The Sticky Floors Podcast

SPOILERS WARNING for our review of Mortal Kombat 2 starring Stars Karl Urban, Adeline Rudolph, Jessica McNamee, Martyn Ford, Hiroyuki Sonada, Tati Gabriel, Ludi Lin, Josh Lawson and Mechad Brooks. We discussed the history of the franchise, why there is so little love for the Cole Young character, the best fight scenes, the cheat code behavior of Shao Khan, if Raiden should be a little tougher, the future of the franchise and what a live action Contra movie could look like.

This week, we reviewed the 1991 gangster classic, New Jack City, starring Wesley Snipes, Ice T, Allen Payne, Chris Rock, Mario Van Peebles, Judd Nelson, Vanessa Williams and Bill Nunn. We talked about how this movie influenced so many movie and TV shows after it, the incredible two-year movie run of Wesley Snipes, why it’s never a good idea to have a crack head working in a crack house, the curious case of G. Money’s decline, and how I want to Sex You Up introduced our generation to baby making music.

This week, we covered 2001’s Swordfish, starring John Travolta, Hugh Jackman, Don Cheadle, and Halle Berry. We talked about how the movie has aged over times, the way women are portrayed in the film, how much the film is reminiscent of The Matrix and why, the alternate ending that didn’t make it to theaters, and what role John Travolta could play in the MCU.

This week, we covered the 2012 Academy Award winning, Skyfall, starring Daniel Craig, Javier Bardem, Ralph Fiennes, Naomi Harris, and Judi Dench. We talked about the legacy of the James Bond films and how Skyfall introduces new elements, whether these movies are prequels to the Sean Connery version of James Bond, our favorite Daniel Craig Bond films, the future of the series including who should be the next Bond and whether 007 should get a race or gender switch.

After a brief bye-week, we returned to talk about the 1999 heist film The Thomas Crown Affair, starring Pierce Brosnan, Rene Russo, Dennis Leary, Frankie Faison, and Faye Dunaway. We talked about what makes the move work both as a heist film and a romantic drama, why there is another remake scheduled to star academy award winner Michael B. Jordan, if the plot makes sense with more scrutiny, if people like Thomas Crown can really disappear or find love, and if modern movies are blurring the lines between good guys and bad guys.

This week we reviewed, Thank You for Smoking, a movie with an outstanding cast starring Aaron Eckhart, Maria Bello, Cameron Bright, J.K. Simmons, Kim Dickens, William H. Macy, and Katie Holmes with Robert Duvall and Sam Elliot featured. We talked about the bad old days of public smoking, how much this film influenced the way people looked at smoking and cigarette companies, the lessons you can learn from this film about debate and because it’s Oscar’s season our thoughts on this year’s best film and best supporting actor winners.

This week we reviewed the 1994 film (and personal favorite of Mr. Will) Fresh, starring Sean Nelson, Giancarlo Esposito, Samuel L. Jackson, N’Bushe Wright and Ron Brice. We discussed the soundtrack for this movie, the gritty underpinnings of this coming of age story, whether Fresh’s plan to outsmart the drug dealers in his neighborhood would have worked, what becomes of Fresh and his sister after the movie and a retrospective on how Fresh compares to The Lion King, Pulp Fiction, The Shawshank Redemption, and Forrest Gump.

This week, we reviewed the 1998 culture classic, Belly, starting DMX, Nas, Tionne “T-Boz” Watkins, Taral Hicks, and Method Man. We discussed the unique addition of knowledge of self into the gangster movie story, the story of redemption for the main character and if it was believable, how the film might be better if Sincere or Tommy didn’t make it out alive, why Sincere and his family couldn’t identify a country in Africa to move to and what are the 7 life lessons that you can learn from Belly.

This week, we reviewed the cult classic, The Last Dragon, produced by Berry Gordy and starring Taimak, Vanity (for the 2nd week in a row), Julius Carry, Christopher Murney, and Faith Prince. We discussed the viral potential of the song, “Test Drive”, a potential origin story for Sho-Nuff, the surprising list of actors that could have played, Bruce Leroy, what the movie is saying about payola in the music business, whether we need to know more about the glow, and if Vanity is too old for Leroy.

