Join us as we speak about Roger Moore’s first outing as 007 in Guy Hamilton’s Live and Let Die. We also cover the recent news that Danny Boyle has left the production of Bond 25, and we discuss the rumors and rationale behind it and also discuss who we would like to see take over as director. We also speak of the recent casting resurgence of Idris Elba as James Bond and where the franchise may go after Bond 25.
Joining us is seasoned veteran actor Raymond J. Barry to discuss his long and amazing career. Raymond speaks about being a theater actor and playwright, to appearing in such films as Falling Down, Interview with the Assassin, Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story, Year of the Dragon, Born on the 4th of July, and Training Day among many. He shares wonderful anecdotes from the films he has been a part of, and his candid thoughts on his roles and people he’s worked with. We hope you enjoy listening to this podcast as much as we enjoyed recording it. Please visit Raymond’s website to view his reel as well as his artwork.
Bob Rafelson’s BLOOD & WINE operates as the capstone at the end of a neo-noir resurgence in the 90s. Cut from the same whiskey and blood-soaked cloth as James Foley’s AFTER DARK, MY SWEET and CITY OF INDUSTRY the hard-lined revenge vehicle for Harvey Keitel; BLOOD & WINE is about lust, greed, and revenge set in the smoky backrooms and emptiness of decaying wealth.
Rafelson assembles a marvelous cast that is able to navigate in and out of the faux royalty and seedy underbelly of Miami. Jack Nicholson, in his fifth and more than likely final collaboration with Rafelson, plays Alex who is a high-end wine salesman with maxed out credit cards and a marriage that is imploding. Nicholson brings gravitas and menace and he transitions it in a very low key way, he’s a stalled out businessman and worn out salesman who is looking for a way out.
Stephen Dorff and Judy Davis are his packaged deal, makeshift family. Dorff as his stepson, and Davis his codeine induced wife who is self-medicating her way through the last rung of their marriage. Jennifer Lopez, in one of her earliest performance, plays the love interest to both Nicholson and Dorff, which creates a rather rich and perverse subplot.
Michael Caine gives one of his most underappreciated performances as Victor, a tuberculosis-ridden master thief who pairs with Nicholson to rob his most affluent wine client. Caine is remarkable in this picture, playing a man with little left to lose, who springs to life with terrifying intermittent bursts of rage who refuses to die without pulling others down to Hell with him.
Rafelson, whose career never quite rebounded from his landmark 70s pictures, constructs a very moody and treacherous film that lives in a world of double and triple crossing, a film plentiful of smoke absorbed pastels and cutthroat men navigating a world that has left them behind. The film can be frustrating for some because the ax never falls from the shadow, it stays in its place the entire film, even though the final frame. Which is the trick of the film, the ax doesn’t fall, it stays tightly in its place, and allows the story to continue even after it is over.
Frank and Tom are back, joined by fellow James Bond aficionado Brad Mulholland to discuss Sean Connery’s final official outing as James Bond in DIAMONDS ARE FOREVER.
Frank is joined with filmmaker and recurring Podcasting Them Softly co-host, Derek Wayne Johnson to discuss one of their favorite films, Tim Burton’s BATMAN. Derek also speaks on his current projects in post-production, STALLONE: FRANK THAT IS and his documentary on the original ROCKY.
Tom and Frank are back to discuss George Lazenby’s outing as James Bond in On Her Majesty’s Secret Service.
Joining Podcasting Them Softly once again is filmmaker, author, and Slamdance Film Festival co-founder Dan Mirvish. Dan’s most recent film, Bernard and Huey, is written by Jules Feiffer (Carnal Knowledge, Popeye) based upon his characters created in 1957 in the Village Voice magazine. The film stars Jim Rash, David Koechner, Mae Whitman, Nancy Travis, Bellamy Young, and Richard Kind. The film is currently in its theatrical and VOD run. Support your local filmmaker and go see the film!
Tim and Frank are back to discuss the latest Star Wars film, SOLO.
Frank and Tim are back with their latest Star Wars episode. And while their predictions of Max von Sydow being Boba Fett and who Rey’s parents are didn’t prove to be correct; everything you hear in this podcast is true…
Frank and Tom are back discussing the late Lewis Gilbert’s YOU ONLY LIVE TWICE which came out in 1967 and at the time was Sean Connery’s last outing as Bond. As we know he came back twice, in one officially sanctioned Bond film and then in an unofficial Bond film, Never Say Never Again. This is the film that unmasks Ernst Stavro Blofeld for the first time with Donald Pleasence playing the seminal villain. Roald Dahl author of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory wrote the screenplay for Lewis Gilbert who went on to direct The Spy Who Loved Me and Moonraker and who rose to promise as the director of 1966’s Alfie starring Michael Caine. Mr. Gilbert recently passed and we would like to dedicate this podcast to him.
Podcasting Them Softly 