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Real Genius (1985)
22 Plays4 days ago
This week on the Everything Actioncast, Zach and Chris enroll at Pacific Tech and talk about 1985's Real Genius for its 40th anniversary.
Val Kilmer stars as Chris Knight, a senior who takes physics prodigy Mitch Taylor (Gabriel Jarret) under his wing as the pair work as part of a team developing a powerful laser. The team is unaware that their professor, Jerry Hathaway (William Atherton), is secretly working for the CIA and plans to turn over the laser, if it gets completed in time, to be used as an orbital weapons system. Zach and Chris discuss the extent of the damage being done to the Pacific Tech campus, the lack of a unique soundtrack song, how the pranks are based on actual events, why the CIA would outsource a top-secret weapons project to a college science professor, and more.
You can watch Real Genius on Philo or rent it from Amazon, Fandango at Home, and Apple TV. Next week, we're getting ready for the return of Hutch Mansell in Nobody 2 by revisiting the first movie from 2021.
We want to hear your comments and feedback. Send them all to contact@everythingaction.com. Also, let us know your suggestions for movies for us to discuss.
Please subscribe, rate, and review us on Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music, Spotify, or wherever you get podcasts. You can also find the podcast on YouTube.
Check us out on Twitter (@evaction), Facebook (www.facebook.com/everything.action), and Instagram (@everything.action).
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Transcript
Introduction to Everything Action Cast
00:00:03
Speaker
Welcome to the Everything Action Cast, the official podcast of EverythingAction.com.
00:00:18
Speaker
Hello and welcome to the Everything Action Cast, podcast week of August 4th, 2025. I'm your host, Zach. um your co-host, Chris.
Overview of 'Real Genius' Movie
00:00:27
Speaker
And this week we are enrolling at Pacific Tech and talking about Real Genius, which is celebrating its 40th anniversary. It came out on August 7th, 1985.
00:00:37
Speaker
And definitely like an 80s classic. um the The second big starring role for Val Kilmer after Top Secret.
00:00:47
Speaker
And right before Top Gun. Yeah, right before Top Gun where he basically came like... Yeah, I think Rude Genius was... It's like his more of a comedy chop, so he just came out of ah Top Secret. You're like, alright, ready for more comedies.
00:01:01
Speaker
but And Top Gun was like, he's not funny. And Top Gun... If he's serious, Val. Yeah, he's an action guy now. Well, I guess i mean the next big thing you after that was like Willow, which is kind of both.
00:01:17
Speaker
Like he was like action guy. had like like Yeah, like comedy guy. But I think like I always forget that he's in that because he really does become that character.
00:01:32
Speaker
But yeah, and then I think i think it's the is it the year after Revenge of the Nerds. um Yeah, yeah the year after Revenge of the Nerds. Definitely similar vibes, although Real Genius is basically like what if the college was just nerds?
00:01:48
Speaker
And there was no like rival jocks or anything. Or even a rival college. No, yeah no rival college. All smart ah like engineering students trying to unintentionally making weapons for the government.
00:02:05
Speaker
But that was like from the head guy. yeah I'm just wondering what about other departments who aren't specializing in whatever like super science that this class he was teaching was doing.
00:02:19
Speaker
like There has to be someone else in the group that just like does chemistry or whatever. and They're just like, what's going on? I know all the budget is in ah William Apperton's class, but then there has to be other like majors in other science fields.
00:02:35
Speaker
There's a bunch of other students just like going there for just for like an engineering degree or something, but then we're following this like select group that are on this special project.
00:02:46
Speaker
Yeah, because it's like a secret covert project that I think... um his school was known for because the military is like, okay. So let's get back to like the weird, like web of things.
00:02:58
Speaker
It's like the CIA is secretly hiring William Aperton to build a death laser.
Government and Ethical Implications
00:03:06
Speaker
But then like, it's not a secret. Cause then the military's about it.
00:03:12
Speaker
Well, it's, there's like a, the opening is like a pro they've, they've created like a promo video. of, like, crossbow, which is, like, the ah space shuttle with a laser on it that they want to use to shoot people from space and, like, assassinate them but just, like, disintegrating them.
00:03:32
Speaker
But do you remember, like, Reagan's Star Wars plan? Yeah, I mean, this is definitely, like, obviously inspired by that. Like, like next the next step beyond that, like, is that was just to stop missiles. Now this is, we're going use lasers to, like, disintegrate people.
00:03:47
Speaker
oh yeah.
00:03:50
Speaker
But yeah, they have this ridiculous like promo video, and then there's this... like It's almost like a Doctor Strangelove. They're in this like dark room with and like but around this like white table, and it's all those like these like military guys. And then they're like, well, hopefully these college kids get this like power source done for us.
00:04:10
Speaker
And it's like they're like, Don, go lean on your your celebrity scientist professor like contact.
00:04:19
Speaker
and It's a lot of like passing the buck in and and like who's developing this actual weapon. Yeah. and And they never explained how William Atherton got connected with like his like main contact, like Don, who like I think is an Air Force guy Or is he CIA?
00:04:41
Speaker
Well, the CIA is working with the Air Force. Yeah.
00:04:46
Speaker
because Because normally you have to go to like you know a military contractor company or something. Maybe they they just saw like his like TV show. They're like, oh, this guy. This guy can make a laser for us. Yeah, that's weird. It's like you want to hire the like i get like syndicated science guy. like It's like the military trying to hire Bill Nye.
00:05:04
Speaker
Yeah, or Beekman or something. then build some weird chemical bomb. And he's going to like, uh, sure? I'll do it, and I won't tell my students that what we're doing. And also, I'm going to funnel the funds. Does the CIA know that William Aperton is using students?
00:05:23
Speaker
Because feel like that's something they should have checked in on.
00:05:29
Speaker
i feel like just I feel like because he has access to, like, you know, it's like the smartest people kids in the world are going to Pacific Tech, so that's like kind of like And then they'll have to pay them because they're students too. That's like a business this like a plus.
00:05:43
Speaker
Well, that's like his angle. We know that he was undercutting because he was like, okay, they will build it research it. I don't need to hire professionals. like I'll use my students.
00:05:56
Speaker
yeah and just call them labor And just tell them it's like a special project that we're doing. right And then um and I'm going to funnel all the rest of the money into my my fancy house. But it's funny, because like wouldn't the military be like, okay, like CIA especially, should be like, so you just bought like this house and you're fixing it from the like budget we gave you? like No red flags there, guys?
00:06:17
Speaker
Well, he his CIA, like that whatever whoever Don works for, don is like he like heavily implies in the beginning of the movie, like you know if ah you don't deliver this laser for us, they start auditing they they usually like audit these
College Life and Culture in 'Real Genius'
00:06:29
Speaker
projects that fail, so you know keep that in mind.
00:06:31
Speaker
yeah True, true.
00:06:36
Speaker
So then that's why like what we're after is like is like super... like We gotta get this done! We gotta get this done three months! He does panic build, and it's crazy that it wasn't just some sort of comical like bomb they made.
00:06:50
Speaker
Because then it's like a whole different movie of just like, oh no, this thing's held up by like duct tape and like blue. But it's like a competent like device that they made.
00:07:02
Speaker
But the thing is, that I like that... like In this movie, you see the like the use of these super smart people who aren't aware of their applications. They just love like science so much in their community.
