Chosen - The Hire

[00:00:00] 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. BMWfilms.com presents a podcast! Okay.

[00:00:26] That makes it sound like they're supporting this, which they are not. But if they want to give me like a roadster, you know, I'll take it. Yeah, and I'm afraid of cars. Hello everybody, my name is Griffin Newman. I am David Sims.

[00:00:37] This is Blank Check with Griffin and David. It's been pointed out to me that there's probably a direct relationship between my fear of cars in real life and my love of car movies.

[00:00:49] Oh, like it's like how you like to walk up to the edge of the cliff but you know and go like, oh, right, like that.

[00:00:56] Right, right. That it's almost like for me watching like really weird Gonzo porn or something where I'm just like, I can't believe anyone would do this, you know? Right. So that's why you like a car chase.

[00:01:06] My Fast and Furious. My Mad Max is cars which I don't know if you've heard this, but cars three makes cars. Cars two makes cars three. You can't remember the joke. It's that cars two makes cars three look like cars one. That's what it is.

[00:01:21] So that's saying that cars choose the worst. Correct. So three is better. Correct. And one is the best. Correct. It's really just a way of you saying my cars films ranked by preference are one, three, two. You guys want to start over? No, no, keep it going.

[00:01:34] Oh, I think I mean this is going to be the one. Yeah, keep it in double it. This will get us all the list. This is the one. Yeah, exactly.

[00:01:41] I mean, look, I gotta say the game has changed because this is our first podcast post the envelope bit.

[00:01:46] Oh, and it does feel like the whole the axum is like, you know, honestly, I listen back today and even though it's great on audio, it almost doesn't capture how crazy I felt when that happened. That was my fear was that it wouldn't translate.

[00:02:01] We are basically just sort of like pushing away from the desk kind of like holding our head in our hands. A lot of non audio, audio bits. I think it's still it still works.

[00:02:11] I realize that the axiom has changed when I meant to say the axis change. But I do feel like it's one of those things where people think they get it.

[00:02:21] Like I see our listeners going like that's the greatest bit in the history of podcasting, which it is but we have to be those assholes who are like, it was even better live.

[00:02:29] You know, it's like you watch the Woodstock film and you're like, well made captures the spirit and you're like, you had to be there, baby. Right. Or at least like you had to be near there, kind of hanging out dealing with your dad.

[00:02:43] Exactly. Like leeching the pool. Right. Yeah, charging for towels. Yeah. This is a podcast about filmography directors who have massive success early on their careers and given a series of blank checks.

[00:02:53] They could ever crazy past your projects they want. Sometimes those checks clear and sometimes they bounce baby. And this is our bonus little wrap up episode on our buddy, Ang Lee. And it's a short film that he made called The Chosen.

[00:03:07] Yes. And it's part of a series called The Hire. Part of the first season. Yes. And this was kind of a landmark thing in a lot of ways.

[00:03:18] I mean, this is like the first big example of like branded content where it was like a company putting millions of dollars into giving artists a blank check. Sure. Sort of. Sort of. A BMW blank check. Right. And looking at it.

[00:03:33] And going like we will get the positive associations of being the benefactors of this thing. Yeah. And it worked. I to some degree think there's a future where 20 years from now, most of our content is made in this way.

[00:03:48] Like it's like I'm so excited to make this movie with Uber and like it's a great movie about all this. And then yeah, at one point someone's going to take an Uber like.

[00:03:58] Or even less of an association maybe that it's just like Coca Cola makes fucking TV shows and you just have to go to Coca Cola's website. And they never mentioned Coke in the show.

[00:04:08] But at the beginning and the end there's a Coke ad and you're just like I guess Coke's a pretty cool company. Like I feel like it correlates with like people not judging the platforms they're watching things on. And companies.

[00:04:19] Yeah, you mean how selling out like isn't a thing anymore. And companies realizing that people are smart to advertising now and that they know all companies are evil.

[00:04:26] That the only way for them to look good is to be like oh this company like bankrolled like the lost city of Z. I guess they care about the art, you know bankrolled it but then released it in April. Yeah, you know what I'm saying though? I do.

[00:04:41] But this was early 2000s 2001. Yeah, and BMW hired like five of the best filmmakers in the game people at different levels of their career. I mean John Frankenheimer in a Ratu who is kind of on the up and up at this point. He's post a Morris Parrot.

[00:04:56] So that's it I think for him. Yeah, Ang Lee who was coming off a crouching tiger. So he's sort of at like his P. And then yeah, Wong Kar-Wai coming off of like in the mood for love. Right. So like the love it art house. Yeah.

[00:05:09] Hong Kong film director but not I guess it as big a name in America. And then it was Joe Carnahan was the last one. No, no that season two season two is when they hired all high octane filmmakers John Wood, Joe Carnahan and Tony Scott. Right.

[00:05:23] And all of those shorts are like extremely sort of buzzy and expensive. Yes. Whereas these tend to be a little quieter. Yes. And then they tried to start it again in 2016. Correct. Neil Blancamp did one and then no one paid attention and that was that. Yeah. Right.

