The Projection Booth Podcast

The Projection Booth Podcast

The Projection Booth has been recognized as a premier film podcast by The Washington Post, The A.V. Club, IndieWire, Entertainment Weekly, and Filmmaker Magazine. With over 700 episodes to date and an ever-growing fan base, The Projection Booth features discussions of films from a wide variety of genres with in-depth critical analysis while regularly attracting special guest talent eager to discuss their past gems. Visit http://www.projectionboothpodcast.com Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-projection-booth-podcast--5513239/support.

Episodes

July 7, 2025 72 mins
By request from Patreon supporter Peter Rogers, we’re tackling A Man for All Seasons (1966), Fred Zinnemann’s acclaimed adaptation of Robert Bolt’s stage play. Joining Mike are Spencer Parsons and Robert Bellissimo to explore this portrait of Sir Thomas More, played with quiet defiance by Paul Scofield in an Oscar-winning performance. The film follows More’s moral and political stand against King Henry VIII’s divorce and remarriage...
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John Cassavetes may be known for his raw, improvisational indie dramas, but with Gloria (1980), he delivered something entirely different—a gritty urban thriller with a heart, starring the incomparable Gena Rowlands who plays the titular Gloria, a tough, no-nonsense woman with mob ties who suddenly finds herself the reluctant guardian of a young boy targeted by gangsters after his family’s brutal murder. Armed with nothing but atti...
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Mike talks with filmmakers Chris Rosik and Rob Cousineau about their 2025 film So Fades the Light, a quiet, unsettling drama about the long shadows of cult trauma. The story follows Sun (Kiley Lotz), once known as the “God Child” of the Iron and Fire Ministry, a violent extremist group shattered by a police raid. Years later, Sun lives in isolation, traveling the country in her van—until the release of the cult’s leader (D. Duke So...
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June 30, 2025 36 mins
Author D. Harlan Wilson joins Mike to discuss his latest book, Strangelove Country, a collection of critical fictions examining four of Stanley Kubrick’s most influential science fiction films: Dr. Strangelove, 2001: A Space Odyssey, A Clockwork Orange, and A.I. Artificial Intelligence. Blurring the lines between criticism, fiction, and satire, Wilson explores how Kubrick’s work continues to shape cultural narratives about technolo...
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Mike is joined by Robert Bellissimo and Philip Marinello to explore O Pagador de Promessas (1962), the landmark Brazilian drama from director Anselmo Duarte. Also known internationally as The Given Word, the film adapts Dias Gomes’s acclaimed stage play into a sharp critique of institutional power.

The story centers on Zé do Burro, a simple farmer who treks over 20 miles into Salvador while bearing a heavy cross—honoring a vow to Sa...
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June 19, 2025 24 mins
Mike ventures deep beneath the surface with director Rob Petit to discuss Underland (2025), a haunting, meditative documentary that charts an extraordinary subterranean journey into the hidden worlds beneath our feet. Narrated by author and co-writer Robert Macfarlane, the film adapts his bestselling book Underland: A Deep Time Journey, bringing to life an awe-inspiring descent into caves, catacombs, glacial crevasses, and undergro...
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What happens when a lavish dinner party refuses to end? Mike is joined by filmmaker Miguel Llansó and critic Rob St. Mary to unpack the surreal social satire of Luis Buñuel’s The Exterminating Angel (1962). In this sharp and strange masterwork, a group of upper-crust guests find themselves mysteriously unable to leave a post-opera gathering—days pass, civility erodes, and Buñuel’s absurdist lens skewers class, ritual, and the thin ...
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Mike chats with co-directors Travis Wood and Alex Mallis about their debut feature The Travel Companion (2025), a painfully funny look at friendship, ambition, and emotional unraveling among aspiring filmmakers. The story centers on Simon (Tristan Turner), a struggling documentarian who clings to the one major perk in his life: the free airline travel he enjoys as the designated companion of his best friend and roommate Bruce (Anth...
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We wrap up Maudit May with a look at Scarecrow in a Garden of Cucumbers (1972), a once-lost independent musical that’s recently been restored and released on Blu-ray by the American Genre Film Archive. Directed by Robert J. Kaplan and written by Sandra Scoppettone, the film stars Holly Woodlawn as Eve Harrington, a young woman from Kansas who moves to New York City in search of something more—only to find herself in a strange world...
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June 9, 2025 24 mins
The day we released The Brave episode, producer Charles Evans Jr. texted me to say that he was sorry he hadn't gotten back to me but wanted to share some memories of making the film. We discussed how the project came to be and his experience making it.

