Season 14 · Episode 28

The Litany of Cinematic Crimes and Triumphs

1 hr 17 min Explicit Full episode
The Litany of Cinematic Crimes and Triumphs
Movie Meltdown
0:00
1:16:58
MP3

About this episode

Movie Meltdown - Episode 593 This episode our host is virtually reunited with one of his favorite people - a character by the name of Sam Drog. Sure he's an enigma and a potential threat to humanity… but he's also a film lover and a hell of a lot of fun. So join us as we see what he's been up to lately and just what he's been watching.  And while we both expel a screaming, psychic cry for help, we also cover… Nope, going back to conventions, Firestarter, going up to a random stranger, a screen-accurate Highlander sword, social anxiety, The Crow: Stairway to Heaven, John Waters, the initial promise of the internet, old people explaining anime to each other, I'm in The Thing right now, Captain Harlock, hey chainsaw man, punching a moose, doughnuts make that all go away, Keith David, telekinetic powers, Battle of the Planets, someone who has trouble reading the room, on team calls, stressed-out high school kids, our WALL-E future, lockdown messed up kids, an office frozen in time, degenerate weirdo losers, Speed Racer, the elder gods of Valhalla, being bulletproof, trying to put all these pieces together, set your bar real low, Jordan Peele and the general geek vibe. "Maybe you caused the freak-out for humanity?"

Transcript

Automatically generated, so expect the odd misheard name.

Hi, this is John Waters and you're listening to Movie Meltdown. You better keep listening. Or I'll have you killed. It's showtime. 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. Our nuclear reactor pumping out one million kilowatts of power. What's up and welcome to Movie Meltdown. I am Brian and I am coming to you live via digital recording. From the Oddity Studios.

But there's someone else on the. there's someone. There's a call coming from inside the house. Joining me today. I will let you give your name because sometimes it changes. Right, right.

Today was, this is a full Sam day today. All right. All right. Sam is here then. There we go.

Well, we, as, as I've previously mentioned on the show and off, I don't normally like to do the zoom thing. I prefer to be in the room and it just makes it better, especially with our people. I've got to the point now I don't even want to talk to like outside people. That's sort of what got this rolling. There's a person out there that was like, let's record over Zoom.

And then I upgraded my Zoom and they were like. Nothing useless never mind i won't. Bad mouth them by name but yeah karma's a bitch so right right anyway i was like well now i've got this stupid zoom um i don't really want to use it with any of the people that i normally sit down with i'm like i don't want to talk to anybody else who the hell do i want to oh wait I need to talk to you. Hey, awesome. Because we can never really be in the same place at the same time.

I was like, let's at least take advantage of this and hang out and talk. Right, right. Here we are. Yeah, exactly. Until the monthly subscription runs out.

So we got a window here. We're working on borrowed time. We're working on borrowed time. That's right. That's right.

Uh, yeah, yeah, yeah. No, I think, thanks for thinking about me and, uh, you know, inviting me on. It's, uh, real cool. Always good to, to chat and talk, uh, geek out with you and, uh, go down the litany of, uh, cinematic crimes and triumphs that have come up over the last you know i mean i guess you were down in atlanta probably in 2019 you know some things have happened in the world since then you. Know just before the world shut down yeah yeah because i will i'll scroll back sometimes just to look at like the stuff we've done and it is funny it's like right before that It's like we're hanging out in the park talking in person live.

And then you go ahead a few months and you start seeing these special episodes. And then I'm stuck on Zoom because I have to be. And then I keep going, we finally come in contact with each other again. So you see this transition of what was going on in the world based on what the hell was going on in those episodes. But it is funny.

That was right before it all went to hell. That's right. Those old days were.... You know, because, you know, I kind of had a freak out at the Dragon Con. So, you know, I had no idea that the entire world would hear my plea and just make everybody stay home.

For two years. So maybe you caused the freak out for humanity. You were patient zero. I just sent out such a screaming psychic cry for help. Just shut it all down.

Social drama, patient zero. Right, right. Absolutely. There's no virus. It's all just in your brain.

And then you broadcast it out to the rest of humanity of like, look, you need to stay away from each other for a good long while. Not only.... Right, exactly. Not only do I need to stay home for a little while, everybody needs to. Stay home for a little while.

It's not just about me. That's right. You're all causing the problem. Stay at home. That's right.

Either you all have to stay home or I have to stay home. So, you know, whatever, you know. I mean, we were discussing that, what little we had before we got rolling. We're like, this is an experiment. We'll see what it's like because...

I mean, I had that too. And I think I've gotten, I, as I said, like I've gotten to where I'm way more happy with the people that I have. So like when it came back, when it was a year and a half later and it's like, okay, we can go out and talk to people out in the world now. And I was like, uh, I was like, do we want to, and I've had several great people along the way, but it's, it's a fight now because I'm so, happy with the people that i normally talk to and if we could get you a little closer it would make this a lot easier but other than that like i i don't do i need to uh no new friends right i mean. We don't need to see other people i think we need to see other people that's that's factored into our lives now so we have we have to see how that goes too we were just saying that with the uh going back out to a convention again.

I mean, we've done several in the last year, but not, I mean, a fraction compared to what we used to do. And that's not by accident either. Like I just look at them sometimes and I'm like, I'm fine. I know how it goes. Like I've been to so many, I can't count them anymore.

Like, so yeah, it's, it's a lot harder to get out in the world and interact with people. So it really is baby steps, you know? Yeah. Baby steps, baby steps. You know, basically my job is on, these teams calls, like we use the team's platform all day.

So I'm there all the time. And, and for a person who sometimes has trouble reading the room, you know, it's a real room, let. Alone virtual postage stamp size versions of people on your screen. Yeah, these little round circles with a picture from five years ago of them on it. You're going like, okay, I can't read.

I can't read. I can't tell. I think Steve's pissed at me right now, but. I can't tell. I know, right?

Damn, he doesn't even talk to me anymore. I don't know what's going on with us. Right, right. Exactly. So, you know, it's funny.

But yeah, you're talking about going back to convention. Oh, and, you know, just about your your, your litany of, uh, co-hosts and everything. I think everybody's like, uh, you know, it seems to have gotten into here. Here's here's John Conkle's review of movie meltdown and everything. I've, I liked all the new folks and everything.

And I like how it's, uh, you've gotten a good rapport with everybody and, you know, just being a long time listener. Uh, I I've enjoyed, uh, the new faces and the middle. I like, I like, I know the people from like that, you know, maybe like from a year or two years ago, you started looping in and then, you know, four years ago. And then sometimes we go back, you know, people from way back, you know, and every. Once in a while.

Yeah. I'll be like, you want to talk on here? Some people just disappear. Like, sure. Some people, I mean, it is a term now.

Some people pull a Roger. I don't know that he's out there listening. I believe it's still, occasionally interact with his wife on the facebooks but he was never into facebook so like i never really hear anything so yeah roger was on the show week in and week out and then one day he just wasn't and we didn't know what the hell happened to him so a lot of people just disappear and like i'm like well i mean i'm not forcing anybody to be on it's an offer if you want to come come on the show like wow. I mean, your show has been on so long, Brian, that, you know, people just go through different stages, you know. Oh, I realize that.

