Freaky Tales

fixateandbingepodcast

Jul 29, 2026

8/10

I'm old enough to remember Jello Biafra's *Dead Kennedys*' anthem for our times (which seems more necessary today than ever before) "Nazi Punks, F\*#k Off!" -- and the counter-culture movement of early-to-mid-80s punk rock, a phase I fully embraced growing up in a suburb of Houston Texas over 40 years ago. Director's Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck have created a veritable Time Machine that seamlessly takes us back to a pivotal period in late-80s Oakland, California that, while not a native of California, I fully felt immersed in because of my suburban Houston roots. And while Oakland had Too$hort carries some debatable differences to Houston's own Ghetto Boys -- one thing in common was the presence of the inner-city/suburban Neo-Nazi movement (which is another story I could tell about a late friend who fell in hard with the Skinhead movement). With an effectively written interlocking story that tracks the domino effect of a racist cop, the underground and inclusive Punk Scene forced to fight back, an inner-city rap duo with big dreams, a Pulp Fiction style debt collector who's used up his nine lives, and a bonkers finale that fully lives up to the film's title, I greatly enjoyed what is destined to be a cult classic. Starring Pedro Pascal, Jay Ellis, Dominique Thorne, Normani, Ben Mendelsohn, Jiyouong Yoo, the late Angus Cloud, Sedrick Cabrera, and Jack Champion -- **FREAKY TALES** is a love letter to 1980s Oakland, and one helluva ride loaded with Oakland cameos that never sags or feels loaded with tripe. Streaming on HBO MAX now, my only regret is not seeing this in the cinemas when it was initially released in April of this year.