Force Five

Practical Magic (1998) stars Sandra Bullock and Nicole Kidman as Sally and Gillian Owens, two sisters descended from a long line of witches who have inherited an unfortunate family curse: any man who falls in love with an Owens woman is destined to die. Directed by Griffin Dunne, the film mixes romantic comedy, supernatural horror, family drama and enough bizarre tonal shifts to make you wonder exactly what kind of movie you're watching. In this episode of Force Five, Jason gives you five reasons you might want to watch Practical Magic : 5. The movie's wild tonal swings somehow become part of its charm. 4. Sandra Bullock and Nicole Kidman have fantastic chemistry as sisters. 3. Stockard Channing, Dianne Wiest, Evan Rachel Wood and Margo Martindale help create a terrific supporting cast. 2. The Owens family house is one of the most memorable movie homes of the 1990s. 1. It's a great Halloween movie for people who want romance and witchcraft without going all-in on horror. Jason also discusses the surprising story behind the construction and demolition of the Owens house, the role's romantic appeal and why early pressings of the film's soundtrack contain music from a completely different composer. Fun Fact: The original Michael Nyman score was replaced by Alan Silvestri so late in production that some soundtrack CDs had already been manufactured. Watch the video: https://youtu.be/1NFr72UeEY4 More movie recommendations: https://www.forcefivepodcast.com Life is short. Spend it with the people, and the movies, that you love.

Before Neve Campbell and Skeet Ulrich appeared together in Scream , they were already sharing the screen in The Craft , Andrew Fleming's 1996 supernatural horror movie about four teenage outsiders who discover that witchcraft can solve some problems while creating much bigger ones. Starring Robin Tunney, Fairuza Balk, Neve Campbell and Rachel True, The Craft combines high-school drama, supernatural horror and an unmistakably mid-90s alternative aesthetic. In this episode of Force Five, Jason gives you five reasons you might want to watch The Craft : 5. It takes witchcraft surprisingly seriously, thanks in part to a practicing Wiccan consultant. 4. It's essentially a high-school mean-girls drama with supernatural consequences. 3. The combination of practical and digital effects makes for some memorable horror sequences. 2. The soundtrack, fashion and overall aesthetic perfectly capture mid-90s alternative culture. 1. Fairuza Balk delivers an unforgettable performance as Nancy Downs. Jason also digs into Andrew Fleming's approach to witchcraft, the real animals used during the finale, the soundtrack's connection to Charmed and the true story of Fairuza Balk purchasing an occult shop while researching her role. Fun Fact: Fairuza Balk owned the Hollywood occult shop Panpipes before selling it in 2001. Watch the video: https://youtu.be/plDs9Jqqkcs More movie recommendations: https://www.forcefivepodcast.com Life is short. Spend it with the people, and the movies, that you love.

The V/H/S franchise is back with its ninth installment, and this time music and sound are doing most of the damage. V/H/S/Mixtape features four main horror segments directed by Renee Zhan, David Moreau, Ernest Dickerson and RZA, along with music-video interludes from Flying Lotus and Ghost’s Tobias Forge. GWAR also shows up to host the whole thing like an MTV broadcast from Hell. In this episode of Force Five, Jason gives you five reasons you might want to watch V/H/S/Mixtape : 5. The V/H/S anthology formula is still perfect for big horror swings 4. Dance, Dance, Dance, Dance unleashes homicidal puppets created with Jim Henson’s Creature Shop 3. Heartbeat turns the absence of sound into its own nightmare 2. The franchise remains wonderfully committed to disgusting gore 1. It is an almost perfect movie to throw on around Halloween Jason also talks about Renee Zhan’s twisted children's television segment, David Moreau’s use of an anechoic chamber, RZA turning murder into Foley work and why horror anthologies are often more fun when everyone watching has a different favorite story. Top 5 Radar: Demented Kids Shows and Movies That Weaponize Sound. Watch the video version on the Force Five YouTube channel and find more movie recommendations at ForceFivePodcast.com . Life is short. Spend it with the people, and the movies, that you love.