CJ and Mr. Will review the 1988 action film Action Jackson starring Carl Weathers, discussing the late actor's career and legacy while analyzing the movie's strengths and weaknesses

We closed out season 10 with our review of Training Day, starring Denzel Washington, Ethan Hawke, Scott Glen, and Chris Curtis. We discussed the career of Denzel Washington and why it was so important to him to have Alonzo meet his end so violently, the politics of Denzel winning an Academy Award for this role in particular, the racial dynamics between Alonzo and Jake, our favorite scenes, how the ending doesn’t actually make a lot of sense and how this movie would work better if Jake was actually a federal agent.

This week, we reviewed the recent Netflix release, The Rip, starring Ben Affleck, Matt Damon, Teyana Taylor, Sasha Calle, Catalina Sandino Moreno, and Kyle Chandler. We talked about how much the movie leans into the real-life relationship of Damon and Affleck, the mystery and detective aspects of the movie, our favorite scenes, what you always see in Ben Affleck movies as of late, our questions about the movie, and why the marketing of this movie is the future of all streaming movies.

This week we reviewed the straight to streaming Netflix movie, Don’t Look up starring Leonard DiCaprio, Jennifer Lawrence, Cate Blanchett, Ariana Grande, Timothee Chalamet, Meryl Streep, and Jonah Hill. We discussed whether the movie’s message vibes with its satirical approach, our favorite performances, what the movie is saying about celebrity and social media, our favorite scenes and if we’re fans of the Ariana Grande and Kid Cudi performance in the middle of the movie.

We kicked off a new year with our review of The Killer starring Michael Fassbender, Tilda Swinton, Sala Baker, and Charles Parnell. We talked about the pacing and set pieces of this movie and how it differs from other revengeful assassin movies we’ve seen and reviewed in the past. We also wondered if the Killer would get back into the business at some point, does he learn anything about himself during the movie and why everyone seems to want to kill their boss.

We re-capped the movies we saw in 2025 and talked about the trends of movies and streaming in 2025 and what we are looking forward to in 2026. We talked about best performances of the year, the movies that made us think, the movies we wish we missed and the overall boxes of popcorn for the year of movies.

In this episode, we discussed the Christmas-time classic, Batman Returns starring Michael Keaton, Michelle Pfeiffer, Christopher Walken and Danny DeVito. We talked about the heavy sexual innuendo throughout the movie, if Batman is less interesting than his villains gallery, who played the best on screen Catwoman, if there should be a third Batman film with Michael Keaton, our favorite scenes in this movie, and if there is a not so subtle message about class warfare and capitalism hidden in the comic book references.

We talked about the potential Netflix/WB merger and the implications for moviegoers, streamers, and cord cutters, then we started talking about the X-mas time movie, Carry On, starring Taron Egerton, Jason Bateman, Theo Rossi, Danielle Deadwyler, and Sofia Carson. We discussed the realities of airport security and surveillance, the casting of Jason Bateman on this and other Netflix projects, where the fine line between stalking and pursuing, how the movie could have been a lot shorter, and lessons we learned from watching My True Crime Story on VH1. 0:00 –36:02 – Netflix vs Everybody 36:02 – 42:22 - Cake (things we like) 42:22 – 48:04 - Hate (things we don’t like as much) 48:04 – 55:54 - Questions about the film 55:54 – 01:02:15 – Popcorn Boxes (our ratings), hot takes, & closing

We closed out our month of animated films, with the anime classic, Ninja Scroll starring Koichi Yamadera, Emi Shinhara, Takeshi Aono, and Daisuke Gori. We talked about how this movie influenced the 90s hip hop sound of the Wu-Tang Clan, the Matrix, and the X-men. We also talked about our favorite characters, the Amazon series that followed this movie, anime you should check out if you haven’t already, and why this movie is definitely not for children.

