Become a Creator today!Start creating today - Share your story with the world!
Start for free
00:00:00
00:00:01
The Movies that Shaped us
10 Plays3 months ago
In today's episode, Melody and Rodney talk about their childhood experiences watching movies. How did the movies from the 90's and 2000's affect their opinions on movies? How did their parents viewing of movies affect them? They tackle the importance of watching film in the theater, and so much more! This episode is all about going down memory lane. If you are enjoying these episodes, please make sure to leave a FIVE STAR review and make sure you are following to make sure you don't miss out on all the episodes coming out, as we head into summer movie season.
Recommended
Transcript
Introduction and last week's recap
00:00:00
Speaker
Hi, everyone. Welcome back to the Beyond the Shot podcast. I am your host, Melody. and I am Rodney. Welcome. well We got there, Mel. we We got there. We got there. Guys, okay, so in last week's episode, Rodney and I pretty much discussed how we knew each other and how as cousins we, you know, introduced shows and movies to each other. And I felt, or we felt, that this week we wanted our listeners to get to know us even more.
00:00:32
Speaker
You know,
Childhood movie experiences and theater's significance
00:00:33
Speaker
right? I felt like, you know, i we wanted to chat more about our movie experiences growing up, how movies shaped us, what we watched a lot as a kid. Do we have any memories of watching things together or or memories of going to see like a really big movie in the theater for the first time?
00:00:51
Speaker
You know, those kind of things. And because of that, you know, I feel like those experiences... that we did have at that time, you know, they affected us today. Like how we perceive movies, how we like movies, what we do and do not like.
00:01:05
Speaker
Right? Right, Rob? but Definitely. I agree 100%. It's, ah you know, when you see movies, films at a young age, It does something to you. It like it it almost like kind of projects you forward into your life, into giving you what your tastes are and what you like in movies. you know Obviously, as we grow older, you know our tastes change in what movies are, but...
00:01:28
Speaker
the magic of going to the movies is an event. And then for us, you and me, Mel, you know, we, we grew up in an era where there wasn't streaming. So, you know, when you wanted to see a movie, you went to the theater, you know, sometimes you would go on opening day. Sometimes you would go on Sunday for matinee because it was cheaper.
00:01:46
Speaker
You would do these things, but it was an event. It was always an event. And, um, Yeah, I agree with you, Oh, yeah. Going to the movies, to me, it will always be special. I will i can i don't care how many streaming services there are.
00:02:00
Speaker
We're premiering this movie on this, but you can watch in the theater if you want. I will pay
Encouragement to share the podcast
00:02:05
Speaker
to go to the theater. The theater is the optimal experience. Agreed. I definitely agree. And especially about the event thing, that's something I definitely want to talk about in today's episode.
00:02:15
Speaker
um Because I feel like I have been... Like going to the movies has always literally been an event, especially like you said, growing up in like, you know, in the 2000s, there were a lot of big movies that came out in those years that were big for a lot of people. And I kind of do want to talk about I feel like we're going some fun experiences from that time.
00:02:39
Speaker
even the 90s the 90s had a lot or even the 90s yeah 90s had a lot of things but you know i i know i because granted listen i'm a i'm a i'm an 80s baby and i'm a 90s kid um so it's like for me i didn't go to the i didn't go to theaters on my own in the eighty s obviously i would go with my mom or i would go with with with mel's mom i would go with mel's dad sometimes like that's how I would go to the movies.
00:03:07
Speaker
Then the 90s came around. you know I grew up and stuff, and I got a little older. So I would still go with my mom. I would still go with some family, but I would also sometimes go with myself so to the movies. would with my friends to the movies. So event films are, man, they're everywhere. So this is a topic that I'm so excited to talk about. This is like something you can sink your teeth into. Oh, yeah. And break down so many moments, so many...
00:03:31
Speaker
Feelings. Yeah, exactly. man The feelings of hype that you had. yeah Oh, my God. Absolutely. oh ah i can't wait to talk about it. But before we do, before we do, um I did want to say that if you are enjoying this podcast, please share it with your friends.
00:03:47
Speaker
and Guys, share it with your friends. Sharing is caring. Sharing is caring. Give ah give us a review. And if you're feeling really generous, please give us a five star. That would be lovely. Yay. Yes. Spread the word. Spread the word. word Yes.
00:04:00
Speaker
Because, you know, Ronnie and I really, really enjoy doing this. And we kind of want to share it with the world. So it would
Mother's influence on movie restrictions
00:04:06
Speaker
be wonderful if other people also know we were here. Yay. 100%.
00:04:11
Speaker
So, okay, the first thing I kind of want to really chat about is, like, actually just the beginning, right? Which is, what was your household like growing up? Like, what did your mom, like, was your mom ever, like, and granted, our moms are sisters, but, like, were are there things that your mom was like, no, you can't watch that? Or was she very, like, you could watch whatever you want? What was it like in your household, would you say?
00:04:35
Speaker
I would say my mom was very much like open to me watching anything she would watch. Granted, if it wasn't anything too overly sexual.
00:04:48
Speaker
um But the funny thing is my mom, my mom was very independent in that aspect that she would let me watch things. Obviously, there were scenes that were too fuerte or strong. Yeah, yeah. You she covered my eyes whatnot. But for the most part, it was it was very freeing to watch things with with with her.
00:05:07
Speaker
You know, but she would always
Family traditions and movie influences
00:05:08
Speaker
watch a lot of things that were, especially like when I was awake, before I would like be sent to bed or whatnot, we would always watch have stuff that was more ah family-friendly or maybe something that would be fun.
00:05:21
Speaker
Yeah, right, Sabado Gigante, right? That is a, that's a. Shout out to Don Francisco. Shout out to Don Francisco. Shout out to the Chacal. yeah For those of you who do not know, this is like, this was a very famous Latin show that they played like every Saturday night. And it was like, what would you have called it?
00:05:40
Speaker
It was a variety show. It was a variety show. It was a variety show. It was a game show. yeah It was ah an entertainment show where they'd have guests that come and sing, comedians. yeah dancer and they They would have dancers. And Chacal was this guy who was just up in like this black... like like i Like a black costume, but you couldn't see his face. You did never knew who he was.
00:06:03
Speaker
But basically, like, they would pick people, like I think, from the audience to go up and sing and to be, like, three people. think that's my memory. Like, three people, they would have to sing a song. And then if they were bad, El Chakan would, like, play, like, the trumpet.
00:06:16
Speaker
He would play the trumpet. Ba-ba-da-ba-da-ba-da-ba-da. so like Get him out. It was hilarious. Get out. Oh, my God. And then Don Francisco would be there mocking the performers wearing different like hats and stuff and doing some funny dances. yeah was just something. But the thing with this show this show ran for like nearly 50 years. It's old show. and ah Literally my whole childhood. Yeah.
00:06:41
Speaker
Forever and and it was it was it was very much love and you know for the funny thing is I remember asking questions to my mom and even to our cousins and so i' like what's gonna happen with this show when like what if I don't know Cisco dies are they gonna continue this show? I think I remember asking that yeah because I would I was wondering I was like I was like I was like for the most this goes like a guy's an older man and I was like yo what if something I'm didn't mean to be grim but i was just being i was like because he's the show yeah Like, the minute he's gone, you don't have a show anymore because he is the one that made that show what it was.
00:07:15
Speaker
And granted, luckily, we never got to know. He's still alive. um And he just decided to retire on his own on his own accord. And it was funny. The last episode was such a, like, I remember I watched. i was like, I got to watch the last episode.
00:07:30
Speaker
It was so endearing and it was sad because, you know, it was coming to an end. And you saw a lot of like the people that worked on the show, a lot of the former, like, because he would have models like come in and like, Oh Yeah.
00:07:43
Speaker
They had models. called Yeah. Yeah. But so a lot of these models, they, you know They grew up and they they became a lot of them became famous. They became other journalists and stuff. And they came back and they were like you know thanking Don Francisco on the show for how much it helped boost their career. And it was such a nice end. And it was sad, though. I remember that it ended where he got on ah on a bus and At the end, and he like waved, and that was it.
00:08:07
Speaker
That was it. And was like, wow, this is it. This how it ended. But it was nice. he kind of got out he got He kind of left on his own accord, which I think is always a nice thing. I think it's always cool and yeah when people do that. So, yeah, that's ah that's a slice of what me and Mel used to have to watch every Saturday. Every Saturday. With my mom and her mom.
00:08:24
Speaker
yeah Every single Saturday. that one An episode was not missed. Nope. Never. Never. Never. But sorry, I cut you off. So you were saying that you watched it ah family movies normally, like at nighttime.
00:08:37
Speaker
Yeah, family movies, adventure, some adventure stuff. Nothing too crazy. um You know, my mom, I got a lot of taste of oh what it is to be, like what adventure is through watching movies with my mom. Like my mom loved, um she loved Indiana Jones.
00:08:58
Speaker
Like she loved it. And she still does. And i partly is's because she she had a crazy crush on Harrison Ford, like many of the women did. yeah So I had this thing of Harrison Ford where I looked at harris Harrison Ford and Harrison Ford was that guy that was like, man, I want to be like that.
00:09:14
Speaker
Like that's the guy i want to be because that's a man's man. that's That's a leading man. So that was my idea of what a leading man was or a leading actor was in that time was like a Indiana Jones type. like i' Again, I was a kid. didn't know Harrison Ford. I just knew that was Indiana Jones, but I also knew him as Han Solo.
00:09:31
Speaker
But to be honest with you, I i i knew more Harrison Ford as Indiana Jones than I did Han Solo. I guess because we watched more Indiana Jones than we did.
00:09:41
Speaker
Yeah, we watched more Indiana Jones do than we did um so Star Wars. My mom wasn't into Star Wars, so she wasn't really into science fiction stuff like that. She was more into like the adventure stuff, like a, like i said, a um ah Indiana Jones. So I got this love of movies through my mom. I learned a lot about what her tastes were in terms of things. But then I also learned a lot about myself through watching movies with her. um You know, she was an avid, she's an avid lover of the sound of music.
00:10:12
Speaker
with the great Julie Andrews. So that was the first musical that I saw that was really like something. Yeah. So the sound of music was a special, special ah movie in in our home.
00:10:24
Speaker
You know, um yeah, I learned a lot How about you, Mel? What did you learn in terms of watching movies with with your parents? Well, so I definitely grew up in a household where I don't remember, I see this is crazy thing. It's like, I don't remember ever being like blocked from watching anything.
00:10:40
Speaker
Like I didn't have a TV in my room. Like I wasn't allowed to have a TV in my room until until i was in high school. So I never watched things like on my own. I definitely have a lot of memories and there's a lot of video out there of me like,
00:10:53
Speaker
There's a lot of videos of my parents out there. um on on those little VHS tapes somewhere of like me dancing to whatever it that we were watching. think your mom sent me a WhatsApp of you.
00:11:03
Speaker
Oh, recently. It was on vacation, right? That's the one. oh I don't know what the hell I was dancing to. All I know is I was committed. um i had There's this other video going. going There's another video out there that I always end up watching when I'm back in Florida.
00:11:19
Speaker
and It's a video. so I watched... My dad. So my dad is someone who watches a lot of TV as well and a lot of movies. And I think I got more of like that from my dad. Like my mom likes movies and shows, but she like likes her soap operas. And I got the soap opera like romantic side from my mom. Like why I'm obsessed with that kind of, you know, soapy drama is definitely from my mom because i grew up like watching telenovelas. Like that is something I, that that was serious. I watched every telenovela
00:11:51
Speaker
Like from like 10 years old. It's a very Latin. It's a very Latin thing. a very Latin thing to watch soap operas or as we like to say, telenovelas. And with my dad, it was much more of like the more like adventure and sci-fi and and that kind of thing.
00:12:08
Speaker
But there's a video out there of me. I guess we had just watched Will Smith's classic. One of his biggest movies. Wild Wild West.
00:12:20
Speaker
Do remember? For those who, obviously those you can't see, but Rodney just put his hand over his head like, oh my God, that movie. It's like one of the worst movies ever like that Will Smith made and of that time period. It's just not a very good movie. i haven't seen that.
