Movie Madness

It may be a limited week of reviews but there are still some choice titles to check out as well as a few to stay away from. Erik Childress and Steve Prokopy look at the latest films from Ramin Bahrani (The White Tiger) and Agnieszka Holland (Spoor). Matthias Schoenaerts & Joel Kinnaman are cousins working within the Philadelphia mob (Brothers by Blood) and the bonds of fathers and sons are tested...

The first official movie review show of 2021 arrives with ten films, including a few holdovers from the end of 2020, discussed by Erik Childress and Steve Prokopy. They catch-up with Robert Rodriguez’s latest family film (We Can Be Heroes) and the bonkers WWII action horror film (Shadow in the Cloud) with Chloe Grace Moretz. Anthony Mackie is a more modern warrior with more sci-fi action (Outside...

2020 seems like it will follow us around for some time, but hopefully only the best memories of the year will standout as we were all isolated in lockdown watching movies wherever we could find them. Erik Childress is joined by two of his former WGN reviewing colleagues, Steve Prokopy and Collin Souter, to countdown their best lists from last year. There are direct agreements and a few disagreemen...

We are kicking off 2021 in grand fashion. Kicking being the optimum word as Erik Childress and Sergio Mims are highlighting some of their favorite big screen kicks to the nuts. But not just kicks. They have got punches, gunshots, other weapons and even furniture. You may wince a bit but we are hoping you laugh a whole lot more. We certainly did and you may have even forgotten about some of these b...

Over at “The Bad Mutha Film Show” on WHPK Radio at the University of Chicago, Erik Childress joined Sergio Mims to discuss the implications of the Warner Bros. deal with HBO MAX and the fallout that has already resulted from it. That leads them to wonder about the future of movie theaters and express some optimistic assessments. Sergio is pleased with the direction of recent black cinema as they f...

Along with his contributions to the Movie Madness Podcast, Sergio Mims also hosts “The Bad Mutha Film Show ” on WHPK Radio at the University of Chicago. Erik Childress has served as his regular co-host for over a decade and as the pandemic preempted their show, they brought it back virtually in November and this is the first of those shows. They discussed how studios were navigating the COVID era...

The second of the bi-annual segment makes it just in time as we close out 2020. Erik Childress & Sergio Mims continue to plead for some quality titles – and personal favorites – to finally get the upgrade they deserve. Over the course of this three-hour show they each select 10 titles to put on everyone’s radar. They range from an American remake, two films from the ‘70s that were eventually remad...

The final movie review show of 2020 narrows the focus down to just seven movies, but certainly some major ones. Erik Childress & Steve Prokopy gear you up for Amazon’s release of One Night in Miami next month. Tom Hanks & Peter Greengrass reunite for the western, News of the World, and we take you to the Beyond of Pixar’s latest, Soul. Where does it rank with their best? They look back at the Hila...

On this – the final new Blu-ray show of 2020 – Erik Childress & Sergio Mims present some great last minute ideas for…presents…if you still need them. From 2001-03, Christmas also meant The Lord of the Rings as they look back on Peter Jackson’s trilogies in 4K. Paramount gets in on the 4K party with a pair of new Tom Cruise & Eddie Murphy releases and even a title finally new to Blu-ray from the co...

Erik Childress & Steve Prokopy may tell you they are slacking this week with only eight movie reviews for you, but the swings are no less big. It’s an apocalyptic kind of week involving the third in an alien-bound series (Skylines), creatures from the world of gaming (Monster Hunter), a comet trying to bring an end to Gerard Butler and his family (Greenland) and a climate event that plagues poor G...

The movie reviews continue with Erik Childress and Steve Prokopy and true to form they are reviewing another dozen new movies on this show. Included are documentaries covering the first wife of Johnny Cash (My Darling Vivian) and the women accused of a prominent North Korean murder (Assassins). Rachel Brosnahan is on the run in Julia Hart’s latest (I’m Your Woman) and everyone is in hiding in a CO...

Before the pandemic began, Erik Childress and Sergio Mims recorded the first of their bi-annual Not-On-Blu-Ray shows for 2020. Well it is finally here which is more than we can say about all but one of the 20 films that have still not been released in the format some nine months later. Where are they? What is taking so long? Tune in and find out which fantasies and mysteries from the 1970s and ‘80...

