Morally Offensive

Baby Face (1933) - The Original "Good For Her" Movie

What do MaXXXine, Pearl, Promising Young Woman, and Midsommar have in common with a 1933 pre-code melodrama starring Barbara Stanwyck? They all fall under the banner of the "Good for Her" film. Barbara Stanwyck stars in this pre-code film that sent the Catholic "Legion of Decency" into a rage, and which gave them the firepower they needed, to force the hand of the studio moguls to self-censor their films. Bill and Cisco are joined by Milwaukee Professor, Dr. Jess Sellin-Blanc (and Bill's wife Kelly) to talk the Hayes Code and censorship in Hollywood. They get into the making of the film, as well as the social conditions which informed it's content. In this episode, they ask the question: Is it immoral for a woman to do whatever she has to do, to survive in a world which is not built for her, and which wants her to fail?

My Dinner with Nosferatu (1922)

"The death ship has a new captain!"
To celebrate the release of Robert Eggers' remake of Nosferatu, the guys decided to cover the original classic, in a slight deviation from the Catholic Legion of Decency "condemned" list. The film was released in the US in 1929, seven years after it's Berlin premiere, but it was still too early to be OFFICIALLY condemned by the American Catholic ratings system. However, being that Nosferatu is both the FIRST occult film AND one of the rare films to grace the Vatican's top 40 films list, it only seemed appropriate to cover it this month. Joining hosts Bill and Cisco, is the associate producer of the Chicago Horror Film Festival and film presenter, Stephanie Sack. Stephanie invited the boys down to Chicago, from Milwaukee, to take in a live accompaniment to Nosferatu by famed lutist Jozef van Wissem.
Deviations include eating unconsecrated communion wafers with cheese, fake Eucharistic miracles, host desecration, that time Bill ran into a family of Bulgarians roasting an entire sheep, Catholic scapegoating of minorities, goth club visuals, and, of course, SpongeBob SquarePants.

The Night Before (2015) (Holiday Special!)

It's Christmas time in NYC, and three friends are about to embark on their very last annual Christmas rager together. Joseph Gordon Levitt is an orphan, stuck in a dead-end job with no real career prospects and no romantic partner. Seth Rogan is coming to terms with his fears over being a father, and Anthony Mackie is a pro athlete, so obsessed with fame, that he's willing to risk his family, friendships, and integrity for his career.
That's where the 2015 Holiday and Christmas future classic, The Night Before begins. What will ensue is a journey which includes Michael Shannon's weed of Christmas Past, Present, and future, a quest to deliver an illicit gift to the "messiah", and obstacles ranging from the hijinks of Ilana Glazer's "Grinch" to a psychotropic freakout during midnight mass. Diversions include that one time (or more?) Bill puked during Catholic mass, Michael Shannon skipping the Oscars to drink at Old Town Ale House in Chicago, and the very real fact that the Catholic Mass contained antisemitic language until the early 60s.
So, spike your egg nog, hang your stockings by the chimney with care, and deck the halls as we join Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Anthony Mackie, Seth Rogan, Jillian Bell, Miley Cyrus, Lizzy Caplan, Nathan Fielder and more for 2015's The Night Before.
 

Hot Tub Time Machine (2010) aka "Why are men?"

"Why Are Men?" It's the question Bill and Cisco find themselves asking, after viewing 2010's comedy about time travel and friendship, Hot Tub Time Machine, starring John Cusack, Craig Robinson, and Daily Show alum Rob Corddry. The guys talk male friendship, the 2024 election, toxic masculinity, the butterfly effect, and the difficulties of maintaining solid friendships, as one enters middle-age. Diversions include the manosphere, Cardinal Burke's dislike of girl altar servers, Matt Walsh's fear of platonic love, the new E-Man-gelization, Crispin Glover's rat poetry, that one time Bill saw Echo and the Bunnymen spin Pink Floyd 45s, and why Chevy Chase doesn't work much these days. Will they find the answer to their question? Will Hot Tub Time Machine provide clues? Will Cisco fulfill his quest to find a copy of the film on Blu Ray? Only time will tell.

The Exorcist (1973) - First Impressions of an Exorcist Virgin

It shouldn't be surprising that an episode about William Friedkin's The Exorcist would be plagued with technical problems (if you believe in that kind of thing) but the episode is finally live! Cisco makes Bill watch a film that he has put off seeing for years, due to a deep-seated fear of the devil and the demonic. Bill gives his first reactions, and the guys get into the post-Exorcist panic over demons (and consequent spike in exorcisms in the US), the increase in the number of Exorcists in the US, and the film's troubled production. Tangents include why Bill has never played Dungeons and Dragons, Hot priests, New Age synth music as gateway to the devil, the actual Pope's Exorcist, and irrational Catholic fears over yoga.

The Omen (1976) - 666, The Anti-Christ, and the Apocalypse

For the pilot episode, Bill and Cisco discuss their respective Catholic upbringings, discuss censorship and the Hayes Code, and introduce the Legion of Decency and USCCB film ratings systems, before doing a deep dive into Richard Donner's The Omen.