[00:05:41] Like I didn't even know they'd done it. Yeah, I only found that out through the Wikipedia entry. But the first one kind of made a really big splash because they were like not commercials.

[00:05:51] Like they were short centered around a car but you have Clive Owen who at that moment was like this is the next big movie star. That was a lot of it. A lot of it. The Clive Owen thing. Right.

[00:06:01] That he had been sort of this British breakout and like Krupa and everyone was like oh. And the Gosford Park this year. Right. Someone's going to make him into a big thing. He I forgot was the odds on favor to be James Bond. You forgot that. The newspapers.

[00:06:13] No, I remembered it at the time but I guess you didn't live in England. Because I know. All right. Shut up. Don't cut it out. Look in England like literally especially when it's sort of time like as it is now for a new bond.

[00:06:26] It's like it is so heavily discussed. Like I don't know that the culture in England is they will like the papers will be running as if it's like a competition for that and doctor who now I feel like.

[00:06:39] Yeah, a little bit too but so that's a TV role and this is a movie list the odds though like I remember before Peter Capaldi got announced it was like you know like two to one odds that should tell a G4 gets announced as doctor who yeah there would be those things where like people

[00:06:54] would start betting and the odds would sort of respond to that.

[00:06:58] And so suddenly people would jump up the odds and be like oh do they know something but then often it would just sort of be some weird speculation boom right yeah but Craig was sort of seen as like quite dark.

[00:07:07] I'm saying Craig was seen as the dark horse choice. Dark course. The obvious one layer sort of changed it a little bit but people are still like he's blonde. He's a little too rough around the edges. He's too scary. Not hot enough.

[00:07:21] Like those were which is sort of funny to think about now. But those were the hits on him and yes. People were furious.

[00:07:26] James blonde was like the big like rag people are always so stupid and the crazy thing is when they announced that it was him they released a promo image of like him wearing a tux with a gun and they tried to make him look a little more classical James Bond and in the promo image they like Photoshopped his hair dark right.

[00:07:43] Yeah, he looks weird. I remember the picture just to talk about this more like Craig was the first time like they would always hire the guy who was always kind of the same.

[00:07:52] He was always kind of the second choice for the role to begin with like that to Roger Moore was yeah that to Timothy Dalton was and that to Pierce Bros.

[00:07:58] Pierce was definitely and then it was like they tried to hire him right exactly you know and like so when they would hire them and be like oh yeah okay logical Craig was the first time where it was like oh well like I didn't think they were going to do that it was a

[00:08:10] Clive Owen they were like to I mean Henry Cavill there were a couple other like obvious guys who were sort of just like handsome.

[00:08:18] Yeah, Englishman look good in a suit right just we're sort of was heavily rumored at the time it was never going to that was nonsense that was that was never he was apparently campaigning for very hard but it was never going to happen.

[00:08:29] But yeah the Craig thing was surprising and end up being sort of a statement of temp but at the time Clive Owen was seen as the heir apparent yeah and I think I've never understood.

[00:08:39] I've never understood I think he's probably reporting as to why he didn't get the role maybe it was just that he was too obvious.

[00:08:44] I read a recent interview with him I was going down this rabbit hole the other day online and he was like I never had any conversations about it.

[00:08:51] Maybe I was being discussed a lot internally with them but I never had any talks with anybody Barbara broccoli makes that call you know. Yeah, and I don't know how much he meets with people before she makes that call or any of that right.

[00:09:05] But anyway, this was sort of seen as a stepping stone for Clive Owen who then does born identity has like a big supporting role.

[00:09:13] He's the villain and then proceeds to always flop whenever he's the leading man has one of these careers where you're just like oh I guess that guy is poison. He gets that Oscar nomination for closer and I think people are like oh and then yeah.

[00:09:26] And then he doesn't really capitalize on that he's one of those really fucking good actors who also has Moistar qualities and it's never totally clicked.

[00:09:34] I feel like Josh Barola was kind of in a similar position until his big year of the Barola and but every time Josh Barola was the lead in the movie it would bomb so fucking hard.

[00:09:42] Yeah, and people were like this is such a good actor and he's a movie star why is this not connecting.

[00:09:48] But this is like Clive Owen's position they get all these big directors and they're like all you gotta do is he's the wheel man and he's like delivering shit which then friend and Goran Visnec are the others who were in the mix.

[00:10:03] That's in the serious mix so weird it is weird Goran V's notes makes almost no sense. He's very handsome very handsome. Very bizarre. Yeah.

[00:10:14] Luke Bason openly ripped off this concert for the transporter the transporter movies are just right the high what if you could just hire a guy to drive a thing to another place and the thing is weird. Right.

[00:10:27] There's something interesting about the thing and it's a cool thing from British man with a sly sense of humor right but but these. Clive Owen's actually Irish but yes is he really I think so well look it up well.

[00:10:41] He's one of those guys stealth you know he's one of those guys where when I was like growing up and women were like oh my god he's so handsome I'd be like really that crackle face guy with the round nose.

[00:10:51] I take it back he's not Irish I just made that up thank you fucking liar.