00:07:19
Speaker
And then i guess like they they themselves never read Appaheim or any kind of like philosophy class.
00:07:30
Speaker
They're just making stuff. I want to know what the like repair budget for the school is because they're like like breaking windows and freezing hallways and flooding auditoriums. and No one cares. The school awesome partying and and um damages and litter.
00:07:51
Speaker
There's so much like nuances in the college that if you... like you know like I guess the 80s was different because colleges were like a fantasy place back then. yeah And I don't know if like colleges were like that.
00:08:05
Speaker
you know You ever hear like someone tell you how cool their college was and stuff? and it's like Everyone i I really know about college who went to state college or or whatever, it's just like, it's just like high school plus like the next level of high school.
00:08:18
Speaker
Do my shit I get out of here. Yeah, this is like there's you know the entire dorm is covered in graffiti. There's you know secret passageways to the basement. like Yeah, there's constant pranks.
00:08:31
Speaker
I guess, even, I guess, like, MIT was sort of like that. I did a tour there for, like, family once, and it sort of was that, like, chaos where, like, they'll just be, like, shit on the wall, and then, um, I remember I saw, like, a yield sign on, like, the, like, hallway, and I was like, yeah, man, like, college rocks.
00:08:50
Speaker
Well, I guess, I guess a lot of the stuff is based on, like, pranks or things that happen that, like, you know schools like Caltech and MIT, so like they did a lot of research about like those campuses and like things that happened on those campuses.
00:09:05
Speaker
That makes sense. like Because it's like smart people with free time and then the planning.
00:09:11
Speaker
Meanwhile, I'm thinking back in college, Zach, anyone who did pranks, they did dumb shit like light things on fire. That's not a prank, that's a crime.
00:09:22
Speaker
I mean, technically what they did few times was just personal invasion. But they got to prove that in court.
00:09:30
Speaker
Yeah, I guess like ah like like Caltech, they actually... They they did something similar to like the when they freeze the hallway. um But then they like they actually like they didn't have it like turn into gas afterwards. It actually like melted and then they whitewater wrapped it down the hallways.
00:09:49
Speaker
See, like, the gas that gets released, it's like... What is it? Well, it would be poison because it's sort of like dry ice where like whatever vapor comes off chemically in order to make it like not be like evaporated. It's got to be like an accelerant in the the water molecules.
00:10:11
Speaker
And that's usually poisonous to like people, you know, like we're made out of water. So if if like there's something that dehydrates water, that that's like mustard gas to us, you know, like that. That's like, oh, this would be poison.
00:10:24
Speaker
you Everyone the dorm would be dead. You've yeah carboned it up.
00:10:31
Speaker
So... That's fun. That would have like a dark... Haha, it's so fun, and only the main cast gets out of the dorm, and everyone everyone else in the dorm is just gone.
00:10:44
Speaker
But... ah Yeah, let's let's get back to the beginning where we we don't follow who you think this movie is promoting a lot heavily. Like, initially. you You follow, like, a totally different character.
Character Dynamics and Development
00:10:56
Speaker
And then I think it's, like, the 20-minute mark is when you see Val Kilmer finally.
00:11:02
Speaker
Mm-hmm.
00:11:05
Speaker
yeah Yeah, so yeah, i guess as I guess the main character is Mitch, ah who is, like, 15-year-old fifteen year old like genius who is is like kid conveniently like is like an expert on like lasers so and then i guess it's been like you know observed like poached by william atherton to like come to pacific tech like basically skip rest of high school and just go to pacific tech as a freshman and and work on his one is at his laser project
00:11:36
Speaker
and then he gets he gets put it as a roommate with val kilmer chris knight
00:11:45
Speaker
Who, I think, like, his... Okay, so in the movie, Chris Knight's supposed be this, like, legend of a, like, child prodigy. Yeah, people people know him, like, Mitch knows him from, like, the National Physics Club or something, and so, like, he's, like, known to other smart people.
00:12:05
Speaker
And then the real Chris Knight is nothing like the academic version. Or he's smart, but, like, he just sort of, like, is very, like, I'm too good for this world, or I'm too good for this, like, corporate bullshit. I'll find my true passion, which we don't really see. Like, besides, like, getting laid and doing whatever, he's basically a weird Van Wilder. so Yeah, he's like, he's like Finn Wilder. Finn Wilder was also, like, a physics genius. Mm-hmm.
00:12:31
Speaker
But the the bizarre thing is that like we don't even know what Chris is like like wants to do. it's like he definitely I think oh no i think he they said he they had to offer something, but he didn't want it.
00:12:45
Speaker
he's well William Atherton is offering him... When we first meet Val Kilmer, he's getting a tour of the place he's going to work. he's getting a tour of the place he's goingnna work when he graduates, which is like Darlington something or like an electronics company or something or some sort of like it's a company like has like an in for.
00:13:06
Speaker
then they do like space communications or some sort of like telecom company. But it's like a very cushy job that like, hey, build this laser me, graduate, get that cushy job.
00:13:18
Speaker
graduate yeah you get that kushy job but Because then later he's like, oh, yeah, you failed me, Chris. The douchebag is the job now.
00:13:32
Speaker
You're out. I think also the ah but like power, I think, of what his job could be. Because I think like at that point you could play like so much more science.
00:13:44
Speaker
So I think that's what he wants more. Because he's not in it to like make friends. it's like That was accidental. you know like I feel like Chris didn't really have friends until he met Mitch. ah He's friendly to people, but it's like the thing where it's like, oh, hey, Mitch isn't going to replace me. Because I think he sees Mitch as a rival in the beginning.
00:14:05
Speaker
Did you get that vibe? i don't think so. i think i well He sees himself because he was like Mitch when he first started going there. And then he realized, no, I can't.
00:14:17
Speaker
like I'm going to turn into the other mysterious character, which is John Grease, Uncle Rico, who like lives in the basement and ah never left the school.
00:14:28
Speaker
And ah that's that's such a great run gag of just like Mitch seeing him come to the room and just disappear into their closet and he's like, Why is there, like, a weird man going into our closet, constantly? And Bill Kilmer just does not, like, respond like like comment on it at all?
00:14:44
Speaker
He doesn't acknowledge it. Yeah. ah That's just Lazlo. Whatever. like this At this point, I think Lazlo is, like, beyond his 20s. Oh, yeah. he was one i think I think Chris says he's like he was there in like, the 70s or something in the school.
00:15:00
Speaker
Jesus. So it's like, that guy is, like, at least, like, 30. Mm-hmm.
00:15:11
Speaker
But I guess like the bit real for him is that he also, like, well, I don't know if it was at school, but, like, he also kind of, like, the project he was working on, he found out that they were using, like, the government turned into a weapon, and then it kind of like, broke his mind.
00:15:25
Speaker
And so he, like, it was like, I'm not, I'm not, I'm out of here. i like I'm not going to, like, involve myself in society anymore. just going live in this, like, the steam tunnels of Pacific Tech and just work on my own stuff.
00:15:39
Speaker
Which apparently is trying to win like a third of the prizes for like a Frito-Lay contest. Yeah, he builds like a whole elaborate like entry system. Algorithm, yeah.
