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254 - The Predator (2018)
44 Plays1 day ago
“It's like an alien Whoopi Goldberg.”
With Predator: Badlands hitting theaters this weekend, we're talking about this (FUN!) Shane Black-directed franchise installment without a direct follow-up, as well as hot dog-based sketch comedy, our status as a Rosa Salazar stan podcast, and on-mic planning an Eli Roth theme month!
We ain't got time to bleed! Hell, we barely have time update the following social media accounts:
- @Disenfranchpod on Bluesky, Letterboxd, and YouTube.
- Email us your thoughts or requests to disenfranchpod@gmail.com
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- Find Stephen at @ChewyWalrus on Bluesky and Letterboxd.
- Check out Stephen’s other podcast with friend of the show Hope Stough - Welles University - on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever podcasts are sold!
- Find Tucker at @icenine09 on YouTube and Instagram and @tuck_mugs on Instagram.
- Join our Patreon for exclusive bonus content, including bi-weekly episodes of What Are We Watching? at https://patreon.com/Disenfranchpod
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Transcript
Introduction and Hosts
00:00:10
Speaker
I'll say good for you.
00:00:22
Speaker
Damn it, foiled again. Hey, everybody, it's the Disenfranchise Podcast, and if it bleeds, we can kill it. Or podcast it. I don't know, fuck. What what are we doing? Anyway, this is the podcast all about those franchises. One, those films that fancy themselves full-fledged franchises before falling flat on their face after the first film. I'm your host, Stephen Foxworthy.
00:00:43
Speaker
And joining me is always that beautiful motherfucker who said to me before recording, and I quote, Stephen, if you don't stop it with that Bible shit, I will light you on fire. It's Tucker.
Tucker's Day and Movie Uplift
00:00:52
Speaker
Hey, Tucker. Hi, Steven.
00:00:54
Speaker
How we doing, buddy? I'm doing okay. It's another one of those days where like I had a really bad day, but like I feel real good because it's like after you almost die and then you're in a really good mood because you're alive.
00:01:06
Speaker
That's how I feel right now. I'm super psyched and happy to be here because the rest of my day has kind of been shit. yeah I was going to say, I also had a really shitty day. um Any day where I'm working is kind of really shitty.
00:01:18
Speaker
um So i'm I'm just happy to be ah talking with a good friend about a fun movie that I don't hate. Dude, yeah. Yeah. Spoilers, we do not hate this movie.
00:01:31
Speaker
Spoilers, we don't hate this movie. so if If you if you like tuned in to listen to us crap on this movie, ah sorry, it's not going to happen.
Discussing 'The Predator' (2018)
00:01:40
Speaker
No, we're going to have a good time today talking about ah twenty eighteens The Predator.
00:01:49
Speaker
the ah big in In honor of Predator Badlands opening in theaters very soon. um But yeah, we're talking about The Predator directed by Shane Black, written by Shane Black with Fred Decker. Handle that guy. Yeah, we've we've we've covered one of his movies and we'll cover a couple more in various... When are we going to do Monster Squad, Steven?
00:02:12
Speaker
um It's on the list, and I've got two guests lined up for that episode. Damn, two? Two. That's how many people want to talk to us about Monster Squad. i mean, a classic.
00:02:23
Speaker
It is. ah The Predators stars Boyd Holbrook, Trevante Rhodes, Olivia Munn. Hey, hey, put some respect on him. Sorry. Jacob Tremblay, Keegan-Michael Key, Sterling K. Brown, the great a Sterling t Brown. Fucking love that guy. Awesome.
00:02:41
Speaker
ah chewing gum in this movie, Sterling K. Brown. Stop it. I want to look at you, but I can't because you won't stop chewing gum. I have thoughts. um Thomas Jane, Alfie Allen, Augusto Aguilera, Jake Busey, Von Strahovski. There we go. We we got there. I have no idea.
00:03:05
Speaker
that That is Lachlan Monroe and in a blink and you miss it cameo. ah Francois Yeap. ah What a cast.
00:03:17
Speaker
Dare I say it, Tucker? What a picture. Yeah, dude. And hey, I read that there was this one gal that had a very small role. that was also a character in one of the AVP movies, but I didn't pay attention that well.
00:03:30
Speaker
Oh, right. She played Mrs. Yutani in the bad alien versus predator movie. We were actually just talking before we recorded how I don't think the only bad, we just burned so much content.
00:03:43
Speaker
I think the only bad predator movie, and i will I will go on record. The only bad predator movie is alien versus predator. Requiem. AVP Requiem is bad. Yeah. It's real, real bad. All the rest of them are okay at worst.
00:03:58
Speaker
I have to say who on a lot of these people, um especially the main characters. Like I've never, have I ever seen this Boyd Holbrook person in anything? ah Let's, let's run down the list. Did you watch Logan?
00:04:11
Speaker
Did you watch Logan? Yeah, but I don't memby him from I only saw it once like when it came out too. So he's he plays one of the bad guys in Logan. saw Dial of Destiny. I don't remember him in that.
00:04:23
Speaker
He's got a very generic face. I don't mean that as ah as ah a a diss because it's a very handsome generic face. Right. It is a very generic face. he He plays, ah he's in Narcos, a show I've not seen. He's in ah the Netflix Sandman show, which I also have not seen. He apparently plays the Corinthian, one of the most baddest of ass characters that was ever created for that series.
00:04:47
Speaker
Is that first or second Corinthians there? ah No, the Corinthian. He is a, he's a, he's a. Just teasing, Steven.
00:04:59
Speaker
He's a serial killer monster with with teeth for for eyeballs, and he eats he like pulls eyes out of young boys and eats them with his eye holes. No.
00:05:10
Speaker
Nope. I do not accept that. Next. I do not accept that. Here's the thing. I have not seen a lot of his movies either, but I mean, he's just kind of one of those guys who's in a lot of stuff. But yes, you're absolutely right. Like he just has kind of one of those like ah Charlie Hunnam, like that kind of generic blonde white guy face that was everyone who had that face. Hollywood was like, let's try to make you a thing for about 10 years for a solid decade. Hollywood was like, let's try to make you a thing.
00:05:40
Speaker
And it didnt ah didn't work for any of them in fact it did not work at all i thought he was fine at this though like he um like like a lot of the cast he very much fit the characters they were cast as um right surprisingly in thomas jane's case because like i like it was only about 10 minutes after that character debuted in the movie where i was like wait a minute that's not is that And then looked it up and I was like, is that Thomas?
00:06:11
Speaker
No. It's just so weird because he he never, especially in these kind of movies, he never plays like anyone that's that's vulnerable or silly.
00:06:22
Speaker
And this movie, he's both of those things. And yeah that's what threw me off. I was like, what, Thomas? you move over it's It's definitely him playing against type, but I think it is absolutely like...
00:06:33
Speaker
a really fun performance. And I'm not, you Tom Jane is usually not one whose performances I consider fun outside of maybe this and arrested developments.
00:06:45
Speaker
Well, yeah, I can't back. I just want get my kids in that. He's so good in that. He's only like in an episode or two, but he's so fucking good in it. um But Trevante Rhodes, the other one that you rudely said, who to is that? I don't know who that Moonlight, man. Did you not see the Academy award-winning film? Moonlight.
00:07:04
Speaker
No, I didn't. Oh, okay. First of all, fix yourself and go see that movie because it is fucking amazing. But he plays the the grown-up version of the main character. It's like at three phases of his life and he plays the oldest one.
00:07:16
Speaker
And he is really, really good in it. Like he's so fucking solid in that film. um And I think he plays opposite. If I'm not mistaken, he plays opposite. Yeah. um Yes, Andre Holland plays ah what his his his like childhood friend.
00:07:33
Speaker
And the two of them hasn't been in much. yeah He hasn't, which is a shame. And honestly, i would have hoped that this and Moonlight would have opened some more doors for him. But he kind of, I mean, he was in ah the Bird Box, the Netflix movie Bird Box with Sandra Bullock. And i was I watched that, but I don't like again, I watched it when it came out, which was like five years ago.
00:07:55
Speaker
Correct. And I'd be hard pressed to tell you anything about it. Like that, that, that movie and this movie came out the same year. And ah other than the fact that whatever the thing is, if you look at it, you go crazy. It's like M night Shyamalan's happening.
00:08:08
Speaker
um But somehow a little bit better. Cause I'm not sure what's happening. No, no, so wow no so My partner and I right now are going through m Night Shyamalan's movies on random.
M. Night Shyamalan and 'The Happening'
00:08:22
Speaker
And we're just i'm just I'm just anxiously anticipating when we get to The Happening. Hey there, The Happening. How's it going? Say hi to your mother for me.
00:08:35
Speaker
Oh, God. Yeah, that movie is so poorly cast from top to bottom. No one is cast well in that film. Nope. It's just bad all around. Unlike this yeah this film where everyone is kind of cast pretty well.
00:08:47
Speaker
Perfectly. Yeah. I think everybody understands the assignment to some too well. I would say Sterling K. Brown maybe turns it up ah a little too much a few times, but I still love it. Like it's fun to see him chew the scenery, like whether it's necessary or not.
00:09:03
Speaker
He is, he everything I see him in, he's amazing. and Like, I have never seen Sterling K. Brown give a bad performance in anything, ever. Even when he's doing, like, a one-episode guest spot on Brooklyn Nine-Nine.
00:09:15
Speaker
He's fucking killing it. He's so good. He, his, okay. So, I like Sterling K. Brown in this movie, but that also makes me think about, um, one of the things I really liked in this movie is I like in movies and in other kinds of fiction,
00:09:33
Speaker
where the the good guy and the bad guy team up, and it's like they can fully put their differences aside to team up. Like, they don't even fight while they're teaming up.
00:09:46
Speaker
right They just understand that there's a bigger threat and they'll get to their shit. And I love that dynamic when it came up. Like when he looks at him and they're just kind of like, look, this is not over.
00:09:57
Speaker
And he says, when this is, when this is over, we're going to dance. That's right. That's what it says. i already got my shoes picked out. Yeah. Yeah. So good. Like, again, I, line the two of them play that so well, but again, I love, i you, you brought up the gum chewing earlier and I have to come back to it. So there is the seminal book for actors is, is a book by Michael Shurtleff and it's called audition.
00:10:22
Speaker
And there is a single chapter that consists of a single sentence. And the sentence is, or no, I'm sorry, two sentences. Gum chewing gum is not a character.
00:10:35
Speaker
Avoid it at all costs. Something to that effect. It's very, very simple. And that's the whole fucking chapter. And as soon as the nicotine gum came out, I was like, oh, Michael Shurtleff would have some words for you, Sterling.
00:10:48
Speaker
Yeah. no I guarantee you that's a thing that Shane Black put in the script as kind of a humanizing thing. Because again, the first two thirds of this movie are pure Shane Black. And it shows because those are the parts and the that that's the part of the movie that is singing.
00:11:03
Speaker
It's not until we get into the third act that it kind of just falls apart a little bit. But I also enjoyed the third act. My favorite thing in the entire movie happens in the third act.
00:11:14
Speaker
I actually stood up and gasped and then cheered. And it was when when the the so super tall predator guy he harpoons the guy.
00:11:26
Speaker
And then that Jeep comes along and the cable from the harpoon cabinets like six dudes. I stood up and gasped. Then I was like, that was awesome.
00:11:38
Speaker
That was so awesome. It's pretty badass for sure. So cool. Yeah, it's it's one of the it's one of those great things. um but Again, like, and this is a franchise that invites really cool kills. And this movie has got a few pretty, so even like the opening, like accidental death of the original Predator.
