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REWIND 012 - Total Recall (1990) w/ Phil Smith
44 Plays3 days ago
“You are what you do. A man is defined by his actions, not his memory.”
With a remake of the Schwarzenegger film The Running Man doing this weekend, we take you back to last year's Arnie April 2: Austrian Boogaloo theme month, when we were joined by Stephen’s college roommate and all-around good guy Phil Smith to talk about Arnie’s last straight-up ‘80s action role! Along the way, we cast a Philip K. Dick biopic, espouse our shared love of practical effects, test Tucker’s good-bad dichotomy of Verhoeven films, discuss the best version of Blade Runner to watch, rate the scientific accuracy of this movie, and manage to squeeze in the briefest of Mighty Ducks deep dives! You aren’t gonna want to miss this one!
When he’s not living the life of a symbiote on the belly of a freedom fighter, you can find Phil hanging out on the internet here:
- Check out Phil’s cosplay fits at @justsomenerdnamedphil on Instagram.
- Look for Phil’s #D printed wares at @philsn3rdfoundry on Instagram or shop online at https://philsn3rdfoundry.com.
- Also, subscribe to Phil’s cyberpunk writing Patreon at https://patreon.com/philwritesbadly
If life is but a dream, then social media must be the waking nightmare. Follow us there to make it more bearable:
- @Disenfranchpod on Bluesky, Letterboxd, and YouTube.
- Email us your thoughts or requests to disenfranchpod@gmail.com
- Rate and review us on Apple Podcasts and Spotify!
- Find Stephen at @ChewyWalrus on Bluesky and Letterboxd.
- Check out Stephen’s new podcast with friend of the show Hope Stough - Welles University - on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever podcasts are sold!
- Find Brett at @sus_warlock on Letterboxd.
- Find Tucker at @icenine09 on YouTube and Instagram and @tuck_mugs on Instagram.
- Join our Patreon for exclusive bonus content, including bi-weekly episodes of What Are We Watching? at https://patreon.com/Disenfranchpod
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Transcript
00:00:10
Speaker
I'll say good for you.
Introduction to the Disenfranchised Podcast
00:00:22
Speaker
Hello and welcome to the Disenfranchised Podcast, where that podcast about those franchises of one, those films that fancy themselves full-fledged franchises before falling flat on their face after the first film.
00:00:33
Speaker
I'm one of your hosts, Tucker. Steven is sleepy, and Brett is at work, so in honor of Edgar Wright's adaptation of Stephen King's The Running Man, we're rerunning our episode on the remake of Total Recall.
00:00:45
Speaker
That makes sense, right? let's Let's just hope that The Running Man is better than the Total Recall remake. That was... Well, we'll get into it. You'll see. ah We'll be back next Thursday with a brand new episode.
00:00:57
Speaker
Until then, courage. Okay, love you. Bye. We can podcast it for you wholesale on the Disenfranchise Podcast. That's right. We're that podcast all about those franchises of one, those films that fancy themselves full-fledged franchises before falling flat on their face after the first film.
00:01:15
Speaker
I am your host, Stephen Foxworthy.
Meet the Hosts and Guest Appearances
00:01:17
Speaker
And has he really been gone since February or was all that just a dream? It's Brett Wright. Hey, Brett. We're back. We're back, baby. the boys is back. How you been, buddy? i have been all right.
00:01:30
Speaker
You've been, you've been, i mean, if my introductions of you from week to week are any indication, you've been up to a lot of shit. I can either confirm nor deny, it's all been recalled away.
00:01:41
Speaker
Oh, as it does. Also with us tonight, our resident stupid bitch. It's Tucker. Hey, Tucker. Hi, Steven. How's it going? It's going. I need to let everyone know Tucker requested I call him that, but...
00:01:56
Speaker
I did, because the line in the movie, like, they're just all kind of talking to each other regularly, and the guy's like, you stupid bitch! It's like, oh, damn, okay. Calm down, dude. Damn.
00:02:08
Speaker
Oh, it's great. And also also, it's, yeah, we'll get to it. yeah Also joining us three boobs tonight is Judge's Choice cosplay winner at the Cleveland Fan Expo literally yesterday as of the date of this recording ah for his Gandalf the Grey cosplay. It's my...
00:02:27
Speaker
College roommate. You might know, remember him from the Street Fighter episode. It's Phil Smith. Hey, Phil. Howdy. That was, wow, you just, I just, if I ever have to go on the run from like law enforcement, I just hope you're not the first person they call because you're going like every, de you've got all the receipts, man.
00:02:44
Speaker
Here's the thing. I'll keep them on the phone so long with all those details. You'll have plenty of time to get away. You'll be in Mexico by that time. Correct. Genius. I'll be on the i'll be on the beach with Andy and Red, like, helping you get the boat painted. And it San Juan Taneo.
00:02:59
Speaker
You remember the name of the town, don't you? Zihuatanejo. ah But yes, we are all four of us together tonight ah to celebrate week three of Arnie April.
Celebrating Arnold Schwarzenegger Films
00:03:12
Speaker
That is of Arnie April 2 Austrian Boogaloo.
00:03:17
Speaker
Let's get it right. um In order to commemorate um the one of the the last bastions of Arnold's 80s action series.
00:03:28
Speaker
nes ah Even though the film was released in 1990. Yeah, um because this is kind of his last hurrah when it comes to like his action stuff. And we'll we'll talk about that, obviously, tonight.
00:03:40
Speaker
um But we're here to talk about 1990s Total Recall, directed by Paul Verhoeven, written by Dan O'Bannon. Yes, that Dan O'Bannon. Ronald Chussett, Gary Goldman.
00:03:55
Speaker
And starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, Rachel Ticotin, Sharon Stone, Ronnie Cox, Michael Ironside, Twins' Marshall Bell, Michael Champion, Mel Johnson Jr., ah Roy Brocksmith, Twins' is Rosemary Dunsmore, and also performances by Robert Costanzo, the great Robert Costanzo, Robert Picardo,
00:04:20
Speaker
Dean Norris, and Debbie Lee Carrington, among others. What a cast. Gentlemen, dare I say it. Well, I'm going to say it. You may not agree. What a picture. I'm going to start off by saying something positive about this movie. Are you guys ready?
00:04:33
Speaker
It's going be the only thing he's positive he says all night, I'm sure. problem i'm going to edit this out. Hold on.
00:04:43
Speaker
Everyone get it out now. Yeah, if he's going to edit this. Definitely. Definitely. The only good thing I'll say about this movie is that Roy Brocksmith is in it.
00:04:54
Speaker
And as you all probably know, Roy Brocksmith is the VIP, even though he's on screen for just a few minutes of Bill and Ted's bogus journey, because he is the man who Ted possesses. And he says, I totally believe you, dude.
00:05:11
Speaker
And it's the best line delivery ever. Like the guy who plays Ted's dad is really good. Like they're both amazing and like pretending to be Bill and Ted, but. That I totally believe you, dude.
00:05:22
Speaker
Ingrained in my mind forever. I have seen that movie twice, but as soon as you said the other cop, I was like, yep, okay. I know exactly who that guy is. Ornuts. They get really excited start eating.
00:05:37
Speaker
Oh, Bill and Ted's Bogus Journey. What a ride. Let's talk about that movie instead, you guys. No. no Arnold Schwarzenegger is not in that movie. Oh, yeah. Dang it, you're right. What if he had been, though?
00:05:48
Speaker
Had he been. Who would he have played?
00:05:53
Speaker
Station. i was going to say Station. station and movie Station. Big Station. Station. And maybe little Station with some camera work, you know. I was going to say either that or he he could have played the he could have replaced Joss Ackland as the as the ah the villain. but i like I like him as the villain because he's obviously very annoyed to be there, which really fits his character.
00:06:13
Speaker
I'm just mentally copy pasting Arnold into Joss Ackland roles. I stopped somewhere between the first Mighty Ducks and the Hunt for Red October. No, I mean, don't stop till you get to the third Mighty Ducks, frankly, because I think we would all like to have stopped.
00:06:29
Speaker
ah Wish that they had stopped before they got to the third one. ah Yes. i agree Hard agree on that one. Absolutely. Absolutely. um you You can't afford to bring Emilio Estevez back for more than two scenes. Maybe just don't do the movie. I don't know. Wait, is Kenan Thompson in it, though?
00:06:46
Speaker
He is. Yeah. Worth it.
00:06:50
Speaker
They only got rid of the annoying kids from the first from the first two. Oh, good. I have no context because I've never seen a Mighty Duck. Any Mighty Duck. the yeah The Mighty Ducks is like the first – one of the first movies I saw in theaters. Like not the first but like – It's pretty rad. People fucking love that movie. So I'm sure it's great.
00:07:10
Speaker
It's a nostalgia bomb for sure. I'm not sure that it's a good movie but it's an so it's in a movie I'm nostalgic for. I think it kept – um In between TV projects or prior to TV projects, it kept Joshua Jackson's momentum going.
00:07:25
Speaker
Yes. Just enough to get him into those TV projects, which would eventually get him into Fringe, for which we should all be grateful. um the I mean, yeah, it kind of kept him just in the public consciousness enough that he could sneak in there.
00:07:36
Speaker
This is part of your plot to talk about everything except the movie that that he brought me here to talk about, isn't it? Damn it, you got me. It is. Son of a beast. Tucker ain't slick.
00:07:48
Speaker
um is fine is good um look this is tangents are what we do tangents come with the territory our audience expects it at this point so am I going to put that we put did a mighty ducks deep dive yes you bet I am that's going in the show notes so why do you think that's my favorite show to guest on honestly i have it's the perfect ping pong stream of consciousness for for my brain exactly um may i but Before we go any further, may I give a disclaimer for accountability's sake?
00:08:20
Speaker
Yes. Do you want me to read this or would you like to read this? i would actually ah appreciate your interpretation of it. The the entire message, please. Okay. um Just that one though. Yeah. I'm starting at 848, the message you sent.
00:08:34
Speaker
this movie This is a movie. This is Tucker. This is a text that Tucker sent to the group thread. Group chat, yeah. um air A mere half an hour ago, as of as of this moment. This is a movie that is so actively awful that it physically pisses me off.
00:08:48
Speaker
But I'm not going to get mad. Nope. I'm not going to get upset. um I'm not going to get loud or have a manic fit. Nope. I'm just going to politely and respectfully voice my issues with this movie.
00:09:03
Speaker
There, now I'm accountable. Now I'm accountable. You all heard that. So if if I start doing any of those things, please call me out. Because I know i know how i can get, and I'm going to try really hard not to get that way. If you see me at any point looking at my phone, it's probably because I'm looking for which of those things you're currently doing. ah Okay, gotcha. All right.
00:09:27
Speaker
um But yeah, so we're here to talk about Total Recall. um And Phil, as our guest, what is your, I guess, let's start with Arnold Schwarzenegger. What is your relationship with the actor, Arnold Schwarzenegger, with his oeuvre? What do you perhaps know him best for? And then ah while we're on that topic, what is your relationship to this film specifically?
00:09:53
Speaker
So Schwarzenegger. When people, it's interesting. There's really ah story of, we'll say three Arnolds.
00:10:06
Speaker
You've got 80s Arnold, um love like up to the first Terminator. um kind of I'm pretty new to the industry, i pretty new to the language. Yeah.
00:10:18
Speaker
And um very definitely he knows what he's he's there to be the um action guy. Right. 90s Arnold.
00:10:29
Speaker
Well, I guess starting from first Terminator, which is 88, right? First Terminator 84, I believe. was it My brain. Yeah. Terminator 84. maybe my Maybe I've been recalled.
00:10:42
Speaker
What? what it twi like Another chase scene. Quick. Another chase That's going to be a really... and like I'm the last person you want to cast for a chase scene unless it's a a really physical comedy.
00:10:54
Speaker
Correct. um Lots of banana peels. I would say... Okay, so we'll say T2 onward, Arnold. 90s Arnold. He definitely starts evolving, and I think that... um I'll get to this movie in particular, but he starts evolving through vehicles like this to being a much more like...
00:11:13
Speaker
Not just a dumb block of action actor, but like a very versatile, surprisingly good comedic chops um kind of performer. And then you get Arnold, new millennium Arnold, who will just do whatever. And he's made enough money and has kept busy enough that he can take the projects he wants now.
00:11:34
Speaker
um But I think 90s Arnold is probably the most memorable iteration of his career. It's that phase of his career. And again, this this film kind of exemplifies that.
00:11:47
Speaker
Um, but as far as like my relationship to this film in particular, um I was going to rewatch it before doing this, but I'm in the middle of, I have two comic cons this month and I had to remake all my props. So I didn't get a chance to rewatch.
00:12:04
Speaker
Um, but I do remember this one because it is incredibly memorable which is the best thing a movie can be more, I would say even more than good or bad is memorable. Um, and this one it's, it's memorable without, I don't know.
00:12:23
Speaker
Um, to paraphrase a Nietzsche title, I think this film is beyond good and bad. it is It is evil. but Yes. It's a fair phrase. It is above such paltry notions as it's above paltry notions of acting and production quality.
00:12:47
Speaker
I shouldn't say that though because the editing is actually not bad. It looks incredible. I'm sorry. yeah it is This movie, and I've used this as a compliment for a lot of films before, this movie knows what it's about and does it.
00:13:00
Speaker
Yeah. And I think agree with that is the best thing. i mean, there's a lot of good things that I had to say about this movie, but I think that is probably the best summation of it. This movie knows what it's about.
