Now Playing - The Movie Review Podcast

It was no surprise that Resident Evil would return for a fourth film. That original series creator Paul W.S. Anderson returned, however, was surprising. Bringing James Cameron's 3-D cameras he attempted to make the most eye-popping yet. Did this breathe new life into Afterlife or should we call in the executioner? Join the Now Playing hosts to find out!

Alice goes Beyond Thunderdome on the Fury Road in Resident Evil: Extinction -- a Mad Max movie for gamers (it even ends with a final fight in a cage!) In this post-apocalyptic wasteland a group of survivors band together to travel to Alaska, where they are promised a civilization free of zombie infection. But who is their biggest obstacle -- the zombified birds and humans, or Umbrella Corporation's middle management?  Grab a game controller and join the Now Playing hosts to find out!

The first Resident Evil film ended with what seemed like the end of the world -- Alice alone in a desolate, abandoned Raccoon City.  Picking up from that very moment Apocalypse reveals all is not lost as there is plenty of life in the city, but not for very much longer.  With new friends Jill Valentine and Carlos Olivera, can Alice make a deal to escape before the city is nuked, all while dodging attacks from Project Nemesis?  Do the hosts care, or do they want to see the city burn? Listen to find out?

In 1995 Paul W.S. Anderson scored a major hit with Mortal Kombat, a box office hit grossing more than double any other video game adaptations.  In 2002 Capcom hoped Anderson could beat his own high score with Resident Evil.  Based on the zombie survival-horror game, this movie brought the game's iconography and added some martial arts action. The movie was a success and launched the longest-running video game movie franchise. But is this a movie you want to watch, or just play? Join Justin, Stuart, and Arnie to find out!

Fans of Star Wars comics, books, video games, and cartoons have long known the universe is ripe for adventures outside of the Skywalker family tree. But with Rogue One this type of story comes to the big screen for the first time. Detailing the group of rebels who steal the original Death Star plans, this film was seen as a creative risk by Lucasfilm. The result was one of the biggest opening weekends of all time; another super-successful Star Wars movie. But was it a story that needed to be told? Join the Now Playing Podcast hosts to find out!

The original Dune mini-series broke Sci-Fi channel records for viewing. Three years later they attempted to hit that same peak with the sequel Children of Dune.  Combining the stories of two Frank Herbert novels, this three-part series brings back old characters and introduces new ones in the continuing story of House Atreides.  Should you watch these Children?  Listen to this episode of Now Playing to find out!

In this holiday season you can head to your local Chopping Mall to pick up the new Blu-Ray release of this 1986 horror cult classic. A brand new transfer and lots of bonus features accompany this new release. Going even further, on this podcast Arnie Carvalho talks to Chopping Mall director Jim Wynorski and writer Steve Mitchell, dispelling internet rumors and finding out about the making of this film.

After you hear this interview, get our review of Chopping Mall!

You can get this review now and help support Now Playing! It is available on our Podbean page.

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The Dune novels have built a universe full of history and lore. So many details and characters exit that it seemed even David Lynch had trouble squeezing Frank Herbert's original novel into two hours, but could it work in six? 

Frank Herbert's novel Dune had a long path from the novel to film. After a series of false starts it finally hit theaters in 1984 directed by Oscar nominated director David Lynch.  The director turned down Return of the Jedi for this other sci-fi epic. Yet while both are space fantasies on desert planets, Jedi was populated with muppets and Dune came with a pamphlet to help moviegoers unfurl the dense narrative. How much of this film is Herbert and how much is Lynch, and is this film the worm or the hook?  Join the Now Playing podcast hosts to find out!

As the school year ended in 1986 John Hughes gave the world a film honoring playing hooky -- Ferris Bueller's Day Off.  On the surface this is a fluffy comedy about three teens set loose in Chicago, but its themes and characters clicked with audiences and have endured for thirty years.  Now, as Now Playing continues its look at the films of 1986, Arnie, Marjorie, and Justin skip school to give you this bonus movie review.  Is this the best Day ever? Join them to find out!

I am not an animal! I am a human being!  That quote from David Lynch's The Elephant Man has become part of the American lexicon, quoted in literally hundreds of movies and television shows.  But what of the film that created the quote? Lynch's 1980 black and white biopic, his first commercial production, was nominated for eight Academy Awards and won many other statues. How does The Elephant Man hold up over 35 years later? Take the bag off your head, put in your earbuds, and join Arnie, Jakob, and Stuart to find out!

David Lynch is a popular director of such films as The Elephant Man, Dune, Wild at Heart and Mulholland Drive. And he became a household name with his 1990 TV Series Twin Peaks where "Who killed Laura Palmer?" was the new decade's "Who shot JR?".  But before all those films came Eraserhead - Lynch's surreal feature debut. It has become a midnight-movie cult hit and its meaning has been debated for decades. Now you can join Arnie, Stuart, and Jakob as they give their analysis and review!

Fourteen movies into the Marvel Cinematic Universe comes the Strangest movie yet -- Doctor Strange. This film eschews all the other movies' science fiction basis to bring that magic feeling to the franchise.  Can lauded actors Benedict Cumberbatch, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Rachel McAdams, and Tilda Swinton cast their spell on our reviewers?  Listen now to find out!