00:15:51
Speaker
And I guess he maximized his payout, but I don't know how long he's been and't know how long he's been doing it. Is it just Frito-Lays, or it is just like, oh, this is the latest competition?
00:16:03
Speaker
Yeah, that that's all that's also based on and like a real thing. like Apparently these guys like um did a similar thing i mean for a McDonald's contest and they won a fifth of the prizes.
00:16:18
Speaker
if yeah if you yeah If you mail enough entries in and you figure out a way like to maximize your entries, then yeah, you can like just like basically like super increase your chances of winning everything.
00:16:29
Speaker
Or a lot of it.
00:16:34
Speaker
Although I think someone in like IND trivia or like on internet did like ah but the math for it and like what he spent on like, you know, buying whatever he needed to buy to get entries was... could buy like junk food.
00:16:47
Speaker
Yeah. But like the cost of that would like not equal the amount of entries he put in. Well, I mean... The prizes he won would not equal what he spent. Oh, damn. Because you figure he broke even or more, but he also doesn't pay rent because he lives like in the college.
00:17:02
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah.
00:17:10
Speaker
But yeah, there's a whole thing. but's a whole thing but well Chris met Laszlo because he was in the same room the entire time. Saw him coming out of the closet or something, and it was like, oh, hey, weird guy.
00:17:23
Speaker
And I started talking to him, and then he's like, oh, I'm to turn it to him if I don't...
Themes and Soundtrack of 'Real Genius'
00:17:28
Speaker
like you know
00:17:31
Speaker
not not care about anything, or not care about like like Care about, care about like like, not just work and not just studying. Like, I gotta, like, live a lot... I gotta have fun and have a life.
00:17:43
Speaker
Right. And, like, kind of have other interests besides science. Mm-hmm. I mean, that that was, like, a nice message. But that's, like, wormed in through the other 80s, like, montage distraction that's going on during the movie.
00:17:57
Speaker
Oh, i forgot forget I forgot how many montages... There's, like, three montages in this movie. Yep. Although... The most shocking thing is that there's not a real genius, like, song. Yeah.
00:18:09
Speaker
Like, you would think they would have a song. Like, you'd think they would have like a weird science or something. They don't have a... There's not a real genius, like, big pop song that they could sell. It's, like, a music video and, like, on the soundtrack.
00:18:21
Speaker
Yeah, ah the only one I know at the end is the Tears for Fears. and Yeah, they have that. Which is sort of, like, confusing because... It's a very 80s song.
00:18:31
Speaker
It's a very like weird popcorn-related thing where the world... like um They want to rule the world, so I get like the laser thing. But there is no upbeat version of that.
00:18:46
Speaker
yeah you know Everyone wants to rule the world. like this Actually, it's a very downer song if you like listen to the words. But yeah, there's no like build a laser, like build a mirror, been like real genius, real genius.
00:19:03
Speaker
Yeah, I think I think the weird science fits really crazy into this movie, too. Yeah. Like, I kind of wish that's what the montage song was at the end when they all did that major study session.
00:19:15
Speaker
Where was Oingo Bungo? Get them. I think Weird Science comes out next year in in like this timeline, right? i think i might but I feel like it might have been the same year I think it was the same year. because i yeah i remember I posted the anniversary post on our social media like the same week as this one. Wow.
00:19:32
Speaker
Yeah, the the i it was the same year, 85, within like days of each other or weeks like a week from each other. that makes sense, then. So Ongo Bongo was doing that. But yeah, you figure they're competing in the same kind of like fake science, so do pseudo-science, college era movies of the time.
00:19:51
Speaker
Yeah. You need to invest in a good song. Weird Science has the Weird Science. I think Devo is in Revenge the Nerds.
00:20:01
Speaker
Yep. Weird Science has Tear for Fears. geniussd of rear and they like The opening credits are like like bizarre, too, because they have like a jazz song.
00:20:12
Speaker
It's not even like an upbeat like eighty s song. It's an old-school jazz ballad. yeah yeah like It sounds like a soap opera opening, like a 70s thing. And then... Yeah, that's out of touch.
00:20:29
Speaker
like what this This is the opening for your like your you know fun, crazy science comedy movie. is This this like ah you know old jazz standard or whatever this is. yeah that was just that's that's like the cause i was like I was ready to be like, oh, you know what I should put up for um our musical montage feature on the site for this week? Is the the song from Real Genius. Obviously, there's a song from Real Genius, right?
00:20:56
Speaker
And there isn't. completely not just like how why would you want that like what tears for fears up even if it has nothing to do with just the music field has nothing to do with it there's no reference to anything in the movie uh i mean again maybe it's because the they want to rule the world at least america does maybe yeah but maybe they shouldn't outsource their death ray program to a college mm-hmm
00:21:27
Speaker
and And bank all bank your yeah be your top secret classified laser weapon on a local local so like TV celebrity slash college professor.
00:21:46
Speaker
it is, yeah, it it's really about two characters. like I think we were talking before we started. It's almost like he kind of it's almost like his character from Ghostbusters, like, learned to be, like, Bill Murray, like, Venkman from Ghostbusters. now Now he's, like, now he is, like, now he's acting like Venkman.
00:22:04
Speaker
Yeah, he's become his own, like, slacker, which is kind of crazy because um in any kind of 80s movie, it should be the guy that basically is watching the students and sort of, like, ah like,
00:22:19
Speaker
Like, the Dean in sort of, like, Roadhouse and Animal House. Yeah. Where that guy's role is basically just to, like, whip them into... Be the buzzkill,
Academic Challenges and Rivalries
00:22:30
Speaker
like... Yeah, yeah. Just, yell at them, like... Which they kind of do, but the problem is that, like, he himself has, like, blackmailable stuff.
00:22:39
Speaker
You know? Like... It's like he gets caught with, like, a person. There's, like, way too many, like... his house is way too like accessible for everyone to just to go to.
00:22:52
Speaker
ah but ah it like you Yeah, really anyone else at the school. like You don't see any other like professors. The dean shows up at the beginning of the end that's it. ah yeah He doesn't seem to care at all.
00:23:04
Speaker
That's why he's sort of he himself is sort of like, okay, I can get away with this. This is great. yeah i mean is is he like a running bit which i think when i favorite but but apparently it's also like a real thing where one of the montages like mitch is going to school the classes and then ah like the class like slowly just turns into like everyone just brings like a tape recorder and it's like tape records the lecture and then it ends with like the professor recording his own lecture and then it's just like like a ah really real real real lecture people like quarters just yeah it just all recorders
00:23:36
Speaker
I feel like, does Mitch go? And then it's like, he realizes he's the only real person there. I think the last beat of that like joke is that Mitch goes to the class and the professor's even there anymore. It's just ah a big like real, real projector at like broadcasting out the lecture and then it's all just like tape recorders in the class. yeah It was the future.
00:23:56
Speaker
Yeah. It was ahead of time of remote learning. Well, because in journal in those giant lectures, you can't ask questions. You're really not supposed to. You're supposed to just listen to this lecture.
00:24:09
Speaker
think nowadays, some colleges that have like little more hands-on, you can you can ask and then they'll show examples. but I think in science fields, it's a textbook.
00:24:20
Speaker
It's not like, okay, well, hey, this week they changed the atoms. So we're learning this now.
