Special Report: 2025 Fantasia Curtain Raiser

Buonopalooza wraps up with Howard Morris’s caper comedy Who’s Minding the Mint? (1967). Jim Hutton stars as Harry Lucas, a hapless Treasury worker who accidentally swipes $50,000 and scrambles to replace it before he’s caught. To pull off the fix, he enlists a motley crew of oddballs, including Dorothy Provine’s Verna Baxter, who’s more interested in perfecting her brownies than in breaking and entering. The ensemble bursts with familiar faces—Milton Berle, Joey Bishop, Walter Brennan, Jack Gilford, and of course, Victor Buono.Mike White, Otto Bruno, and Tim Madigan close out the Buono-palooza celebration with this breezy, big-cast caper.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

3 Sep 1h 27min

Mike talks with writer Katharine Coldiron about her new book, Out There in the Dark (Autofocus Books). Blending film criticism, memoir, fiction, and experimental forms, the collection uses movies as prisms to explore truth, kindness, the female body, the American West, war, and more. From The Sound of Music to Apocalypse Now, Coldiron examines how cinema shapes memory and myth. Praised as “thoughtful, trenchant, and keenly observed,” her essays prove that sometimes the best way to understand life is through the flicker of film.Find out more at https://autofocusbooks.com/store/p/out-there-in-the-darkBecome 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

29 Aug 24min

Buonopalooza rolls on with Robert Aldrich’s Hush… Hush, Sweet Charlotte (1964). Following the massive success of Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?, Aldrich re-teamed with Bette Davis for another Southern Gothic nightmare. This time, Davis plays Charlotte Hollis, a reclusive woman haunted by whispers of murder and locked in a decaying Louisiana mansion where secrets fester and madness simmers. The film co-stars Olivia de Havilland, Joseph Cotten, Agnes Moorehead, and—of course—Victor Buono in a pivotal role. Mike White is joined by Tim Madigan and Otto Bruno to dig into the history, the production troubles, and the legacy of one of the juiciest entries in the “Psycho-Biddy” cycle.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 Aug 1h 41min

Buonopalooza rages on with Victor Buono front and center in The Strangler (1964). One of his rare leading roles, Buono embodies Leo Kroll, a smothered man-child whose repressed rage against women spills into murder. Loosely modeled on the Boston police department’s profile of the Boston Strangler—and hitting theaters mere months after Albert DeSalvo’s confession—the film walks a fine line between crime drama and exploitation, delivering Buono at his creepiest. Mike is joined once again by Otto Bruno and Tim Madigan to dig into this twisted artifact of ‘60s true-crime cinema.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

20 Aug 1h 26min

We’re kicking off a month devoted to the inimitable presence of Victor Buono — though in our opening pick, “starring” might be generous. Let’s say “featuring,” and featuring with impact. Robert Aldrich’s What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? (1962) stands as the grand dame of “Hagsploitation” — or “Psycho Biddy,” if you prefer — with Joan Crawford and Bette Davis locked in a barbed-wire sister act as Blanche and Baby Jane Hudson. Mike White is joined by authors Otto Bruno and Tim Madigan to unpack the film’s camp, cruelty, and craft.Plus, actor Dominic Burgess — who portrayed Buono in Ryan Murphy’s Feud — drops in to talk about stepping into the oversized shoes of this unforgettable supporting player.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

15 Aug 2h 13min

The mics are on for Shaun Michael Colón’s Age of Audio (2025), a whirlwind 82-minute tour through the origins, growth, and current state of podcasting. Narrated by and featuring Ronald “Big Ron” Young Jr. — host of multiple award-winning shows — the documentary blends his personal journey with a broader look at the voices, tech, and cultural shifts that shaped the medium. Mike is joined by Chris Stachiw (The Kulturecast) and James Cridland (Podnews Daily Newsletter) for a conversation on how Age of Audio captures the podcasting boom, why the history matters, and what the film says about where the medium is headed next.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

11 Aug 1h 47min

Mike is joined by Emily Intravia (The Feminine Critique) and screenwriter Howard A. Rodman for a sobering descent into Panic in Year Zero! (1962), directed by and starring Ray Milland. Loosely inspired by Ward Moore’s chilling short stories “Lot” and “Lot’s Daughter,” the film imagines a Los Angeles family thrust into chaos after a nuclear attack decimates the city. As Henry Baldwin, Milland leads his wife (Jean Hagen) and children (Mary Mitchel and Frankie Avalon) on a desperate quest for survival in a world unraveling by the hour.With Cold War dread baked into every frame, Panic in Year Zero! is an eerily prescient slice of apocalyptic Americana—a proto-survivalist tale that predates The Road and The Walking Dead by decades. We unpack its moral ambiguity, its place in the post-bomb canon, and why it remains a startling relic of atomic-age anxiety.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

6 Aug 1h 18min

Mike is joined by Father Malone (Midnight Viewing) and Chris Stachiw (The Kulturecast) to dig into Marvel’s latest reboot attempt, Fantastic Four: First Steps (2025), the long-awaited introduction of Marvel’s First Family into the MCU. Directed by Matt Shakman and starring Pedro Pascal, Vanessa Kirby, Ebon Moss-Bachrach, and Joseph Quinn, the film blends retro aesthetics with multiversal madness as Reed, Sue, Ben, and Johnny leap from the 1960s into present-day chaos.Does Shakman finally crack the code that’s eluded three previous FF films? Or does Marvel’s Phase 6 entry stretch itself too thin? The trio tackles the film’s performances, its ties to Kang and the Secret Wars setup, and whether this version lives up to the legacy of Jack Kirby and Stan Lee’s original cosmic explorers.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

4 Aug 1h 20min