Speaker 1: Welcome friends, Jacky, Welcome to movie Film. It's episode three
Speaker 1: forty five. I'm Zaki has sign. I'm here with Brian Hall.
Speaker 2: Hey, let's going Zachi.
Speaker 1: Hey you staying cool down there in Socaw.
Speaker 2: Yeah, it's well, typically it's it's June as we record
Speaker 2: right now, and typically we have something called June gloom,
Speaker 2: where the month of June it tends to be sort
Speaker 2: of overcast. But yeah, it's been no gloom here. Really sunny,
Speaker 2: but not an oppressive heat yet, like I would say,
Speaker 2: like low eighties, so not that crazy August through October
Speaker 2: whether we get out here quite yet, thank god. So
Speaker 2: what about you up there?
Speaker 1: Oh, it's we're in the midst of a heat wave,
Speaker 1: which is less than ideal.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 1: You so the ac is blasting indoors. Yeah, you know,
Speaker 1: I'm in my recording space, so it's a little warmer
Speaker 1: than i'd like. But hey, that's okay. Yeah.
Speaker 2: Yeah, you have kind of a converted garage space that
Speaker 2: you record in, right, so there's not like vents blasting
Speaker 2: in cool air for you.
Speaker 1: That is true, but that's okay. You and I we
Speaker 1: generate enough cool all by ourselves.
Speaker 2: Yeah, cumbers wish they were this cool.
Speaker 1: That's right. That's the way I like to see it.
Speaker 1: Mister Freeze wishes he was this cool?
Speaker 2: That's right.
Speaker 1: What are we going to get another big screen mister Freeze?
Speaker 1: I think I think it's time. Brian, I agree.
Speaker 2: And isn't that sort of online speculation, you know, for
Speaker 2: the next Matt Reeves the Batman movie, because I think
Speaker 2: the still frame image that they released from it had
Speaker 2: snow in it, so people are like, oh, it's clearly
Speaker 2: that means it's mister Freeze.
Speaker 1: But I would like a stretch, doesn't it.
Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, no, but I would love to see, Yeah,
Speaker 2: a good mister Freeze story without the camp that's right, right.
Speaker 1: Less camp less Austrian accent.
Speaker 2: I mean, we love our Austrian brothers and sisters, of course,
Speaker 2: but yeah, let's less uh puns.
Speaker 1: There you go. Yeah, Well, well, every I mean everything
Speaker 1: I've heard about The Batman Part two is that it's
Speaker 1: gonna be another two face joint.
Speaker 2: Yes, and getting into his family right.
Speaker 1: Yeah, so so uh, which I would assume is pulling
Speaker 1: from from The Long Halloween, which is a terrific story
Speaker 1: if you haven't heard that. Uh, And we got Sebastian
Speaker 1: stant playing playing Harvey.
Speaker 2: Dent love it.
Speaker 1: That's a good choice, yep. But yeah, get us our
Speaker 1: mister Freeze. I want, I want ice guns, not so
Speaker 1: much the ice puns, like you said, you know, let's
Speaker 1: do that. Let's let's work our way back there. It's
Speaker 1: been it's been almost thirty years. I think it's time.
Speaker 2: It's like that that I know, it's from the eighties,
Speaker 2: like hugs not drugs, you know, guns not puns.
Speaker 1: That's right. But it's yeah, long enough to let mister
Speaker 1: Freeze back in from the cold, back to you, Brian.
Speaker 2: Tonight the weather looks like. But hey, good newscasters, I
Speaker 2: think so right.
Speaker 1: We got the banter, we got the you.
Speaker 2: Know, we should do an episode where we do that
Speaker 2: sort of newsman Cadence.
Speaker 1: It's it's you know, it's it is a specific skill.
Speaker 1: I'll tell you. I have a student who I taught,
Speaker 1: uh eighteen years ago, who when I when I taught her,
Speaker 1: she said, my goal is to be a TV newscaster,
Speaker 1: and by gum, she has achieved that goal amazing. And
Speaker 1: so every once in a while, I see, I see,
Speaker 1: you know, she'll post clips of her of her reports,
Speaker 1: and she she shifts into newscaster voice mode, and it's extraordinary.
Speaker 2: I mean, is that something they teach them. Is that
Speaker 2: a way for you to speak probably quickly, yeah, but
Speaker 2: in a way that is very understandable when you're speaking
Speaker 2: so quick conveying a lot of information.
Speaker 1: I see it as like, you know, some version of
Speaker 1: like you know, in the stage acting. You know, you
Speaker 1: have like the mid Atlantic accent, yes, which actors are taught,
Speaker 1: you know, and that's for the stage and screen. I
Speaker 1: feel like there's something similar with like newscaster voice.
Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, I mean I assume there must be some
Speaker 2: sort of reason for it. I'm guessing it just has
Speaker 2: to do with making them as understandable as possible. Yea.
Speaker 2: And yeah, like you said, it's interesting no matter where
Speaker 2: you go, what region, you just see newscasters speaking with
Speaker 2: that that yeah, that cadence.
Speaker 1: That's that specific way. It's it's it's hypnotic. Yeah.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 1: You know, some people are just some people have that
Speaker 1: broadcaster voice. Right. My friend Bob Sesca, who was a
Speaker 1: podcast you know, and I was on his show a
Speaker 1: couple of years ago. He's just somebody man. It's like
Speaker 1: he's just he just has broadcaster voice, and he's just
Speaker 1: very good at it, you know, and I'm so I'm
Speaker 1: so jealous of that, Yeah, because I've just got whatever
Speaker 1: this is.
Speaker 2: I know, I've thought about that too. Actually, regarding myself,
Speaker 2: I'm like, I wish I had more of a radio
Speaker 2: voice or broadcaster voice for this, but you know, it
Speaker 2: is what it is.
Speaker 1: It's what it is. It's three hundred and forty five
Speaker 1: episodes in five hundred plus if you count the pot
Speaker 1: the commentaries.
Speaker 2: This is.
Speaker 1: We've done okay with what we have said. Yeah, yeah,
Speaker 1: that's your takeaway. That's true. Speaking of what we have,
Speaker 1: we haven't had a ton of stuff to discuss. You
Speaker 1: and I we were like, like, what are the headlines?
Speaker 1: But I think we've made the most of what we
Speaker 1: have with the things we have lined up just gus today, Yeah,
Speaker 1: I think so. Well.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I was gonna say, actually, you and I have
Speaker 2: kind of covered a lot of what's out there between
Speaker 2: the two of us, which is kind of nice. So
Speaker 2: I'm I'm looking forward to hearing you talk about the
Speaker 2: things you've seen because I haven't seen them, although this
Speaker 2: one I think you have seen. I can't remember if
Speaker 2: I mentioned this on the last episode, but I've gotten
Speaker 2: really into pop culture Jeopardy.
Speaker 1: Yes, I remember telling you about the first season like
Speaker 1: a year ago or whenever it dropped.
Speaker 2: Yeah, so the like a week or two ago. I
Speaker 2: was looking for something to just fall asleep to basically,
Speaker 2: and I opened Netflix and they had the season two
Speaker 2: of Pop Culture Jeopardy, hosted by Colin Jost, and I
Speaker 2: thought it would fall asleep to it. It was like eleven
Speaker 2: thirty at night and I was up till three binging it,
Speaker 2: which is it's great because it's I've always loved Jeopardy,
Speaker 2: but with this version, I can answer most of the questions,
Speaker 2: so it's really fun. Yeah, and it is kind of
Speaker 2: fascinating also because I did know, well, not the majority
Speaker 2: of the answers, but I at least understood the majority
Speaker 2: of the realms they were covering. But every now and
Speaker 2: then they would get into something that was very modern,
Speaker 2: or they would talk about a TikTok star.
Speaker 1: Yeah, you would have an entire question slash answer that
Speaker 1: sounds like they're summoning a demon from Yeah. Yeah, yeah,
Speaker 1: it's just a bunch of nonsense words.
Speaker 2: Yeah, there's a thing. I read it a lot. When
Speaker 2: there's a headline about like two TikTok couples breaking up
Speaker 2: or something, and usually the top comment, which is to
Speaker 2: indicate I have no idea who these people are. Someone
Speaker 2: once did a tweet that was like, this is what
Speaker 2: modern headlines with young stars I don't know sound like.
Speaker 2: And it says, curtains for Zuska, you know such and
Speaker 2: such caught flipping a grunt or something like that. It's
Speaker 2: just nonsense, but it makes sense to some audience out there,
Speaker 2: but it makes no sense to us. And so yeah,
Speaker 2: a couple of the questions feel that way, but not enough.
Speaker 2: I was able to enjoy it. But I burned through
Speaker 2: the whole thing and really really enjoyed it. There are
Speaker 2: some good twists and turns, you know, people coming back
Speaker 2: that you didn't expect in whatever.
Speaker 1: So am I wrong to think it's just arrogance on
Speaker 1: my part to think that you and I would just
Speaker 1: destroy on that show.
Speaker 2: No, I thought about it. I thought about it well
Speaker 2: because I was answering all the questions, and well a
Speaker 2: lot of them, a lot of them, and enough of
Speaker 2: them that I was like, dude, we would really do well.
Speaker 2: If we could get the buzzers right, we would do
Speaker 2: really well.
Speaker 1: That's the thing. That's what you realize it is a
Speaker 1: buzzer game.
Speaker 2: Yeah, because I mean, you can know the question, but
Speaker 2: if someone gets it before you, or gets the timing
Speaker 2: a little bit better than you, you know. But anyway,
Speaker 2: I burned through the season two on Netflix, so I
Speaker 2: went back to season one on Amazon Prime and I'm
Speaker 2: watching that one right now. So I'm loving it. I
Speaker 2: think a lot of people who listen to the show
Speaker 2: would enjoy it too.
Speaker 1: Oh yeah, season one had the three person teams.
Speaker 2: Yeah, it's a little different.
Speaker 1: It's a little different, so I think that that was
Speaker 1: a smart thing. They made it two person teams instead.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I agree. It felt I don't know how to
Speaker 2: explain it. It's very much a feeling in the back
Speaker 2: of my mind. But it does feel like they've polished
Speaker 2: it up a little bit for season two.
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 2: I'm sure a lot of that has to do with, yeah,
Speaker 2: just making a duo versus three people.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I was. I watched the first episode, I think
Speaker 1: it was the first or second episode of this season,
Speaker 1: and one of the categories I texted you about this.
Speaker 1: One of the categories was our cartoon crushes. Yeah, And
Speaker 1: as soon as I said, like, I saw the category
Speaker 1: unconsciously I'm like, oh, Chatara, I'm like telling on myself
Speaker 1: now to our audience. You know, well, I well totally.
Speaker 2: I mean it's like we've all had that moment like
Speaker 2: Garth right where he's like telling Wayne, you know, do
Speaker 2: you ever find bugs bunny attractive? When you dress up
Speaker 2: with a good bunny?
Speaker 1: It does unconsciously Chatara from the ThunderCats pops into my head.
Speaker 1: And then wouldn't you know that was the first question
Speaker 1: slash answer. It was a picture of Chatar from Thundercuts.
Speaker 1: I'm like, well, I'm not alone. I guess that's right,
Speaker 1: right right, I'm part of I'm part of a mass
Speaker 1: of humanity of some size.
Speaker 2: So yeah, yeah, you know, I love is. I think
Speaker 2: a lot of people if it was like family feud,
Speaker 2: maybe the number one answer would be something like Jessica rabbit.
Speaker 2: You know, but I like, I liked it. That's like
Speaker 2: a deeper cut. And yeah, Jeopardy was on your wavelength, like.
Speaker 1: Pretty sure, pretty sure Jessica made the cut in that
Speaker 1: in that category. I'm sure.
Speaker 2: I'm sure.
Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, it was about her line. I'm not bad,
Speaker 1: I'm just drawn that way right right right right anyway, Yeah,
Speaker 1: so that that's a fun one first season is is
Speaker 1: still on Prime Video.
Speaker 2: I believe, right, Yeah, I'm I've just started it and
Speaker 2: it's a lot more episodes. I want to say. The
Speaker 2: Netflix one was like twenty something, and I feel like
Speaker 2: the Amazon Prime one is forty. I'm not sure that wor.
Speaker 1: Yeah, because they dropped it in waves, which I liked better,
Speaker 1: and like like, you know, chunks of ten or twenty
Speaker 1: or something like that, which made it last a little longer.
Speaker 1: You know.
Speaker 2: It's interesting. By the way, as I'm watching it, Colin
Speaker 2: Jost is a great host.
Speaker 1: I was thinking the exact same thing. I was like,
Speaker 1: he is very gifted at that job.
Speaker 2: Yep, yeah, and he knows when to make a kind
Speaker 2: of a rye remark. But he's also good at, you know,
Speaker 2: I don't know, bantering with the contestants and ooh almost
Speaker 2: and oh you were so close. You know, He's got
Speaker 2: the whole game show hosting down. And it made me
Speaker 2: think it's funny that when he wrote a little memoir
Speaker 2: not so long ago, he felt like he had to
Speaker 2: call it. I think it's called a punchable face or
Speaker 2: a very punishable face, because for a minute, if you
Speaker 2: thought of Colin Jos it was like, oh, yeah, that
Speaker 2: guy I kind of want to punch. And I'm not
Speaker 2: saying that for myself, but like that was sort of
Speaker 2: when he and Michael Jay started doing Weekend Update, they
Speaker 2: weren't very popular. You know, people found them. I don't
Speaker 2: know secifically, Colin josts I feel like people just did
Speaker 2: not take to him immediately and so right and in
Speaker 2: that moment, that's what he felt compelled to title his
Speaker 2: own memoir, Very Punishable Face. And it's amazing. Now. I
Speaker 2: think they are the longest running duo at the Weekend Up.
Speaker 1: They does buy a wide margin.
Speaker 2: Yeah, and I've seen a lot of people online be like,
Speaker 2: I hope they never leave. So it's just funny that
Speaker 2: Lorne Michaels just was like, no, this will work. You'll
Speaker 2: catch up to me, you know what I mean, he
Speaker 2: knew it.
Speaker 1: See Colin Jost ignore the haters. Yeah, eventually, eventually you'll
Speaker 1: get your way. Sure, you're married to Scarlett Johansson and
Speaker 1: long running SNL creator, but eventually things will come around.
Speaker 1: We're rooting for you, Colin.
Speaker 2: Yeah, you needed our love too, well, you got it.
Speaker 1: I think that the you know, the recurring bit on
Speaker 1: the show where on SNL where you have you know,
Speaker 1: the they're right, they write jokes for each other right
Speaker 1: without without telling each other, Like I think that Colin
Speaker 1: very smartly leans into that and allows himself to be
Speaker 1: the butt of the joke. And that's what makes that
Speaker 1: that whole bit work totally.
Speaker 2: You know, maybe that's part of it too. And you
Speaker 2: know Sarah Sherman when she goes on just her whole
Speaker 2: stick is dunking on him and him being game for that.
Speaker 2: Maybe that helps, right, And he doesn't look like such
Speaker 2: a haircut, you know, or a stiff shirt or whatever,
Speaker 2: and I don't know, but anyway, Well what else you got, Brian, Well,
Speaker 2: I'm just I gotta do it. It's there's only one
Speaker 2: episode left. I gotta throw out some love again for
Speaker 2: Widow's bay Man. I love the show Apple TV.
Speaker 1: Plus, I'm telling you you you were on the leading
Speaker 1: edge of the wave.
Speaker 2: That's okay. So I it's so funny because this is
Speaker 2: not happening in my algorithm.
Speaker 1: So fascinating.
Speaker 2: Just a lot of posts about it.
Speaker 1: A lot of a lot of talk. Yeah, people people
Speaker 1: loving this show.
Speaker 2: Man. It's just it is such a unique and specific
Speaker 2: tone and it continues to thread that needle of creepiness
Speaker 2: and laughs and you know, riffing on horror tropes while
Speaker 2: creating its own fun, spooky, unique mythology. And I'm really
Speaker 2: going to miss it when it's gone. There's only one left.
Speaker 2: But and I just watched you know, the one this
Speaker 2: week and was like, joh, they still got it.
Speaker 1: They still got it.
Speaker 2: It's funny because I want to talk about it. I
Speaker 2: want to like talk about some of the the jokes
Speaker 2: and things that made me laugh, but I wouldn't dare
Speaker 2: spoil them. I just I'm just going to recommend the show.
Speaker 2: So finally I went. The only thing I've really seen
Speaker 2: in theaters recently besides Disclosure Day is I finally went
Speaker 2: and checked out Obsession. So this is a really interesting
Speaker 2: story really about this movie itself, right, I mean comes
Speaker 2: from a director named Curry Barker who did videos on YouTube,
Speaker 2: much like the director from back Rooms.
Speaker 1: And trend Yeah.
Speaker 2: Yeah, Well, and then the big story around this is
Speaker 2: it was made for under a million dollars. It comes
Speaker 2: out in theaters makes a lot of money, but most
Speaker 2: movies make the most amount of money and their opening
Speaker 2: weekend and then it sort of diminishes week by week,
Speaker 2: even if it's just a little bit, but this keeps
Speaker 2: making more money every weekend. And that is the last
Speaker 2: time that happened. Apparently is the movie Et, which is insane,
Speaker 2: and so currently it's aid one hundred and sixty one
Speaker 2: million domestic and two hundred and thirty four million worldwide,
Speaker 2: made for under a million dollars.
Speaker 1: It's extraordinary.
Speaker 2: Yeah, And so I was very curious about this, and
Speaker 2: I mean, those are interesting statistics. But I heard it
Speaker 2: was good also, and I had a good friend of
Speaker 2: mine say, he said, I loved it, but I didn't
Speaker 2: like it. And I think what he means is it's
Speaker 2: really well done and there's a lot to admire, but
Speaker 2: it's intense. It's a hard movie to say you enjoy
Speaker 2: because there's a lot of intense things happening in it.
