The First Run

This week on The First Run, Chris and Matt travel into the Planet of the Apes future, many generations in the future to be exact, to see the beginning of a new trilogy with, ‘Kingdom Of The Planet Of The Apes’. Gone is Caesar and…everyone else. Are we ready for the next chapter? Do we care? Next is the banana filled festival that is the rundown of the big releases on Physical Media, featuring the...

This week on The First Run, Chris and Matt jump into their 1980 GMC K25 and do some donuts on the beach with Ryan Gosling and Emily Blunt in ‘The Fall Guy’. The guys run down the big releases on physical media, featuring the Viper Video and Streaming Picks of the Week. Then they get creatively bankrupt and give Jimmy Hollywood some ideas with a rundown of their Top 5 80's Shows that Should be Made...

This week on The First Run, since everyone is talking about ‘Challengers’, Chris and Matt watched ‘Boy Kills World’.  Genre films are the bread and butter of The First Run, and no amount of Zendaya led love triangles and threesomes will keep them from their revenge-action films.  Was there even an Eiffel Tower in ‘Challengers’? Don’t waste anyone’s time.  Hooked by the H. Jon Benjam...

This week on The First Run, Chris and Matt  bust out the garlic and crosses as they check out ‘Abigail’, a treatise in how terrifying precocious children can be. Then they slog into the Zack Snyder muck once more so you don't have to with ‘Rebel Moon: The Scargiver’. They'll give you the rundown on the big physical media releases, the Viper Video and Streaming Picks of the week then...

This week on The First Run, Chris and Matt embed themselves in Alex Garland’s latest (and final?) directorial effort, ‘Civil War’.  If you’ve ever wondered what would happen in the United States if society finally broke down over which way the toilet paper should be hung.  Or maybe it was if Chicago pizza is real pizza? Something bad, I’m sure.  There’s the crack-shot rundown of the...

How do you feel about nuns in peril? Well, if you're for it, then the guys have a treat for you. This week, Chris and Matt do a deep dive into the Nunsploitation renaissance of 2024 with ‘The First Omen’ and ‘Immaculate’. They give you the rundown of the big releases on Physical media, featuring the Straight to DVD and Streaming Picks of the Week. Then Matt and Chris wrap up the show with their To...

This week on The First Run, Chris and Matt book a round trip back to Hollow Earth to check in on our good buddy, King Kong. Nope, sorry. Just Kong. It’s ‘Godzilla X Kong: New Empire’. Not only do we get a big box full of Kong, we get a bunch more giant apes, a baby Kong, and an ancient ice breathing titan. And if we’re lucky, maybe Godzilla will show up too. From there it’s on to the big releases...

This week on The First Run, Chris and Matt sign out their weird, grumpy uncles from the assisted living home for yet another trip to the paranormal well with ‘Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire’. Does the gang still pack an unlicensed nuclear accelerator punch? Then Matt and Chris ask the age-old question “Can you improve upon B-Movie perfection?” with the latest product from the strip mining of the 80’s...

Well, well, well. It’s our big 700th episode extravaganza, that we’ll be treating like every other episode.  This week on The First Run, Chris and Matt check back into the Rose Glass hotel for more raw and earnest filmmaking. This time out, it’s Kristen Stewart and Katy O’Brian in the lesbian crime thriller, ‘Love Lies Bleeding’.  Then it’s a blast from the past. One of the more influent...

This week on The First Run, Chris and Matt check out one of two 2024 films about imaginary friends.  First up, it’s the latest Blumhouse horror joint, ‘Imaginary’. What happens if your imaginary friend turns out to be a jerk?  Two films about imaginary friends in a single year doesn’t sound like a lot but it’s weird that it happened. Then they check out the latest product of Millie Bobbi...

This week on The First Run, Chris and Matt saddle up a grand poppa Sandworm and ride into Dune-iverse with Dune Part 2.  While it’s Christmas morning for Matt, after Part 1, Chris felt like he needed to see Part 2 in order to get the whole experience. Whelp, swing and a miss on that one.  As we’re clearly in the middle of a larger story, how does Dune Part 2 measure up against the great...

This week on The First Run, Matt’s been bitten by a Sumatran Rat Monkey and is feeling a bit under the weather, but we shall soldier on!  First up, it’s Ethan Coen’s solo debut, ‘Drive Away Dolls’, featuring Margaret Qualley and Geraldine Viswanathan as two lesbian friends on a road trip that take a turn south, literally and figuratively.  Then the Nic Cage-essiance continues with ‘Dream...

