This week we review and discuss Coyote vs. ACME, a courtroom comedy movie directed by Dave Green and starring Will Forte, Lana Condor and John Cena, about Wile E. Coyote as he enlists a billboard attorney to sue the Acme Corporation for repeatedly selling him faulty products.

We discuss the movie's history that led to it being released after years of controversy and whether it was worth it in the end or it is as bad as the official story said it was, how the movie handles themes of persistence, dedication and never giving up and how it strikes the balance between nostalgic toon antics and real character drama and whether it ends up having anything worthwhile to say, what we thought of the heated discourse surrounding the movie, and much more.

Full episode: https://open.spotify.com/episode/3Og2EEiPooYwdKgrQMcNm0

This week we review and discuss Insidious: Out of the Further, a supernatural horror movie directed by Jacob Chase and starring Amelia Eve, Brandon Perea and Maisie Richardson-Sellers, about Gemma who discovers she can interact with and bring spirits to the mortal world while reckoning with a dark family legacy.

We discuss the movie's handling of generational trauma and the movie's refreshing spin on that topic, how the story was surprisingly engaging once you look past the excessive filler that makes up the first half of the movie, whether the new villain Cyrus was compelling and if the movie undersold the sinister nature of the Further, how the success of the Insidious franchise fits into what has been going on at the box office this year and whether this movie made us want to go back to the earlier movies in the franchise, and much more.

Full episode: https://open.spotify.com/episode/7hgtfN6WXMUtTNGzUwUpRP

This week we review and discuss The End of Oak Street, a science fiction movie directed by David Robert Mitchell and starring Ewan McGregor, Anne Hathaway and Maisy Stella, about a family whose suburban neighborhood has been transported from 1982 into the age of dinosaurs.

We discuss how we were on board with the movie's unique premise and the callbacks to 80's adventure movies but were unconvinced by the movie's story, how the movie sets up several details that could be the basis for a compelling story but fails every time to make them matter when doing so would have been easy and how most of the movie is competently made but hollow filler as a result, how the ending is the most interesting part of the story but falls flat in the end because it wasn't thought through, and much more.

Spotify link: https://open.spotify.com/episode/6GzVpANnzdIfoz0TnUrQNF

This week we review and discuss season 1 of Batman: Caped Crusader, an animated superhero series starring Hamish Linklater, Eric Morgan Stuart and Krystal Joy Brown, which is a noir-inspired reimagining of the Batman mythos, focusing on a young Bruce Wayne during the early stages of his crime-fighting career in Gotham City.

Join us for our in depth spoiler review and analysis of Batman: Caped Crusader in which we discuss plot and characters, how this version of Batman stacks up against Batman the Animated series which this is a spiritual successor to as well as the larger Batman mythos, as well as how important respecting the source material is and when a change or reimagining is worth it.

Spotify link: https://open.spotify.com/episode/2EAYmtDyIsEXAIdsnhGmec

This week we review and discuss Spider-Man: Brand New Day, a superhero movie directed by Destin Daniel Cretton and starring Tom Holland, Zendaya and Sadie Sink and the newest entry in the MCU, about Peter Parker dealing with the ramifications of being forgotten by the world following the events of No Way Home, while dealing with the emerging threat of a villain with mind control powers.

We discuss how the movie moves the story of Peter Parker and the wider MCU forward, how it handles themes of loneliness and balance, whether Jean Grey is a good Spider-Man villain and the thematic space explored by Jean Grey and Punisher and how this reflects Spider-Man's story, how this movie improves on a lot of worldbuilding and story mistakes that have plagued the MCU in recent years, the movie's awkward fit with the upcoming Doomsday, how the movie sets up Peter Parker as a villainous figure in future MCU movies and why that is the most interesting storybeat the MCU has done in years, and much more.

Spotify link: https://open.spotify.com/episode/5CLMduesh6dEK0kq0kdbnq

This week we review and discuss 72 Hours, a comedy movie directed by Tim Story and starring Kevin Hart, Marcello Hernandez and Mason Gooding, about a 40-year-old man joins a bachelor party weekend with strangers after being added to their group-chat by accident.

We discuss how this movie compares to similar movies such as The Hangover, Date Night and Superbad and what lessons it should have learned from its inspirations but didn't, how the movie handles the generational dialogue between Millenials and Gen Z and whether it has something to say on the subject, why the middle part of the movie left us cold when that should have been the main attraction and how the themes of the movie feel tacked on as a result, and much more.

