Episodes
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COPPOLA WEEK continues! Fifty years ago sandwiched between his two multiple Oscar-winning masterpieces of The Godfather and The Godfather Part II, Francis Ford Coppola finally had studio support to write and direct this passion project which he had been working on since the mid '60's. The story focuses on Harry - a surveillance expert played by Oscar-winner Gene Hackman - who has recorded a mysterious tape of a couple he was assigned to "bug" and hears something concerning on it which sets the plot in motion. The story delves deeply into Harry's mindset as he eventually finds himself in danger....but from whom? This now iconic paranoia thriller was nominated for three Oscars including Best Picture and features a stacked cast surrounding Hackman including Cindy Williams, John Cazale, Robert Duvall, Frederic Forest, Teri Garr, and a pretty young Harrison Ford.
Host & Editor: Geoff Gershon
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In time for its upcoming 45th Anniversary, Memorial Day AND the recent resurgence of its Oscar-winning director screening his long-developed passion project (Megalopolis....hopefully coming out later this year), what better time to revisit a film which itself was a long-gestating passion project for Francis Ford Coppola? All of the crazy stories behind its troubled projection have seemingly been remembered as much as the film itself but make no mistake, this Vietnam/Cambodia-set war drama still packs a punch with several memorable sequences including.....one All-Timer scored to Wagner's "Ride of the Valkyries?" :o Martin Sheen leads a positively stacked cast including Robert Duvall, Dennis Hopper, Laurence Fishburne, Harrison Ford, and a highly memorable turn from Marlon Brando. Let's kick off our Fourth Season (!) with a journey up the Nung River.....
Host & Editor: Geoff Gershon
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It's time to return of the most beloved and longest running franchises in cinema, the ongoing chronicles of an alternative timeline in Earth's history when humanity destroyed itself and the apes took over our planet, originally starting with the 1968 classic Planet of the Apes starring Charlton Heston. Coming out seven years after the last entry (War of the Planet of the Apes) which closed out a highly popular and acclaimed trilogy films focusing on the primate protagonist known as Caesar, this story kicks off several generations after that character's passing. The planet is now in fact ruled by apes but several factions have formed including a mild-mannered tribe which raises eagles - this tribe includes our new protagonist Noa (Owen Teague). His village is attacked by a marauding gang of more technologically advanced primates lead by the ambitious Proximus Caesar (Kevin Durand) and what results is a challenging journey for Noa to find both his family AND is place in the world. Directed by Wes Ball (The Maze Runner Trilogy) and also co-starring Freya Allen, it's time to see once again if....
Apes Together STRONG!
Host & Editor: Geoff Gershon
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What happens when you combine the directing trio (Jim Abrahams, David Zucker, Jerry Zucker) behind the spoof smash Airplane , the on-screen debut of one of the beloved movie stars of his generation (Val Kilmer), one of the most acclaimed actors/movie stars of HIS generation (Omar Shariff), satire focusing on World War II spy dramas, musical numbers satirizing Elvis road comedies, one underwater Western saloon fight, AND one extended sequence playing on misperceptions of the Swedish language??
The result is one genuinely wacky comedy which came out just under forty years ago and there has been nothing like it since then. Also co-starring Lucy Gutteridge, Peter Cushing, and Michael Gough, it's time to go skeet surfing OR straighten the rug.....OR to shop at Macy's? :o
Host & Editor: Geoff Gershon
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Based on the beloved 1980's TV show starring Lee Majors, this romantic action comedy tells the story of a veteran stuntman Colt (Ryan Gosling), his director Jody (Emily Blunt), and ALL of the craziness which is occurring on and off the set of a major Hollywood production named where the main Tom Ryder (Aaron Taylor Johnson) is apparently missing. Directed by former stuntman David Leitch (Atomic Blonde, Bullet Train), this movie is very much a love letter to stunt performers....with lots of other stuff thrown in....including inspired karaoke! :)
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If you're director Steven Spielberg and producer George Lucas, and you have been tasked with developing a sequel to one of the most beloved and highest grossing action adventures (Raiders of the Lost Ark) of all time, what do you do for a follow-up? Well in this case, you go broader, sillier, and DEFINITELY creepier! :o And apparently, you piss off millions of parents who were ok taking their children to see faces melting off on-screen for the previous one but draw the line at seeing some one rip the beating heart out of a man's chest! :o
What resulted was the PG-13 rating and one of the highest grossing blockbusters of the '80's.....which was also savagely criticized for its high levels of violence and (somewhat justifiably) the cultural insensitivity of several of its characters and its overall setting. And one HELL of a ride featuring several memorable action set pieces and at least ONE beloved side character (Short Round played by future Oscar-winner Ke Huy Quan). So on the verge of its 40th anniversary, how does this movie hold up? Let's find out as Harrison Ford is back as the titular hero along with several new cast-members including Amrish Puri, Roshan Seth, and Kate Capshaw.
