WEBVTT 1 00:00:35.960 --> 00:00:39.640 Welcome back, midnight viewers to Father Malone's weekly round up. 2 00:00:40.079 --> 00:00:42.920 I am Father Malone, the pug who never lets me 3 00:00:42.960 --> 00:00:46.079 finish a game of Mad Max on Xbox because something 4 00:00:46.159 --> 00:00:49.079 on screen will eventually make her freak the fuck out. 5 00:00:49.520 --> 00:00:56.920 Yeah you is, mister Ripley Jean? Is it December already? Christ? 6 00:00:56.920 --> 00:01:00.200 We're well into it? What have you been into? Folks? It, 7 00:01:00.240 --> 00:01:03.399 by any chance beIN correspondence. 8 00:01:05.519 --> 00:01:06.239 From around. 9 00:01:10.920 --> 00:01:14.319 This is from listener Rich Dorta. Just listen to the 10 00:01:14.519 --> 00:01:18.079 Search for Spock pod. The thought of Maltz sitting there 11 00:01:18.200 --> 00:01:21.599 thinking I hear Wales had me laughing out loud at work. 12 00:01:21.840 --> 00:01:24.000 Funniest thing I've heard in a while. Keep up the 13 00:01:24.040 --> 00:01:27.040 good work. Let me just say you continue to have 14 00:01:27.159 --> 00:01:32.079 excellent taste, Rich in both podcast choice and humor appreciation. Actually, 15 00:01:32.159 --> 00:01:34.400 I'm just fucking around. Thank you, Rich. I know I 16 00:01:34.439 --> 00:01:37.239 can crack up HP. It's nice to hear it works 17 00:01:37.280 --> 00:01:39.879 on other humans. And he's talking about our Search for 18 00:01:39.920 --> 00:01:43.120 Smock episode we're doing Star trek Fest, and of course 19 00:01:43.120 --> 00:01:46.920 he's talking about the Klingon character Maltz, who is kept 20 00:01:46.959 --> 00:01:50.439 prisoner at the end of Search for Spock and then Dude, 21 00:01:50.439 --> 00:01:52.200 they just don't do anything with him, we never see 22 00:01:52.239 --> 00:01:54.359 him again, and well, it can be theorized that he 23 00:01:54.480 --> 00:01:56.599 just remained on that klingon bird of prey and has 24 00:01:56.680 --> 00:02:01.200 now probably drowned at the bottom of San Francisco. If 25 00:02:01.239 --> 00:02:03.439 you want to reach me here on the roundup or 26 00:02:03.439 --> 00:02:06.959 the anthology podcast or whatever crossover craziness I'm doing with 27 00:02:07.000 --> 00:02:09.719 Paul Waller, send it to fatherom Alone seven to one 28 00:02:09.840 --> 00:02:12.479 at gmail dot com and we'll do our best to 29 00:02:12.560 --> 00:02:15.280 answer you right here. Oh, like the one I got 30 00:02:15.280 --> 00:02:18.439 from author Marie Grillo, who sent along a copy of 31 00:02:18.439 --> 00:02:22.960 her book Dreams with the Stars, The Celebrity Dream Book. Okay, 32 00:02:23.280 --> 00:02:25.479 I don't know if you're team Freud or team Jung 33 00:02:25.599 --> 00:02:28.960 when it comes to our subconscious I'm YOUNGI in myself, 34 00:02:29.199 --> 00:02:32.520 I believe in the collective unconscious and universal symbols rather 35 00:02:32.560 --> 00:02:36.120 than a personal dumping ground of our mental detritus. Also, 36 00:02:36.120 --> 00:02:38.360 I don't blame my mother for everything, but we can 37 00:02:38.400 --> 00:02:41.240 all agree what we see in our dreams is its 38 00:02:41.240 --> 00:02:44.280 own language, and it's our brains trying to tell us something. 39 00:02:44.759 --> 00:02:48.000 But what do those symbols mean? I have devoured dozens 40 00:02:48.000 --> 00:02:51.479 of dream interpretation books starting around nineteen eighty five. Is 41 00:02:51.479 --> 00:02:53.520 it a coincidence that I had recently seen both a 42 00:02:53.599 --> 00:02:56.759 nightmare on Elm Street and a dreamscape. No, don't be stupid, 43 00:02:56.800 --> 00:02:59.400 I was obsessed. But one thing those books could never 44 00:02:59.400 --> 00:03:03.240 begin to exp plane where the celebrity cameos. We've all had. 45 00:03:03.479 --> 00:03:07.159 This is no joke. My late wife Jessica persistently dreamt 46 00:03:07.199 --> 00:03:11.199 about Jim Carey, started before we got together, continued right 47 00:03:11.240 --> 00:03:11.879 through to the end. 48 00:03:12.360 --> 00:03:12.840 I know this. 49 00:03:13.360 --> 00:03:15.879 She kept a journal. The obvious thing we think when 50 00:03:15.879 --> 00:03:17.719 someone tells us that a celebrity showed up in their 51 00:03:17.800 --> 00:03:20.159 dream is that it was pornographic. But that is never 52 00:03:20.240 --> 00:03:23.919 the fucking case. So what do their appearances mean? Well, 53 00:03:24.039 --> 00:03:28.080 here's Marie Grillo dreaming of Jim Carrey. Reveals the paradox 54 00:03:28.120 --> 00:03:31.560 of humor and pain. The clown who sees beyond the curtain. 