Raiders of the Podcast

     This week- two movies about puppets that want to become real boys.      Malcolm Shanks is unable to hear or speak. He communicates through mime and puppetry. When a local mad scientist finds use of his talents, Shanks is set on a course of tragedy. The last film directed by genre icon and master of promotion William Castle-  Shanks .      The...

     This week- a pair of films about bad dads creating generational trauma.      Kōhei and his friends are making a video game. One day he and his girlfriend, Nami, go for a drive and come upon a huge seemingly abandoned mansion. Soon they discover that Nami's connection to it might be much deeper than they could have imagined. The film adaption of a 1999 PSX remake...

     This week- two films about getting, in several common definition senses, a head, also using multiple definitions.      When a teen in Biarritz, France decide to take advantage of his mother having to live in another country for work and begins hosting sex parties for the whole school to attend. Soon relationships are broken and videos from the parties begin makin...

  This week- a tour through Craig's Vinegar Syndrome collection brings ruin. When Madeline, who lost her ability to speak due to trauma, is picked up, on her way to therapy, by Tony, a human trafficker who enjoys writing taunting letters to his victim's families, she is soon forced into a life of addiction and sexual assault. Fortunately, she is given every Monday off to attend classes in rev...

     This week- two movies about magic and women at the end of their ropes.      An up-and-coming Senator, Nick Rast, is on the fast track pushed by a kingmaker with a beautiful wife in a loveless marriage of convince and a terminally ill son. When a mysterious faith healer, Gregory Wolfe, seems to cure the boy, the powerful interests driving Rast won't allow this goo...

     This week- a pair of films about the most basic human need for connection.      Naturalist, Hank, lives in Africa with a huge number of big cats. Everyone around him are terrified of Hank's massive cat hoard, which continuously harms everyone that comes into contact with it while Hank laughs uproariously. Hank brings his family over for a visit, neglecting to men...

     This week- two films starring the brilliant Gene Hackman.       Harry Moseby, a former football player turned private investigator, is hired to find a runaway sixteen-year-old. A search that will drag him into a conspiracy and coverup. The fourth genre redefining feature in a row from director Arthur Penn,  Night Moves .      A seasoned n...

      This week- a pair of films about women defying social expectations.      Leaving her upper-middle class adoptive parents and normative school life behind, Raquel runs away to become a sex worker in São Paulo. Soon she works her way up the ranks, begins writing a blog (with client ratings), and becomes so popular that she begins making guest appearances on m...

     This week- Craig and Dave chose violence.      Identical twin brothers, Cale and Cade, are abducted and turned into something more than human by an entity. They are sent out to fight what the entity claims is "evil" and for some reason that means working very closely with a US black ops organization. Unfortunately, Cale is seen as defective and eventually release...

     This week- we celebrate our 400th episode with a four pack of films, each tailored to our individual tastes. Apparently, we all like crime. A lot.      When Drew returns home after a long time away, this adoptive sister lover concocts a plan to escape with the addict of his eye. Even if it means murdering their adoptive father. Unfortunately, Papa isn't as slow a...

     This week- two films about women just trying to survive in harsh conditions.      An observational documentary that intercuts conversations with Las Vegas based exotic dancers. They discuss their lives, their approach to the job, and how they were able to make a living after COVID closed stopped the action and dimmed the City of Neon Lights. The second in an ongo...

     This week- a pair of comedic classics about absurdist dystopian patriarchies.       When he goes to prison for killing the gang responsible for the death of his love, Saiga Riki-Oh (here called Ricky Ho Lik Wong), finds himself at odds with the corrupt system and its enforcers. A cult classic of ultra brutal slapstick martial art splatter violence that. Fun...

     This week- we change our earlier plans and try to catch some big fish in honor of David Lynch.      In a nameless city, caught in an endless rain storm, a trio live with a mystery and possessive forces- Rabbits .      A surgeon finds a man covered in deformities in a sideshow. Together they study human dignity and our social denial of it- The Eleph...

      This week two movies about young women and the lengths they will go to for love and connections.      Tammy is a cheerleader with a crush on football player Michael. When Michael is abducted by Tammy's violent and jealous ex-boyfriend he is left in a coma hovering between life and death. Meanwhile, Dr. Wachinstein is preparing his new creation to show for his in...

      This week- two films about Japanese youth discovering themselves and the world around them told through vibes.      Three boys decide to keep an eye on the local recluse who lives in a crumbling house with an overgrown garden, figuring he isn't long for this mortal coil. After a little stalking, the boys and old man begin to bond, through repairing the garden, a...

     This week... a heaping helping of dramas about how the working class really should finally rise up.      When Ani, a savvy young Brighton Beach stripper, meets Vanya, the son of disturbingly wealthy Russian oligarchs, they form a nontraditional* relationship. Before long, Vanya is faced with having to go back home to Russia and confesses his love to Ani and desir...

     This week- we bring 2024 to a cheerful holiday end through torturing each other.      When a serial killer has a cheap camcorder, nothing will stop him from recording his night drives around California or his crimes. A gift that will long give the joy of needing extra mental health care to one of us, Amateur Porn Star Killer 3: The Final Chapter.     &n...

     This week two movies about repercussions and the remorse of those who have to deal with them.      Frances Glessner Lee was born into a wealthy family and had a lifelong interest in medicine and the burgeoning science of forensics. Dedicating her life and fortune to progressing the field. Her masterwork being the Nutshell Studies of Unexplained Death, a series of...

     This week- two movies about living your life authentically to yourself in the face of societal pressure.      When a performance art trio take up residency at an enigmatic and remote artistic institute, a journalist with gastric issues, Stones, is hired to document their day-today creative process. The trio, led by narcissist Elle di Elle, perform "sonic catering...

     This week- a pair of  working vacations do not go as planned with massive consequences.      17 year-old skinhead Trevor is charged with throwing a brick the the window of a Pakistani man. Instead of  being sentenced immediately, the judge sends him to a residential assessment center. There he is met with a staff who have patience that would make a sain...

     This week we ring in the last month of 2024 with a pair of films about people spiraling through very different existential crises.      Lucia lives with depressed writer Lorenzo. When she returns home to an empty apartment, Lucia becomes frantic, finding a suicide note as she answers a call from the police that mentions an accident. Unable to hear more, Lucia han...

     This week a four pack of films that were originally made by other people in other countries and then swallowed by the Hollywood machine for you viewing pleasure.      Seth is an angel. One of thousands just hanging out in the Los Angeles Public Library and occasionally going for walks around to witness people at their most stressed. Dr. Maggie Rice is a surgeon....

     This week an unusual adaption of a classic novel and a TV special through the mind.      Sissy St. Claire is hosting her first ever TV special! It promises to be an evening of entertainment for all to enjoy! Sissy is ready to deliver whatever it is you want right to you directly through the screen. Assuming what you want is a nightmarish tour through her personal...

     This week a pair of films with recording methods used for devious purposes.      Harry Caul is the best wiretapper on the West Coast. His skill is almost as widely known as his intense privacy, complete professional detachment, and closed off nature, born from the guilt after a previous job that resulted in the multiple murders. When Harry pulls of the impossible...

      This week we take a look at three movies about creatures of the night and their hijinks over three continents and centuries of the masquerade.       In 1932 Austria, Sigmund Freud hires a painter, Viktor, to illustrate his monstrous dreams and takes on a new patient, Count Geza Von Kösznöm, who's problem is he hates his wife, who is obsessed with being able...