Forbidden Films

"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.

"Go get the butter." In the inaugural episode of Forbidden Films, writer-director Wayne Kramer and producer Barry Germansky celebrate the patron saint of controversial cinema, Bernardo Bertolucci, with a deep dive into a pair of the filmmaker's most notorious works, Last Tango in Paris and The Dreamers, as well as a sidebar into one of his earlier films, Partner. Wayne and Barry are on a mission to seek out redress for the revisionist lynching of a cinematic master and throw themselves on the altar of defending the art over the artist, and, when necessary, the artist himself. Fragile sensibilities are encouraged not to hit the "play" button.

"I like to watch." Wayne Kramer and Barry Germansky celebrate peak De Palma: the controversial 80s, where the provocative director and self-appointed heir to Hitchcock takes on Woman Against Pornography, fragile critics, nervous financiers and the MPAA with a foursome of classic films: Dressed to Kill, Blow Out, Scarface, and Body Double. The master of the lurid and the extended female walk-and-stalk challenged 80s viewers with his stylized eroticism and hyper-violent set pieces, all while championing the male gaze. In a De Palma film you're never in doubt who is behind the camera, and Wayne and Barry revel in this virtuoso filmmaker's satirical and, often times, cynical vision. The most underrated and misunderstood of the Movie Brats, this three hour ode to sexual identities, political conspiracies, underworld cokeheads and split-diopters is De Palma worship on steroids. Hit the button, as long as it's not the 7th Floor!

"Viddy well, little brother, viddy well." It's time for a little ultra-violence and the old in-out, in-out as Wayne Kramer and Barry Germansky take a deep dive into Stanley Kubrick's dystopian masterpiece A Clockwork Orange, a film that brought about global condemnation, moral panic, and snapping censor's shears in response to the legendary filmmaker's adaptation of Anthony Burgess' satirical novel on free will versus totalitarianism. ACO still packs a punch and retains the power to shock and elucidate, even as the film's modern critics remain conflicted over its ultra-stylized violence, explicit nudity, and mixed messaging. Our hosts have been subjected many a time to the Ludovico Technique and remain in awe of this 1971 classic. Press the button, little brother, and all will be revealed.

"Al Pacino! Attica! Attica! Attica!" It's time to put on your dancing shoes because Wayne Kramer and Barry Germansky are heading to the 2001 Odyssey disco to get down with controversial youth classic, Saturday Night Fever, 1977's breakout hit and star-making vehicle for John Travolta. While the Bee Gees' soundtrack to SNF remains evergreen, the tone and raunchiness of the film hasn't fared as well. Today's fragile viewers have condemned this gritty cinematic achievement as racist, misogynistic, and profane, even if they still like to watch Travolta boogie. Wayne and Barry contend that John Badham's disco era drama is an angsty 70s masterpiece that delivers on all fronts, even as it proves to be an equal opportunity offender. Tune in to revisit the "Fever" and leave your sensitivities at the door. And be sure to "watch the hair."