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EPISODE 122: ALIENS ARE TERRIFYING! Vol. 2
764 Plays5 months ago
On this podcast? We BELIEVE, y’all. And with all of the new stories about UFOs lately, it’s time to revisit one of our favourite topics: UFOs and aliens!
HORROR IN THE MOVIES
ALIEN and MARS ATTACKS?! Beam me up!
WHATCHA BEEN WATCHIN’, BITCH?!
Listen in to hear what we’ve been watchin’... bitch!
–
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Transcript
A Walk in Lesbighay Falls
00:00:10
Speaker
Ah, what a lovely day to walk through the forests of Lesbighay Falls. It is really nice this time of year. Everything is so green and vibrant. Just watch out for the dreaded Sasquatch. Man, they are just the worst.
UFO Sighting and Cryptic Message
00:00:28
Speaker
Wait, Matty, do you hear that? What? Exactly. It's quiet. Too quiet. Oh my god, look over there. What is that? It looks like, oh my god, is that a UFO? Get with the times, they call them UAPs now. And look, something's coming out of it. It's just as green as the grass around us. It wants to say something.
00:00:55
Speaker
It's April 3rd, Run 22, 8 a.m. at Terrifying Volume 2. I am the writing on the wall, the whisper in the classroom.
Marjorie Greene's Message and Call to Action
00:01:13
Speaker
I'm Marjorie Greene, and I approve this message to save America, stop socialism, and stop China. Say goodbye, we honor thee from life to death. Arise!
00:01:25
Speaker
in real life. Doubters, the Doomsters, the Gloomsters, they are going to get it wrong. All up in the movies. Where are you going to go? Where are you going to run? Where are you going to hide? Nowhere. Because there's no one like you left. What do we want? Justice! When do we want it? Now! Let's go! What are you waiting for, huh?
00:01:56
Speaker
I want you to know that the movement we started is only just beginning.
Viral Video and Alien Talk
00:02:05
Speaker
Just about quarter to five and take a look at this viral video from La Junta in southeastern Colorado. All right, Vivian Gomez wrote on Facebook that her security camera captured this on Sunday morning. There are people on Facebook who say it looks like Dobby from Harry Potter or a ghost or an alien or a kid in flip flops and underwear. We think it looks like Lisa doing her Sunday morning dance. I don't know. Lisa, were you in La Junta on Sunday? I know she was out of town. Give it away.
00:02:32
Speaker
The video has been seen by 11 million people. That's going to be the new dance craze right there.
00:02:39
Speaker
Welcome to another episode of Friday the 13th Horror Podcast. My name is Matty. And my name is Andrew. And if this is your first time with us here on Friday the 13th Horror Podcast, this is the podcast that talks about horror. Horror in real life and in the movies from a queer perspective. We are very happy to have you with us for our 120 second episode all about aliens, one of our favorite
00:03:07
Speaker
topics in the world. This is our second edition of this. The last time that we talked about this specific topic was probably two years ago, three years ago? It was 2020. I looked it up yesterday. Four years ago. Remember 2020? Remember that year?
00:03:25
Speaker
I'd rather not. It's almost as though we have been abducted by aliens that year and plopped back on Earth. I don't know. It was a very, very strange year that was. But anyways, 2024 is very different. We have a great show planned for you today. We're going to talk about some UFOs and aliens and abductions and UAPs and blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, some really good stuff. And we've got two great films that we're talking about. Of course, we could not skip out on alien films.
00:03:52
Speaker
first time we're talking about it on the show, very happy. Can't believe we've gotten this far without talking about it. I know it's kind of crazy. And also Mars attacks a fun little weird, very, very, very weird romp from 1996.
Weather, Social Media, and Mental Health
00:04:06
Speaker
So Andrew, how's it going for you over there? Everything good?
00:04:10
Speaker
Yeah, nothing really that spooky going on. It's that time here in Chicago where we're getting all the nice weather and summer is right around the corner and patios are opening up and it's the good time in the Midwest these days. It's a good time. I feel you.
00:04:29
Speaker
It's the good time over here in Northern Europe as well. It's sunny days here finally in Ireland, which is nice. It never gets too hot here, but it gets really sunny. In fact, one of the things I've had to really learn is in Chicago, I really wouldn't wear sunscreen all that often, to be honest.
00:04:53
Speaker
Which is not good. I know it, but I just didn't. And I would like tan and I'd be fine. But because we're so much farther north here, like when the sun is out, the sun fucking sizzles your ass. So like, you have to wear the sunscreen. I've had to really remind myself lately. But God, it's so good to see the sun. Sweet Jesus, Andrew. I feel like I haven't seen it in ages. So yeah, it's really good. And I'll tell you what else is really good, Andrew.
Patreon and Engagement Strategy
00:05:20
Speaker
It's been really good talking to people on Patreon.
00:05:23
Speaker
Oh, yes. I had a group chat. The group chat is like surprisingly like giving me like new life. I don't know what sizzling sizzling me like the sun. It's like it's like baking me in a good way. I'm going to be a very nice cake by the end of it. It's wonderful. So listen, folks, if you are looking for a way to connect with us, if you're a longtime listener and with other people who listen to Friday the 13th horror podcast, you can do that on Patreon. Andrew, give them the details for how they do that.
00:05:53
Speaker
Yeah, if you just go to either frage13.com slash support or search for us on Patreon, you can sign up there. I don't know the ins and outs completely. I think you can sign up for free and join the chat. You might have to donate a dollar to join the chat. I'm not really sure of the logistics on the other end.
00:06:14
Speaker
Maybe we'll poll the people in the chat and see like how they're accessing it. It's a new thing for Patreon. It's kind of like a Discord. So I think that they're still working out the details on it.
Belief in Alien Visitation
00:06:25
Speaker
But essentially what we've been doing is we have one general chat where if people just want to like chat or talk about the show or talk about anything really or whatever. Yeah.
00:06:34
Speaker
And then we also do a separate chat for each episode. So if there was something in the episode you wanted to ask us a question about, or if you wanted further clarification about something we said, you can put it in there. So kind of cool to be able to connect with people that listen to the show on like a one-to-one basis.
00:06:51
Speaker
Yeah, totally agree. It's a, it's a, it's a feature that I did not expect them to launch. But like the reason why I bring it up is because like, look, social media just kind of sucks lately. Like, and it's so jumbled, like, you don't know, like we're being served. Everything's all over the place. Like you, you, you cannot escape like just the awfulness of the world on it anymore. And like, I don't know.
00:07:14
Speaker
When I was younger, I think I used to be able to handle that better. Now, I can't. I just can't deal with it anymore if I'm being completely honest with you. It's nice to be able to have a place where we all can chat that is far away from Twitter. I really, really appreciate that. Come on over and join us. It's a great thing. Andrew, UFOs and aliens, as you know, are things that are really, really special to me.
00:07:42
Speaker
As a survivor of seeing a UFO yes, I don't subscribe myself. I don't well I mean just listen you can listen to episode 121 if you want to the full story of Maddie's abduction
00:07:57
Speaker
Right, but you know look I mean it's something that from a very young age I've really been into and something that I also like it's not just like a thing that like is entertaining for me like I deeply believe that this planet is being visited and may already have alien life on it and I think it's it's something that is just in I
00:08:18
Speaker
incredibly fascinating, especially in recent years with all the videos that have been released, not from like Kooks on YouTube, but from like the Pentagon. You know what I mean? Like, I mean, this is serious shit and like they don't put that shit out there unless there's a reason to.
00:08:38
Speaker
So I sort of feel like we're finally approaching that territory of where I can finally say I told you so to people. We're on the precipice, I feel like. Yeah, it's like the edge. Andrew, I've been waiting for years to do it, waiting for years. So very exciting. Now, Andrew, you've got some really cool stuff to talk about today. What's on your daca for the show?
00:08:58
Speaker
Well, just going into maybe what you were talking about is like, so if we're being visited, then why don't aliens make their presence known? Good question. So there's a really good article I found on NBC that by Seth Shostak that talks about zoo hypothesis. Have you had any kind of access to this hypothesis before? I have. I have heard this hypothesis. It's one that I think is really, really fascinating to
00:09:29
Speaker
All right, so I'm going to kind of breeze through the article and then we can kind of talk through it.
Zoo Hypothesis and Alien Observation
00:09:35
Speaker
So ask your friends why scientists have failed to find extraterrestrials and you can be sure that at least one of them will offer you the following answer. Humans are not worthy.
00:09:45
Speaker
We're flawed beings. We routinely threaten each other, not to mention other species and the environment. That doesn't sound very civilized, and it offers a plausible explanation for the lack of alien contact. Perhaps the extraterrestrials know we're here, but don't want to deal with us. Neither do I. Either this idea is endlessly appealing. It's also old.
00:10:14
Speaker
In 1973, MIT radio astronomer John Ball published a paper in which he suggested the lack of success of uncovering a cosmic company. Oh, I like that. Cosmic company. Look at that alliteration. Goodness. Wasn't due to lack of aliens. It was because these otherworldly sentience have agreed to a hands-off policy.
00:10:43
Speaker
They've kept their distance not because we're imperfect, but because it's our right to pursue our own destiny. Diversity is something that everyone in the cosmos is assumed to value, so life-bearing worlds should be left to their own evolutionary development.
Aliens' View on Humans
00:11:01
Speaker
Ball went further proposing that we may live in a metaphorical zoo, a kind of cosmic Eden. The aliens of the galaxy have somehow arranged things so that our planet is shielded from them by one-way bars. They can observe us, but we can't observe them. Wow.
00:11:22
Speaker
And then this just continues to go on. I don't think I need to go into too much of it, but like I just wanted to kind of like throw this out there. Is this is this something that you subscribe to? Do you think that aliens are actually protecting this? And this episode is going to be a little more out there for us. Yeah, let's just put it that way. But I kind of just want to be in this kooky world for a minute.
00:11:44
Speaker
Yeah. I mean, I think that aliens are protecting us from other just to like observe us. Are we a science experiment to them? That's a great question. I think that my answer to all this is going to be I don't know. You know what I mean? But but I think it's fun to think about. So like I think this is a great hypothesis. I think going back to the original part of it where humans just aren't worthy. Right. I think is is something that is probably really probable. I mean, like
00:12:14
Speaker
Any civilization that has the technology and the know-how to travel across interstellar space is going to be so incredibly beyond where we are.
00:12:30
Speaker
that we look like cavemen to them, like absolute cavemen. And here we are thinking that we are the most advanced thing that has ever been thought of in the universe, and we are not. And we know that we're not now. We know that we're not because we are seeing, whether you believe it's aliens or not, we are seeing
00:12:52
Speaker
uh crafts like just go back to the pentagon videos which i think you're going to talk about soon yeah like you know go to those videos and watch them those things are not of this earth completely they don't exist anywhere they have technology that we have never seen before so we already know that we as a species are blown out of the water when it comes to this that's bar none that's just like written now so like why would the the aliens want us really
00:13:19
Speaker
you know why would they want to even interact with us and like you said in there it's sort of like a little bit of a star trek kind of thing it's like it's like the prime directive it's like you know we're gonna basically do no harm and we're also not gonna interfere in how these civilizations are but you are burgeoning or are or are evolving.
