Episode 158: John Cassavetes Watch Series #3: (THE KILLING OF A CHINESE BOOKIE, 1976)

This week on the pod, after some much needed rest and relaxation, John and Curtis reunite to talk another Cassavetes film: THE KILLING OF A CHINESE BOOKIE. Joining us again for this discussion is our resident scholar and honorary "fifth Beatle" Dr. John Bruni. We talked about the differences between the 1976 and '78 cuts, the electric performance by Ben Gazzara, Cassavetes dabbling with genre elements, the allegories to creating art and the different pressures that infect that process, among many other topics in our nearly hour long chat. We also made references to other Cassavetes films covered in previous episodes (check out our past discussions on HUSBANDS and A WOMAN UNDER THE INFLUENCE).Before that, we ran through some new releases and movies we watched.When we return later this month, we will discuss the next film in our Coppola watch series: THE BLING RINGTIME STAMPS00:00:00 Introduction00:04:22 Shout out: Monthly 'L’Amour à Minuit' screenings at Montreal's Cinema L'Amour00:05:53 New Releases (Materialists; 28 Years Later; Squid Game S3)What We Watched This Week00:09:58 28 Years Later (Curtis)00:14:20 Companion [2025] (Curtis)00:15:19 The White Lotus [Season Three] (Curtis)00:16:39 The Phoenician Scheme (Bruni)00:20:00 Across 110th Street (Bruni)00;18:47 Born to Win (Bruni)00:21:06 The Swimmer (Bruni)00:23:47 Chopping Mall (John)00:25:08 Knife + Heart [John]00:27:37 Resurrection [2022] (John)00:29:44 The VelociPastor (John)00:32:28 Presence [2024] (John)00:33:37 CHINESE BOOKIE Discussion01:37:08 Our Ratings for CHINESE BOOKIE01:48:36 Coming Up Next!CREDITS AND PLUGSIntro: John Casavettes and Bo Hardwood - Rainy Fields of Frost and Magic Outro: Death Grips x Timothy Carey - Beware the Chinese Bookie (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=khniHf7Jbq8)Follow John on Letterboxd—@johnnycakes91Curtis: https://www.the-back-row.com/ - check out 'Runstedler's DVD Pick of the Month'https://curtisrunstedler.ca/