The Fog with Nia DaCosta

[00:00:00] Blank Check with Griffin and David Blank Check with Griffin and David Don't know what to say or to expect All you need to know is that the name is a show It's Blank Check 11.55, almost midnight Enough time for one more story

[00:00:29] One more story before 12 just to keep us warm Five minutes will be the 21st of April 100 years ago on the 21st of April, out in the waters Around Spivey Point, a small clipper ship drew toward land Suddenly out at the night, the fog rolled in

[00:00:47] For a moment they could see nothing Not a foot in front of them Then they saw a light By God it was a fire burning on the shore Strong enough to penetrate the swirling mist They steered a course toward the light

[00:01:02] But it was a campfire like this one The ship crashed against the rocks The hull sheared in two Mass snapped like a twig The wreckage sank with all the men aboard At the bottom of the sea lay the Elizabeth Dane

[00:01:18] With her crew, their lungs filled with salt water Their eyes open staring to the darkness And above as suddenly as it come The fog lifted, receded back into the ocean And never came again But it is told by the fishermen and their fathers and grandfathers

[00:01:36] That when the fog returns to Antonio Bay The men at the bottom of the sea, out in the waters Spivey Point will rise up and search for the campfire That led them to their dark, icy podcast Okay Good Good, thank you Good You know honestly

[00:01:59] Forgot that that was so long You know like it feels like a very nice short little opening in the movie Oh my god But it's significant It's significant That was more engaging than the actual opening Hey, wow Wait, oh man Someone's got their knives out Okay, alright, alright

[00:02:18] Uh-oh, here we go Should I just tell you how I feel off the jump? I guess so, I guess so Just tell us Was not a fan Not a fan of the fog And then I realized I had no idea what the movie was about

[00:02:31] Not a fog fan I thought I always know I was like, oh yeah, something, something for the fog, etc No, I wasn't prepared for prior to the Caribbean In a small town Like it was like based on the plot of parts of the Caribbean

[00:02:48] Like is that what the ride's based on? Is the fog and then they made it into a movie with Johnny Depp Like you know what I mean? Like That is an interesting point I had never seen this before And it does feel like a part of the Caribbean

[00:02:58] Maybe crib from this more than I knew Yeah, like they want their gold They come on the fog And then when they get their gold the curse is done And even just the degree I know these are like, like leper zombie pirates Yes But the famous story about

[00:03:13] Pirates of the Caribbean Famous, what the fuck am I talking about? The story about the making of Pirates of the Caribbean Is that, David you've never been on that ride But it's mostly just pirates Having a jolly good time But at the beginning of the ride

[00:03:28] There's like this tone setting section That's amazing That's like the thing that everyone remembers Where you're just kind of like quietly like going down a river Before the pirates come to life It's like you're going back in time And there's this one image you go past

[00:03:42] That's a skeleton at like the mast of a ship And it's the kind of thing if you see it as a kid It like sticks in your memory And then who is it? Ted Elliott and Terri Ross So when they were writing Pirates of the Caribbean

[00:03:54] We're like, oh do skeleton pirates Everyone remembers from the ride anyway But the ride doesn't have that other than this one section And it's not like it's like skeletons come to life So it does feel like they maybe looked at the fog

[00:04:06] And they were like, oh it's like that It's like a curse ship that comes back And the people want revenge And then they turn into skeletons Right? 100% I literally was like, oh like This is the Pirates of the Caribbean But they're in Maine or Seattle

[00:04:22] They're on the west coast Yeah, they're in Northern California Antonio Oh okay No, Antonia Bay Antonio Bay, I'm sorry See I clearly wasn't paying attention enough Is that a real place? No it's not a real place But the ship, the whole deal with the ship

[00:04:43] Is based on a real thing that happened It is Like killing the people on the boat? Yeah I'm trying to find the name of the boat But that's something that really happened Where someone basically faked out this boat With a fire and they crashed

[00:04:59] And then they took all the guild I believe it had, it wasn't gold on the Frolick It was porcelain and opium Worth it Porcelain? Yeah porcelain It was coming from China Like it had precious china Was porcelain very I think it was, yes at the time

[00:05:21] In the 19th century or whatever Speaking of china I literally put on Big Trouble and Little China afterwards After I watched the fog, because I was like I'm so lost in this filmography right now Because Halloween happened before And then only a couple years later was

[00:05:36] The thing which is probably a perfect movie Yes And I was like what's going on Then I had to start watching Big Trouble and Little China Because I was like I haven't seen that one either Maybe I need to know more about John Did you enjoy that?

[00:05:49] Oh um I didn't finish it but yeah What I watched it did I had, I was talking to Or if you had to come do this Hey great excuse, no judgment And we appreciate that you're doing this Because you are beyond busy right now

[00:06:05] Which I should say this is a podcast Called Blank Check with Griffin and David I'm Griffin I'm David And this is a podcast about filmographies Directors who have massive success Early on in their career And are given a series of blank checks And sometimes those checks clear

[00:06:21] And sometimes they bounce Baby and this is a mini series As I think you've been able To discern from this Pre-talk about the films Of John Carpenter It is called, I think it's called Oh Potscape from Newcast Yeah we forgot about that We forgot to resolve that

[00:06:43] No it's they Podcasts You think it's they Ben you're playing down the Trump card and saying it's they Podcast Yup It's his podcast What was the other option? Potscape from Newcast Oh okay well I don't think we're Or the third most distant option was Pod Trouble in Littlecast

[00:07:06] Hmm I think I just feel like I couldn't make a different call On any of those They're living in the same reality Okay so then it's they podcast It's they podcast It's a mini series called they podcast Today we're talking about the fog With our incredibly busy guest

[00:07:21] Nia Dacosta Nia you've carved out A very small chunk of time From getting ready to direct A fucking Marvel movie The thing people use as a joke When they talk about Their career going well and being too busy Oh that's funny Yes I did do that

[00:07:41] I do I feel like that's the thing When the movie When it got announced that you were directing the movie You like posted a quote of yours From some interview where you said like Oh if I ever get to direct like Avengers 8 or something

[00:07:56] I'll just like pay off all my student debt Like you had some quote about like How unlikely it seemed And what kind of like crazy Like it was winning the lottery Well literally I It was less about getting a Marvel movie

[00:08:09] It was more about paying off my student loans That actually felt crazy to me I was like I will only pay them off If I get a Marvel movie And now that I have one I'm like Jesus I still am not going to pay them all off

[00:08:20] It's funny everyone thinks I literally paid them off Like when I got the job Which is not how you get paid Per the DGA but Right you didn't just put Kevin Feige In touch with whoever Yeah but Sally may know He didn't start co-signing my you know

[00:08:35] My loans or anything Though I asked you know That uh It's like the scene of Falcon and the Whitser soldier Where you have to like go to the bank And go like can you forgive my loans I'm directing a Marvel movie Right I'm an Avenger now

[00:08:50] Exactly yeah but instead of a boat It's just uh you know my city bank loans We also mentioned we came on the show About nine months ago I guess now To do the cast away episode You were great And then it came out and people said

[00:09:08] It's so weird that they didn't talk about Captain Marvel even once Now that Nia is directing this big movie And the reality is we talked about it A fair amount But we record so far in advance You were like it's going to be announced by then

[00:09:22] And then like a week before You were like Marvel just changed their plans We have to cut out all the Captain Marvel references Yeah and then did a very Expert job of cutting around it I really thought it would get announced sooner And they were just like

[00:09:38] Like oh we'll do it here, we'll do it here I think everyone also was sort of low-key thinking The pandemic would disappear Right In some way And then it was like nope We're going to wait four months Since it was leaked To announce it so Yeah

[00:09:52] So I apologize isn't it But you're How many days away from filming are you now Four Wow Wow I mean in under the wire In under the wire In under the wire Yeah But honestly like I've been propping for ten months And we just need to start shooting

[00:10:11] There's only so much you can prop a movie Even one as big as this And I'm just like let's go Let's do it And everyone's excited to go Sure At this point you're more like frustrated Than stressed about Yeah Starting It's literally like having a baby

[00:10:25] That is how it felt having a baby There was a certain point where it was like a few weeks ago Where you were like Thank you Nia But like there's a certain point where you're like Okay we bought all the stuff You know like everything

[00:10:38] We've read the books I guess There's nothing more to do We just got to do this now And you just have to wait Yeah It's like we get it conceptually You're coming let's go Right exactly The plans are in place yes I should also make it clear

[00:10:51] I make jokes about The name of David's baby I say that the baby's name Grafina Bendooser Sims Which is obviously a joke But you know I don't want to step on David's privacy here But we should mention that the actual name of David's daughter

[00:11:03] Is untitled 2021 Marvel film Sims Oh yes yes yes Yeah There are lawyers that will be reaching out about that so You just you got to claim that release date That's the thing David just put it on the map Like nine months in fact

[00:11:18] You had to plant the flag So today we're talking about the fog A film that Nia did not like I actually feel really bad about this Because I would never get on a podcast And start talking a movie by anyone Because you know

[00:11:33] Hey this is a podcast about honesty Above all else we've always said that We have that sign above our door We say this is a podcast about honesty And a wide array of viewpoints This is talking about like Blank check movies

[00:11:50] This is the direct theatrical follow up to Halloween So this is as blank check he has his career ever gets Even though it was produced on a very very small budget Yeah what you can tell Yes totally The weird contrast of like Carpenter is it feels like

[00:12:08] He is a man who got to really make Movies he wanted to make his way But he you know has publicly griped For years about the fact that he never really felt like He got the room and the budget to make things At the scale he wanted to

[00:12:24] That he was always sort of like hustling And hacking it out and stitching things together With the bubble gum and spit But it is fascinating that like Even post Halloween They're like cool you get one million dollars To try to replicate that thing

[00:12:42] I feel like it's like the Blumhouse thing It's like well we're just going to keep giving Filmmakers very little money Even though they prove that they can make Films that make a lot of money Because that's just our model now Well look I like Jordan Peele

