CinemArcade

We have such sights to show you...  Break out the whips and chains, because we're getting freaky this week with the BDSM-tinged horror classic HELLRAISER! From the mind of Clive Barker, this demented story was unlike anything else in cineplexes at the time, and remains a strange and memorable relic, with an indelible horrror icon in Pinhead. We're joined this week by Matt Orozco, managing editor o...

After the success of his audacious 1992 hit BRAM STOKER'S DRACULA, Francis Ford Coppola decided to produce a follow up that would be a similarly lavish, and more accurate, interpretation of a classic horror tale. The result is MARY SHELLEY'S FRANKENSTEIN, an ornate and operatic new version of the famous tale directed by and starring Kenneth Branagh, with Robert DeNiro as the monster. Legendary sto...

Step right up for the goofy carnage of 1988 cult film KILLER KLOWNS FROM OUTER SPACE! Featuring enough inventive practical effects and circus-based humor to make up for a general lack of story, this slow-growing favorite has become a Halloween staple, and has inspired a brand-new asymmetric multiplayer horror game from the makers of FRIDAY THE 13th!  Hosted by Steve Guntli, Jennifer "JBan" Bannist...

We're kicking off our annual Horror Movie Month, and tackling our oldest movie yet, with the iconic 1922 not-quite-Dracula story NOSFERATU! This masterwork of German expressionism established an iconic take on the vampire mythos, but does this weatherbeaten silent film still hold up for modern audiences? We'll dig into it as well as explore two very different games: a 1995 SNES adventure, and a 20...

Strap on your stilsuits and get ready to travel to the desert world of Arakis as we cover the various adaptations of DUNE! We're focusing mostly on Denis Villeneuve's sprawling 2021 epic, which finally seemed to crack how to adapt Frank Herbert's seminal sci-fi novel, after multiple failed attempts. Then, we're talking about a landmark early RTS game based on the franchise, and the recent release...

The classic whodunit genre gets a new shot of life with Rian Johnson's giddy 2019 treat KNIVES OUT! This star-studded mystery introduces a character for the ages with Daniel Craig's southern sleuth Benoit Blanc, and the film revels in deconstructing the tropes of the genre to create something that feels fresh. We're digging into the making of this new classic before checking out the surprise game...

Smmmmokin! This week's episode is all about the wacky SFX comedy THE MASK, starring Jim Carrey! This goofy little comic book flick has stayed surprisingly fresh since 1994, and helped further the careers of two of our biggest movie stars, Carrey and Cameron Diaz. We're joined this week by Robert Ottone, a two-time Bram Stoker Award-winning horror writer, who drops by to share the love for both the...

Arthurian legend gets the mid-aughts Jerry Bruckheimer treatment with 2004's KING ARTHUR! The Antonine Fuqua-directed epic stars Clive Owen, Keira Knightley, and a who's-who of European character actors in a more serious, historically accurate interpretation of the classic tales. But does conveying the "real-life" origins of the character strip away some of the fun? We'll get into it, and we'll al...

This week, we're embarking on a great adventure with Dreamworks' 2000 animated flop THE ROAD TO EL DORADO! This old-fashioned adventure story offers wit, sly sexuality, and stunning animation, but it's throwback vibes and huge pricetag were big hurdles to overcome upon it's first release. It's grown into a cult favorite over the years, but how does it hold up today? We're checking it out, plus pla...

This week we bring you yet another ego-fueled, high-concept action comedy, this one starring Sylvester Stallone in the waning moments of his superstar run, DEMOLITION MAN! This goofy sci-fi action flick, also starring Wesley Snipes and Sandra Bullock, envisions a future where violance, swearing, and sex are all forbidden, and only a muscle-laden thug with a gun can take care of business. Plus, we'...

1993 was the year that America's two biggest action stars both hit their apex with meta-comedy action films that parody both their star personas. We'll be covering both of those movies back to back, starting with LAST ACTION HERO, Arnold Schwarzenegger's infamous bomb that features him as a fictional movie hero who travels to our world. It's a hugely messy, but entertaining, movie, and half of tha...

Adam Sandler joins the chat this week as we discuss one of the comedy icon's biggest flops, the 2000 comedy LITTLE NICKY! This special-effects driven flick casts Sandler as the good-hearted son of Satan, and features a barrage of cameos from major stars. It was a critical disaster at the time, but does it deserve the bum rap? We'll get into it before dusting off the Game Boy Color exclusive game a...

Get ready for a vision of the future unlike any other with Ridley Scott's 1982 classic BLADE RUNNER! We're digging into the brilliant, influential, and often off-putting nature of the work with one of our most in-depth and often contentious conversations yet, before discussing the 1997 point-and-click adventure game that tells a unique story parallel to Deckard's odyssey.  Hosted by Steve Guntli,...

