

The Pink Smoke podcast
The Pink Smoke
A podcast on cinema & literature, from Action Jackson to Zeder.
Episodes
Mentioned books

Nov 13, 2024 • 56min
1974: Fifty Years Later / The Nickel Ride
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1974 was a landmark year for film, a convergence of exciting international cinema and the original voices of New Hollywood that still resonates 50 years later. In our new series we invite a different guest for each episode to choose a 1974 movie to talk about, ranging from giant blockbusters to minor cult curios and everything else in between.
Host Martin Kessler hops on The Nickel Ride, one of the more unjustly neglected films of that hallowed cinema year that sees director Robert Mulligan instill a distinctively L.A. setting with a shadow of noir desperation and a tinge of French crime drama melancholy. Martin is joined by two ardent cinéastes, podcaster Felicia Maroni and film writer Andrew Nette, to discuss how Mulligan creates a precis of mid-70's American movie constructs - fading machismo, pervasive paranoia, volitional isolation - that thrills even when there's more talking than shooting.
The Pink Smoke site:
www.thepinksmoke.com
Andrew Nette on social media:
@pulpcurry.bsky.social
Andrew Nette's Pulp Curry website
pulpcurry.com
Andrew Nette's Substack newsletter:
andrewnette.substack.com
Felicia Maroni on social media:
@CineMaroni
Seeing Faces in Movies Podcast
seeingfacesinmovies.com/episodes

Oct 29, 2024 • 1h 21min
1974: Fifty Years Later / The Texas Chain Saw Massacre
What is there left to be said about the greatest horror film ever made?
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The Pink Smoke site:
www.thepinksmoke.com
The Pink Smoke on X:
twitter.com/thepinksmoke
Christopher Funderburg on X:
twitter.com/cfunderburg
John Cribbs on X:
twitter.com/TheLastMachine
Intro music: Unleash the Bastards / “Tea for Two”
Outro music: Marcus Pinn / “Vegas”

Oct 22, 2024 • 1h 11min
1974: Fifty Years Later / Killdozer
All episodes are made available to Patreon subscribers, the most killer-ish and dozer-y of all audiences, one week before their general release
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The Pink Smoke celebrates the Spooky Season with the most terrifying subject imaginable: a sentient, vengeful bulldozer! Guest Joe Gibson has chosen this TV movie from the pen of science fiction legend Theodore Sturgeon to discuss for our 1974 series, one that comes between the highway horror of Duel and apocalyptic chaos of Maximum Overdrive. Can the half dozen construction workers stranded on an island off the coast of Africa survive the wrath of a meteorite-possessed Killdozer? This is a very fun movie.
1974 was a landmark year for film, a convergence of exciting international cinema and the original voices of New Hollywood that still resonates 50 years later. In our new series we invite a different guest for each episode to choose a 1974 movie to talk about, ranging from giant blockbusters to minor cult curios and everything else in between.
Joe's Letterboxd:
https://letterboxd.com/zoltarak/
The Pink Smoke site:
www.thepinksmoke.com
The Pink Smoke on X:
twitter.com/thepinksmoke
Christopher Funderburg on X:
twitter.com/cfunderburg
John Cribbs on X:
twitter.com/TheLastMachine
Intro music: Unleash the Bastards / “Tea for Two”
Outro music: Marcus Pinn / “Vegas"
Support our Patreon:
www.patreon.com/thepinksmoke

