Kael Your Idols: A New Hollywood Podcast

In this episode of KYI, the hosts discuss Gene Siskel’s favorite movie: Saturday Night Fever. A singular achievement in the history of the medium, if only for its unusual influence on a non-filmmaking aspect of culture. See, without this movie the entire musical genre of Disco probably wouldn’t have become a popular as it was. And conversely, if Disco hadn’t had its trendy day in the sun, no one would ever have had to think about t...

In this episode we are delighted to bring you a discussion on Charles Burnett’s Killer of Sheep. This first feature by the great pioneer of indie filmmaking is a tenderly poetic look at life in South Central LA during the 70s. Difficult to see for many years after its release, we were lucky enough to catch a restored print of it playing at our local theatre and we couldn’t pass up the chance to see and talk about this masterpiece. ...

Oooh! We got a grimy one for ya today. We dive right into the dirt with famed auteur Sam Peckinpah’s minor (but still fascinating) work: Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia. Warren Oates leads a quirky cast populated by Mexican sex workers and suspiciously corporate hitmen in this tale of sexual jealousy, work, and morality and we just have a ball talking about it! Topics include: the hosts' views on violent cinema, the strang...

Sing Hallelujah, come on get happy! Please, we implore you: get happy already! For this episode we train our gaze at William Friedkin’s minor masterpiece, The Boys in the Band. Although it is a landmark film in queer cinema, Boys has by now acquired a rather tricky reputation and we dig right into that. We laugh and cry along with these characters as they navigate the vagaries of identity and performative friendship. Topics include...

It is our deepest pleasure to bring you this episode on Norman Jewison’s masterpiece of non-auteurism: Fiddler on the Roof. Both of the hosts have a long and complex relationship to both this film and its source material and could wax for hours on its rich humanism and craft. The tale of Tevye the Dairyman and his daughters remains as fascinating and exciting today as ever! We promise! This movie is not boring at all (except for ma...

In this episode we delve into one of the signature commercial and critical flops of New Hollywood: Dennis Hopper’s The Last Movie. This gorgeous yet impenetrable film was a crucial turning point bridging the early hippie-influenced films of the late 60s with the more cynical and popular mainstream cinema that came to define the 1970s. We are joined by Stephen Lee Naish, author of two different books discussing this week’s subject -...

Imagine that you could sleep with anyone you wanted in the world, now ask yourself: how would this affect my participation in the American Electoral system? We’re diving into the New Hollywood deep end with this episode as we discuss Hal Ashby’s Oscar-winning smash, Shampoo! Who knew watching Warren Beatty doing hair and kissing pretty ladies could be such a fun time at the cinema? Topics include: Lee Grant’s blacklisting, getting ...

Merry Christmas! Here’s your gift! Sorry it’s a bit late but we never officially said we would be exchanging gifts in the first place so... anyway here it is! This episode is a break from our usual format. Absolutely zero New Hollywood or 70s film content to be found under this tree. Instead, Alana wanted to take some time out to do a treatise on Hallmark and streaming-era Christmas rom-com films. Luckily we had the perfect guest a...

What? What are your problems with this episode huh? Go ahead and take a piece of paper and write them all down. Go ahead! Tell us what’s wrong! Well?? Why aren’t you writing?? Look, I promise you we WILL discuss the 1974 Ellen Burstyn vehicle Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore. We WILL litigate Scorsese’s overactive camera. And we WILL describe the episode we watched of the sitcom Alice with guest star Art Carney. Topics include: “rea...

The time has come to wish a hearty Happy Birthday to Alana! We said she could choose any movie she wanted to talk about and out of all the wonderful New Hollywood classics, she chose this one. Love Story itself might be astoundingly mid, but this discussion we had about it was a rollicking good time! More than half of the episode gets spent just gabbing about the our favorite classic film romances, as well as what it even means to ...

Join us in celebrating Sam’s birthday with this special episode on the John Frankenheimer film version of Eugene O’Neill’s play The Iceman Cometh. The hosts dig in to the unusual experiment in cinematic stage plays that birthed this project. You might think a four-hour-long play about alcoholism and despair sounds like a weird birthday present to give oneself but this discussion actually turned out to be rather charming and fun. Ha...

The scares continue all through Halloween over here at KYI! The hosts, and their guest Levi Butner, wander the graveyards and get stuck in the muck as they discuss Don Coscarelli’s cult classic Phantasm. The obvious connections to Spielberg and Raimi are noted, as are the film’s roots in the Universal Monster tradition. Join us as we celebrate this massive achievement in low-budget filmmaking. Just watch out for the Tall Man, that ...

Horror comedy comes to life this episode with the Mel Brooks classic Young Frankenstein. This might be the first movie we’ve covered that almost everyone we’ve ever met has undoubtedly seen! The gags remain evergreen, but this watch through the hosts were primarily impressed by the beautiful filmmaking and imaginative storytelling on display. The writing, cinematography, performances, music, and direction are all the stuffs of geni...

This is a big one, folks. Alana and Sam take a deep dive into cinematic meta-fiction as they explore the relationship between the seminal film 8 1/2 (1963) and its three most prominent New Hollywood descendants: Alex in Wonderland (1970), All That Jazz (1979), and Stardust Memories (1980). We approached this project with the seriousness and rigor we feel it deserves which apparently to us means making you listen to us talk for near...

Alana and Sam search for the familiar within the unknown as they immerse themselves in the world of Ridley Scott’s genre-defining classic Alien. They ruminate on the disturbing picture it paints of space and the cycles of nature and remark upon the hilarious improv skills of Yaphet Kotto. They also find time to touch on the recently released Alien: Romulus so that they can, you know, hitch onto the crass bandwagon of nostalgia alon...

Put on your spectacles, nerds! We’re talking some long-form PROSE in this episode. Our subject today is Peter Biskind’s Easy Riders, Raging Bulls: How the Sex-Drugs-and-Rock 'N' Roll Generation Saved Hollywood. That’s right, not a MOVIE like we typically feature on this podcast, but a BOOK instead. We aim to give you a tour through the thrilling yet crass world Biskind maps out in this book and also take time check in wit...

Ohohoho it’s getting sweaty over here! On this episode we are joined by Ryan and Katie from The List to chat about Cool Hand Luke. Perhaps the defining prison film of the New Hollywood era, Paul Newman’s megawatt star power is put to perfect use as the ultimate lovable loser. We had a ball making the episode and what emerged was more or less a complete exegesis on this multifaceted Christian allegory. Except, you know, funny. Topic...

Tonight’s episode of Kael Your Idols will be MASH! That’s right, Robert Altman’s MASH. Join Alana and Sam, that lovable pair of married movie fans as they dish the dirt on this beloved classic of early seventies cinema. A few laughs and a few tears, some contextual analysis of misogyny, and more on this evening’s Very Special Episode of Kael Your Idols! Topics include: the recent death of Donald Sutherland, the meaning of “Altman-e...