Somebody's Watching

My guest today is scenic artist, filmmaker, and writer Michael Lee Nirenberg, who wrote the book Cinematic Immunity , an oral history told from the perspective of New York film crews, from the 50s to the 2000s. When I came across this book I knew I had to get it right away, it's exciting to learn film history from a completely different perspective! We spoke about how Michael got into the film...

Kate Hagen is a film writer, screenwriter, producer, and the senior vice president of The Black List . Kate is a cinephile with great taste, and I don't just say that because a lot of what she likes - I like. This episode, we get into many of Kate's interests: the importance of video stores, the representation of fat women on screen, sex scenes in cinema, and more! Show Notes: Kate’s websi...

I live in Berlin, and something very cool is happening here right now - the film collective Zelluloid42 has been programming film events that this town has sorely needed. In the spirit of the German "Bahnhofskino" (a grindhouse cinema located in or next to a train station, very popular in the 70s and 80s), Zelluloid42 gleefully shows exploitation, horror, and other wonderfully strange ob...

This episode is dedicated to the inimitable stand-up comedian and actress Janeane Garofalo. My guest Vibe Kiil and I chat about her influence on comedy, why she was such a fixture of the 90s, our favorite Garofalo roles, and more. Heather Mooney forever! **Apologies for the wonky sound on my end** Show Notes: Vibe Kiil’s Website Vibe Kiil’s Instagram Reality Bites (1994) Daria (1997-2002) The Ben...

Film academic Marion Biet came on the podcast to talk about long-term films (aka longitudinal films) with me since it's her expertise - making her one of the first to analyze this type of film within an academic framework. Long-term films are films that capture a long passage of time, the most prominent example of this is Michael Apted's Up Series which I refer to a lot during our conversa...

I spoke with culture writer Soraya Roberts about the hyper-literate, captivating Queen of Gen X cool Winona Ryder. We spoke about Winona's incredible run from the late 80s to the late 90s, her tricky transition into more adult roles, the meta quality of her current work, and more. Show Notes: Soraya’s Website Soraya’s Bluesky Soraya’s article on Winona Defector Winona in the Criterion Closet M...

I took the opportunity during my third time at Sitges Film Festival to chat with some fine people who came to this gargantuan annual celebration of horror. You'll hear from film professor Alison Peirse and film journalist Daniela Urzola who were on Sitges juries (different juries, there are quite a few at this fest), genre filmmakers Arianne Hinz and Avalon Fast as well as film programmers Sab...

The off-kilter, libidinous, captivating actor James Spader doesn't get the attention he deserves and this episode is here to rectify that. I spoke with (new) Spader fan and horror journalist Amber T about the talented and unforgettable actor. Welcome to the fold, Amber. We spoke about Spader’s appeal, the sexuality he brings to his roles, why we think he hasn’t received a lot of critical attention...

In May, I went to a screening of a documentary called GOODBYE HORSES: THE MANY LIVES OF Q LAZZARUS about the singer of the cult song "Goodbye Horses" which is most prominently featured in Jonathan Demme's film THE SILENCE OF THE LAMBS. The film is a portrait of the musician behind the song, Diane Luckey, her tumultuous life, and the frustrating reality of a music industry that didn&#...

Film programmer Alison Lang and film writer Jess Sweetman came to talk with me about something they both feel really passionate about - their love of bad movies. This episode is a look at why film lovers relish watching movies that are overlooked, mocked, and discarded. We talked about being contrarians, what makes a bad movie entertaining, their niche favorites, and more! Show Notes: Jess’ Substa...

It only felt right to dedicate another episode to David Lynch. In February, I put out an episode documenting a Lynch marathon that I co-organized, but that wasn't enough Lynch in my book, and so I approached two bonafide Lynch experts with the goal of having a more in-depth conversation about the filmmaker. Bill Ackerman is a film writer and the host of the fantastic ⁠Supporting Characters⁠ po...

In mid May, film collective Zelluloid 42 and US film label Vinegar Syndrome organized a mini festival called Vinegar Syndrome Weekender showcasing a selection of outrageous, nonsensical, incredibly entertaining B movies and celebrating celluloid film. I went there with my B movie loving friend Jess and this episode is a documentation of our time there. You'll hear our bewildered reactions to t...

