Now Playing – The Movie Review Podcast

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!

Bad To The Lucky Bone

Who is The Crooked Man who dares to make a Hellboy sequel without Ron Perlman, Guillermo del Toro, or even David Harbour?  Why it’s creator Mike Mignola, bringing his original comic book vision of the character to the screen for the first time!  But did the titular phantom steal all the coins from the production budget, leaving new star Jack Kesy (Baywatch) looking red from embarrassment at the threadbare special effects and creature designs?  Find out if Crank director Brian Taylor gives the franchise the shot of adrenaline it needs when you Listen Now!

The Lost Boys

Stephen King’s 1975 vampire novel Salem’s Lot won’t stay dead, coming back for a fourth time as a 2024 feature film exclusively on Max. So why did the studio lock this new effort from producer James Wan (The Conjuring) and writer/director Gary Dauberman (It Chapters 1 & 2) in a crypt for three years before exposing it to the light of day? And would they have more luck changing the title and peddling it as a remake of The Sandlot, given how much focus is put on 11-year-old boys at play?  Listen Now to learn if the end results are Pennywise or dollar foolish.

Born This Way

Joaquin Phoenix indulges in a Folie A Deux (aka “Madness of Two”) by restaging the Joker sequel as a musical duet with psycho fangirl Lady Gaga. Will the jury in his high-profile murder trial plug their ears once this incarcerated clown starts singing his defense in full makeup?  Or can lawyer Catherine Keener (Get Out) convince them that Arthur Fleck suffers from multiple personality disorder and never wanted to dance with the Devil in the pale moonlight as Gotham City burned?  Listen Now to find out if director Todd Phillips leaves the hosts crying or smiling.

I’d still take 8 years of civil war over 8 hours at the DMV

Rosario Dawson (Ahsoka) attempts to mend her broken family and America’s political divide in a post-apocalyptic Demilitarized Zone (aka DMZ) formerly known as Manhattan. Can she break the influence that tyrannical baby daddy Benjamin Bratt (Catwoman) has on their graffiti artist son Freddy Miyares (When They See Us) by backing political rival Hoon Lee (Banshee)? And can director Ava DuVernay (Selma) take an obscure DC/Vertigo comic book from 2005 and find new political relevance for today’s streaming audience? Eyes Forward Love to find out now!

Roll Models

The story of Autobots and Decepticons begins with the 2024 animated epic Transformers One. What makes lowly miner droid Orion Pax (Chris Hemsworth) so optimistic that he will find the Matrix of Leadership and lead his cog-less peers to a new destiny on the surface of Cybertron?  And how does his friendship with bestie Brian Tyree Henry (Into The Spider-Verse) transform into such a bitter rivalry?   Listen Now to find out how well Hasbro incorporates Scarlett Johansson, Jon Hamm, Keegan-Michael Key, and Steve Buscemi into their iconic toy line.

The Silence of the Low Men

Stephen King tries his hand at touching coming-of-age drama with the 2001 adaptation of Hearts In Atlantis. So why are the Now Playing Podcast hosts so terrified by the stranger danger posed to 11-year-old Anton Yelchin (Star Trek) by neighbor Anthony Hopkins? Is single mother Hope Davis (American Splendor) smart to leave her son unsupervised with this supernatural tenant and trust that his fatherly lessons in gambling and kissing girls won’t get the pair into trouble with the FBI agents swarming small town Connecticut? Listen Now, and don’t miss a minute of it.

”I’m Ready for My Close-Up, Mr. Murnau”

The silent movie Nosferatu: A Symphony of Horror may be a counterfeit version of Dracula, but it boasts the most authentic undead performance in cinema history, according to Shadow of the Vampire. Has director John Malkovich made a pact with the devil by casting actual bloodsucker Willem Dafoe as his lead actor?  And will co-stars Catherine McCormack (Braveheart) and Eddie Izzard (Ocean’s 13), along with crew Cary Elwes (Saw) and Udo Kier (Andy Warhol’s Dracula), be sacrificed in the artistic pursuit of ultimate realism? “Iris In” and Find Out Now!

Little Miss Sunset

Six kidnappers abduct Abigail in a get-rich-quick scheme that backfires once they realize the wee ballerina is Dracula’s Daughter. Can ex-junkie Melissa Berrera (Scream), bad cop Dan Stevens (Legion), hacker Kathryn Newton (Quantumania), wheelman Angus Cloud (Euphoria), muscle Kevin Durand (Locke & Key), and sniper William Catlett (Black Lightning) find a way out of this babysitting bloodbath?  And does directing team Radio Silence revive the Universal Monsters brand better than the recent Renfield and Last Voyage of the Demeter? Listen Now!

My Body, Main Course

Will it be another cannibal holocaust for tweeting college activists after their 2015 plane ride crashes into the very same Green Inferno that Ruggero Deodato documented in his notorious 1980 found footage shocker?  Director Eli Roth (Thanksgiving) certainly isn’t letting these social justice warriors off any hooks or impaling sharp objects as they attempt to live-stream a stand-off between an oil company destroying the rainforest and a local tribe of headhunters. Find out if Final Girl Lorenza Izzo, and the Now Playing hosts, can withstand the abuse now.

No Animals Weren’t Harmed In The Making Of This Movie

Four documentary filmmakers disappear into the “green inferno” of the Amazon rainforest and end up the main dish in a Cannibal Holocaust. But will the recovered footage of their final moments in the jungle actually prove that modern-day Americans are the real savages?  And why is porn star Robert Kerman the only one arguing that snuff films shouldn’t air on prime-time television?  Find out if Arnie, Stuart, and Jakob taste like chickens as they dish on Italian splatter director Ruggero Deodato’s notorious 1980 found footage landmark  Listen Now!

Custodians of the Galaxy

Cate Blanchett steps away from her Oscar bait prestige pictures to go vault hunting with fellow Academy Award winner Jamie Lee Curtis in a s***hole adaptation of Borderlands. Is Barbie tyke Ariana Greenblatt the key to opening up this blockbuster video game franchise to mass movie audiences accustomed to a less filthy Pandora planet?  And will funnyman Kevin Hart get short with Jack Black’s wise-cracking robot for stealing all the one-liners?  Listen Now to learn if Thanksgiving director Eli Roth has a prayer of making a sequel to this costly Arcade effort.

Echidna not, we’re back in the Now Playing Arcade

Those schmucks Stuart, Justin, and Arnie tried taking an extended break from video game movies but are finally ready to knuckle down and review the hit Sonic The Hedgehog miniseries that broke Paramount Plus streaming records in 2024. Can Idris Elba punch his way into the hardened hearts of the hosts as he trains klutzy deputy Adam Paley to crush the competition at a Reno bowling tournament?  Or does the spin-off screech to a halt without movie stars Jim Carey and James Marsden in the picture? Enjoy a Knuckles sandwich when you Listen Now!

At last, we get the live-action remake of Fox and the Hound.

Ryan Reynolds makes a big gambit to save the MCU from the Phase Four doldrums by reviving Hugh Jackman and the rest of 20th Century Fox’s stable of discarded superheroes for a 2024 blowout. But will Disney prune Deadpool & Wolverine from the sacred timeline once the vulgar assassin and his cranky man crush start letting blood and R-rated words fly? Maybe audiences are okay with Professor X’s twin sister Emma Corrin (The Crown) wiping out everything that’s happened since Endgame? Skate uphill with MFs Jakob, Stuart, and Arnie to find out now!

Cloudy With A Chance of Meatheads

Glen Powell (Top Gun: Maverick) might shoot fireworks into tornadoes for free on YouTube, but Universal Pictures insists that storm chasers return to the big screen to enjoy the 2024 sequel Twisters. Does sensitive scientist Daisy Edgar-Jones (Where The Crawdads Sing) have the solution to taming these lethal cyclones? Or are her sidekicks Anthony “Hamilton” Ramos and David “Superman” Cornenswet actually profiting from Oklahoma small towns being hit by natural disasters? Listen Now as the hosts put their spin on this second installment!

Funnel of Love

Bill Paxton (Aliens) and Helen Hunt (TV’s Mad About You) rekindle their whirlwind romance as they tail tornadoes across Oklahoma in the 1996 blockbuster Twister. Will rival storm chaser Cary Elwes (Princess Bride) rain on their parade by being the first to test new technology that sees inside a cyclone?  And does this unlikely marriage between Speed director Jan de Bont, Jurassic Park author Michael Crichton, and producer Steven Spielberg still hold water 28 years later?  Find out if Jakob, Stuart, and Arnie consider this an F5 disaster when you Listen Now!

My Heart Will Go On (but my franchise won’t)

Sandra Bullock does her best to keep a Caribbean vacation liner afloat after leech-covered psycho Willem Dafoe wires her boat to Speed 2 collision with an oil tanker in this infamous 1997 sequel. Does director Jan De Bont jump a shark trying to engage Cruise Control and sail this doomed voyage into familiar commercial waters?  And did the mega-expensive production hit the metaphorical ice

Uneasy Riders

Keanu Reeves has to keep the Speed of a Los Angeles city bus above 50 mph, or he’ll set off another bomb planted by madman Dennis Hopper in the surprise blockbuster of Summer 1994. Should passenger Sandra Bullock be trusted to take the wheel and avoid all the oncoming gridlock and freeway construction when she can’t keep her eyes off her hunky co-star?  And how did this modestly budgeted action flick become cinematographer Jan De Bont’s ticket to a big-time Hollywood directing career?  You pay no fare to hear the answers to this pop quiz now.

The Cane Mutiny

Stephen King turned ABC-TV into the Weather Channel with his three-night prime-time event: Storm of the Century. But record snowfall and gale-force winds are just a tempest in a teapot compared to the destruction caused by Colm Feore (Thor) upon arrival on a quaint Maine island. Can Tim Daly stop the future Frost Giant from terrorizing his community with more success than Wings co-star Steven Weber, who played Jack Torrence in the network’s previous King miniseries The Shining? Listen Now as Arnie, Jakob, and Stuart give you what you want!

Deep Throat Slashes

Mia Goth has got that X factor that Now Playing Podcast likes in a Scream Queen, so our Summer 2024 Platinum Donation Drive features the horror trilogy she made with director Ti West (House of the Devil). What happens when our aspiring star tries to shoot an amateur porno at a Texas farm without the Bible-thumping landowners finding out? Is dotty old Pearl (also played by Goth) oblivious to the hanky panky going on in her barn, or just waiting for the right moment to step into the spotlight and make things juicy?  Donate Now to get the uncensored podcast today.

A Tree Grows On Brosnan

Pierce Brosnan retires from James Bond duties to write books for Stephen King in the 2011 cable miniseries Bag of Bones. But is the ghost haunting his New England cottage his recently killed wife (Haunting of Hill House’s Annabeth Gish), or a blues singer (Dreamgirls’ Anika Noni Rose) still cursing locals for wrongs received back in the 1930s? And does Mick Garris (The Stand) have anything in his bag of directing tricks to help this quiet story of grief and writer’s block take root as a TV ratings event? Arnie, Jakob, and Stuart spell it out for you now!

He’s the DJ, I’m the Slapper

Oscar viewers might’ve turned on Will Smith, but Martin Lawrence is still Ride Or Die for 2022’s Best Actor winner as the long-time co-stars head into a fourth Bad Boys adventure together. Can the Miami cops clear the name of dearly departed captain Joe Pantoliano (Matrix) after he’s linked to drug cartel money?  And is this duo ready for retirement now that eternal playboy Mike Lowery has found a wife and Marcus Burnett keeps having heart palpitations over his snack food diet?  Use the password SKITTLES89 to download this podcast and Find Out Now!

The Scribe Who Loved Me

Henry Cavill may never get to be 007, but he’s tailor-made for a stylish 2024 Kingsman spin-off from Matthew Vaughn. Is his literary superspy Argylle a stunningly accurate predictor of real-life geo-political events, or merely the invention of lovelorn novelist Bryce Dallas Howard (Jurassic World)?  And what happens when man-in-chair Sam Rockwell lets the cat out of the bag and exposes Sam Jackson, Bryan Cranston, and Catherine O’Hara to be part of a network of powerful secret agents? Find out if Manners Maketh the Manuscript when you Listen Now!

We Don’t Need Another Hardy

Director George Miller crafts the fifth installment of his Mad Max Saga into an origin story for one-armed trucker Furiosa. Anya Taylor-Joy (Queen’s Gambit) takes the wheel from Charlize Theron to guide audiences from her green homeworld of Many Mothers to the sandy turf wars between Immortan Joe (Lachy Hulme) and new baddie Dementus (Chris Hemsworth). But is it wise for the 79-year-old creator to travel down his Fury Road without series icon Tom Hardy in the driver’s seat? Witness Jakob, Stuart, and Arnie make it epic with another podcast review.

Bye Bye Birdie

Brandon Lee returns from the grave through the power of The Crow to bring vengeance upon the Detroit punks who ruined his Halloween wedding. But can director Alex Proyas (Dark City) deliver a gritty comic book vision on par with Tim Burton’s Batman after an on-set tragedy prevented his star from completing this 1994 action flick? And how much help does the undead vigilante receive from ghostbuster Ernie Hudson, skater girl Rochelle Davis, and alt-rockers Stone Temple Pilots, Nine Inch Nails, and The Cure? Donate for Silver Level to find out now!

Killers Of the Woodpecking Loon

Alaqua Cox leaves New York City to reinvent herself as a Native American superhero, but that won’t stop her bad deeds in Hawkeye from coming back on her like an Echo. Can Maya Lopez restore honor to her Choctaw ancestors by baiting her abusive surrogate father, Kingpin (Vincent D’Onofrio), into a rematch on Oklahoma home soil?  And does the deaf character’s preference to let action speak louder than words translate into the bloodiest Disney+ effort yet?  Hear what Arnie, Jakob, and Stuart think about this 2024 MCU miniseries when you Listen Now

The End of the Road

Danny Glover might be too old for Lethal Weapon, but he’s still hip enough to monetize Death Race 4, a new generation turning to the Dark Web for pay-per-view entertainment. But should gambler Danny Trejo bet on longshot action star Zach McGowan (Agents of SHIELD) to outmaneuver champion driver Frankenstein on this new prison roadway?  And does Beyond Anarchy go beyond the craziness of Roger Corman’s original movie by giving grotesques like Matilda the Hun and Nazi Bastard a shot at the crown? 100 points to the first to Listen Now!

Ford Vs Kalahari

Convict Luke Goss hits a speed bump on his road to freedom after Death Race 3 relocates the masked driver and his pit crew to a perilous African penitentiary. Can mechanic Danny Trejo pimp Frankenstein’s Mustang so that it withstands the sweltering Inferno of the desert, makes it through sandy terrain and hostile shantytowns, and beats ten other well-armed vehicles to the finish line?  And what are the odds that CEO Ving Rhames will steal back this ratings juggernaut from devious corporate raider Dougray Scott (Mission: Impossible II)? Listen and find out now!

The Gangrene Mile

Long before Jason Statham strapped on a metal mask and drove a monstrous Mustang around a penitentiary track, bank robber Luke Goss (Hellboy 2) got fans of reality TV bloodsport revving their engines in the 2011 prequel Death Race 2. But do CEO Ving Rhames (Pulp Fiction) and femme fatale producer Lauren Cohen (Walking Dead) have enough money in their streaming budget to turn shank fights in the prison yard into epic demolition derby carnage?  Find out if Danny Trejo and Sean Bean give this franchise a satisfying tune-up when you Listen Now!

It’s the end of the World as we know it… 

… but host Stuart feels fine about wrapping up his six-podcast exploration of Frank Herbert’s epic science fiction saga with a look at the final novel, Chapterhouse Dune. Is the Bene Gesserit homeworld the perfect place to restart a worm farm after the wicked Honored Matres destroyed the original Arrakis deserts? Find out if the beef between the two most powerful Sisterhoods in the universe can be squashed when you Listen to the latest Now Playing Book Review.

The Ride of Frankenstein

Jason Statham and Tyrese hone their Fast & Furious driving skills as director Paul WS Anderson (Resident Evil) reinstates Roger Corman’s campy bloodsport Death Race as a grim 2008 prison flick. Can a pit crew run by Ian McShane (Deadwood) help a wrongly convicted auto racer stay alive for all three days of the obstacle course, and get revenge on the villain actually responsible for killing Statham’s wife? And what did Oscar darling Joan Allen ever do to wind up in movie jail playing the evil warden? The race for answers starts now!

Make America Race Again

Roger Corman re-stages his cinematic Death Race a half-century after ruling the drive-ins of the 1970s. But can new Frankenstein Manu Bennett (The Hobbit) keep pace with his 2050 competition, which includes a pugilistic pop star, a religious zealot from Texas, a genetically altered himbo, and an AI-powered driverless car?  And does the fascism of Chairman Malcolm McDowell (Clockwork Orange) resemble the politics of anyone we know in 2017? Strap on your VR helmet and join fast-talking hosts Jakob, Stuart, and Brock to find out now!

Road Kill Bill 

David Carradine risks life and limb to become the most celebrated driver of Death Race 2000.  But does this automotive Frankenstein actually score more points with peace-loving rebels once he starts mowing down the folks responsible for this freeway carnage and avoids hitting women and children crossing the post-apocalyptic streets? And how much mileage do Sylvester Stallone (a year before Rocky) and Martin Kove (Karate Kid) add to their careers by taking Roger Corman’s armored go-karts into theaters four years before Mad Max? Find Out Now!

How many licked Titans does it take to get to the center of Hollow Earth?

Rebecca Hall (Iron Man 3) and her Monarch scientists know it’s a bad idea to bring together Godzilla x Kong after their 2021 showdown. But somebody has got to stop a giant ape named Skar King and his captive ice dragon, Shimo, from creating a New Empire that freezes out humanity. Can Titan veterinarian Dan Stevens (Downton Abbey), paranoid podcaster Brian Tyree Henry (Eternals), and Skull Island survivor Kaylee Hottle improve our odds?  Find out as Jakob, Arnie, and Stuart return to the MonsterVerse. Listen Now!

