The Kulturecast

We near the end of Steven Seagal July with one of Seagal's earlier works, which is code for "it might be good": Marked for Death. Once again starring the Corn Dog Master himself, he plays John Hatcher, a retired DEA agent who returns to Chicago only to find the town being overrun by Jamaican posses dealing hard drugs. It's essentially some of the best parts of the Dirty Harry franchise with that u...

We continue Steven Seagal July with Seagal's second foray into not only kicking ass but also protecting the environment all while wearing a Nehru jacket in the country-western singer filled Fire Down Below. Starring the Corn Dog Master himself, he plays Jack Taggart, an EPA agent tasked with taking down Kris Kristofferson, an evil businessman hell-bent on poisoning a rural Kentucky town. If it sou...

We kick off Steven Seagal July with a look at the master of Aikido's one and only directorial effort with tonally bizarre On Deadly Ground. Starring as a mystical martial artist turned environmental agent Forrest Taft, Seagal tries to save the environment from evil oil men all while wearing a sweet fringe jacket. Scary Stories We Tell's Jess Byard and Pulp Serenade's Cullen Gallagher join Chris to...

It's the end of the second annual Jess Byard June, and we end the month with another Ken Russell film based on the life of a real person: Valentino. Starring Rudolf Nureyev as the Rudolph Valentino, the film follows his rise to fame from lowly gigolo to one of the silent age's most famous leading men. While the film never really subverts biopic expectations, it does just enough to justify a watch....

We near the end of Jess Byard June with a look at the final theatrical film directed by Ken Russell that also happens to be his response to the blockbuster hit Pretty Woman: Whore. Starring Theresa Russell as the eponymous character, it attempts to reconcile the reality of sex work against the glamorized version that Hollywood glommed on to. It's an exciting film that doesn't quite stick the landi...

We continue Jess Byard June with a look at one of Ken Russell's forays into the horror genre, whether or not it was successful is a different story, but Lair of the White Worm persists! Starring Hugh Grant, Peter Capaldi, and Amanda Donohoe, it focuses on the discovery of a fossilized worm skull that brings about the return of the eponymous white worm. It's a goofy, at times drab, attempt at gothi...

We continue Jess Byard June with a look at Lisztomania, a film that attempts to chronicle the life, times, improprieties, and death of classical composer Franz Liszt. Starring The Who's Roger Daltrey as the composer, it fuses classical music, biopics, and anachronistic themes into an over-the-top bizarre ride that could only have come from Ken Russell. Artist Maggie the Odd and Scary Stories We Te...

We kick-off Jess Byard June with one of the most controversial films of all time and one of Ken Russell's most iconic films: The Devils. Based upon the life and unjust execution of Catholic priest Urbain Grandier, it stars hellraiser Oliver Reed as the priest along with Vanessa Redgrave as Sister Agnes, the woman whose sexual obsession with Grandier led to his downfall. It's a film that confronts...

We end Sexploitation Spring with a look at one of Michael Findlay's classics of the genre that blends both sex and violence: The Ultimate Degenerate. Starring writer/director Michael Findlay as a voyeur who runs a harem of women that are all kept in a permanent state of horniness for his pleasure. It's just one in a long line of Findlay's iconic sexploitation entries that revolutionized the genre...

We near the end of Sexploitation Spring with another sexploitation film that breaks even more conventions by having almost no plot but enough nudity to choke several horses: House on Bare Mountain. Starring Nazi memorabilia enthusiast Bob Cresse, the "film" follows Cresse in drag as Granny Good, the proprietor of school for girls that also seems to have a very lax dress code. Promises of monsters...

We continue Sexploitation Spring with another film that shirks traditional plot and narrative structure for gratuitous nudity and poor acting: She Mob. Starring a cast of unknowns, the film follows a group of lesbians who hold a wealthy woman's gigolo boyfriend ransom, only to torture him in the process. It's got nudity, and not much else. OughtFiveFilm's Father Malone joins Chris to talk all abou...

We kick off Sexploitation Spring with a look at one of the most well-known films from one of the genre's most well-regarded directors: Russ Meyer's Vixen!. Starring Erica Gavin as the titular Vixen, it follows her exploits as she attempts to satisfy her seemingly unsatisfiable sexual urges. It's a hot and horny romp that tries satire and political commentary but doesn't exactly stick the landing....

