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Download MP3 In today's episode Nate and Austin compare Rian Johnson's best and worst rated films, Star Wars: The Last Jedi (2017) and The Brothers Bloom (2008), respectively. Nate felt like he was watching The Brothers Bored, Austin misses shirtless Kylo, and Tyler knocks Rian Johnson off his top directors list after being subjected to his lowest rated film. Check back next Sunday at 7pm PST where we will compare Martin McDonagh's Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri (2017) and Seven Psychopaths (2012), his best and worst rated films. Also check out this interview with director Rian Johnson about making Star Wars: The Last Jedi: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wQCRFXVoM38   Intro music by Eric Lynch

Download MP3 In today's episode Nate and Austin compare Robert Rodriguez's best and worst rated films, Sin City (2005) and The Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl (2005), respectively. Nate plays the role of Boredboy, Austin is still confused, and they're both tired from watching 5 of the same credit sequences in Sin City. Check back next Sunday at 7pm PST for our milestone 90th episode where we will compare Rian Johnson's Star Wars: The Last Jedi (2017) and The Brothers Bloom (2008), his best and worst rated films. Also check out this interview with director Fritz Lang about his life and career: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5QgLyyYEEnA The Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl Notes Worst Rated PLOT: A young boy is recruited by his imaginary friends Sharkboy and Lavagirl to help save their planet. Ratings: IMDb 3.5 | RT 20% C / 31% A Released: 2005 Director: Robert Rodriguez Writer(s): Robert Rodriguez and Marcel Rodriguez (written by), Racer Rodriguez (story) Cinematographer: Robert Rodriguez (Spy Kids 3, Machete Kills) Notable actors: Taylor Lautner, Taylor Dooley, Cayden Boyd, George Lopez, David Arquette, Kristin Davis, Jacob Davich Budget: $50 million Box office: $69.4 million Fun Facts: Taylor Lautner, ironically, has a fear of sharks. The story was conceived by Robert Rodriguez's then seven-year-old son Racer Rodriguez, who receives an on-screen "Story By" credit. Max is named after Racer's middle name (Racer and Robert also provide the audio commentary for the DVD and Blu-ray together). The movie was shot and completed so quickly that by the time Robert Rodriguez was ready to ship it, the advertisements weren't finished. Taylor Lautner's martial arts skills helped him to obtain the role of Sharkboy. "When I auditioned for the film, Robert Rodriguez, the director, didn't know that I had my martial arts background, and while we there in Austin, TX he saw a DVD of me and asked me to choreograph my own fight scenes", said Lautner. George Lopez plays and voices 4 of the movie's characters. Sin City Notes Best Rated PLOT: A film that explores the dark and miserable town, Basin City, and tells the story of three different people, all caught up in violent corruption. Ratings: IMDb 8.0 | RT 77% C / 78% A Released: 2005 Director: Frank Miller, Robert Rodriguez Writer(s): Frank Miller (graphic novels) Cinematographer: Robert Rodriguez (Spy Kids 3, Machete Kills) Notable actors: Jessica Alba, Devon Aoki, Alexis Bledel, Powers Boothe, Cara D. Briggs, Jude Ciccolella, Jeffrey J. Dashnaw, Rosario Dawson, Benicio Del Toro, Jason Douglas, Michael Clarke Duncan, Tommy Flanagan, Rick Gomez, Carla Gugino, Josh Hartnett, Rutger Hauer, Michael Madsen Budget: $40 million Box office: $158.8 million Fun Facts: Because of the way the movie was shot, Mickey Rourke (Marv) and Elijah Wood (Kevin) never met until after the film was released. The swords used by Miho (Devon Aoki) in this film are the same ones used by some of the Crazy 88 in Kill Bill: Vol. 1 (2003). That film's director, Quentin Tarantino, had been keeping them in the back of his garage. Robert Rodriguez has said that he does not consider this movie to be an adaptation so much as a translation. This is why there is no screenwriting in the credits. The only mention of writing is Frank Miller as the creator of the graphic novels. Guest director Quentin Tarantino directed the scene involving Dwight (Clive Owen) and Jackie Boy (Benicio Del Toro) in the front of the car, before Dwight is pulled over by a police officer. The film, and many of its effects and scoring, were all done in Robert Rodriguez's studio, which is immediately across the street from his house, because he refuses to work anywhere else, and shuns other Hollywood traditions. It took his friendship with Miramax honchos Bob Weinstein and Harvey Weinstein to make the production of this film possible, as no other studios would take a chance on either Rodriguez's methods or such a bizarre film. While the three stories in the film are based on "The Hard Goodbye," "The Big Fat Kill" and "That Yellow Bastard" as well as the short "The Customer is Always Right" there is a very brief scene taken from the story "A Dame to Kill For," in which Dwight (Clive Owen) thinks in a voice over in Kadie's Bar how Marv "would have been okay if he'd been born a couple of thousand years ago." The scene in which Marv climbs out of the manhole, and staggers up against a wall, was acted out in reverse, then shown forwards, to give an otherworldly appearance to Marv. Intro music by Eric Lynch

Download MP3 In today's episode Nate and Austin compare Fritz Lang's best and worst rated films, M (1931) and The Return of Frank James (1940), respectively. Nate doesn't have much to say about Frank James, Austin really appreciates child murders, and they both fawn over their boy Rogey D. Check back next Sunday at 7pm PST where we will compare Robert Rodriguez's Sin City (2005) and The Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl 3D (1940), his best and worst rated films. Also check out this interview with director Fritz Lang about his life and career: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BYk0qzqqjmQ The Return of Frank James Notes Worst Rated PLOT: Frank James continues to avoid arrest in order to take revenge on the Ford brothers for their murder of his brother Jesse. Ratings: IMDb 6.7 | RT 83% C / 48% A Released: 1940 Director: Fritz Lang Writer(s): Sam Hellman (original screenplay) Cinematographer: George Barnes (Rebecca, Spellbound, The War of the Worlds) Notable actors: Henry Fonda, Gene Tierney, Jackie Cooper, Henry Hull, John Carradine, J. Edward Bromberg, Donald Meek Budget: N/A Box office: N/A Fun Facts: The original treatment had Frank romantically interested in the reporter played by Gene Tierney, but the studio became fearful of a possible lawsuit by Frank's widow and/or son, so it was eliminated from the script. The studio bought the rights to the James Brothers but changed the facts for entertainment. Although Frank surrendered 6 months after Jesse James' murder, both Ford brothers were already dead and Frank had nothing to do with their deaths. Film debut of Gene Tierney. Jackie Cooper and Matthew "Stymie" Beard shared the same screen for the first time since their last appearances together in Bargain Day (1931) (as Hal Roach's Rascals). M Notes Best Rated PLOT: When the police in a German city are unable to catch a child-murderer, other criminals join in the manhunt. Ratings: IMDb 8.4 | RT 100% C / 95% A Released: 1931 Director: Fritz Lang Writer(s): Theo von Harbou and Fritz Lang (script), Egon Jacobson (article) Cinematographer: Friz Arno Wagner (Nosferatu, Spies, Destiny) Notable actors: Pete Lorre, Ellen Widmann, Inge Landgut, Otto Wernicke, Theodor Loos, Gustaf Grundgens, Friedrich Gnab, Fritz Odemar, Pual Kemp, Theo Lingen, Rudolf Blumner, Georg John Budget: N/A Box office: N/A Fun Facts: Fritz Lang's cruelty to the actors was legendary. Peter Lorre was thrown down the stairs into the cellar over a dozen times. When Lang wanted to hire Lorre for Human Desire (1954) over two decades later, the actor refused. Fritz Lang asserted that he cast real criminals for the court scene in the end. According to biographer Paul Jensen, 24 cast members were arrested during filming. Contrary to popular belief, Fritz Lang did not change the title from "The Murderers are Among Us" to "M" due to fear of persecution by the Nazis. He changed the title during filming, influenced by the scene where one of the criminals writes the letter on his hand. Lang thought "M" was a more interesting title. Director Fritz Lang said this is his favorite of all of his films. Although he was thrilled to play such a major part, Peter Lorre came to hate it later as people tended to associate him with being a child murderer in real life. In Germany, the Nazis banned the movie in July 1934. The film is supposedly based on the real-life case of serial killer Peter Kürten, called "The Vampire of Düsseldorf", whose crimes in the 1920s horrified Germany. However, director Fritz Lang has expressly denied that he drew any inspiration from the case. Nevertheless, he and his wife Thea von Harbou researched the crimes carefully, consulting with German police, visiting murder scenes, interviewing sex offenders in prison and even talking to detectives in Scotland Yard in London. According to Lang biographer Paul Jensen, the director spent eight days doing field research in a mental institution. The organization of beggars mentioned in the film actually did exist in Berlin at the time. Two-thirds of the film was shot with sound, the remaining third was shot silent. At the time the license fees for sound equipment were quite prohibitive, so this was a move to try to keep costs down. However, Fritz Lang liked the eerie, unnerving quality that arose from going from a sound world to one where there is no noise at all. MGM studio executive Irving Thalberg assembled his writers and directors for a private screening of this film, telling them that they needed to be making films of this power and caliber. He also admitted that if anyone had brought a story of a child killer to him, he would have rejected it. The use of voiceover narration was a groundbreaking new technique at the time. Before making this, Peter Lorre had mainly been a comedic actor. Intro music by Eric Lynch

Download MP3 In today's episode Nate and Austin compare Charlie Kaufman's best and worst rated films, Synecdoche, New York (2008) and Anomalisa (2015), respectively. Nate is excited for the Oscars, Austin doesn't know what the hell is going on, and they both continue their love affair with Charlie Kaufman. Check back next Sunday at 7pm PST where we will compare Fritz Lang's M (1931) and The Return of Frank James (1940), his best and worst rated films. Also check out this interview with director John Ford: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7u2DDjKKR10 Anomalisa Notes Worst Rated PLOT: A man crippled by the mundanity of his life experiences something out of the ordinary. Ratings: IMDb 7.2 | RT 91% C / 70% A Released: 2015 Director: Charlie Kaufman, Duke Johnson Writer(s): Charlie Kaufman (written by) Cinematographer: Joe Passarelli (Marrying God, Beatdown, Skyler) Notable actors: David Thewlis, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Tom Noonan Budget: $8 million Box office: $5.5 million Fun Facts: This film was crowd-funded through Kickstarter.com. Michael stays at the Fregoli hotel. The Fregoli delusion, or the delusion of doubles, is a rare disorder in which a person holds a delusional belief that different people are in fact a single person who changes appearance or is in disguise. The syndrome may be related to a brain lesion and is often of a paranoid nature, with the delusional person believing themselves persecuted by the person they believe is in disguise. With the exception of the two leads, every character (male or female) is voiced by Tom Noonan. The first R-rated animated film to be nominated for the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature. In earlier stages, this film was planned to be only a short film, with 40 minutes in length. David Thewlis, Jennifer Jason Leigh, and Tom Noonan are the same actors that voiced the original "sound play" on which the movie is based. The song Lisa sings to Michael was originally supposed to be Céline Dion's "My Heart Will Go On", but was changed to Cyndi Lauper's "Girls Just Want to Have Fun" when the Titanic (1997) theme song could not be licensed for the movie. The classic movie the protagonist puts on TV, reenacted with puppets, was originally supposed to be Casablanca (1942), but the production could not afford to license it so it was changed to My Man Godfrey (1936), which was in the public domain. At 8:47, Michael enters the Fregoli Hotel. Except for a brief shot of Michael's face (9:27 to 9:29), the shot remains unbroken until 12:29, following Michael from the front desk of the hotel, into the elevator, up to the tenth floor and to his hotel room, where the last image of the shot is Michael urinating in his room's toilet. The movie takes place in 2005. Co-director Duke Johnson stated it took six months for him to animate the sex scene because of technical reasons and making the scene realistic as opposed to comedic. Michael is in every scene of the film, except the last one. In the last scene with the girls in the car, the camera briefly focuses on Marie's face and you can see she is a different person to the face that Michael sees everyone as. Synecdoche, New York Notes Best Rated PLOT: A theatre director struggles with his work, and the women in his life, as he creates a life-size replica of New York City inside a warehouse as part of his new play. Ratings: IMDb 7.5 | RT 69% C / 71% A Released: 2008 Director: Charlie Kaufman Writer(s): Charlie Kaufman (written by) Cinematographer: Frederick Elmes (Blue Velvet, Wild at Heart, Night on Earth) Notable actors: Philip Seymour Hoffman, Catherine Keener, Sadie Goldstein, Tom Noonan, Peter Friedman, Charles Techman, Josh Pais, Daniel London, Robert Seay, Michelle Williams, Samantha Morton, Hope Davis, Jennifer Jason Leigh Budget: $20 million Box office: $4.4 million Fun Facts: At the start of the film, when 'Phillip Seymour Hoffman' is reading the news at the breakfast table, he reads out that "Harold Pinter has died.... wait.... no - he's won the Nobel prize". This is a reference to a famous Sky News clip whereby Sky, in their rush to be first with breaking news, accidentally announced that Harold Pinter was dead. In fact it had just been announced that he was to be awarded the Nobel prize for literature. The article that Caden reads while in the doctor's waiting room, about his wife, is titled: "It's Good To Be Adele". The intro paragraph reads: "Six months ago, Adele was an under-appreciated housewife in Eastern New York. Stuck in a dead-end marriage to a slovenly ugly-face loser, Adele Lack had big dreams for her and her then four-year-old daughter, Olivia. That's when her paintings got small." The name next to the buzzer of Adele's apartment reads "Capgras." Given the subject of the film - a man has actors play the real people in his life - this is almost certainly a reference to a psychological phenomenon called the Capgras delusion, where the sufferer believes that everyone in his or her life has been replaced with an identical-looking impostor. Philip Seymour Hoffman's character's last name is a reference to the Cotard delusion or Cotard's syndrome, also known as nihilistic or negation delusion, which is a rare neuropsychiatric disorder in which a person holds a delusional belief that he or she is dead, does not exist, is putrefying or has lost his/her blood or internal organs. Roger Ebert named this film the best of the 2000s. Christopher Evan Welch, according to Charlie Kaufman, was cast at the last minute. Welch only had less than a day to rehearse and perform his scene, delivering a monologue. In a radio interview, director Charlie Kaufman revealed that while scouting for a location, he and a few other crew members became stuck in an elevator late at night and were afraid it would plummet. They had to open the doors and jump out to escape. In the same interview, Kaufman discussed a recurring and claustrophic dream he has about being stuck in an elevator, and that the movie was purposefully structured like a dream (it has double the number of scenes than an average movie of its length). Intro music by Eric Lynch

