Movies with My Dad

Episode 45 - Final Destination Bloodlines Oh my! We are in a race with death on this week's car ride home as we try to avoid Final Destination Bloodlines . Even before the movie started, Tina tried to talk Stratis out of coming along. Death does take a run at Stratis, but he manages to survive. We both agree that this movie just wasn’t campy enough, especially given all the mayhem. We even go off...

Episode 43 - Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning We become honorary members of Tom Cruise’s Impossible Mission Force on this week’s car ride home. This is the eighth installment of the Mission: Impossible franchise, and Stratis spent the week watching the first seven movies but still manages to bring the discussion back to Star Trek. We find out that Tina has a vendetta against Cleveland and...

Episode 43 - The Phoenician Scheme This week’s car ride home detours to the alternate universe that exists in Wes Anderson’s The Phoenician Scheme. Stratis starts off by wanting to understand what this movie was all about, and where was the story? Tina tries to defend Anderson’s style, then launches into a defense of literary criticism. Somehow we go off on a tangent about German vs Italian cars,...

Episode 42 - Thunderbolts* This is going to be a fast-paced car ride home as we dive into Marvel Universe’s new Thunderbolts* action/drama/genre-bending movie. Tina finds herself confused and surprised that a superhero movie didn’t suck and could even make her cry. Stratis is all in starting from the pole vaulting-stretch limo scene, and he somehow manages to link it all back to the ancient Greeks...

Episode 41 - Another Simple Favor On this week’s car ride home we mix furniture delivery with movie viewing as we visit Blake Lively and Anna Kendrick in the murder-heavy Another Simple Favor . Tina makes extra work for herself (bleeping the audio track) because of all her swearing, we get into a discussion about naked butts, and Tina laments the fact that it’s been too long since she’s seen Kendr...

Episode 40 - Sinners Michael B. Jordan chases us out of the bayou as we try not to get turned into vampires on this week’s car ride home from Sinners, a Ryan Coogler film. Stratis somehow missed that Jordan played both of the twin brothers all by himself, and needless to say, Tina gives him lots of grief for it. She offers us all a lesson in metaphors and deeper meanings, while Stratis learns the...

Episode 39 - A Halloween Feast This week we take a turn and watch a movie at home, then drive to a theater to watch another movie - crazy, right? So what did we see? It was an independent, campy horror film directed by and starring Guile Branco - A Halloween Feast. Stratis can’t seem to get Guile’s name down, while Tina defends closed captioning and commercials. We both loved the way Guile intertw...

Episode 37 - The Amateur Our car makes another guest appearance in this week’s episode as we review Rami Malek’s CIA hacker movie, The Amateur . Stratis thinks it has everything he wants in an espionage film, and Tina gives Malek kudos for his intensity. We both love a globetrotting political thriller, but did wish for just one more unexpected plot twist. Stratis learns about “fridging the wife” a...

Episode 37 - Working Man On this week’s car ride home we hit a construction site and try to avoid getting knocked off by couture-pajama-wearing Russian mobsters. Jason Statham, aka the Working Man, is an ex-special ops soldier who takes out half the underworld. That’s not entertaining enough for Stratis, but Tina was all in. Instead, Stratis would like to see Statham in a romantic musical, and he...

Episode 36 - Snow White On this week’s car ride home we head off to the enhanced world of Snow White and try to avoid the Evil Queen and her poison apple. Stratis is surprised to find out that this film is actually a musical, while Tina goes on a rant about a floppy-haired pretty boy named Jonathan. We both agree that Rachel Zegler (Snow White) was amazing. The inevitable comparison to Wicked happ...

Episode 35 - The Monkey This week we share the car ride home with a demonic, drum-playing, killer monkey from the mind of Steven King. Tina tries to give some critical thought to this horror film, while Stratis is questioning why he didn’t leave right after the previews. We both agree it was great to see one of our favorite actresses, Tatiana Maslany, if only in a small part. Stratis goes into com...

Episode 34 - Last Breath On this week’s car ride home we make a detour to the violent waters of the North Sea off the coast of Scotland. Last Breath is a tale of underwater divers, and it’s one amazing tale of survival. Tina brought candy to the theater in case the movie didn’t live up to her standards, but judging by her tears she could have left the sweets at home. She also tries to educate Stra...

