Phi Phenomenon

Though born in Chicago, Budd Boetticher was adopted and raised in Evansville, making him somewhat inarguably its most notable filmmaking resident. Ted Haycraft is back and joined by writer Robert Nott, author of The Films of Budd Boetticher, to discuss the director’s movies with Randolph Scott, and more:

- Boetticher’s influence on filmmakers Clint Eastwood, Quentin Tarantino (who named a Kill Bill character after Budd), and Martin Scorsese (who highlighted The Tall T in his Personal Journey Through American Movies);
- his high school (spoiler alert: he went to the same one as someone on this podcast);
- if Boetticher was the first Western filmmaker to use terse dialogue or morally ambiguous antagonists;
- and what his films presents to younger viewers now.

Also:

- His bullfighting exploits, performed and filmed, before and after the Ranown Cycle;
- if the minimalism or violence of his Westerns is the bridging link between John Ford and Sergio Leone;
- what Boetticher’s career would have been like it his success had extended into the ’60s or ’70s;
- and the mythologizing he did in the final 20 years of his life on the film festival circuit.

Haycraft is film critic for Evansville’s WFIE-14 and co-hosts Cinema Chat on its Midday show. He can also be found on Cinema Chat’s Facebook page.

Robert Nott has been a reporter for the Santa Fe New Mexican for more than fifteen years. Among his other books are The Films of Randolph Scott, He Ran All the Way: The Life of John Garfield, Last of the Cowboy Heroes: The Westerns of Randolph Scott, Joel McCrea, and Audie Murphy, and the short story collection The Squatters & Others.

His book The Films of Budd Boetticher is available from McFarland & Company. A DVD boxset of the same name, containing the films The Tall T, Decision at Sundown, Buchanan Rides Alone, Ride Lonesome, and Comanche Station is available from Sony.

Famed as the movie that destroyed a studio and an Oscar-winner, writer/director Michael Cimino’s Heaven’s Gate got its reputation replenished with a Criterion edition in 2012. But why do some sophisticated film-viewers still view it as an eye-roll-worthy indulgence? On this episode is Michael Epstein, director of the documentary Final Cut: The Making and Unmaking of Heaven’s Gate, as we discuss:

- United Artists’ executive Steven Bach’s book, Final Cut: Art, Money, and Ego in the Making of Heaven’s Gate, from which Epstein adapted his doc;
- if this book is the greatest making-of-a-movie book, or merely the best one written by an insider;
- the bogus narrative that the movie destroyed UA;
- how the book contributes to the narrative of Gate as an indulgent slog;
- an alternate theory on how inflation destroyed American politics and film in the 1970s;
- and why it doesn’t matter how much was spent on a piece of art years, decades, or centuries ago.

Also:

- How Epstein’s doc precipitated Gate’s 2004 restoration and DVD release;
- why Cimino’s perfectionism, now timeless, is still treated as a negative;
- whether or not the film could have survived if its “internal rhythms” were cut down;
- my edible-enhanced screening last year where I declared the movie “one of the greatest movies ever made”;
- what enhancement actually led to that declaration (spoiler: not the edibles);
- and the identity of the mysterious “Famous Director” Bach covertly discussed replacing Cimino with if he’d gone through with firing the writer/director mid-shoot.

Michael Epstein is an Academy Award-nominated filmmaker whose work has been awarded two George Foster Peabody awards, two Primetime Emmys, a Writers Guild Award, a Clio, as well as numerous other distinctions. His films include House Two, Combat Diary: The Marines in Lima Company, along with the John Lennon docs LennoNYC and John & Yoko: Above Us Only Sky. He’s also the writer/host of the Murder in House Two podcast.

The 216-minute director’s cut of Heaven’s Gate is available on DVD and Blu-ray from Criterion. Its 219-minute Premiere cut is available on VOD and on DVD from MGM. The 149 theatrical cut briefly showed up on MGM’s HD channel but is, apparently, only available on the Region 2 DVD. Director Steven Soderbergh’s 106-minute “immoral and illegal” “Butcher’s Cut” is available to stream on his website, Extension 765.

From the stages of Broadway musicals came one of the most adventurous and innovative editorial directors, and that adventurousness peaked with Bob Fosse’s 1979 autobiographical film. On this episode is the esteemed editor Keith Fraase, discussing:

- the 8½-inspired sub-genre of directors making autobiographical movies about them making movies;
- the Fosse/Verdon mini-series;
- Sam Wasson’s book from which it’s based;
- Fosse’s streak of Cabaret through Jazz as a model of the American musical maturing on film;
- how the hell a Broadway choreographer learned to edit like that;
- and how the answer actually makes sense.