[00:12:55] Who you worked with in the Candyman movie Right Coming out very soon When he Post get out gets offered like Humongous movies Like Akira or whatever Yes exactly Right And then announced like No I'm signing like a multi-picture deal At Universal

[00:13:16] I was like that's the smartest career decision I've seen from director in a while And that was like You know him saying like I know what my zone is now No like yes a carpenter Would have probably Like to have gotten the budget jump

[00:13:32] That Peele had from get out to us But I still think the fact that he was like I've established kind of my genre And there's an audience expectation Of what my movies are And I'm going to like sort of stay doing that Rather than try to like

[00:13:46] Get the brass ring It's smart but carpenter didn't get that sort of like Jump up In an interesting way I mean it was this and Escape from New York He signed a two-picture deal Where both of them were supposed to be made for like a million dollars

[00:14:02] Jesus Christ And that was his big Post Halloween cash And Halloween is like one of the most profitable movies Of all time at that point If not still to this day Yeah yeah Yes but he's you know It's true I mean everything you're saying is right

[00:14:18] But he's making this deal with I mean it's embassy pictures I figure they're called like Avco back then Or whatever He's sort of like you know He's not leaping into The big big studio system I don't know why What would that have been at the time though Like

[00:14:38] Was there like an IP sort of like Fever like Hunt as it is now And then you know I don't know what it would have Jaws to There's just two but But I think like other than The godfather part two arguably Like

[00:14:58] Sequels are seen as a little bit less than Right? The fact that Carpenter doesn't direct the Halloween sequels Feels par for the course Because people like Spielberg aren't doing the Jaws sequels You know Like Friedkin's not doing the Exorcist sequel Like these big breakout horror movies

[00:15:14] The people kind of move on The fact that Carpenter like Wrote and produced the sequel Is even sort of more involvement than most of these guys had With the franchises they started But I do think it's that post Spielberg thing Where like There is this kind of like

[00:15:30] A Oter driven populism You know? Where like directors are becoming The star a little bit And you have these people like Spielberg and Lucas Even Landis Arguably who are like making these sort of Like due to grew up on TV And genre movies

[00:15:50] Now making slightly more sophisticated versions Of them that are crossing over in a big way And Carpenter doesn't make a studio film until The thing Well that says a lot Right, yeah. And the thing is Like a big movie This movie comes out what, 1980?

[00:16:10] This is 1980 and then Escape from New York Is in between and then the thing I mean there are three consecutive years Which is pretty wild. Yeah it is But like you know obviously the biggest Movie of the year this year is Empire Strikes Back But you have like

[00:16:24] You know there's like Smoky and the Bandit too There's a little bit of that And you know the year before we have Rocky But yeah it's more like Alien You know The jerk, the Muppet movie Things that are like That are going to be the starts Of

[00:16:42] They are classics. The start of Hollywood being like okay more Of that please, right? But it's just You know we're getting into the beginning The 80s are the blockbuster decade The first blockbuster decade really It is wild also I feel like we've remarked upon this before

[00:16:58] But like 1977 Star Wars The biggest movie ever, number two at the box Of Smoky and the Bandit The biggest movie Empire Strikes Back Number two Smoky and the Bandit too Bert Rowns was just always there bringing up the rear That's hilarious. And 9 to 5 9 to 5 was a huge 1980

[00:17:14] Movie like it's a more The genre spread In the box office That movie is so unhinged 9 to 5 is one of the most structurally Bizarre movies I've ever seen And I like it, I like it But it is The middle act of that movie

[00:17:32] Is a series of dream sequences essentially Yeah, like I I didn't know that's what I was like Because I think working girl and 9 to 5 Are always sort of in a similar conversation And They're so different. One is like a movie with a narrative

[00:17:46] Structure that kind of makes sense And the other one is literally just a bunch Of dream sequences. Right, this sort of Cinderella story type thing That's crazy, yeah Yes, it's the dream Sequences in the middle of 9 to 5 go on

[00:18:00] Most as long as the fists fight and they live It's like a similar kind of like I can't believe this much of the movie Yeah. Is this one thing In the middle. We should mention And we will have covered these on our Patreon by now or maybe

[00:18:14] One of them is about to come out But Carpenter does two TV Movies in between Halloween and the fog He does somebody's watching me Which is his wife Adrienne Barbot's first film And then this becomes Her theatrical Film debut and then he does His epic Elvis

[00:18:36] Miniseries with Kurt Russell which is how he meets Kurt Russell. So like In between Halloween the fog he meets two of his Biggest collaborators of the next decade But also I think I have read interviews with him Where he has said that like Doing Elvis in particular was

[00:18:54] Him trying to Knowing that post Halloween this was an Opportunity to show people that he could do a Different thing So that he did not get sort of Turn into the horror guy Yeah. I love that because I didn't even think I

[00:19:10] Engaged with the fact that he directed Big Trouble in Little China Because it's not a horror film I feel like it's really interesting He is of course the master Of horror, right? Like that is A label he does not really escape Yeah. And you know

[00:19:26] He goes on to make films that are more Citerical or more sci-fi or what have You but I do Think it's interesting whereas like I'm curious Your perspective on this Mia because you've had somewhat Similar trajectories in your career But like there are a

[00:19:44] Lot of horror directors where You'll read interviews with them and they're Like yeah, I was like never really interested in Horror. I made A horror movie out of film school because no one wanted To make my dramas. It's like the one film

[00:19:56] Where you could sort of like the one genre Where you could get stuff green lit if you had a good Enough premise and you were willing to work cheap And then the thing was a hit and I got stuck in it

[00:20:04] Like I feel like Wes Craven is a guy who talks Like that. Oh wow You know there are a lot of these people who came out of Like Cormin or Cormin adjacent things And they're like horror was my way to get the foot In the door and then

[00:20:16] It hit and I Had a hard time convincing anyone To let me make anything other than horror Whereas I feel like Carpenter has always been very Forward about the fact that it's like no these are The movies he loved as a kid. Like these are the

[00:20:28] Movies that made him want to make movies He had interest in making other types Of things just for the sake of variety but he Didn't feel like he ended up In horror by accident Yeah that's interesting I mean I love to hear that because

[00:20:42] He doesn't seem like someone who ended up in horror By accident. Like when I look at his When anyone looks at his work you're like oh yeah Like you're someone who like loves doing this And that's why Wes Curbin said that Because I'm like oh that makes Scream

[00:20:54] Like I think about Scream in a completely different context But not completely different But I can see like that's really interesting Passionately breaking down The genre that he got quote unquote stuck And that's really fascinating But I mean I always loved horror films growing up

[00:21:08] Like I would purposefully try to Scare myself as much as possible as a kid Like at home by myself while it lights off Because I was a latchkey kid But I definitely I always wanted to do a horror film but I

[00:21:20] I never thought like oh I'm definitely going to do A horror movie first or second Or like I never really Yeah I never really I don't know I think just because it was Candyman And because it was Jordan that's why that was so exciting To me

[00:21:35] But there are a lot of I think horror is mostly pretty bad When I think about scripts I've read After you know I got Candyman So and I don't think I'm like My instinct is not Like in the way of Jordan Like thinks in horror I feel like

[00:21:49] You know he's like that's the even looking at key and Peel it's like they always ended in some weird Horror beat and you're like wait what And it's like well that's what his brain does And my brain doesn't really naturally do that

[00:21:59] Even though I really love horror like I'd have to Really sit down and like think okay how How would I like what would this horror story be Which is what I did with Candyman But that has a lot I don't know

[00:22:09] That's like a whole thing that existed already so But Little Woods is a movie Like you watch and you go oh this person could make a good Horror film like it's not a horror film You know but it has these thriller elements

[00:22:20] It has a build of tension you know There are elements even just in terms of like The location and the energy And the relationships and everything That feel like Oh in someone else's hands this could turn After the first act into some sort of monster horror movie

[00:22:36] You know? Yeah that's true I mean I really like Being scared and I like As a director being able to scare people Whether that's because like a monster pops out of the closet Or because people might not make it

[00:22:52] You know to the end of the probation or whatever So I guess that's true I guess I just like When I think about like Like I want to tell a story about like X, Y, Z I don't know if my brain would automatically go like

[00:23:03] And it's going to be horror But I think that my brain would definitely go How can I make this as tense as fucking possible John Carpenter goes He's you know this riff right I'm looking at our notes right now He goes to England What does England have? Fog

[00:23:20] Right he's at a film festival for I guess Assault On Precinct 13 it's pre-Halloween It's for Assault on Precinct 13 And he sees fog and he's like Oh what if there was fog Like what if the fog was the villain of the movie That was how It is Environmental yes

[00:23:42] They're very similar in that way I think where they'll latch on to a very Very basic kind of primal hook And Carpenter certainly has like a lot of ideas And ideologies he puts into his movies But I don't think he reverse-engineers them From that

[00:23:59] Like he does just look at something and go like Oh that would be scary for a whole movie And then I think in the process of writing it His feelings get put into it But yeah I mean there's this quote from him here Where he says like

[00:24:12] I have a great feeling for physical movies I don't like intellectual films I love suspense, I want the audience to laugh And cry an emotional response The medium is emotional not so much Like a book or a play really as like music

[00:24:24] Which makes sense when you consider that he's You know trained as a musician first and foremost And you know obviously composed almost all of his films And this is a movie that really feels like The score is maybe doing the heaviest lifting

[00:24:40] Of all of his movies that I've seen Yeah, I mean some of the things are Like somewhat baffling when I looked When I was watching it Like some of the pacing at the end Especially like the church sequence I was like what? I was like

[00:24:54] I feel like you done this better before And after John I honestly was so flummoxed That was his take away That was his opinion of this film basically He was like I mean first he makes it And he's like I've made a bomb

