After the break you can find the latest episode of Travis Bickle on the Riviera, the world's only movie podcast. With your hosts Morgan Jeske and Sean Witzke.
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0:00:00 - 0:19:47 - Morgan watched Alien 3 (1992), directed by David Fincher, starring Sigourney Weaver, Charles S. Dutton, Charles Dance, Brian Glover, and Lance Henriksen.
Also discussed in this section: Alien, Aliens, Alien: Resurrection, Alien vs. Predator, Neil Blompkamp, The Defenders, JJ Abrams, the Blade Runner sequel, James Cameron, Michael Beihn, Carl Theodor Dreyer, Soldier, Walter Hill, David Giler, Jaws, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, abortion, Obvious Child, The Fly, The Fly 2, Nymphomaniac 2, Denis Villeneuve, Apocalypse Now, Paget Brewster, Ridley Scott, Prometheus, Prisoners, Roger Deakins, Rosemary's Baby, David Peoples, Kurt Russell, and Ghosts of Mars.
Check out Sarah Horrocks' recent piece on Alien 3.
MORGAN: For more on the pre-production - production history of Alien 3, here’s a pretty extensive article.
0:19:48 - 1:17:23 - Morgan has been going through the work of John Cassavetes:
Morgan watched A Woman Under the Influence (1974), directed by Cassavetes, starring Gena Rowands, Peter Falk, and Fred Draper.
M: Here's an interview with Gena Rowlands & Cassavetes about ‘Woman Under The Influence’ at AFI (of which Cassavetes became a “student” through Fellowships they offered so that he could get funding and crew).
Both Morgan and Sean watched The Killing of a Chinese Bookie (1976, re-released in 1978), directed by Cassavetes, starring Ben Gazarra, Timothy Carey, Seymour Cassel, Azizi Johan, Al Ruban, and Haji.
M: Recommended reading Cassavetes On Cassavetes by Ron Carney. It’s an amazing collection of interviews and essays the move chronologically through his filmography. Anything that I could add here is better articulated by the man himself. If you’re thinking about going to film school, don’t. Go buy a copy of this book.
Morgan watched Opening Night (1977), directed by Cassavetes, starring Gena Rowlands, Gazzara, Cassavetes, Joan Blondell, Paul Stewart, and Zhora Lampert.
M: One of the few interviews (unaired) done for Opening Night.
Both Sean and Morgan watched Love Streams (1984), directed by Cassavetes, starring Rowlands, Cassavetes, Cassel, Diahne Abbot, and Margaret Abbot.
Also discussed in this section: Shadows, Faces, Catcher in the Rye, Akira Kurosawa, Boxcar Bertha, Martin Scorsese, Minnie and Moskowitz, Cassavetes on Cassavetes, Peter Bogdanovich, John Flynn, Bob Fosse, Mean Streets, Reservoir Dogs, The Killing, Jim Jarmusch, Roger Corman, Herschell Gordon Lewis, John Lewis, Andy Warhol, "Indie" movies, mumblecore movies, Olivier Assayas, Kurosawa's Dreams, 50 First Dates, Boogie Nights, Michael Haneke, Claire Denis, Gordon WIllis, 48 Hrs, Lucio Fulci, Seijun Suzuki, Gloria, The Professional, Big Trouble, Paper Moon, Ronin, Steven Soderbergh, Fincher, Robert Duvall, Quentn Tarantino, George Clooney, Michael Mann, The American, and that song from Kelly's Heroes.
And finally, for here's Peter Falk, Ben Gazarra, and Cassavetes on Dick Cavett sort of promoting Husbands. The funniest shit e v a r.
M: Director Michael Ventura documented the making of Love Streams in the doc “I’m Almost Not Crazy…” (a great bit of dialogue delivered by Gena Rowlands in the film) More so than any of his other films, and perhaps underlined by Cassavete’s health, Love Streams echoes back to and mirrors many of his previous films. Mabel from ‘Influence’, elements of which appear in Richard and Sarah. Cassavetes/Rowlands interrogating their own relationship through avatars or playing characters themselves. The dissolution of the marriage consummated in ‘Minnie & Moskowitz’. Characters perceived as “crazy” by those around them. Love. Love. Love? Love. Where to put it. What happens when it goes away. Is it constant? Though this wasn’t his last film—that was the terrible work-for-hire ‘Big Trouble’—-Cassavetes thought of it as summation of his life’s work.
1:17:24 - 1:38:20 - Hottest Film Directors Rankings:
Nominations include: David Cronenberg, John Cassavetes, Antoine Fuqua, Shane Carruth, John Sayles, Pier Paolo Pasolini, Zack Snyder, Ringo Lam, David Lynch, Cary Fukunaga, Roger Corman, David Fincher, Kathyrn Bigelow, Anne Banecroft, Claire Denis, Paul Thomas Anderson, John Waters, Noah Baumbach, Sofia Coppola, Steve McQueen, William Friedkin, Sylvester Stallone, Amy Seimetz, Robert Rodriguez, and Renny Harlin.
Also discussed in this section: Woody Allen looking like a turtle, Bob Fosse, Orson Welles, Joe Dante, Casa De Los Babys, Michael Mann, Ron Perlman, Joan Rivers, Brian De Palma, John Carpenter, Sam Fuller, Joe Swanberg, Paul Verhoeven, Steven Soderbergh, Akira Kurosawa, The Fury, and Roman Polanski, and American directors who were nazi sympathizers.
1:38:21 - 1:48:22 - To close out the show, Sean watched two films by Larry Cohen:
The Stuff (1985), directed by Larry Cohen, starring Michael Moriarty, Garret Morris, Paul Sorvino, Danny Aiello, and Andrea Marcovicci.
It's Alive (1974), directed by Cohen, starring John P. Ryan, Sharron Farrell, James Dixon, and William Wellman Jr.
Also discussed in this section: Black Caesar, John Carpenter, Halloween 3, They Live, Hell Up In Harlem, Steven Spielberg, Jonathan Nolan, Christopher Nolan, God Told Me To, Phone Booth, Maniac Cop 1-3, Robin Wood's "Return of the Repressed"/"American Nightmare" articles, Keifer Sutherland, David Lean, Stanley Kubrick, Rick Baker, and Cronenberg on Cronenberg.
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Next Week: who knows
Our outro music this week: "Almost (In Love With You)" by Bo Harwood from Love Streams. And our intro, as always, is from Escape From New York, as well as Harwood's intro to the 2nd cut of Killing of a Chinese Bookie.
You can download episodes directly from itunes and rss. For a quick look at who has been on the show before and what movies have been discussed in each episode, look at our one-page episode guide. You can follow the show ontwitter, tumblr, and facebook. If you like this show, check out Tucker’s other podcast Comic Books Are Burning In Hell (also located at TFO and here) and Katie Skelly & Sarah Horrock’s Trash Twins (located here and here).
Dick Cavett lives.
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