Begley on Begley Action Month at The Kulturecast

Sometime last year Chris asked me to program a month of shows for February 2022 over at The Kulturecast and I was both honored and excited to take a crack at it. I pondered a number of different themes: favorite director, favorite actor, only movies I've never seen, movies with people who share my birthday, etc. etc. etc. But then an obvious theme presented itself, which would also cover some of the other ideas I'd run through my head. Chris asked me early on, as many people do, if my name was pronounced the same as Ed Begley, Jr.'s, which I affirmed. This prompted him to mention his disdain for the film Transylvania 6-5000, which I had to admit I've never seen. This has since become a running gag between us, and so I thought, "Well, Ed's been in some great movies so I'll make Chris watch four of those." I then set about to pick four from the vast and varied Ed Begley, Jr. filmography (330 acting credits!).

I didn't necessarily pick films with big Begley roles (these are mostly bit parts) but they do represent films that hit childhood nostalgia, feature a favorite actor or director, and one that I'd never seen. 

First up is Now You See Him, Now You Don't (1971), one of Disney's Dexter Riley (Kurt Russell) films, which I absolutely loved as a kid. Mike White from The Projection Booth Podcast joined us for this episode. Enjoy!

Listen to "Now You See Him Now You Don't" on Spreaker.

Where to watch • IMDb listing • Wikipedia page

Next up is Cockfighter (1974), directed by Monte Hellman. If you listen to my show you've heard me talk about this one. A bunch. Ed Begley, Jr. plays Tom Peeples, a shiftless hillbilly who gets his comeuppance and then some! This time Chris and I are joined by Cullen Gallagher for a rollicking good time.

Listen to "Cockfighter" on Spreaker.

Where to watch • IMDb listing • Wikipedia page

Citizens Band (1977) was the "new-to-me" selection for Begley on Begley Action Month. Directed by Jonathan Demme with a stacked cast of Demme regulars and 1970s character actors (including WUH favorite Roberts Blossom) CB is a charming slice-of-life look at a small Nebraska town obsessed with CB radios. Ed Begley, Jr. plays The Priest, who believes in G-O-D and not in F-C-C.

Listen to "Citizens Band" on Spreaker.

Where to watch • IMDb listing • Wikipedia page

Hardcore (1979) our last entry for Begley on Begley Action Month is now here! Ed Begley, Jr. has a glorified cameo, but still manages to be memorable as "Soldier" in a "porno" within the film. Schrader's essay on Calvinism vs. pornography was one of my favorite new-to-me watches of 2020 and have wanted to chat about it ever since. 

Listen to "Hardcore" on Spreaker.

Where to watch • IMDb listing • Wikipedia page

Guest Spot: Fear Street Trilogy (2021) on The Kulturecast

Listen to "Fear Street" on Spreaker.

Chris invited me back to The Kulturecast to discuss the new Fear Street Trilogy on Netflix. Having never read an R.L. Stine book in my life I figured I was the perfect co-host! Haha.

"We take another break before TV Movie Month with a trilogy of films that reinvigorates the horror genre and queer identity in the genre: Fear Street. Split into three films, they follow the parallel stories of Shadyside and Sunnyvale, towns torn apart due to a witch's curse. After the witch's curse begins again, a group of teens must figure out a way to stop the curse and save Shadyside. Wake Up Heavy's Mark Begley joins Chris to talk all about the films, the films they reference, and the kills."

Guest Spot: Sabata (1969) on The Projection Booth Podcast

From The Projection Booth Site:

"Guest Co-Hosts: Heather Drain. Mark Begley

Spaghetti Western month continues with a look at the Sabata films -- it's something of a trilogy, but not really. And some might say that there are seven films in the series… but, really, there’re just two. The original film, Sabata (1969), was written and directed by Gianfranco Parolini and stars Lee Van Cleef as the titular gunfighter who’s no stranger to gadgets.

Mark Begley and Heather Drain join Mike to discuss the three official Sabata films and four of the knock-offs which have little to nothing to do with the titular gunfighter."

Please visit The Projection Booth for more amazing, in-depth episodes on a wide variety of films.

Guest Spot: KCxWUH: The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do What??

I made another trip to the Kulturecast, but this time Chris has been so kind as to share the episode with me for the WUH audience. 

