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233 - The Salton Sea (2002) (Straight Up 007)
2 Playsin 2 hours
“Oh, I was just admiring your boots. Did you purchase them locally?”
We didn’t get to do a Straight Up last week, so we’re doing it this week instead and we’re doing it in honor of the late, great Val Kilmer! We’re using this early-aughts indie drama to discuss Kilmer’s filmography and legacy, the highs and lows of director D.J. Caruso’s journeyman filmmaking career, and the pros and cons of the wave of independent films in the wake of Quentin Tarantino’s ascendancy.
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Transcript
Introduction and Special Episode Format
00:00:10
Speaker
No sequel for you.
00:00:23
Speaker
Hello, hello, and welcome to the Disenfranchised Podcast, that podcast all about those franchises of one, those films that fancy themselves full-fledged franchises before falling flat on their face after the first film, or else it usually is, except for four times a year when we pass the buck over to our very own co-host, Tucker, who is joining me today. Tucker, how are you?
00:00:47
Speaker
Hello, Steven. I'm doing well, thank you for asking. And as if i as if I haven't already been talking to you for two hours, how are you, Steven?
00:00:58
Speaker
I'm doing all right, man. ah Better after having purged my what-are-we-watching list ah so that I can restart it again. purged something in between these episodes. You had to make a purge. That's what I heard.
00:01:11
Speaker
it was It was more like the purge colon anarchy in there. um Colon for sure. Oh.
00:01:20
Speaker
um And I know what you're thinking, but Stephen's straight ups are on the fifth Thursday of a month, and this is the first Thursday of a month. What the fuck are you doing? Well, listener, life ah found a way, as life tends to do, and not to be not not to let us skip one of his one of his treasured months of the year.
00:01:40
Speaker
ah Tucker insisted that we cover it anyway, so we're doing a straight up a week late podcast. on the first Thursday of the month.
Film Choice: 'The Salton Sea'
00:01:48
Speaker
ah Tucker, what selection have, and basically just for those of you who are wondering why a podcast about failed franchise starters is covering this movie in particular, ah basically we just let Tucker go off the reservation four times a year and just talk about whatever movie he wants um because he edits the podcast and he he demanded it. And so- Well, Stephen, you make it sound so so simple and and slightly evil, but the truth-
00:02:15
Speaker
The true reason that that i that that straight up exists is because... You and Brett are, in the grand scheme scheme of things, are new friends to me.
00:02:29
Speaker
And I have a lot of things to show my friends. I have a lot of things that my friends need to see to understand who I am as a person. right And so straight up is my way of being able to go off format so that I can show you guys things that are important to me that I think that you would at least appreciate within the context of knowing me. Right. Right.
00:02:50
Speaker
So that's what it is. Really, it it comes from a place of love because I just want to share my favorite things with my boys. That's all. And what have you selected for us this this month? but This month, we, in honor of the late, great Val Kilmer, we will be watching ah straight up the Salton Sea.
Film Genre and Narrative Techniques
00:03:13
Speaker
The Salton Sea from 2002, directed by DJ Caruso. More to say on him momentarily. Okay. Written by Tony Gait. Yes, i have I have thoughts on DJ Caruso, if you believe it I can't believe it.
00:03:29
Speaker
Written by Tony Gayton and starring the late, great Val Kilmer, Vincent D'Onofrio, Adam Goldberg, Luis Guzman, ah Doug Hutchinson, Hutchison, sorry, Anthony LaPaglia, Glenn Plummer, Peter Sarsgaard, Debra Cara Unger, Chandra West, B.D. Wong, Arlie Ermey, Shirley Knight, Danny Trejo, Waddle,
00:03:54
Speaker
Meatloaf is in this fucking movie as Michael Lee a day. What a cast. What a picture. We're going to get into it. Well, I'll tell you, Steven, I, this is another one those films that I recognize. It is not objectively a good film, right but for me, there's so, so many parts of it that just make it so entertaining and fun to watch. And it's kind of part of,
00:04:22
Speaker
ah That genre, the post-Tarantino independent film genre that we had for a while. Yes. And as as there are so many of those that just suck because they're so
Critique of Narrative Structure and Cinematography
00:04:33
Speaker
derivative and stupid.
00:04:34
Speaker
But there were a couple that really stood out to me. This one being one of them, ah Suicide Kings being another. I have not engaged with Suicide Kings in a long, long time, and I'm afraid to go back to it. It's better, actually, now.
00:04:47
Speaker
It's better, actually, now. yeah I'm afraid to go back to it. enjoy more every time I see it. I would be, too, and I was, because I hadn't seen it probably in a decade until I watched it like maybe three years ago. Because here's yeah here the thing about that glut of independent films, and I think this film for me is really indicative of all the stuff I really don't like in this era of independent filmmaking, is that it is...
00:05:13
Speaker
it's It's very disjointed and in terms of narrative pace. like It's directionless. it You never know where it's going and not in a good way. No. Not in a good way. Not in a good way. Like Tarantino did the the non-chronological storytelling thing, particularly in his early days, very well. And a lot of directors attempted to emulate that.
00:05:32
Speaker
But this is – we're ping-ponging all over the place here in ways that are confusing and frustrating, right? We don't need the heist. We don't need the heist at all. Take the heist out.
00:05:44
Speaker
We do not need that. The only thing it does is slows the movie down. That's all it does. It stops the movie dead in its tracks. We do this like 20 minute heist plot. Which is silly and fun. It just so does not need to be there.
00:05:58
Speaker
If that was the movie, i would like this 20 times more. If the heist was the movie. I love heist movies. mean, it's fun. Yeah, it's fun. little And Adam Goldberg just like ranting the whole time. It's fantastic. It's so good. Like if this was a movie about Adam Goldberg pulling off, ah like leading a bunch of tweakers on a heist, i would get not ah that would be a movie I would like to see.
00:06:19
Speaker
um But, and then, and then the other part of it is it exists like simply for the cinematographer just to show off. And so we've got these long shots that are beautiful to look at, but like, just again, slow the movie to a crawl so we can have like a big, like five minute long, like pan of like, or montage of Val Kilmer looking off into the middle distance.
Actor Performances and Directorial Style
00:06:40
Speaker
And I'm just like, I don't fucking need this. The only... reason that that scene exists is so that you can see Val Kilmer um see his neighbor with her boyfriend at the bar and see him be mean to her that's the only reason that scene exists like within the context of the ongoing story of the film right that we're supposed to be paying attention to Which, I mean, there are other ways to do that.
00:07:07
Speaker
Yeah. Narratively, there are other ways to do that. So again, this this this movie kind of embodies so many things I i really don't like about this era of filmmaking. and and so like i But then again, it's got an unbelievable um unbelievably amazing cast. A lot of them in before- All character actors, yes. i love You know I eat that shit up with a spoon.
00:07:30
Speaker
I love that Yes. And so like watching these guys just go off was fun for me. Like I had, i had fun when like characters were doing shit, but then you just get these like, like scenes of ah driving through the desert or the trees along the highway or Val Kilmer sitting by the ocean that just stopped the movie dead in its tracks. So we can just show off these pretty shots. I'm just, I don't fucking need this. This is dumb.
00:07:54
Speaker
And then the, and then the narrative is again, it's ping pongy. It's all over the place. It's ridiculous. ah Like do not care for not my thing. I completely and totally understand, but I think I can recognize all the faults of this film, but the things that it does get right, the things that shine in this are just so strong for me. Vincent D'Onofrio's performance in this movie is just completely unhinged.
00:08:19
Speaker
I think that's the reason to watch this movie. i he I don't know if it's his best performance, but really fucking commits, dude. He commits. It's Vincent D'Onofrio. He always fucking commits. I know. Well, I think a very intense man um who would probably be like really sweet if you met him in real life.
00:08:41
Speaker
But like if like if you caught him on the wrong day, he would just like be very intense and you'd just be like, I am terrified of you, Vincent D'Onofrio. Yeah. So I watched this movie a couple days ago, but I also watched it a few weeks ago as well, which is kind of what sparked me being like, hey, we should do this, you know, since Val Kilmer died.
00:08:58
Speaker
Right. And um I was in the middle of watching the new Daredevil show. that To see him as Wilson Fisk and then to watch this movie, it's just such a complete fucking gear shift. I mean, two characters of equal brutality, but very different in terms of the execution. Very different, yes.
00:09:19
Speaker
Yes. of This is DJ Caruso's first film. DJ Caruso started as a protege of John Badham, who is a British director, who who directed the 1970s Frank Langella Dracula film that we covered in like the first year of this podcast. Yeah.
00:09:42
Speaker
um It's like first 10 episodes. Yeah. And i there somewhere i have seen two other DJ Caruso films before this, and I don't know that I'm really keen to see too many others.
00:09:55
Speaker
I had seen his next, his follow up film, Taking Lives with Angelina Jolie. That was all right. i remember liking it when I saw it, but I was also i saw it right after it came out and I was very dumb at that point. So i it's probably not good.
00:10:09
Speaker
And then I saw the movie Eagle Eye, which takes apparently part of it takes place in Indiana. That's not 56th Street, Stephen. No. It's not 56th Street. You think I don't know that, Tucker? That is fucking Toronto.
00:10:24
Speaker
At least. That is Toronto fucking Canada. And they're like, it's Indianapolis. I'm like, bullshit, that's Indianapolis. It's really not. Sir, I know from Indianapolis, and you are not in Indianapolis.
