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TSP Ep: 139: Three Movie Review:: Killer's Kiss, Yor, the Hunter From the Future, and High and Low
20 Plays23 days ago
In this episode review the three films, Killer's Kiss by Kubrick, Yor by Margheriti, and High and Low by Kurosawa. Watch these two gush as the talk about these films. I think this is what the episode is about.
So come along with us as we learn a thing or two!
Recommended
Transcript
Introduction and Praise for James Cameron
00:00:00
Speaker
and Yes, I said James Cameron is a good director. I think... ah A great director, in fact. The important thing... And no one makes a sequel better than James Cameron.
00:00:12
Speaker
I'll say that. o That's true. Right? Terminator 2, Aliens. Like, Aliens. How do you make a sequel, a fitting sequel to Alien? If someone said, hey, I'll give you some money to make a Alien 2, I'd be like...
00:00:28
Speaker
It's good the way it is. Don't don't remake it. Leave it alone. Yeah. And he made fucking aliens. i think ah I think I've talked about this before, actually, on the show. When we were talking about something and it's like, James Cameron must feel great or something like that.
00:00:45
Speaker
It was so it' about somebody. was like, someone the like the film this filmmaker must feel great because... right There's been how many Alien sequels, how many Terminator sequels, and they all suck. They're awful. But whose isn't?
00:01:01
Speaker
James Cameron. cameron ah People... I mean, I'm firmly in the camp that Alien is way better than Aliens.
00:01:14
Speaker
Oh, yeah. But Aliens is still a great movie. Aliens is still a very good movie. And if someone said they like Aliens more, I'd be like, I mean, no. But I could see it because you probably prefer action way more than you would prefer horror, suspense. Art quality.
00:01:33
Speaker
No, I wouldn't even say art. Because because like the queen alien's cool. The tank they ride in's cool. Well, that's the thing. It's cool. But I think it's beautiful. I mean, that's my issue. is And this is where i i so i soften a lot on T2 as well.
00:01:51
Speaker
it's You like that more than Terminator, don't you? No. God, no. But you grew up to it. I grew up watching T2 way more than then Terminator 1. So it was just ingrained in me, that film.
00:02:03
Speaker
yeah But now that I'm older and I would hope wiser. Sophisticated. It's like Terminator 1 is just such a better story. Although that is his film as well. It yeah. you know, you can't. But I want to say this. It's like, I like the tighter pieces.
00:02:19
Speaker
Yeah. Alien is not as long and as bloated as Aliens. Terminator 1 is just this completely tight... beautiful story. We're going talk about, uh, killer's kiss later, but it's like that movie's trim as fuck. It might be, even be too tight. Like, yeah, Kubrick, we could have, I mean, I also think this has to do with budgeting.
00:02:41
Speaker
As to what it is, and I got a lot of, don't know, I just get a lot of, I wonder if this is what they went through when we were doing dickhead stuff. You have all this footage, but most of it just doesn't isn't just is it and isn't isn't usable. You can't use half of this footage because it's too bad or it's ah or to include it ah just slogs down the scene.
00:03:06
Speaker
And I think that's where experience comes in, is knowing where you cut that and not to waste the time to film it. like If you have the luxury to film it, you should always film more.
00:03:17
Speaker
If it doesn't hurt, why not? Yeah, but I don't feel like that's the case in reality. Well, because filming at more costs money, right? Exactly.
Project Progress and Hiring a Colorist
00:03:26
Speaker
i mean, we would just got off the call with our colorist that we've hired, um which ah we'll be talking about probably more ah to come.
00:03:39
Speaker
ah We just initially ah did our first interview with them, and they did... ah Great. They talked. they They said everything right, which is always a good thing, but scary thing.
00:03:53
Speaker
um It's scary also because means we're getting our back into gear on yeah working on things and pushing other departments to get done with what they need to do so that... could because If I may interject, because we had a big...
00:04:10
Speaker
um workload with sound that kind of came all ah at sudden because they kind of reached the end part of where they were at. And then they needed more follow-up notes and there was just a lot to do for sound and getting them what they need.
00:04:25
Speaker
And so we were really busy. I mean, I think we we worked pretty hard the past few weeks to month to get sound to a place where it's like, okay, you guys got everything you need now, everything you wanted from us so we can kind of sit back and wait.
00:04:38
Speaker
And that was nice. Very relaxing, man. was like... Can I breathe? I don't know if my body knows how to actually take a full breath anymore, but I can attempt it. And then now we've kind of just put ourselves right back into it.
00:04:54
Speaker
Yeah, but the nice thing is
00:04:59
Speaker
thing is we're actively working towards the end. oh yeah. Yeah. it's It's quite nice in that regard because it took so long, I think, of not actually making progress. like ah You could really tangibly feel.
00:05:18
Speaker
Because especially with the edit, even now, it's like we could be editing still. We could very easily be editing more. I'm pretty happy with that. We're happy with it, but we could.
00:05:30
Speaker
I don't think I could. i Do you? i definitely think there's stuff when I'm watching it. was like, fuck, I would have loved if we could add just this little bit or this here or something like that. Or especially with... Can we?
00:05:44
Speaker
I don't really want to, to be honest. Well, then it's not that bad. Because we you're right. It's in a good place. And that's where we need to be. We need to be in a good place so we can actually get this done.
00:05:55
Speaker
Like we were talking with Summer earlier, the colorist... And Steven just kept bringing up all these points. I was like, damn, you know, there is a lot of issues with dickhead. We should not have be spending this much time trying to ah bandaid all all of these cracks. I mean, if this foundation stands at all, where we're going to be jumping with joy. if anyone inspects a foundation, they're going to find a lot of spit and gum keeping it together. Yeah, it's yeah we we patchworked this baby pretty hard. Yeah, we did Don't touch house or it'll fall down. Just look at it. This house of cards is a one strong breeze away from disaster.
00:06:35
Speaker
So yeah, like exactly. Like I just think about it because when I watch it, I'm just like, well, you could. There's probably stuff that we could definitely do to edit to make story make more sense or even just add in. But it's like, why? why Why? We don't need to.
00:06:52
Speaker
Someone said this is like your forever project. It's like, no, please, God. He's like, please, no. You're do too accurate. Shut up. I don't want to hear the right. I don't want to hear the truth.
00:07:03
Speaker
I want to live in. You want to live in the good, the bad and the ugly. That's right. Speaking of.
Twin Shadows Podcast Introduction
00:07:10
Speaker
Welcome everyone to Twin Shadows Podcast, podcast about film, filmmaking, and filmmakers.
00:07:15
Speaker
This is episode 136, The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly. We'll be introducing a new segment into the podcast, which would be like a rotating ah type of thing, just to kind of refocus and get us talking more about movies and just more general appeal for you listeners out there. Hopefully you can listen to us talk about- General appeal, even though these are some of the most obscure movies, huh? Yeah.
00:07:39
Speaker
But yeah i would ah I would think us... Your... Talking about these... Ninja 3 domination. i think us talking and reviewing these movies is... It's a nice entry for people to find other films.
00:07:55
Speaker
Yeah. um Oh, no. I'm loving this. Yeah. The selection, the three you picked, i ah thoroughly enjoyed all three of them. Very much so. Yeah. so And then the idea, too, was just to...
00:08:08
Speaker
Keep us being creative. Keep us writing. um I know ah i had I had to write a script for Alex. And I had just been kind of like not wanting to do it, not wanting to do it. And then I i it finally was like, I have to sit down and write this goddamn Rico script. You procrastinated too long. The due date was there. It's not even that long. I think it's only like six pages or something. And I just, I don't know. I just...
00:08:34
Speaker
I haven't been really wanting to work on anything else that isn't like moving us towards dickhead as being this goal. Because it feels like… Is that a logical choice or more of an emotional one? It's it's definitely more emotional than logical.
00:08:48
Speaker
I mean, we aren't actively working on dickhead all the time. But yeah it's just this burden. yeah And right it's just as it's also this very ever-present burden right now.
00:08:59
Speaker
Because we are dealing with stuff. And i feel like every little setback, it's just like, fuck. we Like with with Jorge and getting all the VFX shots and just just communicating with him. It's like, why is this fucking so hard?
00:09:12
Speaker
Why? you said it's done. Just put it on the drive and you're gone. You're done. Like you, you right? I don't know. yeah It's frustrating. And you really start to think like, these are the aspects of filmmaking that kind of suck.
00:09:28
Speaker
Yeah. But... You also have to think, damn, it's worth it because you know just us sitting here editing was was a blast.
00:09:40
Speaker
I always had so much fun with us going through the shots. Us writing, like what when we wrote Bobolowski or when we wrote Dickhead. that Those are fun. That is so fun. like To me, that's like it's like...
00:09:52
Speaker
shooting cocaine directly into my heart or something. The fun parts, yeah. It's like, whew, I feel alive. I feel and energized and with filled with purpose. When we're editing the film and you find that little, that cute little cut or that little motivational bit that you can just sneak in there. It's like, mm, yes, this is what filmmaking is.
00:10:12
Speaker
Yeah, and you know, and also the, not catharsis, but also the moments when you find You see the heartbreaking thing, but you get it as tight as you can.
00:10:24
Speaker
you know and you got everything else as tight as you can. you know it it It eases the wound a little bit. you know yeah It really helps with some of that. Because there's some cuts when I watch that film and it's just like, well, you either learn to hate it and cry about it or you just kind of learn to love it and appreciate it And the nice thing, too, is... You know learn to stop worrying and love the bomb. Yeah. And films are also a sum of their parts.
00:10:51
Speaker
So one or two rough spots don't necessarily mean a bad film. Yeah. We didn't make a perfect film by any means. i mean, we're not... And does that even exist? I doubt it does, you know? know like Everything can be worked on better. It can be slightly tighter. You could literally talk about...
00:11:10
Speaker
We talk about trimming frames, which is 1 24th of a second. Yeah. And you probably can't even register that in your brain, 24th of a second. But you can over the course of a minute. Over a digital timeline. Yeah. When it's all added up and together.
00:11:27
Speaker
But, damn. And then you get into just subjectivity where it's like, well, what's better? Like, is it better to be tight or should we have gone wide on this shot? Mm-hmm. Like, well...
00:11:38
Speaker
In a matter of aesthetic. I mean, after a certain point, you can't clearly define what's good or bad in a film and what we're going to get into with these three films. like Like Killer's Kiss, it has a lot of issues. Let's not deny that.
00:11:53
Speaker
Is this Kubrick's first film? Second. So this isn't the one he tried hiding? No. ah He should have tried hiding this one as well. But, you know, there's there's issues to be had and that I don't know.
00:12:08
Speaker
I don't know what my point was. I think the edible is hitting me. That's right. Let's move into the – let's get into the meat of the show. Speaking of being left behind, Joe Don Baker passed away this week. Good old Joe Don. I think you probably – Joe Don, huh? You and Joe Don, you say you got a lot, Oh, yeah. Joe Don Baker. You probably recognize him from such films as Cape Fear. Yeah.
00:12:35
Speaker
GoldenEye. Oh, well, you recognize he's one of those like he's in all the movies. Yeah. You just know that face when you see him. Yeah. GoldenEye is a big one. He plays, which is funny because he plays ah Russian, two different characters in GoldenEye. He does. um Not in GoldenEye. In James, the James Bond series. He is in the Timothy Dalton ones as a villain.
00:12:53
Speaker
And then he is the American liaison in GoldenEye. Like he's the Felix. the Oh, he's Felix. He's like the new version of Felix. Yeah. Or that kind of character. Because he's in all of the Pierce Brosnan. Felix is always in them.
00:13:09
Speaker
Yeah, as the CIA. He's the American liaison. And then he dies at a certain point. But I think they all die at a certain point. Yeah. And then they're back. Even Q died in real life, and now he's back.
00:13:21
Speaker
Can't keep the Q down. But yeah, Joe Don Baker, rest in peace. I would recommend you've never seen this film that he was in, co-starring with, I almost said Robert Redford, but it's not Robert Redford. It's, ah oh God, I can't think of his name.
00:13:40
Speaker
the it's The film is called The Outfit. ah Jesus Christ. The dude from The Godfather, Tom Hagen. Oh. Yeah. oh Robert Duvall. Robert Duvall, yes.
00:13:55
Speaker
Robert Duvall. was thinking of James Caan. Yeah, James Caan and Robert Duvall. No, it's Robert Duvall and Joe Don Baker. and It's like a cool little crime ah thriller. I would highly recommend that.
00:14:07
Speaker
So... um To go on, you know, I worked on these notes and I did it really fast. I did it like 20 minutes because I just ran out of time.
00:14:20
Speaker
Sure. The way life turned out. But I think I was in a bit of a mood when I wrote that because I'll read to you what I wrote um for Joe Don Baker. I mean, it's sad to see him go, you know, because he was always one of those faces that saw in so many TV shows, too, he must have been. Because, I mean, he's just so recognizable for me. You know, this is a person...
00:14:43
Speaker
that i go through ah grew up with just watching that little screen in the living room. and I wrote, sad dot dot dot.
00:14:55
Speaker
Everyone is dying. Dot dot dot. ah wait I saw also a bunch of birthdays to actors I grew up with, and they're all getting old.
00:15:06
Speaker
Like Danny Trejo, just had a birthday, and he's 81. What? It feels like so much of cinema is dying. Maybe only for me, I guess.
00:15:18
Speaker
But also, who do we have to take up these mantles that so many great actors carry? It feels like none. Like the great directors, they have all left us.
00:15:32
Speaker
And soon the actors will too. That's what I fucking wrote. Jesus. Morbid. Jeez. Yeah, I was in a bit of a mood. But, you know, I think there's truth to that. Like with Joe Don Baker.
00:15:46
Speaker
i mean, haven't seen him forever. Because, you know, once you get a certain age, you ain't in any more movies. You know, you can't be. But like who takes his place in those films? you know that That character that always just had... i don't know, like this comforting feeling. Maybe that's a weird way to describe it, but you knew him, you recognized him, he always gave a good performance, and now that's gone. and you know who do Who do we have to look to now? like Sean Connery's gone.
00:16:15
Speaker
you know um Everyone in Killer's Kiss is probably gone. oh yeah, definitely. You know, but like with Danny Trejo, I mean, I don't have an emotional attachment to him or anything like that. But, you know, it's like, fuck, Danny Trejo, he can't die. Machete, dude. You know, he can't die. And there's so many other actors who have come and gone.
00:16:41
Speaker
And who is there to to replace them? Like, who do we got? Timothee Chalamet? Like, who do we got now? That's Glenn Powell, I guess. Yeah.
00:16:52
Speaker
No, like the thing is, we don't have those character actors anymore. Everyone, but it's a new thing.
00:17:03
Speaker
It's a new thing. um a new age of cinema, right? It's just a new age of Hollywood in that degree where... ah big names just show up in little places where wasn't the case. It never used to be that way.
00:17:18
Speaker
um The reason why you have your Joe Don Bakers is because ah Tom Hanks and Warren Beatty weren't going to show up on the episode of Hawaii Five-0 or whatever the hell it was.
00:17:35
Speaker
Right? you You didn't have as much of a mixed crowd. Now you there isn't the line is too blurry. Everyone... is doing everything right you have nicole kidman well damn i don't even know any i don't know a lot of new uh young actors or anything i there's definitely they're definitely out there and there ah there's a lot of them but i feel like right now everything goes in like waves of popularity where you have like tessa thompson and then you had
00:18:10
Speaker
Anya Taylor-Joy in everything. and now, right, Tessa Thompson's not in that much. And then Anya Taylor-Joy's stuff is starting to dwindle up. And Margaret Qualley is now in everything. And Zendaya is in everything. Like, we go in, right now, these, like, just phases of popularity,
00:18:34
Speaker
where you have actors just super overexposed and in everything. And then they, they kind of burn out. It's everyone is like a shooting star nowadays instead of a, a film star.
00:18:45
Speaker
i see yeah, you, yeah right? I would just, I mentioned Tessa Thompson. She was in like everything for a while. and And now, what's the last movie that you remember seeing her? And I remember probably like 2016 to like 2020.
00:19:01
Speaker
You couldn't watch a movie without fucking Tessa Thompson showing up. And then she did like a shitty Men in Black movie. And then she just is gone now. Yeah, I think you hit it out on the head there with the overexposure. I think we're just overexposed to too many people, you know, like,
00:19:18
Speaker
like just getting a photograph out of, you know, if you want to be a TMZ type person, well, you don't got to go to the development room and process the film, you know, and produce it. And it's instantaneous, man. After you shoot it, you can literally just like air transfer it to whoever you're trying to get to. And, you know, there's just this overexposure to everything, especially with social media. You know, you can follow the daily lives of actors and,
00:19:45
Speaker
I don't think that's a good thing. I don't think that's a good thing for them. You should want that air of mystery. You know, because it's cooler to imagine um what George from Shampoo, what his life is on the day-to-day than to actually be in that movie. And then you're just following him around. You're like, how is he getting to all every all the women in Hollywood?
00:20:08
Speaker
You know, all he's like, uh, uh. Yeah, cool. You know, that's all he's good at doing their hair, man. I mean, you look like Warren Beatty, so that that says a lot.
00:20:21
Speaker
But, you know. Speaking of the ugly, God damn, Warren Beatty's hair in that movie is the ugliest thing I've ever seen. It was so 70s, wasn't it? it was It was something. but It's so, like his Warren Beatty, I would say he's more like a like a man's man kind of guy. ah And in this movie, right? the this is the faster Lester thinks that he's gay because he's a hairdresser and he's like, oh, you he's no big, he's no problem. This is the first I've ever seen Warren Beatty like that.
00:20:50
Speaker
Yeah, same. Right? i was he I've never seen him portrayed outside of that. Also, I've never seen a lot of his older work, like especially 70s. It's like, oh, because, you know, Shampoo, I mean, we're jumping ahead, but Shampoo was written by Warren Beatty and someone else.
00:21:05
Speaker
So it's like, oh, well, he's just kind of conveying himself onto this script here. It's like, this is how he sees himself, huh? Yeah. Interesting. I never imagined Warren Beatty like this kind of rock star guy. always imagined him like this very conservative, more clean cut and kind of dork, you know? Yeah.
00:21:24
Speaker
I'm trying to think of the movie. But you know, he dated Madonna during Dick Tracy. Yes. Yes. And then after he done filming, they broke up. I was going to say, i always think of Warren Beatty and Dick Tracy. And i I kind of love Dick Tracy. Oh, I love Dick Tracy. I saw it at theaters.
