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Good Boy (2025)
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- This one's for the dogs! Rick and Trav throw a bone to indie horror films as they cover Ben Leonberg's debut film, GOOD BOY (2025). Plenty of reminiscing about their own goods boys, who both recently passed, with coverage of the film starting at 33:10.
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Transcript
Intro
00:00:05
Speaker
god
00:00:48
Speaker
All right, we're back. I feel like we have a precursor before almost every show now, always being like, this week's going to be a little different. But yet again, this week is going to be a little different.
00:01:00
Speaker
We have a lot to talk about with the film, but also the related subject matter. So let's jump right into it. Skip the banter. We'll more movie news, I'm sure, next week. If you listen to last week's episode as well, the Final Destination Bloodlines episode, you can get caught up roughly what's going on in the world of horror movies.
00:01:16
Speaker
But for today, this is the Sunday scaries. I'm Travis Telerik. I'm Ricky Townsend, father of father of Emmett Townsend, father of Emmett. Yes, and I have father a goose and we have a few good boys who we have recently lost um the last two months, both of our dogs.
00:01:33
Speaker
And coincidentally, before that, we had our eyes on a film called Good Boy, the 2025 film Good Boy, which is important to distinguish. There is like a 2022 horror film that came out with the same name. Have you seen this on Letterboxd, Rick? Yeah, the the SEO is not great for Good Boy on Letterboxd, IMDb. and then that ah the And the comedy Good Boys as well it comes up sooner. So a lot of prejudice against this small little indie that's fighting back. But it'ss you know it's it's chugging along. it chuck Have you seen the 2022 film, though, the horror film with the same name?
00:02:07
Speaker
No, have you? I've not. It's a foreign. Yes, it's a foreign film. I have not watched it. But look at the synopsis. it It has a lot to do with a guy who has I don't know the right terminology here, but maybe a gimp or a furry.
00:02:21
Speaker
But he has a ah human dressed up as a dog and has a relationship with that. Interesting dog or human pretending to be a dog. So that is not the film we're covering today. Well, I, I, I think we're covering the right film.
00:02:34
Speaker
Yes. That would have been a lot harder to talk about our subject matter with that. But, um, we were talking about the Ben. Lienberg produced, directed, and written film where it's a big... Co-written by Alex Cannon and yep co-produced by his wife Carrie Fisher.
00:02:50
Speaker
Not to be confused with... This is Carrie Fisher with a K? Yes. And there's a C in that Fisher. Star Wars fame and and otherwise, but... It's a film, a horror film that's meant to be from the perspective. And our protagonist is his dog.
00:03:05
Speaker
And he used his real dog Indy for this film. And so it's very unique in that aspect. And we will get a lot more into that. But again, returning to why it hits especially hard today and why we're skipping our banter is...
00:03:18
Speaker
I lost my dog Goose very start of August, right before his eighth birthday. You lost your dog Emmett a week and a half ago, who was eight and a half, almost nine and nine and a half. Nine and a half.
00:03:33
Speaker
We can push this top trap. But anybody who is not interested in our dog stories, you can look at our chapter timeline and skip ahead to when we talk about Good Boy, because this is going to be. yeah ah You know i don't know, how much time it's going to be, but we loved our dogs and we don't care who knows it. So but if you don't want to listen to this, you can go to our chapters
Remembering Goose and Emmitt
00:03:50
Speaker
and skip ahead. But um if you've been listening to the pod for a few weeks, you know that I'm in ah Montana shooting a TV show that's in the Yellowstone family.
00:04:00
Speaker
So today with me, Trav, I have a locally brewed Montana beer from the Bridger Brewing Company. This is our first sponsor. Um, no free ads. This is all, this is all me.
00:04:11
Speaker
Uh, but this is the Lee Metcalf and it's a wilderness pale ale. And on the front is a two guys hiking and a dog in front of them. So I've laid a towel down on my hotel floor. I'm going to pour one out for Emmett and goose real fast. I i know that in your closet, it's probably more difficult to do. Yeah. I'm probably not going to pour a beer on the floor of my own home, but I'll let you do it for both of our dogs. Yeah. Yeah. Pour some out for the homies. I feel you.
00:04:37
Speaker
have that How's that for Foley? That was great. Emmett.
00:04:43
Speaker
Goose sounds like them when they're pissing on the carpet, too. Yeah. This being a movie that is so intimately involving dogs and through the eyes of dogs, I think it definitely strikes a chord for us. We are both dog lovers, which I know is a common trait, at least here in the US. We're really unique.
00:05:03
Speaker
We're really unique. We love dogs. But like, I mean, this is very much I saw a comment on this film, which I think speaks true to me. Because at a certain point, an animal might be promoted essentially from the role of a pet for you to truly feeling like a family member.
00:05:22
Speaker
And I think for both of us, this was the type of relationship we had with our dogs. I think it coincides two things. I think A in the last hundred years, we have seen that promotion happen kind of all over the place, especially in the West.
00:05:37
Speaker
They they transferred from just work animals to pets to now. I think you're right, like part of the family. And I think COVID really was a catalyst for that, too.
00:05:47
Speaker
And I think when I look at both of our trajectories, we you know We both have have led very different lives in our post-college years. And I think both of our dogs, based when we got them, have been benchmarks for really important moments. For you, the birth of your children, your marriage.
00:06:04
Speaker
For me, an almost marriage. Many different moves, many different career changes. And like there's been... i mean i think that's why... not not a spoiler here, but there's an opening montage of Indy growing up as a puppy.
00:06:18
Speaker
And I was... I started crying just because I thought of I thought of Emmett being a puppy and and ah growing up with me. you know, I was already an adult when I got him. I got him when I was 27. But the life changes I went through and the hardship and the sell and ah celebrations and the relationships like went through a lot. And so I think both of us will have a lot to, you know, share or reflect on because they're benchmarks for like important moments in our life.
00:06:47
Speaker
Yes. So coincidentally, Um, my cousin who I'm very close with her and her her husband are out of town this weekend. They have a dog who's about six named Penn.
00:06:57
Speaker
He's about the same size goose was and probably goose's best friend. My dog's best friend growing up. He's a little overweight. He's probably 90 pound golden doodle. He's a pretty thick boy. Um, goose before he got sick was 80 pounds and he was a mix of a Bernese mountain dog and a poodle, which more affectionately is referred to as a burn a doodle.
00:07:16
Speaker
um So he was a large Bernadoodle. And so these were the two big boys and Evan himself pretty, pretty big dog. Like I think we're big dog kind of guys Emmett. I, you know, his head is Emmett was a Rottweiler, a massive mix, Brindle color.
00:07:31
Speaker
He would fluctuate between 85 and 90 pounds. Big dog. But um so with Penn, my cousin's dog staying at our house this weekend. This is that on top of, you know, with it the same weekend I just saw good boy it just got released is bringing back like a wave of just emotions, the feels we took pen hiking this morning, which was great. Goose was again, being out here in Colorado. Of course we go hiking whenever we can. And so September, October is like the perfect weather to do that. So taking him out this morning with our girls was great.
00:08:00
Speaker
our, our middle child, Margo had a very special relationship with goose. She is three about to turn four. And so I think it hit her the hardest out of our kids um when he passed. And again, we we are fairly religious. And so we tell her goose went to heaven because all dogs go to heaven and She said something this morning, I'm going to choke up, but she was just saying like, she was like, dad, we're driving to this hike. And she's like, dad, i don't want Penn to go to heaven because I want him to stay with us forever. And I was just like, oh my goodness.
00:08:31
Speaker
How did you um explain? i mean, because the ages of your kids are still. Our oldest is about to turn five. yeah they're ah varying degrees of consciousness about about death.
00:08:44
Speaker
And so what was that like? We're pretty direct. I don't like to make up anything too fanciful beyond like what I believe. And so we- and santa Santa Claus, you of course, you- Yes. say Other than Santa Claus, don't expel that. The girls can't listen to this episode now. Thanks.
00:08:59
Speaker
how They don't listen to any of our pods. hope I hope not. Yeah. They know about your Reddit search history. Yeah. like We already lost one family member listening to the pod and your father-in-law. So we, I mean, we told Goose passed away and they were with us. i guess it's getting pretty intimate, but Goose was sick. had...
00:09:19
Speaker
he he had A few different forms of cancer was pretty pervasive. And unfortunately, by the time the symptoms start showing externally in tumors and we took them in, ah we realized that internally what was going on was a lot worse than what we could see on the surface to pass the point of any form of like acute treatment or even a whole body treatment like chemo wasn't really in the cards.
00:09:42
Speaker
And so that's tough. So we had a great last month with him. It comes on pretty quick, quicker than we even thought of doing his favorite things. And tribe what's different for both your dog and my dog? Is that like...
00:09:54
Speaker
these are these were both relatively healthy, youngish dogs. We did not have these decrepit, yeah blind, deaf dogs. ah So I just wanna paint that picture because I think sometimes when people hear these stories, it's like, well, it's their time to go. It wasn't these dogs time to go just yet. yeah I think that's how we felt. So I just wanted to say that before you- 100%. You're absolutely right. we We thought there was years and yeah in years to come. And so long way saying he he passed away surrounded by family.
00:10:22
Speaker
before he passed, we got the whole family around him in our yard. We have a great, awesome backyard here in Colorado. And we were taking a last photo with him and it was almost time, but we had not yet started the process.
00:10:34
Speaker
Um, and he serendipitously passed away right then while we were still holding him before they had even euthanized him. So he passed away naturally with me litter.
00:10:47
Speaker
Um, with me literally holding like his head in my lap. And so like,
00:10:53
Speaker
I'm trying to remember where I was going with this, but you're just describing the moment you've your yourself. i want to say something. You're, you're a self-described non-emotional person. And I think it shows how much you love this dog. Yeah.
00:11:06
Speaker
yeah um but But, Oh, point being our girls were with him when he passed. So there was no sugar coating. um we We were telling him directly, like he's passed. This means he's not going to be here with us anymore. Like this is like, say our goodbyes. This is our last time.
00:11:21
Speaker
with him and and that's where we tell him you know like but we at least believe like you know he's he's in a better place now his suffering is over and so that's you know where we introduced the concept and stuff of heaven where but margot's off-handed comment this morning about pen and Being like, oh, I don't want them to go to heaven. Like, I want them to stay here with us, especially close to home. i think i ah I think I selectively discard my agnosticism when I think of dogs. So I'm there with you. They're better than us, right? So they deserve a better faith than us. Yeah, definitely.
00:11:53
Speaker
um Man, geez. that That your kids got to... that's ah That's a pretty like developmental moment for them. Yeah. and that i Not to make it a silver lining, but ah probably big on their like understanding of the world and better that they figure this out now with ah with a pet and then when they have to deal with that with human. You know what I mean? We've been very fortunate where no close family members have passed since we've had our girls. So to your point, yes, this was their...
00:12:23
Speaker
most firsthand experience with someone they care about passing. So back to Goose when he was alive. I love the the naming origin story of your dog.
00:12:34
Speaker
yeah So if you could, since it's movie related, I think you should share that. I forget if we've actually kept this in an episode or not. But um so he's, we call him Goose. Technically, we named him Gustav.
00:12:46
Speaker
So it is not Goose from Top Gun, as most people typically ask, is that where you got the name? Although if I want to save them, a three minute story or two minute story, I just agree and say, yeah, it's, it's, you know, I love Top Gun. So yeah, sure. If you like talking to the person or not.
