Pushing Hands/The Wedding Banquet

[00:00:01] Blank Check with Griffin and David, Blank Check with Griffin and David Don't know what to say or to express All you need to know is that the name of the show is Blank Check You are cordially invited to a podcast where everyone wants to podcast the podcast

[00:00:28] Except the podcast Ridiculous Ridiculous Yes Six I'm a classically, vintagely sleep the prived Griffin Newman I'm a classically, vintagely irritated immediately David Sims And this is one for the record books Ladies and gentlemen, what's that? Do you hear it in the wind?

[00:00:54] He's always crazy, he's always crazy when he's like this There's a storm brewing, what's that in the horizon? No guest, he hasn't been sleeping A new miniseries! Yep Uh-huh Da da da da da da da da Writing into town A new miniseries Yeah, it's exciting You sound thrilled

[00:01:18] It's exciting This of course is a podcast called Blank Check We are hashtag the two friends, it's a competitive event where the only friends who has a podcast together That's right There are married people who have a podcast together Where were the only friends? The only two friends

[00:01:31] That's the other The only two friends And some, you know, I think this movie proves that a good relationship, a good romantic relationship, a good marriage also requires an element of friendship But look You wanna get married? Maybe Okay

[00:01:46] But also then we'd lose our advantage because I feel like we keep it so simple, so pure We could be the two husbands Yeah I think, uh, how quickly do you think we would get divorced? Removing the fact that we have no sexual chemistry together

[00:02:01] Which is an issue An issue Honestly, I'm gonna complain about it I'll say this, not insurmountable, but an issue It's an issue, I mean, um, I tend to really suffer through and stick relationships out in my history Okay

[00:02:15] So I feel like things would have to get real bad But you That's a challenge to me Right Yeah Exactly, you would rise to that I do You think I would rise to that? Um People get tired of me very fast Uh, yes Yeah Yes

[00:02:30] It is astounding how quickly and strongly people can grow to present my existence Right, right, right Yeah Um Anyway, of course this is a podcast about our relationships Um, yes Yeah Sorry Relationships with the movies, filmographies, directors who have massive success over the

[00:02:53] career and given a series of blank checks to make whatever crazy pattern projects they want Sometimes they clear and sometimes they bounce baby I thought this was a podcast about relationships That was a misdirect, Ben I was joshing producer, Ben I was just kidding, Ben, do you say?

[00:03:09] Yeah I was goofing around Sure Produce or Ben Hey, you know I was making a silly Sims on Reddit Poet Laureate Made a comment saying I did, I was actually about to bring this up Fine, it's a tone critic He's kind of moved past this bit

[00:03:25] White hot Benny's fucking with Benny Yeah They're back, Benny Right, David? I think that we could stand to not do it every episode I've thought about it Or we could just do like a few names every episode What if we do an October Madness Bracket Oh, god

[00:03:38] To pick the one nickname And people can choose between the meat lover Uh The fart detective Yeah The fuck master They cannot vote for Professor Cressen Well, that's what they'll do Just like how they've been voting for the March Madness

[00:03:53] They're gonna vote for the name that I don't want Something that happened six months ago at the time Oh, yeah That this episode's coming out Oh, god Yeah We should acknowledge Just cause this is topical Oh, yeah, I can't I'm so shocked that Nancy Meyers

[00:04:07] Is the winner of the tournament We're doing that next And here's another thing that's right Top of the headlines in the news right now When this episode's coming out You have graduated certain titles For the course of different mini-series Producer Ben Kenobi Kylo Ben

[00:04:22] I can't wait for you to just be like The Dow's up eight points Say Ben anything I'll just insert that later It'll be Ben's with a dollar sign Warhaw's Purdue Urbane Ben19 the final maker Say Ben anything dot that dot Maybe it's just the mini-series names Two

[00:04:36] Cause that's like at least points back to the archive RoboHaw's But the problem with the mini-series names is that Especially if we do like a shorter mini-series Like a Brad Bird It's like We just added a whole name for like six episodes

[00:04:49] So like it can really pile up on us Here's another thing I'm gonna throw out a real shocker I genuinely hate doing them Oh my god Yes So why do you do that Why are we doing them

[00:05:02] It's the part of the podcast that stresses me out the most I feel like I genuinely can't remember them anymore When we have a guest on That's the new to the show and that we respect

[00:05:10] I will think about the fact that we're gonna have to do the fucking names Like the day before Like I don't even think about it Like just when it comes up I've been like God now we have to do that And I also, I used to be like

[00:05:22] This is a classic GriffBit They're gonna be annoyed They're gonna respect me less But it'll be funnier later I don't even find it funnier later now Right And I thought about What if you write them all down So you can do them all really quickly

[00:05:34] And just get out of the way And not have to struggle to remember But I also feel like at that point Why even, you know Yeah If they're that formalized I've been kind of waiting to broach this topic I'm glad we're doing it on the podcast

[00:05:50] This is of course a podcast about our podcast This is a podcast in which we discuss Things we do on this podcast And whether or not they continue doing that No, I think, yeah I think just pick a name every time You know Sure

[00:06:05] You know like one or two Okay Producer Jacqueline Okay You said pick a name Oh no, I meant of the Okay, great So that's Ben He's the producer He's been with us since the beginning of this show And he has a lot of nicknames

[00:06:19] And of course we're talking about The films of Ang Lee And that's a great introduction To the first The great Taiwanese filmmaker Ang Lee Who we have a long debated Possibility on Blank Check Came very close to pulling the trigger A couple times

[00:06:35] People don't know how close we came Yeah, Ang Lee was in our sights And then he looked around and we were like We're doing him next And then we suddenly switched and got strategic Yeah But he's always been on our radar Because he's a director who is

[00:06:50] Incredibly versatile Has made a lot of different kinds of movies Worked in a lot of genres which we like Different budget levels Because it means that we get to kind of like You know, it's not just one thing

[00:07:00] This isn't a show where we like to do just one thing Talk about like one bad prequel movie for ten We don't like to do stuff like that We don't like to do bits Never No No Do it Do it Do it Do it

[00:07:21] He's also a two time best director winner Which is a pretty rare At the Oscars Yes Correct He has one best foreign film Which you have informed me goes to the country It goes to Taiwan Which is some fucking rank bullshit A three time nominee in that category

[00:07:41] His films are Imagine if Best Picture worked that way too Where like Shape of Water wins and then Trump is like It's for me Give me over here That's a good point What if our economy was based on All the Oscars being stored at the National Reserve

[00:08:00] He's great I'm gonna get you off the space I just left school He's also one thing that's interesting about him He's won two Golden Bears The Berlin Film Festival Wow And two Golden Lions at the Venice Film Festival

[00:08:13] Which for any director to win two of those is unusual He's won the Berlin Film Festival Both times he entered Same with Venice So right now it's like if Ang Lee enters a movie in that festival Everyone's like I guess it's the winner

[00:08:26] I also feel like most living filmmakers Who are that feted are also pretty esoteric You know? Like someone like Hanukkah has won Exactly, you're right Khan like twice three times He's someone who can win the Golden Lion one year And then he's like

[00:08:42] I'm making an action movie where Will Smith Like hunts his younger double Which is the next movie There is a versatility I'm gonna make Hulk Filmography Right And Hulk I was asked in an interview recently What do you think is the ultimate blank check movie

[00:08:57] And Hulk kind of exemplifies everything I find fascinating That's the reason we've always wanted to do it That's the movie we would talk about We talked about doing a one-off When we weren't even sure if we were gonna do Ang Lee ever as a miniseries

[00:09:07] We're like let's just do Hulk Yeah, Hulk and the Hulk Right But no our podcast is called Do You Even Remember Yes it's called Blank Check with Griffin and David Okay, Nailed It And this miniseries is called Brookpod Mountcast I pulled it out of There you go

[00:09:26] Mubba Hall I thought I wasn't gonna remember what I did And today we are doing a thing We haven't done since Minaj Night Shyamalan Sure We're doubling up Yes, oh yes We haven't done this since him I don't think so, right I guess not His first three films

[00:09:44] Taiwanese Two of the three nominated for best foreign film Sure A loose trilogy Thematically that he calls the father knows best trilogy With Sharon, actor playing fathers who know One could argue best Well, but they don't really It's an ironic title A little bit of a rhyme

[00:10:02] There's sort of a rice mark to that title Nader Do you know what I'm saying? Nader And next week we're gonna talk about Eat Drink Man Woman Which was his biggest crossover hit We've coupled up the first two The first one is very rarely seen

[00:10:16] Essentially we're really talking about The wedding banquet with like a sort of Pushing Hands intro Ben is pushing hands right now Pushing Hands into the beginning of an episode That will also be about the wedding banquet Which is kind of the movie where he starts cooking

