Flight with Olivia Craighead

[00:00:02] 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'm podcasting right now because I'm a podaholic

[00:00:27] Are you happy? You said that was the only choice, David. You told me that was the only choice I wanted to do his whole spiel to Brian Garrity where he's like we're going to trim it nose down

[00:00:38] We're going to roll it and I was going to replace roll it with podcast it but they don't have the roll it part That's weird and by they you mean the random people who write quotes onto IMDB.com right?

[00:00:52] Yeah, I feel like after this I have to go into IMDB and add the whole speech before I'm drunk right now just like for future reference So David you had never seen this before? I had not. I had not seen Flight. Here's what I knew about Flight

[00:01:12] Had a plane crash Denzel obviously. I knew that John Goodman was in it and looked crazy And I knew that he says I'm drunk right now to a committee because that was the Oscar clip

[00:01:24] And I remember people laughing because it's like you know for the last 10 minutes of the movie Did you know that he was going to roll it? I didn't know that he was going to roll it. I didn't know that like Kelly Riley was in it

[00:01:37] Like that whole right at the start that whole sequence at the start where it's cross cutting I was like Kelly Riley we're going to have to talk about that Oh boy are we Oh man

[00:01:48] I mean I just knew that he was like a drunk or you know I knew he was playing a character with substance problems That's that's that Yeah it was an interesting rewatching because I was so fucking amped when this movie was coming out

[00:02:04] I think age is amped like Bob easy is back he put down the mocap He stepped out of the volume he's making a movie with human flesh in it And it's like a fucking adult drama like that had me amped

[00:02:18] And the trailer was so fucking good for this movie and was so snappy that it was just like oh he's back in the groove And then I felt like I was totally unprepared for this movie to largely be an addiction drama

[00:02:31] Right and and not snappy to be like a two hour 15 minute addiction you know rock bottom a type movie Not not I don't mean this as sort of joke it's truly the best word I could come with a pretty soberly made film

[00:02:47] Right no not too flashy unless someone's doing coke But when someone's doing coke it's like rolling stones Wait wait wait wait are the rolling stones that the needle dropped in this film is there a song by them like I

[00:03:01] Just like maybe once or twice or maybe even three times That's interesting because they don't really translate to cinema much you never hear them in the movies the rolling stones

[00:03:12] I'll say also like you know this is coming off of three mocap movies which weren't very you know successful let's say creatively If not age particularly well so you worry watching this like are are his tools dulled at all

[00:03:25] Is the mech is going to understand as a filmmaker how to convey his ideas to us And then you see every time with Whitaker grabs a drink or lays some some narcotics out in the table I would get worried

[00:03:39] I would go I don't know if I can trust that some mech is will be able to tell us how this character is feeling after he takes these things But in fact the movie makes it quite clear to us that he's feeling all right

[00:03:55] Wow you really want just there You took the walk but you landed the plane I rolled it I rolled it you rolled it and this is a podcast of L

[00:04:06] Femographies it's called blank check with Griffin David I'm Griffin I'm David and it's you know about directors who have Master success early on in their careers are given a series of blank checks to make whatever crazy passion products they want

[00:04:19] Sometimes those checks clear and sometimes they roll it baby this is a mini series on the films of Robert Zemakis The infamous Bobby Z And today we're talking about flight his return to the land of the living it is it's just like I feel like it cannot be

[00:04:37] Overstated how much people were just like I guess we've lost some mech is I guess he's just up this boat with his mocap No, I remember he's never gonna make a live action movie ever again

[00:04:47] Well what was between this and cast away like what was that three mocap movies that's it So it was like Beowulf Polar Express Beowulf and a Christmas Carol Oh Christmas Carol Olivia that's it's it's 12 years is this 11 or 12 This is 12

[00:05:06] This is 12 there are 12 years between cast away and this where he only makes three mocap movies and then produces two additional mocap Movies and he publicly was like this is my medium I'm doing this for the rest of my life And then he makes flight

[00:05:23] Right so not only was it just like oh my god Zemakis is out of that fucking pocket but also that it was like wow this is an interesting choice for him to come back with This does not feel like an obvious safe pick

[00:05:38] You know working with Denzel obviously major star but first time he'd worked with him Yeah are rated for the first time since used cars so 32 years Yeah it's a 30 million dollar adult drama

[00:05:52] Right it's it's much like you know the walk and stuff coming up like he made pretty cheaply Denzel like waving his fee you know like being like come on let's We'll make a real ass movie like I you know you're a legend

[00:06:08] And Zemakis waving his fee as well I mean both of them were just like we like the script this is a hot spec script we want to get it made

[00:06:15] Which is kind of like crazy to me because like I can't really see on the page this movie be like the dialogue itself is like No no no like this movie is good because of Robert Zemakis and Denzel Washington

[00:06:30] It's very trying to make sense of this script and the existence of this script and the journey of this script to the screen is very bizarre Especially when the X factor is one of the most successful living filmmakers decides to return to live action with this

[00:06:47] He likes the script the script by John Gatton's Oscar nominated script I was trying to contextualize how weird John Gatton's career is John Gatton's was like a sort of like pretty boy actor who never totally connected but worked regularly

[00:07:04] Then worked with Toland Robbins on something and then he was like you should write a script for me so he wrote summer catch and he wrote hardball When like Brian Robbins made that turn from like Nickelodeon movies into doing like sports light sports dramas

[00:07:22] He was writing them and he was just sort of very much like a Hollywood kind of journeyman screenwriter And then this was like I think four sports movies because he also did coach Carter he did real steel which of course is a sports

[00:07:36] He directed Dreamer and he directed Dreamer and wrote it Dreamer with the fucking horse to quote the line from Hamlet 2 Best line in that movie although it's referencing the original Dreamer

[00:07:47] But he's like working as an actor during all of this like you know to marginal success taking like small roles and shit

[00:07:54] And becomes this weird like sports studio drama guy at a time when that was still a thing where like every year there's got to be three sports studio dramas that come out in the winter months and do pretty well

[00:08:06] He like wrote that to success and then this was his personal script Yeah right he took like a decade he was like I'm gonna write this for like 10 years and it's like do you think do you see like 10 years of work in this script

[00:08:23] So is it about him? Yes did he have substance? Okay, okay so he's pouring himself into it So this is like I think to some degree he was very much alike especially in that way of I feel like a lot of pretty boy actors who then become screenwriters

[00:08:38] I won't even say pretty boy actors but they're even just like a lot of sort of people who move to Hollywood to make it big and then end up being screenwriters

[00:08:46] They're very mathematical about like this is what sells because I don't come from a background of trying to be a writer I don't have that pretension

[00:08:53] What's my niche? What's my thing? And he very much feels like he was a guy who was always just like what's there a market for? I'll write that And then this was I've been fighting with substance issues my entire life I'm gonna purge this all into a screenplay

[00:09:07] Which was coupled with it's not based on Sully which I feel like there was the common perception because of when this movie came out relative to that story

[00:09:16] Oh, this must be him like taking a flight of fancy based on what you know how big a news story Sully was It's based on a different flight where no one survived but they did roll the plane that's what it's based on

[00:09:29] They did briefly roll a plane believe look we're gonna talk about aviation accidents in a second introduce our guest and I have one other John Gatton's credit

[00:09:38] I want to talk to me series called podcast away today. We're talking about flight our guest return to the show for the second time first time solo She's gonna roll it from iconography one of my fair podcast Olivia Craig head

[00:09:52] I am so happy to be on David asked me David David and I were texting months ago maybe April and he was like I was like you're not gonna like flight because it is a scary movie about a plane crash

[00:10:06] True and he said do you like flight and I said I think I like flight and he said we can't find anyone to do flight and so now I'm here

[00:10:14] I don't know if I put it that way that makes it sound like I don't think you did I think you said flight is open The flight is now boarding is what he said he said flight is boarding. Yeah, yeah, I just I just

[00:10:27] Just good energy good shit. We're friends What I'll say also is Denzel Washington might be my favorite actor so I'm really excited very important in that prison My favorite movie star I often say of the Clooney

[00:10:42] Clooney whatever it's a war you argued to me recently not that he's your favorite movie star but that he is the best movie star of the generation

[00:10:51] Right of that generation. I think that is like spot on it's like who else like Clooney maybe but Clooney in recent years has just kind of like Walked away to have a tequila company. Yes, I mean it's good tequila but yes

[00:11:06] No, the thing with Clooney is you have to cut out the lows like the highs are very high Whereas with Denzel it's like even the lows are fun like that sort of part of the magic of Denzel is like he could play in a movie

[00:11:18] That's just called like Mr. Bullet and it's like what's it about? It's like it's like a guy in Miami and he gets You know, he's got to kill a drug dealer and I'm like this sounds great I can't wait to watch this movie

[00:11:29] That is absolutely the argument for Denzel because like the Clooney movies you have to erase are so often the passion projects are the ones that he directed that he really willed into existence

[00:11:40] His directorial career. Yeah, it's tough Denzel the strongest argument for him being the best movie star is that like through sheer force of will

[00:11:50] He has turned every movie he's been into at least a six, you know like nothing has ever fully flopped because he finds some way to roll it

[00:11:59] And in it like comparing him to Clooney like Clooney is not a great director and Denzel can really pull one out like I was about to say this that's the thing he's even a good director even though nobody like you know really would

[00:12:14] I think I think a lot of people would forget that he has directed what four movies I think it is Right, like people don't think of him like they think of Ben Affleck where they're like oh yes like actor and also director sometimes

[00:12:25] But like Denzel like gets nominated for like his movies get nominated for Oscars so do Ben's but like It's also the wild that like George Clooney has made one movie that people liked and was viewed as a hit right good night good luck You mean directed?

[00:12:42] Yes, directed. I'm sorry Which is a genuinely I really like that movie I rewatch it and it stands up Do you guys not like Leatherheads? Are you guys not Leatherheads fans? This is my point like I love confessions of a dangerous mind I like that movie yes

[00:12:55] But Affleck right it was it was not well regarded when it came out no one went to see it But that is a good movie yes I love that movie good night and good luck big art house hit big Oscar hits that's his year where he's just fucking

[00:13:09] Mr. Academy he wins supporting actor he's nominated for director producer writer all that sort of shit And then he still viewed as to your point Olivia like oh that's one of our great sort of like actor directors

[00:13:22] And he has not made one movie since then that has made any sort of impact It's not just that I would say that it's although he did an insanely get an Oscar nomination for the Ids of March Which is another forgotten truth

[00:13:35] The Ids of March is maybe one of the worst movies I've ever seen in my life So terrible this is the thing It's so awful He has not only not made another hit with critics or with audiences although I think monuments meant it okay

[00:13:50] He has made two movies that are awful like that are unwatchably bad which is Ids of March and Suburbicon to the extent that like leatherheads and monuments man you're like okay they're alright Those are romps by comparison those are like absolutely romps

[00:14:06] Yeah exactly they're like fives you know and you're like oh well I mean they're not ones like

[00:14:12] But also like that was the best thing that came out of the Sony leaks was all his emails to A.P.S. Gal being like what can I say I really fucked this one up

[00:14:19] This thing's unsalvageable I'm sorry sometimes it happens I tried my hardest let's just try to make it a hit But like that's like on paper layup that cast that premise

[00:14:31] I know you're just like sounds fucking unbelievable Ids of March that play was so beloved that cast he got on board you were like layup So many times he's had a layup on paper

[00:14:41] The best part of Ids of March is the poster where it's Ryan Gosling holding the Time magazine of George Clooney It's a good poster

[00:14:48] It's like that tells you all you need to know he's the man behind George Clooney there's like problems whatever the rest of the movie is dog shit Should have stopped at the poster don't make the movie

[00:14:56] The thing with the Ids of March is the play is unforgivably bad but everyone was kind of dazzled by it and then Beau Willman who wrote it goes on to make House of Cards

[00:15:05] Which is also unforgivably bad but people act like it isn't it drives me crazy it's a national delusion People love to like take a bad play and be like we love it and turn it into a movie and it's like

[00:15:18] And I'd support it's stacked Gosling, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Gia Motti like everyone's like kind of raging in that movie And everyone's just sort of like Is Evan Rachel Woods the woman in that movie? Correct She had an abortion there's some scandal that's being covered up right right

[00:15:34] And she commits suicide right isn't that a big part of it? I think she kills herself yes I think that's what happens yeah And Gosling at the end is like I feel like politics is not the idealistic enterprise I signed up for after all this

[00:15:47] Like that's the lesson of the Ids of March He's got this movie he has a film coming out this year an apocalyptic space drama called the Midnight Sky Not one person knows this is happening Who does? Gosling? George Clooney he wrote directed and started it

[00:16:04] It's coming out of Christmas And like if you any person on earth if you ask them like what George Clooney up to they would say Tequila I guess like no one knows of this existence

[00:16:15] I know that this exists because I know the novelist who wrote the book that it's based on a little bit And I just keep on going like I hope he fucking makes a good movie this time

[00:16:27] Every time he announces something I genuinely feel like oh it'd be great if this one's good He always gets good people on board he always sort of gets good material to one degree or another So it's a space movie?

[00:16:41] It's a post apocalyptic winter movie it's like post global warming it's not space but it's sci-fi Okay that still seems like there's like too much going on for him to deal with us

[00:16:53] Like all his movies are very much like we're on earth and these are just about like people talking to each other And to add like genre into it But he did like a fucking period screwball comedy and he did like a World War two like heist movie

[00:17:08] And he did a Coen brothers movie and like a fucking talky play Like none of them are as wild as genre swings but it's like he does really try shit Yes I think he's always trying to write to do a kind of a movie that he loves right

[00:17:24] And like Leatherheads right it's like this should work great yes Clooney wants to do like a Preston Sturgis movie that's like zingy and like that sounds great and it's boring Like I don't know what's happening I don't know what but that's almost

[00:17:37] Why are we talking about George Clooney? Well I just I'll say I remember when Michael Clayton was coming out and he was like yeah

[00:17:44] I read the script and I loved it I wanted to direct it but the writer was so like stubborn about that he wanted to direct it himself And I remember he was like that sounds like a bad sign

[00:17:54] Why is this writer insisting that he make his directing debut on this and then you look at it And you're like you almost in your mind course correct it and give Clooney directing credit for that movie

[00:18:04] It's not that I ever forget the Tony Gilroy made it but it's that that's the perfect George Clooney movie Yeah, but like but if George Clooney had directed Michael Clayton that movie would not be as good Exactly right feels like fundamentally now here's the bridge I'm gonna build

[00:18:20] John Gatton's for years was like flight is the movie I'm gonna direct I did dreamer I proved my bonafide as a Hollywood screenwriter this is my personal project This is a script I want to direct I want to make it a smaller scale

[00:18:32] I don't think it was ever blacklist script but it was very much like a buzzy sort of like oh this is a good script But it's tough. It's not very commercial. How do you make it?

