The Media Play News Podcast

We've got reviews for the movie with the infamously, inexplicably bad trailer: The Munsters , as well as the 4K rerelease for underrated crime comedy In Bruges . Before that we discuss fan edits of movies, credit to the Youtube channel Royal Ocean Film Society. Check out a link to their video below.   Subscribe to the MPN Newsletter   the bizarre world of fan edits and restorations   The Munsters...

This week we have a time traveling romcom and a 50s-era movie about journalism and political corruption, and for the first time, a roundup of stats of record-breaking streaming releases over the last couple weeks. Subscribe to the MPN Newsletter   Meet Cute by John Latchem The Turning Point by Scott Marks Paramount Pictures All 'Smile'[s] With $22 Million Weekend Box Office Debut by Erik Gruenwede...

Thor 4 is finally here! We warm up with a review of the 1950s war movie Bright Victory before diving into the latest MCU film. TL;DR if you like Marvel movies, you'll probably like this one. Meanwhile, Netflix casually drops announcements for 120 movies and shows and Avatar returns to theaters.   Subscribe to the MPN Newsletter   Bright Victory by Scott Marks Thor: Love and Thunder by John Latchem...

This week it's a review of the latest season of Cobra Kai , which neither of us were even aware was still producing new episodes. Next hear about the history of 3-D films, a technology that dates back to the 50s as it turns out, with 3 re-releases of Sangaree , Those Redheads from Seattle , and Jivaro .   Subscribe to the MPN Newsletter Cobra Kai: Season 5 by John Latchem Paravision Dreams: The Go...

It's a week of reviews for two single word, titular characters: Pinocchio and Elvis . Neither is altogether too engaging, as we'll get into. The summer box office continues to drag without any major releases.   Subscribe to the MPN Newsletter   Pinocchio (2022) by John Latchem Elvis by John Latchem 20th Century Studios' 'Barbarian' Tops Another Slow Weekend Box Office by Erik Gruenwedel Heist Thri...

This week it's dueling single-title prequel-sequels, with Lightyear and Prey . Prey earns a rare "looks pretty good" from Charlie, and Charles recounts his day at the movies for $3 movie ticket day and extremely rude theatergoers.   Subscribe to the MPN Newsletter   Lightyear by John Latchem Prey by John Latchem Paramount: 'Top Gun Maverick' Becomes Fifth Highest-Grossing Domestic Movie in History...

For the first time every theatrical Star Trek release has been remastered in 4K and brought to physical discs. We cover the large number of extras and audio tracks included in some of the box set's special features and share some anecdotes about the series. Afterwards, we cover the close of an extremely weak August box office, which had significantly lower ticket sales than August 2019.   Subscrib...

We review the latest Jurassic World movie this week, as well as season 3 of The Orville, now available to stream on Hulu. In addition to our usual Top Gun: Maverick shoutout is a quick recap of our thoughts on the premiere of House of the Dragon. Turns out we are hard to impress. Subscribe to the MPN Newsletter   Jurassic World: Dominion by John Latchem The Orville: New Horizons by John Latchem 'D...

The sequel Sonic (& Knuckles) movie gets covered this week along with a Disney+ documentary about Industrial Light & Magic, the studio responsible for many popular and influential movies including Star Wars, Jurassic Park, and more.   Subscribe to the MPN Newsletter   Sonic the Hedgehog 2 by John Latchem Light & Magic by John Latchem Brad Pitt's 'Bullet Train' Tops Slow Weekend Box Office with $13...

We turn back the clock to early 90s TV to review SeaQuest DSV while commenting on its slightly inaccurate predictions for the future (the show takes place in 2018). On the opposite end of the demographic spectrum is Lego Star Wars Summer Vacation, starring the voice of "Weird Al" Yankovic.   Subscribe to the MPN Newsletter   SeaQuest DSV: The Complete Series – Media Play News by John Latchem Lego...

Charles caught an early showing of Green Lantern at Comic-Con, and gets into more detail on the movie and the DC animated cinematic universe. We also cover The Lost City, whose advertising was lost amidst other movies. Meanwhile Netflix is trying to spin up its own extended universe around its recent release The Gray Man. Will it succeed? Will it fail? Neither Charlie or Charles has seen it, so it...

