Author: ccradio

Reel 78: Love the Film, Hate the Side Effect, Pt. 2

Oddly enough, I hate the artwork on this episode but I love the fact that I was able to match the films’ respective fonts. You win some, you lose some.

We conclude our mini-series with another pair of films that you can’t help but love. Unfortunately, they’ve also had a ripple effect, and the ripples weren’t so great.

We open with Halloween, from 1978. This film was directed by John Carpenter and stars Jamie Lee Curtis. She’s a teenager who has some truly weird adventures in babysitting. It also stars Donald Pleasance as the voice of reason that everyone ignores.

Halloween set many of the horror/slasher film tropes in motion, for sure. But Hollywood has this unfortunate habit where everything has to be bigger, and scarier, and gorier, and just…more. And so other films of the genre suffered specifically because they tried too hard to replicate the original.

From there we jump to 1989’s When Harry Met Sally…, which also set the template for a lot of films in that “star-crossed lovers” rom-com category. The bad news is that the films in its wake didn’t pay enough attention to what made this couple star-crossed, and Hollywood wound up cranking out a lot of films that looked the same, and (perhaps worse) sounded the same, soundtrack-wise, but were clearly not the same in terms of quality.


COMING ATTRACTIONS:

In Reel 79, we’re going to take you on a tour of the dark side of television. We’ll start with A Face in the Crowd (1957), directed by Elia Kazan and starring Patricia Neal and Andy Griffith, in one of the few times you’ll see him as this kind of character. From there we go to 1976 and Network, directed by Sidney Lumet and starring Peter Finch and William Holden. These are two films that were so oddly prophetic that most people today don’t realize they were originally intended to be satire. Join us, won’t you?

Reel 77: Love the Film, Hate the Side Effect

To give you some idea of the lead time we have on our episodes, ponder this: we recorded this episode only a couple of days before President Joe Biden delivered his State of the Union address for 2024. And here we are, with me coincidentally composing this post shortly after Biden announced his withdrawal from his reelection campaign.

I tell you this not to get all political on you, but because it’s important to part of our discussion during the first half of our episode. But I’ll deal with that anon.

In this episode and the next, Sean and I will look at films that are great in many, many ways, but they’ve had an unfortunate side effect that rippled out since its release. And unlike our usual pattern, where the two films have something specific in common, each film has its own bad effect.

Having said that, there’s an interesting connection between the two films that we discuss in this episode; I address it at the start of Part 2. But anyway, we begin with Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, the very first film we’ve reviewed from that magical year of 1939. Directed by Frank Capra and starring James Stewart and Jean Arthur, Stewart is a naif in the wilds of Washington, D.C. where he accidentally finds himself at the center of a political firestorm.

And here’s where Joe Biden comes in: I was struggling to describe just why I thought the filibuster scene in this film gets to me. I understand that filibusters don’t work like that anymore, and more’s the pity. But a couple of nights later, I saw Biden’s State of the Union speech and afterward, when the pundits were doing the commentary afterward, one of them said that Biden is a “romantic” when it comes to America. And I realized that that’s what I was trying to convey. Jefferson Smith—and I, for that matter—are romantics when it comes to America.

But the downside of this is that too much romanticism can bite you in the back when there are other people around who will bend those same rules to a selfish purpose, and that’s what we see in Mr. Smith Goes to Washington.

From Washington we go to Baltimore for Part 2 of our episode, to look at 1986’s The Accidental Tourist, directed by Lawrence Kasdan. William Hurt and Geena Davis head up some high-powered talent as Hurt’s character, Macon Leary, navigates his life in the wake of a broken heart, a broken marriage and a broken leg. It’s all tough to do when you’re a popular travel writer. And the unfortunate side effect…well, it’s not what I thought Sean was going to bring up, I’ll tell you that much.

Also of note: when we recorded this, I was barely over a case of Covid, so my voice might be a little crispy here and there.