[00:18:41] And then when Disney shut down image movers there was like we I mean we covered this our last episode But Christmas Carol and Mars needs moms come out within three months of each other And lose Disney probably 300 million dollars combined

[00:18:56] And immediately Disney was like this is done he was like I got no place for these mo cap movies And by all accounts it kind of goes to his agents and he goes like I guess I'm open for business send me every script

[00:19:06] So there was this period then where it was like a feeding frenzy of just some mech is weighing like 20 things He's considering this he's considering that this book that's never been adapted this spec script that's existed for a while

[00:19:19] It was just like everything was being thrown to Zemeckis. There's a book called replay Okay That's about a guy who keeps on having to relive his life over and over again

[00:19:30] He dies and it resets to like his 20s and then he has to keep on reliving up to the point where he dies over and over again That was written before Groundhog day and Peggy Sue got married and a lot of the movies that have similar premises

[00:19:42] So there were some excitement over like oh this is like kind of the ur text and Zemeckis who made the great time travel movie Is going to make this thing and it was between this and flight and flight was kind of the spoiler

[00:19:55] They were like but he also likes this weird drama about a drunk pilot He wants Denzel to do it Denzel is on board the thing that could trip it up is how much those two guys cost and then that was like the big move was Denzel

[00:20:09] And Zemeckis saying like we'll wave our quotes. We want to make this and then the film is like off to the races starts filming Gattons is like look if you got Denzel and you're Robert Zemeckis fine. I'll give up I don't have to direct this fucking thing

[00:20:23] Yeah, and you know what John Gattons went on and did he wrote Power Rangers which is a good movie And he should be proud of himself Olivia have you seen the reboot of Power Rangers? I haven't is that the one that has Elizabeth Banks in it?

[00:20:37] Of course it is and Olivia one day this war's going to end And you're gonna come over and I'm gonna like make nachos or something and we're gonna watch Power Rangers Brackets 2017 Directed by someone called Dean Israelite That sounds like a perfect evening It's gonna be so good

[00:21:00] I think the official title is Saban's Power Rangers 2015 It was at least marketed as Saban's Power Rangers Yeah, Saban was really trying to uh to juice the brand there It is truly a delightful film and actually a very good screenplay

[00:21:17] I remember people being like the Power Rangers is good And I was like that's I love that for them and then I just didn't see it Becky G Becky G the singer? The singer? Singing in the shower?

[00:21:29] Singing in the shower plays uh I want to say Yellow Ranger? I think so yeah She's great, she's great we love everybody in it It's great Everyone's good in it Naomi Scott who would later play Princess Jasmine and sing the great song about her

[00:21:45] She will never be speechless Never She plays Pink Ranger Earl from me and Earl on the dying girl is the Blue Ranger It's a good movie, it's a good script I have many regrets having done this podcast for five years of things I've said on Mike

[00:22:01] Or things I held my tongue about that I should have said And one of them right up near the top I should have had the courage to give Brian Grandston a best supporting actor nomination that year He plays Zordon Oh incredible He's good He's so good

[00:22:14] Of course he's good He's so good Yeah he's good because he played Zordon because he was in a lot of the original Power Rangers episodes Back when he was a nobody Oh that's fun So he felt he owed the power Look Power Rangers is a great movie

[00:22:27] And John Gatton's probably should have got an Oscar nomination for that instead of Flight Which I think is a turgid and overwritten movie But whatever Bizarre But it's also like Gatton's after this just goes back to being a higher profile Like script dude

[00:22:44] Like he just does Power Rangers and he does need for speed Like he doesn't seem to have another personal project in him Maybe he just have to wait another 10 years Like maybe like he could just turn out these like ones that he gets hired for

[00:22:57] Just like it's no big deal But the personal ones those take time Well to do like a plane crash movie Sure like those are I feel like there's like fearless there's sully obviously there's a few of those To base it on a plane crash where everybody died

[00:23:14] And to say I'm basing it on this you know loosely But like have your pilot successfully deal with it as opposed to what happened in reality It feels a little gauche It feels like It's a little weird

[00:23:29] It's like that it's fine I think to like maybe keep that to yourself Like I don't know there's just like I don't like this green play at all But I like the movie that's the thing I do like the movie I do like the movie

[00:23:43] To an odd degree he is very lucky that people just assumed he was inspired by sully Yeah Right Because it's like if you just go oh it's a movie based on a pilot doing something radical that somehow saved everyone's life

[00:23:57] In 2012 you go I guess it's sully I guess it's inspired by sully And said he's like no I just saw this plane upside down in 2000 before crash and everyone died

[00:24:06] That's what I was gonna say that's the right I for you know so I watch a lot of those videos where it's like An expert on plane crashes watches movies with plane crashes in them right you know those kinds of videos that like

[00:24:17] Bandy Farage EQ does or whatever And flight so I've seen one of those and when flight comes up the guy is just like Oh um no I no none of this you know like as it's he's just like well no that doesn't make any sense

[00:24:31] Flight is the one that is just gets a zero for him he's just like I don't really understand why the plane's upside down I don't really know why that would have helped. I don't know I don't get any of this but okay

[00:24:41] Well obviously the answer to that question is cocaine Yeah Like He was feeling alright This movie is about how you're better at flying a plane if you do cocaine Well this is my weird thing with the movie so I so amped for the trailer trailer was so good

[00:25:02] And what it looked like to me was oh this is a movie about like in a weird way Like process right it's about like here's a guy who is inexcusably fucked up and did something radical that ended up saving everyone's life

[00:25:20] Is the fact that he was fucked up the only reason he thought to do that And it made it seem like most of the movie was just like the investigation the looming specter of Melissa Leo

[00:25:32] And this question of like does that negate him being a hero or is he lucky that him being wasted didn't kill everyone's life And Melissa Leo does loom large in all of our lives she is the specter we will all confront one day

[00:25:45] It is crazy that you don't like see her beforehand and so in the last like five minutes of the movie you're like oh that's Melissa Leo Everyone's like Ellen block She's terrifying and it's like they got Melissa Leo she is kind of scary

[00:25:59] But that's the power of Melissa Leo she bought those ads in variety asking us to consider And people went oh she wants them to consider to vote for her for the Oscar No she was asking you to consider her at all moments in all walks of life

[00:26:14] Just always consider what would happen if she were to enter a film in the last five minutes And we all listened to her and we are all considering Melissa Leo all the time it worked

[00:26:24] I think her I'm a more considerate person for having seen those ads and having seen that for a coat But I thought like that's the movie it was going to be was like oh this is interesting this is like Zemeckis in some weird moral gray area shit

[00:26:40] And I rewatched the trailer before recording this there is literally one shot in like a Gimme shelter super fast cut montage at the end of the trailer is everything's hitting a boiling point and you're seeing crash footage

[00:26:56] You're seeing hearing footage you're hearing quippy one liners you're seeing fucking Goodman dancing or whatever And there's one shot of Kelly Riley's eyes opening wide like this like after she does drugs or whatever

[00:27:09] And that's the only glimpse of her in the trailer I remember seeing that she was like high build in a credit block that was all fucking a Listers and I was a fan of Kelly Riley I was like interesting don't see where she could fit into the movie

[00:27:25] She's notably absent from the trailer save for this one shot I wonder what her role in this film is I do remember an almost immediate deflation as they front load the first 30 minutes of the movie so much with intercutting her

[00:27:38] Just going like I don't get what they're doing here is this fundamentally trying to tell a different story than the one I Estimably just paid $15 to say but it's also like it feels kind of like you could cut her out of the movie entirely

[00:27:54] And still tell the addiction story like yes, she is not she you she's it's just like and then it's a shorter movie It's just like I don't really he doesn't really and she just disappears from the last like 20 30 minutes of it

[00:28:08] She's like I'm gonna go and then and then she shows up in the picture and we're like I guess they still like see each other Like what they figured it out right they blarp her pretty hard they do

[00:28:19] They blarp the fuck out of her but you could do by the way Olivia blarp is a term we use based on course on the Lost in Space movie where the three female characters disappear for the last act chasing blarp

[00:28:32] Okay, cool. That's anytime a prominent female character has nothing to do in the final act of a film they've been blarped Jenny Slate and Venom Blarped Okay Right they don't die there's no explanation they're just sort of blarping they're blarping off in a case

[00:28:45] I mean they literally have to go help blarp and they actually shot a whole blarp scene and then they cut it here's blarp And the point is in the movie they don't even take the time to explain where they are

[00:28:55] They don't they don't do anything but you could my take is and I don't even this is not even a hot take You can do everything Kelly Riley is doing with the scene that already exists in the movie with James Badge Day Oh my god

[00:29:07] Like that seems already there and like that does so much and Kelly Riley's hanging out in that scene and then we pick her up like and I like Kelly Riley I think she's trying her best like I think she's pretty good in this movie

[00:29:22] I think she's good in this I think it's not her fault No, she's like she and like Don Cheadle I feel like are both like doing the best with like very little Cheadle is kind of magnificent in this movie

[00:29:35] Cheadle has like a moment at the end where he like he like makes is it who is the guy who plays Charlie It's is it treat Williams who is Bruce Greenwood Bruce Greenwood not treat Williams

[00:29:47] Treat Williams sort of knocked out of the park but it's Bruce Greenwood also knocking it out of the park But he like hands Bruce Greenwood the money to pay John Goodman and he refuses to pay John Goodman like that's incredible

[00:29:59] Cheadle's got that like character actor version of the Denzel thing where it's just like there is no movie that has not been improved by Don Cheadle being in it If Don Cheadle is in a movie at the very least Cheadle's very good

[00:30:12] Yeah, I agree with that Kelly Riley it's like this it's the which is it's the second season of True Detective Yeah

[00:30:21] Yeah, you know she really was just handed all these shit rolls on a platter and like did her best she's in both Sherlock Holmes movies I forgot about that Like she is the the fiance of Watson who Sherlock Holmes keeps acting like a dick too

[00:30:39] And this is all from like small roles and a small role in Pride and Prejudice and a bigger role in Mrs. Henderson presents right that's where she

[00:30:47] That was the big one that was the big one she does the that French trilogy the La Berge Espanyol Russian dolls and I'm forgetting what the third one's called

[00:30:56] But those were big movies internationally and then Mrs. Henderson presents where I feel like she was like tapped as like oh she might be a supporting actress play when people thought that movie was going to be an overall Oscar play

[00:31:09] And then of course it just got the one perfunctory Judy Dench stamp Yes, right

[00:31:13] And then after that right she starts working a lot I was watching this house like I feel bad for her I think she's always good in everything and I feel like she's disappeared and then I looked at her Wikipedia

[00:31:22] And of course she's I just didn't realize she's the second lead of Yellowstone the most popular show on cable She's on Yellowstone maybe the hottest show yes Yeah, it's like that's the highest rated show ever I guess Everyone loves Yellowstone everyone loves the like wilderness of Wyoming

[00:31:40] It's like four million dollars in episode like I guess she's doing great It's like Yellowstone episode one Yellowstone episode two Super Bowl 40 you know like if you're just going down the ratings like all time rating The finale of M.A.S.H. Yeah

[00:31:54] Right, Obama announcing that they got Bin Laden Isn't Yellowstone on like a weird channel It's on the Paramount Network which used to be Spike Yes Only rebanded to Paramount Network within the last two years

[00:32:06] Did they like focus group it and they were like TV for men doesn't doesn't work anymore so we're pivoting Well, it was that weird to like Viacom and CBS had split and then they got back together

[00:32:19] No but it's they pivoted from TV for 35 year old men to TV for 55 year old men that was a it was a mild pivot So they were just like aging up with their demographic Yeah it shows for uncles

[00:32:34] You no longer want monster energy you want a light beer I don't know what older men drink what older men drink Light beer that's a good call Yeah good specific but they they like three months ago announced we're rebranding again we're now the Paramount Movie Network

[00:32:49] We don't want to be making original series We want to be making TV movies and playing movies from the Paramount Back catalog So what's gonna happen at Yellowstone Well they're like but of course we're keeping Yellowstone I don't understand how Yellowstone can be this successful

[00:33:05] And Paramount can be like we're rebranding to move away from everything like Yellowstone other than Yellowstone Also Paramount Network made fucking Emily in Paris and then sold it to Netflix That's crazy

[00:33:19] They've sold off every other TV show they made because they're like we're out of the TV business other than the number one show on cable Kevin Costner, Luke Grimes, Kelly Riley, Wes Bentley, Cole Hauser, come on this thing is Wes Bentley is hanging out on Yellowstone

[00:33:34] Wes Bentley of course plays Jamie Totten one of the great Totten family members Of course oh my bad by mistake So silly of you Olivia So stupid of me You know when you see the poster for Yellowstone it's like Luke Grimes I think is like Country Sun

[00:33:49] And Wes Bentley is City Sun because Wes Bentley always has like a suit on Oh of course you can't if you put like Wes Bentley in a pair of Wranglers I'd be like you're lying to me That's not true

[00:34:01] Am I wrong in thinking that Kelly Riley is like the villain of the piece that she's like Kevin Costner's foil That she's the matriarch of the rival land-owning family

[00:34:12] They're all Dutton's so I think she's his wife or something but it's possible that she is you know like Robin Wright in House of Cards Or what right you know that there's like some strife. I have no lady Macbeth. Yeah, she's the lady. She's Lady Yellowstone

[00:34:29] So so that's what Kelly Riley's been up in. Oh, yeah, okay, so Kelly Riley slum in it here I guess I don't know like there's a world where she gets enough

[00:34:37] There's a world where this movie gets like eight Oscar nominations right where picture director actor you get good men in there You get Kelly Riley in there You know like that it's weird that it didn't in but it wasn't quite big enough maybe I don't know

[00:34:51] It's almost weird though that it wasn't like It wasn't a best picture nomination because this year is so weird for the Oscars this year is the trash for the Oscars kind of

[00:35:01] It's a good bad year in that like it's not like they didn't nominate some good movies, but they end up settling on Argo I think partly just out of like yeah, it's like Argo and it's like Alan Arkin

[00:35:12] Gets nominated for best supporting actor for saying like one fun line ten times. I know what's the line? Best supporting joke Argo fuck yourself Argo fuck yourself I'd like to award both of you Oscar nominations David's it is a good line the first time you hear it

[00:35:27] You're like that is so funny. That is absolutely a best supporting line reading performance Like I just anyone who put Alan Arkin at the top of their ballot that year I want to ask him can you name one other thing he did in that movie?

