Now Playing - The Movie Review Podcast

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!     

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!    

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.    

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. 

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. 

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.  

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.

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!    

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. 

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!

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!     

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!         

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!       

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! 

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!      

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!   

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 specters 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!       

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!     

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!      

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!     

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!

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!    

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!    

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.

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.    

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! 

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!

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!  

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. 

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!

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!

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.    

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!       

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.

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}

Test your patience.

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. 

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! 

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!     

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}

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! 

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!             

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!

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!   

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!

Want to STAND longer? Get an "expanded and revised" version of this podcast with an extra 40 minutes, digging deeper into ties with King's original novel, more details, and more trivia! Find details at NowPlayingPatron.com

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}