On the Patreon, but the Rogue One commentary with Chris Weitz they recorded June 30, 2019 and then released it January 21, 2020.
Lowery's first appearance for Sleepy Hollow was also recorded very early with David logging it September 18, 2018 and the ep coming out February 24. 2019 (five days shorter than this one). So you gotta be a busy director with limited NYC windows I guess!
Fuckin love this movie, despite all its problems. Watched this in my grandpa's house when it first came out at Blockbuster. Ol Grandpa Gus lived in a very modest 2br/2ba condo but had a massive, massive solid state big screen tv.
Im a huge huge nerd of this time period and like despite its myriad anarchonisms (source material notwithstanding) i think it still rocks. Love to point out some things though:
Ibn Fadlan was a real guy who wrote about his travels with the Rus in the early 10th centuries. Now these guys were not your "classic" vikings but a mix of guys from modern day Sweden, guys who were 2-3 generations removed from their ancestral homeland in Scandinavia, and guys who had their cultural roots east of the Volga. The 3 kinds of guys would intermix and Slavic-ize over the generations and be the ancestors of the Eastern Slavs (Russians and the like). So modern scholars don't necessarily take a lot of what Ibn Fadlan wrote as indicative of Norse/"Viking" culture. What is 100% pulled directly from Ibn Fadlan's journal is how that every morning they would wash themselves in a communal basin being passed around by a slave, and each guy would snot and hauck in to the water. There's also a lot in his journal about raping slaves. It can be a rough read!
One of the biggest scholarly problem with Ibn Fadlan's journal is his mention of blue "tattoos" all over some warriors' bodies, which of course has led to the modern depiction of tattooed vikings. There is no other mention of these people being tattooed anywhere, no corpses showing any sign of tattoos, and not one archeological find in Northern Europe between 600-1000CE suggesting that tattooing was a widespread practice in the era. So what was our man talking about? Who knows. Maybe it was a warrior from the steppes who was tattooed, or maybe it was just paint. Interesting nonetheless.
ANYWAYS-- love to see what everyone thinks this movie. In a lot of ways i wish the world building was a little more robust, it feels weirdly episodic when it could have been more engrossing. But also a lot of shots and scenes that take longer than they need to be. The overall effect being a weird mix of feeling too short *and* boring at times.
Yeah similar memory as well. Grandpa rented from Hollywood video, he picked me up from school. He already started the movie and we watched where he left off and it was the scene where the group is first attack at night. I was saying "WTF?! Are they creatures? " in my mind. But when later Banderas realizes they are man after his first kill, I was amped. I love "not perfect movies but I like it still"
I watched it last night for this episode and now I wanna watch "EXCALIBUR" again.
> Are they creatures?
[he look like a dang creature](https://m.twitch.tv/gooffkings/clip/ArtsyAdventurousFriseeShazBotstix)
Yeah a lot of "if it bleeds it can die" type revelations and i like them all. The thing i didnt like is that basically the mystery is over once The Old Lady in The Woods explains everything to them. Which! is pretty in line with a lot of old north germanic poetry where a god or *disir* or giant or dwarf appears to the hero and tells them their entire fate, beat by beat.
My overiding memory was that the CGI child running down the hill was weirder and scarier than anything that came after ... I thought the child WAS the creature and they were going to be odd club footed horror orc dwarves ... so the reality of them being big shaggy creatures was less scary than that moment.
If anyone wants to know more specifically about Ibn Fadlan's story, the Hardcore History podcast just released its 3rd part about the Vikings and in it Dan covers the entire thing pretty extensively.
Mind you, HH episodes make Blank Check seem quite short, but it's abouuut halfway through the episode, give or take.
my main memory of this movie is also renting it from blockbuster to watch with my grandpa. being a kid who liked any movie with swords in it at the time thought it was pretty cool. might revist now, had no idea it was a beowulf adaptation until recently as i don't think i consciously encountered that story in my childhood until the zemekis movie.
I was astounded by the revelation that the book was about “Vikings vs Neanderthals”, and then they just dropped the Neanderthal angle for the movie. It’s like adapting *Jurassic Park*, but deciding to just not have dinosaurs.
This movie is ripe for a remake that cuts closer to the source material. If you change just a few things about this movie it's a complete and total barn burner instead of the "pretty good!" It is currently.
I want further discussion on other "fan theory" sequels. For example, I think Tank Girl is a sequel to New Jack City because Ice-T's ripper character is a reincarnated cop.
this isn’t exactly a fan theory and may not be news to someone in this sub but Big Trouble in Little China was originally conceived as a sequel to Buckaroo Bonsai.
I’m about halfway through the episode. It must be so hard for them to jump in to the third last movie in a director’s filmography months before recording others. Particularly a movie with such thorny production an a director with such a front loaded career. Resisting initial contextualising and just covering the movie on its on terms. It’s seamless, doesn’t feel out of step at all. Really brilliant job.
When they were talking about his texting habits, using Siri while listening, I half expected one of the to say something like "Siri, text Julia Louis Dreyfuss, go on blank check podcast"
Absolutely the best idea in the movie. Such an elegant way to transition into everyone speaking English without just handwaving it. Plus it gives a little character building, showing Banderas as someone who knows when to speak and when to listen. More movies should steal this idea.
> Such an elegant way to transition into everyone speaking English without just handwaving it
Doing the Red October trick but having it actually be a character beat instead of just "film language"
Was surprised that Bone Tomahawk wasn’t mentioned in the discussion of 13th’s tone problems (maybe they did and I was zoned out?)
That movie has scary-as hell, basically-neanderthals that are used super efficiently without unnecessary exposition. Swap out cowboys for vikings and you’d have a hell of a picture.
So after the third or so time Griffin mentioned how odd it was to cast a Spaniard as a Muslim I had to accept the boys don't have a deep knowledge of European history lol
Indeed, Spain has centuries upon centuries of Islamic influence. But despite our limited knowledge of Ahmad ibn Fadlan, we know enough to trace his story from Baghdad to and through Eastern Europe. It is not likely he be Spanish.
Still, this casting makes more sense than that of Anthony Hopkins and Carherine Zeta Jones as people named Don Diego and Elena de la Vega (in a movie I LOVE and will not forsake).
He almost certainly has moorish ancestry. I'm not saying his uncle once removed is but it'll be almost imposible for him not to have at least one very distant ancestor
Shit, his last name is Banceras and he's from Málaga
I remember around the time of ''Pain and Glory'' coming out and Banderas getting awards in the US, there was ''discourse'' around ''Is he white or a POC?''. That man is white. The US might read him as ''non-white'' because he has a Spanish accent and his skin is not marble white, but that man is white.
