Movie Madness

Erik Childress and Steve Prokopy have six movie reviews for you this week. They include documentaries about a Pulitizer-winning poet (Mary Oliver: Saved by the Beauty of the World) an an eager filmmaker hired to create shlock (Mockbuster). There’s a family on the run from an alien presence (The Outer Threat) while a teenage girl goes searching for info about her parents (Romeria). A retirement com...

Despite the news that Sony is no longer producing physical discs for its Playstation consoles, Blu-rays are not going anywhere. That despite this being one of the smallest tallies of titles that Erik Childress and Peter Sobczynski have ever covered. (Cause we don’t like to repeat ourselves.) That being said you have David Lynch’s Oscar-nominated biopic and Tim Burton adapting a wacky soap opera. B...

Eight movies are on tap for the weekend that America celebrates its 250th birthday. Erik Childress and Steve Prokopy check out Angel Studios’ attempt at part of that history (Young Washington). There are also documentaries about a legendary music producer (Peter Asher: Everywhere Man) and a public access legend in her own right (Bang My Box: The Robin Byrd Story). Carla Gugino tries to protect a f...

Given the big collection announced this week for October, Erik Childress & Peter Sobczynski got you covered with a bunch of collections this week as well on physical media. They include the Hammer works of Jimmy Sangster and French filmmaker Lucie Hadzihaliovic. Last year’s Jafar Panahi gets the Criterion treatment. A pre-code Joan Crawford film held up by the courts is finally available in a new...

Erik Childress & Steve Prokopy have nine movies to review, though Steve ups that in this week’s review round-up with a look at a music legend (Gregg Allman: The Music Of My Soul). From there Erik looks at a faux true crime documentary about murders on a movie set (Chapter 51) and a new WWII film from Rod Lurie (Lucky Strike). Steve checks out Angelina Jolie as a filmmaker during fashion week in Pa...

This week in physical media, Erik Childress and Peter Sobczynski look at John Waters getting the Criterion treatment. There are a pair of middle-of-the-road (at best) upgrades for Adam Sandler as well as a film with his Bulletproof co-star. James Garner and Bruce Willis in a Hollywood western murder mystery misfire but thankfully Clint Eastwood is also here to save the day. There is the Takashi Mi...

There is no shortage of movies to talk about this week so Erik Childress & Steve Prokopy take on 12 of them for you. They include a pair of documentaries ranging from missing Disney memorabilia (Stolen Kingdom) to an Icelandic memory piece connected to the melting of the glaciers (Time and Water). Grief and travel intersect between a mother and a daughter (Honeyjoon) as well as in the new Edward B...

Another full week in physical media captured by Erik Childress and Peter Sobczynski. Within they discuss the debut of director Lisa Cholodenko and the history of one of Erich von Stroheim’s final works as a filmmaker. Sidney Poitier plays a militant revolutionary and Lin Manuel Miranda’s historical musical are here. In the wake of Steven Spielberg’s Disclosure Day might we recommend Charlie Sheen...

It may be a light week in quantity for Erik Childress & Steve Prokopy but it’s a heavy one in quality. Maybe not so much with the tale of young women encountering bad dudes on vacation (Find Your Friends). But there is also a documentary on a very notable band from the ‘80s (Boy George & Culture Club). If you want to get your action on, someone on the show believes it may be one of the best martia...

Physical media has some upgraded gems this week so Erik Childress and Peter Sobczynski get into some appreciative conversation. They include a James Garner detective tale that may have been the precursor to The Rockford Files. The final film of Wes Craven’s career gets relitigated over its decade-long reevaluation. Christopher Walken delivers maybe the nuttiest performance of his career. Julia Rob...

Erik Childress and Steve Prokopy dive into seven movies this week. They begin with the latest music documentary from Questlove (Earth, Wind & Fire: To Be Celestial vs. That’s The Weight of the World). Creatures attack from the water this water including sharks (Chum) and hippos (Hungry). Jennifer Lopez stars with Brett Goldstein in a Netflix rom-com that may not be what you are expecting (Office R...

The beginning of any month now seems like a light week for physical media, so Erik Childress and Peter Sobczynski only have a few titles to talk about. They include the magnificent starpower of Cary Grant and Audrey Hepburn in a comically Hitchcockian caper. Jack Nicholson does much more than order in a diner. There’s an early LBGTQ film from William Friedkin and the financially successful but cre...

