Craig & Friends

The fabulous Nell Campbell joins me to chat Rocky Horror, Lisztomania, Richard O’Brien, Tim Curry, Jim Sharman, Richard Hartley, Patricia Quinn, Sue Blane, Brian Thomson, mental health, Ken Russell, the pros & cons of tri-coastal living, Andrew Lloyd Webber, the state of the world, Alan Parker, the dull danger of drugs, Hedwig & The Angry Inch, Cole Escola’s Oh Mary! and much more.

Taped the day before the terribly sad passing of Tim Curry, this episode is dedicated to Tim’s life & legacy. 

Erik Clapp of the mighty Cinema Force joins me for Part 2 of our discussion of John Frankenheimer’s 1986 sleaze & suspense classic 52 Pick-Up. Adapted from Elmore Leonard’s book by John Frankenheimer and Leonard himself, 52 Pick-Up is a tension & twist filled thriller that always keeps you guessing. 

This film also gives us one of the most iconic villains in cinema history, brought to life by the legendary John Glover. Also starring Roy Scheider, Ann-Margret, Clarence Williams III, Vanity & Robert Trebor, 52 Pick-Up was Produced by Menahem Golan & Yoram Globus for Cannon Films. It was also strongly disliked by a pearl-clutching Gene Siskel. What more could a film-fan ask for?

This is Part 2 of 3 - Part 2 features another taping with Erik & Part 3 is my chat with the legendary John Glover. 

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Julie Klausner of the How Was Your Week & Double Threat (With Tom Scharpling) podcasts joins me to talk The Monkees & all things HEAD, the subversive 1968 classic that Quentin Tarantino considers one of the greatest films of 1969. Written by Jack Nicholson & Monkees co-creator Bob Rafelson (who also directs), HEAD is a biting satire of pop-culture, Hollywood "magic", show-business, America and The Monkees themselves.

William Petersen joins me to talk To Live And Die In LA, William Friedkin, Robby Müller, Darlanne Fluegel, Willem Dafoe, Manhunter, Michael Mann, Chicago theatre, 12 Angry Men, Dennis Farina, James Caan, nearly working with Oliver Stone, Richard Chamberlain, Hamlet, working with George C. Scott, what brought him to acting and much much more.

The Craig & Friends Movie Club for To Live And Die In LA will be out later this year, featuring chats with Billy Petersen, Bob Yeoman, Wang Chung, Linda Bass & Gala Avary (and more that I can't reveal at the moment). Portions of this chat will be included, along with material Billy & I taped that's exclusive to the Movie Club.

Abel Ferrara’s 1984 NYC sleaze gem FEAR CITY gets the Movie Club treatment, with a side order of TEQUILA & BONETTI - a show that just might change everyone’s life. The brilliant and charming film essayist, cinema professor & connoisseur Rich Johnson returns to join me in celebrating all things Abel Ferrara, the charisma of Jack Scalia, magic of Melanie Griffith, triumph of Tom Beringer and brilliance of Billy Dee Williams in a film about a stripper agency whose clients are being hunted by a serial killer. In short, a wholesome romp that somehow hasn’t yet popped up on the Hallmark Channel.

Filmmaker, archivist, podcaster and cinema connoisseur Nicholas McCarthy joins me to discuss his fabulous & moving 6-part docu-podcast, The Vanity Project. In it, we follow him along his decades-long quest to solve the mystery of Student Confidential, a film that was financed, written, directed, scored, edited by and starring the elusive Richard Horian. Who was he? Who is he? What was he like to work with? Where the hell IS he?  And does anyone know where the original film elements are?

We also get into the deep magic & influence of UHF channels in the 80s, cult films culture, Cop & 1/2 and much much more.

LA Times Film Critic, Co-Host of UNSPOOLED, author & basketball connoisseur Amy Nicholson joins me to discuss William Friedkin’s 1994 basketball classic BLUE CHIPS. Starring Nick Nolte, Shaquille O’Neal, J.T. Walsh & Alfrie Woodard, written by Ron Shelton (Bull Durham, White Men Can’t Jump) and stacked with real-life basketball legends (Bobby Knight, Penny Hardaway, Bob Cousy and more) BLUE CHIPS reeks of authenticity while examining the ethical complexities and financial realities of college sports.

Anne Carlisle - the star and co-writer of LIQUID SKY and James St. James join me for an in-depth exploration of this pioneering film.

One of the first films to explicitly depict & discuss pansexuality, androgyny & gender fluidity in any substantial way, LIQUID SKY also serves as an essay on toxic masculinity, ingrained homophobia and the ingrained misogyny of both overground & underground culture. 

LIQUID SKY’s hyper-stylized neon soaked aesthetic & aggressively bizarre, completely electronic score has continued to influence fashion, music and pop-culture in general since initial release in 1983.

It’s also a science fiction picture. AND the male and female leads are played by the same person. PLUS... LIQUID SKY features the second and final role for mysterious cult actress Paula Sheppard (ALICE, SWEET ALICE). We find out what Paula was like, where she likely went and how she feels about her acting career now.

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Scarlett BoBo & her sweet Pete talk parking-lot parties, Manic Mondays, Giddy-O-Gaymes,  LA Apartments, neighbor witches, Tim Horton’s, proper size wieners, Toronto, Hockey Night, Amsterdam love, Hedwig & The Angry Inch, Crews & Tangos, Canada’s Drag Race and more

More Bobo

It’s Showtime, Folks! Returning Movie Club champions Gala Avary (The Gala Show, Video Archives Podcast) & Erik Clapp (the mighty Cinema Force & EC Films) join me to talk all things ALL THAT JAZZ, Bob Fosse’s groundbreaking autobiographical masterpiece. 

Roy Scheider is Joe Gideon (AKA Bob Fosse) who can’t get a handle on his all-consuming workaholism, brutal perfectionism, constant philandering, incessant smoking, daily drinking and hourly pill-popping. He’s also working all day on a new musical and late into each night on a new film. What could go wrong?

Stay tuned for Part 2, coming your way on the next Movie Club Monday

For More Gala:

The ever-delightful & inspiring Michael Des Barres returns for a chat about keeping going no matter what, his latest album "It's Only Rock'N'Roll", the philosophy of Vidal Sasson, Klaus & Astrid, Mike Chapman, quiet walks, working with The Power Station, collaborating with Steve Jones , writing with Andy Taylor, Don Johnson, the sound of dinnerware surprise and much much more.

Rod Thomas AKA Bright Light Bright Light joins me to talk all things Election 2024, Kamala Harris, what hangs in the balance, the disgrace of Donald Trump, press smears, the fraud known as Jill Stein, the power of pragmatism and much much more.

Fashion Connoisseur and Creative Director for PETA Greg Garry joins me to talk the 1978's Faye Dunaway classic EYES OF LAURA MARS. Faye is the controversial fashion photographer Laura Mars, the fashion world’s most notorious photographer who’s having terrifying visions of murder. Tommy Lee Jones is the sensitive, world-weary cop in charge of the investigation, Brad Dourif is Ms. Mars’ troubled-yet-devoted driver and Rene Aubejonois is her fiercely protective agent & friend Donald Phelps. With a theme song by Streisand, photography by Helmut Newton and wall-to-wall taupe carpet - who could ask for anything more?

THE ADDAMS FAMILY gets the Movie Club treatment as Joe Black joins me to discuss on-set disasters, the long and rocky road of the film’s development, Barry Sonnenfeld’s technical wizardry and very specific personality, Anjelica Houston’s iconic performance and painful makeup process, MC Hammer, Raul Julia and his horrific eye calamity, Christopher Lloyd, Christina Ricci, Dan Hedaya and the profound impact this picture had - and has - on Joe Black’s kind of goth.

Pia Zadora welcomed me to her gorgeous Las Vegas home to discuss her legendary life and career. We talk The Lonely Lady, owning a plane with your name on it, the Golden Globes scandal, her marriage to Meshulam Riklis, working with John Waters on Hairspray, dealing with depression, psychoanalysis, Celebrity Wife Swap, Voyage Of The Rock Aliens, Pia’s Place & Piatinis, perseverance, touring with Frank Sinatra, NAKED GUN 33 1/3, handling haters, Jermaine Jackson, working with Talullah Bankhead and more.

