FOLLOWING FILMS - Podcast, Movies, Music, and More

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...

The action-thriller genre has long been dominated by a specific archetype: the aging male operative pulled out of retirement for one final, deeply personal mission. Audiences have watched stars like Liam Neeson, Jason Statham, and Gerard Butler turn the "unbreakable protector" into a lucrative cinematic staple. Yet, with Adrian Grünberg’s Protector, the sandbox gets a refreshing, high-octane shakeup. Milla Jovovich steps into the frame, proving that after decades of anchoring high-concept sci-fi and horror franchises, she remains one of the most dedicated and physically commanding action icons working today. The film may walk down a familiar, well-trodden path, but Jovovich’s relentless energy elevates the material into a gritty, satisfying ride. The narrative blueprint of Protector, penned by Bong-Seob Mun, pulls no punches about its structural roots. It leans directly into the high-stakes, ticking-clock mechanics of modern vigilante thrillers. Jovovich stars as Nikki Halste...

  Welcome back to the podcast, everyone. Today, we are examining the architecture of memory, trauma, and the blurred lines of reality. Hitting theaters and VOD on June 12, 2026, is a film that I promise is going to get under your skin. It’s called This Tempting Madness, a breathtakingly tense psychological thriller that marks the feature directorial debut of Jennifer E. Montgomery.   Now, if you think you’ve seen all sides of Bridgerton superstar Simone Ashley, think again. She delivers a raw, bold, and genuinely transformative performance as Mia, a woman who awakens from a coma with a fractured memory, a grievously injured body, and the devastating realization that the man she loves is completely missing. Alongside an incredible supporting cast, the film takes us directly inside Mia's disoriented mind as she tries to piece together a past she can no longer trust.   But what makes This Tempting Madness truly unforgettable is where the story came from. This isn't...

The first half of Takashi Miike's 1999 masterpiece Audition behaves like a melancholic, slightly clinical romantic drama. It details the quiet life of Shigeharu Aoyama (Ryo Ishibashi), a middle-aged documentary producer who lost his wife to cancer seven years prior. He lives a peaceful, rhythmic existence with his teenage son, Shigehiko, who gently suggests that it is time for his father to find a new companion. Aoyama agrees, but his return to the dating pool is not handled through conventional means. Instead, his close friend Yoshikawa, a slick feature film producer, suggests a bizarre and ethically dubious scheme. They will hold a mock casting call for a non-existent movie, allowing Aoyama to interview young women under the guise of finding a leading lady, while secretly searching for a perfect wife. This extended setup takes up almost an hour of screen time. Miike handles it with an unexpected, muted restraint that contrasts sharply with his reputation for gonzo, over-the-top v...