00:10:36
Speaker
Tell me you've never been to a place without telling me you've never been to a place. That's 100% is. ah hundred And now he's gotten into, like he directed the ah the the latest entry in the Triple X franchise, The Return of Xander Cage. Which I like all three of those movies. I love that the first one is Vin Diesel and then he thought he was too good for the second one and Ice Cube kills it in the second one.
00:11:00
Speaker
And so they're just both in the third one. It's brilliant. I love those movies. They are fantastic. They are, I mean, action set piece after action set piece, just ridiculous, completely balls to the wall action. And it's all fantastic.
00:11:14
Speaker
That is a very fast and furious kind of thing where Vin Diesel shows up for the first one, doesn't bother with the second one. So they bring in new characters, shows up in a later entry, and then they just start bringing everybody back. Like that is a hundred percent Vin Diesel's MO, which I love.
00:11:30
Speaker
um And then, but now ah he oh he, I should also mention he
Production and Script Origins
00:11:35
Speaker
directed the Shia LaBeouf film Disturbia. ah The Rear Window remake, Disturbia, which I love. I love that movie. Disturbia is so good.
00:11:44
Speaker
I love Rear Window, but I haven't bothered with the Disturbia. And then future episode of this podcast. I think like it. I am number four. So we will cover another DJ Caruso movie at some point. I am sick that week, I think. You're not though.
00:11:55
Speaker
Damn. ah But now he's he's doing he's apparently he's Catholic. So now he's making like those Christian movies. He made a Mary movie. He did. He did. ah um ah Last year came out with a movie called Mary about the mother of Jesus ah starring Anthony Hopkins.
00:12:15
Speaker
Yes. Well, there's a few of them in the New Testament, Tucker. i don't know if you know this. It was a brilliant but ah very common name in Hebrew. This is the one that when I find myself in times of trouble, this is who appears to me.
00:12:27
Speaker
Comes to you. words of wisdom. Let it be. Just let it be. Yeah. um And then um he also directed in 2022 a movie called Redeeming Love, which is an American Christian Western romance.
00:12:43
Speaker
Wow. Yeah. That sounds so awful, I have to see it. Based on a Francine Rivers novel. Whoa. Sold into prostitution as a child, Angel knows nothing but betrayal.
00:12:55
Speaker
Can her heart ever be mended? Based upon the novel by Francine Rivers. Yeah. Coming to a theater near you. Francine Rivers, one of my mom's go-to reads when I was younger.
00:13:05
Speaker
I will fucking bet. Which may come as no surprise to anyone who knows me at all. um your mom in that tracks right
00:13:19
Speaker
so ah So, yeah, he's he's done a lot of stuff, some of it good, most of it not. um But he his name came up in a project that i was that I'm working on kind of as a like pie in the sky, maybe I'll actually do this one day.
00:13:33
Speaker
um And so his name came up in in a project that I was working on. And so when I saw that he directed this film, it kind of like I had to stop and look at everything else he directed. And realized that I had seen other stuff because he's 100% just a journeyman director, just like a guy like John Badham, just a guy you hire to make a movie.
00:13:50
Speaker
He's fine. He does the job. He's perfectly fine. Yep. At his job. Yep. He is a perfectly, as my partner might say, or as The Simpsons might say, a perfectly cromulent director.
00:14:03
Speaker
um So, I mean, but, but again, yeah, like just seeing that this was hit, like, again, it just, it was wild that I'm working on this side project and then his name happens to come up and I just, it, it kind of floored me. I'm not going lie.
00:14:16
Speaker
Yes. Yes. um I think he has a bit of a producing career too. Before he did a lot of directing, he was doing some producing and he was an executive producer on a film that I quite enjoy. Another underseen, could have been a cult classic, but somehow it didn't make it.
00:14:35
Speaker
Nick of Time. Starring Johnny Depp. It is you're a director on that, I believe. Yeah, it is. That is a real time movie. It is 90 minutes and 90 minutes in the film go by. And it's very interesting the way that they do that. um It's it's Johnny Depp and his daughter at a bus station or a bus station, train station, something, some kind of Grand Central Station.
00:14:57
Speaker
And some dudes kidnap her for some reason. And he has to get her back and he has 90 minutes to do it. You know, it's that movie, Tucker. I feel like I do, and I'm going to be really mad when I can't tell you and you tell me.
00:15:10
Speaker
It's a name that we've mentioned already in this episode. It is DJ Caruso's ah ah mentor. There you John Hadam. Yeah, that's a John Hadam movie. Did he do Drop Zone too?
00:15:22
Speaker
um let me Let me check, because DJ Caruso was second unit on that one also. Yeah, he's executive producer on that one. Those posters are very similar. Yeah. That is also a John Batta movie. Yep.
00:15:32
Speaker
Nice. Good old Wesley Snipes. He also was second unit on another Stakeout. Also a John Batta movie. The one with Rosie O'Donnell. Yes. And Richard Dreyfuss. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
00:15:45
Speaker
Those are both good. I don't care what anybody says. Both those movies are good. find any And then a he also was second unit on another John Batta movie. This one I've heard is one of the good ones. Point of No Return.
00:15:56
Speaker
The Bridget Fonda movie. I haven't seen that one, but I know the poster. it She's like this, and there's like a reticle around her or whatever, like to the side. yeah ah silence I mean, i i have i' you you have a reason to dislike it, so you may or may not want to see it, because one of the writers on that is you're one of your least favorite people, Luc Besson.
00:16:17
Speaker
Oh, yeah. Yeah, you're a very much fuck that guy on Luc Besson. I just... and I just hate being disappointed in people and that ah I read some things about him that that was very disappointing.
00:16:33
Speaker
Oh, I mean, there's lot of people out there who are disappointing in the same way he is disappointing, including several people we have talked about on this podcast. I have to keep reminding myself that humans suck, even me.
00:16:51
Speaker
yeah so We were, we were just for the, for the listener at home, just for some, a little, uh, behind the scenes inside baseball. Uh, we were originally scheduled to cover Colombiana this week. There's always all Donya film, uh, uh, to coincide with the release of the ballerina.
00:17:06
Speaker
um which is also written by Luc Besson, was written actually as a sequel to Leon the Professional. um And see, that's my that's that's the big thing. That's why Luc Besson disappoints me so much because I used to love The Professional.
00:17:23
Speaker
And i can't I can't enjoy it anymore knowing what I know. Right. And it's disappointing. Tragically, I mean, but it is because that, because Columbiana was a movie that was written initially as a sequel to that movie.
00:17:37
Speaker
It's a movie on our list. It's a movie we could potentially cover. So Tucker may have to abstain from that one when we get to it. um I'll be fine. I'll bitch, but I'll be fine. Okay. You
Editing and Character Performances
00:17:47
Speaker
know I'm bitch.
00:17:48
Speaker
yeahre You bitch? No. um but And that's the thing. Lupuson has actually been involved with a number of movies that could be either directing and writing that could be the contenders for this podcast, including Leon the Professional, including the aforementioned Columbiana. Hey, I still like the fifth element. and so The fifth element. if it's good If it's good and doesn't have weird child predatory undertones to it, I'm fine with it. Whatever.
00:18:16
Speaker
Here's the thing. Tragically, Fifth Element was never supposed to have a sequel. So there's, we, we actually, that's one of the ones we can't cover on this podcast, which is a bummer because that movie fucking rules. um I, I own that movie.
00:18:30
Speaker
Yes, I do. I own that on Steelbook. is chris tucker Chris Tucker's finest performance. my I concur. 100% without... On a stack of fantastic performances. Yes, that's the one.
00:18:44
Speaker
ah Someone at at work posted a a Chris Tucker GIF in the in the work chat, and I was like, I think that's Chris Tucker's greatest performance. And then no one responded. So I was just like, oh, okay. Well, this is just...
00:18:55
Speaker
Me ranting about movies in a space where people don't want me ranting about movies. Understood. got your back, Steven. got your back. If only we worked at the same place. Well, I do need a job and a remote one would be great.
00:19:07
Speaker
Well, this one would, and this one would require you to come into office at least one day a month. I could drive three hours one day month. All right. Well, I look, I'll, I'll, I'll send you a link to the hi next time we're hiring.
00:19:22
Speaker
College boy, yeah. do you get some kind of kickback for that? I would, if you as long as you stay for three months. Yeah, I would. I'm a stayer. I know you are. um How do you feel about call center work? You okay with call center work? ah Depends on what kind of call center work it is.
00:19:37
Speaker
We'll talk about it. ah but ah But yeah, so this yeah we watched The Salton Sea, and there is 100% no way Val Kilmer is actually playing that trumpet.
00:19:49
Speaker
ah Now, I will say in the first scene that you see him, it is the visual part of it is in slow motion.
00:20:01
Speaker
Mm-hmm. I did notice in the flashbacks where he they were at the beach and he was playing. Mm-hmm. even though he's not doing the right fingerings, he's at least playing with the notes.
00:20:16
Speaker
Okay. nobody Nobody taught Val Kilmer how to play the trumpet. I'll tell you why. Because he completely misses this fingering. He does this, he does this, he does this, everything in between, but he never does he never does the fuck you fingering, which I believe is Okay.
00:20:33
Speaker
Okay. um I don't know anything about music, so I'm going to defer to you. I'm actually, I, the first instrument I ever learned to play was a trumpet. There you go. So, you know, trumpets. And that's the thing. I don't know why they wouldn't give them a crash course because it is the easiest instrument to play.
00:20:50
Speaker
You have three keys, right? And those three keys, the fingerings on the keys represent one note, right? So you have a through G And then to go up or down an octave, your fingerings don't change, but the way you blow and the way you vibrate your lips change to change the octave.
