A quick update on an upcoming absence

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"The Year's Wildest, Wittiest Whirlwind of a Love Battle... Outrageously Racy... Sparkling... Gay!"

Bella Zaydenberg returns to the show to talk about the beloved Howard Hawks screwball comedy, His Girl Friday (1940). We'll talk about journalism, rom-coms, and weddngs.

Wait, weddings? Why weddings? Listen to find the worst kept secret in the history of our show!

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In this episode, Dr. Will Dodson joins us to take a look at Eaux d'Artifice, an early inductee in the registry from avant-garde legend Kenneth Anger. We discuss why the seemingly tranquil film has a lot going on beneath the surface (including the salacious) and tackle an overview of the controversial provocateur's whole film-making career to determine whether Eaux d'Artifice's subversive subtext was missed by the Registry's selection board, or if that was precisely why they picked it.

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"Dead men tell no tales!"

For this episode, we've recorded a feature length commentary track for the big-budget blockbuster that solidified Douglas Fairbanks' Hollywood immortality, 1926's The Black Pirate. Watch our upload on YouTube (in its original colorized version, done at Fairbanks' insistence), sync it up with your own copy, or just listen along as producer Kyle Lampar takes the lead to discuss his admiration for Hollywood's original swashbuckling action star.

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"Time...marches on..."

Josh Shepperd, author of Shadow of the New Deal, joins the show to talk about the powerful propaganda piece Inside Nazi Germany, an installment of the influential newsreel series The March of Time. The first major Hollywood film to take an explicitly anti-Nazi stance, the short stands as a testament to the power of the visual medium during wartime, and its ability to both present, and manipulate, the truth.

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"Keep your friends close, but your enemies closer"

"A rock? These little bears are nuts"

That's right, folks. It's a Patrick Cotnoir episode. This time, for his fifth appearance, we're talking The Godfather Part II, and...some Ewok movie. Nobody is really sure which one, honestly. It's been five years of this, guys. You know what you're getting here.

Keep up with what Patrick is doing here

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"I know something about this dog. She's going somewhere - she's on her way."

Hunter Robinson, the host of the Tumbleweeds and TV Cowboys podcast, joins the show to talk about one of the biggest movie stars in cinema history. No, not John Wayne, it's Lassie.

We'll talk about the massive Lassie franchise, the dog star at the heart of the film, and even share a personal family connection to the four-legged hero of Hollywood.

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This week, our hosts bridge the gap between Cat People and Lassie Come Home with an informal conversation about animal folklore and animal companions in film. 

Plus, Mike sits down with Roye Okupe, the creator of Iyanu, the graphic novel and hit animated series on Cartoon Network and HBO Max. 

We'll be back to our regular format next week!

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“I like the dark. It's friendly.” – Cat People (1942)

This week, we turn the lights low with special guest Rebecca Rozenberg, Publicity Manager at Simon & Schuster, who brings insight honed from working with bestselling authors and deep industry experience. Together, we dive into Jacques Tourneur and Val Lewton’s Cat People, a landmark psychological horror film that uses suggestion, shadow, and sound to terrify far more than it shows.

Rebecca helps us unpack how this low-budget classic redefined horror through restraint, atmosphere, and subtext, and why its themes of transformation, identity, and repression still echo today. Cat People continues to loom large over genre filmmaking and remains revered for its chilling economy.

Cat People (1942) directed by Jacques Tourneur and produced by Val Lewton

Starring: Simone Simon, Kent Smith, and Tom Conway

Notable for:

• Introducing the famous “Lewton Bus” jump scare technique
• Masterful use of lighting and sound to build suspense and psychological dread
• Themes of sexuality, isolation, and metamorphosis explored with subtlety

Discussion points include:

• How Cat People shaped modern psychological horror and inspired filmmakers
• The importance of suggestion over explicit imagery in genre storytelling
• Simone Simon’s haunting performance and the film’s layered subtext
• The collaborative vision of Val Lewton and Tourneur in creating minimalist horror

Featuring special guest: Rebecca Rozenberg, Publicity Manager at Simon & Schuster

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“He was the most trigger-happy man I had ever met.” – Badlands (1973)

This week, we hit the open road with guest Tom Augustine to explore Terrence Malick’s stunning debut, Badlands. Based loosely on the real-life killing spree of Charles Starkweather and Caril Ann Fugate, the film casts Martin Sheen and Sissy Spacek as drifting outsiders caught between detachment and violence, beauty and brutality.

With its lyrical narration, haunting imagery, and philosophical detachment, Badlands marked the arrival of a singular voice in American cinema. Tom joins us to discuss Malick’s influence, the film’s unsettling calm, and how it carved a new path for the American New Wave.

Episode Notes

• Badlands (1973) was written and directed by Terrence Malick, starring Martin Sheen and Sissy Spacek
• Selected to the National Film Registry in 1993
• Loosely inspired by the 1958 Starkweather-Fugate murders

Discussion topics include:

• How Badlands redefined the true-crime genre
• The film’s romanticized nihilism and its critique of American mythmaking
• The influence of Badlands on later filmmakers and Malick’s own career
• Sissy Spacek’s voiceover and the use of classical music as emotional counterpoint

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Music by Mike Natale