The Kulturecast

We kick off Spanish-Language Film Month with a horror film that feels very familiar in its subject material but does it in a way that's shocking, engaging, and entertaining all at the same time: Thesis . The Projection Booth's Mike White stops by to rewatch an underrated horror gem that deserves not only the spotlight but also a reappraisal. Starring Ana Torrent and Fele Martinez, the two play fil...

We take a break from our usually scheduled programming to take a look at one of the sweatiest, and one might say tastiest, sci-fi films ever made featuring Mr. Machismo himself, Charlton Heston: Soylent Green. Dean of Media and Communications at Texas Tech Dr. David Perlmutter stops to not only program his first episode but also offer some high-level analysis of the film. Starring Charlton Heston...

We end Mike White May with yet another Forman period piece, this time all about a time in America when racial tensions were at an all-time high: Ragtime . The Projection Booth's Mike White and Rankin on Bass's Richard Hatem stop by to gush profusely about a film that gets better with age and rewatches. Starring an ensemble cast, the story focuses on a family who is thrust into the spotlight after...

We near the end of Mike White May with a Milos Forman movie that you may not even know existed because we sure didn't and had to double-check that it was, in fact, a Forman joint: Goya's Ghosts . The Projection Booth's Mike White joins the show to wax poetically about an old lady's makeup so bad even Glenn Hetrick would hate, Javier Bardem's career, and Forman's twilight years. Starring Javier Bar...

We continue Mike White May with one of Milos Forman's biggest missteps in his career, but critically and by his own admission: Valmont . The Projection Booth's Mike White and Mondo Heather's Heather Drain join the show to pile on Colin Firth's misscasting, Forman's disinterest in his final film, and the other adaptations of Dangerous Liaisons . Starring Colin Firth and Annette Benning, the two pla...

We take a break from Mike White May to look at one of Peter Bogdonavich's forays into screwball comedy featuring Babs herself along one of the greatest final lines in cinema: "What's Up, Doc?" . Movie Geek's United Adam Long programs and joins the show to talk about one of his favorite films of all time. Starring Barbara Streisand and Ryan O'Neal, the two play visitors to San Francisco who get cau...

We take a break from Mike White May to do a crossover with The Projection Booth taking a look at the Millennium Trilogy , otherwise known as the first three Lisbeth Salander books by journalist Stieg Larsson. Those films are The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo , The Girl Who Played With Fire , and The Girl Who Kicked The Hornet's Nest . Starring Noomi Rapace and Michael Nyqvist, the two play Lisbeth S...

We near the end of Mike White May with a look at Milos Forman's first foray into American filmmaking, which also happens to be quite the doozy to track down: Taking Off . The Projection Booth's Mike White and Supporting Characters Bill Ackerman stop by to talk about this underrated Forman film that features the one and only Bobo Bates! Starring Buck Henry and Lynn Carlin, the two play New York par...

We continue Mike White May , without the man himself on this episode, with a look at what could be considered Forman's finest hour as a filmmaker but what is definitely his most critically revered work, Amadeus . Rankin on Bass's Richard Hatem joins the episode he programmed to talk all about F. Murray Abraham, the power of legacy, and Mozart's raucous farts. Directed by Forman, the film follows t...

We kick off the greatest month of the year, Mike White May , with a look at the first film that the subject of the month, Milos Forman, ever directed: Black Peter .The Projection Booth's Mike White and Scary Stories We Tell's Jess Byard join the show to talk about a film that sets the stage for Forman's career but maybe little else. Directed by Forman, the film follows the titular Peter as he bumb...

We end Book to Screen April Movie with a film that's more an experience and less a straightforward narrative that not only challenges the audience to think about the American Dream but also how it would feel to go into the depths of a heavy drug binge, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas . Author Andrew J. Rausch stops by to talk all about Hunter S. Thompson, his effect on both of their lives, and what...

We continue Book to Screen April with a film whose reputation precedes it due to the cast, the script, and damn near everything: The Last Picture Show. Movie Geeks United's Adam Long programs the episode and joins the conversation to talk all about one of the great coming-of-age stories ever adapted. Starring Jeff Bridges, Cybill Sheperd, and Timothy Bottoms, the story follows the three as they ne...

We continue our look at random horror movies that we want to after having watched Knock at the Cabin and Red State with a film that is as polarizing as it is one-of-a-kind: Tusk . Wake Up Heavy's Mark Begley is playing the part of Mr. Tusk on this episode while he and Chris talk all about the film, where it is almost a decade later, and Tusk$ . Starring Justin Long as podcaster Wallace Bryton, he...

