Full Cast And Crew

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, voyeurism, filmmaking, Hitchcock, and Garrett Brown's new filmmaking invention, the Steadicam.  Shot in his hometown of Philadelphia among locations he was intimately familiar with. Topics in the episode:  DePalma's flirtations with directing 'Prince of the City' and 'Flashdance'.  His Hitchcock revelations.  How his small conspiracy film took on larger proportions with the arrival of an unexpected star.  The layers and layers of meta meaning in 'Blow Out'. A revisionist take on 'The Conversation'.  Appreciating 'Blow Up'.  Siskel & Ebert, Pauline Kael, and MORE!

23 Aug 20221h 1min

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 veracity to it that's rarely been equalled. Plus it has an absolute kick-ass soundtrack loaded with Cheap Trick, Van Halen, Jimi Hendrix, The Cars, and Ramones. It launched the career of Matt Dillon, who was discovered loitering in a Long Island High School hallway during class time.  "What's your Mother do?" the casting director asked. "She don't do shit" was Dillon's attitudinal reply and he has the job because of and not in spite of his rawness and rough edges.  Joined by frequent FCAC guest star Richard Brown, we talk all about the origin story, making of, and critical and fan reception to this excellent and enduring film.

9 Aug 20221h 3min

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 film, and has two great lead performances by NYC acting stalwarts Cliff Gorman and Joseph Bologna.  Jason shares a cherished memory of being clueless in a CBS employees bar in the early 90's and meeting Cliff Gorman. Topics covered: Joe Spinell's particular tortured genius for bit character parts. The Godfather bit where Spinell's Willie Cicci is called "Mr. Quested" by a Senator and brings the house down with "Oh yeah, the family had a lotta buffers". Also: Roscoe Lee Browne for the ages.  ENJOY! Thanks for listening!

3 Aug 202244min

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.  For unknown reasons, Newman later abandoned the project and burned the audio tapes.  But the transcripts survived and form the basis for actor-interpreted versions used in Hawke's documentary to varying degrees of success.   The documentary tackles weighty issues like the loss of Newman's son Scott, the struggle within a marriage to survive the orbital tilt of Newman's level of super-stardom, and Newman's battle with alcoholism...a battle it seems he never quite won. By turns infuriating and moving, the film is a worthy but effortful watch.   Also discussed: Alan Cummings lip-sync performance in the documentary 'My Old School', the AI Bourdain quotes used in his posthumous doc, and Peter Jackson's use of machine learning processes to reveal (or create) conversations in 'The Beatles: Get Back'.

26 Jul 20221h 18min

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 a brief re-appraisal of Caan's work in 'The Godfather' and in Michael Mann's 'Thief' (Caan's favorite film role), and a consideration of the relationship audiences end up having with actors with long careers onscreen and in the public eye, human flaws and imperfections all.

12 Jul 202239min

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 Baldwin and Paul Quandt. The film, I posit in this episode, offers a more honest portrayal of teen life than any of the more-successful and better-known John Hughes films of the era, and goes to surprising depths in exploring male friendships, latchkey kids figuring out their place in the world, forgiveness and the setting of boundaries even when it seems most difficult.  Most Recent Previous Episode is "If You're New To The Pod Start Here" Links to episodes about High School movies we've done on the pod: 'Heathers'  'Carrie' 'The Warriors' 'Mean Girls'

6 Jul 202241min

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!

28 Jun 202243min

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 up on film acting when a casting director spotter her in the unlikeliest of places. Details in the episode. Lee and I talk about how empathetic and heart-rending Sissy Spacek's performance is, about Piper Laurie's casting after a 16-year absence from acting, the three key set pieces: the shower scene, the prom scene, and the Piper Laurie/Carrie death scene and coda.  Lee's first appearance on the pod discussing his long career is here. Lee's 2nd appearance, where he and I discuss the brilliant Coen Brothers film Fargo is here. If you're an actor or film/tv/entertainment person you will definitely see yourself somewhere in Lee's feature directorial debut, No Pay, Nudity. It stars Gabriel Byrne, Frances Conroy, and Nathan Lane.

21 Jun 20221h 39min