Not a Bomb

Welcome back to Not A Bomb, the podcast where we dig through Hollywood's cinematic disasters to find out if there's a hidden gem buried beneath the rubble. This week, Troy and Brad are saying goodbye to the Resident Evil series with it’s first attempt at a reboot with 2021's Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City , Written and directed by Johannes Roberts, Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City abandons the increasingly ridiculous, action-heavy adventures of Alice and attempts to return the franchise to its horror roots. Set in 1998, the film follows Claire Redfield, Chris Redfield, Jill Valentine, Leon S. Kennedy, and a handful of other unfortunate souls as they uncover the sinister secrets of the Umbrella Corporation. Unlike the previous films, Welcome to Raccoon City desperately wants you to know that the filmmakers actually played the video games. The Spencer Mansion? Check. The Raccoon City Police Department? Check. The orphanage, secret passages, familiar puzzles, iconic camera angles, and enough Easter eggs to fill an entire inventory box? Absolutely. This week, Troy and Brad dive into the film's attempts to capture the atmosphere of the original games, its impressive attention to certain visual details, the questionable treatment of fan-favorite characters, and the baffling decision to combine two beloved survival horror stories into one overcrowded movie. Does Welcome to Raccoon City finally deliver the faithful Resident Evil adaptation fans have wanted for decades? Is it an underrated horror film unfairly punished by impossible expectations? Or does it prove that simply recreating memorable moments from a video game isn't the same thing as understanding what made those moments memorable in the first place? Grab your green herbs, combine those ink ribbons, and make sure you've got enough inventory space for that oddly shaped key. Listen and find out if Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City is truly a bomb! Want to help support the show? Head over to the Not A Bomb Tee Public store and check our merchandise. Special thanks to Ted Blair for the amazing designs! Cinova - The future of Movie and TV We're committed to hearing your feedback and suggestions. If there's a cinematic flop you'd like us to delve into, please reach out to us at NotABombPod@gmail.com or through our contact page . Your reviews and feedback are what drive us. If you enjoy our content, consider leaving a review on Apple Podcast or Spotify. Cast: Brad , Troy

It's another week of undead madness here at Not A Bomb, and Troy and Brad are diving headfirst into the fourth installment of a franchise that apparently refuses to stay dead. This week, we're tackling Resident Evil: Afterlife , the 2010 action-horror sequel that asks the important question: Written and directed by Paul W. S. Anderson, Resident Evil: Afterlife picks up where Extinction left off, with Alice (Milla Jovovich) launching an all-out assault on the Umbrella Corporation's Tokyo headquarters alongside an army of her own clones. Yes, clones. Because apparently one superpowered Alice wasn't enough to keep this increasingly ridiculous franchise moving forward. And did we mention this movie is in 3D? Oh yes, Resident Evil: Afterlife arrived during Hollywood's great 3D obsession, and Paul W. S. Anderson was absolutely determined to make sure audiences got their money's worth. Bullets fly toward the screen, weapons launch directly at the audience, water droplets float through the air, and nearly every action sequence unfolds in enough slow motion to make you wonder if someone accidentally bumped the playback speed down to 50 percent. This week, Troy and Brad dive into the franchise's increasingly bizarre mythology, the return of Paul W. S. Anderson to the director's chair, the film's aggressive use of 3D technology, and the introduction of Chris Redfield and Albert Wesker as major players in the cinematic universe. Does Afterlife represent a stylish evolution of the series, or has Resident Evil officially become a collection of video game references loosely connected by increasingly ridiculous action sequences? Can a movie this committed to spectacle still deliver genuine horror? And, perhaps most importantly, how many times can Alice dramatically remove her sunglasses before the franchise finally runs out of ideas? Listen and find out! Want to help support the show? Head over to the Not A Bomb Tee Public store and check our merchandise. Special thanks to Ted Blair for the amazing designs! Cinova - The future of Movie and TV We're committed to hearing your feedback and suggestions. If there's a cinematic flop you'd like us to delve into, please reach out to us at NotABombPod@gmail.com or through our contact page . Your reviews and feedback are what drive us. If you enjoy our content, consider leaving a review on Apple Podcast or Spotify. Cast: Brad , Troy