[00:10:55] Pierce Brosnan's Irish maybe I was just thinking that anyway yeah but now you thought he was too craggy face I thought he was Craig I thought he was so sexy when I was a kid I could not see handsomeness in Craig faces.

[00:11:06] Daniel Craig was the same thing for me where I was like he's got a weird face people find him attractive and now a bit of an odd face I saw him come on in a taxi TV recently he's the spokesman for something.

[00:11:16] Now it's like I fucking get it. Yeah he's handsome. Yeah and he's just charming as all get out. The higher.

[00:11:25] So these don't really have a chronology these first this is interesting the first season is produced by David Fincher and the second season was produced by the Scott Lee and Tony Scott and that also perhaps explains the sort of shift in tone I think so because Fincher went off to do panic right and then they become more sort of conventional action short.

[00:11:45] Yeah although I like the Tony Scott when I remember being it's funny and weird I kind of liked all them yeah they mostly existed on their website.

[00:11:52] At the time this was like pre you know a YouTube anything like that in England they would play them in front of movies really yes yeah I saw them all the time in for movies that never happened here yeah the two things here

[00:12:04] pre role the pre role is like long and cut that out but yeah no I do miss that kind of stuff I wish more pre role existed like that there is sometimes when you go into the movie they're like.

[00:12:19] Bottle you know Sprite is sponsored this short film after short film competition it's a short film about like how you enjoy a bottle of Sprite right the other thing that I that's gone on over time is so short films have gotten shorter and shorter we're now they're

[00:12:31] literally 15 seconds 15 second Sprite it's like they used to be like here's a 90 second like little gag like a little skit that ends with a Sprite placement and now they're just like one Sprite please and then that's the end credits and you always feel so sad because it's like two film

[00:12:47] films who are like hi I'm Jack Tominson and I'm Tom Jackinson and we made the we won the competition and then you cut to it it's like make it two Sprites and that's the end and you're like that's your prize as you got to make that

[00:13:02] Sprite is a delicious lemon line doesn't even finish what was the second fruit

[00:13:12] but like yeah I like that in other countries you actually get some some shit like I've seen center will in New York will play little documentaries picture obviously does it Disney animation now does it but I always thought it was cool when it seemed like Marvel was maybe going to move in that direction

[00:13:27] actually it wasn't lava technically one of the higher movies well I lava you okay I love my curvy volcano so these didn't play in theaters here you can watch them on the website yeah you can get a DVD but this was the big thing

[00:13:42] you went to a BMD dealership they like ran the fuck out like they make them as an incentive for people to go to a BMW dealership and then people would buy them and flip them on eBay and they started going for like $100 a pop they like would run out immediately

[00:13:58] yeah so they produced more but force Whitaker is in the one car why one I want to say correct and he banned it from being on the first DVD because well no the first DVD the first printing it was on there and then he executed

[00:14:12] a thing in his contract that said that it would only be shown on the internet so then they didn't have them on the DVDs anymore so then the ones with the force Whitaker one became really valuable then now they're then they eventually did a DVD with them back

[00:14:26] he had I guess they figured out with him and now these shorts are available again because there are a thousand video but there was like a period where these were really hard to watch and fine the one car why one is excellent

[00:14:36] I think they're all pretty good the one car why one is yeah that's the best one this one is fun and a Frank and I remember when I don't remember very well yeah the thing is got was really good the thing that's really interesting about this one the chosen is that

[00:14:51] the one that's directed by Guy Ritchie I forgot about that one that's the other one for yet that sucks yeah that one blows that sucks those chunks yeah

[00:15:01] the only one was interesting because it felt at this moment like oh maybe English has remade himself as just an action director

[00:15:10] like when you went like post crouching tiger pre-hulk yeah so when you just hear okay you just did crouching tiger which was like an art house action movie but then played like a blockbuster now he's going to make a big action film for you

[00:15:21] universal us and our naivete assuming that Hulk was going to be a conventional action movie right we were like maybe he is now a John Frankenheimer right you know maybe that's his new mold now so it felt like okay this is him like playing in that zone

[00:15:35] and now you watch this and you're like I don't know if you had this reaction but watching this short made me more excited for Gemini man now interesting because I'm like he hasn't played in a pure action I know he isn't just made like a fun genre movie

[00:15:49] and we talked so much about how fucking good the action is in crouching tiger and a lot of that's the choreography you have to give your credit right

[00:15:58] but that movie is he has such a good understanding of how to construct an action set piece in terms of coverage in terms of editing and even sound mixing and score and all those things

[00:16:08] and then this is another short where it's just like his fucking car chase is just so clean and sparse you know an economic and effective where you're just like I kind of want to see him like shoot guys punching each other again

[00:16:22] like I want to see if he still got this punch guy shooting each other I'd love to see him punch guy shooting each other Ben like that hey Ben did you watch this little short movie no cool so you would say you're you did not choose it

[00:16:37] no hey David yeah I got a quick question for you do you like diving deep into the director's complete filmography absolutely I've actually been known to do that once in a while but certainly not on microphone

[00:16:51] well okay more important question can you quote Kevin Bacon's best film tremors word for word sure probably I mean because you are a big bacon you like to put a little bacon on the dish

