WEBVTT 1 00:00:05.120 --> 00:00:09.800 Oh jez, folks, it's showtime. People say, good money to 2 00:00:09.839 --> 00:00:10.560 see this movie. 3 00:00:10.919 --> 00:00:12.160 When they go out to a theater. 4 00:00:12.439 --> 00:00:16.199 They want clothed sodas, hot popcorn, and no monsters in 5 00:00:16.239 --> 00:00:17.199 the protection booth. 6 00:00:17.359 --> 00:00:19.199 Everyone for ten podcasting isn't boring? 7 00:00:20.239 --> 00:00:20.879 Don at off. 8 00:00:38.759 --> 00:00:44.399 Ben Richards thirty five, married one child in medical crisis. 9 00:00:44.960 --> 00:00:49.000 We need money for a doctor now, Ben, dress up. 10 00:00:50.039 --> 00:00:54.840 Employment status blacklist. But there's still a way out for you. 11 00:00:57.359 --> 00:01:00.119 It's the biggest show in the country. 12 00:01:02.039 --> 00:01:09.719 Is our birthright? Good Fred, Welcome to the running Man. 13 00:01:11.959 --> 00:01:13.640 People in these games never come back. 14 00:01:14.280 --> 00:01:16.920 I'm not trying to be myself killed, so kiss my 15 00:01:16.959 --> 00:01:17.519 ass twice. 16 00:01:18.480 --> 00:01:22.319 Right. There is why you can win this game. The 17 00:01:22.439 --> 00:01:26.400 rules are simple, survive thirty days. The entire nation hunting 18 00:01:26.480 --> 00:01:30.519 me down. I don't get your family had a slumicide 19 00:01:30.599 --> 00:01:33.680 for good. 20 00:01:34.120 --> 00:01:37.840 I'm going to come back here and burn this building down. 21 00:01:38.519 --> 00:01:40.480 I promise. That's the spirit. 22 00:01:41.680 --> 00:01:44.200 This is America, God damn it, and we don't put 23 00:01:44.239 --> 00:01:45.640 up with no bulls. 24 00:01:46.000 --> 00:01:51.000 Yeah hunt. 25 00:01:52.000 --> 00:02:08.520 Hemn stop bling. 26 00:02:10.560 --> 00:02:12.919 Have you ever wondered if this game is rigged? 27 00:02:13.479 --> 00:02:16.199 I guess we'll find out. 28 00:02:20.199 --> 00:02:28.199 Should I be moving up to Fay Hey, buddy, you're 29 00:02:28.199 --> 00:02:28.719 all free v. 30 00:02:31.439 --> 00:02:41.319 Yeah, you better run. I got a good name. 31 00:02:43.080 --> 00:02:49.439 Backcat h. 32 00:02:53.400 --> 00:02:56.680 I'm still here, just shiit eaters. 33 00:03:03.400 --> 00:03:11.439 Beg by. 34 00:03:09.520 --> 00:03:15.560 Which I'm crazy. 35 00:03:18.560 --> 00:03:21.280 Welcome to a special episode of the Projection Booth at 36 00:03:21.319 --> 00:03:23.639 Midnight Viewing. I'm your host, Bike, whycho and me? Of 37 00:03:23.680 --> 00:03:24.879 course is Father Alone? 38 00:03:25.599 --> 00:03:26.879 Oh hey, I'm running. 39 00:03:27.759 --> 00:03:30.120 He's definitely running. He's running in place this whole time. 40 00:03:30.159 --> 00:03:31.680 If he sounds a little winded at the end of 41 00:03:31.680 --> 00:03:32.759 the recording, now you. 42 00:03:32.719 --> 00:03:35.599 Know know why I got one of those standing discs. 43 00:03:36.520 --> 00:03:39.000 On this episode, we're going to be discussing Edgar Wrights's 44 00:03:39.159 --> 00:03:42.639 The Running Man, the twenty twenty five adaptation of Stephen 45 00:03:42.719 --> 00:03:47.000 King's dystopian thriller. We will be discussing Wright's kinetic style, 46 00:03:47.080 --> 00:03:50.479 the film's political edge, and Glenn powell S Cinema's new 47 00:03:50.520 --> 00:03:55.000 Everyman from a spectacle as entertainment to the eerie familiarity 48 00:03:55.199 --> 00:03:58.280 of its media circus. We will be spoiling the film, 49 00:03:58.599 --> 00:04:01.400 the book, and of course the nineteen eighty seven film 50 00:04:01.400 --> 00:04:04.439 while we're at it. So fatherm Alone can't ask you 51 00:04:04.479 --> 00:04:06.120 when was the first time you saw it? Because it 52 00:04:06.199 --> 00:04:08.520 was probably this weekend. What did you think of The 53 00:04:08.599 --> 00:04:09.159 Running Man? 54 00:04:10.039 --> 00:04:13.319 I'm a long time Stephen King person. Obviously, I read 55 00:04:13.400 --> 00:04:17.160 the Bachman book when it came out, and I saw 56 00:04:17.199 --> 00:04:19.480 the Schwarzenegger movie in the theater and I've seen it 57 00:04:19.519 --> 00:04:23.360 a couple times since. Then saw this movie two days ago. Now, 58 00:04:23.519 --> 00:04:26.920 as a fan of sort of the book, first, I 59 00:04:26.959 --> 00:04:33.319 think this is a much more layered and true version 60 00:04:33.600 --> 00:04:36.959 or adaptation of that novel, and much more just the 61 00:04:36.959 --> 00:04:39.079 spirit of it, never mind the sort of plot and everything. 