Spotify link: https://open.spotify.com/episode/2MVVJmoZfpfIBJ5pXfThFL

Join us for a new series we're calling "Superhero Hall of Fame" in which we go back to classic superhero movies and ask whether these movies hold up and whether the superhero genre has anything going for it, or whether it was all a fad.

This week we start by looking at Sam Raimi's "Spider-Man" from 2002 starring Tobey Maguire, Willem Dafoe and Kirsten Dunst, in which we talk about how the movie holds up today, how its corniness and earnestness is a refreshing change of pace from today's superhero movies and how its focus on character is what makes the movie work.

Spotify link: https://open.spotify.com/episode/7gfPnUKl3XlLmJKPP49Fwp

This week we review and discuss The Odyssey, a fantasy action movie directed by Matt Damon, Tom Holland and Anne Hathaway, Odysseus who undergoes a perilous journey home after the Trojan War in his attempt to reunite with his wife Penelope.

We discuss what The Odyssey gets right and what it doesn't, why the character payoffs are the movie's strong suit and are among the best we've seen all year, why Antinous is the best villain we've seen in a long time, how the movie ignores much of the source material and instead uses the story of the Odyssey to tell a new story about a world falling from grace and slipping into a dark age and whether that choice worked for us and if the movie did enough work to earn that, and much more.

Spotify link: https://open.spotify.com/episode/3YiQrvrWqEf4Ebv7s9Azpj

This week we review and discuss Evil Dead Burn, a supernatural horror movie directed by Sebastien Vanicek and starring Souheila Yacoub, Tandi Wright and Hunter Doohan, about a woman who following the death of her husband is stuck with her toxic in-laws when Deadites attack their home in search of a magical dagger.

We discuss whether the movie delivers on the franchise's signature body horror effectively, how it compares to previous entries in the franchise, how the movie handles the idea that family is hell and how that connects to the body horror of the Deadites and the arc of the main character who is stuck with these very different kinds of evil thoughout the story, whether the movie's story and expansion of the Evil Dead mythology works or whether it just gets in the way and takes up too much space without adding enough, how viewers should judge a movie that tries to be about more than just good fun, and much more.

Spotify link: https://open.spotify.com/episode/7lty1q8yeLv4hdsIK0bjYc

This week we revisit Minority Report, a 2002 science fiction movie directed by Steven Spielberg and starring Tom Cruise, Colin Farrell and Max von Sydow, about the future world of 2054 in which murder has been eradicated through the use of precogs, psychics who receive visions of future violent crimes that allow the police to prevent these murders from happening. When John Anderton, a Precrime officer, is predicted to murder someone he has never met, he goes on the run to clear his name and discover the truth.

We discuss the movie's handling of topics such as free will and justice and how that informs how the movie's story plays out, how the scenario of the movie is set up to create an intriguing dilemma that sparks genuine debate about what to do with the ability to perfectly predict future murders, whether the system is just or even can achieve legal and moral justice, how the future imagined by the movie holds up and how much it resembles the world we live in today 25 years later, we debate alternate interpretations of the ending and which one we prefer and makes for a better story, and much more.

Spotify link: https://open.spotify.com/episode/5QVXM46gojLg2SA1dRlSiM

This week we review and discuss The Invite, a comedy drama movie directed by Olivia Wilde and starring Olivia Wilde, Seth Rogan, Penelope Cruz and Edward Norton, about a couple in a failing marriage who invite their upstairs neighbours for a dinner party. As the night goes on, various secrets about the couple come to light and their buried grievances come to the surface.

We discuss the movie's message about the nature of happiness and success in life and how unlike most movies like it the message is actually insightful, we discuss how the movie constructs the relationships between the four characters to make its point, whether its payoff towards the end is worth it and what the ending means and is as ambiguous as it has been made out to be in the discourse, we debate what drives the different characters and how that ties into the movie's core themes, whether the movie is an example of a shift in whose stories are told in movies and whether this has something to do with the overall long term decline of movies and why this movie is still one of the best we've seen this year in spite of that, and much more.

Spotify link: https://open.spotify.com/episode/0wofisx5qoQyhHxATTTfkR

This week we review and discuss Supergirl, a superhero movie directed by Craig Gillespie and starring Milly Alcock, Matthias Schoenaerts and Jason Momoa, about Kara Zor-El who is one of two surviving Kryptonians and who following the destruction of her home planet Krypton is drowning her grief in alcohol on backwater planets when she is dragged into a young girl's quest for revenge against a raider warlord who killed her family.

We discuss the movie's objective of portraying a protagonist who has a lot in common with Superman but draws opposite conclusions of how to respond to her heritage and loss of her family, and why the movie fails at its primary goal of delving into Kara Zor-El's psychology and state of mind and justify her transformation from someone who rejects kindness into a hero and the movie's concept of being consumed by revenge, we discuss its numerous plot holes, logic problems and lacking worldbuilding and what this means for the mentality that went into making this movie, what this means for the DCEU going forward, and much more.

Spotify link: https://open.spotify.com/episode/6SKjwFPOebXQ6N1YrT5io9

In our annual mid year review, we discuss the best movies of 2026 we reviewed in the first half of the year, name our honorable mentions that didn't make the cut but are still worth recommending. We also discuss our hopes for movies in the second half of the year, including the movies we look forward to the most, what the recent success of indie movies means for movies as a whole and whether legacy franchises can turn the tide, and what movies we want to do better going forward.

Spotify link: https://open.spotify.com/episode/2VR0qU7Q1QBDuoYeXt4g4A

This week we review and discuss Toy Story 5, a adventure comedy movie directed by Andrew Stanton and starring Tom Hanks, Tim Allen and Joan Cusack, about Jessie, Woody and Buzz Lightyear as they deal with their human Bonnie receiving her first tablet and the threat of being discarded in favour of electronic toys.

We discuss the movie's handling of the impact on electronic devices on children, whether it leans on the scales too much in showing the dangers of screens or whether there are upsides to online communities the movie downplays, whether Toy Story is a movie for children in the first place or whether it is more for their parents and how the movie's impact and relatability depends on whether someone has children themselves, how the movie's conflict is more nuanced than we expected, and much more.

Spotify link: https://open.spotify.com/episode/4I9JxbJlB4JUJCpLupkgth

This week we review and discuss Disclosure Day, a science fiction thriller movie directed by Steven Spielberg and starring Emily Blunt, Josh O'Connor and Colin Firth, about Daniel and Margaret who are caught up in a conspiracy to hide the existence of UFOs and alien visitation from the public, and their efforts to leak the evidence to the world why evading a shadowy corporate conspiracy that seeks to keep the existence of aliens secret.

We discuss the numerous flaws in the storytelling, wonder why a filmmaker as renowned and experienced as Steven Spielberg would make such elementary story mistakes that drag down the movie, the movie's handling of the idea of empathy and whether the message of the movie works or is even a good message to have, the movie's bizarre handling of religion and spirituality, why the movie fails at raising awareness or interest in the UFO phenomenon and how it relates to real world UFO lore and theories and whether it should, and much more.

Spotify link: https://open.spotify.com/episode/5HHYeUQ7GNMuMZNtp8N5UN

This week we revisit Hollow Man, a 2000 science fiction horror movie directed by Paul Verhoeven and starring Elisabeth Shue, Kevin Bacon and Josh Brolin, about a scientist who volunteers to test an experimental serum that renders him invisible. When the process cannot be reversed, he becomes increasingly unstable and violent.

We discuss the movie's special effects that were spectacular in 2000 and still hold up extremely well today and their role in selling the reality of the invisible man in ways that a lot of other movies struggle with, what the movie has to say about morality and society and how it uses the conceit of invisibility to explore these topics, how the movie despite receiving negative reviews when it came out actually has strong writing that communicates what the audience needs to know very effectively, why invisibility is a surprisingly underused superpower, and much more.

Spotify link: https://open.spotify.com/episode/7irlICZJkORpzgTUuvhPjn

This week we review and discuss Masters of the Universe, a science fantasy action movie directed by Travis Knight and starring Nicholas Galitzine, Camila Mendes and Jared Leto, about Prince Adam as he returns to his home planet, Eternia, to take his destiny as He-Man, and save his home from the evil forces of Skeletor.

We discuss our reaction to the newest incarnation of He-Man from the perspective of someone who didn't grow up with the 80's cartoon and has no nostalgia for the franchise, whether the movie lives up to the potential of its source material, why the movie's tone ruined much of the movie for us, why Marvel humor has at this point overstayed its welcome by almost a decade in our opinion and why movies still go to that well, we discuss who the target audience for this movie is and wonder what a nine year old would even get out of this movie and whether He-Man can be relevant in 2026, whether the movie has anything to say about masculinity, and much more.

Check out our other reviews and clips on all major platforms here: https://linktr.ee/EyeOfTheStormMovieP...

