Full Cast And Crew

An appreciation of the life and musical legacy of the peerless and uniquely self-deprecating Grateful Dead co-founder and éminence grise.

For my final episode of 2025, it's 'Nobody's Fool' one of my favorite films, and a true comfort watch in keeping with the theme of last week's episode.  Sweet, subtle, well-cast and directed, and slyly much more than it seems, it's both a paen to small-town life and a surprisingly unblinking look at the cost children pay for their parent's mistakes...and for the ones they make all on their own.

The news is unrelenting. Shootings in Bondi Beach.  Terror in the classrooms at Brown University.  The terrible deaths of Rob Reiner and his wife in LA.  The news is shocking and we become numb to the rippling effects but our minds and bodies internalize the fear, anxiety, and worry.  As I am between episodes at the moment, I thought it might be different to try and episode highlighting the calming music, tv shows and movies I find myself turning to in times of trouble. Please share your personal favorites with me, as I'd like to compile a playlist of sorts to share with everyone and to use your emails in a newsletter to follow. Email the pod at fullcastandcrewpod@gmail.com.  I hope this episode gives you some calming vibes and thanks as ever for listening! Spotify playlist of the music referenced in this episode.

From a chance viewing of Saul Bass' iconic 'Psycho' titles on TCM sprung this exploration of the straightforward, human experience of watching 'Psycho' with an eye and ear towards how audience expectations were stoked and then subverted by Hitchcock. From the casting of Janet Leigh to the surprise departure of her character not even halfway through the film, the film toys with audience expectations and loyalties, and makes them complicit in the voyeurism and violence and judgement that unfolds. Hitchcock's decision to attempt a relatively low-budget thriller of the sort directors like Henri-George Clouzot (Diabolique) were having success with resulted unexpectedly in his defining film, a film that changed film language and construction and that influenced every director of note subsequent to the film's 1960 release. From the legendary shower sequence to no-less-stunning dialogue sequences, the film is so much more than it's origins.  It still stands the test of time today, and will forever be a part of Hitchcock's enduring legacy.

This final episode about Milos Forman's brilliant and deeper-than-expected masterpiece adaptation of Ken Kesey's very 1960's novel explores the subtle emotional power of the film's editing and how it establishes certain critical scenes.  Praise for the depth and intelligence of Nicholson's acting while also appreciating Brad Dourif and the late Will Sampson's performance as the Chief are also indulged.  

Part 2 of my deep dive into Milos Forman's incredible 1975 film 'One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest'. In Part 2 I get into a handful of scenes from the first third of the film: the introduction of Nurse Ratched, the first time we meet McMurphy, the sit-down between McMurphy and Dr. Spivey, and the first few scenes on the ward with the fellas and the nurses.

Leaving behind one iconic adaptation of a popular novel in 'The Exorcist' and picking up another with this introductory episode about 'One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest', Milos Forman and Bo Goldman's film based on Ken Kesey's counter-culture classic novel.  In this episode, I cover some of the film's journey from page to screen and from father to son(s). Casting, pre-production delays, and some context for the film in 1975. 'One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest' is one of only three films to ever win "The Big 5" Academy Awards: Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Screenplay.  Listen to the episode to find the surprising other two films. This episode can be consumed prior to a re-watch of the film, and the subsequent two episodes will each cover about half of the film after you watch the film armed with all the behind-the-scenes details from this one. Bo Goldman INTV

Finishing up my four-part exploration of The Exorcist, this episode considers the film's exorcism scenes, its ambiguous ending, and lasting legacy.  My newfound appreciation for the towering achievement represented by this film is perhaps news only to me, but totally genuine nonetheless.

