WEBVTT 1 00:00:04.639 --> 00:00:32.000 Will you wait, miss. 2 00:00:24.120 --> 00:01:01.920 Exist Sis. 3 00:00:58.280 --> 00:01:19.079 Sis, Welcome back to midnight viewing and potentially the weirdest 4 00:01:19.400 --> 00:01:25.439 fucking episode we've ever done. There's no way to justify 5 00:01:25.519 --> 00:01:30.040 this episode, hping. It is neither horror nor anthology. It 6 00:01:30.120 --> 00:01:34.319 isn't genre related in any way. This is the whitest 7 00:01:34.319 --> 00:01:36.760 of white movies. As you pointed out just before we 8 00:01:36.840 --> 00:01:38.920 started recording, I don't know that we can come up 9 00:01:38.920 --> 00:01:42.879 with anything wider. I suppose we're recording it to tie 10 00:01:42.920 --> 00:01:47.200 in with the upcoming television series, the new adaptation of 11 00:01:47.200 --> 00:01:50.159 it being done by Tina Fey, and we're very much 12 00:01:50.200 --> 00:01:52.840 looking forward to that. But really, there is no reason 13 00:01:52.879 --> 00:01:54.640 at all to be watching the four season. 14 00:01:55.120 --> 00:01:58.200 I feel like all of this work that we've done, podcasting, 15 00:01:58.280 --> 00:02:01.200 all these episodes we've done together and different series, it's 16 00:02:01.239 --> 00:02:03.319 all led up to this point. So I'm excited. 17 00:02:03.640 --> 00:02:05.560 This is the culmination. Is that what you're saying? 18 00:02:06.000 --> 00:02:08.439 Absolutely, it's a culmination of our friendship fall? 19 00:02:09.039 --> 00:02:09.280 Really? 20 00:02:10.159 --> 00:02:13.560 Oh god, what he said? All right, here we go, 21 00:02:14.000 --> 00:02:19.080 this is the fourth seasons. Everybody, here's the apple. 22 00:02:18.759 --> 00:02:23.400 Trees did cheese, Here's to cheese. 23 00:02:25.280 --> 00:02:26.960 Red and laughter. 24 00:02:28.280 --> 00:02:29.240 And life itself. 25 00:02:29.639 --> 00:02:35.280 Friendship can be happiness and laughter jealousy and envy. 26 00:02:35.639 --> 00:02:36.599 She's wonderful. 27 00:02:37.599 --> 00:02:39.960 Can't even enjoy hating her? Who the hell needs that 28 00:02:40.759 --> 00:02:42.080 anger and disappointment. 29 00:02:42.400 --> 00:02:44.439 I fall in love with this man, and all of 30 00:02:44.479 --> 00:02:47.879 a sudden, in addition to him, I've got four constant companions. 31 00:02:48.000 --> 00:02:49.919 It all depends on the season. 32 00:02:50.199 --> 00:02:53.360 We owe the depth, breast, and height of this friendship 33 00:02:53.599 --> 00:02:58.280 to the world's most ancient emotions, fear and panic. Universal 34 00:02:58.319 --> 00:03:02.599 Pictures presents Alan and Carol Burnette in a story of 35 00:03:02.639 --> 00:03:07.240 friendships that grow and blossom, of friendships that change, Like 36 00:03:07.280 --> 00:03:08.800 the four seasons. 37 00:03:08.520 --> 00:03:09.680 You can make them fall over. 38 00:03:09.800 --> 00:03:13.199 You're pretty munich. If it worse, I don't believe it. 39 00:03:13.960 --> 00:03:23.719 At it again? Oh, you never stopped us till we're 40 00:03:23.719 --> 00:03:24.680 going to kill himself. 41 00:03:24.960 --> 00:03:26.919 Why don't you let your anger out once in a while. 42 00:03:27.000 --> 00:03:31.000 I'm not pain for this. This is your expense. These 43 00:03:31.039 --> 00:03:33.719 people are vicious, vicious and deal. 44 00:03:34.000 --> 00:03:34.360 Try this. 45 00:03:37.159 --> 00:03:40.280 Now that voice carries How come everyone says I'm paranoid? 46 00:03:40.520 --> 00:03:43.240 Is the Muhammad Ali of mental illness? You boys, don't 47 00:03:43.280 --> 00:03:45.240 pull on your ankle for a while. We'll be back 48 00:03:45.280 --> 00:03:46.599 here more more more? 49 00:03:48.960 --> 00:03:49.800 Is this a fun part? 50 00:03:49.879 --> 00:03:50.919 Are we having fun yet? 51 00:03:51.080 --> 00:03:51.240 Through? 52 00:03:51.319 --> 00:03:57.199 Winter? Spring? Summer? 