Matt's Movie Lodgecast

Terror on the Prairie is one the first films released by The Daily Wire Plus! A new streaming service from Ben Shapiro's right wing media company The Daily Wire. This western set in Montana stars cancelled MMA fighter Gina Carano and is directed by Michael Polish (Twin Falls Idaho). Some other actors in the film are Nick Searcy, Donald "Cowboy" Cerrone, Tyler Fischer, and Daniel Day-Lewis's son Gabriel-Kane Day-Lewis. Few publications have covered this movie, but we were not afraid! We'll let you know what we saw!

French film director Claire Denis returns to the international film scene with her new film Both Sides of the Blade. The last film she directed called High Life (2018) left quite an impression on us when we did a podcast review of it back in May of 2019. That film starred Juliette Binoche, and now Binoche is back in Both Sides of the Blade alongside actor Vincent Lindon (Titane). We had heard that this film was an erotic thriller, but in actuality it is a romantic drama. We saw it at the Laemmle Glendale.

The schnapps of this film from IMDb: "It is the year 2025: Since the outbreak of the Corona virus in 2020, the world has not been the same: A communist system with a single world government has been established, English has been chosen as the world language, contacts have been reduced to a minimum. Christianity has been banned completely; the constitution how we knew it no longer exists. In Germany, a small group of young Christians start an underground revolution to reunite Christians and regain freedom." If this sounds intriguing to you, then listen to our podcast review. You will learn the true meaning of "spray fish"! Writer/director/actor Joshua Wesely put together this low budget film that we had to see. And if you're really curious, it is available on the free streaming platform Tubi!

Let the bodies, bodies, bodies hit the floor, floor, floor in A24's new Gen Z slasher whodunit directed by Halina Reijn. Two Gen Z lovers played by Amandla Stenberg and Maria Bakalova head to a secluded house for a "hurricane party". At the house they meet up with Myha'la Herrold, Chase Sui Wonders, Rachel Sennott, Lee Pace, and Pete Davidson. Tensions mount when the power goes out and somebody is murdered. We'll let you know our hawt takes on this lauded black comedy horror film, and we won't even spoil the ending!

One of the favorite movie genres amongst Lodgers is the all but defunct erotic thriller genre. Yet at the ripe age of 81, director Adrian Lyne is back with a new erotic thriller to hopefully revive the genre he popularized with classics like Fatal Attraction (1987), Indecent Proposal (1993), and Unfaithful (2002). Adrian Lyne's new film, which is his first in 20 years, is called Deep Water and it stars Ben Affleck and Ana de Armas as a troubled couple. A supporting cast includes Tracy Letts, Lil Rel Howery, Dash Mihok, Finn Wittrock, Kristen Connolly, and Jacob Elordi. After many delays in release, the movie got dumped on Hulu back in March when we watched it. We'll let you know if Lyne delivered another erotic thriller classic, or if he's lost a step in the 20 years he's been away. The movie is based on the 1957 novel of the same name by Patricia Highsmith.

After witnessing the trailer at least a dozen times, we finally got to see Jordan Peele's Nope! We saw this big screen spectacle in IMAX the way it was intended. After Jordan Peele's last film Us (2019), our expectations weren't too high as we were all kinda lukewarm on that movie. This time around we were very divided in our reaction to Nope! In this movie a UFO descends on a horse ranch in California. Nope has a solid cast including Daniel Kaluuya, Keke Palmer, Steven Yeun, Michael Wincott, and Brandon Perea.

Body horror master filmmaker David Cronenberg is back with a new body horror film! After spending most of the 2000s making excellent non-body horror movies, he's returned to his roots for a dark cinematic voyage of sex & surgery called Crimes of the Future. We were all fans of Cronenberg to varying degrees, and we talk about his filmography before entering this futuristic tale starring Viggo Mortensen, Lea Seydoux, and Kristen Stewart. Definitely not a podcast episode or movie for the weak of stomach, we'll spoil all the grisly details of the Salad Dragon scenes, of which there are many!

On a whim we decided to see The Black Phone, the new Blumhouse horror movie directed by Scott Derrickson and adapted from a short story by Joe Hill (Stephen King's son). Ethan Hawke plays a child abductor nicknamed "The Grabber" in 1978 suburban Denver. It also stars Mason Thames, Madeleine McGraw, Jeremy Davies, and James Ransone. We got all hot and bothered about the film and the theatrical experience in the Burbank 6, in this very hawt take!

The anticipation was high for Baz Luhrmann's Elvis biopic! Mostly because of the shots we'd seen of Tom Hanks as Elvis's manager Colonel Tom Parker. Like all Baz Luhrmann movies this film looked bonkers and it is definitely not a conventional music biopic. Austin Butler plays rock and roll icon Elvis Presley, with a supporting cast including Tom Hanks, Olivia DeJonge, Helen Thomson, Richard Roxburgh, Kelvin Harrison Jr., David Wenham, Kodi Smit-McPhee, and Luke Bracey. This 160-minute film covers Elvis Presley's entire life. We disagreed over many points in the film and we hash it out in this comprehensive Lodgecast!

In this urgent Lodgecast a group of adventurous Lodgers attended the Fathom Event on June 14, 2022 of Kirk Cameron Presents: The Homeschool Awakening. This is the latest controversial documentary from actor and Evangelical Christian Kirk Cameron. We discussed our long history with Kirk Cameron and our feelings on homeschooling. Then we proceeded up to the Burbank 16 to witness Kirk Cameron. This screening had many twists and turns which may have involved the sitcom The Golden Girls. Needless to say if Kirk Cameron shows up in theaters again, we'll be there!