The Comeback of the Original Spice Girls 

Stuart is back airing his blasphemous opinions about Frank Herbert’s Dune-verse with a podcast review of fifth installment Heretics of Dune,  Things have gotten Scattered in the time since the wormy God Emperor left the throne. Find out how a new generation of Bene Gesserit and Atreides descendants are faring on the rebranded desert planet. Listen Now!

Call Me By Your Mouse

Emperor Christopher Walken and Harkonnen hardasses Dave Bautista (Guardians of the Galaxy) and Austin Butler (Elvis) are ready to turn the page on House Atreides as Part 2 of Denis Villeneuve’s Dune adaptation gets underway. Can vengeful Timothee Chalamet worm his way into the heart of cynical Zendaya, and convince the indigenous people of Arrakis to follow their messiah into an interplanetary war? And why does Josh Brolin always seem to have his hand on a weapon of mass destruction?  Find Out when you Listen Now to this epic podcast! 

NYPD Blue Balls 

Eight months before starring as Al Bundy on Married… With Children, Ed O’Neill tried to keep pace with Gene Hackman in a TV spin-off of French Connection. Did NBC execs cancel this potential 1986 series because gruff narcotics detective Popeye Doyle was still murdering folks and violating civil liberties like it’s 1971?  Or is the bigger problem that a future sitcom shoe salesman would rather sit on his ass watching sex tapes of Audrey Landers (Dallas) than chase down crooks?  Find out if this failed pilot solves the Middle East crisis when you Listen Now!

He’s strong til the finish, cause he eats his spinach (and stopped shooting heroin), he’s Popeye the Jailer Man!

Gene Hackman crosses the pond to catch The Frog that avoided capture during a big time U.S. drug bust in the 1975 sequel French Connection II. But will it be any easier to find Fernando Rey on his home turf when the New York cop doesn’t speak the language and Marseilles police don’t condone his brutal investigative methods? And can fill-in director John Frankenheimer (Manchurian Candidate) replicate the adrenalized rush of the original car chases when so many characters are strung out on smack? You’ll know the score when you Listen Now!

Sadly, not the same Frog who hooked you up with a Rainbow Connection

Director William Friedkin (The Exorcist) pioneers ‘70s buddy cop formula with his five-time Oscar-winning breakout film The French Connection. Has all that foot-picking in Poughkeepsie prepared crass New York City cops Gene Hackman (Superman) and Roy Scheider (Jaws) for the amount of legwork required to catch heroin smuggler Fernando Rey? And are the filmmakers the biggest criminals of all with their blatant disregard for bystander safety and traffic laws while shooting a legendary high-speed car chase? Listen and Find Out!

The sleeper has awakened.    

Stuart invites readers and sci-fi fans to follow him inside the wormhole once more as he renews his mission to cover Frank Herbert’s entire Dune literary saga. Find out what happens to Paul Atreides and his family after the movies stop, and son Leto II is proclaimed God Emperor of Dune in the pages of a mind-expanding fourth novel. Things get spicy when you Listen Now!

Closing Time

Tom Hiddleston keeps on slippin’ slippin’ into the future (as well as 19th Century Chicago) in the concluding season of his Disney+ series Loki. Can Oscar winner Ke Huy Quon stop the Norse God from glitching everywhere all at once by making dramatic repairs to the space loom that weaves time together? And will Jonathan Majors remain an ongoing MCU presence after being convicted of offscreen villainy, or must Owen Wilson and the TVA Minutemen purge the actor from official Marvel canon?  Don’t waste a second looking for the answers. Just listen now!

Insects & The City

Dakota Johnson is clairvoyant EMT Madame Web, the only one who sees a future for marginal Spider-Man characters starring in their own Sony features. Can the fashionista paramedic protect a trio of teenage girls, including Sydney Sweeney (White Lotus), from toxic “ceiling guy” Tahar Rahim? And does the presence of Adam Scott (Severance) in this ambulance mean the actress is less than 50 Shades from Aunt May?  Find out if Arnie, Jakob, and Stuart will perform the compressions to bring this DOA superhero flick back to life when you Listen Now!

The Kingdom of the Club Girl Skulls

While under house arrest, Shia LaBeouf looks out Alfred Hitchcock’s Rear Window and finds more than meets the eye to David Morse (Green Mile) in the 2007 thriller Disturbia. But can the Transformers star find the physical proof that women are going missing next door if his ankle bracelet always rats out his location to Detective Viola Davis?  And is mom Carrie-Anne Moss (The Matrix) or sexy new neighbor Sarah Roemer the next to vanish?  Find out what capital improvements have been made in the half-century since Hitch’s original. Listen Now!

DePalma Does Hollywood

Director Brian DePalma (Carrie) reopens Rear Window 30 years later to give struggling actor Craig Wasson (A Nightmare on Elm Street 3) a peek at murder in the Hollywood Hills. Is the beautiful woman on the other end of his telescope the victim of a Peeping Tom killer wielding an oversized drill? Or is working girl Melanie Griffith playing a cruel prank on a man who likes to watch rather than take action? Find out if Alfred Hitchcock is spinning in his grave over the way his classy 1954 story of voyeurism has been turned into a sordid 1984 softcore flick when you Listen Now!

The Dog Who Knew Too Much

Photojournalist Jimmy Stewart breaks his leg in the line of duty and winds up stuck at the Rear Window of his Greenwich Village apartment, suspecting a neighbor of murder. But did his camera lens actually capture Perry Mason star Raymond Burr in the act of chopping up his wife? Or is the injured Peeping Tom merely projecting his marital anxieties about Grace Kelly onto another unhappy household? Join Jakob, Stuart, and Arnie as they stare deeply into Alfred Hitchcock’s 1954 tale of voyeurism and trace its ongoing influence on cinema. Listen Now!

Trading Places

Boris Karloff’s Universal Monster was thought dead but emerges from a scorching sulfuric bath looking like Lon Chaney Jr in the 1942 sequel Ghost of Frankenstein. Should this reanimated giant leave his besieged castle to hook up with a distantly related brain surgeon capable of ending his homicidal impulses?  And would the creature be better swapping his criminal brain with the cranium of the kindly doctor he killed, the little girl he kidnapped, or the abnormal bean of devious Bela Lugosi? Find out if this fourth Frankenstein chapter is a gas. Listen Now!

Well, that’s one way to break a hung jury!

Boris Karloff ends his run as a Universal Monster by getting the Son of Frankenstein to perfect the electrical waves powering his reanimated body. But can the operation be considered a success if the green guy continues to leave a trail of corpses in his wake? And has Bela Lugosi become the real monster of the franchise as new assistant Ygor, despite doing nothing more sinister than playing encouraging flute tunes for his oversized friend?  Listen Now as Stuart, Jakob, and Arnie debate whether this 1939 sequel restores honor to the Frankenstein name.

Wedding Crashers

Elsa Lanchester dons the most famous beehive hairdo in movie history to walk down the aisle with Boris Karloff in The Bride of Frankenstein. Can director James Whale marry his campy sense of humor with the unused parts of Mary Shelley’s darkly philosophical novel and create an even more outrageous 1935 sequel?  And will the Monster finally give a piece of his mind to the madman who made him now that he’s gained the ability to talk?  Stuart, Arnie, and Jakob request your attendance as they discuss one of cinema’s most unholy unions. Listen Now!

The Original Champion Bodybuilder

Lightning has struck Now Playing in 2024, prompting Arnie, Stuart, and Jakob to have alive-ly debate about Frankenstein… starting with the Big Guy’s 1931 debut as a Universal Monster. Is Boris Karloff’s portrayal of an accidentally murderous reanimated corpse even more iconic than Bela Lugosi giving you the evil eye in his Dracula cape?  And how dramatically did director James Whale amputate Mary Shelley’s source novel to breathe new life into this fable about a scientist playing God? Listen to how this classic creation was stitched together right now!   

Spongebob No Chance

Jason Mamoa does his best to salvage The Lost Kingdom of DC’s Justice League saga in this deep-sixed 2023 sequel to Aquaman. Is estranged brother Patrick Wilson better off in jail than helping crustaceans like Dolph Lundgren cockblock Yahya Abdul-Mateen II and his Black Trident? And how big a barnacle is Amber Heard after all her unflattering court appearances? Nicole Kidman may have “come to this place for magic,” but does the heartbreak of watching her career sink with the Snyderverse really feel good in a place like this!? Find out now!

Squid Games

Alan Moore’s Watchmen disbanded in 1985, but their legacy lives on in a 2019 HBO miniseries where a Rorschach-inspired militia and the offspring of Ozymandias (Jeremy Irons) try to harness the power of Dr. Manhattan. Can Regina King (Jerry Maguire) prove both Black and Blue lives matter as her masked crime fighter works with Tim Blake Nelson, Don Johnson, and former Silk Spectre Jean Smart to find a cop killer? And will showrunner Damon Lindelof (Lost) take more risks than Zack Snyder in bringing the DC superheroes to the screen?  Find out now!

Christmas with the Cranks

The walls are coming down on civilization’s last city as Patricia Clarkson (Green Mile) and her wicked scientists race the clock to extract The Death Cure from Maze Runner test subjects. How much blood will Dylan O”Brien have to spill to stop his infected friends Rosa Salazar and Thomas Brodie-Sangster (Phineas & Ferb) from becoming rage virus zombies?  And is crank-y rebel leader Walton Goggins (Justified) any more of an ally than heavy Aidan Gillen (Game of Thrones)? Listen Now as Arnie, Stuart, and Jakob help you find your way to the trilogy’s end.

Here Comes The Hot Steppers 

Dylan O’Brien and his Maze Runner friends leave the labyrinth only to find themselves navigating a charred landscape full of rage virus zombies in second chapter The Scorch Trials. Can Giancarlo Esposito (Mandalorian), Lili Taylor (Conjuring), and Barry Pepper (Saving Private Ryan) offer these kids sanctuary from wicked scientists wanting to milk their brains? And would our hero do better to stop chasing Kaya Scodelario and date infected pistol-packer Rosa Salazar (Bird Box) instead? These burning questions get answered when you Listen Now!

Thinking Outside The Box 

Arnie, Jakob, and Stuart survived the harrowing gladiator matches of The Hunger Games only to stumble into a labyrinth of dangers in the 2014 adventure The Maze Runner. Can Teen Wolf star Dylan O’Brien decode the secrets tucked within these giant granite walls, and find an escape path for a marooned tribe of teenage boys? Or will this flight to freedom be thwarted by an army of biomechanical spiders, bully Will Poulter (aka Adam Warlock), or the arrival of a girl (Kaya Scodelario)? Listen Now as the hosts guide you through another YA dystopia.

The Town That Dreaded Markdowns

Director Eli Roth (Hostel) has a lot to be grateful for this Thanksgiving now that a decades-long mission to expand his Grindhouse joke trailer has finally blessed the multiplex. Will holiday viewers be delighted to dine on a 17-year-old turkey overstuffed with gorey kills and T&A exploitation? Say a prayer for Arnie, Stuart, and Jakob as they gobble up this 2023 horror-comedy. 

Charlie’s Bangles

Brie Larson mixes it up for the sequel to her 2019 Captain Marvel debut by bringing estranged niece Teyonah Parris (WandaVision) and gushing fangirl Iman Vellani (Ms Marvel) into her 2023 Marvels adventure.  Can the trio stop trading places long enough to thwart a hammer-wielding Kree (Zawe Ashton) from disrupting the Skrull peace negotiations?  And have the years Sam Jackson spent assembling the Avengers prepared him for a mother-Flerken job herding cats in space? Listen to find out if Arnie, Stuart, and Jakob are annihilators of the MCU’s 33rd movie.

It’s Not Easy Being Green 

Sam Jackson returns from the far corners of the cosmos to help extra-terrestrial bud Talos (Ben Mendelsohn) stop a Secret Invasion of Earth by shape-shifting Skrulls. Are White House envoy Don Cheadle and MI-6 agent Olivia Colman smart to discount the aged Avenger after he broke his promise to find these radicalized aliens a new planet to inhabit? And is Nick Fury keeping other surprises about his personal life, and his time in space, tucked underneath that eye patch? Listen Now as Arnie, Jakob, and Stuart expose the truth about this 2023 Disney+ miniseries!

Choke-E-Cheese and the Riflefire Explosion

Security guard Josh Hutcherson (Hunger Games) spends Five Nights At Freddy’s looking for the reason why his younger brother went missing back in the 1980s. Could the animatronic mascots of this condemned pizzeria be at the center of a string of unsolved child abductions? And will his socially awkward little sister be the next victim after having a sleepover with these rock and roll robots, and sketching their dark secrets out in crayon?  Listen Now as Justin, Arnie, and Stuart suit up to spend Halloween inside the Now Playing Arcade.

The Coyote of Wall Street

Martin Scorsese is back with longtime acting muses Leonardo DiCaprio and Robert DeNiro in the 2023 Oscar hopeful Killers of The Flower Moon. This time Leo is the taxi driver, chauffeuring Lily Gladstone around Oklahoma as uncle Bobby conspires with an entire town to fleece her Osage tribe out of oil profits. Can Jesse Plemons (Breaking Bad) get the FBI to stop this wave of poisonings, bombings, and shootings before the white devils succeed in Native American genocide? Listen Now as the hosts speak truth about Leo and Marty’s sixth collaboration.

Can God be Love if He lets such awful things air on network television?

Ron Perlman (Hellboy) is the Tak of the Town after his attempt to become the next Pennywise in the 2006 Stephen King effort Desperation. Will the possessed policeman ticket motorists Tom Skerritt (Dead Zone), Steven Weber (The Shining), Matt Frewer (The Stand), and Henry Thomas (Doctor Sleep) for driving past a cursed Arizona mine, or because he’s jealous they were in better King adaptations? And what darlings will director Mick Garris have to kill in order to turn the 700 page novel into a two hour TV movie? Find out when you Listen Now!

Sometimes dead is better than straight-to-streaming 

Look what the cat dragged into Paramount Plus: a 2023 prequel to Stephen King’s beloved 1983 novel Pet Sematary.  Long before the infamous Indian burial site brought back dead pets and run over children as flesh-eating zombies, grieving father David Duchovny dug a hole to reanimate the son he lost in Vietnam. Can longtime resident Judson Crandall justify staying on these sour grounds after tracing his hometown carnage back through the Bloodlines of its founding fathers?  Walk this perilous road with Arnie, Stuart, and Jakob to find out now!

See saw with a seesaw

Saw is back, as is series star Tobin Bell as “Jigsaw” John Kramer. In this film, set mere weeks after the events in the original Saw, Kramer travels to Mexico seeking a cure for his brain tumor. Instead, what he finds is a scam that leads him back to his old “Jigsaw” ways with all new traps. Will this movie suck out your eyeballs with its violence and gore? Or do you need to put several ounces of gray matter in a jar to enjoy the tenth Saw release? Join our hosts Jakob, Arnie, and Marjorie now to find out!

I Know What You Did Last Century

The Phantom Killer returns to Texarkana nearly 70 years after first turning a quaint community into The Town That Dreaded Sundown.  But could the original culprit still be alive, uncaught, and wielding razor sharp band instruments in 2014? Or are these copycat slayings the handiwork of a disgruntled great-grandson, or demented fan of the 1976 Charles Pierce cult movie? And how much faith should be put in Anthony Anderson (Kangaroo Jack) and Gary Cole (Office Space) to crack the case?  Step back into the shadows with Arnie, Stuart, and Jakob and Listen Now!

The Texas Trombone Massacre

Texarkana becomes The Town That Dreaded Sundown after a psycho with a sack over his head starts terrorizing couples necking in secluded makeout spots. Can Oscar-winning Ranger Ben Johnson (Last Picture Show) expect to lead the largest manhunt in US history to this Phantom Killer if his klutzy driver can’t even keep the patrol car on the twisty gravel backroads?  And did Dawn Wells survive three seasons of Gilligan’s Island just to be shot dead in her kitchen? Listen and find out if this 1976 docudrama sheds new light on the unsolved 1946 true story.

A Hard Habit to Break

Valak continues to spread the evil of The Conjuring Universe throughout the churches of Europe in the 2023 sequel The Nun II. Can Sister Irene (Taissa Farmiga) return her nemesis to Hell with Father Burke out of the picture, and faithless bad girl Storm Reid (Euphoria) her only frIend? And will this demon in a wimple actually learn a thing or two about throwing shade from mortals after enrolling in a boarding school overpopulated with mean French girls?  Arnie, Marjorie, and Stuart are ready to perform the miracle of turning slaughter into whine when you Listen Now!

Law & Order: MCU

Emmy winner Tatiana Maslany (Orphan Black) sees her dreams of headlining a fun lawyer show get contaminated after cousin Bruce Banner (Mark Ruffalo) accidentally turns her into She-Hulk. Does being a giant green hothead help the Attorney At Law win high profile cases for celebrity clients like Megan Thee Stallion and Abomination (Tim Roth)?  Or will the super-prosecutor be convicted in the court of popular opinion after haters launch a nasty social media campaign against her? Learn how angry Arnie, Stuart, and Jakob get about the 2022 Disney+ series now!

Now if someone would design a video game preparing the next generation for service work! 

A college dropout’s devotion to a PlayStation racing simulator unexpectedly paves the way for his career as a professional sports car driver in the incredible true story Gran Turismo. Is Lord of the Rings star Orlando Bloom still living in a fantasy world by thinking this homebody gamer is Team Nissan’s best shot at winning the prestigious 24 Hours of Le Mans? And can coach David Harbour (Stranger Things) really help the lad transition from couch to car if they remain stuck on whether to turn the radio dial to Enya or Black Sabbath? Play our next podcast and find out!

