Superhero Cinephiles

With all the delays and reshoots, Josh Boone's New Mutants may be the most cursed superhero movie to date. But now that it's finally on VOD, we gave it a watch and found it to be better than we expected, though not without its flaws. On the good, there's the cast of young actors (particularly Anya Taylor-Joy) and on the bad, there are some questionable story choices and the baffling de...

Want a good movie to pair with Brightburn? Derrick's got the perfect suggestion for you—2012's Chronicle, the movie that launched Michael B. Jordan to the top of people's watchlist. We take out our frustrations on the "found footage" technique, explain why Max Landis is a piece of shit, and wonder just how suits watched this movie and then said, "Josh Trank is the perfect c...

After spending many digressions in past episodes talking about it, we finally sit down and watch Justice League. Despite being a movie that pretty much satisfied no one, there are still things we found to like—such as (most) of the cast and the action scenes. But we also go into the things where it missed the mark.

In this episode, we discuss the very funny, very entertaining, very over-the-top Kick-Ass! They talk about their thoughts on Mark Millar adaptations in general, rave about the performances (especially Nicolas Cage and Mark Strong), and discuss how this movie takes you from the mundane to the insane without you even realizing it.

Just a little after Halloween, we've got a horror-themed superhero movie for you to check out. What if Superman wasn't a wholesome farmboy but instead a twisted little bastard? That's the concept behind Brightburn, the movie we discuss. We gush over Elizabeth Banks, talk about the way this movie blends the horror and superhero genres together, and pontificate on why we don't see mo...

A couple of episodes ago, we talked Ang Lee’s Hulk. So what better choice this week than its successor, the 2008 semi-sequel The Incredible Hulk? We compare it to Lee’s version, talk about the things that set it apart, and about how it’s the redheaded step-child of the MCU. Also: we react to the news that Jared Leto is returning as the Joker in Snyder’s Justice League. And we have…thoughts.

Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse is probably the only superhero movie that everyone loves, even Derrick (who doesn't really like Spider-Man). We talk about the wonderful voice acting, the stellar animation, the seemingly simple yet actually complex storytelling, and about how this is a movie people will watch over and over again.

Ang Lee's Hulk was pretty much despised by everyone when it came out—except our hosts. Perry and Derrick dive into why they like this unappreciated gem of superhero cinema, address the clear flaws it has, and how it's aged over time and influenced other superhero movies since. But one thing we can all agree on—that climax was incomprehensible.

When Constantine starring Keanu Reeves came out, fans of the character were pissed because of how different it was from the comics. But in retrospect, it's actually a pretty damn good movie. We talk Keanu's career, Derrick's thoughts on Shia LaBeouf, and Peter Stormare's take on Lucifer.

Frank Miller's take on The Spirit opens with Gabriel Macht and Samuel L. Jackson fighting in a pool of literal crap...and that's really the perfect metaphor for this movie. It's the first film the guys review that they hate, and Perry swears to one day make Derrick pay for forcing him to watch it.

They say the book is always better than the movie, but that’s definitely NOT the case with Captain America: Civil War. Perry and Derrick go in-depth into all the amazing character dynamics, the introductions of Black Panther and Spider-Man into the MCU, one of the best villains yet, and—of course—the big-ass airport fight scene!

In this episode, we discuss the loss of Chadwick Boseman, what he meant to the world, and then switch it up to talk about Derrick’s pick, The Cobbler. Think an Adam Sandler film where he changes into different people using their shoes seems an odd choice for a podcast about superhero movies? Think again.

Perry and Derrick discuss just some of the news coming out of the DC Fandome, and that takes up a good chunk of the episode. But eventually, they get around to discussing Witchblade, the made-for-TV movie that led to the successful (yet short-lived) TNT TV series. There's praise for Yancy Butler and how she went beyond the T&A aspects that made the comics so popular, but also find some cri...

Joker spawned a lot of hot opinions on both sides, and Derrick and Perry get into it a bit themselves as they dissect the movie. Listen for their opinions on the film, some of their different interpretations, and how they feel this isn't really the Joker from the comics.

Considering current events, we watch V For Vendetta and are shocked at how much more relevant it is now than when it was released. We talk Hugo Weaving’s excellent portrayal, Natalie Portman’s sometimes-inconsistent accent, and go off on some tangents about Alan Moore and politics in general.

Superman Returns is our movie for this week. We discuss the things we liked about it, such as the performances by Routh and Spacey and the epic scenes of Superman saving people. And we also talk about the weaker points, like some of the story elements, Kate Bosworth, and an S shield that's not big enough.

X-Men: Days of Future Past is now on Disney+, so we sat down and watched the extended Rogue Cut (spoiler: Rogue’s barely in it). We discuss the ups and downs of the X-Men franchise, how this movie feels like it belongs in a pre-Avengers world, and wonder why Fox executives can’t seem to manage to comprehend continuity across a handful of movies.

We go back to the MCU to discuss the debut of Chris Hemsworth as Thor! Being the resident Thor expert, Derrick brings a wealth of information about one of his favorite comic characters and we discuss why this is an underrated film with some awesome performances.

With Joel Schumacher’s recent passing, the guys decided to cover Batman & Robin, one of the most maligned movies of all time. But here’s a plot twist—they’ve got some positive things to say about it.

Michael Keaton might be coming back as Batman! So we looked at the last time he did that by discussing Batman Returns, a movie that’s not so much a Batman movie, but is still a really cool and weird flick to look back on with some killer performances.

With Ron Perlman in the news lately, this is the perfect time to spotlight the excellent Hellboy. We talk about the incredible performances, the amazing effects, the pulpy feel of the film, and how Hellboy reminds us both of the original Ghostbusters.

In the early 90s, Full Moon was going to make a Doctor Strange film. But shortly before production was supposed to begin, they lost the rights. Instead of scrapping the movie, they decided to tweak it just enough to make it an original story. And it's not half-bad, but like this episode, shorter than you might expect.

In honor of Juneteenth, HBO has made Watchmen free on both HBO.com and Hulu for this weekend only. To coincide with this, we've decided to re-release our three episodes covering the series. So enjoy this special supercut rebroadcast and thank you to everyone out there protesting for justice.

With Father’s Day on the horizon, Perry and Derrick talk about a movie that has a personal connection to their relationships with their fathers—Guardians of the Galaxy vol. 2. Beyond the rocking 70s soundtrack, the epic VFX, and all the humor is a very strong movie about character and family. We are Groot!

Grab your Bat-Shark Repellant and slather some white greasepaint over your mustache, because we're jumping in our Bat-Time Machine and going back to the swinging 60s for Batman: The Movie! We talk about why Frank Gorshin is the greatest Riddler ever, how Adam West surprises with some subtle facial expressions, and why this movie is kind of a supervillain origin story for...Robin? You'll ha...