275: Godzilla Meltdown

Hey, this is Danielle Harris. So I am now maybe, quite possibly, one of the newest members of Movie Meltdown. If I can ever actually get to the movies. But I'll review some old 80s rom-coms for you. See ya.

It had to be you. It had to be you. I wandered around and finally found the somebody who. The following feature has been rated R by the Motion Picture Association of America. It is intended for mature audiences and parental discretion is advised.

It's showtime, folks. Enjoy the show. Our nuclear reactor, pumping out one million kilowatts of power. What's up and welcome to Movie Meltdown. I am Brian and we are coming to you live via digital recording from Wonderfest.

And joining us is Patrick. Hi Meltdown fans. Don't be so excited depression hurts and coming back for the 17th time out of that. Blast i haven't learned my lesson mr. Eric chew hi there welcome back.

We need an applause wheel we we uh. I i think reasonable facsimile i think at this point we're just adopting you i i don't i don't know that you want it but that's usually what seems to be there's only a handful of guests we've adopted into the fold, and you can fight it as much as you want, as Daniel Harris has tried for years, but no, we adopted her anyway, and you've fallen into that now. So if you want some sort of prize to mark this momentous occasion. You can come claim a t-shirt or whatever you want. But welcome back to the show, your second home.

Thank you. So how have things been since last we talked to you? I know you. We're doing all kinds of non-geeky things. Got married, but you've, I think, taken another step.

Getting married is non-geeky? Yeah, we decided last year. I called you out for it. It's legitimate. It's legitimate.

I called you out. For it because he went and got married. And then, like, the most conventional things. I believe you've had a child. Oh, God.

Offspring. Alien spawn. Yeah, that's basically it. Yeah, no, his name's Taylor. We nicknamed him Chuthulu.

Yeah, that's a laugh. Was he born with tentacles? Yeah, he cut his hands and everything. And he's a joy. I mean, it's.

His first time being a dad, and it's a very different experience than what I've been led to believe. But it never stops. That's all I know. Um, no, but, uh, you know, uh, and it gets me thinking, um, um, I took him to a department store just, uh, just a month ago and the salespeople gave him a, uh, a balloon, one. Of those human built balloons on a string.

And he was, this is the first time he'd ever seen the balloon. And he was, screaming and laughing and giggling all the way home and it got me wondering, oh my god, you know, I'm at this age where the simple pleasures of a balloon, you know, I'm jaded to that. You know, I can't remember when I was that happy. To get a balloon. You are pretty jaded.

Yeah. So, it is very much looking at the world with new eyes and I do want him to, I mean, he laughs a lot, he's discovering the world and, and, When it comes to things geeky, I think I do want to raise him right, and I do want to introduce him to this genre, this world that we are in, but introduce him right. Does that not include the original three? The episode one through three of Star Wars. That's how all geeks have to feel.

That's the situation they all find themselves in now is like, What do I make him watch and how do I let him experience Star Wars? Well, my feeling is that he should start with basically with puppets and miniatures and rubber suits and all of that and to the cell animation. And I don't want to introduce him to CG just yet because I've seen so many kids these days. They're started off in CG and they won't go backwards. They won't.

Give the old stuff a chance. And the old stuff is really, really good. I think. It was a case of, okay, there are wires, there's green screen, you can see there's seams on the rubber suits, but you had to fill. In the gaps.

And you got more invested in it and you got more excited. I've seen so many kids who have grown up on the Avengers and Transformers, the movie, and. They don't get really excited about things anymore. Not like the way we got excited about. The latest Rubber Monster movie.

I think all that stuff. That's our segue, isn't it? Well, I think all that stuff you have to fill in the blanks there. I think that sort of fires your imagination when you're a kid, and you don't have that. If everything is available to you, you don't have to use your imagination.

You don't want. Them to look back and say, well, that's so fake, I'm not going to watch it. Yeah, well. Sometimes that's where the best stuff lies. Exactly.

You never know. And, you know, as much as I will knock it, he's a ridiculously cute kid, so I don't know. What to tell you. I'm still not sure how this came from you, but congratulations either way. Shall I explain it to you in detail?

Only if you can use diagrams. I want to see you draw some stuff in detail. I'll do a flip book for you. Make use of the art and, you know, really bring it to life. Yeah maybe a pop-up book.

I have one of those actually never mind that's a different story all right um do you are you just dying to get into this movie is that what you're. Telling me not really no. We can wander around other geek things have you seen anything else you want to talk to you we've been talking about x-men this weekend you want to Ease your way in with some X-Men? You haven't seen X-Men? No, I haven't seen X-Men.

Are you kidding me? I was preparing for this show. That's true. All your focus should have gone, you know. No, the other thing I've been working on is I've started working with Jamie Anderson, who is Jerry Anderson's son.

And for those of you who don't remember Jerry Anderson, he was the creator of Thunderbirds, Supercar, Fireball XL5. Space 1999. The real shit. Yeah, the stuff that I was excited about when I was a kid. Stuff that fuels that imagination.

And so his father died quite maybe a year or two ago. Yeah, we were talking about him last year. Yeah, and he's really taken upon himself to... to take whatever properties that are still left under the Jerry Anderson banner and look into resurrecting it. So just, I think, last month, they had Andercon. They put on the first official Jerry Anderson convention sanctioned by the Anderson family.

Where was that? In London. And I think it was just sort of a testing ground to see how many people, you know, is that interest still alive? Yeah. And, um, I think maybe about two or three weeks before the event, they completely sold out.

And, uh, that's England. I mean, there, it is a nostalgic thing there. They're a very different market than. But you know, there, there is a, there's quite a, I found that there's quite a nostalgic following here too. Um, and so, uh, I'm, I'm hoping that, um, he's able to resurrect some of his father's old stuff and maybe start creating new properties that will follow in his father's footsteps.

So his father, during the last few years, I think was trying to take his old properties and update them for a newer audience. And so he produced something called the new Captain Scarlet, and it was in CG. And I think that was the wrong move. I think that when people remember Jerry Anderson they remember the puppets they don't if you want to do CG I mean you won't be any different than any other. Saturday morning cartoon yeah all that stuff now.

So I think his son does understand that and so you know I think that when we start thinking about doing another show he will certainly keep that in mind and I think you know hopefully with enough support and enough people behind it, we'll. Start getting back into miniatures and puppets. Because I really think, you. Know, and I've said this before, when I was growing up, watching those shows, at no point did I ever think that they were real. It's not like they were trying to pull the wool over my eyes.

I knew there were puppets. I knew there were miniatures. But the charm of the show for me when I was watching it was that I was watching toys move. And I think that's something that's kind of missing in today's children's shows, that we're all so caught up with trying to make it polished and realistic that we've actually lost some of the charm that was in watching something physical like a puppet or a miniature. I think especially when we were doing stop motion and stuff last time, I think there is something to that, that even when you're a kid, if you don't 100% understand how it works, there's still something weird and magic about it.

You know it's not real. You do get that level of like, okay, I know this isn't a real thing happening, but there's something to it that connects with you, and because it's a real physical thing, I think it does kind of lend itself to kind of bringing kids into it a little more than CG or Even cell animation, it's a different thing, I think, than just something about stop motion and puppetry that's like. There's a charm about it. There's a craft about it. And, you know, it is a handmade thing.

Well, yeah, I'm obviously on board with that, and. I didn't really think about it before we got into this, but I myself am working on a series of short films, and they may or may not involve puppets. So. I don't... I don't know.

I've been working on this idea for years now, and it's funny that it's sort of come together, and I've found a few other people are like, yeah, that's. What we need to be doing. So it's in the works. It has been for quite a while now. It's a very slow process trying to get things.

Brian, I hate to break it. Those are condoms. They're not finger puppets. But I've got five of them. Look.

Watch this. Hi, guys. Oh, never mind. I'll save it for later. Don't appreciate my condom puppets.

It's your art. I know. No, no, you wait. It will be something. I don't know what exactly.

But it will be something. And so far I'm very amused and entertained by the concept. Well, we're all very relieved it's spermacidal anyways. No, they're way cool. You'll see.

So is yours going to be geared mostly towards TV as like a show thing or more of Internet-based or the one that you're working on with? Well, no, we don't have anything on the go just yet. I mean, just the idea. That's the approach that I think we're looking at. And yeah, I think that's, it's something that's sorely missing these days.

And I do think that bringing that back, I mean, the name Jerry Anderson, you immediately think of Super Mario Nation, you immediately think of the vehicles and the spaceships and And to move away from that, I think is, you know, you're kind of contrary to the memory of Jerry Anderson. And I think that this is the way to go. It will set itself apart from every other production that's out there. And, you know, I kind of miss that. I kind of miss the, you know, when, remember as a kid when you would, you know, wake up and you'd be so excited. for that new episode to come on board, or sorry, to be aired.

And nowadays it's like, oh, well, I can just. Download it later. The passion and the excitement has gone out of it. There is a difference in just the way that we view things now, and I don't know that that'll ever go back. There isn't that episodic thing of people that are like, I'm going to sit down on Wednesday nights and watch this.

That's sort of, almost completely died out there's. A little left with network television but for the most part everything is either you know on youtube or streaming or you can just download it or watch it in a huge chunk all at once so it's or it will be interesting to kind of see where all that goes in the next 10 years i think just in that span all of that stuff's gonna change so i think for all of us trying to find these new projects and where we're going with them i think that's part of it too is where it is there to go with them and what do you want to do with it and i think there's unlimited possibilities with it but i don't know how. It's going to pan out so it'll be interesting to say i.

Just think that that passion is missing these days you. Know patrick are you playing with puppets in any professional or amateur capacity he's got. His hands under the table oh so he is that's. The only puppet i play with. All righty let's save him for a later.

Episode way into the godzilla puppet I have a feeling that was a puppet. You're jumping way ahead. All right, so with that, we'll take a break here and come back with this week's movie. Thank you. Popcorn freshly popped and buttered.

Look good? Sure, it looks good and it tastes even better. Get some now. Godzilla, king of the monsters. Fantastic beyond comprehension.

Gripping beyond compare. Astounding beyond belief. The mightiest monster. Of them all. See Godzilla, king of the monsters.

Tweaked Audio, your source for high-performance, noise-reducing earbuds. Available in three styles and seven colors. Durable and designed to sound great for both music and those chatty podcasts, like the one you're listening to now. Tweaked Audio earbuds come with a one-year warranty, and now there's a special deal for Movie Meltdown listeners. Just go to tweakedaudio.com, and when you check out, enter the discount code MELTDOWN.

Then you'll get 33% off and free shipping. Tweaked Audio. Sounds better. Get more out of life. Go out to a movie.

