Shows
The Crime Is Up PodcastEp 30 - Pavlov's HematomaCan Pavlov’s principle about salivating dogs possibly apply to people? A crew of thieves down by the Jersey Shore aim to find out as they plot to heist not diamonds or jewels, but a stained glass window.And after the story, Chris and Will catch each other up on books and movies they’ve been enjoying. We’ve got Jim Thompson’s little read Wild Town, Jeremy Saulnier’s new actioner Rebel Ridge, and ugly Colin Farrell’s brilliant turn in The Penguin. Plus, ever wonder where the term Film Noir came from? Take a listen, as Chris pon...
2024-11-191h 55The Crime Is Up PodcastEp 29 - Waiting & SevenWaiting on the mailman to deliver a package to your home can be a tiresome chore. Waiting on the mailman to turn up at his own home so you can put a bullet in him can also be a tiresome chore, especially when the sleepy suburban neighborhood he calls home turns out to be not so sleepy. Take a listen to our hard-boiled tale of a very bored hit man as he kills more than just time while waiting for his target. Then after the story, Chris and Will answer the question, what’s in the box?! That...
2023-11-281h 21
The Crime Is Up PodcastEp 28 - The Crime Films of Steven Seagal - Above the Law, Out for Justice, & Exit WoundsSteven Seagal is… Above the Law. Steven Seagal is …Out for Justice. Steven Seagal is… Exit Wounds.Steven Seagal is many things. A Buddhist. A Russian Citizen. The star of countless aikido action movie classics. This episode, we are taking a closer look at three of those movies. Layered deep in these fascinating films are numerous examples of the noir tropes that we crime fiction and film noir fans know and love. So join us, dear listeners, on a journey through the crime films of Steven Seagal! Release date April 01, 2023.
2023-04-011h 09The Crime Is Up PodcastBonus Ep 2 - The Deadliest Weapon & Detective Benson or The Greatest Detectives and GangstersIt’s our post-holiday special! Chris and Will offer up two hard-boiled tales from early in their writing careers… really early. The Deadliest Weapon comes from when Chris was 12-years-old and portrays a family in crisis, battling not just each other, but a terrible illness. And from the twisted mind of a 9-year-old Will comes a rollicking, action-packed police procedural that breaks all the conventions as it follows our protagonist Detective Benson, a suicidal TV junkie, and his loyal servant and friend Genjo. Can they solve the case? Is there even a case? And how many bullets can o...
2023-01-081h 19The Crime Is Up PodcastEp 27 - PlutoPluto is a good dog, but he’s missing. Dug himself out of the yard like a jailbreak. And Pluto ain’t a teacup Yorkie. He’s a Pit bull who can drag cinder blocks across the yard with his teeth.This ferocious incarnation of man’s best friend had a big fight coming up and now his owner Luke is left without his prized pup. Take a listen as this morally corrupt trainer scours the neighborhood on an odyssey through backyards and cul-de-sacs searching for his best dog. His champion. His Pluto.
2022-07-111h 06The Crime Is Up PodcastEp 26 - Swimming Pt 03 & The HustlerYou don’t rob Henshaw’s casino and think he’s going to sit back and take it. He’s ordered The Beefshank, done to perfection. This particular cut of meat is adept at finding people. The thieves who knocked off the safe are about to find that out in spectacular fashion. So have a listen to the exciting conclusion of Will Benson’s crime fiction tale Swimming! And after the story, we’re chalking up our pool cues and talking about a true classic, The Hustler. A young P...
2022-03-142h 05The Crime Is Up PodcastEp 25 - Swimming Pt 02 & The Last SeductionThe casino heist is a go. Has she conned him into it, or is he the final cog needed for an intricate theft they can only pull off in tandem? Find out in part two of our crime fiction tale, Swimming.Then we’re talking about the funniest, and most fun, of the 90’s erotic neo-noir thrillers, The Last Seduction. Linda Fiorentino is a singular force of will, confidence, and sexuality in director John Dahl’s classic portrayal of the most dangerous of femme fatales. Bill Pullman, Peter Berg, and Bi...