00:12:34
Speaker
I wonder if you watch that movie now. How it would feel. I saw it the other day. it It was on. It was on on some random thing. And I'll be honest with you. This is going to be funny.
00:12:45
Speaker
I watch it and I sit down and watch it and I just watch it for what it is. And I like. You know, it's a movie that i I, you know, you wanted it to be really fun and great.
00:12:57
Speaker
And it had little moments, but it was also a movie where was just like, you're like what are you trying to do? what are you trying to be? Wild West was one of those films. one of those It wasn't bad. It wasn't bad. I've seen bad movies. It's not a bad movie.
00:13:12
Speaker
I also was like, really, I was like young. I was probably like 10. yeah Anywhere between like 10 and 12 years old. Well, I think they were trying to reach... The thing with that movie is I think they were trying to reach this huge demographic. And it's like there was too much going on in that movie for you to reach. You could tell that they kind of wanted to make it for kids.
00:13:32
Speaker
But then they also kind of wanted to make it for adults too and everything in between. And it's just like, it's just like you know what what are you? What kind of movie are you supposed to be? What kind of movie are you? Yeah, yeah.
00:13:42
Speaker
But in this, so in this video, oh, there is so much in this video that is hilarious. And obviously I think really is a testament to my personality and why I am the way that I am. But like the end of this, the end of this movie has the Wild Wild West song from Will Smith. Do you remember the song?
00:14:01
Speaker
The Wild Wild West. Yeah, I remember. No, no, no, no. Wild Wild West. Wild Wild West, yeah. Yeah, so it's on, and it is blaring, and I am in, like, think I'm wearing, like, is that video?
00:14:13
Speaker
I forgot I'm wearing. I'm not sure, but I'm wearing this outfit, and I am full-on dancing. In my funny, full on, in like full like dancing mode. Like I um i have a routine that I am on. I don't know where this routine was from, but I am serious about this.
00:14:30
Speaker
And like that made me think, i was like, okay, so clearly I watched this movie a lot with like my dad. It was definitely on like VHS on like the TV and we would watch it all the time.
00:14:42
Speaker
um Bonita's in the background barking. ah or That was my dog growing up. um Yeah, so she she's like barking in the background. It's hilarious.
00:14:52
Speaker
I should tell my mom like the to so find that video and like record it and send it to me because it is yeah such a funny video. um But then that made me think about you know really growing up with those like two things.
00:15:06
Speaker
Like I had just said, my mom was like soap opera, the musicals, that kind of thing. And my dad was much more of like the funny, like action. Like, I think I watched a lot of comedy with my dad.
00:15:19
Speaker
Like, I think I wrote it down here. I think I wrote... Yeah, I watched a lot of comedy. I think because of my dad, I think I watched a lot of like Dumb and Dumber. That was a big one. i watched Dumb and Dumber a lot with my dad.
00:15:31
Speaker
But then also like throwing it back to like just the, you know, growing up, like what it was like was... I know you... I'm pretty sure you know this, but like every holiday... we went to the movie theater. Like it was, that was an event. Remember how you were talking about before you're like, Oh, going to the movies is an event. And for me, I think that's why nowadays I love going to the movies so much or why I love movies and watching them and and how I feel like I can't not watch them is because I grew up literally on weekends or on very special holidays, like Christmas, Labor Day, Thanksgiving weekend, all those like big July 4th,
00:16:09
Speaker
Like we spent the day at the movie theater. Guys, this was before back in the day when you could watch like, you know, it was illegal. It was definitely illegal. like two or three movies. We would get to the movie theater at like 11 on like whatever weekend it was.
00:16:26
Speaker
We would get one movie and we would watch like three movies because all the movies were where like they would finish perfect timing so you could go watch the next one or miss the previews. the previews Nowadays, they just you can't do that anymore.
00:16:40
Speaker
No, no, no, no. It's just impossible. But back then, like it was so easy. So I would watch like three movies in a day. yeah I'd watch like everything. and then and and i Obviously, that's why nowadays like I can sit through movies really long.
00:16:54
Speaker
I can watch a lot of movies. like I can be like, oh, yeah, sure. Put the next one on. I'm ready. because I'm mentally trained. Like, I can go and watch however many movies. i just i i Listen, I just love the act of sitting down, watching something, and just getting lost in that world.
00:17:11
Speaker
I have no qualms or issues with that. like No. Same. If it's something that I enjoy watching, I'm going watch it. That's why like it's like but what they say. like A movie is like a good meal.
00:17:24
Speaker
You know what I mean? It's like your favorite meal. You can have your favorite meal all over. all Anytime you want. because it's Yeah. To you, it just it's home cooking. Yeah. for a movie that you absolutely love and adore, you're going to watch it however many times. You don't care.
00:17:37
Speaker
the same The same notes that that affected you the first time you saw it are going affect you the same if when you watch it the 20th time. Yeah. There's this thing. So, yeah, man, I i i agree with you there. Yeah. Like, it's it is crazy to think because, like, I know so many people who, like, don't watch movies, like, ever. Like, I'm like, when was the last time you watched a movie? I'm like, like, they just...
00:18:01
Speaker
including my husband. My husband's not a big movie person, but like just other people who I know also where they're just like never watch movie. And I'm like, how? Like I find it so odd. I'm like, how could you like not watch a movie? Like when was, like oh, I don't know, maybe like a year ago or maybe I watched something on Netflix. I'm like,
00:18:20
Speaker
Or you name a movie and they don't even know what it is. right like It's just like so what mind-blowing to me. But it's because we were raised in this atmosphere where we really it was an event.
00:18:31
Speaker
Yeah, it was. It was an event. Every time you went to the movie, it was a big deal. It was like, we're going to the movies. We're going to watch this, this, and this. and And
Impact of specific movie experiences
00:18:40
Speaker
also by going to the movies and watching so many things is also how we started to realize what we liked and didn't like, right? And I know you know this about my dad, but my dad would try to force me to watch the alien movies. And that's why i do not like horror movies.
00:18:55
Speaker
Because I'm like, i to this day, I tell my dad that he traumatized me as a kid because I remember like he was... if I didn't have a movie to watch, I'd have to, I couldn't go watch a movie technically, like when I was really young, I thought myself. So I had to go in like with my parents or something.
00:19:10
Speaker
And then my dad be like, Oh, let's go watch this one. And I didn't know what it was. And then we'd get in there and it'd be like aliens. And I'd be like, Oh, and I would be like terrified of this movie. And my dad's like, Oh, it's nothing. you know, my dad likes the gory stuff and the yeah blood and all that stuff.
00:19:26
Speaker
Shout out to me. And like me, I don't like that. And think it's because my dad always tried to make me watch it. And I was just like, not for me. And that's why I just don't like horror movies in general. I don't like horror.
00:19:38
Speaker
Like, It's so good, too, Mel. Like, now, too, there's just, like, in the last five years, not even though that's like the last, like, 10 years, there's been this really great resurgence in horror movies.
00:19:49
Speaker
And it's so good. Stories are really good. can't. Performances. Yeah. Oh, and also, when I was little, this is this is another reason why I... I'm like scared of like think of like aliens or not even like I've watched like alien movies like now but like I don't like spirits and stuff like that like I don't mind necessarily like some horror it just it depends on where the line is but like spirits and stuff that's where I've drawn line like I don't want anything to do with that kind of stuff or like really gory things like Saw like no that's not for me um but do you remember when I was little I was terrified of E.T.
00:20:27
Speaker
I remember, yeah. You were scared, scared, scared of it. I was terrified of E.T. Like, I was like, don't, I'm, and that's not even a scary movie. No, it's not. It's not. I mean, I could see, I could see how E.T. can be scary to a kid where you look at E.T. E.T. isn't, you know, he's extraterrestrial. Yeah. It looks, you know, so it could, it could be freaky looking. So I understand that. Yeah, I was i got terrified of E.T. as a child. Like, nope, I was like, nope, it is, actually, to be honest, I don't think I've ever seen E.T.,
00:20:56
Speaker
To this day. I don't think I've... I actually don't think I've ever sat down and watched... Would you watch VT? No. No. Probably, because, I mean, it's it's not a scary movie.
00:21:07
Speaker
No, it's not. It's really good movie. It's actually, I mean, it's Steven Spielberg. Like, it's it's it is not a scary movie. but So, yeah, I would watch it now. I just have never really thought about doing it. But also, where am I going to find E.T.?
00:21:19
Speaker
I know. Physical media. Physical media, baby. Episode coming soon. Coming soon. soon. Do you remember, when was the last time, or what was your first, would you say, like,
00:21:32
Speaker
big movie that you remember being like an event? Like, not necessarily like, oh, I just want to go to the movies, but like a big, like a ah Star Wars or an Indiana Jones or or something like a, where everybody was going to the movies.
00:21:45
Speaker
I could tell you easy. Okay. Easy. 1989, Batman. that matter ah that Yeah, I was born in 1989, so clearly not. Yeah, so you're not gonna... Batman was...
00:21:59
Speaker
It was, this thing was something, I remember bits and pieces of it, but what I do remember just, I remember, i I remember, I believe I was at my dad's, staying at my dad's.
00:22:14
Speaker
um It was some holiday thing. And we tried to go, my cousin, my cousin Frankie, And my cousin Wanda, they tried to take me to a theater out there in Long Island.
00:22:29
Speaker
My dad was in Long Island at the time to go watch it. And every show was sold out. Everything. So I remember I came back home to my dad's. I was like really sad. um i don't remember. I was crying right there, but really sad because I really wanted to see Batman. So anyway, I remember when we when I came back home,
00:22:50
Speaker
um your dad was home. And your dad said, you want to go see Batman? I was like, let's go. We went to the theater in 161st Street in the Bronx, you know, where I lived. Oh, the one that's the plaza, right? In the plaza, yeah. So I went with him, saw Batman 89, and, I mean, forget about it.
00:23:15
Speaker
How old was
00:23:18
Speaker
How old was I? Like eight. yeah now Yeah, something like that. Yeah, because... Yeah. Yeah, I was... think you were like seven eight years older than Seven or years old. Yeah, I saw with him.
00:23:30
Speaker
And then the funny thing is... um I believe your dad told... Probably left a message with my mom or whatever. Or your mom saying that oh that he and I went to the theater to go see Batman. So when I remember when I came out of the theater... Waiting online was our other cousin, Scotty's kids...
00:23:51
Speaker
so And my mom, and and I saw them. I didn't know they were there. i was like, oh my God. ah and and And I was like, they were like, oh, going see Batman. I was like, I just finished watching it. And the mom was like, oh, we got you a ticket too.
00:24:02
Speaker
I got back online. I saw Batman again. really? But I saw it with them. Yes, I saw with them. um Yeah, Batman is the first movie that I went to that I was like, yeah, this is a phenomenon. Because it was everywhere. Like, everything, there was just, there was, it was the the collecting for, like, the cards, the baseball cards of Batman, like,
00:24:27
Speaker
McDonald's had like you know the toys. oh yeah. Then they had the toys in Toys R Us. It was just something. It was a phenomenon. It was it was insanity. So, yeah, Batman was the first one that I could remember.
00:24:39
Speaker
um i would you know Obviously, i was Star Wars was before. ah First, New Hope was before my time. um Empire Strikes Back, I was too young. I can't even tell you. And same thing for The Return of the Jedi. I couldn't really tell you.
00:24:51
Speaker
But um the one that I truly remember first was Batman. Oh, wow. How about you? What do you remember? Your first kind of big movie that was like... Well, yeah, because for me it was like different because obviously the 2000s produced a lot. Because it's kind of like... It's weird because I was born right at the cusp. right I was basically born in the 90s as a kid. And then the wasn't when I was like really old. But like i I do remember watching like Lord of the Rings in the movie theater.
00:25:23
Speaker
And I feel like... I remember, like I was with my, it was on one of those event days that we went to the movies, but I couldn't, i remember it was Fellowship of the Ring and I, I, I just, I remember the opening and I just remember being really like into it but I didn't know what it was.
