Eric Miller Part 2: Old School Filmmaking

In part two of the Fisch Bowl's interview with screenwriter Eric Miller, we discuss the actors, films, and performances that not only succeeded in making filmmaking fun, but also brought the art of traditional filmmaking to life. Our casual conversation is far from over, so swim upstream and check out more of Miller's thoughts!

Transcript

Welcome To The Fishbowl

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Attention, all you fishes in the sea. Welcome to the fishbowl. The Savish. I'm uh I'm happy to just be in the room or on the list, even though if I'm down at 400,952 of all the greatest movies ever made. If I've cracked a million, we're we're happy. But you know, it really is an honor for me as a fan. I always like to say I flash back to the 14-year-old kid or whatever age I was growing up in Indiana, looking at movie posters on the wall and going to the theaters when something would come out and I could afford the matinee ticket or trying to sneak in and just seeing some of those great movies. And it's like, and hey, I wound up in Hollywood somehow. And you know, I'm uh I'm not at the top, I'm somewhere in the middle or buried near the bottom. It doesn't matter. I've got to work with amazing people. Like you say, Bill Mosley was in the first movie I was ever in on set, uh Crash and Burn, Charlie Band directed. And as I I honestly, I don't think I've even worked with Bill since then, but it was such a positive experience, and just like I'm I'm on a movie set and I'm on a kind of a horror sci-fi movie set. And who's this guy, Mosley, who's just like playing a crazy cyborg or something? And it's just like, hey, that guy's gonna go somewhere. And he did, of course, you know, so many great parts of everything. And so, and again, people that I've got a chance to work with and become friends with quite a few of them, and it's just been it's been an honor, honestly, so to be able to be part of it. And I I still take it that

Growing Up On Movie Posters

SPEAKER_00 1:20

way every single day.

SPEAKER_01 1:22

I I I can believe it. I just through talking with you, it's it's been a blast. One one last film I wanted to talk about. Well, two uh that I wanted to bring up that you worked on. There was a uh convention I covered a few years back. It just got recently posted, uh, was uh the Living Dead weekend, and here in Pittsburgh to honor George Ramiro and you know the his legacy in in Pittsburgh, with it being not just uh the Steelers, Penguins, Pirates, Capitol, but zombie capital. Flesh-eating ghoul now. Right, right, right. Uh you know, but I I had the chance to interview. I've been following this this because I I my favorite actors are not really like I mean, I love movie stars, you know, but I think I gravitate more towards character actors. And Don Hart Don Harvey was at that that convention. I had a chance to interview him. And you know, I know you got to you uh work as I believe a driver or some sort of thing with taken and taken three.

SPEAKER_00 2:33

I was the I was the transportation coordinator on or captain andor coordinator, top of the or near the top of the

Working On Taken With Pros

SPEAKER_00 2:40

department on one, two, and three, the features, the LA and uh the American legs of those, anyway. They shot some of them back in various other countries, but yeah.

SPEAKER_01 2:49

Well, I just want to say Don and Antaken in general, uh obviously totally redefining Liam Neeson's career from being a serious dramatic actor to a full-blown action star.

SPEAKER_00 3:06

And and and yeah, a full-blown, like you say, a full-blown act star, super, super nice guy, absolute pleasure to work with him. Obviously, an old school pro in so many ways. But uh and the first movie, I mean, when in Hollywood, sometimes you get hired and it's a job and you don't know what you're getting into. And I was I was always famously saying, I hate reading the script because it's going to be a great script and I'm excited to work on it, and it may not turn out that good, or it's a terrible script and you don't want to work on it, but those are the ones that generally turn out good. But this was a great script, great cast, great talent, everyone across the board. And and then it's and it's Liam Neesman, and like you say, the other every other actor in it too was just phenomenal. And it was old school filmmaking. It wasn't the uh explosion on page one and you know, open with bang, bang, bang. It's like take 20 minutes to slowly get to know everyone, and the characters are even more like and I'm so into that old school OG vibe on stuff like that. The old the I think you know, back to Sorcerer we're talking about, I think it's almost an hour into the movie before they ever get to the truck that the movie's name is. Right, right. You know, same things and a Deer Hunter, another great uh Pennsylvania movie there. Yeah, like how long is it before you know we you get there's not an action film by any stretch, but it's the character and the setup and all that. So anyway, so many stories from that, and for it to have become a global phenomenon and been part of it. And I was saying to somebody else the other day, obviously people expected it to be a success, but I don't think anyone expected it to become an iconic global movie like it was. You know, we all thought it was gonna be good. You could tell on the set it was gonna be good, and and we all did our best. And then suddenly I remember there was an email chain among people going around, it's like it's it's hit a hundred million dollars. Like, what? You know, like what? Everyone's like, wait, wait, wait, what? This is like the number one movie. I don't remember if it was actually the number one, but I think it was. And you know, again, it was you know, it wasn't like we spent a hundred million dollars on it, it was very much an independent film. And and and I and all of them, I think taken three became I think

Why John Wick Clicks

SPEAKER_00 5:00

the budget was much, much larger on that.

SPEAKER_01 5:01

It was much more of anything. That that one I was gonna say, like the the I could tell from much like you know, in Hollywood, the first one, you know, like it even going back to the first John Wick, because they've been playing the the first three on on HBO, HBO Max, whatever. And it's been what like a decade since they they've they've made John Wick, they've gone the four, they they have the ballerina spin-off, you know, and it's like you kind of forget, you know, how just like simple the first movie is. You know, before you get you know, the the Hollywood is like we have a head, give them more money, and then then this the second one is bigger, that does well, but now we've got to give them a lot more money to off the ante, you know, and it becomes that, you know, how do we make it bigger, better, kill more people, you know.

SPEAKER_00 6:04

I'm I am I'm such a giant fan of the how do you kill people, you know. Yeah, I I'm such a giant fan of that series, and it's also you know, it's kind of a testament to letting even even though everyone involved are obviously professionals from Keanu to everybody uh doing it, but they're also fans, right? They're movie fans, and so it was basically fans, professional fans, making a movie for other fans, and it just it just bleeds off the screen. Like you said, it's so simple. And and yes, you can get hung up on like the highest body count ever and the great lines and the great moments and all those things, but at the end of the day, it's almost like the biggest, best fan fiction ever of something. It's just like these guys, they just they love the same movies we do, and they finally get the chance to just pull off the stops and get in front and behind the camera and just go mental and and have fun. And uh I love it. I and again, old school. That's old school filmmaking. Exactly, exactly.

SPEAKER_01 6:56

And and and it's like seeing seeing like actually giving a chance for stunt men to shine, to shine, yeah, not and not just shine, but like because of John Wick, now you have what's his name. There's two of them that were in the first one. There's Tate Fletcher, who's you know, the big one with the beard that he kills, and who's been in how many movies, and now he has like his own character that I believe was on the boys, you know, that he's gotten so big and with his look and everything. And then the other is Daniel is it Bernhardt or something?

The Return Of 80s Camp

SPEAKER_01 7:40

He has a very signature look, also. And speaking of awesome B-grade movies, and this just came out earlier this year, a couple months ago. The the remake of a reboot remake, I don't know how you want to look at it, of uh Death Stalker. Well, I haven't seen which I haven't seen, so I highly recommend it. It's this this guy, the writer director, his name is Steven Kazinsky, Kaczynski. It might be Kaczynski. I for I for I apologize if I'm if I'm mispronouncing the the the last name, but uh the the this this guy like he is he he's I believe around like my age, late 30s, maybe early 40s. I'm not exactly sure how old he is, but within that that like we you know in a late 80s, mid eighties like kid who grew up with watching, you know, all the stuff that you know we're uh we're fans of, I'm huge fans of growing up. And he's made some like every film he's made has been just like encompassing everything that is that was great about the 80s style and everything, and he doesn't, you know, incorporate any like political or social like subtext. It's all just you know how movies used to be with like just making a fun, goofy, campy, you know, horror sci-fi film. And his Death Stalker, and he's also makeup effects artist, so he owns his own company and you know they does all the effects for his own movies. And and the first movie that I remember he did on the topic of Lovecraft, it wasn't a Lovecraft adaptation, but it was basically like From Beyond and you know a few other ones like combined, and it was called The Void. And great, great movie, wild effects, such in the vein of you know, Stuart Gordon, Brian Usena, Lovecraft, with like some Prince of Darkness kind of thrown in there. Um and then some of his more recent ones before, and I believe he also did what technically takes place in the original leprechaun universe, just not with Warwick Davis. He did, I believe, Leprechaun Returns for Sci-Fi, which was actually pretty enjoyable. It was the uh probably the first Leprechaun, even though Warwick wasn't the leprechaun, it was very, very enjoyable. And you can tell he's like uh, you know, grew up watching the the great, you know, plethora of of horror films, because there's a lot of scenes that you know you can tell he was watching from taken from certain films from from the 80s, and some of his the two films he did before Death Stalker, which is really like his first, I would say something with somewhat of a of a bigger budget, you know, because it's like fantasy sword and sorcery type stuff, was uh one was called, I and I love the the promotion for it, PG, aka psycho gore man. Uh and this movie was just such fun. It's it's like I mean it's like a sci-fi. I mean, I wouldn't even throw it throw horror in there. I'd say it's a sci-fi comedy, like black comedy, with like horror effects, sci-fi effects.

SPEAKER_00 11:32

But if it's like sounds like he's watching Tokyo Gore Police or it's a good one.

SPEAKER_01 11:36

Yeah, there's all there's also Power Rangers, a lot of Power Rangers in there. And then the last one he did after that, which I honestly think Psycho Gore Man and this one, Frankie Freiko, are like my my two favorite films he's done.

SPEAKER_00 11:54

I watched with him the other day.

SPEAKER_01 11:57

Frankie Freiko is like goalies, you know, it's it's it's it's it's these little puppet like demon things, and you know, like everything about it is so goofy, you know, and he's just thrown into the world and what he does on you know a budget with like sets and green screens and stuff, like with the puppets, it's very very well done. And then like to go from that to Death Stalk, rebooting Death Stalker was was pretty cool. And Daniel, I forget um Bernhard, whatever his last name is, plays the new Death Stalker. Now I will say for people who have not seen the film and are familiar with the 80s franchise, if you're expecting TNA, it is not in this movie. But but if you want to see like just a fun sword and sorcery movie with a lot of good practical effects, like in the vein of the 80s, you will enjoy it. You know, that's that's my take on it. I I personally enjoyed

Skinemax Memories Meet Streaming

SPEAKER_01 13:00

it. You know, I you know, I feel like I don't know, the 80s, we didn't have the internet and smartphones where you know nudity and pornography is like shoved in our faces, and HBO with and these premium channels with you know how it's shoved in our faces at this point. Like HBO almost can't have a show without having someone get naked, whether it's a guy or a girl or both, you know.