Speaker 2: So we were talking about this before we started. We
Speaker 2: both had interest in this, but we were like, Okay,
Speaker 2: what night am I going to be in the mood
Speaker 2: for something upsetting, you know? And well I kept looking
Speaker 2: at my regal app sponsorship sponsorship, and and every night,
Speaker 2: every night, the thing was almost sold out, and so
Speaker 2: I kept sort of putting it off. And then one
Speaker 2: night I was like, well, I want to talk about
Speaker 2: this before the next episode. So I went and I
Speaker 2: was sitting elbow to elbow on a Tuesday night, you know,
Speaker 2: packed theater, and basically, I should say, the premise of
Speaker 2: this movie is this guy has a crush on a
Speaker 2: girl in his friend group, but he is not sure
Speaker 2: if she likes him back. And he goes to this,
Speaker 2: you know, sort of new age store and sees this
Speaker 2: novelty toy where it's like it's called like a one
Speaker 2: wish willow. It's a stick and basically you make a wish,
Speaker 2: break the stick, and you know, it's like a fortune
Speaker 2: cookie kind of situation. But what he wishes is I
Speaker 2: wish that this girl, Nikki would love me more than
Speaker 2: anyone else in the world. And he breaks the stick.
Speaker 1: Oh, man, don't want to do that, uh huh.
Speaker 2: And it turns out the stick works. And you could
Speaker 2: imagine the romantic comedy version of this, you know, with
Speaker 2: like Kate Hudson or on Adam Sandler or something, and
Speaker 2: oh and then she loves me and she keeps buying
Speaker 2: me balloons and filling my house with Teddy Bear and.
Speaker 1: It went in a different direction, I'm assuming.
Speaker 2: So This is like, we know, what if a person
Speaker 2: was basically borderline obsessed with you, well, not borderline she is,
Speaker 2: she's obsessed with you. She loves you. Yeah, And so
Speaker 2: if you know, you need to leave the house for work,
Speaker 2: and you turn around and your door is completely shut
Speaker 2: with duct tape because she can't stand you leaving, and
Speaker 2: you know, as soon as you walk out the door,
Speaker 2: she basically stands with this really creepy smile on her
Speaker 2: face and then pease herself standing there because she's going
Speaker 2: to wait for you to come home. Like what would
Speaker 2: realistically happen if you put someone under that spell? It
Speaker 2: would be hell for that person and so and eventually
Speaker 2: for for you, you know, and she would become obsessed
Speaker 2: and not let anyone else get near you and whatever.
Speaker 2: So anyway, what a brilliant idea. I mean, I don't
Speaker 2: know if this has been done before. It's so simple
Speaker 2: and straightforward. It's kind of shocking that we haven't seen
Speaker 2: this intense take on like what is the dark side
Speaker 2: of a wish?
Speaker 1: Like that? Right? Right?
Speaker 2: And So I gotta say I really like this movie
Speaker 2: a lot. Nice really liked it, and I completely understand
Speaker 2: that it's upsetting it is upsetting, and it's mostly an unpleasant,
Speaker 2: upsetting feeling. I'd say there are one or two moments
Speaker 2: of just outright horror, like, oh good Lord like kind
Speaker 2: of moments, but not as many as you might think.
Speaker 2: It's okay, just the psychology of it, which I don't
Speaker 2: want to spoil, but like, there are glimpses throughout the
Speaker 2: movie where the person, her real person, is trapped inside
Speaker 2: the non wish, the person who is not under the spell,
Speaker 2: and occasionally that will like reveal itself and she'll kind of,
Speaker 2: you know, and so you know she is experiencing a
Speaker 2: form of torture.
Speaker 1: She's an unwilling participant.
Speaker 2: In this, yes, And so that is if you really
Speaker 2: think about it, what makes it so upsetting and disturbing
Speaker 2: and the implications happening here. But I got to say,
Speaker 2: as upsetting as it was, and I understand that a
Speaker 2: lot of people have found it super upsetting, I think
Speaker 2: part of me was watching the movie and enjoying it
Speaker 2: but also just marveling at it, and I couldn't help
Speaker 2: but think about as I was watching it, Wow, these
Speaker 2: people had no idea when they probably made like two
Speaker 2: thousand dollars for a month's worth of work, you know,
Speaker 2: being a cinematographer, being the actors doing the score, that
Speaker 2: they were making the greatest calling card they could have
Speaker 2: ever imagined, you know. And this movie does not look
Speaker 2: like a scrappy movie that was put out, and you
Speaker 2: can imagine that they're going to do so much better
Speaker 2: with the next one. This is a really remarkable, remarkably
Speaker 2: made movie, and like very mature decisions in the filmmaking.
Speaker 2: I mean, it looks gorgeous, it looks like twenty million dollars.
Speaker 1: Wow.
Speaker 2: And he decides not to do a lot of cuts,
Speaker 2: and I don't know if that has to do with budget.
Speaker 2: You know, maybe he couldn't do as many setups and
Speaker 2: but and if that's the case, I don't I don't
Speaker 2: want to put that on him, because maybe this was
Speaker 2: all creative intention from the beginning. But if that was
Speaker 2: the case, that could be sort of like Jaws, the
Speaker 2: Shark is not working, where like your limitations made your
Speaker 2: movie ten times better because what it allows is there
Speaker 2: are a lot of really uncomfortable moments between these two people.
Speaker 2: And when you allow them to sit and you don't cut,
Speaker 2: you're existing in this moment with them, and we don't
Speaker 2: get the relief of a cut. We're stuck, and the
Speaker 2: performances are so strong, and the framing and the lighting
Speaker 2: and the storytelling at the script level are just so
Speaker 2: top notch that like, you would never know that this
Speaker 2: was an underdog movie that would be very unlikely to
Speaker 2: become this breakout hit. Just so I couldn't help but
Speaker 2: also be admiring the movie as I was watching the movie,
Speaker 2: and I think that might have softened the blow a
Speaker 2: little bit for me, you know what I mean, because
Speaker 2: I was thinking, like, man, good for them a lot
Speaker 2: while I was watching it, which didn't diminish it for me,
Speaker 2: Like it didn't take me out of it. I just
Speaker 2: made me, in my own personal way, appreciate the movie
Speaker 2: even more, I guess. Yeah. But for people it's just funny.
Speaker 2: It is a horror movie, and so I can't like
Speaker 2: broadly recommend it. You know, people I think know what
Speaker 2: they're able to stand when it comes to that, right,
Speaker 2: But knowing what it is, I definitely recommend this movie.
Speaker 2: This is a very good dark tale. And you know,
Speaker 2: it also made me think because now we're having this
Speaker 2: sort of explosion of new exciting voices in horror, right,
Speaker 2: I mean, several years ago it was Jordan Peel. You know, uh,
Speaker 2: we had what's his name? Oh gosh, I should have
Speaker 2: in front of me.
Speaker 1: I don't.
Speaker 2: But the filmmaker who did back Rooms Kill, Kane Parsons,
Speaker 2: Kane Parsons, forgive me. And and then now this guy.
Speaker 2: And it's it's interesting because you know, you and I
Speaker 2: for the longest time have said we are not horror guys.
Speaker 2: And it used to be we're not horror guys, period,
Speaker 2: and then it became, well, we're not horror guys. But
Speaker 2: I kind of enjoyed this. And then in the past
Speaker 2: couple of years, several of my favorite movies of the
Speaker 2: year were horror movies, right, you know, you had Companion
Speaker 2: and weapons and this and back Rooms and and I
Speaker 2: was thinking, it's interesting because there was this thinking several
Speaker 2: years back, why are all these big movie stars doing
Speaker 2: TV shows. It's like, well, movies have become this sort
Speaker 2: of thing where they have to make a certain amount
Speaker 2: of money. They cost so much money, they have to
Speaker 2: perform and get the biggest audiences to show up for
Speaker 2: them possible. So they're making these things that don't feel
Speaker 2: as specific. You know, they're they're big, you know, theme
Speaker 2: park rides for everybody, which can be a fun experience,
Speaker 2: but that doesn't mean you're going to get the most
Speaker 2: nuanced or complicated characters or stories that might not appeal
Speaker 2: to everyone, but they're very rich and something exciting for
Speaker 2: an actor to chew on. That became television, so all
Speaker 2: the big TV movie stars went to TV because that
Speaker 2: was where all the exciting, textured, nuanced, complicated stories were happening.
Speaker 2: For me, it feels like, strangely, that's what's happening with horror,
Speaker 2: like and theatrically, all the really interesting concepts, stories, storytelling,
Speaker 2: delicious parts for actors seem to be happening in horror
Speaker 2: at this moment, right, And I mean I would love
Speaker 2: to see that open up. I would love to see
Speaker 2: that happen with comedies again, with thrillers, with dramas you
Speaker 2: know and all that. But it is funny how I
Speaker 2: have kind of become a horror person because that's where
Speaker 2: the most interesting stories are happening in this moment.
Speaker 1: Fascinating, right, So we should say depending on the horror
Speaker 1: Oh no, no, no.
Speaker 2: Absolutely, Well, okay, what I want to say, Yeah, I
Speaker 2: want to clarify because.
Speaker 1: For a long time you're not you're not waiting for
Speaker 1: Winnie the Pooh, Blood and Honey Too or whatever.
Speaker 2: No, No, no, great point, great point. But what I
Speaker 2: mean is these really interesting. Yes, Like I didn't used
Speaker 2: to like horror because it was mostly what are ten
Speaker 2: creative ways we can kill teenagers in two hours?
Speaker 1: Yeah? Stupid teens?
Speaker 2: Yeah, And I just had no interest in that. Like,
Speaker 2: I'm not entertained by different forms of mutilating people, you
Speaker 2: know what I mean. And I know some people are,
Speaker 2: and they have a detachment from it, and they just
Speaker 2: see it as like a you know, a hunted house
Speaker 2: experience or something. Totally get that, not for me. But
Speaker 2: with these stories that I'm mentioning weapons this companion, they're
Speaker 2: really fascinating stories and have fascinating themes and fascinating characters,
Speaker 2: and they just happen to have horror elements woven throughout them. Now,
Speaker 2: would I have preferred this movie if it didn't have
Speaker 2: one or two insanely discussing things. Yeah, like personally, yes,
Speaker 2: you know, I wouldn't mind if they had scaled back
Speaker 2: one moment in particular. But that's that's what it is,
Speaker 2: you know what I mean. And I'm willing to stomach
Speaker 2: that because I'm getting to enjoy such a great story.
Speaker 1: On the big screen. Now I understand, my man, Andy
Speaker 1: Richter is in this movie.
Speaker 2: Yeah, it's kind of a small part, but is really
Speaker 2: warms your heart seeing him, for sure.
Speaker 1: It's it's fun seeing both Conan and Andy branching out
Speaker 1: into a non comedic you know.
Speaker 2: Well, that's right, yeah, Conan, And if I had legs,
Speaker 2: I would kick you last year. And then he's going
Speaker 2: to be in Toy Story five this month, that's right. Yeah.
Speaker 2: Now you said you're familiar with the actress from this
Speaker 2: indy Yeah Indian ever.
Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, she was one of the regulars on Superman
Speaker 1: and Lois, which, as longtime listeners know, is one of
Speaker 1: my very favorite Superman adaptations. She she was the daughter,
Speaker 1: she played the daughter of Lana Lang. So you know
Speaker 1: that's Clark's, you know, girlfriend from his Smallville days. He
Speaker 1: moves back to Smallville and now you know, her daughter
Speaker 1: starts dating Clark's son, and and you know, she was
Speaker 1: she was a solid part of a very solid ensemble.
Speaker 2: That's well, that's great, and I know she's kind of
Speaker 2: blowing up, you know now with this movie, which I'm
Speaker 2: really happy about because you know, we were saying right
Speaker 2: before we started recording, I mean, like it doesn't you
Speaker 2: can be the greatest actor in the world, but you
Speaker 2: need the material that's going to be the right showcase
Speaker 2: for you for everyone to see it. And it's amazing
Speaker 2: that this movie that she probably had very little expectations about,
Speaker 2: you know again, with its budget and everything, and this
Speaker 2: was just a show stopping showcase for her. Like, she
Speaker 2: gets to show such a range where she plays a
Speaker 2: really nice, normal person that any you know, person would
Speaker 2: have a crush on at the beginning, and then she
Speaker 2: goes through this sort of metamorphosis phase where she's the
Speaker 2: spell is taking over and she's a little confused, but
Speaker 2: she's also feeling these sorts of feelings that are unnatural
Speaker 2: and also being herself a little bit. But then she
Speaker 2: becomes maniacal and she gets to do some really fun,
Speaker 2: showy maniacal stuff, and it's unsurprising that she's being talked
Speaker 2: about so much after that.
Speaker 1: You know, the mark that somebody's made it is that
Speaker 1: people start feverishly fan casting them as various superhero characters.
Speaker 1: So that's the you know, right, It's like, you know,
Speaker 1: there's other roles believe it or not, everybody is like
Speaker 1: reaching for that superhero dream and sure, sure, but right
Speaker 1: away I saw oh she's got to play Harley Quinn
Speaker 1: and I was like, well, that seems a little on
Speaker 1: the nose, doesn't it right?
Speaker 2: Well, I mean you, yeah, you can imagine of course
Speaker 2: because of this, because she does a lot of creepy
Speaker 2: smiles and this incredible creepy frown. And then also Michael Johnston,
Speaker 2: who plays the guy who makes the wish, I mean,
Speaker 2: he it's a again, It's it's so good because it's
Speaker 2: so meaty. It's not just about Okay, she's under the spell.
Speaker 2: How many discussing things can she do for two hours?
Speaker 2: Like it really is about what is this like for
Speaker 2: a person under that spell? And what is it like
Speaker 2: for this person who's put that person under the spell
Speaker 2: who is kind of getting their wish come true? But
Speaker 2: then you also realize that maybe this is a bit
Speaker 2: against her will and what do you do about that?
Speaker 2: You know, do you try to fix it? Do you
Speaker 2: try to just you know, plug your ears and ignore it?
Speaker 1: Do you?
Speaker 2: And he plays that sort of that person really well,
Speaker 2: you know someone who who you know, I don't want
Speaker 2: to get into it, but like it's that's I think
Speaker 2: it's also a media role, so it's there's a lot here,
Speaker 2: And I can see why this movie is doing so
Speaker 2: well because there is a lot here to enjoy versus
Speaker 2: it just being you know, grotesque and.
Speaker 1: And also.
Speaker 2: Strangely for people who can tolerate it. I can't see
Speaker 2: this being kind of an interesting date movie, you know,
Speaker 2: sort of like to discuss it afterwards.
Speaker 1: So this sounds like the perfect thing for me to
Speaker 1: go tell Amana to watch without telling her what it's about.
Speaker 1: I did the same trick earlier this year, would send help.
Speaker 2: Oh, oh, she didn't know that it was kind of it.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I was just like, oh, it's like Rachel McAdams,
Speaker 1: like crash lands on this island with her boss who
Speaker 1: like doesn't like her, and she wasn't expecting what came next.
Speaker 2: But she liked it, right.
Speaker 1: I think her exact words were, I hate you for
Speaker 1: telling me to go see that, but she did like
Speaker 1: she did like the movie though, Yeah, yeah, it's a
Speaker 1: little bit like we've talked about this before, you know.
Speaker 1: I watched Fall with her, and that's another one that
Speaker 1: had she known what it was about. I don't think
Speaker 1: she would have co signed it, right, right, But that's
Speaker 1: a great bruised forearm movie, you know.
Speaker 2: Oh yeah, and there's a second one coming out this
Speaker 2: year that is an official thing. Yeah.
Speaker 1: I saw the poster for it and it's but it's
Speaker 1: not the same person. I don't believe, so that that
Speaker 1: right there is disappointing. I think I've said this before.
Speaker 1: I want a franchise built on the same person ending
Speaker 1: up in this situation again and again and again.
Speaker 2: Yeah. So it's sort of like John McClain, like, how
Speaker 2: many times can a guy end up in a tin
Speaker 2: can every Christmas?
Speaker 1: You know? Yeah, So for those of you who don't
Speaker 1: know Fall, it's about these two friends they decide to
Speaker 1: go climbing up this tower that's like three times the
Speaker 1: size of the Eiffel, Yeah, like a radio tower. Yeah,
Speaker 1: it's in like the middle of Texas or something. And
Speaker 1: then they just end up stuck there and hilarity ensues
Speaker 1: as we're living Zachi Hassan's nightmare for the next ninety minutes.
Speaker 1: You know. It's a captivating watch, but it's also it's
Speaker 1: not a pleasant watch, you know. It's one of those Yeah, yeah,
Speaker 1: I guess similar to obsession based on what you're describing.
Speaker 2: Yeah, and obsession definitely more intense, grows, Like I said,
Speaker 2: some gruesome moments, but also just psychologically, I mean just
Speaker 2: thinking about it is really upsetting, really, you know, when
Speaker 2: you get down to it. But very very well done.
Speaker 2: A remarkable feature debut with by Curry Barker. I mean,
Speaker 2: just so assured and like you'd think he's been doing
Speaker 2: this for ten years.
Speaker 1: Well in that van let's shift gears slightly because I
Speaker 1: too saw a horror movie.
Speaker 2: Oh what's happening to us?
Speaker 1: Who are we this? This is a horror lampoon, I
Speaker 1: should say more accurately. It will be known now and
Speaker 1: forever as the he Man Killer. Oh no, I'm talking
Speaker 1: about scary movie.
Speaker 2: Yeah, scary movie slash, Scary movie six.
Speaker 1: Scary movie six. Which of the scary movie catalog? How
Speaker 1: many have you watched?
Speaker 2: Definitely four? I don't know if I ever saw five.
Speaker 1: Okay, so you saw you saw, but you saw the
Speaker 1: first three.
Speaker 2: Wait, I take that back, I did not see two.
Speaker 1: Okay, yeah, I I've never seen too. That's what I
Speaker 1: realized after watching this one, which.
Speaker 2: I'm seeing online seems to be everyone's favorite. But yeah,
Speaker 2: I've seen one and I even saw one again recently.
Speaker 2: It's been on Pluto and I watched the whole thing.
