TFH Presents
The Movies That Made Me
with your hosts Josh Olson & Joe Dante

Steven Canals
Steven Canals, creator of the amazing show Pose, joins Josh to talk about his list of family dramas that have deeply impacted him.
Show Notes:
Movies Referenced In This Episode
Whatever Happened To Baby Jane? (1962)
Ninja 3: The Domination (1984)
The Color Purple (1985)
The Terminator (1984)
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000)
Wonder Woman (2017)
Captain Marvel (2019)
Black Panther (2018)
Ghostbusters (2016)
Ordinary People (1980)
District 9 (2009)
Quiz Show (1994)
The Dark Knight (2008)
Brokeback Mountain (2005)
Norma Rae (1979)
Places In The Heart (1984)
Once Upon A Time In The West (1969)
Blow (2001)
Kramer vs. Kramer (1979)
Bonnie and Clyde (1967)
The Late Show (1977)
The Brood (1979)
Flashdance (1983)
The Sixth Sense (1999)
Memento (2000)
Transformers: The Movie (1986)
The Dirty Dozen (1967)
Boyz n the Hood (1991)
Do The Right Thing (1989)
Hannah and Her Sisters (1986)
Beaches (1988)
The Entity (1982)
Tin Men (1987)
Boxcar Bertha (1972)
With Six You Get Eggroll (1968)
Crimes and Misdemeanors (1989)
Working Girl (1988)
Secrets & Lies (1996)
The English Patient (1996)
American Beauty (1999)
In The Bedroom (2001)
A History of Violence (2005)
Straw Dogs (1971)
Requiem For A Dream (2000)
Capturing The Friedmans (2003)
Rabbit Hole (2010)
Aliens (1986)
Other Notable Items
Welcome Back Kotter TV series (1975-1979)
The Dick Van Dyke Show TV series (1961-1966)
Steven’s excellent TV series Pose (2018- )
Ryan Murphy
Feud: Bette and Joan miniseries (2017)
Roots miniseries (1977)
William Demarest, who made three movies in 1943, let the record show
Barry TV series (2018)
Billy Porter
Steven Spielberg
The Color Purple novel by Alice Walker (1982)
Whoopi Goldberg
Ang Lee
The Academy Awards
Robert Redford
Mary Tyler Moore
Donald Sutherland
The Mary Tyler Moore Show TV series (1970-1977)
Heath Ledger’s casting as The Joker in The Dark Knight
Sally Field
Gidget (1965-1966) TV series
Sandra Bullock
The Flying Nun TV series (1967-1970)
Henry Fonda, either America’s Dad or America’s Sweetheart before his grim turn in Once Upon A Time In The West
Paul Reubens
Pee-Wee’s Playhouse TV series (1986-1990)
Dustin Hoffman
Meryl Streep
David Cronenberg
UCLA’s MFA in Film and Television Specializing in Screenwriting Program
White Stone Cinemas in the Bronx (now closed)
John Singleton
Steven’s Hollywood Reporter Drama Showrunner Roundtable with John Singleton
Laurence Fishburne
Stanley Kubrick
Leonard Cohen’s song “The Future”
Josh’s podcast series “Bronzeville”
Barbara Hershey
Woody Allen
Dianne Wiest
Mia Farrow
The “Revelations” episode of Pose
Mike Nichols
Melanie Griffith
Brenda Blethyn
Marianne Jean-Baptiste
“Asphodel, That Greeny Flower” poem by William Carlos Williams
“Harlem” poem by Langston Hughes
Sissy Spacek
Tom Wilkinson
Chris Martin of Coldplay on the validity of misheard lyrics to his songs
Misheard lyrics to “Purple Haze” by Jimi Hendrix
Misheard lyrics to R.E.M.
Sigourney Weaver
This list is also available on Letterboxd.
About the Podcast
Filmmakers and entertainers discuss the movies that inspired them. Hosted by Oscar nominated screenwriter and TFH Guru Josh Olson and TFH Fearless Leader Joe Dante.
The Movies That Made Me is recorded live in Hollywood and engineered by film composer Don Barrett.
About The Hosts
Josh Olson was the only student in his second grade class to see The House That Dripped Blood. Many years later, he wrote and directed the no-budget horror film, INFESTED, a brutal assault on The Big Chill, with zombies. He went on to write the screenplay for A HISTORY OF VIOLENCE and was nominated for the WGA, BAFTA and Academy Awards for Best Screenplay. He kept losing to Larry McMurtry and Diana Ossana, but that’s okay.
He has written features and TV shows with Harlan Ellison, Walter Hill, Slash, Willie Nelson, and Mick Jagger. His Village Voice essay “I Will Not Read Your Fucking Script” became an internet phenomenon, getting upwards of five million hits.
The ten-part audio drama BRONZEVILLE which he wrote, starring Laurence Fishburne, Larenz Tate, Tracee Ellis Ross, Omari Harwicke and Tika Sumpter was a popular and critical hit, and is currently being developed for TV. He and John Brancato (THE GAME) recently wrote and sold the feature spec TRIGGER WARNING, which is being produced by Thunder Road.
Joe Dante is a director known for his satirical blend of horror and comedy viewed through the lens of grounded, relatable American life. his career in film began as a movie critic at age 12. A few years later, he conspired with Jon Davison to produce The Movie Orgy, an experimental exploration of ‘50s pop culture that metamorphosed into a hit phenomenon bringing Dante to college campus showings nationwide.
Soon after, he followed Jon to Hollywood where he edited trailers for producer Roger Corman before co-directing his first feature, Hollywood Boulevard. His first solo film, Piranha, successfully kickstarted his legendary career with titles like The Howling, Gremlins, The ‘Burbs, Innerspace, and more.
Joe’s dedication to preserving the history of cinema and his near encyclopedic knowledge of movies led to the creation of Trailers From Hell, a web series offering viewers a brief history lesson of movies discussed through their respective trailers.