Relay). A group of college...
Duration: 01:32:38Episode 588: 15,000 Cars, Suddenly, By Magic
Aug 18, 2025This week in physical media with Erik Childress and Peter Sobczynski they look at everything from Italian neo-realism to blaxploitation. There is also James Stewart and his invisible rabbit, Jane Austen and her lovelorn sisters plus a little Jess Franco. One of Leslie Nielsen’s lesser known parodies is discussed along with the Coneheads feature and one of Adam Sandler’s most beloved characters. Erik goes to bat for what he feels is an underappreciated Ron Howard film and Peter goes into the bizarro world of Xanadu.
3:41 - Criterion (Shoeshine (4K))
7:43 - Universal (Harvey 4K)
Episode 587: Call Me Sometime When You Have No Class
Aug 15, 2025It is another epic review week on the show with Erik Childress and Steve Prokopy tackling 11 films. They range from a documentary about comedians navigating their worst condition (Anxiety Club) to an animated film about horny dogs (Fixed). A black family deals with the aftermath of an intruder in their home (The Knife) while a toxic dead mother intrudes on the bodies of her wife and son (Went Up The Hill) not to mention the widowed rancher trying to keep her family and business together (East of Wall). Two friends fight against being abducted by aliens in an apartment...
Duration: 01:54:28Episode 586: Let’s Get Some F#!$in’ FRENCH Toast!
Aug 11, 2025This week in physical media with Erik Childress and Peter Sobczynski they look at a staple of Egyptian film noir as well as a noir box that features an early version of Gatsby. There’s a double feature with Sylvia Sidney and a double dip of Sleepaway Camp. Hear about the horror film that Peter despises as well as the better one also getting the 4K upgrade. The Poseidon Adventure gets a modern remake and Oliver Stone does his 9/11 film. Erik also proves to be a bit fonder of the trio of anniversaries being released, particularly the one he co...
Duration: 01:27:18Episode 585: Choose Your Weapon And Draw
Aug 09, 2025Lots of movies this week on the show. 11 of them to be precise with full reviews from Erik Childress and Steve Prokopy. Steve flies solo with Jamie Lee Curtis and Lindsay Lohan back in the wrong bodies (Freakier Friday) plus a new serial killer thriller (Strange Harvest) and a documentary focusing on the fandom of Eminem (Stans). Erik looks at a story of young sisters trying to avoid being separated after their mom dies (What We Hide). There’s an actual music documentary about an artist taken too soon (It’s Never Over, Jeff Buckley) and another pending paternal anxi...
Duration: 01:55:11Episode 584: Are You Ready For Your Close-Up?
Aug 04, 2025It is a light week for physical media but that does not mean there aren’t some heavy hitters. Erik Childress and Peter Sobczynski are here to catch you up including a pair of grim anti-war films from Kon Ichikawa. There is a whole new batch of martial arts films from the Shaw Brothers. Peter Weir’s dad-movie maritime epic gets an upgrade as does a great starring vehicle for David Dastmalchian. They talk about Sam Peckinpah’s song-inspired Hal Needham film and the 40th anniversary of a John Cusack teen classic. Though few films will compare to the majest...
Duration: 01:16:57Episode 583: Breakthrough Comedies and MST4K
Jul 28, 2025Erik Childress and Peter Sobczynski guide you through a wacky week of physical media. It includes the breakthrough comedies from Jim Carrey and Adam Sandler. Eddie Murphy makes his first foray into fantasy and Norm MacDonald gets three versions of his first starring role. A cinephile incel turns to murder. Meanwhile, Pulp Fiction gets a spinoff and Diabolik gets three. There is blaxploitation, Elaine May, Jon Cryer going back to school and Fu Manchu. Find out who Cliff Twemlow is and what William Conrad directed. Another William (Friedkin) directs his reported favorite movie that got the How Did This...
Duration: 02:19:32Episode 582: First Steps and Big Swings
Jul 25, 2025Erik Childress and Steve Prokopy review seven movies for you this week. They include a documentary about one of the most famous journalists of her time (Barbara Walters: Tell Me Everything). Erik check out Hell in the Pacific meets the Creature from the Black Lagoon (Monster Island) while Steve looks at a new romantic thriller from Michael Winterbottom (Shoshana). They catch up on a quirky relationship comedy they saw at Sundance (Oh, Hi!). Pete Davidson goes the horror route with a mysterious elderly facility (The Home) while another SNL veteran returns to maybe his most popular character after 30 years...
Duration: 01:24:42Episode 581: The Fantastic Four: First Steps
Jul 23, 2025Just a few weeks after their incredible disappointment with James Gunn’s Superman (which they briefly revisit), Erik Childress and comic book expert Erik Laws dive back into comic book cinema with Marvel’s latest attempt to do justice to the Fantastic Four. After two films by Tim Story and the infamous disasters of 2015 and the shelved Roger Corman version of the ‘90s, the foursome has never endeared itself to Childress but the results may surprise you. They delve into the creation and treatment of Galactus and the Silver Surfer, how the new cast adheres to the intentions of the co...
