Explore every episode of the podcast Films at First Sight

This week, friend of the show Deke joins us as we head back to the Deuce with Joseph Cates' leering and pervy thriller, Who Killed Teddy Bear. It's an evening full of menacing phone calls, Sixties bops, rampant perversity, and of course, Sal Mineo's workout routine. And let's be honest, that last part is the entire reason Joe picked the film in the first place 🥴

Jody from Dads from the Crypt joins us again for another episode of Short Ends, and he's taking Joe to the prom. Well, sorta. He showed Joe a short film about a couple of kids whose romantic prom night takes a nightmarish turn. Join us as we chat about Brian Otting's "Prom Car '91"!

Short Ends is back and getting esoteric with Jody from Dads from the Crypt as he joins Joe to discuss Maya Deren and Alexandr Hackenschmied's experimental silent short film from 1943, "Meshes of the Afternoon". So, step out of time with us as we discuss cloaked killers, doppelgangers, and sunlight horror while becoming increasingly concerned with the inherent dangers of taking an afternoon nap.

Technical difficulties be damned, nothing can stop Joe from talking about Steve Wang's stylistic action spectaluar Drive from 1997. With Graham on his own adventure, Wit and Zac swing on by to chat about Brittany Murphy, Hong Kong influences, friendship in films, and of course, cyborgs. Will Mark Dacascos win over their hearts or will they be as cold and mechanical as the advanced model? Throw some boots on your hands and tune in to find out!

This week, we are joined by Mando from the Dads from the Crypt podcast to discuss Daniel Goldhaber's eco-terrorism thriller, How to Blow Up a Pipeline. Alongside the implicatations of commiting such a crime in today's society, the fellas discuss other lighthearted topics such as the upcoming Faces of Death remake and Mando explains what the Lawn Dart Hula Hoop Challenge is. Tune in to find out if it all goes to hell or if we successfully ride off into the night with another great film! 

This week we're diving head first into one of Joe's favorite films of the year, Eephus. And it wouldn't be a baseball episode without a new member of the squad, friend of the show Ethan joins us for the first time to discuss the events that took place on the final day of play at Soldier's Field in Carson Lund's elegy to America's pasttime. Will this film be a homerun for Graham and Ethan or will they just get tired of the same old same old, throw their mits down, and walk off into the sunset? Tune in to find out!

This week Graham takes Joe on an inexplicable journey through Richard Kelly's Southland Tales, a film about porn stars, an amnesiac actor, the Book of Revelations, and so many other goddamn things that this could turn into a James Joyce-esque description if we hit each beat. So buckle up for opinions as divergent as Dwayne Johnson's acting abilities and get ready for some Fluid Karma as we try and parse through the madness of this sci-fi/action/drama/politcal satire from 2006. Will Joe be Left Behind or will he accept his role in all of the whirling chaos? Tune in to find out!

Joe and Graham spent the weekend down at the historic Colonial Theatre in Phoenixville, PA taking in the sights and sounds of the 3rd Annual Phoenixville Film Festival. So, join us as we recap the festivities and chat about such feature films as Drink and be Merry, American Comic, and RARE: A Rare Disease Revolution. And it would not be a proper film festival without a bevy of short films, including "Warning: Strong Language", "Phillipsburg A Railroad Legacy", "Pipe Dream", "Christopher & the Bug", "Hope", "Baldy", "So Close", "Flowers, Birds & Dad", "Gods of Cable City", and "Te Seguiré a la Oscuridad". Check it out!!

This week, Graham hops in the driver's seat with beset promises to Joe of an exotic destination. And where did they land? In the gang infested suburbs of Naples, Italy. That could mean only one thing, the fellas are talking Matteo Garrone's oppressively grim crime epic, Gomorrah. So tune in for discussions of urban crime, typical vs atypical mafia films, as well as their experiences with shooting firearms, drug robberies, stealing cars, child labor, and high fashion! Check it out!!

We're back and things are about to get weird! Join us as we talk Kuei Chih-Hung's INSANE horror-action film The Boxer's Omen, a film so entrenched in chaos, describing it feels like the ravings of a lunatic. But if you're a fan of the Shaw Bros, Bolo Yeung, black magic, practical effects, dissolving bats, alligator skulls, creature feature work, eye gouging, head ripping, Buddhism, full moons, boobies, and of course Tawainese boxing, then do we have something in store for you!! 

