FOLLOWING FILMS - PODCAST, MOVIE NEWS, FILM REVIEWS

Under Siege occupies an interesting and now rather nostalgic place in the action-movie landscape. Released in 1992 and directed by Andrew Davis, the film is both a quintessential product of its era and a surprisingly polished entry in the “Die Hard-on-a-[insert location here]” subgenre. It stars Steven Seagal at the height of his box-office popularity as Casey Ryback, a Navy cook who is, of course, not merely a cook, but a former elite operative demoted for insubordination. When terrorists take control of the battleship USS Missouri, Ryback becomes the only person aboard capable of stopping them. The result is a tight, contained thriller that pairs efficient action mechanics with memorable villains and an earnest, slightly self-serious tone that oddly works in its favor. At its core, Under Siege succeeds because of its simplicity. The premise is clear, stakes are straightforward, and the geography of the story, a massive battleship, creates a sense of claustrophobic escalation. Unlike ...

  Welcome back to the Following Films Podcast. I’m your host, Chris Maynard, and today I’m joined by writer-director Ali Cook to talk about his Oscar-shortlisted new short film, The Pearl Comb. Starring Beatie Edney (Highlander) and Ali Cook (Kajaki), The Pearl Comb follows the wife of a fisherman whose miraculous healing powers draw the scrutiny of the medical establishment. When she becomes the first person known to cure tuberculosis, a skeptical doctor is sent to investigate. Set in a time when women were barred from practicing medicine, the film explores power, belief, and the limits society places on women—what begins as an attempt to expose her becomes a journey that challenges long-held scientific and gender-based assumptions. Inspired by the true story of the Edinburgh Seven, the first women to study medicine in the UK, The Pearl Comb blends historical drama with mysticism.  We also discuss Ali's remarkable career as both a magician and stand-up comedian and dig into h...

Evil Dead Rise arrived with a heavy legacy on its shoulders. Sam Raimi’s original trilogy and Fede Álvarez’s 2013 reboot each carved out their own identities: slapstick-meets-splatter in the former, relentless sadistic intensity in the latter. Lee Cronin’s Evil Dead Rise doesn’t try to imitate either version wholesale. Instead, it relocates the franchise’s core elements—cabin-in-the-woods isolation, the Necronomicon’s malevolent pull, and gleeful practical gore—into an urban high-rise and asks whether the Evil Dead brand can thrive in a fresh setting. It turns out it can, and with surprising confidence. The film wastes little time establishing tone. After a brief cold open that ties into the larger narrative, the story focuses on a crumbling Los Angeles apartment building and two estranged sisters: Beth, a rootless guitar tech facing a personal crisis, and Ellie, a tattoo artist barely managing life as a single mother of three. What follows is a familiar spiral into possession, madn...

Catch Me If You Can is one of those rare films that manages to be breezy and exuberant while quietly sneaking up on you with emotional weight. Directed by Steven Spielberg and released in 2002, it tells the story of Frank Abagnale Jr., a teenage con artist who successfully impersonates a Pan Am pilot, a doctor, and a lawyer while cashing millions of dollars in fraudulent checks. On the surface, that premise sounds like the setup for a slick caper. But the true pleasure of the film lies not just in its clever scams and period style; it’s in how Spielberg turns a crime story into something more tender—an exploration of identity, loneliness, and the longing to belong. Leonardo DiCaprio’s performance as Frank Abagnale Jr. is the film’s emotional engine. He plays Frank not as a mastermind from the outset, but as a frightened, reactive kid with razor-sharp instincts. This nuance matters. The film doesn’t lionize fraud; instead, it roots Frank’s actions in disruption—his parents’ divorce, fin...