Oct 9, 2024 • 1h 14min
Ep. 151 Devil Girls
Episodes are made available to Patreon subscribers one week before their general release.
www.patreon.com/thepinksmoke
"'It doesn't seem important anymore.' Her eyes held a vacant stare which bothered Dee. They appeared to be looking but not seeing anything. 'I didn't think I'd ever want anything more than I did, gold and good times and excitement. I guess I lived it day and night. Gold! Bread! Loot! I quit school to get it. Money was the only thing that was important in the whole world to me and I didn't care much how I got it. And I liked it so's I could buy fly juice and powder! Pot! Hashish! Now it's all changed. I don't want any of it. Why fly when there’s no place left to fly?"
In celebration of Edward D. Wood Jr.'s 100th birthday, The Pink Smoke dives into one of the many pulp books the venerated "worst director of all time" churned out in the last decade of his life. In spite of being overstuffed with characters and subplots, Devil Girls from 1967 is also packed with the kind of half-clunky/half-poetic dialogue and potboiler action sequences that made his films so entertaining.
Devil Girls tells the story of The Chicks, an all-female gang of juvenile delinquents involved in drug running within their kill-crazy gulf port town. Between jazzing on the big H, heisting soda shops and taking part in hazy orgies with the local thugs, these young troublemakers also arrange the murder of a schoolteacher and kill a parent or two. Which of them will see the light and follow Reverend Hank Steele's path to salvation? Which will end up under a boat propeller? Listen to this episode before you light another fix candle - your life might depend on it!
Support our Patreon:
www.patreon.com/thepinksmoke
The Pink Smoke site:
www.thepinksmoke.com
Movie Kessler on X:
twitter.com/MovieKessler
The Pink Smoke on X:
twitter.com/thepinksmoke
John Cribbs on X:
twitter.com/TheLastMachine
Intro music: Unleash the Bastards / “Tea for Two”
Outro music: Marcus Pinn / “Vegas"

Oct 1, 2024 • 1h 5min
1974: Fifty Years Later / Mahler
All Pink Smoke Podcast episodes are made available one week before their general release to Patreon subscribers. Subscribe to get early access & so much more:
www.patreon.com/thepinksmoke
1974 was a landmark year for film, a convergence of exciting international cinema and the original voices of New Hollywood that still resonates 50 years later. In our new series we invite a different guest for each episode to choose a 1974 movie to talk about, ranging from giant blockbusters to minor cult curios and everything else in between.
Falling somewhere between his more restrained films about Elgar and Delius and his untamed biopics of Strauss and Liszt, in 1974 Ken Russell released a portrait of Austro-Bohemian Romantic composer Gustav Mahler and his silently suffering spouse Alma. We welcome back Russell's wife and collaborator Lisi Tribble Russell, who shares her insights on this low-key masterpiece and memories of her friendship with its star, the wonderful Georgina Hale.
The Pink Smoke site:
www.thepinksmoke.com
The Pink Smoke on X:
twitter.com/thepinksmoke
Christopher Funderburg on X:
twitter.com/cfunderburg
John Cribbs on X:
twitter.com/TheLastMachine
Intro music: Unleash the Bastards / “Tea for Two”
Outro music: Marcus Pinn / “Vegas”
Support our Patreon:
www.patreon.com/thepinksmoke

Sep 24, 2024 • 59min
1974: Fifty Years Later / Murder On The Orient Express
All Pink Smoke Podcast episodes are made available one week before their general release to Patreon subscribers. Subscribe to get early access & so much more:
www.patreon.com/thepinksmoke
A dead body! A trainful of suspicious movie stars! Real authentic exotic locations! Sidney Lumet's all-star adaptation of Murder on the Orient Express is the ultimate comfort movie for mystery aficionados and fans of ritzy, old-fashioned Hollywood productions alike. Melanie Daniels of the Cinema Parlor Podcast is both, which makes her the ideal guest to discuss the performances of the movie's top-notch cast, the eclecticism of Lumet's filmography and how solidly Hercule Poirot's cases would hold up in court.
1974 was a landmark year for film, a convergence of exciting international cinema and the original voices of New Hollywood that still resonates 50 years later. In our new series we invite a different guest for each episode to choose a 1974 movie to talk about, ranging from giant blockbusters to minor cult curios and everything else in between.
Melanie Daniels on Twitter:
twittter.com/plasticwerewolf
Cinema Parlor Podcast:
twitter.com/cinemaparlor
The Pink Smoke site:
www.thepinksmoke.com
John Cribbs on Twitter:
twitter.com/TheLastMachine
Movie Kessler on Twitter:
twitter.com/MovieKessler
The Pink Smoke on Twitter:
twitter.com/thepinksmoke
Intro music: Unleash the Bastards / “Tea for Two”
Outro music: Marcus Pinn / “Vegas"