[00:25:10] This is not exciting enough and he went back And re-shot and he put in a little more gore And a little more action just to sort of Like spice it up What I read is that a third of the movie As it exists now was done in re-shoots

[00:25:22] Oh wow That they screened it, it was longer And he was like this completely doesn't work Debra Hill who's this producing partner co-writer At this point And had been Halloween and everything Was like the audience is going to be expecting gore That's what's like Debra gore right now

[00:25:42] Especially because you are a post-Halloween guy We have to put a little more gore in there And he also just thought The story was kind of like incoherent It wasn't tracking, the film was dull So like that entire I think opening

[00:25:57] A tax sequence not opening but in the first act The killing of the fisherman that's all new That's all new, the John Hausman opening is new He didn't have that as framework And he was like the audience cannot track what's going on

[00:26:11] I need an old man with a stopwatch to explain it at the beginning Also we never go back to him right Like we just, it's just like an episode of Are You Ever In The Dark Because it was re-shoots He wasn't supposed to be there

[00:26:24] He's the crib keeper Yes, exactly, it's Twilight Zoni It's such a funny thing where it was just like Oh this movie doesn't track Let me hire an Academy Award winner to come in And do like a five minute monologue

[00:26:35] And just kind of set the table for the movie And then never go back to it ever again But it also feels like, because like with Halloween 2 You know Carpenter sort of produces that And that movie comes out what a year after this

[00:26:48] And also comes in and adds in more gore Because he's like this thing He does seem to be a little afraid of the shadow of Halloween Where he's like, I've created this monster Now everyone's doing horror movies that are even more intense

[00:27:02] And I have to match it if I'm going to work in the genre And Cronenberg apparently was one that really startled them Like when Cronenberg movies start coming out there Like holy shit, like how is he getting away with this You know And so it's this, that, this

[00:27:18] The fog, Halloween 2 I feel like there's another thing I think It just feels like by the thing it's like he's like alright You know, okay I feel like now Now I am the king again Like you know I know what I'm doing He's like back away peasants

[00:27:33] Just let me do my work And you're like yes do it please I look I've seen the fog, I guess I'm the only one Ben had you seen the fog before? No Okay so I'm the only one who's seen the fog I love the fog, the fog rules

[00:27:45] But it is, I do love it But I love it for its sort of janky Dark ride kind of You know where the monsters almost are just these Little shambling, you know Nobodies that you barely see And it's a lot of chat

[00:27:59] And it's a lot of just like You know sort of What's up in this little town Like I like it as a sort of You know Airport paperback thing And I love the collars And I love the score obviously

[00:28:15] I just I love the whole mood of the fog But I do not find the fog particularly frightening And I assume Carpenter was worried about that I find it Unnerving, like I think it Builds up a very good Energy Like I don't know, I woke up early

[00:28:31] I couldn't sleep and I was like Fuck it, am I gonna watch the fog remake Like you know So many of Carpenter's films been Remade that I was like I didn't want to commit to the idea that I would have to do it for every episode

[00:28:43] But I was just like Fuck, let me just see Cause I also know that one's like despised No one likes that one, right Not just within the realm of Carpenter remakes But I feel like in the 2000s The surge of like remaking all the

[00:28:57] 70s and 80s horror movies Most of which were successful The fog was notoriously like one of the least successful And one of the least liked And I made it 30 minutes in Before it failed my Do I want to keep watching this or take a nap Test

[00:29:13] It's Tom Welling, right? It's Tom Welling and Maggie Grace and Selma Blair And Tom Welling essentially plays Ostensibly Yes Yes Selma Blair is playing Adrian Barbo Maggie Grace is playing Jamie Lee Curtis Tom Welling is playing Tom Atkins But the three characters are fundamentally not the same

[00:29:35] And most of the things are Changed in the movie The thing I noted The one thing of sort of Interesting comparison point before I shut off the movie And slept for 45 minutes Was that That movie's all CGI fog And CGI fog is not scary

[00:29:53] I feel like this is a problem That is Constantly Made mistake that's constantly Made in Hollywood where they do like scary clouds As a villain Green Lantern has it Very cloud Fantastic Four Rise of Silver Surfer turns Galactus into a cloud What a terrible depiction of Galactus

[00:30:15] I have a lot of feelings about Galactus I'm sure you are deep in your feelings about how to do Cosmic Marvel shit But that is like Cowardly unimaginative Boring fucking thing In the world Fantastic Beast, you mentioned that right? Yes, Fantastic Beast He's an evil cloud too

[00:30:35] I feel like Loki did like an Okay evil cloud In one episode but it also was like A minor threat in one episode Like that's the other thing Like they just treated like I've only seen three of them It's in the second to last right?

[00:30:51] The thing that was good about the cloud In Loki and I won't spoil too much Is just like the cloud is Supposed to be a lot of sound and fury Not signifying that much Like it's not the ultimate bad guy It's the rejection of the Wizard of Oz

[00:31:05] Like it's a sort of Right, it's to scare you off Not the actual thing you need to defeat Right Because smoke and fog can't hurt you This is just not effective Smoke can definitely hurt you Do not go around breathing in smoke Make me cough

[00:31:23] And move away from it Also the thing about the fog is like Fog it's like as we've all experienced Fog in our lives Fog is actually scary is when you're driving And trying not to crash in other people That's the only time fog is scary

[00:31:37] Fog is not scary It's not like the dark where you're like The dark can't hurt you but you can't see anything in the dark You really can't and the dark is everywhere Whereas fog is like oh I'm in San Francisco How pretty So that makes it trickier

[00:31:51] I love the idea there are things in the fog Like the mist and blah blah blah Honestly I love that they're lepros Sailing sailors But But like It is tricky because then For me the most successful part of the movie Was actually the woman in the lighthouse

[00:32:09] I love that the fact that she could see the fog Coming in and say it's here it's here And then you see everyone dealing with that I really like that bit of the movie Exactly I completely agree I think that is if you're going to

[00:32:21] The success of the fog Of any slow villain in a horror movie Is the weird dread of Like I know it's coming I can see it coming There's not much I can do about it And I'm realizing I'm doomed Like the weird reverse Of that

[00:32:39] This is the thing I was going to say about the CGI fog Is that like When I'm watching some fucking movie Where there's just CGI mist At 2005 standard So like particle physics are not as good In low budget CGI as they are now

[00:32:53] It's not scary when I'm like Well you're controlling that You're trying to make the fog look scary You're giving the fog an intentionality You're having it move in a set pattern There's something Like maybe not scary But a little bit eerie about the way The carpenter shoots Fog

[00:33:13] Where like it's so slow Pouring out There's a randomness to its like Disappation You know obviously the way he's lighting it Like it does give it that kind of like Eerie like oh what is this stuff Kind of thing But he also just slows the fuck Down

[00:33:33] And a lot of it is like his score Sort of feeling like the musical Embodiment of this slow Weird creeping persistent Thing But I think I mean There was this quote here where in our notes The idea of the fog

[00:33:49] Provides a framework in which I've always wanted to work There are opportunities to do certain cinematic things With ghosts that can only be done in movies You don't really see the ghost in the fog As much as you think you do

[00:33:59] The fog moves around, it glows, it comes through windowpane I think that audiences are going to have fun with that I think that's like his whole Idea in this Is that like oh you can have the camera Kind of function like the fog

[00:34:11] Right? You can sort of do the it follows Thing where a camera slowly creeping In suddenly has a different Power to it But you can also like be looking constantly At the corners of the frame Saying like oh fuck is fog coming in here

[00:34:25] Like it's just setting up this sort of Looming threat of this Thing that can slowly kind of Seep in Right, but you know like ghosts Are like ooo You know like they make a noise Oh you need noise I felt like the fog should have had a voice

[00:34:43] Like I'm the fog here I come The fog here I am It needed sound You know like I feel like It would have really maybe Like made more tension Ben let's just acknowledge the amount of smoke And vapors you have deliberately inhaled In your life have probably

[00:35:01] Killed any possibility of you Ever finding fog scary Oh absolutely if anything I'm like let me puff on that You are the fog It is the fog I think what we're talking about Like it's a good It's a reversal again He's not going to do a movie where

[00:35:23] Someone's gonna jump through the window At you like you can't really do jumps with fog You can't Make Halloween again so he's in a Horror space but he's in like the opposite kind of Horror space and a lot of this movie Is daytime

[00:35:37] A lot of this movie is daytime that's the thing I like about it A lot I feel like he's experimenting With some different types I mean This movie maybe less than you David but I like it I find that you know

[00:35:47] Very interesting watching it in the prism of watching All of his movies now and seeing like The way he's evolving and this so much as A reaction to Halloween But yes I think he's experimenting with different Sort of vernacular of horror movies After making this movie that everyone

[00:36:03] Is now ripping off and will continue To rip off for decades He's immediately trying to like change the script And go like can you be scary in this setting Can you do this I mean even the scenes that take Place at night the fog Is bright

[00:36:17] Like when the fog enters a room it gets Lighter which is the opposite of how Most of these films Work I also think like you have Michael Myers who immediately becomes So iconic right Is like Arguably I mean maybe ARP is gonna

[00:36:37] Tear me a new one and correct me in our Halloween episode which we haven't recorded yet But like That sort of feels like the first Like slasher villain Of that level who really becomes Like a star in that kind Of sense and certainly has

[00:36:53] That visual power and in this Movie it's like Blake is just kind Of whispered about most of the movie You barely see any physicalization Of them it's only at the end And then like I knew that Like this company I like had made an action

[00:37:07] Figure of captain Blake and so I kept on Waiting for the whole movie to see him Because I knew what this fucking action figure Looked like and then I was like what did they Base this fucking toy off of He's a silhouette with red eyes

[00:37:19] Like you never get to see fine detail On this guy I don't know what The costume looked like on set But he'd like pointedly never Is the toy very clear? I'll post the photo the toy is Hyper clear like yeah And it's very pirate to the Caribbean

