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PODCAST

Morally Offensive

Morally Offensive

Morally Offensive is a weekly film podcast about the movies the Catholic Church tried to warn you about. We revisit films labeled “condemned” by the Legion of Decency and the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, unpacking the outrage, the censorship, and the cultural shifts behind them. Whether you grew up with Catholic guilt or just love controversial cinema, this is where dirty movies meet film history.

tv & film

All Episodes

02:31:34

The Devils (1971): The True Story of Witch Hunts,...

Morally Offensive ·

2025/07/11

On this episode of Morally Offensive, Cisco takes a break, so Bill is joined by frequent guest and film presenter Stephanie Sack along with television producer and writer Ken Melvoin-Berg to dive headfirst into The Devils (1971), Ken Russell’s blasphemous, banned, and still shocking masterpiece. Based on Aldous Huxley’s The Devils of Loudun, this true story of sex, power, witch hunts, and moral panic in the Catholic Church proves that real life is often stranger, and in this case even more

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02:40:09

Cruising (1980): Kink, Controversy, and Catholic...

Morally Offensive ·

2025/06/27

Jim Marcus (author, musician, and designer) joins us to dissect the controversy surrounding Cruising (1980), the William Friedkin thriller that pushed Al Pacino into New York’s underground leather scene. We explore the film’s legacy, the protests it sparked, and the moral outrage it provoked, including strong reactions from Catholic reviewers. We also discuss the film’s ongoing re-evaluation, its impact on queer visibility, and why it continues to divide audiences over 40 years later. Plus, Bill

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43:26

Bonus Episode: Why We're Going to Hell If We Get in a...

Morally Offensive ·

2025/06/14

This week, we were slightly concerned that we would not have our Freddy Got Fingered Episode done in time, so we prepared a backup episode to buy us time to wrap it up. As it turned out, we were able to complete both, so our listeners get a double dose of Catholic guilt this week. In an early episode covering Barbara Stanwyck's iconic performance in Baby Face, we still thought our average show length should be about an hour and a half, so we removed a large chunk of the conversation with our

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01:55:52

Freddy Got Fingered: The Worst Comedy of the...

Morally Offensive ·

2025/06/13

On this episode of Morally Offensive, Bill and Cisco dive headfirst into Freddy Got Fingered (2001), Tom Green’s aggressively unhinged film that might be the worst comedy of the 2000s, or a misunderstood absurdist masterpiece, according to some. Filled with horse semen, broken bones, and a wildly uncomfortable false molestation subplot, it was a critical disaster. Yet, it somehow features Rip Torn, an Oscar-nominated actor who fully commits to Green’s chaotic vision. With the release of Tom Green

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01:57:30

Blood for Dracula: “Virginity, Vampires, and the...

Morally Offensive ·

2025/05/30

This week on Morally Offensive, Bill and Cisco are joined by Matt Harding of Severin Films to unpack Blood for Dracula, the 1974 cult horror film that’s part vampire flick, part Catholic fever dream, and weirdly anti-communist.Directed by Paul Morrissey (a devout Catholic and outspoken conservative) and presented by Andy Warhol, the film follows Count Dracula as he travels to Italy in search of a virgin bride, because, naturally, good Catholic girls are presumed to still be pure. We explore

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02:12:12

Final Destination (2000): A Pre-9/11, Y2K Time Capsule

Morally Offensive ·

2025/05/16

On this episode of Morally Offensive, Bill and Cisco revisit the Y2K-era horror classic Final Destination (2000), the film that made audiences afraid to fly and introduced death as the ultimate slasher. Released just a year before 9/11 and a few years after the TWA Flight 800 disaster, its opening plane crash and creeping paranoia feel strangely prophetic in hindsight.The episode dives into horror, practical effects, the teen slasher boom, and turn-of-the-millennium anxieties. And yes, they talk

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02:39:18

The Last Temptation of Christ

Morally Offensive ·

2025/05/02

It’s all been building up to this. The Last Temptation of Christ is one of the most, if not the most, controversial films of the 1980s—and of Martin Scorsese’s career. Willem Dafoe plays Jesus, but this isn’t your grandmother’s technicolor epic Messiah. This Jesus wrestles with violence, lust, and self-doubt.Naturally, the film enraged many Christians. There were boycotts, bans, death threats against Scorsese, and even a terrorist bombing by Catholic Integralists. Cisco and Bill were too scared to

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01:39:21

Cheech and Chong's "Up in Smoke"

Morally Offensive ·

2025/04/18

Easter falls on 4/20 this year, so the guys decided to push their Last Temptation of Christ episode back a couple of weeks, to make room for two other culturally important, long-haired dudes, who also fought against "the man". "Cheech and Chong's Last Movie" comes out on Easter this year, which falls on April 20th, appropriately, so we decided to go back to the beginning, by reviewing 1978's "Up in Smoke". Although it's pretty obvious why this one probably offended the Catholic Church, we both share