00:25:40
Speaker
Like, I didn't know that this was like a big book or anything. Like i just, I didn't know what this was. It was like, oh sure, I guess I'll go into this movie and watch this. Like I had no, idea no idea what it was going to become and what it was going to do to my life.
00:25:54
Speaker
Um, But like, aside from that, like when I was in my when I was really, really young, I don't really remember any big, big movies coming out in the 90s that were like Batman.
00:26:06
Speaker
And correct me if I'm wrong, but like in the 90s, was there any big, big because the only thing I'm thinking about is Star Wars, the new the new ones.
00:26:18
Speaker
Oh, there was big movies in the 90s. There was. There definitely was. well But for me, like, being old enough to, like, know that. Yeah, for you to old enough, though, because that's is true, because the ones I'm thinking are early 90s, and I'll get to those in a few.
00:26:30
Speaker
Yeah, like The Lion King. Or do you mean, like... I'm talking about, like, a feature film. But for you, though, in your sakes, in your sakes... it would have been like, i would be more into like animated things in the early. Yeah. You'd be more into animated things. so I would think, I would think Lion King, Aladdin, you know, cause Disney movies were very popular. Like Disney movies were kind of event films. The animated, the old animated things. They were,
00:26:56
Speaker
They were oh, the new Disney movie is coming out. so And then that's when Disney like animation was in its and it's like heyday. Like, you know, Little Mermaid. Yeah. Me and the Beast. Aladdin. Oh, Pocahontas. I loved Pocahontas. Yeah, Pocahontas. And still love Pocahontas to this day. i love That's one of my favorites. I remember was talking Alfie about that.
00:27:14
Speaker
She's like, I don't like Pocahontas. i was like, I love Pocahontas. Pocahontas was a big one. But see, for me, for some odd reason, right now, at least, maybe after this, i get off. I'm like, oh, no, that was a thing.
00:27:26
Speaker
For me, I remember star like start when Star Wars came out again with the prequels. Phantom Menace. Yeah, the Phantom Menace, Attack the Clones, Revenge of the Sith.
00:27:37
Speaker
Was there Revenge the Revenge of the Sith, yeah. It is called Revenge of the Sith, yeah. Like, I remember... I was high school. I had pictures... The 20th anniversary, by the way. It is. It's gonna be... i might I might go and try to... See if they're releasing it here, but I know it's a thing, but... um I remember watching Revenge of the Sith in high school.
00:27:56
Speaker
I have pictures at the movie theater with, like, the poster of Anakin... Of Hayden Christensen. It was, like, such a big thing. It was, like... um It was an event.
00:28:07
Speaker
And I remember... that in high school, like how excited everyone was with the lightsabers. And it was like, hundred Star Wars is back. You know, it was like a thing. And it was very, very, very, it was very definitely exciting time. I fell into the hype. I agree with you. Into the, you know, everybody was going to the movies and I kind of, i mean, this is kind of into what we're talking about, but not really, but about the whole event thing, like, and about the movies in general is like,
00:28:36
Speaker
I used to go to the movies. Like, if it was a big movie, like, you were going to the movie at midnight. They don't do that anymore. I remember, I think it was Harry Potter. Which Harry Potter? or Harry Potter, that was a huge event, right? When those movies came out.
00:28:51
Speaker
Every year, it was like, you had to get your ticket at like to get to be there at midnight to be one of the first people. I remember... I think it was one of the last ones.
00:29:02
Speaker
I can't remember which one it was, but I went to the midnight showing in Times Square. i don't know even know if that movie theater is still there, to be honest.
00:29:13
Speaker
There was like two. There was an AMC and the one right across. Was it Regal? Regal. Regal's real cross. Yeah. It was like AMC and Regal. Yeah. They were like, ah are they still there?
00:29:25
Speaker
They're still there. They're both still there. Yeah. So like, it was like, if it wasn't at one theater, it would be at the other one. It was like one of those things. And I remember, um, I think it was AMC that was showing it and the line and everybody was dressed up in the Harry Potter and the robes. People were doing like spells and it was like, it was an event.
00:29:45
Speaker
It was an experience. like I can't, I like live in that moment. Like I'm like, oh my God, I remember how I used to like go watch movies literally midnight.
00:29:55
Speaker
I don't know when that went away. Like when did that go away that like all of a sudden like people like now go at Thursday at 6 p.m. I was like, that was never a thing back in the day.
00:30:07
Speaker
Like in the 90s, 2000s, like you had to wait till 1159 for that movie to come out. And now it's like Wednesday special preview. oh like can Yeah.
00:30:18
Speaker
Well, it's a lot of it's business. It's a money thing. It's just it's just for for the studios to kind of get an early grab at the box office and stuff. um god but So that's what it is. for me i I love. Yeah. No, I agree.
00:30:31
Speaker
So the day of. mean, it's nice to go at six now that you're old. Right. When you're older, I'm like, oh, well, wait until. Yeah. Your time is not the same. not And now when you're. yeah Yeah. You have so much going on. I remember for me, I did um Prisoner of Azkaban. I went with with with Alfie. She was my girlfriend at the time. And we went to watch um Prisoner of Azkaban at Times Square.
00:30:53
Speaker
And it was like um it was like a close to midnight showing, I think it was. And yeah, it was like a fan screening, pretty much. Like you saw people with the robes. Same thing described. People with the robes, with the wands. And, um you know, me and I feel like, oh, this is awesome. Like, this is so cool. Like, it was just a very cool experience, you know? um um Just to circle back on what you were talking about with big movies and event films, I'll say early 90s, two event films that were huge,
00:31:21
Speaker
Oh, wait, wait. Sorry. I'm so sorry. I remembered. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. ah remembered. Titanic. i will I didn't want to say because I was like, I'm so surprised you didn't mention it. i didn't want to say it, though. i wrote it down here because I'm like looking through my notes, and I was like, Titanic. And I wrote it in my notes, guys. It says Titanic, first obsession.
00:31:42
Speaker
I was obsessed. That was an event. I forgot about that. I was an event. Yeah. I'm surprised. I was like, what? I had the poster of Titanic. in my room. I was obsessed.
00:31:55
Speaker
And then I had the VHS with the two tapes, remember? Because you couldn't... Double cassettes. It couldn't be in one cassette because it was so long. You'd have to watch it and take it out and put it in the second one.
00:32:07
Speaker
yeah That movie, yes. That's wild. Titanic, that was a ah big one. Yeah, that was huge. That was major. That was major. That was major. And I think that was like one of the first times that a movie was like like that long.
00:32:20
Speaker
Yeah. I know James Cameron likes his long movies, but- No, no, no. Those movies that were long like that, because so a Godfather was- The Godfather was very- like good Godfather was double cassette, too. i never watch I didn't watch that as a kid.
00:32:31
Speaker
Godfather was double cassette too. Sorry, that was Smokey. Smokey just couldn't. cat. My apologies. Yeah. So, Godfather was double cassette. um They were long. There was a couple movies that were long. But in terms of like a movie that made that much money that was long, yeah, Titanic is one of those films that's like, wow, this is a long movie.
00:32:50
Speaker
And it just shattered box office records. You know what's crazy about Titanic? Fun fact on Titanic. It came out. ah Don't ask you how I remember this. I remember these types of things. Don't know why.
00:33:02
Speaker
It came out the same day as a James Bond movie called, I think was called Tomorrow Never Dies. Oh, okay. Came out that same day. Tomorrow Never Dies beat Titanic on opening day.
00:33:17
Speaker
Made more money. And then Titanic, after that weekend, went on this insane run of being the number one movie. Like, Titanic was number one for... I think I kind of remember that.
00:33:33
Speaker
Titanic was a number one for, like like, I want to say, like, a month and change, man. That's crazy. It crazy, the amount of... The run that Titanic was on. It was just, you know... mean, it's James Cameron. is The guy's...
00:33:47
Speaker
He's amazing. And then you got, you know, you had a young Leonardo DiCaprio, young Kate Winslet. You had the the the amazing Celine Dion song. to I mean, there was many things for Titanic.
00:33:58
Speaker
Yeah. And the movie itself was was great. it was ah It was an epic, you know, romantic love tale. And there was there was mystery. There was a ro there was a adventure. And then you had the actual Titanic itself, which is the ah major character of the movie and the syncing of it and the technology.
00:34:17
Speaker
Yeah, Titanic was... I was always wondering, like why hasn't she mentioned Titanic? I wanted to see where you were going to go. I said, let me let her go. like, why hasn't she said Titanic? I totally forgot. Because
Cultural phenomena and cinematic impact
00:34:28
Speaker
there's so many movies.
00:34:29
Speaker
there Yeah, there are. um Thank God, though, I wrote it down here. Thank God I wrote it in my notes yeah that I was going chat about it at some point. Well, I got mine. so So early 2000s, there's two major event films. There's probably more, but these are the two that stand out to me.
00:34:45
Speaker
The first one here is, um I'm sorry, let me just, i had it i had it open here. The first one. that I remember too, after Batman. 1991, a film by the name of Terminator 2 Judgment Day.
00:35:00
Speaker
That movie yeah was massive. Terminator 2, you gotta understand, Terminator 1 was a ah ah profound movie of the 80s. Again, that's a movie that came out.
00:35:12
Speaker
I don't remember much of it because I was very young. um remember seeing it And, you know, being aware of what it was about and stuff. And I found it kind of cool and interesting. But it was like, you know, it was just a movie that was there.
00:35:26
Speaker
Terminator 2, though, when they droped the when they dropped the um the teaser for it, I think it was a year before they dropped the teaser for it. And they just showed, like, the the the metal skeleton. And it said Terminator 2 Judgment Day, you know, coming in, but blah, blah, blah. And everybody was like, shit.
00:35:46
Speaker
This is happening. And then when, like, the trailer dropped, you know, back then back then, by the way, folks, you know, not like how it is now. When you watch trailers, you go to YouTube or they'll drop social Yeah, no, you had to in the theater. You had to either do two things. It was the movie theater or there was a show on CBS called Entertainment Tonight and they would drop trailers on it.
00:36:06
Speaker
Oh, you're right. Yes. So they dropped the trailer forum for yeah and they would do they dropped the trailer for Terminator 2. And people went nuts. When they see the Terminator, the liquid metal one, the one that would like disappear and come back into this.
00:36:19
Speaker
People went crazy. And you got to it's Arnold Schwarzenegger. Arnold Schwarzenegger in then in the 90s went on an amazing run as an action hero. So, you know, it was that. That was a major, major movie. Man, that's a movie that, forget about it.
00:36:35
Speaker
it was It was massive. Again, also directed by um James Cameron. So, I mean, we're seeing a theme here. yeah Now, the next movie going to talk about is a massive, massive, massive hit that it's... I've spoken about it many times. It's my favorite movie of all time, and that is 1993's Jurassic Park.
00:36:56
Speaker
Jurassic Park is... ah This is the thing with Jurassic Park, and this is the genius of one, Steven Spielberg, the director. Steven Spielberg, let it be known, in all the marketing and all the trailers, do not show the dinosaurs.
00:37:13
Speaker
All you're going to get a glimpse the dinosaurs, maybe a foot. We're not showing the dinosaurs. Before the movie comes out, we're not showing the dinosaurs. Why? The reason why is because of the moments of that movie.
00:37:29
Speaker
The moments, which, again, I saw that movie in 1993. And I fell in love with it. And then I see it now. And I still get the chills on every single moment.
00:37:41
Speaker
The first moment when when... Because remember, the movie starts... i don't know people remember when the movie starts. um We're not at the island right away. Well, we kind of are, but we're kind of are but we're at the place where...
00:37:53
Speaker
They're trying to transfer a raptor and then you see the raptor cause an accident. So don't really see that. hear it. hear it. You don't see I think you see an eyeball, but you don't really see it. So it's like you're still like, shit. I mean, when am I going to see this dinosaur?
