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I Don't Understand... What Is A Movie?
38 Plays24 days ago
Have you ever watched a movie? If the answer is “yes,” then THIS MOVIE is for you. Thank you to WHERE WOLF author/creative director of Houston's historic River Oaks Movie Theatre, Robert Saucedo, for trying to help me understand what is a movie. Did I learn? You’ll notice, one or two lines up, I just called whatever this thing is a “movie.” So, probably not, huh? Ah, well. We had fun. And I love movies. Whatever they are!
And thank you to my beautiful DVD/BluRay collection for helping me put together this letter to the movies. Everyone says “love letter.” Not me. This? More of an audit. Enjoy this, our audit of the movies!
For Movies At The River Oaks Theatre:
https://www.theriveroakstheatre.com/
For WHERE WOLF & More From Rob Saucedo:
https://substack.com/@robsaucedo
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Transcript
Dislike and Bob Dylan's Son
00:00:08
Speaker
I like you. Well, I don't like you. Ow!
00:00:16
Speaker
This summer, get ready for the next slice. Do you mind? Bob Dylan's son directed American Wedding. That explains why The Wallflowers played over the ending credits to that film. um you think Bob Dylan goes that premiere? I don't think so. Why? his son. You think Dylan sees the movie at some point? What do you think? No pussy. um No dancey.
Humor and Hollywood Outbursts
00:00:40
Speaker
It was electric. Oh, I think e Dylan's, I think his son sent him a copy of the movie. Does Bob Dylan watch the scene where Stifler eats the shit? I like the scene where Stifler eats the shit, son. Good work, my darling young one. If you'll excuse me, I have some shit to attend to.
00:00:57
Speaker
I don't think he makes it that far. I think he falls asleep. Keeping that going and keeping it be funny and new things happening in it, it's very tricky.
00:01:10
Speaker
you camera Was Christian Bale right to yell at that cameraman?
00:01:16
Speaker
I don't understand is the expression I find in my life I say the most. I say it all the time. I say it out loud, I say it to myself. About everything. Oh, good for you! What's that, Christian? Are you here?
Introduction and Theater Insights
00:01:27
Speaker
We could all agree maybe that wasn't the right, but what about Tom Cruise yelling at the dude for not ah following COVID protocols in... I'm on Team Tom. the Mission Impossible, yeah. He never wants to see it again. don't ever want to see it again! Tom Cruise is one of those guys, like, if Tom Cruise ever yelled at me, I would just shit my pants.
00:01:44
Speaker
Light fuse.
00:01:49
Speaker
Oh great. Hi, welcome to the show. Hi, welcome to the I Don't Understand show. My name is Sam Fickman, a confused man in a dumb time. So it's fine. I'm a dumb man in a dumb time. Hey, it works for me. Perfect timing for me to be dumb.
00:02:03
Speaker
Great, we'll do a couple of those. My guest today is Rob Salcedo from the River Oaks Theater here in Houston. I do programming, projection, private events, social media, marketing, whatever I can do to keep this theater going. You are a font font, well, wealth. You seem to know so much about movies. I really appreciate you coming on here to talk about them.
Impact of Movies on Theaters
00:02:22
Speaker
Do you think Tom Cruise saved movies going to experience the Top Gun Maverick? I do you credit him for that? I 100% do.
00:02:28
Speaker
Because if he had released it too early, I think the movie wouldn't have been the hit that it was. I could lose him forever. I mean, that movie was a lifesaver in a year that we needed it.
00:02:42
Speaker
What ruled about that movie also is that was like just a thing to do over the course of that summer. Like, I have nothing to do this Saturday, I'll go see Top Gun Maverick again with a friend. You think that opportunity gets lost when they take movies out of theaters quick. Yeah, movies get yanked.
00:02:55
Speaker
I remember going to see like Jurassic Park in the theater like three times the summer it came out because it played the theaters for a year. ah You don't give movies these chances anymore, but if you leave movies in the theaters long enough, people will go back and do repeat business.
00:03:08
Speaker
Favorite decade for movies? Favorite decade for movies? Probably the eighty s You're a k Cronenberg guy. Yes, this is very pornographic material, but it's quite beautiful. I am a Cronenberg guy. He was the 80s or Cronenberg.
00:03:21
Speaker
But we also had like Paul Verhoeven working his magic in the late eighty s um You had like ah people like Tobe Hooper doing Poltergeist. ah you know Steven Spielberg making some of his best films in
Director Debates and Styles
00:03:34
Speaker
the 80s. Poltergeist?
00:03:35
Speaker
Yeah, Poltergeist. Did Spielberg direct Poltergeist? I'm going to give Tobe Hooper the benefit of the doubt. love Tobe Hooper. We're going cut that or I'll leave it in. We'll see what happens. But no, Spielberg probably didn't direct Poltergeist. But I love like the tactile like nature of like practical effects.
00:03:51
Speaker
Who Framed Roger Rabbit? One of the best. yeah How'd they make that with Bob Hoskins getting all angry and drunk all the whole time? This is gonna take years to make. How did they make Super Mario Brothers? That movie rules because it seems like it was impossible to make.
00:04:02
Speaker
Super Mario Brothers? That, and also Who Framed Roger Rabbit. I'll try! Bob Hoskins, what a brave... And then he was in Brazil. Chacha da Dunkirk spirit, know what I mean? Long Good Friday. Yes. Most importantly, he looks exactly like my cousin Phillip.
00:04:18
Speaker
And I love my cousin Phillip. current state, we got the comic book movies. What do you think, Rob? Are you going to see every new Marvel that comes out? Less and less excitingly, but yes. I think it's balanced. For every comic book film I watch, I feel like I need to watch at least three foreign films.
00:04:33
Speaker
What's in the briefcase of Pulp Fiction? Souls. Souls? don't know. Souls like shoes? I think it's feet pics. Yeah. Uh, no, i mean, uh... I think it's pictures of feet.
00:04:46
Speaker
I'm sorry, Rob. Rob's missing Mean Streets. They're playing Mean Streets at the River Oaks tonight, and instead he's here. Oh my... um Rob, what a hero. What a saint you are. the right choice So what do I do?