Livin’ La Vida Locust

A recent college graduate (Cobra Kai’s Xolo Mariduena) goes looking for work that will keep a roof over his family’s heads, and scores a lifetime appointment as Blue Beetle. Can DC’s first Latino crimefighter satisfy audiences tired of fascists like Batman dominating the box office, and hungry for superhero flicks equipped with George Lopez jokes? And is Susan Sarandon totally buggin’ to think she can extract the alien scarab fused into the youth’s back, and market it as a one-man police force? Listen to imperialists Arnie, Jakob, and Stuart to find out now!

{DC Comics Series}

{Comic Book Movie Series}

{DC Movie Universe}

{Blue Beetle Series}

As if vampires are the worst thing you’d encounter on a cruise ship.

Dracula had to find dry land before he could start sucking London dry in Bram Stoker’s classic 1897 novel, which means sailing for a month on the doomed Last Voyage of The Demeter.  Will onboard medic Corey Hawkins (Straight Outta Compton) go down with the ship before he solves the mystery of why so many crew members sport holes in their necks? And does Javier Botet (Conjuring 2) ride the same wave of success that carried Bela Lugosi, Frank Langella, Nick Cage, and all the other Universal nosferatu to infamy?  Listen and find out!

The 40 Year Old Terrapin

Fanboy producer Seth Rogan brings Leonardo, Donatello, Michelangelo, and Rafael back to big screens to frolic in the radioactive green ooze that first transformed them into Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 40 years ago. Should the foursome heed the warnings of rodent mentor Splinter (Jackie Chan) to stay hidden from humans in the sewer? Or answer the call of cub reporter April O’Neil (Ayo Edebiri) to thwart villain Superfly (Ice Cube) before he vaporizes everyone in New York?  Find out if this Mutant Mayhem is more toxic than a Michael Bay creation. Listen Now!

Sisterhood of the Traveling Partition

16-year-old cosplayer Kamala Khan (Iman Vellani) fulfills her ambition to be like idol Brie Larson after she straps on her great-grandmother’s magic bracelet, and becomes Ms. Marvel in a 2022 Disney+ miniseries. Can the fledgling superhero heal generational trauma dating back to Pakistan’s split from India by stopping supernatural family members from opening The Veil of Noor, and wiping out life on Earth?  And how will the self-described “brown girl from Jersey City” honor Muslim tradition while following her cosmic dreams?  Listen and find out.

The Shawshank Reinvention

Prison guard Tom Hanks walks the condemned down The Green Mile to the electric chair for a living, but takes a different path after meeting magical healer Michael Clarke Duncan (Armageddon) behind bars. Was a jury in Depression Era Louisiana blinded by racial prejudice when they convicted the enormous black man of brutally murdering angelic white twins?  And does director Frank Darabont get the same mileage out of another Stephen King jailhouse melodrama as he did with Morgan Freeman and Tim Robbins?  Listen and find out!

…or How I Learned to Start Worrying And Make A Bomb

Christopher Nolan offers an intimate look at the Father of the Atomic Age in his epic new biopic Oppenheimer. Is Cillian Murphy even scarier than his Batman Begins villain when he delivers the means of mankind’s destruction to military bigwig Matt Damon at the start of the Cold War?  Or should we feel sympathy for the bewildered scientist once Robert Downey Jr persecutes him and wife Emily Blunt for perceived Communist leanings? Find out if this director is paving a road to the Oscars, or turning summer movie season radioactive with his pretensions. Listen Now! 

{Nolan Series}

Because it’s a global crisis when Tom Cruise loses his keys

Arnie, Jakob, and Stuart accept a seventh assignment to review a Mission: Impossible movie… make that half a movie… as Part 1 of Dead Reckoning explodes onto the big screen. Has artificial intelligence gotten so savvy that it can predict every move Ethan Hunt and his IMF regulars Ving Rhames, Simon Pegg, and Rebecca Ferguson are going to make?  Or can Tom Cruise beat the computers by performing dangerous leaps off a mountain on his motorcycle without digital fakery?  Find out if this franchise is set to self-destruct when you Listen Now!  

Paint It Black

Patrick Wilson steps away from the Conjuring universe and returns to his roots via The Red Door to direct the Lambert family through another Insidious ordeal. Does eldest son Dalton (Ty Simpkins) undo the hypnotic conditioning meant to protect him from demonic possession when he enrolls in a liberal arts college that heightens his artistic abilities? And does Lipstick Face Demon (Joseph Bishara) have more fun hazing frat bros than he would hiding from Elise, Specs, and Tucker? Look no Further for the answers. The podcast review is ready now!

You can now get our bonus review podcasts individually in our Patreon Digital Store! Hear OVER FOUR HUNDRED bonus movie review podcasts. Alien! Child's Play! Planet of the Apes! Psycho! And, yes, the reviews of Evil Dead Rise and Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny are on there too. The store is at Patreon.com/NowPlayingPodcast Watch the video to find out all the details. And thank you for supporting Now Playing Podcast!

New Jack Hustler

Tommy Lee Jones and his U.S. Marshals are on the hunt for a new outlaw in the 1998 sequel to The Fugitive. Is Wesley Snipes able to keep pace with Harrison Ford as he flees a plane crash and his bad reputation for killing government agents, selling secrets to the Chinese, and not paying income tax?  And is Robert Downey Jr a valuable addition to Sam Gerard’s team, or will his smarmy stances polarize in the same way Iron Man broke apart the Avengers?  Get righteous with this long-running franchise when you join Brock, Arnie, and Stuart now!

Presumed Guilty

Harrison Ford goes on the lam after being wrongly sentenced to Death Row in The Fugitive, the 1993 blockbuster movie adaptation of the hit 1960s TV show.  Can the convicted surgeon use his medical cunning to track down the one-armed man actually responsible for murdering his wife?  And did running from all those boody-trapped boulders prepare the Indiana Jones star for navigating the mean streets of Chicago while evading capture from Oscar-winning pursuer Tommy Lee Jones (MIB)? Listen Now as Brock, Stuart, and Arnie chase down the answers.      

Bratman Returns

Time is running out for the DCU unless The Flash (2023) can reverse the damage done by problematic star Ezra Miller, and deliver some meta-human box office. Does grabbing an extra can of crushed tomatoes from a supermarket shelf spare Barry Allen a lifetime of tragedy, or just turn all superhero continuity into a bowl of spaghetti? And can he clean up Ben Affleck’s “bat mess” by bringing audiences back to the glory days of Michael Keaton?  Get your quick fix of Stuart, Jakob, and Arnie when you catch their latest podcast review. Listen Now!

Bumble in the Jungle

The planet-eating Unicron will devour all of Earth unless Optimus Prime and his Autobots help promote the Rise of the Beasts - the next phase of Transformers evolution. Do 30 foot tall mechanical gorillas, cheetahs, and falcons hold the key to mankind’s (and the franchise’s) future?  And can Broadway star Anthony Ramos (Hamilton) learn to work with the team, and trust a talking Porsche that sounds like SNL’s Pete Davidson? Buckle up and join Justin, Stuart, and Arnie for this next stretch of road in the long-running Hasbro series. Listen Now!

Blame It On The Boogie

Chris Messina (Birds of Prey) wonders if psychotic patient David Dastmalchian (Suicide Squad) might be innocent of killing his three children after The Boogeyman he described in session starts stalking the therapist and his two daughters. Will eldest kid Sophie Thatcher (Yellowjackets) find more than skeletons in the closet once she starts rummaging through her dead mother’s things? And does found footage director Rob Savage (Dashcam) expand this Stephen King short story with more skill than most Night Shift adaptations?  Listen Now!

The Spider And The Fly Girl

Miles Morales swings Across The Spider-Verse to reconnect with best friend Gwen Stacey five years after collecting the Oscar for his first animated adventure. Has the superhero jeopardized the structural integrity of everything by refusing to be the self-sacrificing Spider-Man we’ve seen in so many previous comic books and movies? And do new friends Spider-Woman (Issa Rae), Spider-Punk (Daniel Kaluuya) and Spider-Man India (Karan Soni) widen this story’s appeal? Find out if the sequel hits The Spot for Arnie, Stuart, and Jakob when you Listen Now!  

Mercury In Retrograde

Arnie, Jakob, and Stuart are Flash-ing back to 1990, an era of television when there was only one DC comic book character on prime time. Soap star John Wesley Shipp spent an entire season as Barry Allen in a bulky red suit, chasing down CBS audiences who were quickly turning the dial to The Cosby Show and other light-hearted fare. Was the Red Speedster simply ahead of the superhero trend, or stuck in a rush job rip-off of Tim Burton’s Batman? You don’t have to wait for answers about this pilot to the quickly-canceled TV show. Listen Now!

Infiniti War

Jason Momoa starts a street fight that stretches from East LA to Antarctica in Fast X, and Vin Diesel is furious after his family gets framed for terrorism in Rome. Can Brie Larson help the Toretto car cult clear their name as police, mercenaries, and new Agency boss Alan Ritchson (Reacher) chase them across the global highways? And what side will hacker Cipher (Charlize Theron) choose after her dark web activity gets her stabbed in the back? Find out if the podcasters agree with grandma Rita Moreno that this franchise is built to last. Listen Now!

What happens when you teach Critical Wraith Theory

Arnie, Stuart, and Justin are done reviewing video game movies if they can make it through Detention, an award-winning 2019 ghost story that started life as an online 2-D side-scroller. Is a Taiwanese schoolgirl forever damned to relive lessons in torture after falling asleep in class, and waking up hunted by a towering, neck-snapping demon? Or is the real nightmare the historically accurate executions of teachers and students happening over banned books? Take this hall pass and join us for the final Now Playing Arcade installment.  Listen Now!

We Are Groot-ful You Came Back

James Gunn gives his Guardians of the Galaxy an epic send-off before he abadons Marvel for a suicidal mission to save the DCU. Volume 3 has the lovable A-holes reuniting to save Rocket (Bradley Cooper) after he’s mortally injured by Adam Warlock (Will Poulter). Can Drax, Mantis, and Nebula stop bickering long enough to find answers at the biotech company that created the wise-cracking racoon? And will Star Lord Chris Pratt get a second chance at love with his green girl Gamora (Zoe Saldana)? Find out when you take the road to Knowhere with Now Playing.

Oculus Riffs

Park ranger Sam Richardson (Veep) wonders if there are Werewolves Within his chipper New England community after finding a trail of bodies in the snowy wilderness. Will a night of finger-pointing at the guests of the Beaverfield Inn get to the bottom of these canine attacks, or just lead to more murder and unneighborly behavior?  And will Ubisoft’s 2016 virtual reality game continue to play as a 2021 horror-comedy with a cast of almost famous jokesters? Arnie, Justin, and Stuart aren’t letting sleeping dogs lie. The truth comes out when you Listen Now!     

Having a good blockhead for business

The walls close in on video game entrepreneur Taron Egerton (Kingsman) after he risks everything to travel behind the Iron Curtain and secure the rights to Tetris. Can the American dodge KGB agents and stay ahead of his corrupt competition to win the heart of a Soviet programmer who can’t even profit from sales of his game? And is there anything BASIC about the way the pieces of this Cold War true story come together beyond the computer coding? The answers are available on all platforms when you plug into the Now Playing Arcade. Listen Now!

How to Skin Friends and Influence People

Count Dracula would like to believe the sun rises and sets around him in all his many screen adventures, but the spotlight finally falls on overshadowed servant Renfield in this 2023 sequel. Can Nicholas Hoult (Warm Bodies) find the confidence to escape a 90 year toxic relationship with narcissist Nicolas Cage before he’s gaslit into committing more murders for the vampire?  And shouldn’t New Orleans cop Awkwafina be able to do better for herself than a guy with more bugs than teeth in his mouth? Listen Now to find out if this familiar story still rises to full power.

Now You’re Re-playing With Power

Chris Pratt gives voice to Nintendo’s mascot in the splashy new Super Mario Bros Movie. But did the Brooklyn plumber level up from poorly rendered previous incarnations starring Captain Lou Albano and Bob Hoskins by letting Illumination Studios (Despicable Me) animate his 2023 adventure?  And do Princess Peach (Anya Taylor-Joy) and Donkey Kong (Seth Rogan) really need help stopping lizard Bowser (Jack Black) from invading their pixelated kingdoms? Listen and find out if Stuart, Justin, and Arnie are (raccoon) suited to review the latest Arcade entry.

Look Who’s Stalk-ing

The sole survivor of a police standoff at a rural daycare imposes her own brand of justice on the adult world by indoctrinating Children of the Corn farmers into a Nebraskan eco-death cult. But are these pint-sized zealots praying to a supernatural deity that prowls their endless fields, or hallucinating from the industrial chemicals unwisely sprayed on their dying crops?  Find out if monsters or Monsanto are the reason why in 2023 Stuart, Arnie, and Jakob are paying tribute to the eleventh installment of Stephen King’s most enduring franchise. Listen Now!

John Wick is the stair-master

It's been four years since John Wick's last Chapter, but in that time the appetite for the series has only grown. The super-assassin out-grossed super-heroes Black Adam and Shazam 2, bringing in over $70 million in the first weekend. But is the book of Wick starting to get too long (with this installment alone running 2 hours and 50 minutes)? And how much more can be done with gun-fu? Join our hosts for this new movie review to find out!

Taste The Rainbow, Marvel Lovers

Zachary Levi’s boyish superhero Shazam unleashes the Fury of the Gods onto Philadelphia after he accidentally frees the three Daughters of Atlas from a celestial prison. Is it beneath Oscar-winning Queen Helen Mirren to wrestle her birthright powers away from a bunch of foster kids? And can lovestruck West Side Story siren Rachel Zegler convince older sister Lucy Liu (Kill Bill) not to grow a garden of mythical monsters to wipe out humanity? Download Now Playing’s current show and find out if lightning strikes twice for DC’s most fun-loving character!

Ghostface Takes Manhattan

Jenna Ortega (Wednesday) might’ve left behind the slaughter of Woodsboro in Scream VI, but college in the Big Apple will continue to test her knowledge of scary movies and survival. Is the new killer one of the social media haters routinely slandering older sister Samantha (Melissa Barrera) for being Billy Loomis’ daughter? Or should closer tabs be kept on returning survivor Kirby Reed (Hayden Panettiere)?  And is this the final chapter for Friend-less reporter Gale Weathers (Courteney Cox)?  Listen Now as Arnie, Marjorie, and Stuart answer the sequel’s call.

Killmonger vs. Kang: Rumble in Wakanda

Whenever his back was against the ropes Michael B. Jordan always had Sylvester Stallone and Black Panther director Ryan Coogler in his corner.  But Creed III finds Apollo’s son fighting in the arena alone - Jordan’s directorial debut is also the first movie in the Rocky series not to involve Sly. Can the Killmonger actor prove that he’s the real box office powerhouse while taking on his old frenemy Jonathan “Kang” Majors?  Find out if this franchise still packs a punch when you get into the ring with Arnie, Jakob, and Brock.  Listen Now!

Bat Man Forever

Think you know everything about Bram Stoker’s infamous vampire after a century of big screen adaptations? The 2014 prequel Dracula Untold promises to shed new light on the legend’s days as an undead Transylvanian swordsman. Can Fast and Furious heavy Luke Evans resist the urge to lap blood off the battlefield once he strikes a devilish bargain to defeat an invading Turkish sultan? And would the historical Vlad The Impaler really comply with Universal Studios’ unholy masterplan to rebrand their iconic movie monsters as superheroes? Listen and find out.

Catch Me If You Kang

Marvel superheroes Ant-Man and the Wasp experience big problems after they, and immediate family members, get shrunk inside a trippy universe teeming with warfare and talking broccoli. Is grandma Michelle Pfeiffer experienced enough with jumpstarting spaceships (and jumping into bed with Bill Murray) to get her marooned clan safely home? And will troubles continue to multiply for Paul Rudd and daughter Cassie once modified nemesis Yellowjacket hunts them down? Listen Now to learn how many holes Arnie, Stuart, and Jakob find in Quantumania!

I never drink… wine (unless it comes from the Coppola vineyard)

Gary Oldman turns his back on God and Bela Lugosi’s tailor to play Bram Stoker’s Dracula in curlers and a red kimono. But is prudish Winona Ryder the kind of woman a daywalker would hound for centuries? Should someone chain hammy Anthony Hopkins next to Renfield for his crazy ideas about stopping STDs with swords and stakes? And do we blame a trio of vampire brides for draining the life from Keanu Reeves’ performance, or his sticky English accent?  Stuart, Jakob, and Arnie make listeners an offer they can’t refuse with their latest podcast.

Stayin’ Alive

Frank Langella might be 500 years old, but he still struts into 20th Century London ready to disco the night away in the 1979 incarnation of Dracula. Can Saturday Night Fever director John Badham make Bram Stoker’s ladykiller look attractive to liberated women when the dude doesn’t even have a car?  Or does Kate Nelligan date the bad boy vampire as a way of avoiding her stuffy boyfriend, controlling father Donald Pleasance, and foul duties at a madhouse? Listen Now as Arnie, Jakob, and Stuart continue their history of Universal Studios’ biggest monster.

The Big Slurp

Lon Chaney Jr. knew the pressures of living up to an iconic father’s legacy even before he agreed to be the Son of Dracula in 1943. Can the second generation horror star pioneer another classic Universal Monster without donning the extensive movie make-up that made him such a convincing Wolf Man? And did his Count Alucard overestimate the influence vampires have on women when he accepted the invitation of a scheming occultist to her New Orleans plantation? Find out how backwards this second Dracula sequel really is when you Listen Now.

Daddy’s Little Ghoul

Bela Lugosi is dead, but Countess Marya Zeleska is ready to don her father’s cape and step into the spotlight as the next Universal Monster, Dracula’s Daughter. Will her habit of leaving holes in the necks of women wandering alone in the London fog ring as familiar to incarcerated vampire hunter Professor Von Helsing?  And can an obsessed psychiatrist put this undead pariah through conversion therapy using a funky hypnosis machine before she puts him inside a Transylvanian casket.  Find out if this sequel has bite when you listen to the latest podcast.