2022-01-242h 24The Crime Is Up PodcastEp 24 - Swimming Pt 01 & FargoA sultry Las Vegas pit boss spies an opportunity at her private game when a handsome high roller dominates the table. Can she tempt him into helping her pull off a lo-fi, high-stakes robbery of the casino? Take a listen to Part 01 of Will Benson’s original crime fiction story Swimming to find out. And after the story we’re talking about the Coen Brothers’ classic, Fargo. Oh yeah, you betcha! Will and Chris get to the bottom of this Minnesota fable featuring Frances McDormand’s Oscar win...
2021-12-063h 02The Crime Is Up PodcastEp 23 - Ace in the HoleTighten your belts and pull on your suspenders listeners, we're talking “Ace in the Hole”! Kirk Douglas dives face first into his wholly unsympathetic turn as an unscrupulous reporter in director Billy Wilder’s classic, sunbaked noir. An infamous flop in 1951, time has allowed audiences to realize the brilliance of this critique of American life and the media. Nary an asphalt jungle or shadow laden alleyway are to be found, but this one’s as mean and cynical as film noir movies get. So hop on the ferris wheel of this big carnival as we celebr...
2021-09-132h 04The Crime Is Up PodcastEp 22 - Cop LandRocky. Rambo. Sheriff Freddy Heflin. If you haven’t seen Sylvester Stallone’s turn as the sheriff of Garrison, NJ, then do yourself a favor and have a listen. Cop Land is the movie where Sly shows off his incredible and subdued acting chops, and it is a pleasure to talk about his character work opposite one of the greatest assembled casts of the 1990’s: Robert De Niro, Harvey Keitel, Ray Liotta, Robert Patrick, Annabella Sciorra, Cathy Moriarty, Michael Rapaport, Janeane Garofalo, Peter Berg, Method Man, Frank Vincent, John Spencer, Eddie Falco, & oh my goodne...
2021-07-062h 04The Crime Is Up PodcastEp 21 - Get CarterThis episode we want our podcast in a thin glass. That’s right, we’re talking about the classic British crime film ‘Get Carter’ starring Michael Caine. Plus, we dive deep into the fantastic book it was based on, the criminally underrated ‘Jack’s Return Home’ by Ted Lewis. And to keep things thorough (and fun!) we touch on the Sylvester Stallone remake from the year 2000 as well as the 70’s blaxploitation remake ‘Hit Man’ starring Bernie Casey and Pam Grier.
2021-05-193h 01The Crime Is Up PodcastBonus Episode - Slow BurnA man awakens from an all-nighter to find himself held captive on a beach, imprisoned in a strange apparatus that spreads him out like da Vinci’s Vitruvian Man. Who trapped him there, and why? As he struggles to understand, he must fight to free himself before the elements take hold: the scorching sun, angry gulls, the rising tide, and his own ebbing sanity.
2021-05-1152 minThe Crime Is Up PodcastQuick AnnouncementOur next episode is slightly delayed, but fear not, we will be back next week on May 11th with a bonus episode for you. Then in two weeks on May 18th we'll be releasing Episode 21 centered on Get Carter with Michael Caine. We’ll also be talking about the book it was based on by underrated author Ted Lewis as well as the two remakes of the movie, Get Carter with Sylvester Stallone and Hit Man with Bernie Casey and Pam Grier. So tune in next we...
2021-05-0402 minThe Crime Is Up PodcastEp 20 - Jackie Brown and Rum PunchNo one knows how it’s goin down, except for maybe Jackie Brown… and Crime Is Up Podcast! We’re talking about Quentin Tarantino’s 3rd film, which simultaneously gives Pam Grier & Robert Forster their due in one of the most honest love stories of the 90’s. That’s not to say there isn’t violence, there is. And there’s blood and swearing and criminals doing nefarious things. But at its heart, this is a romance.And it’s unique in Tarantino’s filmography because it’s his only adaptation. So we examine how and why Tarantino...