Legendary filmmaker Alex Cox (Repo Man, Straight To Hell, Walker, Tombstone Rashomon etc) has a new film in the works, a film you can help make a reality by participating via Kickstarter. Click the link, snatch up the fabulous rewards available and thank Alex for decades of wonderful films.Alex & I discuss his collaborations with Joe Strummer, REPO MAN, studio politics, STRAIGHT TO HELL, Sam Peckinpah, Chateau Marmont, William Friedkin’s SORCERER, miserable encounters with Hunter S. Thompson and much much more.

We continue our marathon discussion of Michael Mann’s MANHUNTER. We talk the danger of the distorted lens, the self and shadow self, how Mann’s obsession with the smallest details enriches the bigger picture, Willam Friedkin’s near casting as Hannibal, Mann's impeccable song & score selections, digital vs. film, Mann's Chicago origins & extensive work in television & The Keep.

We also address (nearly all) of your Listener Comments & Questions. Our apologies to those we didn’t get to, send us further comments and corrections for a supplemental addendum which will feature the missing contributions. Organizational difficulties thwarted our best intentions.

The one and only Salina EsTitties joins me for a lively chat about growing up in the Castro, gay uncles, bringing Mexican-American culture to the stage, chems*x and the way out, RuPaul’s Drag Race, representation, keepin’ on the hustle, Who Framed Roger Rabbit?, Kenny Ortega, Survivor and much much more.

Michael Mann's 1986 classic MANHUNTER gets the full Movie Club treatment. So full, it had to be split into 2 parts.

Adult performer & producer, pegging enthusiast & pioneer Michael Vegas joins me to talk Altoid roulette, filmmaking, color-coding, overcoming internalized shame, Taser golf, meeting the love of his love (creative & life partner Siouxsie Q) in a uniquely specific, Robert Greene & The 48 Laws Of Power, Ada & I making a cameo in Michael & Siouxsie’s upcoming passion project The Bottom Floor, realistic & rigorous approaches to maintaining happiness, overcoming a near-fatal motorcycle accident so much more.

More Michael Vegas

Released in 1990 TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES was a blockbuster smash. No one burned with the fever of Turtle Power more than my guest, Tom Schwartz (Vanderpump Rules). Get a nice cheese pizza, stay out of the sewer and enjoy our chat about this cultural phenomenon.

Musical pioneer Chaz Jankel welcomed me to his home to discuss his legendary musical career - from his days with Ian Dury & The Blockheads (co-writing Hit Me With Your Rhythm Stick, Sex & Drugs & Rock’N’Roll and more) through his wildly influential solo career, his later foray into film scoring and that time  Quincy Jones covered one of his songs. We also get deep into society’s conventions, life’s rhythms, Elkhart Tolle, the illusion of control, energy balances, exotic cheeses and the importance of never squandering the light.

Craig, special guest co-host Katya & Sapphira continue their chat and talk going vegan, discovering opera, straight tone, vibrato’n’viagra, Miss D’America, resting diva face, doing the thing you need to be doing and MORE!

Originally posted in the salad days of the pandemic (August 2020), this Encore Presentation is in honor of our beloved Sapphira Cristál gooping and gagging the world on Season 16 of RuPaul's Drag Race.

Craig & special guest co-host Katya welcome Sapphira Cristal via satellite to talk perfect pitch, homeless schooldays, sorority sister saves, carbonara complications, putin’ it out your mouth, dagger dick, proper preparation, P-town drama, rotten rumors, Perestroika, growing up in Houston, Videodrome Discothèque, opera lust, fair wages, and MORE!