00:12:01
Speaker
Is still kind of cool because it saws that guy hanging upside down in half and all the blood starts like eat all the blood and viscera starts leaking out onto the cloaked dead predator. And you're like, I mean, that's pretty fucking cool.
00:12:14
Speaker
I do. I do appreciate the fact that um I do like how they reveal the twist, how the the big predator comes down and just rips the other predators head off.
00:12:25
Speaker
But I do wish that we had had a chance to have like a human predator team up proper before that happened. That is what the third act of this movie was supposed to be.
00:12:37
Speaker
It was supposed to be humans teaming up with the good predators to take on the super predator and the other hybrids. That was the original third act based on like... behind the scenes footage and like the original script that got leaked.
00:12:52
Speaker
Like that was the original plan for this movie. And the studio said, Nope, which is the, the classic Shane black story, which I've talked about on this podcast. I talked about it on pod and the pendulum.
00:13:05
Speaker
Uh, when I, when I covered, um, predators over there earlier this month or earlier this year, um, where you've got the, um, Shane black will make a really good, like original film.
00:13:18
Speaker
And then someone will go, Oh, that was amazing. Shane black. Do you want to come direct our big franchise film? And then he'll come and direct the big slap his wrist and go, no, not like that. Shane black bad. Not like that. Fine. Fine. I'll do my own original thing again. And so he'll make another original movie that is really fucking good.
00:13:33
Speaker
And then they'll do it again. Slap his hand. No, Shane black. Not like that. Yeah. It's too bad. ah I'm sorry. It's too bad that um he wasn't able to release the other version because he petitioned the studio to release both cuts on the home video release or on the streaming release.
00:13:55
Speaker
But it would ah they said it would have taken too much money to complete the effects. And it said when I was originally saying, sorry, I lost my brain there for a second, was that it's a shame that nobody likes this movie at all.
00:14:07
Speaker
Like you and i we are part of a very exclusive club of people who think this movie has some problems, but overall a damn good
Studio Interference in 'The Predator'
00:14:14
Speaker
time. Most people just flat out hate everything about this movie. If everybody else were like us, where we're like, oh, the third act's a little shaky, like then we might get the light cut.
00:14:24
Speaker
You know? Yeah. Which I would, I would love. I would love the Shane Black cut. Hashtag release the Shane Black cut. Hopefully there will be a reassessment in some years. And hey, now everything is,
00:14:36
Speaker
ah digitally backed up and everything it wouldn't be too hard i can't imagine to make that happen in 10 or 20 years i mean and shane black had a new movie come out this year i've not seen it yet called play dirty with mark walberg and the great lakeith stanfield what i mean what no what i'm sorry lakeith screams get out and mark walberg goes what no so hey shane black how's it going
00:15:05
Speaker
You directed Play Dirty? how was in Max Payne. Say hi to your mother for me.
00:15:12
Speaker
Yes, indeed. ah Yeah, this Play Dirty has pretty low low audience scores, but I'm willing to give it a chance. I was going to say, I will give a Shane Black movie a chance. Absolutely. I've never i've never hated ah Shane Black movie. And whoa, Rosa Salazar's in it. I like her.
00:15:31
Speaker
she i love her. Yo, did you see that Amazon Prime show she was in where it was rotoscoped? It was animated like like Waking Life or Scanner Darkly where like it was filmed, but then like they animated over it.
00:15:45
Speaker
did not show, no. What fuck was that show called? Man, it was so good. You recommended it to me. i just don't remember what it was i know, but i I keep forgetting about it and I need to rewatch it because like it blew my fucking mind.
00:15:58
Speaker
And it was called Undone. Okay. Damn. That's a wild fucking show. It takes you on a trip, dude. Like, but it all makes sense. It's one of those shows that doesn't make sense until it does.
00:16:14
Speaker
And you enjoy it when it doesn't and you enjoy it when it does. ah go no like I need to watch it again soon. about it I think she's in another one of those kind of wild shows. um This is kind of one of those like people like, oh, what the fuck is this? ah That she was in that um brand new cherry flavor. Yeah. On Netflix that everyone was like, what the fuck is this show?
00:16:39
Speaker
I saw her on the poster, which is cool. Wasn't she in one of the ah not all
Rosa Salazar's Roles
00:16:44
Speaker
babysitter movies? Was she in one of the babysitter movies? i think it was somebody else. i That I can't tell you. I do know that she in... Have you seen those?
00:16:53
Speaker
I saw the first one. The second one, you gotta. The McG movies? You gotta to see the second one because it's one of those that like completely flips the script, but it actually works.
00:17:06
Speaker
Okay. It actually works. And she's been they're both fantastic. She's an early episode of this podcast. I'll lead a battle angel. I'm not mistaken. Oh, yeah. She got the big old eyeballs in that. And then. um Yeah, she was in a movie iowa bird box so called Maze Runner. The score trial. She's also in Bird Box.
00:17:30
Speaker
Oh, you love the Maze Runners. I don't. I just saw the the one. or I'm sorry, not the Scorshaw. She's in The Death Cure. That's the one I saw. Yo, ah I will share this moment with you because I, too, have seen her in a YA movie that I was forced to watch by my then partner.
00:17:45
Speaker
the might The Divergent series Insurgent. Yes. You love that movie. So I too I too, I didn't mind the first one really. I thought it was a pretty cool premise within like the second one.
00:17:58
Speaker
The second one kind of fucked it all up. And then like, I was barely hanging on by the third one. Which I mean, they, they were, that was supposed to be at like a, the two parter or something. And they're just like, you know what? We're, we're done. We're done here. Yeah. we're like all stage just Walk away.
00:18:13
Speaker
We'll just continue it as a TV series, which I don't know has been done before, but it's kind of a really good idea, especially for something like that. Yeah, except no one wanted to come back for it and they ended up scrapping it. So I probably would have watched it just to see what happened. I was invested in the characters.
00:18:27
Speaker
Yeah, I wasn't. um But you know what Rosa Salazar is not in? twenty eighteens The Predator. No, but I mentioned that she was in Bird Box, which also had Boyd Holbrook. So.
00:18:43
Speaker
No, Trevante Rhodes. Same thing. No, not at all. Two i very different actors in point of fact. Steven, it's okay if we skip like our histories with this movie and the franchise, but I would like to mention um my history with Olivia Munn.
00:19:03
Speaker
I'm always weird with Olivia Munn being in movies because my main... My main... and Not interaction, but the thing that I most know Olivia Munn from is the Attack of the Show. Do you remember Attack of the Show on G4?
00:19:17
Speaker
i I remember hearing of it because that was how I first heard the name Olivia Munn as well. um But I never watched the show. I just knew that a lot of people were really horned up for Olivia Munn on that show.
00:19:30
Speaker
Well, I wasn't necessarily horned up. She's not really my type. But... um She's really funny. She was really, really funny in that show. And her and her co-host, whose name escapes me, um Kevin Pereira, there it is, ah had great chemistry. And they just they made a show that would have been above average entertainment-wise, like a show that I tuned into pretty much every day. And this was like right on the verge of streaming. So G4 was still something you had to have cable for.
00:20:06
Speaker
And you had to like be there to watch it unless you DVR'd it, which sometimes I would. ah But yeah, so I know her mainly from that. um And whenever I see her in movies, I have to like, it takes me about 10 minutes to get past like, hey, that's Olivia Munn. That's someone like, I don't know that person personally, but I've seen them a lot being themselves.
00:20:31
Speaker
Right. It's kind of like, I'm probably, this is probably not making sense to anybody, but it's kind of like, When how Kevin Smith movies changed for me, like before the podcasts, I liked them more.
00:20:43
Speaker
But now I know him too well. I know him too well because of all the podcasts. I know every little thing about his life. So everything that's in a movie, that's like something he's right about writing about of his own experience.
00:20:55
Speaker
I'm like, oh, yeah, that's from that thing that happened to him.
Olivia Munn's Transition and Appeal
00:20:58
Speaker
Oh, yeah. Remember, i remember that thing that happened and I heard about it on the podcast. That's what he's referencing there. And it's just not as fun. It's just not as fun when you know people too intimately.
00:21:10
Speaker
And that's how I feel about Olivia Munn. It takes it takes about 10 minutes for me to be like, OK, it's not Olivia Munn. It's this scientist broad or gal, ah chick, bird, bimbo woman. Sorry, Jesus.
00:21:24
Speaker
Scientist woman.
00:21:28
Speaker
I don't know what that was. Excuse me. She's a scientist woman in the vein of like Christmas Jones from the James Bond film. Like just ridiculously attractive woman who knows it's like science, but can also carry a gun.
00:21:42
Speaker
um Like, you know, just give you that. Multi-purpose woman character. Yeah. Olivia Munn is very attractive, but for some reason I've always. It's kind of like a Julie Andrews. Like, she's extremely attractive, but I've never had any sexual feelings towards her.
00:22:02
Speaker
Some women, I don't know. Like, they're beautiful, but I'm just like, oh, good you could be my sister, maybe. You know? i don't know. It's weird.
00:22:14
Speaker
It's weird not to sexualize a woman, Stephen. That's what I'm saying. Is it? Is it weird, Tucker? Yeah. Maybe. don't know. I'm sorry you feel that way. um What?
00:22:28
Speaker
I tease, of course. Well, not tease so much. I exaggerate is what i'll say I was saying. Certainly, certainly, certainly. you certainly Sure, sure. um But no, and I think she's fine in this movie. She gets it.
00:22:42
Speaker
Yeah, she's never been one of my favorite actresses or anything, but like she's she's doing she's doing good work in here. is is is okay it's good it's fine i think so it's i think it whatever it is good or bad it fits the tone of the film so exactly yep it works for the character so yep shes she's she's locked in there um you know when she's getting all excited about the the alien technology and stuff uh shout out jake bucey playing his father's son in this movie beautiful
00:23:13
Speaker
I love how they don't make a big deal out of it. That's what I like. That's the kind of fan service I like. The fan service that you have to notice, not that like jumps out at you and smacks you in the fucking face.
00:23:23
Speaker
Correct. Yes. you know You've got to work for it. like If you know that Gary Busey played a character in Predator 2 named Keys, and that you see his son Jake Busey in a Predator movie also going by the name of Keys, and you can put two and two together and figure out it's four...
00:23:41
Speaker
There you go. That's what i I put one in one together and came up with two because when I watched it, I was like, oh, Jake Busey wasn't his dad in the second one. That's cool.
00:23:52
Speaker
yeah And then I looked up the trivia later and I was like, oh, that that makes sense. I get it. yeah I fucking get it. That's cool. it's it And again, it's... Because the first three Predator movies all kind of go out of their way to go... oh or the first I guess the the first two sequels, I should say, kind of go out of their way to... you know Oh, there was an expedition in South America where blah, blah, blah happened and there were two survivors. And like both of those movies, both Predators and Predator 2, kind of go out of their way to mention that.
00:24:20
Speaker
And this one... is like the first one that doesn't bring that up at all. I mean, it's brought up in passing because they do mention that it was here in 89 or I'm saying 87 and 97.
00:24:35
Speaker
But they don't they don't go into details about it. They're not like, and then Arnold was like, get to the chopper.
Fan Service in 'The Predator'
00:24:42
Speaker
And they they still find a way to do the callbacks in an interesting way, like when Olivia Munn sees the Predator on the table, instead of You're One Ugly Motherfucker, which had up to this point been in every Predator movie, it's You Are One Beautiful Motherfucker, which is ahh chef's kiss. I love it.