[00:37:35] It's a zombie It's a zombie guy with A sword and he's You know belts and he looks like a Zombie pirate. Yeah when that saber Came out I was like Wait I was also excited I was like I didn't because they're not actually

[00:37:51] Pirates they're just like some dudes right They are not pirates They are like a clipper Ship or whatever it's not it's yeah They're not pirates it's just They're merchants or whatever but the They're very address they all look like pirates to me

[00:38:05] Do you just not vibe with pirates Nia like the pirates are just Like inherently goofy No I actually I really want to make a TV show about pirates Really? I love pirates I think pirates are the best Pirates are cool Pirates are awesome I mean

[00:38:21] They're cool and also they're very interesting Intellectually but I won't get into that But they're just fucking cool So we're like Privateers like they're just very interesting to me And I was just like I feel like the story of The ghost wasn't

[00:38:37] Like they had no real connection to anyone The town except for the priest who we only saw in the beginning And then I guess in the middle for a second Like I want it there to be more like Stakes for Like anyone Besides just like death

[00:38:51] Yeah because I think that like this is one of those Movies with a novelization where the Novelization is like you know They're all the victims are related To people who originally Did this terrible thing And the movie is kind of leaving that

[00:39:05] To you mostly it's kind of like You figured it out right like come on the town The people did it yeah They're supposed to be the six That's why he keeps on saying it's six They're supposed to be the six living descendants Of the people who perpetrated

[00:39:19] The crime against them Right The movie could probably benefit from Stating that at some point Yeah you know whatever Did they say that in the movie? I mean I know they said six will die They never say it's implication Yeah but it's pretty vague implication At that

[00:39:39] But yes Yes this is a film Right the ostensible lead is Adrienne Barbo She's mostly in the lighthouse Sort of running Point watching everything happen But then you've got Tom Atkins and Jamie Lee Curtis Kind of on the ground Moving from location to location

[00:39:57] I love those two they were great They're great I love Tom Atkins who is in lots of He's in escape from New York He's in Halloween 3 I love that guy he's such a guy Yeah like a horror movie Legend yeah I feel like he's

[00:40:13] A king of conventions guy This is his kickoff Yes this is a kickoff But then he does like Night of the Creeps And you know he just becomes one of those guys He's like a superstar in this corner Of the industry

[00:40:27] That's what I love about because he's just such a Regular ass dude He's kinda like bulky and he's got a Stash a lot of the time He looks like such a regular guy Yeah he's great I love that it's like they have that conversation

[00:40:43] In the car and she's like you're not weird are you And he's like yeah I'm weird And then I feel like I looked away for a second I look back and she's just like naked And she's like this is great I was like I like that so much

[00:40:55] She's a weird chaser She's literally looking for some strange At any given moment and she pounces on him I love that right In 1980 where it's like you know most people As we know are normal But we don't like that Right I do like narrative How kind of

[00:41:15] Narratively how spread out it is Like I feel like so many horror movies Are like a crew that's getting Picked off one by one And this is sort of the splintered narrative Where you have like Akins and Curtis You have Barbo in the lighthouse

[00:41:29] You have Holbrook trying to like Solve stuff you know there are your Three main points of Barbo's son As well like It's about them slowly coming together To face this thing rather than starting With one group and winnowing it down Which I think is an interesting

[00:41:45] Way to do it because it also like Feel like a lot of horror movies like this Not even horror movies Like this horror movies in general You'll have your like main cast And then you'll cut away to like some Set piece with some character

[00:41:59] You're only being introduced to at that moment To get killed off You know or The first character killed off Or you have to come up with some crazy reason For them to split up Right and then the first character killed off In the group it's like

[00:42:15] You haven't gotten to know that well It's kind of nice That this you get a sense of how Like pervasive this is across the town Because everyone split off But also everyone's surviving Other than that one group of boat guys You know and then the babysitter

[00:42:31] Later it's like The babysitter gets it back That was so funny I was like oh my god she literally just got Pulled into the fog like Like she was like oh and the way it happened She was like turning around very slowly Like oh and then she just

[00:42:47] Disappears wobbly little boy closes the door I was like It's also funny after Carpenter makes Like the definitive babysitter Horror movie that he is like I want to make it clear it's not just about young women I'll kill old babysitters too You got a nice old lady babysitter

[00:43:03] She better stay away from that fog I'm not passing judgment on high schoolers You can get the Elderly next door neighbor I'm still gonna fucking kill her Yeah yeah It's so funny I was like oh lord Oh man I actually really like that part

[00:43:19] And I really love the woman in the lighthouse And I thought she was Like gonna sacrifice herself or something So that she keep reporting on the fog Which is ridiculous but I was like oh my god she's just gonna stay here

[00:43:31] And let everyone know where the fog is gonna come in So she can save as many people as possible Why do I think that? I don't know Lighthouses Oh well I do want We should talk at length about Living and working in a lighthouse

[00:43:45] Cause it seems really cool But the part of the movie where she's just Yelling save my son I had this thought what if you just picked up that radio station The town over and you're like What is that? It's just fog guys It's a big deal

[00:44:01] Lady get it Get a break But this lighthouse Still exists you can go visit it It's up in Marin County California up in the bay area And it's very Lighthouses are cool do we all agree That it might Everyone fantasizes about

[00:44:23] The sort of weird solitary existence out there Well not after I saw that Who's that one with the black and white thing With the mermaid The Robert Eggers movie With the vagina With the vagina is a good way to put I guess it was more of a cloaca

[00:44:41] There's a lot of openings So that ruined lighthouses for me Ben bought a lighthouse after seeing that movie He's like mermaids with vaginas Don't make me a white lighthouse Barton with my friend Yeah I gotta do this A new development is that

[00:44:59] On a recent episode Ben just casually referred To him as Bob Bob Pattinson He didn't even say Pattinson He just said first name basis Bob There's a lot of Lighthouse movies I guess Cause they're like come on right there aren't there other

[00:45:15] Lighthouses but there's the light between oceans Very scary A deeply terrifying film Oh there's lights There's that one about the tooth fairy Oh darkness falls Yes Darkness falls and ends with her smashing over the lighthouse Light right? And she says I see you bitch

[00:45:35] I'm like smashing over the thing And I remember being like can we stop having Something something bitch be like the big ending Of a horror movie before you defeat the whoever I'm like this is so 2006 Obsessed with calling monsters bitches yes They also he should have

[00:45:51] Freddie drove that into the ground There were no bitches left in horror after Freddie Was done with his original kind of movies But also I feel like In a scary movie you should end with some fucking Tooth pun don't just call her a bitch

[00:46:03] Say like here's the ugly tooth Exactly Is that what they have to say Here's the ugly tooth Yeah they should maybe say here's the ugly tooth You can't handle the tooth You can't handle the tooth There's Shudder Island That has a good lighthouse Annihilation had a good lighthouse

[00:46:23] Oh for sure Season 2 of Dolly and M On HBO It's not season 2 of Dolly and M Is there a lighthouse in it? What happens in season 2 They go to a lighthouse to write Their TV series or something I can't remember what they're doing

[00:46:43] But they go to a lighthouse to do that It does actually sound scary Yeah I couldn't do it I mean lighthouses are too small Also they're very bright I assume everything all the time I guess so It goes around in a circle so it's only a little bit

[00:46:59] Ben you're on the inside Yeah it's everywhere you go Yeah but you still shine See it's everywhere around you Exactly I do feel like A lot of lighthouse movies I guess the Isolation of it and then Also sort of the fear of You're at the most

[00:47:21] Extreme vantage point You're at an elevated height You have this light shining You can see the threat before anyone else I like that in this It's like her chill ass Radio studio That it's like this very kind of cool vibe She's also really good in this

[00:47:39] Yeah she's great One of those things where you're like Oh he like marries the actress From his TV movie and makes her the lead Of his next movie This is her first film What's this performance gonna be Like a man as A broadcaster

[00:47:57] You know like you actually buy this as a compelling Radio show which I feel like is where A lot of movies fail is when you ask A performer to be a different type of performer And you don't believe that they actually Could hold that position

[00:48:09] Like in the remake, Summer Blair plays this Like Sarah Canig from Serial Ten years before Podcasts are a thing Her radio broadcaster like hey everybody I'm doing well out there I'm gonna play another tune for you And you're like no one would listen to this

[00:48:27] And Adrian Barboa I'm like this is like She's like a learning this is like a good vibe She's confident I do want to point out she had been Maude's daughter for six years on Maude She was a solid She was a well known figure

[00:48:41] She wasn't a total nobody But even still I feel like Sycomps were Yes and we're Real career silo at that point People didn't come out of Sycomps To do movies and certainly to do movies In a different genre I think they were Sort of judged harshly

[00:48:59] I mean she's certainly like not the Worst performance in the movie there were A couple that I was like what is happening Right now it was very confusing I was a bit alarmed Well you do have Janet Lee Obviously You know Psycho Royalty The

[00:49:19] The matriarch of the town kind of I guess like what you know that she's The mayor's wife right She keeps calling her assistant stupid To her face What the fuck is up with that So rude You got Holbrook Very much loving everything Holbrook

[00:49:37] Is giving me as the priest He's just sort of Instant gravitas for me But yeah everyone else What we call that gravitas Oh wow Coming to Hal Holbrook Coming for grandpa Hal I know I know Listen I just feel So moving

[00:49:59] You know what it is too I think like For whatever reason I don't know if all his stuff is Re-should stuff but like the staging And blocking of all of his scenes were So awkward especially in the beginning It was like when the stone comes out of

[00:50:11] The masonry to reveal Grandfather's like book whatever Or box with the book in it It was like his face close A rock The wall and I was like wait What is this And I was like oh my god I feel like a studio

[00:50:27] Note coming into my brain like a really stupid one And I just felt like so disoriented Cause you know what it's gonna be like I don't understand Can you do a wide you know but I kind of was like I don't get what's happening

