Talking About Jean-Pierre Jeunet’s Amélie with our guest, Costume Designer Antoinette MessamOn this episode of Movies We Like, we speak with costume designer Antoinette Messam about her incredible career in film and one of her favorite movies, Jean-Pierre Jeunet's magical 2001 film Amélie.We have a fascinating conversation with Antoinette about her journey into costume design, including rebelling against family expectations, finding her way from fashion to film, and learning on the job. She shar...
Feb 26, 2024•1 hr 13 min•Season 5Ep. 7
“He’s a wily one, that ichthy-demon.” Waterworld: Sinking Budgets and Soaring SpectacleIn the early 1990s, Kevin Costner was riding high after hits like Dances with Wolves and Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves. He teamed up again with his Robin Hood director Kevin Reynolds for an ambitious post-apocalyptic aquatic adventure called Waterworld. With its massive scale and elaborate water-based sets, the production quickly sank into major budget overruns and production nightmares.Join us – Pete Wright a...
Feb 22, 2024•1 hr 9 min•Season 13Ep. 36
"Thrust it! Thrust it!” Before the sequins and controversy hit the screen, Showgirls was a script that sparked excitement for its bold take on the glitz and grunge of Las Vegas life. Helmed by Paul Verhoeven and penned by Joe Eszterhas, the duo behind the provocative hit Basic Instinct, expectations were high for this journey into the world of Vegas showgirls. Yet, the resulting film would divide audiences and critics, becoming a cult classic for some and a cautionary tale of excess for others. ...
Feb 14, 2024•1 hr 10 min•Season 13Ep. 35
“Why do you wait? Put it on for it is not a badge of my shame, but your own.” Roland Joffé took on the challenge of adapting Nathaniel Hawthorne’s classic 1850 novel The Scarlet Letter for the big screen in 1995. With a passion for the source material and a vision to expand the story in ways he felt Hawthorne was restricted from doing, Joffé assembled an impressive cast including Demi Moore, Gary Oldman and Robert Duvall. However, despite his noble intentions, many critics felt Joffé’s reach exc...
Feb 08, 2024•1 hr 2 min•Season 13Ep. 34
“Congratulations, Morgan. There’s another town you’ve destroyed.” After the success of Die Hard 2 and Cliffhanger, director Renny Harlin wanted to establish his wife Geena Davis as an action star. He sought out a swashbuckling pirate adventure script for her to lead. Screenwriters Michael Frost Beckner and James Gorman had written an initial draft, but extensive rewrites resulted in multiple additional credited writers. With Geena Davis attached to the lead role of pirate captain Morgan Adams, f...
Feb 01, 2024•57 min•Season 13Ep. 32
“Are you serving that ape a martini?” In the early 1990s, following the massive success of Jurassic Park, studios were eager to adapt more of Michael Crichton’s popular novels to film. Congo had been published back in 1980 but no one had figured out how to bring the complicated story to the big screen. After the rights bounced around for years, Paramount finally secured them in 1994 and began fast-tracking production. Director Frank Marshall was fresh off hits like Alive and Arachnophobia when h...
Jan 25, 2024•57 min•Season 13Ep. 31
“Life isn't like in the movies. Life... is much harder.” Talking About Cinema Paradiso with our guest, Special Effects Supervisor Chris ReynoldsIn this magical episode, we chat with veteran special effects artist and supervisor Chris Reynolds about his storied career bringing movies to life through innovative engineering and technology. Our focus is the classic Cinema Paradiso, a nostalgic ode to the glory days of cinema that inspired Chris from an early age.Chris has built an impressive 40-year...
Jan 22, 2024•1 hr 6 min•Season 5Ep. 6
“Dead or alive, you are coming with me.” In 1987, screenwriters Edward Neumeier and Michael Miner developed an original story idea while working on the set of Blade Runner. They envisioned a dystopian future where privatized police forces maintained law and order. After pitching the concept to studios, Orion Pictures greenlit the production of RoboCop, directed by Dutch filmmaker Paul Verhoeven. Join us – Pete Wright and Andy Nelson – as we continue the 1988 Academy Awards Best Visual Effects No...
