Episode 244 – Praising Kane – Transylvania 6-5000 (1985)

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It’s the SPOOOoooOOOkiest month, so why not check out the surprisingly un-spooky (and, honestly, pretty unfunny) TRANSYLVANIA 6-5000 on the world’s finest chronological Carol Kane podcast PRAISING KANE? Starring Jeff Goldblum and Ed Begley Jr. as two hapless tabloid reporters forced to go to Transylvania to work on a story about monster sightings, the film has supporting performances from Joseph Bologna, John Byner, Michael Richards, Jeffrey Jones (ugh), an extremely underutilized Geena Davis and – of course – Carol Kane! Directed by frequent Mel Brooks collaborator Rudy De Luca and bankrolled by the Dow chemical company (?) it’s plenty weird. How weird? Let’s find out!

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Episode 241 – We Do Our Own Stunts – Winners & Sinners (1983)

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CUT THE CRAP! We’re post-American excursion and post-Lo Wei scraps and things are about to POP OFF with the first of the Five Lucky Stars series WINNERS & SINNERS starring Sammo Hung, Richard Ng, Charlie Chin, Stanley Fung and John Shum. Oh, and Jackie Chan is here as well, reconnecting with his “big brother” (and Yuen Biao in a tiny part) for the first time in years and transitioning to martial arts/comedy hybrids with higher production values and bigger stunts. This one might lean a bit TOO heavily on the comedy, but you get roller skating stunts, car stunts, and some dynamite action to whet your appetite for what’s to come. Enjoy!

Here’s the Winners & Sinners outtakes:

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Episode 238 – Wild in the Streets – The Suspicious Death of a Minor (1975)

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Claudio Cassinelli plays a man on the edge in Sergio Martino’s unique eurocrime oddity THE SUSPICIOUS DEATH OF A MINOR which mixes comedic elements, the elaborate (and stylish) murder sequences from the popular giallo films of the time – including a knock-off Goblin-style score almost as good as the real thing – and the usual Poliziotteschi trappings of the era to create something a bit scattershot, but totally unique. Filled with odd flourishes and bizarre choices, it’s equally confusing and enthralling – just like our hosts! Check it out!

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Episode 235 – Bartel Me Something Good – The Comic Strip Presents: Demonella (1993) & Clueless Episodes (1996)

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On this episode of BARTEL ME SOMETHING GOOD (the world’s finest Paul Bartel-themed podcast) we’re finishing up the directorial career of Paul Bartel with some television odds & sods! First up are two episodes of the TV show CLUELESS, based on the popular 1995 film starring Alicia Silverstone. This 1996 series is a cut above the sitcoms of the time and brought along a surprising amount of the film’s cast, and not only has Paul Bartel behind the camera.. but in front of it as well, playing a crusty old principal in one of the episodes! Then we talk about an interesting rarity; an episode of the British alternative comedy anthology series THE COMIC STRIP PRESENTS directed and co-written by Paul Bartel called DEMONELLA, starring a whole slew of familiar faces in the realm of UK comedy, including Adrian Edmonson, Jennifer Saunders, Robbie Coltrane and a beardless Paul Bartel playing Oscar Wilde! Listen and enjoy!

Check out The Comic Strip Presents: Demonella right here:

Check out Clueless, Season 1, Episode 5 “We Shall Overpack” right here:

Check out Clueless, Season 1, Episode 8 “Cher Inc.” right here:

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Episode 234 – Praising Kane – The Secret Diary of Sigmund Freud (1984) & Tales From The Darkside Season 1, Episode 14 ‘Snip Snip’

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Who loves Bud Cort? We (being the hosts of Praising Kane, the world’s most beloved Carol Kane-themed podcast) do! On this episode we’re doing a FULL CORT PRESS with not one but TWO Kane/Cort pairings (and some bonus Bud in the news section). We start with a spooky episode of 80s anthology favorite Tales From the Darkside putting Cort against Kane in a light-hearted magic battle. Then we move onto the startlingly unfunny 1984 comedy THE SECRET DIARY OF SIGMUND FREUD featuring Cort as Freud, Kane as his (eventual) wife and some of the most disturbing IMDB trivia involving Klaus Kinski you’re likely to ever hear! Can you resist listening after all that? NOPE!

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Episode 230 – Eric Roberts is the Man – Amityville Bigfoot (2024) (/w Cranfather)

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ERIC ROBERTS IS THE MAN returns and this episode is packed with NEWS, SURPRISES and 2024’s AMITYVILLE BIGFOOT, which features a Sasquatch squirting toxic milk out of its nipples (among other things). We’re helped along this rocky road by The Nu Metal Agenda Podcast’s Cranfather, who assists us in breaking down all the latest Eric Roberts news and social media posts and immediately regrets his decision to choose this film for us to watch. We forgive him! A fun time was had by all, so let’s listen!

Find Cranfather over on The Nu Metal Agenda Podcast available right here, as well as his podcast Niko and Chris Bears Postgame Podcast which you listen to right here.

And of course you can follow Cranfather on Twitter right here.

If you choose, for some reason, to watch AMITYVILLE BIGFOOT, it’s currently available to stream for free (with ads) on Tubi.

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Episode 220 – Bartel Me Something Good – Shelf Life (1993)

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On this episode of BARTEL ME SOMETHING GOOD (the world’s finest Paul Bartel-themed podcast) we’re tackling Paul Bartel’s final directorial feature, the sadly abused (and semi-unavailable) bunker comedy SHELF LIFE from 1993! Born out of a stage-play by stars O-Lan Jones, Andrea Stein, and Jim Turner, Bartel turns it into a wildly visual phantasmagoria of rituals, re-enactments and hormonally confusing games, with a typically wicked sense of humor. Check it out!

While currently not available on streaming services, some kind soul has uploaded a version to YouTube that is (as of this recording) the best quality yet released:

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Episode 215 – How Do You Do, Fellow Kids? – The Hudsucker Proxy (1994)

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HOW DO YOU DO, FELLOW KIDS? (the world’s finest Steve Buscemi-themed podcast) returns with an episode all about a film celebrating its 30th anniversary in 2024: the Coen brothers’ Capraesque classic THE HUDSUCKER PROXY! Starring Tim Robbins, Paul Newman, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Bruce Campbell, and – of course – Steve Buscemi, it was a big-budget flop for the Coens, despite roping in their pal Sam Raimi to co-write. What went wrong? LISTEN AND FIND OUT.

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Episode 200 – 200th Episode Celebration – Real Genius (1985) & Pee-wee’s Big Adventure (1985)

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It’s the 200th episode of Cinema Smorgasbord, a podcast devoted to obsessively examining the careers of underloved and underappreciated actors and directors. Since we started in 2020 we’ve created over a dozen sub-podcasts devoted to such diverse topics as the careers of Paul Bartel (Bartel Me Something Good), Dick Miller (You Don’t Know Dick), Steve Buscemi (How Do You Do, Fellow Kids?), Jackie Chan (We Do Our Own Stunts), Oliver Reed (Further Reeding), George Kennedy (George Kennedy is my Co-Pilot) and many more, and we can’t thank you enough for joining us on this wonderfully strange trip. On this episode we decided to do something a little different, starting with a lighthearted chat about our thoughts on the podcast as a whole over these last few years, before discussions on two of our favorite, formative films from the 1980s; starting with Martha Coolidge’s brainy comedy REAL GENIUS (picked by Doug) and ending with the Tim Burton-directed delight PEE-WEE’S BIG ADVENTURE (picked by Liam). We finish with an announcement of what’s coming in 2024, so stick around, jerks!

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