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Tag: Social Commentary

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Cinema Smorgasbord – Halloween Horror Special – Working Class Goes to Hell (2023) & Black Eyed Susan (2024)

Cinema Smorgasbord, Podcasts on November 4, 2025 0Comments 0Likes

It’s the 2025 Cinema Smorgasbord HALLOWEEN HORROR SPECIAL and as usual we’re taking a look at two underloved horror (or, in this case, horror adjacent) films that deserve a little more attention. We start with the Serbian 2023 socio-political satire WORKING CLASS GOES TO HELL from LIFE AND DEATH OF A PORNO GANG director Mladen Djordjević about a group of exploited workers who turn to Satan for some help battling corrupt businessmen and political leaders. We follow that up with Scooter McCrae’s BLACK EYED SUSAN, which features Yvonne Emilie Thälker as a sex doll designed for punishment, and tackles some iffy moral questions about the future of artificial intelligence and.. Hey! This isn’t very spooky at all! Oops!

Cinema Smorgasbord – Praising Kane – Drop-out Mother (1988) & Rap Master Ronnie: A Report Card (1988)

Cinema Smorgasbord, Podcasts on July 21, 2025 0Comments 1Like

On an ACTION PACKED episode of Praising Kane we’re DOUBLING UP: first with the 1988 satirical TV special from Doonesbury creator Garry Trudeau RAP MASTER RONNIE: A REPORT CARD, featuring – you guessed it – Ronald Reagan kicking it old school (along with appearances from The Smothers Brothers, Jon Cryer and – of course Carol Kane), and finishing up with the Valerie Harper-starring TV movie DROP-OUT MOTHER (aka GOODBYE SUPERMOM) which finds a harried public relations professional “dropping out” of her corporate life to become a devoted wife and mother.. WITH “HILARIOUS” CONSEQUENCES! All this and the latest Carol Kane news, so start LISTENING!

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!