Our girl for all seasons Eureka O'Hara joins me to talk the mirth, magic and mayhem of the undercover feminist cult classic GREASE 2! We get into what a T-Bird could mean these days, the majesty of Michelle Pfeiffer, shooting dance numbers before the songs are ready, the chaotic grandiosity of producer & impresario Allan Carr, the impact of RSO & Robert Stigwood on our culture, fan theories about Grease's Sandy (and our own theories about Frenchie), John Travolta, Maxwell Caulfield's brief moment of Hollywood Heat, Cool Rider and much much more.

Nashville’s pre-eminent film critic, connoisseur & Prince devotee Jason Shawhan returns to Movie Club as we talk Prince’s 2nd film UNDER THE CHERRY MOON. We get into Prince’s ever-practical wardrobe choices, Jerome Benton’s woefully short film career, the rather progressive queerness of the film, “Martin Scorsese’s Pee Wee’s Big Adventure”, Wendy & Lisa, The Linn LM-1 drum machine, Prince’s proteges, Michael Ballhaus, smuggling pimento cheese across state lines, why this is Prince’s finest film, Morris Day & The Time, the sheer awfulness of Graffiti Bridge, Kristin Scott-Thomas, Siskel & Ebert missing the point and our own mistakes of believing received wisdom on this film - thus avoiding it - in younger days.

My dear friends Mike Chapman & Maddy Paterson join me to talk writing and producing decades of hits like “Ballroom Blitz”, “Hey Mickey” “Simply The Best” and much more, Michael Des Barres, producing Agnetha from ABBA, Suzi Quatro, pairing Lita Ford & Ozzy Osbourne, the trouble with Sharon Osbourne, working with mentor Micky Most, Dreamland Records, The Knack, telling the truth, producing Blondie, mentoring others, the psychology of record production, Rodney Bingenheimer, singing on Australian radio as a child, Le Dome, the majesty of Hull, finding love at Fortress, and so much more ❤️

The Muppet Movie, Phantom Of The Paradise, Bugsy Malone, A Star Is Born, “You And Me Against The World”, Smokey & The Bandit...what singular magical element do these cultural touchstones have in common? The legendary, inspirational & hilarious singer, songwriter, actor,  author, recovery advocate/counselor AND President of ASCAP known as PAUL WILLIAMS. Yes, one of my all-time heroes joins me for a truly special episode full of love and laughter that is sure to lift your spirits, heart & mind as much as it did (and still does) mine.

This candid chat with legendary compser, co-creator of Hedwig & The Angry Inch and all-around terrific person known as Stephen Trask continues, picking up where we left off: the difficulties of coming out during the Reagan era, the extremes of youthful idealism, protest & arrests, Don Hill's and the dream of a better nightlife future coming true with Squeezebox!, meeting John Cameron Mitchell, Cheater, Leonardo the heartthrob, special slices, CBGB blizzards & more.

Nashville's pre-eminent film critic, curator & connoisseur Jason Shawhan returns for EATING RAOUL. We talk Paul Bartel, Mary Woronov, The Roger Corman Expanded Universe, Robert Beltran, swingers, wine-snobs, bad musical theater, the lurking terror of The Beach Boys, SCENES FROM THE CLASS STRUGGLE IN BEVERLY HILLS and much more.

Stephen joins me to talk scoring films, replacing Randy Newman, taking Hedwig & The Angry Inch from stage to screen, studio sabotage, leading the house band at the legendary SqueezeBox! party, negative pickups, falling in love with punk & piano lessons, the terror of coming to terms with being queer in the early 80s, hitting big at Sundance and much more. Taped in late 2020 but unreleased ‘til now due to a freshly resolved technical issue. Part 2 out next week. 

For this merry Movie Club Monday, an encore presentation of the very first Movie Club episode. Taped in 2018 with my former co-host Katya, this is a gleeful exploration into the magic and mystery of Brian De Palma's oft-misunderstood masterpiece BODY DOUBLE

The gorgeous & hilarious scientist of drag known as JUDY returns to discuss our membership in the Bipolar gang, my fairly recent diagnosis, vacation rashes, massage vibes, biblical floods, intentional consumption, calm candy moments, cognitive behavioral therapy, loving partners, Gordon Lightfoot’s guiding light, British food VS American food, the rumination rhumba and more.

