FOLLOWING FILMS - Podcast, Movies, Music, and More

Welcome to the Following Films Podcast! I’m your host, Chris Maynard. Today, we are diving into a massive double-feature cinematic event. Releasing simultaneously on Digital today, February 20, 2026, are One Mile: Chapter One and One Mile: Chapter Two. This is a unique, two-part saga from director Adam Davidson that prioritizes grit and tension, designed to be experienced as a complete journey. In Chapter One, Ryan Phillippe stars as a former special forces operative attempting to reconnect with his teenage daughter (played by Amélie Hoeferle) during a college road trip. When an unexpected detour puts them in the sights of a secretive, off-the-grid community, the trip devolves into a desperate fight for survival. The narrative deepens in Chapter Two, as he is forced back to a remote island when that same violent community abducts his daughter in an act of revenge. It’s a relentless hunt where the emotional stakes are just as heavy as the physical ones. We have two vital perspectives on...

Welcome to another episode of the Following Films Podcast. Today, we are exploring a project that is equal parts hilarious, bizarre, and incredibly poignant: the animated feature film MARS. This film marks the final project from the legendary cult comedy troupe The Whitest Kids U’Know, serving as a bittersweet and brilliant capstone to the legacy of the late, beloved Trevor Moore. Joining me to discuss the Herculean effort required to bring this vision to the big screen is the film’s director and producer, Sevan Najarian. He has been a vital force in the alternative media landscape for years, and in this episode, we trace his fascinating career path, from his early days getting into the director’s chair for animation to his involvement with the irreverent and influential world of Channel Zero. We also dive deep into the "scrappy" and often painstaking labor of love that was the production of MARS. Conceptualized over a decade ago, the film follows Kyle, a man who enters a con...

  Welcome to the Following Films Podcast, I’m your host, Chris Maynard. I’m sitting down with Matt Johnson and Jay MCarrol to talk about Nirvanna the Band the Show the Movie. If you’ve followed their journey from the early web series days to the cult-hit TV show, you know the drill: two guys, zero songs, and a delusional obsession with booking a gig at the Rivoli in Toronto. This time around, the stakes are hilariously high, we’re talking skydiving into the Skydome, accidental time travel fueled by a discontinued bottle of Orbitz soda, and a DIY mission to 2008 that is as heartfelt as it is ridiculous. It’s a brilliant mix of guerrilla filmmaking and high-concept adventure that you have to see to believe, so make sure to check your local listings for showtimes. Before we jump in, if you enjoy this conversation, please remember to leave a review and subscribe, it really helps the show grow. I hope you enjoy the show.

If you’ve ever wondered what it would look like if an Italian filmmaker tried to rip off The Omen, Star Wars, and Close Encounters of the Third Kind simultaneously while high on espresso and fever dreams, you’ll find your answer in the 1979 madness that is The Visitor. This isn't just a movie; it’s a psychedelic artifact of a time when the cinematic rulebook was thrown out the window in favor of pure "vibes" and avian-based violence. The film opens in a blinding white void where an intergalactic warrior named Jerzy—played with a magnificent, weary gravitas by the legendary John Huston—meets a cosmic, bald Christ-figure played by Franco Nero. They are surrounded by dozens of bald children in a scene that looks like a high-fashion cult meeting. They are locked in a multi-dimensional war against "Sateen," an ancient evil force whose genetic legacy is currently manifesting on Earth in the form of a foul-mouthed eight-year-old girl named Katy who lives in Atlanta. It...

