Living for the Cinema

The Pope has suddenly died and a new one must be elected via a titular conclave as soon as possible at Vatican City.  Cardinal Law (Ralph Fiennes) has been tasked with running this conclave and must not only ensure that every viable candidate has been properly vetted but that the nominating and voting processes are fair among all other cardinals.  And what results is akin to a courtroom/legal drama with several of the usual trappings including surprise revelations and witnesses.  Edward Berger (All Quiet On the Western Front) directs this highly acclaimed new thriller also co-starring John Lithgow, Stanley Tucci, and Isabelle Rossellini.

Host & Editor: Geoff Gershon
Producer: Marlene Gershon

Send us a text

https://livingforthecinema.com/

Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/Living-for-the-Cinema-Podcast-101167838847578

Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/livingforthecinema/

Letterboxd:
https://letterboxd.com/Living4Cinema/

David Ayers (Suicide Squad, The Beekeeper) directs this brutal war drama which takes place during the last days of World War II along the German front.  We follow a crew riding within a tank known as the titular "Fury" which is lead by Brad Pitt's grizzled veteran nick-named "Wardaddy."  Pitt leads a stellar cast including Michael Pena, Shia LeBouf, Jon Bernthal and Logan Lerman, the latter of whom plays Norman who becomes the audience avatar as he has just joined this crew and has never experienced combat before.  What results is a grisly adventure featuring several intense combat sequences ALL depicted from the vantage point of this Sherman tank.  

Host & Editor: Geoff Gershon
Producer: Marlene Gershon

Send us a text

https://livingforthecinema.com/

Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/Living-for-the-Cinema-Podcast-101167838847578

Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/livingforthecinema/

Letterboxd:
https://letterboxd.com/Living4Cinema/

In the grand tradition of such intimate war epics as Dunkirk and Black Hawk Down, Oscar-winner Sam Mendes (American Beauty, Skyfall) directed this ground-level journey of two young British army privates (Dean-Charles Chapman, George MacKay) who are sent on an urgent mission during World War I to deliver a message that will hopefully stop 1,600 men from walking straight into a deadly trap set by the enemy.  And everything which transpires on-screen is conducted within ONE continuous shot. :o One of the more acclaimed and successful war epics of recent years, this film nonetheless was dismissed by several as relying more on its central conceit than telling a compelling story....it was also nominated for ten Oscars including Best Picture, and ended up winning three.  Let's embark on this harrowing mission with Lance Corporals Blake and Schofield to see how this holds up five years after it was released.....

Host & Editor: Geoff Gershon
Producer: Marlene Gershon

Send us a text

https://livingforthecinema.com/

Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/Living-for-the-Cinema-Podcast-101167838847578

Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/livingforthecinema/

Letterboxd:
https://letterboxd.com/Living4Cinema/

DIVORCE WEEK continues (and concludes) with this game-changing domestic drama directed by Robert Benton (Places in the Heart, Nobody's Fool) which not only nominated for nine Oscars but would also win five Oscars including Best Picture for 1979.  Starring as the titular Kramer's are Dustin Hoffman as Ted and Meryl Streep as Joanna - they are a young married couple living in New York City with their young son Billy (Justin Henry) and suddenly one day, Joanna decides to leave.  What results is a tense situation involving not only Ted attempting to connect with Billy as a single father but their eventual divorce, including a custody battle over their son.  All three stars were also nominated for Oscars along with Jane Alexander who co-stars as Margaret, a family friend who gets caught in the middle of this conflict.  This film was also a cultural phenomenon at the time of its release, also becoming the highest grossing box office hit of 1979.   

Host & Editor: Geoff Gershon
Producer: Marlene Gershon

Send us a text

https://livingforthecinema.com/

Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/Living-for-the-Cinema-Podcast-101167838847578

Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/livingforthecinema/

Letterboxd:
https://letterboxd.com/Living4Cinema/

What happens when you take one of Hollywood's most popular on-screen couples at the time and pin them against each other in a movie about divorce?  Thirty-five years ago, newly minted director (and co-star) Danny DeVito was apparently the first to attempt to answer that question....and he did so with the big-time movie star pairing which he had co-starred recently in two popular romantic action comedies (Romancing the Stone, Jewel of the Nile).  That would be Michael Douglas and Kathleen Turner who play Oliver and Barbara Rose....they were once madly in love but apparently one of them no longer feels that way. :o And what results is a dark, nasty, violent, AND quite funny cautionary tale of what happens when two former lovebirds stop getting polite....and start going to war....all within the house they share no less! ;) 

Host & Editor: Geoff Gershon
Producer: Marlene Gershon

Send us a text

https://livingforthecinema.com/

Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/Living-for-the-Cinema-Podcast-101167838847578

Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/livingforthecinema/

Letterboxd:
https://letterboxd.com/Living4Cinema/

If a very handsome and friendly young veteran named David visited your home one afternoon with a warm smile and some very kind words about your son whom he served with overseas....wouldn't YOU invite him over to stay?  That's the main question which kicks off this lean, mean horror thriller directed by aspiring genre master Adam Wingard (You're Next, Godzilla Vs Kong) and starring Dan Stevens (Downton Abbey, Cuckoo) AS David, the titular guest.  It was released ten years ago to much acclaim and minimal box office but has become something of a cult phenomenon via cable, streaming, and physical media since then.  Also co-starring is modern Scream Queen herself, Maika Monroe (It Follows, Longlegs) as Anna the older teenage daughter of the Peterson family which David stays with.  The rest of the family are played by Leland Orser, Sheila Kelly, and Brendan Meyer....and they all start to really like having David around including Anna.  But eventually she starts to suspect that all is NOT as it seems with regards to David....he might be hiding some secrets, some potentially VIOLENT secrets. :o And what results is an unforgettable ride sprinkled with throwback vibes to genre classics from the '70's and '80's including a catchy synth soundtrack!

