CinemArcade

For this month's JBan's Choice, we're heading to the far distant fantasy land of Jim Henson's THE DARK CRYSTAL! This 1982 high fantasy flick features some jaw dropping visuals and an incredible well of creativity... but is it any good? We get into it, as well as discussing one of our earliest games, the 1983 text-adventure HI-RES ADVENTURES #6: THE DARK CRYSTAL.  Hosted by Steve Guntli, Jennifer "...

This one is monumental, y'all. An independent film that not only changed how movies are consumed but helped invent an entrie genre, John Carpenter's HALLOWEEN remains one of the most important horror films of all time. Which is why we had to give it its due with one of our longest episodes ever! We're joined once again by Puppet Masters/Castle Freaks co-host Jarrod Hornbeck to talk about his all-t...

It's time to do the Time Warp... again! This week we're discussing the cult movie to end all cult movies, the word-of-mouth musical sensation ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW! The original Midnight Movie is celebrating 50 years of gender-bending, rice throwing, and pure antici..... pation, and we're joining in on the fun! Return guest Ailish Collins joins us as we talk about the hard-to-define movie, and...

The virus is spreading and the zekes are taking over! This week, we're talking about perhaps the most expensive horror movie ever made, the globe-trotting zombie thriller WORLD WAR Z! Brad Pitt leads this loose adaptation of the smash hit book, which makes it to the screen despite one of the most contentious and costly film productions in recent memory. We get into it, before signing up for a tour...

Unpleasant dreams, everyone! It's time to give a legend her due: we're talking about ELVIRA: MISTRESS OF THE DARK, the 1988 film debut of everyone's favorite buxom horror hostess, Elvira! The lovely Juliet Robb joins us for this wacky horror comedy, which inspired an early DOS game that's a surprisingly hardcore early horror game.  Hosted by Steve Guntli, Jennifer "JBan" Bannister, and Justin Wilh...

Alright ramblers, let's get ramblin': we're kicking off an entire month of spooktacular goodness with the absolutely wild B-movie FROM DUSK TILL DAWN! Made by Hollywood enfant terribles Robert Rodriguez and Quentin Tarantino, the film is a brash, uneven, hugely entertaining mash-up of grimy crime thriller and vampire gorefest, and if it's inconsistent and dumb, well, that's part of the charm. We'r...

We're blasting off this week with the plucky little robot boy that nobody loved... ASTRO BOY! Based on one of the forebearers of anime, ASTRO BOY got a 2009 animated movie that barely made a ripple at the box office, despsite an absolutely stacked cast. We dig into this forgotten little charmer before talking about two games: the PS2 adaptation of the movie, and the classic 2003 game ASTRO BOY: OM...

Mix up some mojitos and cuff those blazers, because this week we're looking at Michael Mann's 2006 adaptation of his hit TV show, MIAMI VICE! Starring Colin Farrell and Jamie Foxx as two cool as hell vice cops, the movie is almost defiantly not what you might expect from a Miami Vice movie, which has left it as kind of a love-it-or-hate-it experience. We brought along someone who happens to love i...

We're bending the rules just a little bit this week, because it's JBan's birthday week and our girl wants to talk about some GARGOYLES! This cult favorite 90's TV show (who's five-part pilot was reedited into a movie) was way ahead of its time and still feels like an anomaly for Disney animation. We're talking about the film's surprisingly lengthy legacy before checking out GARGOYLES REMASTERED, a...

We're bringing our TMNT deep dive to a close this week, and we're going out on a high note with 2023's gleeful, gorgeous animated film TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES: MUTANT MAYHEM! Turtles superfan Grace Dickens joins us to talk about this most recent flick, which hearkens back to all eras of the TURTLES legacy for a damn-near perfect confection designed to please the fans. Then, we're checking out...

By 2007, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles brand wasn't what it once was, and the fully-animated sequel TMNT sought to revitalize the franchise. How successful it was is up for debate; this may be one of the most aggressively "okay" films we've ever covered, and doesn't exactly light a fire for the Heroes in a Half Shell to make a comeback. We're talking all about this strange pitstop in the TURTLE...

Cowabunga, dudes! We're launching a whole new miniseries on the movies and games of the TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES series! Even though there technically isn't a game adaptation of the original 1990 live action film, the series needs a proper introduction, and there's no better way than to talk about the early 90's megahit that surprisingly still holds up! Plus, we can't talk about NINJA TURTLES...