The Original Pain in the Neck

Dracula became the premier Universal Monster in 1931 when he leapt from the Broadway stage onto film screens for the first official adaptation of Bram Stoker’s novel. Can star Bela Lugosi still mesmerize with that piercing stare of his? Or is hearing that thick Hungarian accent what gave the shivers to folks new to talking pictures? And did Carlos Villarias prove how bite-lingual this vampire can be in the concurrently shot Spanish version of the story? Learn if Stuart, Jakob, and Arnie send this ancient horror back to rest in the earth in which it was buried. Listen Now!

Where’s the beef?

Charlton Heston got his damned dirty paws on the 1966 sci-fi novel Make Room! Make Room! and turned it into Soylent Green, his third foray into cinematic dystopia.  Is it easier to swallow a future where New York City is overrun by talking monkeys or albino vampires rather than believe it could survive without a decent restaurant? How much more will rents go up when apartments come furnished with high class call girls?  And are old folks like Edward G Robinson buying the farm, or providing the livestock?  Find out when you sink your teeth into this Gold Level podcast.

Somehow I didn’t imagine the children of the night making such New Age music

Director Werner Herzog revives the uniquely German take on the Dracula myth with his 1979 remake of Nosferatu The Vampyre. Klaus Kinski emerges from the shadow of Max Schreck’s silent era performance to put his own morose spin on the Transylvanian Count who longs to spend eternity with Isabelle Adjani.  Can Van Helsing stop a plague of rats from spreading madness throughout Central Europe? Or will romantic audiences actually root for the bloodsucker to beat out aloof husband Bruno Ganz for the heart of the girl?  Listen and find out!

The oldest movie we will ever review! (Probably)

A decade before Universal Studios made Dracula the centerpiece of their stable of movie monsters, German visionary FW Murnau put his own spin on Bram Stoker’s literary creation with the 1922 silent classic Nosferatu: A Symphony of Horror.  Is Max Schreck’s iconic portrayal of Count Orlock the vampire that all other cinematic incarnations aspire to be?  And is the plague being spread by this creature of the night really anti-seminism and Nazi fervor?  Find out if Stuart, Arnie, and Jakob stick their lovely throats out for this bootleg bloodsucker.  Listen Now!

Daniel Craig is back as the famed Knives Out detective Benoit Blanc, crashing the private Greek isle of billionaire Edward Norton (Fight Club) to see which of his “disruptor” friends is planning to put him in a glass coffin.  Will the killer turn out to be canceled starlet Kate Hudson with the crossbow at the Infinity Pool?  Maybe Men’s Rights influencer Dave Bautista with the wrench on Twitch?  Or is ex-wife Janelle Monae out to shatter the illusion of a cordial uncoupling? Join Justin, Stuart, and Arnie as they put the pieces of this Glass Onion together.

'Tis the Season to experience your favorite Marvel a-holes clumsily learning that meaning of gift giving, and experiencing the fellowship of kidnapping, in the Disney+ event The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special. Can Mantis and Drax cheer up Star-Lord Chris Pratt about his recent box office slump by decreasing his degrees of separation from a true movie star like Kevin Bacon? Arnie, Jakob, and Stuart cap a year of Phase Four entertainment with this stocking stuffer “thank you” to all their naughty and nice listenership. Cut loose and download the fun!

James Cameron takes audiences back to Pandora by Way of Water with his long-anticipated sequel to Avatar. Are the domestic dreams of Na’vi couple Sam Worthington and Zoe Saldana torpedoed now that nemesis Stephen Lang and his military outfit are brought back to life in new, blue bodies?  And can the Sully children adapt to an ocean teeming with aquatic dangers after their clan relocates to Kate Winslet’s coastal village? Don’t hold your breath waiting for these answers. Hear Arnie, Marjorie, and Stuart provide for their Now Playing family right now!

Crime!  Inflation!  Oppression!  Yes, today’s headlines look bad, but not as bleak as the Metropolis that director Fritz Lang envisioned all the way back in 1927.  Will the skyscrapers of the future fall like the Tower of Babel after a sexy fem-bot incites factory workers to tear down the machines that run their city?  And should a mama’s boy who defies his moneybags father just so he can court a virgin in the urban underbelly be called a savior, or the heart of the problem?  Start exploring 100 Years of Dystopia when you Donate for Gold Level now!

Quantum of Malice

Star Wars fanboys had their Knives Out for Rian Johnson in 2019, but the writer/director survives their harsh verdicts of The Last Jedi by following it up with a hit murder mystery. Daniel “007” Craig stars as a celebrated Cajun investigator summoned to the mansion of a dead crime novelist to determine if he was murdered. Could the culprit be Michael Myers survivor Jamie Lee Curtis, queasy maid Ana de Armas (No Time To Die), or Captain America himself Chris Evans?  Find out if Arnie, Justin, and Stuart have a Clue about this caper in their latest podcast.

Jon Hamm is urged to “Confess, Fletch” after a coed is found murdered in his Boston rental apartment.  But the real mystery is whether movie fans will accept someone new in the title role.  Is the Mad Men star too suave to wear the disguises, and make the jokes Chevy Chase did, as the intrepid reporter infiltrates a snooty yacht club to recover missing paintings?  And could any of the eccentric suspects - including germaphobe Kyle MacLachlan and horny countess Marcia Gay Harden - get away with stealing the spotlight?  The hosts are on the case.  Listen Now!

Chevy Chase finds a dead woman in his bed, the Ku Klux Klan on his lawn, and televangelists on his TV praying for his inheritance, now that Fletch Lives in a bequeathed Louisiana plantation.  Will the investigative reporter clear his name of murder charges, or be forced to spend retirement concealing his identity in a series of extravagant disguises?  And is the smoking ooze being dumped on Fletch’s new property as toxic as his treatment of women? Listen now as Stuart, Justin, and Arnie debate freeing this unpopular sequel from movie jail. 

Beverly Hills Copycat

Chevy Chase takes a vacation from Saturday Night Live and National Lampoon movies to star as investigative reporter Fletch in this beloved 1985 mystery.  Can the comedic chameleon unmask the real reasons why shady yuppie Tim Matheson (Animal House) hires a beach bum to break into his mansion and murder him?  And will the jocular journalist be laughed out of town if he runs the headline that Norm from Cheers fronts a massive drug trafficking operation out of a hot dog stand?  Get the full scoop when you download the latest Now Playing podcast.

Waiting To Impale

Wakanda Forever mourns the loss of King T’Challa (Chadwick Boseman), but that doesn’t mean a worthy successor can’t slip into the cat suit and become the next Black Panther.  But can anyone stop the advanced African nation from being sunk by an underwater South American society also armed with an arsenal of Vibranium?  Or is new rival Namor too light on his feet to fight off fierce females Letitia Wright, Angela Bassett, Lupita N’yong’o, and Danai Gueria? Let favorite colonizers Arnie, Jakob, and Stuart dry your tears with their latest podcast. Listen Now!

Edward Woodward (TV’s original Equalizer) travels to a remote Scottish island in search of a missing schoolgirl and finds The Wicker Man instead. Does the original 1973 cult film live up to its legacy as one of the greatest British horror films of all time?  And what scares the hosts more: that Christopher “Dracula” Lee might have murdered this child in an occult harvest ritual, or that he celebrates the sacrifice by donning drag to lead nudist villagers in song-and-dance?  Enjoy the fruits of Arnie, Jakob, and Stuart’s labours when you Donate for Platinum this Fall.

He’ll be back…. in inferior Terminator sequels and straight-to-streaming crap.

Arnold Schwarzenegger’s movie star reputation took a big hit when Collateral Damage was released in the shadow of the 9/11 terrorist attacks. Can today’s audiences better appreciate his tough guy approach to a South American cartel leader (Cliff Curtis) who inadvertently killed Ahnold’s wife and child in a Los Angeles consulate bombing? Or is the whole film really just propaganda for the Governator’s entry into California politics? Join Brock, Stuart, and Arnie as they say “hasta la vista” to the last action hero of the 20th Century. Listen Now!

Jack Russell: The Furred Avenger

Gael Garcia Bernal (Coco) might look like a typical Marvel superhero in the daylight, but he becomes a Werewolf By Night in order to protect the other monsters of the MCU.  Can he outsmart six skilled hunters as they descend upon a labyrinth to slay a mythical beast and collect the powerful Bloodstone?  And can Stuart, Jakob, and Arnie really root for anyone willing to rescue Man-Thing from movie jail? Get the details on Disney’s 2022 Halloween Special in black and white when you download the latest Now Playing podcast. Listen Now!

The S stands for Hurt

Dwayne Johnson cooks up a different kind of Shazam for the DC Cinematic Universe as the homicidal metahuman Black Adam explodes onto the big screen. Is he the hero that an ancient Middle Eastern country needs after a tyrant seizes their crown and threatens Hell on Earth?  Or is Amanda Waller (Viola Davis), Hawkman (Aldis Hodge) and the Justice Society right to try and capture lightning in a bottle before someone gets killed?  Don’t wait an Eternium for the answers. Arnie, Stuart, and Jakob are ready to take you into the darkness. Listen Now!

Out of Shape

Jamie Lee Curtis tried to move on from the curse of Michael Myers, but another Haddonfield Halloween Ends in blood and screams after granddaughter Allyson goes trick-or-treating with  psycho babysitter Corey.  Can the franchise’s original boogeyman teach this wannabe anything about being an old school slasher icon, or is Michael wise to keep his face out of this latest installment?  Find out if director David Gordon Green has given Carpenter’s legacy a new beginning when you download the latest podcast from Brock, Stuart, and Arnie.  Listen now!

{Halloween Series}

Hulu tries to rescue the Hellraiser franchise from a purgatory of underwhelming sequels by re-configuring the original 1987 Clive Barker gorefest into an elevated 2022 reboot. Will a recovering drug addict become the pin-up girl for a Just Say No campaign against soul-tearing Cenobites after she gets high and accidentally opens their infamous puzzle box? Find out if Arnie, Stuart, and Jakob are ready to tear apart the vision of new director David Bruckner (The Night House) when you Donate at the Such Sights To Show You Level this October.

Total Remake

Arnold Schwarzenegger sees double after corrupt CEO Tony Goldwyn (Scandal) and geneticist Robert Duvall (The Godfather) duplicate his DNA in The 6th Day. Can the aging action star stop a clone from co-opting his career and family? Or will goons Michael Rooker (Guardians of the Galaxy) and Terry Crews (Expendables) terminate the Twins star before he can get to the choppah and expose their illegal practices?  Find out how original this sci-fi thriller from the year 2000 really is when you listen to your Sim-Pals Stuart, Brock, and Arnie.

It’s the End of Days for Schwarzenegger’s movie career unless he can update his 80s action hero image for the gritty new millennium. Will it take a miracle for the Now Playing hosts to accept the Austrian bodybuilder as faithless Jericho Cane, a mercenary who must put down the bottle and embrace the rocket launcher of God in order to stop Satan (Gabriel Byrne) from impregnating Robin Tunney? Does the movie fall to pieces the second a leering albino pops up to propose the booty call? Cut out our tongues and we’ll still speak the Gospel truth. Listen Now!

Arnold Schwarzenegger refuses to remove “action hero” from his identity as he suits up for summer 1996 blockbuster Eraser. Can he, James Caan, and the US Marshals help a comely whistleblower escape into Witness Protection before she’s hunted down by a cabal of high powered politicians?  And is the aging Terminator equipped to fight off a kamikaze airplane, a tank full of gators, and an experimental rifle that can pinpoint targets even through walls?  Pencil in time with Brock, Stuart, and Arnie as they look deeper into this film icon’s career. Listen Now!

Jamie Lee Curtis hides an affair from husband Arnold Schwarzenegger, oblivious that he too conceals a double life as a spy capable of terminating her boyfriend Bill Paxton in the deceptively comedic 1994 blockbuster True Lies. Is it possible to translate a modest French farce into a pumped up James Cameron spectacle?  And who the hell is Tom Arnold (aka Mr Roseanne Barr) to give marital advice to anyone?  Brock, Arnie, and Stuart are ready to share their honest impressions about this next entry on Ahnold’s action star resume. Listen now!

Arnold Schwarzenegger might’ve been a kindergarten cop, but he has no authority over the 10-year-old boy jawing in his ear throughout his 1993 box office bomb The Last Action Hero. Was it a Big Mistake for the movie icon to partner with a know-it-all fan eager to point out every cliche of his cinematic character? Or did Die Hard director John McTiernan and Lethal Weapon scribe Shane Black elevate the action genre with clever self-awareness that wouldn’t be hip for another decade? Brock, Arnie, and Stuart provide the magic ticket when you Listen Now!

As the Fall season begins, so comes time for ooky, spooky fun with Now Playing! Our Fall/Winter 2022 Donation Drive is underway, kicking off with our Silver Level: The Addams Family! We're reviewing six Addams films, from the original TV cast to last year's animated road-trip adventure. Plus we have our Gold 100 Years of Dystopia series, our Platinum Wicker Man series, and new installments in Jeepers Creepers, M. Night Shymalan, and even Hellraiser!  Listen to this podcast preview for a sample of our Addams Family Values and information on how to get all the season's bonus podcast treats!

Arnold Schwarzenegger peels back the Iron Curtain, steps naked from a Russian sauna, and  brings some Red Heat to the mean streets of Chicago in this 1988 buddy-cop action flick.  Can the Soviet strongman learn the American way of implementing justice from wiseass detective James Belushi (K-9), and bring down the international drug dealer that killed his partner? And does 48 HRS director Walter Hill make their screen chemistry crackle like he did with Nick Nolte and Eddie Murphy? Find out when you get on the bus with Arnie, Brock and Stuart. Listen now!

Arnold Schwarzenegger made a Raw Deal with producer Dino DeLaurentiis when he opted to star in this 1986 flop instead of a third Conan film. Can the muscle bound lawman get back in the good graces of the FBI (and his nagging wife) by infiltrating the Chicago mob, and avenging the death of Darren McGavin’s son?  And does this unhappy onscreen marriage resemble any real life fireworks going on between Ahnold and new bride Maria Shriver?  Find out if Brock, Stuart, and Now Playing’s Arnie terminate this unsung entry on the Austrian he-man’s resume.

Twenty years before he was California’s governor, Arnold Schwarzenegger went Commando to assassinate the deposed President of a fake Latin American country in this 1985 shoot-’em-up. Did the Austrian bodybuilder pump up his Terminator image with superhuman tree lifts and gratuitous shopping mall showdowns? Or are the corny catch phrases and play dates with daughter Alyssa Milano dead tired in 2022?  Let off some steam with Brock, Stuart, and Arnie as they explore why Ahnold was the last action hero of the 20th Century. Listen Now!

Lances With Wolves

Centuries before targeting Arnold Schwarzenegger in the South American jungle, the Predator was making Native Americans their Prey in this prequel set in the year 1719. Can Comanche medicine woman Amber Midthunder silence the sexist naysayers by bringing down the cloaked alien that’s been picking off her tribe in the wilderness of the Great Plains?  And do grizzly bears and mountain lions pose just as much danger to the novice hunter as her outer space foe? Track the latest moves of this 36-year-old franchise when you listen to Brock, Stuart, and Arnie.

{Predator Series}

Superman and Batman have been taken prisoner, so it’s up to their dogs Krypto (Dwayne Johnson) and Ace (Kevin Hart) to lead the rescue team in the first big screen adventure for the DC League of Superpets.  Did deranged guinea pig Lulu (Kate McKinnon) learn enough about being a supervillain from Lex Luther (Marc Maron) to successfully engineer an orange kryptonite plot that expels the Justice League from the planet?  And will the Man of Steel have to pick Lois Lane over Man’s Best Friend in the end?  Listen Now as Jakob, Arnie, and Stuart sniff it out!

Before there was a League of DC Superpets, there was Underdog… the clumsy police beagle turned into a flying canine crime fighter by mad scientist Peter Dinklage (Game of Thrones). But can Walt Disney turn a 1960s Saturday morning cartoon created by cereal makers into something that satisfies the tastes of a new generation of superhero fans weaned on Richard Donner’s Superman?  And what can K-9 star Jim Belushi teach his four-legged partner about making a funny family film?  Never fear, Now Playing is all you need to hear!  Listen Now!

Midnight Sun puts a new light on Stephanie Meyer’s first novel by retelling Twilight through the silver eyes of Edward the vampire.  Will fans still swoon over his love affair with Bella Swan knowing he was really fantasizing about committing violence against her body and soul?  And what do the rest of the Cullen clan think about a mortal girl from Arizona taking up so much space in their sibling’s head?  Join Stuart and Jakob as they put this book series to bed.

After five years living in the shadows, Kate Beckinsale returns to the Underworld universe ready to kick Lycan ass and win the Blood Wars for the vampires. But can the single mother prevent enemies on both sides of the conflict from hunting down and drinking the hybrid blood of her runaway daughter Eve?  And will Selene find true friends or just new hairdos when she follows the Northern Lights to a frozen palace full of blonde bloodsuckers? Join Jakob, Stuart, and Arnie as they wrap up this franchise and send it off to the Sacred World of podcasting.  Listen Now!

Bella Swan grows up fast in Breaking Dawn - dealing with marriage, motherhood, and rigor mortis all in one giant Twilight conclusion. Will author Stephanie Meyer give her undead Heathcliff and Cathy the happy ending that’s so far eluded their teenage courtship?  And are things better or worse between Edward and Jacob now that the werewolf has given up on Bella and imprinted on her baby girl instead?  Jakob and Stuart are ready to break it all down now!

Breaking bones, not Breaking Dawn

Six years after putting Underworld on ice, Kate Beckinsale is slipping on a leather catsuit and Awakening to the joy of blasting more werewolves. But how will Selene adapt to a future where humans are now the Death Dealers, driving both Lycans and vampires into hiding?  And has eternal love Scott Speedman gone missing because he’s a captive of the evil Antigen Corporation… or because he’s ducking out on raising their homicidal offspring Eve?  Find out if this fourth installment transforms the hosts’ opinions about the franchise when you Listen Now!

