The B-Side: A Film Stage Podcast

Welcome to The B-Side! Here we talk about movie directors! Not the movies that made them famous or kept them famous, but the ones that they made in between.  Today we discuss Mike Leigh, one of our greatest living filmmakers. Born in England in 1943, Leigh remains an artist for the everyday person more than most. And this descriptor is quite reductive, as the writer/director's aesthetic is deceivingly simple and incredibly effective. Our B-Sides are Life is Sweet, Career Girls, All or Nothing, and Peterloo. Our guest is Alex Heeney, Editor-in-Chief of The Seventh Row, co-author of Peterloo in Process, and host of the Seventh Row Podcast. They've covered several of Leigh's films on the podcast, including Naked and Hard Truths.  Heeney also put together a short guide just for our listeners! It features a standout 2024 release that's flown under the radar — with characters as rich and layered as Leigh's best. It includes a spoiler-free intro, where to watch, and a few thoughtful prompts to deepen the experience. We talk with Heeney about Leigh's unique, collaborative development for each new film, his early work with the BBC and Channel 4 (Bleak Moments, Meantime, High Hopes among others) before Life is Sweet's modest breakout success.  There's also discussion about Secrets & Lies and the immediate follow-up Career Girls, which feels in many ways like a companion to Naked. We also debate whether or not the flashbacks in Career Girls are the product of memory or a more traditional narrative construction. We celebrate the breadth of Timothy Spall's range in Leigh's films (including his powerful turn in All or Nothing), Dan praises Leigh's incredible short film A Sense of History. We chat over our favorite Mike Leigh films and some of his films that haven't worked as well for us. And above all else, we marvel at his ability to find the truth in his characters, big and small. You can subscribe here. Be sure to give us a follow on Bluesky at @tfsbside.bsky.social. Enjoy!

Welcome to The B-Side! Here we talk about movie stars! Not the movies that made them famous or kept them famous, but the ones that they made in between. Today we return to one of our earlier subjects: Ryan Gosling! Our B-Sides are The Ides of March, Gangster Squad, Only God Forgives, and First Man. Our guest is our dear friend Cory Everett, creator of Cinephile: A Card Game! We talk about Gosling's television career as a young man, his quick rise to stardom, and surprise nomination for Half Nelson fairly early on in his run. He's been searching for his lifelong directorial muse. There's been Derek Cianfrance, Nicolas Winding Refn, and Damien Chazelle. Will he ever find the one? There's that iconic Rachel McAdams kiss at the MTV Movie Awards, the acceleration of his “coolness” after the success of The Notebook all the way through the release of Drive, and that iconic, ever-changing voice of his. There's also those beautiful, weird Gosling eyes. There's also discussion about George Clooney as a filmmaker, his first film and Charlie Kaufman dislike of it, and his progression (regression?) as a director. The merits of Winding Refn are also debated. We all remember when William Friedkin ridiculed Nicolas Winding Refn for calling Only God Forgives a masterpiece. And if you have not as of yet, you should watch the documentary My Life Directed by Nicolas Winding Refn. Listen and subscribe at thefilmstage.com/pod. Be sure to give us a follow on Bluesky at @tfsbside.bsky.social. Enjoy!

Welcome to The B-Side! Here we talk about movie stars! Not the movies that made them famous or kept them famous, but the ones that they made in between. Today we discuss Clint Eastwood, the director and the movie star. Our B-Sides are Breezy, White Hunter Black Heart, Blood Work, Flags of Our Fathers, and The Mule. Our guest is the impeccable Mitchell Beaupre, Managing Editor at Letterboxd. We talk about Clint's Casper cameo and how that was probably the first thing all three of us saw him in a movie, John Wayne's disdain for Eastwood's on-screen persona, his uncanny direction of actors as well as his smart casting (ahem, The 15:17 to Paris notwithstanding) of actors. Often, if Clint is in one of his own movies, he will surround himself with talent as good (if not better) than himself. There's significant appreciation for his underseen Honkytonk Man, there's honest discussion of his ambitious performance in White Hunter Black Heart (playing a version of filmmaker John Huston), and we three reappraise his Flags of Our Fathers nearly twenty years after its underwhelming release. It's way better than you remember! Additional topics include Spielberg's protégés (from Phil Joanou to Kevin Reynolds to Brad Silberling), Breezy's beautiful rendering of the post-60s counterculture depression, and Blood Work's silly (and wonderful) twist ending. Listen and subscribe at thefilmstage.com/pod. Be sure to give us a follow on Bluesky at @tfsbside.bsky.social. Enjoy!

Welcome to The B-Side! Here we talk about movie stars! Not the movies that made them famous or kept them famous, but the ones that they made in between. It's a day to celebrate! We discuss the legend Maggie Cheung! Our B-Sides include Lost Romance (a.k.a. Story of Rose), Full Moon in New York, Green Snake, and Sausalito. Our esteemed guest for this episode is Nick Newman, host of the Emulsion podcast for The Film Stage. We talk about the Hong Kong New Wave, Maggie's aborted performance in Inglourious Basterds, the true B-Sidey-Ness of Sausalito, and Maggie Cheung's brief, lovely, recent Sight and Sound interview. There's also Nick's Sight and Sound List, that GQ piece, Julia Ormond's tackling a famous Audrey Hepburn role, and Nick's great interview with filmmaker Olivier Assayas back in 2022. By 2004, at the young age of forty, Cheung retired from acting. Her legacy has only cemented further in the decades since her final films, something we discuss in this episode as well. Be sure to subscribe at thefilmstage.com/pod and give us a follow on Bluesky at @tfsbside.bsky.social. Enjoy!

Welcome to The B-Side! Here we talk about movie stars! Not the movies that made them famous or kept them famous, but the ones that they made in between. Today we talk about the great Debra Winger! Our B-Sides include Legal Eagles, Betrayed, The Sheltering Sky, and Forget Paris. Our guest is the inestimable Murtada Elfadl, Culture Writer, Critic, and Film Curator. We discuss Winger's stratospheric rise to stardom, her indescribable performance in Terms of Endearment, and her (unfair?) reputation for being “difficult.” There's also plenty of discussion about Rosanna Arquette's documentary Searching for Debra Winger, a film in which Arquette speaks with many famous actresses about aging in Hollywood. The motivation of the piece was partly motivated by Winger's exodus from the business for over half a decade in the mid-1990s. There's also conversation about Shirley MacLaine's 1984 Oscars speech, Tom Berenger being deeply proud of Betrayed and his performance in the film, and all those NBA players that appear in Forget Paris. Janet Maslin and Roger Ebert's superb reviews of Betrayed are mentioned, as is Debra's perfect laugh. Finally, we touch on when Raquel Welch sued MGM and won for being fired from Cannery Row (Winger replaced her in the role), Winger's dropping out of A League of Their Own after Madonna was cast, Melanie Griffith and William Hurt being director Bernardo Bertolucci's first choices for the leads in The Sheltering Sky, and Debra Winger's infamous Watch What Happens Live episode. Be sure to give us a follow on Bluesky at @tfsbside.bsky.social. Enjoy!

