Amistad

[00:00:01] Blank Check with Griffin and David, Blank Check with Griffin and David Don't know what to say or to expect All you need to know is that the name of the show is Blank Check Your Honor, I derive much consolation from the fact that my colleague Mr. Baldwin here

[00:00:25] has argued the case in so abled and so complete a manner as to leave me scarcely anything to say However, why are we here?

[00:00:33] How is it that a simple plain property issue should now find itself a noble to be argued before the Supreme Court of the United States of Podcasts Great, great I think he said scarcely and so scarcely I don't know who fucking cares Put your Amazon Kindle down

[00:00:52] You were accepting that? Yeah The fourth time's the charm Hi everybody, my name is Griffin Newman I'm David Sims Welcome to Blank Check with Griffin and David It's a podcast about movies, filmography You look at directors who have had massive success early on

[00:01:04] Guess here is a blank check to make their own crazy passion projects And sometimes not passion projects but just are able to do weird things Sure That people who don't have massive success can't do That's a good way of putting it

[00:01:17] Less clearly than I've ever put it before Sometimes those checks are clear and sometimes they bounce baby Great This is amazing about the films of one Stevie Spielberg Yes It is called Pardon me if you cast That's right And it's about Stephen Spielberg, the DreamWorks here

[00:01:36] His life post Oscar This is technically his first DreamWorks movie we're talking about today Yes, our first episode was about the Lost World But that was, you know, it was a universal picture We were flubbing it a little bit

[00:01:45] But, you know, it was post Oscar and we wanted to talk about the Lost World And we did not want to open our series with Amistad Amistad Our second episode is about the film Amistad

[00:01:56] Gary, listen to a couple of white guys talk about a white guy making a movie about slavery Yeah Yeah Yeah You know, on one hand we're very qualified to talk about this Because this movie was made by white men who shouldn't have made it

[00:02:09] And it was made for white people Right Like for real On that hand we are qualified to talk about this But on the other hand shouldn't we all be just disqualified from life and criticism forever? I agree, ban all white men 1997 is the year The Titanic came out

[00:02:25] And boy, people loved it And boy, people loved it Good Will Hunting is that year? The Full Monty Full Monty, oh, a classic There's no Pixar film, but America somehow stays strong And makes it through to 98 when a bug's life will sweep the nation

[00:02:41] Well, Thomas Anderson makes his mark with Boogie Nights And what a mark it was You've got some great blockbuster sci-fi comedies like Men in Black The Water Boy Air Force One, very rewatchable The Wedding Singer The Fifth Element, oh, great The Man Who Knew Too Little

[00:03:02] My best friend's wedding, I'm a huge fan Yeah, I caught some of that on TV that night, that movie's still charming Fantastic movie The production began on the Phantom Menace this year Oh, how exciting and also Almostad came The Palm Door went to the taste of cheer

[00:03:15] And Almostad did 46 domestic Uh, okay, you know it's box office total by uh I think I'm very close If you want to look at it, I think it's 46 I know for a long time it was Let me just space this out as long as possible

[00:03:29] For a long time it was one of I think only four Spielberg movies that hadn't made $100 million 44 I was close No worldwide gross even listed Wow It may not have even come out elsewhere Came out in Britain I remember, I remember coming out in Britain

[00:03:44] I lived in Britain Yeah, people had Almostad fever No they did not Everyone was dressing up as John Quincy Adams for Halloween that year Okay What the fuck is this movie? Yeah Okay, so the year is, I guess, I mean, 96

[00:04:01] If we want to go into like the fucking development of this thing, right? Um, yeah, he, well let me, let me try, yeah, let me try and get some info for you Well I got some information, I got some info for you I have some, but okay

[00:04:14] Debbie Allen Yes Do you know this? Yes I do Debbie Allen, the actress from Fame Mm-hmm Uh, got really into the Almostad story It's a fascinating tale Right Which we will touch on And she got a bunch of the books And she brought them to HBO Films

[00:04:33] Something you want to note is that Debbie Allen is in the film Blank Chat In a small role as As noted Yvonne I recently got put on blast for the fact that our podcast isn't about that movie Uh, okay, who put you on blast? Uh, two dope queens

[00:04:54] Yeah, you were on two dope queens a while back Yeah, at the time this comes out, yeah So Debbie Allen who's an actress and she does a lot of TV directing now Yes Like a lot of TV, she's a very prolific TV director Right

[00:05:09] Love this story of La Almostad She goes to HBO Films and she's like, look I read all these books I think it's an interesting story, there's a good movie here And HBO was like, we're kind of interested

[00:05:19] And she goes to Dreamworks to see if they want to jump in on the ship On La Yeah And uh, jump on the ship And uh, and they were like, fuck that we're gonna make this whole thing

[00:05:32] Yes, Steven Spielberg who I guess is sort of he's casting around for something to do after the Lost World, right? Yes But what I read was that So he's making Lost World, that's his first movie in like four years, right?

[00:05:46] And it's him doing something he's done before, it's a sequel, right? Which he's only done once before in his career Yep And uh, I mean twice if you count the time Yeah, he's not sequelizing some properties, right? Okay Um, that Dreamworks acquired it

[00:06:03] Not originally with the intention to have him direct it Yes They hired a screenwriter, they developed the film David Franzoni And then some later point in time Spielberg was like, you know what fine I'll make it Sure

[00:06:15] And the movie very much feels like he was like, uh, yeah I'm free Sunday, let me direct Almostad Yeah, it's worth noting that he did not even work on the post-production much of this film Because he's making Savin' Private Ryan, which comes out the next year

[00:06:27] Like so, he did kind of squeeze it in He has three movies come out within a 12 month period, right? I mean Lost World comes out in 14 months, Lost World comes out in May This comes out in December and then Savin' Private Ryan comes out the following July

[00:06:42] And so it's like, he was overlapping this shit I think to some degree he's got his like usual crew And he's just going like, you know what I like Yeah, it was shot by Unish Kraminski, his now regular cinematographer Right

[00:06:54] After Shin Liz List, it was edited, I'm sure by Michael Kahn, his editor But it's like he's shooting one John Williams just did a nice enough score That's fine Oscar nominated It lays it on a little thick Yeah

[00:07:05] But it's like he shoots one and then he's like, okay you guys post this, let me go film the other one And they filmed the other one, he's like, now you guys go post this, I'm gonna film the third one

[00:07:13] And same part Ryan feels like the only one he really took to the finish line I think that he's partly like trying to get DreamWorks going So he wants to work, you know, and he wants to get his name on stuff

[00:07:22] And on Face This seemed like a big prestigious Spielberg movie that would put them on the map Yes, maybe, but yes, that is true, but also I think he probably thinks, you know, oh

[00:07:31] Maybe this movie might not happen if I don't put my name on it or whatever Right, like, I don't know if you, that's a guess Well, and here's the thing In most circumstances I think you are right

[00:07:44] And like, you know, when people talk about like why the fuck did he direct Color Purple? That was not the right guy to direct that, right? Yeah, this is what's worth noting, he had already made the Color Purple

[00:07:54] And when that came out people were like, Steven Spielberg should not be making the Color Purple That whole argument had already happened in the 80s Right, and I think he like, we've talked about he's pretty good at self-analysis And he like took that to heart

[00:08:07] And was like, I'm proud of the film I made but I agree I probably wasn't the right person to tell the story He has talked about that since, yeah And the Color Purple is like a very well-acted film, kind of like this film

[00:08:16] But it definitely, yeah, it's got the totally wrong vibe Yes You know, for the story it's trying to tell Got weird style Yeah, it's too like, staid and stately I mean like, yeah, this movie's way worse This movie is worse than the Color Purple No question

[00:08:32] Um, because I mean, I think the screenplay of this movie is a mess Yeah Color Purple, the source material is so good And obviously the innate story of Laumistat is fascinating But this movie doesn't know what story it wants to tell within the events

[00:08:47] You know, whereas Color Purple's very well cast in a book that you kind of can't fuck up if you just tell it Right, right But there have not been a lot of good, like American movies about slavery No At this point especially Sure

[00:09:02] I was just thinking like, well this is a story that needs to be told and I've got the clout to tell it Like whether or not I'm the right person for it Well that's, this is where I'm gonna fight you on this, okay?

