Full Cast And Crew

In Hollywood, the story beats of werewolf movies were codified in 1941 by a German-Jewish emigrant to Hollywood via London named Curt Siodmak, who wrote the seminal film 'The Wolf Man', starring Lon Chaney, Jr. 40 years later, John Landis made the most important and enduring and influential werewolf film ever made in 'An American Werewolf in London'. It was his follow-up to the one-two punch of 'A...

Sparse. Laconic. Expansive. Languid. Wry. The Coen Brother's 2007 Neo-Noir Western 'No Country For Old Men' moves to the fatefully ticking beat of it's own Grandfather Clock.  It's a film that rewards close viewing and is astoundingly faithful to Cormac McCarthy's novel while also being so completely a "Coen Brothers film" even as it's their (only?) adaptation of an existing book. Featuring an ico...

'Liquid Sky' was a $500,000 largely experimental film by the Russian expat director Slava Tsukerman that sprung from a group of friends and colleagues surrounding School of Visual Arts acting teacher Bob Brady.  What's it about?  Heroin, Cocaine, Aliens, Art, Fashion, Dancing, Nightclubs, Science, Sex, Lesbian Knife Fights, Androgyny, Shrimp, Berlin...and that's just the first 45 minutes.  Much mo...

'Raising Arizona' was the 2nd film written and directed by The Coen Brothers, and it's one of my most foundational movies; a movie that spoke to who I was at 18, when I first saw it in 1987 and continues to be one of my favorites today. In this episode I revisit the film, tell some anecdotes about the making-of, and revel in the wonderful, nuanced performances, Carter Burwell's brilliantly distinc...

Our episodic roll of the Scorceseverse dice comes up a winner here with a look at 'Casino', Marty's unofficial "sequel" to 'Goodfellas' and a treatise on the inevitable end of mob controlled Vegas casinos. If you're interested in how we got here, check out my episodes about Goodfellas and 'Mean Streets': Goodfellas Part 1 Goodfellas Part 2 Goodfellas Part 3 Goodfellas Part 4 Mean Streets

The Full Cast and Crew MartyVerse run continues with the first of Scorcese's unofficial trilogy of gangster films, 'Mean Streets'. In this episode: Marty's Little Italy, Family, High School, NYU, Los Angeles, and early directorial experiences and how they influence and inspired 'Mean Streets'. How 'Mean Streets' was very nearly a blaxploitation film funded by Roger Corman.  John Cassavetes seeing...

OK, so I wasn't quite done with Goodfellas, try as I did...one more bridge episode here before we get into 'Mean Streets' and 'Raging Bull'... In this episode, we consider Marty's Oscar frenemyship, DeNiro's screen qualities, his most famous and best onscreen performances, and, finally...FINALLY...all of his scenes from "Goodfellas" considered from a DeNiro/Jimmy Conway perspective.

In part 3 of my three-episode take on Martin Scorcese and Nicholas Pileggi's masterpiece 'Goodfellas', we pick the film up just after the halfway point, which is Tommy's killing of Spider.  Test audiences and studio executives were completely discombobulated by the loss they felt of the breezy, funny, enjoyable glamorization of the gangster life that the first half of the film represents.  And the...

In Part 2 of my 3-part exploration of the brilliance, humor, and bravura filmmaking of Marty Scorcese's 'Goodfellas', I talk about iconic scenes from the film's first half, including: The Bamboo Lounge Crew Introduction scene with Pete The Killer, Freddie No-Nose, and Jimmy Two Times. The Jimmy/Henry "I'm a clown" scene. The Copa Entrance scene. The Bruce beat-down scene. Morrie's Wigs The Billy B...

This is the first of at least 2 episodes about Martin Scorcese's 1990 masterpiece 'Goodfellas'.  Let's be honest: it'll probably take three episodes to cover all the genius onscreen in this epitome of the perfect film. In this episode, I explore the film's roots in Nick Pileggi's classic non-fiction book 'Wiseguy', and the early involvement of vital creative participants in the film like producer...

RIP Teri Garr.   Star Trek   https://www.youtube.com/watch? v=WfAP6fJZ1is   After Hours   https://www.youtube.com/watch? v=ZPMDA9N1itk   Tootsie   https://www.youtube.com/watch? v=vp3nln2xans   https://www.youtube.com/watch? v=c0pUtIIwGHo   Michael   https://www.youtube.com/watch? v=0y6NM7Ax9hk   Mr. Mom   https://www.youtube.com/watch? v=OvQctA3xsoE     Young Frankenstein   https://youtu.be/H4seO...

