Now Playing -- The Movie Review Podcast

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!