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The Long Walk (2025)
150 Plays23 days ago
Rick and Trav band together to walk down one of their surprise horror hits of the year, Francis Lawrence's The Long Walk (2025). A film that may be the best analogy for this podcast, Travis ensures they keep the pace, Rick brings the soul, and amidst the struggles of watching, recording, and editing a podcast in under 48 hours, their bond of brotherhood is only made stronger. While the laughs are few and deaths are graphic, they still step through kids getting shot mid bowel movement, JoJo Rabbit, favorite Stephen King adaptations, and questionable shoe decisions.
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Transcript
Setting the Stage with Metaphorical Language
00:00:01
Speaker
you'll walk as long as you can. orange But sometimes the body won't listen. For some, your heart will stop. For others, your brain.
00:00:17
Speaker
And the blood will flow suddenly.
00:00:26
Speaker
one winner.
00:00:33
Speaker
And no finish line.
Introduction to Ricky Townsend's Adventures
00:00:40
Speaker
Welcome to this week's installment of Where in the World is Ricky Townsend. Rick, where are you, man? How you doing? I am at the... Yes, Hotel in Bozeman. In Bozeman, Montana.
00:00:53
Speaker
There seems to be something between us, Trav. I got so used to us doing in-person pods in the Princess Gazebo of your ah in the the basement. Yeah, I miss the princess tent. If my girls weren't sleeping right now, I'd be right back down there podcasting from from their floor with the princess tent over gut good sound insulation. Yeah.
00:01:11
Speaker
Yeah, I'm out here.
Behind the Scenes of 'The Madison'
00:01:13
Speaker
ah Production has started on the Madison. It's in the Yellowstone family in the sense that it's produced by Taylor Sheridan, written by Taylor Sheridan, starring Michelle Pfeiffer one Kurt Russell.
00:01:25
Speaker
I'm out here. And Matthew Fox is in it, I believe, as well. Matthew Fox of Lost Fame. And we can't forget one L Chapman who is playing page who I'm playing pickleball with tomorrow. Oh, fun. Who remind me and refresh our viewers on who L Chapman is.
00:01:41
Speaker
It's not who, who L Chapman is. It's who she's going to be. Rising star, up in climb a lovely young lady who is very kind and effervescent and talented. And this is her big break. Yeah.
00:01:55
Speaker
So she's still she's still untainted. She's still really nice and approachable. So we'll see what happens. Well, you're working most closely with Kurt Russell.
00:02:06
Speaker
ah am. Are you saying he's not very nice and approachable? He seems like a pretty good guy, actually. No, I was just making a general joke of celebs. I've had the fortune. I've never worked with a really closely with an asshole celeb so far.
00:02:19
Speaker
I've been in proximity to him. But Kurt Russell is exactly what you would expect. And when I say that, I mean, if you've seen him in movies and you've seen how he articulates himself and you see how... He's just a great orator and he's ah happy to be alive and he's funny and he's kind. And yeah, he's a, he's just a, he's a great dude. He likes football.
00:02:39
Speaker
He likes hunting. He likes playing pranks on me. I feel like he is in top five of most regular civilians, like myself's list for like celebrities I'd want to grab a beer with.
00:02:51
Speaker
um He seems like one of those, like just, Very conversational, but down to earth where he's not, you know, preaching Scientology or anything too crazy
Unexpected Success in Horror Box Office
00:03:01
Speaker
off the deep end. No, he's not an evangelist of anything except for having a good time.
00:03:06
Speaker
Well, know you're out there for at least a month, so I'm sure we'll get some more Kurt Russell updates and hopefully you can win him over for when we eventually get to covering the thing. We can have him on as our guest for that. i hope so, man. Amazing. Well, let's move then to movie news because we have a bit following up from last week. We covered the conjuring. Right. shaing Holy cow. When I was saying tepidly that I was like, oh, well, now box office predictions are getting revised upward.
00:03:33
Speaker
We still weren't even close to the mark. It did 84 million in its domestic opening weekend. That is the highest mark. um It hit the highest mark actually in franchise development.
00:03:45
Speaker
for for the franchise yeah for its opening It's like a third highest domestic for a horror film all the time, right? it Just behind it. Yeah, one and for domestic opening. Worldwide, it's actually number one. It surpassed it as the highest grossing opening weekend for a horror movie of all time.
00:04:02
Speaker
What did it get to? was when it Was it 187 or more? Yes. Yep. Yep. And then then highest international too, right? Highest like just overseas highest. Yeah. Yep. um But it is like looking at this year, it is already the fourth highest grossing horror movie of the year. And it's only been out for one week at this point. It's behind only sinners weapons, which just jumped in a second place and final destination bloodlines. And it's, it should jump both weapons and final destination bloodlines within another week. Easily.
00:04:32
Speaker
And I try to follow a box
Horror Genre's Billion-Dollar Milestone
00:04:34
Speaker
office best I can. and I throw it out there all the time. But the subreddit box office is like such a great place to learn how to do that. And sources. i'm I'm not I'm still not like an expert or anything, but this is the biggest surprise of the year that I've seen.
00:04:47
Speaker
Like, yeah, biggest more than weapons because like weapons had buzz like conjuring for especially after the each installment had dipped and dipped and dipped and then all of a sudden, boom.
00:04:58
Speaker
And then I don't know if you I don't know if i sent you the article trap, but So cool. Somebody did some tabulation, some metrics and found that ah horror films have already surpassed 1 billion at the box office.
00:05:12
Speaker
And not only is it only September, but sometimes that doesn't even happen at all. Sometimes you go a whole year of horror films and you don't reach a billion. The fact that we hit it in September is I'm not going say it's unprecedented because I'm sure it's happened before, but I can't think of a year and don't know when the last time it was. And so we're like in rarefied territory right now.
Serendipity with Horror's Rise
00:05:30
Speaker
It's a big year for horror. Great year to be starting a horror movie podcast, you know? Right. Riding the wave, baby. Well, speaking of horror movies, I think you have some other horror movie news for us before we jump into today's film. Yeah.
Texas Chainsaw Massacre Rights Auction
00:05:41
Speaker
Texas Chainsaw Massacre is getting some new blood, Trav. i don't know if you saw this. Oh, I have not.
00:05:46
Speaker
The rights owners, Exurbia Productions is production company partially owned by Kim Henkel, who co-wrote the original Texas Chancellor Massacre with Toby Hooper.
00:05:57
Speaker
They're doing something called a a beauty contest, Travis. It's kind of like an auction. Now, while the the details aren't there as far as are they selling the IP rights outright, which meaning but full sale, right?
00:06:11
Speaker
Are they doing a licensing thing where they're going to license it out to somebody for a certain amount of years? Or is this a partnership? ah We don't know. All we know is the setup here, and that is the interest in bidders.
00:06:25
Speaker
First is a twenty four and attached to whatever projects they do would be JT Molnar, who wrote the screenplay for the movie Recovering Today, Long Walk.
00:06:36
Speaker
yeah ah Roy Lee and Glenn Powell. Now, oddly enough, Glenn Powell was said to not be starring in the film. So i don't know if he's writing or producing or what, but they just we know that they would be involved.
00:06:48
Speaker
I think it'd be a shame for him not to be in it. His Texas connections and everything, but whatever. um Okay, second, Monkey Paw with our boy Jordan Peele. Jordan Peele, yep. And that's nestled under the Universal banner.
00:07:02
Speaker
um Third is neon and that would be with our boy Oz Perkins and fellow filmmaker Brian Bertino. And then fourth is this one hits a little close home to me.
00:07:13
Speaker
it would be Paramount with our with my boss currently Taylor Sheridan. Oh, wow. So, ah which I get. You asked him about it. Very, very busy man. He has like 18 shows in the fire right now. But I guess that one does make sense because of his rustic Texas-American West connections. But all right, that's the four. Who do you think is the lead right now to be the next Texas Chainsaw Massacre IP rights holder? Oh,
00:07:43
Speaker
man. let's go Let's go fun. And let's say maybe Monkeypaw with Jordan Peele. You know, i I honestly hoped it would be Monkeypaw because it would be a different spin. It's not them.
00:07:54
Speaker
Also, I'm feeling bad for Jordan Peele. This is his second, like, miss on acquisitions. You know? It's A24. It's 824. It is 824. Wow. So brigan over ah guy pee I think they are feeling the heat from neon. Honestly, the recent best picture winner, they had the big hit with long legs.
00:08:15
Speaker
So anyways, we'll see what happens. ah I haven't seen a Texas chance a massacre movie. I really liked since 2003. um The Michael Bay produced remake, but we'll see.
00:08:28
Speaker
We'll see. Yeah, i I remember seeing that one as well. And it was, you know, teenager, seeing a horror film. So it hit well then. haven't rewatched it since. I don't know how well it stands up. But it'll be interesting.
00:08:39
Speaker
You know, we're seeing a lot of old franchises getting brought back to life here. Let's just say it takes place in Texas. There's a chainsaw involved. And there's a massacre. ah Well, this is the Sunday Scaries. I'm Travis Telerik.
00:08:54
Speaker
I'm Ricky Townsend.
Exploring 'The Long Walk' by Stephen King
00:08:56
Speaker
And today we are covering the newly released The Long Walk. um This is a Stephen King adaptation directed by Francis Lawrence.
00:09:06
Speaker
You know, we were just coming off of Conjuring Last Rites, which was big budget, big franchise, huge box office numbers. This is going to be a bit more modest and we could get into that in our production notes. But I am a huge Stephen King fan. So I had to make it a point that we both went to see this movie and we'd cover it for the pod.
00:09:23
Speaker
Maybe hit us with the plot synopsis because this is a lesser known film. Give some people give our audience some context. Yeah, sure. it's ah It's a tale as old as time, Trev. A group of teenage boys compete in an annual contest known as the long walk where they must maintain a certain walking speed or get shot.