[00:35:40] Goodman is in Argo as well, isn't he? Yeah, he's good at that It's Arkin and Goodman hanging out. That's the duo It's so awful that Jungkook has zero Oscar nominations He turned in two great performances in 2012 ignored again He was not on the list

[00:35:57] The National Board of Review gave him a special award in 2010 for flight, Argo, trouble with the curve and paranormal Good good. That's good. That's yes. I like that Good man. Good man

[00:36:11] I think my hot take also is that if James Badgedale were like a slightly more famous person Giving the same exact performance he would have gotten nominated for a supporting actor Absolutely

[00:36:23] That's like one of those scenes where it just like it's very very good and like comes in comes out Changes the course of the movie and even like in that scene they're like wasn't that crazy? Wasn't that crazy what he just did?

[00:36:35] Yeah, it's good that in a scene you can plausibly have the actors react to it is like Jesus But there was also like good guy job by that guy I remember there being a ton of buzz around that performance

[00:36:46] I remember him doing a lot of like four-year consideration press It did feel like they were testing the waters about him getting like a one-scene nomination I do think it led to like his next wave of jobs after that

[00:37:00] Like this was a thing that really kind of elevated him But I don't know it's bizarre. It's like one of those things where like we're talking about the weird Oscar Story of this movie and that it feels like it both over-performed and under-performed

[00:37:15] Like Denzel getting an actor nomination slam dunk What's weird is it for it to get screenplay and then get nothing else Like no visual effects, no director Really weird So bizarre I mean the director nominees

[00:37:30] This is the thing Beast of the Southern Wild is the one where you're like okay But at the time you know that was just that weird like mini phenomenon I mean it feels like we all kind of went crazy for Beast of the Southern Wild

[00:37:41] We had Southern Wild fever That movie is 92% the score That is by our... Oh yeah, the score is incredible I still listen when I have to like do some when I have to like work I just put that score on repeat and just like bang something out

[00:37:56] They should have nominated that score for best director That's what they should have done Well he freaking did the score too, that was the whole thing No it was him and this guy Him and Dan Romer Oh Dan Romer, yes sorry

[00:38:07] But Ben Zeitlin did the score with them, that's true And you know his score for Wendy, his much delayed follow-up is also really good Even though Wendy is not very good in my opinion But Ang Lee, Michael Haneke Ben Zeitlin, Steven Spielberg, David O Russell

[00:38:22] Like it is a fairly muscular, I mean that's... Affleck is snubbed, like the story is no Affleck And Catherine Bigelow snubbed And Quentin Tarantino is snubbed Like there's a lot of big shots in there who didn't make it So it is, yeah

[00:38:36] Right, I feel like the snubbings were the headline that year And Ang Lee kind of weirdly wins by default Because Affleck isn't nominated Spielberg you know has already won David O Russell It's like whoa not there yet Let's over nominate his next two movies as well

[00:38:53] The whole thing is so bizarre But the one thing we're not acknowledging here Was that this movie was a big fucking hit That this movie did incredibly well It overperformed beyond most Denzel movies Like that's the weird thing Is I feel like at this time in particular

[00:39:10] Denzel movies, especially if we're talking about like thrillers and action movies and whatever Would open to 20 million dollars And end up somewhere between like 60 and 80 He rarely would cross over 100 million dollars Unless he was like co-starring with someone who's also big Like Pelican Brief, like the fucking

[00:39:29] What was the safe house when Ryan Reynolds had Like all the heat in the world at that one moment But usually he would make like opens to 20 Ends up at 70 And then this movie like opened close to 30 And made like 90 right

[00:39:42] Was this was this like a Christmas movie Was it around that It was early November Early November It was like a sort of Thanksgiving movie But it didn't even benefit from like a holiday weekend It came out in a random weekend in November Opened really high Multiplied well

[00:39:59] I think it literally just had an incredible trailer The trailer was unbelievable And that trailer was on all the time That's what I remember from this movie Is like seeing the trailer all the time Not seeing it in theaters And then like seeing the

[00:40:11] That Denzel got an Oscar nomination And being like, oh is that movie good? I don't know And then I didn't know for like six more years The premise how the trailer presents It feels very engaging Like as an audience member you're like fuck

[00:40:25] I want to see how this plays out That is true I'd be curious to see like the cinema score On this because I would like to know Like what people thought going in And how they felt like coming out And if they were like Loved it

[00:40:38] Let's see if it has a cinema score Does not I mean I saw it opening weekend With my buddy Perlin who is like My number one movie going companion I would say over the years And we tend to see Denzel movies together We were so amped for this

[00:40:56] We saw this like fucking AMC 25 Afternoon, Saturday it came out The audience felt amped And it was definitely kind of muted afterwards And I feel like we walked out and were like It's not bad but I was expecting to love that

[00:41:09] And I'm surprised it's that much about him Not admitting he's an alcoholic Like I'm surprised that the main dramatic crux Of the movie is just his denial Over the investigation Right because you think it's going to be kind of like Sully where the whole thing is like

[00:41:25] We got this NTSB trial Or hearing or whatever Like the press is everywhere blah blah blah And it like could have been that movie And then it just it's a completely different thing Sully which of course is a Wonderful perfect movie In which 155 souls were saved

[00:41:46] More souls than on the flight flight There are 102 souls on the flight flight The flight flight's on a smaller plane A very bad plane and if you ever see yourself On an MD80 get off the plane But that's neither here nor there

[00:42:01] Sully is about like him dealing with the trauma Of the flight right and like so It's a perfect structure where it's like He's recalling elements of it It's being questioned, it's being investigated We don't see the entire thing in full until You know right at the end

[00:42:16] It's brilliant Sully is the anti-flight Yes flight is we see the flight We see the crash happen You know exactly what happened You saw him before the flight there's no gray area He wakes up and he's like Yeah well I nailed that

[00:42:32] Anyway I have a lot of other shit to deal with Two hours ago and you're like Yeah I mean that was a relatively intense Is he alright? And it's like the plane crash? Yeah no no he's not worried about that He treats that like he totaled his car

[00:42:48] Like it's annoying You know it's like I'm a fucking Toyota Like the carburetor But at no point is he reckoning with this Horrifying thing that happened to him Except by hitting Rock bottom as an alcoholic And he's like I don't think it makes sense

[00:43:06] We're going back to bashing the screenplay But I don't think it ties those two things together Right and it also feels like it takes A while To get to that moment where you realize he's in deep shit Where like he and Cheetol

[00:43:18] Right it's like you were drug tested FYI Yeah and he's like when's that gonna happen And you can see the change in his eyes Again this movie is good because Denzel is good Because you can see in that moment He's like oh shit I'm Royally fucked here

[00:43:34] He is so good in this movie And it is the most Boring observation of the world That Denzel Washington is a good actor But this is him being Like I have another thing you haven't seen yet A little bit you know what I mean

[00:43:48] Like you've never seen me this busted Well it's also interesting Like I feel in the last Eight years since this movie came out Denzel has finally started To age I feel like you know there was the body Like Arnold faced like Denzel

[00:44:04] Thing where like for so many decades it was Like oh this is one of the most perfect looking Men in Hollywood this is like An annoyingly handsome person Who also radiates Intensity and integrity On screen And then you know he just like never

[00:44:20] Age he was still like fucking 60 With a gun chasing people In cop movies and you were like yep still buy it Dude's a leading man and I feel like He's crossed like a fences Threshold where now Denzel is Like wearing his age

[00:44:34] Like he's not a pretty boy anymore He's like uncle Denzel He's very handsome still That's also what leads like so much credibility To this role where you're like yeah of course This guy is like just Fucking people like left and right But this is kind

[00:44:50] Of the first movie where he was Really roughing himself As much as he still is handsome Making himself look shitty and now He's just that wearing that age But this it's like when you see the shift Between the scenes where he's dead drunk

[00:45:04] And the scenes where he's supposed to be cleaned up You do see the difference I will say there is that little phase In the early 2000s with like Man on fire and the Man Cheering candidate Where he's playing guys who are a little messed up

[00:45:16] And he's maybe a little bulkier And he's like wearing it And like you know it's he's good in both of those movies But this is a whole other It's the punch It's the weird kind of bags under his eyes And just the kind of like Vacant look

[00:45:32] He's always clammy Yeah and it's like the way he like holds his mouth Is always sort of like hanging to the side I mean it's like you said David Like boring how do you even talk about Oh Denzel's good at acting But he is

[00:45:46] So good at playing drunk In this movie I think when I saw in theaters I was so disappointed that the movie was so focused on that That I wasn't giving enough credit to how skillful it is And you see him at so many different stages Of drunkenness

[00:46:02] But it is just like It's obviously one of those things that actors Fucking love to do because there's a lot of business And being drunk But it's just so deftly underplayed But yet he can walk into any scene And you understand just from how he's carrying himself

[00:46:19] Before he says a word How many drinks he's had at that point He's also like not a drinker In real life He's just an incredible actor And I think like that underplaying thing You can really see when he like goes to see his son And his ex-wife

[00:46:35] Where it's like is he drunk And then you're like oh he's like loaded And then he goes out and like gives the speech To the press or whatever And he like pulls it together really quick And then it's like

[00:46:47] That like minute of the movie is such a whirlwind That is all on him That fine line stuff right where like That which I feel like it's hard to play drunk Because you can play it too much right You can overdo it right

[00:47:01] And that sinking feeling you have If you have anyone in your life You've known as an alcoholic where you're like It takes a minute for you You're like just like it's like a horror story thing Where you're like oh is it, is he right now

[00:47:13] Like and then how charming he can be Like when he's either sober or whatever He's pulled it together Like when they're bringing him into the hotel Near the end of the movie and he's like oh you know Like it's just bouncing along

[00:47:27] And you're just like oh god he's gonna do it again Like I know he's gonna do it again It's the thing that smart actors say Which is the pitfall of playing drunk Is that you want to play drunk Because that seems fun

[00:47:40] And the error there is that drunk people Are always trying to convince you that they're sober So you have to play someone trying to play sober Which is in and of itself more difficult to do Because you have to play two contradictory things At the same time

[00:47:53] You have to act like you're drunk And then on top of that act like you're not trying to show that you're drunk He's an actor where it feels too low That he has two Oscars Yeah He should have more He should have four

[00:48:08] Well okay what do you think the four are Well the thing is I might take Glory away from him He's good in Glory But he doesn't need that Oscar If you know the career that's coming Like obviously that helps him get the career that's coming

[00:48:23] You could have given Andre Brower his same Oscar Andre Brower is great in Glory But I mean that's the year of Martin Lendon crimes Mr. Meaners Danny Ailes, you know everyone can do the right thing Honestly Danny Ailes, you know there's a lot of good nominees

[00:48:34] Like the ones he needs are Malcolm X Training Day And then like Pickham of like Flight and Fences And Roman J You know his later Roman J, Israel He's so quiet in Roman J, Israel You guys are rejecting or neglecting to mention Unstoppable

[00:48:53] Another movie where he's in charge of a big machine that's going awry That comes out like two years earlier Olivia you joke I think Unstoppable has come up three times In this miniseries Really? I forget how but I know we've talked about it on recent episodes

[00:49:07] It has come up I watched that movie at some point during quarantine And I was like this movie is just perfect It's like so good he's so good in it Chris Pine is so good in it Pine is incredible in it Washington is incredible in it

[00:49:21] Their chemistry is Their chemistry is nuclear It's so good And like the action is so good And it's all what's crazy about the action is that it's just like This train has to turn a corner And you're like it's the most riveting thing in the world

[00:49:36] It's on rails The train is on tracks moving in one direction We have to do Tony Scott The scene and when we do it Olivia has to be on the episode But the scene where Pine is finally confessing that he confronted his wife Remember that?