62 00:04:40.480 --> 00:04:41.480 And I think it was. 63 00:04:41.560 --> 00:04:45.360 Overall really enjoyable, and I thought, oh, this is a 64 00:04:45.399 --> 00:04:48.519 step above the Schwarzenegger movie finally, because I was never 65 00:04:48.759 --> 00:04:51.480 that big a fan of that movie. As an adaptation, 66 00:04:52.279 --> 00:04:56.639 I liked this movie plenty, but I think the last 67 00:04:56.680 --> 00:04:59.240 twenty minutes of this movie ruined the whole thing for me. 68 00:04:59.319 --> 00:05:01.439 So I can't and if someone were to ask me, 69 00:05:01.800 --> 00:05:04.000 would I recommend the movie. I probably wouldn't based on 70 00:05:04.040 --> 00:05:05.720 the end, but I kind of liked it. 71 00:05:06.439 --> 00:05:10.839 That's about my take as well. I really like the 72 00:05:10.879 --> 00:05:14.560 original Running Man from nineteen eighty seven. We talked about 73 00:05:14.600 --> 00:05:18.519 it gosh all the way back in twenty seventeen. Simpler 74 00:05:18.560 --> 00:05:19.399 times twenty. 75 00:05:19.160 --> 00:05:23.120 Seventeen, less dystopian. I don't know. 76 00:05:23.079 --> 00:05:26.279 If Edgar Wright was the right person to direct this, 77 00:05:26.600 --> 00:05:29.720 just because I think he gets so caught up in 78 00:05:29.759 --> 00:05:34.720 the neon slickness of things that the dystopia part really 79 00:05:35.600 --> 00:05:39.439 takes a back seat. Sometimes. I've wanted this to be 80 00:05:39.519 --> 00:05:43.680 set more in a Children of Men type of world 81 00:05:44.000 --> 00:05:48.560 rather than everything seems to be pretty umpart with where 82 00:05:48.560 --> 00:05:51.240 we're at today. It doesn't seem to be as desperate 83 00:05:51.399 --> 00:05:52.879 as the book. 84 00:05:53.360 --> 00:05:55.439 To be fair, had this movie come out a year ago, 85 00:05:55.680 --> 00:05:58.600 you would have felt this was a dystopian view of America. 86 00:05:58.639 --> 00:06:01.959 I think you're right, especially now with the whole idea. 87 00:06:02.000 --> 00:06:03.959 And it's so funny that they even were doing this 88 00:06:04.000 --> 00:06:06.600 back in eighty seven, the idea of deep fakes and 89 00:06:07.040 --> 00:06:11.439 recasting things when it came to showing us how awful 90 00:06:11.759 --> 00:06:16.360 Ben Richards is. Now it's just people make AI videos 91 00:06:16.399 --> 00:06:19.240 of other people all the time and have them do 92 00:06:19.480 --> 00:06:23.439 absolutely awful things. And so now you're watching this on television, 93 00:06:23.720 --> 00:06:26.879 the television of twenty twenty five, The Running Man, and 94 00:06:26.879 --> 00:06:29.360 you're like, yeah, I can see that. Of course, that's 95 00:06:29.399 --> 00:06:31.560 probably not very difficult for them to do it all. 96 00:06:31.560 --> 00:06:34.600 And there's one point where Richards even says, why didn't 97 00:06:34.639 --> 00:06:37.279 you fake the whole thing? I guess we do find 98 00:06:37.279 --> 00:06:40.720 out the answer about Richard's family that we don't know 99 00:06:41.040 --> 00:06:44.680 in the book, and that the book that ending is 100 00:06:45.040 --> 00:06:49.120 just it tears the heart out of you. It's amazingly 101 00:06:50.040 --> 00:06:54.920 just dire. And the way that they have to double 102 00:06:54.959 --> 00:06:58.879 back on that with this and suddenly becomes a conspiracy 103 00:06:58.920 --> 00:07:01.519 theory type of thing. And my god, is somebody who 104 00:07:01.600 --> 00:07:04.720 just saw Bugonia like two weeks ago. I'm like, can 105 00:07:04.759 --> 00:07:08.519 we quit making conspiracy theorists the hero of these films 106 00:07:08.560 --> 00:07:11.160 because it's not really a good thing. 