00:24:29
Speaker
But, okay. You want to talk about the the specialty? How Mitch is like... How how like Chris and Mitch have to invent this like fake power source?
00:24:41
Speaker
Yeah. so and Apparently... like There's been this whole team that's been working on it for who knows how long. And then it Mitch gets brought in. Because there's there's like... We haven't mentioned... like So there's Kent. who's like he's like He's the villain. like Along with William Atherton. But he's like the main villain. It's Kent.
00:24:57
Speaker
William Atherton's underling. And then he has like two guys with him that are kind of like his underlings. But um they' they've all been working on it. they yeah they can't They can't crack. They need to get the laser up to a certain power level or else it's not going to be viable for um as like a death where that death ray. So yeah.
00:25:18
Speaker
so yeah So yeah. So then Chris and Mitch to come up with this crazy ah it's like cooling system and like ah I forget what, like, barium... You know, they make a barium laser. There's actually a lot of like... Kind of sounds like like legitimate, like, science talk.
00:25:37
Speaker
Yep. A lot of jargon. Mm-hmm. But... The... The, like... Them trying to, like, do this science experiment is, like, being interrupted by, like, an evil science team in the same lab.
00:25:57
Speaker
Well, that's like, what's like yeah yeah the like Kent and his cronies are on the they're on their... They're all on the same team, but Kent wants to sabotage them because he wants to be, like, you know, the golden one in Williamson's eyes.
00:26:09
Speaker
So he's like, I can't let these two, like, upstage me.
00:26:14
Speaker
But it's funny that, like, the the main the I think if they just like made everyone work together and it's one giant like team, this project would have worked. but Probably, yeah.
00:26:25
Speaker
William Atherton brings together like everyone who doesn't like each other.
00:26:31
Speaker
this The problem of this was like not the product. They made the product. But it was more like human management of the team. That's a downfall. Yeah, because at a certain point... like yeah like Chris and Mitch Kraken, they get, like, a ah five megajoule or a kelajoule, whatever, a megawatt laser.
00:26:52
Speaker
But then Kent's like, screw you guys. I'm not gonna let you, like, get the glory. And then he, like, he, like, smudges, like, lens so that it blows up. Because, like, cause Chris goes back and, like, tests it like, again, just to make sure.
00:27:06
Speaker
And it blows up. And he's just like, oh, goddammit. And then, like, and then think that's when he's like, well, you blew it.
00:27:18
Speaker
Yeah, that's where, like, ah he realizes that his future of being a slacker is, like, ruined. Yeah. Because ah he was banking on this working, I guess.
00:27:29
Speaker
Mm-hmm.
00:27:33
Speaker
He just coasting on his genius, but then he has to actually buckle down and study for the final. His genius got called in. Although they don't really... He just... He's like, hey, I memorized all the answers for every question that one of the answers ever given you, so we want all the answers for every test.
00:27:56
Speaker
Oh, so he's able to cheat then. Yeah. Chris does. Chris does, yeah. Mm-hmm. I don't know if... Well, think it was just for Chris's test he cheated, but I don't know if Mitch cheated.
00:28:09
Speaker
i don't think we ever see Mitch take a final exam or anything.
Personal Challenges and Relationships
00:28:13
Speaker
The final stuff is like mostly for Chris because he's graduating, and William Afton is blackmailing about, like, well, I'm going to go the dean, and like you won't graduate. I'll say, I'll flunk you, and then you won't you we' get a degree or a job if you don't get this laser finished.
00:28:31
Speaker
And that kind of turns like... That's when they all kind of like... We're against... What Matthew did now. We're going to make this just spite him. And also... I'm going to graduate this to spite him.
00:28:45
Speaker
yeah Yeah. I mean... That's the the great... 80s thing. Where eventually they're like... Okay, hey. Let's actually pay attention to like the goal. The first thing we need to Is pull a prank on our bully.
00:28:59
Speaker
Yes.
00:29:03
Speaker
Well, that's revenge for it, because Mitch hits the low point and he calls home and he's like, I want to come home. And his parents just like, no, you can't. we've We already rented your room out to like ah this random guy. You got to stay at school and be a big boy.
00:29:18
Speaker
i do like how his parents were just like Midwest pumpkins. Yep. Like, stay there. Learn science. Yeah, got to make us some money. You got to move us out to California someday.
00:29:30
Speaker
But yeah, Kent kent and his cronies record that, and they play it over loudspeakers for everyone to like laugh at Mitch. But then Mitch and Chris like team up with... ah whos It's like Ikigami, their other guy, who like friend who becomes like super important toward the end.
00:29:50
Speaker
And then Jordan, we haven't mentioned yet, who's like Mitch's love interest.
00:29:55
Speaker
Who is older than them. Which does not age well in this world where ah we're basically like a 15 year old and a 19 year old. It really doesn't matter the ah sex. It just sort of like doesn't look good.
00:30:09
Speaker
But in the 80s where like cocaine flowed like water, this made sense. This was just something that like a plot could just have.
00:30:20
Speaker
But it's okay because they're nerds. So yeah. What's funny too is like, I think Michelle Myron who plays Jordan, she was also in Revenge of the Nerds. But she was not like the main nerd, right? No, I think she's like a like a side nerd. ah Like Judy in Revenge the Nerds.
00:30:45
Speaker
Totally forgot. I didn't like remember the staff. Yeah, but but and her character is crazy because she doesn't sleep. like she she just says like yeah yeah I don't sleep and I just come up with like crazy inventions
00:30:59
Speaker
which I guess I apparently um like I think it's Tad Stones the guy who like made ah Chippendale Rescue Rangers said that like Gadget is based on Jordan from Real Genius well she's like a motor mouth which is I get that but like yeah motor an inventor those two qualities kind like turned to the Gadget huh interesting Because she's, like, inventing, like, she invents, like, an automatic book reader and, like, a rebreather and all these other, like, gadgets and inventions.
00:31:32
Speaker
Yeah, one of the big pranks is, like, they take Kent's car and, like, disassemble it and then put his room, like, fully assembled.
00:31:42
Speaker
Yeah, that's, like, a classic prank that, like, some colleges would just do. Yeah. Or have, like, just, like, like Like, 20 guys carry a car somewhere just, like, dump it. flip it over.
00:31:54
Speaker
I'm trying to think like, another one where, like, they put the car, like, in the pool, on a roof, obviously, or, like, in someone's office. Yep. On, like, a roof somewhere, probably.
00:32:06
Speaker
Mm-hmm.
00:32:09
Speaker
um I mean, like the trope in Animal House where, like, they want to put the horse in someone's, like, office, but then, like, it dies. Mm-hmm. And they're just like, oh shit, like this went wrong.
00:32:20
Speaker
I think, but and then now they moved on to Cars because it's like safer.
00:32:27
Speaker
I'm trying to think of any other like reboot or another kind of legacy college comedy like this where it's like what they can disassemble and reassemble in someone's like thing. It's like someone's like
00:32:45
Speaker
bed something same where it's like okay kids won't do this i feel like i feel like another classic one is like you take the per like you take the person's bed and like just leave it in like a like put it on like a raft or something just like put it by like a lake it's like but you don't really see that anymore yeah but like hangover killed that idea now of like throwing a sleeping person on something and then ever since then like they haven't done
00:33:13
Speaker
Especially in movies now where it's like, okay, well... like Everything's so expensive that if you like disassemble it's like, we cannot put this back together. Yeah, so it's all you specialized tools. like It's like all proprietary.