This week on The First Run, ‘Madame Web’ breaks a Sony/MCU record.  But not one of the good ones.  Could the critics be wrong and just simply unable to appreciate a fun action film? Or is it just another example of ‘go woke, go broke’?!?  Can Dakota Johnson finally cross the Tatum Line for Chris?  Then, as a potential welcome respite, Matt and Chris partake in some fine, elegan...

This week on the First Run, Chris and Matt head back to the Stone Age and huddle closer to the flames to ward against the terrors of the night with ‘Out of Darkness’. Then they watch Jason Statham be the Stathamest Statham he can be as he bucks against type as a man who’s the best at what he does but what he does isn’t very nice in ‘The Beekeeper’. As always they give you the big releases on physi...

Let’s try and break into the algorithm and go viral. At the Grammy’s this past Sunday, Tay-tay herself, MISS Taylor Swift announced her new album, ‘The Tortured Poets Department’, dropping April 19th.  Throughout the show, Matt and I will be dropping tidbits about the new album with a full discussion its production and an early listen to the first single, her cover of Tracy Chapman’s Turn Rig...

This week on the First Run, Chris and Matt take a leisurely trip to the bucolic Polish countryside where everything is totally normal and nothing is out of place with The Zone of Interest. Then they shift gears to take in some mom-tainment for a change with the swimming biopic Nyad. They run down the big releases on physical media, give you their straight-to-DVD and streaming picks of the wee...

This week on The First Run, it’s primary night! Can Nikki Haley topple Donald Trump and steal a primary win?  Can Joe Biden win the state without even being on the ballot? Will Ron DeSantis now feel comfortable removing the lifts from his cowboy rasslin’ boots?  And after that Chris and Matt are going to discuss Cord Jefferson’s ‘American Fiction’, nominated for 5 Oscars, including Best...

This week on The First Run, it’s all A24 all the time. First up is the tragic story of the Von Erich wrestling family in Sean Durkin’s ‘The Iron Claw’. Then the Matt and Chris delve into the relationship between two friends as their lives diverge across the decades with Celine Song’s ‘Past Lives’. As always, they bring you the big releases on Physical Media, featuring the Straight to DVD and Strea...

This week on The First Run, it’s a Matt Howell special!  It’s biopic week!  We’re only missing horror comedies or plays to push Matt over the top. First up, Michael Mann’s ‘Ferrari’, featuring Adam Driver as the titular spaghetti loving talking car, Ferrari. Then Bradley Cooper’s passion project, ‘Maestro’, featuring the life and times of potentially America’s greatest composer, Leonard...

This week on The First Run, Matt and Chris review three films for you! Lord help us. First up is the difficult to describe critical darling ‘Poor Things’, starring Emma Stone. Is it delightfully weird, a little too self-satisfied with its indulgences, or maybe it’s both? Then we check out ‘Aquaman And The Lost Kingdom’, the death rattle of the often disappointing DCEU. Finally, we’ll visit our ol...

Sadly, Chris is on the injured list with a bad head cold and no voice.  So enjoy this brand new opening from Matt and a re-broadcast of our 2023 Preview featuring the 10 films Chris and Matt were most excited about.  How did that end up shaking out…?  Don’t worry, the guys will be back next week with an extra super-sized gorgeous episode featuring ‘Aquaman And The Lost Kingdom’, ‘Po...

This week on The First Run, Chris and Matt fire up the ol’ Netflix engine to discuss a pair of…interesting films. First up, the Obama’s produced ‘Leave The World Behind’. Sam Esmail’s adaptation of the book brings together a great cast as they deal with something kind of potentially cataclysmic event. Or not? Maybe? Then it’s on to Todd Haynes’ latest, ‘May December’, featuring Natalie Portman and...

This week on the First Run, Chris and Matt check out the latest and supposedly last film by the legendary Hayao Miyazaki, ‘The Boy And The Heron’. Then it’s time to check in on winter break with Alexander Payne’s reunion with Paul Giamatti in, ‘The Holdovers’. There’s the non-denominational review of the big releases on Physical Media, featuring the Straight to DVD and Streaming Picks of the Week....

This week on The First Run, Chris and Matt rejoice in the return of the OG Kaiju, it’s ‘Godzilla: Minus One’! We’re back in post-war Japan, and Big G’s ready to tear stuff up. But instead of being an allegory for post atom bomb destruction, now we’re focusing on the people at ground level.  Expanding the human side of the story is a gamble.  Is there enough Godzilla smash though…? Then t...

This week on the First Run, Chris and Matt catch up with Sir Ridley Scott and his irrepressible English hatred of the French with the historical spectacle, ‘Napoleon’. Then they check out the love child of Call Me by Your Name and The Talented Mr Ripley with ‘Saltburn’, the latest from writer/director Emerald Fennell of ‘Promising Young Woman’ fame and the reason Chris was so insistent to see it....