And I've gotten to that point where I'm like, well, I think they're done with it now. They've gotten it out of their system. Like, I wonder what podcasting is like. And then they're like three years in going, oh, my God, if I do this another day and then they're done. So I get it.

That's what I keep saying with people that don't want to listen to him either. I'm like, no, I understand. Like I, I am that person on a lot of other, like I try to go to other shows sometimes and I'm like, I can't, I just know you got to find the right people. And I know we're, we're not the right people for a lot of the world. I get that.

So I'm just thankful when we do find someone and you're, you're a good example. So I'm glad somehow if nothing else, if the show's done nothing else, I'm talking to you right now. Hey, there we go. We've accomplished nothing else. I would have never run into you.

We've never sat in the park and creeped out with a random normal people. We wouldn't be having this zoom call right now. So if nothing else, this is where we've got. Yeah. Yeah.

It's, it's the, the initial promise of the internet of breaking people from a desperate, desperate backgrounds under the same umbrella there for, for a moment. So, you know, it's a, you know, kumbaya, you know, which is at. Times the most frightening part about it. Cause now any, anywhere in the world can be an asshole to a random stranger, but on the other side of that, you know, the counterbalance, sometimes it brings people together. So that's right.

We'll take it. Yeah. Yeah, absolutely. Absolutely. You were talking about going back to conventions.

That does remind me. That I did attempt a convention a few weeks ago. You left the house? I left the house. It was crazy.

Wait a minute. Uh i my my you know if something happens is going to happen six months away i say like yeah let's do that you know and then i forget about it and then the day comes i'm going like ah crap we gotta. Yeah i think i saw that first hand. One time yeah yeah that sounds great let's go there right there in the middle of all the. People good idea yeah like no no no no no yeah nope nope beep beep bop beep bop breakdown yeah um yeah yeah.

How did this time go well. You know what i think for me personally the uh the the two years isolation actually helped me i appreciate kind of crowds now you know so i'm i kind of like got had like a nice long hibernation and um so now if i get into that i don't you know expectations. If you expect a certain thing, it's best. Not to have expectations. Words of wisdom.

Set your bar real low. If you trip over it, that's about right. Exactly. You got no control over other people. You just got to say, whatever happens, happens.

I'm just going to enjoy the show. I'm going to enjoy the run. We went to And this is like not my thing, but we went to like it's called Atlanta Anime Weekend. And it's it's focused solely on anime. All right.

Which I mean, as anyone who does listen to the show knows, we're constantly just sort of perplexed by it. Like, I don't dislike it. I just I'm not really into it. But I know the people that are are really into it. So like I have to just step back and be like, all right, this is your thing.

You go to town. Yeah. It's a new, it's like a whole other culture. It's a whole, I mean, I didn't really know about it until my kids started getting into it. And then I was going like, well, what are you watching?

Because you know, in my day you know and like uh you know in the 90s there really wasn't that much and usually the people that watched anime were real weird. And that's me saying it that's me saying it yeah i mean it was like okay a couple times a week i say and that's coming from me so that's bad so yeah when i set a bar once again right if i'm calling people out for being strange and unusual i i You're creeping me out. That's right. Exactly, bud. I get it because I was, as you know, I was hanging out at a video store back in those days and we had one little section and it was just like one rack and it was like VHS tapes of only the biggest titles that you've heard of because, again, they didn't bother importing stuff for dumb Americans that was less than Akira.

It was the biggest things in the world and they were on VHS and only there was like specific like you could look at them when they come in not to not to put people in the box but like you can look at him oh he's heading to the end yeah and first of all it's he because i don't know if i ever saw a girl over there no no now it is equally as much if not more so girls than guys but yeah back in the day i don't know if i ever saw a girl. Over there but no no no you could. Pin down the type of person coming in and be like yeah i know. Where we're heading yeah they're heading straight to the tentacle section i know oh yeah i know what. They're up to somebody's gonna be reading and then it got it did it was again baby steps because then the world of dragon ball z came along yeah and there was this spillover and then you had kind of regular people that suddenly found this one part of it and they probably didn't even get into a lot of other stuff but they were in there buying every dragon ball z thing that came out i was just like well All right.

So again, it's like little steps till we get to your crunchy roll today. And it's like a whole nother world. So it is, it is. And it's, it's actually, I would say the ones that my kids have introduced me to are actually pretty, pretty cool. Cause they are kind of like soap operas, like old, you know, kind of like the Spider-Man, you know, where it's all about their screwed up life.

And a lot of them aren't even, I'm like, We're old people explaining anime to each other. Okay, so. Welcome to the episode. Where 40-somethings catch themselves up on. 70-somethings.

Now there's these cartoons. Now there's these cartoons. This ain't Mickey Mouse now. This ain't Steamboat Willie. Sometimes there's tentacles.

Sometimes people are doing some crazy stuff. Yeah, you know. And sometimes there's no. Aspect to it at all it's all just like people talking it's like a high school drama you know and you're going like well that's real interesting you know but my two girls they like these certain titles and I've watched a few of them with them and I'm going like A the animation on some of these are like really really clever it's not like Trans-Or-Z or Voltron anymore it's like All this money is just being dumped, you know? And I guess, you know, I got in, I mean, I guess this isn't really, I didn't think of it as anime, but you know, battle for the planets, AKA gotcha man.

Oh yeah. Back in the day. I watched that all the time. I love that stuff, you know? Yeah.

But, and speed racer, but, The kill speed racer kill, you know, anything to win. I must win. What I like about anime is they're under so much pressure to perform at all times. You know, it's like it just kind of gives you a view into their culture. Like all the high school kids are stressed out.

You know, they're going like, oh, if I don't do this, then I won't get into this and I won't do that. And I'll be a biggest loser, you know. And, you know, just the difference in culture is kind of because, you know, I think it's a little bit like that over here. But I think those kids are like, I think they're. pressure to perform and be the best is like insane you know i feel. Like an american version would be very different especially if you like we pick the slackers or we're following a group of stoners around right right man i just don't feel like getting my phone to order a pizza totally different set of priorities in this country.

Yeah yeah I mean, you know, I mean, so, yeah, I mean, again, you know, in my circle of people in high school, we were not under pressure. We were not we were not feeling much pressure to take over the world. Well, you're going to dishonor your family. I hope you know. I know.

Exactly. Exactly. But yeah. Yeah. So we went to this thing and.

All right. So I was actually OK. So I showed up. And we got there and there was like, you know, it's probably a third of the size of Dragon Con. So it's not, you know, instead of like 80.

Dragon Con is huge. Yeah. Yeah. So it was probably, it was probably a fourth. It was like, it was like 20,000 people.

Okay. And in a smaller space. So that was different. But the costumes were huge. you know just amazing you know. I was gonna say i assume as you go there you're dressed like captain harlock i mean right who but keep whipping in the wind scar right oh yeah oh yeah yeah yeah got it oh.

Yeah yeah yeah yeah um yeah but uh yeah no i don't know i'm way too lazy to put that kind of effort into something that's what i. Think everyone like that looks like a lot of work i don't know I got to walk around like that all day. No. Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah. No, I'm not, not into that. Not into that. That's way too much effort. I don't want people.

I don't want strangers coming up to me to take my picture. Can I take a picture? Can I take a picture with you? You're like, no, don't touch me. Don't touch.

