Thank God For Movies

July 4th weekend passed, and we spent it doing (what else?) watching a ton of movies. In addition to our in-depth review of The Tomorrow War , the new Chris Pratt sci-fi blockbuster on Amazon Prime Video, we kicked off the show with a conversation about the Purge franchise, thanks to The Forever Purge (which we didn’t see). We also briefly went over Fear Street Part 1: 1994 on Netflix and Th...

Now available to stream on Netflix,  The Ice Road is an action thriller directed by Jonathan Hensleigh and starring Liam Neeson as a trucker who has to brave a perilous ice road in Canada to save a group of trapped miners. The film also stars  Laurence Fishburne, Benjamin Walker, Amber Midthunder, Marcus Thomas, Holt McCallany, Martin Sensmeier, Matt McCoy, and Matt Salinger. UK listener...

Now available to stream on Hulu,  False Positive  is a horror thriller from A24 directed by John Lee and co-written by Ilana Glazer, who also stars in the film alongside Justin Theroux, Pierce Brosnan, and Sophia Bush. This review is an excerpt from Episode #226 of the Cinemaholics Podcast. The intro music is “Headphones and Hoodies” by Lamar Azul & Palpal. Links: Follow...

Fasten your seatbelts, and yes, “F” is for family. That’s right, we’re talking F9: The Fast Saga this week, which is the ninth film in Universal’s Fast & Furious franchise. Once again starring Vin Diesel, Michelle Rodriguez, Tyrese Gibson, Charlize Theron, plus newcomer John Cena, F9 is now in theaters and running laps around the box office. Also in this week&rsqu...

Now available in limited release,  Summer of 85 is a French-Belgian romance film from director François Ozon. It stars Félix Lefebvre and Benjamin Voisin as two young men who strike up a passionate bond over one fateful summer in a French coastal town, and it's partly based on Aidan Chambers' 1982 novel,  Dance on My Grave . This review is an excerpt from Episode #225 of th...

Now released through Lionsgate,  Hitman's Wife's Bodyguard is the (long-awaited?) sequel to the 2017 action comedy  The Hitman's Bodyguard . Ryan Reynolds, Samuel L. Jackson, and Salma Hayek reprise their roles in this mismatched follow-up directed by Patrick Hughes. And the cast also includes Antonio Banderas, Frank Grillo, Tom Hopper, and Morgan Freeman. This review is an excerpt from...

Now being released in theaters by Focus Features,  The Sparks Brothers is a music documentary from Edgar Wright. It outlines the unlikely rise to underground success for the pop-rock duo Sparks, made up by brothers Ron and Russell Mael. This review is an excerpt from Episode #225 of the Cinemaholics Podcast. The intro music is “Under the Sea” by RdBeats & Kuba. Links: Follow u...

Our heads are finally above water this week, because we’re reviewing Luca , a new Pixar movie about two young sea monsters who explore an Italian coastal town during an unforgettable summer. We also discuss The Sparks Brothers , Edgar Wright’s music documentary about “your favorite band’s favorite band.” Then we get into Hitman’s Wife’s Bodyguard , the act...

Now in select theaters and video-on-demand starting June 18,  Censor  is a British horror film from Magnolia, directed and co-written by Prano Bailey-Bond. It stars Niamh Algar as a film censor in the 1980s struggling to balance fiction and reality as she starts to see comparisons between real-life events and brutal horror depicted in the video nasties of the era. The film also stars Nic...

Now available in limited release from IFC Films,  Holler is a new drama from Nicole Riegel in her directorial debut. It stars Jessica Barden as a young woman in the "rust belt" who must scrape by and take on a dangerous side job in order to save up enough money for college. The film also stars Becky Ann Baker, Pamela Adlon, Gus Harper, and Austin Amelio. This review is an excerpt from Episode...

Now available on Netflix,  Wish Dragon is a new computer-animated fantasy comedy from Sony Pictures Animation. It's an American-Chinese redux of  Aladdin , with Chris Appelhans as writer and director and Jackie Chan as producer and voice actor for the Mandarin dub. The film stars Jimmy Wong as Din, a Chinese teenager who unwittingly discovers a genie-like "wish dragon," voiced by John Ch...

Our sueñito this week is to review In the Heights , the film adaptation of Lin-Manuel Miranda's hit Broadway musical from 2008, directed by Jon M. Chu with a screenplay from Quiara Alegría Hudes. Now in theaters and on HBO Max for a limited time, this massive spectacle of a Nuevo York musical stars Anthony Ramos, Corey Hawkins, Leslie Grace, Melissa Barrera, Olga Merediz, Jimmy Smits...