[00:50:37] Like I felt slightly belligerent watching this movie It feels like there is A little more precision to the stuff That I either know he Re-shot or assume Was part of the re-shoots Like even Even the opening Houseman sequence has A little more visual precision to it then

[00:50:57] That opening whole work sequence I agree Is a little bit You mean that smash zoom? Yeah it's a little confused. I came out of nowhere Yeah I was like whoosh I'm gonna cut in the zoom Oh man it was actually My favorite shot in the entire movie

[00:51:15] I wonder if it was like A lack of Shoot days thing Or just him trying To experiment with other stuff that didn't Work and then I mean obviously as he said When they screened it he thought it was really bad Like it was fully terrible

[00:51:31] And he shot new stuff To try to salvage it And I think it wasn't just Story stuff or gore But also to try to put some Style into the movie Ostensibly Jamie Lee Curtis Of course like everyone always talks about How trading places

[00:51:51] Was such a career reinvention for her That it was like such a seismic Change for her to go from Horror to comedy and like in a modern Error you don't think about that being As much of a hill to climb Being that stuck

[00:52:05] In one genre but I didn't Realize the extent to which Her career is like TV appearances Halloween's her first movie Then her second movie is The Fog Then she does prom night And terror train within the same year She has three horror movies in 1980 Then she does

[00:52:25] Road games another horror film 1981 In the same year as Halloween 2 Right exactly and then Her next movie is trading places Truly like I guess she's the first And the greatest Scream queen to like actually jump Ship whereas like All the other sort of class

[00:52:45] So many other classic scream queens are That's what they are like Heather Langenkamp or whatever you know Like you're always going to be going to Like vangoria conventions And stuff like that. Like it's a great You know there's cool status To it but that's what you are

[00:53:01] Meanwhile Jamie Lee Curtis married a lord She did. She married a lord And a great comedian All in one Yeah, yeah I just like I love everything going on for her I just feel like it's great Have you seen any lords Where you're at? Great question bed

[00:53:21] Great question We should mention right now Because David probably Doesn't know this that you are currently in England Wait what? Oh wow I do know that Oh where you're from Yes thank you People talk about it all the time here David They're like when are you coming back

[00:53:45] When's David coming back They miss him, that's right They're like our prince had a child When is the prince bringing his child To be christened at St. Paul's Cathedral Right every new English citizen has to swear Allegiance to the queen of course

[00:54:01] I have to bring the s*** to kiss the queen Now you're going to have to bleep out her name Bleep her name out Untitled Marvel Studios 2021 Whatever her name is 4cat 4cat They have your place in the house of lord It's waiting for you David

[00:54:21] I am no lord I do not have a peerage waiting me In England but maybe one day I'll be podcasting maybe I'll get A lord ship guest They do give OBEs for that If you've ever seen Christopher Guest In Girl Friends or one of those

[00:54:37] 70's movies he was hot He was cutie I thought you meant Girl Friends Not the UPN sitcom No no 70's indie movie Nia you don't remember that Christopher Guest did two seasons in the main cast Of UPN's Girl Friends Jaycee Ellis Ross Golden Brooks Christopher Guest

[00:55:01] Girl Friends had some really good Guest people Kelsey Grammer obviously he produced The show he was in it Kelsey Grammer produced Girl Friends He was one of the greatest Of Girl Friends Kelsey Grammer Mogul you know he was kind of in Mogul Mode the other final seasons of

[00:55:21] Frasier I'm obsessed with Kelsey Get Kelsey Grammer in a movie I watched all of Frasier this year and he's now I feel like you know his personal life is distressing I can't be around that chaos He's got a lot going on But he's so phenomenal

[00:55:37] As an actor it's absolutely insane Like watching Frasier you're like oh this is like I mean the entire cast is amazing but He is so fucking good Down periscope I mean Sorry okay It's wild watching Cheers Where his character is supposed to be Like an antagonist

[00:55:55] Right like he's supposed to be like The fucking asshole who steals The love interest and then He is so funny on that That they're like we're gonna keep you Around and make you this guy's friend That like He then right Diane leaves the show and his character

[00:56:13] Is sad sack who goes to the bar With the guy who Stole his fiance Even though she eventually left him too And then it just becomes about his own Failing marriage He's so good It's a B.B. Neworth which is an amazing It's all so good

[00:56:33] This might be my hottest take ever B.B. Neworth might be the best Performance across the run of Cheers Oh you know what I can talk with that I mean I think You can make the argument just cause she's so good

[00:56:47] But it's kind of one of those things where it's like There's probably four or five names you could say Yes And no one would really be able to fight you I just think she It's kind of the most impressive Character work and she never misses

[00:57:01] Like coach is my favorite character But I think Oh coach I think she might be the best performance Lilith The Jamie Luchurst thing I just in My mind I feel like as a kid When I would fucking read things about Like movie history, watch documentaries or whatever

[00:57:19] I wouldn't understand the way that people would talk About like Perception in that way Of like can you believe Jamie Luchurst Overcame becoming a screen queen And I'd be like why would like An actor being in one type of movie prevent them

[00:57:33] From being believable in a different type Of movie I think the industry Has sort of moved past that to a certain Degree now To some degree but like You really look at the 70s and 80s and even the 90s And it really was like

[00:57:47] If you're a sitcom star, you're a sitcom star You're a TV actor, you're a horror person Like all this sort of shit She just went so hard on horror for like three years There and most of them were Very successful

[00:57:59] That I guess it really did feel like she was making Her bed with that one Genre and then Trading places felt like kind of like Revelatory but she is Interesting in that like as opposed To some other people She never sort of like cast Aspersions on horror

[00:58:17] She never kind of like looked back on it With this guy, right she does Halloween again 20 years later and then 20 years after that But she'll also do shit like screen queens And she did that documentary What's it called Terror in the Isles I don't know that what

[00:58:31] Yes it's like it was a big hit In the, well not a big Medium sized hit in the 80s That's like a documentary about horror movies But it was like sort of Like the that's entertainment of horror At the time, right?

[00:58:45] Like it was sort of a compilation of the Scariest scenes in movies that became like A commercial success But that's right, that's 84 That's the year after trading places She's sort of wore her crown as a screen queen While also saying like I'm gonna do Other things as well

[00:59:01] Which is kind of an impressive balance to pull off Of course her mom is Janet Lee In case people don't know that I always forget that even though she's literally Since this movie We don't have any screen queens now though Like I know Nef Campbell

[00:59:15] They were trying to make into a screen queen But I was like that doesn't count Nef Campbell is probably the closest Like that's the thing But who jumps from like Franchise, like there's no one Right? I mean because now it's like You remake A Nightmare on Elm Street

[00:59:31] You bring in Rooney Mara You bring in just like a sort of very talented young actor For a role like that And then they sort of can't get out of Horror fast enough Right, yeah it's kind of like okay fine I did my horror movie

[00:59:45] I don't know, I'm sure there are examples Also there's not enough original horror You can't just go from like Franchise to Franchise and horror That's a good point Because everything we're re-making used to be original I mean Emma Roberts has done a lot Oh sure, yeah

[00:59:59] Vera Farmiga has done a lot of horror I guess And Patrick Wilson Well we love that We, you know I mean That's more like it's like Well this is where I can make a smaller Scale movie that's not like A studio breathing down my neck

[01:00:19] And if you're Ethan Hawke I can cut a deal where I actually get a lot of money If the movie hits But also those people you just listed Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson in particular Feel like they're occupying more of the The present space Where it's just like

[01:00:35] Rather than being like the young star Who cuts their teeth and horror Right, you're bringing pedigree to it I feel like there are people on the indie level Who have kind of screen Queen status like that that I don't Know That's the thing, there's names in the more

[01:00:51] Like, you know, streaming What's her name from the guest And it follows Micah Monroe Yeah, she's Yeah, she's done her horrors There have to be people Who have done like five glass eye pics Movies that I don't realize within A niche community are like

[01:01:11] Viewed as legends, you know Yeah, yeah They're on a lot of shutter originals maybe Right It's hard to imagine someone having The Jamie Lee Curtis arc though It's hard to imagine someone Like 100% Is that much based around them Be that big of a hit and then

[01:01:31] Go make like four more horror movies That are sold on them Right At least largely or partially, you know But also the thing is with Jamie Lee Curtis Is like when Halloween comes out It's like holy shit, you know Why aren't we making five of these a year

[01:01:47] And so then everyone starts to make them so quickly Because it's like we gotta get on this train It's the hottest thing And so she absolutely Suddenly rolls where it's like Yeah, come do prom night It was almost like Liam Neeson post taken

[01:02:01] Where they were like we're writing a bunch of these scripts Do you want to do all of them? Do you want to do at least a few, right? Can we just take a short Liam Neeson detail Please, anytime, anytime Always allowed on this show I just feel like

[01:02:15] He had such an interesting career And I felt similarly about Tom Cruise It's like they both hit us at an age and they were like I will only do action films now I will only be like insanely proficient At running Fighting Like spy craft

[01:02:31] And I just don't, I mean Liam does more like survivalist ones But I'm just like what Is that switch Griffin please answer Yeah I have my answers I have my theories David you can Correct me if you disagree on this War of the world breaks Tom Cruise

[01:02:47] Right and the press Hella Balu around war of the world And the films thing, the couch jumping whatever Weirdly That movie is his last Like not his last class will hit But like his last class will hit before there's a dry period He goes into the weeds

[01:03:03] And does like Valkyrie And Lions for Lambs and is trying to do His sort of like Tony or Cruise stuff And then when he comes back To Mission Impossible it's like Fuck this is like the only stuff that works for me anymore I need to just like

[01:03:17] Stay here and he has three directors He works with right He works with Christopher McCurry He works with Joseph Kaczynski and he works with Doug Lyman He works with those three people Those are the three guys he has rapport with

[01:03:29] Whereas before he used to totally be a director driven Filmmaker like he would seek out directors And then go like what do you want to make I'll give you my star presence I'll add that to it I'll give you the support

[01:03:41] He also breaks up with his producing partner And I think it's just a Means of survival of like What do you think he's like I'm not even as a movie star What are the things I do well What are the genres that are succeeding

[01:03:55] I'm no longer capable of pushing a drama to A hundred million dollars Like he knows he couldn't make Jury Maguire And have it be that level of hit today And he doesn't want to make a movie That only makes twenty million dollars What a shame though isn't it

[01:04:09] It's a shame and I feel like Yeah, damn I don't know maybe I'm wrong Yeah, he's just been away for years From him being like I can't run anymore I resign I become elder statesman I relinquish the title of Tom Cruise

[01:04:25] And I go back to being an actor Right, he could finally tip his toe in that again I think it's also He just knows that he can't be accepted As a regular human being anymore Which is true I think that's why he makes action movies Only now

[01:04:41] He's not plausible as a regular human being homes thing. Sure. People just don't buy it. And the closest he tried was Rock of Ages and no one liked that. Doesn't work, right? Like that's the, right. I don't like that movie. Right, I mean like you can,

[01:04:55] I mean people stick up for his performance in a row but like you know it doesn't go over and I think he's like fine, let's just action, okay. I enjoy night and day, is that crazy? I don't know. No, night and day has its fans. Yeah, it's fine.