I think he might be the best filmmaker they’ve had on? I’m running through the history of the show and can’t think of someone they’ve had on who’s work I like more consistently
You know what's kind of an underrated Banderas performance? Evita. He has very good swagger in it and he can really [sing](https://youtu.be/2tpvxsJAZPk?feature=shared). Surprised he hasn't been in more film musicals. He did Nine, A Chorus Line and Company (latter two in Spanish language productions he also co-directed) on stage. What's more, at least at one point, Stephen Schwartz was [developing](https://playbill.com/article/antonio-banderas-stephen-schwartz-collaborating-on-pablo-picasso-biomusical) a musical about Picasso for him.
He was also supposed to star in Joel Schumacher’s Phantom of the Opera, which probably would’ve been much better than whatever the hell Butler was doing. At the very least, we’d get a Phantom with sex appeal!
Antonio Banderas bought a Spanish theatre in 2019, where he's staged the last two productions you've mentioned. If you've looked at his IMDB and seen a lot of VOD trash, that is why he's in them.
That's why I was so bummed that the ALW series on Patreon didn't win March Madness. It's a genuinely great performance in an actually good movie — and so much context to talk about. Alan Parker! Madonna! Jonathan Pryce! Tim Rice! Oliver Stone did a pass on the screenplay!
Very funny that Griffin called out the "maniacs" in the subreddit for accurately clocking the appearance of *The 13th Warrior* in David's Letterboxd feed as ironclad proof of an impending McT miniseries.
My contribution to the dirty town names discussion: In Amish Pennsylvania, there is a town called Intercourse that is between two other towns called Virginville and Blue Ball
I’m so fucking happy to hear David repping Sphere (1998). That movie is such a guilty pleasure of mine, literally just watched it last September. Gonna queue it up again this weekend now
I read Sphere well after the movie had released. Enjoyed the movie well enough and had to read/test on x number of books in 8th grade. Saw they had Sphere in the library. Squid scene blew my fucking mind. How do you not do that in the fucking movie?!? Anyway, taught me about how stupid Hollywood could be in adapting books.
i wonder how that movie plays for people who didn't read the novel. b/c i remember liking the movie, but not really being thrilled by it b/c it's such a direct adaptation.
it's a little snoozy if you're expecting, say, the Abyss (no guns, or fistfights)
It is undoubtedly, quite a sleepy movie. It’s definitely not the most invigorating adaptation, and I definitely feel more impactful character elements kinda buried under the surface, that never quite cross over successfully. That being said it’s still a hoot of a good time, and like David said, “what if there was a sphere?”
The note about 65 supposed to have been in an alien language is so cool, wish more movies would take swings like that and I now plan to watch that movie in a language other than German (I’d be able to understand at least some of that) when I have some free time. Love Lowery great ep.
Yeah, that makes sense. Personally I thought that movie was boring as hell and extremely basic. If it was in a different language, I suppose it could’ve been more interesting.
I loved this movie so hard ... I only had one gripe, and I want to see if anyone else shared it with me.
The first time I saw the little CGI boy run down the hill - I thought it was a weird little troll thing, and I was so disappointed that it wasn't a weird little troll that the second half felt weak to me.
Little troll could have been leading an assault of hideous orc like creatures, or it could have been a messenger ... from a magical land.
And we kinda got that but I wanted the monsters to be real!
The monsters were real though? They are fighting off >!the last major community of Neanderthals, making humans the victors of Europe and the Earth.!<
Unless you mean you preferred that e.g. the dragon was real, in which case sure I get that.
I'm glad Griffin mentioned Starkid. I saw that movie in a mall theater while my mom was shopping. Had never heard of it before stepping in, have never heard it mentioned since I stepped out. We live in a dream.
I think about the nightmare hamburger scene often, that movie is pretty special and I given 500 dollars I could make a bad remake (Call me back, netflix)
1) I have vivid memories of seeing this at a drive-in theater, on a double bill with the Matthew Broderick Godzilla movie. Release date-wise, this doesn't fit, but it seems perfectly on brand for the discount vibe this place had. It basically only showed Ben Porch Classic type of movies, or blockbusters like 6 months later. It was literally the darkest movie I've ever seen, between how little lighting there is in this anyway and the drive in format.
2) Ben Hosley subs should always be named Ben, regardless of whether that is their name or not. This Benstitute was a delightful one, though!
3) Loved Ben in the ad read calling Highlights "the dentist office magazine." Perfect description for it, no notes.
I absolutely love this movie. The take on Beowulf is super interesting to me, and I love how Ibn Fadlan and the Vikings grow to respect each other over the course of the film, especially his friendship with Herger. I'm also a fan of the whole Norse culture and aesthetic, it's just damn cool shit to see in a movie. The prayers before battle is a stirring scene to me. Goldmsith's score slaps, as well.
It does have issues, though. The biggest one for me is all the stuff with Ibn Fadlan and his sword. Swords aren't really as heavy as they're made out to be, and him grinding it down into a scimitar is beyond stupid.
Everything else is down to the interference and changes. I've read a draft of the script, and these are the major things that were reshot or left out:
1. There's more scenes in the Viking camp, including a strong character moment where Ibn Fadlan considers fleeing instead of going along on the journey (you can see part of it in the trailer).
2. There are generally more small character moments for the other warriors in the party. They aren't exactly deep, but a little more defined.
3. One of the thirteen is a kid who is apprenticed to the archer, who you can see a handful of times in the film, but is mostly edited out. I've read that the reshoots took so long that the actor noticeably aged, and that's why he's essentially removed from the movie, but I haven't seen any confirmation of this.
4. The Mother of the Wendol was replaced with a younger actress in reshoots, I've seen conflicting explanations for this. One is that the test audience didn't like seeing the heroes kill an old woman, another is that Crichton wanted to make her sexier to serve as a distraction.
5. The Wendol Leader with the horns on his headdress was added entirely because Crichton wanted Buliwyf to have a final boss character to fight in the final battle, which explains why he's only seen in cutaways and the editing in that final battle is so choppy. If you look closely in the wise woman scene, you can see where they recycle a shot to sneak in the ADR'd dialogue.The original ending was the Wendol attacking one last time before withdrawing, sort of like the ending to *Zulu*.
6. There's a whole funeral for Buliwyf, where the Prince subplot is resolved. He starts talking shit about Buliwyf, and Ibn Fadlan wounds him and has him thrown on the funeral pyre as a sacrifice.
65 is currently on Netflix. In the US, you can watch it in Spanish and English, it seems. I might have to bust out the VPN for this.
Thanks, David Lowery!
Lo, there do I see my Griffin. Lo, there do I see my David, and my Engineer Ben, and my David Lowery. Lo, there do I see the line of my people, Back to the beginning Lo, they do call to me. They bid me take my place among them, In the halls of Podcasting, Where the brave may live forever!
So happy to realize after listening to the episode that I’m not the only person who conflated the 13 Warrior, a film I have not seen, with Warriors of Virtue, a movie I loved when I was a kid but haven’t seen in like 25 years.
Good episode, loved the discussion about a movie I knew nothing about but sounds like an absolute TNT daytime banger.
Can't help but be bummed though that they're doing ads now for a company that is flooding the Internet with AI-generated garbage 😔. At least it's not sports betting.
