Cinemaholics

We don't have a clue as to why Kenneth Branagh loves making these Hercule Poirot movies so much, but it looks like A Haunting in Venice is turning heads. How about ours? In addition to reviewing the latest Agatha Christie murder mystery adaptation featuring, we also sneak in some random asides and analysis of The Nun II, the latest Conjuring-verse movie starring Taissa Farmiga.

A Haunting in Venice was directed by Kenneth Branagh,...

This is not another teen movie. That's right, we're finally reviewing Bottoms this week, which is a raunchy teen sex comedy from the people who brought us Shiva Baby and Bodies, Bodies, Bodies. Critics have been loving this one, even though its box office has so far bottomed out, but where do the Cinemaholics stand (or sit?)

Bottoms was directed by Emma Seligman, which she co-wrote with Rachel Sennott. The cast includes Sennott, a...

We're shifting gears this week to a review of Gran Turismo, which came out a little later than planned (kind of like this episode of Cinemaholics). You're right, it's really Gran Turismo: Based on a True Story, that story belonging to Jann Mardenborough the real life gamer who became a professional race car driver.

Gran Turismo: Based on a True Story was directed by Neill Blomkamp and written by Jason Hall and Zach Baylin. The cas...

Strays is a new-ish breed of R-rated talking dog comedy, and it's definitely bad...to the bone. But are we making our way poundtown? Pawing fast? Leashes past, and we're Homeward Bound? That's right, we're reviewing Strays this week, plus Jon does a mini-review for Blue Beetle.

Show Notes:

• 00:00:00 – Blue Beetle mini review and what else we might cover soon
• 00:17:15 – Strays

Strays was directed by Josh Greenbaum an...

Special guest Michael Overhulse is down for the count this week in our double review of The Last Voyage of the Demeter and Talk to Me, two horror movies that the boys claim Jon is too scared to watch. Guess they just need a thrill pill.

Show Notes

• 00:00:00 – Intro (Jon is not here to defend himself)
• 00:05:00 – The Last Voyage of the Demeter
• 00:34:35 – Talk to Me

The Last Voyage of the Demeter was directed by André...

This podcast was recorded during the 2023 WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes. Without the labor of the writers and actors currently on strike, the movie being covered here wouldn’t exist.

Wowabunga! Special guest Cory Woodroof joins the show this week for a review of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem, a computer-animated reimagining of the famous pizza-loving turtles from some of the same talent behind Mitchells vs. The Machines.

This podcast was recorded during the 2023 WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes. Without the labor of the writers and actors currently on strike, the movie being covered here wouldn’t exist.

You're not going to believe this, but Disney made another movie based on a theme park ride that barely anyone watched. That's right, we're talking about Haunted Mansion this week, based on the Disneyland attraction and a reboot of the 2003 film starring E...

Special guest Parth Sanghvi joins us for the first time ever to review Oppenheimer, Christopher Nolan's follow-up to 2020's Tenet, which for sure came out under normal circumstances. We open the show, however, with a quick visit from a couple old friends and Nolan super-fans before diving into the discussion (00:04:00) and finishing out with the Rotten Tomatoes Game.

Oppenheimer was also written by Nolan and is based on the 2005 b...

This podcast was recorded during the 2023 WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes. Without the labor of the writers and actors currently on strike, the movie being covered here wouldn’t exist.

Looks like the PG-13 live-action Barbie isn't exactly child's play. That's right, we're taking a close look this week at Barbie, a smash hit at the box office and fourth film by Greta Gerwig, star of such massive projects like "How I Met Your Dad." A fant...

This podcast was recorded during the 2023 WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes. Without the labor of the writers and actors currently on strike, the movie being covered here wouldn’t exist.

Does the seventh Mission: Impossible movie fall off a cliff? That's right, we're reviewing the good, bad, and Tom Cruise of it all in Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One. A movie with as many stunts as it has words in the title. Starting off, we...

More like Ridemaids. That's right, Joy Ride hit theaters this past weekend, and you'll never believe it. An R-rated raunchy comedy with positive reviews didn't make a ton of money at the box office. We know. Super surprising! But because we don't care about the Insidious franchise (and Jon watched Joy Ride twice for some reason), we thought it only fitting to find our cinematic Seoulmate. Well, Jon's at least.

Joy Ride was directe...

The Indiana Jones franchise might be out of time, but maybe that's why the fifth and final entry, Dial of Destiny, is about time! And it's about time we review it. Harrison Ford returns, naturally, as the titular adventurer, now in his golden years as the series enters 1969. But you know who doesn't return? Steven Spielberg! Or George Lucas. Since its premiere at Cannes, Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny has certainly divided c...

Raunchy comedies don't come easily. That's right, we're reviewing No Hard Feelings this week, a new film from Gene Stupnitsky, who previously directed Good Boys and co-created Jury Duty. No Hard Feelings marks the return of Jennifer Lawrence to the big screen (if you don't count the limited release of Don't Look Up) since she made us wonder if her agent needs a strict talking-to in 2018's Red Sparrow. We discuss the somewhat divisi...

Elemental received a chilly reception at the box office in its opening weekend, and sparks are certainly flying between lovers and haters of Pixar's 27th feature film. Some call it one of Pixar's hottest while others find it to be watered down. So this week we review this force of nature film and discuss what works and doesn't, plus we play the Rotten Tomatoes Game to see how the critical consensus is shaping up.

Elemental was dir...

Special guest Brogan Luke Bouwhis joins us this week to review The Flash, which stars Ezra Miller as the fastest person alive...at avoiding crimes? Anyway, the DCEU is currently being taken over by James Gunn, which makes The Flash a bit of a holdover from another era. That's probably why it has plenty of other eras inside its runtime, because yes, it's a multiverse plot. Comic book movies have no other choice these days. We give o...

On this special bonus episode of Cinemaholics, we discuss Asteroid City, the latest movie from writer/director Wes Anderson. His new feature has a few things in common with his previous one, The French Dispatch, particularly when it comes to his ability to convince almost every recognizable actor in Hollywood to show up. And show up they did for this quirky sci-fi romantic comedy drama about a Junior Stargazer convention in a 50s d...

The Transformers franchise is back, but only sort of? This week on Cinemaholics, we discuss Transformers: Rise of the Beasts. The new film takes place in the 90s and departs from the mainline Transformers movies by Michael Bay. It's maybe barely a sequel to Bumblebee, the prequel we declared as the best Transformers by default in 2018. But this time around the Autobots, still led by Optimus Prime, team up with new allies inspired b...

We've been bit by the love bug. Special guest Matt Serafini joins us to review Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, the sequel to 2018's Oscar-winning Into the Spider-Verse. Despite being the longest animated film ever made in America, Across the Spider-Verse has been collecting cash across the box office-verse, with both critics and audiences agreeing that this is a sight of a comic book movie to behold. But what do the Cinemaholi...

Well, Disney remade another one of their classic animated movies in live-action format, which means it's time to dive into The Little Mermaid, from the same director of the fourth Pirates of the Caribbean movie. We open the show this week briefly chatting about other movies we're looking forward to this coming month, then it's onto our review and a general look at what's coming next for these Disney live-action remakes. Last, we fi...