Podcast appearances and mentions of pete dexter

Welcome to another episode of The Video Store Podcast. This week I am recommending four movies about undercover work. That can mean a lot of things in movies. Sometimes it is a young cop trying to prove himself. Sometimes it is a guy returning to a place where everyone already knows him. Sometimes it is a job that starts out dangerous and then gets worse because the people doing it begin to lose track of who they are supposed to be.I have always liked this kind of story because it gives crime movies a built in problem right away. The person at the center has to lie, but the lie only works if part of it feels true. That is where these movies live. None of them treat undercover work as clean or especially clever. It is usually sweaty, stressful, and bad for everyone involved.No Man's Land (1987)No Man's Land stars D. B. Sweeney as a young cop who goes undercover to get inside a Porsche theft ring run by Charlie Sheen. It was directed by Peter Werner and written by Dick Wolf, which is a little interesting now because most people probably connect Wolf with Law and Order and television crime stories. Here he is working in a very eighties lane, with stolen sports cars, Los Angeles money, and Charlie Sheen doing the smooth rich kid criminal thing.This is not the deepest movie on the shelf, but it has a good setup and a lot of period texture. The car stuff helps. A crime ring built around stolen Porsches feels very much of its moment, and the movie understands the appeal of that world even while it is showing you the danger underneath it. Sweeney is good as someone who is not quite ready for the assignment, and Sheen is believable as the guy who makes bad choices look attractive.The cast also includes Randy Quaid, M. Emmet Walsh, Lara Harris, and Bill Duke. I always like when Bill Duke shows up in something, and in this week's lineup he shows up twice, once here as an actor and later as the director of Deep Cover (1992). That was not the reason I picked these four, but it is a nice bit of video store shelf connection.State of Grace (1990)State of Grace stars Sean Penn as Terry Noonan, an undercover cop who returns to Hell's Kitchen and reconnects with the people he grew up with. The problem is that those people are now tied into the Irish mob, and some of them still see him as one of their own. That makes the undercover part more personal than usual. He is not just pretending to belong. In some ways, he already did.The cast is a big part of the reason to watch this one. Ed Harris is controlled and cold as Frankie Flannery, Gary Oldman is all nerves and damage as Jackie, and Robin Wright gives the movie more emotional weight than it would have had with a thinner version of that role. John Turturro and John C. Reilly are in there too, which gives the movie one of those casts where you keep noticing people before they became more familiar.It was directed by Phil Joanou, written by Dennis McIntyre, shot by Jordan Cronenweth, and scored by Ennio Morricone. That is a lot of strong names attached to a movie that never became as famous as it probably should have. Part of the problem is timing. It came out in 1990, the same year as Goodfellas, and that is a tough shadow for any New York crime movie to stand in. State of Grace is not Goodfellas, and it is not trying to be. Rush (1991)Rush is a heavier version of the undercover story. Jason Patric and Jennifer Jason Leigh play narcotics officers working a drug case in 1970s Texas, and the movie is less interested in the mechanics of the investigation than in what the job does to them. It is about crossing lines, then having trouble finding those lines again.The movie was directed by Lili Fini Zanuck and based on Kim Wozencraft's novel, which was inspired by her own time as an undercover narcotics officer. Pete Dexter wrote the screenplay, and the cast includes Sam Elliott, Max Perlich, and Gregg Allman. That last bit always makes the movie feel slightly stranger on paper than it plays on screen, because Allman fits into the world of the movie pretty naturally.Rush is not a casual watch. Jason Patric was very good in this period at playing men who seem like they have already made peace with ruining themselves, and Jennifer Jason Leigh makes her character's slide feel believable without turning it into a big speech. Eric Clapton did the music, and the soundtrack became better known than the movie in some circles because of Tears in Heaven. The film itself is rougher and less sentimental than people might expect from that association.Deep Cover (1992)Deep Cover stars Laurence Fishburne, still credited here as Larry Fishburne, as a police officer recruited by the DEA to go undercover in Los Angeles. Jeff Goldblum plays the lawyer and criminal operator he gets close to, and Goldblum gives the movie a different kind of villain than the usual street level dealer. He is funny, polished, and awful in a way that feels very specific to him.This was directed by Bill Duke, and it is one of the best undercover crime movies of the period. It has the shape of a genre film, but it is also angry about the systems around the drug war. Fishburne is excellent because he never plays the character as a cool movie cop enjoying the danger. He looks like someone being hollowed out by the job, which makes the movie more interesting as it goes along.The title song is also a major part of the movie's history. Deep Cover was Dr. Dre's debut solo single and introduced a lot of listeners to Snoop Doggy Dogg. That song has lived on in a big way, but the movie deserves to be remembered right alongside it. It is sharp, stylish, and still feels a little mean around the edges.All four of these movies are about people who are supposed to keep their identities separate, and none of them are very good at it for long. No Man's Land (1987) gives you the flashy version with stolen cars and rich criminals. State of Grace (1990) makes it about old friends and old wounds. Rush (1991) turns the assignment into something punishing and personal. Deep Cover (1992) takes the undercover story and pushes it into something colder and more political.If I were standing behind the counter this week, these are the four I would point you toward. They are not all doing the same thing, but they belong together on the same rental stack. Undercover movies work best when the job stops being just a job, and each of these gets there in its own way.Thanks for reading Video Store Podcast! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.videostorepodcast.com

