The writer and podcaster Will Sloan returns for a show about Robert De Niro’s latest film, Barry Levinson’s The Alto Knights, where he plays two parts on screen, the mob boss Frank Costello and his hotheaded rival Vito Genovese, and their decades-long struggle for control of the New York mafia.

The Alto Knights was the pet project of Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav, who brought this expensive vanity production to the screen seemingly as a personal favour to the veteran screenwriter Nicholas Pileggi, a film made by elderly creatives that flopped hard at the box office on release. So why this project? And why is Robert De Niro playing both lead parts? This is what Will and I wanted to know, and so we discuss the failures of The Alto Knights along with a look at De Niro’s public persona as one of Trump’s biggest haters and how he can still deliver as a great actor from time to time, depending on the director. 

Over 30% of all Junk Filter episodes are only available to patrons of the podcast. To support this show directly and to receive access to the entire back catalogue, consider becoming a patron for only $5.00 a month (U.S.) at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠patreon.com/junkfilter

Follow Will Sloan on Twitter and Bluesky and subscribe to his wonderful podcasts The Important Cinema Club and Michael and Us.

Will’s new book Ed Wood: Made in Hollywood USA (OR Books) can be purchased now! 

Trailer for The Alto Knights (Barry Levinson, 2025)

Access this entire 92-minute episode (and additional monthly bonus shows) by becoming a Junk Filter patron for only $5.00 (US) a month! Over 30% of episodes are exclusively available to patrons of the show. ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.patreon.com/posts/209-beekeeper-126797811

The writer and friend of the pod Adam Jackson returns for a look at the new dynamic duo of American action cinema, Jason Statham and director David Ayer, who are on a roll these days at the multiplex.

2024’s The Beekeeper was a solid hit, a ludicrous conceit milked for every drop of its potential, starring Statham as a retired secret military operative who goes back to the life when a friend is exploited by a shady phishing operation, and as he moves up the pyramid taking revenge it turns out this criminal enterprise goes all the way up to the heights of state power.  

The followup, A Working Man (co-written by Sylvester Stallone!) finds Statham as Levon Cade, a former British soldier now working in construction in Chicago, who is asked to rescue the daughter of his employer from a sex trafficking ring run by the Russian Mafia. 

We discuss this unique writer/director partnership, a lightning round of some of our favourite Jason Statham movies, and the many highlights from both The Beekeeper and A Working Man, action films that know what they are, deliver the goods and correctly identify the worst people in today’s society (scam artists, crypto bros, white South African psychos and guys with Jared Leto beards). 

Follow Adam Jackson on Twitter and Bluesky. 

Follow Junk Filter on Bluesky too!

Trailer for The Beekeeper (David Ayer, 2024)

Trailer for A Working Man (David Ayer, 2025)

To mark the passing of the great Gene Hackman, the writer and critic Sean T. Collins and the cartoonist and graphic novelist Julia Gfrörer are my special guests for a deep dive into one of our favourite films, Francis Ford Coppola’s The Conversation (1974).

The Conversation was groundbreaking in terms of film editing; when Coppola was pulled away to direct The Godfather Part II, editor Walter Murch had to streamline a narrative out of an incomplete film shoot and synthesized new approaches to picture editing and sound design which he credited to studying Hackman’s precise performance as the surveillance expert Harry Caul, a lonely middle-aged man whose Catholic guilt and past sins begins to weigh on his conscience as he obsesses over his latest spycraft job, plagued with worry over the fate of the young couple he’s recorded and what the tape will be used for by his sinister corporate client. 

We discuss the autobiographical details Coppola lent to the characterization and Jungian psychoanalysis that can be applied to the content, some of our favourite moments, and how the themes of The Conversation continue to resonate with audiences over half a century later. 

Follow Sean T. Collins and Julia Gfrörer on Bluesky. And support Sean and Julia’s work on Patreon!

Julia Gfrörer’s newest collection of fiction World Within the World: Collected Minicomix & Short Works 2010-2022 (Fantagraphics) is now available. 