107 00:07:11.959 --> 00:07:14.680 Last night I watched the first three episodes of Vince s. 108 00:07:14.680 --> 00:07:18.959 Guigligan's new series Pluribus, and that's about an alien invasion, 109 00:07:18.959 --> 00:07:22.439 but it's a viral thing. And early in the pilot 110 00:07:22.480 --> 00:07:24.759 of the series, our lead characters looking up and she 111 00:07:24.839 --> 00:07:28.839 sees contrails all through the night sky like patterns of them, 112 00:07:29.040 --> 00:07:31.319 and she's like, wow, that's interesting, and that's how they're 113 00:07:31.319 --> 00:07:34.800 spreading it. Had the same exact thought, Yeah, that's clever 114 00:07:35.240 --> 00:07:40.759 and fun to confirm conspiracy theorists as correct. Nevertheless, stop 115 00:07:40.839 --> 00:07:43.439 doing it, because apparently we're all doing it and we're 116 00:07:43.480 --> 00:07:46.360 actually legitimizing it, so knock it off. 117 00:07:47.319 --> 00:07:50.040 I was a breakfast this morning, and there was a 118 00:07:50.079 --> 00:07:53.639 guy sitting across for me that had a QAnon shirt on. 119 00:07:53.839 --> 00:07:56.439 That's okay, you just wear your mental illness on your 120 00:07:56.439 --> 00:07:58.800 shirt these days. I guess that's how we're doing it. 121 00:07:59.000 --> 00:08:02.319 And when I watched these characters, like because they don't 122 00:08:02.319 --> 00:08:07.040 go too into the QAnon or the conspiracy theory type thing. 123 00:08:07.120 --> 00:08:10.720 And we're supposed to be all appreciative of these guys 124 00:08:10.720 --> 00:08:15.639 who are making these like zines or basically YouTube videos 125 00:08:15.720 --> 00:08:19.439 or maybe TikTok type videos. They're the ones who know 126 00:08:19.519 --> 00:08:21.120 the truth and this is how they're trying to get 127 00:08:21.120 --> 00:08:24.519 the truth out. It just feels so wrong in twenty 128 00:08:24.560 --> 00:08:27.519 twenty five to see these videos where you're like, this 129 00:08:27.560 --> 00:08:30.680 is what's really going on. I'm like, all right, whenever 130 00:08:30.720 --> 00:08:32.720 anybody tries to tell you that, you know, they're just 131 00:08:32.919 --> 00:08:34.600 one hundred percent full of shit. 132 00:08:35.480 --> 00:08:39.159 Yeah, And it's a lazy way to add a narrator nowadays, 133 00:08:39.279 --> 00:08:44.320 to have the conspiracy nut that's it's the same as 134 00:08:45.080 --> 00:08:48.919 the tabloid reporter or something the modern day equivalent. And 135 00:08:49.120 --> 00:08:53.080 it's unnerving at best. As to that powerhouse ending from 136 00:08:53.159 --> 00:08:56.000 the book, the one that you can't make into a film, 137 00:08:56.120 --> 00:08:59.240 anymore since the year two thousand and one. It speaks 138 00:08:59.279 --> 00:09:03.360 to the problem with both films, which is the book 139 00:09:03.559 --> 00:09:06.679 is about a guy who gets onto a game show 140 00:09:06.799 --> 00:09:09.879 because he is completely desperate because his daughter is ill 141 00:09:10.039 --> 00:09:13.279 and he can't get work anywhere because he's basically been 142 00:09:13.320 --> 00:09:16.240 blacklisted for one event that happened early in his life. 143 00:09:16.799 --> 00:09:20.120 So he goes up against this sort of corporation that 144 00:09:20.320 --> 00:09:23.200 is running everything. Like you said, they're controlling the narrative 145 00:09:23.200 --> 00:09:25.759 with deep fakes and everything. And in the book, at 146 00:09:25.759 --> 00:09:31.559 the end, he effectively crashes a plane into the network building, 147 00:09:31.840 --> 00:09:36.639 potentially creating the spark that will ignite a rebellion against 148 00:09:36.679 --> 00:09:40.200 the corporations that are oppressing everybody. That's the idea. The 149 00:09:40.279 --> 00:09:44.200 movies want to have both stories playing out simultaneously. They 150 00:09:44.240 --> 00:09:47.200 want the guy on the run with everyone against him, 151 00:09:47.360 --> 00:09:49.919 and they want him to be sparking the revolution. It 152 00:09:50.080 --> 00:09:55.039 ends with a spark, or don't include it, because they 153 00:09:55.039 --> 00:09:57.440 want the fucking revolution to happen, and they like. 154 00:09:57.399 --> 00:09:58.279 Want a triumph. 