Movie Meltdown - Episode 182

A year in the making... we present you - the Paris, Texas episode! With a “live” intro from the Kentucky Theater during Harry Dean Stanton Fest... we feature our interview with Hunter Carson co-star of this week's movie. We sit down and talk with Hunter about the very first time he met Harry Dean Stanton. Plus playing the original Bud Bundy! All that plus weird Facebook connections and the magic of Harry Dean Stanton, before we roll into our full group discussion of our Sofa Theater feature: "Paris, Texas". Directed by Wim Wenders and written by Sam Shepard (with Kit Carson), this movie is considered a classic by many. But how will it stand up when the Meltdown Gang revisits it??

And as our show represents the diversity of life on Earth, we also discuss... absurdist tick, Alexander Payne, being fascinated with the boom guy, an experienced character actor in a pivotal role, couples trying to set each other on fire, going down in a hail of bullets for The Kentucky, Peter Sellers, road movies, the Voyager gold record, True West, parental selfishness, Edvard Munch’s Home Alone, Mr. North, Lost in Translation, working with Wim, a German Rolling Stone, conversations on acting, Wings of Desire, what a beautiful woman Klaus Kinski would have been, charades is a game, Dean Stockwell is David Bowie, fairy tale theater, working with everybody from Alfred Hitchcock to David Lynch, 180 IMDB credits, the madman on the bridge, selling a lemon and a lime, Wise Blood, pouring water on your head, and introducing...  Radical.

“You are so angry with Sam Shepard.”

Movie Meltdown - Episode 181

This week we come to you “live” from Flyover Film Festival, and we are joined by special guest co-host director Martha Stephens! First we talk to Martha about getting into filmmaking and discuss her recent film “Pilgrim Song”. Then she joins us for this week’s Sofa Theater feature: “Coal Miner’s Daughter”. There we discuss Sissy Spacek’s Academy Award winning performance and the snapshot of Americana that is Michael Apted’s early life story of singer Loretta Lynn. And before we’re done we also end up discussing baseball, Bruce Springsteen, the film fest circuit, unmade biopics, weird roadside attractions and having your own private Wigwam.  

Plus somewhere in the mix, we also mention... a love song to Kentucky, Patsy Cline, the projects of England, The 13th Floor Elevators, Barry Lyndon, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, it’s a Jeep thing, the company store, Kirstie Alley, not getting “the talk”, tender but troubled, Mishima, apple pie, wearing some pretty amazing dresses, a fantasy baseball league, Low and Clear, North Carolina, European Appalachia?, better because it’s different, a patchwork of things from life, Levon Helm, being stalked by Loretta Lynn, I’m Not That, early product placement, West Virginia, not singing... for about an hour, Clark Griswold’s wife, Jesco White, Frank Redford, how many different hats can we put Russell Crowe in?, 1970’s zooms, birth control, weirding out Sissy Spacek, Prometheus and Cave City.

Spoiler Alert: Full spoilers for “Coal Miner’s Daughter” and/or the actual life of Loretta Lynn.

“I like creating my own world... in writing.”

For more on Martha’s film, go to: http://www.pilgrimsongthemovie.com  

For more on Flyover Film Festival: http://www.flyoverfilmfestival.com

Movie Meltdown - Episode 180

This week we talk with director Amy Seimetz and actors Kentucker Audley and Kate Lyn Sheil about not only their movie "Sun Don't Shine" but also about working and producing films in the indie scene.

And in addition to discussing odd upholstery techniques, we also mention... having a recurring nightmare, Silver Bullets, John Waters, the MTV Movie Awards, what is means to be an indie film veteran, being a conduit, a pilgrimage to meet Wes Anderson, it just hits a tone, having dreams about ripping apart cows, cooking baking and sewing, now I’m retired, making as much as Steven Spielberg, actors holding a boom, the scene where Dawn gets fingered, achievement is so embarrassing, dance movies, Empire Builder, Open Five, it’s not cheese Jess, this very focused mathematical thing, Saturday Night Fever, I’m Still Here, The Comedy, Key Lime Pie, accomplishable tasks, Flick for Mathlete President, Gregory's Girl, the work for an actor never ends, Kris Swanberg, ‘cause I think you do have to be delusional to go into it, Tiny Furniture, oh... nut cheese!, that’s probably the only thing in the world that can be that perfect, Urban Cowboy, TMZ, These are people that were doing things that I didn’t know you could do, First Winter, it’s really nice to do something constructive... while you’re being crazy, Lena Dunham, telling other directors what would be better, Bottle Rocket, I didn’t realize I was a producer, Jess Weixler, Robert Redford’s Sundance indecent proposal, the people I’m most excited about working with, just happen to be making movies on their own, The Off Hours, Welcome to the Dollhouse, it looked like a gypsy circus tent on the floor, Tender Mercies, 90’s thrillers and... aside from having a beautiful film we now have a ten-month year old baby

“There’s so many routes to go about making films, and the most frustrating and depressing - is to do the traditional Hollywood route.”

