The Substance

One milestone celebration episode deserves another! This week we go from marking the 200th episode of The Substance to the much more impressive achievement of Severin Films hitting 20 years of releasing and restoring (and sometimes rescuing and resurrecting!) cult and genre films. Co-founders David Gregory and Carl Daft join us to look back at their twenty years at Severin as we talk: The pre-Severin days of Blue Underground Boutique VHS releases back in the day Fighting censorship in the UK and the Video Nasty era The love and care that went into the Alan Clarke Blue Underground box set (a favorite of artist Charles Forsman) Finding and cultivating an audience that would rather watch A Bay of Blood than Casablanca What goes into finding and restoring films that were once thought lost How the themes of the nuclear fear movies are unfortunately evergreen and MORE! We hope you enjoy the discussion and be on the lookout on our Instagram page for an upcoming GIVEAWAY 📀 Physical Media Corner: The War Game Threads Siege Jackie Chan's First Strike Sugar Cookies Legend of the Sacred Stone Demigod: The Legend Begins Recent Guest Spot: TV & Us The Sopranos Season 3 episode 4 Follow Us: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Philip's Letterboxd⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Share Your Questions/Suggestions/Feedback With Us: Email: [email protected] DM on Instagram Support Us: Support the show with an individual donation on CashApp to $TheSubstancePod or become a monthly Patreon supporter at patreon.com/TheSubstancePod

We did it, Joe. Episode #200 of the show is finally out! We wanted to pick a special film for 200, and Greta Gerwig's 2017 directorial debut, Lady Bird, has it all. A beautiful coming of age story, tense mother/daughter dynamics, angsty artistic aspirations, first love and first heartbreak, spiritual longing, and more. All in about 90 minutes too! And I am delighted to be joined by my wife, whose life experience mirror Lady Bird's in some wild ways. Enjoy, and here's to the next two hundred! Substantive Cinema Episodes Shoutouts: A Tree Grows in Brooklyn Reel by Kenedy Ryan Morunas (music) Fletch Big Trouble in Little China Tiki Tiki Emily Wilson special Emma M. Lion series Physical Media Corner: Identity Hi, Mom! Marshmallow Dead Mountaineer's Hotel Recent Guest Spot: Rewind and Revive on The Dead Mountaineer's Hotel Follow Us: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Philip's Letterboxd⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Share Your Questions/Suggestions/Feedback With Us: Email: [email protected] DM on Instagram Support Us: Support the show with an individual donation on CashApp to $TheSubstancePod or become a monthly Patreon supporter at patreon.com/TheSubstancePod

The Road to #200 is almost at an end! Looking back at the Substantive Cinema episodes we've released this year, we couldn't help but notice an unintentional theme. Southland Tales, 28 Years Later, Team America: World Police, and now Civil War all deal with a troubled society trying to either make things better or simply bring a little order to the chaos. Wonder how we gravitated to these... Regardless, we are excited to be joined by multitalented filmmaker Chell Stephen to discuss Alex Garland's Civil War (interestingly, the second Garland project this year as he was the writer of 28 Days Later). Being released in 2024, the film was greeted with extremely mixed reviews. The main criticisms often were that the imagery was unhelpful in such a volatile time (right before the Trump 2.0 era), and that Garland somehow wasn't making a strong enough political statement. Genuinely not sure how that seemed to be the case with so many folks. Either way, it was a great conversation and Chell is wonderful! Her new film Byeeee, starring friend of the show and previous guest Romina D'Ugo (I Like Movies) is playing festivals now and if it's playing near you, we highly recommend you seek it out! Substantive Cinema Movie Catalogue Shoutouts: Bad Influence Body Double The Pitt (HBO) Industry (HBO) NTBTSTM Twinless The Lowdown (FX/Hulu) Physical Media Corner: Don't Play with Fire Who Am I? (Jackie Chan's Breakout Hits!) Wake in Fright G. I. Samurai Recent Guest Spot Episodes: Cinema on a Shelf Follow Chell: Instagram Add Byeeee to your watchlist Woods Hole Film Festival Follow Us: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Philip's Letterboxd⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Share Your Questions/Suggestions/Feedback With Us: Email: [email protected] DM on Instagram Support Us: Support the show with an individual donation on CashApp to $TheSubstancePod or become a monthly Patreon supporter at patreon.com/TheSubstancePod

This took a liiiiiitle bit longer to publish than we had intended but we are excited to share our Panic Fest 2026 coverage with you all! It was a highlight of the year and we met so many incredible people (wish we could have talked with everyone!). Many of these films are hitting the festival circuit or starting to come our on VOD (and we just saw that the Loner Blu-ray is now available), and they are all worth checking out! List of Movies We Discuss Follow Our Filmmakers: Katherine Dudas Codey S. Wilson Janine Hogan Amber Rossi Guillermo de la Rosa Scout Taylor-Compton Physical Media Corner: The Slime People (Double Feature) Gutter Auteur: The Lost Legacy of Andy Milligan Recent Guest Spot Episodes: Screamboat on Laurie Strode Trap House The Unwatched Pile #36 TV & Us Sopranos Season 2 Finale Follow Us: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Philip's Letterboxd⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Share Your Questions/Suggestions/Feedback With Us: Email: [email protected] DM on Instagram Support Us: Support the show with an individual donation on CashApp to $TheSubstancePod or become a monthly Patreon supporter at patreon.com/TheSubstancePod

Panic Fest 2026 is almost upon us! Last year, Panic Fest was one of the highlights of our year. We had an incredible time taking in new features and shorts as well as getting to know and spend time with some wonderful people (Listen to our Recap Episode rom last year for more)! Hope to see you there, if you're in the neighborhood! Panic Fest: Website Instagram Joe & Becca: YouTube Instagram Greg D: Nightmare Junkhead Podcast BlueSky Follow Us: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Threads⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Philip's Letterboxd⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠BlueSky⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Share Your Questions/Suggestions/Feedback With Us: Email: [email protected] DM on Instagram Support Us: Support the show with an individual donation on CashApp to $TheSubstancePod or become a monthly Patreon supporter at patreon.com/TheSubstancePod