SPEAKER_00 13:28

So I'm a little like we had skin, we had Skinemax back then, though. So right, right.

SPEAKER_01 13:34

I remember that, and it's and it's funny because on on that, like Skinemax has totally gone away from that image. You know, and now I think the only one that you can still watch adult content like that on is Showtime and MGM Plus has some Skinemax S type type stuff.

SPEAKER_00 13:55

Well, it's it's it's everywhere, it's everywhere. Like we were saying earlier, though, with writing and with effects and everything, too. Leave in some things to the imagination, it kind of engages your brain. But that there was that glorious time in the 80s in particular, but also into the 90s of just like it's it's like the boob channel, like good Greece. Right, right, right.

unknown 14:13

Right.

SPEAKER_00 14:14

It was it was crazy. And that was and that was part of the fun of it, too, whether it's respectful or disrespectful. But so many things. I mean, how many, how many women's prison movies were there? I think one of the one of my first movies that I worked on was Bikini Beach Babes from Beyond Infinity. I'm like, how can you not want to watch that? I'm sorry.

SPEAKER_01 14:31

Right. Right, right, right. And I think there was something on Encore uh the other day that was called Lesbian Vampire Hunters. Who wouldn't want to watch that? You know, who who wouldn't?

SPEAKER_00 14:45

Like it's it's irrelevant. I mean, wait, is that is that good grammar? Are they hunting lesbian vampires or are the vampire hunters lesbians? I guess I have to watch to find out.

SPEAKER_01 14:55

Right. Maybe it's both. Right. You know, I guess it's what's come to be called a snakes on a plane title.

SPEAKER_00 15:05

I'm gonna I'm gonna check that out for purpose of for research and grammatical purposes. So absolutely.

SPEAKER_01 15:13

Yeah. And and I don't know if I'm giving away too much, but my dad, this this must this is one for the guys who are listening. If you have old horny dads, like like like my my dad, who's a bit of a pervert in a good way, in a good way. Sorry, dad. Sorry, dad. You know, I left an impression on me. You know, I'm a horny little, you know, pervert in the in the in the right kind of way, too. You know, apparently you can access adult movies on Paramount Plus if you have showtime. I found this out through accidentally scrolling and and leave it to my dad. You know, he's like, you know, I can't get it up anymore, anyways. You know, so I just want to watch it. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 16:07

I've I've heard you might want to let him know. I I've heard that they have those type of movies on the internet somewhere too. Uh it's a thing. Apparently, there's you gotta really search for it hard, but apparently there's websites that have that.

SPEAKER_01 16:20

Yes, I right, right.

SPEAKER_00 16:21

You know, but you know, it is never never stumbled across it myself, but friends have told me that it's out there somewhere.

SPEAKER_01 16:27

So I know, but apparently it's on there if you have the showtime version.

SPEAKER_00 16:32

So for all you all you youngsters out there, the the viewership just goes up, much more subscribers there all of a sudden.

SPEAKER_01 16:41

You know, all the women are like, he's a pig, he's giving you know the the wrong information out there. All the guys are going, they're they're going, they're they're they're hitting stop and going to their Paramount Plus accounts, signing up for the show time and saying, Is this accurate? Like, you know, hell hell, I could be a spokesperson for Paramount Plus.

SPEAKER_00 17:03

To be fair, there's a lot of other really excellent programming on there too.

SPEAKER_01 17:08

Right, right, including Tulsa

Stallone And Arnie Earned It

SPEAKER_01 17:10

King, back to Stallone, you know, among among uh many, many other programs.

SPEAKER_00 17:16

And by by the way, on the Stallone front, I do have to say I know it was reviled as one of the worst reviewed movies ever, I think, but I loved Stop or My Mom Will Shoot. I I mean too. I mean, come on, he did it. He just, yeah, that's one he just committed and did it, and you have to love that. I think that was the one that Arnold pretended to be interested in. Yes, that was debate, still allegedly debate Stallone into doing it in that weird macho. I'm still, by the way, one of my favorite film moments ever is in twins, which is just flat out genius, Schwarzenegger and the twins. Like, what what concept? Who comes up with that? That's just absolutely brilliant. But the point where they're going down the street and whatever movie is opening, it's Stallone's latest movie in the theater, and Schwarzenegger looks at the poster and just stops and just looks at his looks at his arms and then just laughs and walks away. I love that. That they're just breaking the fourth wall, dissing each other.

SPEAKER_01 18:10

The Schwarzenegger presidential library.