COMING ATTRACTIONS:

Next time around we view a pair of films that are wildly different in both tone and content. We begin with the original Halloween from 1978, directed by John Carpenter and starring Jamie Lee Curtis and Donald Pleasance.  From there we go to 1989 for Rob Reiner’s When Harry Met Sally… starring Meg Ryan and Billy Crystal. Join us, won’t you?

Reel 76: The Gangster Film as Allegory

This episode and the previous episode have something in common, besides the word “allegory”. All of these films are specifically anti-Capitalism allegories based in genre films. Last week it was Westerns; this week it’s Gangster films. And the only reason I didn’t put that in the episode title is because that’s a LOT of words to put in your metadata.

We begin with The Long Good Friday (1981), directed by John Mackenzie and starring Bob Hoskins and Helen Mirren. While Hoskins had been around for a bit, this was pretty much his breakout role, and he does a terrific job with it, because he’s Bob Hoskins. Helen Mirren, as well, manages to elevate her role from someone who could easily be so much window dressing. But, of course, we talk about that in Part 1 of the episode. Likewise, I’m sure it’ll come up somewhere in Sean’s review when he posts it here.

From there we go to 1980’s Thief, starring James Caan and Tuesday Weld, and directed by Michael Mann. Now, if you’ve been paying close attention you may have a question. “Hey!” you’ll say. “Don’t you usually review the films in chronological order?” Well, yes, we do. But in this case The Long Good Friday was completed in 1979 and wasn’t released until 1981, so we flipped the order this time around.

At any rate, Caan plays a safecracker trying to get out of his life of crime, and Weld is his wife. And just like his filmic “brother” Al Pacino, just when he thinks he’s out, they pull him back in. But perhaps he knows a way to get out for good.

COMING ATTRACTIONS: 

I’ve actually been looking forward to this one for awhile, because I unabashedly love both of these films. Unfortunately, they’ve had an interesting side effect that likely wasn’t attended. We start with 1939’s Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, and it’s a discussion that could easily have gone on for twice as long but (believe it or not) we DO have some restraint. From there it’s The Accidental Tourist, from 1988, and there’s an interesting story I tell about my experience seeing this one in the theater, long before I moved to the film’s setting of Baltimore. Join us, won’t you?

Getting Social

Sean usually rattles off where we can be found on the Social Media, but I thought it’d be helpful to get it all into one place.

You can email us here. 

The show is on the Book of Face here.

The show’s Instagram feed. 

The show’s Xitter feed (yeah, we still post there, mostly announcements of new episodes)

The show’s BlueSky feed (it’s like Xitter but with way fewer Nazis)

Sean is here pretty frequently. 

Sean lurks here. If you follow him he’ll eventually follow you back. 

Claude’s Book of Face.

Claude’s other podcast.

 

 

Reel 75: The Western as Allegory

Webster’s (online) Dictionary defines allegory as “the expression by means of fictional figures and actions of truths or generalizations about human existence.” How’s THAT for an eye-opener?

Now, I know what you’re thinking. You’re thinking “Wait, isn’t that a metaphor?” No. A metaphor, in its broadest sense, is a symbolic representation of a concept. So while something like “The ship plows through the ocean” is a metaphor, Aesop’s Fables would be an allegory.

Get it? Or have you dozed off already? Well, wake up, because we’ve got a couple of allegorical films for you, and we promise they’ll entertain you. But you knew that already because you’ve seen them and are fully prepared for the spoilers we discuss.

We’ll start with McCabe and Mrs. Miller (1971), directed by Robert Altman and starring Warren Beatty and Julie Christie, along with several other actors that will have you saying “Yup, Altman film.” As usual, there’s often many, many things going on in the frame, but you never lose sight of the main action.

In Part 2, we jump to the year 2000 for The Claim, directed by Michael Winterbottom. On the surface, these films couldn’t be more different, and yet they hit many, many of the same notes. And there are specific plot points that are quite similar. Coincidence? Homage? Something else? We’ll leave that for you to decide.

