Bravo for the B-side Podcast

It has been far too long since we have had Tucky Williams on the show. This interview we celebrate a milestone for Tucky’s film Girl-Girl Scene 1984. Then we get into some great conversations on filmmaking, catching up, post-pandemic filmmaking, and more. Always a delight to speak with, Tucky gives some point-blank views on everything from indie film to daily life. If this is your first time liste...

Wallace Peebles: Paranormal Inspectre is a good example of how comedy can have a very narrow appeal.  We thought the trailer was sufficiently entertaining to take this one on for the show.  In the end it was just not for us.  Not our kind of humor.  There are some very valuable lessons that the movie has to offer.  Pacing being the most important among them.  Technica...

Robotica Destructiva is a great movie, one that is truly a labor of love. It is a primary lesson in what we keep saying, Make your movies! Similar to Manborg, which we covered in the past, it is live action against a green screen world of renderings and compositing. Costume design is great, the look of the movie is very comic oriented, and at no point is it lost on you the amount of work building...

The Hero is a great film full of top-notch lessons. We follow Lee, an aged Western film star who has been riding the tail-end of his career for some time. With work only coming in the form of commercial voice-overs, Lee does not have much to look forward to. With a dire diagnosis, Lee starts to take inventory of his life, his situation, and what having a future really means. The cast ensemble is a...

This episode we confront The G, a thriller starring Dale Dickey. An elderly woman and her husband are immorally thrust into a care center under the ‘care’ of a guardian. The message of the movie confronts a terrible reality of what can only be called a form of elder abuse, but judges and the court system granting guardianship over elderly folks who have no say in the matter. The G, Dickey’s charac...

PLEASE see the list below if you are dealing with trauma and you need help. That is the primary lesson behind this episode. Saint Bernard is a fantastic art-film that takes us on the downward spiral of Bernard, an orchestra conductor who is overcome by trauma. The visuals in this movie are stunning, uncomfortable, emotional. There is very little dialogue. On the technical side everything about thi...

Yes, it’s another shark horror this episode.  Doll Shark is brought to life by the very same group that gave us Camp Blood: Clown Shark, which we covered in the last episode.  The stuffed plushy Doll Shark is cute, and gives a couple of good laughs.  The lighting is way off kilter.  The script is just as loose and meandering.   The story is yet again seemingly a mishmash o...

Camp Blood: Clown Shark has so much going for it in the name.  It was a wild concept but the writing choked out the wild and gave us instead bleh.  The ridiculous special effects are the key factor in keeping up the fun of watching.  The plot holes and deviations help to exercise your brain as you try to figure out what in the hell is going on.  Unfortunately at the end of the...

Strap in B-siders.  Christmas Bloodbath is a frustratingly wild ride.  It does take place during Christmas, and there is a bath, but there is not a lot of blood. We dive into this earnest effort Indie film that gives us puppets, obscure plot devices, endless narration, and a whole lot of stuff that just does not make sense. There are some positive points to be made, but overall seeing th...

Interview with Eric Miller – Episode 177 Continuing the train of interviews, we talk with Eric Miller, author of the book Whatever Happened to Uncle Ed, screenwriter for Ice Spiders, Night Skies, Swamp Shark, Mask Maker, and so much more.  Join us for a very fun, very informative talk about his work, experiences, some funny stories, and just a full-on nerd fest for writing and movies. A...

Once again we have friend Hilton Ariel Ruiz on the show to do some catching up on things. We talk about how the pandemic changed filmmaking for him, indie film, and possible futures. There is a lot of great advice in here. We also talk with Hilton on changes to FilmHub and how these kinds of changes will make it more difficult for new Indie filmmakers in an already complicated business. Come and d...

We have the pleasure of speaking with Michael Dahan, writer and director of Yes Repeat No. Please join us as we discuss a number of things ranging from filmmaking, identity, and the politics of wanting to help a people but staying out of it. It is a very heartfelt and frank conversation. Michael’s journey from concept to completion of the movie is a fantastic listen. We thoroughly enjoyed this tal...

Yes Repeat No is an amazing film to start off 2026. Written and directed by Michael Dahan, this experimental film is about three actors auditioning for the role of Palestinian-Jewish actor and activist Juliano Mer-Khamis. The film is amazing, but we could not cover it using our regular beat-by-beat formula. Instead, we give some bits and pieces of the film’s progression but we talk more about the...

For our End of the Year Retrospective, we decided this year to cover the history of the Horror genre. You all know what ridiculously huge horror fans we are, so it was about time to discuss this magical genre. We cover the first horror film, first Christmas horror film, changes by decade, and a lot more. At the end, Jim gives everyone a piece of advice. You should listen to it. This will be the la...

While the name is simple, Thanksgiving is a solid bit of holiday horror. In the pantheon of holiday horror films the turkey eating holiday is the most overlooked. The gore is satisfying and the killings come at a fairly decent rate. The chief downside provides important lessons for writers. The primary is backstory. Often unnecessary for redshirts we get a lot of it being thrust in our faces that...

Far too long has passed since we’ve talked with Kyle Hester. Join us for a magnificent conversation about the upcoming release of his latest film Preacher 6, his documentaries, the evolution of Indie filmmaking, and more. Kyle talks about the ups and downs of the journey of making Preacher 6, battling the pandemic, and how Just Keep Going is the key phrase we should all practice. We also talk abou...

Long on our list, the Asylum version of Sherlock from 2010 was finally pushed to the top. Way back before the podcast started we found this hidden deep down the rabbit hole. Dani loves Sherlock Holmes, and when you pair him with a T-rex, I mean come on. Unfortunately the T-rex went from awesome to burdensome. There are plenty of issues here, but as always meaningful lessons can be found within. We...

Another find during bedrest, I. Madman is a late eighties mild horror that fits the period and genre perfectly. A woman finds herself terrorized by a character from a strange book. Sounds pretty simple, and it is. The film overall is a fun watch. Inundated with late eighties filmmaking techniques and a fast-paced storyline, for the most part, there are some good lessons here. The writing could hav...

An excellent surprise, Forgive Us All was a delight to watch and dissect. We have so many good lessons from this film that we go over. Forgive Us All is another take on the zombie genre, one that is near and dear to our hearts. Going more to the route of Infected rather than zombies, this movie tells the story in precise, crisp, efficient writing, of a survivor named Rory who is looking for meanin...

You can only go so long before your curiosity gets the best of you. With no less than three Popeye films that hit in 2025 we had to take a dive. We settled on Popeye’s Revenge based on trailers, of which none were truly gripping. We dive into this dumpster fire attempt to capitalize on the expiration of copyright on old, beloved cartoon characters. We posit the script was done by AI, and the direc...

This week we’ve taken on Wrath of Dracula, starring the fantastic Hannaj Bang-Benz. There was certainly some money behind this independent film, but Wrath of Dracula was lacking on some areas. The actors were great, and there are a lot of fantastic lessons that all Indie filmmakers should tap into. There are, unfortunately, some lessons on what not to do.  Among them – writing pitfalls. If y...

We have discussed documentaries here and there over the years, but we have never done an episode on them. The wait is over. Documentaries are a fantastic way to break into Indie filmmaking. There are some basics in planning a documentary that we discuss, but you are relieved of having to write a feature script, casting actors, and your equipment needs are minimal. Compared to a feature production,...

It was a cult classic that started in 1987, and in 2024 it was redone by director/writer Ryan Kruger. Street Trash kept a lot of the 80s vibe, music, and practical effects. While the cinematic lessons are all positive, the more important lesson is how to analyze an older film for its ability to be remade in modern times. Not all films or their message will translate to modern sensibilities. Street...

For the fourth time in the run of our show, we talk with our friend David Ryan Keith.  Writer/director of Primal Games, I Am Rage, Redwood Massacre, Redwood Massacre 2: Annihilation, Ghosts of Darkness, and Attack of the Herbals, David once again talks candidly with us about his latest film Primal Games, making films, marketing, distribution, all of the fun stuff. A key lesson we discuss is that n...

The trailer was intriguing, it had all the marks of a true earnest effort film.  However, Flesh missed the mark in nearly every category. Lessons for this film are mostly what not to do.  From writing, directing, lighting, sound, story, plot, character development, you name it, Flesh is absent the very basic tenets of making a feature film. Jim talks about the vast difference between an...