255. 'The Exorcist' Part 3: Film, Faith & Foreboding
In Part 3 of my multi-part deep dive re-exploration of William Friedkin's 1973 masterpiece 'The Exorcist' I take a detailed look at the filmmaking in the first half of the movie. Considering the Northern Iraq sequence, the Georgetown sequences, Father Karras in NYC, and the Medical sequences featuring Regan up to and including the hypnotism scene. The absolute mastery of camera movement choices and the spare use of score shows how the film eschews (I always wanted to use that word) "horror" film cliches. Mentioned in this episode: Jack Plotnick's Hilarious Exorcist Video
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254. 'The Exorcist' Part 2: Rewatch
The 2nd episode in a series of episodes about 'The Exorcist' is inspired by my rewatch of the film. My original plan: to meticulously dissect each of three sections of the film in three subsequent episodes. My new plan? To get this episode filled with my enthusiastic and emotional reactions out to you ASAP. And to follow with two subsequent episodes if the interest (and downloads) are there. The best way to listen to the four-part Exorcist episodes: Listen to Part 1: Origins BEFORE re-watching or watching the film. Listen to Part 2: The Rewatch AFTER re-watching or watching the film. Listen to Parts 3 and 4 as commentary tracks WHILE watching the film again after all the above.
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253. 'The Exorcist' Part 1: Origins
In this first of a multi-part exploration of William Friedkin's ground-breaking and massively successful adaptation of William Peter Blatty's best-selling novel 'The Exorcist': Friedkin & DP Owen Roizman coming off 'The French Connection' and into 'The Exorcist' Casting travails involving Jack Nicholson, Paul Newman, Jane Fonda, Anne Bancroft, and Audrey Hepburn. Jason Miller and Ellen Burstyn willing themselves into their roles. Studio pushback on the film's prequel, set in Iraq, and Friedkin's demand that they film there despite political upheaval and a lack of an Iraqi film industry. The search for a girl to pay Regan; over 1,000 seen, hundreds screen-tested, before Linda Blair walked into the film production's offices. Special Effects approaches courtesy of Dick Smith and Rick Baker. Soundtrack troubles with Bernard Hermann and Lalo Schiffrin and the saving grace of Mike Oldfield's 'Tubular Bells'. This episode features Friedkin, Blatty, Roizman, and Ellen Bursytn in their own words. Other Friedkin Full Cast & Crew Episodes: The French Connection To Live And Die In LA The best way to consume these 'The Exorcist' episodes is: Listen to this episode before watching/re-watching. Listen to episode 2 The Rewatch after watching/re-watching. Listen to episodes 3 and 4.
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252. 'Back To The Future' (Part 2)
Here's the 2nd and final episode of my 'Back to the Future' revisit, enjoy! Huey Lewis guitarist Chris Hayes plays his signature parts from 'Power of Love'.
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251. 'Back to the Future' (Part 1)
It's the 40th Anniversary of 'Back to the Future' and I read a review of Michael J. Fox's brief new memoir about the making of the film, and about his life before, during, and just after the film's release. This sent me to finally watch 2023's 'Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie', a brilliant documentary from noted director Davis Guggenheim (An Inconveniant Truth, It Might Get Loud, Waiting for Superman) that defies the Streamerification of documentary filmmaking that I've long decried on the podcast (see my episode on Brother's Keeper). This episode covers a lot of what I really loved about those two primary sources of information about Michael J. Fox's life and battle with Parkinson's Disease, a battle he's fought privately and publicly. The Michael J. Fox Foundation has to date raised more than 2 billion dollars for Parkinson's research and in 2022 spent more than the US Government did on research seeking a cure for the disease. 'Back to the Future' has an incredible story of near-disaster followed by infinitesimal chance of salvage represented by the casting of Fox, and finally, worldwide pop-cultural magnitude of the highest and most enduring order. This episode serves as an introduction to this superlative example of Hollywood moviemaking at its best and a tribute to the incredible, extraordinary and everyday life of its star.
Proudly independent and ad-free since 2018, the Full Cast and Crew Podcast stands out in a crowded field by focussing on emotional reactions to films as much as it shares the entertaining anecdotes behind their making and seeks to place movie in context with our shared experiences as filmgoers coming of age in the 70's and 80's and beyond.
Ireland