00:04:57
Speaker
I'm gonna go with Human Souls. Martin Scorsese and his mom. Did you see, uh, King of Comedy? One of the cutest dynamics in cinema history. What's the matter with you?
00:05:08
Speaker
Mom! That's me. And it's amazing because you see all these Martin Scorsese movies and you're like, this is the most violent man ever, correct? You make me pop your fucking eye out your head! He's just like his mom. I think it in his heart, he he's a romantic and and you see that in a lot of his movies that like even the Goodfellas is is as a certain a romanticism to it.
00:05:25
Speaker
Maybe not for Henry and his wife, but definitely between like Henry and his, ah you know, mentors, there's something there. Wherever your wonderful mother is, who I loved and adored, as certainly you did in your family, she's watching and smiling on you.
00:05:38
Speaker
I love directors. I love like watching a director's movies and noticing little things. that are like There's like things Martin du and Scorsese does in like his short films that he did in NYU that he still does in The Irishman. are you saying you don't remember doing any favors to Johnny Deo? You gotta answer that. To the best of my recollection.
00:05:56
Speaker
Is this thing working? I must recall in my memory. I refuse to answer. I cannot remember. It may incriminate me. I love noticing those through lines throughout like a director's filmography.
00:06:09
Speaker
Three, two, one, action. That's great. I love the Alien franchise specifically because it's a great example of every single one of them was by a different director.
00:06:19
Speaker
And so you get to see a different style with each one, like Alien, the first one, Ridley Scott. You see a sort of cold and calculated space style. Aliens, you see James Cameron with his like action style and everything looks blue. Everything's just blue.
00:06:31
Speaker
Alien 3, Fincher. So you get like this nihilistic, prison-y, dark shit where men are terrible. And then Alien 4, Jean, what's his name? You get like a French movie. Yeah.
00:06:42
Speaker
So that's cool. I actually really like ah Alien Resurrection. i know it's not a perfect film, but there is like some, it's a big swing. Who are you expecting, Santa Claus? Yes. It's a big swing.
00:06:53
Speaker
Oh, and also Mel Brooks.
00:06:56
Speaker
Who are your favorite directors? Guillermo del Toro is definitely at the top. He's the guy who just puts everything on camera. The real world is less detailed than the fantasy world. It has such an amazing visual style, even if it's a movie that I'm not like exceptionally enthused about the subject matter. Pinocchio is a great example.
00:07:12
Speaker
I didn't feel like I needed to watch another Pinocchio story. I felt like I was i was good. ended being one of my favorite movies that year because it was specifically the type of movie he would have made. If this girl's gonna catch Stifler, let's catch him at his worst. And Jesse said, you should talk about milking a cow.
00:07:26
Speaker
was like, look what the fuck does that mean, dude? I was like... All right. Let's have a Scott off. Okay. Scott off. Ridley versus Tony. ah Probably Ridley.
00:07:37
Speaker
Wow. yeah So by shooting at night, you save money and it looks better and it's always raining. It looks better. And where's the, why is there always smoke? Because I haven't got enough money. It looks better. Actually, now i'm I'm thinking about that. Like Tony Scott, of course, did True Romance, which is ah an all-timer.
00:07:52
Speaker
I always had a very clear vision about what I wanted to do. Running across the top of a train, hanging off the side of it. I want you to know was really me up there, hanging off the side of a train. Top Gun, which, you know, don't love, but I can recognize respect and recognize its place in pop culture. All these kids must hate me because they're all standing on thinking they're going fighter pilots pulling broads all over the world, and they all ended up some shitty old aircraft carrier stuck in in the Indian Ocean.
00:08:17
Speaker
But, I mean, How can you compare that against like a alien, Blade Runner, Legend, which are the yeah best three Ridley Scott movies in my book? It's a term that I got from reading Burroughs.
00:08:29
Speaker
Hello Bill, what's up? The two Davids, Lynch and Cronenberg. I will always go with David Cronenberg. I like David Lynch, don't get me wrong. But they're both named David and they're both little freaks. Yeah. What's that about? It's a mental thing.
00:08:44
Speaker
I don't know. I think there's something about like being like a white guy with white hair that lets you unlock your inner freak. but we So one's from Canada, k Cronenberg. One's from like the Midwest.
00:08:55
Speaker
There's just these guys. Why do you open spaces? Put on those imaginations. You gotta do something to entertain yourself. Well, we had a pretty good time. Yeah. Let's talk Andersons. We got three Andersons and they're all releasing movies this year. Do you know about this? Paul Thomas.
00:09:09
Speaker
like cold. Let me show you exactly how Phil will do it. It'll go like this. The thing that you've decided to do is that he's going to walk over to the cigar box. Minty flavor.
00:09:20
Speaker
Here's how it'll go when Phil does. Watch this. Okay.
00:09:30
Speaker
Paul W.S. Very shocking for audiences. And Wes. Yeah. They all have movies this year. Who's your favorite to Anderson? I'm go have to have go with Wes Anderson, but I do love a Paul Thomas Anderson. I also love a Paul W.S. Anderson film. I love Paul W.S. Anderson. You know, he is an underrated Anderson. Everyone talks Paul Thomas and Wes, but I love Paul W.S. Anderson because at the end of the day, he's a wife guy. the And married Mila Paul Paul Paul Paul Paul Paul Paul Paul W. Paul W. Paul W. Paul W. Paul Paul Paul Paul Paul Paul Paul Paul Paul Paul W. W. Paul I am dying. Does that make sense? What do love about it? But that makes sense what's happening that he's saying he's dying, then he's saying, I was lying.
00:10:21
Speaker
i love the
Appreciation and Awkward Moments
00:10:22
Speaker
earnestness of the family. And then she goes and he says, I am dying. Right. Yeah. Makes perfect sense. OK. And how everything's very sentimental, cynical. I just rewatched the film last year and, ah you know, made me cry just the way it did when I first saw it.
00:10:37
Speaker
I've had a rough year, Dad. I know you have, Jazzy.