00:38:05
Speaker
So when we get to the island and we have, um, and we have both doctors and we have Richard Hammond and, and, and you see the reaction,
00:38:16
Speaker
takes off his glasses and he looks up and they again they still don't show it they still don't show it but this is the genius of spielberg you see him he takes his hand down goes to to to to dr julie sadler i believe that was her name name and he turns the head and she takes off her glasses she stands up and they're both looking up and that's when the camera pans on i was like
00:38:39
Speaker
And then subtly the song comes on and you see the brachiosaurus and then you see this valley of dinosaurs. It's just, just it's beautiful.
00:38:50
Speaker
And like I'm talking about it and i'm I get chills. Yeah, same. It's beautiful. It's just like, you're like, I can't believe it. You're watching And then it's great because Dr. Ian Malcolm played by um Jeff Goldblum, the great Jeff Goldblum.
00:39:03
Speaker
He said He said it. It's a line where he said, he did it. The crazy son of a bitch, he did it. And it's like, that's kind of like the audience reaction to like Steven Spielberg. Yeah. Watch this movie like, this crazy son of a bitch, he did it. He made dinosaurs like real on this thing. This is crazy.
00:39:17
Speaker
And it's just, it's it's amazing. And that movie, Jurassic Park, man, oh, man, people got to understand the phenomenon of what that movie was that year. That movie was...
00:39:28
Speaker
out of this world. Because up until that point, the representation of dinosaurs on screen wasn't really the best. It was like very, it wasn't, it it didn't look realistic. This did.
00:39:40
Speaker
And it still
Romance films and personal preferences
00:39:41
Speaker
does. That's the crazy thing about it. That's the crazy part, yeah. You can watch Jurassic Park then, you can watch it now and you're just like, That crazy son of a bitch, he did it. He did it. This is how crazy Jurassic Park is.
00:39:54
Speaker
Ryan Coogler, shout out Ryan Coogler, Sinners, if you haven't seen it, go watch it. It is amazing. Five stars. Excellent film. Ryan Coogler, they they were interviewing him. um IMAX was interviewing him on their um handle on IG.
00:40:08
Speaker
And they asked him, oh, what movie from the past would you love to see on IMAX that you've never seen on IMAX? He immediately said, oh, Jurassic Park. He's like, that movie on IMAX would... Oh, wow, He said it would blow my mind.
00:40:20
Speaker
And I said, f yes. Yes. If Spielberg could somehow... If you can somehow put... Jurassic Park, somehow on 70mm on IMAX, I will go opening day and watch it. If they were to do that, I am there. I will make whatever sacrifice needs to be made to go.
00:40:40
Speaker
That movie was magical, and it's still magical to me. As you hear me speaking about it right now, you can tell the passion behind it. I love that movie deeply. because Again, I watched it as a kid. I believe I was like probably 11 or 12 watching like eleven or twelve watching It and it was just You got to understand what that movie does. what um what And it's what we're talking about, what this whole episode is about. it's about the movies that shaped us and made us feel what we feel about and love movies the way we do. like The reason I love Jurassic Park and the reason i i mean the reason I love Steven Spielberg is because of movies like Jurassic Park. It's because of movies like E.T.,
00:41:19
Speaker
It's because of movies like Jaws and Raiders of the Lost Ark and Temple of Doom and The Last Crusades. like these These movies shape me to love directors and understand styles and understand what it means to do this and that. Same thing with with with Terminator 2.
00:41:37
Speaker
Titanic, I learned to love and understand the language of James Cameron because of how he shoots his movies. Same thing with Spielberg. you know like There's things that these directors do, and this is what movies do to us. This is what they what they what they what they make us feel.
00:41:53
Speaker
And again, I said it at the beginning of the episode, it's a home-cooked meal, and it's the best home-cooked meal going to have. And no matter how many times you watch it You're going to love it the same. Just like how Melody has seen Titanic well over like 10 times. Oh, my God. It's still as good as the first time It's still as good. Yeah.
00:42:12
Speaker
Yeah. Oh, my God. Yeah, that's so true. Yeah. Wow. I'm like... I'm trying to think about... I mean, I think mine... like like that like that was like really really like life-changing for me obviously it was like i think lord of the rings was definitely a big one for me um when i was like because i was like 12 when that came out yeah it was i was like 12 because i i was in eighth i was definitely in like eighth grade still when that movie came out it wasn't until like later on that
00:42:43
Speaker
But see, at that point, you're in eighth grade. You're you're like, you you have your personality already. So it's like, it's like, there's, there's, there's things about where you're at in your life when you watch these movies that also impact how you feel about them.
00:42:56
Speaker
You know, and you're kind of, you're kind of in your adolescence at that point. So it's like, you know, you have all these feelings about things and then you see this movie and then you see all these characters and there's a, there's a connection that you make.
00:43:09
Speaker
Yeah. Huh? Yeah. That's what I was like. That's when I think the fantasy thing hit because they weren't doing that much fantasy kind of thing. Lord of the Rings. Lord of the rings was the ro Rings was the only fantasy movie that I've seen in a while up until that point. I can't think of another quote unquote fantasy movie. If then it was, it wasn't that special. It wasn't that special. That's saying. Because when I think about like growing up and this is one I want to talk about is like, and it's why I really like romance. I think romance films are are really like, I love that genre a lot.
00:43:43
Speaker
and And yeah, it does stem from like watching telenovelas and like kind of being lost in this was like really cliche romantic moments of the guy as the big declaration. And I just, I love that stuff. And it does stem from definitely watching so much of like so much soap operas like for sure granted soap operas were also really really dramatic right you know someone always had to get pushed down the stairs if she fainted if if they fainted she was pregnant did you ever watch i don't mean I don't mean to cut you off did you ever watch the American soap operas were you ever into any of those or you were just strictly like telenovelas um there was I feel like I saw that feel you were but you never really talked about it you were more telenovela yeah no there was one passions was it passions
00:44:28
Speaker
passions i remember passions yeah passions i used to watch that sometimes i had a teacher that worked on passion she was she was a director and a writer there oh wow when i went to bmcc she was a she had a script i remember one time in class she was like she was she had like a script with her and stuff she had just come from i think it was on abc i think she had just come from the studio where she was working there oh that's so cool didn't know that wow um so yeah i think i think That's like where like it stemmed like the romance romantic stuff.
00:44:57
Speaker
But then I think also I remember one of the first like romantic I guess romantic ah comedy ish movie I've seen. And it's a one that not a lot of people ever about. even know if you know this movie.
00:45:09
Speaker
It's called One Fine Day. of course. With Michelle Pfeiffer and George Clooney. I love that movie. are you talking to? Come on, Mel. You don't disrespect me like that. I don't know. George Clooney was my man crush. That was the guy. After Harrison Ford and Denzel, George Clooney was that guy where was like like, that's the guy i want to be. I want to be like that guy. That guy's all the and all the and although and alllthough girls like him. like So I want to be that guy. I want to be that guy. yeah Yeah. That was a good movie, though.
00:45:40
Speaker
that is a I used to watch that movie. Oh, that's another episode we're going to do. We're going to romantic comedies. Oh, yeah. Get ready for that. That's a good one. di wait That's a whole deep dive we could do. That's a whole deep dive. um But yeah, i One Fine Day is one of those movies that I used to watch all of the time. And I think it also kind of really cemented my love for enemies to lovers tropes, which I love. that is That's a major trope.
00:46:06
Speaker
yeah that's a major That's one of the major tropes in in romance, and I think that movie is definitely an enemies-to-lovers kind of feel because they kind of like hate each other, but then they end up having to switch kids. and all so It's such a great film. I just i love that movie. I haven't seen
90s movies and pop culture influence
00:46:20
Speaker
in forever, but it's one of the first romantic, I guess I would call it romantic comedies. It is a romantic comedy, yeah. Yeah, that... um i so And they shot it in New York, which I love. did Yeah. They shot it here. So it's, I don't know. I don't know what it is smelled about mo about romantic comedies and these movies. Like, romantic comedies general, when they're shot in New York, to me, it adds an extra layer. I guess because I'm a New Yorker and I can identify with the environment of like, oh, I've been to that place. Oh, I know that place. Mm-hmm.
00:46:45
Speaker
Like, you know, for me, a romantic comedy that stands out for me, and it's one of my favorites. I you've i think you've seen it too. You've Got Mail. oh Oh, was just going to talk about this. Oh, man.
00:46:56
Speaker
Rod, do you not remember when you first got that on DVD? Yeah, I remember. You remember? I think still got it. I was going to talk about that. still got it. Oh, my God. think it's downstairs somewhere. was the... it was like the It was a cardboard. It was a cardboard with a flap. It was like one of the first DVDs that were like... And you were... for those of you who don't know, Ronnie was always very into like the tech of stuff.
00:47:21
Speaker
So if the new iPhone was coming out, he'd be like, oh, there's this new phone. Oh, there's this new iPod. He always had the like first of everything. it made sense that you were like knew what this DVD was. yeah Like, oh, it's like this new thing. And I remember you played it at home and... and at your apartment at where you guys lived and I was like I think the first spot before you guys yeah 9 cent grand conference yeah was the first spot and um I remember we watched that a lot I watched that one a lot that's one of my favorites too because I love that movie watched it so much I love that movie that's such good film do you remember the other movie that I love there was a few really good romantic comedies one of the other ones that I loved is it's kind of a deep cut Robert Downey Jr. and Marissa Tomei did this movie called Only You
00:48:07
Speaker
great movie. Like... Yeah. If you haven't seen it, I'd love for you to find it and watch it. It's... Man, it's so good. don't think seen that. sounds funny. And it's so funny because you got Iron Man and Aunt May there.
00:48:22
Speaker
That is absolutely funny. But their chemistry is so good in that. it's such a good movie. Like, Only You was beautiful. Oh, Yeah. the Yeah, yeah, yeah. Only You. love that one. I remember the cover.
00:48:35
Speaker
Yeah, Only You was awesome. Yeah, Only You was awesome. ah Oh, and you know what? what let me Let me just transition from romantic comedy to romantic comedy high school stuff.
00:48:49
Speaker
um I'm going to go in and talk about a few films. Can't Hardly Wait. I had that DVD. love Harvey. Because I had a crush on um Jennifer Love Hewitt. So i was like, yeah I love Ken Harvey. It was just such a... It was such a teen kind of funny, comedic thing. But it was actually a good movie. Like, if you watch Ken Harvey and you watch the story and everything and the characters was...
00:49:16
Speaker
if you go back to that movie, that movie had a lot of, like, actors that were kind of, like, you know, that are probably big time. Yes. Like, for years later on, yeah they became big, you know.
00:49:26
Speaker
um That was one, and the other one was um She's All That. Oh, yeah. Yeah, She's All That. That's a classic, I mean. Yeah. That is, I mean, that is a classic.
00:49:38
Speaker
um Oh, yeah. I mean, I still watch that to this day, and I'm like, oh, man, it's still so Yeah. there's you know it's It's a romantic comedy, but it's also a high school one of those high school coming-of-age type movies. which was Those were a big thing for for those in those years of the 90s. That was a genre on itself, those coming-of-age teen comedy things. yeah You know which one we have to talk about.
00:50:02
Speaker
Clueless. what is it Oh, wow, dude. remember My mom loved Clueless. yeah That was so weird. like I'm like, Clueless, really? She loved it.
00:50:12
Speaker
She would play it all the time when I was over. I remember we would she's like, oh, you want to watch Clueless? And she would take out the VHS and we would watch it. Oh, your mom, my aunt, loved Clueless.
00:50:24
Speaker
Yeah. I mean, it's still it's still so good. It's a good movie, though. It's a very good movie. And it's a it's very funny. Clueless was very funny. It was very funny. Clueless was a very funny movie for the time.
00:50:35
Speaker
Your mom would always be like, loser, as is. Loser, as if. Oh, my God, mom. Mom is so funny. She would always do it. You guys should watch that when you're there.
00:50:46
Speaker
Yeah, I might have to. I might have to. It's like, let's watch Clueless together. Yeah. That'd be funny. It's funny. Me and Alfie were talking like, oh, would Mackenzie like Clueless? And we're like, I don't know. mean She's too young for certain things. So i was like, okay, we'll wait.
