Cinema Smorgasbord

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All aboard! We choo-choo-choose you on this episode of CINEMA SMORGASBORD SELLS OUT and we're checking out the 2025 drama TRAIN DREAMS starring Joel Edgerton, with Felicity Jones, Kerry Condon, and William H. Macy! Based on the beloved novella Denis Johnson, we follow 80 years of the life of Robert Grainier, a logger (and later hermit) who faces love, loss, triumph and tragedy at the turn of the 20th century. BUT IS IT ANY GOOD? I guess we'll talk about it until we reach a conclusion.Read more

Praising Kane

Episode 302 – Praising Kane – License to Drive (1988)

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On the latest PRAISING KANE we're diving into the fraught history of the two Coreys (Haim and Feldman) with the 1988 teen comedy classic(?) LICENSE TO DRIVE, featuring car chases, a hip drive-in restaurant, scary driving tests (/w James Avery), Richard Masur, Billy Ocean's "Get Outta My Dreams, Get into My Car" and OF COURSE the wonderful Carol Kane. We also chat about the upcoming short documentary CAROL & JOY which should be available to watch RIGHT NOW on the Criterion Channel. Enjoy!Read more

Wild In The Streets

Episode 301 – Wild in the Streets – Weapons of Death (1977)

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We're getting WILD IN THE STREETS with Henry Silva (/w some other guy's voice) in Mario Caiano's WEAPONS OF DEATH from 1977. Trying desperately to seem like a sequel to the previous year's VIOLENT NAPLES, this one has Leonard Mann as Commissioner Belli, a cop on the edge trying to track down rogue mob boss Santoro (Henry Silva) while also helping out a precocious/annoying kid named Gennarino. Thankfully this one has a trick up its sleeve: EXTREME VIOLENCE (thanks to Fulci makeup favorite Gino De Rossi), and a few solid action scenes (car chases! Pool hall fights! Piano wire decapitation!) to keep things moving. It's not bad, but is it.. good? Listen and find out!Read more

We Do Our Own Stunts

Episode 300 – We Do Our Own Stunts – Twinkle Twinkle, Lucky Stars (1985)

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It's the 300th(!!!!) episode of Cinema Smorgasbord! Now, normally we would do a big, special celebratory episode, but.. uh.. I forgot it was coming up so instead we're back with those pervy Lucky Stars goofballs as they travel to Thailand for some trademark misadventures/sexual harassment. Thankfully these sequences are intercut with some of the most incredible action sequences of the era featuring (naturally) Jackie Chan and Yuen Biao (and also Andy Lau, Richard Norton, Lau Kar-wing, Dick Wei, Philip Ko, and Yasuaki Kurata!). Michelle Yeoh even pops up briefly. It's a tale of two movies in 1985's TWINKLE TWINKLE, LUCKY STARS. Enjoy!Read more

How Do You Do Fellow Kids?

Episode 299 – How Do You Do, Fellow Kids? – Parting Glances (1986)

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On a returning HOW DO YOU DO, FELLOW KIDS? (the world's finest Steve Buscemi-themed podcast) we're heading back to the past with Bill Sherwood's gay romantic drama PARTING GLANCES from 1986, featuring Steve Buscemi's breakout performance as Nick, an HIV-positive rock musician. Two straight dudes talking about a pioneering queer work? It happened! Now you can hear it and all the latest Steve Buscemi news. Enjoy!Read more

Halloween Horror Special

Episode 298 – Halloween Horror Special – Working Class Goes to Hell (2023) & Black Eyed Susan (2024)

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It's the 2025 Cinema Smorgasbord HALLOWEEN HORROR SPECIAL and as usual we're taking a look at two underloved horror (or, in this case, horror adjacent) films that deserve a little more attention. We start with the Serbian 2023 socio-political satire WORKING CLASS GOES TO HELL from LIFE AND DEATH OF A PORNO GANG director Mladen Djordjević about a group of exploited workers who turn to Satan for some help battling corrupt businessmen and political leaders. We follow that up with Scooter McCrae's BLACK EYED SUSAN, which features Yvonne Emilie Thälker as a sex doll designed for punishment, and tackles some iffy moral questions about the future of artificial intelligence and.. Hey! This isn't very spooky at all! Oops! Read more