[00:17:01] on the dish I like to put a little bacon on the dish that's right David I got great news for you yeah because those are two things you like doing yes and because you have no outlets to do them on your own podcast

[00:17:13] what if I could recommend a podcast for you to listen to okay the storm of spoilers podcast is for you David look it started out as a show about Game of Thrones that's true much like every show started out as a show about Game of Thrones

[00:17:28] or some other extended franchise right or a serial parody but it's become a podcast that now covers all of your pop culture obsessions

[00:17:37] from Star Wars a thing we never talk about on this podcast the complete works of Carrie Fukunaga something we probably won't have reason to talk about maybe four or five years from now

[00:17:45] give him a couple more yeah and then we can talk about him some podcast takes several episodes to cover directors, filmography, lame sounds too long extended unsustainable your host at Storm of Spoilers have been known to cram it all into one saves time save money

[00:18:02] listen to a podcast at ten times the speed it's like the Geico podcasting right here's the thing David I'm going to tell you this very secretly okay

[00:18:08] the name storm of spoilers is upon on George R. R. Martin's book oh yeah the storm of swords I read it much like Logan's a western

[00:18:17] and while the show does like the dig into behind the scenes info it's not an all spoilers podcast anymore it's a good storm now okay like Oromunro the best storm master thief yeah not like these hurricanes they're bad like Ruben Carter no matter what

[00:18:35] wait a second Storm of Spoilers host Neil Miller Joanna Robinson Joe Rowe friend of the show and Dave Gonzalez are always unflinchingly honest in their coverage of the film and TV you can't live without sometimes they cheer and sometimes they denounce B

[00:18:51] I feel like the person who wrote this might have liked our show a little bit I have no idea what you're talking about it's available now on iTunes Stitcher and wherever you're already downloading podcasts like blank check with Griffin and David oh yeah that's a good one

[00:19:01] the BMW 540 I is the car featured in this film because in the second season it's all the same car but in this one I think each movie had a different car

[00:19:12] they had to showcase them yeah and they really don't like besides the fact that these are centered around like car chases a car stunts it's not like there are scenes where it's like oh I love this leather interior no that's the thing that they don't do

[00:19:23] that was what was revolutionary there's not some scene where suddenly they're just driving for a bit like in between scenes yeah and Clive Owens like yeah you know this power steering and you see him use the different features

[00:19:35] like the car is really just sort of like a central prop it was a good idea whoever thought of this boosted their sales so fucking because right it was just basically the memo is like cool people drive BMWs

[00:19:46] right also this is the time when BMW sponsored James Bond and so Pierce Brosnan but Pierce Brosnan's Bond drives BMW for three Bond movies which in Britain was seen as basically like a national embarrassment

[00:19:59] really fury that we he was driving a German car it was like so bad and when he the Aston Martin came back I think for in die another day people were like oh thank God like oh Britain really was on the rocks there

[00:20:11] and did BMW still made his ice parasel for yeah I think BMW got yeah got bumped down to parachute ice parasel but is that what he does he like windsurfs on the ice

[00:20:25] I think no he windsurfs because remember it's like there's ice and then there's this sun laser that like vaporizes the ice and so he like yeah it jacks and he rides like a tsunami with a parasailing thing

[00:20:36] right but that was my job but it's like the CGI is him you know a little dot and then you cut to Pierce Brosnan just sort of going like yeah like this like it be clearly like one day at a green screen just like wobble around

[00:20:48] and you're also like oh he's 60 now he's an older man yeah you know it's easier I think to film older men doing practical fight choreography because they can make it part of the character that they're moving a little slower

[00:21:02] yeah but when you have them do crazy CGI stuff you're just like my dad wouldn't do that you know and you know Brosnan is the last bond and he is the all bonds until Brosnan were this way we're like he's just a person

[00:21:16] yeah Craig is the one where you're like oh it feels like if I punched him my my hand would shatter like he's made of iron right like he's sort of like built and like it's probably only going to get more so the other part of that is that like

[00:21:29] Craig kind of plays him like a psychopath which makes him scary Craig has cold dead eyes the other bonds were not scary no well Connery is scary I would say he's quite scary the others are I would say he's threatening versus scary

[00:21:43] no Connery is a psycho Connery's crazy like the thing where he tosses the toaster in the bathtub I mean he does he does shit in those movies that's crazy and he's just like

[00:21:53] you know the difference is that he like sort of like raises his eyebrow at the end a little bit right gives DreamWorks more is quite quite soft and lovely you know and not so scary yeah Mr.

