Bonjour, folks - it's a new episode of ALTMANIA coming at you. We're talking about a documentary that Jonathan Demme made for the PBS, a portrait of a nation in constant renewal and on the brink of their first elections — it's HAITI: DREAMS OF DEMOCRACY. We talk about Jonathan Demme falling in love with this place and its people, how he learned more about Haiti through artists and music, what set them up for the current political situation of the film, and what Haiti is currently going through at the moment, how United States intervention and neoliberal policy has left the nation in the dust after a catastrophic earthquake in 2010, and much more. It's a politics heavy episode, but we do our best to cover a beautiful place full of beautiful art and people.
Resources for Haitian Aid:
Haiti Adolescent Girls Network
Lide Haiti
Partners in Haiti Literacy
St. Luke Foundation
St. Vincent's Center
Follow Altmania:
https://altmaniapod.com
https://estebannoel.com
DEMME ARCHIVE
Support us on Patreon:
https://patreon.com/altmania
--------
1:41:02
--------
1:41:02
Swimming to Cambodia (1986) w/ Jane Altoids
We've sat down at our little tables, taken out our Ronald McDonald notebooks, and prepared a fantastic spoken word piece (aka podcast) for all of you. Joined by returning friend Jane Altoids from Pacino Pod, we get into Spalding Gray and Jonathan Demme's masterpiece, SWIMMING TO CAMBODIA. We talk about Gray's modern conversational nature, go over his life and it's tragic end, his frank way of speaking and how he weaves in and out of life stories to war crimes of the US government, how much this film resonates in the current moment, morality as the movable feast, the cognitive dissonance of making a film about a genocide as it's happening (i.e. The Killing Fields), and so much more. This one was a really great conversation, Jane was fantastic, and we hope you all enjoy.
Follow Jane Altoids:
Pacino Pod
https://twitter.com/staticbluebat
Follow Altmania:
https://altmaniapod.com
https://estebannoel.com
Support us on Patreon:
https://patreon.com/altmania
--------
2:26:06
--------
2:26:06
Something Wild (1986) w/ Peter Raleigh
Nobody move, nobody get hurt, just sit down and listen to a new episode of ALTMANIA. Joined by writer and a regular on the show, Peter Raleigh, we dive into one of Jonathan Demme's MOST "Jonathan Demme" movies ever, SOMETHING WILD. We talked scary Ray Liotta, how he landed this role, all of the production and improvisation that shaped the film into what it is and helped it find it's central idea, how money drives the story forward and what Demme is putting into the film in terms of abandoning capitalism with Charlie Driggs' arc, Jeff Daniels as the perfect WASPy guy, identities and personas that everyone has through the film. There's a lot of great stuff here, and Peter is the perfect guy to chat about it with, please enjoy!
Follow Peter Raleigh:
https://twitter.com/PetreRaleigh
Long Library | Peter Raleigh
Follow Altmania:
https://altmaniapod.com
https://estebannoel.com
DEMME ARCHIVE
Support us on Patreon:
https://patreon.com/altmania
--------
2:14:36
--------
2:14:36
Stop Making Sense (1984)
It's our 100th episode of the show, we've got on some big suits, we're flopping around on the ground, and we're screaming nonsense about James Brown. We talk about Jonathan Demme's documentary debut (sort of his first film, if you think about it) STOP MAKING SENSE, the live performance film from Talking Heads. We draw some oblique strategy cards, get into the band's history, Chris Frantz' bizarre book, David Byrne's good book, RISD kids, boomers playing on easy mode, Brian Eno, Lou Reed eating ice cream with a heroin spoon, John Cale, The Modern Lovers, Demme at the edge with Swing Shift, Joe Viola's return, Jordan Cronenweth also returning, Hal Ashby's insane editing rig. Then we close out with a little listening party, chatting about one of the best concert films ever. Thanks everyone for listening to us for 100 eps, and 2 years!! Here's to 100 more
Follow Altmania:
https://altmaniapod.com
https://estebannoel.com
DEMME ARCHIVE
Support us on Patreon:
https://patreon.com/altmania
--------
2:18:54
--------
2:18:54
Swing Shift (1984)
Well, isn't that something...here we promised a 100th episode celebration on STOP MAKING SENSE, and we come out with an entirely different episode?? Well, we ended up having to cover this one FIRST - so the 100th episode is on hold for now, we're going George Lucas style and doing the episodes out of order. It's SWING SHIFT. A film that has not one, not two, but THREE different cuts that you can watch (linked below).
Produced at the exact same time as that Talking Heads one, it technically came out first and went through one hell of a production — Jonathan Demme gets shut out by Goldie Hawn and Warner Bros, Robert Towne comes in and starts messing with the script, editors quit, Elaine May tries to save it, a power couple blossoms. Join us this week for ALTMANIA as we talk about Jonathan Demme's loving ode to his grandmother, that got trampled on in post-production.
Follow Altmania
https://altmaniapod.com
https://estebannoel.com
Support us on Patreon:
https://patreon.com/altmania
Ryan and Esteban explore the works of director Robert Altman, examining the context of his films, how they speak to the current moment, and look at his wider circle of proteges and influences. Currently covering the films of Jonathan Demme.