We end Blaxploitation April with a film that takes all the previous films, throws them in a blender, and you've got Three The Hard Way. Starring Jim Kelly, Jim Brown, and Fred Williamson, the trio attempt to thwart a racist plot to kill the populations of three major US cities by poisoning the water supply. It's a mix of kung-fu, action, and humor, with three of the most charismatic leads in blaxp...

We near the end of Blaxploitation April with a film that could be considered a mix between Bruce Lee and blaxploitation: Black Belt Jones. Jim Kelly stars as the titular Jones who hefty with protecting his local dojo from mobsters hell-bent on tearing it down. It's an exciting mix of kung-fu and comedy with a heavy helping of blaxploitation for good measure. The Projection Booth's Mike White and S...

We continue Blaxploitation April with a look at one of the many Pam Grier vehicles that would define her career: Coffy. Grier stars as the titular character who, after having a sister overdose on heroin, goes on the warpath to take clean the streets of drug dealers, pimps, and crooked politicians. It's another excellent entry into the filmography of Grier, who is widely considered to be one of the...

With Mike White March squarely in the rearview mirror, we kick off Blaxploitation April with a look at the only time singer Isaac Hayes was given the starring role, Truck Turner. The aforementioned Hayes stars as the titular skiptracer who, after killing a bounty, must evade all sorts of villains through the mean streets of '70s LA. Not only is it better than Shaft, but it's also better than most...

If you've ever wanted to join the Kulturecast as they watch the movie before the podcast, then you're in luck as Chris and Jess provide feature-length commentary for the first film we ever covered: Possession (1981). Directed by Andrzej Zulawski, it stars Sam Neill and Isabelle Adjani as a married couple going through a messy separation that ends up taking a turn for the worse when Neill discovers...

We round out Mike White March with one last journey into the post-apocalyptic future hellscape of eastern Europe with a look at Konstantin Lopushanskiy's A Visitor to a Museum. At times more of an art piece, it follows the titular visitor as he attempts to reach the museum, the resting place of the remnants of previous civilizations. It's another dour look into a possible future for humanity that...

We near the end of Mike White with a look at yet another film whose topic hits a tad too close too home: Bunker Palace Hôtel. Directed by Enki Bilal, the film follows a group of wealthy people who, after a rebellion, sequester themselves inside the titular hotel, only to find everything isn't as it seems. Written by two comic book creators, it's an at-times interesting but mostly disappointing exp...

We continue Mike White March with a look at another film that hits way too close to home in our current situation: Dead Man's Letters. Directed by Konstantin Lopushanskiy, an acolyte of Tarkovsky, the film follows the world post-apocalypse as a man attempts to keep the faith and be positive in light of tremendous odds. It's an attempt at levity in oddly coincidentally dark times. The Projection Bo...

We continue the annual Mike White March celebration with an uplifting tale of society post-collapse who is being gaslighted into believing they have a chance at surviving in O-Bi, O-Ba - The End of Civilization. Written by Polish writer/director Piotr Szulkin, it follows Soft; a man tasked with keeping society together through convincing them they have a chance to surviving the nuclear winter. It'...

Every March, we turn the programming over to our good friend Mike White from The Projection Booth, and this March is no different with a look at foreign science fiction films, starting with the Czech film, The Secret of Steel City. Adapted from Jules Verne's The Begum's Fortune, it follows two warring cities who are embroiled in a cold war until that is reaching its breaking point. It's a quaint l...

As we reach the end of Unconventional Musical Month, we take a look at a semi-autobiographical musical about one of the powerhouses of the stage world All That Jazz. Set in '70s New York, it follows a thinly veiled version of Fosse, played by Roy Scheider, as he attempts to keep his life together while finishing a film and a stage play at the same time. It's an exciting look at the life of Fosse a...

We near the end of Unconventional Musical Month with a film that is not only a vanity project from one of Hollywood's finest action directors, but also taps into Americana by way of the '80s: Streets of Fire. Set in Somewhere, America, it follows Michael Pare as Tom Cody, a soldier who returns to his hometown to find his former high school sweetheart kidnapped by a biker gang. Hired by her current...

We continue Unconventional Musical Month with a look at the American remake of a BBC classic that stars Steve Martin and Jessica Harper, Pennies from Heaven. The film follows married couple Arthur and Joan as they attempt to make it through the Great Depression together, all the while Arthur continues to get himself deeper and deeper into trouble. Like Bugsy Malone, it's a unique spin on the music...