00:50:59
Speaker
Because now we're like, my like Mackenzie's getting she's getting older. So it's like we're we're we're trying to kind of go a little deeper into the movie library. There's certain things she can't watch. Yeah.
00:51:09
Speaker
Because remember, movies back then were a little bit more... They were... they were they were more risque on certain topics back then than they are now. Now I think they're more conscious about things. Back then, you could watch like a PG-13 movie and they go into conversations about that you're I'm not ready to have the conversation yet. Let's hold back a little bit. You know what mean? Yeah, because that movie definitely I think is too old for her.
00:51:31
Speaker
Yeah, yeah. But definitely, um that was a big genre from the 90s. And those were very popular films. And then the biggest films of that genre in the late 90s, I don't know if you ever got into them. I thought they were funny because they were pseudo-romantic comedy, but not really. The coming age, the American Pie movies. like Those movies were huge. those movies were huge. I mean, talk about risque.
00:51:55
Speaker
Huge. Those movies were huge. American Pie huge, man. I think they made what was four? They made four or five. don't even know. Because there's one that's like, i think it's called the american American wedding because it's when they finally and they get married. Yeah.
00:52:07
Speaker
And they did a reunion one. They did reunion where everybody got back together. and i haven't seen those movies. It's been a long time. It's like, where do you find those? I mean, you got find them in a bin somewhere and then either find them in a DVD bin somewhere or there's somewhere online somewhere. There's somewhere online. Yeah. but Yeah. Yeah. That's true. American Pie. American Pie was one of them. And then, you know what? Now, again, let's let's step out of the teen bopper thing. Let's just go to comedies in general.
00:52:37
Speaker
um Let's let's. Oh, wait. Can I can I go first? Go ahead. Because I have to say it because this is a movie that shaped us.
00:52:49
Speaker
Good Burger. Oh, my God. Good Burger. Stop poking me, man. Rodney and I watched Good Burger so much together growing was just silly. It was silliness. It was like silly comedy. It was super silly. You don't take it serious.
00:53:08
Speaker
Almost slapstick. It is It was, yeah. That very, like... Yeah. Shout out to Keenan and Kel, man. Shout out to Keenan and Kel. They were those guys, man. They, they figured it out early on, on what comedy was and, you know, comedy is hard.
00:53:21
Speaker
And, and, and they created these two characters that were beloved and hilarious and something as simple as, as, you know, as welcome, you know, welcome to good burger, home of the good burger. Can I take your order? you know, like, and it's this,
00:53:37
Speaker
And what I loved about that movie was, is what you said, is like, in the movie itself, it didn't take itself seriously. It's like, this is the character, the character he played. I forgot, well it was a Doug? His name was Doug, right?
00:53:49
Speaker
ah I forgot his name. I think Doug is not the... Oh, hold on, let me look it up. Yeah, look it up. But anyway... Yeah, yeah, yeah. Go ahead. I liked the fact, i liked how, you know, that's the character. That's how he played it. And he played it throughout the whole movie.
00:54:04
Speaker
No, it's Ed and Dexter. Ed and Dexter. Ed, yeah, he was Ed, yeah. he he he He played it throughout the whole movie, and it never and it it was never a serious moment. It was like, this is the character.
00:54:16
Speaker
This is who he is. And everybody around him in that world accepted him. Yeah. and they And they maneuvered around him being that way. And that's what made it fun, I think. Yeah. ah you You said you from beginning, you're like, okay, this is the movie. Let me just write let me ride with it. Yeah. And when you rode with it was funny, man. It was silly as hell, but it was still like, it'd make you like slap your knee and be like,
00:54:39
Speaker
This shit was all right, man. We laughed so much. There was this one, like, what's up, Pokimmy, man? They're in this menstrual institute. And the guy's eating cards. He's eating the cards. They're playing with deck of cards. And one of the guys is like, stop eating the cards. Stop eating the cards. Stop eating the cards.
00:54:57
Speaker
Yo, was funny, man. What you doing? And then there's one who's just like poking, I think, Dexter the whole time. He's like, stop poking me, man. Stop poking me, man. Oh, it's so funny. It just became our little thing. But yeah.
00:55:07
Speaker
Anyway, continue. So what else? Yeah, so um going into like just the comedy realm, like for movies that were big of that era, you got to go with the king of that era with comedy. And that is the GOAT, Jim Carrey.
00:55:20
Speaker
Jim Carrey. I forgot what year. I think it was 1994. Jim Carrey's filmography in 1994, Mel, was, I think it was The Mask.
00:55:33
Speaker
I think it was also Ace Ventura. And I think that was like back to back, dude. Like his 1994 filmography was. but Oh, and Dumb and Dumber.
00:55:46
Speaker
Dude, Dumb and Dumber, which that's one of my favorites. My other favorites, I'll tell you what. That's Damask, Dumb and Dumber, and Ace Ventura. Yeah. Same year. Same year. I'm like, yeah Jim Carrey was on another level, dude.
00:56:02
Speaker
Another Love of the Mask was
Subjective nature of film and discussions
00:56:03
Speaker
a very big movie that year. Dumb and Dumber was a very big movie that year. I loved Dumb Dumber. Ventura was a big movie that year. That was all. That dude was just forget about it.
00:56:14
Speaker
And then he did Batman Forever. Not a good movie. But remember, not he was the Riddler. He was the Riddler and Tommy tamy Lee Jones hated him. Oh, really? Hated him. Yeah, dude.
00:56:26
Speaker
Tommy Lee could not stand him. like they In and and legitimate, behind-the-scenes stuff, the portal is supposedly. like And Jim jim tried.
00:56:37
Speaker
That's the thing. like I give ah Jim credit. Jim was like trying to like really... Because he's like, yo, I respect him as an actor. He's such a great actor. Tommy Lee Jones. Tommy Lee Jones was just like... Is it just because of his humor?
00:56:49
Speaker
What didn't he like about it? I think it was the humor. There was something there. He was very like over the top. Yeah, because I think the movie was trying to be very It was very campy.
00:57:00
Speaker
ah very campy it wasn't it wasn't harry camp be yeah It was far from the Tim Burton films. It was a very campy ah kind of world. And that's where the other Batman movie with um but Clooney, um batman Batman and Robin. Because Batman Forever was the one way with Riddler and Two-Face.
00:57:21
Speaker
So, yeah, that was that was... Yeah, man, that was great. But, I mean, just to keep on with... with um With Jim Carrey. Jim Carrey did Liar Liar, which is a huge movie in 97. Oh, that's a great film too. you know And then he went serious. 1998, he did this movie called The Truman Show, which was like one of the first things where people saw Carrey were like, wow, this guy could really do drama.
00:57:41
Speaker
you know And then he did Man on the Moon, I believe in 99, where he got nominated for an Oscar and people were really rooting for him. ended winning. He did that. And then one of my favorite Jim Carrey movies of all time, my friends and I, we still talk about it to this day. And this is in terms of comedy.
00:57:55
Speaker
2000, Me, Myself and Irene. Me, Myself and Irene is quietly one of the funniest movies. Because you got to understand. I remember that on DVD. I can't remember it though. It is very it's very controversial. that That's a movie that don't think can get done today. Oh, oh yeah. It's one of those. With standards on things. Yeah. But it was so funny.
00:58:17
Speaker
The comedy was so funny. And the moments in that movie were so funny. Me and my boys, we watched it. We loved it. we are We still quote things from it because it's funny to us. But, yeah, you know going back to like our conversation with just how with everything ah and how movies shaped us, i mean, you're hearing us talk about all these different films, you can see why we love talking about movies.
00:58:37
Speaker
Yeah. I could sit for hours with someone and just talk about a movie. I could dissect a movie, talk about a genre, talk about an actor, director, style. I could do that. And, you know, I'm not... Listen, I went to school for film. You know, I didn't i didn't get my degree or anything on it.
00:58:54
Speaker
But I feel like I got my degree and I cut my teeth on film by watching movies and understanding these actors and these directors and even these producers. and these stories. And I feel like i i I did my time and I paid my dues by watching these films yeah and understanding and loving these movies and disliking these movies. Because listen, as much as you can watch the movie and love it, you can watch the movie and be like, yeah, I didn't like it because i got X, Y, and Z. And that's okay. yeah That's okay. you know Because not everything you know not everything is for everybody and that's and there's nothing wrong with that.
00:59:27
Speaker
But um i I just, I'm so, I so love doing what we do. I love that we have this show and we have this ability to be able to communicate. Because even you and I, we we love a lot of things, but there's a lot of things we don't agree on that we, that we and and that's, again, that's okay.
00:59:45
Speaker
But that's what the communication, the conversation is about. That's why I feel like movies are gifts, right? because you can watch a movie. I can watch it and you can watch a movie, but you can look at it from another perspective than what I did. And you can tell me, Rob, what did you think about this? I felt like it was X, Y, and Z. And I'm like, wow, I didn't look at it that way. You didn't look at it that way, yeah. Yeah, because you're looking through your eyes as opposed to me looking through my eyes. Because wide film really is very subjective, really. It is. All art is subjective. All art is very subjective. Movies, music.
01:00:14
Speaker
literal paintings sculptures it's it's all subjective but you know in terms of the medium we're talking about with movies man I love it man I really do there's one There's one more genre that i want to talk about because I think there's a lot of movies in that genre that we watched a lot together.
01:00:33
Speaker
um And it's – don't know what genre I guess this is because it's not – it's like feel-good movies, right? They're not necessarily comedies. They're not action. They're not fi. They're not – ah romantic, right? But there's still like few good movies of the 90s that we watched a lot as a kid.
01:00:53
Speaker
And this one for some odd reason, I almost forgot about it, but I have a list of like movies from the 90s that I like, because I was like curious. Oh, what are the movies from the 90s that I can't remember or things that, because there's so many movies from the 90s that I feel like a lot of people don't talk about like enough.
01:01:08
Speaker
We don't talk about them at all. But there are three, no, four movies that I want but i wanted to, that I know like really shaped me or that I still really remember.
01:01:19
Speaker
The first one is one that, two of them are the ones that we really watched a lot. Rookie of the Year. Rookie the Year. Remember? Rookie the Year was awesome. Remember? Rookie of the Year was so good. We watched that so much on tape. I still remember the tape when you had it, like what it looked like and everything. Like I just have good memories of us watching that all the time. That movie is – see, it's like a feel-good movie, right? Because you can't say it's a comedy. You can't say it's a romance. It's just – Well, it's a – it was – demographically, it was for kids –
01:01:50
Speaker
Yeah, like what's for kids, family, family, family. Yeah, it was family entertainment. Family entertainment, which is like weird because I feel like they don't, like, I like they just don't really make too many movies like that anymore.
01:02:01
Speaker
no, no. It's usually, like, it's kind of hard. I mean, I guess you have like Minecraft or like, Maybe. It's just done crazy numbers at the box office, by the way. Yeah, which may be something like that, but I don't know. But that's just different because it's also all the CGI and all this stuff going on, right? Well, movies back then... Yeah, you're comparing a movie from the 90s, and it was a baseball movie, and it didn't really need the whole thing of CGI. But why?
01:02:26
Speaker
Just because we're in a world of CGI doesn't mean you just can't make a movie. without that stuff. I agree. agree 100%. You can go about it and do it. and and And yeah, I don't understand why that's not happening anymore. Like they just like everything has to be this like big grandiose thing, which is great. Like, but, and this has, man, I feel like I'm going to go off topic by talking about this, but now that's- No, go ahead, please.
01:02:48
Speaker
The floor is yours. Which is what you just said. They're like, oh, well, you know, back in the day you can make movies and there was no CGI and stuff. and I'm like, yeah, but you can still make movies like that. i
Film reviews and future podcast plans
01:02:58
Speaker
I don't know if i told you, but on the plane,
01:03:00
Speaker
I saw, and I think I texted you about the other day because we were talking about Kieran Culkin. I watched A Real ah real Pain. Real Pain. Have you watched it? no So but when he was getting talked about winning an Oscar and all this stuff, and I was like, oh, this, really? I was just like, I just wasn't understanding. I'm like, this movie?
