Witness with Amanda Dobbins
2026-04-12 04:00:00 • 2:56:58
If we'd podcasted last night I'd have to stay or you'd have to leave.
What is the line of the movie for me? It's maybe a low energy way to start the podcast. It's the line of the movie.
It's the tagline. You should just done the tagline.
Let me do the tagline now.
Let me do the tagline now. I was an alternate. I just really want to do that.
I had to do it.
Harrison Ford is John Book period. That's the biggest fuck.
Exactly.
Okay.
And then right down underneath it, almost like small print on the back of a fucking aspirin bottle, a big city cop, a small country boy.
They have nothing in common, but a podcast.
Exactly. That's why it's perfect.
Do you think putting Harrison Ford is John Book that big was them being like, we need to fucking Indiana Jones this thing.
We need to sell to good question.
Playing another iconic character.
Like can we gabbo them into thinking?
Well, I'm supposed to know who John Book is.
I would like to talk about the name John Book.
It's one of the great names.
It's incredible names. Maybe they're just so proud of the name.
And it does feel like they picked the name John Book for that like franchise ability.
Right?
The Indiana Jones of it all.
It's Mr. Book or just book, you know, as Samuel calls him throughout the thing.
Yes.
So I do, yes.
I think that it's sort of like a big bold mad lives attempt. Right?
You know, we have Harrison Ford. We have John Book.
Yeah.
A name, you know, a name you're going to know.
Yeah. And the guy had had a track record at this point of already creating two fucking beyond iconic franchise character.
Right. What were you going to say to him?
I, I'd like to know, I'd love to, you know, sit in on whatever meeting this was back when because it's like, yeah, how do you automatically sell this?
Right. You know, like it's not, this is not an odd, oh, we know what to do.
It's about an homage boy who witnesses a crime at a train station.
And then of course the cop has to hide it. You know, like, you can't do that.
You can't, you can't set that up in a poster.
Beautiful painting of Harrison Ford's face.
Right.
And if you look closely, you're like, is that an homage boy?
But even the Ted's just a little, yeah, it looks like children of the corn.
Like if you just look at the boy, but it's dark in darkness.
Yeah.
It's like it's a little abstract.
I think you look, he had just been to the temple of doom.
He had before that he had returned with the Jedi.
He had run with the blades.
He'd rated the lost dark.
Right.
So like it's one of those things where it's like this is Harrison Ford.
Right.
And he's playing another guy.
Exactly.
And I guess that really is just the overriding thing of like you like it.
Yes. Right.
When Harrison Ford plays a person with a name.
I just think that Blade Runner had bombed.
Yeah, Blade Runner had bombed.
The others had not.
Yeah.
And Indiana Jones is sold on.
Adventure has a name. Right.
Indiana Jones.
That if they're trying to do the like, okay, what worked?
What didn't thing?
They were like, well, people go see a Harrison Ford movie.
If they feel like we're introducing him to his next guy.
I think that's.
Yes.
I think you're totally right.
Right.
But you can't enumerate what the guy does because it milks a cow.
You know, like fixes a car.
Dances.
Dances of.
Sam Cook.
Yeah.
We'll talk about it.
There's no way to explain it.
And even the poster is saying like city cop country boy.
Right.
Right.
Which is that's.
That's good.
It's not a lie.
No.
Very big for them to lie.
But if you were to ask anyone now to describe witness,
you'd be like the Amish movie.
Sure.
Of course.
No, I know.
You know, you'd be Sam Cook and the bar.
No, what here's what witness is, if you said the Amish people would be like the witness
people.
That you're at.
For 20 years.
I think at this point,
that's not true anymore.
Yeah.
But I think in the 80s and 90s, you're the Amish oath from witness.
Yes.
The guys from witness.
Right.
This movie almost had like a Rain Man autism effect.
Pennsylvania, you're not like that,
but if you live in Switzerland,
you're like, yeah, I know the Amish from witness.
From witness. They might have well be made up to me.
Like maybe where they made up for that movie
is that real thing or not?
I don't even know. Who knows?
No one knows.
I don't think I'll be astonished
if JJ has a definitive answer.
If in his research, he found out for certain
whether or not the Amish exists.
It's an unanswerable question.
We pay a researcher.
There's just beyond his ability this week.
Have you ever been to Amish country?
I haven't.
You're married to a Pennsylvania.
Well, yes. So I have been to 30th Street station.
Of course.
I'm excited. It's it.
And I am. I'm here in New York with you guys,
which is so lovely.
And I've been sitting with my sister-in-law,
Ruthie, also a native Philadelphia.
And she was telling me both she and Zach,
my husband, said, yes, this movie was shown to us
as a Philadelphia movie.
Wow. It is.
We were, we were sat down at a young age
and we were like Philadelphia.
My friend who lives in Philadelphia,
texted her right away and watching a Philly movie,
baby. And yes, it's like only 20 minutes worth.
But sure.
But then what Ruthie told me that my husband had not told me
and maybe doesn't recall is that my husband was then
terrified to go to the bathroom at the 30th Street station.
That makes perfect.
For many years.
Does the bathroom look like that or is it a set?
Like does it?
I mean, I assume now it does not have wooden solos.
Well, I actually haven't been in the men's bathroom
at 30th Street station.
Do you have a research next time you come to my podcast?
I honestly don't know if I've been in the women's bathroom either.
But I think.
Be a bit of a J.J. now.
You know, I, I, I do think that it's on the outside.
You know, it looks the same.
And that's, that's enough for him to say,
I don't want to do it.
This also ties into the fact that I,
I believe my father-in-law was showing them movies
a little bit sooner than perhaps they were emotionally ready,
which is like what we did in the 80s, right?
Look, I don't know.
You're a, you're a parent.
Yeah.
I mean, you're constantly like,
is this the moment for this or are we not ready for this?
I'm not really.
I'm just like, here is the first hour of Top Gun Maverick
because you like airplanes.
And, and also I have found that there's my older son is three and a half now.
Yeah.
But for a while, he didn't understand the concept of scary.
No, they don't, they don't know.
No one told for a while.
Right.
And he wasn't engaging with the emotional stuff.
And then that, that appears like.
Yeah, so there was like a lot of stuff at age two and a half that he could be into.
And now, and now he's like, I can tell that everyone is like, is very tense.
And, and I don't like this.
Well, it's like that thing when a kid falls and they can't decide whether or not to cry.
Yes, totally.
Totally.
And you go like, you're okay.
You're okay.
Yeah.
Yeah.
But also Halloween decorations.
He's still like everything that's supposed to be gory and gross.
He just totals right up and it's like, hey, look at these lights.
He likes these, just like that.
Yeah, because he doesn't know that it's supposed to be grotesque.
He hasn't, it's learned behavior, I guess.
My, my 10 year old little cousin, who I take to movies a lot.
His dad, when I was growing up, was the one who took me to movies I shouldn't see.
And so it's like, he guns and roses albums and whatever.
Awesome.
And I dropped him off after a movie and he and his wife, we're not arguing, but we're
like, we want your opinion on this because we've been going back and forth.
And for years, it had been like, hey, don't show George this.
He might be too young.
Right.
I was like very respectful, but they seem very cautious about what was being fed to him.
And they were like, am I crazy in thinking that in our side of the family, the tradition
is everyone sees everything too young.
Yeah.
And I was like a little bit of it.
There were certainly things my parents banned, but then like, already comedies this and
that.
And he was like, and none of us turned our fucked up, right?
And I'm like, I don't know.
We can debate this.
And then between that conversation and the next time I saw George, he had seen every
R-rated movie on the planet.
Well, that's how we did it in our generation, right?
And I see you seem to be doing well.
Even the nothing's wrong.
Don't make that face, David, you're not hanging out with George.
We're all fucked up.
We're all fucked up.
We're all fucked up.
Of course, I'm fucked up.
Exactly.
But we have incredible tastes.
We do.
You know, and like, protesters.
We do.
You know, we're perfection of our protesters.
We're perfection of our protesters.
We're all fucked up.
We're all fucked up.
We're fucked up.
Exactly.
We're all fucked up.
We're all fucked up.
We're all fucked up.
That's the problem or is that it?
That was the that was the ten or a half.
Yeah.
Yeah, it's exactly children's entertainment.
And now everything is for eight year olds, whether you're three eight or 42.
Oh, it's interesting.
I saw Tron.
Which I'm not yet, by the way.
Because you're relations by the way.
Oh, I know.
And of course, this is posting six months out of two weeks.
Six months out of two weeks.
Six months out of two weeks.
Six months out of two weeks.
But you know, that's a film for teenagers.
I mean, and for grown and important mature men like me, but mostly for teenagers.
And it has imagery in it of like people kind of disintegrating because they're digital creatures.
Sure.
What, you know, all the Tron shit.
D-Racing.
Yeah.
That like I was like, objectively, this is quite nightmarish.
This is like a person crumbling into ash sort of, right?
That's also like every ambulance we have.
And then I was like, I guess that's just sort of baked into, right, like action kids'
adventure shit.
It's also, yes.
But now like the tech is so good that it's like, this is like, I just watched Jody Turner Smith's
beautiful person.
Oh, spoilers.
Wow.
They're always they de-rest like four billion.
Everyone never is re-resting.
Oh, they de-resting.
Okay.
On re-resting.
It's just funny that you look under the realization.
I guess Tron areas is ostensibly for teenagers.
Right.
Three times in a row.
The real question with Tron.
Tron, action.
This is like, this is for anybody.
This is only for teenagers.
And every time teenagers bat at the fuck down and then like 20 years later, they're like,
okay, I think we've identified who it's actually for teenagers.
What's our podcast?
Our podcast is blank check with Griffin and David.
I'm Griffin.
And David.
And who's our guest?
Well, first what's the podcast about?
This is where this podcast goes.
Yeah.
It's a podcast about homographies, director to a massive success early on in their careers
and our given a series of blank checks to make whatever crazy, passion projects they
want.
Sometimes those checks clear and sometimes they bounce.
Maybe.
Yes.
Here's a man who had a arc one act one success.
And then this is his turning point into act two.
Well, this is his Hollywood.
Act what I'm saying.
This is his leap to Hollywood.
Nothing bounced yet, but it was just not at all.
Right.
The credit was mounting in Australia.
Yes.
And he makes the leap now and does it with flying colors.
Yes.
We're talking about Peter Weir.
We are.
We are.
I think it's a picnic at hanging cast.
That's right.
Because David thinks that podnic is the funniest thing anyone's I think podnic is really funny.
I want to give it.
I want to give credit to JJ who pitched podnic at hanging cast and his fire.
Now I wanted to do podster and cast manor the pod side of the cast because I was like
this is a rare opportunity to get two pods into casts into one title.
And I was like, and I feel like being a podcaster and more of a.
A visual in an audio learner.
So I was like really hanging on there.
Visual is going to tell you.
Visual is getting tough.
Yeah.
Our guest today returns the show for only the second time.
And look, this is on me.
I should never look at the reddit, but I happened to check last night.
Why did you look at the red?
I don't want to know.
I mean, I guess you've been blowing the wrong direction.
Uh huh.
And the reddit thread was how has Amanda Dobbins only been on once and Sean Fennessey
has been on three times all caps.
You slash Travis Bickle.
Well, and I didn't weigh in, but I just want to be in your.
In your defense, I think you guys, you do like to do it in person, which I like as well.
Right.
Sean has been here more.
I was on parental leave for a while.
Exactly.
You had child.
I'm, yeah, I'm back in the mix.
I think I was pregnant for Thomas Crown affair and not telling anyone.
So that would have been just.
Wait, so you were lying to me?
I think it was.
It was a sin of omission.
Thank you so much.
Yes.
So, you know, and listen, our, our, our society is structured, you know,
in equally when it comes to, to, to women having it all, and having access to being
in person for a while.
I only get 33.3% of the podcast appearances that men get.
It's true, but I'm, I'm back.
You're back.
I'm done.
Amanda Dobbins.
Not going to happen again.
You done.
I am, I am out.
Oh, you T.
No, this is what I want to talk about.
Of a person's shoulder not only.
Okay.
No, no, no, no.
This is the big, this like, you know, I imagine I are just connecting on this moment.
Because it is.
Yeah.
I'm just declaring it on the heavy one.
Good.
As possible.
Good.
You know, much like Peter Weir.
Yeah.
That was my Australian new wave face.
Right.
And it's.
I am Hollywood baby.
Right now.
Harrison Ford is John Book.
Yes.
He is me.
Ford is John Book.
Now, here's the other part of it.
Yeah.
This now your second appearance.
Yeah.
I feel like these are two of the three movies I hear you cite the most as feeling like
the most impactful on your development as like a movie fan and a movie watch.
Absolutely.
It has now created a standard, which isn't to say we can't have you on for something else.
But it feels like in both of these cases, oh, that's true.
Right.
Thomas Connrow.
It's formative.
Right.
We, we look on the director and I say to David Dobbins.
And we just text you and you immediately text all caps.
Absolutely.
Yeah.
It was just an obvious land.
So these are also films that like were successful.
Yes.
At the time, but are not canonized.
They're a little forgotten in the in the in the general.
I was thinking about that.
Filmed nerd.
Yes.
I guess that's a good way to put it.
But they were, they were important to my cinematic development.
And I've got a whole lot more of those.
Have you guys done run Howard yet?
No, a call of 13 like just book it right now.
The other one I was John bucket.
The other one I was going to say I feel like in that trilogy is working girl.
I feel like working girl witness like a Thomas counter.
Five thousand.
Yes.
And I always hear and I have one more for you.
OK, even though I'm pretty sure.
Well, first of all, like have you done Rob Reiner?
No.
OK, well, here's the whole issue of Rob Reiner.
I know it falls off a cliff.
It falls off a cliff.
But that's why we could do pre cliff Reiner.
This would be the first of all.
First of all, I hosted what I believe was my 10th, maybe 11th birthday party at the movie theater to see North.
So, wow, but that's not my pick.
My movie that is a stealth, which is
witness sequel.
Sure, but is also, but it's off the cliff.
Yes.
North is the big.
It's the it's the right.
Sure.
But but but America.
Made air.
America is that you know, it's like is another one.
American president is after North, I believe, in his filmography.
And so that's when he pulls the parachute and it deploys.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
American president.
And he's like, I still got it.
The parachute starts.
No, he's a catch on fire.
Hersh, he works.
He just happens to land inside of a volcano.
Yeah.
Yeah.
American president, I know is a big one for you.
I would love to do that.
But so, you know, there is a whole, there's, there are others.
There's others.
It just feels like we've gotten two huge ones.
But you know, in Apollo 13, American president and Thomas Crown Affair,
that's and you're, we're similar ages.
Like that's your, you know, becoming like a teenager.
Like these are movies from the nine mid 90s that we watched.
Same for me.
Witnesses from the 80s.
Yeah.
And witness maybe for you, it was for me was a home video.
Oh, absolutely.
I think you're kind of ready for this movie.
Because this is like a, you know, you know, there's a, in a perfect world,
this would be rated, I guess like, well, in the sort of the British rating.
Like this is kind of a rated 15 movie, right?
Where it's like, it's got a little violence.
Yeah.
It has a hint of the, but like by and large, it's not too intense.
And it's, it's, it's adult, but it's sort of like, you know, you can engage with it
as a teenager.
It also falls into the category of, if you're interested in watching this,
you're old enough to watch this, right?
Right.
Yeah.
Like, hey, this movie is zero lasers.
Yeah.
And you're like, well, I don't know.
You're going to have to really lock in to get to the boobs.
And the boobs are going to make you a little emotionally confused.
Right.
Right.
It's a movie about no exciting violence.
Oh, is it about how the Amateur Super Weird?
No, it's kind of engaging with them as a community in a mature way.
It is the mildest kind of culture shock comedy.
Right.
And in how like, the gentlest comedy, like, it is underplayed.
Right.
Yeah.
There, I mean, there is one stabbing at the beginning.
There is.
Yeah.
Or like throat slashing, I guess.
It's a throat plot.
There's a shoot out at the end.
Like, you know, there is someone drowns in corn.
Dramatic corn.
You showed this to a 10 year old.
It would go overhead.
As, you know, I live with two young men who are.
So there's, there's that aspect of it.
Maybe you should just show them the barn raising on YouTube.
They might like it.
That's a great one.
The barn raising is one of those things where you're like, this is real.
Like, you know, when you're a young person, right?
Yeah.
Still, I mean, and I, well, so also I grew up speaking of the 80s in like the first wave
of American girl doll situation.
Oh, I see.
So I had a Kirsten.
Okay.
She's from like Minnesota.
She is, she's Midwestern.
And it's like, but she's like a Scandinavian immigrants.
Swedish girl from 1845.
Yeah.
And, and like, and they came with a set of books, you know, and there was one that was like,
how did this person, how is this person?
The introductory one.
There's like a birthday one, a Christmas one.
I'm sure I'm like a school one probably.
Yeah.
And like, and the, anyway, the party one, I don't know.
There was one about a barn raising.
Oh, and they like had a barn raising and then like a party in the barn.
And this, so witness was like really important to me in terms of visually realizing this
event that I had only read about in the context to the doll pre days.
Of the, the original six box set.
Yes.
Kirsten American girl doll series.
How messy the American girl doll can and it's gotten.
Can you keep on?
Because it used to be tight.
It's not the normies can't find an entry point.
You got to do homework just to pick up one doll.
And there's like a two thousand's one, which she likes jumbo, like what is that?
But also apparently they just introduced that Samantha, another of the originals.
Classic one.
And listen, you know, the original three, there was, it was a pretty singular demographic.
Sure.
You know, which was, you know, white lady, white ladies with means.
So it's good that they expanded the bounds.
Right.
But apparently Samantha, one of the originals now has a great granddaughter who you can buy.
Yeah, they're like, try.
Oh, that's not to do this.
I don't know what she's up to.
I don't know what she's up to.
I don't know what she's up to.
I don't know what she's up to.
The doll isn't like 80 now, right?
You're like dealing with Samantha.
It's not that.
It's dead.
It's frozen in time.
Right.
But that's what I'm saying.
The idea of like dealing with two child dolls in different temporalities is if it's
fucking frequency.
You know what I'm just, I, this is how disease my brain is.
Just right now, I was thinking about like, yeah, the posh mark market for their girl,
American girls, all stuff must be like Valhalla for like, it must be the most incredible
thing because I had that catalog.
I was just thinking about Samantha's t-set and the little like iced cupcakes or glazes
or like, maybe it's ice cream because her thing is she makes ice cream, you know, they
make dolls for the dolls.
I'm well aware.
It's a, it's a daughter now getting into it.
Not yet, but I mean, those are on cold storage.
Like, those are awaiting her because, you know, my wife, I think had a couple and then
her sister had a couple.
Yeah.
This is a family of dogs.
Yeah.
Yeah.
And they're all just, you know, locked away.
My daughter's still, I think, too young to fully engage with them.
Totally.
And she's obviously also just all the way in on Spider-Man and mostly cares about what
Green Goblin is up to.
Not what I think that is healthier, you know?
I guess so, but they're coming.
Yeah, they're coming.
And then maybe one day I'll be a posh bar.
But the t-set was like little wicker chairs and it had all the accoutrements.
It was so beautiful.
And I'm just like, I, I, their resale market must be amazing.
Like I think I'm feel right now the way that Sean feels when talking about physical media.
I'm just like, I can't imagine the possibilities.
My question for you is, do you have yours?
Are they?
I don't know my box.
Like now that you had two sons, not to be binary, is it possible right that these will
not be in use?
I would absolutely use home if they wanted to.
My mom blessed her, did her downsizing on her own a couple years ago.
And she didn't, first of all, she gave away all my babysitters clubs like 15 years ago.