00:21:12
Speaker
Right. So it's not that hard. You memorize a through G, you're fucking golden. Right. Like, i think i was i was I think I was a professional trumpet player in middle school after about a week.
00:21:25
Speaker
Okay. I was first chair. First chair, by the way. Not everybody took to it as well as I did. Yeah. In fact, I continued that into into adulthood. um When I played with Hey Hey Melodica, the trumpet was my foot in the door.
00:21:39
Speaker
Okay. Though I played a lot of different instruments in that band, ah trumpet was what got me the job. I will say the opening scene of this movie where he's playing the trumpet in the burning apartment with the money like on fire. it looks fantastic. It's gorgeous, but it reminds me very much of the last scene of the conversation where Gene Hackman is like sitting on a floor of the apartment that he is completely stripped of everything to try to find the wire. Just playing hit like in a paranoid, like delusional paranoid state, just playing his saxophone.
00:22:08
Speaker
Like very much like definitely reminded me of that scene. And I was like, well, this is interesting. like visually dynamic like ah obviously he's not playing that trumpet but like um like very evocative I thought of that something in something I really like about the first scene of this movie is it's it plays into the trope of that's me, but I wasn't always like this.
00:22:34
Speaker
And then, you know, you, you go back and you, but you're wondering how I got here. Yeah. Yes. I think it works really well in this movie because it's visually interesting.
00:22:45
Speaker
It's a dude sitting there playing the trumpet, talking about not knowing who he is. Is he this guy or that guy? Yeah. And then you get to go on that journey. And then when you get there, you're like, okay, and there's a lot of bullshit in there, but this all makes sense now, you know? if to go Go ahead.
00:23:02
Speaker
No, you go ahead. Fine. It reminds me, speaking of like independent films of this era, it reminds me of the opening of The Usual Suspects directed by He Who Must Not Be Named. Written by Christopher McQuarrie.
00:23:14
Speaker
Correct. We can say his name. Yeah, we can say his name. Yeah. I mean, I've already said a name of a very like gross person who is in this cast. um But but can we can talk about him later or not. It doesn't matter.
00:23:28
Speaker
But like yeah the the way that scene is like set up where you see all the pieces laid out, and then as the movie progresses, you see how all those chips fall. um like That's kind of, I think, something that, again, this era of filmmaking was really – because, again, nonlinear storytelling, that post-Tarantino glut – of independent films, that's kind of the thing, right?
00:23:48
Speaker
So you start the movie in media res, and then you go back and, and we're still doing that. I mean, that's not exclusively a Tarantino thing either. That's been done since the forties and fifties. That was a big film noir thing. So it's very much used in neo-noir films.
00:24:01
Speaker
Yes. Yes. There's a lot of, there's a lot of noir touches in this film too. That's the thing is that that this movie, it, It knows what it does well, and it knows what it doesn't do well. And I think most of the time, it leans into the things that it does well, and unfortunately, neglects some of the things it doesn't do well that should that actually needs to be there.
00:24:27
Speaker
you could You could put a little more attention to certain elements. Now, I will say, based on what I've read, this script was not something that Tony Gaten ever expected to be produced. It was just kind of ah like a writing sample to kind of a screened- exercise. Yeah. Yeah.
00:24:42
Speaker
And then someone bought it and he was like, wait, really? Which I think explains a lot, honestly. That explains a lot about disjointed nature of this script. This would work really well as a novel. I'd love to read this as a novel, actually.
00:24:55
Speaker
I think it works better as a novel than it would as a film. And I think the right director could potentially adapt that novel in fun and interesting ways. But as a film script, it's messy. Yes, that's that is the the problem with this movie is that it's messy.
00:25:11
Speaker
There's a lot of things in this movie that work. there are a lot of all the There's not a bad performance in the entire movie, for my mind. Right. And that that, again, that's the thing that kept me from just hating this movie outright is that the performances were really including...
00:25:25
Speaker
the late great Mr. Kilmer, who we will, I'm sure, talk about a lot more later Oh, yes. But yes like the performances are solid. And every every five minutes I'm going, oh, that guy. that guy. Like this movie is just a like a murderer's row of character actors, particularly from this era.
00:25:40
Speaker
Some of them getting ready to hit. Some of them already well-established. Like o very well cast, this movie. But you've got you've got a lot of really fantastic parts.
00:25:52
Speaker
All of the parts of this movie work for me. It's just I don't think anybody could figure out how to make it all work together.
00:26:03
Speaker
This movie is not as good as the sum of its parts. Exactly. Everything in this movie is good, but this movie is not good. No. it needed um And and maybe maybe that's the fault of the script. Maybe that's the fault of the editing.
00:26:18
Speaker
It changes gears so many times. And not in a good way. Like a gear shift movie fun. Not always. Like you're, you're working like a gearshift movie. You're working under the assumption that this movie is one thing. And then all of a sudden there's a hard shift in the movie becomes something else.
00:26:33
Speaker
This movie does that three or four times. Yeah. There too many flashbacks at weird moments that don't make sense narratively within the structure of the film. We take this weird, we've mentioned it already. The weird heist sidebar that adds nothing.
00:26:48
Speaker
ah thing like it's a thing nothing It's there. So Adam Goldberg can do some shit. Yes, I'm into it. We've got all these – and you mentioned this on the What Are We Watching? but I feel like it bears repeating here.
00:27:00
Speaker
This is that era where Adam – if you're making an independent film and you don't have Adam Goldberg, you are like – are you doing with your life? Like you are neglecting a contractual obligation because Adam Goldberg is contractually obligated to be in every movie. At this point – let let me let me Let me show you Adam Goldberg's run up to the Salton Sea.
00:27:20
Speaker
Please do. Because this man has just an incredibly wild run. He's in the Billy Crystal film, Mr. Saturday Night in 1992. yeah He does Dazed and Confused, Richard Linklater's Dazed and Confused in 93.
00:27:34
Speaker
Pauly Shore's Son-in-Law in 1993.
00:27:38
Speaker
ah John Singleton's Higher Learning in 1995. Yes. was in that movie, yes. Wild swings back and forth. He has a very small, uncredited role in Before Sunrise as Man Sleeping on Train, the, again, Linklater film. Linklater loves him, yeah.
00:27:54
Speaker
Oh, yeah. he's He was in and Waking Life as well. Independent filmmaking, Richard Linklater, like, is kind of one of the, like, kind of... kind of One of the guys in independent film in the 90s who's not doing the Tarantino thing is Linklater.
00:28:09
Speaker
yeah and he's doing him Yeah, he's doing his own thing. Yeah, he's getting attention for doing that, but not enough attention because he's not following the Tarantino vein, if that makes sense. Well, and that's why you have you have the people who were copying these people, but then you have the Mount Rushmore, which at that time was Quentin Tarantino, Robert Rodriguez, Kevin Smith, and Richard Linklater.
00:28:32
Speaker
That was your Mount Rushmore of independent film in those days. Those were the people who were setting the trends. Exactly. And then you you get Wes Anderson kind of creeping his way up. Yeah. Through there as well. 1995, he's in the horror film The Prophecy.
00:28:48
Speaker
Yep, sure was. He does some TV stuff. he's He's one of the voices in Homeward Bound 2 Lost in San Francisco in 1996. um He's really great in his three-episode run on Friends in 1996 as well. I'm sure he is. He's got it as Chandler's roommate.
00:29:06
Speaker
That's my sister. Some other bizarre stuff here. He's a voice in the Heavy Gear video game, something called Scotch and Milk, and something called Young or Some Girl, which I don't know.
00:29:18
Speaker
then he Then he starts hitting it big. 1998, he is in Saving Private Ryan, which he is fucking amazing in he's the He's the guy holding up the little star David to all the Nazis. They kidnap going, Juden, Juden, Juden, which is so fucking good.
00:29:31
Speaker
98, he's also in Babe Pig in the City as the voice of Fleelick. 99, is in ed tv damn ah The Michael or the Matthew McConaughey, Rob Reiner film about, um you know, the the horrors of reality television.
00:29:50
Speaker
It came out too close to Truman Show and Truman Show is better. They should have given it some breathing room because they're both great. They're both great movies. It's just Truman Show is better. Right. and well And yeah, that's the problem. It's kind of one of those. It's it's um and this is the most famous example, but it's not the only example, but it's an Armageddon deep impact situation where get bugs life situation.
00:30:09
Speaker
And it's bugs life. Despicable me mega mind. Like you've got all these examples of this shit happening historically. And that's that. Those are just the ones within our lifetime. Yeah. In 2000, he does Sunset Strip.
00:30:22
Speaker
which is not a movie I know. ah He's in Waking Life. Yes. if If that's not on the straight up list, let's make sure that gets on there at some point. i will make sure we get it added before another Linklater movie.
00:30:35
Speaker
We'll get that added before the end of the episode. ah All Over the Guy in 2001 as well. Fast Sofa in 2001. According to Spencer. and then a movie I saw in theaters, A Beautiful Mind, Academy Award winning film, a Beautiful Mind in 2001. Ron Howard's A Beautiful Mind.
00:30:54
Speaker
Ron Howard's A Beautiful Mind. i Ronnie Howard. Ron Howard is A Beautiful Mind. wait um and Wait, wait, if I could stop you for just a second. Ron Howard. ah plays himself in the studio as well.
00:31:08
Speaker
And it's very opposite of what you would think, and it's fucking brilliant. How does it compare to him playing himself in... He's such an asshole. He's the worst person. And it's awesome.
00:31:20
Speaker
Here's the thing, of all the shit you've told me about the studio, that's the thing that gets me the most excited excited to watch the studio, honestly. go see Rodney bless hardard be a dick, dude. It's hilarious.