For more on “Sun Don’t Shine”, join the Facebook page:  http://www.facebook.com/SunDontShine

For more on Kentucker’s independent film website: http://nobudgefilms.com/

Movie Meltdown - Episode 179

Again this week we come to you “live” from WonderFest. And things continue to get more awesome as we check in with Beau to hear the real story about what goes on behind the scenes at the show. One of the stories involves - well, we’ll just say these three things: naked woman... dogs blowing up... and Korean tacos. For the rest, you’ll just have to listen to the whole story.

Then we join forces with one of our new favorite geeks... Eric Chu. Eric is the artist and concept designer responsible for the re-imagining of the Battlestar Galactica series. Including working on the concept designs of the Cylons, Raiders, Vipers and Galactica herself! In our running series The Art of Being a Movie Geek, we talk to Eric about his early artistic ventures as well as his work on Battlestar. Plus of course, our host has to ask him about his work on the Beetlejuice animated series!

Then Eric sticks around for this week’s Out on the Town feature: Dark Shadows. We sit down and try to have a level-headed conversation about Tim Burton’s 2012 version of this classic story. We end up not only looking at the movie, but also the changing themes and elements in Burton’s career. Plus we have a special guest appearance (with Dark Shadows thoughts) from friend of the show and a terrific artist in her own right... Belle Dee!!    

And somewhere in the midst of the movie geek conversations, we also mention... convention badge chainmail, being uncomfortable with relationships, The Abominable Dr. Phibes, really bad puns, an underground tunnel, Lorne Greene, playing video games vs. drawing, Big Fish, Vincent Price, when you fell in love with movies as a kid, Chuck Jones, macrame, John Carpenter, soft and glowy like a Glamour Shot, Cover Girl, the model contest, being a professional geek, self-indulgent filmmakers, Chloë Grace Moretz, being taunted for liking comic books, monkey’s inside everything, Vincent, hating animation, Humanoids from the Deep, Heather’s wedding, convention family reunions, super’fx, the word talent is over-used, Frankenweenie, John Eaves... production designer on Star Trek, I’ve got a landfill with my name on it,  being hooked up with a homewrecker and... perhaps a special cameo appearance from Wilford Brimley.

Spoiler Alert: Full spoilers for the 2012 film “Dark Shadows”.

“Remember what we used to have Tim... can’t we just get that back?”

"Dark Shadows" artwork by Belle Dee. For more on her work, go to: http://doowackadoodles.blogspot.com/

Movie Meltdown - Episode 178

This episode we are coming to you “live” from WonderFest! And if that wasn’t exciting enough, this week is also the much anticipated return of Misty and Jay!! And we find out what they’ve been up to lately (oddly enough involving a serial killer and a squirrel)! All that plus we talk to two terrific actresses... Joanna Cassidy (Blade Runner) and Julie Adams (Creature from the Black Lagoon). Both amazingly accomplished women with impressive careers, and we sit down and reminisce about some of their more interesting movie memories.

Plus somewhere along the way we mention... being a mentor, Long Day's Journey Into Night, The 12 Musketeers, being a bit of a loner, working with Elvis, Black Roses, insulting Corey, watching British television, Joss Whedon fan fiction, being a touchstone, getting shot with an arrow, guts on your lawn mower, James Coburn, art and sculpture, nobody wants to pet a Jawa, mommy, Fades, Milla, Jeremy Renner’s face, working with Robert Zemeckis, Body of Proof, my father’s first wife..., Giorgio Tsoukalos, Doorway, changing your name, Francis the Talking Mule, puffy paint don’t really last, Til Schweiger, over-stereotypical characters, a Moon Knight movie, Call Me Fitz, working with John Wayne, Ancient Aliens, the return of Winchester, conjuring up the tears, getting a tattoo to commemorate killing your first victim, working with Bob Hoskins, suspicious rocks, Cabin in the Woods, working with Ridley Scott, Six Feet Under, having a bathing suit shop, postponing a wedding for George Romero, Sherlock, Rambo the Avenger, a fur coat gets you the job, being taken over by CG, Donald O'Connor, Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid, Bullitt, working with Charlton Heston and playing a pathological transvestite.

“If anybody had told me that 50-some years later, we’d even be talking about this movie... I would have said - ARE YOU CRAZY?!”

To order Julie’s book The Lucky Southern Star: Reflections from the Black Lagoon, go to:  http://www.julieadams.biz/