Now Playing - The Movie Review Podcast

Dead Time For Bonzo Twin boys decide to wind up TheMonkey toy left to them by absentee father Adam Scott (Severance), only to learn the mechanical drum solos cause mass carnage throughout small-town Maine. Can introvert Theo James (White Lotus) grow up to stop a bullying twin brother (also Theo James) from using the organ grinder to play off all their neighbors and family members into an early grave? Listen Now to hear Arnie, Stuart, and Brock dance to the offbeat rhythm that director Osgood Perkins (Longlegs) has given this classic Stephen King short story.

The Leader of the Package Anthony Mackie still sports his Falcon wings as he steps into the role of Captain America, and navigates a Brave New World of political intrigue without first Avenger Chris Evans. Should he give a vote of confidence to new President Harrison Ford by helping the ailing politician soften the “Hulk Hunter” image earned when played by William Hurt? Or is everyone in Washington DC being led on by Tim Blake Nelson, whose musical mind-control threatens to destabilize global efforts to peacefully bring adamantium to the MCU? Listen Now to learn if Red Hulk’s a smash!

You sank my franchise! Hasbro and Hollywood transform the Milton Bradley seafaring board game of pegs and wild guesses into the $200 million would-be blockbuster Battleship. But how can box office poison Taylor Kitsch (John Carter) hope to stop an invasion of space aliens splashing down in giant armored vessels when he can’t even deliver a frozen burrito to hungry girlfriend Brooklyn Decker without incident? Will older brother Alexander Skarsgard, trigger-happy singer Rihanna, and hardass admiral Liam Neeson help this sailor shape up or ship out? Find out now!

And Then There Was Fun Justin, Stuart, and Arnie roll the dice on finding a good movie based on a board game, starting with the 1985 adaptation of the Parker Brothers classic Clue. Can butler Tim Curry (Rocky Horror Picture Show) keep the funny banter alive as he scrambles to identify the guilty amongst dinner party guests Professor Plum (Christopher Lloyd), Mrs Peacock (Eileen Brennan), Colonel Mustard (Martin Mull), Miss Scarlett (Lesley Ann Warren), Mrs. White (Madeline Kahn), and Mr Green (Michael McKean)? Hear the hosts kill it with a Microphone in the Recording Room now!

The Wrath of San Oscar winner Michelle Yeoh tires of being Everything Everywhere All At Once, and beams back into Star Trek for a 14th motion picture now streaming on Paramount Plus. Can she help a Section 31 black ops team operate outside Federation space, and recover a WMD she created back when she ruled the evil mirror universe of Terran? And how well does future Starfleet Captain Rachel Garrett (Kacey Rohl) keep this crew of assassins and seductresses in line with the utopian vision of creator Gene Roddenberry? The podcast is set to stun, so Listen Now!

Night of the Living Dad Writer-director Leigh Whannell (Saw) returns to Universal Monsters five years after updating the Invisible Man’s look and gives a 2025 makeover to Wolf Man. But has he changed lycanthropy too much by asking infected Christopher Abbott (Poor Things) to shed hair and teeth rather than sprout fangs and fur and howl at the full moon? And can workaholic mom Julia Garner (Ozark) set down her cell phone long enough to help their daughter evade this family curse? You don’t have to be a mind reader to know what Jakob, Arnie, and Stuart think of the reboot. Listen Now!

Like Father, Lycanthrope Son Oscar winner Benicio Del Toro (Traffic) could tour the world as a Shakespearean actor but prefers to follow in the paw prints of Lon Chaney Jr and play The Wolfman in a 2010 revival of the Universal Monster. But are his full moon transformations just madness inherited from his suicidal mother? And does father Anthony Hopkins have ulterior motives for locking his son in an asylum while he comforts sexy widow Emily Blunt? The past is a wilderness of horrors, so let Arnie, Stuart, and Jakob be your guide through this classic franchise. Listen Now!

Peeper and the Wolf Lon Chaney Jr. takes an engaged woman on a date to see fortune teller Bela Lugosi, and learns his future is to become The Wolf Man. Can father Claude Rains (Casablanca) keep his son on a short leash so that the afflicted playboy doesn’t go thirsting for blondes like Evelyn Ankers in the neighboring village? And was 1941 the year Universal Studios finally got screen lycanthropy right after their first try Werewolf of London failed to match the popularity of their other Monsters? Even a man who’s pure of heart and says his prayers at night needs to Listen Now!

Wouldst Thou Like to Live Deliciously? Maybe not do that to a pigeon. Lily Rose-Depp receives a fatal mustache ride from Bill Skarsgard when she psychically calls out to dark spirits in the second Nosferatu remake of 2024. Did Renfield prepare Nicholas Hoult for how to stake this new Count Orlok before he corrupts his convulsing wife and idyllic German village? Or does Professor Willem Dafoe know from starring in Shadow of the Vampire that the only good way to stop a silent movie-era bloodsucker is to let the girl lure him into the sunlight? Listen Now to learn if director Robert Eggers has redeemed this bastard telling of Dracula.

Dracula Unstreamed Creature specialist Doug Jones (The Shape of Water) caps a long career acting under latex by becoming the first to revive silent movie era vampire Nosferatu for a 2024 remake. Could the westward migration of his undead Count Orlok be more devastating to an unsuspecting German village than the plague brought on by fellow immigrants Max Schreck, Klaus Kinski, and Willem Dafoe? And can this bloodsucker really be blamed for coming between a realtor and his wife when the couple’s already displaying a wandering eye and bi-curiosity? Listen and Find Out!

