The B-Side: A Film Stage Podcast The Film Stage

Welcome to The B-Side, from The Film Stage. 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 try to ice skate uphill to talk about Wesley Snipes! Our Snipes B-Sides include: Boiling Point, Drop Zone, U.S. Marshals, and The Art of War. The action star broke onto the scene in the mid-80s, turned heads with Major League, then dished out a slew of hits.

We discuss what makes Snipes the perfect action star, what changed for his career (good and bad) in the late ‘90s, and his recent Hollywood comeback.

Additional topics include Snipes’ amazing character names (Flipper Purify! John Cutter!), his multi-hyphenate accomplishments, and the high energy that often separates him from the fray.

Be sure to give us a follow on Twitter and Facebook at @TFSBSide. Also enter our giveaways, get access to our private Slack channel, and support new episodes by becoming a Patreon contributor. We are also now on Spotify and Stitcher. Enjoy!

Welcome to The B-Side, from The Film Stage. 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, Conor and Dan discuss a fan favorite: Marisa Tomei! We’re joined by the lovely Jen Johans, host of the Watch With Jen podcast! The Tomei B-Sides we cover include: Oscar, Unhook The Stars, The Watcher, and Happy Accidents. Tomei burst onto the scene in the ‘80s.

We dig into what makes Tomei so very watchable and how that approachability has led to an incredibly diverse career. At a young age, Tomei won the Oscar for My Cousin Vinny, a victory so surprising it spurred silly rumors that persisted for some time. What followed was a slew of fascinating lead roles in the ‘90s and some strong character work in the 2000s.

Additional topics include how Keanu Reeves ended up being in The Watcher, the aggravatingly subdued and patronizing critical reaction to Unhook The Stars upon its release, and the enduring comedy in Oscar. And, above all else, we talk about how great of a New York movie Happy Accidents is (spoilers: very great). There’s also mention of Alfonso Cuarón’s magnificently underrated Great Expectations (by Cuarón himself!) and of Tomei’s regret at taking mom roles.

There’s also a slew of personal recollections here from Conor, Jen, and Dan. Thank you Marisa for bringing us back to our cinematic roots!

Be sure to give us a follow on Twitter and Facebook at @TFSBSide. Also enter our giveaways, get access to our private Slack channel, and support new episodes by becoming a Patreon contributor. We are also now on Spotify and Stitcher. Enjoy!

Welcome to The B-Side, from The Film Stage. Here we talk about filmmakers! Not the movies that made them famous or kept them famous, but the ones that they made in between.

Today, Dan and Conor are honored to have a filmmaker who gave us some of the biggest Hollywood blockbusters of all time: Renny Harlin! The Finnish director has a new film out called The Misfits, starring Pierce Brosnan, Nick Cannon, and Jamie Chung. Our B-Sides include Harlin’s first film Born American, his Andrew Dice Clay-starrer The Adventures of Ford Fairlane, and the much-maligned, underrated pirate adventure Cutthroat Island.

Harlin is a very honest and open guest here, and we touch on many different moments throughout his accomplished and eclectic career. From the struggles and risks of getting Born American made, to the lessons learned on hits like Cliffhanger, and the cultural appraisal of films like Ford Fairlane and Cutthroat.

Other topics include Harlin’s upcoming Inspector Palmu movie (a longtime passion project for him), a deep dive into the complexities of making every decision in the director’s chair, and longing for the days when practical action was a more common occurrence on a film set.

Be sure to give us a follow on Twitter and Facebook at @TFSBSide. Also enter our giveaways, get access to our private Slack channel, and support new episodes by becoming a Patreon contributor. We are also now on Spotify and Stitcher. Enjoy!

Welcome to The B-Side, from The Film Stage. Here we talk about movie stars! Not the movies that made them famous or kept them famous, but the ones they made in between.

