JOIN PATRICK AND JASON as Natter Cast returns with our endlessh shummer of Sean Connery in John Boorman's 1974 class "Zardosh" uh "Zardoz."
Watching Zardoz in the 80s: "What the hell am I even watching?"
Watching Zardoz in 2020: "Yeah, I can see that happening."
Ladies and gentlemen, the Natter Cast proudly presents Bob Fosse's 1980 classic self-polemic All That Jazz and Frederico Fellini's 1963 film 8 1/2 upon which it is based.
Featuring:
Roy Scheider and Marcello Mastroiani as Joe Gideon and Guido Anselmi, who allowed themselves to be adored but not loved and whose giant rockets never took off without us
Leland Palmer and Anouk Aimee as Audrey and Luisa, women who could see through Joe and Guido so clearly that they had no choice but to marry them
Ann Reinking and Sandra Milo as Katie and Carla, who just wish their boyfriends were so generous with their...uh...admirers
Jessica Lange and Claudia Cardinale as Angelique and Claudia, who prove that only angels can love a bad man
Ben Vereen and Jean Rougeul as Carni and O'Connor Flood, two great entertainers, great humanitarians and Joe and Guido's dearest, dearest friends for [mumble mumble] years
Join Jason, Gary and Patrick as we discuss Michael Radford's 1984 movie of George Orwell's 1948 book, Nineteen Eighty-Four, 1984, featuring
JOHN HURT as thought criminal and sexual pervert, Winston Smith
SUZANNA HAMILTON as scrounger and enemy of the Revolution, Julia .. uh .. Julia Something
RICHARD BURTON as patriot and digital arithmetic expert O'Brien .. uh, Something O'Brien
CYRIL CUSACK as shop owner and totally not a thought cop, Charrington. Just Charrington.
AND GREGOR FISHER as razor blade hoarder, thought criminal and chocolate enthusiast, Parsons. Tom Parsons.
JOIN JASON, GARY AND PATRICK as we discuss David Fincher's 2007 film Zodiac, based on the book by Robert Graysmith, featuring:
MARK RUFFALO as the gun-toting, bow-tie-wearing, Animal Cracker eating, Zodiac-investigating, due-process respecting, circumstantial evidence dismissing San Francisco super cop, Dave Toschi
JAKE GYLLENHAAL as the code-breaking, Aqua Velva drinking, California size underestimating, late night rainstorm surprise visiting author slash cartoonist (and not the other way around), Robert Graysmith
ANTHONY EDWARDS as the sushi-curious, apologetic, fast-moving, telefax-having homicide detective, Bill Armstrong
ELIAS KOTEAS as the pen-stealing, cigarette forbidding, shoe brand noticing Solano cop, Jack Mulanax
DONAL LOGUE as the Rick Marshall suspecting, cartoonist indulging, Riverside vacationing, fancy-big-city-telefax non-having Napa investigator, Ken Narlow
CHLOË SEVINGY as the reasonable precaution recommending, non-existent pasta dish ordering, sleazy plan suspecting, most interesting date having, book completion demanding Melanie Graysmith
ROBERT DOWNEY JR. as the vest-wearing, Vallejo crime covering, Aqua Velva disparaging, r-word denying, non-target-hitting, "whatever else it is he's doing" non-out cutting of it ace reporter, Paul Avery
JOHN CARROLL LYNCH as possible non-Zodiac killer, Arthur Leigh Allen
AND JAMES LEGROS as that one guy from Point Break
In David Fincher's film Zodiac, author Robert Graysmith's former wife Melanie is portrayed by Chloë Sevigny.
In this episode of Natter Cast, we speak with the real Melanie Graysmith about her experiences consulting on the film, the friendship she and Robert developed with San Francisco homicide investigator Dave Toschi and the impact both the real case and the 2007 film had on their lives.
Beyond her role in the Zodiac story, Melanie Graysmith is an accomplished writer, educator and artist. You can learn more about her work here on her website and on her Facebook page.
Melanie also has an interest in clockmaking. Pictured here is a clock she made for Dave Toschi commemorating Mark Ruffalo's performance in Fincher's film.