Also:

- how legendary editor Alan Heim felt constrained by the shooting style;
- Fosse’s influence on Michael Jackson;
- Keith’s foundational love of the Jesus Christ Superstar film;
- and how engaging in an autobiographical production doesn’t quite solve ones problems in life.

Keith Fraase has edited such narratives features as Knight of Cups, Song to Song, and Chappaquiddick, along with the documentaries Voyage of Time and Long Strange Trip. He lives in New York City, NY with his family.

All That Jazz is not currently streaming or available to rent online, but is on DVD and Blu-ray from Criterion.

How does a movie get into Netflix’s Top 10, seemingly out of nowhere — especially an indie production? On this episode writer/director Anna Elizabeth James and editor F. Brian Scofield talk their film Deadly Illusions, which recently spent almost a week as the #1 film on Netflix both domestically and internationally. (As of this writing, it’s still #5 worldwide.) We discuss:

- how the strong reactions of Film Twitter betray that viewers compulsively kept watching;
- James’s realization of needing to go “rogue” to make movies this distinct, hate-watching;
- how much of the institutional and interpersonal film criticism “isn’t helpful” to new voices;
- and Scofield’s work tying to balance a tone of real/unreal or straight/camp.

Also:

- how normal story structure of rising tension/climax/denouement models a male orgasm;
- how Illusions’ structure models a female’s;
- the beatifically committed performance of star Greer Grammar;
- the therapeutic value of other voices in film culture;
- why the Internet reacted so strongly to the film’s ending;
- and exclusive (BOOM!) news about the potential Deadly Illusions sequel.

Along with this recent Netflix hit Anna Elizabeth James has written and directed Emma’s Chance, also starring Grammar. A graduate of the University of Southern California, you can find out more about her work at her website or the website for her production company, Kiss & Tale Productions.

F. Brian Scofield, also a graduate of USC, is an editor and filmmaker who’s edited films for Terrence Malick, Warren Beatty, and other independent filmmakers. Along with other editing projects, he’s currently working on his first feature, Be Not Afraid.

Deadly Illusions is exclusively streaming on Netflix.

Another cross-over episode! I’m joined by podcaster Ryan Whitten to discuss this new/old cut of the infamous sophomore film from the the creative and once-promising Richard Kelly, a cut first shown and panned by critics at the 2006 Cannes Film Festival before being reedited into a shorter and (supposedly) more coherent domestic version that was panned by critics in 2007. On this episode we discuss:

- how helpful it might be to read the volumes I-III of the film’s graphic novels (with the Cannes cut comprising volumes IV-VI of the story);
- if claims that the movie is still “unfinished” are an excuse or legit;
- how over-explanation has helped both Southland and Donnie Darko’s cult film status;
- the influence of writers Thomas Pynchon, Kurt Vonnegut, or Philip K. Dick (including parallels between Southland and the novel Flow My Tears, the Policeman Said).

Also:

- if this is the most superior difference between released cuts since Brazil’s “Love Conquers All” version;
- Kelly’s popular spec script Bessie about a genetically sentient cow;
- apocalyptic suicidal ideation in his films;
- how much WWE training went into the Rock’s performance;
- whether or not it’s worth it to meet a difficult movie more than halfway;
- and if Kelly might be back towards reclaiming that early promise as a high concept, high intellect writer/director.

Ryan Whitten hosts the American Werewolf in Vancouver podcast along with co-hosting the Spicy Boyz podcast, the latter of which is currently on hiatus. He’s based out of Vancouver, BC, where he produces film.

The Cannes cut of Southland Tales is available on a Blu-ray from Arrow.

Four years before Pulp Fiction set off a trend of quirky, violent crime films in the ’90s, writer/director George Armitage adapted the first of Charles Willeford’s Hoke Moseley novels with this violent, titularly Miami-based gem starring a gorgeous and unhinged Alec Baldwin. On this episode former guests Kyle Smith and Tyler Savage discuss:

- this 1990 Jonathan Demme-produced film;
- its exuberant personality;
- the long-lasting influence of Willeford (Tarantino initially said he was aiming for the author with Pulp Fiction);
- and Armitage’s career from Roger Corman, Gross Point Blank, and the chaotically studio-edited The Big Bounce.

Also:

- Fred Ward’s late-’80s/early-’90s streak;
- alternate castings over the years for Hoke Moseley;
- whether Jennifer Jason Leigh is playing an under- or overage sex worker;
- and the rise and fall of that ’90s crime film trend.

Kyle Smith is writer/director of the films Blue Highway and Turkey Bowl, which debuted at the 2011 SXSW Film Festival. Currently in development on his third feature, you can find Kyle and his film thoughts on Letterboxd.

