Episodes

  • Hostage Family, Savage OTHER – Not Without My Daughter
    May 12 2025

    Jim Groom and Michael Branson Smith dig into the 1991 Sally Field vehicle Not Without My Daughter — a film that’s half thriller, half imperialist fever dream, and 100% propaganda.

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    1 hr and 7 mins
  • The Things You Do For Your Kids – The Positively True Adventures of the Alleged Texas Cheerleader-Murdering Mom
    May 5 2025

    Jim Groom and Michael Branson Smith untangle the world of Texas cheerleading ambition, suburban pecking orders, and one mom’s deadly plan to climb the social ladder.

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    1 hr and 8 mins
  • Cha Cha Heels and Broken Homes – Female Trouble
    Apr 28 2025

    Jim Groom and Michael Branson Smith unspool John Waters’ trash masterpiece, where delinquent desires, crumbling families, and gaudy kitsch rule.

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    1 hr and 4 mins
  • Kinfolk and Cons – Paper Moon
    Apr 24 2025

    Jim Groom and Michael Branson Smith ride shotgun with Addie and Moze, tracing how necessity forges family in Paper Moon.

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    1 hr and 13 mins
  • The Shadow of Family Past – Vengeance is Mine
    Apr 10 2025

    Jim Groom and Michael Branson Smith trace the emotional hauntings of Vengeance is Mine the almost forgotten 1984 film directed by Michael Roemer.

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    1 hr and 4 mins
  • With no Trade to Inherit – Breaking Away
    Mar 31 2025

    Jim Groom and Michael Branson Smith explore the Stohler family, their friends, and the Cutters that the sons of Bloomington, Indiana, will never become.

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    1 hr and 1 min
  • Piazza della Famiglia – Amarcord
    Mar 28 2025

    Jim Groom and Michael Branson Smith spend four seasons in Fellini's Rimini, drifting from character to character in this sprawling piazza della famiglia.

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    1 hr and 7 mins
  • Without My Parents – The 400 Blows
    Mar 17 2025

    Jim Groom and Michael Branson Smith discuss the film that launched the French New Wave—François Truffaut's semi-autobiographical tale of a boy navigating parental neglect in post-war France.

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    1 hr and 1 min
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