00:13:37
Speaker
So, I think it's a really interesting theory.
Congressional Hearings on UFOs
00:13:40
Speaker
Once again, who knows? It's a theory, it's not fact, of course. But I think it's a probable one. I mean, if I were looking at these poor helpless beings, I don't know. I might, out of pity, not want to squash them. And I also might not wanna poke around too much either. I mean, if I see them hurting each other so much,
00:14:04
Speaker
Like that article said, maybe I would be like, you know what, I don't want any part of that. I don't know. It's weird. Right. Well, it's interesting to think about like, just the, you know, earth as just like this sociological experiment for someone else, you know, to just like see like what we do.
00:14:25
Speaker
Um, because I mean, look at what we do. We slaughter each other daily. So it's, it's, it's, it's just insane. We are. God, we are awful. It's funny to think like, um, when I was, and we can, we'll get to this when we talk about the movie, but when I was watching Mars attacks and just like how the world leaders talk to each other is just like so different than well, how things are now. It's yeah.
00:14:50
Speaker
It's just so insane. But yeah, I kind of lend some credence to that theory just because like if there were out there, why wouldn't they make themselves known unless they just think like we are just like ants, you know what I mean? Like, yeah, we don't we don't really matter. You know, like how we look at ants is how they look at us and like, why bother? You know, we think of
00:15:15
Speaker
the earth as this grand thing full of minerals and oil and gas and all these things, but maybe in the grand scheme of things, none of it.
00:15:27
Speaker
I mean, it's true. It's absolutely true. And I mean, too, like, I mean, even like the resources part of it, like the arguments for like, well, they're going to come here and like, you know, basically gather our resources and go for the water or like whatever. Yeah. But I mean, it's like, I don't know. Maybe they've already evolved technology beyond that anyway. You know, like maybe they don't need any of our shit, really.
00:15:48
Speaker
Right. Like maybe maybe maybe we really are just interesting. Right. And a zoo. Yeah, that's it. Well, speaking of proof of existence, there was an interesting article released on July 26 of twenty twenty three. So that was just a little less than a year ago about the Congress hearing on UFOs. Oh, yeah.
00:16:15
Speaker
So this article is titled, here are the four most memorable moments from the Congress UFO hearings, and this is from NBC News. Three former military officials told Congress Wednesday that they believe the government knows much more about UFOs than it is telling the public.
00:16:33
Speaker
at a House Oversight Subcommittee held a hearing on UFOs officially known as Unidentified Aerial Phenomena, or UAPs, and hearing mystifying testimony about unexplained objects sightings in the government possession of non-human biological matter. So here are the four big things.
00:16:58
Speaker
Number one, the government is absolutely in possession of UAPs. David Grush, a former U.S. intelligence official, told the panel that he is absolutely certain that the federal government is in possession of UAPs. Citing interviews, he said he conducted with 40 witnesses over a four-year period.
00:17:19
Speaker
The former U.S. intelligence officer said that he led Defense Department efforts to analyze reported UAP sightings and was informed of a multi-decade Pentagon program that endeavored to collect and reconstruct crashed UAPs.
00:17:39
Speaker
You know, that just kind of goes on from there. The next one, number two, nonhuman biologics were found at a crash site. Groosch, who also underscored that he has not personally spotted a UAP, told the panel that he knows of, quote unquote, multiple colleagues who were injured by UAPs. He also said that he has interviewed individuals who have recovered nonhuman biologics from crashed UAPs. Groosch said that he prefers the term nonhuman
00:18:07
Speaker
rather than alien or extraterrestrial. I think that's pretty nice. Makes sense. Asked by Republican Eric Burlson of Missouri to substantiate the crashed UAP's claim, the former intelligence official said that he could not divulge specific details, once again claiming the information was too sensitive to share with the public.
00:18:30
Speaker
He did however describe the nature of what he saw.
Stigma in Reporting UFO Sightings
00:18:34
Speaker
I have to be quote unquote, I have to be very careful here. But what I personally witnessed myself and my wife was very disturbing. Damn, his wife saw it too. Well, and this is what I don't get is like,
00:18:48
Speaker
I don't really understand this like protect the public thing. You know what I mean? Yeah. I think that's weird. I think that, um, like if I remember correctly, like part of it too was like, he was like, he was worried that he would like break top secret stuff too if he said certain things. So like, I don't know. But I mean, you know, sometimes I think like, what if we did just like give in and totally trust the government? You know what I mean? And I don't, but you know what I mean? It's like,
00:19:15
Speaker
What if they really do have the information, and if we knew it, it would freak us the fuck out? Right. All right, number three, stigma associated with sightings silences possible witnesses. This I really, really believe in. Oh, totally. Some witnesses and lawmakers at the hearing argued that stigma associated with reporting UFO sightings, as well as the alleged harassment of those who work to investigate them, may be hindering efforts to determine their origins.
00:19:45
Speaker
Graves told the panel that stigma silences pilots who fear professional repercussions, which he said is compounded by recent government claims, questioning the credibility of eyewitness testimony. The Federal Aviation Administration has no mechanism for pilots to report UAPs and instead directs them to civilian groups, which are often dismissed as the domain of cranks and conspiracy theorists.
00:20:11
Speaker
I think that's what we've talked about a lot is the reason why there's so much hindrance of the truth, quote unquote, is that it's fundamentally rooted in conspiracy theory now. Totally. Honestly, it's one of the reasons why I talk about my experience.
Personal UFO Encounters
00:20:30
Speaker
I think
00:20:31
Speaker
A lot of people that I work with, for example, they follow me on Instagram, they follow me on Facebook or whatever, I don't know. But they saw the story that I posted about my story with my mom and about the tattoo that I got, right? And I did it because I wanted my friends and family to see it, but also I was thinking, you know what? It's great that those people see this. People that I work with, you know what I mean?
00:20:53
Speaker
I want them to read it because they look at me and they they respect me. You know what I mean? And they think that they think I'm a reasonable person and I'm pretty smart at work. And ultimately a truthful person and a truthful person. And now they also know Maddie had that experience. Wow. That's pretty wild. I think it's really important that people like us that have, you know, seen things or been a part of things that you talk about it because people need to know
00:21:16
Speaker
It's not a bunch of crackpots talking. This is real. Real life normal people have had these experiences. I mean, there are a lot of crackpots out there. Well, of course, too. We met some that one year in Indianapolis, but still, it's important that it gets out there.
00:21:33
Speaker
And then finally, number four, UFOs spotted accelerating to super spawn, sorry, supersonic speeds. David Fraver, a former Navy commander, said that he and three fellow military pilots spotted a white tic-tac shaped object in 2004 hovering below their jets and just above the Pacific Ocean. I think this is the one that we saw the video of, right? We did. Yeah, it's a wild video.
00:22:03
Speaker
As he descended into inspect the sighting, he claimed the unidentified aircraft, which he said bore no visible rotors, wings, or exhaust, began to ascend and approach his fighter jet. He claimed that the UAP vanished only to reappear a few seconds later, but this time it was spotted 60 miles away.
00:22:28
Speaker
Fraver told the committee that the technology he and his team encountered defies logical explanation. Quote, the technology that we faced is far superior to anything that we had. Fraver claimed, end quote, and there is nothing we can do about it. Nothing.
00:22:47
Speaker
It's wild. I think I've talked before about the podcast High Strange on here before. I'm pretty sure I have. Yeah, I think so. It's a Pain Lindsay podcast. It's wonderful. If I'm
00:23:03
Speaker
Not mistaken, David Fraver is on one of the episodes and it's really, really good and really well done. I would highly suggest if you haven't listened to that podcast, listen to it after you finish this episode, not right now, after this one.
00:23:20
Speaker
But there's just there's so much to dig into. I mean, like, you know, the the supersonic speeds thing with the tech tech video that goes back to the stigma part two. I mean, like the thing about pilots and their and their jobs is that like the minute that they say something like this, they pretty much lose their career. It's over. Right. And like people don't want to hire pilots who are saying they're seeing shit or doing this or doing that. And like you can kind of
00:23:50
Speaker
almost understand why. You don't want somebody in charge of either a military airplane which costs millions and millions of dollars for each one of them. Or you don't want a passenger airplane pilot
00:24:05
Speaker
like, basically, they might be delusional. So like, I mean, I can kind of understand why that happens. But it's not good, because these people are just they're like me that we I didn't see that shit, of course. But like, we both experience something that is not of this world. Great. So now you get stigma because of it. That doesn't make any sense. It's not fair. You know, it's it's very, very
Media Skepticism and Historical Cases
00:24:26
Speaker
weird. And that guy in particular, he had a rocky road. He gets really emotional on the on the Payne Lindsay podcast.
00:24:33
Speaker
Yeah. Well, and it just shows like, it's one of those things. It's like this weird thing that we have in our, um, you know, in our, in our society where we want to know more, but we associate more with crazy or make
00:24:51
Speaker
You know what I mean? It's this weird push and pull that we struggle with daily on anything kind of paranormal or extraterrestrial. We want proof, we want to know, but as soon as we do get that proof or that knowing, we constantly criticize it to the point where the people don't want to talk about it anymore.
00:25:12
Speaker
I just think it's weird that people are so reticent to believe things anymore. We have seen so many wonders of the world, so many wonders of just our solar system, so many amazing things that we cannot explain. And there's still people who are like, no, that's dumb, that doesn't exist. It's like, how the fuck do you know, motherfucker? Jesus.
00:25:34
Speaker
It's funny, I was going to report on this sighting from 2024 about a Miami mall that there was basically what happened. I'll just tell you the short story. Basically what happened is that these teens basically set off a bunch of fireworks and so then all these cops were called. So there was a bunch of like footage of like
00:25:55
Speaker
like the helicopter cameras and everything and like there was something caught on camera that people are like oh that's weird that looks like either like an alien or something and i was gonna report on it but everything that all the articles that i pulled up were also were all about how the internet was reacting to it.
00:26:12
Speaker
Like it was like all the tweets that people were criticizing it and like all this stuff. And I'm like, this is why we can't have nice things. This is why we can't have nice things. It's like all that's all journalism is now is just going to fucking Twitter and grabbing a screenshot. It's fucking weird. Andrew, thank you for that. Good stuff.
00:26:31
Speaker
I brought a piece in about the Pascagoula abductions, and this is in Pascagoula, Mississippi. You can see this on that new show on Netflix that is not Unsolved Mysteries. What is it called?
00:26:47
Speaker
Yeah, I watched it. It's like mysteries of the strange or something like that. And it was that there's an episode all about this. But what's interesting about about this particular story? Well, you know what? Actually, the the the the headline of the title says it all.