Welcome to The B-Side! Here we talk about movie directors! Not the movies that made them famous or kept them famous, but the ones that they made in between. Today we talk about two American icons: Joel and Ethan Coen. Our guest is an icon all his own: Stephen Sajdak from the We Hate Movies podcast! We discuss the B-Sides The Hudsucker Proxy, The Man Who Wasn't There, Intolerable Cruelty, and Burn After Reading. There's also time given to their remake The Ladykillers. We make many references to Adam Nayman's well-researched and well-considered book The Coen Brothers This Book Really Ties the Films Together, explore the critical success the filmmakers had with Fargo, and how they filmed The Man Who Wasn't There in color and then printed it to black-and-white film. Other topics include the Coen Brothers' film Hail Caesar! and their childhood fascination with biblical epics like Quo Vadis, their amazing commentary on The Man Who Wasn't There disc, Spielberg's advice to George Clooney on how to become a movie star, or that time Clooney recalled being bewildered that Quentin Tarantino thought the two of them looked alike while they were promoting From Dusk Till Dawn. Finally, Tracy Zooms In comes up (obviously), the new Barry Levinson gangster picture The Alto Knights, and the James Gandolfini holiday picture Surviving Christmas. Be sure to give us a follow on social at @tfsbside.bsky.social.

Welcome to The B-Side! Here we talk about movie directors! Not the movies that made them famous or kept them famous, but the ones that they made in between. Today we talk about two legends: Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger! Our B-Sides include I Know Where I'm Going!, The Small Back Room, Gone to Earth, and The Elusive Pimpernel. Our guest is the legend Katie Walsh, podcaster and film critic at the Tribune News Service & LA Times. We talk about her lovely experiences watching Powell & Pressburger restoration prints on the big screen, the extent of moviegoing etiquette (put that phone down please!), and the Frank Marshall creature feature Arachnophobia. Also discussed is Powell's infamous (and masterful) opus Peeping Tom, the duo's later work (Oh... Rosalinda!!, The Battle of the River Plate), Powell's autobiography, and the career of Jennifer Jones. Be sure to give us a follow on social at @tfsbside.bsky.social.

Welcome to The B-Side! Here we talk to movie stars! About a movie that people love and the hidden gems they've also made! We were lucky enough to speak with Amy Irving and Peter Riegert, on the occasion of the Criterion release of Joan Micklin Silver's Crossing Delancey. We discuss the legacy of the film nearly forty years later. With Irving we touch on Honeysuckle Rose, Carried Away, and her new music album. With Riegert we talk about Chilly Scenes of Winter (also directed by Micklin Silver), the feature he directed, King of the Corner, and the eclectic rangle of characters he's played over the years. Additionally, we mention Steven Soderbergh's oeuvre (they were both in Traffic!), the actor's directorial debuts Riegert starred in (Infinity and Jerry & Tom specifically), and how they've both grown as performers over time. Be sure to give us a follow on social at @TFSBSide. Also enter our giveaways, get access to our private Slack channel, and support new episodes by becoming a Patreon contributor.

Welcome to The B-Side, from The Film Stage. Here we usually talk about movie stars and not the movies that made them famous or kept them famous, but the ones they made in between. Today, however, we talk about Oscar movies (!), or better yet, movies that remind us of Oscar movies! Conor and I welcome back the lovely Joe Reid (co-host of This Had Oscar Buzz, creator of Cinematrix, and Vulture's Movies Fantasy League) & Chris Feil (co-host of This Had Oscar Buzz and writer of a series of great pieces of Oscar history for Vanity Fair). Today, we each choose a movie adjacent to a current Best Picture Oscar nominee. The movies include Seconds, The Name of the Rose, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, and The Wolverine. Also discussed is filmmaker Bill Morrison's nomination for his incredible short film Incident, Jean-Jacques Annaud's 1981 film Quest for Fire, and our recent This Had Oscar Buzz guest appearance talking about The Devil's Own. Additionally, there's conversation about Rob McElhenney's Hot Ones episode (in which he discusses the trauma of being cut out of The Devil's Own as a young actor!), the “Hellfire” sequence in Hunchback, and how exactly The Wolverine counts as a B-Side. Be sure to give us a follow on Bluesky at @tfsbside.bsky.social. Enjoy!

Happy Valentine's Day from The B-Side! Here we talk about movie directors! Not the movies that made them famous or kept them famous, but the ones that they made in between. Today we appreciate one of the great, under-appreciated Hollywood directors: Peter Hyams! Our B-Sides include Peeper, Hanover Street, The Star Chamber, 2010: The Year We Make Contact, and Running Scared. Our guest is Mike Ryan, great writer, interviewer, and deep fan of Hyams' eclectic body of work. Sudden Death is a favorite, along with 2010. We discuss the auteur versus the “workman director,” why some filmmakers gather an intense following and others don't, and the lasting effect many of Hyams' films have had on the culture as well as other filmmakers. There's much talk about Hyams' ability as a cinematographer, and how rare it is to be a director that films their own movies.  Mike makes the case that 2010 is more watchable than 2001: A Space Odyssey, Conor attempts to get over how corrupt Billy Crystal and Gregory Hines are as cops in Running Scared, and Dan sings the praises of Hyams' Narrow Margin. There's extended conversation about Robert Blake, co-star of Hyams' debut Busting, an appreciation of director John Badham (specifically Blue Thunder), and a reflection on the enormity of the production of End of Days. Be sure to give us a follow on social at @TFSBSide. Also enter our giveaways, get access to our private Slack channel, and support new episodes by becoming a Patreon contributor.

Welcome to The B-Side! Here we talk about movie stars! Not the movies that made them famous or kept them famous, but the ones that they made in between.  Today we talk about someone who is one of the most well-liked celebrities alive: Queen Latifah! Our guest today is KT from the great podcast "For Your Reference." Our B-Sides today are: Living Out Loud, Last Holiday, Just Wright, and Joyful Noise. We also discuss Queen's book, her iconic BET Lifetime Achievement Award Speech, her music career, and her chances of making it to E.G.O.T. status. There's lively discussion about her undeniable, universal likeability, her impeccable taste in leading men, a deep appreciation for Michael Ealy, and complements to Queen's performance in Bessie.  There's respect paid to the full life she's lived, there's criticism levelled at the basketball Common plays in Just Wright, as well as a thorough discussion of Paula Patton's contributions to the film. We marvel at the ‘90s sheen of Living Out Loud and the timelessness of Last Holiday's message and positive energy. And, finally, there's that scene between Queen Latifah and Dolly Parton in Joyful Noise. Be sure to give us a follow on social at @TFSBSide. Also enter our giveaways, get access to our private Slack channel, and support new episodes by becoming a Patreon contributor.

Welcome to The B-Side! Here we talk about movie stars and move directors! Not the movies that made them famous or kept them famous, but the ones that they made in between. Sometimes we are lucky enough to even speak with them about their work. And sometimes, they are both a movie star and a movie director. Today that's Julia Stiles, director of Wish You Were Here, now in theaters and available digitally on February 4th. Our B-Sides today include O, The Business of Strangers, and It's a Disaster. Stiles discusses the filmmakers she's worked with in the past and how they influenced her decisions sitting in the director's chair (the best ones “set a tone of calmness” she says), making friends on the South Carolina set of O, and becoming more intentional with the creative choices in her career (including auditioning for Silver Linings Playbook). We also chat about Wish You Were Here, her feature debut as a filmmaker. Stiles mentions guarding against the saccharine to tell “a mature love story.” There's also considerable praise of lead actress Isabelle Fuhrman and her incredible range, as well as a story about calling filmmaker Doug Liman for sailing advice. Speaking of Liman, Dan and Conor take a moment to unpack Nicky Parsons from the Bourne franchise, the efforts(?) of Tony Gilroy, and a crucial line read in Ultimatum that adds so much depth to Stiles' role. Finally, we cover how exactly Stiles got the great Vanessa Carlton and her partner John McCauley to do the score to her film. Early 2000s icons unite! And there is a brief, insightful conversation on why exactly Stiles chose to do all of those Shakespeare adaptations early on in her career. Be sure to give us a follow on social at @tfsbside.bsky.social. Also enter our giveaways, get access to our private Slack channel, and support new episodes by becoming a Patreon contributor.