155 00:09:58.279 --> 00:10:00.360 They want the government to come down and we are 156 00:10:00.440 --> 00:10:05.000 suspending our disbelief so fucking hard already for this dystopian world, 157 00:10:05.279 --> 00:10:07.480 and then to dismiss it away it's almost like a 158 00:10:07.519 --> 00:10:08.600 fairy tale ending. 159 00:10:08.759 --> 00:10:10.799 Like both films, I. 160 00:10:10.799 --> 00:10:14.679 Kept seeing headlines about this movie going Edgar Rate's film 161 00:10:14.759 --> 00:10:17.639 is great until it stumbles, and I'm like, oh boy, 162 00:10:18.200 --> 00:10:21.440 where's the stumble going to happen? So I knew going 163 00:10:21.480 --> 00:10:24.519 in that something bad was going to happen. And at 164 00:10:24.559 --> 00:10:27.639 the same time, I don't necessarily believe headlines because it's 165 00:10:27.679 --> 00:10:30.159 like what you consider a stumble in a movie. I 166 00:10:30.240 --> 00:10:33.440 might consider the greatest twist of all times. Watching this, 167 00:10:33.559 --> 00:10:35.120 I just can say, Okay, what's it going to be? 168 00:10:35.159 --> 00:10:35.679 What's going to be? 169 00:10:35.799 --> 00:10:38.879 When Michael Sarah shows up and he's playing this character 170 00:10:38.919 --> 00:10:44.679 who in the book was basically had no discerning personality. 171 00:10:44.759 --> 00:10:47.639 All he was was fat, And we know that Stephen 172 00:10:47.679 --> 00:10:52.120 King does not like fat people. What's whatever? So just hey, 173 00:10:52.120 --> 00:10:55.320 this guy's fat and his mom's crazy. As mom calls 174 00:10:55.360 --> 00:10:58.399 the cops and they are on the run and getting 175 00:10:58.440 --> 00:11:01.759 this big car wreck, and guy drives off as he's 176 00:11:01.799 --> 00:11:06.639 like bleeding out and coughing up black blood and bile 177 00:11:06.720 --> 00:11:08.559 and all this stuff, And I'm like, okay, is it 178 00:11:08.639 --> 00:11:12.799 that Michael Sarah is again the conspiracy theorist and that 179 00:11:12.879 --> 00:11:16.320 he's got the zine making stuff, and that he's got 180 00:11:16.360 --> 00:11:18.519 all of these traps in his house. Is that the 181 00:11:18.559 --> 00:11:21.879 twists that they're talking about, Because up until that point 182 00:11:22.360 --> 00:11:25.960 it's a fairly good adaptation. It stays pretty true, and 183 00:11:26.000 --> 00:11:28.799 even after that point they get back to it a 184 00:11:28.799 --> 00:11:30.919 little bit more, and I was like, all right, Yeah, 185 00:11:30.919 --> 00:11:33.159 this isn't too bad. What are they talking about? What's 186 00:11:33.159 --> 00:11:36.200 the stumbling block? Because I just see so much of 187 00:11:36.200 --> 00:11:40.279 this being such a good adaptation. Again, I would have 188 00:11:40.399 --> 00:11:42.240 liked it to have been a little bit more dire. 189 00:11:43.159 --> 00:11:45.600 We're selling tickets here, I understand if you're not going 190 00:11:45.679 --> 00:11:48.159 to make this a gut punch every single way around. 191 00:11:49.200 --> 00:11:54.120 But then I saw where the real twist came in, 192 00:11:54.320 --> 00:11:58.360 and that was Lee Pace playing this mass killer and 193 00:11:58.440 --> 00:12:01.039 not being Kevin Durant. Why was Kevin Durant? That was 194 00:12:01.080 --> 00:12:03.000 the whole movie for me. It just got ruined at 195 00:12:03.000 --> 00:12:03.440 that point. 196 00:12:04.240 --> 00:12:06.279 The moment that the movie veered. 197 00:12:07.519 --> 00:12:10.120 Literally off course is when he gets into the car 198 00:12:10.159 --> 00:12:12.159 with Amelia or whatever her name is at the end. 199 00:12:12.759 --> 00:12:15.000 As soon as that character opens her mouth, as soon 200 00:12:15.039 --> 00:12:17.679 as it becomes a polemic about the halves and the 201 00:12:17.720 --> 00:12:21.919 have nots, who fucking cares? At this point, you are 202 00:12:22.039 --> 00:12:26.120 on the run. It was so clumsy and stumbling, whereas 203 00:12:26.200 --> 00:12:29.240 everything seemed really fleet of foot and kind of economical. 