The Pet Sematary series returned from the grave in 1992. The three years in the ground (or the video stores) did it no favors as the return looked little like the '89 original. Gone was the entire cast, replaced by new star Edward Furlong -- fresh off his success of Terminator 2.  Can returning director Mary Lambert reanimate this franchise, or does this sequel smell of rot and death?  Dig up this show to find out!

In 1983 King published Pet Sematary - the book he dubbed to scary to print, with a title too difficult to spell.  The book was a smash success.  Six years later the film adaptation was released. Can it possibly be as frightening as the source novel? Join Stuart, Arnie, and Jakob as they dig up this movie and find out!

By 1983 Stephen King had been christened the "King of Horror", his every book a bestseller, and his three films hits.   John Carpenter was an acclaimed horror director who created the modern slasher with Halloween.  When these two masters of terror joined forces to make 1983's Christine, could the results be anything but frightful fun? Join Arnie, Stuart, and Jakob as they review the carnage to find out!

Before the MCU ruled the box office, George Lucas brought Marvel’s most notorious feathered antihero to the big screen. For the 30th Anniversary of Howard the Duck, Now Playing Podcast's sister show, Marvelicious Toys, revisited the cult curiosity that dared to mix aliens, rock ‘n’ roll, animatronics, and interspecies romance. Arnie sits down with Ed Gale, the performer inside the duck suit, to discuss the physical demands of bringing Howard to life, the technical challenges of 1980s creature effects, and what it was like to work under the Lucasfilm spotlight. Then Hollywood icon Lea Thompson (Back to the Future, SpaceCamp)  joins the show to reflect on playing Beverly, the film’s rocky reception, and the surprising staying power of this oddball comic adaptation. 

Along the way, we dig into the movie’s many home video releases, bizarre promotional tie-ins, and the long, strange journey from box office punchline to cult favorite. Is Howard a misunderstood classic, a beautiful mess, or something uniquely 80s that could never hatch today? Listen in and find out.

They didn't market Stand by Me as a Stephen King film. In 1986 a period piece drama didn't fit with King's history of films, including axe murderers, ghosts, zombies, vampires, and killer semis. Few would have thought this 50's coming-of-age nostalgia piece was from King's short story "The Body." Yet the movie was a smash hit, nominated for Golden Globe and Academy Awards. How does this movie hold up thirty years later, playing to people other than Baby Boomers? Stand by Arnie, Stuart, and Jakob to find out!

A Nazi in hiding is uncovered by a suburban boy, and the result is blackmail and bloodshed. That is the story of Apt Pupil, Bryan Singer's directorial follow-up to his breakthrough The Usual Suspects. Is Kurt Dussander's secret past a mystery on par with Keyser Söze? Join Arnie, Stuart, and Jakob to find out!

The Bourne Ultimatum proved its box office dominance, and director Paul Greengrass and star Matt Damon were ready leave Jason Bourne behind. But Universal Pictures wasn't going to let that stop their blockbuster franchise, so enter The Bourne Legacy!  Jeremy Renner stars as Aaron Cross - another covert super soldier from the same CIA operations as Bourne.  Rather than risk exposure, the CIA has chosen to kill all their agents and start over. Can Cross survive this extinction protocol? And can the franchise survive without its signature star and character?  Join Arnie, Stuart, and Jakob now to find out!

Three years after Bourne was supreme at the box office, star Matt Damon reteamed with director Paul Greengrass for the series' third installment  -- The Bourne Ultimatum.  This film promises to reveal the final secrets about the secret agent's past, and gives co-star Julia Stiles something to do. Did this original Bourne trilogy end on a high note? Join Arnie, Stuart, and Jakob to find out!

Is this movie Captain America 3 or Avengers 3? Cap is back and he's brought the whole team. Iron Man, Ant-Man, Black Widow, Vision, Scarlet Witch, and half a dozen other costumed heroes appear--to fight! At issue is the UN wanting to control The Avengers

Arnold Schwarzenegger, come on down! You’re the next contestant on The Running Man!

No one was interested in making movies based on the writings of Richard Bachman. His novels Rage, The Long Walk, Roadwork, and The Running Man were modest sellers that often had only one printing. More, they were dark and rough novels King wrote in his early years. That changed in 1985 when Bachman was exposed as a pen name for Stephen King. Just two years later Arnold Schwarzenegger was The Running Man--a very loose adaptation of the '82 Bachman novel. The film is now a cult hit, fondly remembered by Generation X, but is it any good? Listen now to find out!

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From 1974 to 1982 Stephen King published 12 books, most of them bestsellers. Yet only three movies were based on his writing during that same period: Carrie in 1976, The Shining in 1980, and Creepshow in 1982. That all changed starting in 1983. In the next four years a total of thirteen movies based on King's works hit screens. The first movie in that deluge was Cujo, based on King's 1980 book about a mother and son trapped by a rabid dog. Does Cujo keep to the quality of the Kubrick, De Palma, and Romero films that came before? Listen to find out!