On this episode of BARTEL ME SOMETHING GOOD we’re off to the races with the Tim Conway-penned and Mike Nichols-produced gambling comedy THE LONGSHOT, starring Conway, Harvey Korman, Jack Weston and Ted Waas! A passion project for Tim Conway (and a work-for-hire gig for Paul Bartel) it’s.. a bit of an odd duck, but it DOES have a theme song rapped by Conway AND Ice-T! Enjoy!
On this episode of FURTHER REEDING, Oliver Reed and Amanda Donohoe have only gone and got themselves stranded on a desert island and have to survive, but – GET THIS – they did it on purpose in Nicolas Roeg’s CASTAWAY from 1986. Based on a bizarre true story, it involves a whole lot of nudity and Oliver Reed acting like a maniac so you know we had to talk about it. Sadly, it’s a bit hard to track down (unless you write the title and year of release into YouTube), so you’ll just have to listen to us describe it and try to use your imagination to picture all the nudity. ENJOY!
On this jam-packed episode of Praising Kane, our chronological look at the career of Carol Kane continues, starting with brief discussions about a mid-70s Dr. Pepper commercial, as well an early 80s adaptation of Irwin Shaw’s The Girls in Their Summer Dresses featuring both Carol Kane and Jeff Bridges! After the break we turn our attention to the surprisingly star-studded drama AN INVASION OF PRIVACY from 1983 featuring Valerie Harper, Richard Masur, Jerry Orbach, Jeff Daniels, Sarah Michelle Gellar (in her screen debut) and – of course – Carol Kane! Some darker subject matter, but a unique episode. Check it out!
On this episode of GEORGE KENNEDY IS MY CO-PILOT our merry trio is diving into the fiery drama TICK, TICK, TICK from 1970 starring Jim Brown, Fredric March, Clifton James and – of course – George Kennedy! Brown stars as the newly elected Sheriff of a very, very racist southern county, while Kennedy is the now ex-Sheriff who is semi-committed to keeping him alive. Spoiler: it’s not easy! Before that we discuss another George Kennedy commercial (for California-based tech company TOTLCOM), and try our darndest to make it interesting (did we succeed? listen and find out!)
We’re back on HOW DO YOU DO, FELLOW KIDS? with the Steve Buscemi-directed prison drama (based on the Edward Bunker book) ANIMAL FACTORY from 2000, starring Edward Furlong & Willem Dafoe, along with a killer supporting cast. Starring Buscemi-verse regulars like Seymour Cassel, Mark Boone Junior, and Rockets Redglare, you also get memorable supporting performances from Danny Trejo, Mickey Rourke, Tom Arnold(!) and.. wait for it. Steve Buscemi! Listen to us talking to it, ya sick twist!
On this episode of WILD IN THE STREETS, Tomas Milian is RAMBO in Umberto Lenzi’s spaghetti-western influenced SYNDICATE SADISTS from 1975! After Rambo’s friend is brutally murdered, he takes it upon himself to go up against two criminal gangs (one led by Joseph Cotton’s Paternò), while also rescuing a young boy who has been kidnapped. Does he manage to embarrass them all while everyone gazes on him in total awe? Yep! Check it out!
Jackie Chan in AMERICA! On this episode of WE DO OUR OWN STUNTS Jackie makes his first American excursion to star in the Robert Clouse directed comedy-action vehicle THE BIG BRAWL (aka BATTLE CREEK BRAWL). Despite Jackie knowing very little English (and having to promote the film on American television) and working a very different style than he was used to, the film is actually a ton of fun – as long as you don’t go in expecting the acrobatic fighting from his recent Hong Kong films. We also chat about the recent RIDE ON controversy, Jackie’s appearances in HIDDEN STRIKE and TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES: MUTANT MAYHEM, and SO MUCH MORE. Check it out!
They took his girl. Now he’s talking them STRAIGHT TO HELL! On this episode of WHATEVER HAPPENED TO VIC DIAZ we’re getting properly post-apocalyptic with Cirio H. Santiago’s Mad Max-“inspired”, giant gun classic EQUALIZER 2000 starring Richard Norton (/w frosted tips), Corinne Wahl and a VERY young Robert Patrick in only his second ever role! There’s lots of gunfire, explosions and – blissfully – almost no plot to be concerned with, and it delivers the promise of a very big gun that mows down tons of faceless bad guys. HOORAY. We also chat a bit about the long tradition of post-apocalyptic films and some of our favs, and – of course – we dive into an appearance by the legendary Vic Diaz. CHECK IT OUT!
We tried. We tried our best to find some small piece of enjoyment in Dennis Dugan’s bafflingly misguided I NOW PRONOUNCE YOU CHUCK & LARRY, a film about two straight firefighters (played by Adam Sandler and Kevin James) who decide to get married in order to deal with some uncomfortable pension-related paperwork. Overstuffed with pitiful racist, sexist and homophobic stereotypes, it’s – even worse – completely unfunny, and has a horribly confused message at its core. Yeesh. Anyway, we get angry about that, but there’s also plenty of chat about the ongoing writer/actor strike, and – of course – all the latest Steve Buscemi news. CHECK IT OUT, JERKS.
Yee-haw! We’re going back to the wild west on this episode of Bartel Me Something good with Paul Bartel’s 1984 comedy western LUST IN THE DUST starring Tab Hunter, Lainie Kazan and the legendary Divine! Originally envisioned as a John Waters project, Bartel ruffled against making a Waters-style film and instead brings his own wild and unpredictable sensibility (while still not skimping on the bad taste). It has musical numbers, butt tattoos, Cesar Romero, death via oral sex and so much more. Check it out, jerks!
