Now Playing -- The Movie Review Podcast

Where’s the beef? Charlton Heston got his damned dirty paws on the 1966 sci-fi novel Make Room! Make Room! and turned it into Soylent Green, his third foray into cinematic dystopia.  Is it easier to swallow a future where New York City is overrun by talking monkeys or albino vampires rather than believe it could survive without a decent restaurant? How much more will rents go up when apartments come furnished with high class call girls?  And are old folks like Edward G Robinson buying the farm, or providing the livestock?  Find out when you sink your teeth into this Gold Level podcast.

Somehow I didn’t imagine the children of the night making such New Age music Director Werner Herzog revives the uniquely German take on the Dracula myth with his 1979 remake of Nosferatu The Vampyre. Klaus Kinski emerges from the shadow of Max Schreck’s silent era performance to put his own morose spin on the Transylvanian Count who longs to spend eternity with Isabelle Adjani.  Can Van Helsing stop a plague of rats from spreading madness throughout Central Europe? Or will romantic audiences actually root for the bloodsucker to beat out aloof husband Bruno Ganz for the heart of the girl?  Listen and find out!

The oldest movie we will ever review! (Probably) A decade before Universal Studios made Dracula the centerpiece of their stable of movie monsters, German visionary FW Murnau put his own spin on Bram Stoker’s literary creation with the 1922 silent classic Nosferatu: A Symphony of Horror.  Is Max Schreck’s iconic portrayal of Count Orlock the vampire that all other cinematic incarnations aspire to be?  And is the plague being spread by this creature of the night really anti-seminism and Nazi fervor?  Find out if Stuart, Arnie, and Jakob stick their lovely throats out for this bootleg bloodsucker.  Listen Now!

Daniel Craig is back as the famed Knives Out detective Benoit Blanc, crashing the private Greek isle of billionaire Edward Norton (Fight Club) to see which of his “disruptor” friends is planning to put him in a glass coffin.  Will the killer turn out to be canceled starlet Kate Hudson with the crossbow at the Infinity Pool?  Maybe Men’s Rights influencer Dave Bautista with the wrench on Twitch?  Or is ex-wife Janelle Monae out to shatter the illusion of a cordial uncoupling? Join Justin, Stuart, and Arnie as they put the pieces of this Glass Onion together.

'Tis the Season to experience your favorite Marvel a-holes clumsily learning that meaning of gift giving, and experiencing the fellowship of kidnapping, in the Disney+ event The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special. Can Mantis and Drax cheer up Star-Lord Chris Pratt about his recent box office slump by decreasing his degrees of separation from a true movie star like Kevin Bacon? Arnie, Jakob, and Stuart cap a year of Phase Four entertainment with this stocking stuffer “thank you” to all their naughty and nice listenership. Cut loose and download the fun!

James Cameron takes audiences back to Pandora by Way of Water with his long-anticipated sequel to Avatar. Are the domestic dreams of Na’vi couple Sam Worthington and Zoe Saldana torpedoed now that nemesis Stephen Lang and his military outfit are brought back to life in new, blue bodies?  And can the Sully children adapt to an ocean teeming with aquatic dangers after their clan relocates to Kate Winslet’s coastal village? Don’t hold your breath waiting for these answers. Hear Arnie, Marjorie, and Stuart provide for their Now Playing family right now!

Crime!  Inflation!  Oppression!  Yes, today’s headlines look bad, but not as bleak as the Metropolis that director Fritz Lang envisioned all the way back in 1927.  Will the skyscrapers of the future fall like the Tower of Babel after a sexy fem-bot incites factory workers to tear down the machines that run their city?  And should a mama’s boy who defies his moneybags father just so he can court a virgin in the urban underbelly be called a savior, or the heart of the problem?  Start exploring 100 Years of Dystopia when you Donate for Gold Level now!

Quantum of Malice Star Wars fanboys had their Knives Out for Rian Johnson in 2019, but the writer/director survives their harsh verdicts of The Last Jedi by following it up with a hit murder mystery. Daniel “007” Craig stars as a celebrated Cajun investigator summoned to the mansion of a dead crime novelist to determine if he was murdered. Could the culprit be Michael Myers survivor Jamie Lee Curtis, queasy maid Ana de Armas (No Time To Die), or Captain America himself Chris Evans?  Find out if Arnie, Justin, and Stuart have a Clue about this caper in their latest podcast.

Jon Hamm is urged to “Confess, Fletch” after a coed is found murdered in his Boston rental apartment.  But the real mystery is whether movie fans will accept someone new in the title role.  Is the Mad Men star too suave to wear the disguises, and make the jokes Chevy Chase did, as the intrepid reporter infiltrates a snooty yacht club to recover missing paintings?  And could any of the eccentric suspects - including germaphobe Kyle MacLachlan and horny countess Marcia Gay Harden - get away with stealing the spotlight?  The hosts are on the case.  Listen Now!

Chevy Chase finds a dead woman in his bed, the Ku Klux Klan on his lawn, and televangelists on his TV praying for his inheritance, now that Fletch Lives in a bequeathed Louisiana plantation.  Will the investigative reporter clear his name of murder charges, or be forced to spend retirement concealing his identity in a series of extravagant disguises?  And is the smoking ooze being dumped on Fletch’s new property as toxic as his treatment of women? Listen now as Stuart, Justin, and Arnie debate freeing this unpopular sequel from movie jail. 