00:12:59
Speaker
Um, but there was a movie that came out around the time. So we, we got goose right after we got married, like a month after we got married in 2017, Anna and and there was a movie that came out earlier that year called why him? It's with Bryan Cranston, James Franco as the main leads, but Keegan-Michael Key plays like an eccentric butler character named Gustav.
00:13:19
Speaker
And this is not a good movie, but Anna, my wife, loved it. That name stuck in her head because she loves Keegan-Michael Key and we love Key and Peele. And so we got our dog. He was named after Keegan-Michael Key's character in that movie. Why him?
00:13:32
Speaker
i i have ah I have a dull knife about this name. Yes. See, when you when we text, you spell it goose, like the animal or the character from Top Gun.
00:13:43
Speaker
Why didn't you make use of the umlaut? Yeah. For those who don't know, that's U with the two dots on it. And that yeah that is the ooh sound. You could have been G-U-S. We're not fancy folks.
00:13:55
Speaker
Even though we're in Colorado, my family's from the Midwest. So we don't... we We like our written language to be very phonetic. You're the midwest doesn't use umlauts? So going back to my middle daughter, well, like my middle daughter, Margot, we spell her name like Margot Robbie, which is M-A-R-G-O-T.
00:14:12
Speaker
So when we had her, we sent a text to my family, like, welcome to the world, Margot. And literally, not just extended family, but my mom called to be like, Travis, I... have reservations about you naming your daughter margot because they just sound everything up phonetically where i think the umlaut would really throw them off and they'd be like i don't know what to call your dog if the if the silent t is a hurdle then the umlaut is kind of off reservation there all right my my next question was did did goose like certain types of movies was he a movie dog did he jump on the couch when you guys were watching
00:14:45
Speaker
So most movies we watch, we watch in our bedroom and the master bed will set up and goose was a dog for better or worse. Despite his size, we let sleep in our bed with us. It's the reason we had to get a King bed, love my wife to death, but Anna is the more empathetic one.
00:15:01
Speaker
And that's great. Cause I think kids need a figure like that. I'm usually more hard nose, the same goes with goose where I could not get over the fact that Anna would welcome him to sleep on her during the middle of the night. She would love nothing more than like goose come lay on my feet or snuggle up with me.
00:15:15
Speaker
i was a, ah a bit the opposite where I think goose and I would fight over our small sliver of the bed, like our one third of the bed every night where i was like, why are you sleeping on my side? Like, over there you go to who invited you up here. i didn't invite you. Yeah, that's exactly.
00:15:31
Speaker
But so he would watch movies with us in our bed. And, um, I don't think he had a specific genre, but of course, if the movies had a dog, he was always a lot, a lot more interested. It took him a few years to realize these were not in fact real dogs. So can enjoy the movie and not just bark at them on the screen the entire time. i don't know. What about you? I I've spoken a lot about goose and you're the bigger movie buff. I'd say them myself.
00:15:55
Speaker
I'm sure you've watched plenty of movies with Emmett. Where would you watch them with him? What was he into? Uh, and it was big on, Late 90s sci-fi, mid to late 90s sci-fi. Wow. I noticed.
00:16:08
Speaker
ah Okay. The Fifth Element? Yes, actually. The Fifth Element was one of the, not one of the last movies you watched, but a movie that I only saw for the first time in the last year and a half. and Oh, wow.
00:16:20
Speaker
For sure was perfect. So like, Emmett is a big-ass lazy dog. like He is typically on his back, snoring with his jowls flopped over, or like or he's like curled up like a little cinnamon roll. It was really crazy the reins that this dog had.
00:16:36
Speaker
So I just noticed that... with the matrix fifth element uh men in black like any like laser shooting or like punchy dialogue or something he would just look up and just kind of stare at the screen for a while so i'd like to think that he had a penchant for for a good 90s something i guess in some cases early 2000s sci-fi um again i could be projecting this because i like those movies but and maybe he was picking up on what i was feeling and having a good time yeah but uh You know know, the top FX was he into Michael Bay?
00:17:10
Speaker
Michael Bay was a bit much. my And it wasn't huge on like, yeah, like you need it. You need a some respite with the noises. And I sometimes think that Emmett is so thankful for like the finer things in life because um his owner before me, he was a rescue from from Southern California.
00:17:27
Speaker
They neglected him for days on end. They would just leave him out on the balcony. and to live in his own waste and um to the reason that he ended up in a pound or a shelter was because at nine months old uh the roommate was out of town and his the existing roommate was there and emmets waste was falling down to the next balcony below them in the apartment and the landlord's like hey you got to get rid of this dog and the guy's like okay so he calls his roommate who was the actual owner of the dog and says hey simba was his name at the time Hey, Simba's got to go.
00:17:56
Speaker
It's just all right. We'll take him to the shelter. i don't care. um Takes him to the shelter. California state law. This is how it was at least in 2017. What they explained to us was if you go to a shelter to to give up a dog, but you admit that you know who the dog's owner is, you cannot do that.
00:18:13
Speaker
Like it has to be your dog. You can't be like, hey, this is my friend's dog, if that makes sense. Oh, so they turned him away because he said, hey, this is my roommate's dog. We don't want him. they're like, your roommate has to do it then.
00:18:24
Speaker
So then what this asshole did was he just dropped Emmett off like three blocks away in the middle of an intersection. Oh goodness. And Emmett being this big lovable dog, like thankfully somebody was able to like call him and get him in the car.
00:18:37
Speaker
I don't know how long he was running on the street for, but um hey fortunately he was still close enough to the shelter that that was the nearest shelter to go back to. So the the people are like, Oh, this dog's back. But this time somebody else brought him Jesus.
00:18:49
Speaker
um And so then it was a Super Bowl Sunday 2017, me and ah ah my partner at the time, we were bored. The puppy bowl was going on before the Super Bowl.
00:19:01
Speaker
And it made us think of dogs. And I kid you not, i know everybody says this, but we really had no intentions of purchasing a dog. We were both laid off from our jobs. We were both about to move back to Dallas. two weeks from moving to Dallas. Like you don't get a dog before I move. And we were just, we were fucking bored and we went and all these dogs are yapping. We just Googled like dog. We do literally Google dog store.
00:19:21
Speaker
That's what we dog store just to go pet dogs. And, uh, we, we went to that shelter. All these dogs are yap, yap, yap, yapping, yapping, yapping. And then like in the center, it's like almost cinematic, like the center of the place, not barking at all.
00:19:36
Speaker
in a cage, big brown eyes just looking at us like, dude, get me the fuck out of here. Get me out of here. So we took him out and he just bowled me over like running back, hence the name Emmett after Emmett Smith.
00:19:47
Speaker
Oh, yeah. I didn't know that. I like it. Oh, yeah you didn't know that it was a name? Well, I didn't know it was named after Emmett Smith. And fun story, Emmett Smith actually is aware of Emmett because I met Emmett Smith at the airport once.
00:19:59
Speaker
ah This was before. named your dog after him. How did he take that? So like we were, this was, I'm surprised he wasn't flying private because he's done very well for himself, even in real estate after football and everything. But we were both on the TSA pre-check line it was oddly taking a long time And, you know, as you know, like I work with talent a lot, so I I try to be mindful of I know it that they're going through a lot and they don't want to do pictures or anything.
00:20:23
Speaker
But I'm a huge fan of Emmett. So I was like, all right, I've been here long enough. I could probably say something. So I just made small talk at first. I was like, man, what's with this line? Yeah, man, it's really long. Like, what the heck? And I was like yeah, yeah. And then I had Travis. I had no smooth segue to this. I was just like, by the way, i named my dog after you.
00:20:41
Speaker
And he's like, man, that's kind of weird. But then I showed him a picture of him and he loved it and asking about him. But there was a funny moment because, um you know, those Dallas, I know you're you're like Packers fans and not like you know this, but during the Tony Romo era, they came out with these sideline hats with the D, like not the star logo, but just like the D d for Dallas. Yeah. D for Dallas. And so I showed him a picture of Emmett wearing the hat and he goes, man,
00:21:08
Speaker
man, he's got a Duke hat on and everything. and I was like, Emmett, that's a Dallas Cowboys hat. He's like, what? and was like, yeah, dude, that that's that's that the sideline hat. He's like, okay, that's pretty cool. So Emmett was um very kind. And Emmett, my dog, you were talking about the dog sleeping in the bed with you guys.
00:21:28
Speaker
Well, I had the opposite problem, Trav. I wanted Emmett to sleep in the bed with us, but he never would. We got our new apartment in Dallas and he would just stay in his own couch. I was like, I want to cuddle. One of the reasons I got a dog is to cuddle with him.
00:21:42
Speaker
So a few months go by and and I think I've alluded to this maybe in a few pods, but I had a, and you know this Travis, this is more for the audience, but pretty public breaking up of a, like I called off my wedding four days out. Let's just say it was a destination wedding.
00:22:00
Speaker
in Alaska. Most people were already there. i called it off four days out. and This was a long time coming. We were going to counseling. just wasn't working. She was not surprised, but she was heartbroken.
00:22:11
Speaker
And so was I. Um, a so coming back, I came back alone because i I go back alone to our apartment and, um, I, uh,
00:22:24
Speaker
My first night there, i was like a fucking wreck, dude. Like I was. Yeah, I cry. I was just like, it was kind of dawning on me the decision I made and like what this meant for my future. And I'm like in my bed just like weeping and image just crawls up there like his first time ever, like jumps on the bed and like just nuzzles up right next to me and He didn't leave for eight years. Like he, every night he would jump in bed with me.
00:22:51
Speaker
Really? Yeah. I didn't realize that's where where it changed. Oh man. Yeah. ah I thought of him a lot during this movie because the premise is that, that notion, and I'm sure you felt this with goose, um that dogs have a sixth sense.
00:23:06
Speaker
Yeah. That they notice things. And you called this out in some of our podcasts. This has been captured in so many horror movies. Yeah, really. It's so common where the dog knows something's out before things And Ben Lienberg was inspired by Poltergeist, the Golden Retriever, of ah oh a film that we covered, our eighth episode.
00:23:21
Speaker
And so ah I thought of Emmett because the the whole premise of this movie you know is like, okay, the dog notices something. And in this case, it's something sinister and potentially paranormal. And we dive into that and what the dog sees and experiences.
00:23:34
Speaker
Well, Emmett, for as clumsy as he was, as much as he was hit his head and fall over, he had some serious intuition. um I can think of one particular moment. ah i was I fell asleep on my couch after a long night at work.
00:23:49
Speaker
And I did this here and there, and Emmett was sleeping with me again. And all of a sudden he barks. This is like 3 a.m. Oh no. He barks, and I like ah kind of wake up, and I'm like, dude, what is it, buddy? What is it? just kind of rub his big head, and he's looking at he's like looking at the door.
00:24:05
Speaker
And I look at my door, Travis, and it opens at 3 What? And a guy dressed in all black, and this is not a vision, like this actually happened, starts to walk into my apartment.
00:24:19
Speaker
And Emmett makes the most guttural growl, like, and like puffs up. And before Emmett can even jump on the ground, The guy sees the dog and just bolts, like just bolts. So wait, so likely an attempted break in. I did not know the story at all or someone maybe it was wrong place, wrong time, but someone trying to get into your apartment.
00:24:42
Speaker
I then go over to the door and look through my little key eye hole. you call it? People? Yeah, people. yeah And he's no one's there. And I open, I crack it open. I look down the hallway and he turns a corner and he's like, sir, please, please. They're, they're running after me. They have a gun. And I was like, bro, what are you talking about? He's they're chasing me.