Double Rainbow

Chris Hemsworth and ex-girlfriend Natalie Portman attempt to bury the hatchet after she lifts his hammer and becomes another Thor in the latest Marvel adventure Love & Thunder. Is the superhero couple falling into a parent trap by rescuing the children of New Asgard from disillusioned zealot Christian Bale? Or is this God Butcher right to target Zeus (Russell Crowe) and the other disappointing, debaucherous deities hiding inside Omnipotent City? Join Arnie, Jakob, and Stuart as they use their illusion to produce another mighty podcast.  Listen Now!

The romance between sullen teen Bella and immortal vampire Edward gets overshadowed by the backstories of several supporting characters in Eclipse, Stephanie Meyer’s third Twilight novel.  Will battle scars and tales of war make readers think differently of Jasper Whitlock?  Does jealous Rosalie Hale become more sympathetic after hearing how she was turned undead? And what exactly happened to Bree Tanner in her Second Short Life?  Listen Now!

Egypt’s first superhero… or a Chicago gangsta stuck in da Nile?

Oscar Isaac (Ex Machina) spends his days hawking trinkets at a museum gift shop, and his nights sleepwalking around the globe as a mummified mercenary named Moon Knight.  Should the scatterbrained crime fighter try to figure out his multiple personalities in a sanitarium run by Black Phone predator Ethan Hawke? Or is this white padded cell really a front for a doomsday cult bent on bringing a vengeful, crocodile-headed God down to Earth?  Listen Now as Arnie, Stuart, and Jakob balance the scales of Marvel’s latest Disney + series!

‘I’m sorry I can’t be the right monster for you Bella”

Bella Swan can’t wait to die so she can spend all future birthdays sucking face with vampire boyfriend Edward Cullen in the second Twilight novel. Will things end tragically between the odd couple once author Stephanie Meyer starts quoting Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet? And is Bella’s native friend feeling the pangs of puppy love, or the onset of a werewolf transformation? Find out what’s in the pages of New Moon when you join Team Jakob and Stuart!

With all of the Toy Story seemingly told, Pixar rockets back into the past to give us a cinematic origin story for Buzz Lightyear voiced by Chris Evans. Can the cocky Space Ranger learn to work with a team of misfits after his arrogance maroons the mission on a planet crawling with deadly bugs, lethal vines, and killer robots?  And does Buzz have a friend in robotic cat Sox the same way he clicked with neurotic cowboy Woody?  Pull the string and hear podcasters Arnie, Jakob, and Stuart talk to infinity and beyond about this spin-off space opera.  Listen Now!

“Do I dazzle you?”

Stephanie Meyer drove a stake into typical literary depictions of vampires when she published her 2005 bestseller Twilight.  What is it about Bella Swan that makes the chaste heroine so irresistible to every living and undead boy in Forks, Washington?  And was it a good look for suitor Edward Cullen to take off the Dracula cape and show off his sparkling personality?  Join Jakob and Stuart as they sink their teeth into this six-part blockbuster book series.  Listen Now!

Fellowship of the Wild Things

Kate Beckinsale steps away from the Underworld franchise so that her real life ex Michael Sheen can get some time in the sun as star of prequel Rise of the Lycans.  Did Bill Nighy start an eternal war when he adopted a werewolf cub destined to lead human slaves and wilderness beasts in an uprising against vampire aristocracy?  And does Death Dealer Rhona Mitra look enough like Selene to wear her iconic leather catsuit and indulge in more forbidden interspecies romance? Listen Now to find out what the hosts are “Lycan” about this third entry in the saga!

Dinosaurs have escaped Jurassic World and claimed Dominion over all of the Earth in the sixth chapter of Steven Spielberg’s popular franchise. Is CEO Campbell Scott out to save humanity by bringing the big lizards to his Italian sanctuary, or just using their extinct DNA to conduct more unethical genetic experiments?  And how well are veterans Jeff Goldblum, Sam Neil, and Laura Dern spliced into the story as Chris Pratt and Bryce Dallas Howard attempt rescue of a kidnapped clone and velociraptor?  The Park is open when you Donate at the Amber Level.

Scott Speedman may have morphed into the perfect halfbreed boyfriend for vampire Kate Beckinsale at the end of Underworld, but there has been no Evolution in her clan’s thinking when it comes to interspecies romance. Can the pair escape the nocturnal city and find a place for themselves within a primordial forest?  And what happens when winged Elder Marcus (Tony Curran) catches up with the Death Dealer, and learns where his Lycan brother is imprisoned?  The key to making sense of the sequel is listening to the latest Now Playing podcast.

Long before Bella had to choose between vampire and werewolf boyfriends, Kate Beckinsale was two-fisting pistols to save star-crossed Lycan lover Scott Speedman from her judgey undead family in Underworld. Is the director of Live Free Or Die Hard a wise man for placing the story of Romeo & Juliet inside The Matrix? Or is Len Wiseman just a letch inventing excuses for getting his future wife out of corsets and into tight leather?  Find out if Jakob, Stuart, or Arnie stake a claim for The 2000s’ other fangs and fur Gothic romance when you Listen Now.

Turns out Jack Nicholson did not forget Chinatown as advised, but pulled double duty 16 years later as director and star of the sequel The Two Jakes. Did Harvey Keitel hire our heartbroken private eye because he needs help confronting a duplicitous wife, or because the sting will provide cover when he murders a business partner? And how did the long lost daughter of Faye Dunaway wind up owning an LA suburb built atop an explosive reservoir of oil and gas?  Join kitty cats Jakob, Stuart, and Arnie as they follow the money down the well.  Listen Now!

Forget it, Jake. It’s Podcasting.

Jack Nicholson goes sticking his nose where it doesn’t belong in the Oscar-winning 1974 noir Chinatown. Can the private eye connect the dots between the missing girlfriend of a city official and LA’s vanishing water supply? Is femme fatale Faye Dunaway really falling for the gumshoe, or just taking Jake to the bedroom to stop him from seeing who’s drowning her hubby in the pool?  And why does tycoon John Huston want to be an orange farmer so bad? Get the full picture in a podcast your sister, your daughter, and the entire family can enjoy.  Listen Now!

Smokin’ In The Girls’ Room

11-year-old Charlie McGee might look like just another snowflake who can’t manage her emotions, but tell her she’s no Drew Barrymore and you’ve got a real Firestarter on your hands in 2022.  Is proud papa Zac Efron pushing his telekinetic daughter to make the right choices, and avoid being captured by Native American assassin Rainbird and The Shop?  Or will the next High School Musical end with a thermonuclear explosion?  Find out if Blumhouse has made a barbeque out of a classic novel when you listen to the latest Stephen King podcast.

The Imitation Game

Dr. Strange presents the illusion that his latest Marvel movie is a routine affair, but In the Multiverse of Madness might actually be another zombie splatter comedy from Evil Dead director Sam Raimi. Can Benedict Cumberbatch’s callous sorcerer fix his relationship with Rachel McAdams, and save America (the country and the teenager) from the wrath of monster mom Scarlet Witch (Elizabeth Olsen)?  And is it possible there’s a reality where The Inhumans are cool?  Listen Now as Arnie, Stuart, and Jakob make their 28th incursion into the MCU.

“We cannot protect the young from harm.  Pain must and will come.”

JK Rowling collaborates with a pair of theater veterans to tell her eighth Hogwarts adventure Harry Potter and the Cursed Child as a stage play.  And while Brock, Stuart, and Arnie couldn’t score tickets, they are ready to review the published script.  What happens when Harry’s son goes Slytherin, and travels back in time to change the outcome of the Triwizard Tournament? Listen to find out if fans throw the author into a Goblet of Fire for messing with a classic tale.

No Rest Ye Merry Gentleman

Jeremy Renner cuts his Yuletide New York vacation short after fangirl archer Hailee Steinfeld (Bumblebee) starts wearing his infamous Ronin suit to fight crime in the Disney Plus miniseries Hawkeye. Will the Marvel mercenary make it home for the holidays with only six days to defeat the Kingpin (Vincent D’Onofrio), new Black Widow Florence Pugh, a one-legged, deaf martial artist, and her entire Tracksuit Mafia?  And why does wife Linda Cardellini want her old Rolex wrapped up and under the tree so badly?  It’s Christmas in May when you Listen Now!

Leaving Los Angeles

Is The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent driving Nicolas Cage into a booze-fueled early retirement (or did he just make too many embarrassing flops)? Now the Oscar winner has to accept a humiliating offer to host a lavish birthday party for fanboy cartel leader Pedro Pascal.  Will those “nouveau shamanic” acting techniques be of any help to Agent Tiffany Haddish when the CIA needs Cage to play spy and free a kidnapped politician’s daughter held at a Mallorca compound? Listen Now as Stuart, Jakob, and Arnie face off with Nic’s latest crazy comedy.

Listen Now and Get a Piece of The Rock

Nic Cage first used his “massive talent” to become an action star in the 1996 Michael Bay extravaganza The Rock. Can his Beatles-loving biochemist teach the original James Bond Sean Connery anything about being cool, as they team up to expel Ed Harris and his terrorists from Alcatraz?  Or will Candyman Tony Todd steal the show by launching a fleet of missiles loaded up with delicious-looking green gumballs of flesh-eating virus?  Listen Now to find out if Stuart, Jakob, or Arnie are ready to cut Cage some friggin’ slack, and let him out of movie jail.

Round Two with the Blue

Sega’s speedy mascot races back to movie theaters to offer an encore helping of attitude in Sonic The Hedgehog 2. This time the video game icon not only battles Jim Carrey’s mechanical contraptions and manic comic timing, but the oversized fists of new nemesis Knuckles (voiced by Idris Elba).  Are James Marsden’s days of being a helicopter parent over now that flying fox Tails is ready to lift the hedgehog to the next level?  Find out if this sequel receives any Blue Justice from the podcast hosts when you listen to the latest Now Playing Arcade installment.

Intravenous with a Vampire

Oscar-winning joker Jared Leto sinks his teeth into another comic book villain role as Morbius, a hematologist who turns into a “living vampire” after tinkering with bat DNA.  Can blood brother Matt Smith (Dr. Who) convince the superpowered physician to turn his back on humanity, and join him on a New York bender biting babes and breaking things?  Or will the good doctor accept Michael Keaton’s offer to take down Spider-Man in some future sequel instead? Find out how much the latest Marvel movie sucks for Arnie, Jakob, and Stuart when you Listen Now.

Dolph Lungren trains young gamers to become masters of a zombie universe in Dead Trigger, the 2017 film adaptation of a popular first-person shooter made for smartphones.  Can a Disney star, an MMA fighter, and the no-longer-little rapper Lil’ Romeo blast their way to Terminal City, and rescue the scientist who can cure the outbreak? Or will Cyglobe CEO (and soap star) Tamara Braun whack them for posing a threat to her gun sales?  Help Justin, Arnie, and Stuart answer the call for another trying video game movie when you Listen Now!

Michael Fassbender learns the homicidal impulses that landed him on Death Row in 2016 can be traced back to the Assassin’s Creed he pledged to free-will-loving vigilantes in 1492. Can Oscar-winning scientist Marion Cotillard (Inception) cure the convict of his violent ways simply by plugging him into holographic re-enactments of his past life hit jobs?  Or does Jeremy Irons have nefarious reasons for footing this exorbitant 23AndMe bill?  Find out why gamers have such animus for this big-budget adaptation of the popular Ubisoft title when you Listen Now!

How To Get Away With Murder… and get Jammin’ Ninja Super Cake

Yakuza director Takashi Miike tries his hand at a different type of video game adaptation by bringing Ace Attorney Phoenix Wright to the big screen. Can the rookie lawyer find the guilty  parties in three interlocking murder trials simply by cross-examining  parrots and debunking photographic evidence of lake monsters?  And will  the fashion police level charges against all those gravity-defying  hairdos on display in the courtroom?  Find out if Justin, Stuart, and  Arnie offer objections to the latest entry in the Now Playing Arcade  when you Listen Today!

They Still Call Me Bruce

Robert Pattinson spent the last two years suiting up as The Batman so that he might score a hit movie for DC, and rescue a Gotham City drowning in drugs, violent crime, and political corruption. Will his plans for urban renewal be thwarted by unhinged assassin The Riddler (Paul Dano), or mob henchman Oz “The Penguin” Cobblepot (Colin Farrell)? Or will Zoe Kravitz steal the show as a limber cat burglar with a soft spot for strays?  Jakob, Stuart, and Arnie can help you crack the code on this dense new Caped Crusader adventure.  Listen Now!

When Harlow sunflowers bloom, hipsters are doomed

Nearly 50 years after she left Leatherface dancing in the street, final girl Sally Hardesty returns to face another Texas Chainsaw Massacre in 2022.  Can she save a bus full of social media influencers who dared to unlawfully displace the serial killer from his retirement in small town Harlow?  And will Elsie Fisher (Eighth Grade) use the survival skills she honed during a school shooting to fight back against the triggered madman once the power tools come out?  Brock, Stuart, and Arnie are abuzz with thoughts about this ninth franchise installment.  Listen Now!

{Texas Chainsaw Massacre Series}

Who knew using the DaVinci Code shaved $2 billion off your next Papa John’s order?

Tom Holland leaves Spider-Man and the MCU behind to head into the Uncharted waters of a popular Playstation video game.  Will his Nathan Drake solve a series of puzzles that lead to the legendary treasure of world explorer Ferdinand Magellan?  Or will he be conned out of the gold by greedy partner Mark Wahlberg, billionaire rival Antonio Banderas, or a host of femme fatales and modern day pirates?  All you have to do to unlock the opinions of host Arnie, Justin, and Stuart is download the latest Now Playing Arcade installment. Listen Now!

If she likes taking unnecessary risks so much, she shoulda made a sequel to Sphere

Sharon Stone could have screwed like a mink, raised rugrats, and lived happily ever after with Michael Douglas. Instead, her icy crime novelist chances implication in new murders and wardrobe malfunctions 14 years later in Basic Instinct 2.  Is pasty psychologist David Morrissey right to claim the femme fatale suffers from risk addiction, and will endanger all of London if she’s allowed to write a new book there?  Or is the real poison pen being wielded by a tabloid journalist and a dirty cop? You may never come again after you score the latest Now Playing fix.

Now Playing's sister podcast Books & Nachos is back!  On this show you can hear Arnie, Stuart, and Brock review JK Rowling's smash first novel: Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. It's a companion piece to tomorrow's bonus review of the first Harry Potter movie!

You can hear a new Harry Potter BOOK review each week at BooksAndNachos.com

Michael Douglas has survived many big screen fatal attractions with dangerous blondes, but the slick yuppie courts a date with the sharp end of an ice pick after he beds Sharon Stone in the steamy 1992 thriller Basic Instinct.  Does this femme fatale write novels as a way of planning the future murders of unsatisfying lovers? Or is there a psychotic reader turning bloody acts from her books into San Francisco crime scenes?  Untangle all the double crosses and crossed legs when you join Arnie, Jakob, and Stuart for this kinky podcast review.  Listen Now!

Roses are red, violets are blue, pickaxes are painful, and reboots are too

With “horror holidays” like Halloween, April Fool’s Day, and Friday the 13th routinely being celebrated with 21st Century remakes, it makes sense that someone would dig up My Bloody Valentine in 2009,. Can the censors stop the carnage now that it’s flying into audiences’ faces via 3-D?  And what kills a small town faster - a homicidal maniac stuffing residents’ hearts into boxes of candy, or prodigal son Jensen Ackles (Supernatural) closing down the local coal mine? Find out if the hosts are sweet on this second helping of Harry Warden when you Listen Now!

Twenty years after a cave-in turned a coal miner into a cannibal, legendary psychopath Harry Warden returns to paint his hometown red in the 1981 original My Bloody Valentine. So why don’t moviegoers associate headlamps and pickaxes with February 14th in the same way hockey masks and machetes signify Friday The 13th? And were the cruelest cuts made by the MPAA, who edited out literal showers of blood in order to give the film an R rating?  Find out if Stuart, Jakob, and Arnie fall in love with this subterranean slasher when you Listen Now.

What do you mean you like TikTok more than scary movies?!

Neve Campbell, David Arquette, and Courtney Cox are ready to Scream for the fifth and possibly final time as a serial killer in a Ghostface mask terrorizes a new generation of self-aware Woodsboro horror enthusists. Is the 25-year-old franchise still capable of pulling off big surprises like that initial, infamous phone call to Drew Barrymore?  And will the new directors enrage or bore Wes Craven purists by slipping some of that fancy pants “elevated horror” into the slasher formula?  Find out if this “re-quel” proves legendary when you Listen Now.

{Scream Series}

He brings the Mile High Club and the six feet under crowd together

Tabloid journalist Miguel Ferrer (Robocop) is on the trail of The Night Flier, a serial killer who drains victims of blood during sunset stops at tiny East Coast airports. Is there any truth to the rumor that this phantom aviator is a vampire?  And if so, is his sleek black jet just a way of impressing those blue haired groupies waiting for him on the tarmac?  Find out if this latest installment in the Stephen King retrospective has more bite than other short story adaptations from the Nightmares & Dreamscapes anthology when you Listen Now.

{Stephen King Series}

100 years before Eggsy joined Colin Firth as a member of the Kingsmen, Ralph Fiennes (Schindler’s List) and his servants founded the secret spy organization inside a Savile Row tailor’s shop in the prequel The King’s Man. Can director Matthew Vaughn retain his signature mix of balls-out action and irreverent humor while exploring the root causes of World War I?  And who is the mastermind of an imagined supergroup of historical villains including seductress Mata Hari and Russian monk Rasputin (Rhys Ifans)?  Mind your manners and Listen Now!

{Kingsman Series}

Mobster Christian Slater has spent a lifetime outfitting his enemies with cement shoes, so it’s poetic justice that vengeful construction worker Wes Bentley (American Beauty) rigs a newly paved road so it swallows Dolan’s Cadillac and buries the human trafficker alive. Can a standout entry in Stephen King’s Nightmares & Dreamscapes short story collection be successfully stretched into feature length?  And how much will the potty-mouthed Heathers star owe the swear jar should he manage to escape this trap?  Get it in gear and find out now!

