[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 I do not like the men on this spaceship
[00:00:24] They are uncouth and fail to appreciate my better qualities I have something of value to contribute to this mission if they would only recognize it Today over lunch I tried to improve morale and build a sense of camaraderie among the men
[00:00:35] by holding a humorous, round robin discussion of the early days of the mission My overtures were brutally rejected These men do not want a happy ship They are deeply sick and try to compensate by making me feel miserable Last week was my birthday
[00:00:52] Nobody even said happy birthday to me Someday this podcast will be played And then they'll feel sorry It was too good an option not to do Because of how well- The podcast for tape? Right, right But I just want to share the other one I wanted to do
[00:01:12] Which, David- Ah fuck where was it? You would have had to give me the alternate lines here But the other one I wanted to do was What are you gonna name it? What? The new star, what are you gonna name it? Who cares, don't bother me
[00:01:28] Who cares, don't bother me The new podcast Because that is the first question right off the bat I want to get into this right off the bat Because David and I are texting about it But Ben and our guests have not been part of this conversation
[00:01:40] I'm a little bit curious to hear their opinion This is a podcast called Blank Check with Griffin and David I'm Griffin I'm David And it's a podcast about filmographies Directors who have massive success early on in their careers And are given a series of blank checks
[00:01:53] To make whatever crazy passion projects they want And sometimes they text clear and sometimes they bounce baby True And this is a new mini series On the films of John Carpenter And David texted me about two hours ago And said what are we gonna call it?
[00:02:09] What are we gonna call it? This baby just got born What are we gonna call it? He said what are we gonna call it And I didn't say I don't care I gave him two options And David seems to have a preference But I'm curious to hear
[00:02:20] I don't have a strong preference and I need to hear them out Said out loud and you guys can figure it out too We can all figure this out May I share an idea I'm having? Please How do we feel about the podcast?
[00:02:34] How about add one letter they podcast Oh, oh, baby They podcast is actually funny Actually that's pretty good I feel like this is the thing with you and I You love to just strangle it Into the most ridiculous, awful sounding I want to be sweating
[00:02:58] And pod and cast And just something that's great Puddle in little cast Well, well I think I have a better Just off the dome here I don't know I'm just spitballing I think I have a better angle on the same structure
[00:03:14] But yes, I like a Louis Armstrong title Where you're having to dab before head You're out of breath Yeah So you propose to me two options Say them out loud now Okay, option number one And well let's just say we're officially adding They podcast is option number three
[00:03:34] Okay, sure, yeah Option number one Podscape from new cast Which is the first one you propose to me With confidence I mean this is what I think I didn't buffer it and you just said wow I mean that sounds positive to me
[00:03:55] But my second, which I'm a little partial to My second pitch Pod, trouble in little cast Hey Pod, trouble in little cast Emily doesn't like it Emily looks disgusted Ben looked a little charmed I honestly feel like syllables are the key to this thing And I think
[00:04:15] You know, like turning China into cast Is that what you're saying Like turning two syllables into one I think it's like big trouble in little podcast I know that's not as spicy That's the thing where I don't mind a podcast the way I don't mind a clean sounding
[00:04:32] You just, you know, you gotta have the word podcast in there That's fine So like if you told me in the podcast of madness Or whatever You know like I'd be like there's something thematic there The podcast that's pretty funny
[00:04:46] Two times we've covered a filmmaker who has a movie title with Cast in it I have let you win I've let you come up with Podcast news and podcast away for the cleaner The cleaner option I wanted to do what pod to the future cast or fucking whatever
[00:05:04] But Future cast Future cast, you know a future cast I think I'm just kind of Into pod trouble I think pod trouble is funny We've all been in it before We've all been in pod trouble Do we think it feels like maybe Podscape from new cast
[00:05:22] Is the consensus option Oh yeah, that's the consensus option It sounds like everybody loves it Podscape Podscape from new cast Hmm Yeah, that's terrible because you're a cast I'm like mopping up the floor right now Like I Pod salt on cast sync 13 No, no, no No, no, no
[00:05:45] Get that out of here Griffin Dekeme No, no Dekeme Get that out of here You're Dekeme, you give me the wagon finger I just blocked that into the fifth row That's not allowed Let's percolate and we'll know by the end of the episode They podcast takes it
[00:06:02] They podcast is pretty I don't know I hate to like give Like I'm no unbiased And I came up with it But I do think it's the best idea I mean I'm going to suggest the dangerous thing The poll
[00:06:13] Should we do the Twitter poll and see at the end of the episode Where it stands Don't do a Twitter poll We've already learned our lesson We're not doing the No more Twitter polls I agree with that Twitter's good, Twitter's good What's the problem here?
[00:06:23] Also I'm not on Twitter anymore So I won't be able to participate I'd only be able to like run a shadow campaign Which I'm starting right now To be clear I was telling Emily before we recorded How much good is shit she's been missing on Twitter
[00:06:36] Yeah, oh, oh yeah Sounds cool Sounds chill and very like understandable Like logical emotion Like I can follow the emotional through line Even keel, very even keel Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah Our guest today is of course The mother of blankies herself Emily Yoshida
[00:06:55] Oh my god, hello my little babies And there are two big things I need to set up Emily's coming in hot today Emily's got like Well now it's 10 in the morning I was gonna say it's 9 in the morning But some time passed But I mean not to
[00:07:14] You know, I don't know if we're trying to Like keep this under wraps But I am actually in person Here in my Hollywood Hills Nance with the produr himself Ben Hosley Hello, producer Ben So that's if I sound a little bit like Charged or like there's an electricity
[00:07:34] Over here in LA It's for that reason Chronologically other episodes will have come out At this point chronologically This is the first time one of us has been In the same room with anyone else For a record Yeah, yes And it's We've had an eventful morning
[00:07:52] We've discovered the whole like thing of Like well actually when you record by yourself At home it's just like you just turn it on And go as like having multiple people in a room It's complicated and things come up And you need adapters and wires and whatnot
[00:08:06] But we made it And luckily I invested in like an audio studio Is worth of like XLRs and adapters and stuff here At the beginning of the pandemic So it's like I guess I'm just doing this For the rest of time but
[00:08:21] We should also mention just to explain Energy at play that Emily had a near death Experience making coffee this morning I texted Ben who was like I'm gonna come at 8.50 in the morning I was like oh god damn okay I guess I'll make coffee smiley face
[00:08:37] And then I like proceeded to have a I was telling that Griffin David like Was having a who friend Roger Rabbit Asked experience in the kitchen this morning Involving scalding water And broken pots Cleavers narrowly missing you Forming an outline of your body against the wall behind you
[00:08:58] You got locked in the fridge at one point Yeah it's uh yeah so Baby's crawling on a hot stove top My baby um Yeah so I'm the adrenaline is running high over here And then I was running extremely late You know I'm already really living up to that
[00:09:19] LA sort of life of just like Being delayed because of traffic You know the traffic I mean Oh boy don't get me started We were on the um I don't remember the name of the road You're probably on the 134 That sounds right okay Terrible traffic oh man god
[00:09:38] And just wanted to say my Uber driver Scary Yes sounds scary Driver You described him and how you felt like He was putting your life at risk And I asked you if he was a Toretto And I said I want to Right off the bat because of this
[00:09:56] Say two things and then we will get into the meat of this episode John Carpenter's debut film Dark Star But one Ben you come on to this zoom Not from Emily's house but in Emily's driveway Wearing sunglasses Clear blue California sky behind you
[00:10:15] On your phone just going like hey guys what's up I think it is time to Also being like hey Emily do I have to do something to the door to get in Like making weird like On Vogue
[00:10:25] It was really and then I came out with my laptop already logged into the zoom And then we had double Ben on the feed Double screens look It was really a Dark Star as Benagall And then Ben ended the whole meeting Yeah He closed the whole zoom
[00:10:40] And transmission None of us remember how to be In the same room as another person We've all forgotten yes But I just want to say I do think this occasion It calls for it because this trip really seems to have been transformative for Ben
[00:10:55] A new nickname I think he is perhaps now Hosley Wood Ooh Ben Hosley Wood I like that Okay I'm into that But this is the other order of business I want to get off Right off the bat Before we dig into Carpenter Ben has of course graduated
[00:11:13] To a series of different titles across the course of different minis Wait no I'm not doing the full list I didn't do all the fucking nicknames But it is just a fact It is a fact it must be acknowledged
[00:11:24] He has graduated to certain titles of the course of different minis Such as Obi-Ben Kenobi Ben Nite Shaman Ben Sate Say Ben anything dot dot dot Well I'll take this opportunity to say Ailey Ben's with a dollar sign Oh thank you Again we kind of rushed into this
[00:11:40] No sorry continue No I'm struggling to remember Warhaw's Okay sure But yeah I didn't really get to Check the wiki Check the wiki Mr. Ben Credible Eat Drink Ben Hosley Ben 19 the Fettlemaker Lovely home I wish I could show you the kitchen Banglish
[00:11:58] It's in a bit of a state of disarray right now You forgot a Purdue Bain Purdue Bain RoboHaws We're really down to Tentas now People may be just struggling here What was the Nancy Meyers one The Hosleday The Hosleday And the thing is it's still public Ben Amuse
[00:12:16] Public Ben Amuse of Farn I like Hosleywood I like the idea that instead of me Having gone Hollywood Is with you know a big through line Of last beginning of pandemic last year Really that's what we've done I feel more comfortable having gone Hosleywood Ben Hosley met Sally
[00:12:35] Yeah that was good The super life of Ben I mean I've been doing pretty good I've had some really good food People are going to love listening to this Funny I'll bring down the nickname part Way and then Okay we're going to mix
[00:12:50] We're going to mix the shit out Oh yeah no People can If they want They'll have a separate cart Where they can hear just that Guys I'm going to be honest My brain is starting to break Can't do all this stuff It's great No I can't do it
[00:13:06] Did we ever come up with Elaine May Don't have Elaine May Or Singleton ones that I know Okay I was just going to say Singleton is Ben's and the Hos done Fair enough okay sure Ben's and the Hos let's just get it over with
[00:13:18] Can the nickname be the same Draw from the same material As the miniseries name though I think so You think you're just making it We're putting that in the chat That's my official decree Okay Uh huh I don't know what Elaine May What's Elaine May
[00:13:38] New Leaf doesn't feel like there's anything there Ben-ish tar It's sweaty The Hos break kid The Hos break kid Yeah sure that's what it is But also weigh in guys Feel free to clean up our mess here But I think Ben's and the Hos
[00:13:55] Let's just keep it easy right I think we can do better than that But I do not think now is the time He used to spell his name with a Z He put Z at the end of it Ben's and the Hos Yeah that's true
[00:14:09] Maybe if it chains into like one of the names I feel like we haven't done that But work that out Ben of course has rebranded in 2021 To be all about chains and bones Not that there was one thing before
[00:14:22] He's wearing a literal hat that says bones right now Let's say he's wearing a hat that says bones And the letters are made out of bones Wait is this a congratulations production It is not I wish I could claim credit for it
[00:14:36] So somebody just really had your number Yup That's great I love it It's just like my personal brand Let's also mention Emily is wearing a directed Music by John Carpenter hat Music by Yeah thanks to the folks at Super Yockey It's great that we are all wearing
[00:14:53] Like really visually important articles of clothing For this audio format I'm wearing a 4K hat and an Orco t-shirt Just fucking self parody I know we've been on for many years But surely there's some new listener tuning in Being like oh they're covering John Carpenter
[00:15:12] I love the films of John Carpenter 20 minutes in they're just like Why would anyone listen to this show David let me tell you something John Carpenter was born on January 16th, 1948 To Milton Jean and Howard Carpenter and Carthage, New York Yes he was born in the North Country
[00:15:29] That's true So we're just going to hard pivot into Carpenter facts Correct John Carpenter by the way A winner of our March Madness this year That's why we're covering him Obviously a long time mold candidate for us Yes, long time coming
[00:15:45] And in our completely flawless March Madness tournament This year that had no hiccups No problems No problems and it was so normal where we pitted All the host choices against each other Who of course was John Carpenter Being championed by but Mr. Ben Hosley The People's Champion Yes
[00:16:03] So Ben this is your series in a way This is Ben's choice It's really it's like a long time coming Please Emily what's up No I was going to say but you haven't seen the inaugural film Which I was very excited for you to see personally