‘I’m Not Afraid of Death’: How Gene Hackman’s Dream in The Conversation Mirrors Our Dark Moment, by Sean T. Collins, for Decider, February 27, 2025

“The Making of The Conversation: An Interview with Francis Ford Coppola” by Brian De Palma, from Filmmakers Newsletter, 1974, reproduced by Cinephilia & Beyond 

‘I Spent 12 Hours a Day for 16 Months with Gene Hackman – But Never Met Him’: by Walter Murch, for The Guardian, February 28, 2025

Trailer for The Conversation (Coppola, 1974)

Access this entire 87-minute episode (and additional monthly bonus shows) by becoming a Junk Filter patron for only $5.00 (US) a month! Over 30% of episodes are exclusively available to patrons of the show. ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ https://www.patreon.com/posts/207-john-ford-124925337

The writer and film programmer Chris Cassingham returns to the podcast from Milwaukee to discuss one of John Ford’s greatest films, 1955’s The Long Gray Line, Ford’s only film shot in the CinemaScope format.

Starring Tyrone Power in one of his final films before his unexpected death at age 44, The Long Gray Line tells the true story of Marty Maher, a young Irish immigrant who arrived to the West Point military academy in the late 1800s and lived and worked there for 50 years, moving up from the kitchen to become a non-commissioned officer and athletic instructor and a beloved figure to generations of cadets. The film spans this half-century and the narrative evolves from a wacky comedy to a stark and tragic tale of loss, as Maher and his wife Mary (Maureen O’Hara) continue to age as the continuum of young cadets come and go, some to die in combat through the two World Wars. 

We talk about Ford’s innovations in the use of the then-new technology of CinemaScope, with his camera favouring the Z-axis (the depth of the widescreen image) to visually depict the theme of the film, life’s vanishing points, with a protagonist who slowly realizes the lack of control he has over his own life, a film certainly influential on Scorsese’s The Irishman, with Ford offering at once a tribute to West Point and a questioning of the futility of Maher’s task, a lifetime spent training young men to die for their country. 

Follow Chris Cassingham on Twitter and Bluesky and subscribe to his new substack Dark Optimism.

The Long Gray Line is currently available to watch for free (with ads) and in CinemaScope on YouTube and Tubi.

Trailer for The Long Gray Line (John Ford, 1955)

CW: Spoilers for Conclave.

The author Jacob Bacharach returns to the pod for a show about Edward Berger’s entertaining political thriller Conclave starring Ralph Fiennes as a conflicted Cardinal who is required to preside over the selection of the new Pope, and amidst the infighting among the Cardinals, uncovers a shocking conspiracy within the halls of power in Vatican City. 

To discuss the reaction to Conclave from some offended Catholics means we have to spoil the big twist, but despite this movie being practically a commercial for the virtues of The Holy See and the future of the church, many have been outraged by the film’s “liberal agenda” and its interpretation of Catholic dogma and we review some of the apoplectic highlights, from Megyn Kelly to Catholic film critics. We also discuss some of Our Boys in this: John Lithgow’s ambitions to be the first Canadian Pontiff, and the two Italian men who would be Pope, Sergio Castellitto’s racist, vaping Cardinal and the American liberal Stanley Tucci.

We also discuss a completely forgotten all-star religious epic that is vaguely relevant to Conclave, 1972’s Pope Joan, starring Liv Ullmann as a pious ninth-century woman who disguises herself as a man to save her life, moves up the hierarchy of the Catholic Church and is elected Pope, a medieval legend the film presents as fact. 

Over 30% of all Junk Filter episodes are only available to patrons of the podcast. To support this show directly and to receive access to the entire back catalogue, consider becoming a patron for only $5.00 a month (U.S.) at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠patreon.com/junkfilter

Follow Jacob Bacharach on Twitter and Bluesky and visit jacobbacharach.com

Trailer #1 for Conclave (Edward Berger, 2024)

Pope Joan (the shortened cut without the modern framing device) is currently available to watch for free on YouTube!

SCTV sketch “The Man Who Would be King of the Popes”, 1977

Access this entire 70-minute episode (and additional monthly bonus shows) by becoming a Junk Filter patron for only $5.00 (US) a month! Over 30% of episodes are exclusively available to patrons of the show. ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ https://www.patreon.com/posts/205-woman-in-2-123622191

In part two of our discussion about Looking for Mr. Goodbar, Jessica and I discuss Jane Campion’s 2003 “erotic thriller” In the Cut, savaged by critics on release for its graphic portrayal of a woman’s complex sexual desires in a dangerous New York City, also based on a best-selling novel. 