Special guest Cory Woodroof joins the show for an in-depth conversation about Bo Burnham: Inside , an experimental comedy special (and film, sort of?) that just hit Netflix. Burnham spent a year, alone, developing a one-man show set in just one location, where he uses original music and complex staging to comment on social media, pop culture, and mental health issues. Intro Music:  Music from...

From Super LTD,  All Light, Everywhere is the latest documentary from Theo Anthony. It uncovers the abstract challenges of objectivity, specifically when it comes to using body cameras for policing. The film premiered at this past year's Sundance Film Festival, where it won the U.S. Documentary Special Jury Award for Nonfiction Experimentation. This review is an excerpt from Episode #223 of t...

No one made us review The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It , the third entry in the main horror series of Conjuring films and eighth overall film in the “Conjuring Universe.” This time directed by Michael Chaves ( The Curse of La Llorona ), the supernatural film once again stars Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga as Ed and Lorraine Warren, the paranormal investigative duo tasked with so...

Celebrating 55 years since its release in 1966, Au Hasard Balthazar is considered by many to be one of the greatest films of all time, and yes, we’ve been long overdue to tackle a film from the one and only Robert Bresson, whose work has influenced filmmakers of all stripes for over half a century. The film stars Anne Wiazemsky a young French woman who develops a striking bond with a donkey...

Now available to stream on Hulu,  Plan B  is a new teen comedy from director Natalie Morales with a screenplay by Prathi Srinivasan and Joshua Levy. It stars Victoria Moroles and Kuhoo Verma as a best friend duo trying to get the "Plan B" pill in rural South Dakota. Special guests Mae Abdulbaki and Shea Vassar join the show for this bonus review. Intro Music:  “Café Jam...

Now available on VOD and in select theaters,  The Dry is an Australian mystery thriller starring Eric Bana as a federal agent who returns home to help solve a dark conspiracy plaguing the community. The film was directed by Robert Connolly, who co-wrote the screenplay with Harry Cripps. The cast includes Genevieve O'Reilly, Keir O'Donnell, and John Polson. And it's based on the eponymous 2016...

After a year of silence, the delayed "Part II" of the 2018 surprise hit  A Quiet Place just landed in theaters via Paramount. John Krasinski returns as writer and director in this fraught post-apocalyptic horror film about a family trying to survive in a world where monsters hunt by sound. Emily Blunt, Millicent Simmonds, and Noah Jupe return for the sequel with the additions of Cillian Murph...

Relax, darling, we’re working overtime this holiday weekend to bring you our in-depth thoughts of Cruella , the latest Disney live-action reimagining, this time focusing on the delirious origins of Cruella de Vil, portrayed here by Emma Stone in a sprawling crime comedy directed by Craig Gillespie and written by Dana Fox and Tony McNamara. We also discuss Amazon’s acquisition of MGM an...

Now in limited release from Neon,  The Killing of Two Lovers is an indie drama from writer/director Robert Machoian, who also produced and edited the film. It stars Clayne Crawford as a father on the brink of divorce, as he struggles to make sense of what his options are going forward. The film premiered last year at Sundance and the cast also includes Sepideh Moafi, Chris Coy, Avery Pizzuto,...

Now available on VOD,  Riders of Justice  is a Danish revenge/action dramedy from writer/director Anders Thomas Jensen. It stars Mads Mikkelsen in a surprisingly heartfelt and unconventional ensemble film about found families during times of grief and crisis. The cast also includes Nikolaj Lie Kaas, Andrea Heick Gadeberg, Lars Brygmann, and Nicolas Bro. This review is an e...

Not sure if this one will get a director’s cut, but whatever the case, Army of the Dead is the latest film from Zack Snyder, harkening back to his undead roots in a subversive “zombie heist” action film starring Dave Bautista and now streaming on Netflix. We also discuss Riders of Justice , an action, revenge dramedy (seriously) from acclaimed Danish screenwriter and director And...

Now available on Netflix, Oxygen  is an American-French sci-fi thriller from director Alexandre Aja with Christie LeBlanc as screenwriter. It stars Mélanie Laurent as a woman who mysteriously wakes up inside a medical cryogenic chamber with no memory or obvious means of escape. The cast also includes Mathieu Amalric and Malik Zidi. This review is an excerpt from Episode #220 of the Cin...

Now available on Netflix,  The Woman in the Window is a new psychological thriller starring Amy Adams as an agoraphobic loner in Manhattan who witnesses some strange occurrences happening with her new neighbors. This is based on the 2018 novel, and it's being adapted by director Joe Wright from a screenplay by Tracy Letts. The film's cast includes Gary Oldman, Julianne Moore, Brian Tyree Henr...