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-projection-booth-podcast--5513239/support.
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June 4, 2025 125 mins
The Projection Booth continues its spotlight on rare and elusive cinema with The Brave (1997), Johnny Depp’s directorial debut and a film shrouded in mystery since its limited release. Adapted by screenwriter Paul McCudden from a novel by Fletch author Gregory McDonald, The Brave tells the harrowing story of Rafael, a Native American man who agrees to sacrifice himself in a snuff film to provide for his impoverished family.

Joining ...
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Mike is joined by podcaster Aaron Peterson (The Hollywood Outsider) and filmmaker Miguel Llansó (Crumbs, Jesus Shows You the Way to the Highway, Infinite Summer) for a conversation about Rafael Corkidi’s elusive 1971 or 1972 feature debut Ángeles y querubines (Angels and Cherubs). Once presumed lost, this visually ravishing curio from Mexico’s surrealist wave plunges into Edenic allegory, spiritual symbolism, and vampiric resurrect...
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May 26, 2025 106 mins
Mike White is joined by Mike Sullivan and Emily Intravia to take a long-overdue look at Move (1970), the surreal, seldom-seen New York comedy directed by Stuart Rosenberg. Fresh off his success in MASH Elliott Gould stars as Hiram Jaffe, a would-be playwright stuck writing porn and walking dogs while waiting for the movers who never arrive. As his mundane reality refuses to budge, Hiram plunges into a chaotic interior world filled ...
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May 14, 2025 90 mins
Brace yourself for a mind-melting trip into cinematic obscurity as Mike White, Heather Drain, and Ben Buckingham dive headfirst into There Is No 13 (1974), the elusive, long-suppressed anti-war film from director William Sachs. Blending absurdist humor, surreal vignettes, and unflinching commentary on the Vietnam War, the film follows draftee George Thomas through a fractured journey of memory, fantasy, and emotional unraveling.

Alm...
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Mike welcomes director Lexi Alexander to discuss her latest film, Absolute Dominion (2025), a dystopian martial arts thriller set in a world torn apart by religious warfare. They dig into the film’s provocative premise, the challenges of balancing action with social commentary, and the process of staging large-scale fight sequences on screen. Lexi shares insights into the production, working with actors like Désiré Mia and Alex Win...
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Actor James A. Watson Jr. joins Mike White in The Projection Booth for a lively and insightful conversation about his remarkable career. Best known for his work on Quincy, M.E., The Rookies, and Hill Street Blues, Watson reflects on breaking into Hollywood, the challenges he faced as a Black actor, and his early film roles in Halls of Anger and The Organization. He shares behind-the-scenes stories from Airplane II: The Sequel and o...
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The Marvel machine rolls on! Mike welcomes Chris Stachiw and Father Malone back to The Projection Booth to unpack Thunderbolts (2025), Marvel’s latest plunge into the morally murky side of the MCU. With a roster of antiheroes and reformed villains, Thunderbolts flips the superhero script—so does it soar or stumble? The trio dives deep into the film’s character dynamics, chaotic action, and franchise fatigue, pulling no punches as t...
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Mike welcomes film writer Mike Sullivan and critic/podcaster Amy Nicholson (Unspooled) to dig into So I Married an Axe Murderer (1993), Tommy Schlamme’s cult romantic comedy where Mike Myers plays it (mostly) straight — no prosthetics, no outlandish characters, just a jittery San Francisco beat poet navigating his fear of commitment. That is, until his charming new love, played by Nancy Travis, starts to look suspiciously like a bl...
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Director Rachel Feldman joins Mike to discuss her powerful new film Lilly (2025), a long-overdue portrait of activist Lilly Ledbetter. They explore the real-life struggles that inspired the story, the battle to bring Lilly’s fight for equal pay to the big screen, and the challenges of crafting a deeply personal historical drama in today’s Hollywood landscape. Feldman shares behind-the-scenes insights into the film’s development, th...
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April 30, 2025 169 mins
Prepare for takeoff as Mike White is joined by Mark Begley (Wake Up Heavy) and Chris Stachiw (The Kulturecast) for a high-flying deep dive into Airplane II: The Sequel (1982)! Buckle up for a spirited discussion about the often-overlooked follow-up to one of the greatest comedies of all time. Beyond the crew's lively breakdown, the episode features an impressive lineup of interviews with writer/director Ken Finkleman, legendary com...
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