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Lost In The Backrooms
1 Playsin 12 hours
This week we no-clipped out of reality and ended up in the Backrooms. What did you think of the movie? Let us know!
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Transcript
Humorous Theater Incident
00:00:14
Speaker
So guys, yesterday i went to the theater, right, to watch the movie that we're talking about this week. And I go to the ticket clerk and I say, one ticket for backrooms, please. They give me a ticket and they show me the way and they put me in a closet.
00:00:29
Speaker
And I sat there for an hour in complete darkness and I said, huh. I think something's wrong here. So I went out of the closet, came back out and said, hey, that wasn't the movie.
00:00:39
Speaker
And they said, oh, you wanted to watch back rooms. I thought you said black rooms.
Introducing Hosts & Young Directors
00:00:47
Speaker
Welcome back to Lost in the Frame. I'm your host, Malik. I'm your host, Hashi. And I'm your host, Alex.
00:00:56
Speaker
And today we are excited to talk to you about, again, a crazy horror movie backrooms the first time you guys doing by sub 20 something year old is this just our trend now this old we are we're trying to game the algorithm everyone everyone younger than us is just a new movie each week i'm proud of them though i like to remind myself of my failures I know.
00:01:23
Speaker
It'll be a daily thing. Before we get into the movie, let's discuss what we've been watching with our rapid review, get into some movie news, and then we'll get into the back rooms. Cool?
00:01:34
Speaker
Sure. Cool. All right. Who wants to go first? can go. The other day, we'll say the third, um I watched Mid-90s, directed by Jonah Hill.
00:01:45
Speaker
Nice. And it stars... Mostly people I've never seen before. let say Isn't it just like some kid? Yeah, basically. It's just a bunch of skaters.
00:01:57
Speaker
And Catherine Waterston, who is in one of week's favorite movies, Babylon. And Alien. um It is... There's a lot of good.
00:02:10
Speaker
There's a lot of bad. ah The good is that like the chemistry with the kids is great. ah really highlights, I guess, what it's like as um troubled teens in downtown LA just trying to make it through their lives.
00:02:30
Speaker
um The writing is it leaves a lot to be desired, though. But overall, I did like it. So I'll go to three out of five.
00:02:42
Speaker
Nice. Yep. I give that one a four out of five. Has Jonah Hill directed anything or is directing anything in the near
Recent Movie Reviews
00:02:51
Speaker
future? is I'm pretty sure he is. This almost felt like it was a one and done.
00:02:56
Speaker
um Yeah, he's doing a new movie. I think it's coming out this year. It's got ah it's called Outcome, and it's starring Keanu Reeves, ah Jonah Hill, Cameron Diaz, Matt Balmer, and others. Even Martin Scorsese.
00:03:11
Speaker
oh so There's our boy again. yep He's in the news today. We'll get into that. He is in our our news today. um It's not getting good early reactions, though. Two stars. Oh!
00:03:24
Speaker
That's rough. 2.0. Yep. um I'll do my rapid review next. You had mentioned an actress who was in Babylon. Babylon is going to be my rapid review. Like you said, it's one of my favorite movies and a movie theater in Beverly Hills was playing it on 70 millimeter this last Sunday for my birthday.
00:03:43
Speaker
So I think they knew. And I think they said, you know what? He never got to see this in theaters. Let's let's, let's put it on the big screen for him and guys, what a picture. For you listeners that don't know, I'm a Babylon truther. I know this movie is divisive at best, but my God, do I love this movie. It's so And it's so good.
00:04:05
Speaker
And seeing it on a big screen in a packed theater full of like-minded individuals to the point where I hate, i kind of hate when people clap after a movie. Standing ovation, all of us.
00:04:19
Speaker
it's It's a wonderful movie. Get on the right side history, people. Five out of five. Before we move on to Alex, ah for those that don't know, what does 70 millimeters mean?
00:04:33
Speaker
ah Just shot on shot on film. So I don't think the movie was not shot on film, but I don't know what the process is of transferring something shot digitally to physical film, but they've got them.
00:04:49
Speaker
um In LA, there always seems to be some showing on 35 millimeter film or 70 millimeter film. um It just, it definitely feels different, especially seeing it on a big screen.
Discussing New Movie Posters
00:05:02
Speaker
It just felt more authentic to the time period that that the movie is set in. And I think it just helps like encapsulate you in that world so much more. Cool.
00:05:14
Speaker
Sounds great.
00:05:17
Speaker
All right, what's your review? My review is a training day directed by Anton Fuqua from 2001. I didn't realize that this was the movie that got Denzel his, uh, his, his best actor award.
00:05:33
Speaker
I guess, I don't know what I thought got him his best actor, but this was the one that did it. And it is probably like the most Denzel Washington role of all time, but man, did he kill it?
00:05:44
Speaker
Uh, it's, it's so good. um I love the movie. I had a great time watching it. I had a great time reading about sort of like the true aspects of it and the, uh, the LA crash scandal.
00:05:57
Speaker
Uh, I give this one an eight out 10, super watchable. If you love like a, you know, crime, dirty cops, all that stuff. This one, this one's for you. Yeah. Training day rips.
00:06:10
Speaker
Good choice. Yeah. That's where the rewatch, I feel, I get what you mean. By not knowing that that was the one that got him his Oscar. because i think there is a a number It doesn't feel like an Oscar movie.
00:06:22
Speaker
It doesn't feel like an Oscar movie. And he's so good that it just, I don't know. You just don't really think about how they have it. You just know that they do. Yeah. You know?
Scorsese & AI Startup Reaction
00:06:33
Speaker
Cool.
00:06:33
Speaker
ah Let's see what's happening in the world of movies. New poster for Christopher Nolan's The Odyssey came out today. And it's ugly as shit. It's horrible. to me its This is a really bad poster. I hate it. For those of you not watching this on television, which is no one, the poster is presumably Matt Damon getting alpha-mogged by a bunch of nine-foot-tall chads.
00:07:02
Speaker
Seems like they're going the David versus Goliath route here. but this That's a lot of Goliaths. eceliia goliaths Many goliathath Goliaths. And this color is just like grayscale to hell. to hell yeah There's just no color in this whatsoever.
00:07:17
Speaker
Super gray. A little red. they're so red A hint of red. A splash, if you will. um The tickets for this go on sale tomorrow.
00:07:28
Speaker
Are we ready to go to war? Yeah. Sure.
'Scary Movie 6' Controversial Topics
00:07:34
Speaker
um are we gared Are we talking like midnight? or No, it's 11 p.m. Central.
00:07:40
Speaker
Or 11 a.m. Central. 11 a.m. Central. Actually, all listeners, because there's billions of you out there, it's 11 p.m. Central tomorrow. Do not buy tickets until 11 p.m. Central tomorrow. the time this episode comes out, the dust has settled.
00:07:56
Speaker
War is over.
00:07:59
Speaker
and And half of us aren't coming home.
00:08:04
Speaker
I'm ready. Crazy kind of war. And then, you know, after that that battle, we're going to have to journey home. Almost like it's it's kind of an odyssey. What are we? Some kind of odyssey?
00:08:17
Speaker
Martin Scorsese has joined a generative AI startup as a partner and advisor. That hurt to say out loud. I've only been reading I don't like that. Did you guys watch the promotional video? Whatever or what he's talking about?
00:08:31
Speaker
No, but he's disgracing the Italian-American name. Basically, whoeverever whoever the startup is, the tool, quote-unquote tool, is like a pre-visual storyboarding tool. So in the commercial, he's saying, oh, like I want this to be said in like a like a Mediterranean village in like the 1900s, whatever. Just prompts it, and then it comes up, and it's basically storyboarding for you.