Steven Spielberg’s Minority Report (2002) is a sleek, propulsive science-fiction thriller that stands out not only for its imaginative vision of the future but also for the philosophical questions it raises about free will, justice, and the ethics of surveillance. Adapted loosely from a short story by Philip K. Dick, the film combines Spielberg’s instinct for spectacle with a darker, more paranoid tone, resulting in one of the most intellectually engaging mainstream sci-fi films of the early 2000s. Set in Washington, D.C. in the year 2054, Minority Report imagines a society in which murder has been virtually eliminated thanks to the “PreCrime” division of law enforcement. PreCrime relies on three psychic “precogs” who can foresee murders before they happen. When the system predicts a killing, police intervene and arrest the future murderer moments before the act occurs. The premise is both elegant and unsettling: if a crime is prevented, can it still be considered a crime? And if the f...

After years of anticipation, fan speculation, and internet mythology, Hazbin Hotel finally arrived as a full-fledged television series, and against long odds, it mostly lives up to the hype. Season 1 is loud, chaotic, profane, emotionally sincere, and unapologetically weird. It is also surprisingly thoughtful beneath the neon filth and musical mayhem. Creator Vivienne Medrano’s vision, once confined to a viral pilot and spin-off shorts, expands into a fully realized version of Hell that feels both satirical and strangely heartfelt. At its core, Hazbin Hotel is about redemption, an idea that sounds almost quaint until you place it in a setting where redemption is considered laughable at best and heretical at worst. Charlie Morningstar, Hell’s relentlessly optimistic princess, believes damned souls deserve a chance to rehabilitate themselves rather than face eternal extermination. This belief places her in direct conflict with Hell’s entrenched systems of power, violence, and apathy. Wha...

Sequels often arrive with an unspoken promise: more of what worked last time, just louder. The Black Phone 2 takes a different, riskier path. Rather than attempting to recreate the suffocating simplicity of the original film, director Scott Derrickson expands the world, the themes, and the emotional burden placed on its characters. The result is a sequel that is darker, messier, and more ambitious, a film less interested in pure terror than in what happens after terror has already done its damage. The first Black Phone was defined by confinement. Its power came from a single basement, a single monster, and a child forced to grow up far too quickly. The sequel opens that space dramatically, both physically and psychologically. Finney and Gwen Shaw are no longer trapped children; they are survivors carrying the invisible weight of what they endured. This shift alone signals that The Black Phone 2 is not trying to be a repeat experience. It wants to examine the long shadow of trauma rathe...

I'm excited to share the trailer for Untitled Home Invasion Romance, a darkly comedic thriller headlined by Jason Biggs, Meaghan Rath, Anna Konkle, Justin H. Min, and Arturo Castro. The film will be available on digital platforms beginning January 27, 2026. Best known for his on-screen comedy work, Jason Biggs steps behind the camera for his feature directorial debut, while also starring in the film’s lead role. Untitled Home Invasion Romance blends elements of comedy, thriller, action, and crime into an 85-minute, R-rated ride that twists romantic desperation into something far more dangerous. A Romance Gone Very Wrong The film centers on Kevin (Biggs), a man whose marriage is quietly unraveling. In a last-ditch effort to reignite the spark, he plans what he believes is a foolproof romantic gesture: a weekend getaway capped off by a staged home invasion that will allow him to swoop in as the hero for his wife, Suzie (Meaghan Rath). Unsurprisingly, the plan goes off the rails. When...

Dracula (2026) Trailer, Release Date, Cast, and Plot Details Vertical has officially announced that DRACULA (2026), the latest reimagining of the iconic vampire myth, will be released exclusively in theaters nationwide on February 6, 2026. Written, directed, and produced by visionary filmmaker Luc Besson, the film promises a dark, operatic take on one of cinema’s most enduring legends. Dracula (2026) Cast and Creative Team Besson’s Dracula (2026) stars Caleb Landry Jones in the title role, joined by an impressive ensemble that includes Christoph Waltz, Zoë Bleu, Guillaume de Tonquedec, Matilda De Angelis, Ewens Abid, and Raphael Luce. The film is executive produced by Mark Canton, Dorothy Canton, Ryan Winterstern, and Philippe Corrot, further cementing the project as a major cinematic event. Dracula (2026) Plot Synopsis Set against the brutal backdrop of the 15th century, Dracula (2026) begins with profound personal tragedy. After witnessing the savage murder of his beloved wife (Zoë B...