This week, Marten assigns Jacob a ton of homework as they explore the Ranown Cycle of Westerns that saw Budd Boetticher, Randolph Scott and Burt Kennedy churning out some of the best matinee gunfighter fare in the history of cinema.
Oct 25, 2021•2 hr 4 min•Season 2Ep. 4
This week, Cody returns to the pod and brings out the inner Goth teenager in both Jacob and Marten by making them revisit '90s supernatural revenge staple THE CROW.
Oct 18, 2021•59 min•Season 2Ep. 3
An early audible in Season Two sees Jacob and Marten tackling MIDNIGHT MASS and the terrifying film career of Mike Flanagan. Is this the best Stephen King adaptation (that's not actually based on a King novel?). Find out in super-sized Spine #15.
Oct 11, 2021•2 hr 21 min•Season 2Ep. 2
The start of a new Secret Handshake: Jacob and Marten usher in the series' second season with SHAKEDOWN, James Glickenhaus' ultraviolent NYC Grime two-handed buddy cop action extravaganza. Grab your Uzi, this one goes off the rails.
Oct 04, 2021•1 hr 44 min•Season 2Ep. 1
For the season finale, Jacob, Cody and Marten go long on Craig Denney's tough-to-see masterpiece of DIY outsider art. Psychedelia and Moody Blues tunes abound.
Sep 29, 2021•1 hr 50 min•Season 1Ep. 13
Fair is fair! Jacob, Marten and Cody tackle the very best teen movie in existence and dissect how it might also be the very first #metoo movie ever. Helen Slater. Christian Slater. Keith Gordon. Fire up your motor scooters, we're headed to Texas! (Programming Note: this episode was originally recorded as "Spine #7" before we called an audible and did THE EMPTY MAN with David Prior at the last minute. Please excuse the odd mis-numbering in the intro.)
Aug 23, 2021•1 hr 55 min•Season 1Ep. 12
The boys took a few months off due to "life complications", but are back with one of the best action movies ever made: Kathryn Bigelow's mystical, violent, and utterly brilliant 1991 surfer/bank robber opus, POINT BREAK.
Jul 06, 2021•1 hr 46 min•Season 1Ep. 11
Jacob, Marten and Cody pick up Rutger Hauer and are subsequently terrorized by this stone classic of vehicular horror. Buckle up for two hours of deep dive analysis, Robert Harmon love, and bonus Vin Diesel trivia.
Mar 22, 2021•2 hr 1 min•Season 1Ep. 10
Spine #9 is all about slasher movies, as Marten introduces Jacob and Cody to one of his deep cut dead teenager favorites. But is the body count high enough to warrant Face Melter status? Find out over the next 100 minutes.
Mar 15, 2021•1 hr 45 min•Season 1Ep. 9
For the eighth spine number in the Secret Handshake collection, Marten, Jacob and Cody choose their own weapons and duel to the death over Battle Royale: Kinji Fukasaku's extreme cinema classic that's still infamous to this day. Get ready for a bonkers verbal throw down that shows no mercy.
Mar 08, 2021•1 hr 37 min•Season 1Ep. 8
Jacob, Marten and Cody begin the back half of Season One by tossing out a programming curve ball: 2020's deathdrone epic, THE EMPTY MAN. But does David Prior's mishandled supernatural mystery already belong in the pantheon of great underseen art? Or did Fox and Disney do the right thing burying this idiosyncratic oddity? The boys hash it out.
Mar 01, 2021•1 hr 20 min•Season 1Ep. 7
Jacob and Marten beamed a bunch of fest movies into their eyeballs and then spit out as many opinions as they could muster in a little over 100 minutes. What were some of their favorites from the fest? What did they hate? Is fest hype still a thing in the all-digital era? Find out now!
Feb 09, 2021•1 hr 49 min
The midway point of Season One brings a super stylish serial killer thriller from Michael Mann. But is this the best Hannibal Lecter adaptation to ever make it to the big screen screen? Jacob, Marten and Cody investigate.
Feb 08, 2021•1 hr 53 min•Season 1Ep. 6
For Spine #5, Cody picks Berry Gordy and Michael Schultz's Motown-funded Blaxploitation martial arts epic. If you don't dig it, you can kiss our Converses.
Feb 01, 2021•1 hr 36 min•Season 1Ep. 5
Spine Four in the Secret Handshake Collection is Ivan Passer's bleak, melancholy LA neo noir, featuring a career best turn from John Heard and Jeff Bridges quietly adding another rogue to his eclectic gallery. But can something this sad also be a Certified Facemelter? Let's find out.
Jan 25, 2021•1 hr 40 min•Season 1Ep. 4
For Spine #3, Marten selects John Woo and Jean-Claude Van Damme's total scorcher of an American pairing, as Lance Henriksen hunts homeless humans and Wilford Brimley spits indecipherable Cajun gibberish. A POO-POO TAN!
Jan 18, 2021•1 hr 44 min•Season 1Ep. 3
For the second spine in the SH collection, Cody selects Lance Mungia's DIY post-apocalyptic action freakout, starring Hong Kong stuntman Jeffrey Falcon as a blade-wielding Buddy Holly. But will Buddy become the King of Lost Vegas? More importantly: will Six-String Samurai be deemed a Certified Facemelter? Let's get swinging.
Jan 11, 2021•1 hr 25 min•Season 1Ep. 2
For the inaugural episode of Secret Handshake, Jacob picks John Flynn and Paul Schrader's total ripper of a 'Namsploitation revenge picture. Starring: Billy Devane, Tommy Lee Jones, and Linda Haynes, ROLLING THUNDER is one of the ultimate slices of savage Texas genre cinema. But is it a Certified Facemelter? Stay tuned.
Dec 07, 2020•1 hr 18 min•Season 1Ep. 1
