Movie Madness

It’s physical media time with Erik Childress and Peter Sobczynski guiding you through this week’s releases which includes a pair of late indie staples from the ‘80s now in 4K. There’s a pair of John Candy comedies from the same decade, Burt Reynolds directing a comedy about suicide and one about the life of Frances Farmer. Pick your poison in Richard Dreyfuss directing porn (within the movie) and the unspeakable horrors of Roger Corman mutant rapists. Keanu Reeves is a demon hunter and David Fincher gets upgrades for his underrated B-movie thriller and the origin story of another demon. 0:00 - Intro 2:37 - Criterion (Crossing Delancey 4K, Drugstore Cowboy 4K) 19:24 - Kino (Summer Rental, Uncle Buck 4K, Frances) 41:13 - MGM (Inserts, The  End, Uptown Girls) 1:01:51 - Shout (Humanoids from the Deep 4K) 1:13:16 - Warner (Constantine 4K) 1:21:52 - Sony (Panic Room 4K, The Social Network 4K) 1:41:21 – New Theatrical Titles On Blu-ray (Last Summer, The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim, No

Erik Childress and Steve Prokopy return to regular reviewing duties this week and they put a nine-spot on the board. There are a pair of documentaries involving Sly Stone (Sly Lives) and the Zep (Becoming Led Zeppelin). The director of Saint Frances & Ghostlight shows the horror of being a doctor (Rounding) while a young woman involved in one night stands may have been literally ghosted (The Dead Thing). Paolo Sorrentino has another tale of beauty (Parthenope) while Miles Teller & Anya Taylor-Joy snipe themselves into each other’s hearts fighting monsters (The Gorge). Then it’s a week of sequels including a continuation of Renee Zellweger’s beloved character (Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy), everyone’s favorite marmalade-loving bear (Paddington In Peru) and the tale of a new Captain and a new President (Captain America: Brave New World). 0:00 – Intro 1:13 - Becoming Led Zeppelin 7:54 - Rounding 17:02 - Sly Lives! 23:00 - The Dead Thing 32:25 - Parthenope 39:22 - Bridget Jones: Mad About th

The next phase of the Marvel Cinematic Universe is here and so is comic book expert Erik Laws to talk with Erik Childress on how it plays out. Does it follow through on some of the ideas raised by The Falcon and the Winter Soldier or is it merely just continuing a story most many have forgotten about? Laws fills in the blanks left by the treatment of Shira Haas’ Widow and the remnants of the Serpent Society. Is this a genuine new beginning for the Universe or does it continue the rut that has befallen the MCU since Endgame. 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 & Peter Sobczynski bring you this week’s physical media roundup which includes a great upgrade for the family involving a cat and a mouse. Horror fans get some 4K upgrades from four different decades. Film Noir gets several different takes including through the mind of Woody Allen. A legendary black filmmaker championed over the years by Sergio Mims gets his whole collection. There are early appearances by Sam Elliott, Sean Penn and John Cusack along with a reappraisal of a current Oscar contender. A more positive reappraisal has been happening for years with a Shane Black film now in 4K and Peter takes us down the rabbit hole of the time Jean-Luc Godard made a Shakespeare adaptation for Cannon Films. 0:00 – Intro 3:09 - Criterion (King Lear) 17:26 - Warner Archive (Tom and Jerry: The Complete CinemaScope Collection) 21:31 – Warner Bros. (The Nice Guys 4K) 30:18 - Kino (Oscar Micheaux: The Complete Collection, Film Noir: The Dark Side of Cinema XXIII (Rope of Sand / Kiss Tomorrow Goo

Erik Childress and Steve Prokopy return after more than a week in Park City plus virtual screenings for this year’s Sundance Film Festival and they are here to talk about 15 of their favorite films. They include a pair of body horror films about the terror of living happily ever after. There is also the horror of being a parent especially if you live next to the worst kind of Karen. Music plays a role in a lovely story about a washed-up folk singer and a lottery winner plus the heartbreaking tale of an artist taken away from us too quickly. There are more documentaries about the first deaf Oscar winner, teenagers who took on the environmental concerns of their community, the troubling legacy of To Catch a Predator and the consequences of delaying that colonoscopy.  Audiences were treated to standout performances from Dylan O’Brien and the genuine discovery of the debut by a name to remember, Eva Victor. All that plus generational tales of Palestine and the building and rebuilding of America.  0:00 - Intro

After some time off for Sundance, Movie Madness returns to get you caught up on the latest and greatest in Blu-rays. Erik Childress talks to Peter Sobczynski about a couple 4K upgrades from Criterion for Paul Thomas Anderson and Anthony Mann. There are rom-coms with Cary Grant and Clark Gable while Al Pacino tries to find love with possibly a serial killer. They’ve got a possessed authoritarian in the White House (from 1933) and a killer whale on the loose. Music documentaries for Joan Jett and Joan Baez and one of Dario Argento’s best. But it all comes down to a remastered version of a butchered Michael Mann film and a trio of upgrades for one of the kings of sexploitation, Russ Meyer. 0:00 - Intro 2:48 - Criterion (Winchester ‘73 4K, Punch Drunk Love 4K) 19:34 - Warner Archive (Gabriel Over the White House) 26:40 - Kino (Houseboat, Teacher’s Pet, Shout at the Devil, Orca 4K, Sea of Love 4K, W***e) 1:09:47 - Magnolia (Bad Reputation, Joan Baez I am a Noise) 1:15:25 - Severin (Opera 4K, Vixen 4

Some great titles in physical media this week and Erik Childress is joined by Peter Sobczynski to convince you to pick them up. They include a great modern con artist noir from Criterion and a lost film from Paul Bartel. The ‘70s bring us some sexploitation horror and Sherlock Holmes hunts Jack the Ripper while the ’80s gave us one of the most unique and divisive slasher films. Peter goes to bat for a pair of 4K upgrades from John Carpenter and Tarsem. Finally, there is a trio of new 4Ks from Quentin Tarantino that includes one of Peter’s favorite films and one of Erik’s favorite music cues. 0:00 - Intro 2:16 – Criterion (The Grifters 4K) 15:30 - Liberation Hall (Shelf Life) 26:29 - Kino (Fade-In, Invasion of the Bee Girls, Murder by Decree 4K, April Fool’s Day 4K) 58:57 - Shout Factory (John Carpenter’s Vampires 4K) 1:06:57 - Arrow (The Cell 4K) 1:19:45 - Lionsgate (Jackie Brown 4K, Kill Bill Vol. 1 4K, Kill Bill Vol 2 4K) 1:39:44 - New Theatrical Titles On Blu-ray (Here, The Return, Rumours,

Erik Childress and Steve Prokopy look at eight new movies this week including a unique documentary that combines a video game with Shakespeare (Grand Theft Hamlet). Julia Stiles makes her directorial debut with a romantic weepie (Wish You Were Here) and a locksmith goes on a wild evening (Night Call). Scott Eastwood and Willa Fitzgerald play spies who go off the grid and are sucked back into duty (Alarum) while Jamie Foxx and Cameron Diaz play spies who go off the grid and are sucked back into duty (Back in Action). There is the tale of the newsroom covering the terrorist attack at the 1972 Olympics (September 5) and a raunchy hangout film with Keke Palmer and SZA (One Of Them Days). Finally, Leigh Whannell continues the alterna-Dark Universe with a new take on a classic Universal monster (Wolf Man).  0:00 - Intro 1:02 - Grand Theft Hamlet 10:01 - Wish You Were Here 17:08 - Night Call 22:38 - Alarum 29:58 - Back In Action 42:07 - September 5 52:31 - One of Them Days 1:00:30 - Wolf Man 1:18:39 - Ou

The final pieces are in place as BAFTA and the Producers/Writers Guilds have unveiled their nominations. That means its time to give it a whirl at what the final Oscar lists are going to look like. Just how much did the BAFTAs influence the acting categories. Did the Writer’s Guild really make a difference in predicting screenplays when half of them were disqualified? If the Producers Guild holds about an 80% predictability rate, which two films get left off? Erik Childress looks at no less than eight films that could be vying for one final Best Picture slot. While he feels confident in the other nine nominees, there is also the potential for an epic bunch of so-called snubbing in all the categories. 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

