The Cinematic Schematic

Hello Sidney…we’re home. In this episode of The Cinematic Schematic, we’re rejoined by recurring guests Laron Chapman, Zachary Burns, and Brock Lay to follow our Scream retrospective discussion up with a review of the newest entry in the series, Scream (2022), AKA Scream 5 AKA 5cream(the correct title). This conversation starts with the ice-breaker question, “who is your favorite horror movie villain or antagonist?” We then jump into a spoiler-free review of Scream(2022) where we provide our verdict on the film before concluding the conversation with an in-depth spoiler discussion. It’s been eleven years since Scream 4, the most recent entry, hit theaters in 2011. Though the film was generally well-received by critics (it currently sits at 61% on Rotten Tomatoes), it did not perform well enough at the box office to justify more sequels, at least according to the now-defunct Weinstein Company. That all changed when the Spyglass Media Group purchased the rights to the old Ghostface franchise in 2019. After anot

What’s your favorite scary movie podcast? The Cinematic Schematic is back for our first episode of the year to look back at Wes Craven and Kevin Williamson’s franchise dedicated to riffing on the most popular horror and slasher movie tropes of the day, the Scream series. As a prelude to our upcoming Scream(2022) review, we’re joined by returning guests Laron Chapman, Zachary Burns, and Brock Lay to reassess each of the first four entries to determine whether or not the Scream series lives up to its reputation and warrants continuing. Whether they are telling a clever whodunnit or providing commentary on violence in the media, Scream is a franchise that’s never been short on ideas or things to say about the horror and pop culture of its day. Do Wes Craven’s love letters to the genre he helped build in the 80s still remain relevant in today’s horror movie scene? Tune in to the full conversation for our verdicts and stay subscribed to hear our full Scream (2022) review the second it goes live. Discussion Time St

The Cinematic Schematic is back to follow the white rabbit and see how close to the line between fiction and reality we can go in our review of The Matrix Resurrections. Award-winning Oklahoma filmmaker and returning guest, Laron Chapman, joins the cast of GoodTrash Media‘s Dalton Stuart and The Cinematropolis contributor Daniel Bokemper from our recent Matrix Trilogy retrospective to discuss the latest entry in the franchise that taught millenials about kung fu and propelled Neo(Keanu Reeves), Trinity(Carrie-Anne Moss) and writer/director Lana Wachowski into pop culture fandoms everywhere. Following the conclusion of The Matrix Trilogy in 2003, the writing/directing duo of Lana and Lilly Wachowski decided to move on from the franchise despite the appetite for more stories from both Matrix fans an WB studio executives. After the duo decided to split ways between seasons 1 and 2 of Netflix’s Sense8, Lana Wachowski has finally returned to the franchise, citing her inspiration as the need to return to comfort an

Look out wallcrawler fans! Today, The Cinematic Schematic will web-sling through the multiverse and into a review conversation covering this year’s biggest film to date, Spider-Man: No Way Home, with special guests Chelsea Ratterman from Geek Girl Features and GoodTrash Media’s Arthur Gordon. Tom Holland returns as Spider-Man/Peter Parker for the sixth time in his third standalone film appearance in No Way Home. His latest outing picks up right where 2019’s Spider-Man: Far From Home left off. Mysterio (Jake Gyllenhaal) has revealed Parker’s identity to the world via J. Jonah Jameson’s(J.K. Simmons) The Daily Bugle. Peter and his best friend Ned(Jacob Batalon) and girlfriend MJ(Zendaya) quickly learn that being associated with Spider-Man has consequences that may endanger their chances to get into their dream university, MIT. To try and make things right, Parker reaches out to Dr. Strange(Benedict Cumberbatch) and requests he cast a spell so that everyone forgets his secret identity. When the spell goes awry,

Step right up to The Cinematic Schematic! Is it more cinema or unruly beast? In this week’s episode, we’re rejoined by The Cinematropolis contributor, Daniel Bokemper, to do a spoiler-free review of Guillermo Del Toro’s newest film, Nightmare Alley, before diving into an in-depth spoiler discussion. In his first film as a director since winning the Oscars for Best Picture and Best Director with The Shape of Water, Guillermo del Toro returns to a familiar and more comfortable genre, noir. The trailers for Del Toro’s newest film, Nightmare Alley, may rely heavily on the backdrop of a traveling carnival, but don’t be deceived, this film goes far beyond the boundaries of the Clement “Clem” Hoately (Willem Dafoe) show. Check out our full review essay of The Shape of Water Based on the 1946 novel of the same name, Nightmare Alley follows Stanton “Stan” Carlisle (Bradley Cooper) who begins the film on the run from a dark and mysterious past. After joining a traveling carnival and learning the trade of mentalism from

Eighteen years after the release of the last film in The Matrix franchise, we are just a week away from the unexpected series return with the fourth entry, The Matrix Resurrections. In this special supersized edition of The Cinematic Schematic, we take a look back at the original 1999 film along with its sequels, Reloaded(2003) and Revolutions(2003). We review each film individually before discussing whether or not they work together successfully as a trilogy. We close out the conversation by talking about our hopes and dreams for the upcoming film ahead of its release next week. Host Caleb Masters can’t make the trip down the rabbit hole alone. Joining him with red pills are returning guest hosts, Daniel Bokemper from The Cinematropolis, and GoodTrash Media‘s Dalton Stuart. More than twenty years later, does the original film still hold true as a classic? Do the widely panned sequels deserve a second chance? Why is now a compelling time to start the next chapter for Neo (Keanu Reeves), Trinity (Carrie-Anne M

Before beginning the final stretch into the holiday season, The Cinematic Schematic is taking a moment to be thankful for all of the movies that came out this past November with a special November 2021 movie review round-up. In this special episode, we’re rejoined by the longtime friend of the show and award-winning filmmaker, Laron Chapman, to do a series of mini-reviews of November 2021’s most prominent films including Marvel’s Eternals, Netflix’s tick, tick…BOOM!, Spencer, and Ridley Scott’s newest movie starring Lady Gaga, House of Gucci. Tune in for the full November 2021 rundown! Special Guest Laron Chapman Award-winning Oklahoma filmmaker Follow Laron on Instagram @blackmoviemagic Movie #1 – Eternals According to IMDB, Eternals can be described as: The saga of the Eternals, a race of immortal beings who lived on Earth and shaped its history and civilizations. Now playing in theaters. Movie #2 – tick, tick…BOOM! According to IMDB, tick, tick…BOOM! can be described as: On the cusp of his 30th birthday, a

Planet Thunder Productions is at it again! On today’s special edition of The Cinematic Schematic, Jacob and Zachary Burns rejoin the show to discuss the Indie Go-Go fundraising opportunity for their new film, Hell Hath No Fury. Fury resurrects one of Jacob Burns’ earlier scripts about a married couple who separately and unknowingly plan to murder each other on the same fateful night. Fury marks a shift in gears for Planet Thunder Productions. Much like the dark comedies such as Fargo or The Lady Killers from The Coen Brothers, the film will provide a lighter touch than their previous headier outings, Electric Nostalgia and Shifter. The team is also shaking up roles in the production. After serving as producer on several of the team’s recent feature-film productions, Zachary Burns is stepping into the director’s chair on Hell Hath No Fury for his directorial debut. The film is still in the fundraising phase of pre-production with an expected filming start date before the end of the year. The film blew past its

It’s time to step back into the old Wes Andersonian time machine to explore a fondly remembered era for journalists and print magazines. In today’s episode of The Cinematic Schematic, we’re joined by I Can’t Unsee That Movie‘s Jeff Huston to review Wes Anderson’s new movie, The French Dispatch. It’s been twenty-five years since Wes Anderson made it big with his feature film directorial debut, Bottle Rocket. In the years since, his films have dabbled in stop motion animation with The Fantastic Mr. Fox and Isle of Dogs, taken a trip under the sea in The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou, and traveled to the past and back again in The Grand Budapest Hotel. His exotic adventures in filmmaking have garnered him a reputation as he’s developed a very distinct style and often divisive voice for some filmgoers. Despite consistently working with some of the biggest movie stars in the business like Bill Murray, Tilda Swinton, Edward Norton, Anjelica Huston, Willem Dafoe, and many others, he’s reached a point where he’s unl

The Cinematic Schematic returns after a short hiatus to wrangle the Shai-Hulud sandworms in our review of Denis Villeneuve’s Dune: Part 1. The podcast can’t discuss the feud between rival houses Atrieus and Harkonnen without the proper guests. Joining the show today are No Film School‘s Jo Light, the GoodTrash Genrecast‘s Dalton Stuart and The Cinematropolis‘s own Daniel Bokemper. Frank Herbert’s 1965 novel has historically been tough to crack. Chilean director Alejandro Jodorowsky famously failed to get his version off the ground in the 1970s before the acclaimed Twin Peaks writer/director David Lynch released a critically panned adaptation in 1984. Eventually, The Sci-Fi Channel would take another stab at the material with a three-part Dune mini-series that would receive enough acclaim to get a follow-up series, Children of Dune. After the rights for another big-screen adaptation completed a shuffle and landed at Legendary Entertainment, Dennis Villeneuve was announced as the director in 2017. Though you wo

