Film Forum Podcasts

CLEOPATRA: Tabloid scandals about the offscreen hanky-panky of stars Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton overshadowed the gigantic sets, lavish costumes (and even Liz’s record-setting cleavage), Mankiewicz’s politically sophisticated and comparison-avoiding script (Burton’s funeral oration is drowned out by crowd noises), and Rex Harrison’s outright theft of the picture as the slyest of Julius Caesars. This podcast is a recording of the introduction to CLEOPATRA by Foster Hirsch, Shelley Wanger & Stephanie Wanger, recorded June 11, 2013, at a screening of the film at Film Forum

HANNAH ARENDT: “Premier David Ben-Gurion announced today that Adolf Eichmann, the S.S. colonel who headed the Gestapo’s Jewish Section, was under arrest in Israel and would stand trial for his life.” – The New York Times (May 24, 1960). The luminous Barbara Sukowa stars as the brilliant German-Jewish emigree, Hannah Arendt – sent to cover the trial in Jerusalem by New Yorker editor William Shawn; her coverage becomes one of the most important and controversial books ever written on the Holocaust: Eichmann in Jerusalem: A Report on the Banality of Evil. A veritable hornet’s nest of ugly accusations, recriminations, and counter-charges greets Arendt’s proposition that ordinary people are capable of the vile acts for which Eichmann stands justly accused. Arendt’s loyal friend, writer Mary McCarthy (played by Janet McTeer) comes to her defense in Margarethe von Trotta’s deeply serious, yet wildly entertaining look at the lives and loves of a bevy of New York’s most famed intellectuals during the 1950s and ‘60s. Von Trotta -- working with longtime co-screenwriter Pamela Katz -- brings a practiced eye, a compassionate mind, and, appropriately, fearless independence, to this riveting portrait of a woman of both ideas and heart. This podcast is a recording of the Q & A with HANNAH ARENDT filmmaker Margarethe von Trotta, star Barbara Sukowa, and screenwriter Pamela Katz, recorded May 29, 2013 at a screening of the film at Film Forum

RETURN OF THE LIVING DEAD: (1985, Dan O’Bannon) At the Uneeda Medical Supply Warehouse in Louisville, bumbling foreman James Karen (in a comic tour de force) unwittingly releases some toxic gases — the remains of a government experiment gone horribly wrong — resulting in a brain-eating free-for-all of the town’s party-loving Undead. Directorial debut for Dark Star/Alien screenwriter O’Bannon. Introduced by veteran character actor James Karen (The Pursuit of Happyness, Mulholland Dr., Poltergeist, Wall Street, etc., etc. — but perhaps best known to New Yorkers as “The Pathmark Man”), with Q&A to follow screening. This podcast is a recording of the Q & A with JAMES KAREN, recorded May 20, 2013 at Film Forum after a screening of RETURN OF THE LIVING DEAD.

Voyage to Italy: (1954) In Naples to sell Uncle Homer’s villa, London business man George Sanders and wife Ingrid Bergman find that, after eight years of marriage, they have little to say to each other. And as the closing drags on, Bergman remembers a died-too-young poet who loved her, Sanders frets about time away from work, and they split apart — she to stare at the rawness of the statuary in the Museum, the ionization of Vesuvian craters, the skeletons at the cemetery; he to dally with friends on Capri, languidly pursue an estranged wife, and to wave off an attractive prostitute; both to finally view the plaster molds of the dead of Pompeii. Little happens, and yet subtly we see the degeneration of a marriage. Will it take a miracle to save it? Unsuccessful on first release, but over the years steadily climbing the ranks of All-Time Ten Best lists. This podcast is a recording of the Q & A with Isabella Rossellini, recorded May 1, 2013, at Film Forum during a screening of Voyage to Italy

PHILIP ROTH: UNMASKED: Philip Roth, arguably America’s greatest living novelist, turns 80 on March 19. In 1959, his collection of short stories, Goodbye, Columbus, put him on the map, and 10 years later his hilarious, ribald best-seller, Portnoy’s Complaint, gave rise to the first of many Roth-related controversies in which Judaism, sex, the role of women, and the parent-child relationship would take center stage. In candid interviews, the Pulitzer Prize-winner discusses his distinctly unliterary upbringing in Newark, NJ, his admiration for Saul Bellow and Bernard Malamud, and how Zuckerman may or may not be his alter-ego. Nathan Englander, Mia Farrow, Jonathan Franzen, and Martin Garbus are among those who talk about the man and his writing. Franzen in particular praises Roth for “how brave he must have been to have methodically offended everybody and to have exposed parts of himself no one had ever exposed before.” This podcast is a recording of the introduction to PHILIP ROTH UNMASKED by Blake Bailey, recorded March 18, 2013.

THE LOST WEEKEND: “Most men lead lives of quiet desperation.” Failed writer Ray Milland hits the sauce and the bottom in Oscar winner for Best Picture, Screenplay, Director and Actor. Among the famous sequences: the bat and mouse hallucination and the desperate trek for money past actual Third Ave. pawnshops closed for Yom Kippur. Screenplay by Wilder and Charles Brackett, from the novel by Charles Jackson. “New York brutally stripped of all glamour.” – Tom Milne. Introduced by Blake Bailey, author of Farther & Wilder: The Lost Weekends and Literary Dreams of Charles Jackson, published this week by Random House. This podcast is a recording of the introduction to THE LOST WEEKEND by Blake Bailey, recorded March 18, 2013, at Film Forum during a screening of the film.

THE MARRYING KIND: (1952, George Cukor) In the chambers of a divorce court judge, Aldo Ray and Judy Holliday look back on their marriage, and the flashbacks begin, with 4th of July Central Park picnic a highlight. Screenplay by Ruth Gordon and Garson Kanin. “One of the more honest portraits of an average marriage... Everything about it — its sets, its costumes, its location shooting in New York City [the couple lives in the recently-opened Stuyvesant Town] — is grounded in reality... Holliday and Ray are a Hepburn and Tracy for the masses.” – Jeanine Basinger. Introduced by Ms. Basinger, Chair of Film Studies at Wesleyan University and author of the new book I Do and I Don’t: A History of Marriage in the Movies, just published by Knopf. Following the screening, she will sign copies of her book, available for sale at Film Forum’s concession. This podcast is a recording of the introduction to THE MARRYING KIND by Jeanine Basinger, recorded February 28, 2013 at Film Forum during a screening of the film.

LITTLE FUGITIVE: (1953, Morris Engel) Brooklynite Richie Andrusco’s on the run from the cops after the accidental shooting of his big brother — only trouble is, Richie’s only seven, the “shooting” was just a dumb ketchup-splashed gag by his brother and cronies, and Mom won’t be back from Grandma’s till the next day. But with six bucks in his pocket and all of Coney Island for a hide-out, how tough can things be, as Richie rides the merry-go-round, takes a cowboy photo, tries out his swings in the batting cage, scarfs down hot dogs, soda, watermelon, and corn on the cob, and gets hooked on the pony ride — he refinances by scouring under the boardwalk for two-cent deposit soda bottles — and even his frantically searching big brother takes a break to ride The Parachute Jump. With a concealed custom-made 35mm camera (which Godard later asked to borrow), legendary photographer Engel — and crew including future wife Ruth Orkin, herself a photography titan — captured unknowing crowds, a phenomenal performance by pint-sized non-pro Richie, and a perfect time capsule of Coney in the waning years of its heyday. Oscar nomination for Best Screen Story; Silver Lion, Venice Film Festival. Co-written and co-produced by Ray Ashley. This podcast is a recording of the Q & A with Mary Engel, daughter of LITTLE FUGITIVE filmmakers Morris Engel & Ruth Orkin, & LITTLE FUGITIVE star Richie Andrusco, recorded January 31, 2013 at Film Forum.

TRASH: (1970) The story of Joe and his girlfriend Holly, but even busty Geri Miller can’t get a rise out of junkie Joe Dallesandro, whose quest for a fix leads him to bizarrely-accented Jane Forth’s apartment and back to his scavenger roommate Holly Woodlawn. This podcast is a recording of the Q & A with director Paul Morrissey, recorded January 26, 2013 at Film Forum.

“Direct Cinema,” American-style cinéma vérité, was pioneered by Robert Drew, D.A. Pennebaker, and Al and David Maysles, et al. Program includes Jane (1962, Robert Drew, Hope Ryden): Jane Fonda makes her B’way debut in a bona fide disaster; Jingle Bells (1964, Pennebaker): RFK and family and Sammy Davis Jr. go Xmas carolling at NYC public schools; Baby (1954): Pennebaker's first film; and With Love From Truman (1966, Maysles Bros.): Capote, that is. Q & A with D.A. PENNEBAKER at Direct Cinema Shorts Program; presented during the NEW YAWK NEW WAVE Series on January 28, 2013 at Film Forum.

BEWARE OF MR. BAKER: At home with rock ‘n’ roll monster Ginger Baker, Cream’s legendary scarlet-maned, hell-raising drummer. This no-holds-barred, sad, and hilarious portrait of the man referred to as rock’s first great drummer (and perhaps still its best) lets him tell his own story, intercut with footage of his continent-hopping life, from London to L.A., Nigeria, Italy, South Africa, and (way) beyond. Baker may have broken the mold musically, but his violent, dyspeptic mood swings, fueled by a multi-decade heroin addiction, went a long way to making him persona non grata even among the music greats who still revere his work. Eric Clapton, Johnny Rotten, Charlie Watts, and Lars Ulrich, Baker’s 4 wives, and 3 grown children all have something to say about him: “He’s a force of nature,” “he’s the greatest drummer any of us had ever heard,” “he’s mad,” and “he’s fairly consistently horrible” are just a few of them. This podcast episode is a recording of a Q & A with BEWARE OF MR. BAKER director JAY BULGER, recorded November 28, 2012, at a screening of the film at Film Forum.

THE LAW IN THESE PARTS: What is legal and what is just? The wide gap between the two is explored meticulously by this Israeli investigation (winner of the Best Documentary Award at the Sundance and Jerusalem Film Festivals) of the legal structure created after the 1967 Six Days War, specifically to treat the West Bank and Gaza Strip as occupied territories. Speaking with some of Israel’s most respected lawyers and judges – men who helped to craft and later interpret these laws - filmmaker Ra’anan Alexandrowicz asks tough, pointed questions and gets even tougher answers. He asks his subjects to consider the consequences of their actions in a highly politicized environment. THE LAW IN THESE PARTS takes the position that unjust laws create unjust realities. Laws that everyone admits are not perfect but are the best that can be done under difficult circumstances may result in tragedy for everyone: both the judges and the judged. This podcast episode is a recording of a Q & A with filmmaker Ra'anan Alexandrowicz, recorded November 14, 2012, at a screening of the film at Film Forum.

GREGORY CREWDSON: BRIEF ENCOUNTERS: Gregory Crewdson’s riveting photographs are elaborately staged, elegant narratives compressed into a single, albeit large-scale image, many of them taken at twilight, set in small towns of Western Massachusetts or meticulously recreated interior spaces, built on the kind of sound stages associated with big-budget movies. Ben Shapiro’s fascinating profile of the acclaimed artist includes stories of his Park Slope childhood (in which he tried to overhear patients of his psychologist father), his summers in the bucolic countryside (which he now imbues with a sense of dread and foreboding), and his encounter with Diane Arbus’s work in 1972 at age 10. Novelists Rick Moody and Russell Banks, and fellow photographer Laurie Simmons, comment on the motivation behind their friend’s haunting images. But Crewdson remains his own best critic: “Every artist has one central story to tell. The struggle is to tell and retell that story over again – and to challenge that story. It’s the defining story of who you are.” This podcast episode is a recording of a Q & A with filmmaker Ben Shapiro and subject Gregory Crewdson, recorded November 8, 2012, at a screening of the film at Film Forum.

NOTHING BUT A MAN: (1964, Michael Roemer) “Baby, I feel so free inside.” But not in Alabama, not in the 60s. On a night out, while stogey-puffing co-worker Yaphet Kotto (Alien, Blue Collar, Homicide: Life on the Street) memorably plays pinball to the beat of Martha Reeves' "Heat Wave”, railroad man/single dad Ivan Dixon meets preacher’s daughter Abbey Lincoln (the legendary jazz singer in her first acting role) and tries to build a dignified life. But after getting fired from a mill and a filling station by racists, shunning a $2.50 a day job picking cotton, a difficult visit with his embittered, boozing dad Julius Harris, rejecting a reunion with his little son, and a physically painful argument with Lincoln, what’s he gonna do? Made on a shoestring by independent Roemer, with rich b&w photography by his producing partner, Robert M. Young (see also: The Plot Against Harry on Jan. 27), a vintage Motown soundtrack, low-keyed performances by a soon-to-be-eminent cast including Gloria Foster (“Oracle” in The Matrix) and Moses Gunn – and only a year later, Dixon would become nationally famous as co-star of tv’s Hogan’s Heroes -- Man was a sensation at the Venice, London, and New York Film Festivals: at the end of its screening at the second NYFF, the audience of 2,000 broke out into spontaneous applause. This podcast episode is a recording of a Q & A with NOTHING BUT A MAN director MICHAEL ROEMER, recorded Nov 9, 2012, at a screening of the film at Film Forum.

WAKE IN FRIGHT: Just a one-night stopover in “The Yabba” for Peter O’Toole look-alike Gary Bond, between the (literally) two-house town where he’s stuck teaching, and the flight to Sydney and his girlfriend during the Christmas break. But as local cop Chips Rafferty (the Australian character star in his final role) leads him to the local hardboozing rituals and the delights of gambling on the “two-up,” the nightmare begins, with sex interrupted by vomiting, the ministrations of too-friendly alcoholic doc Donald Pleasence (Halloween, The Great Escape, etc., etc.), and topped by a very graphic kangaroo hunt. Long thought to exist in a single inferior print, the original negative was found after a ten-year search in…Pittsburgh — leading to this eye-popping restoration by The National Film and Sound Archives of Australia. Directed by Canadian transplant Ted Kotcheff (otherwise best known for The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz, Stallone’s First Blood, and Weekend at Bernie’s!), with Evan Jones’ screenplay based on a novel by Kenneth Cook. Approx. 114 min. 35mm. This podcast episode is a recording of a Q & A with director Ted Kotcheff, recorded October 6, 2012, at a screening of WAKE IN FRIGHT at Film Forum.