Panic Fest 2026 is almost upon us! Last year, Panic Fest was one of the highlights of our year. We had an incredible time taking in new features and shorts as well as getting to know and spend time with some wonderful people (Listen to our Recap Episode rom last year for more)!

Hope to see you there, if you're in the neighborhood!

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Happy Don't Believe Anything You Read On The Internet Day, everyone!

Today we continue our April Fool's Day tradition of covering a silly movie (and then realizing that it's got more substance than audiences may think at first). 20 years ago Trey Parker and Matt Stone were pissed off at how America was recklessly engaging in conflicts around the world and decided to express their frustrations with puppets and some incredible action set pieces. If only that was relevant now...

Joining us this episode is Justin LaLiberty of Vinegar Syndrome, OCN Distribution, and Cinématographe. He's been in and around the film industry for decades and has been a fan of the South Park guys since the beginning so he was the perfect guest for this!

In this episode we discuss:

• Justin's background in film
• His first time seeing the South Park movie at summer camp (at the drive in with American Pie as the double bill)
• How Team America is one of the last big studio action spectacles of its era
• The difference between comedy that's offensive and juvenile vs. mean
• Art as activism
• Puppet sex and puke
• Meeting David Byrne
• and MORE!

Substantive Cinema Episode List

Shoutouts:

Badge 373 (Letterboxd)

Office Killer (Letterboxd)

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Letterboxd

Vinegar Syndrome

New Releases

Physical Media Corner:

The Birthday

Peking Opera Blues

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On this episode we reflect on the reality that we must die, and in order to live we also must love. And it's a discussion on (ostensibly) a zombie movie that a 20+ year later legacy sequel!

When the teaser trailer for 28 Years Later dropped, it seemed clear that the film wouldn't be a safe, mindless retread of previous material looking to cash in on fan nostalgia. It was visually striking, poetic, foreboding, and promised a dark, brutal world that not only has experienced a viral outbreak, but has evolved to, as much as people collectively can, live with it. Danny Boyle and Alex Garland were cooking up something special and we couldn't wait! The result was not only a commercial success but a beautifully touching coming of age story that hits on several substantive themes.

Joining us for this episode is film journalist Brandon Streussnig. Brandon has written for outlets like Vulture, The Ringer, GQ, Inverse, Men's & Women's Health, Letterboxd Journal, The AV Club, The Playlist, Polygon, Fangoria, Paste, The Film Stage, In Review Online, AwardsWatch, and others. He's also contributed to physical media releases from folks like Vinegar Syndrome, Radiance, Umbrella, IFC, Kino, and Arrow Video. In this episode we cover things like

• Brandon's journey into being a full time film journalist
• His experience seeing the film early in order to interview the director
• The incredible soundtrack from Young Fathers
• Anthony Dod Mantle's gorgeous cinematography
• Brandon's real time consideration of the follow up, 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple
• The way cinema invites us to spiritual considerations regardless of personal beliefs
• Film Twitter's Miami Vice ordeal from a few years ago (that culminated in a screening a listener attended and emailed about!)
• and MORE!

Letterboxd List of Substantive Cinema Episodes

Brandon's interview with Danny Boyle

Shoutout:

Sophy Romvari's Blue Heron

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Interview with Undertone director Ian Tuason

The Stunt Man

The Cat

Physical Media Corner:

She Shoots Straight (88 Films)

Song of the Miraculous Hind (Deaf Crocodile)

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We are creeping up on Episode 200 so we sat down with (former) Editor Dave to talk about the State of The Substance as well as doing a bit of a spiritual check in as we look back on the road that has lead us here and look forward to where we are headed post #200!

Shoutouts:

Wake Up Dead Man

The Wild Robot

Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir

The Weight by Melissa Mendes

28 Years Later: The Bone Temple

Laurie Strode Trap House podcast

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NEXT EPISODE: 28 Years Later featuring Brandon Streussnig

Watch along and use tag "substantive cinema" when logging on Letterboxd and we may read your review on the show!

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***I don't like doing disclaimers on episodes and this one isn't totally filthy or anything but there is some explicit dialogue in the film that we discuss, so if you listen in the car with other people or whatever, you've been warned***

"This is the way the world ends. Not with a whimper, but with a bang."

There are a handful of movies that I've specifically wanted to cover on the show from the very beginning and today we're checking a big one off of the list. Richard Kelly blew up on the scene with his debut feature Donnie Darko. It was a massive cult hit that earned him the attention and favor of both audiences and filmmakers. So much so that he was allowed to make one of the wildest (complimentary) movies of the aughts, with an absolutely stacked cast of stars like Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, Sean William Scott, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Mandy Moore, and Justin Timberlake as well as several SNL alumni (and Will Sasso). The plot of the film is hard to convey briefly (thought Kev does a wonderful job at the top of our discussion) but suffice it to say it's about post 9/11 America and the ways we may destroy ourselves.

Joining us for this discussion are Kev and Anna Ghoul from the phenomenal new podcast Laurie Strode Trap House, a show about friendship and horror in the 21st century. Go check the out!

Blah blah blah follow or subscribe to the show so new episodes pop on your feed and hit the 5 star button if you think we deserve it!