00:08:56
Speaker
And people are pissed, rightfully so. I don't know why I'm very confused at this endorsement from Martin Scorsese. And it's very disappointing.
00:09:07
Speaker
Yeah, I don't get this one. It could just be another example of maybe some questionable decision making, like all of his recent acting gigs.
00:09:20
Speaker
This is maybe just another byproduct of whatever he's going through in his later years.
00:09:27
Speaker
But it feels like he's always been in his
Casting & Trailer Reactions
00:09:29
Speaker
later years. That's true. Like Morgan Freeman just always been old. um I saw someone point out not to excuse like what he's doing because it's still shitty, but to kind of hit on the point that you just made Tachi.
00:09:42
Speaker
They felt like maybe it was him just taking these deals and raking up as much money as he can for his family. Because I mean, he is old and will pass.
00:09:55
Speaker
And so... I don't know. I saw that as like an argument, but still it's, it's not, it's not great to see when so much, so much of it is just, it's all just dog shit and immoral.
00:10:09
Speaker
That almost makes it worse that he's, that that's the reason that now he's a total sellout. So it's, it's kind of crazy. He did like a generative AI thing. Cause i want to say he's pretty Catholic.
00:10:22
Speaker
Um, like what are we two months after the Pope issued like an ecumenical about how AI is bad. Right. Yep. He was like,
00:10:34
Speaker
You know what, Mr. Pope? I disagree. Check this out. I know better than you. That is probably like one of the oldest Catholic traditions, though, is is ah not doing what the Pope says.
00:10:48
Speaker
Guess so. Guess so. Oh, well. take the next We live in a sort of free country. um I'll go. The Wayans have revealed a list of some topics that will be joked about in Scary Movie 6. Here we go.
00:11:01
Speaker
Brace yourselves. They're going to joke about COVID. No. Hashtag me
AMC A-List Experience
00:11:09
Speaker
too. Wow. Chat GPT.
00:11:12
Speaker
Only fans. Get this. Ice raids. Hilarious. Live streamers. Wow.
00:11:23
Speaker
The Epstein Files. Wow. Kendrick and Drake Beef from like two years ago. Just in time. And lastly, the January 6th insurrection.
00:11:38
Speaker
Guys, no one is safe from the Scary Movie 6. Are y'all gonna watch it? It comes out this week. I will not pay money. i cannot be paid money to watch this. You could be paid money. You could be paid money.
00:11:52
Speaker
I be paid... X amount of money. If someone walked up to you and said, here's a hundred bucks cash money, go in there for an hour and a half. That's yeah, I would do that. All right. I'm a sellout. I'll do it.
00:12:06
Speaker
You guys really aren't going to watch it. You don't even want
Origins & Success of 'Backrooms'
00:12:08
Speaker
to see like the train wreck. I'm going to go see it. I think I, I just want to be a part of history. I'm also going to see it opening night. Probably that's nuts. just He's going to wait outside for the midnight release.
00:12:23
Speaker
ah Camping out, they're like, sir, you don't need to do this anymore. It's like Wednesday, 8 a.m. m Yeah. Reserve online. You can save your seat. What's next?
00:12:34
Speaker
Indie Marathe, rumored to join A24's upcoming Goblin, directed by David Mickelson. I'm the Goblin. I'm in Goblin mode.
00:12:46
Speaker
Who is David Mickelson? Do we know who he is? Nope. He's the director of A24's Goblin starring Indy Navaretti. Damn, son. He has directed such hits. Here we go. ah This one is called Stuck.
00:13:02
Speaker
Came out in 2020. Looks like a short film. It is a short film. Stay. who day Yeah. Which looks like another short film inspired by, i don't know, the poster is Linkin Park's Meteora, track two, Don't Stay.
00:13:22
Speaker
This looks like a ah debut feature.
00:13:27
Speaker
Wow. Sure does. ah The plot of Goblin says, to be announced, but it is being described as Ted meets E.T.
00:13:37
Speaker
So the Gremlins? Yeah.
00:13:40
Speaker
Hmm.
00:13:44
Speaker
Is Indy going to be one of the goblins? Or is she the titular goblin? Yeah. I don't know. I'll keep my eyes peeled and I guess we'll see. There's a new Supergirl trailer.
00:13:58
Speaker
Did you guys watch it? Nope. It's supposedly dropped today. I did not watch it either. um But it will be one of... yeah One of the movies we cover, ah I think, right?
00:14:13
Speaker
Maybe early. No, we don't have it scheduled. We don't have it on our calendar. I think we'll we'll talk about it on like the last episode in June. Sure. For what's come out so far, if we've seen it by then. But um
00:14:26
Speaker
excitement levels, one through ten, I'm to say a two for me. I think it'll be at least a three out of five.
00:14:34
Speaker
It does have Lobo in it, but it's being played by Jason Momoa. I don't like how he looks. I don't like how he looks either. and i'm look big I'm a big Lobo fan. Are you actually a big Lobo? No, I love Lobo. Okay, you guys need to watch the animated Justice League cartoon because when he shows up at the main man, I mean, it's just the best, okay? Lobo is the bomb.
00:14:56
Speaker
I love Lobo.
00:14:59
Speaker
Make that into shirt. You're hating on the main man He's awesome. He's so good. I'll take your word for it. He looks comic accurate, I will say, for my lack of knowledge, but something about it is just not right.
00:15:17
Speaker
Is it Mimover? It's never been more Mimover.
00:15:23
Speaker
Well, to be a summer of um more. It's going to be a more summer with ah this and or no, Dune is December. Never mind.
00:15:36
Speaker
That's what we're capping off the year with. That's right. Oh, did I tell you guys what? I i don't remember which movie this was for. It was like last week, but it was the first time I saw the Dune trailer in theaters.
00:15:49
Speaker
insanely good. I also saw in my back rooms trailer slate Predator? and is that what it's called? Sorry, no, that's... It's called Primetime, the new Robert Pattinson for How to Catch a Predator. Saw that in theaters.
00:16:07
Speaker
My goodness, guys. That is my goat. Did they play the Timmy Dune chant in the theaters? They did. That trailer just...
00:16:19
Speaker
It just, it it makes it so abundantly queer that there's just levels to this shit. the and There really are. Like, some movies should not be mean should not be made when you look at that.
00:16:33
Speaker
I can't wait for when, like, a sports team uses the the Timmy Dune chant in, like, a game situation. Yeah. It will be crazy.
Critique of 'Backrooms'
00:16:44
Speaker
You know, it's funny, Tasha, you bring up some movies just not should be just should not be made. Apparently, Tom Holland agrees with you. Because he was ripping the Spider-Man 4 Brand New Day producers a new one, ah saying, why are we making this movie?
00:17:01
Speaker
Mm-hmm. Good on you, Tom. Honestly, respect. Bro went to one real movie set and said, oh, this is not the way we're supposed to be doing this. right What is the reason? and It's good that he has that sort of that level of pool.
00:17:19
Speaker
Yeah. I mean, I know he is Spider-Man, but like, you know, studios can studio it up. You know what? I never really thought about this. But this kind of actually made me scared for the Odyssey because outside of Spider-Man, everything I've seen him in has not been good.
00:17:37
Speaker
Did you not like the devil all the time? Not really. Oh, I liked that one. I think I had that one at like a two and a half. Yeah, that sounds about right. chery and i think And I think all two and a half of those stars were for Robert Pattinson.
00:17:54
Speaker
What's that line? He's got in the church. ah know. You know what i'm talking about? It's like, yeah, it's like a specific word. Anyways, um we've got a few more episodes in the pipeline.