53 00:03:57.479 --> 00:03:58.280 Oh? My god? 54 00:03:59.560 --> 00:03:59.879 The head. 55 00:04:00.280 --> 00:04:04.159 I'll catch up and fall now. Wonder what other people 56 00:04:04.159 --> 00:04:07.360 do on their vacations. Somehow they survive at all. 57 00:04:08.159 --> 00:04:13.520 Alan Alda, Carol Burnett, Len Carrio, Sandy Dennis, Rita Moreno, 58 00:04:13.919 --> 00:04:22.279 Bess Armstrong and Jack Weston. Friendship is like The Seasons, warm, cold, constant, changing, beautiful, 59 00:04:22.879 --> 00:04:26.040 The Four Seasons, Written and directed by Alan Alda. 60 00:04:27.959 --> 00:04:32.279 The Four Seasons released on April thirtieth, nineteen eighty one. 61 00:04:32.480 --> 00:04:33.600 That makes us how old? 62 00:04:34.160 --> 00:04:35.360 Yikes, that's pretty old. 63 00:04:35.680 --> 00:04:38.519 Let's geez, so I'm saying when the movie came out, 64 00:04:38.560 --> 00:04:40.439 my friend, oh. 65 00:04:40.279 --> 00:04:41.879 How old were we? We were eight years old. 66 00:04:42.160 --> 00:04:44.199 We were eight years old, nearly eight years old, and 67 00:04:44.279 --> 00:04:46.600 actually premiered. It premiered on the thirtieth, but it didn't 68 00:04:46.720 --> 00:04:49.079 get released until the twenty second. The movie is written 69 00:04:49.079 --> 00:04:53.160 and directed by Alan Alda, starring Alan Alda, Carol Burnett, 70 00:04:53.360 --> 00:04:57.360 Len Carrio, Sandy, Dennis or Rita Moreno, Jack Weston, and 71 00:04:57.480 --> 00:05:01.040 Bess Armstrong. That's everybody. I'd like to point out that 72 00:05:01.040 --> 00:05:03.879 the cinematographer on the film is Victor J. Kemper, who 73 00:05:03.920 --> 00:05:08.240 shot the movies Friends of Eddie Coyle and Dog Day 74 00:05:08.279 --> 00:05:14.120 Afternoon and Peewee's a big adventure and this HP. What 75 00:05:14.160 --> 00:05:16.240 was your first experience with this movie? Why are we 76 00:05:16.319 --> 00:05:17.040 talking about it? 77 00:05:18.000 --> 00:05:21.160 I don't know that I ever Actually this was on 78 00:05:21.399 --> 00:05:24.480 cable pretty heavily at that time. That was probably right 79 00:05:24.519 --> 00:05:27.360 around the time that we first got cable TV eighty 80 00:05:27.399 --> 00:05:31.720 eighty one, and I was far too young to care 81 00:05:31.839 --> 00:05:37.079 about the middle aged crises and happy high jinks of 82 00:05:37.160 --> 00:05:41.560 this group of group of friends. So I'm sure that 83 00:05:41.600 --> 00:05:45.639 I saw the trailer for it play endlessly at that time, 84 00:05:45.680 --> 00:05:47.399 but I don't to be fair, I don't think I 85 00:05:47.439 --> 00:05:52.120 actually really saw the movie itself until you and I 86 00:05:52.199 --> 00:05:55.680 had some sort of conversation maybe in the last year, 87 00:05:56.040 --> 00:05:58.879 where you might have made a joke about the four 88 00:05:58.959 --> 00:06:02.800 seasons and Alan and the sensitivity of it all, and 89 00:06:03.720 --> 00:06:06.759 I had a flashback to the trailer with Carol Burnett, 90 00:06:06.839 --> 00:06:09.839 and I watched it, and I'm obsessed with it now. 91 00:06:10.079 --> 00:06:12.920 I watched the movie on a loop as a kid. 92 00:06:13.079 --> 00:06:14.959 Did you really what did you make of it? As 93 00:06:14.959 --> 00:06:15.639 an eight year old? 94 00:06:16.120 --> 00:06:18.920 I was confused by a lot of it. I was 95 00:06:19.120 --> 00:06:22.319 worried that this is what adulthood had in store for me. 96 00:06:22.800 --> 00:06:27.959 It seemed like a cautionary tale at just these older 97 00:06:28.240 --> 00:06:32.959 white intellectuals with no problems, making up problems, just and 98 00:06:33.079 --> 00:06:37.720 doing it in like the most beautiful natural settings and 99 00:06:38.079 --> 00:06:41.759 not noticing the fucking forest for the trees. Now, having 100 00:06:41.800 --> 00:06:45.639 said that, as joking as I'm being, although I did 101 00:06:45.680 --> 00:06:51.839 actually feel that way. I maybe it's from an anthropological standpoint. 102 00:06:52.439 --> 00:06:53.879 The movie came out and we were eight, but I 103 00:06:53.920 --> 00:06:55.560 didn't see it till it was on cable, which is 104 00:06:55.600 --> 00:06:58.199 probably a year or two later. So we're talking maybe ten, 105 00:06:58.319 --> 00:07:00.519 ten or eleven years old. That's when I'm watching this 106 00:07:00.600 --> 00:07:05.000 movie over and over again, and I'm just I will 107 00:07:05.040 --> 00:07:09.600 say the movie did seem revolutionary in a way because 108 00:07:10.279 --> 00:07:14.600 I wasn't seeing anybody talking about relationships in any meaningful 109 00:07:14.639 --> 00:07:18.959 way like this. You certainly weren't getting it on network television. 