Movie Madness

The weekly movie review edition of the show arrives with nine new films. In documentaries, Steve Prokopy looks at one about the current Secretary of Transportation (Mayor Pete) while Erik Childress looks at how Juggalo culture became synonymous with gangs by the government (The United States of Insanity) and both dig in to the life of The French Chef (Julia). Steve covers a film about human trafficking (7 Prisoners) while Erik suffers a franchise re-imagined by SNL’s Mikey Day (Home Sweet Home Alone). The pair look at one of the most-praised films out of Sundance this year (Passing) as well as a sequel to an admired film from Sundance past (The Souvenir: Part II). Speaking of the past, Sylvester Stallone has gone back to re-edit the fourth Rocky film and Erik has all the details (Rocky v Drago) and finally Steve weighs in on Kenneth Branagh’s new semi-autobiographical tale of growing up (Belfast). 0:00 – Intro 2:39 - 7 Prisoners 11:31 – The United States of Insanity 14:44 – FAMILY CLIP 19:47 – Mayor Pete 25:

Movies never stop and neither do the Blu-rays which is why Erik Childress and Sergio Mims continue to talk about them so you can build your physical media collection. It may only be on DVD but any cornucopia of Richard Pryor material is a gift and they discuss a new one from Time-Life. Sergio digs into the Arrow release of Ridley Scott’s Legend and Criterion’s The Damned. They go through a variety of titles from Kino and a pair of major 4K releases from Warner Bros. that bring both praise and reservations for their classic status. Finally they dig into the Warner Archive to discuss a problematic Errol Flynn film, a great James Stewart western, an overlooked Dustin Hoffman performances and one of the funniest comedies of all-time that is a must-have. 0:00 - Outro 2:04 – Time-Life (The Ultimate Richard Pryor Collection) 8:26 – Arrow (Legend) 15:12 – Criterion (The Damned) 25:20 – Kino (The Comedy of Errors, The Tomb of Ligeia, Arabesque, Masquerade, The Last Sunset, The Hunter Will Get You, Dead Men Don’t

Eight new movies are after your attention on the weekly review episode with Erik Childress and Steve Prokopy and it’s a pretty solid lineup with at least one big exception. Erik reminds you of Stanley Nelson’s terrific documentary on the infamous prison standoff (Attica) and Steve looks at a new breed of vampire film (Dead & Beautiful). There’s a voice inside Olivia Munn’s head and its not pleasant (Violet) and Jim Cummings faces the consequences of an anonymous Hollywood sexual encounter (The Beta Test). Which do you think is the better threesome of the week? Dwayne Johnson, Gal Gadot and Ryan Reynolds (Red Notice) or Tom Hanks, a dog and a robot in the apocalypse (Finch)? Steve gets a chance to weigh in on the latest film from Marvel (Eternals) and each have a lot to say about Pablo Larrain’s new film with Kristen Stewart as Princess Diana (Spencer). 0:00 – Intro 2:09 - Attica 7:55 – Dead & Beautiful 14:45 – Violet 26:00 – The Beta Test 37:35 – Finch 53:59 – Red Notice 1:09:56 - Spencer 1:29:10 – Et

The Marvel Cinematic Universe enters the next phase of its current phase with Eternals, Chloe Zhao’s now follow-up to her Oscar-winning Nomadland. Erik Childress brings back comic book expert, Erik Laws, to dive into the comic’s history as well as the film which has drawn quite the discourse from critics. Has Marvel fatigue reached an apex where even the only second woman to ever win Best Director can’t satisfy the longing for something different? Childress leans into this part of the discussion as varying opinions about the film itself continue on the show, though maybe not the way you expect. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit erikthemovieman.substack.com

Aside from all their duties as film critics, journalists, radio show hosts and TV guests, Erik Childress and Sergio Mims also each produce film festivals in the city of Chicago. Erik created the Chicago Critics Film Festival, the only event curated entirely by film critics and Sergio has been producing the Black Harvest Film Festival for over 25 years. Both events are taking place this year in November and each are teaming up to tell you all about what is in store for you if you can attend either. But first they also have some films they saw at the Chicago International Film Festival and they have a little love to give there before unveiling what they have helped put together this year. 0:00 – Intro / The 2021 Chicago International Film Festival 3:10 – The French Dispatch 7:02 – Any Given Day 9:29 – Punch 9 For Harold Washington 21:29 – Petite Maman 24:29 – Oscar Micheaux: The Superhero of Black Filmmaking 30:04 – Hellbender 32:15 – The Sadness 35:06 – Spencer 48:09 – The Beta Test 52:38 – The Chicago Critics