00:31:33
Speaker
That actually sounds funny. And then at hit this is his this movie is his immediate follow-up to A Beautiful Mind. And then he follows this movie up with... With the Hebrew Hammer? Hammer, yes. Yeah, dude. Have you seen that? It's like the Jewish Poodie Tang.
00:31:50
Speaker
It's fantastic. Why does that not surprise me that that would be a movie to do? I always forget about it, but as soon as we started talking about Goldberg, like, ooh, we're going talk about the Hebrew Hammer. I know it's going to happen.
00:32:02
Speaker
That is his immediate follow. And then also that year, he does How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days. So like he's had he has kind of a miracle run in the late ninety s in early 2000s moving up to this and then it kind of tapers off and people start using him less and less. He's doing more and more television work.
00:32:18
Speaker
um Though I will ah just want to shout out a past episode of this podcast that he appeared in. ah Stay alive. That was the one we covered, right? yeah Yeah, we covered that one.
00:32:29
Speaker
The video game. Ari came on for that one. That's right. yay Well, of course. Who else? Who else would come on for that movie? Touche. We can't do mid-2000s horror without Ari. It just doesn't work. I mean, we we we can and we have and we'll have to ah because she is otherwise engaged this year, I'm afraid. But yeah. um But no, it's it's always better when she's here, for sure.
00:32:50
Speaker
um But yeah, so I mean, Goldberg. And and so again, this feels like and and he is kind of perfect in his role. His role is just largely perfunctory. ah Like there's just a tweaker number one.
00:33:04
Speaker
Pretty much. Yeah. Featured and featured tweaker. And he's third build in this movie, though. That's the wild thing. Yeah. And here's here's the other thing that amazes me is that for as large a role as Deborah Kara Unger plays in this movie, she is one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, ninth build in this cast.
00:33:24
Speaker
Ninth. Behind actors that are not in it as much as she is. And that is an insult to Deborah Kara Unger. Justice, I say, for Deborah Kara Unger in this movie.
00:33:35
Speaker
Because she's actually very good in this film. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. And I don't say actually as in like, oh, it's surprising she's so good. She's always good. But like, it's surprising that she is billed so low when she is as good as she is.
00:33:49
Speaker
Yeah. Agreed. Like she should be her billed behind Vincent D'Onofrio, in my opinion. I agree. I agree. But no, we've got a credit um yeah ah Child Bride having Doug Hutchison ahead of her.
00:34:04
Speaker
Wow. ah He married a 17-year-old, Tucker. Did you know this? You heard about this? Not exactly a child, but still questionable. i did the Not legal. It depends on where you live, actually. But no, I agree with you. know her her her parents Her parents had to sign a release for her to get married.
00:34:24
Speaker
um So like that is that's what I'm saying. um Yeah, is he married... ah Courtney Stodden in 2011. She was born in So let's do the math on that um But yeah, gross is what it is. Well, I hope he's older than me because I've dated someone who was born in 1994. So I hope he's older than me.
00:34:48
Speaker
He is. sort of they you Doug Hutchison is born in 1960, that you anything. Okay, good. Well, I feel so much better now.
00:34:59
Speaker
See, Tucker, here's the thing. Like, for you and I at the age we are, that would not be... a questionable thing but for him someone born in 1960 to marry someone born in 1994 in 2011 is fucking gross as shit yeah yeah not into that so and yeah and like her parents had decided because they were like part of the same church or something and they were like big tabloid uh they were like a big tabloid couple for a while um
00:35:31
Speaker
And, uh, and, and yeah, that she, uh, ended up getting divorced. He's actually older than his father-in-law was at the time. Nice. That's hilarious. Yeah.
00:35:44
Speaker
Cause his father-in-law was born in 1963. Oh God. Yeah. That's fantastic. Is it? Is it fantastic? No, it's not. He was 15. His bride was 16 at the time.
00:36:00
Speaker
So that is gross as shit. yeah But yeah. um However, I do think he looks a lot like Brad Dourif and it's a shame that he and Brad Dourif didn't play like murder brothers earlier in their careers because that would have been something I would have really enjoyed to watch before I knew that about Doug Hutchison.
00:36:18
Speaker
He has a very annoying face. I think it's very punchable. It's a facial punch. I love how bad the cops are in this movie. And I also love the little bit of misdirect where you think that maybe Val Kilmer's buddy buddy with the one played by Doug Hutchinson, like they have a little rapport.
00:36:41
Speaker
They do. But in reality, it's revealed at the end. That's the one he wants to fucking murder the most. Right. Because that's the one who literally killed his wife. Yeah. Yeah. And like I said, it's such a shame. John Hutchinson gives good scumbag.
00:36:58
Speaker
And, you know, it's one of those things that came became clear years later why he gave such good scumbag, really. it's it's such It's really such a shame. i do I do have a soft spot for movies with a lot of potential.
00:37:09
Speaker
And I think that this movie kind of falls under it because there's so many fantastic things about this movie it just doesn't come together it doesn't like it's it's like your shoe comes untied and you trip that's that this this movie somebody forgot to tie this movie shoes yeah and it's just tripping all over itself but hundred i really i love i love the all of the reveals the story reveals i love that i i agree with you that the flashbacks could have been handled better But I do love all of the reveals when you're finding out things. I like how where you start out with the main character and how you gradually sort of build his story.
00:37:50
Speaker
Right. And by the end of the movie, you think of him as a completely different person as you did when you started the movie. Right. I think that that is something narratively that does work structurally. It's the only thing that they they stitch together correctly, I think, were those character reveals.
00:38:05
Speaker
Right. Right. I mean, hit and and again but and it's it's another one of those things where, again, another kind of hallmark of this era of filmmaking is the dramatic story twist.
00:38:16
Speaker
And this movie has about three too many. It has so many. There's so many shit like twists in this movie where you think you're going one way. like It's zigging and zagging all over the fucking place. And again, it's hard to keep track of Like I, at some point, like I just kind of stopped trying to follow the plot and just kind of vibed because I'm just like, I can't fucking follow this
Val Kilmer's Role and Career Overview
00:38:37
Speaker
shit.
00:38:37
Speaker
Yeah. And I'm like, Hey meatloaf. Cool.
00:38:40
Speaker
dadada Oh, they died. and and na na na Oh, okay. Oh, okay. er I guess. like i just i couldn't I couldn't keep up with it. it's it's too It's too much, man.
00:38:54
Speaker
to quote to To quote Kristen Schaal in BoJack Horseman, that's too much, man. this like a This is a great um double feature with a film called Spun.
00:39:06
Speaker
and of you've seen that. stars Jason Schwartzman and Brittany Murphy. It's another movie about methamphetamine that came out around this time. Okay, you do love those meth movies.
00:39:17
Speaker
Now, let me let me tell you. um Before Pacific Rim, we had giant monsters. And before Breaking Bad, we had Speed. Mm-hmm.
00:39:29
Speaker
we ain't we We ain't know what the fuck a meth was. No. It was was called Speed. We called it GACC. Yes, that is also another name for it. when I'm sorry, but when I was a kid, Gash something else entirely. Yeah.
00:39:45
Speaker
It's my day. It's like slime from Nickelodeon slime. Yeah, so 100%.
00:39:53
Speaker
Yes, but um there were a couple movies. This this was an Ant's Bug's Life situation where this movie and Spun were both kind of indie films that pretty much went direct to video right with fantastic casts.
00:40:08
Speaker
um But Spun is basically the the first third of this movie, but it's the whole movie. Okay. The drug shit, which is the first third of this movie. Yes. Is yeah him just hanging out in a house with like 20 other speed freaks.
00:40:25
Speaker
Yes. And but spun spun is sort of like the first third of this movie meets Requiem for a Dream light.
00:40:36
Speaker
yeah It's not quite as horrible and depressing as Requiem for a Dream, but it's almost there. It's not trying to be, but but yeah, and you're right, it doesn't quite get there, and I'm i'm i'm glad for that.
00:40:50
Speaker
Honestly, i think the movie's too incoherent to be Requiem for a Dream. Like that movie is very laser focused in that very Darren Aronofsky way where it's like, Hey, life is shitty. You're shitty. Everything's shitty.
00:41:02
Speaker
This is shit. Eat shit. Basically is what that movie is. yeah But again, and again, that very kind of pessimistic Darren Aronofsky kind of thing.
00:41:15
Speaker
but But I was talking about spun. That's what I was talking about. Spun. oh I wouldn't mind putting that on the list either. Cause i haven't seen, I don't know if that one holds up. Well, I just put Waking Life on for April 2027. April 2035. That's how far out we are with these fucking straight ups because Tucker keeps going, oh, hey, here's a movie you can put on there.
00:41:38
Speaker
And then, but then here's the fun thing is we end up juggling all this shit because like, it doesn't like, we've got to like, my whims change. Exactly. my whims be changed and We have rescheduled six degrees of separation at least three times.
00:41:53
Speaker
Daddy and them. Same. Also daddy and daddy and then probably four or five at this point. like But right now, Six Degrees of Separation is scheduled for January 2026. Daddy and Men for April 2026. Golly boy, those got pushed back. We were about to do those, like, right now. Six Degrees of Separation would have been this episode had Val Kilmer not passed away and you not watched that movie.
00:42:17
Speaker
I do love that movie, though. I know. but next And next up is Brigsby Bear. That'll be July. Oh, fuck. I'm so happy. Finally. And we have a guest for that episode, so...