Speaker 1: Really, so I have not. I saw it opening night
Speaker 1: back in two thousand. Yeah, I haven't seen it since then.
Speaker 2: Okay. And then yeah, then the Waynes did the one
Speaker 2: and two, and then I think like Zuckers.
Speaker 1: Did at least one man, there was some Zucker involvement.
Speaker 1: I don't know how extensive that was. Yeah, for three
Speaker 1: four and five, and then that that Zucker involvement kind
Speaker 1: of you know, they also did Superhero movie, yeah, which
Speaker 1: which is not terrible. I will say, that's.
Speaker 2: What I've heard. Yeah, I've not. I've seen chunks of it.
Speaker 2: But what about you with a scary movie.
Speaker 1: So, like I said, I I've seen bits and pieces
Speaker 1: of three four and five. I think I couldn't tell
Speaker 1: you which is which. I know. Lesley Nielsen is in
Speaker 1: one of them.
Speaker 2: I think the thing I will never forget is he
Speaker 2: plays the President and it turns out the alien and
Speaker 2: he peees out of his pointer finger, that's right, and
Speaker 2: then he like taps the pointer finger to get the
Speaker 2: drips off. That's what I remember. That's what I remember.
Speaker 1: Classy classic, So I I remember watching the first one
Speaker 1: in the theater and finding it uproariously funny. I remember
Speaker 1: very distinctly, right, I have not seen it, since I
Speaker 1: cannot speak to that, I will say watching this, I
Speaker 1: was like, man, this is.
Speaker 2: Rough, really okay.
Speaker 1: I mean, I'm just like, well, I'm I'm pushing fifty,
Speaker 1: so I'm you know, on the one hand, I'm like, well,
Speaker 1: maybe I'm just not the audience for this anymore. Then
Speaker 1: I'm like, well, I think I am the audience for this,
Speaker 1: because right so I was having this weird you know,
Speaker 1: I just it. It wasn't even like I just found
Speaker 1: the jokes mostly very broad and obvious. So it wasn't.
Speaker 1: It wasn't they were tasteless or whatever all of that
Speaker 1: you expect. But it's like the movie itself is is
Speaker 1: is following the structure of Scream, the twenty twenty one Scream. Okay,
Speaker 1: so already you're like parodying a five year old movie
Speaker 1: at this point, you know, right right right, and then
Speaker 1: you know they work in you Got, you Got, the
Speaker 1: substance is parodied, and and and get Out and like
Speaker 1: a lot of the recent stuff, we've got some sinners
Speaker 1: in there, you know. But to me, it just felt
Speaker 1: very obvious and and unfunny in that way, you know. There.
Speaker 1: I think that Marlon Wayne's who I like a lot
Speaker 1: like his character Shorty is who is in the first two.
Speaker 1: He gets like he gets a lot to do in this,
Speaker 1: and it was like way too much. Mmm, okay, because
Speaker 1: I'm like, he's just like a stoner. That's his whole thing, right,
Speaker 1: that's it. And I'm like a little goes a long way,
Speaker 1: you know, right. I think that you have Sean Wayne's
Speaker 1: playing Ray, who's like the closeted gay guy. M he
Speaker 1: he has stuff in this that I think is funnier,
Speaker 1: even though it's all very one note, but it's it's
Speaker 1: at least funny, you know. But like other than that,
Speaker 1: you know, it's like Anna Farius is doing like she's
Speaker 1: like Jamie Lee Curtiz and the Halloween reboot movies. Okay,
Speaker 1: and she's she's woven in and then and then you've
Speaker 1: got you've got a new cast to I don't I
Speaker 1: don't remember their names, but like it's again, it's it's
Speaker 1: very laborious, you know.
Speaker 2: Really wow, Okay.
Speaker 1: I I found it. I'll put it this. I found
Speaker 1: it mostly unfunny up until the very end, and I
Speaker 1: won't reveal it, but like the third the third act,
Speaker 1: as as we're winding up the story, I laughed at
Speaker 1: some of the things they did. I thought those were
Speaker 1: pretty funny. Okay, but I just you know, I my
Speaker 1: question is like how much of an afterlife do these
Speaker 1: movies have? Anyway?
Speaker 2: You know, Well, that's my question for you actually, because
Speaker 2: we had the Nicked Gun reboot recently and they did
Speaker 2: a really good job. I know, we were sort of nervous,
Speaker 2: like can they even come close to replicating that kind
Speaker 2: of humor all these years later, because it seemed unlikely
Speaker 2: we hadn't seen it in so long, And they actually
Speaker 2: did a really good job of doing a similar style
Speaker 2: of humor, which is a lot of visual gags, a
Speaker 2: lot of wordplay, and they brought it into the twenty
Speaker 2: first century. Also, it was I thought it was successful.
Speaker 2: But there were also those terrible parodies several years ago,
Speaker 2: like date Movie, Meet the Spartans, epic movie, And the
Speaker 2: problem with those was all they did was try to
Speaker 2: be like, remember this are you look at this thing?
Speaker 2: This movie? Hey, we're doing this movie now, so they'd
Speaker 2: always have to say a right, I remember they had,
Speaker 2: you know, when Britney Spears shaved her head or whatever,
Speaker 2: it was like meet the Spartan's kind of a moment exactly,
Speaker 2: So like Britney Spears would be there shaving her head
Speaker 2: and someone has to go, hey, oh no, it's Britney Spears,
Speaker 2: and then like you know, he'll kick her into the
Speaker 2: pit or something, and it's like, well, that's I hate
Speaker 2: to break it to you, that's not a joke, right,
Speaker 2: Like you could maybe work with that, maybe you can
Speaker 2: find something there. But like so, I guess my question
Speaker 2: is does this skew more that kind of parody or
Speaker 2: does this go a little bit more closer to the
Speaker 2: Naked Gun.
Speaker 1: That I think it's somewhere in the middle. Like, I
Speaker 1: don't think it's as amateurish as those other ones, you know,
Speaker 1: but I think that I think so much of the
Speaker 1: humor in this is reliant on recognizing the reference, and
Speaker 1: it's not funny on its own. Yes, I see, right,
Speaker 1: like the substance sequence unless I mean, granted I haven't
Speaker 1: seen the substance, but I'm familiar with I know. But but
Speaker 1: if I would imagine that that not everybody watching this
Speaker 1: movie has seen that, so would it just not make
Speaker 1: any sense at all, you know.
Speaker 2: So they don't take that scenario from the substance and
Speaker 2: craft jokes within it. They just present the substance and
Speaker 2: expect you to laugh at recognizing it.
Speaker 1: I think. So right, Like the there there's one bit
Speaker 1: where it's you know, the the the Marlon Wayin's character
Speaker 1: is is gets stoned and then ghost Face shows up.
Speaker 1: That's the other thing, by the way, is that is
Speaker 1: that they can they call him ghost Face And I'm like, yeah,
Speaker 1: I guess because it's all like within the same studio.
Speaker 2: Yeah, that's right, paramount now.
Speaker 1: But so so ghost Face does like the teacup thing
Speaker 1: like from from get Out, okay, and then Sean or
Speaker 1: sorry Marlon Wayne's goes into the sunken place and it
Speaker 1: turns out to be a parody of K pop Demon
Speaker 1: Hunters okay, And I mean, yeah, that's that's me. I'm like, okay, yeah,
Speaker 1: I guess I was trying to imagine it.
Speaker 2: What do you mean like it becomes.
Speaker 1: It becomes like an animated Yeah. But it's like, well,
Speaker 1: I mean I don't find that funny, you know what
Speaker 1: I'm saying, Like, I totally totally.
Speaker 2: But I can understand in the heat of the moment
Speaker 2: on a Friday night, if you're excited about this, you
Speaker 2: know those things that sort of oh that's the thing,
Speaker 2: I know, and you have some sort of response to it.
Speaker 2: But to your point, is that something that's going to
Speaker 2: live on? Are you ever going to watch it again?
Speaker 2: Maybe not and probably not.
Speaker 1: But but on the other hand, you know what, they
Speaker 1: spent thirty million dollars making this movie. It made like
Speaker 1: fifty something opening weekend. Wow. Yeah, So, I mean they
Speaker 1: got their bag right, And guess what, I'm glad that
Speaker 1: the Waynes brothers who got kicked kicked to the curb
Speaker 1: before from a franchise that they started, they got to
Speaker 1: come back and sort of have their their triumphant homecoming.
Speaker 1: Good for them, you know, right, there's plenty of waynees
Speaker 1: is in here. I mean, we got we got, we
Speaker 1: got Sean and Marlon, but I saw a Damon Junior
Speaker 1: is in here. He gets a cameo, Greg Wayns, Who's
Speaker 1: Who's and Kim Wayne's is and we got we got,
Speaker 1: we got, we got a whole bunch of Waynes.
Speaker 2: That's great.
Speaker 1: Yeah, plenty of cameos though, my gosh, lots of lots
Speaker 1: of people popping in Okay, yeah, but but largely forget
Speaker 1: about I again, I will say the last ten minutes
Speaker 1: or so, I did laugh. I found the gags and
Speaker 1: sort of the way they wound together what they were doing.
Speaker 1: I found it amusing. Okay, okay, but not enough to
Speaker 1: recommend it, you know, right.
Speaker 2: Right, So if you're feeling like this might be your
Speaker 2: thing and you just want to kick back and visit
Speaker 2: a familiar place, maybe you'll enjoy it, but you can't
Speaker 2: broad recommend it's not like yeah, and.
Speaker 1: Well, and the thought I had is it's been it's
Speaker 1: been what like twelve years I think since the last
Speaker 1: one thirteen years mm hmm. So it's like this one
Speaker 1: was playing catch up with all the shit that's like
Speaker 1: horror in thirteen years you get it. Like now, based
Speaker 1: on how this one did, they're gonna be like they're
Speaker 1: gonna have another one in theaters like next week, you know. Yeah,
Speaker 1: and it's like, well, what are you gonna what are
Speaker 1: you gonna parody? Right? Well, one presumes obsession and back rooms.
Speaker 2: Mm hmm. Okay, right right right right.
Speaker 1: I mean you know it kind of makes you wonder too.
Speaker 2: I saw something online where on the poster they had
Speaker 2: a squid game mask. And you know, these movies tend
Speaker 2: to be like eighty minutes, right, and you wonder if
Speaker 2: they have like two and a half hours of material,
Speaker 2: and some worked better than others, and you wonder what
Speaker 2: they did shoot that they didn't include.
Speaker 1: Yeah, you know, well it it definitely felt. You know
Speaker 1: what I'm gonna this is like one gag which I'll
Speaker 1: I guess I'll spoil it somewhat. I'm just to make
Speaker 1: the point I'm making. So you've got you know the
Speaker 1: way the movie creates it. Anna Faris is character has
Speaker 1: has two daughters and they're in essence, Melissa Brera and
Speaker 1: Jenny Ortega, right, and and then you've got the boyfriend, who,
Speaker 1: like the whole movie is very obviously telegraphing is the
Speaker 1: killer just like Jack.
Speaker 2: So literally scream five or whatever.
Speaker 1: Absolutely, und okay, right, it's it's doing that. It starts
Speaker 1: with her name is Tuesday. That's how obvious it is. Okay, Okay,
Speaker 1: there take a character take, so so we're following them
Speaker 1: throughout and then and then we also see that there
Speaker 1: is a Halloween party at at Regina Hall's house, and
Speaker 1: you know, all the kids are there at her house. Okay,
Speaker 1: So then the doorbell rings and it's it's this is
Speaker 1: not them, but it's it's you know, Melissa Brera, Jener
Speaker 1: Ortega and Jack Quaid whatever there those characters. Yeah, but
Speaker 1: they're like the vampires from Sinners at the door. Okay,
Speaker 1: at the door and can we come in? It's like no,
Speaker 1: go away, right, and and it's like, we get it.
Speaker 1: That's the thing from Sinners. But I'm like, but why
Speaker 1: are there those why are they doing that? Like what
Speaker 1: do you get what I'm saying?
Speaker 2: Yeah, no, totally totally.
Speaker 1: I'm like, I don't I understand the reference, but I'm
Speaker 1: not understanding it's placed in this other than you guys
Speaker 1: are like, oh, we got to do a Sinners.
Speaker 2: Thing, right, which is interesting because that does sound less
Speaker 2: like the First Scary Movie. Yeah, right, the First Scary
Speaker 2: Movie actually works as a movie, and it has references
Speaker 2: and obviously absurd things happening, but it's all within the
Speaker 2: context of that story, right where I remember there's that
Speaker 2: matrix fight between ghost Face and on A Ferris, but
Speaker 2: that's because they're scaring off, and it's like, as they're
Speaker 2: scaring off like they did In't Scream, But what if
Speaker 2: she lifted in the air like Trinity, and but it
Speaker 2: wasn't like randomly inserting, you know, punching in a moment
Speaker 2: that doesn't necessarily fit in context just because you recognize
Speaker 2: it from me.
Speaker 1: Well, and I'll say that moment in particular bump me
Speaker 1: because it it felt in congress within this movie even
Speaker 1: you know, it's funny you mentioned about Anna Faris doing
Speaker 1: the matrix thing in the first film, because in this
Speaker 1: we have her doing a John Wick basically as all
Speaker 1: these ghost trace people come at her. And I was
Speaker 1: a little thinking. I was like, man, look at that,
Speaker 1: like like twenty five years later, twenty six years we
Speaker 1: go from one Keanu to another.
Speaker 2: That's right, Wow for him? How many iconic characters as
Speaker 2: he played, right that you could do that as Shorthand
Speaker 2: and everyone knows what she's doing.
Speaker 1: Yeah, thought I thought that was very I thought that
Speaker 1: was very funny. Yeah, so you know, I think this
Speaker 1: is I don't I don't think you need to go
Speaker 1: to the theater to see this, but but I suspect
Speaker 1: a lot of people are gonna it will be a
Speaker 1: streaming hit.
Speaker 2: Absolutely, I could definitely see streaming it at some point.
Speaker 1: Yeah, But as I said, this one ended up demolishing
Speaker 1: Masters of the Universe over the box office. But we'll
Speaker 1: talk about that later in this episode. But what the
Speaker 1: what the box office fate of he Man and Company?
Speaker 1: It may portend for the future, if there is any
Speaker 1: for that franchise. But hey, we got some listener letters.
Speaker 2: Brian, Well, I believe you have been after it for
Speaker 2: me eighteen thousand.
Speaker 1: Lass All addressed that, SA, You've got me all right.
Speaker 1: So you know, just a couple of weeks ago we
Speaker 1: dropped our commentary track for the nineteen eighty seven Masters
Speaker 1: of the Universe. Got some comments on that.
Speaker 2: Oh love to hear it.
Speaker 1: So here's a note we got from Mark la Chance
Speaker 1: who says, I remember seeing this movie in the theater
Speaker 1: when I was twelve, and I enjoy it. However, now
Speaker 1: I realize its flaws and limitations, but I can still
Speaker 1: appreciate it. Lastly, one more leading actor that was dubbed
Speaker 1: in a film. Now, if you remember, you and I
Speaker 1: we were talking about how we were debating about alf
Speaker 1: Lundgren's delivery in the eighty seven movie, and you know,
Speaker 1: we talked about how the initial intent was for his
Speaker 1: voice to bed. He said, well, it's last time that happened.
Speaker 1: I mentioned nineteen eighties Flash Gordon as one example. I
Speaker 1: think I think we were perplexed as to whether there
Speaker 1: were any others. Well, here comes Mark writing to the rescue.
Speaker 1: Great he says that Clinton Spillsbury was dubbed. That's not
Speaker 1: a made up name, Brian, that's a real person. Doesn't
Speaker 1: that sound like something like, what's your name? Son? It's
Speaker 1: Clinton Spillsbury?
Speaker 2: It totally does.
Speaker 1: Yeah, real guy. He starred in nineteen eighty one's Legend
Speaker 1: of the Lone Ranger. Huh did you know that movie exists?
Speaker 2: I know, I didn't.
Speaker 1: So this is a movie not to be confused with
Speaker 1: the twenty thirteen one. It stars, as we said, Clinton Spillsbury,
Speaker 1: who was apparently dubbed. I think I knew that. I
Speaker 1: may have blocked it up. But also Christopher Lloyd plays
Speaker 1: the villain in that movie. Okay, he plays the guy
Speaker 1: that you know in the recent one, William what's his name?
Speaker 1: William Fickner played him. Okay, same guy. So that that
Speaker 1: movie it was. It flopped. It's another infamous flop. You
Speaker 1: think they would learn, right, They keep conect to like,
Speaker 1: I don't think people are into the Lone Ranger anymore.
Speaker 1: That's my sense. But that film when it came out,
Speaker 1: it was meant to be. It was meant to do
Speaker 1: for the Lone Ranger, what like what you know Superman
Speaker 1: did for for well, for Superman, you know, okay, Christopher
Speaker 1: uh did not happen obviously, But at that time, Clayton Moore,
Speaker 1: who had played the Lone Ranger on the on television
Speaker 1: in like the nineteen fifties and stuff, he was a
Speaker 1: he was an older fella, and he would make appearances,
Speaker 1: you know, as the Lone Ranger. Okay, so like he
Speaker 1: would go to places and you know, meet meet the
Speaker 1: original Loan Ranger, and the studio making this movie made
Speaker 1: him stop. And it became this like big story.
Speaker 2: Because they wanted everyone to think of this movies Lone
Speaker 2: Ranger as the Lone Ranger.
Speaker 1: So yeah, exactly, they're like, hey, old man, take off
Speaker 1: the mask.
Speaker 2: Oh that's so sad. And it's so things have changed
Speaker 2: so much now, right, I mean, these meet and greet
Speaker 2: sorts of things are so enormous these days.
Speaker 1: Yeah, huh. So I think there was that bit of
Speaker 1: bad you know, bad karma slash bad publicity, right, which
Speaker 1: may have sunk the movie.
Speaker 2: It.
Speaker 1: My recollection is it's not very good. It's been a
Speaker 1: long time since I've seen it.