00:27:03
Speaker
The men claimed they were abducted by aliens. In Mississippi, police believed them. So this is from the Washington Post in 2019. I'll go ahead and read it for you. So here we go. What is certain about the night of October 11th, 1973 is this. When Charles Hixon and Calvin Parker Jr. arrived at the sheriff's department in Pascagoula, Mississippi,
00:27:26
Speaker
They were frantic. They told authorities they had just been abducted by aliens. Each had a puncture wound in one arm. Police tried to catch them in a lie, but it didn't work. Both men later passed polygraph tests. On Saturday, the riverbank where the men said the close encounter happened got a historical marker, calling it one of the best documented cases of alien abduction. After decades of avoiding media attention,
00:27:54
Speaker
Parker was there for the dedication. Hickson died in 2011. In 1973, Hickson was Parker's foreman at a shipyard. The two had gone fishing after work at an abandoned boat launch and were still there after the sun went down. I was just getting ready to get some more bait, Hickson told the Washington Post in 1975, God so long ago, when I heard a kind of zipping sound. I looked up and saw a blue flashing light.
00:28:22
Speaker
Calvin turned around too. We saw a 30-foot-long object with a little dome on top. As it hovered just above the ground, three small creatures emerged, also hovering, he said. The men were suddenly paralyzed. The creatures grabbed them with pincher-type claws and pulled them toward the object, he said.
00:28:43
Speaker
I floated inside, Parker told the Biloxi-san Herald in 2018. Hickson said that they were subjected to a physical examination by something that looked like a big eye, a constant mechanical sound buzzing the whole time. And then they were dropped off, right back in the dark delta where they started.
00:29:03
Speaker
Hickson found Parker standing up, arms raised at the sky, and screaming, he told the Post. They ran for help. At first, Sheriff's investigators thought the men had been drunk or lying. After interviewing the men, they left the room with a recorder secretly taping, hoping to catch the pair dropping the act once they left. But they didn't. They kept on talking about what they had seen and how scared they were.
00:29:31
Speaker
We did everything we knew to try to break their stories," Jackson County Sheriff's Captain Glenn Ryder told the Post in 75. If they were lying to me, they should be in Hollywood. Overnight, it was national news. There were news conferences and cameras thrust in their still-stunned faces. A UFO investigator from Northwestern University flew down and said that their story checked out.
00:29:55
Speaker
Skeptics called them liars or said Hixon had an episode of sleep paralysis with hypnagogic hallucinations, while Parker was highly suggestible. Believers flooded into Pascagoula by the thousands, wrapped in aluminum foil and sitting all night on the hoods of their cars, waiting for visitors from another world.
00:30:14
Speaker
Is the aluminum foil a thing? It just happened. Who knows? People just thought it looked funny probably. Hickson was 42 at the time and was well known in the community. So perhaps he felt more able to handle the media crush. He recounted the experience to anyone who would listen. He went on Johnny Carson and Dick Cavett. He published a book in 1983.
00:30:36
Speaker
Parker, on the other hand, was only 18 when it happened. He had just arrived in Pascagoula from an even smaller town and had planned to earn some extra money before returning home to get married. He told the media that he passed out at the beginning of the whole affair and couldn't remember what happened.
00:30:53
Speaker
That was the only lie he told, he said to the son Harold in 2018. In fact, he did remember what happened and was so afraid that aliens had infected him with something that when he got home from the sheriff's department, he took a bath in bleach. Oh my God. Within a few weeks, he skipped town. He got married, picked up work in oil fields. If someone had a job, recognized him, he would quit. If Hixon was trying to get rich from the story, it didn't work.
00:31:21
Speaker
Parker told the son Harold that before Hickson's death in 2011, he occasionally paid the older man's electric bill. Parker, now in his sixties, slowly came out of hiding in recent years, and in 2018, he published a book of his own. In March, as the city was discussing plans for the new marker, new witnesses emerged, telling the Mississippi Clarion Ledger that on the night in question, they saw an unidentified flying object with flashing blue lights going up and down the Pascagoula River.
00:31:50
Speaker
They said they kept it secret all these years because they were afraid of people's reactions. One of them, Maria Blair, told the ledger, this story is very true. That's what has bothered me for 45 years. It's been on my mind for 45 years. How about that? Crazy wild. And, you know, it's funny, like, I mean, I had watched it, but I guess I sort of like missed the fact that like the one guy was so much older and the guy the other guy was only 18 years old.
00:32:19
Speaker
I mean, think about that. He lived with that for so long. From 1974 all the way until like 2018 basically, he was really holding on to that and finally let it go. And it's like, you know, a guy like that in his 60s, you know, he's in the latter years of his life.
00:32:37
Speaker
he's got nothing to gain from this. You know what I mean? And that's, I'm sure he made a little bit of money from that book, but come on. He didn't make that much money. So that's what gives the story to me a little bit more credence is that like, he didn't try to exploit the story for cash. Yeah.
00:32:55
Speaker
But that's crazy. I don't know if we'll ever, in our lifetime, I'm hopeful that we'll get some sort of truth from the government.
00:33:10
Speaker
I don't know if we will, though, because the weird thing about the government is that it feels like hiding this information is, quote unquote, protecting the public.
Government Disclosure and Speculation
00:33:20
Speaker
So I don't know. We'll see. I don't have any experience, unfortunately, with non-human, as they put it. Not yet. Not yet, Andrew.
00:33:34
Speaker
But maybe I will. I don't know. I definitely have some paranormal things that have happened to me that I've talked about on the show for sure. But I've yet to see distinguishing evidence of extraterrestrials. But I believe my good brother, Maddie, has has been telling the truth over all these years, because guess what? I heard that story about 12 years ago when I met him. Amen. It's not just like
00:34:00
Speaker
He's sharing the story for the podcast's sake. It's been in the zeitgeist since I've known him. I've been I've been telling the same story since I was a kid. And, you know, I do think we're going to I do think we're going to finally get it in our lifetime. I do. I think that I think that the way that we capture information now, it's getting better and better and better. And I think that there's just going to be enough proof eventually
00:34:27
Speaker
that people won't be able to deny it any longer. And I think with the advancements in just cameras in general, maybe that's why we're not being visited as much is because of the enhancement of everyone having a phone in their pocket that could capture video or photo evidence at any time.
00:34:50
Speaker
Who knows? There could be a freaking alien council that's like, oh, the humans can see us now. We can't go there anymore. So stay within your distance. There's a law that extraterrestrials can't come within X amount of miles. Now they know. They'll know. Don't get too close.
00:35:12
Speaker
Yeah, I love this topic. Talk about it all fucking day. Andrew, should we end it here and move on? Yeah, I think we should take a break and come right back with what you've been watching, bitch.
Podcast Transition and Personal Updates
00:35:26
Speaker
Let's all go to the lobby. Let's all go to the lobby. Let's all go to the lobby to get ourselves a treat.
00:35:38
Speaker
Welcome back. It's time for the segment that we do every episode except for when we do Christians and Answers. It's what you've been watching, bitch. What you've been watching, you non-human bitch. And this is the part of the show where we talk about what we've been watching. Or for this episode, maybe what we've had our eyeballs on. Because, listen. Or ears, too.
00:35:59
Speaker
Yeah, we've been we've been a little under the underwhelmingly not watching a lot. So here's where we're at. Yeah. Yeah. So what are your what are your ear balls and eyeballs been watching? Right. So usually this segment is filled with just like
00:36:17
Speaker
either movies or TV shows that we watch. But we just recorded our last episode last week. And so I was telling Andrew before we started recording, like, I literally haven't had time to watch anything this week at all. All that I've done is finished The Wire, which I already talked about. And then I watch these two movies because I just had a really crazy week. So I decided that I would talk about some albums that I have been revisiting lately.
00:36:43
Speaker
And so the first one that I have for you is Sublime by Sublime. Now, Sublime is one of my favorite bands. I absolutely love them. They are just ridiculous, old, California-like punk slash reggae slash ska, and I've always loved them.
00:37:05
Speaker
And if you don't know who Sublime is, which I would find it hard to believe, but maybe you don't, you would probably know the song What I Got, which is probably their most famous song, I would say, or Loser or Loser or 40 Ounces to Freedom or a bunch of other songs. You know, the reason why I thought about them recently, though, is because I saw a picture from Coachella
00:37:26
Speaker
of Jacob Noel, who is the son of Bradley Noel. And Bradley Noel, of course, was the lead singer of Sublime, who died from a heroin overdose in 1996. And I think his son was only a year, maybe, maybe two years old. I can't remember how old he was when his father died. And so now Jacob is the new lead singer of Sublime.
00:37:52
Speaker
And so I didn't know that. Yeah, they're sort of like reformed as of last year. And like they're doing they're not doing like a huge tour or anything, but like they're doing like Coachella and like festivals like that. So and like I heard number number one, he is. Jacob is extremely good looking, number one. But number two, he sounds just like his dad. And like that was really emotional to see. Number one, like it's like super emotional to see.
00:38:20
Speaker
And I read this great Rolling Stone article that was an interview with him, just talking about his childhood and everything after Bradley died. And his mom really tried hard, but he was like, look, I had a crazy childhood. It was just like California, white trash, constant partying, drugs everywhere, booze everywhere. His mom's friends were just sex workers and drug dealers, basically. And he just had a crazy life.
00:38:48
Speaker
and he was addicted to drugs himself until he turned 21 and then he got sober and he's been sober I think for like eight years now or something and like it was really nice to read that and like know that like maybe he's broken the cycle do you know what I mean?
00:39:06
Speaker
and like he's like gotten out of that and you know like look his his dad made mistakes people make those mistakes parents make mistakes all the time but it was it was cool to read about how he's like forgiving his dad and he's on to it and he's ahead he has his own band outside of sublime it was just lovely
00:39:22
Speaker
So that just got me into it and got me back into Sublime, which I fucking love. The Sublime Sublime album is one of the best things ever made. It gets you in the right mood. If you really listen to the lyrics, you can dive deep into what was really going on too beyond just the fun of it. So I don't know. I've really enjoyed listening to it again. It's so much fun. Sublime.
00:39:46
Speaker
Cool. My first one is Mother of the Bride. This is on Netflix. It is the new Brooke Shields vehicle. Listen, this movie is not very good. It's very, it's very milquetoast. It's very, very, very just.
00:40:10
Speaker
I don't know, like nothing. Just don't watch it. I'm so sorry. I'm not going to watch it. Yeah, I love. I love Brooke Shields. I know this just is not it. And the girl that so it's it follows a very typical father of the bride. I was going to say, is it in the father of the bride like universe or something? Well, it's like it's just like kind of like a modern retelling, but it's from the mother of the bride.
00:40:36
Speaker
But the woman that plays her daughter, the person that is getting married, is such a fucking brat that it is so hard for you to get behind her being like, my mom's crazy. But it's just like the people that came out for this movie, it's like Chad Michael Murray makes an appearance.
00:41:00
Speaker
What is his name? I'm forgetting his name from Miss Congeniality, that guy. He comes back, which I have not seen him in forever. And it's just like, why did you come back for this script? Because this ain't it, buddy. And I wasted an hour and a half. So don't do that.
00:41:19
Speaker
Wow. That does not sound good, Andrew. It does. Yeah. My next album is Under the Table in Dreaming from Dave Matthews Band. Now, it was a few weeks ago here in Dublin at Three Arena that one of my best friends, Bridget, came in with her husband, Robin, and we all went to the Dave Matthews Band show in Dublin.
00:41:43
Speaker
Now, look, I have not been to a DMV show in a very long time. Like I was like in college the last time that I went. And I've always loved Dave Matthews. But like Dave Matthews is like the soundtrack to college for me, for sure. And we all fucking loved it. Pretty much all my friends did.
