Excerpt from podcast episode about Quentin Tarantino’s ONCE UPON A TIME IN HOLLYWOOD (2021)

 “And I'm sure there's a few people like that that are multiple viewers of Quentin's audience that probably, you know, laugh straight up at the Mexican remark that Brad Pitt makes out in the back parking lot of Musso and Frank's, and probably laugh at the Bruce Lee sequence without thinking anything like, well, maybe I shouldn't be laughing at this because it's basically, I'm endorsing Brad Pitt's Cliff being a jackass. And I don't know. It's, I'm sure the other appeal of Once Upon A Time In Hollywood, if you're seeing it over and over and over and over and over, is the mourning (a form of primal scream/moose bellowing) over, especially Leo's character, obsolescence and that working conditions get worse and jobs are harder to find, and you have to go into Europe, because you're an American name, you can at least make movies, even though you know in the back of your mind, you're not likely to have a career balance like Clint Eastwood, or even Eli Wallach, or Lee Van Cleef did.

And I'm sure that there's a lot of people, me included, who like the sequence, where Leo and Brad just sit and talk movies that restaurant in Sherman Oaks, and probably would love to see like an hour of them riffing, and then you hear Quentin's voice from off camera, encouraging them to keep going.

Quentin does kind of recognize on some level that there's a kind of narrowness about the lower rungs of the industry, where people love to talk about movies (mostly old ones) and I've bonded with some of them, and sometimes the price of bonding is you get a heavy dose of very right-wing politics and or outright racism or sexism, and then you have to think very, very hard, is it worth the stress because you're around people that are, you know, really, really stunted and backward looking when you know the world is and should be bigger and more inclusive. 

You  can't really do a depiction of 1969 without, you know, showing people. being narrow and unenlightened.  The question is whether or not the filmmaker is depicting without endorsement or is he or she cuing  the audience to laugh a la Mel Gibson directing BRAVEHEART with Patrick McGoohan throwing his son to his death from a castle window.

From Reviews And Otherwise: BONUS EPISODE: SOME MILD HERESY REGARDING QUENTIN TARANTINO AND ONCE UPON A TIME IN HOLLYWOOD, Jun 28, 2021

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/reviews-and-otherwise/id1570012238?i=1000527088313&r=1553

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New REVIEWS AND OTHERWISE: HOLLER/THE DRY/NO SUDDEN MOVE/GUILTY BYSTANDER

 This is the last episode for a few weeks, covering two new VOD releases (HOLLER and THE DRY), Steven Soderbergh’s 1950s noir NO SUDDEN MOVE (now playing on HBOMAX) and an actual 1950s noir—Joseph Lerner’s GUILTY BYSTANDER (now playing on both the Watch TCM app and the website https://www.bynwr.com

https://anchor.fm/terry-mccarty/episodes/HOLLERTHE-DRYNO-SUDDEN-MOVEGUILTY-BYSTANDER-e13tui2

New REVIEWS AND OTHERWISE: THE TOMORROW WAR and VOYAGERS

 New 4th of July episode discusses THE TOMORROW WAR (the Chris McKay-directed, Chris Pratt-starring futuristic epic now on Amazon Prime) and VOYAGERS (from Neil Burger, director of LIMITLESS and now available for inexpensive rental/streaming).

https://anchor.fm/terry-mccarty/episodes/NEW-SCIENCE-FICTION-THE-TOMORROW-WAR-AND-VOYAGERS-e13sj77

New REVIEWS AND OTHERWISE: FAST AND FURIOUS 1,4,5.6 and 9 + HOBBS AND SHAW

 I haven’t seen all of the FAST AND FURIOUS movies (though I probably should catch up with TOKYO DRIFT and FURIOUS 7–Paul Walker’s last time playing Brian), but here’s an episode discussing the ones I have seen— with a sidebar into earlier films of Rob Cohen (who directed the original THE FAST AND THE FURIOUS.  Closing moments are about how F9 is the last movie I’ll get to see in a theater before my upcoming stem cell/bone marrow transplant.

https://anchor.fm/terry-mccarty/episodes/THE-FAST-AND-THE-FURIOUS-1-4-5-6--9-PLUS-HOBBS-AND-SHAW-e13mf8d

New REVIEWS AND OTHERWISE: Quentin Tarantino’s ONCE UPON A TIME IN HOLLYWOOD—movie, book, virtual theme park?

 This stream-of-consciousness bonus episode looks at Quentin Tarantino’s (perhaps) next-to-last film, which (at least in Los Angeles) has repeat viewers (one person has seen it eight times so far) and other QT fans awaiting the expanded mass market paperback novel coming soon to a bookstore, newsstand and/or supermarket.  

So here’s 20 minutes of words about Tarantino’s equivalent to James Cameron’s TITANIC—plus a brief argument for DEATH PROOF as QT’s woke, anti-misogyny film.

