#509: Captive Audiences, Pt. 2 — Dead Man's Wire

Even without Al Pacino's name in its cast list, the new Dead Man's Wire would invite comparisons to Dog Day Afternoon in its dramatization of a real-life 1970s hostage situation turned public spectacle. Whether it benefits from comparisons to Sidney Lumet's 1975 crime classic is another question, one we take up in our discussion of Gus Van Sant's first new feature in eight years. After that, we bring Dog Day Afternoon back in for Connections, to consider how these two films about volatile, narcissistic men and their ostensibly populist schemes fit into the proud tradition of amateur-hour crime movies, and whether a modern film depicting Indianapolis half a century ago has any hope of evoking its setting the way Lumet captured contemporary 1970s New York. Please share your thoughts about Dog Day Afternoon, Dead Man's Wire, or anything else in the world of film, by sending an email or voice memo to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730. Next pairing: Sam Raimi's Send Help and Lina Wurtmuller's Swept Away. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

You can listen to #509: Captive Audiences, Pt. 2 — Dead Man's Wire online on Radio and Podcast. Open the player on this page to stream the available audio.

#509: Captive Audiences, Pt. 2 — Dead Man's Wire is an episode from The Next Picture Show by Telegraph Road Productions.

This episode is 66:02 long.

This episode was published on Jan 27, 2026.

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