It’s week three of our review of animated movies and this week we covered Disney’s Coco, starring Anthony Gonzalez, Benjamin Bratt, Imelda Rivera, and Alanna Ubach. We discussed the extent to which the movie accurately depicts key elements of Mexican culture, the underlying themes of family and addressing family and generational conflicts, legacy and the remembrance of people who have passed, if this movie is appropriate for young children, and how this movie reminds CJ of his great grandmother.

Continuing with our month of animated movies, we covered Spiderman Across the Spiderverse starring Shameik Moore, Hailee Steinfeld, Oscar Isaac, Daniel Kaluuya, Issa Rae, Brian Tyree Henry, Luna Lauren Velez, and Jake Johnson. We gave Sony their props (kinda) for getting the multiverse right, talked about how the movie captures the essence of Spiderman, talked about our favorite scenes, why we don’t like the Miles and Gwen romance, how Spiderman stacks up to Superman Batman, and Wolverine, and why is it taking so long for the last part to come out.

We are back with season 10 and a month of animated movies starting with Transformers: The Movie starring Orson Wells, Peter Cullen, Frank Welker, Leonard Nimoy and Susan Blu. We talked about how we found out Optimus Prime died and the effect on our childhood, our favorite Transformers toys growing up, the best cartoons of the 1980s, what happened when you asked your parents a question, how come Ultra Magnus came back to life but Optimus Prime didn’t and whether anyone remembers or cares that Galvatron used to be Megatron. 0:00 –01:55 - Intro & Summary 01:55 – 22:49 – Major Points and Cultural Influences 22:49 – 28:17 - Cake (things we like) 28:17 – 37:31 - Hate (things we don’t like as much) 37:31 – 45:46 - Questions about the film 45:46 – 50:49 – Popcorn Boxes (our ratings), hot takes, & closing

We celebrated our 100th episode with the Francis Ford Coppola classic, Mario Puzo’s The Godfather starring Marlon Brando, Al Pacino, James Caan, Robert Duval, Diane Keaton, Abe Vigoda, and Richard S. Castellano. We talked about how this movie has influenced so many films and popular culture, what the movie is saying about family, American capitalism, and codes of ethics and morality, the themes of masculinity and whether they could be captured in a movie today, how a screaming baby effects some of the scenes, and why we didn’t choose Splash for our 100th episode. We’re pushing for 100 new subscribers by our 100th episode. If you haven’t already, please subscribe to our YouTube channel, Apple Podcasts channel, or Spotify channel. Thank YOU.

This week we reviewed 1997’s The Rainmaker, adapted from the work of John Grisham, directed by Francis Ford Coppola, and starring Matt Damon, Danny Devito, John Voight, and Claire Daines. We talked about the impact of Grisham’s work on the movie business, the allure of the David vs Goliath story, whether movies about lawyers are telling the truth about the practice, the long and great career of Danny Devito, our hot takes and debate the decision making of Damon’s Rudy Baylor when it comes to dating choices. We’re pushing for 100 new subscribers by our 100th episode. If you haven’t already, please subscribe to our YouTube channel, Apple Podcasts channel, or Spotify channel. Thank YOU

This week, we reviewed the 1998 classic, American History X starring Edward Norton, Edward Furlong, Avery Brooks, and Beverly D’Angelo. We discussed the relevancy of the film in today’s America, if our views on the film have changed over time, if Derek Vinyard truly atoned for his crimes, if the movie is glorifying racists and racist organizations, and who was the best incredible Hulk. We’re pushing for 100 new subscribers by our 100th episode. If you haven’t already, please subscribe to our YouTube channel, Apple Podcasts channel, or Spotify channel. Thank YOU.

Spoilers ahead as we review Tron: Ares starring Jared Leto, Evan Peters, Greta Lee, and Jodie Turner-Smith. We discussed the history of the Tron franchise, the odd pairing of the IP with the Disney content agenda, the filmography of Jared Leto, the ethics of bringing AI soldiers into the real world, what comes next for the Tron franchise, and the at least must see once quality of Requiem for a Dream. We’re pushing for 100 new subscribers by our 100th episode. If you haven’t already, please subscribe to our YouTube channel, Apple Podcasts channel, or Spotify channel. Thank YOU.