[00:16:19] Like I just knew Okay so I want to clear something up also Like this is like through the fog of war From the March Madness tournament But I know that maybe some fans are out there Like why is Emily kicking off this series
[00:16:32] She campaigned pretty hard against Carpenter And this is the spirit of March Madness I love John Carpenter I'm wearing a freaking John Carpenter hat right now I have his albums in my cabinet I have a fucking Dark Star poster on my wall Like I love him
[00:16:49] And I just feel like he's a very over discussed filmmaker But that does not mean that I'm not excited to hear you guys discuss it Because I know it'll be different But also this movie I feel like is under discussed
[00:17:02] So that's why I wanted to lay claim to it Let's also say like a majority or at least a large Quotient of the people who picked other competitors in March Madness Are going to be guests in this miniseries Like there is not animosity in the Blank Check community
[00:17:22] People had their champions but they understood Most of us like most of these filmmakers Yes It's all goodwill all around All low And there's like I mean if it wasn't Dark Star There would be like five other movies I would have But you said you wanted Dark Star
[00:17:42] Yeah what are some other faves for you I think that they live would probably be my next top choice I think that's my favorite carpenter It's definitely the one I've seen the most And I just think it has a very interest Its legacy continues to evolve
[00:18:03] So I think that's always interesting to get into But yeah big trouble in little China Oh yeah god what a fun like I mean you guys are going to have so much fun Like I'm being a party pooper over
[00:18:18] I think this is going to have a great time No you're not being a party pooper Because I think like with my picks Like carpenter by far was like I think Probably the most populist And just like I feel like he's just like an all around
[00:18:34] Guy that so many people can get behind But I think we're really going to We've got a researcher team now We're going to be coming in hot with new hot takes In facts So I think we have like good guest pairings For these movies
[00:18:51] And Ben many months ago you and I went to A drive-in double feature in the pandemic Of Robocop and Escape from New York A very griffon Ben Knight And it was in the midst of March Madness And in between the two movies
[00:19:07] You turned to me and you said I feel a little guilty about the fact That John Carpenter's like steam rolling everything Is that going to be an uninteresting series Like you were sort of saying like Mr. Populous pick he has so many big movies They're so discussed
[00:19:19] Is that going to be an interesting pick And I was sort of saying to you like I think his films are very discussed And he is very discussed as a guy But within our format of covering everything And going week by week
[00:19:32] The arc of his career is very fascinating And it's particularly fascinating when you consider That he's a guy who's It's an arc we've not covered that much On this show which is like One insane outsize hit at the beginning of the career
[00:19:48] And then the rest of the career is failing To sort of reignite in that way He got to make movies that are very personal And are distinctive But you know he always openly complained about The fact that he had to like fight tooth and nail For everything
[00:20:03] He never got the budgets he wanted He never had another hit on the same level As Halloween He never had the studio support It is just kind of fascinating When you look at like the This movie which is a student film
[00:20:18] That then gets expanded to get a theatrical release Right, that's a lot of the tension of this movie That we'll get into is that they Guy and Dana Bannon had made this 50 minute student short film That was in this nether realm
[00:20:32] Where they were like it's a little long for a short It's a little short for a feature It could either be the most incredible Like student calling card film of all time Or you can make it Shoot another half a footage And put it in theaters
[00:20:46] And they did and both of the guys Kind of regretted stretching it out To feature length And how they've talked about it in the decade since And it was like complete Like it was just, I mean I know that it had like a proper premiere
[00:21:00] In LA but like was it distributed Outside of LA or was it It's theatrical release here Mostly after Halloween though Had it's little release before But after Halloween they brought it back out In like 1979 With like Post-alien so they could advertise it as
[00:21:18] Writer of Alien, director of Halloween You know, there was a space movie They both made and that's how they They tried to sell it This movie is, oh sorry No I was just gonna say, I mean it sounds like It got a release but it was like
[00:21:32] A crappy kind of grind house release Right, yeah, but it did play It was distributed by a porn company But here's the thing Ali If you look at the reviews Most of the good reviews come from The re-release
[00:21:46] When it first came out most critics didn't even touch it Right, yeah I mean I It's funny that it got released After Alien, makes a lot of sense Cause I love this film Is like the first Carpenter film And I love it as like the primordial
[00:22:02] Soup of so much stuff to come I love it as a pre-alien movie It's Fascinating on that level Cause there's like so few examples of Essentially a comedy being Remade as a more Serious film, you know Like this movie has kind of the same
[00:22:20] Relationship in a way that like Airplane has to Zero hour Except it's the other way around Right, yeah That like they make this comedy Like Dan O'Bannon goes to One of the houses Where the movie is playing opening weekend with John Carpenter
[00:22:38] And they go to the manager and they're like Is the audience liking it? Like are they laughing? And the guy goes What audience? And they open the door It's like opening night, there are four people in the theater And they're stone silent
[00:22:50] And they realize that no one knew it Was a comedy And that when they released this The first time they had tried to like This crappy sort of porn distributor And they tried to in like an Ed Wood Style like You know, pre-packaging like sell the genre
[00:23:06] Elements, tried to sell it as Oh this is the next 2001 A space odyssey. So people went Assuming it was going to be this sort of Like A solemn meditation On space and then they just thought Oh this is bad rather than understanding It was intentionally Funny
[00:23:26] I mean it has a very Title suggests something More foreboding and Osteer than it is Like the first time I saw it I didn't know what to expect at all from it And I just thought it was going to be like a Scrappy, yeah like a scrappy
[00:23:42] Spooky space Movie which it is It's just like a very very different tone Than what one might expect I watched it last night for the first time And had that exact same experience where until It started I didn't realize it was a comedy
[00:23:56] I assumed that it was like Oh it's the bootstrappy like Look at how resourceful we are with Special effects and production values Movie but that it was a totally straight Serious Oh man, I loved it So yeah, I also just watched it
[00:24:12] Literally this morning for the first time The sense of humor is so Off-kilter I love it I love future stuff I mean I love the VFX Like again low budget Like all of the lettering All of the like screens they create for the Consoles it's like amazing Yeah
[00:24:34] But it's just like a weird Stoner like Space crew who are all kind of Like just like morose And like half dead It's hilarious I think it's so great It's a ship of Ben It's a real dirtbag spaceship Oh my god, yes It's like they just won't fix
[00:24:54] Parts of the ship and they've just given up on Life it's hilarious I mean it's just like I said like dirtbag spaceship and I was also thinking Of stuff like I don't know like Firefly and stuff like that while I was watching this
[00:25:06] And I was like but this is like Funnier because none of these Guys are being sold as cool Like it's just like this is actually how Depressing and how like Sapped of life you would be after 20 years In space and basically Like a like small
[00:25:22] Tunnel with like a toilet Yeah just like kind of Socks yeah so As right as we know this movie is written by Dan O'Bannon and carpenter right and O'Bannon Goes on to make Alien and Alien Is the movie where space is a job
[00:25:36] And these guys are blue collar But this is that Magnificent this is and carpenter what's His line where it's like it's about like what about how do you Like wash your underwear in space or whatever Right, right. Yeah, like you know that's what I
[00:25:48] Care about how do you clean your underwear when you're on a spaceship because he's seen 2001 he was like what's all this Religious mumbo jumbo No, I want to know about just Like having a day to day the fucking plumbing Like on the spaceship
[00:26:00] Well to roll back to sort of general Carpenter table setting For a moment I feel like Sort of go like what are drawn Carpenter is defining characteristics right He is like aggressively Unpretentious While being this guy who sort of did High-minded genre he always like Has been very
[00:26:20] Saucy and sort of spoken out Against other filmmakers and other popular Films of the time and sort of hates Any movie that's highfalutin And self serious there was a clip That that was being Circulated during March Madness when he was up Against my competitor Robert Altman
[00:26:36] Where he was just like fucking body Slamming Altman giving Him the people's elbow just saying like He's just like a lessy messy Lazy self indulgent like asshole He's like Talked a lot about Yeah, he also like There was a recent interview where he talked about how
[00:26:54] Like David Cronenberg Acts like he's like too classy For Carpenter now And he resents the fact that like Cronenberg Felt the need to like remake himself As a prestige filmmaker and all of that But you know aggressively unpretentious Aggressively unsentimental Very sort of politically
[00:27:12] Minded or you know at least sociopolitically Minded And incredibly resourceful Yes, although he's always like I'm resourceful because no one gives me any money Like I don't want to do all this shit Like he's also very unpretentious about His the fact that he edits and scores
[00:27:28] And you know he's like look if I could Pire Jerry Goldsmith I'd do it But no one ever pays me enough money I mean our research Research urge JJ Bird Pulled up in here this quote where he was like
[00:27:40] Not only saying like I only do the music because I'm cheap I only edit because I'm cheap But saying like I hate writing I wish I could never write a screenplay Ever Yeah, here's his line he said I would love to give up writing films
[00:27:54] I hate writing I hate editing I'm only doing it out of self defense Because there's no one else who can do it to my liking And the reason I've done the music on my films Is because I'm the cheapest and the best I know for the price
[00:28:04] But he's also just like one of the best Like I don't know And he's clearly proud of himself as a musician Like he does DJs as he releases albums He does concerts with his son He goes on tour and plays all of his soundtracks Yeah, I mean
[00:28:20] He has to at this point at least Have reappraised that because clearly I don't know I mean people love it His father had a PhD in music Was a session musician For big ass people Like Johnny Cash and Frank Sinatra Roy Orbison And his dad was
[00:28:40] An army band leader Organist and choir director principal Violinist and Nashville Symphony Like very kind of Tony musician background And Carpenter Started out with music at a very young age I think that was sort of push on him He took to it And then movies kind of became
[00:28:58] The hobby And it was sort of a coin flip Between movies and music for him Going to University of Kentucky Western Kentucky where His father taught And then he decided to Transfer to USC To do film So I mean he Music is not a dalliance for him
[00:29:20] I mean a very Ben fact about him Is that he was in a rock band called Kaleidoscope in Kentucky That just sounds like something Ben would do In the 70s or 60s or whatever But he's also He is this generation The first generation to grow up with
[00:29:36] Film cameras in the home You know he said African Queen was the first movie he saw Which is another interesting thing to consider That like oh right for so long kids movies Didn't really exist And the first movies kids would see when they were
[00:29:50] Four or five would be adult movies Would be Humphrey Bogart Like a fucking arguing with Catherine Hepburn Yeah And that's what your parents take you to But he also like The things he liked was Like he saw it came from outer space and that blew
[00:30:06] His mind right like things like that Like the thing from another world obviously Is King Kong right like you know it's The genre of movies that Kids could engage with right The earnest appreciation of genre Movies not like claiming them Like reclaiming them in
[00:30:24] Some sort of trash camp way but just like This is the world I want to live in Howard Hawks This is all time favorite guy Real Bravo is like his favorite movie of all time Which he sort of remakes with Assault on Precinct 13
[00:30:36] But he talked a lot about how like That's the filmmaker he wanted to be Like there interviews with him in 1978 Like right after Halloween An absolute peak of his career where he's like I'm out of step with all the filmmakers Of my generation and the industry
[00:30:50] At this time I wish I could be transported Back to the 1940s I wish I was a guy who could make five Videos a year for the studio and have Access to that equipment and those stars And all of that. Yeah it's funny
[00:31:04] He's a new Hollywood generation guy But not he's He feels a little anomalous. Yeah I mean when you think about like This coming out two years Before Star Wars or whatever And you know he goes on to make Stuff that's pretty populist but like
[00:31:20] In a completely different way Than like a Jaws or whatever Yeah this came out in 75 so it's like Yeah I mean It feels like both aware of that Wave of filmmaking And like completely On another like wavelength I don't know.