Anchor: https://anchor.fm/terry-mccarty/episodes/BONUS-EPISODE-SOME-MILD-HERESY-REGARDING-QUENTIN-TARANTINO-AND-ONCE-UPON-A-TIME-IN-HOLLYWOOD-e13ijbr

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/2UMdzUiJJvZoIuOs3V6SpF?si=a1tMJeoEQZSh1FaKzdCoEg&dl_branch=

New REVIEWS AND OTHERWISE: 1970s WESTERNS: CLINT EASTWOOD/GENRE DECONSTRUCTION

 The latest episode continues my occasional examination of 70s Westerns (essentially the last hurrah for the genre before it became mostly niche product seen in 80s art houses).  First 12 minutes on Clint Eastwood, with a shoutout to Burbank’s LexG and his comprehensive podcast episode on Clint’s career from Sergio Leone’s Man With No Name trilogy to 1990’s THE ROOKIE, which could be regarded (in spirit) as a better farewell to Dirty Harry Callahan than Clint and Buddy Van Horn’s THE DEAD POOL.

Remainder of the episode defines deconstruction of the Western as a conscious veering away from traditional storytelling by way of scripting, aesthetic choices, directorial/actor decisions.  Films discussed include McCABE AND MRS. MILLER, BUFFALO BILL AND THE INDIANS, BAD COMPANY (1972), THE LIFE AND TIMES OF JUDGE ROY BEAN, ZANDY’S BRIDE, THE MISSOURI BREAKS and PAT GARRETT AND BILLY THE KID (with mentions of Sam Peckinpah’s later BRING ME THE HEAD OF ALFREDO GARCIA and CONVOY).

https://open.spotify.com/episode/7pC8HI5tw0s6nlHVC4n88N?si=RZ6tnfK6RoifNrYiRp71NA&dl_branch=1

New REVIEWS AND OTHERWISE: RAYA AND THE LAST DRAGON/IN THE HEIGHTS

 Discussion of two movies available in theaters and on streaming services.  Also discussed: differing reactions to Disney+ charging roughly $30 for a movie for its first three months vs HBOMAX making WB releases available for no extra charge (but for just a month) plus inquiring as to why studios consider their streaming income and number of viewers per movie  to be none of the public or press’s business.

https://anchor.fm/terry-mccarty/episodes/SEE-IT-IN-A-THEATER-OR-AT-HOME-RAYA-AND-THE-LAST-DRAGONIN-THE-HEIGHTS-e12ncfn

New REVIEWS AND OTHERWISE: 1970s WESTERNS: THE TWILIGHT OF JOHN WAYNE

 I’ll be doing some non consecutive episodes on the decline of the Hollywood Western in the 1970s.  And, as with genre films in decline, there are some interesting to good ones (largely ignored by audiences) released during this period.

This episode discusses John Wayne’s trajectory from the Oscar-winning peak of TRUE GRIT into the valley of clinging to an outdated image/stubbornly staying at one with his core, tradition-bound audience (one exception being Mark Rydell’s THE COWBOYS, which shocked some 1971-72 viewers with Wayne dying from multiple gunshot wounds by primary villain Bruce Dern).

Also, the 1971 PLAYBOY interview (where Wayne let loose with racist views of Native Americans and racist/patronizing commentary on Black people) is discussed—along with my guess as to why the pushback (and yes, there was criticism at the time) did little damage to Wayne’s career.

Finally, after 1976’s THE SHOOTIST, Wayne said goodbye to the Western genre—as a commercial pitchperson for headache medicine Datril and Great Western Bank.

https://anchor.fm/terry-mccarty/episodes/1970s-WESTERNS-THE-TWILIGHT-OF-JOHN-WAYNE-e12enrl

REVIEWS AND OTHERWISE on two types of movie sequels

 Comparing the move-the-story-forward success of A QUIET PLACE PART II to the often sluggish retreading of THE CONJURING: THE DEVIL MADE ME DO IT https://anchor.fm/terry-mccarty/episodes/SEQUELITIS-THE-CONJURING-THE-DEVIL-MADE-ME-DO-IT-VS-A-QUIET-PLACE-PART-II-e1271un

Another bonus REVIEWS AND OTHERWISE episode on underseen film noir

 Second bonus episode, this time experimenting with musical underscore.  Eventually, I’ll take the plunge into reading commercials.

Here’s the link: https://anchor.fm/terry-mccarty/episodes/Bonus-Episode-Underseen-Film-Noir-e1219i1

Also available here: https://www.google.com/podcasts?feed=aHR0cHM6Ly9hbmNob3IuZm0vcy81ZDE4N2YyNC9wb2RjYXN0L3Jzcw==

And here: https://open.spotify.com/show/2o84GxeqDmbeytYC2n7hqX

Bonus episode of REVIEWS AND OTHERWISE podcast: 10 GUILTY PLEASURES

Discussion of films released between 1961 and 1982—including Roger Corman underwater and in outer space, Willian Shatner’s Italian Western, 50s pop star Fabian as 30s gangster Pretty Boy Floyd, the 1978 remake of THE BIG SLEEP and Bette Davis as a bank robber in hippie disguise  https://anchor.fm/terry-mccarty/episodes/Bonus-Episode-TEN-GUILTY-PLEASURES-e11puoe

Link to my new film/television reviews podcast.

 This is a project in its infancy, but should become stronger and more vibrant in the weeks to come.

 I now have a podcast with the title REVIEWS AND OTHERWISE, focusing on film/TV present and, sometimes, past.  Here’s a link to the premiere episode: https://anchor.fm/terry-mccarty/episodes/Reviews-And-Otherwise-Episode-1-e11oab6

Enjoy and subscribe if you wish to hear more.