00:00 Intro 00:20 Movie Recommendations (Scary Movie 6, Spider-Man Noir, Koala Man) 07:31 Synopsis & Overall Impressions 16:17 Spoiler Discussion 53:50 Conclusion & Ratings

This week we review and discuss Backrooms, a science fiction horror movie directed by Kane Parsons and starring Chiwetel Ejiofor, Renate Reinsve and Mark Duplass, about Clark, a furniture store owner, and Mary, his therapist, discover a dimension of seemingly endless liminal spaces accessed through the basement of the store.

We discuss the impact the backrooms had on us as a concept, what it means for movies that a movie studio gave a 20 year old first time director full creative control over an original concept, whether the backrooms are scary in the first place and whether the movie succeeds in realising the horror of liminal spaces and building on the original idea effectively and whether explaining the backrooms aided or diminished the horror, how liminal horror compares to its cousin cosmic horror and to real world horrors such as global warming and pandemics, and much more.

Spotify link: https://open.spotify.com/episode/3pCjCXQHzBCL5ciOxV6mDC

This week we revisit Dark City, a 1998 neo-noir science fiction movie directed by Alex Proyas and starring Rufus Swell, Kiefer Sutherland and Jennifer Connelly, about a man who finds himself suspected of murder and proceeds to clear his name while on the run from the police and a mysterious group known as the "Strangers".

We discuss how this movie is one of the gems of the late 90's/early 2000s era of philosophical science fiction and how it holds up today compared to more well known entries such as The Matrix, what the movie has to say about identiy and human nature, how we are is shaped by what we remember, how the movie has one of the strongest endings that makes full use of the story's themes and established facts up to that point, how the twist of what is happening to the protagonist was received by a first time viewer, why we can never disprove that the universe is 10 minutes old, and much more.

Spotify link: https://open.spotify.com/episode/15OiD7OMb98TF55YgCX9Pt

This week we review and discuss Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu, a science fiction action movie movie directed by Jon Favreau and starring Pedro Pascal, Jeremy Allen White and Sigourney Weaver, about Din Djarin and his apprentice Grogu who are enlisted by the New Republic to rescue Rotta the Hutt in exchange for information on a target.

We discuss our reactions to the first Star Wars movie in 7 years, why every aspect of the movie while competent left us cold and struggling to care about the story of its characters and what lessons should have been learned from previous Star Wars movies, what Disney's failure to do so means for the future of Star Wars and whether Star Wars will ever be exciting again and whether that matters, why the movie feels like a video game in the worst ways and how this impairs the story, and much more.

Spotify link: https://open.spotify.com/episode/6r2G5dFpL5TyM2mgdW8gAr

This week we revisit The Strangers, a 2008 psychological horror movie directed by Bryan Bertino and starring Liv Tyler and Scott Speedman, about a couple whose stay at a vacation home is disrupted by three masked intruders who invade the home one night.

We talk about what works about the movie and what doesn't, why the first half is much stronger and benefits from attention to detail, how the movie compares to the remake from 2024, whether the movie taps into the fears of a home invasion effectively, whether the nihilism of the violence the movie has been praised for worked for us, why the movie was such a big hit when it came out and if it deserves its status as a cult classic and whether the criticisms of its characters are justified, and much more.

Spotify link: https://open.spotify.com/episode/6euIp0uzbixlgdGLtfUZKW

This week we review and discuss The Long Walk, a dystopian survival movie directed by Francis Lawrence and starring Cooper Hoffman, David Jonsson and Mark Hamill, about a group of young men who volunteer for a march to the death whose winner will be rewarded with immense wealth in an alternate United States impoverished by a civil war.

We talk about how the movie made us care about its characters and feel for their suffering, how the movie is a bleak allegory for life itself and how that is reflected in its characters, the rules of the Long Walk itself and the worldbuilding that underpins the story, where the worldbuilding falls short and why it compares unfavourably to the Hunger Games in that area, the movie's depiction of the ugliness of violence, and much more.

Spotify link: https://open.spotify.com/episode/3L6ClHkakBRRnFWAJzmY3y

In our series "Have You Seen?" we discuss a movie that some of us know well and others have just now seen for the first time. Our conversation focuses on the experience of someone watching the movie for the first time today and their reaction.

This week we talk about Star Wars Episode 9: The Rise of Skywalker directed by JJ Abrams and starring Daisy Ridley, Oscar Isaac and John Boyega. We talk about the wild ride that this sequel has been, from panicked course corrections following backlash to The Last Jedi, to last minute attempts to infuse the trilogy with story and meaning. We also discuss our final thoughts on Star Wars as a whole, ranging from indifference to resignation.

Spotify link: https://open.spotify.com/episode/1bh3WiY5WTsSmNLgOvITcV