We're back and bringing a FINAL Double Feature of the summer that is only possible because there are masters at work damn it! First up, is Akira Kurosawa's tense thriller involving shoes, kidnapping, drug addiction, jealousy, and of course Toshiro Mifune. It's 1963's High and Low. And then we have Spike Lee's contemporary interpretation of the story involving hip-hop, inept police, more kidnapping, New York City, and of course Denzel Washington. It's 2025's Highest 2 Lowest. Check it out!!

Grab a poncho because things get messy when Joe & Graham sit down to discuss Joe Begos' latest neon-drenched splatterfest, Jimmy & Stiggs. Will the fellas make it out alive or will they suffer a fate worse than being trapped in an aparment with killer aliens and enough booze & drugs to kill 13 Keith Richards? Tune in to find out!!

We're back with Exposure Time and this episode, we are taking a look at Mitzi Peirone's latest thriller, Saint Clare, a story about a young girl out to rid the world of the scum that prey on girls only to stumble on a mystery much larger than she anticpated. Will Bella Thorne's Clare deliver us from the evil that prevades the world? Tune in to find out!!

Ahoy, mateys! We are back and LIVE at the Colonial Theatre to talk about Michael Curtiz's seminal pirate adventure Captain Blood! And luckily for us, we've assembled one of the most dastardly crews ever to sail the deadly waters of the Schuylkill River. Rosalie Kicks!, The Old Sport and Benjamin Leonard, Best Boy from MovieJawn join us to talk about all of the 16mm seafaring adventures. And what would a pirate crew be without their deadliest mate?! April Henry climbs aboard as our swordfighting extraordinaire to make sure the film truly hit its mark! She even graced us and our live audience with a fencing demonstration! You know it is a good time when you see this many exlamation points! Check it out!!!

We welcome extraordinary colors as well as an extraordinary new guest to the show, Zac, who joins us to chat about Jacques Demy's The Umbrellas of Cherbourg. And what is better than talking about a whimsical and heartbreaking romantic French musical from the '60s? How about introducing it to someone whose taste is the polar opposite of the entire musical genre? Will Zac fall in love or will he be heartbroken and remain steadfast in his opposition of the cinematic form? Tune in to find out!

We are back and so is Steve who has brought another thrilling sci-fi gem. This time it is Joseph Sargent's Colossus: The Forbin Project, a film that wonders what the consqeuences might be if one were to give an AI supercomputer control of the US defense systems. So, join us as we explore this startlingly prescient film and lament our own modern technological hellscape!

Short Ends is back and this time we are taking a look at the Mormon Folk Horror short film, "The Angel" from Barrett Burgin and Jess Burgin. Will Doug Jones bring us to salvation or will we suffer a fate worse than we ever imagined?! Tune in to find out!

Rachel Shatto from MovieJawn and The More Deadly Podcast joins us to wrap up our coverage of the 2025 Chattanooga Film Festival which was a whirling dervish of fun. We touch on a slew of feature films such as Pater Noster and the Mission of Light, In the Mouth, Solvent, Alan at Night, Hacked: A Double Entendre of Rage Fueled Karma, and Abigail Before Beatrice, as well as some short films including, "Krakens Maw", "You're an Angel", and "A Haunting at Alma Drive". Check it out!

We may have made a deal with the Devil because fortune smiles on us once again!
Matthew Sorrento returns to the show where we dive into German expressionist cinema, his latest collection of original stories, Becoming Nosferatu: Stories Inspired by German Silent Horror Films, as well as F.W. Murnau's Faust (1926). And what is a silent film without its accompaniment score? Joe tries to capture the dark and hellish soundscape that The Silent Light provided alongside the film down at this year's Chattanooga Film Festival. Does he succeed or will he be banished to the abode of the damned?! Tune in to find out!

We hope you campers are having a great start to the Summer! As is our annual tradition, we went off to Cinephile Summer Camp down by the Tennesee River, to attend the great Chattanooga Film Festival. First up in our widespread look at the festivities, Joe is joined by friend of the show, Allison from Who's There? A Podcast About Horror Fans, where they chat about Hotspring Sharkattack AKA Onsen shâku, Portal to Hell, King Baby, and some short films, C.U.N.T. (See You Next Tuesday), and REM. Check it out and stay tuned for more Chatt Film Fest coverage!!

We're at the Chattanooga Film Festival for another episode of Short Ends! Join us as Christopher Jason Bell bakes up a tale of cake, grief, and international espionage in his new short film, The Confection. Will we find it to be a delectable treat or a crumby mess? Tune in to find out!

Caitlin from the Plug It Up Podcast joins us as we take a disorienting vaction to Italy with Elizbeth Taylor in Giuseppe Patroni Griffi's Identikit AKA The Driver's Seat. Will we know just what the hell is going on by the end of it or will we mix our diets with our orgasms and ruin the whole messy affair? Tune in to find out!!

