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Episode 89: Powder featuring Sharon Cunningham
90 Plays2 months ago
Sharon Cunningham, a friend of the show and Chris’ first date, along with the crew are caught in a case of signing the contract before reading it and, unfortunately, we’re all watching Powder (1995). This film stars Mary Steenburgen, Jeff Goldblum, Lance Henriksen, and Sean Patrick Flannery and it’s been buried due to reasons that can be googled (but don’t do that). The attempt was to reexamine the film from the first date and have a lighthearted, good time, but this one got heavy very fast. It’s up there with Shallow Hal (2001), but we’re doing our best so tune in and do not watch Powder!
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Transcript
Content Warning and Podcast Introduction
00:00:01
Speaker
Hey, everybody, Chris here. I wanted to give you heads up. In this episode, we will be talking about child sexual abuse. This is obviously not going to be everyone's cup of tea. So we wanted to give you a little content warning in case you don't want to listen to that. That is completely understandable.
00:00:19
Speaker
And we hope you join us for another episode.
00:01:03
Speaker
Hello, hello, hello, and welcome to your favorite bad movie podcast. The only podcast that's brave enough to ask the question, if this movie is so bad, why did you take your first ever date to go see it?
00:01:19
Speaker
We're your hosts. My name is Chris Anderson. And with me, as always, we have the guy that reminds me in no way of anyone involved with this film, its production, or any of its characters, Mr. Greg Bossy.
00:01:33
Speaker
I am so happy that that was your choice because I was like, I don't know how it's going to go tonight. ah So we'll see. I like this outcome. and Yes. It's rare that I have it an occasion to genuinely hate and be mean to a film on the show. Yeah.
00:01:50
Speaker
All right. But I feel like this is one where it is truly 100% undeniably warranted. Yeah. Yeah. This film is indefensible.
Special Guest Sharon Cunningham and 'Powder' Discussion
00:02:03
Speaker
We do not have my lovely wife, Anna, here tonight, but we do have with us a very special guest. My very first girlfriend, the first girl I ever took on a date who I took to see the movie Powder, and I have now somehow made her watch the movie Powder again.
00:02:23
Speaker
Why am I torturing this poor woman? It's Sharon Cunningham. Sharon, how are you? I'm great. Thank you so much for having me here today under these weird circumstances. Yes, I really apologize.
00:02:39
Speaker
ah This was when I i hatched this plot. i had not ah conceived of all of its possible repercussions. I should have just asked you on to talk about a movie.
00:02:52
Speaker
ah Really, any movie would have been better than this. but Yes, and here we are. Maybe you can ask me back again if this goes well. I would. i am i owe it to you. No matter how well this goes, i owe it to you.
00:03:06
Speaker
ah Listeners, this week we're talking about the movie Powder. Yeah. And if you haven't seen Powder, don't. Here's just a short summary, though, to hold in your mind as we go throughout the episode.
00:03:28
Speaker
An orphaned teen boy is forced out of the only home he's ever known and out into the wider world of rural Texas, only to encounter a cruel world that spurns him just because of his strange affect, unnatural appearance, hyperintelligence, and electricity powers.
00:03:52
Speaker
I'm glad you got the powers in there. It's important. It's important that he has powers. Yeah. Powder has powers. They should have called it powers.
00:04:03
Speaker
Yeah.
00:04:06
Speaker
Greg, had you seen the movie powder? No, I mean, I knew about this movie. I mean, I didn't know all about this movie. This is one of those where I was like on my break at lunch or my lunch break at work. And I'm like, I'll see what powders. Oh boy. Okay. Yeah. And, but I just remember being about that, that, that white, the child who's all white.
00:04:27
Speaker
Yeah. And it is about that. And he seemed to, it's had something to do with lightning and I never was that interested in the concept. That's fair. It's not the feeling. Yeah, that was about the extent of it to me. i feel like I remember it like being a punchline and like family guy or something. And it felt like that's like kind of the level of powder.
00:04:49
Speaker
Yeah. It's in the consciousness. but Yeah. It's an obscure reference. It's a 10 percenter joke. Yeah. Wow, I really feel like it being a reference in Family Guy made it more relevant than it should have ever been.
00:05:02
Speaker
That's possible, actually. It should have just been forgotten. Yeah, that's possible. This should be confined to the dustbin of history. This should be more forgotten than something like secondhand lions. You know what I mean? This should be... Someone should say, no, I don't remember powder when you say powder.
00:05:20
Speaker
Is this one of those that they've tried to keep off of, like, Blu-ray or things like that? I'm sure they don't want too much powder scrutiny. I think they realize that the squeeze isn't worth the juice, especially in this day and age yeah to have people thinking about the movie powder.
00:05:38
Speaker
Yeah. Now, Sharon, when I asked you to come on the show, you do things have happened since then. One was, you said, i don't remember that being our first date.
00:05:54
Speaker
No. That's totally fine. Now that means hopefully at least you had also largely forgotten the movie powder. Yes, completely. Okay. Thank goodness. um And since ah we had watched it, you had asked me to make it very clear that this is not your favorite bad movie.
00:06:13
Speaker
Yes. I wanted it to be very clear that again, this was not my choice in any form and any way. This was your choice twice. And do you remember why this was your choice back in the day?
00:06:27
Speaker
i think it would have appealed to me as an outsider story. I was a weird kid. i feel like you, in the without seeing it, you're like, oh he's pale, he's awkward, he's a teenager, but he's still kind of ruggedly handsome, secretly. and like Not secretly, but you know, like...
00:06:48
Speaker
Yeah, but secretly. Offbeat hot guy, but yeah and also extremely pale and thin, which is very much you in high school. Yes, I was bony in high school.
00:07:03
Speaker
Really bony, very pale. Yes, very awkward. Very handsome. Oh, thank you. but I'll take it. I think you felt some empathy towards the character.
00:07:15
Speaker
It's true. I might have seen myself in Powder, which is unfortunate considering what I now see when I look at Powder. Yeah. oh That would make me the redhead chick then.
00:07:27
Speaker
Yes, you would be the very thinly scripted love interest for Powder. She's the best character in the whole thing. Yeah, she's she's the only one that seems to genuinely be nice to Powder.
00:07:40
Speaker
Yeah. She's the only one who has a soul. Yes, it's true. And briefly, she teaches powder how to love. Yes, very briefly.
00:07:50
Speaker
What a gift.
00:07:54
Speaker
Well, do you guys want to hear about ah the context research that I put into powder? Yes. Yes. Okay. I'm not even going to play the context bummer.
00:08:08
Speaker
Bummer alarm. Bummer alarm. This next bit is kind
Director's Controversy and Film's Reception
00:08:12
Speaker
of a bummer.
00:08:15
Speaker
I'm going to say, if you don't want to hear about Victor Salva, the director of this film, jump ahead to about 20 minutes. That probably ought to be in the clear. Powder came out October 27th, 1995. Okay.
00:08:32
Speaker
So that means we would have started going out the month after your birthday. we did. And... and i if If I remember right, that was the birthday party where Nathan Chang and I both tried to see how many Flintstones chewable vitamins we could eat.
00:08:52
Speaker
Wow. You have a good memory. That's something that sticks with you. i That also sounds terrible. Did it make you really sick? We ended up spitting up phlegm that tasted like metal. Oh, yeah. all about iron Yeah,
00:09:07
Speaker
Yeah. Don't do that, kids. and but I think that was both of our primitive ways of trying to impress you. Wow. That was for me. i think on some level, I think neither of us wanted to back down in front of you.
00:09:22
Speaker
I think I dated both of you. Maybe. I think you did at some point.
00:09:27
Speaker
So this was directed by a man named Victor Salva.
00:09:33
Speaker
Yeah. yeah It had three taglines.
00:09:39
Speaker
Between what is known and what is unknown... dot dot dot Powder. What? Not good, right? No.
00:09:51
Speaker
What? Tagline number two. Pure energy has a name.
00:10:00
Speaker
I mean, that is technically accurate. Powder! Yeah. The name is Powder. Yeah, the name of Pure Energy is Powder. That is technically accurate, yes.
00:10:15
Speaker
What this does help is it helps clarify that the name of the albino on the poster is Powder. Yeah, yeah.
00:10:26
Speaker
Tagline number three. An extraordinary encounter with another human being. Exclamation point. That's my every day. Yeah.
00:10:38
Speaker
Every day I get to have an extraordinary encounter with my wonderful wife, for example. Oh, it's true. that it That is, that is the one that I see written on the movie poster on the Wikipedia.
00:10:50
Speaker
Okay. It's, it's very anticlimactic. I think this is a tough sell in terms of tone and like what it is you're getting.
00:11:03
Speaker
It's also, how do you sum this up succinctly in any way? Well, I'll tell you what, I didn't. Yeah. So let's press on.
00:11:15
Speaker
So first and foremost, i need to mention that Victor Salva is a convicted child molester. Yeah. He was a convicted child molester when Powder came out.
