“Why on Earth is there another film podcast?” Is the question you, the reasonable listener, will ask while nevertheless hitting play on this pilot-of-sorts for yet another entry in perhaps the seventh art’s most undignified progeny.

Stop me if you’ve heard this one before: here is a show that strives to stand outside its peers. This is not a show informing you that the week’s big new release is pretty good, actually or a group of guys talking about ’80s movies so bad they’re riduclawesome or me digging up the ruddiest MKV file I can find and having a friend from the Internet talk about it with me for 46 minutes––but there will be some of that, because it’s better than talking about most other things.

Rather, I’ve envisioned this as a multi-headed object: conversations among filmmakers, film programmers, and cinephiles mixed with monologues, reviews, streaming and repertory highlights––a podcast that takes you from the miked-up, pop-filtered confines of a professional-sounding show to the sturm und drang of chats among friends in a packed bar, which is where some of my most fruitful film discussions have been held and which often yields more valuable observations than, speaking hypothetically, someone stressing over saying just the right thing because they have a microphone in front of them and are emphatically aware that they’re on a film podcast.

On this debut episode I talk with Carson Lund, the co-writer, director, and editor of Eephus, now in limited release; then Hesse Deni of Movie Mindset joins me to discuss Errol Morris’ CHAOS: The Manson Murders, which is now on Netflix.

Listen below and subscribe on Spotify and Apple.

Music courtesy of Lex Walton: “Love Theme From an Unreleased Film” from the album Giving It Up.

Welcome to The B-Side, from The Film Stage. Here we usually talk about movie stars and not the movies that made them famous or kept them famous, but the ones they made in between. Today, however, we talk about Oscar movies (!), or better yet, movies that remind us of Oscar movies!

Conor and I welcome back the lovely Joe Reid (co-host of This Had Oscar Buzz, creator of Cinematrix, and Vulture’s Movies Fantasy League) & Chris Feil (co-host of This Had Oscar Buzz and writer of a series of great pieces of Oscar history for Vanity Fair). Today, we each choose a movie adjacent to a current Best Picture Oscar nominee.

The movies include Seconds, The Name of the Rose, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, and The Wolverine. Also discussed is filmmaker Bill Morrison’s nomination for his incredible short film Incident, Jean-Jacques Annaud’s 1981 film Quest for Fire, and our recent This Had Oscar Buzz guest appearance talking about The Devil’s Own.

Additionally, there’s conversation about Rob McElhenney’s Hot Ones episode (in which he discusses the trauma of being cut out of The Devil’s Own as a young actor!), the “Hellfire” sequence in Hunchback, and how exactly The Wolverine counts as a B-Side.

Be sure to give us a follow on Bluesky at @tfsbside.bsky.social. Enjoy!

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Happy Valentine’s Day from 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 appreciate one of the great, under-appreciated Hollywood directors: Peter Hyams! Our B-Sides include Peeper, Hanover Street, The Star Chamber, 2010: The Year We Make Contact, and Running Scared.

Our guest is Mike Ryan, great writer, interviewer, and deep fan of Hyams’ eclectic body of work. Sudden Death is a favorite, along with 2010.

We discuss the auteur versus the “workman director,” why some filmmakers gather an intense following and others don’t, and the lasting effect many of Hyams’ films have had on the culture as well as other filmmakers.

There’s much talk about Hyams’ ability as a cinematographer, and how rare it is to be a director that films their own movies. 

Mike makes the case that 2010 is more watchable than 2001: A Space Odyssey, Conor attempts to get over how corrupt Billy Crystal and Gregory Hines are as cops in Running Scared, and Dan sings the praises of Hyams’ Narrow Margin.

There’s extended conversation about Robert Blake, co-star of Hyams’ debut Busting, an appreciation of director John Badham (specifically Blue Thunder), and a reflection on the enormity of the production of End of Days.

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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 someone who is one of the most well-liked celebrities alive: Queen Latifah! Our guest today is KT from the great podcast “For Your Reference.” Our B-Sides today are: Living Out Loud, Last Holiday, Just Wright, and Joyful Noise.

