The Pink Smoke podcast

The Pink Smoke

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A podcast on cinema & literature, from Action Jackson to Zeder.

1D AGO

Ep 164 The Jugger

The Pink Smoke is back on track, picking up with the sixth entry of Donald E. Westlake's Parker series. A true outlier, The Jugger doesn't feature an epic heist or a ragtag mix of reliable and backstabbing criminals. In this one Parker's all alone, dropped into a situation he's not sure about, forced to make decisions that will have giant ramifications on his life and the series moving forward. We also discuss Made in U.S.A., Jean-Luc Godard's 1966 adaptation of The Jugger which is technically the first Parker movie even though you really have to squint to find any tract of Westlake. For one thing...Parker is a woman. And it just gets more estranged from the source material from there.

1h 55m
JAN 6

Ep 163 The Maya and Science Fiction

Star Trek episodes, the title credits of Alien, the architecture of Star Wars and Blade Runner, the work of Joseph Campbell, H.P. Lovecraft, Clive Barker and Alejandro Jodorowsky. You'd be surprised how many iconic artworks have been influenced by transformative themes traced back to Mesoamerican mythology and Ancient Maya theology. On this episode, host Martin Kessler is joined by Mesoamerican occultist Solomon Pakal to discuss the Mesoamerican influence on science fiction/fantasy and horror. If you enjoy this chat make sure to hop back to Episode 69, in which Martin goes deep into Apocalypto, Mel Gibson's Mesoamerican action movie. The Pink Smoke on Twitter: x.com/ThePinkSmoke Martin Kessler on Twitter: x.com/MovieKessler Solomon Pakal on Substack: solomonpakal.com

1h 26m
2025-12-25

Parker Doesn't Say 'Merry Christmas': A 2025 Holiday Special

In this super-sized episode of our ongoing series where we discuss the exploits of career criminal Parker from the books by Richard Stark a.k.a. Donald E. Westlake, we're tackling three big Parker-based works. We start by jumping ahead in our chronological reviews to discuss The Handle, the eighth book in the Parker series, in which our professional thief is enlisted by a former enemy syndicate to rob an island casino and burn it to the ground. Next, we dive into the new Shane Black written and directed adaptation Play Dirty, starring Mark Wahlberg as Parker and LaKeith Stanfield as fellow heister Alan Grofield. This opens up the table to talk about Westlake's spin-off series starring Grofield, with its first book The Damsel. It's an epic conversation with some surprising developments and unexpected turns - much like a job pulled off by Parker or Grofield!

2h 25m
2025-12-16

Ep 162 The Score

With the fifth entry of the Parker series, The Score, Richard Stark aka Donald E. Westlake puts his career criminal anti-hero in charge of his most ambitious heist yet: the 12-man robbery of a North Dakota mining town. This allows the author to expand the violent world of Parker by introducing a slew of fresh characters, including thespian-thief Alan Grofield, who would go on to star in four solo novels of his own. We discuss the series' change in scope and structure in a book that would set the scene moving forward, the first of several to make the spectacular job the whole show. We also talk about the little-seen French movie adaptation, the introduction of this goofball Grofield and why Parker insists on taking jobs with such obvious risks. The Score artwork by Tony Stella. The Pink Smoke on Twitter: twitter.com/thepinksmoke Christopher Funderburg on Twitter: twitter.com/cfunderburg John Cribbs on Twitter: twitter.com/TheLastMachine Intro music: Unleash the Bastards / "Tea for Two" Outro music: Marcus Pinn / "Vegas"