00:33:27
Speaker
You can't take this apart. It's like taking apart a Tesla. It's like you do you unwarned the Tesla.
00:33:38
Speaker
It's not really a prank, but they also... They turn... I think it looks like an auditorium or like a, um maybe like a giant lecture hall at at school into like a pool, like a pool party. And then ah Chris invites the like neighboring school, which is like a beautician school. So like, it's all these like, like basically like supermodels show up and like party with the nerds. Yeah, I wish that happened in more. Yeah, like a giant, it's like, they make ah like a giant pool like under the stage and it's all like, there's like,
00:34:11
Speaker
tropical everywhere. do they clean that up? like How do you clean up like ah like a however many gallon, like 100 gallon pool that you've made?
00:34:23
Speaker
ah you just throw more of that poison into the water. Heavy Kagami, it's like a special water, it'll just like dis descend it's just like turn into the mist. Or an acid.
00:34:35
Speaker
It's like, oh, now you've acidified the water. You've made more poison.
Espionage and Climax
00:34:42
Speaker
Also, I think at the party scene, I think he's in a couple other scenes, but one of the friends that goes with ah with them to the party is ah played by Dean Devlin, who, you know, has, like, became, like, a super producer, like, produced all of Roman comics movies, and then also directed Geostorm.
00:34:58
Speaker
Crazy. So he's just, like, a random side character in Real Genius. Yeah.
00:35:09
Speaker
like, oh man, the future future director of Geostorm. Well, that's like, you know, some some actors get a foot in the door, realize there's more opportunities in production. To be a producer, yeah. Yeah, like, than the front tra and camera.
00:35:23
Speaker
always think about the guy that, like, directed The Notebook, and the fact that he was, like, the crazy, like, druggy guy in Face Off. Mm-hmm, mm-hmm.
00:35:40
Speaker
So, um, the crazy thing about Real Genius, too, like, for, like, the last, I think the last act, is that kind turns into, like, a different movie. It turns into this, like, kind of, like, light-hearted espyage movie.
00:35:54
Speaker
Yeah, like, the tonal shift, it feels like it should have been, um, sort of, like, hinted at, that they do this kind of, like, covert, uh, like, Iron Eagles thing that they got going on. Mm-mm.
00:36:10
Speaker
But, yeah, it's like, did Iron Eagles come out, like, a year before this? And then, like, we need an Iron Eagles, like, kid sneaks onto, like, a military base thing. that was the It was the year after, so Iron Eagle must ripped this off.
00:36:23
Speaker
That's crazy. Yeah, because the whole plot of Iron Eagles is, like, the last act of real genius.
00:36:33
Speaker
Well, yeah, part i mean part of it, yeah, because, like, theyre like the friends in Iron Eagle sneak out of the base and kind of like, you help them get, like, a plane and everything. They get the planes and all the whatever equipment they need. Paperwork, the clearance, the fuel.
00:36:44
Speaker
Mm-hmm.
00:36:47
Speaker
But yeah, this is after... So Mitch and Chris, the one laser that worked blues blows up because of Kent's interference, but then they come up with a new plan, which is um to use ah was like liquid nitrogen or some sort of like but a different freezing method, and they get an even more powerful laser. They get like a six megawatt laser that blows a hole through like not just like the room they're in, but like the entire like college campus, and then down the street it's a restaurant's like ah like ah Like a bar that blows s like the sign above the bar.
00:37:17
Speaker
Yeah, the bar's okay with it. They're like, yeah, whatever. woo Cool, yeah. Yeah, the like the college, yeah mean you mentioned about repairs. It's like, that just happens, no repercussion.
00:37:31
Speaker
Yeah, they like multiple holes to walls. the like the college statue, like ah the founder statue, its head is like has a whole giant hole in it, multiple trees, and then yeah down the street, they have like there's like local businesses that have but like damage to them.
00:37:48
Speaker
But no yeah, no one no one cares. It's it's fun. It's all just carp ranks whatever.
00:37:56
Speaker
um and they say But then the million-eathens steals, he takes all the equipment that they've they've made and he goes to the government and like, hey, here's here's your working death ray. and then they're going to have a big presentation to show off how it works.
00:38:14
Speaker
And then Chris and Mitch and rest of the find this out because they they rig Kent's mouth with a transmitter and he thinks he's talking to Jesus. that That is crazy.
00:38:27
Speaker
Just it that, like, Kent is like, oh, alright, I believe this. Yeah, it's like, uh, I can get into this. This is, I'm now religious now. Yes, I'm i'm a yeah i have a crazy religious zealot now.
00:38:41
Speaker
you think you always was, and then this sort of, like, triggered it? Maybe. just had, latent, diehard Christian tendencies. Mm-hmm.
00:38:55
Speaker
You figure for a man of science, it wouldn't be so easy to be like, I'm Jesus. You're like, okay. i Well, think the written scientists but think I think part is they're like, oh, Kent, stop touching yourself. And he's like, oh, it is God. Okay.
00:39:14
Speaker
Like, that's what makes him believe like believe it
00:39:20
Speaker
But he tells them maybe that makes sense. Yeah. he tell But like he like he tells them he doesn't know where it's happening, but he knows the dates. They have a date to like try to figure it out and then they get they get more. They get the info. They get figure figure out where the test is going to be. And then it's Chris and Mitch do you have to do like, yeah, like Mission Impossible style. Like they have to sneak into like the base with like fake i fake it IDs and ah sabotage the laser, hook it up to like a modem so they can connect to it from the college.
00:39:50
Speaker
And Lazlo is like ah you know reconfiguring the targets for different targets.
00:39:58
Speaker
So, you know what's funny is that Ken's tracking system itself would have been its own product.
00:40:08
Speaker
ah Ken's laser tracking system, because he built the tracking laser system. they The other guys built the laser. yeah In the grand scheme of things, the tracking system is pretty like worthy.
00:40:22
Speaker
um I was trying to figure out too, like, is the plane... Like, the plane has a pilot in it, right? Because it kind of... Because it almost seems like it's, like, an early drone situation, because there's, like, like it's like a... Well, yeah, so... There's an actual pilot flying the plane, but there's actually, like, another person doing the lasering.
00:40:40
Speaker
Remotely. Like, remotely like targeting the laser. Which I think is, like, ahead of ahead of time, because don't that's how it happens. Mm-hmm.
00:40:50
Speaker
Well, there's, like, a... there's like a They have a target coordinate, but then, the like, the... chris Chris and Mitch and the gang, like, change the coordinates to, ah like, the... turns out to be William Atherton's house.
00:41:02
Speaker
And then they they also, like, they have to switch out, like, a chip and do but a couple other things. And then... whats What's crazy is, like, William Atherton finds the fake chip. Like, the chip the the chip on the floor. But then he's just, like, his, like...
00:41:15
Speaker
he gets caught and he doesn't want to like make it seem like something's wrong so he's like oh yeah but he's fine like he kind of like blows his own like he blows himself up by like by not telling them like oh hey there might be some like someone's here because there's that ship on the floor yeah someone's like and it's sort of like it should have been like okay hey something's not right but he's like nah nah this is 100% cool this is the normal procedure yep don't want to blow don't want to blow that sweet sweet government money But yeah, I think this movie is also like a commentary on like corruption and then just the hubris of, I guess, like ego.