00:10:43
Speaker
relationship between like Gene Hackman and his kids is is so beautiful. Should he ah get back with Owen as a writer? I think so. People keep telling me i need more of a call to action on this podcast. Here we go. Owen, Wes, write something together.
00:10:54
Speaker
please Call to action to those two men specifically. Yeah, Rob wants it, me too. ah Sam, i think we I think it's about the right time. Favorite James Bond? Probably Daniel Craig. Oh yeah? Yeah, I've never actually been a big James Bond fan. yeah Sean Connery.
00:11:09
Speaker
He's okay. Bald the whole time. i believe that, yeah. Blew my mind.
00:11:16
Speaker
And I happen to know some these people are smoking drugs. I've talked about Ralph Boschke a few times. i Have you ever seen American Pop?
00:11:26
Speaker
It's one of the few movies I've ever watched and then immediately watched again ah without a break because it was such a like mind-blowing experience for me. We showed Fritz the Cat recently. Horny cartoon. Horny cartoon, yeah.
00:11:38
Speaker
Horny racist cartoon, possibly, depending on ah your point of view. Fritz. Fritz canceled? Fritz is canceled. yeah Okay. We're actually not supposed to show Fritz the Cat. Get him, boys! Danke.
00:11:51
Speaker
um I have a soft spot for Ralph Bochke, a man who actually has yet to be canceled. Should? No, wait, we shouldn't cancel. We love him. Maybe, but I will fight for Ralph Bochke's honor. What about separating the art from the art form?
00:12:04
Speaker
Are you capable of that? I'm not. i am for the most part, ah except for the point where like you the art is the artist is in front of the camera.
00:12:17
Speaker
The art from the artist, sorry, let me reframe that question. Hey, future Sam, you're gonna edit it to look smarter. Hey Rob, can you, no, I'm Bill Maher. Hey Rob, what about separating the art from the artist? Can you do that? Are you capable of that?
00:12:30
Speaker
I try, try. It's harder, like, ah It's a great example. I actually have been kind of wanting to go and revisit some films. Me too. Never mind. um This is all being edited out. I have no personal qualms about doing that, like in the privacy of my own home. Do I think make new films?
00:12:46
Speaker
Probably not. ah Do I think his past films should be erased? That's where it gets a little more murky as far as I'm concerned, because you're not just erasing You're erasing the work of diane Keaton, of Michael Caine, of all his collaborators who made some of their best films under the direction And is it is it fair to them that these movies don't get to get seen or talked about?
00:13:08
Speaker
Should we do a Black mirror Mirror scenario where we have them edited where we just block their face out of the movies? replace them with Michael Cera. you have a favorite theater-going experience from your life?
00:13:22
Speaker
but That's a good question. I'm going to let you think about that. yeah While you do I'm going to tell you my least favorite theater-going experience of my life. So I was going to the movies here in Houston, Texas at Edwards Theater, where I used to work.
00:13:35
Speaker
to I just don't like him. I'm in a concession stand waiting in line for popcorn, which I used to serve. So I looked to the left of me and Ted Cruz is standing in line. Ugh, that sucks.
00:13:49
Speaker
I was like, whatever, his bitch ass can get some popcorn. I just hope he's not watching the same movie as me. So I'm sitting in my seat and in walks Ted Cruz. I see him. So I'm running out of options. All I can do is pray he's not in my row. And then he walks right up to my row.
00:14:03
Speaker
When Ted Cruz walks in front of you and he he walks past your legs, he doesn't say, excuse me. He just walks past your legs with that big blue jean ass in your face. And I'm struggling now and I'm like, well, Ted Cruz's blue jean ass is in my face. I just hope he doesn't sit right next to me.
00:14:19
Speaker
And I got very lucky because he didn't sit right next to me There was one seat in between me and Ted Cruz. Do you know what the movie was? No, I'm curious. So it was Black Panther Wakanda Forever. Okay. Now that makes it even more distracting. Wakanda is not thrilled with America in that movie. I always want to try to get to the truth of it, you know, as best I can. They're they're like... We know what you whisper in your halls of leadership. And I was looking over at Ted Cruz like, are you getting any of this?
00:14:44
Speaker
That's a reflection of America. It's about you. How's he reacting? President wants to take offensive action against Wakanda. Nothing. It was hard to enjoy the movie. And it was really hard to enjoy the Rihanna song in the end credits. And you just, you don't want to listen to Rihanna with Ted Cruz.
00:14:59
Speaker
You just don't. Definitely one of the intended ways to see the film for us when we were setting up
Streaming and Audience Expectations
00:15:04
Speaker
every shot. Fincher's Netflix deal. David Fincher has this Netflix deal. yeah What do we think? Yay or nay? ah you know, complicated. I'm CEO, bitch. I will ultimately say yay, just because I honestly don't think that Fincher would have been given the budget to make movies like Mank or The Killer if he he was having to rely on another studio to foot the bill. I think Netflix is in this period of time where they just have money and they don't care how they use it. They'll they'll just give it as long as it makes them look cool. It may not have been good business, but it sure as hell was good anarchy. I'm a bad boy who likes the anarchy.
00:15:38
Speaker
And I will say this, that Netflix has gotten better about it. They will release their movies in theaters and give people a chance to see them, release their prestige films. So like I saw The Killer in a theater. I saw Menke in a theater. That means that we get a new David Fincher film every couple of years. That's the only way we can get it.
00:15:55
Speaker
Sure, let's let's do it. what Would I prefer if Sony or Fox or Warner's were actually being the ones bankrolling these projects? Yes. so But i just don't think that's the world we live in. now Why is it the only way we can get Because Fincher doesn't want to do IP. No, I mean, like why won't a studio give him money to do whatever wants? Because he's like one of the most famous directors of all time.
00:16:13
Speaker
Audiences have been conditioned, maybe by COVID, maybe by Marvel's stranglehold on cinema, to only go see films that they're familiar with. You know, and I read this book called The Big Picture. It has like a great theory about how television actually was the one that like screwed with audiences minds because they're so used to watching five seasons of Breaking Bad and, you know, 100 episodes and being able to really get into the mind of these characters that now when they go see a movie, they feel like they're taking a chance and they don't know if they could take a chance on two hours of the character or a plot that they're not familiar with.