00:13:12
Speaker
Arnie knows what he's about in this movie. And it sets out to hit beats and it sticks the landing on all of them in my opinion. And you can go ahead and bring down my estimation of it.
00:13:28
Speaker
i'll let I'll let these guys worry about that. no bri Brett, when when did you – I mean, we've you and I have talked about Arnold before. we we did a whole a whole month, just you and me, just talking about Arnie.
00:13:41
Speaker
um So we we know how you feel about Arnie. In fact, you were the one that was like, what, we've got more Arnold to cover? Well, then I guess we're doing a sequel. like that was You were the sequel guy on that. You you really spearheaded that, which I was – let's Let's bring the hypocrisy right to the podcast. Exactly. We're just going to, we're just going to speak it into existence.
00:13:59
Speaker
Um, what is your relationship to this movie in particular? And this kind of like late eighties, early nineties phase of Arnold's career.
00:14:11
Speaker
Well, I don't have much of a relationship with total recall, to be honest. Um, It kind of, much like much like Commando, which I also was not on. um It just why like it didn't really, i don't know. It was one of those Arnold movies I never saw. i was definitely more of a 90s Arnold guy outside of Predator.
00:14:30
Speaker
What was your first Arnold movie, remind me?
00:14:34
Speaker
It was was probably Terminator 2. It might have been Predator, though. I'm not sure. It's one of those two. Okay. um it was It was either a Terminator or a Predator.
00:14:46
Speaker
Well, I mean, Predator is him in full action mode. And then T2 is kind of the softening of that edge. this is That's like Arnold post-Twins, post-Kindergarten Cop. So he's like a little softer around the edges. And Cameron definitely plays into that for Terminator 2, I would say.
00:15:03
Speaker
Sure. Yeah. And then, of course, there's the last action hero of it all. Of course. Which I'm a very big fan of. See our episode on last action hero, quite frankly.
00:15:15
Speaker
Yeah, no, absolutely. um It might be my favorite Arnold movie. The Predator's there, and I can't really say that with good faith. but i mean, look, Brett, you have to be true to yourself.
00:15:30
Speaker
That's true. I do. But I mean, Last Action Hero isn't so good if you know all the other action movies that he made before that were there.
00:15:42
Speaker
I ice that guy, Dakota Freeze. Thank you for dropping that in the chat, Filzy. and What a guy. i mean, look, you see he's got his his his one-liners in this movie.
00:15:53
Speaker
and And, you know, Last Action Hero wouldn't exist without those one-liners. Tom Cruise sprints. Tom Hanks pees. Arnie gets really horrible puns.
00:16:05
Speaker
it's It's almost a writer. And Denzel never looks directly into the camera for posters because he knows we can't handle that. I couldn't, no. No, who could? No. Yeah. Icy withering sex appeal. I can't. No, thank you.
00:16:18
Speaker
um No, but I mean, yeah. so So this one, was this the first time you've seen this movie, Brad? Or have you totally called it before? No, no. I've seen it a couple times before. um And it it's one of those movies that doesn't get better or worse every time I watch it. and But my opinion of it never changes.
00:16:36
Speaker
okay Okay. It's just kind of, it's over the top and gross and long, too long. a much But I mean,
00:16:51
Speaker
debville true But I mean, you know, it's Arnold being Arnold, so you can't be that mad about it. Right now with that attitude, Brett.
00:17:05
Speaker
No, it's fine. It's fine. I definitely fall on the bad side of is it good or bad, but it's, you know, not that upset about it. It's okay. neith Neither of you will ever be the professional hater that my friend and former co-host Brandon is.
00:17:23
Speaker
He's good at it. did at We need to have Brandon on sometime. You absolutely do. can we have a haters ball? Hate, hate, hate, hate, hate. I'm all about that. Please bring another complainer and hater. International haters anthem.
00:17:37
Speaker
ah So that we can, we can combine our powers and just so spread hate into the world. Just a Voltron of hate. Just addison a revoltron. yeah There it is. There it is.
00:17:49
Speaker
That's the one. That's the one. ah Tucker, what about you? What is your experience with Total Recall? ah Well, Phil, you said that this movie is memorable, and you are absolutely right.
00:18:04
Speaker
And i watched it 20 years ago, and I remembered that I fucking hated it. So when
00:18:11
Speaker
so when I watched it tonight, i you know I'm really not sure if I liked it more or less, because like I said, the last time I watched it was probably 20 years ago, and I was not impressed. So I have not had the urge to ever watch it again.
00:18:26
Speaker
So I'm not sure kind of if if it's gone up or down, but I just still really fucking hate it. So respectfully, I respectfully fucking hate it. That's fair. Like i want i I want it to bring you guys joy. I do. Like it makes me happy that it makes you guys happy, but it just pisses me off, man.
00:18:44
Speaker
That's it. That's a bummer. I ain't mad at you because I found where the Bushmills was hiding in this jar. Hey, there it is. There it is. Found it. Hit pay dirt. Continue. No, no, that's fine. So last week we talked about, just to kind of provide the rest of the context, we last week we talked about Twins, which is Arnie's first foray into comedy, unless you count Red Heat, which no one should.
00:19:07
Speaker
um That's the movie he made with ah ah Jim Belushi. for some reason. um The other Belushi. Yeah. Yes. Yeah. And this is the movie he makes right after that. He does one episode of tales from the crypts.
00:19:22
Speaker
And then, goes right into this movie.
Total Recall: Production and Marketing
00:19:26
Speaker
But immediately after this, he does kindergarten cop. So he's like, this is kind of his, right. This is kind of his last like straight 80 style comedy. And this movie was made in the late eighties and then just came out in 90.
00:19:43
Speaker
And then you get in 91, you get T2 Judgment Day. And then we start to see him sort of even. And that's kind of that. And I think Last Action Hero are of a piece where there are these movies where even though he is playing the bold action hero, there's a softer side to it.
00:20:03
Speaker
um There's a family-friendly kind of slant because it's Arnie plus a kid, which we already saw him do in Kindergarten Cop. So this is like the last just Arnold as an action dude going forward.
00:20:18
Speaker
And then from here on out, in True Lies comes in 94. Brett, we talked about that one last year too, or a couple years ago too. um That one, it's a you know him with his his daughter, Eliza Dushku.
00:20:31
Speaker
um And then you get Junior also in 94, and that's the movie that kind of breaks Arnold. So, yeah. i met so who I met Eliza. Who? met Eliza. She's she's awesome.
00:20:45
Speaker
Oh, word. Yeah. I believe it. Sorry. Completely unrelated anything. Sorry. No, you're good. Tucker? ah What did I say? You sang I Never...
00:20:57
Speaker
Boy, never. Never saw Junior? Never saw Junior. Oh, yeah i never yeah. Yeah, that's what it was. I never saw Junior. It's just as well. Last as week. Last as week.
00:21:08
Speaker
Last week, Stephen. you Thank you. You ah told me that it didn't do very well, but I remember it being like a ah big deal. Was it just well marketed?
00:21:19
Speaker
I think it was well marketed. I can find it on the numbers here real quick. i remember it being everywhere, dude. Like commercials on TV. Like I could probably recite half the trailer if I needed to. Oh, they were trying hard to sell it. I just don't think anyone bought it.
00:21:32
Speaker
Oh, word. Because I like i i i liked Twins enough last week, even though I came out pretty meh on it. Right. With the chemistry between the two stars enough that I kind of want to see Junior.
00:21:43
Speaker
That's the movie. like Is it bad though? Junior, I can't imagine being any good. I just can't. like It's disappointing. the the It's the male pregnancy. and it It's like we talked about last week. that they The screenwriter they wanted to bring in is like, you can't do that because every man does not want to see their action hero emasculated like that.
00:22:04
Speaker
And every woman is going to think you're making fun of her and like the trauma that- that childbirth is. So, I mean, I don't know, maybe junior is a Tucker movie and just not a movie for normal people.
00:22:17
Speaker
Time i always that circle. I it's, it's not a loop Phil. It's a spiral. No, I'd buy that. Yeah. Okay. okay No, I always forget. I always forget that Tucker movies exist and yeah, it might be one.
00:22:33
Speaker
I'll look it. I'll let you guys know. I'll look at it in the next couple of weeks. I'll let you guys know. I'm doing, I'm trying to find it. Cause of course, when I type in junior into the numbers, some movie that no one's ever heard of from 2003, 23 called junior pops up. So I'm going actually try to find it in the, by looking at the weekly box office. That poster's iconic. You guys come on.
00:22:55
Speaker
it umm How do you not want see that movie seeing that poster? You're like, what? Arnold's pregnant and Danny DeVito is the doctor. What? You mentioned the power of um movie marketing in the 90s.
00:23:08
Speaker
And it turns it is worth mentioning the pre pre-internet film marketing. You could get anybody to see anything because who was going tell them it was a bad movie?
00:23:18
Speaker
People went and saw Battlefield Earth. I worked at the theater when it was there. People came to see it. Future episode of this podcast, Battlefield Earth. That's a testament to what you were just saying, Phil.
00:23:30
Speaker
Like, come on. If the internet had been around, well, in the capacity that it is now, when Battlefield Earth came out, I would have done more numbers. it possible to request episodes to not guest on?
00:23:41
Speaker
like Yeah. yeah i would not I've asked you to be on episodes that you flat out refused to be on, and I didn't make you come in. So, yeah, you're good. yeah yeah The Ralph Bakshi Lord of the Rings is specific.
00:23:55
Speaker
Thank you for respecting my religion enough to... All right. So I've got the junior numbers. Junior opens... um It feels weird to be doing this this early. and We're at the end of the junior episode already, you guys. Wow, what an episode. Stop it.
00:24:09
Speaker
Junior the weekend 25th, 1994. It opens behind week three of the Santa Claus.
00:24:16
Speaker
it opens behind week three of the santa claus Week two of Star Trek Generations. And week three of Interview with the Vampire, The Vampire Chronicles.
00:24:30
Speaker
You guys, I was in middle school when Generations came out, and I went to the theater ah with my communicator pin that made noise. And you tapped it the whole damn movie.
00:24:41
Speaker
Proudly pinned to my chest. No, I would never do that. I would never break movie at movie theater etiquette, even when I was a child. steve Respect. Oh, I talked to Brent Spiner today. That was cool, too. Word. yeah well i thank him for I thanked him for, whether he realized it or not, um positive.
00:24:57
Speaker
um One of the first actually unintentionally autistic-coded characters. and how he actually helped to raise a lot of awareness, which he was he told me that Dr. Sachs, who did a lot of the early work on ASD, came into his trailer um and told him um that he was actually helping a lot of people. And this was in the infancy of autism research, too. so That's awesome.
00:25:20
Speaker
Another complete non sequitur for which I apologize profusely. Hey, you're on the right show for it, man. I apologize here. You see the shirt? You name-checked Star Trek, so I was in.
00:25:30
Speaker
yeah for for those For those not watching this podcast, which is literally all of you, ah Phil is wearing ah a red shirt that says red shirt in the Star Trek font with a big old Star Trek symbol in the middle.
00:25:42
Speaker
And underneath says, I might not make it. It's a wonderful shirt. And I applaud his wearing it. It is fantastic. ah Junior opens to 9.8 million. on it here i love it. on its way to million domestic.
00:25:56
Speaker
another seventy one point six so about a hundred what was the budget The budget will is I just closed the tab. Hang on. Crap-a-doodle. shift Gosh fucking darn it, Steven.
00:26:11
Speaker
No, the budget, um shit, ah doesn't it's not listed, which is not good. well they've They've scrubbed it from the historical record. dan yeah Steven, if we can't count on you for the budget, who can we count on?
00:26:24
Speaker
um I don't know, man. You're our guy. i know. Nice stuff. i can I can see if that information would be on Wikipedia. yeah No, I'm just kidding. You're great, Steven.
00:26:37
Speaker
It's okay. hi You had no fewer than four jobs, and you couldn't even do three of them. um Box, ah I'm going to hang on. Oh, man.
00:26:53
Speaker
i Look, you guys, normally I would say move on, but now if we've gone so far. I need to know. so you don't. I know what you're up to. $60 million. and $60 million? That's about, well, yeah, it didn't do very well. No, it made its money back.
00:27:07
Speaker
Plus, you know, probably marketing. but you said the marketing was everywhere, so it's definitely not making back that marketing budget because they marketed the hell out of that movie. At best, they probably broke even.
Adaptations of Philip K. Dick's Work
00:27:20
Speaker
Yeah. I'm going to say, yeah, they probably spent, I would say in those days, you'd spend about half the budget, not as part of the budget, but half of what the budget is on marketing. Whereas today it's closer to like the full budget. I think there's a bit, a lot more, there's more, trend a lot more places regarding it now too. Yeah.
00:27:38
Speaker
right um Total Recall. Hey! Based on a short story by the great Philip K. Dick. My man. Called We Can Remember It For You Wholesale.
00:27:51
Speaker
ah Has anyone read that short story? Because I'm not going to have never read Philip K. Dick. I had a Philip K. Dick phase in ah high school. And I read like every short story of his. And I really loved them. But I haven't read any of them since.
00:28:07
Speaker
So I'm a fan. But I'm a lazy fan. Same. I fall exactly into that category. I feel like phil Phil's got a lot here. Unload. I'm the guest. I'm trying not to monopolize.
00:28:20
Speaker
No, please do. The guest is supposed to do that. the The main reason that I took this guest thing when Stephen offered it to me. Well, the main reason was because he asked.