00:18:09
Speaker
you want to highlight them real quick, we've got Disclosure Day coming up. Is that going to be a twofer? Twofer, yeah. Thought we should do a pair of that one with Close Encounters of the Third Kind.
00:18:20
Speaker
Okay, I know nothing about that. so sp actually and I actually haven't seen it either. Spielberg's first alien movie. Then after that, we've got Toy Story 5. And then to wrap up June, we've got 2026 Yeah, I got a lot of catching up to do. on Yeah. yeah Sounds like we all do. We got to lock in with this. need to watch Mercy.
00:18:40
Speaker
You do. i have highly recommend it. If you want to see an hour and a half of people frame-hogging the camera. Dude, I mean, well, I see that every morning in the mirror.
00:18:52
Speaker
Boo. Boo you. to What else we got? One last bit of news before we hop into the episode. This one was a little bit of ah a gut punch to a sensitive young man like myself.
00:19:07
Speaker
According to his son, ah Clint Eastwood has retired from filmmaking at 96 years old. He's done. Makes sense.
00:19:18
Speaker
I still haven't seen his last film, Juror No. 12. Heard it was really good. It's very good. and but I'm um sad because he's a legend and Guy was a legendary actor. he made He directed some legendary movies. He had some stinkers. He had some stinkers.
00:19:37
Speaker
ah But one of the most iconic people in Hollywood ever. And I'm glad he got to go out on his own terms. You know, 96 is way up there. So hope he lives the rest of his life.
00:19:52
Speaker
You know, keep him busy and and happy and fulfilled. And thanks, Clint. Aww. he yeah He was, what, 93, 94, I guess, directing Juror number 12. That's insane. How is he not just like, yeah i don't know, useless? Dude coked with that movie. Alex, I can't wait for you to watch that one. But, I mean, on the flip side of someone that high in age directing a movie, which is their last, today's episode has someone on the younger side directing their first.
00:20:29
Speaker
Let's get into back rooms. I'll read the synopsis and we'll do our letterboxd love like loath. Backrooms, directed by Kane Parsons. Synopsis reads this.
00:20:39
Speaker
A strange doorway appears in the basement of a furniture showroom. Wow. Starring Chiwetel Ejiofor, Renata Reinsva, Mark Duplass, Finn Bennett, and Lukita Maxwell.
00:20:52
Speaker
I've got a five star today. Alex with the three. Tachi with the one. Let's do it. Today's five star comes from butterfly emoji. Haley butterfly emoji.
00:21:05
Speaker
Five stars in a heart. Life pro tip. Don't follow your boss into the basement.
00:21:12
Speaker
Thanks Haley. It's wise. I was going to. I did. All right. ah Okay. um Our three star review comes from Josh Rowley.
00:21:26
Speaker
Creepy, cryptic, head-scratching, nonsensical, underwritten, unsatisfying, well-made. This one comes in from four. Just the number four. yeah Evil mattress firm.
00:21:44
Speaker
That's it. evil mattress firm. Thanks, four. ah All right. Um... Well said. Were you guys excited for this movie at all?
00:21:56
Speaker
what were your excitement levels coming into this? Maybe like a ah five out of ten. And then with all the hype about him being like this young breakout director, bumped it up to like a six out of ten.
00:22:07
Speaker
Okay. Excitement. I wasn't excited. And then we went and saw Obsession, and then I got excited. Because I was like, we're on a run.
00:22:19
Speaker
Here we go. And then there was all the hype about the the pre-sales and how it was also going to blow out its budget. And started getting hyped. you know So one of my favorite YouTubers is was involved with this movie. It's like ah like a very tangent degree. He's like on set a couple times. Who's that?
00:22:40
Speaker
Wendigoon. I've heard the name. um He does like deep dives on things. Okay. Creepy stuff. Missing persons. He was just like on set.
00:22:51
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. Because he's ah he was a big like analog horror guy. So he was he was really excited for this one. I think he's friends with Kane Parsons. That's pretty cool. So I saw started getting really excited. And so we me and T-Money saw it opening opening day. Like 6 p.m. on a Thursday right after work.
00:23:10
Speaker
Okay, i so then I have to ask, what was your guys' audience like? Because since this movie's release, I've seen countless stories on Twitter.com of people just having like the worst audiences and the worst like theatrical experience of just people talking really loud, being very disruptive, and like it just felt like there was a lot of those happening specifically with this movie.
00:23:35
Speaker
How was your guys' audience for this?
00:23:38
Speaker
thought it was fine. i don't, I mean, I probably could have heard a pin drop. Okay. I agree, except right to my right, because Team Money was to my left. Yep.
00:23:51
Speaker
To my right, we did not have a Gaffar, but we had a reactor. This guy reacted to everything. And not like loudly, but like, know, like something would happen on screen and be like, oh.
00:24:08
Speaker
No way. Don't do it.
00:24:15
Speaker
Just no no, inside voice. It got old. It got, it was, ah it was a very inside voice, but the problem is I was right next to him. m So I heard it all. um And, you know, that's one of the things I think keep seeing that and I've never really had a bad theater experience like that.
00:24:37
Speaker
And I wonder if it's like that. It's just because Alamo has reputation. Yeah. That they will kick you out. Mm-hmm. So I'm almost like, you know, for all the grief we've been giving Alamo lately.
00:24:49
Speaker
at least there's that. still, it's still dead quiet. Yeah. So I'm like, is it worth giving it up and risking it because I have to mobile order a water now? Like...
00:25:04
Speaker
You know, they they may have still got the private equity that always wins. It always wins. So I've now been an AMC A-lister for two weeks. So different from there is an Alamo draft house here, but it just it's not the same. Like the Alamos over there are so much better.
00:25:21
Speaker
And the AMCs here are plentiful. Kind of crazy that how close you're in proxiity proximity to the Alamo. The Alamo draft houses are better. Hmm.
00:25:33
Speaker
I like that. um I will say I've seen a difference, a slight difference so far in the audiences that like you're right. Alamo is very good at keeping the peace.
00:25:48
Speaker
I think in making sure people are quiet and non-disturbing. I haven't had any bad theatrical experiences yet, but I'm I do hear whispering way more than I ever did at Alamo and people be walking in late as hell to these movies. It's Alamo says, don't talk text or arrive late.
00:26:06
Speaker
People arrive late and AMC plays like touch. You go to AMC. I think kind of frequently they play like 25 to 30 minutes of previews before the movie.
00:26:17
Speaker
If your movies at seven 45, you're safe to walk in at eight 10 and you've got some, you've got some to buffer. My movie was at seven 45. The movie started at 8.15. I saw a group of people walk in last night at 8.30. I'm like, the movie start time was 45 minutes ago.
00:26:38
Speaker
What are you doing? Just go to a different show. At that point. It's crazy. Absolutely insane. And I've seen that with every basically every showing that I've been to thus far. um Even the the Babylon one?
00:26:53
Speaker
No, that was at an independent theater. Okay. all the All the showings I've been to that are at ah AMC. All right. Yeah. Yeah, that's ah To just miss the first 40 minutes of trailers.
00:27:07
Speaker
I could miss. i think when ah So when we watched ah Wake Up Dead Man, I missed, I think, like the first probably first 60 seconds. And I wanted to kill myself. i was It's the worst. It's the worst feeling. Yeah.
00:27:23
Speaker
Malik, was it you who missed the first five minutes of ah The Boy and the Heron? Yeah. Yeah, you were super late for that. That felt super late. Like, at that point, I'm like, i don't even want to watch the movie. i don't want to be here. I missed the whole thing.