00:09:40
Speaker
Wow. Really bummer ending of a sentence there. um We're both just coming out of our showings in the last 24 hours. Rick, what do you think? it's It's fresh, it's raw. Let me know where you stand on this film. Well, first off, Trav, I have to say shortly before this pod started, I made a point to run down to the gym, hop on the treadmill, and I wanted to test two things. I wanted to see what the novella accurate miles per hour was, which was four miles per hour. Okay. Yeah, that was one of my big points there. And then I want and then test it to three.
00:10:13
Speaker
Dear God, there is a difference. Yes. Holy shit. Like three miles an hour is a brisk walk already. Like it's it's doable for sure, but it's like, whoa, okay. like And it it it reminded me of what I saw on screen. I was like, yes, these this is a brisk walk. You're not running, you're not jogging.
00:10:33
Speaker
Bro, four miles an hour is a different territory. It's not doable. It's not sustainable. i don't know what King was thinking. if He was on Coke or what, but you are basically on a light jog. You're going like, but but like it's that's it's fucking insane.
00:10:46
Speaker
So yes, i've it's one of the few King books that I've read most of his works. This is one of the few that I've read multiple times. And that has always been my biggest criticism is he must not walk that much. In the book, I'm like, you can't.
00:11:00
Speaker
Like maybe I could do like 10 miles at that pace, but you know, going any longer than that is insane. And so I'm glad you called that out. I was going to bring that up. Three is, is walking and walking with a bit of a purpose, but still, that's a great way to feel like you could sustain.
00:11:17
Speaker
We have discussed how we're going to discuss this film, Trav, ahead of this pod. We have the unfortunate circumstance here of there being a lot of things happening right now in America that hit close to home with
Current Events and Fiction Overlap
00:11:33
Speaker
this movie.
00:11:33
Speaker
ah So on the movie had it Thursday previews on the 11th, the day before ah that I saw it, at least Charlie Kirk, a conservative commentator slash podcaster, founder of Turning Points USA, ah brutally or murdered, assassinated in front of 3000 people.
00:11:52
Speaker
Really in front of 6 billion people with how quickly that video spread. Awful, just completely gruesome. It's it's stuck with me. We can talk a bit about what that means and how and we how it colored our lens for the film.
00:12:07
Speaker
um And then an hour later in your neck of the woods, there was a school shooting where the suspect was a 16 year old who is now dead. And we have two children in critical condition, at least and still as of now, as of the 12th of September.
00:12:23
Speaker
So I what I said to you earlier was like, we both know we we both know that this podcast is a chance for people to escape, have fun with movies, learn more about horror films.
00:12:36
Speaker
Sometimes real life creeps in. And so um I'm going to do my best to like keep this about the movie. But I think the events that have taken place, they're just inextricably tied to how you view the film. I think you're right.
00:12:52
Speaker
And you saw it before me and you mentioned this go to be hard to ignore what's going on in current events. And I think part of that is, You know, we recently recorded, but have not yet released our, uh, pod for final destination bloodlines.
00:13:08
Speaker
That is on the spectrum of horror where there are a lot of deaths, but it's hard to describe now in the current circumstance, but there it's more lighthearted. It's really fun. They're weightless. It's entertaining.
00:13:21
Speaker
The long walk is the opposite side of the spectrum where it is raw and gritty and in dark and it is not holding back and showing really the horror of people getting killed and shot.
Impact and Themes of 'The Long Walk'
00:13:34
Speaker
And so, you know, without any of the ah comedy associated with it or parody it It hits really hard right after the past few days events.
00:13:46
Speaker
I do really, really like this film. I would highly recommend, but I have to let people know like this is not a movie you walk out of feeling great and it's just compounded by what's going on right now in in real life.
00:13:58
Speaker
Compounded is a good way to put it, dude. I mean, as I watched the movie and you have this fascist regime and you have people trying to live their lives and make connections and they're getting shot and killed. There's gore. It was a gruesome experience, but it was one done with really good intent.
00:14:13
Speaker
It was sturdy. It made you feel like you were on that walk. And it's a theatrical experience. I will likely never forget, to be honest with you. um And it's one that has helped me grapple with these feelings.
00:14:25
Speaker
Yeah, well, I have told you before, and I think I've brought it up on the pod, I generally am more mute emotionally. I have more suppressed emotions and it may have been the current events bringing this out or might have been just the film by itself. But I by the end of this film, man, like i'm I'm not ashamed to say like I was tearing up like it is.
00:14:47
Speaker
it It really moved me in a way i I wasn't expecting basis for the movie, as you said, in the plot line. And so people know it really does deliver on that is you see some pretty graphic executions and it's televised for the country. you see Everyone to watch. Everyone you see just about every single one of them.
00:15:05
Speaker
um they they don't add additional blood and splatter like some horror films do it just seems very realistic for this person just got shot which is feeling so real right after you know charlie kirk's assassination was filmed it's the cell phone age and there's video all around it's just like oh my goodness and so it It hits hard with that. um You know, this film overall, I think we said the same thing for Bring Her Back.
00:15:32
Speaker
It's kind of a feels bad movie. Yeah. Even without the events of the last few days, Travis, I still think we would be approaching this with a bit more of somber demeanor anyways. I mean, there is nothing laughable or tropey about this movie. it is It is bleak, it is unrelenting, and it is dark. Yeah, but I will say, and maybe where I like it differentiates itself from Bring Her Back is...
00:15:57
Speaker
this movie does make a concerted effort with the characters within to find little nuggets of why is life still worth living amidst this despair.
00:16:08
Speaker
And so it does reach for optimism and it reaches for the good. And sometimes when you contrast against such a dark film like this, it makes those moments hit so much harder. So I know we'll talk about a lot of casting stuff here in production notes as well,
00:16:20
Speaker
but specifically David Johnson, who plays Peter McFreeze. So I guess he's the co-star, the second highest credit in the cast. played he he was Andy in Alien Romulus. Exactly. Just came out in Alien Romulus last year was the first I've seen of him. This is his second film here.
00:16:37
Speaker
He absolutely crushes it. I think talking about rising stars, like I thought his performance in this is is up there for my favorite. not just horror, but favorite performances in 2025.
00:16:50
Speaker
And so his character and kind of again, the bring little bit of optimism and brotherhood to what is a very dark movie. I think was what this film needed because absent that, um I probably wouldn't recommend this film if it if it was just bleak without the little bit of hope sprinkled throughout or a little bit of trying to i want to give Cooper Hoffman some credit too though because I know a lot of people are talking about David Johnson's role and and
Standout Performances and Adaptations
00:17:16
Speaker
rightly so. I mean, it's...
00:17:17
Speaker
Cooper Hoffman is the top build role. He he plays and Ray Garrity, the the main role. Yeah, and he's the son of the late Philip Seymour Hoffman, which who is my favorite actor of all time. I love him and was devastated when he passed away. and But um this was the first time, and i guess only second movie I've seen him in, where I'm getting it. I'm getting what the Hoffman...
00:17:39
Speaker
you He's not mimicking his dad. He's got his own thing. But going back to what you said about about peppering in some positivity, what I loved about both the leads is that like there wasn't this big transformation.
00:17:52
Speaker
There is character development, of course, and ideas that they have ah play big role into like how it ends and choices they make. But what I loved was like you have all these damaged kids everywhere.
00:18:04
Speaker
And these two were not I mean, they were damaged, but they quickly fell in love, like brotherly love with each other. yeah And it's rare you see in this type of movie because typically it's like, oh, I don't like you. And you start off as enemies and then yeah you learn to like each other. But from like like remember the Titans.
00:18:22
Speaker
Yeah. Right. Yeah. Right, right, right. Exactly. And in this in this case, like they just vibe from the beginning. And I think you're right. i didn't think of it that way, but hearing and you say it, like you're right, like without that quick friendship and it was consistent and it was wonderful.
00:18:36
Speaker
Yes. Without that, it is hard to stomach or recommend this film. It's uniquely challenging because over 90% of the film is truly just them walking.
00:18:47
Speaker
And so it it can't be driven by a lot of plot or action on the camera, but more so like dialogue. um And you you have to be directing this. You have to choose the right shots, the right places to capture this where it doesn't feel um too drawn out after a while, right? You're seeing a lot of the the same stuff over, it's a relatively shorter film, but over a hundred minutes. And I think they did a really good job still keeping it, you know, entertaining, keeping my attention despite, know,
00:19:17
Speaker
you know there's There's not different set pieces or anything like that. right They're just on the road. there They're walking for this whole film. Well, yeah. I think I... The first time... and there's not many of them.
00:19:28
Speaker
This is my point. The first time I saw a flashback, I was like, oh, they're just going to populate this film with a litany of flashbacks to make up for this monotonous walking. And there's only like three, maybe? Yeah, it's it's less than five minutes worth of flashbacks in the film. And and and a handful of um landscape shots or or interesting things on the side of the road, whether it's a dead cow or cats or a raven or a little girl holding a sign like they don't hang on those things like they they truly it's probably the when we get the highlights, I guess I'll mention it again. It's probably my favorite aspect of the film is
00:20:05
Speaker
how loyal they are to the walk yeah we we are walking with them truly it it really is hoffman and johnson as as well as the rest of ensemble but like just a lot of their dialogue and so without them just really nailing their parts like this this film doesn't work. And I thought they did a really good job there.
00:20:23
Speaker
um So anyways, this is a King adaptation, like I said, and I am a huge Stephen King fan. You've read this novella several times, you said. I typically don't go back to reread, but this is one of the few I've gone back to reread.
00:20:36
Speaker
um it's our first king adaptation we've covered on the pod thus far so i think it's a good chance to just chat about quickly you know king has a large body of work i'd say he has horror and then non-horror was curious like what are your two favorite film adaptations one being non-horror one being horror that he's made Well, the horror, fuck, I mean, by default, this The Shining, but I have to give some we I feel like we've talked about The Shining before on the pod, so I'm going to give some love elsewhere.
Favorite Stephen King Adaptations
00:21:05
Speaker
Carrie by Ryan Palmer. Yeah, just great supernatural high school revenge movie that is impeccably shot and ah such master of tone and voyeurism and just wonderful movie.
