Movie Madness

Erik Childress and Steve Prokopy have seven movie reviews for you this week. They include a scientist’s connection to a tree (Silent Friend) and a woman discovering the horrifying truth of a new diet pill (Saccharine). Sacha Baron Cohen wakes up in a world run by women (Ladies First) and Boots Riley puts shoplifters against the fashion industry (I Love Boosters). André Øvredal gives us the horror film version of Lost In America when “van life” meets a demonic entity (Passenger). John Krasinski’s Tom Clancy series returns with a stand-alone film (Jack Ryan: Ghost War) as does the world of Star Wars with its two breakout characters from the small screen (The Mandalorian and Grogu).
1:40 - Silent Friend
9:35 - Ladies First
22:38 - I Love Boosters
30:08 - Saccharine
38:39 - Jack Ryan: Ghost War
53:19 - Passenger
1:09:01 - The Mandalorian and Grogu
CLICK ON THE FILMS TO RENT OR PURCHASE AND HELP OUT THE MOVIE MADNESS PODCAST OR BUY FROM MOVIEZYNG
Be sure to check out
Erik’s Weekly Box Office Column – At Rotten Tomatoes
Critics’ Classics Series – At Elk Grove Cinema in Elk Grove Village, IL
Chicago Screening Schedule - All the films coming to theaters and streaming
Physical Media Schedule - Click & Buy upcoming titles for your library.
(Direct purchases help the Movie Madness podcast with a few pennies.)
Erik’s Linktree - Where you can follow Erik and his work anywhere and everywhere.
The Movie Madness Podcast has been recognized by Million Podcasts as one of the Top 100 Best Movie Review Podcasts as well as in the Top 60 Film Festival Podcasts and Top 100 Cinephile Podcasts. MillionPodcasts is an intelligently curated, all-in-one podcast database for discovering and contacting podcast hosts and producers in your niche perfect for PR pitches and collaborations.
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This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit erikthemovieman.substack.com

Erik Childress and Peter Sobczynski take you through another week of physical media starting with Lawrence Kasdan’s sexy directorial debut getting an upgrade. Peter discovers a 1932 crime drama worthy of a blind buy. Hollywood is front and center in films from Peter Bogdanovich and Martin Ritt. Two of the best teenage films of the 21st century are here ranging from cheerleading to lycanthropy. Provocateurs get in front of a microphone in films from Oliver Stone and Adam Rifkin. They also take a look back at two box office misfires from major filmmakers including Robert Zemeckis’ breathtaking version on Man On Wire and the Wachowski’s Matrix follow-up that has developed quite the following over the years.
1:10 - Criterion (Body Heat (4K))
16:39 - Sony (Nickelodeon, The Front (4K), The Dark Backward, The Walk (4K))
1:00:52 - Kino (Night World, Swashbuckler, Talk Radio)
1:29:42 - Lionsgate (Ginger Snaps 4K)
1:42:13 - Universal (Bring It On (7-Movie Collection))
1:49:13 - Warner (The Conjuring Universe, Speed Racer (4K))
2:04:12 – New TV on Blu-ray (Fallout (Season 2) (4K), Looney Tunes Cartoons (The Complete Series), Snowpiercer (The Complete Series))
2:05:28 - New Theatrical Titles On Blu-ray (Avatar: Fire & Ash (4K), Arco (4K), Scarlet (4K), The Bride! (2026) (4K), Sirat, The AI Doc: Or How I Became an Apocaloptimist, The Napa Boys, Reminders of Him)
2:07:56 – New Blu-ray Announcements
CLICK ON THE FILMS TO RENT OR PURCHASE AND HELP OUT THE MOVIE MADNESS PODCAST OR BUY FROM MOVIEZYNG
Be sure to check out
Erik’s Weekly Box Office Column – At Rotten Tomatoes
Critics’ Classics Series – At Elk Grove Cinema in Elk Grove Village, IL
Chicago Screening Schedule - All the films coming to theaters and streaming
Physical Media Schedule - Click & Buy upcoming titles for your library.
(Direct purchases help the Movie Madness podcast with a few pennies.)
Erik’s Linktree - Where you can follow Erik and his work anywhere and everywhere.
The Movie Madness Podcast has been recognized by Million Podcasts as one of the Top 100 Best Movie Review Podcasts as well as in the Top 60 Film Festival Podcasts and Top 100 Cinephile Podcasts. MillionPodcasts is an intelligently curated, all-in-one podcast database for discovering and contacting podcast hosts and producers in your niche perfect for PR pitches and collaborations.
USE COUPON “MOVIEMADNESS” TO GET 10% OFF ALL DUBBY PRODUCTS
SIGN UP FOR AUDIBLE