[00:09:10] Because it's like Color Purple, I agree that like even, okay, you know, the book's huge But maybe the movie wouldn't get made without Spielberg or at that certain budget Or even someone who wasn't, Spielberg might not have had the caches to cast Oprah and Whoopi

[00:09:25] Who were both like unknown at that point in time Right Yeah That's a movie where it needed someone like Spielberg with the juice in order to get it made Even if creatively that was the wrong thing Right

[00:09:36] But this film, he is now the head of his own studio True Which means he- You're saying he could have He could have He could have say like George Lucas did with Red Tails Yeah Like you know, made sure that the, you know, cast and crew

[00:09:48] He could have said I'm buying the rights for this and guess what, Spike Lee, you're directing Armistad That's, I want to plant the flag here at DreamWork Totally good call You know? He could have done that You fucked up

[00:09:56] But at that degree this is like a real white privilege movie Like it's existence is kind of I'm looking at a list on Wikipedia right now called List of Films Featuring Slavery

[00:10:06] Just to kind of back up what I was saying because there really are, apart from like exploitation movies There's, and like racist movies from the 20s and 30s TV mini series And lots of that, obviously Roots had been a very big deal in the 70s

[00:10:17] Like Return of the Jedi is on this list Excuse me That is not a film featuring slavery Slave layer though That's what's cited as the evidence to include it on this list Do you know that our country is garbage? Yeah, it's pretty bad

[00:10:29] Like it's garbage when you look at the history of what's happened in this country And it's garbage when you look at people processing our history by being like Well yeah, but Return of the Jedi is about slavery too That's a good call The Rancor, he's a slave right?

[00:10:40] You know You know, let's not Let's not Let's not kid around Hey, no fun Hey, I don't know, I don't know if I'm jumping the gun But no, I'll say this really Ben cut that out He's probably not gonna Ben, please cut that out Okay Prouser ban?

[00:10:58] Yeah, yeah The Bendusur? Hey Produer ban? That's me A poet laureate? I've written poetry The Peeper? I'm looking at Birthday banning Hey, I'm 31 The tiebreaker You wanna meet aside, I'll tell you what The Fluckmasters I'm good in bed Not Professor Crispy Don't you dare Dirtbag banning

[00:11:17] I ride them Hello Fennel You could say it to me on the streets or in the sheets Graduate a certain tells over the course of different miniseries That's true Also went to college Prouser Ben Kanovi Calle ban Yeah Ben Tate Yep Ben A. Chamelon Yeah Say ben anything

[00:11:34] Da da da T. Ben thousand Yeah Slash of A. Lee bans We still haven't decided I still really like A. Lee bans Maybe it's A. Lee bans I think it's A. Lee bans I think Dandedari is a good judge He came up with say ben anything as well

[00:11:49] Cut that out A. Lee bans Okay I don't even remember what you want I don't either We're back We're back Amistad Yeah What Essentially what you were saying and you made your points so let's move on is

[00:12:03] Yeah, Spielberg could have used his clout to get the right or a more suited director To tell this story Also a more suited screenwriter possibly to tell this story I agree I think it would be confused with Amadeus No they are different films Very different

[00:12:19] I went into this Ben told me about this I was like we're gonna play piano and stuff Nope This is real listen to this I was excited I was telling my roommates I'm like oh man we're gonna watch this movie about a composer

[00:12:32] And I always like a good powdered wig And they were like what are you talking about Ben And then I realized my mistake Yeah Very different Amadeus? Good movie Yeah Best picture winner One of my favorite I hadn't seen it in a while I was excited

[00:12:49] But nope this is a different tone Yeah Movie So you know there's obviously a huge ongoing conversation right now Culturally we have about who should be telling what stories How do we allow a diversity of voices behind the camera

[00:13:13] Writers and directors tell different types of stories in this movie And also what kind of story should we be telling Like maybe we don't need the same story told over and over again Maybe some people are sick of this slavery Oscar movie

[00:13:26] Or as like the place for an African American director to be heard Right And I think yes I do think there in lies the bit of the Gordian knot In this argument which is like you go like you know this argument

[00:13:41] Sometimes of like the people who have the right to tell the story Or the people who have lived through this thing or it's very close to them But you also don't want to say to any filmmaker you can only make films about the things That you've lived through

[00:13:51] Sure of course yeah Because A Then you're gonna get stuck with a lot of fucking boring movies Right and B Better about the same shit What's exciting to me is that Ava DuVernay is doing a wrinkle in time

[00:14:00] It would be really annoying if we said you're only allowed to make movies about several rights cases Yeah no I mean yeah You know because she should be allowed to make whatever fucking movie she wants Yes okay

[00:14:09] That having been said I think you can tell the difference between when a director is Strongly connected to the story and invested in some way Whether it's because of their own personal experience Or a cause that they really care about

[00:14:22] And this to me feels like Spielberg just being like oh that's an interesting story But it doesn't feel like he's dying to make this movie anyway I think that's probably true I would love to ask Steven Spielberg Well he's gonna be our guest next week

[00:14:33] I'm gonna be talking about that I do think that it's interesting that He eventually makes what I would say is a much better version of this movie This feels like a dry run for Lincoln This whole movie

[00:14:44] Now Lincoln also has its flaws that were pointed out at the time But they are way less glaring because he is making a more movie about the corridors of power And about like the sort of legislative and judicial like

[00:14:56] You know weird like greasy work that you had to do to like make things happen Yeah Wants to be about that but knows it can't just be about that So it's sort of Sinké's story but not really

[00:15:07] And it kind of sidelines him in a way that's sort of upsetting Yes exactly and so it like the movie is silly as this sounds Like Amistad does kind of come alive in little moments When it's this like stately courtroom drama Yeah

[00:15:22] About like the weird legal sort of potholes Like that they were trying to swerve around And like the bizarre house of cards that America had built about slavery In which it was like well we know that this and this is inhuman

[00:15:36] But the institution is still important we can't get rid of it Or what you know like the weird political balances at play Well because clearly that's what he was interested in And there was a milieu he hadn't worked in yet

[00:15:46] And you see that come to full bloom in Lincoln But watching this you're kind of like that's not really what the story is You're focusing a little too much on the wrong thing it feels like

[00:15:56] True and also the problem with this movie is it tries to have its cake and eat it It tries to wrap things up with a bow where at the end it's like they got their freedom And it was so important in American history that this happened

[00:16:07] It's like well no it wasn't like it took decades more for this to even begin to be addressed And like you know the Civil War won't break out for another 25 years or whatever That's a big thing they keep on going like this might lead to Civil War

[00:16:19] And it's like indirectly in a very long tail cream of light It's part of a much larger snowball that yeah is beginning to build And it's like it's a reference that everything that happened in between America's founding

[00:16:29] And the Civil War led to the Civil War this led to the Civil War But it's like okay Lincoln that's clearly the moment he was fascinated by right He's fascinated by that shift and that conversation and this movie tries to

[00:16:41] And it was a move you know he wanted to make Lincoln for years Maybe not at this point but he certainly spent a long time trying to make that move He tries to use this story and this case as a microcosm

[00:16:53] For the larger shift that was happening even though the story is premature in terms of where How these movements actually you know took hold I just want to read the Wikipedia section here Because this movie got a lot of criticism for historical accuracy