We're back and Graham has us traveling down to Argentina when we chat about 2018's Nazi hunting thriller, Operation Finale. Come for a smoldering Oscar Isaac and stay for what is potentially the worst first date that we've covered thus far!

We're back and we brought some friends with us! Casey from Bloody Good Horror and Alyssa from the Silver Scream Podcast join Joe and Graham to chat about Juraj Jakubisko's monster mashup Freckled Max and the Spooks. Will this wildly inventive adaptation of Frankenstein's Aunt give us life or will the gang break out the torches and pitchforks and demand an end to the madness? Tune in to find out!!

We're back with another episode of Short Ends! Join us as we open up the crypt and dive into 1967's Soy leyenda, a moody adaptation of Richard Matheson's I Am Legend. And of course this means we have to sort through the various other attempts at this wonderfully dark tale of lonliness, isolation, and vampires. Check it out!

We're back and still celebrating Drive-In Double Features, this time with a movie title mix-up! So hop on in the car and turn up the volume as Joe and Graham chat about Joe Pesci's feature film debut, from 1976, The Death Collector AKA The Family Enforcer and a low budget post-apocalyptic western, from 1988, Death Collector. 

Buckle up for one helluva journey as Wit returns to the show and we chat about William Friedkin's stonecold masterpiece Sorcerer. We laud the theater experience, try and unpack the various themes, and get into it about pacing verse length, all the while, wondering if we would even survive the treacherous journey through the Mexican jungle.

Sarah from the Zombie Grrlz Horror Podcast Network joins us to kick off Drive-In Double Feature Season as we pay tribute to Gene Hackman with 1974's The Conversation & 1998's Enemy of the State, two films that couldn't feel more different stylistically, but are so thematically intertwinned that we had no choice but to sit down with them. Will we survive the onslaught of burgeoning '90s comedians playing techies that have all of the patriotic duty as the DOGE team? Tune in to find out!!

We're heading back to the Mauch Chunk Opera House in the beautiful Pocono Mountains, for the 8th Annual Jim Thorpe Independent Film Festival. Joe breaks down everything he saw, including festival favorite Fucktoys, Lanfia Wal's over-the-top homage to '80s blaxploitation and action flicks, New Jack Fury, and it wouldn't be JTIFF without a stop to the infamous Grindhouse with This is Us, and Meat Machine. Check it out!!

Step out of time with us as Graham brings Joe into a surreal dream world involving private detectives, missing dames, ninjas, gyroscopes, eggs, and meta commentary utilizing silent film as its medium, with Kaizo Hayashi's remarakable fantasy/mystery To Sleep So as to Dream.

We're back with another edition of Short Ends, this time previewing Emily Everhard's short film No Experience Necessary, which World Premieres at the 35th Aspen Shortsfest. So join us, as we discuss this funny and moving short about finding that spark in life again. 

We're getting sexy and mysterious when Jason from Dads from the Crypt returns to talk about Brian De Palma's Dressed to Kill, a film that begs the question, what is the proper painting to be looking at when we succumb to our innermost desires and fantasies?

Wowee, 2024 was quite the year for cinema and we have so much to reflect on. So, grab a seat while we each go through 20 films that stood out amongst an impressive amount of movies watched, both new and old. We've got beavers, evil Canadian children, slutty pizza lovers, juggalos, crime sprees, film-noir, sex workers across multiple generations, religious allegories, and much, much more!! 

Hustle on up and hitch a ride with us as we are joined by Bloody Good Horror's Eric Newell to chat about Martin Scorsese's dusty crime thriller Boxcar Bertha. I mean, it was have been desrepectful NOT to cover one of the many films that Roger Corman produced which launched a major career. And who doesn't wanna see Bernie Casey being an all around badass. So, come for the violence & nudity and stay for the weird Wizard of Oz allegory. 

Join us as we invite our old friend Brad to help us investigate Denis Villeneuve's labyrinthine thriller Prisoners, a Thanksgiving flick that gets us wondering, where was Hugh Jackman's character on January 6th? Other points of discussion are Thanksgiving films, the star studded cast, favorite actors that perpetually get beat the hell up, our oddest pets, and of course that ENDING. 

Sometimes you just need a fresh start. Something new to springboard you into the next chapter of life. Well join us as we return for our first coverage involving a Made-For-TV film and we have a brand new guest on the show, Levi from the Well-Adjusted Horror Podcast. This episode we are talking about the 1970's Play for Today broadcast on the BBC, Robin Redbreast, a film that has been heralded as a folk horror response to Rosemary's Baby. Tangents include terrible dates, even worse neighbors, and the big red warning signs of Nazi related obsessions. 

