Full Cast And Crew

Peter Yates was quietly one of the most interesting film directors of his time. His seminal 1967 British train-robbery film 'Robbery' got him noticed for the job directing Steve McQueen in 1968's 'Bullitt'.  In that film, Yates turned in a car chase frequently mentioned as second only to the iconic one filmed by Billy Friedkin in 'The French Connection'. By 1973,  Yates was in Hollywood, working under a three-picture deal with Peter Bart and Robert Evans at Paramount.  Two of those didn't work out. The third turned out to be 'The Friends of Eddie Coyle', which is one of the very best 70's crime films, one of the very best Boston-set films ever made, and features Robert Mitchum's very best performance amid a wonderfully constructed neo-noir shot entirely on location in a series of blue-collar and working class Boston spots. In this episode, I talk about 'Robbery', 'Bullitt' and 'The French Connection' and how they compare and contrast to 'The Friends of Eddie Coyle', an underappreciated little masterpiece of the sort Peter Yates specialized in throughout his career.

9 Nov 20231h 19min

Martin Scorcese's new film 'Killers of the Flower Moon' is in many ways his magnum opus; it's a film carefully wrought with all of his and his production team's highest possible creative efforts, and it also marshals all those resources in the furtherance of a greater collective understanding and reckoning with yet another dark chapter in America's history. Links Marty's interview with Edgar Wright. 'The FBI Story' 1959 Film version of the Osage Murders. The many Osage artisans behind the scenes of the film. Vogue magazine article about the Osage constumers. The legal issues surrounding the return of Osage head rights and lands. Article about Robbie Robertson's score for the film. Music from the film:  THE PIPE:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_3Oz4to8y_Y   OIL:   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fR-lyorY25Y   They Don't Live Long:   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TAImXzdgZ2g   Tulsa Massacre:   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=px1mvSgKh-0   Heartbeat Theme:   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X83uF0IPobs&list=PLLv3qeuV3YDpYbdqu3rKy-KbpA3HxcPtN&index=4 Production Designer Jack Fisk. Article about the Production Design of the film from De Zeen.

26 Okt 20231h 59min

A particular interest of mine is phone calls in movies. I'm interested in them as plot devices, as examples of good or indifferent screenwriting, as opportunities for actors to show different sides of themselves in scenes where they're not opposite other actors, and on and on. In this episode we'll take a look at a few different genres of Movie Phone Call scenes: scenes where actors are onscreen portraying both sides of the calls, scenes where we only hear the audio of the other side of the call, and then, finally...the Holy Grail of Movie Phone Calls: The One-Sided Phone Call. Clips The YouTube channel BurgerTime's excellent Supercut of Movie Phone calls. Bob Newhart is the master of the One-Sided Phone Call. The entire Bob Newhart one-sided call between Abe Lincoln and his Press Agent.   Some truly one-sided phone call scenes: Swingers:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DU3Pk6oDNRU   Planes, Trains:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jRvNg4zQ_14   Black Sheep:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fvptWDiYrIk   The Killing of A Chinese Bookie:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ysWfMYfP-2k   Poltergeist:  https://youtu.be/FqYZkY-VRCI?feature=shared&t=105   Taken:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=49AA2eieEts    American Psycho:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7OARf8dNLBc   Fargo:  https://youtu.be/WGxTMoDAI7M?feature=shared&t=47   Taxi Driver:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d9iLQ7g_jDk   Dr. Strangelove:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VEB-OoUrNuk&t=5s

12 Okt 20231h 17min

An appreciation of Phillip Seymour Hoffman and his brilliant portrayal of real-life CIA Most Interesting Man Gust Avrokotos in Mike Nichols' final film 'Charlie Wilson's War'.

5 Okt 20231h 3min

'Lost In America' was Albert Brooks' 3rd film as a writer/director/star and remains probably the most broadly-appealing of his films.  It's one of two of his films to have been given the Criterion stamp of cineaste approval, the other being the often-underrated 'Defending Your Life', and now,  and perhaps even more important, it's the first of his films to be given the Full Cast and Crew treatment. Links: Albert Brooks:  Famous School For Comedians  Hilarious clips from Lost In America Criterion essay by Scott Tobias on Lost In America

26 Sep 20231h 33min

'Across 110th Street' is a 1972 Harlem crime film that contains many of the tropes of the exploitation films of the era...but it also contains incredible performances from black actors whose skills rise far above the material at hand, people like Paul Benjamin, Yaphet Kotto, Richard Ward, and Marlene Warfield.  And Bobby Womack's title song was used to great effect in 'Jackie Brown', as discussed in my last two episodes. In this week's episode I use the verses and choruses to explore Bobby Womack's amazing, tragic, and incredible life story, his relationship with Sam Cooke, his struggles and his surprisingly central role in the American popular musical landscape for almost 60 years.

13 Sep 20231h 25min

Elmore Leonard's cocky, energetic ATF Agent Ray Nicolet is a key protagonist in his book 'Rum Punch'.  For Quentin Tarantino's film adaptation of 'Rum Punch', 'Jackie Brown', the character, now named "Ray Nicolette" was embodied by the brilliant Michael Keaton with a perfectly cocky, energetic physicality. While cinematic universes are commonplace nowadays, in 1997 it was a surprise to see the character appear, uncredited, in Steven Soderbergh's adaptation of Leonard's novel of the same name, and even more rewarding to get a couple of additional character dynamics revealed by Keaton's similarly smart and self-aware performance. In this episode, much as I did in Episode 157 with Paul Newman's scenes from 'The Verdict' and in Episode 152 with Sean Penn's Jeff Spicoli scenes from 'Fast Times'...I go through all of Keaton's scenes from 'Jackie Brown' and 'Out of Sight' and offer up full appreciation. Also: a quick look back at Keaton's first real starring performance in 'Night Shift' with Henry Winkler and Shelly Long.

29 Aug 20231h 16min

Quentin Tarantino surprised fans with the release of his third film, 'Jackie Brown' coming as it did on the heels of the global phenomenon that was 'Pulp Fiction' in all its unprecedented Tarantino-ness.  Devoid of gory violence, 'Jackie Brown' is a thoughtful, hilarious, insightful and moving crime story that manages to be incredibly faithful to the ethos of the Elmore Leonard novel 'Rum Punch' (on which the film is based) while also mining Tarantino's own deeply personal connection to the blaxploitation films that made Pam Grier a genre star in the 70's and to the more working-class parts of Los Angeles, towns featured in the film like Carson and Hawthorne, CA and iconic now-gone locations like the Cockatoo Inn. "I treat movie stars like actors and actors like movie stars" said Tarantino, and that approach is well-represented here, with Michael Keaton and Robert DeNiro turning in perfectly-pitch supporting turns and industry vets like Forster and Grier getting plenty of runway to inhabit roles they weren't usually given during their heyday. This episode covers those locations,  the incredible soul and r&b tracks that populate the soundtrack, and the brilliant acting from everyone in the cast, as well as the sure-handed filmmaking from Tarantino's growing collection of go-to crew and production staffers. One of my very favorite films, it's a pleasure to share my 'Jackie Brown' episode with you all!

25 Aug 20231h 3min