Living for the Cinema

NAVAL WEEK kicks off with what might be The LAST Great Cold War Thriller??

Could be as this adaptation of Tom Clancy's best-selling novel was released literally just a few months after the fall of the Soviet Union.  It all takes place during the height of the Cold War back in the early 1980's.  There's a brand new Russian submarine in the water which can be apparently run silent and it's lead by Captain Ramius played by Sean Connery....who COULD pass for Russian right? :o Regardless, rumors start to fly among both the Russian and American Navies that he might have gone rogue....resulting a cat-and-mouse out there on the Atlantic Ocean between both naval fleets to find his ship (called The Red October) so that they can find out the truth before it's too late!  And inadvertently leading this chase is Jack Ryan, CIA analysis played by Alec Baldwin - he has suspicions that Ramius might NOT be going rogue and what results is a pulse-pounding suspense thriller directed by action-master John McTiernan as his follow-up to Die Hard two years prior.  The all-star cast also includes James Earl Jones, Scott Glenn, Sam Neill, Courtney B. Vance, and Stellan Skaarsgard among several others.....THE HUNT IS ON!!!

See below for a link to a video citing the actual translated lyrics to the catchy "Hymm to Red October" theme....just in case you were always curious. :)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MRG1UixHvos

Host & Editor: Geoff Gershon
Producer: Marlene Gershon 

Send us Fan Mail

Support the show

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's this, a well-regarded science fiction conspiracy thriller which featured an all-star cast and yet no one remembers it?? Well yeah if this film happens to come out the same year as Star Wars and Close Encounters of the Third Kind....two BEHEMETHS from this era directed by master filmmakers/household names George Lucas and Stephen Spielberg respectively.  Whereas this was directed by Peter Hyams....who actually built up a nice filmography himself over the next ten years including Running Scared, Outland, and 2010: The Year We Make Contact.  And this being his breakout success which he also wrote, it has ONE hell of a doozy of a plot....

Three astronauts (James Brolin, Sam Waterston, O.J. Simpson) are about to embark on a TRULY historic adventure, THE first manned mission to the planet of Mars!  Except they're not actually going to Mars....they're supposed to stay on Earth and ONLY they are to know this.  Hmmm....it's a massive space program conspiracy lead by the late, great Hal Holbrook who is orchestrating it from NASA.  Fortunately there is ONE brave reporter who is out to uncover the truth and he's played by Elliott Gould. :) And of course don't underestimate the crazy aerial hijinks of a crazy crop-duster pilot played by the late, great Telly Savalas too while you're you're at it. :) Admit to yourself that it sounds intriguing. 

Host & Editor: Geoff Gershon
Producer: Marlene Gershon 

Send us Fan Mail

Support the show

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/ 

Forty years ago amidst a crop of various pop music-driven movies (Flashdance, Breakin), this Herbert Ross-directed teen musical drama hit the world by storm and made a star of its lead performer, the legendary Kevin Bacon.  Beyond that, it also had a one of the most memorable soundtracks of the decades featuring several catchy pop gems including the EXTREMELY popular title track from Kenny Loggins.  It's generally a simple story of the new kid (Bacon) from the big city who has just moved to a smalltown with his single mother....and discovers to his dismay, that his favorite activity of dancing is NOT allowed in this town for pretty controversial reasons.  Amidst a very strong cast including John Lithgow, Sarah Jessica Parker, Dianne Weist, Lori Singer, and the late great Chris Penn.....we watch as he gradually changes things in this town for the better....with the help of several new friends no less.  And of course, there's LOTS of dancing.....

Host & Editor: Geoff Gershon
Producer: Marlene Gershon 

Send us Fan Mail

Support the show

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/ 

From the director of The French Connection, The Exorcist, and.....Cruising :o....this was somewhat of a comeback vehicle for the late, great William Friedkin in the mid '80's after a series of highly publicized flops and commercial disappointments.  It's a hard-edged LA-based crime story revolving around two Secret Service agents (William Peterson, John Pankow) attempting to take down the ruthless California King of Counterfeiting played by a then baby-faced Willem Dafoe.  And along the way there are no shortage of violent scrapes and shootouts along with loads of gratuitous nudity...and the whole thing is scored by pop band Wang Chung no less!  Yes it's time to revisit a true product of its time which also co-stars Dean Stockwell, John Turturro, Darlene Fluegel, and John Turturro in one of his earliest on-screen roles.  

Host & Editor: Geoff Gershon
Producer: Marlene Gershon 

Send us Fan Mail

Support the show

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/ 

For the first time in more then eight years, the legendary Michael Mann (Heat, The Insider, The Last of the Mohicans) has returned to the director's chair with a project which he has been developing for more than two decades.  This is the epic story of Enzo Ferrari (Adam Driver) the Italian racer/industrialist who would forever revolutionize both car manufacturing and auto-racing.  Only this is isn't his WHOLE story - this film actually focuses on just a few months from his life, though at a very critical time....mainly the Summer of 1957.  We watch as the real-life subject of this story deals with not only various challenges related to the solvency of his company but his many personal struggles including dealing with the aftermath of the death of his son.  Penelope Cruz co-stars as Laura, his wife, as does Shailene Woodly as Lina....his OTHER wife?  Sort of...needless to say, his personal life is complicated as will be the analysis of what was definitely among the most anticipated films of 2023......