This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit erikthemovieman.substack.com

Erik Childress and Steve Prokopy return from the Chicago Critics Film Festival with nine new reviews this week including a string of documentaries. Steve looks at a partnership designed to bring some care back to healthcare (The Chaplain & The Doctor) and actor Ben Mackenzie laying waste to the scam of crypto (Everyone Is Lying To You for Money). Erik looks at a tragic 2022 accident that may not have been an accident (The Crash) and Steve joins in on the life and career of a comedy legend (Marty, Life Is Short). The guy behind the guy that is Vladimir Putin is examined in a new film by Oliver Assayas (The Wizard of the Kremlin) and a middle-aged mouse believes the corporate-driven world he lives in is not what it seems (Decorado). Two sisters go on a revenge trip against the father who scarred them (Is God Is) and a pair of mercenaries plot to extract a power broker in the latest film from Guy Richie (In the Grey). Finally, a guy tries to get his best friend to love him and it may not go as you might expect (Obsession).
3:24 - The Chaplain & the Doctor
10:04 - The Crash
16:47 - Everyone Is Lying To You for Money
29:04 - Marty, Life Is Short
42:44 - The Wizard of the Kremlin
53:30 - Decorado
1:00:25 - Is God Is
1:07:15 - In the Grey
1:20:33 - Obsession
CLICK ON THE FILMS TO RENT OR PURCHASE AND HELP OUT THE MOVIE MADNESS PODCAST OR BUY FROM MOVIEZYNG
Be sure to check out
Erik’s Weekly Box Office Column – At Rotten Tomatoes
Critics’ Classics Series – At Elk Grove Cinema in Elk Grove Village, IL
Chicago Screening Schedule - All the films coming to theaters and streaming
Physical Media Schedule - Click & Buy upcoming titles for your library.
(Direct purchases help the Movie Madness podcast with a few pennies.)
Erik’s Linktree - Where you can follow Erik and his work anywhere and everywhere.
The Movie Madness Podcast has been recognized by Million Podcasts as one of the Top 100 Best Movie Review Podcasts as well as in the Top 60 Film Festival Podcasts and Top 100 Cinephile Podcasts. MillionPodcasts is an intelligently curated, all-in-one podcast database for discovering and contacting podcast hosts and producers in your niche perfect for PR pitches and collaborations.
USE COUPON “MOVIEMADNESS” TO GET 10% OFF ALL DUBBY PRODUCTS
SIGN UP FOR AUDIBLE


This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit erikthemovieman.substack.com