And I had like a full set.
I mean, I wasn't like, you know, I wasn't up to date, but it was originals like one through
one of 25 like first edition.
Like I was on that.
I don't know my goosebumps.
And then we she didn't check in about the American Girl dolls.
So I don't know about that.
We do, the boys do you have my cabbage patch, Clifton?
Sure.
There you go.
Yeah, yeah.
So that's because I think my mom thought that was a little more gender neutral.
Then you're getting into gender.
Right.
Then you're dealing with the grandparents opinions on what dolls she played with.
Right.
Right.
Right.
Right.
Just to clarify, when your mom downsizes to move into leisure land.
Yeah.
Yeah.
So that downsizing reference.
David, because we're coming up on Halloween, I just have a question.
Are you going to allow your daughter to the throw pumpkins?
Throw.
Oh, because she's green goblin.
Oh, yeah.
Well, but she's like, and I don't say we should light them on fire.
But she might be confused.
She might be confused if she sees a little pumpkin.
Yeah.
Well, she's a lot of little pumpkins around.
She loves little pumpkins and every, you know, also, gobbie.
Yeah.
But she knows of green goblin again is like a sort of gentle mischief maker.
Oh, no.
Oh, okay.
I promise I don't maniac.
Okay, that's good.
Yeah.
I don't think she's going to like meeting Willem Dafoe.
Like whenever that day comes for her, which is like nine years old, you always think your
kids are not going to like meeting Willem Dafoe.
And yet when you get there, it's just like this to me seems like the only downside of the
spider and his amazing friends that like later when I'm like, so here's green goblin,
she's like, that's not my green goblin.
He is not ruining Mother's Day.
Like, she is.
Do you know about the show Amanda?
I do.
Are your sons affected with this?
No, they don't.
So what happened?
So they're my children go to a monastery school.
So no characters allowed at school.
No care.
Wow.
So your kid can't show up with like a snoopy stuff.
No, no.
No, no.
Yeah.
Yeah.
So that has sort of like delayed things a little, but he did come home the other day and
a couple of weeks ago.
And he was like, Dad, I want to watch Batman.
Sure.
And my husband instinctively was like, I don't know what that is.
And he's like, I've never heard of him.
Yeah.
Is that protocol for everything basically?
Was like, Dad, it's a beautiful film.
I want to see it.
And my dad and Zach was like, well, we don't have that here, you know?
I guess like, I, you know, I don't know.
Maybe I'll look into it, but we can't watch it right now.
And for now, that was acceptable to him.
Yeah.
But he does also think Tom Cruise is coming to his birthday party.
So I don't really know.
Like from, from like he thinks Maverick will show up.
No, no, no, because now he's really into like parachutes and stuff.
So now I like show him Tom, I show him the making of features.
Right.
So, but here's the thing because he's so young.
And he's the feature.
Rets are much better because they show Tom Cruise practicing.
Yeah.
And then they show like all the safety measures.
Right.
And it is every time right before they go to the final stunt, he whispers to me, I'm
going to like this, right?
And I'm like, you will like it because he can do it.
And you know, I keep saying like, look how safe he is.
How they're practicing.
But so no, he now understands Tom Cruise as Tom Cruise.
Yeah.
And and he, so he does think he's coming to his birthday party.
I don't know what to do about that.
Sure.
But we haven't gotten to Spidey and friends.
Yeah.
Sir, they'll, you know, they'll be there for you whenever, whenever you need because they're
heroes.
I turn this out to Sam's.
I don't think we've said this on Mike, but I'm really curious if there's going to be
a thing 15 years from now or the entire generation who grew up on the show.
Yeah.
And I think that's really important.
Everyone I know with a kid under eight is like, my life is infected with Spidey and
his amazing friends.
If the movies are going to have to adjust to that canon in the way that David is joking.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Right where they're like, well, my version of Spider-Man is constantly vexed by Green Goblin
stealing his lunch.
Okay.
And I need to see that in the movies.
I've been waiting my entire life to see it in live action.
I mean, they're tiptoeing that way.
I mean, I guess it's true.
What happened like people die in the in the last one?
That's sad.
Yeah.
Rip.
Yeah.
Brissa told me blown into a wall.
I was really sad about that.
And she looked so good.
She looked so good.
She was, she honestly killed for the crime of hotness.
Yeah.
That Aunt May was just too hot.
Well, culture came.
I look, I will say this.
Just connect threads here, right?
Yeah.
Instagram threads.
Ben Hossley and I, producer Ben.
What's up?
This is like guys podcast.
Yeah.
Shout out to Jack.
LA or New York podcast.
LA podcast.
Okay.
Okay.
And Jack asked us, he was sort of speed-rounding like movie conversation
talking points that he was like, I listened to your show and I wanted to have these discussions
with you guys.
And he was like the whole thing of like movies becoming sexless, right?
Sure.
And like what is perpetuating this?
And there's this younger generation that is skittish about it.
Is it about the studios?
Is it about movies translating overseas or whatever?
We litigated this whole thing, right?
The thing I really locked them to was.
I think what is less discussed isn't like,
in the 80s, Michael Douglas used to fuck everyone
against a wall and now there's no sex and anything.
What I feel like is underdiscussed
is the witness thing of like every movie
used to just have this level of sexual tension in it.
Oh, I thought you were gonna say
every movie used to have just like one pair of tits.
And it like wasn't a big deal.
I think that was part of it.
I do think that is a little, I mean, look.
It's still have nudity.
Yeah.
But like not in the, but it's if they do,
it's like a, ooh, like come see so and so's, you know,
and so come see someone's dick now
because the man will also be full frontal.
There are many more dicks.
Yeah, I can't deny that.
It's more common to see a dick.
But this is sort of just like a European like, oh, okay.
Well, like there they are.
I think there were some of that.
It's the human body.
There were also many movies in the 80s and 90s
that were built entirely on look at how many tits
you're gonna see and they were not present.
No, I don't know.
European way.
But I do, I kept while watching this movie again last night
thinking about the Marvel like everyone is beautiful
and nobody fucks thing.
Where like this is the exact inverse of that
in that like here you have, I feel like you said
at man times I'm inclined to agree, Harrison Ford,
the best he has ever looked on screen.
Well, it's this and working girl, right?
Which you're back to about it.
They are.
So this is like his ideal phase of life.
Yes.
I would agree.
And he would have been like, he's like 43.
He's like 43.
He's got a lot of three.
No, no, no.
And hey, that's fine.
All power too.
But this I feel like even more so than working girl
because working girl has the like a movie sheen on it.
Uh-huh.
Like for how much he is genetically blessed.
Sure.
And was taking great care of himself.
Harrison Ford does look like a real person in this movie.
Oh, 100%.
It is that amazing thing where you can see someone
who has like movie star fucking like, you know,
glow and yet the movie doesn't make them like
perfectly groomed and hairless.
Yeah, but let me let me.
Let me pour this.
What?
I got to stop you here.
It's not just what you're talking about.
This is the first time he plays a guy in today.
In the in the world.
In a movie.
Basically, I mean, excluding, you know,
as a leading man, as little movies that he did early on.
But like since he has become a star.
Sure.
Like, you know, the run of like Star Wars,
pop-ups now briefly, obviously Frisco kid,
and pressure, expect Raiders blade runner.
Conversion and drive the same person down.
Yeah, but that's that's, you know,
but like, no, I'm saying like this is like Harrison Ford
is in our world.
Yeah, right?
Yeah, working girl is 88.
I forgot.
I always think it takes it.
So it's a little later.
84 is 85.
Wow.
But like this is the first time that we have seen him
wearing regular clothes.
Yeah.
Yeah, drink and a cup.
Well, sort of hot Joe.
Well, he does, of course, that's the plane.
Right.
He goes plane mode.
Plane mode.
Sure.
Plane on me.
The cut of those pants is very contemporary though.
It is, it is true.
It is very late millennial, except he is wearing socks.
But yes, the high cut and then obviously the crop, you know,
sure, it's a mancle.
I was just watching all the special features on,
not to tempt you, man, but this lovely premium witness.
I know Tracy, let's give out two copies.
And neither was to me.
I texted him after the.
You weren't even present for that virginity convention.
You know, I'm saying this is a good object.
This doesn't look like a game.
Stop this a good object.
It, I mean, that's true.
You're the knock of it.
It's not plastic.
So one thing, as you're sitting there,
I'm in the same room with you as you, as you knock on it.
A lot of things on my desk.
There is like, we've gotten past the plastic.
That, that's not plastic.
And you guys talk a lot about steel books.
Yeah.
We love the steel books.
This symmetry of it, it still just is a box, you know,
and it's just like, they're like rows of boxes, you know,
and it all just kind of looks like boxes.
So that's another thing that you want to do.
You want to do form factor.
That's, but that's my feedback.
I know this is Sean's case,
but when you have something like this, Sean's argument,
I just say rather for this type of case.
Yes.
It's like a hardback slip, right?
Hard box slip is that then it starts to look more like a book,
but for you to be sure of buying that.
Sean book, but there's still all, like, it's,
it's the aesthetics of when they're lined up.
Interesting.
Okay.
And they're all like flat and the edges are rounded
and they just, you know, you just like that.
Yeah, I don't, I think that you need more texture.
You need more variety for it to look.
It starts to look a little, it looks flat.
I agree.
And where's the steel?
I true.
I also, I mean, I keep hearing about the steel
bucks. Don't know if I've ever seen one.
I or I see no shine.
I see no texture.
I see no metal.
Yeah.
But it's like think about a bookcase where, you know,
okay, oh, we're holding a steel book.
Okay. Now I'm holding a steel book.
Oh, it's a master and commander's steel book.
Okay.
So I, what if it was wearing a hat?
Ben, I would agree with you that, first of all,
I don't know how to open this, but it's a little tug there.
Yeah, it might be a little tight in that center.
This isn't like the steel that built the American railroads,
you know, it's a steel rail road.
We open it up.
It's plastic guts.
You ain't right.
You can't drive a train down them discs.
It's true.
I mean, I just, I think if it was American railroads steel,
everyone's shelves would be collapsing all the time.
But like think about a bookcase that looks good to you.
Yes.
You know, it is almost never all of the same size
binding color all like all in a row.
Like the sets look weird and you can tell when someone
does not have a book collection and they have a large bookcase
and they buy one of like the old,
gaudy sets and you're just like,
oh, that looks kind of like fake and unused.
I love that we're having this conversation.
There's just, there's like a symmetry to what's going on
with the display of physical media
is that I find aesthetically offensive.
Now let me say this Amanda.
Yes.
Your podcast co-host, Sean Fenis.
Yes.
The king of the symmetrical stack, right?
Yeah.
And what those are, everything has to be lined up perfectly, right?
Yeah.
Not on the shelves, but when he's posting like
doing my Spike Lee research.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Perfect stack.
Yeah.
A lot of physical media, media collectors, like ourselves.
Yes.
What the perfect symmetry on the shelf?
They want everything the same and in fact, it will drive them crazy.
If a movie is released in a different form factor,
that's not going to line up.
I, I, I do know that.
I don't feel this way.
I'm with you where I like, I wouldn't say a messy shelf,
but I like the variety.
I like the idea of like peaks and valleys and different shapes and,
and like criteria will do this sometimes,
so they'll be like, we tried something different with the packaging.
And people, people go ballistic.
They put out train spotting in a, like a package that they were like,
this is a reference to 90s, like British promotional CDs.
And it was thinner and taller.
Yeah.
And people lost their fucking minds.
And I'm like, good, give it to me.
Make it all look different.
But I, I do think that some of it, it's just,
people have different tastes and people have different aesthetics.
And Sean is, yeah.
Bless him, a neat freak.
Uh huh.
And a quote unquote minimalist.
And his house is, is clean lines.
I was about to say, right, like,
and he doesn't like things out.
And I live in a sea of books.
And if I could have 18 different prints and patterns in one room, you know,
like, this is how I live.
I would embrace the chaos.
I would like the Marie Antoinette set designer to come to my house next.
You know, so, so it's, it is, it is purely at some point, like,
like, I prefer this color to this color.
Yeah.
I prefer this look to this look.
But it's the, I, I find the symmetry on Nervink.
And it does not suit me.
I don't, it breaks me out.
Look at this big chunky picnic at Hanging Rock.
Look at this.
No plastic here.
You know, I'm saying, I'm going to open it.
I got the fucking, I got the novel in here.
The book is in the set.
I'm sorry.
I, I am here as a chaos monster.
I'm not helping you, you know, I'm not, you know, I didn't even know that
kind of guess we have sometimes.
I know, but I just, you know, Sean usually keeps me, like, I, I try sometimes to stay on
the tracks, but here I'm just like, let's tell you what's pulling the rip.
That's what we're here for today.
That's why we like to be in person.
Yeah.
David.
Yes.
This episode is brought to you by Moo.
Moo.
Oh, the global film company, the Champions Crates, and we're like global film company, the
Champions Crates.
Oh, look, global film company.
Iconic directors, emerging our tours, always something new to discover.
These films are hand selected.
You can explore the best of cinema.
Give me one example.
Say the ginsenglob, I'm streaming on the movie in the US.
It's father, mother, sister, brother.
It's the gym, drum, a movie from last year, the one that golden lion.
This is a film Venice.
Evergrette-ferly.
Evergrette-ferly.
Evergrette-fermer.
Evergrette-ferly.
You and I both didn't get chance to catch up with.
But now I will be able to enjoy this funny, tender, and gently moving exploration of the
universal intricacies of family dynamics.
Some weights, Adam Driver, Miami-Ollac, Charlotte Rampling.
Why are you listing?
Pinky Creeps.
All the people who were invited to Ben's birthday party.
It's a trip dick, right?
There's a New Jersey section, a Dublin section, a Paris section.
Obviously, Jarmish has done some such storytelling before, night on earth, and such.
Coffee and cigarettes, Griffin.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Okay.
It's about the relationships between adult children.
Or somewhat distant parent or parents and each other, I simply cannot relate.
I know, right?
Having a complicated relationship with your parents.
So you can watch that, and you can watch all the other great stuff they've got at Moobie.
Just stream the best of cinema.
You can try Moobie free for 30 days at moobie.com slash blank check.
That's mubi.com slash blank check for a whole month of great cinema for free.
I want to tell you guys something you might not know.
Peter Wears from Australia.
Really?
Did you guys know that?
What?
Peter Wears grew up in Australia.
Is Australian.
Made many Australian films, but he did like American movies and was kind of raised on them.
How can you not, right?
Hollywood.
Hollywood.
Hollywood.
And so pretty quickly in his career, he says around when he made the last wave, which
is his third film, he starts kind of getting an eye on.
He's like, you know, this town is big enough.
Like, you know, he's starting to get a little sick of the sort of scale of Australian projects,
right?
The extent to which I think especially in the 80s, it's not the start of, but there's
a real surge in.
If someone makes an interesting film in a foreign country that crosses over a little bit,
time to bring them over to Hollywood and slot them into the machine, you know?
I think there's a little bit less of everyone works in their own country and more of eventually
we're getting you over here.
The Thornbirds, the 1980 film, The Thornbirds.
You guys know this film based on, uh, uh, I don't know.
No, it was a.
It was a whole thing.
It was based on the Australian novel by Colleen McCullough.
Because that was Richard Chamberlain as well.
Well, it's being set up initially as a film that was going to be directed by Herbert Ross
and a star, Robert Redford, Rest in Peace.
And, uh, Herbert Ross was, I think, you know, getting old.
And so he was being pushed aside and they were like, maybe you can do this at your Australian,
you know, right?
You'll get it's set in the outback like you'll get it.
And he circled it, but wasn't that interested.
So he backed off and eventually that got shunted to many series as, you know, 1983 is when
a game is recently leading man.
Right.
The last wave.
Yeah.
And instead he, we're does two more Australian films.
He does Calipoli and he does, you're living dangerously, which is an Australian production,
but MGM has a little bit of money in it.
And so it's sort of like half a step into Hollywood.
It's the great.
Yeah.
And Mill Gibbs is like, not quite a Hollywood star yet, but it is about to be.
I was going to say it's like it's all inching.
It is interesting that Mill Gibbs and kind of functions as a turnkey for both George Miller
and Peter Weir where they had worked with him before and he was crossing over.
And it was like, if you can get Mill again, you, you get to make a movie that's like half
Hollywood.
Mm-hmm.
Now, moving on from him for a second back to witness.
This was originally called called home, which is what the Amish referred to dying as being
called home.
Sure.
It's a good title when you have that explain to you.
On its face, it is quite a bad title.
It's not a great title.
Romance novelist Pamela Wallace and her husband Earl W. Wallace, who is a guy who worked
on the TV show Gunsmoke for a long time, had rented a home in Amish country.
They'd kind of gotten interested in the Amish and they start working on a screenplay that
would be about an Amish woman falling for a big city guy.
Okay.
Makes sense.
The Earl Wallace brings a guy called William Kelly, who also worked on Gunsmoke.
The movie is going to be called Not Working Girl.
I was trying to see if I could draft a better wording of it in my head and I just gave up.
You know, yeah.
Knocked it out there.
That guy had worked on like Westerns and stuff.
On the West was one.
He has a credit on this screenplay ends up in the hands of a producer called Edward Feldman
in 1983.
It's like 180 pages.
It's very heavy on like Amish life, right?
It's very invested in all of that.
They're nonetheless interested and easy options.
Yeah, he options it.
He has a first look deal at Fox at the time.
And the head of Fox at the time Joe Weissan takes a look at it and says, we don't do rural
movies, which is quite a line.
Yeah.
You're always hearing about exact things like that.
Yeah.
We don't do rural.
What does that mean?
We can't leave the city like ever.
Like, what are you talking about?
I mean, as he puts it, he read the script.
He was like, this concept is great.
It's really overwritten.
Right.
He's going to pay the writers $25,000 to have a one year option and get a rewrite out
of them.
Right.
And that he doesn't have to pay them the remaining $225,000 unless it actually gets greenlit.
And so he runs downstairs and he's like, I'm excited.
I just made a great deal.
Look at how great of a deal maker I made.
And they were like, what the fuck is this rural trash?
So they do the rewrite.
He brings it back to Fox.
He gets the same answer.
We don't do rural pictures.
He sends the script to Harrison Ford's agent on a Thursday by Monday.
Ford was on board.
And he was like, rural picture, huh?
And they're like, yeah, no, we still feel this way about it.
Yeah.
Put it in turn around.
But he takes it rural picture with Harrison Ford.
Yes.
And they still don't want to do it.
That's insane.
I hope it is crazy.
Yeah.
Takes it to Warner Brothers.
Warner Brothers is like Harrison Ford is too expensive.
Takes it to MGM who says Harrison Ford can't act.
Which I guess is what I'm trying to say about.
I guess he'd only been in these genre films and maybe there's still some impression
of like, oh, he just does these big budget distractions.
Like they're, you know, he doesn't play a real guy.
He has like a one liner and, you know, then jumps over something.
This is his lone Oscar nomination as an actor.
It's so much of this movie's legacy.
It is now.
And I think he's phenomenal in this.
But it's also like not his best performance.
And you, in my opinion,
it might be, it might be his best performance.
You step back and you're like that nomination more than anything was Hollywood going like,
okay, we admit you know what you're doing.
It's definitely Hollywood doing that.
But I think it's, it's arguably his best performance.
It remains rude that this is his only nomination.
And I was also just going through the math of like, he has been in eight best picture nominees,
I think.
Right.
But you know, the Oscars and Hollywood in general don't tend to valorize the kind of movie
star acting.
He's not a transformer.
He's not a transformer.
He's not a transformer.
He's not a transformer.
