Author: ccradio

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?

Reel 69: When Icons Meet

In a way, this episode is an unofficial third in our recent series of fairy tales, in the sense that it depicts a couple of “What if?” scenarios, except this time around we’re using people who really existed. First up is Insignificance, from 1985, and then it’s One Night In Miami… from 2020. Interestingly, both films involve four famous people and take place largely in a hotel room, and they’re also based on stage plays. So: a lot of commonality going on here.

In Insignificance, we get four characters identified only as The Professor, The Actress, The Senator and The Ballplayer, but it’s pretty clear that they’re meant to be thinly disguised versions of Albert Einstein, Marilyn Monroe, Joseph McCarthy and Joe DiMaggio.

Our four characters interact in ways that are at different times frightening, outrageous, charming and endearing. It’s an interesting take on power, fame, and knowledge, and how they can be simultaneously good and bad.

In Part 2 of our episode we’re looking at One Night in Miami… (2020), directed by Regina King.  In this film, it’s clearly spelled out that we’re watching Malcolm X, Muhammad Ali (still in his Cassius Clay days), Jim Brown and Sam Cooke. The four of them come together in early 1964 and spend a rather contentious evening together discussing their roles in the Civil Rights Movement of that era. The evening ends abruptly when they discover that the press has gotten wind of the meeting.

Side Note: One Night in Miami… was produced by Amazon Studios. Doesn’t their opening logo make you think of the intro to Game of Thrones? Or is that just me?

COMING ATTRACTIONS: 

In our next episode, we’re looking at a couple of films that depict Love During Wartime. We’ll start with The Unbearable Lightness of Being, from 1988, and move on to  Cold War from 2018. Join us, won’t you?

Reel 68: More Modern Fairy Tales

In this episode we continue our theme of Modern-Day Fairy Tales, even though in one case it’s not necessarily set in the present day. So let’s just call it a present-day telling of a fairy tale and leave it at that.

And that’s where we start this time around, with 1993’s The Bride With White Hair,  directed by Ronny Yu. This is a Wuxia film with a kind of Romeo and Juliet overlay, as our main characters find themselves trying to balance fate, duty and love. In addition, it’s a film that definitely has overtones from Western film sensibilities. It might be a little hard to follow at first, but if you stick with it, you’ll be well rewarded.

From there we move to 2011 and Hanna, directed by Joe Wright and starring Saoirse Ronan in the title role. This film is lodged in the present, with some of the fairy-tale elements coming from its overall structure. There are also a couple of scenes which explore it a little more overtly.

This film was the basis for the Amazon Prime TV series of the same name.  The TV show, of course, had to run a slightly different story arc, because it has to sustain the basic setup over several years. I think the series did manage to do it while remaining faithful to the basic premise. Some characters had to naturally change to make this possible. But I do think it works. What say you?

COMING ATTRACTIONS: 

In our next episode, we look at a pair of films where, for lack of a better term, Alternate History is going on. In those histories, a few iconic people get to meet one another. First is Insignificance, from 1985 and directed by Nicholas Roeg. From there it’s on to One Night in Miami… a 2020 film directed by Regina King. By the end of these films, you wish all of the events depicted had actually happened! Join us, won’t you?

Reel 67: Modern Fairy Tales, Part 1

Apologies for the delay to this episode, but I got Covid last week at the same time as a sinus infection, and I was definitely laid low for awhile. Not a cool way to spend your birthday week, to be sure. Anyway, thanks for your patience.

In today’s episode we’re looking at two films that are updated versions of classic fairy tales, even if they don’t necessarily look like it on the surface. And we start with Ball of Fire, directed by Howard Hawks from 1941. Barbara Stanwyck is a woman hiding out from the police by staying with a group of scholars who are putting together an encyclopedia. In exchange for the room and board, she offers the men lessons in modern lingo and other forms of popular culture. Of course, there’s a little more to it as she finds herself attracted to one of them. Hijinks ensue as the man who’s benefitting from her being hidden gets the idea to marry her as a means of keeping her from testifying against him. It’s a bunch of screwball fun involving lots of character actors.

