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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

01:02:58

Episode 297: Blu-ray Upgrades You Can’t Refuse

Movie Madness ·

2022/03/30

Sergio Mims is back with the latest and greatest in Blu-rays and he focuses on three different studios with Erik Childress. Kino has a pair of great thrillers newly available in 4K as well as one from the ‘80s that may be more memorable for a promise of a single shot. Warner Archive puts James Cagney in an early version of Top Gun, one of the original versions of A Star Is Born and a stunning upgrade of a Cinerama cult classic. Finally, is the new 4K set of The Godfather Trilogy live up to the hype

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01:00:01

Episode 296: The Lost City of Browntown

Movie Madness ·

2022/03/26

The weekly movie review edition of the show went light to close out the month and it led to two agreements, one split decision and a whole other kind of split. Unintentional double entendres were on the docket for Erik Childress and Steve Prokopy as one of them reviewed a “family Butt!@#*ing comedy” (Win a Trip to Browntown). Naomi Watts is getting in her exercise with her projects again as a hiker who turns into a rescuer (Infinite Storm). A couple on a first date get stuck together when the

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01:53:08

Episode 295: The 2022 South By Southwest Film Festival

Movie Madness ·

2022/03/23

South by Southwest returned to live festivities for the first time since 2019. Erik Childress has been covering since 2003 and hopes to return soon. Along with Steve Prokopy they discuss the pleasures of attending in person even as they covered virtually at least one more time. 18 titles they bring up from this year including music documentaries about Sheryl Crow, Tanya Tucker and Nick Cave, non-music docs about Nolan Ryan, Gabby Giffords and The Kids in the Hall. They discuss the latest from

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01:36:53

Episode 294: X Marks The Spot In Deep Water

Movie Madness ·

2022/03/20

Erik Childress and Steve Prokopy tackle seven new films this week. They include a couple from Sundance they have not talked about yet from the 2-part documentary on HBO MAX from Amy Berg about Evan Rachel Wood’s traumatic relationship with Marilyn Manson (Phoenix Rising) and Regina Hall in a ghost story about racial dynamics on a college campus (Master). Steve reviews about a Buddy Guy apprenticeship (The Torch) and Erik handles an odd hostage comic thriller with Jason Segel, Lily Collins and Jesse

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01:10:21

Episode 293: The Turning Red Notice Project

Movie Madness ·

2022/03/12

Six movie reviews this week from Erik Childress and Steve Prokopy, mostly available on the streaming services. Three women on a photoshoot weekend for their instas encounter a stinky alien (The Seed). The Herzogs document the theory of leaving our dying planet for another (Last Exit: Space). A car breakdown turns into oddball terror (Ultrasound) and Zac Efron is left alone in an apocalyptic landscape guarding a precious metal (Gold). Finally, Pixar head exclusively again to Disney Plus in a young

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01:10:50

Episode 292: I Love Lucy And Yang

Movie Madness ·

2022/03/05

Erik Childress and Steve Prokopy reviewed two of this week’s big movies during Sundance, so in case you missed them talk enthusiastically about Kogonada’s sci-fi meditation on life and connection (After Yang) or less so about Sebastian Stan as a human butcher in Fresh, you get another chance. But then they have five new films to talk about as well including two available on Netflix – an explorer survival tale (Against the Ice) and vacationing Leighton Meester trying to see if her missing girlfriend

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02:02:19

Episode 291: The Batman?

Movie Madness ·

2022/03/03

Comic book expert and host of the AintThisTheFun show on YouTube, Erik Laws, joins Erik Childress to go through Matt Reeves’ The Batman. There is a lot to unpack from the casting to how it distinguishes itself from the other versions of the character. They look at all the casting decisions, is anyone having any fun during this one and, of course, that score from Michael Giacchino. Do Robert Pattinson and Zoe Kravitz bring something new to the Batman/Catwoman dynamic or are they treading over old

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02:22:14

Episode 290: What’s The Blu-Ray Rumpus?

Movie Madness ·

2022/03/02

Sergio Mims joins Erik Childress for another round in the latest and greatest in Blu-rays. Criterion has got the Coens and the Beatles. Paramount has Beavis & Butt-Head and Wayne & Garth. Universal has James Bond and Paul Schrader. Kino has another commentary with Sergio, they agree on a Burt Reynolds gem and whether a certain Billy Wilder classic now available in 4K is even amongst his strongest works. They are also particularly happy to see three of their choices from their Why Is This Not On

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02:00:20

Episode 289: Overcome With Cyrano And Batman

Movie Madness ·

2022/03/01

Erik Childress and Steve Prokopy are back to their old ways, reviewing ten new movies on this week’s show including a little early preview. The rest include a tale of obesity and bullying (Butter) and a family hooks up on Zoom to grieve grandma (Family Squares). More pandemic cinema takes Naomi Watts on a jog of social terror (The Desperate Hour) and Havana Rose Liu ends up at the worst rest stop (No Exit). There is also the story about record label head Alan McGee (Creation Stories) and Andy Garcia

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01:24:14

Episode 288: Leatherface, Werewolves and The...

Movie Madness ·

2022/02/19

Erik Childress and Steve Prokopy are back with seven new movie reviews and if you thought murder was on the table last week, wait until you hear this. Boeing killed a bunch and you can learn all about it in a new Netflix documentary (Downfall: The Case Against Boeing.) The Unabomber killed a few and there is a new movie with Sharlto Copley as that lunatic (Ted K). When rich landowners kill off a group of gypsies they fight back with werewolves (The Cursed). Leatherface is back in a new film that

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02:00:19

Episode 287: Murder On The Everywhere

Movie Madness ·

2022/02/13

Movie reviews. Nine of them. We do it every week here on the show with Erik Childress and Steve Prokopy. It all starts with a little psychological horror (Alone With You) and emotional revenge (Catch the Fair One). Then it’s a whirlwind of grief from director Josephine Decker (The Sky is Everywhere) and the search for love from Joachim Trier (The Worst Person in the World). Liam Neeson plays another guy with special skills but does the movie have any (Blacklight)? Charlie Day and Jenny Slate are

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02:31:13

Episode 286: The 2022 Sundance Film Festival

Movie Madness ·

2022/02/10

The Movie Madness Podcast goes back to Sundance (virtually) with Erik Childress, Steve Prokopy and Sergio Mims going through what they saw on their weeklong trip through the at-home app for a second straight year. More than 20 titles are discussed including new films from Kogonada, Justin Benson & Aaron Moorehead and Cooper Raiff. There are debuts from Jesse Eisenberg and Tig Notaro, and even a remake of Ikiru will Bill Nighy. Not to mention a group of incredible performances from Emma Thompson,

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01:34:34

Episode 285: To The Moon With You Jackass

Movie Madness ·

2022/02/06

The weekly movie reviews return to the podcast with Erik Childress and Steve Prokopy talking about eight new movies and the 4K restoration of Dennis Hopper’s 1980 film, Out of the Blue. Flash-forward to 1984 for the new documentary about David Lynch’s sci-fi adaptation (The Sleeper Must Awaken: Making Dune) or back to post-Civil War for a little western horror (Ghosts of the Ozarks). Steve tells you where you can see baby animals (The Wolf and the Lion) or take a train for one of this year’s Best

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01:37:53

Episode 284: Remembering Poitier & Bogdanovich

Movie Madness ·

2022/01/31

Sergio Mims joins Erik Childress to take a look back on the careers of two men who became legends in their own time. Director Peter Bogdanovich came out of the gate with three films that established a legacy, but whose ego and crave of the spotlight began to take a toll. Though he continued working up until nearly his passing, his films never achieved the level of acclaim he did in the early ‘70s. Sidney Poitier, on the other hand, is one of the few to claim the title of trailblazer and it not be

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01:29:35

Episode 283: Cobra Kai’s Moment of Truth

Movie Madness ·

2022/01/14

On this special episode of the podcast, Erik Childress is joined by Morgan Gire to delve into season four of Netflix’s popular continuation of The Karate Kid saga. After a new high achieved by the third season, does the latest represent a turning point forward, backward or sideways for its characters? Erik & Morgan delve into the constant switching sides and whether this season does justice for its teenage characters? Did the creators write themselves into a corner when its protagonists finally

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01:53:01

Episode 282: The Best Films of 2021

Movie Madness ·

2022/01/13

One last look at the films of 2021 is the focus of this episode with Erik Childress, Steve Prokopy and Collin Souter unveiling their lists of the best 15 films of the year. There may not have been a lot of “fun” movies, they each manage to agree on one that makes their lists. There are also foreign films, documentaries and musicals of all kinds. Films of grief and mortality and the one that Erik thinks is just “fine.” Do not let the subject matter of the films throw you though, this is a lively

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01:19:29

Episode 281: 2022 Begins With A January Movie

Movie Madness ·

2022/01/12

Movie Madness begins 2022 with its weekly review show and a few holdovers from 2021 that are only beginning to open wider. Erik Childress and Steve Prokopy catch up on the latest collaboration from Pedro Almodovar and Penelope Cruz (Parallel Mothers), George Clooney directs Ben Affleck in a coming-of-age memoir (The Tender Bar) and Asghar Farhadi pushes everyone into another moral conundrum (A Hero). There is also a cat-and-mouse game between a blind girl and a group of thieves not called Wait Until

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03:16:33

Episode 280: WHY IS THIS NOT ON BLU-RAY? (Chapter 8)

Movie Madness ·

2021/12/28

The bi-annual series with Erik Childress and Sergio Mims closes out 2021 with a giant three-plus hour show dedicated to 20 films that have yet to find their way beyond DVD and, at least in one case, out of VHS if you can even find that. Ten choices each spanning a variety of eras include film noirs, comedies, television adaptations and even a television series. Blaxploitation and musicals, a satire of one era and a whole other era that many would rather forget but Sergio is here to remind you (and

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02:39:11

Episode 279: Back to the Matrix with Pizza

Movie Madness ·

2021/12/20

The last movie review edition of the podcast for 2021 is an epic one. Over two-and-a-half hours discussing 11 films including three that were chosen to be a part of this year’s Chicago Critics Film Festival. They include Isabelle Fuhrmann trying to do for rowing what Whiplash did from drumming (The Novice), Olivia Colman having an introspective vacation in Maggie Gyllenhaal’s directorial debut (The Lost Daughter) and the latest from the director of The Florida Project (Red Rocket). Science-fiction

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02:03:56

Episode 278: Spider-Man: No Way Home

Movie Madness ·

2021/12/17

The final Marvel film of 2021 is about to become the biggest movie of the year. Erik Childress is joined by comic book expert, Erik Laws, to share their thoughts on the film. Spoilers are abound so be sure to listen after you have seen it. But when you do you will find out if they are as stoked as everyone else. They get into the previous Spider-Man films and discuss if this one hits the emotional beats it is clearly chasing. Are we allowed to be surprised anymore as so much has already been

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