After playing the festival circuit in a pandemic-ravaged festival season, Tyler Savage’s second directed-feature, Stalker, which he also co-wrote, will be released Vertical Entertainment in early 2021. Savage also wrote/directed Inheritance, along with associate producer credits on Song to Song, Knight of Cups, and Voyage of Time.

Miami Blues is available on Blu-ray from Shout! Factory (though it’s sold out on their website) and streaming on Amazon Prime.

The best way we thought to celebrate the great writer Mark Harris’s new book Mike Nichols: A Biography, a book about the famed director filled with the instructive anecdotes he used as tools for directing actors, was to find the best examples the public has to those anecdotes in Nichols’ own voice. In the DVD audio commentaries for Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, The Graduate, and Catch-22, all conducted by audio commentary-innovator Steven Soderbergh, Nichols masterclasses his way through his celebrated first three films as director. On today’s episode, Ted Haycraft is back to discuss:

- how innovative it was for a commentary to have Nichols to discuss his perceived failures on Catch-22;
- if these first three films were indeed his peak, his reputation on New York stage and on film as the “Michael Jordan” of directing actors;
- how he runs a rehearsal;
- and what particular directing questions and techniques he reveals in these commentaries.

Also:

- Last year’s oral-history biography Life Isn’t Everything: Mike Nichols, as Remembered by 150 of His Closest Friends by Ash Carter and Sam Kashner;
- Nichols’s editor Sam O’Steen’s great book on editing Cut to the Chase: Forty-Five Years of Editing America’s Favorite Movies;
- Soderbergh’s other incisive commentaries for his and others’ films;
- how Elizabeth Taylor inspired a scene on a toilet in Catch-22;
- if The Graduate is the Citizen Kane of the American New Wave;
- and where Nichols stands among that New Wave.

Ted Haycraft is film critic for Evansville’s WFIE-14 and co-hosts Cinema Chat on its Midday show. He can also be found on Cinema Chat’s Facebook page.

The Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? commentary is available on Blu-ray from Warner Archive. The Graduate commentary is available from Criterion on DVD and Blu-ray. Catch-22’s commentary is available from Paramount on DVD.

Literary-cinematic powers unite! Ted Haycraft is back to talk about this 2013 film, Cormac McCarthy’s follow-up to both his novel and the film of No Country for Old Man, a spec script that quickly garnered director Ridley Scott and a cadre of stars’ participation — and promptly disappointed critics and audiences. On this episode we discuss:

- that disappointment;
- whether or not audiences were expecting No Country II;
- the odd roundabout effectiveness of the film’s long philosophical dialogue scenes;
- Scott’s speed as a shooter;
- and what that speed and decisiveness has done for his recently filmography.

Also:

- The film’s infamous centerpiece sex scene;
- its portrayal of women characters as guileful or smarter than its men;
- whether this is an arthouse Bond film;
- McCarthy’s first screenplay The Gardener’s Son;
- speculation on his next novel The Passenger;
- its relation to his first non-fiction work;
- and the origin of language and the unconscious.

Ted Haycraft is film critic for WFIE-14 and co-hosts Cinema Chat on its Midday show. He can also be found on Cinema Chat’s Facebook page.

The Counselor is available on VOD.

Lani Gonzalez is back to discuss her favorite film star and his (un)surprisingly(?) charming 1964 film, Grant’s penultimate screen appearance, also his last starring role, and the willingness for the most debonair branded film-star to finally show silver hair, beard stubble, and an untucked shirt. Also:

- the juvenile delinquency of director Ralph Nelson;
- Oscar-winning writer Peter Stone’s varied career;
- Leslie Caron;
- her character’s curiosity for the taste of blood;
- and two recent Grant biographies, The Making of a Hollywood Legend by Mark Glancy (which Lani reviewed for Book & Film Globe) plus Scott Eyman’s A Brilliant Disguise (which I kinda skimmed).

And:

- Lani’s favorite theatrical screening of Grant’s Charade;
- trying to locate where the crop-duster sequence from North by Northwest would’ve taken place on IN-41;
- roles Grant turned down throughout his 40 years of commercial success;
- how his early vaudeville led him to master physical comedy;
- his wives;
- LSD;
- and Lani’s picks for Grant’s best, worst, and most underrated films.

Gonzalez writes about film for both Book and Film Globe and, alongside her husband (and former guest-host) AJ, their blog Cinema Then and Now.

Father Goose is currently available on the Criterion Channel under the banner of “Cary Grant Comedies.” But hurry quick, as it’s leaving February 28.

Anniversary episode! I get drunk with my big brother and talk about movies we liked when we were kids.