00:11:28
Speaker
Mm-hmm. So if we turn out to be uncharacteristically mean about this movie, this is why. It was directed by a child molester. Victor Salvo was born in 1958 in Martinez, California.
00:11:44
Speaker
He grew up making movies with friends, but was disowned at the age of 18 after coming out as gay to his family. He spent his 20s working odd jobs and making films in his free time until 1986 when he made a short horror film called Something in the Basement.
00:12:01
Speaker
Something in the Basement won some awards, but it also got Salva noticed by Hollywood royalty Francis Ford Coppola. Coppola signed on ah to produce Salva's first theatrical feature, the little horror movie called Clown House.
00:12:20
Speaker
This was in 1986. I'll spare you the details, but Salva videotaped himself sexually assaulting a 12-year-old star of Clown House, Nathan Forrest Winters.
00:12:33
Speaker
Wow. Police found a cache of child sex abuse material in Salva's house. He pled guilty to assorted sex crimes and received only a three year sentence in state prison and only served 15 months.
00:12:52
Speaker
Since then, he has ah in no way and or in any way that I can find records of ah committed more crimes.
00:13:03
Speaker
it should be said. Now, once Salva got out, it took him a little time to work his way back into the director's chair. He was working some part-time jobs and writing scripts.
00:13:16
Speaker
But then in 1995, he was able to get back in there with a movie called The Nature of the Beast, a serial killer movie starring Eric Roberts and Lance Henriksen.
00:13:29
Speaker
This is when he establishes working relationship with Lance Henriksen, who returned for Salva's next project, Powder, which was released later that same year.
00:13:41
Speaker
Now, Powder was a much bigger release than The Nature of the Beast. It was produced by Hollywood Pictures and distributed by Buena Vista Pictures, both of which are subsidiaries of Disney.
00:13:54
Speaker
Disney claims to not have been aware of Salva's sex offender status until after shooting had been completed. Which you I have to imagine they didn't know at some point.
00:14:08
Speaker
You know what I mean? I don't think Disney would have consciously been like, yeah, yeah, this sounds good. This is a name we want to get into bed with this Disney. But they decided to go since it was already in post-production.
00:14:23
Speaker
And also they said that there were no minors on set. Obviously, I think that would have been in violation of Travis Parole. I mean, the guy who plays Powder is 30 years old at the time of filming he's playing a 16 year old.
00:14:37
Speaker
Yes. yeah Almost like children and adults are practically the same thing. Am I right? This movie is fucking disgusting. So, yeah, they they ended up finishing the film.
00:14:49
Speaker
Eventually, Nathan Forrest Winters found out. He tried to organize a boycott, but it was not very effective. Despite Winters' best efforts, Powder went on to make $30.9 million dollars at the box office, 20 of it from me on our first date.
00:15:08
Speaker
I want to apologize to Nathan Forrest Winters. I did not know at the time.
00:15:15
Speaker
Salva laid low for a few years after that because this ended up garnering a lot of press for him that obviously made it hard for him to get work. ah But then he was able to eventually scrape together the money to make a low budget movie in 1999 called Rites of Passage, which he then followed up with his biggest hit Jeepers Creepers in 2001.
00:15:37
Speaker
Also, don't watch Jeepers Creepers. That was a surprise. Yeah. And ah since then, he has used this franchise to get work and keep his career afloat.
00:15:52
Speaker
But that said, he also hasn't worked since 2017's Jeepers Creepers 3. So maybe Victor Salva is finally out of the public life and ah not in a position of authority or admiration anymore.
00:16:07
Speaker
I don't know. His Wikipedia says years active 1986 to present. yeah I mean, he could, he could have irons in the fire that I don't know about. I will probably not see them.
00:16:20
Speaker
He definitely has a Wikipedia photo that makes you want to punch him. He looks it. the Listeners go to his Wikipedia. He does look, I hate to say this. He looks like a child molester.
00:16:31
Speaker
he does i think this is his mug shop too and he's got like a shmarmy like this like yeah i did it like yeah he's got a shit-eating grin other teen movies of 1995 what else could i have taken my new girlfriend to see at the cinema down at stanford town center is that where we went I feel like this would have been a town center movie. This feels very town center to me.
00:17:01
Speaker
This wouldn't have been at like the Avon. wouldn't have been at ah Ridgeway. State. State open then. i think so.
00:17:12
Speaker
i don't know. To me, it feels it feels town center.
00:17:19
Speaker
Oh, so, that you know, we must have strolled around the mall together holding hands. Maybe I got you a drink from the juice bar. we got curly fries at A&W.
00:17:33
Speaker
oh my God. With horsey sauce? Yes. Root beer float. Hell yeah. and Talk about a first date. Yeah. i honestly a broken movie And then we watched Powder.
00:17:44
Speaker
I still dated you, I think, after that. Yeah, no, no. We had a good run. But maybe it would have gone better if I had taken you to see Clueless. We could have seen Clueless that year. That definitely would have been a better choice.
00:17:57
Speaker
love Better movie. Yep. We also could have seen Larry Clark's Kids if we had gone to the art house. That wouldn't have been a better choice necessarily.
00:18:08
Speaker
No, no, probably not. Empire Records, very romantic. No, that would have been a good choice. Babysitter's Club would have been an odd one. Sure. for us, yeah.
00:18:21
Speaker
Yeah. Hackers. Hackers would have been good. oh my God. That would have been good for us. That would have been more on point. Yes, definitely. ah ah Another much better choice than Powder. Listen, in hindsight is twenty twenty Yeah. i went to high school with one of the guys from Hackers.
00:18:37
Speaker
What? Oh, what? Jesse Watchers. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. I remember that. Yeah. Yeah. We also could have gone to see dangerous minds starring Michelle Pfeiffer and the song by Julio.
00:18:53
Speaker
Yeah. Was that PG 13? were just kids. and Yeah. Maybe not. Maybe not. Or we could have gone to see Angus, a movie I don't know much about. Probably young for us. I
Plot Overview and Character Analysis
00:19:05
Speaker
remember it. as in It's just like a movie about like making fun of a fat kid.
00:19:10
Speaker
I think pretty much. we Yeah. I wouldn't have gone for that. Bad vibes. Speaking of bad vibes, do you guys want to talk about the plot of Powder?
00:19:21
Speaker
I mean, that's what we're here for, right? I mean, we've got to. It doesn't stop unless we do it. i have a lot of issues with the plot of Powder. well, they make sense. Yeah.
00:19:32
Speaker
Let's talk about them.
00:19:51
Speaker
Plot bumper, listen to me. I'm gonna give you the plot summary. Come on, baby. Here's the synopsis.
00:20:04
Speaker
Plot bumper, plot bumper.
00:20:17
Speaker
So we get a very brief opening credits, ah ah white on black, and then hospital in what I must assume is the late 70s. It has a really good ambulance. It's like a Ghostbusters type ambulance. I was very excited for that.
00:20:34
Speaker
Yeah, it's like a station wagon with fins. It looks really good. It's beautiful. yeah yeah It's a mint condition because this is taking place in the past. Right. Where everything is clean. I didn't really get that part, I guess.
00:20:47
Speaker
It was the past. You thought Powder was just being born at the same time he was being found in his grandparents' basement? He's in eternal now? I just assumed it was in 1980. I don't know. ah Yeah, I guess it could be 1980. Yeah.
00:21:01
Speaker
Cause powder is supposed to be like what 15 in this movie. 15 or 16. Yeah. I will say that like, I couldn't really clock when the time period was until you see the windows going up and down and there's like, okay, so it's modern, I guess.
00:21:19
Speaker
Yeah. This could have taken place in like the mid eighties. Yeah. I feel like, and that might make more sense with the aesthetics of this ambulance.
00:21:30
Speaker
Hmm. But in any case, an ambulance rolls up and it wheels out a pregnant lady with a smoking belly. Which is so hilarious.
00:21:40
Speaker
Yes. Like, that's your first image. And soon a doctor says to dad, Anna didn't make it, Greg.
00:21:52
Speaker
Which is what I often have to say to Greg before we record. That's right. But I got to tell you, it is always weird to hear my name in the movie. And so in this habit, i was just like, oh, God. Yeah.
00:22:03
Speaker
Yeah. It's weird for all three of us on some level, I feel. Yeah. So Doc tells Greg that the baby has some abnormalities. Mostly you can tell that he's an albino just by looking at him, but there's some other stuff he suspects.
00:22:20
Speaker
So in the 1980s, there were no albinos? Yeah. I don't know. This part is very confusing to me. It's like, everyone's just like, they're terrified of an albino. It's like, it's not like it's very normal.
00:22:34
Speaker
Yeah. They're definitely looking at him. Like he's like a cave person. Like he's devolved. Or like he might not even fully understand language. Yeah. Like, no, he's just albino.
00:22:44
Speaker
Yeah. he Just pale. But also, well, they do have his brain hooked up to a brain testing machine. And this machine is going off the charts. This baby's brain is ah burying the needle.