Giving the performance of his career as László Tóth, Adrien Brody is the magnificent center of Brady Corbet's intimate yet sprawling epic The Brutalist. Emigrating from Hungary following the Holocaust to restart his architectural ambitions in America under the patronage of Harrison Lee Van Buren (Guy Pearce), Brody's layered performance is one of passion, persistence, and pain. With the film now in limited release, We spoke with Brody, who returned to The B-Side to discuss the personal history that helped him prepare for his performance, how the film is a metaphor for artist-driven filmmaking, some of his most overlooked performances, and getting to act with Beyoncé.

Happy Holidays from The B-Side! Here we talk about movie stars! Not the movies that made them famous or kept them famous, but the ones that they made in between. Today we discuss the incomparable Al Pacino with the returning Mitchell Beaupre! Our B-Sides today include Bobby Deerfield, Revolution, Frankie & Johnny, and Danny Collins. We discuss Pacino's legacy (is he our greatest living actor?), his Oscar win for Scent of a Woman (what a silly plot that movie has!), and his deeply earnest autobiography Sonny Boy.  We dish on what doesn't work about Bobby Deerfield (for one, it's too quiet), what does work about Revolution (hint: it's the production design), how Michelle Pfeiffer was unfairly criticized for Frankie & Johnny, and why Danny Collins is much better than you think. Conor asks: Is Adam Sandler the new Pacino? Mitchell asks: Was Pacino's smallness in Bobby Deerfield and its failure a primary reason he stayed big for so long? Dan asks: Hey Baby Doll, what's going on? There's a reflection on Dan's problematic review of Jack & Jill from over thirteen years ago (yikes!), a tacit comparison between Pacino and Kenneth Branagh (whose recent King Lear production has been criticized, though we thoroughly enjoyed it), and a recollection of Jerry Weintraub helping Ellen Barkin with Ocean's Thirteen. Be sure to give us a follow on social at @TFSBSide. Also enter our giveaways, get access to our private Slack channel, and support new episodes by becoming a Patreon contributor.

A benefactor to Adrien Brody's architect character László Tóth, the patronage of Guy Pearce's wealthy Harrison Lee Van Buren eventually metastasizes into something far darker as Brady Corbet's The Brutalist examines balances of power and privilege. Giving one of the best performances of his career, Pearce initially brings a boisterous levity before the film's central partnership curdles. With the film now in limited release, we spoke with Pearce, who returned to The B-Side to discuss the insecurities and egoism at the heart of his character, the humor of the film, an overlooked performance you should seek out, his painful conversations with Adrien Brody about The Thin Red Line, and more.

BONUS Ep. – Alessandro Nivola on "The Brutalist" by The Film Stage

Happy Holidays from The B-Side! Here we talk about movie stars! Not the movies that made them famous or kept them famous, but the ones that they made in between. Today we discuss the great Jack Lemmon with the great Mitchell Beaupre! Our B-Sides today include Cowboy, The April Fools, Tribute, and Out to Sea. There's also a lengthy appreciation of Save the Tiger, which won Lemmon his second Oscar. The three of us try to define how exactly Lemmon so perfectly encapsulated the average, American male for so many decades, while digging into his long career, that includes both filmmaker Billy Wilder and Walter Matthau. We discuss how Cowboy was ahead of its time, how The April Fools skates by on immense, charming chemistry, and how Tribute falters due to a stunted co-lead (sorry Robby Benson!).  There's a lot in this episode. A true holiday gift! We appreciate the great film critic Janet Maslin. We recount that time when Ving Rhames won a Golden Globe and called Lemmon on stage to gift him the award out of respect. There's a brief reflection on the strange career of Tribute director Bob Clark, a discovery that our greatest living cinematographer lensed 80 for Brady, and an appropriate acknowledgement that Dyan Cannon, co-star of Out to Sea, makes every film better. Be sure to give us a follow on social at @TFSBSide. Also enter our giveaways, get access to our private Slack channel, and support new episodes by becoming a Patreon contributor.

Happy Thanksgiving from The B-Side! Here we talk about movie directors! Not the movies that made them famous or kept them famous, but the ones that they made in between. Today, for our 150th(!) episode, we are thankful for Ridley Scott! As Gladiator II reigns supreme at the box office, our B-Sides today include Legend, Matchstick Men, Exodus: Gods and Kings, and The Last Duel. Our esteemed guest Maria Lewis - “best-selling author, screenwriter, film curator and pop culture etymologist currently based in Australia - is back! Much is discussed over two-and-a-half glorious hours. Ridler's pioneering Apple Ad; his recent breakneck pace as filmmaker; his movies being on Australian television constantly; and his production empire. Maria laments her experience watching Legend for the first time while Dan and Conor celebrate the film's importance in their childhood. Ridley's fascination with death comes up, as do the competing Christopher Columbus film projects in 1992. There's talk of his legacy and Ridley's consideration of it. The “best intentions” of The Last Duel are discussed at length (name a woman!), as are the top-notch performances and the disappointing box office. Dan also fumbles over a tacit defense of G.I. Jane. It's embarrassing! Be sure to give us a follow on social at @TFSBSide. Also enter our giveaways, get access to our private Slack channel, and support new episodes by becoming a Patreon contributor.

Welcome to The B-Side! Here we talk about movie stars! Not the movies that made them famous or kept them famous, but the ones that they made in between. Today we gush (and hush) over Gwyneth Paltrow with our past, present, and future guest Cory Everett, creator of Cinephile: A Card Game and the ever-expanding My First Movie books! Our B-Sides today are: Flesh and Bone, Hard Eight, Hush, and Sliding Doors. The main focus revolves around her banner year of 1998. Paltrow had FIVE films released in ‘98, including Shakespeare in Love, which won her an Oscar. We talk about her superb SNL opening monologue from 1999 (and her cameo in Ben Affleck's monologue the next year), her deep cultural resonance at the time (some credit her for bringing the color pink back into fashion), the films she made before and after Emma, and her waning movie star era after the year 2000. Of the nearly fifty films in which she has appeared, there have been precious few since 2010 that were not Marvel movies. There was, of course, Mortdecai. And, perhaps most famously, her lifestyle company Goop. There's Hush's infamous test screenings and wig-heavy reshoots (years later, Jessica Lange called the film “a piece of shit”), Sliding Doors' haircuts and soundtrack, and Flesh and Bone's slow-cooked, well-worn dramatics. Also mentioned is that amazing Patrick Doyle score for Great Expectations, The Film Stage's Holiday Gift Guide, And then there's Duets and Gwyneth's hit cover song “Cruisin'” with Huey Lewis. Be sure to give us a follow on Twitter and Facebook at @TFSBSide. Also enter our giveaways, get access to our private Slack channel, and support new episodes by becoming a Patreon contributor.