00:25:02
Speaker
I said something bad and they're chasing me and they have a gun. And I, so and he's like, can I come inside to charge my phone? And I was like, you know, I like to help people. i like sometimes make questionable decisions because I'm either a curious person or I'm trying to be, you know, a benefactor of those who need it. But,
00:25:19
Speaker
i I went with Emmett on this one. I was like, dude, I'm sorry. I can't help you. You just tried to enter my home. i don't know if you have a gun. Yes. But he's like, but what do I do? I'm like, I'll tell you what. I'll call the cops for you, but I'm closing the door and you can go upstairs. There's a little nook. If you go up the stairs, take a left. There's a little nook you can hide in if there's actually people chasing after you. um And that was, he's like, he's like, and he looked at me. This is actually kind of like a horror movie.
00:25:43
Speaker
He looks to the left. He's like, oh my God, here they come. And then he left. And then I closed the door and I was like, holy shit. I cannot. now I've never heard this story before. That's,
00:25:55
Speaker
That's insane. Yeah. um And so, and so um I'd like to think, so like you, I'm very envious trap, like, you know, losing the dog, no matter how you lose them is hard. But ah what I'm envious of is that like, you got, you got ah month after finding out he was terminal and you also got like a chance to say goodbye in like a very natural way.
00:26:17
Speaker
um I was in Montana, obviously, when I got the call from my dog sitters that he wasn't doing well. and um flew home. And ah to keep a long story short, because I know we're short on time, ah by the time I got to the hospital, ah it had been you know decided that he was not going to make it.
00:26:37
Speaker
And the also there was a decision that they would not want to wake him up from anesthesia. And for good reason. um Two reasons, really.
00:26:50
Speaker
Three. One is that he would be very disoriented and confused. On top of that, the pain of the incision, because ah they opened it up to to see that the blood cancer had just completely riddled his liver completely.
00:27:01
Speaker
And so there's no turning back. So pain of the incision, confusion of the anesthesia, and then pain of the blood ah from like the his liver bleeding out. And so it was an ethical decision.
00:27:11
Speaker
Really hard for me to agree with at the time, but I've i've grown to accept it. Um, but I still was able to, you know, hold him and say, I love you and say, thank you. And tell him a good boy.
00:27:26
Speaker
And, uh, there is the reason I break up is ah his, his, um, intuition is that like, I'd like to think that he heard me, you know, like I'd like to think that at some level and I'm not, you know, I'm not that spiritual of a person, but like the, the whimsical storytelling part of me is like, you know, the you hear stories of all the time of people saying goodbye to loved ones and they smile even though they're and comatose. And so for as much as I was all up in his grill and and saying how much I love him and I'd like to think he like smelled that or, or heard me a bit. And then, um, yeah, and we made the decision to put him down. So,
00:28:02
Speaker
ah had a beautiful memorial for him a few days later. um yes One of the only dog memorials I know of. That's that's incredible. I know we're laughing, but only in a good humor way of yeah yeah how many, i mean, you had a good turnout. I was really moved. I didn't know, I don't know it would be like two people, five people, 15 people showed up and I was really touched. And I i think people know that, you know, having, you know, i don't have kids, i don't have a wife. um And I think people know that,
00:28:32
Speaker
that like Emmett plays a different role for me than, you know, maybe obviously I'm not saying like Goose was in your family and it was like my only, but you know what I mean?
00:28:46
Speaker
Yeah. And so I think people showed up in a way that like, I really appreciate it. And I know it was more for me than him. um But we, we were able to, tell some good stories and remember him. So Trav, to finish out on a high note, because I know we love their good boys, do you have a don't go in there award for Goose?
00:29:03
Speaker
Yeah, i I know you brought up, like should we do an award for our dogs? And i I can't quite think of that. So I'll let you do a don't go in there if you have one for Emmett, but I'm going to go with a cantaloupe award for the most cringeworthy moments. That's fair.
00:29:17
Speaker
That's funny. Because one thing that I don't know how I got into this habit of, but Goose would occasionally eat things he shouldn't. Not so bad he'd have to go the hospital, but at least thinks he'd have a hard time passing.
00:29:28
Speaker
um And so countless times, as in a dozen plus times during his lifetime, he he understood that if he was trying to pass something um and it was not fully coming out and it was hanging out and still attached, he would run up to me whimpering.
00:29:46
Speaker
And it was my role in the family to help essentially like pull out a lot of times like rope related or grass related, you know, he willingly let you do this. Oh, yes.
00:29:57
Speaker
Like it, it got to the point where it was my oro role where he would run back to me in a panic. Dude, really high fiber or with rope in it and being like, Dad, you you got to pull this out. I can't complete misery.
00:30:11
Speaker
Oh, so this was your method you use gloves, ah dog bag? Did you just Yeah, you're not. I'm trying to think. youre knuckle bag i'm trying to thank You know, you have kids to get more used to this. i I don't want to go into detail on how many times I've probably had to bare hand stuff, but vast majority of times I was using a poop bag. If you can help it, you'll get some latex. Exactly. If I have time to prepare you a few seconds, I would go about it that way.
00:30:34
Speaker
But anyways, so yeah, a little off-putting, but I'd have a great don't go in there. So I wanted to leave that. But it sounds like you might have a good don't go in there for a minute. I just had one of our funniest memories. We did we did a lot of road trips together. um a lot of our adventures were local, but we did have a lot of road trips. And so one time when we went to Waco to see a Baylor game, and ah for those who aren't familiar with Texas, the Brazos River is nearby. Emmett had never seen ah still body of water. So he you know his first two weeks that I was with him, we were in Orange County, California, so he was used to the ocean. He had never seen like a pond.
00:31:09
Speaker
And this part of the pond was Was pretty stable and I don't think it mattered that it had a greenish hue because dogs are colorblind But I see Emmett go up and I think he's just gonna like sniff the water Yeah, but he like steps on it as if it was the green of a golf course or something and completely falls in and his look for such a tough looking dog Hit coming back and I had to save him like he didn't know how to swim and so like he was like dog paddling and panicking and i picked him up and so It was a funny moment in his that is his don't go in there award. um
00:31:41
Speaker
But ah he yeah, he he said he since then he became more of a water dog. We went to White Rock Lake a lot, but that's why ah then go back in the Brazos. I did have to haul goose out of a few bodies of water myself where he got in without knowing what he was doing. One time like a moving, I mean a creek, but in the spring coming down mountain streams. It's almost like a river where I had quickly haul him out before he just went careening down like some rap in Denver.
00:32:06
Speaker
He's probably embarrassing all the other. Up and veil, yeah. Okay. ah I should also mention this. I just realized that the more apt award or scenario for Emmett would probably be, because I didn't say this on our pod, I don't think. We quickly we quickly glossed over that my leg injury was from Poison Ivy.
00:32:22
Speaker
But I don't think it went into detail that I went into the poison ivy because Emmett went in there. Like, Emmett went into the bushes. That's a lot more recent. yeah Yeah. So Emmett goes into the bushes and this is after his hearing has kind of gotten worse.
00:32:33
Speaker
So I'm calling him to get out of there and it's an area I'm not very familiar with when I was house house sitting for Joe and his family. And I start to panic. i'm like, well, is he going to get lost in this big forest area? So i then I like trudged through and you know, 10 days later, I have like the worst gnarliest poison Ivy ever. So that's probably my don't go in there for Emmett because, and for me, we both should not have gone in there. And yeah. yeah So anyways, well, it's a typical transition to make, but let's pivot. glad we did this though. This is, we should also formally say that this episode is dedicated to Emmett and Goose. so
00:33:09
Speaker
So che cheers to
Overall Thoughts on GOOD BOY (2025)
00:33:10
Speaker
those boys. Yes. So we are covering in the 2025 film. Good boy just released this weekend. um It's pretty exciting. i mean We'll talk about this in the production notes, but this is a movie that is very indie and has any feel to it. Debut at South by South. No pun intended.
00:33:27
Speaker
um It was going to be a shutter release. His name is Indy. His name's in. Oh, thank you. Cheese. I completely. A lot of things just fly over my head. But yes, the dog's name is Indy, his real name and his character's name in the movie.
00:33:38
Speaker
debuted earlier this year at South by Southwest, got picked up by, and was going release on Shudder, but it did a great job marketing. You know, IFC was distributing this and it got enough buzz where they ended up pivoting to a wide release.
00:33:51
Speaker
It was the trailer. We decided to cover it. Yeah. Yeah. It was the trailer. Cause I, I do think there are so many horror movies that tap the dog as the, the lookout essentially for the family. They're the first one to realize something is going wrong. And so this movie really dove into, well, let's give an entire film short yeah as it may be, um but an entire film from the dog's perspective.
00:34:14
Speaker
Again, focusing on a dog, I think i gave a lot of it away there, but what is the formal log line for this film? Yeah, a a loyal dog moves to a rural family home with his owner only to discover supernatural forces lurking in the shadows.
00:34:28
Speaker
As dark entities threaten his human companion, the brave pup must fight to protect the one he loves most. Yeah, so we both just saw this yesterday um and I know dogs and our dogs are especially on our minds, but what are your thoughts on the film?
00:34:43
Speaker
Dude, this is such an achievement. um I think you said it earlier. It is very indie, very independent yeah film. It was almost odd seeing a film like this on the big screen.
00:34:55
Speaker
um Odd in a way that was exciting. you know like They don't have a lot of resources. They don't have a lot of budget. like Everything I've read was that this is completely self-financed. um During principal photography, which is you know before you lay out you know lay on sound editing and any effects, so when you are shooting the camera, it was two humans the entire time.
00:35:17
Speaker
so Ben and his wife Carrie. that That alone distracted me for the first 30 minutes, Travis, because the whole time I'm thinking, I'm looking at Indy's performance, I'm looking at the set design, I'm looking at camera movement.
00:35:29
Speaker
All I'm thinking is like, how did you not even have at least one other person and and and make this a sturdy story? And look, this is this is not I'm going to put this out there. This is not going to be for everybody, okay? yes I think there's two requirements to enjoy this film. or You have to have one of these two. not saying you have to have both.
00:35:45
Speaker
You have to be ah open to experimental horror, okay? Or you have to love but you have to love dogs. yeah I think if you check one of those boxes, you will enjoy this film. it is It is light on story. It's light on dialogue.
00:35:57
Speaker
There's some confusing, vague aspects that we can get into. Yes. But as a whole, as an experiment, as a project, I am so glad this movie exists. I had a ball. um I think the thing that sticks out most to me and probably is what's written about the most is that this is not like Beethoven or Air Bud where...
00:36:16
Speaker
uh, dog duplicates are being used, um, or CGI is using to enhance, no CGI to enhance, but they use CGI for like the glass breaking and stuff, but like, yeah, but not for the dog. Correct. Not for his expressions.
00:36:29
Speaker
This is a completely naturalistic performance. And I use performance almost tongue in cheek because as Ben has said a billion times in his press run, And he doesn't know he's in a movie.
00:36:40
Speaker
And so ah I'm excited to talk about production notes. So I'll try to pump the brakes on that because there's so many things that I looked into. i listened to his interviews and I want to talk about that. But as how I felt about the movie, Travis, I enjoyed it a lot. i yeah I enjoyed it a lot.
00:36:55
Speaker
i I agree with that take. I think that's similar to mine in that I probably enjoyed it more for the achievement it was in filmmaking and seeing a very, very small scale film get this national spotlight here.
00:37:09
Speaker
And and just just like you said, like this is rare to see this. It feels very small. And like you said, budget, you there's very few casts. It's all set on location at, know, this one rural home.