00:28:33
Speaker
And I usually don't say no to that because that's my dude. guys are boys, yeah. The second reason is... gloriously cheesy 90s Arnold and the third even though it was technically produced prior to 1990 so everything I said in that segment was factually wrong the big big reason as and I guess I should say aspiring I don't think that Patreon counts as published cyberpunk author um Philip K. Dick is basically one of the towering figures
00:29:06
Speaker
in sci-fi in general and a necessary precondition for cyberpunk even though he was done writing and pretty much sadly almost done living before cyberpunk became a thing, but um would not have had that particular subset of speculative fiction without PKD's work.
00:29:25
Speaker
Incredibly important author, um both in speculative fiction in general and also exploration of reality, like thematic elements that would become incredibly important moving into the nineties and beyond.
00:29:40
Speaker
And but guys have the same name. That's true. You're both Phil's. And depending on who ask, we're both dicks. Oh, yeah. we Hey, Phil, did you ever see that show on Amazon Prime called Electric Dreams?
00:29:57
Speaker
No, sadly. i'm I'm aware of its existence. you know about it? I'm aware of it. If you're a Philip K. Dick guy, it's all it's an anthology series of just short stories. It's kind of like Twilight Zone or Tales from the Crypt, but short stories by Phil Dick.
00:30:10
Speaker
And they're all fantastic. um Some of them are kind of slow burns, but still, if you have the patience for them, they're really good. The episode with Janelle Monae is probably the best one she plays. i don't even want to give it away.
00:30:24
Speaker
ill ill check it i have I have Prime. I'll check it out. Yeah. Yeah. Please check it out. um Also, let me know. this is I'm approaching my budget on non sequiturs, but there was a series called like titled Blade Runner.
00:30:38
Speaker
But it was basically like an amalgamation. You remember this? Like late 90s Canadian television. It was produced in Canada. was an amalgamation of pretty much all PKD stuff. They tried to make one like overarching universe like based on elements of his works and stuff. do you mean Total Recall 2070? No, no,
00:30:56
Speaker
No, 27. Is 77? There's a TV series. No, there's a TV series. Hang on. Yeah, I know what you're talking about here though. Am I an idiot? It was, yeah. No, Phil, you're right. I remember about it. Like, I remember seeing the ads on TV. and Or was the series titled Total Recall, and i'm I just... No, there's a Total Recall, but I'm pretty sure yeah that what you're talking about is a real thing, too. It is 2070. I apologize.
00:31:20
Speaker
Oh, crap. What did you say? I didn't think I'd gotten that deep into the jar yet, but no, I thought it was. ah i thought it was. I feel like there was a live in the back of my mind. I thought it was a blade. There are a lot of elements from do Android stream slash blade runner in it.
00:31:37
Speaker
Most of the aesthetic is owed to that. But um total recall, because they're one of the big overarching plot.
Paul Verhoeven's Film Career
00:31:43
Speaker
threads involves like a similar kind of anyway i'm rambling at this point but they did try to make an entire overarching tv for tv universe based on elements of pkd's works and it was one of those typical like end of the 90s things where it had like a cult following and got really popular but it was they always has always under the looming threat of cancellation and it ultimately didn't survive
00:32:08
Speaker
It was probably a pretty expensive show to produce. At that point, in the with the VFX they were trying to do on TV, like the budget was like more than they were willing to spend on Voyager at that point. So I think that's the main thing, is it just did not make its budget back. It it didn't come close to um being profitable, and they just dropped it.
00:32:33
Speaker
Hey, Phil, what's your did you ever see Impostor? What's your favorite Philip K. Dick adaptation, Phil? I want to know.
00:32:40
Speaker
I know what you're up to. i know look i'm Honestly, I'll come clean. I'm halfway up to that, but also I'm just excited to talk to someone else who like has a boner for Philip K. Dick. so Did that come out wrong or did that come out right? No, it came out right. And i know I know Brett does too, but we've never really gotten into the weeds about it.
00:33:00
Speaker
And you're so excited to talk about it. And yes, am I trying to steer the conversation away from Total Recall? Probably. But also, I'm really interested in what you have to say. I think it's relevant. Yeah. film This actually is relevant. Thank you.
00:33:13
Speaker
You know one of the most culturally important PKD adaptations? What's that? The 1990 film Total Recall. Hey, okay. All right. You're welcome, Steven.
00:33:24
Speaker
I respect that. I'd have gotten us back around there eventually. But did you see Impostor, though? gary I did not. I did not. but That was kind of good as hell in made-for-video kind of way. Even though it wasn't made-for-video, but.
00:33:37
Speaker
I had that vibe, and it was really good at the same time. Gary Sinise, Madeline Stowe, Vincent D'Onofrio, and Makai Pfeiffer, directed by Gary Fleeter. That's why I've never heard of it. Okay.
00:33:48
Speaker
Yeah. I don't remember it getting much of a theatrical run. I got it on DVD from the video store, and I really dug it. It's pretty surface level, but it's still really well made, and everybody acts their dicks off, so...
00:34:04
Speaker
Right on. and Philip K. Dick's off. Yep. There it is. ah So the first up to this point, this is the second Philip K. Dick adaptation, Total Recall. The first, of course, Blade Runner, which i even i who enjoys this movie would say is the superior Philip K. Dick adaptation of those.
00:34:24
Speaker
um More to come, and I'm sure we'll talk about at least one or two more of those as we get going here. um But so at this point, Philip K. Dick, not someone who is widely... um Adapted yet, not someone really heralded as much as as as he would later become.
00:34:42
Speaker
um But in this, so so there's a lot of liberty being taken. ah This was an idea, a story that Dan O'Bannon wanted to adapt in the 70s. And so he started working on it, but realized even then that the special effects budget was going to be too much for them to deal with. So he kind of like switched gears and started working on a little story about an alien that chases a bunch of people around a spaceship ah that came out in 1979. You might know it as Alien.
00:35:12
Speaker
um So yeah, this basically – Yeah. it's it's It's pretty good. I would recommend it. Maybe check it out. It's pretty good. Call it classic, right? Right. Yeah. Just – I don't know if it has any sequels. and Maybe we can cover it on this podcast one day.
00:35:27
Speaker
Maybe. did Maybe. yeah dog Maybe. let's follow you know maybe yeah um So yeah. Anyway, um so this is something he's kind of had long gestating and had very – very specific ideas about what it should be about and how it should go.
00:35:43
Speaker
um The original um conception that O'Bannon had was to make the Quaid or Quail as he was in the original script. And I think in the original story, I think we can chalk that one up to the Bush administration as to why his name is Quaid in this as opposed to Quail.
00:35:59
Speaker
Yeah. Cause you know, late eighties. um He was the one was Dan Quayle. The guy people used to make fun of him for not being able to spell like tomato or something.
00:36:10
Speaker
Potato. Yeah. Same thing. Yeah. Indiana Dan Quayle. Hey, a long line of vice presidents. The bar was actually higher back then. Sadly.
00:36:22
Speaker
weirdly Yeah. Back then they're like, Oh, this guy's dumb.
00:36:27
Speaker
Uh, shame him into getting smarter. Right? Like we should at least do that. Right. and I mean, little did we know that there would be politicians coming down the pipeline that had were incapable of shame. Little did we know how good we had it in the ninety s yeah Anyway, don't get me started. I'm almost through the jar.
00:36:49
Speaker
Damn it. Pull up, pull up. Yeah, we we got to do the plot soon before he's too far gone, man. I'll probably do the plot because I forgot to tell him about it. so Oh, yeah. He didn't tell me because I usually write them when he tells me to. and i You heard the one I did for a Street Fighter? Yeah, it was great.
00:37:05
Speaker
I tapped into my inner John Machida and I cannot do that in this state, I don't think. No, you're fine. I'll do it. I'll i'll take the bullet on this one. um Thank you, Steven. that's It's only fair. um i it's what It's what happened with Brett when when he forgot to tell the guest about it. so Someone's listening now like, who the hell is John Machida?
00:37:24
Speaker
Oh, just Google it. Just Google it. He's a fucking legend. He's a fucking legend is who he is. Um... So what was I saying? Something about... ah Oh, yeah. So the original conception in the script was to have the main character as kind of this dorky accountant.
00:37:41
Speaker
ah And the original casting was... um Rick Moranis. Patrick Swayze, weirdly enough. think ah Close enough. and Yeah, ah close enough, I guess. Basically the same person. He can play it.
00:37:55
Speaker
um And Bruce Beresford was signed on to direct. ah Paul Verhoeven was actually supposed to be working on a film, Black Rain, and the rights to this script were tied up with Dino De Laurentiis, who actively did not want Arnold to do it, even though Arnold really wanted to, ah the De Laurentiis corp goes bankrupt and Arnold convinces Carolco to buy the rights to total recall so that they could make it with him.
00:38:24
Speaker
And then he's the guy that seeks out Paul Verhoeven because he's wanted to work with Verhoeven since Robocop, basically. Um, So, ah so yeah, so that's how Verhoeven comes on to this, to this movie at this point, Verhoeven, cause I need to do, we need to do a Verhoeven sidebar.
00:38:43
Speaker
We need to please, you know, what I, what I appreciate about him is there's a, a short part in his career in the nineties and early two thousands that this film is a part of that to me is just, um,
00:38:59
Speaker
of one and then one and then what's the ah well every other one. That's the kind of thing I'm trying to say. One for them, one for me. No, like one that's really, really good and one that just sucks really bad.
00:39:11
Speaker
Like, so you've got like Robocop, then you've got this and then you've got fucking whatever. And then you've got showgirls and then you've got ah Starship Troopers and then you've got fucking Hollow Man.
00:39:21
Speaker
Like it kind of, you know, it's some of the best and worst shit I've ever seen in that line of films. It's it's insane. Is it one for them, one for me? Or is it him just shifting the tone and direction of his commentary?
00:39:34
Speaker
That's possible too. ah The one you missed, Tucker, is Basic Instinct. That's the one. yeah. Another Sharon Stone vehicle. He said he liked Sharon Stone for this movie because she could basically go from really sweet to really awful on a dime.
00:39:52
Speaker
and And of course, be him being the guy that he is, ah he was like, and she's like that in real life, too. And you're just like, wow. Wow, Paul, really? um His first American film is Flesh Plus Blood, or I guess Flesh and Blood, in 1985, movie that five people have heard of.
00:40:11
Speaker
um And then he does Robocop in 87. Robocop. good movie. Fucking masterpiece. Total Recall. A bad movie. Great film. Yeah. Basic Instinct, which I haven't seen. big movie.
00:40:25
Speaker
Showgirls. A big movie. A bad movie. ah With my boy Kyle MacLachlan. i I will shout out my boy Kyle MacLachlan in that one. that's Starship Troopers. a good um Derided at the time became a cult classic.
00:40:40
Speaker
ah Got reappraised later um because it's secretly about Nazis. What? Who didn't get that at the beginning? I was barely in high school when that came out and I fucking got that. Like...
00:40:52
Speaker
Who's not getting that movie? Well, there's a lot of people not getting it right now. Correct. I guess you're right. Yeah. Media literacy is not high on some people's to-do list. Yeah, right? Because we basically have Starship Troopers the game in the form of Helldivers, and media literacy is – I'm just going to say it, interacting with the player base. Media literacy is dead.
00:41:13
Speaker
I'll bet. it's buried in a box with the labeled with the letter X. Yep. So ah thanks, Elon. Yeah. Yeah. You have bastard. You bastard.
00:41:23
Speaker
You crazy bastard. And then, of course, Hollow Man, which um which is a bad movie. It is. I i was trying to put a spin on it. It's it's not good. It's fun, but it's not it's not a well-made movie. It just lucks into being kind of fun at times because it's so stupid and ridiculous.
00:41:40
Speaker
Yeah. The stupidity is rather transparent. Yeah. oh whoa Damn it, Phil. I need to send a slide whistle. If you're going to be on this podcast too much longer, I'm going a slide whistle.
00:41:51
Speaker
Go find your slide whistle. I think that's like one of the only things I don't have. Go get your shine box. Go get your fucking shine Let me go through my synthesizer. My mini controller's on. We could find it. ah Yeah, so for me, it's one, it's every other.
00:42:08
Speaker
In that, like, starting from RoboCop, It's like good movie, bad movie. Good movie. You can even start from, if I mean, Flesh and Blood, not widely regarded as a good film. I've never seen that one. Well, then maybe you go watch that one. I've seen these other films. See if it applies to your theory. You got a slide whistle? Do what you got. What's that?
00:42:30
Speaker
Show and tell. But mostly tell because it's an auditory medium. Yeah, this is a purely auditory medium. yeah Don't make me. Don't make me. It's a kazoo. That's fantastic.
00:42:40
Speaker
If you're wondering, how could anyone charge $20 for a kazoo? This one's actually pretty solid. ah Well, you could do the score to this film on it because ah surprise, surprise. I didn't even realize. I forgot. I have another good thing to say about this. The music is fantastic.
00:42:55
Speaker
Jerry motherfucking Goldsmith, bro. like Yes. Yes, please. And thank you. Speaking of Star Trek, the next generation. Right.
00:43:05
Speaker
It's probably the only thing that kept me from. It was probably the only thing that kept me from putting my hand in the fire while watching this movie was the score. And I was just like, that is just fantastic. You just
The Impact of Jerry Goldsmith’s Score
00:43:16
Speaker
carry fire. and Yeah, you know, fires everywhere. need You go got lighters all over the place.
00:43:23
Speaker
Goldsmith actually considers this one of his best scores, too. It's fucking good. It's great. it makes me really want to like it It motivates me to like this movie, and I still fucking can't.
00:43:37
Speaker
Thank you, Phil.
00:43:39
Speaker
You're doing the Lord's work. Phil looks like he's about ready to explode on the surface of Mars, holding in all of the puns that are just like begging to like shoot out of his eyes. Like Ronnie Cox's. I will have more to say about exploding on the surface of Mars. When we get to that point, don't let me forget.
00:43:56
Speaker
Hell yeah. Into that. I love that. So yeah. That's from nitpicking time. So Verhoeven comes on after the, and this is his immediate followup to, as as Tucker said, his immediate followup to,
00:44:09
Speaker
um The fuck movie, would did we just say Robocop? That was so popular, yeah. so that so You know, the fuck movie. Also, Basic Instinct. It would also be described as the fuck movie. Correct.
00:44:23
Speaker
That's true, and if you're creative, Hollow Man. Fuck movie, I'd buy that for a dollar.
00:44:30
Speaker
Wouldn't we all? Please continue, sorry. I'm sorry.
00:44:36
Speaker
um So, yeah, and then this movie is made. It comes out and is um successful.
00:44:45
Speaker
ah Let's do the plot before I before I lose myself in the music.
00:44:53
Speaker
So this is the part of the show plot in 60 seconds where we recount the plot of the movie that we're talking about in 60 seconds or less. When we have a guest, we usually like to throw it to them. But i did not um tell Phil about it because I forgot.
00:45:07
Speaker
um Oops. Um, and yes, his being on the show before is no excuse. So I'm taking the, but normally we would either flip the coin of justice or roll the D six of destiny.
00:45:18
Speaker
Um, however I'm taking, I'm taking it for this one. So someone please put 60 seconds on the clock. Oh shit. I should have done that. I got you. I was, I was just vamping for nothing.
00:45:30
Speaker
Oh, yeah, we're not used to it. Like you, ah like I'm the dice and the keys are pretty good to me. So and generally pretty awful to me lately. lately
00:45:42
Speaker
All right. I'm ready whenever you are. All right. Let's do this thing. ah It's 2084 and Doug Quaid is this guy on earth. He's a construction worker, which is why he's huge.
00:45:53
Speaker
He keeps dreaming about Mars, wants to go to Mars. His excruciatingly hot wife doesn't. He sees an ad saying, Hey, we can remember a vacation you never had. And so he goes to this place called recall and they're going to implant the memories and he chooses Like he wants to be a secret agent and have a Burnett girlfriend and all this stuff.
00:46:08
Speaker
ah Next thing you know, it's failed because it kicks out against a memory chip. And he turns out he really was a secret agent. Or was he? And turns out there really was a hot Burnett girl that looks exactly like that girl in the picture. 30 seconds.
00:46:19
Speaker
or what Or is it? And eventually he finds himself embroiled in a a massive plot. ah it Turns out he was tricking himself and he's really working for the bad guys against the mutants that are living on Mars, ah including a ah lady with three boobies.
00:46:34
Speaker
ah They're all paper mache. Don't worry about it. And anyway, um so he eventually like thwarts the plan. He kicks Cohagen out of a window, chokes to death, and then it ends up terraforming Mars by mistake.
00:46:44
Speaker
The end. And it's probably dream. He's probably lobotomized. You know, if I had done the plot in 60 on this for 60 seconds, I would have just said, plot twist, chase scene.
00:46:55
Speaker
Plot twist, chase scene. Plot twist, chase scene. Plot twist, chase But for 60 seconds, though, not for like 15. Which is better than you just making 60 seconds of sustained fart noises with your mouth, I suppose. A little bit better.
00:47:09
Speaker
Not by much. Not much, to be clear. is that a thing to do? No, I just... You take the meaty part of your palm, you wrap it around... I could just see Tucker legitimately doing that for a movie he dislikes. The way you said it, it sounded like he'd done that recently. No, I i mean... That's in Stephen's Tucker headcanon is me doing that, I think. yeah I'm into that.
00:47:33
Speaker
I love that. it just it doesn't It doesn't strike me as being something outside of the ordinary of what you would do. ah Yeah, that's fair. I see that, yes. As someone who is like self-aware to a fault, yes.
00:47:46
Speaker
i but I don't know if that would ever happen. Like if a movie is that bad, you just decide you don't want to record that episode. That's that's what you do there. I guess. But I thought we could have a lot of fun and like I wanted to meet Phil because the Street Fighter episode was rad. So like, oh, thank you.
00:48:02
Speaker
one i So this movie falls into the category of one you would just make a fart noise for 60 seconds on. No, because I can think of something more clever. Like, because I could, you know, there's something more clever. Like I said, plot twist, chase scene.
00:48:15
Speaker
That's more clever because that's essentially what this film is. And you had some redeeming things to say about it. So you didn't hate it completely. It's no, what was it, My Little Pony? No My Little Pony. I went in the motherfucking chipmunks.
00:48:26
Speaker
Yeah. went in the chipmunks, okay. Don't mention those motherfuckers around me anymore, man. the The movie he flat out, like the episode he flat out boycotted. That's, I, look.
00:48:37
Speaker
That one broke me, you guys. I haven't been the same since that one. But he enjoyed the Street Fighter episode. I did. It's okay. I get it. For you, the day that Filzy graced your podcast was the most... Never mind. we're not going to do that.
00:48:49
Speaker
But we' headed in the right direction yeah for Phil, it was just a Tuesday is really what he's getting at. Great. Raul Julia. May he live forever in our hearts. Pull one out for the man.
00:49:03
Speaker
May he mamushka until the end of time and in heaven. you know You know who I really would have loved to see in this movie? Raul Julia. Julia. and Tim Curry. In in which role?
00:49:16
Speaker
I could see, honestly, role... Sharon Stone role.
00:49:22
Speaker
I think he would have killed the Michael Ironside role, honestly. I love Michael Ironside in this movie, but I think Raul Julia would have murdered that role. Like, he would have made it as little bitch. If we're talking about alternate universe remakes of this film, Muppet version, who's the human? Who's the human?
00:49:39
Speaker
Arnold. ah Still Arnold? Yeah. ah the The Tim Curry school mean believing he's a treating himself as a fellow Muppet. And you mean in the post, ah we had a major Muppet movie with a Muppet protagonist world that we live in, Stephen?
00:49:54
Speaker
i don't know. It's my hypothetical. Do what you like. Yes. who are me For me, the Muppet is the the main guy that's the the teacher that ends up being the sergeant in Starship Troopers.
00:50:07
Speaker
The guy that's like the leader of the guys that are chasing him. Michael Ironson? Yes. Oh, we're talking about the same guy. what he said. Look at that. We just circled back to it.
00:50:17
Speaker
I love it when I fall stupidly into some shit that I don't realize that I'm falling into. Hey-ho, get your ass to Mars. Yay!
00:50:29
Speaker
That wasn't very good. It's fine. That's all right. We still appreciated it. Get your ass to Mars. That's my really bad Fozzie there. I was going to ask if there was a Fozzie. I didn't realize that was your Fozzie. It was so bad, Steven. Yeah, it's awful. Anybody got a Ralph or a Skeeter or something? Jeez.
00:50:47
Speaker
Excuse me. It's a message for you, Quaid. Meep, meep, meep, meep, meep. Cohigan wants to talk to you. Meep, meep.
00:50:58
Speaker
We get Dr. Teeth in there at some point. you know That's the score. The score is the electric mayhem. Yes. yeah I would watch the hell out of it. I already watched the hell out of it. that's the Swedish chef, right?
00:51:11
Speaker
Yo, Swedish chef? Yes. Absolutely. Okay, who do we do? Is it Swedish chef or Animal as the Johnny Cab? Oh. Anything to make it less annoying. Animal.
00:51:25
Speaker
Drive car! Drive car! Yeah. Yeah, I'm into it. i was I would watch a Muppet remake of this movie for sure. Right on. For sure. So one of the things I legitimately enjoyed about this movie is that it just keeps getting more and more and more unhinged with every consecutive minute right up until the end. And i get i mean, the central question of this movie is, is he dreaming or is this real? Yeah.
00:51:59
Speaker
um And based solely on... And do I care? this the story of life or is it just fantasy? No, I'm kidding. I'm kidding. Yes, Brett, exactly. Queening all over this bish.
00:52:11
Speaker
um Like, is is is this real? Is this a dream? um and but Whether or not you care is inconsequential. I know you don't. so i' ah but And others do, and I straight up respect that.
00:52:23
Speaker
But I thought it would be a good time to throw in a quip just for fun. Am I going to have to start calling you out here? I'm not doing any of the things. We're having a positive... to why everyone's still You have a list too.
00:52:38
Speaker
um The podcast I used to do, there was a list of things I wasn't allowed to say. i was Do you have a list too? Well, I guess I just, made a list now. Yeah. The one we read at the beginning of the podcast, I think that's probably going to be my credo from this point on when it comes to recording this podcast.
00:52:53
Speaker
So I really think I kind of, you know, I summed it up to how I should be because I know how I can be, but I would rather be this way instead because it's more fun. I'm not getting mad. So let it be written.
00:53:05
Speaker
So shall it be done. yeah um But and I mean, so for me, and I like the just the build of it. I think it just gets absolutely wacky as shit.
00:53:17
Speaker
by the and So where you've got like your three main characters on the surface of Mars, like with their heads expanding with some incredible Rob Bottin makeup effects, just like eyes bulging and Brett not a fan.
00:53:33
Speaker
Look, look, they're well done. Way too long. And they're well done, but they're just like unnecessarily gross. like I don't want to look at it. mean, this is the man who gave us the thing.
00:53:47
Speaker
I get that, and that was all fantastic, but this is just, it's too much. It's too gross. It's too ugly to look at. Like, it's fantastically made. It looks, like, it looks technically, as in looking at it as, you know, a technical feat, fan-fucking-tastic. I can't believe they did some of the shit that they did. Making the little mutant guy's mouth move like that, that's fucking fantastic, but I could hardly stand to look at the motherfuckers.
00:54:10
Speaker
Oh, fucking Quato. What reveal on Quato. Quato is fantastic. And not only is that disgusting. It also squandered in the plot. But the uncanny valley of the fake head of dude that's holding him.
00:54:23
Speaker
It's just this movie. It just makes me feel gross. You guys. I wish I liked this movie, you guys. I wish I could like this movie, but it just makes me feel gross. I will say we could have an entire segment devoted to whether or not PKD would have liked this adaptation. But I think what you described, the progressively getting more and more unhinged and surreal is tone thematically and tonally essential PKD.
00:54:45
Speaker
Right. So he probably wouldn't have liked the adaptation. i mean, he wasn't Harlan Ellison nitpicky, but he was legendarily nitpicky. He was no Alan Moore. But I do think thematically that progression is thematically and totally perfect for describing like any kind of PKD narrative.
00:55:04
Speaker
you The I i don't know When do you go? I lost my train out with it, Steven. I had an effect on people. I had it is gone is gone now.
00:55:17
Speaker
The train pulled away from the station and I wasn't on it. Well, it's OK. So then it's been a while since I've read PKD, so bear with me. But I feel like, yes, his story's escalating in craziness, but like and never he never crosses the line. he never goes off the ledge.
00:55:35
Speaker
He walks up to it, but he never it never goes off the legend. I feel like this movie, that last ah last scene, it's it's too much. It's too much. You think it goes too far? it goes too far.
00:55:47
Speaker
No, I think you're probably right. never cranks it to 11. Yeah. But...
00:55:52
Speaker
yeah um but Yeah. So, I mean, I might, it might be safer to describe it as the logical conclusion of PKD type trajectory, even if it takes a little bit farther than he would have.
00:56:08
Speaker
it That's what I call the Verhoeven effect. Like, and that's the kind of filmmaker Verhoeven is. He's the kind of, I mean, look, we just went through his, like the American section of his filmography. He's the kind of guy who doesn't leave anything on the table. Yeah.
00:56:23
Speaker
Like he's like the sex that he depicts in like showgirls and basic inin instincts. He's like, i don't know what people are like getting on me. That's what sex looks like. And I'm like, there's my brother in Christ.
00:56:35
Speaker
Have you had sex? Cause I'm not sure There's nothing, there's nothing subtle about a Verhoeven movie no at all. And like the violence. I don't get it. Sometimes it's right there.
00:56:50
Speaker
As an idiot teenager, I understood that movie. I quote was so stupid then. That quote, I don't know. I think it's supposedly an apocryphal quote about his goal being to make a film so obvious in the satire that everyone who gets it is tormented by the people who don't.
00:57:05
Speaker
I don't know if he actually said that or if that's just attributed to him, but it works. Mission accomplished. Right. yeah Certainly worked in RoboCop. For good or for ill, mission accomplished.
00:57:15
Speaker
But I mean, and and so again, that that's very, that the the over the edge, the crossing the line, Brett, that you talk about, I feel like that's the Verhoeven influence on this film. That's fair. Because that feels like something that he would bring to the table.
00:57:28
Speaker
And O'Bannon was famously... never liked the ending of this movie. In fact, I think it's the thing that like drove him off the set and like kind of made him distance himself from the project was the overall dome was the ending.
00:57:44
Speaker
um According to a Cinefantastique interview in 91, his concept was that the hand on the machine at the end was not a big Martian hand, but specifically designed for Quaid.
00:58:01
Speaker
And like he was the one that like set it up and the machine when he tried to use it killed him and created a synthetic duplicate. And so the Quaid that we see is the synthetic duplicate of Quaid.