55 00:03:31.919 --> 00:03:35.159 He represents the soul's desire to break through illusion, to 56 00:03:35.240 --> 00:03:38.159 drop the masks, and to find meaning in chaos. His 57 00:03:38.240 --> 00:03:41.520 presence may appear when you're overthinking. Well if that isn't 58 00:03:41.520 --> 00:03:44.800 on the fucking spot, that was Jessica all over, and 59 00:03:44.879 --> 00:03:46.520 it makes so much sense. I'm going to put a 60 00:03:46.560 --> 00:03:48.919 link to the book in the show notes. I highly 61 00:03:49.000 --> 00:03:51.280 encourage everyone to go check it out, and because it 62 00:03:51.319 --> 00:03:53.719 deserves a description that doesn't involve me saying fuck every 63 00:03:53.719 --> 00:03:56.400 second word. Here's a bit of the ad copy. This 64 00:03:56.479 --> 00:03:59.759 book draws you into the quiet inner architecture where those 65 00:03:59.840 --> 00:04:03.360 un expected visitors originate. It is a dream dictionary that 66 00:04:03.479 --> 00:04:06.560 guides your subconscious and higher self through the shared pop 67 00:04:06.599 --> 00:04:08.520 culture psyche that influences us. 68 00:04:08.520 --> 00:04:08.759 All. 69 00:04:09.360 --> 00:04:11.439 Open the doorway to your own dream world with this 70 00:04:11.520 --> 00:04:15.199 coffee table companion dream with the stars. Step into the 71 00:04:15.240 --> 00:04:19.120 center of your story. AD copy. That's kind of like 72 00:04:19.160 --> 00:04:19.839 on mad Men. 73 00:04:20.040 --> 00:04:20.160 Now. 74 00:04:20.199 --> 00:04:22.079 I said I wasn't going to bring up mad Men anymore, 75 00:04:22.120 --> 00:04:25.120 but there seems to be a Madman renaissance occurring right now, 76 00:04:25.279 --> 00:04:29.199 thanks to its recent HD debut on HBO and the 77 00:04:29.639 --> 00:04:32.439 not at all planned for releasing of an alternate take 78 00:04:32.480 --> 00:04:35.199 of Roger Sterling vomiting with the effects crew in full 79 00:04:35.240 --> 00:04:38.600 sight of the camera, just hunkered down and pumping out vomit. 80 00:04:38.959 --> 00:04:42.079 Oh No, that most certainly was a programming error that 81 00:04:42.160 --> 00:04:45.240 has catapulted Madmen back to the top of the public consciousness. 82 00:04:45.920 --> 00:04:49.199 Enjoy everybody. When I've been hollering about for a year now, 83 00:04:49.720 --> 00:04:53.040 I myself am done rewatching mad Men. Because yesterday, while 84 00:04:53.079 --> 00:04:57.079 I was watching season three, the cables started glitching, so 85 00:04:57.120 --> 00:04:59.120 I backed out to test to see if it was 86 00:04:59.120 --> 00:05:01.240 the whole network or that particular show, and then I 87 00:05:01.279 --> 00:05:04.519 put on Boardwalk Empire. So now I'm on season two 88 00:05:04.560 --> 00:05:08.000 of Boardwalk Empire. Fuck. What a good series, and I'm 89 00:05:08.040 --> 00:05:10.680 sure you're going to be hearing all about it from me. 90 00:05:11.120 --> 00:05:13.199 What else is going on in the world of advertising? 91 00:05:13.360 --> 00:05:16.000 Have you seen that Supergirl trailer? Here? It is. 92 00:05:21.160 --> 00:05:30.639 I cars are old. You're right, it's clear the twenty 93 00:05:30.680 --> 00:05:40.040 three will be the best year yet. Yes, let's be honest, babe, 94 00:05:40.040 --> 00:05:47.439 it's not a very high bar to clear. I didn't 95 00:05:47.439 --> 00:05:48.639 know any of you were still alive. 96 00:05:48.879 --> 00:05:49.879 What was it like, Sluice? 97 00:05:49.920 --> 00:05:50.480 Everything in the. 98 00:05:50.519 --> 00:05:54.439 Table her time didn't die to day. 99 00:05:54.920 --> 00:06:03.720 The gods are not that kind of okay, this does 100 00:06:03.800 --> 00:06:05.839 not look like this is gonna end well. 101 00:06:07.240 --> 00:06:15.399 For you guys. All right, that's enough. I think it 102 00:06:15.399 --> 00:06:18.720 looks great and everyone's in a tizzy for that shadowed 103 00:06:18.759 --> 00:06:22.399 millisecond of Lobo. Are you excited for Lobo? Here's a 104 00:06:22.480 --> 00:06:25.480 hint about the performance. It will be remarkably similar to 105 00:06:25.519 --> 00:06:29.480 the most recent portrayal of Aquaman or Conan or cal 106 00:06:29.560 --> 00:06:32.399 Drogo or whatever the fuck his name was on Stargate 107 00:06:32.519 --> 00:06:35.879 or Baywatch. He does not have range, is my point, 108 00:06:37.120 --> 00:06:39.079 and it's gonna seem like he does when this fucking 109 00:06:39.120 --> 00:06:43.040 movie comes out because he is Lobo. Also does James 110 00:06:43.040 --> 00:06:46.480 Gunn think he invented the Walkman? I hate when creators 111 00:06:46.519 --> 00:06:49.560 imbue their young characters with the trappings of their own youth. 