George Kennedy is my Copilot

Episode 297 – George Kennedy is My Copilot – The Delta Force (1986) (and Murder on Location – Part 2)

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On the last stirring episode of GEORGE KENNEDY IS MY COPILOT we covered the first half of the George Kennedy-penned mystery novel MURDER ON LOCATION and on this episode.. WE REACH THE END! Who is the killer? What is their motivation? Does George Kennedy get an Oscar? All will be revealed! And then we talk about the odd disaster movie/jingoistic action movie hybrid THE DELTA FORCE from 1986 starring Chuck Norris and Lee Marvin (and also George Kennedy). ENJOY!Read more

Cinema Smorgasbord Sells Out

Episode 296 – Cinema Smorgasbord Sells Out – One Battle After Another (2025) (/w Luke Higginson)

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When Paul Thomas Anderson drops one of the year's most anticipated movies you know THE BOYS gotta get their opinions down on.. uh.. tape, so on this episode of CINEMA SMORGASBORD SELLS OUT we're watching the lengthy action thriller ONE BATTLE AFTER ANOTHER! But this three hour epic about an ex-revolutionary stumbling his way through a search for his daughter requires EXTRA FIREPOWER so we've been joined by the great RELAX, I'M FROM THE FUTURE director Luke Higginson to talk about the triumphs, controversies and everything else tied to PTA's triumphant return. Listen!Read more

Eric Roberts is the Man Redux

Episode 295 – Eric Roberts is the Man – Nobody’s Fool (1986) (/w Dan Gorman)

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We're back in CLASSIC ERIC ROBERTS era with the darkly comedic romantic drama NOBODY'S FOOL from 1986 featuring Rosanna Arquette as a quirky, traumatized waitress who finds her life turned upside-down when a troupe of Shakespearean actors arrive in her small Arizona town, including a handsome, equally messed up stagehand played by - wait for it - ERIC ROBERTS. There's plenty of odd charm, thanks to a strong script from Pulitzer Prize-winner Beth Henley, and a great supporting cast including Mare Winningham, Louise Fletcher and Stephen Tobolowsky! We're joined by NOBODY'S FOOL superfan Dan Gorman, making his long-awaited return, and the show is JAM-PACKED with the latest Eric Roberts news. ENJOY!Read more

Serpent's Path: The Films of Kiyoshi Kurosawa

Episode 294 – Serpent’s Path: The Films of Kiyoshi Kurosawa – Sweet Home (1989) & The Guard From Underground (1992)

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After a bumpy and controversial start to his career, that bumpiness would continue for Kiyoshi Kurosawa with 1989's SWEET HOME, a unique videogame/film collaboration that is colorful, entertaining and full of goopy FX by the legendary Dick Smith, but after a post-theatrical re-edit things would go sour between Kurosawa and producer Juzo Itami. It would be a few more years before Kurosawa would direct another feature, returning with the slasher-y office thriller THE GUARD FROM UNDERGROUND which has a number of hints at what would become his trademark style. Let's check it out!Read more

Praising Kane

Episode 293 – Praising Kane – Sticky Fingers (1988)

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2025 is the YEAR OF CAROL KANE! From Star Trek to It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia to a documentary about her relationship with her mother (CAROL &JOY, coming soon!), to appearing in the latest Darren Aronofsky movie, it's a busy time in the world of PRAISING KANE and we're loving it. We break down all the latest news on this episode, followed by a look at the strange Caitlin Adams-directed crime-comedy STICKY FINGERS starring Helen Slater and Melanie Mayron as two down-on-their-luck street musicians who are saddled with a bag containing almost a million dollars! With supporting turns from Christopher Guest, Eileen Brennan, Stephen McHattie and - of course - CAROL KANE! Enjoy!Read more