Download MP3 In today's episode Nate and Austin compare John Ford's best and worst rated films, The Grapes of Wrath (1940) and Tobacco Road (1941), respectively. Nate hates old people, Austin has a crush on Henry Fonda, and they both are surprised at the lack of western. Check back next Sunday at 7pm PST where we will compare Charlie Kaufman's Synecdoche, New York (2008) and Anomalisa (2015), his best and worst rated films. Also check out this interview with director John Ford: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2P2fY75Qlxs Tobacco Road Notes Worst Rated PLOT: A poor family in rural Georgia struggles to make ends meet as the clan's father proudly refuses help at every turn. Ratings: IMDb 6.6 | RT N/A C / 36% A Released: 1940 Director: John Ford Writer(s): Erskine Caldwell (based on the novel by), Jack Kirkland (stage play), Nunnally Johnson (screenplay) Cinematographer: Arthur C. Miller (Anna and the King of Siam, The Song of Bernadette) Notable actors: Charley Grapewin, Marjorie Rambeau, Gene Tierney, William Tracy, Elizabeth Patterson, Dana Andrews, Slim Summerville, Ward Bond Budget: N/A Box office: $1.9 million Fun Facts: Gene Tierney and Dana Andrews get barely 5 minutes of screen time each. Gene gets just half a dozen lines to speak The Broadway play by Jack Kirkland based on Erskine Caldwell's novel opened 4 December 1933 and set a record for longevity on Broadway when it closed on 31 May 1941 after 3,281 performances. It was revived on Broadway twice in the next two years, bring its total running time there to nearly ten years (1933-1943). Opened at the Theatre Masque and then moved to the 48th Street Theatre followed by the Forrest Theatre for the original production. The play was revived in 1942, 1943 and 1950. The original Broadway production is the seventeenth longest running show ever as of February, 2013. The early-1941 Ford Super De Luxe Convertible Club Coupe, driven by Harvey Parry, survived its ordeal. During filming it had been crashed into a 100-year-old sycamore tree, then backed out of the debris and driven fast to jump over a 20-foot stream (with the aid of a ramp), and thereafter smashed through several fences, sideswiped a two-ton truck (forcing the truck off the road), rammed through a tool shed (cut from final release), jumped a curb, splintered a park bench, rammed a station wagon, ran into two other trees and skidded until finally overturning. Following this, the car was set right by the crew and driven back to the studio by Parry. A studio employee, Arthur Webb, purchased the badly-damaged convertible from 20th Century-Fox and, with his brother Don, commenced to repair it with hundreds of hours of personal labor and $125 in new parts from a Beverly Hills dealership. The movie was banned in Australia for unspecified reasons, but generally had few censorship problems. The Grapes of Wrath Notes Best Rated PLOT: A poor Midwest family is forced off their land. They travel to California, suffering the misfortunes of the homeless in the Great Depression. Ratings: IMDb 8.1 | RT 100% C / 88% A Released: 1940 Director: John Ford Writer(s): Nunnally Johnson (screenplay), John Steinbeck (based on the novel by) Cinematographer: Gregg Toland (Citizen Kane, Wuthering Heights, The Best Years of Our Lives) Notable actors: Henry Fonda, Jane Darwell, John Carradine, Charley Grapewin, Dorris Bowdon, Russell Simpson, O.Z. Whitehead, John Qualen, Eddie Quillan, Zeffie Tilbury, Frank Sully Budget: $800 thousand Box office: $2.5 million Fun Facts: Prior to filming, producer Darryl F. Zanuck sent undercover investigators out to the migrant camps to see if John Steinbeck had been exaggerating about the squalor and unfair treatment meted out there. He was horrified to discover that, if anything, Steinbeck had actually downplayed what went on in the camps. John Steinbeck loved the movie and said that Henry Fonda as Tom Joad made him "believe my own words". John Ford banned all makeup and perfume from the set on the grounds that it was not in keeping with the tone of the picture. John Steinbeck was particularly enamored with the performance of Henry Fonda as Tom Joad, feeling that he perfectly encapsulated everything he wanted to convey with this character. The two became good friends. Indeed Fonda did a reading at Steinbeck's funeral. Henry Fonda kept the hat he wore in the movie for the rest of his life, until before he passed away in 1982 he gave it to his old friend Jane Withers. Apparently he and Withers, when she was an 8 year old girl and he a young man, did a play together before Fonda made movies. Fonda was so nervous to go onstage that little Jane took his hand, said a little prayer to ease his nerves, and the two of them became good friends for life. The pro-union stance of the film led to both John Steinbeck and John Ford being investigated by Congress during the McCarthy "Red Scare" era for alleged pro-Communist leanings. While filming the Joads' car traveling down the highway, John Ford wanted to add a shot showing the large number of caravans heading west, so the film's business manager stopped actual cars making the trek and paid the drivers five dollars to escort the Joads' jalopy for the cameras. Noah Joad simply vanishes after the scene of the family swimming in the Colorado River. In the book, Noah tells Tom he has decided to stay by the river. In the film, his disappearance is never explained. The production had a fake working title, "Highway 66", so that the shoot of the controversial novel would not be affected by union problems. Much of the dire straits portrayed in the film continued during and after the release of the movie. When Darryl F. Zanuck suggested to John Ford that, to create an upbeat ending, he use Ma Joad's "we're the people" monologue for a closing scene, Ford told Zanuck to direct it himself - which he did. The film was one of the first to be voted onto the National Film Registry (1989). Although John Carradine hated John Ford's bullying style of direction, he nevertheless made eleven films with him over a period of 28 years. Ford was particularly keen on Carradine's unusual look. Intro music by Eric Lynch

Download MP3 In today's episode Nate and Austin compare Jonathan Demme's best and worst rated films, The Silence of the Lambs (1991) and The Truth About Charlie (2002), respectively. Nate talks bad about Markie Mark, Austin wishes he were Buffalo Bill, and they both record the podcast with some fava beans and a nice Chianti -- thfthfthfthf. Check back next Sunday at 7pm PST where we will compare John Ford's The Grapes of Wrath (1940) and Tobacco Road (1941), his best and worst rated films. Also check out this interview with director Jonathan Demme about his work on The Silence of the Lambs: https://vimeo.com/226660031 The Truth About Charlie Notes Worst Rated PLOT: A woman returns from holiday to find her husband has been murdered, and several groups of people are pressuring her to unravel the mystery of his true identity and activities during his final days. Ratings: IMDb 4.8 | RT 33% C / 27% A Released: 2002 Director: Jonathan Demme Writer(s): Peter Stone (Charade screenplay), Jonathan Demme & Steve Schmidt and Peter Stone and Jessica Bendinger (screenplay) Cinematographer: Tak Fujimoto (The Sixth Sense, Star Wars: A New Hope, Signs) Notable actors: Stephen Dillane, Thandie Newton, Sakina Jaffrey, Mark Wahlberg, Christine Boisson, Simon Abkarian, Joong-Hoon Park, LisaGay Hamilton, Ted Levine, Tim Robbins Budget: $60 million Box office: $7.1 million Fun Facts: Mark Wahlberg considers this his worst film. Peter Stone, the writer of Charade (1963) (the basis for the movie) was so against this remake, that in some releases of this movie, his screenwriting credit was changed to Peter Joshua, the name of Cary Grant's character in Charade. The part of Joshua Peters was originally intended for Will Smith, but due to the extended production on Ali (2001), he was unable to make the start of filming on Charlie, so Demme had to move forward with Mark Wahlberg instead, losing the Thandie Newton and Will Smith "double-act" he had imagined watching the original movie Charade (1963). The movie contains numerous connections to French New Wave films. Reference is made to Shoot the Piano Player (1960) and its star, Charles Aznavour, has a singing role at the end of this movie. Anna Karina, featured in several Jean-Luc Godard films, has a bit part. The Silence of the Lambs Notes Best Rated PLOT: A young F.B.I. cadet must receive the help of an incarcerated and manipulative cannibal killer to help catch another serial killer, a madman who skins his victims. Ratings: IMDb 8.6 | RT 95% C / 95% A Released: 1991 Director: Jonathan Demme Writer(s): Thomas Harris (novel), Ted Tally (screenplay) Cinematographer: Tak Fujimoto (The Sixth Sense, Star Wars: A New Hope, Signs) Notable actors: Jodie Foster, Kasi Lemmons, Scott Glenn, Anthony Heald, Frankie Faison, Don Brockett, Anthony Hopkins, Brooke Smith, Ted Levine Budget: $19 million Box office: $272.7 million Fun Facts: In preparation for his role, Sir Anthony Hopkins studied files of serial killers. Also, he visited prisons, and studied convicted murderers, and was present during some court hearings concerning gruesome murderers and serial killings. Jodie Foster claims that during the first meeting between Lecter and Starling, Sir Anthony Hopkins' mocking of her southern accent was improvised on the spot. Foster's horrified reaction was genuine, she felt personally attacked. She later thanked Hopkins for generating such an honest reaction. Jame Gumb is the combination of three real-life serial killers: Ed Gein, who skinned his victims, Ted Bundy, who used the cast on his hand as bait to convince women to get into his van, and Gary Heidnick, who kept women he kidnapped in a pit in his basement. Gein was only positively linked to two murders, and suspected of two others. He gathered most of his materials through grave robbing, not murder. When Sir Anthony Hopkins found out that he was cast as Hannibal Lecter, based on his performance as Dr. Frederick Treves in The Elephant Man (1980), he questioned Director Jonathan Demme, and said, "But Dr. Treves was a good man." To which Demme replied, "So is Lecter, he is a good man too. Just trapped in an insane mind." When Sir Anthony Hopkins' agent called him in London, to tell him that he was sending him a script called "The Silence of the Lambs", Hopkins immediately thought he might be going up for a children's movie. With twenty-four minutes and fifty-two seconds of screentime, Sir Anthony Hopkins' performance in this movie is the second shortest to ever win an Academy Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role, with David Niven in Separate Tables (1958) beating him, at twenty-three minutes and thirty-nine seconds. Sir Anthony Hopkins and Jodie Foster only share four scenes throughout the course of the film. After Lecter was moved from Baltimore, the plan was to dress him in a yellow or orange jumpsuit. Sir Anthony Hopkins convinced Jonathan Demme and Costume Designer Colleen Atwood that the character would seem more clinical and unsettling if he was dressed in pure white. Hopkins has since said he got the idea from his fear of dentists. One of the inspirations, from whom Sir Anthony Hopkins borrowed, for his interpretation of Hannibal Lecter, was a friend of his in London who never blinked, which unnerved anyone around him. Jodie Foster spent a great deal of time with F.B.I. Agent Mary Ann Krause prior to filming. Krause gave Foster the idea of Starling standing by her car crying. Krause told Foster that at times, the work just became so overwhelming that it was a good way to get an emotional release. Jame Gumb's dance was not included in the original draft of the screenplay, although it appears in the novel. It was added at the insistence of Ted Levine, who thought the scene was essential in defining the character. The Silence of the Lambs was inspired by the real-life relationship between University of Washington criminology professor and profiler Robert Keppel, and serial killer Ted Bundy. Bundy helped Keppel investigate the Green River Serial Killings in Washington. Bundy was executed January 24, 1989. The Green River Killings were finally solved in 2001, when Gary Ridgway was arrested. On November 5, 2003, in a Seattle courtroom, Ridgway plead guilty to forty-eight counts of aggravated first degree murder. Intro music by Eric Lynch