Jan 18, 2024•1 hr 20 min•Season 13Ep. 30
"This is true love. You think this happens every day?" After William Goldman's novel The Princess Bride was published in 1973, film studios immediately saw its potential and vied for the movie rights. 20th Century Fox won out, paying Goldman to adapt his novel into a screenplay. But after languishing in development hell for over a decade, Rob Reiner and Norman Lear finally brought Goldman's fantastical fairy tale to the big screen in 1987. Join us – Pete Wright and Andy Nelson – as we continue t...
Jan 11, 2024•1 hr 9 min•Season 13Ep. 29
“There’s something out there waiting for us, and it ain’t no man. We’re all going to die.” After the huge success of Rocky IV in 1985, screenwriters Jim and John Thomas saw an opportunity for another Rocky film where he'd have to fight an alien, calling it "Rocky vs Predator." They developed the idea into a script titled "Hunter" about a group of alien hunters looking for the most dangerous prey. Unable to get interest, they slipped it under producer Michael Levy's door who loved it. Levy brough...
Jan 04, 2024•1 hr 13 min•Season 13Ep. 27
“Kill your brother, you’ll feel better.” The 80s were a transformative time for vampire films, leading studios to rethink the genre and develop sexier, edgier stories for modern audiences. Under Joel Schumacher’s direction, The Lost Boys brought together attractive young stars, iconic music, and cutting-edge special effects to create an instant cult classic. Join us – Pete Wright and Andy Nelson – as we continue the 1988 Academy Awards Best Visual Effects Nominees series with a conversation abou...
Dec 31, 2023•1 hr 21 min•Season 13Ep. 28
“You just digested the bad guy.”Innerspace came about after Jeffrey Boam took Chip Proser’s original script and injected comedy into the straightforward sci-fi concept. With Joe Dante directing and Steven Spielberg executive producing, the film had the freedom to push boundaries. Join us – Pete Wright and Andy Nelson – as we kick off our 1988 Academy Awards Best Visual Effects Nominees series with a conversation about Dante’s 1987 film Innerspace. Here's a hint at what we talk about:We discuss t...
Dec 28, 2023•52 min•Season 13Ep. 26
“Game? This wasn’t meant to be a game. Never!”James Caan stars as Jonathan E., a legendary athlete in the brutal sport of Rollerball in Norman Jewison’s 1975 dystopian sci-fi thriller. With a screenplay by William Harrison based on his short story, Jewison intended the film as a critique of exploitative sports and their dehumanizing effects. However, audiences were enthralled by the violent future sport depicted. Rollerball entered a crowded field of 1970s dystopian sci-fi, alongside classics li...
Dec 21, 2023•57 min•Season 13Ep. 25
“You may think you know what you’re dealing with, but you don’t. Believe me.”Talking About Chinatown with our guest, Cinematographer Erik MesserschmidtRoman Polanski's 1974 neo-noir Chinatown is regarded as one of the greatest films of all time. In this episode, we're joined by Academy Award-winning cinematographer Erik Messerschmidt to discuss this masterpiece of cinema. We start by talking to Erik about his passion for filmmaking and what led him to a career in cinematography. He shares how he...
Dec 18, 2023•1 hr 3 min•Season 5Ep. 5
“Oh, what sad times are these when passing ruffians can say ‘Ni!’ at will to old ladies. There is a pestilence upon this land, nothing is sacred. Even those who arrange and design shrubberies are under considerable economic stress in this period in history.”After the immense success of Monty Python’s Flying Circus on television, the Python troupe set out to take their unique brand of absurd (møose) comedy to the big screen. Securing funding from rock stars and record companies, they scraped toge...