Right.
And in Star Wars and even in the fugitive, where they gave Tommy Lee an Oscar for that.
And he was not even nominated.
It's absolutely insane.
That's a little bizarre where you're like, oh, there are like four, three acting nominations
for working girl and he gets snubbed.
Like, things like that.
The picture of snub is tough.
They're, they're snoddy about.
It's a really crappy year.
They still are snoddy about.
They still are.
They still are.
Yeah.
The Oscars are particular.
So I think this is his like quote unquote best capital A acting performance.
And I, you know, I guess he does like jump over stuff.
But it like, you know, like a couple times or like, or you know, like dives into some corner
whatever.
And it's always self deprecatingly refers to it is I'm good at falling down.
Right.
But it's like, it's, it's not the full Harrison Fordix.
No, no, it's not.
It's a very important bridge film in that sense.
But that's what he was looking for.
You know, I mean, yes, to carry on.
Yes, you're right.
He's looking for that.
He apparently does not want to work for Universal.
They had replaced him with Mel Gibson on a project that JJ guesses was maybe the film
The River.
Okay.
So he's pissed off at Universal.
But Paramount is interesting.
Yes, the only one that guys left.
And also was in the middle of making a ton of money off Indiana Jones for him.
This is he's basically signing on to this movie as Templar Doom is filming, I believe.
Sure.
Yes, exactly.
You're living dangerously is just coming out and Feldman, the producer, goes to see that
and it's like, I want that guy Peter Weir, but Peter Weir is prepping the mosquito
coast, which is at Warner Brothers.
And of course, we'll come out after witness eventually.
Jack Nicholson is attached to that.
Yes.
And so while they are, you know, like they're like, okay, they cycle through some other
directors.
Peter Yates, but it doesn't happen.
Arthur Penn, Paramount's not interested.
John Badam says no.
These are all guys at the time.
The woman who directed a testament.
Okay.
Do you know that movie, which I've never seen, which is like the post apocalyptic movie,
with Lin, Lin Litman, the Jane Alexander film.
Okay.
I know she was attached at one point because that movie is Lucas Haas's debut and she's
the one who recommended you.
Oh, interesting.
Yeah, that a lot of people from Testament end up working on this film because she had
brought them on.
Interesting.
But yes, they're cycling through many, many directors.
But then what happens?
Mosquito coast falls apart.
He's like overseas scouting.
Yes.
And he said it was the first time that had happened where it was like he thought he was
going to be filming in two months and the movie completely falls apart.
And we're is no interest in this movie in particular.
But it's like, I think I just need a job and I think maybe I need to do something I'm
not obsessed with.
As who's kind of obsessed with this.
Right.
It goes back to the Hollywood thing, right, that he was a guy who was attracted to the
idea of a Hollywood career, not in terms of just like, can I buy a beach house, but that
he goes to his rep and says like, I think I want to be an assignment filmmaker.
I want to try the old Hollywood thing, find me a picture that is green.
Right.
Exactly.
What's it basically to go picture with a script that seems solid?
And it wasn't just that he wanted to be filming something.
It was also that he was like, I kind of like the challenge of seeing what's a thing with
all the pieces put together and what can I bring to it?
He brings them with three scripts and witnesses.
The one he likes.
The last twist is that Redford suddenly is like, I don't want to do witness.
This looks good.
Makes sense.
It does make sense.
And he did.
He wanted.
He wants to star.
Star.
Okay.
But because we're has come aboard partly, I think I think there's just heat around
we're to, you know, you're loving dangerously as this thing.
And he kind tries to muscle in and Feldman is like, no, we're committed to Ford.
We are ready to go.
You know what I mean?
Like it's like, I'm not fucking with this again.
It's tempting.
Like, but it could be a disaster.
The thing with Redford also is he's a big control freak.
He's going to, you know, take over in ways that maybe you don't anticipate.
So like you're saying, we are, we are kind of likes it's like, this is studio filmmaking.
Yes, this has some cliches in it.
Yes, I don't really know anything about Amish country, but like, I'm just going to do
my best job.
But it's also him kind of coveting that era of filmmaking, you know, and what good came
out of it of just being like, if I really have my bones as a director, couldn't I be
someone who can slot into something like this and find a way to make it personal?
And basically his process at that point is just like cut 60 pages out of the script.
Well, it's more, it's the, and it's the same thing we talk about this on the depot society
episode.
I think it comes up over and over again.
He's like, let's pull out some of the violence.
It's too much.
Let's make the love story less overt rather than like a full romance.
Yeah, right.
He has, he has, he has the guts to not lean too hard on these like very dramatic elements.
Yeah.
To be like, no, we don't need it.
We don't need it.
And apparently the producers are freaking out because they're like, that's the like juicy
stuff.
But he's a big like, don't use music unless you need to.
If you can convey it in a look, take all the dialogue out guy because dead poets society
to spoil eventually ended with Robin Williams dying of cancer.
Right.
And we were just like keeping that a secret.
Like, right, exactly.
Yeah.
He's like, this doesn't need a different more mid twist.
Right, right, right.
This doesn't actually have to be a soap opera.
But you read that this original script had them having a full sex scene that plays
out on camera that the line that I butchered in the opening was like a multi page conversation.
And there was similarly a multi page monologue at the end of the film saying goodbye.
You know, and he's just, none of that is necessary.
He also directly invoked in some of the interviews I was finding that like he was obsessed with
the haze code era that you have early Hollywood that's super fucking horny.
Then the haze code comes in and all these movies are restricted, but they're overflung
with sexual tension.
Right.
And he was like, I found those films more sexually charged when there was a thing that couldn't
be said.
And the movie's box and has to find another way to express it.
And when you're dealing with a culture that is like repressed and plain, it's a very good
match.
And he was just like, I think the most erotic version of this movie.
If the motor of the center is their tension is the one in which they're not saying the
thing.
Yeah.
I mean, it's like it's showing, not telling.
It's restraint as, you know, additive.
It's like it is not an instinct that we have really in any type of culture right now,
but certainly not in filmmaking.
You know, I mean, people like and lost their minds when they didn't kiss at the end of
twisters.
Yes.
You know, well, I didn't think it.
Well, I mean, I'm very on the record for what should have happened in twisters.
Tell us.
zeggen zeggen zeggen zeggen zeggen zeggen zeggen zeggen zeggen zeggen zeggen zeggen zeggen zeggen zeggen zeggen zeggen zeggen zeggen zeggen zeggen zeggen zeggen zeggen zeggen zeggen zeggen zeggen zeggen zeggen zeggen zeggen zeggen zeggen zeggen zeggen zeggen zeggen zeggen zeggen zeggen zeggen zeggen zeggen zeggen zeggen zeggen zeggen zeggen zeggen zeggen zeggen zeggen zeggen zeggen zeggen zeggen zeggen zeggen zeggen zeggen zeggen zeggen zeggen zeggen zeggen zeggen zeggen zeggen zeggen zeggen zeggen zeggen zeggen zeggen zeggen zeggen zeggen zeggen zeggen zeggen zeggen zeggen zeggen zeggen zeggen zeggen zeggen zeggen zeggen zeggen zeggen zeggen zeggen zeggen zeggen zeggen zeggen zeggen zeggen zeggen zeggen zeggen zeggen zeggen zeggen zeggen zeggen zeggen zeggen zeggen zeggen zeggen zeggen zeggen zeggen zeggen zeggen zeggen zeggen zeggen zeggen zeggen zeggen zeggen zeggen zeggen zeggen zeggen zeggen zeggen zeggen zeggen zeggen zeggen zeggen zeggen zeggen zeggen zeggen zeggen zeggen zeggen zeggen zeggen zeggen zeggen zeggen zeggen zeggen zeggen zeggen zeggen zeggen zeggen zeggen zeggen zeggen zeggen zeggen zeggen zeggen zeggen zeggen zeggen zeggen zeggen zeggen zeggen zeggen zeggen zeggen zeggen zeggen zeggen zeggen zeggen zeggen zeggen zeggen zeggen zeggen zeggen zeggen zeggen zeggen zeggen zeggen zeggen zeggen zeggen zeggen zeggen zeggen zeggen zeggen zeggen zeggen zeggen zeggen zeggen zeggen zeggen zeggen zeggen zeggen zeggen zeggen zeggen zeggen zeggen zeggen zeggen zeggen zeggen zeggen zeggen zeggen zeggen zeggen zeggen
to be on that.
You know?
Like, it's, and audiences are angry if it's not explicitly spoon fed to them.
If the film's thesis is not, like, said aloud.
I will also say, I guess, yes, a big bug bearer of mine.
I'll also say my problem with Twisters is that I'm like, them not kissing at the end.
Yeah.
Feels like a reference to movies not doing that, rather than a thing the movie itself
has earned.
It feels like someone's like, you don't be cool as if they didn't kiss, because remember
and then cited six movies where that happened, rather than the movie being constructed around
in a way that witnesses where you're just like, there's an hour and a half before, Kelly
McGillis and Harrison Ford kiss, where you are exploding.
Where you're so aware of the fact that the movie is consciously avoiding that.
Yeah.
I mean, I don't mean to imply that whatever's going on in Twisters is anyway on the level
of what's going on between Harrison Ford.
Yes.
Really?
Like, it's not, I just, that was a recent example of people being mad on me.
Totally.
Totally, but that's, if you want to get away with doing this kind of thing, you have to
do it intentionally.
Yeah.
And it's like, Peter Wierers is just doing it like, I don't care, get it out of here.
Like he's very deliberate in what he's pulling and what he's replacing it with, right?
It's show don't tell you have to be smart about the show.
Yeah, you have to lend the show, right?
Right.
But I think this does.
To this point, Harrison Ford says what he liked about the script is it was more or less
a literate script for adults.
I saw a movie in it.
It felt like a movie.
It had something to say.
It has a moral point of view.
Like he's smart.
I mean, Harrison Ford is smart.
Yeah.
I'm sure he felt the exact same way about random hearts.
It's just funny.
The kind, like he makes witnessing movies over and over again.
And sometimes it works and sometimes it's like, this successfully creates another silo
of his movie star persona, which is right.
You can have a Harrison Ford movie that is me in a pretty nice suit being a grown up
that's going to be an adult movie that's not usually too over the top.
Most of the museum dinners in in frantic have a little more of the lurid quality.
But he did successfully make this kind of like its own franchise of like you could tell
when a Harrison Ford movie was being sold as this one's a little more for grownups
and it would still be right.
And I'm going to be a little bit of a rascal.
Yeah.
But like my moral compass will ultimately be where it needs to be.
Even even in presumed innocent though, like that gets pretty wonky.
But like, yeah, but it's not him.
Condom theme.
Well, movie sauce.
Seemed him.
That movie's so good.
So he, you know, and he what he hang out hung out with some Philly homicide cops.
He did his work now to cast Rachel lap.
Can I just jump in here with one thing?
What?
Don't say it with that.
What?
What?
I'm not the making of the movie witness.
Peter Weir was like, I love this script.
I, this is a list movie star.
Is this guy going to be a diva?
Is he going to swing around too much weight?
Like I need to meet with him and see if there's like an unspoken connection or not because
otherwise I don't know what I'm getting into.
I've never worked with someone at this level before and he goes to where Harrison Ford
lives at the time at some ranch and Harrison Ford picks him up himself at the local airport
and he's like, good sign of character, you know, didn't send a fucking show for.
And then they like sit down and Harrison Ford's kitchen and they go over the script and
he was like, all he wants to talk about was what could make the story better.
There was no like, I want my character to have a moment like this.
Right.
What's the motivation here?
It was sort of unspoken.
We both think this character is rock solid.
What I'm concerned with is the big picture.
And he was just like, yes.
Yes.
Yes.
He said, I'm dobb mob before light.
Sure.
Yeah.
But that he was like, David, to crush that draft and good job by him.
Yes.
Yeah.
Six months ago at the time.
Yeah.
What does some people think?
I'm just maybe the vote had gone on a little longer.
The bucket heads would have risen up.
Sure.
Come to their senses.
Yeah.
But no, but he, like, it's the thing you always hear about Harrison Ford that he like
approaches everything like craftsman.
And I think his ultimate value as a movie star is like, few people have ever been better
at carrying an audience through a movie.
Sure.
And it's not just that he has the innate like appeal.
Right.
And he really thinks about that stuff.
And he was like, there was no eager driven conversation.
It was all just like, what does this movie need to work?
You know, like his most kind of movie star note was originally, I think the final battle
with the bad guys was a shootout.
And he was like, this sucks.
We need to have a more exciting way for one of these guys to die.
Yeah.
We can't just be like bang bang.
It doesn't have to be silly.
Yeah.
And he's like, I'm going up, something needs to happen that feels like ingrained in
it right.
Right.
It's so good.
Was he, was John Book originally a carpenter in the script or does that feel like a
hair or some sort of that?
I mean, the man can work with, I don't know, but that feels like something.
No, he was not in the script and we're, was like, I think you need to see what they
do.
So it doesn't all just become like the comedy of like, how weird it is, they eat breakfast
at this time.
Right, right, right.
But like, but Harrison Ford is.
Absolutely.
Yeah.
He's like, he built Joan Didians like deck and malware or whatever.
He did.
It's a very smart show.
Don't tell looking at the elements of what you had.
It was not in the script.
Yeah.
And he was just like, I think we should do this.
They a lot in entire day for it.
And the movie uses like five continuous minutes of footage, which other people would be like,
fucking hurry it up.
We don't need to see the whole bar.
Rachel lap.
Yeah.
Um, first they want Glenn close.
Okay.
She's her.
Yeah.
She's on the real thing on Broadway, which was this gigantic, you know, Tom.
Stopper.
Wonderful.
Michael's directed.
And uh, Jeremy Irons is her co star and her agent is like, look, I'll get her out of
the show and they're like, no, you won't like, Nick.
Nichols would fucking nuke you.
So that doesn't happen.
Peter Weir Pivot's to Isabella Rossalini.
She's kind of wishy washy about it.
Maybe, maybe not.
She goes over the British and a cov movie white nights instead.
Okay.
Peter Weir doesn't actually work with her in.
I mean, witness is way better than white nights, but like white nights is pretty good.
That's some, yeah, that's some dance trash movie for you right there.
Right.
Right.
Right.
Right.
Garbage dance movie.
Yeah.
Then Peter Weir's like, what if we got like a German actress, right?
Right?
Like we're casting a Pennsylvania Dutch woman.
Yeah.
Sure.
Uh, and like they think about that, but they can't find anyone.
They, there's just one lady apparently he likes the unnamed who like called on the phone
and was like, hello, Mr. Weir and they were like, this is not going to work.
No.
Kelly McGellis.
Yeah.
High school dropout.
Had studied at the Pacific on servitoria, performing arts.
But then where should go after that, David?
Uh, julie art.
And then she was in Ruben Ruben, which is the Tom Conti movie.
Yeah, the Tom Conti movie.
I've never seen it.
What a title though.
It's about a guy eating two sandwiches.
I see.
Yeah, exactly one on each hand.
But why is it called Ruben Ruben?
He's not playing a character called Ruben.
Interesting.
Apparently there's a dog called Ruben.
Okay.
Tom Conti got an Oscar nomination for that movie.
That is for only previous film credit.
This is a second.
That's 83.
Right.
Yeah.
And I guess he correctly is like, I want someone on the more sort of like new side.
Mm-hmm.
Because this is a fairly kind of innocent character.
Yes.
I guess, right?
And I mean, I think he's very smart.
Like you were saying that Ford spent a lot of time following Philly Police, right?
And then was like, I don't want to do any Amish research because my character shouldn't
know any of that.
Right.
Exactly.
Exactly.
Exactly.
Yeah.
The Amish people were like fully immersed in doing a ton of research and living in Amish
country because they had to know it.
But I also think very smartly they kept being like, who's the big name who'd be good for
this role?
And then settling on a recently our grad and opera singer, a ballet dancer.
Yeah.
Yeah.
He got Mortensen.
Like it helps that when he goes to this place, obviously you watch it now.
And like two of the four are super fucking recognizable.
Sure.
In retrospect, but it must have helped that you're like, he enters all these people.
Right.
And they're also introducing me into this world that I do not know about either.
And he's casting vibes and looks in a lot of ways.
Yeah.
Apparently Ford was not into the screen test and was like, yeah.
And Peter said, quote, Harrison, if you're going to work with me, you've got to trust
me.
And if you don't trust me, you shouldn't make the movie.
And everyone goes quiet.
And like Harrison's like, okay, well, I guess she's in the picture, you know?
Like so.
Yeah.
Respect.
Exactly.
And so they send her off to Lancaster Country and she hangs out with some some Amish
people like they give her a little education.
We're hands her work with an accent coach.
And he said, his greatest worry is that sometimes the people work on the accent too hard.
The accent becomes the entire performance.
Right.
Yeah.
And he kept doing like check ins with her every couple days.
And then one time she calls and does the accent for him.
And he's like, that was your last class.
Roll it back to three days ago.
Okay.
Got it.
You went one step to fall.
There are a lot of weird stories like that where it's like add, add, add, add, add.
And then he's like actually subtract.
Coco Shana.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Exactly.
She learns when she's hanging out with the Amish family, which I really like is that they
don't say please and thank you.
And she's like that really opened up vast numbers of doors for me.
They're not concerned about pleasantries, just necessities of life.
They're very real.
They're down to earth.
They're there to work.
Life is work.
Right.
You know, like that's the rewarding thing for them.
So that that I mean, she's so good.
She's fucking phenomenal.
She's unbelievable.
And like she's such an, you know, she's a bit of a sad Hollywood story because like,
you know, she gets discarded by Hollywood.
Like I feel like by the early 90s, essentially, right?
Like she just has like a sort of five-ish year.
I've never seen cat chaser, which is the able for our movie with her and Peter Weller.
And I was.
Sounds like normal.
Yeah.
To dig in harder on this.
That was 90.
That was 89.
So obviously after this, she does top gun.
Yes.
In 88, she does the accused.
Yes.
I mean, that's the run.
The run.
Yeah.
That's her start.
In the movies, in three years, or just humongous, she says the cat chaser basically made her
want to walk away from Hollywood.
I've not been able to find her go in depth as to what happened, but you can make a lot
of assumptions with two insane people she was working with.
But then she, like, scales way down.
She should look at the romanly big movie after that is, is the babe, where she plays Mrs.
Roof in the Babe Ruth movie.
It's like a lot of TV movies.
What does Mrs. Roof have to you?
Well, she's she's writing a check that will be on cash and one day will be sold as part of the ban being
Okay, I mean I assume Babe Ruth's mom wife and we assume Babe Ruth's mom was like Jesus
This giant child of mine who instingers what a fucking
No, I mean famously actually Babe Ruth was like a child who like was just a street maniac like that
They were like we cannot he had to be sent to like a home for boys
He kept hitting the ass ball with that and they were like what's the baseball right here?
But I think like Babe Ruth's life is an athlete despite being married to a couple different women was basically like fucking ladies every night
She's on the road, you know Babe Ruth smoking 80 cigars eating four-pointer house steaks for like as you always hear about Babe Ruth
Wow, I think I know he was a yeah, it definitely feels like
The industry moved on from telling the list really quickly. It also feels like you know
She had her sort of come back about 10 years ago where she was in a couple Thai West movies
She came out. Oh, yeah, she's in the in keepers. She started doing like interviews and sort of talking more about like her arc
And I feel like she does frame it as like to some degree
I was just like I fucking hate these people. I hate this industry. I don't want to do it anymore
I don't want to do it anymore, you know, I'm sure they also were not offering her the project she was deserving of
But she also kind of frames it as like I really sourd on it pretty quickly. I mean yeah
It's it sucks. I mean, I don't know. She's the whole thing with her in Top Gun is it's like
It's not like she's bad in Top Gun, but she and Cruz don't have a lot of
They have nothing. Yes and
And it's right and it just like I mean it's funny when you were talking about
Peter we're meeting in the prep and he's sitting down and he's like okay
So like what can I do to make this movie better?