Ending May on a high note (at least in number of reviews) Erik Childress & Steve Prokopy cover 11 films for you this week. Steve looks at a documentary about an autistic dancer exploring her new diagnosis through her art (Room to Move), as well as a mother haunted by postpartum depression (Nesting). Erik took a little time to see John Travolta’s directing debut adapting his children’s book about a...

Physical media fans from the 1980s will have a lot to rejoice upon this week (if you still carry a fondness for certain films of your youth) but Erik Childress and Peter Sobczynski have plenty from various decades to add to your library this week. They include Bob Fosse’s take on a free speech icon and the recent Academy Award winner for Best International Feature. Robert Wise’s legendary haunted...

Erik Childress and Steve Prokopy have seven movie reviews for you this week. They include a scientist’s connection to a tree (Silent Friend) and a woman discovering the horrifying truth of a new diet pill (Saccharine). Sacha Baron Cohen wakes up in a world run by women (Ladies First) and Boots Riley puts shoplifters against the fashion industry (I Love Boosters). André Øvredal gives us the horror...

Erik Childress and Peter Sobczynski take you through another week of physical media starting with Lawrence Kasdan’s sexy directorial debut getting an upgrade. Peter discovers a 1932 crime drama worthy of a blind buy. Hollywood is front and center in films from Peter Bogdanovich and Martin Ritt. Two of the best teenage films of the 21st century are here ranging from cheerleading to lycanthropy. Pro...

Erik Childress and Steve Prokopy return from the Chicago Critics Film Festival with nine new reviews this week including a string of documentaries. Steve looks at a partnership designed to bring some care back to healthcare (The Chaplain & The Doctor) and actor Ben Mackenzie laying waste to the scam of crypto (Everyone Is Lying To You for Money). Erik looks at a tragic 2022 accident that may not h...

Erik Childress and Peter Sobczynski were off last week at the Chicago Critics Film Festival but return to catch you up on the world of physical media. There are serial killers played by Matt Dillon and another stopped by Charles Bronson. Criterion puts out more Kurosawa and there’s a documentary on George Stevens as well. A Disney animated film from the ‘50s gets the upgrade as does a sci-fi film...

Erik Childress and Steve Prokopy will be at the Music Box Theatre handling the Chicago Critics Film Festival this week, but they managed to squeeze in seven reviews for movies you can see (after you attend the fest.) They include the latest from RZA behind the camera (One Spoon of Chocolate). Erik looks at a family on a road trip after behind evicted (Omaha) and another family with a troubled son...

A lot of collections this week in physical media which Erik Childress & Peter Sobczynski guide you through again. They include a trio of films from John Singleton as well as the works of Jess Franco and the weird legacy of one Andy Milligan. There are also films from Lucio Fulci and Olivier Assayas. Nancy Meyers figures in twice in the conversation including a title from our most recent Why Is Thi...

There’s no slowing down this week on the show as Erik Childress and Steve Prokopy have nine reviews for you. They include a documentary on a female punk band ( Pretty Ugly: The Story of the Lunachicks ) and the Tourettes film that the BAFTAs just loved (I Swear). A woman on holiday decides if she wants to hook up with Charli XCX again (Erupcja), Anthony Mackie fights for the women of Arabia (Deser...

It’s another week of physical media and Erik Childress is joined again by Peter Sobczynski to take you through a selection of Universal classics featuring W.C. Fields. There is also an all-star cast crime-and-court film, Johnny Depp as a book detective and even some original J-horror. There is also Lee Marvin defining the role of Donald Westlake’s anti-hero Parker, Michelle Pfeiffer, the Bridges b...

Erik Childress and Steve Prokopy fly solo on most of the movies this week, but they still have nine titles to talk about. Lena Headey discovers she may have created the bullet that killed her son (Ballistic). A strange friendship develops between two disparate young men when one tries to maybe stop the other from committing a school shooting (Our Hero, Balthazar). Barbie Ferreira plays a music cri...

Erik Childress and Peter Sobczynski have a lot to say about this week’s batch of physical media. Maybe not as much as the most successful franchise entry amongst them, but certainly about Ernst Lubitsch’s romantic comedy about thieves in love. Most definitely about Monty Python’s religious-skewering masterpiece. But there is also the troubled transports carrying George Kennedy and the out-of-contr...

It’s a light week for physical media but that doesn’t mean that Erik Childress and Peter Sobczynski don’t have you covered. There is one of the great film noirs, particularly for fans of The Shawshank Redemption. A magnificent wonder in fantasy filmmaking from over a century ago that looks better than many films today. Meiko Kaji’s martial arts double feature gets the Arrow treatment. Finally, exp...