Gilbert's It's All about the MEDIA
I talk about certain things in the media such as filmmakers, studios, movies in general, and Q & A's with YouTubers and other people.
Gilbert's It's All about the MEDIA
Episode 44
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Gilbert invites his old friend and who was once the very first podcast guest, Esteven Valdez, as they talk about the 20 years of The Prestige.
All right, guys. Welcome to the podcast. Um, today, since episode two, since I very first started, we have my very first original guest. Um, it's my old trainer, Mr. Esteban Valdez. How you doing, man?
SPEAKER_01Good, man. Oh, dude, that's right. We did the what was it, the second episode?
SPEAKER_00It was, yeah, I think it was like health and fitness and stuff like that. I think we were trying to we're trying to go a little bit in your realm, but I remember I remember editing that, and then when I released it, I was like, man, this audio sounds like shit.
SPEAKER_01Oh, yeah, yeah. Well that was your second one, right? So yeah, it's like my fault too.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, but my end. Maybe it'll maybe things will get better. Um, but anyway, so I want to talk about a movie that's having I think it's 20-year anniversary. Now it's actually it's actually gonna have 20 years in October, but why I'm starting now is because a I'm probably gonna forget in October, and I wouldn't, I'm a little bit of an impatient person, like I don't want to wait till October just to talk about this. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And two, the Odyssey is coming out this year, and I'm very much prepared for that one. So um, and I talk about Christopher Nolan so many times on the podcast because he's definitely an inspiration of mine.
SPEAKER_01But um, oh yeah, he's amazing.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, so this year we're talking about the prestige. Um, the prestige is definitely top three for me. Um, you said it was like your your favorite film of all time.
SPEAKER_01It's my favorite movie. It's definitely my favorite Nolan movie, and I know that's probably like I feel like it's one of his movies that's gone like under the radar. Like people don't talk about it, like they talk about Inception or Interstellar, or the Batman's, obviously. But I feel like it's his I feel like it's his strongest movie as far as like what he's doing in the movie, he's doing in the actual production of it, like the way he's setting the the the film up. So yeah, I love that movie. It's my favorite movie, man. And I love music, so I'm a nerd.
SPEAKER_00So yeah, so like if you understand, so I mean, um we're not as we always talk or as we've been talking about it in the past, we're not gonna explain um the plot of the movie as sometimes we do. One, as I said, it does it does disservice to the film itself, and two, this is like if if you haven't seen the movie, this is a film actually you need to see, given that to me it's got like one of the best endings ever. Yeah, 100%. Yeah. Oh, dang. I I couldn't find the prestige in time, but on the cover it says you're gonna want to watch it the moment it's over. And I was like, No, of course, 100%, yeah.
SPEAKER_01Because then the second that you know, when you go back, you're like, How did I not know? You know what I mean? How did he not know? How did he not know?
SPEAKER_00But that's that that's the thing because I was like re-watching it for this this episode, and like again, without giving any like plots or or giving away everything involving like the tragedy that happens early on in the movie with involving Christian Bell's character. I at first I thought it was like he forgot, but then I forget Christian Bell's character. Christian Bell's character knew, but also Christian Bell's character did not know. Like, yeah, yeah, yeah. Having to explain that without telling the plot. So, again, guys, if you haven't seen this movie, 100% recommend it.
SPEAKER_01Um, so let me ask you, let me ask you a question really fast. I don't think this will ruin anything, but do you do you put the blame on him? Ooh, because I I I watch a lot of like obviously, like, I love the movie, so I like to see reactions like on YouTube, people reacting to the movie. And I've noticed like a few people off the bat, they're like, they they paint him, they paint Bell's character as like, oh my god, I can't believe he did that. I'm like, he didn't do anything, like, yeah, you know what I mean? Like, I'm like, he didn't do it, it wasn't his fault necessarily, it just happened, you know.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, I I kind of I don't blame Bell's character on the one hand, but on the other hand, I I do blame Bell's character again saying this without giving away the product movie, yeah. Uh so um pretty much the I'll give I'll give some folks like the the little bit of the like the lot the plot line where it's basically um uh two um rival magicians are trying to battle out like who's the best, um, or as I like to say in 2026 terms, I almost said 2025, in 2026 terms, Batman and Wolverine are figuring out who's the better magician. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. And they treat Alfred and Black Widow like shit. Many Black Widow. Um, but first of all, um, when did you actually see this movie? If you can remember far better.
SPEAKER_01Well, dude, it's it's funny that you said that you said it's gonna have its 20 year, right? Yeah, so that means I was when I saw it, I had to have been uh I had to have been 13. So I saw it when it came out, and it's funny because that same year or around that same time, uh another magician movie came out with um Edward Norton, right? Edward Norton called the Illusionist, yeah. Yeah, I forgot his name for a second. And uh, and I just remember watching both because again, I love Magic. So I'm like, I'm gonna watch both, and they were both good films, but the uh the prestige is just like 10 times better. There's like it's not really any comparison to any level of I think the only thing that somebody might like the illusionist better is because it's I think it's more grounded. You don't have to, you don't have to you don't have to dive into the sci-fi and and sort of suspend your disbelief as to what's happening, but I mean well that's what that's what movies are for, so it's like the prestige is the better film, yeah. So I was thir I was 13 when I saw it.
SPEAKER_00So I might have been 10 when I saw it. So or maybe not when I saw when it came out. Um, but I think uh shoot, I think we had the cover, or no, we didn't have the cover, we had the bootleg. Um I don't know how the heck they got there. I don't know what convinced my dad to be like, yeah, let's get that one. Yeah, but I didn't watch, I was remember seeing a little bit of it, but it wasn't until um my sister, Esteban knows my sister. In fact, they actually graduated together. Um it wasn't until my sister showed it to me. I think I was like maybe 15 or 16. It was like right when um The Dark Knight Rises came out, yeah. And um, what was it? Nolan was already getting ready for Interstellar. Um, but my sister wanted to show me, and this was back then when Netflix um used to do the um the mail-in.
SPEAKER_01They'll send you the movies, yeah.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, so we were like, okay, let's watch, yeah, let's watch it. And then I saw it, and then I was like, oh my gosh. I asked my grandma, can you come and can you get it for me? Um yeah, arcs of being the only grandson.
SPEAKER_01So so uh so so uh your sister showed you the movie then.
SPEAKER_00Yeah.
SPEAKER_01It's weird because I don't think that uh I mean we we talked about so many things, but I don't think we've ever I don't think we ever talked about it because I would have been geeked out.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, um I don't remember uh I mean let's not forget you also graduated long before I did, and like you were you were doing your thing and I was stuck in school. That's right. I mean you would I I know you would come and visit school some sometime, but um, I don't know. We never really talked much until like you started becoming my trainer too.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_00For sure.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, but I mean, yeah, I I saw you all the time though.
SPEAKER_00I remember it. Uh yeah, but like even then we never really talked about the movie that much.
SPEAKER_01Um yeah, yeah, yeah. We definitely were like talking about y'all was like, oh, Marlene's brother, you know? But uh I didn't know she I didn't know she showed you that movie because uh I'm surprised that we never talked about it. Yeah, because we would always talk about like music and whatever we're watching and all this stupid shit. So I'm I thought I thought it would have come up. I love that movie. Yeah, so good, bro.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, but yeah, no, it's such a great film. Um, first like I want to talk about first of all, like the casting. The casting is it's really great. Um, this is like outside of the Batman movie. This is another um uh Christopher Nolan movie that has Christian Bell. Um he plays uh very few interesting characters because it's like there's moments where you love him and then there's moments where you hate them, and then it all plays out eventually. And then the same thing with um Hugh Jackman. Hugh Jackman, one, I wish he would do more movies with Christopher Nolan. And yeah, two, you feel for him in the beginning, but towards the end, he becomes like this douchebag, and you're like you kind of I don't feel for him at any point in the movie.