It’s a light week on the weekly review show, but there is a still a half-dozen titles to discuss between Erik Childress and Steve Prokopy. They include Michael Shannon trying to bring a collegiate rowing team together (Heart of Champions) and hypnotherapy going wrong for Kate Siegel (Hypnotic). For those who wanted an Army of the Dead prequel sans the zombies, you got it (Army of Thieves), but you may want a different Netflix throwback instead with an all-star, guns-a-blazin’ western (The Harder They Fall). Finally on Halloween weekend you have your chosen between a horror film from the director of Crazy Heart and Black Mass (Antlers) or Edgar Wright’s tribute to London horror and Italian giallo (Last Night in Soho). Are either worth your time in theaters or is Netflix your choice this week? 0:00 - Intro 3:01 – Hypnotic 11:29 – Heart of Champions 23:15 – Army of Thieves 34:37 – The Harder They Fall 51:51 – Antlers 59:38 – Last Night in Soho 1:20:25 - Outro This is a public episode. If you would like to discus

It’s Blu-ray time again on the podcast. Erik Childress and Sergio Mims concentrate on just a few studios but a lot of titles including films from a silent film comedian. Sergio goes over some recent musicals released by Warner Archive as well as an Errol Flynn war film. If you ever wanted to see Strother Martin in a horror film, Arrow Video has one for you along with a couple of new 4K titles. One from Dario Argento is there for your Halloween viewing and the other is there to re-evaluate David Lynch’s version of the adaptation being hyperbolized to a fault. Is the 1984 Dune as bad as its reputation or does a new sheen make its visuals as impressive as people believe the 2021 version to be? 0:00 - Intro 3:30 – Undercrank (Edward Everett Horton 8 Silent Comedies) 9:10 – Arrow (The Brotherhood of Satan, The Cat O Nine Tails, Dune) 55:08 – Warner Bros. (Mortal Kombat) 1:01:06 – Warner Archive (In the Good Old Summertime, Take Me Out to the Ball Game, Ziegfeld Follies, Objective Burma) 1:45:50 - Outro This is a p

You want movie reviews? You get them here as Erik Childress and Steve Prokopy give you the standard they love to hit with ten reviews, including revisiting the emotional powerhouse from SXSW (Introducing, Selma Blair), another documentary about the January 6th insurrection (Four Hours at the Capitol) and even another about one of the legendary makeup artists (Smoke and Mirrors: The Story of Tom Savini). They catch up on some festival horror films they did not get to on the shows from Sundance & SXSW (Broadcast Signal Intrusion, Knocking) and another trying to blend vampires with Michael Mann (Night Teeth). Families are given another theatrical offering (Ron’s Gone Wrong) while adults who like quirk with their historical tales can try Benedict Cumberbatch painting cats (The Electrical Life of Louis Wain) and the latest from Wes Anderson (The French Dispatch). Finally, it all comes down to the film fans of Frank Herbert have been waiting for over 55 years (after initially waiting 19) as Denis Villeneuve’s D

Erik Childress and Steve Prokopy return for the weekly movie reviews with the lighter lineup but no less lively a discussion. They look at the various scenes of a writer’s marriage in Mia Hansen-Love’s Bergman Island and the history of a legendary band in Todd Haynes’ documentary, The Velvet Underground. Bobcat Goldthwait and Dana Gould go on with their comedy tour after a bad car accident in the documentary, Joy Ride. Ridley Scott began his career with The Duellists and now brings us the historical, if still timely, drama The Last Duel. And if its lively discussion you seek, the duo breakdown the failure of David Gordon Green’s sequel, Halloween Kills. 0:00 - Intro 3:09 - Bergman Island 15:04 – Joy Ride 30:57 – The Velvet Underground 42:55 – Halloween Kills 1:07:19 – The Last Duel This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit erikthemovieman.substack.com

Erik Childress and Sergio Mims have a lot of Blu-ray releases to catch-up on and they begin here with the latest from their friends at Indicator, Paramount, Warner Bros. and Kino. They discuss the confusion over the ending to Jagged Edge, the legacies of both Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory and Mommie Dearest. They also go through an array of titles from Kino including films from Billy Wilder and Cecil B. DeMille as well as a pair of new commentary tracks that Sergio has contributed and are available now. 0:00 – Intro 1:30 – Indicator (Jagged Edge, The Big Fix, The Bingo Traveling All-Stars and Motor Kings) 33:53 – Paramount (Mommie Dearest, A Place in the Sun, Nashville) 57:05 – Warner Bros. (Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory 4K) 1:11:40 – Kino (Thoroughly Modern Millie, The Fortune Cookie, Union Pacific, Unconquered, The Last Man On Earth, Lilies of the Field, Moment by Moment) 2:13:29 - Outro This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus

Erik Childress and Steve Prokopy continue to show why you can’t do this on the radio when they take the time to review another ten movies available this week including revisiting a film they disagreed on from Sundance this year (Mass). With Jason Reitman’s reboot just a month away, Erik takes a look at a documentary about the original (Cleanin’ Up the Town: Remembering Ghostbusters). He also discusses Jason Sudeikis and Evangeline Lilly as a star-crossed couple thrust into a film noir plot (South of Heaven). Being October, there is plenty of horror and the guys split duties on the latest from Amazon’s Blumhouse releases (The Manor, Madres), go through another anthology from Shudder (V/H/S 94), and a Netflix slasher film from the director of the Creep films (There’s Someone Inside Your House). There are also variations of horror seen in a couple’s tragedy answered with a miracle (Lamb) and the remarkable true life story of the trapped Thai soccer team told by the divers themselves (The Rescue). Plus there is t

An episode two years in the making. Or 15. Or nearly 60, depending on if you want to start with the beginning of the James Bond franchise, the stay of the Daniel Craig era or when his final outing as 007 was supposed to come out. It is finally time for No Time To Die and Bond expert, Sergio Mims, joins Erik Childress to do a full dive into the series. They talk Connery, Moore, Dalton, Brosnan and even Lazenby. Their early experiences with the movies and before that, the books, are discussed. What is the Bond film that purists hate but at least one of them has a fondness for? Ultimately it is all sprinkled in to the discussion of the 25th Bond film, their full reaction to it (with spoilers) and whether or not it was a worthy finale to Craig’s arc. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit erikthemovieman.substack.com

Continuing the recent trend of covering major film festivals virtually, Erik Childress is once again joined by Sergio Mims who gets to add the discussion with a lot more movies. They wade through a lineup that included a number of music documentaries ranging from rock to jazz, a pair of stunning crime docs about real-life standoffs with police in the 1970s and even one for the foodies. They discuss some of the worst films they saw which gives Erik the opportunity to weigh in on The Eyes of Tammy Faye. But there is plenty of room for positivity as well as they reveal their favorite films from the fest as well. 0:00 - Intro 2:49 - The Eyes of Tammy Faye 22:41 – Oscar Peterson: Black and White 27:25 - Listening to Kenny G 32:21 – Beba 36:11 – Jagged 42:35 – Dionne Warwick FULL TITLE 47:37 – Lakewood 53:22 – Learn to Swim 59:06 – Dashcam 1:04:11 – Julia 1:14:52 – Saloum 1:19:27 – Jockey 1:22:50 – Montana Story 1:25:35 – Attica 1:35:02 – Hold Your Fire 1:42:18 – Benediction 1:53:33 – The Survivor 1:57:47 – The Ele

Erik Childress and Steve Prokopy hit the magic number again this week. Ten movie reviews for your curiosity including a trio of horror films to kick off October (Bingo Hell, Black As Night, No One Gets Out Alive). For lighter fare you can choose between Danielle McDonald wanting to become an opera singer (Falling for Figaro) or a pair of sisters trying to comically rescue their grandmother from a nursing home at the beginning of the pandemic (Stop and Go). Dan Stevens plays a robot trying to be the perfect companion in Germany’s official entry for the Oscars (I’m Your Man). The animated version of Charles Addams’ macabre household are back (The Addams Family 2) as are those from the Sopranos clan in a live-action prequel (The Many Saints of Newark) and also Tom Hardy’s anti-hero version of the Spider-Man nemesis (Venom: Let There Be Carnage). But can any of them compare to the experience of Julia Ducournau Palme d’Or winning film that takes its audience on one wild ride (Titane).   0:00 - Intro 3:11 - Falling

Another eight movies are on the docket for Erik Childress and Steve Prokopy this week. They include documentaries about the young star of Luchino Visconti’s Death in Venice (The Most Beautiful Boy in the World) and a non-binary black activist (My Name Is Pauli Murray). Ben Whishaw snaps, takes to the streets and goes on a crime spree (Surge) and Freida Pinto tries to solve a mystery happening under her own roof (Intrusion). Tom Skerritt goes off on a journey after a cancer diagnosis to potentially end his life (East of the Mountains) while Melissa McCarthy tries to go on with life after a tragedy (The Starling). Jake Gyllenhaal attempts to solve a crisis as a police dispatcher in Antoine Fuqua’s remake of a recent acclaimed Danish thriller (The Guilty) and, finally, Erik and Steve try to answer the question that so many are asking about Dear Evan Hansen. Why? 0:00 - Intro East of the Mountains 7:37 – The Most Beautiful Boy in the World 19:33 – Surge 26:06 – My Name Is Pauli Murray 35:53 – Intrusion 44:29 – Th