The Natter Cast extends its warmest thanks to Melanie for talking with us and for helping us with our podcast coverage of Fincher's film!
Join Jason, Gary, Patrick and Sion for our discussion of two films inspired by the late San Francisco super-cop, Dave Toschi: Bullitt and Dirty Harry.
Some movies feature car chases, but Bullitt, starring Steve McQueen, is a car chase that features a movie.
Frank Bullitt, aka Frank Bullitt's Car's Sidekick, is a groovy, new wave bohemian jazz aficionado who knows that time is not only a flat circle, but it also starts now.
He's also San Francisco's top Lyft driver, with a city map whose accuracy makes Watch Dogs II look like the AuthaGraph.
Harry Callahan, on the other hand, is tough-as-nails, all-business, neo-fascist, ketchup-hating lunatic vigilante who has got to be compensating for something with that hand cannon of his.
But when Scorpio is running loose through the city and all the mayor/Animal House dean can think to do is put Harry on Double Secret Suspension, you've got to ask yourself one question: "Do I feel lucky?"
And join us next month for our coverage of David Fincher's Zodiac, featuring Mark Ruffalo as the man who kept our city safe without driving recklessly or losing track of how many high powered bullets he fired into the middle of a crowded street.
And be sure to check out Duffy Jennings' upcoming memoir of his in San Francisco journalism!
Join Jason, Andrew and Sion as we discuss the essential elements of the William Peter Blatty Cinematic Universe, including...
THE EXORCIST, in which we learn that you're better off with the Pazuzu you know than the Pazuzu you don't, the bed must be on the floor and going through puberty in the 1970s is a much rougher ride than classic rock songs have led us to believe.
THE NINTH CONFIGURATION, in which Black Superman auditioning for a production of Hamlet for dogs is among the least bizarre thing that happens.
AND THE EXORCIST III, where Bill Blatty decides to finish off his story with characteristic elegance and subtlety.
Join Jason and Gary as we natter about the 1987 classic buddy cop movie, "The Untouchables," featuring...
KEVIN COSTNER as Eliot Ness, the man who never stops verbing until the verbing's done.
SEAN CONNERY as Jimmy Malone, who is prepared to go all the way and then go all the way to get Capone, but not if it means maintaining an Irish accent.
ANDY GARCIA as George Stone. No, really...George Stone.
CHARLES MARTIN SMITH as Wallace, who finds dying in an elevator much more diverting than accounting.
AND ROBERT DENIRO as Al Capone, who should consider developing an enthusiasm for wiffle ball.
Join Jason, Patrick and Sion as we continue our Summer of Sean Connery (hey, it's summer somewhere!) with bonus discussion of PT Anderson's The Phantom Thread!
IN THE HUNT for Red October, we learn that Russians are not always the bad guys...and Americans are not always the good guys...for example:
MARCO RAMIUS, who chooses a somewhat radical option for protesting his country's health care system
VASYLI BORODIN, whose matrimonial aspirations might work out better in Utah than Montana or Arizona
JACK RYAN, who probably sends a memo every week suggesting that America should just start swiping nuclear submarines. It was bound to eventually be a good idea!
ADMIRAL GREER, who finds your lack of faith disturbing
JONESY, who can hear invisible submarines and has Pavorati coming out of his...wherever
CAPTAIN MANCUSO, whose talent for remembering Playmate of the Month measurements will probably be more applicable in the civilian job market
AND FRED THOMPSON, who takes patriotic pride in dumps of an unplanned nature
Join Jason, Gary and Jay as we discuss Alan J. Pakula's 1976 classic, "All The President's Men," featuring..
BOB WOODWARD'S amazing grasp of human language
CARL BERNSTEIN'S record breaking nicotine consumption
BEN BRADLEE'S cranky insistence on verifiable facts
THE DARK WISDOM of Deep Throat
HUGH SLOAN'S shattered idealism
AND DON SEGRETTI'S nickel and dime rat fracking operation
Join Jason, Patrick and Malik as we natter about the classic 1986 sword and sorcery fantasy action extravaganza, Highlander! Featuring...
CONNOR MCCLEOD, born in 1518 in Glenfinnan...not France...definitely definitely not France.
