For the season 5 season finale, Writer/Director/Producer Adam McKay returns to the podcast to discuss movies from his favorite year of cinema… 1987.
The Movies That Made Me will return with Season 6 in January. Happy Holidays! Thank you for listening!
Show Notes: Movies Referenced In This Episode
Tin Men (1987)
Billy Jack (1971)
The Menu (2022)
Boyz N The Hood (1991) – John Landis’s trailer commentary
Menace II Society (1991)
Straight Out Of Brooklyn (1991)
Do The Right Thing (1989) – Allan Arkush’s trailer commentary
School Daze (1988)
The Swarm (1978) – Glenn Erickson’s Blu-ray review
The Squeeze (1987)
Squeeze Play (1979) – Lloyd Kaufman’s trailer commentary
Diner (1982)
Robocop (1987) – Dan Ireland’s trailer commentary, Glenn Erickson’s Blu-ray and 4K Blu-ray reviews
The Evil Dead (1983) – Fede Alvarez’s trailer commentary
Evil Dead II (1987) – Mike Mendez’s trailer commentary, Alex Kirschenbaum’s review
Broadcast News (1987)
Raising Arizona (1987)
The Princess Bride (1987) – Glenn Erickson’s Blu-ray review
This Is Spinal Tap (1984) – John Landis’s...
The Movies That Made Me will return with Season 6 in January. Happy Holidays! Thank you for listening!
Show Notes: Movies Referenced In This Episode
Tin Men (1987)
Billy Jack (1971)
The Menu (2022)
Boyz N The Hood (1991) – John Landis’s trailer commentary
Menace II Society (1991)
Straight Out Of Brooklyn (1991)
Do The Right Thing (1989) – Allan Arkush’s trailer commentary
School Daze (1988)
The Swarm (1978) – Glenn Erickson’s Blu-ray review
The Squeeze (1987)
Squeeze Play (1979) – Lloyd Kaufman’s trailer commentary
Diner (1982)
Robocop (1987) – Dan Ireland’s trailer commentary, Glenn Erickson’s Blu-ray and 4K Blu-ray reviews
The Evil Dead (1983) – Fede Alvarez’s trailer commentary
Evil Dead II (1987) – Mike Mendez’s trailer commentary, Alex Kirschenbaum’s review
Broadcast News (1987)
Raising Arizona (1987)
The Princess Bride (1987) – Glenn Erickson’s Blu-ray review
This Is Spinal Tap (1984) – John Landis’s...
- 12/20/2022
- by Kris Millsap
- Trailers from Hell
The 2020 Sundance Film Festival has broken a record weeks before it begins: Of the 16 films in Dramatic Competition, seven tell stories primarily about the lives of black characters: “The 40-Year-Old Version,” “Charm City Kings,” “Farewell Amor,” “Miss Juneteenth,” “Nine Days,” “Sylvie’s Love” and “Zola.”
Surveying the last 30 years of Sundance, there’s usually been at least one in-competition film with black leads. In 1992 and 1989, there was one black film in competition, while 1993 had two. But prior to 2020, there had never been more than five.
Black filmmakers saw a renaissance in the late ’80s and early ’90s, a period that introduced Spike Lee, Wendell B. Harris Jr, Robert Townsend, Keenen Ivory Wayans, Julie Dash, Matty Rich, the Hudlin Brothers, Leslie Harris, and others. Some of their films premiered and competed at Sundance, but even then they never composed a significant presence.
Between 1989 and 1993, a total of 10 films with black leads...
Surveying the last 30 years of Sundance, there’s usually been at least one in-competition film with black leads. In 1992 and 1989, there was one black film in competition, while 1993 had two. But prior to 2020, there had never been more than five.
Black filmmakers saw a renaissance in the late ’80s and early ’90s, a period that introduced Spike Lee, Wendell B. Harris Jr, Robert Townsend, Keenen Ivory Wayans, Julie Dash, Matty Rich, the Hudlin Brothers, Leslie Harris, and others. Some of their films premiered and competed at Sundance, but even then they never composed a significant presence.
Between 1989 and 1993, a total of 10 films with black leads...
- 12/5/2019
- by Tambay Obenson
- Indiewire
This year’s American Black Film Festival lineup is stacked with some of the top names in Hollywood as well as emerging voices including a screening of Reginald Hudlin’s The Black Godfather, a conversation with Spike Lee and his protege Stefon Bristol as well as the five finalists for HBO Short Film Competition, which is now in its 22nd year. The fest takes place June 12-16 in Miami.
The program will also include the previously announced opening night film Shaft. New Line Cinema’s reboot of the iconic character will screen at the fest ahead of its June 14 release. In addition, Netflix will screen the Chris Robinson-directed Beats, a coming-of-age drama set in Chicago’s South Side hip-hop scene starring Anthony Anderson.