Erik Childress and Peter Sobczynski were off last week at the Chicago Critics Film Festival but return to catch you up on the world of physical media. There are serial killers played by Matt Dillon and another stopped by Charles Bronson. Criterion puts out more Kurosawa and there’s a documentary on George Stevens as well. A Disney animated film from the ‘50s gets the upgrade as does a sci-fi film from the era. A comedy classic and one of the great baseball films celebrate their 15th anniversaries. The pair look back at the lasting power of David Fincher’s adaptation of male insecurity and culminate with one of the great action films of the 1980s and the TV series it spawned in its wake.
1:36 - Criterion (Stray Dog (4K))
5:04 - Warner Archive (George Stevens: A Filmmaker’s Journey)
7:41 - Universal (It Came from Outer Space (4K), Bridesmaids (4K))
19:04 - Cult Epics (Girls 4K)
22:51 - Disney (Alice In Wonderland (1951) (4K), Fight Club (4K Steelbook))
37:44 - Sony (Moneyball (4K))
46:48 - Kino (Bend of the River, 10 to Midnight (4K), A Kiss Before Dying (1991), Charli XCX: Alone Together)
1:12:03 - Arrow (Blue Thunder (4K))
1:26:35 - New TV on Blu-Ray) (Blue Thunder (The Complete Series), IT: Welcome to Derry (The Complete First Season), Gilmore Girls: The Complete Series)
1:28:04 - New Theatrical Titles On Blu-ray (Wuthering Heights (2026) 4K, GOAT (4K), Dracula, Obex, Solo Mio, Mistress Dispeller, I Can Only Imagine 2, Youngblood (2025), Twinless)
1:29:49 - New Blu-ray Announcements
CLICK ON THE FILMS TO RENT OR PURCHASE AND HELP OUT THE MOVIE MADNESS PODCAST OR BUY FROM MOVIEZYNG
Be sure to check out
Erik’s Weekly Box Office Column – At Rotten Tomatoes
Critics’ Classics Series – At Elk Grove Cinema in Elk Grove Village, IL
Chicago Screening Schedule - All the films coming to theaters and streaming
Physical Media Schedule - Click & Buy upcoming titles for your library.
(Direct purchases help the Movie Madness podcast with a few pennies.)
Erik’s Linktree - Where you can follow Erik and his work anywhere and everywhere.
The Movie Madness Podcast has been recognized by Million Podcasts as one of the Top 100 Best Movie Review Podcasts as well as in the Top 60 Film Festival Podcasts and Top 100 Cinephile Podcasts. MillionPodcasts is an intelligently curated, all-in-one podcast database for discovering and contacting podcast hosts and producers in your niche perfect for PR pitches and collaborations.
USE COUPON “MOVIEMADNESS” TO GET 10% OFF ALL DUBBY PRODUCTS
SIGN UP FOR AUDIBLE


This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit erikthemovieman.substack.com

Erik Childress and Steve Prokopy will be at the Music Box Theatre handling the Chicago Critics Film Festival this week, but they managed to squeeze in seven reviews for movies you can see (after you attend the fest.) They include the latest from RZA behind the camera (One Spoon of Chocolate). Erik looks at a family on a road trip after behind evicted (Omaha) and another family with a troubled son seen through the eyes of their daughter (Blue Heron). Steve sees Adam Scott haunted by old secrets and possibly a witch (Hokum). Andy Serkis does a new animated adaptation of George Orwell’s other classic (Animal Farm). Renny Harlin returns to planes and sharks (Deep Water) and the whole team returns to the journalistic side of fashion (The Devil Wears Prada 2).
4:19 - One Spoon of Chocolate
11:58 - Omaha
19:05 - Hokum
27:35 - Blue Heron
33:15 - Animal Farm
46:09 - Deep Water
58:53 - The Devil Wears Prada 2
CLICK ON THE FILMS TO RENT OR PURCHASE AND HELP OUT THE MOVIE MADNESS PODCAST OR BUY FROM MOVIEZYNG
Be sure to check out
Erik’s Weekly Box Office Column – At Rotten Tomatoes
Critics’ Classics Series – At Elk Grove Cinema in Elk Grove Village, IL
Chicago Screening Schedule - All the films coming to theaters and streaming
Physical Media Schedule - Click & Buy upcoming titles for your library.
(Direct purchases help the Movie Madness podcast with a few pennies.)
Erik’s Linktree - Where you can follow Erik and his work anywhere and everywhere.
The Movie Madness Podcast has been recognized by Million Podcasts as one of the Top 100 Best Movie Review Podcasts as well as in the Top 60 Film Festival Podcasts and Top 100 Cinephile Podcasts. MillionPodcasts is an intelligently curated, all-in-one podcast database for discovering and contacting podcast hosts and producers in your niche perfect for PR pitches and collaborations.
USE COUPON “MOVIEMADNESS” TO GET 10% OFF ALL DUBBY PRODUCTS
SIGN UP FOR AUDIBLE


This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit erikthemovieman.substack.com