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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

01:53:20

Bill Skarsgard is trapped in Anthony Hopkins’ fancy...

Movie Madness ·

2025/03/21

Erik Childress & Steve Prokopy have nine movies for you this week. It all starts by hitting the way back machine for their 2023 review of a Sundance film delayed by the controversy over its star (Magazine Dreams). There is also an apocalyptic musical fantasy (O’Dessa) and Bill Skarsgard is trapped in Anthony Hopkins’ fancy car (Locked). Sci-fi goes two ways with the bloody aftermath of an astronaut colony (Ash) and the process future couples go through to have a baby (The Assessment). Barbie

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01:08:30

Episode 547: The 2025 SXSW Film Festival

Movie Madness ·

2025/03/19

Erik Childress has been traveling to Austin for over 20 years for the annual South by Southwest Film Festival. He is back to tell you all about 19 films that he saw this year. Among the films you can see soon are the return of Anna Kendrick and Blake Lively to the world of simple favor. Paul Rudd and Jenna Ortega trying to survive the revenge of a unicorn and Nicolas Cage battles some territorial Australians. Hopefully audiences won’t have to wait too long to see the solo directorial debut of Jay

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01:53:57

Episode 546: Light A Candle And You Will See Baked Beans

Movie Madness ·

2025/03/17

Peter Sobczynski joins Erik Childress again to get you caught up on a couple weeks of new physical media. They include drama from Charlie Chaplin and Michael Mann’s feature debut. Godzilla returns as does the creepy Roger Corman sci-fi of the early ‘80s. Renny Harlin brings the sharks, Skippy from Family Ties battles a heavy metal killer and Peter reminds us of another piece of ‘80s horror that some parents would like to forget. There is also more weirdness including Steve Allen studying sex, John

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01:16:29

Episode 545: No Pain, Yes Black Bag

Movie Madness ·

2025/03/14

Movie reviews continue on the show with seven new releases this week. Steve Prokopy looks at the chaos of a young woman and her Zambian family (On Becoming a Guinea Fowl) while Samara Weaving plays a pop star dealing with a stalker (Borderline). John Malkovich is another pop star whom Ayo Edebiri discovers may be part of a cult (Opus). Daffy Duck and Porky Pig try to save the world from zombies and aliens (The Day the Earth Blew Up: A Looney Tunes Movie) while Chris Pratt and Millie Bobbie Brown

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55:26

Episode 544: From Las Piedras To Nearly Peru

Movie Madness ·

2025/03/03

Physical media never takes a week off but sometimes they sleep in a little. Such as this light week that has Peter Sobczynski and Erik Childress starting off with a stone-cold classic thriller from Criterion upgraded to 4K. Kino has more film noir, a double feature with Agatha Christie AND Bert I. Gordon plus the terrifying presence of Klaus Kinski as a Nazi. There’s an animated cat who gives massages and everyone’s favorite bear in a rain slicker. 0:00 - Intro 6:53 - Criterion (The Wages of Fear

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49:17

Episode 543: Don’t Hold Your Breath

Movie Madness ·

2025/02/28

Another light week of releases, but are any of them good? Erik Childress and Steve Prokopy talk you through five of them including a documentary on a better person in charge of the Washington Post (Becoming Katharine Graham). Ed Harris factors into two releases this week including a woman manifestsing her PTSD through her fellow soldier (My Dead Friend Zoe) and a crime comedy with an all-star cast (Riff Raff). There is also a bitcoin hostage thriller (Cold Wallet) and an underwater true story that

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02:07:12

Episode 542: Why Is Everything Controversial?

Movie Madness ·

2025/02/24

Erik Childress and Peter Sobczynski run down titles you can get on physical media this week and, not gonna lie, there’s a lot of baggage. There’s the Mick Jagger film that say on the shelf for two years along with Lindsay Lohan’s collaboration with Paul Schrader and William Friedkin’s infamous Al Pacino murder mystery set within the gay community. Not to mention John Wayne playing Genghis Khan and the poor timing for an Eric Red horror film. But even controversy can be put aside for cinema

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46:31

Episode 541: Not Shocked By The Monkey

Movie Madness ·

2025/02/21

It’s a light week for movies so Erik Childress and Steve Prokopy work with what they have with four titles that you may or may not want to work with. They include a new Chicago horror film from director Mickey Keating (Invader). Daisy Ridley is a window washer who goes from pane to McClane when eco-terrorists take over her building (Cleaner). Christoph Waltz is an aging hitman with a protégé (Old Guy). Finally, Osgood Perkins is back with a Stephen King adaptation where things do not go well for

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01:50:24

Episode 540: Lighten Up, Frances & Zuckerberg

Movie Madness ·

2025/02/17

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

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01:32:20

Episode 539: Mad About The Boy And The Bear

Movie Madness ·

2025/02/14

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

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01:38:20

Episode 538: Captain America: Brave New World

Movie Madness ·

2025/02/13

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

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01:38:54

Episode 537: Nobody Wants To See Your Lear, Dude!

Movie Madness ·

2025/02/11

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

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01:36:02

Episode 536: The 2025 Sundance Film Festival

Movie Madness ·

2025/02/09

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

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02:18:43

Episode 535: My Eyes Are Up Here, Orca!

Movie Madness ·

2025/02/04

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

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01:46:20

Episode 534: Mom, Can I Get The New Delfonics Tape?

Movie Madness ·

2025/01/20

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

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01:19:20

Episode 533: His Hair Was Not Perfect

Movie Madness ·

2025/01/17

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

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25:01

Bonus Episode: Awards Madness 2024 (Part 5 –...

Movie Madness ·

2025/01/17

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

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01:29:28

Episode 532: What’s In The Blu-Ray Box?

Movie Madness ·

2025/01/13

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

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01:46:05

Episode 531: Dammit Pantera, This Beer Is Warm!

Movie Madness ·

2025/01/10

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

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03:02:50

Episode 530: WHY IS THIS NOT ON BLU-RAY?! (Chapter 10)

Movie Madness ·

2025/01/09

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

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