It was inevitable that the Marvel Cinematic Universe would reach an Endgame after producing 21 blockbusters over the course of 11 years. Can Iron Man, Captain America, Hulk, Thor, Black Widow, and Hawkeye undo the devastation of Thanos’ Infinity War by implementing Ant-Man’s crazy "time heist" plot?  And are IMAX screens big enough to contain the hordes of superheroes fighting for the spotlight in the sprawling final battle? Hosts Jakob, Arnie, and Stuart aim for the heart and the head as they assemble once more for a gigantic, in-depth review. Hear it now!

The Emperor Strikes Back!  Zombie Palpatine (Ian McDiarmid) steps from the shadows with secrets that could force last Jedi Rey (Daisy Ridley) to turn to the Dark Side and bad boy Kylo Ren (Adam Driver). But General Leia (Carrie Fisher) is committed to using every last ounce of her Old War star power to squash this Final Order, and pave the way for The Rise of Skywalker. Find out how much resistance Arnie, Jakob, and Stuart put up for the ninth and final episode in the Star Wars saga in when you download this massive podcast. Listen Now! 

Ten years ago Marvel Comics gambled their entire existence, using all their remaining IP as collateral, on the idea that they could make superhero films better than anyone else. 18 movies later, Marvel Studios makes their biggest bet yet - a billion dollars that audiences will love “the most ambitious crossover event in history” and one gaudy gold glove!  Is more the merrier when it comes to superheroes on screen, or are Earth’s Mightiest Heroes set up for an epic fail?  Join Arnie, Stuart, and Jakob now as they review Avengers: Infinity War!

The 1990s gets a whole lot grungier after an infected African monkey is smuggled into Northern California, and causes a deadly Outbreak.  Dustin Hoffman and Rene Russo star as divorcing virologists tasked with flattening the curve of a super-Ebola before nervous military brass Morgan Freeman and Donald Sutherland opt to level the hot zone and everyone inside with jetfire.  Find out if Stuart, Arnie, and Jakob think this 1995 medical thriller is nothing to sneeze at when you download the latest installment of their pandemic-themed podcast.  Listen now!

The First Avenger is back in the latest film from the unstoppable Marvel Cinematic Universe. With a mysterious new assassin out to kill Captain America and S.H.I.E.L.D. turning on him, it's up to the Star Spangled man along with his friends Black Widow and new hero The Falcon to save the day. Is this a good installment in Marvel's Avengers series or just a stalling tactic until we get The Avengers: Age of Ultron in 2015? Listen to Arnie, Stuart, and Jakob's review to find out!

Episode VIII finds General Leia (Carrie Fisher), Poe Dameron (Oscar Isaac), Finn (John Boyega), and a dwindling number of Resistance fighters beating a hasty retreat from the rising armies of Supreme Leader Snoke (Andy Serkis). Their only hope lies with recently located Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill) - The Last Jedi in the universe.  But can Master Luke trust feisty apprentice Rey (Daisy Ridley) to learn the ways of The Force without succumbing to the Dark Side like his previous pupil, the murderous tyrant Kylo Ren (Adam Driver)?  Join Arnie, Jakob, and Stuart for a deep dive into the biggest movie of 2017. 

It’s Arthur Fleck, better known as Joker!  Before becoming Batman’s #1 nemesis, the Clown Prince of Crime was just a struggling stand-up comic doing his best to make the public smile on the mean streets of Gotham. Can Joaquin Phoenix convince the Now Playing hosts that heartless millionaires like mayoral candidate (and father of Bruce) Thomas Wanye are the true enemies of the people?  And is Hangover director Todd Phillips making a Scorsese inspired tragedy, or Trumpian comedy, out of this atypical DC Comics origin story?  Listen and find out!

Fans of Star Wars comics, books, video games, and cartoons have long known the universe is ripe for adventures outside of the Skywalker family tree. But with Rogue One this type of story comes to the big screen for the first time. Detailing the group of rebels who steal the original Death Star plans, this film was seen as a creative risk by Lucasfilm. The result was one of the biggest opening weekends of all time; another super-successful Star Wars movie. But was it a story that needed to be told? Join the Now Playing Podcast hosts to find out!

For eighteen years Hugh Jackman has played Logan - the popular X-Men hero also known as Wolverine. His first appearance in 2000's X-Men helped launch the modern age of cinematic superheros. But now, after playing Wolverine nine times Jackman is ready to hang up his claws. His planned final performance is in Logan -- a violent and dour film that reteams Jackman with The Wolverine director James Mangold. Did Jackman save the best Wolverine for last? Join the Now Playing Podcast hosts to find out!