00:21:19
Speaker
So in Sissy Spacex, fucking unreal in that. Yeah. Non horror, non horror. So yeah what do we have? we have Shawshank. Yeah, I'd say usually some of the top picks are the Shawshank Redemption, Green Mile, or Stand By Me are usually the ones we could throw You just mentioned two of my...
00:21:37
Speaker
biggest blind spots in cinema history. I haven't seen stand by me or green mile. Oh my goodness. Okay. all So my options are a bit limited. alt is Shawshank, Shawshank baby. Number one IMDB all time. yeah Shawshank is a great film.
00:21:50
Speaker
And yes, I'm probably with you on the shiny. It's funny because the shiny is probably the adaptation King has criticized the most. Um, good Kubrick really did his own thing with the film. And I think they both work with the novels. One my favorite novels of all time.
00:22:04
Speaker
Kubrick's film is an amazing war piece, but he definitely, it was a loose adaptation. So to mix to to give give some listeners who might not be aware of what we're talking about, if you've seen The Shine in the movie, in Kubrick's film adaptation,
00:22:18
Speaker
ah Jack Nicholson's character, Jack Torrance, he's already kind of not doesn't like his family. He's kind of annoyed, you know, is like already kind of real pissy and annoyed. Whereas and I haven't read it, you have. But supposedly in the novel, it's he starts off as a wonderful family man. Right.
00:22:33
Speaker
Yeah. I don't know about wonderful, but the novel is a good man who is corrupted by the Stanley Hotel. um Sorry, the the Overlook Hotel based on the Stanley Hotel.
00:22:46
Speaker
um And the the hotel is the corrupting force that turns them into a monster, where in the movie, you could say he was a bad man who was just enabled and made worse by by the hotel. And that was the point of criticism King really had an issue with with. I think this is one of those weird cases, and not to be an enlightened centrist here, but like they're both right in that ah Yeah, King's right. if the That is the case. But also it's like Kubrick had two hours and change to work with. And like, I don't think you can do the descent he was looking for in that time span.
00:23:20
Speaker
Also, but to end on a lighter note, though, did you hear his King's reaction to seeing Dr. Sleep, the 2019 film? No. that Oh, he loved Doctor Sleep because Mike Flanagan did Doctor Sleep.
00:23:34
Speaker
I know, but Trav, he but Mike fla Flanagan, he made it in the same cinematic aesthetic universe as Stephen King's The Shining. I mean, the imagery of the twins and the casting, it's it's very much a sequel both to the the book and the film.
00:23:52
Speaker
Flanagan says that in the screening room, they exchanged some words afterwards, and what he took away was that he was able to settle Yeah, the day truth set the the issues that the King had and he was like, okay, we you know, we can put this to rest. Like you did it. You you brought these together in a way that makes me comfortable. Yes.
00:24:10
Speaker
I think he married back kind of the direction Kubrick went off in to the overall vision that King had in and had written in the sequel. And as as a King fan like you are you know, I've been pounding you about this. You got to see the director's cut of that film. Yeah, it's just it's amazing. So yeah.
00:24:29
Speaker
Anyways, okay. That's great for King adaptations. there's There's more I'm sure we could talk about with theme of this film. Do you want to chat about that first before we get into production notes?
00:24:39
Speaker
I knew you were ask me this, and I usually have some solid answer. and i mind' It's more emotional,
Violence and Normalcy in Chaos
00:24:46
Speaker
dude. um I don't have... Because the film is... i don't mean this as a disparaging remark. It is very simple.
00:24:53
Speaker
I mean, it's straightforward. There's... Maybe I need to watch it again to so to look for any subtext, but um my heart and eyes were so wrapped up in how I was feeling and ah that what I saw and what I took away thematically was obviously there's fraternity and and brotherly love, you know, like the importance of that.
00:25:14
Speaker
um I thought of desensitization and that'll go into my favorite quote of the film, but just how quickly violence can be normalized. And that word normal is something I kept thinking about because as I thought about Charlie Kirk and I thought about his kids and I thought about the kids in Denver and I thought about 9-11 and I thought about the struggles we're going through with this administration, the thing I kept thinking about, this is not normal.
00:25:40
Speaker
Nothing about this is normal. what we're going through. But we have to keep living. You have to keep waking your kids up. I have to keep going to work. You you know, we have to keep going. Life is made of these little monotonous moments even when fucking crazy shit's going on. We're doing a podcast right now despite crazy shit going on. And so what I kept thinking about was like, they had to find those moments and they talk about moments in this movie, Pete and Gary talk about the importance of moments. And so that's another theme is like finding pockets of happiness and fulfillment despite being in a world of shit yeah and, and a world overrun by fascism and decay.
00:26:19
Speaker
yeah, That's all I have. that's yeah That's what I felt and that's what I experienced. I think that is the main theme of when you are in an oppressive state and life is shit. Like, what is your reaction to that?
00:26:32
Speaker
Because I think Garrity brings his own reaction initially and McFreeze brings his own school of thought. And that's what a lot of the dialogue is focused on is how do we grapple with this? Dude, candidly too, Trev, and like you've heard me off pod talk about this.
00:26:46
Speaker
It's a movie I needed because I've had such a activist bent and about how to deal with these problems. And I haven't been tending to my personal life probably as best as I could. And Petey's character, like reminded me that even if the worst is happening, like, it can't all be action.
00:27:06
Speaker
It can't all be. That doesn't mean you don't care about the cause. It means that we need that sustenance as humans. And I grapple with that because sometimes like, Am I doing enough? Am I going enough protests? Am I signing enough petitions?
00:27:20
Speaker
But sometimes you got to put the put your arms down, I guess you know what i mean? um I don't know. Yeah, well, you you have to move forward. You have to walk. One foot in front of the other. good and Get at it, just very literally.
00:27:33
Speaker
um Awesome. Well, let's talk about production notes. um So as I mentioned, this was a more modest film relative to Conjuring Last Rites, which we
Budget and Production Insights
00:27:41
Speaker
just covered. $20 million dollars budget. um it had a decent million thursday preview I'm seeing box office theories predicting about six to 10 million for opening. Yeah, pretty small.
00:27:53
Speaker
um So relatively small compared to some of the past horror films we've watched, which have been these huge blockbusters. Maybe it's because it's not a ah Warner Brothers distributed film.
00:28:03
Speaker
um This never looked from the marketing to the stills to anything. This this never looked like a like a movie that was supposed to make a lot of money. yeah It's kind of it's kind of ah desaturated and and like it looks bleak and it looks it's not rich and full of character. and It's kind of like a road. It's like it's like a ah sun bleached road. as i don't know. it's just it's it's A lot of neutral colors here.
00:28:33
Speaker
that that are used in it. So it doesn't pop. It doesn't have the pizzazz. It didn't have that in the marketing. um and now there's There's no quippy little remarks and yeah big budget ah spectacle. There's nothing. It's like they stood they stayed true. i mean You read it.
00:28:48
Speaker
Yes. So the book itself. So Stephen King's first novel was Carrie that came out 1974. think the film was to your point earlier. Um, relatively new author who quickly garnered a lot of fame with his first few works.
00:29:06
Speaker
So very quickly as some authors do, he began writing under an alter ego named Richard Bachman. And we were gifted with the Bachman books until his cover was blown. The Long Walk was one of those. This came out in 1979. So only five years after Carrie, he was already writing under this alter ego.
00:29:26
Speaker
um the Bachman you you sorry so Sorry to cut you off, but you said something I want you to gloss over. You said because he got so popular, he did something that some authors do and he writes under students. Can you unpack that a bit? like He wants the work to his book to stand for itself and not people read it or think, oh, this is King. This is what I should expect. Yeah.
00:29:46
Speaker
And so he quickly got in his brain that by writing under ah as Richard Bachman, people could actually enjoy and stomach this better. And he didn't also have to feel like he had to follow up Carrie, which was such a smashing success. And then Salem's Lot shortly thereafter.
00:30:02
Speaker
um so I thought it was really cool. And Bachman really did have a slightly different writing style. These books were a lot darker. um I don't think any of them had happy endings. So you have books like rage, you have the running man, which coincidentally is also being made into a film later this year, starring Glenn Powell.
00:30:19
Speaker
These are some of the Bachman books, including the long walk. And so this is one of his early three trap. There's a, there's a, there's a fourth. There's, um, life of Chuck. Is that Stephen King? It was going to be one of my winners, but, um, in 2025,
00:30:34
Speaker
King is winning because he had early this year, the monkey released. That's a King adaptation. Then he had, that's Osgood Perkins. Then the life of Chuck. That's Mike Flanagan. Now he has this film.
00:30:46
Speaker
And lastly, he still has um ah the running man coming out. It's a lot of King adaptations. The Van has... He has so many film adaptations, I don't even know what the numbers have because you have to constantly refresh your browser to see how many he has. didn we we did some we We asked each other this question one time over over text. It was like...
00:31:07
Speaker
Who has, is it more King adaptations or is it, is it, what was it? Dracula? I think it was the MCU movies. Are there more movies than MCU or Stephen King adaptations? And it was Stephen King, like, like by about five or 10. Yes. Yeah. I think that's right. So it's, it's still hard to get a concrete number because there's so many. yeah He's written so many books.
00:31:26
Speaker
There's so many adaptations. It's like over 50. But yes, so the book was released in 79, you know, George A. Romero actually secured the rights in 1988. So almost 40 years ago to make this in a movie, but it was kind of just stuck in production. How getting passed around until, until more recently.
00:31:43
Speaker
Um, I think the only other thing, oh, differences between the book and movie, like you asked about. So other than the speed, the only other non-spoiler one is the book has a lot more people present, as in there are crowds lining and cheering on the walkers a lot more.
00:32:02
Speaker
um And where this is ah like the national pastime, everyone's very into like cheering for, you know, Ray Garrity's the hometown guy. And there's a lot more interaction with that. where the film went in a slightly different direction. it almost feels like post-apocalyptic in that the towns are just so run down and there's so few people even out there. It's like, what is the point of us doing this?
00:32:23
Speaker
Where are the people? How are they surviving? And so it had a slightly different vibe in that regard by choosing that, like not to have all the spectators, I guess, lining the road the whole way.