[00:17:13] Yeah, no there's some good stuff in there So this is Columbia University professor Eric Foner said In fact the Amasat case revolved around the fact that a length slave trade by 1840 Outlawed by international treaty had nothing to do with slavery as a domestic institution whatsoever

[00:17:31] Congress as it may seem it was perfectly possible in the 19th century to condemn the importation of slaves from Africa While simultaneously defending slavery and the flourishing slave trade within the United States Which this movie at the end of this case they make it seem like

[00:17:41] And now everything's different It's Roe v Wade which it wasn't This case was this case No I mean it was an important case and a lot of issues boiled up to the service But yes of course it did not lead directly to anything

[00:17:55] Like it was a weird incongruity that yeah There is such a striking human story at the center of this case That to try to make this case to mean something beyond what it did

[00:18:07] Is like a little stupid to me because it's like just tell the story of what actually happened Don't try to connect dots that are pretty far away from each other Also worth knowing Eric Foner was once married to Naomi Foner who went on to Bidari, Stephen Jillian Hall

[00:18:23] And become Naomi Jillian Hall and give birth to Maggie and Jake Jillian Hall And she were running on empty But he is not the father of those people Yes she were running on empty

[00:18:32] Yeah almost all his problems go much deeper than such an ackernism as President Martin Van Buren campaigning for reelection on a whistle stop tour No okay Eric show out who gets a shit that's fine It's a cinematic device I am out on Eric Foner with that

[00:18:44] Like you can have him campaigning yes it's an incongruity They didn't campaign like that yet America was really too small and the way the elections worked Where you know you don't have to reach the populace at that point in time Okay come on I agree

[00:18:57] We have to understand that he is campaigning for president It is okay to show him on a train in one seat Here's another thing Morgan Freeman's character didn't exist Yeah that's okay though At all No but I think it's important for the movie to note that those

[00:19:12] like kinds of activists existed at the time and insert him you know he doesn't play any kind of role in the movie is more the problem Yup so in He's more just there to be like In real life everything that his character did was done by

[00:19:29] Austin Pendleton's character Austin Pendleton Only in like one scene where he's trying to translate before they find shit we tell Aja for Uh huh right And he's sort of the mousy guy Um and he's sort of like got things in motion And hooked Sure sure

[00:19:46] Mikanahi up and then sort of takes a back seat I think they wanted to see different types of activists I think they wanted to have a free black man in the film which makes sense

[00:19:54] And also not just make it a movie about a bunch of white people helping Yeah but at the same time maybe this is where you should start to realize like Oh this is gonna be a tough story to tell Maybe make the movie about Senke

[00:20:07] Yeah maybe or just maybe have different people make it Yeah You're offsetting a lot of the sort of questions people are going to ask about the movie when they see it Yeah you know Okay so So the plot of the movie is you know

[00:20:21] So the opening of this film is very strikingly made I want to say a few things off the top of the bat This is a very well acted movie This is a gorgeous looking movie It's a well designed movie

[00:20:32] I think the problems are more inherent to what we're talking about The scripts are a mess And the scripts are a mess and the plot just kind of veers It feels like you're reading a history textbook at times

[00:20:42] The best thing you could say about this movie is it's well intentioned And that is a huge criticism right? Yeah It's a great thing like Okay you know like that's how I feel watching this movie Right Okay Steve okay Fine yeah

[00:20:57] It feels like a movie designed to be watched in history class over like five periods except for the fact that so much of the history is incorrect I watched this film in history Yeah it seems like the place to watch it Ben I think you also did

[00:21:08] I did as well Hey I think we can And you still thought it was on a desk? Yeah I don't know I misremembered it in my mind Okay Hey one thing though that we can all agree Damn good muttons Yeah that is true I love them chops baby

[00:21:24] The hair in this movie is great Yeah good mun chop I've been told before Hopkins is especially Yeah he looks great I've been told before like when I'm acting on stuff Like hair and makeup people The hair people are always like You should really do period stuff

[00:21:41] Cause like my hair naturally kinda looks like Matthew McConney's hair in this movie And my facial hair I cannot grow as you see before you A strong consistent beard Right But I could certainly get that little You have the tufts

[00:21:53] Right so I'm just throwing out my little flare gun right here Anyone wants to cast me as some sort of I can see you as a meek union soldier in the Civil War or something like that

[00:22:02] Yeah or even just kinda like a rick the intern in a colonial era Do you know what I'm saying? Sure Like the assistant to it's the day of the big war draft Maybe the preacher, the new preacher at like a church And he's very nervous Very nervous preacher

[00:22:19] Yeah And like someone's coming to you for like sex advice in the 19th century And you're like stammering and looking down at your bible a lot And then you spill coffee all over Yeah Wait a second He breaks my abacus

[00:22:36] Sorry I've been stepping on my dick all day Here's another part I've always wanted to play A piano player at a saloon That'd be fun And I stopped playing the music And then the guy goes Did I tell you to stop playing? He shoots at my feet

[00:22:48] And I go I wanna just go on a brief little side track here Oh boy okay I'll allow it I just saw a film that at this point will have come out And maybe been nominated in four and one Oscars I've not yet

[00:23:05] It's also a white guy making a movie about a piece of black history That's maybe under discussed in this country called Hidden Figures Oh yeah But it's quite an excellent movie Really And yes, of its type which is the sort of inspirational true story drama

[00:23:20] But it's very very good And Ted Melphie who I've never given two shits about Yeah, same boat I would not say Ted Melphie is the reason that movie is good But he does a competent job Good cast, good story Exactly And he gets out of the way

[00:23:33] He gets out of the way And you know who's great Obviously the lead women are fantastic But you know who's great The cause Yeah, Kevin Kosner Terrific Can I follow motion to officially start calling him the cause We strip Bill Cosby of the cause rights and Kosner

[00:23:47] I think it's too loaded I think you can't do it I wanna bring the cause back And give it to a man who deserves the title Ben can you isolate I wanna bring the cause back Just put that out there Alright, no Alright

[00:23:59] The cause is a great man Anyway And I speak of course of Kevin Kosner So The plot of Amistop Is that there's a slave ship Called La Amistad Yeah Which is coming from Cuba to the United States It has There's a mutiny led by Sinkwe Sinkwe Sinkwe

[00:24:21] That overthrows This is like the first The whole part of the first part of the movie is just on the boat Right, it doesn't cut anywhere else Yeah, like first 20 minutes are just on the boat

[00:24:28] And then the first time we cut off the boat is to Anna Paklin Oh, it's Queen Isabella Great little two-scene performance actually She's really funny She's really good at hopping on that bed Yeah So yeah, like they overthrow the Spanish slavers They basically take over the ship

[00:24:43] They leave the navigator alive But even like the very opening of this is so striking Where it's him trying to pull the nail Out of the floorboards And it's like very Muscular, visceral filmmaking It's really frightening There's like a lightning storm

[00:24:59] You know it's like pitch black, heavy shadows And it is like it's kind of stirring You know and then you watch this very upsetting Very violent Like even though you know This character is the hero You know, this is a necessary revolt

[00:25:14] Yeah, no but it's supposed to be tough And it is tough I like that he makes it tough I do like that he makes it The violence is very visceral Right And he's played by Jamin Hanzu We should note Not a debut Was it a debut performance?

