On Episode 94 of The Film ‘89 Podcast, Steve and Skye are joined by returning guest host and writer for Film ‘89, Leighton Winstone to discuss a double bill of films from legendary director Brian De Palma, both of which happen to star one of their all time favourite actors, Al Pacino. The first is De Palma’s 1983 remake of Howard Hawks’ 1932 crime drama, Scarface. The other is De Palma’s pseudo-follow up, Carlito’s Way. Since it’s release 40 years ago, Scarface has attained a huge following and the guys discuss its considerable influence on the crime dramas and gangster films that followed in its wake. A violent and controversial film on its initial release, Scarface would typify the greed and excesses of the 1980s. De Palma’s 1993 film, Carlito’s Way, whilst telling a quite different story, remains a brilliantly crafted tale of a reformed gangster, recently released from prison, struggling to escape his former life. 

Episode 93 of The Film ‘89 Podcast brings to a close our coverage of George Lucas’ Original Star Wars trilogy as Neil, Skye and Richard celebrate the 40th anniversary of Return of the Jedi (1983). They discuss the behind the scenes making of the film and how writer/producer George Lucas, director Richard Marquand and co. brought the story to a satisfying conclusion. Also discussed are the film’s astonishing technical achievements in creature design and visual effects as well as the numerous and controversial changes Lucas made with his 1997 Special Edition rerelease of the film and the further changes he made for the DVD and Blu-Ray releases. The guys also discuss where Return of the Jedi sits in their ranking of the Star Wars saga as well as the enduring legacy of Lucas’ groundbreaking original trilogy. 

On Episode 92 of The Film ‘89 Podcast, returning guest host John Arminio joins Skye as they go back to the golden age of Hollywood, 85 years in fact, to discuss one of the all time classics, The Adventures of Robin Hood, directed by Michael Curtiz and starring Errol Flynn, Olivia de Haviland, Claude Rains and Basil Rathbone. Whilst not the first big screen adaptation of the Robin Hood legend, it set out a template for the innumerable adaptations that would follow. John and Skye discuss the three strip Technicolor process used to shoot the film, the magnificent score by Erich Wolfgang Korngold, the film’s many superbly choreographed fight scenes and it’s exemplary cast, all ingredients that come together to create a film that is widely regarded as one of the greatest swashbuckling adventures of all time. 

On Episode 91 of The Film ‘89 Podcast, Skye is joined by returning guest hosts Jacob Rivera and Kyle Reardon to take a look back at a film from one of the Film ‘89 team’s favourite directors, John Carpenter, his 1983 adaptation of Stephen King’s Christine, the tale of a possessed 1958 Plymouth Fury and it’s young new owner’s descent into madness as both car and driver go on an unstoppable killing spree. Coming off the back of the critical and commercial failure of The Thing (1982), a film that would later be widely regarded as a masterpiece of cinema, Carpenter went back to the style of horror he perfected in his 1978 classic, Halloween. Light on gore but full of mood and suspense, Christine is one of the lesser talked about films in Carpenter’s filmography but one that we feel is one of the director’s best films and is discussed in depth by the Film ‘89 team for its 40th anniversary. 

As we move into 2023, the founding fathers of Film ‘89 unite to give you their in-depth review of all that was good (and not so good) in the world of film and television in their review of the year that was 2022. From blockbuster fare such as Top Gun: Maverick to indie gems such as The Banshees of Inisherin and The Northman, to Bollywood action epic, RRR, Steve, Richie, Neil and Skye discuss over 40 films, television shows and books, some that they loved and others that they weren’t so keen on. So get your best of 2022 lists ready and join the guys on Episode 90 of The Film ‘89 Podcast. 

The wait is over! It’s been a whole year since Richie, Skye, Adam Rackoff and Bill Scurry gave their epic assessment of The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring for the film’s 20th anniversary and, as promised, the guys are back together one year on to give their in-depth analysis of the second part of Peter Jackson’s epic trilogy, The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002). This remarkable film is every bit as astonishing as the first, and then some. Not only are a slew of new characters and locations introduced, but there are technologies put to use here that would have a huge impact on the special effects industry for years to come. Aside from the film’s technical merits, the story being told is done with such care and an exacting precision and with such deftly skilled craftsmanship and acting talent as to truly create a film for the ages and one that solidifies Jackson and Co’s adaptation of J.R.R. Tolkien’s books as a true masterpiece of modern filmmaking. So pick up your sword and axe and step once more into Middle Earth with Episode 89 of The Film ‘89 Podcast. 

On Episode 88 of The Film ‘89 Podcast Steve and Skye are joined by Steven Saunders. So far this year on Film ‘89 we’ve tackled some of the really big films, films of tremendous importance to us as cinephiles and important to the history of cinema, films such as Star Wars, The Godfather and Blade Runner to name but a few. And they don’t come much bigger than the film that’s the focus of this episode as we finally tackle legendary British director David Lean and his monumental 1962 historical epic cum war film, Lawrence of Arabia, a film that was nominated for 10 Academy Awards and walked away with 7, including Best Picture and Best Director and in the 6 decades that have followed, has gained a hallowed status as one of the greatest films ever made. 

On Episode 87 of The Film ‘89 Podcast, Skye is joined by returning guest host, professional film poster artist Tony Stella, to tackle a subject and a franchise that, surprisingly, hasn’t been discussed in-depth on Film ‘89 yet, that of British super-spy James Bond. Skye and Tony celebrate the 60th anniversary of the first of the official Eon Productions 007 films with Dr. No from 1962. Based on the novel of the same name by Ian Fleming, which was his sixth in the series, published in 1958, the film was produced by Albert R. Broccoli and Harry Saltzman, it was directed by Terence Young and starred the late, great Sean Connery as James Bond. The James Bond franchise has become our most requested topic to cover on Film ‘89 and we invite you to join us as we take this long overdue dive into the world of the beloved super-spy for an in-depth and passionate celebration of cinema’s longest running film franchise. 

With Halloween looming, Episode 86 of The Film ‘89 Podcast is a suitably spooky affair. Many of our listeners have been requesting that we bring back our Favourite 5 section so we’ll be expanding that to fill an entire episode as Skye and returning guest host Stephen Simpson discuss their favourite horror film scores. Plus we have the picks of our friends and listeners as well as some listener questions. 

This episode is brought to you in conjunction with Psilowave Records (psilowave.com) where until November 5th, if you use the promo code FILM89 you’ll get 15% off all purchases. Psilowave is an independent U.K. retailer of the finest in hard to get vinyl releases including movie soundtracks and scores. 

On Episode 85 of The Film ‘89 Podcast, Skye and returning guest host John Arminio give their in-depth analysis and spoiler-filled review of the first season of Amazon’s billion dollar series, The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, which debuted on September 1st and ran for 8 episodes. As well as Tolkien’s written work, the guys make the obvious comparisons to Peter Jackson’s six Middle Earth films and how successful this new show has been in adapting Tolkien’s beloved saga to the format of long-form television.