Now Playing - The Movie Review Podcast

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. 

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!      

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 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.    

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!   

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 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!

Arnie, Justin, and Stuart have shed a lot of tears while suffering through the 11 previous Uwe Boll video game adaptations, but the divisive director/producer can't hurt the podcasters anymore if they can survive Far Cry. Til Schweiger (Inglourious Basterds) stars as the mercenary boat skipper who takes on an island of mutants like in the original installment of the first-person shooter.  Can the aspiring action hero score any points with movie audiences ready to go Postal should Boll leave them Alone In The Dark one more time?  Listen Now!     

Is Bloodrayne storming the Nazi death camps because she wants to take down The Third Reich and stop Hitler from becoming a vampire?  Or because the bisexual bloodsucker is kinky for more steam room threeways?  Director Uwe Boll wants to have it three ways too, as he reuses the sets and cast of this video game adaptation to simultaneously make a Bloodrayne "spoof" with obese asskicker Blubberella, and a Spielberg-trolling expose of Auschwitz gas chambers.  Don't worry, the Now Playing firing squad is equipped to take 'em all out.  Listen Now! 

Almost everything has changed for Bloodrayne now that the daywalking vampire has left her European medieval castle, and traveled to the American frontier town of Deliverance, for a "high midnight" showdown with an undead Billy The Kid. Should gamers continue to feed their quarters into a series saddled with tax cheat Uwe Boll? Or does the much-maligned director prove to be better at shooting Spaghetti Westerns than Tolkien fantasies and zombie raves?  Find out if the Now Playing Arcade removes the bounty from Boll's head when you Listen Now!    

Kristanna Loken trades her Terminatrix leathers for a sword and fangs to star as the half-human, half-vampire assassin Bloodrayne. Does the video game vixen score many points with PlayStation fans by beating up on fat rocker Meatloaf, or picking a fight with everyone's favorite pacifist Sir Ben "Gandhi" Kingsley?  And can anyone win against an End Boss as bad as director Uwe Boll, whose track record in the Now Playing Arcade automatically has the hosts reaching for their bows and Red Arrows?  Find out how much this sucks when you Listen Now!

Before we leave behind a stressful year of coronavirus and social turmoil, Now Playing needs to travel back in time to 1984, and see if Wonder Woman can provide the big screen fireworks that quarantined audiences have been missing.  Will heartbroken Gal Godot really give up her tiara and Amazonian strength for the chance to be with Steve Trevor (Chris Pine)?  And was it always Kristin Wiig's wish to get into shape wearing a grody to the HBOMax cheetah outfit?  Find out if Pedro Pascal can make our dreams for a super sequel come true. Listen Now!

John David Washington had some trouble infiltrating hate groups as a BlacKkKlansman, but that's child's play compared to the lengths he goes to unlock the secrets of Tenet.  Christopher Nolan's 11th big screen adventure is his most twisted look at time yet - an IMAX sized optical illusion that reflects back on James Bond flicks while simultaneously pushing audiences into the uncertain future of a new quantum Cold War.  Wishing you had that PhD in Physics while you watched?  Stuart, Jakob, and Arnie are here to help you feel it and understand it.  Listen Now!

CBS attempted to change its image as “the old persons’ network” in 1991 when it greenlit Stephen King’s Golden Years, a series about a top secret lab experiment that rapidly de-ages an elderly janitor.  Can the 8 episodes of this prematurely cancelled TV drama find new life edited down into a four hour movie?  And why is Felicity Huffman footing the bill for this afflicted man’s flight from justice, particularly when he no longer qualifies for senior citizen discounts? Get nostalgic for King’s “novel for television” with Now Playing.  Listen now!

