Full Cast And Crew

Thrilled to finally deep-dive into the making-of David Fincher's brilliant newspaper movie/police procedural/serial killer obsession film 'Zodiac'. Topics: The insane detail that went into preproduction. Praise for producer Brad Fischer and screenwriter Jamie Vanderbilt. Soundbites from Fincher's obsessive attention to period detail. Sound from the real Dave Toschi, memorably played by Mark Ruffal...

I originally recorded this episode as a dry-run for a forthcoming and entirely separate-from-FCAC limited-run podcast seriesI'm going to be doing in 2023 about Dead & Company's final tour (SPINOFF!), but my conversation with my friend and guest Geoff Weed was so illuminating about so many things: the nature of enduring fandom, the power of music and the skills of its most talented practitioners, f...

Joined by frequent guest Frazer Rice (links to previous eps below), this week I dive into the fascinating backstory of the making-of John Carpenter's 1978 horror flick 'Halloween', a genre-busting/genre-defining/genre-expanding piece of forever in the movie business and in the popular imagination.   From its roots in Carpenter's 'Dark Star' to 'Assault on Precinct 13' to the happenstance on-set de...

These are our listeners! And this week, after a couple recommendations for the listeners, I'm reading feedback helpful and otherwise. Out of the mouths of babes. Epistolary output from the peanut gallery. Unsolicited offers. Random opinions. Two-star ratings! One-star ratings! More! Recommendations in this episode: Canyon Crows 'Hauntology' on Spotify. Chuck Leavell: The Tree Man on YouTube. Jean...

After my last episode with the wonderful, artfully creepy 'The Dead Zone'...I wanted more. More Walken.  More Sci-Fi.  More 1983.  And then Louise Fletcher died.  And it was all right there: BRAINSTORM.  Douglas Trumbull's 1983 science-fiction passion project-turned-albatross.  On the surface it has it all: a killer cast, a great premise (what if you could experience the thoughts and feelings of o...

Jason is joined by frequent FCAC contributor Richard Brown as they discuss David Cronenberg's atypical (for Cronenberg) film of Stephen King's novel "The Dead Zone".  A deep celebration of this extraordinary film and the Oscar-worthy (and criminally ignored) performance of Christopher Walken, this episode also celebrates Cronenberg, Producer Debra Hill, Composer Michael Kamen, Walken Co-Star Brook...

The making of George Lucas' first 'Star Wars' film is an incredible saga unto itself. The global success of 'Star Wars' and how it changed the film business forever is an incredible saga unto itself. The industry advancements in technology pioneered by Lucas' special effects shop Industrial Light and Magic is an incredible saga unto itself. The above, and several other sentences I could similarly...

Current events lead me to revisit 'The Queen' (2006), which, in addition to being an actor's movie of the highest caliber, offers a more nuanced appraisal of its subjects than I think it gets credit for.  In the popular imagination, this film is probably considered a film that is sympathetic to the Queen and to the Royals, but a rewatch reveals a film that contains as many caustic anti-Monarchy se...

Summer's over and it's time to transition to winter and that means SKI FILMS. Avoiding pap like "Ski School" and "Hot Dog: The Movie" we are instead taking up a listener suggestion to pod about 'Aspen Extreme'...a film I quote comedically (and to generally blank stares) all the time.  Turns out this movie's actually really good and a cut way above the usual dumbass soft-core porn ski comedies all...

Michael Mann's 'Heat' is many things; intensely beloved Los Angeles crime saga, De Niro-and-Pacino-onscreen-together curiosity, technically brilliant filmmaking accomplishment, both genre-defining and genre-busting, a tour-de-force of casting, atour-de-force of acting, a tour-de-force of directing, writing, editing, production design, and score....it has enduring presence and continued influence. ...

In this episode, we revisit Brian DePalma's 1981 thriller 'Blow Out', which reunited the director with his 'Carrie' supporting actor John Travolta, who, fives years later, was post-'Saturday Night Fever', 'Grease' and 'Urban Cowboy' and was now one of Hollywood's biggest stars. 'Blow Out' was one of DePalma's most personal films, stemming from his obsessions with the Kennedy Assassination, voyeuri...

Thrilled to revisit 1979's seminal teen-angst/school destruction fantasy 'Over The Edge'...a teen film to rule them all, a movie that more accurately captures the bonds of youthful friendship and the bounds of self-discovery than all the John Hughes films combined.  Using a mix of first-time, inexperienced, and non-professional locals as actors, the Colorado-shot film has an authenticity and verac...

