Junk Mail: September 2026

"That is a complete fucking fraud and it looks 100% real. It's the best work I've ever done in my life because it's so honest." This week on Film Junk, we revisit one of the great political satires on screen, Barry Levinson's Wag the Dog. It captured the zeitgeist and arguably predicted the future back in the late '90s but it's time to find out how it holds up in our current political climate. Is Wag the Dog more relevant now than ever? Does Frank consider it to be more "clever" than funny? Could Jay pull off the Conrad Brean look in his day to day life? What is the best 54-40 song? Don't change horses midstream... check out the latest episode of Film Junk below.

Since we already dropped our review of You Can See Everything a bit early, this week we decided to pull a junk mail episode from the Patreon vault for listeners on the public feed. Frank says this is one of the best. Do you agree?

Okay, here's your motivation. You're lost, you're angry in the woods and no one is here to help you. The Blair Witch Project was a pretty big deal when it arrived in theatres back in 1999 but it was (and still is) a somewhat divisive film. There is no debating the influence it had in terms of found footage horror but somehow the scares remain very subjective. Is this movie still an intense and immersive experience or is it just boring? Are the performances realistic and convincing or is there a little too much riffing going on? Was the marketing for the movie way ahead of its time? What is the deal with that blue slime? Pop a tent and order some Mary Brown's Chicken while listening to the latest episode of Film Junk.

Hot on the heels of a Halloween candy high, November looks a lot like Jizzmas, thanks to a selection of films that span a cavernous genre divide. From political comedies to whatever else we picked that I can't remember. I guess you'll just have to watch / listen to find out!

Note: You Can See Everything was intended to be part of our November line-up but we decided to release the episode early due to all of the discussion surrounding the film. "Why would I deceive you? There's no reason for me to do that." This week we get caught in the Elizabeth Holmes distortion field as we review You Can See Everything, the new documentary by Nathan Fielder and Lance Oppenheim. It's a movie with so many different layers that it almost seems to be about the nature of reality itself. Was Elizabeth Holmes knowingly defrauding investors or was she just being exploited by other people? Should documentary subjects have a say in or make a profit from movies that are about them? Can psychopaths be good people? Is there such a thing as objective truth in this world? Clearly it's very complicated... scam the scammers with the latest episode of Film Junk.

"We've always said, if there's no risk, what's the point?" On this week's episode of Film Junk, we gear up and dive back into the darkness as we return to Neil Marshall's acclaimed 2005 horror film The Descent. But not everyone on the podcast has seen it before... let's find out if still holds up or if it is actually a little bit "shite". Did The Descent kickstart the trend of "elevated horror" or is it kind of the opposite? Are the creatures just humans who got lost in the caves or are they something else entirely? Which ending is better... or do they both suck? Did the jump scares make Frankie go boom boom in his pants? Find out how to give a lemon an orgasm by downloading the latest episode of Film Junk.

I summon the vampires! I summon the werewolves! I summon Viy! On this week's episode of Film Junk we are unearthing Viy, a spooky hidden gem from 1967 that is billed as the Soviet Union's first horror film. It's a wild ride that delivers some laughs, some thrills and a lot of impressive visual effects. So why isn't this movie more widely known? How is the Russian take on vampires, witches and demons different from the mythology we know today? Does vodka cure everything? Is there a connection between Viy and the Dogma poop monster? Drop blood tear and download the latest episode of Film Junk now.

This week on the Film Junk Podcast, let's do the time warp again as we revisit one of the biggest cult classics of all time. The Rocky Horror Picture Show remains an influential and utterly unique musical that seems like an ideal choice to kick off the month of October. But what is it about this movie that has allowed it to endure? Is Tim Curry's performance revered yet still somehow underrated? Is seeing it with a live audience the best way to experience this movie? What is the deeper psychological meaning behind Frank killing Eddie? Damnit Janet... don't dream it, be it on this week's episode of Film Junk.

"Could you turn it off? This is important. This is not art, this is life!" This week on Film Junk we are revisiting another film that was way ahead of its time. There was nothing like Ross McElwee's documentary Sherman's March back when it came out in 1985 but now we live in a world where everyone is capturing their life on video. Was this movie an influence on the work of people like Nathan Fielder and John Wilson? What do General Sherman, nuclear war, Burt Reynolds and the search for love all have in common? Is Charleen one of the great documentary characters of all time? Do leg squats actually get rid of cellulite? Find yourself a nice Southern girl and check out this week's episode below.

Six little pumpkins sitting on a gate. The first one said, "Oh my, it's getting late!" The second one said, "There are witches in the air!" The third one said, "But we don't care!" The fourth one said, "Let's run, let's run!" The fifth one said, "Isn't Halloween fun?" And the sixth one said, "I'M GONNA FUCKIN' CUMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM"