Cinema Junkie

Christopher Nolan wants you to see his epic tale of ancient Greece in 70mm IMAX but is it worth a trip to the cinema? Cinema Junkie hosts Midday Movies to find out.

Find out how a film critic and a drag queen created and self-published a delightful children's book about 'Your Fluff is Enough.'

This summer there are big Hollywood blockbusters like 'Supergirl' but also indie hits like 'The Furious,' so here's a rundown of what's in theaters now and coming up in cinemas later this season.

'Dead, White and Blue' is made from 100 percent recycled film and filmmaker Mike Davis explains what that means.

Cinema Junkie has a new book recommendation, David F. Walker's "Black Film: A History of Black Representation and Participation in the Movies."

To close out Women's History Month, here's a tribute to both the women directors who blazed a trail as well as the provocative new female voices emerging today.

"Protest is a form of art. Let's treat it as such." And that's what Cinema Junkie is doing as we go a little off topic to don an inflatable T-Rex costume and discuss tactical frivolity as a protest tool and then see how it has played out in movies.

Cinema Junkie speaks with authors Kim Luperi and Danny Reid about their new book, “Pre-Code Essentials: Must-See Cinema from Hollywood’s Untamed Era 1930-1934," which is the perfect gift for any cinephile.

Since current protests have taken on a decidedly more theatrical and even humorous tone, Cinema Junkie explores the notion of tactical frivolity as a tool in both movies and the real world. In Part One Moviewallas' Yazdi Pithaval joins the discussion.

The new documentary Tura! pays tribute to bad ass actress and pop culture icon Tura Satana. Cinema Junkie speaks with director Cody Jarrett and Tura's friend and manager Siouxzan Perry. Warning: episode contains mature language.

Cinema Junkie presents this month's Midday Movies, with Beth Accomando and Yazdi Pithavala, and an exploration of unconventional cinematic adaptations of the Bard.

Cinema Junkie Beth Accomando speaks with musician Ben Model who has written a book defining the cinematic language of "The Silent Film Universe."

Cinema Junkie joins Midday Movies to celebrate San Diego's last indie art house cinema.

Ryan Coogler’s "Sinners" has been dominating the box office the last two weeks. One of the reasons is that people don't just want to see it once, they want to see it multiple times. That’s because the film is not just an action packed vampire tale but it is also a deeply personal film for Coogler and it is packed with both history about his Southern roots and with Black culture. To unpack the film Cinema Junkie has combined Midday Movies with interviews featuring authors John Jennings and David F. Walker. Get ready for an illuminating look at "Sinners." You can watch the video podcast here: https://youtu.be/eYli1Y-G1-w

Cinema Junkie celebrates Walpurgisnacht with Joe Bob Briggs, host of Shudder's "The Last Drive-In."

Cinema Junkie Beth Accomando speaks with PacArts artistic Brian Hu and filmmaker Jota Mun about some Asian cinema classics as well as bold new work.

Cinema Junkie once again hosts Midday Movies. Hit the dark alleys of film noir with the usual suspects from the Midday Movies gang to find some Dark City Dames to die for. With KPBS Cinema Junkie Beth Accomando, Moviewallas' podcaster Yazdi Pithavala, and Midday Edition's Andrew Bracken.

To close out Black History Month, Cinema Junkie presents Midday Movies as critics create a suggested viewing list to celebrate Black women on screen and behind the camera. AND to remind people that celebrating Black film does not have to end on February 28th. Once again KPBS Midday Edition host Jade Hindmon welcomes KPBS Cinema Junkie Beth Accomando and Moviewallas’ podcaster Yazdi Pithavala. WARNING: Clips contain explicit language and violence.

Cinema Junkie welcomes back David F. Walker but this time to discuss his new graphic novel "Big Jim and the White Boy," a clever reimagining of Mark Twain's "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn."

Check out what our critics and San Diego Cinephiles think about the 97th Academy Award nominations plus what to look forward to in 2025.

Check out what our critics and San Diego Cinephiles think about the 97th Academy Award nominations plus what to look forward to in 2025.

Cinema Junkie presents a Christmas Smackdown between KPBS Midday Movies critics Beth Accomando and Yazdi Pithavala. They face off in a battle between Christmas action/horror and feel good holiday fare. The Christmas Smackdown is refereed by KPBS Midday Edition host Jade Hindmon. You can also watch the video podcast: https://youtu.be/vAeH9g34gis.

Film programmers Matt Rotman of Bonkers Ass Cinema and Eddie Gurrola of Popcorn Reef join Cinema Junkie to sing the praises of grindhouse cinema.

A cinephile's dilemma of having two film festivals happening at the same time: TCM Film Festival and San Diego Asian Film Festival's Spring Showcase.

Cinema Junkie is doing another Crew Call edition, this time to speak with Laurent Sénéchal whose fine work on 'Anatomy of a Fall' just garnered him a Best Film Editing Oscar nomination. He’ll explain what a film editor actually does and discuss the fine art of building tension, suspense, and a sly sense of ambiguity.

Cinema Junkie's Beth Accomando and Moviewallas' Yazdi Pithavala go shopping for the best films to watch this holiday season... and the lumps of coal to avoid.