Me. So, but my two kids, my two girls are like way into this stuff. And so we showed up. Okay. So my mistake. you know, we, uh, said, well, we're just going to go on a day.

So we'll just get a one day pass and you got to get the one day pass at the door. You can't buy it on the internet, but I was going like, it'll be fine. We'll, we'll get there early. You know, it'll, you know, we'll, we'll make, get there before the line gets crazy. You know, you'd like to think that.

Sure. Yeah. Yeah, sure. Sure. But so we got there early, probably like 11 a.m.

That's early for Saturday. We get there. Holy cow. Okay. So first you had like the COVID testing line.

All right. Would that COVID line was like, uh, you know, five blocks long, you know, luckily we had our tests and everything ready to go. So we go like, ha ha suckers, you know, we'll, we'll, we'll see you inside. This was pretty recent, right? Yeah.

This was like, cause that's the difference. Like you guys are still a pretty huge city. So it's like, I think the larger, cities are still going by kind of the old rules where the further you get away from those, like the handful of places I've been this past year, nothing yeah no testing no proof of testing no masks right i think everybody's just so desperate to like get back to things and make money at these before we all go bankrupt i don't care just come in fuck i'm ass let's go like so yeah exactly just to put it in perspective it is interesting that you guys are still like proving that you're taking tests and. Things of that nature Yeah, yeah, kind of. Yeah, kind of.

I mean, I saw, you know, masks were required at the thing. I saw half half people wearing masks and they all wear them wrong. And they were all around. You're not wearing the double mask. You know, you know, you know, anyway, that's all gone.

I just want my cosplay to be like a guy in a hazmat suit. Right. And then I'm all set. Like, just wear that to every show. Ready to go ready to go yeah there are like some anime characters with like you know some kind of like you know surgical mask on them so that works out.

I mean japan has way more of that going on well before covid so. Right right right it's a it's a good look you know but you go like uh but i would hate to spend like 500 on a costume then you have to crap throw some crappy mask on it You know, it's not screen accurate. You can't see that I'm Captain Harlock. Behind this mask, between the mask and the eye patch, I can't really get around very well. Yeah, yeah.

So one or two things happened here with this. Either. Okay, so we get to the actual line to get into the thing. All right. I'm an idiot.

Okay, so the line. The, you got the hamster trail, you know, the, the, the rat maze part. Okay. So that that's packed in, you know, uh, elbow to elbow. And then you got it.

COVID friendly. Hey, you had your test. That's fine. Um, uh, then like pack out of that is like, you know, just a line. It's like in this hotel.

And, uh, the line is like, out the, the hamster trail, the, the, the rat maze and out that around the thing around this, around that, down the escalator, this way, that way, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. You know, I'm going like, okay, well, I'm an idiot. Uh, I forgot that other people enjoy things, you know? And, um, so I told the kids, I told them, okay. Oh, then they're like making announcements.

I go up to this random stranger, which is not something I do. I go like, I go like, hey, bro, what is this line and what's going on? And they're going like, oh, man, this is the line to get in, but they've closed it, you know, so they're not letting anybody else in, you know. And I'm going like, wow, really? And he's like, yeah.

It's like, what are you standing here for? So we're both clueless and did this wrong. And so there's like the volunteers, they're trying to tell people nobody else is in until people have filtered out and then we'll start letting people live. You know, there's like 500 people ahead of us, you know, in line. And I'm going like, OK, so kids, we could, you know, it's like showing up at Wally World, you know, and kids, you know, we.

Did you punch a moose in the nose? Is that what you're leading to? I needed a moose to punch. Um, but, uh, I was kind of like, okay, cause you know, so we can stand in this line and maybe the, the elder gods will let us back into Valhalla here, but, uh, probably not, you know, we probably were, but here's the thing. Here's my thoughts.

All right. Okay. The, the, the point of a convention is, uh, if there's a panel that you want to see, if there is a guest that, you want to see, or it's other than that, it's, or, you know, okay. If there's four things, uh, if you want to buy like a, a, a Highlander sword, screen, accurate Highlander sword. Of course, which everyone listening has, you know, right.

And, uh, and demon red eye contacts, which I'm sure there are, totally safe. Like that kid at the mall wore all the time right right he was like he was early days he did that before it was cool that's. Right man that's right yeah he had a he had an order from the mail order he probably did yeah yeah that's fine it's fine i'm gonna stick these in my eye it's fine. His eyes are infected now he can't even. See anymore that's right he.

Was the guinea pig for the rest of the. People patient zero again Um, so there's, there's the market room, there's the meet a guest, there's a tin of panel. Uh, but other than that, for me, it's all about the people watching and, uh, just, you know, going, Oh, that's cool. Oh yeah. Just kind of hanging out and people watching, you know, that's congregating of geeks.

Right. That's what I get out of conventions. So, I mean, once I realized that those people running the panels didn't know shit any more than I did. Yeah. I see that a lot over the years.

It's hit and miss depending on which one you're at. But yeah, sometimes there's some in particular that have been going on for years and like, I will get there and still they do not know what they're doing. I'm like, guys, this is not your first show. Like I've been to 14 other ones. Like you should know how to run the basic stuff now.

Nope. Still screwing it up. I'm just like, This is why I don't want to start a convention. This is a lot of coordinating things that I'm over at this point. Yeah, no, no, no, no.

Let the next wave of geeks worry about that crap. You know, I am not. No, no. But I was like, OK, so most of the things, you know, you're going to see are going to be if it was a panel, it's probably going to be on YouTube and 48 hours. That's the other weird thing that's happened since they all started.

It used to be you had to be there to experience it. Now you're like, eh, I'll catch you tomorrow on YouTube. Yeah. Now, one of the coolest ones I saw at a Day of the Dead in Atlanta, which is a very small convention, but it's cool. It's not a lot of people.

But I saw the thing panel with all the people from the 82. Everybody that's not Kurt Russell was there. Yeah, right, right. Everybody not Kurt Russell, not John Carpenter, all the people that, you know, and not Keith David. Yeah, well, it's hard to pull him in.

He's still working. He's still working. I saw him today. Oh, no, this weekend. Yeah.

Not in person, but on TV. Oh, yeah. I saw him. I saw him in a movie. We'll talk about.

We'll talk about. Yeah. Yeah. All right. Cool.

Did you say Keith David? No, David Keith. Wait, wait, wait. I'll be playing that all. Wait a minute.

Wait a minute. So. So at one point when everybody was leaving that thing convention, we were in this tight, narrow hallway and we were walking and I just happened to end up in the midst of them. You know? And so I was going like, oh my God, I'm in the thing right now.

This is awesome. You're like, hey, Windows, what's up? Yeah, yeah, yeah. It was like, it was a tight hallway. I was with the cast of the thing.

I was going like, man, I'm having my own little movie here, you know, right now. But AnimeCon, they, all right, it was packed to the gills. But I was like, there were so many people refused entrants. That it was kind of like another convention in the lobby and in the courtyard outside the hotel. Because I was going like, kids, look, the big part of this is just, you know, people watching and going up and getting your picture taken and just kind of hanging out and enjoying the, you know, general geek vibe.

All right. Basically recreated our interaction. Yeah, pretty much. Because when I got there the second day, I couldn't get any more. Yeah.

