Rogue One: A Star Wars Story - Movie Review - Episode 36
Release Date: 12/23/2016
Cinema Psychos Movie Reviews
What happens when you combine 90s anthology horror with the cosmic madness of H.P. Lovecraft? You get the oh so gooey Brian Yuzna classic Necronomicon (1993)! In this episode, KT Baldassaro (Movie Runtime, What If I Don't Like) joins us to break down why this practical-effects-heavy cult classic is one of the wildest and grossest horror anthologies of the 90's. From Jeffrey Combs playing H.P. Lovecraft looking remarkably like Bruce Campbell to characters completely unphased by K-Y jelly-covered sea monsters, we explore the best segments, insane plot twists, and glorious physical effects that...
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Costa Dillon, co-creator of the cult classic Attack of the Killer Tomatoes, joins The Cinema Psychos Show to discuss the 50-year legacy of the franchise, shooting on 35mm negative film on a shoestring budget, accidentally crashing a real helicopter with actors on board, and releasing the new sequel Organic Intelligence. Check out the new film and the Halloween contest at: CHAPTERS We crashed a helicopter [00:00] What makes a cult film stick? [00:53] How Attack of the Killer Tomatoes began [01:58] Getting started in filmmaking before digital video [06:51] Why shooting on film made the movie...
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In this exhaustive filmmaker retrospective, The Cinema Psychos dive deep into the dark, beautiful, and terrifying world of Guillermo del Toro. We analyze how the modern master of monsters humanizes traditional creatures, turning them into sympathetic allegories for the 'other' while showing that humanity is often the true villain. From his indie roots with Cronos and studio struggles on Mimic to beloved blockbusters like Blade II and Hellboy, and masterpieces like Pan's Labyrinth and The Shape of Water, we break down his entire career, thematic obsessions, and world-building genius. CHAPTERS:...
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Brain Damage (1988) might legitimately be one of the greatest anti-drug movies ever made — it just happens to deliver that message through a talking, brain-eating parasite pumping psychedelic blue juice directly into a guy's brain. This week on The Cinema Psychos Show, we're revisiting Frank Henenlotter's wonderfully deranged 1988 cult horror movie Brain Damage. Brian thinks he's found the ultimate escape when a mysterious creature named Aylmer gives him euphoric hallucinations — but there's a catch: Aylmer needs human brains, and Brian quickly discovers just how ugly addiction and...
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Charlie Kaufman was hired to adapt a nonfiction book about orchids. Instead, he wrote himself into the script — twice — and made one of the strangest, most self-aware movies ever released by a major studio. Brian and John rewatch Adaptation (2002) and break down Nicolas Cage's dual performance as neurotic screenwriter Charlie Kaufman and his fictional twin brother Donald, Meryl Streep's Susan Orlean and her obsession with "The Orchid Thief," and Brian Cox's scene-stealing turn as real-life screenwriting guru Robert McKee. We also get into a genuinely compelling theory: what if Donald...
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Is Hellbound: Hellraiser II the best sequel in horror history? With Hellraiser back in the cultural spotlight this year — Halloween Horror Nights' 2026 and the long-awaited Hellraiser Revival game both dropping this fall — we figured it was the perfect time to revisit the film many fans consider the series' high point. Film critic Robert Brian Taylor (Collider) joins The Cinema Psychos Show to make the case for Hellbound, arguing it does exactly what a horror sequel should: expand Clive Barker's world without breaking its rules. We break down how Hellraiser 2 deepens Julia's transformation...
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Sports Month closes out with the quintessential non-sports sports movie: Rocky (1976). Brian and John are joined by Dustin and Nate from The Silver Linings Playlist Podcast to break down Stallone's underdog script (allegedly written in three days), the real Chuck Wepner vs. Muhammad Ali fight that inspired it, Carl Weathers' criminally underrated Apollo Creed, and a running theory that Rocky himself reads as autistic-coded — "his special interest is punching." Plus: how this movie beat Taxi Driver, Network, and All the President's Men for Best Picture, whether the Rocky/Adrian romance...
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Tonya Harding loved skating. The skating world never loved her back — and I, Tonya (2017) is the mockumentary-style biopic that dares to ask: who's actually the villain here? Brian sits down with KT Baldassaro (MovieRunTime & What If I Don't Like It) to break down Margot Robbie's snubbed performance, Allison Janney's Oscar-winning turn as the worst mom in cinema, Sean Eckhardt's delusional hitman fantasy, and why the Academy has a track record of punishing dark comedy. CHAPTERS: Introduction [00:00] Why I, Tonya makes a surprisingly fun rewatch [02:17] A biopic that refuses to play...
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A League of Their Own (1992) is the rare baseball movie that isn't really about baseball — it's a sibling rivalry story, a look at 1940s sexism, and (we'd argue) one of the best examples of age-accurate casting in film history. Brian and John break down Penny Marshall's classic: Tom Hanks' pivot from comedy to the dramatic roles that led to Cast Away and Forrest Gump, the Kit/Dottie rivalry that drives the whole plot, what the film gets right (and skips) on race and sexism in the 1940s, and the ending debate that still splits fans. A movie reaction and deep-dive discussion for baseball fans...
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Spider-Man: Brand New Day is a beautiful mess — and it might be the best MCU Spider-Man movie yet. Both hosts land on 8/10. We weren't planning to cover this one. Then we saw it, and we had to record an emergency bonus episode. Brian and John break down why Destin Daniel Cretton's Spider-Man: Brand New Day is the most grounded, consequence-driven Spidey film Marvel has made — and why it owes more to Sam Raimi's Spider-Man 2 than to anything in the Home trilogy. Jon Bernthal's Punisher steals the movie. Florence Pugh's "small potatoes" bathhouse scene is already a meme. Sadie Sink shows up...
info_outlineMerry Christmahanukwanzaakah! This week we are back in a galaxy far far away as we review Disney's latest attempt to cash in on our nostalgia with Rogue One: A Star Wars Story AKA Star Wars minus any Jedi or Skywalker Drama. So does the movie hold up as a Star Wars movie or does it come off as a depressing member-berry laden piece of fluff?