Dec 14, 2023•1 hr 9 min•Season 13Ep. 24
“Don’t give me any of that ‘intelligent life’ stuff. Find me something I can blow up!”John Carpenter and Dan O'Bannon met as film students at USC in the early 1970s. Together they created a 45-minute student film called Dark Star that ended up gaining traction on the film festival circuit. With additional funding, they expanded it into a feature film that was released in 1974. This sci-fi comedy film became a cult classic, despite its tiny budget and limited release. Join us – Pete Wright and An...
Dec 07, 2023•54 min•Season 13Ep. 22
“You’re so funny when you’re sexually frustrated.”In 1975, producer Alvy Moore teamed up with director L.Q. Jones to bring Harlan Ellison’s 1969 novella A Boy and His Dog to the big screen. With a budget of just $400,000, Jones cast newcomer Don Johnson alongside canine actor Tiger in this post-apocalyptic sci-fi that would go on to earn acclaim and cult status. Join us – Pete Wright and Andy Nelson – as we kick off the 1976 Hugo Awards Best Dramatic Presentation Nominees series with a conversat...
Nov 30, 2023•56 min•Season 13Ep. 21
“A painting means as much to you as a string of pearls to an ape.” In the early 1960s, French author Rose Valland pitched the idea for The Train to producer Jules Bricken. Valland had worked at the Jeu de Paume Museum in Paris during World War II, overseeing the Nazi looting of French art treasures. Intrigued by her true story of resisting Nazi art theft, Bricken brought in director Arthur Penn to develop the film. Penn saw it as a vehicle for his friend Burt Lancaster and got him on board to st...
Nov 23, 2023•58 min•Season 13Ep. 20
“My life is an empty place.”Harold Pinter adapted Penelope Mortimer’s 1962 semi-autobiographical novel The Pumpkin Eater into a screenplay for this 1964 British drama film directed by Jack Clayton. With acclaimed performers Anne Bancroft and Peter Finch on board, Clayton and cinematographer Oswald Morris shot the black and white film partly on location in London and Shepperton Studios. Despite its downbeat subject matter, The Pumpkin Eater was considered a prestige picture with a relatively larg...
Nov 16, 2023•1 hr 2 min•Season 13Ep. 19
“This is something that happens.”Talking About Paul Thomas Anderson’s 1999 film Magnolia with our guest, cinematographer Lyn MoncriefOn this episode of Movies We Like, hosts Andy Nelson and Pete Wright invite cinematographer Lyn Moncrief to discuss his career and one of his favorite films, Paul Thomas Anderson’s sprawling 1999 drama Magnolia.We talk with Lyn about how he first got interested in cinematography and making the move to Los Angeles to pursue his passion. He discusses some of his earl...
Nov 13, 2023•1 hr 10 min•Season 5Ep. 4
"Gentlemen, you can’t fight in here! This is the war room!"REBROADCASTStanley Kubrick didn’t do comedy often which is a shame because “Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb” is arguably one of the funniest films ever made. What’s interesting is that Kubrick intended on making a serious film about one of his greatest fears at the time: the threat of nuclear war. But after several attempts at finding the right way to tell the story seriously (including one involving ...
Nov 12, 2023•1 hr 13 min
“But where is Becket’s honour?”Before cameras could roll on Becket, the film's producers had to secure the screen rights to Jean Anouilh's original French play. Anouilh was initially hesitant to sell the rights, but the persistence of producer Hal B. Wallis convinced him to sign on. With the acclaimed playwright on board, the next task was finding a director who could bring the theatrical story to life on the big screen. The producers eventually landed on Peter Glenville, an experienced theater ...
Nov 09, 2023•1 hr•Season 13Ep. 18
“Stella! Hey, Stella!”Tennessee Williams' Pulitzer Prize-winning play A Streetcar Named Desire took Broadway by storm in 1947. Four years later, director Elia Kazan decided to adapt the play for the big screen, bringing together many members of the original Broadway cast like Marlon Brando, Kim Hunter, and Karl Malden. After a tumultuous pre-production filled with casting conflicts and clashes over censorship, Kazan was finally able to begin filming on location in New Orleans in 1950. The end re...
