Film Generations – Details, episodes & analysis

In 1999, David Fincher’s Fight Club opened to bad reviews and disappointing box office. 25 years later, it widely considered one of the best, most entertaining films of the last quarter century, a perennial 800-pound gorilla in the world of internet chat. It solidified the reputation of David Fincher, an auteur who (like many) has put his work ahead of any efforts to promote his image as an artist. Younger viewers often came to this film early in life, perhaps too early to understand its sarcasm and humanistic ideology, but they know far better than boomers do how relevant it is to today’s culture. It is, among other things, a Rorschach test that appeals to and excites people across all IQs, political persuasions, and personal identities. Listen in as young and old grapple with one of the final classics of the 20th century. An ElectraCast Production. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fight Club_(film) Original Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BdJKm16Co6M Currently imdb’s 12th best movie of all time Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In 1947 RKO studios made a surprise classic with OUT OF THE PAST, directed by journeyman Jacques Tourneur and starring Robert Mitchum, Kirk Douglas and Jane Greer near the start of their careers.  For film noir fans, this movie’s reputation has never stopped growing since.  Combining snappy dialogue, a double-crossing femme fatale and an unusual flashback structure, this sexy and suspenseful movie heats up fast and never takes its foot off the gas. But does this film still burn as hot for young audiences, with actors they may have never heard of and a censorship code that, no matter how far the filmmakers pushed it, leaves a lot more to the imagination than we’re used to today?   Find out on this episode of Film Generations. An ElectraCast Production. Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Out_of_the_Past IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0039689/ BFI / Sight & Sound Greatest Films of All Time (#157): https://www.bfi.org.uk/sight-and-sound/greatest-films-all-time Roger Ebert “Great Movies” Review: https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/great-movie-out-of-the-past-1947 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Frank Capra is well-known for such top-ranked classics as It Happened One Night, Lost Horizon, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington and It’s a Wonderful Life.  However, his 1941 film, Meet John Doe, starring Gary Cooper and Barbara Stanwyck, deserves more love. It’s often very funny but deals with some of the darkest issues of American democracy and demagoguery.   While sometimes labelled corny, its characters grapple with moral choices and the depths of despair – all while taking on surprisingly contemporary issues of fake news, voter manipulation, mass layoffs, mob rioting and the media’s craving for sensationalism.  So does this 82-year-old film speak to a new generation of film lovers? What still seems timely and what now makes us cringe? Find out, when our young panel brings today’s sensibilities to this time capsule from the Great Depression. Hosts: Mark Netter & David Tausik  Panelists: Grace Chapman, Jake Flowers &  Kylee LaRue An ElectraCast Production   Per AFI, one of the 50 most inspiring films of all time Original Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tM9fO0QxHLI Newer trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9j3gdbdnoEk Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meet_John_Doe Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This 1991 film, the first high-budget female buddy comedy/thriller/road movie, exploded into the cultural scene with a powerful mix of female empowerment, violence, comedy and moral dynamite. It’s initial release sparked cultural arguments across the media about whether the movie endorsed violence against men or simply gave their heroines the type of story arc previously reserved only for male stars.  Was Thelma and Louise good or bad for feminism?  