Start 2026 with Larry Cohen...and Larry Cohen!

DHS Releases Watchlist Of Mothers Driving Cars https://theonion.com/dhs-releases-watchlist-of-mothers-driving-cars/

Obscure YT of the day: Jules Dassin's (Night and the City, Topkapi, Never on Sunday) 1978 A DREAM OF PASSION w/ Ellyn Burstyn as a child killer sought out by actress Melina Mercouri. Dassin said "It’s one of the two films I’ve made that I’ve cared most about." youtu.be/IFdpxFCnbmY?...

Now that De Palma is making a new film, you completists better get on the ball! A great read!

The writer of AMBROSE CHAPEL is back! thefilmstage.com/brian-de-pal...

Things coming in 2026, along with many witty and thought-provoking social media posts!: Jim McBride's Lost Screenplays of the 1970s (w Jim McBride interview) Alex Cox & Rudy Wurlitzer "Body Parts" & "Zero Tolerance" (w/Alex Cox interview) Bogdanovich Revealed ...and more!

Obscure YT of the day: Based on the French Connection case, STRIKE FORCE (1975), written by Sonny Grosso (the guy Roy Scheider played in F.C.), directed by Barry Shear (Across 110th Street), w/ Cliff Gorman, Richard Gere, Joe Spinell, Don Blakely, Randy Jurgensen. youtu.be/RWM9KUELszw?...

Joseph McBride digs Larry Cohen's memoir.

In the weeds 😰!

Tonight's reading.

Just got off a productive Zoom interview with filmmaker Jim McBride (DAVID HOLZMAN'S DIARY, THE BIG EASY). Book coming soon!

Obscure YT of the day: 1972's THE LONGEST NIGHT- a girl is kidnapped & put in underground coffin as police try to save her! w/ David Janssen, James Farantino, Mike Farrell (BJ on MASH) & Phyllis Thaxter (Ma Kent in SUPERMAN). Jack Smight (HARPER, MIDWAY) directs! youtu.be/eKjiHEWG7Mc?...

See? ILLEGALLY YOURS did come out theatrically...somewhere!

Eric Roberts in Larry Cohen's THE AMBULANCE.

Obscure YT of the day: "Where EASY RIDER meets PAPER MOON"(!) David Carradine directed for the first time and starred in YOU AND ME about a violent biker and his friendship with an innocent boy. Barbara Hershey, Keith Carradine, Robert Carradine costar. youtu.be/2VAfx1l5zng?...

Obscure YT of the day: OUR ITALIAN HUSBAND (2004), starring everyone's favorite twitter subject of the day, Chevy Chase, in support of Maria Grazia Cucinotta (IL POSTINO), Brook Shields & Pierfrancesco Favino. An Italian woman goes to NYC looking for her husband! youtu.be/M3zuNTcgOjg?...

Obscure 70s of the day: 1973's SWEET KILL, aka THE AROUSERS! Academy Award winner Curtis Hanson (L.A. CONFIDENTIAL) directs Tab Hunter as a crazed killer. Kevin Thomas wrote ""made with a sensitivity and intelligence unusual for the normally lurid psycho genre." m.ok.ru/video/463508...

Sunday, June 7th 1981 NYT ad for RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK, which hadn't opened yet.

jump in with a timely comment that Greta Scacchi is adorable in 1985's THE COCA-COLA KID.

John Cleese, on Conan, calling out exactly what Trump is, and how the Republicans have started using the KGB playbook, back when DT was first elected in 2016: youtu.be/6izDBBpKmoM?...

Obscure TV horror of the day: 1972's HAUNTS OF THE VERY RICH- rich tourists end up on an island paradise that is not what it seems. Lloyd Bridges, Cloris Leachman, Ed Asner, Robert Reed, Donna Mills, Moses Gunn star. Directed by Paul Wendkos (MEPHISTO WALTZ). m.ok.ru/video/494508...

Happy new year 🎉!

First Obscure YT of 2026: William Hurt & Molly Parker star in the Canadian RARE BIRDS (2001) sort of a dry quirky LOCAL HERO-type comedy about a restaurant, relationships, and a guy making a homemade little submarine. Directed by Sturla Gunnarsson. youtu.be/RC94cDWRnRY?...

Saturday, April 18th, 1970 New York Times ad for a double-feature of "The two movies that started it all!"

Obscure YT of the day: James Lemmo (DP on Ms. 45) directed 1989's TRIPWIRE! Terence Knox (ST. ELSEWHERE) battles terrorist David Warner! Charlotte Lewis (GOLDEN CHILD), Meg Foster (THEY LIVE), Yaphet Kotto, Viggo Mortensen & Tommy Chong are in it! youtu.be/VSZPAjOcV-s?...

R.I.P. Melanie Watson Bernhardt, a ground-breaking actress who had a memorable run on DIFFERENT STROKES back in the early 80s.

Obscure ghost story of the day: Paul LeMat (AMERICAN GRAFFITI, STRANGE INVADERS), Renée Soutendijk (EVE OF DESTRUCTION, Verhoven movies), David Warner & Lee Ving (STREETS OF FIRE, THE WILD LIFE) star in 1989's GRAVE SECRETS! m.ok.ru/video/193751...