110 00:07:19.800 --> 00:07:23.079 It didn't have the time nor the wherewithal to delve 111 00:07:23.759 --> 00:07:28.439 into the sexual politics of people like in their forties 112 00:07:28.600 --> 00:07:31.680 or fifty forties. I guess is these are just fucking 113 00:07:31.759 --> 00:07:34.959 baby boomers, right, and these are basically our parents. So 114 00:07:35.040 --> 00:07:37.879 it was interesting. It was like reading your parents diary 115 00:07:37.959 --> 00:07:38.480 in a way. 116 00:07:38.800 --> 00:07:42.040 So kind of it's interesting you say that, because it 117 00:07:42.160 --> 00:07:44.959 feels I just had a revelation that this was a 118 00:07:45.040 --> 00:07:50.360 precursor to a show like thirty something, which was obviously 119 00:07:50.399 --> 00:07:52.560 by the name you can tell it's not about forty 120 00:07:52.800 --> 00:07:56.000 something year olds, But that is a show that kind 121 00:07:56.000 --> 00:07:58.439 of paved the way for the. 122 00:07:58.319 --> 00:08:02.839 Notion of what they've entertainment. 123 00:08:03.560 --> 00:08:05.959 But in that sense, I think you're right. I think 124 00:08:05.959 --> 00:08:08.279 this was maybe a bit ahead of its time. Which 125 00:08:08.439 --> 00:08:11.680 the weird irony of that is that this did inspire 126 00:08:12.160 --> 00:08:15.680 a TV adaptation in nineteen eighty four. Were you did 127 00:08:15.759 --> 00:08:16.160 you know that? 128 00:08:16.639 --> 00:08:17.879 Yes? You did? 129 00:08:19.120 --> 00:08:22.439 Which didn't. The only one who came The only main 130 00:08:22.519 --> 00:08:24.720 actor who came back was Jack West, and we'll talk 131 00:08:24.759 --> 00:08:28.319 about his character. I think Alan Alda guest starred in 132 00:08:28.360 --> 00:08:31.519 the first episode, but he wasn't really involved. It was 133 00:08:31.560 --> 00:08:36.279 mostly a new cast and unfortunately I couldn't track down 134 00:08:36.320 --> 00:08:39.159 an episode to watch it to see if it was 135 00:08:39.480 --> 00:08:40.919 how it stacked up to the movie. 136 00:08:41.039 --> 00:08:43.080 Oh, you know, it was terrible, you know it was. 137 00:08:43.840 --> 00:08:46.480 It looked bad and I can't imagine it went in 138 00:08:46.559 --> 00:08:50.039 with the same earnest attitude that the movie had. 139 00:08:50.480 --> 00:08:55.279 But I did say earnest, my god shocked. Jim Varney 140 00:08:55.320 --> 00:08:56.480 wasn't in this movie. 141 00:08:56.600 --> 00:08:59.080 I did. However, I did take note that one of 142 00:08:59.120 --> 00:09:01.919 the other main characters. One of the main actors in 143 00:09:02.000 --> 00:09:05.200 the TV show was Alan Arbus, who we can't seem 144 00:09:05.279 --> 00:09:08.200 to get away from Father Malone. He's in everything we review, 145 00:09:08.600 --> 00:09:12.519 He's in Crossroads, He's in Taxi. What hasn't the Man done? 146 00:09:12.799 --> 00:09:15.720 Mash Yeah, we're not going to be reviewing that one. 147 00:09:16.159 --> 00:09:19.440 No, not at all, but yeah, no. I think Naval 148 00:09:19.480 --> 00:09:23.240 Gazing is an interesting wave because really, ultimately we're going 149 00:09:23.320 --> 00:09:26.720 to talk about this movie at length, but there's not 150 00:09:26.919 --> 00:09:32.080 a lot of action. This is a very episodic movie 151 00:09:32.519 --> 00:09:37.759 about these friends who gather for vacations once a season, 152 00:09:38.399 --> 00:09:41.480 but they're really just talking about their friendship, to talking 153 00:09:41.519 --> 00:09:43.200 about how much they love each other, how much they 154 00:09:43.240 --> 00:09:46.960 can't stand each other. They're arguing, they're making up, they're kissing, 155 00:09:47.039 --> 00:09:51.440 they're whatever. That's really that's basically the movie in a 156 00:09:51.519 --> 00:09:52.480 nutshell right there. 