 Physical media is still here in 2025! Like every other year. Erik Childress and Peter Sobczynski are back to run through the new releases with you. They include a pair of upgraded Kurosawas and Richard Pryor examining his life. John Turturro directs a musical, William Shatner does a horror film in Esperanto and the pair share some fondness for John Frankenheimer’s final film. You will hear about the film that was literally like pulling teeth for Erik while two of Brad Pitt’s best films get fantastic new packages. 0:00 - Intro 3:39 - Criterion (Yojimbo/Sanjuro 4K, The Mother and the W***e 4K, Jo Jo Dancer, Your Life Is Calling 4K) 21:55 - MGM (Romance and Cigarettes) 29:03 - Kino (That Funny Feeling, Reindeer Games 4K) 38:27 - Shout (Sanctum 4K) 45:49 - Arrow (Incubus 4K, Inglourious Basterds 4K) 1:06:56 - Warner (Seven 4K) 1:22:07 – New Theatrical Titles on Blu-ray (Saturday Night, We Live in Time, Armor, Soundtrack to a Coup d’Etat, Sometimes I Think About Dying, My Name is Alfred Hitchcoc

Erik Childress and Steve Prokopy are back to start 2025 with reviews…of a lot of 2024 movies. Albeit ones opening wider across the country now. But there are also some brand new releases including documentaries on a film that never was (George A. Romero’s Resident Evil) and the songwriter who never wins an Oscar (Diane Warren: Relentless). Then a family is trapped amidst a pole reversal (Survive) and Adrien Brody tries to build a life in America (The Brutalist). Robbie Williams gets the musical biopic treatment as a chimpanzee (Better Man) while Julianne Moore & Tilda Swinton face a tough life together in Pedro Almodovar’s latest (The Room Next Door). Pamela Anderson finds herself aging out in Vegas (The Last Showgirl) and Marianne Jean-Baptiste gives one of the year’s best performances in the new film from Mike Leigh (Hard Truths). Finally, Gerard Butler returns as Big Nick to get the mastermind robber he lost the first time (Den of Thieves : Pantera).   0:00 - Intro 1:41 - George A. Romero’s Resident

An annual tradition that goes back to the days of WHPK Radio at the University of Chicago where Erik Childress joined Sergio Mims to discuss all things movies and certainly physical media, Erik is now joined by Peter Sobczynski for it to endure. Each of them has chosen ten films that to this day remain only on DVD (or not at all) that they believe deserve the upgrade. There are films about the circus, about priests and prostitution, love triangles and the dark side of Hollywood. There is politics and courtrooms, games of skill, concerts and debuts in front of and behind the camera. Even if they kinda know the answer to the main question, this is a time for everyone to work together to bring these works of art (and even some lesser art) to a proper format so they can be preserved, protected and enjoyed for generations to come. 0:00 – Intro 3:14 – Peter’s 1st Title 12:03 – Erik’s 1st Title 18:56 – Peter’s 2nd Title 30:02 – Erik’s 2nd Title 36:07 – Peter’s 3rd Title 45:50 – Erik’s 3rd Title 50:55 – Pete

Oscar voting has begun and the week before the unveiling of the nominations is jam-packed with implications. Various guilds to impact the Best Picture race from Producers to Directors to Writers. All that on top of the Screen Actors Guild announcement and how the BAFTA shortlists put the best case scenarios forwards for many in the acting categories. Did the Golden Globes impact the races (or at least people’s viewing preferences)? The Best Actress could become a Thunderdome right up to the nominations on Jan. 17. Which performances have the most to gain and lose down the stretch and how many films are fighting for the final two or three Best Picture slots? All this on a penultimate bonus episode before final predictions next week. 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

What better way to kickoff 2025 than a look back at the some of the greatness of 2024. On this annual show, Erik Childress and Steve Prokopy invite back Collin Souter so they can condense the entire year into the absolute best in their individual opinions. Only three films cracked all of their lists so there is a wide swath of analysis in a year that demanded it. Where is the common ground? What are the outliers? This is a great way to make your own lists on what to catch up on before we start doing it all again in the new year. 0:00 - Intro 4:01 – The Runners-up 17:09 – The Top Ten 1:19:45 – More Great Documentaries of 2024 1:23:26 – Special Best (and Worst) Categories for 2024 1:57:32 - Outro 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

