Bill speaks with Danny Peary, the author of Cult Movies, Cult Movies 2, Cult Movies 3, Guide For The Film Fanatic, and Cult Movie Stars, among others. They talk about Peary’s long history with movies: childhood viewing that ranged from Abbott & Costello to Ingmar Bergman, discovering Andrew Sarris in high school and spending afternoons at theatres like The Thalia, starting a campus film society while immersed in the student protest culture of the late 1960s, making silent short-subject comedies, his years of freelance writing for underground publications, developing books like Close-Ups and Cult Movies that established his reputation. Other topics discussed include Peary’s encounters with Jean-Luc Godard and Martin Scorsese, post-Watergate themes in contemporary cinema, Russ Meyer, BLUE VELVET, John Waters, the Academy Awards, Val Lewton, adult films, PSYCHO and Brian Saur’s in-progress documentary about him.
Buy Danny Peary’s books:
Read Danny Peary’s blog:
Read the tribute site to Danny Peary’s book Guide For The Film Fanatic:
Follow the progress of Brian Saur’s documentary about Danny Peary:
Read Susan Wloszczyna’s interview with Danny Peary conducted for Roger Ebert.com: