Hosted by writer-director Wayne Kramer (The Cooler, Running Scared) and producer Barry Germansky (Marlowe, Riff Raff), Forbidden Films is a podcast about the movies they won't make anymore.
Each week, Wayne and Barry take a deep dive into a once critically regarded film or commercial success that by today's regressive standards is now deemed either problematic or unlikely to ever be made again in the same way. Pushing back against political correctness, the duo bring their own filmmaking experience and love of movies to a lively — and controversial — discussion about living in illiberal times where self-censorship and timidity, fueled by corporate greed and fear of social media blowback, has led to the catch phrase, "They'd never make that film today."
Forbidden Films is a shot against the bow of cinematic cowardice and a clarion call to the industry to start making bold and challenging films again. From the early James Bond films to Saturday Night Fever to A Clockwork Orange and beyond, tune in for some insightful and pugilistic conversations. Rated Mature Audiences Only.
Music Acknowledgement: The Forbidden Films theme is a track called "Ghosts" by renowned film composer John Murphy. It is available on John's album "Anonymous Rejected Filmscore."
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy (https://acast.com/privacy) for more information.
"She's a friggin' suspect. Walk away. Frankie? Just walk away." Wayne Kramer and Barry Germansky are braving the erotically-charged tide of Harold Becker's 1989 neo-noir police procedural, Sea of Love, written by Wayne's favorite writer, Richard Price, and starring Al Pacino in his post-Revolution comeback film, alongside Ellen Barkin in the role that solidified her sultry leading lady status. Pacino's Detective Frank Keller, partnered with John Goodman, is on the trail of a serial murderer who is using the personal ads column to entice male victims. Before Sharon Stone began romancing Michael Douglas with an ice pick in Basic Instinct, Barkin's Helen Cruger was already bringing the fuck me-kill you ambiguity to this twisty cop thriller. Wayne goes to the mat to defend Sea of Love as the perfect thriller, and is ready to get Frank Keller-style karate-choppy on anyone who claims otherwise, especially those who don't think the film has a strong resolution. If you like your 80s NYPD cop thrillers drenched in mood and attitude and late-night eroticism, as well as edge of your seat "Is she or isn't she?" anxiety, then brace yourself for one to the back of the head in the best possible way. Richard Price's complex, neurotic characters, Harold Becker's stellar craftsmanship, Trevor Jones' manic, jazzy score and Pacino and Barkin sexing up the big screen all make for an underrated masterpiece of the genre. So, pour yourself a shot of Dewar's, break out your old .45s, and drop the needle on Sea of Love.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy (https://acast.com/privacy) for more information.
11 Sept 2026
48 Hrs.
"You know what I am? I'm your worst fuckin' nightmare, man. I'm a n***** with a badge which means I got permission to kick your fuckin' ass whenever I feel like it!" Wayne Kramer and Barry Germansky are starting the clock on Walter Hill's classic 1982 buddy-cop action film, 48 Hrs., starring Nick Nolte and Eddie Murphy in his star-making feature debut. This is the one that pretty much started it all. Yeah, we know there were others that came before, but this is the one that got the recipe down perfect. Ingredients: One weary, cynical cop. Check. One horny, wily con. Check. Spice it up by making the cop white and the con black. Check. Add two tablespoons of contempt for one another. Check. Actually, make it three. Peppered with a common cause: chasing down a pair of mad dog killers on the mean streets of San Francisco. Check. Throw in the MacGuffin of 500K in stolen drug money. Check. Make the punches loud. The gun shots even louder. And the bullet impacts large enough to drive a truck through. Check. Make sure to burn some rubber on those steep SF hills, sculpted by the hand of God for cool car chases. Check. Crank up James Horner's anxious jazz fusion coolness. Check. Sprinkle in an equal ratio of racial epithets to exchanged lead. Check. And turn the heat way up for 96 minutes. Repeat for Another 48 Hrs., but just don't expect it to taste as good.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy (https://acast.com/privacy) for more information.
29 Aug 2026
Mario Kassar Discusses Basic Instinct
"I'd have to be pretty stupid to write a book about killing and then kill him the way I described in my book. I'd be announcing myself as the killer. I'm not stupid." On today's episode of Forbidden Films, Barry Germansky welcomes a very special guest: legendary producer Mario Kassar. They'll be discussing everything you could want to know about BASIC INSTINCT, one of the most controversial films of the 1990s. In addition to Basic Instinct, Mario has produced or executive produced such iconic films as The Changeling, the first three Rambo films, Angel Heart, Jacob's Ladder, Total Recall, The Doors, Chaplin, Cliffhanger, and the groundbreaking Terminator 2: Judgment Day, one of cinema's most inexhaustible dreamscapes. Throughout this episode, Barry and Mario will be examining one of the wildest erotic thrillers ever made. So grab your ice pick, uncross your legs, fix yourself a double blackjack on the rocks, and tune in for a candid conversation with Mario about all things Basic Instinct.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy (https://acast.com/privacy) for more information.
