POLITFLIX 4: RISE OF THE PODCAST: TERMINATOR, ARNOLD AND THE USUAL POLITICAL / FRANCHISE FILM CHAT
Ha! I’m BACK. It’s nothing Personal. My mission? To Podcast to you. Thankfully, a protector was sent to podcast with me. His name? Dave Bond, champion of Do You Expect us to Talk
This time? We are talking Terminator. This coincides with the recent re-release of Terminator 2: Judgement Day, in 3-D. Which was the best entry in that 5 film series? Is it in fact a ‘series’ at all or could it be considered as beginning and ending with Parts 1 and 2 or even just part 1?
That naturally leads to a discussion of Arnold Schwarzenegger, his life, work and legacy. And then to James Cameron as a director, his strengths and weaknesses and the social politics of it all. All padded out with the usual references to James Bond, Star Wars, Batman and news /current affairs/bigger picture philosophical concerns. Naturally.
So: sit back, put your feet up, light up a big cigar and enjoy this broadcast. If you are listening, then you are with the resistance. Hasta La Vista..etc..
Show Notes/ Supporting Cast of Characters:
James Murphy is Editor in Chief at Movie Viral.
Dave Bond is Host at Do You Expect us to Talk.
Dave remains amused by the idea that he sounds as though he is phoning in his comments from a payphone in a Cold war era spy thriller (we do that effect on purpose, totally.yep honest! 😉 )
Arnold Schwarzenegger is a Mr Universe body-builder turned businessman turned movie star turned politician and now..well..back to being a movie star with lots of activism. If you have not seen his work on film..well frankly, you’re unlikely to be listening to this podcast in the first place, right?
James Cameron: Innovator. Writer. Director. Explorer. Cartographer. The man has no end to his skill and talent. Academy award winner for TITANIC and widely regarded as one of the greatest action directors of all time, thanks to Terminators 1 and 2 and ALIENS, as well as True Lies and of course, AVATAR.
Sybil Danning: Queen of the B movie. Star of forgotten gems such as They’re Playing with Fire. Sexy. Beautiful. And relevant here in so much as she was almost deployed in both the Bond and Star Wars series of films.
Robert Davi: Classically trained Opera singer, Sinatra successor, versatile actor, political activist and commentator /writer, Davi has a Humphrey Bogart quality. Perhaps best known for playing one of the greatest Bond villains of all time: Franz Sanchez in Licence to Kill. He is also a friend of Arnold and the two consulted each other on movement and poise in acting.
Rosamund Pike: Oxford Graduate. Bond girl in Die Another Day. Academy award nominee (Gone Girl). Beautiful. Talented. Divine. And the best is yet to come. According to Oxford legends, Ms Pike once auditioned opposite a young James Murphy. And their lives were never the same 😉
Gwyneth Paltrow is an Academy award winning actress, activist and the natural successor to Grace Kelly as Cinema’s greatest glacial, glamorous movie star. Her Goop website might be much maligned by detractors, but her cookery books are genuinely brilliant. And it’s great to see her back as Pepper Potts in the Marvel Cinematic Universe!
Timothy Dalton: Two time James Bond. Made the 007 series ‘gritty’ long before the Craig era made that cool. The true heir to Laurence Olivier. Superb stage craftsman. Thorough gentleman, nice bloke and looks great in a Fisherman’s sweater!
THE STAR WARS UNIVERSE: Includes all ‘canon’ and ‘legend’ properties. Canon = anything on film. ‘Legends’ = anything in other media pre Disney buy out of LucasFilm, except Clone Wars content. A standalone adventure for Obi-Wan Kenobi, presumably starring Ewan McGregor, has been announced. Subsequent to this podcast, JJ Abrams replaced Colin Trevorrow as Director on the forthcoming Episode 9 (expected December, 2019).
For Cancer Research charities (we discuss the social politics of talking about cancer, towards the end of the podcast) see HERE
PolitFlix will return..with a look at Tony Blair, both in the real and ‘reel’ world: the man, the legacy, the character and the cultural, cinematic connections..Things can only Get Better!