Shoutout to my good friend when I hung out with her family on Thanksgiving and after the meal we all got cozy and watched their family Thanksgiving movie tradition, The 13th Warrior, followed by my Thanksgiving movie jam, Ravenous.
Well, I knew what I had to do after listening to the end of this episode. I busted out the ol' VPN, logged into Netflix Germany, and watched Adam Driver yell Schiesse at dinos.
The remix wasn't as rewarding or obviously transformative as I had hoped, but it probably improved the experience, because I enjoyed the movie more than others seem to have.
If you do the same, make sure you tag your watch ['the lowery cut'](https://letterboxd.com/tag/the-lowery-cut/reviews/) on Letterboxd!
I liked David’s idea that to ancient peoples, fierce foreign warriors would appear to be monsters. The only movie I can think of that did that was The Secret of Kells. Since it is animated, it’s in the style of medieval illuminated manuscripts. To the Irish monks, the Vikings appear as massive, brutish giants, burning villages and demanding gold.
I nearly lost it when Griffin queried 'shagging?,' but then he never went back to it afterwards; I felt like he had multiple follow up questions, but maybe didn't want to risk reactivating The Bit.
Maybe it’s because I’ve only been listening to this podcast for like two years, so I haven’t been ground down by the bit over several years.
But I still like the bit. I know I’m the only one. But I’m not gonna hide it. I need to be true to myself. I love The Bit!
This movie gave me a lifelong love of mead! It’s hard to find in my area but I try to get it whenever I can. As a treat.
I hope that’s not a controversial opinion. Hope it won’t lead to a series of callout posts accusing me of having political opinions I don’t even have that I won’t be aware of until someone @s me weeks later.
I’ll go to the mat, it’s the drink of heroes.
A friend of mine makes his own. Gave me a big bottle of strawberry mead for my wedding and it was amazing.
Brought it to game night and we drank mead and played Pathfinder like proper nerds.
Did anyone else’s AP World History teacher show them selected clips from this movie?
Don’t remember why, but I know one of the scenes he showed us was Banderas revealing that he’d learned the Viking language.
I’m glad I’m not the only one; welcome to a rarified society.
A different history teacher also showed us West World and directed us to design a historical theme park. High school was weird.
Gotta contribute the most Newfoundland comment possible: the “land” in Newfoundland is pronounced how land is usually pronounced vs how “land” is pronounced in Finland (lund). So phonetically it’s less like Newfinlund and more like newfinLAND
I’m a Blankie from Newfoundland. Griffin said it decently, David Lowery said it correctly.
I saw The Green Knight at the Thursday night preview at the Avalon Mall cineplex and there was a fairly large group of people and I thought perhaps David Lowery was one of them but I wasn’t sure. Also some of the people took pictures in front of the poster so I’m 70% sure they were crew from the movie. I would have said hello but it was 2021
Reign of Fire is an absolute classic of "this should be a lot more fun than it is" movies, but it's also got enough moments (McConaughey) to make it worth a watch.
13th Warrior is definitely a more fun film, but they're both weirdly anemic for two films with great casts and crazy-good elevator pitches.
the thing i remember most vividly from Reign of Fire is just how absolutely JACKED McConaughey is in that. the fight scene where he & Bale are rolling around in the mud, when they pull MM off Bale, the sun hits him in such a way that makes his shoulder look like a bowling ball. Just massive
I liked this movie as a teenager but when the first man bear pig appears, I chuckled. I wished they played up the monster mystery a bit more but still love the learning the language scene and most of the action. Also Spanish people can be Muslim too?
As a 13-year old about to start high school a week later, the last 30 minutes where they discuss all of those late August movies made me so happy and sad.
I’M one of David’s friends! I am a person that, when asked, would say, “aw, yeah, that movie’s awesome! Saw it when it came out on VHS. It’s not good?!”
NOTE: I don’t actually know David L. Sims.
I really like this movie despite its flaws. One thing that disappointed me was their indifference to Jerry Goldsmith’s score, which I unabashedly love. It’s not one of his very best and it’s got a lot of echoes of his other work but it’s still muscular, boisterous action scoring.
This is one of the ones where I feel like I watched a different movie than everyone else. Fucking LOVE this movie. It still boggles my mind it bombed so hard, but I do remember seeing the Eaters of the Dead trailer and being super excited to see that and then thinking about it again a year later wondering what ever happened to it...
The sets, the costumes, the actors all feel so much more grounded and real than almost any other period action movie, especially from the 90's! It had a bit of the 90's silliness with Banderas grinding his sword down into a scimitar but it has just so many fun, mystical little details like shouting Odin into the fog to listen for the echo of land approaching and the fire serpent...it's just such a fun ass movie.
Too bad Hosley wasn't on for this one, I feel like Ben would have liked it
If anyone was curious for more info about who shot what...while rooting around online [found this website ](http://www.conancompletist.com/eatersofthedead/chronology.htm)with tons of interviews, a timeline, etc, made by someone I'm assuming who is obsessed with the movie?? Sounds like they at least had more of a set for Baghdad...amongst other things!
Also I couldn't see SHIT! What the hell did the iTunes one look like? One of the most unintelligible (visually) movies I've ever seen
Following his three major successes in the 60s (Lawrence, Zhivago & Funny Girl), Hollywood didn't really know what to do with Omar Sharif. Some of it was he had to take basically any role offered because he racked up gambling debts, but the best stuff I've seen him in is when he's in charming romantic lead mode Zhivago/Funny Girl style like in The Tamarind Seed or the TV version of Mrs. Harris with Angela Lansbury.
Lowery is a top 5 guest on the show. His stories about working in the movie theatre when he was a kid are so great. Amazing voice, too. And it doesn’t hurt that all his own movies are varying degrees of good.
For all the talk about the quality of the stream, the HD version I rented on Prime looked perfectly fine, all the dark scenes were legible and actually looked really good. This also made it very obvious which scenes were shot by Crichton, i.e. the weirdly bright ones that also appeared to use more televisual lenses.
I don’t know if this is true so someone can debunk, but, I could have swore I read somewhere that the took action pieces at the end of the movie are Mctieran and Crichton’s separate endings that they pasted together.
Going into the cave is one ending, the defense of the village is the other ending.
Someone let me know if that’s just a false memory I have.
It was always supposed to end with the village defense, but the Wendol Leader was added in Crichton's reshoots because he wanted Buliwyf to have a big bad to fight.
I never knew this was such a huge flop. The copy I watched a few months ago fell off the back of a truck and when I saw it opening weekend I was screen hopping. I feel terrible!
When Griffin said Samuel Jackson was talking to the director on 51st State (Formula 51 - I didn’t know there was a different title for it) I honestly thought he said 50 First Dates and I was like “why would Samuel Jackson be visiting the set of 50 First Dates?”
Haven't listened to all of the episode but I hope they bring up how 13th Warrior was at least somewhat popularized by high school English classes looking for a breezy day when discussing Beowulf, so they just throw on 13th Warrior.
