11 responses so far.

• 1 the listener! // Mar 7, 2008 at 7:53 pm

  Glad you’re back: intelligent conversation about films I haven’t seen, and probably won’t see for a long time!

  Gareth – Almost sure you’re going to refer to Zodiac every week just to remind me how much I disliked it. But I’m glad you picked up on Blue Thunder being a Roy Sheider highlight. (I’d left the comment on your previous post in-between downloading ep 13 this morning and actually get time to listen to it (parked up in Armagh with a hour or so to spare on The Mall!)

  Jett – Airwolf’s quite second rate (though longer running) compared to the Blue Thunder film (itself, much less cheesy than the spin-off TV series). And the ending of Blue Thunder’s great. Time you rented the DVD!

  Now back to reading in the dark …

• 2 Phil // Mar 7, 2008 at 8:47 pm

  Well done, gentlemen.

  I wondered why Chigur didn’t kill Tommy Lee’s character in the hotel room, when TLJ went back to the room to investigate after Brolin’s character had been found dead.

• 3 jettloe // Mar 7, 2008 at 8:55 pm

  I wasn’t clear when watching the pic exactly what was going on in that scene – my take at the time was that we were seeing 2 different times overlapping – with Chigur back at the room in an earlier time frame – but am not sure – would have to see it again.

• 4 Alan in Belfast // Mar 8, 2008 at 11:00 am

  Ah … The Film Talk: intelligent comment on a film I’ll get around to seeing for ages! Welcome back to ages.

  Gareth – I’ve an awful feeling you’re going to keep mentioning Zodiac every week to remind me how much I hated it!

  But glad to hear the shout out for Roy Scheider’s Blue Thunder. I left the comment on your previous Scheider post inbetween downloading this episode and getting time to listen to it last night.

  Jett – time you rented a copy of Blue Thunder from your “local” online DVD postal service to discover that helicopter shows aren’t all about the action. It has a great finale.

  Blue Thunder (film) > Airwolf > Blue Thunder (TV spinoff)

  Do you do requests? Want to hear your views on Juno next week? Think Jett and Gareth will have different takes on it, and it’s been out long enough that Spoilers Ahoy won’t be needed.

• 5 Phil // Mar 8, 2008 at 4:57 pm

  Jett – my wife said the same – but I thought you could see TLJ’s reflection in the blown-out door knob, as seen from Chigur’s perspective inside the room – both were kind of looking down at the knob…my recollection anyway.

• 6 jettloe // Mar 9, 2008 at 8:00 pm

  Alan – OK, I’ll put ‘Blue Thunder’ on my Netflix queue!

  + Phi, I just don’t know, will have to see it again!

• 7 Kelly // Mar 16, 2008 at 8:30 pm

  Hey guys, glad you’re back. I was, unfortunately, having trouble understanding Dr. Gareth on the recording. The audio wasn’t very clear and I really had to strain to figure it out. What’s going on?

• 8 jettloe // Mar 16, 2008 at 10:01 pm

  Sorry bout that – Gareth and I have talked about how to improve the audio over Skype – while that’s being worked you’ll be happy to know that we recorded the show ‘in person’ this week! :) So you’ll hear Gareth and I hopefully a bit better.

• 9 Kelly // Mar 30, 2008 at 5:18 pm

  Hey guys.

  A+ for effort on the headphones, even if it didn’t work out as expected. Too bad about the rapscallion.

• 10 jettloe // Mar 30, 2008 at 5:23 pm

  Yes – at least we tried!

• 11 daveed // Mar 26, 2010 at 2:45 pm

  Just listened to this podcast (I actually prefer your reviews of films I've already seen; your analyses often enrich my memory of the film.)

  Anyway, I echo Gareth's comments about how utterly devastating Chigurh's encounter w/ Carla Jean was, especially the very subtle denouement when he checks the bottom of his shoes. In the novel, it's quite explicit that he kills her, and I felt the Coen Brothers' treatment was far more effective.

  Also, since Cormac McCarthy doesn't give us much internal dialogue for his characters, perhaps with the exception of Sheriff Bell, I'm not sure the novel jibes with Gareth's observation that at the end, Chigurh may have a new perspective on life.

  In the novel, the accident seems completely random. And Chigurh goes again into automode in his actions, methodically assessing the situation and administering to his injuries. It made me wonder whether Chigurh might have also been combat years before (like both Llewellyn and Wells).

  I got the sense Chigurh was a product of war, a perfect soldier — amoral, fearless, unrelenting — and that simply his “training” kicked in at his most vulnerable moment. And perhaps McCarthy''s telling us that in a world that's gone to hell, only those shorn of humanity and morality will survive. The rest of us will cower and hide in the shadows until age takes us.

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