00:42:01
Speaker
And so like we loved going to those shows and it was wonderful. But like the last time that I went to a show was like when I was like a kid kind of, you know, so like it was very different experience this time. I got to tell you, it's fucking great, man. Like number one. Well, one of the funniest things about the show is that I don't think there were any Irish people there at all. It was pretty much all Americans at the show. Like everyone around me was American. And that was honestly pretty funny.
00:42:31
Speaker
Dave Matthews, thankfully, draws in a crowd of people that are not assholes. Generally, it's a bunch of stoners or people that just want to chill out and they love the music, they follow it around like it's the Grateful Dead and they just are into it. During the show, a really good song called Crush from Dave Matthews comes on.
00:42:58
Speaker
And next to me, this guy taps me on the shoulder, and he gives me a bracelet that he made that says, crush on it, and it's pink with beads and shit. It's one of those Taylor Swift bracelets, you know what I mean? He gives it to me and he goes, and he's older, he goes,
00:43:17
Speaker
That's the song. Have this bracelet. And then he gave me a big hug. And I was like, this is great. So I put that on and like, listen, I had had like two edibles. I was definitely in the zone. You know what I mean? It was a great show. Anyways, of course, before the show and then and then in the weeks following now, I've been listening to Under the Table and Dreaming, which is not the first album from the band, but it's it's it's probably they're they're like they're the one that really propelled them into
00:43:45
Speaker
into stardom and it came out in 1994 for god's sake that's so long ago i was 12 years old when that came out not even 12 um and uh it's full of amazing music and um you know the thing about it too is like i was texting my brother uh michael who's another big fan
00:44:01
Speaker
And I forget which song it was right now. It might have been Dancing Nancy's or, oh no, no, it was Warehouse. And, well, maybe not. There was something else. Anyways, it was one of the songs. There was a song that like mentioned something about a mother and it was this great, great line. And I was like, God, why isn't this like a bigger song for like Mother's Day or something? And he was like, God, you know, he's like, he's a great songwriter. Like it's not just like, you know, kind of catchy licks. It's like he writes amazing lyrics.
00:44:29
Speaker
And I gotta tell you, when that concert opened, and it opened up with a song called Pig, which is a great little tune, and as soon as that song started playing, I was transported back to 2003, and it's my junior year in college, and I'm walking outside to the backyard to have a party,
00:44:49
Speaker
and all my friends are there, and it was just wonderful. And his music just does that to you. It transports you, and it's wonderful, and it's chill, and it gets you moving. It's lovely. It's lovely. So listening to Under the Table and Dreaming again has been so much fun. Actually, I ordered the vinyl, got it on discogs for a fair price, and it was a wonderful purchase. I'm really glad that I did. So that's my second album, Under the Table and Dreaming, Dave Matthews Band.
00:45:18
Speaker
Cool. If listeners want to hear a funny story about Dave Matthews band in Chicago, just look up Chicago, Dave Matthews band tour bus. Yeah. Yeah. Wait, what year was that? Oh, I don't know. It was like late nineties, early two thousands. Oh man. That is, that is a legendary story in Chicago. If you don't know that, Google it right now. Google it. It's, it's, it's fucking hilarious. All right. My next one I'm going to, my next two are about one of my favorite authors of all time, Christopher Pike.
00:45:49
Speaker
fall into darkness. This is this is the only adaptation besides The Midnight Club that has been adapted into a movie by Christopher Pike. Nice. I found this on to be. This was a lifetime movie. So take that for what it is. Oh, my goodness. This is the story about a girl who's kind of like a, you know, a goody two shoes type of girl who's trying to get into college. Like me.
00:46:21
Speaker
And she moves to a new town and falls in with like kind of the popular crowd and stuff happens and this girl falls off of a cliff and basically she gets blamed for it. And the whole book is about like her trying to prove her innocence about like what happened to this girl and what really happened. I don't want to give too much away because there is a pretty big twist just like with every Christopher Pike book.
00:46:43
Speaker
But what was fun about this and going back and watching the movie, which I had never seen before, is guess who the leads are? Who?
00:46:50
Speaker
Jonathan Brandis. What? No way. And Tatiana Ali. Whoa. Blow me over. Oh, my God. If that piques your interest at all. I mean, listen, is it a lifetime movie from the 90s? Yeah. Like, so, you know, harness your expectations a little bit. But let's in peace, Jonathan Brandis. I know. Sequest. So sad. God, you're so cute.
00:47:18
Speaker
Um, but this was just like a fun, because like, listen, I am a, like, like we talked about in the last episode, I am a product of a single mom. And so like lifetime movies were kind of like a staple in our household. And movies like single white female, like that, those were just like,
00:47:36
Speaker
Those were the movies we watched. And and this brought me right back to that time of of an era of lifetime movies. And so it was really fun to see a Christopher Pike book adapted into a movie. It was really fun to see Jonathan Brandis and Tatiana Lee on screen together. And so if you have a little extra time, I think it's like under 90 minutes on to be you can watch fall into darkness. What year did that come out?
00:48:02
Speaker
Oh, like 95, 96. It's like right before he died. That's wild. God, rest in peace, Jon. That makes me so sad now thinking about that. Ladybugs was one of my favorite movies growing up. Ladybugs, oh my god, so good, so good. My next album is New Sound from Italy, and this is from the Basso Waldembrini octet.
00:48:24
Speaker
Um, I bought this album in, um, in Florence when I was just there on holiday recently. Um, which by the way, if you've never been to, uh, Florence, let me tell you, go there. It's fucking incredible. It's a beautiful, beautiful city and the food will knock you the fuck out. I had fucking Panini, Andrew, that made me cry. It was, yeah, you talked about it. Oh, did I? I'm still talking about it, but it's okay.
00:48:51
Speaker
But listen, that's how it sticks with you. You know what I mean? It really does work with you. Anyways, so there was a wonderful little, but one of my last nights there, we were walking to this bar and I just happened to notice this little jazz record shop. And I was like, oh my God, I have to go in there.
00:49:10
Speaker
So my friends went on and I would meet them in a minute and I went into the little shop and I grabbed, I was just looking for something there because I didn't want to like, I didn't want to like bring a bunch of shit back from this trip because I just, I already had a very full suitcase. I'm a bad banger. But I saw just what I wanted to get. And it is this album called New Sound from Italy from the Basso Waldenbrini Octet. It's from 1959, I believe.
00:49:37
Speaker
reissued in 2021, and I got the LP at that store. And the reason why I got it is because, I mean, number one, I love jazz. But beyond that, and I really love Italian jazz. It's just really, really good shit. But on this one, it opens up with Indiana. And if you know the tune, Back Home Again in Indiana, Back Home Again in Indiana,
00:50:04
Speaker
that that's it and it's a it's a great little jazz Diddy and it's so much fun and like as someone from Indiana who was in Italy looking at this album I was like well I kind of have to buy this now don't I so I bought it and it's lovely it's so so good
00:50:19
Speaker
I'm one of those weirdos that still just fucking loves jazz a lot. If you're into jazz, if you're into pretty good horny jazz, I think you would probably like this quite a bit. It's wonderful. The other songs on there would be, There Will Never Be Another You, or Yeah, There Will Never Be Another You, How About You, Fata Morgana, Blues for Gas Man, Fascinating Rhythm, How About You, Peter of April. So it's a lovely one.
00:50:45
Speaker
If you're looking for something just new for especially if you if you collect vinyl This is a great one to get because I think most people don't have it to be honest So it's a wonderful one to listen to and like like any good jazz album It's great for like a Saturday night Sunday night kind of thing open up a bottle of wine make a steak You know hang out on your balcony kind of thing. It's good for that kind of shit pop an edible. You know what I mean? Yeah, cool Yeah, that's that one
00:51:12
Speaker
All right, my next one is a book by Christopher Pike. I have made it a personal mission to track down hand like real copies of Christopher Pike books on like this mission of yours. It's a great mission, Andrew, truly.
00:51:27
Speaker
And so I finally got my hands on monster, which is like one of if you don't know Christopher Pike, you would know like this is like one of the books that would come up first, like as like one of the big ones. And so I've actually never read it. So I sat down last Sunday and started reading it.
00:51:44
Speaker
I'm about halfway through right now. And this book is great. Like, just to give you a little bit of a sampling, Maddie, this book opens up with a high school party where a girl walks in with a shotgun and starts. She is she target. She's targeting three people and she kills two of them. And one of the one one of the guy gets away. And then the rest of the book so far is trying to figure out why she did this. And why was she targeting these three? Well, that's insane.
00:52:12
Speaker
And so really fun read. I will report back when I finish it likely this weekend. But just been loving going back and rereading and rewatching some of the formative things that made me the little human that I am.
00:52:29
Speaker
That's really cool, Andrew. Seriously, it's fun when we have these little dorky, nerdy missions, you know what I mean? And that's a cool one, so I love doing it. I can't wait for you to finish that mission. How many more books do you need? Oh, God, so many more. There's so many. Just do it. Do what I do, Andrew, and get really stoned and then just buy things at night. That's it. Oh, I do. It's fine.
00:52:56
Speaker
It's funny. It's funny. It's funny because like the listing price on these books is on the book. And so it's like the book at the time in the 90s was like three ninety nine. And now I'm paying like nine, ten dollars. You know what? That's that's the joy of having jobs that pay us good money. We can spend it on whatever the fuck we want. You know. Yeah. My final album that I bring to you in my what you've been watching, bitch, or what you've been listening, bitch, in this case is a classic. It is so from Peter Gabriel.
00:53:26
Speaker
Good one. This has to be in the top 10 albums of all time. I'm sorry. It's absolutely fucking incredible. It's funny, the year it came out was 1987 basically. Well, 1986.
00:53:41
Speaker
But it would have been up in the Grammys in 1987, right? And it was up against incredible albums. It lost to Paul Simon's Graceland, which I think is probably the right move. But I mean, think about that. Two seminal albums, Graceland and So were out in the same year. How crazy is that, you know?
00:54:01
Speaker
So if you don't know what's on so from Peter Gabriel or if the only Peter Gabriel you know is like from Disney movies This is the one you need to listen to it opens up with a song called red rain, which is really incredible It's really deep and then it goes into one of Peter Gabriel's most classic tracks of all times Sledgehammer, which is just a fucking awesome sexy wonderful song. It's so cool music video, too. I
00:54:26
Speaker
Oh, great music video. It's wonderful. And then if you flip it over on the side too, because I do have the LP, what does it open up with? Maybe one of the best love songs of all fucking time in your eyes. And I don't know about you, but when I hear in your eyes, I pretty much start crying every time. And I have to. Me too. That's a very emotional one. Oh, it's so good. I have to listen to the entire song. And also,
00:54:54
Speaker
In Your Eyes is just like one of those songs that lends itself so well to covers, you know what I mean? So like, there's so many great covers out there of the song too, with like, you know, not necessarily like a new interpretation, but just like a new way to hear it. And I really appreciate that. I think it's really cool. And it's just, it's incredible. And you know, there's some other wonderful songs on there too. But I mean, it is, it's just such a wonderful, beautiful album. Peter Gabriel is a fucking genius.
