The Essential Films Podcast

On today's podcast adventure, Adolfo Acosta and Mark Espinosa join Ethan Edwards and Martin Pawley on the trail of some Comanche when they discuss John Ford's essential classic THE SEARCHERS. On the show, Adolfo and Mark discuss:
• The insane fact that the Academy Awards ignored the film
• Patrick Wayne’s terrible acting
• How we first experienced THE SEARCHERS
• The stunning cinematography
• The John Wayne “charachter”
• The “true story” that inspired the film
• The magnificent opening and closing shots
• Ethan and Martha’s secret love
• Ford’s influence on the likes of Lucas, Scorsese, Bogdanovich, Tarantino, Milius
• Ford’s exploration of racism
• Ethan and Scar as mirror images of each other
• Is this John Wayne’s greatest performance?
• Ethan Edwards: the anti-hero

PLUS: Mini Discussions on:
• DUMBO (1941)
• SONG OF THE SOUTH (1946)
• BATMAN: THE KILLING JOKE (2016)
• SUICIDE SQUAD (2016)
• BATMAN V SUPERMAN: ULTIMATE EDITION (2016)
• SALO, OR THE 120 DAYS OF SODOM (1975)
• CANNIBAL HOLOCAUST (1980)
• THE FLY (1986)
• TRUE GRIT (1969, 2010)
• THE KING OF KINGS (1961)
• STAR WARS (1977)
• The book EASY RIDERS, RAGING BULLS by Peter Biskind
• Michael Cimino
• THE CONQUEROR (1956)
• TOUCH OF EVIL (1958)
• STAR WARS: EPISODE II - ATTACK OF THE CLONES (2002)
• HOW THE WEST WAS WON (1962)
• BAMBI (1942)

And More!

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit adolfoacosta.substack.com

On today's podcast adventure, Adolfo Acosta and Mark Espinosa are a couple of bums, that were never contenders to begin with, and take a one-way trip to Palookaville in their discussion Elia Kazan's ON THE WATERFRONT.

On this show, Adolfo & Mark discuss:

• The beautiful Criterion Collection release of the film
• Our first introduction to Marlon Brando in his prime
• The masterful cinematography by Boris Kaufman
• The history of the production
• The 1999 Academy Awards where Elia Kazan was snubbed by his peers
• Elia Kazan’s ties to Communism, and his controversial testimony before HUAC
• The parallels between Kazan and Terry Malloy
• Our favorite moments
• Karl Malden: The conscience of the film
• A dissection at the “I coulda been a contender” scene
• The differences in aspect ratios in different versions of the film
• Brando and Lee J. Cobb’s powerhouse performances

PLUS side discussions of upcoming Criterion Collection releases, DE PALMA, DRESSED TO KILL, A FACE IN THE CROWD and more

WEBSITE EssentialFilmsPodcast.com

EMAIL [email protected]

FACEBOOK https://www.facebook.com/The-Essential-Films-130585803634489

TWITTER @EssentialFilms @FPMoviePodcast @Adolfo_Acosta @Sportsguy515

Theme song by nemuel reikall

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit adolfoacosta.substack.com

On today's podcast adventure, Adolfo Acosta and Mark Espinosa go into deep analysis on the Alfred Hitchcock classic, VERTIGO.

On this show, Adolfo & Mark discuss:

• Their favorite Hitchcock films

• Hitchcock’s epic run in the 1950s and early 1960s that included canon classics like REAR WINDOW, NORTH BY NORTHWEST, VERTIGO, PSYCHO and THE BIRDS

• The origins of VERTIGO

•How the opening chase scene is ultimately irrelevant to the plot

•VERTIGO's connection to the New York production of SLEEP NO MORE

•How Hitchcock leads the viewer into what they think is a supernatural mystery, and then completely switches gears on them, two years before PSYCHO would also manipulate viewer expectations

• The themes of overwhelming guilt and dangerous obsessions

• Bernard Herrman’s musical score

• The "Vertigo" shot

• In a Hitchock film, the story is less important than visual impact

•The film's COMPLETE snub at the Academy Awards

• Phallic symbols and necrophilia? Yes, Hitchcock slipped that into this film

• Plus side discussions of CITIZEN KANE, THE SHINING, ROOM 237, JAWS and KNIGHTY KNIGHT BUGS

WEBSITE
EssentialFilmsPodcast.com

EMAIL
[email protected]

FACEBOOK
https://www.facebook.com/The-Essential-Films-130585803634489

TWITTER
@EssentialFilms
@FPMoviePodcast
@Adolfo_Acosta
@Sportsguy515



This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit adolfoacosta.substack.com

On this episode, Adolfo and Mark discuss the greatest gangster film (and arguably one of the top 5 films ever made... period) of all time: Mario Puzo's THE GODFATHER.

On this show:
• How were we introduced to the film for the first time?

• Who did Paramount want to direct the film before finally settling on Francis Ford Coppola?

• Our favorite scenes

• The beauty of Gordon "The Prince of Darkness" Willis' cinematography

• The behind-the-scenes stories behind some of the more iconic scenes

• The Johnny Fontane/Frank Sinatra connection

• Which famous actors tested for the parts of Michael and Sonny

• The three insane conditions Paramount gave Coppola if he insisted on hiring Marlon Brando

• How did the studio want to change and "update" the story from the book's original setting of 1940s New York?

• All this and much more. So leave the gun, take the cannoli and join us as we take it to the mattresses. It's an offer you can't refuse.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit adolfoacosta.substack.com

We are back with a new format and a new direction! Join Adolfo Acosta and new co-host Mark Espinosa as we discuss, arguably, the greatest film of all time: CITIZEN KANE!

On this show:
• How did we first experience the film?
• The pros and cons of Laserdisc
• How did Orson Welles get into Hollywood, including a discussion on the War of the Worlds Broadcast
• Discussions on both THE BATTLE OVER CITIZEN KANE and RKO 281
• If you’re Orson Welles, how do you top CITIZEN KANE?
• The similarities between Charles Foster Kane and William Randolph Hearst
• The brilliance of the narrative device and how innovative it was
• Gregg Toland’s gorgeous cinematography
• Rosebud: What does it symbolize and does it matter?
• The greatest dirty joke in movie history
• The similarities between CITIZEN KANE and THE INTERVIEW. (Yes, we make a connection!)
• How did Hearst blackmail the Hollywood studios to almost kill CITIZEN KANE
• HOW GREEN WAS MY VALLEY is the FORREST GUMP of 1941
• What happened to Welles post-KANE?
• How did the film, after its initial box office failure, become to be regarded as the greatest film of all time?
•What other box office bombs of the modern era could potentially be considered a classic in 40 years?
• Orson Welles as Jesus?
• And much more!

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit adolfoacosta.substack.com

The first episode of The Essential Films Podcast introduces the concept of our show plus we look at the greatest film of all time: Casablanca!

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit adolfoacosta.substack.com