00:27:39
Speaker
I remember because wherever you walked in was like still early enough, but it was like Getting to the point where probably just something would happen and you'd be like what the hell? Because I think the first five minutes of a movie are absolutely crucial. That's where you're where you're hooking the audience. But um to get back to back rooms, wanted to talk a little bit about, before we get into the movie, its origins. um Alex, I think I want to say you're the most familiar with the 4chan of it all.
00:28:16
Speaker
Maybe. That sounds bad to the audience. i'm not not a 4chaner. I'm not a 4chaner. Is 4chan bad? It's got reputation. Oh, dude. Okay, so... for those who don't know 4chan is this anonymous message board that has like different boards on it um ranging from like hobbies you know there's like outdoors um there's like a like a guns board uh there's like comics tv movies music um
00:28:47
Speaker
There's a lot of porn because it's anonymous. It's had some really, really awful stuff posted on there. Like really bad. okay ah So this this this website, um it's a gathering place because it's anonymous for some of the not so savory characters of our
AI in Filmmaking & 'Backrooms'
00:29:07
Speaker
society.
00:29:08
Speaker
um However... its influence on like meme culture and creepypastas and like the story like internet storytelling is is huge, right?
00:29:24
Speaker
4chan, or as much as like Reddit wants to be like, oh, they're the front page of the internet, 4chan, I think, is, for better or for worse, like the epicenter, the heartbeat of the internet. It's the best and the worst it has to offer. I mean, the Mew, the music board,
00:29:38
Speaker
has done so much for promoting like indie music and indie bands. um They have all these like flow charts that have been like you know anonymously group-made and brought out. And you know to help it's helped me find you know music that I've grown and really love.
00:29:56
Speaker
But the the board that you know i would say has been the the most influential on things that I enjoy is is X, which is the paranormal board.
00:30:07
Speaker
ah So a lot of like you know ghost stories and stuff like that are told on there. And if you're familiar at all with like you know the Skinwalker fascination right now, you know it smells like copper, someone's voice is you know in the woods, it sounds like my buddy, but he was next to me. something you know Those stories, you've heard those? Yeah.
00:30:29
Speaker
And for those listening, I'm sure you've heard those if you're around the internet service at all. That version of the skinwalker completely originates from 4chan. It's like the Goatman skinwalker, Wendigo, this entity that they've kind of created and has become sort of the the cornerstone of of internet horror, right? Because the real Navajo skinwalker was a shaman, like a witch doctor.
00:30:53
Speaker
um Nothing at all like the ah like the one that's popular on on TikTok today. So a ton of different creepypastas owe their lineage to X. And the backrooms, to my surprise, and maybe I guess to not my surprise, um owes it as well.
00:31:15
Speaker
ah It started with with one post. This whole thing started with one post. ah It was 2019 when it first came out, and it was a picture of the back rooms, that one yellow wallpaper, yellow carpeting that yeah everyone's seen. um if you haven't seen it, we'll probably incorporate it into our episode poster, so you'll get a good idea of what it looks like.
00:31:38
Speaker
ah But the post read this. If you're not careful and you no-clip out of reality in the wrong areas, you'll end up in the back rooms, where it's nothing but the stink of old moist carpet, the madness of mono-yellow, the end endless background noise of fluorescent lights at maximum humbuzz, and approximately 600 million square miles of randomly segmented empty rooms to be trapped in.
00:32:01
Speaker
God save you if you hear something wandering around nearby, because it sure as hell has heard you." And from there, a very young man named Cain Parsons took that as inspiration and ran with a web series of his own that has made him...
00:32:19
Speaker
the,
Final Thoughts on 'Backrooms' & Analog Horror
00:32:21
Speaker
probably the the the man of the hour, so to speak, in film. I think he's even surpassed our good pal, Corey Barker in that, just because Kane has done something that no one has ever done before. He is now, I think, the youngest person to oh, it would be way better if I remember the stat, hit a certain dollar value in the box office.
00:32:43
Speaker
I want to say you're correct. I don't know. there's There's a lot of records being broken in this moment in time, even outside of King Parsons, and that it's a little hard to keep track of.
00:32:55
Speaker
like um i keep seeing Obsession broke, like the... It went up for like the third Tuesday in a row, which hasn't happened since E.T. I just keep seeing like record after record after record being broken, and it's awesome. So yeah, it's it's hard to keep track of them. but my My mom dropped on me today when I was driving home. I was on the phone with my parents.
00:33:14
Speaker
ah That obsession made national news that it's doing so well. like The word of mouth was a bit on like a national news story. Wow. Yeah. Unstoppable.
00:33:25
Speaker
It's crazy. And Backrooms is even more of a tank, arguably. I feel, and I think this comparison will be made regardless, but we'll need to see how Backrooms does, I guess, for the next couple weeks, like two to three weeks from like um from a box office standpoint.
00:33:45
Speaker
But initially, Backrooms is making, and it has made more money, I believe, than Obsession um just off the bat in six days. like Obsession's got legs like we've never seen, and it's and it's amazing. But Backrooms feels like it's going to be Pretty like front heavy, um but amazing feats for both.
00:34:04
Speaker
It took Backrooms one week to break ah the record for A24's highest grossing film. It beat Marty Supreme already, um which it surprised me that Marty Supreme only made like $98 million domestically. I know, considering like how big of a moment it felt like. Yeah.
00:34:20
Speaker
Yeah. um Like you said, that is domestically, globally, A24's highest grossing movie is Everything Everywhere All at Once, which grossed $148 million globally. um Backrooms is currently sitting at $136 million. next...
00:34:35
Speaker
safe to say in the next I'll say five days. I say by next Thursday, we see we see Backrooms becoming the number one globally highest grossing movie for a twenty four Wild.
00:34:49
Speaker
Wild. And Kane Parsons is 20 years old. He's, I mean, just like crazy, crazy kudos to this kid at for taking this This 4chan story. i don't even know if you can call it a story. that' This is three sentences. It's yeah it's like a one-off concept. Yeah. Post.
00:35:08
Speaker
Concept with ah with ah with a photo. And just making that into and to this whole this whole thing. Universe, lore... Yeah. They said it's a web series. Is it, are there multiple videos or is it just the one short film? Because I watched the one short film, but I didn't know if there were more. after that I want to say there's more. There's like all this lore that he's made. Cause the first one was like backrooms found footage that he made in, i think blender blender. Yeah. Um,
00:35:38
Speaker
I had never watched it until they played, I think, probably most of it in the pre-screening for Alamo ah before we saw the movie. Tachi, I think... i can't remember if it was playing by the time you had walked in or not.
00:35:51
Speaker
I'm not sure. I had never watched the series. I'd just always seen the pictures, heard about it the memes. The games. The the games. you know Kanye West is chasing you around back rooms. All of them, let's... If... if you're're You're listening. You have no idea what we're talking about. i'm I honestly, like, neither do we. Like, it it's complete nonsense. um But it was, I mean, the Backrooms was like this cultural thing. It was this meme that, it was this meme that it there was a lot of reach and it was in the zeitgeist for a while. um And when A24 was making the movie, they were just say all right, screw it. Let's to make Cain Parsons run the thing.
00:36:35
Speaker
Yeah. Like we were buying the rights. We might as well buy the guy who who built it into this brand. What a great, what a crazy opportunity. 20 years old movie with a $10 million dollars budget. And like we said, cleared that immediately in just, yeah I think in in ticket presales.
00:36:50
Speaker
um So did you guys outside of this movie get to watch the nine minute short film or didn't go back to to see it? No, I need to. Okay. I need to.
00:37:01
Speaker
I did not either, but I did play the game pretty recently with some some buddies of mine that play games with. And it's pretty different from the movie, at least from the the levels that we played through outside of the first level. The first level is just like it is the back rooms. It is the the yellow fluorescent lighting. You have the little.