Eight new films are reviewed on the show by Erik Childress and Steve Prokopy. They include two documentaries that take us out of this world (The Wonderful: Stories from the Space Station) and out of the mind of singer St. Vincent (The Nowhere Inn). Steve discusses an immigration romance (Blue Bayou) and both look at Aubrey Plaza’s attempt to revive a publishing house with Michael Caine’s surly author (Best Sellers). Steve also has his eyes on a biopic of the infamous televangelists (The Eyes of Tammy Faye) and then it’s Macho Man time with Nicolas Cage on the hunt for Sofia Boutella (Prisoners of the Ghostland), Gerard Butler with a contract out on Frank Grillo (Copshop) and Clint Eastwood showing quien es mas macho (Cry Macho). 0:00 – Intro 2:23 – Best Sellers 15:07 – The Nowhere Inn 27:52 – Prisoners of the Ghostland 39:26 – Blue Bayou 47:30 – The Wonderful: Stories from the Space Station 56:10 – The Eyes of Tammy Faye 1:13:41 - Copshop 1:31:10 - Cry Macho 1:49:42 - Outro This is a public episode. If you wo

Erik Childress and Steve Prokopy once again go the extra mile reviewing a total of 12 new films on the show. They go from Mark Duplass and Natalie Morales looking at each other on Zoom (Language Lessons) to Sydney Sweeney looking at everything else – and us right back (The Voyeurs). There’s another mountain climber documentary (The Alpinist) as well as the relationship of two icons at their peak (Blood Brothers: Malcolm X & Muhammad Ali). Stop if you seen Riz Ahmed as a rocker with a degenerative health defect (Mogul Mowgli) or a poisoned assassin protecting another child (Kate). A group of filmmakers take advantage of the pandemic to film an anthology (The Year of the Everlasting Storm) and Kristen Bell scams the coupon system (Queenpins). Three old friends see their reunion go from laughter to darkness (Small Engine Repair) and Oscar Isaac is out for redemption in Paul Schrader’s latest (The Card Counter). Finally while Steve updates on the latest horror film premiering on Shudder (Martyrs Lane), the pa

Getting you ten movie reviews a week is becoming a standard here on the show. Erik Childress and Steve Prokopy deliver again with Shea Whigham as a social worker trying to protect single mother Olivia Munn (The Gateway) and Guy Pierce as a P.I. in the future looking for a missing person in a city of androids (Zone 414). Three neighborhoods you don’t want to move into include Gracie Gillam’s host from hell (Superhost), Taryn Manning’s super racist white lady (Karen) and Pat Healy’s unhinged father in a lockdown crisis (We Need To Do Something). “Influencer Cinema” gets in their hits this week with Victoria Justice dying with some unfinished personal business (Afterlife of the Party), one pop singer, Matsumi, discovering her destiny (Yakuza Princess) and another, Camila Cabello, making her debut in the jukebox musical version of a classic story (Cinderella). Finally they have Michael Keaton in the true story of the creation of the 9/11 compensation fund (Worth) and Steve gets to put in his two cents on Marvel’s

Not often does the Movie Madness Podcast dedicate an entire show to a single film. But there is one opening this week that can’t be done justice on the regular weekly review segment. Even one that has to do with justice with a character actually named Justice. Coke Daniels’ Karen with Taryn Manning in the lead role of an overtly racist white women hits so many buttons on the unintentionally hilarious button that Erik Childress and Sergio Mims had to discuss it at length. They go over all the boxes the film hopes to check, discuss how racial trauma is often exploited in film and whether or not the film could have succeeded as a straight comedy. Is this film headed for “so bad it’s good” status or is it just another film we’d just as soon forget about? This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit erikthemovieman.substack.com

The Movie Madness Podcast celebrates its 250th episode with a look into one of the things that has made the theatrical experience so memorable over the years. It’s you. It’s us. It’s them. Erik Childress and Sergio Mims have had some memorable times at the movies going back decades and they are here to share a handful of the ones they cannot forget. Whether it be a rapturous response or a furious walkout the movies can inspire powerful emotions in all of us and as the industry struggles through a global pandemic they wonder if new memories like this can still be on the horizon, especially if more people begin to stay home. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit erikthemovieman.substack.com