00:21:42
Speaker
I still remember. Oh, that's the other movie. I was like, what is it? ah Bonnie and Clyde. Oh, yeah. it was also It's also interesting because the 60s and 70s were a time when these like superstars where became like their own producers, too. So they could kind of make their own movies.
00:21:59
Speaker
Yeah. Because no one was going to cast Warren Beatty in that role. and like ar no one was going to make Shampoo, really, right? right Yeah. So that's fascinating. And speaking of things that people are never going to make, Alison Brie, Dave Franco.
Copyright Lawsuit Discussion
00:22:14
Speaker
We had kind of talked about this, or like not on the podcast, but Stephen and I had been discussing this throughout the week yeah as this has been unfolding. Hackfraud Thieves.
00:22:22
Speaker
Yeah. Or the nature of storytelling. So essentially, Alison Brie and Dave Franco are starring and I believe producing a new film or co-producing this new film called to Together, which is being sued because of copy a copyright lawsuit. yeah Filmmaker watched the movie and was like, this is exactly the movie I read. And they had pitched the movie to Dave Franco. And Alison Brie, but they're agents. Yeah.
00:22:50
Speaker
They're agents and they passed on it. And then you go a couple years later and then you pretty much see ah carbon copy of your film on screen. And so, yeah.
00:23:01
Speaker
Yeah, it was pretty interesting because looking at the article, because I read the article, and then just reading what it listed as some of the complaints, it was interesting because it isn't Novel, maybe not novel. That's, yeah, sure. It's a novel concept of two people being stuck together, and I guess they become more stuck together.
00:23:22
Speaker
And it also talked about how some of the quotes were the same exact quotes, or at least from the same person, I should say. And then just a bunch of other similarities.
00:23:34
Speaker
And i was like, well, that's pretty damn...
00:23:39
Speaker
Interesting. You know, that's a pretty interesting coincidence. A movie of people becoming stuck together. It's like, well, that's not exactly something you come up with every day.
00:23:49
Speaker
Yeah. Because I don't know of any other film I've seen like that, really. I mean, Centipede, The Blob, I don't know where people are stuck together. But not like kind of what they're presenting. And then to pull this quote from the same person.
00:24:02
Speaker
But then Reddit had a response that you shared with me. And then the person was kind of going through more of the legal um standings that they had. And like, well, they sent it to their agent. So who can say they even saw it?
00:24:17
Speaker
And then people being stuck together. Yeah, that's that's an interesting idea. But is it really that revolutionary where it's like changing the paradigm of anything? You know, like maybe someone could have come up with that on their own.
00:24:32
Speaker
And then also the quote from that famous person, theyre like, well, it's public domain. So they could have just grabbed it. Anyone can have access to that. And they started listing like all of the evidence where it's not really strong enough to say that they're guilty of doing this thing of theft.
00:24:53
Speaker
Yeah. Maybe it's just coincidence. Who knows? But, you know, are they actually doing this, stealing the script and retitling it and taking credit for it? Mm-hmm. And the person's like, yeah, it doesn't seem like a strong leg to stand on because they said they read the ah court documents. I mean, they could have been making all this shit up. Maybe it was Dave Franco saying this shit. i don't know.
00:25:12
Speaker
Dave Franco. Just to listen. Just listen. Once again. But it was interesting when they presented with that in the way they did because it was like, yeah, that – I mean, yes, it seems like they did this or something fishy. It just doesn't feel right. It's not sitting right.
00:25:27
Speaker
So yes, maybe something like that happened. But also, can you prove And it's like, well, not really. I wanted to bring this up and talk about it more solely on the the fact that When you do these high concept type of stories, this is all riding on the the concept, right? True.
00:25:46
Speaker
It's riding on the concept that two people meet and then they are physically forcibly stuck together.
Challenges of High Concept Storytelling
00:25:52
Speaker
And then the body horror imagery and or comedy absurdity that goes along with that. Yeah. And I feel...
00:26:00
Speaker
like when you have that high concept, there are like the softballs. Like when he talked about how they use the same song um from ah the yeah girls, British pop band Spice Girls.
00:26:15
Speaker
Yeah, they use the same song from the Spice Girls in their movie that Dave Franco and Alison Brie use it in their movie. But the song is called Two in One. And it's like, Okay, ah the song is literally describing the movie. like There's not probably not that many other songs out there that perfectly describe this concept.
00:26:37
Speaker
So these are like low-hanging fruits, I think. yeah especially when you have like a team of people looking into this too. Like, oh, well, what could we get a good song? Hey, check out this song. Do you remember this Spice Girls song from blah, blah, blah, blah? um And I think that's where it's kind of interesting because it brings up the...
00:26:55
Speaker
the The idea that we think we have unique ideas, but the world is just so big that sometimes we just have no idea.
00:27:07
Speaker
Someone's thinking of something similar enough. Right. And I think about that, and I'm just, oh, yeah, that's... it it's a better story if it's malicious and that they stole it and they caught it, right? Oh yeah, it's a more sensational story, yeah.
00:27:24
Speaker
Everyone wants these rich assholes to be the bad guys. kind of get it, yeah. also I love how everyone's just going after the actors and not the director or the screenwriter. They didn't write the fuck in a movie. That's true. Like what?
00:27:40
Speaker
I want to say it's like David Manx or something like that. It was the director, writer, director. And I'm like, why isn't anyone going after this asshole? like These are just the actors. They don't have anything to really do with this.
00:27:54
Speaker
Well, yeah, like with the initial concept of two people just becoming stuck together, like i didn't I've never thought of a story like that. But I'm not like, like that seems like a, like, oh yeah, kind of like a no brainer kind of story. Like, oh yeah, that could be actually something really good and you run with it. like It's a great setup. it's It's not something that's so unimaginable that no one else could ever come up with.
00:28:20
Speaker
Yeah. You know? I mean, throughout the history of humanity, we owe it I think we've talked about how yeah ah like every story's been told or there's only like seven stories or blah, blah, blah, blah.
00:28:34
Speaker
and We've definitely had a ah podcast star or two on that kind of topic. um it's It's how you tell the story that makes it different. yeah I don't... but Benign? Belie?
00:28:47
Speaker
I don't... ah misaligned the director of the film that got stolen, right? He, no budget, very low or no budget film, didn't really do a lot.
00:28:59
Speaker
I think some people were posting on Reddit that you can't even find this movie. Yeah. you can't watch it. I think in the article it even said that. there's It's not even on Tubi. Like, come on. You're not on Tubi? Come on, dude. If you're not on Tubi, you got to get on Tubi. And if you can't get on Tubi, you have no legs to stand on.
00:29:17
Speaker
I mean, what are we talking about? Yeah. um It sucks. It would suck. if I mean, it's kind of how I felt a little bit when we watched Halloween Ends. Oh, yeah. We were watching Halloween Ends, and I was pretty fucked up. And then I was just like, fuck, the connections to our film. It's like the spirit of a lot of dickhead is in Halloween Ends.
00:29:42
Speaker
We made it like 10 years before these people even thought about making Halloween Ends. Or five or six years at the time of the release. I don't know when Halloween's last came out, but it wasn't 2016. Yeah.
00:29:54
Speaker
um so Right? It's... No, yeah. I mean, and that's a good point, right? Like, dickhead. It's not like this mind-blowing concept we came up with. Like, anyone could kind of... Hey, let's just do Michael Myers. But the way they didn't want to actually make Michael Myers because they said that sucked.
00:30:13
Speaker
So let's do it that way with giving him a conscious and you know motive. and And yeah, Halloween ends. But yeah, that hurts. Yeah.
00:30:24
Speaker
That one hurts a little bit because it's like, oh, fuck. Is this who you think we're copying? It's like, no, oh we're not. They copied us. They listened to Twitch channel's podcast. I saw the views. saw their name on the views. We had one listener, David Gordon Green. God damn it.
00:30:41
Speaker
He took our movie. I mean, thing too. But that does suck. I think at least let me get your opinion on this. Like as someone who comes up with stories and tries to create them in whatever form I can.
00:30:53
Speaker
You know, if I see something very similar to what I came up with, I'm just like, ah, fuck, man, come on. Especially if I came up with it first. Then I'm like, ah, fuck, man, I had the idea first. Or even if I came up with it later, I'm like, ah, fuck, they beat me.
00:31:08
Speaker
You know, like it does kind of like, ugh. So does that bother you at all? No, i don't think it does because I also know it's just kind of the nature of storytelling.
00:31:21
Speaker
Um... The strength of a story should not rely on the premise. It should rely on like the characters, the pacing.
00:31:32
Speaker
We all come up with premises over and over. I mean, like i think we had talked I jokingly said like it's like if ah the Asylum ripoff, right? or Is it Asylum? Who does the ripoff? The studio that only does all the ripoffs? Is it Asylum or something like that? Asylum is guilty of some of them. Right, where it's like ah Pacific Rim is coming out, so they made Atlantic Rim. Atlantic Rim.
00:31:55
Speaker
Indian Ocean Rim. ah And at the same time, it's like, of course, Atlantic Rim is worse than Pacific Rim. But there's probably someone out there that is like, I wanted to make a really kick-ass robot movie.
00:32:08
Speaker
But only Asylum would produce my movie. yeah No, that's way too optimistic. You've seen those movies. Yeah, those are bad. Some of them are pretty blatant. They're all pretty bad. but my thing is
00:32:21
Speaker
There's hope for you if you see something out there that is kind of reminiscent to you because there's two things you can do with that. One, you can just you can just give up, which is pathetic, and you don't want to do that. Or two, you can just fucking write it and make it make it your own.
00:32:38
Speaker
And better. Well, I don't know. i mean, that the problem, we'll get into this a little bit later with when we talk about topics. um Because there's a point where resources do make a difference.
00:32:51
Speaker
Oh, yeah. um Especially when it comes to the final output of the film. ah i You know, we always joke, or not joke, but we've always talked about how, you know, sound is king.
00:33:04
Speaker
And and anyone people will watch bad visuals if the sound is good. But people will watch ah your stuff more if the visuals aren't bad. People will, ah it will connect and reach more of an audience when all the aspects work together better.
00:33:22
Speaker
When you have resources, when your resources allow you to set dress nicer, get the better shots, hire the proper crew,
00:33:36
Speaker
These things do add up in the end. I will say the hardest thing to really not tout is like your story. That's because that's you.
00:33:48
Speaker
You as the director or screenwriter, that's your that's where you can stand out. And
00:33:59
Speaker
it's kind of sad that it doesn't really matter if you if you wrote wrote the greatest screenplay, Or if you wrote a compelling a screenplay, but you executed it very poorly and it was directed and acted very badly, there's a very good chance that film just sucks now.
00:34:17
Speaker
I don't know if you could say that that screenplay is a waste, but I mean, it happens. ah A great screenplay is only the first building block to film. It's one of the reasons I like film, too, because film is it's so...
00:34:34
Speaker
layered and dynamic ah because it's like a thousand different parts working together to accomplish one goal. And the goal is the original goal, which is tell good story.
00:34:48
Speaker
Yeah. And you can have great- that always a goal? Like shampoo? But what I would say, my argument is that even if you don't have a great story, you can still have a great movie. Yeah.
00:35:02
Speaker
like not like If you fail on one aspect, the other aspects can make up for it. What's a great movie without a great story? 2001, maybe, I would say. the Fair. 2001 is very light on plot.
00:35:17
Speaker
um Films that are very light on plot. Damn, you shouldn't be down like that. Shut up. Shit, dude. I'm talking. You were going pee, man. You weren't even around. Lord of the Rings?
00:35:29
Speaker
What? What's the plot? Hey, we got this magical ring that this evil dude made. We have to destroy it. So we go and our friend dies and he becomes a white wizard. and then this right like It's not the most complex story. It's not high and low.
00:35:46
Speaker
I don't know. it's Every time I look into the lore, it always seems i complex.
00:35:53
Speaker
i'm spirit I'm merely talking the But when you really break it down, right? The film, right? It's about... Two ah halflings walking or hobbits walking to destroy a magical ring.
00:36:08
Speaker
And... There's a little bit more that happens along the way, but what I'm saying is
00:36:15
Speaker
is plot is not ever plot isn't everything. No, because then you have the opposite with what we're to talk about, high and low. I mean, that story, you can't just... It's not a simple premise, man. No, and the thing is about high and low is it just it goes so deep into the nitty-gritty details that you feel like you're becoming a part of it. Yeah.
00:36:35
Speaker
And, yeah, it's... But yeah, so then it also Lord of the Rings. Nope. Simplest story. And that's always a good thing too. I think the rule holds true. Keep it simple, stupid.
00:36:48
Speaker
Because your complexity doesn't have to be in the story. It can be in the way the actors are delivering the story. It can be in the way that you're setting up your set pieces.
00:37:00
Speaker
It could be with the music that you're using to combine it to tell the story. ah Because i will say, and we're going talk about High and Low, there's almost no soundtrack in that movie.
00:37:11
Speaker
Yeah, the I think there's one song. There are songs that are kind of playing in the background. there and that's where some music is. And then I think like an actual just composition is two. Yeah, there's a composition. There's musical. One or two spots.
00:37:29
Speaker
No, I'm confusing that with Killer's Kiss. I don't know, man. I saw all these in a bundle. Yeah. And now i'm fucking high. All right. So Stephen is high. I will say this. like you know This goes back to what you were saying with the Alison Brie and Dave Franco case where you're talking about you know it's really not about the premise. It's more just about everything else that you put into it, right the execution. and It's more than these simple aspects because you can always have a cool idea.
00:38:00
Speaker
But really, it's all in the execution, man. It doesn't even matter if it's the same story told over. That was the execution. You know, and that's really all that matters. Speaking of which, you know, I feel like when it comes to franchise films, execution starts to really go out the window and it's just about getting more...
Franchise Films and Originality Issues
00:38:20
Speaker
content for people to have out there. And of course, everyone's grabbing at anything they can. And so 28 days later turned into 28 weeks later.
00:38:32
Speaker
and in their defense, i always talked about having one 28 years later, right after. yeah And now we have 28 years later. Was it 28 years or 28 months? Oh, it's 28 months? No. well ah To back up your point, growing up,
00:38:48
Speaker
It was 2001 or 2002, I want to say, is when... 2000-something, right? Early 2000s, 28 Days Later comes out. And then like in the 2010s, I think, it's 28 weeks.
00:39:00
Speaker
And then it was always like, there's going to be another one. we Just buckle up, kids. There's going to be another one, right? We have this naming convention. It's yeah established.
00:39:12
Speaker
And the thing is... 20 Days Later is kind of a revolutionary film. It was. um Absolutely. It's really good. and In so many ways. Yeah, it's amazing. it's Just like every film every film that then sparks a franchise had a good originator and always.
00:39:32
Speaker
For the most part. Maybe in the modern years, not so much. But certainly, you know, what we're grabbing at.
Impact of 28 Days Later and Evil Dead
00:39:41
Speaker
i this I don't want to i don't think this is hyperbolic to say, but 28 Days Later is to film what Evil Dead was to film in the 80s.
00:39:52
Speaker
In that it took a film that looked like anyone could make it. That's the thing about 28 Days Later.
00:40:05
Speaker
and that's what I love about like Evil Dead. is it looks like a bunch of friends got together and they struck gold or lightning struck or something. Well, how many films had Danny Boyle made by this point?
00:40:17
Speaker
I want to say it's his second movie. He had already did Trainspotting. He did Trainspotting, yeah? Yes. Trainspotting had already been made. Yeah. But what I mean is like 20 Days Later is made on the cheap. No one wanted to make that movie.
00:40:32
Speaker
They cleared all of London. Yeah. They just called in a bomb threat. They dressed the streets of London, dude. I mean, they had money. But not a lot.
00:40:44
Speaker
They poured it all into ah closing off sections of the city. No, I think this movie had money. Interesting. I wonder if... I think they just wanted to shoot it in a lo-fi way.
00:40:57
Speaker
Because that was more realistic? Yes. Because Danny Boyle's amazing. he's Yeah, that's pretty smart, actually. Yeah. No, dude. 20 Days Later is like his fourth or fifth movie.
00:41:10
Speaker
So he definitely had been established. Don't listen to me. I don't know the fuck I'm talking about. What's the budget on that film? I just closed my phone. I'll bring it up. Yeah. 20 Days Later is really is really good. It's amazing. It's one of my favorite films in general. I watched that movie so many times.
00:41:26
Speaker
And then you have 28 Weeks Later, which sheers shit. I typed it 28. It's not as amazing.
00:41:35
Speaker
But that opening is so fucking good. The opening of 28 Weeks Later? Ooh, that's a good opening. that's one of my favorites. Well, no. The budget was $43 million. Not low budget, actually.
00:41:48
Speaker
Especially not for 2002. Because I remember they were talking about like some of the shots in the opening when Cillian Murphy is going down the streets and they're like, how'd you do that? like, well, we pay for you, dumb fuckers. Cities will close, fucking shut down if you give them enough money.
00:42:05
Speaker
how Just cut out the sound. I love 28 Days Later. That's when I grew my my love for Cillian Murphy. you know That was the first movie I saw him in. I fucking love it.
00:42:18
Speaker
i i've That's one of the few movies I've actually watched where the director talks about it. Because you know it's not they're not zombies. They're just sick because they're infected with pure rage. which is Rage. Which is a very similar silly premise, right?
00:42:33
Speaker
Rage. But, you know, when that film came out, then every single zombie ran. You know, if you have Romero's a Day of the Dead, then you have 28 Days Later and what they did to the zombie genre. Yeah. Like, they redefined it. That's how big of a movie it it is, and it was.
00:42:54
Speaker
I mean, it was paradigm shifting for the genre of film. Yeah. Oh, absolutely. You know, which is fucking huge. yeah So... I love the film. I'm a fan of 28 Weeks Later with um Jeremy Renner. Emo Gimpotts is in it, right? Yep.
00:43:12
Speaker
She's the daughter. And and what Robert Carlyle. Robert Carlyle, who I love. And I never see enough of him because i you know my love for him came in Revenant. Oh, I love Revenant.
00:43:24
Speaker
yeah No, it's not Revenant. Ravenous. Ravenous. Which one's Revenant? Oh, that's with Leonardo. That's Leonardo. Tom Hardy there. But... um You know, I love Robert Carly. So it's like, oh, and he's the main character. It's like, oh, what a perfect person to follow up with to Killian Murphy. rais is Maybe we should add that to one of our good, the bad, the uglies. It's his first film. Guy Pearce and Two Stocks and Two Smoking Barrel. Guy Ritchie?
00:43:53
Speaker
Yeah. Is that Carlyle's first film?
