FOLLOWING FILMS - Podcast, Movies, Music, and More

  Luca Guadagnino is taking on the AI arms race in what is shaping up to be one of the most anticipated and timely films of the year. In a massive power move, NEON has officially acquired the worldwide rights to Artificial from Amazon MGM Studios, fast-tracking the star-studded tech thriller straight into this year's Oscar race. The project marks a major acquisition for NEON. The film tackles a story that couldn't be more relevant to the cultural zeitgeist, chronicling the explosive, high-stakes days leading up to the sudden firing and dramatic reinstatement of OpenAI CEO Sam Altman. With the fate of world-altering technology hanging in the balance, Guadagnino brings his signature visionary direction to a Silicon Valley pressure cooker. To bring this modern drama to life, an incredible ensemble has been assembled, featuring Andrew Garfield as Sam Altman, Yura Borisov as Ilya Sutskever, Monica Barbaro as Mira Murati, and Mark Rylance as Nobel Prize winner Geoffrey Hinton. The p...

The cinematic universe of Kelly Reichardt has always been defined by its quietude, its deep respect for physical space, and its profound understanding of people who live on the geographic or social fringes of American life. From the transient wanderers of Old Joy and Wendy and Lucy to the exhausted pioneers of Meek’s Cutoff and the tenderly unglamorous bakers of First Cow, her characters are rarely the driving forces of history. Instead, they are people trying to survive the quiet grinding gears of economic and systemic reality. When word emerged that Reichardt was turning her sights toward a 1970s period piece centered on an art heist, a certain sector of film culture experienced a collective double take. A heist movie by Kelly Reichardt sounded like a stylistic contradiction. Classic heist cinema belongs to the smooth, kinetic, and mathematically precise worlds of Jean Pierre Melville or Michael Mann. Reichardt operates on an entirely different frequency, one where the silence betwee...

The mid-1990s marked a historic, high-stakes turning point for martial arts cinema as Hong Kong’s ultimate action auteur and global icon, Jackie Chan, successfully engineered a definitive crossover into the mainstream Western market. For decades, the Western box office had attempted to compress Chan's unique kinetic style into the rigid, humorless molds of traditional Hollywood action. It was not until Chan and his legendary collaborators, including directors Stanley Tong, Sammo Hung, and Lau Kar-leung, brought the raw, physics-defying brilliance of Hong Kong stunt design directly onto international soil that the global cinematic landscape was permanently reshaped. This golden era represents a flawless synchronization of classical martial arts purity, grand-scale international ambition, and breathtaking physical sacrifice. To truly appreciate this cinematic trajectory, one must examine these landmark films through a fascinating dual lens. As these productions traveled across the gl...

In the summer of 1995, video game adaptations in Hollywood were widely considered a death sentence. The industry was still reeling from the critical disasters of Super Mario Bros. and Street Fighter , making the prospect of translating a controversial, ultra-violent arcade fighter into a mainstream film seem nearly impossible. Enter a young British director named Paul W.S. Anderson. Armed with a modest budget, a dedication to practical Thai locations, and a legendary techno soundtrack, Anderson accomplished what few thought possible. He crafted a cinematic experience that respected its source material, bypassed the curse of the genre, and captured the raw, unadulterated energy of nineties arcade culture. The primary reason Mortal Kombat succeeds where other adaptations fail is its structural simplicity. Instead of overcomplicating the narrative or drowning the audience in dense mythology, the film lifts its plot straight from the tournament structure of the original 1992 game, drawin...

Today we are talking about Above the Line, a film that hits digital and VOD today. The story follows six struggling Hollywood hopefuls who decide the ultimate way to make a comeback is to team up and literally rob the Academy Awards from the crooked producer who crushed their dreams. But as you can imagine, in a town completely built on make-believe, trying to pull off a real heist might just be the toughest role of their lives. It’s got a fantastic ensemble cast—Cedric the Entertainer, Gregg Henry, Sophia Ali, Jackson Pace—and it’s just a great, fast-paced 90 minutes. Joining me today to chat about how he put this whole wild ride together is the co-writer and director of the film, Jeffrey Scott Collins. I hope you enjoy the show.

The year 1978 changed martial arts cinema forever. It was the exact moment Jackie Chan broke free from the shadow of Bruce Lee to redefine the genre with Snake in the Eagle's Shadow and Drunken Master. Right on the cusp of that creative revolution lay one final artifact of his transitional period with director Lo Wei: Magnificent Bodyguards. As the very first Hong Kong martial arts film shot natively in 3D, it has long been treated as a legendary curio. For decades, poor home video transfers stripped the film of its technical hook, leaving audiences with a flat kung fu slog accompanied by a stolen soundtrack. With modern restoration efforts rescuing the film's original identity from obscurity, it can finally be evaluated through its intended stereoscopic presentation. Magnificent Bodyguards emerges not as a masterpiece of narrative depth, but as a wild, gimmicky piece of late-70s exploitation showmanship that demands to be viewed in all its three-dimensional absurdity. At its c...

There is a distinct kind of nostalgia that comes from a perfectly timed, sun-bleached shot of a wide Los Angeles freeway. It is the visual language of the adult crime thriller, a genre that flourished in the nineties and early aughts before largely retreating to the fringes of independent cinema or morphing into bombastic superhero spectacles. With Crime 101, director Bart Layton attempts to stage a grand revival of this classic form. Adapting Don Winslow’s 2020 novella, Layton pulls together a massive, high-caliber ensemble including Chris Hemsworth, Mark Ruffalo, and Halle Berry to construct a sprawling heist picture that consciously evokes the ghost of Michael Mann. The results are undeniably stylish, frequently gripping, and deeply committed to an old-school aesthetic. Yet, as the title implies, the film occasionally finds itself trapped by its own foundational curriculum. For all its moody lighting, social awareness, and exceptional performances, Crime 101 struggles to break out f...

Joining me on the show is Rock Burwell. He is the brilliant mind behind the dread-inducing score for the hit psychological thriller Obsession, which originally blew audiences away during the Midnight Madness program at the Toronto International Film Festival. Working in close collaboration with director Curry Barker, Rock has crafted a soundtrack packed with smart synth work and atmospheric ambient cues. It masterfully explores the emotional undercurrents of the film, layering horror with warmth into pure, confrontational dread. It is easily one of the most exciting, disorienting, and genuinely great scores of the year. The Obsession Original Motion Picture Soundtrack is available right now thanks to the team at Waxwork Records, in partnership with Back Lot Music. You can grab your copy today on vinyl, CD, and cassette, or stream it wherever you get your music. Before we jump into my conversation with Rock about taking creative risks, finding comfort in discomfort, and building this in...

Joining us today is a veteran of the screen who has over two decades of experience and more than 70 television episodes under his belt, from intense dramas like Ozark and Will Trent to beloved comedies like Modern Family . But in a movie defined by pure psychological tension, he manages to steal the show with a brilliant comedic performance that has quickly become an audience favorite. I’m thrilled to be speaking with the incredibly versatile, risk-taking man behind Harry in Obsession,  the fantastic Darin Toonder ! Thank you for listening!