Nov 02, 2023•1 hr 3 min•Season 13Ep. 16
“Criss cross.”In 1951, Alfred Hitchcock was at a low point in his career after the disappointing critical reception of his previous two films, Under Capricorn and Stage Fright. Desperate for a hit, he wanted to adapt the 1950 Patricia Highsmith novel Strangers on a Train about a chance encounter that leads to a murder pact between two very different men. He bought the rights and enlisted screenwriter Raymond Chandler to adapt the book for the screen. Though Chandler delivered a script, Hitchcock...
Oct 26, 2023•58 min•Season 13Ep. 15
“I think I could turn into you if I really tried.”Talking About Persona with our guest, writer/director Sophie BarthesOn this episode of Movies We Like, we speak with writer/director Sophie Barthes about one of her favorite films, Ingmar Bergman’s 1966 psychological drama Persona. We also discussed Barthes' own directing career and thoughts on filmmaking.We have an in-depth discussion about Bergman's avant-garde masterpiece Persona, analyzing its dreamlike atmosphere, innovative editing and cine...
Oct 23, 2023•1 hr 19 min•Season 5Ep. 3
“If you’re an Eastman, you’re not in the same boat with anyone.”Based on the 1925 novel An American Tragedy by Theodore Dreiser, A Place in the Sun tells the story of working-class George Eastman (Montgomery Clift), who moves in with his wealthy uncle's family and begins a romantic relationship with an affluent young woman named Angela Vickers (Elizabeth Taylor). However, he becomes entangled in a love triangle when his co-worker Alice Tripp (Shelley Winters) reveals she is pregnant with his chi...
Oct 19, 2023•1 hr 5 min•Season 13Ep. 14
“Of all the strange breeds that mighta come along, it was their bad luck to get me.”In the years during and after World War II, the exploits of US Navy frogmen captured the American imagination. Seeking to showcase them on the silver screen, Hollywood producers worked closely with the Navy starting in 1950 to develop the film The Frogmen. The Navy provided extensive support, training actors using real frogmen drills and equipping them with state-of-the-art gear. Filming underwater presented huge...
Oct 12, 2023•54 min•Season 13Ep. 13
“Why are you so hateful to one another?”Kicking Off Our Next Series With a Conversation About László Benedek’s 1951 Film Death of a SalesmanIt had only been a few years since Arthur Miller’s play made its successful debut, and the story was exactly the sort producer Stanley Kramer sought out. He brought László Benedek on to direct and Stanley Roberts on to adapt it for the screen. Unfortunately, the film was a box office flop, whether due to the studio’s concerns about its anti-American themes o...
Oct 05, 2023•57 min•Season 13Ep. 11
“We're fighting for something that has to be, that can't help coming. The road may be long and hard, but we'll get there and we'll see a better world. And our children especially will see it.”Rome Wasn't Built in a Day, But This Movie Sure WasRome, Open City is adapted from a book of true stories about living through the Nazi occupation. Co-writer and director Roberto Rossellini took these tales of survival and wove them into a gripping drama about the Italian resistance. Filmed using non-profes...
Sep 28, 2023•1 hr 4 min•Season 13Ep. 10
“If might is right, then love has no place in the world.”Talking About The Mission with our guest, Academy Award-winning costume designer Deborah L. ScottAndy and legendary costume designer Deborah L. Scott dive deep into Roland Joffé’s 1986 masterpiece The Mission, an intense and emotional story of faith, colonialism, and redemption. Set in 18th century South America, this Best Picture Oscar nominee boasts an incredible cast and a stunning visual style.Jeremy Irons delivers an incredible perfor...
Sep 25, 2023•1 hr 13 min•Season 5Ep. 2
