Kael Your Idols: A New Hollywood Podcast

  • Home
  • Kael Your Idols: A New Hollywood Podcast

Kael Your Idols: A New Hollywood Podcast Listen along with us and discover kick-ass cinema from New Hollywood era of film
(1)

The fact that John Hurt, the legendary British stage and film actor, will probably be best remembered for a scene in whi...
16/09/2024

The fact that John Hurt, the legendary British stage and film actor, will probably be best remembered for a scene in which he writhes in pain on a table and a spluttering alien spawn breaks through his ribcage, is somehow almost fitting. Hurt always thrived on serving the story. Being a… vessel… for the story… if you will? From his memorable but brief turn as the wand seller in the first Harry Potter film to his heartbreaking Oscar Nominated star turn as Joseph Merrick in The Elephant Man (1980), the lack of vanity or need to take up space better served by other elements (makeup, special effects) should be quite apparent. This has come up many times in the past, but as a child Sam had their famous list of “favorite old guys” and Hurt might even have been the one to inspire it when Sam saw him play Winston Smith (Sam had a big 1984 phase). Few actors have ever captured the wretchedness of the everyday human indignities and dramas as well as Hurt did which is why he makes sense in any context or time period be it realistic drama or magical space fantasy. Great voice too. On a personal note just last night Alana and Sam started watching BBC's legendary I, Claudius miniseries. Alana has no idea what disturbing yet effete delights Hurt has in store for her as Caligula!

Sigourney Weaver is the kind of unabashed icon about whom it’s almost impossible to speak hyperbolically. We could have ...
14/09/2024

Sigourney Weaver is the kind of unabashed icon about whom it’s almost impossible to speak hyperbolically. We could have just started this post like: WOMAN. TRAILBLAZER. SUPERSTAR. ICON. WEAVER. And with her? It ALMOST wouldn’t even be cringey because she brings out such an honest “yass queen” in all of us. What’s interesting about Weaver is how she so fully embodies what she represents as an actor and a celebrity. Much like the steely-eyed Ripley she portrayed across the Alien franchise, she met her own moment and accepts her destiny almost with nonchalance. Her Oscar win for Gorillas in the Mist (1988) also beautifully displayed her innate knack for playing naturally brilliant characters who are right about everything. We could rattle off some credits including Annie Hall (1977), Working Girl (1988), Galaxy Quest (1999), and Holes (2003) for example - but honestly at this point she’s probably reached a level of Shatnerian fame that exists totally without need for the younger generation to know what movie you’re from. Well done.

There is a case…a SERIOUS CASE TO MAKE….that Gena Rowlands was the greatest screen actor of all time. By the way, before...
15/08/2024

There is a case…a SERIOUS CASE TO MAKE….that Gena Rowlands was the greatest screen actor of all time. By the way, before we go any further it should always be specified that her first name is pronounced like “Jenna” rather than “Gina”. Many’s the film fan made to feel shame for proclaiming her their favorite actor only to immediately have their pronunciation of her name corrected by an obviously more diligent and devoted fan. The Rowlands advantage is obvious: she had perhaps the most fruitful collaboration between a married couple star/director team in history. The work she did with her husband John Cassavetes will be forever enshrined as the the epitome of behavioral acting. If you haven’t seen A Woman Under the Influence (1974), then you simply don’t grasp the true limitless possibilities of what a human face can project onscreen. She took risks far beyond what any conventional movie star is ever willing to take with their image, and yet at the same time she was able to fit perfectly into the milieu of a weepy like The Notebook (2004). So well in fact that it will undoubtedly consume most of the coverage of her death. Which is sort of a shame. But on the other hand Daniel Day-Lewis wasn’t ever in any Nicholas Sparks movies. Rowlands had that true versatility where she was never able to play her characters as anything besides supremely human. It will be a pleasure to revisit her many classic New Hollywood roles over the course of this podcast.

It’s a story straight out of a Hollywood fairytale. Robert Altman was looking for actors for his film Brewster McCloud, ...
12/07/2024

It’s a story straight out of a Hollywood fairytale. Robert Altman was looking for actors for his film Brewster McCloud, and a friend told him “You have to come see this woman I just met, you’ve never seen anyone like her”. The woman was Shelly Duvall. Something about her presence and presentation unnerved Altman. He believed she had to be playing up her bizarre mannerisms and irregular energy. But she was just being herself. Altman cast her in his movie as he would go on to do many more times in the coming decade. Previously having zero interest in acting before meeting Altman, Duvall turned simple relatability into true unconventionality. She is perhaps one of the purest examples of the New Hollywood era's sensibility in casting (Hence why we name check her in our theme song) because all she really represented was a slightly less actor-y aesthetic. Somehow on a movie screen that transforms her into a presence you’ll never forget once you see her. Whether you know her from Altman films (especially her incredible turn in 3 Women), The Shining, or Mother Goose Rock 'n' Rhyme, she usually finds her way into your heart somehow. RIP to one of cinema’s greatest unclassifiable weirdos.

