Show Notes
As devoted fans of Hollywood genre and crime cinema of the 60's and 70's, we have a high appreciation for the copious output of director John Frankenheimer. Our resident Frankenfanatic, Nick Langdon, joins us this week to discuss Frankenheimer's late-career return to form, Ronin (1998), along with French Connection 2 (1975) his largely forgotten and woefully underseen sequel to William Friedkin's masterpiece. From De Niro to Hackman, from high speed car chases to one ex-junkie wheezing his way through the mean streets of Marseille, this is a kinetic and sometimes gruelling excursion for Hollywood into Frankeheimer's adopted home of France. We find much to discuss about these action procedurals, one of which endures as a cult classic while the other is still perhaps waiting for its cult to emerge.
We will be announcing a Spoiler Territory section for both films, so if you haven't seen them before you listen, you can nevertheless avoid spoilers for Ronin by skipping ahead to the 1:40:30 mark, and for French Connection 2 by skipping ahead to 2:42:02.
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Theme music: "The Cold Light of Day" by HKM. Check out HKM on #SoundCloud or Bandcamp
"French Disko" by Stereolab
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