00:42:28
Speaker
Who is it? It's our friend Noah East. He's coming on for Brigsby Bear? He's coming on for Brigsby Bear. Huh, okay. he It's a straight up? It's a straight up.
00:42:42
Speaker
Sorry, I'm glad you didn't hear that. That was the most violent sneeze ever. the history of violent sneezes. Kind of wish I had heard it now, honestly. oh I might have another one. Oh. My window's open, too.
00:42:53
Speaker
Oh. Oh. Oh.
00:42:59
Speaker
Okay, I think I'm good. My sneezes are pretty violent. Like, my sneezes are more like like primal screams. No, the thing is, is I only let loose when I can.
00:43:11
Speaker
i if If I need to stifle it, I can be the most quiet sneezer ever. But it's more satisfying to just let it all fucking go. I mean, I am inclined to agree with you on that. um I yeah i if it ah can't sneeze quietly, but I can hold in the sneeze, which I've heard is very bad for you, so I don't do it very often.
00:43:31
Speaker
think that's just an old wives' tale, Steven. You're an old wives' tale. Oh, oh. oh Excuse me. added out that burp.
00:43:42
Speaker
You beeped that burp out because it needs to stay in but be beeped. Oh my god. Can I tell you what happened? It would be like if we said... While you're beeping shit, you might as well.
00:43:59
Speaker
So, you know when you take a drink of something, but somehow like a bunch of air gets in with it, um and it's painful going down? Right. oh That's to me. That's why I had to just immediately burp, because I needed that pain to stop.
00:44:12
Speaker
I had to stop. I've been there. I hate it when that happens. There you think I was trying to finish this off before it was quite ready to be finished off. Got too much drink in my mouth.
00:44:23
Speaker
You kind of chugged a little too much. Yeah, i've I've had that. Again, I work in a call center, so i've there have been times I've had to mute my mic for for things like that. So understood. Dude, yeah. Dude, yeah. Yeah, dude.
00:44:35
Speaker
Um, you've also got, I mean, again, this cast is um unreal. You've got Luis Guzman, who up to this point has pretty much just been a PTA bit player. um like in terms of the stuff he's worked on up to this point.
00:44:47
Speaker
and Carlito's way. oh i I see. I haven't seen Carlito's way. And that's why I always forget. A handful of Adam Sandler movies. He's in all the Adam Sandler movies too. Well, not the early, early ones, but like from big only the early, early ones would have been out at this point. Like he's fuck.
00:45:04
Speaker
you know You know what he does, though? So he gets... God, he he actually starts pretty early. he's He's actually in a lot of stuff. Like, Carlito's Way is 93.
00:45:17
Speaker
And he's been working for a while before that. Like, he's just one of those guys who works. He's in Stonewall in 95, The Substitute in 96, and then 97, we get him in Boogie Nights, and he's fucking great in Boogie Nights.
00:45:30
Speaker
Boogie Nights! he's And then 98, the next year he's in Out of Sight, the George Clooney film, and Joel Schumacher's Snake Eyes.
00:45:41
Speaker
Is Out of Sight on our straight up list?
00:45:45
Speaker
I don't know that it needs to be, but okay um I'll think about it. Everybody should watch it, though. Pray on it, Tucker. Pray on it. it tech It technically takes place in the same universe as Quentin Tarantino's Jackie Brown.
00:45:58
Speaker
Just so know. Right. Because Ray Nicolette is played by Michael Keaton. Michael Keaton in both of them. Yes. He's in The Limey in 99 and The Bone Collector and Magnolia. 99 is a very good year for Luis Guzman. It's a big year. Yeah. yeah That's a good year for Luis Guzman. He's also in a TV movie called Mind Prey, but i I skipped over that one.
00:46:17
Speaker
Um, he's in the TV. He has 12 episodes of Oz between 98 and 2000. That HBO prison drama. I believe that. Steven Soda Burris. He seems like he'd do well on that.
00:46:27
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. fit Ernie Hudson's son is ah one of the stars of that, isn't he? Ernie Hudson Jr. is one of the stars of that. i You know, I never saw that.
00:46:38
Speaker
I think that Ernie Hudson is actually in it. is I was going to say, the first the the first thing I see when I load up the Oz page on the on the trailer is Ernie Hudson. So yes, Ernie Hudson is in that show.
00:46:51
Speaker
I think Ernie Hudson's one of the guards, and I think his son plays one of the prisoners. the he is He is in 56 episodes. He is in as many episodes as Oscar winner J.K. Simmons, who is also in that show, playing apparently a terrifying neo-Nazi.
00:47:06
Speaker
Yes, my dad likes that show, so I've i've seen it a bit. Okay. ah Also in Oz, B.D. Wong, who's in this movie. Hey, um I love him in this movie, too, because it's very different from the stuff he normally does.
00:47:22
Speaker
Well, and I love that he he plays into the the cowboy bit. And then but then, like when he's talking to his FBI ah co-workers, he just has no accent at all. He's just yeah regular dude.
00:47:36
Speaker
But he is undercover. But that's the thing, though, is after that meeting, when it's just him and Val Kilmer, he slips back into the axe accent, even though he doesn't have to. So I'm thinking maybe he is kind of a rootin' tootin' kind of dude.
00:47:50
Speaker
Maybe a little bit. I love his truck. I love the painted horses and stuff. That is a fantastic truck. I love it. He's great. I love the contrast of his character.
00:48:02
Speaker
I'm way into contrast when it comes to art. Film, theater, of music, ah ah ah visual art, anything. Contrast is where it's at for me. And his character is just contrast, contrast, contrast.
00:48:15
Speaker
And I love it. i to To pivot back to Luis Guzman for a second, I'm just noticing what his 2002 looked like, and honestly, a better year for him than 99. Count of my Christo, this movie, yep Punch Drunk Love, yes Welcome to Collinwood, and future episode of this podcast, The Adventures of Pluto Nash.
00:48:36
Speaker
Oh, wow. Like he is in, I mean, he's in everything from independent films to big budget films, to critically acclaimed films, to big flops. Like that's, that's living the dream right there as an actor though.
00:48:47
Speaker
And he's getting a paycheck for all of it. Like good on you, Luis Guzman. We love it that's, that's, that's living the dream. At least for me as a creative person, I like to do as, as many different things as I can. If I were an actor in film and television,
00:49:03
Speaker
I would want to be very much like that. I'd want to do like a Marvel movie and then like the smallest, most dramatic independent film I could find. And then I'd want to do a comedy. I just want to go all over the place and do all the things.
00:49:19
Speaker
Have you ever seen the television show Community, Tucker? Yeah. Just like on the movie. I've seen the six seasons. Where's the movie? One of my favorite ah bits in Community is all through season three. I think it starts in season two.
00:49:36
Speaker
But they're talking about how the the Community College is the the alma mater of Luis Guzman. yeah And like they're like promoting it. like And then Luis Guzman actually shows up in a season three episode. And it is fucking great.
00:49:49
Speaker
It's fucking good. Yes, it is. um Love Luis Guzman. I'm always, regardless of what he's playing or how long he's in a movie, I'm always happy to see Luis Guzman show up.
00:50:01
Speaker
Always happy to see that man show up. very All right, let's talk about the two big ones here. Oh, I'm sorry, go ahead. Wait, I did want to say one more thing about Luis Guzman. Please. Let us sing his praises.
00:50:13
Speaker
I tried to watch Wednesday, um but it's just so fucking cringe. I couldn't get past like the first episode. um But Luis Guzman plays Gomez in Wednesday show.
00:50:26
Speaker
he is... Probably the most accurate to the art. was going to say, all that is yeah he is the comic strip accurate gomez like love john astin love raw julia love their interpretations of the character well julia supremacy for me but yes but louise louise guzman is charles adams as this is gomez leapt off the screen in both physical yeah nature and the personality of the character who's morticia in that one
00:50:57
Speaker
ah let jones Yes. And then I know Fred Armisen is Uncle Fester, which okay it yeah I wanted to like that better than I did. i mean i mean, I know that's the whole show for me. I wanted to like it better than I did. I didn't get past one episode. i don't know how anybody I haven't even I haven't even watched it. I just it was just kind of one of those like, I don't need this.
00:51:17
Speaker
It's it just it was the kind of show that it was like, oh, they're just they're making this so that this can just be an hour of TikTok reels.
00:51:28
Speaker
Yeah, kind of seemed way. And it like for me, i don't know. I love the Addams family, but for me, like it doesn't get better. And again, this is maybe it's because of this. This is the area era I grew up in, but it doesn't get better than the Barry Sonnen film.
00:51:42
Speaker
Barry Sonnen. No, you're right. Those two films are perfect films. And anyone who says anything different. Has no idea what the fuck they're talking about and probably needs to be slapped in the face a few times, if I'm being honest.
00:51:53
Speaker
Or if if we're Garfield in the late 80s on his kids cartoon show, they should be drug out into the street and shot. shot I remember that. Nothing like Lorenzo Music saying that in that beautiful deadpan of his. yeah
00:52:10
Speaker
I mean, there are a lot of other pieces great performances in this movie. No, I'm just, I'm pivoting away. um There are a lot of other great performances. Anthony LaPaglia, who is yeah my not my favorite performance of his as a cop. That, of course, has to go to So I Married an Axe Murderer, which he is amazing in.
00:52:28
Speaker
um But I'm like, another Anthony LaPaglia movie where he's playing a cop. Interesting. ah Glenn Plummer as Bobby the Tweaker. Bobby. Bobby! but Well, I am the ocean.