112 00:06:49.920 --> 00:06:52.399 This was really evident in every teen movie in the 113 00:06:52.399 --> 00:06:55.279 early adds. You're telling me that they're listening to Devo 114 00:06:55.480 --> 00:06:59.720 and not my chemical romance, okay, or say Blondie, that 115 00:06:59.759 --> 00:07:02.720 makes sense. Star Lord was from Earth in the nineteen eighties, 116 00:07:02.720 --> 00:07:05.279 so he owned a walkman. What the fuck would a 117 00:07:05.360 --> 00:07:08.800 Candoran with access to every technology in the universe want 118 00:07:08.800 --> 00:07:12.439 with a shitty analog audio device from Earth's past? Not much. 119 00:07:12.480 --> 00:07:14.399 I'd say, all right, let's get to it. This week 120 00:07:14.519 --> 00:07:16.959 is weird because I was way too lazy to go 121 00:07:17.079 --> 00:07:20.040 out and see anything at the theater, because five Nights 122 00:07:20.040 --> 00:07:22.600 at Freddy's Part two has zero interest to me. I 123 00:07:22.680 --> 00:07:25.879 want to know what your thoughts are on Disney. We've 124 00:07:25.879 --> 00:07:28.240 all had experiences with Disney to some degree or another. 125 00:07:28.360 --> 00:07:33.040 Remember Disney's Golden Age, snow White Cinderella Sleeping Beauty, or 126 00:07:33.079 --> 00:07:35.720 the Silver Age with Mary Poppins and The Jungle Book 127 00:07:35.720 --> 00:07:38.480 and one hundred one Dalmatians, and who can forget the 128 00:07:38.480 --> 00:07:41.079 Disney Renaissance with Little Mermaid and Beauty and the Beast 129 00:07:41.120 --> 00:07:44.279 and Lion King. And that's all there, ever, was just 130 00:07:44.439 --> 00:07:48.199 varying degrees of reigning over the entertainment landscape. Except there's 131 00:07:48.240 --> 00:07:51.279 a twenty year period there that seemingly no one likes 132 00:07:51.319 --> 00:07:53.920 to talk about. And it has a name. You read 133 00:07:53.920 --> 00:07:57.199 the title of this show, It's a Disney's Dark Age, 134 00:07:57.600 --> 00:08:00.600 and it lasted from approximately nineteen seventy two just about 135 00:08:00.720 --> 00:08:04.279 nineteen eighty eight. People like to categorize Disney from animation 136 00:08:04.399 --> 00:08:07.560 cycle to animation cycle, which accounts for the arbitrariness of 137 00:08:07.600 --> 00:08:11.160 this epoch. That's The Aristocrats in nineteen seventy, which is 138 00:08:11.160 --> 00:08:13.680 the last film Walt Disney had any involvement in, to 139 00:08:13.800 --> 00:08:16.680 The Little Mermaid's release in nineteen eighty eight. I'd say 140 00:08:16.680 --> 00:08:19.560 that what happens in between is a series of failures 141 00:08:19.680 --> 00:08:22.519 and generally downward trend of the company. But if there's 142 00:08:22.519 --> 00:08:25.360 a switch, it doesn't really come until nineteen eighty and 143 00:08:25.399 --> 00:08:28.600 it ends in nineteen eighty four. Is it any coincidence 144 00:08:28.639 --> 00:08:31.160 that those are the years that Ron Miller was president 145 00:08:31.199 --> 00:08:34.720 of the Disney Corporation. Absolutely not when I think dark 146 00:08:34.759 --> 00:08:38.639 age is a compliment. Miller gets his Disney association because 147 00:08:38.639 --> 00:08:41.639 he married Walt's daughter, Diane. He was a tight end 148 00:08:41.679 --> 00:08:44.759 for the Los Angeles Rams until Walt attended a game 149 00:08:44.799 --> 00:08:48.440 where Miller was knocked unconscious for several minutes. Afterwards, he 150 00:08:48.480 --> 00:08:50.639 was supposed to have said to Miller, I don't want 151 00:08:50.679 --> 00:08:52.879 to raise your kids. You should come work for me, 152 00:08:53.440 --> 00:08:56.519 and he did, bouncing between Disney's film and television divisions 153 00:08:56.559 --> 00:08:59.519 as a co producer or associate producer on flicks like 154 