Out of town. Out of town. Come for a meltdown. They're not fooling anybody that what happened was a natural disaster. It was not an earthquake.

It wasn't a typhoon. They're lying. I'm not crazy. Whatever it is they're guarding so carefully, I need to be able. To prove it.

The arrogance of man is thinking nature is in our control, and not the. Other way around. I know many of you have family and loved ones, and that you want to help them. Well, this is your chance. We'll be right back.

All right, so we are back with this week's Out on the Town feature. Yes, we left the house. It doesn't happen much, but for Godzilla, we will. So this week's feature is Godzilla. The year is 2014.

The director Gareth Edwards, the plot, according to IMDb... Party on, Gareth. You're on the wrong movie. The wrong movie. The world's most famous monsters pitted against malevolent creatures who, bolstered by humanity's scientific arrogance, threaten our very existence.

Dun-dun-dun. Spoiler alert. We're going to tear the hell out of this and probably ruin many things about it and or lead people's lives. So feel free to go watch it beforehand. You have been warned.

All right, where would you like to get into it? I have a feeling I know which way you're leaning on this one. Patrick, I'm really not sure where you came in on this. I'm interested to see how all of this comes together. Well, it's big and terrible.

More frightening than I ever thought possible. So you loved it, is what you're saying. Yeah. Let's start with the overall structure, because I know where things start to fall apart for most people. As it opens up in that first half, how do you feel about the movie?

Who are you directing this to? Oh, totally towards you. I'm just here for one moment. You know what? My feeling is that if you've seen Gareth Edwards' previous movie, Monsters, you've pretty much seen Godzilla.

Basically, it's like 90% people running around, and then by the time you do get to see Godzilla, or in the case of monsters, the aliens, I mean, it's this sort of... You've got to see them kind of float around and do this sort of touchy-feely thing. And then that's it. End of movie. And Godzilla was a little bit more ambitious, but it had the same sort of tease.

Every time. You thought, okay, we've waited this long. Here we go. We're going to get. Our wrestling match.

Our big fight. Our big throwdown. We need the wrestling match. And suddenly, no, we're not getting it. It's just a big cock tease.

It's funny that you used that word. I sat in the theater and I was like, oh, this director is just a tease. Like, that's exactly what I'm saying to myself. I'm like, as we get to that first scene, and I guess we can jump to that because this is probably what most of the. Discussion will come down to is the fact that We get to that first big fight and we don't get it.

And the thing is, that one, I will almost give him, the way he does that reveal is really clever. The fact that he builds it up, we think we're going to get it, we don't. But then as we get to that next scene and we're watching the news, we kind of do. We see little pieces of them just tearing the town apart. I'm like, that was kind of clever.

Like, if you're going to do a fake out, that's a good way to ease into it. I think it's the next one where he screwed us over. I was like, okay, that's fun. That's all fun and games. But 20, 30 minutes later, you better get to a big monster fight.

And he does it again. Like, you son of a bitch. The door closes and you just want to hit Gareth Edwards with a building. You want to get into the fight. With Gareth Edwards.

I don't know. That's where I think. He goes horribly wrong. And then finally, you do get the big fight at the end. And it's almost nothing.

You know, it doesn't... That lead up and that weight and you're thinking, okay, there's got to be something massive at the end. And it isn't. I mean, you kind of get. There is a shot in there that I will give.

I call it the money shot. It is somewhat pornographic, somewhat erotic. There's a couple of them there, but there's the one main one by the end. You're like, all right, well, there was my ticket price right there. So that is the money shot, literally.

Which was kind of, you know, if you... along the same lines as the two girls two cups sort. Of thing sort of yeah yeah but uh uh yeah i i you know i think that i was just sort of really bored by it honestly. It just had too much matthew broderick like it's like why was the whole movie about the kid. I do wonder i mean we And this is what I don't get. For somebody who's building this movie, I understand he's trying to not just do another monster movie.

He wants to actually, because that was the thing. I was like, halfway in, I'm saying to myself the same thing. I'm kind of like, okay, I'm hearing everybody else as I get out of the theater going, man, why do they do all this stuff with the people? We just want fighting. It's a Godzilla movie.

I can hear people already kind of bashing it just because all they want is two monsters fighting. And I'm like, no, that's not really true either because I saw Pacific Rim. And that was my problem with that. And you all missed about that. It was nothing but two monsters fighting.

And I was like, there's no character development there. I could care less about these characters. They're never really fleshed out. So I'm like, I keep wanting that. Like, I want a mixture of these two things because Pacific Rim was nothing but fighting the entire time.

There was a lot of fighting. They didn't really, I mean, it had its issues too, but. They didn't skimp on the fighting there. They get right into it and you get a lot of it over the length of the movie. And then Godzilla is just a big tease for the most of it.

But it's pretending like it's building this character situation and all these different characters. But it kind of ends up doing the same thing. It doesn't build strong enough characters. We don't really care about that guy. His wife has nothing to do.

He's actually ineffectual throughout the whole movie. He doesn't get to do much. He doesn't factor in until we get to the very end. The bomb thing, I guess, is the most functional he ever is in the movie. But I'm just kind of like, why have we been riding along with this guy.

The whole time? He destroyed the hive in four seconds alone. There you go. See, that's the only time. That and saving that kid.

Who, Matthew Broderick? Matthew Broderick did it too. He's the same character. Kind of. Only Matthew Broderick, I like him.

Let's keep Ferris out of this movie. But, you know, to be fair, I mean, most of us who remember Godzilla movies, I mean, tend to remember the drag out. Oh, Toho did it. They killed us. 90 minutes before you see anything.

We're kind of half expecting, because what we remember are, you know, those fights and those cheesy shots and. Toys flying around. Godzilla playing ping pong with giant crab monsters. Personal favorite. I just prefer to.

Do it as like WBF with giant monster costumes on. And that's essentially what Pacific Rim gave us. But if you actually really want to go back and look at the original Godzilla movie, it wasn't that kind of movie. And yes, okay, Gareth Edwards made a movie that is closer to the original Godzilla than what most of us remember a Godzilla movie should be about. Which I'm fine with that.

I just think he needed to Do more with that first half. If you're going to devote that much time to building it up, it just needs to... I don't want to knock it overall, because everybody seems to be trashing it, or most of the people I've talked to have been very unhappy with it. What I think he's also faced with a really. Bad situation, whereas in this world of superheroes, he's almost telling an origin story again.

He's forced to go back and be like, well, here's how it happened. We can't just have a monster wander out and start beating each other. Oh, except they did do that in Pacific Rim. They're like two minutes in, they're like, and monsters fight. So there is a way to do that.

I think that was a little forced too. Like we almost wanted a little more backstory. So again, we've got to hit this middle ground because I feel like he's setting this up and he's got to explain so much that you get to that 30, 40, 50 minutes of like. Story of explaining how all this comes together. And I'm like, we need that.

But at the same time, we need something to bring us into it we need better characters for that matter and and just a little more action along the way to drive the plot i think so i i understand he's faced with a lot trying to because that's the thing i feel like once he's got that out of the way if they're keeping him on to do the next one which we probably will at this point but i feel like okay we've gotten the big dumb story out of the way of setting up the plot do we now just go right in and just start with more you know okay here's A monster flies in from space and fight. You know, do we get right into it now? Is that where we go? I kind of hope so. That would be amazing.

Or Gatsuki. No Gatsuki, please. I'm tired of talking to you about this. I want my son. I want to see my son.

I want to know that he's all right. This guy. This guy knows. He knows where he is. I want my son.

And I want my bag. And I want to talk to somebody in charge, not you. No, not you. I'm done talking to you. All right?

Well, you're looking at me. Right now like I'm in a fish tank, right? That's fine, because I know what happened here. And you keep. Telling everybody that this place is a death zone, but it's not.

You're lying. Because what's really happening is that you're hiding something out there. I'm right, aren't I? My wife So I don't know, what was. Your thought?

And I have a right to know! I deserve answers! So, I don't know. What was your thought on the structuring of it? Because I feel like we do need more.

We do need to ground it with a little more of, you know, kind of what they wanted to do with the original Godzilla. Of, like, giving us the backstory of, like, it was based in a real world. In a real world that was kind of dealing with fear and... trauma of just, you know, coming out of the war and like seeing nuclear devastation for real. So they're kind of like, okay, yeah, this is a sci-fi story, but it's based in how messed up the world is right now. And it's like, we're just sort of taking it off in a weird direction, but there's, I mean, you can feel that when you watch that first one, that it's based out of some sort of reality that I don't know that we.

Get in this new one. I think this one is just a big fun monster movie and the fun comes in way too late to save it. Almost kind of. Are you saying that it did save it? I'm of the opinion that it was just too little too late, honestly.

It brings it back around for me. I didn't hate it because I really did like that last scene. That last fight, I would have liked more, I agree. But I feel like what was on there was pretty solid. I think once we finally, again, they drag it out where we almost don't even see Godzilla for most of the movie, and that's not.

A good idea. I'm not sure I saw it. It's in the name. We know he's there. Go ahead and bring him out at least midway into the movie.

But, I don't know. It seems like once we see him, I think he looks pretty good. I like the effects. I like those other two monsters. I think they were cool monsters.

It's like that Pink Panther movie that they did after Peter Sellers died and the characters are trying to catch a glimpse. Of Spectre Clouseau. Trail of the Pink Panther? Yeah, that's it. Starring Ted Wass?

There he goes! Curse of the Pink Panther, that's right. Does Godzilla die, or does he just fall asleep? He's worn out, and he takes a nap. You know, we all get worn out.

I went home and took a nap earlier, it's cool. That's interesting. I do wonder, like, what, yeah, I was like, what, they really didn't spell that out, so are we just supposed to, like, take from. That what we want? Two big fire blasts, and then he has to go sleep.

And he's all worn out. Well, then I was like, okay, is it because they're dealing with all this, like, everyone else, all the creatures are feeding off this nuclear. I do like the one eating, like, nuclear weapons as he busts into that submarine. So I'm like, by then they'd blown up all the nuclear stuff. So I was like, was he feeding off of that?

Are we supposed to think that was part of it? And now they've gotten rid of all that and they took everything away and now he's depleted and has to take a nap. I don't know. They really kind of should have pinned that down a little more, I suppose. I think there's a lot of questions about this movie that go unanswered.

Get Gareth on the phone. Like, why is Walter White in it at all? What was your take on him overall? I really went and saw the movie for him, and I fell into a trap. Because I was too dumb to realize, they're going to kill him off in a minute here, and I just wasted $ 6.

