Nighthawks' Podcast

In 2018 the Nighthawks took a deep granular dive into the 1938 radio adaptation of War of the Worlds, that famously made Orson Welles a household name and (allegedly) scared some undetermined number of people into thinking that the United States was being invaded by an outside force.In 2020, a movie was made based on the same Public Domain story that sought to imagine the end of the world, not through radio but, through the media of the time- webcams and device screens. The resulting movie sat on the shelf for approximately five years before being sprung on an unsuspecting public in 2025. Ice Cube and Eva Longoria lead the cast in a brand new adaptation of War of the Worlds that has viewers panicking for another reason entirely:It’s not a very good movie.Join co-hosts Trevor and Matt as they dig into the latest mainstream adaptation of War of the Worlds and discuss if it’s the worst movie of the year, or if it’s “just another movie this year.”

The co-hosts at the Nighthawks Diner triple down on a glass of Beetlejuice and contend with the self-proclaimed "Ghost With The Most."Hot off of his success with Pee-Wee's Big Adventure, former Disney animator turned director, Tim Burton, chooses life, death, and the afterlife for the subject of this early effort in his career. The resulting horror comedy would cement Burton as someone who could balance four-color antics with a dark sensibility, paving the way for Burton's Batman, a year later.Join the co-hosts for this "episode from the vault," originally recorded for release in October of 2024, this lost-and-found episode discusses a classic of the Nighthawks' respective childhoods. 

Wow... ten years. TEN YEARS! (Cue clip from Gross Pointe Blank)Folks, it has been an honor and a privilege to have been sitting in our imaginary diner having real conversations with you (okay, at you) about movies. It's been ten years of some truly remarkable films...and Shark Week.For this edition of the Nighthawks Podcast, the guys in the corner booth decide to take it back to the franchise that started it all...sort of. Is it a prequel? Is it a spinoff? Is it a sequel? We just don't know. But we do know that it's fully bad ass.Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga is the 2024 film from genre auteur George Miller, dropping off where Mad Max: Fury Road picks up. But before we get to the events of the 2015 film, we are treated to the backstory of Fury Road's undeniable main character: Imperator Furiosa.Join the conversation as we hit the road, ten years later and parse the latest wasteland film from George Miller, rank our favorite Mad Max films, and reminisce about the podcast up to this point.

When The East meets The West- La Cosa Nostra will be turned on its ear by the man who does all his own stunts: Jackie Chan!The Nighthawks take a peek at Jackie Chan's first attempt to break out for western audiences, in this Hong Kong/U.S.A. co-production that pits Chan against The Mafia, roller skating, American women, Luca Brazi, and the dad of that guy that was in Twin Peaks and Robo-Cop.Struggling to wrap their head around Chan as a phenomenon, the U.S. shoehorns Chan into a convoluted plot involving underground sports, above ground fights, and under-the-table crime syndicate gamblers in BATTLE CREEK BRAWL, aka THE BIG BRAWL! While some of the movie doesn't really work, spme of the movie really does! Everything that works in the movie involves Jackie Chan.A museum piece of early Kung Fu Action/Comedy, showcasing how good Chan is and was, that also illustrates how much the U.S. wasn't quite sure who Chan would become.Culminating in the advertised big brawl in the streets of Battle Creek Texas, join the Nig

WHYBW – What Have You Been Watching?Pull up a seat in the Nighthawks booth and grab a heaping helping of pod-fodder.Alien Romulus– The guy who remade Evil Dead remakes the first four ALIEN films and crams them into one movie. Does it work? I mean...Star Wars did it, right?Chop and Steele- It's two comedians, who show old VHS tapes around the country, versus the Morning News Industrial Complex when two imposters infiltrate the morning show circuit for lolz. Unfortunately there is a lawsuit and our two likable heroes are in danger. Matt has feelings about the lawsuit.Born Evil The Serial Killer and The Savior- A convict who looks a little like White Jesus finds himself the recipient of confessions from a serial killer. Can this weed-dealing convicted-of-murder Jesus help investigators find where a serial killer hid his evidence and victims?Batman Caped Crusader- An heir apparent to the Batman The Animated Series from the 90s, this more mature and more adult animated series carves its own path by dealing with so

A tragic comic book, with a tragic real-life backstory, is translated into a tragic film, with a real-life tragic production, which was dropped onto an unsuspecting 1990s audience who were still reeling from the death of Nirvana front man Kurt Cobain.The Crow (1994) was a strangely perfect movie for a very imperfect time and place. A comic book adaptation in a world where the comic book fad was still many years off.Join Matt and Trevor as they explore this original (and maybe a little of the remake and sequels) The Crow: a movie steeped in culture, legend, and MTV.

