Movie Madness

Fresh from returning from this year’s SXSW Film Festival, Erik Childress returns to review six movies with Steve Prokopy. They range from Mena Suvari as Elizabeth Bathory (Vampires of the Velvet Lounge) to a documentary on feminine representation in genre films (1000 Women In Horror). Rose Byrne is a homeless woman who loses her car (Tow) while Samara Weaving plays another deadly game of hide and seek (Ready or Not 2: Here I Come) and podcasters get some horrific audio problems (Undertone). Finally, Ryan Gosling goes into space to save the planet, but it is about the friend he makes along the way (Project Hail Mary).
1:22 - Vampires of the Velvet Lounge
11:21 - 1000 Women In Horror
20:17 - Tow
26:40 - Ready or Not 2: Here I Come
36:11 - Undertone
45:23 - Project Hail Mary
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

This week in physical media, Erik Childress and Peter Sobczynski guide you through a week that includes a pair of lesser Peter Sellers efforts as well as a Southern melodrama known more for the way Marlon Brando is beaten up. There is also some Billy Dee Williams and River Phoenix and a little Bunuel. Cult audiences have a lot to cheer this week from the horror of the late 70s to romance of the early 80s. Keanu Reeves squares off against Al Pacino’s devil and there is a lot of love for Kenneth Branagh’s Hitchcockian mystery that may still remain his best and most entertaining film.
1:24 - Criterion (Viridiana (4K))
6:18 - Alliance (The Chase)
13:38 - Synapse (Blue Sunshine (4K))
19:30 - Shout (Devil’s Advocate (4K))
29:39 - Kino (Scott Joplin, The Return of the Pink Panther (4K), The Prisoner of Zenda, Somewhere in Time (4K), A Night in the Life of Jimmy Reardon, Dead Again (4K))
1:20:46 - New TV & Theatrical Titles On Blu-ray (Resident Alien (The Complete Series), Little Amelie or the Character of Rain, Little Trouble Girls)
1:21:42 - 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 have seven movie reviews for you this week including a remake of a 40-year old hockey film (Youngblood). A reckless young man is held captive like a dog (Heel) and a woman is held captive like a child (Dolly) while Milla Jovovich goes on the offensive to rescue her daughter from sex traffickers (Protector). Alan Ritchson faces off against an alien presence (War Machine). Pixar’s latest has a girl who becomes a beaver (Hoppers) and Maggie Gyllenhaal offers her brand new take on an even older classic (The Bride!)
Hoppers
Youngblood
Dolly
Protector
Heel
War Machine
The Bride!
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

This week in physical media with Erik Childress and Peter Sobczynski they look at one of the rarely talked about Coen Bros. films, John Ford basically doing Red Dust again and Herschell Gordon Lewis’ film about a Chicago garage band. There’s also the Karate Kid series continuation, a Sundance short that became a Sundance film plus a whole bunch of Christopher Lee and Asia Argento.
1:52 - Criterion (The Man Who Wasn’t There)
13:15 - Warner Archive (Mogambo)
20:58 - AGFA (Blast-Off Girls)
29:40 - Sony (D.E.B.S.)
37:07 - Severin (The Eurocrypt of Christopher Lee Collection 3 (1960-2024))
45:06 - Vinegar Syndrome (The Phantom of the Opera (1998) (4K))
52:36 - Cinematographe (New Rose Hotel)
58:33 - IFC (The Last Mistress)
1:02:15 – New Television on Blu-ray (Cobra Kai (The Complete Series), Strange New Worlds Season 3)
1:08:09 - New Theatrical Titles On Blu-ray (Zootopia 2 (4K), The Running Man (2025) (4K), Hamnet (4K), Lurker, Merrily We Roll Along, Ella McCay)
1:14:50 - 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

It is a pretty substandard week for movies. Even moreso than usual. But Erik Childress and Steve Prokopy power through and may find at least one worth your time. Could it be the story of a serial killer and possession (The Mannequin)? Or how about the one with Ving Rhames training a wannabe female boxer to become…a manager (Uppercut)? There’s a documentary about Paul McCartney after leaving The Beatles (Man on the Run) and Jessica Chastain in a toxic relationship with an immigrant (Dreams). Priyana Chopra has to fight off pirate Karl Urban (The Bluff) and the director of WALL-E explores death and aging over tens of thousands of years (In the Blink of an Eye). Finally, Ghostface AND Neve Campbell return in the horror franchise celebrating its 30th Anniversary (Scream 7).
1:04 - The Mannequin
6:28 - Man on the Run
14:40 - Uppercut
22:20 - Dreams
31:30 - The Bluff
40:52 - In the Blink of an Eye
53:54 - Scream 7
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