It's another week of undead insanity here at Not A Bomb, and Troy and Brad are leaving the zombie-infested streets of Raccoon City behind for the sun-scorched wastelands of he 2007 sequel - Resident Evil: Extinction . Directed by Russell Mulcahy, the man responsible for Highlander , Resident Evil: Extinction takes place several years after the events of Apocalypse . The T-virus has officially gone global, civilization has collapsed, and the entire planet is apparently turning into a giant desert. Yes, Resident Evil: Extinction features an enormous flock of infected birds attacking our heroes in what might be the most expensive advertisement for staying indoors ever filmed. It's one of several moments when the movie completely abandons logic in favor of glorious B-movie spectacle. Between the desert convoys, superpowered Alice, underground laboratories, and increasingly ridiculous mutations, the franchise has officially entered its "anything goes" era. This week, Troy and Brad dive into the film's bizarre decision to turn the entire world into a desert, the introduction of Claire Redfield, the increasingly absurd mythology surrounding Alice, and the franchise's continuing struggle to remember what made Resident Evil popular in the first place. Does Extinction breathe new life into a series that desperately needed a change of scenery? Is it an underrated slice of post-apocalyptic action-horror? Grab your green herbs, fill up the gas tank, and don't forget your sunscreen, because the zombie apocalypse has never looked quite this dusty. Want to help support the show? Head over to the Not A Bomb Tee Public store and check our merchandise. Special thanks to Ted Blair for the amazing designs! Cinova - The future of Movie and TV We're committed to hearing your feedback and suggestions. If there's a cinematic flop you'd like us to delve into, please reach out to us at NotABombPod@gmail.com or through our contact page . Your reviews and feedback are what drive us. If you enjoy our content, consider leaving a review on Apple Podcast or Spotify. Cast: Brad , Troy

It's another week of horror here at Not A Bomb, and Troy and Brad are heading straight into the zombie-infested streets of Raccoon City for Resident Evil: Apocalypse , the 2004 sequel to the original Alice film. - 2002s Resident Evil. Directed by Alexander Witt, Resident Evil: Apocalypse picks up right where the first film left off. The Umbrella Corporation has once again demonstrated that corporate accountability is completely optional, unleashing the deadly T-virus upon the unsuspecting citizens of Raccoon City. And then there's Nemesis. One of the most iconic monsters in video game history finally makes his big-screen debut, complete with a rocket launcher, an enormous mutated body, and the unfortunate responsibility of participating in one of the most ridiculous climactic showdowns in early-2000s cinema. Is Nemesis terrifying? Sometimes. Is he intimidating? Absolutely. Does the movie eventually turn him into something that feels suspiciously like a professional wrestling storyline? You better believe it. Resident Evil: Apocalypse is a fascinating time capsule of an era when Hollywood believed every video game adaptation needed more leather, more industrial rock, more shaky editing, and enough slow motion to make Zack Snyder jealous. The film borrows characters, locations, and creatures from Capcom's beloved games, particularly Resident Evil 2 and Resident Evil 3: Nemesis , while continuing to build its own increasingly absurd mythology around Alice. Grab your green herbs, conserve your ammunition, and make sure you've got a typewriter ribbon handy, because we're heading back to Raccoon City. Want to help support the show? Head over to the Not A Bomb Tee Public store and check our merchandise. Special thanks to Ted Blair for the amazing designs! Cinova - The future of Movie and TV We're committed to hearing your feedback and suggestions. If there's a cinematic flop you'd like us to delve into, please reach out to us at NotABombPod@gmail.com or through our contact page . Your reviews and feedback are what drive us. If you enjoy our content, consider leaving a review on Apple Podcast or Spotify. Cast: Brad , Troy

To prep for October and spooky movies, Not A Bomb is heading into spooky territory, and this week Troy and Brad are traveling all the way to Japan for Sweet Home , the 1989 horror film that proves haunted houses are significantly more dangerous when nobody in the group has enough sense to simply leave. Bodies melt, faces distort, and the Mamiya mansion becomes increasingly hostile to anyone unfortunate enough to still be wandering its hallways. The effects were overseen by legendary makeup artist Dick Smith , whose résumé includes The Exorcist , Scanners , and Amadeus , and the movie gives him plenty of opportunities to get disgusting. But Sweet Home has another fascinating legacy. The film was released alongside Capcom's Sweet Home RPG for the Famicom, which adapted the movie while introducing gameplay ideas involving exploration, inventory management, puzzles, limited resources, multiple characters, and permanent death. Years later, Capcom would begin developing another horror game influenced by some of those concepts. That game eventually became Resident Evil . The guys are joined by friend of the show and host of And Now For Something a Little Bit Different - John N, Mr. Korean Kool himself , to discuss the amazing weekend the guys had at the Baltimore Comic-Con. Money was spend, memories were made, and comics were purchased. Want to help support the show? Head over to the Not A Bomb Tee Public store and check our merchandise. Special thanks to Ted Blair for the amazing designs! Cinova - The future of Movie and TV We're committed to hearing your feedback and suggestions. If there's a cinematic flop you'd like us to delve into, please reach out to us at NotABombPod@gmail.com or through our contact page . Your reviews and feedback are what drive us. If you enjoy our content, consider leaving a review on Apple Podcast or Spotify. Cast: Brad , Troy Guest: John N

