Full Cast And Crew

In part 2 of my four-part series on 2001, I am going through the TMA-1 (Tycho Magnetic Anomaly One) sequence in which Dr. Haywood Floyd of "The Council" visits the International Space Station, diverts some Russian scientist attentions, presents a specious, US Governmental coverup of the Clavius discovery to a group of cowed committee members, and then embarks to Clavius base on the Moon to visit the Monolith. This sequence famously uses Johann Strauss' 'The Blue Danube' as well as additional modern pieces by Ligeti. Here's the hilarious video making fun of the exposition scenes in the latest Mission Impossible movie. Tom, we kid because we love! Check out my totally free newsletter. It's full of recommendations and podcast-adjacent ephemera. Also it's a place to hear from you!

The first of my four-part series on Stanley Kubrick's '2001: A Space Odyssey' covers some introductory approach notes and the first sequence in the film: 'The Dawn Of Man'. In these episodes I want to avoid a nerdy technical discussion about how the filmmakers did what they did in this extraordinary, still-vital film masterpiece and instead focus on the remarkable ability of the film to inspire thoughts and feelings in its viewers.   For a bibliography of resources consulted in the research of these episodes, check out my 6/13 newsletter for links to materials you might find of interest.

I'd never seen Texas Chainsaw Massacre before this episode.  I had also never seen Texas Chainsaw Massacre II. Regrets, I have a few. And this apparent chainsaw-sized hole in my film-going life is at the heart the Brad Caleb Kane Experiment In Terror that are our Cannon Fodder series of episodes. Find out what happened in this chaotic mess of an episode.      

Cannon Fodder continues! John Frankenheimer finds himself directing for Cannon Films with Roy Scheider starring in Elmore Leonard's own adaptation of his 1974 novel 52 Pickup. Watch 52 Pickup on Prime before it leaves this weekend. Watch the excellent Cannon Films/Golan Globus unauthorized documentary Electric Boogaloo: The Wild, Untold Story of Cannon Films Watch King Cohen, the Larry Cohen documentary, featuring Martin Scorcese. Listen to my episode on Roy Scheider's brilliant performance in All That Jazz. Subscribe to my newsletter, [indistinct chatter], it contains recommendations for movies, music, tv shows, books, and musings on popular culture and the events of the given day. It's free. Listen to the first Cannon Fodder episode about the Charles Bronson flick 10 to Midnight, with my special guest, Brad Kane.

In this week's episode it's the debut of 'Cannon Fodder', a recurring series of episodes where I watch a curated selection of films made by schlockmeisters Golan/Globus in the 1980's for their Cannon Film Group, one of the most entertaining production shingles you'll ever hear or see. In Brad's view, he is a man of the people's cinema and I am a high-minded, opinionated cinephile. Duly diagnosed, I agreed to expand my horizons under Brad's careful tutelage. The result is either an epic argument or filled with surprises...or both. Here's a great must-see documentary about the "Go-Go Boys" as they're known. Here's some info about my frequent guest Brad Kane. Watch '10 to Midnight'  Here's the Cannon Group's wiki page.

Long before 'Waiting For Guffman', Christopher Guest directed 'The Big Picture', a heartfelt, hilariously incisive movie about making movies. The film was greenlit during British film executive David Puttnam's brief tenure running Columbia Pictures.  Co-written by Guest's 'Spinal Tap' co-star Michael McKean, who also turns in an unexpectedly warm and heartfelt performance, 'The Big Picture' is worthy of rediscovery for its impressively spot-on send-up of both Los Angeles and the studio executives who populate the business. The film stars Kevin Bacon, McKean, J.T. Walsh, Emily Longstreth, an uncredited Martin Short, Fran Drescher, Jennifer Jason Leigh.   You can watch the film here. I've launched a newsletter that contains recommendations for movies, tv shows, books, podcasts, and music and you can subscribe and check out last week's issue here. Or here:  https://mailchi.mp/d32d4f0985fa/indistinct-chatter

Ryan Coogler's original film 'Sinners' defied the so-called conventional wisdom of Hollywood and dropped only 6% week-to-week in its box office performance.  It was also the subject of a fascinating online discourse about how the film's box office performance was written about in industry media.  In this episode I recount the online controversy surrounding some of the reporting on the film and give you my own take on having seen the film.  Enjoy!   The McKinsey Report mentioned in the podcast:   https://www.mckinsey.com/featured-insights/diversity-and-inclusion/black-representation-in-film-and-tv-the-challenges-and-impact-of-increasing-diversity    