[00:31:38] I mean here's a really good quote from him Talking about like his love Of Howard Hawks right He said I believe shot should Tell the story first and foremost so much Because when you use the camera to express An emotion by an exaggerated Angle or something that's fine
[00:31:54] You have to do it because what's happening on screen Is not interesting or compelling enough Than you're in trouble. If people are talking That's more important than the director saying Hey look at me I'm a director I can do all this Who cares about that anyway
[00:32:06] The audience cares about what's on the screen Film school allowed me to grab the camera and zoom in And out and show off. I hate show-offs And I hate pretension. Like he's like I got all that experimentation out of my system
[00:32:16] You make the movie in the most like Direct clean way possible And you think about like against his contemporaries There's so much experimentation There's so much like very Visible in your face sort of like Style in new Hollywood Right you have all the still like runoff
[00:32:32] Of the the New velvah influence and you have These genre directors coming in Trying to reinvent the language and make everything Really splashy and also like push Forward special effects and he's just kind Of a guy who like gets it done That's also why it's funny he says
[00:32:48] He like doesn't like writing because I think I mean when you said that I was like I think I like John Carpenter as much If not more so as a writer Hard to agree As a director I mean like Whatever he's a great director but like
[00:33:02] I think that especially Funny Carpenter Is some of my favorite Shit in the world like writing wise And humor wise Timing wise all of that I don't know it's He's so funny and he's usually taken Years ahead of the joke in terms of Hollywood
[00:33:20] I feel like that is why so often He sort of Flops with the studios because He'll make a movie like big trouble in Little China and then like for years after Just be like nobody got what I was going for Above me people like who saw the movie
[00:33:34] Eventually got it you know what I mean but like The whole time the studio's like wait Why isn't this like Points to you know mainstream hit Like why isn't this like that I thought that's what you were giving us and he's like Oh no like that's boring
[00:33:48] Like and Dark Star this movie Feels like 50 years ahead Yeah like if this movie came out now And looked you know fancy or whatever But was the same like this would still be An insanely clever Bit of commentary on like This is an HBO Max original baby
[00:34:04] Yeah well oh god This movie would take it to the max Absolutely no but it is Interesting that he's like I wish I was in the 40s and then he makes all these Movies that don't get appreciated until like 10 or 20 years later He's like unmoored
[00:34:18] From the time he's making them and he's both Like behind and ahead Of the movements But it's also funny that he's like I hate this visual Like this splashy show option It's like dude you invented like You know voyeuristic Steady cam shots There's like all of your language
[00:34:36] Is like baked into modern cinema Like you could be a flashy director But he's not a I know what's the word He's just not like a braggy Director that's not quite the word I'm looking for Well he's not pretentious No when you think of like
[00:34:52] De Palma working at the same time Someone who's like really showing off His understanding of like Cinematic language he's not pretentious I mean you know like All these quotes JJ Pulled up all these interviews like From 1978 You know where he's just Shitting all over close encounters In 2001
[00:35:14] And he's like Spielberg fucked it up Like here you go make us flying saucer What's with all this like morose shit But this is the other thing we have to say This will come up in every episode I'm sure he is Hollywood's All-time shit poster
[00:35:28] He will just give an interview To Fangoria or who you know Like anyone who calls up basically and be Just growl at them He's been doing that since he was young He's not like he did that now in retirement He's gotten more salty He's always been salty
[00:35:44] He loves to be salty He's a salty old space dog Man I would have loved to have hung out with him When he was just like a chain smoking Young guy in the 70s He seems like he was such a character No of course but I'm just like
[00:35:58] To see him in his prime He just strikes me as such a like He's like a weird guy In that he's like very like artful Kind of a tough guy I don't know that's like a real type that I love
[00:36:10] He also is one of these guys where like He looks so incredible now Like this is how he's meant to look his entire life And then you look at photos of him in like his 20s And you're like that's a really Really young looking old dude
[00:36:22] Like it doesn't, he never feels like A young man it feels like he just aged Into what he was supposed to be Like he fits into that horror director thing Where you're like that looks like What a horror director should look like
[00:36:34] That's the guy about to warn me not to go down that Roe, he looks like a guy at the gas station Who's like well Been a lot of trouble for young guys Young kids out here And he has this sort of like visible bitterness
[00:36:46] On his face at all times That he can't hide But also when he does interviews down People are like will you ever make another movie And he's like I don't care I'm old I'm just gonna become the best at playing Xbox That's my goal now
[00:37:00] I just wanna get better at Xbox That's my only thing He's up there with me as Aki as far as Like kind of like shitpost Sound by old guy directors And I love them both Like I want them to be my grandpa And they're both guys that
[00:37:16] I feel like people come to them on their knees Being like you are my idol They just smoke a cigarette and they're like I'm you know I'm merely a plumber Anime was a mistake Shut the fuck up I made a good sandwich yesterday Respect about me Like resentment
[00:37:34] Towards anyone who respects them too much I wanna be like that I feel like we will have achieved Like gender parity In cinema when there's Well I guess Elaine May is kind of like That too in a way I think Elaine May has got some of that
[00:37:50] Claire Denis has got some of that Certainly when she bodied David In that interview about sweet boy She didn't body me in the interview She bodyed me prior to the interview Wait what did she say? Can't we should we take it off air?
[00:38:04] I've told this story on mic But basically I tried to bond with her over Our sweet green orders because we were eating The same sweet green thing and she looked at me like I was a worm as she should And said aren't you just supposed to ask
[00:38:16] Me questions You tried to bond with Claire Denis Over your sweet green orders I mean I just tried to Begin She gave a shrew mommy Like guacamole greens I think we both had harvest bowls I can't remember Imagine presenting a shrew mommy to her
[00:38:36] And being like what this is called Is a shrew mommy She would melt you It's a play on oomami the fifth taste This movie Is a real shrew mommy So dark star Emily and I are the only ones who have seen it before I saw dark star
[00:38:54] I was so expected when I watched dark star I think I thought it was a straight up horror movie I think that's And it had that poster of the frozen guy I know it has It's got a very scary poster It's a scary poster
[00:39:08] Yeah so I think maybe I thought it was People getting picked off on this And it's called dark star which sounds And then I cue it up And I'm like it is a student film And like that's their take
[00:39:20] Where they're like this was like the best student film In a mediocre movie right? Like it should have been a student film forever It's at the top of the heap as a student film That's what a carpenter or a bandon think But it's so special In my opinion
[00:39:34] It's funny without being Remotely quippy Or like Not clever but self aware And it's so dense With themes even though It also isn't that interested in exploring them Or like it's not going to dig too deep About dark star and about bombs Becoming self aware
[00:39:54] And things like that You could think about it for weeks I mean I think to go back To the title I feel like The trick that this movie Polls It's weird to talk about it like that
[00:40:08] Because it is a student film and it is a little off the cuff But I think tonally It isn't a parody And this when you As I did last night when you stream it On Why can I think of what it's called when you get a movie on
[00:40:22] Apple Apple movies Apple TV I mean I got it on the Apple I watched it on the Apple TV whatever My brain is burnt But yeah when you get it The little summary on it is like In this spoof on 2001 A Space Odyssey Griffin's background right now
[00:40:44] Is the 2001 of space travesty Cover apparently But like it's not that It had been a second since I saw This movie and I was like I don't think that's what it is And then I started watching it It's not a parody but it's funny
[00:41:00] And it doesn't need to be a parody to be funny Like it's not Aren't space movies stupid It isn't even like I mean Maybe Carpenter feels like this personally But it doesn't feel like it wasn't 2001 Stupid movie it's just like A different set of questions to ask about
[00:41:16] Space It doesn't feel like a parody It does feel like a movie that generates From Carpenter and Dana Bannon Like talking about 2001 For six hours after seeing it And Carpenter just being like I don't understand why Stanley Kubrick wouldn't be interested In asking these 12 questions You know
[00:41:36] It's basically like Does Bong Ripp post 2001 Which many did What if you could just like Talk to Hal about Phenomenology With that solve your problems I'm looking at the posters here Right and these are from The original release I believe both There's the one with the frozen guy
[00:42:00] And the tagline at the top is The spaced out Odyssey Dark Star The mission of the strange love generation Which is very much making it sound like The absurdist comedy Right and then the other Poster is mostly like the ship And then it says From Alan Dean Foster
[00:42:20] First 2001 a space Odyssey Then the Poseidon adventure Now Dark Star A bombed out in space With a spaced out bomb So they're going for the stone This movie was initially distributed By a pornographer I believe Like the deep stroke guy So they're going for
[00:42:40] They just want to try and drag in Some stone college students Like a head movie basically I mean it's not not that It's like as I texted you guys before I think this is the most stone movie You have ever covered
[00:42:54] It is and I went through every episode Just to make sure that you were right But there was nothing that even comes close This is a stone movie but this is Like a really stone movie In that sometimes it trails off
[00:43:06] Kind of sitting in silence for a few minutes And then everyone was like Wait what were we talking about It actually has that energy It's not trying to do that In a professional Populous Hollywood kind of way Sometimes you're just Watching the movie and you're like
[00:43:24] You're just watching some guys sitting on mattresses When did this scene begin What's this scene about I would love to see this movie in a theater Like this is At Metrograph A while ago Yeah roles It was a shitty shitty print but it was fun as hell
[00:43:42] Well I mean I don't know If a good version of this movie exists Like there was also there were multiple Sources at 16 millimeter Largely I don't think it's ever been restored Dana Bannon always kind of Shit on every home video release Of it looking bad until I think
[00:44:00] The Blu-ray release was the first one That was approved of He also I mean they You know did not get along very well Split off after this movie Right let's do a little Dana Bannon is just the king of Not getting along with anybody I think
[00:44:18] Dana Bannon might just be a bit of A rough hang if you want to You know professionally mount A movie like right Like he's even though he's in the fucking thing He's all over the Let's talk about Dana Bannon And I assume you also love Dana Bannon
[00:44:36] Of course yeah Like yes he goes on to Do iconic things after this I love his performance in this Movie he's so funny Very funny in this movie In that kind of natural I don't give a shit sort of Impossible to fake kind of way
[00:44:54] So he plays pin back of course Who is Then It's the inspiration for pin backer There's another pin there's a lot of pin back There's a band pin back There's a band pin back We cannot forget Only early 2000s kids But so
[00:45:14] Griff he's a USC guy too right He's I believe he says that he found An ad for USC film school in a playboy And was like alright I'll go there Like that was how he got to USC He makes this movie with Carpenter
[00:45:28] That makes me so mad sorry I'm just like For so many reasons Why does it make you mad? Emily do you think there's something wrong with the pipeline of Who gets to work in Hollywood and who was It makes me mad first of all
[00:45:42] That USC film school was Avertized in a magazine as if it was like Full sale university or something And then it makes me mad that it was Playboy I'm just like oh god okay that explains literally Everything Carriott I think back then right this it was still
[00:46:00] Like are people really going to go to film school Like right But this would have been the time where it was like that This is just post the time because All the like 70s film Guys were going to school in The 60s and like I guess early
