The B-Side Ep. 167 – John Frankenheimer (with Blake Howard)
Welcome to The B-Side! Here we talk about movie directors! Not the movies that made them famous or kept them famous, but the ones that they made in between.
Today we discuss John Frankenheimer, a true expert of the craft and a man who could make any kind of film. Our B-Sides today include Prophecy, 52 Pick-Up, Dead Bang, and the HBO Film Against the Wall (for which Frankenheimer won an Emmy!)
Our guest today is the great Blake Howard of One Heat Minute Productions. He’s just wrapping up his podcast series Romin, in which Blake discusses Frankenheimer’s late-period action masterpiece (and certified A-Side) Ronin with incredible film minds (and also two schlubs from The Film Stage). In this episode, I tell a fairly interesting first-hand story about original Ronin screenwriter J.D. Zeik!
The superb interview book John Frankenheimer: A Conversation With Charles Champlin is referenced quite a bit throughout, as is this interview with Ben Affleck (which includes a funny memory of the temperamental Frankenheimer on the set of Reindeer Games). Frankenheimer’s BMW Films short with Clive Owen comes up, as does underrated character actor Tim Reid.
We admire the nastiness of 52 Pick-Up, the way that Against the Wall looks, and the ambitions of Prophecy, failed though they may be. Then there’s Dead Bang, a deeply troubled production with a supremely strange William Forsythe performance.
Additionally, Frankenheimer made his bones in live television, specifically being the lead director of Playhouse 90. One episode we talk about a bit is “Forbidden Area.”
--------
1:45:39
--------
1:45:39
The B-Side Bonus Ep. – Jordan Harper on She Rides Shotgun
Welcome to The B-Side! Here we talk about movie stars, movie directors, and sometimes––sometimes––movie writers! Today, we speak with author and screenwriter Jordan Harper, whose novel She Rides Shotgun got made into a movie of the same name, directed by Nick Rowland and starring Taron Egerton and Ana Sophia Heger. The film is in theaters this Friday, August 1, 2025.
We spoke with Harper about adapting his novel for the big screen, his reaction to watching the final cut of the film, and those superb lead performances from Egerton and Heger. There’s mention of his other books The Last King of California and Everybody Knows, as well as B-Sides that reminded us of She Rides Shotgun, which include One False Move, Flesh & Bone, A Perfect World, and Lone Star. Harper mentions Freeway as well, which is a great call.
Harper brings up his new novel due out next year: A Violent Masterpiece. There’s also appreciation for Shogun Assassin (a direct inspiration for She Rides Shotgun) and a discussion of genre and genre tropes and why they are so effective when used well.
--------
50:48
--------
50:48
Emulsion Ep. 13 - Dave Kehr on Restoration, Preservation, and MoMA's Silent Movie Week
Few people have contributed more to cinema and cinephilia in the last 50 years than Dave Kehr. He’d have some claim to this title solely as a major critical voice, his work remaining currency decades hence––just look at the popular Not Dave Kehr Letterboxd account for a symbol of his enduring prominence. As a film curator at the Museum of Modern Art, however, Kehr has emboldened one of the world’s foremost cinema cultures with year-round programming that combines classic titles with far-flung finds.
With the third edition of Silent Movie Week beginning at MoMA on July 30, I had the pleasure of speaking with Dave about their lineup, the major advancements made in digital restoration, a discussion of how exactly one puts together a series like this, and (lest you think this is all about my ego) why a presumption of mine was, in fact, incorrect. Plus: his pick––surprising to some, not to me––for the best film to premiere in recent years.
--------
38:13
--------
38:13
The B-Side Bonus Ep. – Christine Vachon & Pamela Koffler of Killer Films
Welcome to The B-Side! Here we talk about movie stars, movie directors, and sometimes - sometimes - the companies that made the movies those stars and directors made! We were lucky to speak with Christine Vachon and Pamela Koffler of Killer Films in honor of Metrograph’s 30th Anniversary program, with screenings starting on August 2, 2025.
Vachon and Koffler speak on curating the celebratory program, which includes Office Killer. We also dish on myself and Conor’s time as interns at Killer many years ago, some B-Sides (including A Home at the End of the World, The Safety of Objects, Dark Waters), and how Killer has survived this ever-changing industry of independent film.
There’s a wonderful discussion about wigs in film (prompted by Colin Farrell’s bad wig in the first act of A Home at the End of the World), an appreciation of Dark Waters getting made and getting discovered to this day, and line producers “carrying the burden of the budget.”
Vachon mourns The Safety of Objects being swallowed by the tragedy of 9/11 while Koffler suggests why the independent ensemble drama has gone by the wayside. There’s discussion on the dangers of saying “good enough” during pre-production as well as Vachon and Koffler shouting out Killer Films B-Sides they personally love (The World to Come, Vox Lux, Dirty Girl). I shout out She Came to Me, an underrated, recent gem.
--------
36:28
--------
36:28
Emulsion Ep. 12 - Abel Ferrara on Turn in the Wound
You'd have to be very bad at interviews, or really just conversations, to not get something from Abel Ferrara, who's the perfect combination of endearing and pugnacious, amenable to ideas while unable to entertain even a hint of bullshit. He's especially verbose discussing Turn in the Wound, his most recent documentary, which premiered at last year’s Berlinale and is now streaming on the Criterion Channel and parallels the effect of Russia’s war on the citizens of Ukraine with, in a slightly opaque but ultimately wise manner, concerts conducted by Patti Smith. Like many of Ferrara’s documentaries––Mulberry St., Chelsea on the Rocks, or Piazza Vittorio––it wrings pathos from a concern for people and the places they live. I was only too happy to talk with him about this film and its endless concerns.
I also want to note that myself and Instagram sensation Rohmer Fits will be screening Éric Rohmer's A Summer's Tale on Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday of this week’s posting. Tickets are here and we hope to see you there: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/amnesiascope-a-tale-of-summer-tickets-1488838077769?aff=oddtdtcreator
Brasil