James Gunn defied all expectations. 2014's Guardians of the Galaxy was the first Marvel studios film to go cosmic, and with stars like a raccoon and a talking tree, it could have easily crashed. Instead it has become many fans' favorite entry in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Now Gunn is back, as are all the Guardians. The stakes are higher. Does this movie rock as much as the first? Join Arnie, Stuart, and Jakob to find out!

Star Wars.  It twice became the biggest movie of all time. It has launched a billion dollar empire of movies, toys, and merchandise. It has even started a religion. But now, under the ownership of Disney, the Star Wars universe is set to expand infinitely with a new movie each year -- starting with Episode VII: The Force Awakens.        Now Arnie, Jakob, and Stuart go back to where it all started -- the 1977 original George Lucas film Star Wars (a.k.a. Episode IV: A New Hope). Is the Force still with Star Wars almost 40 years after its release? And which version is better, the Special Edition or the original?  Listen to Now Playing to find out, then join us weekly for more Star Wars reviews culminating with The Force Awakens!

Spider-Man has finally come home! While Marvel Studios started without its most popular characters, an agreement between studios (aided by some North Korean hackers) has now made it so Marvel's most super of heroes, Spider-Man, can stand alongside the other cinematic Avengers. But this is this third big-screen incarnation of the wall crawler in 10 years. Does this one swing higher than Raimi's and Webb's movies? Listen to find out!

Peter Parker leaves his friendly neighborhood Spider-Man alter ego behind for a journey Far From Home meant to alleviate the loss of mentor Tony Stark. But S.H.I.E.L.D. agent Nick Fury won’t let the 16-year-old tourist shirk his Avenger duties while on European holiday, rebranding him “Night Monkey” so that Peter can fight elemental monsters alongside new superhero Mysterio (Jake Gyllenhaal). Can the web-slinger still make time to kiss Zendaya on the Eiffel Tower while keeping Venice afloat, or London Bridge from falling down? Listen and find out!

Chadwick Boseman bounds to the screen as Black Panther - the latest Marvel superhero to leap from comic pages into his own blockbuster movie. Will the newly crowned African Avenger continue to hide his technologically-advanced kingdom from the exploitative Western world? Or will Oakland militant Killmonger (Michael B. Jordan) usurp the vibranium throne and use Wakandan firepower to finally Kill Whitey?  The revolution will not be televised… but colonizers Arnie, Jakob, and Stuart will certainly podcast about it all on this epic show.  Listen now! 

Before they reach their End Game, Marvel Studios takes audiences back to where it all began for S.H.I.E.L.D. Agent Nick Fury (Samuel “Mother-Flurken” Jackson) - a 1995 close encounter with Captain Marvel. Can Brie Larson’s space invader rectify where her loyalties lie when warring factions of Kree and Skrulls descend upon Earth to claim Annette Bening’s lightspeed technology? And when will the femalien be ready to use her flaming fist power?  Find out if Stuart, Arnie, and Jakob had a Mar-Velous time revisiting the Grunge Era when you Listen Now! 

It’s 2016, and The Losers Club is all grown up and ready for a rematch with It. Chapter II finds Pennywise waking from his 27 year nap hangry, homicidal, and hot to dance with old Derry foes Jessica Chastain, James McAvoy, and Bill Hader. Can arcade tokens, yearbook pages, a bunch of shower caps, and other artifacts from an ‘80s childhood be used to complete a Native American ritual that will ‘eighty-six’ this shape-shifting space clown for good? Listen and Find Out!  

Deranged camper Angela Baker saw her story come to a swift and unexpected end in 1992, when producers ran out of money and Sleepaway Camp 4 was sent home unfinished and unloved.  But something in those shelved film canisters refused to stay dead; two decades later archival kills were stitched onto the unseen footage so that the project could be revived as The Survivor. Does new star Allison teach fans a valuable lesson in recycling?  Or should viewers be spared the pain of crude and unnecessary editorial cuts? Donate for Platinum and find out!

Chris Pine (Star Trek) may be the fourth actor to play Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit, but he’s the first incarnation of the Tom Clancy character to challenge Jason Bourne’s spy movie supremacy in the 21st Century. Can the CIA analyst keep pace with the times as he hunts down a shady Russian businessman (Kenneth Branaugh) out to tank the U.S. economy?  And how long can eye surgeon Keira Knightley be kept in the dark about her boyfriend’s covert activities?  Find out as Now Playing unlocks the file on the iconic spy’s most recent big screen adventure.