[00:46:14] 70s when it was aggressively uncool To like wanna work in Hollywood And then they ended up turning it around For the most part but this would have been Like kind of just post that Wave and like you start to see That generation kind of Making good
[00:46:30] I say making good in quotes But even so like Them advertising In Playboy is like if USA USC today Was Buying a lot of sponsored posts On r slash incels Like it was like are you Too horny and feel ostracized By your community come make movies
[00:46:52] Listen I have no problem with Horny people making movies As we discussed pre-record Sure yes All for it and honestly like it's not quite That like I think that there's Probably a little bit of a lighter touch to The average Playboy reader In 1972
[00:47:10] Or whatever then people who post on our Incels interesting But they might be a little bit more sex Positive in a Completely retrograde way but I don't even want to get into it But yeah whatever I don't have to it's self-explanatory I mean I just want to read
[00:47:26] JJ put up a lot of wild quotes about Dana Bannon who is Was a wild wild fucking Human being including some of his Very very odd public statements About women but I just want to share This one because I feel like it kind of sums up
[00:47:40] His attitude girls Always considered me creepy But I'm used to being alone now I've had some bad ideas in my life the most terrible With the least success has been with women When I was a kid I wanted to get laid so bad
[00:47:52] I was such a horny kid In my 20s I grew up a little and I wanted a Stable relationship with one lady It didn't work I see other people happy in relationships And I'm such an envious person Dot dot dot I hadn't had a baker's dozen
[00:48:08] Of women until I was 28 Then I got money when we started working on alien Since then I must have had 300 women In the Washington Post July 29th 1979 What for what? A lot of things there A baker's dozen Of women Is this a well known thing about Dana Bannon
[00:48:30] I didn't know And also I've never heard someone cite The baker's dozen of women Like that's some fucking benchmark Everyone's so excited to hit Their baker's dozen It's the fucking 13th punch on your Smoothie card It was so hard for me to get to A baker's dozen
[00:48:50] I don't know, I'm sorry So Dana Bannon for people who don't know After making this movie he is such an inventive Guy Especially in terms of special effects This movie has the first ever hyperspace effect That George Lucas calls him up
[00:49:06] And it's like come work on Star Wars And he was busy working on Jodorowsky's Dune So he didn't even get to work on The production of Star Wars He worked on it in post production I think Like he's the kind of like Elbow grease and Scotch Tape type
[00:49:24] Like visual effects genius Who can sort of come up with Something that the movie making has not yet Figured out how to represent And then also He's this absolute fucking maniac Who Writes these brilliant screenplays And Hollywood gets them and is like Alright make that guy
[00:49:44] Send him to a desert or something We're gonna clean this up, you know what I mean Like with someone picking up In a cab And then he has a nervous breakdown Say you're taking him to the Playboy mansion And drop him off in like Nevada
[00:49:57] I don't want to hear from him again But also he created Alien So he just made money For the rest of his life Like he just had that original story credit That paid out every time They did fucking anything with Alien As a property
[00:50:14] Like if you look at his IMDb It's like 27 writing credits that are Created characters Based on characters created by For every fucking like alien video game And what have you And you know as much as we might not Have Alien without this movie
[00:50:30] We might not have it without Yoderosuke's doing because he like I think he wrote like I don't know I read that he Like a complete alien kind of in the wake Of having a complete nervous breakdown After that movie collapsed And like it's kind of funny because
[00:50:46] Like Dark Stars before a nervous breakdown And Alien is posed like Seems like a fun guy The two things sound like The Yoderosuke doing experience Like turning him Curdling him even more than he was before Made him like a complete basket case But also that like
[00:51:05] He was really fucking affected By the failure of Dark Star And like that moment where he walks into The screening room The theater and no one's laughing And they don't get it's a comedy And that like Alien was this vindictive movie
[00:51:19] Of like oh I tried to make a comedy And they took it on the level and thought it was dumb Yeah Fine I'll do the same movie but Make it fucking horrifying and aggressive Right Did you guys I mean because I watched
[00:51:32] The Blu-ray like which has a note by him At the beginning did you guys get the note I should have gotten the Blu-ray I will purchase it now There's a note that just scrolls by Written by him where he talks about
[00:51:44] The no one was laughing at the first screening And you know he brings that up and he's basically Like this is a comedy You have to laugh at it like he's trying In ahead of you watching the movie To be just FYI Like you don't have to
[00:51:58] There's some funny line at the end where he's like You don't have to laugh unless I'm in the room Is his sort but it does have that kind of energy Like none of you fuckers got it I guess I should type something up
[00:52:08] Well the funny thing is that When I saw this in a theater I remember it was in a super packed theater And I was doing Like this is a movie that elicits Like explosive Sudden laughter for me Because it's so absurd So I was just like yelping
[00:52:26] By myself in this theater And I will say that like It wasn't like riotous Like it was kind of me just making Loud noises So I don't know Maybe it's not for everybody It's a very particular sense Of humor, it's very understated It does feel like the movie
[00:52:46] Is not pitched Like a comedy, like the movie does not Telegraph to you It's a comedy in its filmmaking style Which I think throws people Off like you have to come kind of meet it On its level, it is fascinating That like considering that he goes on
[00:53:02] To work on Star Wars That he creates alien That he does return to the living dead Which is like he writes and directs And that's a huge cult movie in its own right That Dan O'Ban and felt It feels like spent 40 years Being like the ambassador of Darkstar
[00:53:18] In the way that like Bob Gale Has committed his career to being like The ambassador back to the future And just continue to fucking do interviews And screenings and supervise All these home video releases And do documentaries And like Carpenter kind of like has refused
[00:53:34] To look back on this movie Is like it's my one movie that's amateurish We never should have made it a feature I don't really want to talk about it Whereas Dan O'Ban and like went back And re-edited it two times Like was adamant about constantly
[00:53:48] Trying to contextualize this movie So that people would get it Like and tinker with it Yeah, there's a special kind of sickness I don't know if I've ever seen that much I recently watched my thesis film Like not that long ago after
[00:54:02] I don't know a decade of having not seen it And I was like oh I never want to watch that again In my life there's a reason I haven't Watched that for 10 years Right and like Dan O'Ban and was like I am committed to one day getting
[00:54:14] The response I want at a screening From this movie Like how do I get people's heads in the right space How do I change the movie itself I want this thing to play the way it did
[00:54:24] It'd be one thing if he hadn't gone on to do anything else That's the thing Exactly, that's what's wild about it What a crazy man I know Whatever It's so fucking odd What a brilliant person And what a performance I mean that letter that you
[00:54:44] Mentioned like at the top of the blue His voice went out, yeah I mean it sounds like I mean it just sounds very Pen back Leaving his His tiring entry But nobody appreciates me It's so funny and if you look at like
[00:55:02] The IMDb quotes page for this movie It just kind of reads like weird Twitter posts Yes, yes You know the increasing trend of weird Twitter doing like Dialogue exchanges Within a fictional reality that you're dropped into And you're having to sort of like Surmise the context
[00:55:20] Of characters or whatever What is it now 240 Reminds me of that But yes they get like a thousand Dollars from USC USC would put up a small amount Of the budget for these movies But in exchange Technically retained The rights to any student films
[00:55:40] Which comes into play later because they literally had to Like heist The film canisters from the USC campus In order to be able to To this distributor to release I think that's still the way that USC Worked at least when I was In film school because I remember
[00:55:56] Being like oh well you know We don't even want to be at USC because you don't get to own your film And it's just like oh but everybody who goes to USC Get on to have a much more Fuitful career then Wait did Carpenter graduate
[00:56:08] I can't remember didn't he like kind of leave School and not finish because of this movie I'm not sure if he graduated I don't know he I feel like he walked away and just was like Well whatever I'm not going to be told what to do
[00:56:24] Yeah he did quit yes he quit at USC to make his first yes he quit To make this movie He made a movie at USC called Captain Voyeur that is an obvious Precursor to Halloween And it's about a person stalking a woman
[00:56:38] And it's got like sort of some of the visual elements He made He worked on a movie called The Resurrection And it was a movie that was like an Oscar Winner I think for short film Yeah it won for short film
[00:56:50] He didn't direct but he wrote it and he edited it And you know he like did the music It was like his first big effort Has anyone seen that? No I know I've never seen it I should check it out I think
[00:57:04] It was a hit enough that like Universal like put in theaters for a long time Like it was it was you know whatever They would throw it on It was like well regarded enough Yeah it's a 23 minute Short film yeah So that's all cool
[00:57:20] I know I say this all the time but like We can't discuss the plot of Dark Star Can we there's not really like No we really can I mean there's guys They're on a ship that blows up Planets right To sort of clear out space
[00:57:36] Right there's also this odd fact There's like a 50 minute Movie that they shot That then a year or two later They went back and both were like Let's improvise some shit The only time Carpenter was like I ever allowed improv
[00:57:52] We were sort of like making stuff up on the day Not just improvised dialogue but like Improvising plotlines Character movements and whatever But also like the entire Fucking beach ball With the claw sequences in the reshoots Later Right there's like a 40 or 50 minute
[00:58:10] Short film here that is just These guys have been here for 20 years They hate each other They hate this fucking job They wish they hadn't signed up for it It's like mundane hell As he put it it's like waiting for Godot in space And then there's like
[00:58:26] 50 minutes interspersed in the movie Of these like weird closed Looped plotlines or conflicts Well specifically the The Alien one And the inter... like there's a For a long kind of Pin back versus the Alien sequence Which is just like I remember kind of the first time
[00:58:46] I saw that I probably had Had some drinks and I remember just like My mind completely wandering Cause it's just It goes on forever and ever It's Looney Tunes It's like an extended Looney Tunes bit Like that's what it feels like It's literally a beach ball
[00:59:04] With claws like I saw someone Describe it that way and I was like Oh that's like them calling the alien The big chap or something and then you look at it Like no it's a beach ball with claws Yeah that makes a little squeaky
[00:59:16] Sound and I think they just like Spray painted some rings on Like it's so It's so purposefully janky But it's also like Again like yes This goes on to be a xenomorph Later for two But like I don't know It also is such a
[00:59:36] Carpenter creature which is the other thing I love about Carpenter's creature shit Like I love Creepy things puppets all that stuff And this is just such a This just feels like such a rudimentary First one that it's very like precious To witness It's super cute
[00:59:56] That set though of where The elevator is going up and down It's super impressive Yeah I mean you can tell they shot it With him on his stomach and everything But it's still like That's the fun thing
[01:00:10] It's like oh that must have been so fun to figure out And shoot and all that and be like On your shitty school sound stage or whatever Like with your little cardboard set And make this entire You know literal cliffhanger action sequence
[01:00:22] And like oh that's the good stuff That's so fun At least as Wikipedia puts it 16 millimeter $6,000 Then people pitched them on the idea Of going theatrical with it This Canadian distributor named Jack Murphy Gives them the support To shoot 50 minutes Three years later And that's the asteroid storm
[01:00:52] Playing the bottles As musical instruments The sleeping quarters All the stuff in the hallway And the whole beach ball alien Plotline Then John Landis Who's friends with O'Bannon What a surprise Brings the movie to Jack Harris Who's a different producer distributor Who got the rights somehow And he