Host & Editor: Geoff Gershon
Producer: Marlene Gershon 

Send us Fan Mail

Support the show

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/ 

Many would consider Denzel Washington to be our Greatest Living Actor....Period and as part of this podcast's year tradition to celebrate his birthday (December 29), we will revisit one of the lesser-known starring vehicles from early in his career which is this Jamaica-based mystery thriller directed by Carl Schenkel.  Denzel stars as the local police chief of a Jamaican resort community who is investigating a murder....with his childhood best friend (Robert Townsend) being the prime suspect...or is he?  Along the way there are loads of gorgeous locations, lively music, and a strong supporting cast which includes Sheryl Lee Ralph, M. Emmett Walsh, James Fox, Art Evans, Esther Rolle, and Mimi Rogers.  You ain't seen NOTHING but....

Host & Editor: Geoff Gershon
Producer: Marlene Gershon 

Send us Fan Mail

Support the show

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/ 

First-director Cordell Jefferson helms this highly acclaimed new comedy/drama starring Jeffrey Wright as a veteran author struggling to find success and also coping with some upheaval within his family back home in Boston - his siblings are played by Sterling K. Brown and Tracee Ellis Ross.  His literary agent is played by John Ortiz who has challenged him to write a novel with better commercial prospects,...something more overtly "black."  This result is a book filled with racial stereotypes....which unexpectedly becomes a massive success.  And what results is a movie that's both funny and touching, with a showcase performance by Wright at its center.

Host & Editor: Geoff Gershon
Producer: Marlene Gershon 
 

Send us Fan Mail

Support the show

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/ 

Todd Haynes (Carol, Far From Heaven) directs this domestic drama/psychological thriller starring Oscar-winner Julianne Moore as a suburban woman who had an affair with an underage boy more than twenty years prior and ended up marrying him after she was eventually released from prison.  This young boy has grown up into Charles Melton (Riverdale) and the two eventually had a family....now with three teenagers, two of whom are about to graduated high school.  Their lives together have seemingly become more mundane now more than two decades removed from scandal....but complicating matters is the introduction of Elizabeth (Oscar-winner Natalie Portman) who is a TV actress who has come to visit them for an extended period of time.  She will soon be starring in a film production recounting their affair so she has taken it upon herself to not only "study" Gracie as a person but to become involved with every one else in their lives.  And what results is a truly unique story of love, loss, and regret which is unlike anything else you might have seen in recent years....and it's playing on Netflix!

Host & Editor: Geoff Gershon
Producer: Marlene Gershon 

Send us Fan Mail

Support the show

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/ 

Sam Email (who was the creator of the popular drama "Mr. Robot") directs only his second feature film adapting the 2020 novel of the same name from Rumaan Alam.  This is a story of one New York City family (lead by Oscar winner Julia Roberts, Oscar nominee Ethan Hawke) who rents a nice home on Long Island to get away for the weekend....and the father (Two-time Oscar winner Mahershala Ali) who owns this home returning unexpectedly with his daughter (Myha'la) to also stay there for the weekend.  And this is because there has been a blackout in New York City where the father and daughter were attending a symphony.....only it seems that there is MUCH more going down than just this blackout. :o  Many disturbing things start to occur outside and to the folks in this house....and as every one becomes increasingly disconnected from the rest of the world, they start to wonder just how massive this event which is occurring happens to be.  

Host & Editor: Geoff Gershon
Producer: Marlene Gershon 

Send us Fan Mail

Support the show

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/ 

CHRISTMAS MOVIE WEEK 2023 continues!  And this second episode happens to focus on a strange, little studio holiday-themed comedy which actually came out thirty years ago this coming Easter....

It stars previous stand-up comedian Denis Leary in his first starring role in a feature film - he plays Gus, a career thief who is robbing the homes of some wealthy residents in a snowy New England town when suddenly he's about to be caught.....so he ends up on the lam with a local couple (Kevin Spacey, Judy Davis) and keeping them hostage in their home while he tries to figure out how to skip town while avoiding the cops.   Of course this isn't just ANY couple....they're on the verge of divorce, CONSTANTLY arguing even when in his armed presence.  So while trying to figure out what to do and keeping tabs on them, he in essence becomes their.....REF so to say. :) And what results is a raucous R-rated Christmas comedy directed by the late, great Ted Demme. 

Host & Editor: Geoff Gershon
Producer: Marlene Gershon 

https://livingforthecinema.com/

Send us Fan Mail

Support the show

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/