As we discuss in the episode, the concept of auteurism rarely feels more apt than when applied to the works of John Wate...
22/06/2024

As we discuss in the episode, the concept of auteurism rarely feels more apt than when applied to the works of John Waters. Not only did he produce, write, direct, shoot, and edit Pink Flamingoes, he also created his own unique universe and film grammar. Despite the bizarro nature of the world-building, somehow he makes nonsense cohere and by the end the audience is able to buy into the fact that in this movie anything is truly possible. Beyond just the bravery/brazenness of the gross out humor and sexual explicitness of the work, there are also endless examples of Waters' imagination on display. If this were the one film that he ever made that worked, that would be enough for many underground artists. But Waters is different. His destiny was not to burn out as a half remembered amateurish pioneer. Somehow over the next half century he took what must have looked like the most improbable path imaginable: one towards universal acceptance by the American mainstream. Across his body of work including his many further collaborations with his famous Dreamlanders acting troupe, he steadily climbed to the level of household name and revered film master. To quote the musical version of his film Hairspray, sometimes you cant stop the beat.

The idea of a star persona has probably never been pushed further to the limits of audience acceptability than it was by...
22/06/2024

The idea of a star persona has probably never been pushed further to the limits of audience acceptability than it was by Divine - the outrageous drag character embodied by Harris Glenn Milstead. Who could have guessed when they first were given the moniker "Divine" by filmmaker John Waters in the mid 60s that it would go on to become indelibly imprinted on American culture? Unfortunately for Divine, the character also became something of an albatross around the neck of the performer. Visually unforgettable, philosophically incomprehensible, and always hilarious, Divine represented a wholly new kind of energy in drag performance. As Waters has remarked: “Divine made all drag queens cool. Before him they wanted to be Miss America or be their mothers.” Over the course of his career Milstead came to work almost exclusively as the irascible instigator Divine, ultimately parlaying the underground fame that the Waters collaborations afforded into a successful club act and string of disco hits. Divine’s untimely death at 42 just after their true ascent into the mainstream in Hairspray (1988) only adds a tragic poignancy to this legendary career.

A personal note from Sam on the passing of Donald Sutherland:This one hurts. The passing of Donald Sutherland feels like...
21/06/2024

A personal note from Sam on the passing of Donald Sutherland:
This one hurts. The passing of Donald Sutherland feels like it marks the end of several eras at once. Not only did his massive career stretch over seven decades, he always seemed to be several different performers rolled into one. As he aged oh so wonderfully, he seemed to forever be shifting the space he occupied as an actor, all while retaining the friendly-yet-mysterious aura that first made me take notice of him in JFK when I was 12 years old. I’m sure many people remember the experience back in the days of VHS, putting in the second tape of Oliver Stone’s paranoid fever dream and immediately feeling riveted by Sutherland’s “X” character. His monologue about the underlying forces controlling government is one of the greatest 13 minute stretches in the history of film (it’s also conspiracy minded bunk that has provided ample fodder for anyone who likes to rattle on about the deep state so... I guess you can’t control your legacy). It was this older, authoritative yet still wild eyed Sutherland that meant the most to me. In the late 90s I actually made a personal list of my favorite ‘old guys’. The list included luminaries such as Derek Jacobi and John Hurt, but it was my deep love of Donald Sutherland that inspired the list in the first place. Honestly loving his work is one of the first things I latched onto once I decided I was a “film person”. But of course it’s his work in the new Hollywood era that we will primarily concern ourselves with on this podcast - and what an embarrassment of riches this will no doubt prove to be. We have several appearances of Sutherland coming up on the podcast and I, for one, will not miss the chance to give the man his flowers at every available opportunity.

Politics aside, Charlton Heston is kind of a cool actor if you think about it. In the 50s he gains prominence as a kind ...
31/05/2024

Politics aside, Charlton Heston is kind of a cool actor if you think about it. In the 50s he gains prominence as a kind of epic American star of biblical epics and Cecile B. Demille extravaganzas, and then in the late 60s and on, gradually transitions into being a sci-fi staple. His presence is almost a singular force in terms of elevating the genre out of the realm of kiddie serials and B movies. Without his casting as Taylor in Planet of the Apes, the entire history of cinematic speculative fiction could have been different. It was him and only him that made them try so hard with that film. His casting pushed Fox to bet their hemorrhaging studio on what could have been a very silly enterprise. He used his existing stardom to bring this new kind of adult serious sci-fi into the 70s. Annnnd then later used his stardom to advocate for less fun control as the president of the NRA. So. You know. We contain multitudes.