[01:01:20] Thought 30 minutes of what was In the movie was boring And unusable And he cut that out And had them shoot An additional chunk Of 35 millimeter footage after that So there's like three different shooting periods For this movie And I think it's getting more and more slapstick
[01:01:40] As it goes on That's the other thing Student film was this more sort of solemn Odd Workers in space type thing And it just gets goofier and goofier Right yes exactly And I think the more stuff is also Like there's no more script so they're just Improvised
[01:02:00] You know come up with shit and Carpenter talks About it where he's like I will never do anything That loose again It taught me discipline to Make a movie in such a bizarre way But also as much as he Tries to fucking write
[01:02:14] Off how much he cares about Doing the music and the editing And the script and all that sort of shit It's the one area in which he kind Of shows his ass which is just like The guy just does love having control
[01:02:26] Over his stories like he is a holistic Thinker about all aspects of this And he might say well I can't afford to hire Someone else to fucking do it But it's also like he prefers that all of that Is under his purview
[01:02:38] There's a little bit of the Soderbergh thing there Where it's like if I take on six jobs I know I can make the movie cheaper And I'll get everyone out of my fucking hair And one way or the other it's gonna end up the way I want it
[01:02:48] Absolutely What are you trying to figure out, Kroh? No the final production number I guess it was $60,000 in total 60k yeah is the site of budget It went from 6 to 16 I think it started at like 1,000 Right and it becomes 60
[01:03:04] I mean honestly it's one of those things where you're like You're both like this costs $60,000 And also you're like how the fuck did they make this For $60,000 you know It both looks cheap but also You're like I mean knowing what it's like
[01:03:16] At the time you have to buy cameras And buy film and all It's expensive, yeah Sure and you compare this to Shit like Plan 9 for Matter Space Like 20 years earlier You know and this certainly looks a lot more Accomplished than that I mean this movie does like
[01:03:34] The alien Lineage is very obvious in this Right? Like the whole blue collar Like we're sending grunts to space And they're having to take the shitty jobs Kind of like nihilistic approach To like the relationship to the company And just like how human life Is just like
[01:03:52] It's like a spendable You know what I'm trying to say Well yeah and the ship voice And their relationship to it Is so much more similar to me Than what ends up Happening with Mother in the Alien films Than Hal which is ostensibly
[01:04:08] What they're riffing on, you know Like Hal it really feels like Hal has A mind Perspective and an ethos of his own This voice Has the sort of like cruel indifference Of mother where it's just Like you're a bug, you don't matter My commands are
[01:04:26] To just get this fucking done You're expendable What was the other thing I was going to say Oh but the other thing with this And like it's interesting he doesn't Come on to Star Wars until post But Lucas clearly had Seen this movie and was impressed by him
[01:04:42] And this feels like maybe This was the first example of Like dirty used Worn sci-fi You know which is the thing that Star Wars Like revolutionizes On that kind of scale, that execution Obviously that level of like Mainstream success but just even The fact that they have such
[01:05:02] A limited budget and such A limited resources and like O'Bannon and Carpenter are Themselves physically Making most of these sets by hand Right? Carpenter's carpentry At work It is So telling that rather than like trying To make a fucking forbidden planet Ship on a $6000 budget
[01:05:26] Their approach is this ship should Suck, it should be depressing And drab, you know Oh my god the blocking Of them in that control Like panel Through them is like I don't really Know how you do that It's such a good opening shot
[01:05:44] Wait a second, wait a second How are they blocking this? It's so good Yeah that is like so funny And effective, sorry David go No no you're absolutely like just Agree with you and their banter They're like resigned The line griffin wanted the back
[01:06:00] But don't talk to me You want to name the stuff That's one of the things that I just like It's just like these are people In space who absolutely don't care About space and it's just Yeah, it's super Funny. Right it's just like they signed up
[01:06:16] For this job and they regret it One of them didn't even sign up For it One of them literally just Put on the suit and then they could He couldn't in time get it to convince Them or whatever like That's just a funny idea too
[01:06:32] I don't know, yeah god It's also funny that this absolute Shit ship filled with Board like Technicians who don't have Who are low status is Blowing up whole Planets, like it is so Unimaginably destructive That in a Marvel movie we would
[01:06:52] Have to assemble the fucking Avengers to deal With these guys, they're blowing up And instead they're just like alright Bombs away cool let's get out of here They're like oh there's signs of intelligent life It's like I don't want to play on it
[01:07:04] So I don't care that there's intelligent life on this planet Give me something I can blow up But it's also just like Contract like deforestation You know, it's like They're doing this job that they know is inhumane But for whatever reason this has just become
[01:07:18] Like an accepted evil in the world And it's just methodically done without any thought I'm trying to figure out where I read this Um Cause I want to give credit to whoever Made this This conversation or this connection But like the helmets in the movie right
[01:07:34] When the guys actually leave the ship Are a retro fitting of This very popular toy Kids space helmet At the time it was like a very popular Product Dress up for kids in like the Post space race era And so it's adults wearing these helmets
[01:07:52] That they've tried to class up That are a size too small to fit on to them Oh my god Some critic I read made the point that it's like Even that which is like On its face just a reality Of their limitations Ends up leading this like
[01:08:08] Power to the movie of like It- it- it- they're so Relevant that their suits don't even fit them correctly You know They're like uncomfortable doing the thing They're supposed to be doing. There's nothing glamorous about it I love their little bubble At the top of the ship Yeah
[01:08:26] I like that you have Kind of these very clear profiles Of these dudes too Even though they're all kind of uniformly depressed And like dysfunctional but like You do have the like Guy who's kind of gone space crazy Up in- up in the cockpit
[01:08:42] And like it's kind of the more cosmic brain Do- I mean I love those Conversations up in the Cockpit where they're just like Where they plant the surfing seed But it's just at the time just seems like I'm just like Getting the shit and like space
[01:08:58] And talking about asteroids And stuff, I don't know The blonde guy with the mustache Who's kind of the aggro one Is that Ben? Well, these are all my different personalities This is truly- this is like My multiplicity But He is like very He's very much doing my favorite
[01:09:20] Thing Like backwards on a spaceship Come on! You know? Like what? This is so great And then the gun that he's using That space like ray gun Looks great Like the lasers on this look great You know? Man this is like I would love to
[01:09:42] Like go to like a Stoner screening of this movie It's so fun I was thinking about the context Of their mission and like how we find out about it And just remember the whole opening Part where you have the kind of transmission From back on earth
[01:09:58] And I'm thinking back on that now I'm like how does nobody go into this Movie not realizing it's a comedy That part is so absurdist It's very like airplane It's very Kind of deadpan absurdist And then I mean
[01:10:14] It's not necessarily the tone of the rest of the movie But it's just like obviously setting up That this is a silly Like pointless mission That's just like kind of depressing And mind numbing and like the kind of You know like oh yeah we're watching it all
[01:10:28] On TV back home we had a memorial for your friend Who died like um oh sorry About the radiation like you know it's just I don't know how you Like I don't know how anybody Watched this was like oh this must be For real
[01:10:42] It's also fascinating that like Dan O'Bannon doesn't have an active hand In aliens with a dollar sign But this open feels So much like the riser character In alien and that will sort of roll That the first alien doesn't have Of like oh this is what the
[01:10:58] Like smug company officials are like Even just the fact that it's communicated Over the screen and whatever And you also I know it's not like Aliens created this But that you have the fucking knife game With the hand you know That's another thing I just yell at
[01:11:14] Like it's like the guy that Is giving himself in the hand But it's just like a gentle poke It's not like he does like grievous damage To his hand, it's just like he can't do the trick Everything in this movie is kind of Just like a minor inconvenience
[01:11:28] You know it's like people who just Hate their day job except the problem Is their day job is also their entire Lifestyle. Like they have Now gotten themselves stuck In this all consuming suck It's very and there's a whole Rooofus but it's not their bunk
[01:11:44] And they've been using the bunk for something else And it just feels like that's the part Where you're like oh yeah this was made by college kids Because it just truly feels like Oh here are four men who like Don't know how to take care of themselves
[01:11:56] And are like not going to put in the effort To get a better sleeping situation For themselves. They're just going to live In squalor on mattresses with Like food junk everywhere On the floor. Like it's just so When you open the door to that room
[01:12:10] It's like ah college. Well and it's also hilarious that Dad is gone. Right? Because like the leader He got electrocuted or something happened To him. You think he's dead We'll get to that later. He's stuck in cryo sleep Which is like a truly like a cosmic Like tragedy
[01:12:28] Like I'm like I saw that and it's like Hilarious but also like terrifying It's like basically like Tripping and never like coming out of it Or something you know Yeah you know That unsettled me. Yeah you said that Truly you know? Like that's what it feels
[01:12:44] Like um but Wait I forgot what I was saying now Fuck. That's very appropriate Yeah. Damn it's very Accurate I would say I also love That the beach ball Like is not an invader It is this Creature that they've kept on the shit Around is like a mascot
[01:13:06] And in his like dialogue before the thing Starts lashing out at him He's even acknowledging like this was stupid I never should have let you stay Like everyone told me this was wrong No he says we needed a mascot Which makes me laugh so hard
[01:13:20] That is like something I would say and then regret Totally. Right. But that whole like fucking set piece Which is like the proto Like type for all of alien Is sort of has the energy Of like we let this dude crash
[01:13:34] On our couch for too long and everyone told me He was going to be a problem and now I'm finally Like fucking having to deal with it It's absolutely yeah Ben you would like Show up to the office with like a duck or whatever
[01:13:44] And be like it's the black check duck Like what? You don't think this is a good idea? Yeah Cut to two months later it stinks like duck It's like attacking you With its webbed feet Yeah Guests are coming in and we're like we're sorry About the duck smell
[01:14:02] Piss Yeah well we finally find out What does duck piss smell like Well finally now But I remember what I was saying So the captain though The captain's gone you get a lot of great jokes Where O'Banion I forget the character
[01:14:20] He's being like I want to make sure Pin back he wants to make sure that On the record it made him uncomfortable That he sat next to him when that happened I feel like he keeps going back to that Like interrupting like you know
[01:14:32] Official like recordings and what have you But the fact that The captain is gone And it's just now The like you know next in command Who like has given up I just think that setup is so great It's really funny I was Not surprised to see
[01:14:52] That the creators of Reddwarf like cited this As an ultimate influence Doug Naylor in particular But like I love Reddwarf And kept thinking about it during this As like I feel like every A couple of years There's like a hot spec script going around
[01:15:12] Either as a pilot or a feature or both Where someone's trying to crack The space comedy And not the sci-fi comedy but like Can you make the people driving each other crazy On a spaceship comedy Because it feels like that's so rife And it's like a real
[01:15:28] Tension comedy And it never works Most of them don't get made A lot of times the pilots are shot Reshot and never make it on to air And then like You know The fucking what's it called The Orville is like 15 years
[01:15:46] Of networks trying to figure out a way To do a big spaceship comedy And then their solution was Just do Star Trek and maybe also That cracked this And this movie Is the one movie that kind of cracked it
[01:16:00] Of like this is the type of comedy you need To do from just like Four people who resent each other Stuck in like the vast Nothingness for eternity The thing with Reddwarf That is the lol nothing matters vibe Obviously Reddwarf manages Also to stretch that into