Happy Halloween from The B-Side! Here we talk about movie stars! Not the movies that made them famous or kept them famous, but the ones that they made in between. Today we talk about one of the greats––Vincent Price! Our guest this episode––as with every Halloween episode––is Gavin Mevius, co-host of The Mixed Reviews Podcast of The Glitterjaw Queer Podcast Collective. Make sure you listen to their own comprehensive episode on Vincent Price as well! Our B-Sides today are: The Baron of Arizona, Champagne for Caesar, War-Gods of the Deep, and finally Cry of the Banshee. We talk about Price, his interesting life and family history, and the diversity of roles he took on, some reflected in the above B-Sides. Price's Nic Cage-like professional prolific-ness and “respect for the dollar” comes up, as does the real-life Charles Van Doren quiz show scandal from the ‘50s (the basis for the masterful Robert Redford film Quiz Show). There's mention of the growing respect of filmmaker Samuel Fuller over the years as well as an appreciation of the great Jacques Tourneur and a brief delve into underwater photography. We mention this insightful comedy observation from Tina Fey, this incredible Bill Hader impersonation (and this one), and Price's iconic work as Ratigan in The Great Mouse Detective. Last but not least, we discuss Gavin's upcoming, exciting The Q Division Podcast, A James Bond Movie Marathon. Be sure to give us a follow on Twitter and Facebook at @TFSBSide. Also enter our giveaways, get access to our private Slack channel, and support new episodes by becoming a Patreon contributor.

Happy Halloween from The B-Side! Here we talk about movie directors! Not the movies that made them famous or kept them famous, but the ones that they made in between. Today we talk about Tim Burton! The man! The brand! The artist! The director! The lothario (complimentary)! The B-Sides today include Mars Attacks!, Sleepy Hollow, Planet of the Apes, and Frankenweenie. Our esteemed guest is Maria Lewis, “best-selling author, screenwriter, film curator and pop culture etymologist currently based in Australia.”  As Beetlejuice Beetlejuice still rakes in money in theaters, we discuss Burton's influence, whether or not he's actually a good director (something Burton himself has questioned in the past), his best films and his worst films, his inspirations, and the love-and-hate relationship with Disney from the very beginning of his career. There is also the observation that most of Tim Burton's films are some version of Alice in Wonderland. Including, ahem, Alice in Wonderland. Also discussed is Maria's very cool podcast “The Phantom Never Dies,” about the superhero serial character The Phantom. Another important mention is Milicent Patrick, the woman who designed the creature from the Creature from the Black Lagoon film. And finally, we take the time to appreciate the incredibly underrated Australian film director Simon Wincer.  Be sure to give us a follow on Twitter and Facebook at @TFSBSide. Also enter our giveaways, get access to our private Slack channel, and support new episodes by becoming a Patreon contributor. 

Welcome to The B-Side, from The Film Stage. Here we talk about movie stars! Not the movies that made them famous or kept them famous, but the ones that they made in between. Today is Barbra Streisand day! And what a day it is. Just one day after Babs herself announced the start to production of her approved documentary film, in which she plans to unveil the creative contents of her quite famous vault, we here at The B-Side tackle some of the legend's lesser-seen films. They include The Owl and the Pussycat, Up the Sandbox, For Pete's Sake, Nuts, and The Guilt Trip. Our guest on this long-in-the-making journey is Chris Feil, co-host of the incredible This Had Oscar Buzz podcast.  We talk about the autobiography in all of its glory. We talk about Barbra's early years, Barbra's late years, her passion for design, her complicated history with movie directors, and her best albums. There's also hefty discussion about A-side Yentl, and why it's funnier and sexier than you remember. It's also a masterpiece.  There's debate about how much The Guilt Trip ultimately worked, how exactly Barbra mastered playing a “regular person” by the time The Prince of Tides comes around, and how Nuts would've been better if Barbra had directed it. Additional highlights include mistaking Philip Bosco for Karl Malden, celebrating Richard Dreyfuss playing bothered to perfection, and Chris' post-TIFF takes. Mike Leigh and Marianne Jean-Baptiste save us! And just to note, if you're in NYC for NYFF62, come on out to one (or all!) of our four Cinephile Game Nights, on 9/28. 9/29, 9/30, and 10/8! You can win festival tickets among a bunch of other cool prizes. AND if you're looking for more B-Side adjacent fun, we're taking part in Vulture's Movies Fantasy League: The Podcaster Division throughout awards season! You can join our min-league The Bsiders, or make a team of your own! Be sure to give us a follow on Twitter and Facebook at @TFSBSide. Also enter our giveaways, get access to our private Slack channel, and support new episodes by becoming a Patreon contributor. 

Welcome to The B-Side, from The Film Stage. Here we talk about movie stars! Not the movies that made them famous or kept them famous, but the ones that they made in between. Today we return to discuss a living legend with a big, new, ambitious project. Perhaps his most ambitious project yet! Our subject is Kevin Costner, the great American filmmaker whose new film Horizon: An American Saga – Chapter 1 is now available to rent or buy on VOD. Sadly, Horizon: An American Saga - Chapter 2 has been postponed to a later time in order to allow for a wider audience to discover Chapter 1. Our B-Sides this time around include No Way Out, Revenge, The Upside of Anger, and Let Him Go. Filmmaker Chadd Harbold joins us. His new film Crumb Catcher, directed by Chris Skotchdopole and produced by Harbold, is now in theaters. We discuss Costner's origin story, his brilliance at self-mythology, his humble egotism, and the incredible run of success from 1987 through 1992. There's the story of how Costner wanted to direct Revenge but lost out thanks to producer Ray Stark. There's Madonna's infamous reaction to Costner's use of the word “neat” after one of her shows in Madonna: Truth or Dare (“Anybody who says my show is neat has to go.” Also, watch Warren Beatty age in real time). There's the incredible chemistry between Costner and Diane Lane in Let Him Go (and Man of Steel for that matter). Costner is a relic of another time. He represents an ambition that does not really exist anymore in Hollywood. Celebrated and criticized in equal measure over these past four decades, here is an artist still striving for individuality and greatness. Be sure to give us a follow on Twitter and Facebook at @TFSBSide. Also enter our giveaways, get access to our private Slack channel, and support new episodes by becoming a Patreon contributor.

Welcome to The B-Side, from The Film Stage. Here we talk about movie stars! Not the movies that made them famous or kept them famous, but the ones that they made in between. Today we talk about the best Chris - Chris Pine of course! Our B-Sides include Small Town Saturday Night, People Like Us, The Finest Hours, Outlaw King, All The Old Knives, and Poolman. It's a packed episode! And it's just Conor and Dan, ripping it up like the old days.  A lot of the conversation revolves around how charming Pine is. There's also discussion of that underwhelming ending of The Finest Hours, what about Small Town Saturday Night resonates with young filmmakers, the brave opening of Outlaw King, the old-fashioned crackle of All The Old Knives (and that incredible restaurant location), and the lackluster direction of People Like Us. Questions are asked such as: Is there anything better than a tired spy? Who is the best Jack Ryan? Why does this Big Daddy clip feature the funniest ADR line in the history of cinema? Additional topics include Jordan and Dan's fateful trip to see an early screening of Avatar in late 2009, the stark difference (despite career similarities) between Pine and Ryan Reynolds, the incredible show Psych, and this spot-on Bilge Ebiri article about the Argylle release and why it matters. Finally, Conor and Dan try to understand why people hate the very charming, very Los Angeles Poolman so much. Though there should've been more pool stuff in Poolman! One correction: Safe House came out 2012, not 2010. Sorry about that! Be sure to give us a follow on Twitter and Facebook at @TFSBSide. Also enter our giveaways, get access to our private Slack channel, and support new episodes by becoming a Patreon contributor.