1h 29m
2025-12-02

Ep 161 I Killed Bette Davis by Larry Cohen

If you're a fan of Larry Cohen, the maverick filmmaker behind such mind-bending genre pictures as It's Alive, God Told Me To, Q: The Winged Serpent and The Stuff, you owe it to yourself to check out his newly published memoir: I Killed Bette Davis and Other Confessions of Heinous Crimes Committed in the Name of Moviemaking. The legendary director recounts all the great anecdotes you've already heard - driving a cab on actual NYC sidewalks, firing machine guns from the top of the Chrysler Building with no permit - and about a thousand you haven't. He recounts his fascinating origins as a Borscht Belt comedian and in-demand television writer, includes tribute chapters to Bernard Herrmann and Samuel Fuller, details his ambitious cinematic efforts and the struggle to bring screen legend Bette Davis to the public one last time. We're joined on the episode by James Kenney, who not only edited Cohen's memoir but also discovered and published an unproduced screenplay of Cohen's called Headhunter, the insane tale of a superhero who dresses like a doctor and "cures" criminals of their evil vices. We've also got Andrew Overbye, host of the Authorized Novelization Podcast and recent Cohen enthusiast, to share his feelings on the memoir and the nutty Headhunter. We love Larry Cohen and could have discussed him all day! Find I Killed Bette Davis here: stickingplacebooks.com/i-killed-bette-davis/ Find Headhunter here: stickingplacebooks.com/headhunter/ James Kenney's website: tremblesighwonder.com/ James Kenney on Twitter: x.com/jfkenney The Authorized Novelization Podcast on Bluesky: bsky.app/profile/authorizedpod.bsky.social The Authorized Novelization Podcast on Spotify: open.spotify.com/show/68YhhFLKW5m6ibJJDZ147M

1h 56m
2025-11-18

EP 160 Visitors from Lanulos

“I went to a different planet where the spacemen drink coffee and don't cheat on their wives.” Cryptozoologist Christopher Funderburg and parapsychologist Martin Kessler meet in an undisclosed location to perform a secret autopsy on Visitors from Lanulos, "a history book about something that never happened." Ostensibly the chronicle of Woodrow Derenberger, a West Virginian contactee who reported encounters with Indrid Cold and his extraterrestrial buddies from the galaxy of Ganymede, the book would extend apophenic red strings to Jacques Vallee, Carl Higdon, John Keel, Whitley Strieber and Barney & Betty Hill. Are these con artists, crackpots or genuine survivors? Asking questions like these, Chris and Martin examine how a person differentiates between truth and fantasy; how ufology relates to the function of language, engaging with hypotheticals and identifying the turning point for conspiracy theories in American culture. They both want to believe! The Pink Smoke on X:x.com/thepinksmoke Christopher Funderburg on X:x.com/CFunderburg Martin Kessler on X:x.com/MovieKessler

3h 4m
2025-11-04

FiVE FROM THE FiRE / Episode 11: Becky D'Anna and Jon Laubinger

What if every single print of every single film by 5 esteemed filmmakers were housed in a burning warehouse and there was only time to save 5 of them? This is the hypothetical hot seat into which guests are placed on the recurring Five from the Fire series, tasked to choose a handful of movies to rescue from oblivion! We entrust the hosts of Director's Take: A Sony Pictures Podcast, Becky D'Anna and Jon Laubinger, to charge fearlessly into the flames and make some tough decisions. Will their choices be based on childhood nostalgia? Will they consider the history of le cinema? Does the single. neglected film of a one-and-done director stand a chance against four other filmmakers with dozens of classics under their belt? Since their new podcast is focused on directors, Becky and Jon make ideal candidates for our ruthless little experiment! The Director's Take website:https://www.sonypictures.com/directorstake Becky D'Anna on Twitter:https://x.com/hwoodminotaur Martin Kessler on Twitter:https://x.com/MovieKessler The Pink Smoke on Twitter:https://x.com/thepinksmoke

1h 10m
2025-10-31

Ep 159 Gremlins Rip-Offs

For this year's Halloween theme, the Pink Smoke sets its sights on the mid-80's to early 90's trend of "mischievous little monsters" horror movies modeled after a certain masterpiece by a certain Joe Dante. Is there anything of quality to be found in such creature feature cash grabs? Do any cinematic critters, ghoulies, munchies or hobgoblins break the mold of the Gremlins template and discover their own identity? Is there any joy to be had in the low budget exploits of tiny varmints terrorizing people in small towns, big cities, carnivals, universities and outer space? We demand answers. Show us your goobers! We want to see those party-loving goobers! The Pink Smoke on X: x.com/thepinksmoke Christopher Funderburg on X: x.com/CFunderburg John Cribbs on X: x.com/thelastmachine

2h 40m

5

out of 5

2 Ratings

Fun...

2021-06-08

Oliver Brackenbury

...and thoughtful film discussion.

A podcast on cinema & literature, from Action Jackson to Zeder.

Creator

The Pink Smoke
Years Active

2020 - 2026
Episodes

179
Rating

Explicit
Copyright

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The Pink Smoke podcast

TV & Film

TV & Film

Updated Feb 3
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