We also discuss Queen’s book, her iconic BET Lifetime Achievement Award Speech, her music career, and her chances of making it to E.G.O.T. status. There’s lively discussion about her undeniable, universal likeability, her impeccable taste in leading men, a deep appreciation for Michael Ealy, and compliments to Queen’s performance in Bessie. 

There’s respect paid to the full life she’s lived, there’s criticism leveled at the basketball Common plays in Just Wright, as well as a thorough discussion of Paula Patton’s contributions to the film. We marvel at the ‘90s sheen of Living Out Loud and the timelessness of Last Holiday’s message and positive energy. And, finally, there’s that scene between Queen Latifah and Dolly Parton in Joyful Noise.

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Welcome to The B-Side! Here we talk about movie stars and movie directors! Not the movies that made them famous or kept them famous, but the ones that they made in between. Sometimes we are lucky enough to even speak with them about their work. And sometimes, they are both a movie star and a movie director. Today that’s Julia Stiles, director of Wish You Were Here, now in theaters and available digitally on February 4th.

Our B-Sides today include O, The Business of Strangers, and It’s a Disaster. Stiles discusses the filmmakers she’s worked with in the past and how they influenced her decisions sitting in the director’s chair (the best ones “set a tone of calmness” she says), making friends on the South Carolina set of O, and becoming more intentional with the creative choices in her career (including auditioning for Silver Linings Playbook). 

We also chat about Wish You Were Here, her feature debut as a filmmaker. Stiles mentions guarding against the saccharine to tell “a mature love story.” There’s also considerable praise of lead actress Isabelle Fuhrman and her incredible range, as well as a story about calling filmmaker Doug Liman for sailing advice. Speaking of Liman, Dan and Conor take a moment to unpack Nicky Parsons from the Bourne franchise, the efforts(?) of Tony Gilroy, and a crucial line read in Ultimatum that adds so much depth to Stiles’ role.

Finally, we cover how exactly Stiles got the great Vanessa Carlton and her partner John McCauley to do the score to her film. Early 2000s icons unite! And there is a brief, insightful conversation on why exactly Stiles chose to do all of those Shakespeare adaptations early on in her career. 

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Happy Holidays from 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 the incomparable Al Pacino with the returning Mitchell Beaupre! Our B-Sides today include Bobby Deerfield, Revolution, Frankie & Johnny, and Danny Collins. We discuss Pacino’s legacy (is he our greatest living actor?), his Oscar win for Scent of a Woman (what a silly plot that movie has!), and his deeply earnest autobiography Sonny Boy. 

We dish on what doesn’t work about Bobby Deerfield (for one, it’s too quiet), what does work about Revolution (hint: it’s the production design), how Michelle Pfeiffer was unfairly criticized for Frankie & Johnny, and why Danny Collins is much better than you think.

Conor asks: Is Adam Sandler the new Pacino? Mitchell asks: Was Pacino’s smallness in Bobby Deerfield and its failure a primary reason he stayed big for so long? Dan asks: Hey Baby Doll, what’s going on?

There’s a reflection on Dan’s problematic review of Jack & Jill from over thirteen years ago (yikes!), a tacit comparison between Pacino and Kenneth Branagh (whose recent King Lear production has been criticized, though I thoroughly enjoyed it), and a recollection of Jerry Weintraub helping Ellen Barkin with Ocean’s Thirteen.

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Happy Holidays from 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 the great Jack Lemmon with the great Mitchell Beaupre! Our B-Sides today include Cowboy, The April Fools, Tribute, and Out to Sea. There’s also a lengthy appreciation of Save the Tiger, which won Lemmon his second Oscar.

The three of us try to define how exactly Lemmon so perfectly encapsulated the average, American male for so many decades, while digging into his long career, that includes both filmmaker Billy Wilder and Walter Matthau. We discuss how Cowboy was ahead of its time, how The April Fools skates by on immense, charming chemistry, and how Tribute falters due to a stunted co-lead (sorry Robby Benson!). 