SPEAKER_01Oh wow, I I mean like I can understand him, I can understand obviously like the the uh the the pain that he's in, but I I feel like he he goes right from the bat from from the pain to the obsession of like I'm coming after this person, yeah. That isn't necessarily he he's trying to sort of evade the fact that what happened was uh like a consensual to I mean to to the to my understanding, yeah.
SPEAKER_00I mean people can interpret film differently, but I'm I'm I'm still saying like these two casts the casting was actually perfect. Um, again, I I want to I want to see Hugh Jackman and more Christopher Nolan films if he if they ever do something outside of the Odyssey.
SPEAKER_01Well, I think you Hugh Jackman or Christian Bale.
SPEAKER_00Well both actually.
SPEAKER_01Well, yeah, both both would be awesome. But I think at the time, because because Hugh Jackman was like so involved playing Wolverine, I don't think he had many like opportunities to do anything else, so it was sort of like a rarity that it's like he's like, I'll do it, you know.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, yeah. And then this also has uh Michael, Michael Cain. Michael Cain is like one of the go-to's for Christopher Nolan's because it's not just um the Batman movies where he played Alfred. I he it was this film, Inception, Interstellar.
SPEAKER_01Um yeah, he's so good at the at delivering the the pain, you know.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, yeah, and then um this is like also Scar Joe or Scarlett Johansson's full name, um, pre-Black Widow. And just she is so young and different in the film. Yeah, yeah, yeah. She does, yeah. Yeah, but yeah, no, it hasn't a sounding cast, and up until this year, because it's gonna be 10 years since he passed, or 10 years ago. Um, I didn't know this. And okay, to my point, it's gonna be 10 years since David Bowie passed away. But I didn't know that's right, it was that David Bowie played Nikola Tesla, nor did I know Nikola Tesla was a rack was an actual person. You didn't know that? No, I didn't know that.
SPEAKER_01Um and and also, too, uh, why is his name? Oh, um Andy Circus is yeah, Andy Circus.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, so it's like when I saw this movie, I wanted to check out like who is this Nikola Tesla person that super interesting guy. Yeah, so I I was like, wait, hold on, the rivalry between him and Edison were real, and then I was like, Oh wow, because they're they're inventors in their own, they were inventors in their own way. It's just that like when it comes to electricity, it's like who was the better one?
SPEAKER_02Um yeah, which was Tesla. Yes, I guess.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, I mean he has his own brand of cars now, but all by South African. Uh I think South African, I can't really tell for with him with uh Elon Musk, but yeah, he's South African, I believe. Yeah, but um here's the my other favorite thing about this film is that like um it doesn't take place in modern times, and I know that's weird for a lot of people here, but sometimes like I get bored of most movies that take place in modern times because it's like there's nothing interesting me with see people being on their cell phones in the movie. When you watch like kind of almost predictably, like a historical fiction film, especially a historical fiction film that takes place in the in the UK, sometimes in the US uh as well, when you would get uh when you would follow Hugh Jack, almost like Christian, but when you follow Hugh Jackman's character, yeah, yeah, yeah. And Angier. Yeah, Angier, yeah.
SPEAKER_01Robert Angier, yeah.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, but uh Lord Caldlow. Lord Cudlow, or what's the great Danton? The great Danton, yeah. That was the stage name.
SPEAKER_01Um that's sort of that's sort of an interesting thing, too. I I don't again, I'm not I'm not trying to say any any spoilers. I don't think it will be, but it's interesting when you when you go back because you think that he's making that name up, right? Like Lord Caldlow, but then that's actually his family's actual name. Remember, he didn't want to ruin his family because he was like, I'm a magician, I don't want to bring shame upon him. So he changed his name to Robert Angier, and then his wife gave him the name of uh the great Danton. But Lord Caldlow is actually that's actually who who he who he was.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, and like it's interesting. Is there interesting how identity, like you know, like concealing your identity or having something having a different identity works so much well with this movie? Because then you like, well, who are you really?
SPEAKER_01Yeah, and then you see that and then you see what what what it all really means, you know? Yeah, how far that that how far they take what you know what that that that means.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, and uh the and like for a film that takes place, I would say what was it, like eight late 1800s, early 1900s, yeah. Late 1800s, though. I think so. I love the set design. The set design is amazing for this movie that again, which is why I like most movies, because it's like because it's like you can set up a like room for a modern era, but like going back, like especially what we're gonna what we're also in for when it comes to um the Odyssey coming out, like we give props to the set designers and the prop masters and all that because oh yeah, yeah, they're the ones that have to be like, okay, this is what they probably wore, this is what they probably this is what the walls probably look like. So it's like all that research, and plus Nolan also does the research. No Nolan is like one of those historical accurate directors, yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_01I mean, dude, it's it's crazy when you think about what what he did with Interstellar, and then it wasn't even until later on when the science actually caught up to the way that they envisioned how the how the the black hole would look, or I'm I'm probably butchering that science, but yeah, I know that it wasn't until later that now we actually have a have an image, and it's almost like exactly what he called in his film. So it's like pretty interesting. Also, too. I think what's interesting about the two characters is that I uh again, all the all the set pieces and the costume design is is great, but it it you can see it in Borden's character, how he's obviously doesn't come from money because the way he dresses is like super, super like raggedy. And then when you look at Robert Angier's character, he's like dressing super super nice, and so just so it kind of like give you the background about where these two individuals come from.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, because it's like I mean, no Nolan knows what he's doing. Um, and this is like the era before um what do you call it before Nolan started messing with sound? Because right right after until I would say like the Dark Knight rises, that's when like you know, sound went all over the place. And I can imagine what's gonna happen later on on the Odyssey. We'll probably talk about it during like a bonus episode if we ever watch it. But um oh, we're watching it, bro. Hey, I want to see it.
SPEAKER_01Okay, it looks great, dude.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, but um, because like when you go to when you call back to Oppenheimer, how like you can get the sounds of electricity and then the aftershock of the atomic bomb, that you know, where it's like silent for like two or three minutes, and you know it's gonna happen. You're just but you're so in awe of um the effect that it just catches you off guard.
SPEAKER_01It's weird. Yeah, that that's true that that this movie is like pre-that because I think again it started with Bane's voice, and then after that, every movie he did was like uh I feel like in tenant it was the worst. Like I remember watching, and I'm just like, I I can't even hear what the fuck they're saying, you know what I mean? It pisses me off, yeah. So and I think he sort of kind of corrected that with like uh Dunkirk isn't as bad as yeah, in in the sound wise, but yeah, but um, yeah, but everything's good.
SPEAKER_00So I looked up like some other stuff, and it had gotten two Oscar nominations. Uh, one for it was at the time, it's it's called production design now, but at the time it was called Art Direction, which again uh well deserved. And it also got best cinematography, which is also really cool. Um, this is when he had uh Wally Fisher as a cinematographer. Um, and yes, the cinematography is actually really good. You get some really interesting shots, pretty much of like the crowds and like the field of the hats. Um not a big spoiler, but actually that's where you start off with, though, I believe.
SPEAKER_01It starts off with the hats, bro. And that's the that's the amazing thing about it. Yeah, it starts off, it starts off like telling you off the bat what's going on, and but you have no way of knowing until until you understand it.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, and like um, I mean, I don't know too much about what was happening back then um during that Oscar season, but if I was daunting, they should have given him at least best adapted screenplay. That's that's where I'm at.
SPEAKER_01It was a book, right?
SPEAKER_00Yeah, it was a book, but the book was entirely different. I think it involved like their assistance or something like that.
