Episodes

  • A Book Review of Quentin Tarantino's "Cinema Speculation"

    A Book Review of Quentin Tarantino's "Cinema Speculation"
    Nov 11 2022
    Quentin Tarantino wrote a book! I read it and talked about it for a half an hour. Mostly off the dome but I had some notes and stuff. Remind me to write more but I just recorded the podcast. It's a half hour of me talking by myself. Give me a break! Hahaha update I consistently get the title wrong. It's cinema speculation not speculations. There's only one speculation. It's singular. My bad. So the book is Cinema Speculation and here's.a link to buy it (https://bookshop.org/p/books/cinema-speculation-quentin-tarantino/18273113?ean=9780063112582) in case that's something that appeals to you. Also, I say book a couple times when I mean movie and vice versa. A little embarassing but I'm not going to re-record the whole thing because of that. I think I set myself up for a fall by critiquing someone else for sloppiness. So let this be a lesson about pointing fingers. Or don't. Who cares. Also, the factual error I allude to but forget to flesh out is that he calls Brian De Palma's Obsession a flop but it actually made $4 million, which was healthy box office for the time. But after my blunder with the pluralization of the title, who am I to judge? Glass-house living motherfucker. LOL.
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    35 mins
  • HELLRAISER 2022 Review

    HELLRAISER 2022 Review
    Oct 20 2022
    I forgot to mention that Motorhead has a pretty good song (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1M4FG1UXH5w)called "Hellraiser." RIP Lemmy. This is my first solo episode in a while and also my first review in a while. I watched the new Hellraiser, which is now streaming on Hulu, and decided I was an expert on all things Hellraiser because I read the novella the first movie was based on, Clive Barker's Hellbound Heart. It's a really good little page-turner that you can blow through in an afternoon. Check it out! The new Hellraiser is the 11th Hellraiser movie. There are only nine Nighmare on Elm Street movies, including the Jason Vs Freddy crossover and the remake and I'd imagine that it's a much better known film series. At 11 films, it nearly ties the Friday the 13th series, which has 12 movies when you include Freddy Vs Jason and the 2000s remake. That's pretty wild considering it's a horror franchise that likely has much more of a niche appeal than its horror franchise competition. And how they should have never made a sequel to the first one. You can watch the trailer for the new Hellraiser here (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oUlgwJNdu2I). This (https://twitter.com/HellraiserIM/status/1581253442550390784) is one of the horny images of lady Pinhead I mentioned. NSFW, probably. Image info: Jamie Clayton as Pinhead in Spyglass Media Group’s HELLRAISER, exclusively on Hulu. Photo courtesy of Spyglass Media Group. © 2022 Spyglass Media Group. All Rights Reserved.
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    33 mins
  • HALLOWEEN SPOOKTACULAR DOUBLE BILL With Jim Knipfel

    HALLOWEEN SPOOKTACULAR DOUBLE BILL With Jim Knipfel
    Oct 13 2022
    It's October. So naturally, or should I say supernaturally? No, naturally's probably right. The point is that naturally, because it's October, I invited Jim Knipfel on the pod to talk scary movies. Jim has long been a champion of_ Halloween III: Season of the Witch, the misfit outcast entry in the Halloween film series that's about druids, killer masks and Irish robots instead of Michael Myers. And he's right to champion it. _Halloween III is a great, fun, weird movie despite its reputation. And Phantasm is weird and odd and terrific too. Jim blew my mind clean off a couple times with background info about these two cult masterpieces, particularly with respect to Angus Scrimm's non Phantasm career. Also, I blunder into a wild moment of amateurish ignorance by revealing I didn't know Michael Oldfield's "Tubular Bells" was the theme from The Exorcist. I only watched The Exorcist once and I forgot the soundtrack. "Tubular Bells" is a sample in a DJ Shadow song and I never connected it to The Exorcist. Let me know if I have to turn in my gun and badge. Jim's defense of Halloween III is here (https://www.denofgeek.com/movies/halloween-iii-season-of-the-witch-deserves-another-look/). Subscribe to Jim’s Patreon (https://www.patreon.com/jimknipfel/posts). it’s terrific.
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    1 hr and 16 mins
  • WES CRAVEN With Will Dodson

    WES CRAVEN With Will Dodson
    Oct 10 2022
    Horror scholar Will Dodson (https://twitter.com/wdodson52) returns to the CDC pod, discussing another icon of horror cinema. Dodson, Co-editor of the book American Twilight: The Cinema of Tobe Hooper, (https://utpress.utexas.edu/9781477322833/american-twilight/) was a guest in April, sharing his expertise on Texas Chainsaw Massacre auteur Tobe Hooper. He returns to talk about his latest archival horror project, the lesser known film and television work of Nightmare on Elm Street creator Wes Craven. Dodson guides us through Craven projects like Stranger in the House, Invitation to Hell, Chiller and more. Because we tie all these forgotten projects to Craven's more famous work, including Last House on the Left, Nightmare on Elm Street and Scream, what started as a deep dive into obscure but noteworthy Craven projects wound up as a servicable overview of Craven's career.
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    1 hr
  • THE KILLING With Jim Knipfel and Alexander Zaitchik

