Now Playing -- The Movie Review Podcast

Podcasters Justin, Stuart, and Arnie have been taken hostage by Street Fighter, the infamous 1994 movie adaptation of the popular arcade fighting game. How much Van Damme-age can the boys withstand when the "Muscles From Brussels" goes American in a blue beret to beat down villainous megalomaniac Bison (the last movie role for terminal song-and dance man Raul Julia). And does this Shadaloo showdown improve when con artists Ryu and Ken, yellow-skinned mutant Blanka, fake news crew Chun-Li, Honda, and Balrog, and even Aussie pop star Kylie Minogue join the fray? Listen now and find out. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/nowplayingpodcast/support

The fly-kicking Lee Brothers were quick to mimic Mario’s leap from coin-ops and cartoons to a live-action feature film… and just as quick to fail. The 1994 action flick Double Dragon finds video game heroes Billy Lee (Party of Five heartthrob Scott Wolf) and Jimmy Lee (martial artist Mark Dacascos) scouring post-apocalyptic LA for the second half of a magic medallion.  Will Justin, Arnie, and Stuart find their battle with Robert "T-1000" Patrick less tortuous than a repeated knee to the face? Listen now and find out. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/nowplayingpodcast/support

Pixelated plumbers Mario and Luigi spent a decade warping through various video games, cartoons, and comic books before finally arriving on the big screen as Bob Hoskins and John Leguizamo in the 1993 live action adventure Super Mario Bros. Hosts Justin, Stuart, and Arnie dredge up this moldy oldie to assess whether Hollywood’s first attempt at adapting an arcade hit deserved to Bob-omb so badly. Devolve your lizard brain and listen to this super show now. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/nowplayingpodcast/support

The Now Playing Arcade is now open!  Justin, Stuart, and Arnie are reviewing every movie based on a video game in a new retrospective that kicks off with The King Of Kong. Is this 2006 documentary about the heyday of coin-op machines (and the geeks who never stopped playing them) worth your quarters? Listen now and find out! --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/nowplayingpodcast/support

Before elderly psychic Elise Rainier (Lin Shaye) faced her mortality battling "Veilhead" in Insidious, she had to confront literal and figurative skeletons in her family closet. New prequel The Last Key shows the Spectral Sightings team going back to Elise’s childhood home and taking on "Keyface", a demon who locks up your vocal cords and preys on your most violent thoughts. But can he silence criticisms that Arnie, Marjorie, and Stuart previously voiced about this franchise, and deliver an electrifying fourth chapter? Listen now and find out! --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/nowplayingpodcast/support

Cult audiences love midnight movie The Room for being crazy melodrama, but the story of how it got made might be even more nuts.  Does James Franco show his talent, or just his ass, stepping into the skin of wannabe writer/director/actor Tommy Wiseau?  And will Arnie, Jakob, and Stuart find a new appreciation for this Disaster Artist when the truth behind his bad plots is dramatized?  Listen now and find out! --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/nowplayingpodcast/support

Audiences have been tearing delusional actor/writer/director Tommy Wiseau apart for the last 14 years over his self-funded melodrama The Room. Can you ever really trust anyone who would recommend a movie this preposterous? Oh hi Jakob!  Three’s a crowd when the die hard Room-mate, his best friend Arnie, and manipulative bitch Stuart come together to explore this midnight movie phenomenon. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/nowplayingpodcast/support

Episode VIII finds General Leia (Carrie Fisher), Poe Dameron (Oscar Isaac), Finn (John Boyega), and a dwindling number of Resistance fighters beating a hasty retreat from the rising armies of Supreme Leader Snoke (Andy Serkis). Their only hope lies with recently located Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill) - The Last Jedi in the universe.  But can Master Luke trust feisty apprentice Rey (Daisy Ridley) to learn the ways of The Force without succumbing to the Dark Side like his previous pupil, the murderous tyrant Kylo Ren (Adam Driver)?  Join Arnie, Jakob, and Stuart for a deep dive into the biggest movie of 2017. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/nowplayingpodcast/support

In 12 Monkeys Bruce Willis plays James Cole - a man from the future who’s come to witness the start of an extinction-level pandemic. Or he’s insane, filled with a Cassandra complex. He encounters Brad Pitt’s Jeffrey Goines, who is insane, but also may know more than he’s letting on. Yet perhaps the real time traveler is nonconformist, eclectic director Terry Gilliam whose underrated 1995 film foreshadows both stars’ roles in more popular films. Now, join Arnie, Stuart, and guest host Matt as they travel back to 1995 and examine this dystopian sci-fi film. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/nowplayingpodcast/support

Saw director James Wan wished to leave the horror genre behind when he signed on to adapt Death Sentence - author Brian Garfield's previously unmade sequel novel to Death Wish. A buttoned-down Kevin Bacon cuts loose, kicks off his Sunday shoes, and follows in the footsteps of Charles Bronson's pistol packin' Paul Kersey once a street gang targets his perfect family. Listen now and find out if Arnie, Jakob, and Stuart give this failed reboot a stay of execution. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/nowplayingpodcast/support