“You always have a choice.” (The hosts, on the other hand, are stuck in this Arcade.) A Shadow falls over the Sega Cinematic Universe as ass-kicker Keanu Reeves joins the cast of fast-paced characters battling it out in Sonic The Hedgehog 3. Will this dark duplicate let his pain lead him into a partnership with Dr. Robotnik’s grandpa (also played by Jim Carrey), and destroy the world with a space canon? Or will James Marsden and Tika Sumpter find room for him in their adopted family of aliens that already includes echidna Knuckles (Idris Elba), techie Tails (Colleen O’Shaughnessey), and titular blue streak Ben Schwartz? Listen and find out now!

The Lion, The Witch, and A Totally Fabulous Wardrobe Aaron Taylor-Johnson stuffs and mounts his previous Marvel characters, Kick-Ass and Quicksilver, to make room on his mantle for the prized role of Kraven The Hunter. But before the expert tracker can find his way into a movie with nemesis Spider-Man, he’ll face off with a stampede of super-villains, including The Rhino (Alessandro Nivola), Chameleon (Fred Hechinger), and an angry lion definitely not voiced by Blue Ivy Carter. Find out if Oscar winners Russell Crowe and Ariana DeBose help salvage Sony’s radioactive Spider-Verse. Listen Now.

Bitch Pleas June Lockhart begs for her family curse not to be true after dogs, acting like her future co-star Lassie, sniff out her secret identity as the She-Wolf of London. Could the wholesome TV actress really be following in the footsteps of 1935 British werewolf Henry Hull and sneaking out to slash throats in the neighboring park? Or is director Jean Yarbrough gaslighting the audience by teasing a Universal Monster that never emerges from the fog? No need to call Scotland Yard. Arnie, Jakob, and Stuart are on the case to find the screen’s first Wolf Woman. Listen Now!

With them teeth, he’ll fit right in! Arnie, Stuart and Jakob offer listeners a cure for “lycanthrophobia” with their podcast review of Werewolf of London - the very first Wolf Man appearance in a feature film! Henry Hull returns from Tibet howling mad that an infectious animal bite transforms him into a bloodthirsty beast on the full moon. Will every English Garden now need to grow the rare Marphasia flower to keep him human? And why didn’t this globe-trotting botanist blossom into a Universal Monster as famous as Bela Lugosi’s Dracula or Boris Karloff’s Frankenstein? Listen and find out now!

The Dondus 2028 presidential campaign begins now Director Ridley Scott returns to the arena where he won Best Picture a quarter century ago in the hopes that his 2024 epic Gladiator 2 will entertain a new generation. Does tyro Paul Mescal honor Russel Crowe’s legacy by kicking up dirt with raging baboons, rhinos, and sharks? And can slavemaster Denzel Washington help the rising Coliseum star make good on his dream to end General Pedro Pascal and rescue Rome from corrupt twin Emperors? The podcasters have spoken, so find out if it’s a Thumbs Up or Thumbs Down verdict when you Listen Now!

Mad “Max” Before Thunderdome Russell Crowe avenges his family’s execution by turning the Gladiator games of ancient Rome into a rematch with murderous Emperor Joaquin Phoenix (Joker). But can the outcast general survive an arena full of unchained tigers and beefcake competitors by maximizing his celebrity with the roaring crowd and mobilizing fellow slaves like Djimon Honsou (Amistad) into a new army? And did auteur Ridley Scott not entertain movie audiences well enough to deserve a Best Director statue denied to him by the Oscars? It takes no bread to join this circus now!

My Big Fit Greek Wenham Sullivan Stapleton (TV’s Strike Back) aims to turn the sacrifice of 300 Spartans into The Rise of An Empire in this 2014 continuation of Frank Miller’s comic book vision. But will his dream of a unified Greece get undone by bad girl Eva Green (Casino Royale), who proves to be the real power behind Persian God-King Xerxes (Rodrigo Santoro)? Or will widow Lena Headey and sole survivor David Wenham avenge fallen Gerard Butler as the battle of Thermopylae migrates to the sea? Listen Now as this podcast review rings out through the centuries!

This is Sparta? Because it kinda looks like a place you’d put a dollar in his g-string. Gerard Butler leads 300 Spartans to a glorious seaside death in Zack Snyder’s blockbuster adaptation of a graphic novel by Frank Miller (Sin City). But did the Greek King bring his wartime problems on himself by literally killing the messenger and using racist and homophobic insults to taunt Persian rival Xerxes? And can wife Lena Headey (Game of Thrones) use her charms to convince some toga-wearing senators to stop partying long enough to send reinforcements to X-Man Michael Fassbender and David Wenham (Lord of the Rings)? Listen and find out now!

Would you dream of reading 300 pages about the actor who played Freddy? This year the Nightmare on Elm Street franchise turns 40 years old, and Now Playing host Arnie has been celebrating all month by revisiting the classic slasher series. As part of that personal retrospective he has read and reviewed Freddy Krueger star Robert Englund's 2009 autobiography: Hollywood Monster: A Walk Down Elm Street with the Man of Your Dreams. Does Englund dream up new tales to entertain people who have been fans for decades? Is there more to the man than just the makeup? You can find out by hearing Arnie's bonus Halloween book review now!

Knull in Void Tom Hardy has a Last Dance with his shadow self Venom as the symbiotic pair hot step across the country evading Chewitel Ejiofer (Serenity) and alien enthusiast Juno Temple (Ted Lasso) in the trilogy’s 2024 conclusion. Is there something extra about the black ooze E.T. that makes him a target for both the US military and imprisoned space elf Andy Serkis? And are the bickering fugitives better off locked up in Area 51 rather than trying to get from a Mexican dive bar to a Lady Liberty photo op with a pack of monsters on their tail? Listen and Find Out Now!