Which isn't many ways like the complete opposite of the Tom Cruise experience, which is like what can I
I am singly focused on what can I do to make sure that I'm Ethan Hunt in every frame?
Yeah, of this movie and you guys understand I saved movies and all of all of the world
It's the Harrison Ford craftsmen. Yeah, you know and and like
There's an interview on this beautiful arrow set
Of him doing like some daytime talk show when this movie's about to come out
With like a fluffy like you know local daytime journalists
Yeah, and he's clear about disrespectful to her and she's not stupid
But immediately she's like you know you have a bit of reputation for not liking doing this that you seem uncomfortable when you're doing press
But I've heard and tell me if this is just a line that you actually said I want to do as much press as I can for this movie because I care about it
Oh, and he does his very flashy
Unflashy Harrison Ford like well I'm proud of the picture and how it turned out
And this is not the kind of picture that sells itself and you have to go do it because otherwise
If you're making work, but it's not communicating with people then what's the point these like his notorious reputation for being a bit of a stonewall
And then you watch it and you're like he's just not doing soft shoe to sell his movies
Which he doesn't really do he's speaking very intelligently and
Reservantly it's like Leo on new heights totally. Yeah, which is kind of like
Guys remember that 68 months ago Leonardo Caprio went on the new heights podcast with Benicio Tiltoro
It's just so funny that they always had him with Benicio except when he was on big picture
He was with
But largely it was like him and Benicio. Yeah, yeah, and it kind of felt like Benicio was his like a little sort of helper
Like in kindergarten. Do you remember they did that with him and pit on one spot time in Hollywood?
Yeah, they went on WTF together
That was great and there was like five minutes when they were talk
They actually let their guards down and they were talking about all the different ways that they get away from the popper at
And that was awesome because largely they're more
You know they like they they've done this and they know what they want to say and what they know new heights
Which is not a podcast I listen to no thanks to it
Like I only see the eclipse on this but that one the clips where it's just like Jason Kelsey going
Just to start off and you're just like I don't think this is energy
And like thank you for having me. I love cinema
Thank you. We are we glad you love cinema. I mean God bless him. He's he's out there
He's doing good. He wants to sell the movie exactly just like Harrison and you can't go on failing anymore
I mean you can but like nobody cares
Yeah, this woman in the interview is doing the fucking 1985 version of our current media landscape hell where she just keeps pushing like
One could guess that perhaps this movie is you trying to like put Indiana Jones and
Consolo in the backseat and he's like no I'm proud of those movies and proud of those performances
I will make a third Indiana Jones picture and she's like but do you hate the golden handcuffs of being known for these two big franchises
And he's like I'm not gonna be an asshole. I'm not gonna be playing about I'm proud of the films
I like the people I work with right you know that she is sensing that he sees this as a pivot point and thus he might be trying to
Right throw the old stuff in the garbage
I don't want to be seen that way anymore and he's so even handed about it
But he also kind of keeps saying I've heard him say this in other places like he was like 36 or 37 when Star Wars happened
Sure, he had gone through his whole arc of like fucking
Leaving a studio contract becoming a carpenter building back up the small parts with American graffiti and was just like
I'm here to do work like I have no discomfort with this I had walked away from it once before
I'm not gonna complain about being too successful. Yeah, and being pigeonholed into being an a-lister
But I want to use my power for good. There's a
Men's health cover I've featuring Kyle Chandler
I think from like 10 15 years ago and the cover line is like a good hang with the last real American
I can tell you exactly what it says. It says a serious hang the last
The last solid dude, okay, and he's looking good, you know, and I it's the best cover line writing that I have because I think about it anytime
I couldn't front it with like the last solid dude, you know, but like Harrison Ford was giving us a
Solid dude, but they also had I will say yeah to the best summer gear best new tennis racket weekend bag sunglasses for every sport and of course
Cruising motorcycles now I need two to three cruising motorcycles every summer
Here's a ride motorcycles. He probably does in addition to the planes. He never do no does sure
That's right. I imagine he's done it in his off time as well, but it feels like a vehicle guy, right?
Like he likes vehicles. Yeah, okay. You choice cycling in tennis. I like my little red wagon. I remember when he was big bike guy
Yeah, when he was in the UK filming the new Indiana Jones, which you don't have to talk about he was like
You know in his band-ex like cycling around on the weekends a lot just showing up at pubs. I know he's done
15 television series and that same amount of time. Yeah, but it was a little alarming to look at his IMDB last night and go like oh
Post pandemic. He has only made two films, which are
The Dala Destiny and Captain America Brave New World. Oh, right red
I'm like totally forgot about that. I'm like five years right there in the office. We love
We like our president nothing but respect her. Oh, right. Of course. We also have another one over here. Okay, and a pop word
We just think it's pretty funny that Harris and Ford played
Radius Ross like eight films into that role right and turned into Red Hulk
Right, and I guess now Marvel will just kind of be like just forget it. Just forget that it happened. Yeah, it just feels like a shame
Yeah, it's a shame. I mean he does shrinking right and everyone loves shrinking and he likes do they nobody loves
Never seen it my mom loves shrinking. It's good
But also talks about it as if it's final season game of Thrones where she's like you and your friends aren't watching shrinking
Everyone I talked to was watching shrinking. I can't say I've shrunk
Yeah, yeah, and then he did write 1923. Yes, hell and mirin right, but that was like a one season thing
It was two two but is his character still alive? Which doesn't is he he is Jacob Sutton of course, and he is
I mean he's alive in 1923. Hey, maybe he's on ice and in Yellowstone
They'll like find him in like a nice chest. I hope so on out
And you roll sound yellowstone is is current day yellowstone is present day. Oh, okay, that's right
And so we have done like 18 something and they've done
23 have you done anything like 50 60s. I don't they should do like yet
3000 BC and that's just like oh grass. I'm a future. Oh sure yellow 729
Wow, where they're getting like cyber oil. Yeah, great cyber cattle the cyber
Everything just be cyber
I mean, this is a thing. I feel like Chris Ryan is constantly sort of litigating
But like I am sometimes confused as to which
Sheridan ver shows are Yellowstone
Universe and which ones aren't like lawman gas Reeves is not
Connect to Yellowstone. No, that's because that's about a real person right
And I think Tulsa King is also is not right and also King is just set in our disgusting
Right Sylvester salon must dismantle brick by brick. Yeah, but um
They they have done of course 1883 1923 and then they have upcoming the Madison
Okay, with Michelle Fyfer and Patrick J Adams and Matthew Fox. We need to see if I thought him out
Oh wow and then something called
Why
Marshalls. Yeah, do you know what why is if I'm not mistaken? Well, I'm guessing that why refers to yellowstone, but go ahead
Well that I mean I assume the greatest boondoggle of the modern streaming era is that paramount sells the Yellowstone rights to
People rights to all but yeah, right yeah because they're like well, we're never gonna start a streaming service
And then CBS and paramount reemerge
And now paramount inherit CBS all access rebrands as paramount plus and is like you're telling me they have Yellowstone forever
So when the whole Sheridan
Bruha blows over
They're rubbing their hands together and they're like well the show ends
We stop having to give peacock anything
So they're making a new show that's most of the supporting cast okay
It's got your yellow stone your Luke Grimes your Gil Birmingham
Continuing the same plot lines, but they're like it's a new show. Oh great
On this now got it okay, and I guess they're calling it why instead of yellow stone to even more distance itself
They're also working on 1944 and then something called 6666 a shudder to think what that is yellowstone and hell
Probably look witness. Let's talk about witness
I just want to tell you of course that they filmed in Lancaster County
But of course they did not film the omnis who refused to be filmed and where like you can take anything you want
You can use our homes do not fucking capture our souls. I mean a little bit. I want to ask for very unhappy with this
Have you have either of you been to Amos country? Absolutely. Yeah, I've been as well
Like did you like take a bus? Were you the tourist? No, no, it's just a nice place to go on vacation like it's sort of like going to
Upstate New York, but going this away, and it's a slightly different vibe. I was gonna say for me it was like
eighth grade overnight trip to Philly
It is a classic history battle, right, and we went to fucking Amos country and the thing I remember
I maybe have invoked in previous episodes
We go to Amos country and you see that you get the tour and then they show you the butter and whatever the fuck right
But then they were like and then we're gonna show you a 4d movie about Amos life
And we went into a custom built theater to watch this 40 minute original film
About a kid going on run spring and thinking of leaning the Amos community and coming back
But it was built in this environmental theater where there were like effects and like door shuttering and like wind and stuff
And I was like this is the most anti-Amos thing. Yeah
You're trying to sell me on the beauty of the simple life
And you're like putting like William Castler Tanglers under the seat and I mean like
It was like a theater built as if it was like a barn
And shit would go off around Ben shaking his head. I was just always kind of jealous by the tradition of run spring
Like I wasn't restricted really as a as a teen right at all
I kind of got away with a lot of trouble making and shenanigans
But it was the idea of having the purge
But yes, there's something of like just go off. I love that idea. We actually want you to fuck up right? Yeah, yeah
But it is I will say I think rum spring is a somewhat our view of it is
Not like entirely accurate. I think it's not just like taking ecstasy constantly and right going to clubs
It's a Pennsylvania to Dutch word for running around and
But I don't think like that the actual vibe of it by and large is like
Yeah, you should legal for right you should like go to Vegas. It's not like the purge. Yeah, come a good
It's a little bit more seen I think within most communities as like a time to
engage in courtship and like you know shoplift
Sue just be a little looser with like okay, you know, it's like it's
So when you say engage in courtship, though you do be like fuck around yeah, yeah
Yeah, but I don't find out. I don't think it's like right
Why don't you just like hit the clubs and just like run through lady? I mean part of it
I'm sure is that it was mainly meant to be shown to school groups like the one I was in
But this 40 movie it's depiction of rum spring out was a
An homage kid driving a car and eating a slice of pizza right yeah
He's going crazy. Right. I think there's a little bit of like okay
Like things can be a little less strict while you're in this kind of like unsettled 16 17 18 year old time of your life where you maybe want to explore
Right, you know just being English one hand on the wheel one hand on the slice
Exactly
There was a line I remember where he literally was like look I love my grandfather, but pizza's gonna be pretty hard to give off
Yeah, look I mean it's so true
Maybe they can make pizza is just not plain the whole thing with the omniscience like it'd be the plan is pizza you've ever had
I can feel myself being disrespectful to a community. I don't understand the second I start talking about it
All I have is
Don't be using thing about this movie is that I like I know the omnis themselves hated it
So it was the men and I to were like filmed as extras right right but
I think it is very respectful of course. That's why this movie is so beautiful
And it's like and it is
It sells what is like lovely about this community and you watch a pink and a real magic day
Or at least just like what the whole thing that's interesting to me about witness what you should talk about which is a film about jump book
John book Harrison Ford is John book, but of course initially it is about Rachel lap a woman in an omnis community whose husband has died played by a
Colony ghost
Who with her son Samuel played by Lucas Haas and his big moon eyes
Just the biggest eyes in the world also his drug ears and cute ears, but I just feel like the eyes are so vital because you're like
Yes, yes, like and any time you see those eyes of his it's like it's still his eyes
You know when he sees Danny Glover in the like press clipping in the box they have that shot that is like
Like of his eyes like to get out get out eyes shot, you know, and he's like oh, it's that one so
Harrison Ford like calmly putting his finger down is like a shot. I never forget
Even the inciting incident of this movie just being seeing his eyes through the crack of the
Door you need those eyes to punch through the crack. Yeah, yeah, but his his you know
They're they're going to Baltimore to spend time with her sister is her sister also omnis one assumes or has she maybe left the community in some way
Because you know, it's not really it's not made clear what's going on in Baltimore is not right totally clear
But I guess the vibe is kind of like you need to mourn you need a little bit of time to get some work
I don't know
Uh, and while they clear it's gonna be his first time leaving it's his first time on a train. It's just all that stuff
First time visiting the city. I mean, it's the exact again not to dwell on dead poets
But we did that recently yeah opening of dead poets where it's like everyone filing into the school
Yes, and you're just it's just quiet like the way this movie just starts with the funeral where it's just like
Just I'm bringing the heat up slowly like just get to know this like landscape these people
Like it doesn't need to be lurid. It doesn't be weird or goofy
It's just kind of lovely him getting on the train is so lovely and like looking out the window and being so excited
Also fully 15 minutes before hair shows up. Then of course he witnesses a throat slashing. Yeah, he's pretty creative in the little stalls
Does the stall action
Good to see all exactly Indiana Jones
Yeah, exactly. Yeah, and that had at the last moment. He's really smart
Danny Glover a very new to film Danny Glover of course doesn't only
Don't place in the heart. Uh, it sounds like I know that like because the whole thing with him too
Is he starts a little late like Danny Glover. Do you find almost immediately too old for this shit?
Right the other thing is I think because Danny Glover like hits the ground running it like arrives
Is like a fully formed adult movie star in a way because color purple is like you know same year is is in the ball or whatever
Right, and then lethal weapons the year after like it's such a quick kind of ascension
That something in my brain short circuits when I see him in a movie like this and he's not hyper famous yet
Right like he shows up
There's just no error of like watching other a list movie stars where you're like oh
There are a couple of small parts they have where they're a little green before they figure out their stuff
And they figure out their look and you're like even in this it doesn't
Uh, unbalanced the movie
But I don't see being like right Danny Glover's only in like three scenes
Right, and you're I mean, it's hard when you're going back in time and when you've
Because this is not the first time you have you Griffin. Yes, have seen Danny Glover. So even though right
It's he's new it in the movie to the scene
Not new to you that that is my point is that unlike other people where you can go back and watch the earlier films
And be like oh, of course. This is early in their career before they were a big star
Danny Glover just somehow always feels like yeah, he must have been above the title from the beginning right
Griffin David yes, did you know fast growing trees is America's largest and most trusted online nursery with thousands of trees and plants and over two million happy
customers
Johnny Carson they have all the plants your yard or home needs including fruit trees
Privacy trees flowering trees shrubs and house plants all grown with care and guaranteed to arrive healthy
Whoa counter raves glad they're arriving helping
It's like your local nursery
But anywhere you live with more plants than you'll find anywhere else
Well, well, well whatever you're looking for fast growing trees helps you find options that actually
Work for your climate space and lifestyle fast growing trees makes it easy to get your dream yard
Just click order grow and get healthy thriving plants delivered to your door
There are live and thrive guarantee
Promises that your plants arrive happy and healthy no green thumb required
Just quality plants you can count on plus get ongoing support from trained plants experts
Who can help plan your landscape choose the right plants and learn how to care for them every step of the way now
Ben I know you were talking about this because you did this I've recently ordered you got a tree tree
I know grute grute. What's that just throwing in some quotes the fuel relevant is reactions got it now initially
Of course, I was gonna let Griffin have his pick because I just ended up being that you had too many trees in your yard
It's a problem. I mean I'm all thumbs green thumbs. Yeah, I got 10 green thumbs
It's hard for me to do any other task because I'm so busy planting trees and watching them grow so fast
So graciously graciously he allowed me to select some trees yeah, so um
I actually picked some stuff out for my dad. Oh very nice. I'm so he got himself a couple of little sky pencil Holly trees. Oh cool
I'm gonna look these up. Oh very nice. Oh, yeah, they're sort of like tall thin boys. Yeah, yep
And then he also got a
Lilac shrub a lilac shrub is that fair economy? Yeah, yeah
Why lack is through the roof and I love the smell of a lilac sure
So the whole process was so easy the thing I really love as far as like the features that are available on this site is you enter in your zip code
And it gives you a growing zone so you're able to pick out the right kinds of plants that are gonna thrive in your climate
Mm-hmm. He's planted this stuff. Yeah, it all came healthy like they said yeah, and
They look great and I bet a plant at a big old smile on his face to watch these trees absolutely
And now here's the best part I went and I helped him out and I got to dig a hole
Is the best part one two three life's a whole dig it Jojo
Okay guys right now they have great deals on spring planting essentials up to half off and select plants in listeners to our show get 20% off
Their first purchase when using the code check at checkout. Mm
That's an additional 20% off better plants and better growing at fastgrowing trees.com using the code check at checkout
fastgrowing trees.com code check
Now that's the perfect time to plan. Let's grow together use check to save today
Offer his valid for a limited time terms and conditions may apply and I have one last thing to say
Please lie for slack a box of chocolates. Force gum. Here we go. Thank you
You
Guys it's time to believe in the Hail Mary
Project Hail Mary that is one of the most beloved adventure stories by Andy Weir big book
It's now a major motion pictures. There's never been a better time to immerse yourself in the best-selling audiobook
Right the movies coming out listen to the book. Yep. So all right, so I'll tell you what it's about
There's a soul survivor of a desperate last-trans mission in space. Rylan Grace is the character
He's got to save the earth from disaster in an incredible science-based thriller
The fan favorite narrator Ray Porter brings every moment to life with humor heart and pulse pounding tension
So let's get reading them now blockbuster movies finally arrived in theaters
Never been a better time to start listening to the university acclaimed audiobook part science mystery part dazzling
Interstellar journey project Hail Mary is a tale of discovery speculation and survival listen to the audiobook
Available an audible and the movie starring Ryan Gosling is in theaters now. That's project Hail Mary listen watch
Save the world listen now at audible.com slash Hail Mary
Here comes you know he witnesses this crime here comes John book
Trying to figure out what happened and
Paddy Lippon is you know is trusty sister. Yeah, he's got the great
The great I love him what's his name Brent Jennings for money. That's who I like he's a guy who's in a billion
Incredibly hard, but I can I he's washed just right a perfect tell him what's just incredibly hard
Perfect mind delivered. I think like and you try I'm saying like seriously look at this guy's resume lovely
Unbelievable amount of movies. Yes, still with us. He's 74 years old
But one could only hope to hit one line out of the park that hard
But he's great in this he's the trusty you know partner of john and I also feel like is not a movie cop
He feels like a real cop. I mean the sweet thing right early on when he the
Samuel can't doesn't really have the words for saying that the person he saw was black. Yeah, so he was like you
But not what's the word for run
Yeah
But yeah, no, it's and just that that moment where John book like the the hint of the Harrison smile
Yes, right across his face like I like this kid, you know, it's just so good
But it's that's also a thing we talk so much about how being good with kids is a thing that tends to like elevate a movie
Start a like legend status. Yeah, because he kind of can't fake it
big
Yeah, and then you think like oh he hasn't really
Interactive but children on screen up until this point. Yeah, I guess so as much as he has been a movie star
Beloved by little boys
Right and Peter rear of it talks about when he was have short round. Oh, you're right. Yeah, but that's we got it
We got it. That's right for this. Yeah. Yeah. No, you're right. You're right
But that his introduction is this kid is sitting here and Harrison forward lowers himself into the frame. Yeah
Right that he gets down to really good
It's some princess Diana shit, you know, it does immediately
Here's the principle mood to his performance. It's just also like
The it's a very primal hair had her own normative thing about I'm about to say but it makes him so hot
You know, it's just like the single like the single hot guy who's just like oh and now I know instinctively had like bond with this kid
I'm just like
Hello, here's the take right that I forgot this is what I was gonna say the whole thing that's the
Quiet thing in this movie is that he's a really angry guy. Yeah, and you see these moments
Obviously the biggest being late in the movie when he punches the mean tourist guy who by the way
Fuck that guy fuck fuck that guy screaming the being mean and then they're like whoa
It's bad for the industry if I'm a sure fighting back. Yeah, although there's probably someone on tic-toc like espousing the values of the ice cream
Facial and doing this to themselves on purpose
But they're these little moments where you're like right this guy's one thing is that like and that's this is why he's a cop
He's got this kind of like weird righteous streak, but there's like a rage to him. Yeah, and that's why it's so good for him to be on the farm
Yeah, and you can feel him kind of finding an equilibrium that he maybe doesn't have
Exactly cover himself in the with glory. No, he does 15 minutes the whole like let's stop by a local Philly bar
And just like pull out some black eyes that we know you know, try to arrest them not not good not by the book
Exactly the guy's name is John books. So that's really
Actually kind of ironic
Is there a line in the movie where they invoke that he's a trying to be a better father to his sister's kids?
