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PODCAST

The Movies

I"m Daniel Berrios. This is my journey to learn about the movies - the art form I adore - one review, interview, editorial at a time. Take care of yourselves. Take care of each other. Take care of the movies.

tv & film film reviews

All Episodes

00:17:34

257. Little Spark Films' 48 Hour Sparks Film Race...

The Movies ·

2026/04/21

Last Sunday, April 19, I attended the spring edition of the 48 Hour Sparks Film Race, hosted by Little Spark Films at the Farr Best Theater in Mansfield, TX.The contest challenged teams to conceive, write, shoot, edit and release a short film within just 48 hours. It was a true test of skin-of-one's-teeth pressured filmmaking, with two shorts crossing the finish line.The first, Cory Ahre's gory comedy ALL AMERICAN BBQ, featured zombies enjoying a particularly droll barbecue until a pig boy

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00:31:14

256. Listener Request | DEATH TO SMOOCHY (2002) dir....

The Movies ·

2026/04/19

Finally making my way through the backlog by fulfilling a long-awaited (putting it lightly) listener request! This one comes from critic Danielle Ryan who gave me their all-time favorite movie: Danny DeVito's DEATH TO SMOOCHY.The film stars Robin Williams as a daytime children's show host named Rainbow Randolph who's pinched by the FBI for accepting briberies from parents to give their kids special treatment while in the studio audience. The network responds to the scandal by canning

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00:20:56

255. THE TRAVEL COMPANION (2026) dir. Alex Mallis &...

The Movies ·

2026/04/15

In THE TRAVEL COMPANION, a struggling documentarian named Simon (Tristan Turner) has one professional (and personal) thing going for him: the friendship with roommate Bruce (Anthony Oderbeck). Bruce works for an airline and has Simon signed up as his travel companion, allowing Simon to nab free flights to anywhere on standby seating. For a documentary filmmaker, the ability to nab desired locations for free is crucial, allowing Simon to get rare footage on the cheap.Does he know what the movie's

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00:33:45

254. UNDERTONE (2026) dir. Ian Tuason

The Movies ·

2026/04/12

UNDERTONE is best watched within two visual extremes: a movie theater and a laptop. What remains the same in those two instances is the intended environment: no distractions, enveloped by sound, whether from a Dolby Atmos sound system or a good pair of over-the-ear headphones.This is a movie where what you hear is the star of the show and what you see sets the stage for you to have no escape from some disturbing terror.Evy (Nina Kiri) is the host of horror podcast The Undertone, joined by best

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00:16:22

253. Interview | I KNOW EXACTLY HOW YOU DIE...

The Movies ·

2026/04/08

I interview Rushabh Patel, executive producer and star of the new horror movie I KNOW EXACTLY HOW YOU DIE. Patel stars as Rian, a author who's checked into a dilapidated motel in order to finish his horror novel. However, the events he writes down on his laptop start coming to life, up to and including Rian meeting his protagonist, Katie, who's being stalked by a serial killer. Now, Rian must team up with Katie in order to save her from the most gruesome fate.I KNOW EXACTLY HOW YOU DIE veers

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00:17:31

252. I KNOW EXACTLY HOW YOU DIE (2026) dir. Alexandra...

The Movies ·

2026/04/08

I KNOW EXACTLY HOW YOU DIE is pitched as SCREAM meets STRANGER THAN FICTION, about a horror writer (Rushabh Patel) who realizes their story is coming to life within a dilapidated motel. Now, he needs to help his protagonist (Stephanie Hogan) escape the gruesome fate of being stalked and murdered by a serial killer.I appreciate some of the ideas presented, mainly the idea of someone covering up their internal turmoil with creative endeavors to routinely diminishing results. I like the idea that this

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00:29:22

251. DOLLY (2026) dir. Rod Blackhurst

The Movies ·

2026/04/03

In DOLLY, a couple's romantic hike turns into a nightmare when they stumble across a mysterious hulking figure, dressed as a doll: dress, corn-yellow wig, and cracked porcelain mask.You've seen horror movies. Weirdos in the woods rarely bring good news.The woman, Macy (Fabianne Therese), is kidnapped by the gargantuan doll and brought to their house to live as the newest plaything. How will Macy escape? That's the flick.And it's at this point that I find myself wanting to stretch

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00:28:44

250. HEEL (2026) dir. Jan Komasa

The Movies ·

2026/03/16

In HEEL, a 20-something ne'er-do-well named Tommy (Ansel Boon) spends his night engaging in total debauchery. Any ingestable pill, powder or liquid is taken. In equal measure, every possible form of fluid is publically expunged from his body. Bouncers are sucker-punched. Women are seduced with inebriated charm. No form of property is safe.Tommy is a fucking shithead. And at the end of the night, he's kidnapped.He wakes up in a dingy basement, chained to the wall by a collar around his neck

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00:37:12

249. Interview | BIRITA Director Búi Dam

The Movies ·

2026/03/15

Búi Dam is on The Movies talking about his new documentary, BIRITA, which premieres today as part of the Copenhagen International Documentary Festival (CPH:DOX for short).BIRITA is named after Búi's mother, Birita Mohr, a legendary presence and actor in Faroese theatre. (The Faroe islands are located between Iceland and Norway, currently part of the Danish kingdom, though the independence movement is loud and fuckin' proud.)Birita was diagnosed with Alzheimer's in 2011 and since then,

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00:16:48

248. Interview | SLANTED Writer/Director Amy Wang

The Movies ·

2026/03/13

SLANTED is about a Chinese-American teen (Shirley Chen) who undergoes an experimental surgery to transform her body into that of a blonde, blue-eyed white girl. She steps in looking like Shirley Chen, comes out looking like McKenna Grace. Why? She wants to be prom queen. She wants to be exalted, adored, loved, appreciated for her contributions, not dismissed or treated unfairly due to her race and oh...this is gonna backfire, isn't it?I interviewed writer/director Amy Wang about the movie, its

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00:35:57

247. SLANTED (2026) dir. Amy Wang

The Movies ·

2026/03/13

SLANTED is the debut of writer-director Amy Wang, about a Chinese-American teenager (Shirley Chen) who undergoes an experimental surgery in order to become white. Not like skin-bleaching white. I mean, blonde hair, blue-eyed, McKenna Grace.Joan Huang, ever since her emigration to the U.S. from China as an elementary-school-aged kid, has absorbed and subsequently lived by racial hegemony. Fair-skinned, thin blondes reign supreme. Dark-haired Chinese girls do not. Prom queens don't look like her

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00:38:58

246. Little Spark Films Hosts LSF Fest V in...

The Movies ·

2026/03/08

On Sunday, March 1, I attended LSF Fest V at the Farr Best Theatre in Mansfield, TX. LSF stands for Litte Spark Films, a production studio based out of Arlington, co-founded by husband-wife duo Joe Manco & Catalina Querida in 2013.From music videos to 48-hour-shorts submissions, fake trailers for Texas Frightmare Weekend (including one starring Troma King Lloyd Kaufman) and much more, Little Spark Films has built a reputation in the DFW metroplex as a community-centered studio making irreverent,

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00:41:31

245. Interview | IN SICKNESS AND IN HEALTH Director...

The Movies ·

2026/02/28

IN SICKNESS AND IN HEALTH is a short about a woman named Veronica (Yumarie Morales) who struggles to reconnect intimately with her husband, Luis (Rufino Romero), after he underwent an exorcism.Director Alexandria Collins & writer Montserrat Luna-Ballantyne use conventions of the possession subgenre to reflect on how trauma lingers in the body, the difficulty in reconciling one's religious devotion and frayed mental health, and spousal abuse.This interview hops all around: Mexican Catholicism,

