It’s a week of Black & White films. In fact, in honor of the films, we recorded this in black and white. And mono. This may be the episode that breaks Matt. Because first up, It’s Joel Coen’s adaptation of the classic ‘The Tragedy Of Macbeth’. Denzel Washington plays the titular Macbeth. Can it’s streamlined production save it from Matt’s wrath? Then it’s on to Mike Mills’ ‘C’Mon C’Mon’. A slice of life film featuring Joaquin Phoenix in the thoughtful, sensitive role that perhaps further cem...
Jan 14, 2022•1 hr 15 min
This week on The First Run, Chris and Matt discuss the latest from the director of Chris’ favorite film of the 21st Century, PTA returns with ‘Licorice Pizza’. A coming-of-age story in early 70’s LA. A little slice of life film that’s received some heat in the online discourse regarding the purposeful age gap of our stars. What’s up with that? Then its on to the latest film from Matthew Vaughn as he continues the expansion of the Kingsmen franchise with an origin story, ‘The King’s Man’. How did...
Jan 07, 2022•59 min
This week on the last episode of 2021 of The First Run, Chris and Matt share their thoughts on The Matrix: Resurrections. Lana Wachowski returns to the franchise that changed cinema with a new story to tell. But a story perhaps somewhat influenced by a studio with perhaps a concern for a payday and not a new artistic endeavor. Keanu Reeves and Carrie Anne Moss return, certain other decisions are made, and a sci-fi franchise is brought back to life. But things ended so perfectly last time, should...
Dec 31, 2021•56 min
This week on a special non-holiday version of The First Run, Chris and Matt discuss Matt’s most anticipated film of the year. It’s finally here, Tom Holland stars in Jon Watts’ ‘Spider-Man: No Way Home’. Marvel’s flagship character completes his trilogy with laughs, loves, shocks and thrills. But can it actually meet Matt’s lofty expectations? Then, on any other weekend, Guillermo Del Toro’s latest film, ‘Nightmare Alley’ dropped to little fanfare. The former Best Director and Picture winner del...
Dec 25, 2021•1 hr 6 min
This week on The First Run, Matt’s movie advent calendar lights its second to last candle as we are 1 week away from Spider-Man No Way Home. To hold Matt over, we’re discussing a film from his favorite genre, musicals. It’s ‘West Side Story’ from the man who does not miss, Steven Spielberg. Is now just the right time to unleash upon the world a romantic dramatic tragedy about potential irreconcilable conflicts between two groups. Can they possible put their differences aside in the name of love?...
Dec 17, 2021•51 min
This week on The First Run, Chris and Matt discuss Jane Campion’s latest film with a stellar ensemble of Benedict Cumberbatch, Benedict’s Cumberbatch, America’s sweetheart Jesse Plemons, Kirsten Dunst, and Kodi Smith-McPhee in the Netflix original, ‘The Power of The Dog’. A western about masculinity, love, and violence. Then Paul Verhoeven has entered the twilight years of his career. Is he still turning out bangers? That’s right, it’s the not quite nunsploitation thriller, ‘Benedetta’. There’s ...
Dec 10, 2021•53 min
This week on The First Run, Chris and Matt discuss the obvious Oscar bait film that is ‘King Richard’. Does the story of Richard Williams, the drive behind Venus and Serena Williams’ career, give Will Smith the ability to finally net that elusive Best Actor statue? Then Resident Evil goes the reboot route with ‘Welcome To Raccoon City’. The film sticks closer to the games, which may be a delight for the fans, but does it break the video game movie curse? I mean it HAS to be better than the Paul ...
Dec 03, 2021•57 min
This week on The First Run, Chris and Matt see if you really can go home again. The latest attempt to revive a beloved franchise, or at least that first film, is helmed by the son of the original director, features appearances of the original cast, and is overstuffed with homages. That’s right, it’s Ghostbusters: Afterlife. Does it capture the magic of the 1984 original and justify its existence? Then it’s on to the Netflix original, featuring current Hollywood ‘It Guy’, Johnathan Majors as real...
Nov 26, 2021•50 min
On this special episode of TFR Focus, Chris and Matt are joined by Gomez of Playlist Wars to discuss one of his favorite actors and franchises, Nic Cage and National Treasure! It’s guest’s choice this time as Gomez wants to breakdown Nic Cage and Disney’s National Treasure films. Not only that, but then the guys tick off their 5 Favorite Nic Cage Performances! All this and more on the latest episode of The First Run Focus! 00:00-31:56: Intro/National Treasure 31:57-51:11: National Treasure: Book...
Nov 24, 2021•1 hr 20 min
This week on The First Run, Chris and Matt discuss the Netflix blockbuster, per Netflix, ‘Red Notice’. Featuring 3 of today’s biggest stars! Has a new action franchise been born? And is that a good thing? Then AppleTV+ has their own premiere, featuring America’s Dad, Tom Hanks in a heart-warming tale about the apocalypse. It’s ‘Finch’! There’s the deliriously entertaining rundown of the big releases on Physical Media, featuring the Straight to DVD and Streaming Picks of the Week! Then it’s one o...