Yes, they they talk about all of this exactly, but he's like a little afraid to have his own kids
Right, there's that whole team where he just kind of shows us lays him out a little bit
Yeah, yeah, yeah, but like we see you know, it's a very circumstantial moment
But just him showing up in a immediately fucking criticizing lapone. Oh, yeah for doing it wrong, right?
The pony rock in a full mullet. What's going on?
Yes, it is a full mullet and what he's criticizing her for and doing it wrong is
Having a overnight visitor. Yes while her two children are in the home
Which you know, I think single moms should get to do whatever they want. I'm not saying she's doing it wrong
He's acting like she's doing it wrong. He's not doing it. He's going to run away. That's really fucking judgey
There is a deleted scene that was part of the TV broadcasts
Uh sure that is five minutes of Kelly McGillis and patty lapone sounds great where oh, yeah
We're bringing that to Broadway right now before book comes and pulls them right where she comes downstairs
a Kelly McGillis and
Lucas Haas she has three children. I think or maybe it's only two
Lucas Haas is playing donkey Kong with them and they're like bowls of sugary cereal and like fucking radios blaring
And Kelly McGillis looks shocked and then it cuts to patty lapone coming downstairs and all three children are like
scrubbing the kitchen
Like the Cinderella mice
Okay, and then patty lapone takes it as a judgment on her
love ring and they have this emotional connection and it's like not a bad scene at all
But you can see why we were cut it because it's like saying the thing out loud over and over
It has patty lapone like breaking down in tears and saying and it's not as vital to them
And it's also like a little more like
You know culture worry as opposed to the I find the way that the film
judges
John book and like the modern values you know they fixate on the gun and she's like I don't want your gun in my house
This gun of the hand you know, which is like an incredible turn of phrase and like that that seems like
A valid concern and less judgey than being like well, let me let me think about how you're parenting
I'm like what you're sugar is he now he ends with like killing the glass have to having to apologize right
It's all like a little overstated. Yeah, yeah, I'm also not being to get to Amish country
And this movie does a pretty good job convincing you it's more than a pretty good. It's a great screenplay
Yeah, like giving you the chain of events that are like, you know what?
He's simply must hide out in Amish country with these people because it's a little because they're bad cops
Yeah, yes, because it's bad cops because he's himself
You know get shot like all this stuff Lucas House is able to ID Danny Glover
Ford goes to his chief
He goes to yeah, yeah, he's his boss
And then the confiscated drugs are missing right he's put the piece together
At the pieces together he thinks he's solved the whole case Joseph Summer who's basically to me just like German running cocks
You know what I mean? Yes, especially in two minutes being like this is running cocks. No, it's not pretty could be
Yes, and like that scene is so great because I'm immediately like don't don't do it
As you can see it's like that's just keep it who else knows about this
Let's keep it between the two of us and like we've all been trained at this point
So then Danny Glover shows up in the in the parking lot
But the best part is the rich couple
In the
That was being like
It's really funny. What would you do if your car was getting shot up?
But Danny Glover in an in an inadvertent situation
What would you also would you just quietly like door close at?
I don't know I might have an initial like panic moment. I think it'd be like it's real
Well, I mean, I mean, we've been taught in emergency situations to not
get
In the elevator, you know that like you don't want me stuck in an elevator with a fire right? So and then you're trapped right?
So and then also, you know does that out closed door
Close elevator button work is you know like I've been told it's an urban life
Yeah, it's a placebo
Doors bulletproof I mean there many questions that is a great question that I wanted so you're not gonna walk out
You know you're not you're not gonna be like
Big old parking garage. Yeah, no, but also maybe there's a universe in which I simultaneously hold down the closed door button and the basement button
So I'm like doors closed staying here in stasis
If I feel like the doors can protect but then you're worried about the I think instinctively
I would just run back in and like press every button that I could yeah, I don't think calling a timeout is gonna work
I know okay hold up. Let me just back the car out. Let me just get it out of here. Yeah
But yes, he immediately puts together. I only told one guy clearly. He's in on it
My towel there's basically no one I can trust. I gotta get these witnesses out of here, right?
So his right it is what is smart in the construction of this movie is that he's not immediately saying
I gotta go hide out knowledge country. No, that's the correct. Oh, yeah, is that he's like you guys stay here. I'm gonna go
That little mailboxy thing. What is it birdhouse? What is that thing? Yeah, try to not hit that and yeah
Mmm
But he's right he's been shot. He's so caught up in his stoic thing that he's like I gotta save them right
Goes right
Happily the
Serious infection that he gets from the bullet that is still in his body
Does not take over until he has dropped them off?
Perfect in our country, you know, but it's like once he's setting out on his own just in time to heaver takes hold the mailbox and nothing worse
Yeah
No, it's a birdhouse, but like why don't they meet a birdhouse for the birds
Sure, but like I guess for birds so the the birds don't have to be playing also
The whole thing that's a good point and inside that birdhouse it is tacked out
I understand that we probably have zero to one omnis listeners because the omnis probably aren't listening to too many podcasts, right?
In lesser-on-rums bring out yeah
You can listen to all the podcasts you wish
um
Father I went through ten years of blank check and merely two weeks
But one stereotype I obviously have about the omnis is that they're wonderful woodworkers and like yeah like they you know
There's this place near my home in Brooklyn where if your chair breaks you give it to this guy
He sends it off to the omnis for them to fix it. Yeah, so
I think that it's like that's recreational right like making a beautiful little birdhouse
It's like it it
It's useful for a practical enough item to raise a barn every week, but you need project every day
crafting this I guess right like are the birds doing work for you
Does it all have to be work? Well, that's kind of what it seems like I like to imagine little omnis birds in their building their own little tiny bug house they have
How are the bruh? I am I am anti-bird playing clean
I don't like birds. I think birds are upsetting. I don't I mean I respect the bird the majestic bird
I respect it. I don't really want to move my house. I want I respect them, but like because they are
Freaky and they're organized and they can ride
Like I mean hit shock hit shock had it right also their dinosaurs
That's not cool
Scary
And and they're just they're talking to each other
Patterns like they keep to them so gossip they're doing their own thing
And then you just get to perceive them just like
Kind of walking around real make
Everyone who's birding and is like I once saw this like rarest form of bird that like I've never heard like
What's that about you know like where are all the other kinds? I'll say this
I actually
I'm almost envious. I wish I could structure my entire life around birding when I hear birders talk about like
Seems very reliable. I wake up at 3 a.m
I just stand in a field and I patiently wait to hear a call
I'm like I wish that is all it took to make me
I'm pretty far from being able to do something like yeah, yeah
It's like wow. I think I don't have to work on a lot of stuff. Yeah, get to that
Wake up
Don't use phone. Yeah, like
Because birding to me right. It's like fishing. It's like one of those things where if like if you get into it
It's like you're gonna be waking up when when it dark
But isn't this kind of the Amish appeal right? It's sort of the house. Yeah, you know the birds are we back on the
House is that I like how absolutely hung up we are
Why would the Amish make a house?
I know it feels like Kregney from wrong here. We're zooming out to a larger why do bird houses exist? Why?
The people are even making half measures. I would like to interrogate the internal logic of play-ness as it relates to
bird houses and also
Now he's gotten here
Rachel gives John book a jacket and then she's like that has like eyes and hooks and eyes
Then every single man is wearing a shirt with a button
It's interesting like what's going up just I just one button no they're all but
I assumed it was the top layer. I was assumed it was the jacket. Yeah, yeah
But so why so the suit jackets can't have buttons, but the shirts can have buttons
I don't know we're gonna need to have people this is way in or maybe I rewatch
Let me let me be super clear here
This is not an indictment of the Amish right you're interrogating the movie. I'm interrogating how the movie is
Communicating their beliefs to me and their way of life. See I wonder it does his shirt have buttons
It does I like because once I notice this they all yeah have buttons and what's the the guy with the he man hair
That's good enough right? Oh, he's in a good enough. Yeah, who's more than good enough in this movie. He's great
He's fantastic after this best known for diehard is this sort of yes, he has a heart and oh shit
He has buttons. Yes, and he died quite young
Yeah, and then and then they don't really talk about this but like the use of color in the clothes right
Seems you know, but but some people do get to have like a green shirt or a shirt
Yeah, you know, and also they you can use natural dyes
Sure true true true, but like natural title
But it's supposed to be it's supposed to be playing
I die shirt
Yeah, I mean my question was are they saying like you haven't earned buttons yet
You're back to like peak plainness. You got to work your way back up in the same way
They're making him like prove himself in the community
But but they give him a button shirt from the beginning. I yeah, they do okay
I have no answers here. Yeah, I don't know I mean I just don't know questions that
You know similar to the haisita moon another like sort of group that gets a lot of blanket things
But there's like you know very sexy
So you know they cross over in the train station. I know that that's kind of a nice moment
Samuel is like it's a really interesting moment. It is and I think it's yeah
It's well done because the guy doesn't look at him in a hostile way and Sam is I mean Samuel isn't completely
upset about it, but it is kind of a like right
Same but different what is this yeah, yeah, yeah, and
Like yeah, I mean there's so many things I could say about the like I'm so close to the system right because they're in my like they live in neighborhood
So close to like and I've seen them all the time and I have all these complicated feelings about them
And then you watch a movie about the omniscient and the omnis communities. It's like they're sexual abuse that that right
You know, I've been you can write read about this you know
That's hard to deal within these for like mega religious communities, but then you watch this movie and you're like
Ha to be milking cows and working wood and like that's what I need
You know, it's a brilliant thing like would it be nice to be able to do this?
I think also it's what this movie gets really right and why I think one of the reasons they cut out that
Lapone donkey conxin is like the humor is always
Uh, that he's a little bit out of sorts
Fish out of water. Yes, it's never sort of the joke of like what is this you know the jokes never at them
No, it's not I think is big and also there's so many moments
Usually on him, but in a very very gentle way
Even the moment of him coming out in the full outfit for the first time
And like this is so perfectly judged because two degrees further
Harrison Ford looks silly in a way that makes the movie broad
And it's not even about the outfit. It's about the way he's wearing it and how much he's playing the discomfort of it
It's like everything is just perfectly judged in this weird way
And also then she laughs yes, you know, so like but but she laughs in the she titters. She yeah exactly like she tempers it as well
Which kind of like signals to the audience okay like this yeah, like this is a little funny
But we're not doing you know, I'm a strong broad first. Yes
Also, this is so tight because we live in a silly country that sucks in so many ways it's first time hearing this yeah
But you also are like yeah, man
It that's kind of what America is right some guys who are like hey, we do a really specific thing and their countries were like
Yeah, fuck out of here. They're like we're gonna do it over here
Yeah, America's like all right fucking yeah drive your buggy
All right, you know like and you're like it's beautiful. It's weird
Especially like 200 years later. You're like everything else has changed and everyone's like mashed into the same pot
We're like but we have different bars and then you have these little sex of just like we have refused to acknowledge right
And they're sure but I feel like if you're in Lancaster kind of those other people like hey, they're
That's what they're over there doing their first. Yeah, I'm also saying though. I think this movie makes the case where you're like
I could see him staying there is just enough tension. It's obviously very tied to no so little of his life
Yeah, you can kind of read that in
But also as you said that his life doesn't seem to be going super well in this guy's over cranked and you're like
He does seem to be finding some kind of inner peace. I think the
The movie just has has the tone and restraint so locked that you get to a point where you're like
You think to yourself while watching it in that scene. They're like well like
Maybe he could stay this is comfortable. Yeah, second slater. You're like no because
Obviously like he's not used to this lifestyle, you know two weeks later
Like there's there's like a lot of tensions and like you think through it
But you like you're carried away for a moment. Yes, and then you're like no
We got to re-enknowledge the reality of this situation which which is hard
To to to modulate yes
I also think the sitcom plot version of this is like
The richer or poor
Being the homage person fucking rules. I'm gonna stay here forever right getting really bullish
And then they're smacked down to earth and they learn their lesson
This is all of it happening internally with this guy being so filtered through the tension and passion bill
Yeah, and it's a moment where they're both sort of like this has no
Future that isn't chaotic or sad or just right right. I'm gonna have to stay you're gonna have to leave right and like
Look, they are an anabaptist community. Uh-huh if Harrison if John book Harrison for this John book
Harrison for his shop once to stay you're gonna have to get baptized and accept Jesus Christ
Like they don't they're not just like oh you like milking cows hang out. They're like we are all in on J.C
You agree
movie really does
That like yes
The scene where the grandpa talks to him about the gun yeah and talks about God in that way. Yes, so good
It's so good, but it does not say Jesus Christ. Yeah, you see them
You see them praying before meals, but it's silent. Mm-hmm. Like there there is
It walks like a very fine cultural religious line
Also, it's the point of everything we're saying I get baptized
Is that stuff not in the movie not because they're like avoiding it, but because that doesn't really benefit the story
They're telling here. He's never about a man in spirit. Yeah, he's never gonna be tempted by
Doesn't seem that way the idea of what if you double down on J.C
Right, he's gonna be tempted on the day-to-day life aspect of it not the theology
100% totally and also and I think and the
The the basic mindset that underpins the day-to-day life as opposed to like this
Yeah, okay, you're gonna shack up with Rachel right? Yeah, welcome to the community by the way
You met Joseph some I'm not just you know you met grandpa. Yeah, you met good enough. He's your age
It's kind of it like it's like fucking 60 people right? This isn't like a teap. You know, you're like V goes fifth built
Yes, three lines. It's pretty small. So what do you guys do all day?
Fucking milk cows and shit. So while we raise a barn anything else. No, that's it. You go see movies not allowed
This is one of the ghosts that sucks that does suck. Yeah, I'm out
Except what if you met an homage kid who had done rum springer
Yeah, and he's just really locked in on like one year of movies like that's all he knows but anyway, so Ron
I don't even have to explain this
Me perfect sense to me also these kids are coming to visit your your country and they're telling you about the 4d movie
They just saw about you that yeah, you can't see that's fucking hell
No, I just a lot of the reviews at the time I think trying to
crack who we were was as a filmmaker as he was so successfully making a transition and especially because this is like
Him working as a four higher director for the first time, but knocks out of the park. Yeah, it's a fucking best director nomination
It's a big hit. What is the through line? What is this guy's magic?
They all kind of identified that we're as big thing is the the clash of two communities
Butting up against each other even if it isn't dramatic even if it isn't an intense
Clash defriction right yeah, and that I think it's so informed by and obviously in his early Australian
Films, it's very often textual the like origins of Australia as a country
Right this weird like combativeness of like who are we and who are these other people and who belongs here more and I think he's just so
well
He's very well judged in knowing how to balance these things and not using one side or the other as like a story
All you you know, it's also interested like in
In like in a group of people who live by their own their own code their own world to like who are kind of removed from the world in somewhere another whether it's like you know
Like at a girl school just like in girl land. Yes, or
You know stuck in on a boat stuck in like reality world
But like these people who are kind of closed off in somewhere another from life as we know it and then as a character yes
that
Punctures that world right in most of the movies who like acts as the audience like sir
No, that's a grip. Yeah, and whether the sex are like sort of self-formed or formed by like unified interest or passion right or
Community or tradition or whatever it is
Yes, there is almost always that and he has like respect for that. That's the big part of it
Which I think is like it's not like looking at those weirdos
But I think that's a big byproduct of someone like growing up in Australia and really spending time litigating
As they grow up rather than absolving, you know like what's going on here?
I want to shout out the check actor Jan Rubech. I think it's his name who plays the grandpa plays Eli. Yeah, he's
Primarily an opera. I'm right. Yeah, he's so fucking good. I mean everyone in this movie playing Amish
You just you don't bad enough. You're just like none of it feels like cosplay. You're just again. These are just guys
Vigo obviously only pops out
Shit, it's Vigo, but we've got an homage look to him
That's the thing. Yeah, he pops out because he's so striking looking even if he didn't become a rarigorn
But also he's striking the way that fits perfect. That's an elf. He's human. Oh
Okay, all right
I
Am just took a deep breath. It is so angry. I know I was in and I just started doing the
The tax on it. I'm sorry. That's also like a man. He is the rest of men now. He is in love with love Tyler true
She's an elf and then Cape Legend is the queen of the elves. Well, isn't she a different thing? Is she a tree person?
I'm just letting you guys get this out of your sister before
So just
Yes, gladrilla is an elf. Of course she she's in
Rivendell and hi council. Okay
Or wait is gladrilla and regeezus like this is where like my whole thing with Lord of the Rings is like I'm
Relatively read in on Lord of the Rings, but not in the way that you know with people who are truly read in right
It's like you've read the bible
Listeners yelling at us, but I feel like she's not Rivendell because isn't Rivendell Hugo weaving
That's what I always forget so so um she's in La Florian
She's more of what you would call like I think a wood elf or whatever and
Elrond who is in
Rivendell's more of what you call high elf
Those are more dnd terms. I shouldn't really use them just to say about airagorn
He is man. He is a man. He is a man. He's from the race of men. He's a long man. If you know what I'm saying
But he is descended from the dune of dain also known as the new menorians who in Lord of the Rings are kind of like
Slightly more magic-y men. It's why he's very old
Erragorn is like already in Lord of the Rings. He's almost a hundred years old. What?
Again the movie does not touch on these things because Peter Jackson wisely was like my audience will say what also the fucking age gap
Disperses
Well the Arwen is like hundreds of years old. Okay, she's an elf. I repeat except now I'm flipping the dynamic
Arwen fucking cradle
Robin Arwen is I think 240 ish. Okay go off queen
And lives how long what is the lifespan of an elf she lives about three thousand years three thousand oh
Okay, that's why the whole thing is more than she's very young too. Yeah, so there's no age gap
If you're going by experience see what okay, but what would airagorns life expectancy?
I'm gonna google this just because I'm not totally sure but he dies at the age of 210
And he's about he's about 90 in Lord of the Rings. So in that case
He's kind of middle-aged and she's kind of a teenager within their life space. I so you know what back on
No, I think it's you know, but that's what Lord of the Rings look the whole
How old are the tree people great question I learned about them like three weeks ago
Wait, but you surely have seen Lord of the Rings. I did. I think I saw them
In college they did like a back-to-back before return of the king is the third one of the Oscar winner, right?
So I saw two and three together like in a theater and the tree heavy one two is two towers is heavy on ants
Yeah, and and I have read the hobbit and
And I I have retained absolutely nothing like you I just my brain will never hold on to that totally fine
And again like as a nerd who it's like my avatar
Yeah, totally your brain just right
Like but just just you know the whole thing with
Erie Gordon Arwen is the in Lord of the Rings the book
That is mostly buried in appendixes and that was Peter Jackson being like I fucking we need some fucking ladies in these movies
You know what I mean like the books are just so light on women. Oh the romance is not it's in the yeah
Hendices yeah, but like that's not that's why in the movie whenever they drop in with it you are kind of like
What's up? Like yeah, it is just occasionally. They'll just be like FYI. I do love you live Tyler
You are immortal and I am mortal
So I know that's kind of an issue anyway. I'll see you later
I have to go get this ring over to another place, right?