00:37:25
Speaker
creepy fella who wants to get you.
00:37:30
Speaker
But yeah, it's, it's, it was neat. ah Okay. Let's get into the actual movie. Let's do We've covered the lore of it. I mean, I guess I'll just ask, what did what did we think?
00:37:43
Speaker
You had given us a teaser, Tachi, on our last episode. You said was shot well, and that's all I'll say. Right. So much like the three-star review, I do think the production level was really, really great.
00:37:57
Speaker
um There are a lot of positives to take away. but I think a lot of people could probably relate to this where you just kind of feel blue balled in a way. um You know, if it comes to like questions not being answered or ah maybe some character arcs that feel not, not, not inconclusive, but like, I think you're just like wanting more. You're left wanting more in a lot of in a lot of ways.
00:38:28
Speaker
I think, I can agree with you on some parts of that. um I feel just depending like person to person, that can either like make or break a movie for you. like I would say the selling point of the back rooms is like while there is lore to it, and like in this movie you can see like a little bit of it, a big part of it is is kind of being blue balled it feels like like yeah it's the lack of a jump scare it's the anxiety of like what could be around the corner like it's just it's just the unknown which i think is not only what drives this movie but what drives analog horror as sub genre like we saw that with uh like with skinnamarink for example i feel
00:39:19
Speaker
My opinions aside about it, like I am not a big fan of that movie. It does feel like that's going to be, um at least in the horror space, something we look back on that, I don't know, solidified like this subgenre to be a just to just to be like a big player in the in the horror genre.
00:39:39
Speaker
It's trailblazing for sure. Yeah. What about you, Alex? What did you think of ah general thoughts on backrooms? um So not knowing really anything about the lore, um I went into this pretty blind story-wise, and much like Tachi said, like the three-star review, there was a lot I loved.
00:40:01
Speaker
The set was so cool. And if you guys have seen the behind-the-scenes pictures yet... Yeah, I have. Okay, so you guys have. I butchered that sentence.
00:40:12
Speaker
If you guys haven't seen the behind-the-scenes pictures the set yet, yikes. um You got it. it's It's so well done, right? I mean, they they're huge, and they're already talking about a Backrooms 2. A, why wouldn't they with the money it's it's making?
00:40:32
Speaker
And B, you know, they they they spent that they built that set. They might as well use it again, right? Yeah. um But... There's a lot I loved.
00:40:45
Speaker
I thought the there were some really good scares. I loved the when they were in the back rooms. But ironically, a lot like the back rooms, I thought there was just like a lot of dead air in the movie.
00:40:59
Speaker
um The script left a lot to be desired from. I don't know who wrote it. I think Kane Parsons wrote some of it. No, the writer was Will Sudick.
00:41:10
Speaker
um At least on his letterbox, there's no other writing credits. So it seems like, similar to Kane Parsons, this could be... I don't know what their relationship is like.
00:41:22
Speaker
Because it it does seem like a first script, right? there's There's some very, very interesting themes in this movie that I just think are...
00:41:34
Speaker
They're not quite there. And it's hard to put a finger on why. It just feels like a little empty. There's a lot of stuff that I've seen people on Twitter like filling in for me. And I'm like, okay, yeah, that I guess that makes sense.
00:41:49
Speaker
um
00:41:54
Speaker
Sorry, something just fell in my house. I heard that. Yeah, I don't know what that was. um Maybe it's ah the pirate.
00:42:05
Speaker
Arrgh. Arrgh. I'm going to kill you. um Yeah, to pick back up on what you're saying, i I can agree with you guys that it does feel like the script had a lot left to be desired.
00:42:19
Speaker
um This movie looks... Fantastic. yeah looks really It looks it's very well shot. um This was shot by cinematographer Jeremy Cox, um who has who has a ah history.
00:42:33
Speaker
um So this movie looks very good. The set design, like you said, is like, it's crazy. like I love that. they that it just must be so crazy for him to have made this universe in a software and then i just i wonder what that feeling was like walking onto set the first time and just being like holy shit like this is the backrooms like they made the backrooms it looks it looks fantastic it's it it's it's just awesome um I love that room where he has to like walk up the ramp into the tiny hole. That was so cool. Into the tiny door. Yeah.
00:43:09
Speaker
A lot of those. it This did feel like it was like the first pass out of script. um I love Chiwetel Age of Four. Renata Rheinsveld is an amazing actress.
00:43:20
Speaker
And I feel like I'm on the other side of the aisle specifically when it comes to both of these actors' performances, specifically Renata's.
00:43:32
Speaker
I thought she was not great. And it's not her. It's the script. But performance-wise, I was just like... it was it was lack There was so much that was lacking from from her performance. She would tell on the other side, I think he did have the best performance in the movie.
00:43:51
Speaker
He did, yeah. Script is still weak, but... i don't know if I don't know if I feel alone. I was very excited for this episode because I legit had no idea how either of you felt about this movie.
00:44:04
Speaker
Like zero clues. Yeah, it's it's hard to like, I don't know, dial in exactly how I'm feeling.
00:44:15
Speaker
But it's, I don't know. it's I guess it's just really frustrating that the, it's ah it's a pretty long movie. It's like nearly a two hour runtime. And there's like a lot that we're learning about this world and about these characters.
00:44:31
Speaker
But then at the same time, we're also learning nothing about this world and about these characters. And I just really don't know how that happens. It did.
00:44:43
Speaker
And i don't know. Oh, well, but yeah don't know if we're better off for it. There were, there were a lot of sequences in this movie that I did enjoy, ah specifically in the beginning with the guy in the hazmat suit that felt like the short film that felt like the OG back rooms. Like that was awesome.
00:45:04
Speaker
When it was doing the found footage bit, that's when that movie was at its best. Yes. Both times. There's two separate times this movie goes found footage and both are great. That intro.
00:45:15
Speaker
That intro. And then when he employs his assistant manager and her boyfriend and first introduces them to the back rooms. We can talk about that scene. Yeah, that scene was... Freaking awesome.
00:45:27
Speaker
Yeah. I loved it. ah They strap them to the bed. They kind of tie something around them. That was what my review was saying. Like, don't follow your boss into, like, the downstairs basement. um I wouldn't have either because did seem a little kooky.
00:45:41
Speaker
As soon as I walked in and, like, oh, this is real, I'd be like, I'm leaving. yeah I'm calling the Like, I was already scared to come downstairs. Now you want me to go beyond the wall?
00:45:53
Speaker
No, thank you. But lucky for us, they did or else we wouldn't have had a movie. And he arms him with the camera to go down this slide. Basically, it looks like a slide ah to see what's down in this other room. He's already been exploring this place for what seems like a few weeks now. So he kind of knows his way around and he's like, I can't go down here by myself.
00:46:14
Speaker
We'll tie you to this bed and you can go down there with the camera. Yeah. Great, great suspense built in this scene.
00:46:26
Speaker
So good. yeahp Yes. that that ah That one little blip, it's like one second. You see the guy get you know kind of pulled through this pretty small gap in the wall. That was so sick.
00:46:41
Speaker
yeah That was so sick. With the trail of blood behind him It was like one second. Like, blink and you miss it. And it just... It was really effective at building the dread about what the characters about to you know the the surviving characters are about to go through. Yeah.
00:46:59
Speaker
I think that's where the movie shines. like this is This entire sequence, this is the standout scene of the movie for me. Especially how it ends. the Him and his assistant manager are separated.
00:47:11
Speaker
um It seems like she's on one side of the wall that can see him, but he can't see her. It's just like a solid wall. You skipped over... the the creepiest part of the movie for me. just Was it the Christmas?