157 00:09:52.879 --> 00:09:55.480 Within a year or two, the Big Chill would come 158 00:09:55.519 --> 00:09:58.279 out and do exactly what this movie is trying to 159 00:09:58.360 --> 00:10:00.639 do in a massively enteraining way. 160 00:10:00.840 --> 00:10:03.519 I'm stunned that I didn't make that same connection, but 161 00:10:03.559 --> 00:10:09.720 you're absolutely right. That was another movie about these long friendships. 162 00:10:09.759 --> 00:10:12.679 They're looking back on their lives and with some regret 163 00:10:12.759 --> 00:10:16.759 and some whatever. Yeah, it's basically the theme of the 164 00:10:16.840 --> 00:10:21.440 Four Seasons, but writ large and with a little more panache, 165 00:10:21.759 --> 00:10:24.000 And it really hit the cultural zeitgeist in a way 166 00:10:24.039 --> 00:10:26.799 that the Four Seasons. I don't it was a success, 167 00:10:26.799 --> 00:10:28.600 but I don't think it really hit the bulls eye 168 00:10:28.679 --> 00:10:30.080 the way that The Big Chill did. 169 00:10:30.600 --> 00:10:33.559 See The Big Chill was, although the characters are upwardly 170 00:10:33.639 --> 00:10:37.279 mobile and mainly successful in their careers, were basically normal people, 171 00:10:37.399 --> 00:10:39.919 whereas this is just a bunch of New York intellectuals. 172 00:10:40.159 --> 00:10:44.960 This is basically three separate couples, all who think and 173 00:10:45.080 --> 00:10:47.240 talk and act like Alan Alda pretty much. 174 00:10:47.240 --> 00:10:49.720 Do you want to break down these couples though, Let's 175 00:10:49.720 --> 00:10:54.799 do it. Yeah, So we have Alan. This is like 176 00:10:54.840 --> 00:10:58.960 the dating game. So the first couple is Jack and Kate. 177 00:10:59.360 --> 00:11:04.240 They're played by Alan Alda and Carol Burnette. Carol Burnett 178 00:11:04.519 --> 00:11:06.960 is his wife in it. He is a lawyer and 179 00:11:07.000 --> 00:11:10.320 she is the editor of Fortune magazine. If you talk 180 00:11:10.320 --> 00:11:13.360 about intellectuals, I mean, you can't get more intellectuals than that, 181 00:11:14.120 --> 00:11:18.879 It's ridiculous. Then we have Danny and Claudia. Danny is 182 00:11:18.919 --> 00:11:21.919 played by Jack Weston. Claudia is played by Rita Moreno. 183 00:11:22.120 --> 00:11:24.919 She's playing Italian, which I thought she's playing Italian. 184 00:11:25.679 --> 00:11:28.039 She is her character Italian. 185 00:11:28.639 --> 00:11:31.840 She only says it like every other word. Basically, he 186 00:11:31.960 --> 00:11:37.360 is a dentist and she is his successful painter wife. 187 00:11:37.519 --> 00:11:40.039 She's a painter, although they don't make much of that. 188 00:11:39.799 --> 00:11:44.360 That's kind of dropped. Then the third couple is Nick 189 00:11:44.639 --> 00:11:48.720 and Annie. It's played by Len Carriw and Sandy Dennis. 190 00:11:48.799 --> 00:11:52.600 He is an insurance salesman who likes to brag that 191 00:11:52.639 --> 00:11:57.440 he's an estate planner, and she is his housewife who's 192 00:11:57.639 --> 00:12:01.159 scattered and not all that interesting is a character. Unfortunately, 193 00:12:01.279 --> 00:12:05.039 she doesn't really feature too much in this picture. To 194 00:12:05.080 --> 00:12:07.559 be honest, I think Sandy Dennis gets real short shrift 195 00:12:07.840 --> 00:12:12.240 in this because she's dormat for Nick. But so those 196 00:12:12.279 --> 00:12:14.919 are the three couples that we have going on all 197 00:12:14.960 --> 00:12:16.000 these adventures. 198 00:12:16.159 --> 00:12:19.159 So those are three couples. We're going to get four seasons. 199 00:12:19.240 --> 00:12:21.759 We're going to get four separate vacations that they're going 200 00:12:21.759 --> 00:12:26.960 to take together, So we can reasonably assume that they 201 00:12:27.000 --> 00:12:28.039 do this every year. 202 00:12:28.720 --> 00:12:31.840 I think. So it's at one point. 203 00:12:31.639 --> 00:12:35.240 Is this movie take place over the span of one year? 204 00:12:35.480 --> 00:12:38.519 Is this twenty year summer, winter fall for one year. 205 00:12:39.320 --> 00:12:43.399 It is because in certain seasons they make reference to 206 00:12:44.120 --> 00:12:49.159 the previous vacation. So yes, it does take place as 207 00:12:49.200 --> 00:12:51.120 far as I can tell, over the course of one 208 00:12:51.679 --> 00:12:55.279 year in these characters' lives and as far as their friendship. 