'Caddyshack', it turns out, is kind of a miracle of last-minute producer-led stitching together and salvaging, resulting in one of the more quotable films in comedy history.   Hard to believe that at the time, Chevy Chase, Bill Murray, and Rodney Dangerfield were not yet the massive film stars they'd become as a result of this movie.   This episode delves into the coke-fueled nonstop party that was this film's production, a production that would contribute to the untimely death of co-writer Doug Kenney on a cliff in Hawaii where he'd gone to dry out.  Doug's death was one of the first casualties of this scene due to drugs, soon followed by John Belushi's.

Why doesn't anyone believe me when I say I loved going to see this movie??

An episode in memoriam of Val Kilmer, who died this week. Mentioned in this episode: 'Val', the excellent, moving, insightful, thoughtful documentary compiled from decades of Val Kilmer's home movies. 'Tombstone' is many people's favorite Kilmer film. 'Lost Soul: The Doomed Journey of Richard Stanley's The Island of Dr. Moreau' is a fantastic making-of-a-trainwreck documentary about one of the most hilariously troubled film sets in Hollywood history. Watch 'Heat'. It's always good for you. Enjoy Val as Gay Perry in Shane Black's 'Kiss Kiss Bang Bang'. One of the best 80's comedies is 'Real Genius'. Read the Digital Renegade newsletter.

Don Simpson was one-half of one of the most successful production partnerships in Hollywood history. His reality-distortion-field helped bring about films like Flashdance, Top Gun, Beverly Hills Cop, The Rock, Crimson Tide, and Days of Thunder, films that collectively grossed more than $3 billion dollars. Don Simpson's life is a cautionary tale with an ignominious ending forever ensconced in Hollywood history. His appetite for drugs, prostitutes, plastic surgery, black Levi's 501 jeans (worn once and discarded), wrecking Porsches, pharmacology, peanut butter, and pizza got the best of him at age 52. Listen in for the outrageous tale of how a pudgy kid from Alaska talked his way into transforming big-budget Hollywood blockbusters for a new decade. LINKS: Buy my guest Charles Fleming's definitive book about Hollywood in the 80's, High Concept: Don Simpson and the Hollywood Culture of Excess. Don & Jerry on Charlie Rose, less than a year before Don's death. A pretty good but exploitational multi-part tv documentary about Don Simpson. Now-cancelled Hollywood gadfly James Toback's 'The Big Bang', starring Don.

What does it say about your favorite podcast host that he considers the 1979 BBC adaptation of John le Carre's seminal espionage novel 'Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy' to be COMFORT VIEWING?? Nonetheless, as Smiley would say, there we are. In this episode, curiously one in which I am still totally unresolved as to how best to approach this series in episodic fashion, I explore the myriad genius aspects of the production.

Considering the versatile, endlessly watchable and iconic American actor Gene Hackman.

HERE IT IS! Your most-anticipated episode of the year.

I'm joined by David Schumann of the IG and YouTube accounts @vhsrevolution as we each offer up our Top Five out of the 10 Best Picture Nominees ahead of Sunday night's Academy Awards telecast. And yes, I will be doing my Postmortem Recap episode following the broadcast.  Follow David on Instagram here. Check out David's YouTube Channel here.

Here's the third of my episodic trilogy about George Roy Hill's films 'Butch Cassidy & The Sundance Kid', 'The Sting', and, now: 1977's 'Slap Shot'.  

My deep dive into the films of Director George Roy Hill continues with the most iconic Western ever made: "Butch Cassidy & The Sundance Kid".

George Roy Hill's 1973 masterpiece 'The Sting' (released December 1974) grossed in 1974 what would be over 900 million dollars today. It's a deceptively simple, stealthily subversive and counter-cultural film wrapped in the meticulous trappings of a 1930's Warner Bros gangster picture, and re-teaming Butch Cassidy & The Sundance Kid with that film's director. In this episode: How Peter Boyle, Jack Nicholson, Richard Boone, and Warren Beatty almost got cast in 'The Sting', the brilliant Marvin Hamlisch Scott Joplin songs used on the soundtrack, the fantastic supporting cast of instantaneous-read character actors like Jack Kehoe, Dana Elcar, and MORE!

