Overthinking Movies

In the mid-70s, one avant-garde assembled a crew of legendary artists, actors, and musicians to create what he saw as his magnum opus. Despite the money never coming together and the production falling apart, its effects are felt to this day. We take a look at the new Dune movies of course, and also the documentary covering the production of an almost classic.

Based off a character you would only know if you were deep into the Spider-Man comics or obsessively watched the 90s cartoon, Madame Web is the origin of a woman with future vision powers. On its face, this honestly seemed like a decent pitch for a story, not super strength or flight, just knowing what will happen and having to be resourceful to prevent it. While reviews have provided their own fu...

Happy Valentine's Day! This time we check out a new romance film that most didn't see! The directorial debut of Zelda Williams (daughter of the beloved Robin), this 1989-set comedy is a parody of both Frankenstein and 80s movie tropes. Did it warm the blizzard-filled hearts of co-host Alex and I? We were curious to find out.

Gigan. Every part of him is a weapon, from his hook hands to his spinning sawblade chest. Can Godzilla and returning buddy Anguirus stop Gigan AND King Ghidorah? Thankfully stock footage from other movies where they win is here to assist them! Join as we untangle this multilayered sci-fi mystery involving monsters made of homework, a Godzilla theme park, and aliens!........again!

United States and Russian astronauts find themselves stranded on the International Space State as nuclear war coats the planet out their window. Suddenly their respective governments say they need to take the I.S.S. for their country by any means "necessary". An intriguing, topical concept for a sci-fi thriller, but given the careful balancing of nuance and tension it would involve, does...

Tina Fey's beloved 2000s comedy-drama returns with a movie adaptation of its successful 2018 musical. How does it compare to the original? What changes does it make in terms of technology and views to fit the modern update and do they work? Co-host Zach Yetter and I dissect the good, the bad, and the fetch.

Just in time for New Years, I take a look at the often forgotten 1979 sequel to Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer: Rudolph's Shiny New Year ! It features reincarnation, Benjamin Franklin, a giant buzzard that scared children, and a meditation on gaining confidence in what makes you stand out.

Can Paddington director Paul King's musical Wonka prequel live up to and break through our ingrained cynicism of seeing our childhood favorites dragged out to bait our nostalgia?

While the idea of making a prequel to Willy Wonka sounds the farthest from pure imagination, I decided to pitch my own script if I was forced to write it while cautiously anticipating Paul King's WONKA.

Japanese Godzilla has returned to the big screen, having been held back by the Legendary Pictures films after 2016's Shin Godzilla. How does it hold up to its American and Japanese legacies? Send feedback and suggestions to overthinkingmoviespodcast@gmail.com

One of the finest entries of the original Godzilla era, featuring easily the most interesting monster Godzilla has encountered yet. Hedorah is pollution incarnate; he brings death and environmental decay to visceral effect, feeds off of smoke stacks, and can even transform to dominate the land, sea, and sky. Can a scientist and his son who has a psychic connection to Godzilla (don't ask) help...

The next Disney animated musical is here! A girl sings about wishing there was more! She has an animal sidekick! How does this one compare to the...sixty-one animated Disney films before it? I dragged my friend and co-host Zach to the theater to find out. Send suggestions for movies, general feedback and topics for us to talk about to overthinkingmoviespodcast@gmail.com Find more episodes on: Spot...

See the video version of this episode on YouTube: https://youtu.be/YpEiyqrn2OY Holiday horror and action movies are in, and with them comes Eli Roth's Thanksgiving, a slasher film that uses the aesthetics and motifs of the holiday to craft a story mirroring John Carpenter's "Halloween", while taking from the decades of slasher films hence forth. How does it fare? Send suggestions...

See the video version of this episode here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9a4KgYYLRJk Back in September I had the chance to attend a few showings at the Toronto International Film Festival. From documentaries, to comedy-horror films, and adult musicals, I manage to cover a wealth of variety in a short amount of time. Send suggestions for movies, general feedback and topics for us to talk about t...

Another year, another video game franchise taking its stab at Hollywood. However, Five Nights at Freddy's is more than just a video game franchise, it is truly a phenomenon, one that is more beloved by children than any other demographic. True to the franchise, even written by the creator, this is a PG-13 horror film that stretches the limits of the rating with its gore. But is it a good movie...

Countless movies and miniseries have been based on the works Stephen King, but very few were actually written by the man himself. Today we have one of the exceptions, the 1985 werewolf thriller Silver Bullet, staring Corey Haim and Gary Busey, directed by Dan Attias (his only feature), and penned by Stephen King himself. How does it fair? How are the werewolf effects? And what makes this one stand...

No more than a year and a half after Death on the Nile, director Kenneth Branagh and writer Michael Green are back with another Agatha Christie adaptation, this time based on a more obscure book in her legendary catalog. Given the negative to middling reception of the last two movies, how did this one fair?

Within a year after the release of Destroy All Monsters, one of the most ambitious and beloved films in Toho's monsterverse, we see the release of All Monsters Attack, also helmed by Ishirō Honda. Is it a satisfying follow up even with such a short turn around? Well our multiple past experiences with sequels that come out within a year on this podcast should give you a few clues...

Our second Dracula film of the year is an adaptation of one of the most iconic chapters of the original novel; Dracula's time stowing aboard the Russian ship the Demeter on his way to London. The book keeps the details vague, told only through the diary of a coastguard and the journal of the ship's captain. So the movie seeks to paint in the details. How does it do? Me and the three other...

Our first true climax of the Godzilla franchise, 1968's beloved Destroy All Monsters! Which is...well not really about destroying all the monsters...or any really, though it is a great title, and it features nearly every critter no matter how bit their part may be. It also features government alien conspiracies, mind control, moonbases, fire dragons, and more that adds up to one of the most co...

Theatrical, aggressively colorful, ridiculous, infamous yet iconic, the late Joel Schumacher created two Batman films unlike any before or since. In this first ever debate on the podcast, Brandon and Alex duel to prove which film is...not necessary good, but what edges out the other for the least worst to sit through of the franchise. The episode begins with an objective summary of both films. The...

30 years later, Michael Keaton returns to Batman, and we return to see how the Tim Burton-era of the franchise has held up. Is Batman 89 still a classic? Is Batman Returns still its underrated darker brother? Given that this is the longest episode of the podcast to date you might be able to infer which way we lean...

A giant ape had a son, so why not mutant atomic bomb lizards? In the most family-friendly Godzilla entry yet, scientists attempt to create a device to change the weather while Godzilla teaches his son to breathe radiation by stepping on him. He'd better hurry up too, because giant pray mantises roam the island, and something even more sinister awaits bellow the surface. Join co-host Alex Ulaky...

An idea conceived by Robert Kirkman, the creator of The Walking Dead, Renfield is a comedy-action-horror film about Dracula's bug-eating man slave seeking a way out of his immortal toxic relationship. Overthinking co-host Alex Ulaky and I discuss how it fairs, the future of the Universal "monsterverse", and why the Creature from the Black Lagoon deserved his own remake that isn't...

The first Shazam was a surprise in 2019. A new DC Extended Universe movie that focused on fun over brooding, gloomy, philosophical, self seriousness in a misguided effort to distinguish it from its competitor. This was not only because the movies themselves were poorly executed, but in a world that continues to grow incredibly more bleak, it felt tone deaf to what audiences were looking forward wh...