[00:10:32] Yeah, because Pushing Hands is a nice movie That we'll talk about The movie where he starts cooking That's true, everyone starts cooking In that one Especially that one daughter you don't expect to Yeah, that's therein lies a twist But no, Pushing Hands is a nice movie

[00:10:45] That I think we would struggle To maybe do a whole episode on It would probably be like our following episode Which after 20 minutes We're kind of just like, hey what's up with you? Yeah So we're gonna We just started Alright I know, oh yeah

[00:11:02] No, I'm glad you're objecting Because you would hate if we were doing Ding Dongs in the first 10 minutes of the episode Uh, get the door Get the door Creek M-Mastafroto Uh, is this Samwise Gamgee? What, you know me? Oh, Jesus Yes, you're small You're very famous

[00:11:23] Harry Footed Man You must know my friend Mastafroto Have you seen Mastafroto anywhere? No, I haven't seen him since about 2003 I mean, where'd he go? I don't know, I haven't seen him since 2003 either Okay I think he got on a boat with Bill Bowman

[00:11:37] So you're saying you're coming into our podcast studio 15 years later after watching him get on a goddamn boat Yeah, I came all the way from Middle Earth I mean it took me 15 years to get to this room Alright I was going room by room just knocking on doors

[00:11:50] David, he's here Doorbells I was saying Mastafroto Well, you made it in here Mastafroto ain't here Oh, God, okay, on to the next room Wait, hang on a second Is that it? Well, I have a very specific issue that I thought only Mastafroto could solve

[00:12:05] And so I have to keep on ringing doorbells until I can get an answer for Mastafroto There's no way you could help me Alright, well, just I don't like you and you've for some reason really touched the nerve with me You're really pushing my buttons

[00:12:16] I'm a good friend I'm a kind man I still just the circumstances of your situation are so sympathetic that I guess I'll offer to help So at least tell me, you know, what's up

[00:12:27] This is one issue so esoteric there's no way you would be able to help me Again, I want to make this clear for some reason You're really getting on my last nerve I've always been true David, chill Okay, I will ask But I do want to help

[00:12:41] Like, you know, on paper, does that make sense? Master David? Yeah I have a problem Okay My feet are just too hairy Okay, well David For some reason I didn't see it coming Genuinely Well David Do you think you could suggest something to our friend Sam?

[00:13:02] I assume you have no response We've been on this... Alright look, Sam, Sam, Sam, Sam, Sam What? Just hold on for one second Master David You've never listened to the show, it seems because No, I've listened, I've listened to a big fan, I'm blanking

[00:13:16] That's good to hear, thank you There's a contact Then maybe you've heard me talk about the amazing eye shave From get... amazing shave that I get from my Dollar Shave Club razor Now, I use it on my face Yes, right

[00:13:30] But it's a razor, it shaves hair very effectively So maybe you want to, you know, get some hand Get your little hobbit hands On some Dollar Shave Club products Okay, so fine, I can order a razor

[00:13:45] Master David, but a dry shave will cause so much damage to the skin of my feet It'll be no good, let me walk out this door No, no, no, they've got products for your hair, your face, your skin, your shower What? Everything you need Shave butter?

[00:13:59] And it's the... yeah, shave butter, butt wipes Wait a second Replacement cartridges Wait a second Body cleanser Wait a second Okay, I'm waiting You're telling me they could solve my stinky butt? I didn't even want to ask I dare not even ask my second conundrum

[00:14:17] You got some swampy Mordor butt I have a Mordor butt Well My butthole looks like the Eye of Sauron If you join the Dollar Shave Club It's so long gone unwiped Alright It burns like the Eye of Sauron

[00:14:31] You don't have to go to the store, which I assume is far away in Middle Earth More like the Brown Eye of Sauron, you know what I'm saying Master David You can give gift memberships to your fellow members of the fellowship Mary Pippin All those friendly folks

[00:14:52] You can give them e-gift cards You can cover all your holidays shopping with Dollar Shave Club You say Hobbit Day Shopping? Yeah, Hobbit Day Shopping So here's a great way to try a bunch of Dollar Shave Club products

[00:15:05] For just five bucks you can get the Daily Essential Starter Set Comes with Body Cleanser One Wipe Charlie is their amazing butt wipes Their world famous Shave Butter And their best razor, the Six Blade Executive Keep the blades coming for a few more bucks a month

[00:15:18] And add in shampoo, toothpaste or anything else you need I must find this promo code I shall travel all the way to Mount Doom The only way I can find this promo code Ben, grab him, literally grab him You can check it all out at dollarshaveclub.com

[00:15:32] That's dollarshaveclub.com So check in dot com And then check that you typed it in correctly You fool of a toke That's a different one, isn't it? It's just go to dollarshaveclub.com Oh, well then off I shall go! Get him out of here Alright

[00:15:53] Can I say something? That guy's butt reeked I mean he's from the fantasy world Smell it all the way from over here Yeah and he's also having second breakfast all the time That's a good point I mean some real damage in your gastrointestinal

[00:16:06] So so far we've introduced the name of the mini series Talked about our love lives and what would happen if we were married So we're talking about two films today We're talking about the opening two films in the career Of one angley, the great Taiwanese filmmaker

[00:16:22] A man who originally wanted to be an actor Is that true? Yes I didn't know that And was so overcome with stage fright He felt like he didn't have it Interesting So in love with drama and film at that point

[00:16:38] That he went like, well now I just got to move parallel Well he does seem like kind of a timid guy Anytime he's like accepting an award He always seems very like sort of softly spoken and lovely Which is funny because his reputation as a director

[00:16:50] Is like, you know, a really like smart forceful guy Who will like get exactly, tell you exactly what he wants Doesn't mince words But I think he's not, you know, he's not a hot head No, no, he's, he's not Right

[00:17:07] He seems to be very, I remember when he won It may have been a BAFTA for Brokeback Mountain I just remember that Kate Winslet was presenting I think it was at the BAFTAs And when it was him You could tell how genuinely happy she was

[00:17:21] Like she like screamed with delight And like gave him a big hug and like, you know Because they work together on censor Sure, and he makes very empathetic films Yes But he goes to NYU Well, excuse me Oh, okay, okay He was born in Taiwan

[00:17:38] I've been going all the way back Wow Long time ago in a galaxy we've never been around He was 1954 His parents had moved from mainland China to Taiwan After the Chinese Civil War Okay He grew up In a, he went to school, his dad was the principal

[00:17:54] I think his parents were very like You know, you're gonna get yourself an education That does sound like a plot of an early Angleuthal It does, his father knows best He failed to get into university in Taiwan Which is like

[00:18:08] You have to take some sort of a unified test Interesting At least back then you did And he failed it twice To the disappointment of his father According to Wikipedia Yeah Maybe his father wrote this Wikipedia entry He's never gotten over it

[00:18:22] American film school was kind of out of necessity I always assumed it was a strategic move First he went to the National Arts School in Taiwan Okay Which sounds, I mean It sounds pretty good to me But I guess his dad was like You know But he so

[00:18:38] His dad wanted him to go to principal college Exactly He got into film there He got into drama He saw Ingmar Bergman's film The Virgin Spring He talks about a lot How much Ingmar Bergman was a big deal to him Almost like that film was, I don't know

[00:18:54] He did his mandatory military service He wanted to sort of replicate He was in the Navy It sort of functioned as an urtext for his career Is that where he's at? Sure And then he went to the University of Illinois What? And completed his bachelor degree Okay

[00:19:13] In theater He wanted to be an actor like you said Thank you But he struggled with English He was still like a weak English speaker At that point He meets his wife, Jane Lin Cool Who he's still married to Who's like a microbiologist And enrols at Tish Uh-huh

[00:19:33] For graduate Yeah, gets an MFA Yeah Hanks that was Spike Lee A contemporary He worked on Spike Lee's thesis films Joe's Bedside Barbershop Yeah And he does a short film His thesis film is called Fine Line Okay Which apparently aired on PBS

[00:19:51] And then was adapted into the film studio Fine Line features Of course Thank you Yeah, it became that Hootie and the Blowfish song Do you have in this giant leather bound Volume of context on Ang Lee's career That you're currently reading from? Do you know

[00:20:06] Can you look up when he crosses paths With James Sheamus Because that becomes the key collaborator I know From the very beginning I know it's a good point Like what Cause it's interesting that Sheamus Is, I believe, was not an NYU guy Yeah, there's very little on

[00:20:22] I'm sure if I do some proper research I can find out You know, James Sheamus He's a Jew from Michigan Right I think quietly the most interesting figure In the last 20 years of independent film Right, cause he was such a big part of Focus Features which was