00:16:45
Speaker
And so that's why the only movies that they go see are things that they're already familiar with, whether it's Marvel movies or Barbie. Or yeah i guess something like Oppenheimer shows that you you can be successful if you're being given the right amount of marketing and you know awareness that like a Universal gave Oppenheimer.
00:17:01
Speaker
But unfortunately, these studios, they they they see the failure of some of Fincher's last few theatrical films. And they're like, yeah, we're we're not going to do this. We're going get out of this business. And yeah, he has no choice but to go to Netflix. yeah I mean, it's a business. Unfortunately, it is.
00:17:17
Speaker
But it doesn't have to be. You could also do it for $10. It just looks like this. Hi. Welcome to the version of it that's not business. Help. Somebody give me money. Yeah, well, that's the problem. The people with the money are, um what's wrong with them? They have no vision. They're so concerned with keeping their own jobs that they're not willing to take a chance. What is a movie now? What is a movie? What is one?
00:17:37
Speaker
I went to my cousin's bachelor party in Guadalajara. That weekend was a movie. Uh-huh. You know what the kids say. That we, I went to my cousin's bachelor party in Guadalajara, now that was a movie. Is that something the kids say?
00:17:50
Speaker
I don't know, do they? Are the kids watching? Is anyone watching? Tarantino was saying recently he doesn't even know what a movie is anymore. And if he doesn't know what one is, i'm scared, because what am I going to do with that? Yeah, yeah. What is a movie? yeah I think for a lot of young people, TikTok and YouTube has shortened their attention spans, and it's really hard to sit down and watch a two-hour movie.
00:18:08
Speaker
ah But like i I know a lot of young people who get more out of it, like a good TikTok or a YouTube video, than they will have a movie any day of the week. And who am I to say that that's not a valid cultural experience for them?
00:18:22
Speaker
So I don't know if that answers your question. i know it i know Actually, I know it does not answer your question, but and I don't know what a movie is. The movie is whatever you want it It's moving pictures, right? It's a moving picture. Yeah. How did they do that? Okay, sorry. The question's devolved. Wait, how did the move the picture move? That was on a horse.
00:18:38
Speaker
That was a guy was on a horse. Jordan Peele taught us about that Note. And I'll be talking about these days we made this movie forever. I've had i've had so many different like great movie experiences for totally different reasons. I remember going to go see Freddy vs. Jason at theater in Missouri City. stuffed nightmares are made of.
00:18:55
Speaker
And the audience was just wild the entire film. Oh no! It felt like going to go see something what I imagine would have been like, you know, Times Square in the 70s, Grindhouse era. Not necessarily what I would call like a pristine movie experience. love that movie. But was such a fun, fun experience.
Memorable Theater Experiences
00:19:13
Speaker
I love that it's called Freddy vs. Jason and it delivers on that premise. Look at this. Look at the... Freddy's kicking him in the face. Has Freddy ever kicked before?
00:19:21
Speaker
I don't know how well aged. I haven't seen it since it came out. But like I remember going to go see the 40-year-old virgin in a sold-out theater. Is that the $6 million dollars man's boss? Why do you have that? And the audience was laughing so hard that I missed half the dialogue and that feeling of like being a part of that singular organism and you know everybody laughing together was such a great experience. So I went to school in Boston.
00:19:41
Speaker
Not Harvard. Everyone calmed down. I went to Emerson College. What did they teach me? I went to film school. well One time my homework was to watch School of Rock. And I didn't do it because I'd already seen School Rock.
00:19:55
Speaker
Shout out to Sandra Adair, the editor of School of Rock. Imagine editing the School of Rock. Hell yeah. So I went to school in Boston when The Departed came out. yeah And that was one of my favorite cinema experiences. What was your reaction of the city to that film? Loved.
00:20:09
Speaker
Oh, cool. And just the best, like, oh, it's my neighborhood. And I loved the shared experience of that movie, because especially the part, spoiler alert. There would be a physical reaction.
00:20:22
Speaker
And that's one of my favorite things about movies is it's this unified experience where people are all experiencing something at the same time. And reacting to it however they will, but they're all reacting to the same thing. And they're all reacting to it at the same time.
00:20:34
Speaker
A full crowd of Boston people all freaking out. and It was a beautiful thing. and it's one of my favorite movie experiences ever because i just love that guy. And that's what I think movie one of the great things about movies is No, for sure. That's why I love watching a film in a theater. if i if If I can have an option between watching film in the theater watching at home, I will always go with the theater experience because you don't get that at home, that like living organism that you become a part of where you know you're all just one you know entity enjoying something and feeding off of each other's energy.
00:21:01
Speaker
Try to watch a horror movie or a comedy at home versus watching a theater. It's an entirely different experience. it's It's unifying. It is. And it's cool. And like, yeah I don't know this guy, but we're both watching this and, Leo's dead, oh And we're both sad for Leo. And I don't know this man, but I know that we're both sad about what happened to leah We look at each other and we're like,
00:21:18
Speaker
That was crazy, wasn't it? was like, oh shit, what just happened? That's a very human thing where we could all come together about emotions. Yeah, like whether it's like hearing like the sniffles of somebody crying in the theater or like ah not be able to hear the dialogue because people are laughing so hard at a joke.
00:21:32
Speaker
That's just ah such a great experience. I've heard that people have a hard time with this podcast because they're laughing so hard that they don't hear. but They're like, I've got to listen to it again. They've got to turn the subtitles on. Yeah, put on the subtitles. Actually, don't.
00:21:47
Speaker
You said 1999 was one of your favorite years for movies. What was your favorite of that year? The movie I think is the best is probably like something you'll like being John Malkovich. Don't ever with your audience until the the puppet be becomes an extension of you. It's it's a novelty act. it's it's a It's Topo G. Joe.