A random IG post sends Jason down the Joe Spinell wormhole and he emerges in 1973 to experience for the first time 'Cops and Robbers', Aram Avakian's film of a Donald E. Westlake comedy screenplay about two NYC cops who decide to try their hand on the other side of the law.  Featuring pitch-perfect period performances (say that 10 times fast)...'Cops and Robbers' is a really good gem of a 70's fil...

Ethan Hawke's meta-documentary about the lives, love, losses, and careers of Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward is a worthwhile, often confounding effort with rewards and challenges alike.  In this episode Jason talks about the origin of the documentary in the discovery of some transcripts of interviews conducted by a Newman associate in pursuit of a memoir and biography that Newman wanted to work on...

When James Caan died last week at 82 it was cause for a pause of appreciation for the work he left behind. I went searching for a 70's Caan film I hadn't yet seen, having done most of his ouvre at one time or another.  I settled on Czech filmmaker Karel Reisz' brilliant 1974 film 'The Gambler', based on a James Toback script and I'm so glad I did. Before jumping into that film, this episode offers...

Tony Bill's directorial debut 'My Bodyguard' holds a special and heartwarming place for the 99% of us not fortunate (or unfortunate) enough to have been the most popular kids in school.  'My Bodyguard' is filled with respect for the difficulties of everyday teenage life in a realistic manner, and features wonderful performances from 1980's teen actors like Matt Dillon, Chris Makepeace, Adam Baldwi...

125 episodes? Who knew? If you're new to the podcast and wondering what's out there in those previous episodes, this short introductory episode will provide a bit of a roadmap to orient you to some episodes you might be interested in. Thanks for checking out the podcast!

Thrilled to be joined by 3-time FCAC guest star, actor/writer/director Lee Wilkof and to delve into the making of Brian De Palma's most enduring and affecting film, 'Carrie', starring Sissy Spacek in a role she fought for, John Travolta in his first substantial film role just after being cast in 'Welcome Back, Kotter', and the future first ex-Mrs. Brian De Palma, Nancy Allen, who was about to give...

John Boorman's 1972 adaptation of James Dickey's novel "Deliverance" is a unique New Hollywood film in that its origins lie more in the older studio system yet the film upon release would become of of the most notorious films of its time and an iconic classic that's still discussed and debated today. On this episode of the podcast my friend and returning FCAC guest Ted Jessup joins to talk about a...

Tom Cruise and Joseph Kosinki's smash hit 'Top Gun: Maverick' has been out for a couple weeks now and if you're a rational, sentient human being, you've already seen this film in the theater and enjoyed it immensely like 99% of audience members and 97% of critics on Rotten Tomatoes.  For the 1% - 3% of you who were unable to set aside your limited worldviews and/or aversion to fan-servicing mass-m...

In this episode, Richard Brown and Jason Cilo tackle the making-of 'The Muppet Show', Jim Henson's seminal variety-show program of the late 70's.  Topics covered: the surprising British history of 'The Muppet Show', musings about Kermit's unique spirit and personality, Miss Piggy's actual rags-to-riches life story, Frank Oz's singular talents, an appreciation of Gonzo, the curious misnomer of 'Guy...

The original 'Battlestar Galactica', while a flawed and imperfect science-fiction TV series of the 1978 season, remains one of the most important and influential science-fiction TV series of all time. I'm joined again by Richard Brown (see our 'WKRP in Cincinnati', 'Taxi', and 'Network' episodes for more RF Brown) as we delve into the creation story of Battlestar and its creator, Glen A. Larson, k...

The original 'Battlestar Galactica', while a flawed and imperfect science-fiction TV series of the 1978 season, remains one of the most important and influential science-fiction TV series of all time. I'm joined again by Richard Brown (see our 'WKRP in Cincinnati', 'Taxi', and 'Network' episodes for more RF Brown) as we delve into the creation story of Battlestar and its creator, Glen A. Larson, k...

Dan Erickson's Apple+ thriller series "Severance" is, to my mind, the best sci-fi TV series we've gotten since "Black Mirror".  So why isn't it getting quite as much attention as that series deservedly did?  In this episode, I briefly discuss some of the aspects that I think make "Severance" so uniquely good, particularly the very strong casting, idiosyncratic production design, thoughtful world-b...

Last week's episode about the new Michael Cimino book spurred me to rewatch all three of these classic films and, in doing so, I surprised myself with a firm and resounding reset of what I THOUGHT I thought about these movies.  So here are some great clips and making-of anecdotes as I walk through what makes each of these films unique as well as give credit to foundational Viet Nam docs and other...