Taxi Driver – Saturday Night Movie Sleepovers

Dick Smith – SNMS Presents: The Side-Cast: An Evening with a Hollywood Make-up Legend

Spring is upon us, and we here at SNMS thought we should again started re-airing the original series that paired Dion Baia with his cohort in crime, J. Blake in a string of podcasts called the Side-Cast. Originally airing on their sister site Podwits.com, the Side-Cast was the series catalyst for what became SNMS. To showcase where it all began we are reissuing this program, highlighting the anthology podcast that covered a variety of topics, so that they can not only breath a second life, but also continue what started in the Fall (with the exclusive interviews with Randy Jurgensen and with contributor and Horror enthusiast Dave H–), where brand new content is generated as an off-shoot of the regular SNMS Podcast.

Since last week’s Dick Tracy Podcast mentioned legendary make-up artist Dick Smith, and was also about a film that relied heavily on practical make-up effects, we figured why not re-air a cast solely about this legend, which also contains Blake and Dion‘s personal story of their night with Mr. Smith. We hope you enjoy.

-(This podcast originally aired August the 4th, 2014, coinciding with Dick Smith’s passing.)-

In this very special edition of the Podwits Side Cast, Dion and contributor J. Blake celebrate the life of the “God among Gods“, SFX master, Dick Smith. They discuss his many groundbreaking achievements in cinema and touch upon the highlights of his extensive resume, bringing to light some films audiences may forget Smith was apart of. The boys then get to the gem of the cast (in their minds) and relay their personal, exciting and hilarious story of the time they spent an evening with the master himself, 15 years ago, at an event they organized!

It is truly an insightful and entertaining cast and a must for any film fan, celebrating the life and work of a great artist. Please come and have a listen!

EXTRAS:

Here’s a write up Dion did in 2012 about the evening he and Blake met Dick Smith!

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | RSS

Category: Action, Adventure, Books, Celebrities, Classic, Fantasy, Film, History, News, Saturday Night Movie Sleepovers Exclusive, Side Cast, Television, Uncategorized | LEAVE A COMMENT

August 28

The Warriors, 1979

Get Ready! Dion Baia and J. Blake have picked a whopper of a movie for this week, which could be their BIGGEST podcast yet! Saturday Night Movie Sleepovers is putting on their jean jackets, leather vests, face paint, bandanas, and grabbing some subway tokens, because they’re screening the cult classic gang film, Walter Hill’s The Warriors, from 1979.

The boys attempt to find a logical order to their excitement while trying to dissect this classic. Having read the 1965 Sol Yurick novel of the same name, Blake and Dion compare the differences from book to film (like for example the gang not even actually being called The Warriors, but instead the Coney Island Dominators!). They try to give a historical context as well, speaking about the real gangs of the era, that in some cases were even more frightening than those in the film. And speaking of contexts, what about the historical Greek story Anabasis by Xenophon from 401 BC, and how it influenced both the author Yurick and subsequentially the director. And what of Walter Hill’s 2005 Director’s Cut (which seems to be the only version available to view this film nowadays); how does the Lucas-esque changes made compare to the original theatrical cut? Well, Dion and Blake try to fit as much as they can into this brand new edition of Saturday Night Movie Sleepovers! So spread the word! Cause we’ll be ‘boppin’ our way right through this podcast! Now… can you dig it?!

(Check out the New York City locations that were used to film, from then and now, in this GREAT site found Here1, Here2 and Here3!)

(Here’s some more locations to have a look at.)

(Look at the deleted scenes from the film and see if you agree with their exclusion from the final product!)

(Take a gander at the UK site devoted to The Warriors, which is indispensable to any hardcore fan!)

(Have a look at the trailer to the brand new documentary entitled Rubble Kings, about the real gangs in NYC in the 1970’s, and how close they actually resembled the fictional ones in The Warriors, and how a real truce and organization almost came to be by the real life Cyrus!)

Here’s a link to the HUGE Reunion at Coney Island of The Warriors planned to happen Saturday, September 13th, 2015!

Subscribe to SNMS on iTunes!

Listen to SNMS on Stitcher!

Listen to SNMS on PlayerFM!

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | RSS

Category: Action, Adventure, Drama, Sci Fi, Uncategorized | 4 Comments

June 19

Maniac, 1980

Well boys and girls, this week Dion Baia and J. Blake have a real treat lined up, a personal favorite of Saturday Night Movie Sleepovers, the 1980 cult classic Maniac, directed by William Lustig and starring the late, great, Joe Spinell.

maniac1980

The guys attempt to fit as much as they can into a humble little podcast about this movie, while not trying to go too overboard and show their true colors as absolute fanatics for this film. They discuss the amazing actor that was Joe Spinell, and how he hoped that this pet project of his would do for him what Rocky did for his close friend Sylvester Stallone. Dion and Blake also go on about how it all came together and who Spinell was able to get on board, like SFX legend Tom Savini and iconic director Bill Lustig, to name a few. And the love the boys have for this movie brings up very interesting topics: Is there really an homage to Spielberg‘s Jaws in the film? What were student reactions when J. Blake screened it for his college horror class? Does this movie maybe contain the best head explosion ever? How does the 2012 remake starring Elijah Wood compare? And why do the lads keep butchering actress Catherine Munro‘s name? Well all these questions and a few more get answered in this very exciting and quite informative all new edition of Saturday Night Movie Sleepovers!