This week we reviewed the Brian DePalma classic, Carlito’s Way, starring Al Pacino, Sean Penn, John Leguizamo, and Penelope Ann Miller. We talked about the key themes of loyalty and honor in the film, the decisions of Carlito that don’t add up, the amazing cast and characters, how Carlito Brigante compares to Tony Mantana, Vincent Hanna, and John Milton and if this movie could be made in 2025 given the depictions of different racial and ethnic groups. We’re pushing for 100 new subscribers by our 100th episode. If you haven’t already, please subscribe to our YouTube channel, Apple Podcasts channel, or Spotify channel. Thank YOU.

This week, we broke down the movie, A Lot of Nothing, starring Y’lan Noel, Cleopatra Coleman, and Justin Hartley. We discuss the many themes in this ambitious directorial debut by Mo McRae. We talked about what the movie does well and what it could have done a bit better, the perils of becoming disconnected from your people and community, why revolutions are fought by different people in different roles, what happens to the main characters after the credits roll, and offer some hot takes about what the movie is saying to buppies and the role of men in the Black community.

Spoilers ahead as the we reviewed One Battle After Another starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Teyanna Taylor, Sean Penn, Benicio Del Toro, Chase Infinity, and Regina Hall. We discussed some of the films of Paul Thomas Anderson, where Leonardo DiCaprio rates on the Mt. Rushmore of actors, the dynamics of sex, power, and protest in this film, the stellar performances of the cast, whether the French 75 are organized, what’s going on with the Christmas Adventurers Club and what is the message of the film. We’re pushing for 100 new subscribers by our 100th episode. If you haven’t already, please subscribe to our YouTube channel, Apple Podcasts channel, or Spotify channel. Thank YOU.

Major spoilers ahead as we talked about the Jordan Peele produced, Him, starring Marlon Wayans, Tyriq Withers, and Julia Fox. We drew several Kanye West references as we tried to figure out if this qualifies as a football movie, how it compares to The Devil’s Advocate and Late Night with the Devil, the quality acting and the meta casting, a problematic final act, our personal favorite football players, and if this movie is really about the religiosity of football, the price of fame, or the control by the elites. We’re pushing for another 100 subscribers by our 100th episode. If you haven’t already, please subscribe to our YouTube channel, Apple Podcasts channel, or Spotify channel. Thank YOU.

This week we reviewed the recently released Nobody 2 starring Bob Odenkirk, Connie Nielsen, John Ortiz, Christopher Lloyd, Sharon Stone and the Rza. We discussed the perils of planning family vacations, when violence is the answer, what a Nobody 3 storyline would be, how this movie measures up the John Wick franchise, and what makes this film more than a story of violence for mayhem’s sake. We’re pushing for another 100 subscribers by our 100th episode. If you haven’t already, please subscribe to our YouTube channel, Apple Podcasts channel, or Spotify channel. Thank YOU.

This week we reviewed the 2010 best picture nominee, The Social Network starring Jesse Eisenberg, Andrew Garfield, Justin Timberlake, and Armie Hammer. We tried our best to distinguish between facts and embellishment in the film, review some of the actual details of the creation of Facebook, highlight our favorite and not so favorite things about the film, discuss the paradox of critiquing social media while using it on a regular basis and generally try to avoid getting put into Facebook jail.

We are BACK with SEASON 9 and getting things kicked off with Wall Street, starring Michael Douglas, Charlie Sheen, Martin Sheen, and Darryl Hannah. We discussed the late 1980s, how Oliver Stone is making a clear statement about the values of Wall Street at that time and what that means for today, our favorite and not so favorite parts of this movie, what happens to key characters in the time after the movie ended, and share a bit of prescient commentary from the late, great Roger Ebert. We’re pushing for another 100 subscribers by our 100th episode. If you haven’t already, please subscribe to our YouTube channel, Apple Podcasts channel, or Spotify channel. Thank YOU.