It was Charles Bronson's wish to never reprise the role of vigilante Paul Kersey after Death Wish IV. So movie producers found $5 million reasons for the 72 year old actor to star as their Face of Death one last time. This fifth chapter sends Kersey into the underbelly of New York City's garment district, where the tough guy hunts the cannoli-loving transvestite mobsters who disfigured his clothing designer fiancee and stole away his surrogate daughter. Do Jakob, Stuart and Arnie find this fashion forward finale a bad turn on the catwalk, or a fitting end to the Bronson era?  Listen and find out. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/nowplayingpodcast/support

How does a DC Comics super-team come together when the Man of Steel is dead, Batman is suicidal, Wonder Woman won't lead, and the most promising recruits are an aloof Merman, a renegade robot, and a neurotic runner who'd rather eat than fight?  It will take the Classic Rock threat of Steppenwolf, reuniting with the Mother Boxes of Invention, to unify this Justice League.  But is there any hope for Recommendations from Stuart, Jakob, and Arnie when the clashing visions of director Zack Snyder and last minute replacement Joss Whedon create such a chaotic production?  Find out who wins and loses when you listen now! Thirsting for even more JUSTICE? Become a Now Playing Patron to hear an extended version of this review--over 30 minutes longer! Details are on the Now Playing Patron site! --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/nowplayingpodcast/support

Paul Kersey gets topical with his fourth killing spree in Death Wish 4: The Crackdown! This time he's going to whack the crack dealers in Los Angeles. It's the type of film only Cannon Films could make. But is it any good? Join Arnie, Stuart, and Jakob to find out! --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/nowplayingpodcast/support

The God of Thunder was ready to change his image after Now Playing and so many others hammered his solo films as the silliest of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Third effort Ragnarok not only puts Thor in the arena with longtime frenemies Hulk (Mark Ruffalo) and Loki (Tom Hiddleston), but pits him against powerful new characters Hela (Cate Blanchett), Valkyrie (Tessa Thompson), and Grandmaster (Jeff Goldblum).  Should the studly superhero have been so quick to chop off his golden hair, or would those shears have been better served cutting out some jokes in this 130 minute epic? Find out if hosts Arnie, Jakob and Stuart rain on Marvel's latest parade by listening now!   {Marvel Series} {Avengers Series} {Comic Book Movies Series} {Thor Series} --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/nowplayingpodcast/support

Seven Year's Later...it's again Halloween; it's again Now Playing reviewing Saw! The "torture porn" genre had fallen out of vogue, and Saw's grosses fell to match. Now, not quite a decade later, is the world ready for more traps and (plot) twists? Does the Saw cut as deep in its eighth iteration? Strap on your bucket and join Arnie, Jakob, and Marjorie to find out! --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/nowplayingpodcast/support

Texas Chainsaw 3D was a success in 2013, but the fast-tracked sequel got mired in studio bureaucracy and changes in creative teams. Finally, nearly five years later, comes Leatherface--a prequel to Tobe Hooper's original The Texas Chain Saw Massacre. It has been available to DirecTV customers for the past month, but now it's streaming through all major platforms. Can this new prequel give a better origin story for Leatherface than Platinum Dunes' attempt? Join Arnie, Stuart, and Brock to find out! --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/nowplayingpodcast/support

Paul Kersey has returned to New York (or London). He didn't come intending to fight a gang war, but he finds his war buddy gunned down. It's a fight Kersey didn't start, but he intends to finish it in Death Wish 3.  It's the first Death Wish that is officially a Cannon film. Does their Over the Top aesthetic help Charles Bronson's franchise? Join the Now Playing Podcast hosts to find out! --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/nowplayingpodcast/support

In the early '80s, the dawn of home video, it would be easy to think movies had a lifespan of only four years. But Ridley Scott's creation Blade Runner escaped box-office failure to find its own life. Its imagery still influences artists 35 years after being released, and it's spawned novels, video games, and more. But now this dystopian vision returns to big screens with a sequel: Blade Runner 2049. Harrison Ford returns as Deckard, a man with secrets sought after by a new Blade Runner played by Ryan Gosling.  Can director Denis Villeneuve craft a vision that we'll still be discussing in 2052? Listen to this review to find out! --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/nowplayingpodcast/support

Paul Kersey has lived a peaceful life for years in Los Angeles with his girlfriend, his daughter, and his housekeeper. Yet his tranquil existence will once more be shattered by a group of criminals who will assault his family. Now Paul is back on the streets, stalking the streets of Skid Row, looking for revenge. Does this Death Wish hit as hard as the original? Listen to this episode of Now Playing to find out! --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/nowplayingpodcast/support

Three children were all born during the solar eclipse. Does that mean these little sociopaths have no soul? Their birthday wish...is for you to die! That's the plot of Bloody Birthday, a 1981 film "so shocking" it couldn't see wide release until 1986! How does this Birthday surprise stack up against similar-themed slashers? Wish co-host Stuart a happy birthday as we cut into this Patron-selected film! --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/nowplayingpodcast/support