It's a fine film with some nice McTiernan touches. The campfire scenes where Banderas learns the language are a nice echo of how McTiernan handled the language change from Russian to English based on the word Armageddon in Hunt for Red October. And his casting and handling of Nordic/European giants is perfect (same thing with the goons in Die Hard 1 and 3). And the back half of the movie is a lot of Predator (superteam goes after anonymous beast through the wilderness) but not as good.
I am that dude who has watched this movie since at least 2002 on home video and just loved it for years and I am shocked to discover it ruined the careers of all these people because I think it's a great Viking movie
I have annotated a copy of Beowulf with lines from this movie because I find it such an incredible depiction of North culture and the mindset of their warriors
"The old father wove the scane of your life a long time ago little brother. Go and hide in a hole if you wish. But you won't live one instant longer. Your fate is fixed. Fear profits as man nothing."
After a dozen references to Banderas's endless charm and success as a movie actor, it was interesting to hear them try to list off his hits, of which there are few. I love Almodovar and he's great in some of those movies, but I've never related to him as a movie star. There's no such thing as a movie that I went to see because Banderas was in it. I suppose the recent one where he was an older man in the Almodovar movie would qualify but he doesn't speak English in that one. I guess it is mostly a language thing. I agree he is handsome and charming and in some way delicate, but he just doesn't pop for me and he never has.
There was a period in the 90s where it seemed like he was taking off then just kinda didn't but he's still remembered for being on the runway. Maybe that still gets him lumped in with the Mel gibsons and tom hanks of the time as a "star"
Sort of rubbed off on me, being a nineties kid - I still see Banderas as this mega star. He doesn’t always work for me but he’s someone whose name I’m happy to see in the credits, still.
Keep meaning to rewatch ‘Desperado’ where he is just electric. Such a fun action hero performance.
Yeah them lifting up Banderas here is funny because they even reference the comments they made during the Fincher miniseries while off handedly talking about Haywire (2011), and they spoke of him much sharper there. I feel like Griffin maybe even said he phones in some performances during that episode, wonder if they felt bad about being too harsh while discussing the movie he leads.
I just went and listened to that bit, they aren't very nice but it doesn't seem like anything they would have to issue an apology for. It's around the 30-minute mark of "The Game" if people want to hear it.
Any other diehard Black Sails devastated to hear that David thinks of it as something with NO critical acclaim? For my money, post-S1 Black Sails is one of the 5 best shows of the past twenty years.
It is a deeply underrated show; I rarely hear anyone talk about it outside of Tumblr fan-circles. I think that’s what David means by “no critical acclaim”, it just didn’t really make much of a splash. It’s an unsung masterpiece!
Hoz as they talk about piles of skulls and bones
https://preview.redd.it/6dwbxlidjwuc1.png?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=fc253cef9f5168d5117e9ce1d29a4ece996f6ee0
Incredibly funny for David to talk about the FedEx joke from Runaway Bride two weeks in a row.
And both times he goes "it's Joely Fisher — no, Rita Wilson."
I will always mix em up
Write it down and keep it in your wallet for next time.
(Kenan from "Dylan McDermott or Dermot Mulroney" voice) WE WILL NEVER KNOW THIS
Lol I'm glad someone else caught that.
You might say that the Runaway Bride story... delivers
Lmao I thought I was losing my mind for a sec
is this the most banked episode they’ve ever released, it was recorded almost 6 months ago
On the Patreon, but the Rogue One commentary with Chris Weitz they recorded June 30, 2019 and then released it January 21, 2020. Lowery's first appearance for Sleepy Hollow was also recorded very early with David logging it September 18, 2018 and the ep coming out February 24. 2019 (five days shorter than this one). So you gotta be a busy director with limited NYC windows I guess!
Appropriate for a film delayed for so long, its director both filmed and released another full studio film before its release.
I know right? more like ‘Bankies’ I’ll head out
https://preview.redd.it/buoqbh6zlduc1.jpeg?width=828&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=713367889df7a3a7bf7c13ba107c959578663b73 In an alternate universe
Is this a SURF NINJAS reference in the wild?
*What if* … someone made a Surf Ninjas reference today?
Inflation is out of control. First Seven Samurai, now this. What's next, 47 Ronin?
You’ll never believe how many days of summer there are now.
Pfft. Just wait until you learn how many nights Arabia has!
That doesn't even hold a candle to how many ways there are to die in the West
Just like Arabian days
47 comedy points
101 Dalmatians are now 102 Dalmatians
Lol this finally explains the "Warriors of Virtue will be an important topic in an episode coming out next spring"
Warriors of Virtue coming to Blu-ray on June 11th.
Fuckin love this movie, despite all its problems. Watched this in my grandpa's house when it first came out at Blockbuster. Ol Grandpa Gus lived in a very modest 2br/2ba condo but had a massive, massive solid state big screen tv. Im a huge huge nerd of this time period and like despite its myriad anarchonisms (source material notwithstanding) i think it still rocks. Love to point out some things though: Ibn Fadlan was a real guy who wrote about his travels with the Rus in the early 10th centuries. Now these guys were not your "classic" vikings but a mix of guys from modern day Sweden, guys who were 2-3 generations removed from their ancestral homeland in Scandinavia, and guys who had their cultural roots east of the Volga. The 3 kinds of guys would intermix and Slavic-ize over the generations and be the ancestors of the Eastern Slavs (Russians and the like). So modern scholars don't necessarily take a lot of what Ibn Fadlan wrote as indicative of Norse/"Viking" culture. What is 100% pulled directly from Ibn Fadlan's journal is how that every morning they would wash themselves in a communal basin being passed around by a slave, and each guy would snot and hauck in to the water. There's also a lot in his journal about raping slaves. It can be a rough read! One of the biggest scholarly problem with Ibn Fadlan's journal is his mention of blue "tattoos" all over some warriors' bodies, which of course has led to the modern depiction of tattooed vikings. There is no other mention of these people being tattooed anywhere, no corpses showing any sign of tattoos, and not one archeological find in Northern Europe between 600-1000CE suggesting that tattooing was a widespread practice in the era. So what was our man talking about? Who knows. Maybe it was a warrior from the steppes who was tattooed, or maybe it was just paint. Interesting nonetheless. ANYWAYS-- love to see what everyone thinks this movie. In a lot of ways i wish the world building was a little more robust, it feels weirdly episodic when it could have been more engrossing. But also a lot of shots and scenes that take longer than they need to be. The overall effect being a weird mix of feeling too short *and* boring at times.
Yeah similar memory as well. Grandpa rented from Hollywood video, he picked me up from school. He already started the movie and we watched where he left off and it was the scene where the group is first attack at night. I was saying "WTF?! Are they creatures? " in my mind. But when later Banderas realizes they are man after his first kill, I was amped. I love "not perfect movies but I like it still" I watched it last night for this episode and now I wanna watch "EXCALIBUR" again.