00:22:06
Speaker
With maybe like Iron Giant not too far below that. In Maxine, Malkovich had found his mentor, his muse, his inspiration. The movie watched the most is probably something like Fight Club. And um I'd just like to thank God for giving us this opportunity to share our creative vision.
00:22:24
Speaker
Nothing was impossible for John and Maxine in the early days. Or The Matrix. I'd never seen myself in a movie before. Cool. Yeah. right Such an amazing experience.
00:22:46
Speaker
Like 1999 was like an important year for me because it was also the year that I got reliable internet for the first time. i was reading Wizards, a wizard of The Comic Book Magazine. Can I have five tickets to Territon Phillips' Asses of Fire, please?
00:22:58
Speaker
No! got introduced to Kevin Smith, rented Clerks ah from Blockbuster, got onto the internet and looked up Viewasqueue.com to read Kevin Smith's blog. He talked about the movies he was excited to watch, went and watched those.
00:23:14
Speaker
They were all coming out in 1999 with like new directors, new films, but those directors, which led me into the path I am today. So like if it hadn't been for that like first rental of Clerks, like I wouldn't be the person I am today. This is a very crucial part for me too.
Influence and Creative Risks
00:23:29
Speaker
Kevin Smith, he is a through line for like getting into movies. A comedy that tells it like it feels. Who doesn't? If you're a certain age, a movie geek, and you're a dude, you probably went through that phase of Kevin Smith idolization. Clerks is definitely the most important movie ever made. Or maybe not. But it was one of the most important ones I saw in eighth grade. It inspired me so much. me and my friends made a whole movie that summer. We spent the whole summer like little Stranger Things kids. ah We made a movie called In-Service Day. Ow! Ow!
00:24:01
Speaker
Look, Luzzer, stay away from my sister. Yeah, stay away. Hello? Why are you awake? I'm playing hockey at two. Wait, you collect Barbie dolls? No. It kind of holds up, but... Wait a second.
00:24:14
Speaker
Chloe, enhance. Pull back Miss Congeniality. Scrub through Rushmore. and Enhance. That son of a bitch. He was in front of me all the time.
00:24:25
Speaker
It's not scary! It's a an angry gentile with a big cross. Of course it's scary. I have so many like really terrible Kevin Smith fan fiction scripts like me trying to write in his style. Yeah, but that movie was awesome. The same way that he tried to write in Richard Linklater style. Yeah. but What I love seeing is like the the references that directors pass on, like ah STD to some of their contemporaries. And like this is a great example because like tonight we're showing Mean Streets at the theater.
00:24:50
Speaker
I hadn't seen that until COVID. And what I realized watching it was a a scene or a shot that i really loved in 25th Hour that I had actually been introduced to because Kevin Smith referenced it in Clerks 2. who originated all the way in Mean Streets, and that's the kind of stuff that I eat up.
00:25:08
Speaker
So, Kevin Smith was copying Spike Lee, who was copying Martin Scorsese. Who was probably referencing Powell and Pressburger and the red shoes. He loves that. You know he loves those red shoes. Marty loves nothing more than those red shoes.
00:25:21
Speaker
Have you seen that? I have seen the shoes. my god, I just saw that for the first time. Wait till you see it on the theater. That the movie looks gorgeous. Yeah, yeah, i got the 4K. Yeah, yeah. And that's Martin Scorsese making sure that movie had the restoration it deserved. And if you look at the Blu-ray, you can see it all. Go in that corner and don't come out till I call you. It's insane. Yeah. yeah And that guy, that main guy in it, ah the guy who's like, Beast, I'm that beast, beast, beast, I'm that beast.
00:25:48
Speaker
The red shoes! He's insane. And you know what? It reminded me of like Megalopolis. that beast, beast, beast, that beast.
00:25:56
Speaker
Unfortunately, I have. Unfortunately, Mr. Krause. I have already read it i have already read this letter. Weird ad.
00:26:04
Speaker
Did you see Megalopolis? I have not seen that yet. And now I'm at the point where like, do I want to see it at home or do i just want to wait until like I program at the theater for like a repertory screening? Oh, I'm begging you, sir. yeah no, it will happen. It will happen. My hat in hand, please put Megalopolis. shit, sorry.
00:26:22
Speaker
I love Megalopolis. It was one of the coolest movies I've ever seen and I will defend it. Yeah. Yeah. Sorry. Sam. No, I'm not. I know it's not perfect film, but there is like some... It's a big swing. Yes. It's a big swing.
00:26:35
Speaker
I love big swings. What's another? it' Southland Tales. Like a movie like that. Southland Tales is fantastic. Have you seen the canned cut? Yeah, i got it. I got that can cut. Yeah, good it's great. I love it. Yeah, I'm the one guy who's constantly like, I'm like in Francis Warkopoulos DMs. Like, hey, a 4K release of Megalopolis, when?
00:26:51
Speaker
I get so excited when a movie like Megalopolis comes out where people are like, well, it's the worst movie ever made. I'm like, there's no way. Babylon is a great example of that where, yes, maybe this movie wasn't perfect and it it didn't do everything it needed to do and maybe it was a tad bit long, but oh god, it was such a beautiful swing. And like like if you ever see Babylon on the calendar of the River Oaks, that's because I've just said, you know, F it. We're going all in this month.
00:27:15
Speaker
That's awesome. Yeah, hell yeah, man. You should not have given me your phone number. This was a big mistake. You could just block it, I guess. ah Even like something like Jersey Girl, which I know a lot of people don't like, I think it's a really well-made film i love for what it is. I'll eat Frankie his whole journey.
00:27:29
Speaker
but i love Kevin Smith. I love his like evening whiffs. I love his movies. Thank you for coming here tonight. I got fired from my job tonight, so I can come here. Want me to call your boss in Smooth Thinking? Yeah, if you don't mind. I'm here with what's his name? matt Matt Brown. Matt Brown? Yeah.
00:27:41
Speaker
A dude who used to work there until tonight? He was very reachable for a creative person that you were a fan of. Look at this. What do you think, Shaggy? i don't know, Scoop. They wouldn't even talk about the movie. They would just like make fun of it.