00:55:21
Speaker
And this is just it's like I said, it's up there in my top 10 for sure. And it's an it's an LP that I'm really, really glad that I own. So that's my final album for this episode. So from Peter Gabriel. Cool. My last one just premiered yesterday. So it's on Paramount Plus. It is RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars. Nine. Whoa. And it's funny because it's who's who's on it. I can give you the cast list right now. It is Angeria.
00:55:51
Speaker
Gottmik, Georgis, Nina West, Plastique Tiara, Roxy Andrews, Chanel, and Vanessa Vanjie Mateo. Okay. So what's funny is that Chanel, who is from season one of RuPaul's Drag Race, is competing again and has been doing this for like, I think she said 27 years. So just think about that.
00:56:18
Speaker
That's all. When did the windows? Oh, wait, when did Dragwace Dragwace? When did Dragwace one come out at the very first season? Like mid 2000s, because I remember watching it when I was like out of college because it's it's I mean, it's been on for a long time. It's been on for, you know, probably like 15, 16 years. Wow. Crazy. But just think how big it's gotten.
00:56:40
Speaker
Yeah, that's the crazy thing. It's wild. It's really wild. And so I was like, I was, I saw this cast list and I was like, I don't know, not really like totally into anybody, but like I went into it. They released the first two episodes on Paramount Plus and like I was kind of like, I was like, okay, I'm going to watch this and if I don't get pulled in, I'm probably not going to watch the rest of the season. But then what they did is this season, they're all playing for charity.
00:57:09
Speaker
Oh, that's nice. And so I was like, OK, I'm pulled back in like, you know, that's a nice change. I'm glad to hear that. Yeah. So like, but just think about that. Like these drag queens have gotten so famous that now they can play for charity. That's just insane.
00:57:24
Speaker
And that's like, you know, back to our conversation we had with Peaches Christ back in our drag episode is just like this is why people are like up in arms is because like drag queens are finally successful and like the people are mad about it. And I'm just like, so people just have money. Like it's we all just want better lives. And unfortunately, when you live in a capitalistic society, that means you need more money to live better lives. So let's just let people do their thing. And listen,
00:57:54
Speaker
Nobody ever... whatever. I'm not gonna get into it. Anyway, RuPaul's Drag Race all starts now. It's what I've been watching. Well, Andrew, that was a wonderful what you've been listenin', watchin', readin', uh, bitch, uh, segment. Um, uh, we'll give ourselves a little bit more time in between episodes next time, and maybe I'll have some things to watch, to watch then, I promise you. This was a fun little mix-up, though. This is fun. It's fun to bring other things because, like, yeah, we don't just watch shit all the time.
00:58:23
Speaker
You know, like we do, we do other shit too. We do do stuff. We do. We have real lives too. Okay. Um, so Andrew brought us mother of the bride on Netflix. He said that you should not watch that. So don't, um, fall into darkness on to be monster by Christopher Pike and RuPaul's drag way. God, I could not talk today. RuPaul's drag race. All stars nine.
00:58:47
Speaker
And Matty has been listening to a bunch of stuff. He brought us Sublime by Sublime, Under the Table and Dreaming by Dave Matthews Band. New Sound from Italy by Bessel Waldabrini. Yeah, that was pretty good. Yeah, you got it. And so by Peter Gabriel. So folks, we'll take a break here and we'll come right back with our first film of the episode, Alien. As soon as you may have figured out we're not home yet,
00:59:16
Speaker
Only halfway there. Mother's intercepted a transmission of unknown origin. You got us up to check it out. Human. I know. Life form. Wait a minute, this movement.
00:59:46
Speaker
What happened to Kane? I don't think you can attach yourself to him. We have to deal with him clearly right away. What the hell is that? Oh, we gotta get it off him. You've got a wonderful defense mechanism. You don't dare kill it. Jesus.
01:00:18
Speaker
There's gotta be a way of killing it. Sorry. You still don't understand what you're dealing with, do you? Perfect focus. Get out of the way!
01:00:55
Speaker
Believe it or not, we're talking about Ripley in Get It. Ripley's believe it or not. Get it? Yeah. All right. Forget it. Anyways, Andrew, tell us about Alien. In space, no one can hear you scream. During its return to the Earth, commercial spaceship Nostromo intercepts a distress signal from a distant planet.
01:01:15
Speaker
When a three-member team of the crew discovers a chamber containing thousands of eggs on the planet, a creature inside one of the eggs attacks the explorer. The entire crew is unaware of the impending nightmare set to descend upon them when the alien parasite planted inside its unfortunate host is birthed. Directed by Ridley Scott, written by Dan O'Bannon and Ronald Schusett, production and distribution were handled by 20th Century Fox.
01:01:45
Speaker
Dallas is played by Tom Scarrett, which always reminds me of that one comedian on YouTube shoes. Because his mouth is always obsessed with Tom Scarrett. That's so funny. I'm sorry. I did not expect that today. You're right.
01:02:02
Speaker
Ripley is played by Sigourney Weaver. Lambert is played by Veronica Cartwright. Brett is played by Harry Dean Stanton. Kane is played by John Hurt. Ash is played by Ian Holm. Parker is played by Yafit Cotto. Alien is played by Bola Hee Bandejo.
01:02:19
Speaker
And Mother is played by Helen Horton. Rated R, this comes in at 117 minutes. The locations included the back lots of London and Surrey in the United Kingdom. This was released on May 25th of 1979 with a budget of, oh my God, it was only $11 million. Isn't that insane?
01:02:37
Speaker
and brought in $185 million. I'll talk about why I'm so surprised by that budget in a little bit here, but Maddie, is this your first time with Alien and what were your initial thoughts? It is not. I love the Alien franchise in general. I mean, like any other franchise, there are going to be parts of it that feel a little bit like not right for you. You know what I mean?
01:03:00
Speaker
Um, but alien is a solid start to a wonderful franchise. Um, I think it was, it was incredible to watch again. I haven't watched it in a few years, I think. I mean, and, um, and I haven't watched any of the aliens. So not even like Prometheus or anything like that. Um, and this is, uh,
01:03:19
Speaker
It's just it's just it's just so good starting with just the cast, right? I mean like you've got Tom Scarritt, you've got Sigourney Weaver, you've got Ian Holm, you've got John Hurt, Harry Dean Stanton, Veronica Cartwright, Jaffa Cotto. I mean you've got people that are sort of like in like the prime, not the prime, but like the early prime of their careers. Does that make sense? And so like, go ahead, go ahead, go ahead.
01:03:44
Speaker
No, what I appreciated about this this cast is like, I miss when we used to cast things with real people. And I mean, that is like, what do you mean? I mean, that is like, these are not like shiny people. These are not like, you know, like interesting. Yeah. Like these are not like plumped up shiny people. These are like normal looking people. You know what I mean? I do. I do. But you know, whether that was just the style then or whether it was just like, you know, more of the choice of whatever, but like,
01:04:13
Speaker
I think you're absolutely right. These look like, they look like real people. And to be fair, moving on into the franchise in Aliens and Alien 3, it kind of remains the same, especially in Aliens, which of course is part two, where we get Bill Paxton, rest in peace, you know what I mean? And some other great people, incredible stuff. But I mean, look, this movie is fantastic.
01:04:35
Speaker
It explores the creation of, not the creation of, but it allows for the creation of a different type of alien in the whole, like just movie, in movies in general, right? There hadn't been an alien like this before. I mean, think about the alien that Dan O'Bannon who wrote the screenplay and Ridley Scott and all these amazing people that made this shit happen.
01:05:01
Speaker
Think about the alien that they created. It's fucking terrifying. It is a being that is so, and Ian Holmes says it in the film, it's so far superior to humans in so many ways. You can't beat it, you can't kill it. It's fucking blood is acid, for God's sake. Even if you do find a way to hurt it in some way, your ass is probably gonna get hurt by it while you're doing it.
01:05:24
Speaker
and the way that it recreates itself with these insane eggs made of leather that have face huggers in them and that implant themselves into a host body. I mean, it's terrifying, this alien. And that was one thing in the movie, too, that I kind of forgot was actually how scary it is. And I don't know about you, but the part where Tom Scarrett is in that little bitty tiny
01:05:49
Speaker
The air shafts. The corridor air shaft, yeah. When that fucking alien is on the other side, bam, and you get it, I fucking jumped. I almost screamed. I forgot how scary that moment was. And so I think that's just the thing is this movie took aliens from being little green men to being gigantic, shiny monsters and ones that you are really terrified of because you have no idea how the fuck you're going to survive if they're around you.
01:06:17
Speaker
And I think that's sort of the genius of it. I think that from top to bottom, the cast works. I think Sigourney Weaver is a weird actress. There's just no way around it. She's got a voice that never really changes no matter what movie she's in. And she just kind of always plays herself in one way or another. There's not a whole lot of difference to her.
01:06:39
Speaker
And that's kind of it here, but it's iconic here. The creation of Ripley as one of the biggest and best heroines in the horror genre is incredible. And it wouldn't have happened in any other way except with her.
01:06:55
Speaker
And I don't know about you, but just really quick on that, though, digging into like the trivia on this, the role was maybe going to be Veronica Cartwright's. Isn't that crazy? And also they had originally thought of Ripley as a man for it. Imagine how different this would have been. Number one, if it was a guy, I don't think it would have worked. And number two, if Veronica Cartwright had played it, no way. But Sigourney Weaver, there's just something about her, you know?
01:07:24
Speaker
Well, yeah, and I think that just a playoff of that is like you don't really consider Ripley the quote unquote hero of the movie until halfway through like.
01:07:36
Speaker
She's kind of just another member of the crew, you know what I mean? And an unlikely hero almost, you know? And that's what's so cool about it is like, yeah, that's sort of like the final girl that we love is the one who like, you don't expect it. You don't expect it to be them. And then all of a sudden it is. It's the one who saves the cat. Right. And so I mean, like, look, I could go on and on and on, but we'll talk more in depth here. But you know, how do you feel about it?
01:07:59
Speaker
So, yeah, this is obviously not a first time watch for me, but I'm not as alien verse, maybe as you are. I've seen them all and I've seen all the new ones and I've seen the alien versus predator and da da da da. But I've never like I've never watched it critically. So watching it this time critically was an interesting watch because first off, I forgot that this movie is over two hours long. Yeah, it's like.
01:08:28
Speaker
And then I also kind of forgot that you don't really get into the alien stuff until about 54 minutes in. Yeah, because it's all about like their life on the ship and like how they're waking up and how like the distress signal and like there's a lot of nuance in this in this movie surrounding the cast and how they interact with each other. For instance, I think it's Kane and Parker.
01:08:54
Speaker
I think are the two that are kind of like buddy, buddy in the air shot, like fixing things. And they kind of play off of each other as like puppet and master, because the one guy just like Parker, I think, is the one that is kind of like very sexist. Like he says things like, why the hell is she coming down here for better not get in my way? Or what does he say in the dinner scene? He said, I'd rather be eating something else. And he looks right at Veronica. And I'm like, and the other guy is kind of his puppet of like, right. Oh, yep. He like.