On this episode we discuss the latest entry in the Conjuring universe, The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It (2021), as well as the previous entries, the Annabelle films, The Nun and La Llorona. All, or most, of the films are currently streaming on HBO Max.

Guest Spot: More Kulturecast

Chris keeps asking me back, and I keep accepting. These appearances give me an opportunity to branch out and watch some films I wouldn't normally get around to, or talk about on WUH. 

First up is my discussion with Chris and Mike White about Citizen Kane, a film neither Chris nor I had watched prior. 

Listen to "Citizen Kane" on Spreaker.

Coming soon, Chris will be joining me on WUH to talk about an influential film in his young life: Poltergeist (1982).

Check out my other Kulturecast appearances below, and visit their podcast site here.

Guest Spot: The Kill-Off (1989) on The Kulturecast

Listen to "The Kill-Off" on Spreaker.

From The Kulturecast:

We continue Noiruary with a Jim Thompson adaptation that is next to impossible to find, primarily because it's never been released on DVD: The Kill-Off. The film takes place in a seaside New Jersey town that has fallen on hard times and features even harder people. It's a slice of salacious Americana that only Jim Thompson could have written. Wake Up Heavy's Mark Begley joins Chris to talk about the performances, the lack of physical releases, and other Jim Thompson adaptations.

Guest Spot: Camp Rock (2008) on The Kulturecast

Listen to "Camp Rock" on Spreaker.

Another fun time was had over on The Kulturecast! This time Chris, Mike White and I dig deep into the Disney Channel Original Movie Camp Rock. 

"Starring Demi Lovato and the Jonas Brothers, the film follows Demi Lovato as Mitchie, a talented young singer who attends the titular camp to further her musical training. At the camp, she learns to find herself and becomes romantically entangled with one of the Jo Bros."

Guest Spot: 18 Again (1988) on The Kulturecast

Listen to "18 Again!" on Spreaker.

Need a little levity in your day? I know I do! I got to guest on Chris Stachiw's The Kulturecast to discuss 18 Again, one of a good handful of body-swap films from the late 1980s. Oh, and we talk a little about a few of the other ones as well. 

Guest Spot: Crumbs (2015) on The Projection Booth Podcast

Here's my last TPB appearance of 2020 (and the last one till December 2021!). From TPB's site:

Special Guest: Miguel Llanso
Guest Co-Hosts: Mark Begley, Chris Stachiw

We're looking at Miguel Llanso's Crumbs (2015), the story of a post apocalyptic future where items from the past are given special significance as our hero, Candy (played by Daniel Tadesse), goes on a quest, first to see the witch and then to see Santa Claus.

Chris Stachiw and Mark Begley join Mike to talk about Crumbs as well as Llanso's Jesus Shows You the Way to the Highway from 2019.

Guest Spot: The Brood (1979) on The Projection Booth Podcast

WUH x TPB + Cronenberg = An Awesome October (Part 2)!

Just four years and two films later Cronenberg would direct what some consider to be his first masterpiece, The Brood (1979). Drawing from his own tumultuous divorce and custody battle Cronenberg chills viewers via the frigid Toronto landscape and disquieting imagery of Frank and Nola Carveth's upended world.

The Brood is the story of the Carveth family and how the sins of the past visit the children of the next generation. Frank (played by Art Hindle) and his wife Nola (played by Samantha Eggar) have separated. She’s under the care of Dr. Hal Raglan (played by Oliver Reed). He’s the head of the Somafree clinic and has mastered the art of psychoplasmics where negative thoughts and feelings are manifested physically. These come in the form of rashes or lesions or, in the case of Nola, a group of odd creatures who go on a murderous rampage when her ire is raised.

Where to watch • IMDb listing • Wikipedia page

Guest Spot: The Antenna on The Projection Booth Podcast

Look Ma, I made it! Here it is, my first appearance on The Projection Booth podcast. Here's the description from their site:

"On this special episode of The Projection Booth we're looking at the 2019 film from director Orçun Behram, The Antenna. The film stars Ihsan Önal as Mehmet, an overseer of an apartment building in Turkey. We begin the film on the day when a new satellite dish is being installed that is part of a new era for the country where the government can now broadcast directly to its citizens’ televisions. Let’s just say that this isn’t the utopia that was promised.

David Rodgers and Mark Begley join Mike to discuss the the film which will play in select theaters starting October 2, 2020 and on VOD starting October 20, 2020."