#472 Top Ten of 2025 (2025)
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EPISODE #472-- Today Cruz and James run down their respective top ten films from the previous year. I always say this, but 2025 was a weird year. It was also, thankfully, weird in a unique way. Lots of good movies. Lots of great movies. Maybe even some classics in there. Give it a listen! LINKS: Join the cause at Follow the us on on Bluesky at and , on Instagram and on Tiktok . You can watch Cruz and show favorite Alexis Simpson on You Tube in Thanks to our artists and . The theme music is "Eine Kleine Sheissemusik" by Drew Alexander. Also, I've got a newsletter on...
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#471 Welles' THE SEVEN PER-CENT SOLUTION (1976, dir. Herbert Ross)
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EPISODE #471-- Look at us! Look at us getting back to our BS with this episode. Today we calk the Herbert Ross film [sic] (1976). It's a Sherlock Holmes movie. It's a Sigmond Freud movie. It's a combination Sigmond Freud-Sherlock Holmes movie. We also talk about Soderberg's THE KNICK (2014 - 2015), CONCLAVE (2025), DEEP COVER (2025), and perenial holiday favorite DIE-HARD (1988), among other things. A nice little holiday episode. LINKS: Join the cause at Follow the us on on Bluesky at and , on Instagram and on Tiktok . You can watch Cruz and show favorite Alexis Simpson on You...
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#470 Miura's HARAKIRI (1962, dir. Masaki Kobayashi)
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EPISODE #470-- We commemorate the glorious dead with the classic film (or "Hara-kiri," depending on how particular you want to be), directed by none other than the firebrand Masaki Kobayashi. This is a classic Japanese film, a classic samurai movie, and one of the all-around important works of all of the 20th century. We also turned out a pretty good episode about it. We also briefly discuss (2015 and 2017, dir. S.S. Rajamouli), (1966, dir. Kihachi Okamoto), PREDATOR: BADLANDS (2025, dir. Dan Trachtenberg), and (2025, dir. Rebecca Miller). LINKS: Join the cause at Follow the us on on...
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#469 Maas' THE BRINKS JOB (1978, dir. William Friedkin)
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EPISODE #469 Nice. Today we talk about the best of the worst William Friedkin movies, 1978's . Or is it the worst of the best? That sounds worse, but I'm not sure it is. Anyways, there's a lot of guys in this movie. If you want look at or to see a guy, of some sort, there's worse movies to go with. Anyways, we love Hurricane Billy. We also chat about a bunch of old THE SIMPSONS (1989 - ) episodes, and recommend Peter Yates' (1968), Kenji Misumi's (1964), and Martin Scorsese's (1993). LINKS Join the cause at Follow the us on on Bluesky at and , on Instagram and on Tiktok . You...
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#468 Goethe's PHANTOM OF THE PARADISE (1974, dir. Brian Di Palma)
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EPISODE #468 We wrap up Spooktagon 2025 with Brian di Palma's weird, minor masterpiece, PHANTOM OF THE PARADISE (1974) (not to be confused with the Kiss made-for-TV-movie, PHANTOM OF THE PARK, which has nothing to do with anything). It's a good movie. It's a good episode. It's got everything: The devil, rock operas, pills, and Looney Toons BS. It's great. Give it a listen. We also rap about (1956), Robert Altman's NASHVILLE (1975), and, of course, THE VENTURE BROS (2003 - 2023). What a run. Join the cause at Follow the us on on Bluesky at and , on Instagram and on Tiktok . You...
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#467 Stoker's NOSFERATU (1979, dir. Werner Herzog)
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EPISODE #467 Cruz and James return to Germany (and to vampires) with the 1979 remake/reimagining NOSFERATU! It's a good one! It's a great one, even! And no audio errors this time! It stars Klaus Kinski, Bruno Ganz, and Isabelle Adjani! We also talk about HBO's TASK (2025), the Kazakh films STEPPENWOLF (2024) and (2007), and (2001). LINKS: Join the cause at Follow the us on on Bluesky at and , on Instagram and on Tiktok . You can watch Cruz and show favorite Alexis Simpson on You Tube in Thanks to our artists and . The theme music is "Eine Kleine Sheissemusik" by Drew...
