The guys get the new year started off with a heavy dose of dark fantasy/sci-fi, tackling 1985’s creepy and magical Return to Oz, the first season of Vince Gilligan’s Pluribus, and the epic conclusion of Stranger Things.

Steve’s Required Viewing pick is the small-town horror/comedy Ick, which concerns a bunch of people whose quaint, sheltered world is infested with malevolent forces that have slowly grown in power over countless years (gee I wonder what that’s like), and the guys discuss that before moving on to Wake Up Dead Man, the latest Benoit Blanc murder mystery from Rian Johnson and Daniel Craig, with another all-star cast and a lot to say about the nature of belief, centered on a small, hyper-religious cult of personality that threatens to corrupt everyone it touches (gee I wonder what that’s like). The guys also take a moment to admire the amazing career of the irreplaceable Rob Reiner.

Ron, Steve, and John gracefully dive in slow motion with their guns blazing in the direction of John Woo’s 1992 bullet festival, Hard Boiled. Do the Schmovie guys have what it takes… to be a cop? Then they kick around a couple recent news items and dig in to other stuff they’ve seen. Kind of the usual format.

Ron, Steve, and John put on their tennis shoes and tiptoe around to live up to the title of this week’s Required Viewing pick, the cozy tech heist caper Sneakers. Then Ron and Steve make a quick trip to OZ for their thoughts on the hotly-anticipated (and oddly divisive) Wicked: For Good.

Ron, Steve, and John got to see an advance screening of Edgar Wright’s re-adaptation of Stephen King’s 1982 novella, The Running Man! And in this special .5 episode, they meet up in John’s car for a post-movie conversation that touches on the strengths and weaknesses of the film, Glenn Powell’s star power, and how this take differs from the 1987 Schwarzenegger-led version.

After snacking on a couple recent news tidbits, the guys ride along with the beleaguered paramedic protagonists of Steve’s Required Viewing pick, Code 3. Then it’s an update on the third episode of Welcome to Derry and a few thoughts from John regarding Guillermo Del Toro’s passion project out on Netflix today—a very personal take on Frankenstein.

Ron’s Required Viewing pick is Good Boy, a new horror film that focuses on a dog’s point of view, starring a lovable canine actor who deserves all the treats. After that topic, it’s time to check back in on the supremely messed-up happenings in Stephen King’s Derry, Maine, followed by a brief rundown of other stuff the guys have watched.

The guys tunnel down to the underground city of Midian to check in on Clive Barker’s Director’s Cut of his dark fantasy epic from 1990, Nightbreed, and then follow the usual format of rattling off thoughts on whatever else they’ve watched, including Ron’s take on Tron: Ares and John’s spoiler-free look at the debut episode of HBO Max’s IT prequel series, Welcome to Derry.

In addition to Steve’s disturbing Required Viewing pick—the bleak and gory Bring Her Back—the guys run through a few recent things they’ve seen, and Ron gets physical with another 4K purchase.

This is a classic instance of the title of the episode saying it all. So we can use this space for other topics. How are you?

Director Satoshi Kon’s last film was the mind-bending, beautifully animated Paprika, and it gets a lot of love from the guys in this week’s Required Viewing segment, which is sadly not the way it goes for another film: Him (in theaters now), directed by Justin Tipping. Rounding out the show, John shares thoughts on the season two opener of Gen V, and Steve takes us on a stroll with The Long Walk.

It’s time for another Corn Beef Hash! Aka Ron’s perfectly logical term for an episode where the guys do Required Viewing and then a round of whatever else they watched, without a real plan. Find out in real time who saw what! But don’t expect a full explanation of the hash thing.

The guys discuss Akira Kurosawa’s 1963 classic, High and Low, which is Ron’s Required Viewing choice, and then gab about other things they’ve watched recently, like Alien: Earth and the new HBO crime drama, Task, starring Mark Ruffalo in scruffy mode. 

After a few weeks of radio silence, Ron, Steve, and John are back! Join them as they check into a hotel room nightmare with 2007's Vacancy, find out what's going on with Austin Butler's new crime thriller, Caught Stealing, and get ready for the next level of horror from the mind behind Barbarian with Weapons. And as a special treat, they’ll get caught up on the first two episodes of Peacemaker: Season 2. 

There will be no regular show this week, but Ron, Steve, and John will appear as guests on THE MCU’S BLEEDING EDGE’s Youtube channel, to discuss the two-episode premiere of FX’s much-anticipated series Alien: Earth. The live stream starts at 9:35 EST on Wednesday, August 13th, and will be archived later.

Steve’s low-key Required Viewing pick, a naturalistic baseball movie called Eephus, is discussed, as are a couple of new releases in theaters now, Together and The Naked Gun. John also enthuses about the latest books to arrive on his stack, and Steve catches up with recent movies after a few “down weeks.”

There’s nothing Ron, Steve, and John can’t do with a podcast. This week, though, they do precisely three things: talk about Tony Scott’s 1990 racing drama Days of Thunder, talk about the new Fantastic Four movie and what it means for the MCU, and talk about something known as “other stuff.” It’s conversation time!

John’s Required Viewing pick is director Carl Franklin’s 1995 noir thriller Devil in a Blue Dress. The guys discuss the film’s star-making turn from Don Cheadle, the screen presence of Denzel Washington, and why we never got any sequels. Then it’s time to assess the first full trailer for Stranger Things’s anticipated fifth season, as well as other recent news. Finally, Ronald talks about a unique screening of Hung Up on a Dream: The Zombies Documentary that he just attended.

The guys finally get around to Steve’s Required Viewing pick, Deep Cover, a light British spy spoof not to be confused with the 1992 thriller of the same name starring Lawrence Fishburne (which was covered back in episode 385). Then they all discuss recent things they’ve watched, and the show wraps up with Ron and John enthusing about James Gunn’s new take on Superman.

This is what we used to call a catchup eppy! I guess we still call it that. Anyway, no Required Viewing this week (patience), but the guys scrounge up enough recent stuff to cover, even so. Enjoy!