Welcome to The B-Side, from The Film Stage. Here we talk about filmmakers! Not the films that made them famous or kept them famous, but the ones that they made in between. Today, as a sort of B-Side to our own recent Bruce Willis B-Side episode, Dan speaks to screenwriter Daniel Waters about Hudson Hawk! And much, much, much more! Daniel and Dan talk about the overnight success of Heathers getting made, the overnight failure of Hudson Hawk, followed by the complicated reaction to Batman Returns. Oh, and what about the three seashells in Demolition Man? They also discuss Renny Harlin and The Adventures of Ford Fairlane, that incredible Sandra Bullock performance, and his underseen directorial efforts (Happy Campers and Sex and Death 101). Questions asked and answered include: what happened to all of the individual style in screenplays? Why does everybody save the cat these days? Is there a reason there have been two different homages to Hudson Hawk in big 2024 blockbusters? Is writing a novel fun after spending three decades writing screenplays? Is Mark Waters' best film really Freaky Friday? Be sure to give us a follow on Twitter and Facebook at @TFSBSide. Also enter our giveaways, get access to our private Slack channel, and support new episodes by becoming a Patreon contributor.

Welcome to The B-Side, from The Film Stage. Here we talk about movie stars! Not the movies that made them famous or kept them famous, but the ones that they made in between. Today we talk about Bruce Willis, one of our great American movie stars. A man with perfect angles and a perfectly imperfect hairline. The man who spoke up for Seagram's Golden when nobody else would. It's wet and it's dry. Play that harmonica, Bruno! Our guest today is the great Jen Johans, host of the Watch With Jen podcast. Our B-Sides include In Country, Mortal Thoughts, Disney's The Kid, and Richard Donner's final film, 16 Blocks. We discuss Willis' early career, his propensity to try new things, and the sad and unfair dismissal of Hudson Hawk. We examine how his acting chops evolved throughout a very turbulent ‘90s decade, culminating in an incredible run of success birthed from a controversial, canceled movie called Broadway Brawler. There's a lot of love for the underrated crime comedy Bandits, that song he did with June Pointer (seek out the album The Return of Bruno and the companion “documentary” if you get a few free minutes today), and the lovely Robert Benton picture Nobody's Fool. And then there's that opening car chase in Striking Distance. Incredible work there. Oh, and that cameo in The Player. And finally, in honor of our subject, please go to https://aphasia.org/ and donate if you are so inclined. Here's to you Bruce, you're one of one. Be sure to give us a follow on Twitter and Facebook at @TFSBSide. Also enter our giveaways, get access to our private Slack channel, and support new episodes by becoming a Patreon contributor.

Welcome to The B-Side, from The Film Stage. Here we talk about movie directors! Not the movies that made them famous or kept them famous, but the ones that they made in between. Today we talk about one of the great ones: Martin Scorsese. Who's better than Marty? Dan, Conor, and guest Jake Kring-Schreifels. Our B-Sides today include Italianamerican, Kundun, Bringing Out the Dead, and Silence. We talk about a lot in this one. How to pronounce Scorsese! How to pronounce Coppola! Catholicism! Buddhism! Making films about religions in your life! This is an episode with lofty ambitions, not unlike most Scorsese pictures! In examining Italianamerican we muse on Marty as documentarian, including the mention of an incredibly-underrated Scorsese documentary that's hard to find: Public Speaking starring Fran Lebowitz. We reflect on the guardedness of memory by older generations (and how that may reveal itself in this new, Covid-stung generation). We also recount the Muddy Waters - László Kovács story from the set of The Last Waltz, We parse Marty's constant wrestle with faith in Bringing Out the Dead, and how its gentler, compassionate qualities weave into Kundun and Silence, all of which feature some of the best collaborations in his career. Additional writing from Jake includes his superb oral history of The Wolf of Wall Street (also linking to Fran Hoepfner's great piece on the same movie on Bright Wall Dark Room), a recent great piece on stunts tied to the release of The Fall Guy, and a lovely interview with the director of Saved! In celebration of its twenty-year anniversary. Be sure to give us a follow on Twitter and Facebook at @TFSBSide. Also enter our giveaways, get access to our private Slack channel, and support new episodes by becoming a Patreon contributor.

Welcome to The B-Side, from The Film Stage. Here we talk about movie stars! Not the movies that made them famous or kept them famous, but the ones that they made in between. And sometimes if we're lucky we talk to movie stars about their B-Sides! Today we talk to the great Eric Bana about Eric Bana B-Sides on the occasion of the release of his new film, Force of Nature: The Dry 2, now available in theaters and on VOD. Our B-Sides today include: Lucky You, Romulus, My Father, and The Secret Scripture. Bana discusses why Lucky You maybe didn't connect with audiences in 2007, how Romulus, My Father is actually quite the A-Side in Australia, and the need to be malleable when working with somebody like director Jim Sheridan. We also talk about Bana's detective influences for the Aaron Falk character in The Dry films, why Munich was strangely received upon release, and why his performance in Roland Joffé's The Forgiven (co-starring Forest Whitaker as Desmond Tutu) is one of his favorites in his career. Special shout-out to good friend Mitchell Beaupre's great interview with Bana earlier this year, which is referenced quite a bit here. Be sure to give us a follow on Twitter and Facebook at @TFSBSide. Also enter our giveaways, get access to our private Slack channel, and support new episodes by becoming a Patreon contributor.

Welcome to The B-Side, from The Film Stage. Here we talk about movie directors! Not the movies that made them famous or kept them famous, but the ones that they made in between. Today we speak to Nancy Savoca, the great filmmaker whose sophomore feature Dogfight is now available via Criterion. The digitally-restored, director-approved Blu-Ray includes new commentary from Savoca and producer Richard Guay, a new interview with Savoca and actor Lili Taylor conducted by filmmaker Mary Harron, and a great essay by film critic Christina Newland, among other features. We speak with Savoca about Missing Movies, her mentors John Sayles and Maggie Renzi, her first film True Love, directing singular performers like River Phoenix and Lili Taylor, and the HBO creativity boom of the mid-to-late ‘90s (including Carl Franklin's Laurel Avenue and Cher and Savoca's If These Walls Could Talk), and lesser-seen gems of Savoca's that she hopes viewers will be able to see soon (including Dirt from the early 2000s an the recently restored and released Household Saints from 1993). Be sure to give us a follow on Twitter and Facebook at @TFSBSide. Also enter our giveaways, get access to our private Slack channel, and support new episodes by becoming a Patreon contributor.

