Hot Date

For 1972's Baron Blood, director Mario Bava brought together the talents of some of the era's greatest genre stars and designers.  German actress Elke Sommer played the female lead and would do so again in Bava's Lisa and the Devil.  Future Oscar winner Carlo Rambaldi provided the gory make-up.  Bava fave Stelvio Cipriani composed the sometimes jaunty, sometimes dramatic music.  And American Joseph Cotten stepped in when Vincent Price turned down the pivotal role of Alfred Becker.  Dan and Vicky discuss the 1972 campy Italian horror film along with lots of recently seen like Hamilton on Disney+; docs I'll Be Gone in the Dark and Scream, Queen; films Eurovision Song Contest, Blow Up, The Yakuza, The Alphabet Murders, Come to Daddy and The Hunt.   Listen to Hot Date 109: Baron Blood and leave us some feedback.  Check out www.hotdatepod.com. 

For it's assured visual style and performances from Ray Liotta and Jason Patric, Joe Carnahan's Narc was the talk of the 2002 Sundance Film Festival, winning the Dramatic Grand Jury Prize and putting Carnahan securely on Hollywood's radar.  The film, co-produced by Liotta and his wife and snapped up by Tom Cruise and partner Paula Wagner for distribution, was set in Detroit but shot mostly in Toronto.   Dan and Vicky look at the gritty procedural along with an eclectic mix of recently seen including Soylent Green, Lady Sings the Blues, 2019 slasher Haunt, 1937's Topper, Saturn 3, Amicus thriller And Now the Screaming Starts and a whole bunch of early Hitchcock.  Give Hot Date 108: Narc a listen and leave us some feedback.  Check out our website at www.hotdatepod.com. 

Our original episode 107 was lost to the sound gods so we've kept the Hot Date chosen at the end of that podcast and move forward with the Vanity Fair adaptation Becky Sharp from 1935 starring Miriam Hopkins and directed by Rouben Mamoulian.  The film was the very first to employ the three strip Technicolor process which allowed for the full spectrum of color to be represented on film.  Your podcast hosts, recording remotely after weeks of sound issues, check in on each other during the continued pandemic and recent social uprisings.  In addition to Becky Sharp, they share their thoughts on things they've been watching including the Young Vic production of Streetcar Named Desire with Gillian Andersen, documentaries on Roger Vadim and Jane Fonda, and films including Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Get In, League of Gentleman, The Crimson Kimono, Tea and Sympathy, and The Lovebirds. Hot Date 107: Becky Sharp.  Have a listen and leave us feedback on our social media.  Check out our website at hotdatepod.com.

Please excuse our sound issues during this episode.  We hope it doesn't detract from your enjoyment of it. Not your typical romantic comedy, director Goran Dukic's Wristcutters: A Love Story, based on Etgar Keret's short story "Kneller's Happy Campers," imagines an afterlife reserved for suicide victims trying to find meaning and acceptance.  Starring Patrick Fugit, Shea Whigham, Shannyn Sossaman and Tom Waits, the film was the darling of the 2006 Sundance Film Festival and was released nationwide in October of 2007. Still in social isolation, Dan and Vicky discuss this eccentric film along with plenty of recently seen including Penny Dreadful: City of Angels, The Rise of Skywalker, Sounder, The Mind's Eye, Swingers, Mad Love and The Act of Killing.   Stay home and stay with us.  Listen to Hot Date 106: Wristcutters and leave us some feedback.  Check out our website at www.hotdatepod.com.   

Despite the success of his Daphne Du Maurier adaptation Rebecca, Alfred Hitchcock thought the film too sentimental and romantic and longed to return to the type of sharp thriller that had made his reputation around the world.  With 1940's he found that film in Foreign Correspondent, a globe hopping World War II adventure that starts with a horrifying murder on the steps of the Amsterdam Parliament and ends with one of the most visceral plane crashes ever captured on film. Dan and Vicky get another crack at discussing one of their favorite directors and it's pretty much a love fest.  In addition to Foreign Correspondent our socially isolating hosts pick over some of their recently seen including Color Out of Space, Autopsy, Lisa and the Devil, The World, the Flesh and the Devil, Dragged Across Concrete, Solo: A Star Wars Story, Key Largo, The Platform and some Shudder horror exclusives.   You can't go anywhere so travel with us to 1940's Europe with Hot Date 105: Foreign Correspondent.  Check out our website a