So I was just hanging out in the lobby with you and we were overwhelmed by people and watching dorks and outfits go by. Yeah. So this is pretty much what we did when we were at a huge convention. That's right. That's right.

And so I said, like, here, your dad's old. I'm going to sit against this wall and y'all run around and come back and get me when y'all are bored. This is you going out into the world. I'm going to sit against this wall. I think that says a lot about your place in life.

That's what I do. I'm going to just blend in and just watch stuff go by. And so they go off. About 15 minutes later, they come back and they sit and they look sad. And I go like, what's up?

And they go like, I don't think people watching... and getting pictures taken with people in costumes is for us, you know, they, they had had a little conversation before coming back, you know? And I said like, all right, it's out of his mind. Yeah. Right. Right.

I'm like, oh, that's fine. That's good. I mean, whatever. I mean, I don't care, you know, this is the decision we all have to make. Yeah, that's right.

That's right. I'm not going to force you to take pictures. I mean, I even showed them cause they're kind of shy, you know? And so I go, I say like, here, here's how you do it. You know, I walked up to some guy with a chainsaw head and I said like, Hey, chainsaw man, I like your costume.

And they're like, Oh geez, dad. And like, and then like, Hey, can I get a picture with you? And he goes like, yeah, sure dude. He strikes a pose. I strike a pose.

My, my eldest takes a picture. I go like, Hey, that's what you do. You just go around and repeat that, you know, until you get bored. And um you have that photo right because yeah i do i do that can be our photo to accompany. This yeah okay yeah yeah i'll shoot it over to you um and uh and so i go like all right go go now that you know the way that's now you go do it and uh they were like uh yeah but you know what i really think a you.

Know If they have social anxiety, they get it honest, you know, from their old man. All right. You know, I can't I can't make them be something, you know, there are you. Know there are things going on in dna that you can't even begin to. Find it's hardwired into them you know but at the same time i mean i think that year and a half of lockdown and them being told that it's dangerous to be in crowds i think that has messed my kids up a.

Time out for a second. I keep coming up with this, but I, I'm going back even further because I have a niece who was born in this era. Yeah. So like, she is so freaked out. Like she, I mean, think about it for the first year and a half, she came in contact with no one other than her parents and, And didn't leave the house.

Like this is like a weird sci-fi story, you know, like off in the future where kids are raised in a cubicle. Like this is what it was like. So like when I'm watching her now and she's like freaking out when she has to deal with like she even coming around me, which granted most people are creeped out by me. But like normally the kids that I'm related to for some reason are attached to me pretty early on. but because she was barely around me when she was in that, that lockdown mode, she was just like, Oh, who the hell is this? You're not my mom.

Like, so that was weird. And then since then, like, there's so many things that just upset her that like, she's just kind of not ready for that. I'm like, I think if you had a regular, you know, year and a half growing up before the rest of this, like you might've had a shot, but like, I think this is going to cause like waves of things that like not necessarily problems. It's just going to be looking at future generations and every kid that comes from this and their kids, like there's going to be a factor that comes into play that we've never had before. Right, right.

I agree. I agree. I think. I think if you missed out on kindergarten and first grade, I mean, yeah, you are. Think about that.

Or like my older nephew, like I spent a horrible time in freaking high school, but my other nephew like missed half of his high school. Yeah. Sitting at home on a computer. And I was just like, that's weird. Like, don't get me wrong.

I kind of wish I would have had that option. Yeah, sure. I mean, I think it also causes social ramifications that we don't realize. So it's yeah, it's interesting to hear your version, too, because I keep watching that in the kids that I'm related to. And yeah, it's weird.

I'm going like, I don't want everybody to be like me. I mean, we need some socially functioning people in the world or the place is going to fall apart. Society will fall apart if somebody can't interact with somebody. Yeah, come on, people. I'm kind of like in the special case.

I'm in the special classroom here. I don't know. Again, watching it happen that year and a half, two years, I was like, I feel like we could get to that point. Like it is like, I kept looking at it as almost science fiction. I'm like, all we have to do is sit at our houses.

We interact through the internet most of the time anyway now. And then it also hit at the time in our society when you can just have things come to your house all day long. So as long as we can still employ drivers on a truck, like everybody else in the world can just sit in their houses and like, they'll, come up, drop it on the porch, never come in contact with that person, take it in their house, do their thing, and then go sit on the internet and not actually interact with a human being, you know, short of a screen. So, I mean, we are, we've got potential to be that society if we don't come back to our senses and become a functional interacting society. Yeah, exactly.

It's like everything I've always wanted, but now that I've got it, you know, it's like, it's like, maybe it's not good for all society. So it becomes your everyday life. Right. Not a dream anymore. Yeah.

Yeah. I mean, at my job, we basically have all gone work from home and, and it's basically, I had to go back to the office to pick up like some, I don't know, like a coffee mugs, important things, you know? Yeah. So, you know, And it is like you feel like Charlton Heston and the Omega Man walking into the building. You know, I feel like I needed one of those like Uzis with the silencer and just like, you know, looking for the zombies.

I mean, it was it was creepy and weird and everything is like and it is like a frozen world. time capsule from like 2019, you know, it's like all this calendars on the wall. Yeah. Yeah. It's like dusty calendars, you know, you know, you know, you know, I don't know. Mandalorian references or something.

I don't know. I don't know. So anyway, I sidetracked you from the, the girls are trying to interact with humans. Right. Right.

So they were trying and they just, they were just like, this is not fun, you know? And I'll go like, I go like, yeah, you know, that's sort of the thing about conventions. They're really fun in your brain. But but but I mean, I was going like, well, hey, you know, all you're missing out on are like panels, which is not going to be the actual guy who drew the man. The manga or the anime is going to be like super fans like yourself, you know.

Whoever they suckered to sit at the table today. Right, right. And then you'll miss out on the stuff in the dealer's room that you can get on internet anyway. Yeah, that's true. You don't have to fork over $ 30 for a widescreen European cut of Lifeforce nowadays.

I mean, I'm not saying. I never bought any of those special tapes. Yeah. No, no, absolutely not. All hypothetical.

I'm just saying that, that, that. Now it's just on YouTube for free anyway. Oh yeah. Yeah, exactly. Or you'll to be it up and it's like, at.

Least that way somebody is getting paid for it. So it's all well and good. Yeah. Yeah. So I said like, look, you're not missing anything, but we tried, we did try to sneak in.

Uh, we're, uh, like the thing was like spread out all over the place. So, That's what it seems to be in your setup. Cause yeah, I was surprised what a spread out thing that dragon con was like, I'm so used to everything being under one roof, but they were, I mean, you were, one thing was like blocks away. I'm just like, it was weird that you were like out on the street as much as you were. Yeah.

It takes over the city. Yeah. Yeah. And, uh, and so, so we go up this escalator out of a food court and, uh, I go, Oh, I see. I saw signs up on the second level.

I go like, Oh, look at that. They got a role play gaming, you know, tabletop gaming. And that's the convention up there. So let's just go up there, you know? And so we took the escalator up and, you know, and there's a security guard.

I just act dumb. You'll walk by them. I'm sure they get a lot of that at any convention. People that don't know what they're doing. Right.

