Cinebuds

Latest Episodes:

Cinebuds LIVE: The 40th anniversary of 'Labyrinth' Apr 29, 2026

Show notes

Step inside the Goblin King's maze with this special live episode of Cinebuds!

Recorded at the historic Oriental Theatre during the 2026 Milwaukee Film Festival, this episode celebrates the 40th anniversary (and 4K restoration) of the fantasy classic, Labyrinth.

For this very special occasion, Dori and Kpolly enlisted some help from Steve Horton, Eisner-winning author of the graphic novel Bowie: Stardust, Ray Guns, and Moonage Daydreams. He shares a few fascinating insider stories about Labyrinth from his research, including how Bowie would use a puppet off-camera to charm baby Toby into staying calm during filming. The trio also dive into:

Why Bowie was the perfect Jareth (and which other '80s icons almost got the part).
A tribute to Jim Henson’s timeless practical effects and the lovable "gentle giant," Ludo.
Hilarious behind-the-scenes secrets, from the infamous "codpiece" to Jennifer Connelly’s real reaction to the Bog of Eternal Stench.

And it wouldn't be a live event without getting the audience involved, including a few brave souls who offer their questions and "hot takes."

#####

Cinebuds is sponsored by Joe Wilde Garage Door Company.

Your guide for week two of the Milwaukee Film Fest! Apr 22, 2026

Show notes

The Milwaukee Film Festival goes to a lot of trouble filling two whole weeks with tons of movies for us to see. So the least we can do is dedicate two podcast episodes to the big event before it wraps up April 30.

Just like we did in part one, we invited Milwaukee Film programming director Kerstin Larson to join the podcast and provide her wonderful perspective to the final seven days of the 2026 festival. With her help, Dori and Kpolly plucked another diverse selection of films from the schedule so you can find something spooky (Hokum), something kooky (Maddie’s Secret) or something dairy (The Big Cheese).

MKE Film Fest Week 1 & 'Now! More! Yes!' Apr 15, 2026

Show notes

MKE Film Fest Week 1 & 'Now! More! Yes!'

Sound Vision at the 2026 MKE Film Festival Apr 08, 2026

Show notes

Sound Vision at the 2026 MKE Film Festival

Cinema Hooligante! Apr 01, 2026

Show notes

The 2026 Milwaukee Film Festival is coming up in just over two weeks and if you’ve never been, it’s kinda incredible! From April 16 - 30 hundreds of films will be shown across five screens at The Oriental and The Downer theaters on Milwaukee’s very fashionable East Side. So, with 250 short and feature-length documentary and fiction films from near and far to choose from, where does one even start making that schedule?
Anything co-signed by Milwaukee Record, America’s #1 source of news and entertainment (#facts) will always make the top of my list. It’s great to see them back again for the 12th year as the sole sponsor for the Cinema Hooligante program. Think “Midnite Movies” and off beat films. This year’s lineup includes stories about misfit youths, a possessed vacuum cleaner and an entire story that takes place in a toilet.
Check out this week’s episode as we welcome Milwaukee Record’s Matt Wild to the pod as our very special guest. Make sure you listen all the way through if you wanna find out what movie makes Matt Wild cry the most and then come hang out with the best people at a Cinema Hooligante film.

MKE Film's 414 Day screening of the 'Song Sung Blue' doc Mar 25, 2026

Show notes

With Milwaukee Film getting ready to celebrate 414 Day by screening the Song Sung Blue documentary at the Oriental Theatre, we're taking a timely jump back to our conversation with a key player in the 2008 film about local musical couple Mike and Claire Sardina. Enjoy.

#####

After coming down from our Hugh Jackman interaction at the Song Sung Blue premiere at the close of 2025, we pulled back the curtain on the Milwaukee connections that inspired the recently released biopic.

For that, we called in local filmmaker Jimmy Sammarco, who was instrumental (pun very intended) in the original Song Sung Blue documentary that brought the story of musical couple Mike and Claire Sardina — aka Lightning & Thunder — into the spotlight back in 2008. In his role as director of photography, he saw the ins and outs of the whole production, including a bombshell cease-and-desist order from Sony Music and an unlikely savior from one of the godfathers of grunge.

Oscar Predictions! Mar 11, 2026

Show notes

The Oscars are the Super Bowl of movies. We’re not talking about the prestige of winning, although that certainly lines up. We’re talking about how the wider world swoops in once a year to make predictions, rubberneck at the spectacle of it all and maybe even watch the actual event itself.

