The B-Side: A Film Stage Podcast

Welcome to The B-Side, from The Film Stage. Here we talk about movie stars! Not the movies that made them famous or kept them famous, but the ones they made in between. Today we come to the end of our epic, two-part James Bond-inspired podcast mini-series! We are discussing one B-Side film from each actor who has played Bond, made during or right before (or after) their tenure as Agent 007. We are joined by esteemed guest and first person to appear SIX TIMES ON THE PODCAST, intrepid editor and Co-Host of The Mixed Reviews Podcast Gavin Mevius!!! This second episode focuses on the most recent three Bonds: Timothy Dalton, Pierce Brosnan, and Daniel Craig. Craig, of course, is currently starring in his final outing as Bond, No Time To Die. The B-Sides include Brenda Starr (filmed in the mid-’80s, released in 1992), Robinson Crusoe (1997), and Flashbacks of a Fool (2008). We contextualize each film within each actor’s career and within the larger Bond franchise. We spend the beginning of the episode discussing No Time To Die and marvelling at the impressive cinematography. All credit to Director of Photography Linus Sandgren, who digs into the process in this piece for MovieMaker. We finish the episode with our personal Bond movie rankings and a little bit of trivia courtesy of this piece from Parade. In between we dish on our three B-Sides, how Sean Connery and Pierce Brosnan’s career trajectories are extremely similar, another Dalton B-Side called Hawks, and - most importantly - sea mines! Be sure to give us a follow on Twitter and Facebook at @TFSBSide. Also enter our giveaways, get access to our private Slack channel, and support new episodes by becoming a Patreon contributor. We are also now on Spotify and Stitcher. Enjoy!

Editor’s Note: We wanted to take a moment to acknowledge some of the terrible events in the news recently. Our guest, Bilge Ebiri, is a staffer at New York Magazine, and the editors there have assembled a great resource via The Strategist entitled 61 Ways to Donate in Support of Asian Communities. Please take a look and donate if you can. Be kind to each other, always. LINK: https://nym.ag/3vysZz3 *** Welcome to The B-Side, from The Film Stage. Here we talk about movie directors! Not the movies that made them famous or kept them famous, but the ones that they made in between. Today we’re trying something new - again!. This is the second episode of what we are calling The Final Frame. Here we will dissect the final film of a great, well-respected filmmaker, wrapped in the context of said filmmaker’s entire career. Our subject today: the insurmountable Stanley Kubrick. His final film: Eyes Wide Shut, starring Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman. Released in 1999, this adaptation of Arthur Schnitzler’s 1926 novella Traumnovelle was given a plum, summer blockbuster release by its studio Warner Bros. It was sold as a salacious piece of work from arguably the world’s greatest filmmaker (who passed away months before the film’s release) starring the biggest couple in Hollywood. Conor and I were humbled to be joined by the lovely Bilge Ebiri, film critic for New York Magazine and Vulture. Bilge discusses his great piece of reporting, “An Oral History of an Orgy,” in which he dives deep into the inception, evolution, and creation of one of the most iconic scenes in the film. We chat about the movie’s initial reception, its dwindling box office, and two-decade long rehabilitation. Additional topics include how many times I’ve watched Eyes Wide Shut, that ranking of every Tom Cruise that Bilge did for Rolling Stone, Roger Ebert and Martin Scorsese’s early defense of the picture, the eccentricities of Stanley Kubrick, and posisiting what a Luis Bunuel-directed Eyes Wide Shut would look like. Much is referenced from the book Eyes Wide Shut: Stanley Kubrick and the Making of His Final Film, by by Robert P. Kolker and Nathan Abrams, and to a lesser degree co-screenwriter Frederic Raphael’s controversial memoir Eyes Wide Open. Be sure to give us a follow on Twitter and Facebook at @TFSBSide. Also enter our giveaways, get access to our private Slack channel, and support new episodes by becoming a Patreon contributor. We are also now on Spotify and Stitcher. Enjoy!