It's hard to imagine any cast being better than the one director Jean Cocteau eventually assembled for his 1950 loose film adaptation of the Orpheus myth.  But there are stories that Cocteau offered the part of the princess, played to icy perfection by Maria Casares, to Greta Garbo and Marlene Dietrich. Both turned him down.  French actor Jean-Pierre Aumont also claimed that Cocteau had him and his wife Maria Montez in mind for the leads, a claim that the director refutes.  And there must have been some question how the casting of Jean Marais as Orpheus and Edouard Dermit as Cegeste would work since they were, respectively, Cocteau's once and current lovers!   Dan and Vicky discuss this classic of the French New Wave along with some of their social distance viewing including Star Wars movies on Disney +, Briarpatch on USA, lots of TCM movies like Badlands, Bullitt, All That Heaven Allows and Autumn Sonata and and the plays One Man, Two Govunors and Much Ado About Nothing.   We're locked down for another Hot D

NOTE:  In trying to accommodate necessary social distancing, this week's podcast was recorded with Vicky calling in via Zoom.  We apologize in advance for the sound quality and hope to get better at remote recording!  Enjoy and stay safe everyone.  The work of Daphne du Maurier has been adapted many times for the screen, most notably by Alfred Hitchcock in 1940's Rebecca and 1964's The Birds. Lesser known among her stories is My Cousin Rachel, which nonetheless has gotten two films adaptations and several TV productions.  Dan and Vicky discuss the 2017 version directed by Roger Michell (Enduring Love, Notting Hill) and starring Rachel Weisz, Sam Claflin, and Iain Glen. Social distancing has kept our hosts inside so there's lots of recently seen to talk about too including The Hunt, Spenser Confidential, The Invisible Man, Murder By Decree, Images and the timely Marc Maron: End Times Fun.   Stay inside and listen to Hot Date 103: My Cousin Rachel.  Leave us some feedback and have fun on our website www.hotdate

Please note that Hot Date 102 was recorded BEFORE the Covid-19 pandemic hit crisis levels. Our discussion of it reflects that moment in time.  We encourage all our listeners to follow the guidelines set forth by health officials about washing hands thoroughly and often, social distancing and staying home if you feel sick.  Safe and healthy listening everyone! Based on a Japanese comic of the same name, Park Chan-wook's Oldboy is South Korean cinema at it's boldest, most visceral and most emotional.  Not for the faint of heart, it will nonetheless wrench it with it's story of vengeance and redemption.  Your Hot Date hosts Dan and Vicky discuss this superb film, starring Choi Min-sik, Yoo Ji-tae and Kang Hye-jung, and which Spike Lee remade with Josh Brolin in 2013.  They also get into some recently seen films including Emma, Motherless Brooklyn, 1940's Rebecca, and The House that Jack Built and some fun TV, stand up and Broadway.    Your hosts wanna throw some sunshine on dark times.  Listen to Hot Date 102: O

1941's Cottage To Let started life as a play in London's West End.  It was a huge hit and film director Anthony Asquith (Browning Version, Pygmalion, The Importance of Being Earnest) did well to cast young actor George Cole and former Scrooge Alistair Sim who had appeared in the play -- they're the two most interesting characters.  But the cast is full of British screen and theater pros including Leslie Banks, John Mills, Michael Wilding and Jeanne De Casalis. Dan and Vicky share their love for this lost gem from the British film tradition as well as some of their recently seen.  Recent films include Harley Quinn, The Gentleman, The Turning, The Lodge and Gretel and Hansel.  Select TV includes When They See Us, High Fidelity and a slew of real life crime specials from Hulu.  Also, Vicky catches us up on the latest from Funikijam and Dan tells us about his visit to Broadway to catch the new musical Tina, based on the life of Tina Turner.  Take a listen to Hot Date 101:  Cottage to Let and leave us some feedbac

Hot Date with Dan and Vicky hits it's 100th episode with a look back at the podcasts that made us.  Your hosts choose their ten favorite films discovered (or rediscovered) doing the podcast for the last almost five years!  It's a trip down memory lane with some amazing titles from filmmakers like J. Lee Thompson, Akira Kurosawa and Sidney Lumet!  Also on hand are two VERY special guests, Hot Date super fans, to tell us their favorite selections from the roughly 99 films we've covered.  As an added bonus, try and guess the soundtrack music sprinkled throughout the episode! As usual, you'll also get a dose of some things Dan and Vicky have been watching lately including lots of Oscar nominated films, classic comedies, and exciting television.  But Hot Date Episode 100 is really all about the randomly chosen films we've chosen over the years that have thrilled us, moved us, and made us laugh.  Leave us some feedback on social media and check out all our shows at hotdatepod.com.  