Welcome back to Not A Bomb, the podcast where we resurrect cinema’s most infamous box office disasters and ask the burning question: is it a bomb? This week, Troy and Brad put on their finest trench coats, grab some unnecessarily large pistols, and discover exactly who knows what evil lurks in the hearts of men as they dive into 1994’s superhero adventure, The Shadow . And the answer is apparently Alec Baldwin. Based on the legendary pulp character, The Shadow stars Baldwin as Lamont Cranston, a former criminal who has reinvented himself as a mysterious vigilante capable of clouding the minds of men. When the wonderfully named Shiwan Khan arrives in New York with plans for world domination, Cranston must use his psychic abilities, network of loyal agents, and incredible collection of scarves to stop him. On paper, The Shadow sounds awesome. And sometimes it absolutely is. Troy and Brad dig into a movie that might be one of the most aggressively middling films ever made. The Shadow is never particularly terrible, but it rarely becomes as exciting as its premise suggests. It exists in that strange cinematic middle ground where almost everything is perfectly competent, occasionally something really cool happens, and then the movie immediately settles back into being...fine. Troy and Brad are heading into the shadows to find out whether one of the most perfectly middling superhero movies of the 1990s has enough standout moments to save it from being a bomb. Want to help support the show? Head over to the Not A Bomb Tee Public store and check our merchandise. Special thanks to Ted Blair for the amazing designs! Cinova - The future of Movie and TV We're committed to hearing your feedback and suggestions. If there's a cinematic flop you'd like us to delve into, please reach out to us at NotABombPod@gmail.com or through our contact page . Your reviews and feedback are what drive us. If you enjoy our content, consider leaving a review on Apple Podcast or Spotify. Cast: Brad , Troy

Welcome back to Not A Bomb, the podcast where we resurrect cinema’s most infamous box office disasters and ask the burning question: is it a bomb? This week, Troy and Brad grab their autograph books, practice their monologues, and desperately try to get booked on late-night television as they dive into Martin Scorsese’s painfully uncomfortable 1982 dark comedy, The King of Comedy . Joining the guys for the first time is Dylan, creator of the Cinova Movie and TV ranking app! Troy, Brad, and Dylan dig into a film that might be even more uncomfortable today than it was when it was released. The King of Comedy takes celebrity obsession, fame, parasocial relationships, and the desperate desire to be noticed and turns them into a comedy where you're never quite sure if you should be laughing or slowly backing away from Rupert. And that's what makes The King of Comedy so fascinating. This is a movie about fame made decades before social media gave everyone a camera, an audience, and the ability to chase attention 24 hours a day. Rupert Pupkin desperately wants people to know his name, and he doesn't particularly care how that happens. So practice your monologue, ignore every restraining order placed in your path, and remember Rupert Pupkin's philosophy: better to be king for a night than schmuck for a lifetime. Troy, Brad, and Dylan are stepping into the spotlight with The King of Comedy . Want to help support the show? Head over to the Not A Bomb Tee Public store and check our merchandise. Special thanks to Ted Blair for the amazing designs! Check out the trailer for The 80s: A Motion Picture Special Cinova - The future of Movie and TV We're committed to hearing your feedback and suggestions. If there's a cinematic flop you'd like us to delve into, please reach out to us at NotABombPod@gmail.com or through our contact page . Your reviews and feedback are what drive us. If you enjoy our content, consider leaving a review on Apple Podcast or Spotify. Cast: Brad , Troy Guest: Dylan