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From Oscar-nominated Italian director Luca Guadagnino (Call Me By Your Name) comes a erotically charged drama about....tennis. At its core is a love triangle among three aspiring professional tennis players played by Zendaya, Josh O'Connor, and Mike Faist. We follow all three characters over a thirteen year period as they struggle through both their athletic careers and their relationships to each other. And playing throughout all of this is high-energy electronic music from Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross....what else could you need?? :)
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Welcome to the Living for the Max series. Over the past 45 years, there has been no other film franchise QUITE as inventive nor as consistently exciting as The Mad Max Saga….four films mostly chronicling the post-apocalyptic adventures of lone wolf Max Roxatansky played three times by Mel Gibson and most recently by Tom Hardy. As each film has been directed by Australian cinematic genius George Miller, they have each reflected his unique vision while also being HUGELY influential on pop culture, more specifically the action genre. So needless to say, new ones don’t come around very often and when they do….it MORE than qualifies as a cinematic EVENT. Therefore over the next several months, I will be revisiting EACH entry of this beloved franchise every month leading up to the U.S. release of Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga on May 24!
Starring Tom Hardy as the titular Max and Charlize Theron as Furiosa, this might be the most acclaimed (and possibly beloved) action saga of the 21st Century. It tells a simple story of a band of folks attempting to escape enslavement while picking up a couple of strays along the way. ;) One of those strays is Nux played by Nicholas Hoult and he joins a pretty strong extended cast which includes Zoe Kravitz, Riley Keogh, Rosie Huntington-Whitely, and Hugh Keays-Byrne as the frightening main villain, Immorten Joe. :o Also returning as director is the legendary George Miller who received an Oscar nomination for his work, along with nine other Oscar nominations including Best Picture. :) WHAT A LOVELY DAY INDEED!!!
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Fifty years ago saw the release of what ended up being one of the more iconic conspiracy thrillers of the 1970's even though it wasn't really a commercial hit upon initial release. Directed by Alan J. Pakula who would go on to direct the even more iconic All The President's Men a couple of years later, it stars Oscar-winning legend Warren Beatty as a journalist working for a small publication in the Pacific Northwest who inadvertently stumbles on a mysterious organization which might have been involved with the recent murder of a U.S. Senator. Once he finds his own life in danger as a result, he decides to attempt to infiltrate this organization and possibly even moonlight as a potential assassin himself to try to expose them and bring them down. And what results is a series of hair-raising situations which will test him in every conceivable way. ;o
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Denzel Washington stars in this intense drama/thriller as Creasey, a sad, alcoholic ex-CIA assassin who finds a new purpose in life as he forms a special friendship with the precocious Pita played by Dakota Fanning. Pita is the daughter of a Mexican industrialist played by Marc Antony who has hired Creasey to serve as a bodyguard since there has been a rash of kidnappings in their area. Tragedy occurs and then Creasey sets off on a brutal mission of revenge where we see his old habits as a trained killer start to manifest themselves. As directed by the late great Tony Scott, this was a film which saw modest success upon initial release twenty years ago but has since gone to grow a significant following.