00:24:57
Speaker
Also, the Get to the Choppers. I was just going to say, Get to the Choppers, yes. that's That's borderline, but I did enjoy That was almost, almost too much, but it just barely...
00:25:09
Speaker
barely eked over the line of all except that that's entertaining. Right. Right. And again, it's knowing when to, and again, fan service is a tool when properly employed, it can be effective when improperly ah employed, it is interminable. That's one of the things i hate about modern filmmaking is how in just how heavy handed people tend to be with the fan service.
00:25:37
Speaker
That's what I like about super obscure fan service stuff like a more recent example would be, um, Zach Crager. I've mentioned, uh, you know, the director of barbarian and weapons. I've mentioned that I was a fan of his, the sketch comedy group that he was a part of in the early two thousands. Why is kids, you know, um there are references to why is kids, you know, sketches in both films.
00:26:02
Speaker
That's what I've heard. And but being unfamiliar with them, I did not get them at all. That's what I'm saying. They're not, number one, they're not for everybody. They're for a very small group of people and they aren't obvious. The, the only, the only one that was obvious, like caught on the first time was the seven hot dogs and weapons.
00:26:22
Speaker
That's, I was like, that was a reference. Timmy eats for breakfast. It's a whole sketch where Timmy's at the doctor and he's talking about how many hot dogs he eats, but it's, uh,
00:26:34
Speaker
It's all ah um a um metaphor for alcoholism. It's hilarious. Okay. there's ah There's a Tim Robinson sketch in um I Think You Should Leave that's also ah focused around how many hot dogs a man can consume.
00:26:48
Speaker
Yes. I saw that. where I saw that, I was like, oh, it this is not the same, but this could be a great double feature hop from sketch show to sketch show double feature sketch. Yeah.
00:26:59
Speaker
Yeah. Hot dog bowl. A bunch of hot dogs in a big, big, big old bread bowl. They're they're ah similar but they're similar, but you can tell that they come from very different places.
00:27:13
Speaker
Exactly. i mean, the the the the styles of comedy just are in and of themselves very different. So like that, by virtue of the fact that and that's different, the sketches themselves will be.
00:27:25
Speaker
And it's strange that I bring up Why Does Kids You Know? Because um the humor in this film... Though it did feel very Shane Blackian. It's very Shane Black,
00:27:38
Speaker
The satirization of political correctness is something that Whitest Kids You Know does very, very well as well.
00:27:50
Speaker
And that was something my my favorite joke in this movie
00:27:58
Speaker
is when When the the one dude calls somebody an R-word, and dude's like, can we can we use a different word? Homeboy's son is an R-word.
00:28:13
Speaker
almost fucking lost my shit. i was like, no. no Fantastic. And that's that's the same kind of shit. Like if you watch Whitest Kids, you know, that's those the lines they cross and then step right back over.
00:28:25
Speaker
okay It's beautiful. Which i need to I need to engage with some of the Whitest Kids, you know, because I don't know enough about their oeuvre to speak intelligently on it.
00:28:35
Speaker
um there There are some some things in that like things like that that work. really, I think, really well. Other things like the autism as superpower that I don't think works as well.
00:28:47
Speaker
i You know, I think it depends on how you look at it. I think with the the way the rest of this a script is written and the way the rest of ah kind of the satire presents itself, I was annoyed with it at first, but then I was kind of like, okay, I think maybe maybe that's the point. Like, maybe they're satirizing like the sort of Rain Man...
00:29:11
Speaker
kind of thing uh i don't know if that's the intention but after about 20 minutes it doesn't get to that point for me though like there's no real i think at the end it's proof the kid's like super he's like basically cured because he's like so cool now like he's still got his autism superpower but he's not awkward and touching his ear and nose all the time you know he's got his feet up on the desk homeboy's chilling Yeah.
00:29:40
Speaker
i Come on. It's a farce. It's silly. They're being silly. ah Okay. i yeah It didn't work for me. I'm glad it worked for you, I guess. i not no for me.
00:29:51
Speaker
Like I said, I was really, at first, probably about the first 10 minutes that character's on the screen, I was like, fuck, are we really doing this? like I was having a good time. Yeah, i'm I'm kind of right there for most of it, honestly, even even through the trick-or-treating scene.
00:30:06
Speaker
Although I do love when the kid throws something at the back of his head and the mask just like flips out and like flips back and just blows that kid to kingdom come. I laugh so hard when that kid just explodes.
00:30:21
Speaker
I really do think it's the perfect setup because, um and it's okay if you don't agree with me, but um when they first introduced this kid, like all you're seeing is how awkward he is and how like in the first five minutes he's on screen, he probably covers his ears and and swipes his nose 12 times.
00:30:40
Speaker
Yes. So you're focused on the ticks. You're focused on all that shit. And then by the time press pieces and puts them back exactly where they were after looking at the board, for like eyes is rolling, eyes rolling.
00:30:54
Speaker
But then i think for me, it was when he got the alien computer and just could instantly fuck with it. i was like, okay, all right. All right, now now I get it.
00:31:06
Speaker
i get We're being silly here. Okay, on board. And see, that there's no payoff to that, really. Well, the third act. There's a lot payoffs that don't actually happen.
00:31:17
Speaker
yeah And that's the problem, is because you can tell there was a different third act. Like, Traeger's quick death? Like, why did... like No, why I want to see them dance.
00:31:28
Speaker
Blink and you miss... Exactly. Exactly. like Yeah, i didn't even know he was dead for a while. like I saw a head explode and I was like, wait, who was that? Oh, well, I haven't seen Traeger for 10 minutes, so I guess that was him. I guess that's Sterling K. Brown, yeah.
00:31:41
Speaker
He had the helmet. like was that going to Was anything going to happen with that? No? Okay, He it on the ground, yeah, and just walked away from it. like I guess... The original plan apparently was for him to fly the, the, the ship, the ship that got left behind. Like he was supposed to figure out how to fly it and was going to like fly in and save everybody. Like that was, and that was totally redeem himself.
00:32:04
Speaker
Right. Like that was the big payoff for him. Like fucking with the alien technology and being able to figure it out. And now the only payoff we get is he's able to read the words predator killer at the end of the movie. And I'm like, fuck, like that's, that's what we did all that for. That's what we're here for.
00:32:20
Speaker
He can read Predator Killer. Ugh. Dumb. Stupid. And then, of course, the original, original ending. I mean, and this is kind of par for the course for for Predator movies.
00:32:32
Speaker
We write Arnold apart and Arnold doesn't want to do it for one reason or another. Or can't. Usually he wants to, but, like, he becomes governor. you know Well, for for the Predator 2, it was salary disputes. They didn't want to pay him what what he wanted him to get, which, fair.
00:32:50
Speaker
ah for yeah right For Alien vs. Predator, he was willing to do a cameo, but he was governor of California at the time and couldn't do it. is he um straight it bit Which is... Kind of the same thing for Predators as well. Like they wrote him into that movie. Like he was supposed to be teaming up with the Predators to like hunt down these people. Like that was his role.
00:33:12
Speaker
yeah As a rule, I think in Predator movies, you always write Dutch in, but always be prepared to write him out. And so at the end, apparently like that's the tradition at this point, like you've got McKenna, you got Rory, you got ah Charlie or what, ah Casey, and they're all hanging out and the helicopter lands and Dutch steps out and he's like, come with me. And Rory's like me too. And he's like, especially you.
00:33:35
Speaker
So, you know, setting up, you know, a larger s sequel and Arnold reads the script. He's like, I don't, I don't just want to do a cameo. Like I want to do something more than that And they're like, we don't really have anything more than that for you in this one. Sorry. Like if you do it, we'll be in the next one. But yeah. Yeah.
00:33:48
Speaker
i I had so... That ending part with the like the Predator killer and Homeboy was like, that's that's gonna be my new suit.
00:33:59
Speaker
I hope it's in a 42 long. Look, it was really dumb, but also, gosh, I'd watch that animated series. Here's the thing, they're doing animated Predator movies now, so you might still see it. I want an animated sequel to this, where Quinn McKenna...
00:34:15
Speaker
gets in the Predator Iron Man suit and like, I don't know, fights crime or something. I don't know. Tucker, him i'm into it have you seen the the animated Predator film Killer of Killers? Have you seen that movie yet? No, because I still haven't seen Prey. I'm almost, I've finally seen this, so I'm i'm getting there.
00:34:33
Speaker
Prey fucking rules. Prey's the second best movie in the franchise. um That's what I've heard. And Predator Killer of Killers is pretty okay. Word. Word.
00:34:43
Speaker
Pretty okay. it's It's like toward the bottom of my top 10 horror movies of the year. Honestly. But not bad. But I will, without one without giving too much away, I will say it sets up a way for pretty much any character in any previous Predator movie to come back.
00:35:04
Speaker
Neat. That's all I'll say. I like that. It is entirely possible we've not seen the last of any of these motherfuckers. As much as I don't like... Alien versus Predator Requiem, and it would mean that it would have to be canon too.
00:35:17
Speaker
I'm okay with the AVP movies not being canon in the Alien continuity, but being canon in the Predator continuity. I'm fine with that. Based on what I've seen of Predator Badlands, one of the main characters, I think the the L. Fanning character, is a fucking cyborg. like Noise. there They're doing the Weyland-Yutani cybernetic people.
00:35:42
Speaker
in this, in this new predator movie. So they are finding there was, and apparently there were alternate endings that were filmed, but never released where one of the stunt women in one of them, she plays Ellen Ripley and another one, she plays a grownup newt.
00:35:57
Speaker
Oh yeah. way of like Tying the alien franchise into this one as well. Like, this was supposed to and and in a lot of ways it's the only predator sequel that references more than one of the other movies um like it references the original it references predator 2 like you get the predator dogs from predators like you get all that shit in here like it it's following up everything so far there's stuff in the the trophy room not the trophy room but the The science lab where they have like the like the masks and the weapons and stuff.
00:36:31
Speaker
There's stuff in there from Alien vs. Predator. And from Predators. So both of those movies are only slightly, but they are acknowledged. So it's all fucking canon in the Predator continuity. And I'm way into that.
00:36:45
Speaker
Yeah. Way into it. Yeah. I mean, and that, I mean, again, and I don't, I think the PWS Anderson AVP is okay.
00:36:56
Speaker
It's not great. It's fine. It's probably the second best movie he's ever made, and it's a pretty low fucking bar. I was going to say not a high bar.
00:37:07
Speaker
um i During the pandemic, i I was talking to Brett, and I'm like, should I watch all of Paul W.S. Anderson's movies? And Brett's like, you know, just because you can do something doesn't mean you should. No, Steven, you're getting older. You need to realize that you don't want to be wasting your time on shit like that.
00:37:23
Speaker
hello That's fair. That's fair. um But yeah I mean, i i I did watch all the Predator and all the Alien films. um So I like both of those franchises. I had ah a roommate for a while after college.
00:37:41
Speaker
It was a big Predator fan. And at the time, there were only two Predator movies. So I was like, Really? Like, this is the franchise you're all in on? Predator? Really? Well, I mean, there's other media, too. predator Both Predator and Aliens were very popular in comic books. They even crossed over in comic books way before they did the films.
00:37:59
Speaker
was going to say, that's where the whole idea of Alien vs. Predator came from, was from the comics. and Before there was an Alien... Yes, before there was an Alien vs. Predator movie, there were...
00:38:11
Speaker
at least two Alien versus Predator video games. Right. which again like ah decade before the movie right and and again is just i feel like and dan traktenberg is kind of the de facto head creative head creative director of the predator franchise now and i mean pray fucking rips praise a great movie i would say second only to the original predator um some people would disagree with me on that and that's fine
00:38:42
Speaker
um and then ah killed it in high regard Right.