CROUCHING TIGER, HIDDEN DRAGON is a beautiful anomaly in the American cinematic landscape. The Taiwanese martial arts epic crossed over in a big way when it hit stateside in 2000, garnering universal acclaim, 10 Oscar nominations, and an appreciative mainstream audience. More importantly, it helped change the way action-adventure movies were viewed for the next decade, and opened up a world of int...

What's up, doc? We're concluding our hodgepodge LOONEY TUNES miniseries with a look at Joe Dante's 2003 attempt to restore the Tunes to their early glory: the wacky metacomedy LOONEY TUNES: BACK IN ACTION! Costarring Brendan Fraser, Jenna Elfman, and Steve Martin and featuring a host of easter eggs and classic Looney Tunes bits, the movie was a big flop upon release, but were audiences of the time...

It's been 25 years since we've seen a sports superstar team up with Bugs Bunny, but surely things haven't changed that much... have they? This week we're talking about the long-belated sequel SPACE JAM: A NEW LEGACY! LeBron James is subbing in for Michael Jordan, and the film is overloaded with branded characters from every corner of Warner Bros.' IP server-verse... but is this a story that would...

Welcome to the Jam! We're kicking off an ersatz Looney Tunes miniseries this week, starting with the movie that reintroduced Bugs Bunny and company to the zeitgeist for an entire generation: SPACE JAM! This goofy 75-minute advertisement fused two of the most heavily marketed pop culture figures in history: the Looney Tunes, and NBA legend Michael Jordan. We dig into Jordan's illustrious career, th...

Hang on! This week we're revisiting the oeuvre of one Sylvester Stallone for maybe his last unambiguous hit, the larger-than-life, dumber-than-rocks thriller CLIFFHANGER! This classic "Die Hard on a mountain" action flick features some of the most incredible stunts ever put to film, but is that enough to overlook the goofy script? We'll find out before checking out the game adaptations for NES, SN...

Steve and Ailish are getting married this week! And to celebrate the occassion, Ailish is joining the gang for a conversation about her very favorite thing: BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER! We're bending the rules a bit here, since the 1992 movie is the least impactful part of the BUFFY experience; we're mostly going to be talking about the iconic 90's action series starring Sarah Michelle Gellar, as wel...

Rev up your mowers and get ready to step into a virtual world beyond your dreams as we cover the bizarre, weirdly off-putting Stephen King "adaptation" THE LAWNMOWER MAN! This 1992 thriller starring Pierce Brosnan and Jeff Fahey portended a terrifying future of VR mind control that... didn't totally happen. We'll talk all about this bizarre little oddity before talking about a series of games for...

We're finally paying the balance and revisiting our long-lost episode from early in in CinemArcade history: the 1988 fantasy adventure WILLOW! Ron Howard and George Lucas' high-fantasy epic has been a slow-growing cult favorite, and whether the franchise has a future or not, it's still an exceptionally crafted and entertaining romp. Even more exciting, we were able to coax Thirty Twenty Ten podcas...

We're gazing into the future this week for the heady sci-fi blockbuster MINORITY REPORT! Based on the novella by Phillip K. Dick, this film brought megastars Tom Cruise and Steven Spielberg together for the first time, and tackles a cool idea in a kinetic and entertaining fashion. We're talking about the film before checking out the AAA game adaptation from the makers of SPIDER-MAN 2!  Hosted by S...

Groovy, baby! This week is all about AUSTIN POWERS, the swinging 60's spy comedy that became a pop culture juggernaut. We're talking about the first film, INTERNATIONAL MAN OF MYSTERY, but touching upon the entire AUSTIN POWERS phenomenon, including some of the downright strangest video game tie-ins we've ever played.  Hosted by Steve Guntli, Jennifer "JBan" Bannister, and Justin Wilhelm  Logo by...

We're blasting off this week with the secret Marvel adaptation BIG HERO 6! Disney's smash hit superhero saga has heart, humor, and some gorgeous animation... but does it play it too safe for it's own good? We dig into it before discussing the weird dearth of BH6 games, aside from the 3DS adaptation BATTLE FOR THE BAY!  Hosted by Steve Guntli, Jennifer "JBan" Bannister, and Justin Wilhelm  Logo by...

The grandaddy of the modern action picture, Clint Eastwood's iconic crooked cop DIRTY HARRY was a huge, controversial hit in 1971. The movie has a huge legacy and a number of infinitely quotable lines, but how does a movie about a ruthlessly brutal cop who takes the law into his own hands play in 2026? We find out before checking out the 1990 NES game adaptation, and discussing the open-world Harr...