204 00:12:29.480 --> 00:12:33.840 Didn't notice time passing. Was actually interested in these characters, 205 00:12:34.159 --> 00:12:36.000 was interested in the world they had created. 206 00:12:36.240 --> 00:12:37.360 And then in one. 207 00:12:37.240 --> 00:12:41.679 Scene it just completely dissembled it. And then it does. 208 00:12:41.759 --> 00:12:45.519 It continues to stumble along like I can't believe how 209 00:12:45.559 --> 00:12:47.399 far it falls when it gets there. 210 00:12:48.240 --> 00:12:50.080 When she showed up, I was like, oh, yeah, she 211 00:12:50.320 --> 00:12:53.279 is in the story. I do remember her, but she's 212 00:12:53.320 --> 00:12:57.080 no Maria kN cheetah Alonzo. I just was not following her. 213 00:12:57.240 --> 00:13:00.559 I like the Maria and chidah Alonzo character a lot 214 00:13:00.919 --> 00:13:05.679 because she is the what she writes the music for 215 00:13:05.759 --> 00:13:09.039 the network, so she's like in that pocket. And then 216 00:13:09.080 --> 00:13:12.559 she's got ooh, illegal music and illegal clothes and all 217 00:13:12.559 --> 00:13:18.440 these things, contraband got this. They're all in a sense 218 00:13:18.480 --> 00:13:21.919 at list and look what we have here. 219 00:13:22.639 --> 00:13:24.639 This looks like black market clothing. 220 00:13:25.440 --> 00:13:27.120 And she wrote the network. 221 00:13:26.840 --> 00:13:29.360 Jingle Come on, everybody does it. 222 00:13:30.240 --> 00:13:33.639 Okay, yeah, that's true. Everybody does do this. But eventually 223 00:13:33.639 --> 00:13:35.639 you're gonna get punished for it, and you're gonna be 224 00:13:35.639 --> 00:13:39.519 made an example of. I like her way better than 225 00:13:39.519 --> 00:13:43.480 this other character. Make her more vapid because they get 226 00:13:43.919 --> 00:13:47.240 what ten minutes with this character if that, and they 227 00:13:47.320 --> 00:13:50.480 just she switches like nobody's business. 228 00:13:50.519 --> 00:13:51.639 It's oh my. 229 00:13:51.600 --> 00:13:54.720 God, I have this murder in my car to oh sure, 230 00:13:54.759 --> 00:13:57.399 I'll help you out, and it's within it just a 231 00:13:57.440 --> 00:14:00.279 few moments. I was like, that doesn't ring true at all. 232 00:14:00.320 --> 00:14:02.120 And I know you can stretch it out longer in 233 00:14:02.200 --> 00:14:06.039 a book, but it just does not ring true to me. 234 00:14:06.960 --> 00:14:12.120 Remember they live where rowdy Roddy Piper kidnaps Meg Foster 235 00:14:12.559 --> 00:14:15.279 and he gets her from the parking lot all the 236 00:14:15.320 --> 00:14:18.080 way to her house and she's playing along the entire 237 00:14:18.120 --> 00:14:19.960 time before she clocks him with the bottle and he 238 00:14:20.039 --> 00:14:23.399 goes out the window. That would be the mindset of 239 00:14:23.440 --> 00:14:27.759 anyone being kidnapped by anyone, particularly a character who's basically 240 00:14:27.840 --> 00:14:30.200 like she's a rich person. In this movie there are 241 00:14:30.240 --> 00:14:32.919 haves and have nots, and she's basically poor people are 242 00:14:32.919 --> 00:14:35.480 a piece of shit. And then he says three things 243 00:14:35.720 --> 00:14:37.679 my daughter was sick, and she's like, oh my god, 244 00:14:37.879 --> 00:14:40.600 my entire worldview is incorrect. I'm going to help you 245 00:14:40.679 --> 00:14:43.679 win this game. What the fuck, Edgar? 246 00:14:45.039 --> 00:14:48.120 You see that scarf? That scarf costs more than my 247 00:14:48.440 --> 00:14:49.799 daughter's welfare. 248 00:14:50.080 --> 00:14:55.720 What was that terrible Joel Schumacher movie with Matthew McConaughey. 249 00:14:55.759 --> 00:14:57.759 It was like a John Grisham novel. It was like 250 00:14:57.799 --> 00:15:01.159 a case where Samuel Jackson was on on trial and 251 00:15:01.759 --> 00:15:06.919 Matthew McConaughey's big closing statement was and now imagine they 252 00:15:06.919 --> 00:15:08.879 were white and the jury is like, oh my god, 253 00:15:08.919 --> 00:15:12.159 we'll let this man free for wantonly killing these people. 