[00:20:37] Right, he's like the one guy Who's like as much of an artist As he is like a studio head Uh, yeah He had a production company with Ted Hope That was combined with some other companies To form Focus Features And then he became the guy there

[00:20:50] And he was like acquiring films Greenlighting films Working at distribution deals for other films And also writing Ang Lee films That like spanned genres Like he's this real I know, he obviously, yes You have to talk about James Sheamus When you talk about Ang Lee

[00:21:07] Because he literally co-wrote Pushing Hands This first movie Right And maybe they just met in New York When Ang Lee was a tish I don't know But all I know is that he submits Ang Lee submits Pushing Hands And the wedding banquet Two scripts to a competition

[00:21:22] Sponsored by the Taiwanese government They came in first and second So like some promoter in Taiwan Is like why don't you make Pushing Hands Like why don't you do that That seems like the easier first film I'll invest in this movie And you can put this together

[00:21:41] So we're gonna talk about that first We're gonna talk about Pushing Hands Yes So the things that unite these two films They are both set in the United States True They're foreign language films About Taiwanese people Are both in New York No, because

[00:21:59] I had a hard time figuring out where Pushing Hands was Pushing Hands is in like this New York suburbs Right, okay Because they go into the city later in the film Okay Set in the suburbs Wedding banquets in New York proper Oh yeah

[00:22:12] It's in the fucking village man Yes Oh please Like downtown Griffey Nooms doesn't know that All right And so they're interesting Foreign language films Set in New York City with mixed casts Starring this sort of respected But essentially retired Taiwanese actor

[00:22:33] Who angly kind of like drafts out of retirement Who gives a trilogy Like a triptych of great performances Yes, he does As three different types of fathers Yes That's what I like about it the most is he's the different in every one Very different in every one

[00:22:47] His name is Xiheng Lung Yeah He's in this one I feel like he's at his most sort of confused And then the second one he's in Wedding Banquet He's most sort of like rigid traditional Chinese father Right And then the third one And then the third one

[00:23:03] Right, and the third one He's kind of got a foot in each And he's, you know But Pushing Hands He's pretty stoic He's pretty silent Yes And this is a quieter movie There's less dialogue Yeah If someone, if I was asked like

[00:23:18] How do you define like great acting Like what do you look for as sort of like an argument For someone being a great actor Rather than someone who gave like one great performance Yeah I would say like look at these three movies

[00:23:29] Because here's a guy who's like not transforming himself Right Not changing his voice or his physical appearance In any dramatic way Is playing three characters that on paper look fairly similar And they are three completely Recognizably different human beings Sure You know Through very subtle shifts of characterization

[00:23:50] Go on The opening scene of Pushing Hands I think is the highlight of the movie It is It kind of tells you what the movie is And then I think it's a nice enough movie But it does kind of just repeat itself

[00:24:01] But it is one of those movies where like The first ten minutes function as a short film That gets everything the entire film is trying to say done Go on Economically Lay him out for me The opening sequence is largely silent Yep We start with This man Practicing

[00:24:19] What seems to be sort of Martial art stretches, right? Yes, his name is Mr. Chu Right He's doing Tai Chi Right, he's Pushing Hands Yes That's what the move is called You know, he's pushing his hands through the air I guess later that's the move the sun teaches

[00:24:33] Pushing Hands is something else But it's okay, carry on The sun says later in the movie Pushing Hands is when you can push someone across Like when it's like an offensive move You know Okay You know, where like you yield

[00:24:45] And then like you sort of like turn it against them Sure But it's sort of a Okay, but can I say this And would you correct me on this At the opening of the film he is Pushing his hands Through the air Sure Literally

[00:25:02] Okay, so the movie opens with Pushing Hands And Uh-huh He's very silently and sort of methodically Practicing It's very relaxing to watch These moves And then I feel like we cut too He seems kind of chilled out Right, we cut to middle aged white woman Ah, middle aged

[00:25:24] I mean she's probably in her What do you think, late 30s, early 40s Right, people die about 51 I think, right? Jesus, that's depressing I'm almost done This movie is set in medieval times, right? Yeah, yeah Sitting at her computer Clearly kind of like struggling with some writers

[00:25:40] Played by, it's Marthen She's played by Deb Snyder Who, I don't know if you know this That is the name of Zack Snyder's wife And producing partner That's true but this is not Zack Snyder's wife So I went to this Deb Snyder's

[00:25:58] INDV page to figure out what else she had done And all the news stories that were linked To our INDV page were about Justice League Fair enough So I spent 45 minutes trying to figure out What her connection to Justice League was

[00:26:10] And then for a second I thought she was Zack Snyder's very young mother She's not She's just some lady I mean she's fine Hey, hey What do you, what would you say? She's not great in this movie I would say actually she's sort of a flawed woman

[00:26:24] I'd say she's kind of a determined woman Yeah, she's sort of an issue She's a little bit of a weight around the neck Uh, cause the son Alex Played by Bo Zi Wang Like, he's pretty good I think he's okay I think this is a performance that is

[00:26:38] Uh, handicapped by his lack of comfort With the English language Yes Because this character is clearly Supposed to be more fluent than he is as an actor Interesting You presume that I know what you're saying If he is married to an American woman Raising a child in English

[00:26:56] Nationalized has been here Presumably at least a decade He would have more agility with the language Than the character seems to And I find that the scenes in which he's acting Uh, in his native language He seems a lot more physically relaxed Versus when he's speaking in English

[00:27:15] He seems a little tense Like he's like am I fucking this up Okay, yeah, sure Uh, I think he's half good I think she's not very good at all No And the father is great The father is like amazing

[00:27:26] He's sort of, he's sort of showing them all up Right You know, unintentional So this opening sequence is him pushing hands And that's the official term of what he's doing And her sort of struggling with writer's block And then through editing

[00:27:36] Silently you start to realize that they're in the same space Colliding And then they do sort of collide Right, and she kind of is like He's this nuisance His presence in her home Just kind of stresses her out Right, she has married his son Yes

[00:27:53] And now he has to live there Because his wife died During the Cultural Revolution I think Like there was some sort of like You know, when Alex was a kid When the son was a kid Some sort of like government clash And like the wife ends up dying

[00:28:13] So there's a lot of like family guilt That's rooted in like the Chinese But that's also a sort of cultural tradition Of keeping your family under one roof That's sort of caring for the elders In a way us But he is apparently as Oh, this guy

[00:28:27] He's always putting his tai chi Where her typewriter should be I mean literally that's sort of like The plot of the movie That's pretty much what's going on here And she kind of I feel like she's playing so Prickly from the beginning

[00:28:39] Yes, you're just not on her side You're just like, give this guy a fucking chance Yeah, you're like, are you kidding me This guy came all the way from China Like he's So Out of water here Right That like him going for a walk

[00:28:52] Is stressful for the whole family Because he's literally silent in a corner Moving very slowly He's like, can you fucking keep it down Right, it's not like Like break dancing Like he's putting cardboard down And like spitting on his head Like he's pretty quiet And Yeah, yes

[00:29:12] You know, maybe like He keeps saying like You should really like I should teach you some more tai chi So you could chill out Yeah And he's trying to say it in a nice way And she's like, I don't even want Fucking talk to this guy

[00:29:23] And I'm like, take him up on it I mean, I think honestly Because he seems calmer He's got his, you know, His fish out of water issues But like her friend comes over And is like, how's grandpa doing And she's like, don't even Oh my god Yeah

[00:29:35] Yeah, she sucks I'm realizing that she was probably my The other hang up I have with this movie Is just that it doesn't look that good It's the only angly movie That doesn't look very good Even by the wedding banquet It's a good looking movie

[00:29:46] It's a gorgeous movie With like great compositions And sense of space and all this This one is like It's a good first movie This feels like a thesis film This feels like a long short film We also watched it admittedly In like a less than ideal transfer

[00:30:00] I think the other two films Have been preserved better Yeah, this one I watched on Amazon Prime It was streaming for free But yeah, it definitely had that Loveless vibe of like This was a VHS put on a stream Yeah, I did someone just Transfer a VHS

[00:30:13] And maybe they did Maybe they did But it has certain good sequences It has certain good moments But the film is kind of repetitive Of just them trying to figure out This balance, you know The sun filling this obligation You don't understand in my culture

[00:30:31] We don't abandon our parents like this I need to be there for him And the wife who is Very stressed out about The reviews that her book is going to get And the pressure to write a second book Concurrently Right I forgot about that

[00:30:48] Right, but she's just constantly There's no vulnerability to this character I find in how it's played, you know Yeah It's not that I cannot Care for someone who is stressed out In a way that makes them unpleasant I get why she's stressed out You do, but everything's played