Life isn't full of too many second chances but what happens when you are given a new lease on life? Now that's a big question for a small podcast. Luckily for us, friend of the show, Steve is here to enlighten us to all of the mysteries and wonders that accompany such a profound inquiry with John Frankenheimer's science-fiction masterpiece, Seconds. So join us as Joe & Graham experience what is arguably Rock Hudson's greatest film & performance.

We've got a new guest to the show and he's bringing what may be one of the most divisive movies we've covered thus far, Luca Guadagnino's Challengers. Gabe Coffey joins Joe & Graham to talk throuples, competition, sweat, and a nonstop throbbing soundtrack. Check it out!

Joe and Jody from Dads from the Crypt sit down and talk this year's Chattanooga Film Festival while they unpack their thoughts on juggalos, the need for gay southern gothic tales, and the implicit dangers of joining a cult.

Joe and Graham are joined by friend of the show, Whitney, to discuss Lucía Forner Segarra's latest short film, Berta, which World Premiered at Fantasia Fest on July 28th, 2024. The gang gets into their taste for revenge films, the importance of women's voice in the subgenre, and the use of art as a means to dissect and understand trauma. Join us for a bloody good time!

We had so much to say about this year's Chattanooga Film Festival that we couldn't help but hit the record button again! Joe and Graham keep it rolling with a slew of shorts such as Roger is a Serial Killer, The Cost of Flesh, Giallo, Like Me, Apotemnofilia, and the BANANAS The Rainbow Bridge. And things get meta as we talk podcast representation in films during our features discussion which include Graham Skipper's The Lonely Man with the Ghost Machine, Video Visions, Falling Stars and Carnage for Christmas. 

The smell of freshly popped popcorn, the clicking and spinning of projector wheels, oh it can only the summer camp for cinefiles, the Chattanooga Film Festival. This year we are joined by Allison of the Who's There? podcast to discuss some of our favorite things we saw such as Canvas, Humanist Vampire Seeking Consenting Suicidal Adult, The Vourdalak and Red Rooms. And we certainly didn't forget about the wonderful slew of short films. Check it out!!

We're LIVE again at the Colonial Theatre where we are joined by filmmaker Ryan Hammaker to discuss 1971's Vanishing Point, a film championed as one of the greatest car movies ever made. Does it live up to its legendary status or does it crash and burn in a fiery smoldering wreck?

This episode we are joined by Rachel and Ariel from The More Deadly Podcast to chat about Věra Chytilová's Daisies, a movie near and dear to Joe's chaotic heart. For maximum chaos, subjects include food fights, blacklists, feminsim in film, taking mushrooms and talking to the police, and surprise appearance from Ariel's cat! Check it out!!

Join us in the cozy little mountain town of Jim Torpe for The Seventh Annual Jim Thorpe Independent Film Festival as we regale the sights and sounds of one of Pennsylvania's BEST Film Festivals. We talk creepy Irish tales, locally shot tearjerkers, and finally find something tense enough that it forced Graham to flee the theater. JTIFF really does have something for everyone!

Instead of our socials with images of what we watched, we're sitting down to chat about some of our favorite (and least favorite) films that we watched in March of 2024. And of course we get wildly distracted along the way. So join us for our inaugural episode of Firsts of the Month!

Welcome to Off the Shelf, where we dive into the world of physical media. In our first episode, Joe and Graham look at Canadian International Pictures' release of The Mob (La gammick) (1975), a crime driven character study which is accompanied with the animated short film Hunger (1974) and a wonderfully Canadian mixtape of Quebec crime film trailers.

On this episode of Exposure Time, we preview the documentary, Ennio, a retrospective look at the work of master film composer, Ennio Morricone..........
sorry I got lost thinking of the sweeping beauty that is the theme to One Upon a Time in the West. Well, at this point, might as well save all of the gushing, flowery language, and superlatives for the episode. It's a good one.

Joe and Graham welcome their friend and FFS alumnus Caitlin Grant, host of Plug It Up podcast, on a deep dive into a sincere and heartwarming drama about the people who shine brightest in our lives and how they inspire us to our greatest potential... jk, it is straight-up about a dude who makes lanterns out of human flesh.  What?

In which Joe and Graham cleanse their palate from their recent exposure to Salo by way of the 1982 sex comedy The Last American Virgin. Was it the light-hearted nostalgia blanket the guys needed? Listen to find out. You know it'll bother you if you don't.