The Kulturecast

We continue Mike White March with a look at another film that hits way too close to home in our current situation: Dead Man's Letters. Directed by Konstantin Lopushanskiy, an acolyte of Tarkovsky, the film follows the world post-apocalypse as a man attempts to keep the faith and be positive in light of tremendous odds. It's an attempt at levity in oddly coincidentally dark times. The Projection Bo...

We continue the annual Mike White March celebration with an uplifting tale of society post-collapse who is being gaslighted into believing they have a chance at surviving in O-Bi, O-Ba - The End of Civilization. Written by Polish writer/director Piotr Szulkin, it follows Soft; a man tasked with keeping society together through convincing them they have a chance to surviving the nuclear winter. It'...

Every March, we turn the programming over to our good friend Mike White from The Projection Booth, and this March is no different with a look at foreign science fiction films, starting with the Czech film, The Secret of Steel City. Adapted from Jules Verne's The Begum's Fortune, it follows two warring cities who are embroiled in a cold war until that is reaching its breaking point. It's a quaint l...

As we reach the end of Unconventional Musical Month, we take a look at a semi-autobiographical musical about one of the powerhouses of the stage world All That Jazz. Set in '70s New York, it follows a thinly veiled version of Fosse, played by Roy Scheider, as he attempts to keep his life together while finishing a film and a stage play at the same time. It's an exciting look at the life of Fosse a...

We near the end of Unconventional Musical Month with a film that is not only a vanity project from one of Hollywood's finest action directors, but also taps into Americana by way of the '80s: Streets of Fire. Set in Somewhere, America, it follows Michael Pare as Tom Cody, a soldier who returns to his hometown to find his former high school sweetheart kidnapped by a biker gang. Hired by her current...

We continue Unconventional Musical Month with a look at the American remake of a BBC classic that stars Steve Martin and Jessica Harper, Pennies from Heaven. The film follows married couple Arthur and Joan as they attempt to make it through the Great Depression together, all the while Arthur continues to get himself deeper and deeper into trouble. Like Bugsy Malone, it's a unique spin on the music...

We kick off Unconventional Musical Month with a musical so insane it needs to be seen to be believed, the children gangster musical comedy spoof, Bugsy Malone. The film stars Jodie Foster, Scott Baio, and a whole cavalcade of child actors who play gangsters in a world full of cream pie guns, singing with adult voices, and pedal cars. It's cinematic insanity on a level that is rarely seen in modern...

We round out our look at Steven Spielberg's b-sides with a film that features Christian Bale in his first feature role as a preteen stuck in Shanghai during wartime: Empire of the Sun. Based on the semi-autobiographical novel by J.G. Ballard, it follows Bale as a young version of Ballard, who gets separated from his parents at the onset of WWII. The movie then proceeds to meander for nearly three...

We continue our look at Steven Spielberg's b-sides with a film Roger Ebert quoted as being Spielberg's "weakest film since 1941": Always.  A remake of A Guy Named Joe, it follows Richard Dreyfuss as aerial firefighter Pete Sandich who, during his final mission, dies while saving his best friend. After his death, Pete becomes a spirit attempting to get over his former love and help a budding aerial...

To coincide with the premiere release of the soundtrack for Freaked on vinyl, we've decided to take a break from Steven Spielberg's b-sides to look at one of the unsung comedy classics of the early '90s: Freaked. Written by Alex Winter, Tom Stern, and Tim Burns, as well as directed by Winter and Stern, the film follows Winter as Ricky Coogan, a sleazy former child actor who heads to South America...

We continue our look at Steven Spielberg's b-sides with a film that bills itself as a comedy spectacular but seems to forget how to be funny; we're talking about the comedy war action mess that is 1941. Based on a script by Bob Gale and Robert Zemeckis along who were inspired by real-life events in LA before WWII, it features a star-studded cast of comedic and dramatic actors as they attempt to th...

With David Lynch December in the rearview mirror, we kick off 2020 with a look at a director who hasn't gotten much attention on the Kulturecast, Steven Spielberg, and his b-sides. We begin our look at Spielberg's b-sides with his first film, Duel. Dennis Weaver plays David Mann, an everyman who makes the mistake of passing a tanker truck on a desolate California highway only to be tracked and har...