00:08:59.639 --> 00:09:02.559 The Monk's Uncle and Son of Flubber. One of his 155 00:09:02.600 --> 00:09:05.360 first films is a full on producer was from nineteen 156 00:09:05.399 --> 00:09:08.720 sixty eight. It's called Never a Dull Moment. I'm sure 157 00:09:08.759 --> 00:09:10.840 you've never heard of it. The film is a lightweight 158 00:09:10.879 --> 00:09:14.120 heist comedy starring Dick Van Dyke. Happy one hundredth birthday 159 00:09:14.159 --> 00:09:16.360 to Dick Van Dyke, by the way, everybody, let's give 160 00:09:16.360 --> 00:09:19.679 it up for that man. And Edward g Robinson. Also, 161 00:09:19.840 --> 00:09:21.960 by the way, have you seen the footage of Edward 162 00:09:22.039 --> 00:09:24.879 g Robinson? Testing for Planet of the Apes in full 163 00:09:24.919 --> 00:09:29.799 ape makeup. YouTube is Your Friend never a dull moment. Interestingly, enough, 164 00:09:29.879 --> 00:09:32.840 is based on a novel by John Gottie. That's good 165 00:09:33.000 --> 00:09:36.320 E Y, not the Gangster. His novel, adapted here for 166 00:09:36.399 --> 00:09:39.000 the family to enjoy on a Sunday afternoon, was titled 167 00:09:39.200 --> 00:09:42.440 The Reluctant Assassin, just one of a string of crime 168 00:09:42.519 --> 00:09:44.720 novels from the author of the Taking of Pelham one, 169 00:09:44.720 --> 00:09:47.279 two three. Look, it's not like Dick van Dyke starts 170 00:09:47.279 --> 00:09:50.559 pistol whipping bank tellers or anything. This is a Disney movie, 171 00:09:50.600 --> 00:09:53.559 but it points to a yearning in another direction for Miller, 172 00:09:53.879 --> 00:09:57.080 a perhaps a more mature direction. Let's call it a 173 00:09:57.159 --> 00:10:01.080 seed planted in nineteen sixty six, to before the first 174 00:10:01.159 --> 00:10:04.679 ever performance of Disney on Ice occurred. I'm joking that's 175 00:10:04.720 --> 00:10:06.600 when Walt died. I mean he might be on ice. 176 00:10:06.759 --> 00:10:09.840 The problem there is the thawing correctly, not turning a 177 00:10:09.919 --> 00:10:13.159 solid into a liquid when you thaw it out anyway, 178 00:10:13.480 --> 00:10:17.480 Walt's death. Walt's death left the company in a free 179 00:10:17.519 --> 00:10:20.279 fall creatively. I think they were already out of touch 180 00:10:20.320 --> 00:10:22.799 by this point, and we're going to need a new direction, 181 00:10:22.960 --> 00:10:25.519 whether or not Walt was breathing. The fact is, for 182 00:10:25.519 --> 00:10:28.279 the next decade, everyone in the company kept limping along, 183 00:10:28.360 --> 00:10:31.320 trying to make what they thought Walt would. And while 184 00:10:31.320 --> 00:10:34.559 there were occasional gems like bed knobs and broomsticks, which 185 00:10:34.559 --> 00:10:36.879 I've already discussed in an earlier roundup and you can 186 00:10:37.080 --> 00:10:39.720 hear it if you just scroll back anyway, more often 187 00:10:39.759 --> 00:10:42.759 than not the output was like Million Dollar Duck and 188 00:10:42.960 --> 00:10:47.679 Snowball Express apologies to Dean Jones. The exceptions kept coming, though, 189 00:10:47.840 --> 00:10:50.799 flicks like Freaky Friday and Hot Lead and Cold Feet, 190 00:10:51.159 --> 00:10:55.000 and then, in nineteen seventy nine, the ultimate example of wait, 191 00:10:55.120 --> 00:10:58.840 this is a Disney movie, The Black Hole. I was there, 192 00:10:59.159 --> 00:11:02.080 I saw it. I heard those words in the theater, 193 00:11:02.519 --> 00:11:05.080 and the common denominator for all these swings toward a 194 00:11:05.120 --> 00:11:09.240 more adult themed Disney is you guessed it, producer Ron Miller. 195 00:11:09.840 --> 00:11:11.879 Let me just note that the films I'm talking about here, 196 00:11:12.000 --> 00:11:15.559 the Dark Age Disney pictures, are live action. There's plenty 197 00:11:15.600 --> 00:11:17.720 to be said for what happened to the animation department 198 00:11:17.799 --> 00:11:21.080 under card Walker's reign, and as such, there are docs 199 00:11:21.120 --> 00:11:24.080 and books and articles of plenty. Since we're talking about 200 00:11:24.159 --> 00:11:28.200 Ron Miller, mainly we're talking live action features. In nineteen 201 00:11:28.279 --> 00:11:31.080 eighty technically nineteen seventy eight, same year as The Black 202 00:11:31.080 --> 00:11:34.279 Hole win into production, Ron Miller