If you’d stepped into a Milwaukee dive bar back in the nineties, there’s a damn good chance you would’ve run into Mike and Claire Sardina. They weren’t just some random tribute act working the weekend shift; they were a local institution, two dreamers who managed to turn a shared obsession with Neil Diamond into a lifelong survival strategy. The new film Song Sung Blue captures that specific brand of Midwestern grit perfectly—the kind of life that’s draped in cheap sequins and hairspray but still smells like a long, honest Tuesday night shift at a neighborhood hair salon. It’s a story about the beauty found in the imitation of greatness and the very real stakes of living a life on the fringes of the spotlight, and honestly, it’s one of the most grounded musical biopics I've seen in years. The movie kicks off in 1987 at the Wisconsin State Fair, which is pretty much the ultimate setting for a story about salt-of-the-earth dreams. We meet Mike, a guy with a massive voice and an even ...

I went into Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 totally expecting the standard sequel escalation, you know, bigger jumps, louder stings, and animatronics dialed up to nightmare levels. I figured the studio would just take the "more is more" approach that usually kills horror franchises by the second installment. But honestly? The movie actually knows exactly what it’s trying to be, and it stays remarkably disciplined. It’s "gateway horror" in the truest sense. It’s built for tweens who want the thrill of being scared without the actual lifelong trauma of a hard-R slasher, and it handles that balance with a ton of confidence. It understands that for a ten-year-old, the sound of a mechanical joint clicking in a dark hallway is way more effective than a bucket of fake blood. The film sets the stakes early with a heavy flashback to 1982, showing us the origin of the tragedy at the very first Freddy’s location. It’s a grim opening that establishes the long-standing rivalry and the...

On this episode, I’m joined by John Kinnane, writer, and Brendan Kinnane, executive producer—two members of the Kinnane Brothers, an eight-sibling filmmaking family who are redefining what an independent film operation can look like. Their new feature, Solo Mio, is in theaters right now. Released by Angel Studios on 3,000 screens, the film opened in second place at the box office—an enormous achievement for a true micro-budget production. It’s the kind of story exhibitors and indie filmmakers dream about: a scrappy, family-run production going toe-to-toe with studio titles and winning over audiences. If the Kinnane name sounds familiar, it might be from their viral “sound guy” shorts with Kevin James during the pandemic—videos that exploded online and put them on the industry’s radar. From there, brothers Chuck and Dan directed Home Team for Adam Sandler, starring Kevin James, which debuted at number one on Netflix. Now with Solo Mio, all eight brothers are officially credited on a sin...

Double Impact (1991), directed by Sheldon Lettich and starring Jean Claude Van Damme in a dual role, is a deliriously entertaining artifact of early 1990s action cinema. Equal parts martial arts showcase, revenge melodrama, and globe trotting crime thriller, the film embraces excess at every level. It is not subtle, nor is it especially concerned with narrative plausibility. But what it lacks in restraint, it compensates for with muscular energy, unapologetic style, and the novelty of seeing Van Damme fight quite literally himself. The premise is pure pulp. Identical twin brothers, Chad and Alex Wagner, are separated as infants after their parents are murdered in a Hong Kong business conspiracy. Raised in radically different environments, they grow into contrasting men. Chad, brought up in California by a family retainer played by Geoffrey Lewis, becomes a polished, charismatic martial arts instructor. Alex, who remains in Hong Kong, grows into a streetwise smuggler with a chip on his ...

London Calling is the kind of action comedy that knows exactly how ridiculous it is and leans into that absurdity with unapologetic enthusiasm. Starring Josh Duhamel as a weary, sharp-edged hitman whose life is unraveling at high speed, the film blends bullets, banter, and unexpected sentiment into a chaotic but entertaining ride. It is not a movie that strives for subtlety. Instead, it barrels forward with loud confidence, trusting that charm and chemistry will smooth over its rough edges. Duhamel plays Tommy Ward, a professional killer whose career takes a disastrous turn after a job goes spectacularly wrong. Suddenly hunted and desperate to get back to London to reconnect with his estranged son, Tommy finds himself forced into an uneasy arrangement. To earn safe passage and settle a dangerous debt, he must mentor Julian, the awkward teenage son of a crime boss. What begins as a bizarre work experience arrangement quickly escalates into a violent and darkly comic adventure through Lo...