Speaker 2: But you know, well, it's interesting you say that this
Speaker 2: was hoping to be like the next Superman in that moment,
Speaker 2: and it's funny because the twenty thirteen Lone Ranger feels
Speaker 2: like it was trying to be the next Pirates of
Speaker 2: the Caribbean.
Speaker 1: You know. Yeah, Well, we see a trend, you know,
Speaker 1: tall things this season, and some of these things are
Speaker 1: just not meant to live on in the same way
Speaker 1: that they did. You know, not everything gets to be Batman. Yeah,
Speaker 1: it's true, right, or Superman? I guess, I guess Superman
Speaker 1: is an evergreen right?
Speaker 2: Oh yeah, yeah, you know.
Speaker 1: Mark continues. I also didn't realize there was a post
Speaker 1: credits scene in the eighty seven Masters of Universe. I'll
Speaker 1: have to check that out. No, you don't need to,
Speaker 1: it's fine or you on YouTube. Yeah exactly, you don't
Speaker 1: have to rewatch the whole movie for that. Let me
Speaker 1: spoil it for you. It's just Franklenzella poking his head
Speaker 1: out of water saying I'll be back spoiler alert. He
Speaker 1: did not in fact come back, right, He says, I
Speaker 1: don't think that's the first post credit scene in film history.
Speaker 1: In the movie Young Sherlock Holmes from nineteen eighty five,
Speaker 1: the main villain is actually revealed to be Mori Yardy
Speaker 1: in a post credits scene when he signs the register
Speaker 1: at an inn. Now, I have not seen Young Sherlock
Speaker 1: Holmes since the late eighties.
Speaker 2: I don't think i've ever seen it.
Speaker 1: Oh you've never seen it. Oh it's a good movie.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I only know it as the first movie to
Speaker 2: have a full character.
Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, you know, it's I mean, might
Speaker 1: be worth revisiting. I suppose, you know. Yeah.
Speaker 2: Well it's funny too, because now, of course people attribute
Speaker 2: to post credit sequences to Marvel films and say, like,
Speaker 2: you know, nobody left Masters of the Universe when I
Speaker 2: saw it, because we're all thinking, well, there must be
Speaker 2: a post credit sequence here, because Marvel has conditioned us
Speaker 2: with these big blockbusters like Blasps. Wow, I'm not even
Speaker 2: gonna cut that out. That's staying. Uh. You anticipate most
Speaker 2: big blockbusters are going to have some sort of joke
Speaker 2: in the middle of the credits and a setup for
Speaker 2: something else at the end. Right, But growing up in
Speaker 2: the eighties. All the John Hughes movies had those, right
Speaker 2: Farris Bueller obviously, Planes, Trains and Automobiles has the ad
Speaker 2: executive from the beginning of the movie still looking at
Speaker 2: the two mock ups, like and I think there's a
Speaker 2: Thanksgiving turkey on the table, implying that he's been there
Speaker 2: for several days. That's in front of the credits, and
Speaker 2: then Adventures and Babysitting Nut John Hughes. But you know,
Speaker 2: a bad guy follows a girl out to the outside
Speaker 2: of a skyscraper. Then after the credits, you see he's
Speaker 2: still stuck on the skyscraper. So that like used to
Speaker 2: be a thing. Yeah, and then it feels like they
Speaker 2: went away for a little bit. And then Marvel, you know,
Speaker 2: conditioned us to no matter what the movie is, now
Speaker 2: we expect there to be a post credits scene.
Speaker 1: Yeah, every Yeah, I mean, like I'm trying to think of,
Speaker 1: like even in terms of Marvel, Like, what what was
Speaker 1: it like, cause I stuck around for iron the end
Speaker 1: of Iron Man, and I'm like, how did I know
Speaker 1: to do that? Right? Yeah?
Speaker 2: I mean was there online chatter like don't leave?
Speaker 1: Must have been in fact, you and I and Sean
Speaker 1: we watched Iron Man together and we all I must
Speaker 1: have read somewhere like, oh, there's a thing after the credits.
Speaker 2: I'm guessing yeah, right.
Speaker 1: Interesting.
Speaker 2: By the way, just in case anyone's wondering the same
Speaker 2: thing I was, I just googled it. This is off
Speaker 2: of Wikipedia, so I don't know, but it says the
Speaker 2: first general release film to feature a post credits scene
Speaker 2: is The Silencers from March nineteen sixty six. Wow, And
Speaker 2: it features Dean Martin. He's on us rotating sofa with
Speaker 2: densecantly clad women and during the scene, text overlays are.
Speaker 1: They just filming his life?
Speaker 2: And then they just put it in right right, and
Speaker 2: it says coming up next, so maybe it was setting
Speaker 2: up a sequel or something. And then the next one
Speaker 2: it lists is nineteen seventy nine of them up at
Speaker 2: movie so wow.
Speaker 1: Okay, so there was a big gap there.
Speaker 2: According to Wikipedia and what they've listed here, and then
Speaker 2: and then it says airplane young Sherlock Holmes, Masters of
Speaker 2: the Universe, skeletory at the bottom of a pit saying
Speaker 2: I'll be back.
Speaker 1: Yeah, but what what like? What does the two thousands
Speaker 1: look like?
Speaker 2: Contemporary film examples all five Pirates of the Caribbean films, Napoleon, Dynamite, Daredevil.
Speaker 2: I remember that Bullseye when he's in the full body cast.
Speaker 2: It's like a mid credit scene. Okay, x men, the
Speaker 2: Last Stand I remember that. Yeah, Harry Potter and the
Speaker 2: Chamber of Secrets. Uh well, I don't know if this
Speaker 2: is matrix reloaded. That wasn't That was a trailer for
Speaker 2: the next trailer. Yeah, I call foul come on now,
Speaker 2: Uh yeah, well then, of course not. It's getting into
Speaker 2: Marvel basically.
Speaker 1: All right, Well, it's easier to blame Marvel as people.
Speaker 1: All right. Nowadays it's like all Marvel ruined everything.
Speaker 2: Right, right, But it was with the Masters of the Universe.
Speaker 2: I mean, I was just convinced. I knew there would
Speaker 2: be something.
Speaker 1: You know what's funny is I did not stick around
Speaker 1: for the final final post credit scene because I thought
Speaker 1: that was just the the two the earlier too.
Speaker 2: You know, something told me because the movie seemed a
Speaker 2: little reverential for the first one by giving delfh Lungrin
Speaker 2: an entire scene and not just one line. In passing,
Speaker 2: I wondered if they felt like compelled, they would feel
Speaker 2: compelled to put something at the end, like.
Speaker 1: The to mirror the end the post credit scene of
Speaker 1: the eighty seven.
Speaker 2: Yeah, and they did.
Speaker 1: They did. Indeed, we'll talk more about Master's Universe in
Speaker 1: a second. Oh. Actually, on one other comment we got
Speaker 1: this is also about voiceovers. This is from mister Roro
Speaker 1: on YouTube says, I don't know of a recent voice
Speaker 1: over dubbed, but zach Efron's singing voice was dubbed over
Speaker 1: in the first High School Musical. So I know you've
Speaker 1: always wondered about that, Brian.
Speaker 2: He was just he was He was so handsome, and like, well,
Speaker 2: we need that face, we need the face. Just tell
Speaker 2: you something about that voice.
Speaker 1: Just the just the singing voice. Anyway, thank you for that.
Speaker 1: And got some headlines here, Brian extra. So we're talking
Speaker 1: about Masters of the Universe. The big question is what
Speaker 1: does the future of this franchise look like? Does it
Speaker 1: have a future? It? It opened in a way that
Speaker 1: I have to say, you and I have been absolutely
Speaker 1: consistent about that this movie was not going to do well. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I mean we as soon as the first trailer dropped,
Speaker 1: you and I talked about it and we were both like, well, Amazon,
Speaker 1: MGM about to lose a lot of money on this movie.
Speaker 2: Yeah, and I mean the main reason was maybe the
Speaker 2: window for this ip has all but closed at this point,
Speaker 2: you know, I mean, this is something that would appeal
Speaker 2: to us and people our age. But I don't know,
Speaker 2: I know there have been other iterations of he Man
Speaker 2: throughout the years, but I don't feel like, you know,
Speaker 2: a ten year old in this day and age knows
Speaker 2: what he Man is and is asking their parents to
Speaker 2: go see it.
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 2: Yeah, it was an uphill battle for it.
Speaker 1: It was always an uphill battle. And you know, this
Speaker 1: film has been you know, a hypothetical for as long
Speaker 1: as we've been making this podcast. Yeah, we've said pretty
Speaker 1: consistently the window is closing, you know. We were saying that
Speaker 1: like ten years ago.
Speaker 2: Yep.
Speaker 1: So it indeed has closed based on at least just
Speaker 1: the box office. But I think I think there's a
Speaker 1: comma at the end of that rather than a period,
Speaker 1: because yeah, look, we're a far cry from whatever the
Speaker 1: first Michael Bay movie Transformers movie made, you know, twenty
Speaker 1: years ago almost, and if you remember, in the aftermath
Speaker 1: of the first Transformer, they were trying to get like
Speaker 1: g I Joe out the door and all this other stuff.
Speaker 1: I think this one two was a result of Barbie
Speaker 1: doing as well as it did.
Speaker 2: I believe it or not. I completely forgot about the
Speaker 2: Mattel connection. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. And I think what
Speaker 2: Barbie had gone for was several factors. One, Barbie has
Speaker 2: never ever gone away be you know, Greta Gerwig had
Speaker 2: a point of view, and see, you know Margot Robbie
Speaker 2: was sort of a zeitgeisty star at that moment, right,
Speaker 2: So it was this unique alchemy of premise filmmaker and
Speaker 2: star working together. And so I certainly understand Mattel just
Speaker 2: jumping on that being like, hey, he man, you know
Speaker 2: Hot Wheels.
Speaker 1: I'm sure Hot Wheels is somewhere in the development pipeline infinitely.
Speaker 1: But yeah, it was always like, again, as I say
Speaker 1: this as a fan, it's like, look, it burned white
Speaker 1: hot from like eighty two to eighty six, and it's
Speaker 1: ever burn that hot again. And that's okay. So, as
Speaker 1: you and I discussed, it's like, well, at the end
Speaker 1: of the day, do we have a movie that we liked? Yeah,
Speaker 1: you know, and at least for me, that's all I need.
Speaker 1: I can't remember if I said this to you, but
Speaker 1: but exactly thirty years ago to the date, like the
Speaker 1: same weekend thirty years ago, another movie opened that I
Speaker 1: happened to like quite a bit, which flopped catastrophically, which
Speaker 1: is The Phantom.
Speaker 2: Mmm, wow, thirty years ago. I was thinking further back.
Speaker 2: He said thirty.
Speaker 1: Yeah, thirty years ago. And then you know, exactly thirty
Speaker 1: five years ago this summer was The Rocketeer. And you know,
Speaker 1: my point is, it's like, look, don't I don't need
Speaker 1: a shared cinematic universality of this stuff. I don't need
Speaker 1: trilogies or anything. I'm like, just give me one movie
Speaker 1: that I enjoy. I'm I'm I've had one he Man
Speaker 1: movie for forty years. Now there's two and that's fine.
Speaker 2: You know yeah, And you you saying Rocketeer is the
Speaker 2: perfect example that makes me understand because that came out
Speaker 2: when I was young. I wasn't really following box office.
Speaker 2: I just knew I loved it. I've always loved it.
Speaker 2: I still love it. I watch it now and I
Speaker 2: think it completely holds up. I think it is a
Speaker 2: wonderful movie. And I don't even think about I'm sure
Speaker 2: the executives back in the you know who are working
Speaker 2: at Disney at the time thought a lot about its performance,
Speaker 2: but that doesn't have anything to do with how I
Speaker 2: feel about that movie. Yeah, it's just a wonderful movie
Speaker 2: that I'm always going to get to enjoy. And so
Speaker 2: it's unfortunate in this moment for the people who have
Speaker 2: money in on Masters of the Universe. But to your point,
Speaker 2: we've got a great movie that a lot of people
Speaker 2: have enjoyed. Most people I've seen who've watched it, critics
Speaker 2: and fans and everyone alike, have enjoyed it. And we
Speaker 2: will always have it and that's nice that.
Speaker 1: Yeah, and this is acknowledging that, you know, not everybody
Speaker 1: loved it, you know. I Luke Smail sent us a
Speaker 1: note sort of listing the reasons didn't work for him,
Speaker 1: and he's not a loan you know. I think some
Speaker 1: people had issues with the tone. Yeah, you know, it
Speaker 1: was a little joke or whatever, you know, and Marvel
Speaker 1: hashtag Marvel ruins everything, you know, and I want to
Speaker 1: acknowledge that. Look, the tone's not gonna work for everybody.
Speaker 1: So so it's not like it's it's without flaw, right,
Speaker 1: But I agree with you in that, by and large,
Speaker 1: it seems to me that folks who are checking it
Speaker 1: out are coming out like that was that was fun?
Speaker 2: You know.
Speaker 1: And and you know, I've seen it just since we
Speaker 1: last record, I've seen it twice more so, I've seen
Speaker 1: it three times total. I've enjoyed it each time. I've
Speaker 1: seen it with a different uh, you know, a group
Speaker 1: of people each time, you know, different group of kids.
Speaker 1: My kids all have enjoyed it. My wife loved it,
Speaker 1: Oh my, oh good, she was just over the moon.
Speaker 1: My brother loved it. For me, my brother and I
Speaker 1: we we watched the original one in you know, in
Speaker 1: eighty seven, so we were like, oh, we're going to
Speaker 1: go see this one, and that was just a very
Speaker 1: surreal experience for me just having that, you know.
Speaker 2: Yeah, right, so the movie it to me, it's.
Speaker 1: Like it's another John Carter or any of these one
Speaker 1: and done's that are just fine. You know. However, I
Speaker 1: saw a piece up at Nerdous with which I thought
Speaker 1: was interesting just looking at the reaction of the film
Speaker 1: in terms of, yes, the budget is astronomical and it
Speaker 1: doesn't make a lot of sense, but factoring in well,
Speaker 1: Amazon had to have known that, They're like that was
Speaker 1: a lot of money to spend on this, so like,
Speaker 1: what was the thinking behind it? And it's it's you know,
Speaker 1: I saw a statement from somebody from Amazon. It was like, well,
Speaker 1: it's performing, you know, in line with what we expected,
Speaker 1: and we're you know, it's gonna have a long afterlife
Speaker 1: on our platform or whatever. And I'm like, well, a
Speaker 1: lot of that's a little coia, right, Like I wouldn't like,
Speaker 1: if I'm hoping for a sequel, I wouldn't take heart
Speaker 1: in a statement like that. Yeah, yeah, Like what are
Speaker 1: they gonna say, Oh, we shit the bed with this
Speaker 1: one bad? Obviously they're not gonna do that. But I
Speaker 1: I find it interesting that a lot of the discussion
Speaker 1: I've seen online has been something in the vein of,
Speaker 1: you know, they should have put it on streaming, and
Speaker 1: and I'm like, how fascinating isn't that fascinating? Like how
Speaker 1: like like we're now we're we're at the point where
Speaker 1: obsession and back rooms, which would have been the streaming
Speaker 1: movies five years ago, Yes, those are the theater movies.
Speaker 1: And this we're like, it's put it on streaming. Voltron,
Speaker 1: that's going to streaming, right?
Speaker 2: Saw that? Yeah?
Speaker 1: Right? And and and think about it, right, like two
Speaker 1: years ago, you and I watched Axel Foley Yeah right,
Speaker 1: right right, And and the conversation we had at the
Speaker 1: time was like, why didn't they put this in theaters?
Speaker 1: And then now I kind of like the that may
Speaker 1: have been the smart move, not putting in theaters.
Speaker 2: Yeah, because then it wouldn't have maybe a stigma yees
Speaker 2: do it if it didn't perform.
Speaker 1: Right, because remember just the year prior to Axel f
Speaker 1: was in the five Yeah, which was also a famous
Speaker 1: calamity in terms of how much they spent versus much
Speaker 1: they made. But we're seeing the trend here, which is
Speaker 1: that you know, our time in the sun is rapidly dwindling.
Speaker 2: When you say are who are you referring to us old,
Speaker 2: our stuff, the stuff?
Speaker 1: We yeah, well, let me let me let me quote you.
Speaker 1: This portion from Nervous says, so what becomes of mo
Speaker 1: tw next? Should Mattel give up all attempts at making
Speaker 1: the brand relevant and just keep selling high end replicas
Speaker 1: of older toys to its AARP ready audience. So a
Speaker 1: little piece of me died when I read that sentence
Speaker 1: as I nervously glance at my power Sword replica on
Speaker 1: my shelf. So I don't know. You know, this is
Speaker 1: from Nerdous. They say Amazon MGM should simply read the
Speaker 1: tea leaves on the non theatrical future of Masters universe
Speaker 1: and release the film to prime video now. Don't wait
Speaker 1: two or three months. Do it in three weeks, drop
Speaker 1: it while the film is still in the conversation. If
Speaker 1: the streaming numbers are good, then pivot and let Motu
Speaker 1: become a streaming franchise. And weirdly, I look at that
Speaker 1: and I'm like, you know, maybe that might not be
Speaker 1: the worst idea.
Speaker 2: I as long as I get one more chance to
Speaker 2: check it out on the big screen, because I do
Speaker 2: want to. Yeah, yeah, maybe not. I mean, this is
Speaker 2: twenty twenty six. If that works for that and that,
Speaker 2: I'm glad they made it. I want them to be
Speaker 2: rewarded for making it, if that's what's gonna help them
Speaker 2: get make it most successful for them and profitable and
Speaker 2: whatever new metric sure sure. So.
Speaker 1: One data point I think is worth mentioning here when
Speaker 1: we talk about Amazon sort of having a plan, is
Speaker 1: that as soon as the movie was released, they put
Speaker 1: the four K Blu ray up for pre order, and
Speaker 1: which is fast. I think, yeah, yeah, And it's been
Speaker 1: like the number one pre ordered, number one seller in
Speaker 1: that category in Amazon, like since since it went up.
