FOLLOWING FILMS

A police officer in the future uncovers the deadly secret behind a society that worships youth.  

Episode 211 - Velvet Buzzsaw As we wait for the post-Oscar hangover to subside and for the 7-month long summer movie season to begin, we take a shot on the Netflix joint, Velvet Buzzsaw. Nightcrawler’s Jake Gyllenhaal and Rene Russo reunite with writer/director Dan Gilroy to tackle the art industry and the sycophants that revolve around it. Head over to followingfilms.com and check out the episode. MOVIES DISCUSSED THIS WEEK: Cold Pursuit, Polar, The Fast and the Furious, Clear and Present Danger, The Old Man & the Gun, Velvet Buzzsaw

Episode 207 - Creed 2 In 2015 Ryan Coogler breathed new life into the long-running Rocky franchise with Creed so, naturally, we must have a sequel. Michael B. Jordan, Sylvester Stallone, and Tessa Thompson are all back to give us more of the melodrama and pugilistic violence that we crave but this time they're guided by Steven Caple Jr., as Coogler chose to focus on a little independent film rather than return. MOVIES DISCUSSED THIS WEEK: The Salvation, BlacKkKlansman, Jeremiah Johnson, Gotti, Set it Up, Harold and Maude, Crazy Rich Asians, Creed 2

Director Gilles Paquet-Brenner’s adaptation of “Gone Girl” author Gillian Flynn’s novel “Dark Places” takes its titular theme to the hilt, in a film that is as its title suggests unrelentingly dreary. Not that it has much of a choice given the subject matter. A gothic Americana mystery, “Dark Places” spans two timelines as it unravels the truth behind one horrific crime. In the present, Libby Day (Charlize Theron) is a traumatized adult shuffling aimlessly through life. Nearly 30 years since her mother and sisters were murdered and her brother was convicted as their killer, the leader of a sort of underground crime “fan club" approaches her. At first they make a deal to pick her brain about what happened and then they drop a bombshell. They believe her brother is innocent and they want her help to prove it. From here the movie registers as a whodunit, unwinding all of the lurid details that led up to the awful conclusion with the promise of uncovering the real perpetrator....

When it comes to describing director John Crowley’s adaptation of “Brooklyn” one word rapidly comes to mind: poignant. There are scores of movies that have told stories about coming-of-age in fish-out-of-water circumstances with a love triangle thrown in for good measure. What sets “Brooklyn” apart from them is how quickly it manages to draw you in with its bursts of levity and shots of sorrow. Anchoring the whiplash of emotions is actress Saoirse Ronan, who demonstrates an elegant breadth as the film’s leading lady. Based on Colm Toibin’s novel of the same name, “Brooklyn” follows Eilis Lacey (Ronan), a young Irishwoman whose sister has arranged for her to immigrate to America. Leaving her family, friends and everything else she’s ever known behind in her small town to begin a solitary chapter in a strange place an ocean away. It's worth noting that throughout the course of the movie, she never considers bringing her family to live with her. For Eilis, it's eithe...

A lot of how you respond to Guy Richie’s stylish take on “The Man from U.N.C.L.E.” has to do with what you go in expecting. If you’re anticipating the gadgetry of retro Bond, the action adventure of the “Bourne” franchise, the stunts of “Mission: Impossible” and the bromance of Richie’s “Sherlock Holmes” movies, you will not find much of that here. Nor, if you do a little research, will you find much similarity to the 60s TV show from which the movie takes its name. In comparison to the film adaption of “The Lone Ranger” (which coincidentally also starred Armie Hammer), “U.N.C.L.E.” is not even a smidge as inflammatory or insulting to its source material. Contradictory to the catastrophe that was “Lone Ranger”, “U.N.C.L.E.” presents its send-up with a far more celebratory spirit and its infectious energy keeps the movie afloat, even as it hits the choppy waters of some overused gags that grow tired fast. Set in 1963, the story revolves around rival spies; American CIA agent Na...

Episode 75 Is Johnny Depp back? We tackle this question as we review the latest film from Depp, Black Mass. We pair this review with a discussion about the best and worst mob/crime bosses in film.

Episode 74 We run a little long this week, as our main review of Z for Zachariah offered up quite a bit of material to unpack. To help us with this endeavor, Kevin Thompson (@OptimusSolo) of the CinemaGeeks (@CinemaGeekCast) joins us to review the film and to share who we want or wouldn't want to be stranded on a desert island with.

A caravan of crazy roams the desert, leaving in its wake a chaotic free-for-all of frantic neuroses. There’s no way to soft sell this review, so let’s just get to it. The latest “Mad Max” is an assortment of cockamamie pandemonium that leaps from one lurid explosion to the next in a momentum-less rush to keep viewers from noticing a script spread thin on character development or anything else of valuable dimension. The plot is straightforward and difficult to explain at the same time. This is mostly because it is so heavily mired in a barrage of convoluted eccentricity that hinders any chance to decipher a coherent explanation for any of its on-screen happenings. The gist is this: Max (Tom Hardy), a near mute, is captured by a group of crazy people who are chasing after Furiosa (Charlize Theron), the commander of a war rig who’s taken off with their leader’s enslaved harem. Max winds up helping them and in the gang’s ensuing escape across the desert, they must face off agains...

I had the honor to interview author Caseen Gaines about his book We Don't Need Roads: The Making of the Back to the Future Trilogy ! Mr. Gaines talks about some of his interviews and gave us some insights such as more info about what really happened with Eric Stoltz and what he thinks if there will ever be a remake or continuation of the franchise. You can find more information on Mr. Caseen Gaines and his work at his website: caseengaines.com   Here is an Amazon link to his book We Don't Need Roads: The Making of the Back to the Future Trilogy .

Today is the day, folks!  Avengers is coming out later tonight! I know I will be there at the 7 PM showing.  If you're watching this weekend (and who isn't?), catch up with one of our episodes, The Avengers and Teamwork.  Does the greatest team in comics comprise a good or great team?  Are any of them psychologically sound?  Listen and find out! 

Two scenes from the upcoming film American Sniper directed by Clint Eastwood starring Bradley Cooper.

Julian Michaels (Bruce Willis) has designed the ultimate resort: VICE, where anything goes and the customers can play out their wildest fantasies with artificial inhabitants who look, think and feel like humans.  When an artificial (Ambyr Childers) becomes self-aware and escapes, she finds herself caught in the crossfire between Julian's mercenaries and a cop (Thomas Jane) who is hell-bent on shutting down Vice, and stopping the violence once and for all. Grindstone Entertainment and Emmett Furla Oasis Films present in association with K5 International an Emmett Furla Oasis Films production in association with Aperture Entertainment.

Erik Skjoldbjærg, director of INSOMNIA, joins us to discuss his new film, PIONEER, which was inspired by his love of 1970s American conspiracy thrillers, and we make sure to follow in his footsteps with our episode debating two films from 1974: THE CONVERSATION vs. THE PARALLAX VIEW.

 

On this episode we predict The Future of Film. To do this, + Michael Denniston and + Christopher Maynard  look back at the 1982 film ROOM 666, and scoff at the failed predictions made by industry titans such as Steven Spielberg. Then we see if Keanu Reeves is the one, with his dangerous investigative journalism in 2012's SIDE BY SIDE where he attempts to find out... just how much of a pompous asshole is Christopher Nolan? But first, Julia Marchese joins us to talk about her new documentary #outofprintfilm . GUEST: Julia Marchese also talks time travel with us, and allows the podcast version of that by correcting our pronunciation mistakes.