Film Generations

By the mid-1970’s the old Hollywood studio system was on life support, allowing new filmmakers to break through with unusually provocative features, none more so than Martin Scorsese’s surprise 1976 hit, Taxi Driver.

With its perversely lost and disconnected “hero”, remorseless dive into the most degraded aspects of a dying New York City, and shocking violence, Taxi Driver was unique. Leonardo DiCaprio has described it as the greatest independent film ever made, even though it was financed and distributed by a major studio.

Half a century later and with a steady diet of screen violence and horror, how has this great film’s cultural meaning and impact changed?

Listen in to hear the viewpoints of film lovers who were there when it was released — and those seeing it for the first time with 21st century eyes.



Hosts: Mark Netter & David Tausik

Panelists: Guy Lewis, Olive Goldberg & Sonia Howell

An ElectraCast Production

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T5IligQP7Fo

Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taxi_Driver

IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0075314/

Rotten Tomatoes: https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/taxi_driver


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In the wake of Director Rob Reiner’s tragic death, Film Generations examines The Princess Bride, a 1987 favorite with a magical cast, that came amid an astonishing string of hits that transformed Reiner’s public image from sitcom star “Meathead” to one of Hollywood’s most esteemed and beloved directors.

Our young panelists were introduced to this film on video at early ages, making it a childhood memory formed long before they became film buffs. How does that affect their opinions of this comedy/fantasy/satire, and is their lens hopelessly different from the hosts, who saw the film when initially released in theaters as adult aspiring filmmakers?

Find out as our swashbuckling panel weighs in, only on Film Generations.



Hosts: Mark Netter & David Tausik

Panelists: Guy Lewis, Kylee LaRue & Jake Flowers

An ElectraCast Production



Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Princess_Bride

IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0093779/

Rotten Tomatoes: https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/princess_bride

Roger Ebert: https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/the-princess-bride-1987
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To cineastes of the 20th century, Ingmar Bergman was a fixture on the Mount Rushmore of World Cinema. His cultural presence receded in the decades following his death but Gen Z interest in his films, driven by streaming and Letterboxd, is suddenly on the rise. We couldn’t wait to pick one of his most challenging movies to see how it plays to a younger audience.

Persona (1966), made smack-dab in the middle of Bergman’s career, has delighted and perplexed audiences from the day it was released. Some of the issues it tackles — identity, motherhood, sexuality — are perennial. Others -- Jungian duality and the artificiality of filmmaking — seem ripe for a comeback.

Hearing different generations of film lovers grapple with this masterpiece illuminates how our culture has changed and what continues to endure. Listen in for the surprising results.

 

Hosts: Mark Netter & David Tausik 

Panelists:  Guy Lewis, Kylee LaRue, Olive Goldberg & Brennan Guntang

An ElectraCast Production

 Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YEfJopPIbQg&t=163s

Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Persona_(1966_film)

IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0060827/

Rotten Tomatoes: https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/persona
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On the heels of last episode’s Double Indemnity (1944), Film Generations examines the 1981 film noir Body Heat, an update of the genre for the then youthful baby boom generation. This was the directorial debut of writer/director Lawrence Kasdan, an unknown who leapt into prominence when he co-wrote The Empire Strikes Back (now Star Wars V) and Raiders of the Lost Ark in the same year. 

Among Body Heat’s era-appropriate updates to film noir are explicit sexuality, a liberated femme fatale and buckets of body sweat, all in living color. This approach turned heads in in 1981 but does it get a rise from a young generation in 2026?

Find out as our panel reveals all, only on Film Generations.

 

Hosts: Mark Netter & David Tausik Panelists:  Guy Lewis, Olive Goldberg & Sonia Howell

An ElectraCast Production

 

Wikipedia:  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Body_Heat

IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0082089/

Rotten Tomatoes: https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/1002830-body_heat

Roger Ebert: https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/great-movie-body-heat-1981
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Double Indemnity, as much as any other movie, invented the film noir genre and is possibly the most imitated, spoofed and remade classic of all time. Yet, on re-watching it, we as hosts were  truly surprised: Double Indemnity defies expectations, and as much as being a template for the Film Noir genre it helped birth, it is also a template for the singularly witty and cynical voice of the great Billy Wilder.

Wilder’s record-breaking writer/director career defied genre expectations with satiric comedies, ground-breaking dramas and films like The Apartment that walk a tightrope between the two. With Double Indemnity, he took a lurid news story about a homicidal wife and, with screenwriter Raymond Chandler, turned it into a taboo-crossing tale of sex and betrayal that spotlights darkest Los Angeles while casting shade on modern American life.

Do these qualities pierce through eight decades of parody, imitation and meme? To judge by our young panel’s responses, the answer is both yes and no. Hear for yourself if and how this 20th century classic survives 21st century perception.

 

Hosts: Mark Netter, David Tausik

Panelists: Guy Lewis, Olive Goldberg, Sonia Howell, Brennan Guntang

An ElectraCast Production

 

Wikipedia:  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Double_Indemnity

IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0036775/

Rotten Tomatoes: https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/double_indemnity

Original Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yKrrAa2o9Eg
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