254 00:15:12.919 --> 00:15:15.159 That the yes, I did, And I hope that burn 255 00:15:15.240 --> 00:15:16.519 in Hell was that one. 256 00:15:16.720 --> 00:15:19.879 It's the one. Yeah, time to Kill is some name 257 00:15:19.919 --> 00:15:20.200 of it. 258 00:15:21.000 --> 00:15:22.919 I'm so mad, and that the movie's so fresh in 259 00:15:22.960 --> 00:15:26.080 my mind at that ending that it painted over a 260 00:15:26.080 --> 00:15:27.639 lot that I liked about the movie, and I did 261 00:15:27.720 --> 00:15:31.799 like a great portion of it, including Glenn Powell, who 262 00:15:32.960 --> 00:15:35.080 it's the second time we've gotten a shot at Ben 263 00:15:35.200 --> 00:15:37.600 Richards as a character, and the second time they've gotten 264 00:15:37.600 --> 00:15:41.720 it completely wrong. As far as the guy's physique and outlook, 265 00:15:42.080 --> 00:15:46.879 he's beaten, broken down, described as near tubercular. I read 266 00:15:46.879 --> 00:15:50.399 the book again yesterday. He's as near tubercular, and here 267 00:15:50.399 --> 00:15:54.799 we've got this another buff guy. But they leaned into 268 00:15:54.840 --> 00:15:58.600 the anger portion of it, which I really liked and 269 00:15:59.279 --> 00:16:02.279 accept it's one of these things where they did this 270 00:16:02.519 --> 00:16:04.360 in the first film too. Now I thought this was 271 00:16:04.399 --> 00:16:07.159 just a facet of eighties action movies where they needed 272 00:16:07.200 --> 00:16:09.399 the hero to be an anti hero, like they had 273 00:16:09.399 --> 00:16:12.080 to have break there, breaking out of prison or something like. 274 00:16:12.559 --> 00:16:15.559 There were so many characters, but of course, like the A. 275 00:16:15.679 --> 00:16:18.679 Team, they were all wrongly convicted, just like Ben Richard's 276 00:16:18.679 --> 00:16:21.600 in the first film. So they repeat that here where 277 00:16:21.879 --> 00:16:25.240 his temper has gotten him kicked off of jobs, but 278 00:16:25.320 --> 00:16:28.519 it's because he's protecting the downtrod in every single time, 279 00:16:28.559 --> 00:16:34.399 it's basically frame for a crime he didn't commit. Having 280 00:16:34.519 --> 00:16:37.879 said that, I liked that in the moments where they 281 00:16:37.879 --> 00:16:41.399 were displaying the anger, that's when Edgar Wright came alive 282 00:16:41.440 --> 00:16:45.200 as a filmmaker and the film came alive. So for 283 00:16:45.200 --> 00:16:48.240 some reason, anger in the first portion of this movie 284 00:16:48.360 --> 00:16:49.120 really clicked with me. 285 00:16:50.039 --> 00:16:53.960 Howl was an interesting choice for me because I think 286 00:16:54.000 --> 00:16:57.320 I've critiqued most schort Sen Maker films, especially when it 287 00:16:57.320 --> 00:16:59.799 comes to something like a total recall as far as 288 00:17:00.320 --> 00:17:03.000 what if a different person were playing this, What if 289 00:17:03.000 --> 00:17:05.839 somebody who you wouldn't expect to look like a secret 290 00:17:05.880 --> 00:17:10.160 agent was playing a secret agent, like Arnold. You look 291 00:17:10.200 --> 00:17:14.079 at this guy and he's not human. He looks like 292 00:17:14.200 --> 00:17:17.319 an uber human. He doesn't look like a regular just 293 00:17:17.839 --> 00:17:20.640 John and Mary Jane walking down the street type of person. 294 00:17:21.359 --> 00:17:23.920 And you get Powell and I'm like, Okay, that kind 295 00:17:23.920 --> 00:17:25.680 of makes sense. Like I agree with you that he's 296 00:17:26.319 --> 00:17:29.079 very jacked in this movie, and like where you're getting 297 00:17:29.079 --> 00:17:32.240 all that protein from Buddy, like ye right. 