Former Philadelphia Daily News columnist and National Book Award Winner Pete Dexter ("Paris Trout") speaks with Michael about his book "Paper Trails: True Stories of Confusion, Mindless Violence, and Forbidden Desires, a Surprising Number of Which Are Not About Marriage." Original air date February 2007. The book was published on 7 February 2007.

In this PLATINUM AGE of television, Kimberly looks at the masterful language, the deft historical elements and the incredible Shakespearean airs of one of the best TV series of all time: David Milch's DEADWOOD.

Kimberly hates to be self-aggrandizing but she honestly thinks this might be some of her VERY BEST WORK. Pete Dexter's DEADWOOD is an absolutely gorgeous, warm, violent and super-engaging book. If you loved it, listen now. Kimberly couldn't help but discuss some spoilers, so if you haven't read it, do that and come right back here. DEADWOOD is SO GOOD.

On the Season 12 Premiere, we're dialing into the gritty heart of St. Louis, connecting with an author whose prose pulsates with raw energy. Joe West's book, Strange Flesh, takes us through a darkly fascinating realm of misfits and street heroes. If you're a fan of the likes of Donald Goines, Ray Carver, or Pete Dexter, Joe's writing style might just become your new obsession. It's gritty, relentless, and always unpredictable. As some say, Joe writes like he's on a heist – pedal to the metal and damn the consequences. Topics include: The Loss of Tom West Joe West & Urban Fiction Overcoming Poverty and Addiction Writing and the Art of Discipline The Allure of Stable Family Life Personal Story & Writing as Healing Strange Flesh and the Story of Genesis Men, Sex, and Growing Up Writing and Freedom Joe West on Facebook Buy the books here. Listen in! Next week: We take a deadly bath with author Sharon Lynn. +++ "All the Fits That's News": Alex's Substack (Free) Alex Greenwood on Medium: https://a-greenwood.medium.com/ (Subscription) Follow him on X/Twitter:  ⁠@A_Greenwood⁠ Follow him on Threads: ⁠⁠https://www.threads.net/@alexginkc⁠⁠ Catch Alex's New True Crime Show: GOING TO KILLING CITY. Listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and wherever you get your pods! Listen in to CHICA AND THE MAN. Enjoyed the episode? Please review on your podcast platform of choice, and don't forget to subscribe for more literary journeys! ⁠LEAVE A REVIEW ON APPLE PODCASTS⁠ For show notes and more, visit the show website at MGOPod.com. This Mysterious Goings On Podcast episode was recorded and mixed at Green Shebeen Studios in beautiful Kansas City, Missouri. Copyright 2023, all rights reserved. No reproduction, excerpting, or other use without written permission. We are an Amazon Associates seller, and some of our links may earn us a commission. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/j-alexander-greenwood/message