Download MP3 In today's episode Nate and Austin compare Terrence Malick's best and worst rated films, Badlands (1973) and Knight of Cups (2015), respectively. Nate needs to watch more experimental films, Austin gets seduced by Martin Sheen, and neither of them have any idea what Knight of Cups is about. Check back next Sunday at 7pm PST where we will compare Terrence Malick's Badlands (1973) and Knight of Cups (2015), his best and worst rated films. Also check out this interview with actor Christian Bale about working with director Terrence Malick on Knight of Cups: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uGzuSmrvZVA Knight of Cups Notes Worst Rated PLOT: A writer indulging in all that Los Angeles and Las Vegas has to offer undertakes a search for love and self via a series of adventures with six different women. Ratings: IMDb 5.7 | RT 45% C / 37% A Released: 2015 Director: Terrence Malick Writer(s): Terrence Malick (written by) Cinematographer: Emmanuel Lubezki (Birdman, The Revenant, Children of Men) Notable actors: Christian Bale, Cate Blanchett, Natalie Portman, Brian Dennehy, Antonio Banderas, Freida Pinto, Wes Bentley, Isabel Lucas, Teresa Palmer, Imogen Poots Budget: N/A Box office: $1.1 million Fun Facts: According to Christian Bale, Terrence Malick didn't tell the actors what the film was about. There was no script. All of the scenes were improvised. Christian Bale had no lines to learn and Terrence Malick only gave him the character description. During filming Terrence Malick would use a technique he called "torpedoing" where he would unexpectedly send people into the scene to get a reaction from the actors who were performing. Christian Bale said that at the start of each day's shoot he wouldn't know what would happen to his character. During filming, Christian Bale thought Teresa Palmer was a stripper. It was not until about a week after working with her, he suddenly saw a billboard with her face on it and realized that she is an actress. Christian Bale and Natalie Portman both said that they spent more days on the voice-over work for the movie than they did on the actual shooting of the film. Badlands Notes Best Rated PLOT: An impressionable teenage girl from a dead-end town and her older greaser boyfriend embark on a killing spree in the South Dakota badlands. Ratings: IMDb 7.9 | RT 98% C / 91% A Released: 1973 Director: Terrence Malick Writer(s): Terrence Malick (written by) Cinematographer: Tak Fujimoto, Steve Larner, Brian Probyn Notable actors: Martin Sheen, Sissy Spacek, Warren Oates, Ramon Bieri, Alan Vint Budget: $300 thousand Box office: N/A Fun Facts: The actor originally cast as the architect that rings at the rich man's door did not show up, so Terrence Malick played the part himself. Malick later wanted to re-shoot the scene with another actor, but Martin Sheen refused to re-do the sequence with another person. Charlie Sheen and Emilio Estevez's (Martin Sheen's sons) feature film debut. Uncredited, both play boys under a lamppost. Sissy Spacek met her future husband, art director Jack Fisk, on the set of this movie. As of November 2015, they have collaborated on eight feature films. The film's tag line ("In 1959 a lot of people were killing time. Kit and Holly were killing people") inspired the Zodiac Killer, who had been lying low for years, to write a letter to a newspaper denouncing their flippant attitude to violence in society by running such an ad. The film's plot and lead characters are based on Charles Starkweather and Caril Fugate. In 1958, they embarked on a murder spree that horrified the country. Charles Starkweather had been executed by the time the film started production, but Caril Fugate was still alive and facing parole. The filmmakers changed the principal characters' names to avoid a lawsuit. Intro music by Eric Lynch

Download MP3 In today's episode Nate and Austin compare Yorgos Lanthimos' best and worst rated films, Dogtooth (2009) and Alps (2011), respectively. Nate feels like he's watching a porno, Austin exclusively watches Black Mirror, and they both sounding pretentious about experimental films. Check back next Sunday at 7pm PST where we will compare Terrence Malick's Badlands (1973) and Knight of Cups (2015), his best and worst rated films. Also check out this interview with director Yorgos Lanthimos about his new film, The Killing of a Sacred Deer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5MOe5nfvLeM Alps Notes Worst Rated PLOT: A group of people start a business where they impersonate the recently deceased in order to help their clients through the grieving process. Ratings: IMDb 6.4 | RT 74% C / 52% A Released: 2011 Director: Yorgos Lanthimos Writer(s): Efthymis Filippou (screenplay), Yorgos Lanthimos (screenplay) Cinematographer: Christos Voudouris (Before Midnight, Love Is Strange) Notable actors: Angeliki Papoulia, Aris Servetalis, Johnny Vekris, Ariane Labed Budget: N/A Box office: N/A Fun Facts: The 15 Rules of the Alps: An Alps member: 1. Must declare in advance the things he or she is unwilling to do by filling out Form 1 (e.g. kissing, lifting weights, travelling, etc.). 2. Must also declare in advance the things he or she is good at by filling out Form 2 (e.g. dancing, waterskiing, discussing, etc.). 3. Must have some basic knowledge of psychology and sociology. 4. Is obliged to support, under all circumstances, the interests of the Alps group. 5. Must respect other Alps members. 6. Has the right to change their nickname only twice. They cannot choose a nickname belonging to another Alps member. The nickname must strictly be the name of a mountain in the Alps, and not something general or irrelevant (e.g. Blonde, Master, Dragon, etc.). 7. Can never talk about Alps activities with non-Alps members. 8. Is obliged to take the Gymnastics Club Test, if necessary. 9. Must be over 14 years of age. 10. Should always be smart, clean, punctual, and in complete control. 11. Must never get emotionally involved with clients, or have intimate relations with them. 12. Cannot change his or her physical appearance without the Leader's permission (e.g. dye their hair, lose or gain weight, wear coloured contact lenses, etc.). 13. Must be able to make convincing facial expressions (sadness, happiness, despair, etc.). 14. Must honor the title of their membership, and be ready to kill or die for it. 15. Must never attack another Alps member, and must believe in teamwork. Efthymis Filippou, screenwriter, had to step in as the "owner of the lighting shop" two days before shooting of the film started. Dogtooth Notes Best Rated PLOT: Three teenagers live isolated, without leaving their house, because their over-protective parents say they can only leave when their dogtooth falls out. Ratings: IMDb 7.3 | RT 92% C / 75% A Released: 2009 Director: Yorgos Lanthimos Writer(s): Efthymis Filippou (writer), Yorgos Lanthimos (writer) Cinematographer: Thimios Bakatakis (The Killing of a Sacred Deer, The Lobster) Notable actors: Christos Stergioglou, Michele Valley, Angeliki Papoulia, Hristos Passalis, Mary Tsoni, Anna Kalaitzidou Budget: $240 thousand Box office: $1.4 million Fun Facts: The entire film was shot on only one lens: an anamorphic lens with 50mm focal length. The inspiration for the film came about because of a discussion Yorgos Lanthimos was having with some friends who were about to get married. When Lanthimos expressed doubts about the institution and family itself, he was struck by the idea about what would happen to a man who went to the ultimate extreme of protecting his family. The first film from Greece to be officially selected for the Cannes Film Festival in a decade. Because the subject matter was so claustrophobic, the choice was made to set the film in as big and expansive a house as the production could find, complete with swimming pool and enormous garden. Intro music by Eric Lynch

Download MP3 In today's episode Nate and Austin compare John Schlesinger's best and worst rated films, Midnight Cowboy (1969) and Honky Tonk Freeway (1981), respectively. Nate is not a Honky Tonk happy camper, Austin talks about his feelings on Dustin Hoffman, and they both confront their masculinity. Check back next Sunday at 7pm PST where we will compare Yorgos Lamthimos's Dogtooth (2009) and Alps (2011), his best and worst rated films. Also check out this interview revisiting the cast and crew of Midnight Cowbow: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BGR_mD9nW6g Honky Tonk Freeway Notes Worst Rated PLOT: Ticlaw, a small town in Florida, has only one attraction: a safari park. The government constructs a freeway that passes near Ticlaw, but decides not to put an exit into the town. The people of Ticlaw, led by its Mayor, will do anything in order to convince the governor to alter the project. Ratings: IMDb 5.0 | RT N/A C / 51% A Released: 1981 Director: John Schlesinger Writer(s): Edward Clinton Cinematographer: John Bailey (In the Line of Fire, Antitrust, Silverado) Notable actors: David Rasche, Paul Jabara, Howard Hesseman, Teri Garr, Jenn Thompson, Peter Billingsley, Beau Bridges, Beverly D’Angelo, Daniel Stern Budget: $24 million Box office: $2 million Fun Facts: The entire town of Mount Dora, Florida, was painted pink for this picture. Due to delays in filming the movie, the Mount Dora section of the picture was was pushed back until the 1980 summer when it had meant to shoot there in spring. When released, its $24 million budget made it the most expensive comedy ever produced. It was a major failure at the box office. Director John Schlesinger's original cut was somewhere in the range of three hours. Two thousand extras and background artists in Mount Dora, Florida were paid around US $35 per day to appear in the film. According to Pulse the Magazine, "the film had been fraught with problems, from a disjointed script to its title - and marketing that implied it was just '...another car crash comedy romp'. This was compounded by the producers' decision to sell the video rights before Universal Pictures agreed to release the film. Angered by this, Universal minimized their marketing support and limited the number of theaters in which the film was shown. Withdrawn from theaters just a week after its release, the movie disappeared". Midnight Cowboy Notes Best Rated PLOT: A naive hustler travels from Texas to New York to seek personal fortune but, in the process, finds himself a new friend. Ratings: IMDb 7.9 | RT 90% C / 88% A Released: 1969 Director: John Schlesinger Writer(s): Waldo Salt (screenplay), James Leo Herlihy (based on the novel by) Cinematographer: Adam Holender (Smoke, Twisted, Sea of Love) Notable actors: Dustin Hoffman, Jon Voight, Sylvia Miles, John McGiver, Brenda Vaccaro, Barnard Hughes, Ruth White, Jennifer Salt, Gilman Rankin Budget: $3.2 million Box office: $44.8 million Fun Facts: Before Dustin Hoffman auditioned for this film, he knew that his all-American image could easily cost him the job. To prove he could do it, he asked the auditioning film executive to meet him on a street corner in Manhattan, and in the meantime, dressed himself in filthy rags. The executive arrived at the appointed corner and waited, barely noticing the "beggar" less than ten feet away who was accosting people for spare change. At last, the beggar walked up to him and revealed his true identity. Dustin Hoffman put in so much effort portraying one of Ratso's coughing fits that one time he actually ended up vomiting. According to Dustin Hoffman himself, the taxi incident *wasn't* scripted. During an L.A. Times interview in Jan. 2009, he said that the movie didn't have a permit to close down the NYC street for filming, so they had to set-up the scene with a hidden camera in a van driving down the street, and remote microphones for the actors. After 15 takes, it was finally going well, but this time, as they crossed the street, a taxi ran a red light. Hoffman wanted to say "Hey, we're SHOOTING here!", not only from fear of his life, but also from anger that the taxi driver might have ruined the take. Instead, being the professional that he is, he stayed in character and shouted "Hey, we're WALKING here!" and made movie history. Jon Voight also backs up this version of the incident, saying that seeing how well Hoffman was handling the situation, he likewise stayed in character. Dustin Hoffman kept pebbles in his shoe to ensure his limp would be consistent from shot to shot. The film was rated "X" (no one under 17 admitted) upon its original release in 1969, but the unrestricted use of that rating by pornographic filmmakers caused the rating to quickly become associated with hardcore sex films. Because of the stigma that developed around the "X" rating in the ratings system's early years, many theaters refused to run "X" films and many newspapers would not run ads for them. The film was given a new "R" (children under 17 must be accompanied by a parent or legal guardian) rating in 1971, without having anything changed or removed. It remains the only X-Rated film ever to win the Oscar for Best Picture, be shown on network TV (although the R reclassification had taken place by then), or be screened by a sitting U.S. President, Richard Nixon. Bob Dylan wrote the song "Lay, Lady, Lay" for the film, but didn't complete it in time to be included in the soundtrack. This film contains the first recorded use of the word "scuzzy", as a description of Ratso Rizzo. At its root, "scuzzy" is apparently a combination of "scummy" and "fuzzy". Intro music by Eric Lynch