50. You went to the matinee. I did go to the matinee. To be honest, the part with... Bryan Cranston was probably the most.

That was the best part. Yeah. I mean, you felt in his situation. He had emotion. Yeah.

And if he would have replaced Ferris Bueller, it would have been fine. I mean, it's kind of true. He, at least in that first 10, 15 minutes, however long he's in it, like, you... I've had many people bring up the fact that he's just kind of chewing up the scenery. Like, he's nothing but a raw nerve the entire time.

I think earlier today they said he just jumps in season three. As Walter White. Exactly. He's just immediately crazy. So, I mean, he kind of dials it a little too far.

But at least, you know, he is a great actor. He does bring something to that role. I do like the story that they are setting up of him losing his wife. And, like, you do feel like he's got something at stake. So, again, as the story arc, it would then balance out if, like, okay, so now he's trying to redeem himself or what they were doing or the death of his wife.

Like, some sort of balance to his life. Or we just kill him, whichever. We're going to hand it off to the catatonic kid. So, yeah, somebody else I heard referred to that as, like, the entire movie is false advertising. Just being roped in as false advertising.

Because they really do build it up like he's the main character. Exactly. I wanted to see him versus Godzilla. Which, again, is a clever trick if you can pull that off. That's a psycho move right there.

But this is no psycho. So you can't do that unless you're handing it off to someone equally as strong or impressive or. Able to carry the scene, you know. Can you imagine Godzilla on one end of the street and Brian Cranston on the other side in his ginch? Yes.

I feel like it was a 90-minute or 120-minute short story. It was. It was a too. Drawn-out short story, and it's setting us up for hopefully they make a second one, and it's a good one. I think it's already greenlit at this point.

Well, they greenlit two and three, and it's like, but now are we going to get the monsters we know and love? Because I do, I want to see somebody come from space. If they fuck up Mothra, though. You don't mess with Mothra? You don't mess with Rodan.

Oh, yeah. Don't you fuck with Rodan. So, you know, they really do kind of, again, like, you get into these properties sometimes, and it's like, the deck is almost stacked against you. Like, there's so much. Oh, you just wait.

Pacific Rim opened up this, and it opened up Voltron. And when they fuck over Voltron. Little kids everywhere. Who are now old people. Exactly.

Will be very angry. Oh, I remember my childhood and this is not it. I don't know. I mean, in a way, I think sometimes people get too precious about the specifics of these properties. So that's the beauty.

You can't fuck up a Power Rangers movie. That's true. When you're bad to begin with, you don't have to worry about it. You can only go up. But, yeah, we get too caught up in that.

I don't mind them doing something slightly different with it. If they do it well. They have to do it well. And I think that's part of the problem. See, the sad fact is, like, the Godzilla part was perfect.

There just wasn't enough of it. Like, I liked the new body. I liked the roar. I even was okay with his, uh, it's not fire, or nuclear blast. Whatever that is.

Yeah, whatever that was. I was good with it. And I liked the whole, uh. kiss of death thing or whatever he does whatever you want to. Call that the finishing move I did. Not I didn't see it coming but it's like I kind of want him to like maybe maybe exercise a little more so he's a little bit more of a fighter I like have some abs well I like that he was Rocky Balboa and they beat the fuck out of him and he was like you know what I'm gonna win because he's got my name.

More than I expected he took a beating but. You could tell that all the fight scenes and everything were so rushed it's like lose lose lose and now I'm breathing fire down your face. Mm-hmm Oh, no, you've spoiled it. Yeah, we threw it out there too bad. Again, as much as I like that big finishing move, I was pretty taken with the tail slam.

The tail slam was sweet. The tail slam was fun, because that's the one I didn't see going. I was just like, because it's so quick. It's just like, and here he, oh, shit. Like, it is just, it is.

It's back to the wrestling moment. And I'm like, every once in a while, I'm on board with that. And they definitely, that moment delivers that. The kiss of death delivers. I mean, it's got so much potential in that.

Last scene that just should have spilled out backwards about a half hour. If we would have had that middle fight when the doors close, because the doors close is kind of that fuck you moment. It's just like, no. No. No.

Like the first one was a tease and I was okay with that. I like the news footage. I do want to know if somewhere like now on the DVD there's going to be that footage because he obviously shot that first fight because we see it going on in the background. So I'm like, can we insert that in and make it more interesting now? Because, yeah, I let that first one slide because that was a clever way to do it.

But the door closing... It's just like everybody in the audience, you could kind of feel that, no. Like you could hear this little outcry of like, but I want it. Just adults crying into their popcorn. I want it fighting with monsters.

I'm not watching this movie anymore. I think that's where it drops the ball. I think, number one, it should have. It might have worked if it was a comedy, you know. It would have been a really good back to the 98 guns.

Exactly. It worked with Matthew Broderick and John Reno. Oh God. I don't know. I, I, I just feel like it, if it had that middle scene, that would balance it pretty well.

I think the only thing there is again, that guy, like our lead kid, like he just doesn't, he doesn't bring you in at all. Like I love, and I, I've said it many a time recently. I did not see this coming, uh, that I was so on board with Elizabeth Olsen in everything, not just anything. Like, I didn't see her coming in, like, those first few indie movies she's in. I'm like, wow.

Like, she is a really good actress. And everything she's done has been these, like, really smart, cleverly shot, well-written indie movies. And then this summer happens. Was she in Super 8? Was that her?

No. That's the Elf Annie. That's the other little dynasty of super cool kids. Dakota's awesome. Elle's awesome.

And the other Olsens are just rich now. We don't know what happened to them. But Elizabeth is really impressive. So the fact that she has nothing to do is killing me when I'm watching this. Because it's like the other guy, you kind of just hear him go, duh.

Like his head is just kind of like there. And it's full of rocks. It really pisses me off about that kid. First of all, his face. Secondly, every line that he has.

But most of all, and I know it's a movie, okay? Like I understand it. And I know that he's in the army, so they try to make it a little realistic. How many special force operations does this kid do that puts him in harm's way so you can see every little bit of the action? He's very lucky.

Or unlucky, as the case may be. He's in the army, and yet he's going to do a halo jump with Navy SEALs with no tactical training. And why is it that every little military step along the way, they're like, oh, okay, cool. I know we're in a bad situation here, but usually they're pretty hardcore about that stuff. They'll be like, you're not in my outfit.

Get lost, buddy. Oh, you got a train bomb? I'm good at train bombs. Good enough. I'm trying to figure it out.

Since we're making fun of him, I guess we should figure out what his name is. He is not Brian Cranston. I know that. Or no, Aaron Taylor Johnson? Yeah, I think so.

That sounds it? Okay. C.J. Adams is the key word. Aaron Taylor Johnson, you sorry bastard.

I would have even been fine if it was more Ken Watanabe. I love Ken Wildem. Again, talk about somebody that they set up this story. And again, we've got somebody who's actually bringing something to it of like, okay, I've seen this shit go down. My family's dealt with this for a generation now.

I work for the company. Yeah, it should bring more to it from him, not from this dork. See, that's what number two and number three, you have to attack the story from a different standpoint, and it's got to be from that company. And they're going to ruin it with the monster. You can't make a monster that makes everybody happy.

One of them's going to be classic monster. Another one's going to be 100 million little spiders or some stupid little thing that Godzilla's got to fight and there's too many of them and they're going to try to eat the Earth's atmosphere or some kind of Transformers bullshit because everybody's doing that these days. And then there's going. To be the parallel universe and the other ships coming in and Godzilla's like, oh, fuck this shit. They're going to ruin it.

I mean, I have to say. It's going to be like Batman where you have to have two villains. It's what it is. It's like six monsters, a Godzuki, Rodan's going to show up. It's going to be horrible.

Sinister Six is going to show up. That is kind of where we're going with this, right? Number three will be destroy all monsters. And I'll actually be like, oh, I'm going to hate those, but I'm going to go see it anyways. Finally, we've made our way there.

I want King Ghidorah to be in number two. I mean, that's the thing. You have to wonder where they're going now. Because they did probably a smart move of not starting with established monsters, other than, you know, we need to build Godzilla into something, but just kind of making up random, whatever, just something for him to beat up. I was let down with the monsters at first, but then, like you, they kind of drew on me.

They're pretty good. They're pretty awesome. Yeah. Glad, actually, because going into it, I was like, you see in the trailer, and you're like, is that a tentacle? What the fuck is that?

I don't know that monster. That's not any of the lore. And I'm like, this is going to be awful. And then you see them, and you're like, yeah, they're not too bad. That's pretty cool.

They did a good job. I like the hive. What was the thing in the beginning? The skeleton. Was that a Godzilla?

Or was it another monster? See, that's the thing. Trying to figure out where did those two come from? So, the one that they dig out was hibernating, right? Are we assuming that was the one?

The other one was. waiting so where was the other one at that point they had like the male was the one that. In nevada they found it and dragged. It but i thought that one was the one that was hibernating again they don't make this stuff very clear. That's why the second movie we need from the standpoint of the company to explain and and maybe an opening scene where the ferris bueller kid is shot in the head or stepped on like the bambi. But this is the thing like why like in something that it's not like it just cuts straight to the action in a movie that builds up for like an hour and 15 minutes.

Should we have this many questions of like, wait, where was he? And why was this? And like, we should, for that much of them spilling out, you know, backstory and some sort of setup, we should know. Everything backwards and forwards. And we're still like, but where did he?

Yeah. So I don't, I don't understand why there's that much left for us to figure out when we spent all that time building up some sort of story that. Isn't necessarily there. I don't know. I don't understand that.

If you're going to have that much story, we should know what's going on. So which did you prefer then? Did you prefer Godzilla or did you prefer Pacific Rim? Shit on Pacific Rim. And shit on that Australian kid.

See, by the end, I still like Godzilla better. And that's kind of a slam. I didn't dislike Pacific Rim, but there was something so off about the way they did their people. By the end, I think Godzilla as the As the Godzilla comes out, he sort of redeems all of that other stuff. Where I never felt like I got that with Pacific Rim.

It was a bunch of fun fighting. I enjoyed it. I'm glad I saw it in the theater on the big screen. That was the way to see something like that. But it was kind of gone.

I don't even think about those fight scenes. I can't even remember any specifics. Whereas I'm still like the finishing moves for both of them on Godzilla. I'm still thinking about those. And I probably will be next year at this time.

I'm just like, that was badass. I don't have that with Pacific Rim. I just kind of like, yeah, I saw it. Pacific Rim was made for the eight-year-old kid in me who had the action figure robot on one hand and a monster in the other hand and just. Bashing them together on the floor.