00:58:17
Speaker
and And that's why he like can't be killed and all this other stuff. um And so he like it basically O'Bannon's idea is to just remove any um ambiguity from the ending at all and just spell it out for you.
00:58:34
Speaker
So when he puts his hand on the machine, he has a total recall of who he is and turns to everyone else and says, oh, I think it's going to be fun to play God for a while. um And just, you know, like becomes a power mad crazy person, ah which feels very on PKD. But I don't have the knowledge to back that up.
00:58:53
Speaker
So he was going to sixth day before sixth day, basically. Yeah. Yeah. God, six day. fun movie. I like that movie. It's fun. Is it? I think this is a fun movie. It's really dumb, but like I'm into it.
00:59:08
Speaker
It's not aggressive in any way. and This movie is aggressive. Where your line, just out of curiosity? It's not no fixed point. There's no fixed point. No, it jumps or it depends on the context. and like There's so many factors, dude. Since this is not a visual medium,
00:59:24
Speaker
I am staring into my webcam with the most skepticism I can summon. That's true. This is like a meme shot right here. This should be the meme picture for that emotion.
00:59:36
Speaker
Yeah. It really, yeah. You expressed it very well. This just this is Tucker. Yeah. Hi. My taste does not make sense at Phil is pressing X for doubt so hard right now.
00:59:49
Speaker
Contradictory. My tastes are contradictory. I'm actually hit my keyboard because who knows what I would do at this point. Right. That's fair. Plus it's mechanical, so it would definitely disrupt the recording. Oh, we know it's mechanical. We've been hearing it.
01:00:02
Speaker
Every time you tap in the chat. oh But it's music to my ears, and I could edit it out, but I'm not gonna, because people love that. It's like ASMR. People love that fucking sound. You're good, dude.
01:00:14
Speaker
you're good So more, please, actually, if you could do it more. Somebody um that I don't know terribly well a couple of years ago decided to just ask me to my face um um after finding out I got divorced. Like, what happened? And I didn't.
01:00:29
Speaker
They neither old merited the full story, nor did I want to go into it. So I just like, well, I got a mechanical keyboard and my computer was in the bedroom and just left it. They don't need to know. and Hey, that's at least entertaining.
01:00:43
Speaker
Yeah. It's a fun story. that is It's probably happened to someone. I'm sure. yeah Oh, without a doubt. It was at least a last straw to someone. probably Honestly, i think that should just be the story we all stick with from going on going forward.
01:00:58
Speaker
What happened to a mechanical keyboard in the bedroom? yeah If I had a nickel,
01:01:06
Speaker
I have two nickels, which is weird. It's happened twice.
01:01:13
Speaker
We're all rushing to the same place. I love that for us. I think my doofenshmirtz clipped out a bit there. Oh, you're good, dude. No, it's golden. But no, like, i I don't know. I don't like the O'Bannon ending, but I don't really – I think the ending is the weakest part of this film.
01:01:29
Speaker
I will absolutely say it. Like, I i agree it it goes on a little too long. It also makes absolutely no sense. um Can I plant a flag real quick?
01:01:40
Speaker
By all means. Sorry, i didn't mean to I didn't mean to cut you off. I apologize. It's okay. I do it all the time. The escalation that we were describing a few moments ago, the escalation of Unhinged, I would plant a flag and say there is no ending that would have been fully satisfactory to this film at that point.
01:01:58
Speaker
I mean, everything blows up. Yeah, but I mean, you'd if you wanted to make it satisfactory, you'd end up with like a Blade Runner situation where you'd have 30 different cuts of the film floating around.
01:02:09
Speaker
Because no one there is no one ending that would satisfy everyone. And that's always the case anyway. but There's no one ending that would satisfy a plurality of viewers in this case.
01:02:21
Speaker
Now look, you guys look like a group of dudes who have seen Blade Runner. ah Which... Which one, which cut should I watch? Very, very astute of you, sir. Thank you. Thank you. That's an accurate statement. and i Exactly what are you implying, good
01:02:38
Speaker
Well, yes, I have. Like, I've always wanted to watch Blade Runner, obviously, because the Philip K. Dick, ah you know, connection. But ever since I have been aware of it, there have been multiple cuts of it. Final And don't want to watch the wrong one. so final cut, that's the one. Final cut's the one.
01:02:56
Speaker
Can everyone agree on this? You know how people tell you to aggregate news sources so you can like cancel out the bias? Yeah. Just watch them all. Watch them all.
01:03:06
Speaker
I don't want them man. That sounds like a lot of – if I don't like one of them, then I waste it. I'm sure it would be agonizing. I certainly haven't done that nor would I want to, but someone's got to take one for the team. Yeah, I mean if you've got the time and the desire, sure, do that. But I agree with Steven. Final Cut would be the best one.
01:03:21
Speaker
I'd rather start with the most recommended, and if I like it a shit ton, I might explore the other cuts is all I'm saying. The monologue was not constructive. No.
01:03:33
Speaker
Agreed. Like, they just didn't trust audiences. Like, that's why that's there. They just didn't trust audiences. And there's so much else in there that shows that they they trusted audiences to keep up with so many other things, but not that.
01:03:46
Speaker
Come on. well and But that's in the theatrical. Like, so... I mean, that's that's the year of that's the year that we got but got Blade Runner, The Thing, and E.T. in the same summer. And audiences spoke with their dollar.
01:04:01
Speaker
yeah what's the What is the canon of the sequel? I have not seen it, so I cannot speak that. So, like, there's a sequel, right? And there's several different cuts. Which one is that the sequel to directly? Because I'm assuming they have, like, different endings and stuff.
01:04:20
Speaker
I m I don't know. Again, I've not seen it, so I can't speak to that. All right. um Because I might want to check out the sequel too. I've heard it's good. there's a There's a line, i have also heard that. There's a line between, i think, Blade Runner and Total Recall in that both are films where the ending, I think, is intentionally ambiguous.
01:04:42
Speaker
ah in In Blade Runner, well, I won't give it away for Blade Runner. Yeah, please don't. People who've seen it should know. Final Cut, though. And they get proudly and they get wild um remakes decades down the line that are wildly thematically and totally inconsistent with the originals.
01:04:56
Speaker
Sure. hey hey But also, um the director is very outspoken as to which interpretation he subscribes to. the And for this Verhoeven, even though he wanted to make it intentionally ambiguous...
01:05:11
Speaker
The fade to white at the end is basically him saying this is basically since he went under at recall at the 20 minute mark until now has all been a dream. And the white is him being lobotomized in the real world.
01:05:24
Speaker
Like that's the that's kind of what he's saying with that. But again, that's another way for him to kind of keep things ambiguous rather than like just spelling it out. he But he and again, he'll he's like ah he's David Lynch in it like this is what I think. But well, Lynch wouldn't even tell you that. But he's like, this is what I think. But, you know, you can think whatever you want.
01:05:45
Speaker
Whereas Ridley Scott is pretty didactic about what ending he thinks is the right one for Blade Runner. Yeah, that's that's fair. That is a very good point. Well, if that's the case, then let me ask you the ultimate question for this podcast.
01:05:58
Speaker
Why would it have ever gotten the sequel then? Because dollar signs, Brett, dollar signs. Oh, it did make some money. It did make some money. It it did very well um it at the box office. So basically the sequel was going to be based on another Philip K. Dick novel called, let me check my notes here, Minority Report.
01:06:21
Speaker
Ever heard of it? Oh, wait a minute. think I've heard of that. yeah that one Yeah. Yeah. That's one I can say to people and they'll be like, Oh, that Philip K. Dick. Yes. That one. That's the one right there. Yeah. Another one an adaptation. Very good adaptation, but very distinct. Yes.
01:06:36
Speaker
Yes. Adaptation. So that one was supposed to Schwarzenegger was supposed to return Quaid and all of the events of this movie turns out they actually happened.
01:06:48
Speaker
and the And basically kind of ruins the ambiguity of the ending um a little bit. for that I mean, the people that <unk> got to sit with the ending before they saw the sequel, like they still have that time that they spent with it. Right. It's not a total wash.
01:07:04
Speaker
No. um So yeah, he wants that. but But basically he would be playing the Tom Cruise role in the the film. He's working for the the branch that does the pre-crime. And...
01:07:16
Speaker
has a whole adventure streaming off of that. Ultimately they couldn't get the script, right? Uh, Carol co went bankrupt. Um, and eventually they just retooled it. And Steven Spielberg said, Hey, I want to do that one. And we get 12 years later.
01:07:32
Speaker
We get minority report with Tom Cruise. Agreed. That one's a, it's fun. It's, it's pretty, it's pretty popcorn, but it's also pretty fun. It's a good one.
01:07:42
Speaker
yeah yeahy Yeah. Can I say what stood out to me the most about the ending of this film?
Critiques and Praise of the Cast
01:07:47
Speaker
Please. Specifically asking you. um It was when the credits came on and I just turned the movie off.
01:07:58
Speaker
And here's the thing. You guys know this about me. Everybody who listens to this podcast, Brett, Steven, you know this about me. this on the list? Steven, is this on the list? i think This feels like on the list.
01:08:11
Speaker
I watch... I watch the credits to every movie. like i will sit Whether I'm at the movie theater, whether I'm sitting at home watching something on streaming. It seems like this might be on its way to a manic fit. going to keep my ear out for it. Okay. Thank you for warning me that I might get there. I will try to dial it back while I continue.
01:08:29
Speaker
um And because of that, I completely forgot what I was talking about. Oh yeah, the ending. like I always watch the credits. Always. No matter what format. No matter where I am. But this one, I was just so frustrated with it.
01:08:45
Speaker
That I was just like, fuck all these people that made this movie. I say that jokingly, of course. I hope that they all have great lives. And and like they made a lot of money and shit. And like yay, good for them.
01:08:56
Speaker
But yeah, i just didn't watch the credits. I couldn't believe it myself. When I turned it off, I was like i gasped. I was shocked. Yeah. was wild. who You have such reverence for like, you know. i do.
01:09:10
Speaker
and believe my 12-year-old daughter would um describe the situation by saying, ciss was gagged. Pretty much. I don't know what that means, but I'm going to... Let's just go with it. We're just throwing things around. I don't understand the youths.
01:09:27
Speaker
I'm sorry, did you say youths? Street youths.
01:09:35
Speaker
Ruffians. No goodnicks. Street rats. Right. But I mean, yeah. So, you know but I agree. No, I think the ending is probably the weakest part of this movie, but I love the buildup. I love the cast on this thing. Like the cast is just a veritable smorgasbord of character actors. Yeah.
01:09:55
Speaker
From like Robert Costanzo to like Debbie and Carrington, like just an unbelievable, like just swath of like early 90s, late 80s character actors. And I am here for that. I love so many of these actors.
01:10:11
Speaker
It is a fantastic cast. ah But for me, at least in my opinion, nobody was... giving any kind of performance in this film except for Sharon Stone seemed to be kind of there.
01:10:27
Speaker
And Arnold's performance is just basically like Verhoeven being like, okay, Arnold, in between your dialogue, I want you to make like the most disgusting guttural noises. possible.
01:10:38
Speaker
I feel like this is the movie where that came from. Pretty much all the time. Everybody does an impression of Arnold. It's because of the noises he makes this movie. Oh my I'm pretty sure... It was Steven who said when at one point we were trading Arnold impressions and I said that someone's Arnold impression was about 80% accurate and he said Arnold's is only about 60% accurate.
01:11:07
Speaker
So there you go. That's true. It's sort of that, like no one's ever heard, hurt no one's ever doing a William Shatner impression. They're exactly. Yeah. Yeah. yeah Exactly. Sorry.
01:11:18
Speaker
No, you're good. Like I, there are like two other actors from twins that carry over to this movie, which I thought was hilarious. The guy that plays Quato, um, he was the, the assassin, ah that Or the the the killer for hire, the guy who is supposed to take the engine.
01:11:35
Speaker
um And then Rosemary Dunsmore, who plays the the stupid bitch doctor. that's Stupid bitch. she was She was also in in Twins as I think she was one of the artists at the Artist Colony.
01:11:50
Speaker
For me, this was more of a Verhoeven cast fest because this is basically just the cast of Robocop and the cast of Starship Troopers smashed together.
01:12:00
Speaker
Mm-hmm. That's this movie. with With also, you know, Sharon Stone pre-Basic Instance. Yeah. Yeah. You've also got- With the dead Sharon Stone. Ronnie Cox in this movie. Yeah.
01:12:13
Speaker
ah who his other great 1990 film, a future episode of this podcast. In fact, one I believe we're going to be covering... yeah sometime next year. Yeah. is He did it. Well, he was also in the, in 1990, he played the president of the United States and a little movie called Captain America.
01:12:35
Speaker
That's the one. That's right. Starring one Matt Salinger, son JD Salinger. He's all, I think for me, he's most familiar from RoboCop though. Like I've seen him in other shit, but like, that's, you remember it mean probably because of the bad,
01:12:49
Speaker
With the arms and the clay figure. like Yeah. i falling out of the It sears his face into your mind from that movie. it's it's Basically, they're doing with him, they're doing the um the Hans Gruber a year before Hans Gruber.
01:13:04
Speaker
Yeah. In that movie. He's also in Beverly Hills. Love that movie. but Oh, I like that movie a lot. That's one of favorite movies ever, you guys. i can't The fourth one's coming out this summer, dude. And all it has to do is be better than the third one.