Welcome back to Not A Bomb, the podcast where we resurrect cinema’s most infamous box office disasters and ask the burning question: is it a bomb? This week, Troy and Brad strap themselves into the Animus, sharpen their hidden blades, and attempt a leap of faith into one of Hollywood’s most ambitious attempts to turn a massive video game franchise into a movie. It’s time to talk about 2016’s Assassin’s Creed . And if you have absolutely no idea what an Animus, Apple of Eden, Assassin, Templar, or Abstergo is, don't worry. The movie will explain all of it to you. Repeatedly. Troy and Brad dive into a movie that had almost everything going for it. Michael Fassbender leads an absurdly talented cast that includes Marion Cotillard, Jeremy Irons, Brendan Gleeson, Michael K. Williams, and Charlotte Rampling. The film has a huge budget, impressive production design, some genuinely exciting action sequences, and a director in Justin Kurzel who clearly isn't treating the material like disposable video game nonsense. Unfortunately, Assassin's Creed suffers from one enormous problem. It is absolutely drowning in Assassin's Creed lore . Want to help support the show? Head over to the Not A Bomb Tee Public store and check our merchandise. Special thanks to Ted Blair for the amazing designs! Check out the trailer for The 80s: A Motion Picture Special Cinova - The future of Movie and TV We're committed to hearing your feedback and suggestions. If there's a cinematic flop you'd like us to delve into, please reach out to us at NotABombPod@gmail.com or through our contact page . Your reviews and feedback are what drive us. If you enjoy our content, consider leaving a review on Apple Podcast or Spotify. Cast: Brad , Troy

Welcome back to Not A Bomb, the podcast where we resurrect cinema’s most infamous box office disasters and ask the burning question: is it a bomb? This week, Troy and Brad leave the real world behind and venture into a prehistoric fantasy landscape where warriors have muscles the size of tree trunks, women have significantly less clothing than is probably practical for the Ice Age, and absolutely everything looks like a metal album cover. This week, the guys are diving into the 1983 animated fantasy adventure Fire and Ice . Directed by Ralph Bakshi and heavily inspired by the artwork of legendary fantasy illustrator Frank Frazetta, Fire and Ice is a movie that feels less like a traditional animated feature and more like somebody plugged a heavy metal album directly into a television. Every mountain, warrior, monster, sword, and scantily clad barbarian looks like it could have been ripped straight off the cover of an album you would find in the back of a record store. The guys explore how Fire and Ice combines sword-and-sorcery fantasy with Bakshi's distinctive animation style, creating something that feels completely different from the animated movies audiences were used to seeing in the early 1980s. This isn't Disney. There are no singing animals, no adorable sidekicks, and absolutely nobody is learning an important lesson about friendship. Instead, we get warriors beating the hell out of each other. It's glorious. Want to help support the show? Head over to the Not A Bomb Tee Public store and check our merchandise. Special thanks to Ted Blair for the amazing designs! Check out the trailer for The 80s: A Motion Picture Special Cinova - The future of Movie and TV We're committed to hearing your feedback and suggestions. If there's a cinematic flop you'd like us to delve into, please reach out to us at NotABombPod@gmail.com or through our contact page . Your reviews and feedback are what drive us. If you enjoy our content, consider leaving a review on Apple Podcast or Spotify. Cast: Brad , Troy

Welcome back to Not A Bomb, the podcast where we resurrect cinema’s most infamous box office disasters and ask the burning question: is it a bomb? This week, Troy and Brad put on their finest sleeveless denim, grease up their elbows, and enter the wonderful world of competitive arm wrestling with Sylvester Stallone's 1987 classic, Over the Top . And for this very special episode, the guys are joined by first-time guest, Katie from the Retromade Podcast! Over the Top is the story of Lincoln Hawk, a down-on-his-luck truck driver and professional arm wrestler who is trying to reconnect with his estranged son while traveling across the country toward the World Armwrestling Championship. It's a movie about fathers and sons, second chances, truck driving, arm wrestling, and the important lesson that apparently all you need to turn your life around is a strategically placed hat and approximately eight ounces of baby oil. Troy, Brad, and Katie dig into the gloriously ridiculous premise, the surprisingly heartfelt father-son story, and Stallone's unique ability to make absolutely everything look like a life-or-death struggle. In Over the Top , a truck isn't just a truck. It's freedom. An arm wrestle isn't just an arm wrestle. It's destiny. And flipping your baseball cap backward isn't just a fashion choice. It's apparently a legally binding declaration that you are about to become the greatest arm wrestler who has ever lived. Want to help support the show? Head over to the Not A Bomb Tee Public store and check our merchandise. Special thanks to Ted Blair for the amazing designs! Cinova - The future of Movie and TV We're committed to hearing your feedback and suggestions. If there's a cinematic flop you'd like us to delve into, please reach out to us at NotABombPod@gmail.com or through our contact page . Your reviews and feedback are what drive us. If you enjoy our content, consider leaving a review on Apple Podcast or Spotify. Cast: Brad , Troy Guest: Kaite

