EP 203: Speed Run Reviews of Maddie’s Secret, Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma, Tony, and It Ends & Venice, TIFF, and NYFF Previews

Bachata music dominates the world today. With artists like Luis Vargas, Anthony Santos, Juan Luis Guerra, and Romeo Santos, the upbeat tunes with the somber lyrics are a staple of Hispanic and Latino clubs, parties, weddings, and so on. The music has a long history – it’s one that contemporary audiences might not know, and it’s part of what Agridulce, Frank Pavich’s new documentary, is trying to showcase. Producer of the film, Benjamin de Menil joins The Rolling Tape to talk about his experience founding The Academia de Bachata, his reasoning for making Agridulce, the importance of bachata and music for society and humanity, and more.Follow our interviewee online:Benjamin de MenilFollow our interview host online:Mariana FabianSupport the showSubscribe for Early Access and Video:The Rolling Tape PatreonListen Here:SpotifyApple PodcastsAll Listening PlatformsHave questions? Email [email protected] Website LinkWebsite & Publications: www.therollingtape.comSocial Platforms on LinktreeCredits:Theme music: Eugene Rocco Utley & Karl VincentArtwork: Danny JarabekEditor: Danny JarabekAssistant Producer: Evan Miller

After seven live action films in the video game adaptation franchise, Resident Evil is back in business with Zach Cregger at the helm coming off the meteoric Oscar sensation for Amy Madigan in Weapons in his third feature. Resident Evil is directed by Zach Cregger and written by Cregger and Shay Hatten, based on the Resident Evil video game franchise. It follows Bryan (Austin Abrams), a medical courier who must fight through an outbreak of infected monsters in Raccoon City. Zach Cherry, Kali Reis, and Paul Walter Hauser feature in supporting roles.We review the film and play a mini-game at the end guessing video game movies based on ambiguous Letterboxd reviews.Our pre-episode Patreon exclusive conversation features:Narnia first look imagesDigger unofficial reactionsMinotaur selected by FranceOn this episode:Danny JarabekMariana FabianJoshua Mbonu Red Broadwell Support the showSubscribe for Early Access and Video:The Rolling Tape PatreonListen Here:SpotifyApple PodcastsAll Listening PlatformsHave questions? Email [email protected] Website LinkWebsite & Publications: www.therollingtape.comSocial Platforms on LinktreeCredits:Theme music: Eugene Rocco Utley & Karl VincentArtwork: Danny JarabekEditor: Danny JarabekAssistant Producer: Evan Miller

Judy Heumann lived a storied life, challenging the status quo, exposing governmental flaws, and giving a voice to one of the most marginalized, castaway communities: people with disabilities. She passed away suddenly in 2023 at age 75, after years of involvement in the movie adaptation of her biography, “Being Heumann: An Unrepentant Memoir of a Disability Rights Activist.” Siân Heder, the Academy Award-winning filmmaker known for CODA (2021), helms the adaptation, titled Being Heumann.  Halfway through reading Heumann’s memoir, Heder immediately reached out to discuss adapting it for the screen. The two met, and the rest was history. Eleven years later, Being Heumann premiered to a sold-out, ecstatic crowd at the 51st Toronto International Film Festival. After the screening, Kasey Dunifer met up with two of the film’s producers, John Beach and Kevin Cleary, on the red carpet to talk about what this film means to them and how they hope it inspires viewers.Follow our interviewees online:John Beach IMDb, InstagramKevin Cleary IMDbFollow our interview host online:Kasey DuniferSupport the showSubscribe for Early Access and Video:The Rolling Tape PatreonListen Here:SpotifyApple PodcastsAll Listening PlatformsHave questions? Email [email protected] Website LinkWebsite & Publications: www.therollingtape.comSocial Platforms on LinktreeCredits:Theme music: Eugene Rocco Utley & Karl VincentArtwork: Danny JarabekEditor: Danny JarabekAssistant Producer: Evan Miller