[01:05:07] I'm gonna kill myself and then her, I mean come on. But that's like, that was him trying to own, because there was that whole period then where he was like I'm gonna do comedy. Like I wanna show that I have a sense of humor about myself

[01:05:18] because everyone thinks I'm so extreme. And there are all those stories about him like meeting with Judd Apatow and Seth Rogen, setting comedies up with Ben Stiller and then the only two things that come out, that was announced. They were gonna do a Hardy Men movie

[01:05:31] that was Ben Stiller and Tom Cruise as the adult Hardy boys. Yeah. Oh, wow. And that was gonna be like a big fucking action comedy. But then the only two things that come out of that are Tropic Thunder, obviously. Excellent. And Night and Day is like him trying

[01:05:49] to do a funny Tom Cruise movie. And I think like Tropic Thunder worked but he's obviously doing such a like heightened disguised character thing in that. And then Night and Day he's trying to be funny within his Tom Cruise persona and it didn't do well.

[01:06:05] I think he was like, okay, it's not people aren't buying me being charming guy anymore. But Liam Neeson, Liam Neeson, I feel like that, well, I don't know. I mean, I guess it's obviously it's like those roles are always there for him. Now, post-taker.

[01:06:22] I have my answer, David. I have my thought. Okay, go ahead. Natasha Richardson dies. Well, yeah, I know that. But that's so not to diminish how horrible that was. And he talked about that post-taker where it's like, right, I just wanna do these movies

[01:06:38] where it's like very simple and I know what's expected of me. But it has now been many years and he has occasionally dipped his toe. Like he did the Mark Felt movie. He has that great scene in Buster Scruggs.

[01:06:53] Like he did Widows which is sort of like a kind of like a high-end version of a Liam Neeson action movie. Silence, silence, he's fucking incredible. Silence, it's a great performance. Obviously he's only at the end like so he's got snow crime movies like Holber suit.

[01:07:09] No, but that's the other shit. And he's obviously, he did that movie, Griff called what's it called, Made in Italy? That's like a... Yes, him and Leslie Manville. It's like about a guy whose wife died. Like there's a... No, no, the one with Leslie Manville

[01:07:27] is called, fuck that, Ordinary Love. That's a cancer drama, right? That's the one that, what's his name? Brian Darcy directed, right? No, no. He did Made in Italy. He did Made in Italy. James Darcy is your favorite. James Darcy directed Made in Italy

[01:07:43] which is him and his son. Yes, and that's like getting over the loss of your wife movie that's clearly about Natasha Richardson. You know, like... And so like he is dipping his toe back into it a little bit. And I can see a world where I thought

[01:08:00] this might happen with Silence but I think that movie was a little too alienating for Oscar voters. But like right where he has some kind of commanding serious performance and gets his Oscar. I really thought that was gonna happen with Silence, yeah. And even like seeing that movie.

[01:08:14] Now he did mess it up a little bit by doing a press tour where he couldn't stop talking about how he wanted to beat up a black guy. Not the best press tour of all time, I will say. Yeah, that was pretty bad, yeah.

[01:08:25] Right, so I do feel like post that everyone is sort of like, you know what? Why doesn't Liam just make movies where right, he's a snow plow driver and he has to get revenge or he's a grave digger and he has to get to right.

[01:08:38] Like where it's just... It did feel like people were like, we don't want you to not work but we want you to not try to get Oscars from us right now because we just need time. Like you don't stand a year.

[01:08:46] Why don't you go chill for a second? So, right. We don't wanna have to deal with you. But it's also, the timeline is like he shoots taken like two years before it comes out in the States because it comes out everywhere else in the world a year earlier.

[01:09:02] Like it was like a leftover movie released Super Bowl weekend that had already played everywhere else in the world that Fox had delayed like for over a year. And then that movie comes out is this fucking like colossal hit out of nowhere.

[01:09:16] And then truly I think it's a month or two later Natasha Richardson dies. Like those two events are so close together that this film that he had made two years earlier suddenly becomes like an American blockbuster. Then his wife dies and he said as much in interviews

[01:09:32] where he was just like, I just started working like I didn't wanna be alone with my thoughts. You know? How dare you do his voice when he's talking about his dead wife? I have to do a movie. I need to work.

[01:09:45] But he just, I think took every fucking script that was offered to him, you know? And it was a combination of him doing like all of these Euro thrillers the best of which are the Jamie Colette Sarah ones and also doing like shit like Clash of the Titans

[01:09:59] and what's the other one I'm thinking of? Like things where it's like this is a team where it's like can you give us some prestige in our big action movie? Yeah. Anyway, I love Liam Neeson in this movie. He's great in this movie.

[01:10:17] In conclusion, I think Liam Neeson started not doing serious movies because he didn't wanna deal with his emotions and everyone was offering him all these silly action movies and then he got addicted to being paid that much money to do those movies. I mean, which...

[01:10:31] He must be so rich. He must be so fucking rich. And then when he's, you know, widows, he's so good at widows. But he'd be good in the fog. He'd be good in the fog. He'd be a great Captain Blake in a movie

[01:10:43] that was all about Captain Blake. That's how I want Captain Blake to sound. Also, I just always mention this. Anytime Liam Neeson comes up a conversation Liam Neeson, I believe, is the exact same age as my father. So anytime I watch a Liam Neeson action movie,

[01:10:57] I imagine my father doing the same thing. How old is your dad? And how old are they? Let's see. Liam Neeson is now 69 years old. Yeah. Yeah. Nice. Shut the fuck up. Yeah. My dad and Liam Neeson, both the naughtiest age. That is crazy. That's the thing.

[01:11:20] Like, my dad should not be in action movies. I know that fundamentally. And then I watch Liam Neeson and I'm like, yeah, this guy's good. He's good. Have you ever met, have you ever seen him in person? He is so tall.

[01:11:31] He's, it's, David, it's beyond him being tall. He's just one of the biggest people in the world. He looks like a tree. Like, not like a station. He looks like an ant or whatever. You kind of... Oh, he's like a human Groot. He's like... Yeah, yeah.

[01:11:45] His hands are the size of my entire chest. That's crazy. Can I just pick you up like this? Yeah. Yes. Yes. He could, with one hand. Nia, Nia, you're miming two hands. He could do it with one hand. He could just go like this.

[01:11:58] Like I was a fucking bottle of soda. This concern is grabbing you by the crotch and pulling you. No, no, like this. Like this. Like this. Yeah. Like an ice cream cone. Yes. So wait, David, can I ask you a question about the fog? Of course.

[01:12:14] What, what's your favorite part? What my favorite part of the fog is... Yeah. Hmm. It's probably the, well, I mean, you're going to laugh at me. It's probably the end. I love the glowing cross. I love the weird build of them. You finally see them.

[01:12:32] See like, I also love the keep, which has a similar vibe to the fog. I was going to say. Going red eye enemy, you know, weird Sydney score. Have you seen the keep near? I love glowing red eyes. I've never seen the keep. The keep is...

[01:12:44] The keep is a more messy movie than this movie, obviously. Right. But the keep and fog both have that vibe that I just find very intoxicating. Yes. So I like all this. My favorite individual sequence that just, I think about all the time is the sign starting

[01:13:03] to leak water and bursting into flame and stuff just because it doesn't make any damn sense. And that kind of, and it happens in the daylight. And it kind of makes it all the creepier because it's like, what are the rules of this?

[01:13:20] The sign can change shape and like... I found a piece of gold and then it turned into a sign and then the sign started dripping and then it got dry again. Yeah. It's super cool. The fog, I just, you know, it's just good vibes from the fog.

[01:13:38] It's just good noises, good sounds, good colors. Good vibes. That's all I really need. Much more than I need to be like truly scared of my wits. What, what then? You reminded me because like speaking of the rules of this, like another thing that came

[01:13:52] to mind is the dead body getting up and walking and then trying to stab Jamie Lee Curtis. And then he carves three. How does that work? Carves a three. Well, he's got to tell him there's three to go. I missed that. Yeah. Three. Okay.

[01:14:09] Three down, three to go. Wow. He's keeping count. He's the official Talay guy. A couple of things I want to point out. Tom Atkins character in this movie is named Nick Castle. Nick Castle is one of Carpenter's big, big collaborators going back to Dark Star but plays

[01:14:26] is credited as playing the shape in Halloween. Michael Myers. He's Michael Myers. He plays Michael Myers. But he goes on to do a lot of things including he's one of these jack of all trades who's done like kind of everything in the industry.

[01:14:42] But he directs Last Star Fighter, my favorite, but also co-writes Escape from New York or he gets some credit on that. Yes, he co writes that. Anyway, this also Blake for the little time he is visible on screen is played by Rob Boteen who is another legend.