In this week’s episode of The Cinematic Schematic, we take another trip into the DC Extended Universe(DCEU) to provide our spoiler-free review of THE Suicide Squad before jumping into a spoiler-filled analysis discussion of the film. In August 2016 Suicide Squad became a massive box office success, grossing over $746 million worldwide. Despite being seen by so many people, the movie received hugely negative reviews (it’s currently sitting at 26% on Rotten Tomatoes) and has largely been remembered as a disaster by audiences. Following his temporary firing from Disney, Warner Bros. tapped writer/director James Gunn to make a movie in the DCEU. With the promise he’d have near-total creative freedom from WB executives, Gunn chose to make an R-rated Suicide Squad film with a budget of $185 million. The film is stacked with a star-studded cast including returning stars Margot Robbie, Joel Kinnaman, Viola Davis, and Jai Courtney alongside newcomers Idris Elba, John Cena, Daniela Melchior, Sylvester Stallone, Pete Da

Rest your bones, listeners. Today, The Cinematic Schematic accepts a quest from a powerful and mysterious presence (also known as A24), to review and discuss David Lowery’s long-awaited film, The Green Knight.  Without the proper company, the quest would be long, uncertain, and gloomy. Rejoining this episode are The Cinematropolis co-founders from Planet Thunder Productions, Jacob and Zachary Burns, alongside recurring guest co-host, Laron Chapman. The film adapts the Arthurian legend of Sir Gawain the Green Knight. Like many recent films, The Green Knight‘s journey to the big screen pre-dates the pandemic. It was originally scheduled to be released over a year and a half ago at SXSW 2020. Unlike many films, writer/director David Lowery decided to use his downtime to re-edited the entire film during the quarantine. Did the extra time in the edit make it even more worth the wait, or is The Ghost Story director out of his depth in the fantasy genre? Tune into the full spoiler-free review followed by a spoiler-i

The Cinematic Schematic is back to our normally scheduled programming with a review of “the first film in the trilogy that will conclude the Fast and Furious Saga.” That’s right ladies and gentlemen, today we are taking on F9: The Fast Saga. Like all great heists, reviewing something of this scale requires a crew. After years of off-mic movie conversations, all roads have been leading to a review of a proper Fast and Furious movie with award-winning filmmaker, Laron Chapman, first time guest from KJYO-FM, Jason Black, and returning guest Brock Lay who Tokyo drifts right back to the show after his recent debut in our review of Mortal Kombat. Twenty years after the release of The Fast and the Furious, the ninth entry continues to take the saga to even more outrageous heights. When the characters aren’t Spider-man thwipping their cars from cliff to cliff or catching their fallen squad mates on the hoods of their vehicles, they are usually acting out the most expensive soap opera ever made. After all of these yea

It’s the final day of deadCenter 2021 and we couldn’t close out the festival without a talk about a film in one of our favorite genres, sci-fi. Longtime listeners know that we are fans of larger-than-life ideas with a personal perspective, and few films playing at this year’s festival encompassed those words more than Between Waves, a sharp science fiction film with an emotional story at its core. The film touches on a number of topics including mental health, alternate dimensions, and grief. To learn more about what inspired the film’s ambitious, personal, and character-driven premise, we’re joined by Between Waves director, co-writer and co-producer, Virginia Abramovich. Listen to today’s conversation and check out Between Waves at the deadCenter virtual cinema before the festival concludes tonight. Special Guest Virginia Abramovich, Between Waves writer/director/producer The official deadCenter 2021 synopsis describes Between Waves as: After his disappearance, Jamie pursues her missing lover through parall

As the deadCenter 2021 Film Festival begins to wind down, we’re highlighting some of our favorite gems from this year’s schedule. Among the huge array of short films playing is a documentary titled “Sardis,” a story preserving a forgotten piece of Oklahoma history. If you’re from Oklahoma and have never heard of the town of Sardis, you’re not alone. Similar to the Tulsa Race Massacre(until recently), the tragic story is rarely discussed in state history classes. To learn more about what inspired the short film and why it’s an essential piece of Oklahoma history, we spoke with the short film’s writer/director, Colleen Thurston. Tune in to today’s conversation and check out “Sardis” at the deadCenter virtual cinema before the festival concludes tomorrow evening. More information about Thurston’s upcoming “Drowned Land” can be found at redfordcenter.org. Special Guest Colleen Thurston, writer/director of “Sardis” The official deadCenter 2021 synopsis describes “Sardis” as: Deep in the Choctaw Nation, a picturesq