14 Jul 2026
Risky Business
"Sometimes you just gotta say, 'What the fuck, make your move.'" Wayne Kramer and Barry Germansky are engaging in some Risky Business with Paul Brickman's 1983 surreal, erotic, and Salingerian coming-of-age masterpiece that lit the fuse on Tom Cruise's stardom. Joel Goodson is looking to get laid, looking to get into Princeton, and looking for a whole lot of trouble when his parents go out of town. With one late night phone call to Rebecca De Mornay's sultry, cynical call girl, Lana, Joel gets schooled in Reaganomics the Chicago way. Guest instructors include Guido the Killer Pimp and Lana's hot-to-trot hooker friends. Joel's curriculum also includes an AP course on how to make love on a real train – soundtracked by Phil Collins and Tangerine Dream. So strip to your tighty-whities, roll up your tube socks, and hit play for some Old Time Rock and Roll.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy (https://acast.com/privacy) for more information.
1 Jul 2026
Body Heat
"You aren't too smart, are you? I like that in a man." Wayne Kramer and Barry Germansky are getting under the sheets with Body Heat, writer-director Lawrence Kasdan's 1981 revamping of the film noir genre. Everything old is new again — this time with a sultry femme fatale for the ages, Matty Walker, played by the combustible Kathleen Turner in her screen debut, who seduces William Hurt's small town horndog lawyer, Ned Racine, into offing her husband and bringing about Ned's eventual cum-uppance. All to the tune of John Barry's alto saxed-up score and Richard H. Kline's sweaty cinematography. With supporting turns from Richard Crenna, Ted Danson, and Mickey Rourke, this granddaddy of the modern film noir delivers in the best tradition of Billy Wilder, Jacques Tourneur, Robert Siodmak, and Fritz Lang – with the added bonus of boobs, butts, and profanity. So, beware of the wind chimes, never buy a strange woman on the boardwalk a snow cone, and stay out of the boathouse. Click play for a fun conversation about sex, death, and humidity.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy (https://acast.com/privacy) for more information.
17 Jun 2026
All That Jazz
"It's showtime, folks!" Wayne Kramer and Barry Germansky are hopping on a Greyhound bus to Broadway to revisit Bob Fosse's semi-autobiographical and tragically prescient All That Jazz. It's a phantasmagorical, warts-and-all look at the life of Joe Gideon, a tortured Broadway director and filmmaker choreographing his way into oblivion. Joe is at war with his second-guessing financiers, his pursuit of perfection, his failing health, and his own raging libido in Fosse's multiple Oscar-winning masterpiece. Prepare to be dazzled by Roy Scheider's fearless, self-excoriating performance, Ann Reinking's virtuosic dance moves, and Alan Heim's manic postmodern editing that keeps it all moving to an unsettling arrhythmic beat. So fire up the Vivaldi, pop some Dexedrine, light up an unfiltered Camel, lubricate your eyeballs, and come take off with us.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy (https://acast.com/privacy) for more information.
8 Jun 2026
James Bond Movies of the 1960s and 1970s, Part I
"The name is Bond. James Bond." Wayne Kramer and Barry Germansky invite you on a mission to redeem the reputation of 1960s and 1970s James Bond films from 007's most dangerous nemesis ever: O.U.T.R.A.G.E. While our hosts concede that these early Bond films can seem a bit out of step with modern sensibilities, they're still the best in show for pure escapism and wish fulfillment, as well as delivering on plots and villains that seem uncannily prescient for where we find ourselves in 2026. And let's not get started on those Bond women. Okay, let's do! Part one's mission dossier features: Dr. No, From Russia with Love, Goldfinger, and Thunderball.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy (https://acast.com/privacy) for more information.
8 Jun 2026
The Wicker Man
"Come. It is time to keep your appointment with the Wicker Man." Wayne and Barry head to Summerisle to celebrate May Day with Christopher Lee and his merry band of pagans. We kneel before the acting prowess of Edward Woodward, fantasize about losing our virginity to Britt Ekland, and rage at the clueless executives that disemboweled director Robin Hardy and writer Anthony Shaffer's folk horror classic in the name of commercialism and cowardice. As an aside, our duo goes on a film preservation and physical media rant with Wayne singing the praises of 4K viewing, despite the increased resolution diluting some of The Wicker Man's sinfulness. Click play for immediate transmogrification.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy (https://acast.com/privacy) for more information.
