The Film Stage Presents

The thing about filmmaker John Sayles is that he has done everything. Do you love Steven Spielberg's E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial or Tobe Hooper's Poltergeist? Sayles' unmade screenplay Night Skies is a piece of the source code for both classics. How about The Big Chill? Sayles' lovely Return of the Secaucus 7 (which he wrote and directed) investigated the curdling of the baby boomers' American dream long before Lawrence Kasdan took a crack at it. The man has been essential to the evolution of nearly every genre of American film, in one way or another.

Ahead of TIFF Cinematheque's retrospective Declarations of Independence: The Cinema of John Sayles (curated by Adam Nayman and beginning this Thursday), we spoke with Sayles about this series and how they selected which films to screen. We also touch on his (hopefully) next film I Passed This Way, working with James Cameron, and which noir classics he's caught up with recently.

Read more: https://thefilmstage.com/the-hard-work-is-in-the-screenwriting-john-sayles-on-resourceful-filmmaking-james-cameron-and-his-tiff-retrospective/

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 perhaps the most likeable movie star alive: Goldie Hawn! Our B-Sides include: Butterflies Are Free, The Duchess and the Dirtwater Fox, Seems Like Old Times, and Deceived. Our guest today is dear friend Jen Johans, host of the superb Watch With Jen Podcast!

We chat about Goldie’s hot start on Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In and the early Oscar she won for her dynamic, engaging performance in Cactus Flower. It was her first film role and she was still on Laugh-In! Hawn quickly became a commercially-friendly representation of the counterculture movement, as evidenced in Butterflies Are Free.

There’s debate about Goldie on the production of Jonathan Demme’s ultimately troubled Swing Shift (though she did officially meet Kurt Russell on set, so a huge silver lining!) and how much it hurt her reputation. We celebrate the TV Specials, how Goldie Hawn is her given name, and her autobiography. 

We enjoy the absurdities of Deceived, posit that maybe Protocol was a proto-Ishtar, and admire the shagginess of the stars in 1970s movies. There’s mention of Goldie’s 1972 album! Her charity comes up! How huge of a star Neil Simon was in the ‘70s and ‘80s comes up! There’s a lot to chew on in this episode. Enjoy!

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 truly underrated star: Laurence Fishburne! Our B-Sides include: Bad Company, Fled, Hoodlum, and Biker Boyz. Conor and guest host Mitchell Beaupre discuss Fishburne’s early work, his movie star run (the mid-90s, of which three of our B-Sides are a part of!), and the roles he passed on over the years. 

They debate whether or not Kevin Hooks’ Fled (a ‘90s take on The Defiant Ones) is worth the watch, if Oliver Parker’s Othello works as a movie, and that other time Fishburne played a character based on famous gangster Bumpy Johnson (that would be Francis Ford Coppola’s underrated The Cotton Club).

There’s a celebration of Bill Duke’s directorial career (the legendary actor made Hoodlum and also Deep Cover, both starring Fishburne) and a conversation about Biker Boyz internal conflict in being a Fast & Furious movie.

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 one of the most successful performers of all time: Eddie Murphy! Our B-Sides include: Metro, Holy Man, Life, and I Spy. Our guests today are filmmaker and returning guest Nicholas Gray and incredible actor Alvin Keith. 

We discuss Eddie’s stratospheric rise, the perceived failure of the underrated Harlem Nights, and his underwhelming ‘90s output. In 1987-1988, Eddie’s stand-up special Raw was one of the most financially successful theatrical releases of the calendar year.

There’s the tonal strangeness of Metro, the fact that Eddie is not the lead of Holy Man, the subtle brilliance of Life, and the tired, cynical result that is I Spy. 

We talk about how Eddie only ever auditioned for Saturday Night Live as an actor, as well as his famous moment at the Academy Awards in 1988 in which he called out the lack of Black representation.

There’s this great quote from Carmen Ejogo about working with Eddie on Metro: “He was utterly charming but... did he tell me this? He gets told, "There's this script, it's a bit shitty, are you interested?" "No, not really." "Well, you know, we're going to give you $30 million to do it." "Yeah, all right then." And that's where he's at. He's not doing it to be the next Poitier. It is what it is for him, and that's what he's like on set. He's just showing up and getting paid, whereas I was like, ‘What's the motivation here?’”

We debate Eddie’s inherent softness (and also his edge) and how it works to his advantage, him turning down Rush Hour in favor of Holy Man, and his music career!

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 celebrate an actor with an incredible range: Chow Yun-fat. Our B-Sides include 100 Ways to Murder Your Wife, City War, Peace Hotel, and The Corruptor. 

We discuss Chow Yun-fat’s emergence in Hong Kong, his early work with John Woo, the breakout that was Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon in 2000. Conor and I debate which Western star Chow Yun-fat reminds us of, before resolving that he’s quite a bit more dynamic than any one of them.

There’s debate over the success of his move to Hollywood and his brief stint as a Western leading man (lest we never forget about Bulletproof Monk!), the City on Fire influence on Reservoir Dogs, the John Woo Hollywood run (and why Chow wasn’t in any of them!?), and the impossible influence of Asian action cinema on Hollywood action blockbusters to this day.We also discuss the difficult and narrow needle to thread when making a slapstick marital comedy, and why 100 Ways to Murder Your Wife fails where a few succeed.