In Hollywood, the story beats of werewolf movies were codified in 1941 by a German-Jewish emigrant to Hollywood via London named Curt Siodmak, who wrote the seminal film 'The Wolf Man', starring Lon Chaney, Jr. 40 years later, John Landis made the most important and enduring and influential werewolf film ever made in 'An American Werewolf in London'. It was his follow-up to the one-two punch of 'Animal House' and 'The Blues Brothers'.  He could make any film he wanted, with anyone he wanted. So he made a script he'd begun when he was 18 years old. A script he'd first discussed with an aspiring special effects and creature-design guy named Rick Baker in 1971.  10 years later, he'd found two unknown leads, hired basically the entire cast of an acclaimed touring production of 'Nicholas Nickleby', and called Baker on the set of another werewolf movie ('The Howling') and convinced him to decamp to England to work on 'An American Werewolf in London'.  For his groundbreaking innovations on the film, Baker won the ver first Academy Award ever given for makeup special effects. Featuring a snappy, smart script, Landis' virtuosic comedy/horror chops, and an unexpected soundtrack of moon songs, 'An American Werewolf in London' is in a class by itself and is one of the most important films ever made. Other werewolf films of note and worthy of your time: 'Ginger Snaps' 'Wolfen' 'Wolf' 'Dog Soldiers' 'The Howling' 'The Wolf Man' (1941) 'Werewolf of London' (1935) "Werewolf of London' inspired Zevon's song 'Werewolves of London'. Phil Everly of the Everly Brothers had watched the film and told Zevon jokingly that he should write a song with that title and start a dance craze. And as far as listicles go, this one is well-reasoned by someone who knows their werewolf films: The 25 Best Werewolf Movies 

Sparse. Laconic. Expansive. Languid. Wry. The Coen Brother's 2007 Neo-Noir Western 'No Country For Old Men' moves to the fatefully ticking beat of it's own Grandfather Clock.  It's a film that rewards close viewing and is astoundingly faithful to Cormac McCarthy's novel while also being so completely a "Coen Brothers film" even as it's their (only?) adaptation of an existing book. Featuring an iconic performance by Javier Bardem as the philosophical killer Anton Chigur, brilliant cinematography from frequent Coen collaborator Roger Deakins, and perfectly wrought twangily-Texas turns by Josh Brolin and Tommy Lee Jones. A number of signature Coens scenes of the lead characters interacting with a variety of shop clerks, receptionists, store owners, and authority figures abound.    

'Liquid Sky' was a $500,000 largely experimental film by the Russian expat director Slava Tsukerman that sprung from a group of friends and colleagues surrounding School of Visual Arts acting teacher Bob Brady.  What's it about?  Heroin, Cocaine, Aliens, Art, Fashion, Dancing, Nightclubs, Science, Sex, Lesbian Knife Fights, Androgyny, Shrimp, Berlin...and that's just the first 45 minutes.  Much more than just a so-bad-it's-good b-movie, 'Liquid Sky' has endured and is best appreciated for its fantastic design, cinemotography, and score and the period specificity of it's troupe of amateur actors. It has to be seen to be believed, and it's worth checking out! Join me!   Get the very cool 4K restoration DVD of Liquid Sky here. Listen to the groundbreaking Fairlight CMI synthesizer soundtrack.  

'Raising Arizona' was the 2nd film written and directed by The Coen Brothers, and it's one of my most foundational movies; a movie that spoke to who I was at 18, when I first saw it in 1987 and continues to be one of my favorites today. In this episode I revisit the film, tell some anecdotes about the making-of, and revel in the wonderful, nuanced performances, Carter Burwell's brilliantly distinctive and pitch-perfect score, and more! I must not tarry.   Some of My Foundational Movies: My Blade Runner 2049 Episode  My Once Upon a Time In Hollywood Episode My Blade Runner Episode Pink Floyd Live At Pompeii All The President's Men Close Encounters Being There Brazil Chameleon Street

Our episodic roll of the Scorceseverse dice comes up a winner here with a look at 'Casino', Marty's unofficial "sequel" to 'Goodfellas' and a treatise on the inevitable end of mob controlled Vegas casinos. If you're interested in how we got here, check out my episodes about Goodfellas and 'Mean Streets': Goodfellas Part 1 Goodfellas Part 2 Goodfellas Part 3 Goodfellas Part 4 Mean Streets

The Full Cast and Crew MartyVerse run continues with the first of Scorcese's unofficial trilogy of gangster films, 'Mean Streets'. In this episode: Marty's Little Italy, Family, High School, NYU, Los Angeles, and early directorial experiences and how they influence and inspired 'Mean Streets'. How 'Mean Streets' was very nearly a blaxploitation film funded by Roger Corman.  John Cassavetes seeing 'Boxcar Bertha', an exploitation film Scorcese directed for Corman, and telling Marty "You just spent a year of your life making a piece of shit. Don't you have something more personal to do?" Films mentioned by Scorcese as inspirational/informational to 'Mean Streets' ‘Gilda' ‘The Shanghai Gesture' 'Shadows' 'Who's That Knocking At My Door' 'Boxcar Bertha' 'Open City'  'Paisa' 'Shoeshine' 'Bicycle Thieves' 'Cool Breeze'  'Buck Privates' 'Scorpio Rising' 'Saturday Night, Sunday Morning' 'The Road to Singapore' 'Marty' 'Fatso' 'Accatone' 'How Green Was My Valley' 'The Informer' 'The Searchers' 'On The Waterfront' 'East of Eden'  'His Girl Friday'  'The Big Sky' 'The Thing'  'Two Rode Together' 

OK, so I wasn't quite done with Goodfellas, try as I did...one more bridge episode here before we get into 'Mean Streets' and 'Raging Bull'... In this episode, we consider Marty's Oscar frenemyship, DeNiro's screen qualities, his most famous and best onscreen performances, and, finally...FINALLY...all of his scenes from "Goodfellas" considered from a DeNiro/Jimmy Conway perspective.

In part 3 of my three-episode take on Martin Scorcese and Nicholas Pileggi's masterpiece 'Goodfellas', we pick the film up just after the halfway point, which is Tommy's killing of Spider.  Test audiences and studio executives were completely discombobulated by the loss they felt of the breezy, funny, enjoyable glamorization of the gangster life that the first half of the film represents.  And the descent into depraved, violent madness was a truthfulness that not every audience...or cast member... could embrace immediately. GQ Oral History of Goodfellas.

In Part 2 of my 3-part exploration of the brilliance, humor, and bravura filmmaking of Marty Scorcese's 'Goodfellas', I talk about iconic scenes from the film's first half, including: The Bamboo Lounge Crew Introduction scene with Pete The Killer, Freddie No-Nose, and Jimmy Two Times. The Jimmy/Henry "I'm a clown" scene. The Copa Entrance scene. The Bruce beat-down scene. Morrie's Wigs The Billy Batts Shinebox scene. Tommy's Mom's House. The Spider sequences. This brings us to the halfway point of the film, and the Spider killing represents the turning point, away from the idolization of gangster gods and deathly into the dark heart of the reality of low-level mob-guy life. In Part 3, we'll cover the rest of the film's scenes, including the stupendous extended cocaine sequences.  

This is the first of at least 2 episodes about Martin Scorcese's 1990 masterpiece 'Goodfellas'.  Let's be honest: it'll probably take three episodes to cover all the genius onscreen in this epitome of the perfect film. In this episode, I explore the film's roots in Nick Pileggi's classic non-fiction book 'Wiseguy', and the early involvement of vital creative participants in the film like producer Irwin Winkler, actors Robert DeNiro, Ray Liotta, Joe Pesci, Paul Sorvino, and Lorraine Bracco, and production team members like Micheal Ballhaus and Thelma Schoonmaker. In Episode 2, we'll get into the film itself, covering the iconic scenes, the score, the film's reception and legacy, and more.