But yeah, I think Godzilla, they tried to legitimize the genre somewhat. But unfortunately, it just really, really left me cold. Again, I don't mind doing that. I just don't understand why they take it down that road in the middle there. Like, I think what they were doing, well, what they were doing, well, no, what they were doing with the, the Brian Cranston set up.

Like, I feel like that was pretty smart and that almost was legitimizing. Like you do feel like he's got something at stake. He does. Like there is some seriousness to his, like, you know, after we already see the lose the wife, but then that whole him going crazy and kind of building this world of like, trying to figure out this mystery of what's happening and the timing of it all. The echolocation thing should have been more important.

It should have, yeah. It should have not been them trying to mate. Why were they, yeah, and why was he, you know, spending so much of his time putting that together and then we don't get to see him finalize that, nor does the movie really finalize it. I don't know. I feel like if we stuck with him, like we were saying, and given him more to do, not written him out immediately, not focused on the kid or the wife, again, we're building up this melodrama between them But I'm like, we haven't even seen enough of them.

I mean, they haven't seen each other for more than five minutes in the last several years. So we don't have anything invested because we haven't seen them together. Do you think Gareth Edwards was just trying to be non-formula? Like trying to shake it up a bit? But it feels so foreign.

That middle area felt like the two people being apart from each other the whole time. And every once in a while they talk on the phone or they like. I'm going to wait around here for my husband. And by the way, who ditches their kid with somebody else? Would you just randomly pass your new child off to somebody and be like, I'm going to go away.

You stay over there with them now. What kind of mother is that? You stay with your child. I don't know. That rubbed me the wrong way, too.

I don't know. I feel like that middle part is very, like, normal, by the numbers, like, disaster movie. It just feels like it could be any Roland Emmerich movie that came along, not Godzilla. It could be any day after tomorrow where it's like, oh, the couple that we wish they were together, but there's this stupid world falling apart and they just can't get it together. But by the end, they will.

Don't you worry. Hang in there. That felt very cookie cutter to me as far as like disaster movie, which is what most movies are at this point. We continue to crank out disaster movies and that just felt. Like your little filler area in the middle there.

Like we got to pretend like there's relationships to be worried about, but we don't really feel anything for either of them, which is really good. difficult when it's so damn good. I really wish they would have given her more to do. Can we cut out dorky kid and like make her like be the, yeah. Could she just, well, no. Or can she just come in and be like another scientist that's working with Brian Cranston and that, you know, we focus on them or the other people they bring in.

We, we focus on the, the guy that works for. The company or the, who's the other woman they brought in that just every once in a while would show up. And spout off details. Kim Watanabe's chick. Yeah.

I'm like, well, she just kind of comes out of nowhere and like, Oh, yeah, here's a fact. All right, I'll be over here for 20 minutes. And then she'd come back in later and like, why do we get these little pieces of those relationships and we don't. Build any characters whatsoever? But I don't know.

I don't feel like it was that unusual. What part do you think was being sort of atypical of movies of that type? No, I was just playing devil's advocate. I usually do that too. We're reversing on ourselves now.

The snake is eating its own tail. No, I mean, my preference would have been to build characters that you follow through the whole adventure. You stick with them and you want them to succeed. But he doesn't really give us that. Brian Crescent, gone.

His kid, I actually was starting to pray that he would die. Just kill him off already and let's jump onto another character and follow them instead. Elizabeth. I mean, would it have been more interesting to, and again, this would be something you wouldn't see coming. What if the dad lives, kills the kid?

So now he's lost mom and his own child. I'm going to kill that monster. And then, like, that would fuel him for the whole rest of the movie because that I wouldn't see coming. I'd be like, whoa, they just killed that kid? Like, our main army lead guy?

Like, you wouldn't see that coming. So that would have been way more interesting, I feel like. And every other relative he has. Just beat this poor bastard. He's just going after you.

He follows him to Jamaica. Grant Cranston's like, I just want to take a vacation. There's Godzilla popping his head up out of the water. Damn you. My most upset part about it is when there are three movies, and number two and number three are connected, and number one is a standalone piece of shit that we all hate.

I'm really upset about that. And part of me was for some reason hoping that it was going to be an end of the world. Like I was actually hoping for the role in Emmerich, like Godzilla and the monsters are fighting and it's actually destroying the entire world. So by the third, one, it was like Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome with dinosaurs in the background and shit going crazy. But now it's just going to be, oh, the first one, you know, it had ticket sales.

So let's go ahead and do two and three. And Johnny Depp's going to die at the end of the second one. And in the third one, he's going to be in hell with Godzilla and Godzilla. Okay, wait. You keep bringing up Katsuki.

I love Katsuki. You know, okay, so here's the other thing. I'm hoping that we get a Godzilla cartoon again. A serious one or one like that one? That one.

Because that was Hanna-Barbera, wasn't it? That was Hanna-Barbera. Wow, yeah, because I just played some of that recently. I was like, this is definitely a normal level of Hanna-Barbera cartoon. And they jammed Godzilla into it.

They just put him in there. It's just kind of like, hey, Scoob, look over there. There's a giant lizard. Zoinks! It was pretty Hanna-Barbera.

I don't know. Again, I could see them doing something, or it would be nice to see them do something a little more serious with it, because that seems like something you could do in animation that would be really kind of fun and interesting. And you could take it pretty dark that way, but. From the artist that brought you the 1992 Batman animated series. That I will take.

Godzilla Noir. That I will take. Possibly the best animated series ever. Yes. Yeah, that one is awesome.

So I would be glad to have that. So I don't know. Where do we stand on this all together? You guys don't like it at all. I mean, it doesn't redeem it.

I can't wait to own it on Blu-ray. I can't wait to watch it all the time. But you're just going to skip to the last part. They capitalize on one fact. Like, I grew up– I was born in 1985.

I grew up watching all of those on VHS, just every one of them over and over and over again. They capitalized on me, and they knew it. And they're going to capitalize on me for two and three, and I'm going to hate all three of them, but I'm going to watch them every day that I want to fall asleep on the couch. Now, do you think they jumped in more in the middle of the run? Like, again, I was hoping they'd take it more serious with the first one, which is kind of how he built it.

Like, he was going to build this thing. It was going to be a serious movie. But did he, like, plot-wise, not monster-wise, but plot-wise, does it fall more into, like, one of the middle run? It's post-Godzilla 1985, if you will. No Raymond Burr.

Well, yeah. Where's Raymond Burr? But, yeah, it's, like, so much story, not too much monsters, but we're after the joking 70s monsters, right? Yeah. Again that's something you almost need to decide on that's why I thought initially it was kind of good that was one of the things I was thinking as people were like I could feel people already getting upset with it I was like well who did we give it to yeah I mean we gave it to a guy who made a movie called Monsters there's hardly any monsters it's about a freaking relationship.

Like so it's kind of our own fault for. Giving it to that guy and expecting him to do any different like he's only made one feature film that was it that's what he did last time like I don't know. I feel like that was kind of like. Your other option was for it to just be Guillermo del Toro does Godzilla. Which, again, can we get these two together?

Can we get them to make a crossover movie and be like, you handle all the fighting. You handle a little bit more plot development, but not too much, and let's bring somebody else in to write a little better. For some of these characters. And just let Ron Perlman do whatever Ron Perlman wants. And let Ron Perlman do whatever he wants, because he's what saved that part.

I could just watch Ron Perlman be a weirdo for an hour and a half, so... Yeah, can we cross over these areas and let Pacific Rim fight with Godzilla? I'm really worried about the monsters, because that's what it is. We know Godzilla's going to be there. We know the military's going to be there.

But we don't know what monster's going to be there. And what if there's no monster? Because you know that's what they're thinking. They're like, everybody's worried about the monster. Let's go.

Godzilla versus environmental catastrophe. See, I thought that's what this was going to be. I thought they would start the first one with no monster. And we would focus on, again, we'd have to do an origin story. We'd focus on him.

And then he'd fight with the military the whole time. And then they'd set it up so the sequel would bring in monsters. So it already is odd. I don't know how you get out of monsters now. You could almost do it the first run.

They've gotten so much, especially after Pacific Rim. I think so many people are waiting for monster on monster fighting. It would be hard for them to yank that out of the middle of the pond. I hope they don't do two Godzillas. Like, there's a Godzilla.

Yeah, if they do that, I hope not. It'll be Mecha Godzilla. Here's what I was thinking when I was like, shit, man, they're going to make Godzilla. It's going to be great. I was sitting there thinking, like, all the old ones that I watched, because I was definitely in that age bracket where I watched the old ones.

But I'd seen a lot of newer movies, so I'm like, I understand that it's a guy in a costume and it's a little rough, but I love it. And I remember watching those being like, man, if they made this now, Mechagodzilla, like, think of the Transformers. That's what it's going to look like. It's too computer generated. It's too CG.

But it's like. You did nothing in that. Like, you have nothing in that. Exactly. At least this, that's kind of what I like there.

That's sort of what redeemed the movie with that last fight is I still felt like there was something there. There was a little. something fighting each other where I never get that with Transformers. Transformers, it's so ridiculously pieced together and edited and shot. You can't even tell what they're doing like this, at least as a fight scene function, because you knew where the creatures were. You knew what they were doing.

You knew how it came together as a fight scene. Like the Michael Bay bullshit. Like he just doesn't even know how to shoot a fight scene, especially anymore. Like he's gotten worse and worse as they've thrown more money and more CG at him that he just doesn't even know how to, put together a scene anymore but like at least this i felt worked as an action sequence as a fight scene that last run. It needs it needs more of more of that throughout the.

Whole movie but i think yeah everybody feels 50 50 with the next one it's. Gonna give them cancer they get god damn it it's gotta be build up first half of the movie and then they're just in the city nobody's going anywhere and it's just run because buildings are coming. Down Yeah, it is funny how much destruction goes on with the city. And we don't really see anything. And we don't see anything.

And we don't, like, there's no catastrophe. It's not, like, again, this is sort of, in this post-9-11 world, when buildings fall down, it's a big fucking deal. Like, it's a horrible thing. So we don't get that. It's still pretty fun in this one.

There you go. The next movie, the main character, he works for FEMA. That's what it's going to be. Well, that's what I was amazed with. How much.

Who's going to clean up this shit? Me? No. That's what I thought was funny. In this one, I actually liked how much of a good guy they made him.

It's so ridiculous. It's so ridiculous what a hero he is when he just parades out to sea there. Fuck our city. Because you don't have any people he steps on just to. Leave the city.

Yeah, fuck them. You guys have been fighting him the entire rest of this time. You've been worried about how much he's going to destroy everything. He and the other two monsters have just been tearing up cities. All over this world.