We closed out season 8 with the Fantastic Four First Steps which is in theaters and with major spoilers. We discuss the surprisingly good casting, the pacing of the film, how this film has learned from its predecessors, why it’s hard to get the Fantastic Four right, what this movie means for the future of the MCU, who’s our favorite FF member, and where the Thing shops.

Inspired by the new Clipse and Raekwon albums, we took it back to 1999 to talk about In Too Deep starring Omar Epps, LL Cool J, Nia Long, Pam Grier, Hill Harper and Stanley Tucci. We talk about the hip-hop inspired cast, the real-life story this movie is based on, the psychological perils of undercover work, what 90s hip-hop album would be the perfect soundtrack for this movie, who would star in a modern-day recasting, and who are the top 5 movie or screen kingpins of all time.

Major spoilers as we reviewed Superman starring David Corenswet, Nicholas Hoult, Rachel Brosnahan, Nathan Fillon, Isabela Merced, and Edi Gathegi. We talked about the extensive move history of Superman, which movie or show defined Superman for us, the major themes of this film, how some of this is stuff we’ve seen many times before, what could make Superman more interesting in the future, what we would do if we had Superman’s powers and who’s smarter between Lex Luthor and Batman.

This week, we reviewed the Netflix movie, The Harder They Fall starring Johnathan Majors, Idris Elba, LaKeith Stansfield, Zazie Beats, Deon Cole and Regina King. We talked about the history of the real people this film is based on and the history of Black cowboys. We also talked about our favorite scenes, why this movie should have been released in theaters, how a different final boss would have been helpful, and if one character is a sneak diss at Nas courtesy of JayZ.

This week, we discussed the Netflix movie, Triple Frontier starring Ben Affleck Oscar Isaac, Pedro Pascal, Charlie Hunnam, Garrett Hedlund, and Adria Arjona. We talked about the underlying themes of greed, corruption, and honor in the military. We also talked about our favorite scenes, whether this team was actually good at their job and who else we thought would die. Towards the end, we take a slight detour to talk about the 100 Greatest movies of this century list and how one movie that we reviewed may have been rated too highly.

Recorded on Juneteenth 2025, we discussed the movie, American Fiction, starring Jeffrey Wright, Tracey Ellis Ross, Sterling K. Brown, and Ericka Alexander. We talked about the major themes in the movie, who gets to decide what is “authentic” and what is “Black”, the relationship between this movie and Hollywood Shuffle, Bamboozled, and Dear White People, why this movie needed a little more Tracey Ellis Ross and how the book the movie, based on the book Erasure, sets up some of the fantastic dialogue in the movie.

We’re celebrating the fathers with one of the greatest movie dads of all time, Darth Vader, as we review The Empire Strikes Back starring Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford, and Carrie Fisher. We discussed how dramatic Darth Vader and Anakin Skywalker are, all the lies the Emperor tells, how we wish we could see this series, from the beginning, for the first time, the chemistry between Han and Leia, how well Vader and Obi-wan know each other, our favorite parts of the movie, and why Darth Vader is the greatest movie villain of all time.

Spoilers abound for this week’s review of Ballerina starring Ana De Armas, Keanu Reeves, Ian McShane, Anjelica Houston, and Gabriel Byrne. We talked about what this film adds to the John Wick universe, how effective a blow torch really is in a fight, whether you can make someone into a killer, can anything really be a surprise in movies today, how much the administrative staff of the high table get paid, and if there should be a John Wick 5.

**We experienced some technical difficulties while recording this week’s show. There is some disruption in the recording and moments of overlap. We wanted to ensure the episode is posted and will be back and better next week** This week, we conclude our review of Mission Impossible Films with (maybe) the last Mission Impossible film, The Final Reckoning, starring Tom Cruise, Ving Rhames, Simon Pegg, Haly Atwell, Esai Morales, and Henry Czerny. We discuss our favorite scenes, some more than obvious plot holes, give Tom Cruise his followers for 30 years of risking his life as Ethan Hunt, give our final ranking for all the MI films, and decide who is the best MI villain of all time.