00:43:58
Speaker
I want to say no. No? He's... he I want to say he's probably been like... But he's so great in that film too, right? Rockstock, yeah. like and such He's such a good actor with so much charisma because he's this piece of shit person in that film and you still kind of love him hes yeah he's He's great. Trainspotting, we talked about trainspotting. putting him in 28 weeks later, that's
00:44:23
Speaker
I love it. I'm um'm on board. And that opening was so good. it it It's not 28 Days Later, but I don't think it's kind of like an alien. you know and yeah Hard to follow up that.
00:44:35
Speaker
But it was so fun, and I enjoyed 28 Weeks Later. and yeah i was like, oh right. 28 months later, coming out. Come on. Well, but now we got our 28 years.
00:44:47
Speaker
Yeah, and you know, i would have to say like,
00:44:51
Speaker
You asked, how do you feel about the franchise and are you looking forward to this one? And it's like, fuck yeah, dude. You got Danny Boyle coming back. You have that Quicksilver kid. What's his name? Aaron Taylor Johnson. Aaron Taylor. I like Aaron Taylor Johnson a lot, even though I can't think of his name right now.
00:45:09
Speaker
But I like him a lot. Danny Boyle. And then you have Ralph Fiennes. ah Oscar nominated. Ralph Fiennes literally just last year. Now he's coming out of this. Mm-hmm.
00:45:21
Speaker
I mean, yes, that's that's like a franchise. Because franchises are gross, right? They're disgusting. You know, they're just trying to get your money. There's going to be a Minecraft 2. You know they're trying to build all this shit.
00:45:33
Speaker
It's gross. I hate it. i would say horror. And I hate when they do it with stuff that I actually do like. Like Magic getting Final Fantasy and putting them on fucking cards. It's like, No! Do not put Final Fantasy and Magic the Gathering. Get the fuck out of here.
00:45:47
Speaker
But they did it. And guess what? I'm going to buy all the fucking Final Fantasy shit I can. Because they did it with Godzilla. They even did it with Transformers. I loved it. yeah And I hate it because it's like it's so insincere.
00:45:59
Speaker
it is. ah it's ah I think I've heard the term farming nostalgia. And that's exactly what it is. These companies are are quite literally farming you. You love the franchise, so you're kind of addicted to it. I will say the only thing I would push back against is horror franchises are a beast of their own.
00:46:20
Speaker
Yeah. Because they just get so fucking crazy and that things just get so fucking absurd. Still to this day, though? Like in current cinema now in the twenty twenty s What is there?
00:46:34
Speaker
The only new real big franchise. like Because i I don't consider Terrifier. Well, Terrifier, I guess, is a new one. You mean like new franchise? I meant like old franchises but new now and being crazy.
00:46:46
Speaker
Because they're not that wacky now. No, they're not. They're a lot more grounded now. It's not a lot. Although Michael Myers, Halloween, they kind of... yeah With both those last two, they really went out there. And they keep they keep trying, i will say.
00:47:00
Speaker
They keep making and trying to bring these old franchises back. Uh... I'm not really against it because I love those shitty horror movies. I love i love me some Michael Myers, Halloween 6. I do to an extent.
00:47:17
Speaker
I like the the shitty Hellraiser movies. I'll watch them. Yeah, I watched the latest one. I did to an extent. Hellbound or the newest one? Just the Hellraiser? Yeah, the female Hellraiser. Female pinheader. didn't watch that one. She was pretty great.
00:47:30
Speaker
But, um to you know what's... I don't know my point was. It pissed me off that people were upset because of that. Female pinhead. Who gives a shit? Have you seen Eddie Hallraiser after two? and Jesus Christ, what's wrong with you? And then i it got me thinking, because I always think, you know, that we're going to talk politics for just a quick second. You can skip ahead two minutes.
00:47:53
Speaker
Trump is pinhead. No, I was thinking like, i my brain just literally can't process that as the eliminating factor. Like when people are like, oh, you know, Kamala lost and ah Hillary lost because solely because they were women. Or that might be why a percentage of people didn't vote. That's definitely why, yeah.
00:48:13
Speaker
And it's like, but why? It's the dumbest fucking reason. It's so dumb. it doesn't ah People are stupid, man. We're stupid monkeys. And then look at where we are, right? And I just think, damn, um I want to be wrong. Because to me, it's like that's like the dumbest limiting factor.
00:48:26
Speaker
Who fucking cares? Of course it's stupid. Yeah. But then, you know, you end up with garbage. But, well, are you looking forward to this franchise? I am. I will say ah they really knocked it out of the park with their trailer. Danny Boyle. that poem? That fucking poem. Did you look it up? Yeah.
00:48:46
Speaker
I did too. i was like, holy shit, this was made world what this is the greatest poem ever. What is it? Boots. Boots. Boots are... I read it and then I listened... Because I think the ah they have the poet recite it Yeah.
00:48:59
Speaker
And I'm just like, man, this is fucking intense. And then it's like, oh, yeah well... You do disservice to the poem, honestly. But still, that's such a great trailer.
00:49:10
Speaker
Yeah. And I'm interested, of course. I mean, you have a... Danny Boyle is an interesting director because I haven't watched any of his newer movies. 127 Hours?
00:49:22
Speaker
ah That was like 10 years, 20 years dude. 15 years ago. Yeah.
00:49:30
Speaker
Right? Shit. It was long time ago. I didn't watch his Beatles movie. Did you watch the Beatles movie? The guy wakes up in a world where there are no Beatles, so he starts singing Beatles songs? Because I kind of hated that premise.
00:49:42
Speaker
But I heard it was actually really cute. so I love the premise, by the way. I love that premise. hate it. Well, yeah, you're a hack fraud. You want to start just stealing everything. Kubrick, I don't know. You're telling me if you wake up tomorrow and Star Wars has never been made, you're not going to be like, really, guys? I have an idea. I'm going to pitch
Hypothetical: Classics Never Made
00:50:00
Speaker
a movie. It's going called Valerian. And you'll see me go down.
00:50:04
Speaker
you are Well, buddy, sorry. All right. So you would you would steal the ideas? Yeah. Um... Like, if no one discovered the camera to make movies, you'd like... Hey, let me show you guys something.
00:50:21
Speaker
This is my camera. Well, that's a little different. No, no, no. But that's not still would you still like... Hey, George Lucas, I've never heard of him either. ah Let me tell you about this story I have.
00:50:34
Speaker
Um... Yeah, you would. I would. And you would bang Carrie Fisher, you fucking pervert. Oh, yeah. Oh, it... You'd be Warren Beatty. It would be Revenge of the Sith ah insist on my dick.
00:50:50
Speaker
ah But yeah, i mean, of I feel like the problem...
00:50:57
Speaker
It's so hard to just break guys haven't discovered Citizen Kane. Watch Dickhead. It's so hard to break in and get noticed. Yeah. That once you have, I think it's like once you have your foot in the door, you're kind of, yeah it's so easy to, I know it's probably easy to like fall back out of favor or whatever.
00:51:13
Speaker
But what, it's like, we just got to get in the door. Like we, we're pounding, we're banging on the wall. Like, oh, once we have our movie, right? We're going to. We're going to use our dickhead as a battering ram.
00:51:24
Speaker
um It's definitely going to be at least our business card, essentially. Exactly. It's our resume. It's our CV. It's like, hey, have you seen Killer's Kiss?
00:51:35
Speaker
Well, give me money and I'll show you what the killing can be like. Yeah, exactly. And that's kind of what happened, actually. Well, we already talked. Oh, that was like leading into the main conversation.
00:51:47
Speaker
But real quick, franchises. Yeah. in then In our movie notes, we have another Final Destination coming out. Yep. And this is going to be the first Final test Destination without Tony Todd, right? is in it.
00:52:02
Speaker
Never mind. His last movie. One of his last films. Oh, dude. i saw Okay, then I saw a picture from the set. Dude, he looks so fucking bad. Like, it was like he was unrecognizable because he was just in another Final ah final Fantasy.
00:52:18
Speaker
Another Final Destination film. Mm-hmm. And I was like, dude, he just died. Because i barely saw it. I was like, he just died. He looks great here. this wasn't that long ago. and then I saw this. It must have been a set photo of him.
00:52:31
Speaker
and was like, damn, dude. All of cinema is dying. They fucking killed Candyman. Why God? Why? Just got to say his name in the mirror, buddy. and He'll come back. Which one?
00:52:45
Speaker
I don't know. But. Which mirror? No, which Candyman or Tony Todd? You got to say Tony Todd. But what do you see in Final Destination? Because i'll I'll say like it's one of my i watch them all, man.
00:52:59
Speaker
I watch all the Final Destinations. I watch all the Saws. Not all the Fast and Furious because I still haven't seen the one with Luke Evans. yeah. i haven't seen that one either. I haven't finished that one. All the others I finished except also i wouldn't.
00:53:13
Speaker
and That's excluding the Calvin and Hobbes one. Yes. calvin I haven't seen that either. Even though I love both all three of those actors actually. Yeah. ah So, you know, you have like those two. I've seen all the Conjurings and the Nuns and the Annabelles.
00:53:31
Speaker
Yeah, watched all that fucking shit. um A lot of it I hate and it's like, ugh, gross. Like The Conjuring, definitely. go I don't like The Conjuring. Fast and Furious, definitely. It's like, no okay, Vin Diesel.
00:53:44
Speaker
Bring it back a little. Let's go back to Luke Evans. yeah um Even with Insidious, I didn't haven't seen an an Insidious past the second one. I saw the last one. I thought it was actually pretty good.
00:53:56
Speaker
Really? Well, the final key for two for a fourth seat or a third sequel of this franchise. Because you know a lot of people had issues with the ending of Insidious when he goes into the other you know the dream world. yeah The spiritual world. inbe between The in-between. you know that's kind of A lot of people fell out with that movie. But I loved Insidious really up until that point.
00:54:22
Speaker
Even when after that point, it's kind of like, okay, you're jumping the shark and I like this. um Sometimes it's good to jump the shark. Franchises need to jump like that movie Malignant. Did you see that? Yeah. Red Letter Media talked about it. I think that's what made me watch it. ah We watched it.
00:54:38
Speaker
Did we watch it together? Yeah, in my backyard and I puked all over myself. Okay, so maybe you didn't enjoy it, but I was like, this might be one of the greatest movies ever made. I don't know. I didn't puke all over myself because of the movie. Yeah.
00:54:53
Speaker
I faked all over myself because I had been drinking too much. Different stuff. um So we're going to be talking about Final Destination. And I will say.
00:55:06
Speaker
I have seen all Final Destination movies other than the new one because it just came out. And this is Final Destination Bloodlines, which i kind of hate when they start. I don't know if it's called Final Destination Seven Bloodlines. I don't think it is.
00:55:21
Speaker
But.
00:55:24
Speaker
I had this have this thing. or i did this movie marathon. I'll wait for Steven to get back. because Actually, I need to pee as well. so I was talking for about two minutes to no one.
00:55:39
Speaker
Well, at least I got to hear the sound of my own voice. and What do we not love more than the sound of our own voices? know. Listen to the length of our podcast. I wanted to get into one thing really quick on the end of franchising before we jump into the main topic.
00:55:51
Speaker
um So for... One, I want to say couple of years ago, I did this thing where I wanted to watch the sixth movie of every like franchise. Because but by the time a movie gets to six, it's like either they really, really suck or they found their footing and they just make like the same kind of... They're almost like carbon copies. Yeah. I i would... ah Make it akin less to sequel and more like an expansion pack in old movies or in old games.
00:56:22
Speaker
um And that's where I'm kind of excited about the Final Destination because i like the Final Destination movies. They kind of have figured things out. Yeah. Death. People are going to die. They see the death. They avoid it.
00:56:34
Speaker
But death's back Yeah. Right. You have your, you can't get out of death. Your elaborate Rube Goldberg setups of how death gets you. Like all this stuff is very established. You know what you're going to get. It's just how it's going to be executed.
00:56:46
Speaker
yeah Um, And that's what I love. Like you have your – like by the time Fire 13th got to number six, it's Jason in the woods killing people. And then how going stop Jason? He's been shot. He's been stabbed. He's been electrocuted. He's been had his head cut off. he ah yeah and then by the And then when you get to the seventh movie, shit gets like crazy. Well, which which one is Jason in space?
00:57:09
Speaker
Ten. I love that one. I love Jason. I love all of them, to be honest. I i like Jason in Manhattan. I like New Blood. Only one I don't like is Jason Goes to Hell. That one kind of sucks.
00:57:19
Speaker
Yeah. There's a few of them I don't like. I've tried to do the marathon, but there's just so many Jason or Friday the 13th films. Yeah. Yeah. But let me ask you. oh yeah. I wanted to follow up with this. So then what are franchises that are like legit good? Because the only one I can think of.
00:57:40
Speaker
is James Bond. You know, there's definitely misses, and they definitely go fucking out there. I mean, you had Moonraker. You had... ah ah What's his name?
00:57:52
Speaker
What's the actor's name who was James Bond during that time? ah Roger Moore. You had the Roger Moore era, which is like... He fucking went out there. And I love those movies. They're so fucking good.
00:58:02
Speaker
I love the Roger Moore era of James Bond films. But i also like the Sean Connery ones, even though he went out there when he's Japanese.
00:58:13
Speaker
Yeah. Just make his hair black and make his eyes slanted. You only lift twice. Now the Japanese can't tell the difference. I love him. I love Dr. No.
00:58:24
Speaker
That's one of my favorite franchise. That is my favorite franchise, actually. And even the latest ones with Daniel Craig, like... It's kind of like, why are moving away from the sex scene?
00:58:35
Speaker
That's part of James Bond. He's a womanizer. yeah For better or worse, James Bond is kind of this flawed superhero, right? I mean, he always gets caught, right? He always ends up caught and the bad guy has to give his breakdown of why he's going to kill James Bond in his whole exposition of the plot.
00:58:53
Speaker
But it's also a beautiful use of his weakness. No, but... His weakness is women. Yeah. like he know't supposed to be this He's not this symbol... He's not a gentleman. He's not a symbol of... He's a gentleman.
00:59:07
Speaker
Yeah, and he's not this symbol of morality. Yeah. Right? It's... No, it's like you're Patrick Bateman. No one wants to aspire to be Patrick Bateman. No one should aspire to be James Bond. He murders people, for Christ's sake. he He's a bit of an anti-hero, right? But it's only showing the good qualities of that anti-hero aspect of Of courses And especially later on, once you got to Timothy Dalton and and even... um Well, Timothy Dalton tried to break him back to the more violent, the more... But the more flawed Bond.
00:59:41
Speaker
But also... who hears No, the third one where his wife dies. yeah He only did one. Her Majesty's Secret Service, George Lazenby. George Lazenby.
00:59:54
Speaker
like They kind of made them more gritty. like yeah let's Let's be a little introspective here who this character is. But, dude, I fucking love Bonds. um Even Daniel Craig's, like, he had two really good ones.
01:00:07
Speaker
Casino Royale and… highphon Skyfall? Skyfall. Those were, like, pretty damn good. Especially Casino Royale, I think. just Just with the character and how they were kind of bringing it back because… Pierce Brosnan was just going out in a fucking... he You know, Roger Moore went to space, but his era, Pierce Brosnan, was just literally going to space. Like, who the fuck?
01:00:32
Speaker
Yeah, James Bond writing. Because Goldeneye was so fucking good. Dude, Goldeneye was like one of the best Bond films ever. and when you watch you're like, oh yeah, we're back to like Shaw Cottery, kind of more gritty, more like a Pierce Brosnan, early his first film.
01:00:50
Speaker
You know, we're kind of going back to this more gritty Bond. But then like fucking there's an Asian dude with diamonds stuck in his face and... ice melting and all this, you know. but that was i will say, at least- He went to Roger Moore levels. Well, it took four movies to get to that. because there And he's such a great Bond, though. He's like the greatest Bond, in my opinion. Pierce Brosnan's number one. Pierce Brosnan's a good Bond.
01:01:13
Speaker
And i'm not goingnna I'm not afraid to admit it. It's just like the same way I'm not afraid to admit that Val Kilmer was a great Batman. I love Val Kilmer. He's great at everything. Rest in peace, Val Kilmer. But, you know, I love Val Kilmer as Batman. He can do any. Val Kilmer is an actor who can do anything, and you love him.
01:01:29
Speaker
Yeah. He's just charismatic. But you were asking me, franchises. There's a lot of great franchises. um But have continually been, like, consistently good. Because I feel like James Bond is is actually trying to be a good
Praise for James Bond Franchise
01:01:43
Speaker
movie. Yeah.
01:01:44
Speaker
And they get good movies. They're not playing into the tropes of what the franchise is. They're trying to expand upon it and still develop you know fresh films.
01:01:56
Speaker
Where I don't... Like certainly the slasher films, I can't think of any that are really pushing it in that way. Where they're kind of trying to ah reinvent themselves and make something good. Freddie that a little bit.
01:02:11
Speaker
Okay. fra i mean, fred ah and than other hus so other than the remake, the last
01:02:19
Speaker
which one's the last one Freddy's New Nightmare, I want to say. And that's the one where Heather Lannincap comes back. That's the last one. Okay. And it's them as... It's very meta.
01:02:29
Speaker
It's the actors are playing themselves and Freddy leaks into the real world and starts haunting her, the actress, who was from the first Freddy. Yeah. And it's very meta and interesting in that way. I will say Freddy's probably the best franchise in that regard. um Just because...
01:02:48
Speaker
he went from this terrifying figure to this almost like slapstick three stooges act where, right. It's like, he's got quippy one liners and he's welcome to prime time. Yeah. yeah it's like yeah okay Yeah, exactly. Right. um
01:03:07
Speaker
And I love, I personally, i have a very big fondness for the Freddie franchise because it's of how good it is. But they're not, when was that film made? Oh, 90s. Okay.
01:03:19
Speaker
okay It was before Scream, I think. So can you even consider that current? Oh, you mean current? There ain't nothing. That's what i'm saying. James Bond. Yeah, i haven't seen I haven't seen any of them since Skyfall. I didn't see Spectre or No Time to Die or whatever.
01:03:36
Speaker
I didn't watch either of those. You don't need to. I just didn't have any interest. Really? Yeah. um I mean, current franchises that are still good. Godzilla? No. What? What?
01:03:47
Speaker
but That's such a mix of a franchise. I'm not talking about the American shit. I'm talking about the real shit, the Japanese shit. Come on. You had Shin Godzilla. Well, no no. Shin and Minus Zero are great. Minus Zero that just came out. Minus One.
01:04:00
Speaker
Minus One that just came out. You know, they're still like... No, no, no. don't no Those are still good. Those are good. That's what I'm saying. Like franchises that are still continuing.