01:09:24
Speaker
And, like, there's a lot of dynamics in the crew that, like, you pick up on because they do spend so much time with them. I think that everyone belongs in their rightful place, especially, like, people, like, our top, you know, our top, uh, credited, you know, Tom Scarce, Burning Leader, Veronica Cartwright. I think that they all, like, play their part perfectly. Um, I am a little disappointed that we don't really get to see what happens to Dallas.
01:09:54
Speaker
But, you know, we can infer. And I know that there is a deleted scene that shows what happens to him. But Ridley Scott was not happy with the way it turned out. So I never made it in the movie. But, you know, that that's part of this movie, too, though, is like we kind of think of the alien series as like a slice them and dice them seeing the alien, you know,
01:10:16
Speaker
killing people and da da da da. This one, we kind of forget that this one's a little more subdued. Like this one's a little, a little bit more off camera death, a little bit more. We have to, we have to put a little bit of imagination behind it. And so, I mean, just, just, just compare this to aliens, which is part two. I mean, like aliens, aliens, part two is rock them, sock them, get out the guns and, and flamethrowers. It's much more of an action movie. Oh, 100%. And it's, it's a, it, it, it,
01:10:44
Speaker
there because I actually watch Aliens today. I haven't watched it in a while. I was like, yeah, I might as well just to have a little bit more to talk about. And I really forgot like how different the style is, too, because, of course, Ridley Scott directs part one and James Cameron directs part two. And and also I forgot that Joss Whedon wrote Resurrection. Mm hmm. I didn't know that either. I forgot about that. But yeah, I mean, like they're just they're two different movies completely. And I think you're right. The word subdued really does work for part one.
01:11:15
Speaker
Yeah, I think the only the only thing that got to me a little bit on this watch and it's like kind of my only criticism of the movie because I think this is a near perfect movie in my opinion, but the one thing that did kind of like get lost on me a little bit is there was a little bit too much time spent on like them landing the ship and like all of the inner workings of like the space station and their ship and like
01:11:40
Speaker
I mean, they spend like a good like 15 minutes landing the ship. And I'm just like, we get it. Like, I don't know. That's my only complaint. I get it. You know, one one thing that I thought was kind of funny is like, and it's not just with with aliens, but other films that have like, like where they have to create an artificial interface for something technological mother. And so, you know, like what's I love looking back at movies like this and seeing like old analog shit.
01:12:08
Speaker
And so like when the screen pops up and like, you know, the way that they like query mother is by like typing in what's the story mother, which I thought was just so like almost charming in a way, it was really charming. Um, but when they go into the room to like interact with mother, um, who's basically chat GPT, right? Can we just say that like, like mother was the first chat GPT. That's it. In fact, somebody needs, needs to create the mother chat GPT on the internet. Somebody out there, please do that. Um, but like,
01:12:37
Speaker
You go in this room and there's lights everywhere, those little lights, and I was just like, do those do anything? Do you push them? Does this one mean something different from that one? What exactly is it? I love seeing that shit. It's so interesting. I also think Mother... I hadn't really paid all that much attention to Mother before, I guess. I don't really know why. I think this time, Mother just stuck with me more because of Helen Horton's amazing voice with it.
01:13:06
Speaker
and it's really interesting stuff to listen to. And Helen Horton has sort of like an iconic voice in a way. It was kind of funny listening to her near the end, where you expect the voice announcing something to be kind of simple, but Helen Horton just keeps saying things like, you now have only one minute to leave. I just thought that was kind of funny.
01:13:32
Speaker
The funny thing about that whole like countdown sequence is like the amount of steps that you have to take to either start the detonation or stop the detonation is like, how can anyone even remember this? You have to be like macho man to pull down the thing she's trying to pull down. It's crazy to watch. You know that I love to read reviews from Letterboxd. Andrew, here's a couple of them right now. Here's one from Kira.
01:14:02
Speaker
Kira says, Kira gave it four stars. And she said, the fact that the alien murders all the white men first is so funny, ha ha ha ha ha, what a woke queen.
01:14:14
Speaker
And Demi, I can't pronounce your last name, but Demi says, if you are going into space, I think that you should leave your cat at home. He does not need the stress. I 100% agree with that review because I was sitting there being like, this is so irresponsible to bring your cat on this journey.
01:14:33
Speaker
It is so, so funny. And then also Matt Singer says, and this is a quote from the film, you still don't understand what you're dealing with, do you? Perfect organism. Its structural perfection is matched only by its hostility. Sometimes a movie provides its own review. And he gave it four and a half stars. I think that they're all kind of correct there, aren't they?
01:14:55
Speaker
Yeah, cool. A couple of things that I wanted to talk about is I wanted to talk about the reveal of Ash. Yeah, totally. Because I remember seeing the scene where they kind of are talking to the resurrected head of Ash. Yeah.
01:15:13
Speaker
When I was a kid, I think I maybe came into the room and it was on TV or was trying to watch it over my parents' shoulder or whatever. I had no context for what was happening. I remember being so terrified and not knowing what that was.
01:15:30
Speaker
What was going on? And it's still, there's something about the way that Ridley Scott did that, um, that, that mannequin sequence. Oh my God. That really just grosses me out to know. And like from the point where Ash starts sweating, like a milky substance,
01:15:51
Speaker
to then to the point where he has a bukkake on his face to then where he starts freaking out because Parker hit him in the back and he's like short circuiting. Oh, the freak out part is wild, dude. It it really freaks me out. And then like just the internal like, quote unquote, organs of the of the robot. Yeah.
01:16:13
Speaker
The way that he did that, it's very tryptophobic. It makes you really, really gross. It does something to my brain that I don't like, if that makes any sense. I get it. It's really well done. And because it's well done, of course, it's so visceral when you watch it. I think it was really genius. When you're watching it, there wasn't
01:16:37
Speaker
Look, CGI wasn't as good as it is now. There's a little bit of crunchiness in the model as compared to when the head is actually talking. It's only because we have HD now. Exactly, right. But I mean, it's really not that bad. You notice it, but it's like,
Film Analysis: 'Alien'
01:16:52
Speaker
who gives a fuck? It's fucking alien. And that's a pretty genius way of doing it. This movie just kept innovating and innovating all over the fucking place, especially with this.
01:17:02
Speaker
Well, the fact that they took the time to create the sets that they did for the interior of the ship. Yeah, totally. And then even like, I don't know about you, but like all the space stuff and the use of like the miniatures and whatnot, it all really held up even in HD. Incredible. It's fucking incredible.
01:17:22
Speaker
Like, even when the spaceship blows up at the end and Ripley is seeing it from the other spacecraft, all that looks really good. It truly does. It truly does. One of the other things in trivia that I found, and this was interesting,
01:17:37
Speaker
was that during production, an attempt was made to make the alien character transparent, or at least translucent. Coincidentally, this idea was later used for the title creature's camouflage suit in Predator, which after the release of Alien vs. Predator was decided to take place in a shared universe in this movie.
01:17:55
Speaker
This lasted until the release of the official Alien prequel Prometheus, after which the AVP movies were basically regarded as a non-canon spin-off series. Interesting. We'll maybe tackle some of those movies one day. I think that'd be fun. I think there's room for Predator on this show for sure. I do want to talk a little bit about Veronica Cartwright because I think that she is kind of
01:18:21
Speaker
Kind of like the emotional point, like the emotion of the movie. Veronica Cartwright fucking rocks. Like her reaction to that chestburster coming out and her being sprayed with blood. And even to the point where I think a lot of people's frustration where she won't move out of the way of the alien because she's like basically frozen in fear. Yeah, sure. Like I get it because that's her character. Like I understand it like.
01:18:50
Speaker
Uh, it sucks that she dies, but like I get like a lot, I know I've heard a lot of criticism about like, well, why doesn't she just move? Or like, why can't she get out of the way and she kills herself and nah, nah, nah, nah. But like, you don't know how you're going to react in those situations until you're putting them. You tell me how you're going to react when an alien like that is in your face. Come on. Seriously.
01:19:11
Speaker
I will say the one part that did make me jump this time that I kind of forgot about is the very end where Ripley is kind of manning the the spacecraft at the end. And yeah, she doesn't. And I didn't see it even in HD. And then all of a sudden I did see it. And then all of a sudden it came to life and it was like the alien like hiding in that little like side part of the ship. Yeah, it reveals itself. That made me jump this time around.
01:19:38
Speaker
It's just so fucking good. It really a couple couple of things that I wanted to point out because this is the late 70s. Why would this not be a stinky stinky air spaceship because they're all smoking. They're all sweating. Nobody seems to ever take a shower except for that one guy who like.
01:19:57
Speaker
He rinses himself off in the exhaust water. I love how they wake up and they're like, how can we get the most unhealthy shit in us immediately? Exactly. And they're like, let's have coffee and let's have awful food and let's start smoking everything. Hurry. On an aircraft that has no air outside of it. Right, exactly. Totally.
01:20:19
Speaker
I did like the part where they're going to explore and Dallas says to Lambert, quit griping. And then she goes, I like griping. I was like, yeah, I get it. I get it, girl.
01:20:35
Speaker
And so we kind of get the etymology of the alien. So this is how I how I put it. So it goes from face hugger to chestburster to the little xenomorph to the big xenomorph. I think you're correct. Yes, because the face hugger has to implant it into a host. Right.
01:20:56
Speaker
That part, I do not like that part where that facehucker is on that guy. That grosses me out to no end. It's so gross. Especially when they go to dissect the facehucker. I don't know what they use there. They must have used a squid or something, but that really grossed me. You know what? Squid makes sense. They probably did use that now that you say it, but I agree. It's absolutely disgusting.
01:21:23
Speaker
I like that the cat becomes a character by the end of the movie because the cat in and of itself gets, I think, two people killed in the long run. I will say this time around, I'm like, wow, that cat is going to have shaken cat syndrome because when she is tossing it around at the end, I realize that the cat's not actually in that carrier all the time when they're filming it, but I was just like,
01:21:53
Speaker
It's so just ridiculous. I'm trying to think if there's anything else. I mean, there's a lot to talk about in this movie, but like, oh, the end. God, the end. Are you kidding me? Like where you finally think she's safe and then it's on the other aircraft with her. I know. And then she asked and then she goes through all the science to like shoot it out into space, only to have it on a grappling hook that then
01:22:20
Speaker
I know, like starts bringing it back to the ship and it goes into the jet stream or whatever. And that motherfucker is holding on in that exhaust. It's like, you know what, as I was watching it, I couldn't help think of Avril Lavigne holding on.
01:22:38
Speaker
Yes. But also I will say people with epilepsy or people that can't handle flashing lights beware of this movie because towards the end it almost made me feel like I had epilepsy. Agreed. If you had to pick your favorite from the franchise, would this be your favorite?
01:22:58
Speaker
Yeah, this is my favorite. I, uh, I like aliens. It's, it's a little more actiony for me. Um, and then alien three, I think is a garbage. It's weird. It's, it's very, it's a very strange one. Resurrection is fine. I don't like, I can go either way on resurrection. And then from there, like the AVPs, I kind of have fun with, but I know that the garbage, um, Prometheus, I actually really like, but yeah, that was really cool.