We continue with our review of Mission Impossible films as we cover Mission Impossible: Fallout starring Tom Cruise, Henry Cavill, Jeremy Renner, Alec Baldwin, Simon Pegg, Rebecca Ferguson, Sean Harris, Angela Bassett and Ving Rhames. We discuss where this film ranks in the franchise, the curious case of the career of Henry Cavill and the roles he could have played, why Solomon Lane deserves his own feature film, whether Julia’s husband knows he Ethan really is and whether Ethan and Ilsa would last as a couple.

CJ and Mr. Will are back for Season 8, and we start it off with three consecutive weeks of Mission Impossible films. This week, we discussed Mission Impossible 2 starring Tom Cruise, Dougray Scott, Thandiwe Newton, Ving Rhames, and Anthony Hopkins. We discuss the growth of the Ethan Hunt character from the first film to this one, how Tom Cruise reimagined the action hero, why this movie is so polarizing while also being extremely profitable, one of the coldest lines in movie history delivered by Anthony Hopkins and why Ethan and Nyah’s relationship probably didn’t last after the movie was over.

This week we discussed the somewhat modern gangster drama, The Town, starring Ben Affleck, Jeremey Renner, Rebecca Hall, John Hamm, and Blake Lively. We discuss how this movie is reminiscent of some of the great gangster and heist films of the past, what is the best, most recent gangster film, how this movie reminds us of Power and Breaking Bad, this film as a metaphor for the life of Ben Affleck, if Doug and Claire ever see each other, and what this movie would look like with an all-Black, all female cast.

Major spoilers this week as we break down the Ryan Coogler instant classic, Sinners, starring Michael B. Jordan, Miles Caton, Hailee Steinfeld, Delroy Lindo, Wunmi Mosaku, Omar Miller, Li Jun Li and Jack O’Connell. We discuss the timing of this movie releasing during Easter weekend, the messages it shares about Christianity, Hoodoo, and the Blues, the legacy and mythology of Robert Leroy Johnson, vampirism as an escape from oppression, one of the best scenes in movie making history, the cut scene ending and Boss Hog’s grand pappy.

This week, major spoilers are on deck as we break down, The Amateur starring Rami Malek, and Laurence Fishburne. We discuss how this movie successfully blends dramas, whether a person can really be trained to be a killer, how we both need the text on cell phones in movies to be larger, why this movie needs more Jon Bernthal, and why movies like this need support even if they aren’t attached to a superhero franchise.

This week, we discussed the LA crime drama, Street Kings, starring Keanu Reeves, Forrest Whittaker, Hugh Laurie, and Chris Evans. We discuss the similarities between this film and Training Day, what the story is saying about the dividing line between criminals and cops, the interestingly well-done mystery within the film, some of the classic dialogue of the film (even if we can’t say it directly), our favorite scenes, and Mr. Will shares how Neo, John Wick, and Tom Ludlow are the same person…and it’s not what you think.

This week, we broke down Limitless, starring Bradley Cooper and Robert De Niro. We discuss the benefits and risks of performance enhancement, the limitations of genius, whether we would take NZT48 if we could, the brief series that followed this movie, our hot takes for the film, and if pink snowflakes is destined to surpass purple rain.

This week, heavy spoilers like heavy weights are on the bar as we break down Magazine Dreams starring Johnathan Majors. We discuss how amazing Majors is on screen as Killian Maddox, what the story has to say about the marginalization of men, how systems fail citizens, the underlying racial tones in the film, the scenes we liked and the scenes that disturbed us, what the future holds for Majors in the DCEU, and how this movie is influenced by Eminem’s “Stan”, Requiem for a Dream, and Joker.

This week, major spoilers are on deck as we talk about Black Bag, starring Michael Fassbender, Cate Blanchett, Rege-Jean Page, Naomie Harris, Marisa Abela and Pierce Brosnan. We discuss the filmography of Steven Soderbergh, the many and best roles of Michael Fassbender, how this film subverts the expectations of the classic spy film and sets the stage for the modern espionage film, the outstanding cast, the strain of betrayal on relationships, and what lengths people are willing to go to for their ambitions.