Robert De Niro, Ed Harris and Kathy Baker star in Jacknife, a 1989 drama that deserves another look. This week on Force Five, I'm giving you five reasons you might want to watch this overlooked movie, including De Niro's surprisingly lovable performance, the small-scale storytelling, an awkward grown-up romance and an unforgettable emotional meltdown from Ed Harris. I also talk about two potential Top 5 lists: Movie Freakouts and Post-Vietnam American Films. Watch the full video: https://youtu.be/K6GpyjI-sEk More movie recommendations: https://www.forcefivepodcast.com Life is short. Spend it with the people, and the movies, that you love.

Matchbox: The Movie takes a toy line with virtually no characters or mythology and turns it into a full-blown action adventure starring John Cena, Jessica Biel, Sam Richardson, Teyonah Parris and Arturo Castro. In this episode of Force Five, Jason breaks down five reasons you might want to give the movie a shot. 5. It finds a clever way to make a movie out of Matchbox cars 4. The cast understands exactly what kind of movie they’re making 3. Sam Hargrave brings real weight to the hand-to-hand action 2. The practical car chases deliver 1. It’s a big, ridiculous action movie families with older kids can enjoy together Jason also looks at how the filmmakers approached the practical stunt work, why John Cena continues to work so well in action comedies and where Matchbox: The Movie fits among movies based on toy lines. Top 5 Radar: Movies Based on Toys and Family-Friendly Car Chases. What’s your favorite movie or TV show based on a toy line? Watch the video version of this episode on the Force Five YouTube channel and find more movie recommendations at ForceFivePodcast.com .

Kat brought cupcakes. This week on Force Five, Jason gives five reasons you might want to watch Penny Lane Is Dead, Mia’Kate Russell’s vicious Australian horror film about a beach-house celebration that turns into a blood-soaked fight for survival. Topics include: • The movie’s Ozploitation roots • Sophia Wright-Mendelsohn’s chaotic performance as Kat • Why the beach-house setting works as a horror pressure cooker • Tahlee Fereday’s Toni as a vulnerable final girl • Mia’Kate Russell’s decades working in special-effects makeup • Some seriously nasty practical gore • Two future Force Five Top 5 lists Watch the video and read the full recommendation: https://www.forcefivepodcast.com/episodes/penny-lane-is-dead-review-2026 Watch on YouTube: https://youtu.be/-CxGwQ5Fzhs Force Five offers concise, AI-free movie recommendations covering new releases, cult favorites, overlooked films and deep cuts. Website: https://www.forcefivepodcast.com

MC Kung Fu has entered the building. This week on Force Five, Jason gives five reasons you might want to experience City Dragon , the wonderfully strange 1995 combination of martial arts, hip-hop, sex comedy and relationship drama. Topics include MC Kung Fu speaking almost entirely in rhyme, the movie's surprisingly good music, its untouched mid-'90s personality, an accidental detour into work and responsibility, and the incredible do-it-yourself filmmaking of Stan Derain and “Philthy” Phil Phillips. Watch/read the full recommendation: https://www.forcefivepodcast.com/episodes/city-dragon-review-1995 Watch on YouTube: https://youtu.be/JeYBs1yD_u8

Bruce and the Iron Finger is part kung-fu movie, part murder mystery and part completely unhinged Bruceploitation artifact. Bruce Li investigates a killer with a deadly finger technique while the movie piles on great fights, hilarious dubbing and plenty of weirdness.

Digger might be one of the most misunderstood movies of 2026. Alejandro Iñárritu's wildly ambitious satire stars Tom Cruise as Digger Rockwell, an oil magnate whose company has helped create an environmental catastrophe, and that's about as much of the plot as I want to reveal. In this Force Five episode, I give you five reasons you might want to see Digger.

Primetime turns To Catch a Predator into something much stranger than a straightforward true-crime dramatization. Robert Pattinson stars as Chris Hansen in Lance Oppenheim's nightmarish 2026 film about the rise of one of the most controversial television phenomena of the 2000s and the increasingly blurry line between exposing wrongdoing and turning public humiliation into entertainment. In this episode of Force Five, I give you five reasons you might want to watch Primetime.