[00:22:04] Prickle and Brosnan mostly is just quippy but he does have moments where he's a little nasty and you're like oh you forgot Mr. Prickle Pan

[00:22:12] Dalton yeah yeah he's he's intense he was before Craig was seen as the Steely Bond right yeah because mostly because he made that movie where he just murders people yes license to go zodiac right

[00:22:25] let's just talk about James Bond yeah I mean this movie I don't know it's like yeah it's a mason Lee Ang Lee son right plays a little like Dalai Lama Esk you know chosen boy

[00:22:37] Daniel Craig drives him around I mean Craig yeah Clive Owen right which is this feels like the one that may be transporters ripping off the most because the first transporter is the young girl right

[00:22:49] and that juxtaposition makes it a little more interesting than the other ones where it's like you have a kid in there and he's sort of like not really suited to be dealing with a kid

[00:22:58] kid gives him a small box it's going to be important later it's going to be important later and then but the kid is some sort of new spiritual deity a Dalama right

[00:23:09] drops him off and sees that the guy he's handing the kid off there's a car chase first and say gone I mean it's hard to describe a car chase it's good well there's that one thing where the guy shoots the one bullet I guess that's kind of cool

[00:23:18] but it's like good clean practical action film making and then right he takes him to the guy and the guys I go thank you but can't fool the driver right he notices that the boots are off right he's bringing like cowboy boots right yeah

[00:23:32] and he's like something odd is going on here so then the driver after what feels like that should have been the happy ending sort of cases the joint realizes they're about to inject the kid with purple goo yeah

[00:23:42] I mean these things are light on plot yeah light on detail very very little dialogue like there's stylistic because the idea is the driver barely talks right he's almost silent right he does say a little bit right he saves the kid but in the process his ear gets

[00:23:58] he's rescued the kid he goes back to the car he opens up the box what's inside the box Hulk band aid and Ang Lee is like wingy wink wingy wink

[00:24:06] by BMW goodbye yeah I made definitely millions of dollars to do this goodbye but that's why I'm saying this feels like a statement of intent where it's like here comes Ang Lee fucking action filmmaker I'm staying in this lane baby

[00:24:20] I'm using an action short to point to their afters Babe Ruth calling my shot here comes another beloved action classic and then it's like familial sins of the father psycho drama

[00:24:32] you the the Hulk's a great movie the Hulk's a great movie yeah um I just I just sort of love that but I do think like because we've said like what the fuck is Gemini man like not in a derisive way but like why is he doing that

[00:24:46] yeah I don't know I mean apart from the appeals of the tech like the de-aging which and and also I I got a scoop which I shared with you guys recently that I'm not going to say on Mike because it's private information

[00:24:58] but have heard now some intel about the shit that makes a little sense where let's just put it this way Ang Lee's up to his old tricks he's not dropping his crazy tech anytime maybe he is up to good

[00:25:07] I actually what it um I didn't really like a pain read anything about Gemini man what does it have to do with horoscopes

[00:25:17] I honestly maybe it has a lot to do with horoscopes I really don't know what if it's actually just a romantic comedy about the guy who writes the horoscopes

[00:25:26] I'll be into that yeah um I just think like oh after Billy Lynn if he still is on this kick of trying to revolutionize filmmaking maybe the way he gets to do that now isn't in a blank check way where he can apply the technology to whatever he wants

[00:25:42] maybe he has to sign on to big studio package films right and then use that as a vehicle to push his shit which to me I just go like I feel I feel a little bit of a sense of loss of a this is a man very connected with a place Ang Lee into the this is a man who's trying to shatter the window of cinema Ang Lee

[00:26:06] right because I do think he was one of the great I don't mean to put it in the past tense but is capable of being one of the great like

[00:26:15] evoking a real sense of place and feeling David is turning around I'm aware now he's gonna say speaking of yeah yeah you know I'm saying that like my my one semester of film school

[00:26:26] semester and change sure James Benning who's like I can't imagine you college I was so bad at it how are you at like showing up to class so good at it really so I did I did yeah I did a full first semester right

[00:26:43] and I killed it and at the end of it I was like I'm losing my mind called my parents was like I'm dropping out they were like

[00:26:49] not so fast right I came back home for the holidays then went back for another semester and was there for two months and was a disaster

[00:26:57] like then I was a disaster didn't show up to class stayed under the covers like watching Bob Newhart show and drinking Mike's heart lemonade

[00:27:04] and I was just like a fucking mess watching the Bob Newhart show so not Newhart the Bob Newhart show the therapist one that's good the better one the better one

[00:27:14] drinking Mike's hard lemonade correct just drink lemonade or vodka no sir that's just poison that's a real griff don't put sugar in the mix

[00:27:24] it was a real griff drink this was sad 19 year old griff yeah but I was yeah I was a disaster then I couldn't imagine you like writing a term paper

[00:27:35] here's the thing so what about a beauty shop thing Jesus alright yeah I blocked that out completely I had a class where we had to write a paper every single week

[00:27:47] and I was so good at them but it was like I had the free period right between lunch and that class and I would literally write it after lunch like I just be like you have 35 minutes

[00:28:01] nice and I would write this like three page paper and I got like really fucking good grades on like better than this is the one thing you have to understand is I like came to school and everyone was like you're good

[00:28:11] like I got there and all the teachers are like you're you're you're good and I was like oh shit I'm like the golden boy and then I bottomed out so fucking hard

[00:28:24] but I wrote like four different term papers on the whiz and got like a pluses on all of them which was like my big point of pride

[00:28:32] but the thing I was gonna say was there was a class I really wanted to take and they wouldn't let me take it because they were like we tried to save this for juniors and seniors