00:23:00
Speaker
Oh, I thought it was a polygraph test. They're trying to see if the baby was lying. don't know how that is a brain thing. wait And the guy just shaking his head.
00:23:13
Speaker
He's not hungry. He's not crying. It's just that part of the equipment where I'm just like, I'm so used to like modern, like I lost yeah bought a lot of like yeah ah ER, Grey's Anatomy where I see like real equipment that does shit. I didn't know what that was supposed to be doing at all. It was just like the needle that goes back and forth. Like, is this an earthquake? Is he lying? i don't know. It was something. And it was just like,
00:23:37
Speaker
making was it making a picture like yeah it was like just scribbling in the entire line so it was just a huge black bar so admittedly i think the only analog we have to this is the polygraph machine that we see through media you know what i mean But then nobody's intervening. They're like, oh, this baby's in fucking distress. Oh, can I swear on this podcast? I'm sorry.
00:24:00
Speaker
yeah you can swear. This baby's in distress. It's the only baby there in the hospital. It's in the middle of the room. No other machines or anything around. Middle of the room. no one it's just There's like six guys just standing around like, hmm, this baby seems unusual. What a freak.
00:24:20
Speaker
they've They've never seen this type of reading before. It's really blowing their minds. Oh, yeah.
00:24:27
Speaker
So then we cut to, I'm going say about 15 years later. Wait, wait, wait. you miss You miss the father being like, he's not my son. i'm like yeah You're absolutely right. So I'm sitting there thinking like, oh, did the mom fuck someone else? Is this like, you know, like a... Sorry, again. She fucked an albino probably. oh Yeah. That's what he's thinking. It's a genetic condition. i have friends who are albino. Like, it's it's family really. like Yeah.
00:24:53
Speaker
But it can also, you know, it can be on a recessive gene situation, I think. Yeah, but... I don't know. um All the people I know that are albino, like it's pretty significant.
00:25:06
Speaker
Fair enough. Okay. So yeah, dad does deny his son powder. Dumps him right away. Like not my son. I'm out. Freak. Real piece of shit.
00:25:16
Speaker
m That's old Greg. Cut to 15 years later. Then we meet Sheriff Doug played by Lance Henriksen. And he's called in Jesse, a child psychologist that runs a home for wayward boys who's played by Mary Steenburgen.
00:25:35
Speaker
Oh, that was her job? Yes. It took me a minute to clock it. This is central where they keep talking about central. Yeah. it's like the central home for boys. Okay. This town, by the way, did you check the population of this town? It's 12,000 people, right? This town, a big town.
00:25:51
Speaker
The number of adults that we actually meet in this movie is like five. The whole town is run by these five people. Nobody else gives us a shit about powder. They figure the sheriff's got it. What do you want the mayor to get involved?
00:26:06
Speaker
He's got other things. It's me, the garbage man. How you doing, powder? mean, like any, like, i don't know. Sometimes life is like garbage, powder.
00:26:20
Speaker
Stinks. Mm-hmm. They have one child psychologist or like one lady who can like kind of handle. She's the best dang one they got. there's There's such a mystique built up. of I was like, this guy is a real freak. It's like outwardly, he's just an albino. Yeah. He also he has a very awkward demeanor.
00:26:42
Speaker
Yeah, but also, like, that's not like I had to call the only person I could think of who could handle this. It's like, it's just 15 or 16-year-old child. That's it. That's the whole thing.
00:26:55
Speaker
And, like, they're like, so oh, my God, he's such a freak. I don't know what's going on down there. And he's just sitting in the corner in the shadows, just like, oh. little like Yeah, his grandfather just died. sad boy. I'm a sad little boy here.
00:27:11
Speaker
Well, it appears that Grandpa Reed has died of natural causes last night. ah But he was also keeping his deformed and freakish grandson locked in the basement. Or that's what they assume when they find out that he lives in the basement.
00:27:29
Speaker
ah But it's actually just that he's very sensitive to light. yeah Right. But there's actually a lot of light in that basement. That was one of the things I noticed. It's not actually that dark. It's windows and stuff. But also yeah every frigging teenage kid wants to live in the basement.
00:27:43
Speaker
Yeah, it rules. That is dream. It rules. Yeah, my brother got to live in the attic. I was so jealous. Oh, that was a really awesome room. We used to sneak up there. I mean, your brother doesn't listen to this, does he?
00:27:54
Speaker
He does, but it's fine. that He won't. He'll understand. Okay. So, ah yes, he is a completely hairless albino child named Powder, roughly 15 years of age.
00:28:07
Speaker
Jesse asked Sheriff Doug to grab them some food so she could talk to Powder. He's no longer crouching in the shadows like some sort of gargoyle and is generally more pleasant to be around now that he's gotten a sandwich.
00:28:20
Speaker
ah Jesse's learned that he's memorized the dozens, possibly hundreds of books that are in the basement with him, but he's never gone to school and he's never watched television.
00:28:32
Speaker
They also they can't just leave him there as a 15 year old child. So they've got to take him to Jesse's ah wayward home for orphans and criminals and wards of the state and otherwise just the shittiest possible boys you could ever be around.
00:28:49
Speaker
Yeah. Which are a lot for a population of 12,000 town or whatever it is. There's a lot of teenage dickheads and they're all in this one facility. Like a lot. They get shipped in for the entire county.
00:29:04
Speaker
So he packs his little briefcase and he puts on his little suit and his little fedora and his little sunglasses. And he's off on an adventure. He's stylish for a kid who lives in a basement and has never met people.
00:29:18
Speaker
It's true. Those clothes are tailored to him. he's He's got almost like a Michael Jackson type look with the fedora and the shirt and stuff. Yes. Sure.
00:29:29
Speaker
But he also has very awkward posture. yeah Which is very surprising considering later on we see him take off his shirt and he is cut to shit. He is absolutely shredded.
00:29:40
Speaker
Well, he had did all that farm work. But not in the sunlight. Only at night. During the full moon, maybe. yeah um So as they lead him into Doug's police cruiser, all the police radios malfunction simultaneously, almost as though powder has electricity powers. Isn't that crazy? And then, of course, there's all the lightning rods on the roof. They're like, you ever seen so many lightning rods?
00:30:09
Speaker
I never thought I'd see somebody that was too white for you, Harley. Yeah. There was a lot of dunks on Harley. Harley sucked. No, I appreciated the dunking on Harley.
00:30:21
Speaker
So when Jessica gets him there, she tells him not to be afraid of the other boys who mostly look like the cast of a soft core gay porno about bullying. None of them.
00:30:34
Speaker
All of the actors look definitely over the age of 18. Yes. Yeah. playing teenagers So Jesse calls somebody on the phone to talk about how weird powder is. And then she sends him down to the cafeteria for some chow.
00:30:50
Speaker
Johnny, the head of the mean boys, who looks like an evil Eddie Vedder. Yeah. Oh, that's mean to Eddie. I'm just saying there's a passing resemblance.
00:31:02
Speaker
So evil Eddie tells powder that a part of the initiation at the wayward home for boys is that you had your first meal. You have to wear your spoon.
00:31:14
Speaker
You have to either wear it on the tip of your nose or you have to wear it in your asshole. So Johnny puts forward a lot of sexualized violence in this film.
00:31:24
Speaker
Yeah. Which is very unfortunate from a movie that is directed by a pederast.
00:31:31
Speaker
Yeah.
00:31:35
Speaker
So Powder decides to wear the spoon and neither on his nose nor up his ass. but instead he uses his electricity powers to make it stand straight up in the middle of the table before magnetically sucking in all the flatware in the room, forming a freeform sculpture of knives, spoons, and sporks.
00:31:59
Speaker
He then summons one final spoon and makes it dance and cavort across the table before the sculpture collapses, splattering everyone there with spots of mashed potatoes.
00:32:12
Speaker
And Johnny, he hates it when people do that. yeah This was the best special effects in the movie. I would agree. Besides the mom getting hit by lightning that we get to see later.
00:32:24
Speaker
Yeah. yeah There is a lot of good rotoscope lightning. I hate to say it. Rotoscope lightning fans do not watch Powder. okay So Sheriff Doug drives home to find his adult son exiting.
00:32:41
Speaker
His son merely says, Papa, and then walks away. it was really bizarre. Yeah. Oh, I didn't. Like, it's so unclear. yeah Yeah. Who the fuck is this guy?
00:32:56
Speaker
Just Papa. And then walks up. That's his dad. I guess that's Papa. It was just like they seem to have an interesting relationship, I guess. Lance Henriksen doesn't seem like the kind of guy to say, call me Papa.
00:33:11
Speaker
yeah It just doesn't suit him as a father figure. So yeah, the son then walks back to his car and drives home. Inside the house is Doug's dying wife, who Doug lovingly feeds ice cubes.
00:33:26
Speaker
This is all very depressing. yeah yeah Needlessly maudlin, one might say about Powder. Maybe. Maybe one would say that.
00:33:38
Speaker
The next day, Powder, he gets a physical. We get a little cheesecake, a powder with his shirt off. The doc says he's in great shape. Also, the doc clarifies that powder is completely devoid of body hair, which is a detail that a non-pedophilic director might omit from a film.
00:34:00
Speaker
And instead, we get to hear it several times. It keeps coming up. We get to almost see it At least three characters mention that this ah guy has no body hair. It's very strange and unpleasant.
00:34:17
Speaker
ah
00:34:20
Speaker
Jesse also tells Powder that if he likes, she can enroll him in the local public school next week. Powder, for some reason, thinks that this is a good idea. This is clearly a terrible idea. Yeah, of course. Powder, you should sit in your room and read some new books.
00:34:37
Speaker
I think that would be a better idea. feel like at 16, you could just opt to take the GED. I think at the very least, you could say, listen, I don't think public school is the right place for me.
00:34:49
Speaker
I don't think I should go. Right now, I'm going through a lot. yeah If Powder was so smart, he'd make space for himself. It's true. Communicate his needs.
00:35:01
Speaker
It's true. This is also where we learn that they're not going to spend the money to make his eyes red the rest of the movie. So they're like, oh, immediately contacts are available for you to have normal eyes.
00:35:13
Speaker
I hadn't thought about that. That makes, yeah. Yeah. and I'm sure that's a lot more comfortable for Sean Patrick Flannery. I'm sure those purple red contacts are not fun to wear. Yeah.
00:35:24
Speaker
Yeah. So Powder's first day in school, he has science class with Mr. Ripley, played by Jeff Goldblum.
00:35:36
Speaker
And Jeff Goldblum is like a very sort of woo-woo science teacher. Like he's talking about like biology and electricity and physics. And he just seems to be like just one of those science teachers that wants to get you excited about science, but not really teach you any science. Yeah. Like a science teacher that was trying to kind of like,
00:35:57
Speaker
I think he was of eye fucking all the students. Yes, he was very horny. He was very horny and inappropriate. Yes, very inappropriately behaving around these children in this film, unfortunately.
00:36:12
Speaker
But he's also very sexy. He is. No, he's he's still kind of built at this point. Yeah. Is this ah around Earth? Was he in Earth Girls Are Easy? was that? Yeah.
00:36:26
Speaker
Yes. That was one of my coming of age movies. but like Understandable. He's very attractive in this. in you know Walking down the aisle, he's got this like swagger to him, and he's like yeah making kind of like this inappropriate remark about, like oh, you're turning your head to him. you know The energy that takes you to turn your head. that part's really bizarre.
00:36:51
Speaker
<unk> Yeah, he does make two students flirt with each other. Once again, two 15-year-olds. Very inappropriate.
00:37:00
Speaker
Now... Two things catch Powder's attention while he's in class. One is a cute redhead was apparently named Lindsay. I didn't clock that at any point in the film, but the character was named Lindsay. I remember catching it at one point because I was like, I don't know. I try to write down the names. And at some point, it's like, thank God they said Lindsay. And then I immediately went to IMDb to write down who the actress was. yeah I think they say it like once.
00:37:25
Speaker
When we realized that it she's like some other character's daughter. at some point and they like yell, Lindsay, don't you talk to that freak or something like that. that's what it was.
00:37:37
Speaker
So it came late Yeah, that makes sense. Always good to not name the character until two-thirds of the There might have been something casual at the beginning. i think he might have said something like, ah Jeremy, why don't you at take a look at Lindsay over here? Right, yeah, that's fair.
00:37:53
Speaker
It's hard to... There's just such a weird moment to see a teacher be like, I want the two of you to make eye contact and feel electricity. It's like, this is... What is happening?
00:38:05
Speaker
Yeah, not appropriate. But yes, Lindsay appears to be the only student in the entire school that is not actively repulsed by powder. So that's pretty exciting for him.
00:38:16
Speaker
Yeah. And then also, ah Mr. Ripley shows up a ah he sets up a Jacob's ladder in the middle of class. I didn't know this is what this thing would be called.
00:38:30
Speaker
Yeah, that's what he was calling it. What would you call it? No, I don't know. I mean, so I've heard the term Jacob's Ladder, but I didn't know that it would refer to like an instrument like this. Well, it's, ah listeners to describe it, it's basically two antenna that are like slightly diverging from one another at maybe like a 10 degree angle. And an arc of electricity will run up between them, a glowing arc of electricity, that sort of thing. If you imagine Frankenstein's lab, this sort of thing in the background.
00:39:02
Speaker
I'm sorry, I got distracted by a very handsome looking cat. I'm sorry, she's just screaming in the background, so I thought picking her up would shut her up, but it didn't. like It's alright, we can all say hello, hi. Hello. I was going to be so jealous they didn't meet the cat. Look at that. I'm sorry.
00:39:17
Speaker
I have a lot of cats. There's nothing wrong with that.
00:39:22
Speaker
Yeah, so we have this like weird Jacob's Ladder thing, which is proving as a point that electricity, you could see it or travels or whatever. Electricity moves. It's always moving. It's one. It's always passing.
00:39:36
Speaker
I don't think that this actually needs to be as large as it is. like It seems relatively dangerous to me to have like an open arc of electricity in a high school room with just people just kind of sitting there.
00:39:49
Speaker
Especially, you're absolutely right, Greg. Yeah. It is dangerous because a bolt of lightning leaps out of it and strikes powder square in the chest. Which Jeff Goldblum watches for a while without... He's more fascinated than frightened. Yeah.
00:40:05
Speaker
feel like he's actually turned on. It's bizarre. Yeah, he has a very strange reaction. He's very interested. and From this point on, his involvement and interest in this boy is disturbing. But also yes his method of saving him was like, if my toaster's on fire, I unplug the toaster. Yeah, that's what I was thinking. I said he gets a chair and then smashes it while it's still plugged in. It just seems like that would electrocute him because it would come down the chair.
00:40:36
Speaker
Well, it was a wooden stool. Ah, yeah. But like wouldn't it still keep going? Because like there's still pieces left. Listen, I don't understand. I don't understand the technology. also agree that this was a bad solution to this problem. It doesn't make any sense. It's visually interesting. But like Primitive War, you literally pull the plug.
00:40:58
Speaker
But then then the creepy part happens is that Jeff Goldblum goes over to the boy and just like touches him like in this weird way. And he yeah he's not like, are you okay? He's more like looking at him with bizarre fascination.
00:41:12
Speaker
Like he he' just ended like he's looking at his arm. And I guess like i couldn't tell. don't have my glasses on when I was watching this, but maybe his arm hairs went up or something like that or something. Yes. Yeah. sounds Yeah. He's his the hair. Something is something. I think it's supposed to be static electricity making the hair in his arm. or Yeah. Stand up.
00:41:34
Speaker
But also it's like the hair on his arm is standing up because he's overwhelmed with the erotic energy. well Yeah. And then I mean, spoiler. Can I spoil? of course. We're spoiling. We're going through the whole movie sooner. and People shouldn't watch it anyway. So spoiler powder. Yeah. Don't watch. We are reconfirmed by this reaction and erotic energy later in ah another awkward scene where he storms in and is like, I've had the best sex since touching you.
00:42:03
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. Really disturbing. Yeah. Yeah. Really disturbing. So since we're since it's here, no you know, I'll wait to the point at which we get to it. I'll wait.
00:42:15
Speaker
We'll talk about this again. Yeah. go yeah We got to press on. I want to stop talking about powder at some point. Yes. So.
00:42:27
Speaker
Uh, yeah, he ends up getting, carted off to the hospital where they determined that he is uninjured and he leaves. Still, all of this has made Mr. Ripley very curious.
00:42:39
Speaker
So Jeremy walks home from the hospital, but he runs into Lindsay along the way. Have you ever listened to people from the inside? he asks her. This is so strange.
00:42:51
Speaker
Yeah. And then he moseys along. ah He's trying to make it out to the interstate, but Sheriff Doug and his buddy, Deputy Dipshit, stop him to convince him to return to the boys' home.
00:43:04
Speaker
The next day, Patter has a meeting with the Department of Education or the school board or somebody from the state, something. And they tell him that the IQ test that he took off screen indicates that he's the smartest person who ever lived.
00:43:19
Speaker
This is fantastic. Off the charts. Immeasurable IQ. We have given you a test and we can determine that there has never been an intellect like you. And I love that they don't show him acing the test.
00:43:33
Speaker
They just tell us he did it. Yeah. I was even unaware. Like, it's just like, remember that IQ test you took? it like Yeah, this is the first mentioning of it. You took an IQ test? That was part of one of the battery of... Why'd you give him an IQ test?
00:43:48
Speaker
Well, it turns out they did it because it he's the smartest person that ever lived. And then he gets interviewed by the, I mean, the character from Twin Peaks that I. Yeah. He's from Twin Peaks. me wise is He's from the state.