00:37:20
Speaker
um But just to see how they did this. And it's really cool that the film's short as well. I think the official runtimes an hour and 12 minutes, but that included, you know, when the credits roll at the end and then there's at least five minutes, if not longer of behind the scenes footage where the director Ben Lindberg addresses the audience and gives you a peek behind the curtain to show like this is what they had to go through to make it.
00:37:41
Speaker
And that was really satisfying to watch. Like I stuck around after the credits. I would encourage you if you have not seen this film yet, to also see that it's really cool to see what they had to do to get in the to act in this. He really is the main character there.
00:37:55
Speaker
He gets more screen time than even his human owner counterpart in the film. And so although we had to live or die by his performance and he did. and did a great job. And so to your point,
00:38:07
Speaker
You know, there's some confusing aspects of plot there. There are some decent scares in here as well. I think myself it's a good horror movie. Yeah, it's not a favorite. But I think what really wows you or will make you enjoy this film is if you appreciate just like what they had to go through make this, how they were able to do it.
00:38:25
Speaker
It is enough to carry you through the film. And it is the perfect it's the perfect length, too. I think if it went on longer, it would get tiresome because how much can you do with a dog? But they left. They exited stage left at the right time.
00:38:37
Speaker
And I was very satisfied with it. I think more horror movies need to have closer to an hour runtime. I talk about bloated movie runtimes killing movies often.
00:38:48
Speaker
Sometimes there's a time and a place for it, but horror especially i think is is a great genre for the hour, hour and 15 minute, hour 30 max runtimes. If you're going beyond that, yeah you better be pretty damn sure you have a great film through and through that you couldn't, you know,
00:39:05
Speaker
leave more in the cutting room floor to, to get to runtime longer than that. Well, he's, uh, he is a film professor, Ben Leonard, Leonberg, Leonberg, Ben Leonberg is a film professor. I don't know where, ah but when you hear him speak and the formal techniques that he uses to convey,
00:39:20
Speaker
um ah plot progression and and tension and rising so rising tension and conflict. he used ah He was very much influenced by you know your Hitchcocks and your Kubrick's to convey you you know visual storytelling and not relying on dialogue so much.
00:39:37
Speaker
And um you talk about how this is from the perspective of the dog. And for those who don't know, it's not actually you know in the POV of the dog the whole time. There are moments where you they hit he straps a camera on his back and yeah waddle around with him for a little bit.
00:39:49
Speaker
But really what what we mean by that is like the eye line. So someone who's amazing at this is David Fincher. You watch his movies when he moves the camera up and down. It's typically keeping the eye line in the and the upper third of the frame.
00:40:02
Speaker
And Ben does an amazing job doing that with Indy here. And um that kind of discipline reminded me of of two other films that have come out recently. Because I do think we're in a cool time for experimental horror. Yeah. um And that is Skinnamarink and um Violent Nature.
00:40:21
Speaker
And so yeah I thought of Skinnamarink. Now, Skinnamarink is more abstract. And I think there's more going on there. And that's. that's a movie you can really swim in and and like yeah feeling like you're transported to being a kid. But what I mean by the similarities is not just the haunted house aspect, but that like you take a concept that is so foreign to being on a wide, a wide release film that it's exciting to see it exist.
00:40:45
Speaker
And then I i bring up um violent nature because very similar gimmick or premise in that let's take a archetype from a horror film that you don't normally share the empathy or POV with. I think that's the best comp.
00:41:02
Speaker
yeah Yes. Because in that one, you are the, you're the slasher, you're the killer. yeah And ah in this case, and I think the reason this, there's more buzz about this movie
Production Notes
00:41:11
Speaker
than that um is that we're with a much more empathetic character. Yes. We're with the fucking dog. and You want to be with the dog. You don't want to be with the killer.
00:41:19
Speaker
I mean, I did. It was just that that movie outstayed its welcome a bit more for me. I really enjoyed it. Another film that I think is in the lineage of this film in terms of taking an unconventional POV in a horror film is Presence.
00:41:32
Speaker
Soderbergh's movie where you're the perfect effects of the ghost. So let's include Presence um in a violent nature and then to a lesser degree, Skidamarine. Yeah, I think that's totally right.
00:41:44
Speaker
um I think we're starting to talk about production anyways, so we can get fully into it. Bro, check this out. Per deadline, Good Boy's projected to conclude its opening weekend with a three-day domestic total of $2.25 million, dollars which, look, in a general, if this is a normal movie with a normal budget, that is nothing. But that is an achievement. I think people just need to understand, like, out 1,650 theaters for a movie that was supposed to go straight to Shudder that cost, like, $0 to make, ah it's the third highest grossing Shudder slash IFC movie in history at the domestic yeah yeah office already. Really?
00:42:21
Speaker
in the single weekend so this is you at the top two are i don't know what other shutter films have we got in a wide um yeah it's behind only a movie we just talked about in a violent nature and a movie that you love uh late night with the devil so oh yeah so those both just came out last year too so this is very recent where shutters so in a violent nature wide releases is it number two that that ended up with 4.2 million late night with the devil had 10. i think good boy should surpass in violent nature it's it's It'll double. Yeah. It made 2.25 already. It'll, it'll hit. That's, that's really Depends how long it's run is though, I guess, but we'll, I don't know all the math that goes into like,
00:43:00
Speaker
when cinemas are going to say, okay, we need to phase this out and maybe bring in another new release or something else. So a typical multiplier for a horror film is like 2.5x. It's opening weekend. opening weekend And so if it just hits two, it yeah if it doubles, yeah. So I'm i'm excited for it.
00:43:17
Speaker
Development. So ah the way this film started was Ben, the director, was watching Poltergeist, actually. ah As we mentioned earlier, our our eighth episode covered that film. And um he was so captured in his only time watching it with the golden retriever in that movie.
00:43:33
Speaker
And he started thinking like, well, what is this haunting like for that dog? And like that was the kernel of an idea. He started converting him and Carrie, his wife, who is not a producer by trade, like she's a scientist. And so during the day when they had time, they would set up the rigging and any lighting they needed. And then once it hit night, because most the film takes place at night, if not all, ah most of it. Yeah.
00:43:55
Speaker
uh they would then work on positioning indie and getting to move a certain way and what they say is that it would take an entire day just to get like one shot like a three second shot that's what he says in the behind the scenes like the entire night shoot to get like an eight second sequence of him just like looking being startled by something while he's sitting in a chair and then hopping out of the chair i mean that would be their work for the entire night It's an incredible achievement to do that with two human beings. And I know that they added more and in post for Foley, for FX, for sound, for the music, ah color grading.
00:44:29
Speaker
But like to get just that that raw footage of what they got is incredible. The dog is so... And he mentioned this a lot in um in his press run as well. But are you familiar with the Kuleshov effect, Travis? Yeah.
00:44:41
Speaker
He brings this up, but it's worth sharing with our audience because I do kind of forget. Yeah. So um the Kuleshov effect is it's based on an experiment that Lev Kuleshov ran. He's a a Russian filmmaker and a film theorist.
00:44:54
Speaker
And um it was an editing principle he demonstrated in the 20s or 30s. Basically, he showed two different audiences, two different clips. One was a guy's face. Mm-hmm. And then he cuts to a bowl of soup.
00:45:06
Speaker
And then he pulled everybody afterwards like, hey, what did that guy feel? And all of them wrote down like, hungry. Second audience came in, showed the same guy's face, and then a coffin with I think like a girl inside of it.
00:45:17
Speaker
And everybody said like, afraid, sad, worried. And so the the point of the matter is, and I mean, it's funny that Ben talks about this so much because he's kind of flexing on himself versus like giving indie props for the performance. But I think as a film professor, he probably gets off on like talking about this stuff and explaining theory.
00:45:34
Speaker
And it really is the powers in the editing and the juxtaposition and like, yes, and how you frame up images. it's those context clues of everything else he can capture and then get a quick shot of indie. And based on the context, he's just surrounded around that one shot of indie.
00:45:50
Speaker
that's going to convey what we're supposed to feel and what's going on. But it works. Like I knew this going in and I was, I mean, what did you think of Indy's performance? Cause we haven't, cause he's like, he's a shoe in for Scream King for me. Oh yes. I guess we just spoil it. Like clearly, clearly he is the Scream King of this film. He was a very good boy. Like was blown away the,
00:46:13
Speaker
how and I know it takes we don't get to see all the takes they had to throw away and all the tries. He says he has terabytes of footage. Yes, oh I'm sure. And so it was it was phenomenal. What the end product and and knowing that they were able to capture some great shots of Indy where it truly does convey horror. I mean, there are very scary sequences where Indy is our guide. That's our character that we're following and scared for him for the predicaments he gets into and the situations he's in.
00:46:39
Speaker
And again, I understand the context that Lindbergh's adding makes it scarier, but also, you know, props to the dog props to Indy because he is able to convey emotions in that context, which still makes it that much scarier. Carrie, not much better of a film.
00:46:53
Speaker
Carrie Fisher, the ah producer on the film Indy's mom, she said something in interview that I think is so true and it's Yes, and he doesn't know he's in a movie. He's not acting. He's just responding.
00:47:05
Speaker
But something that makes him inherently perfect for this movie is that thousand-yard stare. like yeah he just He looks off to the distance or camera left or camera right, and it's so intense that you can't help but project...
00:47:19
Speaker
what yourre what the the scene is asking you to feel. He is such a good conduit for that, that I was just like, this is, I still contend that the thing ah includes the best doc performance of all time.
00:47:32
Speaker
I might need a rewatch this and then the thing to see if maybe Indy puts a run for his money. um Yeah, yeah. um Well, let's move through these other production notes.
00:47:45
Speaker
I want to talk about the the other cast is very limited, but a few notes. But I know you said you had some on the writing. You want to chat about that first? Real quick, I just wanted to give a shout out to Alex Cannon because I'm kind of ah another unsung hero on here because he's the co-writer.
00:47:58
Speaker
ah But they both were struggling with how to... tell the story through a dog's perspective while still be entertaining and follow along. And ah they used two books as a guiding principle to Jack London novels, Call of the Wild and White Fang.
00:48:14
Speaker
um I've read the former and it's great, but as a way to find moments to hurl yourself behind a ah ah being that does not speak.
00:48:25
Speaker
But I just thought it was cool that they went back to like the original dog storyteller in Jack London as like a ah reference point. Yeah, and so it has to be a lot of one sided dialogue where obviously the dog won't respond back. So you can have the owner talking to him or giving him commands.
00:48:44
Speaker
And even that's pretty light, but you you have to have some of it and and it good pretty good job so Also, because he was so they were so disciplined and determined to not use CG or puppets or animatronics.
00:48:59
Speaker
and Now this kind of hurts the film too, but I respect that they did it. Indy is not really able to take action as much as you would expect in a normal horror film, right? He is reacting to things. He's observing things.
00:49:10
Speaker
I think in some cases it makes the film a bit repetitive at times, but they throw in enough hijinks happening around him and what he's going through in his dream sequences that it makes it interesting enough. And I think, I'm wondering if they got some of that from the Jack London books, because it's not realistic for a dog can't pick up a knife. A dog can't call somebody.
00:49:28
Speaker
A dog largely has to like look at things, react, and bark. You know what i mean? like i don't that's the It hurts, but it helps at the same time, I think. It makes it more realistic. But yeah, you don't have a dog hero. You don't have an air bud coming in there to save the day.
00:49:39
Speaker
They're calling this Scare Bud, by the way. Scare Bud. um yeah There's not a huge cast list. There's a few very other minor characters. But there's really just Indy, who is playing himself. And again, didn't really know he was in a movie.
00:49:54
Speaker
And then ah Shane Jensen stars as his owner, Todd. And it's a lot of the relationship between those two. That's a generous term though. Shane Jensen is only the voice.