COMING ATTRACTIONS:

Next time around we’ll be looking at another pair of films that have the same allegory going on, but using the Gangster genre instead. We begin with Thief (1981), directed by Michael Mann. From there we move forward only one year to 1982, and John Mackenzie’s The Long Good Friday. Join us, won’t you?

 

Reel 74: The Wages of Greed

Sure, Gordon Gekko told us all that greed, for lack of a better term, is good. And that film sometimes takes the blame for a bunch of unfortunate things that took place in the 1990s.

But there are films out there which note that there’s a darker side to greed (and, to be fair, Wall Street also carries that message; it’s just that people kind of overlooked that part). And in this episode, we look at a pair of films which are years apart from a production standpoint, but whose characters are more or less contemporaneous.

We start with The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948), starring Humphrey Bogart, Tim Holt, and Walter Huston and directed by Walter Huston. Anjelica Huston isn’t in this one because she wasn’t born until 1951, I guess. The trio star as three down-and-out Americans who pursue gold in a remote mine in which others have given up hope. They face all kinds of hardships moving to and from the mine, and there are plenty of adventures in between.

From there we go to another film set at about the same time, but on this side of the US/Mexico border, in the American southwest. There Will Be Blood (2007), directed by Paul Thomas Anderson, stars Daniel Day-Lewis as a man who is determined to amass as much as he can, but it’s far too late when he realizes the price he pays for his success.

Both of these films also have the distinction of being source material for memes and pop culture gags. With Sierra Madre, of course, it’s assorted variations on whether or not any stinkin’ badges are necessary, and in Blood it’s the phrase “I drink your milkshake.” In both cases I’d be willing to bet all the money in my pockets (nearly 80 CENTS, friend) that most people don’t know the source material for either of them.

Finally, before I set you free to listen to the episode (because of course you’ve been riveted to this poetry I’ve been cranking out so far), I offer you this bit of music that we talked about during Part 2:


Yes, I will expect you to send me Thank You notes for bringing this music into your life.

COMING ATTRACTIONS: 

Next time, we stick with the Old West with a pair of films that use that genre as an allegory for anti-Capitalist messages. (What?) Don’t worry; it’ll make a lot of sense before we’re through. First we’ll see McCabe and Mrs. Miller (1971), followed by The Claim (2000). Join us, won’t you?

 

Reel 73: More John LeCarré

With this episode we conclude our mini-series on spy films, with a second set of films based on the novels of John LeCarré.

We start with Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, a 2011 film directed by Tomas Alfredson and starring more high-power talent than you can shake a stick at. They spent so much money on big-name actors that they couldn’t afford punctuation for the title. (Ha! I’m pretty sure Sean hates jokes like that.) This film, set in 1973, is a Cold War thriller involving a mole near the top of British Intelligence. It’s one of those wheels-within-wheels kinds of tales that will pull you in, maybe confuse you for a while, but it all pulls together in the end.

From there we move beyond the Cold War for A Most Wanted Man, directed by Anton Corbijn and starring Philip Seymour Hoffman in his last starring role (he would appear in the last two Hunger Games films, but we’d argue that those aren’t “starring” roles for him). Hoffman plays Gunther Bachmann, the head of a covert German team that’s hoping to root out Islamic terrorists. Bachmann finds himself at odds with both German and American officials regarding their ultimate goal, which leads to an ending you may not expect. Again, lots of pieces are in motion, but it’s an intriguing tale that will have you wondering who’s on what side.

COMING ATTRACTIONS: 

Next time around we take a look at the wages of greed. We start off with The Treasure of the Sierra Madre, and then move on to a film made much later but whose timeline is nearly contemporary to the first one, There Will Be Blood. Join us, won’t you?

Reel 72: Films Based on John LeCarré

Our look at spy films takes a decidedly more serious turn, as we go from the wackiness of The In-Laws and Top Secret! to the Cold War grittiness of today’s films based on novels by John LeCarré.

