Author: ccradio

Reel 30: Elmore Leonard

Elmore Leonard started out as a Western novelist, but soon discovered a knack for suspense thrillers and crime fiction. Many of these—and several of his short stories—were turned into feature films or TV movies, and in a couple of cases they became TV series.

In this episode we’re looking at two of the better examples of films based on Leonard’s novels. First we’re watching Jackie Brown (1997) directed by Quentin Tarantino and starring Pam Grier. Jackie Brown is based on his 1992 novel Rum Punch. There are a bunch of actors in this film who you may think at first are badly miscast, but as you settle in you discover just how right they were for the parts they’re playing.

After that we move on to Out of Sight (1998), directed by Steven Soderbergh and starring George Clooney and Jennifer Lopez. It’s based on his 1996 novel of the same name.

In both cases we get to appreciate the deft comic spin that Leonard puts on his characters even as they’re talking about things that are deadly serious, to them at least. This is a long episode but there isn’t much wasted time in it.

COMING ATTRACTIONS:

In our next episode we’re going to check out a pair of films that feature Robert DiNiro and Al Pacino together. First up is 1995’s Heat, in which they don’t share a lot of screen time (though it’s more than they shared in The Godfather Part II), but what they do have is amazing. Then we jump to 2019 and The Irishman, a film backed by Netflix and which, as of this post, is still available only on that platform.

Reel 29: Pictures From a Revolution

There was a time, once, when movies had to have a certain look.

They needed to be bright so they’d look good at the drive-in theater. They needed to have a specific sound because of technical limitations when presented. They needed to avoid certain topics. They needed to tone down the graphic violence. They needed something else to complete the Rule of Threes.

But filmmakers began to chafe under those rules, and while 1967 wasn’t the year that everything changed—we’d argue that it was a more gradual thing over the few preceding years—it’s pretty much the year that the dam finally broke. That was definitely acknowledged during the Academy Awards, when In The Heat of the Night, a gritty crime drama with a heavy message involving racism, won the Best Picture Award. But also notable were some of the losers: Bonnie and Clyde, Dr. Doolittle, The Graduate, and Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner. While Dinner also had a racism angle to it, it was still a very conventional film that had some weird problems (not the least of which is that some of the legal issues that were raised became moot about two days after the film was released). Doolittle was nominated despite being a critical and financial failure.

But Bonnie and Clyde, and The Graduate, were something different. While they didn’t win, the fact that they were nominated at all represented a sea change in the way that Hollywood perceived Hollywood, and it began to reflect in the years that followed, as the language of film changed. And that’s what we’re looking at in this overstuffed episode.

First we’ll talk about Bonnie and Clyde, directed by Arthur Penn and starring Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway. It’s a modern-day fable version of the story of a pair of criminals and how they met a violent end. Don’t take it as a strictly biographical film, but more like The Legend of Bonnie & Clyde.

Then we turn our attention to The Graduate, Mike Nichols’ film starring Dustin Hoffman and Katharine Ross. Nowadays many people think of this film as the stars’ film debut, but they’d both been in several films before. However, this was certainly the one that put them on everyone’s map.

COMING ATTRACTIONS:

In our next episode we check out two very different views of films based on the work of Elmore Leonard. First we’ll be chatting about Jackie Brown (1997), directed by Quentin Tarantino and starring Pam Grier plus a bunch of nobodies (heh). And then it’s on to Out of Sight (1998), directed by Steven Soderbergh and starring George Clooney and Jennifer Lopez. Neither of them really burned up the box office but they’re both a great ride. 

Reel 28: Miracle Movies

Merry Christmas to you! Assuming you celebrate, of course.

In this episode we’re looking at a pair of films that have a Christmas component to them, and which have the word “Miracle” in the title. We open up with Preston Sturges and his 1944 screwball comedy The Miracle of Morgan’s Creek, starring Betty Hutton and Eddie Bracken. Here’s a film that managed to slip a bunch of stuff past the censors, but don’t get your hopes too high; it’s still a family-friendly film.

From there we move on to a more traditionally-Christmas film, 1947’s Miracle on 34th Street, starring Edmund Gwenn and Maureen O’Hara. It was written and directed by George Seaton, with the story provided by Valentine Davies. Since its release it’s grown into a Christmas tradition for many families, and both Claude and Sean, as native New Yorkers, can appreciate the verisimilitude provided by so much of the location shooting and even many of the addresses we can see in the film. The house we see at the end is, in fact, quite close to the location purported to be the rest home where Kris Kringle lives. The only mystery about locations is…well, listen in and you’ll learn about that.