Wild In The Streets

Episode 292 – Wild in the Streets – Bloody Payroll (aka Violent Milan) (1976)

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Two gang members pull a double cross on Claudio Cassinelli's Raul Montalbani after a bank robbery in Mario Caiano's occasionally spirited 1976 film BLOODY PAYROLL (aka VIOLENT MILAN). BIG MISTAKE! Cassinelli spends most of the film tracking them down to get a little revenge, helped by the sympathetic sex worker Leila. It's bookended by some terrific action (especially the car and motorcycle chases in the first thirty minutes, but then settles down into some Noir-ish score settling buoyed by a terrific, jazzy soundtrack. But what did we think? CHECK IT OUT!Read more

Further Reeding

Episode 291 – Further Reeding – Z.P.G. (1972)

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Your Oliver Reed-loving pals are BACK on a brand new episode of FURTHER REEDING and we're checking out the filmed-in-Denmark 1972 science fiction oddity Z.P.G., where Reed and Geraldine Chaplin play a couple in a dystopian near-future where childbirth has been outlawed. Instead people cling onto weird child-like automatons while slowing losing their minds and eating steak-flavored paste. That's good eating! When Chaplin's Carol decides she wants to have a baby anyway things get.. pretty goofy, especially when the neighbors discover the couple's not-very-well-hidden secret. It's strange! Check it out!Read more

Bartel Me Something Good

Episode 290 – Bartel Me Something Good – Hollywood Boulevard (1976)

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Uh oh! The gang is back talking all things Paul Bartel on another episode of BARTEL ME SOMETHING GOOD and this time not only are we yacking about 1976's HOLLYWOOD BOULEVARD, the made-for-a-bet directing debut of both Joe Dante AND Alan Arkush (and featuring Paul Bartel, Dick Miller and Mary Woronov among many other familiar faces), but we also start with a very special episode of Alfred Hitchcock Presents from 1985 directed by Tim Burton(!), featuring music by Danny Elfman(!) and starring Griffin Dunne, Laraine Newman and - wait for it - Paul Bartel as a pretentious art critic. It's even.. uh.. sort of an adaptation of a Ray Bradbury story. All that and so much more, so enjoy!Read more

How Do You Do Fellow Kids?

Episode 289 – How Do You Do, Fellow Kids? – The Last Outlaw (1993)

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One this rootin'-tootin' episode of HOW DO YOU DO, FELLOW KIDS? we're checking out the made-for-HBO western THE LAST OUTLAW from 1993 featuring a murderer's row of early 90s character actors: Mickey Rourke, Dermot Mulroney, Ted Levine, John C. McGinley, Keith David and - of course - Steve Buscemi! Not only that, it was written by Eric Red (who wrote THE HITCHER and NEAR DARK) and directed by THE QUIET EARTH/YOUNG GUNS II/FREEJACK's Geoff Murphy and features plenty of ultra-violence in a (transparently) WILD BUNCH-inspired revenge tale. All THAT and the latest Steve Buscemi news!Read more

Cinema Smorgasbord Sells Out

Episode 288 – Cinema Smorgasbord Sells Out – Eddington (2025)

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We're selling out ONCE AGAIN with Ari Aster's controversial neo-western thriller black comedy EDDINGTON, starring Joaquin Phoenix as sheriff Joe Cross, who runs for mayor against Pedro Pascal's Ted Garcia in a small New Mexico town during the early days of the Covid-19 pandemic. It's sometimes uncomfortable, occasionally hilarious, and has some real bite - though some audiences didn't know what to make of it. On this episode we go through some recent watches, discuss the Ari Aster films we've seen so far, and then have the DEFINITIVE conversation about EDDINGTON (with some warning before any spoiler talk). Enjoy!Read more