Speaker 2: See that's cool, right.
Speaker 1: If that's really just just anecdotal, maybe it doesn't mean anything,
Speaker 1: but it's a data point.
Speaker 2: Yeah, and that's not something that could have happened in
Speaker 2: nineteen ninety six.
Speaker 1: That's a good point, you know what I mean.
Speaker 2: So there's just so many unique factors right now, and
Speaker 2: I'm having to catch up to like, oh, well, it's
Speaker 2: only in theaters for a couple of weeks, and that
Speaker 2: must mean that it's this you know, it's it's not
Speaker 2: gonna make its money back and that makes me feel bad.
Speaker 2: But it's like, well, no, we've got Dreaming to account for,
Speaker 2: and they're going to license it out to you know,
Speaker 2: who knows who else to stream it. And the four
Speaker 2: K is already number one seller. I mean, that's not
Speaker 2: something we ever had when we were kids. We had
Speaker 2: to wait a year for the home video release of anything.
Speaker 2: So they have, like you said, these executives probably had
Speaker 2: this mapped out.
Speaker 1: They they must have some kind of metric knowing that
Speaker 1: this movie is going to be living on that service
Speaker 1: for you know, and and it'll be a driver of traffic.
Speaker 1: And then and then again, if you've got these ancillarious things,
Speaker 1: like like the people people pre ordering the disc tells me, well,
Speaker 1: they're they're already. People are like I want to watch
Speaker 1: this again. I want to have it so I can
Speaker 1: revisit it, right, And and yeah, I mean I I
Speaker 1: don't begin to know what the calculations are as far
Speaker 1: as merch and how that's split between Mattel and and
Speaker 1: and and MGM Amazon, But I don't know interesting data
Speaker 1: point anyway, Yeah, yeah, Like I I could easily see
Speaker 1: a situation where a sequel is has more of an
Speaker 1: audience because of goodwill from the first one. I just
Speaker 1: think that this is this isn't like a Batman Begins
Speaker 1: situation where the first one did reasonably well and then
Speaker 1: the second one just blew up right right like this,
Speaker 1: I mean, this is a there's no spinning this. This
Speaker 1: is a catastrophe in terms of money spent versus money out,
Speaker 1: you know. Yeah, but anyway, I just I just I
Speaker 1: find all of this interesting in terms of realizing that, yeah,
Speaker 1: you know, twenty years ago was probably the peak window
Speaker 1: to put this out there. And you're like, well, this
Speaker 1: is primarily a gen X franchise, and you know gen
Speaker 1: X Millennial to some extent, and you know that window
Speaker 1: is is rapidly closing, if not closed already.
Speaker 2: And like you were saying earlier, they can't all be
Speaker 2: batman like some things are just going to have their
Speaker 2: windows closed.
Speaker 1: Yeah, and especially when we talk about nineteen eighties kidvid.
Speaker 1: You know we've discussed this before. Other than Transformers and Turtles,
Speaker 1: nothing else has hung in there.
Speaker 2: Yeah, ThunderCats, all right, all that stuff Inspector Gadget, ThunderCats
Speaker 2: movie ain't happening.
Speaker 1: Yeah, no, no, sorry for anybody who was hoping to
Speaker 1: see a live action Shitara, not me. I'm just in general,
Speaker 1: if anybody who is hoping to that, it probably won't happen. Sorry.
Speaker 2: That reminds me. By the way. So speaking of algorithms
Speaker 2: and the things we're seeing, I have this thing now.
Speaker 2: It's AI generated and it shows a red carpet for
Speaker 2: a movie premiere of eighties cartoons. I mean this sounds
Speaker 2: so of course this has like been sent to me,
Speaker 2: but I remember there was one for Inspector Gadget and
Speaker 2: I got it looks incredible, like the lighting is perfect,
Speaker 2: and it's Jim Carrey as Inspector Gadgets.
Speaker 1: And oh, that's what they should have done in the nineties, right.
Speaker 2: Oh man, that's the thing. The casting is always perfect.
Speaker 2: And then what was the one? Oh I saw ThunderCats
Speaker 2: and it was Margot Robbie as Chaitara.
Speaker 1: Oh perfect, it's perfect.
Speaker 2: Yeah, and it's really well done. Do you ever see these?
Speaker 1: I have not seen that.
Speaker 2: Yeah, okay, I'm gonna send them to you and infect your.
Speaker 1: Are you gonna screw up my altho too?
Speaker 2: Yeah?
Speaker 1: No, you love it.
Speaker 2: It's right up your alley.
Speaker 1: Oh you know you mentioned Inspector Gadget And I feel like,
Speaker 1: weirdly that that late nineties movie may have put just
Speaker 1: enough juice in the tank for them to come back
Speaker 1: like that. That's the thing that people may have nostalgia for.
Speaker 2: Isn't that hilarious? I've noticed that because I'm a big
Speaker 2: Inspector Gadget person. That was one of my huge cartoons
Speaker 2: as a kid. Yeah, And so when I sometimes will
Speaker 2: google it or look things up, or I'm like, did
Speaker 2: they ever are the old episodes anywhere?
Speaker 1: Do they make new episodes?
Speaker 2: I'm noticing there's a lot of nostalgia for. Yeah, that
Speaker 2: Matthew Broderick one, which I'm like, oh, fascinating, that is fascinating.
Speaker 1: Yeah, so so you know that may be one that
Speaker 1: gets another turn at the grinder.
Speaker 2: Yeah, we shall see.
Speaker 1: Yeah. Hey, speaking of a belated sequels, the truth is,
Speaker 1: no matter how much time passes, the windows never completely closed.
Speaker 1: Because look at this. They just announced this week that
Speaker 1: a twenty four Jump Street is in the works. This
Speaker 1: is a new Jump Street sequel. Now you you may
Speaker 1: realize that they skipped twenty three Jump Street. Yeah, so
Speaker 1: we got twenty one Jump Street in twenty twelve, and
Speaker 1: then twenty fourteen or twenty two, and then and then
Speaker 1: twelve years later twenty four Jump Street. So that's a
Speaker 1: clever meta acknowledging that it's been a long time.
Speaker 2: Yeah. Well, and at the end of twenty two Jump
Speaker 2: Street they do set up twenty three Jump Street, do
Speaker 2: you remember that? Well, yeah, and they set up like
Speaker 2: through thirty something Yeah, yeah, exactly. So I don't know
Speaker 2: if that's in reference to that or whatever, but those
Speaker 2: movies have been on Pluto lately. I almost always stop
Speaker 2: on them, and they are just like a joke a minute, Yeah,
Speaker 2: and they and they land. You know, it's I really
Speaker 2: really enjoy those movies. So when I saw that they
Speaker 2: were making another one, this is something I'm I'm like perfect.
Speaker 2: I really love the brand of humor. Jonah Hill and
Speaker 2: Channing Tatum are hilarious together. I would definitely want more
Speaker 2: of this. So this is great.
Speaker 1: Yeah, so I'm looking at Variety. Here it says a
Speaker 1: third installment of the franchise has been development at Tony
Speaker 1: for more than a decade. Remember they were they were
Speaker 1: plotting a Men in Black crossover.
Speaker 2: Which don't you wish we could have kind of seen
Speaker 2: what that was?
Speaker 1: Well, Channing Tatum has said that's the best script he
Speaker 1: ever read. Well, which maybe just to comment on the
Speaker 1: type of scripts he's getting. I don't know, there's that,
Speaker 1: But also, I mean that's what they all say, that
Speaker 1: the unmade one.
Speaker 2: Yeah yeah, but when that never leaked? Did it in
Speaker 2: the Sony leak?
Speaker 1: I that's it, not the script but the the I
Speaker 1: wasn't that when it first got out that they were
Speaker 1: thinking about doing that? Yeah?
Speaker 2: Interesting?
Speaker 1: Yeah? Yeah, so it says here again, this is this
Speaker 1: is from Variety. Why skip ahead to twenty four Jump
Speaker 1: Street for starters. Sony's Jump Street movies are already a
Speaker 1: self aware reboot plus the code of twenty two Jump Streets.
Speaker 1: He's Schmidt and Jenko take on a series of other
Speaker 1: undercover missions that could serve as a potential twenty three
Speaker 1: Jump Street. The duo infiltrated middle School, medical School, culinary School,
Speaker 1: Firefighters School, Dance School, Da Da Da Da eventually become
Speaker 1: a video game animated series. Thus Sony titling the fourth
Speaker 1: Cooming film, twenty four Jump Street, continues the running gag.
Speaker 1: At present, Tatum only has an offer to return for
Speaker 1: twenty four Jump Street. Negotiations are expected to take place soon.
Speaker 2: But Lord and Miller are not.
Speaker 1: They're producing, Yeah they're not.
Speaker 2: Yeah, they won't be directing. But I guess someone named
Speaker 2: Rodney Rothman who directed or co directed one of the
Speaker 2: Into the Spider Verse movies. Yes, we're doing this, So
Speaker 2: so it's in the Lord and Miller family.
Speaker 1: Yeah. Well see, now Lord and Miller are you know
Speaker 1: they're too they're too high falutin now now that they've
Speaker 1: got their like dramatic success.
Speaker 2: That's right.
Speaker 1: You know, I've seen enough stories like this drop where
Speaker 1: it's like, hey, another one of these in the works.
Speaker 1: X fill in the blank franchise, m that I'm slightly
Speaker 1: I'm not getting too excited.
Speaker 2: That's a good point. That's a good point.
Speaker 1: Because it feels like this could very well be like
Speaker 1: at testing the waters strategic drop you know.
Speaker 2: You know, I bet because they do track you know
Speaker 2: how many times things are referenced on social media and whatever.
Speaker 2: So maybe it's like, yeah, they they put a little
Speaker 2: drop of blood in the water and see how many
Speaker 2: people bite.
Speaker 1: Yeah. Yeah, Now that said, I think it is a
Speaker 1: good idea, and I feel like we're talking about windows
Speaker 1: closed saying this. This pretty much is like your window. Yeah,
Speaker 1: maybe another couple of years. But it's very hard to
Speaker 1: get Jonah Hill and Channing Tatum to pass for students anymore, right, right, right, right,
Speaker 1: Suppose they could pretend to be teachers, right, that would
Speaker 1: be the next lotch Oh that's good. Right, yeah, but yeah,
Speaker 1: I've said this before in the in the second Jump
Speaker 1: Street movie, when Channing Tatum figures out that that Jonah
Speaker 1: Hill slept with with Ice Cube's daughter.
Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, it.
Speaker 1: I I have never laughed that hard in a movie theater,
Speaker 1: Like I was doubling over, like for the rest of
Speaker 1: the movie my stomach was hurt.
Speaker 2: You're still thinking about it.
Speaker 1: Yeah, Oh my god, it just brilliant, so funny.
Speaker 2: Yeah, so I will watch this, oh same, Yeah, and
Speaker 2: then like you said, speaking windows, I mean, this could
Speaker 2: inject new life into this thing. And then you get
Speaker 2: two more if it were we.
Speaker 1: Had a whole roadmap after the post credits scene.
Speaker 2: And that's right.
Speaker 1: We're gonna be talking about this fella's latest release in
Speaker 1: just a little bit. But Steven Spielberg's making the rounds, Brian.
Speaker 2: Yeah, you know, it's I was telling you, it's pretty
Speaker 2: fascinating with Steven Spielberg because he is very gregarious and
Speaker 2: he does good interviews. But if you start to watch
Speaker 2: a lot of his interviews, you begin to notice that
Speaker 2: they're a little crafted.
Speaker 1: They're pre produced.
Speaker 2: Pre produced, like he has his talking points, and he
Speaker 2: tends to repeat his talking points in his stories when
Speaker 2: you know, we of course would enjoy any new morsels,
Speaker 2: you know, just about himself and his process and all
Speaker 2: these things, but he always sort of gives us exactly
Speaker 2: the amount he's going to give us, right, And he
Speaker 2: doesn't do director's commentaries explaining his films, And when he
Speaker 2: talks about his films, he tends to tell the same
Speaker 2: storyorries about them right that we've heard before, and he
Speaker 2: doesn't do long form interviews until now. We were noticing
Speaker 2: that in the lead up to Disclosure Day, Spielberg has
Speaker 2: really been making the rounds, pounding the pavement more than
Speaker 2: I think I have ever seen. And that involves or
Speaker 2: includes him being in a bunch of podcasts as a guest. Yeah,
Speaker 2: and it's been kind of exciting for me. I mean
Speaker 2: I listened to him on the podcast It's called on
Speaker 2: Film with Kevin McCarthy, nice long form podcast where he
Speaker 2: discusses craft. And then just before we got on, I
Speaker 2: was listening to The Rewatchables and they had him for
Speaker 2: over two hours amazing talking about the movie two thousand
Speaker 2: and one.
Speaker 1: Wow.
Speaker 2: So that's sort of the launching, you know, discussion like, okay,
Speaker 2: let's talk about two thousand and one. But then that
Speaker 2: will inspire questions like, oh, well, that's interesting because in
Speaker 2: this movie that reminds me of what you do and
Speaker 2: Raiders of the Lost Arc and would you mind talking about
Speaker 2: what that was like that experience, And you start getting
Speaker 2: these stories I've never heard before where he's talking about
Speaker 2: meeting Stanley Kubrick or having dinner with him or I
Speaker 2: just heard him talking about he didn't like The Shining
Speaker 2: when he first saw it. Spielberg and he went and
Speaker 2: had dinner with Kubrick, and Kubrick was like, so, what
Speaker 2: did you think of the Shining? And he's like, oh,
Speaker 2: it's great, Stanley, and he goes, you didn't like it? What? No?
Speaker 2: I know? And he goes, well, he goes, tell me
Speaker 2: what you missed? What wasn't there that you wanted? And
Speaker 2: so he talked about the things from the book, you know,
Speaker 2: the topiary animals coming to life, and he's like, ah,
Speaker 2: it would have been cool to kind of see that.
Speaker 2: And he goes, well, what did you think of Jack Nicholson?
Speaker 2: And he's like, well, I love Jack, but it's a
Speaker 2: little big you know. And he's like, it's almost Kubuki performance,
Speaker 2: you know what he's doing here. And then he said,
Speaker 2: you know, people can listen to the conversation. But then
Speaker 2: Kubrick Spielberg is like, sharing this with us. Kubrick explained
Speaker 2: these decisions and the performance decisions with Jack Nicholson, and
Speaker 2: Spielberg was like, I see it now and it's just
Speaker 2: my gosh, news stories, interesting stories, personal stories with him
Speaker 2: and not just Kubrick, but he talks about the Palma
Speaker 2: and Lucas and all these other people, and it's just
Speaker 2: what a time as a Spielberg fan to get to
Speaker 2: hear all these long form conversations with him right now.
Speaker 2: So it's I'm really happy about that. But you and
Speaker 2: I were also saying, it's also a little indicative of
Speaker 2: this maybe is the first time Spielberg's felt like he's
Speaker 2: had to go out there and do this sort of thing.
Speaker 1: He's not the top of the heap anymore, right, Like.
Speaker 2: He needs to go out there and spread the word
Speaker 2: a little bit about his movie because when we were
Speaker 2: growing up, I mean certainly in the eighties nineties, he
Speaker 2: didn't have to lift a finger. You know, Spielberg Movie's
Speaker 2: coming out. We were there, the world was there. Yeah.
Speaker 2: And the last few movies he's had, which have been
Speaker 2: very good, the post Fableman's West Side Story, they have.
Speaker 1: Not performed right.
Speaker 2: And there's been the COVID of it all and all
Speaker 2: that stuff to factor in as well, but they have
Speaker 2: not been the taken the world by storm the way
Speaker 2: that his movie is used to. And so now you
Speaker 2: see him like, okay, like I'll go out there I'll
Speaker 2: talk about my movie. You know, more than we've ever
Speaker 2: seen him before.
Speaker 1: He has to job own it a little more than
Speaker 1: than he's used to having to do.
Speaker 2: Yeah. Yeah, have you watched any of these conversations or I've.
Speaker 1: Seen not not what you're describing, but I I saw
Speaker 1: him on a Colbert Show about a month ago, and
Speaker 1: and I was thinking, like, you know, there there's a
Speaker 1: short list right of people of like directors who who
Speaker 1: would show up on late night shows, m right, and
Speaker 1: and Colbert is one of one of the ones who
Speaker 1: can who would do that because he had he had
Speaker 1: Christopher Nolan also, oh right, Yeah, yeah, I think I
Speaker 1: think that the the movie landscape, I mean, this is
Speaker 1: this is just one of those things where you and
Speaker 1: I we have been around long enough to see all
Speaker 1: of the the waves, you know, how these things go.
Speaker 1: And and I think it, you know, I think there's
Speaker 1: a discussion and I had before where it's like every
Speaker 1: director gets a certain number of at bats and and
Speaker 1: at some point, you know, just the the the zeitgeist
Speaker 1: moves on, and you know that's sort of where Spielberg
Speaker 1: is at right now.
Speaker 2: You know, he's a fascinating case, right because everyone still
Speaker 2: knows who he is, and I do feel like there
Speaker 2: is still a reverence for him. I mentioned this on
Speaker 2: the show, but you know, the first trailers for Disclosure
Speaker 2: Day weren't doing a ton for me, right, and they
Speaker 2: weren't give me a lot. I wasn't quite sure I was.
Speaker 2: I wasn't finding something to hook onto necessarily, but of
Speaker 2: course I was going to go, it's Spielberg, it's Aliens,
Speaker 2: all that. But I was picking up on and I
Speaker 2: had multiple experiences of this people next to me not
Speaker 2: quite jiving with the trailer, and then as soon as
Speaker 2: it said from Steven Spielberg, I multiple times I heard
Speaker 2: people go oh, you know, like sort of ugh huh.
Speaker 2: And then there are these two young people next to me.
Speaker 2: I told the story and I'm like, what does he
Speaker 2: mean to them? You know, like does he I don't know.
