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Supporting Characters

Host Bill Ackerman talks to writers, bloggers, podcasters, fanzine publishers, programmers, preservationists and more about their creative endeavors and today’s film culture.
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Now displaying: 2019
Jun 3, 2019

Bill speaks to author, broadcaster and film historian Emma Westwood about her many creative endeavors, from co-founding film societies and writing freelance criticism to hosting Triple R’s Plato’s Cave and developing her recent monograph on David Cronenberg’s THE FLY. Topics include: Fatal Visions, Lee Gambin, the differing approaches of American and Australian film schools in the early 1990s, ALIEN, John Frankenheimer, Bert Deling's DALMAS, writing about standup comedy, HOUSEBOAT HORROR, the research process for audio commentary tracks, Raymond Stross, why children relate to monsters and why “write what you know” is bad advice.

Visit Emma Westwood’s website:

https://emmawestwood.wordpress.com/

Buy and read THE FLY:

https://cup.columbia.edu/book/the-fly/9781911325420

Hear Emma Westwood on Plato’s Cave:

https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/rrr-fm-platos-cave/id433074505

Hear Emma Westwood discussing Roman Polanski on Hell Is For Hyphenates:

http://www.hellisforhyphenates.com/blog/2017/11/30/november-2017/

Read A Fiend On Film’s interview with Emma Westwood:

https://themagnificentworldofdavek.wordpress.com/2019/02/08/a-fiend-on-films-interview-with-emma-westwood-author-of-the-fly-2018/

Read “The Act of Seeing: Cinema, Ethics and Responsibility”:

https://issuu.com/atompublications/docs/2_westwood_screen_ethics

Read “To Watch Or Not To Watch, That Is The Question”:

https://diaboliquemagazine.com/to-watch-or-not-to-watch-that-is-the-question/

Read newsletters from the Fitzroy Film Society:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/8vxfkkm20wvhtc6/FFS%20Newsletter%20Archive%20Complete.pdf?dl=0

Read a roundtable discussion of Women In Horror with Emma Westwood, Alexandra Heller-Nicholas and Kate Robertson:

http://fourthreefilm.com/2016/02/to-just-survive-as-the-final-girl-is-not-victory-a-roundtable-discussion-on-women-in-horror

Hear Emma Westwood, Stuart Cornfeld, Mike White, Samm Deighan and Bill discuss THE FLY on The Projection Booth:

http://www.projectionboothpodcast.com/2019/03/special-report-fly-1986.html

Watch Emma Westwood, Sally Christie, Hande Noyan and Lee Gambin at the Cinemaniacs event, "All of them Witches", discussing the Devil in 60s and 70s cinema:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mVEL5qE9bwE

Listen to Art Of The Score:

http://www.artofthescore.com.au/

Apr 29, 2019

Bill speaks to writer/director, Trailers From Hell guru and podcaster Josh Olson about his many endeavors, from writing screenplays like the Oscar-nominated A HISTORY OF VIOLENCE and the audio drama BRONZEVILLE to co-hosting shows like The Movies That Made Me and The West Wing Thing. Topics include: Harlan Ellison, Werner Herzog and the German New Wave, NIGHT WATCH, Randy Frakes, landing professional opportunities through mistaken identity, MAD Magazine, Anthony Bourdain, screening UNFORGIVEN for David Cronenberg, The Cinefamily and whether or not people still approach him to read their scripts.

 

Watch Josh Olson on Trailers From Hell:

https://trailersfromhell.com/gurus/olson-josh/

Listen to The Movies That Made Me:

https://trailersfromhell.com/podcast/

Listen to Bronzeville:

http://bronzevilleseries.com/

Listen to The West Wing Thing:

https://westwingthing.libsyn.com/

Read “I Will Not Read Your Fucking Script”:

https://www.villagevoice.com/2009/09/09/i-will-not-read-your-fucking-script/

Watch Josh Olson on I Blame Dennis Hopper:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=An--XX-5o0Y

Hear Josh Olson on Pure Cinema Podcast:

http://www.nowplayingnetwork.net/purecinema/episode11

Buy DARK OF THE SUN, featuring an audio commentary by Josh Olson, Larry Karaszewski, Elric Kane and Brian Saur:

https://www.wbshop.com/products/dark-of-the-sun-bd

Apr 15, 2019

Bill speaks to author, screenwriter and fanzine publisher Mike “McBeardo” McPadden about his various endeavors, from creating the fanzine Happyland in 1991 to developing books like HEAVY METAL MOVIES and TEEN MOVIE HELL. Topics include: Rick Sullivan’s Gore Gazette, approaching 1980s teen sex comedies in the #MeToo era, writing as Selwyn Harris for Screw and Hustler, Danny Peary, 1990s fanzine culture, authoring screenplays for Gregory Dark films like THE DEVIL IN MISS JONES 5 and ANIMAL INSTINCTS III, John Hughes, Troma Entertainment, LEMORA: A CHILD’S TALE OF THE SUPERNATURAL, Gilbert Gottfried, Mr. Skin, catching ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW at age 10 with hippie relatives and writing about Jenna Jameson’s mashed potatoes recipe for Esquire.

Buy HEAVY METAL MOVIES and TEEN MOVIE HELL:

https://www.bazillionpoints.com/

Watch the trailer for TEEN MOVIE HELL:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kUzQfTE-i90&feature=youtu.be

Visit the official site for TEEN MOVIE HELL:

https://www.teenmoviehell.com/

Watch the King Kong Volkswagon Commercial

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zkn4nzGS_iw

 Hear Gays In The Military on Spotify:

https://open.spotify.com/artist/0zNlEUakCwLLjmMzmKPGgx

Mar 21, 2019

Bill speaks to writer, filmmaker, and New York Film Festival director Kent Jones. They discuss his path from writing film reviews as a teenager to directing the new film DIANE. Topics include: William Wyler, collaborating with Martin Scorsese on documentaries like MY VOYAGE TO ITALY and A LETTER TO ELIA, programming at venues like Film Forum and Film Society Of Lincoln Center, moderating Q & As, Jean-Luc Godard, Netflix, John Ford, Elia Kazan, Manny Farber, ZODIAC, New Video, Monte Hellman and the importance of costume designers. 

Visit IFC Films site for DIANE:

http://www.ifcfilms.com/films/diane

Read Kent Jones at Criterion.com:

https://www.criterion.com/current/author/81-kent-jones

Read Kent Jones’ essay “Intolerance”:

https://www.filmcomment.com/article/intolerance-quentin-tarantino-john-ford/

Read Kent Jones in Film Comment:

https://www.filmcomment.com/author/kent-jones/

Watch Noah Baumbach interview Kent Jones about HITCHCOCK/TRUFFAUT:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A6o8uZPYuXc&fbclid

Hear Kent Jones on The Cinephiliacs:

http://www.thecinephiliacs.net/2014/02/episode-33-kent-jones-spawn-of-north.html

Buy Physical Evidence by Kent Jones:

https://www.amazon.com/Physical-Evidence-Selected-Criticism-Wesleyan/dp/0819568449

Attend the Kent Jones Dream Double Feature at Metrograph – 3/23

http://metrograph.com/series/series/214/kent-joness-dream-double-feature

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