Episodes

This week the Bad Dads lace up for The Bleeder (2016), the chaotic true-life story of Chuck Wepner — the New Jersey heavyweight who went 15 rounds with Muhammad Ali, inspired Rocky, and then nearly imploded under fame, booze, coke, and bad choices.

This week on Bad Dads Film Review, the dads dive into The Untouchables. In this episode, they break down the film, share what still works, what aged oddly, and where it lands in the all-time ranking chat. Expect classic Bad Dads energy, strong opinions, plenty of banter, and a few unexpected rabbit holes along the way.

This week on Bad Dads Film Review, we are completely out of our depth ranking the "Top 5 Evils" in cinema, leading into our review of the painfully tense thriller, Speak No Evil. Expect more mustache twirling than a Victorian villain convention. We break down James McAvoy's terrifyingly charismatic performance hosting a weekend from hell. Is it basically a horror version of Curb Your Enthusiasm where every cringe gets you closer to being stabbed? Yes. The Dads debate middle-class politeness, red flags, and why you should never stay at a stranger's country house.

We kick things off with a deep discussion about Cris's newly cultivated mustache (a strong Luigi vibe, according to Dan), before breaking down the chaotic chemistry of a blind man and a deaf man trying to solve a murder. From Kevin Spacey and Joan Severance to hilarious police station escapes involving a gold coin and Shalimar perfume, the Dads debate whether the comedy holds up today.

In this episode of Bad Dads Film Review, the crew is completely out of their depth covering the "Top 5 Floods" in cinema history, before diving into the 2025 Latvian animated masterpiece, Flow. After navigating the high waters of cinematic floods (including a nod to the flipped cruise ship of The Poseidon Adventure), the main feature takes center stage. Flow follows a cat surviving a catastrophic flood alongside a capybara, a lemur, and a large dog. With no humans, no explanation, and zero dialogue, it still managed to beat out Inside Out 2 for Best Animated Feature at the 97th Academy Awards. The Dads break down why this quiet film earned their absolute strongest recommendation.

This week, the Bad Dads wade deep into "The Bathtub" to review Benh Zeitlin’s indie darling Beasts of the Southern Wild (2012). Facing off against apocalyptic floods, giant prehistoric boars (Aurochs), and the harsh realities of off-the-grid poverty, six-year-old Hushpuppy carries this movie on her tiny shoulders.

In this episode of Bad Dads Film Review, the crew (minus Dan) takes on Christian Gudegast's 2018 heist thriller *Den of Thieves*. Reegs and Cris break down the high-testosterone showdown between an elite crew of ex-military bank robbers and a morally bankrupt Sheriff's unit led by a swaggering Gerard Butler. Described as *Heat* on protein shakes and tribal tattoos, the film delivers intense action and a surprising amount of fun. Despite Sidey not having seen it yet, the glowing review and strong recommend from Reegs and Cris (who gave it "Five tens outta five") have convinced him to add it to his watchlist.

God's Pocket (2014) In this Pocket Week episode, the dads dig into *God's Pocket* (2014), one of Philip Seymour Hoffman's final releases. They unpack the film's bleak tone, grimy neighborhood setting, and chaotic chain of events around Leon's death, Mickey's funeral-money horse bet, and the escalating violence that follows. The verdict: strong performances (especially Hoffman), interesting moments, but an uneven film that lands as a moderate recommend.

In this episode of Bad Dads Film Review, the hosts venture into the Australian Outback to review the 1971 classic Walkabout. Directed by visionary filmmaker Nicolas Roeg in his solo debut, the film stars Jenny Agutter, Luc Roeg, and David Gulpilil in a haunting story about two civilized schoolchildren stranded in the wilderness who are rescued by an Aboriginal boy on his traditional rite of passage. The Dads (Dan, Reegs, Sidey, and Cris) discuss the film's stark contrast between modern, regimented society and the natural world. Topics include the film's almost entirely improvised 14-page script, the stunning cinematography, the absurdity of maintaining a formal school uniform in the desert, and philosophical debates on human evolution and modern conveniences. Despite Dan initially confusing it with another desert survival movie involving a dog, the hosts uniformly praise Walkabout for its hypnotic pacing and powerful thematic depth. If you enjoy visually driven 1970s cinema or t…