See below for a link to an alternative ending for this movie as discussed within this review:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j5RQWlXoD_s&t=170s
Host & Editor: Geoff Gershon
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The original Die Hard released in 1988 remains one of THE most influential movies of all time as it pretty much set the template for dozens and dozens of action films to follow....just over eight years after it was first released, this was the first one to transport that core story to an ice hockey arena. :)In the lead role of a John McClane-like hero, it starred the "Muscles from Brussels" at the peak of his popularity, Jean Claude Van Damme. And in the critical role of a commanding Hans Gruber-like villain, it starred the reliably charismatic Powers Boothe. One of them holds the lives of more than 17,000 Pittsburgh hockey fans in his hands....and ONE of them stands in his way, WHO will be victorious when the final horn goes off? In the sure hands of journeyman genre director Peter Hyams (Running Scared, Outland), there's only one way to find out!
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HAPPY 300TH EPISODE - Thanks to all listeners and subscribers for your continued support!!! :)
The acclaimed writer/director of Ex Machina and Annihilation has returned to deliver his largest production yet, a dystopian war drama taking place in a possible future where the USA (no longer) is now experiencing its SECOND Civil War as several states have seceded from the Union resulting in an ongoing brutal conflict among several different factions. This story follows four journalists (Kirsten Dunst, Wagner Moura, Cailee Spaeny, Stephen McKinley Henderson) as they cover the action in a variety of places around the Northeast on their way to a seminal event expected to occur in Washington, DC. And what results is definitely the most controversial film of 2024 so far.....
Host & Editor: Geoff Gershon
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Dev Patel, the Oscar-nominated star of acclaimed films such as Slumdog Millionaire and Lion, has become the latest Hollywood actor to take his career in a new direction.....by directing this propulsive revenge action thriller taking place in a fictional city within India modeled on Mumbai. Patel also stars as "Kid" who is a young drifter on a mission to avenge the death of his mother at the hands of corrupt local politicians, gangsters, police, and even religious leaders. And while he's attempting to infiltrate their organization working low-level service jobs, he moonlights as a bare-knuckles fighter on the side ALWAYS wearing a monkey mask....in an attempt to emulate a legend he has known of since he was a kid of Hanuman the Monkey God. Hence the title. ;) And as the story progresses, so does his plan to exact revenge....and the violence predictably escalates as well. Also co-starring in this production are Pitobash, Vipin Sharma, Sobhita Dhulipala, and Sharlto Copley.
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Back in the early days of the comic book movies, it was rare to see one released to theaters which was not only financially successful but also generally beloved by fans. There were the Batman films....and then everything else including The Rocketeer, The Shadow, and Dick Tracy. But just under thirty years, one came out which not only proved to be both financially successful and hugely influential for so many other subgenre films which were to follow up but also was being released under unusually tragic circumstances. This was the final on-screen appearance of Brandon Lee who unfortunately died during production as the result of an on-set accident involving the use of a prop gun. It was a shocking turn of events for some one who seemed to have enormous promise as a potential movie star and who also happened to be the son of a legendary movie star (Bruce Lee) who also died under mysterious circumstances almost three decades prior. :(
Under the sure hand of director Alex Proyas, this supernatural revenge thriller turned out better than any one could have expected. It tells the story of Eric Draven, the front man for a local goth rock band in Detroit who is brutally murdered alongside his fiance....but then is brought back temporarily to bring justice to those who wronged him and his lost love. Also co-starring Ernie Hudson, Michael Wincott, and Bai Ling, it's time to revisit one of the more beloved comic book adaptations of the '90's...or any decade for that matter.
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Thirty-five years ago this May, we first saw the release of a relatively small action drama starring then movie star Patrick Swayze as THE Greatest Bouncer/Cooler around who has been hired to clean up a troubled roadside bar in Missouri named the Double Deuce. The character's name was Dalton and he DID clean up that bar along with the surrounding town of Jasper, defeating the evil Brad Wesley played by Ben Gazzara. Directed by Rowdy Herrington, the movie opened to mediocre reviews and middling box office....but then over time thanks to strong play on cable and even stronger video sales, it became a beloved cult hit.