2021-04-052h 05The Crime Is Up PodcastEp 19 - The Town and Prince of ThievesWhose car we gonna take? We’re hopping in with Director Ben Affleck who’s behind the wheel of the best bank robbery movie since Heat! Episode 19 brings us to The Town with its kinetic action and killer cast starring Rebecca Hall, Blake Lively, Jon Hamm, Chris Cooper, and Oscar-Nominated Jeremy Renner. Plus we'll be talking about the Chuck Hogan book that it’s based on, Prince of Thieves. Both works claim there are more bank robbers that hail from Charlestown, MA than any...
2021-03-082h 50The Crime Is Up PodcastEp 18 - Dark Passage and The FugitiveThis episode, we’re on the lam with Humphrey Bogart and Harrison Ford! We’ve got a deep dive into the Bogie led film noir “Dark Passage” and the 90’s classic “The Fugitive”. What made us want to pair these two movies together? Because it could be that they were both based on the same source material, the book by pulp writer extraordinaire David Goodis! Goodis famously sued the producers of The Fugitive TV show for copyright infringement. Did he have a case? Have a listen to find out! Court cases aside, “Dark Passage” is a fun movie to t...
2021-02-082h 42The Crime Is Up PodcastEp 17 - Out of the Past“Baby, I don’t care.” With that dialogue, Robert Mitchum makes the hard-boiled heart of this film noir classic beat like brass knuckles on a bass drum. This episode we take great pleasure in talking about Mitchum sporting that trenchcoat and fedora, smoking all the cigarettes in the shadows as he faces off against Kirk Douglas’s smiling menace and Jane Greer’s murky motivations in Jacques Tourneur’s outstanding ‘Out of the Past’.Plus, we’ve got a rundown on the book it was based upon, ‘Build My Gallows High’ by Daniel Mainwaring. And Will has a few (co...
2021-01-112h 21The Crime Is Up PodcastEp 16 - The UntouchablesWhat are we prepared to do? Give you a whole episode devoted to The Untouchables, that’s what! We’re doing things the Chicago way and talking all about Sean Connery in his Oscar winning turn as the honest cop helping Kevin Costner’s Eliot Ness tackle Robert De Niro’s Al Capone in Brian De Palma’s classic (and altogether historically inaccurate) gangster flick. If you want to find out just how inaccurate it is, then have a listen! We did a bunch of research, and were sh...
2020-12-142h 11The Crime Is Up PodcastEp 15 - No Country for Old MenCall it, friendo! This week, we’re unpacking the pure insanity that is Anton Chigurh. Javier Bardem won a well-deserved Oscar for sporting a page boy haircut and portraying a pure psychopath that haunts every frame of this incredible cinematic masterpiece from the Coen Brothers. We chart the similarities and differences between Cormac McCarthy’s book and the film, and try to understand the particular brand of crazy that Chigurh represents. He’s the most frightening villain to stalk the silver screen this century. A wraith. A serial killer who sees himself as an arm of fate, meterin...
2020-11-162h 02The Crime Is Up PodcastEp 14 - Bring Me the Head of Alfredo GarciaIt’s road trip time listeners! We’ve got a deep dive into the grittiest, strangest road trip movie of the 70’s. It’s part violent crime story, part love triangle, part buddy comedy and maybe even part Greek Myth. Featuring a legendary lead performance from the criminally underutilized Warren Oates, this is one of Sam Peckinpah’s most divisive (and best!) movies. And it’s the only one that features a decapitated head in a picnic basket.
2020-10-192h 40The Crime Is Up PodcastEp 13 - The Usual SuspectsKeyser Soze. We are accustomed to thinking of him as one of the greatest criminal masterminds in modern movie history. But did he really manage the greatest trick the devil ever pulled? Chris and Will have some compelling evidence that might make you think twice! So have a listen to our movie appreciation episode of The Usual Suspects!