Obviously Obsession (1976) is a pastiche of Hitchcock’s Vertigo. One of the clearest nods to the 1959 classic is in its ...
10/05/2024

Obviously Obsession (1976) is a pastiche of Hitchcock’s Vertigo. One of the clearest nods to the 1959 classic is in its score by Bernard Herrmann - the legendary film composer who worked with Hitch many times and, yes, scored Vertigo. When you’re making a ‘paraphrased remake’ such as this, there can be a line where imitation crosses into something else. If you’re actually having the original person write a score for your movie and having him write in his signature style, things can go quickly from ‘channeling’ to simply continuing the thematic explorations that it inspired in him. Composed very close to Herrmann’s death, he considered the score to Obsession to be the most beautiful he had ever written. This is very intriguing given that it stands among his least famous. Perhaps returning to the themes of one of his celebrated scores helped him perfect something he had been always trying to articulate. After his death in 1976, Herrmann received double Oscar nominations for both this film and his final work: Taxi Driver (1976). A fitting tribute to this master of the film score.

Just because New Hollywood was an American movement doesn’t mean it was devoid of foreign figures. In particular, the po...
10/05/2024

Just because New Hollywood was an American movement doesn’t mean it was devoid of foreign figures. In particular, the political unrest in Eastern Europe in the postwar era provided the impetus for an influx of filmmakers and craftspeople to unleash their talents on the American cinematic landscape. Cinematographer Vilmos Zsigmond (who shot Obsession) was undoubtedly one of the most celebrated imports of the era. His origin story is as legendary as it is brave: he and fellow DP László Kovács put a camera in a shopping bag and covertly filmed the 1956 Hungarian Revolution. Smuggling themselves and their 30 thousand feet of film to Austria, they shortly after arrived in America as political refugees. Both men went on to make their marks and define the look of film for years to come. Zsigmond’s collaborators are a veritable who’s who of the American New Wave: Altman, Allen, Spielberg, Cimino, and of course De Palma. His work was recognized by the Academy for Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977). Zsigmond died on January 1st, 2016 inadvertently kicking off a year of seminal cultural deaths. One wonders what footage he could have captured in the modern state of American unrest were he just another young cameraman with a shopping bag today.

Aesthete. Technician. Sensationalist. Throwback. Brian De Palma’s work is multifaceted and yet in other ways contained. ...
08/05/2024

Aesthete. Technician. Sensationalist. Throwback. Brian De Palma’s work is multifaceted and yet in other ways contained. On the Obsession episode we discuss the cliche of De Palma as fetishist, but that almost makes him seem like an artist constrained by their own interests. Far from it. This venerated member of the “movie brats” was far from the image we have of Spielberg or Scorsese i.e. completely gorged on movies and almost nothing else. De Palma came from a scientific background but later developed a collegiate interest in experimental theatre. Moving effortlessly from the downtown counterculture of the late 60s to the hyper violent 70s, De Palma’s signature breakthrough came when he discovered a niche that was going unfilled in the 1970s: Hitchcockian suspense. With films such as Sisters (1972), Body Double (1984), Dressed to Kill (1980), and Obsession (1976) he boldly pushed through the currents of black humor and postmodernism to help perfect pastiche during the second half of the 20th century.

Miscellaneous art from animator & filmmaker Ralph Bakshi~found on the Ralph Bakshi Sketchbook fb page~
30/04/2024

Miscellaneous art from animator & filmmaker Ralph Bakshi
~found on the Ralph Bakshi Sketchbook fb page~

It’s Problematic Art Week on KYI! This episode Alana and Sam are joined by animator Frank Gidlewski for a round-table on...
15/04/2024

It’s Problematic Art Week on KYI! This episode Alana and Sam are joined by animator Frank Gidlewski for a round-table on Ralph Bakshi’s 1973 Künstlerroman "Heavy Traffic". There is much talk of the film's depictions of various taboos both sexual and racial, so, be warned. Also much rumination on the woes of the modern film/animation landscape so… TW for that as well, if you’re an animator. Other topics include: making out during edgy movies, parallels with the Godfather, and feuds with R. Crumb.
Episode 22 - Toons of the City: Heavy Traffic (1973)
~Available on all major podcast streaming platforms~

There are some directors who don’t seem to mind being called an auteur, and there are others who might eschew the label ...
15/04/2024

There are some directors who don’t seem to mind being called an auteur, and there are others who might eschew the label as reductive and a misnomer but who still seem to have their own vision tied inextricably to all their work. Sydney Pollack belongs to a third category; the beloved journeyman. Hired hands who executives know won’t ever put up much of a fight about casting and who can keep schedules and budgets tight remained just as in demand during the 1970s as any era. The history of film is riddled with this rank of patient studio filmmaker. Company men who are easily outshone by flashier more maverick artists. However the filmography of Pollack can stack up against almost anyone. Tootsie (1982), The Firm (1993), Three Days of the Condor (1975), and this episode’s film They Shoot Horses, Don’t They? (1969) all remain vital must-sees. True, the direction might not be the first aspect you think of when considering those films but they wouldn’t even exist without the sure hand of Pollack. It can’t be overstated, however, how much his work as an actor has helped burnish his memory in film consciousness. After his turn in Tootsie as the agent (Dustin Hoffman reportedly made him take the role since his natural presence would be the only way Hoffman could feel true intimidation), directors from Stanley Kubrick to Robert Zemeckis suddenly grasped Pollack’s power to steal a scene. If you were a kid growing up in the 90s, you knew Sydney Pollack’s face. His near ubiquity during the 80s and 90s created such a feedback loop that it almost made one wonder if a director was putting him into their movie in some kind of stylistic nod to Pollack’s own work. Rarely has simple competence and straightforwardness seemed quite so stylish. He is a unique figure in this way.

He’s never really gone away but for most who know his name, Bruce Dern will be forever associated with the 1970s. Dern s...
11/04/2024

He’s never really gone away but for most who know his name, Bruce Dern will be forever associated with the 1970s. Dern studied at the Actors Studio in the 50s and had memorable roles in theatre, TV and movies during the 1960s. But then he found himself at a crossroads, trying desperately to transcend the sidekicks and heavies he kept getting offered. The character Leonardo DiCaprio plays in Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood (2019) comes to mind. While working on They Shoot Horses, Don’t They? (1969) Dern’s frustrations with his career boiled over as he felt much better suited to the lead role compared to Michael Sarrazin. A change in agents and a change in cinematic taste era paved the way for Dern to change his image. The era saw an explosion of unconventional actors in lead roles and Dern, after his turn as a space traveling botanist in Silent Running (1972) found himself able to finally play the kinds of complex roles he knew he was best suited for. In films such as The Great Gatsby (1974) and Coming Home (1978), Dern’s rage and inner turmoil shocks and disturbs the audience often to the point of feeling like they are witnessing something they shouldn’t be seeing. And of course perhaps his greatest gift to the world: his arguably much more famous daughter Laura Dern.

The riveting movie They Shoot Horses, Don’t They? (1969) shines a light on America’s surprisingly dark history with pred...
03/04/2024

The riveting movie They Shoot Horses, Don’t They? (1969) shines a light on America’s surprisingly dark history with predatory dance marathons in which contestants would dance continuously with short 15 minute breaks every few hours until one couple remains. During The Great Depression, the dance marathon craze reached its peak with contest promoters offering cheap entertainment to spectators by exploiting the financial desperation of its contestants. The marathons would last for months at a time and contestants were pushed to their physical and mental limits. Marathon promotors would add in endurance tests such as sprint races to speed up elimination and sometimes contestants would be deprived of medical care during breaks for the sake of entertainment. Many cities ended up banning dance marathons due to their exploitative nature. Quite a long way from the light-hearted and cheery Stars Hollow Dance Marathon featured in that one Gilmore Girls episode, isn’t it?

Destiny’s dance continues! This week the hosts go around and around in their conversation on Sydney Pollack’s 1969 ode t...
25/03/2024

Destiny’s dance continues! This week the hosts go around and around in their conversation on Sydney Pollack’s 1969 ode to the hopelessness of human existence (under capitalism)! This 1930s era Jane Fonda vehicle proves to be delightful fodder for Alana and Sam to morbidly contemplate its grim vision of fate. And speaking of grim fates: the film also co-stars Gig Young… Yeesh! Topics include: the birth of existentialism, tracking shots in Gilmore Girls, and Red Buttons.
Episode 21 - The Greatest Depression: They Shoot Horses, Don't They? (1969)
~Available on all major podcast streaming platforms~

The 1970s in many ways was the coming out party for the “multi-hyphenate star”. Nowadays it’s fairly commonplace when bi...
23/03/2024

