Living for the Cinema

Considering that he was one of the most influential musical performers of the 20th Century pioneering an entire genre (reggae) of music, it was only a matter of time before we were to see a big budget studio of biopic of the late, great Robert Nesta Marley hailing from Nine Mile, Jamaica.  His life was tragically short but his music has lived on decades after his untimely passing in 1981.  This film directed by Reinaldo Marcus Green (King Richard, We Own This City) focuses on a few critical years of his later life in the mid to late '70's which includes some big events in his life including an assassination attempt on him in 1976 and his eventual performance in important One Love peace concert in Jamaica in 1978.  Kingsley Ben-Adir (One Night In Miami, Barbie) stars as the titular musical legend and Lashana Lynch (No Time To Die, The Woman King) co-stars as his wife, Rita Marley. 

Host & Editor: Geoff Gershon
Producer: Marlene Gershon 

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Probably the best way to describe this movie would be as a "Kung Fu Musical Comedy" but that MIGHT not do it justice!  Produced by the founder of Motown Records (Berry Gordy) and directed by one of the early pioneers of African American cinema (Michael Schultz), it was a tale as old as time....of Bruce Leroy (Taimak), a young aspiring martial artist from New York City who aspires to become as accomplished as his idol, the legendary Bruce Lee.  Of course, some folks stand in the way of our hero achieving his goal, mainly a local Kung Fu bully Sho'Nuff (Julius Carry III) and a local gangster, Eddie Arcadian played by Christopher Murney.  Beyond that, he also might be falling in love with the host of a local music video show, the luminous Laura Charles played by the late, great Vanity.  And what results is an enduring cult classic which could ONLY come out during the 1980's featuring loads of memorable fighting, music, and hijinks....all geared towards answering one critical question: "WHO is the MASTER??" Let's find out.....

Host & Editor: Geoff Gershon
Producer: Marlene Gershon 

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Just a couple of years before the breakout success of his seminal horror classic, John Carpenter directed this low-budget action thriller focusing on the siege of a soon-to-be-closing LA police station by a some local gangs who are trying to take down a rival gang-leader being held in custody by the police.  As the gun fire and violence escalate, every one inside - both cops and criminals - eventually team up to defend themslves and hopefully survive through the morning.  This highly influential cult classic stars Austin Stoker, Darwin Joston, Laurie Zimmer, and Tony Burton. 

Host & Editor: Geoff Gershon
Producer: Marlene Gershon 

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Poor Things is a high-brow steam-punk fantasy which just garnered the second largest number of Oscar nominations for 2023 including BEST PICTURE and has received universal acclaim for this surrealist tale of Bella Baxter (Emma Stone, also nominated for Best Actress), a young woman in Victorian England (?) who has recently been reborn/revived via a series of questionable experiments by a mad scientist Dr. Godwin played by Willem Dafoe.  We follow her on several adventures throughout Europe as she explores what it means to be a free-thinking human being.  It was directed by acclaimed Polish filmmaker Yorgos Lanthimos whose previous film The Favourite also garnered several Oscar nominations five years ago.

Showgirls is a trashy exploitation melodrama which was universally panned upon initial release in '95 while also flopping notoriously at the box office, also receiving multiple Razzie Awards for that year.  This story focuses on Nomi Malone (Elizabeth Berkley, who was blamed for its failure and whose career never quite recovered afterwards) who is a wandering dancer (?) who stumbles into Las Vegas seeking fame and fortune, working her way up from an exotic dancer at a sleazy local club to an all-out phenomenon leading THE premiere exotic dance show in Vegas!  We follow her character as she navigates through various dangerous and tawdry situations towards becoming.....well it's not really clear. :o This film was directed by Dutch filmmaker Paul Verhoeven who had recently given us Basic Instinct and Total Recall....though from this film on, he was never able to find that level of success in the US again. 

Now what could these two films possibly have in common?  Well more than you would think, especially the extreme reactions they each seem to elicit from audiences... 

Host & Editor: Geoff Gershon
Producer: Marlene Gershon 

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Once the Queen of Rom-Com's, Julia Roberts returned to the genre which made her a household name fifteen years ago and she also reuinited with Clive Owen, her co-star of Closer, their acclaimed drama about about five years prior.  And they were both being directed by Tony Gilroy who just about 18 months prior had directed the seminal legal thriller Michael Clayton.  It also featured the promising premise of a romantic partnership between an ex-CIA agent (Roberts) and ex-MI6 agent (Owen) joining forces to pull a double cross on two dueling pharmaceutical companies who are they are each now running security for....with the heads of those companies are played by Oscar-nominated acting forces Paul Giamatti and Tom Wilkinson. (RIP) And......nobody really cared nor liked it?? Let's examine why and IF this romantic caper's weak reception was deserved or not.....

