Houselights: A Film Director Podcast

After the hit film and creation of an icon in 1976, Stallone took over the reins as director in 1979 with Rocky II. One major criticism has been that the sequel feels like a redressing of the original. Houselights explores this to find validity or, hopefully, originality.

After taking a break to deliver Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, Edgar Wright re-teamed with Simon Pegg and Nick Frost in 2013 to try to get audiences to The World’s End. A 6-year gap and successful careers often change the chemistry of artistic teams. Was The World’s End another bull’s-eye for this dynamic trio, or was it trying too hard to recapture the magic?

After the success of Shaun of the Dead, Edgar Wright continued working with collaborators Simon Pegg and Nick Frost to deliver 2007’s Hot Fuzz. This genre-bending send-up of buddy cop movies found success at the box office, but is it the same comic gem as Shaun of the Dead, or did it simply enjoy momentum from audience goodwill?

Few modern filmmakers have earned as much respect from fantasy and film fans as Edgar Wright. After a successful run on the cult TV series Spaced, he took on the zombie apocalypse with collaborators Simon Pegg and Nick Frost in 2004’s Shaun of the Dead. Does this work remain a genre-busting artistic success, or is it a nostalgic comedy from a past era?

Bond truly went back to basics in 2006’s Casino Royale, featuring Daniel Craig’s debut as 007. Based on Ian Fleming’s first novel, it updated and reconstructed Bond for a modern age. Martin Campbell returned to the franchise to introduce the new Bond as he had in 1995’s GoldenEye. Was Campbell hampered with this new attempt to reinvent or successfully re-tool his approach for a new actor?

Martin Campbell and Pierce Brosnan are finally here as Houselights reviews 1995's "GoldenEye." We continue our "Wing of Bond" as we start in on this soft reboot of the franchise. Was this a breath of fresh air, or did it stir the martini?

Timothy Dalton brings a new spin to James Bond in "The Living Daylights" with the help of John Glen. Dalton only had two outings as our favorite spy. Was this a blessing, or was he unappreciated in his time?

John Glen's directorial debut of "For Your Eyes Only." saved Eon, and some regard it as putting #JamesBond back on track. This started the perpetual "Just one more" for Roger Moore. Should Moore have quit before this, or was it the mark of something golden?

10 years after Goldfinger, Guy Hamilton offered one last Bond pic with “The Man with the Golden Gun.”It was a box office misfire that prompted producers to re-evaluate their next steps and almost killed the franchise. Were audiences right in 1974, or is this Roger Moore vehicle an underrated gem?

6 films. 5 Bonds. 3 directors. Guy Hamilton kicks off our look at different filmmakers' takes on James Bond through the decades with 1964’s "Goldfinger.” We have commentary GALORE on this seminal work. Does this Goldfinger keep its luster, or has it faded with age?

The Houselights team celebrates 100 episodes! They decided to go back almost 100 years to celebrate 1927's "Metropolis" by Fritz Lang. Does this influential sci-fi silent feature hold up to its reputation, or is it a good thing some scenes have been lost to the ages?

Michael Mann’s The Insider saw him team up again with Al Pacino, this time as the TV producer-journalist who helped expose the deceit undergirding Big Tobacco companies’ business practices. Russell Crowe earned acclaim playing a research chemist-turned-whistleblower, and the film won numerous awards. The biggest question is whether this film is a quiet masterpiece that remains relevant to today’s...

Al Pacino. Robert DeNiro. Michael Mann cast two of the most respected actors of a generation opposite each other in 1995’s epic crime drama set in Los Angeles. A stellar supporting cast, including Val Kilmer and Ashely Judd, added more energy and anticipation. The reception was largely positive. It’s been cited as a source of inspiration for filmmakers AND criminals. Did Mann find the perfect bala...

After 1986’s Manhunter bombed, Michael Mann didn’t return to big screen direction until 1992’s The Last of the Mohicans, a sweeping adaptation of James Fenimore Cooper’s novel that also served as a remake of the 1936 film. Rising star Daniel Day-Lewis was cast as Hawkeye, the adopted son of the last Mohican, swept up in the British and French’s war for dominance in North America as he discovers lo...

Ditching Demme's "Beloved" due to it being horrifying, we decided to find a one-time director in Kinka Usher and his "Mystery Men." This Schumacher-esque superhero comedy failed at the box office but found a cult following. Was this a hidden gem or still just a guilty pleasure?

1993’s Philadelphia was intended to make audiences examine their assumptions and perspectives about the homosexual community and the AIDS crisis. It opened to general accolades, won numerous awards, and changed Tom Hanks’ career trajectory. But is there merit to the criticisms that lauded its goals but found it heavy-handed and slow?

Michael Mann’s adaptation of Thomas Harris’ Red Dragon, Manhunter, was a box office bomb. Regardless, it’s gone on to hold a place of special reverence and influence for film fans and filmmakers alike. What is it that has made Manhunter such an enduring cult hit after so many years?

Critical and audience reception aside, 2001’s “Hannibal” was a massive success. Producers took the hint and went back to the original book to create a prequel so Hopkins could play Lecter one more time alongside Ralph Fiennes and Ed Norton. Is this prequel a worthy addition to the Lecter oeuvre or a slavishly uninspired adaptation?

Eager to capitalize on the enduring legacy of Silence of the Lambs, filmmakers tapped Ridley Scott to helm a sequel ten years after Anthony Hopkins captured the filmgoing imagination as Hannibal Lecter. After 15 drafts and Jodi Foster bowing out, did we get a misfire or a new masterpiece?

Released in 1991 and turning Sir Anthony Hopkins into a household name, The Silence of the Lambs remains a cultural landmark of filmmaking with an influence that’s lasted decades. Houselights starts its 1990s Demme retrospective with the essential question: Does it still resonate, or is it a great work “for its time”?

​500 years after Christopher Columbus helmed a famous voyage to the "New World," studios saw the potential for boffo box office by releasing movies to re-memorialize the anniversary. One of two competing films to flop spectacularly, does 1492 sail away with our respect as a work, or does it sink under the weight of its own pretensions?

2021’s The Last Duel was Ridley Scott’s star-studded foray back into historical epics and it was greeted with general acclaim by critics. But theatrical releases still finding their way out of lockdowns and mixed-up marketing hurt its chances to find an audience. Houselights examines this Medieval tale to see if a new release is in order, or if some battles are best left to the past.

Originally receiving mixed reviews, 2005’s Kingdom of Heaven found new life with a 2006 Director’s Cut. Orlando Bloom anchors this tale set during the 12th Century Crusades exploring the ethical paradoxes which faith and duty sometimes pose. Houselights revisits the director’s cut and asks, were audiences cheated with the original release...or spared?

Loosely inspired by Rome at the end of the Pax Romana, 2000’s seminal crowd-pleaser Gladiator defined Russell Crowe’s career and remains a benchmark for sword-and-sandal epics. Audiences cheered the heroism of a reluctant hero challenging a mad ruler, but does this film echo in eternity or fade with the passage of time?

Using state-of-the-art visual effects and 3-D immersion, Ridley Scott brings new life to the story of defiant leader Moses as he rises up against the Egyptian Pharaoh Ramses II, setting 600,000 slaves on a monumental journey of escape from Egypt and its terrible cycle of deadly plagues.