Episode 231: Ghosts Get Sore

The Spleen welcomes the brilliant Kate Freund to his Oubliette, and she’s here to talk about Pretty Lethal, her action film about ballerinas who have to fight their way out of a very bad situation without the help of any dads whatsoever. Before getting into the cinematic deep cuts, the gang covers the important stuff: Kate’s obsession with plant-based buffalo wings, the surprisingly rich cultural history connecting Roger Corman’s grindhouse empire to the founding of IHOP, and the existential crisis Kate had after watching Taken and realizing her father’s skill set was more “destroy a car dealer with paperwork” than “Liam Neeson.”

Kate walks us through the absolutely heroic 15-year journey of getting Pretty Lethal made: from a 2011 draft involving a trapdoor to being told by an executive to just change all the women to a boys’ baseball team. She didn’t. The film, now top two in the US on Amazon, features five ballerinas, razor blades on pointe shoes, Uma Thurman doing knitting between takes, and a signed jar of Skippy that Kate will never, ever eat. Tune in, put on a tutu, and watch the damn movie.

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Starring: Spencer Crittenden, Kevin Day and Kate Freund
Executive Producer: Kevin Day
Director: Kevin Day
Distributed by: Schrab Home Video