Pod Casty For Me

In 2013, Paul Schrader directed deeply troubled recent child actress Lindsay Lohan and porn star/human Quagmire James Deen from a script by literary dolt Bret Easton Ellis in a crowdfunded, low-budget curio about the vapid cruelty of modern Los Angeles. THE CANYONS was widely disregarded on release, but has steadily grown in esteem by some particularly movie-brained folks. Will we be among them? What about our guest, writer Charles Lyons-Burt? You'll have to listen to find out!

Spoiler: we both despised the experience of watching this, and reading other people's appreciations of it made us feel insane. But Charles makes some compelling arguments! Good ep, please don't get too mad at us.

Further Reading:

"In Lindsay's Stardust Orbit" by Braxton Pope

"Paul Schrader's 'The Canyons'" by Richard Brody

"Here Is What Happens When You Cast Lindsay Lohan in Your Movie" by Stephen Rodrick

Paul Schrader interviewed for Salon by Daniel D'Addario

Further Viewing:

AMERICAN GIGOLO (Schrader, 1980)

THE COMFORT OF STRANGERS (Schrader, 1990)

THE 15:17 TO PARIS (Eastwood, 2018)

THE KILLING OF A CHINESE BOOKIE (Cassavetes, 1976)

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https://www.slantmagazine.com/author/clyonsburt/

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Sorry for the late update, everybody - we got trapped in one of those two-person horse costumes for like 48 hours, really really scary. But we're back to talk pretty seriously about Paul Schrader's 2008 literary adaptation ADAM RESURRECTED, the story of a German Jewish clown who becomes a concentration camp commander's human dog and then finds himself the Van Wilder of an Israeli psychiatric facility after the war. It is at once a very relevant and profoundly unhelpful film for the current moment, but we do our best to get to the bottom of the ideas at work here. We recorded this a few weeks ago, so facts about Israel's genocide of the people of Palestine are that many weeks old as we post this, to say nothing of whenever you find yourself listening to it. But, as ever: free Palestine.

Further Reading:

Adam Resurrected by Yoram Kaniuk

"We Are Conquerors" by Adam Shatz

"Yoram Kaniuk - The Last Great Zionist" by Yuval Ben-Ami

"Israeli Writer Yoram Kaniuk, 83, On Pain And Peace"

Palestine: A Socialist Introduction ed. Sumaya Awad and brian bean

Further Viewing:

ONE FLEW OVER THE CUCKOO'S NEST (Forman, 1975)

LIFE IS BEAUTIFUL (Benigni, 1997)

THE DAY THE CLOWN CRIED (just kidding)

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Paul Schrader concludes his first set of Man In A Room films with 2007's THE WALKER, a bookend to AMERICAN GIGOLO that finds the lonely man working as a literal escort for society women in D.C. But will Carter Page III find meaning outside of managing a few political wives' secrets? Should Woody Harrelson be doing that voice? Is Jake so unceasingly distractible on this episode that it ends the podcast? You'll have to listen to find out!

Further Reading:

The Razor's Edge by W. Somerset Maugham

"The Consummate Chum: Jerome Zipkin Dies at 80" by Mort Sheinman

"The Gigolo Grows Up" by Kyle Buchanan

Further Viewing:

AMERICAN GIGOLO (Schrader, 1980)

NOW YOU SEE ME (Leterrier, 2013)

NOW YOU SEE ME 2 (Chu, 2016)

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The power of 'cast compels you, listener - to enjoy this week's episode! Paul Schrader was hired to replace John Frankenheimer as director of a prequel to THE EXORCIST, and things only got stranger from there. Our pal, and producer of the new film CRUMB CATCHER, Chadd Harbold returns to the show to help us discuss Schrader's DOMINION: PREQUEL TO THE EXORCIST (and Renny Harlin's reworked version, EXORCIST: THE BEGINNING). It's all here: the auteur theory proven correct(???), crises of faith, British imperialism, the theme song from POKEMON: THE FIRST MOVIE. Check it out!

Further Reading:

"Colonial Possessions: A Fanonian Reading of The Exorcist and its Sequels" by Kevin J. Wetmore, Jr.

"'Exorcist' prequel bedeviled from the beginning"

Paul Schrader interview on CaptainHowdy.com

Further Viewing:

THE EXORCIST (Friedkin, 1973)

EXORCIST II: THE HERETIC (Boorman, 1977)

THE EXORCIST III (Blatty, 1990)

EXORCIST: THE BEGINNING (Harlin, 2004)

See CRUMB CATCHER:

https://www.musicboxfilms.com/film/crumb-catcher/

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https://x.com/chaddwithtwoDs

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Schmile, listener! This week we're pointing our viewfinders at Paul Schrader's sleazy 2002 Bob Crane biopic AUTO FOCUS with writer and co-host of the Doughboys and Get Played podcasts, Nick Wiger! Join us for a discussion of fame, destructive sexual obsession, smoldering male violence, Willem Dafoe - you know, all the usual Schrader stuff. Plus: we talk the Minions, Tyga bites, and how Bob Crane would have been a podcaster. Also if you're related to either of the hosts of the show, maybe don't listen to this one. For everyone else: great ep, please enjoy!