00:41:56
Speaker
It's like everyone's fault. But like even Mitch, well, see, Mitch doesn't have an ego. He's just innocent. I think Mitch and like Jordan and like the other nerds, they don't have an ego. So that's why like they're just doing fine.
00:42:08
Speaker
But Chris is sort of has an ego like. William Aperton does. Obviously, the CIA guy does, because he just blindly, like, trusted this going well. Mm-hmm.
00:42:23
Speaker
I guess so did the U.S. Air Force, because they're like, let's do this. Yeah. let's Let's blow up this ah this fake JFK, like, uh, uh,
00:42:34
Speaker
good ah like convoy. They have like a convoy of like ah cars that look like like like you know like a presidential motorcade that are going blow up.
00:42:48
Speaker
but But because of all the you know sabotage and everything, the laser goes to... we at so cuts like cuts and like starts cutting into it, and then also the big the big prank, the big reveal that they've done is they've put basically a giant like jiffy pop ah container inside his house.
00:43:07
Speaker
And so when the laser hits it, it's going to be like gallons and gallons or like pounds and pounds and pounds of popcorn are going to just like fill his entire house and blow it. Basically destroy his house with popcorn. Because there's a reference really on like Chris Blake shows up to his house with popcorn early in the movie. like, ah hate popcorn. Get out of here. but Throw away. I hate popcorn.
00:43:26
Speaker
So that's like their big revenge. He's like, we're going to fill his entire house with popcorn.
00:43:33
Speaker
Well, That whole popcorn thing, I don't know how long it takes them to fill like like a room full of seeds in that guy's like living room home and stuff. yeah what's it's it Yeah. It's it's in like a giant like foil. It's like a Jiffy Pop, like basically.
00:43:49
Speaker
And I don't know if the laser was... Okay, so they put a prison, i guess, on that window to diffuse the power of the laser so it just soft-cooked.
00:44:02
Speaker
the popcorn without burning a hole. Yeah, because, yeah, those raw lasers would have like, burned a hole through, like, the pop, like, just burned through popcorn seeds and, like, went to the ground and started, like, drilling, like, like, probably drilling into the ground.
00:44:15
Speaker
Yeah. And then, knowing that neighborhood, that would have, like, also, uh, been hilarious if it just, like, went through and then, like, burnt the neighbor's house.
00:44:28
Speaker
Mm-hmm.
00:44:31
Speaker
Yeah, because it goes up first. the has like It kind of travels on his house a little bit. and like It's cutting through his house. but And then eventually gets the popcorn.
00:44:42
Speaker
I mean, so... I always like that in this 80s formula, the bully always has to meet the, like... The, like, whatever they're, they're like...
00:44:56
Speaker
whatever act they're going against the to the true antagonist, the like, secondary antagonist shows up and is sort of like, oh, hey, like, this was all an accident and they care about him. They're like oh, shit, we can't kill Kent.
00:45:10
Speaker
yeah Yeah, we can't let get like, blown up by by a death laser or like, killed by popcorn.
00:45:18
Speaker
But I like at that point, Kent is sort of just like, he's really embraced Jesus. yeah This is like a sign. Yep. um He's probably got brain damage from, like, the radiation from that laser. whatever transmitter they put in his head. Yeah.
00:45:34
Speaker
Because it's ah yeah its not it's like 80s technology, whatever, like, eighty s technology they put his head. Oh, yeah. That was wildly beautiful. Oh, my God. And it's in his mouth. Like, that that goes to your brain.
00:45:45
Speaker
Mm-hmm. So... And so Kent's dead. Maybe. We'll never know. We'll never get a real genius, too, so... He probably has i and some sort of like brain damage at at the very least.
00:45:59
Speaker
Yeah. ah But I mean, that's fine because that neutralizes him making more like deadly weapons tracking systems, like I mentioned.
00:46:11
Speaker
ah But... Yeah, I like the like message at the end. it's sort of like It wraps up neatly. can Chris Knight is sort of like, hopefully he's going to graduate.
00:46:22
Speaker
It doesn't really matter ah what what William Aperton is doing. However, I think because the dean and the congressman saw that, they're probably going to disavow the teacher.
00:46:33
Speaker
And then it's like, well, does that nullify your grades? Did everyone just fail?
00:46:40
Speaker
Yeah, there's not really there's not really any sort of... We don't really get, like, the, hey, William Atherton, you're arrested slash fired. We don't get... There's no resolution to that. It's just like, oh, shit, my house is, like, destroyed and it's covered in popcorn.
00:46:54
Speaker
Yeah, i mean, that's the movie magic, is basically he's screwed, but we don't know the extent. And then everyone's sort of, like...
Behind-the-Scenes and Sequel Speculation
00:47:02
Speaker
ah is they can't be like roped into the failed project because it's like covert so like cia can't like go after chris and mitch i thought they know that they were involved i thought we needed some like classic like spitting spitting newspapers i'm just like college professor arrested for fraud top senior government police
00:47:26
Speaker
ah laser, death like, death laser exposed. Like, because i just, like so like, just some, you know, consequences of what happened. Can we get the results of what happened?
00:47:38
Speaker
Yeah, just some sort of, like, resolution so that we're not just left in the dark. Because now you've made a supervillain. Like, it in in the way the movie structured it, like It's supposed to be that William Aferton is actually like smart too, but he's 3D.
00:47:52
Speaker
So now you took away a man's home, you destroyed his like credibility, he is also smart enough to realize like potential, he's just going to make a league of supervillains.
00:48:02
Speaker
You've made Lex Luthor, basically. It would have been funny at the end, in his pile of popcorn, he just sort of like looks and goes, this has to be what Chris Knight's like doing.
00:48:15
Speaker
I will get my revenge. He always has to get covered in some sort of food. Like, he had covered in marshmallows and Ghostbusters, now he's covered in popcorn in this movie. Well, yeah, he doesn't really go in it, but everything involves, like, some food with him.
00:48:29
Speaker
Yep. It would have been different if it exploded on him, or that, like, he gets there and it's still exploding. Mm-hmm. just, like, a pile of popcorn, like, comes out a window or something and, like, covers him.
00:48:41
Speaker
Yep. Like, more of the house frame breaks off and, like, a waterfall of popcorn falls on them. I do. I love how psyched the neighbors are. Just like, oh shit, popcorn. Yeah. Let's go jump in the popcorn.
00:48:54
Speaker
They jump in it. They're like playing in it. Yeah. They're like, they take popcorn home. If your mother's like a kid with like, uh, like a cart full of it.
00:49:06
Speaker
Yeah. I'm all for free food. Hell, I'm all for like, you know, If it's free or if it's like wrapped, I'll take it. But if I find a loose house of popcorn, I'm not eating that.
00:49:19
Speaker
Yeah, and apparently apparently ah it was coated in a special flame-retardant chemical so like you couldn't actually eat it. Yeah, and then it just doesn't seem like food to the wildlife.
00:49:30
Speaker
Yeah, they had to make sure birds didn't eat it or else they would have
00:49:35
Speaker
and And apparently it also still it took them three months to pop all the popcorn. What? That's crazy. Yeah. You figure, just go around, collect all the movie theater popcorn in, like, the area, and then just, like, treat that.