Download MP3 In today's episode Nate and Austin compare Sam Raimi' best and worst rated films, Evil Dead 2 (1987) and Spider-Man 3 (2007), respectively. Nate goes on about horror films again, Austin has a nostalgia trip, and they both go off on tangents. Check back next Sunday at 7pm PST where we will compare Rian Johnson's Star Wars: The Last Jedi (2017) and The Brothers Bloom (2008), his best and worst rated films. Also check out this interview with director Sam Raimi about his lowest rated film, Spider-Man 3: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cnzoLtP8scQ Spider-Man 3 Notes Worst Rated PLOT: A strange black entity from another world bonds with Peter Parker and causes inner turmoil as he contends with new villains, temptations, and revenge. Ratings: IMDb 6.2 | RT 63% C / 51% A Released: 2007 Director: Sam Raimi Writer(s): Sam Raimi & Ivan Raimi and Alvin Sargent (screenplay), Saim Raimi & Ivan Raimi (screen story), Stan Lee and Steve Ditko (Marvel comic book) Cinematographer: Bill Pope (The Matrix, The Jungle Book, Bound) Notable actors: Tobey Maguire, Kirsten Dunst, James Franco, Thomas Haden Church, Topher Grace, Bryce Dallas Howard, Rosemary Harris, J.K. Simmons, James Cromwell, Theresa Russell, Dylan Baker, Bill Nunn, Bruce Campbell, Elizabeth Banks, Ted Raimi, Perla Haney-Jardine, Willem Dafoe, Cliff Robertson Budget: $258 million Box office: $890.9 million Fun Facts: On May 4th, 2007, while promoting the film on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno (1992), Thomas Haden Church revealed that he broke three knuckles during the subway scene where he swings to punch Spider-Man and ends up punching a chunk of the wall away. Church said that the effects crew had told him that the brick in the middle was fake while the upper and lower ones were real. Unfortunately, the foam brick had not actually been put in place yet, and when Sam Raimi yelled 'action', Church spun around and punched the real brick on the first take. All of the screams Kirsten Dunst had for this film were recycled from Spider-Man 2 (2004). Bryce Dallas Howard performed her own stunts during the crane accident scene, unaware that she was pregnant at the time of filming. In total, the film took 2 years and 10 months to make. There were many scenes that were shot but never released on DVD including a montage of Peter (in his black suit) taking down criminals and leaving them strung up, tons of character-building moments, a confrontation scene between Captain Stacy and Eddie Brock (where Gwen dumps him at her father's house) and Peter freaking out after he looks in a mirror and sees a nightmarish version of the Venom symbiote screaming at him. It was considered at one point to split the movie into two films. One of the sounds used for Venom is of a Tasmanian Devil. According to James Franco, they had to go back and do some re-shoots just prior to the release, because test audiences felt that there was not enough action in the film. Evil Dead 2 Notes Best Rated PLOT: The lone survivor of an onslaught of flesh-possessing spirits holes up in a cabin with a group of strangers while the demons continue their attack. Ratings: IMDb 7.8 | RT 98% C / 89% A Released: 1987 Director: Sam Raimi Writer(s): Sam Raimi & Scott Spiegel (written by) Cinematographer: Peter Deming (Twin Peaks, Oz the Great and Powerful, Mulholland Drive) Notable actors: Bruce Campbell, Sarah Berry, Dan Hicks, Kassie Wesley DePaiva, Ted Raimi, Denise Bixler Budget: $3.6 million Box office: $5.9 million Fun Facts: During the scene where the severed head of Linda bites Ash's hand, Bruce Campbell says the single line "work shed". This line was later re-dubbed in post-production due to the quality of the audio, giving it a strange, slightly "disproportionate" sound to the audio. Nine years later, while filming his cameo in Escape from L.A. (1996), the first thing Kurt Russell said to Bruce Campbell on the set was, jokingly, "Say 'work shed'". Stephen King was such a huge fan of The Evil Dead (1981) that he convinced producer Dino De Laurentiis over dinner (who was producing King's Maximum Overdrive (1986) at the time) to have his production company DEG (De Laurentiis Entertainment Group) finance Evil Dead II. Often considered to be a remake of The Evil Dead (1981); however, this is not accurate. The rights to show scenes from the original could not be obtained to re-cap what happened, so the beginning was remade to explain how Ash got to the cabin, etc. The recap of The Evil Dead (1981) includes a shot where the "evil force" runs through the cabin and rams into Ash. When this shot was filmed, Bruce Campbell suffered a broken jaw when Sam Raimi (who was operating the camera) crashed into him with a bicycle - or so people were led to believe. This was a story concocted by Sam Raimi and Bruce Campbell as a gag to see how many people would believe it actually happened. Most of the film was shot on a set built inside the gymnasium of the JR Faison Junior High School in Wadesboro, North Carolina. Ash's chainsaw appears to switch hands in one scene. This is because Sam Raimi decided Ash should walk the opposite way across the room in that scene, so he flipped the negative. Intro music by Eric Lynch

Download MP3 In today's episode Nate and Austin compare George Lucas' best and worst rated films, Star Wars: A New Hope (1977) and Star Wars: The Phantom Menace (1999), respectively. Nate talks shit on Georgie, Austin thinks he may have gone too far in some places, and Zamar and Daniel argue about how bad the prequels really are. Check back next Sunday at 7pm PST for our 81st episode where we will compare Sam Raimi's Evil Dead II (1987) and Crimewave (1985), his best and worst rated films. Also check out this interview with director George Lucas about the first prequel, The Phantom Menace: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pEEw8gZI-5s The Phantom Menace Notes Worst Rated PLOT: Two Jedi Knights escape a hostile blockade to find allies and come across a young boy who may bring balance to the Force, but the long dormant Sith resurface to claim their old glory. Ratings: IMDb 6.5 | RT 55% C / 59% A Released: 1999 Director: George Lucas Writer(s): George Lucas Cinematographer: David Tattersall (The Green Mile, Die Another Day, Con Air) Notable actors: Liam Neeson, Ewan McGregor, Natalie Portman, Jake Lloyd, Ian McDiarmid, Pernilla August, Oliver Ford Davies, Hugh Quarshie, Ahmed Best, Anthony Daniels, Kenny Baker, Frank Oz, Terence Stamp, Brian Blessed, Andy Secombe, Ray Park, Lewis Macleod, Warwick Davis, Steve Speirs, Samuel L. Jackson, Sofia Coppola, Keira Knightley Budget: $115 million Box office: $1.027 billion Fun Facts: During filming, Ewan McGregor made lightsaber noises as he dueled. It was noted and corrected during post-production. 20th Century Fox released the first trailer, with strict instructions that it not be shown before a certain date. When a Canadian movie theater accidentally showed it a day early, they lost the rights to show the movie. Natalie Portman (Queen Amidala) missed the premiere party in New York City, because she had to go home to study for her high school final exams. After the film's end credits finish rolling, the sound effect of Darth Vader's breathing can be heard. During the first week of the first trailer's release, many theaters reported up to 75 percent of their audiences paying full price for a movie, then walking out after the Star Wars: Episode I trailer was shown. According to Star Wars canon, Obi-Wan's hanging braid is a Jedi tradition common to all Padawan Learners. When his Master feels that he has reached proper maturity, he cuts the braid with his lightsaber, signifying that the student is now a full Jedi Knight. Natalie Portman's voice was digitally enhanced to distinguish between Padmé and Queen Amidala. Sets were built only as high as the tops of the actors' heads and computer graphics filled in the rest. Liam Neeson was so tall, that he cost the set crew an extra 150,000 dollars in construction. Qui-Gon Jinn's communicator is a redecorated Sensor Excel Razor for Women. When fully dressed, and in make-up, Natalie Portman and Keira Knightley resembled each other so much, that even Knightley's mother Sharman Macdonald, who visited the set, had trouble identifying her own daughter. The word lightsaber is never used in the film and is ultimately the only Star Wars film that does not have a single character to speak the word. When Anakin talks to Qui-Gon he calls it a "laser sword". The sound of the underwater monsters growling near the beginning of the film was made by the main sound technician's three-year-old daughter. The sound of her crying was recorded, and the frequency lowered to obtain the sound heard in the film. Benicio Del Toro was originally set to play Darth Maul. Del Toro left the film after George Lucas took most of Maul's lines out of the film. At the time of the film's release, the producers ran a disinformation campaign to suggest that Natalie Portman played both Padmé and The Queen at all times. In fact, they are not always the same person. For many sections of the film, notably those where The Queen is wearing the black outfit with the huge feather headdress, she is actually a decoy, played by Keira Knightley. The real queen, Portman, is actually disguised as a handmaiden. Various conflicting public statements make it extremely difficult to figure out who is who. Whole websites are devoted to figuring out which actress is playing which handmaiden or The Queen at any given point. Ewan McGregor studied many of Alec Guinness' films, including Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope (1977), to ensure accuracy in everything from his accent to pacing of his words. Liam Neeson convinced George Lucas to keep a scene where Qui-Gon Jinn puts his hand on Shmi Skywalker's shoulder. Lucas felt this might be out of character for the monk-like Jedi, but Neeson thought there should be an emotional connection between the characters. In an interview with Premiere magazine, Neeson defended his action, saying, "It may be 'Star Wars', but we've got to have something in there for the adults." A New Hope Notes Best Rated PLOT: Luke Skywalker joins forces with a Jedi Knight, a cocky pilot, a Wookiee and two droids to save the galaxy from the Empire's world-destroying battle-station while also attempting to rescue Princess Leia from the evil Darth Vader. Ratings: IMDb 8.7 | RT 93% C / 96% A Released: 1977 Director: George Lucas Writer(s): George Lucas Cinematographer: Gilbert Taylor (Dr. Strangelove, The Omen) Notable actors: Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, Peter Cushing, Alec Guinness, Anthony Daniels, Kenny Baker, Peter Mayhew, David Prowse, Phil Brown, Shelagh Fraser, Jack Purvis Budget: $11 million Box office: $775.4 million Fun Facts: George Lucas was so sure the film would flop that instead of attending the premiere, he went on vacation to Hawaii with his good friend Steven Spielberg, where they came up with the idea for Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981). In early drafts of the script, R2-D2 could speak standard English, and he had a rather foul vocabulary. Although all of R2's English speech was removed, many of C-3PO's reactions to it were left in. The first film to make over $300,000,000. George Lucas' decision to accept a lower salary on the film in exchange for full merchandising rights was considered a fool's gamble on his part. Toys based on movies had never been major money-earners (though some movie-toy combinations had done moderate retail returns) because of the long gap between when a movie would go through its theatrical run and when any products based on it would be available. Star Wars, however, was such a phenomenon that it reached the holiday 1977 sales period in full swing, and changed the way movies were merchandised forever. The skeleton that C-3PO passes belongs to a Tatooine creature called a Greater Krayt Dragon. This artificial skeleton was left in the Tunisian desert after filming and still lies there. During filming of Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones (2002), the site was visited by the crew once more and the skeleton was still there. According to Harrison Ford, during the making of the film, he and Mark Hamill would usually fool around and not commit to their work whenever Alec Guinness was not on set. When Guinness was on set, they behaved much more professionally. Harrison Ford didn't learn his lines for the intercom conversation in the cell block so that it would sound spontaneous. James Earl Jones and David Prowse, who play the voice and body of Darth Vader respectively, have never met. The actors found George Lucas to be very uncommunicative towards them, with his only directions generally being either "faster" or "more intense." At one point, when he temporarily lost his voice, the crew provided him with a board with just those two phrases written on it. Prior to the film's release, George Lucas showed an early cut of the film to a group of his film director friends. Most, including Lucas himself, felt the film would be a flop; Brian De Palma reportedly called it the "worst movie ever." The only dissenter was Steven Spielberg, who correctly predicted the film would make millions of dollars. Stunt doubles were not used for the scene where Luke and Leia swing to safety. Carrie Fisher and Mark Hamill performed the stunt themselves, shooting it in just one take. The scene of Darth Vader's TIE Fighter spinning out of control was added late in the film at the insistence of George Lucas. Other members of the film crew were opposed to including this shot, feeling that it set up a sequel (at the time sequels were generally regarded as inferior cash-in movies), but Lucas insisted upon its inclusion nonetheless. Due to the limited budget, the American cast members and crew (including George Lucas) all decided to fly coach class to England, rather than first class. When Carrie Fisher's mother, Debbie Reynolds, heard about this, she called Lucas, complaining about how insulting it was for her daughter to be flying coach. Fisher was in the room with Lucas when he took the call, and after a few minutes, asked if she could talk to her mother. When Lucas handed her the phone, she simply said, "Mother, I want to fly coach, will you f**k off?!" and hung up. While George Lucas was filming on location in Tunisia, the Libyan government became worried about a massive military vehicle parked near the Libyan border. Consequently, the Tunisian government, receiving threats of military mobilization, politely asked Lucas to move his Jawa sandcrawler farther away from the border. The lightsaber sound effect is a combination of the hum of an idling 35mm movie projector and the feedback generated by passing a stripped microphone cable by a television. Peter Mayhew and David Prowse were both given a choice as to which giant character they wanted to play, Chewbacca or Darth Vader. Mayhew wanted to play a good guy and Prowse wanted to play a bad guy, so they ended up playing the matching characters. Intro music by Eric Lynch