In Part 3 of my multi-part deep dive re-exploration of William Friedkin's 1973 masterpiece 'The Exorcist' I take a detailed look at the filmmaking in the first half of the movie.  Considering the Northern Iraq sequence, the Georgetown sequences, Father Karras in NYC, and the Medical sequences featuring Regan up to and including the hypnotism scene. The absolute mastery of camera movement choices and the spare use of score shows how the film eschews (I always wanted to use that word) "horror" film cliches. Mentioned in this episode: Jack Plotnick's Hilarious Exorcist Video  

The 2nd episode in a series of episodes about 'The Exorcist' is inspired by my rewatch of the film.  My original plan: to meticulously dissect each of three sections of the film in three subsequent episodes.  My new plan? To get this episode filled with my enthusiastic and emotional reactions out to you ASAP.  And to follow with two subsequent episodes if the interest (and downloads) are there.   The best way to listen to the four-part Exorcist episodes: Listen to Part 1: Origins BEFORE re-watching or watching the film. Listen to Part 2: The Rewatch AFTER re-watching or watching the film. Listen to Parts 3 and 4 as commentary tracks WHILE watching the film again after all the above.

In this first of a multi-part exploration of William Friedkin's ground-breaking and massively successful adaptation of William Peter Blatty's best-selling novel 'The Exorcist': Friedkin & DP Owen Roizman coming off 'The French Connection' and into 'The Exorcist' Casting travails involving Jack Nicholson, Paul Newman, Jane Fonda, Anne Bancroft, and Audrey Hepburn. Jason Miller and Ellen Burstyn willing themselves into their roles. Studio pushback on the film's prequel, set in Iraq, and Friedkin's demand that they film there despite political upheaval and a lack of an Iraqi film industry. The search for a girl to pay Regan; over 1,000 seen, hundreds screen-tested, before Linda Blair walked into the film production's offices. Special Effects approaches courtesy of Dick Smith and Rick Baker. Soundtrack troubles with Bernard Hermann and Lalo Schiffrin and the saving grace of Mike Oldfield's 'Tubular Bells'. This episode features Friedkin, Blatty, Roizman, and Ellen Bursytn in their own words. Other Friedkin Full Cast & Crew Episodes: The French Connection To Live And Die In LA The best way to consume these 'The Exorcist' episodes is:   Listen to this episode before watching/re-watching. Listen to episode 2 The Rewatch after watching/re-watching. Listen to episodes 3 and 4.  

Here's the 2nd and final episode of my 'Back to the Future' revisit, enjoy! Huey Lewis guitarist Chris Hayes plays his signature parts from 'Power of Love'.  

It's the 40th Anniversary of 'Back to the Future' and I read a review of Michael J. Fox's brief new memoir about the making of the film, and about his life before, during, and just after the film's release. This sent me to finally watch 2023's 'Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie', a brilliant documentary from noted director Davis Guggenheim (An Inconveniant Truth, It Might Get Loud, Waiting for Superman) that defies the Streamerification of documentary filmmaking that I've long decried on the podcast (see my episode on Brother's Keeper). This episode covers a lot of what I really loved about those two primary sources of information about Michael J. Fox's life and battle with Parkinson's Disease, a battle he's fought privately and publicly. The Michael J. Fox Foundation has to date raised more than 2 billion dollars for Parkinson's research and in 2022 spent more than the US Government did on research seeking a cure for the disease. 'Back to the Future' has an incredible story of near-disaster followed by infinitesimal chance of salvage represented by the casting of Fox, and finally, worldwide pop-cultural magnitude of the highest and most enduring order.  This episode serves as an introduction to this superlative example of Hollywood moviemaking at its best and a tribute to the incredible, extraordinary and everyday life of its star.

Like a thunderbolt from another dimension, a dimension where $90 million-dollar comedies with top-tier talent and a first-class, Oscar-winning cinematographer combine with an expensive location shoot in Hawaii (standing in for Viet Nam) to gross $200 million dollars and spawn at least two Pantheon-level comedy characters in Tom Cruise's Les Grossman and Robert Downey, Jr's Kirk Lazarus-as-Staff-Sergeant-Lincoln-Osiris. I woefully failed to mention in the episode that Downey's transformation into Lazarus-as-Osiris was done by none other than the legend Rick Baker. To say they don't make 'em like this anymore is a sad truth.  We have truly lost as a film-going society when big time stars gather to be in a movie this funny and big-screen watchable. I suppose the big screen's loss is HBO's gain, however.  And soda: Ben Stiller has a new line of sodas and they're very good. You should try one!

Diane Keaton died over the weekend at the age of 79, and it's been fascinating to read her various obituaries and memories of her being shared.  Also interesting to contemplate what a singular presence she was for more than 50 years on stage and screen.  'Annie Hall' won Diane Keaton her only Academy Award, although she was also nominated for 'Reds', 'Marvin's Room' and 'Something's Gotta Give', which shows you the range she had as an actor.  Revisiting here was a pleasure and reminded me of what we've lost as a movie-going culture of late.  Smart, funny comedies that don't talk down to an audience but also play as mass entertainments seem in such short supply, as do superlative onscreen personalities like Diane Keaton. This quickie episode isn't mean to be expansive or complete..just an excuse to watch one of her most famous roles in a film named after her character and drawn from her real-life romance with Woody Allen some years before the film was made.

Gus Van Sant's 2nd feature, starring Matt Dillon, Kelly Lynch, James Le Gros, Heather Graham, William S. Burroughs, James Remar, and Max Perlich.  

Continuing the Redford Appreciation Episodes with a revisit of Sydney Pollack and Robert Redford's 1972 deceptively revisionist Western, 'Jeremiah Johnson'. Shaped by Redford and Pollack from an apparently off-the-wall John Milius screenplay, and only shot on location in the Utah wilderness through Redford's intervention with the studio, 'Jeremiah Johnson' is, I think, secretly one of everybody's favorite comfort watches.

JC Chandor's 2nd feature film after 'Margin Call' was 2013's sailing-catastrophe film 'All Is Lost', and it's a unique film in that it has virtually no dialogue and a single cast member in Robert Redford, who delivers a tour-de-force of non-verbal acting filled with pathos, regret, and rueful recognition of one's own self-delusions. As we continue to contemplate Redford after his death last week, it feels right and necessary to devote a few episodes to some Redford films that might be slightly off the well-worn pathways of The Sting and Butch & Sundance. Listen to Alex Ebert's extraordinary score for 'All Is Lost'  

I'm joined by Charles Fleming, LA-based writer, author and returning FCAC guest to talk about todays news of the death of Robert Redford. We discuss Redford's extraordinary career and difference-making life, including his environmental activism and the Sundance Film Festival and Institute. Redford was born in Santa Monica and after a peripatetic youth marked by extreme religious pressure, hooliganism, college expulsion, found himself in New York City planning to be a set designer.  He stumbled into acting and paid his dues in the emerging TV world of the 50's before breaking out as a film star in the 1970's. His interesting combination of extraordinary good looks and inner turmoil lent his characters a similarity even as he was never just playing himself.  His is one of the more interesting acting careers to contemplate, and Charles I try and do justice to the decency and morality with which Redford seemed to conduct his life and his work.

Recent events have gotten me thinking about Roger Ebert's quote about movies being empathy machines, bringing us closer to people we might think we have nothing in common with. When I first saw the Berlinger/Sinofsky documentary 'Brother's Keeper' I was overwhelmed with empathy and heartbreak and humor and feeling for these odd-duck brothers and their ramshackle farm existence and the small town in Upstate New York that became roiled by a murder trial when one brother was accused of killing another by smothering. And so, not having seen the film in many decades, I wanted to revisit it, to see if it retained its power and ability to create empathy. In this episode I start with a brief prologue talking about first encountering the film.  Then I pause and rewatch the film and come back on the mic to share my thoughts on seeing the movie anew. 'Brother's Keeper' is one of the first films I would mention to anyone who wanted to know what movies of any genre I held closest to my life as a moviegoer. If you've seen it, you'll know what I mean. If this podcast episode is the first you're hearing of it, I hope you'll give it a watch, and let me know what you think!