00:27:54
Speaker
I don't know what came over me. What an interesting background. I allowed myself to be called Buttman, or was my agent. your death You are dead all right. The kind of humiliation delivering the least inspired dialogue. your ass, all right. It felt very welcoming.
00:28:14
Speaker
And Ben Affleck's like the funniest guy ever. Jeff Anderson, ladies and gentlemen, I thought he did quite admirable. I thought he outshined both of you guys in this series. Admirably and outshone, but other than that, well said. A lot of movies, it's about when you see it in your life. Oh, for sure.
00:28:33
Speaker
The movie Batman and Robin is a perfect example of this. It's a movie Batman and Robin, Joel Schumacher. People have been shitting on for a hundred years. Okay. So it's a movie that I loved when I was like eight years old.
00:28:44
Speaker
Absolutely loved it. Fellow maniacs, bidding! yeah Then you're like 13 you're like, okay, so this movie's lame now. So then from 13 to like college, I would make fun of it with my friends.
00:28:58
Speaker
And one day I'm in my 20s and it's on TV and I smoke weed and i'm like, this is the most fun movie of all time. yeah Why did I spend so many years? Why was I mean to this movie? Look how much colors, look how much work it went into making this movie. There's craft behind this. People are like, why would the bat suit have nipples? well let me have Why would the bat suit have abs and not nipples?
00:29:15
Speaker
This is why I ah turned my back on film criticism because i was a film critic for two movies at the Berkeley Beacon in Boston. I was a film critic for and I saw the movie The Heartbreak Kid with Ben Stiller and I gave it a terrible review.
00:29:29
Speaker
I said, it's not funny. I said, Ben, what are you doing? Get away from the Fairleigh brothers. They're not good for you, Ben. Stop this now. So I made this review about the Heartbreak Kid, not a good movie. yeah Couple years later, Heartbreak Kid's on TV. I'm like, oh, that movie I scathed in the Berkeley Beacon. I'd throw it on, and I'm laughing a lot watching Andy McBride's in I didn't really know him at the time, and I'm laughing my ass off, and I'm like, okay, wait a second. film so I'm just in a different mood now. No, I have a friend who has this theory, like the bar mitzvah. yeah you have to wait 13 years for a movie to tell whether or not it's actually a good movie or not. Because sometimes it takes a while for marketing to wear off, the expectations to go away.
00:30:07
Speaker
You have to revisit a film. And sometimes you'll be surprised. Sometimes you won't be. I took a chance a couple of years ago and programmed Van Helsing. Because that was a movie I was very excited for. i was really hoping that it was going to great film.
00:30:18
Speaker
And I know there are a ton of Van Helsing fans in the world, maybe some in this room. But where even though the movie initially disappointed I would be like, yeah, no, this is a good movie. I was wrong.
00:30:29
Speaker
No, the movie still sucks. But I was willing to give it a shot. and that's I think more people should be willing to revisit movies they didn't like. Van Helsing, one of my favorite Ebert and Roper reviews ever, because Roper is talking about how much he hates this movie. It's the worst movie of all time. And then in the middle, Ebert goes, thumbs up for me. I like it. And Roper goes, yeah, what?
00:30:46
Speaker
are kidding me! And they have such a fight. I love those guys. Yeah, no, they were fun. See, even though I don't believe too much in film criticism like that, for myself at least, I do believe like a guy like Roger Ebert, a guy who knew so much about movies and it could bring like an interesting perspective onto his essays and articles, I do have respect for that. Somebody who has a knowledge of it and could bring light to it. No, I mean, I think more people should be willing to like admit that they can't explain why they like certain movies, they just do. no I hate this idea of like a movie being so bad it's good.
00:31:15
Speaker
Now, if you like this movie, it's a good movie. like I like Super Mario Bros., the movie, the the Bob Hoskins, John O'Grezzamo film. It is a good film as far as I'm concerned because it entertains the hell of me while I watch it. Maybe it's because I watched it as a kid, maybe because it amuses me that somebody took a property for kids and turned it into a nightmare for adults.
00:31:34
Speaker
I play King Koopa. Either way, it's a very charming film as far as I'm concerned. That movie is perfect example because it's a movie that every critic, worst movie of all time, and then I'm watching, I'm like, I'm having fun. I've been having fun my whole life.
00:31:46
Speaker
Sorry. What are you going to do about it? Turn the TV off for me? You don't live here. Favorite Cronenberg is The Fly. Yes. Cronenberg. Canadian, Videodrome, James Woods. I just started saying it. Crash.
00:31:59
Speaker
Crash, sex, cars, James Spader, crash. They get turned on by car crashes. By being in car crashes. By being in them. And Elias Codius plays like the head of this cult of cars. Don't worry, that guy's got to see us.
00:32:12
Speaker
And he rec recreates ah like James Dean's car crash, like famous car crashes through time. He's a great actor, Elias Codius. He's a great actor. Unsung hero of cinema. Don't worry, that guy's got to see us.
00:32:25
Speaker
And it turns people on and they have sex in them. I like that movies could do that. Yeah, yeah. They could be Pinocchio and they could do that. That's cool. The same guy who wrote Crash was the little boy from Empire of the Sun ah that Christian Bale plays, tying it all in.
00:32:40
Speaker
say So Christian Bale plays J.D. Ballard in Empire of the Sun, who as a boy was in internment camp. When he grew up, he wrote novels like High Rise and Crash. So that's okay. Empire of the Sun is basically a prequel to cat Crash. So that little boy grows up, because I watched some special features on Crash and that guy's like, this is actually A cautionary tale. And I'm like, it is?
00:33:02
Speaker
I've never said that car crash is sexually fulfilling. I've been in a car crash and it did nothing for my libido. Hey man, fair enough. On a wave of mutilation.
00:33:14
Speaker
Why is the internet so mean to Forrest Gump? First of all, we're all supposed to be like a little extra nice to him.
River Oaks Theater and Audience Influence
00:33:21
Speaker
The River Oaks Theater was opened in 1939. I'm excited about this. We're talking about Houston's historic River Oaks Theater. Over the years, it's been everything from a repertory theater, live events, first run indie art house.
