Now Playing - The Movie Review Podcast
Now Playing - The Movie Review Podcast
Venganza Media, Inc.
The hosts of Now Playing Podcast dive deep into every franchise from Bond, DC and Marvel to Mad Max, Andromeda Strain to Wolverine, breaking down each film with sharp insight, behind-the-scenes stories, and a lot of humor. If a movie has a sequel (or three), we’ve probably reviewed it with real research, real opinions, and zero patience for bad movies.
Godzilla Minus One Movie Review
The Laws of Subtraction Toho Studios finds the math of Godzilla Minus One working out well at the global box office as their giant lizard celebrates his 70th Anniversary with a 2023 blockbuster. Can a guilt-ridden kamikaze pilot put his flying skills to better use after the radioactive monster renews nuclear fears in post-WWII Japan?  And how did a kaiju series known for sticking a man in a rubber suit to attack model train sets earn an Oscar for Best Visual Effects? Listen Now to learn if this 38th Godzilla entry floats to the top of the franchise, or sinks in the shadow of the Monsterverse.
Nov 4
1 hr 39 min
Intermission 9: Not the Full Monty (And Listener Q&A!)
For the first time ever, all six Now Playing Podcast hosts are together, and somehow everyone manages to keep their pants on. Mostly. In this Intermission podcast: Stuart discovers his inner Broadway fan; Brock boldly goes back to Star Trek: The Next Generation; Jason gears up for Formula One in Las Vegas; and Justin explores haunted houses and the Brat Pack. Meanwhile, Arnie and Marjorie return from Universal's Halloween Horror Nights with tales of questionable Cenobites, a Universal Studios tour guide's worst nightmare, and some very expensive home decorating ideas. Then it's time for Impossible Arnie Trivia, as one brave listener faces a gauntlet of Godzilla questions with an enormous prize package on the line. Finally, the hosts open the listener mailbag to answer your burning questions. How has nearly 20 years of Now Playing changed their lives? How do they take notes in dark movie theaters? Would they rather celebrate a masterpiece or tear apart a cinematic disaster? And which movies are they still dying to review? It's musicals, monsters, movies, memories, and more on November's stuffed Intermission podcast!
Nov 1
59 min
Clayface Movie Review
Getting Into Characters Batman would have one less problem in Gotham if Tom Rhys Harries (Slaughterhouse Rulez) had won an Oscar rather than gotten carved up by mobsters in the 2026 origin story Clayface. Can this disfigured celebrity reclaim his looks and movie-star status once scientist Naomi Ackie (Blink Twice) fills his pores with A.I. nanocells that allow the method actor to literally stretch?  Or does staying bent out of shape at the folks who canceled his career typecast this versatile thespian as an unlovable villain? Hear Now Playing give DC Studios an earful today!
Oct 27
1 hr 45 min
Street Fighter (2026) Movie Review
Eat some snails with Arnie, Justin, and Stuart in the Now Playing Arcade Lord Bison (David Dastmalchian) invites the world’s toughest warriors to show off their “psycho energy” and gravity-defying hairdos in the 2026 reboot of Street Fighter. Can estranged brothers Ken Masters (Noah Centineo) and Ryu (Andrew Koji) repair their relationship as the MTV playboy summons a Flaming Hadouken, and the orphaned loner struggles to contain a dark spirit inside himself? And is spy Chun-Li (Callina Liang) right to say there’s more happening at this tournament than 50 Cent and Jason Momoa flexing video game physiques? Listen Now!
Oct 21
1 hr 51 min
The Social Reckoning Movie Review
Getting In Your Face(book) Mikey Madison (Anora) braces for a Social Reckoning after she shares stolen Facebook secrets with investigative reporter Jeremy Allen White (The Bear) in this 2026 docudrama. Has Mark Zuckerberg (Succession’s Jeremy Strong) become a better friend to media types like Bill Burr (The Mandalorian) since Jesse Eisenberg played the retaliatory tech-company CEO in start-up story The Social Network?  And can Oscar-winning screenwriter Aaron Sorkin (The West Wing) make this Meta commentary with the same directorial flair as David Fincher?  Find out Now!
Oct 13
1 hr 41 min
Godzilla (1998) Movie Review
Iguana Be Sedated Matthew Broderick needs another day off after Godzilla rises out of the Hudson to nest in New York City in a 1998 reboot of the iconic Japanese monster. But should this dweeby biologist criticize the asexual reproduction of a giant lizard laying eggs inside Madison Square Garden when he’s got even less romantic chemistry with aspiring reporter Maria Patillo?  And can Hollywood hitmakers Roland Emmerich and Dean Devlin coax our star to demolish Manhattan buildings with the same zeal as the UFOs from Independence Day?  Listen and find out now!
Oct 6
1 hr 34 min
Intermission 8: Old Punks, Great Pumpkins, & Disco Testicles
Halloween has come to Now Playing! The hosts share their favorite spooky-season traditions, from month-long horror marathons and haunted houses to vintage TV specials, costumed pets, and gifts from the mysterious Mr. Bogeyman. Meanwhile, Arnie has accidentally planned an entire month around Hellraiser. Plus, concerts, Star Trek, fantasy football, and a patron brave enough to face our horror movie trivia!
Oct 2
40 min
Godzilla (1954) / Godzilla: King of the Monsters (1956)
Jurassic Landmark This podcast covers both the original 1954 Japanese Godzilla as well as the 1956 Americanized re-edit Godzilla: King of the Monsters Before all the throwdowns with Mothra, Ghidorah, and King Kong, radioactive dinosaur Godzilla stood tall as a symbol of nuclear annihilation in his 1954 debut. Can paleontologist Takashi Shimura (Seven Samurai) convince the people of Japan that the creature attacking their boats, trains, and radio towers is just as much a victim of H-bomb testing as they are? And do things get worse with the arrival of American journalist Raymond Burr (Perry Mason) and an Oxygen Destroyer invention that steals the fiery breath from the big lizard’s mouth?  Find out now!
Sep 30
1 hr 26 min
Resident Evil (2026) Movie Review
First Person Shirker   Austin Abrams (Whalefall) is tasked with delivering the cure to another Umbrella Corporation lab leak in the 2026 reboot of Resident Evil. But can the hapless courier reach the top floor of a Raccoon City hospital overrun with monsters using a vehicle unprepared for snowy mountain roads, receiving intermittent cell connection with a pregnant girlfriend, and having only handled guns in video games?  And will writer-director Zach Cregger (Weapons) be torn limb from limb for discarding all the franchise lore to focus on pratfalls?  F*ckin’ find out when you Listen Now!
Sep 22
1 hr 34 min
Resident Evil (2022) TV Series Review
Is it evil that I’m glad Milla Jovovich is no longer a resident of this franchise? Umbrella Corporation wanted South Africa’s New Raccoon City to launch a pharmaceutical revolution in 2022, but the failed utopia ends up birthing a zombie apocalypse in Netflix’s episodic reboot of Resident Evil. Is the reason why twin sisters Ella Ballinska (Charlie’s Angels) and Adeline Rudolph (Mortal Kombat II) have no Joy in 2036 because their chemist father Lance Reddick (The Wire) screwed up an antidepressant 14 years before?  And does it make Zero sense that the T-virus is now turning caterpillars and lizards into kaiju?  Find out now!
Sep 15
1 hr 57 min
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