Duration: 02:09:56Episode 580: Your French Fries Are Drowning And Stuff
Jul 21, 2025Physical media offers a lot of pleasures this week. Do Erik Childress and Peter Sobczynski feel guilty about any of them? Certainly not of Jack Nicholson’s collaboration with Mike Nichols or one of their “Why Is This Not On Blu-ray” titles getting the 4K treatment. There’s a little history of the nudie plus Bertolucci does a family film. An MST3K selection may not be worth all the skewering though neither was Joe Dante’s snakebit summer effort from 1998. All that plus Larry Cohen’s grossly satirical take on consumerism and what Beverly Hills Cop might have been like if...
Duration: 01:59:14Episode 579: I Know What You Did Last Pandemic
Jul 18, 2025Seven new movies are available in theaters and on streaming this week. At least the seven reviewed by Erik Childress and Steve Prokopy this week. They include the latest thriller from Kiyoshi Kurosawa (Cloud) and the latest wannabe thriller starring Bella Thorne (Saint Clare). TV pioneer Shari Lewis finally gets her own documentary (Shari & Lamb Chop) while a cinema-loving young woman gets a chance to mingle with the people she thought she dreamt about (Finally Dawn). Embeth Davidtz makes his directorial debut adapting a South African childhood memoir (Don’t Let’s Go to the Dogs Tonight) while five dum...
Duration: 01:26:15Episode 578: Battle Beyond The Frailty
Jul 14, 2025Physical media serves up some classics as well as some that deserve more modern classic status. Peter Sobczynski may disagree with some of them but he joins Erik Childress again this week to bring you the latest and greatest. They include a restored series from Francois Truffaut as well as some oddities involving Fred MacMurray and the “involvement” of The Three Stooges. There are sequels for Robocop and the Ghoulies as well as some more WWII hijinks for Brad Pitt. One of the great westerns of all-time is up for debate. Though there is nothing but love for one of t...
Duration: 01:27:16Episode 577: Say It Ain’t Swanson (or Everyone Please Touch Grass)
Jul 12, 2025Erik Childress and Steve Prokopy review nine movies for you this week with four of them coming in a unique bundle. Those include a group of friends sheltering in place when they believe a nuclear missile is coming for them (Nuked), a pregnant woman confined to a house when a mysterious man threatens her safety (Push), an introvert and an extrovert confined to an apartment trying to avoid becoming one with the world (Else) and another couple on the outs stuck in an apartment complex seemingly with no way out (Brick). Beyond that there is the implication that Van...
Duration: 01:45:34Episode 576: James Gunn’s Superman
Jul 09, 2025For years on the Movie Madness Podcast, comic book expert Erik Laws has joined Erik Childress to discuss in-depth the various superhero and graphic novel adaptation to the big screen from Marvel to DC and the heights to the very lows. In this episode they discuss how James Gunn’s long-awaited takeover and reboot of the DC Universe is not just a massive disappointment but may represent a new low. They break it all down from David Corenswet’s portrayal of Superman and Clark, the lack of genuine stakes, the reliance on an overly jokey tone and the...
Duration: 02:21:41Episode 575: Epics, Killers And Clueless Politics
Jul 07, 2025There’s a lot to talk about this week in the world of physical media. Peter Sobczynski joins Erik Childress to talk about a Stanley Kubrick epic finally getting the release it deserves. Oliver Stone revisits a final cut for his own epic and there is also some epic destruction from the ‘70s. Denzel Washington looks for a serial killer, though not the one traipsing through the woods like he was Terrence Malick. They’ve got film noir with Glenn Ford, horror meeting blaxploitation and Peter offering his thoughts on Ryan Coogler’s huge 2025 success. Finally the pair discuss Mike Nic...
Duration: 01:57:10Episode 574: Afterbirth and Video Stores
Jul 03, 2025As we head into our mid-summer holiday, Erik Childress and Steve Prokopy have seven movies for you to consider. They revisit their praise of Eva Victor’s Sundance wonder (Sorry, Baby) chosen for their Chicago Critics Film Festival along with Danielle Deadwyler trying to protect her family and farm during another cinematic apocalypse (40 Acres). Alicia Silverstone chooses the wrong sugar daddy (Pretty Thing) while Alex Ross Perry takes us through decades of video stores in movies in a three-hour cinematic essay (Videoheaven). John Cena and Idris Elba are their country’s leaders caught in an assassination plot (Heads of Stat...
Duration: 01:28:10Episode 573: FU to F1
Jun 27, 2025Erik Childress and Steve Prokopy wade through nine reviews this week to get you to the few standouts. A couple is presented with the possibility their daughter was switched at birth (A Stranger in My Home) while a team of nitwits try to steal a 35mm print from Quentin Tarantino (Stealing Pulp Fiction). Emma Mackey tries to use Vicky Krieps as a distraction from her invalid mother (Hot Milk) while a drug deal goes south for a sex worker (Ponyboi) and Bryan Cranston tries to keep his family and regional theater afloat (Everything Going To Be Great). Mariska Hargitay...