The Conspiracy (2012) Trust no one. Question everything. And definitely don't answer your phone if it just repeats your own number back to you. This week, the Bad Dads (minus Pete, who is off skiing) review the 2012 found-footage thriller The Conspiracy. Directed by Christopher MacBride, this low-budget Canadian indie starts as a fake documentary exploring the psychology of conspiracy theorists before spiraling into a full-blown survival horror about the very secret societies it's investigating. The Setup: We meet Aaron and Jim, two documentary filmmakers who set out to profile Terrence, a stereotypical street-preaching "kook" with a megaphone and a house completely wallpapered in newspaper clippings connected by red string. Terrence is arguably the best character in the film, blending wild paranoia with genuine historical psy-ops (like the Lusitania and the Gulf of Tonkin) to make you question reality. The Disappearance: When Terrence suddenly vanishes, Aaron inherits his…

The Sovereign Citizen movement is a real, growing phenomenon in which adherents believe they are exempt from government authority and can invoke pseudo-legal arguments to avoid any legal obligation. The movement has a documented history of tipping into violence when confronted by law enforcement. This film is based on one of those documented cases. Nick Offerman plays the father — a roofer who has become a travelling evangelist for sovereign ideology, charging desperate and financially ruined people a thousand dollars a night to learn how to "tie the system up in knots." Jacob Tremblay plays his sixteen-year-old son Joe, who has been homeschooled since the age of ten and whose quiet desperation for a normal life runs through every scene. The dads discuss: The father-son relationship. At first — and this is important — it looks warm. The father is conscientious, engaged, asks about homework, makes a fuss. It's only gradually that the ideology becomes visible, and by then you'r…

In this episode of Bad Dads Film Review, Dan and Reegs review I, Swear (2025), the BAFTA-winning biographical film about John Davidson — a Scottish man whose Tourette's syndrome shaped his entire life, and who went on to become an MBE and a prominent advocate for people living with the condition. The episode opens with the BAFTA controversy: John Davidson experienced a tic during the ceremony, saying a racial epithet while two Black actors were on stage. Dan and Reegs address the internet reaction, the BBC's editing failures, and why watching the film itself provides the clearest possible answer. The film charts John Davidson's life from 1983 in Galashiels — played as a child by Scott Ellis Watson in a debut performance both hosts describe as exceptional — through a devastating adolescence, a diagnosis with no support infrastructure around it, a remarkable friendship with Dottie and her son Murray, a series of community jobs and landmark legal moments, and ultimately a clinical …

This week the dads work late for Steven Shainberg's Secretary (2002) — one of the more unusual love stories in American independent cinema, and almost certainly the most interesting thing James Spader has ever worn a tie for. But first: a very thorough Top Five Secretaries list. Dolly Parton, Mad Men, Ghostbusters, Batman Returns, The Simpsons, Beetlejuice, Moneypenny through all her iterations, and the West Wing. It's a good one. Top Five highlights: Doralee Rhodes (Dolly Parton) from 9 to 5...

This week the dads tackle Paul Verhoeven's infamous erotic thriller — the fourth highest-grossing film of 1992 and quite possibly the most rewound VHS tape in rental shop history. Basic Instinct turns 33 this year, and it's still just as wild as you remember. In this episode: The legendary interrogation scene and the great Wayne Knight sweating debateWhether Sharon Stone knew — and whether Paul Verhoeven is telling the truthNick Curran: the "anti-Columbo" and arguably cinema's least heroic he...

This week Sidey, Dan, and Cris fly solo — Simon's been called to Southampton on urgent business (he was spotted in a pub surrounded by tea cups, so make of that what you will). The dads are reviewing Ballad of a Small Player (2024), the new Netflix film from Edward Berger — the director behind All Quiet on the Western Front and Conclave — starring a very much on-form Colin Farrell. The Film: Colin Farrell plays Lord Doyle, a dissolute British gambler drowning in debt in the ...