Finally, here’s a Christmas present for Claude, because it happens so seldomly on this show. Claude was RIGHT about Kris bopping Mr. Sawyer on the head with an umbrella. Let us all applaud while he does a Happy Dance.

COMING ATTRACTIONS:
In our first episode of 2022, we’re going to look at Bonnie and Clyde and The Graduate, both from 1967 and both representative of the New Wave in American films. Have a great holiday season until then!

Reel 27: Gangsters Fighting Nazis

Gather ’round while I tell a story.

Once upon a time, there was a time when it was universally agreed that Nazis were Bad People. As the late Norm Macdonald said, “You know, with Hitler, the more I learn about that guy, the more I don’t care for him.”

Those were the days, weren’t they!

Anyway, Nazism was so unpopular in the 1940s that even the organized crime syndicates fought actively to discourage their popularity here in the United States. Meyer Lansky and the Jewish mob were among the first, but it was a nationwide phenomenon that even caught the attention of Hollywood. Then the Hays Code came along and reminded everyone that traditional villains (e.g. mobsters) weren’t allowed to appear to be heroes.

But at least one film sneaked by, in 1942. All Through the Night, starring Humphrey Bogart and a huge stable of character actors, follows one shady character as he checks out the death of a local baker, which leads to a huge Nazi infiltration plot.

Several years later, in 1991 we have The Rocketeer, a live-action Disney film directed by Joe Johnston and starring Billy Campbell and Jennifer Connelly, and another stable of character actors. It’s based on the 1982 graphic novel by Dave Stevens. This film also deals with someone inadvertenly getting mixed up in a Nazi plot. This time they’re doing it to steal technology that could turn the tide of the war.

Both films are quite suspenseful and a lot of fun, with several comic turns that don’t take away from the main plotline.

COMING ATTRACTIONS:

Our next episode will be dropping shortly before Christmas, so what better time to break out a couple of Christmas miracles? We’ll be checking out 1944’s Miracle of Morgan’s Creek, a film with a decidedly controversial topic attached to it, and 1947’s Miracle on 34th Street. Join us, won’t you? 

Reel 26: Life During Wartime

Oh, boy.

What we have this episode is a couple of films where you don’t know whom to root for. Why? Because everybody is either compromised or just plain reprehensible.

We start with Jean-Luc Godard’s Weekend, from 1967. This film opens with a married couple that’s fallen so far out of love with one another that they’re each plotting to kill the other one, once their ship has come in (in the form of an inheritance). These are some truly terrible people in a film full of terrible people. But it’s a darkly comic journey through the French countryside.

From there we move on to 1968 and Ingmar Bergman’s Shame, wherein Max Von Sydow and Liv Ullmann are a married couple who learn the hard way that when you hide from the war, it comes and finds you anyway. And then it changes you, and forces you to accept the things you once found unacceptable.

COMING ATTRACTIONS: 

In Reel 27, we lighten up just a little bit as we take a look at a pair of films that feature the unlikely plot point of gangsters fighting against…Nazis? Yes, indeed. First we have All Through the Night, from 1942 (so, in the heart of the war). From there we jump to 1991 and The Rocketeer, which is actually set in pre-war California, but that’s okay: Nazis were already a thing by then. 

Reel 25: 1970s Conspiracy Thrillers

It’s possible—perhaps even likely—that the whole Conspiracy Theory crowd was born from the Warren Commission’s report on the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, which happened on November 22, 1963.

What’s certain is that these theories about JFK’s death certainly bled over into Hollywood. And as a result, films in the 1970s started to spring up that suggested that government plots were everywhere. Maybe not all of them put things in the hands of the government. Some of them suggested that corporations were to blame. Maybe even corporate collectives were pulling all the strings (think about 1975’s Rollerball or 1976’s Network).

In this episode we look at a pair of films that deal with a thinly-veiled version of JFK’s assassination. First we have The Parallax View (1974), directed by Alan J. Pakula and starring Warren Beatty. Beatty is an investigative reporter who looks deeply into the death of a popular politician—perhaps more so than certain people would like. After that, there’s Winter Kills, from 1979 or so (go listen to the episode and you’ll find out what we mean). This film, starring Jeff Bridges and written/directed by William Richert, is an interesting look at the corrupting nature of power.

COMING ATTRACTIONS: 

Next time around we’re taking a look at a pair of foreign films that are set during unnamed wars: First up is Jean-Luc Godard’s Weekend (1967), followed by Ingmar Bergman’s Shame (1968). Be warned that Weekend has some disturbing images and themes. 

