[YT Edit] Philadelphia (1993)

Jonathan Demme earlier directed Stop Making Sense (1984), featuring a performance of the Talking Heads. It is generally regarded as the greatest concert film of all time. Demme further directed several other famous concert films and music videos, besides a little-known indie film called, if I remember correctly, Silence of the Lambs.

Happy Hanukkah

The title song "Streets Of Philadelphia" by Bruce Springsteen won the Oscar for Best Original Song, as well as four Grammys- Song of the Year, Best Rock Song, Best Rock Vocal (solo), and Best Song written specifically for TV or Film. The film's director Jonathan Demme would later direct the live concert video for Springsteen's song "Murder Incorporated".

Bill W

I love Cassie's appalled reaction of "You can't catch it like that." Yet in 2020 we had people washing groceries in bleach. Fear makes people idiots.

Mike Lemon

@Elliot and @Jyn - And that pretty much shows why most people really don't like "cinema snobs". You may like whatever subject enough to learn all about it, most people don't care and don't want to hear about it. If I start talking to you about the difference between a knife made of 1095 or 5160 or 440 or tamahagane, or if I start talking about the advantages and disadvantages of a 1:6 vs 1:7 dovetail or the janka scale, you may be polite and listen but you just want me to be quiet. All you want to know is- can I cut this tomato with the knife (first example) or will this drawer fall apart (second example). All most people want from a movie is entertainment. They don't care if Citizen Kane revolutionized editing, they just care that it is incredibly boring and they would rather smash their foot with a ball peen hammer than watch it again.

Mike Lemon

This might be my favorite post in a reactor comment section ever and I fully endorse it

warcrimes

Couldn't help but notice a desire for the big "epiphany" moment... I saw a more accurate representation of a change of heart or even more accurately, an acknowledgement of one's heart. In my experience, such things happen through getting to meet and know people, slowly recognizing what is in common, and the inevitable recognition of humanity. These changes are frustratingly slow and often incomplete however, they last. That was my experience related to gay people for example and that is the source of hope in my view. And yes; the 80s and 90s were a terrifying time when it came to HIV/AIDS. I got to experience high school and college during that mess of fear and hysteria.

Michael Labs

Elliot Nesterman

You seemed like you were genuinely kind of unaware of the whole AIDS epidemic and what that was like, so I would recommend the early 90s HBO movie And The Band Played On if you want a dramatized overview of what the fight against AIDS was like in the 80s.

Stranger2Reality

Tom Hanks as "The Table". I would flat out watch this movie.

Adam Doyle

As I've already said, this movie really does tug at the heartstrings! It teaches us a lesson in ignorance, prejudice, half-truths, discrimination and treating people with dignity and respect, and devastating lies connected with AIDS! It's so heartbreaking! Like I also said as sad trivia, actor Kevin Peter Hall who is best known for playing the PREDATOR in PREDATOR 1&2, and Harry in Harry and the Hendersons, he unfortunately passed away in 1991 at the age of 35 due to AIDS, he was a gentle giant (7' 2", whoa😱) and everyone loved him, so sad to loose such great talent with a big heart! I've never seen this movie until now, and I must say, it was pretty tough to watch! Glad you enjoyed watching it, as did I, and it was really fun participating in the premiere as always! Love and support always, [virtual hug] God bless you and your family, you (and Carly) are the best🥰😁😉😇🙏👍🌹

Wesley White

I’d never seen this one. Hanks could morph into a table if he had to. Crazy good actor.

Omar

Funny story related to this movie and linking it with another. When Tom Hanks won the Academy Award for Philadelphia, he emotionally talked about and thanked a former gay teacher of his. A writer in the room thought it would be a funny premise for a movie that an actor outed a teacher as gay on television like that and how the teacher and community would react. This was later developed and made into the movie "In And Out" with Kevin Kline acting as the teacher. You should watch it, it is quite funny.

brennanfee

I thank God for my family because they accept me so amazingly. I was also a kid with bone cancer and my family has always stood by me.

Robbie

I was a young gay teen or even pre teen when this came out. I was definitely scared for my future and I literally thought everyone was going to hate me and disown me when I came out. I lived in fear every day.