Animated 'Predator: Killer of Killers'
00:38:46
Speaker
Killer of killers. Pretty fun. ah Like it's, it's a, it's a fun time. Is it like the, you know, the greatest thing ever? No, I wasn't a huge fan of the animation style, but I mean, you know file was often and it it it it expands out some of the lore and gives you the one thing that I think people have been dying for since the movie predators, which is that fucking predator versus samurai fight you get in that movie. You get ninja versus predator versus samurai and it's fucking awesome.
00:39:14
Speaker
Oh, yeah. Hey, see, I feel like I'm going to feel the same way about it as you because I saw the trailer and I was like, like that looks really cool, but it also doesn't look cool.
00:39:26
Speaker
Yeah. I'm down with the idea of it, and it it looks like a really cool story and fun scenes and shit, but I really wasn't digging the art style at all.
00:39:38
Speaker
feel As I was watching it, I was like, this, and maybe I need to rewatch it, and I might rewatch it when when we cover it on Pod and Pendulum, but as I was watching it, I was like, this feels like a movie made up entirely of video game cutscenes.
00:39:51
Speaker
yeah Is kind of what this feels like. you know' I'll tell you, if it's if it's good enough, like it'll take me a while, but I'll be able to ignore it. there have been like There have been entire shows, like seven seasons of a show that...
00:40:09
Speaker
it took me a while to get into because I didn't like the art style so much. Right. But then once, once you kind of get invested and it gets really good, you just don't notice it. That's just how it is.
00:40:21
Speaker
Brains are weird, dude. Brains are weird, dude. and I mean, there's some uncanny Valley shit to it. Like it's a four act movie. Um, but it's, it's, there's some fun anthology, isn't it?
00:40:33
Speaker
ah Essentially like an anthology film. It is. Yeah. Uh, and it, again, a kind of a weird four act structure. Um, but it is, it's very well done. I, I had a really good, I had a good time with it.
00:40:45
Speaker
Again, I'm not going to, I'm not going to, I would say it's better than this, but yeah in terms of just like telling a cohesive narrative story, but definitely better than this. And it, it fixes a lot, you know, it does a lot of things that I tend to dislike in it, or it does things that It doesn't do things I tend to dislike in anthologies where it's just like, we're going to tell you multiple different stories and not tie them together in any way. Like it's the, the various pieces are in service of something larger. And I appreciate that.
00:41:14
Speaker
Do I like necessarily what the larger framework is? No, but I appreciate what it's trying to do. i feel like it's, it's a bonus. If your overarching story is enjoyable, as long as the segments are,
00:41:32
Speaker
of that kind of film are good. Like the in-between story is whatever. Sure. It doesn't, I would like for it to be good, but it doesn't have to be for me to enjoy it. If an anthology film is strong, has strong segments.
00:41:47
Speaker
I did a thing I normally don't do over the weekend in that I watched a movie that I know we're going to cover one day on the podcast. Okay. I watched ah the 2007 film truck or treat.
00:41:59
Speaker
Oh, yeah. Okay. Yeah. Which is an end. It's fine. Which i I really enjoyed it. I liked it a lot. ah loved I haven't seen it in a while. I loved it. No, it because, again, it does that thing where you've got there's not one overarching narrative, but all the various narratives kind of fold in and weave into each other.
00:42:18
Speaker
To where you're you're telling one story. You're telling five stories in service of one story. And I really, ah really like that. Oh, yeah. I do. I do like that. VHS is full of that, too. And that's a lot of hits and misses.
00:42:32
Speaker
As far as the wrap around narrative. We just covered VHS Halloween. Right. Oh, is that good? That's the new one, right? It is. it good as hell?
00:42:43
Speaker
Hits and misses. I think it's fine. I think it's okay. yeah It's not one of my favorites. I think it's fine. um you You might really dig it. there I think some there are like three that I really like and three that I really don't care for as much.
00:42:55
Speaker
There's only one that I would consider outright bad. 50-50 split. Yeah. Well, and a shitty one, I guess. I mean, one really shitty one, but yeah. Yeah, well. ah But again, it's it's kind of one of those, like, your mileage may vary. Like, both Mike and Nicole, who I covered it with, really, really loved it.
00:43:13
Speaker
um Mike, it's probably going to be in Mike's, like, top 10 of the year. um Well, word. High praise from him, for sure. Yeah. Whereas I was just like, so it's okay. Go listen to that episode. It's up on ah the Pot and Pendulum main feed. Go check it out.
00:43:26
Speaker
I might. I get into my my deeper thoughts on the on the anthology over there. Well, you've all been doing that forever. I was on the first one of the VHS.
00:43:38
Speaker
We just looped back. covering Predator right now. It's an epilogue. You did it as... out yeah Yeah, I gotcha. We go back and cover like the franchises that we've if there are new installments released. Yeah.
00:43:49
Speaker
Yeah. So yeah, we're doing Predator right now. We're actually, Mike's been kind of dragging his feet because he doesn't want to cover the Alien vs. Predator movies. So yeah, I mean. Just releasing a lot of bonus content on the main feed this month, this past month. even Even the first one, like, it's like eating too much candy.
00:44:08
Speaker
You know, like you watch it and you're like, oh, that was great. But like when it's done, you're like, oh, my tummy hurts. You know, that was good, but at what cost? Right. Right.
00:44:20
Speaker
Yeah. Oh, man. ah But yeah. um So ah but again, the Predator, lot of fun. Yes, I had a lot of fun. button Yeah, I did too. And I also that I was just going to mention, just bring back into focus Fred Decker because Fred Decker is kind of my dude and we hadn't talked about him yet We love that guy.
00:44:47
Speaker
We, we did cover ah Fred Decker earlier on the podcast when we talked about his film night of the creeps with Brian Kuiper. Go back and listen to that episode.
00:44:58
Speaker
What a great movie. I was so disappointed. and at this point in the history of the podcast, I had written music for it and I was the current editor of the podcast.
00:45:11
Speaker
And I was so disappointed when I was like, Hey, I cannot I want to talk about nine of the creeps and you motherfuckers are like no Brian's coming on was like yeah we love Brian but it was still a good episode though I remember listening to it as I washed dishes in Fargo North Dakota and we're we're gonna have Brian Brian is one of the two guests I have scheduled for the monster squad so I knew it I fuck who's yours I can believe it if it's not like announced
00:45:42
Speaker
it It's, I, it's, uh, one of my, uh, one of my friends from high school, uh, Tim Lofton, uh, uh, son of, uh, Indiana weatherman Chuck Lofton.
00:45:53
Speaker
I know Chuck Lofton, but you are like son of, like, it was like, son of someone who had been on the podcast. Like we span generations and shit. No, no, no, no, no. Okay. All right. No, but I went to high school with, with, with Timmy and his little brother.
00:46:07
Speaker
um Oh, that's cool. yeah. Has he been on before? yeah he, he's, he's, he's one of our patrons. Like he's a listener. Hi Timmy. Hey Tim. Uh, but yeah, we reached out, uh, he reached out on, uh, on blue sky. Cause I had mentioned something about, yeah, we're going to cover monster squad, like future episodes of this in franchise pockets. He's like, Hey, if you need an extra, like if you need an extra, I was like, well, I got Brian Kuiper on the schedule, but I'm sure he would not mind sharing guest duties that day. So, Hey, and you have a seasoned veteran and a podcast or I'm sorry, disenfranchised podcast guest version.
00:46:42
Speaker
and That's right. Hey Timmy, what you cooking? What you cooking there? Because he's listening. So like I'm trying to freak him out. Hey Timmy you making some mac and cheese. What's going on over there.
00:46:53
Speaker
um And then now I also. when Whenever we inevitably cover Robocop 3. On um Unenfranchised. We're going to have Brian on. To talk about that one too. it's just It's just so hilarious. That you think like.
00:47:07
Speaker
any Anything on Patreon. Is going to drop like anytime soon. Oh, I'm aware. Like, do I want it to? Yes, please, more than anything. But no, that's not going happen.
00:47:19
Speaker
I have offered options for recording stuff, and it just our schedules are too insane right now to record. And we can barely get the main feed recordings done. Let's be clear. Look, yeah, look, we're doing this on a Tuesday. This goes out on Thursday. i work tomorrow, and I have a social engagement afterwards.
00:47:38
Speaker
So your boy going to be editing this motherfucker at like, shit, I don't know, 11 o'clock at the earliest. Probably. This might get out by 1 a.m.
00:47:49
Speaker
I don't know. Straight up maybe. Because we can never find the time. We were so lucky to get Brett on last week, honestly. So lucky. And the fact that Joe was there, too.
00:48:00
Speaker
Like that's kind of the O.G. O.G.' 's because I think Joe was the first fan. He got me into it, suggested me as a host. And here we are, as we mentioned on that.
00:48:15
Speaker
yeah Yes, yes. Lots of lots of pats on the back in that like and reaching across to pat others on the back. And I love that. I love love.
00:48:25
Speaker
And there was a lot of love in the room that night, Stephen. A lot of self-congratulatory, one might even say perhaps masturbatory behavior. No, we're all great friends and we enjoy enjoy each other's creative output. And I think that's beautiful.
00:48:40
Speaker
Who cares? If anybody else likes it, we're all pals having a good time. Right. Having good time. Just bunch of pals. um Exactly.
00:48:52
Speaker
That's what I'm saying, man. But yeah, um and I mean, Shane Black, of course, we should mention, played Hawkins in the original Predator, um was brought on as an
Shane Black's Impact on 'Predator'
00:49:02
Speaker
actor. But then they were like, oh, he's a writer, too. Like, maybe he can kind of work on the script.
00:49:06
Speaker
And he's like, no, I'm not doing that. And so they were like, fuck you. We're killing you off early, which I find really funny. um But like Keegan-Michael Key kind of taking on the Hawkins role of the guy who tells insanely inappropriate jokes at all times.
00:49:21
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah, and not even like offensive jokes, but truly, truly inappropriate. Yes, just absolutely tasteless in the best way.
00:49:34
Speaker
i don't know. what's something What's the difference between five black guys and a joke?
00:49:40
Speaker
Yeah. like that Like that shit? Like, oof, oof. No, all these, that's, I think that's a really cool way to like start the journey of a character is having them be like an exaggerated version of something.
00:49:57
Speaker
Because ah when we first meet the what what do they call their little group? What's the name? Yes. When we first meet the loonies, They're all just silly guys.
00:50:11
Speaker
And they're all kind of assholes. Silly assholes, basically. But by the end of the movie, they are sacrificing themselves. Not only for their friends.
00:50:22
Speaker
But for the entire world. Heroes, damn it. Heroes. And I love that journey. Though I do think... it ends very abruptly because it seems like they all, they all kind of die really quickly one after another, which I mean, part of it is because they are cannon fodder,
00:50:42
Speaker
But like you don't have the whole movie to kind of expand on that like you do the first movie. And like because we're doing other things through the entire first two acts. So by the time we get to the third act, it's just like, OK, this has got to be where the bloodbath happens.
00:50:56
Speaker
Well, and also you have actors here, whether known for it or barely known at all, that can... convey characteristics of a character without necessarily speaking any dialogue.
00:51:14
Speaker
Right. Like, especially the the the two leads of Quinn McKenna and Nebraska Williams. Those two guys, there's so much just about.
00:51:28
Speaker
How they act in the background of other scenes that tells you so much about their character. Right. It's I don't know. It's kind of brilliant. Sometimes you you listen to ah commentaries on films and you don't think things were it's maybe a silly film and maybe you don't think it was thought out that well. But then you hear the director talk about how meticulously they crafted something like that.