SPEAKER_01But yeah, I heard I heard the book is like a like it's pretty pretty different from the source material.
SPEAKER_00I mean, I think I I mean I think he made the right decision of like going way different from how the book is because I feel like if they went with the book, I don't think it would have been as creative because there would have been more of like the background characters and the than the main characters up front than who we're following. Um but yeah, so everything's great. The cinematography again is also great. Production design, the music is really cool. There's so much to love about it, actually. But it's weird.
SPEAKER_01I don't I mean, obviously, there's like uh some of the some of the uh soundtrack that or I'm sorry, why am I freaking butchering the soundtrack? What's what's the other word for it? Like the uh or no no no like the um the uh what's the other word? Not soundtrack, but the um the the score, the score for the yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. There's the I thought you said horror. The uh the score for the film, there's like a few pronounced uh you know sounds that you recognize, but I don't think it's it's I I I feel like with that movie, I guess because I was so captivated by the uh the story, I didn't really pay attention to it. Yeah, it's kind of like um you know, maybe I gotta make it a point to next time when I see it to really look at the score.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, and like I mean, going back to the title, let's go to the title real quick. The prestige. So it's like Michael Cain's character again, minor spoiler. I'm not, but and plus it's also in the trailer if you ever watch the trailer. Um he says there are three acts there's the twist, the turn, and the prestige. The prestige is like what you see in the act when you bring it back, and literally that's what the movie actually is. It's a huge magic trick. Yes, yes.
SPEAKER_01That's what I love so much about it. Is that he does well? I mean, you know, it fits so perfectly with with the saying that a magic trick has the three parts and the films have three acts, and it and each act does exactly what he's talking about, and then in the end they bring it back, and you're like, Oh shit.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, I know it's like it's like the those words like abracadabra. I'll always affiliate with that again. Magician movie, you're gonna hear that word again, not not a big spoiler. I'm trying to like keep like the big, big uh spoilers out of the way, dude.
SPEAKER_01I had no idea that uh I thought we were gonna spoil the shit out of it. I was already no shit.
SPEAKER_00No, yeah, I know it's tough, but it's also like move like like people should see them for themselves. And it's but this is also like the one movie where it's like like if you watch it and sp and somebody spoil it for you, you know, they'll lose the yeah, or they're gonna be 12 feet on the ground. It's one of those two.
SPEAKER_01So I mean it's like uh it's like again, if you give somebody the if you tell somebody how the magic trick works, the second they see it again, it's like ah, it does it, it loses everything. So if you go into it knowing, even though you know, did did you guess it or no?
SPEAKER_00No, I was so like I thought um Christian Bell's character was dumped for.
SPEAKER_01So but I'm saying, did you guess like at at any point did you sort of have an inclination of like what was gonna happen?
SPEAKER_00No, not really.
SPEAKER_01Okay, I know some people that are like, oh, I I I I guessed it 45 minutes into the movie. I'm like, bullshit, dude. I mean, if you did that, I mean you're that you're awesome, man. You got great detective skills, but I was like, I was like, there's no way. I guess looking back, you could you're like, okay, that's it's it might be a little obvious, but I don't think so.
SPEAKER_00I think for if people ever like haven't seen the movie in the beginning, um, or I'm I'm sorry, I'm I'm butchering what I'm saying. I'm saying if you've been watching the movie for a long time and you feel like I'm gonna like lose all that like math, you know, no pun intended magic of the movie. Here's what you do, and I do this sometimes. Watch the movie and then don't watch the movie for a significant amount of time, and then rewatch it, and it feels like you're watching it all over again. It just gives you that like, oh wow, like you feel like you're watching it again, um, or watching it for the first time.
SPEAKER_01Um see, and it it's it's it's interesting too because I think this is a movie that's so um it's so convoluted and it requires you to actually pay attention. You really you can't just be on your phone, you can't be bullshitting around, you really got to focus on it. But it's it's it's not necessarily a movie, even though you want to watch it right when it's done, like the tagline says, you wouldn't do that because it's just like it's too draining of a movie to watch. I've probably watched it four or five times, like every so many years, like every three years, I'll see it once. You know what I mean? So I'm like, yeah, it isn't a movie that would lend itself to being like watched again. You'd have to give it some time. Then when you go back, like, oh shit.
SPEAKER_00Okay. Yeah. And you know, when we were talking about like spoiling and stuff, I remember I don't know if you're familiar with a guy named Cody Leach, but he's uh he's a film reviewer, and he was like, he was like um tier listing, which is basically you know, you got like S, A, B, C, D, and stuff like that. Yeah, but he but he does it differently. Um, he was talking about a movie called Snowden, I think that's what it's called. And he said like somebody he worked with told him about the movie. Well, he he told him like the like the synop like a little bit of the synopsis, but then he ended up telling him how the movie ended, and and then I was like, how bad is it? And then I looked it up as like, oh damn, I spoiled it myself. I would have loved it if I didn't read anything.
SPEAKER_01Oh, of the procedure of that movie, Snowden. Snowed in. Snowed in. It's called Snowed In.
SPEAKER_00I think that's what it's called. Um, I gotta I gotta look it up again. But yeah, send it to me.
SPEAKER_01I'll I'll check it out.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, but yeah, I know it has um one of the kids from it, I think Billy, the the care the actor who played Billy. But um, yeah. Uh one last thing, I guess, before uh we take a small break is um I want to talk about the the effects of this film, and they're amazing, especially when it involves Tesla. Machine. Like if you were there, like if I was there, like witnessing all the electricity, like if I was in that audience, I'd probably shit myself because like you're scared. Like, what if what if that passes through you? You get what I mean?
SPEAKER_01Yeah, yeah, yeah. Which is interesting because yeah, you know, he shows them that the uh uh David Bowie's character shows him the that how we're able to conduct it, right? So it's like nothing really to be scared of it in that sense. It's kind of like what's that thing that we would have, like kind of in Mr. Boyd's class.
SPEAKER_00Oh, I know what you're talking about.
SPEAKER_01Um I know it's a Tesla coil, they have miniature testicles, but you know the other one where you you can kind of touch it and it'll it'll like the sphere, a little hollow.
SPEAKER_00I know I know what you're talking about. It's I have like I haven't thought about it until you just brought it up right now. But yeah, I know what you're talking about.
SPEAKER_01It's like that electrical bulb, yeah. The bulb, yeah. You touch it and it kind of does it to your fingers. Yeah, uh, but I mean, I know we had one at the school, we had an actual like little tesla coil that would shock the hell out of you, but it wasn't it wasn't anything that was unmanageable, yeah. So uh, but again, that's that's another thing I think it that Edison used to sort of like tarnish the name of like look at how dangerous everything he's doing is, yeah. So pretty interesting.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, we get it is funny because we do get a bit of um, you know, like the historic history of like the Edison and uh Tesla rivalry, yeah. Especially because like um well, I think it it was a Hugh Jackson's character that's looking at these guys like who are they working for, FBI, and they're like, no, worse, Thomas Edison.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, yeah, yeah, exactly.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, I'm I mean I didn't know too much about it until I watched the movie, and then afterwards I was like, Oh wow, so this is pretty interesting. Um, and it's funny because like I used to watch Epic Rap out of the history and they did an episode of Thomas Edison versus Nikola Tesla. Uh yeah, yeah, but um, yeah, so the effects are super great. Uh we always talk about this. Uh Christopher Nolan always says CGI can fuck itself because that's uh he doesn't use CGI unless it's like entirely necessary, but everything to him is practical.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, he does a lot of practical, yeah.
SPEAKER_00I know, and it's like when you I mean, because you go back and you watch like the dark night, and then Batman begins, and then you just see all these explosions and stuff, and I was like, God dang.
