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PODCAST

Movie Madness

Movie Madness is a weekly podcast hosted by Chicago film critic Erik Childress presenting movie reviews, interviews, film festival coverage, DVDs, awards, box office and much more! erikthemovieman.substack.com

tv & film visual arts

All Episodes

105:34

Episode 577: Say It Ain’t Swanson (or Everyone Please...

Movie Madness ·

2025/07/12

Erik Childress and Steve Prokopy review nine movies for you this week with four of them coming in a unique bundle. Those include a group of friends sheltering in place when they believe a nuclear missile is coming for them (Nuked), a pregnant woman confined to a house when a mysterious man threatens her safety (Push), an introvert and an extrovert confined to an apartment trying to avoid becoming one with the world (Else) and another couple on the outs stuck in an apartment complex seemingly with no

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141:41

Episode 576: James Gunn’s Superman

Movie Madness ·

2025/07/09

For years on the Movie Madness Podcast, comic book expert Erik Laws has joined Erik Childress to discuss in-depth the various superhero and graphic novel adaptation to the big screen from Marvel to DC and the heights to the very lows. In this episode they discuss how James Gunn’s long-awaited takeover and reboot of the DC Universe is not just a massive disappointment but may represent a new low. They break it all down from David Corenswet’s portrayal of Superman and Clark, the lack of genuine

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117:10

Episode 575: Epics, Killers And Clueless Politics

Movie Madness ·

2025/07/07

There’s a lot to talk about this week in the world of physical media. Peter Sobczynski joins Erik Childress to talk about a Stanley Kubrick epic finally getting the release it deserves. Oliver Stone revisits a final cut for his own epic and there is also some epic destruction from the ‘70s. Denzel Washington looks for a serial killer, though not the one traipsing through the woods like he was Terrence Malick. They’ve got film noir with Glenn Ford, horror meeting blaxploitation and Peter offering his

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88:10

Episode 574: Afterbirth and Video Stores

Movie Madness ·

2025/07/03

As we head into our mid-summer holiday, Erik Childress and Steve Prokopy have seven movies for you to consider. They revisit their praise of Eva Victor’s Sundance wonder (Sorry, Baby) chosen for their Chicago Critics Film Festival along with Danielle Deadwyler trying to protect her family and farm during another cinematic apocalypse (40 Acres). Alicia Silverstone chooses the wrong sugar daddy (Pretty Thing) while Alex Ross Perry takes us through decades of video stores in movies in a three-hour

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86:36

Episode 573: FU to F1

Movie Madness ·

2025/06/27

Erik Childress and Steve Prokopy wade through nine reviews this week to get you to the few standouts. A couple is presented with the possibility their daughter was switched at birth (A Stranger in My Home) while a team of nitwits try to steal a 35mm print from Quentin Tarantino (Stealing Pulp Fiction). Emma Mackey tries to use Vicky Krieps as a distraction from her invalid mother (Hot Milk) while a drug deal goes south for a sex worker (Ponyboi) and Bryan Cranston tries to keep his family and

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143:58

Movie Madness Episode 572: Tuning Up For Sorcerer

Movie Madness ·

2025/06/23

Physical Media weeks don’t get much more packed this week and there is a lot to get to with Erik Childress and Peter Sobczynski. Titles include a trio of youth tales involving the film that took back cheerleading, a slasher film getting a new updating soon and the infamous creation of the Brat Pack. There’s a Hammer mystery, sci-fi and Peter Cushing as Doctor Who. Peter talks about a somewhat forgotten film noir with Robert Mitchum as well as a musical version of The Philadelphia Story. They look

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77:42

Episode 571: Remember the Dead (And What Jim Jordan Did)

Movie Madness ·

2025/06/20

Seven new movies are reviewed by Erik Childress and Steve Prokopy this week and most of them are documentaries. Steve takes a look at Disney’s stage version of one of their biggest films (Frozen: The Hit Broadway Musical) and a tale of more than two kitties (American Cats: The Good, The Bad and the Cuddly). Erik checks out the story of sexual assault within the sports programs of a major university (Surviving Ohio State) plus a daughter trying to learn more about her photographer mother (A

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114:07

Episode 570: Why Not Take All Of Them?

Movie Madness ·

2025/06/16

The talk includes a less-talked-about film of the screwball era as well as one of the classic rom-coms of the ‘50s. There’s another Tombstone story and a documentary about Thelonious Monk. A two decade old Charles Burnett film finally comes to light and a beloved Steve Martin comedy finally gets a Blu-ray release. There are Looney Tunes, bicyclists, underwater monsters, a whole lot of Jessica Fletcher and Christopher McQuarrie’s directorial debut all there for your libraries.3:45 - Criterion

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93:34

Movie Madness Episode 569: Materialists Is Anything...

Movie Madness ·

2025/06/13

Erik Childress and Steve Prokopy have eight movie reviews for you this week. They include a pair of documentaries on a Scottish rock band who were more than their soundtrack contribution (Simple Minds: Everything Is Possible) and about New Zealand’s Jacinda Ardern (Prime Minister). A woman finds some disturbing secrets about her grandparents and society (Best Wishes To All) while Pierce Brosnan and Samuel L. Jackson look for some hidden gold (The Unholy Trinity). A trio of improv performers go

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88:20

Movie Madness Podcast Episode 568: All Time To Talk Bond

Movie Madness ·

2025/06/09

Erik Childress and Peter Sobczynski go over the history of Sidney Lumet’s version of The Wiz. They look over the failed attempt to tell the story of Air America and the ridiculous entry into the cyber-thriller canon known for anything but the hacking. Then they go through a new set upgrading the original Sean Connery James Bond films and how they compare to the other versions throughout the years.For more James Bond talk go back to this episode with the great Sergio Mims talking about No Time To Die

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83:07

Movie Madness Episode 567: You Must Have Seen Her…And...

