I Eat Movies Podcast I Eat Movies Podcast

Back from a winter hibernation, cohosts Mike and Dino return to the mics by saluting New Hollywood heavyweight Peter Bogdanovich in I Eat Movies #35: Dino’s First Time - The Last Picture Show (1971) / Texasville (1990). Examining Peter's meteoric rise from film critic and cinephile to one of the rising filmmakers of his generation, we dive into his critical and commerical smash coming of ager, The Last Picture Show. Equal parts melancholy and painfully relatable, we highlight the powerhouse performances and beautiful nuances that catapulted the film to becoming a classic. Next up, we tackle its nearly two decade later followup, Texasville, that saw the return of its original cast contending with new crises in middle age. A tonal departure ripe with more humor than imagined, we explore the merits and drawbacks in this unexpected continuation of the citizens of Anarene. Join us in this loving tribute to the late Peter Bogdanovich and some of his richest characters in I Eat Movies #35: Dino’s First Time - The Last Picture Show (1971) / Texasville (1990)!

As we bid farewell to the summer season, cohosts Mike and Dino regroup to blab about their own individual courses of cinema consumption in I Eat Movies #34: Seen Report, Vol. IV. From high caliber westerns like Rio Bravo and a 90s rave-based DTV hoot from the head of Lionsgate (!!!) starring Christina Applegate to ghostbusting hijinks on glorious 35mm, the fellas also highlight their shared drive-in excursion to experience Lethal Weapon and all of Mel Gibson's mullet glory on celluloid. Plus, Mike gushes about Tim Burton and Johnny Depp's best effort and his longtime infatuation with Ed Wood himself, a UFO lands outside of Dino's window not long after selling the merits of Fred Olen Ray's Deep Space and the Chuck Connors starring sci-fi effort, High Desert Kill. All this and even more movie eating have been nicely prepared in our latest serving of I Eat Movies so ditch the bib and gorge yourself!

Back from their springtime slumber, cohosts Mike and Dino find themselves in the world of small-screen thrills with I Eat Movies #33: Express Local, Central & Mountain - Panic on the 5:22 (1974) / Disaster on the Coastliner (1979). Released by ABC and later Good Times Home Video, Panic on the 5:22 examines urban crime and class disparity in a tense tale where a trio of armed men take over a private railroad car carrying society's elite. Starring a bevy of talent including, Bernie Casey (Hit Man), Andrew Duggan (It's Alive), Lynda Day George (TV's Mission: Impossible), Robert Walden (TV's Lou Grant), Laurence Luckinbill (The Boys in the Band), Reni Santoni (Dirty Harry), James Sloyan (The Sting) and countless others, this economical TV-movie offers more through quality character work than one might anticipate. Next up, enhanced by an extra strength dose of suspension of disbelief, Disaster on the Coastliner plays for sheer entertainment value as a vengeful rail employee orchestrates a devastating collision of two trains, one of which is occupied by the vice president's wife. Starring Lloyd Bridges (High Noon) as a tech skeptical secret service agent a year before appearing in Airplane!, E.G. Marshall (TV's The Defenders), Raymond Burr (Rear Window), Pat Hingle (Maximum Overdrive), Paul L. Smith (Popeye), Yvette Mimiuex (Dark of the Sun) and William Shatner (Kingdom of the Spiders), who hijacks the show as a charismatic conman turned unlikely hero, support this efficiently handled thrill ride enhanced by impressive stunt set pieces. Kick back and relive the glory days of TV Guide and virtually forgotten capsules of toob-tainment with us in I Eat Movies #33: Express Local, Central & Mountain - Panic on the 5:22 (1974) / Disaster on the Coastliner (1979)!

Spring has sprung and cohosts Dino and Mike return to bask in the neo-noir glow of Neil Jordan's breakout hit in I Eat Movies #32: Mike's First Time - Mona Lisa (1986). Charting the symbiotic relationship between Bob Hoskins' turn in The Long Good Friday (1980) and arguably his best performance here as a recently released prisoner turned chauffeur to a high-class call girl he falls for, Mona Lisa deals with a man's complexity in understanding women as well as a society he longer recognizes. In addition, Mike and Dino dish on the humorous relationship between Hoskins and IEM alumni Robbie Coltrane, Michael Caine's chilling turn that his real life wife loathed and Jordan's beautifully constructed script. In addition, Mike reveals his favorite song of all time while discussing Genesis' memorable inclusion in the film while, the importance of ambiguity and resistance in spelling everything out within a plot makes a stronger film is discussed. We may never be like normal people but, take a stroll with us on the boardwalk of this most tragic love story where manipulation is its key export.

Cohosts Dino and Mike aren't necessarily being blackmailed (yet) but, reinforcements were greatly appreciated in I Eat Movies #31: Elmore or Less - The Ambassador (1985) / 52 Pick-Up (1986)! Joined by cohosts of CinemaTalk, Ben Reiser (cohost of 70 Movies We Saw in the 70s and Lifers) and Jim Healy, (Director of Programming at UW Cinematheque), the heat is on as the quartet discuss the dual Cannon Films adaptations of Elmore Leonard's novel. Relocated to Israel, we dive into the heavily deviated from its source material (save for the blackmailing scheme) take in The Ambassador and discuss the controversy that led to Robert Mitchum joining the production. In addition, we applaud Ellen Burstyn's physicality and the workhorse-like directing chops of J. Lee Thompson who made Cannon films his home for the 1980s. Next up, we hightail it to the City of Angels for the undeniably better and sleazier take of the same material in 52 Pick-Up. In addition, Ben and Mike share their love for Jaws 2, Jim crushes it with his best John Glover "Balmorese" impression and Dino gives insight on the machinery displayed throughout the film. Plus, Frankenheimer, porn stars and Vanity slaying round out this hefty convo on one of Cannon's most taut thrillers.

After an extended holiday hiatus, cohosts Dino and Mike are back on the mics to close off Season 3 before they bid the concepts of seasons farewell due to their inability to properly count in I Eat Movies #30: Mike's First Time - Inside Moves (1980). Honoring the late Richard Donner, Mike and Dino examine a more intimate, character driven opus from the man behind Superman: The Movie and the Lethal Weapon films that he hailed as his personal favorite amongst all his features. A notable black sheep in a sea of bigger-budgeted studio fare, John Savage (The Deer Hunter) stars as a broken man who unsuccessfully attempts suicide only to find new purpose through the regulars of a local bar and a best friend in a bartender (David Morse, The Green Mile) with ambitions of becoming a pro basketball player. Pride, loyalty, friendship and the concept of community are all discussed in this virtually forgotten opus co-written by Barry Levinson (Diner, Rain Man) and Valerie Curtin (And Justice for All, Best Friends) and co-starring Diana Scarwind (Mommie Dearest, Psycho III) who was nominated for a Best Supporting Actress Oscar for her role.