SPEAKER_01Bro, the scene with the scene with uh with with Bane and the and the like they really did that, they really got a uh Oh with the plane, yes, the plane, yeah. I'm like, holy shit, dude. That's so crazy.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, dude, yeah.
SPEAKER_01That's why I love his movies because they're very yeah, Nolan's the the man.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, because like even like I said, I've never been a big fan of tannin, just as you have. Um, but the effects are still interesting, like it was all just editing that they did.
SPEAKER_01Yes, I mean, yeah, I mean it wasn't it was an interesting thing that what they were doing as far as like the reversal of time, and I mean the reversal of like how the characters are moving. Uh, I think also, too. You know who else is really, I guess, holding it down as far as trying to avoid using as much CGI as possible, is uh uh Guillermo del Toro.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, um, I should talk about Frankenstein one of these days. I saw I saw the movie, I talked about it. Um, and like I was I was thinking like when we were talking about test. So earlier today, I was I was driving to H E B for um for all my non-Texas uh friends listeners. H yeah, H E B is the brand we have here. It's like um the Publix if you're from Florida, and I know about that because I got friends that lived in Florida that live in Florida, but um, I was driving to an HB and I looked over at the the highway, this overpass, and I think it was it was a truck that was um towing no it was a truck that was I think it was towing a broken car, except that like the car wasn't like slanted this way, it was like flat on the top of the it was like flat on the bed of the truck, right? So and it was going and it was like a car's driving this way, but the thing is that like the car was like facing backwards, and you don't see the tr you don't see the barry, you don't see the truck because of the barrier. Yeah, yeah. So it looks like a car is just driving backwards on the highway.
SPEAKER_01Oh yeah, for sure. I I I know when there's been times where I'll go like around a car, but and there'll be like a tow truck with the with the car like with the with the one car facing you, and I'm like, holy shit. It's just not a tow truck.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, and I guess like the um the other thing, I mean, going back to the effects, when we talk when we go to like both the main characters, it's like, wait, how do you do that? Did y'all go? Was this like what the center's practice was before Sinners ever came out? Because you got Christian Bell's character here, and then you also have Christian Bell Bell's character there, then you also got Hugh Jackman's character here, and then you got Hugh Jackman's character there. Yeah, and it's almost as if they're like sharing the same screen. So I was like, what the heck? I feel like I I feel like Ryan Kugler looked at this movie and tried to do something different with this before he did Sinners. Um not to talk about Sinners here, but again, it was one of my favorite films of last year.
SPEAKER_01But um it was so good, yeah.
SPEAKER_00Um but to my point, um, just before before uh we go on break, I just want to say you guys like again watch the movie. Um put your phones down, like legit, put your phones down. Because I mean, uh that's that's always one of those things I talk about when um when we're talking about the uh that that Netflix merger or whatever. It's no yeah, it's no fun watching a movie at home. Like I get sometimes there's a there's a I guess a pathway or whatever. I don't know. Convenience, a convenience, yes. Yeah, I get it. Because you know, not everybody can go to the theater. I understand that, but it's also like when you're at home, you're gonna look at your phone, you're gonna look at your surroundings instead of the movie.
SPEAKER_01It's not the same, you're not you're not getting the whole experience.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, and plus, because like you're at the uh when you're at the movies and you see someone on their phone, everybody's gonna call you out on that shit, first of all. And like, what is it? Animal draft house just recently went full digital, they're not doing the menus, like oh yeah, yeah, I know. And I'll and like code again, you should check out Cody, by the way. Not to advertise his uh his YouTube channel, but like uh he's very he's a very interesting person. Um, but to my uh to my point, he talked about like it's it's annoying when you see people already on their phone, but now you gotta see people on their phones ordering food. Yeah, yeah. Because go go ahead.
SPEAKER_01Oh, yeah, yeah. No, I was just gonna say, yeah, that that that kind of gets on my nerves, man. Um, because have you been to the flicks brew house?
SPEAKER_00No, I haven't.
SPEAKER_01Okay, so yeah, they do that too, where it's like they it's like that light is on, like the lights perpetually on. It's like a little mini light you can kind of like look at the menu if you want, and but you could also do it through through the app or like through the scan code. And I'm just like, bro, it just takes away from like that. There's a light by me. You know what I mean? It's like I'm trying to be immersed in the shit, and it just pisses me off. I think, bro, with the Netflix thing, that I think like the being on the phone thing is the least part of the problem because what's gonna happen is I mean, they're saying that it's not, they're saying that they're gonna still give uh certain directors and certain people that are involved in certain franchises, like the liberty to do whatever, and that they're still gonna have things separate. But I'm like, dude, Netflix's whole thing is just like watch time. Like they know exactly when a person logs off, when a person stops watching, and their whole thing is just to get people to watch. So I feel like this is gonna be like a like a uh a lack of quality. They're they're not gonna take risks, they're not gonna have nobody making uh they're not gonna get a young Christopher Nolan to make memento, you know what I mean? They're gonna be like, well, no one's gonna watch that, no one's gonna sit down and watch that for two hours. They're gonna they're gonna clock out, and I'm like, sucks. Hopefully that's not the case, you know.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, um, but yeah, like if you ever watch this, don't be on your phone. Um, I recommend turning off all the lights and um clot like literally closing the blinds and uh like the drapes to your window. Like, I don't know why, but when I watch it in the dark, it feels so interesting.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, for sure.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, yeah. Especially because like this movie is like dark, like almost lit dark.
SPEAKER_01It hurts lit dark when that's like you can't lit darkness, but yeah, it's total, totally it's dark, it's dark to even visually see it sometimes.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, yeah, but um, yeah, so we like what like stay off your phones, like turn off all any form of light and just uh enjoy a good time. Um, if you want food, have it all prepared beforehand because don't pause it. Yeah, because like I was when I was watching Frankenstein, um, I forgot that I ordered food, so it's like I have to pause it so many times to look out the window, and it just ruins that experience.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, yeah, yeah. But oh, I saw oh, I saw Frankenstein at the theater.
SPEAKER_00Uh okay. But uh, you know, some movies are coming back in theaters, so I mean oh my god, it was beautiful in theaters, bro. Yeah, I'm pretty sure, like, with the the effects and everything. Yeah, and like I know another director I I know that doesn't use C J and I know he's not like uh you're big on him, is uh Robert Eggers, who did um he did Nose Faraku and Yeah.
SPEAKER_01But like I I mean it was good. I I I appreciated it, I didn't like it, but yeah, same here actually.
SPEAKER_00I've I've I've always been open and honest about certain films. Like when they talk about barbarian, I was like, I couldn't like get with barbarian because of the whole inbred thing, or one battle after I was like, it's visually cool, but it's not my favorite of Paul Thomas Anderson's.
SPEAKER_01And yeah, I didn't see uh oh one battle after another, right?
SPEAKER_00Yeah, it's one battle after another. Um, it's pretty interesting. Storyline says it like has a lot of like modern era, even though um the book that it's based off uh came in the or was released in the 90s.
SPEAKER_01What is it? It's with Leo, right?
SPEAKER_00It's with Leo DiCaprio. It's um it's basically like his daughter is um yeah, like I guess on the run from somebody from their past played by Sean Penn, who is uh like a big like military enforcer who's part of a uh white nationalist group. Uh you can tell where this lines politically, but sure, yeah.
SPEAKER_01Oh wow, yeah.
SPEAKER_00Even though PTA says like uh this isn't what we're like, this I wasn't trying to make this politically, but yeah, or Paul Thomas Anderson says what, but people call him PTA for short.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, parent uh parent teacher association. Uh yeah. Uh I gotta watch it then. Yeah, I love Leo, bro. Leo's my favorite.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, but yeah, it's uh it's it's pretty good. It's just not like my my my my my favorite favorite of his or of the year. It's definitely in top ten, don't get me wrong. Um but going back to his prestige, just watch it, guys. Um like and it it's very cool that this was the era of like as you said earlier, of um Hugh Jackman as Wolverine, but this he's does something different from Wolverine. And yes, he's probably he's probably done other movies um outside of the X-Men, but this one is like more of the like the more famous ones out of them.