This week, we're stepping into the hidden world inside our closets for Disney/Pixar's 2001 classic MONSTERS, INC.! This madcap comedy is one of the animation powerhouse's lighter and funnier works, but it's every bit as worthy as some of the studio's more prestigious tearjerkers. Starring Billy Crystal and secret CinemArcade MVP John Goodman, the movie is a delightful romp that spawned surprisingl...

Paul Newman shines in the heartbreaking and beautiful drama THE HUSTLER, a stunning examination of addiction, obsession and self-hatred, and one of the least likely movies to ever be covered on our show! The road to arriving as a video game 30 years later is a long and fascinating story, but luckily we have film buff and THIRTY TWENTY TEN host Diana Goodman on board to help us navigate it! Check o...

At long last, the epic saga comes to a conclusion. And then another one. And then another one. And then another one.  Jokes aside, RETURN OF THE KING is an incredibly accomplished, satisfying conclusion that was absolutely worthy of it's insane Oscar streak. We're talking all about this final entry in the beloved saga before switching the game adaptation from EA, which truly realizes the potential...

We've come to the central chapter of Peter Jackson's LORD OF THE RINGS saga, and for many fans, it doesn't get better than this. THE TWO TOWERS is free of the burden of establishing or concluding the story, and so we get to really live in the world of Middle Earth, getting better acquainted with our core characters while introducing some precious new ones into the fray. Plus, we get a proper game...

YOU SHALL NOT PASS... up this opportunity to talk about the LORD OF THE RINGS trilogy! One of the most acclaimed and accomplished pieces of modern pop culture, Peter Jackson's masterful adaptation of JRR Tolkein's daunting series not only stuck the landing, it established a new cinematic language for capturing fantasy fiction. We're kicking off a miniseries on the complete trilogy, which presents...

Last week, we covered INDEPENDANCE DAY, the film that made Will Smith's film career. This week, we're talking about the film that nearly ended it. WILD WILD WEST, the 1999 disaster from director Barry Sonnenfeld, tried to adapt the 1960's TV spot of it's namesake into a hugely expenseive spectacle, but the entire project landed with a thud. We're looking into exactly what went wrong before unearth...

Welcome to earth! To commemorate the holiday, we're talking about INDEPENDENCE DAY, the film that reinvented the action blockbuster for the 90s, tilting the trend towards bombast, spectacle, and a whole lot of explosions. The 1996 Roland Emmerich classic helped launch the leading man career of Will Smith and featured cutting-edge special effects that showed that no monument is safe. We're digging...

With CHICKEN RUN, Aardman Entertainment made the leap from scene-stealing short films to feature animation, and they made the leap in style. This fast, funny, endlessly inventive charmer parodies prisoner of war movies like THE GREAT ESCAPE, only with a lot more feathers and a distinctive British charm. We're checking out the film, plus spinning up our first Sega Dreamcast game with the adaptation...

That'll do, pig. That'll do. Because this week we're talking about 1995's BABE, the heartwarming family classic about a kind-hearted talking pig, from the minds who brought you... MAD MAX? Ailish Collins returns to the show to talk about one of her all-time favorite films, before we check out BABE AND FRIENDS for Game Boy Color, a sheep-herding simulator that, like it's film, is a lot darker and m...

This week is all about 1979's cult gem THE WARRIORS; can you dig it? We're talking all about Walter Hill's stylish, violent, controversial hit, as well as it's long and ever-evolving afterlife. We're joined by Chris Antista of "Thirty Twenty Ten" and "Vidjagame Apocalypse," who chimes in on his favorite movie as well as it's 2005 game adaptation from Rockstar Games! Hosted by Steve Guntli, Jennife...

The director of ROCKY brings us another triumphant sports story that's really only tangentially about sports. This week we're looking at 1984's THE KARATE KID, a coming-of-age classic starring Ralph Macchio and Pat Morita. We're talking about the film's surprisingly enduring legacy before taking on the NES game adaptation, which borrows more from KARATE KID PART II than the original but still offe...

Whether you're laughing until your sides hurt or watching in horror through your fingers, there's no denying it's hard to take your eyes of JACKASS. The rowdy stunt phenomenon of the early 2000s hit pop culture like a hurricane, and despite it's relatively short early run it's endured thanks to it's anarchic ingenuity and the genuine love and friendship between the Johnny Knoxville and his crew of...

We're hitting the high seas this week with the rollicking 1996 adventure MUPPET TREASURE ISLAND! Shockingly, this is the only MUPPET property we're going to cover on this show, but luckily we pulled a fun one, a movie that may not live up to the series at its highest highs, but does offer a great villain turn from Tim Curry and a fun selection of songs. We're checking out the movie before digging...