alphabetical order (more available on podcast)

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In the  grand tradition of such intimate war epics as Dunkirk and Black Hawk Down, Oscar-winner Sam Mendes (American Beauty, Skyfall) directed this ground-level   journey of two young British army privates (Dean-Charles Chapman, George  MacKay) who are sent on an urgent mission during World War I to deliver a  message that will hopefully stop 1,600 men from walking straight into a  deadly trap set by the enemy. And everything which transpires on-screen is conducted within ONE continuous shot. :o One of the more acclaimed and successful war epics of recent years, this film nonetheless was dismissed by several as relying more on its central conceit than telling a compelling story. It was also nominated for ten Oscars including Best Picture and ended up winning three. 

Yes, kids, what you've heard is true! There was once a Fast & Furious sequel WITHOUT Vin Diesel, it  featured the late and fondly remembered Paul Walker at his most endearing and Tyrese actually playing a charismatic anti-hero type Roman who is not the butt of the joke...and it was directed by the late, great John Singleton amidst a good run of action films he did in the early  2000s. And believe it or not, it was actually a lot of fun. 

Coming out more than sixteen years after its beloved predecessor (2001: A Space   Odyssey), this might have been the very first Legacy Sequel.  Also whereas the   first film was directed by the late great cinema legend Stanley Kubrick, this   one was helmed by journeyman director Peter Hyams (Running Scared, Capricorn One, TimeCop who in tandem with the author (Arthur C. Clarke) of the original source material was determined to craft a more conventional story as opposed to the ground-breaking 1968 classic which was much more abstract in   it structure and tone. Picking up nine years after the events of that   first film, we follow Dr. Heywood Floyd (Roy Scheider) who planned that   previous mission of the USS Discovery to Jupiter where those onboard   discovered the mysterious Monolith.   Dr. Floyd is determined to find out what   exactly transpired so he hitches a ride with a Soviet mission there commanded   by Captain Tanya Kirbuk (Helen Mirren). And what they eventually encounter and discover is...something wonderful? Also, along for the ride are John Lithgow, Bob Balaban, and Elya Baskin in an epic sci-fi adventure which might not   approach the majesty of its predecessor but actually holds up better as pure entertainment, now forty years after it was first released in theaters.   

Twenty years ago, director Danny Boyle and writer Alex Garland helped revitalize the zombie subgenre with this seminal post-apocalyptic thriller produced on a   shoe-string budget...even though the story isn't technically about zombies. Nope this is the actual story of a fictional pandemic which strikes the UK known as the "Rage" virus... Society becomes gradually wiped out by   those who are "infected" which can basically be described as FAST zombies who spew blood which spreads the infection. And at the core of this story is an aimless bike messenger (Cillian Murphy) who was actually in a coma during the first 28 days of this pandemic and a resourceful survivor who he teams up with   played by Naomie Harris. Brendan Gleason and Chris Eccleston also co-star as fellow survivors of this outbreak.

Alien Day is 4/26 and is named after the planet where the alien is first discovered by humans, known as LV-426). Let’s revisit the sci-fi horror classic which started it all. This was only the second feature to be directed by Sir Ridley Scott near the beginning of what would eventually become an illustrious career including Gladiator, Blade Runner, Thelma & Louise, and The Martian. The story follows the crew of the Nostromo, a mining ship in outer space in the future which is called to answer a distress call on a nearby planet (LV-426) and once on that   planet, they of course get more than they bargained for…. eventually meeting   the eponymous Alien. It stars Tom Skerritt as the Captain of this crew along with Sigourney Weaver in her first major role and the one which made her a star…as Lieutenant Ellen Ripley.  WARNING: VIOLENCE

Could this be the greatest film about journalism ever made? It’s certainly one of   the most celebrated investigations of one of the greatest political scandals   in American history. We follow two young reporters from the Washington Post – Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein – as they exhaustively get to the bottom of not only whom was behind the infamous 1972 break-in at the National Democratic Party headquarters as the   Watergate Hotel, but who was covering it up…and how that went, all the way to the White House.  Robert Redford plays Woodward, Dustin Hoffman plays Bernstein, and they are joined by a stellar cast of veteran actors including Jason Robards, Hal Holbrook, Jane Alexander, Jack Warden, and Martin Balsam. Alan J. Pakula directed this classic thriller. Let’s follow the money and see where it leads…

The legendary actor Edward Norton broke out big-time with his first ever on-screen appearance in the legal thriller Primal Fear which garnered him an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actor. Two years later in '98, he delivered two VERY memorable performances in two VERY different movies which   both left their marks on anyone frequenting the cinema for years to come - these two seminal films came out just about a month apart and they would make a truly BIZARRE double feature. Tony Kaye (mostly before Norton took over during post, as has been reported since its release) directed a very searing portrait of two brothers Daniel and Derek Vinyard who have immersed themselves in hate and bigotry. The older brother Derek is played by Norton in a performance which   earned him an Oscar nomination for Best Actor - he becomes the leader for a Neo-nazi gang and is eventually sent to prison after committing a brutal murder in front of their home. His   younger brother Daniel is played by Edward Furlong who eventually joins this gang after his brother is incarcerated. The story follows the struggles of both brothers along with their mother played by Beverly D'Angelo. Other co-stars include Fairuza Balk, Elliott Gould, Stacy Keach, Ethan   Suplee, Guy Torry, and Avery Brooks. WARNING: LANGUAGE

Back in 2005, writer/director Chris Nolan brought us back to Gotham City and more importantly, to the Batman. He took   the character of Bruce Wayne/Batman in a completely different direction from   previous films (the last one being Batman & Robin in ’97) by starting   fresh at the beginning. And what   results is one of the most interesting and influential origin stories ever told. Oscar-winner Christian Bale stars as the titular hero alongside Oscar-winner Michael Caine, Oscar-nominee Liam Neeson, Oscar-winner Gary Oldman, Oscar-winner Morgan Freeman, Oscar-nominee Tom Wilkinson, Cillian Murphy, Rutger Hauer, and…Katie Holmes...So yes it’s a STACKED cast with some unique choices as we delve into Batman’s famous rogues gallery as he takes on Scarecrow AND Ras Al Gul. This episode completes our "Living for the Batman" Series before the release of the newest Batman movie (The Batman).

Axel Foley (Eddie Murphy) is BACK....for the first time in 30 years no less.  We return to the ongoing adventures of the fast-talking, unflappable Detroit   police detective who keeps finding excuses to visit Beverly Hills...this time to attempt to help out his now-grown daughter (Taylor Paige) who is now a defense attorney and his old friend Billy Rosewood (Judge Reinhold) who is now a private detective working with her. Also returning are several other beloved characters from the first two Beverly Hills Cop movies in the 1980's including Jeffrey (Paul Reiser), Serge (Bronson Pinchot), and most notably Taggert (John Ashton) who is now the local police chief for Beverly Hills. What results is a throwback action comedy including all of the necessary throwback synth music...including a reprise of the iconic Axel F theme song. Let's see if the magic is actually back too

Over 25 years ago, the writing/director duo Joel & Ethan Coen released this as the follow-up to their Oscar-winning classic from two years prior, Fargo. Whereas that film was a tense kidnapping thriller for the most part, the tone of this film was much sillier, filled with jokes related to bowling, nihilism, and White   Russians. As a result, the reception   from most critics AND American audiences at the time was decidedly mixed.... the film was generally viewed as a disappointment back in 1998. But over time, this film started to garner   a sizeable cult following and nowadays, many look back on it fondly as a   modern classic and one of the Coens' best. Maybe it's due to the stacked cast? This film   stars Jeff Bridges, John Goodman, Steve Buscemi, Julianne Moore, Philip   Seymour Hoffman, and Sam Elliott among several others...The Dude Abides!

Alex Garland, the acclaimed writer/director of Ex Machina and Annihilation has returned to deliver his largest production yet; a dystopian war drama taking place in a possible future where the USA (no longer) is now experiencing its SECOND Civil War as several states have seceded from the Union resulting in an ongoing brutal conflict among several different factions. This story follows four journalists (Kirsten Dunst, Wagner Moura, Cailee Spaeny, Stephen McKinley Henderson) as they cover the action in a variety of places around the Northeast on their way to a seminal event expected to occur in   Washington, DC. And what results is definitely the most controversial film of 2024 so far...

In our series, "Living for the Bond", we revisit the last Bond film starring Pierce Brosnan as 007 alongside Halle Berry, Rosamund Pike, Rick Yune, and Toby Stephens. This is one of the wilder episodes in the Bond saga as it starts off with our hero being kept prisoner by the North Korean government for more than a year before he is freed and attempts to uncover a plot to harness the power of the sun within a satellite by a young, thrill-seeking British tycoon which also  involves conflict diamonds, lasers, and facial reconstruction.  The movie was hugely successful, generally well-received, and…now nobody will admit to liking it??  Let’s see how it rates twenty years later…

The beach town of Amity Island has been experiencing some mysterious attacks from a mysterious entity within the nearby ocean, resulting in some brutal deaths.  And the local police chief Brody (Roy Scheider) is concerned that it MIGHT be sharks....and he's not the only one, there's also the visiting marine biologist Hooper (Richard Dreyfuss) who suspects that it MIGHT be a Great White Shark. :o And besides them, there's the local sea-dog Quint (Robert Shaw) who not only believes that it's a Great White Shark but that ONLY he can kill it. And we're off to the sea in Steven Spielberg's classic mega-blockbuster which turns 50 this year!  We're gonna need a BIGGER boat indeed...