SPEAKER_01Prisoners too, yeah.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, I was gonna say prisoners, so oh my god, it's such amazing. I think that's his best performance ever. Yeah, yeah. I mean, I actually do think that as well. I think it's like he needs he has to have a director that like that knows what they're doing, like Abnolan as well as Denis Veneuf. Um oh my god, Denny Venu is the he's the man, bro. Yeah, so go check it out, and then if if you think we steered you wrong, then you probably didn't watch the movie right somewhere down the line. You messed up. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah. Anyway, um, we're gonna take a break right now and then we're gonna talk about it a lot more. All right, guys, welcome back. Um, so we're gonna talk about something that's very uh proficient in this movie, and that's the the theme of the movie, and that's about like rivalry and um you know obsession, uh, who you are as a human being. Um it's there's so much to talk about, and it's very I mean, it feels grounded, even though like you get some forms of fiction in there. Yeah, yeah, but like you just you understand the characters a little bit more.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, I it's funny, man. When any if anybody like uh one time I remember where in high school I had asked Mr. Boyd if he saw the prestige, and I could tell in his face he he sick, he's like, Yeah, I saw it. I could tell he didn't like it. I said, What you don't like it or what? And he's like, he's like, Yeah, I don't really, I didn't really like it. I like the illusionist better. And I'm like, Well, you just don't know what you're talking about, Tim, but he butt. That's no big deal. You're a science teacher, you know. I'm saying, leave the arts. Let me go ask the art the art teacher. But he said the reason he didn't like it was because it was it wasn't grounded. And I'm like, to me, that like the the that part of the movie is such a like it's such a like minor it it matters, but it doesn't have anything to do with the fact that everything that they're talking about, the themes is still like true, you know what I mean? I don't understand why I don't understand why just that one little thing about it's like okay, there's this machine.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, I think because like one time I talked to him about 127 hours, and apparently he really liked that one. And I was like, Really? Well, I mean, like I I I still like that movie despite the whole James Frankel thing. Um, yeah, it's yeah, it's a good movie. I like it. Yeah, it's just like I could never imagine like you're there for pretty much a whole entire week in your arms, yeah. Um, but I rather just I I would have rather accepted my fake because I don't think I'm like mad enough to like break my own arm and then just cut it off with yeah, I guess yeah, it's hard to say, man.
SPEAKER_01If I was there, I think I might I might break that bad boy.
SPEAKER_00I know you would. Um anyway, um, so the theme uh obviously is like rivalry and obsession. Um and it builds up a lot more throughout the uh throughout the film because it starts off with tragedy. Um in the filming world, we call it the inciting, yeah, the inciting incident, which is in the first act, yeah, and then that's where everything starts going. Um I mean, I guess you could say downhill. I guess downhill emotionally for Hugh Jackman's character.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, uphill for us, the audience, yeah, yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_00But um, like we we were talking about like the Edison and Tesla rivalry, there's rivalry between them, and then it just shows you like how far you're gonna go to like ruin somebody's reputation or like mess up somebody's act, and it's just like dude, like because the thing about most like most Christopher Nolan films is that like sometimes you don't really feel for a lot of the characters, especially like an inception. But this one, you kind of hate both of them at the same time because they're just like despicable.
SPEAKER_01Um yeah, they're yeah, they're doing like super, super bad things. It's weird because you know, like I said again, off the bat, I I just automatically sided with Bale's character. But yeah, there there are things that he does uh over the course of the and again, you want to say like he's doing it because Angier's doing it to him, but it's like it's not even between their rivalry, it's the things that he's doing in his family life that are the the hard thing to sort of like reconcile with. And then you see like how that all plays out, and and how I mean, dude, there's so many like the ending when there's the the talk that they have at the end where they kind of go back and talk about how it was enough for them, you know what I mean? But it for everybody else, it wasn't enough, you know. Um but for for Angier's character, what I find interesting is that along the way, everybody is telling him exactly like Michael Cain's character, like, dude, this is like obsession's a young man's game. I can't continue going down this path. Uh Tesla tells him that like the famous line about like uh have you considered the cost? And he's like, Money's not an option, yeah. Have you considered the cost of what it's gonna cost you? You know what I mean? Which eventually costs him, you know, everything. But yeah, so it's it there's all sorts of rivalry. There's a rivalry between them two. There's the Tesla and uh uh Edison rivalry, there's the the rivalry between um started Johansson's character and then um the wife. What's her the wife? Yeah, what's her name? Her her what's her name? She's come out in some some stuff too. I think she comes out in some horror stuff.
SPEAKER_00Um I'm trying to remember, I know I think her care the actress's name is Rebecca Hall. Um but I don't I'm not I mean, I forgot the the character's name. Sarah, I think was it Sarah?
SPEAKER_01Sarah in the movie, yeah, but I'm saying who would the the real the real actress's name? Oh yeah, Rebecca Hall. Yeah, I think she came out in uh some of uh Mike Flanagan's um Netflix series, yeah, if I'm not mistaken.
SPEAKER_00Are you talking about like the haunting series or the yeah? I think she came out in Bly Manor.
SPEAKER_01Hmm.
SPEAKER_00I gotta I gotta check those out. You haven't seen them? No, I haven't seen them.
SPEAKER_01Oh my god, bro. Dude, you gotta watch the uh blind manner's okay, it's good, but you know, you gotta watch uh the uh the haunting of hillhouse, dude. It is like what Nolan does in this movie with the with the jumping, Mike Flanagan does it there like just as well, if not even better. Uh because I think that I think that is one of the flaws with the movie, is that I think sometimes it's hard to to it's hard with the jumping around from past to to future to know exactly where you're at, you know, to because the the characters don't change all that much as far as like their look.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, and and it's interesting because it's like it go it's like go back with inception. It's like you're in one dream realm and then wait, oh great, now we gotta go in another dream realm, and then time is so different between each realm. I'm like, okay, so how long do y'all really have before shit really hits the fan there?
SPEAKER_01Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, I mean, it's also yeah, I I mean that's Christopher Nolan's all most of his movies are kind of a little bit confusing.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, but um to the point of obsession, it's like I mean, I I can't think of another film that like uh goes to obsession as this one does. Um mostly because what you okay? I'm laughing because I was gonna say, did you see that other movie?
SPEAKER_01They do it pretty well in that one too, the one with uh Joaquin, the one that just came out that like was it this past year with him and Pedro Pascal? Was it Eddington? Eddington.
SPEAKER_00No, yeah, it's like it's hard because like I'm one, I'm broke, and two, um, I just never really had enough time to go watch a lot of movies. Yeah, um, and three, it's it I I didn't know what I was gonna get into because it was Ari Astor. It's the same dude who did you know Hereditary, yeah, and um Mid Summer. And then I saw his I think it was a student film, the There's Something Strange About the Johnson or something like that. Um if y'all haven't heard that film, don't watch it. If I think it's more fucked up than um than Mid Solmar was. Oh, okay, yeah.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, I uh well well Edinburgh, they they it's it's all about rivalry and they do it really well in there, and it's hilarious. The movie's funny as fuck. Oh, really? I thought it was like really good. I don't know. I I had I had seen some reviews at the time of people kind of like saying it was like a little uh like that it was less than what they expected, but dude, I I I was laughing the whole time. I it was super interesting. But that's another movie about rivalry where they do it really well. You gotta check it out.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, I know I think I know like some comedies um do rivalry stuff. I I'm just trying to pick up my head on which one because some like most comedies that involve rivalry are not very as um memorable.
