207 – The Quick and the Dead

“Is that the twink from Basketball Diaries?”

Jen and Tim mildly disagree on a Sam Raimi film that didn’t quite hit with audiences the first time around, the gender-swapped revenge tale The Quick and the Dead.

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You can watch some deleted scenes from the film, including the love scene between Sharon Stone and Russell Crowe (or “liebesszene,” as it’s described here, because it’s dubbed in German. A couple of the non-sexy scenes are missing audio, probably because those elements were lost after the theatrical edit was finalized.

Jen raised the notion that women are better shots than men, but there’s no real consensus. This study indicates that men and women are equally good at sharpshooting, apart from a slight advantage displayed by men with pistols. Well there goes the whole premise of the movie!!

Yes, Sam Raimi did credit Joss Whedon with helping him on the ending of The Quick and the Dead, but we won’t hold that against him.

130 – Loose Cannons

Jen and Tim enlist favorite guest Mike Rosen (bitterkarella on Twitter) to explicate the inexplicable Dan Aykroyd/Gene Hackman buddy cop comedy, Loose Cannons!

Not to get all fact check dot org on you all, but the Dissociative Identity Disorder website has science-based information on what was misrepresented as “multiple personality disorder” in the movie.

Busy Inside is a compassionate documentary about people with DID.

Read an article about the Southern California Sorcerers, a writer’s group which included future Loose Cannons scribe Richard Matheson and some other guys like Rod Serling, Ray Bradbury, and Harlan Ellison. Excelsior!

Hear the closing theme sung by Katey Sagal (!), ripped “straight from the uncompressed Laserdisc track.”

128 – Night Moves

Gene Hackman in Night Moves (1975)

Jen and Tim reflect on one of the great neo-noir films of Hollywood’s second golden age, Night Moves.

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Senses of Cinema has a thoughtful essay on the film by Bruce Jackson. 

We didn’t get a chance to talk about the film’s writer, Alan Sharp, who said his own screen work embodied “moral ambiguity, mixed motives and irony.” Matthew Asprey Gear describes the protracted gestation of Night Moves and illuminates some biographical details about Sharp in an article for Bright Lights Film Journal.

Read Alan Sharp’s obituary at the Guardian.

 For more Melanie Griffith, check out our episode on Roar, the absolutely wrong-headed movie project inflicted on her by mom Tippi Hedren and stepdad Noel Marshall.

111 – Eureka

Gene Hackman in Nicolas Roeg's Eureka (1983)

Jen and Tim agree and disagree on an also-ran Nicolas Roeg movie, Eureka! Jen really gets the bit between her teeth in this one and Tim demonstrates almost saintly patience while she babbles.

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Watch a short documentary on the inspiration for Jack McCann, the gold millionaire Sir Harry Oakes.

Buy Charlotte Gray’s very engaging bio of Harry Oakes, Murdered Midas, on Alibris.

For more British filmmaking, listen to our episode on The Firm and its 2009 reboot!

A screenshot of Gene Hackman smiling with the caption "Genial Hackman"