00:51:55
Speaker
And that's kind of strikes me as something like that, for sure. Right. And I mean, Black is very good at character dynamics. Like it's one of the things he does as as a as a writer and director very well. Like you look at his films and even the ones that were ultimately taken away from him in the third act is completely reconstructed, which is.
00:52:18
Speaker
this and iron man three are for the course at this point yeah again it really like he just released play dirty um i i've not heard much about it one way or the other but you know if it if it does well at all he's going to get another franchise movie or maybe he'll need to rebound with a franchise movie and it'll get taken away in the third act will get rewritten and reshot uh that's probably how it's going to end up working um yeah but like Like the the the things that work best in those movies are the character dynamics.
00:52:50
Speaker
Like we get a better idea of who Tony Stark is in Iron Man 3 than we do in the first two Iron Man films in any Avengers movie. Like we get a really good sense of who he is as a person.
00:53:01
Speaker
Like one of the best things about Kiss Kiss Bang Bang is the interplay between ah Robert Downey Jr. and Val Kilmer, like the way that they play off of each other. the What do you get ah when you – what do you see when you look up idiot in the dictionary? Oh, I know a picture of me. No, the definition of idiot, which you fucking are. Like it's that kind of interplay that I fucking love.
00:53:21
Speaker
And this is a whole group of people. Now, the one thing that kind of irks me about it and kind of about this franchise in general, it's a nitpick, but it's one that I have is the fact that the Predator movies seem to be very beholden to the Predator formula, which is a group of guys getting picked off one at a time.
00:53:43
Speaker
The only movie that doesn't really do that is Predator 2, and it is... Considered by many one of the worst films in the franchise. Like, it's... Really? very reliant on the formula. By many.
00:53:55
Speaker
It's this. I love Predator 2. I do too. Again, i don't think there's a bad Predator movie outside a AVP Requiem. That's the bad one. Well, because it's... Everything else is really solid.
00:54:06
Speaker
Like, think of Predator 2 if it had been called something else just to fool people. Right. Can you imagine the reveal? Holy oh shit. Right. Holy shit.
00:54:18
Speaker
Right. Would have been great. I don't know. it's It's too bad they had to call it Predator 2. That's a downfall. And I do this very – I covered – not only did we cover Predators on the podcast last year, ah but I also covered it yeah there on Pod and Pendulum. You were.
00:54:36
Speaker
I also was on that episode for Pod and Pendulum earlier this year. um And I broke down like the different like that movie is so regimentally like confined to the predator formula that like they have archetypes within the film. Like you've got your your character that is very quiet and stoic and sacrifices themselves so the others can get away.
00:54:59
Speaker
You've got your your woman character. You've got your, you know, stoic square jawed action hero. You've got your um you your survivor. right like you've got laurence fishburne laurence fishburne is in predators right yes he's the he's the carl weatherman log in my mind yeah i always get him mixed up because around that same time skull island came out and you had john c reilly is essentially the same character doing this i'm always like wait is is john c reilly and
00:55:33
Speaker
Skull Island? Or is he... I get it mixed up. it's you're No, but you're right. Like, it's both the... it's They're both doing the Colonel Kurtz thing. 100%. Yeah. Like, the guy who's been lost and gone gone a little native, as it were.
00:55:46
Speaker
um But, like, there's... it every Every one of those characters is an analog for another character. um And this one kind of does the same thing. And you've got like your, but this is kind of a little more loosely constructed. Like the one in the original Predator is a very tight knit group.
00:56:02
Speaker
This does more of the Predators thing where they're kind of like at each other's throats, a little bickery, but still kind of share this common bond and that they're all group two, right? They're the loonies that ultimately is what binds them together against the common enemy. Right.
00:56:17
Speaker
Um, Sterling K. Brown, I think is your, your Carl Weathers analog in this one. Like he's the guy working for the government. He's gone, you know, he's got his own agenda. Like the, the relationship between further on the sellout side.
00:56:31
Speaker
Exactly. But again, it's, it's, it's all degrees. Like it's all, but it's the same kind of archetype. It's just, you you kind of dial up certain, you're just playing with the knobs at that point. But like you've got kind of a lot of those same character types across all these movies. Like the relationship between, i would say, Baxley and Keegan-Michael Key's character. What's his name? Coyle.
00:56:54
Speaker
Like the relationship between them is kind of a more antagonistic version of ah Bill Duke and Jesse Ventura from the original film. Like you've got – The two guys that are kind of like close, but kind of at each other's throat at the same time, which is again, they do that in predators with Mahershala Ali and Walton Goggins. Like it's the same kind of thing.
00:57:13
Speaker
But I don't know. I think Keegan, Michael Key and Thomas Jane in this movie, they really, i mean, there was a chemistry there. And even though they were at, they were at each other's throats most of the time.
00:57:28
Speaker
Like when, When they shot each other, like I felt that. Yeah. Because like they were constantly they were constantly fucking with each other and teasing each other.
00:57:40
Speaker
But you could also kind of tell underneath that they were it was like sort of in a sibling sort of way, like they would still. Right. Like they were still bros, you know? Yeah.
00:57:53
Speaker
i don't was for some people teasing as a love language. And I, I relate to that very strongly. going to say, I know you do, but, but again, that's, and it's the, the, the bros part of it is i think what reminds me of the relationship between Jesse Ventura and Bill Duke in the original. Cause those guys were Mike Macken.
00:58:11
Speaker
What's Blaine were like tight. Like they were like, like that, the whole movie. Like, yeah so, so, I mean, that's, that's what I think what kind of reminds me of that. But then coils got kind of the wisecracking thing that Hawkins had in the original, like,
00:58:23
Speaker
The analogs are definitely present. like and And again, they're it's not an exact one-to-one, I think, the way it is in Predators, but you've still got those similar dynamics at play.
00:58:35
Speaker
You're just changing the setting. like You're changing it from like the jungles of South America to the suburbs of Chattanooga, Tennessee, which, you know, interesting choice of setting, but sure, it works.
00:58:47
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. You been to the nook? Have I been where? Chattanooga. Probably.
00:58:58
Speaker
i mean, like I've been around, Stephen. I've been around. i I'm aware. i was just asking if one of the places you've been around was Chattanooga, Tennessee. You know, I don't think I've been through. Honestly, I don't think I've been through Tennessee as an adult. Well, maybe.
00:59:18
Speaker
I will say it's a cool little place. It's kind of right there toward the Georgia border, like right there toward the Southern. did. The last year that my ex-roommate, ex-wife, and I went to New Orleans, which I think was 2019, we drove there and back and we drove through Tennessee. But before that, I don't think I had been in Tennessee as an adult.
00:59:48
Speaker
Not going to lie, i would I would live in Chattanooga. That that is a cool town. That's a cool town. i would i would I'm sure I've been through there, but I don't – I mean, so many years.
00:59:59
Speaker
I mean, it's been a few years for me too, but probably more – not as many as it has been for you. But no, Chattanooga is a cool little town. I would absolutely live there. ah Shout out Chattanooga, Tennessee. word is that where this takes place i didn't even notice like it just seems very generic to me the army base or like the place where they the lab is like and on the sign it says chattanooga tennessee and i clocked that immediately because i'm like hey i've been there the only sign i remember is the school sign um implying stds like you could come that was stds
01:00:35
Speaker
that had That was a joke, right? like or I mean, I get they were abbreviating students, but also the way it was worded, it was definitely for LOLs. 100%.
01:00:46
Speaker
You know what? That's what I like about a so a Shane Black joint is ah sometimes he has you questioning. Was that supposed to be funny? Or am I crazy?
01:00:58
Speaker
I just kind of assume with Shane Black. And again, this is not the last Shane Black film. It's not the first Shane Black film we've covered. We covered oh Long Kiss Goodnight last year, which he did not direct, but he did write.
01:01:10
Speaker
And that's peak Shane Blackian. That and Kiss Kiss Bang Bang. that's If you want to know exactly who Shane Black is as those to creator...
01:01:21
Speaker
Uh-huh. Watch those two movies as a double feature. That's your education. And then coming up at some point, we will cover The Nice Guys, which is, mean. Oh, I like that one too. It's so wholesome. In a perfect world, there would be like 10 of those movies. Like in a perfect world, we'd have so many of those.
01:01:38
Speaker
Give me one every year. Just make it a TV yeah series. 45 minute episodes. I'd take 10 episodes a season. Yeah. No big whoop.
01:01:50
Speaker
I mean, would you be able to sign Russell Crowe and Ryan Gosling on for that? I hope so. They probably had so much fun. They'd probably take like a like a Wes Anderson salary for that.
01:02:01
Speaker
You know what mean? I hope so. I like it if it's true. Another thing I will so mention, a couple things. One, do you know who the original choice for Quinn McKenna was?
01:02:17
Speaker
I do, but I forget. Benicio Del Toro. yeah, yeah, yeah. Because scheduling. Scheduling. He was like, I really want to do it, but I have to do this other thing. Yeah. Sorry.
01:02:28
Speaker
And then Edward James Olmos was cast and filmed a small role as ah general. And he was cut from the movie entirely due to time constraints and the fact that his character was not essential to the plot.
01:02:41
Speaker
Steven, would you say he was almost in the film? Edward James almost in this movie. Was
01:02:52
Speaker
I'm sorry. That was bad, but I couldn't help myself. I'm and very vulnerable right now. It's okay. I forgive you this time.
01:03:02
Speaker
um But yeah, no, like, fuck. I love Predator movies. This one is, for all its flaws, still fun as hell.
01:03:13
Speaker
Yeah, no. I want to see these characters come back in future Predator movies. Dude, we both, within the span of 10 seconds, we both yeah-node. Yeah, no.
01:03:24
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah, no. Yeah, no. oh I mean, we are- I hate when I do that. We're Midwestern boys at heart, Tucker. I know. You can take the boys out of the Midwest. You can't take the Midwest out of the boys.
01:03:37
Speaker
Yeah, no, but-
01:03:42
Speaker
Oh, I hate it so much. It's like it's second nature, but also I notice it every time. And it like it hurts my teeth. Like, oh, I don't even care. It's painful. It's painful.
01:03:55
Speaker
ah It's just part of the vernacular. And then sometimes I do it ironically and then I'm like, no, that's not even OK. You're like, yeah, no i mean no yeah no no yeah yeah no yo no, no, no, yeah, yeah, yeah, no, no, yeah.
01:04:12
Speaker
Hmm. LOL. Man, what ah what a fun movie. Predators. Or The Predator. The Predator is also fun movie, but The Predator... Also, in a different way, I would say.
01:04:24
Speaker
Yeah. I was going to say, I think Predators is a better film overall, but I like i like this one. I would kind of put them... I don't know. that They're tonally so different. I don't know if I could compare them. They both are like...
01:04:43
Speaker
above average and I had a really fun time with them but like I said totally they're so different I don't know if I could I think I like this one better but I don't know that that means that it's better than Predators is what I'm saying sure understand no I mean and again I would say this is kind of with each other really yeah this is an odd franchise in so far as it Every sequel is so incredibly different and so disconnected from every other film in the franchise.
01:05:22
Speaker
And I think that's that's a strength for the entire franchise. because concur. Yeah. I know like Predator 2 kind of does follow the same story beats as the original Predator, but still it's like in such a different setting that that just kind of starts on this path of being like, okay, this is the general idea, but we're going to completely switch it around somehow in every single movie after that.
