Tag: Special Guest

049 – Farewell Uncle Tom with @RickyRawls

Addio Zio Tom key art by Renato Casaro
Addio Zio Tom key art by Renato Casaro. Via his website.

Thank you to all our patrons for being so patient with us! As your reward, this month’s bonus is an extra-stuffed (nearly two hour) episode about a widely reviled mondo slavery documentary. This one’s called Farewell Uncle Tom (Addio zio Tom in the first language of the filmmakers). Jen and Tim are joined by T. of the great Champagne Sharks podcast and we all tackle one tough-to-watch but necessary film.

Hear the whole episode at our Patreon and get access to more than 50 bonus episodes!

The movie is viewable in full on archive.org.

For more uncomfortable 70s film, why not try our episode on Roar?

048 – Beautiful Boxer

Asanee Suwan in Beautiful Boxer (2003)

Jen welcomes special guest Julia Schiwal to discuss a wonderful Thai biopic called Beautiful Boxer. It’s about a trans woman who becomes a fighter in order to forge her own path.

YouTube has a highlight reel of Nong Toom’s career.

The movie Julia recommends at the end of the show is Adam barfi (1995)

You may also enjoy our interview with martial arts superstar Cynthia Rothrock!

047 – The Silent Scream with Mellie Macker

The Silent Scream is an especially pernicious example of pro-life propaganda. Reproductive justice activist Mellie Macker guests to dissect the mendacious thinking behind this ghoulish artifact.

You can see the original film in its entirety on Vimeo.

If you’re looking for more controversy, listen to our episode on David Cronenberg’s Crash!

045 – The Burning Hell with Josh Lewis

Josh Lewis of the Sleazoids podcast guests to discuss evangelical nightmare propaganda The Burning Hell.

Hear the whole episode at our Patreon and get access to more than 50 bonus episodes!

In episode 057, Josh also fills us in on the state of movie exhibition in 2019!

044 – Roar

Noel Marshall bleeding for real amongst angry lions, from the movie Roar (1981)
That’s probably real blood, by the way

Jen and Tim talk with animal expert Emma Bowers about Roar, a movie which stars 50 or 60 mostly wild animals and a handful of terrified humans. The movie was produced by Hitchcock blonde Tippi Hedren and her insane husband Noel Marshall, who also play the hapless chew toys masquerading as characters. The film flopped on its initial release. However, in 2015 Drafthouse Films picked it up and cemented Roar’s place in cult movie history.

Jan de Bont shows the lion attack scar he received on the set of Roar (1981)
Cinematographer Jan de Bont displays the scar he received from a lion attack on the set of Roar

As of 2020, Roar producer/star Tippi Hedren still runs her her wild cat sanctuary, Shambala. As well as wildlife advocacy, Hedren is also known for being the godmother of the nail industry in the United States. In the 70s, Hedren worked with Vietnamese refugees in California. She hit on the idea of encouraging them to learn the art of the manicure and open nail salons. Today, people of Vietnamese descent own and operate about half of all nail salons in the United States.

If you enjoyed Emma’s appearance, check out our episode on the Animal Planet series Fatal Attractions!

043 – Valley of the Wolves: Iraq with Felix Biederman

Jen and Tim welcome visionary documentary filmmaker Felix Biederman! We discuss the most successful Turkish movie of 2006, Valley of the Wolves: Iraq.

Hear the whole episode at our Patreon and get access to more than 50 bonus episodes!

Felix first joined us to discuss Steven Seagal’s On Deadly Ground.

042 – Romeo & Romeo

Jen and Tim welcome a mysterious podcast newbie to praise a magnificent work of queer cinema to the skies: Romeo & Romeo. We’re not kidding, you need to watch this movie, and how fortuitous that it’s on YouTube!

No seriously, you absolutely have to watch this movie. Here’s a clip:

For more outsider cinema, why not try our episode on Canadian horror classic Things?

039 – The Devils

Oliver Reed and Vanessa Redgrave in Ken Russell's The Devils
oh man, I have BEEN there

Jen and Tim are joined by laser-sharp media critic Gretchen Felker-Martin (@scumbelievable on Twitter) to talk over a movie that close to 50 years later is still too hot for TV: Ken Russell’s The Devils!

Gretchen has a Patreon; go support her if you love horror writing!

For more on some top-notch British filmmaking, listen to our episode about Alan Clarke’s The Firm (we also talk about the remake, but don’t hold that against us).

038 – Vile Pervert Redux

Jonathan King poses with Margaret Thatcher, date unknown
Two bad people

Mike Rosen returns to vituperate Jonathan King’s unasked-for sequel to Vile Pervert: The Truth Awakens!

Listen to our discussion of the original Vile Pervert: The Musical here.

He’d probably tell you that they were bought and paid for, but we still recommend looking at victim statements from Jonathan King’s 2001 trial. We will also remind you that he served four years of a seven-year sentence for sexually abusing teenage boys. He continues to bitch about how unfairly he was treated to this day (we did yet another episode on him in 2020, because he keeps making videos).

037 – Return of the Ghostbusters

Jen, Tim, and guest Kristian Boruff dissect something even more pointless than Funko Pops: a Ghostbusters fan film from 2007! It’s called Return of the Ghostbusters, and Kris does not care about burning bridges in this episode.

If you must see it for yourself, it’s on YouTube.