Writer/director Alex Garland returns with his new folk horror film called Men. His last film Annihilation (2018) was one of the most hotly debated movies in the Lodge, so we were excited to see and fight about Men. The film stars Jessie Buckley who goes to a small village in the countryside after the death of her husband. Actor Rory Kinnear shows up there in many forms, and the holiday quickly spirals into horror. Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film a "D+"! We'll let you know what we thought!

With widespread critical and audience acclaim, we were excited to see Everything Everywhere All at Once, written and directed by the Daniels (Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert) who previously did Swiss Army Man (2016). Michelle Yeoh leads a great cast including Ke Huy Quan, Stephanie Hsu, Jenny Slate, Harry Shum Jr., James Hong, and Jamie Lee Curtis. The film features an intense multiverse mix of black comedy, science fiction, martial arts, and animation. Did it blow our minds or wear us out?! Find out in this piping hot take!

The Lodgecast embargo on Marvel movies has been lifted, as Marvel released a film so reviled that we had to see it for ourselves. Jared Leto is Dr. Michael Morbius in this critically panned Marvel vampire movie. The movie cost about $80 million but it looks like it cost about $5 million. It also stars Matt Smith, Adria Arjona, Jared Harris, Al Madrigal, and Tyrese Gibson. Hopefully Morbius spreads like a virus throughout the entire Marvel cinematic universe and takes it all down from the inside.

Madea is back! We knew she would be. While Tyler Perry claimed to retire her after A Madea Family Funeral (2019), we knew we hadn't seen the last of the Madea cinematic universe. Writer/director Tyler Perry plays Mabel "Madea" Simmons in this new Netflix film. Actually we watched and talked about this back in early March so our memory is foggy, but there is a big scene at a Red Lobster. The film also stars Cassi Davis-Patton, David Mann, Tamela Mann, Brandon Black, Gabrielle Dennis, and Brendan O'Carroll. Madea will return and we will be there for it!

Some said it would never happen, but we survived to watch the movie Top Gun: Maverick! After waiting three long, arduous years since its initially scheduled release, we finally witnessed Tom Cruise in Top Gun: Maverick. In this episode we express deep nostalgia and love for Top Gun (1986) before heading into the Universal CityWalk. We saw it in IMAX opening night with a rowdy packed house, and we had a good time! The new film is directed by Joseph Kosinski and stars Miles Teller, Jennifer Connelly, Jon Hamm, Glen Powell, Lewis Pullman, Ed Harris, and Val Kilmer. But the big star is Thomas Cruise as Captain Pete "Maverick" Mitchell! It's the Number One Movie in the World! If you haven't seen it yet, go see it on the big screen tonight!

We're taking a Lodgecast Spring Break! We'll be heading to tropical areas for a few months, but actually we just need to give the Lodgemaster a much needed editing break after putting together over 200 four bone episodes in the last four years. We'll be covering some of the hawtest films that come out in the next few months, but we won't release these episodes until summertime. The Lodgecast Boyz & Girlz of Summer will return! Just in time for Top Gun: Maverick!

Ti West's new slasher film X was receiving positive reviews so we had to see it. A crew of six Lodgers jumped in a van and drove down to the Burbank 16 to witness this horror movie with a packed audience in the infamous Theater #13. In the film, a pornographic film crew goes on a road trip through Texas to shoot at a farm owned by a creepy elderly couple named Howard and Pearl. Sex and violence ensues. The film stars Mia Goth, Jenna Ortega, Martin Henderson, Brittany Snow, Owen Campbell, Stephen Ure, and Scott Mescudi.

Exactly 50 years ago today on March 24, 1972, The Godfather was released in theaters in the United States. To coincide with this 50th anniversary, the Lodgecast has a very special episode we are releasing. In late 2020, Francis Ford Coppola released his recut of The Godfather Part III which he called The Godfather Coda: The Death of Michael Corleone. We watched this recut and talked about it at length along with discussing The Godfather (1972) and The Godfather Part II (1974). The episode was so epic that the Lodgemaster feared editing it, but alas he has assembled this very special episode covering The Godfather trilogy. We are joined by two real life brothers for a deep dive into Coppola's epic crime films. Happy 50th birthday to The Godfather and long live Francis Ford Coppola!

Celebrate Hollywood and the movies as the Lodgecast presents our Oscar Extravaganza & 2021 Movie Favorites! Host Brother Bischke leads a hard-charging examination of the Academy Award nominations as five prestigious Lodge members lay down their picks for what should win and what will win in twenty-three Oscar categories in a little over 30 minutes! Then it's on to the very serious business of picking our 2021 movie favorites as we all count down from #10 to #1 of our very favorite films of 2021. Some Lodgecast movies make the cut of our best films, but there are many surprises. Have a listen and let us know what you think!

Leatherface is back in what is apparently the ninth installment of the Texas Chainsaw Massacre franchise. This "requel" does away with all the sequels and brings back the legacy characters of Leatherface, Sally Hardesty (the lone survivor from the first one), and the voice of John Larroquette as the narrator. The film didn't feel like Texas and was in fact shot in Bulgaria. While certainly grisly, we'll let you know how it holds up to the original The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974). The 83-minute Netflix film stars Sarah Yarkin, Elsie Fisher, Mark Burnham, Moe Dunford, Nell Hudson, Jessica Allain, Olwen Fouere, Jacob Latimore, and Alice Krige.