Apple TV Plus recently launched Season 3 of Slow Horses starring Gary Oldman as the disheveled, flatulent, and often drunk Jackson Lamb. It is also midway through its Monarch Legacy of Monsters show that expands Legendary’s Monsterverse. I had an opportunity to speak with some of the creative folks behind both shows. First, I’ll be speaking to Oldman and co-star Jack Lowden about where their characters are in this latest season of Mick Herron’s espionage tale. Then I will talk to the people behind the camera who are bringing Godzilla to the small screen.

Cinema Junkie speaks with Fil-Am filmmaker H. P. Mendoza about human flight, ghosts on the set, and 'grief release.'

Cinema Junkie wants to extend the spooky season to 365 days a year with some home haunting and scary movies.

Cinema Junkie speaks with filmmaker Errol Morris about his new documentary "The Pigeon Tunnel," which explores the life and work of David Cornwell, better known by his pen name of John Le Carré.

Cinema Junkie invites Moises Esparza to look back on ten years of programming for the San Diego Latino Film Festival and Digital Gym Cinema to curate a list of film recommendations for Hispanic Heritage Month.

In the early Twentieth Century, Anna May Wong was deemed too Chinese to play white roles and too American to play Chinese roles but that did not stop her from becoming an international icon. Cinema Junkie speaks with Yunte Huang, author of a new biography on the Asian American Actress.

Get ready for some intoxicating cocktails as well as hard drinking as TCM Noir Alley host Eddie Muller invites you to the Noir Bar on the latest Cinema Junkie.

Ben Model has dedicated himself to creating music scores to bring silent films back to glorious life. This month marks a special anniversary for Model since it was ten years ago that he created Undercrank Productions to produce and distribute quality DVD and now Blu-ray releases of rare silent films featuring scores he has created. He discusses the process to creating these scores and his passion to save these films and share them with new audiences.

Cinema Junkie takes a film noir road trip to Shanghai and the Old West by way of the Arthur Lyons Film Noir Festival in Palm Springs. Can't make it? Then just use this as a roadmap for your own noir journey.

Former TCM programmer Millie DeChirico talks about her new book, "TCM Underground: 50 Must-See Films from the World of Classic Cult and Late-Night Cinema."

In the final episode of Cinema Junkie's three-part series focused on Black Com!x Day's Get Shooked! New Masters of Horror panel, Kevin Grevioux talks about his latest projects, owning your own IPs, and monsters.

Cinema Junkie continues its three-part series talking with the Get Shooked panelists coming for Black Comix Day. In this episode, John Jennings talks about cosmic superheroes, a crowd-funded horror anthology, and getting hooked on comics.

Cinema Junkie speaks with three of the new masters of horror contributing stories to the new comics anthology "Shook." In Part One, Rodney Barnes talks about vampires, real world horror and juggling a career in TV, film and comics.

At 68, Japan's Godzilla is nowhere near ready for retirement. Toho's iconic monster was born out of an atomic blast in 1954 and now is poised for a live action series called "Godzilla and the Titans" as well as a cinematic rematch with Kong set for 2024 . Plus the famous kaiju is the topic of a new coffee table book that makes a perfect gift. Cinema Junkie talks with author Graham Skipper about "Godzilla: The Official Guide to the King of the Monsters."

Author Luis Reyes explores the legacy of Latin and Hispanic artists in American film in his new TCM book "Viva Hollywood."

For Thanksgiving Moviewallas' Yazdi Pithavala joins Cinema Junkie to give thanks for the film "TÁR."

What makes someone feel driven to tour around with a film projector in tow and screen films on 16mm? Find out on this Bonus edition of Cinema Junkie.

Get ready for slow burn horror of "Speak No Evil.” I got to see “Speak No Evil” at virtual Sundance earlier this year. It was my favorite film of the festival and it’s in my top ten for 2022. It’s intense and anxiety inducing but executed with such an elegant, subdued style that I was completely riveted from opening frame to last. It takes a left turn that shocked me in a way similar to Bone Tomahawk and it made me uncomfortable in the same way Michael Haneke’s films make me feel. So I can’t wait to dive into the horrors of “Speak No Evil.”

VICE TV’s Icons Unearthed Star Wars and Disney Plus’ Light and Magic serve up a wealth of interviews and behind the scenes materials that will dazzle and delight not just Star Wars fans but anybody who loves movies and the creative process. Icons Unearthed boasts the first on camera interview with Lucas’s ex-wife and the Oscar winning editor of A New Hope, Marcia Lucas, while Light and Magic was made by Lawrence Kasdan with the full support of Lucasfilm and access to its archives. Both shows take a deep dive into the Star Wars franchise and into what Lucas had to do to get his vision on the screen.

Get ready for a bonkers ass ride through the wildest and most extreme horror and exploitation cinema as Greg Dohler and author Matt Rotman take the wheel to kick a new season of Cinema Junkie into high gear.

Cinema Junkie is on a season break but serves up this Bonus Podcast on the bold visionaries behind "Mad God" and "Neptune Frost."

TCM Classic Film Festival is back in person in Hollywood. TCM host Alicia Malone and TCM programmer Scott McGee will both be at the festival to sign copies of their new books. Cinema Junkie speaks with both authors.

Cinema Junkie speaks with actors Gary Oldman, Kristin Scott Thomas and Jack Lowden as well as director James Hawes about bringing Micke Herron's acclaimed spy novel "Slow Horses" to the small screen. The Apple Original series is currently streaming.

This year marks the 50th anniversary of Francis Ford Coppola's "The Godfather." Actor Robert Duvall played Tom Hagen and talks about working on the classic film.