Speaker 2: And when the thing ended, I heard someone go eh,
Speaker 2: and then the other kid went well but Spielberg, and
Speaker 2: I was like, Okay, So, I mean he's not dominating
Speaker 2: like he used to, but I do feel like people
Speaker 2: still look to him as elevated. Yeah, so we'll see. Though.
Speaker 2: The frustrating part about recording this episode is this is
Speaker 2: before it's really come out, so we have no idea
Speaker 2: how this is going to do. I'm very curious.
Speaker 1: Well how about this, Brian, why don't you and a
Speaker 1: guy let's let's go see it, okay, and then we'll
Speaker 1: talk about it.
Speaker 2: Look forward to.
Speaker 1: It, see you soon, all right, see you in a
Speaker 1: couple hours. Okay, And now we're pleased to bring our
Speaker 1: features and we are back. And you know who else
Speaker 1: is back? Brian?
Speaker 2: Who's that, Zachie?
Speaker 1: Why it's Steven Spielberg making his movie.
Speaker 2: Making his movie.
Speaker 1: He has a certain what we're seeing now is like
Speaker 1: a trend line that he that he tends to gravitate right.
Speaker 2: Back towards I see what you're saying now. Yes, absolutely,
Speaker 2: this seems.
Speaker 1: About every twenty years or so. It seems like.
Speaker 2: Exactly this is. This is always running in the back
Speaker 2: of his mind, and every now and then he goes
Speaker 2: back to it because he loves it so much.
Speaker 1: We see where his heart truly lies. I should say,
Speaker 1: before we even get to our discussion of disclosure day,
Speaker 1: you and I we were talking about how he's been
Speaker 1: making the rounds every which way, you know, and he
Speaker 1: was on the Josh Horowitz podcast.
Speaker 2: Oh I haven't heard that one yet.
Speaker 1: Yeah. I just saw some clips on YouTube and I
Speaker 1: you know, he basically he did what you do. It's
Speaker 1: just like asking all the questions. And he said, did
Speaker 1: did Elliott and e t ever meet again? And Spielberg says,
Speaker 1: they never met again, but Elliott always dreamed about him
Speaker 1: because of you know, when Et touched him on his forehead,
Speaker 1: he created a psychic link that he had for the
Speaker 1: rest of his life.
Speaker 2: Ah. I like that, you know, when you said the
Speaker 2: question like did they ever meet again? I was literally
Speaker 2: leaning forward like this was like world news, like and
Speaker 2: what did he say? Well?
Speaker 1: And I love that that Spielberg beyond just know he
Speaker 1: actually thought it through.
Speaker 2: Yes, yes.
Speaker 1: And then the second question was whether Roy Neary ever
Speaker 1: returned home? Oh my gosh, yes, and he said yes, yes,
Speaker 1: he did, just like all the other people you know
Speaker 1: in that we see in close encounters who came back eventually.
Speaker 2: Right, it's like a fairy like they take people, then
Speaker 2: bring them back, then pick up new people bring them back.
Speaker 1: That's right.
Speaker 2: Okay, I like that.
Speaker 1: Okay, so there you go. So I'm those are just
Speaker 1: the snippets that I saw.
Speaker 2: I you know, it's been interesting He's been on so
Speaker 2: many different podcasts that have different formats. Yeah, it's been
Speaker 2: kind of nice because I listened to one where he
Speaker 2: talked a little bit more about technical craft. Now this
Speaker 2: person is asking the questions that I would be asking,
Speaker 2: and I'm really excited to hear that. And then of
Speaker 2: course the two thousand and one one was amazing because
Speaker 2: you get to hear him geek out about a movie
Speaker 2: that he loves.
Speaker 1: That's right.
Speaker 2: So this is ah what a time I know.
Speaker 1: Well, speaking of time, it has been about twelve hours
Speaker 1: since you and I watched Disclosure Day. Yes, yes, I
Speaker 1: will say I went to a seven o'clock screening last
Speaker 1: night and that joint was packed really and that made
Speaker 1: me happy.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I saw. I want to say the Thursday night
Speaker 2: box office was around twelve million I saw, which is
Speaker 2: really good.
Speaker 1: Yeah that is good. Yeah, okay, okay, yeah, well do
Speaker 1: you do you want to get the ball rolling? Oh? Man?
Speaker 2: Yes, okay. So I am thankful we had a lot
Speaker 2: of time to process. Yeah, because much like when your
Speaker 2: favorite band comes out with a new album, you know,
Speaker 2: you know all their previous albums, they touch your soul
Speaker 2: in a way they remind you of moments of your life,
Speaker 2: you have deep connections with them. So when this isn't
Speaker 2: just like a summ or movie coming out. This is
Speaker 2: one of my favorite artists in my lifetime presenting something
Speaker 2: new and just like you know you that happens with
Speaker 2: a new album and you're like, Okay, great, I heard it.
Speaker 2: I might need a couple listens to really understand how
Speaker 2: this fits with me or how I connect with this.
Speaker 2: I do feel that experience a little bit with this.
Speaker 2: So this these are first impressions, and I would say
Speaker 2: I was a little surprised how much I had to
Speaker 2: process afterwards. This wasn't an immediate thing where I had,
Speaker 2: oh this these are my feelings about this movie. I
Speaker 2: would say, uh, I enjoyed my time with it a lot,
Speaker 2: but I can't say I ever felt fully all in dude.
Speaker 1: Yes, I'm just like people sometimes are like, do you
Speaker 1: guys always agree and I promise, I'm like, I promise
Speaker 1: we don't talk about it beforehand, but I'm just like yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2: Wow, okay, this is gonna I have been counting the
Speaker 2: minutes to this discussion so.
Speaker 1: Literally as I was walking out of the theater, my
Speaker 1: second Mikile goes, what did you think? And I said,
Speaker 1: I said I liked it, and then I paused, I
Speaker 1: was like, I liked the swing. Yeah, And that's kind
Speaker 1: of where I'm at. I'm like, there is a lot
Speaker 1: in this that I really admired, and there's a lot
Speaker 1: that is singularly Spielberg. I don't think the whole is
Speaker 1: greater than the sum of the parts.
Speaker 2: One hundred percent. Wow, we have some sort of psychic
Speaker 2: link between us here. We're holding that little metal piece,
Speaker 2: hands clasped together, I guess, And oh my gosh, I
Speaker 2: can't wait to dive into this. I can talk about
Speaker 2: this for an hour, but I'll say this right off
Speaker 2: the bat because I really did try, and I actually
Speaker 2: did write this down so I could say this clearly.
Speaker 2: But I was trying to figure out specifically how to
Speaker 2: express what I was feeling and what I was wrestling
Speaker 2: with a little bit. So bear with me here. Thinking
Speaker 2: about his previous alien movies, they're never necessarily about the aliens.
Speaker 1: Sure, so by way of context, we have War of
Speaker 1: the World's two thousand and five, Yeah, well, nineteen eighty two,
Speaker 1: and then Close Encounters seventy eight exactly, So.
Speaker 2: With et that movie is actually about loneliness and fear
Speaker 2: and friendship, and it's about two souls that needed one
Speaker 2: another and they make a connection and it's beautiful. And
Speaker 2: I watch it forty years on and I still my
Speaker 2: heart melts right and close encounters to me, I think
Speaker 2: it could be about different things to different people, But
Speaker 2: to me, that movie is about belief and it's something
Speaker 2: that you're you specifically, are grappling with that others may
Speaker 2: not understand, but that thing is very real and present
Speaker 2: to you, and it may drive you crazy, but it's
Speaker 2: a belief that you can't resist and you have to
Speaker 2: reach out and try to touch and understand. And what
Speaker 2: I love about that movie is at the end, his
Speaker 2: belief is rewarded in really wondrous and cathartic ways. Right
Speaker 2: this movie, I think it's about the potential for the
Speaker 2: truth capital t and a greater perspective of the universe,
Speaker 2: you know, possibly being able to unite a fractured world.
Speaker 2: And I like that theme, but I don't know that
Speaker 2: the execution of that theme resonated with me as strongly
Speaker 2: as the themes in those other movies I mentioned. Yeah,
Speaker 2: And I don't know if it's because I didn't quite
Speaker 2: connect with the characters. I don't know if I didn't
Speaker 2: quite connect with the world the way it was depicted,
Speaker 2: you know, like I'm with Roy Neary in his mania,
Speaker 2: I'm with Henry Elliott in his loneliness and the kinship
Speaker 2: and everything. And I never quite was able to resonate
Speaker 2: with what this movie was presenting to me to get
Speaker 2: me completely on board with the theme. So we'll talk
Speaker 2: about in spoilers. I thought the ending was very cool,
Speaker 2: but it didn't land as powerfully for me as I'm
Speaker 2: seeing some other people say. And and it's still a
Speaker 2: rip roaring yarn, but I think for me this one
Speaker 2: might be more in line with something like War the.
Speaker 1: World's Yeah, I would put it in the in the
Speaker 1: same category.
Speaker 2: Ash, Yeah, that less than his more emotionally impactful films. Yeah.
Speaker 1: And if I can draw comparison to you know, one
Speaker 1: of his recent films, which was positioned as kind of
Speaker 1: a throwback to to his his Popcornspielberg era, you know,
Speaker 1: Ready one is a movie that as soon as it ended,
Speaker 1: I was like, I did not like that at all.
Speaker 1: I did not like it on a bench, I did
Speaker 1: not like just not at all. You know, it just
Speaker 1: did not work for me. And that's fine. I know
Speaker 1: people listening who liked him, that's great. It's just for
Speaker 1: me personally, and it felt like he wasn't into it.
Speaker 1: That was my I felt his disinterest in the material.
Speaker 2: You know what, that almost feels like just real fastle's scuse.
Speaker 2: I don't want hijack you, but it feels like what
Speaker 2: Zamechis does where he's almost more interested in the technology
Speaker 2: than the craft of it, the craft than the story.
Speaker 2: And that's where Zamechis is gonna drift. And that feels
Speaker 2: like that was his little dabbling in that.
Speaker 1: I agree with that. Yeah, And so you know, anyway,
Speaker 1: all that is to say, that's not a movie I
Speaker 1: felt compelled to to revisit for just the reason. This one.
Speaker 1: I never doubted how how connected to the material Spielberg was. Yeah,
Speaker 1: and I I appreciated that aspect of it. I could,
Speaker 1: I could feel his warmth for what was being said.
Speaker 1: I think the film let me actually, let me start
Speaker 1: by saying what what I what I did like quite
Speaker 1: a bit. I think I think this was a fantastic
Speaker 1: performance by Emily Blunt. Oh yeah, probably one of her
Speaker 1: best and honestly I think the entire top line cast.
Speaker 1: I thought Josh O'Connor was great. Coleman Domingo is having
Speaker 1: quite the moment. He's fantastic in this, like everybody's you know,
Speaker 1: Colin further, like Eve Houston. I thought it was fantastic yep, right,
Speaker 1: So so I liked all of them. I I do
Speaker 1: feel like this and this is not a spoiler, because
Speaker 1: I mean it's in all the trailers that I mean,
Speaker 1: it's it's a story about aliens. I mean literally the
Speaker 1: last trailer, like two weeks ago, is just Spielberg talking
Speaker 1: to the camera like, so what if aliens were real?
Speaker 1: You know, like right, right, right. So I don't feel
Speaker 1: like I'm spoiling anything, but I do feel that to
Speaker 1: a large extent, the story terrain that this movie exists
Speaker 1: in no longer feels new, right, because we're living in
Speaker 1: a post X Files and posts like all these things world.
Speaker 2: Right, Yeah, so.
Speaker 1: It it feels a little familiar.
Speaker 2: Yeah, not as novel as you would expect from him, yes, right.
Speaker 1: And then and then related, but almost contradictory. I feel
Speaker 1: like it's it's assuming a knowledge of the inner workings
Speaker 1: of this world. Yes, yes, that I feel like it
Speaker 1: was like, bro, I think you got to feel some
Speaker 1: of this in a little bit.
Speaker 2: I totally agree, because there's you get glimpses of what's
Speaker 2: happening in that world in the movie, but it's you know,
Speaker 2: talking heads on the news, and I was like, wait, wait, wait,
Speaker 2: I didn't catch that. What like, yeah, right, and I
Speaker 2: got the gist, right, but uh, yeah, I agree, it's
Speaker 2: a pretty important component.
Speaker 1: Yeah, And I think just to pick up on what
Speaker 1: you were saying, I think that in order for the
Speaker 1: third act to land more effectively, I think we needed
Speaker 1: a greater sense of sort of the world, like what
Speaker 1: was happening in the world. And this is this is
Speaker 1: me trying very hard to talk around spoilers. Yeah, yeah, yeah,
Speaker 1: I feel like, let me let me just say, for
Speaker 1: anybody listening and you want you want to get my
Speaker 1: non spoiler thoughts there, it is there's a lot to
Speaker 1: admire and if you like Spielberg, if you have enjoyed
Speaker 1: his work, then then this is this is not an
Speaker 1: insubstantial entry in his catalog. But it's not a movie
Speaker 1: I can wholeheartedly recommend, and I don't know that it's
Speaker 1: a movie I'm gonna end up rewatching a ton I
Speaker 1: it used to come.
Speaker 2: Yes, I definitely. Well, I know for a fact that
Speaker 2: you and I are going to be seeing it again.
Speaker 1: Yes, that's right.
Speaker 2: But I'm looking forward to that because, like I said,
Speaker 2: I mean, it is important to note, speaking for myself,
Speaker 2: just how much anticipation I have for this man's work.
Speaker 2: I am now happy that I know what it is
Speaker 2: and if experienced it, and I do feel like this
Speaker 2: is I am giving a valid take on my feelings
Speaker 2: on it right now, but I am very curious watching
Speaker 2: it a second time if it will play a little
Speaker 2: smoother for me or something, or possibly the flaws stick
Speaker 2: out more that's possible. Yeah, and I guess too. I mean,
Speaker 2: I'm really looking forward to diving into this because there's
Speaker 2: a lot that I liked also, but yeah, I wanted
Speaker 2: to at least set the tone for what I walked
Speaker 2: out with.
Speaker 1: Yeah, and one thing I'll say is, you know, my
Speaker 1: man knows how to execute on action sequences, like he
Speaker 1: still got it. You know what. There is a scene
Speaker 1: involving a car and a train, I'll say, yep, where
Speaker 1: I'm just like, I'm just like leaning back taking it in.
Speaker 2: Uh huh.
Speaker 1: I'm like my man, I know.
Speaker 2: Actually there, Well there's two things there. We'll get into
Speaker 2: spoilers about one of them, but there was there's a
Speaker 2: set piece in here when I went there, you are there,
Speaker 2: you are it is. It is action, It is wondrous.
Speaker 2: It is something I've never seen before. It's delightful. And
Speaker 2: I was like, wow, okay, we did. That was the
Speaker 2: thing that I felt like I got from him that
Speaker 2: was new that I was like, oh, I love it.
Speaker 2: I love it only from you, only from you. And
Speaker 2: the thing that I can say that isn't a spoiler.
Speaker 2: I mean this is clear in the trailers that Colin
Speaker 2: Firth is the antagonist. And in the opening scene when
Speaker 2: he's introduced this, the camera is spinning around an suv
Speaker 2: slowly kind of revealing all these you know, henchmen kind
Speaker 2: of taking position or whatever. And then someone opens a
Speaker 2: door and the camera pushes in on the door and
Speaker 2: so the window frame frames Colin Firth as a light
Speaker 2: is shining down the top of his head and it's like, ah,
Speaker 2: I was like, yes, like I'm sitting down for fill
Speaker 2: a you know, like I just nobody does that stuff.
Speaker 2: And so the the technical stuff is fully here and
Speaker 2: just so delicious.
Speaker 1: Absolutely And one other thing I'd like to say is
Speaker 1: as the movie ends, and you know, the credits come up,
Speaker 1: and I'm just sort of sitting and just like watching
Speaker 1: the credits, letting it come in and letting this great
Speaker 1: score wash over me. And then you know, it says
Speaker 1: music by John Williams, And there's that part of me
Speaker 1: where I'm like, is this the last Steven Spielberg film
Speaker 1: with music by John Williams? You know, you can't help
Speaker 1: but have that thought.
Speaker 2: I did, and I people got up and left and
Speaker 2: I did not move until the lights came up.
Speaker 1: I mean, it's it's it's it's John Williams. You know, yep.
Speaker 1: I was like, I what else can you say?
Speaker 2: Yep, yep. You spoilers, Yeah, I mean that's there's really
Speaker 2: not much else we can say.
Speaker 1: Yeah, let's do it. Spoiler all right, go for it.
Speaker 2: You know what I really loved. I loved Emily Blunt's character.
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 2: I loved her being this weather girl and her kind
Speaker 2: of okay relationship with her boyfriend. And then when she
Speaker 2: suddenly starts speaking other languages, I thought that was really fun.
Speaker 2: And then she also has this you know, sort of
Speaker 2: psychic impath ability and we've seen things sort of like that,
Speaker 2: but the way that they employ that in this movie
Speaker 2: and the way that she portrays it was just that
Speaker 2: was magical. And specifically when they are, you know, surrounded
Speaker 2: by the bad guys and then she appears to Firth
Speaker 2: as his wife. Yeah, like, what a an amazing thing
Speaker 2: and it was captured so magically. And then everyone sees,
Speaker 2: you know, like a mentor figure or a son or
Speaker 2: a you know, or daughter I think it is, you know,
Speaker 2: and and that's how they're able to escape from the warehouse.
Speaker 1: And I was like, wow, so that part by this
Speaker 1: is just how my brain works. But you know, yeah,
Speaker 1: we're seeing she's like, it's like he sees this. One
Speaker 1: guy sees an old man, he's like, I always loved you,
Speaker 1: like a son. And that's one lady. She sees a
Speaker 1: little Girl's like, oh, we're gonna go play it right.
Speaker 1: And I just thought it'd be funny if one, like
Speaker 1: one person just sees a clown who's just like Bongo
Speaker 1: forgives you and we just move it like there's like
Speaker 1: no explanation, We have no idea what that means. This
Speaker 1: is how my brain works.