00:49:50
Speaker
And then do the scene. Yeah, William Mastroian in an interview said, like, the but the studio had a machine basically just nonstop running, making popcorn, and it still took it, like, three months to make all popcorn that you did.
00:50:02
Speaker
Now, I see those movies a lot as a kid, imagining how, like, awesome it must be surrounded by popcorn. It could be a tactile thing, could just be like a curiosity. Now, you worked at a movie theater where popping popcorn was like a mandatory thing.
00:50:17
Speaker
When you saw that scene, you were just, did it bring any flashbacks to just being surrounded by so much goddamn popcorn? um Kind of. I mean, eventually, you know, you have people like walking to the movie theater and you're like, oh man, the smell of popcorn is so great. I'm just like, I was just like, i don't even smell it anymore.
00:50:34
Speaker
don't smell popcorn anymore. You're just numb to it. And it's covered in like like but like popcorn grease. It's like grease from like the popping machine. That is surprising. I didn't realize how greasy it is to scoop popcorn, like being near it when you're hot, fresh popcorn.
00:50:52
Speaker
A day later. yeah i i had to clean the machine a lot. um like like you know Clean the whole thing out. So that's when you get like really... like The grease starts getting you. you like you know Get in there and like get all the popcorn out and then get the poppers scrubbed out and stuff and there's like chemicals used it's just like we were these like red vests and my red vests like basically turned black because of how much grease there was had to go i had to go to like like probably like four or five vests the time i worked there just because like you're just soaking the fabric and you just can't get it out anymore
00:51:30
Speaker
i just like i just said like like probably like like, a couple pairs of pants, a couple shirts, and that those are my, like, movie theater clothes, and they just, like, they reeked of popcorn and, like, grease and salt and everything.
Val Kilmer's Role and Movie Marketing
00:51:43
Speaker
Even if you wash them, it's like, they still like popcorn.
00:51:50
Speaker
Yeah, that's, like, the downside of working with, like, certain foods. You figure it would be, like, manageable, but I guess popcorn is just, like, nope. Unless you wear, like, a raincoat while handling popcorn, which no movie theater is going to be like, we have a mandatory popcorn guy.
00:52:02
Speaker
It's, like, The one worker does like five rolls. Well, on the flip side, like we did, there were like, like garbage bags full of popcorn. So if you wanted to like take a garbage bag full of popcorn home, you probably could have.
00:52:15
Speaker
See, that's, I'm like, didn't they just do that? They had to sit there and pop their own popcorn.
00:52:24
Speaker
yeah Yeah. I mean, yeah. Yeah. just try Just drive around my booth here. It's just like, Hey, give us your bags. and put Give us your like a day old popcorn. They're not eating it You know I mean? Yeah.
00:52:40
Speaker
But yeah, I think i think it's i think it's that's definitely one of the most memorable parts about this movie is like the like everyone knows like the popcorn at the end. That was exploding from popcorn.
00:52:56
Speaker
And just like just like you know just in general, it's like Val Kilmer's performance. I think we were we were talking before we started, too. This feels like actual Val Kilmer. This is just what it would be like to hang out with like the real Val Kilmer.
00:53:11
Speaker
Yeah, it's funny where like i still think Val Kilmer is um like more like one of his movie roles, where he's very calm and collected and a Doc Holliday guy.
00:53:23
Speaker
And then you find out he's more like a Californian-like dude bro. It's so funny to think that.
00:53:32
Speaker
It's also weird that like Will Forte found out like firsthand that
00:53:37
Speaker
Yeah, definitely. If anyone hasn't listened to like, it's it's from like ah like, I think it's like the week or two after like Felkoma died. um There's the Lonely Island Seth Meyers podcast. There's like a whole episode like Will Forte is talking about how he like lived in Felkoma for like a year.
00:53:55
Speaker
It's a great episode. Just like so many crazy stories.
00:54:04
Speaker
But yeah, he's great he's great in this. like like i All of his one-liners are so so great. like i just like like Just like the fast, quick like one-liners to people. Yeah, I mean, in this movie, he shouldn't be the smart guy, but there's this thing about him where like he's a mix of both like charming and then cocky.
00:54:27
Speaker
even know like like Especially like like that like the opening where he like shows up in like that crazy... like set like I Love Toxic Waste shirt and like those like head antenna ears and everything. okay like the recruiter Like the Dowlington recruiter meeting.
00:54:40
Speaker
Which the movie cover of the theoretical poster, just like that's what they used. He's in a corporate office, if you've seen the original one. it like It doesn't make any sense later on.
00:54:52
Speaker
It kind of kind of feels like whoever made the poster only... said that one scene, that's it. It's like, make a poster because there's one scene. Yeah.
00:55:03
Speaker
They only have a page in the script, he's like, I got an idea for a poster. Yep. like, no, the whole movie takes place mostly in a college. Like, what? It's too late. We already put the print... It's like the the art's being made in the print shop.
00:55:16
Speaker
Yeah, it's it's it's kind of it's more like Revenge of the Nerds, kind of. It's not like this eccentric guy goes to like work at an office and shakes it up. Yeah, that' that's actually like a a funnier, like a different movie, but essentially you drop Chris Knight in a corporate office and you're just like, hey everybody, like, get that stick out your ass, let's dance.
00:55:37
Speaker
and like Yeah. It's like he footlooses a company. I turned the conference room into a pool. But, like, that college us all it could be its own thing. Like, if anything, the college should have been, like, the name of the Pacific University, of Pacific Tech.
00:55:55
Speaker
And then imagines, like, oh, like, Chris is just one of, like, a couple of people who are all, like, eccentric and brilliant and, like, um like helping so humanity by not inventing death weapons.
00:56:09
Speaker
But, yeah, no, if anyone... owns the copyright to just specific tech university, like, just make that show. Make it, like, almost saved by the bell of the e college years, but, like, way better.
00:56:26
Speaker
ah But for me, this movie is, like, one of favorite, like, comfort movies that I watched, like, a lot growing up. For whatever reason, Comedy Central just had the, like, forecast sprites for, like, the longest goddamn time.
'Real Genius' as a Comfort Movie
00:56:40
Speaker
So I'd catch like the beginning, the middle, like the end at different points of my life. And then like watching it all the way through as an adult was an interesting thing. Just because the nuances of like responsibility of like weapons and how the world and the certain things just didn't change from the 80s to now.
00:56:58
Speaker
You know, the whole... Well, America trying to make super awesome weapons. That's never gone away. But... Them outsourcing it to college kids was interesting, because that's kind of what like Elon Musk did.
00:57:10
Speaker
He's like, just build tech with kids who don't understand the power they're doing. Yeah. So if anything, this should be like a real genius version of this movie where it's like a guy just gets a whole bunch of kids to build them like like a garbage watchdog program.
00:57:28
Speaker
And then it ends up being like a hentai site at the end or whatever.
00:57:33
Speaker
Essentially, that's what happens in this movie. like that The super weapon blows up, and then I guess that disavows all the research that William Afrin was telling them about. So then like there goes the tracking system, there goes the laser.
00:57:48
Speaker
But then that also looks bad, because then William Afrin could just be like, okay, well, the laser you guys invented blew up, and the tracking system that was invented doesn't work. So, that's all around.