Madeleine Sims-Fewer & Dusty Mancinelli are a Toronto-based filmmaking duo who premiered their second feature HONEY BUNCH, an unconventional thriller set in a 70s medical clinic, at the Berlinale earlier this year. They're an exciting, genre-defying voice in contemporary cinema and it was great to get them on the podcast. We spoke about what it's like working as a duo, making the anti-...

“People would leave me saying, ‘She’s a nice girl. What is this big thing about? She’s a nice girl.’ And the thing is, of course, I wasn’t a nice girl. And when they found this out, they hated me all the more.”—Elaine May, 2006 Elaine May is a game-changing director, writer, and actress that not enough people know about. Thankfully, I was able to talk to a May expert, writer Carrie Courogen, who w...

Recorded a week and a half after David Lynch's death, this episode is a mishmash of interviews with Cinema of the Dam'd programmers Jen Bronson and Matt Cornell and clips of what we showed during our 15 hour twitch marathon. We spoke about our Lynch faves, what he means to us, and where our head was at after watching so much of his work at once (it was pretty divine). Lynch's death hit...

Caryn Coleman is the founder of New York-based film initiative The Future of Film is Female which amplifies the work of women and non-binary filmmakers early in their career, offering short film grants. Caryn's initiative has been exponentially growing and I wanted to ask her how she made it all happen! We talk about how Caryn came to curating, her Future of Film is Female highlights, and the knot...

There's a plethora of "eat the rich" films these days, films that relish in showing the wealthy suffer without, god forbid, rocking the status quo. My guest today is Tosha R. Taylor is quite skeptical of the trend. Tosha R. Taylor is a writer, former academic, and regularly publishes and presents on horror, extremity, and queerness. We talk about the history of class in cinema, the invisibility of...

I spoke with fellow Anthony Perkins superfan, PhD student and podcaster Xanthe Pajarillo, all about the immensely talented and under-appreciated Anthony Perkins. Perkins was far more than Norman Bates and I wanted to delve into his interesting and eclectic career with someone who gets it. We discuss his early days as a teen idol, his career in Europe, midcentury masculinity, and chose some of our...

My friend Karolin joins me on this episode to talk about something we both really love - the coming-of-age film (and show). We spoke about why we love them, the depiction of movie high school and how they affected our own high school expectations, our list of the films and shows that mean the most to us, and a whole lot more. Apologies for my freshly post-Covid voice in this and the technical glit...

Today’s episode is all about grimy New York movies from the mid-20th century. So much was going on in that small stretch of the city and movies made in that time and place show it off so well. My guest is film historian and writer Samm Deighan, an expert on cult cinema and one of those people who really seem to have watched it all! You’ll hear about Times Square history, psychotronic cinema, and S...

In 2018, film scholar Dr. Erin Harrington wrote a vital book titled "Women, Monstrosity, and Horror Film: Gynaehorror" about the depictions of virginity, menstruation, pregnancy, motherhood, and menopause in horror. In this episode, I had the great pleasure of chatting with Erin Harrington about her book, the limits of psychoanalysis in horror, why horror is fertile ground for speaking a...

This is an episode that was released on my other podcast, The Bend . I talked with Lizzie Borden, director of BORN IN FLAMES and WORKING GIRLS, during the height of the pandemic. It was an honor to have a chance to talk with her about her craft. We talked about her films, of course, as well as what it was like to work with Harvey Weinstein, the #metoo movement, and quite a lot more. The book about...

Programmer, writer, and podcaster extraodinaire Millie De Chirico co-hosts I Saw What You Did - one of the best, most entertaining film podcasts around. Millie also worked at the classic movie channel TCM for almost 20 years and so I had the chance to talk to her about film programming, her book "TCM Underground: 50 Must-See Films from the World of Classic Cult and Late-Night Cinema," an...

Back in October I went to Sitges Festival in Spain for the first time. Sitges is one of the largest horror festivals in the world and I got to watch a slew of fantastic films and meet some excellent people from the film horror world. Overall, it was an incredibly positive experience and I hope that comes through here. Enjoy this somewhat disjointed episode! Thank you to everyone who chatted with m...

I talked to the Adams Family right before the world premiere of their latest film Where the Devil Roams back in July. I've been a fan of The Adams Family, who make films as a family, for some years now, and it was a delight to have them on the podcast! In our chat, we talked about how they started making films, the overarching themes in their work, and, of course, their new film Where the Devi...