[01:16:18] A sort of semi-functional Space universe that makes You know it has plot It has a more expansive Sci-fi reach It has the attitude Of a dark star that is very hard To make dramatically exciting obviously And also that there's no boss Like the lack of leader where
[01:16:38] It's just like here are a collection of characters Who should not be at the center of this Story the anchor the hero Is gone and now these people are just Kind of fucking stuck And it's like odd couple comedy And the degree where the stakes are so
[01:16:52] God damn high and there's just No other life Well like speaking of Claire Denny Um I mean I hadn't seen this I think since Highlife and I I mean one thing about doing the comedic Version of this is like what Level of effects Do you need
[01:17:14] To pull off a comedic tone Like I don't think it Can be so bad that it's Um just a joke because That joke will wear thin very Like you have to convince people A little bit of something but it also Like if it's too slick I don't know
[01:17:30] That maybe I I think that's a mistake That people make a lot is they think It has to look like The real thing at a level that Then becomes distracting and also On a production From a production standpoint day to day Filming affects performance
[01:17:46] In a way that drains comedy maybe But I mean I think That Claire Denny maybe made the inverse mistake I don't know if I'm in the minority on that But like that's that's one like Huge miscalculation as far as like What's the level of effects we need
[01:18:00] To pull this off obviously That's not a comedy but like I laughed Sure, sure I love that movie I gotta watch it again Seen it twice It's a tough balance Like it is hard to know How much you need to Imply with like The audience's expectations of
[01:18:22] Sci-Fi films That movie is wild I actually went to Screening at BAM And Claire Denny and Bob were there Oh Bob Are you talking about Bob Pattinson Yeah Bob Bob was there I actually don't know what Bob Pattinson goes by That's how I know
[01:18:46] Folks you need to understand Ben did not say that With any glint in his eye There was no smirk on his face That was not pitched as a joke That he was waiting for us to react to Yeah he wasn't like Right, yeah I was like Weinstein
[01:19:04] Yeah I truly all three of us Were just taking aback Doing the math on who he could be talking about Bob Bob Pattinson Well anyway he was vaping the whole time I mean You guys probably all have a close Personal relationship to Bob Pattinson
[01:19:22] Now that you've done the whole Twilight series Oh it's our bulbous art What are the things we want to talk about With this movie I think the thing that's maybe the most Directly winky And not just sort of sad sack and dry And this is the Bob conversations
[01:19:40] With the computer But I still love it And I love whoever does the voice Of the computer is just like Pitched perfect, it's so good It's mostly Carpenter right No sorry mostly O'Bannon Is the bombs O'Bannon is credited with two separate Names as Bob 19
[01:20:02] And Bob 20 but it's O'Bannon I mean the computer the main System of the woman's voice Oh that lady Her name is Cookie Nap One of the all time great names Cookie Nap Cookie Nap We've all taken Cookie Nap KNAPP And yes she is the voice of the computer
[01:20:24] In this and then most of her Credits after this World of sexual fantasy assistant director Phantasm comes again Production assistant Patrick Dempsey movie studio teacher Then she's like a studio teacher But then She goes from being Assistant on porny movies To being like onset teacher To minor actors
[01:20:48] And then on a movie called bodies rest In motion she's credited as welfare Worker Yeah she I'm reading her obituary Yes she was You know an interior Decorator at some point She just turned into a teacher She worked on a lot of movies that are not on her
[01:21:06] IMDB She should have been Siri I think her voice is so good She should have been Siri But on the subject of like In cells And dudes in the 70s reading playboy Getting Into film school and stuff like that And just the general and how that
[01:21:26] Feeds the general tenor of this film Like there's just something So I mean I know that it's sort of groanier Creaky to have the sexy Computer voice But there's something so Self-parotic about it In this instance because it's just like these Absolute foul humans
[01:21:46] Who still have this passive Woman's voice that's like coddling them And being like are you sure you want to do that And just like Being the most pliant Pleasant Kind of mommy voice in the ship To these absolute dirt bags
[01:22:02] I don't know I just it's very funny to me I love it I just want to connect these dots now Because I just figured this out Cookie nap was married to Douglas Nap Who was a USC compatriot Of Carpenter and O'Bannon And was the cinematographer on this
[01:22:20] As well as Assault on Precinct 13 And then became Like camera operator Second unit for escape for New York Best Boy on Badlands Camera operator on Frankenweenie and Beetlejuice And coming to America You shot a lot of Star Trek Voyager episodes Later in his life
[01:22:42] I was going to bring up Voyager actually When you were talking He was director of photography On a lot of Voyager And camera operator on Even more of Voyager See the six degrees of this movie And All space things It is Fascinating how it's not even that
[01:23:04] It's like oh this is the thing that inspires everyone It's like This is the thing where five people then Branch out and make the changes Like this is their dry run And then they all go out and splinter off And everyone takes their specialty
[01:23:18] And then like seeds it throughout the industry But they also like in addition To some other key players Kind of build what sci-fi looks like For the next several decades Yes Yeah There's ten jewels everywhere And that's why there's some
[01:23:36] Like even though there are obviously parts of this movie That are a little sloppy Some fat that could be cut It's still so precious to me For that reason It feels Like an actually watchable glimpse into that A lot of things like that
[01:23:52] That hold that position are actually rather unwatchable I wish I could come up with some specific examples right now But like But this, like I like this movie better Than a Salt on the Sea Superteen That's actually a wild take
[01:24:04] I would say that's close to a wild take Yeah I want to watch this movie more Than that And I actually watched that recently Because this The series was coming up and I was like oh I haven't watched that In quite a while And like I don't know
[01:24:22] Well it's also like As I said I like funny carpenter best Yeah So I feel like he's not funny carpenter I'm also like Halloween is not my favorite carpenter by a long shot Like once he starts being funny and absurdist again Then I'm Back in on it
[01:24:40] Like those are my favorites So you like big trouble With Alchana you said obviously They live I mean the thing is Like the thing has plenty of comedy Yeah The thing is The movie in His filmography that feels like
[01:25:00] The natural evolution of this in a lot of ways Where he's dealing with a lot of the same themes Yeah And also like another thing I was thinking I was like Kurt Russell Feels like the perfection The diamond The fusing of all the dudes in this movie Yeah
[01:25:18] Absolutely Like you could imagine a young Kurt Russell just being One of the dudes on the ship like facial hair and everything And it's that same tone It's that same like Yeah but like don't bother me Like about naming the star Just feels like something
[01:25:34] That Russell could have delivered Right like the guys are all very goodness We should also mention that carpenter Dubs over one of the guys Which one does he dub over? What's his name? Trollby Tauby Trollby Yeah Oh the guy in the cock Yeah carpenter dubbed over
[01:25:56] His whole performance I mean I imagine most of this was dubbed over anyway But You know like I'm going into it But the movie Has an interesting energy As a byproduct That does not have Any movie star juice in it And like obviously He works his way up
[01:26:18] To finding Kurt Russell Like finding the perfect avatar For his on-screen sensibility But I mean even something like Comparing this to the first evil dead Where you're like oh like Sam Braymie was lucky that his buddy Actually could carry a movie You know and you're watching that movie
[01:26:36] And he's like giving an over-qualified performance For that But that's a movie that makes Bruce Campbell an icon Whereas like the fact that it's just The guy is with these kind of low energy Performances in this makes the movie The star rather than making
[01:26:52] Any kind of one guy The point Yeah it very much feels like These are just my buddies I would have been having a beer with Like at the end of the day But instead we instead of going to the bar And making movie
[01:27:08] Aside from the other shit we were talking about Dan O'Bannon his legacy was that he was This like very riled up Paranoid Like constantly monologuing dude Who always had like a loaded gun Near him Slip of the gun under his pillow type thing
[01:27:24] Slip done a pillow made of guns Probably right I mean yeah as we said Carpenter and O'Bannon Did not get along Making this movie they do not Like exit this experience Being like alright What are we doing next Carpenter sided with Harris Right with the producer Guy
[01:27:46] I don't think that's true Because famously Carpenter put in the movie A computer screen flash Saying fuck you Harris what O'Bannon did that O'Bannon hated Harris Okay And then you know Harris Works with him on Eyes of Laura Mars
[01:28:06] Which is like one of the first screenplays that Carpenter sells When he's like trying to make money in Hollywood Like Harris sticks with him But it came down to basically like Carpenter was willing to play Ball with certain creative requests That were coming in
[01:28:20] And O'Bannon was just being difficult And just basically was like refusing To play the game that you very much Have to And so I think that is like kind of Where their like Tensions started to grow from there Basically Carpenter's whole thing was obviously that he wanted
[01:28:38] This to be a Colin Carrd movie And that he thought people would see it And then offer him films which didn't happen But he got an agent off of this And so he kind of like pragmatically just went Like fuck I'll just write scripts
[01:28:50] And so it was Eyes of Laura Mars What became Eyes of Laura Mars What became Escape from New York And then there was a third movie It was a western that Elvis Presley and John Wayne Were supposed to do together that never happened Which is a fascinating
[01:29:04] Reality to consider But yeah between this And Halloween I think He obviously didn't give up on directing But he was kind of like I guess This is how I need to make my Get my foot in the door Is just selling enough scripts until someone lets me
[01:29:20] Make my own thing again I have a final thought I'd like To share about this movie that I haven't discussed as of yet The music So first of all we have that Country song Which is great And it's so funny And so funny to have it
[01:29:40] Be like the lead in song for your sci-fi Movie That's the tone quite well Who would watch the opening of this movie And not realize it's a comedy between that song And the opening transmission Especially the ending when he's Making surfing to Benz and Arizona Yeah
[01:29:58] It's so funny Carpenter and Bill Taylor who did the special Yes Also I think I was just Perusing the wiki of this movie That there is a town Benz and Arizona And there is a star Or there is a street in it called Dark Star Lane Wow
[01:30:16] Cool, that's cool That must be homage Yes In the whole The synth vibe of this movie Carpenter kind of stumbled into it By accident as a byproduct of just We have no time, we have no money I cannot produce an expansive score I could play insurance myself
[01:30:36] Or I can get this like new fangled device And he describes The synthesizer he was using for this Movie as being controlled By wooden pins You had to put wooden pins in different slots To modulate the levels of it It was just for him like that's the
[01:30:52] Sound fake but that's the way I can at least get the size of score I want And then that becomes His definitive style as a composer Yeah He says he did that in four hours How the fuck do you Put a bunch of pins in there
[01:31:08] I'll do a score in four hours Get out of here It's wild No worries There's something To be said about the sound And it being like elevator music Or musac you know Throughout and like How it's Very funny and then it's like That that's the entertainment
[01:31:32] That they get Whereas like you know Sometimes you'll get like Sometimes you'll get like Op-op-radic music And stuff that maybe feels a little bit more Like usual typical of like What music people listen to in space Like maybe sometimes it's like Rock songs like in Marvel movies
[01:31:52] But like shitty jazz In space No but they're making fun of 2001 like in particular With the opera shit But there is that That is the funniest thing to me When they're listening to the rock music And the cockpit and they're all just like Head banging It's
[01:32:14] The most high energy moment of the entire movie But also it's like It's realistic where you're just like These dudes just like Stuck in isolation doing grunt work Aren't gonna listen to fucking like Highfalutin classical music Just because it makes the imagery look poetic You know