And yet by the end, it's, yay, Godzilla. Which, again, comes back to more of the middle run of the Godzilla. It really was very, very, you know, yeah, he's your friend. He's your pal. I mean, he's a little kid sidekick.

Oh, wait, he's got one in this movie. So they're just going to go off on adventures together. It has a very cheesy feel that I almost liked, but I don't even know how you do that. I don't know how that is not ridiculous. I really expected him to be more of fighting the military and us to be.

Trying to destroy him equally as much as the other monsters. There shouldn't have been monsters in the first one. It should have been Godzilla versus the microwave dish on the back of a car. Do you think they're going to do King Kong? I really hope they don't do King Kong.

That would take a lot of licensing. That's a slippery slope. What if, since this movie really destroyed San Francisco, in the second one, he revisits San Francisco. They've rebuilt San Francisco, and it looks like the Star Trek San Francisco crossover. And then there's Klingons.

We do need to reboot a whole new Star Trek series, right? I mean, we're tying in this new one now, so. Have we seen much of San Francisco. In that new run of them? We did a lot on that.

Yeah. Then they started destroying stuff again. Throw a starship at it. So can we have like the Enterprise fighting Godzilla? I'd watch that.

Only the Enterprise transforms into a robot. There you go. Interesting. What do you call a crossover when it's three? It's open universe.

Trilogy of insanity. Then the Transformers show up to fight against the transforming Starship Enterprise. Autobots. It's like a five-year-old kid pitching a movie. But who can save us?

The Avengers, that's who. Avengers World Police. Thank God we have. So, yeah, did we want to get to that? You did say if you wait until the end of the credit sequence, Samuel L.

Jackson shows up and he's like, Godzilla, we need your help. We need you to join our team. He's like, I don't work well with a team. I'm a rogue lizard. We're looking for a monster that says bad motherfucker.

I don't know. Where was your lead in? Actually, now that I think about it, if Samuel L. Jackson was in the Godzilla movie, it would have been fine because he saved Robocop. It should have been like he was the new Raymond Burr.

Yeah, oh my God. Look over there. Motherfucking lizard. That's a pissed off Raymond Burr. There's a motherfucking lizard in a motherfucking city.

Motherfucking lizard tearing up a motherfucking city. I will kill all of you. He just gets a rocket launcher and does it single-handedly. Look, you guys, watch this. Just takes out both of the aliens.

I can see that, yeah. I'd watch that. I'd watch that. Let's get Samuel on board with this. I'm going to fire him my own message here.

I'll text him, you get a purple lightsaber. Done. Done. Yeah, we didn't work that one into our crossover. We had to have missed that.

Samuel L. Jackson shows up, dressed like Shaft, with a purple lightsaber. It's off Godzilla's hand. Godzilla's like, no! It's impossible!

So, where do we think we're going with our post-credits sequence? As complete and utter bullshit? Go for it. The mountain that they go and look for the nuclear stuff in, and half the mountain's blown off, The camera pans out of that cell, goes into the cell next door, and there's a cryogenically frozen Mothra larvae. Nice.

Operation larvae. All right. Did you notice that Mothra did actually have a cameo in the movie? It's on the jar, isn't it? Yeah, in the childhood bedroom.

So they're setting that up, right? They're setting it up. Hey, there was nuclear fallout in that place. Where he was sitting. In Fukushima.

Mm-hmm. I think we see it all coming together right now. I just don't know how you do Mothra. And Mothra's not a bad guy. What's Godzilla like?

Yep, you're making a hurricane with your wings. Dude, cut it out. Ain't nobody got time for that. Godzilla versus welfare. So do they team up then?

So then it's like Mothra versus Mechagodzilla. That's what it's going to be. It's going to be the U.S. government is afraid that Godzilla might go rogue and trample another city. So we designed a mechanical one that looks exactly like it. Or Team Godzilla.

Yeah, there you go. Just a bunch of guys in a big Godzilla suit. And they come out and a few hundred guys move their right leg, a few hundred guys move their left leg. And he's kind of Mecha Godzilla. I think this is all coming together.

Yeah, in the second one there will be a Godzilla friend. It'll be Godzilla and Mothra, probably. Mecha Mothra. Mecha Mothra. Oh, that's what we need.

Versus Mecha Rodan. And Mecha King Ghidorah. Oh, man. Can we Mecha anything else? Huh?

Mecha the Golden Gate Ridge and make it come to life and fight with people. I feel like since this one did so well, though, they're probably going to green light the Gamera movie. Will we have crossover? Gamera versus Godzilla. Shell versus Spying Spike.

Shell goes to hell. I don't know. We've got to get a tagline going on this. Come on. Heroes in a half...

Oh, wait. That's already. Damn. That's going to be awful. That's already been ruined by him, too.

That Gamera versus the Ninja Turtles. We did leave them out of that last scenario. Can we have Gamera bite the head off of Michael Bay? Is that the opening shot? Because I'd be okay with that.

That would be amazing. No, then we'll just have April O'Neil running around chasing the story, and it will be like the 98 guns. Oh, God. We need a reporter to follow around for the whole damn movie. And Hank Azera for some reason.

He was really good in that. No, I can't wear the shoes. I only know how to do the cleaning. God sakes. Is it the wrong movie?

It's sad that that was a real thing in our lifetime. That was an amazing film. It's better than the Godzilla movie. It's another one of those I don't understand how it happened. Alright, so everyone's looking forward to the sequel.

That's what we take from this. I kind of am. I mean, that's where I stand. By the end of it, I'm like, the last fight almost redeems the bad that's the middle of this movie. And like, I want to see where it's going next.

I don't hate that character. I don't hate that fighting. Let's just do it in a better scenario. You think about how. I want to.

I'm going straight out the door. I'm out of here. I'm out of here. Direct to sci-fi. And I'm taking this popcorn with me.

But it's hilarious because it's like you think about how much you bitch about it and how awful the film it was. You'll watch it more times in your life than Pacific Rim. I will. I mean, that's what I'm saying. I like that last fight scene so much.

I'll just skip to that chapter every time. But I was more impressed with that than the forgettable fights in Pacific Rim. I've already seen Pacific Rim more times than I've seen Godzilla. You've had a year, though. In your lifetime, which will you watch more?

Pacific Rim? I think so, actually. I think so. Will you be showing the kid Pacific Rim coming up? Most likely.

It's more fighting? It speaks to my inner child, you know? If I have to watch. Godzilla again, I'll be slicing open my wrist. Oh, God.

I'm telling you. It was just too little, too late. I really didn't care, you know? I might watch that money shot again. I'm telling you, that last scene, it worked.

It was hot. But had it come in at the halfway point, had we. Gotten a real fight when the doors closed, would that have saved it for you? At that halfway point, would it have redeemed it? Then you have to have something that will top that for the final sequence.

So, you know, okay, you can have the oral thing in the middle, and maybe we have the anal thing at the end. Wait, what movie were you watching? I think you were watching something else. It's nuclear fire. It's got to go in one way and out the other.

Did it really count how many times it happened? It only happened twice. I feel like it should have happened so much more. And it's like, even, and I don't remember the name of it, but like the most recent, I think it's like something bad, like Godzilla Meltdown or whatever, where he's dying, where he's overheating the Japanese one. I don't know.

Apparently, I'm the only person that watches it. Godzilla meltdown? He's dying by overreacting. We sponsored this movie. But when he powers up for the blast, it's the coolest thing ever.

And that's one thing that I thought was really missed. And then he didn't, and I was like, I just didn't think they were going to have him fucking breathe fire in this one. Yeah, it goes a long time. It's like if I was Godzilla and I'm getting my ass handed to me three times over, oh, yeah, I got the fire thing. By the way, did I tell you guys I can breathe fire?

I've got a nuclear blast. Oh, yeah, I have the sword thing. Oh, God, the sword. When that thing came out, I was like, sweet, why the fuck didn't they use that in the beginning? Finishing move.

Suddenly it's Mortal Kombat. Up, up, down, over, side. Yes, Godzilla wins! Up from the depths, 30 stories high. Free fire, it's head in the sky.

Godzilla, Godzilla, Godzilla. Godzilla, Godzilla, Godzilla. Want some music for your ears? Doo-Wop Shop makes it easy to rent for any event, business meeting, or special occasion. From PA systems to karaoke machines to just about anything that makes noise, you can rent it from the Doo-Wop Shop.

In Louisville, find them either at their Highland Store at 1587 Bardstown Road or in the East End at 2915 South Hurstburn Parkway. And look for them online at DooWopShop.com. Doo-Wop Shop. We're serious about music. He was the wizard of a thousand kings.

And I chanced to meet him one night wandering. So as I said, we've been to the Chicago Wizard World before, so they've got quite a few. They've got a lot. They're all over the country. That's what I was going to say.

Since they're inviting us to hang around here, I thought we would go ahead and give the rundown. That's the difference with this one is it's not just in one city. It's something they've done kind of everywhere now. They've sort of taken over. So you can go to wizardworld.com and find out where they are in the near future.

The rundown of the upcoming ones, end of May into June, is Atlanta. You've got Philadelphia after that, San Antonio, back to Chicago, Richmond. So it's like anywhere in this general part of the country, you know, the United States. Are you stopping at Richmond because we've got more to go? Oh, there's plenty.

That's what I'm saying. Nashville, Austin, Ohio. I thought Ohio was just generalized. You know, that state. But anyway, yes, you can go to wizardworld.com and find out where the next show will be near you.

You should definitely go. Come hang out. That's what we're doing. Definitely check out wizardworld.com for all of your wizard world type needs. This is Dan Ackman.

You're listening to Movie Meltdown. And keep kicking ass, guys. That was terrible. It's part of your problem, you know. You haven't seen enough movies.

All of life's riddles are answered in the movies. And now, on with the show. Alright, we've pretty much beat Godzilla to death. Is there anything else we'd like to pass along? Any other new movies you'd like to tear into or movements in the Hollywood scene you'd like to trash?

Oh. What's coming up next anything we're looking forward to. So you haven't seen X-Men right no I haven't seen X-Men. Are you an X-Men fan not really no well okay let me backtrack I like the last. One oh okay so like X-Men fan of.

Comic books oh the comic books not really. Or like the story arc or anything Not really. Although, as a bit of trivia, my mom was in the third one, I think. Nice. Yeah, she was an extra.

And it's one of these cases. That you'll never be able to pick her up. Nice. But she's in the, who's it? Jean Grey that dies?

Spoiler alert. And Leupold. Anyways, my mom's in the funeral scene. She kills Jean Grey. She attends her funeral.