And so, So I should have just told the girls, like, stay with me, stay close, you know, keep following my lead, you know. And so they walk by the guy, you know, and and and I hear, sir, sir. And I'm going like, do to do. I don't know who's talking to, you know, and the and my my my, you know, law abiding, fair playing kids. I go like, Dad.

Yeah. And I'm like, what? You're doing it wrong. I turn around and go, oh, what's going on? He goes like, sir, where's your badge?

And I'm going like, badge, badge, badge? I don't need no stinking badges. I come to this hotel all the time. I'm going like, sir, I got a badge. I was like, oh, I'm sorry.

I had no idea what's going on. I just wander around. I just wander through life. Man, I own this hotel. I can go wherever I want.

Right. Well, you know, it's something I've learned from my father-in-law, you can get away with a lot. If you just act, if you're just nice and dumb, you know, they don't, they don't get mad at you. And it's like, ah, you poor soul. All right, go on your merry way.

No, I guess my father, my father-in-law is not going to listen to this, but he just, he just plays like, oh man, I had no idea. And he gets away with murder and I've seen it. I've seen it year after year after year. And I just go like, okay, that seems to work. I'm going to adopt, but my kids ratted me out, you know?

And, uh, I mean, that's their job. Yeah. That's what they keep, keep me in line, you know? But, uh, so yeah, we left, they, they had their, you know, uh, they were both like, kind of like shaken and overwhelmed by the experience. And, um, and so I said like, uh, so like, you know, donuts make that, I'll go away.

Another good life thing. I'm teaching them again. To look forward into the future. Again, I quite often think we're all going to be the future of Wally. yeah just gonna be floating around little people floating in chairs eating donuts all day in front of the screen. Whatever you feel uncomfortable kids just eat a couple of donuts and it just all goes away it takes the pain away each each your emotions it's it's totally what we do it's a it's totally acceptable you know yeah yeah so i'm just you know ruining my kids day by day.

I mean you're their parent that's what you do that's what i do that's what i do that's that's it's given it's in the bios. That's right it is it is we got to keep therapists in in business you know i mean you know so it's good stuff good stuff yeah that was my latest and everything so that was a that was a that was a ramble that was a meltdown there you go there we go world look at you yeah yeah look at me look at me. So i knew we would be able to cover that re-entry into the world but other than that we were just like i don't know we can talk about stuff we. Watched so yeah yeah. Have you seen anything lately Well, let's we'll start with my now.

I can't remember. Is it David Keith or Keith David? It's David Keith. One of those guys. Yeah.

OK. OK. So I watch I had a David Keith run in and actually had a Keith David run in because I rewatched Firestarter for the first time since the 80s. And again, I don't think I've watched it since it was on cable back. Yeah.

Yeah. Where back it was on cable. You probably watched it 12 times. Yeah, I'm sure. But it was always just sort of on in the background, like half the, you know, most of the TV now I don't really pay attention to.

So sometimes even the ones I kind of saw, I don't can, I don't even count. I'm like, no, I should just watch this for real. Yeah. Yeah. So yeah.

Rewatch the old fire starter. And, and I remember it being amazing. And man, things have changed. See, I don't even remember that much. I remember it being a thing.

And I feel like even then going, those fire effects don't really look all that great. They're so ridiculous uh uh there's it's like uh and i love it when people have like telekinesis but it does things that telekinesis should never be able to do like uh like you know uh make the uh make a oh like she uses her teleconnect powers to make all the coins come out of a phone at one point and i'm going like how are you. Doing how are you doing that what are you I mean, you can't do that with your hands. Why would you be able to do that with your mind? Oh, my gosh.

These powers are amazing. And at the end, the ending, the last 10 minutes of Firestarter is what you remember. And it is a laugh riot. And when she burns down the shop and kills all the doctors and the scientists, it is a riot. It is, you know, it is a how, you know, and because I forgot that she became becomes bulletproof.

I mean, they're like shooting guns at her and the bullets are bouncing off because that's what happens. Is that telekinetic power or is that the power of fire? I don't know which, but it. Wasn't like she was making the bullet burst into flame. She just deflected bullets all of a sudden.

And it's handy to have. I keep hoping that'll happen because people get shot all the time. So it would be really handy. Yeah, man. Absolutely.

Yeah. Because, I mean, she has an army around her. So, I mean, she has to have something. But what's so great about the Firestarter is for whatever reason, the director says, before she lights somebody on fire, they all have to beg pitifully for their lives before she lights up. It's like, okay, maybe I'm a psycho, but the acting in, in those scenes are like so good.

And, uh, it just makes it, I mean, it's, it's camp. But it's, uh, This all feels way more like a super dork wish fulfillment. Not only am. I going to kick all their asses one day, but they're going to beg me not to do it first. Yeah, they're going to be like, under my power, I'm going to be so strong.

Oh, please don't hurt me. And then I will hurt them anyway because they made fun of me that one time. Yeah, that's kind of what it feels like. oh man that's sad it's not enough to burn them alive. I also that's true that's true like whiny babies that's right whiny babies right i'm gonna make a pee the pants and then i'm gonna beat them up you know. Uh yeah this is just reverse bullying.

Yeah i think that's what it does um but but no firestar is because they made that remake you know and that actually. Make a show too or was i just confusing one for the other i can't keep track anymore there's too many projects. Oh yeah yeah no no they they there was the early nineties or mid nineties, uh, what's it called with Malcolm McDowell, of course, you know, like, uh. Like anything with Malcolm McDowell. Yeah, exactly.

We're dust them off, put them out there. Uh, it's, uh, yeah, they made like a TV pilot that was going to, that they turned into a movie for sci-fi and, uh, you know, but anyway, I never watched that. Yep. That sounds like, yeah, exactly. Exactly.

But, uh, But yeah, no, I always thought, you know, they should make a TV show so they could go like a fire starter, you know, in the in the in the opening team. That's basically my brain. So then she can be. Like basically everything just comes down to the same of that type of let's make a show just becomes the Incredible Hulk. yeah she gets into adventures by the end she uses her powers and everybody's freaked out and then she has to wander off to another town and like start her lonely existence again it's it's the fugitive it's incredible hulk it's like every show that came after that became that same scenario it's it's kung fu i mean they're all that same i just wander the earth and get in crazy adventures and sometimes have to light people on fire you know yeah.

I love that that would have been the best show if at the end of every episode she lights somebody on fire and that's how that solves the problem. I mean that's kind of how it works right. But the better one was the other thing was the crow tv show where he was like working for the lapd or something. Do you remember that as much as i love the movies and i use that word okay love the first one i'm just yeah oddly perplexed by the other three yeah yeah the fourth one in potato i need to revisit that fourth one because it is like a train wreck but like the most enjoyable train like the rest of the cast was amazing though yeah he was weird casting as our crow, but like everyone else involved, I was like, wait, you've got Dennis Hopper to be.

Yeah. Wait, is, is that bones? Right. Is that freaking angel? What, what is he doing in here?

So much stuff. So, and the director of six string samurai. So you're going like, wow, this has got some real pedigree. So even though it's not any damn good, it's. Very, it's good.

Yeah. Like through your fingers of like, Oh my God. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah. And I didn't hate the third one. As I remember, I have not seen it in 25 years, but. Like I, right. Yeah.