Two more glorious hours with Erik Childress and Steve Prokopy as they review another dozen movies for your consideration. They look at the latest in Steve McQueen’s Small Axe series (Red, White and Blue). Senses are diminished in a pair of films (Sound of Metal, Another Round) and wish they could have been dulled with the melodramatic horror of matrimony preparation (All My Life; Love, Weddings an...

We may not have a traditional holiday movie season post-Thanksgiving, but Erik Childress and Steve Prokopy still have reviews of ten new films you can see on streaming services. For families still venturing out into theaters they take a look at “The Croods: A New Age”. Another reluctant return to family is explored in Alan Ball’s “Uncle Frank” as well as the Bella Thorne starrer, “Girl.” We revisi...

As Black Friday approaches, Erik Childress & Sergio Mims return to offer some great Blu-rays to consider for your holiday shopping. Erik previews a brand new transfer of The Last Starfighter as well as a commentary he contributed for it. Pasts and presents collide with the original Mission: Impossible series and the updating of Robert Wise’s The Haunting for the ‘90s. The Flintstones and Bill & Te...

Back-to-back movie review episodes. The last one had a dozen reviews. This one has a dozen reviews courtesy of Erik Childress and Steve Prokopy including Christmas offerings featuring Kurt Russell (“The Christmas Chronicles: Part Two”) and a galaxy far, far away (“The Lego Star Wars Holiday Special”). They look at five documentaries ranging from facial recognition tech (“Coded Bias”), the psycholo...

Erik Childress and Steve Prokopy are back for over two hours of uninterrupted conversation on new movies being released in theaters and on streaming this week. They cover documentaries about meteors (“Fireball”), deep sea diving (“Dave Not Coming Back”), climate change activism (“I Am Greta”) and the mystery of a woman searching for her dead child (“Where She Lies”). They go from “Jungleland” to “...

The film world lost one of its greatest moviestars last week and we have dedicated an entire episode to his career. Erik Childress and Sergio Mims each focus on five films that either cemented his legacy amongst generations or ones that all of them may want to revisit. From James Bond to Marko Ramius as well as Indiana Jones’ father and the iconic Chicago role that won him the Oscar, this is a fun...

It is movie review time once again and Steve Prokopy is back to join Erik Childress to talk about five new movies together and throws in a couple extra for you. They will discuss the latest theatrical release with Diane Lane and Kevin Costner (Let Him Go), a potential date with awards season for Sophia Loren (The Life Ahead), an emotional astronaut drama starring Eva Green (Proxima) and a pair of...

In the midst of film festivals shifting to online presentations this year, Erik Childress and Sergio Mims delve into Chicago’s addition of their annual October festival. While there are frustrations abound they turn to a good number of documentaries focusing on John Belushi and Stanley Kubrick as well as new ones from Spike Lee and Steve James’ latest on the city itself. Sergio also talks about Ci...

Another week of new movies are upon us and Erik Childress & Steve Prokopy reunite once again to bring you the latest for Halloween week. There’s a sequel to a 90’s cult classic and a documentary about one from the ‘80s. Is horror best in theaters this weekend with Come Play or available on streaming with His House and Spell? Then they turn to a couple of documentaries about the strength of school...

For over 20 years, Erik Childress joined Nick Digilio on WGN Radio to talk and review movies. After his show was unceremoniously canceled this September, the movie review segment that was a staple on Chicago radio went as well. But now, following up on requests from fans, Erik and Steve Prokopy return to keep its memory alive; a segment once populated with the likes of Christmas Movies Actually ho...

Erik Childress & Sergio Mims continue to catch up on Blu-rays both domestic and international, though also find some time to talk about the effect of COVID on the box office. Sergio continues to celebrate Peppard-tober and digs into a collection of Christopher Lee’s Fu Manchu. Erik discusses why he was worried about revisiting Reversal of Fortune but no worries at all for watching Lynda Carter fin...

When the podcast is coming back its going to make time for the latest on Blu-ray and this show has some choice stuff. First, Erik Childress and Sergio Mims begin what is the start of a virtual George Peppard-tober. Some remastered Agatha Christie from Kino gets to the various adaptations of Ten Little Indians. Then there is plenty of new 4K releases including the love/hate relationship with a chil...

The world may have stopped but film festivals continue to go on. For the first time since 2004, Erik Childress did not travel into Canada for the Toronto Film Festival, but he did attend at home – virtually. Just one of many festivals he is currently coveing, but as always him and Sergio Mims put this into audio for you discussing the highlights and lowlights of this year’s stay-at-home festival....