The 1970s in many ways was the coming out party for the “multi-hyphenate star”. Nowadays it’s fairly commonplace when big actors make the leap from bankable A-Lister to writer/director/producer. Prior to the emergence of figures like Warren Beatty and Barbra Streisand, this simply wasn’t as common in the old studio system. In some ways, Robert Redford is the poster child of this archetypal journey. When you truly take in his whole career, Redford’s reach is truly unmatched. Of course there is his multi-decade run as a movie star (Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, Indecent Proposal) and of course his storied directing career, which kicked off with him winning Best Director and Best Picture Oscars for Ordinary People (1980) and arguably only got better from there. As we discuss on the episode, not only did the film All the President's Men (1976) begin with Redford, but he actually had a hand in the personal tone Woodward and Bernstein adopted for the initial book version. And yet perhaps his crowning achievement is the Sundance Institute and its attendant film festival. How many actors have had an entire TV channel named after something they created? Just think of it: without Redford do we even get Quentin Tarantino, Kevin Smith, Steven Soderbergh or the entire '90s indie film boom?

Address


Website

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when Kael Your Idols: A New Hollywood Podcast posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Contact The Business

Send a message to Kael Your Idols: A New Hollywood Podcast:

Videos

A touching scene from Heavy Traffic (1973), a movie which on the whole is the complete opposite of touching.

The derby scenes in They Shoot Horses, Don't They? (1969) contain truly harrowing sequences that leave a lasting impression on viewers. Director Sydney Pollack shot some of these sequences himself while wearing roller skates to get right up in the action of the scene. You can truly feel the characters' exhaustion and desperation as you watch them go round and round.

Anybody else think Deep Throat just loooooooves the drama? Like, oooo I've got a secret but I can't tell you! I'll just give you hints ; ) All the President's Men (1976) took great pains to accurately capture the accounts of Woodward and Bernstein during their Watergate investigation which means the over-the-top depiction of this exchange between Deep Throat and Woodward has historical merit.

Wanda (1970) was shot with a 16mm camera for budget reasons, but the advantages of using a small camera are on full display in this car robbery scene where you realize partway through that the camera was shooting from INSIDE the car the whole time. Cinematographer Nicholas Proferes told actor Michael Higgins “you do what you have to do, and I’ll follow you”. Regarding the flexibility in movement while acting, Higgins said he “never had before and never since experienced such freedom”.

Here's a clip of a fascinating interview from 1972 with Yoko Ono, John Lennon, and Barbara Loden who all became friends after meeting at the 1971 Cannes Film Festival. They discuss the difficulties of being female artists/creators with famous husbands, nepotism, and Loden's experience working with men on her film. Sadly, there was no "next time" for Loden, who was denied any opportunities to create another feature film despite the critical success of Wanda (1970).

In February 1972 Barbara Loden appeared on the Mike Douglas show to promote her new film Wanda. This clip is a perfect example of the lack of respect female directors face. Douglas couldn't even be bothered to look up the basic details about the film before interviewing Loden... She's literally the star of the movie (in addition to being the writer/director/producer).

Jonathan Banks: telling you how it is since 1978! We were absolutely delighted to see Jonathan Banks make a brief appearance in Ashby's Coming Home (1978)

The famous multi-screen polo sequence from Norman Jewison's The Thomas Crown Affair (1968): The polo sequence in its original form was too long and on the chopping block, but then-editor Hal Ashby said "don't cut it out, cut it up", so they hired graphic designer Pablo Ferro to turn the scene into a multi-screen sequence. Ferro had previously designed film logotypes, title sequences, and advertisements, and Hal liked his innovative approach. Hal assisted Ferro in refining his technique to design and edit the multi-screen sequences in The Thomas Crown Affair, and the results were jaw-dropping. Ferro's work with the polo footage reduced the sequence's runtime from 6 minutes to 40 seconds, and of course it also looked insanely cool.

Enjoy this clip of the sexy chess scene from Norman Jewison's The Thomas Crown Affair (1968), featuring some excellent editing by Hal Ashby. ~Check out Kael Your Idols: A New Hollywood Podcast for a deep-dive into New Hollywood cinema~

I love comparing the traffic lights effect in Jean-Luc Godard's Pierrot le Fou (1965) and Scorsese's Taxi Driver (1976). Coincidence? Quite possibly! But Scorsese is heavily influenced by Godard and he uses French New Wave techniques in his filmmaking. For example, the close-up of the alka-seltzer tablet fizzing in the water glass in Taxi Driver is a direct nod to the coffee cup scene in Godard's Two or Three Things I Know About Her (1967), and there are of course those jump cuts...

Shortcuts

  • Address
  • Alerts
  • Contact The Business
  • Videos
  • Claim ownership or report listing

  • Want your business to be the top-listed Media Company?

Share