01:05:51
Speaker
Exactly. And ah I'm excited. I still haven't seen Prey. i haven't seen the animated one. And I do really want to see Badlands. And though I make it a note never to put a Predator movie as a priority.
01:06:07
Speaker
i don't know. I'm kind of itching to see Prey now. You definitely should see Prey. And here's the thing. I waited to see Prey way longer than I should have. Prey slaps. Prey is so good. And everybody says that. There's not one person who's like, oh, no, Prey sucks.
01:06:23
Speaker
yeah Yeah, no. Prey sucks. Yeah, no. No, yeah, but...
01:06:30
Speaker
ah oh
01:06:33
Speaker
No, Prey is very good. I think you will very much enjoy Prey, and I think you will have a good time with Killer of Killers. Sweet. sweet Now, the the new Predator movie, Badlands, that's a theatrical release, yes?
01:06:47
Speaker
Yes, it's out this weekend. um And i think they they they learned their lesson because Prey was dropped directly to Hulu. On Hulu. Yeah, was right on Hulu. Yeah, was like, what the fuck are you doing? Everybody shit their pants about it. like Yeah. This is the best Predator movie we've ever seen. like Why is this not a theatrical release?
01:07:06
Speaker
Right. And then I love that after, you know, people were being really shitty online to Amber Midthunder, who is amazing in Prey, ah like all the guys from the original movie got on Twitter and were like, ah fuck you, Amber Midthunder is awesome. Welcome to the Predator family.
01:07:20
Speaker
Like Bill Duke, Jesse Ventura, like all those guys are like, screw you, Amber Midthunder rules. That's wild. i love that. Everyone involved. Yeah, I do too. And I mean, it just makes me love those guys even more. Like as if I needed a reason to love the original predator more, like just, yeah.
01:07:40
Speaker
And I, you know, i'm I'm on record as saying predator is one of my top five favorite movie monsters of all time. Like it's, it's King Kong, it's gremlins, it's the wolf man, it's predator. Like it's, it's all like, that's my Mount Rushmore of monster movie monsters.
01:07:54
Speaker
oh the The Predator is so distinctly what it is that you can put it in any situation.
Unique Concept of Predator Movies
01:08:02
Speaker
any like It's kind of like Final Destination where you could put out a new Final Destination movie every year and it would make money as long as the kills are creative because it's such a unique idea. And Predator is the same way.
01:08:19
Speaker
like You could literally put this motherfucker in any scenario Basically any genre...
01:08:28
Speaker
I mean, the possibilities are limitless. Here's what I want to see. Tucker, I'm just going to throw this out here. This is something I pitched on Pod and the Pendulum. I'll catch it. What's up? I'm going to toss it out here, too.
01:08:39
Speaker
What I want to see is a series of films starring Macaulay Culkin as a grown-up Kevin McAllister fighting movie monsters. I want to see him in a Night of the Living Dead movie where he's he's keeping the zombies out of his house.
01:08:55
Speaker
I want to see him keeping a predator out of his fucking house. Like I want, I want a whole fucking franchise because Disney now owns Fox and which, which means it has both home alone and predator. You can make that happen. And the tech the original nine of the living dead is in the public domain.
01:09:15
Speaker
You can absolutely make that fucking happen. Like, like these are things that you can do. And and like run with and make really fucking fun movies. But I want to see Kevin McAllister basically take on monsters. I want to see him take on horror movie monsters.
01:09:33
Speaker
Now, is this going to be episodic in nature? Is it going to have an an overarching plot? like ah is is it Is every episode going to be in a different universe? Or is it all...
01:09:47
Speaker
No, make it all connected, man. i don't care. No, make it all one thing. That just sounds messy, like, if you do it that way. Nah, it'd be fun. Sure, yeah. No, you're right. It'd be fun.
01:09:58
Speaker
It'd be fun. Oh, yeah. Don't over... Quit being such a nerd about it. Get out of your own head, man. Just have fun. Just have fun. Yeah, I just like stuff. No big deal. yeah and you know Unless they start messing with continuity that you enjoy, and then you get really, really, really anal about it. Look, it's not that I enjoy the continuity. It's just that it was so jarring at first to like try to smush those two continuities together. And like I said, by about three quarters the way through, we're talking about Peacemaker, by the way. whichre We're talking about Peacemaker. um By about three quarters of the way through...
01:10:35
Speaker
I still knew it was there, but I didn't think about it because I was enjoying the show so much.
01:10:43
Speaker
It's still bothered me. Like, I don't care, whatever. It was just difficult to accept it first. I've come around. I'm so used to continuity resets. It does not bother me in the slightest. I'm just like, okay, not in the movies. Like we've never had something to where there was a cinematic universe that kind of died off.
01:11:05
Speaker
And then there's this new cinematic universe, but there's something that kind of exists in both. And we have to reconcile that. That's never really... When has that ever really been a thing? David Gordon Green's Halloween franchise.
01:11:19
Speaker
Oh, that's different. yeah Not that different. There's so many Halloween timelines. Steven, the only thing that has more timelines... Is the straight up Texas Chainsaw this chainsaw Massacre.
01:11:34
Speaker
I think they're they' if if they're not tied, they're pretty close. They've got to be really close. Well, Halloween. Well, no shit.
Texas Chainsaw Massacre Series
01:11:42
Speaker
Texas Chainsaw has all those two remakes. Fuck.
01:11:45
Speaker
Yeah, there's two there's two reboots of of Texas Chainsaw. There's the first four, then there's the first re the first two reboots, and then there's the next two reboots, and then there's the the one, the most recent one on Netflix, which ignores everything but the original.
01:11:59
Speaker
Well, and you could argue that all of those movies take place in their own little continuities. Like Brett, Brett made that Brett made that point on our, um, I know an enfranchised episode generation. Next generation. Yeah. Yeah.
01:12:16
Speaker
Yeah. The first thing I ever edited for you motherfuckers. True. You were so excited when you, because that was like a bunch of footage that Brett couldn't figure out how to stitch together. We're like, here, do something with this. And you're like, Oh my God, you guys, it's the Texas chainsaw massacre. I put it together. It took me hours.
01:12:37
Speaker
I don't doubt it. That was that recording was a mess, as I recall. It truly was. But i was able to splice it together. i put a nice little intro in there. Of course, lampooning the intro of the film with the narration.
01:12:51
Speaker
i even pitched my voice a little bit. John Larracate style. Yeah, dude. It was pretty rad. Go check that out. Unenfranchised Texas Chainsaw Massacre. The Next Generation.
01:13:03
Speaker
starring Renee Zellweger and Matthew McConaughey. Both of whom were in last week's film, ah My Boyfriend's Back. Only one of them in the final cut, though. Yeah, Renee Zellweger, unfortunately.
01:13:15
Speaker
Cutting room floor, snip, snip. She was Edward James almost in that movie. Straight up, Edward James damn near. I think it's what they call him.
01:13:27
Speaker
At the local pub. Oh,
Box Office and Eli Roth's Films
01:13:31
Speaker
God. So the Predator came out in theaters on September 11th. Hashtag never forget. The weekend box office opened at number one that weekend to twenty four point six million dollars on its way to fifty one million dollars domestic. Another hundred yeah and dropped.
01:13:54
Speaker
International. Oh, yeah. Like a stone. Second week, like 61 percent. Yeah. Yeah. Like like a well because everybody hates it. Look at all the reviews on IMDb. Look at all the reviews on Letterboxd. Everybody fucking hates this movie.
01:14:08
Speaker
It goes from one to four within a week and opening at number one the following week. Another movie we will cover on this podcast one day. The House with a Clock in Its Walls, the Eli Roth film.
01:14:19
Speaker
Oh, I've always kind of been curious about that because i I like Eli Roth is one of those people that I think is brilliant, but he needs he needs somebody to be like, no, no, no, you're you're going too far.
01:14:31
Speaker
And I feel like him doing like we can cover on this podcast. I feel like Eli Roth doing a spooky like family slash kids movie. I I think that would scratch that itch for sure. And I'm really excited to see it.
01:14:45
Speaker
It's always been on my list, but it's never been a priority. Yeah. Well, and again, one of these days we'll have to cover it. So that's kind of the reason I haven't kept it out. Another one of his that we're definitely going to have to cover one day, whether you whether you want to or not, I kind of don't, but we're going to, The Green Inferno.
01:15:02
Speaker
Yeah, I don't know anything about that. And I know that it's supposed to be like super fucked up or whatever, but like, I don't know anything about it. So like going into it blind, like most films, I'm,
01:15:15
Speaker
is probably best because then I'm not, I don't like have anxiety from like, Oh shit. When's that coming? You know? Right. I mean, they've announced a sequel to Thanksgiving, but so far, no forward momentum made on that.
01:15:30
Speaker
Borderlands is another one of his that we're going to have to cover. That one came out last year. I don't claim. Nah, but that you can put it on the list, but like put it all the way down at the like very bottom. Yeah.
01:15:41
Speaker
And then we've also got the the Bruce Willis Death Wish movie that he directed, which we're going to have our buddy Samuel Dumas back on that I saw Sammy this couple days ago. saw the picture on Instagram.
01:15:54
Speaker
Yeah, it's always lovely to see Sammy, especially in person. like i I get to talk to him on the podcast sometimes. But to be there in the flesh... With Sammy. i was going to say it's been ah it's been a hot minute since I've seen Sammy in the flesh to be to be quite honest.
01:16:10
Speaker
Another one we'll cover ah something he did a segment for. We're going to cover Grindhouse one day too. You guys um you have to watch it as Grindhouse though. I don't know how outside of the Blu-ray release that you can do that.
01:16:25
Speaker
Like the films are separately. You can watch them but I don't know I mean, you could... We can make it a project where we just kind of pass my Blu-ray around.
01:16:40
Speaker
Honestly, I think that's the main reason we haven't covered it yet is because it's kind of difficult to to figure out how to do it.
01:16:52
Speaker
But I do have ah someone who wants to be a guest on that episode. so I thought Sammy was going to be a guest. On the Grindhouse episode? Yeah.
01:17:02
Speaker
I don't remember if he's the one had. No, Death Wish. We were about Death Wish. Oh, yeah, you're right. He's going on the Death Wish episode because he he's a big fan of the original franchise. Yeah, for sure.
01:17:14
Speaker
We were going to cover that earlier when Nobody 2 came out and then life found a way. Yeah. yeah Yeah, unfortunately.
01:17:24
Speaker
we We get too fucking busy these days is really what it comes down to. but ah But yeah, we could do a whole Eli Roth theme month if you wanted. Maybe. Maybe.
01:17:37
Speaker
mean, are there four? Does he have four films that? Kevin Feaver got sequels. Hostel got sequels. Of which part three Green Inferno. Part two is pretty good.
01:17:49
Speaker
Green Inferno. Death Wish. House with a Clock in Its Walls. Borderlands. There's your four. Oh, no. I don't want to do it anymore. If Borderlands is a part of it, I don't want to do it.
01:18:01
Speaker
Cancel it. Shut this down. Shut all this down. Turn it off. Okay. This is the last episode of the disenfranchised podcast. Thank you so much for being a part of it. These last 250 episodes.
01:18:13
Speaker
Throw the switch. Push the button, Frank. um
01:18:18
Speaker
ah But yes, the predator opens at number one in its opening weekend. ah Number two, down from number one the week before in its second weekend, a little film called the nun. What if there was a nun?
01:18:31
Speaker
I don't care. Next. it's It's good. I like that one. Okay.
01:18:38
Speaker
Number three, a movie that just got a sequel this year, a Simple Favor, the Paul Feig, Blake Lively, and a Kendrick film. ah And fourth, ah number a Simple Favor 2.