Welcome to The B-Side, from The Film Stage. Here we talk about movie stars! Not the movies that made them famous or kept them famous, but the ones that they made in between. And today we talk to the legend Richard Dreyfuss, currently starring in the film Sweetwater, in theaters now. Written and directed by Martin Guigui, the film tells the true story of basketball icon Nat "Sweetwater" Clifton, the first African-American player to sign an NBA contract. Dreyfuss plays league president Maurice Podoloff, stuck between a desire to integrate the sport and a perceived need to keep the more racist team owners happy. We chat with Dreyfuss about the new film and a select few of his lesser-seen gems. Among them are the Steven Spielberg 1989 romance Always (“It was my chance to play Spencer Tracy,” Dreyfuss says of the film), the gambling comedy Let It Ride, and the Sidney Lumet drama Night Falls on Manhattan. We marvel at Dreyfuss’ ability to play complex characters, often understanding two opposing things as true at the same time. His innate charm often serves as a balm when playing thornier cads and conmen. The man himself speaks to what he searches for in his characters, marks the pronounced post-war change in Jimmy Stewart’s career as an essential reference point, and comments on his reputation preceding him unfairly at times. Be sure to give us a follow on Twitter and Facebook at @TFSBSide. Also enter our giveaways, get access to our private Slack channel, and support new episodes by becoming a Patreon contributor. We are also now on Spotify and Stitcher. Enjoy!

Welcome to The B-Side, from The Film Stage. Here we talk about movie directors! Not the movies that made them famous or kept them famous, but the ones that they made in between. Today we talk to an independent film legend. Some have called him the “East Coast Roger Corman,” though that’s short-changing Larry Fessenden a bit. Though his production company Glass Eye Pix has been around since the mid-80s, Fessenden made a name for himself with the mid-90s indie horror classic Habit, in which he wrote, directed, and starred as an alcoholic New Yorker who starts dating a vampire. Or so he thinks. Fessenden’s new movie Blackout - available digitally April 12th - connects to both Habit and his 2019 film Depraved. We talk about this with Fessenden, as well as his love for the classic Universal Monster Films, the evolving challenges of funding and producing independent cinema, and his work with Kelly Reichardt and Martin Scorsese over the years. Additional B-Sides include The Last Winter, Wendigo, and Beneath. Be sure to give us a follow on Twitter and Facebook at @TFSBSide. Also enter our giveaways, get access to our private Slack channel, and support new episodes by becoming a Patreon contributor.

Welcome to The B-Side, from The Film Stage. Here we talk about movie stars! Not the movies that made them famous or kept them famous, but the ones they made in between. Today we talk about the great Marion Davies! One of the most famous starlets of the 1920s and 1930s, Davies’ legacy is heavily overshadowed by her pseudo-portrayal in Orson Welles’ Citizen Kane. As Amanda Seyfried’s impressive turn as Davies in the David Fincher film Mank (which has gotten mixed reviews over at The Film Stage) makes its rounds in the awards circuit, Conor and Dan join forces with the uber-talented film writer Emily Kubincanek to discuss the actress’ lesser-known roles. Namely, When Knighthood Was in Flower, The Red Mill, and Cain and Mabel. We talk about the heavy meta-elements of Seyfried playing Davies, the gifts and curses that came with Davies’ decades-long relationship with William Randolph Hearst, how When Knight Was in Flower was the Titanic of its time, and the brutal tale of “Fatty” Arbuckle, who directed The Red Mill. Some additional reading if you enjoyed this episode includes Marion Davies: a Biography by Fred Lawrence Guiles, Pauline Kael’s searing “Raising Kane” from 1971 (from which Mank takes a lot of inspiration), and Peter Bogdanovich’s equally-searing rebuttal: “The Kane Mutiny” from 1972! And speaking of Bogdanovich, we make mention of his film The Cat’s Meow, in which Kirsten Dunst portrays Marion Davies. There’s also Audrey Fox’s great piece on Crooked Marquee entitled, “Beyond Citizen Kane: Getting to Know the Real Marion Davies.” Please be sure to give Emily’s work a look, including a great column “Beyond The Classics” on Film School Rejects, as well as an incredibly interesting recent interview with Danny Huston on the 80th anniversary of his father’s masterpiece (and debut feature!) The Maltese Falcon. Oh, and she recommends 11 Essential Cary Grant Movies, which everybody should get their eyes on. Be sure to give us a follow on Twitter and Facebook at @TFSBSide. Also enter our giveaways, get access to our private Slack channel, and support new episodes by becoming a Patreon contributor. We are also now on Spotify and Stitcher. Enjoy!