This is some more from our review of Doctor Strange and the Multiverse of Madness that didn't get included in the cut of the episode. Any time the show touches on plots from the source material, we turn to Loremaster Charles for some info on how the MCU is influenced by its comic roots.

In this special episode of the Media Play News podcast, hosts Charles and Charlie talk about their experience at the 2022 San Diego Comic-Con. The main floor was bustling, the lines stretched for miles, and the surrounding downtown area was transformed by studios' promotional booths for upcoming movies and shows. Friday had the duo exploring the show floor and catching an early screening of the ne...

We're working on a Comic-Con special episode set to come out soon. In the meantime are reviews for a sci-fi clone movie that flew under the radar, Dual , and parts 1 & 2 of South Park: The Streaming Wars . As the title suggests it gets extremely meta.   Subscribe to the MPN Newsletter   Dual – Media Play News by John Latchem South Park: The Streaming Wars (Parts 1 & 2) by John Latchem Universal Pi...

It's the long awaited deep dive review for Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness . The episode leans heavily on Charles' encyclopedic knowledge of comics for the many nods and allusions the movie makes to its source material. A review for Beavis and Butt-head Do the Universe follows as well as an announcement for the franchises's scheduled Comic-Con panel appearances this coming weekend for...

This week is a review for the latest movie in the Harry Potter spin-off series Fantastic Beasts , followed by a review for the underrated Tom Cruise sci-fi movie Edge of Tomorrow .  Thor: Love and Thunder leads the box office numbers, as expected, and more new features come to Netflix. Subscribe to the MPN Newsletter Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore by John Latchem Edge of Tomorrow by J...

We review the latest Disney+ Star Wars series, Obi-Wan! If the most recent trilogy of movies didn't pan out quite how they expected, maybe revisiting the prequel trilogy will work. Also in the news is Gen Z and their curious movement to dress in formalwear to see the latest Minions movie, breaking July 4th box office records. Star Wars: Obi-Wan Kenobi by John Latchem Billions: Season Six by John L...

This week we review the self-aware Nicolas Cage comedy The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent , and the crime drama streaming series Under the Banner of Heaven . We give an update on the box office numbers of the past weekend and report on some more news coming out of Netflix: big changes are coming to the streaming service. --- The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent by John Latchem Under the Ba...

This week is a review of The Offer, a docu-drama chronicling the making of The Godfather , and the return of The Northman to the show, which has been brought in passing on previous episodes but now is featured in its own long form review. Also covered is Lightyear 's release, the latest box office leaders, and news of an original VHS copy of Back to the Future being sold at auction. Partway throug...

This week on the pod we review the infamous superhero movie Morbius and the multiverse sleeper series Shining Girls, from Apple TV. Afterwards we discuss the Jurassic franchise in the context of its latest smash release and wrap up with an announcement for Dr. Strange physical and digital release dates. Morbius by John Latchem Shining Girls by Stephanie Prange 'Jurassic World: Dominion' Thrashes B...

As if an entire bonus episode about Batman wasn't enough, we get even deeper into the making of The Batman and how its portrayal of its villains as foils for the latest movie is so striking. We lead with more news on future Netflix programming, an update on Top Gun Maverick 's box office performance, and The Northman 's physical and digital releases. Netflix Reportedly Bidding for F1 Live-Streamin...

No reviews this week, but plenty to say about the week's news and some upcoming physical releases! 'Top Gun: Maverick' Tops $156 Million in Debut, Best Memorial Day Weekend Opening Ever By Erik Gruenwedel Report: U.S. Homes Subscribe to Three SVOD Services, Cut Spending by $5 Monthly by Erik Gruenwedel 'Exploding Kittens' Leads Netflix May Mobile Video Games Slate by Erik Gruenwedel 'The Boys' … o...

In this extra feature we make some associations between the subject of Our Father and similar offenders that didn't make it into the original review. This discussion was cut from our 5/24 episode and presented in full here.

We dug deep into the history of cartoons and their subtle influences on the story of the new Chip n' Dale movie. Apparently cartoons can be a lot darker than you think they are! This discussion was cut from our 5/24 episode and presented in full here.

We have some additional thoughts and insights into The Batman and what we think makes it stand out from most superhero movies lately. This discussion was cut from our 5/24 episode and presented in full here.