01:23:24
Speaker
and then covenant I've only seen once so I'd have to go back and watch covenant again yeah I think I'm with you on this like like part one of course it's iconic but I think just the
01:23:36
Speaker
the atmosphere created by it. And I think the world building. And I think like you said earlier, I think that the right word for it really is subdued. And I think a lot of people that talk about movies maybe wouldn't think of that as a great adjective or the right one for it. I think it's a unique one. I'm glad that you said it.
01:23:57
Speaker
I think it makes a lot of sense and I think that's why the movie works so much. It didn't have to be, I mean, maybe that's why it was only 11 million bucks. You know what I mean? Like it didn't have to be a big root and toot and fucking guns and fucking shit blowing up all the time. Like the movie just kind of spoke for itself and the darkness and the scariness of it just, it overwhelms and it works so well.
01:24:19
Speaker
Yeah, so here at Frigate the Thirteenth Horror Podcast we judge on a seven stripe scale for the seven stripes of the gay old rainbow. Maddie, what do you give Alien and what were your main takeaways? I gave it six stripes and I said that I'm a huge fan of this amazing franchise that this film spawned and one of the great heroines of horror, Ripley.
01:24:40
Speaker
Yeah. I'm also going to give it a six. I'm bordering on six and a half, but I'm going to stay with the six. I said, um, does it get lost in its own sauce in the first half a little bit? Maybe, but overall a scary through a glide that has me jumping at every turn. Nice. Well folks, that does it for alien, but we have one more film left for you in this episode. And it's very different from this one. It is Mars attacks.
01:25:09
Speaker
Professor, what do we know about them? We know they're extremely advanced technologically, which suggests, very rightfully so, that they're peaceful. Now, I suspect they have more to fear from us than you from them. Ladies and gentlemen. The Washington Ambassador is going to say a few words. Come on down, Mr. Ambassador.
01:25:38
Speaker
That's a Martian? Oh my god. Yikes.
Film Analysis: 'Mars Attacks!'
01:25:50
Speaker
They blew up Congress!
01:25:57
Speaker
Hey, we all make mistakes, Mr. President. This could be a cultural misunderstanding. Mr. President, they have a planet surrounded with thousands of warships. What do you think, Marsha? Kick the crud out of them. Mr. President, we're gonna need to get you to safety. Should we go this way? I'm sorry, ma'am. There's a tour going through here.
01:26:21
Speaker
Jack Nicholson. This is the president of the United States. I want the people to know that they still have two out of three branches of the government working for them, and that ain't bad. Glenn Close says the first lady. I'm not gonna have that thing in my house. Annette Benning. People say they're ugly, but I think they've come to show us the way. Pierce Brosnan. Very curious. Danny DeVito. Martin Short. Sarah Jessica Parker.
01:26:52
Speaker
Michael J. Fox. Ron Steiker. Annihilate! Kill! Kill! Jim Brown. Lucas Hollis. You made the international sign of the donut. Jack Nicholson. Whoa! Hey! It's Tom Jones, right? And yes, Tom Jones. It's not on you. She wants to be loved by anyone. Mars Attacks!
01:27:25
Speaker
Women are from Venus, but these aliens are from Mars. Matty, tell us all about Mars attacks. Nice planet, we'll take it. We come in peace is not what those green men from Mars mean when they invade our planet, armed with irresistible weapons and a cruel sense of humor.
01:27:47
Speaker
This star-studded cast must play victim to the aliens fun and games in this comedy homage to science fiction films of the 50s and 60s. Mars Attacks is directed by Tim Burton, written by Jonathan Gens, produced and distributed by Warner Brothers.
01:28:04
Speaker
President James Dale and Art Land, played by Jack Nicholson. First Lady Marsha Dale, played by Glenn Close. Barbara Land, played by Annette Benning. Professor Donald Kessler, played by Pierce Brosnan. Rude Gambler, yes, that is the name of the character, played by Danny DeVito. Press Secretary Jerry Ross, played by Martin Short. Natalie Lake, by Sarah Jessica Parker. Jason Stone, by Michael J. Fox. Tom Jones, plays himself.
01:28:34
Speaker
Taffy Dale, played by Natalie Portman, Byron Williams, played by Jim Brown, Martian Girl, played by Lisa Marie, Grandma Florence Norris, played by Sylvia Sidney, Billy Glenn Norris, played by Jack Black, and Sharona, played by Christina Applegate.
01:28:51
Speaker
This film is PG-13. It runs 106 minutes. It is from the US, Japan, and the UK, released December 13th, 1996, filmed in California, Nevada, Kansas, and Washington, DC, had a budget of $80 million and brought in $101 million. That is some cast. It is not a first-time watch for either of us. Andrew, tell me all about Mars Attacks.
01:29:21
Speaker
Yeah, so Mars Attacks, I kind of consider Mars Attacks as Tim Burton's forgotten movie. Kind of, yeah, I see that. Like, a lot of his movies, like, think about Edward Scissorhands, or, you know, Nightmare Before Christmas, or a lot of his movies that just, like, stood the test of time, where I think, I feel like Mars Attacks kind of, it hit the 90s, and then it kind of just stayed in the 90s. And, like, people don't really talk about it all that much anymore.
01:29:49
Speaker
Um, I think that this movie is a little bit of this and a little bit of that. I think I think that where it succeeds is I think in like kind of the alien attack portion of the movie and like the just the fantastical parts of the movie of like, for instance, when they send the nuke to space and that little thing comes out of the ship and sucks it up and then he sucks it up and they do the helium thing.
01:30:15
Speaker
Like I think that that's like where it succeeds and like it's in its excess of just like the fifties and sixties aliens type mentality. I think where it gets a little bit lost is just the amount of characters and the amount of storylines that we are as viewers trying to take in.
01:30:35
Speaker
I just think that there may be one too many storylines and or characters because at the end, like our very unlikely hero, we barely know anything about because we barely got any time to spend with our with our quote unquote hero.
01:30:51
Speaker
Um, so that's like, like my biggest criticism of the movie is I think it loses its way a little bit in the storytelling. Sure. But I think that it makes up for it in like the comedic thrill ride that it is. And it's just so fantastical in the way that it portrays aliens. I mean, their language alone where they're just like,
01:31:12
Speaker
It's so ridiculous. It's so funny. It's so funny. And just like some of the comedic genius, like for instance, they're like, yeah, we want to speak to all of Congress now. And then they don't even think twice about it. And they just go in there and they just slaughter all of Congress. Everybody.
01:31:32
Speaker
So those kind of things I think is really successful and I do think that a lot of the you know the reason we see you know this cast that we see before us is the reason that the movie is successful because like they carry the weight of the of the the acting on their shoulders and everyone does a great job. I will say didn't know until this watch that Jack Nicholson played both those characters yeah totally totally.
01:31:56
Speaker
But yeah, overall, I had a lot of fun with the movie. Do I think it's flawed in a couple of ways? Yeah, but like I still like when it was over, I was like, yeah, I'd watch another one of those. So that's kind of where I'd net out. What about you? Yeah, I mean, it was funny. I remember I haven't watched. I haven't rewatched it very much. I remember when I when it came out in 1996, I would have been 14 years old.
01:32:22
Speaker
And I was really excited to see it, because I just thought it was going to be really, really cool. And I remember going to see it and not really liking it as a kid, because I was a kid, you know what I mean? And I guess I probably liked the violence parts of it, but in terms of the jokes kind of went over my head. I didn't really know what was going on. It's like that kind of thing. So it's funny to watch it with a very much adult eyes now, and adult ears for that matter.
01:32:52
Speaker
I think Mars Attacks is a fun movie, right? I mean, I think it's, look, it's a silly, ridiculous movie. It's based off of, if you don't know this, it's based off of a series of trading cards from TOPS cards. And they made these in 1962. And there's just a bunch of these cards that detail this Martian invasion of Earth. And God, I really miss trading cards like that. They were so fucking cool. It's like garbage pail kits and shit.
01:33:21
Speaker
Um, and they're really cool cards or they're totally vintage and that's what this whole thing is based off of. Um, and you know, I, I think that it's, it's a really great attempt by Tim Burton to do something very different where, where I think the movie doesn't do well.
01:33:38
Speaker
is in the timing of a lot of things like this movie is just too long and and like i say that it's not even that long it's it's an hour and 46 minutes right it's not that long but this really should have been 90 minutes and it would have clipped along a lot faster
01:33:53
Speaker
And like, it's just like the clipping. It's like some scenes just go on too long. Some things just kind of drift off. Sometimes there's like a scene that doesn't really make any sense or do anything at all. And sometimes it's like the punctuation of the scenes. It's just not there. Like, for example, at the very start of the movie, it opens up with one of the UFOs or one of the flying saucers coming down to Earth and like it's in, when they're in Kentucky, I forget what the name of the town was.
01:34:22
Speaker
But they're in Kentucky, and one of the farmers comes out of the house, and he's talking to the neighbor because the neighbor's like, oh, are you having a barbecue right now? Blah, blah, blah, it smells like it right now. And then they see this light coming over the horizon, basically. And it's a bunch of cattle that have been burned by this, at least we assume, that have been burned alive by the flying saucer, and they're running towards them.
01:34:49
Speaker
And then it like kind of like drifts off into space that scene is it's not that it's a bad scene. It's just that it didn't like have a punchy. Stop to it. It just also didn't makes it makes no sense in the latter part of the movie because.
01:35:06
Speaker
Nobody is set on a fire in the movie everyone's just vaporized so that's a great point too but but did you see what I mean about it there's just that there's no punctuation to that scene at all it just kind of like drifts off all of a sudden and it never comes back either like it never there's not there's no reason
01:35:22
Speaker
Listen, do I think the scene is funny? Yeah, but does it make sense to the rest of the movie? Not really. And I think that's the problem is that we just have a collection of other scenes that also kind of do the same thing. And there's never enough of a punchiness to it or an ending or a thing that drives it along. And so it's a movie that just kind of meanders all over the place.
01:35:49
Speaker
And like, you know what? Maybe that's fine. Like maybe that's OK. You know, I will say this. I have never had a set of the trading cards in my hand. So I don't know, you know, card for card, how they built the screenplay for this movie. I have no idea. I'm going to assume Tim Burton being Tim Burton that he delved in very deeply and probably went, you know, haywire going card by card, basically trying to recreate it. That just seems a bit like Tim Burton.
01:36:17
Speaker
Um, but you know, who knows? I don't know. It just, it just kind of, it just kind of keeps going. And by the end of it, I'm kind of like, okay, fun. But like, I don't really feel a whole lot else. Now listen, I'm not saying you got to feel anything. It's fucking Mars attacks. I don't really mean it that way. I just kind of mean like, for somebody who's really into aliens and space shit, this should be right up my alley. And frankly, it kind of isn't.
01:36:40
Speaker
Yeah, a couple of things that I kind of forgot about is I forgot about how no one in this movie is really precious. Like everyone. Yeah, you're right. Totally. Like everyone is expendable no matter who they are. Like the fact that they the fact that they kill off Jason Stone slash Michael J. Fox so early in the movie, I was like, whoa, OK, so this is where we're going. Like the fact that they put
01:37:08
Speaker
Sarah Jessica Parker's head on a dog and then they basically take Piers Brosnan apart. It's just like, whoa, nothing is precious in this movie. Glenn Close gets squished by a chandelier.