The deadCenter Film Festival is hosted here in the heart of Oklahoma, but thanks to last year’s virtual cinema that was launched as part of the festival’s COVID-19-minded approach, the scope of the audience expanded far beyond just the sooner state.  Last year, more than 40,000 people attended deadCenter Film Festival virtually, with audiences watching from 42 states and 24 countries. One pair of attendees in 2020 were the hosts of The Furloughed Film Talks, a Dallas-based podcast dedicated to the latest movie news and reviews along with weekly special guests to discuss and debate the present and future of the film industry. In today’s deadCenter 2021 Film Festival conversation we’ll be joined by the Kelly brothers to discuss their deadCenter 2021 experience including their favorite films, most memorable experiences, and what they hope to see more of from the festival in the future. Special Guests Alex and Ryan Kelly, hosts of the Furloughed Film Talks podcast Follow The Cinematic Schematic Podcast Hear all o

Between out-of-state projects like the Killers of the Flower Moon, Minari, Reagan, Reservation Dogs, and Stillwater, and homegrown projects like Mickey Reece’s Agnes and Kyle Kauwika Harris’s Out of Exile, Oklahoma seems to be in the middle of a boom in film and TV productions. Thanks to increasing tax incentives, new talent development programs from the Oklahoma Film and TV Academy, larger sound stages from Green Pastures Studio and Prarie Surf Media, and top-notch emerging talent, both behind and in front of the camera, Oklahoma continues to carve out its place as one of the top states in the country for making film and television. Earlier this year, MovieMaker Magazine named both Oklahoma City and Tulsa among its Best Places to Live and Work as a Moviemaker in 2021. In today’s exclusive deadCenter 2021 keynote conversation, we’re joined by an incredible panel of leaders working in the Oklahoma film and television industry including the Oklahoma Film+Music Office’s Tava Sofsky, Green Pastures Studio’s Melod

The deadCenter 2021 film festival has always had a knack for finding the most memorable and emotionally satisfying documentaries of each year. In 2021, the festival played the heartwarming We Are Thousand, a story about amateur musicians gathering together in an Italian village to pay tribute to the Foo Fighters, and also Questlove’s upcoming documentary, Summer of Soul, which immortalizes 1969’s Harlem Cultural Festival, among many others. Today’s featured documentary is no exception because, in virtual space, nobody can hear you laugh. Today’s exclusive deadCenter 2021 Film Festival Conversation conversation dives into one of the festival’s most exciting documentaries for any self-respecting cinephile, Alien on Stage. I’m joined by the storytellers who followed the amateur production of Ridley Scott’s 1979 Alien, Danielle Kummer, and Lucy Harvey, to learn more about what inspired the troupe to adapt the classic sci-fi horror for the stage. The film is playing as part of the deadCenter 2021 virtual film fest

The deadCenter Film Festival is a place for all types of stories including the short stories found in music videos. One of the festival’s most notable short films playing at this year’s festival in the SHORTS: OKIE 1 block is the music video, “Jabee: Hope.” Last year, Oklahoma City hip hop artist Jabee released his new album, “This World Is So Fragile And Cruel I’m Glad I Got You.” When considering how to best adapt the music for a video, he pitched the song “Hope” to his collaborator and award-winning casting director, Chris Freihofer, who created a treatment before stepping into the role of director for the music video. Jabee and Freihofer partnered with Windswept Media and WeerNProduction to shoot the video, and by September of 2020, had completed the project. In today’s exclusive deadCenter 2021 conversation on The Cinematic Schematic, I talk with Jabee and Freihofer about the autobiographical story behind the music and how Freihofer highlighted OKC’s unique setting to match Jabee’s vision. You can catch

Guests: Ben Tefera, writer/director of Feel So Good Slyrex, co-producer, co-editor, sound designer and composer of Feel So Good Ben Stillwell White, co-producer, cinematographer, and co-editor of Feel So Good Grayson Dunn, star of Feel So Good deadCenter has long been a platform for homegrown Oklahoma films from storytellers who are dedicated to a high concept with a compelling vision. In this year’s festival, few filmmakers carry this auteur’s spirit more than Bad Faith, the collective of artists including Ben Tefera, Slyrex, Ben Stillwell White, Grayson Dunn, who are behind one of this year’s most noteworthy Oklahoma narrative features, Feel So Good. In today’s exclusive deadCenter 2021 Film Festival conversation, I speak with the members of Bad Faith about what inspired the film’s unique premise. Feel So Good is holding its world premiere tonight as part of deadCenter at the Oklahoma Museum of Art at 8 PM CST. It will also be available as part of the deadCenter 2021 virtual film festival starting on Saturd