Nov 19, 2021•49 min
This week on The First Run, Chris and Matt discuss ‘Eternals’, the latest film from the MCU, directed by your most recent Best Picture and Director winner, one Ms. Chloé Zhao. Initially concerned it was going to be a gorgeous looking bore, with it also being the lowest rated MCU film on Rotten Tomatoes, can it actually be…good..? Then Wes Anderson returns with his latest project filled with whimsy and quirk, ‘The French Dispatch’. Featuring his typical all star cast, does Anderson deliver anothe...
Nov 12, 2021•51 min
This week on The First Run, Chris and Matt have another triple feature in store for all you! First Up, TFR favorite Edgar Wright deliver’s his version of the giallo with a possible dusting of time travel thrown in with, ‘Last Night In Soho’, featuring Thomasin McKenzie and Anya Taylor-Joy. Wright has yet to make a bad film, could this be the first one? Then it’s on to the horror film, ‘Antlers’, featuring an interesting monster and a dash about eco-horror. From there the Body Horror Marathon wra...
Nov 05, 2021•49 min
On this special Halloween episode of The First Run, Chris and Matt discuss two Shudder exclusives. First up it’s the possibly soon-to-be cult classic, the ‘WNUF Halloween Special’. A film designed to look like a bootleg VHS copy of a local news Halloween Special that goes horribly wrong. Then the V/H/S anthology series returns with 4 new stories with ‘V/H/S/94’. Can the series conquer the anthology film trap of being terribly uneven with this latest entry? And finally as Halloween night is upon ...
Oct 31, 2021•34 min
Guys. Holy crap guys. This week, the show is simply bursting with content. First, Chris and Matt discuss the much-anticipated Dune: Part 1, the passion project of First Run favorite Denis Villeneuve. Is it gorgeous? Is it exciting? Is it as weird as its source material? Only one way to find out. Well, two if you count watching yourselves. The guys then give you not one, but two, bonus discussions on Ridley Scott's latest sword and shield historical epic, The Last Duel, and an Icelandic horror fa...
Oct 29, 2021•1 hr 12 min
This week on The First Run, Chris and Matt don their bleached Bill Shatner masks and settle for the highest kill count for any Michael Myers film with, ‘Halloween Kills’. And brother does it ever. But does a high body count translate to a good film? Then the Body Horror Marathon continues with Japanese cult classic, ‘Tetsuo: The Iron Man’. What would you do if you hit a guy with your car that was obsessed with transforming his body with various metal objects and so much worse? How bad could it g...
Oct 22, 2021•43 min
This week on The First Run, Chris’ long wait for the Daniel Craig’s final outing as James Bond is over as after multiple delays, ‘No Time To Die’ is finally here. Matt saw it too. After all this time and all the self-imposed hype by Chris, can it possible stand up to his lofty expectations and be the perfect send off for Craig? Then the Body Horror Marathon continues with David Cronenberg’s ‘Rabid’. If you ever wondered what would happen if you were in a bad motorcycle accident and had to be car...
Oct 15, 2021•1 hr 1 min
This week on The First Run, Chris and Matt check back in with their old buddy Eddie Brock and his symbiotic pal, Venom in ‘Venom: Let There Be Carnage’! With the original being as flawed as it was, does director Andy Serkis right the ship and deliver a superior sequel? Or should we just head to the closest bell tower and be done with it? Chris shares his thoughts on that French horror film where the woman gets impregnated by a car. Is ‘Titane’ one of the best films of the year?!? Then our Body H...
Oct 08, 2021•53 min
This week on The First Run, the bois chat about 'CopShop’. Gerard Butler and an almost unrecognizable Frank Grillo glare it up and make threats in this tough guy action-crime film. Then we kick-off the spooky season with ‘The Empty’ Man," a horror film that hits many different genre beats and ends up in a place completely different from where it started. Do we have an undiscovered horror cult classic in the making? We just might, gentle listeners. We just might. As always, Chris tells you what h...
Oct 01, 2021•52 min
This week on The First Run, Chris and Matt discuss ‘Cry Macho’, as a now 91 year old Clint Eastwood directs and stars in this neo-Western, but has he aged out of the role? Then BET presents ‘Karen’. A horror film for our times? A misguided cry for action? Or a camp classic? There’s the thrilling review of the big releases on Physical Media, featuring the Streaming and Straight to DVD Picks of the Week. Matt and Chris then close out the show with another round of everyone’s favorite role-playing ...
Sep 24, 2021•1 hr 11 min
This week on the big show, Chris and Matt discuss James Wan's return to the horror genre, "Malignant." Is this the body horror-Giallo-80's-Euro Horror mash-up that EVERYbody has been clamoring for all these years or is this a case of too many ingredients spoiling the stew? Then our mini-marathon of films with a woman's first name kicks-off with Mary Elizabeth Winsted in "Kate," as MEW Jane Wicks her way across Japan in a Netflix exclusive action flick. As always. Chris runs down the "big" releas...
