Now Playing -- The Movie Review Podcast

Time to find out who the real Harley Quinn is! Margot Robbie emancipates herself from that less-than-fantabulous group of metahumans known as Suicide Squad to fly with new crew Birds of Prey. Does a teen pickpocket, salty cop, ass-kicking lounge singer, and crossbow killer offer Harley the same level of protection as Jared Leto’s Joker? Or can Gotham villains like Black Mask (Ewan McGregor) separate this smart-mouthed clown from her face or breakfast sandwich without fear of retaliation? Chillax with some pizza and Cosmos, and take in our tell-all podcast!

Does the thought of a well-endowed female gorilla make your heart pump a little faster? One supersized simian is certainly warm to Lady Kong’s form - picking himself up from the broken pavement after his 1976 tumble from the World Trade Center, and continuing on in the 1986 sequel King Kong Lives. Is Linda Hamilton proud to oversee the birth of another miracle baby two years after delivering John Connor, or should she terminate her agent for casting her in this monkey business? The podcasters are off the chain and ready to battle, so Listen Now.

Long before she became a fixture on American Horror Story, Jessica Lange practiced her screaming skills as the aspiring actress abducted by King Kong in a colorful 1976 remake. Is the big ape willing to play second banana to Jeff Bridges, as a primate paleontologist also falling for the buxom blonde?  And can oil executive Charles Grodon strike it rich by putting Kong on tour, after Skull Island proves not to have the dinosaurs needed to produce a gasoline fortune?  Arnie, Jakob and Stuart answer the distress call of this disaster movie when you Listen Now.

Will Smith and Martin Lawrence declare themselves Bad Boys For Life as they relaunch the irreverent action franchise that made them box office titans a quarter century ago. But did Miami detectives Mike Lowrey and Marcus Burnett make a bargain with God, or sell their souls, when they retired director Michael Bay, and joined a SWAT team of squeaky clean Millennials who defer all the dangerous work to drones? And how will Mike clean up his brouhaha with a black magic witch running a Mexican cartel?  Lean back in your recliner and Listen Now to find out.

America wanted their big gorilla back for a popular Saturday morning cartoon, but King Kong Escapes for one last Japanese adventure. Villainous Dr. Who (no relation to the BBC Timelord) needs the legendary ape’s help in mining the North Pole of a rare mineral. Can a Bond babe and kidnapped nurse seduce Kong into dirtying his paws?  Or will the beast find it impossible to dig alongside a robotical replica of himself dubbed Mechani-Kong? Join all of Tokyo in getting the blow-by-blow of their beatdown when you download Now Playing’s latest podcast.

Don’t panic! King Kong has broken free of his American handlers and heads to Japan for fisticuffs with local lizard Godzilla.  Should Arnie, Stuart, and Jakob drop a nuke on these two iconic monsters to stop them from soiling their cinematic reputations?  Or did the big ape need this childish, man-in-rubber-suit cage match to make him relevant 30 years after his embarrassing tumble from the Empire State Building? Chill out with some cigarettes and soma berries, slip on the headphones, and find out when you Listen Now!

Now Playing has one last podcast for 2019, dedicated to all those dirty birdies who love the oogy mind of Stephen King. Writer Paul Sheldon (James Caan) finds himself in Misery after he’s pulled from a car crash in snowy Colorado, and tortured by a demented fan who demands a new chapter for the romance novel heroine he retired. Did Kathy Bates deserve the Oscar for her tough love bedside manner?  And how many pages from the book did director Rob Reiner have to eat in order to bring this very literate story to the screen? Listen and find out!

The Emperor Strikes Back!  Zombie Palpatine (Ian McDiarmid) steps from the shadows with secrets that could force last Jedi Rey (Daisy Ridley) to turn to the Dark Side and bad boy Kylo Ren (Adam Driver). But General Leia (Carrie Fisher) is committed to using every last ounce of her Old War star power to squash this Final Order, and pave the way for The Rise of Skywalker. Find out how much resistance Arnie, Jakob, and Stuart put up for the ninth and final episode in the Star Wars saga in when you download this massive podcast. Listen Now! 

‘Twas the night of Black Christmas, and all through Blumhouse, strange creatures in hoodies, sought coeds to roust.  But the remake has armed all the women with care, in the hopes it’s the bros’ turn to finally be scared. Now Arnie!  Now Stuart! Now Brock to their boots, head off to the theater to watch Imogen Poots. Will this boys-vs-girls showdown get social media chatter?  Or will militant feminists not even find that it matters? The hosts will exclaim their thoughts and insights, when you download the podcast and listen tonight!             

Life is tough for the Son of Kong. Everyone expects him to follow in his father’s massive footsteps, and scale the box office heights of the first film. But this quickie sequel has different monkey business in mind as it sends scandalized movie director Carl Denham (Robert Armstrong) back to Skull Island for romantic hijinks with an orphaned circus performer.  Will they - or Now Playing hosts Jakob, Arnie, and Stuart - find any buried treasure while watching little albino Kong take on dinosaurs, cave bears, and a shady Norweigian sailor? Listen and find out!