[00:31:08] At such a reactionary kind of fever pitch Right, the good stuff in Pushing Hands Is the dad hanging out with Mrs. Chan, the widow Who's the cooking instructor at the community center And their relationship is nice Good stuff is Mr. Chan

[00:31:27] When he gets the job at the restaurant All that shit's good And he works really slowly and methodically And the boss wants to fire him And he just like Stands his ground And then literally stands his ground There's this great extended sequence

[00:31:42] Yes, he pushes him across the room Essentially Right, but he's also like If you want me out of here, try to get me out of here And then it just becomes an immovable force He becomes like planted in the ground

[00:31:52] And you have like six cops who get reported in And he sends like thugs in To try to like knock him down And the guy won't move Fun It's all very Fun Everything that happens, you're like I get it It's a culture clash

[00:32:08] Even though we're talking about this movie As a trifle Yes It won some awards It won some awards It was feted It was like a solid debut I mean, I think the movie looks worse Because we know that literally everything Literally Also like five minutes from now

[00:32:23] We're going to talk about the wedding banquet Which is good Right, significantly better And he's only made a year later So it's like Oh, he, you know Cause like, what's it called? Praying with anger To wide awake to six senses Like a near ten year arc Right

[00:32:37] And like the improvement is gradual And then sudden This is like He made one movie It's pretty good A year later he made another movie It was amazing A year later he made another movie It was better Like, you know, it's sort of like

[00:32:48] He has such an accelerated growth rate here Which we haven't covered a guy like this He did sense sensibility Right, yeah, yeah In a while where We've covered a lot of guys who have Debut films that are pretty professional And polished Even if their later films get better

[00:33:05] Sure This kind of like piranha to Yeah, we haven't had it Probably since the piranha to days Like here you're watching a real Kind of first draft film Where if you saw this at a festival You'd be like This guy might be a good director someday

[00:33:18] There's some moments that are really Fucking well observed in this Movie's not great But there's some really good stuff So I think if you saw this as a first film You'd probably give it a little more praise Because of the potential you sense Agree

[00:33:31] But if you're watching the wedding banquet Like literally five minutes after You finish watching Pushing Hands As I do You're like, okay, well forget about Pushing Hands Here we go This is the real shit How does it end? Pushing Hands ends with That's a good question

[00:33:48] I'm trying to remember I don't think, I guess he moves out He gets with the lady He goes on a walk with the lady Yeah He says he knows he wants The wife wants him out Yeah Kind of starts crying Yeah He's good

[00:34:06] Let's talk about the wedding banquet Yeah, let's talk about the wedding banquet What? No We're gonna play the box office game My friend What I was gonna say though Is like you look at like Praying with anger I think it's like Not very good at all

[00:34:18] Right, not very professional No, it's a bad movie With a little hint of promise Right, then why do we It is an amateurish film Right, why do we get this like A mediocre film that I have a soft spot for It's a bad film that's at least

[00:34:30] Confidently made It's very polished Yes Like it's very like professionally produced And it has one incredible joke It has one of the greatest jokes of all time Shut up Quiet The movie is called wide awake You need to prod Shock him He's barely awake Quiet It's so tight

[00:34:47] He's asleep Alright, alright Alright, alright Shut up Shut up But then sixth sense you're like Where the fuck did this come from Uh, exactly Yes Uh, this No These three films it's a more traditional build Where you're just seeing him going Like It's a 45 degree angle essentially Yeah

[00:35:05] It's just like doop doop doop Right, okay So box office this movie must have burned it up So this movie The reason this is interesting Yeah Until after Oh right Wedding banquet and eat Drinkman woman And it was like here's the first film from

[00:35:18] Right, it was advertised as from the director of the Wedding banquet and The international sensation Yeah So it comes out in June 1995 Okay Not long before Sense and sensibility Yeah Right Okay Uh, it made 152 Million dollars Okay Uh, so So it comes out right in the middle

[00:35:38] Of summer blockbuster season Number one Uh-huh Is a movie we talked about On this podcast Have we covered it or just talked about it? No, we've talked about it Uh Where are you gonna say It's a children's film I saw it in theaters You probably did too Casper

[00:35:53] This is fast It's fast It's weird He got that Super weird In its second weekend It's made 38 million dollars It makes 100 Yeah One of the best American films in the 90s Woo Casper's a masterpiece Silverling is it? Don't at me Silverling our next miniseries No Number two

[00:36:13] A fine American director Number two is one of the Better and more underrated films In like the very big Filmography of a Very big deal director Well that's weird because Casper's spirit at the beginning Wouldn't have come out at the same time As the first Casper

[00:36:28] Not talking about that But you said one of the best And most underrated films Of it It's a different And that was directed to video I said I'm a director Right Certain director You said director to video And that was Casper's spirit At the beginning

[00:36:40] Which is of course The prequel to Casper I want to get through this box office game It's a romance Based on a famous book Like a hit book Bridges Massen County Wow Thank you Good job Have you seen it? No It's a Clint Eastwood film

[00:36:57] That's a great movie Hover Burdamm said That performance is One of his favorite He draws from Yeah That performance It's a great movie Number three Is Just an action Sequel A big hit of the summer Another great movie Casper's spirit at the beginning When not have been out

[00:37:16] Don't think that's an action movie It's an action movie It's a big sequel It's one of the big movies Of the summer Yeah It's a great movie Number two Three Oh, it's not Well three It's the third in the series Is Batman Forever? Nope

[00:37:30] It's the third in the series Is it the final? No No But there is a bit of a break After this one Takes them a while to make The fourth one Interesting In a weird sort of way Like they probably should Have made the fourth one Pretty quickly

[00:37:44] So what do you say This movie's good Like Does the fourth one Happen in a different decade? Yeah The fourth one's like 12 years later or something Fourth one doesn't come out Turn your phone on Until 2007 Roughly Something like that It's an action film Huh

[00:38:04] Is it a star vehicle? Yeah Is it a pair of stars Or is there really kind of One person It's one person Although I think Multiple people might have Been billed above the title No, they weren't They were billed below the title Star, title, couple other stars

[00:38:20] Die Hard with the Vengeance? Bryce above the title Sam and Jeremy below That's right Right below? Yeah It's a good movie It is a good movie You know what's not a good movie? Die Harder Live for your die hard Or a good day die hard

[00:38:34] I've never seen that one I haven't either I just know it's not a good movie Number four is the best picture Winner of 1995 Brief heart? That's right Cool And number five Is another movie we've talked about I love this movie Casper, Spirit at Beginning It's a good

[00:38:51] You like this movie? No, no, the episode Very good I thought Ben was praising This fine American action film Remember when for our 150th episode We were like, give us ratings We want to go top of the charts So stupid The strategy we should have employed

[00:39:09] Was making an episode this good Of course That's the way to get to top of the chart You have to make an episode this good People won't be able to not like listen AV club Split Sider New Yorker New Yorker's going to do a feature C-N-N

[00:39:25] Philip Roth is coming out of retirement To write a novel about this episode I'm learning Bob Muller's investigating How this episode turned out so well We just got a subpoena from Congress Was it Russian meddling? Americans couldn't have done an episode This good on their own

[00:39:43] Weird, the Olympics are creating A podcast category for this episode Wait a second I just checked my phone That you told me to turn off Jesus just texted me Coming back to life Need to listen to that episode In a physical realm Fantastic

[00:40:02] Yeah, number five is Crimson Tide Oh cool Hmm Yes Or should I say Hems You get so focused on the names Of our sponsors Look it's an easy way And the sounds they make Hems You're talking about Hems? I am You're talking about 4Hems.com Guilty as charge

[00:40:22] You're talking about The people who help Men who are losing their hair 66% by age 35 And people You know They might notice that The hair's going away But it's too late Guy stuff Should have gone to 4Hems.com And I'm not gonna let my fragile ego

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[00:41:05] You ever heard of it? Answer a few questions Fine, who cares? Doctor reviews, prescribes you medicine Products gets shipped directly to your door You feel great You look great What does this have to do with blank check? Oh Our listeners get a trial month of Hems

[00:41:22] For just $5 today Right now, while supplies last You can see the website for full details That's really convenient Otherwise it would have been weird We started talking about Hems We've never gone on weird tangents But now this dovetails in very nicely

[00:41:37] It'd cost you hundreds if you went to the doctor Hold on, guys, sorry You're talking about 4Hems.com You just gotta go to 4Hems.com Slash check And it's sitting back nodding and approval That is F-O-R-H-I-M-S.com Slash check For Hems.com Slash check

[00:41:54] A trial month of 4Hems Just $5 Hey, $5, you can afford that, right? This is the perfect movie for us to laugh and joke about This extremely sensitive, like, wonderful, romantic drama About a gay guy talking to his family And, like, you know...