[00:49:54] And Tencil is like oh boy what'd you do And he's like well I had a gun And Denzil just goes whoa It's like that It's so good No one else would dare He's like oh hello Like he knows exactly when to like put mustard on it

[00:50:10] And then you're seeing a movie like this I don't know if I call this a subtle performance This is not a subtle movie But he's not overdoing it ever Which even though this movie over does everything I mean have you seen John Goodman in this film

[00:50:26] Did you notice that he's in it? Olivia's pointing to her virtual background Olivia are you a community fan? I am a community fan I've been watching community in Quaranty Because you can kind of just like watch any episode Much like The Simpsons which I have also been watching

[00:50:46] Because you can just like go wherever And be like I get what's happening here I'm here for some jokes Like I'd love to see it David and I both rewatched all of community Early in Quaranty And I feel like a lot of people have been watching it now

[00:50:59] Especially because now it's available On every streaming service It remains one of my favorite jokes In any television series ever Where they set up Goodman at the beginning of that season With the air conditioning repair school He's gone for like eight episodes

[00:51:13] And then when they finally get around to like Oh we gotta deal with that subplot And bring him back He started filming Flight And he looks like this And he just enters a scene Donald Glover says like what happened And he says it's been a weird few months

[00:51:30] So funny, it's so good And it's like it's so clear that it was just like Hey Goodman you're still down to be on the show Yeah you should know I look like a fucking maniac right now And they're like don't worry We'll write one joke about it

[00:51:43] Which also means that they like Because he's not in like a ton of this movie It just means that they happen to like Intersect at the exact moment That he would have looked like this Is it two scenes or three scenes? It's not more than three

[00:51:55] Because he's like the hospital Driving him as well Yeah he drives him and then he comes back to the hotel Yeah it's three scenes but he apparently spent Nine months growing out that ponytail The ponytail is fun also because it's like From the front you're like that's just

[00:52:11] John Goodman and then he'll like turn around And it's like a braid almost He's got like a long thick navi braid It looks like he would use it to connect to a dragon I would connect to John Goodman's weird braid Yes of course A-Wa would hear some things

[00:52:31] As much as we've been clowning on the screenplay a little bit Let's get into the plot anyway You know we have the plane crash We'll talk about the plane crash now But the fact that right after that Pretty much the first thing is a scene of John Goodman

[00:52:45] Barging into a hospital room And you're just like I don't know who this is I don't understand what's going on I do appreciate that That's fun like there's a mystery he brings But first yes no I'm sorry we open on Titties Boobs and cocaine yes

[00:53:02] First shot is just a boob And you're like what? A boob in a hotel room Horny first of all I'm sorry I took notes There's one shot of an airplane Airport runway Oh okay It's like flight titles, flight Airport runway Second shot is Titts

[00:53:23] Second shot is literally Titts rise into frame Because in my memory I remembered Titts being the first shot So I was trying to really take note of this But it is especially odd For two guys who have been watching Zemeckis movies For the last five months

[00:53:38] Whereas Zemeckis is usually very horny But in a kind of like restrained family friendly way There are always these weird glimpses of horniness But he doesn't really show sex If it does it's in like a very Jessica Rabbit Roger Rabbit cartoonish way

[00:53:54] It's a lot of like coded jokes and shit Especially coming through three mocap movies in the world Although Bay Wolf is really fucking horny It's the horniest movie ever made It is alarming to watch this movie start with Titts Right and then they start smoking weed

[00:54:09] And it's like It's like immediately you're like I guess this is what we're doing And then he like does coke and he's in the suit And he's like walking down the hallway It's like most of that scene in the hotel Is like a big oneer

[00:54:23] Like an establishing oneer of the hotel room Where he's in bed bullshitting on the phone And you just watch this fully naked woman Walk around the corners of the frame Slowly put clothing on Pleading by Nadine Velazquez Who was Catalina and my name is Earl

[00:54:39] Like an actress I like She's funny, she gets to be naked in this movie And then dead And that's really if she talks I don't remember it But yeah, yeah No it's Very much the mech is being like I'm making an R.A.D.A movie guys

[00:54:57] Do you see? But then there's something subtle that I don't know If you folks picked up on Which is when he hangs up the phone He does a line of coke And then the song that plays Is feeling alright But beyond that also Zooms into his face

[00:55:15] And it's that real Sound effect thing of the Like it really hits it too Everything about it is just Bold, italicized Underline And then he gets on a plane Oh no And his co-pilot is Brian Garrity Who doesn't seem to be as

[00:55:35] Feeling quite as alright as Dead Zone A little more of a square Feeling less alright I love the moment when Denzel Like Brian Garrity has obviously realized That this dude is fucked up but Denzel like Checks the oxygen or whatever And then like offers him a hit

[00:55:53] He's like good or something Which is like Of course he knew you were drunk Like you got two aspirin and a coffee And then took a giant hit off the oxygen tank We should point out that like The airline pilots union was like

[00:56:07] This is the most offensive movie ever made In the history of our industry We are so mad And I feel like they were like We have done decades of work to convince you that Pilots are not drunks who Bang stewardesses at hotel rooms

[00:56:21] And this movie is wiping it all away It's not their fault that Flying a plane is cool as shit And so is like fucking women I guess You said the thing about like The Vanity Fair like a real Flight expert reviews plane crashes Shit and it's like

[00:56:37] The movie has the confidence Of like a Denzel Is so good at playing experts On screen right You trust whatever he's saying right yeah Absolutely and B there's so much Lingo in this whole Opening like flight that I'm just like oh shit this movie

[00:56:55] Must be really accurate like every Time he says like we're gonna trim the nose I'm just like fuck That's the phrase I haven't heard before I guess this movie did its research The elevator doesn't work I'm like I have no idea where an elevator fits into

[00:57:09] Like a plane but like I I guess it's bad if it doesn't work Elevator is the thing that makes the plane do this I think Melissa Leo explains that at the end So I learned I think the technical language is Basically on point I don't know

[00:57:23] If you know this about David Olivia But he hates planes they freak him out He doesn't like flying and yet As a way to sort of try to Conquer the fear he obsessively tries To learn as much about planes as he can

[00:57:35] And watch his videos of successful flight landings To put himself to sleep And take off Well okay as I Don't love flying either and take off in landing Is the worst part When I was a kid I used to get really sick on planes

[00:57:49] I was the kid who would like throw up on a plane Wow So now I get like so nervous when I Fly especially if there's like A slight hiccup on the way down I'm like this is over I am a little calmer about landing Unless it's really bumpy

[00:58:05] Because then it's like at least this is soon Going to end like that's the only relief That's coming with landing take off Is the worst I cannot stand it The anticipation The fact that you're at an angle The fact that the plane

[00:58:19] Banks you know that you'd like that You know you like oh I hate it I hate flying. I hate it when they trim the nose I do So but all that to say The plane crash the whole flight sequence Which is probably what 20-25 minutes Right

[00:58:35] He says we're going to trim it nose down That's the term Right right because there's Yeah cause it's like doing this but The flight's incredible and I feel like that was One of these things with this movie where either people

[00:58:47] Where like I gotta go see this I hear The fucking flight sequence is Insane or people like you were like I will never watch that movie in my life It scares me too much The flight starts with that crazy

[00:58:59] Thing where they have to get out of the storm And that itself is like So stress-free That is my true nightmare That's psych out I mean I really was white-knuckling it And Forky was like Do you want me to watch this movie with you

[00:59:15] Like I was like this movie has a plane crashing in She was like okay well let's watch the movie together I picture her cradling you Throughout this entire movie Literally holding you in her It's like on a plane that's

[00:59:27] I mean not cradling but she has to manage me But uh Because the problem is that on a plane I might Yell that's not right or something like that Like I might do Something that's not appropriate You planes plane? No no no like I might say

[00:59:43] A loud something that is a fear In my head like the plane will go like And I'm like that's not good And like you shouldn't be yelling that on a plane Under any circumstances I don't do that to be clear

[00:59:55] I do my best to you know be calm But the combo of It seems really scary He's weirdly calm about it But then Garrity is kind of looking at him like Right you know Like that was risky Yeah yeah it's really you know that's great

[01:00:11] And that's just him being a cowboy He's just like ah fuck it we can get through this Turbulence his little pocket over there Right he's like we're not doing Autopilot today or whatever I'm gonna fly it and it's like so dangerous obviously Like immediately

[01:00:26] You're like this guy is Bonkers He is Well this is like this is the movie that I Want to watch that I get most Excited by the glimpses of which is like Does this crazy move finds the Pocket of clear air pulls it off The entire flight

[01:00:43] Applauds him right this guy's A fucking hero they can tell that things Are scary he did something radical And it worked this guy's just like A fucking incredible at being a pilot Then he steps out does the shit With the fucking bottles of vodka

[01:00:57] Into the orange juice and while He's doing that with one hand He's over the PA with the other hand Doing like fucking stand up Doing is like Letterman 5 Right and he's killing He's not just like talking to them Like fucking near miss Of what just happened he's like

[01:01:15] Winning them over like everyone's Loving it and I'm like this is what I find interesting in this premise Is not like a I don't even know how to describe this Properly because it's not like a like Oh how do you separate the art from the

[01:01:29] Artist thing but it's almost like a How do you separate People's strengths From their weaknesses right This idea of like if someone Does something incredibly good That's at the same time that They're doing some incredibly irresponsible Is it possible to Extract one from the other You know like

[01:01:51] That's all interesting To me and to watch him like This whole sequence where you're kind of watching Everything through Garretty's Eyes where it's like okay he's a Movie star he's cool he's charming He's nailing this but also he's literally Like sleeping at the wheel

[01:02:07] With like a piece of paper The napkin or whatever Right like all This shit you're like this shouldn't fucking work But I know what movie I bought a ticket to He's gonna roll it He is gonna roll it He does roll it When they are in the air

[01:02:25] Essentially what happens What happened to Alaska 261 Which is the flight this is based on Is like the fucking tail broke The rudder broke you know the thing that Makes everything make sense just exploded Because they hadn't Been maintaining it blah blah It was just like years of

[01:02:43] Neglect and the plane Like just you know just starts Misbehaving and Well it doesn't just start misbehaving it Fully just like goes down Right it goes nose down Nose down like That is so scary to me The idea that you could just be in the air

[01:03:01] And suddenly be like nose down Like well god I'm getting anxious just thinking about it Whenever they cut to the cabin I like can't I like can't watch it it freaks me out too much Like I can handle Anything with flying that is not

[01:03:17] In a passenger jet you know what I mean Like because then I'm just like okay yeah whatever This is just science fiction to me anyway Like military planes Space right any of that But when we're cutting to people in Cloth seats you know and their drinks

[01:03:31] Are rattling I'm like No no I can't watch this this is Too horrifying to me We don't really see the plane much right Like we're really just in the cockpit And the cabin right I was just gonna say that's Like Zemeckis is like

[01:03:45] Big trick here is that he's Like you're not gonna see the outside of the plane You are going to be in it the whole time And it's gonna stress you out the whole time The only time you really see it is There's the CGI shot they

[01:03:57] Do from underneath Where you just see that thing flapping That's not like working properly But that's really the only part of the Outside you see like during the action But it's also like This is Zemeckis Making his first live action movie Since cast away cast away another

[01:04:15] Movie where everyone's like Fuck this crash is gonna be bad I know the crash is gonna be bad People cite it as like a famously terrifying Crash so you have to Know that he's coming to the tail being like I gotta one up myself

[01:04:29] Like I gotta do something different I've set a standard for myself I've placed around the premise that like This miracle shit happens In this absurdly unlucky circumstance Every time he like sets up Another piece Because Zemeckis is such a like Breadcrumb storyteller of just like

[01:04:49] I put this here remember this This is gonna come back into play later When you see the overhead compartment open You're just like fuck me Zemeckis is gonna do some shit with this Someone is gonna end up fucked As a vat you know

[01:05:03] And then you see the flight attendant Unbuckle herself She I can't with her When she's knocked her head and they roll it And then she's No it's so That makes me so upset He's just He's such an exacting filmmaker That anytime you see anything happen in the cabin

[01:05:23] It happens with such a sense of dread Because you were like that is to set up Something worse that is gonna happen in two minutes And even the like vodka bottles And the orange juice like those come back later Because they're like what are those

[01:05:35] Like everything is kind of pieced together And it comes together In some kind of but which is maybe the screenplay But it also feels very Zemeckis-y It's very Zemeckis-y I mean that's a through line of literally every movie he's made So either that's why he liked the screenplay

[01:05:51] Or that's something that he mandated In the rewrite because he never Like there's always that like I'm going to make a shot Based around spotlighting The vodka going into the orange juice As much as possible so that that image Sticks in your mind so we can

[01:06:07] Recall it an hour and twenty minutes later And it's not out of nowhere There's, and then there's just two things really One, just the fact just how good Denzel is In the scene just you know How that thing where you just spring Into crisis mode and you're suddenly

[01:06:21] Locked in right which is a real Phenomenon I felt that way like And then just I mean the best Idea and moment in the movie Which is that when he tells to Marituny To say she loves her son And she's like what? And he's like black box

[01:06:35] Black box and then Locks back into flying the plane And I'm just like sitting here like In like an ocean of Devastation just thinking About that thought process It's like this brilliant moment Of clarity for him and it's also He doesn't say it to his son

[01:06:53] You gotta say this to your son Cause he knows she's got you know Like it's just it's it's flooring It's such good writing it's like the moment That I love yeah she is really good In this movie incredibly good in this movie

[01:07:05] I love her she's a terrific actress She gets like three Three years so seen maybe even just two But she like absolutely knocks it out of the park You know she played Calpurnia When he did Julius Caesar on Broadway Like I feel like he knows like

[01:07:19] Whatever they've known each other for years She's such a pro I mean obviously Everyone I feel like knows her best from like SPU and stuff like that But like she's she's the she's a pro It is though like when you Describe it in ways like that

[01:07:33] It sounds like exactly the kind Of screenplay I love right like I love A movie with this kind of sort Of like murky moral premise Just sort of winding its characters Up I love a movie That allows actors to come in and just

[01:07:47] Kill two scenes like the fact that In this movie the screenplay is the generosity To have this many good small roles in it For ringers to come in Both like established stars and people Who are sort of undervalued or less known Like I like all of that

[01:08:01] In theory and yes as you said David That moment is incredible And it's like well played But that moment is there In the script like you Have to give credit and there are times Where the script is working on that level But it's the fact that the guy

[01:08:17] So matter of fact about it That it's like he's trying To convince everyone in there As unemotionally as possible That he's gonna pull this off right Like the terror is not sinking into the guy He's in literal fight or flight mode It's like I'm gonna fucking fix this

[01:08:33] But also he's like But I can't be sentimental about this I might fail And if I fail she should say goodbye to her son The fact that it's just like checklist You know? It blows my mind It's so good The plane crash is crazy

[01:08:51] Well wait a second I'm trying to remember He does something weird What does he do with the plane? Does he bop it? Does he twist it? He doesn't pull it No David what does he do? He rolls it He turns the plane upside down So it is inverted

[01:09:11] The way he says it too We're gonna roll it I love it It's one of my favorite line writing And I guess the implication is that somehow The stabilizer works When it's upside down or something And that's what he's doing Is that he's

[01:09:29] That means he can bring the plane down more slowly Cause everything's backwards Yeah I think the big complaint that most Of these videos I'm talking about If you did that the wings would probably just snap off As much as they are designed To resist incredible pressure

[01:09:45] Like if you literally just like Turn the plane upside down Anyway He does it and then he turns it He rolls it again You can't deny that part A full roll, a 360 roll And the moment where it's suddenly quiet The engines are dead

[01:10:03] You know Garrett is freaking out and praying to Jesus And he's like we're gliding We're gliding We're gliding too That's pretty great And then the fucking You know steering column bits of in the face And we're off to the races Two hours to go

[01:10:21] Well but also it's like during that whole Chunk, like the way we've been talking about it You would think that was the only thing That happened in this movie But we have also met Kelly Riley And she has also Like gone to her porn friend