Nick Kozakis is already on his third feature film, but this year marks his first TIFF appearance and his first Midnight Madness world premiere. Kick On follows a group of partiers looking to score to keep their night going, only to cross the wrong mob boss and end up in a bloody fight for survival. Nadia Arain sat down with Kozakis at the festival to talk to him about his approach to storytelling and his influences as a filmmaker.Read more of her interview here.Follow our interviewee online:Nick Kozakis IMDb, InstagramFollow our interview host online:Nadia ArainSupport the showSubscribe for Early Access and Video:The Rolling Tape PatreonListen Here:SpotifyApple PodcastsAll Listening PlatformsHave questions? Email [email protected] Website LinkWebsite & Publications: www.therollingtape.comSocial Platforms on LinktreeCredits:Theme music: Eugene Rocco Utley & Karl VincentArtwork: Danny JarabekEditor: Danny JarabekAssistant Producer: Evan Miller

Making its World Premiere at TIFF 2026 and directed by Serville Poblete, Sunburn is a hang-out movie set in St. James Town, a high-rise community in Toronto, and follows a group of young people trying to stay cool during the summer’s hottest day. The temperature triggers a power outage, which sends them out of their buildings and into the street.Serville Poblete is a Filipino-Canadian screenwriter and film director from Toronto. His short documentary King’s Court, premiered at Hot Docs 2025 and was nominated for a 2026 Canadian Screen Award. His latest short, In the Morning Sun, won the Grand Jury Prize at SXSW 2026, the Golden Gate Award at SFFILM, the Golden Reel at LAAPFF and is currently in the festival circuit and in consideration for the Academy Awards.Evan Miller joins Poblete to discuss the inspirations behind the film, its Toronto setting, and how he balances tone and emotion. The film played in the Centrepiece and TIFF Next Wave Selects sections. Follow our interviewee online:Serville Poblete IMDb, InstagramFollow our interview host online:Evan MillerSupport the showSubscribe for Early Access and Video:The Rolling Tape PatreonListen Here:SpotifyApple PodcastsAll Listening PlatformsHave questions? Email [email protected] Website LinkWebsite & Publications: www.therollingtape.comSocial Platforms on LinktreeCredits:Theme music: Eugene Rocco Utley & Karl VincentArtwork: Danny JarabekEditor: Danny JarabekAssistant Producer: Evan Miller

See The Rolling Tape's Venice coverage here.We're in the thick of fall festival season. The Venice International Film Festival wrapped up last week with its Main Competition awards as the jury gave Woman Unknown the prestigious Golden Lion, while the Telluride Film Festival went out with an explosive bang last Sunday after its surprise screening of You Can See Everything, the new documentary from Nathan Fielder and Lance Oppenheim. We're currently halfway into the Toronto International Film Festival.Today, we recap Venice while breaking down the important conversations that have occurred in shaping the award season ahead.We've already seen World Premieres of some of our most highly anticipated awards contenders, including Ink, Wild Horse Nine, Primetime, The Debut, and Elsinore. Meanwhile, some holdovers from the Cannes Film Festival have expanded their audiences and gained even more love and support here in North America.The Rolling Tape was fortunate enough to have Paul Rai, our Awards Editor and The Awards Tape host attend the Venice Film Festival while Cameron Ritter, Evan Miller, Kasey Dunifer, Jacob Diedenhofer, and Nadia Arain are currently on the ground in Canada.It's been a whirlwind of first reactions, exciting movies, and plenty of Fjord film Twitter discourse. With Toronto still underway and the fall festival season far from over, there's plenty more to come, but we're offering a pulse check of the prediction moves we've made thus far.On this episode:Danny JarabekPaul Rai Support the showSubscribe for Early Access and Video:The Rolling Tape PatreonListen Here:SpotifyApple PodcastsAll Listening PlatformsHave questions? Email [email protected] Website LinkWebsite & Publications: www.therollingtape.comSocial Platforms on LinktreeCredits:Theme music: Eugene Rocco Utley & Karl VincentArtwork: Danny JarabekEditor: Danny JarabekAssistant Producer: Evan Miller

After the ceremony on Monday night hosted by Mariska Hargitay and her double-digit outfit changes, we recap the 78th Primetime Emmy Awards. We discuss everything from the broadcast itself to our thoughts on the host, all of the various comedy bits, the televised vs. non-televised categories, to the biggest wins and surprises for shows including Widows Bay, The Pitt, and more.We also have an important conversation about where the Emmys are headed in the future and how we're feeling overall about the state of the Emmys in 2026 after recent reports of a pending deal for the future of the show to land on streaming.On this episode:Jake FittipaldiBobbi MillerTate Fowler Support the showSubscribe for Early Access and Video:The Rolling Tape PatreonListen Here:SpotifyApple PodcastsAll Listening PlatformsHave questions? Email [email protected] Website LinkWebsite & Publications: www.therollingtape.comSocial Platforms on LinktreeCredits:Theme music: Eugene Rocco Utley & Karl VincentArtwork: Danny JarabekEditor: Danny JarabekAssistant Producer: Evan Miller