JUAN SANCHEZ VILLALOBOS RAMERIZ, the "effeminate" Egyptian Spaniard who doesn't like Scottish food...played by Sean Connery.
HEATHER MCCLEOD nee MACDONALD, Connor's second wife who's a tad more groovy with the whole "possessed by Lucifer" thing.
BRENDA WYATT, NYPD's resident metallurgist who is willing to overlook a decapitation or two if it means she can do the no pants dance with a guy with a severe abdominal wound.
THE KURGAN, the strongest of the immortals, not quite a people person. Bit of an introvert.
JOIN JASON, Gary and Sion for our coverage of the Coen Brothers' 1996 classic Fargo. Aw..geez.
Join Jason and Andrew for our throwdown of the original 1956 Invasion of the Body Snatchers and the 1978 pornstachstastic remake, featuring...
KEVIN MCCARTHY and Donald Sutherland as Misters Doctors Matthews/Miles Bennells
DANA WYNTER and Brooke Adams and the Elizabeths/Beckys Driscolls
KING DONOVAN and Jeff Goldblum as the Jacks Belicec
CAROLYN JONES and Veronica Cartwright as Teddy/Nancy Belicec
AND LEONARD NIMOY playing against type as an emotionless space alien
AND BE SURE to check out Meg Tilly's awesome monologue from 1993's reimagined "Body Snatchers"
Choose Natter Cast. Choose Trainspotting. Choose Life. Choose a job. Choose a career. Choose a family. Choose a fooking big television, choose washing machines, cars, compact disc players and electrical tin openers. Choose good health, low cholesterol, and dental insurance. Choose fixed interest mortgage repayments. Choose a starter home. Choose your friends. Choose leisurewear and matching luggage. Choose a three-piece suit on hire purchase in a range of fooking fabrics. Choose DIY and wondering who the fook you are on Sunday morning. Choose sitting on that couch watching mind-numbing, spirit-crushing game shows, stuffing fooking junk food into your mouth. Choose rotting away at the end of it all, pissing your last in a miserable home, nothing more than an embarrassment to the selfish, fooked up brats you spawned to replace yourselves. Choose your future. Choose life... But why would I want to do a thing like that? I chose not to choose life. I chose somethin' else. And the reasons? There are no reasons. Who needs reasons when you've got heroin?
In this very special edition of Natter Cast, Jason, Gary and Donielle examine Oliver Stone's brilliant yet deeply flawed masterpiece, JFK.
Wherever you come down on the question of JFK, this film is a must see.
On the Trail of the Assassins
Everything begins with Jim Garrison's book, On The Trail of the Assassins
Crossfire: The Plot That Killed Kennedy
Oliver Stone was also deeply influenced by Jim Marrs' book, especially regarding government involvement at the highest levels.
Case Close
Gerald Posner's book addresses many of the allegations made by Garrison, Stone, Marrs and others and presents the case for Oswald having acted alone.
The JFK 100
Dave Reitzes webpage "The JFK 100" direct addresses historical inaccuracies, some might say distortions, in Stone's film and provides alternate explanations for the evidence in the case against Clay Shaw and David Ferrie.
Underworld USA
Finally, if you're looking for a great rendition of the JFK conspiracy that admits it's pure fiction, check out James Ellroy's Underworld USA Trilogy
Wherever you come down on it, whether you think Oswald acted alone or literally everyone in the country except Oswald was involved, we hope you enjoy Stone's movie and our conversation!
On this very special edition of Natter Cast, Jason and Sion answer the Bald Move podcast of Kathryn Bigelow's Point Break, which Jason and Sion commissioned precisely so they could have this moment to celebrate one of the great action films of the 90s.
Featuring...
KEANU REEVES as Special Agent Johnny Utah who defines the universal overlap point on the Venn diagram of a) young b) dumb and c) full of...even more dumb.
PATRICK SWAYZE as Bodhi. Surfer, bank robber, spiritual guru, also surfer and bank robber, which leads to kidnapper and murderer but...you know...spiritual guru still applies.
