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Don’t Push Pause is a monthly podcast bringing you discussions on movies from the 70s, 80s and 90s. DPP consists of a main discussion on a featured film, followed up by our Picks of the Week, and closing with our signature (Bill) Murray Moment.
Episodes
Monday Mar 11, 2019
Monday Mar 11, 2019
Dear Diary,
Heather told us we needed to discuss this biting black comedy about a bunch of swatch-dogs, Diet Cokeheads and... an intelligently-crafted film which subsequently influenced countless other teen movies. Heathers (1988) is chocked full of subversive, quick-witted commentary, savage humor and one memorable quote after another. The upchuck factor is low, but the harshness of high school life in Heathers is still epic.
▶️ (00:45) Looking to escape her elitist high school clique, a bright and troubled teen gets roped in by her psychopathic boyfriend to murder their popular classmates, framing each to look like a suicide. So, why does Heathers still matter from a cultural and storytelling standpoint? We’ll touch on the movie’s first-time director, Michael Lehmann, writer Daniel Waters, the cast, the overall themes of the film and why the subject matter is even more controversial today.
▶️ (34:46) Picks of the Week:
Both Picks deal with the disruption of normalcy in American life. Lehmann’s ridiculous, yet worthwhile second film, Meet the Applegates (1991), follows a family of insects disguised as an all-American family looking for nuclear power access to destroy humans. As if things couldn’t get weirder than that, Lindsay went the body-horror route with Brian Yuzna’s uniquely unforgettable film about the wealthy literally sucking life from the lower class in 1989’s Society.
▶️ (51:04) Although Heathers is a dark comedy, the movie deals with very serious subject matters. For this MurrayMoment, we share an NBC News op-ed piece written by Billy shortly after the Stoneman Douglas school shooting in Parkland, FL.
▶️ (56:24) Quick final thoughts on Heathers.
Thirty years after the release of Heathers, the film still cuts deeply to the teenage core. It’s relevance is undeniable, as it remains a true, original piece of iconic 80s movie history. If you wanna mess with the eagles, you gotta learn how to fly, so try not to be a total pillow case.
Monday Feb 25, 2019
Monday Feb 25, 2019
To say Martin Scorsese is a living legend with a jaw-dropping body of work is an understatement. And while well-known for his gangster pictures, Casino (1995) sometimes gets overshadowed by the rest of his films. But not for this episode. With an impressively strong cast and striking visuals, Scorsese weaves this three-hour long epic true story into one of the best crime dramas of the 90’s.
▶️ (07:24) A casino executive (Robert De Niro) and his mobster longtime friend (Joe Pesci) end up pitted against each other involving a gaming empire and a hustler (Sharon Stone) who is playing them both. Casino is a grand saga about greed, power and who’s about to gain or lose control. Among hashing out the themes of the film, discussions will also focus on the violent imagery mixed with quick-witted humor in the film, use of narration, the impeccable cast and where Casino fits into Scorsese’s career, as well as the noticeably inspired soundtrack.
▶️ (36:31) Picks of the Week: Because we love the dude, De Niro dominates our Picks this time out. Riding the crime drama genre, Lindsay goes for the semi-true depiction of legendary mobster Al Capone vs. federal agent Eliot Ness and his crew of crimefighters in Brian De Palma’s The Untouchables (1987). Justin hones in on De Niro’s scarier side in Tony Scott’s The Fan (1996), wherein a man’s baseball obsession and fanatical love for his favorite player goes too far.
▶️ (51:00) Filmmaker Justin Hayward drops by to discuss Robert Richardson’s cinematography in Casino, and how his lighting contribution to the film made for an entirely fresh and different looking Scorsese film.
▶️ (58:56) This Casino-inspired MurrayMoment makes multiple connections to Billy and the film. But is it always possible to figure out the gritty details behind minor stories? All tangental roads lead to one movie-stealing cameo mostly every Murray-loving person fondly remembers: Zombieland (2009).
▶️ (1:07:54) Quick final thoughts on the costuming of Casino and how it plays a major role in the film.
▶️ If you haven’t seen our main feature or need to revisit, Casino is a wild ride into a world of excess and corruption. It’s a fun watch, but be glad you weren’t involved in the true story behind the film. Thanks for listening!
Monday Feb 11, 2019
Monday Feb 11, 2019
In 1996, Joel and Ethan Coen brought us the highly celebrated independent film, Fargo. Together, the Coen Brothers wrote, directed, produced and edited this little-film-that-could, while making Minnesotan niceties a familiar staple in American households. Receiving critical and commercial success, this picturesque journey from Minnesota to North Dakota remains haunting over 20 years later, forever covering the great white North with blood-spotted snow.
▶️(05:00) After a man hires two thugs to kidnap his wife in order to extort money, it’s up to a small Minnesotan town police chief to connect a triple homicide to the kidnapping. Among discussing how Fargo fits into the Coen Brothers catalogue, we’ll dissect the unflappable ensemble cast, the solid character development within, the usage of the film’s realistic tone and noir style, as well as how the violence and black humor of the film intertwine.
▶️(37:14) Picks of the Week:
Keeping with the isolated feeling of winter in Fargo, Justin goes for Sam Raimi’s neo-noir, “what would you do if...” crime thriller, A Simple Plan (1998). Conversely, Lindsay takes us out of blustery cold to Southern California, finding Fargo’s Frances McDormand playing a record producer reconnecting with her uptight son and fiancé in Laurel Canyon (2002).
▶️(53:20) Justin Hayward drops by to highlight Fargo’s cinematographer, Roger Deakins. For this Fargo segment, Hayward deconstructs why and how Deakins chose to light a disturbing night scene involving Steve Buscemi and Peter Stormare being pulled over by a police officer.
▶️(1:03:00) Wouldn’t ya know it? Billy dropped in on McDormand in the HBO mini-series, Olive Kitteridge (2014). We dive into their scenes together, and how the final moment of the series ends in an eerily similar way as Fargo.
Fargo is chocked full of unforgettable, beautifully staged scenes and nuanced performances showing the interconnectedness of characters. Certainly a crime drama and thriller with black humor weaved throughout, Fargo remains a brilliantly constructed atmospheric film, evocative of a special time in independent film history. Yassir, you betcha, eh.