Cinemaholics

The teens aren’t all right on this week’s show. Our first review of the week is Voyagers, a new sci-fi drama from Neil Burger starring Tye Sheridan, Lily-Rose Depp, Fionn Whitehead, and Colin Farrell, which just launched in theaters. We also discuss Thunder Force, Netflix’s superhero action comedy from Ben Falcone and Melissa McCarthy, who co-stars in the film alongside Octavia Spencer. Last, we hit the slippery slopes of Slalom, a festival indie skiing drama from up-and-coming French director Charlène Favier.

Now streaming on Hulu, WeWork: Or the Making and Breaking of a $47 Billion Unicorn is a new documentary from Jed Rothstein that follows the spectacular rise (and fall) of WeWork, a coworking startup with an almost cult-like CEO (Adam Neumann) running their descent into financial madness.

Now available to stream on Netflix, Concrete Cowboy is a new urban western drama starring Idris Elba, Caleb McLaughlin, Jharrel Jerome, and Clifford "Method Man" Smith. It centers around a real-life horse riding culture in Philadelphia and is directed and co-written by Ricky Staub.

Our main review this week is Shiva Baby, a new festival darling dark comedy written and directed by Emma Seligman in her feature film debut. In addition to discussing that film, along with Netflix’s Concrete Cowboy and Hulu’s WeWork: Or the Making and Breaking of a $47 Billion Unicorn, we discuss the new trailer for Space Jam: A New Legacy and debate whether or not Rogue One: A Star Wars Story is good. Plus we go on a weird rant about streaming services as high school cliques.

It's Jon vs. Will on this week's bonus episode of Cinemaholics. Who will prevail? Hard to say. But they do their best to battle out their differing takes on not only Godzilla vs. Kong, but Legendary's overall "MonsterVerse" to date. Their latest effort comes to us from director Adam Wingard and stars Alexander Skarsgård, Millie Bobby Brown, Rebecca Hall, Brian Tyree Henry, Shun Oguri, Eiza González, Julian Dennison, Kyle Chandler, and Demián Bichir.

The Courier is a new Cold War drama directed by Dominic Cooke and starring Benedict Cumberbatch, Rachel Brosnahan, Jessie Buckley, Merab Ninidze, and Angus Wright. The film follows the true story of Greville Wynne (Cumberbatch), who assisted in delivering crucial intel from a source in Moscow before and during the Cuban Missile Crisis of the 1960s. The film originally premiered at Sundance 2020 as Ironbark, and it's now available in theaters.

Directed by Kitao Sakurai, Bad Trip is a new hidden camera comedy starring Eric Andre, Lil Rel Howery, and Tiffany Haddish. The prank film has just come out on Netflix after a series of delays from Orion Pictures.

Bob Odenkirk is an unlikely action hero in Nobody, a new thriller from Ilya Naishuller, the director of Hardcore Henry. We discuss the film and Odenkirk’s surprising turn in it as a seemingly mediocre guy who goes full John Wick when a mob of Russians begins to target him and his family. Afterward, we discuss Bad Trip on Netflix and The Courier, which recently hit theaters.

Special guest Mekishana Pierre joins us today for a bonus review of “Invincible,” a new animated superhero show created by Robert Kirkman and adapted from his 2003 comic book series. We discuss our general, spoiler-three thoughts on the first three episodes of the series, which you can watch right now on Amazon Prime Video. And the show features a stellar voice cast: Steven Yeun, J.K. Simmons, Sandra Oh, Walton Goggins, and many more.

This month on Extra Milestone, we jump back in time 75 years to discuss Gilda, a cult classic film noir starring Rita Hayworth, Glenn Ford, and George Macready. Directed by Charles Vidor and co-written by Jo Eisinger and Marion Parsonnet (with an uncredited contribution from Ben Hecht), the story is adapted from the work of E.A. Ellington, and it centers around gambling con man Johnny Farrell (Ford), whose amoral casino boss Ballin (Macready) surprises him with the revelation of his new, striking wife Gilda (Hayworth). We discuss the film’s resonant themes all these years later, its impact on the noir genre, and how the film relates to other iconic dramas from the era.

Don’t worry, this shouldn’t take four hours. Special guest Adonis Gonzalez joins us to review Zack Snyder’s Justice League, the epic “Snydercut” or director’s cut of the 2017 superteam movie dud, which has just premiered on HBO Max. We discuss the legacy of Zack Snyder’s filmography, his work on the DCEU (DC Extended Universe), and the potential future of DC superheroes on the big screen.

South By Southwest 2021 was held virtually this year, and its film festival portion certainly had plenty to offer all you Cinemaholics. We get into some of our general thoughts of the festival and discuss common themes between the premieres. Plus we dig into our favorite films, from indie headliners like The Fallout and Violet to crowd-pleasing darlings like Language Lessons and Best Summer Ever. And finally we touch on some of the buzziest narrative features and documentaries of the fest, which include Demi Lovato: Dancing with the Devil, Alone Together, and plenty more.

Directed by Aoife Crehan, The Last Right is a new road trip dramedy about two estranged brothers who embark on a journey across Ireland to reunited two deceased brothers. The film stars Michiel Huisman, Niamh Algar, Samuel Bottomley, Brian Cox, Colm Meaney, Michael McElhatton, and Eleanor O'Brien.

You might remember Soleil Moon Frye as Punky Brewster. But in her debut film, Kid 90, the former child star re-examines a decade of her life in the aftermath of the hit show using the format of a highly personal and experimental documentary. Carrying a video camera everywhere she went in the 90s, Frye managed to capture the highs and lows of her friends growing up around Hollywood and New York City, dealing with addiction, heartbreak, and the consequences of fame. The documentary is now available to stream on Hulu, and it features many other former child stars, including David Arquette, Stephen Dorff, Balthazar Getty, Mark-Paul Gosselaar, Brian Austin Green, Tori Leonard, Heather McComb, and more.

Today we're saying yes to reviewing Yes Day, the latest family comedy film directed by Miguel Arteta and now available to stream on Netflix. Based on the children's book by Amy Krouse Rosenthal, Yes Day stars Jennifer Garner and Édgar Ramirez as two normally uptight parents who allow their children a full 24 hours where they get to make the rules. The film also stars Jenna Ortega, Nate Faxon, Julian Lerner, and Everly Carganilla.