You know and it's like I think Peter Jackson was just striving to like
Broad and out as much as he could to include some ladies. I do remember
The first movie comes out. I was
12. Yeah, I was what's a 2001. I was 15. So yeah, you were 12
And I didn't read the books until after I saw the first movie you read all three books
I think I read I read Hobbit and maybe through two towers. I think I never read Return of the King
but I
Was very in on the first movie
But I remember being very confused by how prominent
Blanchett and Tyler were in the marketing and then seeing the movie and being like they both have tiny parts
And now I get it where they were just like we need to message to people that this isn't some fucking
High fantasy sausage buddy J.R. Tolkien was like, you know, he wasn't like big on like the interiority of ladies
Yes, you know the romance and the appendices is the most
You know, yeah, boy shit. I've ever heard it a little boy. Yeah, rings is kind of the definition of a boy stuff
Yeah, and like you know, that's what that show the Amazon show that everyone loves that's universally popular our favorite right and inexpensive
Yeah, produced a burger is
Sometimes the price never seen that
That one tries to you know have younger Galadriel as its main character
I think because they again they're conscious of like we should you know try to
Mine is not the success that it does feel like Peter Jackson made films that were
Disapportually popular with women relative to the books at that time. It's the miracle of those movies. Yeah, like people now are just like
Yeah, of course Lord of the Rings is like no, no, no
He really put the Campbell through the eye of the needle with those things like those books are not easy to adapt
Their books
You know, and like and it's just a lot of information and he kind of just always picked and chose what you need to know and what you don't
You know what's even Colbert can fill in for you later, right? He did it perfectly again
And then with the hobbit
Exactly makes sense to
That's it out of the heart everybody
I'd love to do those movies one day. I do love them and I even defend the hobbits for their sense. Yeah
God, how long would the episode be though?
Well, the tight 90s. Yeah, the original or the extended 90 weeks
Then we would have to do two cuts of each episode
Jesus, okay
Something to look forward to so witness can we talk about the central romance of witness? Yeah
Yeah, I was going to tell you
Can we talk about Harrison Ford dancing? Yeah, so how many other times has Harrison for dance?
Great question
Think of it off he does the lumbata in the frantic no, I know he does like
Uh, half shuffle in working girl at the wedding working girl one of his sort of elusive most certain yeah because you know
They've he's got a dance with like bitzi or something in order to let um
tests
Talk to orin hat trash ask orin ask wait who was a senator and who is the character in working girl?
Uh, oh, okay, one second one second one
Orin trash, try or a trash or in trash is Philip Bosco in
Right and orin hatch was a senator hatch was right that I didn't like right he's the Utah senator who would occasionally like do like songs about
Eagles soaring as well right here. He had like a kind of yeah, yeah, one of those
Yeah, David. Do you just discover the exact same thing I did the Harrison Ford in fact does dance to grace jones in
In frantic. Oh, yeah, I'm frightened. Oh
I want to see other I will say in this clip that I'm watching. I don't know if you're watching a griffin
He looks really stressed out which is of course the vibe of frantic in general that he's kind of a frantic
Yes, right. This is him looking. Yeah, absolutely
Here's an e-dance and temple of doom and the big musical sequence
But I don't think of him as being trying to use it the table. He's watching. Yeah
Does he dance in the Sabrina remake that's a movie I've never seen but it feels like there could be a dance there
But isn't he I'm seeing here who else is in and slow dancing a Julia or mom, but it might be a very
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, that's also like slow dancing you can just like step back and forth
He's doing some twirls in this like he's acknowledging the rhythm. Yes. Good call. Okay. Oh, he gets down and call the wild
Yeah, oh, yeah, and in key 19 the widow maker. There's the he raised a choreographed dancing scene. Yeah, right
There was so much space for those guys to really you know move around yeah
uh
I don't know cowboys and aliens he danced in that I might let's run through every credit
I'm funny. This is certainly look empire magazine
I invoke it a lot at this time that used to have at the back page. Yeah, an iconic scene
Yeah, and it would just be dialogue from the iconic scene
It would be you know, it was kind of like a their way of a clip of an iconic scene right and usually it would be something
It was very dialogue heavy. Yeah, fucking you know something from a Kevin Smith movie, right? You know, no
It's something it was like winning an icon them
And then I remember one time they did this scene. I hadn't seen witness yet
And it's basically just explaining a scene where they danced to a Sam Cook song
So it didn't pop in terms of dialogue, for say no, but it was stuck in my head where I was like wow that scene must rock
If they were like put it on the back page even though it's not funny
And then I watched the movie and I was like yeah like this is yeah one of the like
It's like the perfect level of like aching romance not to I mean just the right amount of charm right amount of goofiness
And I you know
The editing where they like pot there are a couple moments where they stop and they're like looking at each other
And you know everyone is just like oh my god the world's you know everything's back to explode
And then they laugh again. I was also trying there's a smile and laugh that Harrison Ford does sort of at the end of it that is like
goofy and sincere and maybe the only time I've seen him
Deflate himself in that way, but like normally he is
Self deprecating and like a little ironic and like undercutting himself, but that's done like a little rye
That stuff does quietly
Amp up his high status. Yeah, and so but this is just kind of like he's he's laughing
He's like I just you know
I was dancing and like being sweet and it's a really really really big smile
It deflates him and that it makes him into human
That's so much of Harrison Ford's thing is playing everything very close to the chest and in that moment
You're like this guy isn't holding anything back anymore. Yeah, it feels like he is just present transparent with her
Yeah, yeah, he's so fucking good
He is and that sounds pretty good. I love him so much
So
Why don't you marry John? Why would no, I just like
Anytime we get to cover Harrison Ford movie on this podcast you do like
Especially at his peak you're just like one of the best to ever do it in that exact way that is always kind of taken for granted in its time
Even when he is basically like carrying half of the industry on his back
There was a thing I was watching all the stuff on the excellent arrow 4k set
But John C.O legendary
DP this was his first
Time working with we're not his last
No, that's what I was about to say with Harrison. We're about to do tomorrow
Record mosquito coast, which is our next episode as well
Which is right Harrison really pointedly trying to be like I won't be charming Harrison Ford
I am going to take you into darkness
Well, we'll talk about all and it's the big debate of that movie of like right is he the guy for that right?
I think he corrects afterwards and is like I went too far audiences just don't want that for me
And he doesn't really try anything like that again
John please flawed guys right not but John book becomes kind of the range of like where you can go before people start to reject what he's
Doing
But the great John seal was talking about how
That visually this movie is very inspired by like Vermeer and the Dutch masters in the use of light and
You know having scenes lit by the sun through the window without trying to be too controlled and painterly about it
Do there are a couple that scene when he's like in having his literal fever dream. Yes, she is sitting there watching him
And she like that is a recreation of another recreation
But that is like framed and lit you know lit in such way that it was like oh right. I also to you know
Red the goldfinch or whatever the
Sitting in the
Yeah, yeah, of course and a movie that was electrifying us oh
I so mad that movie kept me so awake
Griffin the most I was so very awake throughout they made one mistake at the box office with that film which was not
I think it
caffeine the movie
Goldfinch what is this yeah, you call caffeine the movie everyone would have showed up and they would have left happy and awake
Um so awake, but John seal talks about working really fast right that he likes boxing himself in
That he likes likes being instinctual and he also feels you get better results out of the actors
Because they don't have to sit around and wait that he's very collaborative in that sense
Hi lapone was talking about being someone who also granted from rural yard and then was doing tv and film and was like this sucks
They call me to set and then there's another fucking 40 minutes of adjustment
I'm losing my flow and losing my energy
Yeah, yeah, yeah, and that she was like this set rules that Harrison Ford has all brass tax and loves it
And they were like motoring each other right and he said
I really try not to direct actors in a way that some other dp's will
We'll jump in and be like if you could just do this yeah, it would help my shot
Yeah, you know not like character motivation directing like we're does, but the sort of like
Is there any way you can do this five inches higher or 30% faster or whatever it is
And he said I try not to do that but Harrison the term he used Harrison has such good motor skills
Mm-hmm that I would go Harrison and he would just go just tell me what it is and I'll do it
Like forget the chaffa
Yeah, yeah, if it's this and this and he goes got it and then he would do it perfectly
However many times he needed it. I mean no wonder they yeah, uh, right, you know
Work together again now like I think about I mean the way Harrison Ford moves in move
You know like and yeah, suddenly he's like spinning around or suddenly he's over here
He does seem to have like a real sense of not just where the camera is but where he needs to it's it's
Motor skills was a perfect way of putting it because I'm like I get that he is a great visual storyteller
That he understands the part of his job as an actor is how to carry the audience through the story
I understand that he has incredible screen presence and understanding of the medium and how to pop on it
But motor skills is like right that's not even like it's like movie athleticism right and he was like it's not something
He like learned it's not something he was trained to do. It's truly just he's actually built in a way
That makes him better at processing that and they were saying that like he was really fucking
nervous
At the beginning of filming the movie that he hadn't made that many films that he was not seen as a serious actor
That the movies he was in had so much spectacle around them
That this was the first real test of like you are the thing the whole time and he's beautiful
And up until this point every movie he had been a part of people were like well
That's the magic of Spielberg
That's the magic of Lucas
Or Blade Runner didn't work right
That same morning daytime interview the woman's like is there any movie of yours that you want to apologize for
And he's like you know not every movie works, but you try your best and she was like interesting because I thought you were gonna say Blade Runner
And you're like right at this moment
It's like
Like Blade Runner was black Adam for him
That it was like the stain on his career, but that he felt like
Do you like playing Runner Amanda?
It does not feel like a huge Amanda movie
It's you know I'm more of an alien person than Blade Runner in the Ridley Scott canon for sure
I'm maybe even more of a house of Gucci person than that
But you know I
Live in Los Angeles and
There is like a certain type of there is a certain type of weather or day or even building where I'm just like
Oh, it's Blade Runner hours and it's I mean the visual
Like language of it. It's what it's also is one of those things where it's like
You learned the way you learned that visual look before you saw the movie for people of our generation like it just invented it
So yeah, I admire it like drive fire it up and sit through the whole thing. Yes
No, but you know, whatever same as you were it is never been one of my movies every couple years
I'll throw on a cut and give it another shot and I always respect it more than I love it and yet
I think about it constantly. Yeah, I am also like Sean Young is a real
Uh, pain point for me. I have a similar
I'm a little allergic to her. I'm a little allergic to Sean young too, but not in Blade Runner where she works as she works as it yeah
But it's like I still am watching it like I think I'm like still so mad about no way out
Which I know chronologically comes after several years later
But it's like where I started with Sean young and I'm just like this is I'm gonna lose my mind and then
Uh, that I'm just watching her and I'm just like, please come on. Yeah. Yeah that feeling of like growing being a 90s kid
And then discovering the 80s Sean young cannon and being like how did this happen?
How did she get so big and work in every genre? I mean she has a presence
She does there is like and no way out you need something
You need a loose cannon, you know, she's really something off kilter. Yeah
Um, yeah, I don't know. I'm not being very feminist, but anyway, but yeah, Blade Runner, they did good
But I think like Kelly McGillis it because
Top Gun is such a silly part and is such a Tom Cruise vehicle and she exists just to serve him
And then the accused is a movie where it's just like well jody foster completely takes control of that right?
She's the story of the movie for sure and Kelly McGillis was offered that part first right?
And I don't want to play that I think it's more interesting to do this. She's good in the air. Yeah, she's tough and then it's like everyone forgets
It's just jody foster fucking sweeps the award. It is it's jody foster's star moment to it's like you know jody foster
Right her career is exposed. She's good. Yes, dirty fostered actress
Uh, very good actress, but I think Kelly McGillis is is kind of like
History doesn't give her enough credit. This is the one you watch
She got both a globe and a BAFTA nomination for this
But the whole reason she doesn't get an Oscar nomination is apparent in looking at
I think the globe's nominated her in supporting a BAFTA nominated her in lead
Yeah, and I
Performance like I caught
But I imagine they may have run her in supporting because she was new right like the classic didn't pick aside and
She didn't have that is that terms of endearment? Um, no, so 85 is I mean, it's a movie you love
We all love it. It's the movie of it's the best movie of all time. It's called out of Africa. Oh
Oh, I mean red forgot the last laugh I suppose William hurt beats Ford
So William hurt beats Ford for kiss of the spider woman. Yeah, sure and uh, yeah, it's I mean
It's kind of a bad Oscar year. It's the color purple year
And uh, you know, you could argue for that in best actress or whatever
But no, we had to take the trip to the mountain full. We'll be sure to one
Oh, yeah, and then art out of Africa kind of sweeps the text witness wins editing and screenplay
Which are two very sensible wins for it because it's such a like well-constructed efficient, you know, our 40-minute movie wouldn't know
It's more than hour we're like close hour 55. Yeah, yeah, but like you know what I mean like where you're like
Yeah, yeah, yeah out of Africa gets all the big sumptuous like scores
cinematography art direction, you know all that shit and then they just hand out these
Odd for acting Oscars William hurt Donna Meachie
Geo Geraldine page and then Angelica Houston and Pritzese honor which I have said before is a performance where you're like
Oh, did Houston pop off and you watch it and you're like, I mean, she's fine. It's fine. She's all right
But it was this like sort of like silence the haters win right it was like yeah, she told her dad
She would gonna do it and she did it right even though he didn't like her Donna Meachie. I also like it was like a when I saw
The coon for the first time I was like that's the fourth performance. I would nominate and supporting after out of this movie
But like it's another weird one of like no one else
Up for the award is that I mean it obviously should have been
Christopher Lloyd back to the future. That should have been his Oscar. Yeah, sure absolutely
I mean who do I have this is a weird year. Is this the same year as karate kid? Were they nominated Pat marita? No, okay
The nominees for supporting actor if you must know I'm awesome Rita Brando are they're out of Africa of course
William Hickie and Pritzese honor. He's a billion years old and you know had to yeah
Robert Lozion Jagged Edge
Subtle is he and Jagged Edge
Please a subtle and restrained guy
Wait, wait, who is he Robert Lozion? Yeah, I have not seen Jagged Edge. I know. I was like reading okay. Who is he look? Let's look at
He plays Sam ransom. Okay
He's a private detective
Okay, as he
I guarantee you he yells the only thing I honestly remember about Jagged Edge is that Jeff Bridges house is like kind of my dream
House in so and he does look very handsome. It's it's a beautiful like Spanish style home sure
I'm gonna throw throw on the edge. Yeah, take it to the edge. Yeah, but you call me bono. You're gonna get
I gotta find the edge
And Eric Robertson runaway train great performance. Oh, yeah, very
uh
Big performance in that movie. That's a big movie
Yeah, but you know, it does kind of feel like they went to Dona Meets. She just kind of like well, I guess he's a legend
Right, he's old. Yeah, those old people, you know, like it's a it's a year of all out of Africa and like
Though these old like Gerald and page down. It does not feel like a year where the youngs are like pumped up by the Oscars 80s acting wins
More so than any other decade have a ton of that work. Yeah, like things were as a 15 year old
We're cleaning up, you know
Mistakes of the 50s a 15 year old trying to like fill in Oscar gaps and I'm watching these movies and being like that performance one
And then you go to Wikipedia and you're like oh it won because a shit from 40 years earlier
I mean even this being like the Sydney Pollock
Coronation very bizarre is is really lame
It's just the wrong movie for it that movie stinky. Yeah, I don't want to get away from the horniness of witness
Because I feel like we need to let we need to fully explore this a little bit. Can you talk about here? Some for it is like your ultimate
I think he's probably the hottest yeah, like I mean, you know, like the last solid dude um
And some of that is
I don't
There restraint this self deprecation that like I don't want to be doing this you know is uh is appealing
To me personally, that's like that's my flavor of that's that's that's the vibe sure that I'm going for and there's a still waters run deep thing with him
Where you yeah, you never sense unlike a lot of other 80s macho movie stars
There is always clearly a sensitivity that is barely being covered
Yes, though. I'm also not that worried about he's he's soft
There's like a soft side yeah, but there's it's it's it's not an emo thing going on. No, you know
But it's like I'm not gonna have to take care of him at any point. Yes, but he's also not playing
Dirty Harry like he's not gonna do the dishes totally
He is it's it's a kind of perfect balance. Yeah, it's like he he he manages it very well
And he is also just you know classically so handsome. He is like
Early 40s, which is very unfairly when most men really come into their own
And mean look at that. Yeah, you know, yeah, I'm just waiting the haircut is good
Yeah, you'll get there. What if I turn 40 and I gain six inches. Oh six inch summer. Yes six inch summer
Oh
I for me there is it's kind of still working girl sure is
Is the hottest because he's doing a little more screwball. I was gonna say how much of that is character in performance versus yeah
Like the setting there
Yes, he's kind of unstoppable in this. He's like but it's like he's in the same face of life. So purely visually there
They are yes together. Yeah, um and
He it's and he has shirtless scenes in both, you know, and he just really like in the 80s
Like we didn't have macro boys in the same way
We didn't have protein shakes like we weren't
optimizing and I I preferred that this is a year after temple of doom
Which as we talked about a lot in that episode
At the time the press was you will not believe how big Harrison Ford got for temple of doom
Yeah, and you look at the movie now and you're like this is maybe the biggest anyone should ever get
We've gotten so out of whack now
That it's not that he looks skinny, but that worked the idea of like the shape you get into for a movie
And he's still basically in that shape in this where you're just like yeah
He's just kind of perfect physical form without looking like a mutant exactly right did just he looks healthy
And like he can run someone down or like you know find a rifle in a in a
Large silo of corn
Uh, you know who drowns in the silo of corn?
Who angus McInnis plays that character believe and you know who he is grim now gold leader
This is go
Beginning my trench run now start wars. I once you said trench run. I was like oh, yeah, I know who that is
Yeah, Tracy let's just few men get Tracy let's just like snoring
So he gets so hopefully we got his ass so hopefully he was on that episode we got his ass wait
So he's starting his trench run does that mean he's on the good side or the bad side? He's on the good side
He's gold leader. He pilots the y-wing and he is really stoic
Okay, the whole thing with gold leader is he's the guy who's like really really measured
Even when they're getting their fucking y-wings blown to bits he rocks
Alec Guinness relative
No, his name is angus McInnis. Oh, okay, I was hearing it differently, but I think he's a Scottish descent. Yes
Um, yeah great great actor. Uh, this is gold leader Dutch fan. They're
Yeah, that is that right the of course later they told us all their names
Yeah, the books and such show. Yeah, but he's gold leader to me and he's in Rogue One because they splice in that footage
Which I love we love it. I really do it actually like
I like that. I love it so much more than the fucking CGI
Necromancy you do you splice in just footage that you have of them just going this is gold leader and you're like
Yeah, that's all I need that's all I need to show me the old thing
Um, I mean I have a gift for you. Oh my goodness
It is a shirtless here is for action. This is real. Yeah. Wait. What's this from? Thank you so much. Oh my goodness
Okay, so what is he he's carrying the spear?
