Movies with My DadA podcast where I, film critic Tina Kakadelis, and my dad, Stratis, talk about a movie on the car ride home.
My dad is desperate for feedback! Shoot us, but mostly him, an email at movieswithmydadpod@gmail.com
You can listen to us right here or take us with you on your favorite Podcast app.
Train Dreams
Episode 64: Train Dreams
On this week’s car ride home we delve into the lumberjack life of early Pacific Northwest settlers with Train Dreams. Right from the start, Tina and Stratis have wildly different opinions about this film. Tina sees the art, while Stratis can’t seem to get past all the sadness. Tina does try to educate Stratis on the meaning of life, love, and happiness - not sure that worked too well. We both thought the lead, Joel Edgerton, brought home a fantastic performance. If you want to grab an axe and do some lumberjacking, hop into the back seat and we’ll head into the forest together.
Music - "Extra Fries" by The Fly Guy Five/Epidemic Sound
Springsteen: Deliver Me from Nowhere
Episode 63: Springsteen: Deliver Me from Nowhere
We’re visiting New Jersey on this week’s episode as we dive into Springsteen: Deliver Me from Nowhere. We find out that Tina has a PhD in Springsteen-ology, even though she’s not from Jersey, while Stratis gets to relive his youth cruising the streets of northern Jersey in a Trans Am. Tina gets super worked-up about this movie and probably shouldn’t have been driving, given her questionable respect for stop signs and unicycles! If you were Born to Run, hop into the back seat as we go Racing in the Street.
Music - "Extra Fries" by The Fly Guy Five/Epidemic Sound
After the Hunt
Episode 62: After the Hunt
On this week’s car ride home we go back to college and try to figure out if we like anyone involved in After the Hunt, a Yale University-inspired drama about student-professor power dynamics. Stratis comes out hot and says he’s befuddled by the entire film, while Tina proceeds to give a dissertation on character development through cinematography. We both enjoyed the performances of Julia Roberts and Andrew Garfield, and really felt for poor beleaguered Fredrick (Michael Stuhlbarg). If you want to hear Stratis try to use fancy words to describe this fancy movie, then hop in and we’ll give you a ride home.
Music - "Extra Fries" by The Fly Guy Five/Epidemic Sound
Tron: Ares
Episode 61: Tron: Ares
Get ready for some ’80s-inspired artificial intelligence trying to take over our car ride home as we jump on a lightcycle and talk about Tron: Ares. This one is right up Stratis’ alley and he couldn’t get enough of the stunning visuals and music. Tina was less impressed, but she was able to introduce the struggle for maintaining democracy to the conversation! According to Stratis, Jeff Bridges is always “The Dude,” even when he’s playing the core of a computer’s CPU. So if you need to outrun a Tron Recognizer, hop in and we’ll see if our Toyota sedan can reach light speed.
Music - "Extra Fries" by The Fly Guy Five/Epidemic Sound
Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale
Episode 60: Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale
This week Tina and Stratis pick up a hitchhiker, Regina (aka Mom), on our overseas trip to Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale. This is a rare occasion for Regina as it’s her first film outing of 2025! Stratis is proud that he came up with a pull quote for this installment - “the Downtoniest of Downton movies,” while Tina takes issue with the editing style, which drives her a bit crazy. And we all enjoy learning about the birds and the bees from a pair of proper Englishwomen of a certain age. So if you want to take a beautiful carriage ride through the Hampshire countryside, please join us on this family car ride home.
Music - "Extra Fries" by The Fly Guy Five/Epidemic Sound
The Long Walk
Episode 59 - The Long Walk
Stephen King joins us on this week's drive home, and somehow we aren't overcome by demons, buckets of blood, or even killer cars. The Long Walk is a different kind of horror film, one that even Stratis can enjoy. Tina gives us some serious insights and thoughts about the horror genre. Together we sing the praises of all the young actors of this film. If you want a ride instead of taking a walk, hop in as we head home.