298 00:17:32.200 --> 00:17:34.440 In dystopian land, my god. 299 00:17:34.279 --> 00:17:37.359 Maybe even swap out with Lee Pace or something who 300 00:17:37.359 --> 00:17:42.240 looks a lot more normal than that. But yeah, it's 301 00:17:42.240 --> 00:17:45.160 funny because Glenn Powell, I know, I've seen the guy 302 00:17:45.359 --> 00:17:49.880 in probably a hundred things, but he just slides into 303 00:17:49.920 --> 00:17:53.000 the background for me. He doesn't have anything that I 304 00:17:53.000 --> 00:17:55.720 can latch onto, and I almost think that was a 305 00:17:55.720 --> 00:17:58.799 good thing for this movie. There was one point, yes, 306 00:17:58.880 --> 00:18:02.279 he goes into sky and he's got the businessman's suit, 307 00:18:02.400 --> 00:18:07.160 the veteran suit, and the priest suit. And there was 308 00:18:07.240 --> 00:18:10.680 one moment in the film where we see the what 309 00:18:10.759 --> 00:18:13.559 was it called Running for Bucks or whatever the real 310 00:18:13.680 --> 00:18:16.920 show was that they had, and Sean Hayes shows up 311 00:18:16.960 --> 00:18:21.119 as a TV host on there, Gary Greenback's and they 312 00:18:21.319 --> 00:18:23.720 use him for just that one scene. And while I 313 00:18:23.759 --> 00:18:26.720 was watching it, I kept going, is that Glenn Powell 314 00:18:26.839 --> 00:18:31.480 just in a different disguise? Like he looks so generic 315 00:18:31.599 --> 00:18:33.799 that I was like, he could be anybody. But then 316 00:18:33.799 --> 00:18:35.920 I was like, no, that's Sean Hayes. I can actually 317 00:18:35.960 --> 00:18:39.880 recognize him. If not that sound mean, but if Glenn 318 00:18:39.920 --> 00:18:42.279 Powell walked up to my house tomorrow, I'd have no 319 00:18:42.359 --> 00:18:43.400 idea who this guy is. 320 00:18:44.559 --> 00:18:45.200 That is true? 321 00:18:45.279 --> 00:18:49.119 Can I just mention in the actual Running Man television 322 00:18:49.519 --> 00:18:52.319 show that we get in this movie, during those early 323 00:18:52.359 --> 00:18:55.319 sequences where they're introducing the runners to us, they do 324 00:18:55.440 --> 00:18:58.240 one thing where they have each of their faces and 325 00:18:58.319 --> 00:19:04.920 then a potential costume disguise generator that plays over their faces. 326 00:19:05.079 --> 00:19:07.720 And I just thought that was brilliant because that's the 327 00:19:07.759 --> 00:19:11.000 thing that I felt was really missing from the Schwarzeneger movie. 328 00:19:11.000 --> 00:19:12.279 And by the way, like you said, when you look 329 00:19:12.279 --> 00:19:14.480 at Swarzenegger, yes, of course it's going to be a 330 00:19:14.519 --> 00:19:18.640 gladiatorial combat on live TV and not a cross country 331 00:19:18.680 --> 00:19:21.759 on the run thing. In all the movies, you have 332 00:19:21.799 --> 00:19:23.680 a group. In the movies and the book, you have 333 00:19:24.119 --> 00:19:28.920 a dedicated group of hunters like government assassins chasing them down. 334 00:19:29.319 --> 00:19:31.440 But what was missing in the first film, and what 335 00:19:31.599 --> 00:19:34.880 really scared me in the book is that everyone's after you. 336 00:19:34.880 --> 00:19:37.920 You are never safe, like literally anyone can look at 337 00:19:37.960 --> 00:19:41.880 you and turn you in instantly, not to mention that 338 00:19:41.920 --> 00:19:45.359 they're playing dirty pool the government themselves, but like that 339 00:19:45.599 --> 00:19:49.519 sense of desperation never comes through in the Schwarzenegger movie, 340 00:19:49.519 --> 00:19:52.039 not that they're going for it, but you get that 341 00:19:52.119 --> 00:19:54.200 in a few scenes here, and I liked that. 342 00:19:54.839 --> 00:19:57.240 No, I like that as well. And I do like 343 00:19:57.400 --> 00:20:00.519 this whole idea of you can't trust anyone at all 344 00:20:00.559 --> 00:20:03.680 and that you might get turned in, even by somebody 345 00:20:03.680 --> 00:20:07.680 who is pretending to be your friend. I really like that. 346 00:20:07.799 --> 00:20:10.880 And I also I know one of my wife's complaints was, oh, 347 00:20:10.880 --> 00:20:13.319 I would have liked to have seen the other contestants more, 348 00:20:13.599 --> 00:20:17.160 and I was like, that actually fits more with the adaptation, 349 00:20:17.680 --> 00:20:20.880 because again it's all from Richards's point of view, like 350 00:20:20.960 --> 00:20:24.599 we really should not have any scenes that go outside 351 00:20:24.640 --> 00:20:26.839 of what he knows. And that was one thing I 352 00:20:26.880 --> 00:20:30.240 really liked about King's book was