Living for the Cinema

1992 was just a great year for independent cinema……you had SO many memorable smaller films directed by both new directors like Quentin Tarantino (Reservoir Dogs) and veteran directors like Robert Altman (The Player).  Amidst this crop was this underseen gem directed by Carl Franklin which didn’t have much of a theatrical release nor did it receive much in the way of Oscar attention.  However it DID eventually garner a following on home video thanks to being loudly championed by the two premiere film critics of the time on their regular weekly review show….Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert.  In fact both critics even selected it as THE best film of 1992 which was a very strong year.  This neo-noir crime thriller stars Bill Paxton as a small-town sheriff pulled into an ongoing hunt for three suspected murderers played by Cynda Williams, Michael Bowen, and Billy Bob Thornton who also co-wrote the screenplay.

Host: Geoff Gershon
 
 Editors: Geoff and Ella Gershon

Producer: Marlene Gershon

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/

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/ 

Ten years ago, we saw the second big-screen adaptation of a popular British graphic novel – the previous one (Judge Dredd) which came out in the 1995 starred Sylvester Stallone and was widely disliked by both fans and non-fans of the original comic.  As a result, expectations for this latest version were pretty low in the lead-up to its fall release.  

And then people saw it…..and most were pretty blown away!  The story was straightforward, the villain was memorable (Ma-Ma played by Lena Headey), the action was exciting, and even Dredd himself was portrayed by star Karl Urban as the bad-ass anti-hero that hardcore fans had been hoping for!  Unfortunately, it flopped at the box office….though this movie has had a devoted following every since.  Let’s revisit this now-cult classic directed by Pete Travis….or was that Alex Garland? :o 

WARNING: ADULT LANGUAGE AND VIOLENCE FEATURED IN CLIPS FOR MOVIE

Host: Geoff Gershon
 
Editors: Geoff and Ella Gershon

Producer: Marlene Gershon

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/

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/ 

Back in 2019, actress Olivia Wilde dazzled many folks with Booksmart which was her directorial debut – it remains one of the funniest and most inventive comedies of recent years.  So as her follow-up, she has given us an original thriller which is much more ambitious….but is it just as good?  Well it has a mind-bending premise about a seemingly utopian sequestered village in the desert known as the “Victory Project” and it stars Oscar nominee Florence Pugh as a seemingly happy housewife living there with her adoring husband played by Harry Styles, who’s working for a mysterious boss played by Chris Pine.  And of course, there has been significant online chatter lately about the film’s production, director, and cast.  Let’s find out if all of this results in a good movie….

Host: Geoff Gershon
 
 Editors: Geoff and Ella Gershon

Producer: Marlene Gershon

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/

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/ 

Twenty-five years ago, audiences saw what would be THE first true movie star performance from eventual three-time Oscar winner Daniel Day-Lewis headlining a large, mainstream action adventure film….and this would also be the last time they would see this as well.  No matter because as directed by Michael Mann, it was quite memorable to be taken back to 1757 and told the story of Hawkeye, a white man raised and adopted by the Mohican tribe.  Russell Means plays his father, Madeline Stowe plays the British aristocrat whom he falls in love with, and Wes Studi plays a local indigenous guide with a hidden agenda whom he encounters.  Amidst a sprawling story of romance, adventure, political intrigue, and tragedy, let’s find out who leaves the greatest impression….     

Host: Geoff Gershon
 
 Editors: Geoff and Ella Gershon

Producer: Marlene Gershon

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/

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/ 

In a first for this podcast, I review an entire season of a streaming/TV show….

But not just ANY show... this one happens to be the surprisingly popular spin-off from The Karate Kid movie trilogy from the 1980’s.  

It’s a serialized continuation of the adventures of Johnny Lawrence (Billy Zabka), Danny LaRusso (Ralph Macchio), and so many other kooky characters inhabiting this crazy martial arts-obsessed universe mainly taking place around “The Valley” just outside of Los Angeles.  

Let’s jump-kick into a world filled with Coors Banquet, cassette tapes, crane kicks and….of course….karate competitions!