It’s possible that In the Cut is Campion’s response to Mr. Goodbar, only directly from a woman’s perspective, and we talk about the sexist cruelty Meg Ryan was subjected to in the press for playing this role, and what Campion has to say about a woman’s sexuality amidst the violence of the patriarchy, and its implication of the NYPD as part of the problem, especially bold for a movie made in the wake of the 9/11 attacks.

We also discuss a fun TV movie that acts as a bridge between Mr. Goodbar and In the Cut, 1982’s Hotline, starring Lynda Carter as a young woman working at a crisis call center who finds herself playing a dangerous cat-and-mouse game with a serial killer, in a film that continually threatens to tip over into a TVM Giallo. 

Follow Jessica Ritchey on Bluesky, and support her work on Patreon.

Hotline (Jerry Jameson, 1982) is available to watch for free on YouTube. 

Trailer for In the Cut (Jane Campion, 2003)

CW: This episode contains spoilers and discussions of cinematic sexual violence. 

The film writer Jessica Ritchey returns to the show for a two-part series about two controversial films about a woman’s complex sexuality, films that took a couple of decades to be rediscovered and better understood.

In part one we discuss Richard Brooks’ 1977 drama Looking for Mr. Goodbar starring Diane Keaton, based on the popular seventies bestseller by Judith Rossner, based on the true story of a New York City schoolteacher who was murdered by a man she picked up at a singles bar. Mr. Goodbar was a major hit for Paramount upon release, but a few weeks later it was overshadowed by another Paramount release with an even bigger cultural impact and hit soundtrack, Saturday Night Fever. 

Mr. Goodbar has been hard to see properly for decades due to its reputation as a misogynist, depressing film and the extremely expensive licensing costs for its disco soundtrack, until the end of 2024 when Vinegar Syndrome unexpectedly released a limited-edition restoration. Jessica and I dig into the thorny and complex issues this film presents about a woman’s sexuality, partly due to Richard Brooks’ determination to tell a more empathetic story than the more punishing tone of Rossner’s novel (she was angered by the adaptation). Brooks may not have been the ideal person to make this film being two generations removed from the subject but nevertheless his film contains an interesting and useful critique of the patriarchy, using his understanding of New Hollywood techniques. 

Jessica and I also discuss the film’s use of music, Diane Keaton’s tremendous performance as Theresa Dunn, the depiction of all the terrible men in her life, and our responses to the shocking conclusion of the film. 

Part two of this discussion is exclusive to the Patreon feed: more about Mr. Goodbar, contrasted against a controversial 2003 film that could be seen as a feminist response to it, Jane Campion’s In the Cut, and a 1982 TV movie about a woman in danger that echoes some of these themes, Hotline starring Lynda Carter. 

To support this show directly and to receive access to the entire back catalogue, consider becoming a patron for only $5.00 a month (U.S.) at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠patreon.com/junkfilter

Follow Jessica Ritchey on Bluesky, and support her work on Patreon.

The limited edition Vinegar Syndrome release of Looking for Mr. Goodbar can be purchased here.

“Goodnight Theresa”, a YouTube playlist Jessica and I cooked up of disco songs that came out too late to be included on the Goodbar soundtrack but would have fit right in.

Trailer for Looking for Mr. Goodbar (Richard Brooks, 1977)

Gus Lanzetta returns to the podcast from São Paulo to discuss two films by the Brazilian director Walter Salles: 1998’s Central Station, starring Fernanda Montenegro, and his latest, Ainda Estou Aqui (I’m Still Here) starring Montenegro’s daughter Fernanda Torres, both Academy Award-nominated for their respective performances.

In Central Station Fernanda Montenegro gave one of the greatest screen performances of the 20th Century as Dora, a retired schoolteacher running a scam writing letters for illiterate people at Rio’s train station who winds up rescuing an orphaned boy and transporting him to the far reaches of the country to try and reunite him with his long-lost father, in a film that reaches an overwhelming emotional power.

Fernanda Torres received universal acclaim in Salles’ latest film as Eunice Palva, the wife of a former leftist congressman in Rio before the coup d'état. When he is disappeared by the secret police and she is also interrogated for weeks by the state, their happy domestic life is shattered and Eunice devotes the rest of her life to social justice work and getting the state to finally admit what they did to her husband, refusing to give in to the fear, in a film that Torres has described as a “national therapy session” for a country that would wish to ignore this period in their history.