From NYMPHOWARS, the International Amuse Douche chanteuse Macy Rodman joins me via satellite from Pittsburgh to discuss the lurid, sinister and quasi-legal pleasures of David Cronenberg’s prescient 1983 masterpiece VIDEODROME. We talk the divine Deborah Harry, Spectacular Optical, the brilliant actor yet repellent person that is James Woods, Canadian content, tax-shelter filmmaking, the continued relevance of Cronenberg’s cultural commentary, Scott Baio's bogus blacklisting, foley work revelations, corporate musicals, CRASH, Betamax body horror, Bianca & Brian O'blivion and so much more. 

Willam joins me to discuss the power and particulars of the latest and greatest adaptation of a story as old as show-business itself : 2018's A STAR IS BORN. Starring Lady Gaga & Bradley Cooper (who also co-wrote and directed) with William, Shangela, Andrew Dice Clay & Sam Elliott.

Willam takes us through the casting process, working with Gaga & Cooper, Stefani's backrubs, ARTPOP, Cooper's supportive collaborative nature, the ins-and-outs & ups-and-downs of a working actor and then we answer Listener Questions.

Originally released on Patreon in 2020, premiering to the public today. Happy Movie Club Monday!

Shocked to learn of the death of our darling Sophie. To celebrate the laughter, love and lust she brought to this world, here is an encore presentation of our first chat in London, from 2019.

Rest In Peace, my dear 💔

Original Episode Notes:

Craig welcomes the enchanting Sophie Anderson to London HQ1 for her very first podcast! We talk Cock Destroyers, Krispy Kremes, being a Mom, finding your community, the power of spunk, sunglasses in the house days, VHS porn, plastic surgery, Trixie Mattel, gettin’ it in, going full-on, kebab’n’curry, “Driving For D*ck”, Jodie Harsh, escaping dangerous situations, creating yourself, being bullied, reaching out for help, crossdressing, chosen family, skin-tag surprises, porn preferences, Rebecca More, how to bolster your self-confidence, staying off drugs, our relationship with food, and MORE! Our pals Mike Chapman & Maddy Paterson join in at the end to talk British accents, hangovers, DragWorld disasters and exciting future collaborations. 

Gala Avary of The Gala Show & The Video Archives Podcast celebrates her birthday by joining me to talk Uncle Ken’s lurid 1984 classic CRIMES OF PASSION. We examine the magic mirth and mayhem of Russell’s aesthetic, Anthony Perkins’ penchant for poppers, the majesty of Kathleen Turner, sex-worker positivity, Gala & Craig’s “Correct Cut” feud, Oliver Reed, Robert Stigwood, Paul Nicholas, Sir Paul Williams, Celebrity Big Brother as well as Movies, Cinema AND Film 🍿🎥🎬

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, GALA!!! 🌞

A sleaze masterpiece directed by star Anthony Perkins, PSYCHO 3 plunges Norman Bates deep into the vibe & venom of the mid 80s

Nashville's pre-eminent film critic, curator & connoisseur Jason Shawhan joins me to talk Perkins magic, the consistent brilliance of the PSYCHO franchise, the horror of Bill Wyman, Alfred Hitchcock, lurid lighting, Michael Mann's BATMAN, Siskel & Ebert's review, Brian De Palma, Perkins' personal life, Quentin Tarantino, the silky synth score from Carter Burwell, Katt Shea, Diana Scarwid, Jeff Fahey and more.

The hilarious & charming Venus Black joins me to talk Subculture, Elvira, beer roadies, Paul Schrader, underground drag, Videodrome Discothèque, how to sneak booze into venues, Steven Tyler’s Can O’ Coke & Pill Stuffed Scarf, feather boas, Tootsie, Knott’s Berry Farm and much more.

The hilarious stand-up comic Olivia Flood-Wylie joins me to laugh and talk the current comedy scene, audience energy, meeting her sweetie in Amsterdam, our shared membership in the Bipolar gang, the perils of perfectionism, Dara Ó Briain, The Comedy Store, karaoke disasters, the legendary rudeness and inherent danger of Canadians and more.