Host: Geoff Gershon
 
Editors: Geoff and Marlene Gershon

Producer: Marlene Gershon

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/

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/ 

Seeing as it’s September, it’s that time of year again…..time for the kids to go back to school!  And what better way to commemorate this time period than revisiting what MIGHT be one of the strangest high school comedies from the ‘80’s?  It’s the simple of story of Jerry Mitchell (Casey Siemaszko) a mild-mannered Senior student who gets challenged to an after-school brawl by the new intimidating kid in school, the much gossiped about Buddy Revell played menacingly by Richard Tyson.  And then we watch over the next six hours as Jerry attempts to exhaust all options to AVOID this fight….including trying to enlist help to take on Revell.  It’s quirky, fresh, funny, and definitely underappreciated as this film was a flop when it first hit theaters – since then, it has reached somewhat of a cult status thanks to confident direction from Phil Joanou in what was his directorial debut.

Host: Geoff Gershon
 
 Editors: Geoff and Ella Gershon

Producer: Marlene Gershon

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/

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/ 

“LA Crime Week” continues with this Neo-Noir thriller directed by Roman Polanski which is considered by many cinephiles to be one of the best films of the 1970’s.  It’s a complex mystery focusing on water distribution, adultery, and murder among other several other matters – the private detective who has been hired to investigate is played by Jack Nicholson in one of his earlier breakout performances.  As Nicholson’s Jake Gittes delves further into his investigation, he starts to uncover unforeseen levels of corruption, mainly from local water baron Noah Cross played by the late great John Huston.  But at the center of this mystery is Evelyn Mulwray who hired Jake and is played by Faye Dunaway – both Dunaway and Nicholson received Oscar nominations for their performances.

Host: Geoff Gershon
 
 Editors: Geoff and Ella Gershon

Producer: Marlene Gershon

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/

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/ 

Right on the heels of Boogie Nights, yet ANOTHER all-timer is about to turn twenty-five!  And this one is one hell of a sprawling crime drama set in the Los Angeles in the 1950’s focusing on three different LAPD cops played by Russell Crowe, Guy Pearce, and Kevin Spacey.  It’s quite an elaborate tale involving murder, prostitution, racism, corruption, blackmail, abuse, and even glamour at points – this was directed by Curtis Hanson and adapted from an acclaimed novel from James Ellroy.  The stacked cast also includes James Cromwell, David Straitharn, Danny DeVito, and Kim Basinger in the role that won her an Oscar.  This begins our “LA Crime Week” with Chinatown to soon follow….

Host: Geoff Gershon
 
 Editors: Geoff and Ella Gershon

Producer: Marlene Gershon

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/

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/ 

RRR (2022)

This is the epic story of Ramu (Allur Sitarama Raju) and Bheem (NT Rama Rao Jr), two fierce soldiers on opposite sides of a long-running conflict in India one hundred years ago between the local residents and their British colonizers.  Ramu reports to the British military and is on a mission to find the lead revolutionary who has been hiding in nearby forests - that revolutionary happens to be Bheem.  Of course, they become friends at one point starting to fight together unaware of the other one’s roots…..and what results is a CRAZY 3+ hour extravagance of action, fantasy, dancing, revolution, and tigers defying gravity. :o   Come learn about this deliriously entertaining Tollywood smash which not only took India but the rest of the world by storm this year!  It was directed by S.S. Rajamouli and it’s quite the ride….

Host: Geoff Gershon
 
 Editors: Geoff and Ella Gershon

Producer: Marlene Gershon

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/

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/ 

Twenty-five years ago, director Paul Thomas Anderson shook up the cinematic world with this epic tale focusing on the adult film industry in the 1970’s and 1980’s.  He borrowed techniques from Robert Altman and Martin Scorcese but he made them his own with this sprawling tale of Eddie Adams, a teenager played by Mark Wahlberg with ONE special gift.  This one special gift helps Eddie become an instant star with the name of Dirk Diggler – we witness his rise and fall within the industry along with stories of so many others around him portrayed by an impressively stacked cast including Burt Reynolds, Julianne More, Don Cheadle, the late great Phillip Seymour Hoffman, John C. Reilly, and Heather Graham, along with so many others…..  

And If you still don’t want to hear this review after reading the above, then that’s not an MP…..that’s a YP, YOUR problem. :O   

Host: Geoff Gershon
 
 Editors: Geoff and Ella Gershon

Producer: Marlene Gershon

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/

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/