[00:25:28] He had done very very little before He's in Stargate Right That was his only real part before this Yeah, apart from that he'd had like a couple extra parts Yeah, I think Stargate was the only film He had been in where he had like a character name

[00:25:42] He had done like voiceover on one thing I believe and then he had done Like a clubgoer and shit like that But We'll talk about him in a bit Do you know who Stephen Silver originally offered the role to? No Cuba Gooding Jr. Oh sure, okay

[00:25:59] That would have been a disaster That probably wouldn't have worked I guess Cuba Gooding Jr. was though he was like a hot name at the moment It was right off the Oscar Coming off of Jerry Maguire But Jamin quite a discovery in this film Excellent in it

[00:26:11] And just you know Jamin Hanzu He is from Benin I think he's you know he That is an African actor Probably better suited to the role of an African Than someone like Cuba Gooding Jr. would have been I agree with that, yes

[00:26:24] I think Jamin Hanzu grew up in France But you know He has the right accent He is the you know he's Cuba Gooding Jr. has also never shown any facility For dialects or doing any voice different than his own That's a good point Are you thinking of OJ?

[00:26:43] Yeah, but even in general I mean he just he's able to be Cuba Gooding Jr. Nothing else He was pretty good in OJ For someone who was not doing a good OJ I agree and this is a large argument That I have with a lot of people

[00:26:54] I think objectively that's a good performance in a bubble If you can't get over the fact that he's not OJ Then I understand that and I can't fight you on that But I think it is a good performance on its own merits

[00:27:05] It's just not an accurate picture of OJ If you're looking for an imitation of OJ, you're off Is Jamin a really good representation of him Yeah, I agree You know But I think it's a good performance on its own Okay, so yeah open with him Revolte Revolte

[00:27:19] They try to get the navigators to steer the ship back to Africa But the navigators Whatever, you know get them to the shores of America instead Probably hoping I think they were They were definitely hoping to get back to Cuba But they were very least hoping to

[00:27:35] You know Not have to go back home Like they were hoping to get protection wherever they landed Can I just read Jamin Hansu's character names before Amistad? Yeah Ex-boyfriend in Without You I'm Nothing Which is a filmed version of a Sandra Bernhardt monologue Right Nightclub doorman Charlie Hills 90210

[00:27:55] Prisoner on bench In unlawful entry And then he was the voice of Moisey In killing Zoe and Horace and Stargate So Amistad is like a huge pop for him Yeah, absolutely That was all he had done before I think he was a model He'd been in music videos

[00:28:13] I think he was discovered homeless The story is that he was a homeless guy And they were like that's the best looking person I've ever seen And they dressed him into a model He arrived in France, dropped out of school He became homeless for a time

[00:28:22] He met a photographer who introduced him to a fashion designer Who said he should be a model Right By the late 80s he was a model with a career in Paris He is one of the best looking people in history He is an absolutely gorgeous person It's insane

[00:28:35] And I mean now he's like 52 Still pretty much absolutely gorgeous They landed in America Yeah But not in America The film for which Jamin Hansu received his first Academy Award nomination It was his first But it should have been his second After this? Yeah Yeah

[00:28:52] He should have been a model for this Was it category confusion that did him in? Well that's He got a glow for nomination He got a glow for lead actor They pushed him as lead This movie I would argue doesn't really have a lead

[00:29:03] No but you could push him as You could but it's His role is a little sidelined I mean this is the thing you get into If you were to push him as lead actor But you have to because you're pushing Anthony Hopkins to support him Right

[00:29:15] So you have to push him as lead But here's the problem You look at like He disappears for vast parts of the movie Right and so if you look at the dudes who he would have been contending against in 1997

[00:29:24] They all have a lot more screen time and more scenes than he does There's no question here So it's hard for him to compete because it's like less meaty of a lead role Only in the sense that he's not that lead You know

[00:29:35] It's a weird year because he's up against Okay Damon in Good Will Hunting This is the Golden Globe nomination For best actor drama just to be clear Roberto Bonini No he's comedy Yeah that was a comedy Quote unquote Right Ha ha ha ha ha Holocaust

[00:29:54] Leonardo DiCaprio for Titanic was another nominee What's weird about this year is the only nominee in the drama There's only two out of the five Or drama nominee Because you've got Nicholson You've got Bonini And you've got I guess Ian McKellen Maybe he didn't get one

[00:30:09] Yeah I don't know Nick Nolte for Affliction is he in there? Oh maybe Nick No he's not In the Globes Wow So who are the other Daniel DeLuis in the Boxer Oh boy Which is a decent performance but a film that did not hit

[00:30:24] And no one ever talks about Peter Fonda in Ulys Gold He got the nomination and won the Golden Globe What a weird year Ulys Gold Not a bad movie That was clearly biased because it had gold in the title And Leonardo DiCaprio For Titanic Big hit that year

[00:30:41] But was he in two You already said he was nominated Was he nominated to Did I not mention him yet Did I already mention him Hunsu DiCaprio Damon You got it Fonda And DeLuis Okay You got it Yeah Hunsu's phenomenalness When it starts out Very good

[00:30:59] I was like okay this is going to be his story It is At times And then gets to America And this movie kind of does like a Rayleigh race No A Rayleigh race A Rayleigh race There we go There we go Right? Yeah

[00:31:13] And then when I was like hey why don't you take it for 15 minutes And then McConaugh he's like I have to go to the bathroom Morgan Freeman can you take these two scenes Sure And then Morgan Freeman carries it And then he's like hey

[00:31:21] Shawn it's been a little while do you want to And he's like yes I'd like to take over the film And then he gives him the film for a little bit But then like as he realized like This finish line is actually a while away

[00:31:29] Who's this guy with big white mutton chops In a watering can Yeah Who's this waistcoat wearing dude The Hopkins shows up he says sorry I'm late Now Hopkins Is still movie star Hopkins at this point Like he'd been in Nixon the year before Maybe two years before

[00:31:47] Yeah I mean he's In a mode right now where he gets nominated almost every time out Right he's getting nominated almost every year Is that true Well he got nominated for remains of the day Yeah well he's fantastic in that Right He's got nominated for Nixon

[00:32:00] He got nominated for this It's when Hopkins is still a good actor who does good work Even if yes he can be a big actor Yes And then after Amistad is And then the next year he's in the Mask of Zara Which is great fun Uh huh

[00:32:14] But after that is when he starts to I mean I think we talked Did we talk about this on a previous episode How much he phones it in Yeah Like how he like I think we talked about an episode that hasn't been released yet

[00:32:25] Yeah I think we talked about next week About how he literally is like Will read a script and be like great No acting required And that's what makes him sign on to it all Yeah he got four nominations And this is his last one isn't it

[00:32:36] Yeah four nominations Here's the thing Four nominations In like seven years Yeah Yeah So it's silence and life Yeah it's between His last one is 97 And his first one is Uh is 91 Right And he should have been Was he nominated for Howard's End He wasn't

[00:32:53] He easily could have been for that It was Remains of the Day, Amistad, Nixon and this Like you easily could have nominated him for Howard's End Which is 92 In between Silence And Remains of the Day He's great And he's okay in Legends of the Fall Whatever Sure

[00:33:07] Wonderful and Nixon One of my favorite performances Never seen Certainly my favorite performance in him My number one of that year Wow One of the most underrated movies ever made Uh Strong words Really And then in 96 he's in Surviving Picasso Which is too terrible for him

[00:33:20] To even him at that moment to get a nomination But like certainly that's what That movie's trying to do Sure And then this year he's in The Edge And Amistad The Edge is like an action movie Starring Anthony Hopkins Well that's when he starts doing

[00:33:32] Some more of that Like even like the Mission Impossible The one scene where he famously got like Five million dollars No that's two He's in two Not one I'm saying the one scene In Mission Impossible Oh I see He's got the one scene

[00:33:45] I think he got paid five million dollars Well I guess he deserved I don't know Hey Yeah I'll say this The Edge it holds up The Edge is fun It's good And then Mask-A-Zar the next year That's an action movie He has some action scenes