This week’s experiment: a double feature of shark movies that proves the ocean isn’t the only place where danger lurks. First up is Sharks N Da Hood , a movie that asks, “What if sharks invaded the streets?” and then seemingly forgot to ask literally any other question during the filmmaking process. What follows may be one of the most spectacularly awful movies ever made: baffling choices, painful dialogue, questionable acting, and a level of chaos that makes you wonder if anyone involved ever stopped to watch what they were creating. Then comes Bad CGI Sharks , which, despite a title that sounds like a warning label, is actually a surprisingly fun little low-budget shark movie. The CGI is exactly as advertised, the premise is ridiculous, and yet the movie understands something that Sharks N Da Hood apparently missed: if you're making a movie about absurd killer sharks, you should probably try to have some fun with it. The guys dive into both ends of the bargain-bin shark movie spectrum. One film is a cinematic shipwreck of nearly historic proportions. The other is goofy, self-aware entertainment that manages to rise above its limitations through sheer enthusiasm and a willingness to embrace the ridiculous. Expect terrible sharks, bad decisions, questionable effects, and one of the strangest double features to ever wash up on Breaking Brad . Be sure to subscribe to the Gentlemen’s Guide to Midnite Cinema to hear more of Sammy. Also, check out Jose’s podcast - Watch/Skip+ • A podcast on Anchor . Both are highly recommended. If you want to leave feedback or suggest a movie bomb, please drop us a line at NotABombPod@gmail.com or Contact Us - here . Also, if you like what you hear, leave a review on Apple Podcast . Cast: Brad , Troy , Jose , Sammy

Welcome back to Not A Bomb, the podcast where we resurrect cinema’s most infamous box office disasters and ask the burning question: is it a bomb? This week, Troy and Brad grab their Power Gloves, hop in a stolen truck, and hit the road with 1989's Nintendo-powered adventure, The Wizard . On the surface, The Wizard is a movie about a troubled young boy with an incredible talent for video games who runs away from home with his brother and heads across the country toward the biggest video game competition in America. But underneath the cartridges, Game Boys, Nintendo Power magazines, and what might be the most famous Power Glove in cinematic history, there is actually a pretty solid road movie trying desperately to escape. Troy and Brad dig into the strange mix of family drama, cross-country adventure, and shameless corporate advertising that makes The Wizard such a fascinating artifact of late 1980s cinema. Somewhere in this movie is a genuinely interesting Beau Bridges and Christian Slater road movie about a father and son trying to reconnect while chasing their runaway family across the country. Unfortunately, that movie keeps getting interrupted by Nintendo reminding everyone that Super Mario Bros. 3 exists. Of course, no discussion of The Wizard would be complete without talking about its legendary product placement. This is a movie that does not gently incorporate Nintendo into its story. Nintendo basically grabs the steering wheel, drives the movie into the nearest electronics store, and tells everyone to look at the Power Glove. But somehow, despite being one of the most obvious feature-length advertisements ever made, The Wizard has developed a nostalgic charm that is hard to deny. Want to help support the show? Head over to the Not A Bomb Tee Public store and check our merchandise. Special thanks to Ted Blair for the amazing designs! Check out the trailer for The 80s: A Motion Picture Special Cinova - The future of Movie and TV We're committed to hearing your feedback and suggestions. If there's a cinematic flop you'd like us to delve into, please reach out to us at NotABombPod@gmail.com or through our contact page . Your reviews and feedback are what drive us. If you enjoy our content, consider leaving a review on Apple Podcast or Spotify. Cast: Brad , Troy