[00:42:11] Did you cry at the end of this movie? I got kind of choked up at it I was more impressed with it, though Like, you know, it could have been A real tear-jerker It also could have been a real goofball It could have been a real birdcage

[00:42:25] Right, I make this joke in the next episode But very surprised this movie wasn't remade with, like, Tim Hallen No, exactly No, no, exactly And it's like, instead of that I was just, like, sort of blown away by how Reasonably and sort of, you know, quietly

[00:42:41] Everything was handled at the end of the movie Yes, but yes, I mean... It's the next movie that really made me cry at the end But this one's, you know... At the ending of this one, weirdly hit me harder Not to jump the gun, but there's something about

[00:42:54] What this film ends up building to Which is... This is a movie that's based around deception, right? True, yes Like, a lot of high-concept comedies Where it's like, you gotta keep up a lie There's a big lie and then you know it's gonna get revealed

[00:43:08] And you're sort of dreading that part Right, and those movies tend to be very set piece-based You have the plot mechanics You can hear the gears as they're working Towards big blow-up scenes, right? And this movie does the exact opposite Which is actually just play out the scenario

[00:43:24] It doesn't go for like big jokes, right? Or big movements It just kind of plays out the like slow repercussions Of all the decisions these people are making Like... Let me do it, I'm gonna do it And like, you know, it's like... Wang Tung Gao

[00:43:38] Lives in the village with his partner Simon Right, he's like a downtown Griffey Noomstipe They're downtown Griffey Noomstipes They're gay guys They're... I think they're both out in terms of like to their friends And they're, you know, right? Like, you know, they're... They live together yada yada yada

[00:43:55] Right Oh, we got one guy, more of a conservative button-down businessman type The other guy and out there on the streets activist Yes, that's true But they both seem pretty secure in this sexual Simon is like part of Act Up and you see him campaigning

[00:44:08] And Wei Tung is like, you know, a lawyer Or something like, you know, business... I can't remember He has like a good job, right? All that crap No, he's a landlord, right? He's a real estate guy Yeah, come on, central plot Device of the Flock

[00:44:21] Of course, sorry, sorry And but what I'm saying is like, he's making decent money But he is open enough that when he goes to check in On his tenant who is behind in her rent She fully knows the deal She knows the name of his live-in boyfriend

[00:44:38] Right, right, she is a painter Sure, sure, sure But here's what, you know, so... Yeah This is his situation His parents who live in Taiwan They're always like, when are you gonna get married? Are you gonna get married a nice lady?

[00:44:51] They like hire a dating service to find him Like a nice lady Right Yeah, yeah He has to pick her up from the airport And then very quickly realizes That they're both being set up by their parents She's dating a white guy Her parents can't know

[00:45:06] He's dating a white man His parents can't know And they end up having this nice like afternoon I just like that scene ends up being like a bonding Of the two of them being like, yeah it sucks Not being able to be in love with who you love

[00:45:18] And when I'm watching that scene I'm like, oh is this the person that they are Are they both gonna pretend to get married So it'll be Birdkei G Where it's like they're both balancing No, no, no, she's just a one-off character

[00:45:27] This movie sort of just has like an empathy For all of its characters enough That it's like, we're gonna treat this character Like a person and give her five minutes Yeah, cause she's the joke where he puts In these like outrageously demanding

[00:45:38] She has to be an opera singer All she has to be an opera singer She has to have three degrees And have two PhDs or something like that Right, she wants three PhDs and they're like Look, she only has two But we checked off every other bop

[00:45:48] So it's just funny Speaks five languages But his parents finally announced they're coming His father has like some sort of health crisis So there's like a little bit of worry Around that so they're coming And so he tells them Okay, I'm with this woman She's tenant Weiwei

[00:46:09] And we're gonna get married Cause Weiwei can't pay a rent And she can't seem to find a good relationship for herself So he kind of goes like look, here's the deal Scratch my back, I scratch yours Pretend to be my wife That is the premise of the movie

[00:46:24] Now, hijin couldn't sue Exactly, it could be very easy Because it's essentially they're gonna have this sham marriage Not just a sham marriage but like a really big Extravagant Chinese wedding ceremony With all the tassels Cause that's even the scene where you go like Here's the wind up

[00:46:41] This would be two acts of a dumb film Is like let's get this over with Go to city hall The parents are upset that they're not throwing a big wedding Well, we'll get to that That seems actually really good Exactly, right The parents are not into it

[00:46:52] They want a real wedding That they can take pictures at They can invite the family to There is a version of this movie Where 60 of the 90 minutes Are the wedding Yeah, and it's just like Shit happening at the wedding And everything going wrong And like, you know Yeah

[00:47:06] Before he has to make a big confession In front of everybody Which is that's not what this movie is at all This movie is never exactly what you think it's gonna be And yet it is also Like nice culture clash comedy

[00:47:18] About a gay man coming out to his parents Like it is that Right But it just isn't in the way You think it's gonna be At all Yes It's a great movie A great It has one plot point that does 25 years ish On Make you go, huh Yeah

[00:47:35] The sex scene Agreed, the sex scene is weird But I I chalk that up more to Like that's the one plot mechanic That kind of just clangs badly You know like Here's the thing I get why they have to do that Sure

[00:47:49] It does feel like there's a better version Of that scene Right I think there is a version of that scene Where it doesn't feel like an assault No, I do too I think that's what I'm saying Which in the movie it kind of plays that way

[00:48:01] And they don't really totally acknowledge That it was a sex scene with no consent Given by him until later It literally fades out on him going like He says no Right Like I say fade out Straight up But then later they kind of acknowledge that

[00:48:15] But also they sort of brush it aside Anyway But I also don't That's the one thing where you're like Why that's the only way You can get to that No, it's not what that's not What that actually is Right Because the way that they address it later

[00:48:26] Is that His boyfriend is like Yeah, I get shit happens You know whatever Like you know so they should have just been like In close quarters for a long time You know they kind of drunk They just got married They sort of like

[00:48:41] Because the idea of this movie Is their tradition Because even the setup for them being naked in the bed Is just like That's totally earned By this weird ceremony going on around them Exactly The idea is that The tradition around them That they

[00:48:53] Put around them in some ways To try and satisfy everyone You know it's pushing in tighter and tighter And like this is a movie Very much about it in close spaces There's your pushing hands I think that's the exact term The official term is pushing hands

[00:49:02] I think pushing hands is the exact term Official term David is typing in Pushing hands to verify Oh, I was typing in Assassins for hire We should use Zipper crew Yeah, I should That should be our next The next Zipper crew to add If we do one is

[00:49:18] Me trying to find someone to kill you And you thought our marriage would last You thought that you would be The one who could stick it out It's genuinely let's get back to that for a second Yeah What would you bring to the marriage? I'm a real sweetheart

[00:49:32] You are, you are a sweetheart Because like for me it's like I can bring a lot of like I'm good at like cooking And sort of keeping things running Like I'm Not getting kicked out of your apartment Well, I mean, yeah, sure I mean, I do it

[00:49:44] I pay the rent I grouse about it Yeah, you're more organized Yeah, I'm a little more organized I feel like I would provide Some of the stability Yeah What are you bringing here Because I'm just guessing that you're not bringing some Oh, a little spice A little spice

[00:49:58] Don't you just want to like Be at home and like watch movies Yeah, that's what I like doing That's what I like doing I like putting some hand candy in my mitts Some plastic hand candy And you like Watching some talkies Eating like the worst garbage food

[00:50:14] Yeah, I'm a little garbage-belly Right, like ordering chicken tenders From the diner on seamless or something Yeah, but once again, I'm a sweetheart Yeah, you are You're a sweetheart What do I add in a relationship? That's a good question

[00:50:24] This is maybe the question I should have asked myself Right, this question's cutting a little too deep Like is it one of those like joke questions Where you're like What do I add? What? Like Ben, what do you bring to a relationship?