Fall festivals are in full swing with Venice just recently announcing the Golden Lion, Telluride buzzing with Nathan Fielder shenanigans and secret screenings, and TIFF just beginning to play its wide slate of premieres, but while much of our team is abroad watching those movies we are here putting in the work on theatrical releases doubling down with Practical Magic 2 and Hope, your classic double feature.Practical Magic 2 is directed by Susanne Bier and the sequel to Practical Magic. The film stars Sandra Bullock, Nicole Kidman, Dianne Wiest, and Stockard Channing reprising their roles from the previous film, alongside new cast members Joey King, Lee Pace, and Maisie Williams.Hope is written and directed by Na Hong-jin. Featuring the ensemble cast, the film centers on a village police chief and his rookie deputy who must defend his local community from a mysterious creature after wildfires sever all communications, while a local hunting party finds itself being hunted deep in the mountains.Our pre-episode Patreon exclusive conversation features:Digger is NOT a musicalAll of a Sudden trailerArtificial trailerYou Can See Everything Telluride reactionsOn this episode:Danny JarabekPaul RaiJoshua Mbonu  Support the showSubscribe for Early Access and Video:The Rolling Tape PatreonListen Here:SpotifyApple PodcastsAll Listening PlatformsHave questions? Email [email protected] Website LinkWebsite & Publications: www.therollingtape.comSocial Platforms on LinktreeCredits:Theme music: Eugene Rocco Utley & Karl VincentArtwork: Danny JarabekEditor: Danny JarabekAssistant Producer: Evan Miller

Watch our live commentary on video by subscribing to our Patreon!We are back with a LIVE COMMENTARY WATCHALONG of a movie that you've been voting for on our Instagram stories over the past couple of weeks. After making it through our bracket of 16 contenders, we have a winner, and we're here to cash in that check. We're here to watch the movie. We're here to talk alongside the film. That film being Godzilla Minus One, the 2023 Japanese mega hit that is now delivering a sequel, Godzilla Minus Zero, that will be premiering at the New York Film Festival in just a couple of weeks.Godzilla Minus One follows a kamikaze pilot plagued by survivor's guilt seeking redemption when a giant monster he failed to kill is transformed by radiation from atomic bomb tests and lays siege to post-war Japan.We're talking big lizards here today. We covered Godzilla Minus One through its Oscar run a couple of years ago on its way to a Best Visual Effects win. We discuss everything from its box office success to musing on what we will see in the upcoming sequel. On this episode:Danny JarabekRed Broadwell Support the showSubscribe for Early Access and Video:The Rolling Tape PatreonListen Here:SpotifyApple PodcastsAll Listening PlatformsHave questions? Email [email protected] Website LinkWebsite & Publications: www.therollingtape.comSocial Platforms on LinktreeCredits:Theme music: Eugene Rocco Utley & Karl VincentArtwork: Danny JarabekEditor: Danny JarabekAssistant Producer: Evan Miller

Zombies are an iconic feature of horror that have existed for almost a century, the earliest representation appearing in White Zombie (1932). However, how much do we really know about the roots of the zombie, where did they come from, and what does it tell us about our culture and our understanding of this trope?In Black Zombie, writer and director Maya Annik Bedward explores these questions about the zombie, specifically its origin and reality, in relation to Haitian vodou culture. In an interview with The Rolling Tape, she discusses her experience in learning about the zombie, delving into Haitian vodou culture, representations of the zombie in Hollywood, and what she hopes audiences will walk away from the film with.Black Zombie will be playing in select theaters on September 11.Follow our interviewee online:Maya Annik Bedward, IMDB, WebsiteFollow our interview host online:Mariana FabianSupport the showSubscribe for Early Access and Video:The Rolling Tape PatreonListen Here:SpotifyApple PodcastsAll Listening PlatformsHave questions? Email [email protected] Website LinkWebsite & Publications: www.therollingtape.comSocial Platforms on LinktreeCredits:Theme music: Eugene Rocco Utley & Karl VincentArtwork: Danny JarabekEditor: Danny JarabekAssistant Producer: Evan Miller