[01:32:32] That's not what they would be playing Or even have a choice of something they like Sure Yeah it feels like I think like the computer plays The elevator music And they have their like Recreational music Yeah That she turns off at some point
[01:32:50] It is fascinating to me that these Multiple different cuts he did Like the first one Obanen did was for Laser disc and then on DVD He did a Third cut and then on Blu-ray They've restored it only to theatrical cut But I read reviews of both
[01:33:06] The DVD and the laser disc cut where people Said like they're incoherent Like Like he was like look I'm just taking out This additional stuff that was never meant to be in it And people are like it doesn't make sense You cannot, it is not a functional
[01:33:20] Version of this movie I would assume this is also sort of later Even crazier Dan Obanen right Who's like alright let me roll up my sleeves I'm sure I can fix this thing and it's like Completely bananas I mean it is like what you were saying
[01:33:34] About Bob Gale except it's like you have The money from alien You have the passion to protect Darkstar Like it's such a, it's such a Like he's set up obviously it's not like He's struggling but the thing he's fixated on Is this extended Student film
[01:33:52] He could have been the Bob Gale to alien If he wanted like he could have been the guy Who does the fucking rounds for alien And instead he's like I need Vindication for this student film And it's like quite the opposite
[01:34:04] Like he doesn't work on any other alien except Like a consultant or something on alien versus predator Like that's the one He hops back on for is Hilarious And I imagine That was a combination of both That movie had like such toxic Buzz
[01:34:22] That they wanted to make good with the fans and also He probably was like I don't know I want to buy a boat I'm ready to like take this job now Well he has like Just a handful of huge hits That I'm sure just like kept him afloat
[01:34:34] For the most part because he's Total recall And I forget what there's something Return to the Living Dead was like a big VHS movie you know I'm sure that was profitable for him but also Like any time they went to the alien
[01:34:48] Well for any reason the guy got a check Yeah Guys I just had a great time Google Street viewing down Dark Star Road I really recommend it In Benson Arizona it's just like Amp D Share your scrap What the fuck Wait what part of Arizona is
[01:35:08] Benson and is it northern Southern Let's find out Of course I know so much about Arizona It looks like it's southern It's sort of 30 miles out of Tucson Like it's near the border Near the Mexico border
[01:35:26] Griff do you want to get the lyrics and sing while we go On the street view I don't know if the lyrics are findable But I want to say a thing I was just thinking about So I'm looking here right At Dark Star Road Oh
[01:35:40] Okay wait so let me This is on the highway It's greener than I would expect Wait here I want to get It's off the 10 So wait let me Here we go so here's Dark Star Road When you zoom in even more It looks like there's one
[01:35:58] Property off of that road I think I drove through Benson last summer I was trying to figure this out Griff Because look here there's a little line Of mailboxes right so that That presumes like there's some properties Because I was trying to think like yeah could we like
[01:36:12] You know get a compound on Dark Star Road You know like David this is what I was going to suggest We're starting to like look into getting Now that you know the pandemic Is easing up getting a studio Blank check Offices where we can record the show
[01:36:28] We were thinking oh did we go Downtown What if we just go fucking compound Benson Arizona Get go true Dan O'Banon sleep with guns On door pillows Blank check productions on Dark Star Road In Benson Arizona That would be a killer address to have though
[01:36:46] At least like you could maybe get A post office box under Get mail forwarded from there or whatever Like look is that a person No that's just a weird plant maybe Weird this is turning into like A horror movie at the end We're gonna zoom in
[01:37:02] I find a murder on Dark Star Road And we're like shit when was this taken Or we see like You standing on the side of the road But your eyes are entirely white Wait this is from 2023 And then all of our faces on the zoom Go blurry Anyway
[01:37:22] Pretty cool look see here's a property Is it for sale This is 26 Straight easy Beware of the dog All you guys need is a nice little Double wide on Dark Star Road Benson Arizona If we're being responsible David Blank check recording studio should have
[01:37:44] A beware of the dog sign on the door That's true It's actually a good point Alright Let's play the box office game Unless right griff anything else you want to say No you pull up the box office game
[01:37:59] And I'm gonna try to figure out how much that house Costs on Dark Star Road Sure I would get hit up Zillow Maybe even if there was like a billboard Hey like John Carpenter Check out this podcast That would be amazing I did not see a billboard
[01:38:13] On my quick tour but it would be funny If right we like paid 800 bucks For a billboard ad We decide for the first time to advertise Our show and that's what we do In the middle of nowhere Arizona Alright Griffin
[01:38:27] The box office for this now that I have my magic Kindle book with the box office From every year ever We're gonna do this film Technically it was released In Los Angeles on January 16th 1975 so the box office for that weekend So it's the you know kind of
[01:38:43] The tail end of Christmas 74 is what we've got here Number one I think is a movie My guess is this is one of your favorite directors I think you really like this movie It's a mystery A murder mystery Is it the long kiss goodbye? No
[01:39:01] The long kiss goodbye Oh what am I talking about Yeah I'm sorry I'm combining the long kiss goodnight The long goodbye Yeah yeah yeah no Who's one of your favorite directors Griffin? Well that's why I was guessing Altman But it's not No no no no Ashby Kassavetes
[01:39:23] I'm thinking of my big 70s guys Yeah Did I put him in the March Madness Bracket? I don't think he did because his career is like 80 movies or whatever Oh Lumet, Lumet, Lumet Okay it's not murder on the Orient Express Is it? No It sure is
[01:39:41] It sure is a hit I love that movie I think that movie is a little underrated I think it's just such Crackerjack Entertainment It is very fun that movie Fun, ridiculous Star, Layton, Albert Finney Having a nice big hammy sandwich Yeah
[01:40:01] Finney being like younger than all of us Playing puro Just a blast Murder on the Orient Express is number one At the box office in its eighth week of release A hit Rules Big splashy hit Number two is A disaster film There are two disaster films
[01:40:23] This is the peak of Exactly This is probably the most famous Of that, maybe besides the adventure This is probably the second most famous Is it Airport? No, it's famous for its billing I think Emily guessed it It's the towering inferno Diagonal billing Exactly
[01:40:45] Newman is second but higher than McQueen So everyone can be happy or whatever Have never seen the towering inferno I never have either I tried to brush up on all of The Erwin Allen movies recently For the sake of trivia Which made me wonder
[01:41:01] If I should watch them all I have always put them in a pile In my mind of like Those are movies that will only have interest As Curios, they will not have Entertainment value in present day I feel like that's a Patreon series For you guys, honestly
[01:41:17] That would be super fun That would also get me to watch them Because I think I've only seen Poseidon Adventure Erwin Allen movies Well here's the thing though, Griffin It's two hours and 45 minutes long That's the other thing These movies are so overstop These Star Wars
[01:41:37] That's the Hollywood What you need is a building Or a boat or a place It's on fire We just load it up with stars You need 20 actors Between the age of 40 and 78 That's the thing as well Murderer on the Ernie Express This movie and another movie
[01:41:57] They have those posters where there's the Marvel comics box of faces So many faces I was going to say though It feels like an interesting first swing The four quadrant entertainment That Marvel would become Where you have somebody for everybody In this cast of thousands
[01:42:15] And a bunch of spectacle And it's long as hell, it's too long It just feels like the first run Of that style of entertainment Okay so that's number two Number three is 1974's best picture 1974's best picture Is not Rocky Is it 76? Is it 76 I believe Okay 74
[01:42:41] Why am I not thinking about this It's not French connection No 75 71 Minnet Cowboys 70 Is Frickin even on your Is that even possible He's the original blank checker Yeah we've talked to him Sorcerer is like the original blank check Not original original Yeah Okay wait Process of elimination
[01:43:11] If you tell me anything else about it I'll know what it is Pretty much It's a big hit It wins best picture You can't tell me genre right Crime Fuck why am I not thinking of what this is Cause it's too obvious Oh it's the godfather
[01:43:33] You fucking dummy Nope that's 72 It's not the godfather It's not French connection What's another film about crime that won best picture Here's a hint It's really related to the film The Godfather Fucking moron It's called the godfather part two Cause my next clue would have been
[01:43:57] I believe it's the first sequel to win But then it's like well You know what that is Yes it is the godfather part two Which is popular And quite good in my opinion Successful film The part two came out first They switched the order
[01:44:15] Yeah they switched the order They pulled the prequel Part one was like a black widow Yeah right They were relevant movie about some dead characters Okay so godfather part three It's just chilling out Obviously you know It's the godfather part two I said two
[01:44:35] Oh my god we're so confused right now Get outta here Number four the box office Is a movie I don't know Particularly well I sort of heard of it It's an indie movie True indie movie About like a sheriff out for blood Cause his wife killed by drifters
[01:44:53] No but you've got You know yes Like those kinds of vibes Um yeah I mean there's no way Well maybe you have part of it It's not Billy Jack But it's in that Walking tall Billy Jack sort of vein Let me read you the tagline For this
[01:45:15] It was the fall of 54 A time when laughing was easy And they and laugh they did Until they crossed Capital T The capital L line So that's sort of a hint Is the line part of the title It is it is But that's a pretty good tagline right
[01:45:35] Laughing was easy and laugh they did Until they crossed the line Also it's a period piece It is it's set in the fifties Set in 1950s Georgia The movie is called the line Oh no Neakin County line Ah okay Is there anything that's more of a bummer
[01:45:55] Than 70s era fifties nostalgia No it's weird That's like us making movies About the 2000s Well it looks like this movie Is kind of like a Texas chainsaw Masquer type movie where it's sort of like This is quote unquote based on a true
[01:46:11] Story and it's sort of like a You know gritty violent movie That's like very very vaguely It's like a drive-in movie Like a big you know grind house Yeah sounds kind of fun Emily to your point it remains Absolutely absurd when you think about
[01:46:27] The fact that happy days premiered in 1974 and the Chronology of the show starts in like 56 or something And you're like could you imagine if I was like We need to make a network sitcom About the Halcyon days of 2005 But that's what that 70s Show is in the 90s
[01:46:45] It's like the 20 years cycle But at least that 70s show is sort of Like snarky about happy days Is just literally being like these were The happy days When things were good Ah yes I guess it's like the last time That people could tell themselves that
[01:47:03] About a previous decade of American history Men could say A and hit a jukebox Now of course Oh god when men could do that I don't think this is another Irwin Allen s disaster movie I don't think Irwin Allen actually produced This one it has a terrific title
[01:47:21] Which is an event Dot dot dot The whole tagline Whole tagline But it is Much like The towering inferno a star laden Disaster movie with Incredible special effects Inspired by the success of movies like Airport Written by Mario Puzo
[01:47:45] No it's not called an event sorry that's the tagline I said title is stupid Oh I thought the name of the movie was An event which is here I'm sorry What is it? It's not earthquake It is earthquake Hey Which I believe is it a dam
[01:48:03] Gets the moho and dam right Gets blown up at the end that was like their big Special effect And what is it? Gets blown up at the end of the Dipses And what is it? Gets blown up at the end of the Dipses
[01:48:21] Could they not say it was a seismic event? They should have said that That's a good point You got Charlton Heston Ava Gardner George Kennedy it is wild how they were like What are you under 50 Exit signs over there
[01:48:37] like a credit for partially adapting his own book to what becomes one of the most beloved movies of all time, one of the most successful movies. And then the rest of his screenwriting career is Earthquake, The Godfather Part II, Superman, Superman II, the Cotton Club. Like
[01:48:55] done. Like it's so weird. Yeah. I mean, he's just like the king of hacks. You got to respect the guy. Yeah. I don't know. And yeah, it's so weird that he wrote Superman.
