Action Film Autopsy

I take the 10 best and the 10 worst action films of the year, turn them upside down, shuffle them like a stack of bologna sandwiches, then count down to midnight, telling you why they tasted so bad or so good to me. Happy new year!

Join me as I try to safe-crack Army of Thieves, soul food westernize The Harder They Fall, give a red notice to Red Notice, try to internalize Eternals, and give thanks for Hawkeye!

Ach! Now it's time to hop to Copshop, coin the hashtag “stereoscifitypical” for Dune, let Halloween Kills fill me full of hate, celebrate Kung Fu Stuntmen, tell 007 No-Time to Die, and compare Venom Let There Be Carnage to a Popeye cartoon.

See me in September? Nope, 'cause some deadlines delayed me. But now, you can hear me cry at Cry Macho, say Candyman five times fast, put Malignant in a Basket Case, kill Kate, join the Prisoners of Ghostland, free Free Guy, lump What If and Star Wars Visions together, then Read More...

So long, farewell, auf wiedersehen, bon voyage! My former co-hots are going west, but before they went, they stopped by Prof Ric's undisclosed location for a follow-up to their previous popular videogame and animation stand-alone special episodes. This time they go from Abzu to What If, from Uncharted to Centaurworld, Read More...

Join me riding the winds of change, as well as the my blow-harding plane vampires, superior samurai, inferior Snake Eyes, schizo sweet girls, second suicide squaders, upsetting what iffers, and Ana vs Ava assassin-offers, as well as the raging fires and crazy fists of what may be the last dance Read More...

This month, join me in dependent on the swearing slaughter of the Hitman's Wife's Deadpool, the mindless eye-candy of Dynasty Warriors, the Joan-Wick-Kill-Billingness of Gunpowder Milkshake, The Atomic Blonde Crankiness of Jolt, the Parks & Jurassic Galaxy Chris Prattiness of The Tomorrow War, the learning to love yourselfiness of Loki, Read More...

I'm more surprised than you are. I thought today was the day that the book “Secrets of the Force” would be published with all my comments about the Star Wars series in general, and the lightsaber fights in particular. But, while the book WAS  published today, it was without my Read More...

Come join me lovin' Conjuring 3, repeatedly punchin' Xtreme, rollin' my eyes at Loki, defiantly dumbin' down Infinite, chortlin' at The Misfits, admirin' Rurouni Kenshin, and happily leavin' my brain by the door of F9.

May day! May Day! Go Undercover Punch & Gun with me, pity the Wrath of Man, draft dodge the Army of the Dead, don’t go down the Spiral, avoid Those Who Wish Me Dead, and skin Cruella (the way she did those dalmatians)!

Come listen to me call shenanigans on the new CW (not) Kung Fu, sadly shake my head at Thunder Force, stare in wonder at the gold-plated poo of New Gods Nezha Reborn, cheer Nobody, marvel (get it?) at Falcon and the Winter Soldier, snarl at Mortal Kombat, and praise Tom Read More...

With Monster Huntering, Raya Dragoning, SAS Red Noticing, Justice League Snydering, Falcon Winter Soldiering, and King Kong Godzilling, it’s been quite a month!

The 100th Podcast! How to celebrate? Maybe by Prof Ric not babbling and brainfarting as much? Fat chance, so we’ll just have to do with savoring four delicious double features comparing the gravitas of Hanks and Neeson, mix-and-matching the marvelous Mr. Mackie with Ms. Olsen, seeing the Space Sweepers circle Read More...

Better late than never? After you hear Pro Ric’s choice for the great and awful action flix of last year, you decide (or not).

Brainfart alert in the cave of Prof Ric’s mind! Let’s see if he can coherently explore Batman’s Dragon Soul, Groundhog Day Boss Level, get to Greenland in one piece, consider Promising Young Woman sans cancel culture, survive 12 Hour Shift, and stick with Jackie at the Vanguard.

Warning: Brainfarts Ahead? You’ll find out as Prof Ric faces his Archenemy, whistles at Wolfwalkers, puts Fatman on a diet, flintstones the Croods 2, doubts the Revolution of the Daleks, and goes all freaky for Freaky.

Back from the North Pole with a fistful of films that prove (and disprove) Prof Ric’s oft-quoted adage; “when anything is possible, nothing is interesting.” So come play Jiujitsu, see if you can follow Lupin III, thrill to The Mandalorian, search your Soul, bond the doctor’s Tenet, and Wonder what Read More...

Horror ‘n’  Cartoons ‘n’  Sci-fi, oh my! And somehow it’s all magically connected! Come hear how.

Back in my cavern, watching Netflix, Disney+,and YouTube as well as … gasp … actually going to the movies! Talk about frightening! Come hear me detect Enola Holmes, deny my Welcome to Sudden Death (did they say that to me at the cinema?), accept Hubie Halloween, smirk at the Secret Read More...

The dog days of action film August give way to the slug (double meaning!) sinema of September — as “more” glorified home movies with solid casts flounder around for something to say and/or do. And then there’s “Mulan,” the pretty, well-meaning, but tone-deaf epic with the secret Prof Ric connection. Read More...

No, it’s not an episode about Doctor Who! It’s an episode about the flea-bitten flicks that crawl into the dog days of summer. So lower your expectations to Netflix levels and listen to me recognize The Big Ugly when I see it, least want Most Wanted, re the boot of Read More...

Action film reviews have got nothing on Prof Ric’s latest adventure: swimming upstream on the San Diego Comic Con @ Home’s Youtube Channel algorithms. Listen how turning his Kung Fu Extravaganza from a 150 minute decades-long favorite into this year’s 45 minute international intrigue clickbait nearly destroyed the entire pop Read More...

Think this is a podcast episode? No, it’s sequel bait for my 23rd Annual San Diego Comic Con Kung Fu Extravaganza coming up in two weeks! Ha! Got you (but while you’re here, listen to me walk away in slo-mo from My Spy, muay malay Wira, French kiss Lost Bullet, Read More...

Is it the “Let My People Go Edition” or the “Isolation’s Edge Edition”? Your choice. Either way, I make Arnie, Sly,  Bruce, Chuck, Becky, Artemis, Rick, Morty, and Nezha all about meeeeeeee!

The Beggars-Can’t-Be-Chooser’s Edition … or is it the Beggars-CAN-Be-Chooser’s Edition … or is it The Captive Audience Edition … or is it The THIS-Is-What-They-Chose-To-Do Edition? Well, of course it’s all of the above,  and more. Leave Arkansas, diaper Capone, recast John Carter, give up Coffee (& Kareem), scope Scoob, examine Read More...

From something something Atari to something something Nintendo (and way beyond), animation experts (and inveterate videogame player/fans) Jen Hurler and Miko Mai run you through the gamut/history of videogame fun ‘n’ violence in their inimitably entertaining  way — free of Prof Ric’s blather. Oh happy quarantine day!

Can’t go to the movie theater? Well, it’s coming to you! And what an … um … “interesting” buncha flix they are too! Luckily for me they come in three critical categories: male action, female action, and animation action. Luckily for you, you can take or leave my babbling and Read More...

Family friendly Disney meets fringe/freak friendly Hulu to create a nerd nirvana for all geek-lovers of scifantasy, superheroic,  supraheroic, animal, and animated action. Avengers assemble!

Welcome to the Netflix jungle, where they like their action raw and gamey; where filmmakers like their bank vaults open and their freedom unlimited; where directors like their movies & TV shows as long as they want; and the navigators like their viewers lost in a jungle of seemingly limitless Read More...

Bad news: do I have to say? Good news: there’s plenty of great action films to watch on any number of screens and services. Let’s start with the prime … Amazon Prime, that is … and wowee zowee, get ready for some krazy kungfu (& samurai & ninja & Bollywood) Read More...

A.k.a. Do Little Bad Birds Prey Sonic a.k.a. What Price P.G.A., here we find out what happens when certain actors get producer powers and when Jim returns to go full Carrey.

Prof Ric muses on what the Academy Awards telecast has become: for better (finally caught up with me re: Asian cinema, huh?) and much, much worse (Walt is spinning in his grave…but at least you gave him an apt award).

From Snow White through Popeye to Dragon Ball Super (and everything in between), Blue Sky animation makers Jen Hurler and Miko Mai  rotoscope their way through cartoon history with the help of DreamWorks, Disney, and Minions consultant Prof Ric.

Join us for a countdown — from terroriffic ten to wonderotten one — of the finest and foulest action films of the year gone bye-bye.