On the final show of 2024, Erik Childress and Steve Prokopy check out eight new movies that include a Danish serial killer from 1919 (The Girl with the Needle) and Nicole Kidman as a CEO who enters into an affair with an intern (Babygirl). Tyler Perry tells the story of undelivered mail during wartime (The Six Triple Eight) and the Sega Genesis hero returns to battle Jim Carrey (Sonic the Hedgehog 3). Robert Eggers offers his take on the Dracula legend (Nosferatu) and James Mangold tells another story of a musical artist (A Complete Unknown). Finally, Barry Jenkins helps tell a pair of wildly different tales. He writes Rachel Morrison’s directorial debut of an Olympic female boxer (The Fire Inside) and then he takes the reins himself of Disney’s prequel to one of their biggest stories (Mufasa: The Lion King). 0:00 - Intro 1:34 - The Girl with the Needle 7:30 - Babygirl 18:12 – The Six Triple Eight 26:55 - Nosferatu 38:58 - Sonic the Hedgehog 3 46:01 – The Fire Inside 57:27 – A Complete Unknown, 1:15:00 - Muf

There will not be a lot of movement in the rankings through the end of the year. Not until we get into January when many of the major guilds and BAFTA add to the chorus of voices this awards season. So on this episode we look at why its unfortunate we have to consider the Critics Choice Association as one of those voices. For better or worse the numbers do factor in as many of the major races begin to take some shape. We will not be without surprises but Erik Childress offers some hope over worries that Marianne Jean-Baptiste might still be passed over for a nomination and he looks at the Oscar shortlists that were announced. 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

One last physical media show for 2024 and still time to get those last-minute Christmas gifts. Erik Childress and Peter Sobczynski take you through a bundle that includes two of the all-time masterpieces by John Ford and Francis Ford Coppola. Land is very much in the conversation from films by Ron Howard and Michael Winterbottom. There are aliens in the water, in the womb and something else aboard a submarine from WWII. We’ve got conspiracies, punks and missing thumbs plus the films of Steve De Jarnatt. John Wayne and Cary Grant in 4K plus a couple of solid Sylvester Stallone films including one from 50 years ago and another set in the future. Finally, one of the greatest TV shows of all-time gets the 4K upgrade it deserves as the duo recount some of their favorite episodes and moments from Seinfeld. 0:55 - Criterion (Evil Does Not Exist) 5:08 – Studio Canal (The Conversation 4K) 11:33 - Warner Archive (The Tall Target, Black Eye, Heavy Traffic) 20:33 - Sandpiper (The Lords of Flatbush, The Pope of Gr

Erik Childress and Steve Prokopy continue to wade into December’s offerings with nine new films on the slate. They include the directorial debut of Jack Huston (Day of the Fight) and Eva Green leading a team of female operatives against ISIS (Dirty Angels). The director of The Act of Killing does an apocalyptic musical (The End) while the daughter of a synthesizer inventor takes a joyous and complicated journey learning about her deceased father (Resynator). Paul Schrader takes his own trip through the life of a dying Richard Gere (Oh, Canada) while Angelina Jolie takes us through that of opera’s Callas (Maria). 46 years after Ralph Bakshi, Tolkien gets animated again (The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim) or you can stay home and watch TSA agent Taron Egerton face off against terrorist Jason Bateman in an airport (Carry On). Finally, Sony’s Spider-Man spinoff anti-hero line of Marvel movies supposedly comes to an end (Kraven the Hunter). 0:00 - Intro 1:31 - Day of the Fight 9:40 - Dirty Angels

We continue our march through awards season madness as we look at a fresh batch of nominations and announcements that have started to part the clouds a little on how its all playing out. Thanks to LA, Chicago and even lesser on-the-level groups like the Golden Globes and the National Board of Review (whose statistics can nevertheless not be entirely denied) Erik Childress runs you down the current depth charts on the Big 8 categories which can certainly change week-to-week. 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 presents this bonus extension of the show with a dive into the 2024-25 awards season. A breakdown of the various groups with their victories and nominations in an effort to present an ongoing State-of-the-Race up until the final Oscar nominations on Jan. 17, 2025. Statistics, commentary and a running scoreboard are in store for you starting with announcements from the Gothams and the New York Film Critics. Strap in cause its going to be a ride. 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