In this episode of Film Stories with Simon Brew, a sequel that took a long time to come together, and an attempt by Sylvester Stallone to change direction.
1992's Basic Instinct didn't immediately seem an obvious candidate for a sequel. A huge box office take soon changed that - but the path to the follow-up would involve a bankruptcy, a legal case, and a lo ... Show More
Jul 22
Carlito's Way, a film it took ten attempts to make
Brian De Palma's 1993 movie Carlito's Way was not a box office success. De Palma managed to predict the critical reaction to the film, reacted to studio notes saying it was too long by making it longer, and had to retool the finale action sequence very late in the day. Even getti ... Show More
59m 3s
Jul 13
Dances With Wolves (1990), plus its three different cuts...
Kevin Costner gambled hard on making a three hour western, a third of which wasn't in the English language. He turned down roles in The Hunt For Red October and Presumed Innocent to take the risk of making Dances With Wolves. And while history tells it as a masterstroke, in the m ... Show More
59m 39s
Jul 7
Howard The Duck (1986) and the first Marvel movie, plus Terri White
I hear you, folks! Do more Marvel films? Gotcha! Let's go back to 1986, and Howard The Duck, the stunning-ish George Lucas-produced film of the subversive comic book character. Howard The Duck would become notable on its release, but its production alone would have been worth the ... Show More
1h 22m
May 2023
Basic Instinct (Erotic 90’s, Part 6)
One of the biggest hits of 1992, Basic Instinct was sold as Michael Douglas’s return to Fatal Attraction territory, but its success owed to an alchemy of three other creatives: a writer (Joe Eszterhas) who was driven to become the highest-paid scribe in movies; a director (Paul V ... Show More
1h 23m
Oct 2023
Eyes Wide Shut, Part 2, and the Sexiest Man Alive in 1999 (Erotic 90s, Part 21)
In part 2 of the Eyes Wide Shut story, the movie is finally unveiled, and critics are divided on its quality, and the use of digital effects to evade an NC-17 rating. Where could Hollywood eroticism go from here? We’ll wrap up the Erotic 90s story with some thoughts on Richard Ge ... Show More
1h 25m
Jun 2023
Sliver and Sharon Stone as Superstar (Erotic 90’s, Part 12)
Sharon Stone and Joe Eszterhas’s post-Basic Instinct reunion film was one of the most troubled productions of the 90s. A post-Hitchcock tale of sexual surveillance given a technological update for the 90s, after a long battle with the MPAA the sanitized, R-rated version of Sliver ... Show More
1h 16m
Apr 2020
‘Basic Instinct’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Mallory Rubin
The Ringer’s Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Mallory Rubin grab their ice picks and record the pod of the century on the 1992 erotic thriller ‘Basic Instinct’ starring Michael Douglas and Sharon Stone.
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1h 52m
Jun 2023
‘Blood Diamond’ With Bill Simmons and Chris Ryan
It’s not bling-bling, it's bling-bang when The Ringer’s Bill Simmons and Chris Ryan revisit the 2006 political action thriller 'Blood Diamond,’ starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Djimon Hounsou, and Jennifer Connelly.
Producer: Craig Horlbeck
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1h 21m
May 2018
This Is How It Should End with Paul Schrader & Sofia Coppola
<p>Topics covered include: Paul's unexpected career trajectory, ambiguous endings, stealing from the best, the challenges of writing without "nighttime additives," and what it took for Paul to finally make First Reformed—the movie he’s been waiting his whole life to make.</p>
46m 35s