Podcast Guest: Alex Wick

Episode 132 – Arsenic and Old Lace

, with special guest:

Arsenic and Old LaceFor this episode, we sort of followed Boris Karloff to a classic screwball comedy directed by Frank Capra. Arsenic and Old Lace was based on a stage play that featured Boris Karloff. He’s not in the movie, though. We’ll explain why. Alex Wick joins us to see if this 1941 comedy is still funny to a 19-year-old.  For the most part, it still is!

Up next, we are going to be watching Bride of Frankenstein!

Arsenic and Old Lace (1944)
Arsenic and Old Lace poster Rating: 7.9/10 (76,032 votes)
Director: Frank Capra
Writer: Julius J. Epstein, Joseph Kesselring, Charles Dorat
Stars: Cary Grant, Priscilla Lane, Raymond Massey
Runtime: 118 min
Rated: Approved
Genre: Comedy, Crime, Thriller
Released: 21 Sep 1944
Plot: Mortimer Brewster, a Brooklyn writer of books on the futility of marriage, risks his reputation after he decides to tie the knot. Things grow complicated when he learns that his beloved maiden aunts Abby and Martha are serial murd...

 

Episode 115 – Westworld

, with special guest:

WestworldOur latest episode takes a look at Michael Crichton’s Westworld. Tim’s son Alex joins us for this movie about a futuristic theme park where nothing could possibly go wrong but, due to exceptionally bad design flaws, things do! Yul Brynner stars as a gunslinger who seems to have tired of constantly being beaten by rich tourists with no shooting skills. We enjoyed the movie but it has a few plot holes and we make sure to discuss the most glaring.

Next up, we are going to watch Ocean’s Eleven (2001)!

Westworld (1973)
Westworld poster Rating: 6.9/10 (64,197 votes)
Director: Michael Crichton
Writer: Michael Crichton
Stars: Yul Brynner, Richard Benjamin, James Brolin
Runtime: 88 min
Rated: PG
Genre: Action, Drama, Sci-Fi
Released: 21 Nov 1973
Plot: A robot malfunction creates havoc and terror for unsuspecting vacationers at a futuristic, adult-themed amusement park.

Episode 106 – Pulp Fiction

, with special guest: ,

Pulp FictionWe continue our crime spree (or crime wave depending on what Tim decided to call it this episode) with the groundbreaking Quentin Tarantino film Pulp Fiction! This movie was so important that we had to get two guests to watch it with us!  The first is newcomer Patrick Fisher and the second is Tim’s now eighteen-year-old son Alex Wick! We watch the film and then talk about how it transformed filmmaking and production in the two decades that have followed.

Next up, we are going to continue with crime films and also watch some more Bruce Willis as we watch Die Hard!

Pulp Fiction (1994)
Pulp Fiction poster Rating: 8.9/10 (2,277,294 votes)
Director: Quentin Tarantino
Writer: Quentin Tarantino, Roger Avary
Stars: John Travolta, Uma Thurman, Samuel L. Jackson
Runtime: 154 min
Rated: R
Genre: Crime, Drama
Released: 14 Oct 1994
Plot: The lives of two mob hitmen, a boxer, a gangster and his wife, and a pair of diner bandits intertwine in four tales of violence and redemption.

Episode 92 – The Untouchables

, with special guest:

The UntouchablesHaving watched Sean Connery play James Bond, we move on to watching Sean Connery in the only role that earned him an Oscar.  Alex Wick joins us for The Untouchables, a Brian De Palma directed crime drama about Chicago and Al Capone.  The movie features some fantastic set piece action as well as several truly riveting performances including Connery’s Oscar winning turn.  We also gush all over Ennio Morricone’s score because how can you not?

Next up, we take a look at the only George Lazenby Bond film, On Her Majesty’s Secret Service!

The Untouchables (1987)
The Untouchables poster Rating: 7.8/10 (337,537 votes)
Director: Brian De Palma
Writer: David Mamet, Oscar Fraley, Eliot Ness
Stars: Kevin Costner, Sean Connery, Robert De Niro
Runtime: 119 min
Rated: R
Genre: Crime, Drama, Thriller
Released: 03 Jun 1987
Plot: During Prohibition, Treasury agent Eliot Ness sets out to stop ruthless Chicago gangster Al Capone, and assembles a small, incorruptible team to help him.

Episode 16 – Double Indemnity

, with special guest:

Double IndemnityJena was unable to make our recording at Pepito’s this episode so we pulled in a Stunt Jena.  Joining us at the Parkway was Tim’s son Alex, who got to watch his first Noir on the big screen.  Our movie was the Noir classic Double Indemnity by Billy Wilder.  People betrayed each other.  People died.  Insurance was sold.  Yep.  Insurance.  Enjoy our conversation about a great film!

Double Indemnity (1944)
Double Indemnity poster Rating: 8.3/10 (171,086 votes)
Director: Billy Wilder
Writer: Billy Wilder, Raymond Chandler, James M. Cain
Stars: Fred MacMurray, Barbara Stanwyck, Edward G. Robinson
Runtime: 107 min
Rated: Approved
Genre: Crime, Drama, Film-Noir
Released: 06 Jul 1944
Plot: An insurance representative is seduced by a dissatisfied housewife into a scheme of insurance fraud and murder that arouses the suspicion of his colleague, a claims investigator.