PODCAST: THE BUTTERFLY EFFECT

PODCAST: THE BUTTERFLY EFFECT 

This is the welcome note for the podcast which was at first only available on Audible but now is free on iTunes:

Hi everyone,

Welcome to The Butterfly Effect. It's sort of about porn, but it's about a lot of other things. It's sad, funny, moving and totally unlike some other nonfiction stories about porn - because it isn't judgmental or salacious. It's human and sweet and strange and lovely. It's a mystery story, an adventure. It's also, I think, a new way of telling a story. This season follows a single butterfly effect. The flap of the butterfly's wings is a boy in Brussels having an idea. His idea is how to get rich from giving the world free online porn. Over seven episodes I trace the consequences of this idea, from consequence through to consequence. If you keep going in this way, where might you end up? It turns out you end up in the most surprising and unexpected places.

So if you're thinking, why do I want to listen to a show about the tech takeover of the porn industry, I have two things to say:

1. Why wouldn't you want to listen to a show about the tech takeover of the porn industry? That's a great idea for a show.

2. Would you want to listen to a show about three women destroying a mysterious Norwegian man's stamp collection? Well, that happens at the end of episode 2. At the end of Episode 3 a woman becomes convinced that she played a part in a murder committed by an Italian priest. At the end of Episode 4 a boy in Oklahoma is forced to move to a house on the very, very edge of his town.

I hope you like our show,
Jon 

MY VERDICT: I absolutely loved this podcast. I am a fan of Jon Ronson, having devoured ‘The Psychopath Test’ many years ago, and find his story telling technique to be always surprising and often exhilarating. His voice is reassuring and he has a way of putting heart into everything he investigates. He is one of the only researchers/journalists I know of to find the positive side to every story, to get excited about things or to find a way to get excited about things where others might give boring facts.

The premise of the podcast itself allows us to see into the lives of all kinds of people and professions and it’s heartwarming to hear people open up to Jon Ronson. The subject matter is an important one, because even if you have never watched porn and know nothing about it, you can find out how it’s affecting the world we live in.

There are some truly amazing stories which I don’t want to spoil here but as Ronson mentioned it already above, the story of the custom porn creators who were asked to destroy one man’s stamp collection is fascinating.

I only finished this the other day but have already recommended it to several people, and I now recommend it to you.

FILM 1564: THE NICE GUYS

TRIVIA: The project was initially proposed as a TV series but was re-tooled as a film after the pilot seemed to be going nowhere.

One of the film's nods to The Rockford Files (1974) is the yellow pages ad for Holland March's detective agency. It is almost a complete copy of the ad used for Jim Rockford. Like Jim Rockford, March keeps his gun in a cookie jar.

During March's opening monologue about the downturn of society, a porno theatre in the background is playing "Bang Bang Kiss Kiss," a play on Shane Black's earlier film Kiss Kiss Bang Bang (2005).

In the elevator scene, the same music plays in the background as in the elevator scene in The Blues Brothers (1980)

Jack Kilmer is the son of Val Kilmer. Shane Black directed Val in Kiss Kiss Bang Bang (2005).

FILM 1106: THE PEOPLE VS. LARRY FLYNT

TRIVIA: Tom Hanks and Bill Murray were considered for the role of Larry Flynt.

Larry Flynt and his brother Jimmy Flynt are played by real-life brothers Woody Harrelson and Brett Harrelson.

The real Larry Flynt appears as a judge.

One scene involves Hustler's offer of a $1 million reward for bringing JFK's killers to justice. The father of actors Woody Harrelson and Brett Harrelson has long been suspected by conspiracy theorists of involvement in the assassination.

Milos Forman claims Courtney Love showed up to their first meeting while under the influence of drugs. Just when he was going to dismiss her, he realized that Love was perfect for the role of Althea. Forman offered her the role on one condition: that Love would stay clean and undergo regular drug testing during filming. She complied. To this day, Love credits Forman with getting her off drugs which led to a career renaissance.

Courtney Love plays stripper Althea Flynt in this film. Before she was famous, Love was a stripper in real life too.

Courtney Love was arrested several times in Mississippi and Tennessee during filming for wearing her outrageous and revealing costumes in public. While filming a particular scene in a jail, one of the female officers working mistook Love for being a criminal on her way in for booking and handcuffed her.

Despite being portrayed in an Oscar nominated movie Larry Flynt was refused an invitation to the 1997 Academy Awards, so Woody Harrelson brought Flynt to the award shows as his "+1".

The Hollywood mansion shown in the movie was the mansion where the real Larry Flynt lived in the early 1980s.

The real Larry Flynt, when asked who he would like to play him in the movie, picked Michael Douglas.

The character of Doug, one of Larry Flynt's bodyguards in the movie, was bodyguard for the real Flynt at the time the movie was filmed.

The closing argument by Edward Norton was taken verbatim from Alan L. Isaacman's actual closing arguments. Isaacman revealed this in a documentary of the film.

The insurance fees for Courtney Love were so high, the studio would not pay them. Woody Harrelson, the producers (Oliver Stone and Michael Hausman), the director (Milos Forman) and Love paid the fees out-of-pocket.

Patricia Arquette and Mira Sorvino were considered for the role of Althea Leasure.

Film 1094: Lovelace

Trivia: Lovelace claimed that Deep Throat (1972) made $600 million at the box office. In his review of Inside Deep Throat (2005), Roger Ebert wrote "Since the mob owned most of the porn theaters in the pre-video days and inflated box office receipts as a way of laundering income from drugs and prostitution, it is likely, in fact, that 'Deep Throat' did not really gross $600 million, although that might have been the box office tally."

James Franco was attached to play Chuck Traynor before Peter Sarsgaard was cast.

Amanda Seyfried and Wes Bentley had previously worked together in the film, Gone (2012). Amanda Seyfried and Adam Brody have also previously worked together in the film, Jennifer's Body (2009).