It's only that second one that angered me. Right. Right. Right. But yeah, I didn't, again, I getting back to the show, I didn't really watch the show.

Like I remember it came on and kind of thought it could be interesting, but again, sometimes it's like, that's too much story to fill with like, we've got a very specific scenario in that story and it kind of works within the confines of a movie, but, even trying to continue that story with like a sequel would be hard to do. I mean, it's, it's, it's one arc, especially. The Raven version of it, at least. So it's like, it's really hard to, fill up, you know, especially back in the old days when there was like 30 episodes in a season. Yeah, seriously.

Now maybe you could do 8 or 12 and you could come up with something, but back in the day it was a lot of episodes to come up with. Yeah, a lot of stuff you had to come up with for the crow to do, you know, like save an orphanage. We gotta band together and save the rec center. Yeah, that kind of thing. You know, but I don't know.

But yeah, the crow... TV show. I've probably only watched one episode. It just seemed like it. Remember it being like, I want you to meet your new partner and it's the crow.

And, uh, and, uh, I remember like him, it was like middle of the daylight. Like it was probably supposed to be LA, but I'm sure it was Toronto. They were like, uh, I'm sure he was like, hell in the, it was like the TJ hooker sketch from Saturday night live where he's just on the hood of. A car, hanging on the hood of the car. That's what he was doing.

That's what he was doing. I was going like, this is hilarious. Well, again, if he's still got those bulletproof powers, that comes in handy. It does man. Fighting, fighting, petty crime, you know, one, one, uh, pickpocket at a time, you know?

Yeah. This all seems fine. Sounds good. Sounds good. Oh crap.

Uh, Okay, so, but it was supposed to be Firestarter remake, but then Firestarter, but then we were talking about Keith David. Rewind the brain train there. So Keith David, I saw him in a film called Nope that showed up. That's one of the ones I was going to bring up today. Awesome, awesome.

And, you know, the vibe around Nope the people that I knew that went to go see it, they were like, they said, Oh no, I went to go see some other movie. And they said like, yeah, we're in this movie because we walked out. They were drunk. And we walked out of, we walked out of, uh, nope. And so we're watching this tonight.

And, uh, I go like, Oh, okay. And I was like going, okay, that's one kind of random person saying it's no good. And then somebody else that I work with said, yeah, when it goes, or I was going to go see it, but the reviews were so bad. And then I heard somebody else who didn't like him. you know, so my expectations for no, not very high. And, uh, I, I actually walked out really loving it.

So, you know, I, I mean, I, I saw, I think I first saw the poster and was like, Oh, that's amazing. Like that's, that's not what I expected from any movie really. Yeah. And then, um, saw the trailer and I was like, well, I mean, he's, he's just kind of turned into this amazing director. So I'm like, anything Jordan Peele does now, I'm at least going to be interested in.

So it's like, I, I, I went in looking forward to it, but I just didn't get around to it in the theater. So I knew it finally came out and I went and got me a copy. And I was like, okay, here's my chance. And again, I really liked what he's done. just what he's doing. Like the vibe that he creates is so good.

And like, visually he's become such an amazing director that like, it looks terrific. And then he's still like, even switching to sci-fi, like is telling a really creepy story that like, it's just, yeah, I was, I was pretty, pretty happy with it. I got to say. And I think he, he re he kind of reined it in. I think that was my issue with us because us is a cool, really cool idea, but it's also like two cool ideas.

Yeah. So the first two thirds of it is one movie. And then it ends up at the end going down an entirely different road that they sort of tie them together. But for the most part, I'm like, you kind of could have done a whole nother movie with that in story and been like its own separate thing. But here everything's connected enough.

It feels like it's kind of focused a little more than us was. Yeah. Yeah. Well, I like. What is it called?

Get out. I like get out. I liked Us, but I thought both of those suffered from bad endings. I didn't like how they wrapped up. It's been a while on Get Out.

I don't remember having a bad feeling, but again, I know some people love it and some people don't really sing its praises. It's kind of hit and miss with a lot of people. I would say it's like 95 of a good movie you know and then this i once once we got into brain transplants i was going like i don't i don't like i don't know how this i'm trying to figure out the science or the what's going on you know i think that's. What i liked about like it was creepy in the first two thirds and then when you get to the ending i'm just like all right we have just thrown the rules out the window like i gave him so many points for like man you did it like yeah whether it made sense or not you were like screw screw it.

Here's my movie. Like sometimes the audacity I'm just impressed with. So absolutely. I think that was my takeaway from that one. Yeah.

Yeah. Well, all his movies, they have the feeling of, Hey, this is like actually from a filmmaker with like a point of view and things, cool things he wants to put on screen, you know? And, and so, yeah, he's got great visuals. He's got great story. He's got great acting, you know, just, just us.

I was like, I was going like, so, is there like a, is there like, like a maze of stuff like under all of America where there's like people like interacting with like doing. Like saying like the beginning, we don't understand any of it. It's just creepy. And it works really well. It's only when you get to the end and you start trying to make sense of it.

Right. Wait, so how does, but then, so, I mean, like to me, you needed a whole movie to try to explain that crazy world that he set up versus just the weird, you know, evil version of yourself out there waiting to do, you know, horrible things to you was creepy in and of itself. Like you didn't even have to explain it almost. You could just leave it as a weird thing that happened. And, but yeah, as you get into the end, I'm like, that's too much direct cram in the last 15, 20 minutes of this movie.

Like that's a lot to deal with. It's like, I like how all this is looking and I like the vibe, but I'm so confused. Of what the tone of it is. And just the visuals are beautiful. But yeah, by the end, I'm like, dude, again, there's something like you need a series.

Like you can start out with like the first two or three episodes or the creepy other part and then give us like eight episodes of like the rest of this. Okay. Now here's the world we're living in. And like, it would probably once again, piss people off, but at least I feel like he could have room to, sort of tell that story. Right.

Right. And at least it's, it's like, you're going like, Oh, I haven't seen that in a movie before. So, you know, you're going. Like all of this stuff, you know, every one of those has been pretty damned original. Yeah.

Yeah. Yeah. I was just like going like at the end of Nope with the, the floating, uh, with the floating, uh, cowboy and the ufo you know i'm not going to get too spoilery but i was just going like this is just something i've not seen in a movie before so i'm just like so happy you know. Yeah because i i knew from the get-go it was you know sort of involving aliens or whatever but yeah when we get to the reveal and i won't even go into that but the reveal of what exactly they are versus the old school traditional version of this i'm just like oh that's cool and again if you're if you're a hardcore internet geek like this is a real thing that's out there you know i i never went that far down that road i just kind of like the old cheesy sci-fi version of it but yeah seeing this as a new option of things that could be out there i'm like oh that's cool and like that gives you a whole nother thing to go into and and again the thing i think is maybe the most interesting part is such a minor one but the gordy plot line and then we get one flashback and then it becomes sort of the overarching theme of the whole thing is like you you can't put a party hat on a wild.

Animal yeah yeah yeah. Takeaway from this and i was like oh no that scene is amazing like especially like the buildup, like that lead as we're coming in and it's so long going into that room. And then we get that reveal of where we are. Cause you're just like, what is this flashback? And then all of a sudden you're like.