[00:50:38] I think I have a spirit for life Juana Viva Yeah, I think like I walk in the room and it's just like Things get brighter Have you ever... I agree One, I agree Have you ever done speed dating Ben? Like where you like switch tables every five minutes

[00:50:58] Follow-up questions have you ever taken speed? No and yes Pretty much how I expected that one to go So, the wedding banquet A nominee for best foreign film at the Academy Awards Yeah, and actually I want to find out who it lost to

[00:51:15] Because we brought that up in the eat-drink moment So, we will bring that up It lost to I think it's like a real... Yeah, Belle Epoque Yeah, no No, this should have won But you know what? It's up against Farewell My Concubine Oh weird

[00:51:37] And that also is like a very good movie That is a plausible winner Maybe, I don't know Maybe the two Asian movies That's foreign film, a lot of that Like cancel each other out Like I'm talking about Oscar winners Not movie fucking detours or whatever it was called

[00:51:50] A lot of times like Yeah, I mean often a very middle of the road movie will win But this is like a pretty fun movie But here's the thing to talk about Okay? Because now the rules have changed Back then Not every Oscar voter

[00:52:05] Was allowed to vote for best foreign film No, you had to have seen the movies and all that And the way you had to have seen them was They were old No, but do you know what they used to do? Go ahead

[00:52:14] You used to have to go to an organized screening Where you watched all five films in a row Uh, yes It wasn't about screeners So you had to be like I have nothing to do on a Tuesday Right, it was all like 80 year olds

[00:52:25] And you sit there and watch 10 hours of foreign films So usually the one that was just about like Old people being old And the one that was like the least offensive would win Yeah Yeah Things have changed Times have changed The wedding banquet

[00:52:42] Wait, so yeah, we talked about the basic setup Right Uh, he's got traditional parents They are played by See Hong Lung from the last movie He plays Mr. Gao, his dad He's really good at this Because he's very vulnerable And like frail in some ways

[00:53:00] But also like you I want his praise In this movie That scene early on when they arrive And they have the like The way Weiwei does the sort of Calligraphy speech Where she's obviously like Made sure to study calligraphy Because she knows that's what her new dad likes

[00:53:19] I love the training of the cooking too Like just but like watching him be satisfied Yeah Is very rewarding Even though it's not like he's like a big smile In his face or anything He's just like quietly happy He's also not playing a one dimensional grump

[00:53:33] So you feel like his approval is attainable Like weirdly the most one dimensional character Is Wei Tung, is the main character Okay And only because like he's so often grumpy Because he is at the center of all this Scheming Right Mei Chen plays Weiwei His wife

[00:53:53] Gua A-Le plays his mother She's so good She got independent spirit nomination I know She's so fucking good Can I throw out a thing I found while looking up this film Yeah Mei Chen Cause I was like she's so good in this

[00:54:11] What did she do after this film Sure Okay She only is in Five movies total Really On IMDb at least She's in one film in 1988 Then the wedding banquet five years later Magic started the same year Mei Chen in which she plays the title character The following year

[00:54:32] And then her final film Are you looking at her IMDb page? Yes Just to let you know she's been in two hundred movies Where are you looking? It's just they don't put like every like foreign language Felt like Taiwanese movie on there

[00:54:45] Okay well then so disregard everything I just said But what I'm gonna say next is still interesting Go ahead The last film they have listed for her here is called Woman's Soup Great title That's interesting fact number one She was in a movie called Woman's Soup

[00:55:00] And the fact there is there was a movie called Woman's Soup Oh that's the whole fact? No I have a better fact than getting to But I wanna let people know that a movie called Woman's Soup exists And the plot synopsis is

[00:55:10] That it is a bunch of lonely women Who go to hot springs together It's um That's great So they form a woman's soup Woman's soup That's fact one Fact two Mei Chen Since 2001 Mei Chen has been a member of Taiwan's Legislative body

[00:55:29] And tell me to stretch for time Yeah right One of three representatives of the island's aboriginal population Her small party is allied with the ruling pro-China Comintang Yeah She once sued former Japanese prime minister For visiting the controversial Yasukani Shrine To Japan's war debt Um Great

[00:55:52] And Ben is saying stall for time She was born September 21st 1965 And Ben is saying go longer The other thing that's interesting is she's a Mando pop star Okay Oh And she quit acting not long after wedding banquet Cause she got liver cancer She beat liver cancer

[00:56:10] And then she was like you know what fuck it politics next Well you know what's a good cure for woman cancer Woman cancer? Well now I I mean you know the joke I was gonna make now I was gonna say liver cancer

[00:56:21] And then I was gonna say the cure was woman's soup And I've ruined everything I mean I would say I literally had a perfect episode up until this point I would say that was the least successful chunk We've ever done on this show That's bad That's not true

[00:56:35] That's not true No I mean it was really good Yeah thank you That's accurate Uh you know Just listeners Griffin Zigo has gotten so massive after the tick That we're just having to like massage everything What do you got here Uh so the wedding banquet

[00:56:49] A great film by a great filmmaker The wedding yeah The wedding banquet Uh you get this This is a thing I like about this movie That I think speaks volumes Okay All of them just live in the house together Yeah sure right

[00:57:05] They don't create that much of a like false narrative They don't like miss his doubt fire it That's true it's like so the parents arrive And Wei Tung is like So here's my place This is my roommate Simon And here's my girlfriend who I'm gonna get married to

[00:57:18] Right And they're like yeah that all makes sense We're from Taiwan People all live in a house together You know like there's no like Complicated scenes where it's like one guy's in one room And a door's being held closed There's someone on the phone

[00:57:33] And you're switching between lines And like Simon's always at the table with them Simon's always like involved in everything They're like Simon Traveling His Mandarin is like decent so they're sort of fond of that Yeah Yeah Simon's pretty chill dude

[00:57:46] They try to do this quickie city hall marriage Simon played by Mitchell Lichtenstein And then went on to direct Teeth He made Teeth you know what else though Teeth with what's it just Weichsler Yes He's the son of Roy Lichtenstein The artist Oh cool I love that artist

[00:58:04] Yeah And you know You know how he could tell Because he watched the movie when they zoom in on his face It got a little dots on it Yeah thank you We're being chill but I mean like this is a movie that comes out in 1993 Yeah

[00:58:16] I mean obviously it's not like some colossal hip But it made like 25 million bucks worldwide Oh I'm sorry you want to talk about not some colossal hip Okay Here's an actual interesting fact Okay The wedding banquet Trivia This was the most financially profitable film of 1993

[00:58:36] Earning 23.6 million for a budget of 1 million Gave it a cost-to-return ratio of 23.6 Considerably higher than that Of Jurassic Park Fair Yeah And Winston Chao who played the lead role had never been in a film before He was an airline steward That's crazy Really? That's crazy He's very handsome

[00:59:03] He's very handsome Let's not beat around the bush No not at all I beat around his bush you know what I'm saying I guess so The handsome bushy is around the bush The parents are coming He proposes this shame marriage to Weiwei play by Mei Chen

[00:59:16] And yes and then they have a city hall wedding Now by the way I've been to city hall weddings I have as well Humblebrag Seriously That's not city They made it look worse They put it in some drab office room They make it look like night court

[00:59:29] Yeah they make it look like everyone's waiting and watching the wedding You get to go in your own room to have the wedding But I still like that scene because again The parents don't put up a fuss They're like I guess we just grin and bear this

[00:59:43] And then finally the mom just starts crying Because it's so depressing Like it is so antithetical to what she wants I think a master stroke of this film Is that the parents are trying to understand the entire time

[00:59:57] They're not, they are a roadblock in the way the tradition is a roadblock To his way of life Uh huh Way of life I mean he's gay But they're not pointedly stubborn They're not like Exactly They're It's all We just get it Yeah Get the traditions they want

[01:00:13] Right They're not dicks about it No And they're not going to force them to do anything This isn't one of those annoying movies And this is true of Eat Me Drink Man Warm as well Where it's like Well you better do this or I'm pulling your money

[01:00:24] Like you know where it's like there's some artificial conflict Not at all It's just he really wants their approval So he's doing everything he thinks he needs to do But also And also you know his dad's like a little frail Because he had like a stroke

[01:00:37] So it's like they're worried about that There's that wonderful moment where he sees the dad in the chair And he gets worried for a second as dad might have died So he holds the finger under his nose to check the breath And you kind of get

[01:00:45] He realizes then he like goes like we're getting married today Yeah Like he's like Let me just make you happy Be married before my father passes it could happen at any moment So then they go His boyfriend is like look This was a fucking disaster

[01:01:00] Let me book a reservation Let's go get a nice lunch Try to cheer them up Right And they get to the lunch And it turns out the father of the owner of the restaurant Right Served under The father The father in the army Right

[01:01:13] Do you understand who this fucking guy is? This guy's a hero He saved my life I owe him everything What's going on here And they're like we just got married We're not even doing a party And he's like Nope I'm making it up to you Sumptuous banquet Right

[01:01:26] So this would be the bulk of The dumber version of this movie And then And it's not I mean it's one act It's the middle And it's fun I mean I think it's great I love that Having to go through these traditions

[01:01:38] And it's not like the traditions are challenging No Is the tea ceremony It's just like Being with a blindfold Or he has to guess who's kissing him And then he guesses a kid Is his wife She guesses Sorry she guesses the husband Right Yeah