Download MP3 In today's episode Nate and Austin compare Andrew Dominik's best and worst rated films, The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (2007) and Killing Them Softly (2012), respectively. Nate oozes over the lighting, Austin tries to get over a cold, and they're both surprised by how solid both of these films were. Check back next Sunday at 7pm PST for our milestone 80th episode where we will compare George Lucas' Star Wars: A New Hope (1977) and Star Wars: The Phantom Menace (1999), his best and worst rated films. Also check out this interview with actor Ben Mendelsohn and director Andrew Dominik about Killing Them Softly: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lgLmjmpaaJY Killing Them Softly Notes Worst Rated PLOT: Jackie Cogan is an enforcer hired to restore order after three dumb guys rob a Mob protected card game, causing the local criminal economy to collapse. Ratings: IMDb 6.2 | RT 74% C / 44% A Released: 2012 Director: Andrew Dominik Writer(s): Andrew Dominik (screenplay), George V. Higgins (based on the novel “Cogan’s Trade” by) Cinematographer: Greig Fraser (Foxcatcher, Rogue One, Zero Dark Thirty) Notable actors: Brad Pitt, Scoot McNairy, Ben Mendelsohn, James Gandolfini, Richard Jenkins, Vincent Curatola, Ray Liotta, Trevor Long, Max Casella, Sam Shepard, Slaine, Linara Washington Budget: $15 million Box office: $37.9 million Fun Facts: The Turkish former minister of culture found the movie so offensive that he told the press that he wanted the age bar for this movie to be raised from 13 to 18 or, if possible, remove it from the theaters altogether. Originally titled Cogan's Trade. Richard Jenkins's character is never seen standing. He is either sitting in his car or sitting on a bar stool. The first feature film to use Kodak's 500T 5230 film stock. One of the three films that received an "F" CinemaScore from audiences upon their release in 2012, along with The Devil Inside (2012) and Silent House (2011). The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford Notes Best Rated PLOT: Robert Ford, who's idolized Jesse James since childhood, tries hard to join the reforming gang of the Missouri outlaw, but gradually becomes resentful of the bandit leader. Ratings: IMDb 7.5 | RT 76% C / 75% A Released: 2007 Director: Andrew Dominik Writer(s): Andrew Dominik (screenplay), Ron Hansen (novel) Cinematographer: Roger Deakins (Fargo, No Country For Old Men, Sicario) Notable actors: Brad Pitt, Mary-Louise Parker, Brooklynn Proulx, Dustin Bollinger, Casey Affleck, Sam Rockwell, Jeremy Renner, Sam Shepard, Garret Dillahunt, Paul Schneider, Joel McNichol Budget: $30 million Box office: $15 million Fun Facts: Brad Pitt's personal favorite movie that he has acted in. Of all the films made about Jesse James, his descendants have claimed that this is the most accurate. They were especially enthusiastic about Brad Pitt and Casey Affleck's performances. Cinematographer Roger Deakins has called the arrival of the train in darkness is one of the high points of his career. According to Andrew Dominik, Brad Pitt's contract stated that the movie's name could not be changed. In reality, Jesse James suffered from a syndrome that made him blink much more than the average person. Although it's mentioned at the start of the film, Brad Pitt barely blinks during most of his scenes. During filming, Sam Shepard was in his 60s and Brad Pitt was in his 40s. The characters they play are supposed to be in their 30s. Casey Affleck was in his early 30s, close to Robert Ford's age during the epilogue, but much older than Ford's age during the main plot. Nick Cave's score was written before the film was shot. The original cut of the movie was nearly four hours long. It was edited down to two hours and forty minutes at the studio's request. At one point, Pitt and exec producer Ridley Scott put together their own cut. When it tested poorly, they went back to Dominik's cut. The 4-hour version played at least once, most notably at the Venice Film Festival. A scene at the beginning reveals that half of Jesse James' left middle finger is missing. The top half of Brad Pitt's left middle finger was digitally erased in every scene in which his hands appeared. Ron Hansen, writer of the novel, spent about a week on the set. He helped with editing and even had a cameo in the film. During an interview, Hansen lauded Casey Affleck, who he thought added his own perspective to the complicated character of Robert Ford. Hansen then said, "In some ways it feels like he was born to play this role." When Jesse goes looking for Jim Cummins, he introduces himself as Dick Turpin. A legendary English rogue and highway robber of the 1730s, Turpin was romanticized in English ballads and popular theatre of the 18th and 19th century. Dick Liddil introduces himself as Matt Collins, a play on Mattie Collins, Liddil's wife. Jeremy Renner was originally considered for the role of Robert Ford. He was rejected as too old. The film had two production designers, Patricia Norris and Richard Hoover. Only one name could be listed in the credits, so both decided to go uncredited. Intro music by Eric Lynch

Download MP3 In today's episode Nate and Austin compare George Romero's best and worst rated films, Dawn of the Dead (1978) and Survival of the Dead (2009), respectively. Nate hates that dumb teenager, Austin just wants to talk about U2 some more, and Spenser brought his notebook. Check back next Sunday at 7pm PST where we will compare Andrew Dominik's The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (2007) and Killing Them Softly (2012), his best and worst rated films. Also check out this interview with director George Romero about how he came up with the idea for Dawn of the Dead: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xrnIaVs4jd4 Survival of the Dead Notes Worst Rated PLOT: On an island off the coast of North America, local residents simultaneously fight a zombie epidemic while hoping for a cure to return their un-dead relatives back to their human state. Ratings: IMDb 4.9 | RT 29% C / 19% A Released: 2009 Director: George Romero Writer(s): George Romero Cinematographer: Adam Swica (The Haunting in Connecticut, Diary of the Dead, The Art of the Steal) Notable actors: Alan Van Sprang, Joshua Peace, Hardee T. Lineham, Dru Viergever, Eric Woolfe, Shawn Roberts, Scott Wentworth, Amy Lalonde Budget: $4 million Box office: $386 thousand Fun Facts: The very same horse seen in this film is featured in the pilot of The Walking Dead (2010). This was the least successful film in George A. Romero's Dead films series. This film marks the first time that a character from a previous Living Dead film returns to star in a sequel, with Alan Van Sprang as Sarge "Nicotine" Crockett having been seen in Diary of the Dead (2007), and also playing Brubaker in Land of the Dead (2005). The only two other times this has come close to happening was Tom Savini reprising his role of Blades from Dawn of the Dead (1978) as a cameo in "Land of the Dead" in zombie form, and Joseph Pilato playing an unnamed police captain in "Dawn of the Dead" returning to play Captain Rhodes in Day of the Dead (1985). The cast are almost all Canadian, the exception being Julian Richings who is from London, England. Thee movie was shot entirely in Canada. Dawn of the Dead Notes Best Rated PLOT: Following an ever-growing epidemic of zombies that have risen from the dead, two Philadelphia S.W.A.T. team members, a traffic reporter, and his television executive girlfriend seek refuge in a secluded shopping mall. Ratings: IMDb 8.0 | RT 93% C / 90% A Released: 1978 Director: George Romero Writer(s): George Romero Cinematographer: Michael Gornick (Creepshow, Day of the Dead, Knightriders) Notable actors: David Emge, Ken Foree, Scott H. Reiniger, Gaylen Ross, Richard France Budget: $1.5 million Box office: $55 million Fun Facts: Tom Savini choose the gray color for the zombies' skin, since Night of the Living Dead (1968) was in B&W and the zombie skin-tone was not depicted. He later said it was a mistake, because many of them ended up looking quite blue on film. The two zombie children who attack Peter in the airport chart house are played by Donna Savini and Mike Savini, the real-life niece and nephew of Tom Savini. These are the only zombies in all of George A. Romero's "Dead" films that spontaneously run and never do the trademark "Zombie shuffle". Filming at the Monroeville Mall took place during the winter of 1977-78, with a three-week reprieve during the Christmas shopping season (during which other footage, e.g. the TV studio, was shot). Filming at the mall began around 10 p.m., shortly after the mall closed, and finished at 6 a.m. The mall didn't open until 9, but at 6 the Music came on and no one knew how to turn it off. Dario Argento was an admirer of George A. Romero's work, and vice-versa. When Argento heard that Romero was contemplating a sequel to Night of the Living Dead (1968) he insisted that Romero come out to Argento's native Rome to write the script without distractions. Romero knocked out the script in 3 weeks and, though Argento read the script as it came out, he left all the writing to Romero. Argento also provided most of the film's soundtrack and, in return for the rights to edit the European version of the film, assisted in raising the necessary funds. Zombie actors took photographs of themselves dressed up in full zombie makeup inside a photo booth on the second floor. They then replaced the sample pictures on the front of the booth with the ghoulish ones. Intro music by Eric Lynch

Download MP3 In today's episode Nate and Austin compare Tobe Hooper's best and worst rated films, The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974) and Night Terrors (1993), respectively. Nate is going to have night terrors after watching that movie, Austin wants to know where Zoe went, and they both decide to stay away from cannibalistic murderous families in Texas. Check back next Sunday at 7pm PST where we will compare George Romero's Dawn of the Dead (1978) and Survival of the Dead (2009), his best and worst rated films. Also check out this interview with director Tobe Hooper about The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HeSwdk06-EU Night Terrors Notes Worst Rated PLOT: A young girl travels to Cairo to visit her father, and becomes unwillingly involved with a bizarre sadomasochistic cult led by the charismatic Paul Chevalier, who is a descendant of the Marquis de Sade. Ratings: IMDb 3.3 | RT N/A % C / 7% A Released: 1993 Director: Tobe Hooper Writer(s): Rom Globus, Daniel Matmor Cinematographer: Amnon Salomon (The Mangler, The Milky Way, Infiltration) Notable actors: Robert Englund, Zoe Trilling, Alona Kimhi, Juliano Mer-Khamis, Chandra West, William Finley, Irit Sheleg Budget: N/A Box office: N/A Fun Facts: Director Gerry O'Hara left the project because he didn't want to shoot a screenplay which envisioned the De Sade character in the eighteenth century. The Texas Chain Saw Massacre Notes Best Rated PLOT: Two siblings visit their grandfather's grave in Texas along with three of their friends and are attacked by a family of cannibalistic psychopaths. Ratings: IMDb 7.5 | RT 88% C / 82% A Released: 1974 Director: Tobe Hooper Writer(s): Kim Henkel and Tobe Hooper (screenplay by), Kim Henkel (story by) Cinematographer: Daniel Pearl (Friday the 13th, Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem) Notable actors: Marilyn Burns, Allen Danziger, Paul A. Partain, William Vail, Teri McMinn, Edwin Neal, Jim Siedow, Gunnar Hansen, John Dugan Budget: $300 thousand Box office: $30.9 million Fun Facts: Marilyn Burns, whose character was chased by Leatherface through the undergrowth, actually cut herself on the branches quite badly, so a lot of the blood on her body and clothes is real. Director Tobe Hooper claims to have got the idea for the film while standing in the hardware section of a crowded store. While thinking of a way to get out through the crowd, he spotted the chainsaws. Surprisingly, this film is one of the least bloody horror films of all time. This is because Tobe Hooper intended to make the movie for a "PG" rating, by keeping violence moderate, language mild, and having most of the horror implied off-screen rather than shown in great detail onscreen. However, this plan had actually backfired, and made the film even more horrifying. Because despite cutting and repeated submissions, the Ratings Board insisted on an "X" rating, and it wasn't until the film received the "R" rating when Hooper gave up and released it. Hooper had a similar ratings problem with the sequel. According to John Larroquette, his payment for doing the opening narration was a marijuana joint. Even in his lift boots, Gunnar Hansen could run faster than Marilyn Burns, so he had to do random things when chasing her through the woods (you'll notice in one head-on shot that he starts slicing up tree branches in the background). Leatherface had "lines" in the script that were gibberish with little side notes indicating what he was trying to say. A still photo, taken during filming of the entire "Sawyer" family posing outside the house as a gag, was found and stolen from the set by a visiting German reporter, who took it back to West Germany with him, and the image of the family eventually became the advertising poster for the first release of the movie in West Germany. The soundtrack contains no sounds from musical instruments (with the exception of some copyrighted music they had the rights to), instead they used sounds an animal would hear inside a slaughterhouse. Tobe Hooper allowed Gunnar Hansen to develop Leatherface as he saw fit, under his supervision. Hansen decided that Leatherface was mentally handicapped and never learned to talk properly, so he went to a school for the mentally handicapped and watched how they moved and listened to them talk to get a feel for the character. He also tried his best to make his portrayal as non-offensive as he could. Many fans including those who are mentally handicapped, say he succeeded. After getting into the old-age makeup, John Dugan decided that he did not ever want to go through the process again, meaning that all the scenes with him had to be filmed in the same session before he could take the makeup off. This entire process took about 36 hours (five of which which took to put the makeup on), during a brutal summer heat wave where the average temperature was over 100 degrees, with a large portion of it spent filming the dinner scene, with him wearing a heavy suit and necktie, sitting in a room filled with dead animals and rotting food with no air conditioning or electric fans. Everyone later recalled that the stench from the rotting food and people's body odor was so terrible that some crew members passed out or became sick from the smell. Edwin Neal who played the hitch-hiker claimed: "Filming that scene was the worst time of my life . . . and I had been in Vietnam, with people trying to kill me, so I guess that shows how bad it was." Gunnar Hansen wore three-inch heels so that he was taller than the rest of the cast, but it meant that he had to duck to get through the doorways in the slaughterhouse. Gunnar Hansen said that, during filming, he didn't get along very well with Paul A. Partain, who played Franklin. A few years later he met Partain again and realized that Partain, a method actor, had simply chosen to stay in character even when not filming. The two remained good friends up to Partain's death. Due to the low budget, Gunnar Hansen had only one shirt to wear as Leatherface. The shirt had been dyed, so it could not be washed; Hansen had to wear it for four straight weeks of filming in the hot and humid Texas summer. By the end of the shoot, no one wanted to stand near Hansen or sit next to him during breaks to eat lunch because his clothing smelled so bad. Intro music by Eric Lynch

Download MP3 In today's episode Nate and Austin compare J.J. Abrams's best and worst rated films, Star Wars: The Force Awakens (2015) and Mission Impossible III (2006), respectively. Nate's just there for the exposition, Austin thinks John Boyega is an amateur, and Zamar gets to nerd out for almost two hours. Check back next Sunday at 7pm PST where we will compare Tobe Hooper's The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974) and Night Terrors (1993), his best and worst rated films. Also check out these interviews with the cast of Star Wars: The Force Awakens: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rJT-bM8Tozs Mission Impossible III Notes Worst Rated PLOT: Agent Ethan Hunt comes into conflict with a dangerous and sadistic arms dealer who threatens his life and his fianceé in response. Ratings: IMDb 6.9 | RT 70% C / 69% A Released: 2006 Director: J.J. Abrams Writer(s): Alex Kurtzman & Roberto Orci & J.J. Abrams (written by), Bruce Geller (television series) Cinematographer: Dan Mindel (Star Trek, The Amazing Spider-Man) Notable actors: Tom Cruise, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Ving Rhames, Billy Crudup, Michelle Monaghan, Jonathan Rhys Meyers, Keri Russell, Maggie Q, Simon Pegg, Eddie Marsan, Laurence Fishburne, Bahar Soomekh, Jeff Chase, Michael Berry Jr., Aaron Paul Budget: $150 million Box office: $397.9 million Fun Facts: As the production could do nothing about inquisitive crowds watching them while they were filming in Rome, they actually set up a phony second unit a little further away, hired several girls in bikinis and several older women dressed as nuns and pretended to be filming takes for the film, while the main unit got on with their business largely undisturbed. After the success of Shaun of the Dead (2004), Simon Pegg was asked whether he was going to be pursuing a career in Hollywood, to which he laughed and replied "It's not like I'm going to be in Mission: Impossible III". With a budget of one hundred fifty million dollars, this is the most expensive movie ever undertaken by a first-time feature film director. Tom Cruise did the vast majority of his own stunts in this film. Most of them were done without major injury. However, he cracked a couple of ribs once when he turned his upper torso too quickly. Special Effects Technician Steven Scott Wheatley sued Paramount Pictures, and Tom Cruise's production company for gross negligence, after the pyrotechnics in a stunt in which he was involved, went wrong, and he was engulfed in a ball of flame. Wheatley suffered third-degree burns over sixty percent of his body. Joe Carnahan worked on the film for a total of fifteen months before quitting over creative differences with the studio bosses. He even filmed the moment when he quit, as he figured that it signified the end of his Hollywood career. That was not to be the case, however. He came back the following year with the cult hit Smokin' Aces (2006). At one point, Ricky Gervais was cast in the film as an ally to Ethan Hunt. But due to various production and casting changes, Gervais had to pull out of the film and was replaced by Simon Pegg. In the original script of the opening scene, Brownway was supposed to do the "counting" but J.J. Abrams realized it would be much more dramatic if it was done by Owen Davien (Philip Seymour Hoffman) instead. Star Wars: The Force Awakens Notes Best Rated PLOT: Three decades after the Empire's defeat, a new threat arises in the militant First Order. Stormtrooper defector Finn and spare parts scavenger Rey are caught up in the Resistance's search for the missing Luke Skywalker. Ratings: IMDb 8.1 | RT 93% C / 89% A Released: 2015 Director: J.J. Abrams Writer(s): Lawrence Kasdan & J.J. Abrams and Michael Arndt (written by), George Lucas (based on characters created by) Cinematographer: Dan Mindel (Star Trek, The Amazing Spider-Man) Notable actors: Harrison Ford, Mark Hamill, Carrie Fisher, Adam Driver, Daisy Ridley, John Boyega, Oscar Isaac, Lupita Nyong’o, Andy Serkis, Domhnall Gleeson, Anthony Daniels, Max von Sydow, Peter Mayhew, Gwendoline Christie, Joonas Suatoma, Pip Andersen, Simon Pegg Budget: $306 million Box office: $2.068 billion Fun Facts: In a real-life parallel to the film Fanboys (2009), Mark Hamill and John Boyega successfully lobbied director J.J. Abrams to allow Star Wars fan Daniel Fleetwood to see the film before official release, as Fleetwood had been diagnosed with terminal cancer, and was not expected to live to see the film's actual release date. Fleetwood was shown the film at a screening in his house, after Disney agreed. Fleetwood died November 10, 2015. Mark Hamill claimed George Lucas nonchalantly told him over lunch a new Star Wars trilogy was going to be made by Disney, and if he did not want to be involved, Luke Skywalker would simply be written out of the script. However, Hamill immediately agreed to reprise the role. Hamill admitted, however, that he pretended to also be nonchalant about it, so it didn't seem like he was excited for the role. He also said within five seconds Carrie exclaimed she'd do it, and asked if there was a part for her daughter. When Finn and Rey ask if he is THE Han Solo, the reply is "I used to be," which is a reply Ford regularly uses when fans ask if he is Harrison Ford. The first J.J. Abrams film not to have a musical score by Michael Giacchino. Aptly enough, Giacchino stated in an interview that he would rather hear the music of John Williams in a new Star Wars film, than his own. Giacchino's name shows up in Episode VII's credits as a Stormtrooper. The lightsaber battles are choreographed to be distinctly different from the ones in the first and second trilogies. Rather than the flashy, Force-assisted moves in the prequels or the formalized, kendo-like movements of the original trilogy, the fights are staged to appear less rehearsed, and more brutal and realistic. According to John Boyega and others, this was a deliberate choice to reflect the characters' inexperience with lightsabers as a weapon. Kylo appears to have had little experience in formal dueling, and Finn and Rey pick up lightsabers and use them with no training at all. John Boyega was so nervous and frightened at the prospect of not getting the role, that he didn't tell his parents that he had been cast until after a cast photo was posted online by the official Star Wars Twitter page. When the first trailer was released, there was much discussion about how it appeared to be getting back to the "grubbiness" ("dirty transporters, second-hand rockets, things that broke") of Episodes IV-VI, rather than the CGI cleanliness of Episodes I-III. British television star Phill Jupitus revealed in an interview that he "met an effects bloke in Essex, he drinks in my local coffee shop. He said (the makers of the new film) bought every gas-bottled air gun in England when they arrived, because they wanted the Stormtroopers' guns to have a kick when they fired them. You don't have to fake it; it looks real." Only time Harrison Ford has received top billing in a Star Wars film, making him the first non-Jedi character to be credited first. After he was cast, Oscar Isaac revealed to J.J. Abrams that his uncle is a huge Star Wars fan. As a result, arrangements for Isaac's uncle to visit the film set were made. To the great surprise of Isaac and his uncle, Abrams then asked if he would be interested in appearing in the film as an extra. Isaac's uncle quickly agreed, and appears as one of the villagers during the opening sequence on Jakku. Kevin Smith and Benedict Cumberbatch visited the set. Smith, infamous for his open and talkative nature, was forced to sign a non-disclosure agreement, and J.J. Abrams had World War II-style propaganda posters titled "Loose Lips Sink Starships" hung up around the set, as a reminder to Smith not to reveal spoilers for the film to the public. True to his word, the only tidbit Smith revealed about his visit was that he cried when he stood on the Millennium Falcon set, as it reminded him of how much he loved Star Wars as a child. While filming in summer 2014, Harrison Ford broke his ankle on the door of the Millennium Falcon. About a year later, J.J. Abrams revealed that he hurt his back while trying to help get Ford out from under the door. J.J. Abrams always wanted General Hux to be played by a young actor. He wanted the character to have a sense of tragedy and the fact that he appears to be too young to be in charge of a murderous group added to that. According to Abrams, the character's name was created after he noticed an old, abandoned grave site with the name Hux engraved on the stone. Intro music by Eric Lynch