[00:28:39] and I was like I don't know if I'm gonna be here this long but do you know James Benning right yeah right who's like an experimental filmmaker and his big thing is he'll make a movie like like R.R. which is his railroad movie

[00:28:50] and it's just a series of shots of train tracks that are interrupted by the train coming and it's like repeated like set ups and you don't know how long you're gonna have to wait for the train and stuff like that

[00:29:01] and he used to teach a class called looking and listening that was he would take the class and bring them to a location and they would just stay in that location for like two hours

[00:29:10] and no one could speak and you just had to look and listen to everything like I'm gonna take you to a mountaintop

[00:29:17] and I was always like I kind of love that that's a class at a film school is one of the things that made me want to go to this school that I shouldn't have gone to in the first place

[00:29:24] was the idea of like it's just as important as the technical stuff to have a really strong sense of a place and environment and a vibe and all of that

[00:29:32] and really make you look focus in on that and Ang Lee up until he started becoming crazy with technology was like one of the best living filmmakers at that love the space

[00:29:42] right and like you go to Brokeback and you're like I feel that fucking mountain in the same way that you like Kugan's doing a lot of lifting there Steve Kugan I mean that's a great performance but I'm saying he knows how to shoot that performance

[00:29:52] I'm not letting that dumb joke die in the same way that like the houses and ice storm feel like very well observed and the countryside's a sense of sensibility

[00:30:00] and I feel a sense of loss in him going into a very digital world because something like life of pie it's like him creating an environment rather than him being able to really feel an environment and how to capture it but who knows who knows

[00:30:16] who knows where we go I'm very excited for Gemini man partly the Ang Lee of it all but partly just like I'm so thirsty for like a successful Will Smith project me too and we love Will and we haven't got to talk about him much on this show

[00:30:31] no after Earth is that the only one and we talk about in Black 2 all the time that might be the only movie of his we've covered and I think a well we're gonna have more chances soon I bet always excited for a potential big willy comeback

[00:30:48] and oh Suicide Squad that's a new I knew there was another one yeah and also it's exciting when there's a big budget original action film it is so rare which used to feel like a Will Smith thing even if it's based off a short story

[00:31:01] something that doesn't have a built-in fan base where you get to build something they've supported cast as cool is Clive Owen in that I believe so yes and Mary Elizabeth Winstead yes it's got cool people in it or you know people like to work with me right

[00:31:16] Gemini man let's see it's October Mary Elizabeth Winstead Clive Owen Benedict Wong Oh who doesn't love Benedict we should get him on I we met him once we met him once he weirdly here's a fact that will blow everyone's minds one of our least liked episodes talking mall

[00:31:33] recorded live at the party space at the upper-incense brigade in Pro Festival the worst place to record a podcast not great yeah Benedict Wong was in the audience he was because he's all buddies with the witch Peter Serfina which okay my big blue friends

[00:31:49] and yeah he just like came up to us while we were getting ready yeah it's just like oh like a Peter big hug like let's go get sushi filming in Fendi war in Atlanta yeah and he has a ride on Downey Junior's private jet

[00:32:05] he was like anyone else want to go to New York he just picked yeah apparently Downey Junior was just like hey I'm going up to New York who wants a ride right right it was like him and Ruffalo and a couple other guys on the Downey Express

[00:32:16] and then we just talked to him for a bit afterwards and we were both like so star Trek because that's our favorite kind of character actor

[00:32:23] we love him I love him I've loved him since Sunshine I think is probably the first time I've noticed him in a movie he'd been in things like

[00:32:29] look around you like little British comedy thing he made it and the Serfina which well no the way they know each other they did the Star Trek thing together they did Star Trek live they did like Star Trek on the on the west end in England

[00:32:40] yeah he was Sulu and I think Peter was Kirk no he was the head Klingon oh that's right yes Peter was the villain Peter was the villain yes and and Bandicked Wong was Sulu and they've been friends since then

[00:32:51] yeah it was so funny because Bandicked Wong was just like we were like what's the vendors like how is that he's just like oh crazy mate it's great oh run it around he's literally like stroking his long Wong beard like he's got the long long like chin beard

[00:33:07] a good time that was yeah okay so he's gonna be on our next episode let's get him on German I mean he's our guest on parent trap okay so let's before we wrap let's do our angley lists yes you got yours

[00:33:19] figure it out okay I'm gonna let you go first and I'll have my list my angley there's 13 films I believe right not a 13 dangerous 13 number should I go third bottom to top or top to bottom let's go top to bottom

[00:33:35] okay number one crouching tiger hidden dragon wow number two sense and sensibility unsurprising number three eat drink man woman number four broke back mountain number five the ice storm okay number six Hulk I'll take it number seven wedding banquet number eight ride with the devil

[00:33:53] number nine life of pie number 10 lust caution all of those are movies I love sure you know I mean like maybe like rides pie love caution or movies I like a lot sure number 11 pushing hands number 12

[00:34:09] Billy Lynn's long halftime walk bring up the rear taking woodstock wow okay number one Hulk wow what a surprise stunned something you like that movie a little bit a little bit number two I go broke