French provocateur Francois Ozon's uses the frame work of fairy tale Hansel and Gretel to tell his violent and twisted story of Luc and Alice, a young murderous couple on the run who find more than they bargained for in an isolated cabin in the woods.  The homophonically named Natacha Regnier and Jeremy Renier play the doomed lovers. Dan and Vicky discuss the intense and difficult Criminal Lovers as their final film before episode 100!  In the recently seen section of the podcast, they discuss Ford v Ferrari, Bombshell, Cold War, We Have Always Lived in a Castle, Patterson, and TV's Kominsky Method and The Moodys Christmas.   Dan also tells us about his frustrating jury duty service and Vicky recounts the day a snake lead her to beat up her own father!  Don't mess with our Vicky. We say goodbye and Happy Hot-idays to 2019 with Hot Date 99:  Criminal Lovers!  Stay tuned for our big 100 and please check out our website at hotdatepod.com. 

There were so many variables in bringing the nearly two hour Marx Brothers classic A Day At The Races to the screen -- translating tried and tested vaudevillian acts while maintaining a satisfying story arc, shooting on a real racetrack with real horses, keeping the peace between novice comedy director Sam Wood and the cast -- that lawsuits were almost a given.  The one that actually went to court was the case of a Marx Brothers fan who suggested in a fan letter that the Brothers should run a hospital in their next film and when that storyline showed up in this film, the fan sued! Dan and Vicky discuss their history with the Marx Brothers and their reactions to this classic comedy.  Along they way you'll also hear about some recently seen including Doctor Sleep, The Lighthouse, Frozen 2, Knives Out, JoJo Rabbit, 1917 and Too Funny to Fail: The Dana Carvey Show.   Horse around with your favorite podcast hosts on Hot Date 98: A Day at the Races.  Check out our website at hotdatepod.com and leave us some feedbac

Ernst Lubitsch left his native Germany in 1922 as an ambitious 30 year old looking to make his mark in American movies.  With the help of Hollywood royalty like Mary Pickford, he was soon embarking on an eclectic career directing everything from musicals to serious dramas.  With the comedy To Be Or Not To Be, Lubitsch had a chance to comment on the horrors of Nazism in his homeland while making people laugh.  He did both perhaps too well.  Audiences had a hard time reconciling their feelings about the film and it was a box office disappointment.  Today, with the help of adroit performances from Jack Benny and Carole Lombard, the film's considered a comedy classic.  Your Hot Date hosts discuss the film as well as some of their recently seen including Parasite, The Honeymoon Killers, Terminator: Dark Fate, Harriet, Apple+'s The Morning Show, Godfather of Harlem and Years and Years.  They also give us their thoughts on phone etiquette at the movies, horror anthologies and new streaming site Disney+. Check out Ho

Young actress Royalty Hightower had never acted before being cast in director Anna Rose Holmer's drama The Fits.  She was, however, an experienced dancer; a skill she then had to unlearn to play the tomboy Toni who discovers a love of dance in the film.  Director Holmer was also taking on a new skill; The Fits was her narrative storytelling debut although her extensive background in documentary film no doubt helped in making the film feel so spontaneous and captured in the moment. Dan and Vicky heap praise on The Fits and it's young stars. Vicky also catches us up on her trip to Florida, her efforts to tan, and the employee fight she had to break up!  Dan tells us about the NY premiere of his web series 5A5B, the release of The Great Immensity Cast album, and the annoyance of losing his wallet! In the recently seen section, they discuss Zombieland: Double Tap, The Lighthouse, The Current War, Shudder's Creepshow series, Amazon's Modern Love, 2019's Child's Play, doc Scream, Queen: My Nightmare on Elm Street,

1951's The Strange Door had the talents of Charles Laughton in the lead but Universal hung their hopes on Boris Karloff to bring audiences in despite Karloff's smaller supporting role.  His name and photo appear prominently in all the advertising as does Robert Louis Stevenson, who wrote the short story the film is based on.  Stevenson and Karloff had had a previous success in 1945 with the film The Body Snatcher.   Your hosts Dan and Vicky discuss the Joseph Pevney directed horror thriller but also on tap are some recently seen films including Downtown Abbey, Joker, Horror Noire, Blood on Satan's Claw, and Pain and Glory.  TV shows include The Unicorn, Eastsiders, and American Horror Story. No need to knock.  Come on in to Hot Date: The Strange Door.  Leave us some feedback and visit our website at hotdatepod.com

Re-imagined to the American South during the post war era, the film version of Oscar Hammerstein's Broadway musical Carmen Jones was revolutionary to audiences, particularly white audiences, who had never seen a film completely populated by African-American actors.  Director Otto Preminger wanted to use this rare opportunity to convey to a racially divided country that the African-American experience was a relatable and important one to display on movie screens.  With stars Dorothy Dandridge, Harry Belafonte, Pearl Bailey, Joe Adams and Olga James on board, the film became a hit to the tune of nearly 10 million dollars.   Dan and Vicky discuss this controversial film and their thoughts on it's place in movie history.  They also let us in on some recently seen including films It Chapter Two, Belzebuth, Hustlers, Alone With Her and Ginger Snaps and TV shows Picnic at Hanging Rock, Netflix's Criminal and Unbelievable and French thriller Marianne.   Check out Hot Date 94: Carmen Jones and leave us some feedback.

From the fertile imagination of Terry Gilliam comes The Adventures of Baron Munchausen from 1989 but it wasn't without it's share of near catastrophes. A Ballooning budget, dangerous working situations and a regime change at Columbia Pictures nearly scuttled Gilliam's attempt to put the much embellished exploits of German adventurer Hieronymus Karl Friedrich Freiherr von Münchhausen on screen.  After completing the film, Columbia released it in Germany first and then dumped it into a few US theaters.  It barely made a dent at the box office but was championed by critics, recognized at the Academy Awards and has since enjoyed a strong cult following.   Dan and Vicky discuss the fantasy epic along with some of the things they've been seeing and reading recently.  Notably, Ready Or Not, Lawrence of Arabia, John Wick 3, It Stains the Sand Red, Big Little Lies, Euphoria, Aladdin 2019 and Escape Room.  Vicky tells us all about her Florida getaway and Dan regales us with tales of herniated discs and backstage shenan

Robert Bresson, director of this week's Pickpocket and numerous films that helped define the French New Wave, was known to be a task master on set.  In his search for absolute separation of art from artifice, he demanded his actors strip away all affectation and just deliver their lines simply and rotely.  This often required as many as fifty takes of a single shot or scene! Dan and Vicky discuss the film that inspired a generation of filmmakers from Schrader to Scorsese to Soderbergh.  Our hosts, hint hint, weren't AS inspired.  In the recently seen section, there's talk of films Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark, 1984's Savage Streets, Hotel Artemis, The Exorcist III, Friday the 13th doc Crystal Lake Memories, and comedy from Sebastian Maniscalco, Tiffany Hadish, and Julio Torres.    Dan tells us why he made his first ER visit, his further adventures with MoviePass and the drama off and on stage in his new play Caesar & Cleopatra while Vicky talks about her late summer vacation plans! Check out the slei

Director Walter Hill had his hands full on the set of his 1975 directorial debut Hard Times.  He had cast Charles Bronson in the lead role of Chaney, a boxer who says little but can knock a man out with one punch, only to find that the actor could be angry and reclusive on set. James Coburn took the part of Speed, Chaney's manager, but resented playing second fiddle to Bronson and showed it on set.  And third starring Strother Martin also tested Hill's patience by playing the eccentric doctor Poe comically over the top.   Dan and Vicky discuss what many consider to be one of the best fighting movies ever made with and the definitive Charles Bronson performance. They also talk about their recently seen including Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, Midsommar, Hobbs and Shaw, 1939's The Women, After Hours, Crawl, HBO's Chernobyl, Amazon's The Boys and Netflix's Kim's Convenience.   Episode 91: Hard Times will knock you out!  Leave us some feedback and check out our website at hotdatepod.com.

Hot Date has reached episode 90 and that means hosts Dan and Vicky come up with another Top Ten movie list.  This time, the topic is psychological thrillers and it's scary how many great films your hosts dig up. You'll hear about movies from classic thriller directors from Hitchcock to Polanski to Fincher and international white knucklers from France, Mexico and England.  Movies guaranteed to send a chill up your spine and get your heartbeat racing.   It's been almost two months since Dan and Vicky recorded last so  there's plenty of catching up.  Massachusetts is all over episode 90 as Dan tells us about his show on Nantucket and Vicky talks about visiting Boston.  And there's two months of recently seen to discuss so stay tuned for thoughts on Fleabag, NOS4A2, Los Espookys, Booksmart, Godzilla, King of the Monsters, Brightburn, 1953's Ugetsu, Ma, and Knife + Heart among many others.  Take a listen to Hot Date 90: Psychological Thrillers and leave us some feedback.  Check out our website at hotdatepod.com