Speaker 2: That is hilarious, dude.
Speaker 1: But I and then at the very end, when we
Speaker 1: have the montage of all the people who are watching,
Speaker 1: we see Bongo the clown, and we're like, huh.
Speaker 2: Yes, oh there he is.
Speaker 1: Yeah, anyway, sorry, go on. I just I had that
Speaker 1: thought in my head. I was like, I need to
Speaker 1: mention this because I I forget dude. I'm glad.
Speaker 2: You know. I remember thinking of a joke too during
Speaker 2: the movie, and I didn't I didn't write it down,
Speaker 2: And now I'm like, ah, I wish I could share
Speaker 2: with zech. But I thought she there was an amazing performance. Yea,
Speaker 2: and she she plays all that so well. That moment
Speaker 2: where she's it's you know, we've seen it over and
Speaker 2: over in the trailer where she's sort of possessed a
Speaker 2: little bit and speaking that clicking language. I was wondering
Speaker 2: how that would play because I've seen it like a
Speaker 2: hundred times. But it's great, Like it's very still uncomfortable,
Speaker 2: and she plays it so well, like someone who is
Speaker 2: really confused and concerned about everything that's happening, but able
Speaker 2: to have genuine connections with people.
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I thought she was probably the strongest part of
Speaker 2: the movie.
Speaker 1: She I mean, she was good. I thought I thought
Speaker 1: Josh O'Connor was very solid.
Speaker 2: He's very good.
Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, I think that. Obviously, you put Colin Firth
Speaker 1: and Coleman Domingo in a movie, you're gonna get great performances, right,
Speaker 1: And they have I think one scene together, which is fantastic,
Speaker 1: and I'm like, sitting there, I'm just like, man, I
Speaker 1: just love watching these two guys play off each other.
Speaker 2: You know.
Speaker 1: I think the problem is they are positioned as sort
Speaker 1: of the moral opponents, but truly I don't know where
Speaker 1: either of them is coming from. Yeah, yeah, right, And
Speaker 1: that feels like a big problem because because I'm fine
Speaker 1: with leaving things unset and not diving just whole hog
Speaker 1: into a whole bunch of backstory, but I feel like
Speaker 1: I feel like you needed something I don't know what,
Speaker 1: maybe maybe like a like a scene before the credits
Speaker 1: where it's the two of them together as co as colleagues,
Speaker 1: just to contrast with what comes later, right, Because the
Speaker 1: movie drops us right into the story and that's fine,
Speaker 1: and it expects us to catch on and that's fine.
Speaker 1: I'm fine with all of that, but I do feel
Speaker 1: like there's certain pieces that are necessary to make the
Speaker 1: ending hit.
Speaker 2: Agreed, And to your point, even if it's just shorthand,
Speaker 2: I mean, it makes me think of the true Fox
Speaker 2: character in Close Encounters.
Speaker 1: Right, Yeah, that's a perfect example.
Speaker 2: Yeah right, because we don't I don't know who that
Speaker 2: guy is, but I understand him completely, you know, and
Speaker 2: you know, even down to his line at the end
Speaker 2: where he's like, I envy you to NEARI yeah. So yeah,
Speaker 2: and you know, I had similar feelings. I thought Josh
Speaker 2: O'Connor did great with what he was doing and playing
Speaker 2: the type of guy he was playing, but I'm not
Speaker 2: even sure I under stood his character entirely, and I
Speaker 2: didn't feel a lot of chemistry between him and his girlfriend,
Speaker 2: which is typically that human element is something you expect
Speaker 2: a little bit more from Spielberg, you know.
Speaker 1: And so, well, what's funny is I was I agree
Speaker 1: with what you said about the chemistry, but in my head,
Speaker 1: I was like, well, he's gonna end up with Emily Blunt.
Speaker 1: That's what I was thinking too, right, So that's why
Speaker 1: I was sort of like fine with that. But then
Speaker 1: you realize that, oh, Jane is like she she does
Speaker 1: not pull a Wyatt Russell, Yes, right right, she does not. Nope,
Speaker 1: out and so I was like, oh, okay.
Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, so yeah, I mean, not bad sketches ideas
Speaker 2: for these characters, but I don't know that they felt
Speaker 2: as rounded out as I would have liked if I
Speaker 2: you know, I think.
Speaker 1: Maybe part of the problem is there's just too many characters.
Speaker 1: Like I feel like, I feel like Eve Huston's arc,
Speaker 1: which is, you know, how does a person of faith
Speaker 1: reconcile their faith with knowing this new thing? Right, I'm like,
Speaker 1: that's a movie all by itself, totally right. So I'm like,
Speaker 1: you know, could you have given her business to another character,
Speaker 1: to you know, to Josh or to Emily Blunt? And
Speaker 1: you know, like it feels like too many, too many
Speaker 1: things are happening happening because like you've got so many
Speaker 1: characters you're sort of moving him through the pieces, Like
Speaker 1: you literally have characters who are like I have to
Speaker 1: go here. Why I don't know, I just I have
Speaker 1: to go here. And I'm like, well, that's a problem,
Speaker 1: because like, I think that only gets you so far, right,
Speaker 1: because I don't know how many times throughout the film
Speaker 1: we hear some version of like, you know, what's going
Speaker 1: to happen is going to change everything or whatever. Right,
Speaker 1: that's the thing that's sort of pushing us along. Right,
Speaker 1: And just to be clear, I don't mind how it
Speaker 1: ended in terms of where it ends things. I feel
Speaker 1: like that was probably the only way to end it.
Speaker 1: But I think that we need we need a greater
Speaker 1: focus on what this world is and therefore what this
Speaker 1: change represents. And without part A, we don't really get
Speaker 1: Part B, and so it doesn't land as effectively as
Speaker 1: it might.
Speaker 2: Yeah, because I mean the implication is it reminds me
Speaker 2: a little bit of Watchmen, right where you drop a
Speaker 2: giant squid alien on New York. Maybe the world will
Speaker 2: forget about its problems with one another and we can focus.
Speaker 2: We can become united. That's right in something else, something
Speaker 2: discovering something bigger than not killing each other. Yeah, And
Speaker 2: so I think, you know, it's kind of a similar
Speaker 2: idea here where I think, instead of you know, us
Speaker 2: thinking we're meeting an enemy, it's more like, Wow, the
Speaker 2: world is bigger than we understand. Maybe our problems aren't
Speaker 2: so big, and you know, this greater perspective will help us.
Speaker 1: Right, So, just to you know, contextually, the film is
Speaker 1: like we're on the verge of world War three, the
Speaker 1: end is nigh, and so that is the ticking clock
Speaker 1: that the film is operating within. But I it feels
Speaker 1: like the it feels like the disclosures of Disclosure Day
Speaker 1: are not directly tied to the World War three part.
Speaker 1: Does that make sense? Yeah?
Speaker 2: Oh no, completely? Yeah right?
Speaker 1: And I think that's what would have made it work
Speaker 1: better for me. It would have added a level of
Speaker 1: tension above and beyond. Our characters are trying to get
Speaker 1: away from these bad guys, you know, and and and
Speaker 1: I think for me that would have allowed me to
Speaker 1: squint past some of the sort of logic problems I
Speaker 1: had a little more Like I I I I think
Speaker 1: that uh hm when when you say, oh, this group,
Speaker 1: I forget what the organization, you know, Hydra whatever, I
Speaker 1: think Colin Fertz group. It's like, oh, we're we're like
Speaker 1: above presidential level right right? And I'm like, okay, I
Speaker 1: get that. And that feels very hand to wav. But
Speaker 1: just on like a logistical level, Make that make sense
Speaker 1: to me?
Speaker 2: Sure? Sure?
Speaker 1: Like where do they get all the resources to do this?
Speaker 2: Where?
Speaker 1: You know, if you can dispatch a battalion to freaking
Speaker 1: Kansas City, right, Like, how does that work, you know,
Speaker 1: and so so oh and this is the other thing.
Speaker 1: Sorry I'm jumping around, but this is important. The climax
Speaker 1: of the movie feels like it was made by somebody
Speaker 1: who grew up in the fifties and sixties and seventies
Speaker 1: and still views linear media as like the arbiter of
Speaker 1: social change, you know what I mean? Yeah, yeah, because
Speaker 1: to me, I'm like, I'm like, hey, I'm a fan
Speaker 1: of the news media. If but if we actually of journalism,
Speaker 1: I not news media, of journalism, but if we believe
Speaker 1: that the way this climax is staged could have this
Speaker 1: kind of social impact, I think that's that sort of
Speaker 1: blissfully naive.
Speaker 2: Yes, I agree completely because and just every other news
Speaker 2: affiliate is just like, whoa, We've got to run this. Yeah,
Speaker 2: and I would be like what is this? You know,
Speaker 2: like I would immediately be questioning its authenticity. And also
Speaker 2: this is a little different, but you know, it ends
Speaker 2: as everyone is seeing this for the first time. That's
Speaker 2: the ending, and the cynic in me thinks the world
Speaker 2: is a little bit more like Springfield, you know from
Speaker 2: the Simpsons, where immediately they'd be like, wow, look at
Speaker 2: that thing. Kill it, right, you know like that's probably
Speaker 2: da sadly, you know, or or more realistically, nobody would
Speaker 2: believe what they're seeing. And part of me this is
Speaker 2: again I hate this, but seeing the footage, which I
Speaker 2: wish had made the hairs stand on the back of
Speaker 2: my head, and you know, I was like, I mean,
Speaker 2: it does look like visual effects from a movie.
Speaker 1: You know what I mean. So if I saw that
Speaker 1: on the news, it looks like alien autopsy.
Speaker 2: Right right, and some of the ships coming out of
Speaker 2: you know, storm cloud looking thing. I just even my
Speaker 2: eyes weren't buying it in the movie. So like, if
Speaker 2: I saw that in the news, I don't know that
Speaker 2: I would.
Speaker 1: Have bought it. I mean, they they literally have characters
Speaker 1: in the control room saying like this is this AI, right,
Speaker 1: And that's sort of like their way of just acknowledging
Speaker 1: that that's the world we live in.
Speaker 2: Yeah, and someone runs a check right with pixels, Yes,
Speaker 2: that's right. Yeah.
Speaker 1: And so I think that that that climax was clearly
Speaker 1: meant to hit in a different way and and I
Speaker 1: just don't think it does because of the world we
Speaker 1: live in. M And on one level that makes me sad, yeah,
Speaker 1: because right, because it's very much Spielberg wearing his heart
Speaker 1: on his sleeve, and this idea that no, if aliens arrived,
Speaker 1: everything would change, and I'm sure it would. I don't
Speaker 1: I don't doubt that. And by the way, I want
Speaker 1: to mention Courtney Grace, the actress who plays the newscast
Speaker 1: Oh yes, yes, watching the footage go out, like sure,
Speaker 1: what this is like a starmaking role for her.
Speaker 2: I was thinking that as it was happening, like, is
Speaker 2: this person like she just got maybe the most crucial
Speaker 2: part in this movie and she's nail it.
Speaker 1: She was terrific.
Speaker 2: Ry.
Speaker 1: I think that this notion though that, oh, we got
Speaker 1: to get to the TV station before this goes out.
Speaker 1: We got to cut the backup generator. I mean, I'm like,
Speaker 1: this is a great nineteen ninety seven story.
Speaker 2: Yeah, that's so true.
Speaker 1: Yep, that was my thought. I'm like, we don't live
Speaker 1: in that world anymore.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 1: And and other than alien ships landing on every single
Speaker 1: front door of every single person, I don't know what
Speaker 1: people would believe.
Speaker 2: That's the other that's I know, I know that's what
Speaker 2: I mean, right, Like, I mean, recently, in real life
Speaker 2: history things have been sort of documents have been an
Speaker 2: or opened and video shown, and I've like ignored all
Speaker 2: of it.
Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, you know what I mean.
Speaker 2: Well, it's just real quick. I wanted to specify when
Speaker 2: I said that the newscaster had the most important role.
Speaker 2: It's because she's the person we're watching having the reaction
Speaker 2: to the footage.
Speaker 1: In real time.
Speaker 2: In real time, I mean, we can see people watching
Speaker 2: on their phones on buses and baggage pickups at airports,
Speaker 2: but like she is reacting in real time, and so
Speaker 2: we're following her and experiencing all this through her and
Speaker 2: believing it through her. And I thought she did a
Speaker 2: really wonderful job of being confused and then surprised and
Speaker 2: then emotionally moved and then trying to keep her composure
Speaker 2: because she realizes she's on camera as a guide. I
Speaker 2: just she nailed all of that, that journey.
Speaker 1: That all I was. I really liked again this notion
Speaker 1: that everyone everywhere is staring at their device, people are
Speaker 1: on the airplanes. What I I just I want I
Speaker 1: want to acknowledge Spielberg's spirit of optimism and say I
Speaker 1: love it. Yeah, I love you for feeling that way,
Speaker 1: mister Spielberg, sir. It just it doesn't register as real
Speaker 1: for me. Yeah, I mean I almost wonder if like
Speaker 1: you do like a like I'm and see if you
Speaker 1: follow me on this, like as like a montage of
Speaker 1: the aftermath, like like quick shots of what the aftermath
Speaker 1: of this looks like without fully revealing the scope of it.
Speaker 1: And then we come back to Emily Blunt saying listen,
Speaker 1: m just to sort of give us a sense of like,
Speaker 1: this is what happened next without without just fully revealing it.
Speaker 1: Does that make sense?
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean I can see it both ways, Like
Speaker 2: there's cutting it off before we can see any of
Speaker 2: the aftermath. I guess gives us something to chew on. Yeah, right,
Speaker 2: but there would it would be nice. It feels a
Speaker 2: little not incomplete, but I am eager to see just
Speaker 2: like a second after, I guess.
Speaker 1: Yeah, Well it's funny because because you know, we they
Speaker 1: wheel out senior citizen Et as I call him. Yes,
Speaker 1: he's back and he's pissed.
Speaker 2: Was there a split second where you wondered if it
Speaker 2: might be et.
Speaker 1: Hundred percent? Yeah? Yeah, anyway, okay, got so yeah, uh yeah,
Speaker 1: when you just see the silhouette, right, yeah, but but
Speaker 1: like he like whispers in Josh O'Connor's ear, and I
Speaker 1: was like, hmm. And then I looked at my watch
Speaker 1: and I was like, oh, we're not going to hear
Speaker 1: anything he says. Yeah. So literally, I was already as
Speaker 1: soon as we go to Emily Blunt, I was like,
Speaker 1: it's gonna she's gonna like open her mouth and it's
Speaker 1: gonna go to credits.
Speaker 2: Oh. I was not far off, I know.
Speaker 1: I was like, okay, So I was not like disappointed
Speaker 1: in that way, huh. And I was thinking about it,
Speaker 1: I was like, that's almost the only way you can
Speaker 1: end it, because like, what can you what can possibly
Speaker 1: live up to the build up?
Speaker 2: I completely agree.
Speaker 1: Yeah, right, so so I because and I was talking
Speaker 1: about this kids last night, I was like, I just
Speaker 1: don't think there was any other way they could end it. Yeah,
Speaker 1: So I don't have a problem with that. I just
Speaker 1: feel like what they give us could have hit harder
Speaker 1: with a little bit more plot, plot and emotional runway.
Speaker 2: I agree, Yeah, I agree. And at the same time,
Speaker 2: it's it's, uh, it's fun, you know what I mean,
Speaker 2: Like it's it's fun. I just he's taken us on
Speaker 2: such potent, powerful, resonant, unforgettable journeys before and seeing him
Speaker 2: back in his wheelhouse, like you were saying, right, with
Speaker 2: these alien stories and the things he likes to tell,
Speaker 2: the things he likes to express or convey through alien stories.
Speaker 2: I was just a little surprised that when it ended
Speaker 2: as like, oh, like I didn't quite get onto the
Speaker 2: ride I was hoping to, right, and for the reasons
Speaker 2: I think you just said, like just not quite connecting
Speaker 2: with the world, the steaks, and just not quite feeling
Speaker 2: the impact. I think the ending wanted me to have.
Speaker 1: Yeah, well, a couple couple questions I had you already
Speaker 1: mentioned about about Danny and how how he got caught
Speaker 1: up in all this, like what his connection is to Hugo,
Speaker 1: the Coleman Domingo character. I was thinking about Margaret and
Speaker 1: how she gets sort of activated, right, and it's because
Speaker 1: that cardinal flies in the window. Yeah, And I'm like,
Speaker 1: was that like an alien thing?
Speaker 2: I think so, right, because the aliens disguise themselves as
Speaker 2: animals so they won't alarm us. Okay, so that cardinal
Speaker 2: was an alien, that's my understanding. Okay, So, and that's fine,
Speaker 2: but the whole thing hinges around, Oh, she and he
Speaker 2: are like the it was always them. They were meant
Speaker 2: to communicate with the aliens or whatever. I'm just like, well,
Speaker 2: why them? Yeah, that's a good question, because they're imbued
Speaker 2: with abilities that would make them good go betweens for
Speaker 2: humans and aliens. But was there something specific about them?
Speaker 1: Yeah, because we see the process when they're children.
Speaker 2: See, that would be nice to know. Yeah, that Danny,
Speaker 2: you know, for when he's a little boy, he had
Speaker 2: like a bigger heart. You know, maybe he was kind
Speaker 2: of a sensitive kid and he's very empathetic as a
Speaker 2: child or so, you know what I mean. Well, actually
Speaker 2: he was the math one. Maybe that'd be more Margaret,
Speaker 2: but no, that's yeah, I mean that's what I'm saying,
Speaker 2: right Like the I would like this their characters colored
Speaker 2: in just a little bit more.
Speaker 1: Yeah, Well, cause you know, Margaret talks about her fear
Speaker 1: of having Parkinson's because that's what her dad had, and
Speaker 1: I sort of expected that to be more of like
Speaker 1: a thing like we'll we'll get this reveal of her
Speaker 1: childhood and that'll reveal that fear and how that ties
Speaker 1: in with the aliens, And unless I missed it, there
Speaker 1: was nothing like that.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 1: Yeah, but it's like she's lying in her bed, the
Speaker 1: aliens come in her room and they're like follow us basically,
Speaker 1: and I'm just like, well, why her, right, because because
Speaker 1: I'm like, well she alludes to like, oh I ran
Speaker 1: away because I was scared of my dad's shaking or something.