Host & Editor: Geoff Gershon
Producer: Marlene Gershon 
  

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Forty years ago this summer, we saw the release of this seminal biopic/concert movie from first-time director Albert Magnoli.  It was the feature film debut of Prince who was a rising rock and pop phenomenon at the time and it featured wall-to-wall new songs from Prince and his band at the time, The Revolution.  Both the film and its soundtrack became instant phenomenons launching the late, great Prince Rogers Nelson into the stratosphere of all-time musical legends!  

The story is only loosely based on his life and it focuses on the The Kid (Prince) who leads an aspiring rock band in Minneapolis and is struggling with both a brutal homelife (he lives with his abusive father played by Clarence Williams III) and just finding his voice as an artist.  Also co-starring are Apollonia Kotero as the woman he falls for and Morris Day as his chief musical rival.  Let's Go Crazy for a time When Doves Cry. ;) 

Host & Editor: Geoff Gershon
Producer: Marlene Gershon 

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Fifteen years ago, we saw the release of one of THE most surprising word-of-mouth hits of the 21st Century and that was this straightforward action thriller directed by Pierre Morel.  It starred Oscar Nominee Liam Neeson as Brian Mills, an ex-spy/assassin with a "particular set of skills" who has just found out that his teenage daughter (Maggie Grace) was "taken" while on vacation with her friend in Paris.  So he then single-handedly embarks on a dangerous mission to not only find her but to bring her kidnappers to justice. :o And what results is a memorable series of sequences featuring our hero taking out the (Euro) Trash. ;) Will Brian find his daughter before it's too late?? Stay tuned.....

Host & Editor: Geoff Gershon
Producer: Marlene Gershon 

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Welcome to the Living for the Max series.  Over the past 45 years, there has been no other film franchise QUITE as inventive nor as consistently exciting as The Mad Max Saga….four films mostly chronicling the post-apocalyptic adventures of lone wolf Max Roxatansky played three times by Mel Gibson and most recently by Tom Hardy.  As everyone has been directed by Australian cinematic genius George Miller, they have each reflected his unique vision while also being HUGELY influential on pop culture, more specifically the action genre.  So needless to say, new ones don’t come around very often and when they do….it MORE than qualifies as a cinematic EVENT.  Therefore over the next several months, I will be revisiting EACH entry of this beloved franchise every month leading up to the U.S. release of Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga on May 24!  

Let's kick things off with the original Australian-produced action thriller which was not only the on-screen debut for Mel Gibson but the first feature film to be directed by George Miller.  And it's a relatively simple story focusing an ongoing war in headed-towards-dystopia-Australia between a brutal motorcycle gangs of marauders and leather-clad highway patrolmen who are still trying to keep the streets safe.  This is where we meet one of those patrolmen....a simple family man Max played by Gibson......BEFORE he gets Mad. :o 

Host & Editor: Geoff Gershon
Producer: Marlene Gershon 

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Ten years ago at the Sundance Film Festival, every one who saw it was just dazzled by this low-budget music drama directed by then up-and-comer Damian Chazelle.  And as the year progressed, so did more buzz before it was eventually released worldwide later that year to much acclaim and lots of awards attention.  In fact, this film ended up being nominated for five Oscars including Best Picture and ended up winning three, including for Best Supporting Actor.  J.K. Simmons won that award for playing the highly memorable Fletcher, a jazz professor who takes one new student under his wing.....sort of. :) That student would be the highly motivated and gifted Andrew played by Miles Teller - he's a drummer with only ONE goal: to become the best!  And Fletcher wants him to become the best....but at what cost?  What results is one of the more unique stories of a prodigy and his mentor.....which goes to some dark places.  So let's find out who's rushing, who's dragging, and WHO'S playing out of tune....

WARNING: There are some racial and homophobic epithets spoken within clips from the movie included in this podcast.

Host & Editor: Geoff Gershon
Producer: Marlene Gershon 

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NAVAL WEEK concludes with a highly acclaimed period seafaring adventure which just turned 20!

Adapted from a series of beloved historical fiction novels from Patrick O'Brian, this film chronicles the journey of the HMS Surprise, a British seafaring vessel sailing across the Southern Hemisphere and in a continuous cat-and-mouse with the French Navy, this being during the height of the Napoleonic Wars in the 1800's.   This ship and crew are lead by Captain Jack Aubrey played by Russell Crowe and the physician on board (and Aubrey's best friend) is Dr. Stephen Maturin played by Paul Bettany.  We watch them embark on a series of adventures through choppy waters, blistering heat, conflict amongst the crew, and a continuous cat-and-mouse with a more intimidating French vessel known as the Acheron.  

Along the way, we get to know Jack, Stephen, and the rest of their spirited crew very well with every aspect of this story and setting being portrayed with an impressive level of historical authenticity thanks to director Peter Weir.  This film received ten Oscar nominations including Best Picture, though it ended up losing most of them to the Lord of the Rings; Return of the King awards juggernaut that same year.  So let's set sail and see if the weather gage....and Surprise....are on our side! ;) 

Host & Editor: Geoff Gershon
Producer: Marlene Gershon 

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