TOTAL MASSACRE

TOTAL MASSACRE checks out ALITA: BATTLE ANGEL, Robert Rodriguez and James Cameron's 2019 anime/manga adaptation, with guests Kev Koeser, Brian Smawley, and Esther Rosenfield. We talk about mean mommy Jennifer Connolly, double jump-kicks, whether audiences were ready for earnestness, and gender euphoria. I guess it's a pretty wide-ranging conversation.

Netflix month continues (ends?) with the small-scale action thriller KATE, Mary Elizabeth Winstead's attempt to do her JOHN WICK. Does it work? Why is it set in Japan? Remember that moment when she breaks the bottles to get herself claws, that was so sweet! Rowan is joined by Kev and new guest Jon Arthur to break down what works and what doesn't and also more bottles.

We've finally done it! After a year of attempts our RRR show has come to fruition, with Carli and Ellie rejoining Rowan to talk about the power of friendship! The power of tigers! The power of nationalism! The power of dance! The power of tigers on fire! We also talk seriously about whether the right-wing politics get in the way of the film, characters who simply disappear, and if the closest Holl...

TOTAL MASSACRE kicks off Netflix Month in anticipation of Rowan canceling Netflix with THE NIGHT COMES FOR US, an utterly brutal Indonesian action film from Timo Tjahjanto starring Joe Taslim and Iko Uwais of THE RAID. We talk meat hooks, fast punches, broke bones (human), grenades, sniper rifles, broken bones (inhuman), lesbians, kukri, pool balls, and also like, emotions and structure and how th...

TOTAL MASSACRE's science fiction month concludes with the biggest space marine story of them all, James Cameron's ALIENS. Rowan is joined by Carli Velocci and Ellie Warren to talk about James Cameron, Sigourney Weaver, production design, James Cameron's obsession with Titanic, trauma, cats, and Jim Cameron's career! Game over, man!

It is a glorious day full of joy-joy at TOTAL MASSACRE, as Rowan Kaiser, Carli Velocci, and Brian Smawley engage in a discussion of DEMOLITION MAN! Is our trio of panelists a match for Sandra Bullock, Sylvester Stallone, and Wesley Snipes? Is this three films in one that somehow all work? Could we live in a world where the only restaurant is Taco Bell? And did someone in the production owe Denis L...

TOTAL MASSACRE returns with a good ol' fashioned bug hunt with absolutely no hidden subtext whatsoever thanks to STARSHIP TROOPERS. Rowan is joined by Citizens Kev Koeser and new guest Christopher Dole to discuss many things that are definitely not fascist, such as practical and computer effects, evil Neil Patrick Harris, eviller Michael Ironside, teen drama in times of war, and of course, hardcor...

TOTAL MASSACRE finally checks in with Donnie Yen with FLASH POINT, a movie that has an incredible 20-minute climax including some of the best martial arts choreography we've ever seen, and also at least an hour before then of an utterly baffling cops and robbers thriller with no action scenes. It's a weird one, folks, but we had a fun show with Rowan joined by Ryan Swen, Brian Smawley, and Mike Wi...

Merry Christmas! TOTAL MASSACRE is covering the greatest Christmas movie argument of all time, DIE HARD, with Rowan, Kev, and our very own Santa Claus Brian Smawley. We talk about copaganda, lighting, influence, Alan Rickman's sneer, and good old fashioned American masculinity, what a neat present to open!

Were you upset that the recent Sight & Sound poll barely included action at all? Neither were we, it's totally understandable, but it DID motivate us to see what a similar poll would look like if it was just action, so we did it. Rowan is joined by Brian Smawley, Kev Koeser, and actual Sight & Sound voter Ryan Swen to discuss the results. Is there a surprise in the top 2? What's the newest movie t...

Tom Cruise rides a goddamn plane! Rebecca Ferguson wears a yellow dress! Simon Pegg turns the energy up! Ving Rhames wears a jaunty hat! Jeremy Renner...is also there! It's MISSION IMPOSSIBLE: ROGUE NATION and Rob Zacny and Stella Sacco are here to break down the best film in the best series, maybe.