“Beyond the Spider-Verse: What’s Next for Sony Pictures Animation” will be a conversation between Academy Award-winner Peter Ramsey (Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse), Matthew A. Cherry...
The program will also include the previously announced opening night film Shaft. New Line Cinema’s reboot of the iconic character will screen at the fest ahead of its June 14 release. In addition, Netflix will screen the Chris Robinson-directed Beats, a coming-of-age drama set in Chicago’s South Side hip-hop scene starring Anthony Anderson.
“Beyond the Spider-Verse: What’s Next for Sony Pictures Animation” will be a conversation between Academy Award-winner Peter Ramsey (Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse), Matthew A. Cherry...
- 6/6/2019
- by Dino-Ray Ramos
- Deadline Film + TV
Hip-hop artist-turned-actor T.I. (aka Clifford Harris) and director Matty Rich are teaming for the thriller Caller 100.
T.I. will star in the project, while Rich, the wunderkind filmmaker of early 1990s black-centric movies such as Straight Out of Brooklyn, will helm, marking a return to features after a 25-year sabbatical.
Rich wrote the popcorn story, which centers on a popular radio personality whose chance encounter with a female listener turns his life upside down. Caller 100 has been described as a relationship thriller in the vein of Play Misty for Me, the 1971 thriller starring and directed by Clint Eastwood which ...
T.I. will star in the project, while Rich, the wunderkind filmmaker of early 1990s black-centric movies such as Straight Out of Brooklyn, will helm, marking a return to features after a 25-year sabbatical.
Rich wrote the popcorn story, which centers on a popular radio personality whose chance encounter with a female listener turns his life upside down. Caller 100 has been described as a relationship thriller in the vein of Play Misty for Me, the 1971 thriller starring and directed by Clint Eastwood which ...
Hip-hop artist-turned-actor T.I. (aka Clifford Harris) and director Matty Rich are teaming for the thriller Caller 100.
T.I. will star in the project, while Rich, the wunderkind filmmaker of early 1990s black-centric movies such as Straight Out of Brooklyn, will helm, marking a return to features after a 25-year sabbatical.
Rich wrote the popcorn story, which centers on a popular radio personality whose chance encounter with a female listener turns his life upside down. Caller 100 has been described as a relationship thriller in the vein of Play Misty for Me, the 1971 thriller starring and directed by Clint Eastwood which ...
T.I. will star in the project, while Rich, the wunderkind filmmaker of early 1990s black-centric movies such as Straight Out of Brooklyn, will helm, marking a return to features after a 25-year sabbatical.
Rich wrote the popcorn story, which centers on a popular radio personality whose chance encounter with a female listener turns his life upside down. Caller 100 has been described as a relationship thriller in the vein of Play Misty for Me, the 1971 thriller starring and directed by Clint Eastwood which ...
Independent film veteran Ira Deutchman has received the first annual Spotlight Lifetime Achievement Award for his work in the distribution and exhibition of independent films. The award was created by advertising company Spotlight Cinema Networks in partnership with the Art House Convergence.
Read More: Why Indie Producing Veteran Ira Deutchman Is Moving From Films to Broadway
Deutchman has been distributing, marketing and making independent films for more than 40 years, working on some of the most successful and acclaimed indie titles of our time. He received the award Tuesday night at a dinner following Art House Convergence’s annual conference.
“Ira Deutchman is a legendary figure in the world of independent film distribution, marketing and production,” Spotlight Cinema Networks chief executive officer Jerry Rakfeldt said in a statement. “His creativity, passion and business acumen have helped shape, nurture and expand the independent film industry.”
Deutchman has worked on more than 150 films,...
Read More: Why Indie Producing Veteran Ira Deutchman Is Moving From Films to Broadway
Deutchman has been distributing, marketing and making independent films for more than 40 years, working on some of the most successful and acclaimed indie titles of our time. He received the award Tuesday night at a dinner following Art House Convergence’s annual conference.
“Ira Deutchman is a legendary figure in the world of independent film distribution, marketing and production,” Spotlight Cinema Networks chief executive officer Jerry Rakfeldt said in a statement. “His creativity, passion and business acumen have helped shape, nurture and expand the independent film industry.”
Deutchman has worked on more than 150 films,...
- 1/18/2017
- by Graham Winfrey
- Indiewire
Chicago – Iconic and historical are the two apt terms for a film directed by an African American woman, the first to be distributed theatrically, Was it the 1920s? 1940s? It had to be the 1970s. No, it was 1992 when that barrier was broken, with the film “Daughters in the Dust,” directed by Julie Dash.