RIP Teri Garr.   Star Trek   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WfAP6fJZ1is   After Hours   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZPMDA9N1itk   Tootsie   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vp3nln2xans   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c0pUtIIwGHo   Michael   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0y6NM7Ax9hk   Mr. Mom   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OvQctA3xsoE     Young Frankenstein   https://youtu.be/H4seOhR5ChI?feature=shared&t=8

I'm traveling for work this week so in lieu of a typical episode I'm taking a wild flyer on something new; maybe it'll work maybe it won't! It's a watch-along episode.  It's like sitting next to me at a screening of 'Once Upon A Time In Hollywood' and me talking all the through the movie with salient interjections like "Oh I love this part" and "How cool is Brad??".  THIS IS HOW I FIND THE REAL FCAC HEADS! Should you actually want to watch along with me...there's a countdown a couple minutes into the episode where you can press play on the media of your choice. We should be in sync then.  But no watching is required, you can enjoy this like you would listen to a DVD Commentary as a podcast. What, you don't listen to DVD Commentaries as Podcasts???

Director Mary Herron and her co-screenwriter Guinevere Turner did what 'American Psycho' author Bret Easton Ellis thought was impossible: made a film of his controversial, considered-unfilmable 1991. novel.  And the lens through which they espied Patrick Bateman proved exactly the right way to gain something meaningful out of what, frankly, is a pretty unreadable and repetitive novel. The astonishing lead performance from Christian Bale catapulted him to the stardom and rarified air he continues to occupy as an actor today.  And the performance is a wonder to dissect, if you'll pardon the pun. Featuring a wonderful assortment of supporting actors like Willem Dafoe, Chloe Sevigny, Justin Theroux, Reese Witherspoon, Reg E. Cathey, Josh Lucas, Matt Ross, Jared Leto, Cara Seymour and Samantha Mathis, the film is one of the most essential films about NYC in the 80's.

Brains addled after 'Megalopolis', I attempted and then discarded the idea to do 'Blazing Saddles' but was left wanting. So then, in a way I don't fully understand, but probably having to do with the idea of films that are said to be 'so bad they're good', I somehow arrived at the idea of doing Iain Softley's 1995 film 'Hackers' starring Angelina Jolie in her first onscreen role, Johnny Miller, and pre-fame Wendell Pierce and Felicity Huffman.

I went and saw Francis Ford Coppola's 'Megalopolis' so you don't have to.  You're welcome.

Actor Kathy Baker joins the podcast this week for a very special episode about her 1988 film 'Clean and Sober'. Director Glenn Gordon Caron probably needed a stiff drink or 20 after coming off the tumultuous four-season run of 'Moonlighting' with its famously fractious co-stars.  Instead he chose to direct one of the most underappreciated film gems of the 80's in 'Clean and Sober', co-produced by Ron Howard and starring Michael Keaton, Kathy Baker, Morgan Freeman, and M Emmet Walsh in the story of a commercial real estate broker spiralling into...and reluctantly out of...cocaine and alcohol addiction. Incisively ritten by Tod Carroll, a National Lampoon writer with only two other film credits to date, 'Clean and Sober' was Keaton's first foray into a non-comedic film role, a fact that caused the studio some consternation at the time.  Freeman and Baker were coming off of award-winning roles in 'Street Smart', a Golan-Globus production about a NYC journalist intertwined with a pimp and prostitute, and everyone in the cast of 'Clean and Sober' turned in absolutely phenomenal performances...even Oscar-worthy performances...yet the studio didn't really know how to market or release a film they considered hard-to-define and after only 3 weeks of a summetime release, the film was largely abandoned in the marketplace. In this special episode of the Full Cast and Crew podcast, I talk with Kathy Baker about her indelible role as Charlie, her experiences making the film, and her approaches to acting and the collaborative nature of filmmaking. Join us as we spend some well-deserved time giving 'Clean and Sober' its due as still the best film ever made about the tricky early days of sobriety and digging into Kathy's experiences making the film.  

After two episodes about 'The Shining' and a couple weeks wondering what to do for Episode 200 of the podcast....events at the Presidential Debate pointed me in the direction of 'Peanuts' and the relatively terror-free childhood presented specifically in the 1972 Election special 'You're Not Elected, Charlie Brown'. In this Special, Charlie Brown neither runs for office nor is or isn't elected. But the satirical pleasures abound otherwise in this still-incisive takedown of political and campaign mores and realities. As ever, the incredible music of Vince Guaraldi and his Trio provide accompaniment.  Musings range far and wide in this episode.  Thank you for listening for 200 episodes! 

