This week we review the new Max series continuing Matt Reeves' The Batman saga: The Penguin. Starring Colin Farrell, Cristin Milioti, Rhenzy Feliz, and Clancy Brown, the eight-episode miniseries details Oz Cobb's rise from Gotham nobody to connected crime boss. We review the first five episodes.

This week, we review Todd Phillips' highly anticipated sequel, Joker: Folie à Deux. Is it a misbegotten misfire? Or is it a movie with a strange set of balls? Is it both? We discuss its interesting metatext, spiteful movies, and the odd throughline between Joker 2 and Megalopolis.

Self-financed and over 40 years in the making, Francis Ford Coppola's Megalopolis is the most divisive movie of the year. Is it an unmitigated disaster or an old master's magnum opus? Or is it somewhere in between? We're all divided on this one, but we can all agree on one thing: you've never seen anything like this before, and you might not ever again.

Once again transmogrifying old-school exploitation into her own feminist styling of New French Extremity, Coralie Fargeat trades in the empowered bloodletting of 2018’s Revenge for body horror. Your mileage may vary with The Substance, but whether you wince, cackle, or simply abandon the theater out of disgust, one thing is quite clear: it's quite unforgettable.

Director Jeremy Saulnier follows up his brutal downers of Green Room and Hold the Dark with a politically angry new action thriller. With a star-making turn from actor Aaron Pierre, Rebel Ridge rides into the pantheon of contemporary suspense in ways that might be surprising, especially if you're expecting more sanguine violence from Saulnier. We discuss all the ways Rebel Ridge subverts your typical action tropes to deliver something fresh.

It's a deeper cut this week as we dive straight into a smaller, VOD action gem with Bren Foster's kinetic martial arts actioner, Life After Fighting. We review this by-your-bootstraps indie gem that puts big budget blockbusters to shame with its brutal confidence and unbelievable choreography. We're giving away what we thought about it right here, but that's because we want all of you action fans to see this immediately.

Fede Álvarez takes over the reins of Xenomorph terror with Alien: Romulus. In this episode, we review the first Alien movie in seven years, and the first in over a decade to depart from series godfather Ridley Scott. Does Álvarez chart his own path with his tense, gorehound pedigree from Evil Dead and Don't Breathe? Or is it just a rehash of better movies before it? Listen and find out.

It's not an M. Night Shyamalan film without some divisiveness. We discuss his new Josh Hartnett vehicle, Trap, his late career stylings, and the pros and cons of his heightened realities. Is Trap one of Shyamalan's best? Or is it another dud?

We return to television this week to conduct a postmortem on the controversial second season of HBO's House of the Dragon. The Game of Thrones spinoff has its fans split down the middle with a divisive finale, and season in general, as the Greens and Blacks head to war. We discuss the contention at the center of the series' reception, as well as give our own differing thoughts.

Deadpool joins the Marvel Cinematic Universe proper in Shawn Levy's Deadpool & Wolverine. Or does he? We review the 34th film in the MCU. Can the Merc with the Mouth and the wayward X-Man band together to save Marvel's flagging Multiverse fortunes? Or is it just another parade of cameos and fan service?

Sequel, reboot, re-quel, revival, whatever you call it, Twisters is here. We review Lee Isaac Chung's followup to the 1996 smash hit. Does it avoid legacy sequel traps, or does it lean into them? Does the summer of Glen Powell continue? Tune in and find out!

Oz Perkins' fourth feature-length horror film rides upon a wave of hype. From its cryptic teasers to the hyperbolic reception as "one of the scariest movies ever," Longlegs has quite a reputation to live up to. Is it really something special? Or is it just a hodgepodge pastiche of better movies? Tune in and find out.

Another week, another prequel. We review A Quiet Place: Day One, directed by pod favorite filmmaker Michael Sarnoski (Pig). Will a new Quiet Place away from the Abbott Family sidestep prequel doldrums? Will Sarnoski once again subvert genre convention with the human element? Tune in and find out!

Just through star power alone, Jeff Nichols' The Bikeriders is an elegy for the home of a band of outsiders and misfits, eroded by time into something much more sinister and encroaching. We discuss the trio of movie stars at the film's center and its surprising power through familiar tropes.

The fourth installment of the Bad Boys franchise finds Mike Lowery (Will Smith) and Marcus Burnett (Martin Lawrence) on the run from a criminal conspiracy. 2020's Bad Boys For Life struck gold with new directors Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah taking over the action reins from Michael Bay. Will they succeed again? Tune in and find out.

Funny and sexy cinema is back! This week, we tackle Richard Linklater's latest film: Hit Man. We discuss the filmmaker's storied oeuvre, the film's capital "M" movie star performances in Glen Powell and Adria Arjona, and its knottier-than-expected questions of identity. It's steamy, uproarious, and just a little twisted.

One of the best shows on TV finally makes its return. This week, we review the first four episodes of Interview with the Vampire's second season. The second season finds Louis and Claudia on the run after supposedly killing Lestat, and the pair travel the world in search of more of their own kind. Does the new season live up to the series' pristine reputation?

George Miller has huge shoes to fill: his own. A follow-up to one of the best action movies ever made, Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga is a long-awaited prequel to the 2015 high-octane whirlwind. Nearly a decade later, does Miller have what it takes to live up to an impossible standard, or is he doing something completely different? Tune in and find out.

We are back with our second annual Summer Box Office Wager! After our disastrous guesses last year (bad for us, entertaining for you), we're back for another round of predicting this season's biggest movies. Have we learned our lessons? Or will we miss big again? Find out and follow along!

Back by popular demand, we're catching up with Marvel's hit animated series: X-Men '97. We spent the first episode praising the first stretch of the season for its freshness and surprisingly mature handling of its mutant heroes. Does it stick the landing? We review the rest of the season and its sprawling three-part finale.

This week, we review Luca Guadagnino's electrically charged tennis drama, Challengers. Joined by special guest Ashley Zhang, we discuss the trinity of great performances from Zendaya, Mike Faust, and Josh O'Connor, as well as sing our praises for a rare blockbuster-level crowdpleaser that’s still full of blood, vitality, and texture.

It's nun week as we head into a rare double feature episode, this time covering Michael Mohan's Immaculate and Arkasha Stevenson's The First Omen. Nunsploitation is back! Or is it? We tackle these twin movies with eerily similar subject matters and themes, both movies centered around young novitiates who uncover sinister conspiracies within their convents. It's a nun showdown. Which horror movie will come out on top? Listen to find out!

This week we are talking about Alex Garland’s new film, Civil War. A movie that attempts to sidestep politics to tell a story about wartime journalists, Garland’s latest is another stab at ambitious speculative fiction. We discuss its touted "apoliticism," its technical prowess, and its treatise on the state of journalism. Does it succeed, and more importantly, does it actually have anything to say? Tune in and find out.

This week, we review Dev Patel's debut as director and action star: Monkey Man. A passion project years in the making marred by delays and production troubles only to be saved last-minute by producer Jordan Peele, Patel's kinetic actioner has plenty to prove. Can it rise above its muddled storytelling to deliver its throat punches and kicks in the teeth? Tune in and find out.