01:18:53
Speaker
What is this? What's this simple? What? What the fuck is happening? Simple Favor. it's it's like that It's like a domestic thriller kind of thing where like Anna Kendrick like becomes Blake Lively's friend and like Blake Lively ends up dead, but then she like shows up again.
01:19:08
Speaker
What? Yeah, spoilers for Simple Favor, I guess. Is it good, though? It's all right. It's not my thing, but it's all right. If you want. ah like andrew crarick I I really liked the movie she directed on Netflix about the dating game killer.
01:19:22
Speaker
Yeah. It was really good. You and our buddy Devon really liked that one. Oh, gosh, it was it was special. I really that made that made Devon's made Devon's top ten that year.
01:19:33
Speaker
must As it should. i feel I want to see more films that she directs, whether she's in them or not, because I think she. She kind of has a unique vision, and I'm interested to see where she goes from here behind the camera.
01:19:48
Speaker
At number four, ah Matthew McConaughey, speaking of Matthew McConaughey, White Boy Rick. ah What if there was a white boy named Rick? I guess. who what what would What would that look like?
01:20:02
Speaker
I feel like that plays out all over the world every day. Daring to ask the questions. Yes.
Pop Culture Memes and Ads
01:20:08
Speaker
What if there was a white boy named Rick? And rounding out the top five, we have ah one of the smash hits of the year of 2018, Crazy Rich Asians. John M. Chu's Crazy which Rich Asians, ah which in five weeks has made almost $150 million dollars at the box office.
01:20:24
Speaker
like that more weird o nice um At number two, or at number six, rather, rounding out the top ten, we've got something called Peppermint. don't know what that is either.
01:20:36
Speaker
That's that Jennifer Garner, I guess she's an assassin movie? Like, she's in a coma? Yo! Vengeance movie? Is it just me? But, like, I watch a lot of Peacock. All right? I'm i'm currently...
01:20:49
Speaker
doing I think it's probably my fourth overall watch through of Parks and Rec. Also, ah SNL is back. So I've been watching a lot Peacock and there's a lot of Capital One commercials.
01:21:02
Speaker
Jennifer Garner. One of the like four Capital One commercials has Jennifer Garner in it. And. It bothers me so much because.
01:21:13
Speaker
The entire time, her voiceover, she sounds like she's like on the verge of tears the entire time. like What is happening?
01:21:25
Speaker
What's going on? Jennifer Garner, they should be paying you, not like threatening you. i don't know what's going on, but I hope she's okay. I mean, you know, she's got a lot going on. I mean, she she was married to Ben Affleck for a while. Like, ah she's clearly not okay.
01:21:41
Speaker
But, you know. No, and that had to be stressful for both of them. For all involved, let's clear. Everyone, yes. Right. That's why we have the Ben Affleck cigarette meme, which is probably my most used meme of all time. That is so on brand for you. So on brand. love that for you. I really do. There are several times a day every day that that's how I feel.
01:22:06
Speaker
I believe it. Knowing you, I believe it. um at At seven, we have ah the Meg. What if there was a Meg? That's the big ancient sharks dinosaur shark business. ja Jason Statham punches a shark. yeah um Now, is he in the sequel?
01:22:22
Speaker
because I don't know. There is. I didn't watch the scene i didn't watch the original. I haven't seen either. yeah so ah let me Meg to the trench. Yes, he is. Jason Statham back for the Meg 2.
01:22:35
Speaker
There's probably a time where I would have probably checked that out, but that time has long since passed. I was going to say, there is there is a small part of me that's like, should I just watch all the killer shark movies? Like, I've already seen the Jaws franchise.
01:22:49
Speaker
That's a young man's game, Stephen. Deep Blue Sea and Sharknado. and No, there's no reason to ever watch a Sharknado. Sharknado is the type of movie that is all it's trying to do Is be a bad movie. And a bad movie.
01:23:07
Speaker
Cannot be good.
01:23:10
Speaker
Unless. It's done in earnest. That's true. It goes a long way. You can parody a bad movie. That works sometimes. But you can't intentionally.
01:23:23
Speaker
Make a bad movie. And it be good. In the same way. That like a an earnest film that is bad is good.
01:23:36
Speaker
Does that make sense? Sorry. I don't know. Something. Yes. Thank you. And I hear, uh, you know, uh, uh, world-class creep, Jared Fogles in one of those movies too, which kind of doesn't make me. Is that the subway guy?
01:23:51
Speaker
Yeah. The, the, the creepy pedophile from Carmel, Indiana. What's he do? What's he do? He's from Carmel. What's he doing there? um I, you know, promoting Subway, I guess, before getting eaten by a shark,
Subway Sandwiches and Creativity
01:24:03
Speaker
Nado.
01:24:04
Speaker
Oh. I just remember, like, I went to Subway once, and they were promoting that he was in the movie. Oh. Yeah. Wow. he I don't think he's from Carmel. I think he's from Bloomington, but he moved up to Carmel.
01:24:19
Speaker
And, like, yeah, he's a creepy dude. Yo, know that flatbread is good, though. I agree. with saying It's the only bread I get any sandwiches at Subway on.
01:24:30
Speaker
I gar do the ah do the footlong turkey with like just load that shit up with veggies, brown mustard, extra mayo, and um toast that motherfucker so I get that cheese nice and melty.
01:24:43
Speaker
If you're not toasting it, what are you doing with your life? What are we doing? What are what are we doing here? If you're not fucking toasting Why are we even here? um Why are we even fucking here? I mean, they got an oven for your sins.
01:24:54
Speaker
Yes. As soon as soon as the flatbread dropped, like I was an urban cheese guy. And I'm not talking about cheese from the city. I'm talking about herb and cheese bread.
01:25:08
Speaker
You got to slow it down. Fuck you. There was a beverage here, man. I'm so sorry. That about came out my nose. I used to be an urban cheese guy.
01:25:22
Speaker
But as soon as that flatbread dropped and I tried it, I'm a lifer now. It's flatbread all the time. And hey, if you can find a Subway that offers pizza, it's on that flatbread.
01:25:36
Speaker
It is. it's fucking fantastic. It's so good. You could probably ask them to make you one because they got all them they got cheese. They got marinara sauce. They got meatballs. They got pepperoni. They got pepperoni. They got salami. They've got spinach. Yeah.
01:25:52
Speaker
They've got spinach, they've got mushrooms, onions. What the fuck else do you want?
Charm of Earnestly Bad Movies
01:25:56
Speaker
You can literally have them shake oregano on your sandwich. Like, come on. And Parmesan cheese. Correct.
01:26:04
Speaker
Like, just have makeable fucking pizza and charge it for a sandwich. Ooh, let's get Subway, Stephen. What's halfway between here and there we'll meet in like an hour and a half? Let's get some Subway. gotta fucking work in the morning know you do too oh girl me too uh uh bitch i know you got work in the morning um i have to be up at five at in in seventh place we have so or in eighth place sorry we have searching uh which is a uh john cho movie about a a guy whose daughter goes missing and he's trying to find her i guess
01:26:37
Speaker
Cool. um um Sure. Shrug. um yeah In ninth place, we have Mission Colon Impossible ah M Dash Fallout. um but of Just the the franchise. a bit one That's the sixth one.
01:26:52
Speaker
That's a six. Oh, so no Philip Seymour Hoffman. No, that's three. That's three. Oh, he's so good in that. He's so scary. He's the best part of that movie. He's so fucking good in that.
01:27:05
Speaker
And then, of course, rounding out the top 10, we have Unbroken colon Path to Redemption. ah So there you go. There's our top 10. What is that? it's It's one of those Christian-y movies.
01:27:17
Speaker
Oh. Yeah. I mean, oh. No, no, no. your your Your original reaction was the correct one. okay Those movies are almost never good. And by almost never, I mean exclusively never good.
01:27:33
Speaker
And lots of time, Kevin Sorbo's there. So who wants that? No one. Here's the thing. We could have covered one of them, but fucking Kevin Sorbo made fucking sequel to it.
01:27:43
Speaker
Do you remember when we did that Kurt Cameron, and like unintentional plug? Yes. Cameron, saw Christianity. That was a good time. Like,
Criticism of Christian Movies
01:27:53
Speaker
fuck that. Cameron saving Christmas. It's bad.
01:27:56
Speaker
It's so bad. Just the worst way. But I did have fun talking about it. Look, if you're not, if you're like an unintentional plug, but if you're not a patron, ah maybe sign up for the free trial and check that out because it's it's dope as shit.
01:28:12
Speaker
Yeah, yeah it's it's a lot. it's there There's a lot of fun stuff over there, for sure. For sure. um And i am I am literally one movie away from being able to do an Upsal Christianity month on main feed. So I would have had it had Kevin Sorbo not made a fucking sequel to the Nicolas Cage Left Behind movie.
01:28:31
Speaker
ah What a butt. I'd have been there, man. Nobody likes that guy. Nope. And mean now we have even and more reason not to like And Dean Cain, all those guys. Fuck all those guys. kane Fucking Dean Cain. To think he was Superman. Shame.
01:28:49
Speaker
More like Superman, am I right? Or like super dummy. her did you Did you finish Peacemaker season two, Tucker? Yeah, dude, I did.
01:29:00
Speaker
Okay. yeah So spoilers for Peacemaker season two, but um there was a meme going on. Yeah, there was a meme going around like, hey, ah we found out who they cast to play ah the Earth 2 Superman and they just show a picture of Dean Cain. Oh, because oh he's a straight up conservative.
01:29:22
Speaker
Yeah, he like joined ICE because he doesn't have an acting career. Oh yeah, I saw that. No.
Dean Cain's Career Choices
01:29:28
Speaker
yeah Why is there no... Okay, so I don't take pleasure in watching any of that ICE shit.
01:29:36
Speaker
But like if I saw some cringy shit with Dean kane like I might be like, yeah, look, at look at that guy. He sucks. I mean, but yeah, like where is it? If he's there, I need to see the videos and stuff. If he's there, he's probably just doing like recruitment videos or some shit. Like what else? I don't want them to do to be doing any of that at all. But if it's happening is what I'm saying.
01:30:02
Speaker
i I mean, look, it's a little close to home for me because I'm in the suburbs of Chicago right now and that shit is terrifying and it's like just happening like right outside, like in the communities around where I live and that shit is not cool.
01:30:17
Speaker
Fuck that shit. um the But ah the Tomatometer score for the Predator is a very rude 34%. That is rude. The critics' consensus, the Predator has violence and quips despair, but its chaotically hollow action adds up to another missed opportunity for a franchise increasingly defined by disappointment.
01:30:37
Speaker
ah Hey, Rotten Tomatoes, fuck you. Yeah, fuck that. It is the lowest rated of the just individual Predator films.
01:30:48
Speaker
the The actual lowest rated is, of course, Alien vs. Predator Requiem, which is 12%. Because fuck that movie. Because it's garbage, yeah. It's garbage. It is hot trash.
Review of 'The Predator'
01:31:00
Speaker
um The meta score is a 48, based on 49 mixed or average critic reviews, which... that's not I mean, that's more fair. It's not quite fair enough, but you're close. You're getting there. No, like agreed. And Tucker, would you care to take a stab at the letterbox score out of five?
01:31:19
Speaker
Now, did we agree last week that I was going to do this within three, within point three or point two? You've been doing it within point five, but if you want to challenge no yourself, you can do either.
01:31:32
Speaker
No, that we had a whole like 10 minute argument about this in last week's episode, Stephen. You don't recall this? I have slept since then and not particularly well. Wowzers. Okay.
