The Full Cast and Crew Podcast loves searching for that perfect, telling anecdote or soundbite from a writer, director, actor, or crew member as we revisit the films of our shared 70s and 80's childhoods with an appreciation for the cinematic arts and without pretension or annoying fan-boy antics. Proudly independent and advertising-free.
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Paul Brickman's 'Risky Business' is one of the greatest films of the 80's and is so much more than the "teen sex comedy" many people thought they were getting at the time. Frame by frame, it's really a masterpiece with so many aspects and elements of brilliance. The score by Tangerine Dream, Tom Cruise at NINETEEN, Rebecca De Mornay, the genius edi…
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Little-seen but worthy, the 1985 John Candy comedy 'Summer Rental' is due for a little revisit and respect! On the news of a forthcoming and hopefully definitive John Candy documentary directed by Colin Hanks and produced by Ryan Reynolds, I stumbled across this film (which I'd never even heard of) and found myself gleefully experiencing an expertl…
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I gave up drinking. I gave up drugs. I don't smoke. BUT I CAN'T QUIT DEAD & COMPANY! And I hope I never do! With the wife and daughter overseas on a girl's trip, I went back to Vegas for Week Seven of the Dead and Company shows over the 4th of July Weekend at the Sphere Las Vegas. This short (18 minutes) episode is not an inside-Dead show rundown, …
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Well, it's not really a summer movie but nonetheless I ended up appreciatiating the weird-in-a-good-way 'Vision Quest'. Join me, won't you?
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Peter Yates' 'Breaking Away' is the greatest Townie Movie of all time. A heart-warming, feel-good film with an extraordinary sense of place.
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192. Brian DePalma's 'Scarface' (1983)
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Say hello to my little podcast about Brian DePalma and Oliver Stone's 1983 Cocainesterpiece, 'Scarface'.By Meetinghousetv.com
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Before I get to Oliver Stone and Brian DePalma's 1983 Miami-set remake of 'Scarface'...here's a background episode about the 1932 'Scarface', written by Ben Hecht and directed by Howard Hawks, the Steven Spielberg of the 1930's and 40's. From that still-vital, seminal gangster film, I also found my way to some others: Little Caesar is a 1931 Americ…
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190. The Little Girl Who Lives Down The Lane (1976)
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One of the stranger and most poorly-marketed films of the 70's is Nicholas Gessner's adaptation of Laird Koenig's 1974 novel 'The Little Girl Who Lives Down The Lane'. Far from the horror film the poster and trailer tried to sell audiences on, it's instead an unsettling but realistic portrait of a young girl in an uncertain situation, and a film th…
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It's almost Memorial Day Weekend in the States and that means it's time for Yacht Rock! The term didn't exist before the 2005 web series of the same name was written, directed, and produced by J. D. Ryznar, David Lyons, Hunter D. Stair, and Lane Farnham. You can revisit their highly specific genius here. Before that, music of the type we now refer …
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188. Dead & Company @ the Sphere Las Vegas, Night Three
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Some thoughts on gratitude and appreciation, and a few anecdotes about how quickly humans go from wide-eyed wonder and astonishment to entitled self-centered expectations, drawn from my three-concert experiences during Dead & Company's recent inaugural stint at MSG's groundbreaking new concert and film venue, Sphere Las Vegas.…
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187. Dead & Company @ the Sphere Las Vegas, Night Two
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OK so today in Las Vegas I learned it's "Sphere" and not "The Sphere". And we're back recording for posterity impressions of the 2nd night of the inaugural 3-show residency kick-off for Dead & Company at Sphere Las Vegas.By Meetinghousetv.com
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186. Dead & Company @ the Sphere Las Vegas, Night One
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Some thoughts on an extraordinary in-person collective entertainment experience...remember those??By Meetinghousetv.com
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185. The Women of 'Blade Runner 2049'
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The female actors of 'Blade Runner 2049' are a huge part of the brilliance of Denis Villenueve's 2017 sequel to Ridley Scott's 'Blade Runner'. They bring to life such wonderfully complicated, original, genre-bending, emotionally resonant, funny, and strong characters. In this special episode of the podcast, I take a look at all of the scenes featur…
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Denis Villenueve's masterpiece 2nd part of his 'Dune' trilogy.By Meetinghousetv.com
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Barry Sonnenfeld and Scott Frank's adaptation of Elmore Leonard's 1990 crime novel 'Get Shorty' was the 2nd film that John Travolta made after returning to top stardom with a bang in Tarantino's 'Pulp Fiction'. This vibe-y, enjoyable, smartly-written and brilliantly-acted mid-90's example of the $20-30 million-dollar studio movie that now seems lik…
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182. 'Sunset Boulevard' (1950) with Special Guest Brad Caleb Kane
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I'm joined again by multi-hyphenate Brad Caleb Kane for a discussion about Billy Wilder and Charles Brackett's iconic 1950 satirical noir Hollywood cautionary tale 'Sunset Boulevard' and various other digressions!By Meetinghousetv.com
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181. All of Brad Pitt's Cliff Booth Scenes from 'Once Upon a Time in Hollywood'