01:04:10
Speaker
and But the I would say those are but there was are almost like different. and and say It's tough with Godzilla. Yeah. You're right. you can't go like jumping the shark with Godzilla, right? Because that's also the shit I like.
01:04:23
Speaker
Well, yeah. Godzilla does shot jump the shark. Sometimes, quite literally, he jumps the shark. You know, like I like Junior. and When you were telling me about Destroy, I was just breaking my heart. like, what the fuck? They did that to Godzilla's son? Right in front of him. Yeah, it's brutal. You know, I love Godzilla. I love Shin Godzilla.
01:04:42
Speaker
Those two, for me, are like, Yeah. Perfect. Shin Godzilla is like a perfect sequel. And... But I still have so much love. Like... I found out there was a king or a Godzilla vs. King Kong movie.
01:04:57
Speaker
And i was like, what the fuck? They verse each other? And I was so excited to see it because they would come on on the Sci-Fi channel. They're movie marathons. And play for like over 24 hours, whatever. So I just tune in all the time.
01:05:10
Speaker
Tune out when they showed actors. You know, I just want to see Godzilla. Yeah. But I found out they had that movie and I watched it and I was like, fuck this movie.
01:05:20
Speaker
This fucking sucks. One of them needed to die. Yeah. And you know, they couldn't do it because America's like, no, you can't kill King Kong. Fuck you. It's like, hey man, maybe King Kong wins. I'd say fuck you. But you know, maybe he wins.
01:05:35
Speaker
One of them has to die. I always thought it was dumb. It's not even a good... for like King Kong can climb the Empire State Building. Godzilla is the Empire State Building. you mentioned that. They can make King Kong bigger. like I'm just saying. How big is... like Maybe Tokyo is real tiny. you know like buildings were only like three stories.
01:05:54
Speaker
ah All right, sure, but... You know, he's got fire breath.
01:06:00
Speaker
He's a fucking nuclear bomb. King Kong is literally a giant monkey man. He just got fucked up by a few biplanes, right? you know He's the eighth wonder of the world. the met People were able to capture him. Okay.
01:06:17
Speaker
Okay, you win. Okay. Ain't nobody. but You know what they were thinking? That's a very good point. We're going to chain Godzilla up and put him in the zoo. You know what they're thinking? No, we can launch every bomb, explosive, tank, gun. Okay. You can to kill this fucker. You know what that brought down King Kong? Buy planes.
01:06:34
Speaker
You make a good point. Okay, you won that fight. All right. Yeah. So see, but still Godzilla should killed King Kong, right? He should have stopped his fucker. Like... The end. King Kong unlocked his electric powers, bro.
01:06:50
Speaker
Oh, I know, right? shocked Godzilla was like literally shocked. you remember? There's a scene where King Kong attacks Godzilla and he's just spiraling like on all fours just spiraling towards Godzilla.
01:07:02
Speaker
Yes.
01:07:04
Speaker
But I saw him like, yes!
Godzilla vs King Kong Discussion
01:07:06
Speaker
Who's going to kill him? And then Godzilla just swims away and King Kong gets super high off grapes. King Kong's like, fuck it, dude. that he's like eating off a pass He's eating something like apples or some kind of magically enchanted fruit that summons him. Yeah, because they recognize their equals, but it's like Godzilla kills the equal. Like, come on, man. There that is no equal.
01:07:34
Speaker
ah Ah, shit. But Godzilla's still good. he's He is the embodiment of the Armageddon. You know, that's the beautiful thing about franchise and where I think there is some good faith in franchises and it sucks that they're manipulating that and taking advantage of that.
01:07:50
Speaker
It's like, you know, there's the James Bond franchise. There's the Godzilla franchise. There's like Friday of the 13th franchise, Star Wars franchise. There's so many good franchises And they're just sucking them fucking dry just to make shit, you know? And it's like, you could have us as moviegoer fans forever. You can keep your core customer base who actually made you. Mm-hmm.
01:08:16
Speaker
Forever. Just make a good film. And guess what? If you make a good film, you'll probably get outside people too. You just won't get your core base. You'll get like legitimate people
Popularity of Low Quality Films vs Franchises
01:08:28
Speaker
flocking to this.
01:08:28
Speaker
Well, that's the thing. To show proof of why film like Terrifier can get so much popularity with people when it's a shit movie. Because they don't got that shit.
01:08:41
Speaker
They just got the money-fed Minecraft, we're going to make this a franchise, Super Mario, going make this a franchise. You know, like the Jurassic Parks. I hated the remakes, but then if you watch it with the scope of strictly this is the schlockiest, terriblest, awfulest movie you've ever seen, it actually is really fun. Like the one where the they were going to have Velociraptors as weapons with a gun instead of just using a gun.
01:09:11
Speaker
ah Brilliant. Brilliant. I loved it. But if I watched it like, oh, let me see Jurassic Park, the original, I'd be like, I fucking hate you. I hate you with all my soul right now.
01:09:23
Speaker
It's like in Jaws 4. There's a middle ground to be had, though, and you got respect it. And if you respect what you're just copying, if you respect it,
01:09:36
Speaker
That's all we want is just some goddamn respect,
Future of Hollywood and Impact of AI
01:09:39
Speaker
man. Yeah. And I will say, i mean, because all the studio execs that listen to Twitch Shadows podcast.
01:09:47
Speaker
Uh.
01:09:50
Speaker
Franchises pay dividends because if you if this ah Final Destination movie is good or if 28 years later is good, people are going to watch 28 days later and 28 months later and then 28 years later. And then people are going to back and watch Final Destination. They're going to watch one through six episodes.
01:10:12
Speaker
Or you know if they're available, they might jump on your streaming platform and watch them because yeah they want to watch the other stuff. And I think that that can be something that's cool. It's just the problem is, like you said, they're cashing in on these.
01:10:28
Speaker
And I think there was a lot of... pushback against that last year when we talked about the bombs in our last episode a lot of those franchise films bombed because but I wonder if they'll double down because you know with where Hollywood's headed like I don't even know if it's financially going to be possible to produce the films at the magnitude they want to do and get a profit
01:11:00
Speaker
Like, I think Hollywood's going to crumble. No, yeah. You know?
Potential for Quality Franchise Films
01:11:06
Speaker
Film won't go away. It's an art form. But it feels like Hollywood might be dying and it needs to figure out what it's going to do in the face of streaming.
01:11:17
Speaker
You know? Because the model profit's just so heavily based off of theaters that they've gone to such extremes. And, you know, AI's going to make a lot of people lose a lot of money, a lot of jobs.
01:11:31
Speaker
And that's going to really fuck with shit. Especially if you could just AI out a movie. like
01:11:40
Speaker
Yeah. Hollywood's in a rough place. What was my point? Hollywood is dying, but art film is not. Yeah. art. But... No, I was going to relate it to Minecraft.
01:11:52
Speaker
Oh, like, you know, these franchises just... may I wonder if we're going to see a um ah progression towards that. Like, hey, let's just grab at as much as we can before the whole ship goes down. are they going to course correct and then make something worth watching? Because like if you made another Harry Potter series, but you make it amazing, I'm on board, man.
01:12:14
Speaker
I'll watch it. And I'll be like, all right. I'm not into Harry Potter. i was too young. The first film was pretty damn good. like It's a good series. I've watched them all.
01:12:27
Speaker
But I'm not a harry diehard Harry Potter fan.
Difficulty of Creating Quality Films Today
01:12:29
Speaker
But if you make a good one, I watched Fantastic Beasts hoping it would be like amazing because of the actors involved. you know I'll sign on to these franchises. Just make a fucking good movie.
01:12:40
Speaker
I think that's the... The crux of it all? the crux. that's a good That's a great word because these fuckers can't make a good movie. And that's the problem. If they could make a good movie, we would watch them.
01:12:54
Speaker
Do you think I wouldn't watch a good... and like Conjuring 7, if it was good, of course I would fucking watch it. You would have to be fucking insane to not watch a movie that's good just because it's a franchise movie. It goes back to that whole like where I don't understand why people can't vote for a woman because she's a woman thing.
01:13:12
Speaker
ah My brain just does cannot comprehend the fact that you wouldn't just want to watch a good movie. i I know... yeah i mean, sometimes film can be tough because...
01:13:28
Speaker
It has ways of pulling feelings and painful things out
Akira Kurosawa's Influence on Filmmaking
01:13:36
Speaker
of your body. i don't know. certainly is tough.
01:13:39
Speaker
Is it tough? I don't know. Maybe. I'm definitely feeling things. And we're about to move into the main ah topic of the show.
01:13:52
Speaker
And the main topic of the show is the good, the bad, and the ugly. So let me, ah I'm going to pretty much just read for a while. So I guess, Stephen, you can just kind of sit back and say.
01:14:06
Speaker
Well, you need anything while I'm gone then? no I'm good. Ready? I'm going to read a quote first and then I'll get into the the what's going on. A film must be made with the heart, not the mind.
01:14:21
Speaker
I think today's young filmmakers have forgotten this, and instead they make films through their calculations. That is why Japanese films no longer have an audience. In all honesty, films must be made to target the hearts.
01:14:33
Speaker
During the time of Yasujiro Ozu, my mentor, and also in my time, no film no filmmaker made films based on theory and calculation. And that was why Japan's cinema was capable of shaping its golden years.
01:14:47
Speaker
Young filmmakers used techniques to humiliate the audience. This is wrong. We must serve the cinema and make a film that should stimulate Sorry, would stimulate the audience.
01:14:59
Speaker
Ultimately, the aim should be to make an artistic film. That's simple, isn't it? Akira Kurosawa. Now, if I may say, i didn't know that Ozu was his mentor.
01:15:12
Speaker
It's like, well, no wonder why you're one of the greatest ever, dude. You were taught by one of the greatest ever. It's just like, holy shit, Ozu mentored you and you became Kurosawa? Like...
01:15:26
Speaker
wow. That just fucking blew my mind. I was like, wow, I didn't know he... You know? It's like, holy shit, this is who you were taught by? like Jesus... Because... you know when we When I was watching High and Low, and anytime I see a Kurosawa film, I'm always thinking, because you know he's heralded as one of literally the greatest.
01:15:47
Speaker
He's like the Mount um on the mountain Rushmore of greatest filmmakers. He absolutely is. If you don't consider Kurosawa on the Mount Rushmore, year you haven't seen enough Kurosawa or you're just retarded. I don't know.
01:15:59
Speaker
I'm sorry. R-worded. like He is that level And still, I feel like he doesn't get talked enough about. You know, like, i if someone said, Kurosawa is the greatest filmmaker ever, I'd be like, i was like yeah, I'm not going to argue with you. like Yeah.
01:16:20
Speaker
Yeah, very, very, ah that's a good that's a good that's a good pick for who you like. And to know that he was mentored by Ozu, it's just like, if someone said, yeah, Ozu is the greatest ever, he made Tokyo Strait, I'd be like, okay,
01:16:34
Speaker
look I'm not going to argue with you. That's fair. yeah So that just fucking blew my mind, man. Because of just who Ozu was and then who Kurosawa then came to be and who who was. It's just like, wow.
01:16:52
Speaker
That's a trip. What did you think about Him commenting on filmmakers making films through calculation and not really with heart and soul. And I feel like that's so true.
01:17:03
Speaker
Well, I was going to say that's the sad thing about today is that I think that's even more apparent than ever. and And that's the scary thing with cinema right now where it's at is that so much of just what's made it so soulless.
Nostalgia for 90s Films
01:17:20
Speaker
Yeah.
01:17:21
Speaker
It feels like it was made for a cash grab or it feels like it sold itself for the money. and it And it might have to because, you know, at the end of the day, it's still a business. It has to make money. There's no way you can make a film without having money. Look at us 10 years later.
01:17:35
Speaker
We didn't spend that fucking much money, but we didn't have a lot of money. So it took us 10 years to get the funds to get this all done.
01:17:43
Speaker
and And then, of course, there has to be a profit because you've got to feed your family too. you know, you you only do that with the profits. so So film exists in this really interesting space, but it just feels like so much of what should be good just isn't.
01:18:02
Speaker
And it's such a letdown in so many ways. And even the solid films don't even feel that solid. You know, like I look at solid, I remember solid films from like the 1990s, you know, I grew up during that shit. I remember it very fondly.
01:18:20
Speaker
And those solid films feel a lot more just better than a lot of the shit I see nowadays. It's rare for me to find a good solid film, let alone ah even a great film. Because I think great films just come around very rarely.
01:18:33
Speaker
And then a lot of them are probably identified far after the fact. But just I just want a solid film. You know? There is... Well, I can't say that.
01:18:45
Speaker
Well, Army of Darkness. You know, there's just a random time when Army of Darkness came out. It was on VHS. We rented it. And we just watched it. was It wasn't that old because it was still in like... It wasn't in the bargain section of the VHS. Yeah.
01:18:57
Speaker
You know, and we saw it. And it was like, holy shit, this is the greatest movie I've ever seen. You know, and Army of Darkness isn't going to be in like... ah Along the...
01:19:09
Speaker
You know, the podium of a Tokyo story or Citizen Kane. It's not even holding up the, and but not the Empire State Building, the yeah Mount Rushmore. You know, it's not Godzilla. It's not King Kong.
01:19:22
Speaker
But if that wasn't one of the greatest films I ever saw. And that was just like one of those solid films you would see. Mm-hmm. And just today, i i can't think of really many films that I feel that way. Like, there are some, like Civil War.
01:19:37
Speaker
ah like, fuck yeah, this is just like a such a nice, tight, solid film. But man, that is just so few and far in between. Mm-hmm. Yeah. And it feels like it's it's because so so much of it has to be sold. you So much of your soul has to be sold. And you're just hitting those numbers instead of hitting an art piece. Because if High and Low came out today, if any of Kurosawa's came out today, you know how much money they'd make? Well, we're going to find out. because they
01:20:08
Speaker
They would make whatever Kurosawa paid him and his family to go see it. Well, you know Spike Lee is remaking it, right? What? High and Low. You know what I just saw recently?
01:20:22
Speaker
That's interesting you mentioned that because I just saw recently for the first time um Do the Right Thing. I fucking loved it. and And while i was watching, I was like, okay, this is why there's so much respect given to Spike Lee.
01:20:37
Speaker
You know, and that was in his early days just coming out of film school. And there's a certain grittiness and ugliness that a lot of early great filmmakers have. you know, that you love, you kind of absorb because it's not so overproduced. It's not so produced. It's just like me holding a camera and getting the shot.
01:20:56
Speaker
And that's what they care about. is just I have this vision for this amazing shot. Can I get it? And you know, the more money you get, you get that shot better and better until a certain point. And then it's like, well I don't have any more vision for shots. And then their whole catalog falls off.
01:21:12
Speaker
it Can I interject really quick? I think it's kind of interesting too because i think you lose some of that freedom because – ah everything becomes so um more important about getting the day than it is about getting the shot.
01:21:26
Speaker
And you resort, you resort to simpler setups because you only have so much, uh, you, when you are that low indie filmmaker. And that's why I love these like shitty, super low budget movies. And I don't mean shitty in the fact that they suck. It's just, they're shitty because they have no money and you can tell.
01:21:47
Speaker
You can tell they have no money. You can tell that Jared and Clark were broke when they made The Great and Terrible Day at the Lord and that they only have one location, right? You can feel it. um They do the best that they can and that's what you I look for is there's ingenuity and there's invention in the lack of having resources.
01:22:06
Speaker
But you then you graduate into being this studio powerhouse filmmaker where an hour of overtime might be a million dollars. Yeah.
01:22:17
Speaker
Or, I mean, an hour of overtime might equate to another day of shooting if you go over. So you have to completely reconceptualize how you make that film.
01:22:30
Speaker
So that's, there's some leverage or leeway to give these guys in a sense. um Which guys? Like the Spike Lee's of the world, Martin Scorsese. Like Martin Scorsese could barely get movies made nowadays.
01:22:44
Speaker
Yeah, which is crazy. It's fucking insane. He's Martin Scorsese. If he wants to make a movie, any studio should just be like, here's a blank check. Yeah. What do you want to make, Marty? There you go. i mean, the dude has got maybe ah a decade left with us. but just let us help you with some of the editing. We can refine that a little bit. But shit, dude.
01:23:05
Speaker
Yeah. If Martin Scorsese is having trouble getting a movie financed, what fucking hope the... Twin Shadows production have. Oh, we have no hope. But that's part of the charm, right? The thing is, and this is where it's so important to stick to your guns, is like we have to be inventive with everything. We have to figure out how to social media market this. Social market.
01:23:26
Speaker
Market this film to people. We have to figure out how to get this distributed. We have to figure out how to get this fucking colorized. We have to learn all these steps. And man, the end of the day...
01:23:37
Speaker
The product might not be this masterpiece. it might not It's not going to be high and Citizen Kane. It's going to be low. It's going to be real low. But we hope that you could you can... There is some magic left to that ingenuity, that spice.
01:23:56
Speaker
I think i heard somewhere, no one gives a shit how hard it was to get the shot. It's just they won't know. They're only seeing the shot as it is. It doesn't matter if you had to like fly a plane and stop a traffic from, you know it doesn't matter if you have to clear out London.
01:24:13
Speaker
yeah right is It doesn't matter how what the logistics was behind getting that shot. At the end of the day, people are going to just see the shot. yeah they're gonna see the film no one cares if you you know everyone died on the set the next day because of a you know li ah out like acid rain or something i don't know no one gives a shit yeah all that matters at the end of the day is what you can present on film and hopefully there's some charm and ingenuity there that well look at stalker right like who the fuck knows about stalker it's like dude everyone fucking died on that set yeah
01:24:45
Speaker
You know, that's why you should kind of know. But no one cares because it's about what's in that frame. And ah i was going to add to that, but I forgot.
01:24:57
Speaker
Please continue. I was going get into the next bullet.
01:25:03
Speaker
So for this main topic, this going to be a new rotating segment to help us with it in a variety of ways. We'll take turns choosing three films we both have to watch and write a review for. This will help us keep us writing more as well as experiencing experiencing more films.
01:25:20
Speaker
We'll watch and review these three films, discuss and discover what's good, what's bad, and what's ugly. As well as... It's easy. sometimes Sometimes it's hard to find a topic.
01:25:34
Speaker
There was a little thing I wanted to add there. Was it... more Well, can I add, since you're looking that up I'll just, because I wanted to expand upon this.
01:25:46
Speaker
So these have been such little gems and I've really enjoyed it. And one thing I like is I don't think any of these have been on the top 100 list that we're supposed to see.