Duration: 01:26:36Movie Madness Episode 572: Tuning Up For Sorcerer
Jun 23, 2025Physical Media weeks don’t get much more packed this week and there is a lot to get to with Erik Childress and Peter Sobczynski. Titles include a trio of youth tales involving the film that took back cheerleading, a slasher film getting a new updating soon and the infamous creation of the Brat Pack. There’s a Hammer mystery, sci-fi and Peter Cushing as Doctor Who. Peter talks about a somewhat forgotten film noir with Robert Mitchum as well as a musical version of The Philadelphia Story. They look back with a bit of fondness for an innocuous spoo...
Duration: 02:23:58Episode 571: Remember the Dead (And What Jim Jordan Did)
Jun 20, 2025Seven new movies are reviewed by Erik Childress and Steve Prokopy this week and most of them are documentaries. Steve takes a look at Disney’s stage version of one of their biggest films (Frozen: The Hit Broadway Musical) and a tale of more than two kitties (American Cats: The Good, The Bad and the Cuddly). Erik checks out the story of sexual assault within the sports programs of a major university (Surviving Ohio State) plus a daughter trying to learn more about her photographer mother (A Photographic Memory). As for the narrative features, they warn you of one of...
Duration: 01:17:42Episode 570: Why Not Take All Of Them?
Jun 16, 2025The talk includes a less-talked-about film of the screwball era as well as one of the classic rom-coms of the ‘50s. There’s another Tombstone story and a documentary about Thelonious Monk. A two decade old Charles Burnett film finally comes to light and a beloved Steve Martin comedy finally gets a Blu-ray release. There are Looney Tunes, bicyclists, underwater monsters, a whole lot of Jessica Fletcher and Christopher McQuarrie’s directorial debut all there for your libraries.
3:45 - Criterion (Midnight, Thelonious Monk: Straight, No Chaser)
16:28 - Kino (Law and Order, Sabrina 4K, Rock Pretty Baby...
Duration: 01:54:07Movie Madness Episode 569: Materialists Is Anything But Toothless
Jun 13, 2025Erik Childress and Steve Prokopy have eight movie reviews for you this week. They include a pair of documentaries on a Scottish rock band who were more than their soundtrack contribution (Simple Minds: Everything Is Possible) and about New Zealand’s Jacinda Ardern (Prime Minister). A woman finds some disturbing secrets about her grandparents and society (Best Wishes To All) while Pierce Brosnan and Samuel L. Jackson look for some hidden gold (The Unholy Trinity). A trio of improv performers go undercover for the cops (Deep Cover) while Julianne Moore covers up for daughter Sydney Sweeney (Echo Valley). Finally, Da...
Duration: 01:33:34Movie Madness Podcast Episode 568: All Time To Talk Bond
Jun 09, 2025Erik Childress and Peter Sobczynski go over the history of Sidney Lumet’s version of The Wiz. They look over the failed attempt to tell the story of Air America and the ridiculous entry into the cyber-thriller canon known for anything but the hacking. Then they go through a new set upgrading the original Sean Connery James Bond films and how they compare to the other versions throughout the years.
For more James Bond talk go back to this episode with the great Sergio Mims talking about No Time To Die and his personal relationship to this ic...
Duration: 01:28:20Movie Madness Episode 567: You Must Have Seen Her…And That…Again.
Jun 06, 2025Erik Childress and Steve Prokopy go from the comically violent travails of adoptive parents Nick Kroll and Andrew Rannells (I Don’t Understand You) to yet another exorcism film with Al Pacino and Dan Stevens (The Ritual). The creature that once stalked Schwarzenegger now gets animated (Predator: Killer of Killers) and a shark-loving serial killer leads to a cat-and-mouse battle on a boat (Dangerous Animals). Wes Anderson delivers his latest (The Phoenician Scheme), Mike Flanagan adapts another Stephen King novella (The Life of Chuck) and the World of John Wick gets a little bigger (Ballerina). Find out what is wo...
Duration: 01:23:07Movie Madness Episode 566: Don’t Forget The Beatles White Album Or The Hot Fat
Jun 02, 2025Erik Childress and Peter Sobczynski guide you through another week of physical media. This week you can include masterworks from Paul Schrader, Terry Gilliam and Jonathan Demme on your shelves. There are also underrated works from George Romero and Mel Brooks as well as career work from Nicolas Cage and Elisabeth Shue. They talk about the oddness that ranges from Linda Blair on skates to Dennis Quaid as an infamous singer plus the one Sam Peckinpah film you may want to watch alone first.
2:52 - Criterion (Mishima: A Life In Four Chapters 4K, Brazil 4K)
22:27...
Duration: 01:45:40Movie Madness Podcast Episode 565: Sweep the Leg. Hard. All Of Them!
May 30, 2025Six films are on the slate this week for Erik Childress and Steve Prokopy. They include a pair of documentaries about the making of The Day After (Television Event) and the frontman for U2 in a filmed version of his stage show (Bono: Stories of Surrender). A puppeteer must transition to samurai in the Old West (Tornado) while a group of billionaires struggle with the dangerous implications of one of their businesses (Mountainhead). The directors of Talk To Me deliver their latest bit of horror (Bring Her Back) while Jackie Chan and Ralph Macchio team up for a new...