Today we talk about a personal favorite: Taye Diggs! The incredibly versatile performer has made his mark in theater, television, film over the past three decades. Dan and Conor are joined by filmmaker & creator of the Afro Horror Pod Sade Sellers to discuss all things Taye. The B-Sides we cover today include: horror remake House on Haunted Hill, John McTiernan’s last film Basic, the Paula Patton-led rom-com Baggage Claim, and the complicated (and unsettling) 'Til Death Do Us Part. 

This is one of our longest, most wide-reaching, and most rewarding episodes to be sure. We reference a great podcast Diggs did with Van Lathan from a few years back, in which he touches on the struggles of being Black in Hollywood. We, of course, also mention Diggs’ matinee idol looks and why exactly he struggled in making the leap from being the lead in films Hollywood deemed for “Black audiences” to films that Hollywood deemed for “everyone.” This is a performer of refreshing honesty, speaking on many important topics throughout his career.

Additional topics include Malibu’s Most Wanted, how Taye’s success led to Michael B. Jordan getting Without Remorse and why that’s important, and how progress is happening, though too little and too late.

Be sure to give us a follow on Twitter and Facebook at @TFSBSide. Also enter our giveaways, get access to our private Slack channel, and support new episodes by becoming a Patreon contributor. We are also now on Spotify and Stitcher. Enjoy!

Welcome to The B-Side, from The Film Stage. Here we talk about filmmakers! Not the movies that made them famous or kept them famous, but the ones that they made in between.

Today, Dan and Conor bring in the big guns(One Heat Minute Productions creator Blake Howard) to discuss one of the great filmmakers: Alan J. Pakula. After making a name for himself as a producer (he earned an Oscar nomination for To Kill a Mockingbird), Pakula emerged as a seminal New Hollywood director with his “paranoia trilogy:” Klute (1971), The Parallax View (1974), and All the President's Men (1976). And yet, he is rarely acknowledged in the upper-echelon of great 70s filmmakers like Coppola or De Palma.

On this episode we focus on Pakula’s underseen, unassuming western Comes a Horseman, his over-cooked domestic thriller Consenting Adults, and his final film The Devil’s Own, which stars Harrison Ford and Brad Pitt. Conor, Blake and Dan also take worthwhile detours to discuss Presumed Innocent and The Pelican Brief.

This is a wide-ranging talk, thanks in large part to our guest’s deep wealth of knowledge on the subject. Topics include Brad Pitt’s accent in The Devil’s Own and that it’s pretty good actually (!), what exactly auteur theory means (both Andrew Sarris and Pauline Kael come up, of course), how there are no consenting adults in Consenting Adults, and what we’ve lost from the blockbusters of eras past. Further research includes this piece on The Devil’s Own production problems and a fascinating episode of The Dick Cavett Show, featuring a subdued, cutting Pakula.

Be sure to give us a follow on Twitter and Facebook at @TFSBSide. Also enter our giveaways, get access to our private Slack channel, and support new episodes by becoming a Patreon contributor. We are also now on Spotify and Stitcher. Enjoy!

Welcome to The B-Side, from The Film Stage. Here we talk about filmmakers! Not the movies that made them famous or kept them famous, but the ones that they made in between.

Today, Dan and Conor have a brief, lovely chat with filmmaker Bill Morrison, who blew many cinephiles away with Dawson City: Frozen Time a few years back. We were lucky enough to speak with him then about the film and its inception. This time around, Morrison has a short film called let me come in, which is having its world broadcast premiere as part of the TCM Classic Film Festival on May 7th.

let me come in re-purposes footage from the lost 1928 silent film Pawns of Passion with the entrancing touch that only Morrison can employ, accompanied by a new song by composer David Lang and performed by soprano Angel Blue.
We discuss the new film with Morrison, the negative review Pawns of Passion actually got from The New York Times back in 1929 (!), and his upcoming film The Village Detective: A Song Cycle, which just recently premiered at the Moscow International Film Festival.

Be sure to give us a follow on Twitter and Facebook at @TFSBSide. Also enter our giveaways, get access to our private Slack channel, and support new episodes by becoming a Patreon contributor. We are also now on Spotify and Stitcher. Enjoy!