SPEAKER_00 18:12

Yeah, exactly exactly. I just yeah, you have to love that. That I mean, I I I don't I you know, I I don't know for sure, but I'm pretty sure there couldn't have been any real animosity between the two. They're just you know two dudes in the same space having fun. And I love when that happens, that they could just they could just have fun with it. And and then again, the testament time, some absolutely great movies, and yeah, there were some clunkers, but hey, it was fun. You know what? They're fun movies. Although maybe the the road was it the rodeo or the truck driving movie, the Stallone one, I can't remember the name of it now. That might have not that might not be a lot of fun. No, the one with with the arm wrestling. Um, yes, yes, yes, yes. I mean, yeah, it had its moments, it was great, but you know what? All all fun aside, speaking of film, it's not horror, obviously, but going back to you gotta give Stallone every bit of credit in the world for Rocky. Oh, yeah, for holding on to play, to write, to write, they come up with that, and such a not just the franchise. And yes, the franchise became very B and fun. I still love almost all the movies, and it's still ongoing with the creed, and I think that there's a new series based on that now. But like just an iconic character, but that performance, like playing against any tough guy type, you know, but just like uh if nobody hasn't, if I don't know how anyone could not have seen Rocky by now, but talk about OG, old school, great filmmaking, great characters, and all that, and someone who made himself, who held on, created that character, performed it, held on, and made just became an icon. It could not be more props or whatever you say to somebody for doing that and desert well deserved of all the riches that come with that. And same thing as Schwarzenegger, you know, making himself. Who would have thought if you've ever watched, you know, Hercules Goes Bananas or whatever they call it these days, that that guy would become the biggest star in Hollywood? That you know, that yeah, like you would you would any you show that to aliens, you show that to film scholars or anyone at the time, you would laugh yourself out of the chair. And again, earned it. Such so many great performances, iconic characters, and and it does it doesn't matter if he's got an accent. He worked that in and made it happen and made it all real. It's just like wow, two. I mean, like, wow. Well, well deserved

King Conan Dreams And Real Stunts

SPEAKER_00 20:20

well deserved on every every front.

SPEAKER_01 20:22

Exactly. And and Schwarzenegger on both Commando and Predator did a lot of his own stunts. And it was, I believe on Commando, he was actually injured a couple of times where they had to postpone production for the more towards the shootout, the famous shootout at the the climax where he's getting his daughter from Verder Wells. And then on Predator, I just found this out also, which blows my mind even more of how crazy Schwarzenegger must have been to be like, if if you know, to get to be that dedicated to the film, to get this scene in. And this goes to show even more why if you have not seen Predator yet in your in your adulthood as a male, you've you've been miseducated. And that that's because the scene where uh like after all his teammates get killed and the predator is going after him, and he's running through the jungle, and he like slides down the the hillside and falls off like the cliff. I I found out that the first shot was actually the stunt man who injured himself in the fall, like he broke a leg or something, and they didn't have enough time, you know, with schedule and shooting to get you know another double. So Schwarzenegger, they actually reshot it, and the scene where you see Schwartz that the person, you know, that you would think was the stunt man, you know, fallen, you know, from how. High, you know, down and into that that is actually Schwarzenegger. Wow. So that really like puts a whole nother like, you know, up the end. And then also Conan, you know. Yeah, there's so many stories from Conan of them just going getting put through the ringer. Right. I mean, actually learning swordsmanship, you know, samurai stuff, how to wield the weapon, you know, to make it realistic. And what would Conan, you know, and and on that subject with Commando Conan, Predator, I think it's a great time to just throw in that the I guess Fox recently announced that they apparently have King Conan, Commando 2, and a possible new Predator script for Schwarzenegger to return to. And I I and uh Christopher McMackuire. McGuire, the guy who did the the last few Mission Impossible movies. Impossible movies, yeah. Yeah. He's being tasked to write and direct new King Conan, the King Conan, which is already apparently.

SPEAKER_00 23:07

I am I I I just I just saw an announcement or something, and I thought it might have just been an internet uh blurb or a meme or something. So I was wondering about that. And I'm super excited. I'm gonna do some research now. I'm a gigantic Robert E. Howard fan, I'm a giant Conan fan, and I wasn't a fan of the Conan movies, the original ones, when they came out as much because I'm more of a Robert E. Howard guy, where it's if you know Robert E. Howard, you know the character. It was the B movie 80s version. I love them as Schwarzenegger vehicles and Big Sword and Sorcery in that respect, but to me, they never quite pulled it off. And weirdly, one of the, and they still haven't quite cracked Conan to me, although it's funny. Valhalla Rising, I said, is the best Conan movie that didn't have Conan in it ever. And I also, Marcus Naspells is it, Pathfinder, I think, is kind of a again, it's not Conan, but it's you know the tough guy in the genre. I was like, that's kind of a Conan movie. Like, wow, that's that's to me, that's closer to the actual character. But the if if you know your history to be a total dork, I think uh it was uh uh one novel written, The Hour of the Dragon. And I've been waiting forever, and I've known there's been drafts of King Conan over and over, and I've been waiting, like like Schwarzenegger has aged into it perfectly. Where if you if you know the story of the Hour of the Dragon, it's basically Conan has conquered the world. He's the the king of uh colonia or however you pronounce it, and he's old and he's grizzled, and all the old enemies are dead, and he's basically bored and and his bones hurt and everything. And suddenly, the this uh is it Fothoman, the sorcerer or whatever, that suddenly there's a plot against him, and he's basically they try to assassinate his old enemies, have resurged, he goes on the run, and he's at, I think in the book, he's 70 some years old and goes from being a king to back to where he started. He's in a loincloth with he even has a knife, and it's like, oh, you just pissed off the wrong guy because of the wolf, the the dragon, the guy, it's still in him. It's he may be, he may be, and it, you know, it's kind of like the ultimate dad movie in a way, you know, but it's that revenge thing where I may be old, I may be grizzled, my you know, I've got more scars than any hundred men, but oh, I'm gonna get every one of you and I'm gonna get it back. And it's such an iconic story. And where I always said this through the years, it's like it's one of those that Howard really just it's not a super long novel because he was very much a short story writer and a master of short stories. And uh, but it's uh uh I it it's almost a it's a screenplay. You almost just have to convert it. And so I'm really excited for that and I hope they pull it off. And and I think finally it's weird that again, having said that, that I I wasn't I I separate the two. I do that with a lot of films. There's the book and then there's the movie, and I appreciate them both for what they are. But I think I have a feeling the two are gonna come together that that the like the and it's the pinnacle of Schwarzenegger's career, too, and of fandom. I mean, I'll I'll be there opening night, cheering, even exactly. Meet me.