00:32:35
Speaker
Yeah. I was expecting more involvement from the broadcast part of the movie as well as spectators. But it clearly was a choice by Lawrence or JT Molnar to isolate and focus on these kids, which I think initially I was annoyed by it because I was curious about the larger mechanisms and machinations of what's going on.
00:32:58
Speaker
But as time went on, that the the emotional significance of their bonds and their conflicts and their interactions, I think is what makes the movie. So clearly made the right choice. i I was also thinking about this, dude. Like, you know, we went through the whole YA phase of Maze Runner and um Hunger Games and- This predates them, like the book. Yeah. least yeah a lie By a lot. Yes. you If you even go, like I used to see, ah so are you familiar with the ah the ah Japanese film Battle Royale?
00:33:29
Speaker
No. 2000. So it's this movie, the Battle Royale, is the reason that we have that term in like Fortnite and stuff. Oh, okay. Or in Call of Duty. It's where, you know, in the games, you're with a bunch of people on an island and try to kill each other until there's only one person and the island keeps shrinking or like the- It's like Highlander.
00:33:52
Speaker
There can only be one. Exactly. Well, that's, so Battle Royale, I was like, okay, that is the precursor to all these- ah types of dystopian competitions between children, right? I mean, that's the that's the running theme is that death competition between children put on by a dystopian ah authoritarian fascist state.
00:34:13
Speaker
And there can only be one winner. And that's how you motivate people. Well, yeah, if he wrote this in the 70 whatever, don't I can't think of another movie. or book, and um maybe so a listener will tell us one, but of note that did it before this. And so it's cool, A, that it's such an early concept that has solidified itself into its own genre, but that that the same guy who adapts Hunger Games, the most financially successful version of this story, he does it on such a smaller scale with such
00:34:46
Speaker
gruesome graphic bleakness. Like, yeah, he, he turned off the kitty heroism, uh, romanticism. And he just turned, he just fucking turn it all off through in like 280 bombs, people taking shits, and heads exploding and not a positive thing in sight. I mean, pockets of it, right. That's part of the movies. You've got to find happiness and fulfillment, but we're overwhelmed with this dread and,
00:35:15
Speaker
Kudos to him for doing that. Yeah. It's incredible feat. This seemed like a different side of Francis Lawrence than what I've seen before. He's always been one of those directors I thought made good films, but never really great films that really spoke to me.
00:35:29
Speaker
Again, the the Hunger Games trilogy. Before that, I am legend. lot so a lot of pg-13 violence his first film constantine was a bit more graphic but still a lot more humor in that it's good movie where this this really showed me that he is multifaceted in what he can bring in directing films it seems so different than his prior works and really shocked me in fact i was i was worried going in that he wouldn't do this book justice and make it as a dark and gritty as it needed to be, but I think he really delivered on the vision King had. I haven't heard King's feedback yet,
00:36:04
Speaker
I can only assume that he is happier with this than like well what Kubrick did with The Shining. I read somewhere that that King, and I think this happens on a lot of his movies, especially as his influence grew, that he had some say in
Graphic Violence and Thematic Importance
00:36:16
Speaker
how things were. And a quote I read was that you know he he chastised ah so many comic book movies because he's like, I see these buildings and cities get leveled and not a speck of blood.
00:36:28
Speaker
And that's not fair to the viewer because it's it becomes as to use a term we use at beginning the pod. It becomes as weightless and meaningless and and death has no place there. And it's like, what are the stakes? And so that quote was then tied to some mandatory requests, I guess, that he had for the filmmakers of like, you need to show you need to show these murders, um these assassinations and in graphic detail and no ifs, ands, or buts about it. Like that's part of the soul of this soulless film, you know?
00:36:59
Speaker
um So Francis Lawrence directs writer. You mentioned JT Molnar. The only other thing I want to mention with him is also his star is starting to rise. He had strange darling come out last year, um which is pretty well received. I know I was higher on it than you were,
00:37:12
Speaker
But then after writing this, it it seems like things are moving in the right direction for him. um For cast, so we've we've mentioned Hoffman, we've mentioned Johnson as the two main leads who are fantastic in this.
00:37:25
Speaker
um A few other casting notes. So that the big stars, right, the A-listers, or at least former A-listers, B-listers are Mark Hamill. He plays the major in this film. um So kind of the...
00:37:38
Speaker
what we see as the audience for the representative of this authoritarian state. And then Judy Greer, who I love from like Arrested Development, um, she's going on 30 and she, she's plays Hoffman's mom, Pete, uh, or sorry, Ray Garrity's mom.
00:37:53
Speaker
Yeah, she's absolutely, I mean, she grounds the film. She shows you what you were losing by doing this walk, what you leave behind. um you know Yeah. She came out of the gates. She's in the very first scene with Hoffman and she drops him off at the, at the starting point for this walking competition and like really like trying to, trying to hold herself back to, to be there for her son and encourage him and what he's doing. But also if he wants out, she was there to support him and get him out of there and trying to balance the weight of trying to protect her son, but also
00:38:24
Speaker
knowing, Hey, this is almost inevitable at this point. So I just need to encourage him. I thought she does super well. That's i mean, that's her biggest, her most minutes in the film is right off the bat. I think she does a really good job.
00:38:37
Speaker
It reminded me a lot, a lot of my, uh, my parents dropped me off at smu I'm not being funny either. So I, well, I got a good drop off story at SMU right after.
00:38:53
Speaker
So my parents dropped me off and my mom's going to stay because it's my mom. And so she's going to be there like a week, like staying in a hotel or something, but my dad's got to go. Um, and so I give him a hug from my dorm room and all my friends are starting to popular. My new friends are there and I say, I love you dad. And he let leaves and like, uh,
00:39:13
Speaker
I'm hanging with my new friends and like all of a sudden like all their faces start to fade and It's like I'm all I'm thinking out about is my dad and I look out the window and I see he's getting into the car And I'm like fuck this and I I'm like hey guys I gotta go for a second and i like run down like it's like a fucking movie like run down Down the stairs and like as he's driving away like he's starting to pull out like dad dad And he stopped. He's like, what? And I just, like the movie, just fucking break down in tears, give him a hug. And I'm like, don't want you to go, man. Like, I love these past 18 years. Like, I love living with you.
00:39:50
Speaker
and don't want to not live with you. And it was, he was, got emotional as well. But but I guess it's the, it's the goodbye, the first goodbye. And then the real goodbye yeah is what I latched onto.
00:40:03
Speaker
Uh, see that's heartfelt. So now I feel silly, but quickly fitting in my story. Um, my mom's like, I forgot my calculator, dad. My mom's hardened. Like me my dad's a bit more emotional. So he was tearing up.
00:40:14
Speaker
My mom thinks she's funny, but bit of an offbeat sense of humor. So we get gathered in Moody Coliseum, the, the SMU basketball gymnasium. Um, we're about to go to like freshman orientation.
00:40:25
Speaker
She gets on the microphone. She gets on the PA system she's like, Hey, Travis Telerik there. Travis, just remember to pack clean underwear. is what she said in front of hundreds and hundreds of SMU freshmen. Again, I didn't know a single soul trav going to SMU. Now I know why you didn't get in Lambda Chi.
00:40:41
Speaker
and So she thought that would be funny to to embarrass me when I didn't know a single soul there. But um that was her that was her goodbye. Judy Gros is a bit better in the film. um Other notable casting, you know, Roman Griffin Davis is in this film.
00:40:55
Speaker
He plays Curly, who we could talk about in a bit when we get to the spoiler section. That was Jojo Rabbit. um I was like, he was this cute little squirrely kid. yeah Took me like five seconds. i was like, oh, yeah, Jojo Rabbit. yeah um Let's let's round out the Musketeers, though, because there' there's two main friends, but they have two ancillary friends. They they make up a foursome of they call themselves the Musketeers.
00:41:16
Speaker
ah Ben Wang as Hank Olson number 46 I hadn't seen another movie he was the lead in Karate Kid Legends the legacy sequel that came out earlier this year he's the main protagonist his accent cracked me up in this movie just seeing someone of Asian American descent ah but with a thick New York accent I really liked it it's just great I just ah love it very very American character um in terms of like melting pot of like, where is this guy from? Yeah.
00:41:49
Speaker
And then I'm not going to pronounce this guy's name right, but Tut Newyot, Newyot, who played Arthur Baker. Yep. Dude, this guy almost might have stole the show from me. I mean, he... Well, the two of them have a very impactful scene near near the end of the film where it's really the two of them doing the heavy lifting. um And yeah, I agree with you.
00:42:12
Speaker
If we're going to mention anybody else, I guess it's ah Joshua Ojejic who plays a Native American boy, Collie Parker. Yep. um ah But then our two baddies, ah charlie um aside from the major, obviously, Charlie Plummer plays Gary Barkovich, and Garrett Waring plays Stebbins.
00:42:30
Speaker
um Gary being the kind of unhinged, mentally unstable, kind of precursor to a school shooter, to be honest. like That's yeah kind of how I saw him. And then Stebbins, the guy who is just you know perfect and pressured and always had to be perfect. He reminded me of the guy from Fatalman's the the jock who Steven Spielberg's teenage character. At the end of the film. yeah and like There's something. he He knows that he's this Greek god, but he doesn't really want it. The pressure of expectations. Yeah.
00:43:05
Speaker
um Anyways, I think that rounds out most of the main. Yeah, I thought they were good. by and large Especially the leads I thought were really good. Some of the ancillary characters, sometimes it'd be a bit corny, their lines. But the the leads were really good in this film.
00:43:19
Speaker
Spoilers ahead. You be warned. Spoiler warning. the Spoiler warning. um So what's your scarometer rating for this one? Because it's not really... We debated, is this a horror film? Is this not? Tell the audience what my my voice note said to you initially after I walked out. Yeah.
00:43:39
Speaker
Right after you saw it, you're like, oh, we're in trouble because this is very sensitive to the current events going on. And I don't even know if it's a horror movie. So you were, it was not when you liked it. were just worried about like, do we still do this? i was like, yes, stay the course.