00:47:23
Speaker
The Christmas tree. Go ahead. yeah I'll let you do the Christmas and then I'll go do it with that one. In between the start and end of the sequence, he's running through and there's this Christmas tree. It's like you very like the ominous like but warm lighting, but just the just something feels so off. And a light clicks on You see this freaky little dude and this freaky person comes around the corner like doing this little walk and you're like, ugh. And it's not a jump scare. It's just...
00:47:49
Speaker
the The guy who turns on the light takes your attention. You're like, what is that? And then the other person just walks into frame. Yeah. So scary. Oh, by the way, there's spoilers for the the scares in this made this episode. Someone's listening to just getting jump scared in their car from our conversation. Not the freaking... I'm imagining it like... can Open your eyes, you're driving.
00:48:11
Speaker
but oh and I loved the yeah the little silent night playing in the background. like This is so eerie. This is so cool. and just the The lighting of the tree in this one dark room. The rest of the back rooms are very well lit. This is the only room with like no lights basically. That was one of the coolest rooms.
00:48:33
Speaker
Fast forward a little bit. We get back to the wall. She can see him. He can't see her. He left the camera behind and we're watching him maybe about 10 feet in front of us. And you don't hear anything, but he's trying he's trying to find a way, and they're having a conversation, and the camera just raises.
00:48:47
Speaker
Someone picked it up, and that camera is raised high. And I was like,
00:48:54
Speaker
just do my little my little claps. that was i thought I thought that was spectacular. Yeah, agreed. What a way to end that scene. So good.
00:49:05
Speaker
Stand-up scenes for you guys. Yeah, I was about to ask. Yeah. um I liked the dinner scene. Until the very end. Mm hmm.
00:49:19
Speaker
There's a there's a moment at the very, very end of it where things fall apart. It's like the climax of the movie and. um It's just one decision that's made, i think, kind of ruins it all for me.
00:49:32
Speaker
What decision is that? It's when the pirate bites Clark. I feel like at that point, I don't know, the movie just felt ruined.
00:49:46
Speaker
Mine kind of comes a little bit before that. It's the reveal of the pirate, of Pirate Clark.
00:49:55
Speaker
i i know I knew there's um that there was a monster.
00:50:03
Speaker
But like, and in the back rooms for Jam Post, the last sentence is, God save you if you hear something wandering around nearby, because it sure as hell has heard you, implying there is something in the back rooms.
00:50:15
Speaker
Like I said earlier, feels like with this analog horror, the scariest part of the entire thing is the unknown of what's in the corner, what's what's what's lurking behind the corner. So it feels like, I don't know, that just kind of contradicts itself and that there is something there.
00:50:32
Speaker
Like, I feel like the fear is supposed to be in the unknown, but now that we we know something's there. That being said, to come back around to his short film, the monster creature in that I thought looked really cool and it was very different.
00:50:48
Speaker
the reveal of captain Clark. I just, I just thought it looks silly. It, it, it kind of, it just killed it for me. I don't know. I don't know why. i kind of agree, except I think the scene in the furniture store, like the back rooms version of the furniture store was great.
00:51:06
Speaker
Or he's just kind of there. kind of in the, like, standing far off, and then just starts walking towards. In the background. Yeah. I thought that was really good. But I kind of agree as well, because there were, like, a couple hints that the monster was, I think, the one that looked like the one in the original series, where it's of, like, squiggly. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I was going to say, like, lines. Squiggly lines.
00:51:30
Speaker
Very otherworldly, like, a very liminal creature. And then for it to be part park Clark, I was just kind of, like, Why? And I've seen like a lot of the the analysis as to like why.
00:51:44
Speaker
But I don't know. i just i wasn't yeah I wasn't a huge fan of it being a pirate. Yeah, it did it didn't work for me. I thought the... like When he picked when that scene I'm talking about when he picks up the camera, like what picked up the camera? I know it was like probably another iteration of the past iteration of what becomes Pirate Clark.
00:52:04
Speaker
But what was that iteration that picked up the camera? That's what I thought we were going to see. And I don't know if there's something that I'm missing as to why it became him. um First of all, I was like, how did he survive when we first see him after that scene? Because once that scene goes to black, we just cut to ah Mary um and we're with her for a while until she ends up finding him. So i'm like, crazy that he survived.
00:52:27
Speaker
But then the creature became him, I guess. But whatever whatever the reason is, visually. It just did it it didn't work for me. But then to get to where he bit him, it also ruined it for me, too, because there was something there in the connection and the way that he was talking to him that they that there was an established relationship for those couple of weeks that he's been down there.
00:52:51
Speaker
Right. And then he bites him and I'm like, oh.
00:52:56
Speaker
Yeah. OK, like bites his upper body off. Yeah. and Yeah, I didn't love the reveal either. However, the scene when he's dragging his dead body down the street in that weird fake neighborhood street, that was pretty cool.
00:53:16
Speaker
yeah the whole chase sequence was a lot of fun it felt like i haven't played those games but like i'll always watch it like the like kanye one you said like there's funny ones and there's also scary ones i just watch on tiktok you just it's just you running through whatever place you're in while something chases you you lights yeah and you feel like that that energy in the back of your neck where it's like right behind you yep So that that sequence I thought was very successful in giving me that feeling of her running from Pirate Clark. But every time I saw was Pirate Clark, i was just like, that guy's not scary.
00:53:52
Speaker
He's a pirate.
00:53:55
Speaker
How do you guys feel about Mary and the kind of character that we didn't really get to know at all? I didn't really have a feeling. it like was just I didn't either. Like, okay, she had a messed up childhood and...
00:54:10
Speaker
That childhood was kind of like the back rooms. Seems like there's lore. Maybe she's been in the back rooms. Maybe her mom had been to the back rooms before with the way that she's boarding up the windows. i don't know. Her flashbacks were way too vague.
00:54:26
Speaker
i I think, well, yeah I think it was just... Showing like how the, some of the back rooms came into existence, right? Like these very emotional evocative experiences create them. Right. You that's, that's a, that is a theory to go kind of in the larger paranormal world. That is one of the theories about like what a ghost is. It's, it's, it's an emotional imprint on time. Right.
00:54:50
Speaker
Like space time is just this imprint left behind that someone is experiencing at some other point. So like, you know, if I'm really upset because I'm a cowboy and my wife left me and I, you know, get drunk and I'm super angry and kill myself, then like that feeling of like anger and rage and pain will stay in that room or hotel or whatever and haunt anyone else who comes by and experiences it.
00:55:18
Speaker
So I got that that's what the movie was going for, like all these experiences that that she has had and how it's helping create the back room, especially the the final shot. I just was like, okay.
00:55:32
Speaker
that's That's what I felt. I was just like, okay, that's... you know I thought that it explained, it over-explained, but somehow didn't explain anything. um And kind of liked that.
00:55:47
Speaker
But also, most of the time, i was just like, can we just go back to them running around the room? Yeah. It's it's a very it's a it's a complicated feeling. I definitely echo that. where they're super complicated. It's like, I don't know how to describe how I'm feeling. It's a very liminal feeling. Yeah.
00:56:05
Speaker
I like that there's a lack of explanation in this world. I don't want to be spoonf f spoon-fed everything. And my criticism isn't that I want more.
00:56:16
Speaker
i I can't pinpoint exactly what it is, but it's like what we got, I'm not satisfied with, but I don't want an over-explanation. You know?
00:56:27
Speaker
Right. It's kind of like when they slightly mess up your fast food order, but it's like not a big enough deal to complain. You're just like, all right, I guess. I guess I got mayonnaise on this burger. like Maybe it's... um They opened up so many doors in this world, like the widow secret organization. Yeah, we'll get to them. I don't know. All all the different characters, all the different levels.
