This week, I was invited to join fellow film critic and longtime collaborator Aaron White on an FF+ episode of the Feelin’ Film Podcast. The topic was presenting unheralded hidden gem movie recommendations that people could stream at home to close out 2022. Over the years, the digital storefront has grown cinema in many directions, and there are some excellent films waiting for audience discovery. Aaron and I each presented five picks. These are sure to fill your watchlists!
Read MoreBoth Ian Simmons of the Kicking the Seat podcast and YouTube channel and I have been lucky enough to be enjoying the fruits of Warner Bros. Home Entertainment. The two of us are on the press list to receive advance copies of the studio’s new disc releases. That physical media parade will include new films and classic titles arriving on 4K for the first time. Ian called me in to celebrate the latter for, as fate would have it, my all-time favorite movie: CASABLANCA! Arriving for the first time on 4K, it was easy to gush about a movie I adore that much!
Read MoreIan Simmons of the Kicking the Seat podcast and YouTube channel recently celebrated his 800th show and I was lucky enough to be invited to join the party. Also flanked by Ian’s longtime top wingman David Fowlie of Keeping it Reel and Mark Krawczyk of Special Mark Productions, Ian picked a special movie for the occasion, a film he calls straightaway his favorite of 2022 so far: Netflix’s international smash hit action film RRR. The appreciation for both the movie and all things Kicking the Seat was shared across the roundtable and by, what turned out to be, thousands of streaming views.
Read MoreWhen my Cinephile Hissy Fit podcast partner Will Johnson was in town, Mike Crowley of the You’ll Probably Agree website (and fellow 25YL film critic) was kind enough to be the video host for some collaborative crossover content among a gathering of mutual friends. Cati Glidewell of The Blonde in Front and freelancer Hayden Mears of Collider joined us with the plan of recording two sessions of shared video and audio content. Shot inside Chicago’s The Laugh Factory, this first episode is a discussion on movies that make us cry. Enjoy this energetic and emotional conversation and be sure to follow Mike’s work on 25YL.
Read MoreThree months and change into a year-long commitment of abstaining from new comic book films and TV shows, Ian Simmons of the Kicking the Seat podcast and YouTube channel has arrived at moment of his one called-in-advanced exception. With Warner Bros.’s DC League of Super-Pets, he’s doing it for the kids. Ian earmarked this animated comedy to be his youngest son’s first ever trip to a movie theater and, boy, did he pick a winner. Ian’s enlisted buddies of “Earth’s Mightiest Critics” gather to celebrate the film and future milestone.
Read MoreI've been overdue advertising this on behalf of my film critic peer Caillou Pettis. Earlier this year, he invited me to contribute to his new book "The Inspiring World of Horror: The Movies That Influenced Generations," collecting formative horror film experiences from writers, creators, and fellow critics. I was greatly honored by the invitation and did my best to give him a solid story. I've got a section in there celebrating the original Candyman. Horror movie afficionados, grab it for your Kindle and support a good author! It’s quickly become a best seller!
Read MoreBeing part of the new Banana Meter has expanded my professional circle to meet new creators and people. I recently answered an open call to submit a recorded blurb for the “Awesome Friday” podcast, hosted by Matthew Simpson and Simon Best. They were collecting selections of people’s favorite Marvel Cinematic Universe films for special Bonus Episode. I was glad to chime in with my thoughts on my #1 favorite of the bunch, 2014’s Captain America: The First Avenger and represent my many outlets.
Read MoreWhile I fully support my friend Ian Simmons’ year-long moratorium on “new” comic book films and TV shows, I like the chances he’s chosen to reflect on old titles for his Kicking the Seat podcast and YouTube channel. Ian requested “Earth’s Mightiest Critics” to revisit the 15-year-old Spider-Man 3 from director Sam Raimi with fresh eyes and an open heart. I tried my best with a rewatch, but the movie only got worse for me. With many absentees from the usual crew, it ended up being Ian hosting Will Johnson and myself representing the Cinephile Hissy Fit podcast for this lovely conversation on all the emotions of success and failure that came from Spider-Man 3. Enjoy!
Read MoreAs he announced in May, Ian Simmons of the Kicking the Seat podcast and YouTube channel has begun a one-year moratorium on watching new comic book-based movies and TV shows (with DC League of Super Pets as his one caveat to take his young son to his first movie). While he may not be leading his usual YouTube roundtables, he still invited and welcomed participants for the team of “Earth’s Mightiest Critics” to still get the good and bad words out there for Thor: Love and Thunder.
Read MoreIt’s great getting to talk to good friends! This week, I was invited to join fellow film critic and longtime collaborator Aaron White on an FF+ episode of the Feelin’ Film Podcast. This show opens with Aaron’s spot-on review of Thor: Love and Thunder and a disc release review of the 4K Edge of Tomorrow hitting store shelves July 5th. I join Aaron for the third and closing segment. With 2022 halfway over, he and I recapping our favorites from the first half of the year while gazing down the calendar to the upcoming releases we are looking forward to the most from July through December to close 2022.
Read MoreMarcel the Shell With Shoes On is emphatically wholesome to no end. Revealing so much wonderment in plain domesticity, this movie decorates the micro-ordinary in wildly unique ways worth celebrating. It may not be your children’s shiny new favorite movie for endless replay, but, when absorbed with receptiveness and appreciated for its singularity, Marcel the Shell With Shoe On will become a charming and formative right of passage experience held dear and passed down for generations to come.
Read MoreIt’s not often that my fellow Cinephile Hissy Fit podcast host Will Johnson and I find ourselves alone in a room defending a popular movies, but that was the case this on Ian Simmons’ Kicking the Seat podcast and YouTube channel and his critics roundtable for Disney/Pixar’s Lightyear. Hear our passionate defense! Watch and listen to Ian, Will, myself, David Fowlie of Keeping it Reel, Mark Krawczyk of Special Mark Productions, and Annie Banks from Chuck Load of Comics.
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