we only know what 353 00:20:30.359 --> 00:20:33.880 Ben Richards knows, and there are times where he will 354 00:20:33.920 --> 00:20:37.440 have dreams and he will dream about things or even 355 00:20:37.519 --> 00:20:40.480 just like very vivid thoughts as far as they probably 356 00:20:40.519 --> 00:20:42.759 figured out this and then they probably went here, and 357 00:20:42.799 --> 00:20:46.000 then they probably went there. So when they break away 358 00:20:46.200 --> 00:20:50.440 from Glenn Powell in this movie, like occasionally going to 359 00:20:51.480 --> 00:20:53.880 the wayam H Macy character, I was glad. It felt 360 00:20:53.880 --> 00:20:56.279 like that was inside of a dream. So it wasn't 361 00:20:56.359 --> 00:20:59.440 again going away from Ben Richards and it wasn't just 362 00:21:00.359 --> 00:21:03.759 here's what else is going on. Here's Killy and talking 363 00:21:03.799 --> 00:21:06.839 about this, and here's this other TV host, and here's 364 00:21:07.599 --> 00:21:10.640 what happened with these characters after Ben left them. I 365 00:21:10.759 --> 00:21:13.640 like that we stay with Ben the entire time, and 366 00:21:13.680 --> 00:21:17.680 that when he sees the fates of his fellow contestants, 367 00:21:18.480 --> 00:21:20.319 it's us seeing it at the same time, and it's 368 00:21:20.440 --> 00:21:23.160 us watching it on television at the same time he's 369 00:21:23.200 --> 00:21:26.079 watching it on free TV, I should say free V. 370 00:21:27.400 --> 00:21:30.240 It's a clever conceit that we can continue to jump 371 00:21:30.279 --> 00:21:33.480 outside our lead character's perspective because the rest of it 372 00:21:33.519 --> 00:21:36.960 is supposed to be on television anyway. And one thing 373 00:21:37.000 --> 00:21:40.079 that I've really liked that Edgar Wright added were the 374 00:21:40.079 --> 00:21:43.880 little drone cameras like little vultures, Like you see them coming, 375 00:21:43.920 --> 00:21:46.400 then you know the actual live team is there, so 376 00:21:46.599 --> 00:21:50.400 you're fucked. Basically, it's a nice way to ratchet up panic. 377 00:21:50.400 --> 00:21:52.799 It's like seeing the barrels pop up in Jaws. 378 00:21:54.000 --> 00:21:57.640 Again, we've got the conspiracy theory about the DNA sniffers 379 00:21:57.640 --> 00:21:59.480 and that we actually do get to see those being 380 00:21:59.640 --> 00:22:03.079 used in the way that the drones are being deployed. 381 00:22:03.799 --> 00:22:07.160 But again, like we get to that the woman that 382 00:22:07.240 --> 00:22:12.000 he kidnaps, and they can generate the AI image of 383 00:22:12.079 --> 00:22:17.440 her screaming out the car like immediately, and I'm like, 384 00:22:17.920 --> 00:22:21.119 all right, that's kind of weird. And also that she 385 00:22:21.240 --> 00:22:23.480 doesn't freak out about it and go, oh my god, 386 00:22:23.599 --> 00:22:25.960 I didn't do that. I'm not on TV right now 387 00:22:26.000 --> 00:22:29.279 because just like everybody else in the world, she's watching 388 00:22:29.319 --> 00:22:32.920 that weird Americanos show. So you'd think that she so 389 00:22:33.119 --> 00:22:36.440 bought into what the network selling her that it would 390 00:22:36.440 --> 00:22:39.480 be a major departure for her to ever think that 391 00:22:39.519 --> 00:22:41.960 she could be lied to by the free v. 392 00:22:43.000 --> 00:22:44.880 Yeah, you would think that would be the moment that 393 00:22:44.880 --> 00:22:46.519 would turn her mind, and not the fact that her 394 00:22:46.559 --> 00:22:49.039 scarf cost enough to feed a bunch of children. 395 00:22:49.640 --> 00:22:52.559 And the thing with the way h Macy character Molly 396 00:22:53.119 --> 00:22:56.480 that he had the uniform ready for Ben and it 397 00:22:56.559 --> 00:22:59.160 was one of these. If only you had come by earlier, 398 00:22:59.440 --> 00:23:02.279 we could have been partners. I'm like, yeah, that was 399 00:23:02.319 --> 00:23:04.640 made up whole cloth, that wasn't part of the book, 400 00:23:04.680 --> 00:23:07.920 and that was definitely a little like, oh look at 401 00:23:07.920 --> 00:23:10.480