1 Jun 2026
Last Tango in Paris, The Dreamers, and Partner
"Go get the butter." In the inaugural episode of Forbidden Films, writer-director Wayne Kramer and producer Barry Germansky celebrate the patron saint of controversial cinema, Bernardo Bertolucci, with a deep dive into a pair of the filmmaker's most notorious works, Last Tango in Paris and The Dreamers, as well as a sidebar into one of his earlier films, Partner. Wayne and Barry are on a mission to seek out redress for the revisionist lynching of a cinematic master and throw themselves on the altar of defending the art over the artist, and, when necessary, the artist himself. Fragile sensibilities are encouraged not to hit the "play" button.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy (https://acast.com/privacy) for more information.
27 May 2026
Dressed for Controversy
"I like to watch." Wayne Kramer and Barry Germansky celebrate peak De Palma: the controversial 80s, where the provocative director and self-appointed heir to Hitchcock takes on Woman Against Pornography, fragile critics, nervous financiers and the MPAA with a foursome of classic films: Dressed to Kill, Blow Out, Scarface, and Body Double. The master of the lurid and the extended female walk-and-stalk challenged 80s viewers with his stylized eroticism and hyper-violent set pieces, all while championing the male gaze. In a De Palma film you're never in doubt who is behind the camera, and Wayne and Barry revel in this virtuoso filmmaker's satirical and, often times, cynical vision. The most underrated and misunderstood of the Movie Brats, this three hour ode to sexual identities, political conspiracies, underworld cokeheads and split-diopters is De Palma worship on steroids. Hit the button, as long as it's not the 7th Floor!
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy (https://acast.com/privacy) for more information.
27 May 2026
A Clockwork Orange
"Viddy well, little brother, viddy well." It's time for a little ultra-violence and the old in-out, in-out as Wayne Kramer and Barry Germansky take a deep dive into Stanley Kubrick's dystopian masterpiece A Clockwork Orange, a film that brought about global condemnation, moral panic, and snapping censor's shears in response to the legendary filmmaker's adaptation of Anthony Burgess' satirical novel on free will versus totalitarianism. ACO still packs a punch and retains the power to shock and elucidate, even as the film's modern critics remain conflicted over its ultra-stylized violence, explicit nudity, and mixed messaging. Our hosts have been subjected many a time to the Ludovico Technique and remain in awe of this 1971 classic. Press the button, little brother, and all will be revealed.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy (https://acast.com/privacy) for more information.
27 May 2026
James Bond Movies of the 1960s and 1970s, Part II
"I didn't know there was a pool down there." Join us for part two of our Bond retrospective as Wayne Kramer and Barry Germansky keep their Walther PPKs firmly lined up on 007's most threatening villains: the henchmen of political correctness. Our hosts continue to opine on what the Bond movies used to do so well in the 1960s and 1970s and what's missing from the current mission directive: F.U.N. Part two features: You Only Live Twice through Moonraker. Connery to Lazenby to Moore. It's the Biggest. It's the Best. It's Bond and B-e-y-o-n-d!
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy (https://acast.com/privacy) for more information.
27 May 2026
Saturday Night Fever
"Al Pacino! Attica! Attica! Attica!" It's time to put on your dancing shoes because Wayne Kramer and Barry Germansky are heading to the 2001 Odyssey disco to get down with controversial youth classic, Saturday Night Fever, 1977's breakout hit and star-making vehicle for John Travolta. While the Bee Gees' soundtrack to SNF remains evergreen, the tone and raunchiness of the film hasn't fared as well. Today's fragile viewers have condemned this gritty cinematic achievement as racist, misogynistic, and profane, even if they still like to watch Travolta boogie. Wayne and Barry contend that John Badham's disco era drama is an angsty 70s masterpiece that delivers on all fronts, even as it proves to be an equal opportunity offender. Tune in to revisit the "Fever" and leave your sensitivities at the door. And be sure to "watch the hair."
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy (https://acast.com/privacy) for more information.
Reach and audience
Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.
Apple Podcasts (US)
4.8 / 5
4 ratings
Spotify
5.0 / 5
3 ratings
Contact Forbidden Films
Guest appearances
Books guests
Based on episode analysis; this does not confirm that the show is currently accepting guests.
Pod Engine is an independent podcast discovery and analytics service and is not affiliated with or endorsed by this podcast. Artwork and show content belong to their owners. Full legal notice.
Explore this show Podcast research with Pod Engine