00:58:02
Speaker
Yeah, I know I'm getting like, the guy's going to get in trouble for, you know, appropriating funds, but essentially he still can grade them and be like, fail? i feel I feel like the dean was there. The dean's probably going be like, you're fired.
00:58:15
Speaker
Like, you're you're trying to you're building a death ray in like on my campus. like That would have been cool if we saw that, but we never... Yeah, yeah that's what, yeah. why why bring Why bring the congressman and the dean there and then not have them both be like,
00:58:31
Speaker
hey, the dean's like, hey, you're fired. And the congressman's like, hey, you're being investigated. Like, see ya. Yeah. I mean, i I guess they had to wait for William Ackerman to, like, get back home because he had like, a full day at work at the military base.
00:58:45
Speaker
they They had the they to spend that ah Tears for Fears money. they They had to play every once the real world. Which is, like, a five-minute song. Mm-hmm.
00:58:55
Speaker
You know what's in this, too? The credits start, and but then the actually like the plot is still happening. like William Ethan shows up to his house, and the credits are happening. but That's what I like about like an 80s movie. they They did that for a while, and then they kind of stopped doing that.
00:59:11
Speaker
we The like movie still goes on, just like like the world still goes, but like the movie part is over. Yeah, so were're we're going to start the credits, but like pay attention still, because like the movie's still happening, even though the c credits are starting to, like, roll, but, like, this is actually, like, a important, like, conclusion, like, concluding actions to the plot.
00:59:33
Speaker
I would love if a Marvel movie sort of ended that way, where, like, all the music, the, like, triumphant, like, orchestra, so like, ends, and then there's just, like, you see, like, a superhero just still doing their task or whatever, and, you know, like, that sort of just, like, doesn't happen anymore.
00:59:47
Speaker
Yeah. If anything, it's just, like, then it's, like, a cutaway. It usually goes black, and then it fades back, and then it's just, like, Seek your character now. who See you in the next movie. Yeah, like made the mid-credits scene now.
00:59:59
Speaker
like Did you leave? like Did you people leave during the credits? You never leave during a Marvel credit.
01:00:11
Speaker
I can't even imagine. like like People like like they see the credits of Real Genius, they're like, oh, when movie's over, going to start walking out now. I mean, you could. Yeah, mean, there's not really that much left, but it's kind an A's thing of this, like,
01:00:22
Speaker
odd like a's think i was like um we're not going to cut away or do a separate thing. The movie's still happening, but if you want to see the credits, here they come. They're coming. That's when you get to this runtime of 106 minutes, so you really try to squeeze out that last two minutes.
01:00:43
Speaker
Also, this is a summertime movie, so you were just in the theater because it had air conditioning. Yeah.
01:00:54
Speaker
Yeah, if you want to pad it out, you gotta do a scene over the credits or outtakes. Just have like outtakes over the credits. Oh, man. That's the go-to. That's the go-to you want pad your runtime out.
01:01:05
Speaker
Yep, you're right. That is like definitely something. is it like Was it like was it like was it like a Master Disguise? Isn't it like the end credits like 10 minutes long? It's just outtakes. They like pad the movie out because it like an hour. I've never seen that movie.
01:01:21
Speaker
I feel like that was like like ah like a super egregious like um our movie's only like 70 minutes long we need to make it like 90 so here's like 20 minutes of credits that are like just outtakes really stopped doing that now
01:01:43
Speaker
yeah you you know Jackie Chan movies get to see some outtakes like but Jackass had like outtakes I think Where are the outtakes in like yeah a Marvel movie? That's what they should be playing.
01:01:54
Speaker
Not these like set-up scenes. That's how it then becomes true cinema.
Conclusion and Future Podcast Teasers
01:02:02
Speaker
But, any final thoughts about Road Genius?
01:02:07
Speaker
ah No, it's a super, super fun E's movie. If you're a Val Kilmer fan, it's a must-watch. If you haven't seen it, or if you haven't seen it in a while, this is one of his like probably...
01:02:19
Speaker
I mean, it's probably like a deeper cut, or like, next, like, Top Gun, Tombstone, you know, those are kind of like, top like the top tier of Val Kilmer, and then like this is like, you know, that next rung down, if you want to like, continue your fandom of Val Kilmer.
01:02:34
Speaker
If you want to see how like people were first introduced to him as like, a comedian. Yeah. As like, the wisecracking guy, because I think after Tombstone, like, no one wanted it like, funny Val Kilmer
01:02:49
Speaker
and Until, like, MacGruber. But that took so long at that point. yeah It was like a, hey, like, did you know Val Kilmer can, like, be in funny movies? Because, like I said, in in... After that series acting, he no longer was, like, in, um... Well, he wasn't in, like, a movie where, like, he piloted a mech anymore.
01:03:13
Speaker
Like, piloted, like, a plane or something. That was done. You didn't see him do that again. I mean, he kind does that in, sorry, Batman Forever. I just thought about it. He does fly in that one.
01:03:26
Speaker
But, yeah, no. He doesn't become, like, ah like a West Coast slacker guy.
01:03:34
Speaker
That's why like, oh, you don't get, like, a Chris Knight guy again.
01:03:39
Speaker
But, yeah, if you want to see, like, Dal Kilmer trying to be, like,
01:03:45
Speaker
Van Wilder, this is the closest you'll get. Pretty much, yeah.
01:03:51
Speaker
Although, was it Phil Wilder graduated already? Did he just hang out at the college? No, no, he never graduated. He never graduated. gap no The point was that like he was a fourth year grad or something.
01:04:05
Speaker
He just kept like being undecided. So he never majored in anything, think.
01:04:12
Speaker
I don't know. It's weird. I think at that point in in the college thing, he would have been 26 in college with a bunch of 18-year-olds. Super creepy. It's the Matthew McConaughey like from Dazing Fuse.
01:04:27
Speaker
Dazing Fuse.
01:04:34
Speaker
Anyway, yeah so I think that that'll wrap it up for this week for Real Genius. um Come back next week, we're be diving into Nobody, because obviously nobody too is going to be out in theaters, so we'll refresh ourselves on the first one before we head back to theater and see what Bob Odenkirk is doing on vacation.
01:04:51
Speaker
Killing a bunch of bad guys. Now that he's, like, undisavowed.
01:04:57
Speaker
Well, I guess, like like, his family knows, but then... well but it seems like from the trailer, he just stumbles onto this, like, new situation. It's like, ah we're on vacation. Oh, I stumbled into this, like, international criminal organization. gotta blow all up.
01:05:13
Speaker
But yeah, we'll but we'll dive back into the first one next week. And ah head over to the site, we've all of our usual stuff there. We've news, reviews, trailers. Tons of trailers. don't know what's going on. It's kind of like the sun is winding down, but there's still tons of trailers coming out.
01:05:28
Speaker
And we've got... If you want to like go back and check out our... We've got our GameBox 2.0. If you want to check out the games we played in July, we've got... our uh movie calendar for last month we all kind of stuff up there so head over check all stuff out and yes for chris i am zach and will see next week for more for everything action head to www.everythingaction.com you can also find us on facebook at facebook.com slash everything dot action and follow on x at ev action we're also on instagram and threads at everything dot action
01:06:04
Speaker
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