Movie Madness

Coming off of the long July 4 holiday week, Erik Childress examines how people getting burned on Toy Story 4 led them to underestimate the chances of Spider-Man: Far From Home; a film he has been saying for weeks was headed for an Avengers bump. Somebody was proven right. As we head into a go-between week at the movies while everyone waits for The Lion King, Erik analyzes the successes of what are...

Erik Childress travels back with Sergio Mims to catch up on the releases from Disney this year and has them contemplating the value of their Movie Club where other previously unreleased Blu-rays exist. Then they bring you into the present to look at some newly released classics from Criterion involving music, dance and the Russians. In-between the discussion looks into a pair of cult titles from S...

Catching up on two weeks worth of box office, Erik Childress examines the re-written headlines after Toy Story 4 did not live up to the guesstimators. Are people now lowballing Spider-Man: Far From Home as a result? He also looks at Danny Boyle’s biggest opener to date as well as how the latest horror remakes and sequels are doing and urges you to check out an original one hitting theaters this su...

Comic book expert Erik Laws returns to the podcast to discuss the final chapter of the current phase of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man: Far From Home. What are the origins of Jake Gyllenhaal’s Mysterio character and how does he fit into Peter Parker’s story? Spoilers are certainly abound in this episode as the Eriks dive deep into the numerous twists and turns of this latest adventure i...

Erik Childress & Sergio Mims bypass all but some fun comparative stats on last week’s box office losers. Then they prepare for Toy Story 4 and Erik goes over his new thinking on Spider-Man: Far From Home and what the re-issue of Avengers: Endgame with new end credit footage will mean for its run at Avatar’s record. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers...

Erik Childress and Sergio Mims go into the latest in Blu-rays and DVDs by discussing a film once advertised as one of the scariest movies ever as well as another horror film that was overlooked and is actually much freakier. They also discuss the origin of Batman’s Joker, the “Morgan Fairchild Experience,” two of the great filmmakers in Hal Ashby and Buster Keaton and another who, with only one fi...

On this mini-episode of the podcast we check in on the box office. Though The Secret Life of Pets 2 and Dark Phoenix led the way, both could be part of a larger trend of sequel rejection. But is that entirely true or are they just bad? We begin to investigate. Also find out which films they have the most in common with audiences and critics and does Disney have a plan in place for Avengers: Endgam...

Steve Prokopy joins this episode to talk about this year’s Cinepocalypse Film Festival at the Music Box Theatre in Chicago which is quickly becoming one of the most noted genre fests in the country. Hear all about special guests ranging from Michael Ironside to Joe Bob Briggs, numerous archival screenings, one of the best horror films that premiered at Sundance this year and how a gory possessed d...

After the event with Tom Skerritt at the Chicago Critics Film Festival, Erik Childress and Sergio Mims can’t help but take another look at the new 4K release of Alien. Also discussed on 4K are the Batman films from Tim Burton & Joel Schumacher which leads into a dive of which of them were actually good. Twilight Time offers up some great westerns, David Lynch and Gaspar Noe get some praise for rou...

In the first mini-episode of the podcast, Erik Childress serves up a number of unique stats correlating to the recent releases at the box office. Along with Sergio Mims they breakdown the potential failure of Warner Bros.’ Godzilla: King of the Monsters, how Rocketman is faring compared to other rock biopics and while Ma may be part of a success story beyond Blumhouse, Tate Taylor’s ignorance in h...

For the latest batch of new Blu-rays, Erik Childress and Sergio Mims offer a pair of documentaries about wildly different filmmakers, discuss the latest from Criterion highlighting an action legend and a 60 year-old film that is more relevant today than ever. They also tie-in the cinema moments that traumatized them as kids, how audiences reacted to Alien in the summer of 1979 and the ongoing deba...

Shout! Factory is one of our favorite companies here on the podcast. Their mixture of genre classics and modern ones is a constant pleasure, no matter the quality of the film themselves. So as their release output piled up over the past few weeks, Erik Childress and Sergio Mims decided to dedicate an entire show to 18 of their recent titles. Vampires, werewolves, witches, serial killers, viruses,...

Catching up once again on Blu-rays, Erik Childress & Sergio Mims talk up some titles you may have missed in theaters during awards season. Mixed in with new titles from Twilight Time and Indicator, plus some Warner Archive titles that make Sergio giddy, they get into what happened with Steve McQueen’s Widows and proclaim their love again for Barry Jenkins’ If Beale Street Could Talk. But Creed II...

