The Bicks Pod

Mark Frost - The Greatest Game Ever Played

The Bicks dig deep to deliver on the promise of the surprising and inspirational true story of the 1913 US Open as told by Mark Frost in the 2005 film The Greatest Game Ever Played (which, in turn, was based on his book of the same name).
Starring Shia LaBoeuf as amateur golfer Francis Ouimet, the film takes us on a leisurely stroll along the links of history, with detours into the upper-crust world of the English and American class systems -- which aren't as different as you'd imagine -- before settling in on some of the most exciting and nerve-wracking sportsing action ever committed to film (and we're not being hyperbolic or ironic here!)
Starring: Shia LaBoeuf, Stephan Dillane, Elias KoteasDirected by: Bill PaxtonWritten by: Mark FrostProduced by: David Steinberg
Notes:
The game of golfTo buy Mark Frost's book: https://www.amazon.com/Greatest-Game-Ever-Played-Francis/dp/0786888008

David Lynch - Mulholland Drive

Mulholland Drive. A modern classic, and arguably one of the high points of David Lynch's storied career. In this episode we do our very best to walk through the interpretations, the artistry, and the powerful messages woven throughout this 2001 masterpiece.
Warning: Our best really isn't good enough.
We also talk at length about the connections of this film to other David Lynch works, including Twin Peaks, as well as other cinematic landmarks, especially Alfred Hitchcock's Vertigo, which bears more than a few similarities to Mulholland Drive.
As part of that discussion, we also discuss an essay collection edited by Douglas Cunningham. The San Francisco Of Alfred Hitchcock's Vertigo: Place, Pilgrimage, and Commemoration.
Starring: Naomi Watts, Laura Haring, Justin TherouxDirected by: David LynchWritten by: David LynchProduced by: Pierre Edelman

Mark Frost - The Deadly Look Of Love

The Lifetime network holds a special place in the hearts of half of this podcast team, and this episode we're taking a look at the most Frostian of Lifetime made-for-TV movies: The Deadly Look of Love.
Join us for a discussion of early-noughties feminism, the appeal and joys of Lifetime's particular romantic/life-affirming formula, and the elements of Mark Frost's work we are finally seeing as the most vital contributions to the vaunted Lynch/Frost collaboration.
Starring: Jordan Ladd, Vincent SpanoDirected by: Solace MitchellWritten by: Mark Frost & Solace MitchellProduced by: Mark Frost and Lois Luger

David Lynch - The Straight Story

Take a slow-as-molasses journey with us across the wide open prairie as we visit David Lynch's 1999 film The Straight Story and delve into a warm dreamscape of a different kind than we're normally used to from the master of surreal dreamscapes.
Based on a true story, The Straight Story follows Alvin Straight as he attempts to make it across the Iowa/Wisconsin border to visit his ailing brother. Though he's not a well man himself, along the way Alvin makes friends and comes to a deeper understanding about his life and helps other to see the beauty in the world around them.
Starring: Richard Farnsworth, Sissy SpacekDirected by: David LynchWritten by: John Roach & Mary SweeneyProduced by: Pierre Edelman, Michael Polaire
Notes: Eighteen Bridges article, "A High and Lonesome Sound" by Robbie Jeffrey: http://eighteenbridges.com/story/high-and-lonesome-sound-canada-rural-crisis/

Mark Frost - Buddy Faro

It might not have been here for a long time, but it was a good time! Buddy Faro was Mark Frost's 90s-noir lovechild that brought a pair of private eyes from different generations together into a colour-saturated, quirky, and delightful private eye comedy.
Quick and witty dialogue, interesting characters, and fun abound in this great meetup between 90s and 30s-through-70s culture. Featuring a number of Mark Frost's core group of collaborators, it's a unique show that deserved a better fate than to quietly fade away after the fall season of 1998. Join us as we chat about this great series, as well as its connections to Twin Peaks and The Return.
Starring: Dennis Farina, Frank WhaleyDirected by: Charles Haid, Lesli Linka Glatter, John PattersonWritten by: Mark FrostProduced by: Mark Frost, Aaron Spelling, E. Duke Vincent

David Lynch - Lost Highway

We're talking the big three this episode: sex, lies, and videotapes. Lost Highway has them all in spades, wrapped up in the usual Lynchian elements of mystery, violence, and doubles galore.
We discuss the film's confounding interplay of memory, reality, desire, and jealousy, to try and see if there is a single, understandable plot somewhere in that mix, or if the film's best understood as a loose series of scenes, feelings, and meditations.
We also discuss some of the important production notes, and of course tie it back to Twin Peaks, as well as the other parts of Lynch's California Trilogy. So join us for a dive into transmorphing jazz players and bad wigs, as we head down the Lost Highway.
Starring: Bill Pullman, Patricia Arquette, Balthazar GettyDirected by: David LynchWritten by: David Lynch & Barry GiffordProduced by: Deepak Nayar, Tom Sternberg, Mary Sweeney
Notes:
Lost Highway Analysis by Melmrose Projects
What's So Great About That? - Lost Highway

David Lynch - Hotel Room

"For a millennium, the space for the hotel room existed undefined. Mankind captured it, gave it shape and passed through. And sometimes in passing through, they found themselves brushing up against the secret names of truth."
Thus we enter the world of David Lynch's Hotel Room, a series that jumps between times but remains always behind the door of Room 603 of the Railroad Hotel in New York City.
Lynch's first foray into the then-fledgling world of cable television is fascinating and strange, pushing the boundaries of the medium in its exploration of love, loss, and possibly even more...
Starring: Crispin Glover, Glenn Headley, Alicia WittDirected by: David Lynch & James SignorelliWritten by: David Lynch, Monty Montgomery, Barry Gifford, Ian McInerneyProduced by: David Lynch and Monty Montgomery
Notes:
Watch the original series here
If These Walls Could Talk
Auteur Theory's look at the series: https://www.highdefdigest.com/blog/hotel-room-david-lynch/

Mark Frost - Storyville

Rain-soaked streets...moss and wisteria...bad guys in the bayou. This is the setting for Mark Frost's 1992 film Storyville, a courtroom drama/thriller mixed with elements of the police procedural Frost knew all too well from his years on Hill Street Blues, a dose of Vietnamese underworld intrigue, and all filmed at the intersection of Deep South corruption and 1990s social conscience. It's messy at times and highly entertaining in others.
If nothing else, watch it for James Spader and Jason Robards ("...don't forget the final courtroom fight scene!" Aidan adds.)
Starring: James Spader, Joanne WhalleyDirected by: Mark FrostWritten by: Frank Gallbally and Robert Macklin (novel), Mark Frost and Lee Reynolds (screenplay)JProduced by: John Davis, John Flock, Chappy Hardy