Robbie

Wyant, Wheeler, Helliman, Tetlow and Brown, haha, was cute how you tried saying that

JPDotCom23

I never saw this movie as a court movie to be honest. I was 18 when it came out and had an uncle who was gay. so this film hit very close to home for me. In the late 80's and early 90's there was a huge confusion about HIV and AIDS. It hit the gay community very hard, but not only them. It got to a point when a news anchor of our national TV took 15 minutes of the news time to talk about all the facts known to the doctors and how to properly apply a condom on a banana. That was the level of fear at that time. Freddie Mercuries death, this movie and many funerals were needed to educate the people what it meant to have HIV and AIDS. Also HIV was at that time almost certain a death sentence. But it also brought the gay community out of the shadows in a way.If you are interested in the story about how they discovered AIDS and the years that took to fully understand this disease, I recommend the movie "And the Band Played On" from 1993.

Shanwyn Nightfox

I found it quite amusing when Cassie made the connection between the human character in Toy Story and Tom Hanks character in Pjiladelphia. Both named Andy. I know Hanks played Woody, but for a moment I was thinking about Toy Story happening in the universe as Philadelphia and that the boy in Toy Story grew up to be a gay lawyer who died of aids.

Brian McGovern

No you don’t need to upgrade your membership to watch the premiere on YouTube. You just tune in when the video is about to be launched.

Tim Raths

There were a few Jonathon Demme staple actors in Philadelphia. One of the jury members, ( old guy with spikey hair) was a mortician I think in Silence of the Lambs. The library attendant who wanted to place Andy in a private room was in Silence of the Lambs. The cross eyed doctor was the bug expert jitting on Jodie Foster in SOTL.

Brian McGovern

Let's not forget his Russ Meyer movies from the 60s and 70s. The man had a remarkable career.

Bill Hayden

It would be really great if they released all those interviews on Youtube

JONATHAN REDFERN WILLIAMS

I remember when Jonathan Demme was interviewed for the BBC one-on-one interview series Scene by Scene. At the end of the interview, the interviewer Mark Cousins made an amusing little gaffe by saying to Jonathan Demme "I really enjoyed your new film but was very disappointed that Charles Napier wasn't in it" to which Demme burst out laughing and replied "But he is in it!" and Cousins apologised and Demme added "I am so going to tell him you said that! "

JONATHAN REDFERN WILLIAMS

Charles Napier has done other things as well. He played one of the Good Ol' Boys in The Blues Brothers movie and he starred in a Star Trek TOS episode, "The Way to Eden".

Jeffrey Schmidbauer

There's an Inside the Actor's Studio interview with Hanks where he said he couldn't go back and watch this movie. It's because there were a bunch of people in it who ended up dying of AIDS and it was too difficult for him to see them in it again. Unfortunately the entire thing has been scrubbed from the internet as far as I can tell. The tail end of him talking about it can be found in this video at the 4:58 mark - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VrKOg3_WCWE&t=310s

JayF

At 15:17, that actor portraying the court judge is Charles Napier who got an acting role in every Jonathan Demme movie. In Silence of the Lambs (1991) he played one of the two prison guards that is brutally killed by Hannibal Lector before Lector escapes from prison.

JONATHAN REDFERN WILLIAMS

It means the reaction that is entirely viewable edited for a youtube audience. It is released here earlier prior to the youtube premiere. The comments are obviously on from patrons. Its nice if you have a scheduling conflict with the YT release! Cassie normally is on a live chat when the YT release happens!

David

Youtube edit

Paul Deaconu

I'll be there for the premiere 😁😉👍

Wesley White

Howard Shore was also the original music director for Saturday Night Live back in the mid70s.

Jeffrey Schmidbauer

What does "YT edit" mean?

Jeffrey Schmidbauer

It's interesting that nearly 30 years later Tom Hanks has now said on record that he would not portray a gay man now and believes only gay roles should be portrayed only by gay actors. It's an interesting debate. Also acclaimed gay writer Russell T Davies (Dr Who showrunner and creator of the original TV drama Queer as Folk) shares the same view. In 2021 Davies wrote and produced another gay drama, It's a Sin for HBO/Channel 4 and cast only gay actors in the gay roles. Like Philadelphia (1994), It's a Sin also dealt with the difficult subject matter of gay men contracting AIDS and the prejudices they faced and the lack of gay rights that existed in the early eighties of where the story is set.

JONATHAN REDFERN WILLIAMS

2:02 The same Howard Shore that composed all three Lord of the Rings films, and also The Hobbit trilogy, Cronenberg's The Fly (1986), and Tim Burton's Ed Wood (1994)

JONATHAN REDFERN WILLIAMS

Thank you Cassie

Manuel Villacana