Failurepiece Theater

This week it's a bit of a catch up episode. The holidays afforded some binging of new media for us both, so we delve into a very long, mostly spoiler-free discussion of the divisive Matrix Resurrections, the surprising Free Guy, and the maddening Don't Look Up.  Matrix Resu-reboot: 0:00 - 49:40 Free Guy: 50:00 - 1:11:44 Don't Look Up 1:11:45 - end

It's time to discuss some overblown action a la Renny Harlin--the Geena Davis vehicle The Long Kiss Goodnight. It's a Shane Black back of the desk drawer special with all the excess one would expect in the Bruckheimer-fueled world of 90s Hollywood blockbusters. It's a wild ride full of spies, lies, and threats involving children(ies?). Join in as we break down this notoriously overwrought remnant...

Up for discussion this week is the sorta-cult classic 80's latchkey kid nightmare movie The Gate. It's got some serious horror chops and some killer special effects for a movie about a few kids fighting demons leaking out of a hole in the ground in suburban Canada. The movie also makes it clear that you should never let a demon pat you on the head, lest you grow eyes in your hands (duh!). Listen i...

Go, go nostalgia rangers! Up on the block this week is the most recent attempt to grungily update those teenagers with attitude from Angel Grove. It's sort of okay, but don't worry...they will definitely try again. Listen in as we discuss hot teens, Rita Repulsa, and Krispy Kreme.

We are back this week with a horror movie you've never heard of, buried by the studio after years of production problems and clashes with the director. Summarily dropped into theaters mid-pandemic, The Empty Man is a cult classic in the making, so come along as we break down where this movie goes wrong, but also goes very, very right.

It's the big 5-0 as we hold court for the mighty mister Flanagan once more--this time for his vastly overlooked Doctor Sleep. It's another King adaptation widely considered impossible, but he handles it with a deft hand and may have crafted a worthy, but wildly different, follow-up to a Kubrickian classic. Come find out if the world needs to wake up to this one!

In the first episode of our rebranding to the Flanacast, a podcast devoted to all things Mike Flanagan, we discuss his recent Netflix release, Midnight Mass--a tour de force in his particular brand of quiet, unsettling horror. And no, we aren't rebranding, but let's say the discussion got pretty serious.

Wanna see what happens when you give a horror fan/director a budget and seemingly no restrictions? Then dig into Malignant with us this week!

It's Suicide Squad (the old one). There's really nothing else to say, I guess?

We are back, and this week it's the delve into the final swan song of the Fear Street Trilogy-1666. It's not great, but maybe this is what we can expect from the next era of horror-so beholden to its predecessors that it struggles to do much new. But if it works, is that all bad?

It's another deep dive into RL Stine's Fear Street-iverse--this time into the warm and totally safe Camp Nightwing circa 1978. I'm no Dean Martin, but it's beginning to look a lot like Friday the 13th up in here, and not the good ones. Let's dig deep and see just how we feel about the surprisingly okay middle chapter of the Fear Street trilogy.

We are back with a run down of the first in a trilogy of RL Stine-inspired slasher flicks releasing over three weeks on our good pal Netflix's digital marquee. Come along with us as we discuss whether or not a thing "homage-ing" this hard can inspire the same kind of love as the original things it's homage-ing (uh, it can't). 

This week it's all about Guillermo as we tour the dilapidated mansion of Crimson Peak-a rare box office misfire from one of cinema's most passionate directors. Try not to get red mud on your feet, but the tour is definitely worth your time. Listen in, won't you?

...And we're back with another trip into Netflix country--this time to visit a friend who just can't stop looking out the window. It's another casualty of the Disney/Fox merger--a very well cast but incredibly dull Rear Window knock-off that can't decide if it wants to thrill or befuddle. Join us to find out why!

This week we break into the super-secret, zombie-filled vault in Zack Snyder's heart--Army of the Dead. A surprisingly well-received action-horror flick picked up by Netflix after Warner Bros. dropped it like a blood-covered potato, it should rock our world, but...doesn't. Listen in to find out why!

This week it's a dip into Netflix's Things Heard and Seen, a quiet sorta "literary horror" exercise that has lots of good ideas, but maybe gets lost in the countryside trying to make them work. It's a fun discussion as we discuss Amanda Seyfried's wide-eyed gazes into various corners, mysterious sparkles that lead to treasure, and Ghoooooooooosts.

It's time to get mysterious with one of the oddest oddball superhero films ever--Mystery Men. With a shockingly excellent cast and a zany take on average Joe superheroes, it might be just the thing you need in our MCU and DCEU saturated media landscape.

MORTAL KOMBAT! The franchise that should probably have died years ago heads to the silver screen again, but this time with more guts and gore than ever before, not to mention a surprisingly fatalistic cast. It's not great, but is it a failurepiece? Just maybe!

It's the film that fans of the books wish didn't exist--Nikolaj Arcel and Akiva Goldsman's 95-minute adaptation of a beloved 7 book series--The Dark Tower. It's not very good, but Idris Elba? Is that enough? Listen in as I mess up the order of the books!

This week we dip into the Netflix ocean for a recent release--J Blakeson's I Care a Lot. Buoyed by some very good performances and a slick premise, even when it wades into muddy thematic waters it asks some good questions and points out a situation in our society that doesn't get nearly enough attention. Listen in as we break it down, won't you?

This week we examine how the mighty can fall into sin. That's right, it's the Bruce Willis "starring" vehicle Cosmic Sin--an attempt to bridge the Netflix content farm style of filmmaking with old school sci-fi action. Uh, it doesn't work. Listen along and find out why, won't you?

This week we head back to the heady heyday of New Line Cinema in the late 80s for the buddy cop/space invaders-inspired The Hidden. It's Kyle MacLachlan at his most succulent, so come along as we delve into this near-forgotten cult gem.

This week we take a break from cinema's failures and turn our attention to one of TV's biggest misses. An expensive, high-concept show produced by the Paranormal Activity creator and Steven Spielberg, The River was a mid-season replacement that only lasted 8 episodes. But, it might just be the found-footage gold mine you've been searching for. Come along on this ride into the Amazon, won't you?

This week we spelunk the depths of the Paris catacombs with the Dowdle Brothers' As Above, So Below. We chat about our history with found footage flicks and whether or not this one ranks with some of the genre's best. Come along for the trip, won't you?

This week it's another of 2020's failures--another big-budget blockbuster that might have been too timey-wimey for it's own good. That's right--it's Tenet time. Can it really be that bad? Can it? Huh?