Mom attends her funeral. Have you seen it? The new one? Yeah. I think it's a very difficult story to translate from comic book to film.

I think it would leave so many people unhappy. I think they did a really good job. Okay, you're talking about just the story overall or this specific story that they wrote for this screenplay? This screenplay, but also this screenplay and concert with all of the movies. It has fucked up everything.

It is interesting how much they totally attach themselves to the old, because usually you get this far in on a series, they're like, let's just cut this loose and start over. Yeah. So they're almost Star Trek-ing it. They kind of are like, okay, we're going to embrace the idea of what's been going on, but we're kind of going to do our own thing completely. I think in the one thing, I mean, everybody's going to argue.

I know you haven't seen it, and I'm sorry about things that are about. To be said. Are you going to spoil it? The Jean Grey film. La, la, la, la, la, la, la.

This is going to ruin this on the radio. So the thing that upsets me the most. I'm done ruining. The thing that upsets me the most isn't that they're bringing back people that are dead or changing the story the way that they're changing it. It's the fact that, like, Hugh Jackman's getting so ripped in this one that why wasn't he this ripped in the first one?

It's just, like, consistency errors. You're throwing off continuity. I know, continuity errors, man. Overripped this. I think he's just trying to fight the fact that he's now, like, what, 15 years older?

So it's like. For a man that doesn't age? Because I was thinking that as they get into this story and I'm like. He's going to get older. He's going to get old eventually.

How are you guys going to explain that? Are you going to start CGing his face? I mean, he's, you know, guys have a little more of a run. Sometimes you can still seem not so old when you're in your 50s. So you can skate by for an extra 10 years maybe, but.

We've already killed about ten years in this last run since the third one. I'm just so excited. Well, they've already had a history of seeking. Yeah. They did Patrick Stewart.

Going backwards. So, I mean, they can. If they can make it work, more power to them. It's just interesting how it plays out. So, I don't know.

I think for you it's definitely worth seeing. But, yeah. Watch the after credit scene. That movie has one. It gives me a fan heart on.

We knew it was coming. I thought that they would never have the balls to do it, and they're doing it, and I'm so excited about it. So for extra nerd points here, what do you think about the fact that... So they're owned by different companies, but now they're going to have sort of characters that fall into both. They're never going to put the other people together with the other.

People, though. I thought they already did, though. I thought they already in the lead-up at the end of. Captain America 2, I thought they already had. Oh, and they are played by the same people?

No, I think they're going to be the same characters in two different sets of movies, but two different. Sets of actors playing them. That's what's really weird. That's going to be strange. That's going to be very confusing for the children.

Yeah. But, again, kids adapt. I don't understand why Marvel at this point, like, Marvel has made so much money. I don't understand why they would not double down and just be like, we're going to buy X-Men and Spider-Man. And here's all of our billions of dollars because we're going to make it back 11-fold.

And they have Disney money now. You think they could just be like, okay, Sony, let's talk. How do we get Spider-Man to do a crossover with the Avengers? You seem like that needs to, you know. Again, I don't even know if that's a good idea.

Did you see Spider-Man 2? I've avoided it so far. Okay, so here's the deal. Spider-Man has proved himself once again that he does not need standalone movies. Just like the Hulk.

These people need to be in movies with other people, mainly Robert Downey Jr. That's what's funny, like, with the Hulk. I've said this a few times now. I'm just like, it's funny how much, like, doesn't work by himself. Doesn't work by himself. makes that freaking movie like everybody loves him in Avengers he's like he steals the show.

So much that they're like oh let's make a standalone. Movie and you know that's gonna kill it people are like nobody cares about him by himself but as a guy that comes in and saves the scene two or three times in that movie like you're just like that makes him so awesome so yeah there are kind of I don't know Spider-Man seems like he's a strong enough character he can do he. Should be able to carry a movie but they ruin it. Every fucking time they ruin it well that's I still blame Garfield for that him and his fucking lasagna keep ruining this movie. So I don't know.

I, I think it would be interesting if they already, is it time. To reboot yet? I mean, can we reboot and get rid of that character? Cause I already said that the other day. I was just like, I should have given it to Donald Glover.

It would have been different. It would have been interesting. And he's a strong enough. Actor and it would have been an interesting character. And I would have liked to have seen that Spider-Man.

I could care less about the Spider-Man. So, Well, I mean, okay, the first reboot that they did a couple of years ago, I thought that was actually pretty good. I liked everything other than Tobey Maguire. We're talking the Raimi reboot. See, that's the thing.

You're talking about the Amazing reboot. See, I just didn't care. I'm just trying not to compare it to the the Raimi movies, but you kind of can't. To me, those first two Raimi movies are so well put together as a superhero. They're not even like.

Those were comic book movies. They are. That is Raimi's style. He frames the action. He does these zoom-ins.

You can see all the way back through Darkman and Evil Dead. He has that sensibility. But my problem with that is it calls attention to himself. And he's treating it like a comic book. You almost kind of half expect the movie screen to be that comic book panel.

And bubbles, you know, dialogue bubbles to pop up. So do we have to take it that dark, though? Everything has to be Batman now? I feel like that's what they want to do now. For those of us who grew up on comic books, and now we've gotten to an age where a lot of people still follow comic books, but it We're trying not to be embarrassed by it.

And so we're now treating these movies as a way to legitimize our geek passions. And so I think in certain respects it does work. You're able to inject a lot of depth and drama and character and make these characters more real, as if they're coming into our world you know and that's the problem I had with something like Richard Lester's Superman 2 is that instead of instead of the filmmakers trying to bring those characters into our world he was trying to take the audience and put it in the comic book. World and I think in the right property that could work like I always liked those Superman movies because I felt like that's what it was doing it was just capturing that Superman it what it sacrifices for being silly comic book movies it gets the idea behind that character and what he's supposed to represent which i don't know what is your feeling as we get from one superhero like when when you get to the the last superman the the reboot of superman again like i feel like he totally misses the mark as like not understanding the character not not pacing a good story like i feel like everything about that.

Last Superman movie I felt like missed the mark. You could tell that. They were using it as a flagship to just set up the DC universe. And it's like, we're going to compete with Marvel. But they don't.

Yeah, and you can't. Well, I mean, you could if it was well done, but this is not the way to do it. He just doesn't get the universe. But back to the amazing Spider-Man, I think they did a pretty good job there in balancing teen drama, teen romance, and, I mean, okay, it could have been an Archie movie for all we care about. But, no, but, I mean, you got Spider-Man.

You balanced it out with a little bit of a more realistic drama rather than, you know, Tobey Maguire, I never believed. See, I liked him as just the dorky kid. Like, he rang true as that. Yeah, but he was sort of a comic book-y, dorky kid. It is.

It was a parody, in a way. It is, but to me, it was so well done that I've seen so many movies lift from that one now. Like, it's this perfect. structure of a superhero movie of an origin movie like it was very specific as to how to make all that work and it did it really well whereas I think I don't know the Garfield one like it's so he's trying to be so serious but at the same time still draw from the stuff that they built in the Raimi movies that it's like it doesn't mix to me I don't know but. I hear in the new Spider-Man now they've gone back to that Raimi sort of style of filmmaking What I really admired about the first Amazing Spider-Man was that you know, for him swinging around the city, I mean, they used real stuntmen, and it was a real situation.

And now they've gone back to the swooping cameras. It's the third Raimi movie. Too much has gone on. So CG, yeah. Yeah, so CG.

And, you know, these are shots that, you know, even though they can do it extremely realistically, they can get the lighting and textures all right, but In the back of your head, you're going, that shot is impossible. This is a video game. That's what I feel like a lot of times. Well, I think if you like real people swinging around on ropes, turn off the dark is what you need to go see. There's some guys on ropes.

They have costumes. You're going to love it. I wasn't sure what to think of that either. That's a new level of reality that I was not prepared for. Turn off the dark.

I'm waiting for something to fall from the sky. Just as a side note, in my early years, I went to Japan, and I went to see. Kabuki. What's Kabuki? It's one of those Japanese traditional cultural.

Very theatrical. Extremely theatrical. And.... And so I went during the matinee. This was the time where it's much cheaper to go in the matinee if you're just a student or whatever.

And so I'm sitting on my own, and the whole theater is dark. The stage is dark, and it's very emotional, and there's a character in the center of the stage, and it's very stark. It's just a stage. There's, I think, sakura leaves floating down. There's dramatic lighting, and all along the back behind her are these flats.

And it's just a row of flats to indicate the background. Okay, that's fine. So here she is, and she's talking about her long-lost love or something. And this is extremely emotional. And out of the corner of my eye, on the left side, I see one of the flats.

Start to fall. And the next one falls. And it was like a house of cards, all falling down. And behind the flask are all these other kabuki actors in half makeup, smoking cigarettes. And they're going, oh, shit.

And, you know, I thought about this later. I said, you know what? I would have paid extra to see this performance. If you would have known this was coming. I don't know.

I think you have to kind of decide going in, especially when you get into the film, it's like, I don't mind the dramatized stuff. Like I don't mind, again, sometimes we separate the theater thing versus movies and we want movies to be so realistic. And I feel like as long as you kind of set the ground rules, like sometimes I'm okay with something just embracing whatever cheesy. Thing it is. You know, if it's a comic book, if it's theatrical, if it's whatever, you just kind of have to stay within your parameters of like, this is the universe we're setting up.

This is the way characters are going to act. I think it's okay if you do that. So with this new Amazing Spider-Man number two, I mean, they kind of went back on themselves. They set something up in the first one, and then they didn't follow through on the second one. And they're also falling into the trap of every superhero movie, which is we have to have so many villains for no good reason.

Oh, Sinister Six now. I know. I'm like, how many? We can't. Have they learned nothing from all of these other movies?

Like, it's rare that any of them work with more than one villain. And if so, it's usually a weird dynamic that saves it. But yeah, they have to keep cramming in more villains. I don't understand. So, with that.

Uh, do you have anything coming up to tell people about? Do you have stuff for them to look for? Um, uh, no. Should they befriend you on Facebook and go find you at upcoming events and buy your posters of awesomeness? Um, yeah, no, I, I, I'd say, you know, uh, keep a lookout for, for the Andersons.

I think, um, and you know, uh, I think they're talking about having a traveling exhibition in the States next year. So if you were a fan of Thunderbirds or Fireball XL5 or UFO, I think. Keep an eye out for that. I think it's something that is a lost... I don't want to say art, but it's something that we all kind of grew up with, and it's something that I don't think we should forget about.

Don't let all this great stuff fall by the wayside just because it's a few years old. I think there's potential to have that backlash thing. I mean, you think how much we've gone back to old technology now. In a very short span of time. The other day they were playing an episode of Third Rock from the Sun.

