Now Playing - The Movie Review Podcast

We will never be able to think about Mac and Cheese the same way again... Three years after the release of The Karate Kid Part II, Daniel LaRusso (My Cousin Vinny's Ralph Macchio) and Mr. Miyagi (Pat Morita) were back in California, and in theaters with the aptly named The Karate Kid Part III. Now, Daniel must defend his Karate title against "Karate's Bad Boy" Mike Barnes, and when Mr. Miyagi refu...

Some drunk people think the drum technique is a great dance move! In 1984, The Karate Kid crane-kicked the box office, and it didn't take Mr. Miyagi to realize a sequel would be fast-tracked. Released in the summer of 1986, The Karate Kid Part II took Daniel LaRusso (Outsiders' Ralph Macchio) from California to Okinawa. Mr. Miyagi (Happy Days' Pat Morita) faces his former rival Sat,o and Peter Cet...

I doubt this is actually 100% Medically Accurate, but I could be full of sh*t Warning: This podcast deals with subject matter that will be objectionable to the vast majority of listeners. No one under the age of 18 should listen, and those over the age of 18 should listen with caution. It's the underground horror hit of the year: The Human Centipede. Playing only at midnight showings in select the...

Fear does not exist on this podcast! Pain does not exist on this podcast! Did you want to take Karate lessons in 1984? If so, you weren't alone! When The Karate Kid first came out, it was a smash hit, earning an Oscar nomination for Pat Morita and entering "Wax on, Wax off" into the cultural lexicon of movie phrases. Now, with this classic story being reinterpreted for modern audiences with this s...

Why are you wearing headphones? You haven't downloaded us yet. Nine, ten... Freddy’s back in theaters again. Now Playing Podcast concludes its Nightmare on Elm Street retrospective with a new Nightmare. This time, Robert Englund and Wes Craven step aside, replaced by Jackie Earle Haley (Watchmen) under the burned makeup and music video director Samuel Bayer behind the camera, delivering a darker,...

This is a whole new episode of Now Playing. No, really, it is! The movie so nice we reviewed it twice! Having already spent time with the strong, silent type during last year’s Friday the 13th retrospective, Now Playing Podcast switches allegiances to the wisecracking dream demon for a fresh look at Freddy vs. Jason. This time the focus is squarely on Freddy Krueger and how this long-awaited cross...

Doesn't Wes Craven realize the trail of breadcrumbs got Hansel and Gretel hopelessly lost? With the reboot of A Nightmare on Elm Street hitting theaters this April, Now Playing Podcast continues its retrospective with Wes Craven's New Nightmare. A decade after the original film launched the franchise, Freddy had become a pop culture icon, complete with catchphrases, sequels, and a merchandising em...

Now, wait a minute...hasn't Freddy been dead this entire series? After the lukewarm response to The Dream Child, New Line knew Freddy’s box office reign might be slipping. So for the sixth entry, they went big. Freddy's Dead: The Final Nightmare promises the ultimate showdown, complete with 3-D gimmicks, celebrity cameos, and a deep dive into Freddy Krueger’s origin story. With the marketing decla...

Good to see Quato is getting some work Nine, Ten. Never sleep again. Freddy returns once again in A Nightmare on Elm Street 5: The Dream Child, picking up after Alice defeated him in The Dream Master. This time, the dream demon finds a new way in, manipulating the nightmares of Alice’s unborn child and turning prenatal dreams into deadly playgrounds for a fresh group of Springwood teens. Leaning e...

I wonder if the Roach Motel was a brokered product placement... 7, 8... Better stay up late. After Dream Warriors turned Freddy into a box office powerhouse, New Line wasted no time bringing him back. Despite a writer’s strike and a rushed production schedule, A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master hit theaters in 1988 with a bigger budget, flashier dream sequences, and an even more wisecra...

The only thing that can defeat Freddy is a good mix of hair metal and holy water 5, 6... Grab your crucifix. Freddy is back, and this time he’s larger than life. Now Playing Podcast continues its retrospective with A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors, the sequel that pushes the franchise deeper into surreal dream logic and bigger spectacle. Returning from the original are Heather Langenkam...

Revenge? Really? Seems more like a return or a reprisal... 3, 4… Better lock your door. As the reboot of A Nightmare on Elm Street approaches theaters this April, Now Playing Podcast continues its retrospective with A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy's Revenge. After the original scorched the box office in 1984, New Line rushed out a sequel that takes a very different approach to the dream demon’...

We're your boyfriends now, Nancy! 1, 2… Freddy’s coming for you. With the reboot of A Nightmare on Elm Street arriving in theaters this April, Now Playing Podcast begins a full retrospective of the franchise that turned sleep into a death sentence. The journey starts with the original A Nightmare on Elm Street, the low-budget shocker from Wes Craven that introduced the world to dream-stalking kill...