01:25:58
Speaker
So it's nice kind of having this run kind of parallel to it because some of these have felt like gems, you know, like shampoo, shampoo, I don't know if that's going on the top 100, but just watching, i was like, oh man, I love this film.
01:26:12
Speaker
I really enjoyed it. And, and even a killer's kiss, you know, it's like, yeah, that's not going to be on Kubrick's top three list. No, but I really enjoyed it and I was really glad to see it. So I think one, we shouldn't get anything that's on the list.
01:26:30
Speaker
Of course. Did I have anything else to add to that? I did.
01:26:37
Speaker
ah
01:26:41
Speaker
Okay, no, that was all I had to add to the list. But yeah, I think that'd be nice to just have these films worth watching that aren't on the list. Yeah. Because, you know, I think that's one of the best things a filmmaker can do for themselves is just watch other films. Yeah.
01:26:57
Speaker
Because you can see how an idea is executed. And just give an ex example example to yourself. And then, you know, you can kind of brainstorm from there. And so it's just been so educational. Just literally watching the films, you know.
01:27:12
Speaker
I hear a lot of directors now who are successful talking about reading. i think that's very important because you got to know a good story. Yeah. But also I think you need to just watch films because there's just so many examples now that you can really learn from what's created within this specific format, because a film is not a book.
01:27:32
Speaker
You know, one of the closest films I've ever seen get to a book, I think recently, is High and Low. Because like, man, this feels more like I'm reading a book or are are going through a novel than watching a movie, because it had all these weird twists and turns that just added this richness of complexity to the story.
01:27:50
Speaker
And I loved it because, you know, it could have been a simple premise. Because there's that movie with Gary Sinise and Mel Gibson. Ransom. Ransom. I you i mentioned it in my... That's exactly what I was thinking watching this. And I was like, but that concept, even though it had twists and turns, it stayed very simple.
01:28:08
Speaker
And that was great. It was kind of cool to see that just kind of... um microscope on this section of the story, but this story went like left and right. it was like, oh, you're adding in this element. Oh, now we're going here. ah now we're at this stage. And I was just like, holy fuck, Kurosawa. Like, this is just such a rich ah film.
01:28:31
Speaker
But that's the only film I've ever seen like that. Otherwise, I think it's ah it's just good to watch other films because... what do most of us would ever have?
01:28:43
Speaker
An hour and a half. Yeah. So you got to deliver a whole fucking deeply emotional story in an hour and a half. TV shows are 30 minutes and it takes like 50 seasons to really get to the heart.
01:28:54
Speaker
Yeah. To really feel that. But a movie has to deliver that in an hour and a half. And that's the specialness to movies. And it's like, that's a hard fucking thing to do. And you see a lot of people who attempt it and they don't get there.
01:29:07
Speaker
But then when you see it done right, I mean, just watch the example, man. you know it Come on, it's right there in front of you. Just discover this example and then just try to put your own spin on it. Make it your own.
01:29:20
Speaker
and I would say, add to that, just and this is more tangential than in addition to your comment, and it's, what's really cool about this kind of thing is we're not, my goal anyway is to not pick popular films.
01:29:41
Speaker
I don't want to talk about Pulp Fiction. i don't want to talk about Matrix. I don't want to talk about these kind of films. I want to talk about Shampoo, Killer's Kiss, shit like this where I feel like the problem too is everyone has like the same reference materials.
01:29:58
Speaker
And you're going in and everyone's painting the with the same brush strokes when it's like, no, there's this whole world out there that you haven't fucking seen or explored. There movies made before 1992. don't know what...
01:30:12
Speaker
i don't know what yeah Other than it's like sometimes when you hear modern filmmakers talk, it's just like everyone talks about like the same five films. And or you just see all these young kids and their favorite movies Interstellar. And it's like, man, Interstellar, that's as far back as you went.
01:30:29
Speaker
Like that's what Interstellar is not a bad movie. It's a good movie. It's a great film. Don't get me wrong. But goddamn, it ain't fucking high and low. It ain't 2001. It's not 2001. So what i want to say is like, I just want to, sometimes there might be misses and that's why it's the good, the bad and the ugly. I don't know if it's always going to be a great lineup.
01:30:52
Speaker
I'm always going to try and find something that is going to be interesting for you to watch. And I hope you do the same. um But let's talk about the three films. I wrote a little blurb.
01:31:04
Speaker
ah you You want to, you can read, You want to read one of them or two of them? I'll read whatever you want. You want me to read Killer's Kiss? Sure. Killer's Kiss 1955.
01:31:16
Speaker
Directed by Stanley Kubrick. This is the second outing of the acclaimed director and with a budget of only $75,000. Which back then, how much is that? Like $75 million Kubrick? I want to say it's probably like $400,000. That's it?
01:31:33
Speaker
Dang. That'd be a little more. It's got be way more. 55? 75. From Yeah,
01:31:50
Speaker
so thisit seventy five thousand
01:31:58
Speaker
it sounds really peaceful outside beautiful beautiful day ah Google says roughly $894,000. So so it's almost like this movie had a little bit under of a million dollars as a budget.
01:32:14
Speaker
I mean, that's not bad. With a budget of only $75,000, low even by 1955 standards, shows the wits and dedication of America's greatest... Oh, interesting.
01:32:26
Speaker
America's greatest filmmaker. Written, directed, edited, produced, and filmed by Stanley Kubrick. A sweet crime noir we will review now.
01:32:38
Speaker
All right. So I figure we could then talk about Killer's Kiss? Now that's interesting that you put that. so I'll read mine first. Sure. um Because that kind of leads in.
01:32:51
Speaker
are Yeah, so the idea here is then Stephen will read his review that he wrote. I'll read my review with that we wrote. And then we'll discuss the movie further and then move on. Yeah. And I did all of these really quickly. So I didn't really do them too well. But is this the film Stanley tried to have scrubbed?
01:33:09
Speaker
I can see why. I thought that was his first question. He would want to wipe this from the face of the planet. But still, even with his first film, you can see all the potential and strengths of Kubrick.
01:33:23
Speaker
And I put America's greatest filmmaker. Because I was thinking about that, you know. It's like, who's our number one? You know, Russ has got Tarkovsky. You know, Japan's got Curacao. Come on, motherfucker.
01:33:35
Speaker
i don't know. Who's Italy got? Fellini? Or... um Yeah, probably Fellini. Fellini? France has... a I don't know who fucking France has. I just think of Godard. Truffaut? I have no idea. France-Rod Truffaut?
01:33:49
Speaker
Sure. Truffaut? So, you know, Polish has the red, white, blue guy. Yeah. Poland. Who's England got?
01:34:00
Speaker
English is, I would say the Pressburger and Powell, Powell Pressburger. Oh, interesting. Maybe. Yeah. Wow. Yeah. That's a good one. Okay. So, you know, everyone's got their greatest, you know, and it was I was thinking about us because, you know, we're Hollywood, baby. Come on. This is where film is. All right.
01:34:17
Speaker
And yeah, we got to have the best of the best, you know. i don't know. I don't think we got there, but. Yeah, I think it's got to be cool. But then there's so many great American filmmakers because then I was thinking about more people. was like, well, there's so-and-so and so-and-so.
01:34:34
Speaker
And it's like, there's there's a lot, you know, that you could really consider as some of the greatest. But the greatest... Yeah, I guess Kubrick. I mean, that's all that comes to mind.
01:34:49
Speaker
My thing is, other than... the his first film, fear Fear and Desire, and Killer's Kiss, Kubrick essentially only then does like eight out of tens.
01:35:01
Speaker
Yeah. Killer's Kiss is a seven out of ten. Spoilers, but... killer Also, spoilers for Killer's Kiss. Oh, I didn't rate anything. But, you know, Killer's Kiss is rough.
01:35:13
Speaker
and But it's like... For me, and it's an acceptable rush. It's like, well, you didn't have fucking money to make this. So... yeah I get it. You know, Dickhead could have been a lot better.
01:35:24
Speaker
Maybe not as good as Kubrick would have done, but it could have been a lot better. Yeah. You know, so it's like, I'll forgive it. Because, you know, even Citizen Kane, like, the greatest first film ever made.
01:35:36
Speaker
yeah But he had money. Millions dollars. Yeah. He had money to make this. So it's like, okay, well... So I'll forgive Kubrick like for his early stuff where he had no money, but then you know you get to his later stuff. and i mean even At a certain point, I think Kubrick got a little too much into his own head.
01:35:57
Speaker
you know it's like You're kind of working against yourself here a little bit, bud. Just take it take it back a step. I mean, it's just like, damn. This is still one of the best films ever. you know Even Eyes Wide Shut, I would say, is like maybe from after Dr. Strangelove, like from that era to the end.
01:36:18
Speaker
like Eyes Wide Shut, I think, would be one of the weaker ones. you know You still have like The Shining, 2001, Full Metal Jacket.
01:36:29
Speaker
ah But still, Eyes Wide Shut is just… Yeah, in those films, right? But still, Eyes Wide Shut is like… You're like, yeah well, it's not Full Metal Jacket. you know There's no Sucky Sucky.
01:36:41
Speaker
But then you watch it, you're like, God damn, this is pretty fucking good, man. This is a pretty fucking good film. And just Kubrick like…
01:36:49
Speaker
Yeah, I think he... But then like there's Hitchcock too, you know? Where I think that could be a ah good argument. Hitchcock's British, motherfucker. He is? He's British. Oh, but he did so many films for us.
01:37:01
Speaker
Yeah. I mean, but he yeah made most of his movies in America. Well, Kubrick made most his movies in England, but Kubrick is very much an American filmmaker. American studio, right? Like, I guess that's... For Warner Brothers. but That's where I'm getting... Because, that's where because you know, like Sidney Lumet, another great... But he was...
01:37:18
Speaker
No, not Sidney Lumet. Sidney Lumet. Billy Wilder. Billy Wilder. He was German. That's I'm thinking of. You know, he's German, but he made it for the American cinema. Yeah, that's... But then I guess... I don't know. It's complicated, because right? Because of the US, we get complicated quick. because Well, I would say the thing A Billy Wilder film? Kubrick is so good that people can't even rationally and like analyze his films. Yeah.
01:37:44
Speaker
films I don't know. Because they go they get so crazy about shit. Like how many other filmmakers have documentaries on theories about their films? David Lynch? Yeah, but David Lynch. david Do you think David Lynch is better than Kubrick?
01:37:58
Speaker
No, but that's what I'm saying. There's documentaries on David Lynch movies. On YouTube. That don't count. I mean, it counts, I guess, in a way. But what I mean is like, there people go so, like, he's so detail-oriented and, like, pet I think the thing, problem too is people with eyes wide shut, they get so hung up on the fucking cult conspiracy, they lose the forest from the trees. Yeah. Where it's like, no, the film's about fucking marriage and what relationships mean and why it's hard and the dynamics between men and women. it's like you don't got to try that hard either, too. Exactly. That's the point. is I think he's a simple dude. But that's what I'm saying is like he gets in the way of himself at times, I think.
01:38:44
Speaker
Oh, no, definitely. Kubrick was absolutely an insane person. yeah ah But what I'm saying, all I'm saying is the motherfucker had like six masterpieces, maybe seven.
01:38:55
Speaker
yeah So that's what I'm thinking. is like Who else has that many like undeniable ah very amazing films? Billy Wilder has like three, maybe four. what about like John Ford or something? I've never seen a John Ford movie, but I've seen some. I've seen some, but...
01:39:13
Speaker
Dude. I mean, there's our lack of education too. Bringing a baby. like Maybe you could pick a John Ford movie for the next three. I've never even seen a John Ford movie. yeah I haven't seen any of these. I just picked them.
01:39:26
Speaker
But, you know, like that's what I'm saying. like It's it's a tough. Because also we know American cinema more. So what do you really pick? I don't know. I think a lot of people would say Spielberg. A lot of people would say Tarantino. A lot of people would say shit like that. But it's like, no. It's definitely no one that's making movies today.
01:39:43
Speaker
No one. Dang, that's crazy. it's The greatest film American filmmaker is not working today. Yeah. Unless it's Scorsese, and I don't necessarily think it's Scorsese. No, he did The Irishman.
01:39:58
Speaker
he did ah He's done a lot of bad movies. Scorsese definitely has ah way bigger catalog. I hate counting the losses. Yeah. You know, fighting a fight day hate county line is… it Come on. It's just about what they're winning now. Yeah.
01:40:13
Speaker
But, I mean, you got to look at Kubrick's record, dude. I mean, like, okay, your early films were stinkers. Like, Killer's Kiss is not a bad film. It's not a stinker. Dude, it's not a stinker. It's not a bad film. It's just not a masterpiece. But if it's not like what your other films are, it's a stinker.
01:40:29
Speaker
Because you raised the bar so high on yourself, literally. Yeah. So yes, the win-loss record does kind of matter there. And you know Kubrick had two. Sure, that's a lot.
01:40:41
Speaker
Maybe. you know It's not a perfect record. No. But you know those two films, you know they're put a little asterisk by it. because also you know Because then there's other filmmakers like the guy who did Night of the Hunter.
01:40:56
Speaker
Yeah. But that's his only movie. Exactly. But if that movie's not fucking amazing. It's so good. It's one of the greatest films ever. It is. It is without a doubt one of the greatest films ever. And that guy only made that one movie. And if that's your record, it's like, okay, well, you're 100%. You got the A+++. plus plus plus you know Yeah.
01:41:14
Speaker
but But then, right? Well, you only made one movie, though. Yeah. So i i don't, I think you have to, there has to be a weight, right? Yeah.
01:41:25
Speaker
You gotta, right, because Kubrick, you add all the scores together and then you do some kind of math. Your 110 doesn't stand up against Kubrick's 710s. Yeah. Yeah.
01:41:36
Speaker
Yeah, not even close. Right. Sure, Night of the Hunters might, pound for pound, go up against any one Kubrick film, but the motherfucker has an army to fucking hit you with. Yeah. Right? We're talking about Kurosawa. Kurosawa, it's like, oh, it right, if you have to do like a...
01:41:53
Speaker
You know what's that card game where you put down the higher number? Oh, yeah. It's like Ridley Scott, he's got a handful of deck. He's got a big deck. And he only has two tens that he can play. So he's just like, okay, Kurosawa, drop this shit. I play my alien to your...
01:42:10
Speaker
Oh, Rashomon? No! Seven Samurai? What the fuck? Right? Like, dude, Kubrick or Kurosawa? What the hell? So why don't you read your review of Killer's Kiss?
01:42:23
Speaker
Okay. Wait, I did read it. That was it? Was it? Did you want more? Wait, but really? Yeah.
01:42:34
Speaker
It was a stinker? oh um Oh, because we stopped at America's film Greatest Filmmaker. Yes. Okay, yeah, you're right. ah You can also witness his greatest weaknesses, that he never shored up outside of the hundred takes to get something out of his actors, that he couldn't deliver through directing his actors. ah A sweet...
01:42:58
Speaker
And rough tell the low budget film is complimented by Kubrick's gritty approach and through him alleviates this film to one of the greatest first time low budget films.
01:43:12
Speaker
There is a pride that he, cause I thought he scrubbed it. There's a pride that he should have taken. And this film is a great watch for any budding filmmakers. Just because you don't have money doesn't mean that you can't make a good film.
01:43:27
Speaker
And yeah, i thought I thought this might be his first one because I thought The Killing was his first one. No, Killing his is his third. Yeah. so So I thought this was what you told me about.
01:43:40
Speaker
And, you know, it has its rough spots. And like I said, I think I can see why he later took 100 takes. And I think that's at the result of him not being good in telling actors what he needed. Mm-hmm.
01:43:54
Speaker
Do you need 100 takes to make someone feel like they're going through the door for the first time? Maybe. Maybe you do. I've never been in that situation. Maybe you don't. I've never been in that. Well, I've been in that situation and it felt fine.
01:44:09
Speaker
I don't know where the line of perfect is that maybe he got in 100 takes. So... You know, like the actor's delivery in this film and all of that and some of the takes, they felt a lot more rough than what you see when he can afford what he needed.
01:44:25
Speaker
And… and
01:44:30
Speaker
But, you know, you still see those weaknesses in him because then there's some strong aspects like the cinematography, right? Kubrick was a photographer before he got into filmmaking. And it's like, yeah, this guy knows how to compose and make a fucking gorgeous image. Yeah.
01:44:44
Speaker
And anyone can do it. You just need to have that eye, that ability to see composition. And a lot of people don't. A lot of directors don't because there's a lot of bland fucking films nowadays.
01:44:55
Speaker
It's not an easy thing at any time of day. Mm-hmm. You know, cinematography is not an easy thing to do. And Kubrick just knew it. And, you know, just seeing some of the cinematography just made the movie feel so much greater.
01:45:09
Speaker
Right? Because it's a very simple story. And it it's told very quickly. It's told within an hour and six minutes.
01:45:20
Speaker
And that's not including like credits or anything like that. So it's a very short movie as well. And it certainly has its rough spots because you can only get so much out of a story within an hour.
01:45:31
Speaker
I mean, an hour and a half working on a film feels short, right? Wouldn't you agree? So that's like a really tight timeframe to get it in. And he did his within an hour.
01:45:42
Speaker
So I think you do suffer a little bit at that. But it was still an amazing watch. Like just as someone learning myself, it made me feel a little better about myself because it's like, okay, Kubrick's not a god.
01:45:56
Speaker
But also at the same time, you know, it's educational because like, oh yeah, you could just take this approach to the filmmaking aspect of it and make your film this much better.
01:46:07
Speaker
Like, you know, for Dickhead, we always shit up about our party scenes. I'm sure there's some very simple tricks we could have pulled to make it look a lot better that we just didn't think of.
01:46:18
Speaker
And if we would have maybe been more exposed to this shit a little sooner, and maybe we would have come up with some more creative approaches. You ready for me to read it? Yeah.
01:46:29
Speaker
Okay. Killer's Kiss. The sophomore effort from legendary director Stanley Kubrick. It's very contrasty love letter to the city of New York. Davey, a boxer, lives across the way from dancer Gloria.
01:46:42
Speaker
The two briefly meet before Davey's big fight. He gets knocked out on live television and after getting a call from his uncle to hang up his gloves and come out to the family farm, he wakes up in the middle of the night to Gloria screaming. Her manager is attempting to rape her.
01:46:56
Speaker
And Davey rushes over and finds that the manager has fled. Davey and Gloria get to know each other a bit better, and the two quickly fall in love. Within two days. Within two days. They decide to leave New York behind and run off together to Seattle.