SPEAKER_01Oh, yeah, for sure.
SPEAKER_00As you could say was I'm pretty sure we'll now you can say it was Eddington, but was this one? It's like it's it's come to the point where it's like, are you do you act like a human being anymore? You know, where like he he has so anger has um I mean, what was Christian Bell's character's name again?
SPEAKER_01Uh character is yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_00He has Alfie's um, he has halfy's book, and Scar Johansson is like, think of your wife, and he's like, Screw my wife.
SPEAKER_01And oh yeah, he's I don't care about my wife, I care about his secret. Yeah, I was like, oh my gosh, like he's far gone to the point where it's like yeah, it's like that's what that when he that when that line hits, you're like, oh man, this guy, he none of the reason why he started is is there anymore. He's just like an empty jail of yeah, he's like farmer stuff.
SPEAKER_00He's he's nothing anymore, he's nothing anymore. And like going towards the end, where um without giving spoilers aware, where Christian Bell gets the shorter end of the stick, he just said he was gonna let it happen. Yeah.
SPEAKER_01And oh yeah, a hundred percent, yeah, for sure. But does he get the short does he get the short end of the stick though?
SPEAKER_00No, the the the stick. Oh my gosh. That's what I wonder who came up with that that line anyway. Oh yeah, yeah, the the short end of the stick. Oh if you get the short end of the end, or um I don't know how to I don't know how to say if you get the short end of the the stick, you gotta do this, and then whoever got the short end just yet up.
SPEAKER_01What was he gonna say? What was the was it what was there any specific part of the movie that you like that always sticks out to you?
SPEAKER_00That always sticked out to me other than the ending. Um I would definitely say like when he's when anger starts to like make his comeback in a way.
SPEAKER_01Okay, Angie, yeah.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, because the way he starts it off is almost as if like like well, if y'all don't know the story, y'all know the story, but every time he says that, that when he's about to say like this trick, what I'm about to do, um some like somebody that I know has lost and stuff like that. It's basically he doesn't know like what's gonna happen to him once he does this trick. Yeah, and like it calls back to what happens in the inciting incident. And sometimes we don't even know like who are you in between where you are here and then where you are there in a way. Oh yeah, yeah. Which is what also he talks about. It's like every night, I don't know if I'll be the man in the box. Yeah. Yeah.
SPEAKER_01See, it's interesting too, because I've heard a lot of people say that that's like that that uh I I I guess I took it as and again, some people have said different things, so I really that it was the part that to me that was a little bit confusing. But I always thought that sometimes the uh the secondary person was either there and it transported the first person, or vice versa. Sometimes the first person stayed there and then the second person got transported. But what some people were saying was like it's always it's always the first person. It's always the first person that that stays there and then the second person, but that because they're the same person, yeah, it doesn't matter. You know what I mean? And I'm like, yeah, I guess I guess that works out, I guess. I don't know.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, something we didn't talk about earlier when we talked about like the effects and other we didn't talk about the rewriting, how the screenwriting is so like keen and stuff like that. Well, one Nolan writes all his his movies, even like if they're not original, you know, like Memento or um Dunker, even like if he has to get it off of me. Because to me, I and I said this in the past, uh, the Dark Knight is technically original, even though it comes off an IP. There isn't there isn't a comic book that had all the events of that movie.
SPEAKER_01Um he took from a bunch of different places, yeah.
SPEAKER_00And plus, like he and there there is like, yes, some sci-fi, but calling back to how like you said, like, no, when we had our old teacher Mr. Void say, like, it didn't feel grounded, a lot of his films still feel grounded in a way, even Batman in a way.
SPEAKER_01Um, oh yeah, for sure.
SPEAKER_00And it's like and then you see kind of like the the the table's turn and instance turn where it's like you know, Alfie becomes like the magician of the century, and then once when you know uh Angier makes a comeback, now he's the magician of the century. Now you see like one person becomes obsessed with one person's act, but then when one person does it better, now the other person is oh dude, that's another part, another line that I love is where um where because and and it's funny the way Nolan does it, he does it in such like a little like a passing moment, it's such a small, little quick line.
SPEAKER_01But you know how um Borden is talking about I had this trick, I have this trick that only I can do, that nobody else can do but me. And when it comes out, it's gonna be the and then it it shows the second Angier sees it, uh Johansson's character is like, Oh, how was it? And he's like, it's the greatest magic trick I've ever seen. And I'm like, bro, and then that that's another point, too, that is interesting is that like um like um what was I gonna say? He um he that that that's the that's the interesting thing right off the bat between the two of them is that one of them is portrayed as a great magician and a horrible salesman, and Hugh Jackson's character is the great salesman and the horrible magician. Yeah, and his his obsession with how he does the trick is is another reason. Like it it just goes to show how you're uh when you're in that state of of mind, like nothing will suffice because um Michael Cain's character is telling him he does it this way. This is how he does it, and he just cannot accept that that it could be that simple, you know. And even though he's wrong, he's in a way what he's saying makes sense, you know. Uh uh um Michael Cain's character, and and and Angier just cannot accept that that it could just be that, you know what I mean?
SPEAKER_00Yeah, and it's interesting because like some simp some magicians were used to do are can do simple stuff, and it's still pretty interesting. Like, so uh what am I trying to think? There's this magician I saw in America's God telling, I think his name is Matt Franco, and he did this trick where like he had this uh carton of milk and it starts off pouring milk, right? And then it ends up pouring out water and then wine and then beer and then orange juice, and everyone's trying to be like, How is he doing that? And he even like rips open the carton, and there's not like no device or anything in there. It's revealed that like it's it's a simple trick. It's basically like he has these cups that have like um powder residue in there, so uh the color makes it look like it's it's whatever. Yeah, but people are like it it can't be that simple. And it's like, yes, you're you're looking at the trick. You don't see the assistant coming with the actual tray of um the beverages because he has the judges try all the beverages. Um Simon, uh uh of course he goes for the beer, he's British. What do you what do you expect? Um so it's like you're you're so focused on that one thing that you don't see the other thing coming.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, you don't see the you don't see the slight, yeah.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, the sleight of hand, uh which is an interesting trick what they use in this movie. Um of course I didn't that didn't work well, but no, yeah. Every time I see that scene, I I look away because I'm like, oh gosh, I cannot the literal sleight of hands, yeah.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, that's interesting.
SPEAKER_00And I think it's funny because like I'll we'll we'll give you a little bit of uh a spoiler on this scene, but like there's a scene that involves a bird, and then like and then like the little boy. Um is supposed to be like the nephew of um Bell's wife's uh no anyway. Um, and she's like he killed it, he killed it, and Bell's trying to cheer him up and saying, like, look, it's this is him. It's like what about his brother? And then it comes back to oh the bird was actually killed for that trick.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, yeah, you see him dead, yeah. Which is like prop props to that little boy for being so so smart about it.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, but I think it's interesting, um, just how he does it, especially with like, are you watching that's that's always like the the line of that film? Are you watching closely? Yeah, the first time not. No, I'm not watching closely. The second time I'm trying to watch closely, and even still, I'm I'm trying to process what's going on here.
SPEAKER_01You're not watching closely because you want to be fooled.
