New episode out now! We delve into mid-century noir with the 1955 film Kiss Me Deadly. We discuss the nature of hard-boiled detective stories and their inclination to create an ideal square-jawed “dark hero”, and how Mike Hammer seems to be (perhaps purposefully) a weird parody of that. We talk about how almost every character is a terrible, unlikeable person, lament the appalling treatment and depiction of women, discuss the influence on other movies, admire the cinematography, and really get into just how dang confusing it was. We also learn some of the reasons it may be confusing lie in weird story changes caused by McCarthyism, the Hays Code, and good old-fashioned Hollywood writers trying to be too clever. Katy finds extreme gym culture boring, Carrie has issues with sonnet interpretation, Maddy shares the real danger of bears, and Mack volunteers to take up some serious historical research. We also talk about Indiana Jones, get confused by exaggerated accents, discuss the lapsed(?) fear of nuclear war, and two of us mistake a dog for a cat! Yikes! Give it a listen to hear one of our worst PBS ratios yet! TW: suicide, atomic bombs, racism, sexual assault Show Notes/Corrections: Mack got his dates incorrect: the bear almost ended the world in the 1960s, not the 1980s. Article: Kiss Me Deadly: The Thriller of Tomorrow By J. Hoberman Video Mack mentioned: Good Enough Movies: KISS ME DEADLY (1955) by moviebob