2020-09-211h 10The Crime Is Up PodcastEp 12 - Laughter’s The Best Medicine Pt 03 & Who Framed Roger RabbitRufus may have gotten Alice’s three hundred grand from the P.O. Box, but now he’s got a henchman holding him at gunpoint. Can our hapless hero make it out of this captive situation and get back to his new love without taking any more lead in his belly? Find out in the exciting conclusion of “Laughter’s the Best Medicine”! And this week we’re talkin toons! “Who Framed Roger Rabbit” seamlessly blends the conventions of a noir story with the antics and humor of classic Warner Brothers and Disney cartoons. You’ve got Bob Hos...
2020-09-141h 14The Crime Is Up PodcastEp 11 - Laughter’s The Best Medicine Pt 02 & The Big LebowskiAfter being shot, standup comedian Rufus wakes up to discover that he’s been under the care of the very woman who shot him. But who is this mysterious redheaded siren? Why did she shoot him? And can Rufus trust a single word that comes out of her mouth? Take a listen to find out!And mix yourself a White Russian because Chris and Will are talking about The Big Lebowski! The Coen Brothers fashioned The Dude as a sort of stoner private detective based in part upon Raymond Chandler’s Philip Marlowe. So we’re going...
2020-09-071h 45The Crime Is Up PodcastEp 10 - Laughter’s The Best Medicine Pt 01 & Kiss Kiss Bang BangRufus is a standup comedian who, sadly, isn’t very funny. But every week he’s up on stage cracking jokes for an indifferent audience and hecklers. Then she walks in. A woman so beautiful she stops him cold, mid-act. And the trouble she brings into the comedy club with her entangles Rufus in a sinister criminal enterprise that isn’t any laughing matter.And for their film talk, Chris and Will discuss the merits of the comedy-noir Kiss Kiss Bang Bang starring Robert Downey Jr., Val Kilmer, and Michelle Monaghan. ...
2020-08-311h 13The Crime Is Up PodcastEp 09 - When You Got A Good Friend & A Simple PlanA group of carpenters uncover something spectacular in the walls of the house they’re renovating: a rare comic book worth millions! Should be an easy three way split between them. But their friendship is tested when a workplace “accident” starts to look more like a workplace murder. Is one of them trying for a bigger piece of the score? Or have paranoia and greed begun poisoning their friendship? Have a listen to find out!And after the story, Chris and Will are talking about a neo-noir film featuring another found fortune: A Simple Pl...
2020-08-241h 32The Crime Is Up PodcastEp 08 - Cut You Down Pt 04 & Cape Fear and The ExecutionersMalcolm and Dwight’s respective paths of revenge are about to intersect in the exciting, bloody conclusion of Cut You Down. Who will be left standing? And can the fledgling family bonds Malcolm has formed with Michael and Mary survive this fight? Take a listen to Episode 08 of The Crime Is Up Podcast to find out!And for their movie talk, Chris and Will are wrangling their thoughts for a super-sized comparison episode on Cape Fear. There’s the original with eternal good-guy...
2020-08-172h 15The Crime Is Up PodcastEp 07 - Cut You Down Pt 03 & Blue RuinMalcolm puts his new bow and arrows to good use. First on a hunting trip with his son, Michael, and then while tracking a more sinister, deadly prey. One that can shoot back.A frustrated Dwight raises the price on Malcolm’s head as he tries to run his protection business from a distance. And Mary and Malcolm struggle to navigate their new family dynamic with the specter of Malcolm’s impending revenge hanging over them. For their movie talk, Chris and Will discuss a soon-to-be-classic: Blue Ruin! ...
2020-08-101h 38The Crime Is Up PodcastEp 06 - Cut You Down Pt 02 & The Hunter, Point Blank, and PaybackDwight may be leaving town, but the professional gunman he hired isn’t going to make Malcolm’s return from prison simple. And it’s hard enough for Malcolm as he tries to start over with Mary and their son Michael, whom he has yet to meet.How will the boy take to finally meeting his father? And what sort of revenge does Malcolm have in mind for his former partner-in-crime? Have a listen to Cut You Down Pt 02 to find out.And this episode Chris and Will...
