cantaraville | cantarabooks

With commentary by Stephen for his episode (#2.20), which is personally memorable for me because I won a whole dollar on a bet that Audrey was still a virgin. Stephen does an uncannily good vocal impression of David Lynch, by the way.

Stephen's buoyant pride in accomplishment really comes out in his Director's Commentary. There's innocent teenage sex, handsome young nude bodies and one awful abortion scene that's somehow visually compelling. Beautiful, odd film. I'd like it even if my darling hadn't directed it. [Read a review here.]

Stephen's episode: "...And to All a Good Night." This is the show Steve detested doing the most, until he shot Army Wives this May.

Yes, if you look hard you can spot Jake and Maggie Gyllenhaal in this movie. It's the last theatrical film Steve ever directed, and the last one they all did as a family (Naomi was exec producer). Stephen has the best story of how Billy Bob Thornton came to audition for this movie. [Read a great review here.]

A two-part TV movie, memorable for an Emmy-worthy performance by Steve's friend, Ted Danson. But be warned, the evil it depicts is almost unbearable.

Stephen's episode is "Dawg Days". We are told in the producer's and cast commentary that Stephen had a problem with the violence in one part - thought the interrogation scene was "too brutal". That's my delicate flower of Bryn Athyn.

Great Pete Dexter novel; Steve shows a real affinity with the material. He got the DGA award for this one. The shootings were violent enough, but catch the bottle-rape scene with Barbara Hershey...

The book was great and the movie's nothing like it. What makes the movie drop like lead: Naomi's blinkered "troubled family" screenplay. What makes it swing: Stephen's astonishing personal vision of sex and violence. Barbara Hershey and Gabriel Byrne making love on a floor strewn with broken glass, for heaven's sake. And check out the strangest murder scene in the history of filmdom. A whole paper could be written on this weird intersection of Freudian reality (that is, family relationships) - "Team Gyllenhaal"; art - the screenwriter's butchery, whoops, intepretation; and fantasy - the depiction of the Bell family not as they were in the book, but as stand-ins for Stephen, Naomi, Jake and Maggie (who all participated in this movie).

Stephen's first film. Chicks on the run. A favorite of mine. Catch the lesbian courtroom shootout in the first ten minutes.

Another 2-part TV movie. Also called Evidence of Love and also seems to be a favorite among Gyllenhaal père fans. Strange, strange true-life story involving extramarital sex, a bloody murder, hypnosis and regression. Along with Dana Delany, Barbara Hershey seems to be an actress Stephen adds a special glow to (see A Dangerous Woman). The original book, Evidence of Love, was written by journalist John Bloom, whose esteemed B-movie critic persona is Joe Bob Briggs.

Also called Miracle of the Spring. God, he made Dana Delany look good, even in this Lifetime weeper. No wonder she's still sweet on him.

Heather Locklear with a split personality - by day a housewife, by night a hooker. More hypnosis and regression. Steve seems to groove on hypnosis and regression. Stephen's sensitive direction (he's really good with actresses, it's been said again and again in Hollywood) made this swing. This is the movie that introduced me to novelist (North of Sunset) Henry Baum through the following connection: Stephen and Tom Baum, Henry's father, who wrote the teleplay, were members of the same after-hours string quartet, with Stephen playing viola. When the English litblogger Grumpy Old Bookman mentioned Stephen's book which I published, Claptrap, in one of his postings, Henry read it and contacted me. Result? I sent him not only to ace critic Girl On Demand, who gave his novel a glowing review, but to the Hollywood Book Festival, where he won first prize, a thousand bucks, for North of Sunset. I am such a fuckin' good judge of talent.

Nope, know nothing about this movie, but I understand it's about faith versus medicine. Some good people in it.

If memory serves, this was Stephen's first full-length movie. It was made for TV, and despite its lurid premise (Olympic hopeful gets kidnapped by weird mountain men who wish to make her their "bride") it got pretty good reviews. If you ever catch this one on TBS, let me know.

Steve's episode is called "The Doctor is In". I liked this show better than Seventh Heaven, but then, I'm a heathen.

Ah. Ah. Ah. This one. This one I'm going to take some time to discuss because this was Steve's make-or-break movie and what happened during the filming of it changed the course of his life - and mine. So check back again soon...