All posts by Robert Yaniz Jr.

Franchise Detours Episode 15: ‘Mad Max’ (feat. Jackson Smith of Nightfall Entertainment)

What a lovely day it is as we jumpstart a brand-new mega-series. Back in 1979, George Miller essentially invented the modern action movie with the original Mad Max. Now it’s time for us to enter the Wasteland.

On this episode, Jackson Smith of Nightfall Entertainment joins the show as we talk about how Mad Max‘s vision of the post-apocalypse changed everything. Plus, we’ll spend a few minutes on The Matrix Resurrections!

SYNOPSIS

It’s a not-too-distant dystopian future, when man’s most precious resource — oil — has been depleted and the world plunged into war, famine and financial chaos. The last vestiges of the law in Australia attempt to restrain a vicious biker gang led by the nefarious Toecutter (Hugh Keays-Byrne). Max (Mel Gibson), an officer with the Main Force Patrol, launches a personal vendetta against the gang when his wife (Joanne Samuel) and son are hunted down and murdered, leaving him with nothing but the instincts for survival and retribution.

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Close Watch Episode 11: ‘Beetlejuice’ (feat. Bri Azmoudeh of Killer Waffles)

It’s showtime. Close Watch kicks off a new year with the “ghost with the most” himself. Tim Burton’s 1988 comedy Beetlejuice made mega-stars out of both Burton and Michael Keaton ahead of their next film, Batman.

On this episode, Bri Azmoudeh of the Geeky Waffle Network‘s new podcast, Killer Waffles, joins the show to talk about why Bri connected so strongly to Beetlejuice, its balance of horror and comedy, and a possible sequel.

SYNOPSIS
After Barbara (Geena Davis) and Adam Maitland (Alec Baldwin) die in a car accident, they find themselves stuck haunting their country residence, unable to leave the house. When the unbearable Deetzes (Catherine O’Hara, Jeffrey Jones) and teen daughter Lydia (Winona Ryder) buy the home, the Maitlands attempt to scare them away without success. Their efforts attract Beetlejuice (Michael Keaton), a rambunctious spirit whose “help” quickly becomes dangerous for the Maitlands and innocent Lydia.

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Franchise Detours Episode 14: ‘Evil Dead’ (2013) (feat. film critic Angie Aguayo)

After Army of Darkness, the Evil Dead franchise lay mostly dormant for decades. Then news of a remake broke. But fans certainly weren’t ready for the intense experience that is director Fede Álvarez’s 2013 Evil Dead.

On this episode, film critic Angie Aguayo joins the show, as we discuss whether Evil Dead 2013 is a remake or sequel, the underrated strength of Jane Levy’s performance, and how it builds on Sam Raimi’s 1981 classic.

SYNOPSIS
Mia (Jane Levy), a drug addict, is determined to kick the habit. To that end, she asks her brother David (Shiloh Fernandez), his girlfriend Natalie (Elizabeth Blackmore), and their friends Olivia (Jessica Lucas) and Eric (Lou Taylor Pucci) to accompany her to their family’s remote forest cabin to help her through withdrawal. Eric finds a mysterious Book of the Dead at the cabin and reads aloud from it, awakening an ancient demon. All hell breaks loose when the malevolent entity possesses Mia.

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