Sep 17, 2024 • 2h 19min
An Epilogue to The Pink Smoke's time at the Toronto International Film Festival
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All good things must come to an end. Hosts John Cribbs and Christopher Funderburg are joined by Marcus Pinn to discuss their memories of attending the Toronto International Film Festival over the course of twenty years. This set of personal reminiscences is not necessarily intended for general audiences; this is the deepest of Pink Smoke deep cuts. Their thoughts on two decades of cinema and one of the premiere international film festivals are intertwined with a discussion of poutine, junk shops selling rare novelizations, the Brass Rail and how much fun it is to bust Pinn’s chops over his love of To The Wonder.
They talk their favorite films they saw at the festival, their most memorable experiences, the changes to the festival throughout the years, the best years, the worst years, food poisoning, Andrew Wilson, Sportos in Batavia New York, crank-call party mix-tapes and, of course, the Eagles’ sudden and unexpected transition from the Kevin Kolb era to the Michael Vick era.
A tribute to one of the most important film festivals in the world and the trio’s time spent there.
The Pink Smoke site:
www.thepinksmoke.com
The Pink Smoke on X:
twitter.com/thepinksmoke
Christopher Funderburg on X:
twitter.com/cfunderburg
John Cribbs on X:
twitter.com/TheLastMachine
Intro music: Unleash the Bastards / “Tea for Two”
Outro music: Marcus Pinn / “Vegas”

Sep 15, 2024 • 2h 44min
Ep. 150 Toronto International Film Festival 2024 Wrap Up
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John Cribbs & Christopher Funderburg are back with their rundown of the 2024 Toronto International Film Festival! From the highest highs (Hard Truths) to the lowest lows (It Doesn’t Get Any Better than This) and the poutine in between, they take a look at the state of cinema as explicated by one of the world’s premiere film festivals.
They discuss new works by Kiyoshi Kurosawa, Mike Leigh, Mike Flanagan, Tomas Alfredson, Thomas Vinterberg, Ron Howard and so much more - they discuss not just the highlights, but every single goddamn film they saw on their final trip to the Queen City for the festival!
Support our Patreon:
www.patreon.com/thepinksmoke
The Pink Smoke site:
www.thepinksmoke.com
The Pink Smoke on X:
twitter.com/thepinksmoke
Christopher Funderburg on X:
twitter.com/cfunderburg
John Cribbs on X:
twitter.com/TheLastMachine
Intro music: Unleash the Bastards / “Tea for Two”
Outro music: Marcus Pinn / “Vegas”

Sep 3, 2024 • 1h 52min
Ep. 149 Toronto International Film Festival 2024 Preview
All episodes are made available to Patreon subscribers, the most vioiently anti-Canadian and finestkind of all audiences, one week before their general release.
Support our Patreon:
www.patreon.com/thepinksmoke
John Cribbs & Christopher Funderburg return to the Queen City for our 20th trip to the Toronto International Film Festival to watch all the best in the current world of le cinema. With a line-up brimming (filled to the brim) with possibility, we talk our must-see films, wildcards, and the ones we’re dreading.
Included in this year’s slate are new works by Mike Leigh, Kiyoshi Kurosawa, Timo Tjahjanto, Pedro Almodovar, David Cronenberg, Thomas Vinterberg and more …choosing which titles among the 300+ entries to see is going to take guts. And brains. And human decency.
We introduce both the Possibility-o-meter and the Donnybrook-o-meter. Get psyched!
Support our Patreon:
www.patreon.com/thepinksmoke
The Pink Smoke site:
www.thepinksmoke.com
The Pink Smoke on X:
twitter.com/thepinksmoke
Christopher Funderburg on X:
twitter.com/cfunderburg
John Cribbs on X:
twitter.com/TheLastMachine
Intro music: Unleash the Bastards / “Tea for Two”
Outro music: Marcus Pinn / “Vegas”

Aug 20, 2024 • 1h 4min
Ep. 148 The Queen Of Spades
Host Martin Kessler is joined by Ally Pitts to discuss Thorold Dickinson's 1949 British fantasy-horror film, The Queen of Spades.
Support our Patreon:
www.patreon.com/thepinksmoke
The Pink Smoke site:
www.thepinksmoke.com
Movie Kessler on X:
twitter.com/MovieKessler
The Pink Smoke on X:
twitter.com/thepinksmoke
Intro music: Unleash the Bastards / “Tea for Two”
Outro music: Marcus Pinn / “Vegas"