Was it simply the most compelling female friendship seen on screen for decades? Whatever your opinion, this funny, moving and provocative film clearly struck a nerve. Starring Susan Sarandon, Geena Davis, Harvey Keitel, and Brad Pitt (in his star-making role), Thelma & Louise takes audiences on a wild ride across the American South and Southwest, to an iconic conclusion still hotly debated to this day. So does a 32-year-old take on female freedom and friendship in America still feel relevant to a generation raised in today’s evolved gender environment? Our panel of young film lovers may truly surprise you with their answers. Hosts: Mark Netter & David Tausik  Panelists: Grace Chapman, Guy Lewis & Jake Flowers An ElectraCast Production   Current AFI Greatest Thrillers List: #76 Academy Award winner – Best Original Screenplay, Callie Khouri Nominations – Ridley Scott: Best Director, Susan Sarandon & Geena Davis: Best Actress   Original Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2iBFmKlO4BY Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thelma_%26_Louise Time Magazine Review: https://content.time.com/time/subscriber/article/0,33009,973242,00.html Original Variety Review: https://variety.com/1990/film/reviews/thelma-louise-1200428677/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This still shocking and wildly popular movie, which birthed the slasher genre and yet is still perhaps the deepest, most complex example of it, was maestro Alfred Hitchcock’s biggest hit, even though it was the lowest budget film he made in America.  Psycho broke so many rules, in such a riveting way, that it’s never stopped being talked about in the 63 years since its release. It blew the door off the censorship of the Hays Code. The famous shower scene and the incredible music accompanying it have been imitated year after year after year by hacks as well as by the most highly regarded filmmakers of the last half century. Our panel of film-lovers talk about the astonishing twists and turns of the story, the hidden symbolism and techniques that make it such a head-turner, and exactly how it is that a film that has been copied so often for so long still delivers a fresh experience. Hosts: Mark Netter & David Tausik  Panelists: Jake Flowers, Guy Lewis & Ann Michelle An ElectraCast Production Current AFI Greatest American films list: #14 Current AFI Greatest Thrillers List: #1 Original Trailer: Psycho Official Trailer 1960 HD - YouTube Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psycho_(1960_film) Original Time Magazine Review: https://time.com/3907090/original-review-1960-psycho/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Terry Gilliam’s 1985 dystopic science fiction comedy Brazil had a difficult release that mirrored its themes of bureaucracy, denial, mindless consumerism, and relentless propaganda. The head of the Studio tried to neuter the film’s dark, humanistic message, worried it wouldn’t play to his target audience of 17-to-29 year-olds. And, indeed, this now-classic satire was a box-office flop. So what do today’s 20-somethings make of Brazil? Do themes of authoritarianism, constant surveillance, and the loss of individuality resonate with a generation saturated in new surveillance technology? Is what was funny in 1985 still funny 38 years later? Our young and old film-lovers discuss Monty Python, Robert De Niro, if the love-struck Jonathan Crane is sympathetic or a creepy stalker, and whether this visually stunning, handmade tour-de-force still dazzles in an age of easy CGI. Hosts: Mark Netter & David Tausik  Panelists: Grace Chapman & Olive Goldberg An ElectraCast Production Winner 1985 L.A. Film Critics Awards Best Picture, Best Screenplay, Best Director Not on any AFI top films lists Original Video Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZKPFC8DA9_8 Imdb with New Trailer: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0088846/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_0_tt_8_nm_0_q_brazil Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brazil_(1985_film) Pauline Kael Review: https://www.newyorker.com/goings-on-about-town/movies/brazil Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

With exteriors shot in war-ravaged Vienna, this iconic film noir thriller boasts writing, cinematography, editing and music comparable to Citizen Kane, winning it the Palm D’Or at Cannes, the British academy award for Best Picture of 1949, as well as an Oscar for Best Cinematography (Black-and-White). Its unique zither score rose to #1 on the Billboard Charts. In 1999, the British Film Institute voted it the greatest British film of all time. The story, by celebrated novelist and spy Graham Greene, is full of mystery, intrigue, irony, fraught relationships, and action. Joseph Cotten plays the American plunged into a world beyond his understanding, with Alida Valli as the beautiful, jaded woman beyond his grasp. Orson Welles turns in a knock-out performance as the mysterious title character. Our panel of film-lovers young and old discusses the films they love that owe their roots to this classic, which parts of it are still cool and what now seems dorky, and why people today would want to watch black & white movies at all. Hosts: Mark Netter & David Tausik Panelists: Grace Chapman, Jake Flowers & Guy Lewis Guest Panelist: Ann Michelle An ElectraCast Production AFI Greatest American Movies (original list): #57 IMDb with restored trailer: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0041959/ Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Third_Man