CinemArcade

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...

One of the absolute strangest vanity projects in film history, Jerry Seinfeld's animated BEE MOVIE tries to graft his tried-and-true stage patter onto a world of tiny flying insects, and the results are... weird. We're talking all about the movie and it's bizarre afterlife as a meme factory before trying out the BEE MOVIE GAME for PS2, an open-world platformer that features some original content f...

The ultimate alien hunter sets his sights on the urban jungle this week as we look at the bleak, bombastic 1990 sequel PREDATOR 2! Danny Glover takes over from Arnold Schwarzenegger in a movie that has some really specific ideas about inner-city crime, but still boasts a handful of cool set pieces and some interesting new bits of lore. We're chatting about the film before checking out the Sega Gen...

Get to the choppa! This week we're talking about the bombastic, silly, diamond-honed perfection that is PREDATOR! John McTiernan's 1987 thriller starring Arnold Schwarzenegger and some of the beefiest commandos in film history, this movie created one of the great screen monsters of the 80s and launched a fascinating franchise. We're catching up with Dutch and the gang before playing the NES adapta...

Slam evil! This week, we're unmasking THE PHANTOM, an infamous 1996 bomb that has maintained a surprising cult following! This old-timey superhero flick starring Billy Zane, Treat Williams, and a young Catherine Zeta-Jones is as straight-faced a throwback as you can expect... and we kinda love it. We're also taking a look at our most recent game to date, 2025's THE PHANTOM video game, which adapts...

Few actors have ever been so intrinsically tied to a character more than Sean Connery and James Bond. This week, we're watching the film that maybe most solidified his pop cultural persona, as well as a game that gives us one last experience with the master himself. It's FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE, the first of many Bond films we'll be covering on this podcast.  Hosted by Steve Guntli, Jennifer "JBan"...

It's the showdown you didn't know you always wanted: tanks vs. dragons. Find out which one is superior in the pleasantly daft 2002 adventure REIGN OF FIRE! Starring Christian Bale and Matthew McConaughey as post-apocalyptic dragon hunters in a world burned to ash, this film has gone largely forgotten but, like the fearsome winged lizards of the film, maybe it deserves to be unearthed. We're checki...

CinemArcade turns 100 this week, and we could think of no better way to celebrate than with a viewing of the seminal sci-fi classic STARSHIP TROOPERS! All three of your intrepid hosts are big fans of this hugely misunderstood satire from professional mischief-maker Paul Verhoeven. We're discussing the movie's long and strange road to cult stardom before talking about two recent games that are keep...

In 2010, M. Night Shyamalan, one of Hollywood's biggest blockbuster filmmakers, signed on to adapt Nickelodeon's "Avatar: The Last Airbender," one of the most popular and acclaimed animate shows of recent years. What could go wrong? Turns out a lot. This week we're holding our noses and covering THE LAST AIRBENDER, a bafflingly ill-conceived adaptation that manages to miss the point so hard it's a...

This week we are, shockingly, tackling our first Dreamworks Animation feature! The studio has a prolific output with a ton of movies to choose from, but we're starting our journey with the 2010 superhero parody MEGAMIND! Starring Will Ferrell, Tina Fey, Jonah Hill, David Cross, and Brad Pitt, the movie is actually attempting to tackle some complex issues; how successful it is is a matter for debat...

Nothing screams "2008" more than an action movie about a disaffected white guy who discovers the enervating power of ultra-violence! Timur Bekmambatov's WANTED, adapted from a graphic novel, offers plenty of high-octane, silly thrills, and if it doesn't have two brain cells to rub together, at least it keeps things lively. We're talking about the film as well as it's game adaptation, a sequel/preq...

In one of our deepest cuts to date, we're looking back at the visionary steampunk adventure THE CITY OF LOST CHILDREN! This 1995 French film from directors Jeunet and Caro developed a cult following for it's innovative visuals, but it's become relatively obscure over the years, so learning that it had a PS1 game adaptation was a bit of a surprise. Join us for our takes on Ron Perlman, French cinem...

Five Spice Girls, five podcasters; it really only makes sense. This week we're joined by two of our returning favorites, Ailish Collins and Ashley Park, for SPICE WORLD, the semi-notorious starring vehicle for everyone's favorite UK sensation, the Spice Girls. We're talking all about the infamous movie, which was lambasted by critics at the time but has developed a loyal cult following; then, we'r...

Grab your hankies and get ready to fly into the rollicking adventure of UP! Disney/Pixar's 2009 classic has become one of the most revered modern animated films, earning an Academy Award nomination for Best Picture, but a highly emotional animated film starring an 80-year-old hero wasn't always the easiest sell. We're covering the film and the game adaptations! There are several different versions...

Forget PLAN 9 and THE ROOM and TROLL 2; when it comes to the worst movie ever made, MANOS: THE HANDS OF FATE stands alone. This week is all about the insane true story of the "worst film ever made," a film that went from an obscure West Texas curio to a canonical film thanks to its coverage on "Mystery Science Theater 3000." We're talking all about the movie, the show, and the long-belated 2012 vi...

Oh what a lovely day! Today we're riding eternal, shiny and chrome into Valhalla with MAD MAX: FURY ROAD! This jaw-dropping 2015 masterpiece is one of the most technically accomplished and fully-realized visions of the last decade, but it had a long and, dare I say, furious road to conception. We cover some of the tumultuous behind-the-scenes stories behind the film, before getting behind the whee...