SPEAKER_01 26:02

I have a feeling I have a feeling it's gonna be good because well they they're already talking about like with the facts now, how they can make like monsters and everything more with like that's with the mythology and you know of Conan and everything look much much more. I mean, and on that note, I I I am not sure if it came out or if it's still supposed to come out, but they they remade or remaking uh Red Sonya, and the the trailer and everything is out for it. I'm not sure if it came out already. If it did, I have to somehow track it down and watch it ASAP because you know that one I always kind of considered, you know, Conan 3, even though he wasn't really Conan in it. But and I remember reading and hearing that, you know, like they actually cut it so in such a way because his scenes were actually minimal compared to the actual film, and they cut it, you know, to make it pretty much like be as if it was Conan III, even though he wasn't technically Conan in the movie. But the the the remake that a trailer they have, I mean, talk about one of the probably most anticipated like 80s movies that wasn't done just and to take uh to have the right writer, right director, you know, right production company, producers making the choices to back stuff, I mean, they really I mean it looks awesome. I mean, I I'm like so for the this remake of Red Sonia, you know, oh over like other I think I think there needs to be this thing where instead of remaking popular 80s and 90s movies, we need to remake the unpopular ones.

SPEAKER_00 28:02

The unpopular ones, give them give them new life and and do them better, give the characters another shot. Yeah, exactly. Who's uh I don't know who who's gonna play uh is there casting notices on the trailer is already out, like I said, released already.

SPEAKER_01 28:16

Uh you can look it up on I DV. I mean, the the it's it's definitely I think she's either Dutch or Swedish, German, something like that.

SPEAKER_00 28:26

But I'm I'm always three to four, I'm three to four years behind on everything. Oh, what there was John Wick too is out? What? Yeah, no, not that.

SPEAKER_01 28:34

Yeah, this this I remember seeing it was either earlier this year or maybe end of last year. Oh wow, definitely check that out. But but that's why it might already be out. But if it is, then I gotta track it down ASAP because it looked awesome. And and did obviously see Schwarzenegger come back would be great. But another Schwarzenegger remake that that is just hit streaming is the running man. Yes,

The Running Man Remake Surprise

SPEAKER_01 29:00

yes. Now now I I had when I saw the initial trailer, I was very, very skeptical. Um like I didn't like the look, I didn't like how it was marketed. It just it it it didn't the the the feel of the Schwarzenegger one compared to the Glenn Powell one, at least through the trailer, I was very unimpressed. Of course, with being you know Schwarzenegger, one of the most iconic Schwarzenegger remakes, I had to watch it just to give my two cents. You know, is it as bad as I think it is, like the last two, being the Conan and Total Recall flops. But I have to say I was pretty impressed. I still think the Schwarzenegger one is better, just being the original and having Schwarzenegger be Schwarzenegger going up, you know, against gladiator s, you know, opponents. But I honestly, my my true opinion on the Edgar Wright remake, it's definitely much more like the book. And I I honestly think it it it uh out of all the remakes, you know, kind of come out of Schwarzenegger so far, it's the only one that stands on its own.

SPEAKER_00 30:26

And and I think there's room for that. I mean, uh the movies are everything everything, movies, books, music, everything is a product of its time. And even though you do throwbacks, my style is kind of a throwback OG style a little bit in my writing, with and sometimes I do a more modern thing in it. But and filmmakers can do that too. But I think they can exist on their own. And and I'd rather they remake something in a different style. Like, don't even try to redo the the Schwarzschild version. Like, why? You're it ain't gonna have Arnie in it, and it's not gonna have that same chemistry and charisma and weirdness. Go ahead and try something new and let it exist in its own space. And that's how I like every I think every geek is I've read, you know, like hey, the book isn't like the movie, and blah, blah, blah. I've I've softened on that quite a bit. I still hate change for change's sake, but there's things that uh sometimes like, wow, you actually did a really good job, or you kind of did that better than the book in some cases, or you did it. I understand why you did it differently, and it doesn't take away from probably you know, one of the best examples is you know the Game of Thrones. Like they had to keep going because the source material wasn't there for whatever reason. George George has earned a break, I think. What a great career on top of that, even if he never finishes the the books, whatever he's deserved it. He started so many great, so many great things, but hope hope that he does actually, just phenomenal writer. But it but they can stand on their own, you know, right? Do something different. So glad you liked it. I'm still that's on my it's on my list to catch up and watch.

