Surprise! Since next week marks the anniversary of when I started this podcast, I'm dropping this episode a few days early as a thank you for your support & listenership over the years. (Note: I haven't decided how to celebrate the date yet, but I think a good start would be not forgetting it like I usually do, haha.) Season 5 has kicked things off in a wonderfully nostalgic mode so far with several installments I've recorded about films of the '80s & '90s, which I'm hoping casts the same sort of warm, glowy, Gen X memory-filled spell on you that it did on me as I researched & prepped for these episodes. And who better to focus on for a look back at this era than John Cusack whose onscreen alter-ego so many of us grew up alongside?
Returning to the podcast to investigate is filmmaker & author Duncan Birmingham, who started revisiting Cusack's films towards the end of '23 & pitched this terrific idea to zero in on the Quintessential Cusack era from SAY ANYTHING...(1989) to HIGH FIDELITY (2000). Citing multiple other films along the way, in this appreciative, analytical look back, we focus on his work in three other tremendous films including THE GRIFTERS, GROSSE POINTE BLANK, & BEING JOHN MALKOVICH. Giving plenty of love to his outstanding collaborators & including stories from our own lives & the way our relationships with these characters & films change with age, this is just the thing to queue up & maybe blast from your boombox in some sort of grand romantic declaration as you head into your weekend.
Duncan's Bio: A writer and filmmaker based in Los Angeles, today's guest Duncan Birmingham was an executive producer and screenwriter for IFC's MARON and also served as a co-executive producer and writer on the Starz series BLUNT TALK. Additionally, Duncan's short films have premiered at festivals like Sundance and AFI, and his screenplay SWINGLES, which Paramount purchased, was also on The Black List. Recently, his lively, irreverent short-story collection THE CULT IN MY GARAGE was published by Maudlin House in 2021, & in '22, he wrapped & released his excellent first feature-length film as a writer-director called WHO INVITED THEM.
Originally Posted on Patreon (2/23/24) here: https://www.patreon.com/posts/99081183
Watch With Jen - S3: E12 - Colin Farrell with Bilge Ebiri
Watch With Jen - S3: E11 - Murder Can Be Fun with Jordan Harper
Watch With Jen - S3: E10 - Physical Media: Winter '22 with Kate Gabrielle
Watch With Jen - S3: E9 - Steve Martin in the '80s with Noah Gittell
Watch With Jen - S3: E8 - Allison Anders in Conversation with Kate Hagen & Jen Johans
Watch With Jen - S3: E7 - Underrated James Caan with Blake Howard
Watch With Jen - S3: E6 - LOL Funny '90s Romcoms with Rachel Wagner
Watch With Jen - S3: E5 - Hal Ashby with Duncan Birmingham
Watch With Jen - S3: E4 - Buster Keaton & Friends with Dana Stevens
Watch With Jen - S3: E3 - "Terriers" with Jed Ayres
Watch With Jen - S3: E2 - Babysitting Movies with Courtney Howard
Watch With Jen - S3: E1 - John Huston with S.A. Cosby
Watch With Jen - S2: E55 - Adventures in Physical Media: Part 3 (With William Boyle + Rob & Sandi Belushi)
Watch With Jen - S2: E54 - Adventures in Physical Media: Part 2 (With Walter Chaw & Nikki Dolson)
Watch With Jen - S2: E53 - Adventures in Physical Media: Part 1 (With Kate Gabrielle & Blake Howard)
Watch With Jen - S2: E52 - Roger Moore's Bond Era with Julia Ricci
Watch With Jen - S2: E51 - Gothic Cinema with Walter Chaw
Watch With Jen - S2: E50 - Nicolas Cage with William Boyle
Watch With Jen - S2: E49 - Halt and Catch Fire with Christopher Cantwell (Co-Creator/Showrunner)
Watch With Jen - S2: E48 - Audrey Hepburn with Diana Bosch
Create your
podcast in
minutes
It is Free
The Best Song Podcast
Talking Simpsons
Too Much Information
The Secret History Of Hollywood
The Projection Booth Podcast