Now that 2019 is in the bag, it's time to talk about the best things, most disappointing things, and the biggest surprises of 2019. In this special two hour episode, we talk about everything from movies to books and music that we discovered in the year 2019, along with some things that truly disappointed us. The One Season Show's Jess Byard joins Chris to talk about the year, her favorites, and wh...

Yes, it's true, David Lynch December has come to a close but not without one final look at a film that any list featuring the auteur's films should not be without Mulholland Drive.  Following the exploits of Naomi Watts as the naive Betty, she goes on a journey through the seedy underbelly of the entertainment industry in Hollywood along Laura Harring's Rita. Not only is it one of Lynch's more app...

As we near the end of David Lynch December, we take a break from transcendental weirdness to check back in with the Skywalker clan and their bevy of friends in the finale to the latest Star Wars trilogy: The Rise of Skywalker. Following the events of the lackluster Last Jedi, the film picks up a year later with the return of a powerful villain once thought dead that threatens to destroy the entire...

We are smack dab in the middle of David Lynch December, our followup to David Lynch January, as we take a look at the auteur's attempt to adapt one science fiction's most epic stories, Dune. It follows House Atreides as they are moved to the desert world Arrakis to overlook the harvesting of a spice that powers the universe. Lynch as met his match with a source material just as esoteric and bizarr...

We reach the midpoint of David Lynch December, our followup to David Lynch January, with a look at the auteur's adaptation of Barry Gifford's Wild at Heart, which is also titled Wild at Heart. Starring Nicolas Cage and Laura Dern, the film follows the pair as two star-crossed lovers as they attempt to evade both the law and hired hitmen while continuing to be embroiled in their fiery romance. It's...

We take a break from David Lynch December to take a look at a film that ranks in the bottom 100 of IMDB's worst-rated movies of all time: Dungeons and Dragons (2000). Starring, for some reason, Jeremy Irons and Richard O'Brien, the film follows a band of adventurers who are drawn into a quest to save the empire from the evil clutches of a dragon-obsessed mage. First-time guest co-host and D&D expe...

We kick off David Lynch December, our followup to David Lynch January, with one of two biopics from the auteur which also happens to be his second film which also happened to have gotten nominated for eight Oscars: The Elephant Man. Starring John Hurt as the titular character, the film follows the life and times of John Merrick, a man stricken with a horrible physical disfigurement, who meets a do...

We take another break from Noirvember to cover a film that attempts to reconcile the differences between the two different versions of The Shining, along with providing a look at the continuing adventures of Danny Torrance: Doctor Sleep. Starring Ewan McGregor as the adult Danny, it follows him attempting to prevent a young girl with her shining ability from being consumed by Rosie the Hat and the...

We take a break from Noirvember to cover the latest film in the possibly dead Terminator franchise: Terminator: Dark Fate. This "true sequel" to Judgement Day features returning characters from that film and brand new characters attempting to thwart the uprising of a new robotic enemy. Arnold Schwarzenegger returns along with Linda Hamilton, trying to cash in on the success of recent soft reboots...

With Horrotober firmly in the rear-view mirror, we turn our sights on the first annual Noirvember, a look at all things film-noir. We kick off this month with a look at one of the four collaborations between acting couple powerhouses Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall: Dark Passage. Based on the book by David Goodis, the film follows Bogart as Vincent Parry, a man wrongfully imprisoned for the murd...

If you thought Ginger Snaps was going to be it for 2001: A Horrortober Odyssey, think again, because we've got a special Halloween episode for all you boils and ghouls out there talking haunted houses, the holiday itself, and a very special Disney film that's near and dear to the Kulturecast: Halloweentown. Released in 1998 on the Disney Channel, the film follows the Cromwell family as they are dr...

We've reached the final entry into 2001: A Horrortober Odyssey with a look at a film that's part allegory for puberty and part traditional werewolf story: Ginger Snaps. Starring Katherine Isabelle and Emily Perkins, it focuses on two sisters who have to cope with the fallout of one of them being attacked by a werewolf. As the older of the two begins to exhibit physical signs of a terrifying transf...

We are nearing the end of 2001: A Horrortober Odyssey with our penultimate episode on a film that attempts too many things and gets almost none of them right: Lost Souls. Featuring Winona Ryder and Ben Chaplin, the film follows Chaplin as an atheist journalist who falls down a rabbit hole of religion and demonry as he attempts to stop himself from becoming the vessel for the Antichrist. It's a mea...