Shutter Island? Whaddya wanna go theah foah? Opening this weekend, Shutter Island reunites Martin Scorsese and Leonardo DiCaprio for a dark, paranoid descent into madness. Set on a remote island housing the criminally insane, the film follows U.S. Marshal Teddy Daniels (DiCaprio) as he investigates a disappearance that quickly spirals into something far more unsettling. With storm-lashed cliffs, l...

The rat symbolizes obviousness Now Playing Podcast takes on The Departed, Martin Scorsese’s return to organized crime after Goodfellas. With an all-star lineup that includes Jack Nicholson, Alec Baldwin, Martin Sheen, Matt Damon, and Leonardo DiCaprio, the film drops viewers into a tense game of cops and criminals trying to unmask each other in Boston’s underworld. Loaded with double crosses, brav...

Including an interview with book editor and entertainment journalist Alex Ben Block! Books & Nachos is now part of Now Playing Podcast. Before our book reviews were branded as Now Playing Podcast Book Reviews, they were released under a separate show called Books & Nachos. That podcast focused on book discussions, most of which tied directly into films we were covering on Now Playing. We’v...

DON'T DRINK THAT! IT'S NOT LEMONADE! Now Playing Podcast turns its attention to The Aviator, Martin Scorsese’s lavish biopic chronicling the rise and unraveling of aviation pioneer and Hollywood mogul Howard Hughes. Starring Leonardo DiCaprio (Titanic) in a physically and emotionally demanding role, the film charts Hughes’ ambition, innovation, romance, and growing battle with obsessive-compulsive...

Lucky, this is Cameron Diaz. Cameron, this is Lucky. Now, Lucky, put down the cereal and teach Cameron an Irish accent, please. Only a year after 9/11, Martin Scorsese released Gangs of New York, an epic about the violent birth of modern Manhattan. Set against the backdrop of the Civil War draft riots, the film stars Leonardo DiCaprio (The Beach) as a young man seeking revenge and Daniel Day-Lewis...

Listen, or we'll hunt you down like a duck. Now Playing Podcast wraps up its Back to the Future retrospective with Part III. This time, the DeLorean heads to 1885, where Marty McFly must ride into the Old West to save Doc Brown from a date with destiny courtesy of Mad Dog Tannen. Leaning into western tropes while tying up long-running character arcs, the final chapter shifts tone, but can it keep...

Great Scott! A Pair O' Docs! Now Playing Podcast continues its Back to the Future retrospective with Part II. Picking up seconds after the original ends, Marty McFly (Michael J. Fox) and Doc Brown (Christopher Lloyd) blast forward to 2015, then backward to 1955, in a sequel that doubles down on time-travel logic and narrative ambition. With Fox juggling multiple roles and timelines colliding in cl...

What are you listening to, butthead? Now Playing Podcast fires up the DeLorean for a full Back to the Future retrospective. Brock, Stuart, and Arnie revisit all three films in the time-travel trilogy that turned a flux capacitor into a household term and made 1.21 gigawatts part of the cultural vocabulary. The journey begins with Back to the Future, starring Michael J. Fox (Teen Wolf) and Christop...

I thought King was retiring years ago.... Books & Nachos is now part of Now Playing Podcast. Before our book reviews were branded as Now Playing Podcast Book Reviews, they were released under a separate show called Books & Nachos. That podcast focused on book discussions, most of which tied directly into films we were covering on Now Playing. We’ve now merged those episodes into the main N...

How can the graphics have more dimensions than the characters? Two years after his last theatrical release, "King of the World" James Cameron returns with Avatar, a sci-fi epic promising to redefine blockbuster filmmaking. Shot with groundbreaking performance capture and touted as a revolution in digital 3-D, the film drops audiences onto the lush alien world of Pandora for a story of conflict, co...

A steam cage maze? Remember the good old days when it was just two guys, a crap-filled toilet, and a gun? Now Playing Podcast completes our Saw retrospective series (for now...) with Saw VI. This sequel takes Jigsaw’s moral crusade in a surprisingly topical direction. Though John Kramer is dead, his final plans target a new set of "players," this time zeroing in on the cold calculus of insurance e...

Thank GOD he had a ballpoint pen handy! Now Playing Podcast continues the game with Saw V, a chapter that shifts focus from elaborate set pieces to the growing legacy of Jigsaw’s work. With John Kramer gone, the spotlight turns to those carrying out his philosophy, and whether they truly understand the rules he claimed to live by. As a new group of victims faces traps that demand cooperation rathe...