Movie Madness

Erik Childress and Peter Sobczynski close out the year in physical media with a lot of suggestions for your Christmas baskets. For the more adventurous who don’t mind a little darkness with their holidays you have Paul Thomas Anderson’s adult film industry epic and the booze-filled trip through sin city that won Nicolas Cage his Oscar. There is sci-fi anime, David Cronenberg’s tale of infection and the Wachowskis’ epic journey of conspiracy and souls. Joe Dante’s sprawling dare of a film experience finally comes home…if you can get it. For those who need to laugh, four of the classic Pink Panther films have been upgraded. And for the kid in all of us that we could all get in touch with these holidays, the original Turtles in a Half-Shell get a box set, Tim Burton’s timeless debut with Pee-Wee Herman and everyone’s favorite talking pig are all here for you. All this plus our thoughts on the tragic murder of Rob Reiner.1:40 - A Tribute to Rob Reiner5:44 - Criterion (Pee-Wee’s Big Adventure (4K), David Byrne’s American Utopia (4K))17:44 - Warner Archive (On Borrowed Time)23:14 – Warner Bros. (Boogie Nights (4K))34:00 - Shout Factory (Rabid (1977) (4K), Leaving Las Vegas (4K), Perfect Blue (4K), Cloud Atlas (4K))1:07:51 - Kino (Scars of Dracula (4K), Walking Tall (2004) (4K), The Pink Panther (1963) (4K), A Shot in the Dark (4K), The Pink Panther Strikes Again (4K), Revenge of the Pink Panther (4K), Babe (4K), Babe: Pig in the City (4K))2:15:52 - Arrow (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Trilogy (4K))2:36:02 - Vinegar Syndrome (The Movie Orgy)2:48:38 - New TV & Theatrical Titles On Blu-ray (Wally Gator: The Complete Series, Lippy the Lion & Hardy Har Har: The Complete Series, Monk: The Complete Series, A Big Bold Beautiful Journey, Black Phone 2 (4K), Bugonia (4K), Christmas Eve in Miller’s Point, Good Night, and Good Luck: Live from Broadway, Hot Spring Shark Attack, Thank You Very Much)CLICK ON THE FILMS TO RENT OR PURCHASE AND HELP OUT THE MOVIE MADNESS PODCASTSIGN UP FOR AUDIBLEBe sure to check outErik’s Weekly Box Office Column – At Rotten TomatoesCritics’ Classics Series – At Elk Grove Cinema in Elk Grove Village, ILChicago Screening Schedule - All the films coming to theaters and streamingPhysical 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. 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

As we approach the end of the year, Erik Childress and Steve Prokopy still have six reviews for this week. They include a documentary about the inventor of Pantone (The King of Color) as well as Mamoru Hosoda’s anime about a princess avenging her father’s death (Scarlet). The Ripley-like influencer from a 2022 thriller is on the prowl again (Influencers) as is the guy from the ‘80s who dressed like Santa Claus and killed a bunch of people but this time with a derivative twist (Silent Night, Deadly Night). The creator of Pushing Daisies and Hannibal makes his debut about a girl who hires a hitman to take care of the monster under her bed (Dust Bunny). Finally, the legendary James L. Brooks’ returns with his first film in 15 years and the guys have very different takes on it.1:38 - The King of Color9:09 - Silent Night, Deadly Night18:46 - Scarlet26:02 - Influencers36:59 - Dust Bunny45:36 - Ella McCayCLICK ON THE FILMS TO RENT OR PURCHASE AND HELP OUT THE MOVIE MADNESS PODCASTSIGN UP FOR AUDIBLEBe sure to check outErik’s Weekly Box Office Column – At Rotten TomatoesCritics’ Classics Series – At Elk Grove Cinema in Elk Grove Village, ILChicago Screening Schedule - All the films coming to theaters and streamingPhysical 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. 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