00:56:58
Speaker
And it's just like they keep expanding the world, but not explaining... any of the connections and and why things are happening. So I guess in a way, like our our brains are getting tickled by, you know, this, this really interesting place, but, but every important question is not answered.
00:57:23
Speaker
And to get back to to Mary, she to me, she just feels she feels like somebody that has been written. She didn't feel like a real person.
00:57:34
Speaker
um I mean, like really early on into the movie, our first scene of both of both Mary and Clark in their therapy session that are kind of doing the role-playing thing, felt...
00:57:51
Speaker
It felt very like novice to me from like, from what was being said on, on the screen. I just, there, I couldn't, there was no believability to it for me.
00:58:05
Speaker
Um, And like I said, i don't think it's these actors because I think they're both phenomenal. It just loops back to the writing for me.
00:58:17
Speaker
Right. She she kind of feels like a second half character like Justin Long in um Barbarian. But Justin Long's character was amazing. yeah and and not only did he suck so much have bad guy i mean he he really sold it he acted his ass off um but the writing was there for him to use as a guide so like He was so like ridiculous that you yeah it just played so well, especially compared to like Bill Skarsgård in that movie, who was like a complete sweetie.
00:58:51
Speaker
You loved him. yeah oh like What a guy. then to To gush about that for a second, so good on the marketing to just use Bill Skarsgård as... A real life example of someone that as a collective society, we know that's a scary guy because we know he's Pennywise. He's like, I'm going to use that in this movie, in the trailer, that knowledge and flip it. hate the lip thing.
00:59:16
Speaker
um
00:59:19
Speaker
To the dinner scene of...
00:59:23
Speaker
Her yelling at Clark and like kind of telling him what he needs to hear. Worst therapist ever. Worst therapist ever. um Worst scene ever for me. I, it, I was, good I was out.
00:59:36
Speaker
I was out. There could have been something there though. Like with, with the little guy, with his wife. um There could have been something there, but that wasn't it.
00:59:48
Speaker
it just It felt like a ah theater production like haunted house to me. And all steaks were off the table at that point. yeah Yeah, they were in the fridge.
01:00:00
Speaker
Yeah.
01:00:11
Speaker
I like the wig part though. The wig part was the red-headed Yeah, that was like perfectly gnarly and weird. I think so too. I think you joined the reactor in a reaction to that one. I did, yeah.
01:00:24
Speaker
What about the the best part about them? You can eat them. Hated that. And he starts... Hated it because it was gross or hated it because you didn't think it was good?
01:00:37
Speaker
Both. Okay. I like that.
01:00:42
Speaker
tried to eat one of my buddies after that movie. i don't think he appreciated it very much. Me when I try to eat my boys.
01:00:51
Speaker
Yeah. um Pretty great. Actually, before I get to that, let's talk about the technology people. Mark Duplass' character, Phil. the secret Yeah, the secret society. What are they? The MRI machine makers.
01:01:07
Speaker
Sure. What do we think of Mark Duplass? Phil. The actor or the character? I like Mark Duplass the actor. The character.
01:01:18
Speaker
this This specific storyline, I'm interested in. Who are they? What are they? What's going on here? i do want to see more of that.
01:01:28
Speaker
Right. Exactly. there's There's so many interesting things that we just don't get enough of or don't get deep enough with. um I really liked his character. i liked, i guess, what he represented in the world.
01:01:43
Speaker
I didn't really like anything he had to say. i i did not like the last 15 or 20 minutes of this movie at all. it was It was hard to get through. i agree with you.
01:01:55
Speaker
Yeah, i I agree with you. um Specifically, the last shots back into the back rooms. I think it just is trying to drive that point home of like what you said, Alex, the, the ghost stories and what those emotions and feelings could do.
01:02:13
Speaker
But, ah, see, I, I, I'm going to disagree with you guys. I like that. I liked the, how, they were like, oh, we we have no idea what's going on in nicer terms.
01:02:28
Speaker
But they were being bad because they kind of kind of think that they're not going to let her go. But I liked that they kind of just had no idea what's going on because I didn't want the movie. I don't want the back rooms to be explained. i don't want to see the science behind the back rooms. I just kind of like, which is why I'm like, when I when i see that there's a back rooms too, I don't,
01:02:50
Speaker
like I'm not super excited, not because I didn't dislike the movie, but I just, I don't really want to know more. i don't want to know real quick. I don't want to know more about the back rooms, but I want to see this specific room.
01:03:02
Speaker
Not only, I think it'd be cool to see them stumble upon the back rooms for the first time. And I want to see them continuously fucking up year after year, after year, after year of whatever the hell's going on in the back rooms. Agreed. I think that's what I would want to see.
01:03:21
Speaker
Agreed.
01:03:24
Speaker
Sound design of this movie I thought was awesome. Yep. And the lack thereof.
01:03:30
Speaker
Like I said, theyre there is a lot of promise here. There is a lot of promise and it's very exciting for Kane Parson and crew to most likely get another shot at this but also be getting whatever other opportunities.
01:03:45
Speaker
um There's a lot here like for sure. fors sure He should be proud of himself. Yeah, for sure. I was going to say, make a scarier monster or don't show it at all.
01:03:58
Speaker
yeah They always show the monster. They always show I'll never forget um it lives inside. And they showed the monster. It was just like, oh. So Pirate Clark was played by Robert Bobrakazzo.
01:04:15
Speaker
I'm so sorry. I can't. that's a I can't pronounce that. Bobro Kiziki. He is a Hungarian, and he was the monster or the offspring in Alien Romulus.
01:04:28
Speaker
Bobrochki. Bobrochki. Yeah, the CZ is a cha. Okay. He's a former college basketball player from Romania, and he stands at 7 foot 7 inches tall.
01:04:41
Speaker
So he's a big old boy. He is a big boy. That guy from Victorious isn't in the movie. I just saw Avon Yogyo? Yeah.
01:04:52
Speaker
Who did he play? I have no idea. i don't know. He's like six-filled. I don't remember his face in movie at all. No. Does he play the the guy?
01:05:08
Speaker
Maybe. Naren Warren. I have no idea who that is. I don't know that man. He appeared, he's in the opening scene of the Backrooms movie. Oh, was he, like he was maybe the one behind the camera?
01:05:21
Speaker
Yeah. That's funny. That's a fun role. You know what, now that i look at it, or think look back on it, his voice, yeah.
01:05:34
Speaker
I would not have been able to pick out No, I wouldn't have until knowing it like, oh, that's who that was. Like, yeah. Yeah, he's the async explorer of the back rooms.
01:05:46
Speaker
Very interesting. What have you guys thought about like the lore explanations that you've seen online? One that I wanted to bring up um from an interview with Kane Parsons, which I thought was really interesting.
01:06:02
Speaker
This was an interview with Kane Parsons being asked about generative AI ah while interviewing for for the movie. It's a bit of a read, so strap in.
01:06:14
Speaker
Backrooms is a film that emerged from somebody sitting alone at a computer painstakingly teaching themselves how to make things frame by frame. Asked about how he feels about the rapid evolution of AI image-making technology, Parsons thinks for a beat.
01:06:26
Speaker
In quotes, I think I'm in the same boat as most well-adjusted people, he says. If I could snap my fingers and make generative AI disappear forever, I probably would. Creatively, I get no enjoyment from using those tools. It defeats the purpose entirely for me.
01:06:39
Speaker
End quote. There may, he concedes, be practical uses for AI assistance and tedious VFX labor. But right now it's difficult to discuss objectively because there's so much at stake and so many genuinely harmful consequences already happening.