01:03:20
Speaker
It's one of those movies where I'm like, I don't know why it would be anything special. Like I've seen the trailer for it. I'm just like, oh it seems kind of boring. And, and why? Because we're trained in our minds. Like, Oh, it has to be like this, like grandiose things, like whatever.
01:03:34
Speaker
And you I'm not going lie. I watched that movie and I loved it. And this whole movie literally, I think that movie, like ah somebody could have made it yesterday. Like you don't need a big budget for that movie. Cause that whole movie is just literally them in like, I think they're in,
01:03:48
Speaker
Poland. Yeah. And they're just walking around. Most of the scenes are like at, you know, some specific areas. You know, they do go to like a Nazi, like concentration, like a concentration camp. They do go to that.
01:03:59
Speaker
and And they're at at a hotel. They're walking. They're at cemetery. No crazy costumes. There's about like six actors in it. Nothing crazy happens in this movie.
01:04:11
Speaker
It is literally two cousins going to their grandma's spot. And I am, i I was surprised at how good it was. And I was like, Oh, I get it now. Like I understood like why he won the Oscar. I understood why, you know, it was nominated. Like it all made sense. It was wonderfully written. It was wonderfully acted by both of them, by Jesse Eisenberg and Karen Culkin in that movie. And,
01:04:39
Speaker
I was like shocked because I was like, wow, I just sat here for about an hour and a half, nothing long, nothing crazy. And it was just two characters talking. And yeah, they had their disagreements. They had those moments. And you're like, oh my God, this character absolutely insane.
01:04:55
Speaker
And then they reel it back in and then they're just walking and talking. it's just the family dynamics between these two characters. Highly recommend you watch it. It was, I was, I was shocked at how invested I was in this film.
01:05:08
Speaker
I got to watch it. I i knew Kieran Culkin was a great actor because there was a show he was on on HBO called Succession. It's one of the best shows I've ever seen. didn't get into it. He played Roman. You didn't get into it? No, it's fine because it's not for everybody. He played Roman Roy. I loved it because it was just this ultra rich family. and the whole point of the The whole thing with the show is you're not supposed to like anybody on the cast.
01:05:34
Speaker
Because they're all they're all assholes. They're all jokes. yeah My favorite character is the dad, um Logan Roy, played by the amazing and great Brian Cox. um But just to digress, I got to watch Real Pain. i heard it was I heard it was real good. And yeah, I agree with you. There's certain movies that you don't need much.
01:05:52
Speaker
You don't. and And sometimes you know how you talked about um special effects. It's also about the actors, too. Because... You know, if you have an actor with a big name in a movie, it's like the the special effect is the actor with the big name because they're the actor. Like, oh, it's Denzel Washington. Yeah. Oh, it's Tom Cruise.
01:06:12
Speaker
Their name alone, it brings things. But with Royal Pain, like you said, not Royal Pain, um a real pain, um you have Kieran Culkin and you have J.C. Eisenberg, who are... They're not big, big stars per se. They're well-known names, but they're not big, big stars. So it's a it is a movie that can kind of flow in the radar and catch you by surprise on that. You know what I mean? Like, ah yeah.
01:06:35
Speaker
Yeah, yeah. So I understand that. like ah movie that i can say um doesn't get talked about enough that I wish it did, and I'm going back to the 90s of this one.
01:06:47
Speaker
um It's a science fiction movie called Gattaca. And it's with um a very young Ethan Hawke and a very young Uma Thurman, which is the movie where they actually met.
01:07:00
Speaker
Oh. Ended up, I believe... you know, having a relationship and up getting married. Yeah. Yattica is an absolute genius of ah of a film. um Way, way, way before its time, talking about genetic modification, talking about, like, all these things about... Talking about a lot of things that are talked about now.
01:07:20
Speaker
That's why my old saying of, like, science fiction is only fiction up until it's not, until it's just science, because it happens. And that movie eerily... like goes into, but it's just such a beautiful movie. Like it's beautifully shot.
01:07:35
Speaker
Yeah. It's beautifully shot. Um, they shot in l LA cause there's a lot of iconic LA stuff, but it takes place in the future and just, it's, it's a beautiful story.
01:07:48
Speaker
And Jude Law is in it too, a very young Jude Law. Oh, wow. Yeah. It's a 90s film. Yeah, and and it's it's just so it's like it's a great movie. And it's one of those things where it's it's ah it's about a guy who's an underach chief who who's kind of an underachiever, but he's also an overachiever.
01:08:06
Speaker
Yeah. ah Ethan Hawke's character is a guy that suffers from a genetic um heart um ah issue. And he wants to go into space because in this world in this universe of this world, they're on Earth for everything, but you know they go off to off-planet to...
01:08:24
Speaker
I forgot what the thing is, but in order for you to go there, you have to pretty much be like genetically like peak, peak, pretty much peak human. You know, like you have to run and your heart rate has to be a certain thing, your intellect.
01:08:37
Speaker
You have to just be look amazing. Yeah. and And Ethan Hawke is pretty much trying to fake it into this. And that's when he runs into Jude Law, and Jude Law and him cut a deal. And I don't want to ruin it. If you can get a chance to watch Gattaca, please watch it.
01:08:52
Speaker
It's
The Matrix and its revolutionary effect
01:08:53
Speaker
an amazing film. Doesn't get talked about enough. Just an amazing, amazing movie. We are actually going to have... Well, I think that's one of our podcast episodes. Also, we have a lot coming up here, guys. So I hope you're...
01:09:03
Speaker
Yeah. you're Yeah. You know, following us so that definitely, definitely. I have another one, but I'm going to wait for that one for that episode. We're going to, we're having an episode where we're going to talk about movies that aren't. Yeah. Yeah, definitely. Listen, before but I just, I just want to go back to earlier on. We were talking about, cause I cannot leave.
01:09:20
Speaker
Yeah. and No, not even that. Just early on in the, part in the, in the, in the pod, we were talking about, we talked about wild, wild West. And that movie came out in 1999, along with um Star Wars The Phantom Menace.
01:09:33
Speaker
I could not leave this episode without talking about a movie, which is another impact movie. it wasn't that Now, this movie I'm going to mention, it wasn't a movie that a lot of people had. um Well, people had it circled, but it wasn't hyped like a Star Wars Phantom Menace because people didn't know what to expect from it.
01:09:55
Speaker
And this is the movie that I really truly believe is the reason why i think Phantom Menace underwhelmed a lot of people. And I also feel why Wild West underwhelmed lot of people. Because when this movie came out, it changed the game.
01:10:07
Speaker
I'm talking about The Matrix. Oh, that did come out. came out now the matrix Let me tell you something right now. yeah yeah there's spot the matrix There's certain points in theater and movies that things change.
01:10:19
Speaker
I could say... um Terminator 2 changed action movies and how action movies are made in 1991. Jurassic Park was one of those movies that changed because it just it changed the realm of what you can do on screen and what you can put.
01:10:35
Speaker
yeah The Matrix came out and it just it blew the doors open on, okay, this is what we can do with special effects. I remember that. That movie came out and people were just like...
01:10:48
Speaker
holy shit, what the fuck did I just see? this this is What a camera can do that you can stop an image and then spin the the camera around the image? I lost my mind. I was like, this is incredible.
01:11:01
Speaker
This is unbelievable. it took I feel like The Matrix took cinema and audiences to a level that they never knew a movie could take you, visually speaking.
01:11:13
Speaker
You know what I mean? Because say what you will about the Matrix. The story can be, for a lot of people, story is confusing. I don't understand. I don't get it. you know and And I understood the Matrix. I've seen it enough. I understand the Matrix.
01:11:24
Speaker
The sequels were a little bit much. They can be a little confusing, but there's a message there. But visually speaking, the Matrix took audiences on a ride and took audiences to a level that they didn't know.
01:11:36
Speaker
a movie could take them and i really do think that the reason why the phantom menace and again wild wild west and i figure forgot what other movies were coming out that were supposed to be big blockbusters that year that didn't emerge i think it's because the matrix blew so many people away may just come i remember came out in april all right so matrix kind of had a head start it wasn't a summer blockbuster movie it was just a movie that we're dropping it in april Yeah. they you And and did they know let me tell you something, man, that that shit was a phenomenon.
01:12:09
Speaker
and became It was a movie that became a phenomenon after because people went back and watched it over and over and over again because they couldn't believe it. This was like a video game or a Japanese anime that came. Yeah. Yeah.
01:12:24
Speaker
you had you had You had the... Again, that first scene where... Literally, the opening scene is like this crazy thing where Trinity's in his room. The cops point the gun. trina Trinity does like this like move, and she's frozen in the air, and then the camera does the thing. I remember in the theater, the people were like... Yo, people were going bonkers. Bonkers.
01:12:44
Speaker
Because you never said anything like that before. Yeah. You didn't. You're just like... What did I just saw? What did I just witness? You know, and then and then Neo, a.k.a.
01:12:55
Speaker
Keanu Reeves, the the great Keanu Reeves, who just like, you know, Keanu Reeves, no, Keanu Reeves right now, he's in a resurgence. He's in this aura. aura level of an actor, very beloved and rightly so.
01:13:09
Speaker
But up until that moment, Keanu Reeves was kind of, ah you know, he was an actor in Hollywood, ah you know, kind of going by. He wasn't held at a high level. He wasn't held at this high regard that he is now.
01:13:21
Speaker
That movie is what catapulted Keanu Reeves to start. Well, yeah, because I mostly remember him from Speed. Yeah, Speed. It was in Bill and Ted's... I watched Speed a lot. That was good He was in Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure, Bogus Journey. He was in Speed, which which is awesome. He was in Point Break, which I loved.
01:13:38
Speaker
yeah like I liked Keanu Reeves a lot, but when you know were you're to tell me, well, Keanu Reeves is in this science fiction action movie, I'm kind of like, okay... interesting interesting but then you see this movie you're just like this is this is bad shit crazy the kung fu the choreography the special effects i mean it's a movie that changed it changed everything you know that's one of those films that's that became it was the opposite of what you said like oh what about what like what's the movie that had the most hype this movie was i think the movie that had the most hype after it Afterwards, yeah. It became kind of like almost like a Titanic. But see, with Titanic, it was different because did feel like Titanic had enough. People knew about Titanic. So they go they went in wanting to see it. Yeah, and it's like a real story. Matrix is like that. The Matrix is different. The Matrix is like people... Matrix is almost experimental, to be honest with you. one of those things. It was like like Warner Brothers said, let's put this out there. Let's see what happens.
01:14:32
Speaker
Show. Little just ain't change game. Change the Change the game completely. Like, forget about it, man. Oh, man. Shout out to the Wachahowski's.
01:14:44
Speaker
ah Shout out to to to to Warner Brothers. Shout out to Keanu Reeves and Lawrence Fishburne. Shout out all those wonderful people. You know, all those people that that made that movie special. Because movie impacted me. You don't talk about a movie that impacted me. The Matrix is those movies that impacted me a lot. Because it just, it made me realize where we could really go and what can really be done on screen and how we can take, you know, just what film filmmaking is and put it to such a high level.
01:15:11
Speaker
You know what I mean? Oh, yeah. No, that's very true. I wasn't that into The Matrix then. and was No, no. yeah It was a new thing.
01:15:22
Speaker
But I do remember you coming back. I i do remember you being like real hyped off this movie. I was like, oh,
Rise of superhero movies and theater experience
01:15:29
Speaker
this is interesting. It was, were really, he really hyped about that.
01:15:34
Speaker
We didn't even get to talk about the other the other films that were like impact films that were big. um you know And I know we're running long here, but I just i got to give a shot. I'm going to go into the superhero realm.
01:15:45
Speaker
um The x X-Men, the first the first X-Men movie. yeah What year did that come out? That was 2000. Oh, so we're like right at that. Yeah, 2000s. I personally... my my My favorite Marvel movie before that point was um was um Blade with Wesley Snipes. Blade, the first one. I loved the first Blade.
