Film Stories with Simon Brew is a podcast that looks to dig into the stories behind popular movies.From troubled productions, to rights issues, to difficulties ...
The path to 2007's Zodiac started when a then-19-year old managed to take out an option on a best-selling book. Then, a few years later, he inked a deal with Disney to make the movie. Fate took a few turns though, and it was the collapse of an $80m television series that would bring David Fincher to the eventual movie. Some people were expecting a film along the lines of Fincher's Seven though. They did not get it...
For the second half of this episode, Oscar-nominated director Brady Corbet then joins the podcast to talk about his film The Brutalist, the challenges of which have been well documented. Over a lengthy chat, he talks about the film, the question he's not asked, and - it says here - there's a bit about toilet roll too...
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1:10:59
In conversation with Nicholas Stoller - You're Cordially Invited, The Five Year Engagement, The Muppets, Captain Underpants, Bros and more
In a special episode of Film Stories, Simon is joined for a long, clickbait-free chat by writer/director Nicholas Stoller.
Recorded at the junket for They're Cordially Invited, they explore how that film came together. But also, the conversation covers a whole bunch of other movies. There's Stoller's directing work on the likes of Neighbors/Bad Neighbours, Bros, Get Him To The Greek and The Five Year Engagement. Plus, his writing, on movies such as The Muppets and Captain Underpants.
You're Cordially Invited is on Prime Video now.
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52:37
There Will Be Blood (2007), plus Mike Leigh
Acclaimed as one of the finest films of the 2000s, Paul Thomas Anderson's There Will Be Blood was - at one stage - a movie people weren't keen to pay for. The movie though has an unlikely link to the book Fast Food Nation, and Anderson dropped a different idea to go with it.
Then, there was the small matter of the first two weeks of filming having to be pretty much re-done from scratch.
The second half of the episode is a career-spanning chat with filmmaker Mike Leigh, that takes in his new movie - Hard Truths, landing in UK cinemas on 31st January 2025 - but also goes back some 60 years to the start of his famous process...
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1:07:19
In conversation with Barry Sonnenfeld: Coen Brothers, The Addams Family, Get Shorty, books, wearing two watches, a whole lot more
With his brilliant new book - Best Possible Place, Worst Possible Time - Barry Sonnenfeld joins Film Stories for a long, funny and candid conversation about his work.
The chat covers his director of photograpy days for the Coen Brothers, shooting the last two weeks of Goodfellas, and then moving onto directing. From his debut with The Addams Family, to the challenges of Get Shorty with Gene Hackman and John Travola, and a whole lot more.
Quite the chat, this. A little bit of fruity language too.
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1:14:17
The Producers (1967) and Fierce Creatures (1997)
When it comes to making your feature directorial debut, The Producers isn't a bad way to get off the mark! But Mel Brooks' now much-loved comedy faced a bumpy path to the screen, not least the struggle to write it in the first place. That, and the kind of subject matter that Hollywood studios didn't have much desire to go near.
Plus, it turned out that the fate of the film owed a bit of a debt to Peter Sellers.
After the success of A Fish Called Wanda meanwhile, the question was asked: would John Cleese, Jamie Lee Curtis, Michael Palin and Kevin Kline come back for a sequel? Well, not quite: and despite Fierce Creatures being billed as an 'equal not a sequel', the comedy had a very, very difficult production.
Stories of both are told in this episode...
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Film Stories with Simon Brew is a podcast that looks to dig into the stories behind popular movies.From troubled productions, to rights issues, to difficulties with release to films nearly falling apart, the podcast will be looking at the stories that don't always seem apparent when watching a movie!
The podcast is hosted by Simon Brew, the founder of Den Of Geek. Support the podcast at www.patreon.com/simonbrew. Thank you!
New Zealand