Eddie Murphy was the biggest comedy star of the 1980s when he decided to spend Another 48 Hrs razzing rednecks and dodging bullets back in San Francisco. Now Nick Nolte is the one who stands to go to jail, after false charges are brought against the cop while he chases phantom drug dealer The Iceman.  Can director Walter Hill keep the boys competitive with the big action sequels of the era, or does the pair spend too much time repeating the first movie's greatest hits to keep pace with Lethal Weapon 2 and Die Hard 2?  Listen and find out!

It's detective Nick Nolte's worst nightmare - spending 48 Hrs handcuffed to scene stealer Eddie Murphy in his movie debut.  How much damage can the pair do in two days as they tear through San Francisco looking for Warriors James Remar and David Patrick Kelly, and a Porsche full of money?  And should director Walter Hill get his dick bronzed for pioneering the action-comedy formula that paved the way for Lethal Weapon, Rush Hour, and all those future foul-mouthed buddy cop franchises?  Spend a little time with the Now Playing team and find out!  

It's taken almost 25 years for The Craft to conjure a sequel, but now the Legacy of the 1996 wicca hit continues with a new generation of female spellcasters joining the circle. Can four teen witches work together to defeat sinister stepfather David Duchovney, and some toxic high school boys?  Or will Lily, the new Witch of the West, lose confidence in her powers after mother Michelle Monaghan (Mission Impossible 3) spills a dark family secret?  Find out if Arnie, Stuart, and Jakob are in a bind about this next chapter of the coven when you Listen Now!

Blessed be! Arnie, Jakob, and Stuart are under the spell of The Craft, the first high school movie of the '90s to stick up for the wiccans. Strange things start happening when naturally gifted magick user Robin Tunney blows into an LA Catholic school from the North, and joins a coven of weirdos led by Wicked Witch of the West Fairuza Balk. Is hunky football jock Skeet Ulrich the snake-in-the-grass that will undo all this supernatural Girl Power? Or were the foursome mistaken for ever putting their trust in deity Manon? Join the circle and Listen Now!

Most Americans remember the First Gulf War as a quick and decisive U.S. victory, but director Jonathan Demme (Silence of the Lambs) sees it as the beginning of a White House corporate takeover in his 2004 version of Manchurian Candidate. Should shellshocked Denzel Washington get back on his meds, and stop accusing fellow soldier Liev Schrieber of being a sleeper agent?  Or is this Vice Presidential hopeful really in the pocket of Big Pharma, or worse… his mother Meryl Streep!?  Find out if this remake truly is a dream by Listening Now!   

Election got you stressed?  Tune out today's political noise and vote to reinstate the 1962 Manchurian Candidate instead. Can troubled soldier Frank Sinatra stop Deep State Communists from using a brainwashed Korean War vet to gain control of the White House?  And would the country be any better off run by Angela Lansbury, who uses her windbag husband and the power of television to promote Red Scare fake news and Murder, She Wrote reruns?  Find out if Jakob, Stuart, and Arnie endorse this paranoid classic.  Listen Now!       

Aloha from Shrieker Island, a tropical paradise where Wall Street suits pay for the pleasure of blasting bio-engineered Graboids all weekend long!  That is, until the big worms dig under the ocean and take over a neighboring wildlife preserve. Fortunately Burt Gummer (Michael Gross) has gone native, and left his Arizona compound to hunt his nemesis one last time!  Are his odds improved by bringing along Jon Heder (Napoleon Dynamite), Jackie Cruz (Orange Is The New Black), and a badass chick with a bow and arrow? Feel the vibes of the latest Tremors now! 

Michael Gross may be known most as the father from Family Ties, or Ted's dad on How I Meet Your Mother, but to a generation of monster movie fans he'll always be Burt Gummer: Grabboid Hunter. Michael joins Arnie for this exclusive, in-depth interview as he reflects on his 30 years a Burt, and some spoilers for the newest film Tremors: Shrieker Island!

This podcast does have SPOILERS for Shrieker Island, but they're at the end and there is a warning before those topics are discussed.