Download MP3 In today's episode Nate and Austin compare Shane Black's best and worst rated films, Kiss Kiss Bang Bang (2005) and Iron Man 3 (2013), respectively. Nate is tired of generic super hero films, Austin talks about RDJ, and they both can't believe how expensive some of these movies are. Check back next Sunday at 7pm PST where we will compare J.J Abrams' Star Wars: The Force Awakens (2015) and Mission Impossible III (2006), his best and worst rated films. Also check out this interview with director Shane Black about Kiss Kiss Bang Bang: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vdKap1z_9L4 Iron Man 3 Notes Worst Rated PLOT: When Tony Stark's world is torn apart by a formidable terrorist called the Mandarin, he starts an odyssey of rebuilding and retribution. Ratings: IMDb 7.2 | RT 79% C / 78% A Released: 2013 Director: Shane Black Writer(s): Drew Pearce & Shane Black (screenplay by), Stan Lee and Don Heck and Larry Lieber and Jack Kirby (based on the Marvel comic by), Warren Ellis and Adi Granov (based on the “Extremis” mini-series illustrated by) Cinematographer: John Toll (Braveheart, The Last Samurai, Cloud Atlas) Notable actors: Robert Downey Jr., Gwyneth Paltrow, Don Cheadle, Guy Pearce, Rebecca Hall, Jon Favreau, Ben Kingsley, James Badge Dale, Stephanie Szostak, Paul Bettany, William Sadler, Dale Dickey, Ty Simpkins, Miguel Ferrer, Xueqi Wang, Bingbing Fan Budget: $200 million Box office: $1.215 billion Fun Facts: The first cut was three hours and fifteen minutes long. The final cut was two hours and ten minutes long. (at around 5 mins) Near the beginning of the movie you see Tony Stark strike a mook jong or wing chun wooden dummy. Robert Downey Jr. has been training in Wing Chun for several years under Sifu Eric Oram, and has also used it in Sherlock Holmes (2009). He has also stated he will be testing for his black belt soon. The ring on the Mandarin's right pinkie is the same one Raza wears in the first Iron Man (2008) film. The idea that "Happy" Hogan's favorite television show is Downton Abbey (2010), was at the suggestion of Jon Favreau, who is actually a big fan of the British series. The Mandarin bears a tattoo on the back of his neck of Captain America's shield with an anarchist "A" symbol in the center instead of a star. Robert Downey Jr. pushed to get Gwyneth Paltrow to have some action scenes, and Kevin Feige approved: "We are bored by the damsel in distress. But sometimes we need our hero to be desperate enough in fighting for something, other than just his own life. So, there is fun to be had with 'Is Pepper in danger, or is she the savior?' over the course of this movie." This is the first film in the Iron Man franchise not to be directed by Jon Favreau, who turned down the offer for this movie, in order to direct Magic Kingdom and Jersey Boys (2014). He later admitted that not directing allowed him to have more fun with his character "Happy" Hogan, saying that he was like "a proud grandfather, who doesn't have to change the diapers, but gets to play with the baby." The first Iron Man movie to gross over one billion dollars, and the second Marvel movie to reach this mark, with The Avengers (2012) being the first. The first day Robert Downey Jr. and Sir Ben Kingsley met on-set, they snapped a photo together to send to Director, and mutual friend, Sir Richard Attenborough. The film was originally budgeted at one hundred forty million dollars, but after The Avengers (2012) became a huge hit, Marvel Studios and Disney upped it to two hundred million dollars, in order to allow Shane Black to make the best movie he could. Kiss Kiss Bang Bang Notes Best Rated PLOT: A murder mystery brings together a private eye, a struggling actress, and a thief masquerading as an actor. Ratings: IMDb 7.6 | RT 85% C / 87% A Released: 2005 Director: Shane Black Writer(s): Brett Halliday (novel) (in part), Shane Black (screen story), Shane Black (screenplay) Cinematographer: Michael Barrett (Ted, Bobby, Zookeeper) Notable actors: Robert Downey Jr., Val Kilmer, Michelle Monaghan, Corbin Bernsen, Dash Mihok, Larry Miller, Rockmond Dunbar, Shannyn Sossamon, Angela Lindvall, Indo Falconer Downey, Ariel Winter Budget: $15 million Box office: $15.8 million Fun Facts: As a sign of support to Robert Downey, Jr.'s recovery from alcohol and drugs, Val Kilmer refused to drink during the entire production. Val Kilmer met Robert Downey, Jr. for the first time at a Hollywood party. A week later, he received the screenplay for this film, and agreed to do it before he'd even finished reading it. Upon agreeing, and much to his delight, he was informed that Downey had already been cast. The film was given a standing ovation at the Cannes Film Festival. Val Kilmer had to quickly lose the fifty pounds gained for his plump role in Alexander (2004), in order to play his fit GQ character for this film. The film was originally titled "L.A.P.I.", then "Bang!", but Val Kilmer suggested to Director Shane Black that "Kiss Kiss Bang Bang" would have more appeal. Val Kilmer's depiction of Gay Perry is generally considered to be the first openly gay character to front a Hollywood action movie. Val Kilmer walked around in a five hundred dollar pair of Louis Vuitton driving shoes, and wore nail varnish, while experimenting with several variations of speech patterns for the role. Kilmer also noted this was done much to his son Jack's chagrin. Shane Black had been suffering from writer's block. It ultimately took him over a year and a half to write the script for this film. He then had enormous trouble trying to sell it. His former cachet, as being the highest paid screenwriter, meant nothing when he was shopping his screenplay around. Eventually, he took it to Producer Joel Silver, who gave him his first break back in 1987 when he bought Lethal Weapon. The film grossed far more outside the U.S., accounting for just over seventy percent of the film's worldwide gross. Co-Producer of the film, Susan Downey (Susan Levin), is Robert Downey, Jr.'s wife. Intro music by Eric Lynch

Download MP3 In today's episode Nate and Austin compare Spike Lee's best and worst rated films, Do The Right Thing (1989) and Da Sweet Blood of Jesus (2014), respectively. Nate hates vampires, Austin wants to let Spike Lee do his thing, and they both think racism is bad (so brave). Check back next Sunday at 7pm PST where we will compare Shane Black's Kiss Kiss Bang Bang (2005) and Iron Man 3 (2013), his best and worst rated films. Also check out this interview with director Spike Lee about the impact of Do The Right Thing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nNpI-VIlONw Da Sweet Blood of Jesus Notes Worst Rated PLOT: Dr. Hess Green becomes cursed by a mysterious ancient African artifact and is overwhelmed with a newfound thirst for blood. He however is not a vampire. Soon after his transformation he enters into a dangerous romance with Ganja Hightower that questions the very nature of love, addiction, sex, and status. Ratings: IMDb 4.0 | RT 43% C / 17% A Released: 2014 Director: Spike Lee Writer(s): Spike Lee (screenplay), Bill Gunn (original screenplay), Vinnie Lewis Cinematographer: Daniel Patterson (Gun Hill Road, Evolution of a Criminal, Out of the Night) Notable actors: Stephen Tyrone Williams, Zaraah Abrahams, Rami Malek, Elvis Nolasco, Thomas Jefferson Byrd, Joie Lee, Felicia Pearson, Jeni Perillo, Katherine Borowitz, Donna Dixon Budget: $1.4 million Box office: N/A Fun Facts: Filming was completed in 16 days. The Kickstarter funded Spike Lee joint Da Sweet Blood of Jesus (2014) is a modern reinterpretation of Bill Gunn's cult classic blaxploitation film Ganja & Hess (1973). According to cinematographer Daniel Patterson 90 percent of the film was shot with two and sometimes three cameras rolling simultaneously. Marks the first film appearance of Donna Dixon in 19 years. Dixon retired from acting with her last appearance in a feature film being Nixon, which was released in 1995. Do The Right Thing Notes Best Rated PLOT: On the hottest day of the year on a street in the Bedford-Stuyvesant section of Brooklyn, everyone's hate and bigotry smolders and builds until it explodes into violence. Ratings: IMDb 7.9 | RT 93% C / 90% A Released: 1989 Director: Spike Lee Writer(s): Spike Lee (written by) Cinematographer: Ernest R. Dickerson (Bulletproof, Juice, The Walking Dead) Notable actors: Danny Aiello, Ossie Davis, Ruby Dee, Richard Edson, Giancarlo Esposito, Spike Lee, Bill Nunn, John Turturro, Paul Benjamin, Frankie Faison, Robin Harris, Joie Lee, Miguel Sandoval, Rick Aiello, John Savage, Samuel L. Jackson, Rosie Perez, Roger Guenveur Smith, Steve White, Martin Lawrence, Leonard L. Thomas, Frank Vincent, Luis Antonio Ramos Budget: $6 million Box office: $37.3 million Fun Facts: Spike Lee originally wanted Robert De Niro for the role of Sal (Salvatore Fragione). But De Niro turned down the part, saying that it was too similar to many of the parts he had played in the past. In the end, the part went to Danny Aiello. Spike Lee wrote the script in two weeks. This film was inspired by an actual incident in New York City, where some black youths were chased out of a pizzeria by some white youths in a section of New York City known as Howard Beach. According to Rosie Perez, her face is not shown in her nude scene, because she felt exploited and was crying. She later decided she didn't mind, and appeared nude again in other movies. Graffiti on the wall behind Mookie and Jade reads "Tawana told the truth" in reference to the Tawana Brawley alleged rape and abduction case of 1987. All of the scenes of the corner men (Robin Harris, Paul Benjamin, and Frankie Faison) were improvised. Martin Lawrence's feature film debut. The title comes from a Malcolm X quotation that goes, "You've got to do the right thing." The key scene when Danny Aiello and John Turturro talk alone, approximately midway through the film, was partly improvised. The scripted scene ended as the character Smiley approached the window. Everything after that, until the end of the scene, was completely ad-libbed. Radio Raheem's explanation of the love and hate rings he wears, is an homage to the speech that The Preacher gives in The Night of the Hunter (1955). Robert Mitchum's preacher has tattoos on his hands that say "Love" and "Hate." Danny Aiello admitted that he almost turned down the part of Sal when he saw that he'd be playing the owner of a pizzeria, believing it to be a lazy stereotype of Italian-Americans despite the high number of pizzerias that are owned by Italian-Americans. Intro music by Eric Lynch

Download MP3 In today's episode Nate and Austin compare Danny Boyle's best and worst rated films, Trainspotting (1996) and A Life Less Ordinary (1997), respectively. Nate thinks all UK directors are the same, Austin gets hooked on drugs, and they both have another talk about Mrs. Diaz. Check back next Sunday at 7pm PST where we will compare Spike Lee's Do the Right Thing (1989) and Da Sweet Blood of Jesus (2014), his best and worst rated films. Also check out this interview with the filmmakers of Trainspotting: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dYhmdaLq_N8 A Life Less Ordinary Notes Worst Rated PLOT: Ewan McGregor stars as a cleaning man in Los Angeles, who takes his boss' daughter hostage after being fired and replaced by a robot. Two "angels", who are in charge of human relationships on Earth, offer some unsolicited help to bring this unlikely couple together. Ratings: IMDb 6.4 | RT 39% C / 59% A Released: 1997 Director: Danny Boyle Writer(s): John Hodge (written by) Cinematographer: Brian Tufano (Billy Elliot, Shallow Grave) Notable actors: Holly Hunter, Delroy Lindo, Dan Hedaya, Cameron Diaz, Ian McNeice, Ewan McGregor, Stanley Tucci, K.K. Dodds, Tony Shalhoub, Ian Holm Budget: $12 million Box office: $4.3 million Fun Facts: The scene where Robert (Ewan McGregor) almost hits O'Reilly (Holly Hunter), who is laying in the road, was shot backwards and then reversed in post-production. Ewan McGregor sings "Round Are Way" by Oasis. He was a big fan of the band at the time. Although Brad Pitt met with Director Danny Boyle and Producer Andrew Macdonald, the lead part was written with Ewan McGregor specifically in mind. In Gabriel's (Dan Hedaya's) final lines, he declares "Amaratus pathum laborium", which translates as: "Love is a path of labors". Shot over a period of fifty days. The author of the romantic novel read by Celine (Cameron Diaz) and O'Reilly (Holly Hunter) is Jennifer Hodge. This is the name of the wife of Screenwriter John Hodge. The overhead shot, when Robert is pulling the bag of money along the road with rope, was computer generated.   Trainspotting Notes Best Rated PLOT: Renton, deeply immersed in the Edinburgh drug scene, tries to clean up and get out, despite the allure of the drugs and influence of friends. Ratings: IMDb 8.2 | RT 90% C / 93% A Released: 1996 Director: Danny Boyle Writer(s): John Hodge (screenplay), Irvine Welsh (novel) Cinematographer: Brian Tufano (Billy Elliot, Shallow Grave) Notable actors: Ewan McGregor, Ewen Bremner Budget: 1.5 million Euros Box office: 48 million Euros Fun Facts: Danny Boyle used creative methods while directing, necessitated by the film's low budget. For example, in the scene where Renton shoots a dog with a BB gun and it then goes crazy and attacks its owner, Boyle got the dog to freak out simply by positioning himself just outside of camera range and screaming at it. Ewan McGregor read books about crack and heroin to prepare for the role. He also went to Glasgow and met people from the Calton Athletic Recovery Group, an organisation of recovering heroin addicts. He was taught how to cook up heroin with a spoon using glucose powder. McGregor considered injecting heroin to better understand the character, but eventually decided against it. Kelly Macdonald got the part when the production crew were handing out flyers across Glasgow, for anyone eager to audition. When Danny Boyle first laid eyes on her, in a corridor with a plain hairdo surrounded by many glamorous girls, he knew she was the one. He wanted someone unknown, so no-one would guess a 19-year-old is playing a schoolgirl. Macdonald still has the promotional flyer at home. For the close-up shots of Ewan McGregor injecting himself with heroin, a prosthetic arm was constructed by the make-up department, complete with pulsing veins, smack tracks and small pockets of blood that would appear when the skin was punctured by a hypodermic needle. Although it looks thoroughly off putting, the feces in the Worst Toilet in Scotland scene was actually made from chocolate and smelled quite pleasant. The whole film was shot in just seven and a half weeks. In 2009, Robert Carlyle, who played Begbie, told a BAFTA interviewer that he played Begbie as a closeted gay man whose outbursts of violence were due to his "fear of being outed". Irvine Welsh, who wrote the movie's source novel, confirmed that he wrote the Begbie of the book to have an ambiguous sexuality, and agreed with Carlyle's interpretation of the film's version of the character. To play the skinny heroin-addicted Renton, Ewan McGregor lost 26 pounds. It only took him two months to reach Renton's desired size. He achieved this by grilling everything and by drinking wine and gin instead of beer. Due to the skimpy budget, most scenes had to be shot in just one take. Danny Boyle used twins to play the part of baby Dawn, which meant neither of the babies were forced to be in front of the camera for too long. All of the cast used to play with the two babies in between takes so they could break the tension of the often difficult scenes they were about to shoot. Intro music by Eric Lynch  

