Babylon, or The Ick Factor (feat. Jane Altoids) episode artwork

EPISODE · Jan 23, 2026 · 2H 6M

Babylon, or The Ick Factor (feat. Jane Altoids)

from Marvelous! Or, the Death of Cinema · host Nicole Veneto, Tyrell James, and Cole Netscape

Jane Altoids (@staticbluebat) of Pacino Pod joins us to relitigate one of Film Twitter's favorite discourses: is Damien Chazelle's mega-critical and commercial flop Babylon an underrated masterpiece or a heaping pile of elephant shit? Did Babylon deserve to fall or did the guy famously who lost Best Picture to Moonlight make one of the great misunderstood films of the 21st century? Can a straight man (loosely, debatably) adapt Kenneth Anger's tome of gay lies, deceits, and fallacies Hollywood Babylon into what dumb people call a "love letter" to silent cinema? The verdict: Babylon bad, or at the very least a hot mess of ambition, miscasts leads, and tonal whiplash from a director lacking the camp touch and the ability to diagnose where Hollywood evil truly resides. The Radical Stardom of Clara Bow: The First It Girl by Be Kind Rewind Fake News: Fact Checking Hollywood Babylon by You Must Remember This An extra special thanks to our $10 Executive Producers: JetChiclete, Isaac, squishward, Walt Lewellyn of The Black Casebook, Tropical Doves, jprestonpoole, Lohik, bernventers, and Owen2. If you can, please lend some support to these organizations: Gaza Funds PCRF (Palestinian Children's Relief Fund) MAP (Medical Aid for Palestinians) National Networks of Abortion Funds Immigrant Law Center of Minnesota If you enjoy the show please consider: Subscribing to our Patreon, where you can enjoy exclusive subscriber only episodes. Joining our Discord. Checking out our Credits page where you can view a complete list of Patrons. Leaving a rating and review on your podcast provider of choice.  Production by Miguel Tahni. Art by Zoe Woolley and Jo Hermeer. Follow @MarvelousDeath for updates. 

Jane Altoids (@staticbluebat) of Pacino Pod joins us to relitigate one of Film Twitter's favorite discourses: is Damien Chazelle's mega-critical and commercial flop Babylon an underrated masterpiece or a heaping pile of elephant shit? Did Babylon deserve to fall or did the guy famously who lost Best Picture to Moonlight make one of the great misunderstood films of the 21st century? Can a straight man (loosely, debatably) adapt Kenneth Anger's tome of gay lies, deceits, and fallacies Hollywood Babylon into what dumb people call a "love letter" to silent cinema? The verdict: Babylon bad, or at the very least a hot mess of ambition, miscasts leads, and tonal whiplash from a director lacking the camp touch and the ability to diagnose where Hollywood evil truly resides. The Radical Stardom of Clara Bow: The First It Girl by Be Kind Rewind Fake News: Fact Checking Hollywood Babylon by You Must Remember This An extra special thanks to our $10 Executive Producers: JetChiclete, Isaac, squishward, Walt Lewellyn of The Black Casebook, Tropical Doves, jprestonpoole, Lohik, bernventers, and Owen2. If you can, please lend some support to these organizations: Gaza Funds PCRF (Palestinian Children's Relief Fund) MAP (Medical Aid for Palestinians) National Networks of Abortion Funds Immigrant Law Center of Minnesota If you enjoy the show please consider: Subscribing to our Patreon, where you can enjoy exclusive subscriber only episodes. Joining our Discord. Checking out our Credits page where you can view a complete list of Patrons. Leaving a rating and review on your podcast provider of choice.  Production by Miguel Tahni. Art by Zoe Woolley and Jo Hermeer. Follow @MarvelousDeath for updates.

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Babylon, or The Ick Factor (feat. Jane Altoids)

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This episode was published on January 23, 2026.

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Jane Altoids (@staticbluebat) of Pacino Pod joins us to relitigate one of Film Twitter's favorite discourses: is Damien Chazelle's mega-critical and commercial flop Babylon an underrated masterpiece or a heaping pile of elephant shit? Did Babylon...

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