Welcome back to Not A Bomb, the podcast where we resurrect cinema’s most infamous box office disasters and ask the burning question: is it a bomb? This week, Troy and Brad shrink down, suit up, and dive headfirst into the wild, high‑concept sci‑fi comedy I nnerspace from 1987. It’s one of those movies that sounds absolutely unhinged when you describe it out loud, yet somehow becomes charming, energetic, and weirdly heartfelt once you hit play. That’s the Joe Dante magic. In the hands of a less capable director, Innerspace could’ve been a complete mess. The premise alone, a hotshot pilot miniaturized and accidentally injected into a hypochondriac grocery store clerk, is the kind of thing that could collapse under its own absurdity. But Dante threads the needle, blending cartoon logic, sci‑fi spectacle, slapstick comedy, and genuine sweetness into a film that shouldn’t work but absolutely does. It’s insane in the best way, and charming in a way only Dante seems able to pull off. Troy and Brad dig into the film’s chaotic energy, its inventive effects, and the pitch‑perfect performances from Dennis Quaid and Martin Short, who somehow make the whole thing feel grounded even as it spirals into sci‑fi lunacy. And of course, they take a moment to appreciate Meg Ryan, because 1987 Meg Ryan was peak Meg Ryan. She lights up every scene she’s in, adding warmth and charisma that elevate the movie even further. The guys also explore how Innerspace has evolved from a modest box office performer into a beloved cult favorite, why its blend of genres feels so unique today, and how Dante’s playful filmmaking style keeps the movie from ever tipping into chaos. Grab your lab coat, avoid the rogue scientists, and prepare to get very, very small. Want to help support the show? Head over to the Not A Bomb Tee Public store and check our merchandise. Special thanks to Ted Blair for the amazing designs! We're committed to hearing your feedback and suggestions. If there's a cinematic flop you'd like us to delve into, please reach out to us at NotABombPod@gmail.com or through our contact page . Your reviews and feedback are what drive us. If y

Welcome back to Not A Bomb, the podcast where we resurrect cinema’s most infamous box office disasters and ask the burning question: is it a bomb? This week, Troy and Brad descend into the gritty, morally tangled world of Sidney Lumet’s 1981 neo‑noir crime epic Prince of the City . It’s one of those underseen gems that cinephiles whisper about, critics champion, and everyone else somehow missed entirely. Prince of the City follows a narcotics detective pulled into a sprawling corruption investigation, and the deeper he goes, the more the film tightens its grip. At the center of it all is Treat Williams, delivering a performance so raw, so committed, and so quietly devastating that it’s honestly a “treat” to watch him work. This is the kind of role actors dream about, and Williams attacks it with a mix of vulnerability and intensity that feels almost dangerous. If you ever needed proof he was one of the most underrated actors of his era, this is the movie. Troy and Brad dig into Lumet’s meticulous direction, the film’s sprawling cast of morally compromised characters, and the real‑life case that inspired the story. They also explore how Prince of the City became overshadowed by Lumet’s more famous crime dramas, why it deserves to be mentioned alongside Serpico and Dog Day Afternoon, and how its reputation has quietly grown among fans of hard‑boiled, character‑driven noir. And because the guys can’t resist calling out cinematic injustices, they make it very clear that Criterion needs to get on making a 4K edition of this film. Prince of the City deserves the restoration, the essays, the spine number, the whole treatment. It’s long overdue. Grab your badge, question your morals, and settle in. This is one crime saga worth revisiting. Want to help support the show? Head over to the Not A Bomb Tee Public store and check our merchandise. Special thanks to Ted Blair for the amazing designs! We're committed to hearing your feedback and suggestions. If there's a cinematic flop you'd like us to delve into, please reach out to us at NotABombPod@gmail.com or through our contact page . Your reviews and feedback are what drive us. If you enjoy our content, consider leaving a review on Apple Podcast or Spotify. Cast: Brad , Troy

Welcome back to Not A Bomb, the podcast where we resurrect cinema’s most infamous box office disasters and ask the burning question: is it a bomb? This week, Troy and Brad strap into the chaotic, nitro‑fueled world of the 2001 racing epic Driven . And before we go any further, yes, Troy is back from surgery and only slightly a little high on pain medication, which honestly might be the perfect state of mind for revisiting a movie this unintentionally wild. Driven arrived during the era when Hollywood believed the cure for every script problem was “more CGI, more speed, more Stallone.” The film promised high‑octane racing, intense rivalries, and behind‑the‑scenes drama in the world of CART. What audiences got instead was a dizzying mix of digital car mayhem, melodramatic speeches, and physics‑defying crashes. Troy and Brad dig into the film’s over‑the‑top action sequences, the baffling script choices, and one of the worst displays of “acting” this podcast has ever seen…. cough, cough - KIP! They also explore how the film’s reputation has evolved, why some viewers have embraced its unintentional charm, and whether Driven deserves a second look or remains a cautionary tale about letting Stallone write his own sports movies. Buckle up, avoid the flying manhole covers, and prepare for a ride that makes absolutely no sense. This is one cinematic spinout worth revisiting. Want to help support the show? Head over to the Not A Bomb Tee Public store and check our merchandise. Special thanks to Ted Blair for the amazing designs! We're committed to hearing your feedback and suggestions. If there's a cinematic flop you'd like us to delve into, please reach out to us at NotABombPod@gmail.com or through our contact page . Your reviews and feedback are what drive us. If you enjoy our content, consider leaving a review on Apple Podcast or Spotify. Cast: Brad , Troy