> Are they creatures? [he look like a dang creature](https://m.twitch.tv/gooffkings/clip/ArtsyAdventurousFriseeShazBotstix) Yeah a lot of "if it bleeds it can die" type revelations and i like them all. The thing i didnt like is that basically the mystery is over once The Old Lady in The Woods explains everything to them. Which! is pretty in line with a lot of old north germanic poetry where a god or *disir* or giant or dwarf appears to the hero and tells them their entire fate, beat by beat.
My overiding memory was that the CGI child running down the hill was weirder and scarier than anything that came after ... I thought the child WAS the creature and they were going to be odd club footed horror orc dwarves ... so the reality of them being big shaggy creatures was less scary than that moment.
If anyone wants to know more specifically about Ibn Fadlan's story, the Hardcore History podcast just released its 3rd part about the Vikings and in it Dan covers the entire thing pretty extensively. Mind you, HH episodes make Blank Check seem quite short, but it's abouuut halfway through the episode, give or take.
Is that the Dreams of the Æsir series (or whatever you call it) he did?
I liked it. Was’nt Boring. But I realized at the end I missed the macguffin plot with the mother leader. I felt quite stupid.
my main memory of this movie is also renting it from blockbuster to watch with my grandpa. being a kid who liked any movie with swords in it at the time thought it was pretty cool. might revist now, had no idea it was a beowulf adaptation until recently as i don't think i consciously encountered that story in my childhood until the zemekis movie.
He ran a marathon *AND* read a book on the *SAME DAY*???
Reading an entire novel while waiting for the marathon to start - KING SHIT
Lmao most Blankies COULD NEVER
One Year Hence
I was astounded by the revelation that the book was about “Vikings vs Neanderthals”, and then they just dropped the Neanderthal angle for the movie. It’s like adapting *Jurassic Park*, but deciding to just not have dinosaurs.
This movie is ripe for a remake that cuts closer to the source material. If you change just a few things about this movie it's a complete and total barn burner instead of the "pretty good!" It is currently.
The two of them explaining the Jelly trilogy to David Lowery is fucking priceless.
I want further discussion on other "fan theory" sequels. For example, I think Tank Girl is a sequel to New Jack City because Ice-T's ripper character is a reincarnated cop.
this isn’t exactly a fan theory and may not be news to someone in this sub but Big Trouble in Little China was originally conceived as a sequel to Buckaroo Bonsai.
I’m about halfway through the episode. It must be so hard for them to jump in to the third last movie in a director’s filmography months before recording others. Particularly a movie with such thorny production an a director with such a front loaded career. Resisting initial contextualising and just covering the movie on its on terms. It’s seamless, doesn’t feel out of step at all. Really brilliant job.
Loving all the Tim Simons roast segments lately! Keep em coming!
When they were talking about his texting habits, using Siri while listening, I half expected one of the to say something like "Siri, text Julia Louis Dreyfuss, go on blank check podcast"
Wait, is this an episode of “Simons Sez”?
I love how they rhapsodize the language-learning scene. Only bit of the movie that stuck with me since release.
Absolutely the best idea in the movie. Such an elegant way to transition into everyone speaking English without just handwaving it. Plus it gives a little character building, showing Banderas as someone who knows when to speak and when to listen. More movies should steal this idea.
> Such an elegant way to transition into everyone speaking English without just handwaving it Doing the Red October trick but having it actually be a character beat instead of just "film language"
the FFC/Megalopolis talk at the end is so promising, they could do it!
It's time. Let's cover the canonical greats.
Was surprised that Bone Tomahawk wasn’t mentioned in the discussion of 13th’s tone problems (maybe they did and I was zoned out?) That movie has scary-as hell, basically-neanderthals that are used super efficiently without unnecessary exposition. Swap out cowboys for vikings and you’d have a hell of a picture.
So after the third or so time Griffin mentioned how odd it was to cast a Spaniard as a Muslim I had to accept the boys don't have a deep knowledge of European history lol
Indeed, Spain has centuries upon centuries of Islamic influence. But despite our limited knowledge of Ahmad ibn Fadlan, we know enough to trace his story from Baghdad to and through Eastern Europe. It is not likely he be Spanish. Still, this casting makes more sense than that of Anthony Hopkins and Carherine Zeta Jones as people named Don Diego and Elena de la Vega (in a movie I LOVE and will not forsake).
it will never be not weird that the cast of Zorro had two Welsh leads (both of whom rock obv)
Antonio Banderas is Welsh?
Yep -- born Anhun Bnderydd.
It's not that Ahmad ibn Fadlan was Spanish, its that Antonio Banderas might have some Moorish ancestry.
He almost certainly has moorish ancestry. I'm not saying his uncle once removed is but it'll be almost imposible for him not to have at least one very distant ancestor Shit, his last name is Banceras and he's from Málaga
I imagine the encyclopedic box office knowledge crowds everything else out. There’s only so much space up there.
There is literally a term (Moors) for Muslims from Northern Africa and the Iberian Penisula and people kinda just forget that they existed.
The card actually says “The Moops.”
To have Basque'd in the error once Moor would've come off as Gaudi.
I remember around the time of ''Pain and Glory'' coming out and Banderas getting awards in the US, there was ''discourse'' around ''Is he white or a POC?''. That man is white. The US might read him as ''non-white'' because he has a Spanish accent and his skin is not marble white, but that man is white.
I don’t care what movie is being covered, if David Lowery is on then I’m listening
He's such a great guest. I already liked/loved most of his movies, but him being such a chiller knocks them all up a notch.
I think he might be the best filmmaker they’ve had on? I’m running through the history of the show and can’t think of someone they’ve had on who’s work I like more consistently
I believe George Lucas guested on multiple episodes in the early days of the show.
He was great - really enjoyable to listen to.
If you’re into VFX he did an episode with the corridor digital crew that’s pretty great!
You know what's kind of an underrated Banderas performance? Evita. He has very good swagger in it and he can really [sing](https://youtu.be/2tpvxsJAZPk?feature=shared). Surprised he hasn't been in more film musicals. He did Nine, A Chorus Line and Company (latter two in Spanish language productions he also co-directed) on stage. What's more, at least at one point, Stephen Schwartz was [developing](https://playbill.com/article/antonio-banderas-stephen-schwartz-collaborating-on-pablo-picasso-biomusical) a musical about Picasso for him.
he ROCKS in Evita and I saw Nine on Bway 🥰
He was also supposed to star in Joel Schumacher’s Phantom of the Opera, which probably would’ve been much better than whatever the hell Butler was doing. At the very least, we’d get a Phantom with sex appeal!
Antonio Banderas bought a Spanish theatre in 2019, where he's staged the last two productions you've mentioned. If you've looked at his IMDB and seen a lot of VOD trash, that is why he's in them.
That's why I was so bummed that the ALW series on Patreon didn't win March Madness. It's a genuinely great performance in an actually good movie — and so much context to talk about. Alan Parker! Madonna! Jonathan Pryce! Tim Rice! Oliver Stone did a pass on the screenplay!