[01:10:35] And picked up heroin Under the bridge by Red Hot Chili Peppers Another really subtle, beautiful needle drop In this movie Yes, you might not get it The way we're talking about it Like all makes sense That would have been a tighter like First 20 minutes of this movie

[01:10:53] But instead those 20 minutes are intercut With Kelly Riley going about her day trying to get a fix Yeah Almost getting kicked out of her apartment Getting evicted And once again if you're You're just like this is Denzel's face Denzel Washington flight Why is this much of the first

[01:11:13] 15 minutes spent on a woman Trying to get heroin And the movie doesn't really answer that question either No, but especially in the beginning You're like what does this have to do with anything else That I'm seeing on screen Right So they crash, he blacks out

[01:11:29] He's in the hospital, he's all fucked up But he's okay He's in serious injuries Bruce Greenwood is there Playing the representative from the pilots union His old buddy Charlie One of those actors who just is like a great tree You know He's an oak

[01:11:47] Just like his face is like He's seen the world He's been around the block So handsome too And his voice, the way he says anything You're just like this guy's telling me the truth I think that the first time Was when he played Kennedy in 13 days

[01:12:03] The costum movie Which he's great in And I remember just thinking like Oh my god, this guy just must be like A Kennedy lookalike That they found And then it's like no, he's just a good actor Who just kind of has that attitude

[01:12:19] Like he just kind of seems kind of like a presidential guy And he just ruled I mean he's incredible in Star Trek Which is I think just a three or four Scene performance as well I think about all the time He's wonderful in it

[01:12:35] Oh, he's the husband of double jeopardy He is? Yes He's a good villain too He absolutely can play a creep But that's like you look at the first like Ten years of his career and it's like First blood, wild orchid Passenger 57, disturbing behavior Double jeopardy

[01:12:53] Like he's very much in this kind of trashy You know He's in a different zone Rules of engagement and then yeah And then like 13 days is kind of the turning point Of course John from Cincinnati He's the leader of that one day we'll do it on the

[01:13:07] Patreon or something Ten incredible episodes President of the United States A National Treasure Book of Secrets He's played the president more than once Right And then the next morning Who shows up but Johnny G Johnny G shows up He's like the first He shows up with a camcorder

[01:13:29] That never really comes back into play He's like filming the nurse The camcorder bit is crazy He films his butt Full butt from Denzel We love We do love But yeah the nurse is just like oh you And it's like do you know him

[01:13:47] This guy is the worst I don't want to say anything And I will clarify that it is not The John Goodman character in this movie Reminds me of my godfather to an uncomfortable Degree The second he enters I'm just like It's Howard

[01:14:03] It's like the kind of guy who just says like rock and roll is Punctuation and like Actually has printed pornography With him like he's like Stroke mags And they're all called like hot Melts or whatever But just to use the term Stroke mag in 2012

[01:14:21] He's like the year of our lord Well he also is like he knows all the names For the pills and they're like They're giving you the generic shit We want the blue label American Like so it's like He's smart in his own way

[01:14:35] Like he knows all this stuff When he comes in at the end of the movie He fucking does his job well He does successfully sober the guy up And he's like loyal He is loyal he's a good guy Denzel is like go to my house

[01:14:49] Devastated in a bag labeled view Out of the fridge and like bring it back And then drive me to this farm Which is like a lot to ask of someone But Don Goodman does it all If you're going to be an attic

[01:15:01] This is the best guy to have as your friend Right he yes He feels like a cousin of his big Lebowski character Who is weirdly more cheerful But also more criminal But it's that same vibe right Where you're like was this guy maybe

[01:15:15] A numb like has he kind of seen it You know what I mean? Do you guys feel like Whip? We haven't even mentioned that Denzel's character is named Whip Whitaker. Whip Whitaker. But do you guys think Whip and John Goodman were like... Like, how do they meet?

[01:15:29] Did they meet because he's a drug dealer and then he just became a friend organically or is it like an old friend who became a drug dealer? Like, this is the actual... This is like a story I would want to see

[01:15:38] would be like a buddy comedy about them through the years. Right. Pretty cool. My guess is it was transactional first became a friendship. That's how I always read it and it's sort of like an indictment of the character that this is his best friend in the world

[01:15:52] is a guy who he presumably bought shit from. But they do seem like genuinely close. Like... Totally. Well, because it's like they've seen each other right in the most vulnerable circumstance. So, right. I also think it was a transactional relationship like 30 years ago. Right.

[01:16:11] They've now been friends for longer than they were just buying and selling. But he's so good. It's one of those things too where you're like disappointed that he's not in more of the movie even though I don't really know how the movie could have used him more

[01:16:27] and there's a power to like using him sparingly. But unlike James Badge Dale where you're like, that's an incredible one scene that's designed to be one scene in and out. Don't need to see that guy ever again. Just the fucking look.

[01:16:40] You just want Zemeckis to keep on doing needle drops and letting John Goodman storm into a room. I mean, it's like perfect. It's like I'm leaning over because my background is John Goodman but like the cargo shorts, the like bowling shirt, the sunglasses

[01:16:54] and then the like Jamaican thread bag is such a perfect touch to the whole thing. What I love about the bowling shirt to shorts thing it's like his bowling shirt covers 60% of his body. The shorts cover like 15. You know, like there's still a lot of skin left over.

[01:17:13] It's like such a choice where he's like, honestly I could lose the shorts and basically the same amount of my body would be covered. Yeah. The sunglasses, the Apple headphones. He's magnificent in this movie. He's a magnificent sight. It's a great performance. He should have been Oscar nominated.

[01:17:33] There was some buzz and then it kind of died off. I think he kind of hurt himself by being an argo. It's just too small. It's a little small. It's like if he had one more scene in the movie I think he probably would have gotten nominated.

[01:17:47] Right, but to your point it's like this movie is so great because he's not in more of it almost. It's like he shows up at the beginning and he's gone and then when Whip needs him again there he is.

[01:18:00] It's like it would have maybe diminished the last bit if he had kept popping up. We were like here's Whip's loyal friend and it's like no he comes back and it's a treat and we're all excited because we're like, oh he's about to do cocaine.

[01:18:14] That haven't been said. The trailer spotlights him so much that you're ready to watch a fucking buddy movie of this dude enabling Denzel. Right. I think it's, you know, I'm looking at... Because the other thing with the Oscar nomination is just because he's bizarrely unnominated.

[01:18:31] Anytime he pops in a movie there is that talk of like, okay, are they finally going to tip the hat? And it's not like he doesn't work but he really hasn't... He's mostly been doing TV. I feel like that's where his energies have been concentrated recently

[01:18:47] because of the Connors, because of the Righteous Gemstones. Like his only performance in the last almost decade apart from that I really loved was 10 Cloverfield Lane which he's so good at. He should have gotten nominated for that. Like he's incredible in that.

[01:19:04] And I want to say obviously as America's number one, the Connors stand, he is doing incredible work on a weekly basis on the Connors. He's incredible on the show. He's great on Gemstones too. He's like so good on Righteous Gemstones. He rules to be clear.

[01:19:18] It's just that he has, you know, Emmys or whatever. Like I just... I need him to have an Oscar but anyway, whatever, that's my problem. I just want to offer a couple quick corrections to what you're saying though, David. Yes, go ahead. One, you're forgetting the committed work

[01:19:33] he's been putting in as Autobot Hound in the last two Transformers. Look, he's good as Hound. Hound is the Transformer if I remember correctly that has a robotic cigar that he smokes. Correct. Thank you. I want to make sure Olivia knew that.

[01:19:45] I did not. I'm gonna look it up real quick. Yeah. Hound is a robot who smokes a robot cigar. Does smoke come out of it? Sure. No, I don't think so. It seems like it's maybe just ornamental but he definitely chews on it.

[01:20:01] It might be like a vape pen, right? You know, like it's sort of warm. I don't know, yeah. I also... I agree that Tencler Field Lane is the best one but if I could just spotlight a couple other things. He is good in Patriots Day. Yes, he is.

[01:20:17] I haven't seen Patriots Day. It's a small role, yeah. Very good in The Gambler which obviously does not come together as a movie. Never saw The Gambler. He's really good in that and that's another Goodman movie where you're just like this fucking look.

[01:20:30] He is completely shaved bald in that movie and he spends most of his scenes in a sauna. Inside Lou and Davis, I feel like is the other one. He's so fucking funny. The year after this where people were like first Coen Brothers movie in a decade

[01:20:50] is this finally gonna be his nomination? Isn't that another one where he's only in it for a scene? He's just in the back of the car being weird to Oscar Isaac. Yeah, this one extended sort of spotlight chunk of the movie. But he's incredible in it.

[01:21:05] Incredible and I believe insanely third-billed. Like I guess just because he's John Goodman. He's so funny in Inside Lou and Davis. I love that performance. There are few things I find funnier maybe as someone who misspeaks and mispronounces things all the time that when actors deliberately mispronounce words

[01:21:24] as a character choice. And inside Lou and Davis, when he's trying to slam folk music and he says playing three chords on an ukulele. Ukulele. I should re-watch. I don't know. Apparently he's in atomic blonde. I don't remember that. He's like debriefing maybe? Is that what he's doing?

[01:21:44] Yeah. God yeah. Anyway, he's in that movie Captive State that I saw that like is not great but he's all over that one. The alien found footage really. Oh yeah, he's actually good in that. That movie doesn't exist though. He's good in it.

[01:21:57] But let's say another thing about Goodman. Okay? Goodman very publicly has talked about his addiction issues throughout his entire life. He's had a major, major drinking problem and major drug addiction as well. And I feel like the last 15 years

[01:22:10] he's talked a lot about trying to like really sober up. It seems like it's really taken this time. He had a couple sort of false starts but like the 2010s were him trying to actually get his act together.

[01:22:22] And I feel like to some degree he has been moving towards TV and away from movies because he's like, it helps me stay sober if I'm working all the time and I'm super stable. It's like such a schedule that it's like

[01:22:33] I go to work every day for like this amount of time. Like that makes perfect sense to me. He's talked about it really openly and he's also like he looks better than he's ever looked. He's in like really good shape now on the Connors. Right, he lost weight.

[01:22:46] He's more, yeah. The thing about John Goodman is that he's always like... You look at John Goodman for a second and you're like, that's not a man that looks good. And then you like look at John Goodman and you're like, oh, that's kind of... That he's a looker.

[01:22:59] And it's so much charm and like... He's so big, like he's so tall. I just want him to like pick me up. I don't know if you watch the Connors. I don't watch the Connors. But it's a big running thread. I mean, I never watched Roseanne.

[01:23:12] I have no affinity for Roseanne. I watched the first episode of the Connors. I'm not saying I dislike Roseanne. It was never a show I was into. I was just sort of so fascinated by... Oh, they're doing the show without her.

[01:23:23] I have to watch this episode and see how they deal with it. It's my favorite show on TV. He's so good in it. And one of the things I think is great about it is it's a show about John Goodman being weirdly sexy.

[01:23:34] It's like now John Goodman as a widower and all these women being like, fuck, I want to date you. And he's like, I don't know, my wife. Still thinking about my wife. She had a lot to say about Israel. I imagine he's also good because he's just like...

[01:23:48] Like, I feel like John Goodman is so good for that multi-cam sitcom thing. Like, he's just so funny and so quick that it would just like... It just seems like he must be so good at landing like that type of joke. Yeah, absolutely.

[01:24:05] But he also really plays the pathos of the show. Like, it's really about him as sort of like a broken patriarch now. All this to say, it is interesting that this was that period where suddenly like Goodman was in two best picture runners in a row.

[01:24:18] Right? He's in The Artist and Argo. He's doing like six movies a year. I forgot he's in The Artist. Oh yeah, he's in The Artist. Every year people are like, can we finally nominate him this year?

[01:24:28] And then it's like, oh no, that performance is actually a little small. This one doesn't connect as much. I'm going to roll it. I'm gonna roll it. I'm trying to be... What's his pants? Weaspleasure. Oh, Jean Du Jaudein. Weaspleasure.

[01:24:44] Yeah. You know, Jean Du Jaudein, one of the ten best actors of the last decade. Yeah, he's the most famous actor in the world, right? He won Best Actor. Of course. Yeah, he gave one of the ten best performances.

[01:24:55] But this is also the period of time where he's like... In retrospect, talked about how much he was struggling with addiction and arguably his two best performances are Flight and Inside Lou and Davis where he plays like... The fucking train wrecks of men. Yeah, yeah.

[01:25:09] Felt like I'm trying to sort of purge this energy. But anyway, now we spent 20 minutes talking about the four minutes on Good Vincent, which are kind of the most notable in the movie outside of the crash. This is the thing. There's a lot of movie,

[01:25:22] but most of it I feel like is dismissible. Nothing, it's like unwatchable. It gets very repetitive. It's very repetitive. It's... Which I understand it's trying to get you into the mind of an addict who's not admitting to himself, you know, that there's the problem, right?

[01:25:41] And so, right, he's doing the same bad behavior. He's lying to people, but it's pretty fucking repetitive. Right, then the rest of this movie is like... We get the stairwell scene with James Bedjdale. He goes to the farm, throws away his alcohol,

[01:25:57] and then he learns he's in trouble and then he starts drinking again and then he stops drinking and then he starts drinking and then it's like that's kind of it. He just encounters different people and learns new information along the way.

[01:26:11] Yeah, and the weird Kelly Riley relationship where you're like, is this gonna be some weird movie, like overly perfect two broken people fix each other things? And then it just becomes like she kind of gives up because she's also gotten her shit together

[01:26:27] and she doesn't need to be dragged down by him. That's like the best thing that her character does the whole time is just like get out of dodge. She's just like, I can't. Like when she comes home and he's like drunk watching those home movies is like devastating.

