Ep. 59 - Straight Time (1978)

Join Ben Reiser, Scott Lucas, and special guest Richard Shepard as we take a deep dive into Ulu Grosbard's crime drama/character study 1978 masterpiece, Straight Time. Soak in the 70s vibes as we talk about: Hoffman almost directing David Shire's main title theme Scene stealing M Emmet Walsh Scene stealing pre-accident Gary Busey Scene stealing Jake Busey Scene stealing Theresa Russell Scene stealing Kathy Bates Scene stealing Harry Dean Stanton Flop Houses Pay Phones Paper Moon The Dead Zone The Last Tycoon Thief Heat Edward Bunker Sam O'Steen Owen Roizman Tootsie And really seriously a whole bunch more.

After an extended hiatus, we are back with an extended new episode of 70 Movies We Saw in the 70s! Scott Lucas is on tour with Local H, so joining Ben for this deep dive into Don Siegel’s TELEFON (1977) are podcast all-stars Jim Healy and Scooter McCrae. Join us as we: ⦁ Wage war on Walter Wager ⦁ Blow up Charles Bronson ⦁ Let loose on Lee Remick ⦁ Duke it out over Don Siegel ⦁ Pounce on Peter Hyams ⦁ Savage Sterling Silliphant ⦁ Pummel Donald Pleasence And SO. MUCH. MORE. There are miles to go before we sleep.

Ben Reiser and Jim Healy are joined by returning guest, Richard Shepard (FILM GEEK, THE PERFECTION, THE MATADOR, I KNEW IT WAS YOU, GIRLS) for a deep dive into Peter Bogdanovich's comeback masterpiece, SAINT JACK (1979). Join us for a fascinating discussion as we: - Bow down to Ben Gazzara - Salute Singapore - Praise Peter Bogdanovich - Dig Denholm Elliott - Rave about Robby Muller - Open up about Orson Welles - Get Groovy with George Lazenby Plus: Cybill Shepherd writes a screenplay, Paul Theroux praises an adaptation, Roger Corman rides again, Vincent Canby writes a wrongheaded review and so much more...

70 Movies We Saw in the 70s makes it's (in)glorious return as Ben and Scott welcome American Genre Film Archive's Bret Berg, and Inglorious Trekspert (and Ben's high school buddy) Mark Altman for a not-quite maiden voyage on the Enterprise for Star Trek: The Motion Picture. Boldly go where lots of nerdy podcasts have gone before as we explore: *Our love/hate relationships with this motion picture *Al Pacino, Star Trek superfan *Bill Shatner, hero or heel? *Ensign Steven Wright *Gene Roddenberry, breast or thigh man? *Kirk's killing streak *A Bearded Bones *A Celibate Deltan *V'ger or Vijer? *V'ger vs The Entity And. So. Much. More!

On the eve of Paul Newman's centennial, Ben, Scott and Jim welcome guest Christina Martin-Wright to the show for a spirited and lengthy dissection of George Roy Hill's brilliant hockey comedy, SLAP SHOT. Pull up a bleacher and join in as the panel discusses: * Own vs Owns * What qualifies as a sex scene * Network tv versions of profanity fueled classics * Lindsay Crouse’s tipping point * Paul Newman’s gold teeth * The lost art of “mooning” * The lost art of subtle “coarse” comedies * Sssssss vs Slither * Carlson bros vs Hanson bros * Strother Martin vs Marv Albert And much much more! + what was playing that week?

Ben Reiser, Scott Lucas and Jim Healy tackle one of their favorite "Christmas" movies, 1978's The Silent Partner, directed by Daryl Duke and written by Curtis Hanson. In addition to Duke and Hanson, the guys cover everyone and everything from Elliott Gould to Christopher Plummer, from Susannah York to John Candy, from David Cronenberg to Carolco, and much much much more. Also a delightful round of What Was Playing That Week?!?

Happy Thanksgiving, 70 Movies style! Ben and Scott are joined by special guest Jim Healy to gather round the table for a tart as a cranberry discussion of Norman Lear's 1971 turkey - Cold Turkey. Sit back with a plate full of stuffing and listen along as we try to make sense of this sour satire of small town life. Along the way we get into Paddy Chayefsky, George C. Scott, top three Walter Matthau movies, Robert Downey, Sr., the delightful Pippa Scott and much more. Plus, a rousing round of "What Else Was Playing That Week?"

Ben is joined by writer-director, Richard Shepard (The Linguini Incident, The Matador, The Perfection, I Knew It Was You, and most recently, Film Geek) for a deep dive into the vivid 70s Marseilles universe of John Frankenheimer's The French Connection II. Go (re)watch the movie and then join us for a spoiler-filled two hour conversation that touches on the joy of seeing Gene Hackman eat, the heartache of seeing Gene Hackman go cold turkey, the underrated career of John Frankenheimer, running in work clothes and dress shoes, Allison Williams, Roy Scheider, Elmore Leonard, Cutter's Way, and so much more!

On a special Christmas-themed episode, Scott and Ben dive down the 70s conspiracy thriller rabbit hole with Sidney Pollack's THREE DAYS OF THE CONDOR. See if you can follow the breadcrumbs as we: *Relish Redford's mo-ped machismo *Casually comment on Cliff's combover *Fawn fondly over Faye's fabulous photos PLUS *Sidney Pollack out-hitches Hitch as the original king of Cameo *Von Sydow lays a glove on us *Hank Garrett smushes a schnoz *Encyclopedia Brown vs. Dick Tracy AND *A Seinfeld conspiracy *What was playing that week?

On an all-star episode of 70 Movies We Saw in the 70s, Jim Healy and Scooter McCrae join Scott and Ben for an apocalyptic assault on John Boorman's one-of-a-kind dystopian sex/death romp, Zardoz! Listen along as the quartet analyzes everything from Sean Connery's speedo-loincloth to Sean Connery's bearded ponytail. Hold on to your headphones as we careen down memory lane with tales of close encounters with John Boorman, Jonathan Rosenbaum, and the Coen Brothers. Break out the green bread, this one's a doozy!