00:33:34
Speaker
Our picture show moved to the River Oaks and has been going strong there for many decades now. The River Oaks has always been like this champion of kind of weird or extreme cinema. Do you think you could rub some of this powder on my lips?
00:33:48
Speaker
The manager was arrested in the 80s for showing Salo by the Houston Vice Squad. The theater had been under threat of destruction for a long time. The curtain is closing for the River Oaks Theater. COVID pandemic affected a lot of theaters in the industry. The River Oaks Theater was one of those casualties, and a lot of people in the community got very upset. There was a lot protests.
00:34:05
Speaker
The kind is headed for extinction. Not today.
00:34:15
Speaker
reopening this past October under the ownership of Culinary Concepts. People are hungry for for culture, they're hungry for cinema. We're doing the Scorsese Month in May. You're paying. What else you say? Richard Linklater Month in July. want to do Owen Brothers in September. oh Bergman's happening in August.
00:34:30
Speaker
Ernest Bergman. yeah Ingmar Bergman called the Cinemagraph a magic lantern. What about that you think he was talking about the Green Lantern? I do believe he secretly wanted to make a superhero film, they just didn't exist back then. Ingmar Bergman's one of my favorites in the world, because he's brilliant. he's Everything is so depressing, but it's literally usually 90 minutes. It's packed into 90 minutes. so It's all on this island that he just loves. It's Faroe Island. I love the idea that everything... This is this this living room is sort of, i guess, my Faroe Island in a way.
00:35:00
Speaker
got the intro already, where you like, just the beginning, like, walking around like,
00:35:08
Speaker
b b anderson ruby anderson okay
00:35:13
Speaker
grab but just talks some movies yeah one of got for already it's where you like next slide i yesterday today yeah and my yeah Ingemar Bergman, 90 minutes tight.
00:35:29
Speaker
And then my beautiful, sweetest wife walks in the room and I have her hook up with Max von Sydow in front of me Lea Vollman, she was mad in the movie when they were making the movie. Shame that Ingemar Bergman kept saying, get closer to the fire.
00:35:42
Speaker
He said, I needed the shot. I needed you to be closer to the fire when we're filming this. And they were in a fight that day and she was like, you get closer to the fire. I'm on her side. but Fuck, get closer to the fire. Okay, sorry. um i love movies.
00:35:55
Speaker
They're one of my favorite things to fall asleep to, which I think just means they're very comforting. um Blade Runner, one of the best movies in the world to go to sleep to. Hey, the mic back. Yo, what happened? How did the River Oaks, it was built with this Art Deco style. Why is that important? Why is that so cinematic? When I think of the Art Deco style, of like Orson Welles in the 30s, like recording with the Mercury Theater. That's sort of like the vibe of the River Oaks Theater. The actual sculptures like you see that represent land and sea, those are the originals. It's touched up a little bit to do some repair work.
00:36:27
Speaker
As far as to why it's important, I think it just goes down to the vibes, right? It just feels like you're stepping into the 1930s or 1940s to watch a movie, and and that I think helps. It adds a little bit of class to what you're about to watch.
00:36:38
Speaker
You could be watching, you know, The Room, but when you're watching it in this Art Deco style, you feel like you're watching art. I love i love that Art Deco style. I think that i think it's so cool, the Art Deco Batman in the Animated Series as my main reference point for it.
00:36:51
Speaker
But i heard that Orson Welles hated hated Art Deco. And I'm like, oops. Because he must have not like walking around and looking everywhere he went. Because... all right, so you would ah put together these like theme nights. I would, yeah. We did two years of like overnight lock-ins at the Alamo Drafthouse where we would show movies from 7pm to 7am. A screening of the Lewis Teague film Alligator with live alligators in the theater and we were serving fried alligator. i went full inception on this ah experience and gave people all kinds of tactile ways to experience the story of this ah movie. What's the longest movie binge marathon you've done? I once watched all the Nightmare on Elm Street films at home.
00:37:32
Speaker
That was like my last hurrah. i Now I really can't do these type of things. Lord of the Rings, Desolation of Smaug, which one was that? The Hobbit. Yeah. That was the one that I was like, we're going to Desolation of Smaug, it's coming out midnight. And then I was like four in the morning, I was like this, I can't do this with my life.
00:37:49
Speaker
Do you know the heads of the other theater, Edwards, you Mr. Farshi? I don't know the Mr. Farshi. Yeah, Mr. Farshi. So I worked at Edwards when I was in high school. Mr. Farshi, that's why I call him that, because that's all I've ever known him as, is the guy who was my boss. And he walks around that theater in a suit looking like Andy Garcia in Ocean's Eleven. And he's the most intimidating man of all time.
00:38:12
Speaker
So if you do meet him, don't mention me. I don't think he likes me. He remembers me. He still works. He sees me and he's like, this guy, I worked there in high school, and he still looks like he's going yell at me. The River Oaks Theater is ah you know the only actually locally owned Houston theater that's not part of a chain.
00:38:28
Speaker
or franchise, you know, Edwards, AMC, Studio Movie Grill, Alamo Drafthouse, they're all owned by people outside of Houston. But the River Oaks Theatre is owned by a Houston company, owned by a Houston ah businessman who you know believed so much in the theatre's potential that he put his own money and into saving the theatre and preserving it and restoring it and has basically given us a reign to like put some incredible programming together. Are you the programmer? Are you coming up with the ideas of what movies to play? I am, yes, but with with input from ah from the community. If you've ever written an email into the River Oaks and been like, hey, we should show this movie, and you think it goes on deaf ears, it does not. I write down every suggestion, and I may not be able to do it right away, but I try to like bring in as many of these suggestions in as I can. If I'm looking at the May map or one of the maps, is there like a telltale sign like, oh, that's a Rob. Rob got his way on that one.
00:39:18
Speaker
Usually, i if there's like a Ralph Botchke film, that that that that would be me. Or if it's, I don't know. like I try to be cute and do like little themes. And so, for example, in May, we're doing Martin Scorsese and Mothers. One of my greatest movie going experiences was watching the movie War Horse with my mom.