SPEAKER_01 31:49

So it's it's a it's a fun movie. It it definitely definitely holds his on. And I do like Glenn Powell. I I think he does have that Bruce Willis kind of you

Edgar Wright And Music Driven Action

SPEAKER_01 32:00

know, yeah, exactly. Yeah, and Edgar Wright.

SPEAKER_00 32:04

I mean I'm just a giant Edgar Wright fan.

SPEAKER_01 32:06

Yeah, he's he's a brilliant writer and filmmaker. Yeah, uh absolutely going back to Shauna the Dead, just everything, you know, that whole team has collaborated on with him. Baby Driver, they've been playing.

SPEAKER_00 32:19

Love that, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 32:20

Phenomenal film. And and I remember when that came out, I remember this looks dumb. And then it came to the the one, you know, movie channels. I I watched and I'm like, I I I ended up like being like, it took me a few times to get like that it's it's a satire, you know. And then once I realized that it's a satire, you know, all the lines in the movie just like some of the stuff that gets said, it's it's it's it's so goofy, but like it it works, and it's it's also lines that like it's it's being written from someone who really actually is a music aficionado and is trying to you know show you know that that he that that that's him speaking through the characters through the character.

SPEAKER_00 33:15

And I when I well before I saw it, I had heard I'm a giant queen fan from the beginning, and uh not just the hits, I love all the deep cuts. But when I heard that the the climax, the monoe mano was a was a car clash in a parking structure set to the entire Brighton rock. Right, okay, that's next level genius, and it was it was so well pulled off, and like you know, even that promise, like what the what are you talking about? So good to do that, and just and using that weird, you know, musical landscapes that Brian May created in there to to be part of the character and the anger and that weirdness of it. Like, I'm like, that's again hats off next level filmmaking.

SPEAKER_01 33:57

And I I also have to say, I think that's one of John Ham's most underrated oh underrated roles.

SPEAKER_00 34:04

Wow, wow, yeah. He just he just wow, what an what a great performance. Every everybody in it, just great performances. Yeah, Jamie Foxx, of course, is great in anything he does, but and and anytime when you do when you do old school, just let the you know put the pedal to the metal and do old school driving stuff, like we did a lot of that in Taken 3 and you know, some of the top stunt people. There's been so many great stunt car movies, and you know, you can't you can't help but love

Deep Rising And Cult Movie Joy

SPEAKER_00 34:30

that.

SPEAKER_01 34:30

And wow, they just really lit that crap up like crazy, like right, huge. And and and another one of my my going back to music and as a big theme and B-grade and car movies, that this is this is one of my all-time favorite cult B-grade horror films, Highway to Hell.

SPEAKER_00 34:48

Oh, yeah, yeah. I think I watched that about six months ago, whatever reason it popped up on Tubi or somewhere or something. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 34:57

Yeah, that was one. Um, you had to get uh it was only on VHS, and if you wanted on DVD, you had to like roam the the horror convention circuit to see if you could get a bootleg copy, which I which I did, and that that's a long, long time how I watched it. And then when I heard that they actually released it on Blu-ray, Restored and Everything, that was one of my uh first immediate buys. And the I I love that movie so much. It's such a cool, you know, obviously Mad Max-esque, like influenced with a rock and roll kind of you know, backdrop, especially with Lita Ford and you know the other people in there, and also not to mention a hilarious cameo by Ben Stiller and his family. You know.

SPEAKER_00 35:49

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 35:51

You know, among among also I also forget that when when they're in uh Hoffa's, you know, bar casino in there, there's a scene where the it's supposed to be Genghis Khan, Hitler, and Cleopatra talking, and Ben Stiller plays Genghis Khan, and Gilbert Gottfried is playing Hitler, and he's like, you know, talking with that like Gilbert Gottfried German, you know, accent, which just sounds like Gilbert Gottfried talking with a bad, you know, German accent, and he's like going on and on about how he's not supposed to be there. It's it's you know, not him and Ben Stiller as Genghis Khan, and I forget who played Cleopatra, but they're like, you know, come on, get over it. It's been you know how many years? That's been a thousand years, yeah. Two thousand years, you know, but you know, and also just uh Christy Swanson, who I've always had a crush on from being a kid, and you know Swamp Shark, right? Exactly, exactly. It all comes back to Swamp Shark, everything, you know, and I've had the chance to meet her a few times. Wonderful, wonderful person, really nice to her fans, you know, phenomenal human being. But you know, that that's that's one of my favorites. And then I know you got to work with Treat Williams, one of my favorite monster movies, movies in general from the 90s, Deep Rising.

SPEAKER_00 37:30

Deep Deep Rising. I uh I was amending that uh somewhere else. I was putting that back in my list of uh my top 10 movies because is it is it deep? Is it anything? No, but it is fun and it gives Treat Williams it's him able to just romp. And the effects are awesome and amazing and unique, and Fam K is amazing, and everyone, and it's just that sense of humor that I love. Like just come. And I'm I still run into people all the time that have never seen it, and then you're like, and then they watch it and they're like, What did I just see? I'm like, exactly, and exactly, exactly down to that, down to the last little bit.