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00:40:02

244. Interview | SEAWEED SNACKS Director Sylvia Ray...

The Movies ·

2026/02/26

In SEAWEED SNACKS, Ellis (Patrick Cage) is a dad trying to traverse the awkwardness of being the only parent at a kid's birthday party who doesn't know anyone else...and who also just doesn't wanna be there.Enter Rick (Kamal Angelo Bolden). He's everything Ellis isn't: bubbly, outgoing, embraced by every other parent. And he's walking in Ellis' direction - ah, damn it.The movie takes a surrealist approach to entering me into Ellis' mind as he's bombarded by

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00:21:09

243. Interview | BRB Actress Autumn Best (Slamdance...

The Movies ·

2026/02/24

*FULL SPOILERS AHOY FOR BRB, ALL HOPE ABANDON YE WHO ENTER HERE*I interview Autumn Best, the lead actress in BRB, which premiered last Friday, Feb 20, at the Slamdance Film Festival in Los Angeles.In it, Best plays Sam, a socially awkward teenager growing up in the socially awkward early '00s. It's a time where dial-up and Myspace coexisted, a transitory time wherein people took their first steps in establishing a digital identity alongside - or in some cases, a replacement of - their analog

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01:30:37

242. Interview | MURPHY'S RANCH Director/Writer Mikey...

The Movies ·

2026/02/21

*FULL SPOILERS AHOY FOR MURPHY'S RANCH, ALL HOPE ABANDON YE WHO ENTER HERE*I interview Mikey Riva, Jr., the director of MURPHY'S RANCH, which premiered yesterday as part of the Unstoppable Shorts program at the Sundance Film Festival in Los Angeles.The program highlights films made by and including artists with disabilities, bringing their stories and perspectives to the screen.MURPHY'S RANCH stars Hosea Chanchez and Lee Pugsley (a low-vision actor) as adopted brothers working as pool cleaners for

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00:16:57

241. MEDUZA (2026) dir. Roc Morin

The Movies ·

2026/02/20

MEDUZA, directed by Roc Morin, is a documentary following Pavlo Aldoshyn, a Ukranian actor whose sniper training for a role turned into actual military service once Russia started the war with Ukraine.This isn't a first-person perspective on the daily itineraries of violence. Rather, Aldoshyn comes across as someone trying to cling onto his sense of humanity amidst a beastly environment wherein the only goal is making it to the next day.Humanity for the actor comes in creative bursts: musings on

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00:42:06

240. Interview | MEDUZA Director Roc Morin

The Movies ·

2026/02/20

I interview Roc Morin, the director of MEDUZA. The documentary is about Pavlo Aldoshyn, a Ukranian actor whose sniper training for a role turned into actual military service once Russia started the war with Ukraine.We talk about Aldoshyn's perspectives on the psychology of working as a sniper, the benefits that can bloom from curious pursuits, and much, much more.MEDUZA is now available to rent or purchase from Amazon.---Follow The Movies on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ &

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00:33:35

239. Your A-Z Guide to the 2026 Slamdance Film Festival

The Movies ·

2026/02/19

This year's Slamdance Film Festival kicks off on February 19 in Los Angeles! From the 19th to the 25th (and extended to March 6 via an online program featured on the Slamdance Channel), the most exciting voices in independent film get to strut their stuff.In order to raise the proverbial curtain, here's a guide, from A to Z, of what shorts, features, documentaries, etc. you should give a shot.Check out the full Slamdance festival lineup here!---Follow The Movies on

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00:22:29

238. CRIME 101 (2026) dir. Bart Layton

The Movies ·

2026/02/17

CRIME 101 sees AMERICAN ANIMALS director Bart Layton hop back into the heist genre by adapting Don Winslow's novella about a high-level jewel thief (Chris Hemsworth) whose meticulous style has allowed him to get away scot-free from a string of robberies along Cali's 101 freeway.However, his final score brings into the mix a set of monkey wrench characters: a morally troubled insurance saleswoman (Halle Berry), a chaotic and violent motorcycle-riding thief (Barry Keoghan) and an experienced,

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269 results

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