[01:15:08] A makeup legend works with... He did all the Verhoeven movies, right? He did Robocop and Total Recall and all that, right? Yes. He becomes Rick Baker's apprentice and lives with him and works on King Kong and Star Wars with Boteen.

[01:15:27] And then this really gets him started and then the Howling the next year like makes him a name guy, but Rob Boteen, yes. Like one of the best practical special effect guys ever. Tommy Wallace is in it too which is who that's the guy who made Halloween three.

[01:15:43] He just lays late, call it laziness or just call it him being cute or whatever. He just calls characters after his friends who he just made movies with. I have a friend whose name I'm going to put in every movie. Really?

[01:16:00] Have you put them in every film so far? Yes, her name is Jane G. Wow. Well, no. So she missed out on Little Woods, but I have an officer minnaraff as one of my friends, but Jane G is going to be in every...

[01:16:12] She's a Candyman, one line role by a comedian named Tien Tran who's fucking hilarious. So yeah, she's your little button for people to notice or whatever. Yeah, she's my little boop. Is this an exclusive scoop that Jane G will appear in the Marvels? Yes it is. Wow, huge.

[01:16:33] Wow, a huge new MCU character. Huge new MCU character. The hierarchy of power is about to change in the MCU. Thanos Galactus, Jane G. I said Jane G, Trump's the mole. One name makes them shake in terror. I'm trying to...

[01:16:51] There's nothing else really in the notes that are... Did you like the shots of just Fogg rolling in? David? Did you have a favorite shot of Fogg? I love Fogg. I love Fogg. Listen, that Fogg was quite thick. For what? I'm from England. I'm from Foggy, London town.

[01:17:12] Boy. Yes. You know, there's nothing... I like the rain. I like the atmosphere of Fogg. Maybe that's why I love this movie so much. You like dampness? You like things wet is what you're trying to say? Are you a damp dude, David? Damn. Yeah, I'm a damp dude.

[01:17:30] Dude, 2021. Help, help. Okay. I got to say, I really like the energy that Carpenter's bringing out in Ben. We've only recorded a couple of these so far, but I really feel like Ben's... He's empowered. He's empowered. Oh, man. No, it feels good. I was thinking the same thing.

[01:17:52] I was like, Ben is like, I'm here. He's like, hello. To be fair, as we mentioned off, on Nia's last episode, Ben was a volleyball. Ben wasn't swinging in as much. By a volleyball. Right. So this is a pretty stark contrast, but also I'll say this.

[01:18:11] I saw someone on the Reddit or something say like, oh, I missed the presence of Ben now that Ben isn't always on the show. Ben is on the record, I would say 95% of the time. Almost always. Very rarely.

[01:18:24] But the thing about Ben is very often we'll finish a record and he'll go, that was going well. The guest was so good. I didn't feel like I needed to butt in. I didn't say anything. Like he's just sitting there silently.

[01:18:35] Well, so what are you trying to say, Ben? Okay. Well, hey, that was great. Now you're in trouble, Ben. And well, I am in a lot of trouble, but I'm going to try and talk myself out of it and say it's also because we'll have two guests on.

[01:18:48] It's just like a lot of voices in the room or Zoom. You know, it's just like you want to like, you don't want to interrupt the dance that you're seeing. Well, of course, but it's also like sometimes you're not that taken with the movie.

[01:19:00] That's what I was going to say. You're not that pumped up about it. Right. Like well, we'll finish recording and Ben will go like I was going to do a bit where I was going to say this about this dumb fucking movie, but I didn't even feel

[01:19:09] like doing it, whatever. Whereas I feel like the shift in energy is Ben loves all of these movies. He's very excited about the fact that we're covering this filmmaker. Not only that, Ben is like doing research.

[01:19:20] Coming to the table with episode with like fucking notes and books and shit. I got a fucking book. That is hilarious. He's like jumping in because he's got shit to say. Yeah, man. Yeah, I'm so. I have text. I do.

[01:19:33] I have context because they're connoisseurs and I can never live up to it. So I've got a dang book. So yeah. Yeah, I should have brought a fucking book. I don't know what half of things you guys are talking about if I'm being honest. What we have.

[01:19:46] Look, we have research together with contact. We have researchers. Yeah. I'm like, what is film? What is movie? What is movie? Should we play the box office game Griffin as we wind down this episode? Because I know Nia has to go pretty soon. Yes, I feel so bad.

[01:20:06] I genuinely was looking at the timing of your other episodes and they're all like 17 hours long and I was like, oh no. I saw one that was three and a half hours. I was like nobody needs to do podcasts that are that long.

[01:20:19] I look podcast should all be 90 minutes long. I got I'm going to get so dragged for that. Nia, David is going to send you an edible arrangement for keeping this episode short. You have no idea. He has a baby now. He has things to do.

[01:20:34] Yeah, I do have things to do. Yeah, she slept through the night last night. Oh, God, I hope I don't listen back to that being like, well, that was the only time that happened. I was I was going to say this is.

[01:20:49] I'm trying to get this timeline correct. The fog remake and the assault on pre six 13 remake both come out the same year. I guess assault in pre six 13 comes out first comes out in the winter. And this is a teen remake is totally solid. I like that.

[01:21:04] Yeah, yes, it's entirely solid is written by. I remember liking it when I saw it. I mean, it's got a fucking great cast. Everyone in it is good and overqualified. James DeMonaco wrote it, who did all the purge movies

[01:21:19] and also wrote the the most terrifying of all American horror films. Jack did right. He wrote Francis Ford Coppola's Jack. No film scares me more than Jack. That movie was right. That was sort of like it wasn't like a big hit or whatever,

[01:21:35] but everyone was was fine with that movie. It got fine reviews. It's like a modest January performer. I got fine reviews. Everyone's good on it. Then the fucking fog like stunk up the joint and people were sort of asking carpenter because you have two in one year.

[01:21:50] Like what's the deal with these remakes? And he'd be like, I just like show up and I wave and I say hi. And then I walk away. Like because I do want that there's that quote that's so good. I mean, it is, you know, it's classic.

[01:22:03] I mean, yeah, you do it. Yeah. Unless it's a different one that you're thinking of. No, it's the one. So people were like, why aren't you more protective of these movies? Like if you're if you're not showing up, if you're not in Vesity,

[01:22:13] well, there's an interesting thing that happens every time they ask if they can remake one of my movies. They call me up. They say they ask me. I say yes. And then I hold out my hand and a bunch of money just drops into it.

[01:22:29] This is this is the one. This is the line I have where they're like, why are you why are you letting them remake Escape from New York again? Which I guess that still hasn't happened, but that keeps getting announced. Right. Right.

[01:22:38] He says, I love it if they're going to pay me money. If they pay me, it's wonderful. If they don't pay me, I don't care. I think it's unfair if they don't pay me. I think everyone should pay me. Why not?

[01:22:47] I'm an old guy now and I need money. Send me money. Yeah, I mean like this take fog is the only one where I remember him being like, well, you know, the original film, I had such a limited budget and I wasn't happy with how it turned out.

[01:23:02] It was hopeful it could be improved on right. There's like a reason to remake this. And since then he's just been like, pay me. Yeah. You know what's a shame? The thing remake or it wasn't a remake technically, which they reveal at the end

[01:23:16] or whatever that could have been really interesting because that's like really the best way to go into that. It's like, oh, let's just figure out what the fuck that dog was doing before and those Swedish people like that's cool.

[01:23:26] And then my recollection of it is like despite the great cast and you know, I just didn't kind of do what I needed to do. But like that could have been really great. Do you know the absurd thing about that movie?

[01:23:37] They were very adamant that they were like, this is going to be the movie to bring practical effects back. It's the thing it's like the most famous practical effects movie ever. They shot the whole fucking movie with makeups and animatronics. You can go on YouTube.

[01:23:52] You can see the test. They look unbelievable. They shot it that whole way. And then the studio went this looks corny and made him redo with CGI. That sucks. Because like you look at Evil Dead, which is all all that shit's practical

[01:24:06] or like 95 percent of its practical and the rest of it's like, you know. And like that is why I think that worked really well. Like anyway, I could go on and on. Totally. I just feel like I think they also like cut that movie down.

[01:24:18] But I feel like there is a cut of that thing prequel that is good. That's good. Yeah. Yeah, I don't doubt it. At the very least is visually impressive. Because yeah, the tests that are out there are amazing.

[01:24:34] But it is interesting that people seem to kind of keep getting things fundamentally wrong when they remake Carpenter or sequelized it or whatever. I mean, like the David Grungrin Halloween is like, I feel like the first one

[01:24:48] that's like a hit and was well liked and approved by horror fans. And that was the one where they got him more involved where they sort of scored. And he's I didn't score up school, right? Consulted him. I mean that and also that right, right?

[01:25:05] That movie is such a loving. I don't think it's like completely successful, but it's so it's so obsessed with Halloween with, you know, John Carpenter's Halloween and much less with the, you know, Halloween mythos and universe or whatever. Right. Yeah.

[01:25:22] Let's do the box office game, Griffin. Come on. Yes. Yes. No, that was all I wanted to say. That was the end of the things I wanted to say. And I just very quickly want to say that John Carpenter appears

[01:25:31] the beating of this film and he looks pretty good. We got that wrong in fucking trivia once and it will haunt me forever. Do you remember that day? There was a video round that was director cameos in movies and we got that wrong.

[01:25:44] Did we say it was a different movie or did we just say it was different? I think we said it was a different movie and I can't remember which one. Right, right. Yeah, it will haunt me for fucking ever. I just want to correct my earlier quote.

[01:25:55] The exact quote is what Carpenter does in these remakes. Well, I'm a producer, but I come in and say hello to everybody. Go home. I'm just a fucking bum. OK. He's a bum. Oh, I can't wait till I have that.