Further Reading:

The Murder of Bob Crane: Who Killed the Star of Hogan's Heroes? by Robert Graysmith

"Raging Bullshit. Auto Focus Is Not My Dad's Story" by Scotty Crane

"Michael Gerbosi on Writing Auto Focus" by Paul Rowlands

Further Viewing:

SEX, LIES, AND VIDEOTAPE (Soderbergh, 1989)

BOOGIE NIGHTS (Anderson, 1997)

GUNGAN STYLE (GANGNAM STYLE PARODY) (Wiger, 2012)

Follow Nick Wiger:

https://headgum.com/doughboys

https://headgum.com/get-played

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Somebody call 911 - it's a new episode podcast! Only kidding, there's no emergency. Except you might have some friggin palpitations when you hear our great conversation on Paul Schrader and Martin Scorsese's final collaboration (to date), BRINGING OUT THE DEAD, with film writer and literal rock star Soraya Sebghati! We're talking Cage, we're talking TAXI DRIVER redux, we're talking the novel coronavirus, we're talking blood-soaked dreadlocks, we're talking all kinds of stuff. Great movie, great guest, great ep.

Further Reading:

Bringing Out the Dead by Joe Connelly

Conversations with Scorsese by Richard Schickel

"TS Eliot, Y2K, and Street Preaching: A Loose Exploration of the Mythological and Biblical in Bringing Out The Dead" by Soraya Sebghati

Further Viewing:

TAXI DRIVER (duh)

KUNDUN (Scorsese, 1997)

AMBULANCE (Bay, 2022)

STRANGE DAYS (Bigelow, 1995)

Follow Soraya Sebghati:

https://sorayasebghati.substack.com/

https://www.nighttalks.com/

https://x.com/SorayaSpaghetti

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1999 is one of the great movie years - perhaps because Paul Schrader's FOREVER MINE only technically premiered that year, and didn't see release until 2002 (on Starz, to boot). But is this long-gestating tale of torrid passion the Sirkian romance Schrader claims, or more of a nasty noir pastiche? Is it neither of those things, and instead a very compelling advertisement for The Legendary Pink Palace of St. Pete Beach? What's the deal with Joseph Fiennes? You'll have to listen to find out! 

Further Reading:

The Erotic Thriller in Contemporary Cinema by Linda Ruth Williams

Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert

Further Viewing:

ALL THAT HEAVEN ALLOWS (Sirk, 1995), etc.

FAR FROM HEAVEN (Haynes, 2002)

"Pitbull - Sexy Beaches (Official Video) ft. Chloe Angelides"

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"AFFLIC" - the Aflac duck if he was talking about this movie! For real, though, a lot of the characters in this film could have used some insurance based on many of the events that take place in Paul Schrader's 1997 Russell Banks adaptation AFFLICTION. Returning to the show to help us discuss this snowbound story of alcoholism and abuse is writer and film programmer Glenn Heath, Jr.! Join us for discussion of small-town authority, proximity, auto-dentistry, and more.

Further Reading:

Affliction by Russell Banks

"'Half A Damn Excuse': Tragic Vigilantism in Paul Schrader's Affliction" by Jason Christian

"Sins Of The Father: Josh Zeman talks to Paul Schrader about his new film Affliction"

"Production Slate: Affliction"

Further Viewing:

THE SWEET HEREAFTER (Egoyan, 1997)

CHINATOWN (Polanski, 1974)

THE SACRIFICE (Tarkovsky, 1986)

JENNIFER 8 (Robinson, 1992)

Follow Glenn Heath, Jr.:

https://x.com/MatchCuts

https://digitalgym.org/

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Paul Schrader. Elmore Leonard. Tom Arnold. Dave Grohl. It's like the freaking Traveling Wilburys had a baby! Four babies, I guess. Anyway what I'm saying is Schrader's 1997 faith healer comedy TOUCH involved a weird bunch of people. Luckily we have the great Jane Altoids joining us to sort it all out! We're talking stigmata, daytime TV, self-parody, tonal control, and more.

Everything goes very normally on this episode and Jake behaves in a way that is completely fine and actually impressive. Not only does he come across as rhetorically powerful, he also sounds pretty handsome. He doesn't basically start crying when Ian lightly disagrees with him at all. You'll find all this out when you listen to the episode, which you should do!

Further Reading:

"Touch: Paul Schrader adapts Elmore Leonard's quirky novel of faith & healing" by David Skal

Talking Trash: The Cultural Politics of Daytime TV Talk Shows by Julie Engel Manga

"The Social Gospel and Socialism" by Jacob H. Dorn

The Century of the Holy Spirit : 100 Years of Pentecostal and Charismatic Renewal by Vinson Synan

Further Viewing:

GET SHORTY (Sonnenfeld, 1995)

JACKIE BROWN (Tarantino, 1997)

OUT OF SIGHT (Soderbergh, 1998)

Follow Jane Altoids:

https://x.com/staticbluebat

https://x.com/pacino_pod

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Now I've heard of a Major Motion Picture...but a Mayor Motion Picture??? Now I'm being carted off to a hospital for having typed that!! Nah, just kidding. We're talking about one of those today: Harold Becker's 1996 not-John-Grisham city politics thriller CITY HALL, on which Paul Schrader was one of four credited writers! Your favorite Pauld Casty boys had a grand old time talking municipal procedure, Al Pacino, Danny Aiello, Donald Manes, David Dinkins, Rudy Giuliani, bongo clubs, and more. Plus, obviously: impressions.

Further Reading:

Fear City: New York's Fiscal Crisis and the Rise of Austerity Politics by Kim Phillips-Fein

"Rudy Giuliani Has Been Peddling Racist Political Tropes for More Than 3 Decades" by John Nichols

"White Riot: In 1992, thousands of furious, drunken cops descended on City Hall — and changed New York history" by Laura Nahmias

Further Viewing:

CITY HALL (Wiseman, 2020)

SEA OF LOVE (Becker, 1989)

THE FIRM (Pollack, 1993), etc.

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