Jakob, Arnie, and Stuart find themselves in an Empire State Of Mind as they begin a four month wrestling match with King Kong - the Eighth Wonder of the World!  This towering franchise has cast an 86-year-long shadow over film history, beginning with the big ape’s 1933 blockbuster debut!  Head back to Skull Island with Now Playing, and discover if this legendary movie star still has the strength to make audiences scream like Fay Wray, or beat down 50 foot tall lizard Godzilla for their 2020 theatrical showdown. Listen Now!    

Playstation heroes Ratchet and Clank starred in 12 video game adventures together before making the quantum leap to movie theaters for a fast-paced (and okay, financially unsuccessful) 2016 animated feature. Did Earthlings miss a memorable screen pairing?  And can this one-of-a-kind alien mechanic and his defective warbot bestie stop villains voiced by Paul Giamatti and Sylvester Stallone from reconfiguring the most beautiful planets in the solar system? No quarters needed to play the latest Now Playing Arcade installment.  Listen Now!

'70s TV execs discounted Aaron Spelling's idea for a Charlie's Angels show because there was no man to come and save them. Well, a lot has changed in the last 40 years and the women are just fine saving themselves...and even some men who get in trouble. Thus we have the Elizabeth Banks produced, directed, co-written, and co-starring 2019 Charlie's Angels. But in a post #TimesUp world is there still place for an Aaron Spelling-like jiggle fest? And if not, what does that leave for the Angels? Join us now to find out!

Little Danny barely escaped Jack Nicholson and the ghosts of the Overlook Hotel back in 1980. Now grown-up Dan Torrance (Ewan McGregor) - nicknamed Doctor Sleep - is fighting the demon of alcoholism, as well as a pack of vampiric gypsies hoping to eat the soul of a powerful child clairvoyant. Will this Shining sequel leave Kubrick fans steaming? Or can new director Mike Flanagan honor the classic movie while bringing the story back to Stephen King’s original intentions? Join the hosts as they pick up bats and axes and come to play forever and ever!      

Sarah Connor (Linda Hamilton) thought she saved humanity from a SkyNet future of robot domination. So it’s ironic that new cybernetic menace Legion has come online in the year 2020, and it’s now Sarah’s Dark Fate to protect new target Dani (Natalia Reyes) from a new Terminator.  Will the arrival of augmented future soldier Grace (Mackenzie Davis) increase their chances of success? Or is it curtains for James Cameron’s flagship franchise (and if so, are they polka dot or butterfly drapes)? Find out when you listen now!

For nearly a decade Devil's Rejects stars Bill Moseley and Sid Haig, plus series creator Rob Zombie, said the series--like its main characters--was dead.  10 years and several flops later, the Firefly family is back from the dead! How does Zombie explain this away? And are these 3 From Hell as dangerous in 1988 as they were in the '70s?  Join our three podcast hosts from hell, Marjorie, Brock, and Arnie, to find out!

Rule #1 when you’re producing a sequel: Bring back everyone that made the first film successful.  It took a decade, and probably more than a few Twinkies, but director Ruben Fleischer has managed to "Double Tap" Jesse Eisenberg, Woody Harrelson, Abigail Breslin, and Emma Stone for a second trip to Zombieland! Can the foursome teach Generation Z how to fight a ferocious new strain of undead? And is the Oval Office or Graceland a better place to wait out the apocalypse? Find out when you become a Now Playing Silver Level Donor!

Now Playing Arcade podcasters Justin, Arnie, and Stuart thought that first-person shooter Doom had already done a bang-up job destroying the video game’s appeal on the big screen with the Dwayne Johnson/Karl Urban 2005 movie. Second chapter Annihilation returns to finish the job with a squad of no-name Marines on a mission to mow down rubber suit demons and zombies in lab coats on a Martian moonbase. Have the hosts opened a portal to hell or the next level in camp comedy?  Strap on some protective armor and head into the fray. Listen Now! 

Rule #1: if you want to survive the 2009 horror-comedy Zombieland: Find a Friend in Now Playing!     Arnie, Jakob, and Stuart will be doing lots of cardio to keep pace with the last four humans in America, as they make their way to a California amusement park overrun with undead. Donate for Silver Level this fall and learn to enjoy the little things - Jesse Eisenberg trying to wallpaper the closet with Emma Stone; Woody Harrelson extolling the virtues of fresh Twinkies; and the shocking first impression Bill Murray makes on millennial Abigail Breslin.

Charlie's Angels returned in 2003...and so did Demi Moore. The superstar actress' Q-Score had fallen in the decade since her big hits Indecent Proposal and Ghost, but she was set to rise again as former Angel Madison Lee in this action sequel. Does she shine against then-box office champ Cameron Diaz? Does Moore even get enough screen time when squeezed into a cast with Bernie Mac, Crispin Glover, Justin Theroux, Robert Patrick, Shia LaBeouf, Luke Wilson, John Cleese, and Matt LeBlanc?  Get your Zass over here and listen now!