00:39:35
Speaker
There's a scene where a soldier is romantically drawing his horse in a tent and my mom started laughing harder than any human being who's ever laughed in their life. And it was so embarrassing because War Horse is a serious movie.
00:39:48
Speaker
And i was like, mom, you have to stop laughing. And she couldn't. cracking up like this man is in love with this horse. I think it's Benedict Cumberbatch, don't know, I'll show. But my mom couldn't stop laughing. So then I'm starting to laugh because this is, and then people come up to us and say, you gotta, gotta leave. You have to leave.
00:40:03
Speaker
And I invite mom, we gotta go. And we do leave. And we walk out, she gets the laughs out, we go back in It's not my favorite Spielberg movie, but I'll never forget that experience. because of that. yeah Yeah. It wasn't in a theater, but we were watching Pulp Fiction in like 94, 95 when it came out.
00:40:19
Speaker
And I was probably only like 10 years old. And the scene with Ving Rhames comes up and my mom turns to me and my sisters and just mouths of the words, are they goingnna And like but I was like, yes, yeah she rented it for us. She wanted us to not do drugs. Oh, Rob, thank you so much for your time. Yeah. People try to convince other people of their movie tastes sometimes. And I've gotten pretty peaceful with the fact that I don't need other people to like yeah a movie I like. The fact that I like it is enough for me to like it.
00:40:50
Speaker
Well, I agree with you. The only problem like I have is that like usually my job depends on people liking the movies that i like. it's going to be important that we continue to promote the theater and people continue to come and support the theater because think people are hungry for for culture, they're hungry for cinema, hungry for classic movies.
00:41:07
Speaker
You know, ah you know where we can get like that many people coming to see ah the game comedy, The Last Impatient of Christ, and actually After Hours, all all three of those movies have sold enough tickets that we had to add to extra shows. I love The Last Impatient of Christ.
00:41:18
Speaker
I love Harvey Keitel as Judas when he's like, yeah you're making a process for the Romans. I'm here to set fire to the world. You're a traitor.
00:41:29
Speaker
Judas is like Jesus' boy. They're like best friends. You love Judas in this movie. Every other movie and painting makes you hate Judas like he's a bad guy. but this movie makes you love Judas. Now you're Jesus. I'm not a religious man anymore, but like The Last Temptation of the Christ did more than any mass I went to of making me like believe in the the teachings of Jesus. If you're a cinephile, if you like movies, if you like these kind of unifying experiences, just like to be entertained.
00:41:56
Speaker
These kind of things are all happening at the River Oaks Theater. You can see what's happening at the website, theriveroakstheater.com. Thank you so much for coming, man. i I supremely appreciate it. I grew up in Houston, moved to l LA. When I came back to Houston, the theater was just shut down. It was just like a vacant lot almost. Yeah, came very close to being torn down a couple times, but ah you know it's it's a miracle still up and running. and i just feel it's my duty to be in a small part of this theater's history, to do whatever I can to try to make it as successful as possible so that we can keep it going just at least one
Cinema's Profound Influence
00:42:29
Speaker
day at a time.
00:42:29
Speaker
Why is it important to go to the movies, Rob? ah Your life can be changed by a movie. I know my life has been changed by a film. like I've seen a movie and you know the course of my life has been forever altered.
00:42:41
Speaker
Movies have changed the way I thought, the way i've seen the world, the way interacted with people. and Movies have like a tremendous power on who we are as people. and ah you know It's the best way to watch movies in a theater. It's also, I mean, Bergman says it's a magic lantern. Okay, I'm not gonna disagree with him.
00:42:55
Speaker
But it's also a empathy machine. It is, yeah. It's a way for us to have a unifying empathy with whatever is on the screen. And it's also a way for people to practice empathy. Yeah. Which I think a lot of people in the world should maybe practice. Rob Saucedo, thank you so much. Go to the River Oaks Theater to watch the best movies ever made, literally. Put your phone away. Put your phone away. put Yeah, final word. Put your phone away. Turn it on silent. Just turn it off.
00:43:19
Speaker
Rob's going to play Megaloboliz and you're going to see me there. And you're goingnna see me everywhere at the River Oaks Theater. We'll wrap it up normally now. Werewolf is a graphic novel set here in Texas.
00:43:30
Speaker
Ah, does my face look weird? It looks weird. It's about a reporter who goes undercover at a furry convention in College Station to stop a werewolf from eating all the attendees. But I've been working on the sequel for the last three years. The reporter, now he's a werewolf himself, goes on a journey of learning how to deal with his lycanthropic identity with the help of Marvin Zindler, who's the spirit guy. Marvin Zindler went on a date with my grandma. Really? Yeah.
00:43:54
Speaker
It'll probably get released again through Encyclopocalypse and it'll be available on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, all the usual spaces. But my plan is to actually premiere it at Bedrock City Comic Con in October and to have that be the first place that people can pick up copies of the book. Bedrock City. These are my two favorite places in Houston, so it makes sense that they would be collaborating. Bedrock City for Rob Saucedo's Werewolf. Yes.
00:44:16
Speaker
Comic book, The River Oaks for Rob Saucedo's amazing movie choices. Houston for the River Oaks. If you're in Houston, you go to the River Oaks Theater. Actually, there it is right there. i have an animation of it right there. You see that?
00:44:29
Speaker
I should credit that guy. he Jim Cohn. A movie could fuck you up if you see it at wrong time or the young age. Yeah. I saw The Truman Show when I was 10. Okay. I'll never not think my life is The Truman Show. Maybe.
00:44:42
Speaker
i mean, it doesn't help that there's cameras here.
00:44:47
Speaker
But I said away On the way of a hutilation Way of hutilation Way of a hutilation Way
00:45:11
Speaker
Bruce is breaking the dishes over his head and the evil hand and flips himself. It was the most amazing thing I'd ever seen. When he'd do it over and over again, he just enjoyed it. i mean, he had a great time doing it.