Movie Madness ·

2025/06/06

Erik Childress and Steve Prokopy go from the comically violent travails of adoptive parents Nick Kroll and Andrew Rannells (I Don’t Understand You) to yet another exorcism film with Al Pacino and Dan Stevens (The Ritual). The creature that once stalked Schwarzenegger now gets animated (Predator: Killer of Killers) and a shark-loving serial killer leads to a cat-and-mouse battle on a boat (Dangerous Animals). Wes Anderson delivers his latest (The Phoenician Scheme), Mike Flanagan adapts another

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105:40

Movie Madness Episode 566: Don’t Forget The Beatles...

Movie Madness ·

2025/06/02

Erik Childress and Peter Sobczynski guide you through another week of physical media. This week you can include masterworks from Paul Schrader, Terry Gilliam and Jonathan Demme on your shelves. There are also underrated works from George Romero and Mel Brooks as well as career work from Nicolas Cage and Elisabeth Shue. They talk about the oddness that ranges from Linda Blair on skates to Dennis Quaid as an infamous singer plus the one Sam Peckinpah film you may want to watch alone first.2:52 -

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61:36

Movie Madness Podcast Episode 565: Sweep the Leg....

Movie Madness ·

2025/05/30

Six films are on the slate this week for Erik Childress and Steve Prokopy. They include a pair of documentaries about the making of The Day After (Television Event) and the frontman for U2 in a filmed version of his stage show (Bono: Stories of Surrender). A puppeteer must transition to samurai in the Old West (Tornado) while a group of billionaires struggle with the dangerous implications of one of their businesses (Mountainhead). The directors of Talk To Me deliver their latest bit of horror

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122:06

Movie Madness Podcast: Episode 564: You Won’t Get...

Movie Madness ·

2025/05/26

It’s a funny week for physical media. In that there are some tremendously funny movies in the mix but also some landmarks to put in your library. Erik Childress and Peter Sobczynski guide you through the work of Charles Burnett and the singular film by Kerry Conran. They take you through the multiple versions of a Ridley Scott epic, perhaps the best of the Musketeers films and the weird backstory of an SNL sequel. Warner Archive has a couple of biopics named after songs as well as Al Pacino’s

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02:02:06

Episode 564: You Won’t Get Munson’d By The Bottoms...

Movie Madness ·

2025/05/26

It’s a funny week for physical media. In that there are some tremendously funny movies in the mix but also some landmarks to put in your library. Erik Childress and Peter Sobczynski guide you through the work of Charles Burnett and the singular film by Kerry Conran. They take you through the multiple versions of a Ridley Scott epic, perhaps the best of the Musketeers films and the weird backstory of an SNL sequel. Warner Archive has a couple of biopics named after songs as well as Al Pacino’s

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98:22

Movie Madness Episode 563: Accept It One Last Time

Movie Madness ·

2025/05/24

Memorial Day weekend offers a variety of options, some of them even good both in theaters and at home. Erik Childress and Steve Prokopy are here to talk you through nine of them. They include Cate Blanchett as a nun who may have discovered the second coming (The New Boy) and another film about resurrecting the dead (The Surrender). A musician you may have missed gets the documentary treatment (Swamp Dogg Gets His Pool Painted), Netflix returns to the world of R.L. Stine (Fear Street: Prom Queen) and

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01:38:23

Episode 563: Accept It One Last Time

Movie Madness ·

2025/05/23

Memorial Day weekend offers a variety of options, some of them even good both in theaters and at home. Erik Childress and Steve Prokopy are here to talk you through nine of them. They include Cate Blanchett as a nun who may have discovered the second coming (The New Boy) and another film about resurrecting the dead (The Surrender). A musician you may have missed gets the documentary treatment (Swamp Dogg Gets His Pool Painted), Netflix returns to the world of R.L. Stine (Fear Street: Prom Queen) and

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01:26:52

Episode 562: Get Out Of Your Sleeping Bags!

Movie Madness ·

2025/05/19

This week in physical media may be appealing to the cults out there. Whichever you belong to, Erik Childress and Peter Sobczynski are here to guide you towards your particular following. Perhaps you are in the Richard E. Grant & Bruce Robinson cult. Or stay on that side of the pond with an Oscar-winning musical and a film that was the Bridgerton of its time in the way it uses music. Maybe you’re in the late Friday the 13th cult and enjoy its post-Paramount days. Or you have a taste for a marathon of

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01:08:00

Episode 561: Death, Dogs And Tim Robinson Come For Us...

Movie Madness ·

2025/05/17

Erik Childress and Steve Prokopy return to the review beat after a couple weeks off at the Chicago Critics Film Festival. Erik looks at a bunch of influencers terrorized by feral dogs (A Breed Apart) and the story that inspired a cult body horror film (The Darkside of Society). Steve looks at an influential moment for the hearing impaired (Deaf President Now) and The Weeknd’s self-indulgent vanity project (Hurry Up Tomorrow). They also offer thoughts on a pair of films chosen for their festival

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01:38:55

Episode 560: There’s A Crack In The Planet (And The...

Movie Madness ·

2025/05/12

After a week off for The Chicago Critics Film Festival, Erik Childress and Peter Sobczynski return to get you up to date on the latest in physical media world. They include one of the great musicals and a landmark in 60s cinema. Disney upgrades one of their animated hits before its live-action counterpart hits theater. See the film Robert Zemeckis made in-between shooting Cast Away. There is plenty of sleaze thanks to Pete Walker and Wings Hauser and a reunion of Robert DeNiro and Meryl Streep

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