This week’s episode is a real treat: I’m joined by Alex Ullom, the 28-year-old writer/director of It Ends, and he provided a real window into the process of getting a low-budget indie movie made. His story has everything: fundraising from professional magicians; a first cut that didn’t work at all; acceptance into SXSW followed by no offers to buy the movie; a grassroots groundswell that got it the attention of Letterboxd; and, finally, a pickup by leading indie distributor Neon for release this week. 

It’s playing in Los Angeles and New York City this week before expanding wide next week, and I cannot stress this enough: if you liked Backrooms or enjoyed the existential dread of Exit 8, you have GOT to go see It Ends.

This week, I’m joined by Robert Corn-Revere. Currently the chief counsel at the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, Corn-Revere also served as the chief counsel to the Federal Communications Commission chair in 1993 and as a counsel on important First Amendment cases that have made their way all the way to the Supreme Court. (Seriously, check out his Wiki, it’s crazy.) We had a pretty in-depth chat about how the FCC works and the myriad ways in which Trump’s hand-picked chair, Brendan Carr, is perverting some of the long-term ideals of the commission. 

On this week’s episode, I’m rejoined by renowned critic and film historian David Thomson to discuss his new book, A Sudden Flicker of Light: A Revisionist History of Movies. It’s a bracing tome, given its thesis: That the film screen has fundamentally altered who we are and how we interact with the world, in ways mostly negative. I’ll have more on this book in my newsletter this week, but I really hope you pick it up; there’s a lot to chew on in it.

I’m joined by Peter M. Hoffman this week to discuss his new memoir, Karmic Winds, about his time in Hollywood as the tax lawyer who could figure out how to get movies financed and get people paid. Fans of 1980s action movies will recognize many of the names here, as Hoffman was a key figure in the Golan and Globus empire before becoming CEO of Carolco Pictures during their epic run of films that included Basic Instinct and Terminator 2. We also discussed the way tax laws helped—and then hindered—getting movies made, and Peter’s own unfortunate run-in with IRS authorities. If you want the full story, make sure to check out his book, which goes into much more detail than we had time for here.

This episode gets a bit in the weeds about tax law and the such, but I’d love to hear from folks about their favorite Carolco films. One that we touched on very briefly is Jacob’s Ladder, a movie I’ve always found fascinating in part because I don’t think it entirely works. Or at least, it didn’t for me … but Peter’s book highlights the ways in which the film reflects the Tibetan Book of the Dead, which may just be the key to unlocking it all. I’m excited to go back and revisit it with that idea in mind. 

I’m super-excited about this week’s episode, as I’m getting to talk about one of my favorite zombie movies (Day of the Dead) with one of the creators of that film (John Harrison, the first assistant director and composer of its iconic score) and one of the producers at one of my favorite boutique Blu-ray labels (Jeff Roland from Shout Factory/Scream Factory). We talk all about the making of the film, of course, but also the making of this set: one of my favorite special features on the bonus disc is a 30-minute-or-so doc about the actual restoration of this film. How they tracked down the interpositive, what they had to do to get the transfer into shape for a 4K release, how they had to mix the sound, etc. 

I really cannot recommend this set enough: it comes out June 16, but I strongly recommend picking up a copy now, as these collector’s editions can be hard to keep in stock. Obviously, the fans of Romero’s films are going to want it. But I would pitch it to anyone who appreciates a good piece of archival work: There are documentaries on this thing that will simply help you understand the world of physical media better. Plus a fun new audio commentary featuring Drew McWeeny and Daniel Kraus. And, of course, a pristine new transfer that gives extra depth and definition to all of those scenes set in the underground mines where most of the movie takes place.