01:47:09
Speaker
The stark black and white photography against the New York landscape settles you for a quick runtime at only 67 minutes. The film plays fast and once it starts, it never lets go. From the thrilling boxing match to watching a ballerina dance, the film doesn't let up, keeps its story simple and shows how important a tight film is on a low budget.
01:47:26
Speaker
Due to the mic always messing with Kubrick's lighting, he fired the sound man and dubbed the entire film. Featuring iconic landmarks and some good performances, Killer's Kiss shows that ku what Kubrick would later become capable of.
01:47:39
Speaker
The thrilling fight at the end of the film in the mannequin factory feels a tad rushed and and it doesn't quite deliver on the emotional aspects that we want it to, but our hero is freed from ah self-defense murder charge and And leading to a happy ending where our lovers ride off to Seattle.
01:47:58
Speaker
The story itself is a simple noir sprinkled with bits of violence and a thrilling conclusion. Killer kiss while not a masterpiece shows that as a young filmmaker Kubrick was already a step above. Seven out of ten. Yeah. And you know it's interesting you mentioned that mannequin scene because I think that's something to talk about because yeah i kind of had that like lack of a better word cliche kind of how it goes with those kind of fight scenes.
01:48:24
Speaker
Yeah. But also the way he delivered it was just like so unromantic and a bit gritty and rough. Yeah, rough, yeah. You know, and that added a certain level of intensity because like the boxer guy, he's supposed to be this guy boxing for, you know, a title and he's having this mannequin fight. Now the bad guy has an ax. So he's using mannequins to protect himself because they're in a mannequin factory. Yeah.
01:48:52
Speaker
Yeah. But, you know, he's not using any, like, skill or, like, dodging anything. No boxing. He's just throwing mannequins and trying to beat him with, like, the legs and the arms of the mannequin. Yeah. And it's so ugly and they're missing constantly and falling over each other.
01:49:08
Speaker
And they're, like, not even getting close to killing each other, but they're trying. They're like... Yeah, they're out of breath. Yeah, and it's just this like real ugly fight. It's not like some perfect like Robin Hood-esque, you know, like everything I'm doing is so skilled and wonderful because he's, this guy's literally, he was competing for a title shop.
01:49:28
Speaker
Yeah. So he's one of the best ever. And then the way you see him fight, it's always just so ugly. And and then especially the mannequin shop, it's just extra ugly and like amateurish and just literally men fighting not to die and to kill the other because that's where they've gotten to at this moment.
01:49:47
Speaker
And that was so done well, you know, like, because it's like, damn, we're still going. This is still going. i remember thinking like, Jesus, just fucking kill him already. And, you it's like, you're just going to stab him with the spear. He's going to be ugh.
01:50:01
Speaker
And that's what it delivered on. yeah But still, it took so long to get there. And it kind of became this own little microcosm of a weird thing within the film. but that That really stood out. But like, it was like, I don't know about the execution because it was like, eh.
01:50:16
Speaker
But then also, but you also try to go there. So then it was like, eh. But my issue is too is directly after that, the movie just wraps up. Like, it's like on six times speed. There's only an hour, baby. That fight took 20 minutes. Right? After that fight, it's like he's arrested by the police. Then he's like he's freed. She's waiting at the train station. he meets her at the train station. They embrace and then the movie's over.
01:50:38
Speaker
Yeah. And it's like, holy shit. It's like, we've just been fighting in the mannequin factory for so long. i forgot what time was. um i One thing I will say that is very fascinating about this film is the there a little bit of the... I'm down, yeah.
01:50:57
Speaker
It's a little bit of the background. Oh, actually, I have to pee, too. And interesting about that background. You know that ballerina? Kubrick married her. He divorced his current wife to marry her.
01:51:07
Speaker
so yeah, it shows that Kubrick was indeed very human after all, and sometimes our eyes are wide shut.
01:51:16
Speaker
So... want buddy We're all getting old. ah Yes, sir, I know. We're all getting old, Kurosawa. Why'd you have to go? One thing I will... I do want to ask you about Killer's Kiss.
01:51:30
Speaker
Um... The story is pretty sweet for like this tight little film. What did you think of ah the the story of essentially ah huge... It's like a case of misunderstanding. oh I mean, it's nothing novel, right? You've seen a million of those type of stories.
01:51:48
Speaker
ah So it's short, it's sweet. The way he should kept it. who I thought a lot of the writing was pretty damn weak overall. It is, yeah. Like the narration and the dialogue of the narration.
01:52:02
Speaker
I mean, it was like, goddamn Stanley, no wonder you had co-writers. You're smart man.
01:52:08
Speaker
But, you know, it was still delivered very effectively. And there were moments of brilliance.
01:52:20
Speaker
So, yeah. That's what I thought about this story. Yeah. yeah Fairly simple film, I felt. Yeah, very simple. ah Too simple. I think it's a great way to...
01:52:32
Speaker
if It's a great way to express yourself. I'll say this i'll say this too. This is Kubrick we're talking about. yeah So I'm way more harsh than I would normally be. Because it's Kubrick.
01:52:45
Speaker
And unfairly so. There's a bias there. Yeah. And he's also only like 23 years.
01:52:54
Speaker
Dude, I made dickhead at what? 30? 29? 28? Yeah. Yeah. Shit. Step above, man. So now we'll get into our second film.
01:53:08
Speaker
but Well, hold on. oh What did you feel were some of the strongest ah elements? Like what made... Okay, now we're looking at this in hindsight, right? We already know who Kubrick is. he's We know how he's established.
01:53:24
Speaker
So knowing that, that, of course, elevates our opinion of anything we're seeing on screen. But while watching, i was like, okay, these are the moments of like, oh, Kubrick.
01:53:35
Speaker
This is the raw Kubrick still discovering who he is as a filmmaker. so growing. Yeah. Like, did any of those moments catch you where where you would see him progress to and become who he who he is?
01:53:48
Speaker
Slightly yes and no. I think this film is it's interesting because I think it's shot a little differently. It feels like a guerrilla film. It feels like a dude that just had a camera, like the shots of around New York.
01:54:02
Speaker
It's like he didn't close off no streets. Yeah, there was nothing getting... Right. There was that raw element to it. Yeah, it felt very raw, but it that added to the film.
01:54:13
Speaker
It added to the setting. Absolutely. um One thing i will I wanted to point out was it really... like that this just the cinema The strength of this film is really in the cinematography. Yes, by far. um The shots are gorgeous.
01:54:28
Speaker
Everything is just set up... It looks great. It's like this guy knows a camera. Yes. mean, he just knows what fits in a frame. Yeah, and... and the way And when the camera moves, it moves with a purpose and it's setting up a better shot.
01:54:42
Speaker
The way he uses light, the shadows, everything like that, is just it's so it's done it's used so well. yeah And it's like, okay, yeah we knew we know you're going to be a ah good filmmaker. And then you also choose, the thing that I think is also brilliant about the film is that it is so tight.
01:55:01
Speaker
There's no ah misunderstanding. It's like... yeah Guy is a fighter. He likes girl. Girl's a dancer. Her manager is wants to bang her to keep her employed, blah, blah, blah.
01:55:15
Speaker
No, they meet. They fall in love. They're going to run off together. They have no money, so they need to get some money, so they collect their last paychecks. Well, weren't they dating the manager and the... No.
01:55:27
Speaker
They weren't? I think she was just kind of like... I thought they were together. This is where I wasn't sure. Maybe they were, but I thought it was more like she was leading him on or... No, I thought that was like his girl.
01:55:40
Speaker
Because it seemed like he they were close, but she was also like not into it. I don't know. Well, yeah. Look at him and look at her. Yeah. But. Right. And I feel like it was just the story is so simple and it's exactly the kind of thing you're supposed to do when you have no money and you're low budget filmmaker. You don't make 2001. Yeah. Yeah.
01:56:01
Speaker
yeah You make a movie like this that you can use your strengths, the city, the an apartment building. well the grittiness, right? The gorilla aspect of this where you can just go out there and whip your camera out and capture just real life. because Yeah.
01:56:17
Speaker
I mean, that's what we're all trying to get towards, really, right? Is capturing something real, I guess. Something, and well, visceral. so ah you know Pragmatic. I mean,
01:56:29
Speaker
ah it's it's nothing. He didn't capture anything revolutionary. It's just a really well-made little film, which we all we can do is really hope for, for your first film.
01:56:40
Speaker
Is that it's... Something that will lead you to you know making The Killing, which is fucking amazing. To making Lolita, which is... Was that his fourth film?
01:56:52
Speaker
Yeah. i think No, Spartacus. Spartacus? Path of Glory, then Lolita. He made Spartacus before Path of Glory? No, Path of Glory first. Path of Glory.
01:57:03
Speaker
Was his fourth film? Yeah. Wow. I've never seen The Killing. Killing's very good. I love it. Okay, then maybe that makes sense.
01:57:14
Speaker
Because to go from Killer's Kiss to Spartacus is insane.
01:57:21
Speaker
No, he goes from that that to The Killing and then The Killing to Spartacus. I got to check out The Killing. And then Paths of Glory, then Spartacus, and then after Spartacus is Lolita.
01:57:32
Speaker
Because he was like, fuck Studios. I want to do a big movie. What was after Lolita? was that That's not Dr. Strangelove, is it? um I want to say after Lolita, it's either Dr. Strangelove or 2001.
01:57:46
Speaker
Oh, it's definitely Dr. Strangelove. Yeah. Because Peter Sellers. then and then he did 2001 and then Full Metal Jacket right and then no oh The Shining's in there Clockwork Orange and Clockwork Orange is in there too yeah Clockwork Orange I believe is after Doctor Strangelove really but before Barry Lyndon oh there's also Barry Lyndon yeah Which is also a masterpiece. Yeah, you said that was amazing. It is. I haven't seen Barry Lyndon. haven't seen the first one, his first film, or The Killing.
01:58:20
Speaker
Yeah. And then I've seen his whole catalog. He's the only director I've ever seen the whole catalog. I will. All right. Let's talk about Champoo. Champoo. right. I'll read my review and then you can do yours. Yeah, because you give like an actual breakdown of everything. Yeah.
01:58:39
Speaker
Kyle Ashby, the acclaimed director of such films as Harold and Maude, The Last Detail and Being There, speaking of... ah And he also worked on um One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. Yep. I think he was supposed to direct it.
01:58:53
Speaker
Yep. But that fell through, but he directed the play. Yep. So... prevents a film that is both funny and sexy and just a Coke-fueled wild party starring Warren Beatty as our protagonist and sex god, George.
01:59:08
Speaker
We follow our Hollywood hairdresser against the backdrop of the 1968 presidential election. George is banging Felicia. The end.
01:59:23
Speaker
Oh, George is banging Felicia, who is also banging Lester, who is married to Jackie, who is also banging George. But George wants to use Lester's money and connections to open his own salon. Don't forget Jill.
01:59:36
Speaker
i Don't worry, I'm getting there. Oh, okay. George is also banging Jill, played by the gorgeous Goldie Hawn, an up-and-coming actress. Everyone ends... don't know. Okay, hold on. I should in common there.
01:59:47
Speaker
Okay. Goldie Hawn, starring as an up-and-coming actress. Everyone ends up at a party for the election and starts doing drugs, and poor George just can't chuckle as well as he believes.
01:59:59
Speaker
As Jackie, played by Julie k Christie, gets way too drunk and starts trying to fuck George at the party. As George sneaks away, he is caught fucking somebody else. ah ah Not Jackie. He's fucking... um What's her name?
02:00:13
Speaker
ah Christie. Christie. What's her name? Felicia. it's
02:00:21
Speaker
Yeah, and Cotton and Fucking Everyone's Going Crazy. The next day, Jill finds Jackie's earring and gets George to confess that he had become a hairdresser to fuck beautiful women and that it makes him feel alive and that he will live forever. Rock on.
02:00:33
Speaker
At his home, Lester and some of his goons are waiting for George, but instead of violence, the two come to an understanding. And Lester decides to help George with his salon. George chases after Jackie to confess he loves her and wants to marry her, but she has already decided to be with Lester, who is going to divorce Felicia and marry her.
02:00:50
Speaker
Leaving George alone as he watches the two leave. The film is quite funny and full of old shit moments. It might be a little confusing as everyone is blonde and beautiful and they're all fucking warm, baby.
02:01:02
Speaker
Who has the ugliest hair i've ever seen committed to film. The music of the film is great and the film looks gorgeous. Hal Ashby knows how to direct a film, goddammit. And he invites you to get lost in the life of this man, this sexual Adonis, as he navigates his life and lusts.
02:01:19
Speaker
Ultimately, leaving himself alone. 7 out of 10. 7 out of 10? I think I read it actually higher than you. um Everyone looks so similar. Sometimes I couldn't figure out what the fuck. Really? Who was on screen? And then I was like, wait Is that the one that's married to that guy? Or is that the one that's cheating on her with this girl? But everyone's banging George. White people all look alike, huh?
02:01:44
Speaker
I guess so. Were you high? oh yeah. Okay. Okay. No, I wasn't. So I felt like it was pretty easy to follow along with who was who.
02:01:55
Speaker
But also, he just bangs every female. Yeah. Every female you see that's attractive, he bangs. It don't matter what the scale is, attractive or not, he bangs them.
02:02:08
Speaker
And so that's one way to keep track. um Yeah, he had... some funky ass hair, huh? I guess I attributed it to his motorcycle. I was like, well, you know, he's on a motorcycle without a helmet. Oh, yeah. Because he's even like a cool, sexy biker guy. Yeah. He's like cool rock star guy. The coolest guy in the world, right? And he's a hairdresser. And he's just out there having fun. And then that's when ah Jackie at the end, she says, it's just too late.
02:02:38
Speaker
And you know, that's, that's what it falls. The Adonis, right? You played too long and now it's just too late. You know, you passed up on the, on what could have really made you happy now in this new era. Yeah.
02:02:53
Speaker
And so that was a little bit of the heart of it too, right? like But he does come to admit to why he became a hairdresser. It was just an easy way to hook up with girls.
02:03:04
Speaker
And, One of the interesting aspects of this film that I liked a lot was just the character himself. Because... Yes, he's Warren Beatty. So Warren Beatty is a very handsome man, right? like He's a good-looking dude. And notoriously, he slept with like every woman in Hollywood during his time.
02:03:23
Speaker
like Everyone knows Warren Beatty. he had his fun in real life and in the film. And... You know, so it's so interesting to see that character portrayed because beyond that, what was he?
02:03:39
Speaker
Anytime you spoke to him or they asked a question, he's just like, uh, yeah. Why do you want to make a hair? so Why do you want your own hair salon? Well, ah you know, I, um, I cut hair.
02:03:52
Speaker
Good. Lots of hair. yeah like George, why are you cheating on me Well, you know, I, I just, I like to fuck. Okay. That's what goddamn bad. I just like to fuck. You know, he's just this very simplistic kind of character ah that's just delivered so well by Warren Beatty, right?
02:04:10
Speaker
Because you you still love him, right? You still accept him. Even though... It's like he has no motivation for anything. Like, kind of, you know you know? He wants his own shop because he wants to bang more women, right? but that Because the the shop owner is constantly harping on him.
02:04:28
Speaker
But that's the thing. Like, you know, you have your 90s films of this kind of nihilistic view of like being just... you know, your're you're ah Mrs. Robinson, Dustin Hoffman, just floating in the pool to nothing.
02:04:42
Speaker
And then, you know, Mrs. Robinson pops up. And there's these films like in the 90s, but then that you have this film, Shampoo, which is Well, I guess Mrs. Robinson. That was the 60s. That was the 60s, yeah.
02:04:56
Speaker
But you have this. The Graduate. This other film where it's just kind of this listless person who's just drifting around. he He really has no goals, right? Other than banging. He wants to bang but but all the women. But that's what i was going to say. like He has no goals for really anything, not even to open this salon he wants. Because when they ask him like to really sell it, he's just like, ah well, ah hi, nice to meet you.
02:05:21
Speaker
And then just sits there silently. So you want me to give you money for hair salon, huh? You want to make a business? Yeah, i I cut hair real good. Yeah, I do it real good. You know?
02:05:33
Speaker
So he's just kind of this listless person. But, you know, of course, fuck you. That's a very like, it makes you with a present in the moment. And so he's just constantly drifting towards that presentness. And so there was like a level of depth to him within his very shallow existence.
02:05:51
Speaker
and ah And even in all the men, right? Like even the rich guy who has all these mistresses. And they're like, well, why are you doing this? like ah ah you know And he's like, dude, you're just like me, except you're the rich version.
02:06:11
Speaker
We just want to get a girl's pants. yep That's all we want to do And they know we want to get in their pants. And they don't like it sometimes. And I love that instead of like him having his goon just beat his ass, he's like, you know what? I get it.
02:06:26
Speaker
Yeah. he He saw the heart of it, right? Yeah. He's like, damn. I just didn't think of it first. you Or he's like, yeah, i thought of it, but I had to get a ton of money and become super powerful to it. Yeah, I wasn't like a hot hairdresser dude, which is fucking insane, right? It's so funny. um There...
02:06:47
Speaker
is also The cool thing about this movie is there's also like a lot going on in the background. um like Goldie Hawn's character, she is get she got offered a role yeah to be in a film, but it's going to shoot in Rome. Is that what she was doing? I wasn't sure. Egypt.
02:07:05
Speaker
egypt Egypt, yeah. And then she starts banging the director. no then she goes after him because of George. Yeah. Because she knows George is just... using her for fun. Yeah.
02:07:16
Speaker
And so there's that going on. And then the the salon owner has stuff going on and then he dies a car accident. Well, all these side people are dying because the hairdresser, remember her son was in the military and then it's constantly Nixon. and So that was interesting. This like subtle political aspect that's just added.
02:07:39
Speaker
Yeah. Oh, did you want to read your review? Yeah. Oh, do you want me to? Yeah, dude. I want to hear what you wrote. ah Here's... Ozu.
02:07:51
Speaker
you're Fucking getting mentored by Ozu.
02:07:55
Speaker
Okay, Shampoo... I think all of the shampoo chemicals must have got to everyone on set, especially Beatty's poodle hair. This film was written by Beatty.
02:08:09
Speaker
Wait, Beatty? Beatty? Beatty? Yeah. yeah And shows a glimpse into how the notorious ladies' man viewed it himself and with the world around him.
02:08:19
Speaker
And it's great! A funny film with some heart and soul found in all the uhs and hums and the unarticulate characters. Hal Aspie shows how talented of a filmmaker he is and carries enough self-awareness to keep this film from getting bogged down in the vanity of all the hairdos.
02:08:41
Speaker
Nice.
02:08:44
Speaker
That's it. That good. See, dude, yeah. i' got We gotta to make sure you read them because I like i like the writing. But... o Speaking of which, total tangent.