It's the story of love and hate, the story of tradition and modernity, the story of good and evil, the story of old right hand left hand.It's 1955's The Night of the Hunter starring Robert Mitchum, Lillian Gish, Shelley Winters, and Peter Graves is that story. Adapted from a novel of the same name the film is a bold experimental feature film for actor turned director Charles Laughton. Despite taking some big swings and taking great care with the craft, the movie was a box office dud at the time and Laughton never directed a film again.The Nighthawks think that this story of a serial killer charlatan preacher stalking the Apalachin countryside after two children and a fortune in cash has come. But can Laughton's 1955 vision reach the right people in 2024? Matt and Trevor go to the Nighthawks annual picnic and serve up a potluck of grist for this movie that was unsung in its era and is recognized as one of the best movies of all time by critics today.

This ain't your kids' monsters scaring people in their bedrooms movie! This is the one for the elder millennials who were traumatized or seduced by the dark horrors of a movie that is, for all intents and purposes, Night Breed Babies.Fred Savage, Howie Mandel, Daniel Stern, Rick Ducommun, Frank Whaley, and Devin Ratray put together a pretty impressive cast of "hey I think I know that actor" roles in a bizarre waking mirage of a movie. Fred Savage plays Brian, not Shawn as we call him in the episode, a boy who is protecting his little brother from the boogie man under the bed. But as it turns out, a guy can have a lot of fun hanging out with the boogie man under the bed.Shades of the Lost Boys, Night Breed, Monster Squad, and the Scholastic Book Fair color our analysis of this movie, that had previously been slated for a Nighthawks episode over 8 years ago.Come for the Fred Savage analysis, stay for the frank discussion of Steven Seagal's music career.

And now, what the entire world has been waiting for...two men give you their hot takes on Greta Gerwig's 2023 film BARBIE.This is, of course, an exaggeration. This movie could use fewer male hot takes. That said, we felt it was unfair to disqualify the movie from our RSS feed just because other people had been loud and cranky, so we felt the need to get in and defend this Oscar nominee.The film stars Nighthawks favorites Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling, with a host of cameos and celebrity walk-ons that are, frankly, just fun to watch. But that's not the only fun you'll be having with this subversive, techno-color, cornball satire of our times. Pull up a stool at the Nighthawks counter while Trevor and Matt man the booth to talk about this one.Please be sure to subscribe to the podcast, find us on Facebook, and rate and review us where applicable. Also, if you really dig the show please consider contributing to our Ko-Fi campaign to help make the show extra special.Support us via Ko-Fi!Need to find us on a spec

The Nighthawks Podcast enthusiastically recommends: Beyond the Infinite Two Minutes.This delightful, tight, Japanese film from a Kyoto-based theatre troupe is the debut film of director Junta Yamaguchi, and we think you should see it. This movie is low budget, non-American, subtitled, and high concept which seems to have doomed this movie to be underseen and underdiscussed.Join the Nighthawks and see if we can turn you on to watching this nifty little sci-fi comedy that (as of press time) was highly accessible on streaming.If you are among the blessed masses who HAVE seen this movie, stick with the back half of the episode for a spoiler-filler deep dive into the plot.

Please be sure to subscribe to the podcast, find us on Facebook, and rate and review us where applicable. Also, if you really dig the show please consider contributing to our Ko-Fi campaign to help make the show extra special.Support us via Ko-Fi!It has long been told, in select circles, that The Nighthawks recorded an episode covering Tobe Hooper's 1982 family horror classic Poltergeist during the early years of the podcast.The stuff of legend, the evidence does not exist that this episode was ever committed to record.Until now.Join Matt and Trevor in this brand-spanking-new Halloween treat, closing out the Curse of Monstoberfest as they discuss this PG rated, PG-13 in spirit, childhood-shaking haunted house movie starring Coach T. Nelson, Jo Beth Williams, and Zelda Rubenstein among others.Is it tame? Is it frightening? Is it cursed? It's Poltergeist. 