SPEAKER_00Yes, yes. That and like, I mean, before we before we end this off, I remember so oh man, I don't know why we had to do this. This was like a project, it was like a not even a science project because this wasn't science class, I think it was like a media class um at Casa, where we all went to high school. And it's like find a science, something sciencey in a movie, and I chose to talk about the machine, and because I was yeah, I was super obsessed with the movie at the time. So I I really wanted to talk about like that movie, and and like the the opener I put in was that scene, are you watching closely? And even like the little boy, because when you say like we want to be full, he doesn't think like um I don't know how they do it. I think like they kind of hide the the coin right here. It's uh it's always that that coin trick of like getting the coin out of your ear. Yeah, yeah, yeah. It's I think or the or this one, the hand one. Yeah, I think like what they do is like they um they kind of hide the coin like right here, but like palm it, they palm it. Yeah.
SPEAKER_01But but the this one, I had this is me like nerding out about magic. You know the one where they do this where it like appears and disappears? Yeah, okay. That one is something called the Raven, and it's like a mechanism where it goes around you. Um and what it does is when you do it, it it'll it'll the magnet will snatch up the coin and it'll suck it up into your sleeve. Oh wow, with a small little wire, and then when you want to put it back, you you you can you can do it. Yeah, um, but yeah, yeah, yeah. I mean it's it's uh it's it's interesting how it all happens.
SPEAKER_00Um, another trick I want to talk about is um before we get back to the movie and before we finish it off, it's the famous David Copperfield trick where he makes the um the Statue of Liberty disappear. Yeah, so one, the Statue of Liberty did not disappear. Uh what it what it is is because this was like I think it was broadcast live on ABC. What it is is like they have this big old drape cover, like the viewpoint of the audience who was on the it was on a ship or um yeah, or ferry, whatever you like to y'all like to call it. And then when he rele or when he removes the drape, the statue of liberty is gone. Well the statues the statue of liberty went nowhere, the ship did.
SPEAKER_02Okay, yeah.
SPEAKER_00But it basically what it was was um because of you had to rely on the sound of all the music that's playing and rely on the boat making a bunch of noise that you don't feel yourself shifting.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_00So really like the Statue of Liberty didn't go anywhere, you just kind of like went a different direction. Yeah. But yeah, no, it's it's a pretty interesting um trick that he did.
SPEAKER_01It's kind of like what Michael Cain says in the movie, right? He's like, Oh, I'm sorry. Uh uh actually, um what Angier says in the movie, right? He's like, if people believed like what I did on stage, they wouldn't clap, they would they would scream. If somebody could make the the uh Statue of Liberty disappear, it's like we we're gonna have to lock this guy up, you know what I mean? He's too powerful.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, because it's like I mean, people will always when you look at the small time magicians like Chris Angel or David Blaine, you can already know what they're doing. Like, what's the other one that David Blaine did this on the Kids Choice Awards? Um, it's that famous like your head drops kind of a trick.
SPEAKER_01Oh, okay.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, what it is, it's like you have this like metal thing on like over your shoulder, and then you put your coat on.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, it traps up.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, you put it up and it makes it look like you're headed.
SPEAKER_01Don't ever disrespect David Blaine like that, brother.
SPEAKER_00What about Chris Angel?
SPEAKER_01I like Chris Angel when I was younger. Now that I'm older, I'm like uh David Blaine is the much he's the much more uh uh better magician and uh better showman. He's not as like cringy, yeah.
SPEAKER_00Because like Chris, yeah, because like Chris Angel, like the walking on water uh shit, we we already know how he did that.
SPEAKER_01Um he would he would just do such like ridiculous things that you like, you know it's trickery and camera editing. David Blaine's a little more natural, he's he's a little bit more like he's doing simple things, like you said, simple things, but you're like, holy shit, like where did you do it when it's just me and you here, you know? And I think the other thing about David Blaine that's awesome is that he's really and Chris Angel to some extent did this, but David Blaine is really about like doing just non-magic things too, but it's magical to see a guy like he fasted for like 40 days in that box. Remember that? Yeah, and uh so just like pushing his body to the limits was like it's like a magic of its own, you know.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, but um but going back to it, I mean, because going back to the theme of like who you are as a human being, like I mean, I've seen like it take let's talk about it like a modern sense, like I've seen how people are and they don't see the flaws within themselves. We can, and people will try to talk to them saying, like, bro, like you need to like look at where you are now, but people are so prideful because there's pride is also in this film as well. Yeah, so there's so much of it in here, and as well as in you know, in modern life that people don't see um salute, uh people don't see the uh they don't see like the inner demons within themselves, yeah, for sure.
SPEAKER_01Nobody wants to see the bad things they've done, only only the bad things that have been done to them. Yeah, and they they use that to justify, yeah.
SPEAKER_00And then like when they get caught out, then it's like uh then it's like names are called. Um it's just like people gotta like. I mean, I can't well, and I I can't say excuse my language because I've already dropped a bunch of F-bombs, but to my point, people need to pull their heads out of their asses for once, and that's just something that both characters, specifically Hugh Jackman, did was like his was so far up it like he forgotten like why did he decide to do all this in the first place?
SPEAKER_01Yeah, yeah, he lost it. Yeah, he lost his way. He I mean, even towards the end, I mean, even to the to the end of the end, he he still kind of doesn't uh he still uses like the uh like the love for magic, I guess. But he didn't love magic. Borden loved magic, yeah. He loved magic for like his purest, it wasn't about the crowd. What what Angier loved was the adoration, he wanted all the applause. And even in the in the in the ending, it's like he's like, No, I did it was like the look on their faces, like, what do you mean we did all this for nothing? Like it was it was about the the crowd, and he was like, he's like, No, it wasn't. It was about it was about like the the the art, it was about the purity of the art.
SPEAKER_00And like you could talk about like some was most films nowadays. It's like like people called it out too, like Sam Jackson, where he says, like, most young filmmakers don't care about the art anymore, they care about the recognition. Yeah, and I know like because in the previous episode, I said, like, if anybody wants to do a Freddy Kruger movie, I'm available. I'm not doing that. I I'm not saying that like I want to be recognized, I'm saying that like I'm I'm a fan of the Freddy Krueger franchise, and I want to like make it to where one, we get the character back, but two, um, it's like what's the word I don't want to make it go to the Halloween um franchise where like it just went downhill. I want to go back to its curious form back when horror films were actually scary. Um, yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, but that to my point, like he's they're not wrong, like a lot of even musicians as well, like all the old musicians. Why do people still go to their concerts more than the younger musicians or musicians? Sorry. Um they sound the same, okay. Uh but to my point, like how how how often do you think people are gonna remember ice spice versus yeah vanilla ice? Like vanilla ice has been around for a long time. People still know yeah, yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_01They're interested in diversive, but uh yeah, no, that that I mean I and again, I I guess not to not sound like obviously there are very, very talented m musicians nowadays and artists nowadays and all, but it it does seem as though like the uh the people that are in it more for like the uh for the uh for the quick paycheck and for the quick eyes, sort of like I think their their time they they they they blow up and then they fade out versus the the person who's really doing it for like the love and the integrity of the art and to tell the story, they sort of outlast throughout throughout the years. They're gonna be remembered, you know, like just to your point, you know what I mean? It's like um I'm trying to think about right now. Right now, I guess like we I mean, you know, we have like uh Vinid Del New, right? A great director.
SPEAKER_02Yeah.
SPEAKER_01In a time where a lot of people aren't taking chances, but he's just such a force that you're like, you gotta give him the money. Nolan, too. I mean, I mean, Nolan, they didn't like he wasn't necessarily supposed to be like who he was, you know?
SPEAKER_00Yeah.
SPEAKER_01Uh because what he didn't really go to film school, did he?
