[ indistinct chatter ]

Latest Episodes:

289. 'Running On Empty' (1988) Jun 23, 2026

Show notes

Sidney Lumet and Naomi Foner (and Executive Producers Griffin Dunne and Lisa Robinson) took what in lesser hands would be a family melodrama and allowed it to become an incredibly mature, layered, complicated story resting entirely on the capable shoulders of its cast of wonderful actors...not least 17-year-olds Martha Plimpton and River Phoenix, a couple off-screen and on.

288. [indistinct chatter] 6/19 Jun 19, 2026

Show notes

In this weeks [indistinct chatter] episode:

Disclosure Day

The Social Reckoning

Clarkson's Farm Season 5

Next Week's Episode of Movies I I Haven't Seen.

Musings, anecdotes, recriminations.

287. 'Billy Jack' (1971) Jun 09, 2026

Show notes

GO AHEAD AND HATE YOUR NEIGHBOR/GO AHEAD AND CHEAT A FRIEND.....

The dramatic and soaring vocals of Coven's Jinx Dawson are forever associated with Tom Laughlin's oddball, enduring, sometimes muddled statement on non-violence and the ways of the White Man and the Natives, 'Billy Jack'.

How and why this film struck a nerve upon its director-assisted wide release in 1971 is the stuff of Hollywood legend.

Upon rewatch, I found the more improvised scenes featuring non-actors surprisingly effective and the film as a whole curiously immune from cynicism.

286. 'The Times of Harvey Milk' (1984) Jun 03, 2026

Show notes

Rob Epstein and Richard Schmiechen's 1984 documentary about the life and shocking 1978 killing of San Francisco gay activist and Board of Supervisors member Harvey Milk is one of the great American documentaries and a still-vital example of the power of straightforward documentary filmmaking.

Jon Else's brilliant feature on the film.

285. 'Misery' Commentary Track May 26, 2026

Show notes

Watch-along by pressing play when I say, or simply enjoy the auditory delights of listening to me comment along with 'Misery' and fill in the anecdotes, line readings, thoughts and questions that arise.

284. Movies I've Never Seen: 'Misery' (1990) May 21, 2026

Show notes

Yeah, so I never saw 'Misery'.

Did I miss anything? Find out in this breezy, bubbly, downright Liberace-esque episode, where, in an admittedly hacky concept, I watch a movie I've never seen and then tell you all about what I thought.

283. 'Dog Day Afternoon' (1975) Part 2: The Real Story May 12, 2026

Show notes

In the second of my two-parter on Dog Day Afternoon, we get out of the fictional universe of the film and explore the real people behind the characters shown onscreen.

John Wojtowicz' life proved truly stranger and more depressingly pedestrian than fiction. So much so that he preferred the fictional version of himself and performed that role for the rest of his life after being released from prison in 1978 until his death in 2006.

The LIFE Magazine article that caught the attention of Pacino's producer and manager.

A very good jailhouse interview with John Wojtowicz from the Village Voice's Cliff Jahr.

The excellent documentary Based on a True Story: Dog Day Afternoon by the Dutch filmmaker Walter Stokman.

The documentary that covers more of the end of John's life, The Dog.

Pierre Huyghe's installation video art piece Third Memory, an indispensable part of understanding memory, film, and the roles we perform.

I didn't get to this in the podcast but here's an unpublished essay John wrote to the NY Times reviewing the film.

1978 Washington Post profile of John, freshly out of prison.

282. 'Dog Day Afternoon' (1975) Part 1: The Film May 12, 2026

Show notes

Sidney Lumet's 1975 masterpiece of naturalistic filmmaking is many things: a bank robbery procedural, a time capsule of 1970's NYC political and economic movements, a groundbreaking cinematic portrayal of a leading gay character, and maybe the most Brooklyn film of all time.

In Episode 1 of my two-parter, I do the usual deep dive into the hows and whys of the ways in which the film still lands emotionally and experientially for viewers today.

In Part 2, I'll delve into fact vs fiction, digging into the real Sonny and Sal as well as exploring some of how the real-life protagonist of the robbery began to live the version of events shown onscreen...and even came to embellish the facts far beyond the realm of plausibility.

It's an incredible true story that makes you wonder what's stranger: fact or the fiction spun from it?

281. [Indistinct Chatter] 5/8 May 08, 2026

Show notes

[the week's collected thoughts]

Climbing Docs I recommend:

The Dark Wizard (HBO)

Assault on El Capitan (Prime)

Fine Lines (Prime)

The Alpinist (Prime)

Valley Uprising (Prime)

The Summit (Prime)

Meru (Prime)