Rotten Rewind

In 2010, Lee Daniels became the second Black director in history to be nominated for the Best Director Academy Award. That's right, the second in eight decades. Today on the podcast, we're diving into two of the history making director's two more critically maligned films: the 2005 assassin-cum-incestuous romance thriller "Shadowboxer" starring Cuba Gooding, Jr. and Helen Mirren as assassins/lovers/adopted mother and child, and the 2012 notorious Cannes Film Festival bomb, "The Paperboy" starring Nicole Kidman, Zac Efron, Matthew McConaughey, Macy Gray, and a very sweaty, slack-jawed John Cusack. We're joined by return guest Nick Laskin, who has written critically for The Playlist and Little White Lies. So turn up the AC and get ready for a sweltering double header of genre-bending melodrama and Southern Gothic thrills as we probe the singular visions of Lee Daniels.

"The Paperboy" is streaming on Kanopy and Peacock. "Shadowboxer" is available for free on YouTube.

It’s Joel Schumacher Day on the podcast! That means we’re taking a look back at two of his most maligned films that aren’t “Batman Forever” and “Batman & Robin.”

First up is the 1990 medical thriller “Flatliners,” featuring the best looking med school students you’ve ever seen in Julia Roberts, Kiefer Sutherland, Kevin Bacon and William Baldwin. After that, we’re switching reels to the 1999 Nicolas Cage-starring snuff thriller “8MM,” featuring a crop-topped Joaquin Phoenix, a sweaty, pistol licking James Gandolfini, a scene chewing Peter Stormare, and a criminally underutilized Catherine Keener in an assortment of sweaters and concerned facial expressions.

We’re joined by the very talented cinematographer and unabashed Schumacher Stan Jake Ures to discuss these two retro thrillers.

"8MM" is available to stream for free on ShowtimeAnytime. "Flatliners" is available to rent on regular streaming rental apps.

After nine long weeks submerged in the sweaty, sultry cinematic underworld of Erotic Thrillers, we've decided to host our the very first ever ICE PICK AWARDS. Dedicated to the very best and worst of Erotic Thrillers, we've asked you -- the FANS -- to help us pick the winners. So live from the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood... we present the first annual Ice Picks.

All good things must come to an end. After nine sweaty weeks of motiveless femme fatales, cucked husbands, cage fucking and nipple clamps, we're ready to say goodbye to our Erotic Thriller Summer. Thankfully, we can't think of a better film to go out on than Jane Campion's criminally underrated, misunderstood masterpiece, "In the Cut." Starring Meg Ryan in a role that was supposed to catapult her into more serious fare, along with an up and coming Mark Ruffalo in a rare performance as a scumbag, and returning podcast MVP Jennifer Jason Leigh, "In the Cut" is one of the most underrated films of the 21st century. We're joined by screenwriter, critic and co-host of Bad Romance Podcast, Jourdain Searles, to discuss this overlooked deconstruction of the infamous erotic thriller.

"In the Cut" is available to stream on all your usual rental streaming apps.

In our penultimate episode in the Erotic Thriller Summer series, we're tackling one movie this episode, but it's a special one. We're joined by special guest Olivia Willke to talk about David Cronenberg's controversial 1996 erotic thriller "Crash," a.k.a. The Car Fucking Movie. A refreshingly bonkers break from the previous films we've been discussing on the series, "Crash" was met with boo's at the Cannes Film Festival, received massive backlash from critics, and even managed to almost get banned in the U.K. So buckle up, pop a titty out, then quickly unbuckle so you can crash head-first into a celebration of proto-Bang Bus shenanigans, scar fetishes and ass eating.

"Crash" is unfortunately not streaming ANYWHERE because the world is broken. But you can find it in certain places on the world wide web.

We're making our way into the dog days of summer, which means we're at the tail-end of the Erotic Thriller Summer series. For our latest, we're gonna be traveling to the wrong side of the tracks to see what a couple of 90s bad boy hunks are up to. First up, we're diving into the lesser-known Rebecca DeMornay stalker thriller, "Never Talk to Strangers," featuring a shirtless, ponytailed Antonio Banderas and a whole lot of cage fucking. After that, we're going back to Seattle for another early 90s grunge-influenced teen thriller, this one starring a very young Reese Witherspoon and absolutely shredded Mark Wahlberg as the crack-smoking bad boy after her heart and her father's fragile masculinity. This week, we're joined by our very first return guest! The always hilarious and charming Johnny Langan is back to talk about Bush, creepy overprotective fathers, shit-scribbled threats, and our least favorite returning actor, Dennis Miller.

"Fear" is streaming on Peacock and Showtime Anytime. "Never Talk to Strangers" is available to rent on the usual rental streaming platforms.

In 1983, director Jim McBride set his sights on remaking one of the most iconic and influential films of all time - Jean-Luc Godard's 1960 gangster romance "Breathless." Updating the film to a seedy Los Angeles of the early 1980s, McBride teamed with Richard Gere to reimagine the classic through the tropes of erotic thrillers, using a colorful, Robby Muller inspired palette. We're teaming that up with another obscure remake of a beloved French classic, 1996's "Diabolique" starring podcast all-star Sharon Stone, Isabelle Adjani, Kathy Bates and 90s scumlord Chazz Palminterri. You might not have known these remakes existed until today, and we're here to fill you in on all the lurid, unnecessary liberties the directors took in adapting two classics. We're also joined by special guest Eli Mann to discuss these strange curiosities.

"Breathless" is available to rent at your local video store (if they're open) and "Diabolique" is available to rent on iTunes, Fandango, all the usual suspects. You can also stream both the originals on The Criterion Channel.

At the halfway point of our Erotic Thriller Summer series, we're taking a deeply uncomfortable dive into the teenage canon of the erotic thriller genre. Starting with Katt Shea's 1992 grunge thriller "Poison Ivy," starring a young Drew Barrymore and finishing with the 1993 Alicia Silverstone breakout "The Crush," we'll be discussing drunk dads, fake tattoos, the obliviousness of young male directors in the genre, and the bonkers American accent of Cary Elwes. This week, we're joined by special guest, Clara Cuccaro, on this descent into jailbait hell.

"The Crush" is streaming on Peacock, Hoopla and Shout Factory TV.

"Poison Ivy" is unavailable to stream on any legal platforms.

This week, we're joined by SUNY film professor Macy Todd to discuss two infamous -- for very different reasons -- 90s female in distress thrillers: Barbet Schroeder's "Single White Female" starring Bridget Fonda and podcast MVP Jennifer Jason Leigh, as well as another Joe Eszterhas/Sharon Stone 90s collab, "Slither." Would you risk it all for your gorgeous, rent-controlled apartment in New York? Is Jennifer Jason Leigh the most underrated actress we have? Why is "bimbo" Joe Eszterhas's favorite word? Is William Baldwin the worst Baldwin? There's only one way to find out, and we promise this is less painful than reading Joe Eszterhas's autobiography.

"Single White Female" is available to rent on iTunes and most rental streaming platforms. "Slither" is streaming for free on Hulu and in in Joe Eszterhas's nightmares.