00:44:03
Speaker
And Wise thinks that maybe Powder cheated on his test. And Powder's calling him out about it. He doesn't say it. He doesn't say it. Powder reads his mind. Yes. Powder uses his mind powers.
00:44:18
Speaker
Yeah. Why doesn't he use this more often? His mind powders. He's probably choosing to ignore what he's learning. Yeah, maybe he figures it would be awkward to be constantly calling people out for reading their minds, so he has to act like he doesn't Yeah, and especially like if you don't want... It's probably more powerful people don't know you can do it, so if you keep advertising it... Yeah, he doesn't want to get hunted like some sort of Frankenstein.
00:44:41
Speaker
And maybe he's got maybe he has to turn it on and off. I don't know how powder powers work. It's true. But he then demonstrates his electricity powers. He blows up all the light bulbs. He can control them, but also not control them.
00:44:56
Speaker
He has some control over them. Yeah, guess. I don't know. no He still needs to learn and grow. He needs a Professor X. Yeah.
00:45:08
Speaker
and i don't know if I don't know if we want to apply too much scrutiny to powder. I certainly would love to stop scrutinizing powder. yeah But it's it compels you in a way. ah So...
Powder's Powers and Transformation
00:45:21
Speaker
ah Yeah, he smashes all the light bulbs and everybody's like, whoa. He's like, I just want to go back to my grandparents farm. But instead he gets taken on a camping trip for some fucking reason. yeah This is so random. Yeah. Yeah. Once again, not set up at all. Just all of a sudden powder is at camp.
00:45:40
Speaker
Yeah. And again, like, there's only five adults in this fucking town. So it's the police officers that are yeah two two police officers in this town that are taking all the wayward boys all together camping.
00:45:53
Speaker
Yes. za Sheriff Doug sees Powder sitting alone on a tree stump and he talks to him and Powder tells him that his mother was struck by lightning during labor. And then we get to see it in a flashback and it is fucking hilarious.
00:46:09
Speaker
It is. And this means Powder basically like Powder attracted the lightning to him. Right. Powder killed his mother. Yeah. Yeah. Because he couldn't control his electricity powers from the feet from the womb.
00:46:22
Speaker
when he was still a baby, but yeah he also remember he was fully conscious as a baby. Yeah. That was a weird person. Like I remember it. It's like, I remember being born Dune or something. This is insane.
00:46:34
Speaker
It felt like his memory is from the outside. Cause like what we were seeing, was that his memory? I think they couldn't show it from his POV, if that's what you're looking for, because we would have just been seeing the inside of this lady's uterus. And I don't know. it Flash of light. Yeah, I don't know if it's really possible to truly understand what Powder witnessed when he had that memory while he was inside the womb being struck by lightning.
00:47:01
Speaker
But what was happening? Like, she was, like, running the rain, and it was just, like, she was just wet. She was trying to get to the car because she was doing the Yeah, because the water broke or something. I'm pregnant. I'm so pregnant with electricity.
00:47:15
Speaker
Get in the car, Greg! Gosh. And then he doesn't drive her to the hospital. He waits for an ambulance to come. car was there. that's because yeah she got struck by lightning. yeah And that one is like, I don't know if I should move her.
00:47:28
Speaker
Yeah. I'm not going to fault Greg for that one.
00:47:33
Speaker
Let's press on. We have a lot of powder. It's okay. I'm going to try and speed through this. The camping trip, though, is very boring trip. The camping trip is insane.
00:47:46
Speaker
Yeah. So the next day, Powder goes on a hike where he meets a friendly skink, but his bonding with the skink is interrupted by Johnny, threatening to shoot Powder in the face with a hunting rifle. So at this point, I just wrote Chekhov's rifle because it's like he has to kind of shoot him now, right?
00:48:03
Speaker
Right? don no No, because another gun goes off. That's right. This is fired by Deputy Dipshit into a deer. ah He bagged a doe, and the doe is slowly bleeding out on the forest floor.
00:48:17
Speaker
Powder is visibly upset. So he lays a hand on the dying deer and another one on Deputy Dipshit. And he transfers the emotional experience of dying from a high-powered gunshot wound from the deer to Deputy Dipshit.
00:48:36
Speaker
Needless to say, Deputy D doesn't like this experience. And it also freaks out Johnny and his entire gang of pricks who are all there. The deputy deserved this. It's true.
00:48:48
Speaker
It's a powerful scene. This is, I think, when power is at its best. Yeah. Yeah.
00:48:56
Speaker
When he gets back to town, Jesse and Sheriff Doug question powder about what went on. And he uses his mind powers to smash up a bunch of glass around Jesse's office before asking, how long do you think I'll let you keep me here?
00:49:12
Speaker
so Which is a very good point. Yeah. yeah Why hasn't, like, if this all sucks, like, why didn't he get out of town sooner? Maybe he didn't want to kill everybody with electricity powers. Maybe he figured that would be more trouble than it's worth.
00:49:28
Speaker
It seems like he would be able to find another way out. Like he could get up in the middle of the night and leave, you know? It's true. He's not using that big brain of his. Yeah, I mean, because it seems like it seems like realistically, like he could probably just zap a lock and get out of. If they lock the doors to Central, he'd just zap that and just leave. I mean, he could just burst a hole through the wall.
00:49:51
Speaker
Yeah. He's got a lot of options. He could just fly. And it's also weird because it's this almost seems like a threat in a way. And then it's not that.
00:50:02
Speaker
So later on, Mr. Ripley finds Powder in a cafeteria and he tries to befriend him to get him to think of the possibilities available to him as a great leap forward in human evolution.
00:50:16
Speaker
You can tell that Powder is starved for affection in this cruel world. Yeah. And this is back to the Jeff Goldblum sexy thing. Yeah. So yeah this is a cafeteria, an empty cafeteria, all alone in the dark.
00:50:30
Speaker
This is him coming out they're like, ever since I met you, Powder, I've had the best sex of my life. I'm a brand new man. and i literally says Yeah. Yeah.
00:50:41
Speaker
And then I need to touch you again, you know, weird, creepy way. It's, it's, it's also bizarre that this is more or less a speech that's given in the fly.
00:50:53
Speaker
Like in the fly, Jeff Goldblum is like, I'm more stronger than I've ever been. And I can fuck you like crazy. and it's just like, how is, how is it like, I don't think it's an allusion to the fly, but it's just weird that I'm getting to hear Jeff but Goldblum give this speech again. But in this context,
00:51:11
Speaker
Yeah. It's so out of place and so bizarre. It's so weird. And there's this like weird visual power dynamic going on where powder is on the table and he's small and kind of like crouched down and Jeff Goldblum's this like looming sexual Adonis type guy. Right. And Goldblum's a big dude too. He's a big dude. And like leaning in on him. And he just like, he does that weird, something I've never seen a human being actually do is do that weird face touch yeah brush the back of his hand it's like what is who who wants because i was just thinking like just hug the guy if you want to show some affection that's not creepy but in this context i don't know if that would also work so but do you touch your love love persons that way like do you just ever walk up to anna and be like my dear here's the back of my hand rubbing down your face like i will later but see how she reacts
00:52:13
Speaker
I bet poorly because we just watched powder two days ago. yeah And, and we'll definitely know what I'm referring to, ah which is of course a child caress or a, sorry, a teacher caressing the child of a student lovingly.
00:52:28
Speaker
So weird. So i'm very bold. Hairless like he meant because this Jeff Goldman also is fascinated With how hairless he is Because he's like he's full body electrolysis Yeah that part's really weird too He's like he's pure electrolysis It's like this is an insane statement Yeah Especially because he has eyelashes No Boom and also get out there All the cars he's driving in All the time i mean there's a lot of plot holes in this
00:52:59
Speaker
Yeah, it's ah not tight as a drum. And that's the my main complaint. Oh, definitely. um So later on, Sheriff Doug comes to the boys home to pick up powder. He found out about the Vulcan mind meld that powder did with the deer and deputy dipshit. And now he wants powder to do to the same thing with his him and his dying wife.
00:53:21
Speaker
Powder does and it's very touching and then the wife dies and Sheriff Doug reconciles with his estranged son Steven. Steven. Steve.
00:53:31
Speaker
Steve. And why were they estranged? um It doesn't matter. I'm really glad that they did not devote time to that. I have a feeling that this original script was much longer and it was cut.
00:53:46
Speaker
i This feels like there are missing gaps here and there. Yeah. Yeah. And thank God they were cut. I was so happy when I saw this was under two hours.
00:53:57
Speaker
just under is an hour 50 think yeah still too long it should have been zero minutes you skipped over how deputy dipshit is now like he's not he refuses to carry a gun anymore he's just like i'm trying to skip over as much as i possibly can i've been oh but i liked it he turned into like a like a big pussy vegan or whatever he was it's true it is good and he he can't even be a cop anymore because he can't carry a gun you're carry a gun So the next day, Powder is on a date with Lindsay. I guess they set this up at some point. That would have been an exciting scene to see. Anyway. They did kind of set up that the county fair was happening during the medical scene. You have to go to the county fair.
