Imagine it's 1979. You queue up to see STAR TREK: THE MOTION PICTURE over the holidays. You're super psyched. Not since "Space Seed" have you been so high on the idea of boarding the Enterprise. And then you see ST:TMP and feel like you'd have more fun watching a documentary of William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy talking about taking a shit than you would watching that bloated, dull, space opera.

Now imagine it's 1982. You queue up to watch WRATH OF KHAN because it can't be worse than TMP, right? And not only is it not worse, IT'S FUCKING GANGBUSTERS, THE BEST STAR TREK MOVIE ANYONE WILL EVER MAKE, SPACE: THE FINAL FRONTIER, FUCK YEAH!

Now imagine this same scenario, except instead of TMP it's MORTAL KOMBAT from 2021, and WRATH OF KHAN is MORTAL KOMBAT II (3:04). That's right. MORTAL KOMBAT II IS FUCKING GANGBUSTERS, THE BEST MORTAL KOMBAT MOVIE ANYONE WILL EVER MAKE (probably), FINISH HIM, MOTHERFUCKER, FUCK YEAH!

Or something like that. Over on Patreon, we talk about Walter Hill's 1982 classic 48 HRS.

This week Evan and Dave dive into THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA 2 (and by extension, its predecessor DARBY O'GILL AND THE LITTLE PEOPLE). They're both recently (re)acquainted with TDWP from 2006, and they're into the movie's plot driver: The dying journalism industry. But TDWP2 is a movie that wants to have some real-world commentary while also providing escapism, so...does it work? Eh? In any event, it's lovely to Meryl Streep, Anne Hathaway, Emily Blunt, and Stanley Tucci sharing a movie screen again. Over on Patreon, we talk about the 2007 thriller BEFORE THE DEVIL KNOWS YOU'RE DEAD with Philip Seymour Hoffman and Ethan Hawke.

This week Dave touches briefly on the documentary LORNE (3:10), about the "Saturday Night Live" creator Lorne Michaels. Then he and Evan talk about FUZE (4:25), the latest from director David Mackenzie, probably known best for HELL OR HIGH WATER (listen to our take here, with our first co-host Kris Jenson; we covered Mackenzie's RELAY on Patreon a couple months back). In FUZE, a British Army major tries to defuse an undetonated World War II bomb in central London while a group of diamond thieves uses the brouhaha surrounding it as cover for a heist. On this week's Patreon episode, we talk about the 1996 comedy-drama BIG NIGHT.

This week Dave checked out the new Bob Odenkirk splatter-fest, NORMAL. Odenkirk co-wrote the story and stars as a temp sheriff who's sent to the tiny burg of Normal, Minn., to hold things down until the town has a special election in eight weeks to replace their recently deceased big cheese law man. But as fate would have it (and contrivance), he finds himself knee-deep in Yakuza money and town is so corrupt that even the lady who owns the yarn store is in on the deal. So, is NORMAL Odenkirk's next NOBODY? Nah. (How's that for alliteration?) But it has its moments. Then Evan and Dave talk about Jonah Hill's latest turn as director, OUTCOME, starring Keanu Reeves as an actor who's just getting past heroin addiction and rebuilding his life, and trying to repair all the bridges he burned along the way. Somebody should have repaired the fuggin' script. Over on Patreon, we talk about the 2009 thriller TRIANGLE.

This week Evan and Dave bring back that ol' chestnut, "Riedel's Recaps," and Dave gives expletive-laden mini-reviews for PROJECT HAIL MARY and UNDERTONE (2:28). Then they move on to the main feature this week, HAMLET (7:50). Yep! Someone made HAMLET again! This adaptation stars Riz Ahmed as the title character, and Dave and Evan are of mixed feelings about this one. Over on Patreon, we talk about FAST TIMES AT RIDGEMONT HIGH from 1982.

This week Dave takes in THE DRAMA (4:17), writer-director Kristoffer Borgli's uneasy drama (with lots of comedy) about an engaged couple, Emma and Charlie (Zendaya and Robert Pattinson). When Emma tells Charlie about the worst thing she's ever done, it sparks a crisis that builds in the week leading up to their wedding. (And it was shot in Massachusetts!) Then Evan and Dave come down on opposite sides of the fence for PRETTY LETHAL (24:39), and action-thriller featuring a group of ballerinas battling their way out of a mob-owned hotel in rural Hungary. Uma Thurman has a lot of fun chewing the scene as the heavy. Over on Patreon, we talk about the 1990 action-thriller BLUE STEEL starring Jamie Lee Curtis and directed by Kathryn Bigelow.

This week Evan and Dave take in SHE DANCES, written by star Steve Zahn along with its director, Rick Gomez. Zahn is fine form in this drama (with lots of welcome comedy) about a father chaperoning his daughter (played by Zahn's daughter Audrey) to a dance competition while they both deal with an incalcuable loss. Zahn and Gomez call in favors from friends Ethan Hawke and Michael Cudlitz, both welcome in small but poignant roles. Over on Patreon, we talk about the 1986 film PLATOON by Oliver Stone.

This week Evan and Dave take a look at WAR MACHINE (1:50), a sort of mean-spirited PREDATOR clone/rip off without the solid acting, story, direction or humor. But at least we had fun talking about it! On Patreon, we talk about the 1986 buddy-cop film RUNNING SCARED with Gregory Hines and Billy Crystal.

SCARED TO DEATH (3:10) is a horror comedy that isn't particularly funny or horrific, but it does feature horror icons Lin Shaye and Bill Moseley, so that's great! (Oh, and Rae Dawn Chong shows up, too. Yay!) The story, however, is one of those nifty ideas - filming a seance in a haunted orphanage that was run by a Satan worshipper (neat!) - that falls flat. The lore doesn't add up, the characters are dopes, and the pacing is off. We don't like to give lower budgeted features a hard time, but we couldn't find much to like here. Over on Patreon, we watch Paul Feig's 2025 thriller THE HOUSEMAID.

This week Dave checked out Maggie Gyllenhaal's latest film as writer-director, THE BRIDE! (1:42), a reimagining of Mary Shelley's "Frankenstein" novel and its various film iterations. Starring Jessie Buckley as The Bride (exclamation point) and Christian Bale as The Monster, it's a roller coaster ride that doesn't have either the thrills or chills one may expect, and its stale plotting can't prop up its more ambitious social commentary. And because there was no critics' screening for SCREAM 7 (14:07), Evan and Dave hit the local multiplexes to see it. Is it the shitshow everyone seems to think, or is it better than that? Take a listen to find out! Over on Patreon, we talk about the 2007 action film SHOOT 'EM UP.

February is a notoriously slow month for film releases, so we took in a couple movies that were released in the past month, Sam Raimi's SEND HELP (2:53), starring Rachel McAdams and Dylan O'Brien as an employee and her boss playing mind games as they attempt to survive on an island following a plane crash; and THIS IS NOT A TEST (15:20), about a group of high schoolers hunkered down in their school, trying to survive a fast-zombie apocalypse. Over on Patreon, we had you vote on Robert Duvall movies, and you chose FALLING DOWN.