Forbidden Films

"She's a friggin' suspect. Walk away. Frankie? Just walk away." Wayne Kramer and Barry Germansky are braving the erotically-charged tide of Harold Becker's 1989 neo-noir police procedural, Sea of Love, written by Wayne's favorite writer, Richard Price, and starring Al Pacino in his post-Revolution comeback film, alongside Ellen Barkin in the role that solidified her sultry leading lady status. Pacino's Detective Frank Keller, partnered with John Goodman, is on the trail of a serial murderer who is using the personal ads column to entice male victims. Before Sharon Stone began romancing Michael Douglas with an ice pick in Basic Instinct, Barkin's Helen Cruger was already bringing the fuck me-kill you ambiguity to this twisty cop thriller. Wayne goes to the mat to defend Sea of Love as the perfect thriller, and is ready to get Frank Keller-style karate-choppy on anyone who claims otherwise, especially those who don't think the film has a strong resolution. If you like your 80s NYPD cop thrillers drenched in mood and attitude and late-night eroticism, as well as edge of your seat "Is she or isn't she?" anxiety, then brace yourself for one to the back of the head in the best possible way. Richard Price's complex, neurotic characters, Harold Becker's stellar craftsmanship, Trevor Jones' manic, jazzy score and Pacino and Barkin sexing up the big screen all make for an underrated masterpiece of the genre. So, pour yourself a shot of Dewar's, break out your old .45s, and drop the needle on Sea of Love.

"I'd have to be pretty stupid to write a book about killing and then kill him the way I described in my book. I'd be announcing myself as the killer. I'm not stupid." On today's episode of Forbidden Films, Barry Germansky welcomes a very special guest: legendary producer Mario Kassar. They'll be discussing everything you could want to know about BASIC INSTINCT, one of the most controversial films of the 1990s. In addition to Basic Instinct, Mario has produced or executive produced such iconic films as The Changeling, the first three Rambo films, Angel Heart, Jacob's Ladder, Total Recall, The Doors, Chaplin, Cliffhanger, and the groundbreaking Terminator 2: Judgment Day, one of cinema's most inexhaustible dreamscapes. Throughout this episode, Barry and Mario will be examining one of the wildest erotic thrillers ever made. So grab your ice pick, uncross your legs, fix yourself a double blackjack on the rocks, and tune in for a candid conversation with Mario about all things Basic Instinct.

"Sometimes you just gotta say, 'What the fuck, make your move.'" Wayne Kramer and Barry Germansky are engaging in some Risky Business with Paul Brickman's 1983 surreal, erotic, and Salingerian coming-of-age masterpiece that lit the fuse on Tom Cruise's stardom. Joel Goodson is looking to get laid, looking to get into Princeton, and looking for a whole lot of trouble when his parents go out of town. With one late night phone call to Rebecca De Mornay's sultry, cynical call girl, Lana, Joel gets schooled in Reaganomics the Chicago way. Guest instructors include Guido the Killer Pimp and Lana's hot-to-trot hooker friends. Joel's curriculum also includes an AP course on how to make love on a real train – soundtracked by Phil Collins and Tangerine Dream. So strip to your tighty-whities, roll up your tube socks, and hit play for some Old Time Rock and Roll.

"You aren't too smart, are you? I like that in a man." Wayne Kramer and Barry Germansky are getting under the sheets with Body Heat, writer-director Lawrence Kasdan's 1981 revamping of the film noir genre. Everything old is new again — this time with a sultry femme fatale for the ages, Matty Walker, played by the combustible Kathleen Turner in her screen debut, who seduces William Hurt's small town horndog lawyer, Ned Racine, into offing her husband and bringing about Ned's eventual cum-uppance. All to the tune of John Barry's alto saxed-up score and Richard H. Kline's sweaty cinematography. With supporting turns from Richard Crenna, Ted Danson, and Mickey Rourke, this granddaddy of the modern film noir delivers in the best tradition of Billy Wilder, Jacques Tourneur, Robert Siodmak, and Fritz Lang – with the added bonus of boobs, butts, and profanity. So, beware of the wind chimes, never buy a strange woman on the boardwalk a snow cone, and stay out of the boathouse. Click play for a fun conversation about sex, death, and humidity.

"It's showtime, folks!" Wayne Kramer and Barry Germansky are hopping on a Greyhound bus to Broadway to revisit Bob Fosse's semi-autobiographical and tragically prescient All That Jazz. It's a phantasmagorical, warts-and-all look at the life of Joe Gideon, a tortured Broadway director and filmmaker choreographing his way into oblivion. Joe is at war with his second-guessing financiers, his pursuit of perfection, his failing health, and his own raging libido in Fosse's multiple Oscar-winning masterpiece. Prepare to be dazzled by Roy Scheider's fearless, self-excoriating performance, Ann Reinking's virtuosic dance moves, and Alan Heim's manic postmodern editing that keeps it all moving to an unsettling arrhythmic beat. So fire up the Vivaldi, pop some Dexedrine, light up an unfiltered Camel, lubricate your eyeballs, and come take off with us.

"I didn't know there was a pool down there." Join us for part two of our Bond retrospective as Wayne Kramer and Barry Germansky keep their Walther PPKs firmly lined up on 007's most threatening villains: the henchmen of political correctness. Our hosts continue to opine on what the Bond movies used to do so well in the 1960s and 1970s and what's missing from the current mission directive: F.U.N. Part two features: You Only Live Twice through Moonraker. Connery to Lazenby to Moore. It's the Biggest. It's the Best. It's Bond and B-e-y-o-n-d!

"The name is Bond. James Bond." Wayne Kramer and Barry Germansky invite you on a mission to redeem the reputation of 1960s and 1970s James Bond films from 007's most dangerous nemesis ever: O.U.T.R.A.G.E. While our hosts concede that these early Bond films can seem a bit out of step with modern sensibilities, they're still the best in show for pure escapism and wish fulfillment, as well as delivering on plots and villains that seem uncannily prescient for where we find ourselves in 2026. And let's not get started on those Bond women. Okay, let's do! Part one's mission dossier features: Dr. No, From Russia with Love, Goldfinger, and Thunderball.

"Come. It is time to keep your appointment with the Wicker Man." Wayne Kramer and Barry Germansky head to Summerisle to celebrate May Day with Christopher Lee and his merry band of pagans. We kneel before the acting prowess of Edward Woodward, fantasize about losing our virginity to Britt Ekland, and rage at the clueless executives that disemboweled director Robin Hardy and writer Anthony Shaffer's folk horror classic in the name of commercialism and cowardice. As an aside, our duo goes on a film preservation and physical media rant with Wayne singing the praises of 4K viewing, despite the increased resolution diluting some of The Wicker Man's sinfulness. Click play for immediate transmogrification.