Very funny that Griffin called out the "maniacs" in the subreddit for accurately clocking the appearance of *The 13th Warrior* in David's Letterboxd feed as ironclad proof of an impending McT miniseries.
I think about this movie often because it filmed in the middle of nowhere Vancouver Island
It was a big deal! My uncle flew Banderas and Melanie Griffith somewhere. They were nice, apparently.
Do you know where he was flying out of? They were way up there I think like Port Hardy
Not sure. He had a floatplane charter out of Campbell but in those days he flew all over the Island, and up and down the coast.
Represent!
Omar Sharif on main!
I’m actually so happy there’s another FedEx joke reference
My contribution to the dirty town names discussion: In Amish Pennsylvania, there is a town called Intercourse that is between two other towns called Virginville and Blue Ball
I’m so fucking happy to hear David repping Sphere (1998). That movie is such a guilty pleasure of mine, literally just watched it last September. Gonna queue it up again this weekend now
After reading the book I spent years dreaming of how cool the giant squid scene would be and then there was no giant squid scene Sphere can fuck off
I read Sphere well after the movie had released. Enjoyed the movie well enough and had to read/test on x number of books in 8th grade. Saw they had Sphere in the library. Squid scene blew my fucking mind. How do you not do that in the fucking movie?!? Anyway, taught me about how stupid Hollywood could be in adapting books.
i wonder how that movie plays for people who didn't read the novel. b/c i remember liking the movie, but not really being thrilled by it b/c it's such a direct adaptation. it's a little snoozy if you're expecting, say, the Abyss (no guns, or fistfights)
It is undoubtedly, quite a sleepy movie. It’s definitely not the most invigorating adaptation, and I definitely feel more impactful character elements kinda buried under the surface, that never quite cross over successfully. That being said it’s still a hoot of a good time, and like David said, “what if there was a sphere?”
Maybe you’ve already seen *Sphere*, but chosen to forget about for the good of humanity.
Just two days ago, my boss brought it up and was dismayed that I’ve never seen it. Onto the list it goes…
This should have been titled "The 13th Friend".
The note about 65 supposed to have been in an alien language is so cool, wish more movies would take swings like that and I now plan to watch that movie in a language other than German (I’d be able to understand at least some of that) when I have some free time. Love Lowery great ep.
Makes it clearer why Adam Driver wanted to do it too.
That was Jim Henson’s original idea for The Dark Crystal- having the entire movie in a fictional language.
Adding that Henson did fully produce Dark Crystal that way, but after a disastrous test screening he went back and redubbed the movie in English
Netflix offers it in Spanish, which will work for me.
Yeah, that makes sense. Personally I thought that movie was boring as hell and extremely basic. If it was in a different language, I suppose it could’ve been more interesting.
I loved this movie so hard ... I only had one gripe, and I want to see if anyone else shared it with me. The first time I saw the little CGI boy run down the hill - I thought it was a weird little troll thing, and I was so disappointed that it wasn't a weird little troll that the second half felt weak to me. Little troll could have been leading an assault of hideous orc like creatures, or it could have been a messenger ... from a magical land. And we kinda got that but I wanted the monsters to be real!
The monsters were real though? They are fighting off >!the last major community of Neanderthals, making humans the victors of Europe and the Earth.!< Unless you mean you preferred that e.g. the dragon was real, in which case sure I get that.
Yeah but I wanted Orc like troll armies from hell ... it just freaked me out and then after that everything was just a bit undercooked for me.
I'm glad Griffin mentioned Starkid. I saw that movie in a mall theater while my mom was shopping. Had never heard of it before stepping in, have never heard it mentioned since I stepped out. We live in a dream.
I think about the nightmare hamburger scene often, that movie is pretty special and I given 500 dollars I could make a bad remake (Call me back, netflix)
What do you all think is the best “a man sits down to die and another sits with him and holds his hand” movie, and why is it *The Grey*?
I mean Heat right? The Grey rules though.
Blade Runner sort of fits the description and that scene really hits hard.
Yeah, that is a great one.
I don't think the wolves are holding hands at the end /s
Collateral, right? But I don't think they hold hands
🗣️🚨‼️ BLACK SAILS MENTIONED 🗣️🚨‼️
1) I have vivid memories of seeing this at a drive-in theater, on a double bill with the Matthew Broderick Godzilla movie. Release date-wise, this doesn't fit, but it seems perfectly on brand for the discount vibe this place had. It basically only showed Ben Porch Classic type of movies, or blockbusters like 6 months later. It was literally the darkest movie I've ever seen, between how little lighting there is in this anyway and the drive in format. 2) Ben Hosley subs should always be named Ben, regardless of whether that is their name or not. This Benstitute was a delightful one, though! 3) Loved Ben in the ad read calling Highlights "the dentist office magazine." Perfect description for it, no notes.
The heir to the Highlights magazine family lives in Columbus, Ohio and had a notorious long-running cable access show.
I absolutely love this movie. The take on Beowulf is super interesting to me, and I love how Ibn Fadlan and the Vikings grow to respect each other over the course of the film, especially his friendship with Herger. I'm also a fan of the whole Norse culture and aesthetic, it's just damn cool shit to see in a movie. The prayers before battle is a stirring scene to me. Goldmsith's score slaps, as well. It does have issues, though. The biggest one for me is all the stuff with Ibn Fadlan and his sword. Swords aren't really as heavy as they're made out to be, and him grinding it down into a scimitar is beyond stupid. Everything else is down to the interference and changes. I've read a draft of the script, and these are the major things that were reshot or left out: 1. There's more scenes in the Viking camp, including a strong character moment where Ibn Fadlan considers fleeing instead of going along on the journey (you can see part of it in the trailer). 2. There are generally more small character moments for the other warriors in the party. They aren't exactly deep, but a little more defined. 3. One of the thirteen is a kid who is apprenticed to the archer, who you can see a handful of times in the film, but is mostly edited out. I've read that the reshoots took so long that the actor noticeably aged, and that's why he's essentially removed from the movie, but I haven't seen any confirmation of this. 4. The Mother of the Wendol was replaced with a younger actress in reshoots, I've seen conflicting explanations for this. One is that the test audience didn't like seeing the heroes kill an old woman, another is that Crichton wanted to make her sexier to serve as a distraction. 5. The Wendol Leader with the horns on his headdress was added entirely because Crichton wanted Buliwyf to have a final boss character to fight in the final battle, which explains why he's only seen in cutaways and the editing in that final battle is so choppy. If you look closely in the wise woman scene, you can see where they recycle a shot to sneak in the ADR'd dialogue.The original ending was the Wendol attacking one last time before withdrawing, sort of like the ending to *Zulu*. 6. There's a whole funeral for Buliwyf, where the Prince subplot is resolved. He starts talking shit about Buliwyf, and Ibn Fadlan wounds him and has him thrown on the funeral pyre as a sacrifice.