00:50:04
Speaker
It is the director who plays the body of Todd. Oh, really? And I hope people listen to this before they watch it. because And Trav, if you ever rewatch it, think about this. So for those three years they were filming,
00:50:18
Speaker
Todd, or sorry, Ben, is Todd, the character of Todd. And he, as you saw and after the behind-the-scenes stuff, he's saying, come on, boy, do this, do that. Yes. So Shane Jensen had the impossible task of then having to match voice with words that Ben is saying that are nowhere near what the script calls for. yeah Now, Ben helped him out a bit as the director by filming himself in shadows.
00:50:42
Speaker
And um you don't see his voice a lot. but You don't see his face a lot. You don't. I mean, it's very much from the perspective of a dog where they don't have as great a vision. He's sometimes somewhat blurred out. So I guess it makes sense that they could then go and dub over all the dialogue, but didn't realize that. But think about it. When you speak, you're not just speaking with your mouth. You're speaking with your shoulders and your hands. And if you're laying down, you sound differently. So Shane had to take all of Ben's movements and and into ah like maybe it takes a big breath or something.
00:51:12
Speaker
And he might in real life be saying, okay, boy, go over here. Pickle, pickle, pickle, tennis ball, tennis ball, tennis ball, like whatever he's saying. And then Shane has to get on the ah the microphone and during post-production and like match yeah usually harsher words or like fearful words. And so it's, like it's it's an, and I think that's why Ben gave him the full credit was because he was so impressed and and indebted to what Shane was able to bring to that character. okay Oh, that's cool. I didn't realize that.
00:51:37
Speaker
Not a lot of other characters. There's a Larry Fessenden, He plays a pretty limited role as the grandpa you see in a few sequences who used to own the home, but had recently passed away.
00:51:48
Speaker
He's been in a lot of horror films is the only reason why want to give him a shout out, but a very small role always. um The more exciting one that I saw was Stuart Rudin is the neighbor Richard.
00:52:00
Speaker
who interacts with the character Todd a few times. He's like the hunter. i think the neighbor. He's the hunter. He's in a few films as well, but one very notable credit. He's in a very notable role in one of my favorite films of all time. So I don't know if you recognized him or not, but I was pretty excited for him. No, he what he plays the role of Migs in the film Silence of the Lambs.
00:52:22
Speaker
Do you remember who no Migs was? way. Yeah. Migs has a very creative way of greeting Clarice when she comes down to prison, as in he ah throws his semen on her nice jacket.
00:52:36
Speaker
Which I don't think has really taken off as a cultural greeting since then. He's trying to start something there, but it's not one that have tried with. is used in the film as Hannibal Lecter's cellmate, or I guess cell-thexed over.
00:52:48
Speaker
who greets Clary Starling, and where Lecter is imprisoned, but very much in charge of his emotions and reactions, and very thoughtful in how he speaks. They use Migs as the juxtaposition for the classic crazy inmate and to really evidence how psychotic he is, he throws his jizz on Clary. For that act alone, he should have his own Wikipedia page. I'm i'm pretty upset right now that I have to have to copy and paste his name and look at him.
00:53:12
Speaker
you know that's so he's part of He's part of horror history, man. Yeah, exactly. So... You know, he has a very small role in this film. and it It was okay. He played his part. But when I realized this was mixed from Sons the Lambs, I was very excited.
00:53:24
Speaker
Anyways, should we... wait can i Can I just say that I always felt like that was a pretty athletic move. Like, yes, it's it's degrading. It's deplorable. But like the fact that he got... Like, semen is a pretty viscous...
00:53:39
Speaker
but Yeah, it's like trying to throw water. it's like yeah You have some viscosity to there, but I'm saying that even makes it harder because it'll stick on your hand. And the fact that he like was able to get a good chunk of it on target. like it's We'll have to get more into the logistics when we cover Sons of the Lambs. But yes, it is.
00:53:54
Speaker
I won't say it aged well, but it's definitely gained more attention. Our leader, Bill Simmons, if you ever listened to the Rewatchables episode of Silence of the Lambs, has a lot to say about Migs yeah that and that whole thing. So I yeah highly recommend that.
00:54:06
Speaker
Yeah, big influence for us. So that's also why I remember him. um All right, let's get into our awards. ah Scurometer, what do you think? How scary is this film? When it first started, I was like, oh, this going to be in the lower end. But he ratcheted up the spooky elements, darkness, put it up in a six.
00:54:25
Speaker
Yep. I had it as six. Exactly. I think that's right. It, um, I, and we can talk about this later. There are some sequences where in the middle of the film, even though for a short nature feels a bit repetitive, you feel like they're kind of doing the same act again and again, but a few of those scares they do, they execute pretty dang well.
00:54:41
Speaker
So there, there's a few of them sprinkled through there that had me jumping in in my seat at the theater. We should also mention that this is whenever we go to awards, we are now in spoiler territory. spoilers abound.
00:54:52
Speaker
Because let's pivot to highlights. And again, we are now discussing spoilers. So the film really took off for me. And the high point for me was when Ben leaves and, um,
00:55:05
Speaker
Indy is alone and it starts to rain and there's so much going on from a production perspective as Ben is leaving or right before he leaves. He's got that generator with the smoke. It's raining.
00:55:17
Speaker
The Indy is not just in he's not the foreground. He's not the mid round. He's in the background between the the generator, the fence, the rain. There's a lot going on from a composition perspective. So that was really impressed with that.
00:55:30
Speaker
And then how high the stakes get into the film and like what he's going through and the things he's seen and ah noises and shapes trav you usually have a better memory with the specifics that happened during certain scenes i want you to color in this for me because uh i thought that scene the moment that ben leaves and everything the dog is dealing with are you remembering this part Yeah, of course. i i think the scene starts with like when you see Ben leave, you see, like you said, that generators outside, it's raining outside the shots from the exterior of the home. But in the background, you see the window with Indy's head popping up and it's daytime and it does a time lapse to evening showing a lot of time has passed. And this is really Indy's first introduction to
00:56:10
Speaker
That's it. It's, it's, yeah it's heartbreaking because, you know, yeah ah he leaves and he's barking and he's all sad and he goes up on the couch or the chair and he's watching him through the window. And yes, that time lapse kind of suggesting that he has not left that spot.
00:56:24
Speaker
And like, I think that's as a dog owner, that's your biggest fear, right? Is that, the whole and The whole time you're gone, the dog's just pining for you. And thankfully, in most cases, if you have a healthy relationship with your dog and a good schedule, the dog's usually sleeping for like eight to sometimes, depending on the breed, 16 hours a day. so But I'm glad they showed that because it does...
00:56:43
Speaker
touch a nerve for dog owners in a way that gets you more invested in the story. Yes. Yeah, I agree. Yes. I love that sequence. That's when he starts to investigate first hears noises in the home, starting to investigate the home a bit as well.
00:56:56
Speaker
And he's going up and down the stairs and there's there's more activity happening. I do want to mention we skipped over this in casting, but Max Ben Ben's father, Ben Liamberg's parents dog plays and his grandpa's dog. Yeah. So there's a different dog for that. And that goes into, I guess, the ending because there's still a bit unclear, but I did really like it because there's this climatic scene where Todd is passing away.
00:57:24
Speaker
I'm still unsure. And we can talk about a bit how much of that was his preexisting illness versus the house itself having an impact on him. But as he's passing away in the basement, he tells Indy to stay, which is a command he's used a few times. And Indy is down there.
00:57:40
Speaker
and It's not even a basement. It's a cellar of this home. um And you see just shortly before then, and again, right after that, the character Todd's grandpa, Also passed away in this home.
00:57:53
Speaker
I don't know, just years prior or not too long ago. Also from an illness. Also had a dog who you were saying is, I think the real dog's name is Max, but plays a dog named Bandit. Don't know why that dog couldn't get his own name. I can tell you why real fast. Is that when they wrote the script, ah it was before Max was born.
00:58:11
Speaker
So, oh so they had already wrote bandit into the script and I think they got attached to it. And so then Max is born and they're like, all right, you're going to play bandit. All right. You you have to play a different character. You actually have to get in character here. Right. right But you see, so Todd has told Indy to stay and stay in the cellar and he has passed.
00:58:27
Speaker
You realize this must've been a very similar, if not the same set of events that happened with his grandpa and his grandpa's dog bandit. died and passed away because it stayed right at the cellar doorsteps and you find a skeleton near the end of the movie.
00:58:43
Speaker
I think early in the movie, they're talking about like, oh, we never found his dog. whenever that's weirdd And so you realize that is because his faithful dog, you know, man's best friend. stayed. And so it's heartbreaking. I mean, it's, you know, this incredible display of loyalty that dogs have with their owners, but it's also heartbreaking to know like this dog died because it just, after its owner passed away, it stayed down there until it died itself.
00:59:08
Speaker
And so you see Indian, a similar predicament where he is staying and he is being a good boy, but then Todd's sister, Vera, who you've only heard on the phone up to this point, she opens the cellar doors.
00:59:20
Speaker
she sees indy down there and she calls him to come up to her and there is a brief moment of hesitation where now indy's torn between his owner who has now passed away but has told him to stay or saving himself really is is what it comes down to and he ultimately decides to save himself and escape the cellar and get up to vera and i i do love that because you know, as much as I love and appreciate you our dog's loyalty to us at the end of the day, you know, if the worst were to happen, yeah, we want the best for them.
00:59:53
Speaker
If the situation would have been different, right. With goose, something happened to us. Like I would want the best for him yeah where I think the best for him is getting out of there and having good life for themselves. So I love, the note that the film ends on there. Um, I, uh, that situation, that is a really astute interpretation. Cause I, that is really crystallized for me, kind of the
Awards
01:00:13
Speaker
ending better. Cause I was kind of confused. Cause I was so bent on this being like an external force attacking Ben. And I was, uh, Todd and I was expecting Indy to be a bit more heroic and attack back. And he went a bit more,
01:00:28
Speaker
ah abstract or ah open to interpretation and somber. I mean, yes, Indy lives. And I think some of the marketing uses that to their advantage in a tongue-in-cheek way, but it's not a happy ending.
01:00:40
Speaker
think as the film commences, you feel like Todd is the victim in this film and the subject of where empathy empathy should be directed because of his illness.
01:00:51
Speaker
But I think as the film progresses, that empathy actually changes from Todd to his dog, Indy. um And I think this is kind of near the end of it where you realize, you know, yeah and he's not the hero in the movie. He's really the victim.
01:01:05
Speaker
And hopefully he can escape kind of the cycle he's stuck in. and And so if you look at it in that lens, maybe it is a slightly happier ending or a high point in that. mean, it is sad that his owner passes that Todd passes, but at least India is able to save himself.
01:01:20
Speaker
Yeah, which you want for a dog if things are going wrong with the owner. But anyways. um Ben Gardner Award, where were you jumping the most in this movie? There's there's a few good options here. so There's one that takes the cake for me because I i literally jumped. like I literally jumped when Indy is investigating the basement, which shout out the basements, another great basement sequence, several of them in many movies that we've covered.
01:01:48
Speaker
And it looks like to be Todd's body. And there's something about the timing of this as we see Indy, we see the body, we see Indy, we see the body, and slowly going down. And then bam, that body is crawling up the stairs really fast. Lambert on all fours too. Not like running up on his feet, but like crawling up. It wasn't telegraphed at all. Cause I think that's the biggest, not biggest, but one of the sins of, of, of horror films that are relying on jump scares is that like,
01:02:15
Speaker
Everything goes quiet. You know when it's coming. i wasn't expecting this. I thought we were going to investigate that body. And so that that jumped me real good. And I was. Yeah. I think the movie heavily relies on a few scenes where you don't know if it's a dream or reality. And it does it a few times. And this is one of those where you don't know, like, did he really just discover his owner? Has Todd passed away?