01:16:05
Speaker
Yeah, I know was vampire movies. you know yeah But it was such a dope movie. But again, Blade was one of those movies that, again, it was like people... knew about it but it wasn't like that x-men had a following especially because of the cartoons from the 90s they were a very popular team so people you know group um um from the mario universe so when they said oh we're gonna do excellent gonna have wolverine so you hear about it like oh wow you're gonna have x-men and x-men came out that was a huge deal man like x-men was a was a very very big movie you know and they launched a career of
01:16:38
Speaker
Good old, you you're going to have it till you're 90. Till you're 90. I'm telling you, till you're 90. And then Mel, the other big superhero movie, got to mention, man, the GOAT.
01:16:50
Speaker
One of the GOATs, one of the best, Spider-Man with Tobey Maguire. Spider-Man. You remember Spider-Man. Yeah. Spider-Man was massive, dude. That was a, yeah. Massive movie. Massive.
01:17:07
Speaker
like You're talking about the box office numbers were crazy. It was Spider-Man. It was Spider-Fever, dude. like I know people love to talk about the recent one with Tom Holland and No Way Home whatnot. I'll be completely honest with you. It doesn't compare. The hype that that Tobey Maguire movie had when it came out and then afterwards...
01:17:31
Speaker
I mean, forget about it. And then remember, it had that hit song. um Sometimes a hero will say. Oh, my God. That was huge. Oh, yeah.
01:17:41
Speaker
I forgot about that. That shit was like a number one. It was the number one song. So you had the number one movie and you had the number one song ah based off of the movie. Oh, my God. I think the last time a movie did that, in terms of that level of hype, was like Titanic.
01:17:55
Speaker
Because remember, Titanic had the Celine Dion song and then had the movie. But yeah like in terms of, yeah, dude, I'm telling you, man. like That Spider-Man... Was it 2000? Spider-Man came out about 2002, right?
01:18:09
Speaker
Wait, okay. I see it here. Where is it? ah Spider-Man came out in... Yeah, 2002. Yeah. You know how much Spider-Man made in the box office at that time? You want to hear? How much? Total box office, $825.8 million. $9 million. Wow.
01:18:25
Speaker
That's a lot. For that time? For that time. That's a lot money. Well, other than like Iron Man, which but like Spider-Man was the like first one.
01:18:37
Speaker
Yeah, Spider-Man, that was that was that was that was wild for it to make that much money, man. like you know Again, i'm just I'm throwing movies here because I don't want to throw the obvious ones because I could throw obvious ones.
01:18:50
Speaker
But like you know like Spider-Man is a film that I think a lot of people kind of forget of like... of how big it was and how much of an impact it had on me. because Well, yeah, because you were is into superheroes, so that i was definitely a big thing for you.
01:19:05
Speaker
Yeah, was into superheroes, and it was just it was just... I mean, it was a phenomenon, and I'll ah ah ah put that in there with with Batman 89 in terms of the phenomenon that that it was. you know like those Those movies were big. Then, of course, the big one, 2008, The Dark Knight. The Dark Knight was...
01:19:24
Speaker
That was a phenomenon. Oh, I mean, that this day is still pretty untouchable. It's you know the goat of the goats. It's the goat of the goats. And you know obviously the big thing there is you know the lay great Heath Ledger who just... what a He really just knocked that out of the park.
01:19:40
Speaker
Yeah, it's it's just it's it's it's one of these films that's just regarded as just... an amazing achievement because it, it exceeded what you thought it could be. It it went over that special moments, man.
01:19:54
Speaker
And this is why, you know, and I can speak for Mel on this. This is why we, we love movies. This is why I always preach everybody. Go to the theater, go stop watching the movie on your phone. Stop watching the movie on your TV at home where you can get distracted.
01:20:09
Speaker
Go to the theater, sit down in a, sit down in a dark room with a large screen, You can go by yourself. It's okay because it's a lot of people, Mel, that don't like to go to the movies by themselves. I have gone to the movies by myself multiple times. Oh, same. It doesn't matter. No. You're in there you're you're in there for the experience to watch something on your own.
01:20:31
Speaker
And to enjoy it. Whether someone's sitting next to you who you know or not, it's an experience. Go and enjoy it and go and watch it and watch it in the best way possible. This is what this is about. We've been talking now for over an hour. We're talking about yeah the inspiration that these wonderful movies have given us, the impact they've left on our lives. The feelings that we the memories that they gave us.
01:20:52
Speaker
Because, I mean,
Nostalgia for past films and current trends
01:20:53
Speaker
that's like a big thing, too, is, you know, these memories that we hold on to forever. You know, the feel, the memory is also the feeling, right? Like you when you talked about Jurassic Park, right? You remember it.
01:21:04
Speaker
You remember how you felt. you You picture it. You can relive it every time. Same when you were talking about Batman, right? These are like the first times you watch things that were really made an impression on you that you remember to this day. And like, you know, obviously that's going to keep on going as we watch Batman.
01:21:21
Speaker
more and more movies as the years go by i just find it sometimes you know nowadays i i do find it a little bit more difficult than i did don't i don't know why i don't know if it's just they don't make movie they just don't make movies as they as much as like not as don't want to say as good because obviously we do get some really great movies here and there but i don't know it's just sometimes when when I look at the list, right, of of what the 90s gave us, right, then you look at what the 2000 to, like, 2010, I guess I'd like to say, right? The 2000s is hard because technically I'm like, am I still in the two thousand s It's still 2025, right? So, like, it's ah sometimes I find it a little bit hard to say, like, the 2000s because I'm like, well, 2000 to, like, 2010 is kind of usually where i kind of
01:22:13
Speaker
put like the box like because the early 2000s gave us so much so many movies like we just talked about right and then once you start getting to like 2010 2011 feel like that's when it starts to like correct me if i'm wrong but i just feel like it starts to trickle a little bit with like the amount of movies that we had that we can remember being like standouts Yeah, I mean, you know, there was... bit.
01:22:38
Speaker
There were standouts. There were there standouts. There were standouts. I feel like... I don't know if it's just... When I think about the 90s and two thousand I just feel like there's just so much more.
01:22:50
Speaker
Well, you know what it was, too? I think we have to look at where we were in our lives at that point to where we are now. And I'm speaking for myself, you know, ninety s early 2000s.
01:23:02
Speaker
I was still coming into my own. I was still living at home. you know I wasn't married, didn't have a child, didn't have many responsibilities. So I was able to absorb things and love things more than, say, when i got when I got older and and I had more responsibilities.
01:23:21
Speaker
It was hard for me to like give all my love to a particular movie slash film because maybe my mind was occupied by, and got to work tomorrow.
01:23:32
Speaker
Yeah. My daughter has this thing going on. I got these bills I got to pay. sometimes Sometimes life jades you in in a way. But when a really good movie comes on and you sit there and you watch it, it makes all that go away.
01:23:50
Speaker
It does. Yeah, I guess that's true. I guess I just, like, I don't know. me. That's just I feel like going forward, I feel like I should probably, like, every year, and you know, we do it at the end of the year or whatever, but we, like, talk about, like,
01:24:06
Speaker
all the movies that actually came out that year that were really good in the year and see if like how many movies there actually were like that we could say like, Oh, I'm going to remember this movie and I can talk about it in 10 years.
01:24:20
Speaker
Right. You're right. Because we might say like, you know, there's like standouts and i'm like, well, is there, how many standouts are there? They're like five. Cause I mean, I could talk about the night, the two thousands and I'd be like, there's like 25 movies that i could talk about that. I'm like, yes, but yeah,
01:24:33
Speaker
I don't know. i Maybe I just have to sit down and like make a list myself. But remember, the whatever but these things are special because of the moments that we watched them. you know and When you watch movies and you're of a certain age and you've got so this thing going on in your life, it's special because of that moment. That moment marked it you Yeah, and I guess you were younger.
01:24:51
Speaker
like i know this year there are like a lot of good movies that are coming out, and i'm like especially like now with Thunderbolt. I think it's really the cat catapult for the older movies. Yeah, summer movie season is starting. The good stuff's coming.
01:25:03
Speaker
um But I know we're going to do an episode where we're going to talk more about, um specifically about the romantic genre or the family genre or things like that because Yeah, I can i can look at the lit at at this the next couple of months, but it's still missing things, right? Okay, so what? You're telling me this whole year I'm going one romantic comedy called The Materialist?
01:25:29
Speaker
Yeah, and and that might not even be a romantic comedy. That might be more more like dramedy. Drama, dramedy, yeah. Dramedy? Like, I'm like, okay, so we're going to one of those. Okay, now big family movie. Obviously, Minecraft came out, and we no one knew it was going like that big of a hit.
01:25:43
Speaker
But then, okay, we got How to Train Your Dragon. Elio. Elio, which also Disney's not really promoting. They're not, which is weird. Another, and is it Pixar or Walt Disney? That's a Pixar. Pixar. It's another Pixar movie, which that could be a whole other conversation about the decline of Pixar movies. Not necessarily in quality, but just like what they are compared to like. The level what they used to be, yeah. Toy Story.
01:26:07
Speaker
Toy Story came out in the 90s. And they're filming a Toy Story 5 now, which I don't know why. They can't let that movie die. That movie should have ended at Toy Story 3. that's That should have been the end.
01:26:18
Speaker
But no, they got to do money, money, money, money. money So I'm like, That be a whole other conversation talking about Pixar and the decline of films there. The decline it. Because you have this Elio movie, and I'm like, i don't even... What is that? I have no idea. I've heard of it. but I saw the trailer and stuff. i just like ah But I agree with you. I feel like, yeah, it looks good. i mean But it's that's one those things where it's like, did it do enough to for make me to go watch But then yeah you just said it yourself. It's like, how many family movies are actually coming out? So that weekend and it comes out.
01:26:48
Speaker
Like, if my daughter wants to go to the movies, we're just going to go see that movie because that's the only thing out. That's the only thing out. There's no um competition. There's nothing. So it's like if there's no competition in terms of family films, then we're not going to get good quality things from these studios that we expect them to be good quality. Exactly.
01:27:06
Speaker
And i and i just I just feel like there was back, know, ah while back, there was just more of it. There were more feel-good movies. You know, that's what I was like talking about before, right? I'm like, oh let's talk about the feel-good movies of the 90s, the 2000s. There were so many.
01:27:21
Speaker
If you look at a calendar of the movies, it's all just like action, action, action, action. yeah yeah lot It's a lot of lot of copy and paste. It's a lot of copy and paste. there's a lot of And yeah, it's because people are like building on nostalgia. Let's make Jurassic Park again. Yay, let's bring those people in Okay, we got to continue the Avengers thing.
01:27:42
Speaker
Let's bring it in. Mission Impossible. That's ending. Oh, How to Train Your Dragon. That's like the only other one I can think of that's like the um family movie. Yeah. But again, it's not original. It's not original, right? It's a reboot. you When we talked about Rookie of the Year, right?
01:27:59
Speaker
You also had like all these other movies that came out that year. Well, the the the big thing, remember those those those um those kids sports movies where Rookie the was one of them? Sandlot.
01:28:10
Speaker
Little Giants. Little Giants. Like these- Mighty Ducks. Mighty Ducks. Like they- is that little big league like there's a lot of these yeah that we are missing a lot of those types of films that i i i that is something that i'm like why don't we make movies that was a big part of us growing up was those that was a little giants how many times we watched little giants oh my god i try to find it giants all the time you have to like rent it off some weird website like yo one of the funniest one of the funniest scenes is when the kid goes He goes, Spike's going to rip off my face and wear it on Halloween.
01:28:43
Speaker
was like, oh my God. Oh,
01:28:49
Speaker
Oh my God. Yo, it's hilarious, man. Hilarious. They just don't make those movies anymore. another another Another sport movie that was a comedy that was geared to kids, didn't have kids, and it was, remember Cool Runnings?
01:29:03
Speaker
Cool Runnings. Yep. Yeah, man. Angels in the Outfield. Oh, dude. Angels in the Outfield was awesome. See? Yeah, like there's a lot. Air Bud. Remember, you used to love Air Bud. Oh, my God.