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The second in my growing collection of episodes devoted to 'Once Upon a Time in Hollywood'...this time it's an episode celebrating all the brilliant Cliff Booth scenes...scenes representing some of Brad Pitt's finest acting to date and the heart and soul of Tarantino's greatest homage to the Hollywood of his youth.…
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It's my annual Oscar Recap. And Killers of the Flower Moon wuz robbed!By Meetinghousetv.com
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179. All of Leonardo Dicaprio's Rick Dalton Scenes from 'Once Upon a Time in Hollywood'
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All of Leonardo DiCaprio's scenes as Rick Dalton in Quentin Tarantino's movie-making love-letter 'Once Upon a Time in Hollywood' If you're new to the podcast, there's an episode just for you. Previous All Their Scenes episodes: Phillip Seymour Hoffman in 'Charlie Wilson's War' Michael Keaton in 'Jackie Brown' and 'Out of Sight' as Special Agent Ray…
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Alan J. Pakula deserves more attention and respect as one of the grestest American film directors of any era. His run of films in the 70's, from 'Klute' to 'The Parallax View' to 'All The President's Men'...all brilliantly shot by Cinematographer Gordon Willis (The Godfather films)...are as impressive and of their moment as any films made in this t…
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Carol Reed and Graham Greene's iconic post-war neo noir classic 'The Third Man'. A perfect movie. Steven Soderbergh calls it the only movie you need to watch in order to learn how to make a movie. In this episode I cover the making of, the battles between David O. Selznick, Alexander Korda, Reed and Orson Welles, the happenstance score to end all f…
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In which my evolving, complicated relationship with the crowd-pleasing John 'Frenzy' MacKenzie's exuberant, vibe-y classic 'The Long Good Friday' is flayed open and nailed to the floor for your auditory enjoyment.By Meetinghousetv.com
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Director Toby Amies and I discuss his excellent and unexpected documentary 'In the Court of the Crimson King: King Crimson at 50'.By Meetinghousetv.com
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Ridley Scott's brilliant 1979 sci-fi/horror classic 'Alien' burnished his deserved reputation as bold re-interpreter of techno-dystopian futurism and exploder of genres. But it made a lot of money and dollar signs in the eyes of 'Alien' producers Brandywine Productions led them to turn for a sequel to James Cameron, who had already done a similar t…
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One of the most quotable and iconic of British films, born out of writer/director Bruce Robinson's personal experiences and shepherded to the big screen by George Harrison and his Handmade Films company. 'Withnail & I' is a beloved comedy but in this episode I talk as much about its forlorn, end-of-an-era wistful heart as I do the incredibly quotab…
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172. 'The French Connection' (1971)
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Billy Friedkin's iconic 1971 game-changing NYC police procedural/car chase classic 'The French Connection' has a fascinating backstory and making-of history, and, hey: that's what I'm here for! To bring you all the best stories behind the scenes on the streets of New York and all the context and color that helps place this movie in the pantheon of …
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171. 'The Friends of Eddie Coyle' (1973)
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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 Connect…
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170. 'Killers of the Flower Moon' (2023)
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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…
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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 Pho…
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168. All of Phillip Seymour Hoffman's Scenes in 'Charlie Wilson's War'
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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'.By Meetinghousetv.com
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167. Albert Brooks & Julie Hagerty in 'Lost In America' (1985)
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'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 fi…
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166. 'Across 110th Street' (1972), the Film and Song
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'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…
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165. The Michael Keaton Ray Nicolette Cinematic Universe
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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 n…
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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 th…
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163. 'To Live and Die in LA' (1985)
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Billy Friedkin, maybe the weirdest (in a good way) major American director of his generation, almost doesn't make sense on paper; wait...the same guy directed 'The French Connection' and 'The Excorcist'? But the ups and downs of Friedkin's storied and somewhat haphazard career are what makes him one of the most interesting directors to consider. An…
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A deep-dive into the semiotics of 'Barbie' and its post-feminist critique of corporate capitalism and American mores. Just kidding, I went and saw 'Barbie' with five 12-year-olds. Six, if you count me. But seriously, this episode unpacks some of the things I found interesting about the film, its very existence, its brilliant marketing and repositio…
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161. The 'Godfather' Films W/ 'The Godfather Gang' author and 'The Offer' producer Ernest Lupinacci