Sep 17, 2021•45 min
This week on The First Run, Chis and Matt discuss the latest film in the MCU as Phase 4 continues with ‘Shang-Chi And The Legend Of The Ten Rings’. Wait, 10 Rings? Didn’t we see that in Iron Man 3? Does Shang-Chi escape its MCU template, or is it just another ride on the same merry-go-around, again? Then Matt Damon stars in Tom McCarthy’s ‘Stillwater’. After helming a Best Picture winner with ‘Spotlight’, then a Disney+ adaptation of the Timmy Failure book series, McCarthy returns with a fiction...
Sep 10, 2021•51 min
This week on The First Run, Chris and Matt discuss the softest of soft sequels, Nia Dacosta’s ‘Candyman’. Does this new version live up to the bloody legacy of the first or is this yet another entry in the long line of films that should have been left well enough alone? Then our Samurai Marathon wraps up with Masaki Kobayashi’s ‘Harakiri’. This is apparently one of the best jidaigeki films ever made. Will your esteemed film scholar hosts agree? Most likely but listen to what we have to say anywa...
Sep 03, 2021•56 min
This week on The First Run, Chris and Matt discuss ‘Reminiscence’. Hugh Jackman stars in this sci-fi neo-noir as he looks for the missing wrong woman that captured his heart and then disappeared. Will he like what he finds? From the mind of Lisa Joy, one of the creators of HBO’s Westworld. Chris then shares his thoughts about Rebecca Hall and the horror film that’s not quite what you think it is, ‘The Night House’. The Samurai Marathon sort of continues with Kenji Mizoguchi’s ‘Ugetsu’. The class...
Aug 27, 2021•56 min
This week on The First Run, Chris and Matt discuss the Ryan Reynolds starred comedy, ‘Free Guy’. Reynolds plays a NPC who gains sentience and begins to long for something more. And it’s funny! Right?!? Then the Samurai Marathon continues with ‘The Tale Of Zatoichi’, the first film in the beloved and long-running series. After the cinematic hurricanes that were the first two entries in the marathon, we get a more contemplative film. Was that better? There’s the marvelous rundown of the big releas...
Aug 20, 2021•1 hr
This week on The First Run, Chris and Matt are joined by friend of the show, Sean to breakdown the DCEU’s potential soft reboot with James Gunn’s ‘The Suicide Squad’. Has the DCEU found their path forward? Or is a hard R rated superhero film not exactly the best way to obtain mass appeal? Then our Samurai Marathon continues with the mashup of the first two films in the classic Lone Wolf & Cub films series with ‘Shogun Assassin’. Can this American bastardization actually churn out an entertai...
Aug 13, 2021•1 hr 20 min
This week on The First Run, Chris and Matt discuss David Lowery adaptation of a classic 14th century poem of Camelot with ‘The Green Knight’. Dev Patel stars as Gawain on his quest to become a knight and demonstrate all that title’s characteristics. Then our Samurai Marathon begins with Kihachi Okamoto’s ‘The Sword Of Doom’! A tale of a samurai slipping into not just madness, but something darker. There’s the venerable review of the big releases on Physical Media, featuring the Straight to DVD a...
Aug 06, 2021•50 min
This week on The First Run, Chris and Matt discuss the newest film in the GI Joe cinematic universe, ‘Snake Eyes: GI Joe Origins’. We finally get the story behind the franchise’s most popular character as Henry Golden steps into the role. So does the franchise finally get on the right track? Or have the rolled snake eyes again…? (sorry) Then it’s M. Knight Shyamalan’s latest, ‘Old’. In this thriller, a group of people find themselves on a secluded beach, aging very rapidly. How do the escape and...
Jul 30, 2021•53 min
This week on The First Run, Chris and Matt discuss the anti-John Wick non-revenge film ‘Pig’, featuring Mr. “Yes, I’ll Do It” Nicholas Cage. A man who doesn’t know how to say no to any project, sometimes may find the diamond in the rough. Could this be one of those times…? Then it’s on the Amazon Prime sci-fi actioner, ‘The Tomorrow War’. Chris Pratt leads a fight against aliens. In the FUTURE! So why has Chris Pratt’s favor begun to fall as he is now regularly dead last in the Hollywood Chris’s...
Jul 23, 2021•1 hr
This week on The First Run, the MCU experience returns for Chris and Matt as they discuss ‘Black Widow’. After 22 films, 7 of which she is featured, 1 of which she dies, Scarlett Johannsson’s Natasha Romanoff finally gets her own film. Or does she? Then our domination by Disney continues with Pixar’s latest, debuting exclusively on Disney+, ‘Luca’. Sea monsters, kids, Italy! What does the marvelous studio have in store for us this time? There’s the rundown of the big releases on Physical Media, ...
Jul 16, 2021•1 hr 8 min
This week on The First Run, it’s EXTREME-casting. Tropical storm/Hurricane Elsa is bearing down on Florida and JC of Screenfix is here to once again drive Chris insane. First up, it’s the Twitter thread come to life black comedy road trip epic that is ‘Zola’. Primarily shot locally here in Tampa, Chris hopes to identify all the local spots and see if this whole thing actually works, but is quickly undone by JC’s unique, we’ll say, perspective. Then it’s on to Steven Soderbergh’s latest streaming...
Jul 09, 2021•1 hr 30 min