00:52:41
Speaker
You have to excuse me. I am the ocean. you have to excuse me. I am the ocean. Peter Sarsgaard, like a pre-fame, pre-Gillenhall Peter Sarsgaard is just, I mean, again, young Peter Sarsgaard, just really making a meal out of Jimmy the Tweaker. And that's the that's the unexpected heart of this movie. And that's what really, even though it doesn't it doesn't come together as a whole, like emotionally this movie. At all. this movie resolves for me just because of their relationship i love the whole scene where he admits to him that everything is a lie and jimmy's just like that's fine like i'm still i still got you dude like it's i their relationship is so wholesome i love it so it's like one of my favorite bromances in film history is those two motherfuckers for all right
00:53:29
Speaker
um alright um and but But let's talk about, I mean, and then you again, you got a lot of great actors in small roles. Arlie Ermey as ah Val Kilmer's father-in-law.
00:53:39
Speaker
um Nancy, or I'm sorry, Shirley Wright as his mother-in-law. Meatloaf as one of the drug dealers in the deal gone wrong at the beginning, or I guess end, but it's like the first, chronologically the first thing in the movie, or the second, the third thing in the movie. I don't know, fuck, whatever. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
00:53:58
Speaker
Fuck it. Whatever. i'm i'm I'm tweaking on caffeine right now. I've had a French press and two Coke Zero. So i'm I'm buzzing right now. I'm having a good time. How's your fly? And now are you going to reorganize your sock drawer a couple times?
00:54:10
Speaker
We can do better. we can we Those two girls with the sock drawer, man. I love those girls. Like something's just, we could do better. It starts taking out.
00:54:20
Speaker
They're going to redo the sock drawer. I love that. I think I'm going to plan a heist at a hospital. I think is where I'm going next. As sad as it is, there's something sweet and wholesome about relationships fueled by drugs.
00:54:32
Speaker
At least, at least in the movies. And well, and he says, Val Kilmer says as much. In the narration, which is something that most movies I don't think ah do very well with, but I think Val Kilmer's delivery of the narration sells it.
00:54:47
Speaker
I love his line reads in the narration. He could be reading the ABCs or the phone book or something, and I would be glued to this narration. let's Let's keep going on Val Kilmer because he's ostensibly the reason we're discussing this film today. RIP just passed away as of the day of this recording two months ago.
00:55:05
Speaker
um But we we absolutely fucking love – what is your touchtone? What is your definitive Val Kilmer role? Like what's the thing you quote unquote know him from? Well, I'd say the first thing that put him on my radar because of my age is Batman Forever.
00:55:23
Speaker
Right. ah Now, that is in no way ah the role that comes to mind or my favorite role of his. Right. At all, but that is probably my first experience with him.
00:55:38
Speaker
And that actually really, liked him as Bruce Wayne in that movie. He's great Bruce Wayne. a fantastic Bruce Wayne. Unbelievable. um I love his interactions with no Nicole Kidman. I love their scenes. like they They both know exactly what they're doing, and they just play with each other the whole time.
00:55:57
Speaker
Like cats with ah with a dead mouse, both of them, just batting each other back and forth, and I love it. 100%. hundred percent 100%. But then I started seeing him in things like The Saint.
00:56:07
Speaker
And, you know, we going back, of course, I started getting into film ah when I was in my teenage years. So, of course, I saw some of the stuff he had done before.
00:56:19
Speaker
Real genius, stuff like that. um But then i really... ah you know, he kind of... Lost his star power there for a while, which if you if you watch the documentary that's on Hulu that he made, um you will understand why he did get a little full of himself there for a while.
00:56:40
Speaker
was going to say, he was categorized as, quote, difficult to work with. And we can chart his run up to this point, because his run is amazing. He has a meteoric rise very quickly.
00:56:51
Speaker
If I may just finish my point here, and then I wouldn't mind doing that at all, is that he... He's I love a good redemption arc and Val Kilmer is a good redemption arc because he was a dick.
00:57:06
Speaker
Yeah, he was full of himself. He had an ego. He thought his shit didn't stink, but. He lost jobs because of that, he lost popularity because of that, he lost top billing because of that, and he learned from it.
00:57:22
Speaker
like from From what you hear from anybody who knew him and um and from the documentary and people who knew him like his whole life, two completely fucking different people.
00:57:34
Speaker
Yeah. And i really appreciate someone who not only recognizes that they need to change – but that follows the fuck through with it and becomes a better person.
00:57:45
Speaker
Like I, I really applaud that. Cause I've had to do that a few times in my life. Cause I haven't, I haven't always been ah the cool, rad, cool, nice, wholesome, cool guy.
00:57:57
Speaker
I've had to change things about myself. And it's not – it's very easy to tell other people that they suck, but it's a lot more difficult to look in the mirror and say, you suck and we need to change.
00:58:09
Speaker
Right. It's not easy. Not fucking easy. No. No, it's not. I mean it's – And I mean, that's really good to hear that he that he did learn from because it would be so easy for someone in that position to be like, well, the industry turned on me. Fuck them.
00:58:26
Speaker
I'm still great. Like, and you see that, I think, far more frequently. So that is very nice to hear. And I kind of got that vibe off of him, particularly in some of the I mean, and when he starts showing up in like 2005 and Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, you're like,
00:58:42
Speaker
Okay, like this is really good. I want to see him start plugging into other stuff. And then he he'll start he start showing up in just weird shit like the love future episode of this podcast, The Love Guru.
00:58:54
Speaker
um He shows up as the voice of Kit in the the late 2000s Knight Rider series. But
Val Kilmer's Legacy and Documentary
00:59:02
Speaker
didn't they change it to to Will Arnett though? Or was it Will Arnett originally and they changed it to Val Kilmer?
00:59:06
Speaker
ah That I don't know. Let me take a look. That was a whole thing. um He did it. I mean, I would imagine they probably would have started with him and pivoted to Will Arnett.
00:59:18
Speaker
ah Fuck it. I did not want to open the ad, damn it. Oops. Stupid ads. Fucking IMDB bullshit. um Dummies.
00:59:30
Speaker
Bunch of frigging dummies. Hang on. Hang on. Let me just... Let me just fuck. Well, Stephen, you should have gotten that taken care of before you came here.
00:59:41
Speaker
Will you just let me fuck, damn it. um Okay, so I don't think Will Arnett is in this show at all. What the fuck am I thinking of then? I have no idea, but
00:59:55
Speaker
ah Val Kilmer is the the voice of Kit, uncredited as the voice of Kit in 18 episodes of the series, which ran a total of 18 episodes. So he is the, for the entirety of that.
01:00:09
Speaker
Val Kilmer is the voice of of Kit. um He does, um but he he's in MacGruber as the villain in that movie, future episode this podcast.
01:00:19
Speaker
MacGruber! Kill the Irishman. He's in the the Francis Ford Coppola film, Twixt. um Like he he he shows up and and does the work and not as a big name, like, but as a recognizable face. I would say for me, the first thing I saw him in probably would have been Willow.
01:00:39
Speaker
But the first thing i that made me go, oh, that's Val Kilmer, would have would have been Batman. For sure. Will Arnett was originally cast to voice Kit in the 2008-2009 Knight Rider series and movie.
01:00:51
Speaker
However, he was replaced by Val Kilmer due to a conflict of interest with General Motors, as Arnett was the voice of GMC trucks and Ford was heavily involved with the Knight Rider project. That, okay.
01:01:03
Speaker
That explains that. Mystery solved. And that's why he wasn't on the cast list, because he had been replaced. Yep. Belcomer's first credit ever is in 1984's Top Secret. Like, he starts in a starring role, which is amazing.
01:01:17
Speaker
And then he follows that up with Real Genius. Follows that up with Real Genius. Great movie. ah After that, the year after, this is three years in a row. 84, Secret. 85, Real 86, Top Gun.
01:01:33
Speaker
eighty seven he does a tv movie eighty eight is willow 89, Kill Me Again, and takes a couple years off, does The Doors in 91. Yes. The role he was born to play. So good in The Doors. The reason that Val Kilmer was placed on this earth was to play Jim Morrison in The Doors.
01:01:53
Speaker
92, he does something called Thunderheart, which I'm not familiar with. 93, small role stayed in the hotel. I stayed in the Thunderheart Hotel. Remember told about that? you've You've mentioned this. That's right. It has since been closed down and demolished, but that's a good movie, and it's it's one of the few films that um um ah acknowledges Val Kilmer's Native American heritage.
01:02:16
Speaker
93, The Trifecta, True Romance, The Real McCoy, and Tombstone. He's your Huffleberry. Huffleberry.
01:02:24
Speaker
95, it's Wings of Courage, Batman Forever, and for my money, the best Val Kilmer performance, Heat. Michael Mann's Heat. He is fucking amazing in that movie. If I had to make a top five list of my favorite Val Kilmer performances, that would be number one with a bullet.
01:02:39
Speaker
so fucking good in that and then 96 master class in so many things including how to reload a gun yeah yes it is in fact they they use that in police training for for how to reload a gun uh 96 is where we start to see val kilmer as difficult uh the island of dr moreau john frankenheimer formerly richard stanley's island of dr moreau Check out the documentary on that. It's very good.
01:03:04
Speaker
Very good. I think it deifies Richard Stanley a bit too much, particularly given what we had about the man now. But yeah, ah he also in 96 does dead girl and a movie. I remember really enjoying the ghost in the darkness. 97. The first value and Michael Douglas. Was it Michael Douglas? Michael Douglas. Yep.
01:03:23
Speaker
There you go. Yeah. 97. first Val Kilmer movie I saw in theaters past episode of this podcast, the Saint. Yeah, dude. 98. I it the theater, too. Your favorite animated film of all time, Prince of Egypt.