HENRY JOHNSON. Excellent film. Maybe the reason Shia LaBeouf was so ornery on the MEGALOPOLIS set is because he sensed it was ridiculously awful and had the guts to resist! (this is not a thought-out theory, so no need to tell me how wrong I am). But he's great in this.

The Cinema of Cringe: I review MARTY SUPREME, which I respect, even recommend, but it's a type of cinema that's frankly exhausting! tremblesighwonder.com/2025/12/28/w...

The Cinema of Cringe: I review MARTY SUPREME, which I respect, even recommend, but it's a type of cinema that's frankly exhausting! tremblesighwonder.com/2025/12/28/w...

Obscure YT of the day: R.I.P. Brigitte Bardot. Here is 1972's rowdy comedy Eurowestern THE LEGEND OF FRENCHIE KING, featuring an infamous "catfight" between Brigitte Bardot & Claudia Cardinale! Co-starring Michael J. Pollard! youtu.be/3tNzUd7QBBg?...

Brigitte Bardot (R.I.P.) and LOST IN SPACE's Billy Mumy on the set of DEAR BRIGITTE (1965).

I never watched the Craig Kilborn Late Late Show (remember that guy?) but apparently Chris Isaak wrote the theme song which has lyrics and everything (definitely worth hearing for Isaak fans): youtu.be/kMOujqUcsMk?...

A solid Christmas present.

For those who hang on my every word! MATERIALISTS was very good. About 10 minutes too long, and Evans & Johnson don't have *great chemistry (which was kind of necessary for their story), but (especially) Johnson is excellent & the film was interesting. Nepo schmepo, she's great!

Among the actors who auditioned for Peter Bogdanovich's TARGETS was Robert Ridgely, later of BOOGIE NIGHTS. Bogdanovich's notes on the back of RR's headshot: "comic/Southern" Bogdanovich book coming early 2026.

Just caught up with Otto Preminger's THE HUMAN FACTOR, his last film, written by Tom Stoppard, based on Graham Greene. Pretty fascinating and brilliantly acted (except from Iman, who gets a pass anyway because she tries and she's gorgeous).

Reminder, I KILLED BETTIE DAVIS is published, w/ rare photos from the Larry Cohen archives. Edited w/ a preface by me, a foreword by John Landis & then over 460 pages of pure LC! Below: Eric Roberts, Cohen, Megan Gallagher and a prone Janine Turner on the set of THE AMBULANCE.

Obscure Christmas movie of day: CHRISTMAS MIRACLE IN CAUFIELD, USA (1977) about a mine cave-in! Kurt Russell, Melissa Gilbert (LITTLE HOUSE), Mitchell Ryan, Bill McKinney (DELIVERANCE), Andrew Prine, John Carradine, Barbara Babcock! Directed by Jud Taylor! vk.com/video-856430...

Last 10 watched:

Obscure 90s indie film of the day: 1992's CHAIN OF DESIRE, a modern NYC erotic take on LA RONDE. Linda Fiorentino, Malcom McDowell, Elias Koteas, Grace Zabriskie, Holly Marie Combs & Seymour Cassel star. m.ok.ru/video/343882...

Forget all the new Oscar releases, I think you should stay home & rent/buy the forgotten (or never known) Free Money from Amazon or Fandango or whatever. I think it's really funny and eccentric and keeps its energy up the whole running time. And it's a pretty good cast.

Obscure YT of the day: New York seediness! A hustler tries to sell a kid to a guy for drug money in Paul Morrisey's FORTY DEUCE (1982)! Kevin Bacon stars! W/ Orson Bean & Esai Morales youtu.be/g09Gsq11vRo?...

No one will care but me, but I always kinda like HI-LIFE a 1998 indie Christmas comedy w/ Campbell Scott, Eric Stoltz, Moira Kelly, Darryl Hannah, Peter Reigert & Charles Durning. It was only available on a 1:33-1 DVD, but Fandango at Home now has it widescreen pretty cheap.

In September 1977, THE BAD NEWS BEARS IN BREAKING TRAINING was making New York audiences talk, roar and cheer!

Obscure YT of the day: Jacqueline Susann's THE LOVE MACHINE! What a cast: Dyan Cannon, Robert Ryan, David Hemmings, John Phillip Law, Claudia Jennings, Shecky Green, Sharon Farrell, Jackie Cooper, Gayle Hunnicutt, the Collinson twins from TWINS OF EVIL! youtu.be/-lwm006k6-c?...

Clint Eastwood at a cowboy show for disabled children, circa 1963.

Obscure 70s of the day: Patty Duke & Al Freeman Jr. in Lamont (LAST AMERICAN HERO, SOMEBODY KILLED MY HUSBAND) Johnson's MY SWEET CHARLIE, about a black man accused of murder on the run in the south & a pregnant girl. A rare TV movie that got a theatrical release. m.ok.ru/video/899839...

Dec 31st, 1976 New York Times ad for KING KONG.

Obscure Eurospy of the day: REQUIEM FOR A SECRET AGENT (1966), w/ Stewart Granger (NORTH TO ALASKA), Daniela Bianchi (FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE) & Peter Van Eyck! Directed by Sergio Sollima (BIG GUNDOWN, VIOLENT CITY, REVOLVER)! youtu.be/IhjQd_TohE0?...