48. Being There (1979)

Some thoughts and musings after watching the Peter Jackson-directed 6-hour recut of the Beatles legendary/infamous 'Let It Be' sessions and Apple rooftop concert performance.      Topics covered: Behind-the-scenes of the documentary series. Why The Beatles continue to fascinate and resonate. Yoko: A Revisionist History The Clothes. The Instruments. John Lennon's 'Don't Let Me Down': A Howl. Billy Preston's good vibes and dark times. An odd parallel between 'Moneyball' and the Beatles. AND MORE! Books referenced in this episode: The Beatles: The Biography, by Bob Spitz You Never Give Me Your Money: The Beatles After The Breakup, by Peter Doggett Can't Buy Me Love: The Beatles, Britain, and America

2 Dec 20211h 3min

For your Thanksgiving commuting or family-avoidance pleasure, friend of the pod and frequent guest Richard Brown and I dive deep into the making of Star Trek; the who, the what, the why.  We also make stops at iconic 1970's Star Wars toys and books and assorted tie-ins.  We wander through the movies and come up with some surprisingly counter-intuitive faves. We talk great episodes and not-so-great episodes. Contractual oddity between Shatner and Nimoy. We get into the little seen but vital 1974 animated Star Trek series, which mystified and befuddled a generation of little kids tuning in on Saturday mornings only to get fully formed, albeit animated, Star Trek episodes...minus Kirk's womanizing.  And Rick shares his 12-year-old self's carefully itemized ratings system by which he judged The Original Series on a scale of 1 to 4. 4 being the best. We'll see how Adult(ish) Rick feels about some of his rankings in this special early-release Thanksgiving edition of the Full Cast and Crew podcast.   Vital Research Read for this Episode Fifty-Year Mission: The Complete, Uncensored, Unauthorized Oral History of Star Trek: The First 25 Years The Fifty-Year Mission: The Next 25 Years: From The Next Generation to J. J. Abrams: The Complete, Uncensored, and Unauthorized Oral History of Star Trek   Inside Star Trek: The Real Story   Star Trek Technical Manual (1975)   Ballantine Books Star Trek Fotonovels (1975)   Star Trek Enterprise Blueprints (1975)

22 Nov 20212h 1min

News broke yesterday that Jonah Hill would play Grateful Dead leader Jerry Garcia in some form of scripted series on Apple, to be directed and/or produced by Martin Scorcese. While Marty's rock credentials speak for themselves...his rock credentials also speak for themselves, namely: his bizarre choice to add people like Sharon Stone to the refurbished footage from Dylan's legendary Thunder Road Review tour pretending as if they were there...bad choice that ruined an otherwise worthwhile venture. Nothing against judicious use of Jonah Hill in anything....just not this role! So I briefly provide some essential background to Garcia and the band, and then run through some OTHER choices to play Jerry that would work; some insane and weird (Keanu??) and some pretty compelling, if still weird (Adam Driver?) before settling on my own personal and informed choice as the best possible actor to portray Jerry Garcia...and you'll have to listen to find out who that surprising choice is!

19 Nov 202138min

Follow Jason as he walks-and-talks (he can do both! Mostly at the same time!) en route to his first trip to an actual movie theater in almost 18 months to see Denis Villenueve's epic adaptation of Frank Herbert's epic science-fiction classic 'Dune'.  And then we pause recording and pick it up again right after Jason is back from the screening. This movie is one I (i switched tenses!) have been looking forward to ever since it was announced as Villenueve's follow-up to 'Blade Runner 2049', which is one of my very favorite films.  And 'Dune' as a movie is fraught for fans of the novel because although the David Lynch adaptation of the 1980's has some fans and got some things right...it bit off the whole novel and that proved just far too much content to try and stuff into a feature film.  Denis' film tackles the first half of the novel, and we'll discuss in this episode whether that was a good or bad idea, get into the casting, the music of both Blade Runner 2049 and Dune, the epic sound design of Villenueve films and much more.

3 Nov 202136min

Were you in High School in the 80's like FCAC host Jason Cilo was?  Probably you're not that old, but trust him; it was a time!  1989's 'Teen Witch' is many things: a fairly low-budget sort-of rip-off teen-comedy witch movie treading water in the wake of John Hughes movies and 'Heathers' and other 80's teenage films, most notably, but it has a charm and staying power all its own that has to be respected...or at least dissected in a full-on FCAC episodic treatment. For this episode, Jason is joined once again by frequent guests, the comedians Marianne Sierk (FCAC episodes 'Dirty Dancing' and 'Practical Magic') and Heather Thomson, America's Favorite Shut-In, Vista Bitch, and Airbnb Diamond Club Member.   In this episode we also cover the safe harbor of middle-school theater programs, Jack Plotnick's brilliant send-up of that Robin Williams movie test that went around the interwebs a couple weeks back, and an obscure Tim Curry Halloween movie that Marianne loved to watch from her perch in her childhood Rochester, NY kitchen. Jason's pre-HS pastimes are also covered, including starting and stopping the 12" single LP version of Whodini's 'Freaks Come Out At Night' (which as I type this I can't believe I didn't cut into the episode) in order to transcribe the words as kids did in the barren wasteland that was American popular culture prior to the internet. Marianne demonstrates the distinctive patois of Rochester natives. Heather discusses her life-long typecasting as matronly adults. More on Teen Witch: Teen Witch is a 1989 American teen fantasy comedy film directed by Dorian Walker, written by Robin Menken and Vernon Zimmerman, and starring Robyn Lively and Zelda Rubinstein. Originally pitched as a female version of Teen Wolf (1985) and later reworked into a film of its own, the film features numerous impromptu rap musical numbers and has since become a cult classic aided by midnight theater showings and regular cable television airings (including through annual showings as part of ABC Family/Freeform's 13 Nights of Halloween). The film is also popular for its music and 1980s fashion nostalgia.