209 00:12:55.279 --> 00:12:57.480 There's a scene where they talk about how they all met. 210 00:12:57.840 --> 00:13:02.120 It's a little unclear, but my sense is they've seven years. 211 00:13:02.279 --> 00:13:06.200 And then years. I was shocked watching the movie this 212 00:13:06.360 --> 00:13:09.080 time that they said, do you remember when we met? 213 00:13:09.279 --> 00:13:11.440 You came you were a client in my thing seven 214 00:13:11.559 --> 00:13:14.320 years ago. I remember the date, and I'm like, wait 215 00:13:14.360 --> 00:13:18.639 a minute, These middle aged people met each other half 216 00:13:18.639 --> 00:13:22.240 a decade ago. I thought they were like college friends. 217 00:13:22.480 --> 00:13:25.399 I thought they grew up together. The fact that they're 218 00:13:25.399 --> 00:13:28.360 as entwined in each other's lives as late in their 219 00:13:28.360 --> 00:13:31.600 lives as they are gave me so much fucking pause HP. 220 00:13:32.000 --> 00:13:35.879 But it makes sense because there's such an emphasis on 221 00:13:36.159 --> 00:13:39.320 friendship and how much they need each other that I'm 222 00:13:39.320 --> 00:13:43.600 not surprised that they would cling to each other that desperately, 223 00:13:43.679 --> 00:13:46.480 because like, at one point, it almost seems like they 224 00:13:46.519 --> 00:13:49.679 need their friendships more than they need their married partners, 225 00:13:50.320 --> 00:13:53.559 Like they fall over themselves They're always kissing and hugging 226 00:13:53.559 --> 00:13:56.000 each other. I'm not talking about the husbands and wives. 227 00:13:56.039 --> 00:14:00.360 I'm talking about Alan Alda is forever kissing an hugging, 228 00:14:00.440 --> 00:14:04.759 len carry you with ebulliance and happiness. But you raise 229 00:14:04.799 --> 00:14:07.279 a good point because it's seven years. It's not as 230 00:14:07.279 --> 00:14:11.639 if they could share that much of their lives. Let's 231 00:14:11.639 --> 00:14:15.080 put it this way. That's a very small percentage of 232 00:14:15.120 --> 00:14:17.879 their lives up to that point. If they're in their forties, 233 00:14:18.240 --> 00:14:20.039 that's not a lot of time spent together. 234 00:14:20.200 --> 00:14:22.879 So it's you and I have been friends for nearly 235 00:14:23.000 --> 00:14:26.120 fucking forty years. When's the last time I grabbed you 236 00:14:26.200 --> 00:14:28.919 in a hug and held you aloft? I can tell 237 00:14:28.919 --> 00:14:34.480 you never, never, never, but and I love you. You know that? 238 00:14:35.240 --> 00:14:39.159 Absolutely the thing of this these characters, they're so white, 239 00:14:39.679 --> 00:14:44.279 but they're really sensualists because everything is the best thing 240 00:14:44.320 --> 00:14:48.279 ever early. So it starts out in spring and they're 241 00:14:48.279 --> 00:14:51.720 going to a rented cabin in the woods somewhere, and 242 00:14:52.120 --> 00:14:55.480 the first night the husbands make supposed to be a 243 00:14:55.519 --> 00:15:00.039 gorgeous Chinese meal for the wives, and the food it 244 00:15:00.120 --> 00:15:03.039 comes out, I thought, honestly, most of the time they 245 00:15:03.080 --> 00:15:06.879 were stoned because everything is so good. Oh, I love this. 246 00:15:07.320 --> 00:15:09.720 And they're bellowing at each other all the time. I 247 00:15:09.799 --> 00:15:13.879 love you, Dennis, I love you Denny. Whatever. They everything, 248 00:15:14.000 --> 00:15:17.320 they're grabbing life by the balls, fa them alone. They 249 00:15:17.559 --> 00:15:21.679 every glass of wine is great. Alan Alda's forever making 250 00:15:21.720 --> 00:15:25.279 these like pompous toasts to their friendship and all this 251 00:15:25.399 --> 00:15:31.200 kind of stuff. So they're sensualists. They love life basically. 