01:13:17
Speaker
That's all I need. That's all I need because the third one sucked. The first two were masterpieces. Just give me something better than the third one, please. Yeah. Please, Eddie Murphy. I love you. Please. i don't know who's directing it, but it's got to be someone better. Yeah.
01:13:31
Speaker
Phil just wrote stupid bitch juice on his water bottle and held it up to the camera. Phil just full of visual bits this episode.
01:13:41
Speaker
That's so useful for the medium. I'm sorry. He's also in deliverance. I don't know if anyone's seen deliverance, but Ronnie Cox also in deliverance. Yes, he is. um And then you've got um Joe Dante regular, Robert Picardo as Johnny Cab. Yes.
01:13:57
Speaker
um both the voice and physical um model for i hate Johnny Cab, but I love Robert Picardo. Robert Picardo. So great. And you get, I mean, between him and Robert Costanzo in this movie, we've got two incredible Roberts, Robert Costanzo, who David Sims on the blank check podcast referred to as an egg rolled across the floor of a barber shop. So accurate.
01:14:20
Speaker
Yeah.
01:14:24
Speaker
it's so accurate Truly some of the greatest pros of that generation. That's what I call film criticism. No, that t-shirt. Jeez Louise. Her fucking faction.
01:14:37
Speaker
That's why I love it. And then of course, the most indelible image of this movie ah is Mary played by Alicia Knaff, the three booby hooker.
01:14:48
Speaker
Um, Who is immediately murdered. Right. Right before a group of civilians are just ruthlessly gunned down. Yep.
01:14:59
Speaker
This movie makes me upset sometimes. And, like, I get that i talk what Verhoeven's trying to do. I get it because I've seen Robocop. I've seen Starship Troopers. And he can do it in a way that that I'm okay with.
01:15:12
Speaker
But the way he does it in this movie, I'm just not okay with. It's just... like Like I say, I'm glad you guys like it, but it just feels mean-spirited to me, and I just don't – it doesn't sit well with me. just makes me uncomfortable. Is it the fantastical notion of a world in which innocent civilians are mercilessly gunned down at the behest of corporations without reprisal?
01:15:29
Speaker
No, it's the fact that i have to see it in in such a nasty way. Like, make it fun, you know? Like I said, I've seen Robocop. I've seen Robocop. I've seen Starship Troopers. Like he can do it in a way that I like it. This just isn't not my vibe. but Not my vibe.
01:15:48
Speaker
Me and Verhoeven, we share a lot of likes, but like on this one, it's all the stuff we don't agree on is this movie.
01:15:56
Speaker
yeah This was too real? just I don't know, man. it just Given the kind sense of reality, too real sounds like depending weird descriptor. but but like Depending on the tone of the film, that shit can really bum me out.
01:16:09
Speaker
like For real. For real, for real. huh like Seeing a child in danger in a movie for real. like You know that shit will like ruin my whole fucking day. and like Some of the violence in this just rubbed me the wrong way.
01:16:24
Speaker
And like, it's it's valid that you guys like it for sure. But um it just hits me in a different way that I just can't i can't get with. i and i mean i i I dig that this is one of the last movies to really lean into the practical effects.
01:16:40
Speaker
um I mean, there's bare bones CGI used really just for the skeleton stuff. And and they look fantastic. They're just ugly. It's gross to look at.
01:16:51
Speaker
and they've and And that's okay if you like learn how to... pace what you're showing and how you're showing it but to just just sit a camera on like this ugly ass thing for like 30 seconds while it's writhing and like pulsating it's just it's just a lot and like i you know i started out as a horror boy like not a lot gets to me but something about this movie man i just yeah sometimes the body horror just hits yeah And I love me some k Cronenberg, but this shit, fuck off.
01:17:23
Speaker
<unk>s a bit that this this the The effects for this movie were so good, there were no other nominees. Yes, give them the fucking Oscar for sure. At the Oscars for Best Visual Effects. It just went to total recall.
01:17:39
Speaker
They had like runners up, but it's like it's like a special achievement Oscar rather than like an actual visual effects Oscar. But... yeah we like to call Nowadays, we like to call that a return of the king. here Just take it.
01:17:52
Speaker
Yeah. yeah yeah here This to me has probably the best practical effects that I've seen outside of Little Shop of Horrors. So, yeah, there's no reason to nominate anybody well in any year.
01:18:07
Speaker
Right. You know, we just give up the every year. Can I do my spiel about practical effects? By all means. well we We all agree on practical effects. Oh, OK.
01:18:18
Speaker
I've said this before. um I don't think on here, but I think one of the biggest measures of a film's excellence in visual effects, especially practical effects, especially in that decade, the 90s, right around the turn of the millennium,
Practical Effects vs. CGI in Film
01:18:31
Speaker
is not the quality of the effects themselves, but the way in which they're executed in terms of shot composition, lighting, and editing. And I think the reason that this one lands so well, as gross as it is, and I'm sure that's a factor too, is that if you look at the way the effect shots are lit,
01:18:53
Speaker
if you look at the editing, the angles, the cinematography, these sequences are shot in such a way that it absolutely minimizes the weaknesses of those particular practical effect techniques. Um, the Jurassic parked it basically the, the original one.
01:19:13
Speaker
Um, it's It's about how the effect shot is done. And more importantly, I would say, and I like to call this the Lord of the Rings trilogy versus prequel trilogy dichotomy, whether the effect shots serve the storytelling or the storytelling is forced to serve the effect shots.
01:19:33
Speaker
And I think that that's why they land. I have a rant about that scene, the decompression sequence, but I can pocket that for now if it is not the right time.
01:19:45
Speaker
Oh no, go for it. seems to it seems like way I did have one more thing to say about the effects though. I just want to go first i just wanted to mention that ah me being completely disgusted by those effects, like even though it makes me not enjoy watching this movie, it's a compliment to the people who did the effects because if you're making this dude uncomfortable, you're doing something right.
01:20:09
Speaker
like Just thinking about the shit that's in this movie just makes me squeamish. That's a Rob Bottin special, my friend. It's gross in it's gross in a weird way. Which, like, if you if you make that combination perfect, it's fucking disgusting. And they really nail it in this movie.
01:20:26
Speaker
They really fucking nail it. So kudos to them for sure. Weird gross maximizes. It combines the disgust with surprise. but Anyway. Sorry. Soapbox.
01:20:40
Speaker
Soapbox. The Martian atmosphere does not have a high enough pressure gradient to normal human, like earth atmosphere to cause the kind of deformation of soft tissue that you see in that sequence.
01:21:03
Speaker
Even hard vacuum and granted, I don't remember the um density of the Martian atmosphere, but um it's a tiny fraction of ours, obviously, but it's dummy thick compared to vacuum.
01:21:20
Speaker
But even in hard vacuum, a person wouldn't do that. And I know explosive decompression is one of those tropes that is done so often that as the TV tropes pages titled reality is unrealistic.
01:21:33
Speaker
Um, and don't get me wrong because we have a lot of data on this explosive decompression, like in space is certainly unpleasant and not particularly survivable, but it's not quite as cinematic as you get, um, in films like this.
01:21:52
Speaker
Um, anyway, sorry. Well, and I, I did, I, Based on what you're saying, that makes me think of like when I was watching it, like it goes on for so long and they get into such a state to where like, yes, you feel like they're about to explode.
01:22:08
Speaker
But like, isn't stuff like exploding inside of them to get them to that point? How do they you can't recover from that? Well, you're, yeah, what would kill you? way but Well, obviously, ahx um hypoxia would be the main thing that kills you.
01:22:22
Speaker
But beyond that, um you know, the pressure gradient would cause tremendous damage to your soft tissues. The pressure gradient would obviously cause the nitrogen in your blood to come out of suspension, and it would cause your blood to literally boil.
01:22:35
Speaker
And the internal damage from that would kill you. But Um, the human, um, human skin is actually pretty good at holding all your, all of your bits in place where they are.
01:22:46
Speaker
The only where you tend to see any kind of catastrophic deformation like that is in decompression incidents coming from many times earth's atmosphere to normal atmospheric pressure, like the infamous bifur dolphin incident or other instances of like deep sea, um, divers or like deep sea environments suddenly decompressing.
01:23:08
Speaker
Going from yeah atmosphere to vacuum, like Gravity, I've complained about that film a lot, and it certainly takes a lot of license with a lot of things. But Gravity is one of the, I won't say it's accurate, but it's one of the least offensive in in this sense in its portrayal.
01:23:24
Speaker
Poor George Clooney. Yeah. Yeah. But, um, yeah. Decompression is certainly like, it's horrible. You could still sell a sequence on how horrible it is.
01:23:39
Speaker
Um, but, um, it's not quite as spectacularly horror movie cinematic as depicted there. And what also makes that sequence so horrifying is the screaming, which you also wouldn't get because there's not enough of a medium to oscillate.
01:23:55
Speaker
Yeah. Um, it's unsettling just because I am that much of a nerd. But again, given the explanation that Verhoeven gave in his interpretation, if it's actually happening inside of someone's head, then it is internally consistent because if that's what he thinks it looks like and sounds like when it happens, then there's no reason for it not to be. It's a case where verisimilitude um supersedes um factuality.
01:24:27
Speaker
but I still don't have to like it. We want to thank our special guest, Neil deGrasse Tyson for being on this episode. no, hold on. Don't insult Phil like that. Yeah, no, don't. Cause I, I was going to come with that same complaint.
01:24:42
Speaker
I feel like maybe this was, i don't know. I don't know if this is accurate. Maybe one of the first films to do this myth and like make it a big deal. Cause I, I hate this myth.
01:24:52
Speaker
um It's yeah. um But I will say if anybody's seen the expanse, I think the expanse does it very well.
01:25:03
Speaker
The expanse TV show. Yes. TV show. Should I watch that show? Brett? Should I watch that show? I think it's great. I'll put on my list. Yeah. That's enough for me. Yeah. People explode in space into it.
01:25:17
Speaker
I mean, no, they but they don't explode. Like they, they, you know what I mean? Well, yeah, it's, it's, it's slow and you can tell it's painful and there's little bits of blood, but like, it's not.
01:25:28
Speaker
I'm looking now at like examples. Um, and they got it pretty much right. Pretty much spot on in 2001. Um,
01:25:40
Speaker
where like almost nothing happens to Dave. Like obviously, um obviously it's not great, but um nothing happens and Event Horizon kind of gets it right too. We like that one around here. Yeah.
01:25:57
Speaker
Well, Stephen doesn't. Well, I was going to say two thirds of us do, but yeah. Yeah. um so like I'm sorry, Tucker. I forgot that only your opinion on film matters. Not that not anyone else's. Obviously.
01:26:10
Speaker
Obviously. Okay, there it is. 600. Okay, the pressure at the surface of Mars.
01:26:23
Speaker
Hang on, I got to adjust my prosthetic to do this correctly. The mean atmospheric pressure at the surface of Mars is 600 pascals.
01:26:33
Speaker
um Human beings are used to 101 kilopascals, if that if that explains anything. So, 101,300 pascals. and English, Doc.
01:26:49
Speaker
That is 169 times greater pressure than the surface of Mars. So, it's not like there isn't a significant gradient, but it's still not quite hard vacuum.
01:27:03
Speaker
Um, so yeah, I don't, I don't know if that changed. That probably doesn't change anything, but yeah. You used a lot of big words with confidence. So I trust everything that you said.
01:27:17
Speaker
You said a whole lot just now, Phil. Yeah. You sounded very smart, so I trust that you know what you're talking about. Those were words that you used, and we them. convinced me. You convinced me. Did we understand them?
01:27:28
Speaker
Hell no, but we heard them. Not really. I understood a lot of them, but that's fine. be over here. Check out the big brain on Brett.
01:27:41
Speaker
Congratulations. that's That's all I have on that. Now, Stephen, how long have you had that locked and loaded? if I may ask. I have. yeah okay yeah I feel like he just kind of waits around that corner to pounce any time to do that, honestly.
01:27:59
Speaker
Seems like a very Steven thing to do. um I mean, look, when the inspiration strikes, you just lean into it. That's really what it is. Enthusiastically, yes. That's comedy, man. That's what you do. You commit to the bit.
01:28:11
Speaker
you fix Even if it's wrong. You you just commit. Look, I've been shotgunning today. Yeah. yeah Phil straight up chugging that stupid bitch juice word.
01:28:24
Speaker
i i rest I'm keeping this bottle. Good. i want you to um display it proudly. You could probably 3D print yourself a cup with stupid bitch juice on Send it to us and we'll all autograph it and you autograph it as well. And then you put it up on your shelf and you'll be like, what the fuck?
01:28:40
Speaker
People will be like, what the fuck that? You'll be like, it's, it's a really long story. That's, that's my stupid bitch juice. I love it. I love it. Speaking of stupid bitch juice, does anyone else have anything else to say about total recall?
01:28:55
Speaker
Negative. i I just talked a lot. I just talked a lot. If you've got more though, please. Keep going. please So going back to the ambiguity, going back to the did it happen or didn't it happen, um controversial – Controversial thesis on most instances of this, from this all the way through to Inception, like did it actually happen or did it not happen?
01:29:24
Speaker
Controversial, especially in the context of this, in the context of like PKD, doesn't matter. Doesn't matter if it's real or not, because to the person experiencing it there, they can't tell the distinction.
01:29:38
Speaker
And if that style of storytelling is intended to be locked from their perspective, then there is no meaningful distinction. and And obviously that's not every situation like that, but situations where you are clearly supposed to be looking from one person's perspective at that time and not an external one.