01:02:35
Speaker
What is going on? And then when. you know, possessed Todd or even if this is part of a dream, which I think is what it was starts clamoring up after him. um But yes, that was that was probably my number one. The only other one is very similar, but the first time India has a dream sequence and he goes down in the basement again.
01:02:53
Speaker
But there's a really cool shot where zooms in on his eye and the reflection yeah and his iris. And you see again, a silhouette of what looks like Todd or a human rushing at him yeah all of a sudden.
01:03:03
Speaker
So those two both maybe I jumped twice. I jotted that as mine. And then the stairs part happened and it crossed it out. Yep. That's exactly what happened. i was Because yes, the one I just mentioned happens earlier in the film. I was like, this has to be the biggest jump scare. And then they they one up it just a little while later.
01:03:18
Speaker
Yeah. All right. Cantaloupe award. what What is the cantaloupe award, Travis? Oh, you're going to let me share it this. I think every so often we should, you know. So originally this was the watch through the gaps in your fingers award, as in could be where the tension is building.
01:03:35
Speaker
You want to look away, but you can't help but just peek through the gaps in your fingers. Then named the cantaloupe award because our first film we covered was bring her back. where there is a scene involving a piece of cantaloupe that I still think year to date probably earns this award from all the films we've covered for 2025 releases because it was so hard to watch. um And so that's why it's now called the Cantaloupe Award. Yeah, it can be tense. It can be gross. It can be whatever.
01:04:04
Speaker
For me, it was the where I felt the most tension was when ah a we're in the woods or with Indy. Ben is either taking a piss or he's far off like he's not.
01:04:16
Speaker
He's not like right next to Indy. He's probably like maybe a hundred paces away or something. And it's one of the few daylight scenes or, uh, but it's still kind of foggy and murky, and it's a scary forest and an image appears, sorry, a figure appears behind Indy.
01:04:31
Speaker
Yes. and just like the silhouette, you can't make out features, but you can tell it's a person. And up to this point, the silhouette has kind of stayed put in the shadows and the corners. But in this case, it materializes a bit and starts to walk or move towards Indy.
01:04:46
Speaker
And you I'm like, what the fuck is happening? Is the dog in danger? And then it starts to be, it's like somebody in, it's ah it seems to be somebody in like a lot of garments or it's more tactile. And it turns out to be the hunter.
01:04:59
Speaker
yeah But we we haven't seen Migs, our boy Migs at this point. And so, yeah, for me, that was the most, I was kind of like on edge, not knowing what this thing was going to do. um so that was my key point.
01:05:10
Speaker
i think that's I think that's right. There's a lot of times in the home where it is Indy by himself, like you were talking about when his owner first leaves, or the dream sequences where Indy is wandering around the home.
01:05:22
Speaker
And all of those are fairly tense where you know something's coming, where you know I have my hands at the ready, starting to cover my eyes, starting to cover my ears. But um that one was probably the most notable because those were used enough times where...
01:05:36
Speaker
they become more commonplace where that one was a bit unique in that regard. So i like that. So for cannon fodder, just really quick, but shout out to bandit RIP. You find a skeleton, like I was saying at the door in front of the, uh,
01:05:48
Speaker
seller where he stayed for his owner. um So they use that as a plot device. I think again, this up the ending with Indy. Good boy. Best death. I mean, there's, there's really only, you kind of get a flashback death of the grandpa. I feel like that would not qualify. So the only other death in this film is the death of Todd.
01:06:07
Speaker
um And so, you know, I think just by default, he gets that. It is a bit hard again to establish when he really died. because maybe you see the death of his physical form and then the death of his spirit. I'm not sure how to interpret that.
01:06:24
Speaker
um And we can get into that a bit more, maybe with dual knives and few of the other awards. have some more notes on that, but he is the only death in film. And so, yeah, I agree. Best death for here was by default, but it leads right into our shaman twist, which is going back to that point of, I think what the twist was supposed to be is there's a sequence near the end of the film where Todd is very sick.
01:06:45
Speaker
And it looks like he's dying. But then when Indy gets to the room, you know, Indy has to break out of the dog house he's chained up to now outside makes it in the room, finds Todd jumps into Todd's arms.
01:06:56
Speaker
Todd embraces him like loves his dog. But then a moment later, Todd looks back at the bed and sees himself in the third person laying in the bed, presumably dead.
01:07:08
Speaker
So I think that was a twist in that we were supposed to think that maybe Indy made it to his owner in time and saved him but but his owner had actually passed away in his sleep but now this is like his his spirit and i yeah he's able to interact with them because it's the closest the closest thing to a twist i guess that we have because it's not one of those types of movies i kind of chalked it up as like the confusing nature of death um and especially death between like interspecies death like you have a human you have a dog
01:07:41
Speaker
how you perceive such an unnatural death as well. um or is it natural? Is he really just have cancer or something? And the dog is perceiving it as this looming threat. um I don't know what to make of it, man.
01:07:54
Speaker
This is a movie I will return to. you know It's not one I want to watch every year, but it's got enough in there that like I want to revisit. because I was so enraptured with the performance of Indy and how they made it. This time I want to see what he was trying to do because yeah since this is not on VOD yet, I can't rewind and be able to analyze it in a way. So the best I can do is say like, yeah, it's, I think this is a transitionary period between like his spirits leaving and there's maybe some um resistance or I don't know, but yeah it was cool. It was interesting. i I didn't fully grasp what he was trying to do.
01:08:28
Speaker
I'll just say that. Yeah. um which takes us into best lines, which is another area where I think I was reminded this is an indie film. This is not, you know, Aaron Sorkin writing the screenplay here. I applaud their efforts and they did it on a limited budget and really, you know, bootstrap this thing themselves.
01:08:46
Speaker
Some of the dialogues, it moves the plot forward, but in the writing or di delivery, it's, It's not the best feature of the film. I will say that. No. um um And you'll you'll hear Ben and on interviews and stuff. he He is much more interested in and shot selection and and directing and choreography. And that is done very well. Yeah.
01:09:05
Speaker
Yeah. I would agree. The dialogue is doesn't have a lot to be desired. But fortunately, the movie doesn't really rest on it. Yeah. So not a lot to choose from there. There's one sequence early in the film.
01:09:16
Speaker
They've just moved into Todd's grandpa's home and they're going for their first walk around the property and they go to what is the family cemetery? And Todd just says a line like, yeah, this is where my family's buried.
01:09:28
Speaker
And a lot of them died young too. I was as like bragging well thing you would probably be having. I mean, you know, I talked to Goose, even though he's a dog and he can't talk back. That's usually not the kind of kind of commentary I would layer in there. It just kind of serves the plot of the mystery and the intrigue of the home.
01:09:49
Speaker
Maybe it's, you know, i think youth is often ah desired and and coveted. And so in the same way, it's like, oh, we got a young people on our team, on an NFL team or young people on our tech startup.
01:10:01
Speaker
Maybe he's proud of the fact that his cemetery or ah has a bunch of young people there. You know, it's like our ghosts are young and hip and cool. So maybe that's where that excitement is coming from. yeah don't know i'm trying to give him benefit don't know man but um you have any other lines worth i just i just liked it's a phrase that i used a lot with emmett but as he's leaving at one point he goes guard the house yeah i was like we all say that and we probably know it doesn't work but it's like the house yes and oh another one i had um was uh bark Yeah.
01:10:34
Speaker
It's from Indy. He does. He says that at one point line delivery was on point. He was great. He was great. Let's real quick. Can we just, I'd like to talk about talking to your dog. um There's three ways you speak with your dog. Mm hmm.
01:10:48
Speaker
One is when and you truly are trying to communicate or like connect with the dog. You're not training. You're not giving a command. You're just being like, what you looking at, buddy? This and that. It's like a form of affection.
01:10:59
Speaker
But it's also a form of like whether the whether that is he's actually understanding. who who cares? It's like a way for you to flex that relationship. Second is training and commands. right Don't go there. Sit, stay. I'm with you.
01:11:12
Speaker
A third, I think is the funniest one, and especially in social settings is like when you're out and about and your dog is doing something that maybe you want other people to know that you disapprove of. It's like, Hey, don't pick up that piece of paper. That's not yours. Or yes. that You're not supposed to do that. like it's It's more for other people to hear than for the dog to hear. That's a great point. It's more performative. You're communicating with the concerned citizens rather than your dog. Just letting everyone know, like trust me, I did not tell him to go eat your trash. He did that of his own will and accord. So I'm going to loudly highlight this now and be like, hey, remember I didn't tell you to. Yeah.
01:11:50
Speaker
but just You cover your little bit. Go rip their lawn. Right, right. i use That the one who told you to do that. I use that tactic a lot. Another tactic I used was if I, dude, I sometimes would always, I'd run out of poop bags or whatever. And Emma would take a shit somewhere. And I got, would just freeze like fuck. And so I hate that feeling because I'm going to come back with a bag.
01:12:09
Speaker
But for people watching, what I would do is I would pantomime picking up the poop. So I would like bend over. Right. and like mess around and stay down there long enough that most people would be like okay he's taking care of it and then like stand back up and i i always wonder like what if somebody watched me the whole time and saw me do that entire performance like this fucking crazy morally bad person yeah i hear i've i've been in that dilemma once or twice i was pretty good at always having a poop bag on me but uh Yeah, in those circumstances, I would try to let, if anyone was watching, people know, like, I'm coming back.
01:12:43
Speaker
I'm not abandoning the poop. Right. Okay, dull knives. So there's a few. I think most of mine revolve around just following the plot of the film. um My first, I've kind of mentioned it already, but maybe the larger question is just bifurcating what the effect the home is having on Todd, what the scary paranormal presence is there versus...
01:13:08
Speaker
his like preexisting condition and illness, because that goes into like, you know, you, you kind of see him die. He has this out of body experience where he sees his own body. Then he gets killed off by the home itself and some mud creature, you know, his personality, he he doesn't treat Indy the best, but was that really him or was that the home's impact on him or just Indy imagining it because the home's maybe impacting Indy directly.
01:13:33
Speaker
it was just really hard for me to, kind of interpret what is the house first what paranormal verse what is Todd? I think this is a swing here. But I where I went with that was, does the house represent like generational illness, like whether it's a mental illness or a genetic one that whether it's cancer or depression or something that is within his lineage and what that has to do with the dog?
01:14:01
Speaker
I don't know. I know that maybe what we're seeing in the movie is the dog's interpretation of that lineage, but that's the best I could do. I agree. yeah it's it's It's not clear.
01:14:12
Speaker
It's not opaque. it's it's And I think he wanted it that way. Is it successful? I think it's a dealer's choice in that matter. I mean, but your mileage may vary. I wanted a bit more...
01:14:25
Speaker
to hang on to to make my own interpretations because there wasn't enough really for me to like swim in and like really think about. Obviously, what I came to think about was the performance, the dog. But yeah, I agree that the house's role. I mean, I'm glad we get a haunted house story.
01:14:40
Speaker
What it means for the entity and his illness. That's the trifecta that I don't think totally works. Because like maybe the mud creature was just a metaphor for this like lung. That's where I'm not the owner has.
01:14:51
Speaker
But that's what I'm going not sure. Yeah. Yeah. So That was one. Another one I had was you see Indy go down the stairs into the basement a few times. And you see him also go into the cellar, which is a separate entrance from the exterior. And I think these are one in the same.