[00:34:31] back by a hair sure by a hair but then crouching tiger I mean those are maybe almost tired for me uh number oh no I'm sorry I'm sorry I go Hulk then ice storm yeah I thought ice storm would be your

[00:34:43] number yes I'm sorry it's Hulk then ice storm then broke back then crouching tiger sure then I go eat drink man woman sure then I go number six I go wedding banquet sure you like that one

[00:35:00] then lust caution which really has grown for me since we watched it outrageous above sense and then I go sense and sensibility then I go I go life of pie sure then ride with the devil

[00:35:15] sure then you know then you got your grab bag at the end there right I think my order for the grab bang grab bang Jesus Christ I think my order for the grabbing me that was funny

[00:35:31] I think my order is pushing hands then Billy Lynn then we have the same balance right you have to give Billy Lynn some credit for at least being a crazy experiment I agree even if it doesn't necessarily

[00:35:45] work that much better dramatically although the good moments in Billy Lynn are better than the best moments in taking what's taking what's not has no highs taking what's talk is the obvious bottom

[00:35:55] right Billy Lynn at least has big swings and there are the couple moments that really work I agree yeah Billy Lynn is too interesting to be bottom yeah taking what stock suffers from a lack of

[00:36:05] interesting that yeah and pushing hands gets the top of the grab bag because it has the scene where the grandpa plants himself in the kitchen and won't move yeah it's a pretty good scene

[00:36:15] it could be pushing hands gets blotted for just being a movie with like a beginning middle in it like you know like it has that over Billy Lynn where you're like yeah well I mean I know what happened

[00:36:25] in that movie and it all made sense and it was fine do you know that if you don't turn off the the DVD for Billy Lynn it just literally goes on forever really yeah what do you mean at the

[00:36:36] end of the credits it just starts up with the next day in Billy Lynn's life and it just keeps on Billy Lynn is like space it's literally just infinite ever expanding yeah ever expanding

[00:36:50] do you uh yeah your dad so by talking the walk oh talking the walk shirts your dad created we've sold dozens I don't understand this I think we're at the point right now we're like starting to get

[00:37:01] to the too big to fail moment where we're just going to start farting out shirts at everything and then there's going to be the one humongous collapse yeah I'm sure we'll figure out a way

[00:37:08] to fail but but for the time being we got we got some things in the hopper for the holiday season yep we're gonna time it out with one of the uh the t public sales yes because they'll do big

[00:37:20] like holiday sales so we'll have a bunch of new shirts coming at a time where it will be affordable and you can buy them for the blankies in your life we've got a couple good designs I think

[00:37:27] people once people have been asking for for a while yeah yeah we got stuff from the great Joe Bowen uh uh he's not the father of blankies but he's the father of his daughter well I don't know if

[00:37:39] you should say that yeah we blank that out or maybe keep it in double uh um but big congratulations on becoming a father Joe big congrats to him um and and I've said it before but I'll say it

[00:37:49] again people like Joe Bowen people like and who've been working for the show forever they get a good healthy cut of those t-shirts out we wrote up a contract

[00:37:59] and we were like this is a revenue source for us to be able to keep paying them yeah um so just know if you if you buy merch you're you put money in Joe's pocket you're helping send his daughter

[00:38:08] to college the the blank check millions uh now next week yeah is it confirmed I think let's confirm it okay okay we're we're gonna do two two specials before we get to Nancy I know everyone's

[00:38:23] thirsty for Nancy there was a lot of hand wringing about the order of these things because we have two things we want to do and we just figured we've done that in the past let's

[00:38:30] get back to that Nancy will be uninterrupted other this way right otherwise we're gonna have to interrupt her yes uh first off the final sibling choice episode my brother feeling excluded has demanded a blank check episode yes so we'll be doing a James's choice in which I probably

[00:38:51] would not call him Jamesy on Mike because I think he's embarrassed that I call him that so much on this podcast right James has picked the movie space sham yes which was sort of the one

[00:39:00] movie we thoroughly agreed on as children because he likes basketball and I like bugs bunny we'll talk about space jam we'll talk about space and a lot of context talk on that one you think i'm

[00:39:09] joking a lot of context talking I'm shuddering at the math the idea okay it's not gonna be some nostalgia critic fucking circle juror no we're gonna we're gonna do a hard probing look oh god

[00:39:23] at the crass commercialism of space jam okay and then the following week we're doing we're doing a new release we haven't done one in a while and usually we only do them for our franchises our

[00:39:36] old director friends but then sometimes we just do a jack richard episode right and there's a film here that you feel like it's important to talk about I think so and it's a rare debut blank check

[00:39:49] I think so yeah we gotta talk about it we're talking star is born baby we're gonna do a whole episode and Bradley Cooper star is born the film that you predict is gonna win him the oscar for best

[00:39:58] actor I do I stand by the day on the record yep a good call for you to make before you saw the film and now you're looking more and more correct i'm looking good right now you're looking

[00:40:06] real pretty yeah uh your bags are glowing uh huh so next week space jam with jamesy newman yep following week star was born week after that the parent trap and then we're off with Nancy