became president of the company, 203 00:11:34.440 --> 00:11:37.480 and almost immediately the slate of films took a decidedly 204 00:11:37.519 --> 00:11:40.960 modern turn. First out of the gate was Midnight Madness, 205 00:11:41.360 --> 00:11:44.559 the Disney version of Animal House, with several college teams 206 00:11:44.559 --> 00:11:47.080 competing in a scavenger hunt around the deserted streets of 207 00:11:47.080 --> 00:11:51.559 Los Angeles. I love this flick, notable for being the 208 00:11:51.759 --> 00:11:54.720 big screen debut of Michael J. Fox, and it has 209 00:11:54.720 --> 00:11:57.559 an entire sequence set in the perhaps Blue Ribbon Factory, 210 00:11:57.840 --> 00:12:00.320 and it's going to killer Arcade sequence and it's got 211 00:12:00.360 --> 00:12:04.320 fucking trick down vans Man. Next up was Watcher in 212 00:12:04.360 --> 00:12:07.000 the Woods Why Not? A horror movie starring Betty Davis 213 00:12:07.000 --> 00:12:09.799 and Kyle Richards shot at the same location as The Haunting. 214 00:12:10.279 --> 00:12:12.919 That's the Robert Wise film, you know, the classic. Am 215 00:12:12.919 --> 00:12:14.799 I really going to list all of his films? Yes? 216 00:12:14.879 --> 00:12:17.120 I am, because so far they're all classics to me. 217 00:12:17.639 --> 00:12:21.799 Next was The Last Flight of Noah's Ark. Do yourself 218 00:12:21.840 --> 00:12:25.519 a favor. This is a movie about a degenerate gambler 219 00:12:25.639 --> 00:12:29.120 pilot played by Elliot Gould, who agrees to fly a 220 00:12:29.120 --> 00:12:32.720 plane full of animals to a remote island compound which 221 00:12:32.759 --> 00:12:36.519 serves as a wildlife preserve. Along the way, they got 222 00:12:36.559 --> 00:12:40.240 off course and crash on an uncharted island, where they 223 00:12:40.240 --> 00:12:43.360 discover two Japanese soldiers who don't know the war is over. 224 00:12:44.039 --> 00:12:46.360 And then they have to come together to convert a 225 00:12:46.480 --> 00:12:50.840 B twenty nine super Fortress into a boat. You know, 226 00:12:50.879 --> 00:12:54.879 with everyone obsessed with IP, you guys already own this, Disney. 227 00:12:55.399 --> 00:12:58.000 This is so fucking high concept and it is so 228 00:12:58.279 --> 00:13:00.879 fucking cool. You know what, maybe don't rem just re 229 00:13:00.879 --> 00:13:03.679 release it. Noah's Ark was the first of two films 230 00:13:03.720 --> 00:13:06.320 Elliot Gould did at Disney for Ron Miller. The other 231 00:13:06.559 --> 00:13:09.879 was The Devil and Max Devlin. Have you seen that one? 232 00:13:10.279 --> 00:13:12.759 It was written by Jimmy Sankster, who was the main 233 00:13:12.799 --> 00:13:17.159 screenwriter for Hammer horror films during the nineteen sixties. In fact, 234 00:13:17.399 --> 00:13:19.600 the script was originally intended to be done back in 235 00:13:19.639 --> 00:13:22.799 England with Vincent Price in the lead. It's the story 236 00:13:22.840 --> 00:13:25.519 of a corrupt businessman who makes a deal with the 237 00:13:25.559 --> 00:13:29.120 Devil as he's dying and definitely going to Hell to 238 00:13:29.240 --> 00:13:32.240 return to Earth and shepherd three souls to the dark 239 00:13:32.279 --> 00:13:38.480 side in exchange for prolonged life. M I see seial soon, 240 00:13:39.200 --> 00:13:41.279 k E why why? 241 00:13:41.519 --> 00:13:46.080 Because your soul is damned for all eternity. 242 00:13:45.000 --> 00:13:49.320 Featuring Bill Cosby as the Devil Perfect. And then there 243 00:13:49.399 --> 00:13:54.519 was Condor Man Condor Man, the Future Phantom of the Opera, 244 00:13:54.559 --> 00:13:58.360 Michael Crawford as Woody Wilkins, a mild comic book artist 245 00:13:58.360 --> 00:14:01.159 recruited as a courier by the c I who eventually 246 00:14:01.159 --> 00:14:06.320 becomes his most popular creation, Condor Man. This movie's batshit crazy, 247 00:14:06.720 --> 00:14:09.320 and it's more of a parody of James Bond than Batman, 248 00:14:09.919 --> 00:14:14.080 more like The Rocketeer, if the Rocketeer had zero charm. Nevertheless, 249 00:14:14.120 --> 00:14:17.159 the villain is played by Oliver Reed, which is a 250 00:14:17.159 --> 00:14:20.039 weird thing to reveal before saying I recommend seeing this 251 00:14:20.200 --> 00:14:23.799 with a child. It is a very silly film. You're 252 00:14:23.840 --> 00:14:25.879 only really gonna dig it if you're nine years old. 253 00:14:25.919 --> 00:14:27.600 All right, We've only got a few left before Miller 254 00:14:27.639 --> 00:14:30.960 gets the old heave ho Night Crossing. It's kind of 255 00:14:30.960 --> 00:14:34.360 a family movie, I suppose about two East German families 256 00:14:34.360 --> 00:14:37.039 attempting to sneak over into the West by using a 257 00:14:37.080 --> 00:14:40.600 hot air balloon. It's got families and adventure and the 258 00:14:40.639 --> 00:14:43.200 threat of the iron curtains slamming down on that balloon. 