01:15:06
Speaker
But when he goes in the basement, you see it a few shots. There's furniture down there. There's stairs. It looks like a normal unfinished basement. But when he goes into the cellar, there's like an archway entrance into like a cavernous area down there, like built in mud, which is... attract i was just very confused. Like, are these even the same buildings?
01:15:23
Speaker
place Is this the same basement? No one's just asked a question about like, what is this tunnel system beneath the house? We're in a, we're in big real estate. We're in real estate corner. Yes, of course. So what you're saying is, is it not common, I guess, to have a cellar and a basement?
01:15:37
Speaker
Cause I thought those, no you you usually wouldn't have two separate subterranean spaces. Usually. i mean, maybe you could, there's also another point though. I think when Indy needs to get back into the house near the end of the movie, he come, he enters the home from,
01:15:52
Speaker
the cellar entrance, the exterior to get and he does get back in the home so that I presume they are connected, but also they're shown differently. You know, the set piece looks a little different when you see her going down the basement stairs versus what I'm imagining when you watch this, Travis, is like instead of that Zach Galifianakis GIF where it's like all the numbers yeah overlaid while he's trying to think about at the casino, I imagine like blueprints and CAD design. Exactly. I'm trying to figure the floor plan square footage. I'm also trying to think of like, cause the owner went down in the basement early in the film too. And if there was a subterranean layer and like a weird mud archway, you think maybe that would have been of note. like love Love a good mud archway. Yeah. So um anyways, that was, I had Taco Bell last night. I'm going to have a huge mud archway this afternoon.
01:16:37
Speaker
That's a hotel. Who cares? I've said two in a row. do you have any dual knives? I have one other, but it's much smaller. ah Yeah. So yeah, so but ah Todd the character leaves there's a time lapse it goes from light to dark he comes back he's not doing well he goes in his room Indy is like trying to get his attention the guy's pissed Is he ever going to let him out to pee?
01:17:03
Speaker
Like that is the first thing you do when you get home. a great point. You come home. point I don't care if you've had a bad day, if you got fired, like in the hierarchy of needs, letting your faculties release whatever you have in there. A dog can't open the door unless there's a secret doggy door we don't know about, which I don't think we do. I don't think there is. Yeah.
01:17:22
Speaker
fucking let your dog out, man. And then, so when did he piss? The only time he pissed was when he scared. there was like a little piddle. We never saw this dog take a shit or a piss. And I felt bad for his bladder and his stomach.
01:17:33
Speaker
Yeah. And you don't need to see that by agree. would have been more realistic when he gets home after hours and hours have been gone. That is the first thing that would happen. Not storming up to your room. But yeah, if if you're a dog owner, I think most of you would agree that like that's just even the worst dog owners are going to come home and after eight hours take your fucking dog out.
01:17:51
Speaker
Yes. Yes. Yeah. That's a great point. um My last one. There's a few times where India is staring off not into the house, but into the woods.
01:18:02
Speaker
And there seems to be some presence external to the home. Near the end of the film, Indy sees the fox that presumably the the neighbor, Migs, the hunter, has been looking for.
01:18:14
Speaker
And he briefly sees the fox and then he like looks away, looks back, and the fox is gone. Migs, that maybe there was what a what a semen demon in Migs. Yes. But so maybe there was a mystical fox outside the home, and this has drawn our attention now a few times. it' made a point of highlighting this during the film, and i had no idea what that had to do with anything. like Maybe that's a good spirit, the fox outside the home. Maybe the fox is the evil spirit, why there's something wrong with the home, and it's supposed to be representative of that outside of the mud creature.
01:18:41
Speaker
But I don't know why we had to get a ghost fox and and why we highlighted that presence outside the home a few times. So as I mentioned, ah Ben is is very influenced by Hitchcock and and especially Psycho.
01:18:55
Speaker
And so apparently there's some hidden shot sequences in this film that mimic shot sequences of Psycho. And one thing about Psycho is that they use a lot of taxidermy, specifically with birds as birds of prey. And any time a subject of peril is like,
01:19:11
Speaker
you know, in danger or so a subject ah is in peril, they have those birds in that room kind of above them, right? Similar thing here. You see birds on the walls, but you also see a stuffed fox.
01:19:23
Speaker
And so a fox is in, I believe, that same taxonomy as as canines or at least related ah bit. Yeah, with your cousin. As a cousin or something.
01:19:35
Speaker
Did you say a sexy cousin? Second. Oh, my God. I thought you were making like a foxy joke. like It's a sexy cousin. I was like, all right, Trav, what's the choice? I was actually good i was going to roll with it. I kind of thought it was funny.
01:19:46
Speaker
um So yeah, this dog's sexy cousin, this fox, um is maybe represents just outside dangers. The difference between a wild animal and a domesticated animal that while this dog is resourceful, he can't do everything on his own. He still needs his owner. This is me stretching. This is me yeah doing what I think the director wants us to do because he but The question you just asked, there were several questions like that on one of the interviews that i read and slash listened to.
01:20:16
Speaker
And his answer most times is like, I want you to take what you think is from it. He's like, I put enough in there for you to think of something. And in some cases I did have something in mind. In other cases, I wanted it to be multiple interpretations. So again- And I get that. like I don't want my movies spoon fed to me where everything's clear as day. But it was just an interesting one where- I thought maybe there'd be some more tie-in there. It is funny that a movie centered on a dog with not a lot of dialogue ah that starts off pretty linear and straightforward that is only ah little bit over an hour has this many questions for us. Like, what's happening? Yes, yes.
01:20:54
Speaker
Anyways, so that's it for me for Dull Knife. you have anything else? um Oh, you might have answered it. is Is this scene you're talking about the one where he like is having a vision of being outside and all of a sudden he's inside again?
01:21:07
Speaker
Is that the one? Yeah, that happens too near the end of the film. and he I was very sure about when he gets caught in the fox trap. Yes, you know that's exactly. That's his owner who went and rescued him then, but you don't really know it's all blurred out.
01:21:19
Speaker
Next thing you know, he's inside the home. That was also a very confusing sequence of events. I will say that there there is a clear dream sequence where he sinks into the basement and sees his friend no or them not his friend, but abandon yeah, bandit.
01:21:35
Speaker
It was the grandpa's dog. I did want more of that. I thought that we got the physical perspective of the dog of like what he's seen in the walls and stuff. I, I got very excited about like the idea that we could have some sideup type of abstraction of like what he's dreaming about, what he's thinking. And maybe the whole movie is that. So maybe I'm stepping on my own foot here. But like, does that make sense? Like I did want a bit more dream logic going on, which probably be difficult because you already deal with the fucking dog. Yeah. Eight hours, you know, four to five hours a day. But whatever.
01:22:09
Speaker
It's hard, you know, because in horror movies with human dream sequences, usually they can wake up out of bed or something like it, it cuts to that where like, Oh, that was a dream. But with dogs, like they sleep on the foot. They, they're not always sleeping in the bed. So to show like, Oh no, this is no longer the dream anymore. It's, it's a little harder to draw that bright line for like, what was dream? What was it?
01:22:28
Speaker
um My, my last dull knife. And you know, aa I'm willing to, but I'm willing to go on a limb, go on a limb here and think that maybe i just missed it, but I watched the credits pretty closely.
01:22:40
Speaker
Did you ever see the American Humane Society ah ah logo and catchphrase that says no animals were harmed during this production? No, but I wasn't specifically looking for it. So I'm not a good reference point. So every, most every movie I watch that has animals in it, yeah the American human, it's ah American humane certified.
01:23:00
Speaker
No animals are harmed. I didn't, I'm not suggesting anything inie for the license, but I was just like, that's the movie you expect to see it the most or like, yes. That's a great point. because There's some tough sequences.
01:23:13
Speaker
i I put stock in that this is his dog. Yeah. And you see a lot behind the scenes footage afterwards, which clearly shows like, you know, in a moment that's very tense for us viewers during the actual production shows the behind the scenes where they were saying like, nice, you know, come here, boy, like, who's a good boy to get that same reaction out of the dog. And then like they use context to.
01:23:32
Speaker
But what do we know about like overtime pay or like, ah you know, what's what's his like trailer look like? Like, is is it he's he getting royalties on this movie? Like dogs don't participate in, you know, the natural economy. So is he getting fed more? Like, how is he getting compensated for his time?
01:23:52
Speaker
I can only imagine that in Ben's social circle, because this is an indie film, when people see his dog now, he's getting a lot more good boys and acknowledgement in that group of people because they recognize him now for what he did in this film.
01:24:06
Speaker
So you're saying He's getting paid in verbal affirmations. Yes. Yeah, that's exactly right. and Maybe a few more like pets and scratches as well. That's pretty weak. That's pretty weak. I think he needs a new agent or something.
01:24:18
Speaker
do you Do you think dogs and animals need to unionize? Yes. i mean, I guess that's what, like you said, like the American um Humane Society is trying to do on their behalf. ive i think you know I think Lassie was exploited.
01:24:31
Speaker
There's going to be a VH1 behind the...
01:24:35
Speaker
not behind the music, but behind the movie of air bud probably had a drug overdose because these nobody looked out for these dogs. And I feel like maybe Indy can be in the forefront of it's like, and he's young too. So maybe it's like a child star where all this fame can corrupt. him So maybe it's a good thing. He doesn't get as much exposure. He can live a normal life.
01:24:52
Speaker
Well, he's eight now. So he started the film when he was five. Oh my goodness. I know. Okay. Um, okay. So not that young, um, winners losers. ah Wet basements.
01:25:06
Speaker
Just keep returning. like them in our horror movies. Dark, unfinished, and usually with some standing body of water down there. That's that's how we like them in horror movies. Key to success.
01:25:16
Speaker
That was one of mine. um Another one, Trav, sorry to say, ah not having kids because there is zero chance. There is zero fucking chance that Carrie and Ben are able to make this movie if they have kids. There's just no way.
01:25:30
Speaker
Their house, they converted it into a haunted house. That was their own house. They filmed that for three years. So so As a parent, you know no shade to your lovely children. I just don't see this happening. No, you're right. It it would have been impossible. but You wouldn't have found the time, the set design. you know you You have a few shots you're supposed to string together as if they all happen one night, but when your kids have moved toys and furniture around countless times, there'd be so many inconsistencies that kids run across the set. you know It'd be brutal.
01:25:57
Speaker
Has this inspired you to make a similar movie except from the perspective of three young daughters in a haunted house? You know, has there... There had to have been ah good horror movie from the perspective of a gmer young kid.
01:26:11
Speaker
Yeah, that' that's Skinner Mering. That's a great point. Well, it's also kind of from the perspective of the entity in that film. It kind of bounces back forth, I think. but So I remember when I asked you to watch Skinner Mering, I gave you very specific instructions, like eight like four things you had. Did you do all of them?
01:26:25
Speaker
you remember what they were? No. it was This was too long ago. it was Okay, it had to be by yourself, A. Yes, I did that. At nighttime. Yep, I did that.
01:26:36
Speaker
Phone out of reach. Probably did that, but it's been too long. ri here I'm usually good at that with watching my movies. And edible. i I don't think I took an edible. My edible days are behind me. So I was straight laced and sober watching it, but it was still very scary.
01:26:52
Speaker
You know, talking about indie films, though, and again, we're going to interject this in the middle of our awards. I think Skinner Rink's not too much longer than an hour, but I really felt the runtime. i think one of the biggest criticisms of that movie for an indie film is even though it's and not that long, it feels very long. Let's see. Where this movie- Well, Trav, that was an hour 40. Okay.
01:27:12
Speaker
okay Oh, that was way too long. That's why you felt it. think Good Boy's setting the gold standard, especially for these indie films. of being to the point i think its runtime is a lot more fitting where my biggest skidmer a great movie if you haven't seen it please go see it but it does drag for quite a while that hour and 40 feels very long because there's not a lot going on plot wise so it's it's really if you took this movie good boy and bad lianberg was like let's put another 30 plus minutes of the same sequence of events just continuing to occur. Well, you can speak for yourself because I was high as balls and then rated it as like the best film I've seen in the entire decade and I was like, wanted it to never end.
01:27:50
Speaker
So I feel differently, but maybe very much I mean, it is very scary. It's just longer than I think it needed to be. um Okay. Winners of my end, just dogs and horror movies. Finally, they're getting some shine here and becoming the central point of our focus. So that that was really the only winner I had. did On that note, I'm putting you on the spot here because I know we in prep, we focus more on talking about our own dogs um than anything. But.
01:28:15
Speaker
Dog movies, a few favorites or a top five. or Or dog, you could put either dog performances. And I can lead because I did think about this in a little bit. Yeah, give me yours in um a minute to either agree with you or think of my own.
01:28:26
Speaker
So this this list is is twofold. It can be either be a dog performance or the movie is not centered around a dog. It just has a really good dog performance. So you're going to do the thing. The thing is the thing of the number one, ah that opening scene.
01:28:37
Speaker
um actually talked to Kurt about the thing last night and and we'll talk off pod about it. He had a big part in writing the end scene, which I didn't know. Really? Yeah. That's great. ah Air Bud is just, I know it's cliche to say.
01:28:53
Speaker
um And then, dude, ah fucking, what's it called? Marley and Me? Yeah. I know it's like pretty much emotional torture, but it gets me. And so I got to put that up there, Marley and Me.
01:29:06
Speaker
There's a movie called, i think it was Homeward Bound. Oh my God, you're so right. I should have said that. The dog, It's so good. It's like three animals, I think, or maybe there's a few dogs.
01:29:17
Speaker
Watched as a kid. Again, it's from the perspective of the animals trying to make their way home and going on this long journey. Wait, you're saying they're bound for home? yeah Exactly. Very, very literal ah title of the film. I remember loving that as a kid.
01:29:31
Speaker
um what about What about Frank? Frank in Men in Black, the little pug that wears a suit. Yes. Pugs are very entertaining in film in general. um ah Yeah, I agree with yours. I'm trying to think if there's any other very notable ones.
01:29:44
Speaker
Oh, maybe Old Yeller, obviously. Oh. I've never seen Old Yeller. Yeah, I would maybe not right now in this season of your life. Yes. The Pitbull in um and John Wick, more of a central, ah more of a plot device. I've never seen John Wick. I've never seen any of the John Wick movies. I mean, too.
01:30:01
Speaker
ah I mean, scoopby any love for Scooby-Doo? Yeah. Oh, love Scooby-Doo. On the Island. One of our first episodes, Scooby-Doo was the foundational like first piece of horror that really got me turned on to horror in general as a kid. So, of course, Scooby-Doo. Going back to the show, but the movie was great as well.
01:30:18
Speaker
I got another one. The most recent movie. What about the the gift that I got for your children in lieu of ah Goose's passing? and Oh, we love Nettner before Christmas. It broke within about ah four days.
01:30:29
Speaker
What's the dog's name? Zero. Zero. That's right. Zero. um Yes. you Well, you... Clearly don't have kids. You got them like a ceramic sculpture, which if you get anything fragile for kids, it's not going to a long life.
01:30:42
Speaker
But you got them like a ceramic pumpkin with zero. The dog's head kind of popping out of the top of it. And they loved it. They played with it right away. And it lasted for about 10 minutes before it fell on the floor and broke.
01:30:53
Speaker
That was supposed to be like a centerpiece of the home. Like something you put on the You gave it to kids, though. If you gave that to us, we would do that. I didn't give it your wife gave it to your kids. I gave it to your wife. And they love me Nightmare Before Christmas, and they love Zero. yeah So it was, if so, facto, they're We'll be revisiting that film.
01:31:09
Speaker
And ah yeah again, a very special guest on that one soon. Yeah. Awesome. Well, my only loser that we haven't mentioned yet was... um chaining your dog up outside again. I don't know if this is Todd or the entity's impact on him, but I hated it, man. That's so depressing. And I know it serves the purpose of the film. And even though we didn't have, uh, uh,
01:31:29
Speaker
the Humane Society signing off on this. I know that's not what Indy the real dog had to go through, but even seeing it on screen, it's just so funny how a dog getting neglected or abused like that hits me harder than watching humans get abused or neglected in films, which is a very common theme.
01:31:47
Speaker
But you see a poor dog chained outside in the rain. We've seen what humans in charge have done to this world. And so I think it's pretty easy to say which one is that a moral compass. Dogs just want to hump and eat. I mean, I can relate to that.
01:31:59
Speaker
Goose was humper. We didn't even talk about that. Goose loved humping pillows and blankets. He would bunch them up and go to town. Dude, I found out that Emmett was a closeted homosexual.
01:32:10
Speaker
Oh. He never humped male dogs. He only humped female dogs. yeah Okay, because I feel like well but then like dog you like sexual orientation for dogs is a lot more fluid where usually they don't discriminate, but you're saying he purely humped. I'm sure there's an Ivy League professor out there who can tell me all about this. But all I know is that my dog sitter started sending me updates and videos of Emmett like humping all the male dogs. And I was like, I wish he just felt comfortable to express himself freely around me. Like, why couldn't he be gay around me? did is did i I've also heard for dogs.
01:32:40
Speaker
humping is a way of asserting dominance it's not always purely sexual which is kind of funny because like for humans like when you're with the boys you're not you're never gonna put your homie down by being like i'm gonna go hump his leg for a bit and let him know like i'm in charge you only hump andy nelson when you haven't seen him in like you know a year when i'm really excited yeah it's been a long time and he walks through the door and i just can't control myself and know i know i'm the same way for them But yeah, dude, it's like I'm a pretty progressive guy. You don't think Emmett could be comfortable being gay around me is like I just wish you would.
01:33:12
Speaker
don't know. See me more as open and accepting and whatever. Yeah. Well, yeah, goose is more into inanimate objects. So I don't know what kind of sexual orientation needs therapy or needed.
01:33:23
Speaker
um loser well one loser is syracuse right now we're beating their ass 24 to 3 that's so good for us in football could we lose in the baylor losing the tcu really tough not showing well in texas um this was and again another connection to movies we've done in the past but home movies like home movies are getting a bad rap and a lot of the films we're watching whether it's like a psychopath killing ah innocent women or a tape that kills you in seven days or a cult ritual that is supposed to bring a girl back. And this is one of a crazy grandpa doing like a manifesto and then dying. So yeah home movies getting a bad rap in these films covering.
01:34:03
Speaker
Yes, but it's so funny how many horror movies while you're watching this a lot times digital or newer horror movie, they have to show you an old school like box TV or something like the HF footage on it. Yep.
01:34:16
Speaker
I think what we we can kind of deduce here, Travis, that the the three cornerstones of a good horror film, ah home movies, typically analog wet basements and hanging dong. If you have all three of those, you're in for a treat.
01:34:28
Speaker
Yes, that is that is our trifecta. Aptly put. um Anyways, that's it for me. Any other winners and losers? No, but this next category will be the quickest in the world. Yeah, well, we already said it because we can't help but contain ourselves. But yes, our scream king in the film has to go to the goodest boy.
01:34:45
Speaker
um And maybe since we've already given him credit for this movie, you're right. I forgot we talked about this. Shout out to our our own good boys. Yeah. um Who... Goose and Emmett, who I think this movie we watched at a time and we're covering at a time where it's just very much front of mind and what we're thinking through. So I agree. um Another good voice like Indy in this film.
01:35:10
Speaker
And, you know, in a weird way, it has been comforting knowing that, you know, I don't want, I'm sad that you went through the same thing, but it's been nice to have, you know, someone else to talk to. Yeah. As well as our, our, you our friend, ah Samantha Matthews as well, who lost a dog about a year and a half ago. Yeah.
01:35:27
Speaker
You know, it happens at our age. It's happened. We're not getting younger and neither are dogs.
Next Week's Episode
01:35:31
Speaker
So, hey, you know, we can make up our rules, Trav. How about it we do a three awards out three, the three kings, if you will, like ah like ah David Russell's movie. So one for Emmett, one for Goose and one for this good boy. Indy. Yeah. um I did want to say this as well.
01:35:47
Speaker
We should start plugging this as we get closer to December, but we will have a spooky awards. uh, extravaganza where we go through all of our Oscar S categories plus our awards and give the best ones to the best movies.
01:36:00
Speaker
Yeah. I'm saying that Indy is squarely in one of my top five best perform best male lead performances. Wow. I put it in there because I only had three at this point. I had Alfie, um, from, 28 years later.
01:36:15
Speaker
had, i had ah ah Cooper Huffman ah Cooper Huffman from the long long walk. I had ah Michael B Jordan from sinners and now I have Indy from good boy.
01:36:28
Speaker
Yeah, those are good. I think you still need to go and watch dangerous animals. Yes, you've said that because um jai courtney in that film is he is the movie the movie's good but he is incredible okay but yes so this will be our end of year oscars-esque um but tailored to horror movies uh awards based on all the 2025 films which we're now i think yeah you're up to 20 now right over 20 and i know i'm yeah and i just watched my first that you haven't seen the shrouds which yes i really enjoy oh k cronenberg yeah little cronenberg
01:36:59
Speaker
Yeah. No, no. Old Cronenberg. Oh, that was David? Yeah. okay It's a very personal story about his ah his wife just passed from cancer of 40 years, his wife. and this I thought it was his son's film. Okay. Yes. It's on my watch list. But another very bigger budget, but does have an indie feel, kind of an uncommercial, a non-commercial feel. Yes.
01:37:16
Speaker
Cool, man. Well, I think that's it. Our quick plug, as always, to follow us on socials. um Give us a five-star rating on wherever you listen your podcasts if you haven't already, if you like it. If not,
01:37:28
Speaker
Also welcome your feedback. Yeah. And subscribe. I think that's about it. Well, no, no, no. we let's Let's plug the next episode. so Oh, yeah. We have ah our first special Halloween episode. So we're going with Trick or Treat 2007, the awesome anthology, which has such spooky vibes.
01:37:46
Speaker
um Two things about that, guys. One is that it is being re-released in theaters yeah only for two. Good call, I forgot. Yeah, for for two days. So Tuesday, October 14th and Thursday, October 16th. After you watch that in that theater or at home, our podcast will be sitting there waiting for you as early as Sunday, October 12th.
01:38:05
Speaker
um And on that episode, we will have two special guests. ah One is my brother, Benny Townsend, who you have. Returning, our first two-time guest. know. had a quick call-in ah during The Conjuring because he had a spooky incident with The Conjuring.
01:38:19
Speaker
And then we also have an old friend of mine, Jenna Peck, who is an English teacher and very academic and has a lot of lore on the history of Halloween. So we'll do a little Halloween history corner, but I'm excited for that. It'll be our first time having four people on the pod. So we'll see how that goes.
01:38:36
Speaker
But ah just wanted to shout that out because we're excited for for that. Awesome. Well, that is it for us this week. um Thank you guys, especially those who listen to maybe not film specific, but more dog specific for Rick and I. um Great movie. yeah Go see Good Boy.
01:38:51
Speaker
We'll catch you next week. trigger i got