01:03:34
Speaker
That's not my favorite anime film of all time, but I really do like Prince of Egypt. I like it a lot. And then 99, this is the, okay, Val Kilmer's not really a star anymore. He does At First Sight and Joe the King.
01:03:47
Speaker
He does, in 2000, Pollock and the red and Red Planet, which that's another one of those like that and Mission to Mars both come out at right around the same time. And then John Carpenter's Ghosts of Mars comes out the following year. So you've got these like Mars run that we're doing for some reason. you've three movies that just suck.
01:04:05
Speaker
all about Mars yeah they're all about Mars and they're directed like I um let me remind let me refresh my memory yes right Anthony Hoffman is the Anthony Hoffman is the director of Red Planet he's the one I don't know but Mission to Mars is Brian De Palma and Ghost of Mars is John Carpenter and you're like what the fuck are we doing guys like what are we doing they're calling it in from the same phone booth I guess I guess.
01:04:31
Speaker
And then 2002, it's Salton Sea and Hard Cash. And at that point, he's pretty much independent film guy. Like Salton Sea, this kind of kicks off his run of independent films. I would say probably the high watermark of which is 2003's Wonderland, which I've heard he's amazing in as John Holmes.
01:04:48
Speaker
um I've heard he's really, really phenomenal in that movie. It's not a movie I have seen, but a movie I probably should watch. um But yeah, and then then after that, he that's kind of the hard time section. I remember seeing Mindhunters from 2004 LL Cool J and Christian Slater, I think. Yep.
01:05:06
Speaker
um And thinking like, wow, how the mighty have fallen, even at that point, like it, and that kind of becomes his, em like he'll pop up in things as kind of like a stunt casting or um as just kind of like a cameo or a cameo. Yeah. He's in Entourage, an episode of Entourage as the Sherpa.
01:05:27
Speaker
He plays Philip in Alexander. He's amazing as Gay Perry in Kiss Kiss Bang Bang. Yes. Like that was like, is is Val Kilmer back? And then the next few movies tell us, no, no, Val Kilmer's not back.
01:05:38
Speaker
It's a shame that I really wish that that had, that movie had spawned not sequels, but we had a new buddy combo. I want more Robert Downey Jr. Val Kilmer movies. Yeah.
01:05:52
Speaker
yeah we're Not necessarily those characters, but just put those two together like they used to do, like in the 40s and 50s. You find two actors that have great chemistry and you just put them in every movie. Yeah. Do that with Val Kilmer and RDJ, please. they they They bounce off each other in a way that is just so kinetic. Like, it's insane.
01:06:11
Speaker
I wish that movie had done for Val Kilmer what it did for Robert Downey Jr., honestly. Because that pretty much brought him back from obscurity. And that's, I think, why you make that movie is because those two guys are at that point very cheap.
01:06:22
Speaker
And so you can get both of them in that movie. And RDJ two years later does Iron Man. And that just he's just through the stratosphere. yeah but Val Kilmer doesn't get that big of a boost. Although I will say my favorite late stage Kilmer movie, which I watched during the the deep, dark depths of the pandemic, um I decided I was going to watch a bunch of Kevin Smith movies.
01:06:43
Speaker
And he is Blunt Man. in Jay and Silent Bob reboot yes and Kevin Smith texted him about it and he goes well I don't he'd like texting him back he's like i don't know if you know but like I can't really talk right now I've got like he could throat cancer I can't speak and he said that's fine it's it's a silent role and he goes basically you're playing silent Batman and he developed cover text back and you know I played Batman and Kevin Smith like motherfucker I know you played Batman that's why I asked you to do this
01:07:12
Speaker
And he does a few movies after that too. And I think his final screen credit is in Top Gun. math pop go Yeah. And let me say if, if I haven't already, and if I have already, that's fine too.
01:07:25
Speaker
Please go to Hulu and watch Val. Please, please, please. I'm going to put it on my list right now. It's
Final Thoughts and Current Box Office Hits
01:07:32
Speaker
damn near an autobiographical documentary.
01:07:36
Speaker
And he's he's so open about everything. He will tell you how much of a dick he used to be. but man But he he's not he's not, you know, he doesn't pull any punches. He doesn't try to make himself look good. He simply tells his story.
01:07:54
Speaker
right And its it's very engaging. it's When it's over, you wish there were more. Man, I wish there was like an hour and a half more of this. That would be fantastic.
01:08:05
Speaker
those And those movies are are rare, but that's... yeah And they do they do talk about... There's a short section where they discuss how um how they recreate his voice.
01:08:18
Speaker
o with ai and what they did was they basically took every speaking role that he's had in a film threw it into a computer and so now he can speak with his actual voice through the computer that's pretty they can't anymore because he's dead but like before he died he could and i understand he had like ah um what's the guy the genius guy that had the computer voice Thank you.
01:08:42
Speaker
It was basically like that, except Val Kilmer had his own voice in there. Yeah. buts That's rad as hell. I'm not seeing it on Hulu, so I will find out what streaming is later it a lot. his son helped with that, too, because his son apparently sounds a lot like him. So it was a combination of his son's voice and everything he's ever said on camera.
01:09:01
Speaker
That's cool. Yeah. that's That's awesome. No, i Val Kilmer, absolutely unbelievable performance. It's on Amazon Prime right now. Oh, it's not on Hulu anymore. That sucks. It's on Amazon Prime and freebie with ads. So if you don't have Amazon Prime, go watch it on freebie.
01:09:18
Speaker
I would also recommend after you watch that, um look up one of the many late night appearances that Will Forte made around the time that Val Kilmer died so he can tell you the story of the time that Val Kilmer came to live with him.
01:09:31
Speaker
Okay. um For what he thought was going to be a couple nights, it turned into several months. That's a amazing. They were roommates. And he's an odd dude. I'd love to hear Will Forte talk about it. but ah So I've got a hard out in 15 minutes. So i would I would have loved to do more on Vincent D'Onofrio's performance in this movie, but we don't have time. So I'm going to pivot to ah the box office on this one.
01:09:54
Speaker
This movie came out on April 26th, 2002. Limited release, I'm guessing, because it is not. um Let me scroll down here. Oh, no, it it opened at 32. Well, it's probably one of those that only opened at the arts theaters. Like they would probably probably showed it at Keystone.
01:10:13
Speaker
A hundred percent. It showed at Keystone. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And it was kind of one of those, like um people are like, I've never heard. And Val Kilmer's face is not on the poster. His back is on the poster, but you're not going recognize that that's a fantastic tattoo.
01:10:23
Speaker
Right. ah Which is shown like once or twice in the movie, but becomes the like thing that's marketed on, um on a production budget of $18 million. dollars Really? um It, it had a domestic box office of 676,000.
01:10:39
Speaker
thousand dollars like it did not even earn back it it like it says worldwide box offices point zero ah zero point zero times production budget this movie did terribly in theaters and probably did not do very well in on home video either um opening at number one this week is the scorpion king which is in its second week of release. It's holding steady at number one, ah starting the the rock supremacy.
01:11:10
Speaker
um In second place, Changing Lanes. Oh, I like that one. Sam Jackson and Ben Affleck. was going to say, that's the Ben Affleck movie, right? yeah That's an intense movie, yeah.
01:11:21
Speaker
In third place, also opening this week, one of the biggest, what do we call it, fan films of all time, Jason X, opening at number three. There's a 4K of that that Arrow just put out that I'd really like to get. There are really only two Friday the 13th movies I like, and it's probably sacrilegious because it's Jason X and the remake.
01:11:42
Speaker
that's That's two more than I like, honestly. I'm not a big Friday Nightmare game fan. I genuinely enjoy those two. Here's the thing. No, I like the one everyone else hates. i like for I like Seven, the new blood. Seven's fine.
01:11:55
Speaker
Seven's fine. Is that Roy? No, that's um that's not Carrie. Jason, it's Roy. Oh, it's the, okay, yeah, the psychic girl that moves in next door.
01:12:06
Speaker
Yeah. And Tommy Jarvis is like old. Something. Yeah, that's the one I like. no one yeah That's the one I like. Most people, most fans of the series will say it's the worst one. It's the only one I like. um If you ask me, the first one's probably the worst one.
01:12:21
Speaker
uh-oh. Come at me in the comments. Let's go. Let's go. In third place, Murder by Numbers, which I think is another retelling of the Lerner and Loeb murders. Is that an Ashley Judd, Sam Jackson kind of joint?
01:12:41
Speaker
No, that's a Sandy Bullock, Ryan Gosling. Ah, same thing. Is it? No, no, but that's one of the, like that in Hitchcock's rope or, and, uh, the, the film compulsion are all kind of learner and lobe.
01:12:55
Speaker
Like those, the, the, the murders that they pulled off, uh, fifth, uh, also new this week life or something like it. Um, I'm guessing that that feels like, let me see who's in that.
01:13:06
Speaker
That's an Angelina Jolie, Ed Burns movie. God, I cannot be less interested in that movie. yeah Um, And then rounding out the top 10, you've got The Rookie at number six, Ice Age at number seven. The first one, ah David Fincher's Panic Room at number eight. hi High Crimes at number nine. And in 10th place, oh, the sweetest thing. And then in 11th place, Jonathan Frakes' Clockstoppers, future episode of this podcast. Oh, cool.
01:13:36
Speaker
Yeah. um The Tomatometer score on this one is a 63%. Critics consensus, a slick Tarantino inspired movie that is not for everyone. Hey, that's true.