Welcome to The B-Side, from The Film Stage. Here we talk about movie stars! Not the movies that made them famous or kept them famous, but the ones that they made in between. Today we talk about the movie star. The person who if you looked up “movie star” in the dictionary there would be a picture of him. Robert Redford!  Today we talk the esteemed career of the quintessential movie star. Our B-Sides include: The Hot Rock, The Great Waldo Pepper, Havana, and The Last Castle. Our guest today is Blake Howard, podcast producer, host, and really good guy. Check out One Heat Minute Productions for everything new and relevant in Blake's world.  We discuss a million things, from why The Hot Rock is so hard to find, to the airplane stunts in The Great Waldo Pepper, to why Havana doesn't work. There's an investigation into the politics of The Last Castle, a brief celebration of Lena Olin, and a quick rave for Jordan Harper's searing short story “My Savage Year.” Additional topics include that upcoming City of Hope release, why Peter Yates is “slow vibes central,” why great screenwriter William Goldman knew why The Great Waldo Pepper underwhelmed at the box office (from his book Adventures in the Screen Trade), and how exactly the A-Side The Natural literally looks like nostalgia. Finally, we mention why Raul Julia didn't take a credit on Havana, we reference that superb Scott Frank New Yorker profile, proclaim ourselves defenders of Hollywood Homicide, and discuss the end of Redford's career. Be sure to give us a follow on Twitter and Facebook at @TFSBSide. Also enter our giveaways, get access to our private Slack channel, and support new episodes by becoming a Patreon contributor. 

Welcome to The B-Side, from The Film Stage. Here we talk about movie directors! Not the movies that made them famous or kept them famous, but the ones that they made in between. Today we talk to an independent film legend. Some have called him the “East Coast Roger Corman,” though that's short-changing Larry Fessenden a bit. Though his production company Glass Eye Pix has been around since the mid-80s, Fessenden made a name for himself with the mid-90s indie horror classic Habit, in which he wrote, directed, and starred as an alcoholic New Yorker who starts dating a vampire. Or so he thinks. Fessenden's new movie Blackout - available digitally April 12th - connects to both Habit and his 2019 film Depraved. We talk about this with Fessenden, as well as his love for the classic Universal Monster Films, the evolving challenges of funding and producing independent cinema, and his work with Kelly Reichardt and Martin Scorsese over the years. Additional B-Sides include The Last Winter, Wendigo, and Beneath. Be sure to give us a follow on Twitter and Facebook at @TFSBSide. Also enter our giveaways, get access to our private Slack channel, and support new episodes by becoming a Patreon contributor.

Welcome to The B-Side, from The Film Stage. Here we talk about movie stars! Not the movies that made them famous or kept them famous, but the ones that they made in between. Today we have a conversation about what it means to be underappreciated. Not underrated necessarily. But underappreciated. And boy is Don Cheadle underappreciated. The Oscar-nominated actor has been elevating films in supporting roles since the late ‘80s. Our guest today is Mitchell Beaupre, senior editor at Letterboxd. Our B-Sides today include: The Assassination of Richard Nixon, Traitor, The Guard, and No Sudden Move. There is also a brief-but-worthwhile tangent on the Scott Caan-directed (!) indie The Dog Problem. Also the Sundance darling Manic from the early 2000s. We discuss Cheadle's incredible ability to listen as an actor. There may not be a better active listener working today. We offer some context into legend Steve Martin (who has a story credit on Traitor) and all of the different things he's done over his illustrious career (and how BIG he was in the ‘70s). There's also the under-usage of Cheadle in The Assassination of Richard Nixon, that half-baked Bourne Identity-inspired score in Traitor, the unfortunate lack of chemistry between Brendan Gleeson and Cheadle in The Guard, and how No Sudden Move is basically perfect and the culmination of so much of what makes Don Cheadle great. And finally, we definitely mention those hysterical Captain Planet bits and how exactly they shot No Sudden Move to get that extreme anamorphic look that makes out the main aesthetic of the film. Be sure to give us a follow on Twitter and Facebook at @TFSBSide. Also enter our giveaways, get access to our private Slack channel, and support new episodes by becoming a Patreon contributor.

Ep. 135 – 2024 Oscars Special by The Film Stage

Welcome to The B-Side, from The Film Stage. Here we talk about movie stars! Not the movies that made them famous or kept them famous, but the ones that they made in between. Today we chat about the action heroine: Sigourney Weaver! But what were the films she made in between Alien and Aliens? Other than A-sides The Year of Living Dangerously and Ghostbusters, there was Eyewitness, Deal of the Century, One Woman or Two (a French film!), and Half Moon Street. Our guest is the incomparable Joe Reid, co-host of the essential podcast This Had Oscar Buzz. Be sure to check them out as Oscar season races to an exciting conclusion over the next few weeks.  Topics in this episode include: When exactly did the horse stables in midtown Manhattan shut down? What exactly was an early ‘80s film set like with both WIlliam Hurt and James Woods on it? Where exactly is Half Moon Street and what is the movie trying to say? Did anybody involved in the making of Deal of the Century like it at any point? And how old do you suppose Dr. Ruth (co-star of One Woman or Two) is? Be sure to give us a follow on Twitter and Facebook at @TFSBSide. Also enter our giveaways, get access to our private Slack channel, and support new episodes by becoming a Patreon contributor. 

Welcome to The B-Side, from The Film Stage. Here we talk about movie stars! Not the movies that made them famous or kept them famous, but the ones that they made in between. Today we chat about one of our best artists: Jodie Foster! Our B-Sides are Bugsy Malone, Catchfire (Backtrack), Nim's Island, and The Beaver. Our esteemed guest (returning!) today is Katie Clark Gray of Uncompromised Creative. Keep an eye out for the upcoming Once Again (for the very first time) this year. Topics here include: Jodie in the original Freaky Friday, John Turturro walking away with Catchfire, the turbulent making of Catchfire, Dennis Hopper's recollection of the turbulent making of Catchfire in this Charlie Rose episode, Jodie on The Kelly Clarkson Show, and Jodie's incredibly successful 1990s run. Other subjects touched on are the Black List fame of The Beaver screenplay and the controversy around getting it made, the hoopla of The Accused, and Disney movie comparisons to Nim's Island. Be sure to give us a follow on Twitter and Facebook at @TFSBSide. Also enter our giveaways, get access to our private Slack channel, and support new episodes by becoming a Patreon contributor.

Welcome to The B-Side, from The Film Stage. Here we talk about movie directors! Not the movies that made them famous or kept them famous, but the ones that they made in between. Today we're honored to chat with iconic director John Sayles, whose essential crime epic Lone Star is now available from The Criterion Collection in both 4K UHD + Blu-ray. Our B-Sides today include Limbo, Amigo, and Go For Sisters. We also discuss Sayles' parallel careers as a screenwriter and a novelist. He talks about the work he did on the Toshirô Mifune/Scott Glenn actioner The Challenge (director John Frankenheimer asking him to write new draft over a weekend before an impending strike); he discusses what he learned working for Roger Corman early in his career; which genre he's still itching to direct; his love of the recent Godzilla Minus One; and the slew of scripts that never got made. Other Sayles movies to seek out (really it's all of them) include: The Secret of Roan Inish, Passion Fish, Eight Men Out, City of Hope, The Brother from Another Planet, Return of the Secaucus 7, and Men with Guns. Other mentions include the 1939 Philippine–American War film The Real Glory, La fine della notte from 1989 (the first Italian film with sync sound, which Sayles acted in!), and his recent novel Jamie MacGillivray. There's also his wonderful 2020 fracking novel Yellow Earth. Be sure to give us a follow on Twitter and Facebook at @TFSBSide. Also enter our giveaways, get access to our private Slack channel, and support new episodes by becoming a Patreon contributor.