[01:26:43] Oh boy. I'd say as much as the Kelly Riley stuff is odd in the movie, she does have three of the best scenes. Like that scene's pretty incredible. The AA scene I think is pretty good and the best scene of that whole arc,

[01:27:00] the only thing that really kind of justifies investing that much time in this relationship in the movie is the scene where he kind of turns on her. When he's fixing the plane, he's pitching the Jamaica trip and then where he just like turns on a dime

[01:27:13] the second she calls out his alcoholism. I get like as much as it's not the movie I want to see and that is only the fault of this movie having a more interesting premise and setup, I do understand like John Gatton's working 10 years

[01:27:31] on the screenplay feels like him trying to exercise this very particular thing of I feel like how the show business deals with high functioning addicts. You know, this kind of thing of like if you're good at your job and you get stuff done

[01:27:54] and the final product is good, if you land the plane then we'll excuse anything. Right? Like all these stories you hear about until like people have their mass and bottoming out where you're just like this guy was like, only could act one hour a day

[01:28:10] or this director would leave set or like would direct from bed or had to have their lines fed to them through an earpiece. Like you hear all these stories of just like how the fuck are people still hiring this person

[01:28:22] and also how the fuck are those performances still good? And it's that thing where people are just like, it's maddening, it's maddening. You watch him on set, he's a fucking nightmare and then you get in the editing room and somehow it's there

[01:28:34] and because of that people just keep on indulging and people keep on enabling and might even call in a John Goodman to give him more if it helps get him, you know, the energy he needs to get on set. I understand that as like a personal story

[01:28:48] and there's something kind of there to making a movie about like a guy who needs to come to his own admission of his addiction. Yeah. I got no beef with an addiction move. Even though he could technically get away with it,

[01:29:03] like A, he's still so good at everything he does in terms of his job and B, he's always able to just kind of save his ass at the last second. Well, I would like, like I completely agree with all of that.

[01:29:15] I think that there's like this very interesting tension within the movie where it's like if anyone other than Denzel had been flying that plane, everyone would be dead and they like really hammer that home and it's very interesting where like I start to

[01:29:30] start like maybe having questions about things. So it's like, I would like to know if John Gatton's is like a religious man, like if he used because the God stuff just like pops in and out and like James Badge Dale's speech

[01:29:43] is like God chose me to have cancer. Like they hit the church. There's that whole religious group. The act of God thing. The act of God clause. Like it pops up in these like sneaky ways that I'm always kind of like, huh, that feels like not

[01:29:59] like an accident. And then the Garrity scene is so weird because it almost feels like it's played for comedy. The bit of his wife like budding in over and over again just feels so over the top that you're like,

[01:30:11] is that badly judged drama or is he going for satire here? I think the wife kind of ruins that scene because I like that scene in theory, right? The Garrity is like, I'm mad at you. I also recognize that you saved my life.

[01:30:27] I won't spill the beans on you, but it's kind of because the only way I can process the awful thing that happened to me is that this is all in God's plan. Like that's the only way I can reckon with this because otherwise I'll go crazy basically.

[01:30:42] I like that. But then the wife just starts chiming in with like, Jesus, I'm like, all right, all right, I get it from you. I also just can't get over that he has the same exact look as Eckhart and Sully to the point that I just...

[01:30:54] With the mustache? Yeah, I texted you guys about it. Yes, the push room mustache. Just that it's like, that's what a co-pilot is. He's just always sitting there. He's like, I'm here in case he didn't mean like... But then also his character is so similar

[01:31:06] to his Hurt Locker character as well as like, oh, this is like the totally naive wet behind the ears guy in over his head with like a fucking cowboy badass who does his job his way. In terms of the addiction drama stuff

[01:31:20] and the arc of this movie, I like the central conflict that he not only needs to like, you know, kind of skirt around the fact that he was straight. He knows it wasn't his fault, right? But he knows obviously he shouldn't have been drunk.

[01:31:32] But like, I like that he... He needs to lie about this person who died, right? And like... Yeah, yeah. That that's that... Like that emotional dilemma... It's a great setup. Is good, right? And I like the way the movie ends. I like it as a rock bottom narrative.

[01:31:50] I just struggle with it after this absolutely incredibly tightly directed, thrilling, plain crash sequence like that we just are in that... In the addiction drama. Like I just never get... I already said this. They just don't totally hang together for me.

[01:32:10] I would say that there's like another sequence that's like incredibly tight, which is when he's at the hotel we're in the hotel room at the end of the movie. And the door like there's that light knocking noise and he's trying to figure out what it is.

[01:32:24] And then it's the connecting hotel. Like that the score during that section is like thriller music. You're like, this is going to end so poorly. But that's just fucking Zemeckis visual storytelling. And even the wind up on that watching his like sober night

[01:32:41] and how bored he is eating the steak when he's in bed doing the shit with his hands. He watches SpongeBob, of course. Right. Like all that shit is so good and so potent. And then obviously like everything from that point on in the movie is pretty much good

[01:32:56] even though maybe the last scene deflates a little bit. But it is odd. Like I think Kelly Riley is doing a good job in this movie. I think she is doing this better than most actors could. And especially for such a big movie with such a big star

[01:33:14] and a big director to give it to someone who's established but not hyperfamous, you know? It's like you're hiring someone just for acting talent and not for star power. I think she does a good job. That having been said, it just feels like this character

[01:33:29] is so thinly sketched down to just like, you know, Denzel there's so much shit of like the shadow of his father and the ruins of his marriage and his son that I think to the movie's credit, they don't spell out too much.

[01:33:45] They don't ever have the big scene of like, this is why I drink. I love the scene where he chases her away where he's like, no, I choose to drink. I choose to drink. I'm not like you. You're an addict. I choose to drink. I'm not fucked up.

[01:33:58] But he kind of mocks her with the like, what's your problem? Your mom died? Everyone's mom dies. You're weak, you know? And it's like, that's a really cruel thing for him to say, except the movie has not really given her

[01:34:11] any characterization beyond the fact that her mom died. I would say that like... There's nothing else there. Do you think he's pointing out how poorly written she is? No, sorry, go ahead. I'm just gonna say all the women,

[01:34:21] like if you think about who the women are in this movie, there's like Katerina, she of the boobs. She has boobs, yes. She dies. And then there's Tamara Tooney, who is like a mom and that's her whole thing is that she's a mom. Noble mom.

[01:34:36] We have Kelly Riley, who is an addict and that is like her whole deal. And then we also have his ex-wife, who shows up for a single scene. She scolds Garcelle Bouvet, right. And so all these women are just like sketches of ideas

[01:34:53] and the fact that like Tamara Tooney and Kelly Riley are good at all is just like 100% testament to them. Yes, absolutely. This screenplay is just like women, they get one kind of characteristic and then they can figure it out the rest of it.

[01:35:08] You forgot Melissa Leo, the grand high executioner. Melissa Leo, a bitch. Who waits for us all at the end of our days. Don Cheadle does his best to prepare. What if this movie was about dying and there's another one next year

[01:35:21] and it's like when you die, Don Cheadle is there and he's gonna try and get you past Melissa Leo. It's gonna be hard. Listen, defending your life, but it's like Don Cheadle is my lawyer and Melissa Leo is judging me. That sounds cool.

[01:35:36] That's the other thing, I mean, I know you want to talk about Cheadle, I'm lobbing this up. Every male character in this movie is so fascinatingly complex. Yes. And not underwritten, but... Well, under explained. But they all have like interesting relationships

[01:35:55] to Denzel Washington that are like filled with nuance and complexities. And all these women are just kind of like passing through. Good dramatic writing. Every character has a different relationship to every other character and behaves differently depending on who they're talking to

[01:36:08] as opposed to the women in the movie who are like one straight line. And yeah, I agree, David. I think it's like unexplained in a way that's actually kind of interesting. And that's the fundamental difference is like most of these guys in the movie,

[01:36:21] their backstory is not explained. We can spend time trying to debate over how Goodman and Denzel know each other and how long they've known each other. But at least the movie raises those questions that makes you curious. Versus Kelly Riley where it's just like,

[01:36:35] I don't know, it's her mom died or something? Like it doesn't feel like they're unexplained. It feels like they just are uninterested. Cheadle's character... Yeah, I agree with all of them. Cheadle's character, which... He has no monologue where he's like, so my deal is this.

[01:36:50] Like, you know, here's why I do this kind of work or here's what I'm getting out of this. No. No. Here's a guy who is exceptional at a job that you're like, this is kind of a bad shitty way of life. Horrible. When he kills the Tox report,

[01:37:04] you're like, ooh, boy. The way he just so casually is like, I'm just looking for permission, can I kill the Tox report? He doesn't explain how he's gonna do it. He's just like, I'm a fucking paid assassin. Right, that's the other interesting thing

[01:37:17] where he's like, it's just gone now. Don't worry about it. It's gone. I'll explain it 45 minutes now in a different boardroom. The thing we referenced where he passes the money to Bruce Lee Greenwood to give to John Goodman, my favorite moment when he is in the boardroom

[01:37:31] with the airline owner and the airline owner is like... You know, someone says, well, six people died and he's like, no, four people died that the crew members don't count. And then he has to take the beat? Yeah.

[01:37:41] And he's like, I mean, I just mean from a liability standpoint. Right. Sorry, that sounds wrong. Right. That's crazy. I love all that. I like how much is, you know, as little as he has to explain about himself or whatever.

[01:37:54] Just the triple balance of he's incredible at this. He's exasperated with Whip Whitaker, obviously, because this guy is a terrible client. And he's definitely a little dead inside and the only way he deals with it is by being a pro

[01:38:11] or whatever. And Cheetle's just got so much going on. He's so good. I love him in this movie. I also, is this the only Robert Zemeckis movie where like two, let's say top-ish Bill Black people talk to each other? It has to be. It has to be.

[01:38:27] I assume so? Yeah. That's the thing that I find almost like most interesting about this movie is that like Robert Zemeckis does not make movies about Black people except for maybe Octavia Spencer and The Witches but like... Octavia Spencer and Chris Rock haven't seen it yet.

[01:38:42] I wonder how that's gonna go. We're waiting. But like this movie is so... Oh, there's a big siren passing by. Let's see. It's a Witches alert. They're on high alert for talk of witches. But like it is interesting that he primarily

[01:38:56] makes like makes white movies and it feels like Denzel got brought on board and they were like, we gotta fill this movie with some color. I did a little further research while we've been talking. Denzel is the one who acquired the script. Okay.

[01:39:12] Denzel acquired it early with his producing partner to make it and star in it. And it never got off the ground, presumably with Gatton's attached to Directed all that time. And then I think at some point he went, can we offer this to other directors?

[01:39:26] I still want to get this made. So he's the one who sort of like... It was pitched as a mech as Denzel wants to do this. Which makes me think that Denzel also probably said I would like Sheetal to play this part

[01:39:38] because they're so good in Devil with a blue dress together. One of the most incredible supporting performances. He probably was like, that's a guy I'd love to work with again. Yeah. There's the added element of the Sheetal thing that's so incredible.

[01:39:51] And I think you're right, Olivia, that like... I feel like Flight and The Witches are the only two Zemeckis movies with a black actor above the title. Like I don't think he has another film with an African-American actor in a role even close to this large.

[01:40:08] I mean even when he was talking to Tamara Tune, I was like, oh this is like two black people talking to each other. Like the black man and a black woman talking to each other about something completely unrelated to the fact

[01:40:19] that it's a man and a woman and they're both black. And is a movie... It pointedly never talks about race at all in a way that's kind of fascinating, especially from such a white director. He's a very white director.

[01:40:31] Wait, so Beowulf didn't have any black people in it? Are you guys sure about that? Wait, I need to double check. I gotta scrub through that movie. It's got a lot of gold people in it. Yes, I feel like it's something that Zemeckis feels like he can't handle.

[01:40:48] I write like that he's just like, well, I don't know. Like there is that trepidation in his career even more so than some of his big shot peers, I'd say. It's almost like nice that their trepidation was there where he like cast the movie and he was like,

[01:41:03] you know what we're not gonna do is rewrite anything to make reference to the fact that there are black people here. Like this is just the way the world works, which is true. But there's that double-edged sword to him where you're just like, you cannot imagine a circumstance

[01:41:18] in which Zemeckis makes the color purple. Like to compare him to Spielberg, which we often have to. And you're like on one hand, you just imagine the guy would be like, why should I make that? I'm white. That's I'm not the person to direct that.

[01:41:29] But on the other hand, his films tend to have a very narrow viewpoint. Like what he have done, like if he had made a race movie, would it have been more Amistad than color purple? Like that's the question. Right. Right. And yeah, I don't know.

[01:41:45] I don't know. It's interesting. I mean, and it is like, I wonder how much of this movie was sort of like Denzel saying, I'd like to work with these people, especially since it's a lot of people that he's worked with before. You know, he's worked with Goodman before.

[01:41:59] Like I wonder how much of it was him being like, these are people I like to act against. Um, can I say the other cheetah moment that I think is incredible? Because as you said, David, like he he's constantly sort of like processing

[01:42:15] what a disaster this guy is as a client, right? That he's so good at his job and like Whitaker has this like Trump like ability to absolutely sabotage every situation and make like everything legally more precarious for himself every time he opens his mouth.

[01:42:32] When they're having the conversation outside the wreckage of the plane after they've had the talk about the vodka bottles and whatever and Cheetle talks about like the simulation they ran and how every other pilot killed every other person on board. The thing he says where he's like,

[01:42:49] I knew from them when I met you that you were an arrogant scumbag. And it's such a fascinating thing that like this guy is essentially like very well paid to excuse his own moral compass and let shitty people get through loopholes in the law, right?

[01:43:08] And yet he's like, I find you reprehensible. Like not only are you a nightmare client for me in terms of me doing my job successfully, but I dislike your character. The way he flips when they finally like knock on the door

[01:43:21] and then open the door and he's, you know, he's down in the bathroom. He's like, is he dead? Is he dead? Just tell me if he's dead. He's not even like, oh my God, what happened? He's just like out for crying out loud.

[01:43:34] Wait, did you guys think that the blood on the toilet kind of looks like Wilson from Castaway? Wow. Callback. I like saw it and I was like, wait. And then you get closer and it doesn't, but from like that first shot,

[01:43:48] it has like two eyes and like a mouth. But that whole scene, like all of them are really shining in that scene. Yes. I think David's ear buds died. He's walked away. We're just looking at Blarp on his virtual background.

[01:44:02] I don't like it looks like the way it's set up is like Blarp is talking into a microphone. It's like Blarp has something to say. David does this accidentally a lot. He'll pick a zoom background where then when he walks away from the microphone,

[01:44:15] it looks like the character is podcasting. This has happened like four or five times and I never do this. This one is, I'm gonna take a screenshot because it is like really, it looks like Blarp is doing like a man on the street interview about something.