Just when you thought it was safe to undress in front of your tech devices, one Hollywood movie decides to blend post-Y2k tech panic with the classic formula of the killer doll, and manages to keep things fresh enough to keep The Nighthawks nodding along throughout the movie.This 2022 movie seems to share a lot of grace notes with a 2019 remake of the iconic Child's Play property, but seems to strike more of those notes in a clean and well executed manner and it makes for a better movie with no obiligation to an existing license.Support us via Ko-Fi!When a young girl, Cady, is involved in a wintertime car accident that claims the lives of her parents, she is sent to live with her career-minded aunt, Gemma. As it happens Gemma is the lead developer on a high-tech toy project that has seen a lot of success, and she struggling with the follow-up. Gemma wants to push the envelope on a super advanced AI driven humanoid playmate for kids, her boss wants a cheaper Furby. Cady’s presence is just what Gemma needs as i

From the world of superstition, from the bowels of the Earth, long forgotten: IT'S THE NIGHTHAWKS PODCAST!!!We're here to get you as much Monstoberfest as our lives will allow with a comeback holiday special to chill the very bones. 2023's Halloween season kicks off with an action monster extravaganza known as THE RELIC from 1997, starring Penelope Ann Miller and Tom Sizemore (RIP).Loosely adapted from a novel by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child, the film version of The Relic finds a hulking monster eating the brains of people at the Chicago Field Museum on the eve of a new blockbuster exhibition based around superstition. It is up to no-nonsense Chicago cop Vincent D'Agosta and Museum Scientist Nora Kelly to get to the bottom of what's happening and hopefully avert disaster.Matt and Trevor grabbed this one at random and are faced with their consequences, as they parse the film as both a stand alone entity and an adaptation of a book that spawned many sequel novels. The movie wasn't so well received...

Once again it’s time for a glamorous strut on the red carpet, out front of the Nighthawks conceptual diner, to talk about Hollywood’s most prestigious night.Oscar Czar and Nighthawks house band musician Cameron Maris, Nineteen Cent Feast, is coming out of cold storage and Matt is going in. Cameron and Trevor to talk about the EGOTS, the controversies, the nominations, and the snubs. Matt, chills himself elsewhere.The small and valuable metal humanoid is back at it again and there’s a whole new roster of movies to discuss including Everything Everywhere All At Once, The Fabelmans, Tàr, All Quiet On the Western Front, and many others.  Up for grabs in this episode is Best Writing, Best Direction, and Best Film, among others.Slide up with a slice of pie and a cup of coffee and talk about this year’s best.For this year’s Oscar ballot pdf, click here

Once again it's time for a glamorous night on the red carpet out front of the Nighthawks conceptual diner, to talk about Hollywood's most prestigious night.Oscar Czar and Nighthawks house band musician Cameron Maris, Nineteen Cent Feast, is coming out of cold storage and Matt is going in. Cameron and Trevor to talk about the EGOTS, the controversies, the nominations, and the snubs. Matt, chills himself elsewhere.The small and valuable metal humanoid is back at it again and there’s a whole new roster of movies to discuss including Everything Everywhere All At Once, The Fabelmans, Tàr, All Quiet On the Western Front, and many others.  Keep your podcatchers subscribed to the channel and catch part 2 later this week where we will discuss the remaining categories including Best Director and Best Picture.Slide up with a slice of pie and a cup of coffee and talk about this year’s best.For this year's Oscar ballot, visit Nighthawkspodcast.com