01:31:42
Speaker
ah Well, so I, I'm going to say I'm going to go within three. Now three is going to be my one point three. So I think generally the reception of this was pretty bad and I don't think there's really any jokes to be made about that. So I think the letterbox score is going to reflect the,
01:32:04
Speaker
the general audiences score and the critics score which is i'm going to say it's between a 2.4 and a it's too too low it's high point one you went oh high a an actual duck you went too high how It's 2.1. I have a feeling neither of us are going to rate it that low, though, Tucker. Out of five stars, how many are you giving to the Predator?
01:32:39
Speaker
Look, this is a solid three. Agreed. ah Just a star and a half alone, just for no matter how good or bad it is, it's just constantly engaging and I'm having a good time. 100%.
01:32:53
Speaker
hundred percent yeah It chugs along too. It fucking chugs along. it's And again, the first two thirds of the movie are darn near unimpeachable.
01:33:05
Speaker
Again, I have my issues with the way certain things play out, but the first two thirds are darn near unimpeachable. And the third act is, it's messy, but it's fine. It's fine and the lot of cool shit happens. Like I say, the best part of the movie happens in that shitty third act.
01:33:21
Speaker
I also love when the when the the shields are going up and the one dude's on the top and the one dude's on the bottom and the one guy can't make a decision and gets just cut in half. Just straight up cut in half. I'm okay with how predictable that was because there were three dudes. But like I'm like, yes, well, what else are you going to fucking exactly you Give me the thing i expect and need, apparently. That's a fucking cool kill, too. Like, why wouldn't you? Poor guy, but also that he just slides down.
01:33:53
Speaker
and just hurtling off into the Before he dies of loss of blood, he just, like, smashes into the earth at like a hundred and thirty miles an hour it liquefies you know yeah no big at last one does As one does. No, this is a gentleman's sex. Like, again, it's it's fun. It's a Predator movie. Like, the Predators show up and they fucking rip skulls off with spines attached and they use their, like, projectile weapons and a kid gets nerfed for throwing a can at a kid's head.
01:34:27
Speaker
Like, it's great. It's fucking great. Like, we're having a good time. completely nuked. The whole house. First of all, and not before like he shoots a gigantic hole in the man.
01:34:39
Speaker
Right. And then blows him up.
01:34:44
Speaker
Like, first I want to let you know I mean business, and then you have passed away. Kaboom. Yes. So good. So fucking good. Fantastic. And then he picks up the mask and just kind of like does the what at the kids and they the boys and they just go like scampering off.
01:35:00
Speaker
Yes. I gotta say, Steven, I gotta say, Steven, I think I like these Shane Black and Fred Decker fellows. Yeah, I think like I like the stuff they do.
01:35:12
Speaker
Promising careers ahead of them both. I think we have similar sensibilities is what I think. we understand each other not the final film that we've covered from either of them so we will definitely be back for more fred decker and more shane black so i can't wait till we do monster squad it's gonna happen such a special special special movie it is it's very good And I mean, we've got like, we just found out. What is it that what's what's their faces? The the Brendan Fraser and ah Rachel Weisz are coming back for a new mummy movie. Like we've got.
01:35:49
Speaker
um Yeah. I had no idea. Just got an idea. Is Jet lee coming back too? I don't know. But I'm I'm I say Dwayne the Rock Johnson coming back. I highly doubt it.
01:36:01
Speaker
But here's what I'm hoping for, Tucker. I'm hoping for a post-credit sequence in which Hugh Jackman returns as Van Helsing or I fucking riot. Oh. Oh, Steven.
Crossover Speculation
01:36:13
Speaker
I pitched that the way. There was no mummy in the Helsing. I pitched that all the way back on our Van Helsing movie. Because he's immortal. Or on our Van Helsing episode in our very first season. Our second ever guest, Hope Lichner, was on that episode.
01:36:27
Speaker
And I pitched that idea as a, I pitched Rick and Evie, or Rick and Evie showing up in the post-credit scene for that one to tie those two franchises. Because Steven Sommer fucking directed both of those. yeah could have easily have tied those two franchises together. They're very similar tonally, even though i would say that Van Helsing is is darker than...
01:36:48
Speaker
in tone like they could very much exist parallel to each other very easily like it's just both like separate yeah separate attempts to revise revitalize the monster the universal monsters franchise which is something universal has never successfully done fucking make it happen and here's the weird thing steven i don't give a fuck about a mummy movie like i recognize that they are classics for a reason i understand why people love them I just don't really have any.
01:37:19
Speaker
I like them. i just don't really have any attachment to them. Sure. But I love Van Helsing. It's that Van Helsing is special. But to see those two come together.
01:37:31
Speaker
Damn. Would be great and Would be great. And then here's the thing. if If they did ah another Van Helsing movie with Rick and Evie in it, we'd have to cover it because you know why?
01:37:43
Speaker
We covered Van Helsing. We did. And so we'd get our we'd get our friend Hope back, and she would cover that with us. And so I'm honestly kind of angling for it. I would love to see it.
01:37:56
Speaker
You know, I have the 4K of that. It's also on my Voodoo. If you want to watch... Have you seen... No, The Fablemans. Oh, no, I haven't seen The Fablemans yet. I need to check that out. Wow. No, I'm sorry. I need you to help me get logged into Voodoo. That's what I need. No, so...
01:38:13
Speaker
you We were having a conversation and I was also having a conversation with myself because I noticed that Gabriel Lebel is in this movie. And that's the that's the kid from The Fablemans, man.
01:38:28
Speaker
I'm sorry. i was My brain was split. And he plays Lorne Michaels in Saturday Night. Yes, dude. I, too, have The Fablemans on 4K. Have you watched it? You've watched it, though, right? I haven't i haven't seen it yet, no.
01:38:42
Speaker
You've never seen The Fablemans. It was one of those, like, Kino Lorbers having a sale, and so it's, like, two DVDs. It's, like, two 4Ks for, like, $22. And so I bought, like, six, and I haven't watched of them yet.
01:38:56
Speaker
Dude, when you watch The Fablemans, let me know, and I will... like watch it with you and by watch it with you i mean like we will be in different places but we will be watching it at the same time and maybe we come together and ah do a special uh patreon episode impromptu about it who knows about the family um is is he one of the bullies i think he might be one of the bullies Is that who he
Gabriel LaBelle's Roles
01:39:24
Speaker
is? I didn't i didn't notice him at all. like He had to have been pretty young in his teens, right? like
01:39:30
Speaker
How old is he now? Which, I mean, i mean if he's like similar in age to Jacob Tremblay, he's younger than 9-11. He's born literally a year after 9-11. Jacob Tremblay is um i mean even younger than he is. So yeah, he could have been one of the bullies. Oh yeah, he has to be one of the bullies. Holy shit.
01:39:49
Speaker
Now I have to watch this movie again. Oh no. Oh no, watching the Predator movie Damn. I'm so mad. I fucking love Predator movies. They're they're great. too.
01:40:01
Speaker
Predator movies rule. i am I am very excited for Badlands. I have that like trepidation, like, is this going to be the one I don't like? Oh no, it's going to be good. Because i' I mean, I'm not thrilled with the design of the new Predator, but like...
01:40:15
Speaker
I'll go. I'll go. It's kind of similar to the mutated one in this one. They're kind of similar. It looks like this one's got like some like overtly human characteristics that I'm like, okay.
01:40:29
Speaker
But again, I'll give it the benefit of the doubt. Like again, I love a predator movie. I'll go fucking watch it. Yeah. For sure. ah even I don't even care. I love Predators, man. Predators rule.
01:40:40
Speaker
Predators, one of my top four favorite movie monsters of all time. um So yeah, this has been the Disenfranchised episode on The Predator. um And hey, we you can find us online on Blue Sky and Letterboxd and YouTube at DisenfranchPod.
Encouraging Podcast Reviews
01:40:54
Speaker
ah You can join our Patreon. We've plugged it a couple times, patreon.com slash disenfranchpod. For free, you can join the official conversation of the Disenfranchised Podcast. For five bucks, you get access to so much content, including all the shit that Tucker and I have mentioned throughout the course of this episode, ah and and a lot more as well. In addition, patreon.com slash disenfranchpod.
01:41:15
Speaker
ah Shoot us an email, disenfranchpod at gmail.com. Let us know how we're doing. And while you're on the internet, if you don't want to support us financially, ah support us on Apple podcasts, Spotify, wherever you get your podcasts, leave us a five-star rating and review.
01:41:28
Speaker
ah We would surely appreciate that. A little goes a long way in that regard. And it's been, think it's been over a year since anyone's actually reviewed us on Apple podcasts. So if you haven't done so yet, please do.
01:41:40
Speaker
know we found our audience, you but you know, and it can always grow. Maybe i would love to find out. And look, we're not everybody's cup of tea, but we're somebodies. And we appreciate those of you whose cup of tea we are.
01:41:55
Speaker
Oh, he is one of the bullies. I'm looking at the photos right now. Yeah, that is him. That's wild. Holy shit. It's little Sammy Fableman. Gabriel LaBelle. Yeah. Oh, and he's so good as Lorne Michaels, too. Have you seen Saturday Night yet?
01:42:08
Speaker
No, I'm not a Jason Reitman
Jason Reitman's Films and SNL Connection
01:42:10
Speaker
guy. Like, I know. Dude, but it's it's more like the early. Did you like Thank You for? You like Thank You for Smoking. Come on. I didn't say Thank you for Smoking. For sure.
01:42:18
Speaker
For real. I thought up in the air was alright. Okay, bye. No, dude. no Hey, come back. no But also watch Thank You For Smoking. And watch Saturday Night, Steven. Come on You're enough of a fan of... You're an SNL guy.
01:42:36
Speaker
Kinda, yeah. And it's it's like it's a good movie in general, but it's an SNL guys kind of movie. it's the It's the Jason Reitman self-masturbatory thing that he's doing these days that I just don't get for. No, no, no. sorry. He's going back to his roots. Steven, his roots, as they say here in Indiana.
01:42:58
Speaker
His tramp roots. Um... You can find me, ah Stephen Foxworthy, your host on Blue Sky and Letterboxd at Chewy Walrus. Do not find Brett. Don't do it. Stop it. don't Don't even try.
01:43:11
Speaker
Get out of here. don God help you if you do it. ah Tucker, where can we find you, though? ah Instagram, YouTube, Ice909, I-C-E-N-I-N-E, the number zero and the number nine.
01:43:27
Speaker
As always, ah just recently... posted a post from our last episode recording on my Instasgrams.
01:43:38
Speaker
hu ah So that's pretty cool if you're into that sort of thing. Also, Tuckmugs still exists. I need to change the the tagline to Tuckmugs.
01:43:51
Speaker
I need to change it to something other than it still exists. I'll work on But it does, though. It does every once in a while. And sometimes frequently.
01:44:02
Speaker
It'll go like three or four months without anything. And then like there'll be two or three posts in like a month. You never know. you never You really don't. You never know.
01:44:13
Speaker
That's the mystery of Tuck Mugs. The eternal mystery. Tuck Mugs is a blessing. And you never know when that blessing is going to come. Tuck underscore mugs on Instagram.
01:44:26
Speaker
The end. And that is our episode on twenty eighteen tes The Predator. Join us next week for another movie. ah If, in fact, this is not the last ever episode of the Disenfranchised podcast, ah we'll see you next week. And that means that I'm your host, Stephen Foxworthy, for The Absent Brett Wright The Very Present Tucker. Until next time, get to the chopper.
01:44:58
Speaker
Thank you.