The Film Stage Presents

• The B-Side Ep. 170 – David Cronenberg (with Veronica Fitzpatrick)

  Welcome to The B-Side! 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 discuss David Cronenberg, one of the truly great Canadian geniuses and the filmmaker credited with the advent of “body horror” (a distinction he bristles against, for what it’s worth). Our B-Sides today include Fast Company, The Brood, M. Butterfly, and Spider. Our guest today is the incomparable Veronica Fitzpatrick, professor at Brown University and Editor-at-Large and Podcast Co-Host at Bright Wall/Dark Room.  We talk about how handsome Oliver Reed is in The Brood, how Cronenberg’s films often start with a bang, how misguided M. Butterfly is, and how Fast Company was, in fact, a movie directed by David Cronenberg. There’s talk of his novel Consumed, his multiple collaborations with certain great performers like Jeremy Irons, and his incredible, intellectual mind. This is a man who has adapted Stephen King, William Burroughs, Don DeLillo, J.G. Ballard, and Patrick McGrath. What range! There’s the real-life French diplomat on which M. Butterfly is based, as well as the metatextual nature of both Cronenberg’s adaptation of David Henry Hwang and his later picture A Dangerous Method. It’s Cronenberg taking stock of the psychology of his own films! Fascinating. Veronica mentions B.D. Wong’s Tony speech, we all marvel at the fact that Adrian Lyne remade Lolita (with Jeremy Irons!) in 1997 and it barely got a release! There’s a lot in here! Happy Halloween!

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• Emulsion Ep. 17 - Stephanie LaCava on Nymph, Chantal Akerman, and Abel Ferrara

  Given her work in and around cinema, it’s no surprise that Stephanie LaCava would write a novel that is, no small feat, cinematic. Said novel is Nymph, a slim and elliptical and fully satisfying character piece about a young woman, Bathory––called “Bat” for short––whose parents’ strange lifestyle, either involving spy craft or assassinations or just being out-and-out weirdos, brings her down dark corners. Having known Stephanie for a little bit, I already knew she was worth talking to. (An important quality for any podcast guest.) But when she sent me the book last month, I read it with enough speed and relish that it was no question we should talk about Nymph, the Chantal Akerman and Abel Ferrara films that inspired it, and the complex personal feelings these things can raise. While I hope you like our conversation, I mostly hope it drives one to reading Stephanie's novel. Order Nymph here: https://www.versobooks.com/products/3384-nymph?srsltid=AfmBOorlFqrsPmUBBXZkib0EKTKrXwvCfSY0sCRZ1mooAPre-6aOgVfw

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• The B-Side Ep. 169 – Bill Paxton (with Billy Ray Brewton)

  Welcome to The B-Side! 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. Today we talk about a performer that we lost far too soon: Bill Paxton. Our B-Sides today include Brain Dead, Indian Summer, Traveller, and Frailty. Our guest is Billy Ray Brewton, and we cover a lot of ground. We dive into Paxton’s Roger Corman origins (Crazy Mama getting reamed out by legend Stella Adler in New York, his ultimate move to Los Angeles, James Cameron, etc.), his love of movie-making and being on set, his tragic death, and much, much more. We mention his first directing gig (“Fish Heads” by Barnes & Barnes on SNL), his last directed feature (The Greatest Game Ever Played), and his recent podcast appearances before his death. There is also this charming late night appearance.

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• The B-Side Ep. 168 – Philip Seymour Hoffman

  Welcome to The B-Side! 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.  Today we talk about maybe the greatest actor who ever lived: Philip Seymour Hoffman. But seriously, did Hoffman ever give a bad performance? We talk about it! Conor and I are back and our Philip Seymour Hoffman B-Sides are Leap of Faith, Owning Mahowny, Pirate Radio, and Jack Goes Boating. We go through his whole filmography, spot-checking the crucial moments throughout his career. We briefly discuss his Oscar-winning performance in Capote, his iconic supporting turn in Along Came Polly, and his Oscar-nominated role in Charlie Wilson’s War. There’s also an admiration at the power he wielded with silence, and an examination into why The Master is his acting masterpiece. Additionally, we remain astonished by the career of John Patrick Shanley (writer/director of Doubt), we celebrate the upcoming Greenland 2: Migration, and the ability of Richard Curtis to squeeze earnest sentimentality out of garish manipulation. There’s also chat about Seth Rogen, who lost out to Hoffman for the role of The Count in Pirate Radio and was approached by Hoffman to star in Jack Goes Boating, until Hoffman played the role himself. Rogen discussed these things himself on a recent Blank Check podcast episode.

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• Emulsion Ep. 16 - Will Sloan on Ed Wood: Made in Hollywood USA

  Ed Wood died the better part of a half-century ago, and to this day his reputation as the world's worst filmmaker persists. Even in this era when seemingly everything can be reclaimed, few have made the effort for Plan 9 from Outer Space, Glen or Glenda, or Night of the Ghouls, making all the more compelling a new book that does so without necessarily making the case for Wood as a strictly speaking good filmmaker. The author is Will Sloan and the book Ed Wood: Made in Hollywood USA, which studies Wood's filmography as a genuinely dream-like and ideologically... if not driven, then at least somewhat occupied with major questions of identity. The work shows in Sloan's book, which contains key biographical information, rundowns of Wood's novelistic career, and a larger consideration of what constitutes a bad movie. I was extremely pleased to speak with him about these and sundry other subjects.

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