Episode 33 - 2025 Oscar Predictions This week Tina skips the ride home with Stratis to sit down with her mother, Regina, to pick some Oscar winners. Regina admits she’s not much of a movie lover. Heck, she’d rather watch a cooking show than go to the cinema. Tina puts together a slideshow of all the top nominees and Regina gives her critique of performers and costume designers. Let’s just say Regi...

Episode 32 - Captain America: Brave New World On this week’s car ride home we test out our new Captain America vibranium wings and see if we can figure out what this movie is trying to say. Brave New World just doesn’t give Tina and Stratis much to work with. Tina says that superhero movies should reflect society and teach us lessons, while Stratis just wants them to be fun. Neither of us got what...

Episode 31 - Heart Eyes On this week’s car ride home we don’t need to worry too much because the Heart Eyes serial killer only goes after romantic couples. Tina does a great job of ruining Stratis’ well-planned intro, then goes on to humble brag about interviewing the movie’s composer. We both love how perfectly the film intertwines a slasher horror film and a traditional romantic comedy (RomCom)....

Episode 30 - One of Them Days On this week’s car ride home we try to score a payday loan to cover our gas money as we return from watching One of Them Days. SZA and Keke Palmer make us both laugh a lot in this buddy comedy. Tina does a dry run of her as-yet-unannounced TED Talk about why producers should bring back the studio comedy film genre. Stratis’ knowledge of SZA is tested and he fails mise...

Episode 29 - Presence  On this week’s car ride home we keep an eye out for unwanted ghostly presences that may try to hitch a ride. Director Steven Soderbergh gives us a different take on the typical haunted house genre. Tina finds a lot of grief, loss, and sadness in this movie to love, while Stratis just feels nothing. We end up spending half the ride talking about ghosts (not movie ghosts)...

Episode 28 - Den of Thieves 2: Pantera On this week’s car ride home we try to steal some diamonds with our friends from Den of Thieves 2: Pantera. Gerard Butler and O'Shea Jackson Jr. try to bring us along for this sequel, but it’s not what either of us expected, or wanted. Stratis missed all the hidden plot twists from the first movie and Tina is befuddled by the lack of security camera monitors....

Episode 0027 Gladiator II On this week’s car ride home we travel to ancient Rome and let Ridley Scott return us to the world of the Gladiators, twenty-four years after the original Gladiator film. Stratis learns that this is Tina’s second viewing, and is surprised she really likes it. We both agree that this is a retread of the plot of the first film, but neither of us cared since we were having s...

Episode 0026 - A Complete Unknown On this week’s car ride home we detour into the early ‘60s to hang out with Bob Dylan in his own biopic - A Complete Unknown. Timothée Chalame plays Dylan, and we follow along as he sings through four years of folk music history. Stratis wanted more background about what Dylan and that era were really like, but instead he got a long-form music video. Tina wasn’t t...

Episode 0025 - Maria On this week’s car ride home, we get a peek inside the world of a true Greek tragedy – opera star Maria Callas, played by Angelina Jolie. Tina gets another lesson on her Greek heritage while Stratis tries to figure out who this movie was made for. It certainly wasn’t him. We do both agree that all of the performances were top-notch. If you want to take a drive through Paris in...

Episode 24 - Wicked On this week’s car ride home, we brought the whole family along.

Episode 23 - Venom: The Last Dance On this week’s car ride home, we try to keep the alien symbiotes from turning us into their hosts as we discuss Venom: The Last Dance . It may be another superhero movie, but surprisingly, Tina enjoyed it and even managed to tear up when Venom gave his all to save humanity. On the other hand, Stratis, the superhero guy, was highly disappointed and wanted to go ba...

Episode 21 - Smile 2 On this week’s car ride home, we try not to smile too much at yet another horror film, Smile 2 . Naomi Scott gets a ton of respect from Tina and Stratis for her lead role in this fast-paced film.  Stratis learns that horror movies can be multifaceted, who knew? Tina does a deep dive into demonic possession and ends up worrying about all the tweens who got infected. If you...

Episode 20 - Megalopolis On this week’s car ride home, we visit the alternative world of New Rome, created by legendary Godfather director Francis Ford Coppola. The tables are turned and Stratis is the introspective movie critic while Tina is the curmudgeonly old man. Stratis gets lost in the film's “vibes” (in between short naps), while Tina thought it would have been a much better movie if she’d...