Now Playing - The Movie Review Podcast

The book Sam Neill wrote for himself... and shared with the rest of us.

Sam Neill spent nearly five decades becoming one of cinema's most dependable actors, from Jurassic Park and The Hunt for Red October to Event Horizon, The Piano, and dozens of films in between. Following Neill's passing, Arnie looks back at the actor's 2023 memoir, Did I Ever Tell You This? Written during treatment for a life-threatening cancer diagnosis, the book becomes far more than another celebrity autobiography. Instead of Hollywood gossip or behind-the-scenes stories, Neill reflects on friendship, family, cars, dogs, wine, aging, and what really mattered to him.

Join us for a tribute to a remarkable actor and an even more remarkable man.

The Devil’s In The Deep Dish

Riri Williams (Dominique Thorne) returns from her Wakanda Forever semester abroad to learn she’s lost her Tony Stark grant money and is being kicked out of MIT in the 2025 Disney+ miniseries Ironheart. Is the young inventor so desperate to fund the overhaul of her robot suit that she’d partner with possessed Chicago hood Anthony Ramos (Hamilton)?  And how much help will the superhero receive from a magic candy store, an A.I. program designed to look like her dead BFF, and pushover Alden Ehrenreich (Solo: A Star Wars Story)?  Find Out Now!

Athleisure wear, Affairs, and Awful Life Lessons

Arnie concludes his journey through Lauren Weisberger's Devil Wears Prada trilogy with When Life Gives You Lululemons. Shifting the focus to Emily Charlton and an all-new ensemble initially feels like a welcome break from the repetitive formula of the earlier novels. But does the fresh premise lead to a better story? Arnie examines the novel's suburban satire, gender politics, and increasingly questionable ideas about marriage, motherhood, and what makes a woman successful.

One Million Readers Would Kill for a Better Sequel

Over a decade before Disney made The Devil Wears Prada 2, original Devil author Lauren Weisberger wrote her own sequel. Arnie reviews Revenge Wears Prada: The Devil Returns, a novel that reunites Andy, Emily, and Miranda... but delivers little revenge, little devil, and surprisingly little story. Was this forgotten sequel worth revisiting?

This month on Now Playing Intermission, the hosts discuss community theater, symphony screenings of Star Wars, audiobooks, road trips, and what they've been watching. Plus, listener Michael from England joins the show for Tom Hanks trivia before the conversation turns to one of the biggest questions in Hollywood: why are original movies suddenly beating the biggest franchises at the box office?