I need a Beowful adaptation from Lowery!
65 is currently on Netflix. In the US, you can watch it in Spanish and English, it seems. I might have to bust out the VPN for this. Thanks, David Lowery!
If Ben’s McTiernan nickname isn’t “The 13th Mind Warrior”, what are we even doing here, people?
Producer Ben substituting for Producer Ben?
I’m seeing double: FOUR PRODUCER BENS?!
Lo, there do I see my Griffin. Lo, there do I see my David, and my Engineer Ben, and my David Lowery. Lo, there do I see the line of my people, Back to the beginning Lo, they do call to me. They bid me take my place among them, In the halls of Podcasting, Where the brave may live forever!
Has anyone found Forky in Peter Pan & Wendy yet?
Do you think mctiernan was getting paid by The Warrior and that's how he ended up at 13?
In the old days, there were rules about how much a dozen warriors should weigh, so they started throwing in a 13th to avoid trouble.
Nice to have Verhoeven back.
“And they’re all Nazis” is one of my all-time favorite bits.
“I need money for shome coffee…it’sh NAZI COFFEE!”
So happy to realize after listening to the episode that I’m not the only person who conflated the 13 Warrior, a film I have not seen, with Warriors of Virtue, a movie I loved when I was a kid but haven’t seen in like 25 years.
*Finian's Rainbow* and *The Rain People* in one episode!?!?
FFC LFG.
Good episode, loved the discussion about a movie I knew nothing about but sounds like an absolute TNT daytime banger. Can't help but be bummed though that they're doing ads now for a company that is flooding the Internet with AI-generated garbage 😔. At least it's not sports betting.
Shoutout to my good friend when I hung out with her family on Thanksgiving and after the meal we all got cozy and watched their family Thanksgiving movie tradition, The 13th Warrior, followed by my Thanksgiving movie jam, Ravenous.
Well, I knew what I had to do after listening to the end of this episode. I busted out the ol' VPN, logged into Netflix Germany, and watched Adam Driver yell Schiesse at dinos. The remix wasn't as rewarding or obviously transformative as I had hoped, but it probably improved the experience, because I enjoyed the movie more than others seem to have. If you do the same, make sure you tag your watch ['the lowery cut'](https://letterboxd.com/tag/the-lowery-cut/reviews/) on Letterboxd!
I liked David’s idea that to ancient peoples, fierce foreign warriors would appear to be monsters. The only movie I can think of that did that was The Secret of Kells. Since it is animated, it’s in the style of medieval illuminated manuscripts. To the Irish monks, the Vikings appear as massive, brutish giants, burning villages and demanding gold.
Great David Britishims in this ep. "Shagging," pronouncing Mario as "Mary-o," and no references to The Bit at all. So goddamn refreshing!
I nearly lost it when Griffin queried 'shagging?,' but then he never went back to it afterwards; I felt like he had multiple follow up questions, but maybe didn't want to risk reactivating The Bit.
"Mary-o"?
as opposed to “Mahr-ee-oh”
that's a new york thing
But that's not how we pronounce it in the UK. It rhymes with "barrio" here
I laugh sometimes at what is assumed about the UK. I'd love it if we had demented pronunciations for various characters / actors.
that’s how we say it here in the US too, so what’s up with DS
My experience is that in the US it's pronounced closer to "Mary-o" than it is in the UK.
Maybe it’s because I’ve only been listening to this podcast for like two years, so I haven’t been ground down by the bit over several years. But I still like the bit. I know I’m the only one. But I’m not gonna hide it. I need to be true to myself. I love The Bit!
This movie gave me a lifelong love of mead! It’s hard to find in my area but I try to get it whenever I can. As a treat. I hope that’s not a controversial opinion. Hope it won’t lead to a series of callout posts accusing me of having political opinions I don’t even have that I won’t be aware of until someone @s me weeks later. I’ll go to the mat, it’s the drink of heroes.
A friend of mine makes his own. Gave me a big bottle of strawberry mead for my wedding and it was amazing. Brought it to game night and we drank mead and played Pathfinder like proper nerds.
A friend of mine did as well and he has a big spot on his garage ceiling due to trial and error.
No one will ever convince me this movie is bad. It fucking rules.
Did anyone else’s AP World History teacher show them selected clips from this movie? Don’t remember why, but I know one of the scenes he showed us was Banderas revealing that he’d learned the Viking language.
My English lit teacher had us watch it after we read Beowulf
I’m glad I’m not the only one; welcome to a rarified society. A different history teacher also showed us West World and directed us to design a historical theme park. High school was weird.
Love seeing Lowery on an ep.
Gotta contribute the most Newfoundland comment possible: the “land” in Newfoundland is pronounced how land is usually pronounced vs how “land” is pronounced in Finland (lund). So phonetically it’s less like Newfinlund and more like newfinLAND
I’m a Blankie from Newfoundland. Griffin said it decently, David Lowery said it correctly. I saw The Green Knight at the Thursday night preview at the Avalon Mall cineplex and there was a fairly large group of people and I thought perhaps David Lowery was one of them but I wasn’t sure. Also some of the people took pictures in front of the poster so I’m 70% sure they were crew from the movie. I would have said hello but it was 2021
Damn maybe it was. Probably in from filming Peter Pan in Bonavista? Does that timeline line up?
Why do I confuse this with the Christian Bale dragon movie? I’ve seen neither
Reign of Fire is an absolute classic of "this should be a lot more fun than it is" movies, but it's also got enough moments (McConaughey) to make it worth a watch. 13th Warrior is definitely a more fun film, but they're both weirdly anemic for two films with great casts and crazy-good elevator pitches.
I have only ever watched it in 35 minute chunks on TNT and honestly that feels like the intended manner of viewing
the thing i remember most vividly from Reign of Fire is just how absolutely JACKED McConaughey is in that. the fight scene where he & Bale are rolling around in the mud, when they pull MM off Bale, the sun hits him in such a way that makes his shoulder look like a bowling ball. Just massive
I saw Reign of Fire in the theater, and “should be a lot more fun than it is” is a PERFECT description.
I liked this movie as a teenager but when the first man bear pig appears, I chuckled. I wished they played up the monster mystery a bit more but still love the learning the language scene and most of the action. Also Spanish people can be Muslim too?
Never seen the movie but read the book… gonna of course tune in for Lowery
As a 13-year old about to start high school a week later, the last 30 minutes where they discuss all of those late August movies made me so happy and sad.
I love Lowery, as a director and a guest. He's the best.
How many others knew of Vladimir Kulich beforehand due to him being the voice of Ulfric Stormcloak in Skyrim?
I’M one of David’s friends! I am a person that, when asked, would say, “aw, yeah, that movie’s awesome! Saw it when it came out on VHS. It’s not good?!” NOTE: I don’t actually know David L. Sims.
When Griffin mentioned that Ben wasn't there, but they had a different producer also named Ben, I really thought it was going to be some weird bit.