Duration: 01:01:36Movie Madness Podcast: Episode 564: You Won’t Get Munson’d By The Bottoms Ladies
May 26, 2025It’s a funny week for physical media. In that there are some tremendously funny movies in the mix but also some landmarks to put in your library. Erik Childress and Peter Sobczynski guide you through the work of Charles Burnett and the singular film by Kerry Conran. They take you through the multiple versions of a Ridley Scott epic, perhaps the best of the Musketeers films and the weird backstory of an SNL sequel. Warner Archive has a couple of biopics named after songs as well as Al Pacino’s Oscar-winning role. A collection of Audie Murphy titles are...
Duration: 02:02:06Episode 564: You Won’t Get Munson’d By The Bottoms Ladies
May 26, 2025It’s a funny week for physical media. In that there are some tremendously funny movies in the mix but also some landmarks to put in your library. Erik Childress and Peter Sobczynski guide you through the work of Charles Burnett and the singular film by Kerry Conran. They take you through the multiple versions of a Ridley Scott epic, perhaps the best of the Musketeers films and the weird backstory of an SNL sequel. Warner Archive has a couple of biopics named after songs as well as Al Pacino’s Oscar-winning role. A collection of Audie Murphy titles are...
Duration: 02:02:06Movie Madness Episode 563: Accept It One Last Time
May 24, 2025Memorial Day weekend offers a variety of options, some of them even good both in theaters and at home. Erik Childress and Steve Prokopy are here to talk you through nine of them. They include Cate Blanchett as a nun who may have discovered the second coming (The New Boy) and another film about resurrecting the dead (The Surrender). A musician you may have missed gets the documentary treatment (Swamp Dogg Gets His Pool Painted), Netflix returns to the world of R.L. Stine (Fear Street: Prom Queen) and a writer may or may not find romance...
Duration: 01:38:22Episode 563: Accept It One Last Time
May 23, 2025Memorial Day weekend offers a variety of options, some of them even good both in theaters and at home. Erik Childress and Steve Prokopy are here to talk you through nine of them. They include Cate Blanchett as a nun who may have discovered the second coming (The New Boy) and another film about resurrecting the dead (The Surrender). A musician you may have missed gets the documentary treatment (Swamp Dogg Gets His Pool Painted), Netflix returns to the world of R.L. Stine (Fear Street: Prom Queen) and a writer may or may not find romance on a...
Duration: 01:38:22Episode 562: Get Out Of Your Sleeping Bags!
May 19, 2025This week in physical media may be appealing to the cults out there. Whichever you belong to, Erik Childress and Peter Sobczynski are here to guide you towards your particular following. Perhaps you are in the Richard E. Grant & Bruce Robinson cult. Or stay on that side of the pond with an Oscar-winning musical and a film that was the Bridgerton of its time in the way it uses music. Maybe you’re in the late Friday the 13th cult and enjoy its post-Paramount days. Or you have a taste for a marathon of Blaxploitation. Whether you love movie do...
Duration: 01:26:51Episode 561: Death, Dogs And Tim Robinson Come For Us All
May 17, 2025Erik Childress and Steve Prokopy return to the review beat after a couple weeks off at the Chicago Critics Film Festival. Erik looks at a bunch of influencers terrorized by feral dogs (A Breed Apart) and the story that inspired a cult body horror film (The Darkside of Society). Steve looks at an influential moment for the hearing impaired (Deaf President Now) and The Weeknd’s self-indulgent vanity project (Hurry Up Tomorrow). They also offer thoughts on a pair of films chosen for their festival including the strange transformation of a woman in an arranged marriage (Sister Midnight) and Ti...
Duration: 01:07:59Episode 560: There’s A Crack In The Planet (And The Doll Case)
May 12, 2025After a week off for The Chicago Critics Film Festival, Erik Childress and Peter Sobczynski return to get you up to date on the latest in physical media world. They include one of the great musicals and a landmark in 60s cinema. Disney upgrades one of their animated hits before its live-action counterpart hits theater. See the film Robert Zemeckis made in-between shooting Cast Away. There is plenty of sleaze thanks to Pete Walker and Wings Hauser and a reunion of Robert DeNiro and Meryl Streep. There is disaster sci-fi and upgrades for two of the all-time great horror...
Duration: 01:38:54Episode 559: Thunderbolts*
May 02, 2025Marvel is hoping for both a critical and financial reboot with their latest summer opener and Erik Childress is joined once again by comic book expert, Erik Laws, to discuss. Laws delves into the history of the Thunderbolts and various incarnations in the comics. They talk about what they enjoyed about the film as well as elements that fell flat. A lot of credit goes to a pair of key performances in the film as Marvel banks on audiences responding to themes of alienation and depression in place of just the usual comic book action. Is that enough to...
Duration: 01:34:28Episode 558: It’s Rider’s Name Was Death
Apr 28, 2025After weeks of light lineups in the physical media world, the end of April explores with a variety of titles that Erik Childress and Peter Sobczynski are here to guide you through. They include Sean Baker bookends from Criterion, blaxploitation and films from Russ Meyer. You got journeys to the Bermuda triangle and the gates of hell not to mention bullets and betrayal. Bill Murray enters the army and Michael Keaton goes to rehab. Plus Clint Eastwood has a trio of his films get the 4K upgrade.