[01:44:30] Like someone is like, did you see the scaffolding fall? He's interrogating Heather Graham. Your background is John Goodman as we said. I should mention that my background is Plains Fire and Rescue. What was it before you changed it? It was a different plane from Plains.

[01:44:47] Yeah. It was Sidley the spy jet from Cars 2, which a thing, I don't know. Have you been podcasting a lot during this? I know you banked up a ton of iconography right before. We have been on a break, but we were in like the beginning of quarantine

[01:45:05] and now we're trying to figure out our next move. Come back. Come back. Come back. One of the best podcasts. But a thing that David and I have learned through months of just recording too many podcasts over Zoom is like how to spot a good Zoom background

[01:45:23] because so much of it is like the positioning relative to knowing your setup, where you sit higher or low in the frame. Sometimes I'll find one, but the image is too weighted into the middle so I'll readjust myself. Right. You have to find images

[01:45:37] where the middle of the image is pretty clear. David, it looks like you are their third. I would be. Well, this is a spoiler for our next episode, but this is the one I had yesterday, Olivia. It's a fun selfie of Joseph Gordon Levitt and Charlotte LeBon

[01:45:54] on the set of The Walk. I don't. I can't believe you guys have to... Is The Walk good? No. Okay, cool. And then what's next? Is it Allied? Yes, which I love. I saw Allied. I remember very vividly seeing Allied with my mom

[01:46:11] in the wake of the 2016 election and just like I think my brain was so empty that I was just like, that's a movie. That was my experience seeing Allied. So, David... That's David's take two and I love Allied and I've always stand for it

[01:46:25] and I'm hoping that he's going to change his mind. That's the big narrative I'm trying to set up. That I saw Allied and I saw the accountant the day after the 2016 election, which was... What if there was an accountant? Here's another background. Griffin, what is it now?

[01:46:38] What's happening here? It's Jim Carrey and Robert Zemeckis at a press event for Christmas Carol and Jim Carrey is pretending to vomit up red and green tinsel and Zemeckis is having a hearty laugh. Yeah, he's loving it. He thinks it's so funny. I also think it's so funny.

[01:46:55] So... My mom and I wanted to go see the accountant after the election and we got sold out so we went to see Doctor Strange instead and my mom had seen no Marvel movies and it was incredible both just like...

[01:47:08] The times that she turned to me and was like, is that something? And I'd be like, yeah, don't worry about it. And then also... At the end of it, she was like, these Marvel movies are all the same, aren't they? It's the same thing over and over again.

[01:47:20] Maybe she hasn't seen them. You've seen two out of 20 now? Also, Doctor Strange is a weird one to say that about because that one's kind of all over the place. In a fun way. I love that movie. I think that movie is like a kooky fun time.

[01:47:35] What if there was a Strange Doctor? Yeah, whatever. Let's land this plane. Let's even roll it perhaps. Guess the screenplay nomination, guess the Denzel actor nomination. It's his first nomination in over 10 years. This was his first time being nominated since he won for Training Day.

[01:47:52] He kind of has a fallow period after that. I mean, he directs two movies himself but they don't become big Oscar hits and he makes a lot of Tony Scott movies and a lot of Anton Foucault movies but he doesn't really do another highbrow movie for a while.

[01:48:07] He doesn't. Inside Man is the closest which he's seen in the film. Inside Man, one of my favorite movies of all time. Just absolutely perfect. But I feel like what I remember from this Oscar moment for him was almost Roman J Israel-esque where people were like,

[01:48:26] oh, we're not... This is not Best Picture, this is not getting anything else but we are just going to nominate Denzel. Yeah, and it just felt like he was back in the territory of like, oh, right, I guess he's good in everything.

[01:48:40] We'll just sort of give him an automatic nomination every couple of years because he's been nominated two more times since this? Yeah, for Fences and then for Roman J Israel. And Roman J, right. And then 2022 when Macbeth comes out... Olivia supposedly 2021.

[01:48:56] I believe that movie is in the can. I believe that movie is done. Are you sure? I feel like I had heard that they didn't finish it which scared me. Well, I mean, it's possible they had to stop or whatever

[01:49:09] but I think, well, anyway, people have seen stuff from that movie and slid into my DMs and told me about it. Did they say it was good? Well, I can't... I mean, I'm very excited for that. I'm very excited for him doing a Cohen movie.

[01:49:26] You know, I mean, it's only Joel but... And like even who knows if they're going to keep the like Shakespearean dialogue but he can do that too. We've all seen Much Ado About Nothing where he is incredible. Like Peacot for me is like that movie.

[01:49:45] Oh, he's unbelievably hot in that movie. That's him and his absolute sexiest. I mean... And even that pose on the poster where he's like this where he's sort of doing the like pizza box like... That's a movie also where like everyone is so hot in it

[01:49:59] that it's just like perfect. Keaton. So hot in that movie. Keaton Reeves. Let's keep it going. I mean, he's... And he also did Julius Caesar on Broadway and he was also great. Obviously he's done August Wilson and he did Raisin in the Sun.

[01:50:18] He did The Ice Man Come-Up. If he can do anything... I love that he's also like now doing this thing where he produces these filmed versions of the August Wilson plays. Like if he wants to get all the whole Pittsburgh cycle

[01:50:30] filmed which I think is a great idea. I am enjoying this period of his career that he's sort of like, okay, I'll probably scale it back on the Antoine Foucault type action movie. So he did do Equalizer 2. He did which also made $100 million.

[01:50:49] I know. I need to catch that one. But it does feel like... I mean, it's a thing I feel like we often talk about on this show of just like, man, I'd love to see like Tom Cruise let go and just become like elder statesman actor.

[01:51:02] Well, that is never going to happen. Like... That's the thing. It's like some of these guys can't fucking let go of being like the cool guy with the gun who gets the girl at the center of the poster.

[01:51:13] And Denzel, even though he comes from this classical theater background and started out as this guy who was like, movies, I don't know about this, you were... You could... It was a justified worry that he would maybe never let go of that grip.

[01:51:27] But it feels like he's entering a really interesting sort of zone and understanding of how he plays in his 60s and is going to challenge himself more as an actor. And Tom Cruise is probably going to die doing stunts, right?

[01:51:39] Oh my God, wait, I just realized another Clooney parallel which is that they were both on medical dramas for a long ass time. Of course. Of course. He started out on St. Elsewhere, yes. They are so intertwined. Also, Tom Cruise is going to die in space

[01:51:52] and they're going to like keep it in the movie and we're going to have to like watch it. I just... I cannot believe they are letting Doug Lyman direct the space movie. It just... It boggles the... It's like Cruise is making a space movie, Elon Musk?

[01:52:08] Of course, perfect. Makes sense. That feels like a safe and sane decision for the people involved. Doug Lyman's directing it. What are you doing? That's like bringing the outbreak monkey onto a fucking spaceship. His whole directing styles, he's like,

[01:52:26] I don't know, I just throw shit at the wall and reshoot everything 12 times and drive actors to the point of insanity. I mean, it should be like Chris McCory, obviously, because they work so well together and he has such a good handle on it.

[01:52:39] Or Joseph Kinsky, any of his other guys who are these very calm, like, mathematics... Even Brad Bird, that would be perfect. Put Brad Bird in space. Put Brad Bird on a spaceship. Right. Doug Lyman describes his own process as Lymania. When people, like, revel in being, like,

[01:53:00] a nightmare at their job, it's like, no, that's a red flag, sweetie. He's a whip whittaker. He is a bit of a whip whittaker. And yet, you know, Edge of Tomorrow is a masterpiece and American Made, eight to half bad. American Made is kind of fun.

[01:53:15] Yeah, American Made's pretty good. Caleb Landry-Jones is good in that movie. Oh, the laundry bag himself. Please, Caleb Laundry Bag puts some respect on his name. We love him. What's the laundry bag up to? He's playing another scary white boy in something. That's his beautiful beach.

[01:53:29] You're kidding, he's never done anything like that. Am I wrong in thinking he did, like, a straight to video Lyman military action movie? It's a rod lorry, but you're talking about the outpost. Eastwood. Scott Eastwood. Laundry. Orlando. Bloom. But then there's an Aaron Taylor Johnson,

[01:53:47] Taylor Kitch, Doug Lyman. I get those two movies confused. Anya Taylor Johnson, Taylor Kitch. Yes, exactly. Too many tailors. Wait, are you talking about the movie that Doug Lyman made that came out like the same year as the movie? It's called The Wall, I believe. The Wall, correct.

[01:54:05] That's Aaron Taylor Johnson, John Cena. Yes, right. That's the one I was, I get that confused. Anyway, anyway, anyway. Do you know Doug Lyman is also making a pandemic heist movie now? Yeah, I mean it actually. Olivia is too. We've been shooting it for weeks.

[01:54:21] We're actually on, that's why we have our Zoom backgrounds on is because we don't want you to see that we're in the same hotel room. We're next to each other. And I don't want to spoil anything, but get ready for Laimania. That's all I want to say.

[01:54:34] This just feels like a drinking game where you're like, okay, okay, come up with the movie that audiences will least be in the mood to see a year from now. And they're like, I got it. It's called Lockdown. A quarreling couple makes peace in order to take advantage

[01:54:47] of the COVID-19 pandemic and pull off a jewelry heist at the Herrods department store. It's just like, we're going to get so much bad pandemic art before we get any good pandemic art and it's just going to be...

[01:54:59] Did you guys see that trailer for that KJ Apo movie? That's like. I refuse. No, I refuse to watch it. I will not. I will not dignify it. Infuriatingly bad. Songbird? Yeah. And it's like, it's just like clearly got turned around in like six months and like is.

[01:55:16] But also the belief that anyone wants to see those movies. Like, first of all, everyone is looking for escapist entertainment now. Right? Yeah. Second of all, people, the last thing anyone's going to want to think about is this pandemic once the pandemic's over.

[01:55:30] Right. Like I have a hard enough time now watching regular movies where people are like close up and I'm like, you can't do that. Like even if the movie was made in like 1970, I'm like, you guys are too close together.

[01:55:41] And like the idea that I'd want to watch my actual reality in like six months, no, no thanks. A hard agree that Hem and said congratulations to both of you on being cast in lockdown. I should mention the rest of the cast and Hathaway,

[01:55:55] Chuitelle, Ejio for Ben Stiller, Steven Merchant, Dule Hill, Mindy Kaling, Ben Kingsley. One of those people is a bitch, but we won't tell you which one. It's not who you think. Let me just say his name rhymes with a Bule Bill. No, I don't.

[01:56:14] You thought you could never get enough tap dancing? David and I have gotten enough tap dancing. I've got a lot of life time. With David Sims and Olivia Craighead, that's the credit block on that movie. Yeah, we got, I got the, and David got the width.

[01:56:29] We have very good agents. Right. Right. Exactly. My agent is Olivia Craighead. Flight ends with him giving an emotional testimony. It's a great scene. He says he's drunk right now. I don't think we have anything to contribute more to contribute.

[01:56:46] By the way, we're done talking about flight, right? I wish the hearing were like 40 minutes. But okay, also the movie should end there. The movie continues to go on and sort of reveals itself to be a memory play almost.

[01:57:01] Because he's like talking about this whole situation in prison. And then his son comes to visit and his son is like, I have to write this essay for college about like the most interesting person I've never met.

[01:57:16] And it just that really like kind of sucks the air out of it for me. Absolutely. It feels like the monologue that Hanks has at the end of Castaway. It's another like, I need to unpack the movie as explicitly as possible. It feels very like pedagogic, whatever.

[01:57:35] I yeah, it's a bummer. It's a bummer. Both those scenes are bummer. And it also feels like the son has not been the number one character you want to see him make good with throughout the movie.

[01:57:46] It's like if anything, it's like Kelly Riley should be there at the end. Like the movie, there's like that picture of them celebrating the one year of his sobriety. And it's like that should be the scene maybe instead of like his son coming. Like.

[01:58:00] And also just that it's the cheesiness of like who are you? And he's like, that's a good question. And it's like, all right, fuck off. That really kind of bugged me. I don't care, but it's stupid. Yeah. The ending is a bummer and the hearing is so good.

[01:58:18] And I think Melissa Leo is so good, especially because you built up like get ready. She's a fucking buzz saw. She's going to tear you a new one. And then she comes in and her approach is to be almost overly empathetic. Right.

[01:58:31] Where she's like, we're almost done here. And then she like hits him with the zinger. It's like, oh, like that's cool and smart. But she does it real careful, real like in a real sensitive. Right. She's like, oh, is that true?

[01:58:43] I'm willing to believe you, but is that true? Like everything's in that kind of pushing tone. Yeah. I just wish this movie the last 40 minutes were just doing that hearing at length. I wanted to just see the two of them go at it for longer.

[01:58:58] And then it should just end. Like that should be his, he should have his speech. And then like the, it like it should have a sully ending is what I'm saying. It's like it should. Oh, could you imagine if this movie ended with Denzel saying

[01:59:14] I was drunk and I'm drunk right now because I'm an alcoholic cut to black? I thought you were going to say if Denzel ended it by being like, I'm an alcoholic and I would have done it in July. He should have done it in July.

[01:59:31] That was his biggest mistake. I wasn't even thinking of sully, but of course the greatest ending of all time versus flight, not very good ending. Guys, the box office game for this movie is the one we've already done before. Do you know why?

[01:59:44] Well, this movie opens number two behind a family film. Number two behind a family film that we covered. Yes. It's a family film that we covered, but it's is it Hotel Transylvania one? No, it is not. But that is number seven. Whoa.

[02:00:05] But this is a family film that we covered. It's not a Spielberg. It's animated. Is it Happy Feet two? No. I was going to say it's not a Brad Bird. No, it's not a Brad Bird. It's not a director we covered.

[02:00:21] Oh, it was a choice of sorts was made. There was a choosing. Oh, did it? Did Ralph wreck the box office this weekend? He did. He's wrecking it. He said he was going to wreck it and he followed through. He made double flight.

[02:00:39] Yeah, Ben is going under the weather, so he's not on mic right now. Otherwise, Olivia, you would be subject to a long monologue. About how large? Yes. Ralph is big and Penelope, Penelope is small and they are good friends

[02:00:54] and no one should ever say anything mean about them ever. That's the best kind of dynamic is when one person is big and the other person is small. Look, if I made one key choice in the creation of this podcast, it's finding myself a six foot three co-host.