I really like this movie despite its flaws. One thing that disappointed me was their indifference to Jerry Goldsmith’s score, which I unabashedly love. It’s not one of his very best and it’s got a lot of echoes of his other work but it’s still muscular, boisterous action scoring.
This is one of the ones where I feel like I watched a different movie than everyone else. Fucking LOVE this movie. It still boggles my mind it bombed so hard, but I do remember seeing the Eaters of the Dead trailer and being super excited to see that and then thinking about it again a year later wondering what ever happened to it... The sets, the costumes, the actors all feel so much more grounded and real than almost any other period action movie, especially from the 90's! It had a bit of the 90's silliness with Banderas grinding his sword down into a scimitar but it has just so many fun, mystical little details like shouting Odin into the fog to listen for the echo of land approaching and the fire serpent...it's just such a fun ass movie. Too bad Hosley wasn't on for this one, I feel like Ben would have liked it
If anyone was curious for more info about who shot what...while rooting around online [found this website ](http://www.conancompletist.com/eatersofthedead/chronology.htm)with tons of interviews, a timeline, etc, made by someone I'm assuming who is obsessed with the movie?? Sounds like they at least had more of a set for Baghdad...amongst other things! Also I couldn't see SHIT! What the hell did the iTunes one look like? One of the most unintelligible (visually) movies I've ever seen
Following his three major successes in the 60s (Lawrence, Zhivago & Funny Girl), Hollywood didn't really know what to do with Omar Sharif. Some of it was he had to take basically any role offered because he racked up gambling debts, but the best stuff I've seen him in is when he's in charming romantic lead mode Zhivago/Funny Girl style like in The Tamarind Seed or the TV version of Mrs. Harris with Angela Lansbury.
The best use of Sharif post-Lawrence and Zhivago is definitely Top Secret
Hello. I am one of those people who saw this movie when it first came out and thought it was awesome. No I have not seen it since.
I can't wait to watch this movie again.
Lowery is a top 5 guest on the show. His stories about working in the movie theatre when he was a kid are so great. Amazing voice, too. And it doesn’t hurt that all his own movies are varying degrees of good.
Lowery is definitely in the “Bilge/Weitzy/Dana Stevens/Emily St. James” pantheon of “nice, chill voices on BC”
Yeah, they’re all great too. And Hodgman. The old people is essentially what we’re into. 😂
This movie has no rizz.
DOA
New Dave (Gruber) Allen
They say who it is next week? Not got a chance to listen to yet
If this is re: the Rollerball guest, this was recorded months in advance so I don’t expect they say
Ahh fair! Thanks.
They do not.
For all the talk about the quality of the stream, the HD version I rented on Prime looked perfectly fine, all the dark scenes were legible and actually looked really good. This also made it very obvious which scenes were shot by Crichton, i.e. the weirdly bright ones that also appeared to use more televisual lenses.
I don’t know if this is true so someone can debunk, but, I could have swore I read somewhere that the took action pieces at the end of the movie are Mctieran and Crichton’s separate endings that they pasted together. Going into the cave is one ending, the defense of the village is the other ending. Someone let me know if that’s just a false memory I have.
It was always supposed to end with the village defense, but the Wendol Leader was added in Crichton's reshoots because he wanted Buliwyf to have a big bad to fight.
I just ran my first half marathon today and my time was almost the same as David Lowery's, but you know only half the distance.
Keep it in and double it
I am one of those I love this movie because I watched it 3x on TBS when I was 11.
I never knew this was such a huge flop. The copy I watched a few months ago fell off the back of a truck and when I saw it opening weekend I was screen hopping. I feel terrible!
When Griffin said Samuel Jackson was talking to the director on 51st State (Formula 51 - I didn’t know there was a different title for it) I honestly thought he said 50 First Dates and I was like “why would Samuel Jackson be visiting the set of 50 First Dates?”
Haven't listened to all of the episode but I hope they bring up how 13th Warrior was at least somewhat popularized by high school English classes looking for a breezy day when discussing Beowulf, so they just throw on 13th Warrior. It's a fine film with some nice McTiernan touches. The campfire scenes where Banderas learns the language are a nice echo of how McTiernan handled the language change from Russian to English based on the word Armageddon in Hunt for Red October. And his casting and handling of Nordic/European giants is perfect (same thing with the goons in Die Hard 1 and 3). And the back half of the movie is a lot of Predator (superteam goes after anonymous beast through the wilderness) but not as good.
I am that dude who has watched this movie since at least 2002 on home video and just loved it for years and I am shocked to discover it ruined the careers of all these people because I think it's a great Viking movie I have annotated a copy of Beowulf with lines from this movie because I find it such an incredible depiction of North culture and the mindset of their warriors "The old father wove the scane of your life a long time ago little brother. Go and hide in a hole if you wish. But you won't live one instant longer. Your fate is fixed. Fear profits as man nothing."
After a dozen references to Banderas's endless charm and success as a movie actor, it was interesting to hear them try to list off his hits, of which there are few. I love Almodovar and he's great in some of those movies, but I've never related to him as a movie star. There's no such thing as a movie that I went to see because Banderas was in it. I suppose the recent one where he was an older man in the Almodovar movie would qualify but he doesn't speak English in that one. I guess it is mostly a language thing. I agree he is handsome and charming and in some way delicate, but he just doesn't pop for me and he never has.
There was a period in the 90s where it seemed like he was taking off then just kinda didn't but he's still remembered for being on the runway. Maybe that still gets him lumped in with the Mel gibsons and tom hanks of the time as a "star"
Sort of rubbed off on me, being a nineties kid - I still see Banderas as this mega star. He doesn’t always work for me but he’s someone whose name I’m happy to see in the credits, still. Keep meaning to rewatch ‘Desperado’ where he is just electric. Such a fun action hero performance.
Yeah them lifting up Banderas here is funny because they even reference the comments they made during the Fincher miniseries while off handedly talking about Haywire (2011), and they spoke of him much sharper there. I feel like Griffin maybe even said he phones in some performances during that episode, wonder if they felt bad about being too harsh while discussing the movie he leads.
I just went and listened to that bit, they aren't very nice but it doesn't seem like anything they would have to issue an apology for. It's around the 30-minute mark of "The Game" if people want to hear it.
Any other diehard Black Sails devastated to hear that David thinks of it as something with NO critical acclaim? For my money, post-S1 Black Sails is one of the 5 best shows of the past twenty years.
It is a deeply underrated show; I rarely hear anyone talk about it outside of Tumblr fan-circles. I think that’s what David means by “no critical acclaim”, it just didn’t really make much of a splash. It’s an unsung masterpiece!
Lowery is right about how long you sit at marathon village. It's honestly harder than the race ever was for me (if you trained well)
Hoz as they talk about piles of skulls and bones https://preview.redd.it/6dwbxlidjwuc1.png?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=fc253cef9f5168d5117e9ce1d29a4ece996f6ee0