259 00:14:43.840 --> 00:14:46.000 It may be at this point that the shareholders are 260 00:14:46.080 --> 00:14:48.399 starting to look a little ass skance at our man Miller. 261 00:14:48.799 --> 00:14:50.879 But that's just one of a trio of nineteen eighty 262 00:14:50.879 --> 00:14:54.799 two disappointments. There was also Tex, the least interesting se 263 00:14:54.879 --> 00:14:58.200 Hinton novel gets adapted because there was an SI frenzy 264 00:14:58.639 --> 00:15:01.960 thanks to Coppola making the out and then Rumblefish. I 265 00:15:01.960 --> 00:15:05.279 guess that makes Matt Dillon the se Hinton actor, having 266 00:15:05.320 --> 00:15:09.879 been in three of the four outsiders, Rumblefish and Tex. Sorry, Emilio, 267 00:15:10.159 --> 00:15:12.399 you should have taken a small part in Rumblefish. He 268 00:15:12.440 --> 00:15:15.000 would have killed it in the Vincent Spano role. Wow, 269 00:15:15.559 --> 00:15:17.320 now that I think of it, that would have made 270 00:15:17.360 --> 00:15:20.279 that movie a thousand times better. That is a great film, actually, 271 00:15:20.480 --> 00:15:23.080 and we'll need to cover it here sometime anyway. Tex 272 00:15:23.480 --> 00:15:26.039 is the uplifting tale of two brothers desperate to keep 273 00:15:26.080 --> 00:15:29.799 the family farm after their mother passes away. Woo, give 274 00:15:29.840 --> 00:15:31.840 me that popcorn. I don't think I have to say 275 00:15:31.840 --> 00:15:36.360 too much about tron Do I visionary classic that was 276 00:15:36.440 --> 00:15:39.159 under Miller's regime. At the Mousehouse. I'm not saying he 277 00:15:39.279 --> 00:15:42.399 himself was a visionary. That's Steve Lisberger. But the ability 278 00:15:42.440 --> 00:15:45.039 to say yes when everyone in the universe says no, 279 00:15:45.559 --> 00:15:48.679 while more often than not, can be disastrous, Sometimes it 280 00:15:48.759 --> 00:15:50.919 results in a creation we're still trying to get a 281 00:15:50.960 --> 00:15:53.840 handle on. As cool and interesting and exciting as the 282 00:15:53.879 --> 00:15:56.399 follow up films to Tron have been, has there been 283 00:15:56.440 --> 00:15:59.360 a single moment in either where you thought, what the 284 00:15:59.399 --> 00:16:02.000 fuck am I watching? And I mean that question in 285 00:16:02.039 --> 00:16:05.559 the greatest way possible, The answer is now, which leaves 286 00:16:05.600 --> 00:16:09.320 his final contribution. I'm recommending each of the films I've mentioned, 287 00:16:09.399 --> 00:16:12.120 but if there's one one that I think actually showed 288 00:16:12.120 --> 00:16:15.159 the potential of Disney as a family studio, still making 289 00:16:15.200 --> 00:16:18.679 live action features with a level of maturity commensurate with 290 00:16:18.799 --> 00:16:23.600 contemporary times and values, while still showing and ultimately I 291 00:16:23.679 --> 00:16:27.159 hesitate to use the word wholesome, look at the natural world. 292 00:16:27.720 --> 00:16:39.039 It's never cry wolf? What have my provision that bigs 293 00:16:39.039 --> 00:16:39.559 the hell of it? 294 00:16:40.720 --> 00:16:43.960 His name is Tyler Powell. He's come three thousand miles 295 00:16:44.200 --> 00:16:47.360 to spend six months in the Northwest wilderness. He's done 296 00:16:47.480 --> 00:16:51.080 everything he can to prepare himself, but nothing could prepare 297 00:16:51.120 --> 00:17:00.559 him for this. Now, the director of the Black Start 298 00:17:01.039 --> 00:17:05.680 brings you another story you will never forget. Never cry Wolf, 299 00:17:05.759 --> 00:17:06.799 but not lead out there. 