{Stephen King Series}

Peter Parker fears there’s No Way Home to his happy life with MJ (Zendaya) after Dr. Strange casts a magic spell that brings all the previous Spider-Man heroes and villains into the MCU.  Is it Tom Holland’s responsibility to fix the messes made by Green Goblin (Willem Dafoe), Dr. Octopus (Alfred Molina), Sandman (Thomas Haden Church), Lizard (Rhys Ifans), and Electro (Jamie Foxx)? And were the spoiler-phobic right to avoid all social media before watching?  Find out on another unforgettable Marvel podcast.

{Avengers Series}
{Marvel Series}
{Comic Book Movie Series}  
{Spider-Man Series}
{Venom Series}

Where we’re going, there are no roads...

It can be a bumpy ride trying to follow Stephen King works on their journey from page to screen. What happens when the macabre Maine author has a head-on collision with British horror scribe Clive Barker (Hellraiser) in a two story pile-up called Quicksilver Highway?  Can carnival showman Christopher “Doc Brown'' Lloyd make sense of this roadside carnage, as hands willingly sever themselves from their bodies, and a pair of wind-up chattery teeth take a bite out of a hitchhiker?  Listen now as Arnie, Stuart, and Jakob rubberneck at another King adaptation.

{Stephen King Series}

{Nightmares and Dreamscapes Series}

Award-winning acting talent (and Steven Weber) try to wake up the Stephen King retrospective with 8 tales of horror taken from the short story collection Nightmares & Dreamscapes. What happens when assassin William Hurt (A History of Violence) goes to war with a box full of toys, detective William H Macy (Fargo) meets his maker, author Tom Berenger (Platoon) runs from a phantom in a cursed painting, and snakebitten golfer Richard Thomas (It) is mistaken for dead?  Find out if Jakob, Stuart, and Arnie survive another King TV miniseries when you Listen Now.

{Stephen King Series} 

{Nightmares and Dreamscapes Series}

Take me down to the Raccoon City where the folks are green and the cops are pretty

The Umbrella Corporation may have left town (and taken original star Milla Jovovich with them), but there’s still a horde of bloodthirsty zombies ready to welcome audiences back to Raccoon City in the seventh Resident Evil installment. Can estranged siblings Chris and Claire Redfield bring the foster father who poisoned their childhood to justice before he escapes with the infamous T-virus?  And can corporate espionage spy Albert Wesker really hack pharmaceutical secrets with only a Palm Pilot at his disposal?  Find out what’s up with a 90s throwback now.

{Video Game Series} 

{Resident Evil Series}

Astronaut Matt Damon proves he has the “right stuff” to survive an extended stay on the Red Planet in Ridley Scott’s acclaimed 2015 blockbuster The Martian.  Justin, Jakob, and Stuart continue their look at outer space exploration with an ultra-realistic trip to the nearest colonizable planet. How many scientists does it take to cypher out a solution to getting a marooned botanist back home safe?  And will audiences find the results easier to follow than Interstellar and Arrival?  Link up with the latest Now Playing transmission and find out.

{Individual Movie Reviews}

A San Diego couple buy a video camera to document the Paranormal Activity visiting their bedroom late at night, and end up making the most  profitable horror movie of all time.  How did raw footage of creaking  floorboards and slight door movements scare the bejesus out of audiences  steeped in the graphic imagery of torture porn?  And can Jakob, Stuart,  and Arnie find any clues revealing the identity of this demon  supposedly hiding in the dark? The lights come up on a highly requested  series when you Donate for Gold Level this Fall.

These days they’ll let any 90-year-old who ever pretended to fly a starship go up in a rocket. But you had to have The Right Stuff if you hoped to survive the first messy attempts to put a man in orbit back at the dawn of the Space Race.  Join Jakob, Justin, and Stuart as they witness the amazing early successes and blunders of NASA, as well as the career launch of some major acting talent -  including Ed Harris (The Abyss), Dennis Quaid (Innerspace), Scott Glenn (Backdraft), and playwright Sam Sheppard. Blast off into an 80s classic when you Listen Now!

{Individual Movie Reviews}

Eons before the assembly of the Avengers, ten celestial caretakers known as Eternals came together to protect and guide human development on Earth. Did Oscar-winning director Chloe Zhao (Nomadland) deviate too much from the Marvel formula in telling the secret history of the planet’s first superheroes?  And should Angelina Jolie and Salma Hayek get credit for bestowing culture on mankind with Hackers and Grown Ups 2 on their resumes? Find out if Arnie, Stuart, and Jakob share a Uni-Mind about the latest MCU installment. Listen Now.  

{Avengers Series}

{Marvel Series}

{Comic Book Movie Series}

Stuart, Arnie, and Jakob played a nasty trick on listeners when they pulled Loki from the Summer 2021 schedule at the last minute.  Now they make up for lost time by diving into the first six episodes of Tom Hiddleston’s quest to conquer all of existence (or at least Disney Plus). Can the Norse God dethrone the three space lizards who currently police the future and promote the popularity of his nemeses The Avengers? And are the podcasters fated to review a never-ending stream of Marvel now that they’ve said “yes” to a TV series?  Listen and Find Out!

{Avengers Series}

{Marvel Series}

{Comic Book Movie Series}

Timothee Chalamet may look scrawny to Jason “Aquaman” Mamoa, but prophecy foretells the Call Me By Your Name star to be the savior of Dune in 2021. Can director Denis Villeneuve (Blade Runner 2049) hope to pass the test of coherently adapting Frank Herbert’s complex novel of life on a desert planet, given that David Lynch and SyFy Channel already experienced great pain putting their hands in this box?  Join Stuart, Jakob, and Arnie as they worm their way through a saga of prophecy, ecology, and intergalactic politics in an epic podcast.  Listen Now!

{Dune Series}

It’s easy to blame Haddonfield’s high body count on local boogeyman Michael Myers, but many of the latest Halloween Kills are being committed by a violent mob of formerly decent citizens. Did babysitter Jamie Lee Curtis, terrified kids Anthony Michael Hall and Kyle Richards, and shaky cop Will Patton grow up to become the real monsters of the community?  And will Michael approve of the changes made to his sister’s bedroom when he catches up with the current owners of his redecorated house?  Listen Now as Arnie, Stuart, and Brock unmask this sequel!

{Halloween Series} 

{John Carpenter Series}

Diamonds may be forever, but Daniel Craig only has one more shot at bringing James Bond to life in No Time To Die. Will longtime nemesis Blofeld (Christoph Waltz) ruin the superspy’s chances at Happily Ever After by blowing up his Italian holiday with Lea Seydoux?  Or will Rami Mallick prove to be the bigger threat as he uses nanotechnology and a Zen Garden of Death to poison the world? Find out if Brock, Stuart, and Arnie are shaken or stirred by 007 replacement Lashana Lynch, or any of the other surprises in this epic conclusion, when you Listen Now!

{James Bond Series}

That '70s girl takes after that '80s psycho

Folks might think of Mila Kunis as a typical All American Girl, but the 70’s Show actress proves she can be an American Psycho II after homicidal yuppie Patrick Bateman attacks her babysitter. Is this coed so eager to land a job hunting serial killers with the FBI that she’s willing to murder everyone in her criminology class?  And how do the Now Playing hosts grade William Shatner, beaming down into this direct-to-video oddity to play a lecherous professor?  You’d have to be a sociopath not to be curious about this special Friday freebie show. Listen Now!

{American Psycho}

Tom Hardy was struggling to make room for Venom in his life even before natural born killer Woody Harrelson, his screaming mad girlfriend Naomi Harris (Skyfall), and a blood red baby symbiote crashed their picture. Does sequel Let There Be Carnage bring an end to the reporter’s unconventional marriage to the gooey, black alien parasite? And is Michelle Williams proof that things get better once you’re out of the “Eddie closet”?  Discover if Arnie, Jakob, and Stuart lose their heads over, or call the whole thing off, when you Listen Now!

{Spider-Man Series}

{Marvel Series}

{Comic Book Movie Series}

{Venom Series}

Christian Bale might look like just another vapid investment banker, but behind his well-groomed features and aerobicized body lies the mind of an American Psycho. So how did predatory Patrick Bateman go from graphically torturing women in one of the most misogynist books of the 1990s, to having a female director turn him into the punchline of the 1980s in this millennial horror comedy?  And will Arnie really defend the "killer soundtrack" this yuppie cranks as he Wang Chungs on the all-star cast?  Listen Now, and find out what's inside a podcaster's head!

{American Psycho}

Shirley Jackson’s novel The Haunting of Hill House stood as a horror classic for nearly 60 years before director Mike Flanagan (Hush) expanded its walls into a 10 episode miniseries for Netflix.  Nell, Luke, and Theo are now the children of house flippers, spending the summer of 1992 seeing ghosts in renovated basements and hallways. Should the Crain siblings blame spectres like Tall Man and Abigail, or their secretive father and crazy mother, for why their lives are so messed up in 2018?  Now Playing invites you to settle in for a forever podcast. Listen now!

{The Haunting Series}

Producer Steven Spielberg and director Jan DeBont (Speed) poured a lot of time and money into remodeling Shirley Jackson's classic ghost story into the much reviled 1999 remake of The Haunting.  Long before she played clapping games with Ed and Lorraine Warren, Lili Taylor was conjuring bad spirits during her stay at a mansion where hundreds of child laborers perished.  Do we need Liam Neeson’s science experiments to know there’s nothing scary going on?  Arnie, Jakob, and Stuart are here to clean house with a brand new podcast.  Listen Now!

{The Haunting Series}

Could the next Legend of the Marvel Cinematic Universe be an unassuming San Francisco parking valet who prefers late night karaoke to taking down his father's infamous Ten Rings terrorist cell?  Martial artist Shang Chi is ready to answer the call for a modern Asian American superhero. But do comedienne Awkwafina, Crouching Tiger star Michelle Yeoh, and the Man Who Would Be The Mandarin (aka Ben Kingsley) offer enough protection for a magical gated community besieged by soul-sucking serpents? Hop aboard the Now Playing bus to find out!

{Avengers Series} 

{Marvel Series} 

{Comic Book Movie Series}

Who can take a franchise, sprinkle it with dew, and get whole new generations buzzing about a gutted corpse or two?  Executive producer Jordan Peele can, because he mixes love for a 1992 Tony Todd slasher with the inflammatory racial politics of Get Out and Us.  Is it performance art or possession that drives a desperate Yahya Abdul-Mateen II (Aquaman) to strap on the iconic hook and paint the gentrified Cabrini-Green neighborhood red in 2019?  You can summon the thoughts of the Now Playing hosts anytime you want when you Donate for Candyman today!

Hear this preview now then head to NowPlayingPodcast.com/donate to get the full series!

{Candyman Series}

Paranormal investigators engineer a blind date between a homeless wallflower and the noisy poltergeists of Hill House in The Haunting - the original 1963 movie adaptation of Shirley Jackson's classic ghost story.  Director Robert Wise took a break between his Oscar-winning musicals West Side Story and The Sound of Music to craft one of the most beloved haunted house movies of all time!  But will modern audiences find the rooms too old-fashioned and musty to spend time in now? Join Jakob, Stuart, and Arnie as they unpack a classic.

{The Haunting Series}

{{everywhere}}

40 years after nerdy Dustin Hoffman made his stand on foreign soil, preppy screenwriter James Marden borrows those iconic cracked spectacles so he can spar with some backwoods football jocks he calls Straw Dogs. Can new director Rod Lurie replicate the original film’s signature brand of cruelty in small town Mississippi? And will disgruntled wife Kate Bosworth stick with her Superman Returns co-star, or surrender to the redneck charms of Alexander Skarsgaard (True Blood)? Jakob, Stuart, and Arnie are locked, loaded, and ready for the 2011 reboot. Listen Now!

{Straw Dogs}

Lock the doors, bar the windows, and strap on a pair of headphones!  Now Playing is prepping a retrospective of recent Home Invasion Classics, starting with the original 2008 shocker The Strangers.  Why do three masked pranksters spend the night terrorizing a couple in a remote woodland cottage? And can Liv Tyler (Armageddon) and Scott Speedman (Underworld) appease their unwanted house guests before they become another crime statistic? Invite Stuart, Arnie, Jakob, and a whole lot of fun into your life when you donate for Fall's Silver Level Series.

{The Strangers Series}

Dustin Hoffman discovers that Jolly Old England is no refuge from the violence and social unrest of 1971 in the original Straw Dogs.  Writer/director Sam Peckinpah pioneered the home invasion horror movie with this story of an American mathematician channeling his inner savage to beat back an angry mob storming his wife’s modest farm.  Does the 50-year-old classic still have the power to shock modern audiences weaned on a steady diet of Purge sequels? Join Jakob, Stuart, and Arnie as they pry open the teeth of this vicious steel trap. Listen Now!

{Straw Dogs}

Marvel might not always appreciate the irreverent humor of director James Gunn, but DC is happy to bring the Guardians of the Galaxy mastermind on board The Suicide Squad. Idris ‘Black Superman’ Elba leads a rebooted team of criminals - including old favorite Harley Quinn (Margot Robbie) and new hotshot Peacemaker (John Cena) - to a South American island coup that threatens the interests of Amanda Waller (Viola Davis).  Is Project Starfish just an excuse for the bad guys to show their buttholes? The hosts are dying to share the details. Listen Now!

{DC Comics Series}

{Comic Book Movie Series} 

{Batman Series} 

{DC Movie Universe} 

{Birds of Prey Series} 

{Joker Series} 

{DC Teams Series} 

{Suicide Squad Series}

Dev Patel sets out to prove he's more than a Slumdog Millionaire by pushing away from King Arthur's Round Table, and picking up a sword to do battle with The Green Knight.  Will Stuart, Jakob, and Justin lose their heads over this decidedly sinister spin on a classic 14th Century poem about chivalry?  And can indie director David Lowrey (A Ghost Story) dethrone Peter Jackson and become cinema's next giant of the fantasy genre?  The journey begins when you download the latest Now Playing adventure!

{Individual Movie Reviews}

Having crapped out on two previous live-action G.I. Joe adaptations Hasbro is ready to roll the dice again, betting big on Snake Eyes. This mute ninja is arguably the most popular Joe, but is he just as cool when he takes off the mask and he's the romantic guy from Crazy Rich Asians? Our hosts won't be silent with their thoughts! Listen now to know if they recommend this film -- and knowing is half the battle.

{GI Joe Series}

WWII strategy video game Company of Heroes moves the battle lines from computer consoles to movie screens with a stealth 2013 cinematic adaptation.  But will Justin, Arnie, or Stuart decorate rising action star Chad Michael Collins, Vinnie Jones, or any of the other B-list actors in this platoon for their efforts in stopping Hitler from getting the nuke?  And who thought it was a good idea to put demoted Tom Sizemore in charge of the Christmas hams?  Find out if "the Good War" makes for a good entry in the Now Playing Arcade when you Listen Now.

{Video Game Series}

Scarlett Johansson breaks away from the Avengers after seven Marvel movies together so that her Russian secret agent Black Widow can finally headline her first solo adventure. Will Natasha Romanoff wipe the red from her ledger by hunting down the man who confined her childhood to war games in a Red Room?  And does super soldier father David Harbour, scientist mom Rachel Weisz, and tag along little sister Florence Pugh back the trained assassin the way Cap, Thor, and Hulk would?  Find out when you join the Now Playing family reunion and Listen Now!

{Avengers Series} 

{Marvel Series} 

{Comic Book Movie Series}

A Japanese gangster helps a little girl navigate a treacherous red light district in search of her missing mother in the sprawling adaptation of 2006 video game Yakuza (aka Like A Dragon).  Will the pair find their way through a dense plot involving a Korean assassin, klutzy bank robbers, desperate teenagers, bickering cops, and a flashy psycho who beats underlings and enemies alike with his baseball bat?  And are gamers in for some serious pain with sadistic director Takashi Miike (Audition) at the helm?  It all translates into one crazy night. Listen now!

{Video Game Series}

Is new father Dominic Toretto and his family of furious drivers slowing down 20 years into The Fast Saga?  Only when they rocket to space and race their souped-up vehicles in zero gravity!   This time Vin Diesel faces off against long lost brother John Cena, who’s hitched his wagon to sexy IT support Charlize Theron in a bid to hack the planet.  Will the Now Playing hosts be magnetized by all the stunts and globe-trotting spectacle?  Or has F9 thrown a wrench into the franchise with some NOS-huffing plot twists?  Find out when you buckle up and Listen Now!

{Fast and Furious Series}

Everyone in 2021 wants to blame Bill Gates for putting microchips in vaccination shots, but the practice was pioneered by Allstate pitchman Dennis Haysbert in the 2016 Dead Rising sequel Endgame.  Hallmark Channel hunk Jesse Metcalfe returns as the intrepid reporter hero, this time leading hackers and marksmen through a city overrun with zombies to rescue his missing camerawoman and avert genocide.  Find out if there’s an Afterlife for this undead video game franchise when you play the latest Now Playing Arcade installment.

{Video Game Series} 

{Dead Rising Series}

Why are the Dead Rising all over East Mission, Oregon if the government has a miracle drug that can prevent zombie outbreaks?  It’s all part of Operation Watchtower, a top secret plan to give the military unprecedented access to American lives.  But will anyone find out the truth if TV journalist Jesse Metcalfe insists on airing the story exclusively on middling streaming service Crackle?  And can this 2015 zom-com live up to the irreverence of the 2006 Capcom video game on which it’s based?  Find out on the latest Now Playing Arcade podcast!