00:54:43
Speaker
And indeed they do. I also had a sense that maybe it wasn't a date. They just found each other there and it turned into a moment. Could be. ah So they talk about his superpowers and then they start to kiss and then Lindsay's dad catches them kissing and he yells at powder and says that they can't hang out anymore.
00:55:03
Speaker
Hmm. Yep. With his girl gone, Powder decides it's time to run away. So he packs his briefcase and starts to walk away from the boy's home. When he gets momentarily distracted by the sounds of people, he hates playing basketball inside the gym.
00:55:20
Speaker
And he's like, oh, I want to check that out for no reason. some reason. This this this makes no sense. No sense. I'm out of here. Oh, wait. Assholes are playing basketball. I love sports and these assholes.
00:55:34
Speaker
I better go check it out. And they're playing skins versus skins, basically? Yeah, shirts versus... I mean... Basically. yeah was nice like Basketball. This requires further inquiry.
00:55:50
Speaker
And ah it is all those guys that ate him playing basketball. And so he decides to leave. But before he does, he stops to admire another teenage boy who whips off his shirt and starts pouring water all over his muscled torso in slow motion. Why is this happening? I know. I don't know. I don't know.
00:56:11
Speaker
Why is it shot like this? I don't know. No idea. No idea what's going on. And that man has very luscious, beautiful hair. Yes. Long flowing hair. was like, is it supposed to be that he's like kind of drogenous, but he's also kind of muscular. Like, I think, we don't even know this kid. This kid is like, this is the only time we see this kid. Yeah.
00:56:33
Speaker
Yeah. Uh, Now, the boys catch him sneaking a peek, and they start messing with him and pushing him around stuff. and They steal his hat.
00:56:45
Speaker
And Powder's like, you your father stole your hat that was your father's hat. And he called you a little fuckface. And then he beat the shit out of you. And he's like, yeah how do you know that?
00:56:57
Speaker
ah now And then ah they're going to like yeah really fuck him up. But then they see that it's raining outside and they see the powder is like, oh, they he's scared of the rain. Let's take him out in the rain. take him out yeah And as you might expect, they rip all his clothes off and push him into a big mud puddle.
00:57:19
Speaker
Yeah. You didn't really expect that in all honesty. Yeah. Yeah. They really could have skipped that part. Because you now have a ah nude, muscle-bound teen rolling in the mud.
00:57:32
Speaker
and then when Powder emerges covered in filth, he hits them all with a ball of force. ah It hurtles all his enemies outward. But he's also like, he has this magnetic thing where he's just pulling the buttons on their pants. Like, yes I forgot about that. I forgot.
00:57:55
Speaker
And then the pants are coming undone. Yeah. hadn't. I, e wow. There's so much to take in that. I didn't even take that in realistically. Really, really an unfortunate choice that happened. There's so much of this.
00:58:08
Speaker
Yeah. Just. talk Yeah. And then, ah but yeah, they all get hit by an exploding ball of force, like an area of effect World of Warcraft situation. I thought he got struck by lightning and that's what sent everybody out.
00:58:21
Speaker
It was like a Kamehameha situation. Sure. But in the fracas, Johnny's heart has stopped. But Powder uses his electrical powers to defibrillate Johnny and revive him.
00:58:35
Speaker
He then runs back to his family farm only to find it boarded up and repossessed by the bank. They even took away his precious books that he all has memorized anyway. yeah Soon, Jesse, Mr. Ripley, Sheriff Doug, and Deputy Dipshit all find him there.
00:58:56
Speaker
They want to help him run away and start fresh. And Powder seems like he's going to take them up on the offer. But then instead he turns and Naruto runs towards the nearest storm cloud, which hits him squarely in the chest with a lightning bolt that turns him into lightning as well. And then blissfully powder is over.
00:59:23
Speaker
We made it through powder. We sure did. Funeral thoughts. Oh, sorry. The worst ending. I mean, I was like that. It was very fast. It was pretty hilarious to watch someone turn into lightning and think that this is like the cathartic, serious moment.
00:59:43
Speaker
And the lightning was like coming out of the sun in between clouds. Like it was, it was weird. It was very strange. And you had like Jeff Goldblum looking up at the sky and smiling and he's like powders, John the Baptist. Now he's going to go out and like spread the good word of powder. I feel like that's going to be it the rest of his life.
01:00:06
Speaker
yeah Final thoughts, five-star ratings, Greg, why don't you kick us off in terms of watchability and weirdness on a five-star scale? Where did you land?
01:00:18
Speaker
Yeah. So powder, right? Powder. so I've got a real interesting way that I'm handling this one. Understandable. I'm going to tell a little story here that something that this movie reminded me of that I like. Okay.
01:00:33
Speaker
In the Thomas Pynchon book called Against the Day, there's a father who's got a daughter. He's a single father in the Old West. He's a photographer and an anarchist. And he's blowing up railroads at night. He doesn't have a lot of time. He feels bad.
01:00:46
Speaker
And there's a lightning storm and a piece of ball lightning comes down. And this is just one chapter in the book. Piece of lightning comes down. Turns out that the ball lightning is sentient, starts following them around, talks to them, hangs out with a little girl. It's kind of something that she can spend some time with. The other father's blowing up the the tracks and stuff.
01:01:06
Speaker
And then there's a storm that comes and the ball lightning says, well, I've got to go. My family is here. I've got to join them. And the little girl says, well, will I ever see you again? And the ball lightning says, if you do, I won't be the same.
01:01:20
Speaker
And I've always liked that chapter in the book. if This movie kind of reminded me of that because it was so lightning based. And as he turned into yeah lightning, I was like, I think I just would have rather reread that chapter than watch powder.
01:01:34
Speaker
That does sound much better. I'm going to give it a watchability of zero and I'm going to give her a weird of four. Yeah, I think that's fair. i also gave it a watchability of zero. Uh, after doing my research,
01:01:50
Speaker
I determined that Powder was also written by Victor Salva and was partially based on his experiences while he was in prison. Oh. So it's not hard to see this movie as Powder as a proxy for being a convicted child molester.
01:02:10
Speaker
And so to make a Messiah story where your main character is also a convicted child molester is genuinely disgusting. This is a truly rancid film that radiates evil.
01:02:27
Speaker
Do not watch it. yeah I am going to delete it from the plex and for weirdness. Yeah. ah I'm going to say, Yeah, and this is going to be in our, obviously, top three evil films, along with ah ah My Father the Hero.
01:02:49
Speaker
oh yeah. And Shallow How. Yeah. I think this one is taking our new evil crown. Yeah. yeah Which is very weird to have to think about.
01:03:04
Speaker
So I'm going to give that a... ah A solid four stars for weirdness. Sharon, if you had to grade this out of five stars in terms of watchability and in terms of weirdness, where would you land it for both?
01:03:20
Speaker
Oh, okay. So
01:03:25
Speaker
I don't want to watch it again, especially with the associations. yeah I do appreciate it. And that only that I have watched it twice now.
01:03:37
Speaker
to connect with Chris. And that makes me happy. Well, that's very flattering that you would watch powder for me twice. twice I will take that as a compliment. is Zero watchable. Like I would never watch again.
01:03:50
Speaker
no um And weirdness. I don't think it was weird enough. I think it was just creepy. So I'm going to give it like a two because honestly it could have been weirder. Like the weirdest thing about Potter is that he's albino. Like, uh, that's not that. He's also pure. He's electrolysis. That's pretty strange. He's pure electrolysis. He's completely hairless. But he could have had weirder things about him. I don't know. That's That's true.
01:04:22
Speaker
and In like originality of weirdness, like interesting weirdness, it's like a two. Yeah. Well, if you guys want to hear something really weird, I've got some great stuff for our next segment.
01:04:37
Speaker
It's the review review. Boy.
01:04:46
Speaker
Review, review. Where we review reviews. You wrote review of the film.
01:04:58
Speaker
Now we're going to review you. Review, review. Review, review.
01:05:18
Speaker
Review, review. All
01:05:27
Speaker
right, so as I mentioned, these are all 10 out of 10 reviews that I pulled from INDB for the absolutely disgusting film Powder. The first review simply titled Powder.
01:05:43
Speaker
If someone like Jeremy was born 2000 years ago, they may have named him Jesus Christ. Wow. If someone like Jeremy was born on the 25th of May, 2012, they may label him as the second coming of Jesus Christ.
01:05:59
Speaker
This was written in October of 2005. So I don't know where they were getting that date from. it's the Isn't that the, was that like... Must have been a predicted second coming. Or one of the calendars predicting the end of the world or something. Yeah, Nostradamus situation maybe.
01:06:16
Speaker
The Mayan one maybe. was Yeah, that's what I was thinking. 2013, I can't remember. This is a excellent movie with a lot of hidden meanings.