WHYBW – What Have You Been Watching?Mysteries, murder, and rebellion on the menu at the Nighthawks Diner for a discussion of what Matt and Trevor have been watching. Pull up a seat in the Nighthawks booth and grab a heaping helping of pod-fodder.Confess, Fletch– Is it a book adaptation, a Chevy Chase sequel, neither, or both? John Hamm dons the Los Angeles Lakers hat of the mononymed Fletch, a former investigative reporter of some note. A retired fletch is on the heels of an art theft when he finds a dead woman in his rental. What is a guy to do?Dahmer- Important question: does a rapist, murderer, terrorist, criminal, cannibal deserve an on-screen treatment this good? This one left us feeling a little funny.Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery– Rian Johnson continues his unimpeachable record for mystery films with the first Benoit Blanc sequel, starring the absolutely fabulous Daniel Craig and the stone cold Janelle Monet, with a supporting cast that will leave your jaw on the floor.See also: Matt and Trevor par

WHYBW – What Have You Been Watching?An all-franchise edition of WHYBW has us looking at three sequels and one prequel from the recently-released and recently-streaming bin. A mixed bag of continuing stories for both the large and small screens. Join the Nighthawks as we serve up another hot and fresh plate of takes.Jurassic World Dominion– A disappointing end to a disappointing franchise that began with one hell of a good movie. See also: Mini-episode review on Jurassic World See also: Full episode on Jurassic Park Avatar: The Way of Water- It's a "sploosh" from Matt, but the runtime might have Trevor leaving this one high and dry. An effects marvel that is a treat for the eyes, and it has...a story.Willow– 35 years after the original 1988 feature from George Lucas and Ron Howard, Willow gets his own sequel series on Disney+. Matt and Trevor touch on it briefly, but leave the big review for...See also: Matt and Trevor join the One of Us panel for a complete no-spoiler review of Willow on Disney+ The Witcher

WHYBW – What Have You Been Watching?An examination of some of the best movies of the year, and one book that gave Trevor comfort in a time of need. Join Matt and Trevor in the conceptual Nighthawks Diner to go over a menu of some of 2022's bestEverything Everywhere All At Once– The bonkers kung-fu tale of multiverses, taxes, laundry and family.RRR- "The Indian Bromance Action-Adventure Musical that we need right now" -Trevor The Banshees of Inisherin– Matt discusses the latest darkly funny film from Martin McDonagh about two men who used to be friends, but now they aren't. Is it another In Bruges? Or is this Golden Globe winner (Best Comedy or Musical) something else?Leonard Maltin's Star Struck- A book recommendation from Trevor regarding the latest from THE Hollywood Historian, Leonard Maltin. The audiobook recording of this new memoir gave Trevor some peace during tumultuous times.

When you sit in a booth at the Nighthawks Diner you break bread at the crossroads of human experience, and tonight a very special guest is bringing their experience with them.At topic is the 2021 holiday drama A Christmas Sunset, which is currently streaming on Amazon Prime Video. Matt and Trevor invite writer, director, and actor T.C. De Witt to discuss the film and the craft he deploys in his work.The film is about five friends on a holiday reunion that has been marked by the traumatic passing of the man who brought them all together. The sincere and emotional story rises above the cable-TV holiday movies to become something more substantive. T.C. talks about crafting the script, casting the performers, and making the jump from a stage play to a fully realized film.You can find A Christmas Sunset at Amazon.T.C. can be found at The Studio Demands It Podcast You can also catch up with him on Twitter @TCsBigHeadDonate to the Nighthawks Podcast Ko-Fi here

WHYBW – What Have You Been Watching?A rewatch of an undeniable piece of filth, a classic film watch blossoms from a Looney Tunes short, a festival favorite African film, an update on Trevor’s journey through the Spenser novels, and Matt recommends a Hindi horror fable. All of this and more as we check in with what the Nighthawks have been up to lately.Pink Flamingos– Matt revisits the type of movie that the term “cult classic” was coined for, from shock, shlock, and filthmeister John Waters. Who is the most filthy person in Baltimore?Mutiny on the Bounty (1935)- Trevor is inspired by a revisit of the immortal Bugs Bunny’s Buccaneer Bunny to explore Charles Laughton in Mutiny on the Bounty. Also starring a moustache-less Clark Gable, the film is worth the rabbit hole of historicity that Trevor found himself in. Saloum– The Fantastic Fest favorite is now streaming, a movie Matt describes as an action noir with a supernatural twist. From Congolese filmmaker Jean Luc Herbulot.Robert B. Parker’s Spenser (Books)– A