{Video Game Series} 

{Dead Rising Series}

It’s not The Devil, but Now Playing’s loyal listeners, that made Arnie, Majorie, and Stuart do another Conjuring film after so many hellish experiences in the franchise.  This time the Warrens are heading to court in the 1980s to help a man beat a murder rap by insisting he was possessed by a demon escaped from his waterbed.  Does Ed have the heart to keep fabricating these “true stories”, or are all these cons damning the demonologist to an early grave?  And will Lorraine finally summon green arrows by trailing a series of witch totems?  Listen and find out!

{Conjuring Series}

Blood-soaked prom queen... tween pyromaniac... axe wielding book critic… just some of the scary women that have leaped from the pages of Stephen King’s horror fiction onto the big screen. Now hardened New England housekeeper Dolores Claiborne is ready for her day in court. Will Kathy Bates eclipse the Oscar-winning work she did in Misery as she stands accused of pushing her cruel employer down the stairs? And will daughter Jennifer Jason Leigh fight for mama’s freedom knowing she did in dad years before? Find out on the latest King-cast.

{Stephen King Series}

George Clooney and his Ocean’s co-stars made casino heists look easy, but they never had to crack a safe being guarded by an Army of the Dead. Can Dave Bautista and his colorful crew of mercenaries bypass reanimated Elvis impersonators and a zombie white tiger to lay claim to a Vegas jackpot before nukes are dropped?  And is writer-director Zack Snyder pushing his luck by returning to the horror genre 15 years after his Dawn of the Dead remake?  Your chances for a good time always improve when you join the Now Playing hosts at the tables.  Listen Now!

{Army of the Dead Series}

Ladies and gentlemen, I have one piece of advice for you. No matter what Jigsaw tells you, there's no escape from a Jigsaw trap. None! Oh, there's pain in a Jigsaw trap, but you don't want pain...you want an escape. And Chris Rock's new movie Spiral: From the Book of Saw shows there's no escape from a Jigsaw trap. So play the game, and our podcast review of Spiral, now.

{Saw Series}

Anthony Mackie shields himself from the pressure of becoming the next Captain America by taking to the sky as The Falcon for Marvel’s second Disney+ miniseries, and it’s made Sebastian Stan angry enough to relapse back into The Winter Soldier.  Can these two set aside their differences long enough to save the world from a group of political extremists enhanced by super-soldier serum?  And do these six episodes go by in a Blip, or is the MCU better suited to the big screen?   Jakob, Arnie, and Stuart smash a lot more than flags when you Listen Now.

{Avengers Series} 

{Marvel Series} 

{Comic Book Movie Series} 

{Captain America Series}

Tom Clancy techno-thrillers typically feature desk-bound diplomats on the hunt for missing subs and rogue nukes, but the stakes are much more personal for Michael B Jordan (Creed) as he seeks vengeance against the hitman who murdered his family in Without Remorse.  Could the Navy Seal-turned-CIA operative start WWIII by breaking out of jail and heading to Russia in such a rage? And will Amazon Prime give this character's origin story the same hero's welcome that greeted old friend Jack Ryan? You'll be sad if you miss the latest Clancy-cast.  Listen Now!

{Tom Clancy Series}

It’s been a hot minute since movie theaters hosted a Mortal Kombat tournament, but now the notoriously violent video game reboots itself on IMAX screens and HBO as an R-rated cinematic free-for-all.  Can Raiden and damned ninja Scorpion light a fire under a mediocre MMA fighter, a double amputee, a girl without a dragon tattoo, and a loudmouth Aussie, so they’re prepared for a flawless victory over Shang Tsung, Sub-Zero, and other Outworld challengers? And will this 2021 rematch receive the cold shoulder from Justin, Stuart, and Arnie?  Listen and find out.

{Video Game Series} 

{Mortal Kombat Series}

Milla Jovovich and director Paul WS Anderson are hoping to recapture lightning in a bottle as they leave behind the zombie hordes of Resident Evil to chase bigger video game beasties in the 2020 blowout Monster Hunter.  Will a team of grizzled UN soldiers find their way home after a sandstorm sweeps them into an alternate reality where giant crabs, worms, and dragons sit atop the food chain?  And will martial artist Tony Jaa or Ron “Hellboy” Perlman help or hinder their chances of survival? Find out the final score in the latest Now Playing Arcade installment!

{Video Game Series}

Adam Sandler tries his hand in the Now Playing Arcade with the 2015 video game farce Pixels.  Space invaders have brought classic coin-op characters to life, and now Pac-Man is gobbling up Manhattan, while Centipede conducts a pub crawl through London. Is it possible for a washed-up Atari addict to save a country that was stupid enough to elect Kevin James to be President?  And can Q*bert, con artist Peter Dinklage, and crackpot Josh Gad take this former Waterboy to the next level of comedy?  No quarters are necessary to find out.  Listen Now!

{Video Game Series}

Godzilla Vs. Kong is a rivalry as old as the Hollow Earth (or at least the Japanese showdown of 1963), and now their battle to be crowned King of the Monsters is 2021’s biggest movie event.  Will the Now Playing hosts cheer for the big ape as he breaks free of Project Monarch chains that have shackled him since Skull Island?  Or is the angry green lizard still our fav, despite being slandered as the bad guy by a biotech company angling to unleash a robot monster of its own?  Find out if this final round of the MonsterVerse is a winner when you Listen Now!

{Godzilla Series} 

{MonsterVerse Series} 

{King Kong Series}

Godzilla won the box office when he took down a MUTO (and most of San Francisco) in his 2014 Hollywood comeback. Now Mothra, Rodan, and all of the Big Lizard’s former co-stars burst forth from the Hollow Earth to challenge the throne. Have eco-terrorists made it possible for three-headed Ghidorah to be crowned 2019’s King of the Monsters?  And are these Titan battles stranger than the things Millie Bobby Brown witnesses on a daily basis with her bickering scientist parents?  Myth is our compass as Now Playing returns to the MonsterVerse.

{Godzilla Series} 

{MonsterVerse Series} 

{King Kong Series}

It was a decisive victory for The Legion of Doom when Warner Bros. executives handed Zack Snyder’s unfinished superhero team-up Justice League to Avengers mastermind Joss Whedon. Internet trolls were not kind to this last-minute attempt to leave the Darkseid behind, and tell jokes at Superman’s wake.  Their aggressive social media campaign has paved the way for the original director to assemble a four-hour cut that promises to fix all the problems in the 2017 release. Find out if Jakob, Stuart, and Arnie have hope again for the DCU.  Listen now!

{DC Teams Series} 

{DC Comics Series} 

{Comic Book Movie Series} 

{DC Movie Universe} 

{Superman Series} 

{Batman Series} 

{Wonder Woman Series} 

{Flash Series} 

{Aquaman Series}

It wasn’t so long ago that Elizabeth Olsen was blowing up the big screen in epic films like Avengers: Endgame.  What curse has befallen her career that Scarlet Witch is now slumming it in a cheesy sitcom called WandaVision?  Is Marvel experiencing some Growing Pains while trying to raise the TV profile of their superheroes?  And is Paul Bettany merely a special guest star on the series, or has his cyborg Vision found a way to live on without an Infinity Stone?  Arnie, Jakob, and Stuart broadcast their thoughts on a massive podcast airing now!

{Avengers Series} 

{Marvel Series} 

{Comic Book Movie Series}

30 years after finding the perfect wife in New York City, Eddie Murphy’s King Akeem is once again Coming 2 America to meet the son he sired with one-night stand Leslie Jones.  Will Millennial prince Jermaine Fowler follow in his father’s footsteps, and marry for love?  Or will despot Wesley Snipes bring civil war down upon Zamunda if his daughter isn’t made the royal bride? And are these wedding hijinks more appetizing than a grass burger from McDowell’s?  Discover if the palace is big enough to house all the returning characters when you Listen Now!

{Coming to America Series} 

{Eddie Murphy Series}

Eddie Murphy let his soul glow in a new romantic light for the 1988 fairy tale Coming To America, starring as an African royal looking for his bride in downtrodden Queens, New York. Will any woman see Prince Akeem’s true worth once he goes undercover as a poor exchange student working the janitorial crew of a fast-food restaurant?  And can audiences spot Murphy and buddy Arsenio Hall in all of their latex disguises courtesy of Oscar-winning make-up artist Rick Baker?  Explore the very fine line between love and nausea when you Listen Now!

{Coming to America Series} 

{Eddie Murphy Series}

Jakob, Stuart, and Arnie are not going to Stand for another crummy TV miniseries, so CBS better hope their nine-hour take on Stephen King’s beloved novel doesn’t choke like a Langolier downing ham Bronson Pinchot. Whoopi Goldberg leads an all-star cast of survivors rebuilding civilization in the aftermath of a deadly virus. Will they (or audiences) be tempted to shun the grind of a Colorado commune, and follow Dark Man Alexander Skarsgaard into debauchery? What happens in New Vegas gets said on an epic Now Playing podcast. Listen Now!

{Stephen King Series}

{Stand Series}

Did Valentine’s Day lack that spark of danger you crave? Why not spice up your life by joining in a round of Gerald’s Game? Carla Gugino leaves her Spy Kids at home, and consents to some light bondage in a remote Maine cabin, in an effort to save her marriage to yuppie Bruce Greenwood.  What happens when she’s left shackled to the bedpost with no one but a feral dog and figments of an overactive imagination to hear her cries?  Find out if Arnie, Jakob, and Stuart are turned on by the kinky side of Stephen King when you Listen Now!

{Stephen King Series}

Madchen Amick saw her fair share of weirdness living in Twin Peaks, but nothing could prepare her for a date in the pet cemetery with one of Stephen King’s Sleepwalkers.  Will the virginal high school student survive a makeout session with a feline vampire intent on stealing her breath?  And can the Now Playing hosts stop gasping over the dated computer effects, and numerous incestuous lovemaking scenes between mother and son?  The cat definitely doesn’t have the tongues of Arnie, Jakob, and Stuart, so find out what they say when you Listen Now!

{Stephen King Series}

Stephen King is hosting a fire sale in Castle Rock – the fictional Maine setting for some of his most iconic stories. Now everything… and everyone… must go, unless local sheriff Ed Harris can shut down the dirty dealings of sinister new shopkeep (and O.G. exorcist) Max Von Sydow!  Will these small town residents sell out their neighbors for the chance to own enchanted objects that corrupt their hearts and minds? And will podcasters Jakob, Stuart, and Arnie get all they wish for out of the 1993 adaptation of Needful Things?  Listen Now and find out!

{Stephen King Series}

Arnie, Justin, and Stuart have shed a lot of tears while suffering through the 11 previous Uwe Boll video game adaptations, but the divisive director/producer can’t hurt the podcasters anymore if they can survive Far Cry. Til Schweiger (Inglourious Basterds) stars as the mercenary boat skipper who takes on an island of mutants like in the original installment of the first-person shooter.  Can the aspiring action hero score any points with movie audiences ready to go Postal should Boll leave them Alone In The Dark one more time?  Listen Now!

{Video Game Series}

Is Bloodrayne storming the Nazi death camps because she wants to take down The Third Reich and stop Hitler from becoming a vampire?  Or because the bisexual bloodsucker is kinky for more steam room threeways?  Director Uwe Boll wants to have it three ways too, as he reuses the sets and cast of this video game adaptation to simultaneously make a Bloodrayne “spoof” with obese asskicker Blubberella, and a Spielberg-trolling expose of Auschwitz gas chambers.  Don’t worry, the Now Playing firing squad is equipped to take ’em all out.  Listen Now!

{Video Game Series} 

{Bloodrayne Series}

Almost everything has changed for Bloodrayne now that the daywalking vampire has left her European medieval castle, and traveled to the American frontier town of Deliverance, for a “high midnight” showdown with an undead Billy The Kid. Should gamers continue to feed their quarters into a series saddled with tax cheat Uwe Boll? Or does the much-maligned director prove to be better at shooting Spaghetti Westerns than Tolkien fantasies and zombie raves?  Find out if the Now Playing Arcade removes the bounty from Boll’s head when you Listen Now!

{Video Game Series} 

{Bloodrayne Series}

Kristanna Loken trades her Terminatrix leathers for a sword and fangs to star as the half-human, half-vampire assassin Bloodrayne. Does the video game vixen score many points with PlayStation fans by beating up on fat rocker Meatloaf, or picking a fight with everyone’s favorite pacifist Sir Ben “Gandhi” Kingsley?  And can anyone win against an End Boss as bad as director Uwe Boll, whose track record in the Now Playing Arcade automatically has the hosts reaching for their bows and Red Arrows?  Find out how much this sucks when you Listen Now!

{Video Game Series} 

{Bloodrayne Series}

Before we leave behind a stressful year of coronavirus and social turmoil, Now Playing needs to travel back in time to 1984, and see if Wonder Woman can provide the big screen fireworks that quarantined audiences have been missing.  Will heartbroken Gal Godot really give up her tiara and Amazonian strength for the chance to be with Steve Trevor (Chris Pine)?  And was it always Kristin Wiig’s wish to get into shape wearing a grody to the HBOMax cheetah outfit?  Find out if Pedro Pascal can make our dreams for a super sequel come true. Listen Now!

{DC Comics Series} 

{Comic Book Movie Series} 

{DC Movie Universe} 

{Wonder Woman Series}

John David Washington had some trouble infiltrating hate groups as a BlacKkKlansman, but that’s child’s play compared to the lengths he goes to unlock the secrets of Tenet.  Christopher Nolan’s 11th big screen adventure is his most twisted look at time yet – an IMAX sized optical illusion that reflects back on James Bond flicks while simultaneously pushing audiences into the uncertain future of a new quantum Cold War.  Wishing you had that PhD in Physics while you watched?  Stuart, Jakob, and Arnie are here to help you feel it and understand it.  Listen Now!

{Nolan Series}

CBS attempted to change its image as “the old persons’ network” in 1991 when it greenlit Stephen King’s Golden Years, a series about a top secret lab experiment that rapidly de-ages an elderly janitor. Can the 8 episodes of this prematurely cancelled TV drama find new life edited down into a four hour movie? And why is Felicity Huffman footing the bill for this afflicted man’s flight from justice, particularly when he no longer qualifies for senior citizen discounts? Get nostalgic for King’s “novel for television” with Now Playing. Listen now!

{Stephen King Series}

Eddie Murphy was the biggest comedy star of the 1980s when he decided to spend Another 48 Hrs razzing rednecks and dodging bullets back in San Francisco. Now Nick Nolte is the one who stands to go to jail, after false charges are brought against the cop while he chases phantom drug dealer The Iceman. Can director Walter Hill keep the boys competitive with the big action sequels of the era, or does the pair spend too much time repeating the first movie’s greatest hits to keep pace with Lethal Weapon 2 and Die Hard 2? Listen and find out!

{48 Hours Series} 

{Eddie Murphy Series}

It’s detective Nick Nolte’s worst nightmare – spending 48 Hrs handcuffed to scene stealer Eddie Murphy in his movie debut. How much damage can the pair do in two days as they tear through San Francisco looking for Warriors James Remar and David Patrick Kelly, and a Porsche full of money? And should director Walter Hill get his dick bronzed for pioneering the action-comedy formula that paved the way for Lethal Weapon, Rush Hour, and all those future foul-mouthed buddy cop franchises? Spend a little time with the Now Playing team and find out!

{48 Hours Series} 

{Eddie Murphy Series}

It’s taken almost 25 years for The Craft to conjure a sequel, but now the Legacy of the 1996 wicca hit continues with a new generation of female spellcasters joining the circle. Can four teen witches work together to defeat sinister stepfather David Duchovney, and some toxic high school boys? Or will Lily, the new Witch of the West, lose confidence in her powers after mother Michelle Monaghan, Mission Impossible 3, spills a dark family secret? Find out if Arnie, Stuart, and Jakob are in a bind about this next chapter of the coven when you Listen Now!

{The Craft Series}

Blessed be! Arnie, Jakob, and Stuart are under the spell of The Craft, the first high school movie of the ’90s to stick up for the wiccans. Strange things start happening when naturally gifted magick user Robin Tunney blows into an LA Catholic school from the North, and joins a coven of weirdos led by Wicked Witch of the West Fairuza Balk. Is hunky football jock Skeet Ulrich the snake-in-the-grass that will undo all this supernatural Girl Power? Or were the foursome mistaken for ever putting their trust in deity Manon? Join the circle and Listen Now!

{The Craft Series}

Most Americans remember the First Gulf War as a quick and decisive U.S. victory, but director Jonathan Demme (Silence of the Lambs) sees it as the beginning of a White House corporate takeover in his 2004 version of Manchurian Candidate. Should shellshocked Denzel Washington get back on his meds, and stop accusing fellow soldier Liev Schrieber of being a sleeper agent? Or is this Vice Presidential hopeful really in the pocket of Big Pharma, or worse; his mother Meryl Streep!? Find out if this remake truly is a dream by Listening Now!

{Manchurian Candidate Series}

Election got you stressed? Tune out today’s political noise and vote to reinstate the 1962 Manchurian Candidate instead. Can troubled soldier Frank Sinatra stop Deep State Communists from using a brainwashed Korean War vet to gain control of the White House? And would the country be any better off run by Angela Lansbury, who uses her windbag husband and the power of television to promote Red Scare fake news and Murder, She Wrote reruns? Find out if Jakob, Stuart, and Arnie endorse this paranoid classic. Listen Now!

{Manchurian Candidate Series}

Something big is crashing down on Now Playing in time for Halloween! Arnie, Jakob, and Stuart are here to declassify all three installments of JJ Abrams’ super secret Cloverfield monster franchise starting with the original 2008 found footage blockbuster! What happens when a goodbye party for a New York businessman headed to Japan turns into a ticker tape welcome parade for America’s first kaiju? Does funnyman TJ Miller have enough batteries in his camera to document all the action of this Manhattan rampage? Donate for Platinum Level and find out!

{Cloverfield Series}

Aloha from Shrieker Island, a tropical paradise where Wall Street suits pay for the pleasure of blasting bio-engineered Graboids all weekend long! That is, until the big worms dig under the ocean and take over a neighboring wildlife preserve. Fortunately Burt Gummer (Michael Gross) has gone native, and left his Arizona compound to hunt his nemesis one last time! Are his odds improved by bringing along Jon Heder (Napoleon Dynamite), Jackie Cruz (Orange Is The New Black), and a badass chick with a bow and arrow? Feel the vibes of the latest Tremors now!