Host & Editor: Geoff Gershon
Producer: Marlene Gershon

Send us a text

https://livingforthecinema.com/

Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/Living-for-the-Cinema-Podcast-101167838847578

Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/livingforthecinema/

Letterboxd:
https://letterboxd.com/Living4Cinema/

There's a serial killer around New York city going around murdering people in increasingly bizarre ways while also leaving increasingly minute details behind as clues.  Denzel Washington plays the brilliant criminologist Lincoln Rhymes who has been paralyzed from the neck down but can still solve clues while bedridden and Angelina Jolie plays Amelia, a plucky young beat cop-former model with a natural eye for forensics and...yada yada yada...they team up to catch the killer.  Directed by Phillip Noyce (Dead Calm, Clear and Present Danger, Sliver), this would end up be the last of SEVERAL thrillers released throughout the 1990's focusing on the hunt for a serial killer.  And while it might not hold up to the best (The Silence of the Lambs, Se7en) within this subgenre, it IS somewhat elevated by a stacked cast lead by Denzel and Angelina, also including Ed O'Neil, Queen Latifah, Michael Rooker, Luis Guzman, and Leland Orser.

Host & Editor: Geoff Gershon
Producer: Marlene Gershon

Send us a text

https://livingforthecinema.com/

Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/Living-for-the-Cinema-Podcast-101167838847578

Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/livingforthecinema/

Letterboxd:
https://letterboxd.com/Living4Cinema/

LIVE FROM NEW YORK....

For any one born after 1975 (or before), "Saturday Night Live" has been an American entertainment institution...an irreverent weekly platform for up-to-the-minute comedy featuring promising performers, many of whom would go on to be massive stars in various media.  But it wasn't always that way....and director Jason Reitman (Juno, Up In the Air) has decided to take to that night in October 1975 when it all started.  Specifically, this (loosely) presents us with all of the craziness which preceded the first live taping of the show....taking us through the chaotic 90 minutes leading up to when it was first broadcast.  We get to spend time with various notable players involved including Lorne Michaels (Gabriel Labelle), Rosie Shuster (Rachel Sennott), Dan Ackroyd (Dylan O'Brien), Chevy Chase (Cory Michael Smith), Garett Morris (Lamorne Morris), Gilda Radner (Ella Hunt), Dick Ebersol (Cooper Hoffman), and John Belushi (Matt Wood), along with so many others.  It's all very frantic and chaotic....and funny? Let's find out if this group of players are ready for prime time.....

Host & Editor: Geoff Gershon
Producer: Marlene Gershon

Send us a text

https://livingforthecinema.com/

Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/Living-for-the-Cinema-Podcast-101167838847578

Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/livingforthecinema/

Letterboxd:
https://letterboxd.com/Living4Cinema/

ONE TWO, Freddy's coming for you...
THREE FOUR, Better lock your door...

Forty years ago this November saw the release of one of the most influential horror films of all time directed by the late, great Wes Craven who would gradually be acknowledged as one of the true masters of the horror genre having directed iconic genre classics before this (The Hills Have Eyes, The Last House on the Left) and after, most notably Scream which would come out twelve years later.  And what he created as both writer and director was a truly terrifying concept: An otherworldly monster who could invade your dreams to murder you while you were asleep. :o 
 
That monster was of course Freddy Krueger played by Robert England, sporting a crinkled fedora and most memorably a leather glove with sharpened razor blades protruding from each finger.  Freddy was the stuff of nightmares and quickly caught fire as a hugely popular film icon.  Fortunately, there were folks on the side of good to fight and hopefully defeat this new evil force....for this first film, they were lead by mild-mannered teenager Nancy played by Heather Langenkamp.  And she had help including her father played by John Saxon (Enter the Dragon) and her boyfriend by a young, baby-faced Johnny Depp in his film debut.  Let's head on over to Elm Street....

Host & Editor: Geoff Gershon
Producer: Marlene Gershon

Send us a text

https://livingforthecinema.com/

Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/Living-for-the-Cinema-Podcast-101167838847578

Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/livingforthecinema/

Letterboxd:
https://letterboxd.com/Living4Cinema/

Michael Douglas, Mullets, and Motorcycles....what else do you need? 🤔

Well you also have the legendary Japanese movie star Ken Takakura, vibrant young Andy Garcia, gorgeous visuals from cinematographer Jan de Bont, sadly the last performance from Yusaka Matsuda, plus THE first great action score from Hans Zimmer.  Oh and it's directed by Sir Ridley Scott (Alien, Gladiator, Thelma & Louise) though you could forgiven for thinking it might have been directed by his late brother Tony at the time...

Because what we have here is a very slick '80's cop thriller loaded with all of the tropes you would expect from this time period: a renegade New York cop (Douglas) and his partner (Garcia) get immersed in a murder investigation which starts in Manhattan and takes them all the way to Osaka where they start bumping up against not only the local law enforcement (Takakura plays the police officer they team up with) but also a Yakuza on the rise lead by a brutal gangster (Matsuda).  It's all quite silly, violent, and EXTREMELY entertaining!

Host & Editor: Geoff Gershon
Producer: Marlene Gershon

Send us a text

https://livingforthecinema.com/

Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/Living-for-the-Cinema-Podcast-101167838847578

Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/livingforthecinema/

Letterboxd:
https://letterboxd.com/Living4Cinema/