01:06:53
Speaker
What interests me more is interrogating it artistically, he says. We already live in a world where you walk outside and there are billboards and signs that are obvious AI slop. That's become part of our visual reality.
01:07:04
Speaker
To me, generative AI feels less like innovation than a symptom of a broader cultural and economic rot. I'm interested in using that iconography in art, not using AI to make the art itself, but examining what it represents.
01:07:17
Speaker
That I think is interesting in comparing it with the back rooms where similar to what you said, Alex, where a ghost and these places can be left behind emotions. I think you can argue that.
01:07:33
Speaker
AI like the back rooms is and they say that say this in the movie is. something trying to remember. It's like trying to draw draw a dog from memory, but that person's never seen a dog. And that's kind of what AI and what AI art is. It's not the actual artist. It's just copying from something that came before it.
01:07:52
Speaker
And so I think there's a conversation there, obviously from from what he's saying in that interview, that I do think is interesting to put some more subtext behind the back rooms as a whole.
01:08:03
Speaker
Agreed. what he said. I like that. to To kind of piggyback off the half-remembered thing, one of the other things that I, or you know,
01:08:15
Speaker
views on this movie that I saw that I really enjoyed was the ah how like the read that, you know, this was made by like a Gen Z person and like a lot of media now that like Gen Z has grown up on, especially recently, feels just like half remembered things from someone's childhood, right?
01:08:33
Speaker
You look at like Stranger Things, it's like, oh, it's eighty s throwback. And it's like, well, how and why? It's like, oh, because here's a thing. Like, here's just this thing we had. Oh, yeah, look, it's This song, here's Kate Bush running up that hill.
01:08:49
Speaker
umm I'm picking on Stranger Things because it's very easy to, but I i did really like that read because it it has, I've kind of held the opinion for a while. I think a lot of modern mass media now is just like key janglings.
01:09:06
Speaker
Look at this. Look what we're bringing back. Like all these reboots and all these like reunions. The member berries. It's just like we're we're going back. Like, look, it's, you know, here's the reboot of whatever. And we're jangling the keys. It's like, you should be happy.
01:09:24
Speaker
But it's not... And as much as I'm enjoying... I liked the King of the Hill reboot. I still need to see the Scrubs reboot. um I heard it was good. So I'm not not hating on these reboots, right? like they They can be good. But you know there was something to it when there was a lot of like original television. like When these stories were original. They were so great. They deserved to be rebooted because they were...
01:09:50
Speaker
like, greatly original in the first place, and they felt they were emotional, you know, they drew upon, like, lived experience, and now it just seems like you're not going for any weight, you're just going for, here's a thing. And I liked how the backroom showed that as, like, here's the thing, half remembered, and here's how it degrades over time.
01:10:09
Speaker
Like, and eventually, we're just gonna get some, you know, vanilla slop thrown on our our plate, and it's like, oh, here, here it is, and it's just the Mandalorian in Grogu.
01:10:20
Speaker
Boom.
01:10:24
Speaker
No, i think I think that's very well said. um Unfortunately, like with like the interview, I think that's... Kane Parsons seems like a very smart dude.
01:10:35
Speaker
um I like him. I mean, yeah I'm rooting for him. I'm rooting for him. And like with the read that you had and the meanings that you can draw from this movie, um'm like I'm a big fan of.
01:10:47
Speaker
I think just the overall execution of the movie did not land for me, but there's a lot, there's a lot I liked, but more I disliked, but I think there's a very, very promising, we got a very, very promising filmmaker and we'll happily watch whatever he puts out next.
01:11:07
Speaker
Yeah, his Attack on Titan stuff was great. Dude, I had no idea that he was the one that made those. like I would see those on TikTok years ago. um If you don't know what we're talking about, he had also made this like these videos, like short five-minute videos of Attack on Titan, but shot like it was a historical documentary, like as if it was real. And it looks so cool. It it looks so sick.
01:11:32
Speaker
so like Dude's a a visual for sure. He's got a flair for it. Closing thoughts. Yeah. right Unless you got anything else to say. I think I'm ready to rate.
01:11:46
Speaker
Okay. Yep. I'll go first. I'm giving back rooms directed by Kane Parsons a three out of five. I'm going to give back rooms directed by Kane Parsons a three out of five.
01:12:03
Speaker
i'm going to give Backrooms directed by Kane Parsons three out of five. Wow. Look at us go. all Kane's listening to this like weeping. Just use the canned applause. We're like so washed.
01:12:21
Speaker
It's like, what have you guys done? i We make callback. No, we're like callback rooms. Ooh, Kane, call our line. We'll collab.
01:12:33
Speaker
ah Yeah, you guys should watch the watch the short film. um After watching it, I'm like, I get it. This is cool. i don't know if um I don't know if analog horror is going to be for me.
01:12:48
Speaker
I'll be completely honest. So far, it hasn't been for me. Yeah. It's always like cool, and then there's like 100 million hours of things to watch, like the YouTube series. It's like, hmm.
01:13:01
Speaker
Okay, but not even just for that. And I i honestly feel would think about this for the last day, but this might be like the first time I feel maybe a a generational gap in.
01:13:18
Speaker
In a certain type of media. like Analog horror feels very Gen Z. Like you were saying. like there's like the Them going through COVID. At such like a young age.
01:13:28
Speaker
Is going to have like lasting effects. That we've already seen. And that we still don't know of. so like Movies like this feel like their response to that. And I fully respect it. And I think it's awesome.
01:13:39
Speaker
But on a relate like personal relatable level. like I don't know if. it I could be wrong. But these were just my thoughts. I don't know if like I'll. fully get it, you know? And it just feels like it could be a generational thing. i don't know.
01:13:53
Speaker
I guess we'll find out. Sometime soon. Next week, Close Encounters of the Third Kind and Disclosure Day. Is that the next episode? Yeah. Yep. I'm so stoked.
01:14:05
Speaker
It'll be a good one. I'm super excited for it, too. i Close Encounters the Third Kind been on my watch list for 15 years. It's also been on my watch list for a very long time. i have...
01:14:18
Speaker
the soundtrack on vinyl or the score on vinyl. um And it's creepy as hell. So excited to see what this is about. Daft Punk used to open their shows with like the chime from that movie. that no no no no Yeah.
01:14:33
Speaker
They used to open their shows with that. I really liked the rollout for Disclosure Day. Like we know so little and I love that. I've been avoiding that trailer, like the plague.
01:14:46
Speaker
And I guess on the latest trailer, they did show the alien. I'm really glad I didn't see it. though I saw a screenshot and I was like, it was a very close like shot of it.
01:14:59
Speaker
And it makes me think I'm like, what is the reason that they decided to show the alien? Maybe ticket sales aren't as good as people thought they were going to be. I don't know there. I think there's a conversation there to be had to where a lot of people are saying disclosure day might flop.
01:15:14
Speaker
that a Steven Spielberg movie flops, but a directorial debut by a 20-year-old breaks records. And what does that say? i don't know. True paradigm shift. I think our Dune's going to destroy Doomsday prediction is going to come truer the closer we get to it. Oh, yeah. I think our stock for that is going to the moon.
01:15:33
Speaker
it'll be I may have to buy polymarket bets. I'm dead serious. I want to gamble on it so bad. I'm so confident in it. I'm not endorsing ah gambling on this podcast, but... I'm not, but if you want to make free money.
01:15:50
Speaker
Buy my program. i'll teach you how. All right. Well, watch Close Encounters of the Third Kind to hear us talk about it. Watch Disclosure Day. We'll have an episode on it. I'm excited for it, and we will see you then.
01:16:04
Speaker
Bye. See ya.
01:16:25
Speaker
Thank you.