Episodios

  • 87. North Dallas Forty (1979)

    87. North Dallas Forty (1979)
    Jan 30 2021

    In our first post-Trump episode, Jason is joined by Friend Of The Pod Richard Brown to discuss the 1979 Nick Nolte film North Dallas Forty.

    Before that, Rick and Jason catch up on withdrawing from political mainlining, growing up as children of single Mom's in the 1970's, and then get to the good stuff; a robust, detailed discussion of the genius of Ted Kotcheff and the singular pleasures of North Dallas Forty.

    North Dallas Forty is billed as a "sports comedy-drama" which just shows how hard to categorize this brilliant and subversive counter-culture take on battling corrupt institutions actually is.  And yes, it IS about professional football, and the NFL, and the Dallas Cowboys and what at the time was a rare behind-the-scenes look inside an NFL locker room.  But it's also, like many of director Ted Kotcheff's other films (First Blood, Wake in Fright, Fun With Dick and Jane) about the individual fighting against or being co-opted by unfeeling authority.  

    When Nick Nolte developed the movie, he hand-picked Kotcheff as a director precisely because Kotcheff admittedly knew next to nothing about football.  All the more impressive then that what few football scenes there are tend to be so impressively and bone-crunchingly filmed in North Dallas Forty.

    Featuring a fantastic supporting cast of character actors like Charles Durning, G.D. Spradlin and Dabney Coleman, all of whom plumb familiar territory with sometimes surprising depths.  And it was the film debut of country superstar Mac Davis, who turns in a remarkably nuanced and complicated performance as the QB who has made his peace, sort of, with the professional and moral compromises he has embraced thus far.

    North Dallas Forty is a great football movie, it's a great 70's movie, it's a great New Hollywood movie, and on and on.  
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    1 h y 39 m
  • 86. The Odessa File

    86. The Odessa File
    Nov 12 2020

    Two-time FCAC Very Special Guest Ted Jessup and I revisit 1974's Panavision international espionage and Nazi-hunting thriller 'The Odessa File' and make plenty of stops along the way to discuss 'The Rainmaker', 'Deliverance' 'The Seven-Ups', 'Anaconda', 'Coming Home', 'Heat', 'The Assassin', and much more!
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    56 m
  • 85. Gomorrah La Serie

    85. Gomorrah La Serie
    Sep 26 2020
    Gomorrah (Italian: Gomorra - La serie) is an Italian crime drama television series created by Roberto Saviano for Sky Atlantic. Based on Saviano's book of the same name,[1] the show premiered on Sky Atlantic in Italy on 6 May 2014, and has run for four seasons. The title of the show is a play on the name of the Neapolitan crime syndicate, Camorra. The 2008 film of the same name is loosely based on the same book, but unrelated to the TV series.[2]. The fifth season will be the last.[3] The show, largely filmed in the Scampia neighbourhood of Naples,[4] tells the story of Ciro Di Marzio (Marco D'Amore), a member of the Savastano clan, headed by Pietro Savastano (Fortunato Cerlino), a high-ranking member. Ciro aims to navigate the dangers of the criminal world, while also fighting a brutal civil war.[5] The Savastano family also consists of his wife Immacolata (Maria Pia Calzone) and son, Gennaro (Salvatore Esposito). The show also features rival crime boss Salvatore Conte (Marco Palvetti), while introducing the characters Annalisa Magliocca (Cristina Donadio), Patrizia Santore (Cristiana Dell'Anna), Giuseppe Avitabile (Gianfranco Gallo) and Enzo "Sangueblù" Villa (Arturo Muselli) in the show's later seasons. The series has gained critical acclaim for its characterization, pacing, atmosphere, acting, directing, and writing.[6][7] It has also become a ratings hit for Sky, regularly featuring as one of the network's most-watched cable shows.[8][9] The series has been sold in 190 countries worldwide.[10][11] It premiered in the United Kingdom on Sky Atlantic on 4 August 2014, and in the United States on SundanceTV on 24 August 2016.[6] The spin-off film The Immortal, which is both a prequel and a sequel to the events after the series' third season, was released on December 5, 2019.[12][13]
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    45 m
  • 84. The Bureau

    84. The Bureau
    Sep 10 2020

    The Bureau (original title: Le Bureau des Légendes) is a French political thriller television series created by Éric Rochant and produced by TOP - The Oligarchs Productions and Canal+, which revolves around the lives of agents of the DGSE (General Directorate of External Security), France's principal external security service. Originally aired in France from 27 April 2015, it was launched in the United States and Canada on iTunes on 1 June 2016 as part of a new international "Episodic Cinema" label, quickly reaching the Top Five.[1][2] In the United Kingdom, the series was released exclusively by Amazon Prime on 17 June 2016.[3][4]

    The first season received positive reviews in both France and other countries, and won several awards. The second season has been universally acclaimed, and has even been seen by some as the best television ever produced in France.[5] The third and fourth seasons, respectively aired in France beginning 22 May 2017[6] and 22 October 2018,[7] have met with further acclaim, with praise for the show's acting, pacing, plot and realism.[8]
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    36 m
  • 83. Columbo

    83. Columbo
    Aug 2 2020

    It's been a long time coming, and finally, its time to devote an entire episode to singing the praises of 'Columbo'!  In this Very Special Episode of the pod, Jason is once again joined by TV historian and pop-cultural eminence grise Richard Brown as they discuss the classic Columbo episode 'Try and Catch Me', starring Ruth Gordon and work their way through 20 Questions About Columbo as submitted by Full Cast and Crew SuperListeners Cindy and Mike.
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    1 h y 44 m
  • 82. Signs (2002)

    82. Signs (2002)
    Jul 2 2020

    Jason is joined by stand-up comedian, actor, and podcaster Sean Donnelly for a deep-dive into M. Night Shayamalan's 'Signs', which Sean and Jason agree is a film that now feels like an old-fashioned Hollywood movie of the sort we just don't get anymore.

    Jason and Sean also talk about Sean's new UFO podcast, his appearances on Letterman, Conan, and Colbert, the state of stand-up comedy in the midst of a 4 month stage blackout mid-pandemic, the roles Sean gets typecast with when he auditions, and so much more!

     

    Sean's website is here.

    M. Night's Wiki page is here.

    Signs wiki is here.

     
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    1 h y 11 m
  • 81. Get Carter (1971)

    81. Get Carter (1971)
    Jun 11 2020
    Get Carter is a 1971 British crime film directed by Mike Hodges and starring Michael Caine, Ian Hendry,[3] Britt Ekland, John Osborne and Bryan Mosley. The screenplay was adapted by Hodges from Ted Lewis's 1970 novel Jack's Return Home. Producer Michael Klinger optioned the book and made a deal for the ailing Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) studio to finance and release the film, bringing in Hodges and Caine. Caine became a co-producer of the film. Get Carter was Hodges's first feature film as director, as well as being the screen debut of Alun Armstrong. MGM was reducing its European operations and the film became the last project approved before it closed its Borehamwood studios. The film is set in north-east England and was filmed in and around Newcastle upon Tyne, Gateshead and County Durham. The story follows a London gangster, the eponymous Jack Carter (Caine), who travels back to his home town to discover more about his brother Frank's supposedly accidental death. Suspecting foul play, and with vengeance on his mind, he investigates and interrogates, regaining a feel for the city and its hardened-criminal element. [4] Caine and Hodges had ambitions to produce a more gritty and realistic portrayal of violence and criminal behaviour than had previously been seen in a British film. Caine incorporated his knowledge of real criminal acquaintances into his characterisation of Carter. Hodges and cinematographer Wolfgang Suschitzky drew heavily on their backgrounds in documentary film. Combined with Hodges' research into the contemporary criminal underworld of Newcastle (in particular the one-armed bandit murder) and the use of hundreds of local bystanders as extras, produced a naturalistic feel in many scenes. The shoot was incident-free and progressed speedily, despite a one-day strike by the Association of Cinematograph, Television and Allied Technicians. The production went from novel to finished film in eight months, with location shooting lasting 40 days. Get Carter suffered in its promotion, firstly from MGM's problems and secondly owing to the declining British film industry of the period, which relied increasingly on US investment. Initial UK critical reaction to the film was mixed, with British reviewers grudgingly appreciative of the film's technical excellence but dismayed by the complex plot, violence and amorality, in particular Carter's apparent lack of remorse at his actions.[1] Despite this the film did good business in the UK and produced a respectable profit. US critics were generally more enthusiastic and praised the film but it was poorly promoted in the US by United Artists and languished on the drive in circuit while MGM focused its resources on producing a blaxploitation version of the same novel, Hit Man. On its release Get Carter received no awards and did not seem likely to be well remembered. It was not available on home media until 1993 but always maintained a cult following. Endorsements from a new generation of directors such as Quentin Tarantino and Guy Ritchie led to a critical reappraisal which saw it recognized as one of the best British movies.[5] In 1999, Get Carter was ranked 16th on the BFI Top 100 British films of the 20th century; five years later, a survey of British film critics in Total Film magazine chose it as the greatest British film.[6] Get Carter was remade in 2000 by Warner Bros. under the same title, with Sylvester Stallone starring as Jack Carter, with Caine in a supporting role. This remake was not well received by critics in the US and was not given a UK theatrical release.
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    1 h y 35 m
  • 80. On Her Majesty's Secret Service (1969)

    80. On Her Majesty's Secret Service (1969)
    May 28 2020

    On Her Majesty's Secret Service is a 1969 spy film and the sixth in the James Bond series produced by Eon Productions. It is based on the 1963 novel by Ian Fleming. Following Sean Connery's decision to retire from the role after You Only Live Twice, Eon Productions selected an unknown actor and model, George Lazenby, to play the part of James Bond. During the making of the film, Lazenby announced that he would play the role of Bond only once.

    In the film, Bond faces Blofeld (Telly Savalas), who is planning to hold the world ransom by the threat of sterilising the world's food supply through a group of brainwashed "angels of death". Along the way Bond meets, falls in love with, and eventually marries Contessa Teresa di Vicenzo (Diana Rigg).

    It is the only Bond film to have been directed by Peter R. Hunt, who had served as a film editor and second unit director on previous films in the series. Hunt, along with producers Albert R. Broccoli and Harry Saltzman, decided to produce a more realistic film that would follow the novel closely. It was shot in Switzerland, England, and Portugal from October 1968 to May 1969. Although its cinema release was not as lucrative as its predecessor You Only Live Twice, On Her Majesty's Secret Service was still one of the top performing films of the year.[2] Critical reviews upon release were mixed, but the film's reputation has improved greatly over time and is now regarded as one of the strongest entries in the series.

     

    PODCAST NOTES

    Link to Frazer's graphic novel 'Stay Alive'.

    Link to Frazer's personal website.

    Watch 'On Her Majesty's Secret Service'

    Buy the James Bond comics here.

    Watch the Hulu George Lazenby documentary here.

    Watch a classic 1982 episode of 'This Week In Baseball' here.
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    1 h y 16 m