We Do Our Own Stunts

Episode 287 – We Do Our Own Stunts – The Protector (1985)

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For the final time (until his real breakthrough a decade later), Golden Harvest is trying to make Jackie Chan a star in the U.S. and they've signed up U.S. exploitation film director James Glickenhaus to transform Chan into a high kicking Charles Bronson in 1985's THE PROTECTOR. Playing a hard-nosed New York City cop teamed with Danny Aiello, Chan swears and shoots through a blood revenge film, but then - thoroughly displeased with the experience - he went and added a bunch of new scenes for the Hong Kong release. On this episode of WE DO OUR OWN STUNTS we look at Jackie Chan's frustrations, the good (and bad) of each release and WHICH REIGNS SUPREME. Enjoy!Read more

Episode 286 – Serpent’s Path: The Films of Kiyoshi Kurosawa – Kandagawa Pervert Wars (1983) & Bumpkin Soup (1985)

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It's the PREMIERE episode of our new limited series SERPENT'S TAIL: THE FILMS OF KIYOSHI KUROSAWA and on this episode we discuss why we chose the filmmaker as our subject, our (limited) experience with his work, a bit about his background and dive into his first two features: 1983's KANDAGAWA PERVERT WARS and 1985's BUMPKIN SOUP (aka THE EXCITEMENT OF THE DO-RE-MI-FA GIRL). Both films have a unique mix of eroticism and surrealism, and are a world away from the films we most closely associated with Kurosawa. Enjoy! Read more

You Don't Know Dick

Episode 285 – You Don’t Know Dick – Rock All Night (1957) (/w Alan Cerny)

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On this long-awaited episode of YOU DON'T KNOW DICK we're joined by film critic extraordinaire Alan Cerny to discuss the life and career of actor Dick Miller, starting with a cut sequence (directed by Joe Dante) from the film AMAZON WOMEN ON THE MOON featuring Dick as a beleagured ventriloquist, and finishing up with a lengthy look at the 1957 Roger Corman classic ROCK ALL NIGHT! We discuss its soundtrack (featuring The Platters and The Blockbusters), the attempted remake by Quentin Tarantino and Dick Miller's incredible performance as guy with the biggest chip on his shoulder imaginable. Check it out!Read more

Episode 303 – Cinema Smorgasbord Sells Out – Train Dreams (2025)

Episode 302 – Praising Kane – License to Drive (1988)

Episode 301 – Wild in the Streets – Weapons of Death (1977)

Episode 300 – We Do Our Own Stunts – Twinkle Twinkle, Lucky Stars (1985)

Episode 299 – How Do You Do, Fellow Kids? – Parting Glances (1986)

Episode 297 – George Kennedy is My Copilot – The Delta Force (1986) (and Murder on Location – Part 2)

Episode 296 – Cinema Smorgasbord Sells Out – One Battle After Another (2025) (/w Luke Higginson)

Episode 295 – Eric Roberts is the Man – Nobody’s Fool (1986) (/w Dan Gorman)

Episode 294 – Serpent’s Path: The Films of Kiyoshi Kurosawa – Sweet Home (1989) & The Guard From Underground (1992)

Episode 293 – Praising Kane – Sticky Fingers (1988)

Episode 292 – Wild in the Streets – Bloody Payroll (aka Violent Milan) (1976)

Episode 291 – Further Reeding – Z.P.G. (1972)

Episode 290 – Bartel Me Something Good – Hollywood Boulevard (1976)

Episode 289 – How Do You Do, Fellow Kids? – The Last Outlaw (1993)

Episode 287 – We Do Our Own Stunts – The Protector (1985)

Episode 286 – Serpent’s Path: The Films of Kiyoshi Kurosawa – Kandagawa Pervert Wars (1983) & Bumpkin Soup (1985)

Episode 285 – You Don’t Know Dick – Rock All Night (1957) (/w Alan Cerny)

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