It’s 1989, and perpetual last girl Angela Baker (Pamela Springsteen) is heading off for New Horizons - the third Sleepaway Camp to become a Teenage Wasteland. Do any of this year’s attendees - drawn equally from underprivileged and moneyed backgrounds - have the life skills to survive a bloody weekend in the wild?  And will Arnie, Stuart, and Brock give the filmmakers merit badges for their outrageous murders (which include everything from swapping recreational drugs with drain cleaner to cutting a lethal rap demo)?  Donate at the Platinum Level to find out!

Camp Arawak may be shuttered, but Unhappy Camper Angela Baker (Pamela Springsteen) is ready to wash away all that blood and bad romance, and bring audiences to Sleepaway Camp 2!  The 1988 sequel takes a stab at comedy as it not only targets a new batch of horny kids in the woods, but slays beloved movie icons Freddy Krueger, Jason Voorhees, and the Brat Pack too.  All those homesick for the early days of Now Playing, and that first Friday The 13th series, should pack a bag for another Camp Blood, and Donate at the Platinum Level this summer. 

Ben Affleck goes from Chasing Amy and following J-Lo around the block, to pursuing neo-Nazis hoping to detonate a dirty bomb on American soil in The Sum of All Fears.  Was this fourth Jack Ryan adventure too timely, with a plot that predicted many aspects of the 9/11 terrorist attacks?  Does Tom Clancy’s Cold War politics still apply to this new War On Terror? And will CIA director Morgan Freeman open a file on why Harrison Ford has gone missing from the franchise? Jakob, Stuart, and Arnie are ready to play ball with the hot button thriller. Listen Now!

Are you experiencing cabin fever after spending too much of 2020 in lockdown? Become a Now Playing Platinum Donor, and bunk the rest of summer at Sleepaway Camp with your longtime friends Brock, Stuart, and Arnie!  The fun kicks off with a podcast review of the original cult classic murder mystery from 1983. Follow little orphan Angela as she returns to the lake where her family perished, and discovers new bloodshed as counselors and kiddies alike are stalked by a killer. Anyone that makes it to the jaw-dropping finale will need to Donate Today!

Harrison Ford was in no Clear and Present Danger of being replaced by any other movie star in 1994, but CIA analyst Jack Ryan does solicit help from another popular Tom Clancy character for his third big screen adventure. Can world-weary mercenary Clark (Willem Dafoe) help the pencil pusher defeat a Columbian drug cartel, and reign in an overreaching U.S. President?  And does this 1989 novel about Reagan's War On Drugs still hit the right targets today?  Arnie, Jakob, and Stuart have emerged from the jungle with the answers, so Listen Now and find out!

Bruce Willis briefly left the action theatrics of John McClane behind to play doctor with femme fatale Jane March in the erotic thriller Color of Night.  But will the macho star die hard for spending too much time dropping trou at the swimming pool while his patients drop dead at the hands of a seductive killer?  And did this notorious blue movie leave the creators red-faced after it was declared the Worst Film of 1994?  Stuart, Jakob, and Arnie are ready to provide the necessary counseling to anyone who becomes a Now Playing Patron this July.

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Paramount was eager to adapt more Tom Clancy novels after Red October brought home a boatload of cash. But is it as much fun to play Patriot Games with so many important pieces missing from the sequel? Gone are the Cold War politics, sleek submarine technology, and Alec Baldwin as our nerdy CIA analyst hero. Will Arnie, Jakob, and Stuart remain loyal to the past, or go with Harrison Ford as an older Jack Ryan defending his family and seaside home from crazy Sean Bean (Lord of the Rings) and a rogue IRA faction? Listen and find out.

Sean Connery has stolen a Soviet nuclear submarine, and now every Cold War naval vessel is on The Hunt For Red October. Tom Clancy's 1984 bestseller was designed to torpedo Rambo shoot 'em ups, and take the action genre into a new decade of thinking man 'techno-thrillers'. But did Alec Baldwin study enough about his co-star to turn his untested CIA analyst into the next James Bond?  Arnie, Jakob, and Stuart are ready to track every move in Jack Ryan's 30 year movie career, starting with this 1990 blockbuster.  Listen Now!

Join all seven podcasters as they sit down for the first time to give a collective review of The Breakfast Club.  Does John Hughes' seminal teen drama of the 1980s still have something important to say about cliques and class division 35 years later?  What were the hosts like in high school, and has recording one thousand shows together felt like punishment or a unique bonding experience? You won't need to return to your locker for that bag of grass in order to spend the day giggling as Now Playing explains "who we are".  Listen Now!