Original Variety Review: https://variety.com/1949/film/reviews/the-third-man-1117795637/ Guardian Review: https://www.theguardian.com/film/2015/aug/02/the-third-man-review-philip-french Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In 1939, a golden year of Hollywood filmmaking, legendary director John Ford returned to the almost defunct genre that had launched his career, the Western. Stagecoach brought a new sophistication to Westerns, made the 32-year-old John Wayne a movie star, and won Academy Awards for both its stirring musical score and supporting actor Thomas Mitchell. (John Ford eventually won 4 best directing Oscars – still today more than any director in history.) With its stellar cast, expert action sequences and location shooting in Monument Valley, Stagecoach brought an epic scope to what would have been merely an intimate drama in another director’s hands.  But a lot has changed culturally in the past 84 years.  Our panel of film-lovers young and old discusses the archaic sexual mores of the time (the film is set in 1880), changing attitudes toward Native Americans and conceptions of masculinity, and whether the endless imitation of this classic has made Stagecoach seem stereotypical or seminal. Hosts: Mark Netter & David Tausik Panelists: Grace Chapman, Jake Flowers & Guy Lewis An ElectraCast Production AFI Greatest American Movies (original list): #36 Restored Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hjXnoXdyA7k IMDb with original trailer: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0031971/ Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stagecoach_(1939_film) Original Variety Review: https://variety.com/1939/film/reviews/stagecoach-1200412191/ Original New York Times Review: https://www.nytimes.com/1939/03/03/archives/the-screen-a-fordpowered-stagecoach-opens-at-music-hall-mickey.html Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

After some modest early success, Spike Lee announced the arrival of a major new voice with his 1989 film Do the Right Thing.  Funny, controversial, and prescient – anticipating many of the issues that would dominate the next 33 years - this film took a freewheeling look at race relations and violence by both police and protesters in an age long before “woke” culture became mainstream. Our panel of movie lovers young and old discuss how this powerful film affected them, how current it feels a third of a century later, and what it’s like to see so many iconic stars early in their careers — Samuel Jackson, John Turturro, Giancarlo Esposito, Rosie Perez, Martin Lawrence and the young writer, director, producer and star, Spike Lee. Hosts: Mark Netter & David Tausik Panelists: Grace Chapman, Jake Flowers & Guy Lewis An ElectraCast Production AFI Greatest American Movies (original list): #36 Original Trailer (restored): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yVAD4fYRcvA IMDb (with low-res trailer): https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0097216/ Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Do_the_Right_Thing Original Variety Review: https://variety.com/1989/film/reviews/do-the-right-thing-review-1200428009/ Original New York Times Review: https://www.nytimes.com/1989/06/30/movies/review-film-spike-lee-tackles-racism-in-do-the-right-thing.html Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Long after the silent film era ended, Charlie Chaplin returned to make his final silent picture, Modern Times.  Not only is it #8 on IMDb’s funniest comedies of all time, but it’s a commentary about homelessness, alienation in the machine age, over-policing, poverty, and other social issues still debated today.  The film is 87 years old but has retained a viewership over nearly a century.  Is it possible that such an old film might still feel relevant to today’s young generation? Our panel of film lovers young and old discusses how this classic has aged, what ways it still feels illuminating and even timely, what falls flat for younger viewers, and what the icon of Chaplin’s tramp means in the 21st Century. Hosts: Mark Netter & David Tausik Panelists: Grace Chapman, Jake Flowers & Guy Lewis AFI Greatest American Movies (original list): #36 IMDb listing with newer Trailer: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0027977/ Original 1936 Trailer: https://www.criterionchannel.com/videos/modern-times-trailer Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Modern_Times_(film)#:~:text=Modern%20Times%20is%20a%201936,in%20the%20modern%2C%20industrialized%20world. Original Variety Review: https://variety.com/1936/film/reviews/modern-times-2-1200411268/ Roger Ebert Review: https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/modern-times-1972 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices