Cinema Junkie

My idea of a good date movie is "Shaun of the Dead." So maybe I'm not the best person to be making Valentine's Day recommendations. But there's one contemporary filmmaker who consistently tackles love with such lush romanticism that even I swoon at his movies. That filmmaker is Wong Kar-Wai. So as much as I hate Cupid's silly holiday, here's a Valentine to Wong Kar-Wai.

Fifty-two years ago ABC launched the TV show "Batman" and forever changed the pop culture landscape.

Noirchaelogist, Czar of noir, host of TCM's Noir Alley, founder and president of the Film Noir Foundation... whatever title you want to refer to him by, Eddie Muller is simply the man to go to when you want to know anything about film noir.

The holidays are upon us so what better time to think about spirituality. For some, movie theaters are like churches and the movies they screen can teach about how to live life.

For this podcast, Arts & Culture Reporter Beth Accomando turns to her archives for an interview with David Cronenberg about his 1996 film "Crash," adapted from J.G. Ballard's controversial 1973 novel revolving around people with symphorophilia, in this case, car-crash sexual fetishism.

It's Thanksgiving and I have a pair of films that I am feeling very thankful for right now: "Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri" and "The Shape of Water." Filmmaker Martin McDonagh talks about writing a film for Frances McDormand and Doug Jones talks about "suit acting" for Guillermo Del Toro.

Maverick filmmaker Larry Cohen died on March 23, 2019 at the age of 77. His schlocky B-movies won him a devout cult following and Cinema Junkie had a chance to speak with him in 2017 about his long and wild career.

"Ash Vs. Evil Dead" season three opener has been postponed to February! So if you want your Bruce Campbell fix in October, check out this podcast and his new book, "Hail to the Chin."

You all know about the final girl in horror, that feisty possibly virginal heroine who’s the last one left standing after some serial killer goes on a rampage. But are you familiar with the final boy?

Italian giallo cinema is something everyone needs to experience at least once. It consumes you like a fever dream and assaults your senses with an audacious excess of style. Soak up some glorious giallo elegance with this podcast.

Horrible Imaginings Film Festival wrapped up earlier this month, and it was another great year embracing the darkness. Here's a reflection on the event and a look at the radio drama created specifically to debut at the festival.

The Old Globe has a bold new production of “Hamlet” on stage now. It is directed by Barry Edelstein and it made me see the play with new eyes. This podcast is dedicated to Shakespeare’s great play and to understanding it better through film and an interview with Edelstein.

George A. Romero died on July 16. The zombie community paid tribute to him during Comic-Con, and I gather some of those memories and an archive interview with him for this remembrance.

Alfred Hitchcock, the master of suspense, Hitch — however you want to refer to him — is a filmmaker who has left an indelible mark on cinema. His career spanned the silents and talkies, black and white, Technicolor, and 3-D, plus film industries on both side of the pond.

Edgar Wright has a new film out and that is cause for celebration. I speak with the director about "Baby Driver."

San Diego's Old Globe Theatre has an eight decade history of performing Shakespeare on stage. Now its artistic director Barry Edelstein wants to highlight the Bard on film.

Found footage is a tired trope in horror but those films all manufacture their supposed found footage. That kind of fakery holds no interest for filmmaker Bill Morrison. He is interested in the real deal, genuine footage that has been unearthed, uncovered or just waiting to be found and brought to light. His latest film, "Dawson City: Frozen Time," finds treasures in the arctic ice.

FilmOut San Diego is hosting its first-ever block of gay horror shorts and it highlights how LGBT filmmakers are turning more and more to genre filmmaking. So I felt it was time to pay tribute to queer cinema and talk to some filmmakers about why they choose to work in the genre.

With the return of "Twin Peaks" and a revival screening of "Fire Walk With Me," I decided it was time to dig into the archives for an interview with David Lynch.

For almost a century nitrate base film was the standard for motion pictures and for good reason. The image looked stunning on the huge screens of movie palaces. But now only a handful of theaters can project the film stock, which has a reputation for spontaneous combustion.

You must remember this … after 75 years, the film “Casablanca” still maintains an iconic place in pop culture. A new book explores the life, legend and afterlife of Hollywood’s most beloved film.

Forty years ago, Stuart Gordon adapted Kurt Vonnegut’s novel “The Sirens of Titan” to the stage. Now, Sacred Fools Theater Company in Los Angeles is reviving that adaptation and finding it surprisingly topical.

It is that time of year for classic film zealots to make the pilgrimage to the mecca known as the TCM Film Festival, running April 6 through 9 in Los Angeles.

Cannibal films — in which people mindlessly slaughter and eat others or where carnage soaks the screen — are a dime a dozen. But films in which great care is taken with both the filmmaking and the preparation of human flesh for consumption are more rare. And that's what we are going to be talking about on this gourmet cannibal podcast.

This week, the 24th annual San Diego Latino Film Festival kicks off, and that is a perfect excuse to look at Latin cinema — so good it’s scary.