300 00:17:06.880 --> 00:17:09.039 Now he was done with ice and snow. 301 00:17:09.640 --> 00:17:19.720 You would be the only freshman joy a story that 302 00:17:19.799 --> 00:17:26.680 will dazzle your senses and show you the secrets of 303 00:17:26.759 --> 00:17:40.920 a world you've never seen before. After finish. Never cry Wolf. 304 00:17:46.160 --> 00:17:50.519 Based on environmentalist Farley Moet's nineteen sixty three fictionalized account 305 00:17:50.599 --> 00:17:53.759 of his time working for the Dominion Wildlife Service when 306 00:17:53.759 --> 00:17:56.880 he was tasked with determining why caribou populations were on 307 00:17:56.920 --> 00:18:00.720 the decline, the popular theory being wolf attacks. Never cry Wolf. 308 00:18:00.720 --> 00:18:03.720 The screenplay was written by Future Batman eighty nine scribe 309 00:18:03.759 --> 00:18:07.519 Sam Ham, with passes by La Confidentials Curtis Hansen, and 310 00:18:07.559 --> 00:18:10.279 tells the tale of Tyler played by Charles Martin Smith 311 00:18:10.319 --> 00:18:12.599 over the course of six months in the Canadian Arctic, 312 00:18:12.839 --> 00:18:15.920 where he battles the elements and hunger and isolation with 313 00:18:16.039 --> 00:18:18.960 the sporadic help of two Innick natives played by two 314 00:18:19.119 --> 00:18:22.240 Innock non actors, and eventually a trio of wolves then 315 00:18:22.279 --> 00:18:26.000 accept Tyler into the pack. This might not sound scintillating, 316 00:18:26.039 --> 00:18:28.880 but let me tell you This movie is exactly what 317 00:18:28.920 --> 00:18:31.839 you need right now. Made Mike Carol Ballard, who I'm 318 00:18:31.880 --> 00:18:33.960 sure you heard in the trailer, was the director of 319 00:18:34.000 --> 00:18:38.839 The Black Stallion, another fucking magnificent, unblinking nature film, but 320 00:18:38.960 --> 00:18:41.119 before that he had spent twenty or so years making 321 00:18:41.200 --> 00:18:45.480 nature documentaries. They took two years to make Never Cry Wolf, 322 00:18:45.680 --> 00:18:48.839 and it shows Ballard is a known perfectionist, which when 323 00:18:48.880 --> 00:18:52.359 you add nature, you've got an investment in time. But 324 00:18:52.640 --> 00:18:56.119 what he gets is just breathtaking. And it operates as 325 00:18:56.160 --> 00:18:59.440 an adventure film, as a nature documentary, as a polemic 326 00:18:59.440 --> 00:19:02.279 about modern man, as a portraiture of the Arctic at 327 00:19:02.319 --> 00:19:05.160 its most beautiful. There is a sequence laid in the 328 00:19:05.200 --> 00:19:08.400 film where Tyler aids the pack in a running down 329 00:19:08.480 --> 00:19:12.279 a herd of caribou. This sequence took a month to film, 330 00:19:12.720 --> 00:19:16.359 a month of sometimes twenty hour days. It is a 331 00:19:16.400 --> 00:19:19.799 harrowing sequence that absolutely boggles the mind with how they 332 00:19:19.839 --> 00:19:22.640 did it, because they fucking did it. More to the point, 333 00:19:22.799 --> 00:19:25.880 Jonal Smartin Smith did it. I hope you recognize the name. 334 00:19:26.319 --> 00:19:29.720 A true journeyman character actor. Got a film, he's in 335 00:19:29.960 --> 00:19:33.319 TV series, in a play he's in Go Off to 336 00:19:33.359 --> 00:19:35.640 the Wilderness for two years where for months at a 337 00:19:35.680 --> 00:19:39.440 time he's the only actor on set. He's in. He's 338 00:19:39.440 --> 00:19:41.599 had a career for over fifty years now. He was 339 00:19:41.680 --> 00:19:45.079 Terry the Toad in American Graffiti and More American Graffiti 340 00:19:45.079 --> 00:19:47.359 for that matter. He played bass for Buddy Holly and 341 00:19:47.400 --> 00:19:50.680 The Buddy Holly Story. He directed the Fucking Horror classic 342 00:19:50.839 --> 00:19:55.319 Trick or Treat. That's Sam Kerr Baby, not that baby Sam. 343 00:19:55.640 --> 00:19:58.799 And most importantly to me, he was Agent Oscar Wallace 344 00:19:58.880 --> 00:20:02.799 in Brian de Palma's The Untouchables. You remember Wallace killed 345 00:20:02.839 --> 00:20:06.599 ignominiously and hung in an elevator. Wallace who actually provided 346 00:20:06.599 --> 00:20:10.279 the means to convict Capone. Okay, no secret, My last 347 00:20:10.319 --> 00:20:12.480 name is Wallace. Back when I was a tour guide 348 00:20:12.480 --> 00:20:15.359 at the Haunted Museum, one afternoon I was delivering a 349 00:20:15.400 --> 00:20:18.319 speech in the ed Geen Room. This room holds a 350 00:20:18.400 --> 00:20:21.640 giant cast iron pot. Some called it a cauldron, which 351 00:20:21.759 --> 00:20:25.079 ed Geen himself used to boil flesh from bone. The 352 00:20:25.160 --> 00:20:27.559 room itself is tricked out like a barn. It's not 353 00:20:27.720 --> 00:20:31.119 universal quality, but it does the job, and the object 354 00:20:31.160 --> 00:20:33.880 on display does have a certain gravity given its history. 