Okay, throw out the other pieces that make it more specific. Okay, this is supposed to be in temple of doom
I was gonna say this looks like Indiana Jones from this reason we're in khaki pants. It's when he's hypnotized and quickly turns evil
Indy I guess if I want a shirtless Harris and that's what I want but like do I want an indie song's hat
David I agree if there's a reason I'm gifting this action figure to Amanda
You're gonna take us your friend, but they're both I'm like I don't need this and I think this could have some specific value
This is really huge actually because my kids have gotten or nox is the older has gotten to the face where he wants to like
He has all his trucks, but he needs a drive the truck right, you know
So and we do have some um Harrison Ford in temple of doom sized trucks. Oh, yeah, I think yeah
So I mean
Yeah, so get rid of that and he's got a weird like a sash. Yeah, but you know how quickly this goes into someone's eyes right
Yeah, yeah, you know run around
And sometimes he's good to learn the lessons string sash as well
But if you that's true then it's just shirtless Harrison Ford with a weird marking on his forehead. Yeah, it's interesting how his legs are
Attached to his body. So he has a lot of joint flexibility
Which is great, but that also means that the the nature of his pants
It looks like he's wearing a khaki diaper and then khaki
Unaboidable with a lot of these action figures. Yeah, which um the diper ink. Yeah guys
You're using terms that are
Constant on the message boards, but he is the diaper effect is a real he is a plague of the action
Really agile like it's like he's focused on mobility. Yes, you know, um, yes, and he's he's very shirtless
I do think it shoulders moving well. I do think it accurately captures the appeal of shirtless Harrison Ford in this era
It's got his body and he's not too swollen. No, it's it's kind of correct
Which he's so much for this gift
Apart from red Hulk of course president
Respect who is what is the swoleist Harrison Ford ever got?
It's probably temple it is at least it's the most shirt. Yeah, he has some scars on his back
Yeah, he gets whipped in that movie. I mean like I understood what they were but explaining that to a three-year-old
It's gonna be an idea. Can I give you my pro tip? Yeah, nail polish remover. Oh
I'd say just cute nail polish remover. Okay. I assumed as much. Yeah, yeah
You could do that and then there's the weird mark on the forehead that's I think part of his possession
Oh, sure if you if you dare to do five minutes of activity on this yeah, I can do that
They made a bunch of figures when the last Indiana Jones came out of all the previous films
But they made like 20 different versions of Indiana Jones versus the supporting characters to witness
I just I'm feeling a little bit of stress on like have we talked enough about witness the film witness witness witness witness witness witness witness
You
David yep, you don't have a lot of shared interests. Sure common interest film the movies comedy podcasts life
New York City
Bagels sandwiches
These are all true sleep. Oh, I love sleep sleep rules so much. It is kind of wild how sleep
Is constantly underrated. I don't think people give it an awful credit
And it gets truly and it gets credit
And nonetheless even when it's bad. It's good. I mean, it's just so true. It's true. I am living proof right now
You are because Lee sponsored the show
And when they sponsored the show they said would you like a mattress? I know we're a big honken mattress
And I was like it's time. I'm switching to a king mattress. You're a king big
I
I'm getting a bigger bed. Mm-hmm. My kids sometimes will pile into it. I need this much
I need as much square footage as possible on this song. Yeah, you need hop on pop space
I too now listen
I mean Lisa they've got this lined up a beautifully carrafted mattresses. They're all tailored
For different sleep positions different fuel preferences, but they've all got premium materials
They've all got full body support no matter how you sleep
They're all designed and assembled in the USA. They've all got a
Free shipping easy returned
120 night sleep trial that you can go by awarded the best hybrid mattress by wire cutter at the New York Times
Exclusively featured by West down there. They go to mattress provider over there. Mm-hmm. It's good stuff
Yeah, and they donate thousands of mattresses each year to those in need that's huge partner with organizations like clean hub to remove
harmful plastic waste from the ocean. It's nice to hear that they care and it's nice to hear all those endorsements
But really I I think there is no stronger endorsement than David Sims the sleepy king
The most tired man in America saying that Lisa hits just right. I love it and I use it and this is a true endorsement
I'll boy do my best. Yeah, they're all endorsements, but this is about as endorsement is an endorsement cat
I don't know what to tell you go to Lisa.com
For 20% off mattresses plus get a extra
$50 off of promo code blank check exclusive for our listeners that's
L-E-E-S-A.com promo code blank check for
20% off mattresses plus an extra $50 off support our show and let them know we sent you
After checkout that's Lisa.com promo code blank check
I
Guess are there any scenes I do want to talk about I do want to talk about the boobie scene
Oh, okay, yeah, of course it's to put it in the most respectful
Okay, cuz like the stages of their sort of
Relationship whatever is like right initial. He's helping conversational first
Dancing her kind of laughing at him right
A little bit of familiarity than the dancing then her
Kind of letting him look at her naked like this like this like quiet
So electric about that's right and then the kissing in the rain is the end of it
I'm especially like die hard guy shows up and has been he's circling like
From like he has no chill he is
The funeral
I get it, but so he shows up yeah, and it seems like a nice guy like he's not a villainous character totally
But she is not feeling it she's for some feeling and so hairs and Ford makes himself scarce yes
And then she goes and finds him which is like a and then he's he's doing carpentry
So
DCX
Yeah, so at that I mean that scene is always important to me in there the community even acknowledges their tension. Oh
I think it's like so
I don't try to talk about right but also they just they want to keep things close loop
They want good enough to just come in there and just like immediately get the remarried
I also we're
Said that they they were really struggling and casting that part
His casting director suggests good enough
He's like a dancer like I don't we need a real actor for this and she was like just meet with him
I just saw him perform. I got a vibe right and meet with him and is like the look was obviously right
Yeah, this energy was so like gentle
And his smile was so disarming and he said the big math problem
He was trying to solve what that casting is the end of my movie is going to be
Harrison for driving off and this guy walking towards the house right and the audience has to feel like that is no death sentence for her
They have to feel like
If she ends up with him that's not a bad situation right and so even while there's the intention internal in the movie
You need to still feel vaguely good enough about that guy and he was like it truly just was when he smiled
It worked right and I was like if I can put that on screen four times
And he can be himself and just maintain this
Kind of like sensitive energy. We're good right yeah
Uh, yeah, I mean
Uh, he is good and good enough
He's good enough. Yes, absolutely great kid performance
Lucas Haas isn't extraordinary look the thing with him is
He became a good actor like right. He's a good adult actor. I like Lucas Haas all the time
You watch this performance and you correctly like what the movie wants you to think is the reaction you have
Which is like this is a kid they homage could they found somehow right they pluck this kid out of out of like the darkest like
You know most obscure part of the like the country like there's no like there's no way this is an actor
Yeah, like he's so natural. Yes. He's so beautiful like he just looks like
Yes, and like his eyes are so incredible and he's so sweet
Can I like he's such a cute can I tell the weird story about directing the bathroom scene? Oh sure
Yeah, so uh, we're was like very sensitive of like he's very young. Yeah, this is a disturbing scene
He's a precocious kid. He's smart. He's read the script. He seems to understand it
But that's very different from actually seeing of course, right and he was like and I I wanted to make the bathroom seem very violent and
Upsetting so I was very like set on I'm not gonna show it to him
We're gonna shoot this separately on two different days and
I just need him to act it because I don't want him to have that in his mind
um and
They're shooting the Lucas Haas day and
We're like he's just not getting it. Yeah, and he goes to him and he's like Lucas no pressure
But you're like letting down the movie right now
Is the way he words at Lucas Haas clearly remembers it like verbatim well he and we're tell the same story with the same wording
All right, and Lucas Haas as like a little grown-up says like
Well, the problem is it's pretty hard to stare at like a taped X at the wall
Yeah, and act really scared and we're says to him we're says welcome to fucking Hollywood
No, what do you say we know he says you're letting down the movie
We need to figure something out and he says here's what I suggest
I need you to look at that X and I need you to think of the most scared you've ever been by anything in your life
And don't tell me what it is sure
But just when I call action make that the X what if you said it's right now
It's this is the most you just told me I'm
And he was like and he did it and he just nailed it immediately sure and he never revealed what it was and he won't reveal now
No, sure spiders or something yeah, probably spiders fucking spiders. Yeah
So for my daughter would be when Ursula gets too huge in the little mermaid. That is really scary
That's her number one like we're not we're not gonna watch that
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, I don't like her when she's very huge
I want to go back to the bathing scene for a second because there's a moment in it that I think is kind of like the perfect race note within this film
Which is
You know he walks up she turns around right exposes herself
It's like building with like thriller tension where we're seeing these extreme close-ups of like
Spongebob on her shin right yeah, where that she's naked but we're not seeing her naked body
And you're seeing here us and Ford come upstairs and you know the confrontations about to happen
And you as the audience are wondering what's gonna come of it right right
And he walks up she turns around you cut out to like a cowboy shot
So you're seeing her topless for the first time and aware that this is what he's seeing
And then it's extreme close-up on Harrison Ford's face and he looks at her and with like incredible motor control
Just kind of throws his gaze down
Like he looks and then makes the statement in right if you're not gonna turn back around
I'm gonna do the gentlemanly thing
Nothing is said. It's great. It's incredible. I mean
Peter where it does not love dialogue as much as other people that's but like the amount that is
Shown rather than said in this and this movie is I think I amazing and also one of its like great achievement
You know and even if it was kind of nothing dialogue like oh my god. I'm sorry like it wasn't for monologue
Yeah, it's just don't do it more powerful for it to be like full
Fucking like passion of the joint right of just like this is just them looking at each other and cutting back and forth between them
Yes, and then it's like her kind of disappointment that she's not looking that he's not looking anymore
Right right right even though she knows he's probably right and then he follows it up the next day with the line
Yeah, which is just such an exquisite like what's supposed to happen right
Yeah, it's what he said movie and ten words right? It's like the perfect Harrison Ford thing of he's gonna say the least it can possibly say
Right and he even I was watching this on like a low volume last night because I didn't want to keep up everyone else in the apartment and
The the second half like or you'd have to leave he like almost whispers
So I had to go and like turn it back up. I was like no, I need this you know, I need the full thing
Um, we think they don't sleep together in actuality. It does well. They don't know. They just kiss boil over in the kiss in the middle of a field
Yeah, that's that's the extent of them letting something happen and they almost immediately are like
Again confronted with what's the end game here, right, but we're all adults, you know, which is like the right the theme of this we're adults
out of each other. But she, you get the impression, it's just so good that it's not about how this
life represses her, but it's also not about how this life is perfect for her. She does have long
for more, but she's not sure she is longing for that, like entire divorce from this community.
She has her, that does clearly matter to her. She has her version of the, maybe we should call
Max Women's speech with her father. I mean, which was perfected in the film,
X-Men Dark Phoenix, where she says maybe we should call the next one. It took 10 movies and we finally
got there. She asked the real questions, gave the real answers. That seems a real packet up,
Hollywood. On everything. Yeah, just pack it up. Let's stop making movies. Let me, let me put it
this way. I don't think it's unrelated that a global pandemic happened within six months of that
line of time. Oh boy. Yeah, that's wonderful. But the scene with her father where he's kind of like,
I'm seeing too much chemistry. Right. Yeah. And you cannot allow yourself to be a ruined woman.
Right. Right. And then he like, you know, it's one of the few expository pieces of writing where he's
like, you will be shunned. And it means that I can't do this. And I can't, you know, can't do that.
And it's like, it's like real stakes. But somehow doesn't also, it like matters to them. So it doesn't
make it seem like bizarre or, you know, weird. Like just like, you know, creepy. It still has
respect for what's going on. Like their rules are important to them. And so it's like really
important that he be still be able to follow them. I love that the plotting of this movie is they
immediately, all the dirty cops immediately know what he did. Yeah. He went to fucking
on. And then they just cannot search for him because they don't have phones. They call it closest
precinct. And that, that cop is awesome. He's like, he's like, there are so many laps.
Right. You know, and I love that guy. He's so great. But I do love that guy too. Like that guy's
job is just, yeah, I don't know, man. They don't have. He'd up on his desk being like, this is
nothing I can do, bro. Good luck to you. Right. Right. And they're like, this is about
cop killing. He's like, I don't give a shit. I mean, he doesn't say that. When he goes into town,
he calls on a pay phone to check on his partner finds out that he died. That's right. Of course,
that's why he's right. Especially full of rage. So then he calls the chief is like, you can't
trace this call, but fuck you. The chief is having a barbecue. Joseph some are so good in that
shit. Cause like, just some are really good at playing a guy who is in over his head. Yes.
He just wanted some speed money. Yeah. Right. He didn't really want to go out there be murder and
like, cop's thinking about this. Okay. So $22 million. A lot of money from, yeah, it's a lot of
money. And like, if this isn't the eighties, it's like, so because you sold some confiscated
speed or like an important ingredients like the confiscated speed and everyone's buying their
speed from Philadelphia. So that's a really speed. But like, how, how is he using that money without
people noticing? It is a nice house. It was more of a cash economy that in those days. Yeah,
he's got a lot. But it's still like suddenly, like you show up with a new, you know,
car like, aren't people going to notice? It is a flourish. I love in this film that when he calls,
his wife picks up. Yeah. And she's immediately panicked. You see it on the face. It's non-text,
but it's a beautiful. She's got the hints in her brain of like, has something been going on?
I think she knows. I watch it and see it. Or she suspects. She knows what paying for all of
the money. Right. Right. Exactly. Because she picks up and it's immediately like, this is the guy
who's circling it. Right. And it is a beautiful suburban home. Right. And even when she tells her
husband to pick up the phone, she's very slow to put the phone back on the receiver. Yeah.
But I see her consider, do I want to listen in? But like more broadly, I am like, where do you,
what's your strat with like the 22 million that came out of nowhere? If you're like the police
sergeant or whatever, like what is the it's a terrible plan. It is sort of what is his undoing.
I mean, I like that the way he's able to defeat him. You know, he can only corn one guy to death.
Right. Corn's cold leader. He corns him. Yeah. I'm so glad we're bringing that because
explain what happens. And I did want to talk about this, this scene. The corn sign. No, not the
no, the corning's good. No, the corn sign. He shoots Danny Glover. He shoots Danny Glover.
We're the big ol' shotgun. Yeah. Danny Glover probably the most straight up villainous
character in that we watch him murder someone else. But then he's out of bullets. Yeah.
He's got a corn gold leader. Joe, he's right. And Joseph Summer, you know, the chief takes,
you know, through a series of Lucas Haas is trying to help. Well, he tells Lucas Haas to run
to protect himself. But Lucas Haas doesn't. He doesn't. He rings the bell. The whole community comes.
And he's got this boy. And he's doing the whole like, I'm going to kill, you know, like, you know,
and Harrison Ford's just like, you're going to kill a kid. I mean, right? Like, you know,
there's this like tension of me. Let me correct you. Yeah. No, go ahead.
Has Harrison Ford. Then they walk out of the barn. Right. Then he sees that everyone's there.
Right. And Joseph Summer still like, I'm going to fucking shoot you. Right. And he's holding the
shotgun. And Harrison Ford jumps over to their side. Right. And Harrison Ford is the one who's
like, you're going to shoot her. You're going to shoot him. Right. And he says, you're going to
shoot the kid. And then he grabs the kid. He grabs the kid in front of him. And I have a note.
Okay. Okay. Right. This is the thing. It's not the chief. Right. It's that's correct.
And McGillis like freak. She's so great. Of course. Listen, I think John Book, like, everything he does,
spot on, except. So you think this is just him gambling a little too much? I would not put the
kid in front of me. And in general, I don't think that you want to give the visual of you ever
putting a child between you and a shot guys. But I guess, sure. But I guess book is the only one
who knows this guy. Everyone else doesn't know this guy. Also, he does. He's basically like,
you're a fucking, you know, doesn't quite do things by the book. But he's like, you're
white collar cop. Right. You know, you're, you don't get your hands dirty. You get these other
guys, gold leader and Danny Glover. I'm gonna paraphrase it. I forget what the wording is. And it's
better than what I'm about to say. But there's the scene where he says to him, the sort of like,
lost your way thing, right? Where he's like, so what happened? Lost your way. Right. And
some are like, what are you talking about? And he's like, remember, we used to say that about dirty
cops. Yes. Yeah. Yeah. Right. And I think he's calling his bluff on that. When you're saying,
like, what's his point at the $22 million? What he's calling the bluff on in that moment is just like,
this is unsustainable. Yes. What are you going to do? They're fucking 20 witnesses now.
That's the other thing. Are you going to be a guy who shoots kids? And then you're going to have to
shoot more people to cover this up. But I mean, there's too many witnesses. It's never going to end.
Yeah. It's the title of the movie. Yes. He maxes out on witnesses. Yes. Like he really overloads
with the larger point is like, how much are you willing to do to preserve having $22 million?
Because it's never, you're never going to get to the other side of this. You're never going to
be clean. It's over. It's over. That's, I think, I think those are great points. It's high risk.
What he's doing. I just, I think, grabbing the kid. I agree. I'd rethink it. That's my note.
Now, can I give my argument for it? Not for the move, but for the move within the movie?
I think the function of that is him kind of recognizing, oh, I could never stay here.
That like the fucking three dirty cops show up and he immediately goes back into old school,
John Book Mode. Sure. And he's doing fucking action movies. He's jumping around. Right.
And he's being frivolous in that kind of way. He's not playing. This is not a plane. He's not
being playing. And it's like it clocks something in him and in her of just like, I adjusted to this
for longer than I thought I could. Sure. Sure. And yet so quickly I go back to being
80s movie. Right. Well, as he says in the scene when he fights the dude, you know, the
grandpa's like, it's not our way. He's like, but it's my way. It's already bubbling back up
inside him. And then his, you know, kind of farewell speech to Lucas Haas happens entirely
M.O.S. Yeah. You see them in a distance. She's watching them have whatever the emotional talk is
that we don't hear a syllable of we understand. But something has happened. And then he's going to have
the totally kind of silent goodbye. And also you'd be careful out there among the
Minglish is just a perfect kiss off. Yeah. Like where he's like, you know, he knows he's given
something up. Yeah. Yeah. No, I think part of the point is that even though it works out,
he fucks up in that final moment. Sure. Okay. That the fact that it works out isn't actually a feather in
his cap. It's what you're saying though. Yeah. And if he fucks up or it's just like his presence is
just a fundamental problem. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Can't be solved. Yeah. Too bad. I bet he's really
good at sex. Just that much anger. You know, you know, that's a energy.
Yeah. No, he's good with his hands. We know that for a fact. We do. Isn't also like that's when
Carrie Fisher finally, you know, wrote the autobiography and was like, yes, we had an affair. And
she was just like in Harrison, knew what he was doing. Like wasn't that the review? Yeah.
What better? I mean, he was a good deal older than her. But isn't that the exact review you want in
life? Yeah. He knew what he was doing. It was the 70s. It was fine. They don't wear bras in space,
you know, it's nowhere near as bad as our one and ever. Originally, when Harrison says goodbye,
there's a long dialogue scene where he's explaining why he's so bad. Snips and we're like, no.
Yeah. Out of here. Jeffrey Katzenberg has had a production impairment at that point.
Flies out and says like, why are we cutting this? Yeah. And Peter, we are explains the scene to him
and it's like, it's going to and he was like, okay, I think that'll work. You know, so like,
they successfully kind of bat off whatever sort of over-explainy studio notey stuff could have
hampered this movie. I think a lot of that was really like forward being
completely in line with him and using his movie stardom, like as as a shield. Yeah.
There's a great thing that John Seale says where he was worried about working on this movie and
Peter were was trying to talk him into it. And he was like, put all these stories about people and
they co to Hollywood and it shoes them up and it spits them out. You're fighting the studio all
the time. We got this a list movie star. And Peter, we are said, think of it this way. We're making
an Australian film. I am committed to preserving this being an Australian film. We're just going to
be working with a lot of people with funny accents. Right. But it speaks to this where Peter, we
were just like my compass is set. I know what my language is as a filmmaker. I'm not going to
fucking bend to these types of notes that will pull this away from being the kind of film I respect.