I'm traveling for work this week so in lieu of a typical episode I'm taking a wild flyer on something new; maybe it'll work maybe it won't! It's a watch-along episode.  It's like sitting next to me at a screening of 'Once Upon A Time In Hollywood' and me talking all the through the movie with salient interjections like "Oh I love this part" and "How cool is Brad??".  THIS IS HOW I FIND THE REAL FC...

Director Mary Herron and her co-screenwriter Guinevere Turner did what 'American Psycho' author Bret Easton Ellis thought was impossible: made a film of his controversial, considered-unfilmable 1991. novel.  And the lens through which they espied Patrick Bateman proved exactly the right way to gain something meaningful out of what, frankly, is a pretty unreadable and repetitive novel. The astonish...

Brains addled after 'Megalopolis', I attempted and then discarded the idea to do 'Blazing Saddles' but was left wanting. So then, in a way I don't fully understand, but probably having to do with the idea of films that are said to be 'so bad they're good', I somehow arrived at the idea of doing Iain Softley's 1995 film 'Hackers' starring Angelina Jolie in her first onscreen role, Johnny Miller, an...

I went and saw Francis Ford Coppola's 'Megalopolis' so you don't have to.  You're welcome.

Actor Kathy Baker joins the podcast this week for a very special episode about her 1988 film 'Clean and Sober'. Director Glenn Gordon Caron probably needed a stiff drink or 20 after coming off the tumultuous four-season run of 'Moonlighting' with its famously fractious co-stars.  Instead he chose to direct one of the most underappreciated film gems of the 80's in 'Clean and Sober', co-produced by...

After two episodes about 'The Shining' and a couple weeks wondering what to do for Episode 200 of the podcast....events at the Presidential Debate pointed me in the direction of 'Peanuts' and the relatively terror-free childhood presented specifically in the 1972 Election special 'You're Not Elected, Charlie Brown'. In this Special, Charlie Brown neither runs for office nor is or isn't elected. Bu...

In Episode 197, I covered much of the backstory and making-of history behind 'The Shining'. In this episode, I cover many of the scenes in the film that I didn't get to in Part 1, along with other commentary and observations about the film, Kubrick, 'Doctor Sleep', and 'Room 237'.  Come and play with us, for ever...and ever...and ever.

I went from not really ever wanting to watch 'The Shining' again...to now doing my first-ever two-part episode!  Funny how often the answer to 'why did that film affect me so much as a child?' turns out to be 'DUH!'. Part 1 covers the origin story of the film, some of the King/Kubrick interplay over the years, the casting, the sound design, the music, and some cinema speculation on what it's all a...

Paul Brickman's 'Risky Business' is one of the greatest films of the 80's and is so much more than the "teen sex comedy" many people thought they were getting at the time.  Frame by frame, it's really a masterpiece with so many aspects and elements of brilliance.  The score by Tangerine Dream, Tom Cruise at NINETEEN, Rebecca De Mornay, the genius editing of Richard Chew...on and on...what an incre...

Little-seen but worthy, the 1985 John Candy comedy 'Summer Rental' is due for a little revisit and respect! On the news of a forthcoming and hopefully definitive John Candy documentary directed by Colin Hanks and produced by Ryan Reynolds, I stumbled across this film (which I'd never even heard of) and found myself gleefully experiencing an expertly-cast superior comedy of its era with a typically...

I gave up drinking. I gave up drugs. I don't smoke. BUT I CAN'T QUIT DEAD & COMPANY! And I hope I never do! With the wife and daughter overseas on a girl's trip, I went back to Vegas for Week Seven of the Dead and Company shows over the 4th of July Weekend at the Sphere Las Vegas. This short (18 minutes) episode is not an inside-Dead show rundown, but a paen to the joys of live music played at thi...

Well, it's not really a summer movie but nonetheless I ended up appreciatiating the weird-in-a-good-way 'Vision Quest'. Join me, won't you?    

Peter Yates' 'Breaking Away' is the greatest Townie Movie of all time. A heart-warming, feel-good film with an extraordinary sense of place.  

Say hello to my little podcast about Brian DePalma and Oliver Stone's 1983 Cocainesterpiece, 'Scarface'.