Episode 300: Highlander (1986)

Carol Borden and Jackie Stargrove join Mike for a double-barreled deep dive into John Woo’s The Killer — both the 1989 Hong Kong classic and Woo’s own 2024 reimagining. They revisit the operatic gunfights, moral codes, and aching "bromance" that made The Killer a cornerstone of the “heroic bloodshed” genre, tracing its influence from Le Samouraï to Hard Boiled to the present day. Along the way, they take a detour through Hum Hain Bemisaal (1994), Bollywood’s gloriously unauthorized remake, and consider how Woo’s new vision reframes his mythic tale for a world that’s changed as much as cinema itself.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-projection-booth-podcast--5513239/support.Become a supporter of The Projection Booth at http://www.patreon.com/projectionbooth

1 Joulu 1h 49min

The Projection Booth pulls back the curtain on Paul Greengrass’s The Lost Bus (2025), a tense, docu-style thriller that pushes real-world chaos right to the edge of the frame. Mike sits down with special effects coordinator Brandon K. McLaughlin, whose practical wizardry gives the film its authenticity. They dig into orchestrating high-stakes set pieces, blending practical work with digital augmentation, and engineering Greengrass’s signature controlled mayhem without ever losing sight of character and story.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-projection-booth-podcast--5513239/support.Become a supporter of The Projection Booth at http://www.patreon.com/projectionbooth

28 Marras 35min

Daniel Kremer returns to The Projection Booth with an irresistible double feature of cinephile obsession. Mike dives into Cruel, Usual, Necessary: The Passion of Silvio Narizzano (2024), Kremer’s exhaustive and heartfelt documentary about the fiercely talented, too-often disregarded director behind Georgy Girl, Loot, and Why Shoot the Teacher? Kremer lays out the decades-long fascination that fueled his mission to rescue Narizzano’s reputation from footnotes and dismissals.The conversation then shifts to Kremer’s new book, Adventures in Auteurism: A Crusade for the Critically Neglected, a bold, deeply researched celebration of filmmakers who never got their due. He and Mike dig into the joys of critical excavation, the thrills of uncovering overlooked filmographies, and the fight to keep forgotten artists visible. If you love cinematic passion projects, archival detective work, and spirited defenses of the undervalued, this one’s a feast.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-projection-booth-podcast--5513239/support.Become a supporter of The Projection Booth at http://www.patreon.com/projectionbooth

27 Marras 37min

Noirvember closes with James B. Harris’s Cop (1988)—the first time James Ellroy’s feverish fiction hit the big screen. Mike teams with Andrew Nette and Rod Lott for a deep read of Harris’s adaptation, where James Woods’s unhinged Detective Lloyd Hopkins hunts a killer across eighteen years of buried violence.The trio digs into Ellroy’s original novel Blood on the Moon and the wilder, abandoned incarnation that came before it—L.A. Death Trip, the unsold, manuscript that first birthed Hopkins. Using material from Ellroy’s own accounts and critical studies (including the brute-force early drafts, the rewrites demanded by Otto Penzler and Nat Sobel, and the shift to publishable structure), the conversation maps how a doomed finale turned into a tight serial-killer pursuit.The episode also features a new interview with James B. Harris, who breaks down the challenges of translating Ellroy’s structure, keeping Hopkins’s mania intact, and staying faithful to the narrative rhythms of the novel. What emerges is a portrait of a filmmaker wrestling with source material born in chaos—reforged into the dark, abrasive thriller that helped spark decades of Ellroy adaptations.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-projection-booth-podcast--5513239/support.Become a supporter of The Projection Booth at http://www.patreon.com/projectionbooth

26 Marras 2h 15min

Mike talks with filmmaker Todd Rohal in a lively, no-holds-barred tour through one of the most delightfully unclassifiable careers in American indie cinema. From Knuckleface Jones to The Catechism Cataclysm, Rohal has carved out a lane where misfits, surreal detours, and emotional gut-punches live side-by-side.The conversation zeroes in on F*** My Son (2025), his bold and darkly comic new feature that pushes his sensibilities into feral, confrontational territory. Rohal talks process, chaos, collaboration, and why he wants to work in a hardware store.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-projection-booth-podcast--5513239/support.Become a supporter of The Projection Booth at http://www.patreon.com/projectionbooth

25 Marras 59min

The Projection Booth enters Edgar Wright territory with a deep dive into The Running Man (2025), his audacious adaptation of the dystopian classic. Mike teams up with Midnight Viewing’s own Father Malone to break down Wright’s maximalist world-building, razor-cut action choreography, and the film’s commentary on media spectacle and state-manufactured violence.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-projection-booth-podcast--5513239/support.Become a supporter of The Projection Booth at http://www.patreon.com/projectionbooth

24 Marras 49min

Noirvember 2025 keeps rolling as Mike teams up with author Dahlia Schweitzer and artist Rahne Alexander to crack open V.I. Warshawski (1991), Jeff Kanew’s glossy, big-city take on Sara Paretsky’s groundbreaking detective. Kathleen Turner commands the screen as V.I., whose night on the town swerves into murder, a dead former Blackhawks star, and a teenager who refuses to stay out of danger.This episode brings together an incredible lineup: Sara Paretsky, creator of the V.I. Warshawski novels; screenwriters David Aaron Cohen, Nick Thiel, and Warren Leight; and director Jeff Kanew. They share the inside story of adapting an iconic literary detective, shaping Turner’s formidable on-screen persona, and navigating the film’s winding path from page to screen.Along the way, we dig into Chicago’s cinematic grit, the film’s place in early-’90s studio genre filmmaking, and—yes—we spoil who killed Boom Boom and finally reveal what the initials V. I. actually stand for.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-projection-booth-podcast--5513239/support.Become a supporter of The Projection Booth at http://www.patreon.com/projectionbooth

19 Marras 4h 17min

Mike talks with cultural critic Dan Schindel and Lyle Zanca of GKIDS to discuss Mamoru Oshii’s 1985 anime film, Angel’s Egg (AKA Tenshi no Tamago), a gorgeous lyrical film about spiritualism and redemption. The film has been recently restored and given a 4K scan that will be screened across the U.S. starting November 19, 2025. Check local listings and be on the lookout for the upcoming Blu-Ray release.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-projection-booth-podcast--5513239/support.Become a supporter of The Projection Booth at http://www.patreon.com/projectionbooth

18 Marras 20min