This week's Midweek Mention takes us somewhere unexpectedly moving — Bill Condon's Gods and Monsters (1998), a fictionalized account of the final days of James Whale, the British director who gave the world Frankenstein and Bride of Frankenstein. Sir Ian McKellen is extraordinary as the ageing, ailing Whale — a man whose health is failing, whose memories are fragmenting, and who has grown too tired to pretend he cares about social niceties. Into his life stumbles Clayton Boone (Brendan ...

This week the Bad Dads go full corporate: Top 5 Corporate & Tech Jargon — the phrases designed to sound like progress while delivering absolutely nothing. Circle back. Take it offline. Pivot. Blue-sky thinking. Tachyon pulse. If you've ever sat in a meeting thinking "what the actual f does that mean" — this one's for you. Then: Thunderbolts* — Marvel's Phase 5 closer. The Breakfast Club meets the Suicide Squad, if the Breakfast Club had government assassins and instead of Saturday detention, there's a sentient void of existential depression. It's actually quite good.

Bad Dads Film Review goes full courtroom chaos this week with My Cousin Vinny (1992) — the fish-out-of-water legal comedy where two broke New York kids take a wrong turn into the Deep South… and somehow end up charged with murder because of a misunderstanding that starts with a can of tuna. Sidey finally ticks off a long-standing gap (he’d never seen it), and we break down why this film still works: a tight premise, a brilliant “outsider vs small-town system” vibe, and a courtroom structure t...

Bad Dads Film Review heads to the Italian Riviera this week for The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999) — a sun-drenched, jazz-soaked psychological thriller where gorgeous people do terrible things, and the worst person in the room still somehow isn’t the guy committing the murders. We follow Tom Ripley (Matt Damon), a small-time grifter with big social ambitions, who’s handed a golden ticket: travel to Italy and convince trust-fund prince Dickie Greenleaf (prime Jude Law, unfairly beautiful) to come ...

The premise (simple, but the film isn’t): A privileged but messy NYC teenager, Lisa (Anna Paquin), causes a moment of distraction that leads to a bus hitting and killing a woman (Allison Janney). In the immediate aftermath she lies to the police—claiming the light was green—helping the driver (Mark Ruffalo) avoid consequences. The rest of the film is Lisa spiralling through guilt, grief, anger, and a need to “make it right,” while the city and everyone around her keep moving. What we talked a...

This week’s pick is Train Dreams: a quiet, meditative Netflix drama adapted from Denis Johnson’s novella, following the life of Robert Grainer (Joel Edgerton) — a logger and railroad worker drifting through early 20th-century America. It’s the kind of film that feels like a memory: sparse dialogue, heavy atmosphere, and a sense of time moving faster than any one person can keep up with. The opening sets the tone immediately: rail tracks, a tunnel, Will Patton’s voiceover, and an image that pa...

This week we head into full remake territory with Doug Liman’s glossy, bone-crunching update of Road House. Jake Gyllenhaal steps into Patrick Swayze’s boots as Dalton: a drifter, ex–UFC fighter, and walking concussion who takes a job cleaning up a Florida Keys bar where violence isn’t a possibility — it’s a nightly guarantee. From the opening underground fight circuit to the neon chaos of the Road House itself, the film wastes no time establishing its tone: sunburnt, hyper-kinetic, knowingly...

This week Sidey watched Roof Man on a flight—and it turned out to be a surprisingly breezy true-crime oddity: part heist caper, part rom-com, all built around one ridiculous (but real) idea. What it’s about Channing Tatum plays Jeffrey Manchester, a struggling Army vet and dad who turns his “situational awareness” into a criminal superpower. His method is brutally simple: hammer through roofs, drop in overnight, hit fast-food joints for cash, vanish. After dozens of robberies he finally ge...

A gritty, twisty one-night siege thriller that actually looks great (yes, you can see what’s happening). The RIP throws Matt Damon and Ben Affleck into a paranoid, internal-corruption nightmare where everyone feels suspicious and every conversation sounds like it has a second meaning. The setup Miami PD captain Jackie Veles is executed by masked hitters after sending one last message and ditching her phone in the river. The FBI descends on the TNT squad (Tactical Narcotics Team), grilling ...