Substantive Cinema Letterboxd List

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Hey there, we intended to get this episode published last month but life and *waves hands at everything going on in the US* got in the way. HOWEVER! This was an encouraging conversation and a great way to orient ourselves as we kick off a new year under an oppressive, malicious, and very dumb empire.

Kat Armas is is a Cuban American writer, speaker, and theologian from Miami, FL. She holds a ThM from Vanderbilt Divinity School, and a dual MDiv and MAT from Fuller Theological Seminary where she was awarded the Frederick Buechner Award for Excellence in Writing. She is also a very thoughtful writer and a great hang. Topics included on this episode:

• The way Empire trades mystery and memory for conformity
• Her book dedication on LfRE
• Advent and how the Incarnation relates to what she's been thinking and writing about lately
• Her love of reading and horror movies
• and MORE!

Check out her upcoming stops on her book tour and take some friends to see her when she's in your area!

Buy Liturgies For Resisting Empire (30% off & Free Shipping rn!)

Listen on Libby through your local library

Shoutouts:

The Correspondents

Tell Me Everything

Alien series

Small Things Like These

Children of Men

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They said it couldn't be done but here we are, getting in our Christmas episode riiiiight before the big day!

A few years ago Alexander Payne's The Holdovers made a big splash and became an instant Christmas classic to many. The film follows professor Paul Hunham (Paul Giamatti) as he is forced to look after the students without anywhere to go over Christmas break. Through a series of events he bonds with a talented but mischievous student played by Dominic Sessa, in an incredible debut performance, and the school's head cook (Da'Vine Joy Randolph) who just lost her son.

Joining us for this conversation is friend of the show Marta Djordjevic. We cover many things including:

• Dream Criterion Collection titles
• The beauty of New England in the winter
• How Payne and cinematographer Eigil Bryld masterfully evoke 1970s cinema
• The way the whole film is shaped by the underlying realities of class, race, and economic disparity
• Layers of meaning that are revealed in repeat viewings
• How funny the movie is
• and MORE!

We hope you enjoy the film and our discussion! If you do, be sure to tell a friend 😃

List of Substantive Cinema Episodes

Watch along with us on Letterboxd and tag your reviews "substantive cinema" so that we can se them and engage with them on future episodes!

Shoutouts:

Malpertuis

La Vie De Boheme

The Timekeepers of Eternity

Highest 2 Lowest

Open Throat by Henry Hoke

Follow Marta:

Rewind and Revive

Recent Projection Booth Episode

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Enjoy this feed drop from earlier this year when host Philip Marinello joined Mike White and Robert Bellissimo on The Projection Booth to talk about the underseen Palme d'Or winning 1962 film O Pagador de Promessas.

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"Do you read Sutter Cane?!"

We're back in your feeds with another underrated banger from one of the all time Masters of Horror™. John Carpenter's In the Mouth of Madness is an absolute thrill ride and since Arrow Video has released what we hear is a gorgeous new 4K we figured it was time talk about one of his best (and most slept on) movies.

We are excited to be joined by Derrick (simi.views on all the socials) for his first appearance on the show as he's beginning to really get into Carpenter's work. When we just saw him log this highly on Letterboxd we thought this was a perfect fit and we weren't wrong as this was a wonderful conversation!

On this episode we discuss:

• Our journeys so far with Carpenter's work
• Physical media we have been enjoying lately
• The state of film scholarship in the age of social media
• How JC's less is more approach to showing the overt horrors here was so effective
• Sam Neill's perfect casting
• The power of the film despite its memeification
• How Carpenter's work feels more powerful year after year
• and MORE!

Substantive Cinema Episode List

Shoutouts:

Tsukamoto Box Set

Kotoko

Cloud

The Cat

Breathe In, Bleed Out

Takeout (Tubi, sponsor the show!)

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Instagram

Letterboxd

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We are back! Had big plans for Spooky Season this year but health, vehicle nonsense, family, and general exhaustion at the state of things in the US had other plans. It was an absolute pleasure talking with Clark Collis about his new book Screaming and Conjuring on the last episode and to follow it up we've brought back an incredible guest and we're diving back into the work of one of the undisputed Masters of Horror™.

A few years ago we covered Romero's debut film and foundational masterpiece The Night of the Living Dead with Filmspotting's Josh Larsen. Romero's Dead movies are something we'd like to revisit sometime here at The Substance but today we're looking at a long hidden gem from early in his career that only recently became widely available, The Amusement Park.

Commissioned by The Lutheran Society of Western Pennsylvania as a PSA on the perils of aging in America (especially as a non wealthy White), Romero decided to boldly make the project his own and instead of an after school special with talking heads discussing the difficulties that our senior neighbors face, he turned in something surreal and terrifying. With minimal dialogue the film conjures up the horrors of aging in an individualistic capitalist society: steep economic cost, difficulties with transportation, not being taken seriously by the general public, red tape accessing medical care, predatory assisted living facilities, and more. It's not a fun time but it's a visceral experience and one that stirs up questions worth asking related to what we owe to our more elderly neighbors.

And we are delighted to be joined by Dale_A from the Bat & Spider podcast. Next time we have him back for something more uplifting!

Substantive Cinema List

Shoutouts:

John Carpenter soundtracks

True Indie by Don Coscarelli

Bat & Spider Episode #250 Phantasm Extravaganza

One Cut of the Dead

Follow Dale:

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Bat and Spider Podcast

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