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#466 Crowley's THE CRAFT (1996, dir. Andrew Fleming)
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EPISODE #465 Welcome to the Spooktagon? We still doing this? Alright. THE SPOOKTAGON! BOO! On today's episode we talk the witchy horror flick THE CRAFT (1996). We also talk about the season finale of HBO's PEACEMAKER, Season 2, James Whale's FRANKENSTEIN (1934), and GUNDAM: WAR IN THE POCKET. Cruz, meanwhile, just talks abouts his back problems. Take care of your backs, kids! LINKS: Join the cause at Follow the us on on Bluesky at and , on Instagram and on Tiktok . You can watch Cruz and show favorite Alexis Simpson on You Tube in Thanks to our artists and . The theme...
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#465 Steinback's SOMETHING WICKED THIS WAY COMES (1981, dir. Jack Clayton)
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EPISODE #465 Today we enter into the SPOOKTAGON, the very real and very important series we do every year, in which we pretend that we don't do horror movies all the time. Anyways, today we tackle the long-lost Disney flick SOMETHING WICKED THIS WAY COMES (1981). We also talk about HBO's TASK (2025) and PEACEMAKER, Season 2 (2025), SUPER SONS (2025), the latest season of SLOW HORSES (2025) on Apple TV or Apple+ or whatever they're calling it, as well as the good Paul Anderson's ONE BATTLE AFTER ANOTHER (2025). ALSO: As I said in the introduction, we had a lot of issues with the audio...
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#464 Wolfe's PUNISHMENT PARK (1971, dir. Peter Watkins)
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EPISODE #464 On today's episode we talk about the pseudo-documentary/alternate history thriller/discursive essay/grad-student lecture PUNISHMENT PARK (1971). It's a rough, weird movie that really feels like a prompt to get us to talk about our favorite dirtbag president, Richard Milhouse Nixon. We also talk about James Gunn's SUPERMAN (2025), Akira Kurosawa's SEVEN SAMURAI (1954), THUNDERBOLTS* (2025), the Courtney Barnett documentary (2022), and the Jackie Chan flick (1986). LINKS: Join the cause at . Follow the us on on Bluesky at kislingconnection and cruzflores, on Instagram...
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#463 Kojima's THE SNOW WOMAN (1968, dir. Tokuzo Tanaka)
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EPISODE #463 For this, our four-hundreth-third episode, we tackle the 1968 supernatural tale, THE SNOW WOMAN, directed by Tokuzo Tanaka. It's a good one. Quick, short, and to the point-- unlike us! We also talk about LA STRADA (1954), SUMO DO, SUMO DON'T (1991), MATEWAN (19878), Mishima's PATRIOTISM (1968), Spike Lee's HIGHEST 2 LOWEST (2025), Marvel's FANTASTIC FOUR: FIRST STEPS (2025), and THE VELVET UNDERGROUND (2021). LINKS: Join the cause at . Follow the us on on Bluesky at kislingconnection and cruzflores, on Instagram and on Tiktok . You can watch Cruz and show favorite...
info_outlineEPISODE #445-- Once more into the breech for Black History Month. Today Cruz and James attempt to understand the impressionistic, indie cult horror classic, GANJA & HESS from 1973.
We also mourn the passing of Gene Hackman, talking about THE FRENCH CONNECTION (1971), as well as Kon Ichikawa's THE BURMESE HARP (Cruz has been on an Ichikawa kick-- we can't blame him).
This is also our last film fro Black History Month, so we hope we did okay by the films, if nothing else.
Join the cause at Patreon.com/Quality. Follow the us on on Bluesky at kislingconnection and cruzflores, on Instagram @kislingwhatsit, and on Tiktok @kislingkino. You can watch Cruz and show favorite Alexis Simpson on You Tube in "They Live Together." Thanks to our artists Julius Tanag (http://www.juliustanag.com) and Sef Joosten (http://spexdoodles.tumblr.com). The theme music is "Eine Kleine Sheissemusik" by Drew Alexander. Also, I've got a newsletter, so maybe go check that one out, too.
Listen to DRACULA: A RADIO PLAY on Apple Podcasts, at dracularadio.podbean.com, and at the Long Beach Playhouse at https://lbplayhouse.org/show/dracula
And, as always, Support your local unions! UAW, SAG-AFTRA, and WGA strong and please leave us a review on iTunes or whatever podcatcher you listened to us on!