[00:33:57] He rides a horse Yeah He does some stuff He like I mean it's stuntman probably But you know But then look at this Let's have a meet your black He always does his horse work And his whip work Yeah meet your black Which I mean that's a mistake

[00:34:10] On every single level Right I mean one day we'll do Martin Breast We will definitely do Martin Breast In the deep Breast cast Instinct Oh Cuba Titus Tit- Good movie Good movie but very unsuccessful Yes Right didn't help him at all But it was a good one

[00:34:26] Hannibal huge hit Okay Hearts in a Lance disaster No then no After Hannibal he's done Right It's Well no He does do Red Dragon Which is also a decent hit Anytime he does Hannibal he's okay Right but you go Bad Company The Human Stain

[00:34:40] Have you ever seen Bad Company? Yes It's one of the worst films ever It's horrendous Alexander Then he gets into this mode like Oh he's kind of fun in Alexander That's where he's just like You know what Yeah I let you on You need no guy for 10 minutes

[00:34:51] But that's the problem Then he starts getting this mode Where like when he shows up In Noah it's just like Oh right of course he's in this You know like you expect him To just be in that kind of zone He in Thor 1 He literally is asleep

[00:35:02] The whole movie except there's that one moment Where he's like what you ah Like where he like yells at Loki One scene Can I correct you? He's not asleep He's in Odin's sleep Yeah he's in Odin's sleep He's in a deep Odin's sleep Deep yeah

[00:35:15] I always had kind of assumed That this nomination was just like That kind of Meryl Streep like They loved Hopkins No he's great That's the thing I'd never seen it I always had thought it was like High tide raises all shapes It was a big spill over

[00:35:28] I don't know if I would nominate him But it's a nomination worthy performance It's a showy strong supporting performance It's a classic Oscar performance You know classic Like so up their alley Especially back in the day Yeah and it's funny He's funny He's got a watering can Yeah

[00:35:44] He walks into one of Yannish Khminsky's famous Pools of Light Oh yeah That's now showering It's raised on a little flower He walks into a few of those pools Yeah but I'm saying because he has so much water Yannish Khminsky This is the other thing

[00:35:57] I think Spielberg likes to make these period movies Because he's like Yo only natural light love it I want pools of light coming in from every window And also you see the American flag in the window And it's like Jesus Christ Yeah baby Oh boy

[00:36:10] He lays it on real thick in this movie So just to finish the part of the movie It's both complex and simple Because it's like Yeah this you know the ship arrives In the coast of the America Is that everyone's like taken into custody

[00:36:21] Because they don't know what to do about this Because slave trading is illegal in America At this point Yes And these are illegally traded slaves But like or are they because like it's not illegal in Spain Like so like there's a whole matter of like where

[00:36:36] Where did this trading happen And like what does America do about it Like is this a Spanish issue Do you send them to Spain Right Is this like an issue where it's like No they revolted for their own freedom Which is they're right Because slave trading is illegal

[00:36:51] So there they should be let to go You know like There's a diplomatic thing going on Where Queen Isabella on Ana Pacquen A little girl A little girl who is the Infanta She wants to get the slaves back You know whatever she thinks it's like Spain's property

[00:37:07] And you've got abolitionists who see this as an important case And they write like they want to litigate it So it just turns into this legal drama Yeah and it's like they do the trial And then the judge is going to rule and favor them

[00:37:20] And then the abolitionists are like Let's get a judge who's giving me our pocket No no not the abolitionists The Martin Van Buren The pro-slavery Martin Van Buren, president at the time Doesn't want to piss off the south Because he's running for president

[00:37:34] He wants to win some southern states So he yeah And he's got some whispers in his ear He interferes and gets a little A young and handsome Jeremy Northam And santed as the judge This movie is like a couple Aborted trials like they do

[00:37:49] Yeah there's a lot of yelling in court rooms The first trial McConaughey's withing it And he plays like this trial lawyer And he's good in it I think he's great That was the moment for him Is he about to be in contact? Yes

[00:38:03] He's been in a time to kill Contact came out earlier that year right? Is it 97 or 98? I'll look it up You know that's when It's just been decided like Time to get this guy This guy is going to be hot Like he's already been in like

[00:38:14] Days and confused obviously He had been in a Miller-like commercial He was discovered by casting director at a bar Who said we're casting this days and confused thing Because he seemed so much like Wooderson He does that He fucking pops One of the best sort of

[00:38:27] Newcomer supporting performances In a movie ever Like he just like blows in that movie Blows off the screen And everyone's like Oh this guy's got some interesting charisma But it was like his character actor Obviously handsome, this or that He does like the fucking

[00:38:42] Texas Chainsaw The Next Generation Sure he does a lot of shit But then the big thing is He had an audition for a small Supporting part in Time to Kill And he read the script and he was like I want to play this lead guy

[00:38:52] And his agent was like You can't play the lead guy You're Matthew McConaughey This is a big movie They're not going to cast you And he went into the audition Said I'd like to read for the lead guy And in the room read for the lead guy

[00:39:01] And blew them away And they cast him And it was like Who's this unknown guy He's the lead in a Gressom movie And then Grisham People magazine The Next Paul Newman They dubbed him Which doomed him for a while He got, yeah And you're right about contact

[00:39:14] That came out the same year The Newton Boys comes out in 98 And is this hyped movie The Flops For both Linklater and him So that kind of puts them on the back burner He's in EdTV Which I think he's wonderful in But it's another flop And people like

[00:39:28] That's 99 And some people are like Oh, is this guy And he's a new 571 Which is not a flop But not a huge hit And he's the lead But it's not really a vehicle for him And then he gives up on being a good actor

[00:39:38] And for like five solid years Is basically just a shitty ormatically It's like the worst It's like Wedding Planner How to lose a guy in 10 days Sahara Well I remember that thing Failure to launch How to lose a guy in 10 days We are Marshall We are Marshall

[00:39:52] How to lose a guy in 10 days Did bizarrely well No, a lot of these movies did pretty well It was just But that one was like a mega I mean that did like a hundred million dollars Like 15 years ago In February That's been the Wedding Planner

[00:40:02] Wedding Planner did not do as well As how to lose a guy in 10 days My point is I remember when that movie Opened so big In like variety They were like It finally happened They finally found the way To make Macanahe a leading man Loring romantic

[00:40:14] Right, and it was just like I think everyone felt like They were trying to like This guy should be connecting He's a good actor He's really handsome He's naturally charismatic And then once they put him In a shitty romantic comedy And blew up they were like

[00:40:24] Oh that's who he is And he just bought the company line And like It wasn't until 2011 When he makes The Lincoln Lawyer Which is a cruddy movie That he's great in Right And then starts making weird movies Like Bernie Killer Joe Killer Joe and Mud Yes

[00:40:39] And then obviously he's in True Detective And he's in Dallas Brice You know that's when Suddenly everyone's like Oh right And he's in a really unique Like cinematic presence Like he is special But 97's interested in Because Spielberg picks two guys Who had been anointed by the media

[00:40:54] As the next great leading man Who's the other one? Vince Vaughn In Lost World Oh yeah Who at that time Had that same kind of bust No you're right We talked about him Yeah And the problem with Vaughn Was Vaughn would actually be good

[00:41:07] In a Jurassic World movie Playing me in Malcolm Park Yeah he'd probably be good At that I mean it might feel hacky But he'd be good At that point in time He tried to make him Too straightforward A leading man Right And he misused him Sure

[00:41:20] In this movie I actually think He used the McConaughey well But the movie wasn't there From McConaughey And so like it was a big deal That like oh Matthew McConaughey's Like one of the leads In the new Spielberg movie Oh he's like the co-lead