Gus and I talk about these two acting dynamos, the Tropicalia movement, Burt Lancaster, Bugs Bunny, MF DOOM, crying at the movies, and our hopes that Brazil finally wins the first Oscar for their cinema. Is it coming home?

Over 30% of all Junk Filter episodes are only available to patrons of the podcast. To support this show directly and to receive access to the entire back catalogue, consider becoming a patron for only $5.00 a month (U.S.) at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠patreon.com/junkfilter

Follow Gus Lanzetta on Bluesky.

Listen to Gus’ podcast project that is relevant to the topic of the Brazilian dictatorship, Um Espião Silenciado (A Silenced Spy, in Portuguese)

“Fernanda Torres Has Already Won” by Seth Abramovitch, for The Hollywood Reporter, February 15, 2025

French trailer for Central Station (Walter Salles, 1998)

Brazilian trailer for Ainda Estou Aqui (Walter Salles, 2024)

International trailer for I’m Still Here (Walter Salles, 2024)

“Minha Gente” (My People), Erasmo Carlos, 1972

CW: This episode discusses cinematic sexual violence.

Violet Lucca, the author of the new monograph David Cronenberg: Clinical Trials, returns to the podcast from Brooklyn to discuss the book and his controversial 1991 adaptation of William S. Burroughs’ Naked Lunch starring Peter Weller and Judy Davis, filmed in Toronto standing in for 50s New York and Morocco, recreated by Cronenberg’s longtime production designer Carol Spier in a former General Electric plant in Toronto’s west end.

We discuss Cronenberg’s lifelong connection to Canadian cinema and the city of Toronto with digressions on Videodrome, The Dead Zone and The Fly before grappling with Naked Lunch, which is less of a literal film version of the novel and more a meditation about the life of Burroughs and what it is to be an artist in general. We also discuss Cronenberg’s cinematic explorations of paranoia and conspiracy theories, and his relationship to the queer artistic community in Canada reflected across his career, even if he’s always identified himself as a heterosexual man.

And we (briefly) contrast Naked Lunch with the new Burroughs cinematic adaptation, Luca Guadagnino’s Queer starring Daniel Craig, which we feel misses the boat on how to adapt Burroughs for the screen.

Over 30% of all Junk Filter episodes are only available to patrons of the podcast. To support this show directly and to receive access to the entire back catalogue, consider becoming a patron for only $5.00 a month (U.S.) at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠patreon.com/junkfilter

Follow Violet Lucca on Bluesky.

David Cronenberg: Clinical Trials, by Violet Lucca (Abrams Books) is now available!

City TV commercial for their public service program “Toronto the Good” (1975)

Universal Pictures' studio trailer for Videodrome (Cronenberg, 1983)

Trailer for The Dead Zone (Cronenberg, 1983)

Trailer for Naked Lunch (Cronenberg, 1991)

Trailer for Queer (Guadagnino, 2024)

Access this entire 70-minute episode (and additional monthly bonus shows) by becoming a Junk Filter patron for only $5.00 (US) a month! Over 30% of episodes are exclusively available to patrons of the show. ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ https://www.patreon.com/posts/201-michael-mann-122785625

James Slaymaker, the author of Time is Luck: The Cinema of Michael Mann, returns to the podcast for a show about Mann’s much-maligned 2015 techno-thriller starring Chris Hemsworth as a blackhat hacker named Hathaway, granted release from prison by the FBI in a secret mission between American and Chinese police to track down the leader of an international cybercrime terror organization that is remotely manipulating the stock market to cause global chaos.

Blackhat was a financial failure upon release that resulted in an eight year break between Mann’s feature film works. James and I discuss the director’s cut of the film (recently released on video) which addresses some of the theatrical cut’s issues and James makes a case for the film as a misunderstood work that anticipated some of the next decade’s concerns with technology and the real world consequences of living in a surveillance state, as Mann continues to explore the possibilities of digital cinema.

Follow James Slaymaker on Twitter.

James’ book Time is Luck: The Cinema of Michael Mann, is now available in paperback and Kindle.

Trailer #1 for Blackhat (Michael Mann, 2015)