1:52 - Criterion (Basquiat 4K, Prince of Broadway, Anora 4K)
Episode 557: More Than One Foot In The Grave
Apr 26, 2025Before taking off for the upcoming Chicago Critics Film Festival (May 2-8) which they program, Erik Childress and Steve Prokopy review nine movies this week. They include the latest from Francois Ozon (When Fall Is Coming) and a Jim Henson-like fantasy from A24 (The Legend of Ochi). Jack Quaid and Jeffrey Dean Morgan make for unique investigators of a kidnapping (Neighborhood Watch) and a new video game adaptation is decidedly less unique (Until Dawn). Daisy Edgar-Jones and Jacob Elordi have secrets in the 1950s (On Swift Horses) and we take a trip through the careers of one of the...
Duration: 01:31:50Episode 556: Sneaking Around Target And The Old West
Apr 21, 2025Another light week for physical media but a fun one – especially for those nostalgic for the early ‘90s. Peter Sobczynski joins Erik Childress to talk about Criterion’s upgrade of a multi-part French masterpiece from the ‘80s. They share thoughts on The Most Dangerous Game riff that got snakebit by real-world tragedies and Covid. Goldie Hawn and Chevy Chase try to prevent the assassination of the pope. No, not that one. One of the late Val Kilmer’s most iconic performances gets the 4K upgrade. The duo also share their fondness for one of the most entertaining comic thriller team-ups o...
Duration: 01:09:09Episode 555: I Want Your Blood And I Want Your Souls
Apr 19, 2025Erik Childress and Steve Prokopy have eight movie reviews this week including revisiting one of their favorites from Sundance, a twisted alternate version of Cinderella (The Ugly Stepsister). Steve looks at another cabin-in-the-woods-horror (Call of the Void), a documentary about drummers (Count Me In) and Catherine Deneuve as Beradette Chirac (The President’s Wife). Erik looks at Severance’s Britt Lower as a lonely librarian (Darkest Miriam) and Steve checks out the four-year art project of a group of squatters (Secret Mall Apartment). Ang Lee’s landmark LBGTQ film gets a 21st century remake (The Wedding Banquet) and Ryan Coogle...
Duration: 01:21:55Episode 554: Instincts, Informants & Iwo Jima
Apr 14, 2025It’s been a little light out there for titles in physical media world but this week has no shortage of interesting ones and Peter Sobczynski joins Erik Childress to talk you through them. They include one of Wong-Kar Wai’s most remembered films and John Sayles’ foray into studio filmmaking in the ‘80s. John Wayne goes to war and then later goofs off with John Ford. There are new 4K editions of two of Steven Soderbergh’s films plus one of Abel Ferrara’s more treasured crime dramas. Then the pair wade into the controversies and legacy of Paul Verhoev...
Duration: 01:19:53Episode 553: All’s Fair In Love And War
Apr 11, 2025Erik Childress and Steve Prokopy have seven movies to talk about this week. They range from a documentary about one of the music world’s most talked about relationships (One to One: John & Yoko) and an animated story of Jesus told through the mouth of Dickens (The King of Kings). The Michaels – Cera & Angarano – go on a road trip (Sacramento) and Stephen Dorff tries to go legit in the Old West (Gunslingers). The director of Happy Death Day presents the world’s worst first date (Drop) and CIA analyst Rami Malek tries to avenge his wife (The Amateur). Finally, Alex Gar...
Duration: 01:21:02Episode 552: Some Sweat When The Heat Is On
Apr 07, 2025Another light week for physical media but Erik Childress and Peter Sobczynski have you covered with one of the greatest comedies of all time and one of Peter Sellers’ overlooked gems. There is film noir, a sorority massacre and a pair of films covered on The Friendship Dilemma podcast. They include Ryan Reynolds in the friend zone with Amy Smart and Shane Black getting paid to make Geena Davis and Samuel L. Jackson his mismatched mystery partners.
0:00 - Intro
3:59 - Criterion (Some Like It Hot 4K)
15:06 - Kino (I’m All Right, Jack / Film...
Duration: 01:07:09Episode 551: With Friends Like These Who Needs A Ballad?
Apr 04, 2025Erik Childress and Steve Prokopy have reviews of eight new movies this week. They revisit one of the best films they saw at Sundance this year (The Ballad of Wallis Island) while Erik handles this week’s latest video game adaptation (A Minecraft Movie). Public domain puts Steamboat Willie into horror (Screamboat) and how do they like dem apple on dat head (William Tell). Michael Shannon directs the aftermath of a school shooting (Eric Larue) and Paul Walter Hauser plays the infamous Press Your Luck champion (The Luckiest Man In America). The directors of Half Nelson and Captain Marvel ma...