01:29:59
Speaker
I don't think that there is a meaningful distinction between it all being a dream or it being reality, unless you're looking for a sequel hook, like we said earlier. Right. And I, I mean, I definitely agree with, I think you can see it either way.
01:30:13
Speaker
depending on your particular outlook.
Real vs. Imagined: Do the Events Matter?
01:30:16
Speaker
I, I happen to agree with Verhoeven, particularly on this rewatch. I caught a lot of things like the, when he's handed the the chip, he reads, he goes, Oh, Hey, here's a new one. Blue sky on Mars. And that's exactly what we see at the end of the, that's like the way the movie ends ah talks about reality coming, crashing down. And then like so many walls get broken down after that.
01:30:37
Speaker
Like we, we start. and And that's again, when the movie starts to go, ah full on unhinged with the alien subplot and and all this. So like there's enough pieces in there that I definitely see it, but you can absolutely read all this as these are these people trying to fuck with him still further.
01:30:56
Speaker
To me, it makes sense with the way the rest of the plot moves forward, whether whether you like it or you don't like it the plot kind of has a rhythm to it and of course by the time you get to the end of it of course it's all fucking dream like have you been paying attention the whole time like it just keeps ramping up so the next obvious thing is that like none of this fucking mattered you know yeah i don't think you can appreciate Sorry if that sounded like too critic hat. No, not at all. don't know I appreciate contextually any PKD story directly or in adaptation outside of the context of who the man was and his struggles, his often simultaneous struggles with psychedelics and with paranoid schizophrenia.
01:31:42
Speaker
So I think That's a bad combination. If that doesn't color how you watch the movie, I don't know um if you're going to come. I don't again. I don't like subscribe to theory that there's an accurate interpretation.
01:31:57
Speaker
No, it's your take. I get it. Yeah. Art of subjective. But I think that your interpretation ideally should be at least in some extent informed by and understood by at least an awareness of that.
01:32:11
Speaker
That the nature of reality to PKD is very diaphanous and very shifting. I've never been biographically familiar with Phil Dick. I've been a fan of his work. I don't know shit about the guy. So maybe with that maybe with that context, I would see this movie differently. I don't know if that's going to motivate me to watch it again. But if I do watch it again, that's definitely something that I will for sure keep in mind.
01:32:36
Speaker
I have said several times there needs to be a PKD biopic. please I don't know who you'd cast, but I think there's enough people with the chops to do it. like I already love his shit, and if I can love his shit more by understanding who he was, I'm all into that.
01:32:52
Speaker
wait We've already had so many biopics of scientists, mathematicians, and artists that explore their work from the perspective of their mental state and emotional state, and I think he would be one of the most perfect subjects for that kind of a film.
01:33:07
Speaker
Based on the picture... In that Wikipedia article, I'm going to go with Dane DeHaan as Philip K. Dick. Wait, I want to see what he looks like. What's this motherfucker look like? Do we have a clip? yeah I like you we're friends.
01:33:23
Speaker
Well, as I look it up, you can completely distracted me. Philip K. Dick. Oh, yeah yeah. Then the actor that I'm suggesting to play him is Dane DeHaan. Okay. Philip K. Dick to me. Okay. Looking at this, maybe a Bill Skarsgård, honestly. Like, that's not what I want to say. I can see that.
01:33:41
Speaker
Look at the nose and the eyes, even the mouth, those lips, the bottom lip especially. Here's who I'm thinking, but but I could definitely see a Skarsgård. You'd have to be hella method. yeah Well, a Skarsgård absolutely would be.
01:33:54
Speaker
Yeah.
01:33:57
Speaker
It'd be one of those like dangerous method roles. ah yeah Keep Jared Leto the fuck away from this. Right.
01:34:07
Speaker
Yeah, I don't know. Maybe, ah what's the other kid? The the one that was in ah We're the Millers and he's in The Bear. Will will Poulter. Will Poulter might pull it off. yeah um like He's got a similar face, yeah.
01:34:20
Speaker
I liked him in the bear. yeah Like, damn, fuck. He's got the chops for it, I think. Oh, agreed. Future episode of what are we watching? We're going to talk about the bear. It's complicated. So that's cool.
01:34:32
Speaker
Anyway, yeah. Philip K. Dick biopic needs to happen. I don't know who you'd have to make that, but.
01:34:40
Speaker
It has to be somebody who understands the themes and understands yeah the somebody struggling with not Lynch because that's going to become Lynch couldn't get it funded. That's the problem. Lynch would never be able to get that funded because no one wants to make David Lynch movies anymore, tragically.
01:34:59
Speaker
Man hasn't made a movie since 2010. What
01:35:03
Speaker
what if you go with Joe Johnston? e I'm going to say Terry Gilliam.
01:35:15
Speaker
No, he's done. he His best shit is behind him. He's like Argento. Yeah, like it's not nothing's going to be good at this point from Gilliam. Wait Wes Anderson's Philip K. Dick. No. Get the fuck out. no wait Wait, wait, wait. Look, he's willing to pretty much...
01:35:32
Speaker
look if he's willing to like pretty much put his entire aesthetic aside and make something outside outside of his comfort zone.
01:35:44
Speaker
Give me something closer to Bottle Rocket.
01:35:48
Speaker
um Yeah, because I can see that. like because Actually, yeah. If you do a Philip K. Dick biopic in the style of Wes Anderson's first film, yeah, I'd watch that.
01:36:00
Speaker
After that, nah.
01:36:03
Speaker
no Fair. no Hot take, but you know. It is mine. Brett, thoughts on the Philip K. Dick biopic that we're apparently just, you know, casting. We're casting. We're hiring directors, man. Get somebody on the phone for costumes. We're apparently the production team for this movie.
01:36:20
Speaker
The brain trust. You know this outside of my wheelhouse. I don't think I know any of them. Fair enough. All right. All right. Well, in that case, ah Total Recall opened.
Total Recall’s Box Office Success and Critical Reception
01:36:32
Speaker
June 1st, 1990, it opened at number one at the box office to $25.5 million. $25 million? million dollar in second million dollars That's a lot of million dollars. It is indeed. In second place at the box office, a little movie that Brett and stand. I actually shared this hot take at work ah this past week and got a lot of weird looks.
01:36:57
Speaker
ah Back to the Future Part 3. three Hey, add me to that. Like, we're a team, you guys. And I also love that movie, except I really hate the ending. But it doesn't ruin the movie for me. Three better than two. This is the stance that Brett and I have taken. Now! Okay, ah can I officially put my vote in for ah the Redux episode?
01:37:17
Speaker
There's no Redux episode. Patreon episode. Unenfranchised. Back to Future 3. Let's do it, boys. Oh, fuck yeah. Next week, hey do it. No, not next week. Calm the fuck down.
01:37:29
Speaker
Can Phil come, too? what Hang on, sorry. Can we fucking Phil? Dad? Can we read Phil? What are we doing? Unenfranchised. Back to Future 3. Back to the Future 3 better than Back to the Future 2.
01:37:41
Speaker
that's That's what they're saying. that's what brett and i are That is what Brett and I adamantly defend. And I slightly, slightly disagree. That's a can of worms. Yeah, dude, that's what i'm saying. You coming? Next weekend is my single weekend between two cons.
01:37:59
Speaker
Boo. Well, next time we're available is when we will schedule the Back to Future 3 franchise. I'll do best to be available for more Oh, no rush. No rush, but like you know whenever you've got the time.
01:38:10
Speaker
I'm getting. Oh, sorry. Go ahead. No, I was just going to going with the top five. So yeah, keep going. No, please do that because what I'm talking about has nothing to do with the film or the episode. Proceed. Yeah. Welcome to the podcast. Right. In third place, you've got Mel Gibson. And I think this is the Mel Gibson Goldie Hawn. Or is this Mel Gibson Julia Roberts?
01:38:29
Speaker
Mel Gibson Goldie Hawn. Bird on a wire. yeah ah In fourth place, this is the Julia Roberts movie. In its 11th week, ah Pretty Woman. Still in the top five, having earned $126 million dollars so far.
01:38:45
Speaker
i love that for them. And in fifth place, a little movie called Cadillac Man. What if there was a Cadillac Man? Robbie Williams is in that one. What if there was Cadillac, man?
01:38:59
Speaker
Yeah. Robin Williams and Tim Robbins. In the Tommy Chong voice. Yeah.
01:39:07
Speaker
Rounding out the top 10, you've got Firebirds, the original Teenage Mutant Firebirds. What the fuck is that, Steven? Teenage Mutant Firebirds? Okay, me neither. That's why, like, what the fuck? It's so out of left field.
01:39:21
Speaker
Normally shrug my shoulders, but Firebirds? What the fuck is that? It's about some birds that are on fire. i don't know what to man. I love that. Okay. Firebirds. It's a Nicolas Cage, Tommy Lee Jones.
01:39:33
Speaker
What? Okay, I'm in. What the How'd I miss this? Is that Andy Garcia? No, it's not Andy Garcia. I hope so. um No, it is not Andy Garcia. um i Sean Young's in it, though, so you got that going for you.
01:39:50
Speaker
ah Elite Apache helicopter pilots are tasked with destroying powerful armed drug cartels operating in South America. That sounds like a movie that's about a about ah two years late to the party.
01:40:05
Speaker
That's what sounds like to me. That Ninja Turtles movie, though, that shit still holds up. I watched that a couple months ago. it does. It's fucking good. Yeah. Real, real good. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Real, real good. It's fine. Steven disagrees. It's all right.
01:40:19
Speaker
i think it's really good. No, it's fine. No, I like Ninja Turtles, dude. Do you? Whatever. Have you seen it? Yeah. Yeah. That's excellent. Because it sounded like you were about to say, and then you quickly back-cogled once you heard we liked it.
01:40:34
Speaker
No, no, no. I was i was like toggling between tabs. I was trying to find where where my where I was at on my tabs. Sorry. All right. No, like the excuse. Totally admit it. Like the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. totally knew it. Turtle fan is good. Listen to our TMNT episode that Tucker and I did while back.
01:40:52
Speaker
That's true. That was a fun episode. Though we slightly like, I liked it more than you, but you were still pretty positive on it. i was like, it was fine. Like, it was fine. Yeah. And then in eighth place, one of my favorite movies of 1990, damn near perfect movie, The Hunt for Red October.
01:41:10
Speaker
Hey, hey, hey, hey. yeah I love that movie. It's so good. But not it's not even a boat movie. It's a submarine movie. So as much as I respect it and think that it's fantastic, not for me.
01:41:23
Speaker
that's That's a bummer because it is it is done it is the least action-action movie of all time, and I love it for that. And it is fantastic. The economy of storytelling is perfect.
01:41:34
Speaker
It's fast. That is like in John McTiernan's miracle run of like Predator, Hunt for Red October, And Die Hard. It certainly helps that he had Basil Polidorus for the score. Oh, Basil. For me, Stephen, The Hunt for Red October, it's kind of my... It's my Kevin Costner. you know It's a thing that... like I should like it because it's amazing, but I'm so... like For some reason, ready to die on this hill of like not liking boat movies.
01:42:06
Speaker
like I feel like i've kind of i've took I've taken the bit too far to where it's like actually affecting my enjoyment of films. I believe that. Yeah. You can't backpedal on it anymore. And that's fine because i have I have a lot of fun with the bit. Like, that's more important to me than some fucking real good ass movie that I should be enjoying, you know?
01:42:25
Speaker
In ninth place, Tales from the Dark Side, colon, the movie. Hey, i like that one. Keith David, look good. Yeah, looky, David. And in 10th place, a little man named Joe versus a little thing called volcano.
01:42:37
Speaker
Hey, you guys, what? You guys, for real, can we we should do that. You're right. Next week. Yes. Episode on Joe versus the volcano next week. No. Schedule it, Steven. We're, it's Arnie April 2, Austrian Boogaloo. Fuck.
01:42:51
Speaker
Did you? Sorry. Did you keep the articulating the punctuation in the titles thing from when we did Street Fighter? Because I thought I heard you say title colon subtitle.
01:43:02
Speaker
Oh, yeah. That's a thing that I stole from Andrew Jupin on We Hate Movies because I think it's really funny when he does it. I love it. I love it. Yeah, it's a bit. It's a bit. oh end And also, I'm like scheduled out through like early August right now. so Well, but put it on the list somewhere, would you?
01:43:19
Speaker
I will not. Damn it. And yeah, so yeah, it it makes in its first weekend gets $25 million on its way to $119.4 million domestic.
01:43:31
Speaker
It gets another $142 million international for a worldwide a box office gross of $261.4 million of $65 million. So does... off a production budget of sixty five million so it does gangbusters which is you guys as much as kind of noticed this time with arnie april is these movies are just raking in cash hand over fist as much as i don't like the way this movie looks this movie looks it's kind of fantastic look like i don't know this movie i hate it but there's so many like little things that are great that i can't ignore but i'm still not trying to ever watch it again you guys
01:44:16
Speaker
but' I'm not going to make you. Look, i'm not I'm not trying to be positive. I just can't help but see the positive stuff in this film, even though I fucking hate it. so ah feel like you guys I feel like I've really, really ah kind of stuck with my my promise to have a fun time and be a good dude talking about this movie. Yeah, would agree. Is there some kind of possibly a medal or an award I could...
01:44:43
Speaker
Because it's taking a lot of restraint. phil Phil might be able to 3D print you something. Yes, please. May I have a trophy? The cool dude's talking about movies. I'm a millennial. May I have a trophy?