[01:26:08] The number one, ironically, at the box office on February 1st, OK, 1980 is a slasher movie is a total Halloween ripoff. I've never heard of it. It's set at a boarding house and there's a homicidal killer on the loose. Huh, stalking some some co-eds.

[01:26:32] It just like sounds like fucking any of these things. Oh, I've seen this. I know this movie. I know exactly what it really what is it? Yeah, I've seen it. I've seen it. Well, no, then you would have. No, you would have heard this movie.

[01:26:43] I can't remember the name of it, though. No, wait, no, you guys would have heard this movie. I'm thinking I think I'm thinking of a criteria in the movie, which obviously would not have made it any money. So but it's at a boarding house. What movie?

[01:26:56] I can't remember the one I'm thinking it was called. Well, are you talking about what's it called? The slumber party massacre? No. I think you have Carnival of Lost Souls. No, that's not a boring. Well, this movie is called The Silent Scream.

[01:27:09] Oh, yeah, I truly have never heard of that. Oh, it was successful. The successful indie, you know, release is successful Halloween ripoff. You should clarify it is not the anti-abortion 1984 film, The Silent Scream, which is the first thing that pops up when you Google it.

[01:27:27] No, that is the first result that shows up. Very upsetting poster. Jesus Christ. No, it is not that it is not. It is just some, you know, I don't know. That's it's a slasher movie. Wow. OK. That's number one at the box office. It's doing great.

[01:27:45] Number two at the box office is a very iconic movie of the year. We're going to have some good box office games, Griffin. I'm realizing like, yeah. It's I believe I think it's I think it's the first Hollywood studio movie to show like it's stars, penis.

[01:28:05] I'm almost what is it American jiggler? It's American jiggler. Yeah, I don't think there's any movie that had shown peen, at least not like star. I mean, definitely a landmark film in onscreen pain. No, it's also just a great movie, obviously, just very, you know,

[01:28:20] the Giorgio Armani suits and all that and like the, you know, the whole mood, very early 80s. What's next? Number three, it's then it's the best picture winner, Griffin. Number three, the best 1979 picture winner. 1979 is Kramer versus Kramer. Yeah. And the number one movie of

[01:28:42] nine, nine, nine, nine. Yeah. It just will never stop being astounding to think of that movie doing end game numbers. Yes, it totally did. The number four is OK, it's a star driven movie. It's not a movie. I mean, I've heard of it.

[01:28:57] I've never seen it. It's from a major director, but I feel like it's sort of a forgotten entry for these guys. OK. It's a sort of like comedy drama. It's a Western like a modern Western. It's about like an old rodeo guy who is retired

[01:29:16] and is trying to figure out his life. What? I'm going to tell you the stars. Two guys in OK. It's it's Robert Redford and Jane Fonda. Electric horseman. Electric horseman, OK, which is directed by who, Griffin? Sidney Pollock. Yes. Not a movie I've ever seen. No.

[01:29:37] Wow, it's a great title. Good title, good stars. It was a hit. It made like 60 million bucks like it was not a nothing, but I feel like it's just sort of, you know, not not well known for any of these three people

[01:29:51] like is one of their better entries. I got this trivia question wrong recently, which is what is the name of the most recent collaboration between Fonda and Redford? Oh, it's that Romcom, right? Exactly. But the question is, can you pull that title in a million years? No, no.

[01:30:11] I knew exactly what movie it was. And I was like, I truly think you could give me one million years of concentrated effort. I would not remember the title of that film. I've also seen that movie. Me too. Oh, it's called Our Souls at Night. Never, never would.

[01:30:27] Love it. Never. Yeah. And I was. I don't think I could pull that one. I got this wrong two weeks ago and I already forgot. Well, his last film ever, of course, is Avengers Endgame. No, Avengers Endgame's his last credit ever. Yes, love that.

[01:30:41] It's Old Man and the Gun After Our Souls at Night and then him saying Hail Hydra. That's hilarious. Bless his heart because he was very purposeful about it being the Old Man and the Gun. Yes, the Old Man and the Gun is like the total swan song movie.

[01:30:56] Yeah. Yeah. That's funny. And then and then right, he just sort of pops in an end game being like, what's that over there? Hail Hydra. Who's this low key guy? That's like Lowry told us he had shot Endgame, but it was top secret and they were promoting

[01:31:12] Old Man and the Gun. And the only question anyone wanted to ask him was, so is this it, Bob? Are you retired? And like they couldn't answer it. Yeah, right. They were like, well, you know, that's so funny. Number five at the box office, Griffin,

[01:31:27] is an action film. It's I think fairly early in this man's career. He's an action star, but one of the sillier ones. Chuck Norris? It's Chuck Norris. Of course, had to be. Yes. And I think it's like, maybe it's maybe his second action movie

[01:31:48] where he's like the star. Delta Force? It's not Delta Force. It's not the octagon. What a good title. It's not Silent Rage. I'm trying to think of Chuck Norris movies. The enforcer, is that what that movie's called? It's called, you're close. It's called A Force of One.

[01:32:06] OK, OK. And he is, I believe, the titular force of one, the tagline, he hears the silence, he hears the darkness, he's the only one who can stop the killing. David, how funny would it be if he wasn't the force of one, if you watched the movie?

[01:32:19] I can't believe we let him get away with his career for so long. But I mean, I believe the plot of The Force of One is that there's a serial killer and the police decide to recruit a karate champion to find the serial killer.

[01:32:31] Like, it's where they're still trying to be like, so let's explain why this guy kicks people. It's the way Fast and Furious has to justify cars being the necessary tool for everything. Yeah. Nia, to go off of what you said,

[01:32:45] we'd let Chuck Norris get away with way too much. A lot, a lot. For a long time. I was watching Walker of Texas range with my grandma. Yeah, we just, I don't know, we gave him so much power. Yeah. Crazy. Yeah. Yeah, some other hits.

[01:33:00] We got chapter two, the James Cawneal Simon movie. Oh wow. We've got The Jerk. Uh-huh. Nice. We've got The Fog, obviously, which opens number 10. And we've got Fatso, the Dom Deleuze movie, right? Yeah, and Bancroft's only film. And Bancroft directed it, right?

[01:33:18] You jumped over the fact The Fog opened at number 10? Yeah, but you know that's how it is back then. But even still. This is an unopening weekend. I know it's a platform, but even still. But The Fog was a huge hit. It made $20 million on a $1 million budget.

[01:33:31] It was exactly the same vibe of Carpenter where it's just like, the man, you know, profits. Like it's all profit with this guy. Yeah, sure. That's why he keeps getting to do so. And will never let him get a bigger budget ever. Right, exactly.

[01:33:48] But I'm excited because now we start to get into the satire a little bit, you know? What's your next one? Are you going in order? Yeah, we're going in order. It's a skate from New York next. Nice, yeah. I love the Kurt Russell Carpenter collaboration. That's the best.

[01:34:06] Like it's great. I like that tongue in the cheek. They are perfect for each other. Yes, right. And Kurt Russell just has like the exact type of humor that really I think makes Carpenter's work saying. Also just I'm sure as we'll talk about

[01:34:21] for several weeks in a row now, an insane face. Kurt Russell? Like in terms of its beauty? Yeah, just young Kurt Russell. That face is just unbelievable. And you're like slap a beard on it. Incredible. Shaving it even better. Like it's all good. Yeah.

[01:34:36] He totally looks like his name could be Snake too. He does. Like he wears that shit well. Yes. Yeah. But he's one of those actors who looks like he was production designed. Yes, big up his jaw especially. Looks like it was production designed

[01:34:52] like someone came in and built that with like hydraulic. But yes, we'll talk about Kurt Plenty obviously on this show. Yeah, so much Kurt talk. Nia, thank you so much for carving out some time. Thank you for having me again. You're the best. No, you're the best Griffin.

[01:35:10] Please. Oh guys, geez. No, you hang up. No, Ben's the best. Ben's the best. We can all agree. He is the best. I am the best. Thank you. Nia, is there anything you want to plug? Are you working on anything these days? What do you have anything?

[01:35:24] I'm going to break. Please go see Candy Man when it comes out next month, but don't at me. In theaters. In theaters is exciting. Candy Man is in theaters this weekend that this move, this episode is dropping. It lines up perfectly.

[01:35:41] It's coming out this weekend, so go see it. So go see Candy Man. Next November, please go see this Marvel movie. I'm sure you won't get any advertisements about it. No, you're going to have to really hit the podcast hard to promote that. Right.

[01:35:56] I literally feel like I became a director so I could do podcasts. That's my career path. Come back any time. Any time, please. And. I got to say in addition to saying thank you for coming back on the show, Nia. Thank you all for listening.

[01:36:13] Now I'm speaking to the listener and thank you to Re Barty for our social media. Thank you to A.J. McKee and Alex Barron for our editing, Joe Bowen and Pat Reynolds for our artwork. You know what just happened? My brain just started farting and I started.

[01:36:29] I almost started thanking people from a different podcast because I've been listening to other podcasts too much. Oh, wow. What are you listening to? My brain was farting because I went to college with Mary Barty and I was like, what? The new member of the family.

[01:36:42] I'd be listening to podcast the ride and I almost shouted out the team and Forever Dog. So thank you to Joe Silio for helping to make other good podcasts that our podcasts have nothing to do with. Thank you to JJ Birch for our research.

[01:36:59] Leigh Montgomery in the Great American Novel for our theme song. Go to blankies.rad.com for some real nerdy shit. And you could go to our Shopify page for some real nerdy merch. You go over to patreon.com slash blank check.

[01:37:12] Blank check special features will have covered Elvis and somebody's watching me, which are important early works of Carpenter. So if you want to hear those sign up for that, just one tier five bucks a month. Tune in next week for Escape from New York. All killer, no filler.

[01:37:31] This lineup. Pretty much. Yeah. And as always, Ben is fundamentally not afraid of fog. No, he's the best, though. We love him. Thanks, guys.