[ indistinct chatter ]

Part 2 of my deep dive into Milos Forman's incredible 1975 film 'One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest'.

In Part 2 I get into a handful of scenes from the first third of the film: the introduction of Nurse Ratched, the first time we meet McMurphy, the sit-down between McMurphy and Dr. Spivey, and the first few scenes on the ward with the fellas and the nurses.

Leaving behind one iconic adaptation of a popular novel in 'The Exorcist' and picking up another with this introductory episode about 'One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest', Milos Forman and Bo Goldman's film based on Ken Kesey's counter-culture classic novel.

In this episode, I cover some of the film's journey from page to screen and from father to son(s). Casting, pre-production delays, and some context for the film in 1975.

'One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest' is one of only three films to ever win "The Big 5" Academy Awards: Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Screenplay. Listen to the episode to find the surprising other two films.

This episode can be consumed prior to a re-watch of the film, and the subsequent two episodes will each cover about half of the film after you watch the film armed with all the behind-the-scenes details from this one.

Bo Goldman INTV

Finishing up my four-part exploration of The Exorcist, this episode considers the film's exorcism scenes, its ambiguous ending, and lasting legacy. My newfound appreciation for the towering achievement represented by this film is perhaps news only to me, but totally genuine nonetheless.

In Part 3 of my multi-part deep dive re-exploration of William Friedkin's 1973 masterpiece 'The Exorcist' I take a detailed look at the filmmaking in the first half of the movie. Considering the Northern Iraq sequence, the Georgetown sequences, Father Karras in NYC, and the Medical sequences featuring Regan up to and including the hypnotism scene.

The absolute mastery of camera movement choices and the spare use of score shows how the film eschews (I always wanted to use that word) "horror" film cliches.

Mentioned in this episode:

Jack Plotnick's Hilarious Exorcist Video

The 2nd episode in a series of episodes about 'The Exorcist' is inspired by my rewatch of the film. My original plan: to meticulously dissect each of three sections of the film in three subsequent episodes. My new plan? To get this episode filled with my enthusiastic and emotional reactions out to you ASAP. And to follow with two subsequent episodes if the interest (and downloads) are there.

The best way to listen to the four-part Exorcist episodes:

Listen to Part 1: Origins BEFORE re-watching or watching the film.

Listen to Part 2: The Rewatch AFTER re-watching or watching the film.

Listen to Parts 3 and 4 as commentary tracks WHILE watching the film again after all the above.

In this first of a multi-part exploration of William Friedkin's ground-breaking and massively successful adaptation of William Peter Blatty's best-selling novel 'The Exorcist':

Friedkin & DP Owen Roizman coming off 'The French Connection' and into 'The Exorcist'

Casting travails involving Jack Nicholson, Paul Newman, Jane Fonda, Anne Bancroft, and Audrey Hepburn.

Jason Miller and Ellen Burstyn willing themselves into their roles.

Studio pushback on the film's prequel, set in Iraq, and Friedkin's demand that they film there despite political upheaval and a lack of an Iraqi film industry.

The search for a girl to pay Regan; over 1,000 seen, hundreds screen-tested, before Linda Blair walked into the film production's offices.

Special Effects approaches courtesy of Dick Smith and Rick Baker.

Soundtrack troubles with Bernard Hermann and Lalo Schiffrin and the saving grace of Mike Oldfield's 'Tubular Bells'.

This episode features Friedkin, Blatty, Roizman, and Ellen Bursytn in their own words.

Other Friedkin Full Cast & Crew Episodes:

The French Connection

To Live And Die In LA

The best way to consume these 'The Exorcist' episodes is:

Listen to this episode before watching/re-watching.

Listen to episode 2 The Rewatch after watching/re-watching.

Listen to episodes 3 and 4.

Here's the 2nd and final episode of my 'Back to the Future' revisit, enjoy!

Huey Lewis guitarist Chris Hayes plays his signature parts from 'Power of Love'.

It's the 40th Anniversary of 'Back to the Future' and I read a review of Michael J. Fox's brief new memoir about the making of the film, and about his life before, during, and just after the film's release.

This sent me to finally watch 2023's 'Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie', a brilliant documentary from noted director Davis Guggenheim (An Inconveniant Truth, It Might Get Loud, Waiting for Superman) that defies the Streamerification of documentary filmmaking that I've long decried on the podcast (see my episode on Brother's Keeper).

This episode covers a lot of what I really loved about those two primary sources of information about Michael J. Fox's life and battle with Parkinson's Disease, a battle he's fought privately and publicly. The Michael J. Fox Foundation has to date raised more than 2 billion dollars for Parkinson's research and in 2022 spent more than the US Government did on research seeking a cure for the disease.

'Back to the Future' has an incredible story of near-disaster followed by infinitesimal chance of salvage represented by the casting of Fox, and finally, worldwide pop-cultural magnitude of the highest and most enduring order. This episode serves as an introduction to this superlative example of Hollywood moviemaking at its best and a tribute to the incredible, extraordinary and everyday life of its star.

Like a thunderbolt from another dimension, a dimension where $90 million-dollar comedies with top-tier talent and a first-class, Oscar-winning cinematographer combine with an expensive location shoot in Hawaii (standing in for Viet Nam) to gross $200 million dollars and spawn at least two Pantheon-level comedy characters in Tom Cruise's Les Grossman and Robert Downey, Jr's Kirk Lazarus-as-Staff-Sergeant-Lincoln-Osiris.

I woefully failed to mention in the episode that Downey's transformation into Lazarus-as-Osiris was done by none other than the legend Rick Baker.

To say they don't make 'em like this anymore is a sad truth. We have truly lost as a film-going society when big time stars gather to be in a movie this funny and big-screen watchable. I suppose the big screen's loss is HBO's gain, however. And soda: Ben Stiller has a new line of sodas and they're very good. You should try one!

Diane Keaton died over the weekend at the age of 79, and it's been fascinating to read her various obituaries and memories of her being shared. Also interesting to contemplate what a singular presence she was for more than 50 years on stage and screen.

'Annie Hall' won Diane Keaton her only Academy Award, although she was also nominated for 'Reds', 'Marvin's Room' and 'Something's Gotta Give', which shows you the range she had as an actor. Revisiting here was a pleasure and reminded me of what we've lost as a movie-going culture of late. Smart, funny comedies that don't talk down to an audience but also play as mass entertainments seem in such short supply, as do superlative onscreen personalities like Diane Keaton. This quickie episode isn't mean to be expansive or complete..just an excuse to watch one of her most famous roles in a film named after her character and drawn from her real-life romance with Woody Allen some years before the film was made.