[01:01:51] And his friend makes this speech about Like well we've known each other for a long time I haven't even heard of this lady Is look he's fried And he holds up fried food It's a great joke And everyone gives him comedy points That's true

[01:02:02] But this culminates in this weird tradition Where they put them They bombard their Bedroom Right Their hotel room Because she like accidentally opens the door too Right Yeah And everyone stands around Like throws the cover on top of them

[01:02:18] And is like you have to keep on removing items of clothing We won't leave until all your clothing is off Weird Yeah I mean but These old old old fashioned wedding traditions are basically like You got married so you have to fuck To make babies

[01:02:32] And I love that they don't You might not know how Right I love that they don't Step one Neutery Not a prerequisite but helpful Yeah It's kind of a prerequisite for me Not a prerequisite If we're gonna get married I want to tell you

[01:02:45] I want to be naked when we have sex Oh man I think we might have found our first man Oh wow Griffin's like clothes on Yeah He's like wearing a coat Yes I only have coated sex Lights on With the coat on You wouldn't walk Jeez boy

[01:03:02] That's brutal I want to see everything But I want to expose nothing Hey if you're looking for a podcast to make You forget about everything else And actually just laugh out loud You absolutely need to check out Dumb People Town Yes it's called Dumb People Town

[01:03:17] And that's what it's about Every week the show celebrates and revels And dumb people around the world Doing the dumbest things you can imagine And plenty of things even the imagination can't create It's hosted by a comedy duo Jason and Randy Sklar Legends of podcasting

[01:03:31] They've got comedian Daniel Van Kirk Along for the ride And honestly it's the funniest new show I've heard in a long time Every episode is packed with real news stories And constant ball busting between the hosts And you feel they're genuine off for the

[01:03:45] Superdity inside of each of us So you'll hear stories like about Burglars boarding spaceships Or Threeson's own public patio decks And door to door meat salesmen They've got special guests like Maria Bamford or Silicon Valley's Thomas Middleditch or John Hamm, Tignataro Keegan Michael Key

[01:04:03] Trust me, you don't want to miss a single dumb moment So just subscribe to Dumb People Town On iTunes, Spotify, TuneIn, Stitcher Or wherever you listen to podcasts I love that they don't cut under the sheets Sure

[01:04:16] Like to go like, oh my god, what are we going to do? Like you're just seeing this mound Underneath a cover Surrounded by people And they're just like very slowly Throwing items of clothing out So it's funny you're imagining how pissed off they are Not seeing their faces

[01:04:32] But then when everyone leaves and they're like Woo! And now they're both naked in bed together Like huddled up She starts pushing hands if you will She does, I mean also Yeah so a major subplot I think the official term of what she does is push some hand

[01:04:46] Under some body form A major subplot of this movie that I also like Is that she really likes the family And enjoys being part of the family Like once they're all pretend living together And she's had to run a bad relationship They set up at the beginning

[01:05:04] So it's like she's in something that's kind of stable right now Even if it's kind of phony baloney Like they're not in love But she's got a pretty good like home life now Yeah And so We've talked about it already

[01:05:18] I like all that stuff, I like where it's leading to I do think that scene is clunky I don't like that she grabs it as a penis He says no and then she goes no I'm having sex with you Right And then we fade out

[01:05:28] To completion because she gets pregnant Right That's what I'm saying it's like finesse this better This movie is written by Ang Lee and James Sheamus We should mention and Ted Hope I mean Neil Pang sorry Okay And he'll produce it But Sheamus also co-wrote pushing hands with him

[01:05:42] So right from the start those two are writing together Ang Lee directs Let's see, yeah this is based on a real relationship By the way He said I think the first act of the movie The basic setup is based on a guy that Ang Lee knew

[01:06:00] Sheamus said the first film was first written in Chinese Okay Translated into English rewritten in English Translated back into Chinese Subtitled to Chinese and English and it does not have the languages Like it does seem like a complicated way to work Right

[01:06:13] It's not like one of those things where you read it It's like well Ang and James they just need each other Because they're just like two halves of a whole It's like this seems so Byzantine these these translations And Ang Lee was like pointedly

[01:06:25] Not super fluent English at this point Like could speak But I don't think was like fully bilingual Uh-huh You know because even by the time we get to sense and sensibility They talk about the fact that like sometimes he had trouble Explaining Communicating to the actors Yeah

[01:06:43] But somehow they found themselves Much like the characters of this film Strange bedfellows who found An interesting sideways existence That lended itself to happiness For all around them So is that a sentence? Correct yes so Wei Wei gets knocked up Here's one thing I like Simon is mad

[01:07:03] Because Wei Tong didn't use a condom Cause he's like my whole fucking thing is act up Fucking use a condom Right you want to have sex With one lady for kicks Fine with me We'll figure it out You vet it with me first hand

[01:07:16] And also throw on a rubber for goodness sake Right exactly Yeah But she gets pregnant And they're now tense as shit Everyone's flipping out around the breakfast table But then we kind of jump ahead in time at some point Cause he has another stroke and they're like grounded

[01:07:32] The implication is the parents stay way longer than they should But there's that scene that's great where they're fighting In the morning and the parents presumably don't understand What's going on because they're fighting in English They just get that they're fighting

[01:07:43] Right and they talked about it to each other in Mandarin Right and they start to put together Oh it must be that she's pregnant That's the only thing that could get you that angry They have the stroke right They go to the hospital

[01:07:54] He's sitting outside the room with his mom And the mom puts it together She's pregnant And he thinks she's put together that he's gay So he starts sort of like sideways coming out Like kind of backing his way into it Until she says what she's saying

[01:08:07] And he just fucking owns up to it And he says there's that line I love Where he's like so much joy so much pain I haven't been able to share with you Like the idea that he hates that he had

[01:08:17] Hasn't been able to talk to her about the good stuff And the bad stuff So much of his life has been hidden from her So he owns up to it And she's sort of like You know I don't get this I don't love this You're my son

[01:08:31] Of course I love you I accept you You cannot tell your father Right Turns out who's around the corner Listening Yeah Big daddy No He's in the hospital a bit Who's around the corner listening Wei Wei Oh right And Roy Lichtenstein Yeah Junior

[01:08:52] So now they know that he told her Yeah I think yeah I kind of forgot about this part Yeah okay Cause I like this web they built at the end of the movie Where like everyone doesn't know what everyone else knows

[01:09:04] But all of them have somehow come to some sort of understanding With someone else Sure Like they're all kind of cool with everything Without knowing that everyone else is cool with everything I just Yes This is what I found so emotionally affecting At the end of the film

[01:09:17] Is like there's this powder keg Where they all kind of say goodbye to each other At the airport So this is what made you cry Or they're getting on a boat right I thought they were getting on a plane I can't remember

[01:09:27] For some reason I thought it was a boat I was also very tired Yeah Why don't they be getting on a plane I have no idea I'm wrong Alright They're pushing hands Into the sky That's the official term Correct Taking a flight Yeah Samwise is watching them

[01:09:41] Get off on a boat to the Greyhavens The point is No it's a plane Okay According to Wikipedia at least Okay so I'm losing my mind You said I got my egos out of control I mean think about it Ben Why would they be getting on a boat

[01:09:51] Like what do you think about it Oh my god what's this Oh you guys just won the Nobel Peace Prize For this episode Ben I can't believe it We have kept it to the time you asked Yeah yeah We're gonna play the box office game in a minute

[01:10:05] We're bringing this ship into the harbor Much like a boat At the end of wedding banquet Please Look the point is They got this scene where they're saying goodbye And a thing that Angle is very good at Is repressed emotions People who cannot express themselves Right

[01:10:19] And so you have this thing where everyone's kind of Notting to each other Everyone's trying not to cry Right And trying to like And like the mom has basically sort of become A surrogate mother to way way Like you know there's all Yes

[01:10:30] Mr. Gao really like Simon the dad And he tells Simon that he knows But that he Simon can't tell them That he knows Or that he speaks English Right So it's like this whole Web of them just quietly like accepting each other Right

[01:10:45] And they find that very very affecting Right Because your family is a god damn mess My family's a mess And they behave in this way Where everyone knows like one thing about another person But and some people share this information Others don't

[01:10:59] And it's like a complicated web of like Well who knows what about who And who knows that they know Ben cut that out Ben Double it And then of course the film ends with the most Emotional shot in history

[01:11:11] A slow motion shot of a man raising his arms As he's about to be tracked by the TSA for bombs Yeah fair Getting the one, the metal detector one This movie The most profitable film of 1993 in terms of cost Yeah the Wikipedia also has that