Ep. 131 – Sam O'Steen (feat. Darrin Navarro, ACE) by The Film Stage

Welcome to The B-Side, from The Film Stage. Here we talk about movie stars! Not the movies that made them famous or kept them famous, but the ones they made in between. We discuss everyone's favorite method man: Daniel Day-Lewis. Our B-Sides are 1988's Stars and Bars, Eversmile, New Jersey (1989), Jim Sheridan's The Boxer, and Rebecca Miller's The Ballad of Jack and Rose. Returning guest Fiona Underhill joins us to discuss the myth-making around the actor, his process, as well as a few hot takes on whether some of his most lauded credits are properly rated. Naturally, we also discuss his peak ‘90s hotness (it's a tie between, Mohicans and The Crucible, by the way), and his influence, for better or worse, on a younger generation of actors. The scope of our B-Sides unlock a few lesser-seen tools in Day-Lewis' belt, from the farcical to the oddball. These are modes he doesn't necessarily seem comfortable in as a younger star, but that serve as practice for when he deconstructs his own serious image with his career peak in Phantom Thread. We can all be glad he gave us Reynolds Woodcock before retiring. Be sure to give us a follow on Twitter and Facebook at @TFSBSide. Also enter our giveaways, get access to our private Slack channel, and support new episodes by becoming a Patreon contributor.

Ep. 129 – In Conversation with: Andrew Davis by The Film Stage

Welcome to The B-Side from The Film Stage. Here we usually talk about movie stars! Not the movies that made them famous or kept them famous, but the ones that they made in between. Today, we talk to a great film writer about a great film sub-genre! Brian Raftery! Vietnam War Movie B-Sides! Brian (author of the wonderful Best. Movie. Year. Ever. How 1999 Blew Up the Big Screen) released a wonderful podcast mini-series for The Ringer called Do We Get to Win This Time? this past summer. It examines the evolution of the American Vietnam War movie through the decades. Raftery speaks with everybody for this thing, from Oliver Stone to Dale Dye. Our B-Sides today are: Hearts and Minds, The Little Girl of Hanoi, and Hamburger Hill. We cover plenty more, dissecting movies made by both American and Vietnamese filmmakers. From when we first became aware of Vietnam as a war, to our favorite Vietnam war films, to highlighting additional underrated B-Sides in this sub-genre. Be sure to give us a follow on Twitter and Facebook at @TFSBSide. Also enter our giveaways, get access to our private Slack channel, and support new episodes by becoming a Patreon contributor. Enjoy!

Welcome to The B-Side from The Film Stage. Here we usually talk about movie stars! Not the movies that made them famous or kept them famous, but the ones that they made in between. Today, we talk to a music supervisor! And one of the great music supervisors! Randall Poster! We discuss his new film Priscilla, how working with Sofia Coppola compares to working with someone like Wes Anderson, and - most importantly - how they chose what music would be in the movie. There's also talk of Poster's early career. There's the film he co-wrote (A Matter of Degrees) in 1990 and the early indies he made with Christine Vachon (including Office Killer). There's also Maid in Manhattan, directed by past guest Wayne Wang. Finally, Poster worked on the criminally-underrated indie Diggers, which you should watch. This is a fun, special episode about the kind of crew member who rarely get the credit they deserve. Poster is at the top of his craft, with premier work in theaters now (Priscilla and also Killers of the Flower Moon). Be sure to give us a follow on Twitter and Facebook at @TFSBSide. Also enter our giveaways, get access to our private Slack channel, and support new episodes by becoming a Patreon contributor. Enjoy!

Welcome to The B-Side from The Film Stage. Here we talk about movie stars! Not the movies that made them famous or kept them famous, but the ones that they made in between. Happy Halloween! This year we discuss a legend: Roger Corman! As is tradition, our dear friend Gavin Mevius, talented editor and co-host of the incredible The Mixed Reviews Podcast. Be sure to listen to their podcast and support them on Patreon if you see fit! Today we tackle three B-Sides: Not of This Earth, The Intruder, and Frankenstein Unbound. We discuss Corman's influence on New Hollywood and his enduring influence to this day, his indelible eye for talent both in front of (actors like Nicholson and De Niro got their starts in Corman films) and behind (Jonathan Demme, James Cameron, Peter Bogdanovich), and the directing career that could've been had The Intruder been a hit. There's talk of the other Mary Shelley-adjacent film adaptations of the late '80s/early ‘90s (Gothic, Haunted Summer, Rowing with the Wind), how great Raul Julia was, that Kenneth Branagh Frankenstein movie, and Camel Spiders. Be sure to give us a follow on Twitter and Facebook at @TFSBSide. Also enter our giveaways, get access to our private Slack channel, and support new episodes by becoming a Patreon contributor. Enjoy!

Welcome to The B-Side, from The Film Stage. Here we talk about movie stars! Not the movies that made them famous or kept them famous, but the ones that they made in between. But sometimes we talk to filmmakers! About filmmakers! Today we talk to up-and-coming writer/director Andrew Adams whose debut feature American Meltdown is making a robust festival run as we speak! He joins us to spearhead our first incarnation of “The First Frame:” a B-Side segment in which we examine the first films of legendary filmmakers. The three pictures we focus on today are My Best Friend's Birthday by Quentin Tarantino, Sour Grapes by Larry David, and Barking Dogs Never Bite by Bong Joon-ho. We discuss our love for these three masters, the seeds of their genius in each of their debuts (as well as each piece's shortcomings), and the strange connection between all three of them. We also dive into the burgeoning “No-Budget Era” of indie filmmaking and what it means for the future. There's talk of Jerry Seinfeld's upcoming Pop-Tarts movie Unfrosted, the making of Tarantino's seminal Reservoir Dogs, and the immediate impressiveness of Bong Joon-ho's films. Additional things that come up include the underrated indie noir Cold Weather by Aaron Katz, the great debut book from George Orwell, Down and Out in Paris and London, and how Craig Bierko turned down the role of Chandler on Friends. Be sure to give us a follow on Twitter and Facebook at @TFSBSide. Also enter our giveaways, get access to our private Slack channel, and support new episodes by becoming a Patreon contributor.

Welcome to The B-Side, from The Film Stage. Here we talk about movie stars! Not the movies that made them famous or kept them famous, but the ones they made in between. Today we go back to celebrate Pittsburgh's first son - Michael Keaton. Our B-Sides today are: Clean and Sober, The Dream Team, One Good Cop, and My Life. Our guest is official five-timer Cory Everett, creator of Cinephile: A Card Game.  We dive deep into analyzing how the actor took boring lead roles and made them sing. We marvel at the surprisingly small filmography of model-turned-movie star Rene Russo. We lament the early-90s politics of One Good Cop and we celebrate the fact that The Dream Team has basically aged okay! Which is a near-miracle. Finally, Cory and I describe the difficulty of even finishing watching My Life as fathers with young kids. Perhaps more importantly, does My Life has a premise that is far more famous than the movie itself? Yes! What are other movies like that? Additionally, we mention how 1990 mega-hit is great actually despite its cultural ridicule, and Tony Goldwyn (Ghost co-star) is underrated, and Keaton has a new directorial effort that just premiered at TIFF. There's also his early history as a funny stand-up comedian, his amazing voice work in Porco Rosso, and every moment in the comedy The Other Guys. Be sure to give us a follow on Twitter and Facebook at @TFSBSide. Also enter our giveaways, get access to our private Slack channel, and support new episodes by becoming a Patreon contributor. We are also now on Spotify and Stitcher. Enjoy!

Having long admired the work of Dustin Guy Defa, I was glad to speak with him on the occasion of two major moments: a Criterion Channel retrospective boasting nearly all his shorts- and feature-directing work, and the release of his excellent new film The Adults. Although we had a conversation with him and star Michael Cera at Berlinale earlier this year, the opportunity to go in-depth on a still-young, commendable career––while I experimented with an audio format, i.e. the horrors of letting people hear me ask questions––was simply too intriguing.