SPEAKER_00No, well, he went to yeah, he studied English, but it still works well with what he does because um, yeah, because like it it inspires you to write a lot more of your of not only your script. The only the only movie he had he he didn't write was um uh Insomnia. He was more of a director for hire for that movie, which is the only film of his I have yet to see. So I need to I still need to check that one out. But I've seen all his other films, like including his first one, which was following, which is a pretty interesting um movie. Um but yeah, um just where he started off because he was like a very indie filmmaker, actually. Yeah, or yeah, even when you like another one, think of Sam Raimi, where he started off with Evil Dead, and then look, he became the guy who makes the Spider-Man movies. Where yeah, I mean my personal favorite, but that's uh in maybe that's just bias for me. Oh me, me too, yeah. Yeah, but it had most heart, it goes back to it.
SPEAKER_01It goes back to that's exactly like the the point of it is that like for for some of the stuff that Sam Raimi does is a little bit silly sometimes, and yeah, and obviously the effects back then, even though they were great for the time, looking back, you can sort of pinpoint it out. But he had such a passion, he was really trying to tell a story, like a human story about somebody who's like struggling and going through life and not doesn't have a lot of money, versus now we got Tom Holland, which he's he seems like a really good guy, and the Spider-Man's funny, but there's no heart in it, it's just like a big budget action movie that you're like, Whoa, it's gonna blow you away with the spectacle. But it's like, no, I want I want a story that is a real story, you know. So that's why those films are never gonna really be outdone by these newer films because it's like that that Spider-Man was telling a true story, you know.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, and it's funny because like the prestige doesn't even feel like a big budget movie to me, even though it does take place back then. You can tell like the budget still feels limited, but they still work with what they got. And again, we got a really cool movie that again celebrating 20 years, and people like you and I are still talking about it.
SPEAKER_01It's so crazy, right? To say, like, it's not it's you know, it still seems like a it was like a 40 million dollar budget, you know what I'm saying? Like, oh, that's a it's not a big budget to comparison nowadays, right? Like, yeah, and it it made like a hundred million dollars, I believe, after everything.
SPEAKER_00So I mean, yeah, they definitely got their money for it, especially because like Nolan just came off of Batman Begin, so that's right. Yeah, so obviously people are gonna be like, Oh, let's check this out. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And yeah, so I mean, again, Nolan's definitely one of my favorite directors out there. Prestige, uh, top three for me, along with the Dark Knight at Interstellar. Um, do you even have a ranking of your own, or is it just the prestige as your number one?
SPEAKER_01With with uh with Nolan? Yeah, I would say it is like including the Batmans, yeah. Okay, I see I kind of like always put those in with separate, but uh, I would say it's the prestige, and then it's going to probably be Interstellar, and then it's going to be uh the Dark Knight.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, it's always it's it's always gonna be the Dark Knight. No, because like going back to Cody Leeche, he's he puts um in all respects to him, by the way. Um he puts he puts uh Batman begins before the dark night.
SPEAKER_01Okay, I can understand that.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, because like it's more Batman focused versus you know, in the next movie, it's more like it's both Joker as well as Too Faced focus, but I mean, I mean, because like people are gonna are always gonna argue it's more famous because of Heath Ledger's death, but it's like, well, if he didn't die, you don't do you not think the outcome would still be the same?
SPEAKER_01Amazing. I mean, one of the best like movie performances ever. He just got total, totally lost.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, that it's just like, yes, maybe him dying does have yeah, it does.
SPEAKER_01I mean, but I I would say I can understand why somebody would pick Batman Begins because it is uh more of like a grounded story, and then the the and then because it did so well, I mean, and and Nolan obviously was just like on a roll that like the second one's budget was much higher. He could afford to be doing much more outlandish things, but I but the the Dark Knight's even just a better movie, just the way it's put together. Well, you know, uh my bad. Actually, that's not true. The the Dark Knight is it's the way that it's edited is kind of choppy.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. Well, I mean, yeah, it's that's the only thing I have with like most of his films is just the editing.
SPEAKER_01Um and and also, too, I think Nolan does something sometimes where it seems like he brushes over, like like in the dark knight, this always pisses me off. When when the when the bus comes into the in the in the beginning, yeah, you see that guy there, like he's the one that has the the gun on the joker, yeah. And then the joker's moving, and then the the bus comes, he doesn't even touch him, and that guy like flies. And I can never not get over that. Like, how come you just didn't redo that scene where it smacks him out? And then the bus leaves out of the building, and there's like all these other buses, nobody nobody like, hey, look, a bus just came out of a fucking bank. It's like, what what are you doing? But it the movie's better, bro. I mean, it's such an I mean, even even the scope of it, like the the the shots that he's able to do, uh like especially on the building, you know, like when Batman's up there, it's like fuck. And didn't Chris didn't Christian Belt really go up there? He didn't want to use the double. Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_00I mean, like like I said, when we when we talk about the special effects in the movie, he said, like, yeah, CG I can suck it because we're going full practical and more believable.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, so Oppenheimer, he's just gonna drop a whole bomb on a yeah, so it's like that.
SPEAKER_00Oh that makes all of us curious when it comes to the Odyssey and the um the cyclops scene.
SPEAKER_01What I thought about that. Yeah, what are they gonna do?
SPEAKER_00What the fuck are we gonna see? First of all, sorry, mom, for all the cussing. Second of all, what the fuck are we gonna see?
SPEAKER_02Yeah.
SPEAKER_00Um, but I don't know. I'm excited. We'll see. Um, hopefully it subverts my expectations even more. And I know like some like you know, some historical scholars are already like complaining about the um the costume. I was like, Yeah, but I mean this is this is technically still Hollywood, guys.
SPEAKER_01Um you still got you can't you still gotta make it look fucking sexy a little bit, yeah.
SPEAKER_00Because like I was re-watching Troy not too long ago, which is uh which is actually the same story, um, the Iliad. Um it's the events before the Odyssey. So and um the Trojans have almost an an uh historic accurate um like armor, and I I say almost, um, just because like from what I understand, um their arms are never showing, nor are their legs. Um, which understands why they probably lost every war because you can't I don't think you can move well with that armor, yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, and plus like when you see Brad Pitt move around like that, I mean like it's kind of hard to like be moving around.
SPEAKER_01Agile what to be agile with uh armor on, yeah.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, so but um back to it. Prestige, definitely a great movie. 100% given a recommendation. Um, before we clear off, um but in case y'all didn't know this, Devin is uh he's a personal trainer and he does a lot of workout routines. Um very interesting on social media. But um, if anybody ever wants to check you out, um where should they find you at?
SPEAKER_01That's a way to put it. Very interesting, very interesting on social media. Uh yeah, you can follow me at uh uh Instagram, TikTok at juggernaut underscore gym. Juggernaut underscore gym. Did I say that right? Oh no, no, it's juggernauts with the S, Juggernauts underscore Jim. My bad. On TikTok and Instagram. Um, I do group coaching here in San Antonio, Texas. Uh I do online coaching, fat loss specifically if you're trying to lose weight and get strong as fuck. Um yeah, follow me, send me a message.
SPEAKER_00Well, yeah, well, finally, after almost four years in the making, Steven, great to finally have you back on the show, man.
SPEAKER_01It was dude. I know we were gonna do this a while back, right? And uh we just didn't weren't able to.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, hopefully, well, I don't know. Maybe we could do an episode about like Superman or Smallville, because it's gonna be 10 years since that show ended. I would love to talk about Smallville, bro. Yeah, dude. Maybe maybe we could talk about it before I end the season because I'm probably gonna end like in April and then come back in August.
SPEAKER_01But we'll we'll figure out hey bro, it's nice seeing you, man. I missed you, I haven't seen you in a long time.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, um, yeah, it guys, if you ever want to get a workout regime, look up my man, he's very cool. If he if he yells at you, it's only because you're doing it wrong.
SPEAKER_01So that's it's only because I care about you.
SPEAKER_00He cares about you. All right. But anyway, you guys have a great night, day, morning. Whenever you're listening to this, we're signing off. And uh yeah, y'all have a y'all have a good one.