We begin with The Spy Who Came In From The Cold, from 1965. This film, directed by Martin Ritt, deals with a spy (Richard Burton) whose entire team, it seems, has been burned. He’s encouraged to retire…or perhaps take on one more caper.

In Part 2, we jump forward to 1990 and The Russia House, directed by Fred Schepisi. Sean Connery is a British spy (wait…what??) who is tasked with finding the author of a document containing very sensitive information.

Both films have a love story subplot, but the resolutions aren’t the same.

COMING ATTRACTIONS: 

In Episode 73, we look at another pair of John LeCarré novels turned into films. We start with Then its on to Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy from 2011. Then we take on A Most Wanted Man from 2014, which incidentally is Philip Seymour Hoffman’s last leading role (one of the Hunger Games sequels came out after this one.) Join us, won’t you?

Reel 71: Accidental Spies

Don’t you hate it when you’re just out there minding your own business, doing your job and the next thing you know you’re involved with a South American crime cartel, or you’re behind the Iron Curtain?

That’s what happens in this episode of the show. We find some fairly ordinary people thrown into extraordinary circumstances. They’re just trying to do their thing and they find themselves in the middle of intrigue and espionage.

We start with 1979’s The In-Laws, directed by Arthur Hiller and starring Alan Arkin and Peter Falk. Arkin is a mild-mannered dentist whose daughter is about to marry Falk’s son, but there’s something not quite right about Falk. Before long, he finds himself tangled in international intrigue and on the verge of being killed by a firing squad. If you’ve seen the recent remake, don’t let it put you off of watching this much-better version.

From there we go to Top Secret! from 1984. It stars a very young Val Kilmer and a host of character actors, and was directed by Jim Abrahams along with brothers Jerry and David Zucker, more commonly known as ZAZ. It’s a spy comedy in the style of their earlier Airplane!, except that the story is more homage than a direct lift. But it’s still got deeply-layered jokes and a couple of scenes that have to be seen to be believed, including one which was shot like this…

…but it doesn’t appear on screen like this.


COMING ATTRACTIONS: 

We’re going to stick with the spy genre for the time being. Episode 72 features two films based on novels by John LeCarre. We start with The Spy Who Came in From the Cold, from 1965, and then it’s a visit to 1990’s The Russia House. Join us, won’t you?

Reel 70: Love During Wartime

Roughly two-thirds of this show’s life ago, we did an episode titled “Life During Wartime“, in which the war wasn’t always neatly spelled out.

In today’s episode, it’s Love During Wartime, and again the war isn’t quite so obvious, except that it’s referring specifically to the Cold War. We’re looking at a pair of films that each deal with a couple and how they respond to Soviet oppression. In both cases, it’s rather early in that oppression, but they’re still set many years apart.

In Part One we’ll be looking at 1988’s The Unbearable Lightness of Being, directed and co-written by Philip Kaufman. Daniel Day-Lewis is a man who falls in love with a woman and eventually finds it in himself to change, however slowly, for her benefit. It’s a long, convoluted story that will run you through all of your emotions, no matter how cold-hearted you are.

Part Two is a more recent film. From 2018, it’s Cold War, a film about star-crossed lovers who seem to find themselves on the opposite sides of many  different lines throughout their relationship, including the Iron Curtain itself. They’re together, then they’re separated, but they manage to find their way back together.  Was it worth it for them? We’ll leave it to you to decide that part.

COMING ATTRACTIONS: 

Episodes 71-73 will be all about spycraft, but for the first one we’re going to keep it light. We’ll start with 1979’s The In-Laws, starring Peter Falk and Alan Arkin.  From there we go to 1984 and Top Secret!, a spy spoof that stars Val Kilmer as an Elvis-like musician who is recruited to perform in Europe and finds himself mixed up in espionage.  Join us, won’t you?