“Daughters of the Dust” is a lyrical cinematic poem about transition and pride. In the early 20th Century, the children of slaves were making their first movements from the South during “The Great Migration” – when African Americans sought more independence in the industrial North. “Daughters” highlights the residents of St. Simons Island in Georgia, a settlement for a freed family named Peazant – who practiced Creole “Gullah” ancestry, which observed African tribal traditions during their time in America. The older and more established residents are wary of the traveling ways of the new generation, and the presence...
“Daughters of the Dust” is a lyrical cinematic poem about transition and pride. In the early 20th Century, the children of slaves were making their first movements from the South during “The Great Migration” – when African Americans sought more independence in the industrial North. “Daughters” highlights the residents of St. Simons Island in Georgia, a settlement for a freed family named Peazant – who practiced Creole “Gullah” ancestry, which observed African tribal traditions during their time in America. The older and more established residents are wary of the traveling ways of the new generation, and the presence...
- 11/29/2016
- by adam@hollywoodchicago.com (Adam Fendelman)
- HollywoodChicago.com
The late 80s and 90s heralded a breakthrough led by Spike Lee’s Do the Right Thing and John Singleton’s Boyz N the Hood. At first, Hollywood embraced this wave of talent, then it ignored it. Now, in the wake of #OscarsSoWhite, black film is rising again
‘Black film properties may be to the 90s what the carphone was to the 80s; every studio executive has to have one,” wrote the New York Times magazine in the summer of 1991. It’s a comment that speaks volumes about both a cultural moment and its transience. The piece was titled They’ve Gotta Have Us, referring to Spike Lee’s 1986 breakthrough movie She’s Gotta Have It. The group portrait on the cover brought together an impressive collection of young, black film-makers – what has been labelled “the class of 91”. Lee was head boy, of course. By that time he was well...
‘Black film properties may be to the 90s what the carphone was to the 80s; every studio executive has to have one,” wrote the New York Times magazine in the summer of 1991. It’s a comment that speaks volumes about both a cultural moment and its transience. The piece was titled They’ve Gotta Have Us, referring to Spike Lee’s 1986 breakthrough movie She’s Gotta Have It. The group portrait on the cover brought together an impressive collection of young, black film-makers – what has been labelled “the class of 91”. Lee was head boy, of course. By that time he was well...
- 10/13/2016
- by Steve Rose
- The Guardian - Film News
Congratulations to Ms. Octavia Spencer for winning the Academy Award for Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role for The Help (2011). I thoroughly enjoyed her on screen passion, humor and audacity. Her irreverence shimmered like glitter, her rage took on an artistic flair, and the relationship she formed with another "outsider" in the film was telling of her humanity beyond the boundaries of race so clearly defined and articulated in the film. This week's Oscar win for Spencer, however, will no doubt reinforce and fuel the controversy about what kind of black images get supported and celebrated in Hollywood. Ms. Spencer's character, Minny Jackson, was as spunky, fearless, and charming as Hattie McDaniel's Mammy was in Gone With the Wind (1939), but therein lies the issue. James McBride articulated the problem in his essay "On Being A Maid" in this way: "On Jan. 24 President Obama, our first African American president,...
- 3/2/2012
- by Sheril Antonio
- Moviefone
Tyga attends Careless World Album Listening Party at Emi Records in Santa Monica. Photo copyright Koi Sojer / PR Photos. Tyga attends Careless World Album Listening Party at Emi Records in Santa Monica. Photo copyright Koi Sojer / PR Photos. Tyga attends Careless World Album Listening Party at Emi Records in Santa Monica. Photo copyright Koi Sojer / PR Photos. Tyga attends Careless World Album Listening Party at Emi Records in Santa Monica. Photo copyright Koi Sojer / PR Photos. Tyga and Matty Rich attend Careless World Album Listening Party at Emi Records in Santa Monica. Photo copyright Koi Sojer / PR Photos. 02/13/2012 - Tyga - Tyga "Careless World" Album Listening Party at Emi Records in Santa Monica on...
- 2/15/2012
- by M&C
- Monsters and Critics
Viola Davis attends African-American Film Critics Association 2011 Awards Dinner.Photo copyright Tina Gill / PR Photos. Viola Davis attends African-American Film Critics Association 2011 Awards Dinner.Photo copyright Tina Gill / PR Photos. Viola Davis attends African-American Film Critics Association 2011 Awards Dinner.Photo copyright Tina Gill / PR Photos. Director Tate Taylor and Octavia Spencer attend African-American Film Critics Association 2011 Awards Dinner.Photo copyright Tina Gill / PR Photos. Rocky Carroll attends African-American Film Critics Association 2011 Awards Dinner.Photo copyright Tina Gill / PR Photos. 01/08/2012 - Reid Johnson Rich and Matty Rich - African-American Film Critics Association 2011 Awards Dinner - Arrivals - Aafca Clubhouse - Los Angeles, CA, USA © Tina Gill / PR...