2020-08-042h 08The Crime Is Up PodcastEp 05 - Cut You Down Pt 01 & Kiss of DeathMalcolm gets out of prison after 9 years and doesn’t want anything… except what’s his. The taciturn, hulking ex-con has to decide what shape his revenge is going to take as he tracks down his old flame Mary and finds her living with his ex-partner-in-crime Dwight. The pair have been raising Malcolm’s 9 year old son together; but now he’s out. And for their movie talk, Chris and Will are giving you the kiss of death! Both versions of Kiss of Death! We have Richard Widmark making his terrifying screen debut in an Oscar Nominated r...
2020-07-281h 46The Crime Is Up PodcastEp 04 - Jersey Devils Pt 04 & The GetawayMitchell’s drive to South Jersey has been fraught with danger and bad decisions. And now he has to dig two graves instead of one. Can he get the bodies buried six feet under with nothing but a little blood and dirt on his hands? Take a listen to the exciting conclusion of Jersey Devils to find out!Stick around after the story for Chris and Will’s super-sized comparison episode where they talk about The Getaway! They’re tackling the Jim Thompson crime fiction classic as wel...
2020-07-211h 41The Crime Is Up PodcastEp 03 - Jersey Devils Pt 03 & Night and the CityInstead of keeping a low profile, Mitchell winds up pickpocketing a man and crashing the back of his truck’s trailer into a parked car. Not ideal. Especially when said truck is carrying a dead body set for burial deep in the Pine Barrens. That’s the sort of behavior that attracts the law. And cops are the last thing Mitchell needs as his truck finally hits the highway...For their movie discussion, Will and Chris are talking about one of their all time favorites! It’s time for Night...
2020-07-211h 33The Crime Is Up PodcastEp 02 - Jersey Devils Pt 02 & They Drive by NightMitchell finds himself going from witness to accomplice in a murder, and is faced with the ever-escalating stakes in his new venture with Wooley. He finally has the truck he’s been saving for, but under the false floorboards he’s forced to carry an unfortunate cargo… a dead man!And this episode, Chris and Will are talking about the pseudo-noir truck driving movie They Drive by Night starring Humphrey Bogart, George Raft, Anne Sheridan, and Ida Lupino. Directed by Raoul Walsh, it's part socialist propaganda, part film noir, part remake...
2020-07-201h 07The Crime Is Up PodcastEp 01 - Jersey Devils Pt 01 & Pickup on South StreetFor our inaugural episode, you’ll find part one of the original crime fiction story Jersey Devils. It centers on Mitchell, a small-time hustler scraping a living together with petty theft in Asbury Park. But those days are behind him, because Mitchell has finally found his best scam yet. Because it isn’t even a scam... well, mostly it isn’t. All he has to do is drive. Mitchell buys in on a tractor trailer truck with a false floor and the promise of the open road it...
2020-07-201h 27The Crime Is Up PodcastCrime Is Up Podcast Trailer - The GetawayIt's a hybrid podcast! Each episode features original crime fiction and an appreciation of a film noir or crime film classic. Check out Chris and Will’s super-sized comparison episode where they talk about The Getaway! They’re tackling the Jim Thompson crime fiction classic as well as both film adaptations of it. We’ve got Sam Peckinpah’s slow-motion bloodbath featuring the King of Cool himself, Steve McQueen, with Ali McGraw. Then there’s the 90’s action flick that’s way better than you remember it starring Alec Baldwin, Kim Basinger, Ja...
2020-07-1903 minThe Crime Is Up PodcastCrime Is Up Podcast Trailer - Jersey DevilsJersey Devils centers on Mitchell, a small-time hustler scraping a living together with petty theft in Asbury Park. But those days are behind him, because Mitchell has finally found his best scam yet. Because it isn’t even a scam... well, mostly it isn’t. All he has to do is drive. Mitchell buys in on a tractor trailer truck with a false floor and the promise of the open road it brings. Only problem is, he wasn’t counting on the type of cargo his new partner would be...
2020-07-1803 min