[00:41:31] In the new Zemeckis movie With Jody Foster And then both those movies Kind of underwhelmed Well I think he's solid Both of them But they put a stink on him He's solid about him But he also feels a little Tacked on Agreed And he's charming Yes

[00:41:45] But you're also like Do I need this guy in my life Like I don't know Like you know maybe he's Just a supporting character Like maybe he's just a funny guy Yes Yeah I don't know I'll also say I mean He's obviously not as strong

[00:41:55] An actor in those two films As he is now He's just become such Like a full DL5 role This is not that interesting A role No but he's got some really good scenes Yeah he's pretty good But like the arc of his character Is like they think he's

[00:42:08] A trial lawyer But he shows them That he's better than that He's an excellent lawyer Not just a you know huckster I did the whole thing I did his whole arc And then Jaman Honsu Is like they're in the background Of all these scenes And you're like

[00:42:21] This is the most deeply felt performance Like Jaman Honsu is a dude Of just like insane emotional Resert right Well yeah he's someone Who looks yes haunted Behind the eyes Yes He's got incredible eyes And like he can sell So much in a look But everyone would always

[00:42:36] Make jokes about like In blood diamond Like just how visceral and emotional he is Yeah in blood diamond He does a lot of like Screaming and crying And freaking out and all of that And he's just It never seems forced from him Right He's really good at it

[00:42:49] Always feels earned I think he just He has that in him right And in this movie When he's just sitting in Like the stands watching something You're like so invested In him And his journey His arc of what he's going through Is fascinating as a character

[00:43:06] But it's kind of seen The eyes of these other people Being like oh he is interesting Which A feels a little condescending Well it's a yes it totally does And B we don't need to see it Through Makana his eyes Just make the movie about him

[00:43:18] The problem with the movie Obviously is that part of the Issue that was faced at the time Was that no one could speak Mende like or any of the other languages That people on this boat spoke So like a lot of the middle

[00:43:30] Chunk of the movie is about them Trying to figure out how To communicate with them And like how to make their case Right So I'm going to show you The true teller Japhore in his First performance Fucking good actor He's fantastic What a good actor Hit the table

[00:43:44] He's so good in this movie He plays James Covey He was a real person who could Speak Mende Yeah He was like I forget I forget the exact I can look up his story He was a slave who was saved Right And was then recruited into the army

[00:43:57] He was sold to the slave holding Camp placed on a ship But the ship was intercepted By British warships So he was freed He joined the British fleet And ended up in New York And yes and he's discovered During this case He's someone who could speak

[00:44:10] Mende in English And he's yeah But you're saying Okay so there's You know the problem is Okay the characters can't Communicate with each other For most of the movie But they make this decision Where for most of Jaman Honsu's scenes He's not subtitled

[00:44:23] And so the scene has to play Out as As a translation Is required over here Which you could do it From his perspective And just have most of them Would be subtitled You know Yeah no I know I don't know man Like a lot of mistakes are made

[00:44:37] So and we should And then in the middle Of the movie We see like this Fuller dramatization Of Lama Studs Like you know The passage it's making Across the Atlantic Ocean His capture His capture And then this very very very Horrifying sequence Where they like

[00:44:53] Offload a lot of the Slaves into the water They just drown them Because they're too heavy Or like they don't Have enough food But we don't know What's happening when Like we just know These terrible things are Happening and then we Cut back to the courtroom

[00:45:05] Eventually it's sort of Decisive that that's what Was happening Right It's very visceral Yeah It's well done Yeah Okay Steve You know it's how I feel about this movie Like okay What are you trying To do? We all agree You know Edgy O'Ford He had been a fellow

[00:45:23] In a very famous Okay Don Mar production In London in the 90s In 95 I think So that was like That's where his Initial heat came from In this movie It's great So yeah First trial McConaughey's whiffing it And he comes up with a good Hook and they're like

[00:45:38] Great And then The pro-slavery people Are like get him out of there The hard jamming Northam Jeremy Northam Who's also sort of A hot young actor at the Moment British handsome hands It never really worked I love him I think he's a good actor I love him

[00:45:53] Great actor But he never really Had the career that I think he thought He was gonna have a stock No he's not a star But he is fantastic Like some of the Smaller bit kind of people There's like racist number three Well I gotta say

[00:46:07] That's one thing I do think One thing he's got a lot of in Like in fucking A shindler's list It's like Yeah you need to play Like anti-Semite seven He's like a collaborator four And the Louis CK bit About the girl who's The good by Jew

[00:46:20] Which is a good bit I will say P. Postlethoit And David Paymer So Postlethoit Is in Lost World Which you know We talked about him The Postlethoit is over So he does This is the one two punch Postlethoit The Postlethoit was Over and continued To be over

[00:46:36] And then he left us Postlethoiting Until his death I guess one of the Quote unquote villains of the movie In that he's the lawyer For the other side But it's a nice Measured performance That's what I was gonna say Both he and Paymer Don't do mustache twirling

[00:46:48] No yeah Paymer plays John Forsythe Who is the secretary Who is interfering I like that's like The audience is gonna know That they're the bad guys Because they're on the wrong Side of history So there's no need to play To just people doing their jobs

[00:46:59] Who are fighting for the wrong thing Yeah, sure Right? And I think both Both good character actors That's yeah that's fine I thought we'd give them a little spotlight Yeah I think they're both good Yeah Yes Yeah but that's all there is to say

[00:47:13] It is a thing to I guess it's an important Thing to dramatize That yes at the time People thought too academically About this and people Like were compartmentalizing And they just sort of Ignored all these evil things Yeah Like the banality of evil I guess

[00:47:28] But it's been done better It will be done better again You know I'm doing a lot of shrugging right now The way the movie progresses Is they keep visiting With John Quincy Adams Right Who is the former president At this point in history Morgan Freeman's the main one

[00:47:44] Dealing with him Yeah Yeah Morgan Freeman is I guess it's established that He's had dealings with him in the past They're buds Quincy Adams Son of John Adams He was our sixth president And then he became a congressman After the presidency After a beer company Yeah

[00:47:59] That's Sam Adams Oh fuck Boy Who was also Who was the relative of John Adams Yeah I knew he was in the family John Quincy Adams You know he's the only president He returned to the house He was a congressman Yeah After he was president

[00:48:12] And he became this like very We're well respected statesmen He wasn't like a well respected president But he was a well respected post-ex-president And one of the great plant waterers Of his time Yeah he was kind of The Jimmy Carter of his day Yeah sure

[00:48:23] Remember he was like You had a troubled presidency But you know we all respect him like you And you seem like a good guy And so they keep visiting with him And he's watering his plants And they're like You should really be part of the case

[00:48:33] And he's like Well in America There is this thing This But he was an opponent of slave power Hated it You know he was an abolitionist Yeah In his later years And eventually they get him on board Yeah they plant Jeremy Northam

[00:48:49] And he darkies before the supreme court They think Jeremy Northam Is going to be in their pocket Right And he's just like He has the moment in the church Where he's like I gotta do the right thing So he does the right thing And then

[00:49:00] And then of course And the tribesmen You know the The prisoners Former prisoners Former slaves of the ship Celebrate And they're like Well it has to get appealed There's like 10 minutes Where they have to like Explain the concept of an appeal Yeah

[00:49:15] They kick it up to Van Buren And Van Buren's like You know It goes to the supreme court Right John Coonsy Adams John Coonsy writes him a letter And is like Hey I know you're busy If you could just come by It would really be a big help

[00:49:28] And he comes by And gives a big speech That apparently he delivered A one take without flubbing a line And Spielberg was impressed with That's pretty impressive Good job It's a long scene Holy shit It's a really long scene Spielberg said Cause I

[00:49:40] I'd mentioned in our Lost World Episode that at the time of Lost World Spielberg said The Apostletate was the best actor He'd ever worked with And then a year after He said Hopkins was the best actor He'd ever worked with Well Steve is pretty easy with the praise

[00:49:51] Right I always thought it was like Goofy when you had to call people Sir, Dame or whatever And then Hopkins showed up And he did that speech in seven minutes Without flubbing He was like Okay you're Sir Anthony Sir Anthony Hopkins Was he Sir at the time?