Oh, Oh, now I see. Oh shit. Oh my God. That scene is amazing. Oh my God.

I loved it at the, at the, at the cowboy theater. They had like the, the, the cute teenage girl who was wearing the veil over her face. Oh, I love that. I love it. Cause you always hear those stories of like, like people who get pet chimpanzees.

And at the certain point that they become adolescent, they just, they're not your friend anymore. You know, that was the fate of bubbles. Yeah. Actually, both of the kings of music, because at one point Elvis also had a monkey. Oh, gee.

And it went through that same thing of like, oh, yeah, super cute. And then after a while, like he was off doing other stuff. And then the mafia was just hanging out going, OK, now we've got to take care of this wild animal. Yeah, it was like been pent up like it's not around anybody like him. and still wants to act like a wild animal and we're trying to put him in a funny suit and drive him around in a limo and like you can't do that so yeah all of these you know people that try to just take a wild animal and bring it into your regular old. Life like yeah no kidding yeah that was excellent that was excellent yeah yeah yeah no that whole sub that whole subplot about about the sitcom that went wrong.

That was so good. It's amazing. And I wish I had seen it in a theater, you know, I was like, you know, and again. I give like, this is points to Jordan Peele because he's telling these stories, but it's like, it's not like, super flashy Hollywood like you. I'm watching.

That's the thing. As the dork who was like, I want to make movies. And then I'm watching our guy be the animal trainer. And that set looks like the most horrible place to exist ever. Oh, yeah.

See, this is why I don't think I wanted to go down that road. Oh, not that it's an option. But the more I see like other versions and hear people tell me stories about it. I'm like, I like this version. I like talking about plot and fun geek activities.

But like once you get into the knee deep in the blood and guts that is the movie industry, I'm just like, oh, no, a lot of this is not fun at all. So that we get these little snippets of that. We get, you know, the Stephen Young storyline is phenomenal. And then we've got, you know, our animal trainers and they inherited this business. But it's got this history built into it. the first moving picture.

Like it goes back to like, they sort of made up the connection between them, but like, that's the real thing. That guy was a real guy. And like, like they said, like he's the first, you know, stunt man, animal trainer and screen ever, you know, that is fascinating. Like there's so much stuff about Hollywood, you know, old school you know hollywood lore that i love but then you see people that have to deal with it day in and day out and you're watching people applaud for donna mills for walking on set and i'm just like yeah there's some stuff that's just out. Of whack yeah yeah did you notice who was playing the director on in that.

Scene Oh, I don't know. Did I? You did. And you're correct. That was Oswald Crooked.

I saw him in the credits there. And I was trying to decide because I know him as a director. So I was like, why is he just show? But again, I guess Jordan likes his work too. Yeah.

Well, yeah, he makes movies that nerds like. Other creepy movies. Other creepy movies, right. But yeah, I always liked seeing him show up because I get those, you know, Anthony Perkins vibes, you know, off of him. Oh, yeah.

He's another one that has a crazy Hollywood story. Oh, yeah. Both of his parents. Seriously. Seriously.

Yeah, yeah. So, no, I was like, because you're just going like, you're trying to connect, you know, how the, you know, the horse... uh, Connects to the UFO, connects to the monkey story. And it just puts you in such a kind of a discombobulated. It is. And then as it all starts to come together, you're just like, oh, this is really impressive writing.

Yes, that's what you get. The writing was so good and the performances were so good. And and just like the weird state of mind that puts you in watching it. And I thought I enjoyed how this one wrapped up. So I would say probably all in all, I had probably an overall most satisfying experience with this of his three movies, which makes sense because usually if everybody hates something, I probably like it a little bit more than most people.

So, you know, what do we call it? And it does give you like a nice, you know, an alternate to like M night Shamalam, you know, you know, who, you know, another writer director who, you know, tells his own story. So, you know, you can appreciate that, but you know, they're, they're kind of similar, but I would say this last one was, was his, his Nope was Nope was great, man. It was, you know, I did, I did think it was kind of weird that, our creature not to get too spoilery again but massively changes by the end and like so much so I was like is this the same creature but then watching after the fact they do still keep referring to it as the same creature so I guess you just have to one up for the finale or something but that was like more from a scientific angle of like wait so how does what is you know I think it was doing so well in its basic form I think it would have been fine to not have to do a grand finale version but it's cool, but I was like, I don't think it even had to do that, but yeah, it's still cool.

Yeah. It's cool. It's cool. I guess they had to, yeah. As you said, I was trying to figure out if there was like.

A mothership version. Yeah. That's more of what I was thinking at first. And, or, and, but the movie makes you, you know, you, you're trying to put all these pieces together and see how they connect thematically and that when that happens, I was going like, is this thematic or is, or, or is this like, or is this as cool, you know, but it, it, it kind of, I like that the movie makes you engage in it in that way. You know, I think, I think that's part of the writing.

Like he really does give you all these different pieces and like sort of let's use play with some of them while he's still piecing together the story he wants to tell. So absolutely. Absolutely. And, and you could really get the, these people had like real human motivations to, on what they were doing and they were. And problems like, you know, they're problems.

They aren't, again, it's not a fancy Hollywood story. He's about to lose his business and his farm. She's busy kind of pimping herself for her other stuff because she could care less about the family business. Like it's way more human than a lot of these kinds of stories are sometimes. And his performance was, so good as like have such an understated, barely speaks, you know, just, but he felt like a total real person.

Everybody felt like real people. I mean, young, young goes a little, you know, you know, but he's great in it, you know, but yeah, yeah, absolutely. But our lead character is, You know, it just had that kind of like so relatable kind of guy. And again, he is someone who's inherited this. So like his dad is charisma.

His dad is, you know, the one that pieced this together and made them a successful business. And he's good at, you know, working with horses where he doesn't have to talk to people. But now he's left to, which again, an amazing opening scene. Now he's left to like, have to deal with the other end of it. So then he's kind of leaning on his sister, but from day one, she wasn't reliable.

So, He's just left. It's like, this isn't the type of person I am so much. So I was like, dude, you need to just like hire someone. Yeah. You're still can have the business, but this is not you.

You can't write the front man. Cause it is not who you are. Like, right. Sometimes you gotta admit to yourself the things you are and the thing. That's right.

That's right. And he had the pressure of trying to keep it together. His dad built it, you know, and like trying to maintain it and, you know, all that stuff was just, you know really put you in the shoes of the guy and um and i like it when you know they you know the the actual him being a horse trainer he had the tools and the intelligence of how to handle this problem yeah you know. It's they really do see like okay well what are we dealing with here and oh this is this is how i would deal with it in my world so this is what we need to do like. Right, right.

And not to talk bad about the Marvel movies, but usually, you know, there's so many movies and just sort of like action movies or movies in general where. you solve the problem by throwing them off a building at the end of the movie, you know, going back. To a recent episode. I did. That was my, you know, my takeaway from black Panther. Oh, okay.

There, I mean, there is a realistic way that I would want to end this, but as heroes representing what needs to be going on in the world and isn't like, you also have to go a different way. Like you can't, if we're doing this as a heroic story, you can't do it that way. Like you can't just kill the bad guy because that's what he deserves. Now, I would want to kill the bad guy because that's what he deserves. But again, I am not a Marvel hero, I suppose.

