Cinema Smorgasbord

RSS / iTunes / Spotify We’re getting WILD IN THE STREETS with Lucio Fulci’s sole eurocrime effort CONTRABAND from 1980, featuring Fabio Testi as a boat smuggler who finds himself at the mercy of Marcel Bozzuffi’s Il Marsigliese with – SURPRISE – violent consequences! Featuring plenty of trademark gore, particularly in the blood-soaked climax, as well as a funky Fabio...

RSS / iTunes / Spotify On the latest episode of WHATEVER HAPPENED TO VIC DIAZ? we’re going BEYOND ATLANTIS with Eddie Romero’s odd (sorta) undersea riff on The Treasure of the Sierra Madre featuring bug eyed Atlanteans, John Wayne’s kid, the great Sid Haig and – of course – VIC DIAZ! Along the way we talk about colonialism, Vietnam, go deep on Haig’s career and...

RSS / iTunes / Spotify Over 10 episodes of WE DO OUR OWN STUNTS we’ve seen Jackie Chan struggle for respectability and recognition in martial arts films. There have been high and low points, but we always knew his launch to stardom was coming.. and now here it is! On this episode we’re looking at Yuen Woo-ping’s SNAKE IN THE EAGLE’S SHADOW, the film that was Jackie’s...

RSS / iTunes / Spotify We love to ROCK on Eric Roberts is the (CENSORED) Man, so we were awfully excited to check out 2015’s ROCK STORY which is all about a lawyer who dreams about becoming a rock star. It also features Three’s Company’s Joyce DeWitt, Gilbert Gottfried, murder, awful (awful) music, patriotism, and – of course – Eric Roberts as sleazy agent Andy Granit...

RSS / iTunes / Spotify On the latest episode of PRAISING KANE we’re looking at the beloved family film THE MUPPET MOVIE from 1979 featuring – of course – The Muppets! We go deep into our own history with Jim Henson’s creations, get weepy when talking about the movie (and its incredible soundtrack) and discuss Carol Kane’s performance as Myth! CHECK IT OUT! The post Ep...

RSS / iTunes / Spotify We crack the Steve Buscemi universe WIDE OPEN on the latest episode of HOW DO YOU DO, FELLOW KIDS? This time we’re talking about Tim Burton’s 2003 fantasy-drama BIG FISH, which made a lot of people cry at the time (we’ve also cried at a lot of his films since then, for other reasons). We also talk about Steve Buscemi receiving the key to New York City, dres...

RSS / iTunes / Spotify On this very special 100th episode of Cinema Smorgasbord we kick off 2022 with the wonderful Sarah Jane to look at another George Kennedy classic on GEORGE KENNEDY IS OUR COPILOT. This time we’re looking at the mind-bending horror of Adam Simon’s BRAIN DEAD. Penned by the late Charles Beaumont, the film features both Bill Pullman AND Bill Paxton, with the former...

RSS / iTunes / Spotify On our special HOLIDAY episode of Cinema Smorgasbord we travel once again to the Weihnachtsfilmfestival in Berlin, Germany to talk about two Christmas-themed films! We start with the black and white South Korean dramedy MERRY CHRISTMAS MR. MO from 2016, and finish with the made-for-TV Newfoundland-set film A CHRISTMAS FURY from 2017. We also learn about some holiday televisi...

RSS / iTunes / Spotify On this episode of WHATEVER HAPPENED TO VIC DIAZ? we’re heading back to 1973 and the surprisingly Filipino-centric war film A TASTE OF HELL. Starring William Smith as an American soldier helping local villagers fight off the Japanese during World War II and John Gardwood as a soldier who gets horribly burned by a Japanese attack and haunts the nearby villages as a mons...

RSS / iTunes / Spotify After the collapse of Jodorowsky’s Dune project, the work that went into it went on to influence countless other future film projects, but it also provided the inspiration for another work: the comic series THE INCAL, which began in 1981 in the pages of Metal Hurlant (aka Heavy Metal) and continued the collaboration between Alejandro Jodorowsky and Moebius (aka Jean Gi...

RSS / iTunes / Spotify PRAISING KANE returns with one of Carol Kane’s finest performances, and a truly bizarre cult item. It’s 1978’s THE MAFU CAGE, and we guarantee you’ve never seen anything quite like it. Featuring incest, colonialism, orangutan murder and so much more, the film has gained a strong following over the past decade, and we’re here to find out why. But...

RSS / iTunes / Spotify On this episode of WILD IN THE STREETS we continue our look at the Eurocrime films of the 70s (and beyond) with Sergio Sollima’s 1973 poliziottesco film REVOLVER, starring Oliver Reed and Fabio Testi. Featuring a dynamite score from Ennio Morricone, the film has Reed’s prison warden Vito Cipriani being blackmailed into releasing a prisoner after his wife is taken...

RSS / iTunes / Spotify We made it! Ten(-ish) movies deep, Jackie Chan’s career is floundering. Desperate for a hit, Lo Wei pairs him with James Tien and Bruce Leung for a western-inspired fantasy action epic featuring bizarre twists, excessive face-ripping, and music shamelessly stolen from Star Wars and.. heck.. let’s make the whole thing 3D! MAGNIFICENT BODYGUARDS may have been Jacki...