    THE KILLING With Jim Knipfel and Alexander Zaitchik
    Oct 6 2022
    In 1956 Stanley Kubrick released his third feature-length movie, The Killing and earlier this sentence I gave serious thought to paying someone on taskrabbit to write this intro. This is a great episode. Jim Knipfel and Alex Zaitchik return. They are both great. I say some dumb bullshit but hopefully don’t ruin it. Sorry, I’m just out of gas right now but wanted to get the podcast up. Subscribe to Jim’s Patreon (https://www.patreon.com/jimknipfel/posts). it’s terrific. Alex's books (https://www.amazon.com/s?k=Alexander+Zaitchik) are also terrific and are on sale at an amazon.com near you. The Sterling Hayden documentary is called Pharoahs of Chaos (https://www.facebook.com/mubi/videos/pharos-of-chaos-now-showing/581776812424549/)for some reason.
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    59 mins
  • WOLFCOP with Ryan Bulger

    WOLFCOP with Ryan Bulger
    Oct 4 2022
    Wolfcop is a canadian movie about a cop who becomes a werewolf. My brother recommended it so I asked him to do a podcast about it.
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    39 mins
  • ZZ TOP With Marc Stone

    ZZ TOP With Marc Stone
    Sep 22 2022
    ZZ Top is one of my favorite bands and I'm trying to write this description quickly. I'm joined by Marc Stone (https://marcstonenola.wixsite.com/mysite). Marc is a terrific guitar player and roots music historian who has been a standout presence in New Orleans since the 1990s, playing alongside legends of Funk, Zydeco, RnB and Blues on stages across the globe. Right now, Marc is touring with funk guitar icon Leo Nocentelli (https://leonocentelli.com/)of The Meters behind Leo's historic rediscovered 1971 acoustic masterpiece "Another Side.” As we mention in the interview, they’re playing in my former hometown of Hartford Connecticut at Infinity Hall tonight. Leo and Marc play at New York’s Sony Hall on Sept. 24, at Philly’s Ardmore Concert hall on Sept. 25 at the Hamilton in Washington DC on the 27th. Stone has been called a band-leading force in the Crescent City known for his fusion of modern and traditional blues, soul and funk —a sound he calls ‘roots in the present tense’" by repeat CDC podcast guest Alexander Zaitchik. He must like being called that because it's on his website, along with the following two paragraphs: When he’s not on stage or in the studio, Marc can be found behind the mic at New Orleans’ iconic radio sender, WWOZ 90.7-fm, celebrating 20 years hosting of his weekly “Soul Serenade” or spinning fine and funky vinyl at clubs and events. Stone is equally at home fronting his own band, leading intricate all star projects, and tearing it up for packed houses with just a guitar and a mic. Making the best of the pandemic shut down, Stone went to work on a new album to follow up 2019’s solo outing “Live at Tipitina’s”, which garnered him nominations from New Orleans top cultural publications for both Best Blues Album and Best Blues Performer. The result is “Shining Like A Diamond”, his first full length studio release since 2015. The album features an incredible line up and showcases Stone’s soulful vocals, masterful touch on guitar, 8 string Dobro and lap steel, finely tuned songwriting skills, and a slew of incredible performers. Never one to lean on well worn forms and contrived chops showcases, Stone draws inspiration from every corner. He also taps a well-spring of legends to bring his songs to life, including Papa Mali, Alvin “Youngblood” Hart, Marilyn Barbarin, Leo Nocentelli, Reggie Scanlan, the late Alfred “Uganda” Roberts, Meschiya Lake, James Singleton, Mike Dillon, and George Porter, Jr.
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    37 mins
  • ZACH SNYDER'S JUSTICE LEAGUE Commentary Part One

    ZACH SNYDER'S JUSTICE LEAGUE Commentary Part One
    Sep 5 2022
    Jesus, OK, why did I do this and what the hell is my point? The Snyder cut took me by complete surprise when the hashtag #releasethesnydercut became reality. It was something to do during quarantine. I put it on while running on an elliptical machine, expecting a mild diversion at best. But despite my cynicism, "Zach Snyder's Justice League" won me over with its ambition, confidence, lack of irony, visual inventiveness, epic spectacle and I'm going to stop there. I didn't mean to write a list when I started that sentence. My intention was.a tight statement of purpose. Sorry. This should be the last superhero movie. It tells its story with utmost earnestness and believes that it can use its superheroes to connect emotionally with audiences in a genuine way. The goal is to be an epic that communicates something fundamental and imporant about the human race. And, because superhero stories are incapable of supporting such lofty ambitions, it falls short of that goal. in doing so, it clearly defines the limits of superhero stories. This is exactly how good they can get. Experiment done. We can stop now. Maybe consider going back to Westerns or hey! What about vampires? Or comedies. Remember comedies? Let's make some comedies. It's fun to be in a room full of strangers laughing at stuff. Anyway, I haven't recorded the follow up (follow ups?) yet. If everybody hates this idea, maybe I never will.
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    1 hr and 9 mins