So yeah, I, I, you, yeah, it's a different way of looking at things once you get to those bigger, you know, aspects of it all. Yeah. Yeah. I gotta, I gotta see that. It made like a gazillion dollars and everything where nobody's going to the movies.

Again, I've got, I've got some issues with it, but there's great stuff in the works. So, yeah, it's still worth seeing. But this one, I mean, this one, if nothing else, is worth being out there because we get to hear Michael Wincott sing Purple People Eater. The michael wincott voice oh my god. Purple people eater that i mean what else do you need man and just his whole character i mean all the characters the fries guy the michael wincott playing a uh you know it trapped in his mind cinematographer.

A like fancy art house cinematographer that also is forced to do commercials to survive. Right right Oh man. He was so, that was, I was like, man, it'd been a while since I'd seen him in a movie. Yeah. You know, and then he's, oh.

Man, he's so good. I don't fully understand his later maneuvers, but in general, he's got a great character that once again, doesn't say much, but when he does, it definitely brings it home. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

You just say those off ball pretentious already things and nobody understood what he was talking about. It's going like, oh, it's so good. And I guess it was just like, I liked how they lured him in like this great. It's like, I have like the impossible shot, you know, I have this shot, you know, he's like, you know, that mess with his ego. Like, ah, there is no shot that can't be, you know, and then you have the hand crank.

That's what I was just saying. Yeah. And they brought in again, school Hollywood, not just a real world camera, but a hand crank, non-electrical camera. I was like, that's amazing. Hollywood lore right there.

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So, yeah, I'm glad I didn't listen to the drunk lady that was sitting next to me. You know, it's like, oh, a drunk lady at this movie tavern didn't like it.

I'm not going to like it either. I don't trust other people's thoughts. You just kind of have to. Movies and music, man, you just got to... It's very personal.

It's like politics and religion. You just like... It's like I could... I could sing the praises of Serpent Bird to somebody night and day, and they'll never like Serpent Bird like I like Serpent Bird. So the only way to bring it to them is for them to watch Pink Flamingos and experience it the way everyone should be. exactly i saw that scene on the big screen for the first oh yeah oh like that's the way i they were they were showing it in the theater as like an anniversary edition or whatever yeah i had not seen it before that and i got there and it's an amazing movie but that scene is maybe the most disturbing thing in that movie that's saying a lot that there's any scene that is more disturbing than the rest but yeah surfing bird is yeah it's great things going on that don't need to be going.

On that well yeah pink flamingos i think i just had like a 50th or something i mean it's like or it's crazy yeah yeah well i guess 72 let's say it came out in 72 what would that be that would be would. That be 50 we don't do math here okay anyway yeah all right all right sorry yeah which is crazy and like you know john waters has become such a statesman and such a great voice i think i've I just read one of his books or something. But yeah, he's like the grandmaster of crappy movies, you know, back when that meant something. Well, I mean, yeah, he was doing that kind of weird shit when nobody would do that. You know, it's like the stuff that he did was so... not just ahead of its time cinematically, but also just like weird in a way that other people weren't capturing at the time.

And like, now you'll, you know, cell phone video of some idiot doing something stupid, but like back then you had, to put a lot of work into capturing even an image of weird people like he knew let alone piecing it together into a loose story of some sort yeah yeah. Well that's the cool thing about john waters is it's almost like mythical this mythical tale of a bunch of weirdos in baltimore making this stuff at a time where people weren't doing that. And it still is just as amazing to watch it now like going back and watching some of those early ones that i wasn't like what was the maniacs when i like i hadn't even seen that before we did that episode and i was just like this just the footage of like the fact that you're on a street in Baltimore and you've got this car that you borrowed from a friend and divine pretending to be a giant monster coming down the street.

And I'm like, you've captured this time and place. And like, sometimes that's what I love about cinema. And again, the history of it is like, not just the story that you're telling, but also you've captured this person at this time, this place at this time. And like, it's a time capsule of so many different aspects. And also just like looking back at like things that you're like, oh, you couldn't do this now and you couldn't do this.

Right. Especially in the stuff John Waters was doing. So I'm just like, yeah, I mean, they're just such an amazing time capsule of everything involved. Yeah. He's a perfect example of that kind of stuff.

Absolutely. And you get a feeling like when you watch something like that, because, you know, there isn't 17 executive producers listed on it. You know, you might have it's John Waters point of view as influenced by that group of people he was around at the time, you know. And so that it's got like a special chemistry in those movies that you actually feel like you're you're hearing from a point of view and not, you know, something that's been, you know. overproduced you know basically not not too many chefs in the. Kitchen minimally produced yeah because that one was multiple maniacs the one i was talking about oh yeah oh okay yeah i remember talking to him and i was like well that shot of the guy out in front of the church shooting up he was like yeah i just shot that like i don't i didn't know that guy he was standing out in front of a church shooting up and i got my camera out and shot it and like right it's just stuff that was going on around his weird little world.

And like, there's so many of those things that were like, Oh no, we were on so many drugs when we shot that. Like, yeah, yeah, yeah. It's just weird things that came together. So it's more amazing that he pieced them together into kind of a story. Sometimes you're right.

And you go like, what is the route to become a Hollywood director? You know, you got to go to Southern California, you know, the USC film school and become like Robert Zemeckis and everything. And you've got to like, to get into that school. If you're, if your parents don't work for full house, you know, you've got to like, you got to like, you know, have like all the best grades. And so you got to be like the overachiever.

And what's great about John Waters, these guys were like, you know, quote, you know, quote unquote losers. Yeah. Degenerates, I'm sure even he would argue. Degenerate loser weirdos, you know, and their movies last while, you know, other things don't. Well, I guess they last for degenerate weirdo losers.

Well, and then to to get to that height, to put out what has become his cash cow of all time, his like PG rated movie that then brought him money enough that he didn't have to work. Right. But to be like a huge name in the industry as he was and then just walk away from it. He's just like, you know, it's too much trouble to make a movie. Yeah.

As it became a big studio thing, he's like, I can write a book. And it's all my point of view and it's just as easy to do. In fact, a million times easier. And then I just go on a tour and I talk about it for a year and I make just as much, if not probably a lot more than I did for a little directing job that some studio would want to pay me. So absolutely.

That's what I think is interesting is that like as huge a name as he is in film, He hasn't done one in so many years because it's too much trouble. He just didn't care. It's like him and Carpenter, man. Pretty much. They're just like, eh, these are a lot of work.

They are. Just going to sit in my house and play with my keyboard. Yeah, pretty much that. Now I've switched to Carpenter. Right, right.

Absolutely. At this point, we're going on and we've still got plenty more to talk about. So I say we wrap up this one. We'll pause and then come back for the next episode as we continue on this crazy journey of ours. Sounds good.

So until next time, otherwise that about does it. We will turn next time. Same geek feed. Thanks for listening. Awesome.

A way to everybody's head about the bird. Thank you. . . . . . . When everybody's here, I'm about to burn. Burn, burn, burn. Burn is the word, the word, burn, burn, burn.

Burn is the word, the word, burn, burn, burn. Bye. Bye. Oh, shit. What was I going to say?

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! This program is a proud member of the Battleship Pretension Fleet.

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