In the second half of the episode, we move forward to 1986’s Mona Lisa, a kind of neo-noir film directed and co-written by Neil Jordan. It features Bob Hoskins and Cathy Tyson as an unlikely couple who have an unlikely adventure together. It’s guaranteed that this film doesn’t end the way you expect it to, but you won’t be dissatisfied by that.

COMING ATTRACTIONS: 

In Reel 68, we’ll be checking out another pair of modern fairy tales, but they’ll be foreign-based and a little more esoteric. First we’ll screen The Bride With White Hair (1993), a Hong Kong film directed by Ronny Yu. After that we go to Scandinavia for Hanna (2011), directed by Joe Wright and the inspiration for the 2019 Netflix series.

Reel 66: The Remake Was Better 2

As noted in the previous episode, once in awhile a film  gets remade that actually manages to eclipse its predecessor for one reason or another. This is the second of two episodes wherein we look at two films that stand as a good example.

We begin with The Thomas Crown Affair, from 1999. It was directed by John McTiernan and stars Pierce Brosnan and René Russo, along with Denis Leary and Frankie Faison. It’s the story of a billionaire art collector who’s suspected of stealing a valuable painting, and an insurance investigator’s efforts to catch him. And, what happens when the sparks begin to fly between them. In fact, what happens is probably the thing that makes this the better version of the film. You’d think you can’t go wrong with 1968-era Steve McQueen and Faye Dunaway,  and in general you can’t. But Brosnan and Russo really light the place up. That’s not the only reason it’s better, but it’s a pretty good one.

From there we move to 2001 and Ocean’s Eleven, a remake of Ocean’s 11  (see what they did there?), from 1960. This film, directed by Steven Soderbergh, follows Danny Ocean and his crew, as played by George Clooney  and many other superstars as they plot a huge heist in Las Vegas. In both versions, the actors are clearly having fun with what they’re doing, but the latter version has them doing it in service to the film, not just to hang with each other, and the whole thing just generally works better.

That’s our opinion, though. Feel free to disagree in the comments.


COMING  ATTRACTIONS: 

In our next episode, we look at a couple of modern-day fairy tales. We start with Ball of Fire, from 1941 and directed by Howard Hawks. From there it’s onto 1986 and Mona Lisa, directed by Neil Jordan. They’re both a bit of odd drama with endings you may not anticipate. Join us, won’t you?

Reel 65: The Remake Was Better, Part 1

So frequently we bemoan the fact that Hollywood doesn’t seem to have any original ideas. We complain that plots are constantly being recycled, and we get anxiety because films from our childhood are being remade.

However, once in awhile—once in awhile—that remake manages to surpass the original. And that’s what this episode, and the next one, are about.

In Part 1 of today’s episode, we’re looking at The Man Who Knew Too Much, Alfred Hitchcock’s remake  of his own film from 1934 starring Peter Lorre. In this version, it’s James Stewart who is on vacation with his wife, played by Doris Day. He meets a mysterious man who is murdered in front of him. The man’s last words lead to a tangle of intrigue delivered as only Hitchcock can. It’s clear that whatever flaws Hitchcock saw in his first outing with this story, he managed to fix them.

Meanwhile, in Part 2, we move to 1988 and Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, directed by Frank Oz. This is a remake of a 1964 film called Bedtime Story. After this version there were two more remakes, involving gender flips. In 2001 we got Heartbreakers, and more recently, in 2019, it was called The Hustle. While recording this episode we conducted an informal poll of everyone in the room, and decided that this was the best version.

COMING ATTRACTIONS: 

We continue this remake conceit with another pair of films that worked out better when they were remade. First up, from 1999 it’s The Thomas Crown Affair, then we move forward a couple of years to Ocean’s Eleven, from 2001. Join us, won’t you?