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TV & Film
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Proudly independent and ad-free since 2018, the [ indistinct chatter ] podcast (formerly Full Cast and Crew Podcast) stands out in a crowded field by focusing on emotional reactions to films as much as it shares the entertaining anecdotes behind their making and seeks to place movies in context with our shared experiences as filmgoers coming of age in the 70s, 80s, and beyond.

Latest Episodes:

299. Bearer Bonds & Movie Plots 1967-1995 Oct 06, 2026

Show notes

"I dare you to do an episode about bearer bonds!"

-Fraser Rice, Host, 'Wealth Actually' Podcast

CHALLENGE ACCEPTED!

Many thanks to my guest, Kiah Lau Haslett for her insightful, funny, and (very important for a guy who counts on his fingers) easy-to-understand bearer bond background. You can read her excellent piece on the history of bearer bonds here.

Also, I've changed the name of the podcast. More on that in a future episode.

298. Die Hard (1988) Sep 29, 2026

Show notes

In this installment of Sacred Cows, I take a fresh and possibly first look at 'Die Hard', John McTiernan's action classic that I can't remember if I ever actually saw before.

It turns out there is plenty of subversive stuff going on beneath all the action, and it's no wonder that the film did such boffo box office...and also all the more disappointing that it went on to spawn such apparently uninspired sequels; something all the more ironic given the original film's general distaste for Capitalism, greed, and middle-manager icompetence.

It ALSO turns out that the love story at the center of 'Die Hard' might just be a little more surprising than the film would at first blush own up to.

Join me, won't you?? You know all the famous lines, but let's kick the tires on 'Die Hard' and find out if it's GOATed status is deserved...or deserving of a 40-story free fall off the Nakatomi Tower.

297. Exorcist II: The Heretic (1977) Sep 16, 2026

Show notes

SEQUELS...

In this episode, I take a look at one of the most infamous film debacles of all time: John Boorman's ill-advised, poorly conceived, crowd-displeasing follow-up to one of the greatest and most popular horror films ever made.

How could it go wrong? From the start, throughout, and even after release. Let me count the ways.

Also, a bit on our current moment of performative reclamation of movies that are just demonstrably awful. Resist!

296. Michael Keaton, Glenn Close & Robert Duvall in 'The Paper' (1994) Sep 04, 2026

Show notes

One of the great newspaper movies, a great NYC location movie, a great set-dressing movie, a great acting movie...on and on. The Paper deserves more recognition; it's aged particularly well as a love letter to and from a very particular time in the media business.

295. Dolly Parton & UK Crime Show Recs Aug 28, 2026

Show notes

Summer's rapidly ending and it's time to get back to the FCAC rhythm and routine. Some thoughts on the passing of Dolly Parton and some UK crime shows I've been watching of late, notably the Apple TV series 'Criminal Record'.

294. 'Crossing Delancey' (1988) Jul 28, 2026

Show notes

Joan Micklin Silver's 1988 NYC love-letter/romantic comedy Crossing Delancey is one of the superlative NYC films of all time.

And watching it today, it's hard not to mourn the loss of the sense of collective experience as New Yorkers she puts onscreen, given our current situation in the City of so much divisive rhetoric and violence.

And this film righteously upends the conventions of its genre and allows a fantastic collage of actors to shine in roles as notable for their refusal to stereotype as they are for their humor and depth of feeling.

Rachel Syme's great essay City Girl, about Crossing Delancey

293. Christopher Nolan's 'The Odyssey' (2026) Jul 21, 2026

Show notes

Go and see 'The Odyssey' in the biggest and best theater you can. You won't regret it. A rollicking great epic cinematic event.

Historian Tom Holland interviews Actor Tom Holland on The Rest is History.

The Rest Is History does The Odyssey (the poem).

292. Robert Redford in 'The Candidate' (1972) Jul 17, 2026

Show notes

Michael Ritchie and Redford's still-searingly satiric and spot-on takedown of political operatives and image crafting, peddling, and pandering in the modern campaign-industrial complex speaks louder than ever, given recent events in our body politic.

291. Listening to The Beatles in Ireland Jul 08, 2026

Show notes

On a recent trip through Ireland with my daughter, I unexpectedly got back into The Beatles...this is the story.

290. 'Dogfight' (1991) Jul 02, 2026

Show notes

Nancy Savoca & Bob Comfort's wonderful jewel-box gem of an American independent film from 1991.

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