[00:40:20] mm-hmm Nancy anything else you want to say about um no i've enjoyed living in his film oh it's been great but it's been a long long run with on it's been a long run and it's

[00:40:31] been even longer because we sort took a big break for filming in between we recorded like 60 percent yeah that's true so it took us a while to get him we started recording on in

[00:40:40] like march yeah which is crazy and now we're in september coming up the end of september and we're just finally putting him to bed um but it's been a pleasure i mean what what a weird

[00:40:50] fucking philography david smiling he's great i love him i'm glad we did him like i'll smile i knew he'd be fun and he was he's probably more fun than i thought he would

[00:41:01] be yeah and we we always wanted to yeah um should i announce this here i don't know our live event or do we feel like it's not officially been announced let's just say we have a live event in

[00:41:12] the works yes related to the ang Lee mini series and we're excited to announce that as soon as we can right keep your eyes post on social media yes but a lot of a lot of blanks you know you

[00:41:25] ask about when we're gonna do live events again when we're gonna do this one we're gonna do that we got some i'm really excited about coming up gonna be great yeah it's gonna be great it's

[00:41:32] gonna be great to look forward to that buy or talk in the walk shirts tune into uh talking to walk 2019 you can look forward to that a year from now uh and uh i don't know anything else has been

[00:41:45] been fun of loss i try well yeah i tried to write some more fake advertisers oh oh not good though but let's let's let's hear him okay guys we got some sponsors we should here shouldn't

[00:42:02] forget to mention because the sponsors love to advertise on the bonus yeah of course yeah uh so guys there's be keep be keep yeah you're trying to find local beekeepers in your area

[00:42:15] this this makes it so easy to find them and to get them to your home or your place in business bees no the keepers the keepers themselves right the keepers of the bees although the bee is my

[00:42:29] follow you have obviously man i think about how many promos ben has had to listen to not just our show but yeah so buddy we recorded a bunch of ads right before this and ben said we had just hit the 50

[00:42:39] mark doing 50 ad reads wow that's insane so then you think about like for snookies you must be up to 4 000 yeah it's a lot all right what else what are other sponsors well of course then guys

[00:42:50] of course you got the bar short on money and you're thirsty classic situation what are you gonna do well with zipper you can connect with people who have drinks no e i assume right s i

[00:43:02] oh of course s i p pr two p's and now also it's a beta but there's a new sort of like offshoot called bumper and that's more of like for illicit substances that's a good bump go about how do

[00:43:16] these apps work they hook you up with people who can sound illegal like sipper you're sitting at a bar i just want to investigate the internal logic please sitting at a bar you have no cash nothing you

[00:43:26] take out your phone you download zipper what happens next then you find someone in the bar who will let you have take a little sip just a sip so you gotta sip so the app tells you other

[00:43:36] sipper users who are at the bar yeah and if they're on the app it means that they're willing to let anyone else come and take just us and then if you seamlessly give them like a dollar

[00:43:49] of course a dollar per cent i mean it's actually not a bad economy good little microtransaction okay okay what else we got our final sponsor is him so thank you all for listening please remember

[00:44:01] to rate review subscribe david's left david wow just hanging out just actively full body email checking really putting his shoulders into it thanks to ang for good for our social media joe

[00:44:16] bonapet rounds for artwork laymonk gunry for our theme song go to blankie's i read that come for some real nerdy shit check out our merch on t public yep and as always beat fighting demand

[00:44:28] would have been a better one to set wait what beach body on demand oh how about uh beef body oh yeah see that's good okay beef body on demand you can turn your body into beef

[00:44:40] thank you for calling the burger report hotline 802 eight burger please leave a message with your famous type of burger and location and we will try to put it on the podcast if we can

[00:44:50] that's 802 eight burger hey i'm calling to leave a burger report this happened on July 22nd of this year 2018 steve harwell of the band smash mouth happened to come into the restaurant where i

[00:45:07] work the orchard city kiffin in cambell the orchard city of california he came in on a sunday morning for brunch and ordered himself our loco moco which is technically it involves a burger

[00:45:23] patty um it's a burger patty served over rice with egg and mushroom shallot gravy it was a lovely meal he came in tipped well nice guy it was a good time and uh yeah he came in he ate that

[00:45:36] burger patty all good it was effectively like a protein style burger yeah that's a good day good time thanks for keeping this open have a good day hello my name is alejandro liarian my burger

[00:45:53] report goes back 20 years my family and i were vacationing in los angeles and we dropped into this 1950s restaurant that had a burger theme now mind you this was 20 years ago so i don't remember

[00:46:05] the name but we saw chris rock and he was dressed to the ninth in a sharp suit with sunglasses indoors he was with a friend and he looked like he was having a good time now i just want to mention

[00:46:18] he had just presented at the oscars he presented the special special effects oscar for titanic and i only bring up that detail because griffin had mentioned this in the titanic episode so yeah 1950s burgers wild do-do-do-do-do-do-do hey uh i don't know if this is the right number

[00:46:40] but uh i am currently watching uh Amelia Diaz the uh blankereacon eat a excellent looking burger at the uh kiff bell lightbox bar all right