There’s a lot in this episode. A true holiday gift! We appreciate the great film critic Janet Maslin. We recount that time when Ving Rhames won a Golden Globe and called Lemmon on stage to gift him the award out of respect. There’s a brief reflection on the strange career of Tribute director Bob Clark, a discovery that our greatest living cinematographer lensed 80 for Brady, and an appropriate acknowledgement that Dyan Cannon, co-star of Out to Sea, makes every film better.

Be sure to give us a follow on Twitter and Facebook. Subscribe to the podcast on iTunes, Spotify, and Stitcher. Enter our giveaways, get access to our private Slack channel, and support new episodes by becoming a Patreon contributor.

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As a special holiday gift to The Film Stage podcast feed, listen to a new Box Office Bonanza! Here we talk about random box office weekends and where they fit into our lives. The movies, the memories! This episode features Dan Mecca, Conor O’Donnell, Mitchell Beaupre, Jordan Raup, and Cory Everett.

The box office weekend in question is July 21, 2000. The number one movie in the country was the Robert Zemeckis-directed, Clark Gregg-scripted, Harrison Ford and Michelle Pfeiffer-starring supernatural thriller What Lies Beneath. The number three movie was the second Pokémon feature film, Pokémon 2000. Gladiator was still in theaters, so was U-571.

But at the start, we mount a passionate defense of the new Zemeckis epic Here, which has now arrived digitally. After that, we talk about Martin Lawrence movies. We talk about how horrible Greg Kinnear’s character is in Amy Heckerling’s Loser. We talk about Al Pacino’s new autobiography Sonny Boy. The sport doc Michael Jordan to the Max gets some discussion. An Office Space reference is completely ignored! There are too many 9/11 jokes! How many? You’ll have to listen to find out. We remember that great bit with Ben Stiller and Tom Cruise from the MTV Movie Awards (“He’s Harmless”). There’s an appreciation of Jesus’ Son as well. 

There’s a Saving Silverman reference, talk of yo-yos and Yu-Gi-Oh! There’s a remembrance of that time The Perfect Storm and The Patriot came out the same weekend. Finally, for a few moments I’m convinced that nobody has been recording the podcast! 

There’s a lot here, people! We’re thankful for you listening to us have fun! We hope you have some fun too!

Check out The Film Stage’s 2024 Holiday Gift Guide and Cory Everett’s slew of Cinephile books and games! 

Enjoy this episode and we welcome other interesting box office weekends to cover in the future. Stay tuned in 2025 for more podcast news from The Film Stage!

Happy Thanksgiving from 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, for our 150th (!) episode, we are thankful for Ridley Scott! As Gladiator II reigns supreme at the box office, our B-Sides today include Legend, Matchstick Men, Exodus: Gods and Kings, and The Last Duel. Our esteemed guest Maria Lewis––“best-selling author, screenwriter, film curator and pop culture etymologist currently based in Australia––is back!

Much is discussed over two-and-a-half glorious hours. Ridler’s pioneering Apple Ad; his recent breakneck pace as filmmaker; his movies being on Australian television constantly; and his production empire. Maria laments her experience watching Legend for the first time while Dan and Conor celebrate the film’s importance in their childhood. Ridley’s fascination with death comes up, as do the competing Christopher Columbus film projects in 1992. There’s talk of his legacy and Ridley’s consideration of it.

The “best intentions” of The Last Duel are discussed at length (name a woman!), as are the top-notch performances and the disappointing box office. Dan also fumbles over a tacit defense of G.I. Jane. It’s embarrassing!

Be sure to give us a follow on Twitter and Facebook. Subscribe to the podcast on iTunes, Spotify, and Stitcher. Enter our giveaways, get access to our private Slack channel, and support new episodes by becoming a Patreon contributor.

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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 gush (and hush) over Gwyneth Paltrow with our past, present, and future guest Cory Everett, creator of Cinephile: A Card Game and the ever-expanding My First Movie books!

Our B-Sides today are: Flesh and Bone, Hard Eight, Hush, and Sliding Doors. The main focus revolves around her banner year of 1998. Paltrow had FIVE films released in ‘98, including Shakespeare in Love, which won her an Oscar.