We kick off Book to Screen April with a film based on a Jim Thompson book that delves deep into the psyche of a sociopath attempting to keep up the facade of a small-town sheriff, The Killer Inside Me (1976) . Pulp-Serenade's Cullen Gallagher and Mondo Heather's Heather Drain stop by to discuss the comparisons to the book, the dreadful remake, and who else could have played Lou Ford. Starring the...

We reach the end of Marrr-ch, a month named for what else but pirate films, with a movie that's as tonally inconsistent as it is entertaining, t he big screen adaptation of Peter Benchley's The Island . Northwestern film professor Spencer Parsons stops by to talk all about how he thought this movie was something else entirely but loved its brand of insanity nonetheless. Starring forever stodgy Bri...

We near the end of Marrr-ch, a month named for what else but pirate films, with a film that wrestles with a very different kind of pirate along with not even hanging "pirate" in its original British title: Pirate Radio (The Boat that Rocked) . Movie Geeks United's Adam Long programs the episode and stops by to talk about indie comedies of the late 2000s and whether this film's use of music matches...

We circle back in this bonus episode to more apocalyptic or apocalypse-adjacent content given the success of Knock at the Cabin and The Last of Us with a film that is unlike any other from its director: Red State . Wake Up Heavy's Mark Begley is subjected once again to a film that may define conventional genre labels but works in spite of that. Starring Michael Parks as a Fred Phelps-type pastor,...

Tom Hanksuary is in the books but we're still talking all the lovable American actor with his directorial debut and a possible entry into the perfect film club: That Thing You Do! Dark Destinations' Father Malone and On Seagal's Trevor Gumbel are here to talk all about a film that captures a time and place better than most legitimate biopics do. Starring Tom Hanks as a Phil Spector-inspired music...

We kick off a limited crossover marathon with our friends over at 80's TV Ladies to coincide with their look at the Nine to Five TV show with an ensemble film that features two-thirds of 9 to 5's cast along with two more heavy-hitting actresses: 80 for Brady . 80's TV Ladies Sharon Johnson and Susan Lambert Hatem join the show to talk all about a film that's way better than it has any right to be....

We continue Marrr-ch, a month named for what else but pirate films, with another film whose reputation not only precedes it, but also is rightfully earned: Yellowbeard . Mondo Heather's Heather Drain and Dark Destination's Father Malone join the proceedings to determine how a movie with this many comedians can be this bracingly unfunny. Starring a veritable who's who of '70s and '80s comedians, bo...

We take a trip to the old multiplex in this bonus episode with a look at M. Night Shyamalan's latest joint: a film adaptation of Paul Tremblay's Knock at the Cabin . Wake Up Heavy's Mark Begley programs the film and edits the episode on this very topical crossover that may send us down a rabbit hole or two.. . Starring an ensemble cast, it follows a gay couple and their daughter who go on a retrea...

We kick off Marrr-ch, a month named for what else but pirate films, with a film so reviled, so totally unworthy of your time, it's kinda shocking that we talked for over an hour about it: Roman Polanski's Pirates. Film professor Spencer Parsons and Scary Stories We Tell's Jess Byard stop by to talk about possibly the worst film this humble movie podcast has ever covered. Starring Walter Matthau, t...

We end T om Hanks-uary with an adaptation of Tom Wolfe's seminal '80s classic that ended up being one of the biggest bombs of all time: Bonfire of the Vanities. Movie critic Dustin Rutledge stops by to talk all about Hanks, the bizarre Bruce Willis performance, and that opening shot. Starring Hanks, Bruce Willis, and Melanie Griffith, it follows Hanks as Sherman McCoy, a man at the center of a con...

We near the end of T om Hanks-uary with the film that features what will be shown at Tom Hanks' "In Memoriam": Forrest Gump . Wolf & Raisin's HP stops by to talk all about Hanks, his performance for the ages, and what it means that Bubba Gump Co is still open today. Starring Hanks in a role for the ages, he plays the slow Forrest Gump, a man who is every American of a certain generation's wet...

We continue T om Hanks-uary with an early entry into the Hanks filmography: Mazes & Monsters . Dark Destination's Father Malone picks the film and stops by to talk all including some choice line delivery from Hanks himself. Starring Hanks, Chris Makepeace, and Wendy Crewson, the three play college students who are obsessed with a Dungeons & Dragons-esque game that soon takes over their ent...