It will be A Cold Day In Hell before Burt Gummer lets the IRS take away his Nevada land and business! Which is why he and faithful cameraman Jamie Kennedy have signed on for a seventh Tremors adventure. How are Graboids and Ass Blasters thriving in the snowy mountains of the Canadian Arctic?  And can Burt be much help to the bug hunt once he’s diagnosed with worm poisoning, and needs to extract antibodies from his underground enemy in order to live?  Find out if the podcasters warm up to the next installment when you Listen Now!

Monster hunter Burt Gummer (Michael Gross) traces the Bloodlines of his subterranean nemesis all the way back to a slimy cave in Africa in the safari-minded sequel Tremors 5. How much bigger and badder has Graboid evolution become on the Dark Continent, with the introduction of nocturnal Ass Blasters and detachable snake tentacles? And what kind of relationship does the cranky survivalist hope to forge with flamboyant new cameraman Jamie Kennedy (Scream)? Go off the grid with Arnie, Jakob, and Stuart and find out now!

Audiences may have first learned about Graboids in Tremors, but The Legend Begins 100 years prior in a prequel where Burt Gummer's great grandfather (also Michael Gross) finds his Nevada silver mine overrun with "dirt dragons". Can a Mexican prospector, badass gunslinger, and community of rejected immigrants find the firepower to defeat these mythical snakes before their American Dream is swallowed whole? And do Arnie, Jakob, and Stuart cotton to this fourth film in the franchise devolving into a Western? Saddle up and find out now!

Michael Gross and most of the original cast head Back To Perfection, Nevada for more Graboid hunting in Tremors 3. Too bad the man-eating worms are now considered an endangered species, and Burt and the locals are mandated to capture the desert pests humanely or be evicted.  Is a flashy tour guide able to steer the franchise in an eco-friendly new direction?  And are the monsters still a blast once they mutate again, and take to the air with the power of their farts?  Arnie, Jakob, and Stuart aren't about to move from their lookout spot. Join them Now!  

Those initial Tremors may be over, but Jakob, Arnie, and Stuart are now bracing for Aftershocks. Fred Ward takes the franchise south of the border for a cheap Mexican vacation without Kevin Bacon. What does it mean for the monster hunt when those wormy, underground Graboids take to the surface and metamorphosize into bipedal Shriekers? Has Earl done himself any favors by calling in the comedic firepower of guns enthusiast Michael Gross? Find out how much heat is coming off this straight-to-tape sequel when you Listen Now!

What’s shaking at Now Playing these days?  Jakob, Stuart, and Arnie are moving to Perfection, Nevada to join the cult devoted to Tremors.  The fun begins with a fresh look at the original 1990 creature feature, in which bickering handymen Kevin Bacon and Fred Ward contend with a stampede of supersized, subterranean worms gobbling up their town. Can the Footloose hunk make moves on a geologist while wriggling out of a tight spot?  And are Michael Gross (Family Ties) and country singer Reba MacEntire comedic dynamite together? Listen and Find Out!

A decade before his landmark slasher A Nightmare On Elm Street gave ‘80s mallrats insomnia, writer/director Wes Craven invited hippies inside The Last House On The Left for a tour of extreme horror movie violence.  What happens when four escaped psychopaths accept hospitality from the parents of the 17-year-old girl they just murdered?  Does revenge taste even more delicious served up as a home cooked meal on turned tables? Find out if this 1972 grindhouse classic still kills by becoming a Now Playing Silver Level Donor this Fall.

After ghosting audiences for the last three years, The New Mutants are finally ready to shut the history books on a half century of Boomer adventures, and let today's generation have their say about the X-Men. Will the five central Millennials prove to be superheroes or snowflakes once nightmare creatures pop the protective bubble surrounding their world? And is she-wolf Rahne (Maisie Williams) the next Hugh Jackman, or do expectations flame out like Berto (Henry Zaga) when these kids are compared to MCU icons?  The struggle is real so Listen Now!