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Check out the full Wild in the Streets archive right here

What if you witnessed a murder but the ACTUAL murderer goes to the cops first and accused YOU of being the killer? UH OH! That’s what happens to Enzo Cerusico’s hapless Fabio Santamaria in 1973’s comically titled NO, THE CASE IS HAPPILY RESOLVED where Fabio’s attempts to not get involved in the criminal justice system lands him in a heap of trouble, while the actual murderer (a school professor played by Riccardo Cucciolla) is treated like a hero by the cops. It’s a dire look at class differences, the criminal justice system and making a lot of BAD decisions when you think someone is looking for you. At least, until a terrible, tacked-on ending (which we discuss!). CHECK IT OUT!

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Check out the Serpent’s Path archive right here.

Kiyoshi Kurosawa is coming off a rough patch after controversies around SWEET HOME in 1989 and the financial failure of THE GUARD FROM UNDERGROUND in 1992, but after retreating into television work he’s about to be given a new lifeline in the 90s: V-CINEMA! This straight-to-VHS trend focusing on genre fare ended up being a training ground for a number of favorite directors and Kurosawa dives right in, first with the extremely silly (but quite fun) crime-comedy YAKUZA TAXI, and continuing with the cycling drama (adapted from a Yasuhito Yamamoto manga) MEN OF RAGE. On this episode of SERPENT’S PATH we look at everything Kurosawa was up to, how he ended up on these two films, and detail some of our own frustrations watching them. ENJOY!

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We’re going GUESTLESS and UNTETHERED on this episode of YOU DON’T KNOW DICK, and what a long, strange trip it is! We’re checking out the Roger Corman-directed 1967 film THE TRIP starring Peter Fonda, Bruce Dern and Dennis Hopper – and written by Jack Nicholson – and it’s full of surreal visuals, mind-expanding dialogue and hippy nonsense! Roger Corman went on an LSD trip as prep for the film, and he imbues it with plenty of independent energy (helped by Fonda and Hopper filming guerilla style on the streets of LA), but is it consciousness expanding weirdness or boring nonsense? Let’s find out!

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Check out the full HOW DO YOU DO, FELLOW KIDS? archive right here

Steve Buscemi.. the CROONER? It happened! In this episode of HOW DO YOU DO, FELLOW KIDS? we’re checking out Stanley Tucci’s throwback comedy THE IMPOSTORS from 1998 where Tucci teams with Oliver Platt as a pair of struggling actors/con-artists who find themselves in the middle of MANY plots when they accidentally stowaway on an ocean liner. I’m laughing already! And you’ll be laughing(?) alongside an all-star cast that includes Alfred Molina, Tony Shalhoub, Hope Davis, Lili Taylor, Richard Jenkins, Allison Janney, and – of course – Steve Buscemi as “Happy” Franks. Also Woody Allen shows up. Anyway, all that and the latest Buscemi news. Stop reading this and start listening!

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Cinema Smorgasbord host Liam O’Donnell is an anime/manga-loving man in his 40s while his Cinema Smorgasbord co-host Doug Tilley is an anime skeptic (and grumpy old man). On DO YOU OTAKU? Liam is going to force Doug to watch popular anime TV shows and movies and RECORD THE RESULTS. On this PREMIERE episode Liam makes Doug watch the 12-episode first season of the comedy/romance/sci-fi/horror anime DANDADAN, where two high school students encounter monsters, aliens and maybe – just maybe – learn a bit about love. It’s better than that sounds. Always curious about anime but have no idea where to start? START RIGHT HERE, BOZO.

You can watch the first season of DANDADAN on Netflix, Crunchyroll, Amazon Prime or.. heck.. just look for it.

 

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DASHING THROUGH THE SNOW here comes the Cinema Smorgasbord HOLIDAY SPECIAL! And this time it really IS a holiday special, because we’re talking about the 2023 time loop Hallmark Hanukkah film ROUND AND ROUND (featuring Dropout comedy sensation Vic Michaelis) before getting cozy with the 2024 nostalgia-tinged comedy-drama CHRISTMAS EVE IN MILLER’S POINT. All that and some thoughts about Christmas-themed music because WHY NOT? Enjoy!

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Check out the Praising Kane archive right here.

Ding dong merrily on high! PRAISING KANE returns again.. and much quicker than usual because we just happened to have the Holiday classic SCROOGED next up in our chronological look at the life and work of Carol Kane! You know SCROOGED, right? Bill Murray, Richard Donner, modern adaptation of A Christmas Carol.. You get it. What’s our take on it? LISTEN and FIND OUT. But that’s not all! We also discuss the long-awaited documentary (recently made available on The Criterion Channel) CAROL & JOY from director Nathan Silver about Carol’s relationship with her 98-year-old mother Joy (who she cares for in her piano-filled New York apartment). It’s two for one! A holiday miracle! ENJOY!

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Check out all the episodes of CINEMA SMORGASBORD SELLS OUT right here.

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.

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Check out the Praising Kane archive right here.

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!

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Check out the full Wild in the Streets archive right here

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!