crime drama Archives

Cinema Smorgasbord – Wild in the Streets – Weapons of Death (1977)

Cinema Smorgasbord, Podcasts on November 25, 2025 0Comments 0Likes

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!

Cinema Smorgasbord – You Don’t Know Dick – Rock All Night (1957) (/w Alan Cerny)

Cinema Smorgasbord, Podcasts on August 4, 2025 0Comments 1Like

On this long-awaited episode of YOU DON’T KNOW DICK we’re joined by film critic extraordinaire Alan Cerny to discuss the life and career of actor Dick Miller, starting with a cut sequence (directed by Joe Dante) from the film AMAZON WOMEN ON THE MOON featuring Dick as a beleagured ventriloquist, and finishing up with a lengthy look at the 1957 Roger Corman classic ROCK ALL NIGHT! We discuss its soundtrack (featuring The Platters and The Blockbusters), the attempted remake by Quentin Tarantino and Dick Miller’s incredible performance as guy with the biggest chip on his shoulder imaginable. Check it out!

Cinema Smorgasbord – Wild in the Streets – Investigation of a Citizen Above Suspicion (1970)

Cinema Smorgasbord, Podcasts on March 25, 2025 0Comments 2Likes

In a jam-packed episode of WILD IN THE STREETS we’re getting classy with Elio Petri’s Cannes jury-prize winning darkly humorous satirical drama INVESTIGATION OF A CITIZEN ABOVE SUSPICION with a dynamite lead performance from Gian Maria Volonté as the “Il Dottore”, a police inspector who murders a woman just to prove that he is – as the title suggests – above suspicion. We pair this with a brief conversation about the late Gene Hackman and – uh oh – more talk about politics and if it’s possible to make a truly radical political film while under the thumb of a studio. Listen and learn!