Download MP3 In today's episode Nate and Austin compare Francois Truffaut's best and worst rated films, The 400 Blows (1959) and Fahrenheit 451 (1966), respectively. Nate talks about the fight between the French and Austrian, Austin talks future tech, and they both try to look smart and fail. Check back next Sunday at 7pm PST where we will compare Danny Boyle's Trainspotting (1996) and A  Life Less Ordinary (1997), his best and worst rated films. Also check out the first audition director Francois Truffaut did with actor Jean-Pierre Leaud for The 400 Blows: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3hfdXIW73-M Fahrenheit 451 Notes Worst Rated PLOT: In an oppressive future, a fireman whose duty is to destroy all books begins to question his task. Ratings: IMDb 7.3 | RT 81% C / 72% A Released: 1966 Director: Francois Truffaut Writer(s): Francois Truffaut and Jean-Louis Richard (screenplay), Ray Bradbury (novel), David Rudkin and Helen Scott (additional dialogue) Cinematographer: Nicolas Roeg (Walkabout, Don’t Look Now, The Witches) Notable actors: Julie Christie, Oskar Werner, Cyril Cusack, Anton Diffring, Jeremy Spenser, Alex Scott Budget: $1.5 million Box office: $1 million US Fun Facts: Oskar Werner cut his hair for the final scene to purposely create a continuity error. This was due to his hatred for the director. The film's credits are spoken, not read, in keeping with the film's theme of destruction of reading material. According to producer Lewis M. Allen, François Truffaut and Oskar Werner hated each other by the end of filming. For the last two weeks, they didn't speak to one another. Author Ray Bradbury never did any fact-checking in regards to the title. He asked a fire chief what temperature book paper burned at, and was given the answer "451 degrees Fahrenheit." He liked the title so much, he didn't bother to see if it was the correct temperature. Actually, The Chief went to burn an actual book, because he didn't know the answer when Bradbury asked him; he read the temperature with a thermometer. The location filming of the final sequence with the "Book People" took place in poor weather. It was hoped that the weather would improve for the final days of shooting. Instead, they discovered that it had begun snowing during the night. The filming of the final shots while it was snowing was an unplanned contribution to the film's memorable ending. François Truffaut said that this was his only film in which he clashed with an actor - Oskar Werner. Truffaut asked Werner to forgo heroics and act with a level of modesty, but Werner chose to play it with arrogance. Truffaut disliked the stilted performance Werner gave and insisted he play it like a monkey discovering books for the first time, sniffing at them, wondering what they are; Werner argued that a science fiction film called for a robotic-like performance. Producer Lewis M. Allen said the studio's legal department requested that only books in the public domain be shown burning for fear of being sued by offended authors. Director François Truffaut and Allen ignored the request, believing that anyone would be flattered to have their book included. François Truffaut reportedly said that he found science fiction films uninteresting and arbitrary. Because of this, a friend of his told him the story of Ray Bradbury's novel 'Fahrenheit 451'. Immediately afterward, Truffaut wanted to make a film from the novel and subsequently spent years raising the financing.   The 400 Blows Notes Best Rated PLOT: Moving story of a young boy who, left without attention, delves into a life of petty crime. Ratings: IMDb 8.1 | RT 100% C / 94% A Released: 1959 Director: Francois Truffaut Writer(s): Francois Truffaut (scenario), Marcel Moussy & Francois Truffaut (adaptation), Marcel Moussy (dialogue) Cinematographer: Henri Decae (Le Samourai, The Boys from Brazil, Elevator to the Gallows) Notable actors: Jean-Pierre Leaud, Claire Maurier, Albert Remy, Guy Decomble, Georges Flamant, Patrick Auffay, Daniel Couturier Budget: N/A Box office: $30.7 million Fun Facts: All the young actors who unsuccessfully auditioned for the role of Antoine were used in the classroom scenes. So pleased with Jean-Pierre Léaud and his screen test (an informal conversation with the film's director being off-camera), François Truffaut doctored it into the finished film by using fade-outs and substituting his voice with off-camera female psychiatrist's voice. The English title of the movie "400 Blows" is a gross misinterpretation of the original title. The Finnish and Swedish translations of the title, roughly translatable to "400 practical jokes" are closer to the original meaning, albeit not perfect. The Swedish title: "De 400 slagen" means "The 400 blows" and make no sense. The original title stems from the French expression "Faire les quatre cents coups", meaning "to live a wild life", as the main character does. Literal translation of the expression would be "to do the 400 dirty tricks". Jean-Pierre Leaud's answers to the questions given to him by the psychologist at the camp near the end of the film were not scripted. Francois Truffaut told Leaud in advance about the scene for what to expect to a certain extent, and did provide some minor coaching when Leaud answered the question in between takes as to what was working and what was not, but at large, Leaud's answers are unscripted and ad-libbed, per Truffaut's wishes, who wanted the scene to feel spontaneous and believable. The title of the film comes from the French idiom "faire les quatre cents coups", meaning "to raise hell". All spoken lines in the film are dubbed over again by the actors themselves, save for a few minor and trivial parts. For instance, during the last scene, the sound of Antoine's footsteps was added during editing - the truck that the camera rested upon produced too much noise. Shooting on the streets of Paris, as many films of the French New Wave did, was often hectic and re-dubbing everything allowed François Truffaut to not have to worry about lugging bulky and expensive sound equipment around, and more importantly he would not have to worry about a street scene having too much background noise. This made shooting faster and easier. François Truffaut's first major motion picture. Intro music by Eric Lynch  

Download MP3 In today's episode Nate and Austin compare Brian De Palma's best and worst rated films, Scarface (1983) and Home Movies (1979), respectively. Nate was bored to death, Austin hates on cinematography, and they both explain what's happening with the livestreams. Check back next Sunday at 7pm PST where we will compare Francois Truffaut's The 400 Blows (1959) and A Gorgeous Girl Like Me (1972), his best and worst rated films. Also check out this interview with director Brian De Palma about Scarface: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1G5o4M3BIsw Home Movies Notes Worst Rated PLOT: Keith Gordon is a creative young man who films the oddball doings of his family and peers. Ratings: IMDb 5.2 | RT N/A C / N/A A Released: 1979 Director: Brian De Palma Writer(s): Kim Ambler, Brian De Palma(story), Dana Edelman, Robert Harders, Stephen Le May, Charlie Loventhal, Gloria Norris Cinematographer: James L. Carter (Ladder 49, My Dog Skip, Tuck Everlasting) Notable actors: Nancy Allen, Mary Davenport, Kirk Douglas, Vincent Gardenia, Keith Gordon, Gerrit Graham, Captain Haggerty, Therese Saldana Budget: $400,000 Box office: $89,134 Fun Facts: Shot by students of De Palma's Independent Filmmaking course at Sarah Lawrence College. Intended to be a "learn by doing" experience for the students and grad students, the goal was to budget, finance, shoot, and edit the film using primarily students, with De Palma overseeing. Kirk Douglas was brought on after much debate, mostly concerning costs, but Douglas ended up becoming an investor in the film as well. From an interview in the January 1979 issue of Take One, De Palma said the movie was originally budgeted at $50,000, but then went to $100,000, $150,000 and finally settled at a cost he calls "under a million". Co-Directed by De Palma with a rotating set of student directors; he defined their contribution of roughly 5 percent of the shots in the film. Scarface Notes Best Rated PLOT: In Miami in 1980, a determined Cuban immigrant takes over a drug cartel and succumbs to greed. Ratings: IMDb 8.3 | RT 82% C / 93% A Released: 1983 Director: Brian De Palma Writer(s): Oliver Stone (screenplay), Armitage Trail (based on the novel by), Howard Hawks and Ben Hecht (1932 screenplay) Cinematographer: John A. Alonzo (Chinatown, Star Trek: Generations, Harold and Maude) Notable actors: Al Pacino, Steven Bauer, Michelle Pfeiffer, Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio, Robert Loggia, Miriam Colon, F. Murray Abraham, Paul Shenar, Harris Yulin, Angel Salazar, Pepe Serna Budget: $25 million Box office: $65.9 million Fun Facts: When Scarface (1983) was re-released in theaters in 2003, the studio wanted Brian De Palma to change the soundtrack so that rap songs inspired by the movie could be used. De Palma refused. Oliver Stone wrote this film while fighting a cocaine addiction. He had moved to Paris to be away from a plentiful supply of the drug in the U.S. When director Brian De Palma submitted the film to the MPAA, they gave it an "X rating". He then made some cuts and resubmitted it a second time; again the film was given an "X rating" (one of the reasons apparently being that Octavio the clown was shot too many times). He yet again made some further cuts and submitted it a third time; yet again it was given an "X". De Palma refused to cut the film any further to qualify it for an R. He and producer Martin Bregman arranged a hearing with the MPAA. They brought in a panel of experts, including real narcotics officers, who stated that not only was the film an accurate portrayal of real life in the drug underworld, but ultimately it was an anti-drug film, and should be widely seen. This convinced the arbitrators that the third submitted cut of the film deserved an "R rating" by a vote of 18-2. However, De Palma surmised that if the third cut of the film was judged an "R" then the very first cut should have been an "R" as well. He asked the studio if he could release the first cut but was told that he couldn't. However since the Studio execs really didn't know the differences between the different cuts that had been submitted, De Palma released the first cut of the film to theaters anyway. It wasn't until the film had been released on videocassette months later that he confessed that he had released his first unedited and intended version of the film. In the scene where Tony is in the bathtub watching TV, he says to Manny, "Look at dem pelicangs fly." This line was what Al Pacino practiced with a language coach to get the Cuban accent right. Robert De Niro was offered the lead role but turned it down. The word "yeyo" is used by Tony Montana (Al Pacino) as a slang word for cocaine. This word was not in the script, and was ad-libbed by Pacino during the first drug deal scene (chainsaw scene), and Brian De Palma liked it enough to keep using it throughout the film. Pacino learned the word while learning the Cuban accent. Al Pacino reportedly stated that Tony Montana was one of his favorites of all the characters he's played. Intro music by Eric Lynch