SPEAKER_01 38:03

Is it an action adventure movie? Is it a monster movie? Is it a horror? Is it a comedy?

SPEAKER_00 38:09

Like, you know, and just down to the last the last uh thing with the trees shaking. Right, right. Now what?

SPEAKER_01 38:15

Like exactly, exactly. You know, and I I always thought that Kong Skull Island pretty much sh would have been the sequel to I think that was the I've read that that was actually the plan.

SPEAKER_00 38:29

It was supposed to lead into that and didn't happen for whatever reason. So yeah, but yeah, what uh just what a great ending. And you didn't even need to wait to the middle of the credits for the for the weird little teaser. It's right there that you get up on the beach, and now what?

unknown 38:44

Right.

SPEAKER_00 38:46

And like you said, a prince of a human being. I got to work with him twice, and it's always amazing that you know you're kind of a cog in the machine and interact with people and all that. But I, you know, actors, celebrities, they have their lane, it's a job that they do, and we support them in everything that they do, and we interact with them quite a bit. But it's an unwritten rule that you don't get too personal with them unless they do. And then to have them uh remember you like the next movie was X amount of years later, and he was like, Wait, you were in Louisiana? I'm like, Yes, you know, it was like that was awesome to have him even remember and yeah, because you know he meets a thousand people a year and all that. So it was just an absolute treat both times to work with him. And same thing happened to me with uh Brendan Frazier. I did a couple of Brendan Fraser movies and back in the day, and I think I was driving to a set one morning at three in the morning in Hollywood, sitting in a stoplight, half numb. And I see somebody in the car next to me waving, and and I look over and it's Brendan in the next lane. And I roll down my window, and he's like, Eric, what are you doing? Are you going to such and such movie? And I'm like, No, I'm going to this one. And he goes, Oh man, I was hoping you'd be on this when I saw you. I was driving next to you, and I'm like, This is so random. It was it was so sweet, so sweet of him to have remembered, and but also just another just great guy that all success in the world, like wow, was like yeah, in my experience, just terrific.

SPEAKER_01 40:02

And he found out I was uh what's his name, Steven Summers did Deep Rising, which I think like catapulted him to do the mummy, which was his next his next follow-up. In my opinion, that guy is best at doing monster movies.

SPEAKER_00 40:23

Yeah, uh what and yeah, really, really, really great talent. And with and with the nice sense of humor, too. With you know, not not outright funny, not trying to be a comedy, but that great to that great sense of humor. And and it it makes it the movies are fun to watch. That's the thing. That's what a lot of that's what a lot of people forget. You should have a fun experience, you know. You don't necessarily have to go in and yes, there's a place for dark psychological horror and and all these uh deep dramas and terrible, terrible things happening in films, but at the end of the day, most of us just want to go and have fun. And he really did manage to make movies fun.

SPEAKER_01 40:56

And I feel like that's also becoming a lost kind of like trope and horror, more recent horror, at least mainstream recent horror. You know, I mean, everything has to be so serious and you know uh sometimes over the top, gory, where I'd say it it's it it's more gore porn than the than actual like you know uh standard effects.

SPEAKER_00 41:26

Yeah, yeah. And there's a there's an audience for that and people like it. But I'm yeah, and and and I do appreciate some of those films. Like one of the ones I've just recently seen this last year is probably one of the darkest films ever, Possum, Matthew Holness, who created amazing Garth Merengue's Dark Place and did this incredibly deep character study of like it's true horror, horror, and it's not, don't you know, don't go in thinking this is going to be a fun movie because it's not as fun as Garth Merengue's Dark Place is, it's the opposite. So there's absolutely a place for that. But uh most of the time, we just most of the time we just want to turn something on and be entertained. But so many great films, you know, from the thing that did that so very well. Carpenter did it so well. But but yeah, you know, that's the beauty of that's the beauty of the genre. There's a place for all those different

Favorite Films Rapid Fire

SPEAKER_00 42:10

kinds of things.

SPEAKER_01 42:11

Exactly, exactly. And on that note, I'm gonna give a two uh closer questions here. The first one, uh the first half of the first one may uh go on for a bit. So the last two slash three questions. The first one, what are some of your favorite films? That's just in general, and and and including upcoming projects to promote. And then the final question, this is where I get a little goofy in the fishbowl. If you could be a fish, what fish would you be?

