The Film Stage Presents

There are holy grails, and then there’s The Devils. While Ken Russell’s 1971 film has been available in some form or another for decades, many (like me) always avoided it—not for its scandalous content, but for the lack of such. In a rare class of studio films that passed through the era of director’s cut DVDs without proper restoration, it’s long seemed destined for cinematic purgatory.

That has changed in a manner so drastic it’s like everybody’s making up for lost time. With the creation of their new label, Clockwork, Warner Bros. announced a restoration of the full, uncut iteration for widespread release on 35mm that was preceded by a splashy Cannes world premiere that sold out in seconds. It happened in no small part because of The Devils’ biggest champion, Mark Kermode, who has spent decades on the front line for Russell’s vision. With Kermode in town for a U.S. premiere at the New York Film Festival, I had the pleasure of partaking in a long, impassioned conversation with (literally) one of the most famous voices in film.

Two notes: 1) Kermode told me after our conversation that his white whale is a complete restoration of the director’s cut of William Peter Blatty’s The Exorcist III; 2) at some point I misuse the term “begs the question.” I could feel myself making the mistake in real time, yet it slipped out. We regret the error.

Welcome to The Film Stage Presents! Today we’re speaking with Pulitzer Prize-winning writer Daniel Kraus about his novel Whalefall and the new film of the same name (which he co-wrote with director Brian Duffield). 

We chat about Whalefall, adapting it from book to screen, his recent Pulitzer win for his novel Angel Down, and other underrated sea survivor movies. Among them are All Is Lost, White Squall, and In the Heart of the Sea. 

Additional topics discussed include the differences between books and movies, how the whale in Whalefall is actually a setting and not a villain, and the survival books we read as kids (The Cay by Theodore Taylor, Hatchet by Gary Paulsen, Lord of the Flies by William Golding).

There are mentions of the great Walter Hill film Southern Comfort and the great Carroll Ballard film The Black Stallion. Alfonso Cuarón’s Gravity also comes up, which Kraus feels is the best comp to Whalefall.

Welcome to The B-Side! Here we talk about movie stars! And sometimes we get to talk to stars about their own B-Sides!

Today is a big one for us. The legend Josh Hartnett is on the podcast to talk about his new film Verity and dish on some of his B-Sides, including Town & Country, August, and Valley of the Gods.

We chat with Hartnett about his growth as an actor, his memories on the chaotic set of the Warren Beatty-starrer Town & Country, his love for the underseen August, his joy making Lucky Number Slevin, and the luck and stress of having both his big movie (Verity) open mere days before his big new show (Below).

We make mention of this fascinating Vanity Fair piece from 2001, as well as his intentional disappearance from Hollywood in the mid-2000s. There’s also a brief mention of his potential regret in dismissing a chance at playing Batman for Christopher Nolan early on.

If you live in New York, you know this is the best time of year for filmgoing; if you don’t, you probably realize such and just wish you were here. The 64th New York Film Festival begins this Friday, September 25, and runs a little over two weeks, accounting for encores that are appreciable and often still insufficient for seeing everything on offer at Lincoln Center. I can speak from experience that seeing as much as you want—or, let’s be honest, seeing even more than you wish—is like a full-time job. Imagine the task of being its architect.

That man is Dennis Lim, with whom I spoke last year on the eve of the 63rd edition. Dennis has plenty more to say as this year begins, not least on the theme of sorts that has emerged from our dystopian moment. This conversation is not doom and gloom, though—by his read, cinema is in a strong-enough place that there’s reason to be hopeful, even cherish the medium. Plus: there’s always Hong Sangsoo.

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 discuss New Jersey legend James Gandolfini! Our B-Sides include: The Mexican, Romance & Cigarettes, Cinema Verite, and The Drop. Our guest literally wrote the book on Gandolfini! Jason Bailey, author of Gandolfini Jim, Tony, and the Life of a Legend. He also co-hosts the podcast “Guide for the Film Fanatic” on the One Heat Minute Productions network. I was honored to chat about The Adventures of Robin Hood on the pod not too long ago!

We discuss Gandolfini’s early years as a character actor, his fun times on the set of the holiday debacle Surviving Christmas, and the chemistry of friendship that Gandolfini and Julia Roberts build in the underrated The Mexican. 

Jason dishes on the process of writing his great book, we all lament the next act of great Gandolfini performances we did not get, and I remember some iconic episodes from The Sopranos. We discuss his playful energy and singular legacy, and what could have been. There’s also a chat about Jason’s upcoming book YIPPEE KI-YAY "Die Hard,” Bruce Willis, and the Reinvention of the Action Movie.