Beverly Hills Copycat Chevy Chase takes a vacation from Saturday Night Live and National Lampoon movies to star as investigative reporter Fletch in this beloved 1985 mystery.  Can the comedic chameleon unmask the real reasons why shady yuppie Tim Matheson (Animal House) hires a beach bum to break into his mansion and murder him?  And will the jocular journalist be laughed out of town if he runs the headline that Norm from Cheers fronts a massive drug trafficking operation out of a hot dog stand?  Get the full scoop when you download the latest Now Playing podcast.

Waiting To Impale Wakanda Forever mourns the loss of King T’Challa (Chadwick Boseman), but that doesn’t mean a worthy successor can’t slip into the cat suit and become the next Black Panther.  But can anyone stop the advanced African nation from being sunk by an underwater South American society also armed with an arsenal of Vibranium?  Or is new rival Namor too light on his feet to fight off fierce females Letitia Wright, Angela Bassett, Lupita N’yong’o, and Danai Gueria? Let favorite colonizers Arnie, Jakob, and Stuart dry your tears with their latest podcast. Listen Now!

Edward Woodward (TV’s original Equalizer) travels to a remote Scottish island in search of a missing schoolgirl and finds The Wicker Man instead. Does the original 1973 cult film live up to its legacy as one of the greatest British horror films of all time?  And what scares the hosts more: that Christopher “Dracula” Lee might have murdered this child in an occult harvest ritual, or that he celebrates the sacrifice by donning drag to lead nudist villagers in song-and-dance?  Enjoy the fruits of Arnie, Jakob, and Stuart’s labours when you Donate for Platinum this Fall.

He’ll be back…. in inferior Terminator sequels and straight-to-streaming crap. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s movie star reputation took a big hit when Collateral Damage was released in the shadow of the 9/11 terrorist attacks. Can today’s audiences better appreciate his tough guy approach to a South American cartel leader (Cliff Curtis) who inadvertently killed Ahnold’s wife and child in a Los Angeles consulate bombing? Or is the whole film really just propaganda for the Governator’s entry into California politics? Join Brock, Stuart, and Arnie as they say “hasta la vista” to the last action hero of the 20th Century. Listen Now!

Jack Russell: The Furred Avenger Gael Garcia Bernal (Coco) might look like a typical Marvel superhero in the daylight, but he becomes a Werewolf By Night in order to protect the other monsters of the MCU.  Can he outsmart six skilled hunters as they descend upon a labyrinth to slay a mythical beast and collect the powerful Bloodstone?  And can Stuart, Jakob, and Arnie really root for anyone willing to rescue Man-Thing from movie jail? Get the details on Disney’s 2022 Halloween Special in black and white when you download the latest Now Playing podcast. Listen Now!

The S stands for Hurt Dwayne Johnson cooks up a different kind of Shazam for the DC Cinematic Universe as the homicidal metahuman Black Adam explodes onto the big screen. Is he the hero that an ancient Middle Eastern country needs after a tyrant seizes their crown and threatens Hell on Earth?  Or is Amanda Waller (Viola Davis), Hawkman (Aldis Hodge) and the Justice Society right to try and capture lightning in a bottle before someone gets killed?  Don’t wait an Eternium for the answers. Arnie, Stuart, and Jakob are ready to take you into the darkness. Listen Now!

Out of Shape Jamie Lee Curtis tried to move on from the curse of Michael Myers, but another Haddonfield Halloween Ends in blood and screams after granddaughter Allyson goes trick-or-treating with  psycho babysitter Corey.  Can the franchise’s original boogeyman teach this wannabe anything about being an old school slasher icon, or is Michael wise to keep his face out of this latest installment?  Find out if director David Gordon Green has given Carpenter’s legacy a new beginning when you download the latest podcast from Brock, Stuart, and Arnie.  Listen now!

Hulu tries to rescue the Hellraiser franchise from a purgatory of underwhelming sequels by re-configuring the original 1987 Clive Barker gorefest into an elevated 2022 reboot. Will a recovering drug addict become the pin-up girl for a Just Say No campaign against soul-tearing Cenobites after she gets high and accidentally opens their infamous puzzle box? Find out if Arnie, Stuart, and Jakob are ready to tear apart the vision of new director David Bruckner (The Night House) when you Donate at the Such Sights To Show You Level this October.

Total Remake Arnold Schwarzenegger sees double after corrupt CEO Tony Goldwyn (Scandal) and geneticist Robert Duvall (The Godfather) duplicate his DNA in The 6th Day. Can the aging action star stop a clone from co-opting his career and family? Or will goons Michael Rooker (Guardians of the Galaxy) and Terry Crews (Expendables) terminate the Twins star before he can get to the choppah and expose their illegal practices?  Find out how original this sci-fi thriller from the year 2000 really is when you listen to your Sim-Pals Stuart, Brock, and Arnie.

It’s the End of Days for Schwarzenegger’s movie career unless he can update his 80s action hero image for the gritty new millennium. Will it take a miracle for the Now Playing hosts to accept the Austrian bodybuilder as faithless Jericho Cane, a mercenary who must put down the bottle and embrace the rocket launcher of God in order to stop Satan (Gabriel Byrne) from impregnating Robin Tunney? Does the movie fall to pieces the second a leering albino pops up to propose the booty call? Cut out our tongues and we’ll still speak the Gospel truth. Listen Now!