[00:50:05] He must have been I don't know But then Hopkins brings it home And he nails these speeches And they free him That's the motor God he got denied it early Yeah that's the movie And There's the Frias speech In the court Give us free

[00:50:23] Give us free which is very powerful Tremendously well done by Jaimun Hongsi He's a great actor Which is when he stands up And he just says Give us free over and over again Because he can't speak the language But he has at least gotten that much

[00:50:36] And he's just trying to You know in part Like these are people who are not Born into slavery We see them being kidnapped in Africa Briefly And it is you know I guess Interesting to draw that distinction I don't know

[00:50:51] He just wants to get back home to his family And then the end title card They say that he got back home And his country was in civil war And his family was gone And they were probably sold into slavery And you're like That's devastating

[00:51:00] I wish the movie was about that guy You do see that Peter Firth who's an actor I adore He plays Captain Fitzgerald Of the British Navy Who Like the British Navy You know slavery had been abolished In Britain already And so the slave trade

[00:51:17] The British Navy was fighting against slave trade And you see them blowing up this famous slave fortress In Africa That was like used by the Spanish And I think that we have that Because Spielberg wants this big, cathartic Like you know large scale scene

[00:51:32] But it feels so tacked on It feels very tacked on And again it feels like him trying to Put a bow on something that doesn't Really deserve one yet Yeah So that's That's a problem I like Peter Firth You know he plays that Captain He dictates the letter

[00:51:52] Yeah there's so many good actors in this Where he's like You know to Secretary of State John Forsythe Like as you said Like the fortress doesn't exist Because we blew it up Yeah okay clever good Two comedy points Yeah he gets two comedy points

[00:52:03] He gets two comedy points in the movie John Ortiz taps him on the shoulder And goes two comedy points But I don't know I just like Yeah I mean They thought this was going to be a big Oscar play And a big box of success

[00:52:18] And it was neither I think it got two nominations in total Or three Cinematography, supporting actor Score And what was the fourth production design Yeah I mean all All deserved It's a good looking well-designed movie I think the music is way overdone in this one

[00:52:34] Oh you know the score is not But that was in the days where they had Ten score nominees so you had to fill it out Oh because it was comedy and drama That's what we had the comedy and drama scores Which honestly bring it back

[00:52:43] I would love that I loved it because I like a good comedy score And they rarely get the tip of the hat they deserve But nonetheless I mean but then Nevertheless You never thought Nonetheless Nonetheless Never the none Never the none Okay we're stalling Box office Okay

[00:53:01] Might as well Yeah sure I don't yeah The film came out December 12th 1997 Okay a quarter of time Limited release We covered a lot because this is a month after Man Who Knew Too Little And a week before Titanic Right before Titanic Okay

[00:53:14] Which helped bury this movie at the box office Simpler time We noted it made 44 million now I will say this movie opened in 322 theaters And obviously expanded later With a per screen average of $14,000 Made 4.6 million dollars number 5 at the box office That is great Huge

[00:53:32] I mean you could tell Really good The dream works people were tapping patting each other on the back Monday morning Going we got a blockbuster in our hands And then it expands and goes nowhere The film cost 36 mil 44 Whatever It didn't hurt nobody It left no cultural mark

[00:53:47] No Okay so it opens number 5 Number 1 at the box office It's a horror sequel Halloween H2O No I still know what you did last summer No Scream 2 Correct I think this has already been covered in our Titanic episode I think that was in the top 5 when Titanic

[00:54:04] Opens to 32 million to make 101 on a 24 It's great Okay Number 2 is a film we've definitely discussed On the podcast before We named, we used the turned its title into a verb In our Star Wars Oh Flubber Flubber Yeah this allow wrap with our Titanic Box office

[00:54:23] Third week it has made 58 million dollars It's still flubbing along Oh yeah these are actually Yeah cause the third movie we also discuss in our Titanic episode Mouse on No No It's a comedy It's a rip off of another movie A drama Starring Two hit TV stars

[00:54:41] Pretty sure we discussed this one Oh oh for Richard Poirre For Richard Poirre with Tim Allen and Kirstie Alley How weird that's a correct way to describe a movie It's a comedy that's a rip off of a drama Starring two sitcom stars Yeah Yeah Amish

[00:54:54] You know hiding out with the Amish Yeah The comedy Number 4 is a sequel To in a hit film series Starring none of the people involved In the first two entries in this series Oh interesting From a director That you have noted before

[00:55:12] In a good way or a bad way You think, yeah I think, I don't know You think I kind of like him? Well you like a scene that he directed And acted out once on this podcast I acted out a scene He said you cried to this scene

[00:55:26] Scooby-Doo? Yeah So the director is It's the director's school Oh oh oh oh oh oh It's Roger Gosnell and it's Home Alone 3 Yeah It's a fun way to arrive at that one So I should admit You know if Richard Porter opened Number 3 It's 6 mil Home Alone 3 opened Number 4

[00:55:44] 5 mil Yeah These are bombs people Yeah this is not a good time And then the biggest movie of all time opens The next weekend Then Amish started as Number 5 Some other movies The Rainmaker Oh yeah Remember that The Vaguely yeah It's got Dames The Dames

[00:55:59] It's got a DeVeetz Yeah And it's from a little director Called Francis Ford Coppola And then it's the last movie He makes for like 10 years right Basically It's not until um Is it not until uh Uh youth Youth without you Youth without you

[00:56:12] Or is it test test test oh Tetra comes after you Tetra comes after you Yeah Ten years later Alien Resurrection The worst of the alien films It's the worst of the main alien films I'm not including Alien Versus Predator It's better than Alien Versus Predator

[00:56:28] And Alien Versus Predator Requiem or whatever Requiem or whatever Right It is the worst I still find it watchable Looks good Got some good ideas Uh But uh it's a disaster Haven't tried to watch it in 15 years Saw it twice back then

[00:56:42] At the peak of my alien obsession Hated it Well maybe try to rewatch it In anticipation of Alien Covenant Uh very excited about Alien Covenant Maybe I shouldn't be I don't care I don't care I'm excited Fool me once Shame on you Fool me twice Shame

[00:56:59] On you again I guess I don't know Fool me five times Yeah I'll keep going I like Prometheus One day I'll defend it on this podcast I like it I don't hate it I just think it misses the mark In a lot of regards that frustrate me

[00:57:11] But I like it You've got Anastasia Oh Anastasia You probably like that as a kid right I actually never saw it You like cartoon movies Never saw it I like cartoon movies But please I have rarefied tastes I don't fall for any animated pablum Even at age

[00:57:26] Uh how old were you Probably seven It was eight Seven or eight It was eight Yeah eight going on nine Anastasia that's the beginning of the last gasp of Don Bluth But he does make Titan A after this one

[00:57:38] Yeah which I didn't realize until recently was co-written by And I don't know And Edling Crater that too Oh I gotta ask him about that sometime You should Uh The Jackal which you've discussed Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil is in there Oh

[00:57:53] It's like an Eastwood film Yeah Wow thrilling Mortal Kombat Annihilation Oh great Yeah Oh and opening in limited release In ten screens making thirty five thousand dollars per screen Pretty great Per screen average Deconstructing Harry Oh The Woodster's back The Woodman He's getting an Oscar nomination For screenplay

[00:58:15] Yeah the Woodman Uh not the worst movie he ever made Not the best No I'd say it's not even one of the fifteen worst movies he's ever made That's probably true That's a benefit to making fifteen movies