TOTAL MASSACRE is back for Septomber and three of Tom Cruise's best action movies! This time we're covering Michael Mann's COLLATERAL with Cruise as the terrifying Vincent, Jamie Foxx as his new best bud Max, and Brian and Kev joining Rowan to discuss what was the height of cool in 2004.

It's Judgment Day everyone! Thrill to the nuclear holocaust of Rowan explaining her overall theory of T2! Chill to Dylan's description of the time he launched a years-long project to give a distant connection a Terminator lore-based LARP! Also Carli and Naomi are here and they're great too!

Rowan, Carli, and Brian are hyped up (mostly) for the brand-new installment in the PREDATOR franchise, Dan Trachtenberg's PREY. Themes of nature and colonialism? Check! A cool Predator design? Check! A story of growing up and coming into your power with alien monsters around? Definite check! Impact font on the title card and a dope cello? You better believe that's a check!

Rowan is rejoined by Brian Smawley aka Chef Lu Bu for Jackie Chan ad Michelle Yeoh's near-death stunt experiences in 1992's SUPERCOP! What is going on with Maggie Cheung's character? Why are they in Thailand to blow up an outpost? How influential was this movie on action around the world? And holy shit is that an actual helicopter blade while they're fighting????!?

Our month of Michelle Yeoh continues with one of her international breakthrough films, CROUCHING TIGER, HIDDEN DRAGON. There are parts of this movie we love, but, why are they all in the second half? How is Rowan an enlightened centrist on romantic flashbacks? And how fast are those punches and kicks? They're super fast, right??

Carli, Rowan, and Kev are joined by special guest Rebekah Valentine for the hit multiverse movie of the year, EVERYTHING EVERYWHERE ALL AT ONCE. We talk about its parallels to the Wachowskis and Edgar Wright, the joy of seeing this cast pull this off, and wait a minute are they really going full Wong Kar-Wai????

TOTAL CASHACRE closes out with a huge day for Rowan: she watches her first Michael Mann movie, HEAT. Have you heard of this thing? It's like, really good. It's got Robert De Niro AND Al Pacino! Wild wild shit.

Rowan is joined by Rob Zacny and Carli Velocci to introduce Carli to the joy that is the MISSION IMPOSSIBLE series and discuss De Palma's MISSION IMPOSSIBLE 1. We talk about the best ways to understand the series, shockingly weak reviews, the terrifying nature of a single bead of sweat, how much Rob loves helicopters, and Tom Cruise sprinting!

TOTAL CASHACRE returns with Rowan's favorite comfort film, FANTASTIC MR. FOX. Wes Anderson's animated delight involves not one but five different heists, George Clooney being suave again, tweens being difficult, and all the Whack-Bat you can handle. HOTBOX!

TOTAL CASHACRE returns from a brief hiatus (Rowan moving) with the quintessential modern heist film OCEAN'S 11. Kev joins in and we talk about smoothness, coolness, light, charm, and weird Cockney accents.

One year of TOTAL MASSACRE means it's time for our reward: the greatest action movie of our age, MAD MAX: FURY ROAD. Rowan, Abby, Kev, and Jay dive into the smartness and the dumbness, Chekov's flaming guitars and poles, car armor tactics, Tom Hardy's mumbling, and mostly just how this is the greatest thing ever.

TOTAL MASSACRE is joined by Keith Phipps, author of the new book AGE OF CAGE, to discuss Nic's best action movie, FACE/OFF. Rowan, Carli, Christy, and Keith discuss how a movie can be meta and completely earnest, what John Woo looks like with a full budget, how to properly eat a peach, and more!

Rowan and Kev continue the 70s theme of March with one of Jackie Chan's breakthroughs, SNAKE IN EAGLE'S SHADOW. We talk about that Jackie Chan magic, the greatest training montages ever, animal cruelty, and some of the tightest choreography put to film

Rowan recruits the very best podcast martial artists, Kev Koeser and Mike Williams, for a tournament of champions and international crime syndicate, as TOTAL MASSACRE covers Bruce Lee's iconic ENTER THE DRAGON!