01:29:15
Speaker
Homeward Bound. Homeward Bound. Well, the now we're going to the Disney movies of like, you know, the family Disney movies. Yeah. Well, that's the thing, too. Disney doesn't make family movies. They don't make family movies anymore. Original family movies, they don't do it ah all goes on on Disney Plus, and it's not very good.
01:29:31
Speaker
Yeah, it's all Disney Plus or it's a remake of what they used to be. but like live action, they don't make any more. That's true, yeah. They don't make any more live action. And I think that's the difference with us growing up in that era.
01:29:45
Speaker
A lot of the stuff we watched was brand new. Don't get me wrong. there were some si There were sequels, but a lot of it was original. A lot of it was brand new. like Like I said, with...
01:29:56
Speaker
you know, um like Indiana Jones, for instance, Raiders of the Lost Ark. That was the first rate of the Lost Ark. It wasn't a remake or anything. It was an original concept, original idea by Spielberg. you know, Terminator was an original idea, original concept by Cameron.
01:30:09
Speaker
You know what I'm saying? Jurassic Park was based off of a book, but it was still kind of ah its own thing. It wasn't a reboot of anything. um You know what I mean? Matrix. Can't get more original than the Matrix. yeah Like, we had a lot of originality.
01:30:23
Speaker
And I feel like, and again, this could be another whole episode. um And I got to give Hollywood credit in this aspect. There have been original films.
01:30:34
Speaker
The problem is audiences do not go and support a lot of it. Yeah. One big original film that's doing great now, I mentioned early on, that's Sinners. Sinners is an original film, original concept by the great Ryan Coogler, and it's done gangbusters. But there was a lot of original film movies that came out um ah weeks ago. you know There was this one called Black Bag, which is like an espionage adult thriller. Mm-hmm.
01:30:58
Speaker
Which is cool. That's another genre. That's another genre that doesn't get that. It's like the adult, um adult thriller. that that You don't really see much of that much anymore. You know, thrillers tend to be more horror now than it is like kind of an adult. Like suspenseful.
01:31:13
Speaker
Suspenseful. And then the other thing was, there's this movie called The Amateur with Remy Malek. Oh, I wanted to watch that. Yeah, that's a movie that's an original film. And it's like, these movies come out, but you know, we as audiences, we can complain. But if if they come out, go watch it.
01:31:28
Speaker
Go support it because that's how you let studios know, hey, listen, general audiences want more of these types of films. Let's give them more. Because if we don't go and support them, guess what? You're going to get more reboots, more sequels, more of that stuff. More live action. Yeah, more live action of a Disney film.
01:31:46
Speaker
Like, you know, you got to... It's great to complain, but you got to do something about it. Send a message the way it should be sent to the studio so you can know. Because, listen, if they know that an audience doesn't like something, they're going to make the changes because they're not going to keep investing in something that they know the audiences aren't going to like.
01:32:04
Speaker
But how am I supposed to invest in a family movie if they don't make them? And that's the thing. We have to let know. Because they don't put them in the movie theater. They put them on streaming now. and Yeah, and it's not good. And it's just not good. They put it on Disney Plus if it's like a Disney family film. And it's really... The quality is not the same. No, it's not. The quality of putting something on streaming on Disney Plus versus like going to the movie theater. It's just...
01:32:28
Speaker
it's just different. And i don't know. I just, even though streamers, even on the streamers, soon i will say though, when we talk about in the movie theater versus like streaming and stuff, a lot of movies though, back in the day, just went straight to VHS.
01:32:40
Speaker
Yeah, those were – A lot of those movies didn't necessarily – I don't know they came out in the theater. I can't remember if they – No, there was
Challenges in modern film production and comedy
01:32:48
Speaker
lot of movies that went straight to VHS and straight to DVD. That was a thing.
01:32:51
Speaker
But those movies were always kind of considered like you know kind of B movies. Like, oh, they're not they're not great because they went straight to – Yeah, to VHS. They were already labeled kind of in that in that in that realm. But that's basically what streaming is.
01:33:05
Speaker
Yeah, well, and that's when there's what netflix that's what Netflix is because Netflix doesn't really – Netflix does put certain movies in theaters, not not all the time. And then when it's in the theater, the run is the longest, maybe like two weeks, three the most if you're going to watch it.
01:33:22
Speaker
But then most people at that point, they're like, no, I'd rather just watch it on Netflix. I'm already paying for Netflix. you know Yeah. And then Netflix kind of has a reputation, though, of like the quality, not being great, especially of late. It hasn't been amazing.
01:33:36
Speaker
You know, so, man, it's there's so many ways you can go about it when it comes to this conversation of what you should watch in the movie theater. If you want to go watch it if you don't want to go watch it, there's just so many things to look at.
01:33:49
Speaker
And again, i will say this. As much as we complain about original films, go they're out there, but you have to go and support it. and There's a movie theater that's literally like in the train station that like I go to because it's literally like two minutes and I'm there, which is great. I'm so happy that I have a movie theater that close.
01:34:06
Speaker
But they don't generally play. They will play most like bigger movies. There's not a big budget theater. So I was like, oh, maybe I should try to go to like find like an independent kind of theater, like smaller that they show these kind of films so that I can go and watch them there because I'm feeling like I'm kind of missing out on them. We're not supporting them because I'll watch them afterwards on the plane. I'm like, oh, this is so good.
01:34:27
Speaker
And I didn't. go and pay for it because yeah no i completely agree with what you're saying where it's like yeah you do have to support the movies so that they can make more of them because if you don't then they're like oh well why make more of these movies and and it's hard because then you have somebody who you know these directors and these writers are they're trying to get their movies made but then like nobody wants no big network or no big you know um brand is going to pick them up. like Studio is going to pick them up.
01:34:57
Speaker
Yes, we've got to support the movies, but I do also just wish that we had a little bit more variety at the movies these days. Because the variety is very... like It's scarce. There's not really that much. It's all like superheroes, action, horror.
01:35:14
Speaker
Right? as fan Even fantasy. Even fantasy is a little bit like they put it on Netflix. Right? where Okay, we'll put it on Netflix or whatever. Like there's not that much fantasy.
01:35:26
Speaker
i don't know if sci-fi is the word, but, you know, we had Lord of the Rings. We had, you know, we you don't want when we never really talked about Pirates of the Caribbean. Right? Based on a ride. But they made these incredible movies out of them. I mean, the first one is absolute perfection. that movie's like perfect from beginning end. I love Pirates of the Caribbean so much.
01:35:44
Speaker
Regardless of Orlando Bloom. I do love Pirates of the Caribbean. And technically, it's an original. and yeah it's based on a ride, but it's just a ride.
01:35:54
Speaker
Wasn't necessarily anything else. Didn't have anything. They just made up. They had Johnny Depp. Like... Come on. dad Johnny Depp, Jeffrey Rush, right? get some really fantastic actors in this.
01:36:06
Speaker
And I just feel like we don't really do that anymore. And comedies too. We got to throw comedy in. There's not enough comedies, man. forget about comedies. I just watched Wedding Crashers again. I was i was watching, i didn't watch the whole thing. I was watching like a reactors reaction to it.
01:36:21
Speaker
And i so i was watching it with them and I was like, oh my, this movie is so good. Do they make movies like this? No. When was the last time we watched a full-on comedy? And I think it's also because comedies are just harder to make because... Now they're harder, yeah, with everything going on. They're to make because can't get away with saying certain things, saying certain jokes. Oh, it's going to offend someone.
01:36:40
Speaker
And it's sad because I'm like... So many, so many good comedies, right? We just, just you know, and that whole other conversation, you know, like the era of like Will Ferrell, right?
01:36:51
Speaker
Will, and a lot of people don't like Will Ferrell. I do like Will Ferrell. I don't have anything against him. I think he's funny. so a lot of people don't like him. They're like, I don't like his comedy. and i Not good, but I think he's great. But he made so many movies in the 2000s.
01:37:05
Speaker
Anchorman, um Talladega Nights, Yep. Elf. you you had Step Brothers. Step Brothers. You had, what was the other ones? um Old School. Like, yeah so many movies in 2000. World Warfare was just like hitting with the comedies.
01:37:22
Speaker
And you just don't get that anymore. No, you don't. The Hangover. Bridesmaids. Those movies are so good. And I don't know when it was that we were like, all right, we're going to stop watching comedies. Tropic Thunder.
01:37:35
Speaker
Oh my God. Tropic Thunder. he sat the on d meeting I that on DVD. I own it. and Oh, I used to own it too. that's That's one that can never be made now. No, they can't. They can't. Remember Robert Downey Choo-Coo was like in blackface and he was like in character.
01:37:53
Speaker
The commentaries was hilarious. I tell people all time, like, you have to watch it with the DVD commentary because that joke that he says in the movie pays off in the actual DVD commentary. if you watch the movie... All right, here's here's a... Movie commentaries. Yeah, here's a um Easter egg.
01:38:08
Speaker
Yeah, i know. On the DVD commentary or Blu-ray commentary... Robert Downey Jr. comes on. he is playing Lincoln Osiris from the movie Tropic Thunder, sitting with Ben ah Stiller and Jack Black. Now, Jack Black is Jack Black and Ben Stiller is Ben Stiller.
01:38:25
Speaker
Robert Downey is playing Lincoln Osiris during the DVD commentary, throughout the movie. And then when his character, quote unquote, dies in Tropic Thunder, he comes in with the voice of the Australian actor that he's supposed to be playing in the movie.
01:38:43
Speaker
And then when the movie ends, he's Robert Downey Jr. Oh, wow. It is. There is nothing better than that. I tell people that you have There's nothing better. You're so entertained because he's just there as Lincoln Osiris.
01:38:57
Speaker
Jack Black. And then your best setter is doing the thing. Because, you he's directing the movie. He's like, oh, this camera. And then, you know. It's, man, it's something else. Oh, that's hilarious. ah But yeah, Tropic Dunn. Those are movies that they're you're not going to make them anymore because it's true. Comedy is harder to do now. Comedy is not is not what it was before. we're not we're The society we're in, I hate saying this because that it's not I don't want it to be political, but it's it's like were're not we're too sensitive, but then I don't want to say we're too sensitive because i don't want to come out being that guy because I am not that guy. yeah
01:39:29
Speaker
But the thing is, comedy was always that arena or that ring where You can say whatever you got to say and it's fine because it's a comedy. It's satire. It's understandable. But yeah, comedy is one of those things where we don't we don't have it anymore. It's just kind of out there. You'll get the comedy, the rare comedy on like streaming. on so yeah it's all It's only on streaming.
01:39:50
Speaker
But anyway. This was a hell of episode. um Really, really fun. I really enjoyed this one. this one Yeah, this was a great conversation. This was a great conversation. i could continue i could literally do a part two about this because it was like we could talk even so much more about those movies that we andt even we didn't even get it. We didn't even touch. We didn't even touch those.
01:40:11
Speaker
um But I hope you guys liked this episode. If you did, like I said in the beginning of this episode, please... follow the podcast, give us a five star rating, leave us a review. let us know if there's anything you guys want to chat about, you know, if you are listening, if you're friends with us, whatever, ask us to say, we'll be kind of cool. If you talked about this, like I'd be interested in hearing what you guys.
01:40:34
Speaker
Yeah. Let us know some topics you guys would like to cover. Obviously spread the word, spread the word. So let everybody know that this is out. And, and, you know, if people want to listen to a podcast, two people that obviously you hear this episode, we have a passion for movies, right?
01:40:48
Speaker
Very passionate. And you know you're going to get a true from the heart review and thoughts. We're not half-assing this. True fans. True
Conclusion and listener engagement
01:40:59
Speaker
fans of the art of film, for sure. 100%. 100%. 100%. But I think we're going to leave it there. So...
01:41:03
Speaker
um but i think we're going to leave it there so um Yeah, guys, thanks so much for listening. And we will see you in two weeks for our review of Thunderbolts. So make sure you are following for that.
01:41:17
Speaker
um And then we're going to be getting into crazy season with the movies here. It's going to get busy up in the pod. Lots of movies coming up. So I hope you guys will listen in.
01:41:28
Speaker
All right. See guys later. Bye. Bye.