00:43:54
Speaker
um No, I, I appreciate your steady hand. i I think this fits, but again, we're not dealing with the paranormal in this film. We're not dealing with a home invasion or like kind of There's no violence like that. There's no monster.
00:44:06
Speaker
um so Solo was a good comp, dude. you You said that. And I was like, yeah, Solo is a another politically charged film that it's it's less a horror, but it is horrific. You know, it's horrific in the sense that it's dread inducing and you're it's just awful. And it there is a monster i in mid both cases. In that case, it's fascism in this case it's fascism by major whatever his name is so as far as a scare meter goes i had it at two because like i was like i'm not scared i'm i'm i'm more disturbed i'm disturbed i'm like i'm horrified by what's happening but i wasn't like
00:44:48
Speaker
And maybe I need to rethink the scare meter thing. But I just like, when I see this movie, I don't think, oh, this is scary. I think this is disturbing and yeah horrific. but Is her is it horrific different than scary? Yeah. So i I wrestled with this as well. And this is where we're going way far off. And maybe we need to reframe exactly what we're calling scary.
00:45:07
Speaker
Because I put this at a seven for myself. Because here's how I was measuring it. were scared during the movie? I was. Some of these deaths, I was like covering my eyes and trying to look away.
00:45:21
Speaker
And I think of, you know, maybe two films ago when we covered Conjuring Devil Made Me Do It. That has the jump scares. That has all the trappings of what you'd expect from a horror film.
00:45:33
Speaker
But it didn't actually scare me that much, whether in the film or the feeling afterwards. This one, I was still pretty damn scared. So I was not jumping. But man, it was...
00:45:45
Speaker
it was really messing with me anding and scaring me more psychologically, I guess, and this lingering feeling. And so that's where it's tough to actually say like, what are we trying to measure there? Like it's, it's not, it's not the ring. It's not elevated horror. It's just like, it feels like you're watching like raw uncut footage of, of senseless violence of these poor kids getting shot.
00:46:11
Speaker
um And that, that really did number on me. So I would, I would put it higher on the scary rating, but I guess to your point, it it probably, there's a lot of weight on how disturbing it was and how hard to watch it was to get there, not jump scares. Yeah. If, if I open up the definition of the sclerometer in my brain, as far as ah how I contextualize it and, and maybe it goes higher because Yeah, when you when you think about what the movie is about and what it's showing and how it makes you feel compounded about what we're talking about.
00:46:50
Speaker
Yeah, it's horrific. So I need to think about that because we're going to get more of these. It's not the first time it's going to happen. um But as of now, I'm going stick with two just because I don't see it as a scary movie. I see it as a dread inducing, horrific movie.
00:47:04
Speaker
But maybe these things merge later on. Okay. But difference about you did your set was justified. I get it. I mean, I see. No, i see what you're saying as well. All right. Highlights. Which is silly to say for such a downer of a film. Yeah.
00:47:19
Speaker
Yeah, just awards are gonna be different on this one because I feel like our awards typically are a tongue in cheek and kind of funny and like it's hard to find humor here yeah ah for many different reasons. But I think we can still give out some awards with earnest intentions.
00:47:35
Speaker
A highlight that I picked was the shift, dude. ah The uphill walk. Oh, yeah. It just changes things, man. it It changes the stakes. It changes how difficult this is.
00:47:49
Speaker
It's the movie does such a good job of lulling you into this false sense of security of like, oh, I can do this. I can walk. I can. But you don't think about medical conditions. You don't think about your ankle breaking.
00:47:59
Speaker
You don't think about shoes falling off. You don't think about not being able to sleep. And Florence and Muller do a great job of of slowly layering these things on. And I think the uphill walk is the first time they all kind of you start to realize. yeah And again, this is even after we've already seen Ray Garrity was nodding off It's his third warning.
00:48:21
Speaker
You're allowed three warnings before you will get shot. So he has to now walk for three hours to get those all back. And he is on thin ice. His next time slowing down, he, he will get killed. And it's his ticket right when he gets his third warning, he realizes they're about to go up a steep incline.
00:48:36
Speaker
And, and it, is the most chaotic part of the movie and it's dark out it it's dark and you just hear the the popping off of rifles from time to time as kid it is getting shot it's the only time in the movie where you can't keep count because i was trying to keep count of all the kills it's and it's a narrative tool i mean it's smart to to compress this to be a ah palatable time uh run time They do a lot of, like a lot happens. A lot of time passes, a lot of people die. You go from like, you know, 40 to 20 something.
00:49:08
Speaker
I think they say they lost 15 on the uphill. ah But yeah, you're just hearing gunfire. It's like a war zone, you know? And it's so unsettling because think about what's happening. you have these adults and these tanks.
00:49:20
Speaker
And they have guns and it's dark and they're making these kids walk, but they're also not making them because these kids signed up for it. And that's a whole other fucked up weird thing that what we're forced to do when we're desperate. And ah that's those are the images that stay with me. That's and that's why it's a highlight.
00:49:35
Speaker
Yeah, I like that. That's a great, great scene. And probably. So I'll bring up my set piece, but I might be inclined to even change it to yours. But i I did love the ending because as a book fan, the book ends predictably as it is through the lens of Ray Garrity and Ray Garrity wins the long walk.
Film vs. Book: Diverging Endings
00:49:57
Speaker
Just like what you see in the film, it comes down to him and his his friend that he's bonded with, his brother essentially, that he's built this relationship with over the past few days of walking. in Peter McVreeze and McVreeze bows out, essentially like forfeits his own life to let Ray Garrity win, which is the fake out that we get in the movie. And that is the, see exactly what's gonna do that that is the fake out you get in the movie and it quickly pivots to,
00:50:23
Speaker
to then Garrity standing back and just kind of just like falling back in the distance as the camera continues to track the big breeze. Sorry, before we talk about what happened in the movie, can you tell us, because I don't know, all I know is that Ray Garrity wins, but what happens? so So Peter forfeits, and then what does Ray do? So Ray wins, and kind of similar to what you said at the very end of the movie as well.
00:50:45
Speaker
Like they're telling him, congrats, son, there's all this fanfare, but he's he's lived through such a horrifying experience that he begins to hallucinate, you know he's been walking for five days, and he thinks he sees a person still walking up ahead of him that he needs to catch and he just keeps walking.
00:51:03
Speaker
Oh, so he doesn't shoot and he doesn shoot the major no so that that was very different as well. Actually, in a good spoiler. I didn't want to bring it up. But he didn't have these the And this important because Hoffman really lost his father, um Philip Seymour Hoffman.
00:51:17
Speaker
And the character Ray Garrity loses his dad. And in the book, he was just killed by the militia, not not the major specifically, not Mark Hamill's character specifically.
00:51:28
Speaker
But the film made a little more personal by Mark Hamill killing his father and him witnessing it. So he is in the long walk just to get to the end, to hopefully get a gun.
00:51:38
Speaker
as his wish for winning, he can get granted any request he asked for and kill Mark Hamill. um So that was all new for for the film. I see why to do that.
00:51:51
Speaker
They have a personal vendetta against him. I like to because it really helps the dialogue throughout the film, where he's kind of bringing up, he's doing this for vengeance, and then David Johnson's character, McRee, is like, that's not what it's about. And that's a lot more...
00:52:06
Speaker
It's my favorite. Relatable and good dialogue than I think you even get in the book. It's why the movie works well for me. because it It touches a part of my soul that, and like I mentioned earlier, that it that I'm wrestling with, with how I feel about politics and and and freedom. and It's a good dialogue. But going back to the ending, like I just feel like it was the perfect capstone to the film. It was a bit of fan service to the fans of the book who all of a sudden we were blindsided. It's even like,
00:52:36
Speaker
you know, it's the opposite of fan service, right? Because it's, you're, you're not getting what you expect. I know, but it's fun sometimes to be surprised though, when you think, you know, everything else going in. And for instance, Francis Lawrence even did a good job, like kind of misleading us to think that's the way it's going to be. Because like when Art Baker gets his ticket and passes away right before he gives his necklace, he's like, i need one of you guys to take my necklace for me.
00:53:01
Speaker
And he gives it to Garrity, which is kind of signaling like, well, clearly Garrity is going the guy to, live to the end of this if he's getting this keepsake and so on another pivot is that you know with all of the pacifism and peace that that peter pd's talking about you don't anticipate him to grab the carbine and shoot the major yeah and so Whether that's a hallucination or whether that's the sign of how violence can corrupt us or whether that's a sign of that that was the right thing to do. I don't know.
00:53:30
Speaker
You know, part of me is like, yeah, you got to kill the chop the head off of the snake. But at what cost? The cost of his humanity, have his empathy, his morals, because he was talking this whole time about it's not about that.
00:53:43
Speaker
But then I'm thinking, well, then how else do you topple a regime? You do you just be in squalor forever. And it's it's round and round and go in your head. and And I the ambiguity, I think it works. Initially, I was frustrated because i was like, he just walked off the distance. Why is nobody shooting him?
00:53:57
Speaker
But it's like maybe that's in his head. Maybe he did get shot. I don't know. Yeah. I don't know. i I like the ending, just like you said, um because it makes you wrestle with that for like, did did this much violence corrupt a good man?
00:54:12
Speaker
Like the truly good man of the film and David Johnson's character is is he dead too? You know, is it like the spinning top at the end of- My question is like, to to as devil's advocate, are we just supposed to let- fascists just keep doing this at at what point do you take up arms and use political violence yeah stop oh shit it's it's a great point and you know a relevant point and so like you know i don't have an answer i just think it's well articulated in the film that you know there there has to be some kind of point where you say enough is enough but god how do you find that
00:54:55
Speaker
yeah good movie yeah some of these scare categories I think we can move through pretty quickly because again it's not a traditional horror film for Ben Gardner jump scare I did say there is the first time Garrity is walking it is night And he he falls asleep while walking. He's able to keep moving forward.
00:55:14
Speaker
He's having a flashback. The first flashback you see of him and Judy Greer. And then suddenly he's woken up by like a loud warning issued the most mild of jump scares, but it does startle you. That was it. I think that's the only thing I could reach for for anything resembling ah jump scares the film. Don't know if you have anything else.