01:37:26
Speaker
So like I did appreciate that, that like, you know, who we who we think is like going to be like, quote unquote, final characters really aren't. It's it is surprising that in Taffy Dale, the the pizza eating MTV watching like nothing character of this movie is the one that's at the end of the day kind of in charge of the country. Yeah.
01:37:56
Speaker
But I just think that that part is something that kind of caught me off guard. I will say, I kind of don't really understand the character of Byron and his wife, Pam Grier, who did not make it into our cast list here, but she is in the movie. I kind of don't get his arc because we want him to get back to his family, but we never see their kind of
01:38:24
Speaker
Um, what do you call it? Their reunion, like their reunion. So I don't really understand like why we were even like cheering for him in the first place. You know what I mean? Yeah. Yeah, I do. I do. Um, I do think that the comedy in this movie is really funny though. Like the part where, um, the leader goes into the safe room at the white house and like makes that the one general really tiny and then steps on him, I think is really funny.
01:38:52
Speaker
Um, even the part where he goes to shake hands with Jack Nicholson after he shed a single tear and all of a sudden his hand comes off and it goes around and like kills Jack Nicholson and then the flag comes out of it. Like there are really funny parts to this. The fact that the grandma is the secret winner of this movie and why they so headed in for that grandma because they wheel in that giant laser to kill grandma.
01:39:17
Speaker
I don't know why she deserves that. But then she's listening to her tunes and, you know, much like you listening to records, she is the one that kind of discovers their weakness, which is that song, basically. My favorite part of the movie is Lisa Marie. I think that she is genius in this movie and incredible performance, honestly.
01:39:40
Speaker
funniest part of the movie is where Martin Short, who else do you miss? Oh, Martin Short is on our thing. OK. Well, I mean, look, the cast is like a thousand people long. I know. I know. The part where Martin Short is like he's he's steadily ahead of her in the kind of like in the White House. And she has to catch up. And the way that they make her kind of like zoom up to him. I don't know why, but that fucking makes me laugh so hard every time.
01:40:08
Speaker
Um, I did hear that, um, that wig that Lisa Marie or the, at least Marie had to wear, like she still has scars from it because it was so heavy. Um, you know what? That makes sense. Yeah. Um, so I mean, this is, this movie is not without, it's like, and I, and I do recall that the movie was initially supposed to be stop motion, much like a nightmare before Christmas. Sure.
01:40:34
Speaker
but they opted for CGI because it was already an $80 million movie and they couldn't put more money into it. I think that would have been interesting to see stuff. That would have been really cool though.
01:40:46
Speaker
Yeah. Um, I know the reason, do you remember the reason why Mars attacks wasn't the financial success that they were hoping for? I don't actually, because that also another little movie about aliens came out this year in independence day, which is funny. I'm looking at, um, kind of when independence day came out, I thought it was the coolest movie of all time. I was, we all did. Oh my God.
01:41:12
Speaker
But it's funny I'm looking at looking at once again letterbox reviews and Liam Barrett who gave the movie four stars says it's like Independence Day if it's shit itself This is kind of funny right a couple of other popular reviews that I have on here while we're looking at them and
01:41:30
Speaker
IV says that the Martians aren't the bad guys. They destroy the political class, the capitalists, the generals, and the media so that Earth can be inherited by service and transit workers, blaxploitation icons, gamer teens, and Tom Jones. I don't know if I necessarily agree with that. And David Sims says, it is insane that I was allowed to see this in the theater at the age of 10.
01:41:54
Speaker
Well, that's the thing is like, I'm honestly a little surprised to see that this is rated PG-13 because- Yeah, for real. Because like the skeletons of it all, and then also- Oh my God. And then also like we see like Pierce Brosnan's like beating heart outside of his body. Like, and then that's the thing. It's another, well, yet again, yet another one here. One of our friends, Cody Derek said, genuinely has some of the most upsetting, cynical, and unrestrained violence and destruction I've ever seen.
01:42:24
Speaker
PG 13, the nineties were wild and they were. Yeah, totally. Um, I will say that, um, this time around watching it, Annette Benning's character, that it, that Barbara, her, her arc is so dark. Like totally.
01:42:41
Speaker
Like she is an alcoholic who is in love with another alcoholic who just drinks in front of her all the time. She then thinks that the aliens are like the second coming. And so she, you know, and she witnesses the catastrophe, then turns to alcohol again.
01:43:00
Speaker
It's just like, wow, this is much darker than I remember as far as a character goes. And I do know that the original script was meant to be a lot darker and Warner Brothers wanted it to be a little bit more of a lighter romp, so they think that that maybe was just left over from the initial kind of
01:43:22
Speaker
Screen screenplay. So well, and you know, that was that was, you know, I think is just an incredible actress. She's she's she's honestly one of my favorites of all time. She's just she's so, so good. And like, you know, the 90s were such a time for her because it wasn't, of course, just this. You know, if we go back, I mean, she was in Postcards from the Edge in 1990. She was in Bugsy and Regarding Henry in 1991.
01:43:50
Speaker
She was in Love Affair in 94, The American President in 95, and Richard III, 96 Mars Attacks, 98 The Siege, 99 In Dreams, and American Beauty for which she was up for the Oscar. I mean, she had sort of a dark run there for a while. And to be fair, like, she kind of has sense. I mean, she doesn't do a lot of fun stuff, you know what I mean? And so I think that this was actually one of the more fun things she ever did almost.
01:44:17
Speaker
Yeah. Um, a couple of things that I noticed this time around. So there is a scene where they are dissecting the alien and Pierce Brosnan says they have no genitals. And then I tell myself, and then I tell myself, then why do they wear those little red panties? Oh, that's a good point. What are they hiding down there?
01:44:38
Speaker
Um, I did like, maybe they all have the same whole kind of thing. Yeah. I did like the part where so initially, uh, the initial kind of interaction when he, they're like, they came in peace and he like releases the dub. That part is the funniest part for me. They came in peace and then it just goes. It's so fucking funny.
01:44:59
Speaker
Well, and then there's a callback to it after Congress is all killed. Natalie Portman's character goes, guess it wasn't the dove. That was pretty good. I think I think all this stuff with Sarah Jessica Parker and Pierce Brosnan is kind of weird, if I'm being honest. It's weird because like we're led to believe that she really loved Michael J. Fox. So I don't I kind of that part doesn't I'd never understand it. Like, I mean, to be fair, Michael J. Fox is pretty forgettable in this.
01:45:29
Speaker
Yeah, but he is like her love interest. I mean, yeah, but I mean, other than that, he doesn't really do much, I would say kind of plays like the Anderson Cooper role of like, basically on like, oh, we shouldn't. Yeah. Yeah. Oh, the other part that I love is when the aliens are running around and the little translator is going, don't run. We are your friends. Don't run. We are your friends. So good.
01:45:56
Speaker
But yeah, overall, I think that I think that this is just kind of a mixed bag for me. I think some of it, I really like it. And some of it, I just don't really get what they were trying to do. So I would imagine that if I think it's probably most people when it comes to this movie, it's not.
01:46:11
Speaker
I don't know anybody who's like Mars attacks now that's a film yeah I think it's fun I think it's of the era which is the weird mid-nineties the weird late mid-nineties and it's this movie has more stars in it than maybe any movie in history.
01:46:31
Speaker
Incredible cast list that I think in the end Tim Burton just didn't really know what to do with and Like I think that it's got its ups. It's got its downs. I think in the middle I just wish that the timing could have been better and I wish this could have just clipped along a lot faster
01:46:46
Speaker
Yeah. So what do you give Mars attacks? I give it a four. And I said that the film is, it almost feels like a museum piece to me now of just like nineties acting royalty, but it's also really campy and fun. But the timing is just never quite right though. Is it? I give it a four and a half. And I said, this is a kind of a mixed bag, depending on what hero you decide to follow. Uh, it's surprisingly violent, but thoughtfully funny.
01:47:14
Speaker
Wonderful. Well, Andrew, that's the last film of this episode, so let's take a break and we'll be right back with our closing and our game, Hottie, of the episode.
Episode Highlights and Support
01:47:32
Speaker
Well folks, that does it for episode 122 of Friday the 13th horror podcast. But before we let you go, we have a game for you. A game we play quite often and it's called hottie of the episode. It's where we tell you which character in these films is the hottest. Pretty simple rules. So Andrew, why don't you start us off and tell us who your hottie of the episode is.
01:47:53
Speaker
I've been going back and forth on who I want to go with on this. It is. It's honestly tough in this one for real. Yeah. So I have it down to two. OK, so I'm going to share both, but I think I'm going to go with the latter. OK, my first one was going to be Professor Donald Kessler, played by Pierce Brosnan in his attacks, because I've always had a little bit of a thing for Pierce, Pierce Brosnan, especially around the mid 90s, where he was playing bond. Are you fucking kidding me, please?
01:48:21
Speaker
Um, especially in Mrs. Doubtfire, like, you know, whatever, but ultimately I think I'm going to have to give it to horror daddy, Tom, scare it and you're going to pick him. I knew it. That's just, that's just my type to lust after. So I'm going with Dallas from alien.
01:48:38
Speaker
So my choice, good choice, my choice is indeed Pierce Brosnan. Now look, is he really super hot in Mars Attacks? Not really, but I have a, and it is very out of type for me. I am fully aware of this, but I have a big thing for Pierce Brosnan. I think he is one of the most gorgeous men that has ever been created in the world. And as proof, I would like to direct you to a little movie called, oh, what is it? Not Bond, but he plays the art thief.
01:49:08
Speaker
oh the thomas crown affair thomas crown affair oh my god the scene the sex scene with renee russo where she pours vodka all over him and licks it off of his body i gotta tell you what that gave me feelings when i gave me serious feelings so yeah pierce broth mine andrew what a fun episode episode 122 before we let these fine people go we'd like to remind them
01:49:31
Speaker
that we are an independent, proud podcast. And we would love your support. We don't need your support. We would love your support. And here's why. Running a podcast, it takes resources, right? And everything from movie rentals to equipment to software rentals and that kind of stuff, it all adds up after a while.
01:49:54
Speaker
And while Andrew and I are big boys and we can handle it, your support helps us go even further, right? So if you want to see the show, if you like our show and you want to see it go even further and become even better, that's a way that you can help. You can do that by going to www.frygay13.com slash support, where you will easily see a link for our Patreon, where you can become a patron for as little as a dollar a month.
01:50:19
Speaker
As we said earlier in the show, you can also then join our chat, which is really cool. And this is fun. It's a great thing. And like, look, if you're interested in supporting a great independent podcast like us, we would love it. We don't put anything behind a paywall. We're very proud of that. We just like your support. That's it. So we're looking forward to that if you are able.
01:50:39
Speaker
Yeah, if you're not able to do it monetarily, another way you can support us is by leaving a review. I think you know how to do that by now. I've told you every episode for 121 times. Exactly, right. So go leave that review that you've been waiting to leave. And you know, I think
01:50:59
Speaker
That about does it, and I think we should leave you with just a little, little thing that we like to leave you with every episode, and that is for you to get slayed.