[00:58:25] Probably not even one of the best fifteen movies he ever made Just sort of It's part of that middle fifteen out of forty five So you're like oh yeah Yeah okay Yeah there are fifteen that exist What's that in between celebrity and sweet and low down

[00:58:41] Like where is that in the agronomagic I put celebrity lower in sweet and low down higher Yeah me too Uh you know I want to say like we knew Amistad would be a slightly slow going podcast We're not the people to talk about it No we're not

[00:58:53] The movie's really And he wasn't the person to make it Yeah it's just sort of like there's things we're not mentioning here probably Like you know like there's probably like little scenes or details that do stand out in some way or other I don't know like

[00:59:05] I don't want to give this movie short shrift It's interesting that it exists but I think it's been wisely forgotten Let's do performance review Alright let's run him down Here now is the performance review Morgan Freeman first bill Which is insane As Theodore Jodeson

[00:59:23] He's first billed I think because otherwise then the billing would be McConaughey Hopkins McConaughey you know then Honesu Well okay so in the end credits they go purely alphabetical Above the poster on the top right Above the poster it's Freeman Hopkins Honesu McConaughey Yeah Which is not alphabetical

[00:59:40] No and is more just Hopkins is second on the poster? Yes Wow Yes Yeah I mean he's this isn't NAR performance He's just showing up and he's doing Freeman He's fine and he's always good Oh no actually No I don't require he's solid

[00:59:55] He's fine I can't even think of a huge scene that he has He's fine He's mostly in the background Yeah he is Watching other people do stuff Yeah it is an odd performance It's odd but he's solid he's Morgan Freeman He's there

[01:00:07] Yeah I mean I guess it's a soft pass Yeah I give him a pass For some reason I'm going by Wikipedia because I can't even read about it So second listed is Nigel Hawthorne as president Martin Van Buren

[01:00:20] Okay this is how they do the crediting at the end of the film they go alphabetical ABCDEFGH I guess F is the first in the alphabet for this cast Interesting okay Yeah Nigel Hawthorne I don't I mean I think he's okay

[01:00:33] Yeah he doesn't have a lot to do He has a little broad He was a good actor Yeah he had been in the Madison King George Yeah You know a couple years earlier He's got Tarzan two years later that's gonna be huge for him

[01:00:45] He's the voice of the dad in Tarzan Disney's Tarzan Oh in the film sure Yeah He's quite nice in the object of my affection which comes out the next year Sure Oh he's quite good in Richard III the Nazi era of Richard III with Ian McKellen

[01:01:00] That's quite a good movie Yeah so soft pass I think it's gonna be a lot of soft pass as my friend Alright Hopkins Anthony Hopkins is former president John Quincy Adams I mean hard pass When you say hard pass that sounds negative

[01:01:12] I know but that's why I'm doing it now because now it's like a bit I see Yeah I like him Jaimun Hunsu as Joseph Sinkhe The hardest to pass MVP and he's MVP right Without a question Yeah Matthew McConaughey as Roger Sherman Baldwin A attorney at law

[01:01:27] And I solid gentlemen's pass Yeah B Yeah David Paymer What the fuck are we doing David Paymer is John Forsythe the secretary of states I mean he's kind of my waddo in this movie in more ways than one

[01:01:39] Can you name which secretary of state he was? What number? What number? Four Thirteen Oh jeez Okay Uh P. Possilthwaite is William Holibur I mean yeah it's a pop Who was later the lieutenant governor of Connecticut Great face Great face Uh pass Stella, yeah sure

[01:02:00] I'm not even taking part Stella in Skarsgard is Louis Tappen I'm gonna say a soft fail Yeah he doesn't register He doesn't register Uh Skarsgard also in Goodwill Hunting this year Yeah Hollywood's starting to make him happen Yeah They're starting to get Skars fever

[01:02:15] You know Skarsie had been around forever But it's really this year that he starts hitting Transfer state side Yeah Cause then after this he's in Ronan, Deep Blue Sea, Time Code You know he's in a lot of Mamma Mia The glass house Mamma Mia

[01:02:32] Mamma Mia is like 13 years later man I'm going to go out I don't even know what's happening No Uh Anna Pacquen is Queen Isabella of Spain I mean she rules in this movie Yeah she rules A plus Thomas Millian is Angel Calderon de la Bartha Iber Grano

[01:02:48] Okay I fail Uh I think he's okay Yeah I don't know why are we doing this Uh she would tell us you're for us James Covey I mean great he's great he's a great actor pass Uh John Ortiz is Pedro Montez Pass it's fine Paul Guilfoil as attorney

[01:03:05] He's good he's the guy from CSI Fine pass I guess Peter Firth I already praised him as Captain Fitzgerald I think they failed us we can fight over something Yeah great Tariqa Number five Xander Berkeley as Ledger Hammond We shouldn't keep doing this this is a terrible idea

[01:03:22] Jeremy we should put Arliss Howard's in this movie for a second Oh yeah As John C. Calhoun who was I believe the vice president Yeah Uh no he was an ex-vice president He's just a racist at this point

[01:03:35] Is he the one that makes the crack about there's nothing more depressing than a former president And he goes uh not you sir Yeah maybe The Van Buren I don't know So that was a great performance Good job Uh yeah so we did well

[01:03:49] Here's the next good news next week Same pair of Ryan Fun one and we have Richard Lawson on that episode Yeah and then we a lot of great movies that After that we're gonna have A.I. Oh my favorite Spielberg movie One of the best And Minority Report

[01:04:02] Oh my god catch me if you can Rump Wow I definitely shouldn't stop listening to this podcast in spite of this episode And then we're gonna talk about another great movie that we won't name because then you might Grown

[01:04:14] We'll get there when we get there and then we'll Stay there stock unable to travel For many months Yeah it's true Yeah Every miniseries we're gonna have one of these sort of weird episodes No of course I don't know why we're freaking out like we It always happens

[01:04:28] We discussed fucking Piranha too and like God knows what we've discussed on this fucking podcast Sensate Yeah Someone pointing out that Sensate's doing a Christmas episode Now are we gonna cover the Sensate Christmas episode? Yeah I think we gotta run We'll see how our schedule goes Okay

[01:04:45] Well everyone Happy February Enjoy listening to this episode of Let's talk about Almastad Oscar season is upon us Blanky Awards will be coming up soon after this Oh yeah Blanky Awards Sighted for those Oh yeah we should maybe do those Yeah yeah yeah Yeah

[01:05:06] Um so that's great everything's good Everyone feels great about everything And America is still dying American shit shape Yes and shit shape also in shit shape My bathroom I'm saying this on mic because I want to see if my bathroom

[01:05:21] Still in bad shape by the time this episode comes out This is my segment for the record Oh Ben for the record I thought it was calling the shots or whatever No it's for the record Okay for the record Ben here's your segment For the record

[01:05:32] You like the expression called his shot though I love that expression I only have four expressions I use them all the time For the record Rogue One Pretty good Okay Oh you're just calling that Yeah Calling it So we're recording this right now at the end of November

[01:05:46] And Ben's calling that he's gonna like Rogue One Which at this point The episode where we review Rogue One Will have come out six weeks Hell yeah Great Thank you for listening everybody We have nothing else to We're good We're good That's the end of our episode

[01:06:01] Please keep listening to us in the future Yeah they will I think I think so too Remember to rate, review, subscribe All true All right to your senators Please yeah fucking resist Donald Trump Yes Whatever the hell he's doing right now And God knows what it is

[01:06:20] It chills me into the bone Even think about it A couple months out We're fucking yeah Resist Donald Trump Comedy production Check out our other shows On the UCB Comedy Podcast Network