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I'm joined by legendary ad-man-turned brand-identity guru, author, screenwriter, and producer Ernest Lupinacci to talk all things 'The Godfather' and 'The Godfather, Part II' (with a sideways glance at 'The Godfather, Part III'), including our preferences, what II gained and lost in terms of casting and production, returning Mario Puzo to center st…
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160. How to Listen to Dead & Company
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An episode about 40 years of fandom and learning to actively listen to music while being of an age that can appreciate the collective experience of Dead & Company's Final Tour for the singular happening it represents.By Chuckler.com
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159. 'Indiana Jones & The Dial of Destiny'
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I went and saw the new Indiana Jones movie at the Drive-In.By Chuckler.com
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158. Film Scores I Have Loved Before
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An email from a listener got me thinking about film scores that I actually listen to and love, so this episode shares a handful of classic and contemporary scores I think are worthy of special consideration. Scores referenced in this episode: Get Carter The Taking of Pelham 123 Dirty Harry Out Of Sight Ocean's 11 Ocean's 12 Ocean's 13 Taxi Driver K…
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157. 40 Glimpses of Paul Newman in 'The Verdict'
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This week's companion episode to my previous episode about Sidney Lumet's 'The Verdict' is for the craft purists, the Newman obsessives, and the acting completists out there. Much like I did with the amazing Sean Penn Spicoli scenes in my follow-up to the 'Fast Times at Ridgemont High' episode, here I'm going deep on Paul Newman's brilliant, career…
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156. Paul Newman in Sidney Lumet & David Mamet's 'The Verdict' (1982)
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One of my very favorite films and featuring one of Paul Newman's favorite performances, Sidney Lumet's 'The Verdict' has grown in stature and appreciation since its premiere in 1982. With a brilliantly adapted screenplay by multi-hyphenate David Mamet, a tortured development process encompassing stars like Redford and other directors named Sidney (…
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155. Brad Pitt, Jonah Hill, and Phillip Seymour Hoffman in 'Moneyball' (2011)
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Bennett Miller was the 3rd director attached to the adaptation of Michael Lewis' classic baseball non-fiction book 'Moneyball', after Steven Soderbergh was replaced by Sony, who got nervous over his plan for interspersing interviews with real-life characters from the book like Lenny Dykstra and Darryl Strawberry throughout the film. His rewrite of …
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154. Robert Altman's 'Nashville' (1975)
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I'm joined by frequent FCAC Guest Star Richard Brown as we explore the many possible reactions to Robert Altman and Joan Tewksbury's 'Nashville'...a film that polarized pretty much everyone when it came out but that has settled into a comfortable middle-age of generally accepted masterpiece status. But...is it? In this episode Rick and I explore th…
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153. Warren Zevon's David Letterman Appearances
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The 2003 episode that David Letterman devoted entirely to a single guest, Warren Zevon, stands out as one of Dave's signature episodes and the frank and revealing conversation they had about Zevon's terminal lung cancer diagnosis is but one of many fascinating layers to that appearance that this episode of the podcast explores. Issues of ambition, …
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152. Twenty-Two Glimpses of Jeff Spicoli
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Sean Penn's committed, beyond-his-years performance as Jeff Spicoli is one of the great and most-storied American film acting performances, full stop. After last week's episode about 'Fast Times at Ridgemont High' opened my eyes anew to how astoundingly complete Sean Penn made Spicoli, I simply had to do something I've never done on the pod before:…
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151. Fast Times At Ridgemont High (1982)
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Amy Heckerling and Cameron Crowe's 1982 adaptation of Crowe's book 'Fast Times at Ridgemont High' is a classic that rises above the low-brow teen-sex comedy that Universal executives probably expected when they green lit the Valley-set film with a bunch of no-name actors (outside of Mr. Hand, of course), a soundtrack of artists who just so happened…
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150. Russell Crowe & Al Pacino in Michael Mann's 'The Insider' (1999)
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Following his 1995 crime epic 'Heat', Michael Mann was in a position to do most any film he desired to do. So when Disney Studios ponied up north of 90 million dollars to help him bring a thorny, wordy, action-free journalism picture to life, they probably reasonably expected a 'All The President's Men' for a new generation. And while their efforts…
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After a two-week hiatus...and a hilariously unexpected detour in our attempt to do "The Manchurian Candidate" on this episode, my guest Keir Graff and I pivoted to 'The Color of Money' and I'm so glad we did. This episode features a lot of great stories about the making of the film, and also includes plenty of necessary discussion about 'The Hustle…
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148. 'Bobby Darin: Beyond The Song' (1998)
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In the late 90s three 28-year-olds with zero documentary filmmaking experience re-ignited a college dorm room pipe dream about making a documentary about the life and career of singer/songwriter/actor/activist Bobby Darin. What followed was equal parts kismet and catastrophe and might serve as a useful blueprint and cautionary tale for anyone conte…
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