252 00:15:31.080 --> 00:15:33.480 And I don't know where to go with that. That's yeah, 253 00:15:33.559 --> 00:15:36.399 they certainly are, Okay, I know where to go with it. 254 00:15:36.519 --> 00:15:40.480 Over on the or Anthology podcast, Projection Booth, host Mike 255 00:15:40.559 --> 00:15:47.360 White has a particular disdain for cinematic portrayals of drunkenness. 256 00:15:48.039 --> 00:15:50.679 They just never get it right. It's always grating to 257 00:15:50.759 --> 00:15:55.480 him on a sub atomic level, as is forced frivolity 258 00:15:56.159 --> 00:16:00.120 is to me. I spent years in the trenches of 259 00:16:00.360 --> 00:16:03.799 art house movie theaters. I've heard all the forced laughter 260 00:16:03.960 --> 00:16:07.960 you can possibly imagine. And there's no worse forest laughter 261 00:16:08.399 --> 00:16:13.000 than than the kind found in the Four Seasons. Everything, 262 00:16:13.039 --> 00:16:16.919 as you said, nothing is just funny. It's the most 263 00:16:17.039 --> 00:16:22.320 hilarious head back of fine slapping you on the back, hirity, 264 00:16:22.919 --> 00:16:24.159 We're having fun. 265 00:16:25.000 --> 00:16:28.879 There's a scene where they're floating. This is during summer 266 00:16:29.159 --> 00:16:32.320 or spring. They're floating on a lake. They're all lounging. 267 00:16:32.399 --> 00:16:35.759 They're eating French bread, which they eat a lot of 268 00:16:35.759 --> 00:16:39.240 French bread in this movie. It's a little weird. And 269 00:16:39.279 --> 00:16:42.120 they're eating cheese and drinking wine and they're all just 270 00:16:42.159 --> 00:16:46.000 having a great time and out of nowhere, like I said, 271 00:16:46.000 --> 00:16:48.559 Alan all of his character. Jack gets up and says, 272 00:16:48.600 --> 00:16:51.559 I want to make a toast to friendship, to wine. 273 00:16:52.000 --> 00:16:53.960 I love you all, and then he sits back down. 274 00:16:54.000 --> 00:16:55.600 Then he gets up and he says, no, no, no, I 275 00:16:55.639 --> 00:16:59.360 want to create something memorable for this moment because it's 276 00:16:59.360 --> 00:17:03.159 so important to me. And then he finishes drinking his 277 00:17:03.200 --> 00:17:08.079 wine and he leaps into the lake fully clothed. This 278 00:17:08.359 --> 00:17:12.640 is the funniest thing in the world to every everyone 279 00:17:12.640 --> 00:17:15.440 else in the canoe. So funny that Len carry you 280 00:17:15.519 --> 00:17:17.920 decides he's going to jump into the lake. So they 281 00:17:18.000 --> 00:17:21.920 laugh all over again. Then Jack Weston jumps in the lake, 282 00:17:21.920 --> 00:17:24.640 and what do they do? They start laughing all over again. 283 00:17:25.200 --> 00:17:26.960 By the end of it, they're all in the lake, 284 00:17:27.160 --> 00:17:30.000 they're all laughing, they're all hugging each other, and they're 285 00:17:30.000 --> 00:17:32.759 all just it's like that It's the kind of moment 286 00:17:32.799 --> 00:17:35.119 in real life someone jumps in the lake. Maybe you 287 00:17:35.240 --> 00:17:36.640 laugh a little bit, but then you say, you're a 288 00:17:36.680 --> 00:17:38.880 dumb ass, get out of the lake. This goes on 289 00:17:39.119 --> 00:17:43.079 for five minutes of forest laughter that like, this is 290 00:17:43.119 --> 00:17:46.160 the funniest thing that they've done ever. And there's about 291 00:17:46.160 --> 00:17:48.000 five scenes like that in this whole picture. 292 00:17:48.359 --> 00:17:50.839 Half this movie's run time is forced laughter. 293 00:17:51.160 --> 00:17:54.680 His laughter. I really started, like, in my mind, I 294 00:17:54.720 --> 00:17:57.640 thought I had remembered a scene where they got stoned, 295 00:17:57.720 --> 00:17:59.640 like one of them had some weed on them and 296 00:17:59.640 --> 00:18:02.440 they got stoned and they were raiding a kitchen or something. 297 00:18:02.519 --> 00:18:06.559 I think I was misremembering that for another movie, maybe 298 00:18:06.680 --> 00:18:10.160 Indian Summer, which is also a good picture. But but no, 299 00:18:10.640 --> 00:18:14.039 they just love life and they just everything is funny. 300 00:18:14.079 --> 00:18:17.559 Everything is. It's passion. They're so passionate. They're as passionate 301 00:18:17.599 --> 00:18:20.400 as white people can get fatherm alone, which is very 302 00:18:20.440 --> 00:18:21.400 passionate apparently. 