Batman: Knightfall Part 1: Knightfall has an awkward title but it’s one of the most faithful DC animated adaptations in years. In this Force Five video, I give you five reasons you might want to watch Batman: Knightfall Part 1: Knightfall Buy Batman: Knightfall Part 1: Knightfall to support me: https://amzn.to/3UXBqoN Buy a shirt: https://www.teepublic.com/user/forcefive Other helpful links: Letterboxd: https://letterboxd.com/forcefive/ Website: www.forcefivepodcast.com Instagram: www.instagram.com/forcefivepodcast Email: forcefivepodcast@gmail.com

The Whisper Man feels like Netflix pulled a mid-budget serial-killer thriller straight out of the ’90s (and I mean that as a compliment). Based on Alex North’s bestselling novel, The Whisper Man stars Adam Scott as Tom Kennedy, a widowed crime writer who moves back to the town where he grew up with his eight-year-old son Jake. Unfortunately, the town has a horrifying history involving a child murderer known as the Whisper Man, but he's behind bars...so why are children disappearing again? In this Force Five episode, I give you five reasons you might want to watch The Whisper Man. Buy a shirt: https://www.teepublic.com/user/forcefive Other helpful links: Letterboxd: https://letterboxd.com/forcefive/ Website: www.forcefivepodcast.com Instagram: www.instagram.com/forcefivepodcast Email: forcefivepodcast@gmail.com

Lemonade Blessing is Chris Merola’s feature directorial debut, a painfully funny coming-of-age comedy about Catholic guilt, teenage romance, divorced parents, religious expectations and the horrifying experience of being fifteen years old. John is a teenager sent to a private Catholic high school by his extremely devout mother. Then he meets Lilith, an atheist classmate who begins testing exactly how far he’s willing to push his faith, morals and comfort zone in the name of their relationship. In this episode of Force Five, I give you five reasons you might want to watch Lemonade Blessing. More info on Lemonade Blessing: https://www.antennareleasing.com/films/lemonadeblessing Buy a shirt: https://www.teepublic.com/user/forcefive Other helpful links: Letterboxd: https://letterboxd.com/forcefive/ Website: www.forcefivepodcast.com Instagram: www.instagram.com/forcefivepodcast Email: forcefivepodcast@gmail.com

Ghost in the Cell is Joko Anwar’s 2026 Indonesian horror film about corruption, prison violence, supernatural terror, elaborate gore and what happens when a group of hardened criminals discovers that staying positive might literally save their lives. Investigative journalist Dimas is sent to a brutal Indonesian prison after being accused of a grotesque murder. Inside, he falls in with a group of inmates trying to survive violent gangs and corrupt guards, until prisoners begin turning up dead in increasingly bizarre and horrifying displays. In this Force Five video, I give you five reasons you might want to watch Ghost in the Cell. Check out Ghost in the Cell on physical media: https://amzn.to/3SVIxgK Buy a shirt: https://www.teepublic.com/user/forcefive Other helpful links: Letterboxd: https://letterboxd.com/forcefive/ Website: www.forcefivepodcast.com Instagram: www.instagram.com/forcefivepodcast Email: forcefivepodcast@gmail.com

Onslaught is Adam Wingard’s 2026 A24 action-horror movie starring Adria Arjona as a former Army sniper forced to protect her daughter when three genetically engineered super-soldiers escape from a secret military facility. Basically, what if Michael Myers and Jason Vorhees had military training? In this episode, I give you five reasons you might want to watch Onslaught. Buy a shirt: https://www.teepublic.com/user/forcefive Other helpful links: Letterboxd: https://letterboxd.com/forcefive/ Website: www.forcefivepodcast.com Instagram: www.instagram.com/forcefivepodcast Email: forcefivepodcast@gmail.com