Just a few weeks until Christmas and there is plenty of physical media to fit under the tree as Erik Childress and Peter Sobczynski’s roundup this week’s selections. They include a little Powell and Pressburger and some Oscar nominees from Penny Marshall and Mira Nair. There is some more from Dan Curtis, a giant snake and one of Robert Altman’s more obscure oddities. Lionsgate alone has one of the great making of documentaries of all time, Kevin Smith’s hilarious riff on religion and faith plus the film that makes Tarantino lash out on The Hunger Games. There are grandiose collections from the Shaw Brothers and the first name of mainstreamed erotica. Plus of pair of upgrade for Steven Spielberg from one of his glorious double-film years.1:45 - Criterion (I Know Where I’m Going! (4K), Salaam Bombay! (4K))9:34 - Film Masters (Lady of Burlesque)12:24 - Kino (Dead of Night (4K), Dan Curtis’ Gothic Tales)18:33 - Arrow (Shawscope (Volume Four))26:47 - Radiance (O.C. and Stiggs)39:41 - Sony (Awakenings (4K), Anaconda (4K Steelbook))56:07 - Lionsgate (Hearts of Darkness (4K), Dogma (25th Anniversary) (4K), Battle Royale 4K)1:25:17 - Paramount (Minority Report (4K), Catch Me If You Can (4K))1:45:06 - Severin (Saga Erotica: The Emmanuelle Collection 4K)2:06:52 - New Theatrical Titles On Blu-ray (Good Fortune (4K), I’m Still Here, The Strangers: Chapter 2, Beast of War, Dead of Winter (2025), Rabbit Trap, A Savage Art, London Calling)2:09:33 - New Blu-ray AnnouncementsCLICK ON THE FILMS TO RENT OR PURCHASE AND HELP OUT THE MOVIE MADNESS PODCASTSIGN UP FOR AUDIBLEBe sure to check outErik’s Weekly Box Office Column – At Rotten TomatoesCritics’ Classics Series – At Elk Grove Cinema in Elk Grove Village, ILChicago Screening Schedule - All the films coming to theaters and streamingPhysical 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. 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 kick off December with 11 reviews for you. On the photography and journalism side Steve has a pair of documentaries to talk about (Steve Schapiro: Being Everywhere, The New Yorker At 100) while Erik looks at the story of Christmas Tree sellers (The Merchants of Joy). There is a horror film about the trail of an infamous piece of footage (Man Finds Tape) as well as survivalist Mel Gibson protecting a woman from the cartel after her (Hunting Season). Michelle Pfeiffer goes for mom of the year during Christmas (Oh. What. Fun.) while Dangerous Liaisons meets a fairy tale setting (100 Nights of Hero). An infamous stage musical gets a filmed revival on film (Merrily We Roll Along) and Quentin Tarantino’s multi-volume martial arts epic gets pieced together as one (Kill Bill: The Whole Bloody Affair). Finally the animatronic pizza place characters from the video game are back (Five Nights at Freddy’s 2) and George Clooney is a moviestar going through a three-quarter life crisis (Jay Kelly).4:00 - Steve Schapiro: Being Everywhere10:23 - The New Yorker At 10017:53 - The Merchants of Joy25:16 - Man Finds Tape34:29 - Hunting Season40:17 - Oh. What. Fun.49:22 - 100 Nights of Hero1:01:09 - Merrily We Roll Along1:08:09 - Five Nights at Freddy’s 21:19:38 - Kill Bill: The Whole Bloody Affair1:29:26 - Jay KellyCLICK ON THE FILMS TO RENT OR PURCHASE AND HELP OUT THE MOVIE MADNESS PODCASTSIGN UP FOR AUDIBLEBe sure to check outErik’s Weekly Box Office Column – At Rotten TomatoesCritics’ Classics Series – At Elk Grove Cinema in Elk Grove Village, ILChicago Screening Schedule - All the films coming to theaters and streamingPhysical 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. 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

Black Friday may be behind us but December has so much to gift your loved ones. Erik Childress and Peter Sobczynski have some great new suggestions this week on physical media. Parents have a chance to introduce their kids to the entire collection of Tom & Jerry while dad can revisit their ‘80s memories of Heather Thomas and Kim Cattrall. Speaking of which, Lucinda Dickey’s legendary mix of Flashdance and ninjas gets the 4K upgrade as does one of John Woo’s masterpieces and one of the greatest comedies of all-time.4:19 - Criterion (His Girl Friday (4K))15:45 - Warner Archive (Tom And Jerry: The Golden Era Anthology (1940-1958))22:35 - Arrow (The House with Laughing Windows (4K), Wild Style (4K))32:47 - Sandpiper (Zapped, Mannequin)47:24 - Kino (Ninja Trilogy 4K)1:01:24 - Shout Factory (The Killer (4K))1:15:37 - New Theatrical Titles On Blu-ray (Chain Reactions, Code 3, Diciannove)1:16:57 - New Blu-ray AnnouncementsCLICK ON THE FILMS TO RENT OR PURCHASE AND HELP OUT THE MOVIE MADNESS PODCASTSIGN UP FOR AUDIBLEBe sure to check outErik’s Weekly Box Office Column – At Rotten TomatoesCritics’ Classics Series – At Elk Grove Cinema in Elk Grove Village, ILChicago Screening Schedule - All the films coming to theaters and streamingPhysical 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. 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