In Episode 197, I covered much of the backstory and making-of history behind 'The Shining'. In this episode, I cover many of the scenes in the film that I didn't get to in Part 1, along with other commentary and observations about the film, Kubrick, 'Doctor Sleep', and 'Room 237'.  Come and play with us, for ever...and ever...and ever.

I went from not really ever wanting to watch 'The Shining' again...to now doing my first-ever two-part episode!  Funny how often the answer to 'why did that film affect me so much as a child?' turns out to be 'DUH!'. Part 1 covers the origin story of the film, some of the King/Kubrick interplay over the years, the casting, the sound design, the music, and some cinema speculation on what it's all about.  Will post all episode materials and links when I post Part 2, which will cover the design and build of the sets, specific scenes, and MORE.

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 editing of Richard Chew...on and on...what an incredible film. And Paul Brickman would direct only ONE more feature film in his career to date. Astounding.  Worthy of a rare Saturday pod!    

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 expertly-cast superior comedy of its era with a typically warm, truthful, harder-than-it-looks John Candy performance at its center.  It's a pleasant surprise of a great family movie and I hope you'll see it out!

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, but a paen to the joys of live music played at this incredible level of proficiency and a call-to-arms to all musicians especially to make the trek before it's too late!

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?    

Peter Yates' 'Breaking Away' is the greatest Townie Movie of all time. A heart-warming, feel-good film with an extraordinary sense of place.  

Say hello to my little podcast about Brian DePalma and Oliver Stone's 1983 Cocainesterpiece, 'Scarface'.

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 American pre-Code crime film distributed by Warner Brothers, directed by Mervyn LeRoy, and starring Edward G. Robinson, Glenda Farrell, and Douglas Fairbanks Jr.  The Public Enemy (Enemies of the Public in the UK)[6] is a 1931 American pre-Code gangster film produced and distributed by Warner Bros. The film was directed by William A. Wellman and stars James Cagney, Jean Harlow, Edward Woods, Donald Cook and Joan Blondell.    Underworld (also released as Paying the Penalty) is a 1927 American silent crime film directed by Josef von Sternberg[1] and starring Clive Brook, Evelyn Brent and George Bancroft. The film launched Sternberg's eight-year collaboration with Paramount Pictures, with whom he would produce his seven films with actress Marlene Dietrich. Journalist and screenwriter Ben Hecht won an Academy Award for Best Original Story.[2] Watch Scarface on Amazon Prime. Watch Underworld for free here. Watch The Public Enemy on YouTube. Watch Little Caesar on YouTube. Read about the fascinating life of Ben Hecht. Read the BFI 10 Classic 1930's Gangster Films Article.

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 that I find particularly resonates with people who themselves were 10 or 12 years old in the late 70's.

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 to as 'Yacht Rock' was known as "The West Coast Sound" and that meant it had characteristics such as being recording in Los Angeles between, roughly, 1972 and 1982, or that heavy session musicians played on the tracks, tracks that often featured electric piano, lyrical tales of romantic failure and ennui, layered backing vocals, and light jazz and R&B elements.  In this episode I recount my journey from a Yacht Rock generalist, to someone who now believes there is a pure YR essence, discernible in the tracks I reference in this episode...and there are other songs considered Yacht Rock that don't really belong in the canon.  For example, by my analysis, Steely Dan and Hall & Oates: Not Yacht Rock due to a combination of not being recorded in Los Angeles and being outside the scope lyrically and compositionally. But as my friend and YR Guiding Light Rick Brown says: half the fun is debating what belongs and what doesn't. In preparing the episode I came to believe strongly in the qualitative superiority of the tracks recorded in Los Angeles. I think it's demonstrable upon hearing them.  For the sake of your ears, I prepared two Spotify Playlists: Yacht Rock: Recorded In LA And Yacht Rock: Nyacht From LA I also explore a few examples of really fun outlier tunes from unexpected sources and encourage you to suggest additional songs that do or don't fit the criteria. Thanks for listening, and do me a favor and share this or your favorite episode with one or two friends who you think might enjoy it!   Jason

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.

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.  

Some thoughts on an extraordinary in-person collective entertainment experience...remember those??

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 featuring the incredible actors who brought the characters of Luv, Joi, Madam, and Dr. Stelline to life: Sylvia Hoeks, Ana de Armas, Carla Juri, and Robin Wright.

Denis Villenueve's masterpiece 2nd part of his 'Dune' trilogy.