01:06:28
Speaker
one may thinking One may be thinking where Jeremy went to at the end of the movie. He did not die. He progressed to a higher form of life.
01:06:39
Speaker
Amazingly, he transgressed tens of thousands of years of evolution within seconds. This reminds me of other similar stories like the Green Mile and Peoho Nomen.
01:06:53
Speaker
Sean was a real treat to watch. I guess his role made the movie. Hopefully Sean will become a good actor after all. Very well done.
01:07:06
Speaker
huh
01:07:08
Speaker
Review number two.
01:07:11
Speaker
Very good movie. Great actors. A movie to make you think. I think this movie was wonderful. I love the way Jeremy Reed, a.k.a. Powder, could communicate with animals and feel pain of others and read minds and make other people feel the pain.
01:07:30
Speaker
I think this movie should not be judged on the director just because he did a bad thing, which I agree. he did a horrid thing, but the movie itself is the subject here. I have seen this movie close to 60 times and I enjoy watching it over and over.
01:07:47
Speaker
Now this review was written in 1998, which means this person watched this on an average once every two months. Wow. Wow.
01:07:58
Speaker
Wow. That's what I say when I mean these people should be in a cult. these are This is where you should be recruiting for your cult is in the 10 out of 10 reviews of Powder.
01:08:08
Speaker
This is crazy. Review number three. I am 22 years old and I love cinema. Okay.
01:08:20
Speaker
Powder is a touching movie that will be remembered by everyone forever. Forever. Thank you, Sean Patrick Flannery. You are a very talented actor and a wonderful human being.
Audience Reviews and Reactions
01:08:34
Speaker
Never give up. And thank you for Exist, Smiley Emoticon. I recommend this movie to the whole world. Dainey, Kissy Face Emoticon.
01:08:46
Speaker
All right. Wow. That review was from 2002. So before Emojis, I imagine they'd be doing Emojis by now. yeah I guess everybody has their own tastes.
01:09:00
Speaker
Yeah. Well, I got three more. I couldn't cut any of these. They're all so good. Wow. I apologize. This episode's running long, listeners. And once again, do not watch Powder.
01:09:14
Speaker
An ugly duckling story they tried to sell with effects. Great movies are not recognized in the theaters sometimes.
01:09:26
Speaker
400 blows was not for every everyone.
01:09:30
Speaker
Powder, who we meet as an adolescent, was born an albino. I'm going to skip this paragraph. It's just a recap. Powder is the story of an advanced being. And just as most of Powder's peers are unable to relate, react with repulsion, the movie found a little understanding from theater audiences.
01:09:50
Speaker
The film has an undercurrent of anger with fascistic conformity like that in total eclipse, not familiar with total eclipse. Don't know what he's talking about. There is an aspect of forbidden love. That's true.
01:10:06
Speaker
Perhaps the director willingly sacrificed popularity to have his say. Perhaps he dreamed that lots of effects gimmicks would help him reach a large audience. But overall, Powder is a universal and daring story powerfully told.
01:10:21
Speaker
It should go to the heart of anyone who has experienced or witnessed bigotry or intolerance of the unusual and the transcendent. A film of many levels. Some will find the ending as mysterious as that of 2001.
01:10:37
Speaker
For some, it will be elating.
01:10:41
Speaker
Two to go. Humanity portrayed to perfection.
01:10:48
Speaker
This movie should be shown to every high school student on the planet. o For a movie that is 14 years old, it truly captures the essence of consciousness and discusses the reality of life devoid of the man-made fantasy stories based on cataclysmic events that spawned God in and all his many forms and wars for that matter.
01:11:11
Speaker
Powder is an essential addition to the nutritional mind food needed for humanity to understand they must surpass technology and get back to nature. All actors delivered intimate performances, Lance especially.
01:11:26
Speaker
I believe this movie is a true masterpiece on all levels. It is fast becoming obvious that we are no longer paying any attention to the most precious creature in our world.
01:11:37
Speaker
Like the whale and many other species of animal, humans tend to torture, rape, and poison this creature to a level that is truly inconceivable. This creature is like any other living and breathing creature in our world.
01:11:50
Speaker
This creature has a name and it is called Gaia. If we do not change our ways, the creature we simply call a planet will slip into a coma. huh Nutritional mind food.
01:12:03
Speaker
Nutritional mind food. This is feeding your mind brain. Nutritional Mind Food. That's also the name of the supplement we're going to be launching next year, so keep an eye out. me Alright, last one.
01:12:19
Speaker
In a world of hate, there's powder! yeah The film was a very emotional film for the young and the old. I especially liked the links to the prophets in the Old Testament.
01:12:35
Speaker
and Sure. I enjoyed the comparison in The Green Mile and the healing slash insight between the two from both films. They ought to coincide together side by side on a weekend.
01:12:50
Speaker
The end was especially important because it shows we're not alone and we are so insignificant in this world. Thanks for a great movie to inspire the goodness in all of us.
01:13:03
Speaker
Our world is so full of hate and discord any anymore. The movies that I see on TV or the pay channels are full of smut, evil, negative, and anti-Semitism.
01:13:15
Speaker
I'd like to see more Christian films on TV, but Powder will suffice for now. I'm a Christian and I wept during the show and laughed also. Thanks again. Okay.
01:13:29
Speaker
Those reviews are... Those are the people that like Powder. i I fear the nutritional mind food person might be in a cult.
01:13:40
Speaker
That one is the Gaia one, right? Yeah. Yes. They really saw this as like an environmental movie or something? like they focused The environment did not come up at any point in this movie. I think they were they were extrapolating a little there.
01:13:59
Speaker
Maybe. Like powders mutations were caused by pollution? No, no, that it's indicative of a larger thing, maybe. Like, the way he's being treated is indicative of the full real problem. Of how we treat guy-up. Yeah, some something like that. Again, I'm not trying to look too close at these things or examine them too much.
01:14:19
Speaker
No, let's move on to the game. Yeah. ah And our game this week is, of course, a nice palate g cleanser. Let's do a little two out of three are real. Yeah.
01:14:31
Speaker
He's this guy, he's that guy But there ain't no way he ever played the third guy I know how you feel But two out of three are real I said I know how you feel But two out of three are real.
01:15:05
Speaker
Maybe we can talk all night.
01:15:11
Speaker
But now it's time for the segment.
01:15:20
Speaker
That's right, it's time for the segment. And that segment is, of course, the game. Two out of three are real. We're doing it with the filmography of Mr. Lance Henriksen. jaren i see you clock in a second window i don't want you pulling up that last hendrickson imdb oh so fucking guilty man oh i was like i know how does this guy have four films currently in post-production i thought he has he has 266 films so i imagine even with imdb open you still would be at a distinct disadvantage or you know you still would have a little trouble
01:15:57
Speaker
What I'm going to do, I'm going to read out three film titles. Two of them are going to be real films that Lance Hendrickson was in. One of them is a fake movie that I made up.
01:16:08
Speaker
I want you to tell me which one is the fake. This is buzz-in game. You'll buzz in by saying your own name. if you get the answer wrong, your opponent will a chance to steal.
01:16:21
Speaker
Everybody ready? Yep. Yes. All right. Question number one. Which one of these is fake? Daylight's End, The Time of Night, or After the Sun Fell.
01:16:38
Speaker
Greg. Greg? The Time of Night. You got it, Greg. Yes. I tried to overcomplicate saying night time.
01:16:52
Speaker
It's a great title, I have to say. Thank you. Question number two. Which one of these is fake? Sin Reaper 3D.
01:17:07
Speaker
Exorcism at 60,000 feet. Or The Return of Sky Ghost. Sharon. Wait.
01:17:17
Speaker
Sharon. 6,000 feet seems high, so I'm going to go with that one.
01:17:25
Speaker
I'm sorry. Exorcism at 60,000 feet is real. Okay, what are the other two? 60,000? Oh, is it like space? Like in a plane. Oh, in a plane. Snakes on a plane. Exorcism on a plane. that i would have blame in what are the What are the two?
01:17:40
Speaker
I'm excited that two of these are real. i'm soset I'm so happy. Sin Reaper 3D or The Return of Sky Ghosts. Sin Reaper 3D.
01:17:54
Speaker
Sorry, that movie is real. Yes, good. The Return of Sky Ghost was the Chris original. yeah I guess you have your next film to watch. Greg seems to be in Sin Reaper 3D. I'm I'm pretty i going to definitely track some of these down. It's in 3D.
01:18:10
Speaker
I'll see the Sky Reaper come for me. she Question number three.
01:18:18
Speaker
Hot diggity dog. Okay. The dog who saved Halloween. Or my dog, the champion. Greg. Greg. the dog who saved Halloween.
01:18:33
Speaker
Sorry, Greg. That one's real. Yes. Good. He's a Halloween. che Oh, I get to choose now. Yeah. Can you steal? Yeah. um Dogs aren't champions. They're all losers.
01:18:47
Speaker
All right. I'm sorry, my dog, the champion is real. Hot diggity dog was the thing. Well, that seems so real. Yeah, gotcha again. Another Chris original.
