We are back for our FIFTH SEASON!!! Can you believe that we've been at this for five years now??? I know we can't, but we have 58 episodes where we've paired pot with 117 movies as evidence here. Our earliest film was Georges Méliès' "The Infernal Caudron" from 1903, and our most recent is "Hanky Panky" from 2023. That's getting up on three years old now? Does that count as vintage in tubi years?
But enough of our unexpected achievements. We've got our 59th episode right here, and with Valentine's Day just around the corner, we're exploring human sexuality with a pair of films that Philena describes as "more gross than romantic."
Everything about BOB & CAROL & TED & ALICE (1969) screams the 60s, from Robert Culp in love beads right down to a Burt Bacharach song closing it out, but our crew found it's definitely worth a look as so many people are trying out polyamory with the same level of awkward as our film's titular couple. Plus Robert Culp and Natalie Wood smoke weed like pros Definitely stay tuned for Philena's title for a queer remake that she should really get crackin' on writing! The film also stars Ryan Cannon and Elliot Gould. How is it that Gould is making his Old Movies for Young Stoners debut just now??? BOB & CAROL & TED & ALICE is streaming on the Criterion and Roku Channels.
Since we featured one of Mexico's most spectacularly-bad films in our last episode with the baffling SANTA CLAUS (1959), Bob felt it was time we explored the Golden Age of Mexican Cinema (1930-1960) with VICTIMS OF SIN (1951), a prime example of the Rumberas genre, a unique combination of musical, noir and intense melodrama. In fact, the emotions may have burned a bit too hot for some of our hosts. Ninón Sevilla is a dancer at the Club Changoo in Mexico City whose life goes to hell after she rescues a baby from a trash can. Directed by the great Emilio Fernández who was the John Huston or Kurosawa of Mexico's Golden Age, but is best known to gringos for playing the Mexican warlord Mapache in Sam Peckinpah's THE WILD BUNCH (1969). Legend also has it that Fernández was the sculptor's model for the Oscar statuette when he was chilling with Dolores del RÃo in Hollywood after he was a part of a failed rebellion in Mexico and had to flee to the United States for a while. The contrast of light and shadows of Gabriel Figueroa's cinematography are the equal of anything seen in the best American noirs. VICTIMS OF SIN is now streaming on Criterion Channel.
Cory, Bob and Greg begin the show by talking about the pending closures of The Bottom of the Hill and Thee Parkside, two San Francisco punk clubs that they have all played and see a lot of shows at. The conversation brings up the Canadian rock god Thor, which is always welcome. Bottom of the Hill closes at the end of 2026, so please check out a show or ten there while you still can. https://www.bottomofthehill.com/calendar.html
And Philena was not one of the influencers invited to screenings of the "Wuthering Heights," which really seems like an oversight by the Warner Bros publicity team if you ask us. Hey movie PR people, contact us at
[email protected] and invite Philena to your premieres! She's got the power!
Join us in March for our CHILDHOOD TRAUMA episode with THE 5,000 FINGERS OF DR. T (1953) and THE BOY WITH GREEN HAIR (1948). Subscribe on your preferred podcast app so you don't miss it.
Theme song: Chaki the Funk Wizard, used with permission.
"Cha Cha Fontanez" by Jimmy Fontanez and "Scale the Wall" by Everet Almond courtesy of YouTube Audio Library.
Trailer and archival audio courtesy of Archive.org.
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