Movies are supposed to imitate life. But what happens when life imitates the movies almost frame for frame?

In this episode of Between the Cut, we explore one of the most chilling intersections of Hollywood and reality: the story of Money Train — a 1995 action film starring Wesley Snipes, Woody Harrelson, and Jennifer Lopez that unexpectedly echoed a real-life tragedy.

Just weeks after its release, a horrifying crime in New York City mirrored one of the film’s most violent scenes — almost exactly. The media accused Hollywood of inspiring murder. Politicians called it proof of cultural decay. And a quiet subway clerk became the center of a nationwide debate over whether movies can influence real-world violence.

From the 90s thriller boom to the copycat crimes that followed, this episode unpacks how a forgotten box-office flop became a moral lightning rod — and what it reveals about our obsession with danger, media, and imitation.

🎧 Listen for:

• How Money Train pushed the boundaries of the 90s action-thriller formula

• The real-life subway attack that horrified New York

• The controversy that reignited Hollywood’s role in real-world violence debates

• The lasting impact of one movie scene that blurred the line between fiction and reality

🔥 A story of art, influence, and the haunting question that still lingers: when movies imitate life — and life imitates the movies — who’s really writing the script?

In 2005, NBC shocked the television industry by doing the unthinkable: airing primetime dramas without a single commercial break. The West Wing and Law & Order: Criminal Intent played like uninterrupted films, backed by one sponsor footing the entire bill. Critics called it daring. Advertisers called it reckless. Viewers weren’t sure what to make of it.

This episode of Between the Cut dives into NBC’s forgotten gamble — the nights when network TV went commercial-free. We explore why the experiment failed, how audiences reacted, and why this bold move foreshadowed the rise of Netflix, Hulu, and ad-free streaming services years later.

If you’ve ever binged a show without ads, this is the story of the first time television tried to make it happen.

In 2009, an art historian sat down with his daughter to watch Stuart Little. Halfway through the film, he froze. Above the Littles’ fireplace was something no one else seemed to notice: a priceless Hungarian masterpiece that had been missing for nearly a century.

How did a lost painting—one thought gone forever—end up as set decoration in a Hollywood children’s movie?

This is the unbelievable true story of a vanished work of art, a two-year hunt across continents, and the quiet magic of paying attention.

Because sometimes the greatest mysteries aren’t locked away in vaults…
They’re hiding in plain sight.

[DEBUT EPISODE WOOT WOOT]