{Tremors Series}

Arnie talks to Burt Gummer himself: Michael Gross!

{Tremors Series}

It will be A Cold Day In Hell before Burt Gummer lets the IRS take away his Nevada land and business! Which is why he and faithful cameraman Jamie Kennedy have signed on for a seventh Tremors adventure. How are Graboids and Ass Blasters thriving in the snowy mountains of the Canadian Arctic? And can Burt be much help to the bug hunt once he’s diagnosed with worm poisoning, and needs to extract antibodies from his underground enemy in order to live? Find out if the podcasters warm up to the next installment when you Listen Now!

{Tremors Series}

Monster hunter Burt Gummer (Michael Gross) traces the Bloodlines of his subterranean nemesis all the way back to a slimy cave in Africa in the safari-minded sequel Tremors 5. How much bigger and badder has Graboid evolution become on the Dark Continent, with the introduction of nocturnal Ass Blasters and detachable snake tentacles? And what kind of relationship does the cranky survivalist hope to forge with flamboyant new cameraman Jamie Kennedy (Scream)? Go off the grid with Arnie, Jakob, and Stuart and find out now!

{Tremors Series}

Audiences may have first learned about Graboids in Tremors, but The Legend Begins 100 years prior in a prequel where Burt Gummer’s great grandfather (also Michael Gross) finds his Nevada silver mine overrun with “dirt dragons”. Can a Mexican prospector, badass gunslinger, and community of rejected immigrants find the firepower to defeat these mythical snakes before their American Dream is swallowed whole? And do Arnie, Jakob, and Stuart cotton to this fourth film in the franchise devolving into a Western? Saddle up and find out now!

{Tremors Series}

Michael Gross and most of the original cast head Back To Perfection, Nevada for more Graboid hunting in Tremors 3. Too bad the man-eating worms are now considered an endangered species, and Burt and the locals are mandated to capture the desert pests humanely or be evicted. Is a flashy tour guide able to steer the franchise in an eco-friendly new direction? And are the monsters still a blast once they mutate again, and take to the air with the power of their farts? Arnie, Jakob, and Stuart aren’t about to move from their lookout spot. Join them Now!

{Tremors Series}

Those initial Tremors may be over, but Jakob, Arnie, and Stuart are now bracing for Aftershocks. Fred Ward takes the franchise south of the border for a cheap Mexican vacation without Kevin Bacon. What does it mean for the monster hunt when those wormy, underground Graboids take to the surface and metamorphosize into bipedal Shriekers? Has Earl done himself any favors by calling in the comedic firepower of guns enthusiast Michael Gross? Find out how much heat is coming off this straight-to-tape sequel when you Listen Now!

{Tremors Series}

What’s shaking at Now Playing these days? Jakob, Stuart, and Arnie are moving to Perfection, Nevada to join the cult devoted to Tremors. The fun begins with a fresh look at the original 1990 creature feature, in which bickering handymen Kevin Bacon and Fred Ward contend with a stampede of supersized, subterranean worms gobbling up their town. Can the Footloose hunk make moves on a geologist while wriggling out of a tight spot? And are Michael Gross (Family Ties) and country singer Reba MacEntire comedic dynamite together? Listen and Find Out!

{Tremors Series}

A decade before his landmark slasher A Nightmare On Elm Street gave ’80s mallrats insomnia, writer/director Wes Craven invited hippies inside The Last House On The Left for a tour of extreme horror movie violence.  What happens when four escaped psychopaths accept hospitality from the parents of the 17-year-old girl they just murdered?  Does revenge taste even more delicious served up as a home cooked meal on turned tables? Find out if this 1972 grindhouse classic still kills by becoming a Now Playing Silver Level Donor this Fall.

{Last House on the Left Series} 

{Wes Craven Series}

After ghosting audiences for the last three years, The New Mutants are finally ready to shut the history books on a half century of Boomer adventures, and let today’s generation have their say about the X-Men. Will the five central Millennials prove to be superheroes or snowflakes once nightmare creatures pop the protective bubble surrounding their world? And is she-wolf Rahne (Maisie Williams) the next Hugh Jackman, or do expectations flame out like Berto (Henry Zaga) when these kids are compared to MCU icons?  The struggle is real so Listen Now!

{X-Men Series} 

{Marvel Series} 

{Comic Book Movie Series}

Current events putting you in a heinous mood? Never fear fiftysomething metalheads Bill and Ted have seen the future, and return to the big screen ready to perform a song destined to heal an off-kilter universe. Have Keanu Reeves and Alex Winter grown up in the 29 years since their last cinematic adventure? And can daughters Billie and Thea traverse time and sign Jimi Hendrix, Mozart, and Death (William Sadler) to play in their dad’s defunct band Wyld Stallyns? It’s easier to Face The Music with friends Jakob, Arnie, and Stuart in your ear. Listen Now!

{Bill & Ted Series}

Sequels are always in danger of repeating themselves, but the problem becomes twofold for Bill and Ted when evil lookalike automatons hijack their second movie, and send the layabouts on a Bogus Journey to Hell! Can the wannabe rockers beat Death (William Sadler) at his own game, and get back to San Dimas in time to play a historic Wyld Stallyns concert? And is it beneficial for the boys to quit playing air guitar, and physically climb that Stairway To Heaven to plead their case to God? Find out if the hosts are excellent to each other and this movie by listening now!

{Bill & Ted Series}

Strange things are afoot at Now Playing! For the next three weeks Jakob, Stuart, and Arnaldo Carvalho, Esq. are catching up on the cinematic exploits of SoCal slackers Bill and Ted, starting with their 1989 Excellent Adventure. Can these clueless metalheads pass their history final by hopping in a time-traveling phone booth, and bringing legendary figures like Socrates and Napoleon Bonaparte to a 20th Century mall? And how accurate was this film’s prediction that Keanu Reeves and Alex Winter would change the future? Listen Now and Party On!

{Bill & Ted Series}

Johnny Depp has trouble telling fact from fiction after hayseed stalker John Turturro shows up on his porch, and accuses the New England writer of stealing his short story Secret Window.  But is Stephen King the real plagiarist by presenting another tale of a tortured author using plot points cribbed from The Dark Half?  And can Depp flip the script on his bitter divorce once bad things start happening to his cheating ex-wife (Maria Bello, not Amber Heard)? Find out if the seeds planted early in this narrative bear fruit or corn at the twist ending when you Listen Now!

{Stephen King Series}

Cancelled TV stars Bronson Pinchot (Perfect Strangers), David Morse (St. Elsewhere), and Patricia Wettig (thirtysomething) fight becoming a thing of the past after traveling through a rip in time in The Langoliers. Is this 1995 ABC miniseries a ticket back to prime time relevance? Or are the has-beens fated to a future forever flying coach and going unnoticed in the Bangor airport? And is 80s icon Pac-Man also angling for a comeback as he photobombs the finale?  Feast on the next crazy Stephen King installment with Stuart, Jakob, and Arnie now!

{Stephen King Series}

Chris Pine (Star Trek) may be the fourth actor to play Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit, but he’s the first incarnation of the Tom Clancy character to challenge Jason Bournes spy movie supremacy in the 21st Century. Can the CIA analyst keep pace with the times as he hunts down a shady Russian businessman (Kenneth Branaugh) out to tank the U.S. economy? And how long can eye surgeon Keira Knightley be kept in the dark about her boyfriend’s covert activities? Find out as Now Playing unlocks the file on the iconic spy's most recent big screen adventure.

{Tom Clancy Series} 

{Jack Ryan Series}

Ben Affleck goes from Chasing Amy/ and following J-Lo around the block, to pursuing neo-Nazis hoping to detonate a dirty bomb on American soil in The Sum of All Fears/. Was this fourth Jack Ryan adventure too timely, with a plot that predicted many aspects of the 9/11 terrorist attacks? Does Tom Clancys Cold War politics still apply to this new War On Terror? And will CIA director Morgan Freeman open a file on why Harrison Ford has gone missing from the franchise? Jakob, Stuart, and Arnie are ready to play ball with the hot button thriller. Listen Now!

{Tom Clancy Series} 

{Jack Ryan Series}

Harrison Ford was in no Clear and Present Danger/ of being replaced by any other movie star in 1994, but CIA analyst Jack Ryan does solicit help from another popular Tom Clancy character for his third big screen adventure. Can world-weary mercenary Clark (Willem Dafoe) help the pencil pusher defeat a Columbian drug cartel, and reign in an overreaching U.S. President? And does this 1989 novel about Reagan’s War On Drugs still hit the right targets today? Arnie, Jakob, and Stuart have emerged from the jungle with the answers, so Listen Now and find out!

{Tom Clancy Series} 

{Jack Ryan Series}

Paramount was eager to adapt more Tom Clancy novels after Red October/ brought home a boatload of cash. But is it as much fun to play Patriot Games/ with so many important pieces missing from the sequel? Gone are the Cold War politics, sleek submarine technology, and Alec Baldwin as our nerdy CIA analyst hero. Will Arnie, Jakob, and Stuart remain loyal to the past, or go with Harrison Ford as an older Jack Ryan defending his family and seaside home from crazy Sean Bean (Lord of the Rings/) and a rogue IRA faction? Listen and find out.

{Tom Clancy Series} 

{Jack Ryan Series}

Sean Connery has stolen a Soviet nuclear submarine, and now every Cold War naval vessel is on The Hunt For Red October. Tom Clancy’s 1984 bestseller was designed to torpedo Rambo shoot ’em ups, and take the action genre into a new decade of thinking man ‘techno-thrillers’. But did Alec Baldwin study enough about his co-star to turn his untested CIA analyst into the next James Bond? Arnie, Jakob, and Stuart are ready to track every move in Jack Ryan’s 30 year movie career, starting with this 1990 blockbuster. Listen Now!

{Tom Clancy Series} 

{Jack Ryan Series}

Join all seven podcasters as they sit down for the first time to give a collective review of The Breakfast Club.  Does John Hughes’ seminal teen drama of the 1980s still have something important to say about cliques and class division 35 years later?  What were the hosts like in high school, and has recording one thousand shows together felt like punishment or a unique bonding experience? You won’t need to return to your locker for that bag of grass in order to spend the day giggling as Now Playing explains “who we are”.  Listen Now!

{Individual Movie Reviews}

… except Snake Plissken, after President Cliff Robertson tasks him to recover a top secret weapon from revolutionaries hiding out at the former Happiest Place On Earth. But SoCal’s new prison island proves to be a decidedly sunnier and funnier place than the Big Apple penitentiary of 15 years ago. Can Kurt Russell’s one-eyed badass fend off deranged plastic surgeon Bruce Campbell, surf tsunamis with Peter Fonda, and hang with outlaw Pam Grier? And is Escape From LA a sequel to, or parody of, John Carpenter’s 1981 classic?  Listen and Find Out!

{Escape From Series} 

{John Carpenter Series}

How prophetic is John Carpenter’s 1981 vision of future Manhattan – so crime-ridden it’s become a maximum security prison?  And how easily can Kurt Russell shake off his Disney kid image to star as Snake Plissken, the one-eyed convict coerced by Lee Van Cleef to rescue the Commander-In-Chief from crime lord Isaac Hayes? Start spreadin’ the news, the podcast is ready to play.  Be a part of it and Listen Now!

{Escape From Series} 

{John Carpenter Series}

Novelist Timothy Hutton starts to go a little cuckoo when The Dark Half of his creative mind – the part responsible for writing all of his salacious bestsellers – takes physical form and strikes out at the family and friends that push the author to be more wholesome.  Is this latest Stephen King story just a thinly veiled tell-all of the horror writer’s struggles with alcohol and alter ego Richard Bachman? Or should we consider this more like a new chapter in director George Romero’s Living Dead saga?  See if Stuart, Jakob, and Arnie are on the same page when you Listen Now!

{Stephen King Series}

Arnie, Jakob, and Stuart continue to dig into Stephen King’s extensive filmography, this week reaching the much-maligned adaptation of Tommyknockers. Marg Helgenberger (CSI) and Jimmy Smitts (LA Law) cause a meltdown in their little Maine town when they excavate a UFO in their backyard. Were fans too quick to bury this ABC-TV miniseries?  Why would anyone want E.T. to go home when the aliens make such ingenious modifications to lipstick, magic shows, and Coke machines? Answer that knockin’ at the door by downloading and listening now!

{Stephen King Series}

Businesswoman Gwenyth Paltrow comes into contact with a novel virus. Now can an all-star cast stop her Contagion from spreading worldwide? And why does Matt Damon have a “Borne” immunity? Now Playing’s Viral Outbreak Retrospective reaches its dramatic conclusion with a podcast review of Steven Soderbergh’s sprawling, newly relevant 2011 medical thriller. Join Arnie, Stuart, and Jakob as they analyze the ways the fictional MEV-1 outbreak mirrors today’s COVID-19 pandemic. Listen Now!

{Viral Outbreak Series}

The Andromeda Strain has mutated again!  Michael Crichton’s landmark 1969 novel came back in 2008 as a two-night TV mini-series produced by Ridley and Tony Scott!  But is this cast of sitcom stars – including Eric McCormack (Will & Grace), Ricky Schroder (Silver Spoons), Christa Miller (Scrubs), and Andre Braugher (Brooklyn Nine-Nine) – capable of selling the science to a cable television audience? Follow Jakob, Arnie, and Stuart into the wormhole as they continue contact tracing the history of viral outbreaks in movies with this latest podcast.  Listen Now!

{Viral Outbreak Series} 

{Andromeda Strain Series}

The 1990s gets a whole lot grungier after an infected African monkey is smuggled into Northern California, and causes a deadly Outbreak.  Dustin Hoffman and Rene Russo star as divorcing virologists tasked with flattening the curve of a super-Ebola before nervous military brass Morgan Freeman and Donald Sutherland opt to level the hot zone and everyone inside with jetfire.  Find out if Stuart, Arnie, and Jakob think this 1995 medical thriller is nothing to sneeze at when you download the latest installment of their pandemic-themed podcast.  Listen now!

{Viral Outbreak Series}

Gag me with a spoon! Those glow-in-the-dark boils under your eyes aren’t just an ‘80s fashion statement, but a Warning Sign that your local agro-research lab is cooking up more than genetically modified food. Before he kept Law & Order on television, sheriff Sam Waterston shot it out with enraged scientists infected with Borna disease in this fourth installment of the Now Playing Viral Outbreak Retrospective. Is this another brainless zombie movie? Or can Jakob, Arnie, and Stuart sink their teeth into some hard science too? Listen and find out!

{Viral Outbreak Series}

A whole new kind of sickness struck the 1970s with the release of The Andromeda Strain. Four scientists hunker down in a top secret lab to study the space plague inadvertently brought to Earth by a fallen satellite. Can they find a cure for the killer alien bug before politicians use nukes to inoculate the planet? And will this first film adaptation of Michael Crichton’s bestseller develop a fatal case of disco fever coming from the director of musicals West Side Story and The Sound of Music? Find out now!

{Viral Outbreak Series} 

{Andromeda Strain Series}

(or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Support Podcasts

Stanley Kubrick and Peter Sellers help folks see the lighter side of apocalypse with their 1964 Cold War classic Dr. Strangelove. What happens when a paranoid general (Sterling Hayden) decides to protect American bodily fluids by ordering fighter pilot Slim Pickens to drop 50 megaton bombs on unsuspecting Soviet targets? Can George C. Scott and a Nazi scientist convince the US President there’s an upside to starting World War III? Find out when you become a Now Playing Patron and join Arnie, Stuart, and Jakob in the bunker this April.

{Individual Movie Reviews}

Pandemic movies infect the Swingin’ Sixties courtesy of The Satan Bug – a 1965 spy caper that becomes the second installment of Now Playing’s Viral Outbreak Retrospective. TV star George Maharis (Route 66) attempted to be an epidemiological James Bond when he slipped on an isolation suit, and hunted down the reclusive billionaire who broke into a top secret bioweapons lab to release a highly lethal virus.  Find out if Arnie, Jakob, and Stuart wash their hands of these dirty double crosses when you take two earbuds and call on Now Playing this morning!

{Viral Outbreak Series}

Finding yourself indoors with plenty of time to catch up on movies?  Avoid the Panic in the Streets, and join Stuart, Arnie, and Jakob as they analyze Hollywood portrayals of pandemics through the ages with a topical Viral Outbreak Retrospective. The seven part series begins in 1950 with an Oscar-winning film noir classic directed by Elia Kazan (On The Waterfront).  Can public health official Richard Widmark quarantine city slicker Jack Palance before the mobster infects all of New Orleans with plague?  Your cure for boredom is here when you give it a shot!

{Viral Outbreak Series}

No one was playing Dungeon Siege in 2014, much less joining Uwe Boll on his Last Mission to make a respectable fantasy film out of the role playing video game. Prison Break star Dominic Purcell discovers his tattoos can now open portals to ancient Bulgaria. Is the modern day assassin much help to two Ehb princesses out to overthrow a traitorous king and his fire-breathing dragon?  Or should he aim his pistol at the power-mad director instead? The hit job on this third In The Name Of The King chapter costs you nothing but time, so Listen Now!

{Video Game Series}

{Dungeon Siege Series}

Dolph!  Uwe! What happens when Two World Heavyweight movie punchlines unite for one epically bad sequel to fantasy flop In The Name of the King?  Lundgren stars as the unlikely son of Jason Statham, called from modern day Vancouver to wage war on a witch and her cannibal army in the medieval land of Ehb. Chosen Ones Justin, Stuart, and Arnie command you to fulfill the prophecy, take another drink from this never ending Boll of poison, and keep listening to the Now Playing Arcade until we’ve reached the Time Beyond!!

{Video Game Series} 

{Dungeon Siege Series}