303 00:18:21.480 --> 00:18:24.079 And they're gonna go to all the white people's shit. 304 00:18:24.480 --> 00:18:27.640 They're gonna go. They're gonna go to the Virgin Islands, 305 00:18:27.680 --> 00:18:30.200 and they're gonna do it on a fucking rented sailboat. 306 00:18:31.640 --> 00:18:35.000 When they go, is it wintertime going up to the cabin. 307 00:18:35.160 --> 00:18:39.200 We're gonna go skiing, babe. Fall time, we're gonna go collegiate. 308 00:18:39.359 --> 00:18:41.640 We're gonna go play touch football and knock the shit 309 00:18:41.680 --> 00:18:44.480 out of each other. Springtime, of course, we're going to 310 00:18:44.599 --> 00:18:47.440 just row out into the middle of a lake and 311 00:18:47.559 --> 00:18:50.799 just we're just gonna float there and talk about poetry 312 00:18:50.880 --> 00:18:51.759 or something or other. 313 00:18:53.039 --> 00:18:57.160 Yeah, look, we can't forget. I think you mentioned that 314 00:18:57.240 --> 00:19:00.599 this was written and directed by Alan Oh. This is 315 00:19:00.599 --> 00:19:03.599 what he knew. This is a page out of his life. 316 00:19:04.119 --> 00:19:10.000 So it's not a surperfa White he is And this 317 00:19:10.039 --> 00:19:13.759 is very much like made reference to Robert Altman, Like, 318 00:19:13.799 --> 00:19:15.559 this is a little bit like a Robert Altman movie 319 00:19:15.559 --> 00:19:18.960 because there's a lot of scenes of them having conversations 320 00:19:19.000 --> 00:19:23.440 that overlap each other, and that's interesting. But really, the 321 00:19:23.480 --> 00:19:26.039 other touchstone I had of this and I'm not making 322 00:19:26.119 --> 00:19:29.319 a direct comparaily, I'm making a direct comparison, but I'm 323 00:19:29.319 --> 00:19:32.640 not suggesting it's inspired by or but this is a 324 00:19:32.680 --> 00:19:36.000 little like a Woody Allen movie without the sort of 325 00:19:36.240 --> 00:19:38.240 some of the charm that maybe Woody Allen would bring 326 00:19:38.319 --> 00:19:40.519 to something like this, the quirkiness of it. Joe, this 327 00:19:40.599 --> 00:19:45.960 is right, This is at no time during this movie 328 00:19:46.000 --> 00:19:49.519 do you forget that Alan Alda wrote it, because it's 329 00:19:49.559 --> 00:19:51.799 they all sound like him, right? You said that already 330 00:19:51.880 --> 00:19:54.880 all the characters sound like Alan, all including Allan al. 331 00:19:55.119 --> 00:19:58.640 He has managed to make the way he talks just 332 00:19:58.759 --> 00:20:01.960 different enough in each character's mouths. He's given them all 333 00:20:02.000 --> 00:20:03.960 a different kind of tick. And then of course the 334 00:20:04.000 --> 00:20:06.519 actors are bringing whatever they're bringing to it. But basically 335 00:20:06.599 --> 00:20:09.039 it just sounds like the different personalities of Allen. This 336 00:20:09.160 --> 00:20:12.720 is inside out Pixar's inside out Alan Alden. 337 00:20:12.960 --> 00:20:15.599 This is But having said that, though one thing I 338 00:20:15.640 --> 00:20:17.400 was struck by is I was watching this is. None 339 00:20:17.440 --> 00:20:19.319 of this is to say that the performances are bad. 340 00:20:19.359 --> 00:20:22.359 They're actually really good for the most part, because he's 341 00:20:22.400 --> 00:20:26.559 got good actors. And I have to say that. So 342 00:20:26.680 --> 00:20:30.079 Carol Burnett has a lot to do because she's Alan 343 00:20:30.160 --> 00:20:33.279 all his wife in the movie. But she whether it's 344 00:20:33.480 --> 00:20:36.839 just the times, but she reminded me of just about 345 00:20:36.880 --> 00:20:41.160 every female friend of my parents from around that time. 346 00:20:41.319 --> 00:20:43.359 Every house we would go over, we would hang out, 347 00:20:43.400 --> 00:20:46.640 and my parents would have their adult friends. She was 348 00:20:46.759 --> 00:20:51.240 exactly like those women that I remember, the same short haircut, 349 00:20:51.319 --> 00:20:54.880 the same kind of mousey looks or whatever, and the 350 00:20:54.920 --> 00:20:56.119 same sense of humor. 