Watching Classic Movies

Sep 3, 2025

New Podcast: The First Episode of Psychotronic Sisters!

Aug 28, 2025

Psychotronic Sisters Debuts September 3!

Kristina Dijan and I had so much fun making the giallo episode that closed out my recent season of Watching Classic Movies podcast that we decided to start our own podcast! We'll be talking about our favorite weird, genre, cult films, both classic and current. It's going to be a lot of fun!

The show is available on Spotify, Amazon Music, Apple iTunes, and PocketCasts. You can also follow us on YouTube, where you can view a preview of the films we're going to discuss at the beginning of each episode.

Learn more and join our mailing list at our official site:

https://psychotronicsisters.wordpress.com/

And take a look at our show trailer for a look at what's to come:

Join us on September 3!

Aug 15, 2025

Watching Classic Movies Podcast: Underseen Giallos with Kristian Dijan

My guest is Kristina Dijan, writer of the longtime blog Speakeasy and a senior writer at the Dark Pages film noir newsletter. Kristina and I met at the TCM Classic Film Festival over a decade ago, where we quickly discovered a shared love for cult and genre films. In the years since we have shared hundreds of film suggestions with each other. This episode we decided to put down our phones and discuss our favorite underseen Giallos face-to-face. We had so many ideas for follow-up episodes, that Kristina suggested we start our own podcast, where we could share our conversation with fans of cult and genre films. Get ready for Psychotronic Sisters coming soon wherever you subscribe to podcasts. Stay tuned at the end of the show to learn more!

More about Kristina: https://hqofk.wordpress.com/ https://www.allthatnoir.com/newsletter/

Films Discussed:

Short Night of Glass Dolls (1971)

Possessed (1965)

The Strangler (1970)

In The Eye of the Hurricane/Fox with a Velvet Tail (1971)

Queens of Evil (1970)

Blazing Magnum/Shadows in an Empty Room (1976)

The Red Queen Kills Seven Times (1972)

Aug 14, 2025

On YouTube: More Saucy Pre-Code Cartoons and a Brooch That Made the Rounds on the Warner Bros Lot

There are a lot of familiar patterns and themes in classic pre-Code Hollywood movies (the time period roughly between 1930-34), as can be seen in this collection of clips. Censors found it too racy, but these classic films were also honest, humorous, and adult. These moments were even more playful and creative in cartoons from the era, so much so that I did a part two!

The story of a brooch that made it into four Warner Bros films of the forties. Three of them classics, one of them essentially forgotten. Hollywood is known for recycling and this cloud brooch with its sparkling raindrops was no exception!

Aug 8, 2025

Watching Classic Movies Podcast--Single & Psycho: How Pop Culture Created the Unstable Single Woman Author Caroline Young

My guest is Caroline Young, author of Single & Psycho: How Pop Culture Created the Unstable Single Woman. We talked about the many ways unmarried women are represented in movies and television and how they are often vilified. From Fatal Attraction and its fascinating inspiration Diversion, to Gone Girl and the singletons of Bridget Jones and Sex and the City, we covered a lot of ground.

Also available on Apple Podcast, Spotify, PocketCasts, and wherever else you listen to podcasts!

More about Caroline:

Instagram

Official Site

Titles discussed:

Diversion (1979)

Fatal Attraction (1987)

Thelma and Louise (1991)

Basic Instinct (1992)

The Hand That Rocks the Cradle (1992) Sex and the City (TV, 1998)

Obsession (2023)

Fatal Attraction (TV, 2023)

The Girl on the Train (2016)

Gone Girl (2014)

Promising Young Woman (2020)

The Boy Next Door (2015)

The Real Fatal Attraction (2025)

Baby Reindeer (2024)

Aug 1, 2025

Watching Classic Movies Podcast--Cesar Romero: Joker is Wild Author Samuel Garza Bernstein

Though he has appeared in over two hundred films and television shows for generations of fans, Cesar Romero will always be the Joker. While his series of guest appearances in the 1960s Batman show is undeniably memorable, there’s a lot more to both Romero the man and the actor.

My guest is Samuel Garza Bernstein, author of Cesar Romero: The Joker Is Wild. We discussed the most fascinating performances of this elegant, underrated talent who always maintained the heights of his stardom and lived life to the fullest with remarkable kindness and positivity.

Available on Apple, Spotify, Amazon Music, and PocketCasts!

More about Samuel:

Samuel's Website

Instagram

Samuel’s Recommendations:

Deep Waters (1948)

Oceans Eleven (1966)

The Little Princess (1939)

Wee Willie Winkie (1937)

Other Films Discussed:

The Devil is a Woman (1935)

Two on a Guillotine (1965)

Batman (1966)

Latitude Zero (1969)

Simple Justice (1989)

Midas Run (1969)

The Timber Tramps (1973)

The Haunted Mouth (1974)

Jul 25, 2025

Watching Classic Movies Podcast: TCM Classic Movie Festival Memories with Karen Burroughs Hannsberry and Aurora Bugallo

One of the best decisions I ever made was to attend the TCM Classic Film Festival, and there are thousands of movie fans who feel the same way. I've attended for several years. This one-of-a-kind event is as much about the community it draws as it is its films, panels, guests, and welcoming TCM hosts. I have spent many hours at the festival with my guests Aurora Bugallo, who writes the Once Upon A Screen blog and who is active on social media as Citizen Screen and Karen Burroughs Hannsberry who writes the Shadows and Satin blog, is editor of the bi-monthly film noir publication the Dark Pages Newsletter and is author of Femme Noir: Bad Girls of Film and Bad Boys: The Actors of Film Noir. We had a lot of laughs and even got a bit emotional reminiscing about the many ways our days together in Hollywood were memorable, heartwarming, and even life changing.