[01:11:28] I feel like they're making that bit too much of a brag But this movie A humble brand Came out in 1993 That's right August 6th you heard me Before the theatrical release of Pushing Hands As we were already established It came out It grossed Pushing Hands

[01:11:47] This entire domestic gross in one weekend $134,000 And what's his final domestic 6.9 Good Seriously So this is the summer when Jurassic Park's running on the table Adjusted for inflation it made $15 million Yeah good number No very good Yes Jurassic Park you have guessed it

[01:12:04] Is number five at the box office Nine weeks in it's made $300 million That's right You did it You guessed number five at the box office So let's go in reverse order What? Up the charts What's number four It is a film that I saw in theaters

[01:12:20] It was a big hit Cast for a Spirit of the King Nope It was a big hit Oh okay Of this Like it was a somewhat surprising hit of this A year I feel like Was it a kids film It's got a great original song

[01:12:36] It does actually really dig this song So good Yes it has an official song by a big pop star Of the moment 1923 Big pop song It's explicitly a kids movie Very much so The song isn't sung by characters in the film No it's over the credits

[01:12:51] And it has a title that English people think is hysterical British people Because Because in slang it means something completely different Fannie and Alexander Yeah right no Good guess I'm gonna move back kids Sure Not really a kids movie Fannie means vagina That's true In England

[01:13:11] Here it means your butt Okay So it's It's got a title that British people find funny It is true that English people think that Americans say the word fanny pack is very funny though Like that is English people do genuinely It's like a vagina pack

[01:13:23] How are you so privy to all this stuff That British people Now this is weird Are you looking this up in that leather bound volume Because that volume just says Can the leather bound volume be canon on this That volume just says ang Lee

[01:13:35] So how would you know these other facts Can be contained within that volume It's prior information that I have in my body and soul But how would you possess that information Because I grew up in England You fucking ingrate Oh boy

[01:13:54] Okay I threw my headphones down to the ground for real He may have broken them I might have broken them 9.93 it's a kids film has a pop song in it I did break these headphones Did you really Yeah I did It's a good bit I full on broke

[01:14:08] I mean talk about bit commitment I full on broke Well no no no no no no no No I just dislodged it I just dislodged it It's not a big deal I just dislodged it No I'm re-logging He got it Thank you He literally did that

[01:14:23] It was very stupid of him 9.93 it's got a big pop song kids love it British people go faw They do They genuinely do And they made it a live action Live action Yeah It's like one of those things where you're like Oh Like right

[01:14:40] We all went to see this movie What was the final domestic pop 77 Wow You know Like a decent size Yeah 77 Adjusted it had like It had at least two theatrical sequels Wow That are like I mean Ridiculous

[01:14:57] Like there's no way there should have been sequels to this movie So it's very much like a one premise movie Yeah the movie ends with like Great It's problem solved Oh Did you see this movie, man? Of course

[01:15:09] I saw the shit out of this movie it's called Free Willy It's called Free Willy And they free him and yet Right Two more times And two more times so like Willy's in trouble I'm like he's in the fucking ocean He's fine

[01:15:19] Leave him alone let him be you monster We can't solve every problem for Willy At some point he's got to solve some shit himself Like poor K.K.O. who like the whale Who the killer whale becomes independently famous Right

[01:15:31] And like had the dorsal fin was like floppy Because that's like a sign of a whale and captivity And they keep like dragging her out to play And you're like leave the fucking whale alone I should have to do Leno and shit They also did an animated series

[01:15:43] I vaguely remember that I definitely saw this in theaters I definitely saw Free Willy 2 in theaters I think I might have skipped out on Free Willy 3 I think so too Anyway just crazy to think about Free Willy the animated series is like

[01:15:54] He keeps on freeing Willy and Willy fights Like aquatic robot villains Hey man it was the 90s Jason James Richter Laurie Petty Yeah Michael Madsen's The Scumbum Dad Yeah Michael Madsen, Jane Atkinson August Schellenberg is in it You know the great Native American actor

[01:16:14] Michael T. Williamson like solid Oh and the title's funny because It sounds like you're releasing a penis Correct that you're taking your penis out of your pants Free Willy that's what they called The Paul Rubin's film That probably was a joke that every talk show host made Right

[01:16:29] Probably Because he freed his Willy Number two The film not directed by but starring someone We talked about in the last box office game A big hit of the year Huge hit Good movie It's a Gibson? No What? But who gets it It's not directed by

[01:16:45] Not directed by but starring The director of a movie we talked about And does he usually These days he Really just directs and if he's in a movie He probably directed it Clint Eastwood Correct Directed by but not starring No this movie is starring but not directed by

[01:17:02] One of his rare like in this At this point he rarely does Clarem Present danger? No not the In the line of fire is the one In the line of fire Confused those titles Which is a good movie I really like that one

[01:17:13] And in a later episode I will confuse the title Yeah with Malcovitch Oscar nominee As the villain Fun movie Yeah Number two Is a racist film Against Asians A certain A specific country actually But this is confusing once again Because Casper's spirit at the beginning

[01:17:33] You ever seen this one Bam? No Racist I'm trying to remember the title It's the one with Sean Connery and Wesley Snipes That's right It's called Rising Sun That's right Cool Weird Yeah I don't know And number one When you think sensitive movie about Asia

[01:17:49] You cast Sean Connery and Wesley Snipes Number one is I guess it wasn't the biggest It was the third biggest film of the year Behind Jurassic Park and Mrs. Doubtfire It is a great movie That I could watch every single day

[01:18:02] You love it Ben's not in his head I just watched it recently Isn't it great? Isn't it great? It's like a perfect like it's on HBO In the middle of the day movie Exactly It's a high grossing 93 film Yes it's opening this weekend To 23 million dollars

[01:18:15] What is it? 93 is great What does it end up at? 183 million dollars Which adjusted for inflation My friend is a healthy 407 million dollars Is it kind of a family film? No it's an action film It's an act It's a pure action film Very much so From 1990

[01:18:34] I'm pretty sure it's rated R 3 Rated R No apparently it's PG-13 Wow Does it start It's kind of violent for a PG-13 Does it start a big action star? Yes Like a canonical big action star A canonical huge star Who is in action movies

[01:18:50] But he's also in other movies Shorty? Nope Stallone? No Think like better 40 Harrison? 1993 That's right it's free will it be? Harrison Ford picture called The Future Yeah I did think that was R rated as well Yeah cause the murder scene of his wife is

[01:19:12] That's, I feel like that's pushing into our territory That's rough But he did not murder her Yeah he did not murder her Was that ever clear? Did he ever I wish he would just say it Yeah Honestly they could have saved themselves a lot of foot traffic

[01:19:26] I don't care I didn't kill my wife I don't care I didn't kill my wife I didn't kill my wife I didn't kill my wife You switched the samples I didn't kill my wife Yeah we also got The Firm Robin Hood Men in Tights Which is funny Yeah

[01:19:43] Dave Schbell's a nip The Meteor Man The Meteor Man which I saw in theaters Because I was like Here is a PG rated movie Superhero About a superhero I've never heard of the Meteor Man Yeah And it's like, I think it just went

[01:19:57] I remember thinking it was fine But like I think it went all over my head This is like Robert Townsend movie About like reclaiming like Super heroism and like the community And like But that's a good movie Do you know that he made like another

[01:20:09] Superhero comedy for the Disney Channel? No I think Robert Townsend directed a film called Up Up In A Way That's like a live action, incredible type I had no idea It's a Bourbon superhero family movie You're right Yes, Bronze Eagle he plays In that movie

[01:20:24] Up Up In A Way Yeah but I mean Robert Townsend man He was a part of my youth He was a big deal for a while Yeah Apologies to Ang Lee For the previous 90 minutes Every single second of it We're so sorry

[01:20:41] I just get ready until we hulk the hulk You're a wonderful director And we're very excited to talk about your movies You seem like a kind man Next week we're going to talk about Each Drink Man Woman I believe that episode's a little more respectful Yeah

[01:20:51] Yeah a little bit Remember that one being a little more Sort of academic about his film making The great Allison Willemore joins us That's right We still have to do the ad so we'll see how Those two are out Yeah right maybe we'll fuck it up there Yeah

[01:21:04] We'll really take the whole thing Hey, hey, hey, language This has been a respectable podcast so far So sorry Yeah didn't you talk about like Brown buttholes like two minutes Into this thing I talked about the brown eyes Sarah Ladies and gentlemen thank you so much for listening

[01:21:18] Please remember to rate, review and subscribe Please do Thanks to Lee Muckerman for theme song And for good for our social media Joe Bowen and Pat Reynolds for our artwork Go to Blankies.Red.com for some real Nerdy shit And as always

[01:21:33] They get on a boat at the end of the Letting Man Shit Perfect app Do it