Um, another thing to say, of course, is that uh,
Roger Ebert loved this movie when it came out. It was a big hit. This movie was a kind of hit that
doesn't exist anymore. Uh, doesn't get to number one until it's fifth weekend. Yeah.
So it just chugs along. Roger Ebert was like masterpiece and it's a spring.
Cock and gets like eight Oscar nominations. It's not even spring February 1985. Yeah. Pauline
Kale hated it. She isn't her true grumpy. At that point, mid mid to late 80s, but she's basically
just like pardon me with all this farm bullshit, you know, like, she's also bodies, uh,
blood simple in that review as well. In the same review. Yeah. She just like,
tried by I mean, I mean, yeah, I mean, just casually is like, and those co-imbrothers will never
amount to anything. But it like fully accomplishes what Harrison Ford wanted it to. He, of course,
immediately is so in love with the experience of working with weir that he's like, what he got next
and he's like my fucking mosquito coast. Right. I've been trying to make this thing. He's like great.
Both of them miss the Oscars because they go straight into filming mosquito coast. They're like,
keep it going. I think they were also surprised. I think this was not necessarily seen as an Oscar.
You know, especially like that far off in advance. Um, and when we bummed the sort of like cowardice of
a list movie stars, I think Howard. This is the thing we miss, right? That like, you look at Chris
Evans. I am thrilled that he's finally doing smaller things, right? Yeah. Not just that, but
it's fully admitting like I made bad movies. Right. Yeah. But it's like, what's the point of being
Captain America? If you're not doing shit like this, which Harrison Ford was like, I got Indiana
Jones and fucking Han Solo. I got a stretch, right? Right. And now it's become a binary thing of like
either you're doing Jumanji or the smashing machine. Like you were either doing. Yeah.
Obvious tent pole or you're making something like controlled smaller, but I know, but that's
typically to get the award. This ends up getting Ford and Oscar nomination. But what he's trying to do
is just make grown up entertain. But it's like, why can't we have 21 bridges, which wasn't that
long ago, which was that interesting thing? Which had Rick was like, that's the exact one. I was
going to bring up. Right. And you look at it now and it's like disappointing. The Chadwick only
has 10 movies and 21 bridges. And then he couldn't find his version of that that was closer to witness
level. But it's the right instinct. And none of these guys fucking do this is what's aggravating.
They've been really like make genre. Yeah. It's like things like that, you know, a cop movie.
It's also it's on the studios. Yeah. But it's either like massive or tiny. Yeah. And you want
them to be like, no, what I got to do is find a good script and get a good director, a proper
budget and support to make an actual movie. But then presumed innocent like is just now literally
remade as a TV show. Well, these are not as good as instead of movies. Right. I guess these guys do
that. It is crazy. Presumed innocent mosquito coast. Literally Harrison Ford movies of this era.
Apple TV is like, can we stretch it out? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. What's the next one? I don't know.
Frantic. You know, like, I mean, all right. So box office February, a 1985. Okay.
Number one of the box office has been number one for I imagine two months. Now I fucked this up.
I spent 15 minutes getting this wrong. I think on the blood sample episode. So I know it now.
What is it? It's Beverly Hills. Correct. Yeah. Beverly Hills cop, which is a runaway sensation
from Christmas time or even Brian. One of the highest dressing movies ever. Right.
And then witness opening a solid number two to 4.5 million dollars. It's going to make
65 domestic about 100 plus worldwide. Yeah. 120. I think. Yeah.
Number three, the box office is another holdover from award season. I mean, Beverly Hills cop
wasn't a wardsie, but you know, but it was a big Oscar player. It was a big Oscar player. It won
three Academy Awards and was nominated for best picture. It is a very serious drama about very
real bad things. The killing field? It is the killing feels the laugh riot of 1984.
In not a bad movie, have you seen? I've ever seen the killing. No, it's a very sober, okay,
drama about a real thing. Right. It's not life changing in my opinion, but it's pretty good.
It is funny to when you watch things from that time, killing fields was used as
shorthand for like serious depressing number one kind of person who watches too many 80s sitcoms.
It's like it kind of held the Schindler's list position until Schindler's list. I mean,
it's literally called the killing field. Yeah, I was going to say it's in the title. Yeah.
I always think of the movie The Milk of Sorrow, which was a like a far film from a few.
Like that seemed like the number one like two to the milk of sorrow, please. I hear this is good.
Can I buy a one-way ticket to bummer?
Number four, the box office is another award-sy film from 1984 that came out December that was,
you know, not many for best picture. It was like a big deal, but it's the final film of like a great
legend and it's like it's kind of from another era. Well, it's not prison honor. No.
It's fun film, a great director. It's kind of from a different era. Give me the genre.
British epic shit. Oh, is it? It's the David Lean one. Yes, which I'm going to get the title wrong.
It's not a river. No, it's a fucking, it's the Judy Davis one. Why am I blanking on the title?
The film is called it. Judy Davis is indeed in it a passage to in the. Oh, right.
With rock and this and brown face being normal. One of my favorite anecdotes of all time,
the Judy Davis fighting with David Lean on the set of the film. And she says,
why should I listen to you? What have you done? And he said, I directed Lawrence of Arabia
and Judy Davis's responses. I mean, what have you done lately?
Man, points were made points were made. What is? And this is also out of Africa a year.
Right. Out of Africa will be coming out later.
Africa. Oh, okay, but it was a different award here.
Right. Well, we're in the early, we're in February. So we're getting a lot left over from
right. Okay. What are you asking about? I was asking, um, what have you got out of Africa?
A book, a novel by Karen Blixson that I think was about her life. Okay. So it's not also an
e-m forester adaptation. It just has similar. Okay.
And I'm seeing here that Wikipedia page for out of Africa was supposedly written by chat G.
B. T. Which is I've never seen this morning on a Wikipedia before. It says this contains
hallucinated information, but I understand it because that movie is too boring for someone
to actually summarize. They fall asleep. They were like, I don't know, chat G. B. T. Filma blanks here.
The Wikipedia like I assume they were in Africa and they get out or whatever.
The weirdest Wikipedia just just dissolved into Z, Z, Z, Z, Z, Z, Z, Z, Z, Z, yeah.
Number five of the box office is a film I don't know. Okay. It is Apparently a Comedy Film.
It stars Doug Michiene, Chris Nash, Catherine Mary Stuart, and Kelly Preston. I recognize one of
those names. Well, that's not helping me a ton. Is this the movie, Mistriff?
Wow, look at this.
This is the fuck is that?
Kelly Preston does some important work in that film.
Oh, I see.
I've never seen it.
Is she being sexy in that movie in some way?
She's quite, yeah.
But so I, yeah.
I have no idea.
I took a guess that it was a Kelly Preston teen comedy
and that's the one I know.
Interesting.
Yeah, I just, I don't know, setting the 50s.
Yeah.
It's about Miss Chiff.
Yeah.
Looks like kind of like an American graffiti rip off
kind of thing.
Like a hot rod.
Really.
Really.
So Miss Chiff is number five.
Number six is a film called The Falcon in the Snowman.
Okay.
Which I feel like is, I mostly know is like a box office game title.
But I think it's Martin Sheen.
No, Sean Penn.
Yes.
Sean Penn.
It's one of his early, yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
It's like a spy drama.
Yeah.
Number seven new this week is Heaven Help Us, which is the sort of like, like Catholic, like
Kevin Dill and Andrew McCarthy, Patrick Dempsey, like a bunch of Catholic boys at Catholic
school being naughty.
Oh, I've never seen it.
That sounds fun.
Maybe it is.
Maybe it rules.
I can tell you Donald Suffle and plays a character called Brother Thaddeus.
Okay.
Sounds perfect.
Bet you he's grumpy.
I guess so.
They better play pranks on that motherfucker.
Number eight.
It's just interesting how I gave you a bunch of really famous movies and now I'm giving
you like Forgotten Dreck.
Yeah.
Number eight is The Jillian Armstrong movie Mrs. Soffle.
Oh, never seen.
Yeah.
With Diane Key and Mel Gibson, which is I feel like a sort of like prestige film that didn't
go over.
Yeah.
As much as she's an interesting director.
Number nine is Last Year's Best Picture, Emma DeS.
Mm hmm.
And number 10 is something called Tough Turf.
T-U-F-F-T-U-R-F starring James Spader.
Mm hmm.
Uh, I don't what the fuck is this feels like a thrashing where this episode is going to
come out.
We're going to get 80 DMs from people being like Tough Turf with the single most importantly
in my childhood.
I can't believe you guys didn't know about it.
It looks like I would throw a bandage in Spader, Teen Movie that is important to other
people.
Yeah.
Not at the time.
Sure.
But after the fact, I did the homework.
It's kind of like a look great.
I mean, Ben, it's kind of like a Jersey.
Oh, no, he relocates to Los Angeles, though.
I don't know.
It's like a punk kid movie.
You know, it's like kid is punky and sort of on the wrong side of the track.
Okay.
Uh-oh.
Apparently Tough Turf is a song.
Okay.
What can I tell you?
Witness.
It made $9 million.
Witness.
Witness.
Is Blood Simple Out at the box office at this point in time?
Oh, fuck.
I don't know.
I can look it up.
That's one of those things where it's a little hard to find because the numbers doesn't
really chart like the tiny release.
Hey, look, it's on the wrong place.
I'm going to say it, but I can say it here.
We have been hearing that some high up people at IMDB listen to this podcast now.
Oh, really?
Our fuck that item.
Well, that item.
For box office mojo, fix it.
Restore.
I cannot believe what they did to box office.
It is.
We look, we've done this rant before, but it is one of the most straight up flop.
Like you, you improve nothing.
You broke everything.
You broke everything.
And the numbers, God bless them.
They try.
They try.
It's not the same, but the fucking integration in time DB and I do, it's just, it doesn't
fucking work.
And if we can do anything with this platform, it is a, it's a fuck, it's an outrage.
There was an episode of Amanda.
I think it was our swing shift episode where I asked David to look up a box office
stat and in real time, we start spyrely.
I think I'm like, I don't understand.
Right.
I don't remember the episode, but I do think that this has happened also on the big picture
where I looked for something and I was just like, I'm what the fuck are we doing?
Where are my genres?
Right.
Where are my keywords?
My encounter.
My encounter.
Well, that's, yes.
Like, who is, who, who is the new design for?
Who is it helping?
Nobody.
It's just somebody messed up.
They like flipped a switch.
It was immediately bad and has not improved one ayodic since then.
Yeah.
They have all the data.
Yeah.
Please, if you're listening to show you of any power, run this conversation up the chain,
especially if you are top of the chain, that's all I'm going to say.
I have to be so bad.
Okay.
You start wrapping it up, Greta.
Amanda.
I'm going to be a big picture of my favorite podcast.
Thank you, Griffin.
Like, do my favorite podcast.
That's very kind of you to say.
This is this nice thing that David does where he goes to the top.
He just like, at the compliments time, he just leaves.
I do also have to pee.
Yeah, I don't want to be here, but I have to pee too.
And then I have to fly back to Los Angeles tonight.
This afternoon.
Wow.
Yeah.
It's, it's this and I'm out.
So are you a movie watcher on planes?
I probably will be on the way back.
I usually save work for the plane of like things that I need to prep for, but that makes
sense.
For whatever reason, I'm free on this plane.
So I don't know what I'll do.
Yeah.
Maybe a little playoff baseball.
It's October, everyone.
Interesting.
And in the current timeline of this podcast.
Because I was going to say I've been on too many flights recently home.
But this time of year, I planes, I'm like, oh, let me catch up with the movies.
I skipped in theaters six months ago that I would never watch under any other circumstances.
Yeah.
And there probably are a couple that I should do.
But then I'm already thinking about like all the movies that are like in theaters that
I skipped screenings for that I do need to go see pretty quickly.
Sure.
You know, and that, and even if I'm not that interested, see, tryna-aeries.
So we must face.
It's like, what if I keep this time for myself?
Sure.
Not see it to the movies.
Yeah.
And just watch movies that I want to.
In that case, I usually just watch Moneyball for the 45th.
Really.
You know what?
It's extremely difficult.
Another interesting thing is not, this is not at all interesting.
No one cares.
So I've been flying some with my children.
And so it's impossible to actually like watch a full movie.
But I will pick movies that I've seen a bunch of times and can just have on the screen
with no dialogue.
Yeah.
Because I have, I know what's going on.
And so I can check in for two minutes if the child is like playing with a toy for
30 seconds.
Totally.
So maybe I'll watch a whole movie with audio on this flight.
This is exciting.
Very exciting.
Very exciting.
Thank you.
Everyone should listen to a big picture.
Yes, please do.
Everyone should listen to Jam Session.
Thank you so much.
You're the best.
Bob Mob for life.
Thank you.
I feel like we put a couple things on the on the cork board as Amanda episodes locked
up.
Yeah.
But we're always going to be on the lookout for any excuse to get you back there.
Okay.
I would love to come.
And I'm going to be back in New York more or you guys could come to Los Angeles.
Yeah.
It's about this guy.
No, thanks.
Yeah.
It's about my three children.
I mean, I get it.
Three children is first.
I'm hearing this.
Yeah.
Thank you all for listening.
Please remember to rate, review, and subscribe.
Tune in next week for mosquito coast.
Mosquito coast is next week.
With baby.
Let's call it with strong fancy.
I want to see, you know, like, you know, Marty Supreme Hayes just sort of like crashes
out of the streets of New York to something crazy happens in the next 24 hours.
Sean's very reliable and organized, I would say.
Yeah.
So his vibe.
Yeah.
Not a chaotic vibe for this show that lined up.
He shows up.
And I think he's excited.
So he's coming to us from the criterion collection.
I know that he's doing an early morning criterion.
He's going to come back full.
Free bags full.
No, no, no, no.
No, no, no.
And there's always Hasbro's Indiana Jones Adventure Series line has a gimmick where each
of the figures comes with a piece of an artifact.
So I end up having to buy a bunch of figures I don't want to put the things together.
So I just want you to know that you are the proud beneficiary of shirtless.
Thank you.
Thank you Hasbro for the first and last time in my life.
You want me to ask any more questions about Lord of the Rings?
Please.
Yeah, any other questions?
Sure.
So what a golem.
What's up?
What is he?
Well, I know this.
He was a hobbit.
Yeah, he was a sort of proto hobbit.
Yeah, exactly.
And he got corrupted.
Yeah.
He finds the morally or like a file ring so powerful make you go crazy.
He, I got no, I did.
The ring both extends.
You're like, when I like about the ring metaphor, right?
It's like that it's like he's alive because it keeps you alive.
But imagine if you just didn't die.
Like you would become this like monster, right?
Like you're supposed to be dead.
How old is your how old is golem?
Great.
Actually, okay.
Golem age because it's like he's 600 years old.
Day.
Because the idea is that he recovers the ring right when it gets chopped off.
So on Ron's hand.
And then he's basically just been living a cave wearing the ring.
Oh, he mostly doesn't wear it.
He just touched it.
And then he can't see all these questions with Lord of the Rings.
Colin the sort for golem.
The hollum.
The hollum is the weed indica or Sateva or a hybrid.
What would you say?
So they, do they ever shout that out?
Is that figured out in like any of the pipe weed is supposed to be more of a tobacco?
Like then, you know, a marijuana.
Yeah, but have you looked at Gandalf's eyes lately?
You know that meme of Gandalf, he's like, Gandalf sees like a indica.
Gandalf, he needs to chill.
No, is a wizard.
Of course, sorry.
But Gandalf is basically like sort of an emissary from the gods.
One of the politics in Lord of the Rings world of wizard and elves.
You mean like Democrat, Republican?
Well, I read to you.
Well, I read it to the politics and the Harry Potter, you know?
Yeah, sorry.
Someone's kind of like a rogue and who's created a man's fear of acolytes.
So maybe sorry, Mon is like, I'm a killer.
I learned the elves because the elf in the, the elf who fights for elves rides in Harry
Potter is named Dobby, which like people tried to try to eat from time to time.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
So, but you know, so I know that's like a fraught topic with, and that's the only fraught
topic in the Harry Potter universe.
It's the only example of bad politics.
One of the thing, right, the thing in the house elves in a, in Potter, that's sort of interesting.
Huh?
But there's slaves.
But like what's interesting about it is that rolling, you know, the author of Harry Potter
does investigate, like it's, you know, I like that Hermione is like, this seems fucked
up to me.
Yeah, right.
Because it seems totally fucked and everyone else.
It's kind of like the wizarding version of like homelessness where everyone else is like,
oh, I don't know, that's just like how it is.
Right.
Right.
Right.
Whereas then in Harry Potter, there's the goblins and they're like, what's up with goblins?
They're kind of greedy.
It's true.
It's not the only one day.
They're charging the banks.
We don't trust them.
Yeah.
They're like working on Friday.
In book seven, there's finally a little bit of like a goblin gets to speak and is like
we, you, you steal our shit.
Like we're goblins and you've like stolen like goblin, you know, treasures.
Yeah.
Okay.
But it's a little late.
Like for her to be like, oh yeah, goblins.
They have rights, maybe I don't know.
All right.
So elves versus wizards.
But in order to ring.
Do they work together?
Are they?
I'm sorry, in which world are we talking?
Lord of the Rings.
In Lord of the Rings elves.
So like the elves are like the first.
Right.
It's like God makes elves, right?
And puts them on middle earth and they're beautiful and immortal.
And like eventually man shows up like thousands and thousands of years later and it's like
a completely different kind of thing.
Am I wrong in thinking that the elves are born magical and the wizards are humans who
learn magic?
You are wrong.
Fuck.
You are wrong.
In the Lord of the Rings, the wizards are just ishtari, which is just like their gods.
They are.
They are.
There's only six or seven of them and they've been put on middle earth by God to like serve
as sort of an emissary.
Is there a higher and a lower earth?
It's a great question.
No.
No.
And I don't really know how he sort of came to middle earth.
Okay.
I don't really know why is it called middle earth?
But if I'm Amazon, I'm looking my lips and going there.
It's like five seasons, $500 million.
What's above?
What's below?
Yeah.
Yeah, I don't know.
It's a translation of the Old English word, Midden guard.
I don't know.
Okay.
And by the time this episode comes out, it will probably be settled matter.
But the recent story that Amazon is running the numbers on if it is cheaper for them to
not continue making the show.
Really good.
And pay the toll pay for it.
Just pay for it.
Like $200 million in penalties to not make it anymore.
I mean, they're continued insistence on making that show and being like people watch and
like this is getting increasingly delusional.
They have sunk so much money.
I think season three is filming and is happening.
But I think after that, they may have to.
They, right, contractually, they have to do five seasons or pay a lot of money if they
bail sooner.
Right.
Yeah.
Incredible.
Great episode inexplicably.
Hmm.
Lankcheck with Griffin and David is hosted by Griffin Newman and David Sims.
Our executive producer is me Ben Hossley.
Our creative producer is Marie Barty Salinas and our associate producer is AJ McKin.
This show is mixed and edited by AJ McKin and Alan Smithy.
Research by JJ Birch.
Our theme song is by Lane Montgomery in the Great American novel with additional music
by Alex Mitchell.
Our work by Joe Bowen, Holly Moss and Pat Reynolds.
Our production assistant is Minick, special thanks to David Cho, Jordan Fish and Nate
Patterson for their production help.
Head over to blankcheckpod.com for links to all of the real nerdy shit.
Join our Patreon blank check special features for exclusive franchise commentaries and bonus
episodes.
Follow us on social at blankcheckpod.
Subscribe to our weekly newsletter checkbook on substack.
This podcast is created and produced by blankcheck productions.