01:44:55
Speaker
I participated. I did a thing. I exercised self-control. It's just a Mortal Kombat Johnny Cage figurine. Please.
01:45:06
Speaker
I'll send you my address. It is done.
01:45:10
Speaker
The tomatometer score on this movie. I'm sorry. Was there a question? No, I was handing it over to you. Oh, right on. The Tomatometer score on this movie is an 82% certified fresh from the Rotten Tomatoes.
01:45:23
Speaker
The critics consensus under Paul Verhoeven's frenetic direction. Total Recall is a fast-paced rush of violence, gore, and humor that never slacks. ah The meta score is a 60 based on mixed or average reviews from 17 critics.
01:45:40
Speaker
And the letterbox score is a 3.8. point eight Phil, as our guest, out of a potential five stars, how many are you giving to a little film called Total Recall?
01:45:54
Speaker
Three and a half. Three and a half. Three and a half. It knows what it's about. And it's not trying to be Oscar bait, obviously. yeah Obviously. Oscar bait wasn't really a thing at the time, I don't think.
01:46:08
Speaker
It kind of was. It was kind of embryonic, I guess. I mean, Oscar bait really becomes a thing when you know the dreaded Harvey Weinstein starts doing his shit a few years from now. but yeah um Brett, three and half what about you? How many stars are you giving to Total Recall?
01:46:27
Speaker
Two and half. Two and a half. All right. ah Tucker, dare I ask? ah You may be surprised to find out, Stephen, that even though I fucking loathe this film, I recognize that not only are there a few good things about this film, but also the fact that I have such a strong reaction to this film, either good or bad, means that it is a a film of quality.
01:46:56
Speaker
So, my own personal rating... Is the same as Brett's, two and a half stars. Wow. All right. Did you just witness someone grow as a person? don't know. Maybe. think so.
01:47:07
Speaker
I think so. Maybe.
01:47:10
Speaker
Can't be sure. Compared to what I know from 90 minutes ago, absolutely. It's easy to watch somebody grow as a person if you just met them less than two hours ago.
01:47:22
Speaker
I have an ever-changing mass of bullshit. So, yeah, that's nice. that That also tracks me. um Whereas I gave it four stars because I think this movie slaps for its flaws and foibles. i I just have a blast with this one. Like I love Quato. I love his disgusting little mouth.
01:47:40
Speaker
um I love the incongruity between his mouth and his voice his like look and his voice. I think that's amazing. I love that the the the weird mutant with like the thing hanging over his face is Hank from Breaking Bad.
01:47:52
Speaker
yeah um i love that you get little Debbie Ann Carrington like just kicking ass in this movie, like jumping up on a bar and just like firing a big old gun. like I just love that shit. like give it Hook it up straight to my veins. I love it so much.
01:48:08
Speaker
um Yeah, no, this movie fucking rips. Is it perfect? No, but I have a good time. So yeah, four stars for me. Word. Well done, boys. We did it.
01:48:19
Speaker
We did it. We talked about Total Recall. We got one more week of Arnie April 2, and then we slip into another weird backwards, we kind of fell into it theme month for May. Just for funsies, Just for funsies.
01:48:33
Speaker
um But before we wrap up this episode, Phil... hi Tell us a little bit about what you got going on, where we can find you on social medias, where we can find some of your projects, just like plug and spill, dude.
01:48:46
Speaker
I mean, caught me at a hell of a bad time for that because I do not have a lot of irons in the fire right now. um I am between two cons. I do a lot of cosplay.
01:48:57
Speaker
You can find me on Insta at just some nerd named Phil, all one word. The other thing I do is for money. So I don't know if that counts as advertising. Plug it.
01:49:07
Speaker
Okay. um the I do a lot of 3D printed. Right now, the only product I have a consistent line of is D20 Um, and that company, we will advertise on this oh yeah podcast if we get samples.
01:49:23
Speaker
Well, they're table lamps right now, but I'm working on, that's not very conducive to D and D. So I'm working on getting some ceiling hardware, um, to make them hanging lamps. You can hang them over your gaming table, which I think we'll really put it over, but you can find that under Phil's nerd foundry, all one word where the E and nerd is a three.
01:49:42
Speaker
um, on Instagram. And I mean, if you just search it, it should link you to the actual store, but I haven't sold anything in months. Um, other than that, there's not a whole lot going on.
01:49:55
Speaker
um it feels weird to call myself a former podcaster, but then I'm guessing here. So I don't know if that's necessarily true. So, I mean, I'm still a podcaster, I guess. You're still a podcaster in spirit, Phil.
01:50:06
Speaker
No. um So, yeah, that's pretty much all I have going on right now. But hopefully next time I guest, I'll have some more exciting stuff for you. boy Right on.
01:50:16
Speaker
yeah Right on. We felt any time if there's a failed franchise starter you want to cover. I pretty sure I had you down for this movie. At one point you expressed interest in it. So that was why I called you because I was like, I know he wanted to do this one. So I'm call my boy up and see if we can get him on. But yeah, anytime. I appreciate that.
01:50:36
Speaker
Anytime, buddy. um This is the Disenfranchised Podcast. You know us, hopefully, maybe, unless this is your first time. in Which is welcome. We're glad to have you. Hopefully the tangents weren't too off-putting.
01:50:47
Speaker
um Everybody loves the tangents. That's why people but people come for the tangents. You come for the topic, stay for the tangents. Yeah, that's how it works. should be your tagline. It should. we you get We should get that on a t-shirt.
01:50:59
Speaker
Please. There we go. um I already forgot what it was. It's fine. Doesn't matter. Anyway. I'm on topic, to stay for the tangents. Write it down, Brett, quick. You're the only one not inebriated.
01:51:11
Speaker
Is your t-shirt saying you should put that on a t-shirt? Yeah. Yes. I wonder if anyone's gone with that as a slogan. Like that's maybe you should probably a t-shirt company. I would hope.
01:51:23
Speaker
Maybe, maybe just, yeah. T-shirts that say that that's a good idea. Anyway, you can find us on all the social media as well. Some of the social media, you can find us on a blue sky, Instagram, Facebook, and letterboxd and YouTube. I keep forgetting the YouTube at.
01:51:43
Speaker
DisenfranchPod on all those mediums. ah You can also shoot us an email, disenfranchpod at gmail.com. Let us know if there's a failed franchise starter you want to cover. ah Let us know, I don't know, just how we're doing. And if you send us one, we'll probably read it on the podcast because you know we don't get a lot of mail.
01:52:01
Speaker
Speaking of things we'll read on the podcast, if you swing on over to Apple Podcasts, Or, you know, Spotify, wherever you leave us a five star rating and review, we will read that review also on the podcast.
01:52:12
Speaker
um So, yeah, just just, you know, we love it when you make us feel good about ourselves. So like I'm willing to sweeten. I'm willing to sweeten the deal, Stephen. If people write us fan mail that we can read on the air, I would also be willing to toast to them live.
01:52:30
Speaker
Wow. you know Raise our glasses. Tucker is routinely a guy with a shot glass at the ready. so say so it's It's not much of a bonus, but it's a little bonus, a little incentive.
01:52:43
Speaker
If you want us to drink to your honor, that's a way for it to get us to do it. Say your name and like talk about how cool you are and stuff. Yeah. yeah
01:52:54
Speaker
Uh, and while you're on the internet, if you want to give us a little more support, you can always swing by our Patreon, patreon.com slash disenfranch pod, ah getting ready to undergo some big changes. Just put up a poll for our patrons the other day.
01:53:07
Speaker
and and you did. um and, uh, it's interesting to see, uh, some of the responses. So yeah, we are, we're, we're changing up some of the formats behind the paywall. We're going to try to bring you a greater variety of content more frequently, or at least more regularly.
01:53:24
Speaker
um And we're moving the What Are We Watching show to a biweekly show as opposed to a weekly show, um which, you know, has the added bonus of giving you more content within an individual episode, which is fun.
01:53:36
Speaker
That is interesting. Which also frees us up to talk about and record other episodes of many of the other shows we've got behind the paywall, which is really what this is all about.
01:53:47
Speaker
Sam, Stephen, book of Clarence, here we come. Shit. I'm just saying. looking at this poll. Damn. Right? I haven't even voted either. Steven, the kids love you.
01:53:59
Speaker
i don't know why, but yeah. and Okay. Hi, kids. Thank you.
01:54:05
Speaker
um i am your host, Steven Foxworthy. You can find me on social medias because you all love me so much, apparently. I'm on Instagram, Letterboxd, and Blue Sky at Chewy Walrus Brett.
01:54:20
Speaker
Where can we find you on socials these days if we want to keep up with your comings and goings? Man, you know what? i don't post on any of them ever except for Letterboxd. Fuck yeah. Fuck yeah, Brett.
01:54:31
Speaker
You can find me at sus underscore warlock on Letterboxd. That's it. Fuck yeah. Respect. Respect. Do I have them? Do I check them? Do I scroll on them sometimes? Sure. Sure.
01:54:42
Speaker
He likes my stuff on Instagram sometimes, you guys. but i don't And it makes me feel really good inside. I don't post on them. Sometimes I comment on them too if there's a relevant comment. That's always fun. Go check out his recent post about Huey Lewis and the News. quoted American Psycho at him. It was great.
01:54:58
Speaker
Somebody was going to do it, and I was just ah was trying to see you do it first, and you did not disappoint, Brett. Well done. course. It's a fantastic record. like I was asking for it, but also necessary to post.
01:55:11
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. Of course. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Absolutely. All right. So anyway. ah Tucker. Well, hold on. There's another Patriot? Phil? we should but No, i was um i was I forgot to mention it during my segment, and I didn't want to derail things, so I was just putting it there so it get into the comments.
01:55:32
Speaker
And I also didn't want to be like a competitor, even though I'm not podcasting. We'll talk about it. Come on. life fine and Okay. I'm sorry. um I have um cyberpunk short stories um and it's just Patreon. Look for Phil writes badly. All one word.
01:55:48
Speaker
I know I'm really selling it with with that name, but um yeah. yeah there I designed some of your some of your artwork for that. you did, and I really appreciate that. um And the idea is eventually that some of these are going to go into an anthology for which I will credit all of my patrons as part of the creative process.
01:56:06
Speaker
Hi, I'm one of those. Yes. Fuck yeah. Yeah, that is all. Sorry, I didn't think of it sooner. Tucker, where can we find you on social media these days? I'm on Instagram and YouTube at Ice909. That's I-C-E-N-I-N-E, the number zero and the number nine.
01:56:30
Speaker
ah My Instagram right now, ah for people who follow me, my personal Instagram, I've been doing an alphabetical listen through of my entire record collection. We're in the H's.
01:56:42
Speaker
It's getting fun. I'm about to reveal a a tattoo that I have not revealed. I've not spoken about on the main feed. And I have not revealed to anyone in on the internet.
01:56:54
Speaker
So that next post, you're going get it to see my new tattoo. And it looks real, real good. Real, real, real, real, real good.
01:57:08
Speaker
Also, we got Tuck Mugs on Insta Scrams, of course. ah Tuck underscore mugs. um We've been kind of chilling out for a minute because we kind of had a lot of posts going, like one after another, which is fantastic. But, you know, got to cool down sometimes. so I've got a self post in my back pocket.
01:57:29
Speaker
We're going to get to it this week. I have a guest post that I've got in my back pocket, too. Really? Yeah, the one you told me to post. From my vacation. Oh, fuck. Yes. Yes, yes, yes, yes. That.
01:57:41
Speaker
Yeah, we got to talk about that because I'm excited about that motherfucker. So stay tuned for that. Steven and I are going to put our heads together and make something fantastic. We'll talk to the rest of the team and see what we can come up with.
01:57:54
Speaker
Run up the flagpole. See if anyone salutes it. Yeah, absolutely. Absolutely. The team at Tuck Mugs, like even if there's not a lot of content coming out, they are working hard. They're earning their paychecks.
01:58:05
Speaker
Some of the hardest working people. Really? Really? Like bless them. Bless them. less Anyway, that's tuck underscore mugs on Instagram.
01:58:16
Speaker
If you just want to like straight up chill and look at some glassware, like with liquid in it and shit, instead of like doom scrolling over some bullshit, that's just going to make you depressed and upset like this movie.
01:58:26
Speaker
Um, Yeah, tuck mugs. Tuck underscore mugs. I had to get one last dig in there. did, man. Last word. I hate it. Oh, that was ugly. That was really small and petty of you, Tucker.
01:58:38
Speaker
That was very, dare I say, quatto of you. Yeah, but here's the deal. like if If it hadn't been like as silly and maybe kind of clever, there was a little charm to it, so I think I kind of i can squeak by on that. It's like kind of a Bill Murray thing. like If you do say so yourself.
01:58:56
Speaker
I do. I do. I know. I heard you. We all heard it. nus Tuck underscore mugs. Go there. All right. Smash that follow button or whatever the kids say.
01:59:08
Speaker
I don't know. God, I don't know. Anyway. Oh, fuck. The Utes. For sure. Anyway, this has been our episode anyway this has bi our episode on nineteen ninety s Total Recall.
01:59:24
Speaker
Join us next week for the final installment of Arnie April 2, Austrian Boogaloo. um I've been your host, Stephen Foxworthy, for this, the Disenfranchised Podcast, for my co-hosts, Brett Wright and Tucker, and our very special guest, Phil Smith.
01:59:39
Speaker
Until next time, get your ass to Mars. You stupid bitch.
01:59:51
Speaker
Thank you.