FOLLOWING FILMS - Podcast, Movies, Music, and More

The late 1980s neon-noir landscape is littered with forgotten titles that briefly flared in video rental shops before vanishing into obscurity. Among these, the 1987 thriller Cold Steel occupies a fascinating, almost surreal position. Directed by Dorothy Ann Puzo, daughter of The Godfather author Mario Puzo, the film attempts to straddle the line between the gritty, psychological torment of early decade urban crime and the bombastic, explosive action of the emerging blockbusters. At its center is Brad Davis, an actor whose intense, trembling energy frequently threatened to burst the confines of standard genre cinema. Watched today, Cold Steel stands as a fascinating time capsule, a film of wild tonal shifts, remarkable character actors, and a frantic, sweaty desperation that feels entirely distinct from the slickly manufactured thrillers of modern cinema. The narrative structure of Cold Steel begins with an abrupt subversion of holiday cheer. Brad Davis plays Detective Johnny Modine, a...

 Written and directed by Emmy-winning documentarian and former PBS producer Robyn Symon, this feature is set to make its world premiere next month at Dances With Films in Los Angeles. Shot entirely in Mexico with a local cast and crew, the film takes a fascinating piece of Mexican culture and pushes it to a cinematic extreme. The story centers on the real-world game that is a test of endurance where people voluntarily shock themselves with electricity. In Queen of Shock, this tradition is reimagined as a brutal, viral underground circuit. We follow a struggling single mother who is forced into these escalating electrical matches in a desperate bid to save her kidnapped daughter. Joining us on the podcast is Robyn Symon to discuss: The process of adapting a real cultural tradition into genre cinema. The technical challenges of creating intense underground competition sequences. Her experience directing a Spanish-language feature in Mexico. The creative leap from documentary filmmaki...

  Every summer, a breakthrough film comes along that completely disrupts the genre space, and this year, that honor belongs to Obsession . After making major waves during its premiere in the Midnight Madness program at the Toronto International Film Festival, the film has captivated audiences with its dark, cautionary tale. It follows a hopeless romantic who gets exactly what he asked for, only to realize his deepest desires carry a sinister price. While the film itself is a massive achievement, a huge part of its success lies in its incredible, atmospheric music. Thankfully, Waxwork Records, in partnership with Back Lot Music, has officially released the Obsession Original Motion Picture Soundtrack by Rock Burwell. Physical collectors and audiophiles can now pick up the score on vinyl, CD, and cassette. This project marks Zach "Rock" Burwell’s official debut as a feature film composer, though he is far from a newcomer to the music scene. Burwell is already a platinum-sellin...

One of the year’s most fiercely original cinematic debuts is officially heading to physical media. Amazon MGM Studios and Alliance Home Entertainment have announced that Is God Is, the acclaimed revenge thriller directed by Aleshea Harris, will release on Blu-ray and DVD on July 28, 2026. The film, which adapted Harris’s own award-winning stage play, made waves during its theatrical release on May 15. It quickly earned a 97% critical score on Rotten Tomatoes and a 90% audience score on the Popcornmeter. Now, physical media collectors and film enthusiasts can pre-order the movie on Amazon ahead of its mid-summer home video launch. Based on the stage play that swept major theater honors, including an Obie Award and the Relentless Award, Is God Is marks a striking directorial debut for Harris. The narrative centers on twin sisters Racine, played by Kara Young, and Anaia, played by Mallori Johnson, who bear severe physical scars from a childhood tragedy. Their lives are fractured when they...

  Today, we are exploring a gorgeous new indie road movie that just hit theaters on June 5th. It’s called Carolina Caroline, and joining us is the man responsible for its stunning, emotionally raw look—cinematographer Jean-Philippe Bernier. This film is a beautiful contradiction. It draws heavy inspiration from classic 1970s Americana and grit-and-grain crime cinema, yet it maintains this deeply intimate, contemporary emotional perspective. Jean-Philippe teamed up with director Adam Rehmeier for the third time to craft a visual language that feels like an "endless summer"—that reckless, fleeting feeling where you think the sun will never go down... until reality hits you hard. In this episode, Jean-Philippe is taking us behind the scenes of how they built that grounded road-movie aesthetic. We talk about why embracing raw imperfections actually made the story feel more authentic, and how they visually balanced the tenderness of a romance with the high stakes of a crime thrill...

  A weathered tribal cop and his new trainee must find a ruthless fugitive, whose return to their rural Indigenous reservation has exposed its darkest secrets and could ignite a violent gang war. Starring and Executive Produced by Lou Diamond Phillips (La Bamba), also starring Nick Stahl (Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines), Kimberly Guerrero (It: Welcome to Derry), Dana Namerode (The A-Frame), Elisha Pratt (True Detective), and Lane Factor (Reservation Dogs). Directed by Vincent Grashaw (Bang Bang)

The independent film scene is finding a vibrant home in the heart of Pennsylvania as the River Valley Film Festival prepares for its second annual event. Running from July 17 to July 19, 2026, the festival will take over the AMC CLASSIC Williamsport 11 in downtown Williamsport. Presented by Lycoming Arts, this year's gathering builds heavily on the momentum of its 2025 debut. The program has expanded significantly, featuring 36 official selections that span narratives, documentaries, feature-length films, shorts, and music videos. This growth reinforces the festival's emerging reputation as a vital destination for independent storytellers who want to find real connections with enthusiastic audiences. Festivities will officially begin on July 17 with Red Carpet Friday, a lively street festival running from 5:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. Inspired by the popular First Friday events hosted by Lycoming Arts, this opening celebration will bring local vendors, live music, food, and a literal ...

The mid-1980s marked a distinct, hyper-kinetic era for Hollywood cinema, a period when the sudden explosion of MTV transformed the visual language of studio filmmaking. Pop music and synchronized choreography were no longer just elements of the classic studio musical, but instead became the vital tissue driving youth culture on screen. Within this landscape, a fascinating intersection occurred when Sidney Poitier, an icon of classical Hollywood dignity, stepped behind the camera to direct the 1985 dance drama Fast Forward. Coming off a string of successful comedies, Poitier shifted gears to capture the neon-soaked, synth-driven energy of the decade, resulting in a film that remains a fascinating, earnest, and deeply rhythmic artifact of its time. The narrative structure follows a blueprint that is comforting in its familiarity. A group of exceptionally talented, starry-eyed high school students from Sandusky, Ohio, calling themselves The Adventurous Eight, leave their small-town lives ...

The knife slips in, the blood flows, and the meta-commentary chugs along. By the time a horror franchise reaches its seventh installment, the options are limited. A series can either pretend it is high art and collapse under the weight of its own unearned gravity, or it can lean into the beautiful, chaotic absurdity of its own survival. Scream 7, directed by franchise veteran Kevin Williamson, wisely chooses the latter. Following a notoriously messy production cycle that involved high-profile cast departures, director swaps, and a massive script page-one rewrite, the film arrived in theaters under a cloud of skeptical anticipation. The early critical consensus was brutal. Critics called it a tired husk, a cynical retreat to nostalgia, and a structural mess. They missed the point. Scream 7 is a lean, mean, and delightfully unpretentious slasher that works precisely because it refuses to take itself too seriously. It is a film that understands exactly what it is, a late-stage sequel desi...