First of all, it's funny to watch, you know. Our little kid grow up to be like this super Hollywood like heartthrob now. And I'm like, he's a dorky long haired kid. And it doesn't seem that long ago to me, but it's just long enough that it's like, that's weird. But it's funny how much.

Like that stuff very quickly dated, like they're making all these references and like a midway in. John Lithgow, like, makes a joke about how, you know, they're talking about CDs. And he's like, I wonder if people embrace the rich, more wonderful sound of vinyl. And I'm like, that was a joke then. He was making the joke of how outdated and archaic vinyl is.

And I'm like, in a span of ten years, we have come full circle. People love vinyl. Like, there is this weird, like. rubber band effect of like we hate it we hate it oh my god this is the greatest thing ever and I think we get we've been so oversaturated with CG with all this you know new special effects and I don't know I think we're getting to the point that we are going to have that where the rubber band snaps back and we're going to get to be like, Oh, these puppets are awesome. And no, I, you know, I want marionettes. I want somebody actually physically doing something.

So I don't know about that. I mean, I think. Within a subculture, I would like to think that. I would like to think that. Yes.

I don't think mainstream, but I think there's going to be much again, like the vinyl thing. I think a subculture is going to come back and be like, no, this is our thing. My experience has been all, you know, most of the kids have been, you know, uh, the latest generation. They won't even take a look at the old movies. They don't, It's old.

It's true. It does register so early that you don't think it will. Like when they're really little kids and they'll just be like, that was, I don't know. Like it just clicks in their head differently and they don't respond to it the same because they know it's old. Yeah, so I don't know.

Again, I think it's up to us as the geeks having children now to raise them right and like, Let them experience things the way that they're supposed to and just sort of develop their own taste and not worry about what everybody else is doing. I think Christopher Nolan did that first Batman really well with the light use of CG. I mean, there was a lot, but when you think about it, it's really just him. As an origin story, you don't need a lot of CG to begin with, but it's not as much craziness as Avengers. Yeah, yeah.

If only we can get our... I mean, again, I guess it's Batman. He doesn't have to fly and explode things. Yeah, Avengers overuses that stuff in the end. He swoops.

He swoops. He hangs. Which, actually, I hate that part about Batman. That he kind of flies and he really shouldn't be able to. He should probably die really quick.

He's got money. It's cool. Rich people can fly. It's all right. I think the technology is coming back.

The audience will find it. We're all coming back around to old school technology. It's not really the technique. You have to have the writing to back it up. You can look at something like Team America.

If it was poor writing, that film would have died no matter if it was live action or puppets or. I don't know. Bits of fruit. Yeah. It makes a big difference.

I think if we've learned nothing from this week's movie, writing might just save your project. So hire better writers. Everyone across the board. It's unfortunate. Writers are low on the totem pole.

Very low. Very low. And interchangeable. And you can bring in nine more and somehow having way too many of them makes things better. I don't know.

I think it's come to the point where almost anybody can call themselves a writer. I'm working on something right now. There you go. You've proven my point. Don't let any idiot be a writer.

It was wonderful meeting you, Mr. Chu. Thank you very much. Where are you from? Where do you live?

Vancouver. Oh, nice. It's where the real jobs are. Where the Canada is. Well, who is it?

I think Sony is moving their entire. Oh, God. Really? Yeah. Special effects operation up there now.

Based on the L.A. Version of it? Or were they already out of the country? They're saying they're closing down the one in L.A. and sending everything up to B.C. Not that that will affect me.

To be honest, apart from Battlestar, I really haven't had a whole lot of contact with the big budget studios. So I wonder, where does most of your work come from now? Like, outside stuff? You know, uh, most of my stuff actually comes through Facebook and the people that I meet through Facebook. And so, um, I guess it's just my personality or my nature that I tend to gravitate towards, you know, the, the, the, the independence.

And, uh, I kind of want to see them succeed. Um, I've worked in a studio environment before, and I really don't enjoy it that much. It's so much fun. Well, you know, you're another cog in the wheel. There's always somebody else with an opinion better than yours.

Who is higher up on the chain, and you can't argue with them. Yeah, exactly. And, you know, yeah, you can't argue. That's the thing. Whereas on an independent, okay, you have another director or producer, but not as many.

Not as many steps to get a green light. And usually it's just you working with the creators, more or less, and them trying to. Yeah, you can ask them questions. Is this what you were thinking? And they can be more specific.

Whereas if you want to talk to a. Director in a big-budget movie, good luck. You're just going to get... You have to go through so many people. And even then. a lot of these films are, they're so big and the directors.

Don't necessarily have a good idea. They just, you know, they have their, their time is all, all, you know, tied up elsewhere. And it's like, okay, just give me 10 different versions and I'll, I'll, I'll, I'll choose from that. That's putting no effort in whatsoever. It's just pick and choose.

Well, I mean, it, it. Makes my life more difficult. Uh, not that I, not that I really care, but, but it also. Shows they have no concept of what they want. Like a real, you know, if you're an artist, if you're a, an auteur of what you're trying to create, uh, You have a very singular vision, probably, but when you're just.

Brought in for hire, more or less, you're. Just slapped together. And that's the way most directors are these days. They're people that are brought in for hire. They're basically yes-men that will make the film that the producers want.

And that's essentially the problem that happened with Ant-Man just this week. Marvel fired him because. Because he actually had a good idea and a vision. Well, he had a different take on what the film was supposed to be, and Marvel didn't. Agree with that.

Yeah, a talented take. They didn't like that. We don't like people with skill or talent. Get the hell out of here. They forgot where they were just a few years ago.

They are hiring talented directors. I mean, Joss Whedon and James Gunn is actually a good. Director, too. I think he's really good. They're making some good decisions, but I guess.

What is his name? Edward Wright. Edward Wright, yeah. I'm just guessing it was just too foreign for him or too unusual. I don't know that he's in...

That's the thing. It surprised me that he wanted to do a superhero movie. It was. Again, that's why I was saying the other day. I was looking forward to seeing him because he's got such a distinct visual style.

He's got such a distinct way that he creates his characters that I would be interested to see. I've seen so many generic superhero movies. I would love to see somebody with that much style come in and do their own spin on a superhero movie, which he could have done, but not now. Well, what other director out there would you like to see attack a superhero movie? Well, they've been handing it to him.

That's the thing. Like, the fact that they gave Joss Whedon a chance. Like, I am kind of a fan. Who else? Who else?

Who's got, like, a very unique vision that you would say? I was amazed they gave it to James Gunn, because to me, James Gunn is very... outside the box like he is a very and again look at the little like something like slither like slither is not a hollywood friendly movie it is a weird movie and it it's very structurally weird like it doesn't need to fall into yeah it's at best a b-movie it's just a weird like something that you run across on cable and i mean what the hell is this but like he makes it work because he he puts so much heart into it and like he really cares about this weird story So I thought that was strange that they even gave him such a huge property on this new landscape of theirs.

But I'm trying to think who else is that original anymore. I mean, Edgar Wright I think is so underrated because I think there's very few people, especially in comedy, that are doing anything outside the box. Comedy has become the wasteland at this point. For all the fun action movies we have out there, I think comedies are getting dumber. and dumber and more mainstream and watered down to the point of stupidity now. So every once in a while when.

You get something like that, like the stuff that he does, I'm just like, there still is something there that could be done with it. I haven't seen an American comedy that I've found funny in years. In years and years. The one that we did a show on that I was really impressed with and found myself in the middle of a discussion going, I can't believe how long it's been since I've really liked a comedy this much. was uh mystery team have you. Seen the i haven't seen i know it's.

Those guys yeah i mean and again there's there's a group of guys that like started stuff completely on their own sat there funded everything themselves posted on youtube posted on funny or die or whatever it was and built this whole universe and then that became they're like they took all of their money they made from those little videos and funded their own movie and that's why it got that way so like that Even that director, like, he started doing, again, I think he ended up doing some TV stuff after that. He's still kind of trying to get into, like, mainstream Hollywood stuff. But, like, I think that's such a well put together movie. So atypical of what is out there. And, like, I can't imagine them continuing to want to do that kind of stuff.

Because it's too smart and original. There's actually a, I think it's like a YouTube video. I just saw it, like, two nights ago. And it's comparing Edgar Wright's. Comedy style or filming style to typical American comedy movie and why his version of filmmaking works better for comedy than the American.

And it basically comes down to he's setting up the joke visually whereas everything in America is just Several people in the room talking. It's hiring a known personality and letting them say their stupid thing. That's what all those Adam Sandler movies. They're not funny. And the only thing they're building around is Seth Rogen or Adam Sandler.

They don't have anything funny built in. It's just, you guys kind of wing it and do your thing, and that'll make it okay. And I'm like, no. Whereas, even if. You take out the visual, I mean, half of his gags are visual gags.

But even, like, the writing going into it. Like, he writes stuff that's kind of subtle going through. And then the punchline might be the visual joke. But, like, it only works when he sets it up by writing a good scene. And, like, I don't know.

You don't get that with mainstream comedy. So it's just dumb. Like, they're so dumb. It's strange. I mean, yeah.

You see a lot of, you know, on the comedy channel, there are a lot of good writers. There are a lot of good stand-up comedians. There are. But when it comes to movies, no, nothing. Because only the dumb stuff makes money.

That's what I think it is. So they keep greenlighting these same. I don't think it's only the dumb stuff makes money. I don't know. Look at the comedies that have made money.

Has somebody ever tried to make a smart comedy and it failed? How often do they try to make a smart comedy is the problem. Yeah, exactly. No, I think it's because dumb comedies are easier to write. They're easier to fund. because you have nothing but names involved, and then they.

Throw it together. I don't know, I think that's... It's just lazy filmmaking. I mean, the closest one, like the... Was it This is the End?

That Seth Rogen one? Was the funniest thing I've seen those people do in years, and it's because they were. Stepping outside of the little. It was almost meta, like they were making fun of themselves, and how dumb their normal things are, and the way that everybody perceives them, like they were playing a weird, skewed version of their own selves. And that was the funniest thing.

Yeah, they're basically, like, because they're doing, like, people, like, they are playing basically themselves. So people come up to Seth. Rogen at the beginning, and they're like, hey, do the Seth laugh. Like, they've got, like, the fact that he puts up with us all day long. So, like, they're making fun of how the audience perceives them anyway.

And then they start, like, skewing it, and. They've got, what's his name from Superbad? Not Jonah Hill, the guy from, I mean, he's basically, like, he does this version of himself, like, he's just a coked out partier. Like, and like, I don't think he's really like that. So he's going out of his way to make himself look horrible.