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01:28:03

The Accountant (2016): He'll Depreciate...Your Life

Morally Offensive ·

2025/04/04

This was a rough one. Ben Affleck plays an autistic accountant, whose neurodivergent mind allows him to be a genius with numbers, and even better with a gun. Let's just say the guys had...takes on this movie. With The Accountant 2 coming to theatres on April 25th, it felt like the perfect time to revisit this film, and to ask "does this film actually warrant a sequel"? Bill and Cisco talk about autistic and neurodivergent representation in media, action movie tropes, what makes a good script, and

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02:05:25

Danger: Diabolik (1968) Groovy Secret Lairs, PVC...

Morally Offensive ·

2025/03/21

Time to go deep deep down the Italian genre cinema rabbit hole, as the guys dig into Bill's birthday pick - a Mario Bava comic book adaptation and cult classic, which inspired everyone from Roman Coppola to the Beastie Boys. Diabolik is the world's greatest super-spy, and one of Italy's most famous comic book heroes. The guys talk Ennio Morricone, PVC vs. Leather bondage wear, Italian vs. English overdubs, and debate just how much Diabolik and Eva pay in property taxes on their secret lair. If you

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01:43:53

Kiss Me, Stupid (1964): When Billy Wilder’s Hot...

Morally Offensive ·

2025/03/07

What made Kiss Me, Stupid (1964), a comedy starring Dean Martin and directed by Billy Wilder (Some Like It Hot), so scandalous that it became the first U.S. film since Elia Kazan’s Baby Doll (1956) to receive a "Condemned" rating from the Legion of Decency? In 1964, both Kiss Me, Stupid and The Pawnbroker shocked the Catholic censors and the Hays Office, pushing the MPAA to rethink Hollywood’s entire ratings system.In this episode, Bill and Cisco dive into the controversy: Did Kiss Me, Stupid

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01:59:59

My Bloody Valentine (1981) PLUS: Are All Horror Films...

Morally Offensive ·

2025/02/21

Missed Valentine’s Day? No worries—we’re bringing you a heartshaped box of classic horror, featuring, as Kendrick Lamar would say, "A Minerrrrrrrrrrr!" 🔪⛏️This week, Bill and Cisco talk Damien Leone's statements in the wake of Terrifier 3, as well as the controversy surrounding the Superbowl half-time show, in relation to censorship and pearl-clutching of the past. Plus, we go behind the scenes of this iconic slasher, deep dive into trivia and filmmaking minutae, and even dig up a hilarious

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01:16:27

Condemned by Catholic Censors: How ‘Design for...

Morally Offensive ·

2025/02/07

"Immorality may be fun, but it isn't fun enough to take the place of one hundred percent virtue and three square meals a day."What was it about Design for Living—the film by Ernst Lubitsch, Ben Hecht, and Noël Coward—that sent critics and the Catholic Legion of Decency into an uproar? This pre-Code classic tackled themes of polyamory, infidelity, and sexuality with a wit and sophistication that became known as The Lubitsch Touch. But its bold approach was too much for Catholic censors, who saw it

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01:27:05

BONUS: Conclave: "Is It Anti-Catholic?"...plus we pay...

Morally Offensive ·

2025/01/31

Habemus Papam!We weren’t initially planning to cover Conclave, but since launching our podcast in late October, the film has sparked intense debate. Despite not receiving a "Morally Offensive" rating, Conclave has faced significant criticism from Catholic Bishops and prominent right-wing figures including Ben Shapiro and Megyn Kelly, who claim the movie is anti-Catholic. On the other hand, Conclave has earned multiple Oscar nominations and won a Golden Globe for Best Screenplay, making it a major

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02:08:55

Atomic Blonde (2017): The Coldest City

Morally Offensive ·

2025/01/23

Charlize Theron's action-packed cold war passion project, Atomic Blonde, was not well received by audiences when it dropped in late Summer of 2017. Some dismissed the film as a "female John Wick" knockoff, or criticized it for it's confusing, labyrinthine plot. 8 years later, the guys re-examine this singular, unique entry into the Action genre, and look at how it's reputation has grown since it's release. The film takes place in the late 80s, and centers around a British Spy, tasked with a

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01:36:59

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

Morally Offensive ·

2025/01/10

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)

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01:59:18

My Dinner with Nosferatu (1922)

Morally Offensive ·

2024/12/26

"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

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01:13:01

04 - The Night Before (Holiday Special!)

Morally Offensive ·

2024/12/13

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

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01:36:46

03 - Hot Tub Time Machine

Morally Offensive ·

2024/11/28

"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

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01:34:35

02 - The Exorcist

Morally Offensive ·

2024/11/16

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

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41 results

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