GARY BUSEY as Pappas. He smokes cigars in federal buildings. He assigns his agents to learn to surf. He eats sandwiches two at a time. And that's just what Busey does on weekends. What till you see what he does in this movie.
AND LORI PETTY as Tyler...whose friendzone is a tougher ride than Mavericks.
Thanks again to Bald Move for doing our commission!
Now, are we going to jump or jerk off? Let's watch Point Break!
In this very special Halloween edition of Natter Cast, Natter Caster Jason and Oscar Blogger Andrew throw George Romero's Night of the Living Dead, Dawn of the Dead and Day of the Dead into the arena to fight it out. Which of the three films contributed the most to the modern zombie horror phenomenon?
Our first contender is...
Night of the Living Dead
...in which we learn the Johnny is already damned to hell, that "they're" coming to get Barbara too, that farmhouses are creepy places even without a zombie apocalypse to worry about, that Ben escaped from the ghouls in an exciting scene that would have been far too expensive to film, that race relations get strained when the living dead are closing in, that Tom really knows how to drive that truck, that Judy likes staying put and that the dead...are all messed up
Our next contender is...
Dawn of the Dead
...in which we learn that Fran's professional ethics are just about the only thing to survive the apocalypse, that Stephen doesn't know a thief from a bad guy even when he qualifies as both, that rednecks enjoy killing zombies, that people still think there's respect in dying, that when there's no more room in hell we must stop the killing or lose the war, that Roger's got this (man) he's got this by the ass, that there are no charges against Martinez or any of his people, that the only thing more annoying than a Hare Krishna is a zombie Hare Krishna and that bikers are generally down on people who don't share.
Rounding off the ticket is..
Day of the Dead
...in which we learn how people of Hispanic descent might feasibly pronounce "yellow," that for some reason no one thought to bring a powerful radio to a hidden bunker, that Captain Rhodes has professional monkey farm running skills that might come in handy in the civilian world, that Major Cooper loses face, that John thinks they're living in a great big 14 mile TOMBSTONE! (witanepitafonitnobudygonnaboddatoread), that Aunt Alicia screens her calls, that Bub has issues with Rhodes and that zombies, who do not breathe, might hypothetically still choke.
Check out our epic throw down and be sure follow the Oscar Blogger at academyhistory-oscarblogger.blogspot.com!
What's your favorite zombie film? Tell us in the comments below or join us on Facebook at Natter Cast!
In this episode of Natter Cast, Jason and the Oscar Blogger himself Andrew Littlefield do a remake throw down of Christian Nyby/Howard Hawks' 1951 classic "The Thing From Another World" against John Carpenter's 1982 classic remake entitled simply "The Thing."
Andrew will be defending the original classic, in which we learn that army guys get nervous around girls, that artctic researchers are GGG with a little light rope bondage, that only animal arrogance denies the intelligence of vegetables, that scientists can be both smart AND filled with "wild blueberry muffins" and that you can boil, bake or fry a carrot, even a vampire space carrot.
Jason will be defending the remake, in which we learn that computers are cheatin' beyotches, that Norwegians are crazy Swedes, that space clones are voodoo bowl sheet, that the Backscatter Effect has been rockin' out for hundreds of thousands of years, that the chameleon strikes in the dark, that spending the winter tied to a frickin' couch can affect mood, and that things can even freak out other things.
So join Jason, Andrew, Garry, MacReady, Nauls, Childs, Captain Hendry, Nikki, Blair, Palmer, Dr. Carrington, Scotty, Windows, Dr Stern and the rest for a two our tour (a two hour tour!) of Thing vs. Thing!
And be sure to check out Andrew's Oscar Blog!
On this 30th Anniversary of Alex Cox's Sid and Nancy we learn that Sid and Johnny are naughty boys, that you can want a pizza and smell like one too, that sox is boring, ugly, hippie shyte, that it's a real drag looking like an established star, that the Rock Head does.not.do.d.rugs, that John got beat up by fascists, the being a Rude Boy is evidently a family run industry, that the four cruelest words in the English language are "no women on the tour," that you have no right to be strung out when you can be selling healthy anarchy, that fire is a beautiful thing, that stabbing your girlfriend is on the serious end of your frack up scale and that...Love Kills.