Welcome back to Not A Bomb, the podcast where we resurrect cinema’s most infamous box office disasters and ask the burning question: is it a bomb? This week, Troy and Brad jump down the strangest cinematic warp pipe ever constructed and land in the dystopian, fungus‑covered madness of Super Mario Bros. from 1993. The guys spend the entire episode trying to figure out what the heck is going on in this movie, because even after thirty years, the answer remains unclear. Super Mario Bros. arrived with one of the most recognizable brands in pop culture. Mario wasn’t just a video game character; he was the video game character. So naturally, Hollywood took this beloved, colorful, family‑friendly world and said, “What if we turned it into a grimy Blade Runner knockoff with lizard people, cyberpunk plumbing, and Dennis Hopper threatening everyone with de‑evolution lasers?” It’s the kind of creative decision that makes you wonder if someone accidentally adapted the wrong property. Troy and Brad dig into the film’s chaotic production history, the wild rewrites, the directors who seemed determined to reinvent Mario into something no one asked for, and the baffling creative choices that turned a simple platformer into a dystopian sci‑fi fever dream. Grab your overalls, avoid the fungus, and hold onto your Koopa coins. This is one cinematic misadventure worth revisiting. Want to help support the show? Head over to the Not A Bomb Tee Public store and check our merchandise. Special thanks to Ted Blair for the amazing designs! We're committed to hearing your feedback and suggestions. If there's a cinematic flop you'd like us to delve into, please reach out to us at NotABombPod@gmail.com or through our contact page . Your reviews and feedback are what drive us. If you enjoy our content, consider leaving a review on Apple Podcast or Spotify. Cast: Brad , Troy

Welcome back to Not A Bomb, the podcast where we resurrect cinema’s most infamous box office disasters and ask the burning question: is it a bomb? This week, Troy and Brad set sail into the explosive, alien‑filled chaos of the 2012 blockbuster Battleship. And yes, the guys know this one wasn’t just an underperformer. It was one of the biggest cinematic wipeouts of the year. In fact, Battleship is part of a rare double‑feature of disaster courtesy of Taylor Kitsch, who somehow managed to star in two of 2012’s biggest bombs with this film and John Carter . A true achievement in box office misfortune. Battleship arrived with all the makings of a summer tentpole: massive effects, a stacked cast, and a marketing campaign that practically shouted from the rooftops. It also came with one of the strangest Hollywood pitches of the decade, since the entire movie is based on a board game. Yes, the same board game you played as a kid, the one where you yelled “You sunk my battleship!” while trying not to knock over the plastic grid. Hollywood looked at that and said, “What if aliens?” Troy and Brad dig into the film’s wild production, its attempt to blend military spectacle with sci‑fi mayhem, and the curious creative decisions that turned a simple naval strategy game into a full‑blown alien invasion epic. They also explore how the film’s reputation has shifted over time, why some viewers have embraced its over‑the‑top charm, and whether Battleship deserves a second look or remains a cautionary tale about adapting literally anything into a blockbuster. Grab your grid, call out a coordinate, and brace for impact. This is one cinematic bomb worth revisiting. Want to help support the show? Head over to the Not A Bomb Tee Public store and check our merchandise. Special thanks to Ted Blair for the amazing designs! We're committed to hearing your feedback and suggestions. If there's a cinematic flop you'd like us to delve into, please reach out to us at NotABombPod@gmail.com or through our contact page . Your reviews and feedback are what drive us. If you enjoy our content, consider leaving a review on Apple Podcast or Spotify. Cast: Brad , Troy