The Marvel Cinematic Universe began in earnest in 2008 with Iron Man and it is now concluding with Avengers: Endgame. Comic book expert Erik Laws joins Erik Childress to discuss this epic journey through every beat of its epic conclusion. Spoilers are abound here so you are warned because the only way to talk about it is to read between the lines of what Endgame pays off in nearly every scene. Ref...

Erik Childress’ annual box office predictions are here. He runs down his choices for the 20 films on a path to make the most money this summer while Sergio Mims throws in his two cents as well. Can anything possibly challenge Avengers: Endgame to lead the way? Can three movies alone from Disney top two billion in domestic sales? Will Aladdin be more Beauty and the Beast or Dumbo? How much do the M...

Sergio Mims joins Erik Childress to play a little catch-up with Blu-ray titles released from Shout Factory, Kino, Mill Creek and Universal. They delve into that literally ancient John Wayne controversy, explain why Cobra is one of the greatest movies ever, disagree over a Belushi/Aykroyd film but agree wholeheartedly on one of the great TV shows and how the Oscars blew it this year.   Shout Factor...

Erik Childress returns from his 17 th year covering the festival in Austin and has in store some long lead previews including the latest from Seth Rogen; one opposite Charlize Theron and another producing for the great Jacob Tremblay. But there are also reviews for Kevin Costner, Tatiana Maslany and Nick Kroll, a reminder of one of the year’s best performances from Elisabeth Moss and everything le...

Getting caught up on the latest in Blu-rays is what Erik Childress and Sergio Mims do for you. They go through some recently praised horror along with the taboo remnants of yesteryear involving The Group and a certain Boss. Though the past comes back with the terrific remake of A Star is Born they also have time to talk Hitchcock, Charles Burnett and the long-awaited third commentary track of Mr....

Marvel’s first female superhero headliner arrives in theaters with a lot of excitement and its share of unnecessary toxic controversy. Erik Childress is joined by Erik Laws who went in with excitement and come out addressing not just the controversy swirling around ungrateful manbabies but also a real sense of disappointment. The Eriks attempt to navigate the middle ground and articulating where C...

It was Erik Childress’ 17 th year attending the Sundance Film Festival and he saw 30 films Tune in to hear him tell you about the best, the worst and a bunch in-between. Along the way he reveals a favorite encounter he had with one of the fest volunteers and discusses with Sergio Mims the controversy over a certain banned blogger and his failed attempts to get reinstated. Plus, a special interview...

Erik Childress and Sergio Mims bring you the first NEW Blu-ray show of 2019 as they take you through the inspiration for Martin Scorsese’s Hugo, some icky obsessions courtesy of Shout Factory and catch up on some titles from Twilight Time. They also discuss the 25 th Anniversary of Schindler’s List, their muted thoughts on a Billy Wilder classic and then get into angry detail at how Damien Chazell...

Before Erik Childress and Sergio Mims get to films you CAN get on Blu-ray FOR 2019 they continue their ongoing crusade to get films out that are still not available yet in the format. Sergio has some classic releases you may not be aware of. Erik has some more modern titles from major filmmakers that are yet to be released in the format they deserve including one major television title. They also...

The first podcast of 2019 is an overview of the awards season with Erik Childress. He takes you back to the pre-Thanksgiving conversation with Sergio Mims as they did some extremely early prognostication. Then he brings you back to the days before the Oscar nominations to present analysis of who is still in the running and who is likely to get nominated. Tune in for his full predictions for this y...

On the final show of 2018 Erik Childress and Sergio Mims want to make sure you have not overlooked anything on your cinematic shopping list for Christmas (and after.) A bunch of great cult titles and TV shows from Mill Creek, THE best action film of the year, an overlooked gem from the Chicago Critics Film Festival and Sergio’s candidate for one of the Blu-ray releases of the year. Plus we talk so...

Just two episodes ago Erik Childress and comic book expert Erik Laws were delighted talking about the surprise that Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse was. Now it is DC’s turn in the spotlight and, boy, things are not nearly as delightful. More like disappointment and disgust as you will hear as their discussion goes from dismay to shock to outright anger. Everything from its Arthurian roots to ‘80...