351 00:20:56.599 --> 00:20:59.319 She really needs, the attitude the I'm not going to 352 00:20:59.359 --> 00:21:02.039 take that, give me that ticket, fuck you cop like 353 00:21:02.079 --> 00:21:02.599 that friend. 354 00:21:03.400 --> 00:21:07.640 Yeah, absolutely, So from that perspective, I actually thought it 355 00:21:07.680 --> 00:21:10.079 was kind of true to life, despite the fact that 356 00:21:10.119 --> 00:21:13.079 it's she's saying a lot of things that Alan Alda 357 00:21:13.160 --> 00:21:18.759 is telling her to say. But it did stylistically and visually. 358 00:21:18.920 --> 00:21:21.519 She definitely reminded me of a lot of my parents, 359 00:21:21.799 --> 00:21:24.480 the wives of the friends that we would go and 360 00:21:24.519 --> 00:21:25.720 hang out at their house. 361 00:21:25.880 --> 00:21:29.359 Over on the weekly roundup. Just this past one. As 362 00:21:29.400 --> 00:21:33.200 a matter of fact, I re reviewed Bednoms and Roomsticks 363 00:21:33.240 --> 00:21:36.519 from nineteen seventy one, ten years earlier than this film, 364 00:21:36.920 --> 00:21:41.519 starring Angela Lansbury. Now, in between those two time periods, 365 00:21:41.559 --> 00:21:45.400 Angela Lansbury would perform the part of Missus Lovett and 366 00:21:45.440 --> 00:21:48.680 Sweeney Todd on Broadway. Her co star and during that 367 00:21:48.799 --> 00:21:51.680 run is Lenn Carrio. In fact, he had just ended 368 00:21:51.839 --> 00:21:55.119 his run as Sweeney Todd when he made this movie HP. 369 00:21:55.240 --> 00:21:58.440 For the past forty years, I have been listening to 370 00:21:58.519 --> 00:22:03.000 Len Carrio performing that part on that soundtrack. I own 371 00:22:03.079 --> 00:22:05.480 it on vinyl, I own it on cassette tape. I 372 00:22:05.480 --> 00:22:10.039 owned it on CD and somehow had forgotten or never 373 00:22:10.119 --> 00:22:14.319 really made the connection that that guy singing all those 374 00:22:14.400 --> 00:22:18.319 years is this guy in this movie, and was kind 375 00:22:18.359 --> 00:22:19.640 of knocked out that it was him. 376 00:22:19.839 --> 00:22:23.559 And I got to tell you, he's very good. He is. 377 00:22:24.119 --> 00:22:27.480 There's no villain in this movie because they're all villain. 378 00:22:28.559 --> 00:22:31.960 He really is because it's his decision to divorce his 379 00:22:32.000 --> 00:22:37.920 wife Annie sets basically the main driving sort of inciting 380 00:22:37.920 --> 00:22:41.559 incident into action. So they get together during the spring 381 00:22:41.680 --> 00:22:46.519 and he confides Len Carrier's character Nick confides in Alan 382 00:22:46.559 --> 00:22:49.200 Alda's character Jack that he's not been happy with his 383 00:22:49.240 --> 00:22:53.559 wife for decades. They just ever celebrated that forever. They 384 00:22:53.720 --> 00:22:56.920 just had their twenty first wedding anniversary and that's what 385 00:22:56.960 --> 00:23:00.839 he says. They're out oraging for firewood, other white guy 386 00:23:01.119 --> 00:23:01.880 type thing to do. 387 00:23:02.079 --> 00:23:05.960 Oh my god, the whitest thing because Len Carrier or 388 00:23:06.000 --> 00:23:09.839 alan Alda has one of those canvas stacks that's two 389 00:23:09.960 --> 00:23:12.000 sticks and you hold it open and you drop a 390 00:23:12.000 --> 00:23:14.640 wood into it. It's like, boh, got this at ll Bean. 391 00:23:15.400 --> 00:23:19.279 So he confides to It's a really good scene because 392 00:23:19.359 --> 00:23:21.240 Lenn Carry is a really good actor. 393 00:23:21.559 --> 00:23:23.160 There and they have to walk and talk through a 394 00:23:23.160 --> 00:23:27.920 fucking forest. Nice job, Allan, Yeah, but you know you have. 395 00:23:28.680 --> 00:23:30.720 What he has to do is he feels like he 396 00:23:30.759 --> 00:23:34.440 finally has to divorce his wife. And Alan Alda, I'm 397 00:23:34.440 --> 00:23:37.480 just gonna call them by their actors, guy, because yes, 398 00:23:37.519 --> 00:23:37.880 come on. 399 00:23:37.920 --> 00:23:40.839 Now, So Alan Alda being Alan all this is why 400 00:23:40.880 --> 00:23:42.720 don't you guys try to work it out. You guys 401 00:23:42.720 --> 00:23:46.319