Movie Reviews and Serious Nonsense, a Podcast from Another Universe with your hosts Greg Dyro and Tom Burka. They love to talk about movies and Streaming TV content. And on occasion speak with the creators of some of your favorite forms of entertainment. If you have a great idea for an interview they would love to hear about that person. If you have a favorite movie or streaming show real or not yet imagined they would love to hear about that even more.
Our latest episode
Saturday Night with Hopper Stone
In today’s episode, we’re thrilled to sit down with Hopper Stone, the unit still photographer from the iconic movie Saturday Night, to talk about those frantic, caffeine-fueled final 90 minutes before the very first broadcast of Saturday Night Live.
Picture it: October 11, 1975, 11:30 p.m. The world was about to meet a fearless cast of comedians and writers who would change TV forever. But what was it really like behind the scenes? Hopper gives us the scoop on the chaos, the creativity, and maybe even the questionable snacks in those final moments before showtime.
We also dive into Hopper’s fascinating career as a still photographer, from capturing Hollywood magic to his earlier days dodging bullets (literally!) as a photojournalist in war-torn Bosnia.
So grab your backstage pass and join us for an insightful, funny, and occasionally jaw-dropping look at the world of filmmaking—from the unique perspective of the unit still photographer. You won’t want to miss it!
Movie Reviews and Serious Nonsense is a King Dyro Production ©2024
Podcast music:
Intro music Kamihamiha! – Alien Warfare Stems by Kamihamiha (c) copyright 2020 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Noncommercial (3.0) license. http://dig.ccmixter.org/files/Kamihamiha/60882
Hopper Stone has been a professional photographer since 1988. He started as a photojournalist covering world events such as the coup in the former Soviet Union, famine in Somalia and the UN Peacekeeping operation in Cambodia. After working for the Black Star photo agency in Mexico City, Hopper turned his sights towards Hollywood and has been working on film sets since 1997. He has worked on such projects as “Modern Family”, “Captain Philips”, “Hidden Figures” and most recently “Saturday Night” for Sony Pictures. Hopper is a member of the International Cinematographers Guild (ICG Local 600) and the Society of Motion Picture Still Photographers (SMPSP). You can see his work at www.stonefoto.com or follow him on Instagram: @hopper_stone
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We tend to ramble a bit but eventually we get to the second act and even sometimes take it all the way to the final third act. Our thoughts are always relevant but at times maybe a bit like fog used to add a little bit of texture to the interior scene in a film. We invite you to join us in this alternate world of cinema.
The last 6 episodes
Saturday Night with Hopper Stone
In today’s episode, we’re thrilled to sit down with Hopper Stone, the unit still photographer from the iconic movie Saturday Night, to talk about those frantic, caffeine-fueled final 90 minutes before the very first broadcast of Saturday Night Live. Picture it: October 11, 1975, 11:30 p.m. The world was about to meet a fearless cast of comedians
Put some SUGAR on
In this episode, Greg and Tom dive into the Apple TV+ show “SUGAR,” starring Colin Farrell, Kirby, Amy Ryan, Dennis Boutsikaris, Nate Corddry, and James Cromwell. Join us as we follow private detective John Sugar on his quest to uncover what happened to Olivia, the missing granddaughter of Hollywood producer Jonathan Siegel. Along the way,
FALLOUT: the Episode
In this episode of our podcast, Tom and Greg dive deep into the highly anticipated Amazon Prime series, “Fallout,” which draws its inspiration from the iconic video game franchise of the same name. Set in a future, post-apocalyptic Los Angeles devastated by nuclear fallout, the series presents a stark vision where survivors are forced to
Indiana Jones: Crystal Skull or Dial of Destiny?
Send us a Text Message. Join hosts Greg and Tom as they welcome back special guest John Stanisci for an exciting episode dedicated to the legendary adventurer, Indiana Jones. In this episode, the trio dives deep into a spirited debate: which film holds up better—“Kingdom of the Crystal Skull” or the latest installment, “Dial of
Donnie Norden: More Stories of Hollywood Trespassing
The website “Phantom of the Back Lot“ Tom and Greg go for a sequel of sorts with our second interview with Donnie Norden Phantom of the Backlots. Some of Donnie’s own words to describe his adventures From that first time I poked my 10-year-old head through a hole in the tall fence surrounding the MGM
Steve Bingen: Hollywood Behind the Lens
Send us a Text message We interview Steve Bingen: About his new book with Marc Wanamaker “Hollywood Behind the Lens: Treasures from the Bison Archive Steven Bingen is an author, archivist, historian, and contributor to dozens of books, articles, and documentaries regarding film history. For nearly two decades, Steven worked as an archivist/staff historian at Warner
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Meet Your Hosts
Educated in the the sometimes Dark Art of photo chemical light responsive materials in Maine. Greg has been working in Hollywood for the last 25 years.
Greg started his association with Motion Pictures in the 7th grade in New England followed by 18 months in Cuba making Super-8mm films 3 minutes at a time. He only recently got involved in Podcasting with his movie making pal from the 1970’s Tom Burka.
Greg is the former Director of the Warner Bros. Studio Facilities Photo Lab and now lives with his wife in the foothills of the Tortolito Mountains in Southern Arizona.
In the alternate Universe he was the chief architect of the U.S. move to the metric system. He was only successful in this Universe with his work on convincing Elon Musk to reach for the Stars or at least Mars. He worked as a consulting subcontractor on the roll out of the European Euro but demanded his compensation in Bitcoin.
History will always record him as “An Extraordinary Gentleman”
Ask Greg & Tom a Question
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