02:08:55
Speaker
Dude, Rico, man, you wrote that really well. Tom recently wrote the script. I think you mentioned it earlier for that. We're going to shoot just a little teaser. And you wrote the script is going to be better than the teaser.
02:09:10
Speaker
Yeah, that was some good ass writing, man. I was like... Because, you know, I i always think of Dominic Morgan when he told us, like, yeah, right, like, they go from the fridge to the couch. But he's like, but add different language to it to make it more interesting and exciting. Yeah.
02:09:25
Speaker
And, you know. That's like, yeah, you know that. But just to hear him emphasize that and also within a script itself so that it's more interesting to any reader.
02:09:37
Speaker
um So that always rings in my ears, like, yeah, let's just dress up the script more. You know, why not? No one's ever going to read it outside of who's working on it. so But still, for the reader, let's dress it up more.
02:09:50
Speaker
And man, just the way you wrote that script, it was like, it was a good read. Oh, nice. it was I was like, damn, is he using ChatGPT here or something like for some of this? Is it helping him?
02:10:02
Speaker
Because it was it was like, damn, like just your word selection and your syntax and all of that. No, I was just reading Alex's notes and I was like, well how do we make this interesting? Yeah, like not even like on a plot storyline, love just like just your grammar and everything, your word usage. I was like, damn, this is so well written.
02:10:21
Speaker
Well, did get that grammarly, buddy. you I was... Well, hey, man, whatever you did, it was working nicely. so So kudos on writing that script. And then, you know, you make just a simple premise because it's just a quick hit. You know, there's really nothing to it. You could write it in a line in like two sentences.
02:10:40
Speaker
Yeah. If you want it, right? you You don't have to embellish it at all. and But still, the way you delivered it was like, oh, man, this is good. i hope I hope it's appreciated. i was like, damn, this is like... That's what I was like, dude, am I writing too good for Rico? Am I wasting all my talent? It was like, okay, yeah, that creative spirit, that's right there, man.
02:11:01
Speaker
Yeah, I was saying, like, because I had been drinking some Sapporos, and I was just like, fuck, I gotta write this goddamn thing for Alex.
02:11:13
Speaker
And... ah You know? ah
02:11:20
Speaker
It's crazy how... It's like when you actually just give yourself time to do stuff. It's kind of incredible. um
02:11:33
Speaker
Pretty much just asked for a block of time to just kind of write. And... I was reading what Alex wrote and I was just like, I don't know. This seems too clip showy.
02:11:48
Speaker
Also, it's not what I don't think you imagined for a Rico thing. Yeah. That's the issue too, right? Because he's the one with the premise and the concept of the character and the stories.
02:12:00
Speaker
But you, you're the one who's there sitting down writing And was like, I want there to be a story here. so there's that little conflict. It's like, I want to be something. No, no, no. Let's make it...
02:12:11
Speaker
more let's add let's make it more rich i guess yeah and so there's this conflict that's been fun to watch because i'm on the outside observing you guys because this is more your guys's thing yeah i'm just helping however i can and it's that's been uh yeah i don't i'm glad i'm not in it just because i would be like no it's got to be my way exactly It's got to be like this, dude. I'm sorry.
02:12:36
Speaker
I know you want it to be more like that, it's got to be this. Well, I mean, that's the problem with when I, that's like why I don't really ever, would never really want to write for someone else is because it's like, I don't, I can't imagine it another way.
02:12:51
Speaker
yeah i just get stuck in the way I'm picturing it. Like when he's, when I'm reading the script, I was just like, I need, we need, there needs to be something else happening here. And so, yeah, that that those were the changes that I made where was just like, oh, did he write it?
02:13:08
Speaker
He just wrote like a bullet. was like a bullet point. This happens and this happens and this happens and this happens. And then I was like with camera angles. That's why I added the camera angles because typically I wouldn't add camera angles. But then I was like, well, we're going to do that, let's let me show you how I would see it in my head.
02:13:25
Speaker
Yeah. um To fit with the story in the the way i I'm writing it. No, yeah. I mean, well, still the way you just, I mean, you still filled in everything. Yeah.
02:13:39
Speaker
You know, that's the writing. Yeah. And man, that was just like a really good read. Oh, appreciate it Thank you. we have Probably way more deserving than it needed to be, honestly. not to Not to shit on Alex or anything like that, but I just mean, you know, it's just a quick little short clip you know it's just a promotional material really yeah um be maybe three four minutes maybe if that probably shorter and probably like just two minutes i mean it's just this quick promo thing but man you just really delivered it in the script so that was cool yeah because i was like because there's no dialogue and i i kept i looked i had to look up i was like now i need a dad joke about breakfast was like
02:14:25
Speaker
yeah I need something. Rico's got to say something. Yeah. He's not some... i don't know. He's not a quiet person. No. You know when he's in the room. Yeah. He's that kind of person. Yeah.
02:14:37
Speaker
So, no. i That's what I'm saying. It was just... Well, just all of it. Like, just him arriving to the diner and everyone's reactions. Just so well written. Yeah. So good, buddy. um But, yeah. So, Shampoo.
02:14:53
Speaker
Really well written. Yeah. I think, I don't know, really well done. Just directed, really well directed. Cause you know, like where, like I was saying with George, there's not a lot to the character. He's not saying a whole lot. You don't really get a good glimpse into his head. Cause he's just like, and it's like, are you trying to lie to me? Are you just stupid? And you just don't know.
02:15:16
Speaker
Like, I don't, I don't really know what's going on necessarily in George's head. But then with the way it's conveyed within the way it's shot and directed, you get a deeper glimpse, you know, like you get a ah deep glimpse of love. When he told Jackie he loved her and wanted to marry her and have kids, did he really mean that? Because he said to her earlier, like, I had a dream of being 50 years old with Jill.
02:15:41
Speaker
And that was the scariest thing I could ever think of. and But then he told her, he was like, but you, you're different. You've never made me feel that way. And even with when they're saying their goodbyes or their I love yous, he's saying like, you make me you make me feel safe or something like that.
02:16:00
Speaker
You know? So it's like, well, is now he being insincere? Like, did he kind of discover... did he Did he make an actual arc or is he still the same guy? i don't know.
02:16:11
Speaker
ah really don't know because he's still... It seems like if you were like, hey, baby, you want to suck my clip? He'd be like, okay. Because there was that ambiguous scene earlier too with Felicia and her daughter pe played by... um Oh, yes.
02:16:27
Speaker
Played by ah Princess Leia. ah What's her fucking name? It's not Carrie Fisher, is it? Yeah. Oh, yeah. Carrie Fisher. Yeah. Yeah. So so he meets Felicia's daughter, played by Carrie Fisher.
02:16:42
Speaker
And then at one point after they're tired, she's like, so you want to fuck? And he's like, uh. And then Felicia shows up to the house. And she's like, where where is he? Where is he?
02:16:53
Speaker
Where's George? And then she sees her and her see him coming out of the bathroom from her daughter's room and he's tucking his shirt in. And he seems all flustered and he's like, ah.
02:17:04
Speaker
this And it's like, did he? Oh, yeah. Because George is also the kind of guy to be like, well, you need to go the bathroom and he'll go piss in the sink.
Confusion in Film Characters
02:17:14
Speaker
yeah you know He strikes me as that kind of guy. He's like, yeah, I had to pee. i So I peed in the sink.
02:17:19
Speaker
It wouldn't occur to him anything. you know I feel like he did. but But it kind of came off like, well, she certainly treated it like he did. And then what does she go and do? She bangs him like in defiance of that.
02:17:32
Speaker
Right? And he's like, oh, right here. Everyone could hear and see, you know? Right when she's just trying to like blow him in the middle of the party. No, no, no. That was Felicia. Yeah. Lester's wife.
02:17:43
Speaker
That's Jackie that's trying to blow him at the party. that's... Wait, Jackie. Right, right, right. Yeah. Different one. That's what I'm saying, dude. Yeah, you get confused. I always forgot who was who. Yeah, you're right. Because the Carrie Fisher scene and
Script vs Direction Debate
02:17:55
Speaker
then there's the scene where they're watching the movie.
02:17:57
Speaker
Yeah, so it's like... And they put their hand on his lap, right? Yeah. And there's just... His character's kind of hard to figure out because he doesn't really let you in in that way. So... But the thing that's beautiful... But I'm kind of wondering, like...
02:18:12
Speaker
well, was the script just not getting you there? And then Hal Ashby was directing that? Or, you know, was the script there that Hal Ashby kept? But you feel like it's accomplished through the ah directing a lot within that film.
02:18:26
Speaker
i think I think that film delivers... I think you can feel the director in that film in the sense that if it was by someone lesser, it would have been awful. It could have been awful.
Film Satire on 60s Culture
02:18:38
Speaker
You know? Because then it could have just been like... no reflection on Warren Beatty's womanizing and just like, it could just go into real icky grounds real quick with that kind of premise. Or real male fantasy.
02:18:53
Speaker
Yeah. Like just like, ah, you're okay, whatever. You're kind of losing it here. But there was always that kind of weaking at the audience and criticism and greater dialogue that the director was having. the film is kind of a satire too of like 60s, like,
02:19:12
Speaker
culture like the hippie free love that kind shit it's like the woman breastfeeding by all the people smoking joints around yeah exactly shit like that and it's just like okay right also the hairdresser that's banging all his clients right no one's concerned about AIDS or anything yeah that don't exist yet Yeah, you know, and you very likely banged the dude's, the chick's daughter.
02:19:41
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, i don't know, but it's certainly it left you like, I don't know, because there's not enough evidence to convict him.
02:19:52
Speaker
Well. But, you know, that was, that was it that was an interesting spot because you felt the tension of that too. Mm-hmm. You know, it wasn't just the way it was executed. Like it felt, I don't know. I felt tense during that scene.
02:20:06
Speaker
A lot of that. Yeah. You know, and it's like, well, also it's kind of funny, but at the same time, it's just like, i don't know. I don't know. This is weird. Well, it's like when ah he's about to bang the wife, which I think is Felicia.
02:20:23
Speaker
No, Jackie. No, Felicia's the wife. Jackie's the mistress. Okay. when he start to bank When he's about to bang Felicia, and then the guy gets out the husband gets home early.
02:20:35
Speaker
that was Jackie at the house. when he was cutting her hair. Okay, okay, right. See, I'm telling you, dude, I get it. Because he wanted the mistress to look, the mistress wanted to look like the most beautiful woman there. Yeah, so he makes her look like the wife. He gave her and the wife the exact, well, not the exact same, but pretty much the same haircut. Yes.
02:20:56
Speaker
So good. It's so funny. So good. And you're just like, oh shit. That's why i was saying, dude. They all look a fucking same to me. The only one that looked different was Goldie Hawn because I actually recognized her.
02:21:07
Speaker
and she's i kind of know who
Exploring Lesser-known Films
02:21:09
Speaker
Julie Christie is, but not too much. But I love movies like this because I've never heard about this fucking movie before. The only reason it even came up on my radar at all was I was looking at Hal Ashby movies. Oh, okay.
02:21:24
Speaker
Because I was thinking of this list and I was like, okay, I wanted to I'm always going to try to do one foreign film because I feel like that's a huge blank spot, at least for me.
02:21:40
Speaker
is there's, I mean, i we haven't gotten into a lot of the French films. Like I've never seen a Truffaut film, like things like that. lot of, lot of films to explore in that regard. And then also it's just the lesser known films of the great directors.
02:21:55
Speaker
Yeah. The Hal Ashby's,
Introduction to Kurosawa's High and Low
02:21:57
Speaker
the, uh, Billy Wilder's, uh, uh, you know, uh, Godard, Sidney Lumet, like Sidney Lumet has that movie, uh,
02:22:09
Speaker
oh God with ah Kurt Douglas and he's like a newspaper reporter or something and then there's also the Billy Wilder movie called like One Last Weekend The Last Weekend which I've always wanted to see about alcoholism like in the 50s which was just like just not talked about really and it's about this guy's last drunk until he either is going to drink himself to death or get sober yeah I was like don't want to watch that but instead we're talk about High and Low
02:22:42
Speaker
Akira Kurosawa's High and Low. My review is like two pages. So did you want me to go first or do you want to go first, buddy? ah You go first, buddy. All right.
02:22:54
Speaker
So that was Shampoo directed by Hal Ashby starring Warren Beatty. Now we'll be talking about Kurosawa's High and Low. A
Themes in High and Low
02:23:05
Speaker
masterstroke of filmmaking is up for grabs in the 1963 crime thriller High and Low.
02:23:10
Speaker
Our lead, Kingo Gondo, played by the wonderful wizard of acting Toshiro Mifune, explodes and delivers power in each scene. The film is about a shoe executive whose son is kidnapped during a power play to take over the company.
02:23:25
Speaker
Except it's not his son that was kidnapped. Due to a mix-up, Gondo's driver's son is kidnapped. This sends the film spiraling into a moral dilemma as Gondo and his family decide what to do because paying for the son's release would send Kingo into losing his position and all his savings.
02:23:43
Speaker
The police are involved and after a grueling plan, the boy is returned. This is where the film changes gears and becomes about the investigation into the kidnapping and return of Kingo's fortune.
02:23:54
Speaker
Kurosawa expertly weaves the details of the case investigation with maniacal pacing that allows the film to focus on the story. The two hour, 30 minute runtime speeds along as we learn more and more about the case and the depth someone so low in life would go the chance to be so high.
02:24:13
Speaker
What would inspire films such as Ransom starring Mel Gibson and Parasite directed by the great Bong Joon-ho? High and Low is a masterpiece in that every aspect is working towards a better whole.
02:24:25
Speaker
The performance of Mifune is not to be missed as he struggles with giving up his life and goal to do the right thing and save his loyal driver's kid. Cinematography is
Comparisons with Other Directors
02:24:35
Speaker
downright gorgeous with breathtaking compositions common in Kurosawa films.
02:24:40
Speaker
The DP... Asakazu Nakai's shaping of light, the use of sound or lack thereof, really builds a quiet suspense as you wait for that phone to ring or for that moment you spot the boy from the train.
02:24:55
Speaker
As the villain of our story plots a devious yet effective scenario, almost getting away with the crime, we spend very little time with the kidnapper, played by Tsutomu Yamazaki, who delivers a haunting, chilling performance of a ruthless, maniacal, manetical intern whose dream of a better life causes him down such a dark path.
02:25:19
Speaker
Ultimately, High and Low is more than just a thriller. It is a film about ethical choices in a world shaped by capitalism, status, and circumstance. Kurosawa poses hard questions.
02:25:30
Speaker
What do we owe each other? What does justice look like in a fractured society? But there are no easy answers. Kurosawa delivers one of the most powerful and thought-provoking films of his career. 10 out of 10.
02:25:44
Speaker
Damn, that was really well said, buddy. All right. High and Low. Did you want to read what ah you wrote? Oh, shit. I was hoping you wouldn't
Analysis of Spike Lee's Do the Right Thing
02:25:53
Speaker
say that because, god damn, that was that was good.
02:25:57
Speaker
Well, to be fair, the other films I had watched weeks ago, it had been like two or three weeks because I think I sent you the list. like Because I saw these all like bundled together. I saw, it was the freshest one in my mind. I was trying to remember what the fuck happened in the other movies.
02:26:14
Speaker
So I was like, fuck. So I need to do what I did with this one was I watch it and then I write it. Yeah, that's what I did last time, and that was pretty nice because it was still fresh and like could really go into it. yeah um i That's what I was hoping to do, but... like g Life gets in the way.
02:26:30
Speaker
Just got to learn to balance. Read your high and low. But yeah, so that was like my first bullet point in this is just Ozu being his mentor to what you said. And certainly seeing high and low, I mean...
02:26:46
Speaker
I don't know. Maybe it was like 20 seconds in. i was like, oh, this is a masterpiece. This is a masterpiece. Okay. And I fucking love i mean, I kept texting you. was like, dude, hi low, hi and You're right. I mean, I was messaging you all about that.
02:27:02
Speaker
And… um Yeah, you just just watch because I had never heard of it. I didn't know. The only reason I heard it is because Spike Lee was remaking it and I was like, what the fuck is this? Oh, yeah. We were talkinged about Spike Lee earlier.
02:27:14
Speaker
i mean, you know, do the right thing. I loved it. I saw it recently. um I really liked that film. Wow, this is a big wraparound to this tangent. um And when I saw it, I was like, okay, i could see why people would say a Spike Lee joint, like why so many actors would want to get onto one of his productions and be a part of it.
02:27:37
Speaker
But, you know, I
Challenges in Remaking Films
02:27:38
Speaker
also saw Black can Klansmen and shit. And it was like... That compared to Do the Right Thing, they don't even approach each other.
02:27:48
Speaker
Right. What he was conveying there.
02:27:52
Speaker
but And I know he re remade Oldboy. And everyone said it was a stinker. I've never seen it. And it's like, well, how do you fuck that one up? I don't know. Maybe. That might be a hard sell because of the where it goes.
02:28:06
Speaker
But it's like, dude, that's just...
02:28:09
Speaker
It's a great film. Old Boy is legitimately a fucking great film. yeah It's just a fucking great film. Old Boy is is probably 10 out of 10. It's probably one of the greatest, most recent films.
02:28:24
Speaker
ah yeah When you talk about like great modern cinema and how the Koreans just knock it out of the park, it's it's films like Old Boy, Memories of Murder,
02:28:38
Speaker
Yeah, these are some of them. Parasite. What's that other one? There's another really good one. Yeah, that's something Bong Joon-ho can say, right? He's like, I'm a parasite, bitch.
02:28:49
Speaker
what I made Memories of Murder. yeah what What you can do is, okay, okay, yeah. cause ah Damn, what's the other one? I really like that Wailing, or is it Wailing?
02:29:02
Speaker
Yeah, The Wailing. Yeah, it's a good one. I didn't. Everyone likes that. Maybe I got to give it a rewatch. um It's good. But... Oh, yeah. ah So, you know, Spike Lee does redoes um High and Low, maybe.
02:29:20
Speaker
i mean, if anyone can do it, it's him, but it needs to be Do the Right Thing. But you know what Do the Right Thing fucked up on? What's that? Where it fucked up on, and hate when directors do this. He starred in it.
Potential Remake of High and Low
02:29:33
Speaker
And Spike Lee is not Mookie. Okay? Because everyone liked Mookie. Everyone was like, hey, Mookie, what's up, Mookie? It's like, this guy? this good This is the Mookie that you're all excited to see. like Nah, this ain't Mookie.