Now decades later, that original film has garnered such a devoted following that director Doug Liman (Swingers, The Bourne Identity) has decided to remake it in a modern context, this time with acclaimed actor Jake Gyllenhaal (Nightcrawler, Ambulance, Love and Other Drugs) now playing Dalton as a former MMA fighter who has been hired to be a bouncer. The story is now set in the Florida Keys and the main villains are now played by Billy Magnussen and former MMA fight Connor McGregor. Let's review BOTH films and see just how nicely they compare.....until it's time to NOT be Nice. ;)
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Every major filmmaker has to start somewhere....and this Neo-Noir thriller was the feature filmmaking debut for Joel and Ethan Coen forty years ago. Yes the same brothers who have delivered many memorable films since then including Fargo, The Big Lebowski, O Brother Where Art Thou, Inside Llewelyn Davis, and No Country For Old Men for which they won Best Picture at the Oscars. This is the simple story of four people in the heart of Texas: a bar owner (Dan Hedaya), his wife (Frances McDormand), her secret lover (John Getz), and the mysterious stranger (M. Emmet Walsh) hired by the bar owner to spy on them....and possibly more? :o Of course, things get increasingly dicey and violent from there....it's time to revisit one of the more influential thrillers of the 1980's.
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As we approach Baseball Opening Day 2024, what better way to celebrate than to revisit one of the more beloved baseball films of the 1980's, a comedy with heart focusing on a true underdog franchise, the Cleveland Indians? Directed by David S. Ward, the story focuses on one Cinderella season for the ballclub which is now under the control of a new owner (Margaret Whitton) who is determined to have them lose enough games to kill attendance so that she can move the franchise to Miami. Lead by a new manager (James Gammon) and mostly populated with untested rookies, this rag-tag bunch ends up surprising a lot of folks by competing for the American League Pennant. The roster includes Tom Berenger, Charlie Sheen, Wesley Snipes, Corbin Bernsen, and Rene Russo among several others.....PLAY BALL!
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Welcome to the Living for the Max series. Over the past 45 years, there has been no other film franchise QUITE as inventive nor as consistently exciting as The Mad Max Saga….four films mostly chronicling the post-apocalyptic adventures of lone wolf Max Roxatansky played three times by Mel Gibson and most recently by Tom Hardy. As each film has been directed by Australian cinematic genius George Miller, they have each reflected his unique vision while also being HUGELY influential on pop culture, more specifically the action genre. So needless to say, new ones don’t come around very often and when they do….it MORE than qualifies as a cinematic EVENT. Therefore over the next several months, I will be revisiting EACH entry of this beloved franchise every month leading up to the U.S. release of Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga on May 24!
Host & Editor: Geoff Gershon
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What happens when a top-flight director (Walter Hill - 48 Hours, The Driver) decides to to spearhead a new original story blending various genres including gritty crime drama, rock musical, and star-crossed love story....also setting it within an unrecognizable urban setting and time period? Well the result is one of the more bizarre financial flops of the 1980's which no one at the time truly knew what to make of....not critics, not audiences, not even much of the cast! :)
This "Rock and Roll Fable" tells the story of the mysterious drifter Tom Cody (Michael Pare) and the young lady he loves Ellen Aim played by a very young (at the time) Diane Lane. Ellen leads a fierce rock band known as The Attackers and she herself has been targeted by the villainous Raven played by an also very young (and menacing) Willem Dafoe. This now cult classic is about to turn 40....let's revisit it and hopefully we can get Nowhere Fast! ;)
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Of all of the dozens of post-Pulp Fiction imitators to be released throughout the 1990's, this might be one of the more memorable ones even though it opened roughly 25 years ago to middling box office. It director Doug Liman's follow-up to his seminal indie gem of just three years - Swingers - and while he once again kept the cast young and the locations limited to LA (and Las Vegas), he went a different route with the overall setting and vibe. Whereas Swingers brushed upon swing/cocktail culture (which was a thing back in the mid '90's), this time he shifted the general setting to...Rave Culture. :o The music, the drugs, the dancing....but even moreso any number of crazy situations occurring around it or adjacent to it. Beyond that, there's not much to the plot other than this being one CRAZY night/day for several key characters played by Sarah Polley, Desmond Askew, Taye Diggs, Scott Wolf, Jay Mohr, Katie Holmes, and Timothy Olyphant. Add to that cast notable players including William Fichtner, JE Freeman, Breckin Meyer, AND.....the on-screen debut of a Melissa McCarthy, time to GO!!!
See below for a link to a special video featuring the cast "performing" one of the best needle-drops from the movie:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Z4eQ5Jq4_E
Host & Editor: Geoff Gershon
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