Like, so I'm like, that's almost the funniest thing I've seen out of any of these people. Like, I don't know. That's, that's the closest thing in that little camp of like all those guys that keep getting stuff green lit, but like, they're just usually not very funny. And that one, because it's so outside. Their normal scenario and they don't, They don't dial back on that end of the world thing.

Like I thought it was just going to be very light so they didn't like ruffle any feathers or. Because it gets kind of religious at one point. It takes on very biblical versions. Of the end of the world. And I'm like that could step on toes.

Like I was not expecting them to take it that way just because somebody would get upset, especially the way that they do it. Yeah. But that's the thing if you're doing a comedy you can't pull punches. You shouldn't but they always seem like they do like they always seem like they. Like what's the most mainstream yeah what's what's the instead of writing something that's kind of edgy that's gonna piss a lot of people off let's just have them fall down you know what's the most wrong way we can take this?

Well, yeah. Actually, today I heard somebody say that their wives or something was berating them for liking Team America because it was so racist. Well, that's the point. They were making fun of racism. You know?

But, again, that's what I think our culture has gotten so dumbed down now that, like, we're not even getting satire anymore. Like, we're so dumb. We've bought into so much dumb material for the last 20 years that, like, we're missing the point of the comedy sometimes. It's so over their heads, they don't even realize it went over their heads. I don't get it.

So, what, now Jeff Foxworthy is another comedian? He's a social commentator? If he was doing it well, he could be. He's not. No.

If he would but again that was one of those like even in the beginning that's an example of like when he started out. Doing those stupid you might be a redneck jokes. He was making fun of those guys and they all started oh that's hilarious i'm like no he's making fun of you the one that's laughing at it you're the one he's making fun of and like i think even he realized it and went oh well shut up they're pet and like they started writing those huge checks and he's like I guess I'll keep doing this for 15, 20 years now. Like he just keeps doing that. And like, I can't blame him because look how much money.

He made off that stupid concept. And like, now I can host a game show and still make a living. So who cares? So, I mean, if people are that dumb that they get on board and give you that much money, I can't blame you. I don't still, I still don't like it, but I can't blame you.

I don't know. That's, that's one of those like early on that I was like, these people that are laughing at this, they. Don't realize what they're laughing at. Like, they think they get the joke, but the real joke is it's on you. You're an idiot.

Well, they think it's not applying to them. Yeah, they think those guys are idiots. No, wait, you're the idiot. You're missing the point. Yeah, again, that was probably the turning point in American comedy was the blue collar comedy.

Or even like the kings of comedy had to like, Specifically, this is only for the black audiences. I'm like, can we just do funny? Is that okay? Everybody had to take their specific group and make it like, this is the Hispanic comedy tour. Just be funny.

Is that okay? Could you just write something clever? Is that an option for you? Everything had to be so specific that you other people aren't going to get this. I'm like, no, nobody's going to get it because they're not very funny.

I don't know. Comedy is so hard. Or the Inuit comedy. Yeah. I'm sure that was up there somewhere.

We didn't see it because it didn't tour very low. Somewhere, somebody did a version of that. Just write some funny. The only great American comedy, the last one I saw was probably Raising Arizona. Oh, God.

See, that's brilliant comedy. Yeah. Everything after that, it was just dumb, dumb, dumb. Yeah, I mean, there's not much. There is actually one I saw a few years later.

And it's, of all things, it's Canadian. And it is very, very funny. The writing in it is very smart. And you never see this movie anywhere. And it's strange.

It was partially funded by the Sci-Fi Channel. So, you know, they can put it on whenever they want. But you still never see it. Which one was this? It's a movie.

In Canada, it's called Top of the Food Chain. Top of the Food Chain. In the States, I think they changed the title to Invasion. And it is sort of a B-movie about an alien invasion. And it's very cheaply made.

But the comedy in it is so sharp. And it's almost... When I saw it, I thought, my God, this is the next great comedy that And nobody's seen it. It disappeared. And it's strange.

It is very strange because you think this was a movie that should have gotten a cult following had people seen it. And it's weird, again, because there's so much comedy talent out there. Like you were saying, there's like a good amount of, I don't know, there's just new wave coming about. I think a stand-up comedy is easier because it's just one person writing, one person performing. It doesn't get so muddied and yeah.

But I mean, there's a huge like wave coming back of that. Like it died that post nineties, like they beat it to death in the nineties. And it went through this lull of like standups that are like, what the hell do we do now? Like they're not just going to give everybody a sitcom like they did before. So it's like, now what do we do?

And it's been this like. 20 years of rebuilding almost. And in this last five years or so, there's this big rush that it's like, again, it's not mainstream, but it's this hardcore cult of like, there's all these shows I listen to now that are based out of LA and And there's this new wave of like people that just go. To comedy shows. They just, they all, and again, it's almost this undercurrent because they're not doing TV.

They're not doing movies. They're all on podcasts and they're on like video stuff on YouTube. They're all doing like, there's a bunch of them now that are. Doing like their own series of shows or they'll take like a theater version. There's a lot of like, as much as I'm not thrilled with most of what I've seen improv wise, there's almost that improv troop mentality of what they're trying to do so they're actually doing it with live audiences or with people that are totally not on the radar with like people listening to podcasts or watching a old streaming web series so it's like there's this huge current kind of building i think but there's no way to like make it cross over into mainstream but i'm kind of waiting to see because i've seen all these like weird little towns start doing these comedy series And they get really well received.

I keep trying to figure out a way to do something like that here because I'm like, you can't be that hard to put together like a comedy festival. You need a microphone most of the time. It's like, just get the people there. Get a microphone on stage. You don't have to have sets.

You don't have to have a hundred other people running the show. It's as big or as small as you need it. It's just as you can afford to get somebody there and get a venue. Some of the greatest comedians. Bob Newhart.

Yeah. Microphone. That's all you need. Stool. That's it.

Bill Cosby. Bill Cosby. There he is. As boring as he's gotten now, he was phenomenal. Like, he was completely game-changing.

I saw his last. One on TV. I've heard he's doing better stuff now. It's good. It's still good.

He's still got it. He's just a weirder, older dude now. Yeah. He's become a strange character as the years have gone on. But the thing is, as old as he's gotten, the comedy is still relevant.

It's still. Relatable to everybody. That was like Carlin. As old as he got, he was equally as sharp, if not sharper than his 70s stuff. He was equally as cutting edge and kind of pushing the envelope a hell of a lot further in his old age than when he was still kind of the weird hippie guy that was on vinyl doing his stuff.

It's funny how much some of them don't lose it. But yeah, I don't know. There's been this new. surge of comedy now that I'm kind of waiting to see what happens when all these talented people finally start breaking through because you're starting to see a little of it but they keep filtering their. Way into mainstream stuff or like you know. What I would like to do I would like to do radio comedy again I mean a.

Radio show that's coming back like dramatic kind of or like a play of some sort because there's two of them now that have taken off on audio because you have this have you heard of the forensics They did a TV show one time called Four on the Floor. Okay, no, that's what I thought. I've seen that, yeah. But before that, they were on radio. Because they were on Showtime with that.

And they were hilarious. They were extremely, I mean, it's like the Pythons that, before they went into comedy, they were like teachers and professors and scientists. And they were extremely smart. And so they had that, that, that. Information, that education to draw on.

And they could make fun of it. And yes, some of their stuff was political. That stuff is certainly dated. But there's other stuff in there that is universal. And because it's radio.

It works so much better. It really, so much better than it did when they made that step to television. Because when it went to television, suddenly your imagination was no longer in play. And it kind of looks stupid, actually. Again, that's the weird thing that this new avenue has opened up with like podcasting and stuff is like there was like a whole new generation that kind of rediscovered that.

You know, it's like everything had. Gotten so TV oriented and like, you know, watching everything on DVD. And like we hit this weird like it's almost a step back. But in this different way, it opens up this whole new avenue of like people that are like so engrossed in like the interview part of it. Or now that the two that have taken off is that Tales from Nightville, I think it is.

And then Thrilling Adventure Hour. Oh, yeah. I've heard of that. They're both kind of that same thing. It's just sort of based on redoing a.

Radio drama from back in the day. But they're doing it really well written, kind of smart, bringing in talented people. So it's like kind of waiting for that to break. I feel like it's got potential. I would love to go back into that.

One of the funniest things that was– Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy when it was radio. Yeah. When it was TV, it was still pretty good. It was fun on TV. But when it became a movie, it became shit.

All right. Well, thank you once again for joining us this time around. And again, you've newly been adopted, so welcome to the fold. Fight your way out if you want to, but you can't. Can I go to the next one by Skype?

I was just cursing the name of Skype earlier today. I don't love it, so you're just going to have to come here a lot. Okay, I'll snail mail. Just fly in every two weeks or so. Is that cool?

Yeah, you can cover that. As often as we. Can rope you in, we're up for it, so that is up to you. But either way, thank you for sitting in this week. You're very welcome.

Thank you for leaving the house, Patrick. That's what I'm here for. I think everybody's falling asleep now. Yeah, I think we should wrap this up. Otherwise, that about does it.

We will return next week. Same geek time, same geek feed. Thanks for listening. With a purposeful grimace and a terrible sound, he pulls the spinning high-tension wires down. Helpless people on subway trains scream to God as he looks in on them.

He picks up a bus and he throws it back down as he wades through the buildings toward the center of town. Oh, no, they say he's got to go, go, go, Godzilla, yeah. Oh, no, they're going to Tokyo, go, go, Godzilla, yeah. Oh, no. Let's say he's got to go.

Go, go, Godzilla. Yeah. Oh, no. Let's say he's got to go. Go, go, Godzilla.

Yeah. Let's go. Let's go. Let's go. No, there's no Tokyo.

Go, go, Godzilla! History shows again and again how nature points up the volume of man. Godzilla! History shows again. And again how nature points up the molly of men.

Godzilla! History shows again and again. How nature points up the molly of men. Godzilla! History shows again and again how nature points up the molly of men.

Godzilla! Damn lizard! It does. That wasn't directed at you in anger. What was that?

If you want that, you can have it. Are you drunk? Yeah. See, they brought the bourbon. You're smart.

Random. Oh, Lord. So if that guy's drunk, you think I can get him drunk enough to go put on the head from Stargate? Probably wouldn't take much. I think so very would, but I'm not responsible for such activity.

This episode is a production of Movie Meltdown, produced and edited by The Oddity Studios, with opening music performed by The Empires. For more on how to sponsor or support the show, email producer at moviemeltdown.com. Talk hard!