Welcome back to Not A Bomb, the podcast where we resurrect cinema’s most infamous box office disasters and ask the burning question: is it a bomb? This week, Troy and Brad dive into the world of espionage, revenge, and shark tanks with the 1989 James Bond entry License to Kill . And yes, the guys are fully aware this one wasn’t a full‑blown bomb, but it definitely underperformed and remains one of the more divisive chapters in 007’s long cinematic history. Coming off The Living Daylights , Timothy Dalton returned as Bond in a darker, more brutal story that tossed out the gadgets and globe‑trotting glamour in favor of a personal vendetta against a drug kingpin. Critics and audiences weren’t quite sure what to make of this grittier take, especially at a time when summer blockbusters were leaning hard into big, flashy spectacle. But revisiting the film today, it’s clear Dalton wasn’t just playing Bond — he was proving he deserved to be Bond. Troy and Brad break down the film’s intense action sequences, its surprisingly grounded tone, and the behind‑the‑scenes decisions that led to one of the most unconventional Bond movies ever made. They also explore how the film’s reputation has evolved, why fans have rallied around Dalton’s interpretation, and how License to Kill quietly paved the way for the more serious Bond era that would arrive decades later. Grab your shark‑repellent (just in case) and settle in. This is one Bond mission worth revisiting Want to help support the show? Head over to the Not A Bomb Tee Public store and check our merchandise. Special thanks to Ted Blair for the amazing designs! We're committed to hearing your feedback and suggestions. If there's a cinematic flop you'd like us to delve into, please reach out to us at NotABombPod@gmail.com or through our contact page . Your reviews and feedback are what drive us. If you enjoy our content, consider leaving a review on Apple Podcast or Spotify. Cast: Brad , Troy

This week’s experiment: Visitors from the Arkana Galaxy , an Eastern European sci‑fi fever dream that asks, “What if humanity’s first contact looked like a disco‑soaked existential crisis?” and then answers with one of the most gloriously unhinged films ever committed to celluloid. Strange creatures, stranger humans, and a plot that feels beamed in from another dimension collide into something so confident, so imaginative, so defiantly weird that you start to wonder if the filmmakers actually were from Arkana. The movie drifts through surreal set pieces, deadpan performances, and cosmic absurdity with the swagger of a masterpiece that knows you’ll never fully understand it and doesn’t care. In no way is this Breaking Brad ; if anything, it might be one of the greatest films ever made, a reminder that sometimes the best cinema comes from the outer edges of sanity and geography. Expect baffling brilliance, unexpected beauty, and the kind of sci‑fi ambition that makes modern blockbusters look timid. Visitors from the Arkana Galaxy isn’t just a movie, it’s a transmission from a better, weirder universe, and we’re lucky it reached us at all. Be sure to subscribe to the Gentlemen’s Guide to Midnite Cinema to hear more of Sammy. Also, check out Jose’s podcast - Watch/Skip+ • A podcast on Anchor . Both are highly recommended. If you want to leave feedback or suggest a movie bomb, please drop us a line at NotABombPod@gmail.com or Contact Us - here . Also, if you like what you hear, leave a review on Apple Podcast . Cast: Brad , Troy , Jose , Sammy

Welcome back to Not A Bomb! — the podcast where we resurrect cinema's most infamous box office disasters and ask the burning question: is it a bomb? This week, the guys march into the chaos of Steven Spielberg's 1979 war comedy 1941 . Fresh off the unprecedented successes of Jaws and Close Encounters of the Third Kind , Spielberg was handed the ultimate Hollywood blank check to make whatever he wanted. The result was an enormous, effects-driven comedy about panic erupting across Southern California in the days following Pearl Harbor. While 1941 wasn't a full-blown box office bomb, it fell well short of the massive expectations surrounding Spielberg's first comedy, becoming one of the earliest examples of how even Hollywood's hottest director wasn't immune to a stumble. But was the film unfairly judged, or is 1941 simply too loud, too chaotic, and too overstuffed for its own good? Troy and Brad break down the film's incredible cast, jaw-dropping practical effects, and the fascinating production that saw Spielberg pushing his filmmaking ambitions to new heights. The hosts also discuss how the film's reputation has evolved over the decades, why it has developed a passionate cult following, and how its perceived failure may have helped shape Spielberg's remarkable run of classics that followed. Sound the air raid sirens, keep an eye on the Ferris wheel, and join Not A Bomb as they revisit one of Hollywood's most fascinating near-misses, proving that sometimes even a box office disappointment can become an unforgettable piece of blockbuster history. Want to help support the show? Head over to the Not A Bomb Tee Public store and check our merchandise. Special thanks to Ted Blair for the amazing designs! We're committed to hearing your feedback and suggestions. If there's a cinematic flop you'd like us to delve into, please reach out to us at NotABombPod@gmail.com or through our contact page . Your reviews and feedback are what drive us. If you enjoy our content, consider leaving a review on Apple Podcast or Spotify. Cast: Brad , Troy