355 00:20:34.279 --> 00:20:36.680 My tour group is in a circle around the cauldron, 356 00:20:36.960 --> 00:20:39.720 and I'm turning, making eye contact with everyone as I 357 00:20:39.839 --> 00:20:43.720 detail the horrible aspects of Edgean's life, and suddenly I'm 358 00:20:43.880 --> 00:20:47.720 eye to I with Agent Wallace, Charles Martin Smith, who's 359 00:20:47.720 --> 00:20:50.680 hanging on what I'm saying. I know I finished that speech, 360 00:20:50.720 --> 00:20:53.960 but I was no longer present for it. A little 361 00:20:54.039 --> 00:20:57.079 later on the tour, there's a celebrity memorabilia section. It's 362 00:20:57.119 --> 00:20:59.319 the least gruesome room in the museum, and it's where 363 00:20:59.319 --> 00:21:01.680 the least or occurs. You just let the guests take 364 00:21:01.720 --> 00:21:04.279 their time and inspect the various displays. And I got 365 00:21:04.279 --> 00:21:06.039 to talk to him, and I told him that it 366 00:21:06.119 --> 00:21:08.720 might be a trivial thing that his character was named Wallace, 367 00:21:08.759 --> 00:21:11.319 but it was a huge deal to fourteen year old me, 368 00:21:11.559 --> 00:21:14.599 who was feeling particularly adrift at that age. But then 369 00:21:14.759 --> 00:21:17.920 I brought up how magnificent Never cry Wolf was, and 370 00:21:18.000 --> 00:21:21.400 it was like Charles Martin Smith's birthday forty years later, 371 00:21:21.440 --> 00:21:23.920 and you could see Caribou in his eyes. He was 372 00:21:24.079 --> 00:21:26.279 very sweet. He talked to me way longer than he 373 00:21:26.359 --> 00:21:28.400 needed to, and even found me at the end so 374 00:21:28.440 --> 00:21:30.680 he could get a picture together. I will try and 375 00:21:30.839 --> 00:21:32.400 post it in the show notes. I don't know, not 376 00:21:32.400 --> 00:21:34.319 really sure how to do that, but I will never cry. 377 00:21:34.359 --> 00:21:37.519 Wolf was the final nail in Ron Miller's coffin as 378 00:21:37.559 --> 00:21:39.680 far as feature films go. The other nail was the 379 00:21:39.680 --> 00:21:42.319 Black Cauldron, which maybe we should talk about in a 380 00:21:42.319 --> 00:21:45.119 future episode. But the fact is, no matter how well 381 00:21:45.200 --> 00:21:47.839 or not Miller was doing, he was from a different age, 382 00:21:48.200 --> 00:21:50.799 too shaped by Walt. To bring the company properly into 383 00:21:50.799 --> 00:21:53.359 the eighties. For that, you needed the TV guys who 384 00:21:53.440 --> 00:21:57.599 resuscitated Paramount. Thus it begins the Eisner era, and the 385 00:21:57.640 --> 00:22:01.000 Magic Kingdom just keeps on a growin. Don't now. I'm 386 00:22:01.000 --> 00:22:03.599 not saying Disney hasn't done important work or interesting work 387 00:22:03.599 --> 00:22:06.279 in the following three decades. Hell, if they didn't make it, 388 00:22:06.319 --> 00:22:09.319 they'll just buy it eventually. But any level of daring 389 00:22:09.359 --> 00:22:11.680 you see him coming from the company, any attempt to 390 00:22:11.759 --> 00:22:15.279 revitalize or rejuvenate for a new age, started back with 391 00:22:15.400 --> 00:22:18.680 Ron Miller. They call it the Dark Age. I agree, 392 00:22:18.880 --> 00:22:22.000 like mister Dark the villain of another adaptation that found 393 00:22:22.039 --> 00:22:26.000 its way onto the screen under Miller's tenure, Ray Bradbury's 394 00:22:26.000 --> 00:22:30.519 Something Wicked This Way Comes, But that is another podcast. 395 00:22:31.119 --> 00:22:34.000 Thank you everyone for joining us once again Friday is 396 00:22:34.039 --> 00:22:36.319 Star Trek fest Star Trek for the Voyage Home Save 397 00:22:36.359 --> 00:22:38.799 the Whales. Damn it. I hope you dig that one 398 00:22:38.920 --> 00:22:40.839 HB and I had a blast recording it. If you 399 00:22:40.880 --> 00:22:42.599 want to hear it now, head over to patreon dot 400 00:22:42.599 --> 00:22:46.680 com slash Father Malone. Subscribers get everything early, very early, 401 00:22:46.680 --> 00:22:48.440