Speaker 1: I'm like, well, maybe like the aliens found her then,
Speaker 1: like she was like they rescued her. I'm not saying
Speaker 1: you needed to do that, but I'm just like, if
Speaker 1: you're situating Margaret as like she is, she has these
Speaker 1: extraordinary gifts, right, She's like a new deity, right, why
Speaker 1: why her?
Speaker 2: Yeah? Yeah, I actually liked that moment too, by the
Speaker 2: way where she showcases her and that woman just starts
Speaker 2: praying to talk. She's like no, no, no, no, no, yeah,
Speaker 2: like I'm not a religion you know.
Speaker 1: That's really interesting And actually I agree the sequence that
Speaker 1: follows where she uses that you know, artifact to like
Speaker 1: keep Colin Firth's team from from seeing them, that was awesome.
Speaker 2: That was the set piece I was talking about in
Speaker 2: the non spoiler section where I was like, ah, this
Speaker 2: is something wholly original captured in such a fun and
Speaker 2: dazzling way where you see them. I was like, actually,
Speaker 2: think wondering when they're the swat or whatever they are,
Speaker 2: we're approaching the house, I'm like, are they just going
Speaker 2: to like bump into it? And then they proceed to
Speaker 2: for like the next two or three minutes in the
Speaker 2: most fun, you know sorts of ways.
Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, yeah, I feel I just feel like, on
Speaker 1: the on the script level, this one fell apart from me,
Speaker 1: not on not on the craft level, not on the
Speaker 1: not on the the film construction level, but just at
Speaker 1: a basic story and script level, it didn't. It didn't
Speaker 1: work the way I would have liked.
Speaker 2: Yeah. Same, And it's interesting too because this story it
Speaker 2: didn't occur to me till this morning. But this story
Speaker 2: is Spielberg's first draft of Close Encounters. When he and
Speaker 2: I mean literally like when he was coming up with
Speaker 2: the story for Close Encounters, the first story was someone
Speaker 2: who worked for Project Blue Book taking the secrets and
Speaker 2: people pursuing him.
Speaker 1: That's fascinating.
Speaker 2: So in a way, he's had this story in his
Speaker 2: head for fifty years or so, and it kind of
Speaker 2: makes sense. Now he's a little older and he's like,
Speaker 2: I still just really need to get this out, and
Speaker 2: maybe he did, Maybe he got all his ideas out,
Speaker 2: But I'm not.
Speaker 1: So sure that.
Speaker 2: I don't know the heart and the soul of it
Speaker 2: completely rounded out as well as I know he's capable of.
Speaker 1: You know that said, I do think as like a
Speaker 1: fifty years later bookend to Close Encounters, it's worth examination
Speaker 1: in that sense too. Oh yeah, sure, right, Like like
Speaker 1: that's the other thing is like this movie is not
Speaker 1: going to be viewed wholly on its own. It's going
Speaker 1: to be viewed as part of the Spielberg catalog. It's
Speaker 1: going to be viewed in contrast with his other alien films,
Speaker 1: and so I think it'll always be worthy of discussion
Speaker 1: in that way. M hm. But I think that on
Speaker 1: its own it it could have held together a little
Speaker 1: better for me.
Speaker 2: You know, you talking about it as a bookend to
Speaker 2: Close Encounters. I would have loved if in the last
Speaker 2: ten minutes when they wheeled out that you know, little
Speaker 2: I don't know coffin sort of thing, and then the
Speaker 2: character was inside. I would have loved if it was
Speaker 2: Roy neary, like old Richard Dreyfus, and he's like okay, okay,
Speaker 2: and he like pushes Emily Blame out of the seat,
Speaker 2: Scoon over, sister. I'll take it from here. Aliens are real,
Speaker 2: you know, you just get the I'm back, Hi, Terry Garr,
Speaker 2: you know.
Speaker 1: He He's like listen, and then corrected by Steven Spielb. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I would have loved that.
Speaker 2: Yeah, Yeah, it'd be funny if that's what was Spielberg's idea.
Speaker 1: And David Kep was like, ah, David Kep, it's like
Speaker 1: the Laser Cats sketches on SNL.
Speaker 2: Yes, get out, let's work shot this a bit, but yeah,
Speaker 2: but there is still a lot to enjoy, right, I mean,
Speaker 2: as you said, I mean the craft is incredible and
Speaker 2: it pulls you along. I didn't realize this movie was
Speaker 2: about two and a half hours long. It did not.
Speaker 2: I never felt the time I was pulled along the
Speaker 2: whole way. Everything I'm talking about is when I walked out,
Speaker 2: How did I feel? And I didn't quite feel, you know,
Speaker 2: as connected as I wish I had to the characters
Speaker 2: in the material. But I was pulled along, you know,
Speaker 2: masterfully through it. And so I think that's almost why
Speaker 2: it makes me a little bit more disappointed that I
Speaker 2: didn't feel those things.
Speaker 1: On top of it, I agree, there's one scene this
Speaker 1: is where we're talking about, like you start questioning the
Speaker 1: internal logic of the movie, where we see we've established
Speaker 1: that Colin Firth is able to it's called diving, where
Speaker 1: he's able to see the world through different characters' eyes.
Speaker 1: And he's done that already with Eve Houston's character, right,
Speaker 1: So Josh O'Connor he knows that that's a possibility. So
Speaker 1: we see him go through their hotel room and just
Speaker 1: anything that identifies the where they're at the hotel, right,
Speaker 1: and then she's like, I need you to tie me
Speaker 1: up because I'm a danger Okay, So she does that
Speaker 1: and then in the middle of the night, she wakes up,
Speaker 1: but it's it's with Colin Furt's eyes, yeah, and she
Speaker 1: she glances over at Josh O'Connor who's sleeping, and he's
Speaker 1: got his like notes in his hand. Yeah, and then
Speaker 1: she kind of like nudges his hand and you see
Speaker 1: that on top of the notes it says, you know,
Speaker 1: Indiana or like the name of the hotel, and now
Speaker 1: they know where they are. And so this is where
Speaker 1: as I'm watching the movie, I'm like, come on, bro,
Speaker 1: really right right right, like you know, like you you
Speaker 1: went through the whole room, you're throwing random stuff with
Speaker 1: this piece of paper.
Speaker 2: It doesn't occur to you well, and it's the piece
Speaker 2: of paper he stared at the longest because he wrote
Speaker 2: on it, right, And and maybe it's a little thing.
Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, yeah, but it feels very Oh, this is
Speaker 1: like we got to do this to like get to
Speaker 1: have the plot move, you know. Yeah, anyway, that's that's
Speaker 1: in a nutshell, it's all. It's all well executed, but
Speaker 1: there's these these plot construction issues that that do that
Speaker 1: do niggle a little bit.
Speaker 2: Yeah, you know another thing. I almost hesitate to bring
Speaker 2: this up because this might be too nippicky, But this
Speaker 2: is the time right again. As much as I loved
Speaker 2: the idea of wheeling out this elder alien and we're
Speaker 2: gonna he's in a newsroom, that's so cool. This is
Speaker 2: this is peak that thing I love, right, fantasy in
Speaker 2: your backyard, like seeing an alien in a in a
Speaker 2: you know, a Kansas City newsroom or whatever.
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 2: And I don't know if I ever really felt the
Speaker 2: wonder in Awe I was supposed to feel seeing it,
Speaker 2: and I was trying to figure out why. And I
Speaker 2: wonder if it's because we already saw a few earlier
Speaker 2: in the movie or if I'm so familiar with that design,
Speaker 2: or you know, the the what do they call them,
Speaker 2: the grays? You know they starts with the big eyes.
Speaker 2: Or when I see e T he's there, I can
Speaker 2: touch him, he and Elliott when they hug, I can,
Speaker 2: you know what I mean? Like I can feel the
Speaker 2: embrace right and and likewise, even you know, the aliens
Speaker 2: in close encounters, even though they're like stop motion and
Speaker 2: whatever sort of janky looking thing they are now, they
Speaker 2: still look like something I could poke, you know, and
Speaker 2: like shake its hand and like a tangibility. And I
Speaker 2: read online that apparently it was a puppet that was
Speaker 2: enhanced with CGI.
Speaker 1: Honestly, I would never have believed that. I thought it
Speaker 1: was CGI.
Speaker 2: I feel really really happy hearing you say that, because
Speaker 2: I felt the same thing, and I was like, there's
Speaker 2: just even if it's half a degree of disconnect from
Speaker 2: feeling that that thing is actually in the room with them,
Speaker 2: and I do feel like that is bringing the experience
Speaker 2: down for me a little bit, Like if I saw
Speaker 2: something that was brushing up against things, or even like
Speaker 2: maybe it was having a hard time walking and it
Speaker 2: put its hand for support on one of the cameraman's
Speaker 2: shoulders and the guy's like, oh my gosh. Yeah, you know, like,
Speaker 2: but seeing that would have brought me into it even more, like,
Speaker 2: holy crap, there's an alien in a newsroom. And unfortunately
Speaker 2: I didn't quite feel the wonder I wanted to with
Speaker 2: that specific thing. Yeah. I don't know, maybe it's just me.
Speaker 1: Yeah, well, I think again, I truly feel like it
Speaker 1: would have meant more separate from the way the creatures depicted.
Speaker 1: I think if if the stakes of what he represented
Speaker 1: were emphasized more, I You're.
Speaker 2: Right, what that moment meant. If it had meant like, Wow,
Speaker 2: this is the conclusion we need to this.
Speaker 1: Story, that's right.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 1: One thing I really do want to emphasize that I
Speaker 1: really admired a lot about this movie is that it's
Speaker 1: so quintessentially Spielberg in that it's not cynical. Hmm.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 1: There there is a broadly optimistic view of human nature
Speaker 1: that I liked. Yeah, And what does it come down to.
Speaker 1: It comes down to people's decency, people's empathy. And you
Speaker 1: know you know this, you and I when we've talked
Speaker 1: about E T. One of my favorite things about E
Speaker 1: T is that it's about trust and trust being rewarded.
Speaker 2: Right.
Speaker 1: Each time Elliott broadens his circle of trust, it's rewarded, right. Yeah,
Speaker 1: yeah right, he tells Michael, Michael becomes his ally. He
Speaker 1: tells Mom, Mom becomes the ally.
Speaker 2: You know.
Speaker 1: Keys is like Elliott grown up. Yeah, yeah, right, I
Speaker 1: love Keys in that movie, you know, And and that
Speaker 1: to me is something really you know, people might say
Speaker 1: naive about Steven Spielberg, you know, but I love that
Speaker 1: about him. Yeah right, I agree, wonder you know, And
Speaker 1: that's something that I like in this movie, this idea
Speaker 1: that this revelation would be the thing potentially that brings
Speaker 1: the world together. So I like that conceptually, I love that.
Speaker 1: Execution wise, I don't feel like we get there. And
Speaker 1: that's what I find frustrating. Not that I think the
Speaker 1: notion is unbelievable.
Speaker 2: Mmm, yes, does that make sense?
Speaker 1: Like even at the end when you think about it,
Speaker 1: like Scanlon the whole movie, he's set up as the heel, Yeah,
Speaker 1: and yet at the end of it he allows it
Speaker 1: to happen. He doesn't stop it.
Speaker 2: He just kind of gives up. Yeah. Well, and it'd
Speaker 2: be interesting to understand why exactly. Yeah, Like see, I
Speaker 2: I think it's interesting that we don't. It's not like
Speaker 2: we see Emily Blunt become his wife and then he
Speaker 2: gives up. M I don't think that's what happens. Yeah,
Speaker 2: I think he has this realization of like, no, this
Speaker 2: is the right thing to do.
Speaker 3: Right, which I'm not sure I highly got No, I
Speaker 3: agree with you, Like that's that's the point, right.
Speaker 1: I would have loved for that, the moment when he's like, no,
Speaker 1: this is the right thing, Like that really needed to
Speaker 1: mean something. And so this is this is my like frustration,
Speaker 1: Like I'm I'm fully on board with where Spielberg is
Speaker 1: trying to get us. I'm just not sure the way
Speaker 1: he gets us there is the most efficient or fulfilling
Speaker 1: you know, it's it's not it's not the efficient route,
Speaker 1: it's not the scenic route. And that's that was my frustration.
Speaker 1: But it's like, I feel like only Spielberg has that
Speaker 1: even now, at at this age, has that childish belief
Speaker 1: that that not childish childlike that No, this is like
Speaker 1: this will bring us all together.
Speaker 2: You know, how could it not?
Speaker 1: Exactly? You know how could? And and and yeah, man,
Speaker 1: I want that too, I know.
Speaker 2: I Yes, you're still right, because then if they had
Speaker 2: sold it. Maybe it would make us feel the same thing.
Speaker 1: How could it not exactly? Yeah, uh but yeah, that's
Speaker 1: that's our disclosure about disclosure day.
Speaker 2: Yeah, well, actually we have to say real quick John
Speaker 2: Williams wonderful hearing his music, surprising how little of it
Speaker 2: there is.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I think I don't. I didn't hear a lot
Speaker 1: of big sweeping motifs. Yeah.
Speaker 2: I would say even the first half of the movie,
Speaker 2: I noticed there was a lot of action in things
Speaker 2: happening without any score. It was an interesting unusual Spielberg.
Speaker 1: Ye choice, Hey, the man's earned his break, the man's
Speaker 1: earned his rest, that's sure. Yeah. I think he was
Speaker 1: probably just sitting back and be like, hey, the you know,
Speaker 1: like the the music of the car chase speaks for itself,
Speaker 1: and and and Spielberg's.
Speaker 2: Like, okay, right, right, right, right right.
Speaker 1: No, yeah, there's there's like, you have some action riffs
Speaker 1: that are very very John Williams. Yeah. But but weirdly,
Speaker 1: there wasn't like yeah, you know, like yeah, I mean,
Speaker 1: and this is the obvious comparison, but like the Close
Speaker 1: Encounters theme or the you know, something suitably uh sweeping
Speaker 1: in that in that singularly John Williams way we did
Speaker 1: not get.
Speaker 2: Yeah, that's okay, I that's fine.
Speaker 1: I actually the music score, I really have no no
Speaker 1: real complaints about m m uh. That's just something I noticed, that's.
Speaker 2: All, you know, now that you say it, I'm remembering
Speaker 2: in Close Encounters Williams and his music quotes when you
Speaker 2: wish upon a star, and in this movie, Emily Blunt
Speaker 2: when she's a child sings a song from snow White.
Speaker 2: So that's just a interesting point of connection, I suppose
Speaker 2: between the two songs from old Disney movies. Okay, yeah,
Speaker 2: just just throwing it out there because I got nowhere
Speaker 2: else for it.
Speaker 1: Well, there we go.
Speaker 2: I like the observation, Oh man, this is great. I
Speaker 2: really it was hard. I saw it by myself last night,
Speaker 2: and it was really hard not being able to discuss it.
Speaker 2: So this I was really looking forward to this. You know.
Speaker 1: One thing I will say though, You know, for the
Speaker 1: two and a half hours, I was never bored while
Speaker 1: watching it. Yeah, exactly, same, right, Like it was definitely
Speaker 1: there were aspects of confusion or whatever, but I was
Speaker 1: fully I was you know, I was I was fully
Speaker 1: plugged into the experience, and I think that that is
Speaker 1: something worth acknowledging as a plus that that, you know,
Speaker 1: like you said, I mean, it was two and a
Speaker 1: half hours. It went by pretty pretty pretty efficiently, I
Speaker 1: would say, And so it's certainly at the craft of filmmaking. Spielberg.
Speaker 1: He still knows what.
Speaker 2: He's doing, absolutely, And I mean, that's what makes discussing
Speaker 2: this so interesting, is this is like a rip roaring
Speaker 2: yarn and also just us being who we are, and
Speaker 2: you know, again speaking for myself, I mean close encounters
Speaker 2: like exists somewhere in my soul, you know what I mean,
Speaker 2: and having this movie be a bit of a companion
Speaker 2: piece to it. I'm old enough now I've learned that
Speaker 2: you just can't expect things to hit the same way
Speaker 2: things have in the past when you were a certain
Speaker 2: age and experienced at a certain time and whatever. So
Speaker 2: I never expected this to reach that. But you can't
Speaker 2: help but you look at them together, right, you know.
Speaker 2: And so that's just kind of what I'm processing right now.
Speaker 2: And it's a little bit easier to talk about the
Speaker 2: things that were like, oh, it would have been nice
Speaker 2: if this and oh, you know, I wasn't quite feeling this,
Speaker 2: and I wish I had, but I'm glad that you
Speaker 2: brought it up. It is also a good time at
Speaker 2: the movies.
Speaker 1: Yeah yeah, yeah, but hey, let us let us know
Speaker 1: your thoughts. Can You can email us at Moviefilm Podcast
Speaker 1: at gmail dot com. You can also hit like on
Speaker 1: our Facebook page Facebook dot com slash movie Film Podcast
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Speaker 1: And if you're looking for me online, you can find
Speaker 1: me on social media at Zaki's corner. That's the a
Speaker 1: k I. S. Corner. You can also read my reviews
Speaker 1: at the San Francisco Chronicle, including my thoughts on Masters
Speaker 1: of the Universe, which we discussed this episode, as well
Speaker 1: some other fun stuff.
Speaker 2: What about you, Brian, You can find episodes I've written
Speaker 2: of Puppy Dog Pals and Young Jedi Adventures streaming on
Speaker 2: Disney Plus.
Speaker 1: And with that on behalf of my partner Brian Home.
Speaker 1: My name is Zaki Sad. This has been Movie Film
Speaker 1: three forty five. We'll catch you next time. Thanks everybody,
Speaker 1: Welcome friends Podcast
Speaker 2: Jackie