Music - "Extra Fries" by The Fly Guy Five/Epidemic Sound
Nobody 2
Episode 58 - Nobody 2
On this week’s drive home we delve into the violent alternate life of Bob Odenkirk’s character in Nobody 2. Tina should have been primed to like this movie because one of her pet peeves is that movies need shorter runtimes. This one was only 1h and 29m. Stratis had done his homework and was just coming off enjoying the original Nobody film. We both have a lot to say about Sharon Stone’s psychotic dance performance and her overall killer-bad-guy ethos. Stratis takes some time to educate Tina on the wolf metaphor and how it relates to society's restrictions on dads. If you’re looking for an explosive and fast-paced discussion, hop in as we head home while trying to avoid getting Bob mad at us.
Music - "Extra Fries" by The Fly Guy Five/Epidemic Sound
The Fantastic Four: First Steps
Episode 57 - The Fantastic Four: First Steps
We’re back in the superhero universe, and we try hard to find something we enjoyed in The Fantastic Four: First Steps. Stratis starts off with “it’s hard to make a good movie,” while Tina returns to her anti-superhero-movie happy place. We both agree that the 1960s retro-futurism was amazing and obviously where they spent most of their budget and creative efforts. At some point Stratis just wanted the entire planet to die and Tina couldn’t turn away from the plastic floating baby. Our only takeaway from this movie was that Moms should take care of their babies! So if you aren’t going to use your superhero powers against us, hop in and join us for the drive home.
Music - "Extra Fries" by The Fly Guy Five/Epidemic Sound
Freakier Friday
Episode 56 - Freakier Friday
This time we travel back to the world of parent-child brain swapping in the long overdue sequel, Freakier Friday. Tina was really looking forward to seeing this film to relive her youth of way too many hours watching Disney movies. She even coined a new term, nostalgia baiting. Stratis, on the other hand, just thinks the movie came out of a soulless, visionless manufacturing process. If you want to swap brains with us, come along as we try to find the funny in this re-do.
Music - "Extra Fries" by The Fly Guy Five/Epidemic Sound
Weapons
Episode 55 - Weapons
Tina takes Stratis to a horror film yet again, hoping Weapons will change his mind about the genre. We both love the first third of the movie because there’s just enough weird, confusing stuff happening to draw us into this child-disappearing mystery. Somehow Tina manages to find the “American Individualism” theme in the film, while Stratis is just confused by the story. Tina then drives us into a discussion of allegory and metaphors in the art of filmmaking - wow, what fun! There’s a witch stealing children from their homes, so if you want to try to save them from life as zombies, hop in for our trip home.
Music - "Extra Fries" by The Fly Guy Five/Epidemic Sound
The Naked Gun
Episode 54 - The Naked Gun
This week it’s a throwback to the ’80s as we hitch a ride with the remake of the screwball classic The Naked Gun. Liam Neeson and Pamela Anderson did their best to bring the funny to this revamped franchise, so much so that Tina was surprised by how much she was laughing. Stratis provides Tina with the heritage of this movie and the original Police Squad, and, not surprisingly, she doesn’t care. If you’re looking for a “fun day at the cinema,” hop in as we cruise on home.
Music - "Extra Fries" by The Fly Guy Five/Epidemic Sound
Superman
Episode 53 - Superman
It’s a bird, it’s a plane, wait, is it really Superman? We can’t figure out what this reboot is trying to be. Is it a comic book movie or a deep-thinking drama? Tina wants to know why Superman was missing from so much of the movie, while Stratis can’t believe they killed a guy with a bullet to the head! So if you want to join us for a heated debate about everything that’s wrong about this movie, hop in for a ride back home.
Music - "Extra Fries" by The Fly Guy Five/Epidemic Sound
Oh, Hi!
Episode 52 - Oh, Hi!
On this week's car ride home Stratis gets a graduate course on dating in the 2020s as we review Oh, Hi! Tina goes on about her love of Molly Gordon, while Stratis can’t get over what the youth think is a good way to work on their relationships - it includes getting tied to a bed for days! If you’re trying to survive the world of modern dating and need a ride, hop in and we’ll see if we can figure out who this movie was made for.
Music - "Extra Fries" by The Fly Guy Five/Epidemic Sound
M3GAN 2.0
Episode 51 - M3GAN 2.0
Somehow our ride home has detoured back into the AI world of our favorite artificially intelligent cyber doll, M3GAN. Stratis starts off with his enthusiastic hot take on this sequel, while Tina seems to be fixated on the movie's length (hint, it’s too long). She even finds a way to bring up a French classic film she recently watched. We both want to know how the original small-budget, sci-fi horror film managed to morph into something that opens with a rogue Al covert military op and gets even more crazy from there. So if you want to have a weird and fun ride home with us, hop in and we’ll try to avoid the end of the world!
Music - "Extra Fries" by The Fly Guy Five/Epidemic Sound
Jurassic World Rebirth
Episode 50 - Jurassic World Rebirth
On this week’s car ride home we go 200 million years out of our way to visit Jurassic World Rebirth, the seventh installment in the Jurassic franchise. Tina leads us off by revealing something deep and terrible, while Stratis just wants to talk about how this should have been another reboot of the ’70’s classic Land of the Lost. Tina tries to educate Stratis on the current internet fascination with s#%ty little eyeglasses, and we both wanted to see more creative ways for the dinos to tear people apart. Sadly, we don’t own a Jurassic-themed Jeep, but come along with us anyway and we promise not to feed you to the T-rex!
Music - "Extra Fries" by The Fly Guy Five/Epidemic Sound
28 Years Later
Episode 49 - 28 Years Later
First it was 28 days, then 28 weeks, and now Danny Boyle is back with 28 Years Later, the latest installment of his zombie franchise. Stratis finds himself in this new cinematic world for the first time and has some definite thoughts. Tina isn’t new to this series and sums it all up with “life is bad.” We cover iPhone cinematography, and even make a callback to Planet of the Apes. Join us on our drive home as we try to avoid the Alphas and getting our heads and spines ripped out of our bodies. We’d better drive fast!
Music - "Extra Fries" by The Fly Guy Five/Epidemic Sound
The Life of Chuck
Episode 48 - Life of Chuck
What happens when Stephen King, the master of horror, writes a deeply meaningful story that’s not scary? You get The Life of Chuck, an engaging and novel look into the frailty of life. And amazingly, Tina and Stratis are in complete agreement about how much they love this movie. Tina offers a spirited defense of the movie’s director, Mike Flanagan, while Stratis wonders why Hollywood doesn’t make beautiful movies like this anymore. Join us on the drive home and enjoy the wonderful vibes.
Music - "Extra Fries" by The Fly Guy Five/Epidemic Sound
Bring Her Back
Episode 47 - Bring Her Back
How many times can Tina take Stratis to another horror movie? This week it’s Bring Her Back, and all the trauma just wouldn’t let Stratis take a nap and skip this film entirely. Tina delivers a senior thesis on the different types of violence in film and why they’re needed. Stratis just wants an ending where everyone lives. So if you’re into seeing the inner dialogue of a disturbed mind, hop in for the drive home and remember, no knife chewing!
Music - "Extra Fries" by The Fly Guy Five/Epidemic Sound
Ballerina
Episode 46 - Ballerina
We arrived late to the World of John Wick - aka Ballerina, and that’s when the confusion starts. Stratis just doesn’t think this is really a John Wick film, while Tina is more interested in how Ana de Armas, the ballerina, manages to kill so many people with her hair always in her eyes. We debate Hollywood’s need to make so many blockbuster re-tread films for the summer season and wonder how the 4Dx immersive multisensory experience works in a rom-com. So hop in and we’ll do our best not to get on John Wick’s bad side.
Music - "Extra Fries" by The Fly Guy Five/Epidemic Sound
Final Destination Bloodlines
Episode 45 - Final Destination Bloodlines
Oh my! We are in a race with death on this week's car ride home as we try to avoid Final Destination Bloodlines. Even before the movie started, Tina tried to talk Stratis out of coming along. Death does take a run at Stratis, but he manages to survive. We both agree that this movie just wasn’t campy enough, especially given all the mayhem. We even go off on a tangent about whether a penny can actually derail a train, and Stratis gets physics involved. So if you don’t think we’re cursed, hop in the back of the car and we’ll try and get you home alive.
Music - "Extra Fries" by The Fly Guy Five/Epidemic Sound