Obviously, Dori and Kpolly are not “the wider world.” They’re unpretentious, welcoming, discerning film lovers who want everyone to join them in the fun of cinema (and in the theater itself, because watching movies in theaters is the best). So, with the Academy Awards coming up this Sunday and everyone in full-tilt prediction mode, our duo wanted to jump on board and offer a few picks of their own.

This isn’t an exhaustive list. While Dori and Kpolly are as excited as anyone about discovering who will win for “Achievement in Production Design,” they stick to the big categories in this episode. Yes, most of them revolve around the showdown between One Batter After Another and Sinners. But does F1 make an appearance? You bet it does!

MKE Film presents: 'Just Say Yeoh' Mar 04, 2026

Show notes

We use the phrase “action star” to describe the massive talent at the center of this episode, but Michelle Yeoh has demonstrated over the course of her remarkable career that she’s so much more than that.

In fact, her career as a performer didn’t start with scripts or stunts. She was more focused on pirouettes and pliés as a classically trained ballet dancer, getting all the way to London’s Royal Academy of Dance before a spinal injury set her on a path to the big screen (but not before becoming a literal beauty queen).

Dori and Kpolly get into Yeoh’s off-screen activities — even touching on her humanitarian work and activism — as they give her the star treatment for this episode. It’s a well-deserved spotlight considering everything Yeoh has accomplished across her 40-year career, from performing her own stunts despite zero marital-arts training to winning Best Actress for Everything Everywhere All at Once at the 2023 Academy Awards.

That’s just one of the Yeoh-centric movies you can check out at the Oriental Theatre throughout March as Milwaukee Film presents its irresistibly titled “Just Say Yeoh” series. You’ll hear our dynamic duo discuss all four movies in the series, a handful of her other memorable roles and the other releases you should catch at the Oriental this week.

#####

Cinebuds is sponsored by Joe Wilde Garage Door Company.

'Wuthering Heights' Feb 25, 2026

Show notes

When Emily Brontë shared Wuthering Heights with the world back in 1847, the response to the book was … let’s just say mixed. Critics used words like “sickened” and “unsettling” and “a compound of vulgar depravity and unnatural horrors” to communicate how unnerved they were by such a scandalous work (something that only got worse when they discovered it was written by [gasp] a woman!!!).

In that context, the release of the 2026 film version of Wuthering Heights and subsequent reactions have been pretty tame — or maybe just as loud for more prosaic reasons, like not being faithful enough to the source material. Those purists are represented in this episode, as are the non-bookish types, because this is a packed-house Cinebuds featuring our two hosts and a pair of guests: Radio Milwaukee’s Zoey Knox and Bianca Camiro.

Our special visitors went through the arduous vetting process of talking out loud about how excited they were to see this movie, with Dori near enough to hear them. That being settled, they took their assignment VERY seriously. Like, there was a post-screening sitdown and at least one Notes app involved.

And what did our intergenerational reviewers decide? The word “vibe” was used a lot, and there was a fair amount of discussion over whether book people need to lighten up when they go to see a movie adaptation (yes, they do). There was also a general consensus that Wuthering Heights is a must-see movie. Now, whether it’s a good movie? Not quite as much agreement on that one.

#####

Cinebuds is sponsored by Joe Wilde Garage Door Company.

Remembering Catherine O'Hara Feb 18, 2026

Show notes

When Catherine O’Hara died late last month, it was a sizable blow to the entertainment world. Whether it was on television or in movies, she brought a quality that was very particularly “her.” While that’s a tough thing to wrap up in just one episode, Dori and Kpolly give it a shot — with a little help from the Radio Milwaukee family.

Fellow O’Hara appreciator Jon Adler joins our familiar cinema-loving duo to craft a retrospective that’s both heartfelt and hilarious, much like the woman herself.

We trace her journey from waitress to Gilda Radner understudy at Second City to a member of the groundbreaking troupe at SCTV. We dive into her most beloved performances, from the pretentious Delia Deetz in Beetlejuice to the frantic Kate McCallister in Home Alone to her understated performance as Mickey Crabbe in A Mighty Wind. Of course, no discussion would be complete without covering her turn as Moira Rose in Schitt’s Creek (yes, the enchiladas make a cameo).

So join us as we fold in the cheese and have a good airplane cry while paying tribute to a true comedy legend.

#####

Cinebuds is sponsored by Joe Wilde Garage Door Company.

Our TOPPODCAST Picks

Follow Us

Stay Connected

Related Podcasts

Links

Stay Connected