00:55:30
Speaker
I could not think of one. So let's go with that. All right. um Okay. Well, we can talk about cantaloupe. um Our cantaloupe award here. There's a few scenes that fit the bill, but I think one specifically I'd have to imagine it's the same one. So I'll i'll let you go for it and hopefully see that you're reading my mind.
00:55:49
Speaker
It's the shits. Yeah. The first shits is the worst. The guy literally having diarrhea. ah Yeah, so it's the first, we're all thinking it. We're like, okay, at some point, someone's going to have to drop trow and like pinch off a loaf here.
00:56:04
Speaker
We don't get a clean loaf ah the first time someone's got to take a shit. This guy is having rampant diarrhea. ah He keeps trying to like pull his pants down and go and he does. In the shot choice to capture this.
00:56:18
Speaker
Dude, I don't know if I've seen this before in film, but it is directly behind him with him hunched over. You see bare ass cheeks and shit coming out. Maybe we should shift our focus on hanging dong to hanging rectum.
00:56:31
Speaker
i don't because I don't know, man. I think I'm doubling down on embracing full frontal male nudity because how horrific it was to see full reverse. Stay away from back, especially when you've had too many enchiladas. From the devil's garden back there. ah Yeah, man.
00:56:49
Speaker
here's the Here's the special part of this. It was so realistic that... it wasn't even that funny. Like yeah in a normal movie, when you are kind of using the right shot composition to kind of hide it and you see a little bit, you see some splatter and they're wincing.
00:57:07
Speaker
There's a lot of comedy and action and whatever kind of movies where someone's got to take a shit in a weird place and it ultimately becomes funny. It was so realistic and horrific that they were somehow able to have multiple shit scenes, including this one we're talking about,
00:57:20
Speaker
And um my, my theater didn't laugh. My theater wasn't like, Oh, there's poop. It was like, Oh God, like yeah I'm putting myself in this situation. Everybody's had diarrhea. Nobody wants to get shot. And I was cringing the whole time because it looked gross, but I was scared. And I'm like, what's going to happen to him? And,
00:57:36
Speaker
we see what happens to him. Yeah, he executed while sitting. He can't stop. Which made me think of our conversation about our dogs who always want to ah make eye contact other with us when they take a shit because the most vulnerable position that they're in. And I was like, well, this is the human form of that. That's That was so hard to watch. So that that clearly takes the cake for me as well. And that's what I was thinking of.
00:57:59
Speaker
There's one other moment, which is also tough to watch for. um Oh, actually, I think I put it under my cannon fodder, which is our next category. Cannon fodder. I have a clear winner. but Yes, I think so as well.
00:58:11
Speaker
And I think it leads up to one of the hardest hitting title cards I've ever seen. we're thinking of the same one. Oh, i I clocked the, ah because I did it with the Conjuring. I want to do it here too. 23 minutes until title drop.
00:58:26
Speaker
It went so long that I did not realize we hadn't gotten the title card drop yet. I was waiting for it. You're introduced to all the characters. getting prepped for the walk. The walk starts. um And you have the first participant out of the 50 boys who was the guy that kind of paid from the get-go. Like, what are you doing here? You look far too young.
00:58:44
Speaker
It's little Jojo Rabbit who gets a cramp. And a well-known actor that you think is going to last for longer than the movie. It's a little squirrely guy that you're like, oh, he's, you know, maybe he'll die. going to be resilient.
00:58:55
Speaker
He gets a cramp early. They try to help him. He cannot be helped. He stops walking. He starts crying. And you see a very close-up shot of that rifle, that carbine come up from behind his head.
00:59:09
Speaker
But you are seeing his face. And so when they shoot him and execute him, you see the bullet rip through out the front of his face and extremely graphic, probably the most graphic shot of the film for for executions.
00:59:21
Speaker
And then it goes right to the title card. It was a long walk. It's the filmmakers entering into an agreement with the audience being like, you're signing up for this.
00:59:32
Speaker
yeah This is what we're going to deliver. ah We're not going to say enjoy, we're going to say endure. and Let's go. Here's a long walk. Yeah, so A cannon fodder of of all cannon fodders for me thus far because holy cow, like it definitely well lets you know, like this is what you're going to get in in the same way, Trav, that you just kind of assumed and assumed correctly that I would have the same.
00:59:56
Speaker
um canon fodder award is you, I'm now going to also confidently assume that we have the same best death award. Yeah, I'd have to say it's it's the only one that can even be mentioned. It's the only candidate in my opinion, and it's the very satisfying death of the major.
01:00:14
Speaker
Oh, what? No, I had something completely different. I guess if you think best in a positive note, then I just couldn't bring myself to to to call a best death to any of these kids. Okay.
01:00:27
Speaker
I was like, I can't give an award to, again, all this talk about gun violence. And you've been won over by vengeance. I see.
01:00:38
Speaker
Maybe, maybe, yeah but it's also like, it it just got me thinking of the state of the world. And like these kids represent the thousands of kids that die at the hands of gun violence every year at schools. And I'm like, I just don't want to give an award of best of death.
01:00:54
Speaker
You know what i mean? I was like, fuck the major. I want to see him die. So maybe it is vengeance. I don't know. You call it what you want, but that's, I just immediately put that. What did you have? i'm curious. I had, I had Hank Olsen's death.
01:01:06
Speaker
So Hank Olsen is our Asian, of very Americanized character who who really is, there's not much humor in the film, but if there is any, it is him.
01:01:18
Speaker
And his characters are- Very Stephen King character, like wisecracking- like, like insecure and talking about chicks and all the time, 10 naked ladies and the very Stephen King. I've only read one Stephen King book and you know which one it is because we kind of read it together. You reread it with me, but it, and it he, Hank reminded me so much of like an all gamation of all those characters. Yeah. Yeah.
01:01:41
Speaker
Yeah, and actually he was kind of multiple characters from the long walk combined in this case as well, the difference from the book to the film, but his main character arc of like kind of a more lighthearted, quick witted guy of the group where he gets broken down and you see him essentially like a walking zombie near the end um and it's crushing. And then and then when he dies,
01:02:04
Speaker
You know, he's calling out for art, art Baker, one of the other musketeers with them and art can't help but like run back to help his friend, even though he's doing he's essentially sentencing himself to death.
01:02:16
Speaker
He's already been shot. You'll help him. Yeah, exactly. And he's Hank's going to die. He's been shot in the gut. they're letting him bleed out. It's fucking so it's it's probably the most horrifying scene of the movie, which is why it's weird to call it best death. Yeah, but you most impactful.
01:02:32
Speaker
And this is a primary character. And this is, you know, like most horror films or even like the Hunger Games style films. They've killed off all the ancillary characters at this point. You're down to the core characters and this is where they start to die off and it it hits a bit harder because now you're emotionally invested.
01:02:51
Speaker
Emotionally invested. Him yelling into the night, I did it all wrong, was probably when you described the psychological toll this takes on you.
01:03:02
Speaker
though that line is probably what got me because he says it multiple times and made me feel maybe think about regret and maybe think about making the wrong choices. That's something I always overthink in my own life and big life decisions. and In this case, he made the biggest, quote, mistake that he probably thinks he has ever made.
01:03:21
Speaker
um He did it all wrong. he did He's saying he did his life wrong. And that is a scary prospect, that you die thinking you did it all wrong. You're not dying on a bedside next to your loved ones. You're not dying fighting for your country.
01:03:33
Speaker
You're dying on wet asphalt with your guts hanging out with a bunch of strangers and the military right above you. And for what? It was... it was His character arc is just horrifying. At least Garrity, who dies at the end, dies so willingly to let his friend win and has control over the situation.
01:03:52
Speaker
And certainty with this is what he wants to do, where Hank Olsen's just really the kind of, the the stuff of nightmares. and Again, why I think this film's a bit scarier. it's I would argue he goes out.
01:04:03
Speaker
Could you we argue that he's the most tragic character? Yes. Yeah, he is. There's other, I guess there's other ones we could touch on. a bit, but I i think he's Stebbins. Stebbins might be one. Stebbins, Barkowitz.
01:04:19
Speaker
But yeah, that was tough. um i I don't know where else to fit this because again, I don't want to give shout to too many other deaths, but it was very tough to watch Harkness's death as well. Harkness was the guy who wanted to journal and essentially provide the insider's perspective and book.
01:04:33
Speaker
what he was doing and he breaks his ankle. God, he still, that was, that's number two. mile ah No pun intended. That was number two. Cringe. That was, yeah that was hard to watch.
01:04:44
Speaker
Sorry. I cut you off. You were saying graphically. He just keeps going for miles on a broken ankle and you, you see it until finally he can't, he can't. Is that a, is that a component of the book? They go into that. Yep.
01:04:57
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. That was hard. That was, that might be a sneaky cantaloupe one for me. Yeah. Because like just seeing him fucking stomping on that stump, I mean, his foot's basically off almost. Yeah. And it's bleeding. It's just. And he's still just, you know, the will to serve a life is what captures.
01:05:16
Speaker
Right. And like, they do a really good job of painting him with such hopes for the future. And he's going to write this book and he didn't get past chapter two. Like he's early death.
01:05:27
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. All right, well, those are some nice downers. Let's maybe line it up a bit with ah our Shyamalan twist. So this is true to the book as it is the movie, but I think the biggest twist here, and correct me if you saw another one, was the reveal that Stebbins is the Major's bastard son that he reveals later on and that his whole drive, his whole character arc is essentially trying to show his dad that I am worthy.
01:05:59
Speaker
am worthy of your love. Like, look at me, I'm going to win your dumb contest, which makes him another very tragic character. At the end, he he falls short as well. Yeah. ah and Oddly poetic character. he He had a lot of lines about flesh and blood and machine and um that that I wish when, you know, the quotes go on IMDb, maybe we can look at them again, but I really like them. um When the movie started, I was like, somebody's going to be this, like somebody's going to be the major's son.