Welcome to The B-Side, from The Film Stage. Here we talk about movie directors! Not the movies that made them famous or kept them famous, but the ones that they made in between. Surprise! Here's a bonus episode in which we speak to the talented, prolific, and dynamic director Wayne Wang. Our main B-Side is Dim Sum: A Little Bit of Heart, whose Director-Approved Special Edition Blu-ray is now available from Criterion. Additional B-Sides include Eat a Bowl of Tea, Life Is Cheap... But Toilet Paper Is Expensive (also on Criterion Channel), Smoke (and its own B-Side Blue in the Face), Chinese Box, and A Thousand Years of Good Prayers. We talk to Wang about making films efficiently, his career-long ambition to make a different kind of film every time, how to construct the perfect “pillow shot” (an homage to filmmaker Yasujirō Ozu), combating boredom on set with ambition, and some smaller films he hopes more people discover. There's also talk on his faltered first step into Hollywood (Slam Dance), what he could've bought with the production budget on Maid in Manhattan (a pink elephant!), and the fear that drove him while making Dim Sum. Be sure to give us a follow on Twitter and Facebook at @TFSBSide. Also enter our giveaways, get access to our private Slack channel, and support new episodes by becoming a Patreon contributor.

Welcome to The B-Side, from The Film Stage. Here we talk about movie directors! Not the movies that made them famous or kept them famous, but the ones that they made in between. Today we're honored to chat with director Carl Franklin, whose seminal noir One False Move is now available from The Criterion Collection as a Director-Approved Special Edition Blu-ray.  Our B-Sides today are One True Thing, Out of Time, and Bless Me, Ultima.  We talk to Franklin about his early days as an actor, how he got the directing bug (he made his short Punk while at AFI, working with Don Cheadle for the first time), what he learned making movies with legendary producer Roger Corman (and the other producer on one of the films who allegedly stole 80k of a 200k budget!), and the extremely underrated HBO mini-series Laurel Avenue from 1993.  There's also some discussion about Devil in a Blue Dress of course, working with Denzel Washington (and how the above-the-line numbers on Out of Time distort what the working budget actually was), and why a sequel to Laurel Avenue sadly did not get made just a few years back. There's also a little bit on the pleasant making (and not-so-pleasant post process) of Bless Me, Ultima, adapted from the seminal novel by Rudolfo Anaya. Be sure to give us a follow on Twitter and Facebook at @TFSBSide. Also enter our giveaways, get access to our private Slack channel, and support new episodes by becoming a Patreon contributor. 

Welcome to The B-Side, from The Film Stage. Here we talk about movie stars! Not the movies that made them famous or kept them famous, but the ones that they made in between. Today we discuss a character actress, multiple Oscar nominee (and winner) and living legend who is still somehow underrated: Kathy “Bobo” Bates! Our B-Sides today are: A Home of Our Own, Dolores Claiborne, Love Liza, and Richard Jewell. The actress made her bones in the theater, originating roles in iconic stuff such as ‘Night Mother and Come Back to the 5 & Dime, Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean. Our guest is Billy Ray Brewton, host of the superb The Incinerator Podcast, the Movie Mixtapes podcast, and the Center Clueless podcast. Brewton is also the Festival Director/Lead Programmer of Make Believe Seattle. We talk to Brewton about why Bates is his favorite working actress, her innate Southern charm, her late break into movies, her essential performance in Dolores Claiborne, and why Fried Green Tomatoes is so important to the state of Alabama. Additional fun tidbits include: the strange career of A Home of Our Own director Tony Bill, the underrated Bates-led TV show Harry's Law, the exciting acting Oscar wins that happened in the late ‘80s and early ‘90s, and some of Bates' other B-Sides (Angus, Primary Colors, Bonneville). Be sure to give us a follow on Twitter and Facebook at @TFSBSide. Also enter our giveaways, get access to our private Slack channel, and support new episodes by becoming a Patreon contributor. Enjoy!

Welcome to The B-Side, from The Film Stage. Here we talk about movie stars! Not the movies that made them famous or kept them famous, but the ones that they made in between. Today we talk about one of the prettiest actors in the world: Orlando Bloom! Our guest is Roxana Hadadi, TV Critic for Vulture and fellow lover of Kingdom of Heaven: The Director's Cut. Our B-Sides today are: Ned Kelly, Haven, and Kingdom of Heaven. We talk with Hadadi about Bloom's growth as an actor, as evidenced in the 2-season Amazon Prime show Carnival Row. We discuss all the ways the Director's Cut of Kingdom of Heaven is superior to the Theatrical Cut, Eva Green included. Additional fun tidbits include: Bloom was one of the victims of the infamous “Bling Ring;” he got solid notices for his Romeo on Broadway in 2013; he's the best part of the subpar Ned Kelly; he replaced Ashton Kutcher in Elizabethtown (about 22 minutes into the clip); and the mosaic-styled social drama was very popular in the early 2000s (Haven, Babel, 21 Grams, Syriana, Traffic, among many many more). Be sure to give us a follow on Twitter and Facebook at @TFSBSide. Also enter our giveaways, get access to our private Slack channel, and support new episodes by becoming a Patreon contributor. We are also on Spotify and Apple Podcasts. Enjoy!

Welcome to The B-Side, from The Film Stage. Here we talk about movie stars! Not the movies that made them famous or kept them famous, but the ones that they made in between. Today we have the return of the great Mark Pellington! The filmmaker is back to talk about his new film Survive, now available on VOD. We also discuss his recent, experimental dance film The Severing (also on VOD). Plenty more is covered here, Pellington ever the open book to chat about the creative process, the business behind each project, and the motivation to work in every aspect of the film medium. Here's a reminder that this is the guy who made Arlington Road and The Mothman Prophecies, some of the best music videos ever made, some of the weirdest, coolest stuff ever on MTV, and a slew of other interesting, powerful pieces of work. Be sure to give us a follow on Twitter and Facebook at @TFSBSide. Also enter our giveaways, get access to our private Slack channel, and support new episodes by becoming a Patreon contributor. We are also now on Spotify and Stitcher. Enjoy!

Welcome to The B-Side, from The Film Stage. Here we talk about movie stars! Not the movies that made them famous or kept them famous, but the ones that they made in between. Today we talk about one of the best actresses working today: Tilda Swinton! Our guest is the great Dan Walber, public historian and recovering (!) film critic. Walber is also part of the @closefriendscollective, which you can find on Instagram. Our B-Sides today are: Edward II, Love Is the Devil: Study for a Portrait of Francis Bacon, Possible Worlds, The Deep End, and Teknolust. Walber speaks to her immediate exceptionalism in Derek Jarman's ‘80s films, we marvel at her endless range (from Constantine to Snowpiercer and so on and so forth), and I gush about the work of Francis Bacon and the depths of his controversial career after falling in love with Love is the Devil. We talk about the fascination of Laurence Olivier's final film being a Derek Jarman picture (War Requiem), how Possible Worlds feels impossibly Canadian, and the very particular, joyous world Teknolust lives in. Be sure to give us a follow on Twitter and Facebook at @TFSBSide. Also enter our giveaways, get access to our private Slack channel, and support new episodes by becoming a Patreon contributor. We are also now on Spotify and Stitcher. Enjoy!