01:18:59
Speaker
Question number four. Monster brawl, the fate of Frankenstein, or Mimesis Nosferatu.
01:19:12
Speaker
greg greg mimesis nosferatu
01:19:19
Speaker
that one is real so halfway through i was like ah this is real sharon sharon sharon okay uh the fate of frankenstein correct jaren's on the board okay You've tied it up, but there's still plenty of game left. It's not going to be that easy to take time. And I'm not much of a fighter. Yeah.
01:19:44
Speaker
Question number five.
Movie Trivia and Friendly Competition
01:19:47
Speaker
My guns blazing. m Choke Canyon. West of hell.
01:19:55
Speaker
Jaren. Hi, Jaren. ha The first one. My guns blazing. Correct. yeah Sharon takes the lead. It's Choke Canyon's reel, so I feel like I'm winning in many ways.
01:20:10
Speaker
Yeah, it seems like we need to get ourselves a little Lance Henriksen film festival. Yes, we do. Question number six.
01:20:20
Speaker
Ginger Clown. The Unhealer. Blood-O-Tron. chair greg Sharon.
01:20:31
Speaker
Blood-O-Tron. Yeah! sharon Wow. Was that what you were going to say, Greg?
01:20:42
Speaker
No. Sorry for the delay there, but no. so That's all right. Question number seven.
01:20:54
Speaker
Johnny Handsome. A question of breakfast. The Slammin' Salmon. Sharon! Sharon.
01:21:05
Speaker
Slammin' Salmon. Sorry, the Slammin' Salmon is real. Okay, good. Greg? Greg? The question of breakfast. You've got Greg. Yes.
01:21:19
Speaker
Slammin' Salmon, I believe, is a broken lizard movie from the creators of Super Troopers. I'm much less excited now. Yeah, sorry. to break It is what it is.
01:21:31
Speaker
Question number eight.
01:21:34
Speaker
Garm Wars, The Last Druid, Godkiller, Walk Among Us, or Apocalypse Caliber Deicide.
01:21:47
Speaker
Greg. yeah Greg? Apocalypse Caliber Deicide. You've tied it up, Greg. It all comes down to this. Our last question. Oh, my God.
01:22:01
Speaker
Which one of these is fake? Hmm.
01:22:06
Speaker
Ding Dong Demon. he Vote for Santa. Okay. Or Bring Me the Head of Lance Henriksen.
01:22:17
Speaker
Sharon. Sharon? Vote for Santa. I'm sorry, Vote for Santa is real. Greg, can you lock it down? What were the two options?
01:22:29
Speaker
Ding Dong Demon. Uh-huh. Bring Me the Head of Lance Henriksen. Ding dong demon. You're correct. Greg, you win. all right.
01:22:42
Speaker
Commiserations, Sharon. Congratulations to Greg. It was a good fight. A very well-fought match. Hopefully you can come back and defend your honor.
Batty Awards and Humorous Highlights
01:22:53
Speaker
But before we can do any of that, we have to hand out some batty awards.
01:23:05
Speaker
Now you're messing with the Batty Awards. Now you're messing with the Batty Awards. Now you're messing with the Batty Awards.
01:23:15
Speaker
Now you're messing with the Batty Awards.
01:23:21
Speaker
Congratulations all the nominees.
01:23:30
Speaker
Congratulations to all our nominees. Congratulations to you, listener. You're almost done listening to us talk about powder. But first, we have to give out some Batty Awards. Greg, do you have a Batty Award? Yeah, going to go to, I think, Mary Steenberg and somebody in the last sequence just running in slow motion screaming, Powder! Because it's just fucking hilarious to see people. Just that whole sequence, just like, this is a furious moment. It's like, it's a bald man running into a field, turning into lightning while people run behind him screaming the word powder over and over. Also, his name is Jeremy.
01:24:06
Speaker
Yeah. And also he's Naruto running. I really want to get that very clear. The whole sequence is just like how anyone thought anyone could take this seriously is beyond me.
01:24:19
Speaker
So I guess that's the Batty Award. Well, I'm going to give my baddie award to the most ninety s piece of set dressing, which was the little marble track that Jeremy had. I feel like doing little marble tracks was a very 90s thing.
01:24:38
Speaker
so Yeah. So shout out to you, little marble track. Sharon, do you have a baddie award? Shit. Was I supposed to think of an award?
01:24:49
Speaker
Was there any? I mean, if you don't have anything nice to say about this movie. That's completely understandable. yeah I don't have anything good to say about this movie. In fact, my biggest issue with the movie is why the fuck was it called Powder? Well, because that's the main character.
01:25:05
Speaker
Right, right, right. But like, think about the setup, right? The whole concept of Powder was that it was supposed to be like a nickname that people used to bully him, right?
Critiques and Cultural Reflections
01:25:13
Speaker
Except he never met any people. Yeah. yeah it It was just the name that his grandparents called him.
01:25:19
Speaker
Which is cruel, right? yeah And then why would you tell anyone that you were called that? Be like, oh you know, well my grandparents are cruel assholes who called me powder. And then for her to shout it at the end of the movie, like, like that's it's weird.
01:25:34
Speaker
Like, there was no point to that. ah I did want to add in- Betty Award ah going to... I looked up the Japanese version of it because I wanted to see if it had like a really stupid name in Japanese. It's just Powder in Japanese. But the voice actor who does Powder's voice is like a very prominent voice actor who did like a lot of... like even up to now, he's in Dandan, he's in Ranma 1.5, he's in like Mobile Suit Gundam. He's one of the main characters in Escaflowne. Dude has a legit record. He's in Naruto, connection to the run.
01:26:10
Speaker
But why of all the movie choices to do did you choose that one, bro? like You had such a good... run for everything that you've done. and but so yeah you You should not have hitched your star to this wagon. This is <unk> don' laugh though lot better other things later on, but like, you know,
01:26:32
Speaker
I thought it was like a weird ah movie for him to have such a classy voice actor for and to be such a shitty movie. Well, it was it was a Disney film. You know, I'm sure there was some decent money behind it. But Sharon, you've been a fantastic guest.
01:26:51
Speaker
Thank you for having me. I'm very sorry that I have now made you watch the feature length film Powder twice in your life. It's okay, Chris. I have a really short memory, so I'm going to forget this movie in about a week. All right. Beautiful. Good for you.
01:27:07
Speaker
Are you doing anything these days that you want to plug? Do you have anything you want to tell our listeners about? Yes. Adopt cats. as Cats are great. I foster and I do cat rescue here in New Jersey. um i highly recommend
Personal Stories and Upcoming Events
01:27:21
Speaker
cats. That is what I'm plugging. Cats. love it. Listener, if you've been waiting for a sign to adopt a cat,
01:27:28
Speaker
This is it. Yeah. If you've made it to the end of powder and you were thinking, maybe I should get a cat. If this pushes you, let there be something good that comes from this. You deserve a cat for thinking about powder for this entire episode. We condone you getting a cat.
01:27:42
Speaker
So long as you're going to take care of that cat. Please. And don't name it powder. don't don't Don't name it powder. Not even as a joke. No. But listeners, please come back next week when I believe if I've got the schedule set up right, we'll be having a k Chris and Anna reality TV special.
01:28:02
Speaker
The episode that nobody liked last year is back. yeah And we're going to be talking about Gordon Ramsay's Hell's Kitchen. So you don't want to miss that. And also ah make sure that you like and subscribe and follow do that sort of thing.
01:28:22
Speaker
we'd very much appreciate it. And you can find us on blue sky. You can find us on Instagram and you can join our discord where we watch movies, at least once a month, we've um might be getting back to watching a TV show by now. So, and it's just a good crew of people and it's a good chance to hang out and talk about bad movies.
01:28:44
Speaker
Uh, so until next week, Oh, for our outro this week, I've just got some song that was inspired by
Conclusion and Alternative Recommendations
01:28:53
Speaker
powder. That's on the soundtrack to powder. It's called no one like you. I imagine it's about how there's no one like powder.
01:28:59
Speaker
Uh, so enjoy that. Uh, and until next week, be good and goodbye. Goodbye.
01:29:12
Speaker
I hated this fucking, it wasn't good.
01:29:16
Speaker
Bad time. Don't watch powder.
01:29:26
Speaker
Listen to this music. This is what powder thinks you want to be feeling when you watch powder. It's paste like powder. Yeah. It also was just not good. It was not good. Yeah.
01:29:39
Speaker
Can I plug a movie for people to watch instead? Absolutely. Absolutely. If you want to see like a pale dude who's socially awkward and stuff, you can watch Edward Scissorhams.
01:29:52
Speaker
Yes! That's much better than this. Much better option. Better music. Better cast.
01:30:04
Speaker
Is this talk singing going on? I don't know what this is. Your eyes are my secrets. Your eyes are my secrets.
01:30:16
Speaker
That's not something I want to hear in a child blisters movie. What?