Reel 24: Foreign Correspondents

It’s a fact. With some films, all you need to do to enjoy it is shut up and eat your popcorn. With other films you need to be able to buy into the story. And when you’re dealing with films that take place during real events, verisimilitude is where it’s at. If the viewer doesn’t buy some element of the film, then the suspension of disbelief will break down. And that’s bad because they stop engaging.

So with that, we bring you Under Fire, from 1983 and directed by Roger Spottiswoode. This film takes place during the Nicaraguan civil war of the 1970s. From there we jump a few years to 1997’s Welcome to Sarajevo, which was shot on location and feels realistic partly because the rubble and ruined buildings were still there from the war just a few years earlier. In fact, in my usual fusing two different images from the films for the cover picture, this time I used a real photo of Sarajevo from the war. That guy on the right isn’t an actor; he’s just some guy in the street. (A very similar shot appears in the film, so I’m sleeping well tonight.)

COMING ATTRACTIONS:
Reel 25 takes a look at two conspiracy thrillers from the 1970s: First is The Parallax View, from 1974, followed by Winter Kills, from 1979 (and again a few years later). Be warned: if you like to watch the films before listening to the show, Winter Kills will be tough to find. 

As promised, here’s a supercut of Wilhelm Screams from a bunch of movies and TV shows:

Reel 23: Little Womens

Little Women is a book that’s been adapted into some sort of visual medium, whether it’s a big-screen film, or a TV movie, or even a mini-series, many many times.

Now, we have been making an effort to keep the episodes down to a more digestible length, but this time around we’ve got a righteously overstuffed episode simply because we’re discussing three films rather than the usual two, plus there’s such a rich vein of original material to pick through as we compare and contrast three different film adaptations of Louisa May Alcott’s Little Women.

So strap yourself in: we spend about 40 minutes on the 1933 version, directed by George Cukor and starring Katharine Hepburn as Jo, then after the break we move on to 1994, directed by Gillian Armstrong and starring Winona Ryder, and finish with the Greta Gerwig-directed version from 2019, starring Saoirse Ronan. Have your popcorn ready, it’s a long ride.

COMING ATTRACTIONS:

In our next episode we go traveling with some Foreign Correspondents. First up is a trip to Nicaragua, with 1983’s Under Fire. After that we jump to 1997 when we receive a hearty Welcome to Sarajevo.

Reel 22: Southern Stories

Typically, when a film is set in a southern state, we get a lot of rednecks and yahoos behaving badly. That’s not to say that there isn’t any bad behavior in the films reviewed in this episode, but it’s not the focus of the films.

In fact, both Dazed and Confused (1993) and Ruby in Paradise (1993) offer a look at smaller towns in the south. Dazed and Confused, directed by Richard Linklater, is a view of small-town life in an unnamed Texas town in the summer of 1976. Victor Nunez’ Ruby in Paradise spends most of its time in the Florida Panhandle during the sleepy off-season. Dazed is fun and bittersweet, and Ruby is a warm look at a relatively late coming-of-age story, told through a feminist lens. In fact, Ruby in Paradise could have been paired with 1974’s Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore for an interesting compare-and-contrast. (We suppose we’ll have to find another matchup for Alice.)

COMING ATTRACTIONS:

In our next episode, we’re taking a look at three different versions of Little Women (with a nod at the fourth) and examining each one’s approach to the story.

Reel 21: Ex-Spies

While this is a truly overstuffed episode, it’s worth it just to hear Sean connect all the dots with regard to various people’s Hollywood careers and how they relate to one another.

In today’s episode we look at the lives of spies after they’re done being government employees. Our first film is 1998’s Ronin, directed by John Frankenheimer. In this one, Robert DeNiro is a freelancing former U.S. Intelligence Agent who tries to track down a mysterious package wanted by the Irish and the Russians. He’s got help from the likes of Jean Reno, Natascha McElhone, and a few others, but there are all kinds of machinations and double-crosses going on.

Not to be outdone is Duplicity, from 2009, written and directed by Tony Gilroy. This film stars Julia Roberts and Clive Owen as the former government spies, now working in the land of corporate espionage. And once again, nobody is who they seem to be. It’s a little confusing at first but it’s a genuine romp.

COMING ATTRACTIONS:

In our next episode we move away from the big cities to check out a couple of films set in relatively small towns. First we look at 1993’s Dazed and Confused, directed by Richard Linklater. It’s got more going for it than being the source of most peoples’ impression of Matthew McConnaghey. Then we head to the Florida Panhandle to see Ashley Judd in her first starring role, in Ruby in Paradise, also from 1993 and written/directed by Victor Nunez.