02:29:48
Speaker
but Put an actual actor has some charisma and screen presence. So that's where he fucked up because he let his ego get in the way of that shit. But... Yeah, I mean, he's not going to accomplish it. You're going up against Kurosawa.
02:30:03
Speaker
good luck ah Game over, bro. I was going to say, we can make the sequel higher and lower. Higher and lower. But, you know, hey, I couldn't think of a better director to ah to tackle the approach. you know it like I mean, it's fucking Spike Lee.
02:30:24
Speaker
All I could think of while was watching. Could you imagine Wes Anderson doing it? No. It popped in my head while because I was watching the film. I was ah
Kurosawa's Commentary on Social Class
02:30:34
Speaker
just thinking, how is Spike Lee going to tackle this shit? like There's going to be music. It's going to be a lot more action-y. Everything about it is going to feel less like authentic and suspenseful.
02:30:46
Speaker
Because the power of Kurosawa is that... Man, this motherfucker just... He just runs it as it is. Well, not so... Exactly. And you know what? And because he did that, he was on the pulse of things, you know? Where it's like, Spike Lee... Dude, you're at courtside tickets to all the NBA games. I forgot how much TV he likes. But he's always courtside.
02:31:07
Speaker
It's like, dude... Oh, he's a New York guy. So is it the Mets? Probably. don't know. The Knicks? Anyways, he's always there. It's like... Part of the subtlety of high and low why you mentioned parasite is because there's that element um of...
02:31:24
Speaker
the rich, the haves and the have-nots, the rich and the poor. And it's not even really ah huge fixture of the film. They're just like, yeah, he kind of hates you. Wonder why?
02:31:35
Speaker
And then once they cut to the killer and who he is, you just see like garbage floating in the river right past him. you know That's what it leads into, all this poor, dirty, everyone's dirty, kind of gross.
02:31:48
Speaker
It's hot, sweaty. And then you see these people on the hill. With big windows that overlook everything. And they're in their
Portrayal of Corporate Backstabbing
02:31:57
Speaker
air condition during summer when it's super hot.
02:32:01
Speaker
During winter when it's super cold, they're just nice and warm. They live this lavish lifestyle of making women's shoes. But, you know, Kurosawa just lightly, he just dances along the element of this deeper motivation of why this...
02:32:19
Speaker
killer would target this person and why they would be so ferocious in their approach because they're willing to just kill a random kid. They're like, hey, we didn't get your son, but ah this is your son's best friend. So if you don't want him to die, give us that money anyways.
02:32:35
Speaker
You know, like that's kind of gross. It's like, dude, you got the wrong kid. Just call it off, you know? Well, that's what he even says in the film. And what is done so fucking brilliantly and what is so...
02:32:46
Speaker
what's executed to such a degree is there is constant pushback, uh, between, right. The rich people don't have all the answers. The poor people don't, aren't just the, all victims.
02:32:59
Speaker
His, uh, executive assistant is, uh, they have, that he has this check for 30 million or 50 million or whatever. could I go and buy the rest of the shares so that he's the majority shareholder when they can then, you know, take over the company.
02:33:15
Speaker
He's like, yeah, uh, if you even successfully do this and the kid dies, No one's going to like respect the shoe company that you fucking essentially let this kid die, innocent child die, and then instead bo like took had a you know massive takeover of a company. like You're going to fail no matter what.
02:33:35
Speaker
like At least this way you're failing doing the right thing. like Think about it. like I didn't decide to betray you until I realized that you were like beyond saving. And it's like, damn.
02:33:46
Speaker
You know? No, he was willing to betray him because he wasn't going to save the kid. Yes. Because he was going to save the kid. I thought it was the other way around. No. He's like, you're going to save this kid instead of investing this company? Fuck you, bro.
02:34:00
Speaker
Oh, I thought it was the other way around. No, it's that way. That's why he betrays him. Because he even tells him, I'm checking um sending this check regardless of anything that happens from here on out. But it's the owner who keeps pulling him back and tells him no.
02:34:14
Speaker
But he's ready. He's like, oh, you are so honorable for honoring this transaction that's going to get you the company. And then he betrays him when he realizes, like
Character Motivations and Betrayal
02:34:23
Speaker
oh, maybe he won't get the company.
02:34:26
Speaker
Yeah. So that's what it was like. That's why that's that. Oh, that's right. That's right. He even mentions that where he's like, you'll be ousted. yeah As because, you know, no one's going to want you. He's like, fuck you. I'm out, bro. I gave you 10 years and everyone.
02:34:41
Speaker
And then the owners are like, we don't give a shit about this kid. Yeah. Fuck this. We don't give a shit about any of that power public outcry. We just want the money and the capitalism.
02:34:53
Speaker
yeah And that's what it was all about, right? Because they just wanted to make in the kid's life they wanted to make cheap shoes. Cheap shoes, yeah. And then they were going to get rid of him because they tried to get rid of the boss. He said no.
02:35:03
Speaker
So then they were going get rid of him with the boss. Yeah. So it's all this backstabbing, this corporate backstabbing. And that's just a tiny, tiny, tiny aspect. That's just like the pressure he's under to save this kid.
02:35:18
Speaker
That's it. It's just one tiny aspect of everything else going on. Yeah. And right. And then there's just the whole. Well, what's your responsibility? Yeah. Yeah, it ain't my kid. Do really got to give up my whole life for this stranger's kid?
02:35:34
Speaker
It's not a stranger. It's as well they just got this guy's his chauffeur's kid. But the one thing I love too is the wife, he even goes and he goes, honey The reason you said to pay it is because you have no idea what 30 million even means. Like you've never worried or thought about money. it's 30 million yen. Yeah. So translated, that's $3. So shit, that bitch never even had to worry about $3. Right? And then, you know, they bring up how like her dowry is what got his fortune started and shit like that. And it's like, fuck, every little layer and aspects of the movie just works to make the movie better and better and better.
02:36:16
Speaker
And then the movie has like all these kind of like twists and turns and restarts where you go from this intense kidnapping to finally... What could have been the whole movie is about getting just that kid back.
02:36:33
Speaker
It is then broken down into the police investigation into the crimes where it just goes into this like excruciating detail, the hard level of footwork. And it seems like...
02:36:47
Speaker
it would all not make any sense, but in fact, it makes complete sense ah because the meticulous way that everything is broken down and the, just the lengths that they go. And it's, um it's almost kind of optimistic in a sense that they would go these lengths to help somebody.
02:37:06
Speaker
i don't necessarily know if that's true. Maybe I'm being more cynical than is reasonable, but
02:37:15
Speaker
they The police in this film really go the extra mile to try and not only catch the criminal, but get him on a crime worthy of what he has committed. Because there's this thing where it kind of works out for him because...
02:37:33
Speaker
If he kidnaps someone that is not his own blood, the crime is different. It's like different kinds of level of extortion or something like that. It's ah just a straight kidnapping instead of a kidnapping with extortion charge. So he only gets five
Unpredictable Plot Twists
02:37:49
Speaker
thought was so funny because it's like, of course, the Japanese legal system. Well, it's this kind of thing. And so it's not as punishable.
02:37:56
Speaker
Yeah, and and then even when they figure it out who it is, they're like, no. Not enough evidence. Not enough. We're going to fucking hang this dude. Right? they they don't It's not good enough. and But, you know, i I thought that was so interesting when you mentioned the twists and turns.
02:38:16
Speaker
And it felt like that just watching it because ah you know and not knowing anything because then I thought it was like this corporate thing about shoes. And then it turns into this kidnapping thing that I think is about collecting a ransom.
02:38:30
Speaker
And then it turns into this other thing and this other thing and this other thing. And as the story is progressing, you're kind of twisting and turning with it, which took me in so many directions I didn't expect story-wise.
02:38:43
Speaker
you know I didn't think we were going to have some sort of social commentary on the rich and the poor. um i didn't think we were going to have like this moral dilemma of, well, it's not actually my kid.
02:38:58
Speaker
like When that happened, i was like, holy shit, it's not even his kid. Now what's he going to do? like It was like... oh like Yes, it's a simple ransom story right there. But once they add that little twist, it's like, what what would you do? you know like That's not your kid that they stole. So one, they should give him back, right? Because you know wrong kid.
02:39:22
Speaker
And then two, when they say no, we're still going to kill him if you don't give us the money. It's like... It ain't my kid. I mean, you know, you're talking about me giving it everything up for you. You know, it's not even me losing my position and ownership of this company. It's me losing everything I have and becoming poor.
02:39:43
Speaker
You know, you go to Harakiri, you know, you're making umbrellas in your house just to stay alive.
02:39:50
Speaker
yeah So it was just this interesting little twists and turns they added that just enrich in the story, right? Because when it's someone else's kid, like... If you got a ransom like, hey, I got Steven's kid. Give me all of the money you ever have. You're like, well, you know, Steven did make me do dinking. He talked me into it. He's got another kid. You know, he's got two.
02:40:13
Speaker
It became so much more interesting just adding those little story elements that just kind of... I don't know if you felt the same way, but it just took me in directions I didn't think it was going. Because like Killer's Kiss...
02:40:24
Speaker
yeah You see the opening, literally, the him waiting at the train station narration. You're like, okay, I kind of, it's a noir film. I kind of know where this is going to go. Yeah. I kind of know.
02:40:35
Speaker
Shampoo, it's like, i don't know where it's going to go, but you're going all over the place. So I know it's going to go all over the place. But this one, it's like, no, where this? No, where this? It's like, what? Here's Where am I going? I kind of kept expecting the almost cliched reveal that the shoe company executives were, in fact. That's what I thought. And on the can I thought it was going to be organized.
02:40:58
Speaker
Are the, like, grunt? Was going to be his right man. Yeah. You know, his right hand man. Yeah, exactly. you know that guy The kid they were going to make director. That's why he was like, don't pay it.
02:41:08
Speaker
I'm going to cash it. Because he's like, yeah, don't pay it. I'm not going to kill the And he's like, you little bitch, I'm going to kill that kid. Fuck you. Yeah. You know, I thought it was him like doing manipulations. And so it added that extra element to kind of give you more twists and turns, you know?
02:41:26
Speaker
And instead they went for a stronger premise and a stronger story by making it just some random. Some guy that just got to see what he what someone else had and he didn't have every day. yeah He would look out at the only view in his little box apartment and see this rich house on a hill with people in the summer having AC on with windows closed.
02:41:52
Speaker
And I love that line. Because that was Mifuna. One of his favorite things to open that window and get the breath of fresh air. Yeah. But he didn't need to, right? Because he's got AC. So, you know, you don't want to leave the sliding door open too long. Only when you need that little...
02:42:07
Speaker
ah Exactly. You know, so that's what he was doing. And that motherfucker's like, you cocks. i go All my windows are open, motherfucker. I got two fans in my head and I'm waving as fast as can. You know? He's like, every fucking day that motherfucker's got his window open getting fresh air. And that creates this hate in him.
02:42:27
Speaker
And, you know,
Analysis of High and Low's Ending
02:42:28
Speaker
just these little... And it wasn't even like... harped on. It was just kind of glossed over a lot of this stuff. But it just enriched it because it treated you just so intelligently like you could actually follow a story. Yes. And so you were just getting this deeper and deeper story of, you know, this and more intricate web you were seeing. What I love was, and maybe this is just so Japanese, so at the end of the film, and I fucking love the end. I thought the end was perfect.
02:42:56
Speaker
With the way he cries going away and it's just like, I don't fucking care to die. Ah! I'm only shaking because I've been in solitary confinement. It's just the reaction the fact that I've only been by myself for you know weeks and weeks.
02:43:07
Speaker
He's like, yeah, you might be shaking because you're dead. But also, Mifune Gongo or Gongo? Kingo. Kingo. Kingo from Marikinia. He's not begging him, why? Why would you do this? Why?
02:43:23
Speaker
not None of this shit. But yeah I'm ready, yeah. And none of that is his issue. He just was like, I'm here at your request.
02:43:34
Speaker
And like, why did you bring me down here? ah He's so over this dude already. And that just like makes him seed with this so much more hate. Like the whole thing is just neither of them can really ever understand each other. And it's kind of interesting.
02:43:53
Speaker
Because even though, ah Kingo has to sell everything. There's a scene where after they finally catch the killer, the cops run into the house and they're like, are they, you know, they enter the home and they're like, you know, we got them. We got everything.
Kurosawa's World Building
02:44:11
Speaker
And there's fucking like realtors or estate salespeople just walking around the house, just pricing out all the items of their family.
02:44:20
Speaker
uh, it's like this guy completely destroyed his life. Doesn't know him. Just watched him from the window. Knows nothing about him.
02:44:35
Speaker
And, uh, yeah.
02:44:40
Speaker
All these aspects just keep building together. yeah It's, it's basically like a world building. Yeah. Right. All these little touches, How he hangs. You know, Kubrick also did that in Killer's Kiss because he had a lot of insert shots of New York.
02:44:58
Speaker
And so if you notice, like a lot of the shots were pretty tight. um in the film that you could probably get like on the street. It was tight shots on the street. yeah So it was like seeing a lot of tight shots and then just seeing these inserts made New York or wherever they fucking were feel bigger. you know Kind of added that world building experience.
02:45:21
Speaker
And that's something what Kurosawa did in that like with the garbage in the river and kind of just... These angles that showed more of the city are when you see the map, right? When they're showing where all the telephone calls, where the yeah kidnapper may have called from. And you just see this enormous map.
02:45:40
Speaker
It just made this feel bigger and bigger than what was even captured. You know, just this delivery of information was just done in such a way to make it feel And I feel like and we would be completely remiss if we didn't talk about the police investigation and how fucking cool that was. Yeah.
02:45:59
Speaker
Every little detail that you wouldn't really think of is kind of explored here. And it's such a fascinating aspect of the film because, I mean, they're tracing down leads on the paint chips of the car.
02:46:11
Speaker
a Eyewitness accounts, ah the sound of the telephone calls, there is a trolley trolley in the background. And they go to like all the trolley nerds at the the subway station or rail station.
02:46:24
Speaker
And they're like, oh, I know that sound. It's the... shh, not but cook yeah so yeah that's a dust there different type of trade that's a completely different kind of trade that's all a different kind of pulley system it's like this is one's a like a magnetic single rail line and you're just like like but at the,
02:46:49
Speaker
And the the kid, right? like The kid that is ah this like that was kidnapped, that the father feels completely responsible for essentially destroying his boss's life. Yeah, this other person's life, right? So he's just like forcing his kid to try to remember all these details. Yeah.
02:47:05
Speaker
And the kid's like kind of big, big, is little traumatized, but you know, he kind of gets through and he saw something that was, he thought was Mount Fuji, but wasn't Mount Fuji. It's like, it's fucking so cool. Like how all of this stuff is placed together and then you see it unfold in like a realistic, logical way. Yeah.
Appreciation of Kurosawa's Techniques
02:47:26
Speaker
And it's like just sad and so fucked up because— And it's not necessarily this like cheesy, oh, it was always your wife this whole time kind of plot, right? Right. it should have been the the um stockholders, the other um top people. The other executives. And other executives. the other directors whatever. Directors in their different departments.
02:47:47
Speaker
Like, it just kind of turns out to be this random guy. Like, he does have a reason— But he's also just random. And it captures that very nicely, right? And and the investigation to lead down into it.
02:48:02
Speaker
um Yeah, man. This is just... And just the way he lit the city. i like Kurosawa in the modern era. You know, like, yeah, he adds a lot with the samurai and all of that. But it's also cool to just show him to peck the modern era.
02:48:20
Speaker
Because when he was showing a gondo going out the window and looking at the city, like just the way it was photographed with the haze over the harbor and everything. It's like, oh, dude, this just looks so beautiful. And then when they're in the town and it's all garbagey and, you know, gross, it's just like,
02:48:37
Speaker
ah This looks so beautiful. like You just capture all of this shit so well. But it's so modern. The kidnapper's apartment and where it looks like a junkyard. Essentially, he's like living in it. I love that.
02:48:51
Speaker
And I love, God, dude, the way Kurosawa uses the camera and the movement of the camera. There's a scene where Kingo Mifune is walking down the stairs.
02:49:02
Speaker
And like, and like, you were wearing a pretty tight kind of like mid to like chest high shot that pulls back. And then you're just big, like just the post for the stairs is kind of blocking the way.
02:49:17
Speaker
and then he walks past and he walks out to the window and then the camera it shifts just slightly so that it perfectly squares Everything. Yeah. And he's just standing there perfectly squared in the frame.
02:49:29
Speaker
And there's just like this post in the foreground. And then he's in the background. And it's like, fuck, dude. Yeah, you know. it's just these beautiful little moments where it's just like, fuck, every all these little cool little.
02:49:40
Speaker
I'm glad you mentioned that with the camera movement. Because, you know, Killer's Kiss had that too. But like this film, just the way the camera moved from section to section, it was just so beautiful.
02:49:51
Speaker
It was like watching in Killer's Kiss that ballet dancer. was just this beautiful
02:49:58
Speaker
use of the camera. Yeah. Just such a ah great film. you want to Did I read what I wrote? Did you? i don't know.
02:50:09
Speaker
Because I know I mentioned the camera movement. No, I didn't. All right. Let's read it. So, and I guess we'll close out with... Sure. Masterpiece film that felt more like a novel with all of its complexity and richness.
02:50:26
Speaker
ah As we travel down this tale with beautiful camera movements and compositions, Kurosawa again shows why he is the greatest Japanese filmmaker.
02:50:37
Speaker
And despite all of his renown still does not get enough credit. I never know. i never... I never knew women's shoes could move me so much.
02:50:50
Speaker
That's actually all I wrote. But one thing I did want to remark on was the camera movement. I mean, I just found it so beautiful, just the way it played within the frame. um That was one of the standout things for me watching this, was just how beautifully camera movement can be applied to something.
02:51:10
Speaker
You know, it's just like...
02:51:14
Speaker
Wrap it up.
Future Podcast Anticipations
02:51:16
Speaker
We made it through that one, buddy. You have to pick the next three. Make them dirty. Make them raw. Make them wriggling with highs and lows. Keep it clean with shampoo and condition us for that killer's kiss.
02:51:31
Speaker
Because we need more cinema. We need more films. We need more Twin Shadows podcast. Well, I think I already know two. i might do four. Four's fine. But i already know what I want to do.
02:51:45
Speaker
did you know Did you want to do something like, what was the good? What was the bad? What was the ugly? No, but I think I want to keep in theme of like a really just good movie.
02:51:56
Speaker
And then maybe something that like, I don't know, might be considered ugly to whatever. And then maybe like a bad movie that's good. You know, like a your. Sure. And with that, cut.