01:13:47
Speaker
That's again, very indicative of our conversation up to this point. The meta score on this one is a 41 based on mixed or average reviews from 30 critics. Also fair. Tucker, would you care to take a stab at the letterbox to score?
01:14:01
Speaker
I think this is going to be low threes. I'm going to say between 2.9 3.4. Ooh, just made it 3.4. Oh, wow. He's back, baby. Tucker, what are you giving this movie out a possible five stars?
01:14:14
Speaker
Yeah. he's back baby and so tucker what are you giving this movie out of ah possible five stars So as I said during this episode, I do recognize the faults of this film.
01:14:27
Speaker
But damn it, if i I just enjoy myself so much watching this movie. this is This is a four stars for me. And I want to say, before you give your rating, Stephen, I think this you were the perfect person to have a conversation with about this movie because because we are the opposite. like You didn't like it, but you recognized the good things about it.
01:14:48
Speaker
And I love it, but I recognize that it's shitty. Yeah, exactly. we met right in the middle is perfect. And here's the thing. I think the the good and the bad kind of balance themselves out.
Film Ratings and Post-Tarantino Influence
01:15:00
Speaker
So I won't say I hated this movie, um but it is indicative of everything I don't like about this era of filmmaking.
01:15:06
Speaker
But I will acknowledge the performances kind of save it for me to the extent that it can be saved. So I ended up giving this one a two and a half. um That's fair. So that averages our scores out to about a 3.25, which feels right to me, yeah honestly. um Like, this is not a great movie. I don't even know if I would recommend this movie to anyone.
01:15:25
Speaker
um But it's... Because, again, it's just... Unless you just like this type of movie, in which case, fucking go off. ah But, yeah, this is... Like the critics' consensus on the on Rotten Tomatoes said, not for everyone. And I am... It's me. I'm everyone.
01:15:40
Speaker
Well, I really... I tend to, um I really enjoy the movies of that era that were obvious. Like, obviously they got made because Tarantino movies were hitting.
01:15:52
Speaker
Correct. I love the ones that stand out because I love the movies that took that as a jumping off point to do their own thing as an excuse to do their own thing. And this is one of those movies for me. You can definitely tell this would not have been made if Pulp Fiction didn't exist.
01:16:08
Speaker
It would not exist. And I mentioned again, Suicide Kings, and there's a couple others that really stand out that I really appreciate from that subgenre of Tarantino alikes, right if you will.
01:16:20
Speaker
And I guess for me, the thing that helps those movies, the ones that hit stand out is a deft artistic hand behind the behind the camera. And I don't think, just to kind of go back to the conversation that kind of started this episode, I don't think that's DJ Caruso.
01:16:36
Speaker
um like he's not a deaf, he's a journeyman. he's yeah he's a He's a cromulent director. He shows up, he does the job, he gets the job done. And probably is one of those guys who can get the film done on time and under budget.
01:16:48
Speaker
And that's why you hire him. But a movie like this needs someone with a more artistic eye, someone who's not just a competent filmmaker. It needs someone who is an artist who can figure out how to craft this story in a way that is engaging and interesting.
01:17:03
Speaker
which makes Which means that this film is not going to hit as hard as something like A Requiem for a Dream. Or, you know, any of those other films that kind of followed in the wake of Tarantino and gave guys like Darren Aronofsky and all those guys their shots.
01:17:15
Speaker
And revitalized Christopher Walken's career as well, because he's in a about 9 out of 10 of those. Because Ira, you are the man. he kept this hunk of metal up his own ass.
01:17:29
Speaker
um Yeah. Fucking great. We love, we love you, Chris Walken. Come on the podcast. um That is, that is it for our episode. Well, that would be a get, wouldn't it? Right, wouldn't it That is our episode on the Salton Sea. That is the end of straight up number seven.
01:17:48
Speaker
um This has been the Disenfranchised Podcast.
Podcast Promotions and Social Media
01:17:50
Speaker
You can find us on Blue Sky, YouTube, and Letterboxd at DisenfranchPod. um You can also ah shoot us an email, disenfranchpod at gmail.com.
01:18:00
Speaker
Follow the official conversation of the disenfranchised podcast for free. Patreon.com slash disenfranchised pod, or for just five bucks a month, get access to a lot of other um ma material. We actually just before this recorded a, what are we watching?
01:18:13
Speaker
ah So you can hear me drone on for an hour about movies. I watched in comics. I read, and then Tucker drone on for a little less than that. One of the rare instances where I have more to say on a, what are we watching than Tucker does?
01:18:24
Speaker
um As season just started. So my schedule is a little crazy. Yeah. It is. You've you've you got a lot of work going on. And me, I'm just trying to stay sane in the midst of all my insanity. So, ye yeah um And so, yeah, head on over there, patreon.com slash disenfranchpod.
01:18:41
Speaker
um And leave us a five-star rating and review, please. And thank you if you like what you hear. ah And again, rating is great. We love it when you rate us, but please leave us a review. That actually also helps go a long way to to promoting the podcast. And we would truly appreciate that.
01:18:55
Speaker
as well. um ah Apple Podcasts, Spotify, really wherever you get your podcasts. We we sure do appreciate that. Thank you. um I am your host, Stephen Foxworthy. You can find me on Letterboxd and Blue Sky, and that's it.
01:19:10
Speaker
At Chewy Walrus, ah you can find our absent co-host, Brett Wright, who is, I believe, on a speed bender right now. ah You can find him only on Letterboxd at sus underscore warlock, but I don't think he updates that all that often, but that's where he is right now.
01:19:25
Speaker
Tucker, where can we find you these days? Well, i before I say where you can find me on social media, I'd also like to point out that Steven and I are involved in another podcast. I always forget to promote this. Yes. Steven and our past guest, Hope, has a new last name. What's her new last name?
01:19:42
Speaker
da Past and future guest, Hope Stowel. Yes. There you go. Yes. Past and future guest, Hope Stowel and Steven talk about um the life and art of Orson Welles. And i'm I'm your friendly producer,
01:19:56
Speaker
editor yeah yes well the producer that's an umbrella that covers the editing distribution um maximum maximum bullshitting in the group chat i mean that that for sure and i had an evening the other night we made a whole evening of it it was fantastic i'm at rehearsal and i i come back to like 70 fucking texts in that thread. Well, and I had the the thing I had to tell you, which was the show notes, I had to text that directly to you because I knew it was going to get lost in all of that.
01:20:29
Speaker
It did. initially, that's what it was. Steven, I need show notes. And Hope's like, and I'm like, and we just go back and forth for like three hours. Hope and I are already world-class bullshitters, and then you add Tucker to the mix, and it's insanity.
01:20:40
Speaker
Like, that is that is the most insane group chat that I am a part of. That's somebody's nightmare. That's somebody's nightmare. I know whose, but that's somebody's nightmare right there, the three of us. Oh my God. Yeah. We're going have you on for an episode, it several episodes at some at at various points.
01:20:56
Speaker
And those episodes for for a certain subset of people are going to be interminable. Yay. Because here's the thing, Hope and I are probably interminable to a a lot of people. Hope and I are acquired tastes who, and we're just, we're like the same kind of like bullshit where we're like, you're on my bullshit.
01:21:13
Speaker
I'm on your bullshit. Let's bullshit. And we just decided to make that into a podcast. Yeah. Dude, yeah. So that comes out bi-weekly. That means every two weeks, not twice a week.
01:21:25
Speaker
Right. And I think the third episode dropped just this past Tuesday, like two two days ago as of the release of this episode. Yes, it will have. It's called Wells University. I don't think you mentioned the name of the podcast.
01:21:35
Speaker
Yes, it's Wells University. You can find it on social media at wellsupod.com. Yep. I think we're on blue sky and YouTube. Although hope has created a Tumblr, but she has not let me know ah what that Tumblr is called. So it's like 2005. We have a Tumblr. Jeez. That is the one social network that hope is very active on. is We could have a Pinterest next. What the fuck? lock in a Let's do an Orson Welles Pinterest, please. And thank you.
01:22:05
Speaker
I will contribute all of the Edward gifts. Now that to to the amazement of no one.
01:22:12
Speaker
Oh, man. ah Anyway, yeah, you can find me on Instagram and YouTube at Ice909. That's I-C-E-N-I-N-E, the number zero and the number nine.
01:22:24
Speaker
And responding to the intro to last week's episode, Stephen, the reason that I spell it out is because it's 909. nine oh nine I know. But one is a word and the other two are numbers.
01:22:36
Speaker
And I've had that as my email address forever. So I'm just immediately I have to spell it out. And now you know how to email. to Yes. At gmail.com. Shoot me an email. don't give fuck.
01:22:48
Speaker
Shoot me an email. I wouldn't do that, but by all means go off. Let's not know. Not getting bleeped. um If you. were You're editing it. don't remember it. This is your thing.
01:22:59
Speaker
Also, Tuck Mugs is still around. Not really sure what I'm doing with that right now, but I am thinking a lot about it, actually, because have a lot of new mugs and and ah pint glasses and shot glasses that I need to show off.
01:23:12
Speaker
um So hopefully I'll get back into that soon one way or another. And that's that's it. All
Episode Wrap-Up and Return to Regular Format
01:23:18
Speaker
right. That is it. That's let's shut it down.
01:23:22
Speaker
That has been our episode on 2002's The Salton Sea. We'll be back to our regular format next week. Don't even worry about it. ah But until next time, I'm your host, Stephen Foxworthy, for my co-host Tucker, the absent Brett Wright, and, you know, just life in general.
01:23:37
Speaker
um I am the ocean.
01:23:41
Speaker
And don't you fucking forget it.
01:23:48
Speaker
Thank you.