01:06:32
Speaker
Yeah. ah I was like, one of them's going to be it And I think halfway through, I was like, okay, it's Devin's because we're hearing not a lot from him. There's got to be got to be payoff later. I wasn't surprised, but I'm glad they did it and they handled it really well. And also in a nerd part of me, it was like, oh, I am your father. Yes.
01:06:51
Speaker
Luke thing. Classic, classic Mark Hamill. So it's funny, a few points that you brought up that I think are worth mentioning here. Um, since I knew this twist going in. When all the, at the very start of the film, when Mark Hamill, the major is calling up all the contestants to get their ID tags, their number tags.
01:07:11
Speaker
When Stevins comes up, he says to him, good luck, son, and use that specific verb. out of here oh That was kind of a nod to, I, I, that's great to indicate the major knows it's a son or just a, again, a nod and a wink to the King fans who, who know that's gonna be in there. but that that was pretty cool.
01:07:27
Speaker
to have that line in there. Okay, that's good. um All right, don't go in there. um Yeah, mine was like, just don't be in the US s at this time. Okay. Just go to go to Denmark yeah or something.
01:07:40
Speaker
Mine was, so they have to volunteer, it sounds like, to sign up for the long walk. And I know there's great prizes and it's a time of desperation, but mine was just simply like... don't sign up like the risk is clearly not not worth the reward walk your dog don't go on the long walk uh last line yeah it was easy for me it was very easy for me because it made me again not to keep going back to it but it's hard not to have of everything that's been going on this week and honestly since 9 11 which is weird another weird thing that it opened on 9 11 and you can kind of point back trav to like
01:08:20
Speaker
where shit started going wrong, honestly. in a you know It's not not like American life was perfect before 2001, but we've been on a tear since then. And the the quote is after, i don't know, third or fourth guy gets shot and killed.
01:08:38
Speaker
um one one kid goes, I hope ah hope that part gets easier. And then another replies, that's what I'm afraid of. yeah And it made me think about how quickly we can read a headline and just be like, well, there's another one.
01:08:56
Speaker
Or something bananas that somebody in politics said, and it's like, oh, yeah. Or ah another update of how many Gaza kids have starved. And what I'm afraid of is how normal this feels, yeah all these horrible things when it's the end to the antithesis of normal.
01:09:16
Speaker
And so that line resonated with me. Yeah. Desensitizes you when, when it keeps happening. And so I love that, man. That was a great line. I didn't have that on my, list and so I'm glad you captured that one i know so Barkovich is kind of the like you said maybe the future school shooter prototype kind of the lone wolf a bit off um another very tragic character again I think he's trying to fit in and it yes it doesn't work but um from the get go you can see him trying to make a joke when they're all sitting around before the walk and he's just not working and doesn't say the right thing and yeah I mean I guess even jumping to the end of the film they're all talking about pitching in for Olsen's wife
01:09:56
Speaker
who they realized also was married we need to do something now for his widow and barkovich is like hey why wasn't i asked why didn't mcfries ask me and he he keeps just reiterating like guys got to have a couple of buds guys got to have a couple of buddies which is fucking traumatizing and it's true i mean as dudes like we we need our guys we need each other he didn't it's and he didn't have him and he he knows it he's trying to convince himself that otherwise Yeah, he doesn't have his pack and he kills himself. He takes his own life shortly thereafter. another When we talk about this movie, I just I'm reminded of it is one of the bleakest movies I've ever seen. Yeah.
01:10:36
Speaker
Yeah, by far, because like I think in my mind's eye, I just keep thinking of Cooper and um Johnson's characters and. you know They do have a more noble ending, but dude, you start thinking about numbers one through 48 or whatever they are, and it's like it's so fucking tragic. It's so fucking tragic.
01:10:59
Speaker
Olsen has a few funnier lines earlier in the film, so rattling these off quickly. after barkovich is tying his shoe at the very beginning and takes three warnings and they're all like what the hell are you doing and he's like it's all part of my plan olsen goes his plan and the stuff that comes out of my asshole bear suspicious resemblance which i liked that was a line that very likement took a long time for him to say and i was like where is he going with this where is he going with this and like he finally got it out and my whole theater laughed yes so there's that one and then it's when they're all talking about like
01:11:30
Speaker
their wish if they were to win and they're granted whatever they want. And also it's already talked about how he'd want the 10, uh, naked girls, which is interesting. Cause then later you find out he's the only guy who's married, you know, it's something else.
Dark Humor and Philosophical Layers
01:11:42
Speaker
It's probably something for us. He was, he just wanted to sound like a tough guy.
01:11:45
Speaker
I think he was saying it so they wouldn't even think he was married. Yeah, maybe maybe that was it. But then it it goes around and McVries has the noble one again where he's like, I'd wish for two winners, you know, so like, you can know you're in it with someone.
01:11:56
Speaker
And right after McVries says this much more noble wish that he would have Olsen chimes back in with, I still think 10 naked ladies is a fucking no brainer. that's my love as well most comedy. I need, I need to do a spinoff from that because ah He gets a lot of mileage out of the 10 naked ladies things in terms of funny lines because then ah because somebody retorts at him like, dude, why would you wish for 10 naked ladies when you can use all the money you're getting to pay for 10 naked ladies to come to your house? And he's like,
01:12:28
Speaker
That's gross, dude. don't want to pay for 10 naked ladies. That's gross. And then somebody is like, okay, well, even if if you you wish them, somebody is going to pay them to yeah go to your house for for part of this wish. like its They're getting paid regardless, man. He's like, oh, I didn't think of it that way.
01:12:46
Speaker
That whole exchange. Again, it makes it funnier, I think. contrasting it just the rest of how bleak this film is, is those few exchanges are great. I don't know if you have any others. I usually try to limit these, but I had to say,
01:12:59
Speaker
It's one of my all-time favorite King quotes. So when Olsen dies or is dying, I think you capture what he says right before he dies, where he says, I did it all wrong. But just prior, um right before he actually turns around and essentially approaches the half track and commits death by cop or death by militia by walking into it, he just mumbles that God's garden is full of weeds, which is like a very haunting, you know, again, as a somewhat religious person, I've always thought about like,
01:13:30
Speaker
Like he's glimpsing essentially what there is ahead of him in his eternity that he hoped for. And it's, it's not as good as it was promised. In fact, it's been corrupted. um And so I don't know. like like like My favorite King quote is God's garden is full of weeds.
01:13:45
Speaker
Is he saying that like he's questioning, the tranquility that death might bring him, like what is in the afterlife, that it might not be all good, it's not gonna be green. It's- Yeah, or maybe not even afterlife, just like this promise and life- Oh, life, yeah, okay. That we've been given sucks.
01:14:04
Speaker
Right. It's been- but Right. What was supposed to be our garden um has been corrupted and ruined.
Life's Uncertainties and Reflections
01:14:11
Speaker
Whenever somebody, you know, I kind of get annoyed when people say this quote sometimes when they're like, it'll all work out in the end.
01:14:17
Speaker
Mm-hmm. Because sometimes it doesn't. Yeah. And for those people, I direct them to see this movie. ah Or I direct them to go see a movie that my buddy, our buddy Blue and I just saw called The Turin Horse, which is basically about how the world is getting worse and there's nothing we can do about it.
01:14:37
Speaker
And I'm not saying I believe that, but I think it's important to consider that. and And maybe it makes you make better life decisions and value things differently. Because if you just think it's always going to work out in the end,
01:14:49
Speaker
then that might deprive you from thinking more, thinking harder about how to make things better. yeah Because if you just think it's going to work out, then then why try if it's just going to work out? yeah it doesn't know There's some people who die horrible deaths who are penniless and disfigured and lonely.
01:15:08
Speaker
It didn't work out for them. So why do you think it's just always going to work out for you? And tie it back to the long walk. If you don't always believe it's going to work out in the end, it will make you value the current moment you are in more in those moments where things are going well. Because exactly. like, don't take these for granted.
01:15:26
Speaker
I might not have this tomorrow. Focus on the moments, man. um So yeah, cool. All right. That's it for lines. That was way more lines that usually have. But I was surprised. if ever mus They cut a lot of in the movie.
01:15:37
Speaker
um All right. ah Dull knives. Yeah. um i I tease this a bit and maybe you can shed light on this because maybe it's expanded in in the book.
01:15:49
Speaker
But I was at absolutely shocked, almost, I mean, really shocked that there's like one throwaway line about there being a camera and it being broadcast.
Broadcast Portrayal Critique
01:15:59
Speaker
And that is it. You don't see people watching it anywhere.
01:16:02
Speaker
there's It's not paid any mind. Like, I don't even know why they included that, to be honest. Like, is it just so we know that people are aware that this is happening? But like, but I guess I'm saying like, The broadcast plays no role in this movie, but they attempt to show you that it's there.
01:16:20
Speaker
i ah Again, it goes back to the point I made, and i actually had this as a dual knife as well, that I think the decision to go from more of a dystopian feel to like maybe post-apocalyptic, because there was no fanfare, really, for the long walk here. They say they're doing it to kind of send a message to the rest of the country.
01:16:37
Speaker
and in the book, that makes sense. because there are people consuming it and taking in it like this is the main sporting event. It's a big deal. And here I agree with you where I don't know if this is like intentional direction or maybe they just have the budget to bring in all the extras to like show the fanfare. But um it seems a lot more honestly, it seems like a lot more of a wasteland again. It's almost more sad because Unlike The Hunger Games, you know, The Hunger Games everyone's tuning in, it's watching it. makes it a bit more fictionalized. it's this And when you see no one even watching they're still murdering these kids. Like, it hits even
Isolation and Tone Differences
01:17:14
Speaker
harder. Thankless thing. It's just, like, for nothing. It's yeah just for these sick fascists to watch kids die and for these desperate kids to watch themselves die. And nobody else is there really to...
01:17:25
Speaker
see it go down yeah it was so when they get to freeport which is garrity's hometown in maine in the movie the only civilian you see there is his mom standing by herself judy greer which was very interesting because yeah because they made it it's his hometown like there's huge crowds they're like literally in the book like his high school band is there little girl though the girl Yeah, earlier. We're also standing by herself, though.
