Frank Mengarelli and Podcasting Them Softly’s James Bond resident, Tom Zielinski are joined with returning guests film journalist Paul Sparrow-Clarke and novelist and film historian Raymond Benson to discuss John Glen and Timothy Dalton’s final outing in the franchise, Licence to Kill. Tom and Frank will return with their discussion of GOLDENEYE.
Artwork provided by the very talented Jeffrey Marshall.
Welcome back to our annual Santa Barbara International Film Festival podcast! Tim and Frank recount their experience at this year’s festival. Included in the red carpet interview portion of the podcast is Roger Durling, Rami Malek, Adam McKay, Spike Lee, Viggo Mortensen, Richard E. Grant, Glenn Close, Josh Lucas, John David Washington, and Sam fucking Elliot.
Frank and Paul are back, this time to discuss John Carpenter’s 1978 masterpiece, Halloween and how it stacks up to David Gordon Green’s direct sequel. They also discuss the Rob Zombie remake as well as the legacy of the franchise and how it has endured over time.
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 with their latest installment of Podcasting Them Softly’s James Bond series, For Your Ears Only. This time they discuss Terence Young’s final outing as Bond helmer with THUNDERBALL. Tom and Frank are joined by fellow James Bond aficionado Mark Ashby as they discuss in great detail what many consider one of the best Bond films.
Frank and Kyle join teams to talk about one of their favorite, and underappreciated films from the 80s, George P. Cosmatos’ LEVIATHAN starring Peter Weller, Richard Crenna, Ernie Hudson, Daniel Stern, and Meg Foster. While this film does borrow heavily from THE THING and ALIEN, it’s much more than just a rip-off hybrid that stands on its own with strong performances, excellent production design, and value, and remarkable creature effects and a brooding score.
Pick up the Shout Factory blu ray here.
Frank and Tom are back with Podcasting Them Softly’s James Bond series, For Your Ears Only discussing Guy Hamilton’s GOLDFINGER and its impact on the franchise moving forward.
Join Frank and filmmaker turned Podcasting Them Softly co-host, Derek Wayne Johnson as they unveil PTS’s Halloween episode featuring a lively chat about Fred Dekker’s 80s masterpiece, NIGHT OF THE CREEPS.
Frank and Podcasting Them Softly’s James Bond expert, Tom Zielinski, talk about the very first official James Bond film, DR. NO. They discuss at length the lore of the James Bond Criterion Collection laserdiscs, the impression that Terrence Young made on the James Bond franchise that continues to this day, and the immeasurable influence that DR. NO had on cinema.
There was something about David Bowie. He wasn’t just worldly, he was out of this world. It was as if he knew something the rest of us didn’t. Bowie died on January 10th, 2016. More than a year and a half later he is not only missed by many, but he’s constantly being talked about. He was a rock star first and foremost, but he was also an actor. He wasn’t prolific, he was selective. He weaved in and out of some of the strangest films and some of the very finest. As Renny Harlin said in our podcast with him, Bowie was attached to play the villain in CLIFFHANGER opposite Sylvester Stallone, but Bowie couldn’t commit due to his concert schedule. That was a very big what if. What would it have been like to see Bowie face off against Sly?
Magnificent.
One of the many burning questions that circled the unraveling mystery of David Lynch and Mark Frost’s phenomenon of TWIN PEAKS: THE RETURN was did David Bowie film a secret cameo reprising his FIRE WALK WITH ME role as Philip Jeffries? He was mentioned heavily throughout the show. It was obvious Jeffries played a huge part in the main narrative of the show. He first showed up in archived footage from FWWM, but his voice was overdubbed by actor Nathan Frizzell. Lynch later said that Bowie gave them permission to use the footage, but not his voice. Lynch had guessed that he didn’t like his faux Louisiana accent he used.
Instead, Philip Jeffries came back as a machine with a spout that puffed steam and GPS coordinates once again voiced by actor Nathan Frizzell. We never got Bowie, and after the show finished, David Lynch was asked about it and said that Bowie declined to reprise without a reason, and that the reason was quickly known thereafter. At the very least, the legend of David Bowie was introduced to an entirely new generation of Twin Peaks fans.
Once the film was released, and all the cameos were exposed, James Gunn quickly came out in a Facebook Q&A with fans and said that he originally sought David Bowie for one of the original Guardians members who show up at the end of the film. Had Bowie been alive and appeared in the film, it would have kept the door open for him to have an expanded role in the next phase of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Recently director Denis Villeneuve said that Bowie was his first choice as the role of the villain that ultimately went to Jared Leto. Needless to say, Bowie would have been fabulous in the much-anticipated sequel. Jared Leto is a fair supplement, but wouldn’t it have been incredible to see Bowie in the Blade Runner universe?
As time marches on, and more and more people discover and devour everything that Bowie left us with, there will certainly be more stories, more “what ifs”, and as sad as that may come, it is also more than welcomed. Because thinking about David Bowie makes most of us very happy.
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