We talk about her superb SNL opening monologue from 1999 (and her cameo in Ben Affleck’s monologue the next year), her deep cultural resonance at the time (some credit her for bringing the color pink back into fashion), the films she made before and after Emma, and her waning movie star era after the year 2000. Of the nearly fifty films in which she has appeared, there have been precious few since 2010 that were not Marvel movies. There was, of course, Mortdecai. And, perhaps most famously, her lifestyle company Goop.

There’s Hush’s infamous test screenings and wig-heavy reshoots (years later, Jessica Lange called the film “a piece of shit”), Sliding Doors’ haircuts and soundtrack, and Flesh and Bone’s slow-cooked, well-worn dramatics. Also mentioned is that amazing Patrick Doyle score for Great Expectations, The Film Stage’s Holiday Gift Guide, And then there’s Duets and Gwyneth’s hit cover song “Cruisin’” with Huey Lewis.

For more from The B-Side, you can check out highlights of actors/directors and the films discussed in one place here.

Be sure to give us a follow on Twitter and Facebook. Subscribe to the podcast on iTunes, Spotify, and Stitcher. Enter our giveaways, get access to our private Slack channel, and support new episodes by becoming a Patreon contributor.

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Happy Halloween from 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 greats––Vincent Price! Our guest this episode––as with every Halloween episode––is Gavin Mevius, co-host of The Mixed Reviews Podcast of The Glitterjaw Queer Podcast Collective. Make sure you listen to their own comprehensive episode on Vincent Price as well!

Our B-Sides today are: The Baron of Arizona, Champagne for Caesar, War-Gods of the Deep, and finally Cry of the Banshee.

We talk about Price, his interesting life and family history, and the diversity of roles he took on, some reflected in the above B-Sides. Price’s Nic Cage-like professional prolific-ness and “respect for the dollar” comes up, as does the real-life Charles Van Doren quiz show scandal from the ‘50s (the basis for the masterful Robert Redford film Quiz Show). There’s mention of the growing respect of filmmaker SamuelFuller over the years as well as an appreciation of the great Jacques Tourneur and a brief delve into underwater photography. We mention this insightful comedy observation from Tina Fey, this incredible Bill Hader impersonation (and this one), and Price’s iconic work as Ratigan in The Great Mouse Detective. Last but not least, we discuss Gavin’s upcoming, exciting The Q Division Podcast, A James Bond Movie Marathon.

For more from The B-Side, you can check out highlights of actors/directors and the films discussed in one place here.

Be sure to give us a follow on Twitter and Facebook. Subscribe to the podcast on iTunes, Spotify, and Stitcher. Enter our giveaways, get access to our private Slack channel, and support new episodes by becoming a Patreon contributor.

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Happy Halloween from 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 talk about Tim Burton! The man! The brand! The artist! The director! The lothario (complimentary)! The B-Sides today include Mars Attacks!, Sleepy Hollow, Planet of the Apes, and Frankenweenie. Our esteemed guest is Maria Lewis, “best-selling author, screenwriter, film curator, and pop culture etymologist currently based in Australia.” 

As Beetlejuice Beetlejuice still rakes in money in theaters, we discuss Burton’s influence, whether or not he’s actually a good director (something Burton himself has questioned in the past), his best films and his worst films, his inspirations, and the love-and-hate relationship with Disney from the very beginning of his career. There is also the observation that most of Tim Burton’s films are some version of Alice in Wonderland. Including, ahem, Alice in Wonderland.

Also discussed is Maria’s very cool podcast “The Phantom Never Dies,” about the superhero serial character The Phantom. Another important mention is Milicent Patrick, the woman who designed the creature from the Creature from the Black Lagoon film. And finally, we take the time to appreciate the incredibly underrated Australian film director Simon Wincer. 

For more from The B-Side, you can check out highlights of actors/directors and the films discussed in one place here.

Be sure to give us a follow on Twitter and Facebook. Subscribe to the podcast on iTunes, Spotify, and Stitcher. Enter our giveaways, get access to our private Slack channel, and support new episodes by becoming a Patreon contributor.

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