[02:01:11] That was that's still paying off to this day. I'm saying we made a lot of other decisions after the fact, but that set us off on the right foot. Absolutely. Absolutely. So Wreck-It Ralph, number one, flight number two, we've done this box office.

[02:01:25] I want to do six to 10 in this box office because it's a real smorgasbord, but I will tell you the top five. So Wreck-It Ralph flight number three is Argo. Fuck yourself. Number four, and if you might remember that this took you forever

[02:01:40] to guess the last time, is the man with the iron fists. Oh right. Yeah, geez. RZA movie. The Kung Fu movie directed by the RZA. And number five is Taken 2. Sure. Fine. It's a fine top five. Number six though, another movie we've covered on this podcast,

[02:01:59] a great movie, undervalued, not a hit, sprawling epic. Cloud Atlas? Cloud Atlas. Olivia, have you seen Cloud Atlas? I have not seen Cloud Atlas. Olivia! Olivia. I see, listen, I've seen Jupiter Ascending, which feels like the better choice for me in my journey.

[02:02:22] You have to see them both. They're both good choices. I just remember that movie coming out and people being like, like Hugh Grant does Yellow Face or something. And I was like... Oh, they all do it. It ain't just you.

[02:02:38] I don't know if this is a defense, but everyone in that movie does every face. Like Halle Berry does Jew face. I'm not even kidding. No, I believe you. I believe those Wachanskis, they'll just go bald still. They're wild. Like what?

[02:02:53] David, you look like you're trying to solve a problem here. What's going on? There we go. Well, I had to give myself a new background. What is... Is that Halle Berry? Yes. That's Halle Berry. And when I said, and when she walked into this scene, I

[02:03:06] said, that's Halle Berry to Forky. And Forky said, no, it isn't. Is she wearing a prosthetic nose? Is that what that is? Yes. Yes. They wear all kinds of prosthetics. She's playing a white Jewish heiress in the film. It's a wild movie. You should watch it.

[02:03:22] What is the ocean but a million drops? So that's number six. Number seven at the box offices, Hotel Transylvania. Great movie. Olivia. Got to check in. I like, I like Hotel Transylvania. That movie's fun. I'm glad you love it.

[02:03:35] I always love to meet someone else who has taken an extended stay at the hotel to you. Oh yeah, I've checked in. Number eight, it's a horror sequel. It's a horror sequel. Is it a two or is it deeper? Deeper. Deeper.

[02:03:53] And is this a franchise that has been rebooted or has it been one straight shot? It's been one straight shot. And I imagine a reboot must be coming now that you mentioned it. So is this a paranormal activity? That's correct. Is it two? It must be three.

[02:04:11] It's not two or the masterpiece that is paranormal activity three. Is it four? It's four, which is pretty bad. I'm going to end those movies out. The one with the haunted Xbox. Right. And then they did the marked ones and then they did like the other side

[02:04:28] and then they were done, right? And then yeah, this is the problem. They were going to make more, but unfortunately the entire franchise vanished into the ghost dimension. That's what it's called. I knew it had some dumb. Right. And that was the 3D one.

[02:04:41] Do you guys remember like what a big deal that first one was? It was like a wave that swept the nation. I remember people just like losing their mind. It's one of the most brilliantly marketed movies of all time.

[02:04:55] It was also kind of incredible because it felt like fundamentally the Blair Witch phenomenon should not be replicatable, right? We all fell for this shit before. You shouldn't be able to pull that on us again. And there was something about the fact that like it sat on a

[02:05:11] shelf for so long, then they made this whole thing where it's like we might not release it. We're only going to release it if people really want to see it. I remember you had to like vote to have it come to your town.

[02:05:22] You had to be like, I want paranormal activity to come to Washington, DC. Right. That's crazy. You just unlocked a memory. Yeah, that was the whole campaign. After the fact people were like, no, they had like booked those screens in advance. That was all a marketing tactic.

[02:05:35] They wanted people to feel invested in the release. And I did. It completely worked. It worked. Yes. It's a good movie. It's kind of a magic movie. Like it's not like Orin Pelle ever directed another good movie. Like, but it's just kind of a magic thing.

[02:05:49] Three is the one where I'm like, that's a fantastic horror movie. That's just great. Two is just one again for, I remember has the haunted Xbox. I have not seen the marked ones or the ghost dimension. I've only seen one in three.

[02:06:04] I somehow just only saw the good ones. But I think they are rebooting it now. I feel like I read something like they have to be. It feels like they would just make that into a TV show based on people's like ring cameras now.

[02:06:17] That's what it's going to be. It's going to be some bullshit like that. Maybe like fucking maybe reboot it like fucking short form. Like maybe it's just like make paranormal activity as a series of tiktoks or whatever. I don't know.

[02:06:29] I tried to launch paranormal equivity and it didn't work. I had to get that out fast. I will say so does I'll see a tiktok of someone who is like recording like a dance video and then like their closet

[02:06:43] door closes really suddenly and they're like, did you guys see that? And I am like genuinely scared. So I do think that's what I'm saying. I'm not even being cynical, like being like, oh, make it a tiktok. I'm like, it probably would work well in that media.

[02:06:55] Maybe they ran the way they rung it dry at feature length. Make some spooky tiktoks. I mean, I am shocked. This is me giving away a free idea to anyone. But I am shocked that no one has put like scripted content

[02:07:09] that like natively lives on tiktok because it's a platform where people go and they're like, I have this crazy story that I'm going to take like 20 tiktoks to tell you and you'll just like scroll through the whole thing. And that's what 20 minutes. That's an episode of TV.

[02:07:23] Like it's it's going to happen in the next year. Definitely going to happen. Definitely going to happen. Olivia, I will pay you $10 billion in stock for that idea right now. OK. Griffin, do you have an offer? I feel like I'm on Shark Tank. Shit. Griffin's in the room.

[02:07:41] Twenty billion in stock. Oh God. Griffin's out negotiating me. That's my impression of everyone at Quibi. Olivia, I have like a dollar crumpled up on the floor. So the offer is either that feels maybe worth more than Quibi stock at this moment.

[02:07:55] So this stock is going to shoot right back up once the pandemic is over, once the vaccine is out there, everyone's going to redownload Quibi. Once we're back on Subways because that's what Quibi where Quibi went wrong is that we weren't commuting anymore.

[02:08:08] And so suddenly we can watch Quibbies much like Whip Whitaker in flight. Now that David is trying valiantly to defend Quibi, he is shedding a single blood tear. Number nine at the box office is a comedy, a comedy with a comedy star. Is it a Vince Vaughn movie?

[02:08:29] No, you're in the zone. Is it like one person? It's one person and he's doing an act. He's like doing a an activity that you you shouldn't. It's a this guy doing that. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I've not seen this movie.

[02:08:49] So it's like I assume it's like that frat pack. It's is it a Wilson? Is it a stiller? No, neither. Is it a black? No, a little bit less than these guys. These guys are real big shots. This is a he's someone he's in the Sandler verse.

[02:09:08] He's in the Sandler verse. Is it a Kevin James? Here comes the boom. The boom. It's here comes the boom. A pretty much straight up remake of Warrior, a year after Warrior came out. But funny. Kevin James is funny. He is funny. This is the thing.

[02:09:25] It I hate to say it, but Kevin James is funny. He's fundamentally funny. Kevin James is very funny. I wouldn't say I'm a fan, but I can never deny the fact that he is inherently funny. His vehicles tend to disinterest me.

[02:09:40] But I usually like him as like a supporting character. I enjoyed him very much in Hubee Halloween recently. Olivia, have you when you when you said his vehicle, the first thing that came to mind? I thought you were talking about like his segue.

[02:09:54] Yeah, I mean, I love him on a vehicle. I was like, I agree. I think he's really fun on the segue. He's great. He's great in a vehicular mode. I mean, we I think we all agree. He should have won six Academy Awards for Hitch.

[02:10:10] Oh my God, he's good in Hitch. He's very good in Hitch is great. I rewatched Hitch during quarantine and I was like, this is great. I should check out Hitch. Will Smith funny and Hitch. Yeah. Number 10 of the box office is the horror sequel. A forgotten film.

[02:10:28] I know we're late. I know we're late on runtime, but can I say a Kevin James thing really quickly? Just because I think it's juicy gas. Yeah. I might have told you this off mic at one point that that Kevin James is such a religious fanatic

[02:10:44] who opposes the idea of evolution that I think it was on here comes the boom. They because that film takes place at a school. They were filming a scene in a library and he insisted that they remove all books that reference evolution from the set before he filmed.

[02:10:59] Is that true? That is true. That is true. I cannot. I like Kevin James anymore. I cannot cite my source, but that is true. What was he afraid of? Like that they get they see the title. They see like a Darwin book in the background to be like,

[02:11:15] guess it's real. Yeah. Oh, fuck, that book looks good. Just from the spine. It's like, oh, I'm not even listened to dialogue anymore. Look at that binding. Anyway, yeah, Kevin James, the funny guy. David, what's number 10 of the box office? It's a horror sequel.

[02:11:33] It's also a well, I don't want to say. Well, I have to. We were and we're late. It's also a video game movie. Is it the Silent Hill Redemption? Revelation, not redemption. OK, how dare you? I knew as a re just this sort of funny thing

[02:11:47] where like Silent Hill, the movie which I like is based on sort of mostly based on Silent Hill one. And for some reason, Silent Hill two is based on Silent Hill three. I don't know. Anyway, pyramid head. He was an up and coming star back then.

[02:12:02] He was sort of in that Kelly Riley zone. We were like, God, yeah. Goodman could have played pyramid head. He would have fucking nailed it anyway. Can I is pyramid head a man who has a pyramid for a head? You nailed it.

[02:12:16] Yes, but but also you'll be so happy with the results. It's everything you think it is and more. OK, I'm looking at pyramid head. Genuinely scary, I will say in the game. But yeah, it's a guy with a big fucking pyramid on his head

[02:12:29] and a knife the size of a house that he drags around. Oh, this is scarier than I thought it was. Right. Silent Hill is scary. I was imagining, you know, like just the triangle that went to the shoulders, but it really goes. It's a pointy pyramid.

[02:12:43] Yeah, OK. He's got the apron and the big the big cleaver. The knife is huge. I would love a knife this big. Yeah, it's good. It's a good knife. Olivia Craighead, thank you for being on the show. Is there anything you'd like to plug aside from pyramid head?

[02:12:57] You know, me and David's movie is coming out in a lockdown. Called Lockdown. Thank you for your time. Would you like to plug the fact that we saw the way back in theaters together a week before fucking covid hit?

[02:13:10] Yeah, David was literally one of the last people I hung out with were like David and then me and my mom saw Jagged Little Pill on Broadway and then it was lockdown. What was the thing? I there was some plan we had that we had to work around

[02:13:25] you hanging out with Olivia first. Oh, that was you were doing a power to the power hour. That's right. With a game. Yeah, you should have come to that. That was wild. I know. That's when I was like really boy crazy about the person

[02:13:39] I'm currently dating and I was like, I have this. You were you're in a state that I was just absolutely very charming to behold. And you know, you were clearly anxious, but it was great. I just like I. No, sorry, what were you going to say, Olivia?

[02:13:55] Oh, no, I was going to talk about The Way Back, which is a movie that got swallowed by quarantine, but was pretty good. Good movie. Affleck could sneak an Oscar nom. You never know. I was going to say, I was going to say,

[02:14:05] like on the record right now, this episode coming out a couple weeks after we're recording and then nominations coming out many months after, I think there's a chance Affleck sneaks in in this weird fucking year. Is it a chance? Seems to be campaigning pretty hard now.

[02:14:19] He is and he's never been nominated as an actor and he's quite good in that movie. Who knows? You never know. He's also like one of the only celebrities who's kind of like kept his name on people's lips during quarantine because he's always getting coffee with

[02:14:35] Anna Darma. They have been footage of him. Wait, has he been wearing his mask? Funny or getting Duncan or anything like that? He has been the single best content creator during quarantine. Right. No one has been producing better content. Then Affleck living his life.

[02:14:50] He'd like love to walk his dog and get donkeys and smoke cigarettes and hang out with Anna Darma. It's like that gives me something to look forward to every week. Absolutely. So watch the way back, look up Ben Affleck paparazzi photos

[02:15:05] and listen to iconography if you haven't already. Yes, if you haven't listened, it's fun. David and Griffin both have episodes that are great. Thank you. And I had a great time. Thanks for having me on guys. Oh please. Always a pleasure.

[02:15:19] What have you been blocking it in for unstoppable right now? Yeah, you guys got to do Tony Scott. Yes, let me look at the spreadsheet. Tony Scott is happening 2027. So are you free? It would be like the second week of April, I think,

[02:15:33] is when we're aiming to record that one potentially. I might have something, but I can move it around. If folks haven't listened to iconography just as further incentive David and I each did an episode picking our favorite movie star.

[02:15:48] One of us picked Colin Farrell and one of us picked Vin Diesel. I won't say who picked whom. You have to listen to find out. Of course. Thank you all for listening. Please remember to rate or if you subscribe.

[02:16:00] Thanks to Joe Bowen and Pat Rowns for our artwork. Lame on coming for our theme song. Go to blankies.reddit.com for some real nerdy shit and go to our Shopify page where talk in the walk 2020 t-shirts will be on sale.

[02:16:17] Representing a bit that you have not heard yet. It's an experiment. It's a sociological experiment. Do people want the shirt before they've heard the bit or are they going to wait? Who knows? Well, they have will they have the art by the time this drops?

[02:16:30] Yes, they'll be able to see what the shirt is and they won't understand how it comes into play in the episode. I OK, having seen the art, I feel like I think you could sort of put it together. The art gives away like at least the voice

[02:16:45] that you guys are doing. I think you'll be surprised, honestly. I think folks will be surprised, but you've seen the art and you like it. I love the art. It's one of my favorite jokes. It is. It's a great joke.

[02:16:55] It's so funny to just like say at any given moment. Yeah. So Gossip Man or Gossip Man shirt is now on sale. And yeah, tune in next week for The Walk. Talk in the Walk with J.D. Yamato. We're doing it 2020.

[02:17:11] Just a very normal episode with no weird tricks up its sleeve. And as always, we're going to roll it.