Bullitt
Steve McQueen was one of the coolest actors out there. He brought amazing performances to the screen time and time again. The Magnificent Seven. Papillon. The Thomas Crown Affair. The Great Escape. The Getaway. The Sand Pebbles. The list goes on. In 1968, he played Frank Bullitt in Peter Yates’ film Bullitt, and brought incredible realism, sensitivity and intelligence to the role of a San Francisco policeman. He also brought his desire to create realistic car chases, and because of this ended up a part the granddaddy of all car chases put on film.
The Descent
These aren’t words you want to hear when you’re stuck on a spelunking trip, particularly when you find out that the “something” that’s down here wants to eat you. That’s what happens to the cast of six ladies on an adventure trip in Neil Marshall’s 2005 film, “The Descent.”
Dawn of the Dead (2004)
Zack Snyder’s 2004 “Dawn of the Dead” remake of George A. Romero’s 1978 zombie classic may not be trying to say much, but it sure provides a good, fun scare. Join us—Pete Wright and Andy Nelson—on this week’s episode as we continue our October Horror series with this film.
28 Days Later
Zombies had notoriously been slow entities—let’s face it, the walking dead just don’t move so fast. But then Danny Boyle came along and, with writer Alex Garland, injected the zombie sub-genre with speed in their film “28 Days Later.” The zombies became fast creatures. And all the more terrifying because of it.
The Thing
In 1982, John Carpenter’s “The Thing” was released but had a tough time competing against other big sci-fi films released at the same time—E.T. the Extra Terrestrial and Blade Runner. It also was viewed by critics as being overly gory and wretched. With time, however, the film has gained a big cult following, big enough to warrant a prequel, a comic book series, a video game and a potential sequel. Now, it’s considered by many to be one of the great horror films of all time.
Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street
This isn’t your typical happy-go-lucky musical. No, this is dark and bloody and beautifully grim. It’s the perfect story for Burton and ends up being one of our favorite films of his, the final film in our Richard D. Zanuck series. Join us—Pete Wright and Andy Nelson—for this episode as we delve into everything about this film.
Big Fish
The only thing better than a great story is a great storyteller, and Edward Bloom certainly fits the bill. Not a moment goes by in Tim Burton’s 2003 film “Big Fish” when young Edward, played by Ewan McGregor, isn’t living one of his fantastical stories or old Edward, played by Albert Finney, isn’t spinning one of his wild yarns, and that’s the hook that pulls us so readily into the film.
Rush
In 1991, Richard D. Zanuck and his wife, Lili Fini Zanuck, produced her directorial debut, “Rush,” a story of two undercover cops trying to bring down a big drug dealer in a small Texas town and in the process become addicts themselves. Our memory of the film, unfortunately, was a bit better than the film itself (even if one of us disliked it less than the other).
Driving Miss Daisy
Driving Miss Daisy was a perfect story choice for Richard D. Zanuck to produce. Sure, it was difficult to get made but for a film that only cost $7.5 million dollars to produce, it raked in over $100 million at the domestic box office, putting it in the top 10 of the year with the likes of Batman and Lethal Weapon 2. Topping that off, it led Zanuck, along with his wife, Lili Fini Zanuck, to win the Best Picture award at the Oscars. But this 1989 film, which deals with prejudice and friendship in the relationship between an old Jewish woman in the south and her African American driver, stands out for many people as a perfect example of what’s wrong with the Oscars because it came out the same year as Spike Lee’s Do the Right Thing, a film that deals with race relations in a much more intense and direct way, and what many feel should have won the Best Picture award.
Jaws
When someone says the word ‘jaws’ to you, it inevitably conjures up the man-eating great white shark in Steven Spielberg’s 1975 thriller masterpiece. It’s hard to imagine a time when the word ‘jaws’ didn’t do this. But that’s what Spielberg’s film “Jaws” did, as well as birth the notion of the summer blockbuster and make people not want to swim in the ocean. Join us—Pete Wright and Andy Nelson—on this week’s episode as we chat about this film, the next in our Richard D. Zanuck series.