Duration: 01:31:42Episode 550: Ugetsu Everybody
Mar 31, 2025If you missed a number of recent films in theaters then this is really the Blu-ray week for you. Beyond those, Erik Childress and Peter Sobczynski still have some titles for you to consider if you can’t get enough of Nicholas Hoult in vampire films or you really like those new digital shorts on SNL. There’s also the tale of graverobbers that took their work a little too far, an obscure relationship melodrama from the 1940s and an influential ghost story set against the backdrop of the Japanese Civil Wars.
0:00 - Intro
1:50 - Crit...
Duration: 00:52:02Episode 549: Hackman And The Deadly Wonder Women
Mar 24, 2025Blu-rays, 4Ks, physical media galore this week as Erik Childress and Peter Sobczynski guide you through another week. They include upgrades of a great Gene Hackman film and another from Alan Rudolph by Criterion. There’s early work from Rudolph Valentino and the late George Armitage. Horror goes from brain-inhabiting slugs to a black mamba, child murders, cannibalism and eating the rich. There’s also a pair of Chris Farley/David Spade films and a trio of deadly women including Ursula Andress, Kathleen Hughes and the immortal Lynda Carter.
0:00 - Intro
1:54 - Criterion (Night...
Duration: 01:41:10Episode 548: Hi Ho! Alto! It’s Off To Eephus We Go!!
Mar 21, 2025Erik Childress & Steve Prokopy have nine movies for you this week. It all starts by hitting the way back machine for their 2023 review of a Sundance film delayed by the controversy over its star (Magazine Dreams). There is also an apocalyptic musical fantasy (O’Dessa) and Bill Skarsgard is trapped in Anthony Hopkins’ fancy car (Locked). Sci-fi goes two ways with the bloody aftermath of an astronaut colony (Ash) and the process future couples go through to have a baby (The Assessment). Barbie Ferreira and John Leguizamo form a surrogate parental friendship (Bob Trevino Likes It). One of the grea...
Duration: 01:53:20Episode 547: The 2025 SXSW Film Festival
Mar 19, 2025Erik Childress has been traveling to Austin for over 20 years for the annual South by Southwest Film Festival. He is back to tell you all about 19 films that he saw this year. Among the films you can see soon are the return of Anna Kendrick and Blake Lively to the world of simple favor. Paul Rudd and Jenna Ortega trying to survive the revenge of a unicorn and Nicolas Cage battles some territorial Australians. Hopefully audiences won’t have to wait too long to see the solo directorial debut of Jay Duplass or the latest from Matt Johnson that pa...
Duration: 01:08:29Episode 546: Light A Candle And You Will See Baked Beans
Mar 17, 2025Peter Sobczynski joins Erik Childress again to get you caught up on a couple weeks of new physical media. They include drama from Charlie Chaplin and Michael Mann’s feature debut. Godzilla returns as does the creepy Roger Corman sci-fi of the early ‘80s. Renny Harlin brings the sharks, Skippy from Family Ties battles a heavy metal killer and Peter reminds us of another piece of ‘80s horror that some parents would like to forget. There is also more weirdness including Steve Allen studying sex, John Travolta investigating sex and Eddie Murphy brought in to save a comedy. All that m...
Duration: 01:53:56Episode 545: No Pain, Yes Black Bag
Mar 14, 2025Movie reviews continue on the show with seven new releases this week. Steve Prokopy looks at the chaos of a young woman and her Zambian family (On Becoming a Guinea Fowl) while Samara Weaving plays a pop star dealing with a stalker (Borderline). John Malkovich is another pop star whom Ayo Edebiri discovers may be part of a cult (Opus). Daffy Duck and Porky Pig try to save the world from zombies and aliens (The Day the Earth Blew Up: A Looney Tunes Movie) while Chris Pratt and Millie Bobbie Brown live in a world of robots (The Electric...
Duration: 01:16:28Episode 544: From Las Piedras To Nearly Peru
Mar 03, 2025Physical media never takes a week off but sometimes they sleep in a little. Such as this light week that has Peter Sobczynski and Erik Childress starting off with a stone-cold classic thriller from Criterion upgraded to 4K. Kino has more film noir, a double feature with Agatha Christie AND Bert I. Gordon plus the terrifying presence of Klaus Kinski as a Nazi. There’s an animated cat who gives massages and everyone’s favorite bear in a rain slicker.
0:00 - Intro
6:53 - Criterion (The Wages of Fear 4K)
13:32 - Kino (Film Noir: The...
Duration: 00:55:25Episode 543: Don’t Hold Your Breath
Feb 28, 2025Another light week of releases, but are any of them good? Erik Childress and Steve Prokopy talk you through five of them including a documentary on a better person in charge of the Washington Post (Becoming Katharine Graham). Ed Harris factors into two releases this week including a woman manifestsing her PTSD through her fellow soldier (My Dead Friend Zoe) and a crime comedy with an all-star cast (Riff Raff). There is also a bitcoin hostage thriller (Cold Wallet) and an underwater true story that the filmmaker has re-made from their own documentary (Last Breath).
0:00...
Duration: 00:49:17Episode 542: Why Is Everything Controversial?
Feb 24, 2025Erik Childress and Peter Sobczynski run down titles you can get on physical media this week and, not gonna lie, there’s a lot of baggage. There’s the Mick Jagger film that say on the shelf for two years along with Lindsay Lohan’s collaboration with Paul Schrader and William Friedkin’s infamous Al Pacino murder mystery set within the gay community. Not to mention John Wayne playing Genghis Khan and the poor timing for an Eric Red horror film. But even controversy can be put aside for cinema sunshine. You can now get Milos Forman’s Mozart film in it...
Duration: 02:07:11Episode 541: Not Shocked By The Monkey
Feb 21, 2025It’s a light week for movies so Erik Childress and Steve Prokopy work with what they have with four titles that you may or may not want to work with. They include a new Chicago horror film from director Mickey Keating (Invader). Daisy Ridley is a window washer who goes from pane to McClane when eco-terrorists take over her building (Cleaner). Christoph Waltz is an aging hitman with a protégé (Old Guy). Finally, Osgood Perkins is back with a Stephen King adaptation where things do not go well for anybody. (The Monkey)
0:00 - Intro...
Duration: 00:46:30Episode 540: Lighten Up, Frances & Zuckerberg
Feb 17, 2025It’s physical media time with Erik Childress and Peter Sobczynski guiding you through this week’s releases which includes a pair of late indie staples from the ‘80s now in 4K. There’s a pair of John Candy comedies from the same decade, Burt Reynolds directing a comedy about suicide and one about the life of Frances Farmer. Pick your poison in Richard Dreyfuss directing porn (within the movie) and the unspeakable horrors of Roger Corman mutant rapists. Keanu Reeves is a demon hunter and David Fincher gets upgrades for his underrated B-movie thriller and the origin story of anoth...
Duration: 01:50:24Episode 539: Mad About The Boy And The Bear
Feb 14, 2025Erik Childress and Steve Prokopy return to regular reviewing duties this week and they put a nine-spot on the board. There are a pair of documentaries involving Sly Stone (Sly Lives) and the Zep (Becoming Led Zeppelin). The director of Saint Frances & Ghostlight shows the horror of being a doctor (Rounding) while a young woman involved in one night stands may have been literally ghosted (The Dead Thing). Paolo Sorrentino has another tale of beauty (Parthenope) while Miles Teller & Anya Taylor-Joy snipe themselves into each other’s hearts fighting monsters (The Gorge). Then it’s a week of sequels incl...
Duration: 01:32:19Episode 538: Captain America: Brave New World
Feb 13, 2025The next phase of the Marvel Cinematic Universe is here and so is comic book expert Erik Laws to talk with Erik Childress on how it plays out. Does it follow through on some of the ideas raised by The Falcon and the Winter Soldier or is it merely just continuing a story most many have forgotten about? Laws fills in the blanks left by the treatment of Shira Haas’ Widow and the remnants of the Serpent Society. Is this a genuine new beginning for the Universe or does it continue the rut that has befallen the MCU since En...
Duration: 01:38:19Episode 537: Nobody Wants To See Your Lear, Dude!
Feb 11, 2025Erik Childress & Peter Sobczynski bring you this week’s physical media roundup which includes a great upgrade for the family involving a cat and a mouse. Horror fans get some 4K upgrades from four different decades. Film Noir gets several different takes including through the mind of Woody Allen. A legendary black filmmaker championed over the years by Sergio Mims gets his whole collection. There are early appearances by Sam Elliott, Sean Penn and John Cusack along with a reappraisal of a current Oscar contender. A more positive reappraisal has been happening for years with a Shane Black film no...
Duration: 01:38:54Episode 536: The 2025 Sundance Film Festival
Feb 09, 2025Erik Childress and Steve Prokopy return after more than a week in Park City plus virtual screenings for this year’s Sundance Film Festival and they are here to talk about 15 of their favorite films. They include a pair of body horror films about the terror of living happily ever after. There is also the horror of being a parent especially if you live next to the worst kind of Karen. Music plays a role in a lovely story about a washed-up folk singer and a lottery winner plus the heartbreaking tale of an artist taken away from us to...
Duration: 01:36:01Episode 535: My Eyes Are Up Here, Orca!
Feb 04, 2025After some time off for Sundance, Movie Madness returns to get you caught up on the latest and greatest in Blu-rays. Erik Childress talks to Peter Sobczynski about a couple 4K upgrades from Criterion for Paul Thomas Anderson and Anthony Mann. There are rom-coms with Cary Grant and Clark Gable while Al Pacino tries to find love with possibly a serial killer. They’ve got a possessed authoritarian in the White House (from 1933) and a killer whale on the loose. Music documentaries for Joan Jett and Joan Baez and one of Dario Argento’s best. But it all comes down...
Duration: 02:18:42Episode 534: Mom, Can I Get The New Delfonics Tape?
Jan 20, 2025Some great titles in physical media this week and Erik Childress is joined by Peter Sobczynski to convince you to pick them up. They include a great modern con artist noir from Criterion and a lost film from Paul Bartel. The ‘70s bring us some sexploitation horror and Sherlock Holmes hunts Jack the Ripper while the ’80s gave us one of the most unique and divisive slasher films. Peter goes to bat for a pair of 4K upgrades from John Carpenter and Tarsem. Finally, there is a trio of new 4Ks from Quentin Tarantino that includes one of Peter’s favo...
Duration: 01:46:19Episode 533: His Hair Was Not Perfect
Jan 17, 2025Erik Childress and Steve Prokopy look at eight new movies this week including a unique documentary that combines a video game with Shakespeare (Grand Theft Hamlet). Julia Stiles makes her directorial debut with a romantic weepie (Wish You Were Here) and a locksmith goes on a wild evening (Night Call). Scott Eastwood and Willa Fitzgerald play spies who go off the grid and are sucked back into duty (Alarum) while Jamie Foxx and Cameron Diaz play spies who go off the grid and are sucked back into duty (Back in Action). There is the tale of the newsroom covering...
Duration: 01:19:19Bonus Episode: Awards Madness 2024 (Part 5 – Nomination Predictions)
Jan 17, 2025The final pieces are in place as BAFTA and the Producers/Writers Guilds have unveiled their nominations. That means its time to give it a whirl at what the final Oscar lists are going to look like. Just how much did the BAFTAs influence the acting categories. Did the Writer’s Guild really make a difference in predicting screenplays when half of them were disqualified? If the Producers Guild holds about an 80% predictability rate, which two films get left off? Erik Childress looks at no less than eight films that could be vying for one final Best Picture slot. Wh...
Duration: 00:25:00Episode 532: What’s In The Blu-Ray Box?
Jan 13, 2025Physical media is still here in 2025! Like every other year. Erik Childress and Peter Sobczynski are back to run through the new releases with you. They include a pair of upgraded Kurosawas and Richard Pryor examining his life. John Turturro directs a musical, William Shatner does a horror film in Esperanto and the pair share some fondness for John Frankenheimer’s final film. You will hear about the film that was literally like pulling teeth for Erik while two of Brad Pitt’s best films get fantastic new packages.
0:00 - Intro
3:39 - Criterion (Yojimbo/Sanjuro 4K, T...
Duration: 01:29:28Episode 531: Dammit Pantera, This Beer Is Warm!
Jan 10, 2025Erik Childress and Steve Prokopy are back to start 2025 with reviews…of a lot of 2024 movies. Albeit ones opening wider across the country now. But there are also some brand new releases including documentaries on a film that never was (George A. Romero’s Resident Evil) and the songwriter who never wins an Oscar (Diane Warren: Relentless). Then a family is trapped amidst a pole reversal (Survive) and Adrien Brody tries to build a life in America (The Brutalist). Robbie Williams gets the musical biopic treatment as a chimpanzee (Better Man) while Julianne Moore & Tilda Swinton face a tough life...
Duration: 01:46:05Episode 530: WHY IS THIS NOT ON BLU-RAY?! (Chapter 10)
Jan 09, 2025An annual tradition that goes back to the days of WHPK Radio at the University of Chicago where Erik Childress joined Sergio Mims to discuss all things movies and certainly physical media, Erik is now joined by Peter Sobczynski for it to endure. Each of them has chosen ten films that to this day remain only on DVD (or not at all) that they believe deserve the upgrade. There are films about the circus, about priests and prostitution, love triangles and the dark side of Hollywood. There is politics and courtrooms, games of skill, concerts and debuts in front...
Duration: 03:02:49Bonus Episode: Awards Madness 2024 (Part 4)
Jan 07, 2025Oscar voting has begun and the week before the unveiling of the nominations is jam-packed with implications. Various guilds to impact the Best Picture race from Producers to Directors to Writers. All that on top of the Screen Actors Guild announcement and how the BAFTA shortlists put the best case scenarios forwards for many in the acting categories. Did the Golden Globes impact the races (or at least people’s viewing preferences)? The Best Actress could become a Thunderdome right up to the nominations on Jan. 17. Which performances have the most to gain and lose down the stretch and ho...
Duration: 00:29:58Episode 529: The Best Films Of 2024
Jan 03, 2025What better way to kickoff 2025 than a look back at the some of the greatness of 2024. On this annual show, Erik Childress and Steve Prokopy invite back Collin Souter so they can condense the entire year into the absolute best in their individual opinions. Only three films cracked all of their lists so there is a wide swath of analysis in a year that demanded it. Where is the common ground? What are the outliers? This is a great way to make your own lists on what to catch up on before we start doing it all again in...
Duration: 02:01:31Episode 528: The Circle Of Life Is A Lie
Dec 20, 2024On the final show of 2024, Erik Childress and Steve Prokopy check out eight new movies that include a Danish serial killer from 1919 (The Girl with the Needle) and Nicole Kidman as a CEO who enters into an affair with an intern (Babygirl). Tyler Perry tells the story of undelivered mail during wartime (The Six Triple Eight) and the Sega Genesis hero returns to battle Jim Carrey (Sonic the Hedgehog 3). Robert Eggers offers his take on the Dracula legend (Nosferatu) and James Mangold tells another story of a musical artist (A Complete Unknown). Finally, Barry Jenkins helps tell a pair...
Duration: 01:33:36