Hope is Na Hong-jin’s massive 2026 Korean creature feature starring Hwang Jung-min, Zo In-sung and Squid Game’s Hoyeon, with Michael Fassbender, Alicia Vikander, Taylor Russell and Cameron Britton also joining the cast. The movie begins in the remote coastal village of Hope Harbor, where police chief Bum-seok investigates a brutally killed animal and quickly discovers that whatever did it has already made its way into town...and then things get completely insane. In this episode, I give you five reasons you might want to watch Hope. Buy a shirt: https://www.teepublic.com/user/forcefive Other helpful links: Letterboxd: https://letterboxd.com/forcefive/ Website: www.forcefivepodcast.com Instagram: www.instagram.com/forcefivepodcast Email: forcefivepodcast@gmail.com

Brooklyn’s Finest is Antoine Fuqua’s gritty 2010 crime thriller starring Richard Gere, Don Cheadle, Ethan Hawke and Wesley Snipes as cops and criminals operating inside the same broken Brooklyn ecosystem. In this episode, I give you five reasons you might want to watch Brooklyn’s Finest. Order Brooklyn's Finest on Blu-ray: https://amzn.to/3T7VuEc Buy a shirt: https://www.teepublic.com/user/forcefive Other helpful links: Letterboxd: https://letterboxd.com/forcefive/ Website: www.forcefivepodcast.com Instagram: www.instagram.com/forcefivepodcast Email: forcefivepodcast@gmail.com

The End of Oak Street is David Robert Mitchell’s 2026 dinosaur survival movie starring Anne Hathaway, Ewan McGregor, Maisy Stella, and Christian Convery, and it may be one of my favorite dinosaur movies ever made. Set in 1982, the film follows the Platt family after a mysterious cosmic event transports their ordinary Michigan neighborhood roughly 200 million years into the past. Suddenly, suburbia is surrounded by prehistoric wilderness, and dinosaurs aren’t theme-park attractions - they’re wild animals that can tear the neighborhood apart. In this episode, I give you five reasons you might want to watch The End of Oak Street. Order The End of Oak Street on 4K: https://amzn.to/4wG1X7d Buy a shirt: https://www.teepublic.com/user/forcefive Other helpful links: YouTube: https://youtu.be/LNWRY_X12Us Letterboxd: https://letterboxd.com/forcefive/ Website: www.forcefivepodcast.com Instagram: www.instagram.com/forcefivepodcast Email: forcefivepodcast@gmail.com

Wings of Dread is a compact 2026 Chinese action thriller starring Ashton Chen and The Raid’s Iko Uwais, taking martial arts mayhem 30,000 feet into the air. Air police officer Gu Chaoyang finds himself aboard a flight carrying a dangerous prisoner when a group of hijackers led by Iko Uwais’ Paquet attempts to free him. What follows is an sub-90-minute barrage of close-quarters fights in aisles, cargo holds and even an airplane bathroom. In this episode, I give you five reasons you might want to watch Wings of Dread. Right now there is no physical release for Wings of Dread :( Buy a shirt: https://www.teepublic.com/user/forcefive Other helpful links: Letterboxd: https://letterboxd.com/forcefive/ Website: www.forcefivepodcast.com Instagram: www.instagram.com/forcefivepodcast Email: forcefivepodcast@gmail.com

SUZUKI=BAKUDAN is a 2025 Japanese crime thriller directed by Akira Nagai and based on Katsuhiro Go’s bestselling novel Bomb. After a seemingly ordinary drunk named Tagosaku Suzuki is arrested for a minor assault, he casually predicts an explosion in Tokyo. When it happens exactly when he said it would, Suzuki announces that more bombs are coming, and the police are forced into a race against time while trying to understand whether the strange man sitting in their interrogation room is psychic, lucky or something much more dangerous. In this Force Five video, I give you five reasons you might want to watch SUZUKI=BAKUDAN. Buy a shirt: https://www.teepublic.com/user/forcefive Other helpful links: YouTube: https://youtu.be/sG7OxFAYb64 Letterboxd: https://letterboxd.com/forcefive/ Website: www.forcefivepodcast.com Instagram: www.instagram.com/forcefivepodcast Email: forcefivepodcast@gmail.com