28 Okt 20211h 17min

The recent death of actor George Segal sent me to finally watch Altman's 1974 gambling opus, 'California Split', starring Segal and Elliot Gould.  It's a fantastic film and a great representation of the prime Altman ouvre. But behind the scenes and extending into the present day...there are cast-member murders, deaths, prison stints, and tragedies that offer a hypothetical parallell to the varied paths taken or not taken by many American children of the 60's navigating the decades beyond.  In this episode, I talk about Altman's history in Hollywood, his three main periods of filmmaking, including his late-career renaissance in the 90's, and explore the tragic  deaths of 4 female cast members as well as the bizarre cult that provided all the extras used in the film.  A masterwork of American ennui and a timeless time capsule of 1970's American neuroses, 'California Split' is a lot of fun with some surprisingly moving conclusions when all is said and done.

9 Juni 20211h 16min

Charles Grodin died at 86 on May 18th, 2021.  His career spanned from 1954 to 2017, but what's notable about Grodin is how he always prioritized happiness over success and power within the entertainment industry. This is something he wrote about over his several books, and is contained within the evidence his career leaves behind. Offered club gigs, he turned them down because the thought of doing two sets of the same material each night felt like fakery that would cheat the audience.  When reminded that the audiences wouldn't overlap and that they'd never know, Grodin replied, "Yeah,  but the waiters would know".  I think that anecdote contains everything you need to know about how Grodin viewed comedy and his role in performing.  Aside from his movies and theatrical and television work, Grodin was also a groundbreaking and vital guest on Johnny Carson and the David Letterman shows.  He viewed promotional talk show appearances as awkward and phony, so he always viewed every appearance as a performance he committed to regardless of the percentage of the audience that might not be in on the joke. His humor, warmth, and decency is what burbles underneath the prickliness with which most of his film appearances lead.  In this episode, I'll talk about Grodin's career beginning with 'Rosemary's Baby' (also an FCAC episode with special guest Ted Jessup), his many legendary TV appearances, with particular emphasis on Johnny Carson and Letterman, with a clip from the time he brought his attorney onto the Letterman show to complain about his previous treatment at Letterman's hands. Then, diving into a recent re-watch of 'Midnight Run', we celebrate the genius of this movie, it's perfect script and construction, it's (for some) difficult production, and the many many wonderful moments between Grodin and DeNiro and their castmates captured within. I've also been a particular fan of the touching family reunion scene within 'Midnight Run', which, even tho Grodin doesn't DO much within the scene itself, has an emotional resonance because the Duke character motivates Jack Walsh to go home and visit his family for the first time in 9 years, and so much of the truth of this brilliantly handled scene stems from that place of warmth and emotional certainty that Grodin brought to the role of Johnathan Mardukas.

27 Maj 202159min

Gone in 60 Seconds is a 1974 American action film written, directed, produced by, and starring H.B. "Toby" Halicki.[2] The film centers on a group of car thieves and the 48 cars they must steal in a matter of days. It is known for having wrecked and destroyed 93 cars in a 40-minute car chase scene, one of the longest in film history. A total of 127 cars were either destroyed or damaged throughout the entirety of the film.[2] Gone in 60 Seconds proved to be extremely successful at the box office, grossing $40,000,000 on a budget of $150,000. A loose remake with new characters and a different plot was released in 2000, starring Nicolas Cage and Angelina Jolie.   Fear Is the Key is a 1972 British action thriller film directed by Michael Tuchner and based on the 1961 novel of the same name by Alistair MacLean. It stars Barry Newman and Suzy Kendall, with supporting roles by John Vernon, Dolph Sweet, and Ben Kingsley in his feature film debut. The film features a soundtrack by Roy Budd.   POD NOTES & LINKS OF NOTE Fear Is The Key Wiki Fear Is The Key on Amazon Gone In 60 Wiki Gone In 60 Seconds on Amazon Roy Budd 'Get Carter' Theme Roy Budd 'Fear Is The Key' Theme 'Gone In 60 Seconds' original songs replaced in current streaming version due to rights issues can be heard here. Dolph Sweet on 'Gimme A Break'.

19 Maj 202129min