SPEAKER_00 42:53

Wow, I'm gonna think about that one in the back of my head for a minute. But uh, favorite films, The Haunting, the Robert Wise Haunting, the thing John Carpenter mentioned Garth Moringay's Dark Place is amazing, Phantasm. Uh John Coscarelli screwed me up royally as a as a young kid seeing that. Bad taste, dead alive. I got my list up here. Abominable Dr. Fibes. It's just such a weird, wild movie. Big, big, big Vincent Price fan. Uh Alien, Aliens, those are just so good. Little Scene Ravenous, Antonia Byrd directed. Uh, amazing. Great, great movie that, like uh, you know, a uh Wendigo cannibal horror film set in in the Civil War era California. Like, what am I watching? Great cast, amazing and shockingly bloody. Sean of the Dead, Evil Dead, one, two, and three. Although as much as I love the first two, my heart's just gotta go the over a top Army of the Dark Army of Darkness poster, but uh it's trapped in time, surrounded by evil, low on gas. Like, I I'm just that's me. I've got the poster's not up, but I've got it somewhere. I've got to re put it up. American Werewolf in London. And then on the serious side, Session Nine is one of my favorite movies. That's a good movie. Great, deep, dark movie. And you know, and some of the more modern stuff, like I said, Possum, which I don't know if it's on my favorite list, but it's definitely something I've watched two or three times and I'm still thinking about it. So there's you know, it's an art horror film drama. It's very, very dark. And One Cut of the Dead. Anybody who hasn't seen it yet, you can't give it away, but just keep watching. And if you're in film or around film or have a family or get frustrated at work, whatever, or just like zombie movies or Japanese filmmaking, One Cut of the Dead is one of those, just it, it's it's great, it's fun, it's weird. And then when you find out what's really going on, it ratchets up to sublime. And I always like to say the first time I watched it, the very ending shot, which you probably know if you've seen it, I at three in the morning I jumped off my couch cheering, and my cat's looking at me like, what the F's wrong with him? But it was just such a wonderful experience. And then I watched it again the next day. I've seen it so many times now. So that you know, again, there's so many more than that, but that's that's a nice list. And

Choosing The Kraken

SPEAKER_00 45:05

if I was gonna so, and then what fish would I be? Wow, I'm not really into sushi, so I guess great white shark is probably out, but killer whale is technically a mammal, right?

SPEAKER_01 45:17

Uh we'll see we'll say sea dwelling creatures slash mythical mythical sea dwelling creatures.

SPEAKER_00 45:24

Oh, okay, the Kraken. The Kraken, the Kraken, yeah. The Kraken. I'm just you know, why not be the big daddy king dog of everything? So or kingfish of everything. Like, get away, great white, get away, get away, killer whale. Well, I mean, what would you say? Well, what about the Meg? Well, the uh, you know, I think the Kraken would probably kick the Meg's ass, but there's something about that too. And there is something about an octopus, you know, having eight tentacles, there's certain sections of life where that could be super fun and they're weird and alien and smarter than hell. But I'll go for the I'll go for the Kraken because can you imagine being in the ocean where every single thing out there wants to eat you? Like, what a concept that it's literally a moment by moment from top to bottom death struggle in the ocean. Like, that's just like terrifying. Like exactly, exactly. Honestly, the the the it's a metaphor for working in Hollywood, it's pretty much the same thing.

SPEAKER_01 46:18

There's that. My metaphor is is somewhat that. Also the classic Liam Neeson line from episode one, there's always a bigger fish.

SPEAKER_00 46:29

Yeah, exactly.

SPEAKER_01 46:32

You know, and and just also that, like, you know, everything in in the ocean, thus the fishbowl, you know, has a purpose. You know, whether you get eaten by a larger thing, you still have that purpose, that has a purpose to eat you.

SPEAKER_00 46:46

Something bigger has a purpose to eat that thing, and you know, but the the the overall thing is that everything functions together, you know, and and and uh to get like way existential, metaphorical, sciencey, whatever some fancy word, the oceans are the lung of the planet, lungs of the planet, so everything from algae to krill to fish, like none of us would be here without them. So and exact they make really they make really cool backgrounds for movies and and surfing and stuff.

SPEAKER_01 47:13

So hey, there you go. Absolutely. Well, Eric, thank you so much for taking the time to swim in the bowl with me. It was a pleasure having you on. We will definitely have to do a round two, three, four, and five because there is so much we can talk about over uh not just the course of your uh Jack of All Trades career, but obviously stuff in common with film and everything in general. So again, just real pleasure, had a blast. Thank you for reaching out and cannot wait for round two.

SPEAKER_00 47:49

Yep, really, really happy to be here. I appreciate being on. And I'm gonna I'll send you a couple of uh short stories that I wrote based on our conversation. I think you'll get a kick out of. So uh that's awesome, awesome. One's one's kind of a love craft, the other's an homage to uh horror films. I think you'll enjoy you'll see why when I send them. I think you'll get the the gist of it.

SPEAKER_01 48:06

So very cool, very cool. I'm excited. I'm excited. Awesome. Well, have a great rest of your weekend. Hopefully, the uh temperature is right in here and outside. It's in the bowl. Right. Awesome, awesome. Well, take care. It was a pleasure once again. Me too. Talk to you soon. Talk to you soon.

Merch And Thanks For Listening

SPEAKER_01 48:29

Hey there, all my fishes in the sea. Thanks for tuning in to today's episode and for being a subscriber. Your continued listenership and support means the most and helps keep the show growing to deeper and deeper depths. I want to let all my guppies in the sea know the fishbowl has now officially partnered with fastcustomshirts.com, where they're now selling custom fishbowl t-shirts under their podcast and website section. Every t-shirt that's purchased helps and goes a long way to keep the show growing to deeper and deeper in higher, higher depths. I also now have custom hats, beanies, handbags, pens, mouse pads, everything to make you look like the coolest looking fish in the sea, which you can DM me directly on Instagram at the Fishbowl88 or on Facebook at just the fishbowl, or you can friend request me, Sam Fish, directly and get yours today. Your continued listenership and support again means the most. It's the most important fishes that flock together. We are a school of fish and we keep the unit going. Let's all keep swimming upstream.