Horror movie lovers call Candyman to the screen for a third time as East LA celebrates Day of the Dead. Can the urban legend boogeyman once known as 19th Century artist Daniel Robitaille convince new blonde Donna D'Errico (Baywatch) to promote his legacy of violence in an art gallery exhibition of his paintings?  And would the LAPD dare crack down on gang activity in the rough neighborhood once the sweet-talking serial killer starts recruiting locals into his congregation? You're invited to the picnic too when you become a Silver Level Donor.

Nobody walks in LA… except Snake Plissken, after President Cliff Robertson tasks him to recover a top secret weapon from revolutionaries hiding out at the former Happiest Place On Earth. But SoCal’s new prison island proves to be a decidedly sunnier and funnier place than the Big Apple penitentiary of 15 years ago. Can Kurt Russell’s one-eyed badass fend off deranged plastic surgeon Bruce Campbell, surf tsunamis with Peter Fonda, and hang with outlaw Pam Grier? And is Escape From LA a sequel to, or parody of, John Carpenter’s 1981 classic?  Listen and Find Out! 

How many beads will New Orleans throw hook-handed slasher Candyman after he leaves Chicago to celebrate Mardi Gras in the Big Easy, and flash that infamous chest full of bees at the descendants of those who lynched him?  Is this sequel really a Farewell To The Flesh, or a hearty hello to new director Bill Condon (Dreamgirls), and a new blonde scholar out to shatter the urban legend's bad boy reputation with grade schoolers?   It's sweets for the sweet Now Playing donor who unwraps the Silver Level foil on this tasty podcast.

How prophetic is John Carpenter's 1981 vision of future Manhattan - so crime-ridden it's become a maximum security prison?  And how easily can Kurt Russell shake off his Disney kid image to star as Snake Plissken, the one-eyed convict coerced by Lee Van Cleef to rescue the Commander-In-Chief from crime lord Isaac Hayes? Start spreadin' the news, the podcast is ready to play.  Be a part of it and Listen Now!  

Novelist Timothy Hutton starts to go a little cuckoo when The Dark Half of his creative mind - the part responsible for writing all of his salacious bestsellers - takes physical form and strikes out at the family and friends that push the author to be more wholesome.  Is this latest Stephen King story just a thinly veiled tell-all of the horror writer's struggles with alcohol and alter ego Richard Bachman? Or should we consider this more like a new chapter in director George Romero's Living Dead saga?  See if Stuart, Jakob, and Arnie are on the same page when you Listen Now!Novelist Timothy Hutton starts to go a little cuckoo when The Dark Half of his creative mind - the part responsible for writing all of his salacious bestsellers - takes physical form and strikes out at the family and friends that push the author to be more wholesome.  Is this latest Stephen King story just a thinly veiled tell-all of the horror writer's struggles with alcohol and alter ego Richard Bachman? Or should we consider this more like a new chapter in director George Romero's Living Dead saga?  See if Stuart, Jakob, and Arnie are on the same page when you Listen Now!

Arnie, Jakob, and Stuart continue to dig into Stephen King’s extensive filmography, this week reaching the much-maligned adaptation of Tommyknockers. Marg Helgenberger (CSI) and Jimmy Smitts (LA Law) cause a meltdown in their little Maine town when they excavate a UFO in their backyard. Were fans too quick to bury this ABC-TV miniseries?  Why would anyone want E.T. to go home when the aliens make such ingenious modifications to lipstick, magic shows, and Coke machines? Answer that knockin’ at the door by downloading and listening now!

Businesswoman Gwenyth Paltrow comes into contact with a novel virus. Now can an all-star cast stop her Contagion from spreading worldwide? And why does Matt Damon have a "Borne" immunity? Now Playing’s Viral Outbreak Retrospective reaches its dramatic conclusion with a podcast review of Steven Soderbergh’s sprawling, newly relevant 2011 medical thriller. Join Arnie, Stuart, and Jakob as they analyze the ways the fictional MEV-1 outbreak mirrors today’s COVID-19 pandemic. Listen Now!

Tom Cruise’s career finally broke the sound barrier with the release of Top Gun, the biggest movie of 1986!  Ride back into the danger zone with a hot shot pilot so determined to bag an elite flight school trophy (and instructor Kelly McGillis) that he’ll risk the lives of wingman Val Kilmer and RIO Anthony Edwards. Have Arnie, Stuart, and Jakob lost that lovin’ feeling for this very '80s touchstone? Or does Tony Scott’s aerial dogfights still take their breath away?  You’ll be playing with the boys all summer long when you enlist at the Gold Level. Donate now!