Authors Shawn Levy (A Year in the Life of Death, Rat Pack Confidential) and Erica Wagner (Chief Engineer, Gravity) join us to discuss US writer Pete Dexter's second novel Deadwood (1986), described by the Washington Post on publication as 'maybe the best Western ever written'. In addition to enjoying this unpredictable and uproarious historical novel, we investigate the differences - and notable similarities - between Dexter's work and the classic TV series of the same name that followed a decade later. Also this week, John has been reading Katherine May's life-affirming memoir, The Electricity of Every Living Thing, while Andy pays tribute to Nina Simone's Gum by musician Warren Ellis, a book that asks profound questions about what it means to be divine. For more information visit backlisted.fm. Please support us and unlock bonus material at https://www.patreon.com/backlisted.

This week, Katie shares with Britney and our listeners one of her favorite guilty pleasure films: THE PAPERBOY. Will they figure out if it's a brilliant masterpiece or just a trashy melodrama? Based on a 1995 novel by Pete Dexter, THE PAPERBOY is a drama film directed by Lee Daniels. Former housekeeper Anita recalls the hot summer of 1969 in Florida. During that summer, Jack, son of her newspaper owner employer, is enlisted by his journalist brother Ward and his writing partner, Yardly, to drive them around their small Florida town while they attempt to exonerate death row inmate Hillary Van Wetter on behalf of his magnetically beautiful fiance Charlotte Bless.   Next week's movie: PORTRAIT OF A LADY ON FIRE Timestamps: 0:00 Intro 13:00 Summary of THE PAPERBOY (spoiler free) 14:41 1960's Vernacular Makes Us Uncomfortable 24:56 SPOILERS 39:00 Boob Talk 43:51 That Uncomfortable Jailhouse Scene 01:22:23 Ratings and Final Thoughts 01:40:30 Next Week's Pick by Our First Guest Royalty free music used: Ready Set Go and Outro White Smoke Copyright 2020 Grindhouse Girls Podcast

Norman Maclean published A River Runs Through It when he was seventy-three, and only after his children implored him to write down the stories about fly-fishing, brotherhood, and the wilds of Montana that he’d told them for years. The resulting novella is a classic of economy and clarity. A few years later, Pete Dexter visited Maclean in … Continue reading The Old Man and the River, by Pete Dexter

Norman Maclean taught Shakespeare until he was seventy, then wrote a timeless story worthy of the bard himself.

Bruce Gentry (Professor of English and Editor of the Flannery O’Connor Review, Georgia College) and Mab Segrest (Martha Daniel Newell Scholar in Residence Spring Semester 2015, Georgia College) speak on the different interpretations of one of the most notorious homicide cases in Georgia.

  Tome 3 chapitre 32 Le roman noir reprend ses droits ce soir. Je vous fais découvrir Pete Dexter, le père de la série TV Deadwood lui-même, diffusée dès 2004 sur HBO. Des romans sombres et troublants, tendus à l'extrème.   « Y a un type qu'est mort. Il est tombé sur le green et il est mort.» « Encore méconnue en France, l'oeuvre de Pete Dexter est l'une des plus sensationnelles de la littérature américaine contemporaine.» le Monde des livres.

  Tome 3 chapitre 32 Le roman noir reprend ses droits ce soir. Je vous fais découvrir Pete Dexter, le père de la série TV Deadwood lui-même, diffusée dès 2004 sur HBO. Des romans sombres et troublants, tendus à l'extrème.   « Y a un type qu'est mort. Il est tombé sur le green et il est mort.» « Encore méconnue en France, l'oeuvre de Pete Dexter est l'une des plus sensationnelles de la littérature américaine contemporaine.» le Monde des livres.

Train (Doubleday)