[01:49:07] Did he like, I know he's not the only person I guess he's no, there are four credited writers in Superman. Right. Yeah. Day, I was going deep on Superman however long ago and he was like the big blue chip writer
[01:49:20] they brought on apparently throughout most of his script because they'd written one and two at the same time. He got credit on both of them. Also, he fucking won two Oscars even though I think, you know, Coppola really fucking wrote those screenplays. It's like
[01:49:35] he got to take home two trophies. Apparently. Yeah. Tom Mankiewicz said Puzo script was 550 pages long. Yeah. And like incoherent. Yeah. It was just like horrible. Yeah. Anyway, that's what some other freebie in the bean young Frankenstein. Oh wow.
[01:49:54] You've got the man with the golden gun on the top 10 there. You've got something called law and disorder. Looking that up with a Carol O'Connor and Ernest Borg nine in crime men in crime written in seventies, New York City, two cops have had enough. That's what
[01:50:09] a law and disorder is about. Holy shit. Griff, just look up the poster for law and Oh no, I'm looking it up right now. Wow. Please. It's like an oil painting of these guys. You got to see this shit.
[01:50:26] There was the tweet going around this week that went like semi viral about how like why actors in the seventies were allowed to look like normal people and everyone's too hot now. And this poster is just a great example of that. Yeah, put them all on the poster.
[01:50:43] It's just like four bags of salami wearing fucking summer clothes. Wait, I need to see this. I don't know where my phone went. I can't wait. What's the name of it again? Law and Disorder. Okay, it's an amazing poster.
[01:50:58] Yeah. Oh my God. I can get the gist of it. I got a very dex elated version looks like a couple bags of salami is about the size of it. It looks like a movie that's sort of like a comedy version of these cops take the law
[01:51:16] into their own hands. It's like they do that and then they're like, oh shit, we don't know what to do. You know, like it's like like that poster drops on like 1974 era Twitter and I immediately open in your tab and get on Fandango and see. Yes. Yes.
[01:51:34] We've talked about before, but 1974 because you mentioned young Frankenstein, one of those just a year career years that's hard to fathom where Mel Brooks has young Frankenstein and blazing saddles come out within six months of each other. Yes. That crazy.
[01:51:49] Great. And that's why we have to do Brooks one day. Yeah. And also that that gave him such a blank check that he was like, maybe I star in the movies now and they were like, sure. Yeah. Like he did the Seth MacFarlane thing except it worked.
[01:52:05] And people were like, yeah, another Mel Brooks vehicle. You get to be the guy now. We love it. Hey, you know what? And we did it. Yeah. That was a fun app. Emily though has to go. Yes, we shouldn't. I already.
[01:52:18] Yeah, I already have cost enough chaos in your day, but this was. Oh yeah, it's like a group orchestrated chaos or at least this at the West Coast side of things over here. Well, it's look, it's going to be absolute chaos when we record
[01:52:35] the three of us in person again at 2320 West Dark Sire Road in against Arizona, which is 728 square feet and currently going for 73,818. Guys, you can afford this. We can. That's an investment. That's just an investment. I personally would love it if the entire podcast industry
[01:53:00] post pandemic just all ends up being run out of various compounds in the Royal, the Royal New United States. Like, yes. I believe this is the one we were looking at the photo of. Yes. OK. As best I can tell. Really? Yeah. Yeah.
[01:53:20] It is not the house then on Dark Star. Yes. Apparently. No, there were four listings on Dark Star Road, but this is the one that seems to match what we were looking at. That having said a soundproof room. I don't know.
[01:53:35] You got to find a house on Dark Star Road that has a soundproof room because I'm sure the vibes would be great. And it would also save you a lot when you create your recording studio.
[01:53:44] But if it has enough property, we could dig a hole and have a soundproof bunker. True. Yeah. And if we're going to really go full roguin, we need sensory deprivation tanks as well. Yeah. I think you guys should pivot to bunkers.
[01:53:59] I think it's a great time to go all in on bunkers. I've been saying it for years. I mean, they I'm glad you said it. Finally, someone else. This one is one of four properties listed on Zillow off of Dark Star Road.
[01:54:15] And three of them are off the market and one of them sold two years ago for $180,000. So so so things might be trending down on Dark Star Road is what you're saying. Correct. Yes. Yeah. Well, still, you know, look, I'm seeing that there's an airfield nearby.
[01:54:34] I'm sure it's a very chill place to be. They probably have one of those. Oh, I was just talking to somebody about this. You know, like outside of Marfa, they have this like DEA blimp that I drove by when I was out driving on the 10 last summer.
[01:54:49] And it's one of the most alarming things to see. Speaking of weird kind of fake looking sci fi props, it's just this like cartoon looking blimp. And I didn't know what it was. I felt like I hallucinated it. It was like a mirage.
[01:55:01] And then I was talking to friends who were like, oh, yeah, it's like a surveillance blimp run by the DEA. And there's a lot of that around the border. So I'm sure, you know, you have some fun chill times.
[01:55:14] David, do you want to talk us through the link that you just sent? So I was just clicking around near Dark Star Road and I found a $45,000 lot on North Faded Love Lane. This is not Love Lane. I'm not. Faded. Faded. No, it's North Faded Love Lane.
[01:55:34] Right? There's seven pictures. It's four acres for $45,000. Seven pictures. So it's four acres of land. And the pictures are just of deserts. There's some cactuses. There's a picture of what I assume is like a power box that is. That's what it looks like. Utility.
[01:55:50] You can see you won't be without power. That's to reassure you that you're not going to be living off the grid here. Buying this and then just, yeah, just sitting next to that power box, kind of plug it in my computer
[01:56:01] and being like, all right, David, this is the perfect bunker spot. There's literally nothing built on this land. We just go down. Me here, right? That's grips like, OK, the roof. We're standing on it. We're going down. Baby. All right. Perfect end to the episode.
[01:56:20] Nobody buying my property on Faded Love Lane. No, David's going to close out of this zoom. And now I'm just imagining the conversation he's going to have with his wife trying to pitch her on Bents and Arizona. God, no, too hot for me. I need my rain.
[01:56:38] Also, we're going to get a blankie from Bents and Arizona writing us a 15 page email. Oh, my God. Being like being like, please. That's not where you want to be. You want to, you know, you don't want to be on the scene. Dead on Faded Love.
[01:56:52] I know you guys are probably joking, but here's some overly earnest advice that I wrote in the form of a novel. Emily, always a pleasure. Yeah, pleasure is all mine. Great to be back. Great to be in the room with with at least part of the pod
[01:57:11] feels like old times almost, except weirdly at my house. Like if you're in the same room as Ben, that's the room where it happens. That's the room that matters. That's exactly what that song is about. Also, I should mention I forgot to wear for this recording.
[01:57:26] I forgot that it was my plan until right now, but I recently acquired a really good welcome to Marwin shirt. Oh, well, you got it. I will send the link to the group. Where on earth did you get a welcome to Marwin shirt?
[01:57:43] Universal has a rewards website where you can type in codes that come with your Blu-rays and cash them in for prizes. And most of the prizes are zoom backgrounds. But some of them are like giveaway swag for movies that bomb. So I own a welcome to Marwin shirt.
[01:57:59] They also have a mortal engines water bottle. Get that water. That's my next. That's my next. Great. Emily, is there anything you want to plug? You're not on social media. Don't look for you. Don't look. I'm nowhere. I don't. Yeah, I don't know if I have any.
[01:58:18] No, I don't have anything to plug. I'm just. I don't get me. That's what Emily plugs. Don't look at me. Don't look at me. Don't think about me. Listen to past episodes with when Emily was a guest. Yeah. Welcome to Marwin, most importantly. Boom.
[01:58:36] I was just going to invoke I.O. Adebri, her incredible Twitter joke of no pronouns don't refer to me ever. Yes. Yes, I feel that. Yeah. Listen to past Emily episodes. Listen to Nikol back catalog. I don't know. I truly am nowhere.
[01:58:53] I'm it's kind of it's both incredible and sort of a drag. I have not been to you're working on secret. You got stuff going on. There's stuff going on. Doing secret. Someday I'll have so much to promote you guys.
[01:59:05] Yeah, you know, well, of course we have our Atlantic City movie on the slate that, you know, someday, you know, the big Bambino, the big Bambino. Oh, yeah, 100 percent. Also, I feel like we need to do if you guys ever come out here
[01:59:20] for Disneyland or for Galaxy's Edge, we have to do a Vegas trip as a sequel to Atlantic City. I'm I'm a push for this. Wow. That would be, oh, man, very fun. Emily, imagine. Emily, yes, please.
[01:59:34] I will also say David has a baby now, so I don't know when that happens, but I will be out in LA in just two months. Yeah. Come on. We got another. Yeah. Very down to do any stupid trips. All right, all right. So we'll strategize.
[01:59:52] Put our heads together. Thank you all for listening. Please remember to. Oh, do you have something else you want to say? Sorry. No, I have to jump. I'm OK. It's yes. We're done. We're done. We're done. We're correct. He's just going to do the outro.
[02:00:06] So I'll clean up quickly. You do your thing. Yeah. OK, I'll be back on in a second, guys. I just need to like send a talk. Please remember rate review. Subscribe. Thank you to Marie Barty for our social media. Thank you to Joe Bonaparte Rounds for our artwork.
[02:00:22] Lane Montgomery and the Great American Novel for our theme song. Go to blankies.reddit.com for some real nerdy shit and go to our Shopify page for some real nerdy merch. And I'm still struggling to remember the correct order of these things
[02:00:36] since we've updated after being on a recording height for a while. But of course, have to thank J.J. Burch for our research. Alex Barron, A.J. McKinnon for our editing. One of these days I will get these things in the correct order again.
[02:00:51] Tune in next week for assault on Precinct 13. Yes. Trucking along and should mention, as always, you can go to patreon.com slash blank check for blank check special features where at this point we're ridicking it up or are we onto the mummy now? No, we're in redic time.
[02:01:10] Sorry. Yes, we just did pitch black and we're about to post, I believe, our F9 return to cinema episode. Oh, the movies are back. The movies are back. That should be a fun episode with all sorts of twists and turns
[02:01:25] and appearances from a lot of past guests on the show. So that is that. That is that. Is that that is the end of this episode? Emily has returned. She has presumably sent the text, but the episode is done. The text has been sent.
[02:01:46] The episode has been real. And as always, who cares? Don't bother me. End of transmission.