01:17:52
Speaker
So like the fanfare he's getting, it's just weird when it's like it's his hometown. I know he knows more people than just his mom and no one came out. Like where where are people?
01:18:03
Speaker
What does that say about like this event in general? It was a dull knife I had as well. and And maybe it was intentional for the direction, but it felt. it changed the movie. It made it feel foreign in some ways. It also made it feel more grim, I guess, in others.
01:18:21
Speaker
My other one, I think it's one of those funny moments where that dull knife cleared itself up earlier in our pod because I think now I like it, especially knowing how the book ended. and that Initially, I didn't like the ending, Trav. I didn't like... it it was It was what he did after he shot him because I was like...
01:18:39
Speaker
okay, I either need to see him shoot everybody else or get shot or something, but he just walks away into like nothingness where you don't see anybody. And I was just like confused about what that means and is it unrealistic?
01:18:55
Speaker
But as we've talked, I think I've come around and thinking this is an option to believe that this might be in his head. or maybe the soldiers are like, oh, this, he killed our boss.
01:19:07
Speaker
We didn't like him anyways. And so we're not going to do anything. Yeah. Or that he died earlier and that this is all a mirage in his post dead brain. I don't know, but ah I think I've come around to it. I mean, they, they do discuss earlier in the film, like you are granted some degree of immunity if you win the long walks. It could all, it could truly be the soldiers just don't know, like,
01:19:29
Speaker
but can't can we fire on this guy? I just like that they probably stuck to, even though it's a different character who wins in the film, yeah he gets up and just keeps walking. Because I think it shows, again, like they say multiple times in the film, there is no finish line.
01:19:44
Speaker
Once you've signed up for this, yeah you walk till you die. There really isn't a winner here. Even if you're the last one standing, you walk till you die. And it kind of it ends on that note.
01:19:56
Speaker
um my My only other dull knife, Related to that last scene as well. I just found it a bit incredulous that when McFreeze asks for a carbine, the major and everyone's like, yeah, this is totally normal. He's like, I want it as a keepsake, like to show my kids. Everyone's like, after they've just been told to the major, like, we fucking hate you. You suck. Like, I want to kill you.
01:20:18
Speaker
then he asked for a gun. Like really you couldn't assume like he was going to do something crazy. so If they were smart, they'd be like, sure. And then as they're giving it to him, take the clip out. Yeah. Because they're like, Oh, you just said you wanted the carbide. You didn't say you wanted the carbide and ammunition.
01:20:35
Speaker
Yes. A hundred percent. So that was the only, again, that's unique to the film, not the book. It was a bit of a tough pill for me to swallow, but outside of that, everything else I jived with.
01:20:47
Speaker
Um, Winners and losers. Winners and losers. I only have a few for this film. Again, we were talking about this before we started recording. Usually this is a funnier segment. It's it's tough, man, on this film. like i I want to reiterate, I really like this film, but it's it's tough to make light of things within. Yeah. um my yeah My first winner is shoes.
01:21:11
Speaker
Good, sturdy, well-sold shoes. The whole time I was like, man... What kind of Dr. Scholls would I be rocking? Would i be getting you know arch support?
01:21:24
Speaker
um Yeah, I'm flat-footed, man. this This would ruin me. I would not last that long. Great endurance. I can do cardio. There's a few shots where we, and again, the camera's always moving, rightly so, is to feel that bouncy rhythm of taking a three-mile-per-hour walk.
01:21:43
Speaker
There's a shot where you can't see it that well, but you see some of their shoes and maybe this is now a loser, but some of these shoes were like leather. They were like hiking boots.
01:21:54
Speaker
I put this under losers for that reason. where i Yeah, let's let's talk about it. Because like trail running shoes, I would do something meant more for that. than hiking boots? I mean, that's like I saw Dockers. yeah I saw like Timberlands. I'm like, what do what's what's happening here, guys?
01:22:11
Speaker
You'd think that'd be the thing you invest the most in. like but you know there's You always say, if you're even if you're not well off or cash is tight, you always spend...
01:22:23
Speaker
good money on things between you and the ground. So that means shoes, bed, tires, because us and the ground, that's a lot of negotiation there. That's a lot of that's a lot of like risk and weight and like these things have to last a long time. So shoes get the fucking best you can. And I saw some real ratty leather pieces of shit.
01:22:48
Speaker
Yeah. um One winner. So we talked about how there's four King adaptations coming out this year. So that was one. But another one, horror films in 2025. Like this is not as big box office wise being pretty well critically received.
01:23:04
Speaker
Like I think we've gotten in some really good movies this year as well as some big box office hits. But like, holy cow, like this, this will have to be up there with like personally for me, one of my favorite years in film for horror.
01:23:18
Speaker
If not, the best. you You said something about two pods ago and I was like, well, what about 2022? And i think now we can easily say and i'd have to go look at my personal favorite of the 2020s i think it's clear it has to be the best of this of the of this decade so far like in this in long walk this little little long walk might have solidified it i mean it's getting insanely good reviews 71 a metacritic is not easy to do so uh
01:23:51
Speaker
another one i had was the sack the sack the sack Mark Hamill mentions the sack like 18 times in this movie. Oh, that's a good one. He's like, have some sack, boys.
01:24:08
Speaker
takes heavy sack to sign up for this contest. carrie that what he yeah He just uses it a lot. he's just like to I love his gruffy like soldier impersonation we're doing in this film. well he's i mean he's a Even though Mark Hamill did not have the film career he probably wanted,
01:24:27
Speaker
where he found his voice, no pun intended, was in voice work. ah he is in his His second most notable um character after Luke Skywalker is the Joker from and the animated Batman series. And so I like that they utilized his mystique, but his voice, he's a really good voice actor.
01:24:48
Speaker
ah Show some sack, boys. I mean, if we're not going to get a full hanging dong and full frontal, at least we can get some sack talk. and some Some sack shout outs. Some sack shout outs for sure. So yeah, the sack one. I have a Mark Hamill winner as well.
01:25:01
Speaker
for You already mentioned it, but Mark Hamill father reveals. You get the Empire Strikes Back. Sorry if I'm spoiling Star Wars, but it's about time. And then, yeah, Stevan's father reveal as well. Do you have more winners?
01:25:16
Speaker
Nope, that's it. What's a loser of yours? The only one I had was shoes. I had a very short list of where I spoke of it. You have any losers? I have two.
01:25:27
Speaker
One is fascism. Yeah. The second one telegraphed punches. That poor kid who's getting picked on rank.
01:25:38
Speaker
Dude, buddy, I i feel for you. I'm sorry you're dead and that sucks. But like, holy hell, you could see that up yeah a mile away. can't run with a wound up punch ready to go. Dude, his right hook was cartoonish.
01:25:53
Speaker
It like started over here and he almost wound it up like He's just spinning it around. bark had like a full four seconds to move out of the way yeah like three different times i was just disappointed i guess but you know probably not a lot of means to uh pay for boxing classes and who knows how often he can spar i don't know no that's good point what else you oh okay that was that it was fascism and telegraph but oh yes sorry i didn't i forgot you said fascism could we spend more time that's how they get you forget it's there and then it creates up all right well scream king scream queen um not not a lot of queens i i guess you could nominate judy greer but that would not be it for me who's top your list for who you think won this movie
01:26:40
Speaker
um I had Cooper Hoffman. Wow. So I like that. And if you're okay doing a buddy nomination together, pairing him with David Johnson. Let's do it. They deserve to be together.
01:26:52
Speaker
And they deserve to be together at the end of this film. Yep. That's exactly how I feel. I think both of them, they carry this film. It's such a character focused horror movie that without the two of them,
01:27:04
Speaker
this this could have come off as a really cheap and bad king adaptation and that's honestly what i thought we were going to get going into this film i'm kind of there with you dude i i was so pleasantly surprised that like this is up there for one of my favorite king adaptations of all time yeah as we talk about it my esteem for it grows and uh probably flipping the script too i said it's a good movie i don't want to see again but i The more we talk about it and the more things there is to unpack, especially these two guys, I think I think i would and we'll see it again. ah
01:27:39
Speaker
can I get you? I'm putting you on the spot, since you just said that, we haven't done this in a while, but we have our own awards for horror movies called The Scenogies. I think both these guys are in consideration for best lead and best supporting actor in a horror film this year.
01:27:53
Speaker
Do you sign off on that, that they should be nominated? for end of year. I feel like these are snap nominations for me to so Cooper being lead and David Johnson probably because that's other build right?
01:28:06
Speaker
Yeah, let's do it. Okay, on board. Next week, we are going to try to cover another new release of our logistics aren't exactly pinned down yet. So don't hold us to it. But we're trying to cover him, which will release next weekend.
01:28:19
Speaker
The Jordan Peele produced movie Directed by someone that nobody knows because his name isn't anywhere in the marketing. Yes. Yes. But it's a football movie. It's football season, baby. Oh, and we might have somebody, a guest. Andy Nelson has been wanting to that pod. It sounds like may have a guest on that as well. So that'll be fun.
01:28:38
Speaker
And then please follow us on any podcast platform that you listen to this stuff on, whether it's Spotify, Apple podcast, whatever. ah give us a rating if you're so kind, five stars if you like us.
01:28:51
Speaker
And ah yeah, social media. We're still on Instagram. We're still doing that thing ah at the Sunday scaries dot pod. We're kind of on Twitter. You're selling it. sorry Please follow us on Twitter at the sun scaries.
01:29:06
Speaker
ah That's our plugs. What else? tra I think that's it. We'll see you guys next week. From Montana, Travis in Denver.
01:29:18
Speaker
What the fuck is this? What the fuck is this? This is the generic intro song. We're in like a jazz club or something.
01:29:31
Speaker
ah We'll see you guys next week. yeah We need your bye. let'll do it.
01:29:44
Speaker
Sorry, I'm just so thrown off by the jazz music. We've got like an hour. We
01:29:55
Speaker
really a we only have four buttons, and I managed to click the wrong one on our soundboard. Dude, I thought you were like, I was like, is this from the movie? Like, what is he doing? Like, this is a curveball.
01:30:07
Speaker
It's like, hey.