RSS / iTunes / Spotify The good news is your dates are here. The bad news is.. they’re DEAD! On this episode of YOU DON’T KNOW DICK we’re joined by filmmaker and critic Scout Tafoya (author of Cinemaphagy: On the Psychedelic Classical Form of Tobe Hooper) to discuss Fred Dekker’s beloved horror-comedy NIGHT OF THE CREEPS from 1986. Along the way we chat about Tobe Hooper, h...

RSS / iTunes / Spotify On our Cinema Smorgasbord HALLOWEEN HORROR SPECIAL we’re taking a break from our many themed episodes to instead look at two well-regarded horror films from 2021! We start with the fourth in the V/H/S found footage series: V/H/S 94! Is this a return to form for the often erratic collection of shorts from acclaimed filmmakers? Then we look at the critically acclaimed CE...

RSS / iTunes / Spotify On an explosive episode of ERIC ROBERTS IS THE MAN we’re joined by Effin’ Birds and Swear Trek creator Aaron Reynolds to discuss the Keenen Ivory Wayans-starring action film MOST WANTED from 1997! We also discuss doughnuts as breakfast food, worst first dates, Home Alone (with dogs!), and all the latest Eric Roberts news! CHECK IT OUT! You can find Aaron Reynolds...

RSS / iTunes / Spotify On this premiere episode of GEORGE KENNEDY IS MY COPILOT we’re diving into one of George Kennedy’s most iconic roles: chief mechanic Joseph “Joe” Patroni, from the legendary 1970 disaster film AIRPORT! We’re going to talk about the movie, its legacy, George Kennedy’s performance and why the hell anyone would create a George Kennedy-themed...

RSS / iTunes / Spotify On this episode of HOW DO YOU DO, FELLOW KIDS? we’re looking at the Sundance Grand Jury Prize winning comedy IN THE SOUP from 1992, featuring a dynamite performance from the late Seymour Cassel, small appearances from Jim Jarmusch, Sam Rockwell, Stanley Tucci and Carol Kane, and – of course – Steven Buscemi as aspiring filmmaker Adolfo Rollo! We also chat a...

RSS / iTunes / Spotify Convicted of a crime he didn’t commit, John Merill (kickboxing champ Jerry Trimble) is sent to a brutal island prison run by the sadistic Warden Acosta (Vic Diaz!) in 1993’s LIVE BY THE FIST, a straight up remake of 1991’s BLOODFIST III! This one has George Takei, though! On this episode of WHATEVER HAPPENED TO VIC DIAZ? we took a close look at this Roger C...

RSS / iTunes / Spotify On a very special episode of JodoWOWsky we’re joined by JODOROWSKY’S DUNE director Frank Pavich for a freewheeling conversation covering his first meeting with Alejandro Jodorowsky, the development of the documentary, his influence on Jodorowsky’s career over the past ten years, his future projects and so much more! Check out Frank Pavich on Twitter @FrankP...

RSS / iTunes / Spotify Following the worldwide success of El Topo and The Holy Mountain, Alejandro Jodorowsky connected with Michel Seydoux to pursue any project he wished. The answer? An adaptation of the beloved, expansive science fiction novel by Frank Herbert. What followed was an epic collaboration involving the director and a collection of legendary collaborators (or “spiritual warrior...

RSS / iTunes / Spotify On this episode of PRAISING KANE we’re back in the silent era with Carol Kane, but this time in a broad Mel Brooks-ian comedy! Gene Wilder directed, wrote and starred in 1977’s THE WORLD’S GREATEST LOVER, a silent-era chuckler about a baker (Wilder) who travels to Hollywood in order to become the next Rudolph Valentino, despite an unfortunate collection of...

RSS / iTunes / Spotify On Forgotten Gems we look at festival favorites that have been cast aside or fallen out of favor. On this episode we’re looking at the 1994 Sundance sensation WHAT HAPPENED WAS…, which won the Grand Jury Prize and the Waldo Salt Screenwriting Award at the 1994 Sundance Film Festival. Directed, written and starring Tom Noonan it examines one painfully awkward date...

RSS / iTunes / Spotify We’re getting Wild In The Streets with Umberto Lenzi’s gleefully exploitative 1974 crime thriller ALMOST HUMAN (aka THE DEATH DEALER, aka Milano odia: la polizia non può sparare). Featuring a stand-out slimy performance from Tomas Milian, the film follows small-time scumbag Giulio Sacchi as he goes on a spree of murder and mayhem throughout Milan while tough cop...

RSS / iTunes / Spotify On this episode of Cinema Fantastic (a trip to the genre film festivals around the world) we’re traveling to the 2009 London Frightfest film festival in London, England to check out two ultra-violent heavy-hitters: Dario Argento’s GIALLO and The Mo Brothers’ MACABRE. The tenth anniversary of Frightfest, 2009 marked a big expansion in terms of the festival,...