Episode 60: ‘Point Break’ with ‘Alaska Is a Drag’ Director Shaz Bennett

Episode 60

27th December 2018

This week we’ve got writer and director Shaz Bennett on the program to talk about Kathryn Bigelow’s classic, Point Break. As Shaz says on the show, this is the movie she most wishes she had directed. She and April also discuss Shaz’s newest film, Alaska Is a Drag, which follows an aspiring drag queen turned boxer stuck working at a cannery in Alaska. The two of them dissect the masterful directing of Bigelow during the visceral chase scenes. They look at the unconventional casting of Patrick Swayze and Keanu Reeves. They praise the performance and genius of Lori Petty. And Shaz elaborates on being yourself while directing, and being close to your actors on set. April has a special connection with this film as well, having written a retrospective for Rolling Stone last year.

Episode notes

Point Break

This week we’ve got writer and director Shaz Bennett on the program to talk about Kathryn Bigelow’s classic, Point Break. As Shaz says on the show, this is the movie she most wishes she had directed. She and April also discuss Shaz’s newest film, Alaska Is a Drag, which follows an aspiring drag queen turned boxer stuck working at a cannery in Alaska. The two of them dissect the masterful directing of Bigelow during the visceral chase scenes. They look at the unconventional casting of Patrick Swayze and Keanu Reeves. They praise the performance and genius of Lori Petty. And Shaz elaborates on being yourself while directing, and being close to your actors on set. April has a special connection with this film as well, having written a retrospective for Rolling Stone last year.

If you haven’t seen it yet, go watch Point Break.

With April Wolfe with Shaz Bennett.

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Produced by Casey O’Brien and Laura Swisher for MaximumFun.org.

In this episode...

Guests

  • Shaz Bennett

About the show

Switchblade Sisters is a podcast providing deep cuts on genre flicks from a female perspective. Every week, screenwriter and former film critic April Wolfe sits down with a phenomenal female film-maker to slice-and-dice a classic genre movie – horror, exploitation, sci-fi and many others! Along the way, they cover craft, the state of the industry, how films get made, and more. Mothers, lock up your sons, the Switchblade Sisters are coming!

Follow @SwitchbladePod on Twitter and join the Switchblade Sisters Facebook group. Email them at switchbladesisters@maximumfun.org.

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