- 1/10/2012
- by M&C
- Monsters and Critics
In 1991 two films changed the landscape of indie cinema by making the frugality of the budget a selling point. Where are the microbudget film directors now?
Hollywood has always operated on the principle that more is more: each time the most expensive film ever made arrives in cinemas, budgetary extravagance becomes a major selling point. But 20 years ago, the Us independent sector stumbled upon its own marketing equivalent: the microbudget. Suddenly it became apparent that a film's financial shortcomings could be exploited to its advantage.
In 1991, two films changed the landscape of indie cinema and the way in which it was sold. Richard Linklater's Slacker, which drops in on around 100 misfits and eccentrics during 24 hours in Austin, Texas, and Matty Rich's Straight Out of Brooklyn, a tale of young no-hopers in New York's housing projects, marked the start of a phenomenon – frugality as a marketing hook
Neither were the...
Hollywood has always operated on the principle that more is more: each time the most expensive film ever made arrives in cinemas, budgetary extravagance becomes a major selling point. But 20 years ago, the Us independent sector stumbled upon its own marketing equivalent: the microbudget. Suddenly it became apparent that a film's financial shortcomings could be exploited to its advantage.
In 1991, two films changed the landscape of indie cinema and the way in which it was sold. Richard Linklater's Slacker, which drops in on around 100 misfits and eccentrics during 24 hours in Austin, Texas, and Matty Rich's Straight Out of Brooklyn, a tale of young no-hopers in New York's housing projects, marked the start of a phenomenon – frugality as a marketing hook
Neither were the...
- 9/23/2011
- by Ryan Gilbey
- The Guardian - Film News
BrandChannel.com is a site that lists all product placement found within #1 studio feature films, going back to 2001.
Something to pay attention to next time you sit down to watch a movie, and to later discuss, when you and your pals go to Starbucks afterward and order cappuccinos, oblivious of the fact that you might be doing so because a character in the movie you just saw was drinking one
For example… Limitless, last week’s number 1 movie, featured brands that include: adidas, Apple, At&T, Bentley, BlackBerry, Bloomberg, Dell, Google, Ibm, Levi’s, Louis Vuitton, Maserati, Mercedes, New York Post, Percocet, Red Bull, Smartwater, St. Regis Hotel, Trump, and Two Men and a Truck.
Several “high end” brands there. I haven’t seen the film however. But since you’re technically supposed to be able to tell who the target audience of the film is, by looking at the brands featured in the film,...
Something to pay attention to next time you sit down to watch a movie, and to later discuss, when you and your pals go to Starbucks afterward and order cappuccinos, oblivious of the fact that you might be doing so because a character in the movie you just saw was drinking one
For example… Limitless, last week’s number 1 movie, featured brands that include: adidas, Apple, At&T, Bentley, BlackBerry, Bloomberg, Dell, Google, Ibm, Levi’s, Louis Vuitton, Maserati, Mercedes, New York Post, Percocet, Red Bull, Smartwater, St. Regis Hotel, Trump, and Two Men and a Truck.
Several “high end” brands there. I haven’t seen the film however. But since you’re technically supposed to be able to tell who the target audience of the film is, by looking at the brands featured in the film,...
- 3/27/2011
- by Tambay
- ShadowAndAct
Ain’t that the truth. Case in point – Matty Rich’s 1991 film Straight Out of Brooklyn which is being broadcast several times this month on MGM HD cable channel, starting tomorrow, Sunday, August at 10:15Am (9:15Am Central), and again on Aug 9, 17 and 27.
Jeez! I thought the film had disappeared from memory. Suffice it to say it’s a Bad and technically ineptly made movie. Yet believe it or not, at the time, it was hailed by Everyone from Oprah, to Roger Ebert, to Brian Gumbel, and anyone else who saw it as a realistic, brutally honest, searingly brilliant movie. (”Now I truly know what it’s like to be black in the urban jungle now that I’ve seen Straight Out of Brooklyn…“).
Even more amazing was that people who you think would know better were actually saying that Matty Rich was going to out do both Spike Lee and Martin Scorsese.
Jeez! I thought the film had disappeared from memory. Suffice it to say it’s a Bad and technically ineptly made movie. Yet believe it or not, at the time, it was hailed by Everyone from Oprah, to Roger Ebert, to Brian Gumbel, and anyone else who saw it as a realistic, brutally honest, searingly brilliant movie. (”Now I truly know what it’s like to be black in the urban jungle now that I’ve seen Straight Out of Brooklyn…“).
Even more amazing was that people who you think would know better were actually saying that Matty Rich was going to out do both Spike Lee and Martin Scorsese.
- 7/31/2010
- by Sergio
- ShadowAndAct
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