Noises Off! / Ben's Birthday Bash Special!

After getting through a maze of 333 slamming doors Ben and Paul frantically bring you BEN'S BIRTHDAY BASH SPECIAL "Noises Off!” (Yet another title with punctuation... - 1992). Dir: Peter Bogdanovich (Based on the play by: Michael Frayn) Starring: Michael Caine, Carol Burnett, John Ritter, and Christopher Reeve. How many Michael Caine impressions, of varying quality, can you fit into one podcast? Listen to us go for the world record in this bonus episode celebrating Ben's annual celebration of life, recorded on June 27th 19...12....it's June 27th, 1912, it's June 27th, 1912, it's June 27th, 1912...

Plot: A travelling theater group find so much action going on behind-the-scenes, they almost ruin the performances.

Recorded 6/23
1hr 20mins

Transcript

Yeah. It 100% is that. Yeah. And are we recording? I am recording.

Oh, woah. I was doing a sound check, but Yeah. But who's gonna do the thing about who we are, what this is? You, me, me, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, how's this work? Day, and it is a special episode.

This is the review review, Ben's birthday bash. Yay. Ben Yay. Yeah. For his gift, got to pick this movie.

He sure did, and it was a gift for him specifically. So I chose the movie. I I went through a lot of movies in my head, you know, movies that I love. We talked a lot about Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind because it's one of my top threes. And while I would enjoy talking about any of those movies that I love, I wanted to choose one that I hadn't seen in a long time Yeah.

Just to kinda roll with our kind of structure and see, like, if it holds up for me, if it still has the same amount of, if I still have the same amount of love for it, what's changed, if I've changed, if it's changed. Time's changed. Everything's changed. We're all changing all the time. We fear change.

Quick change. Quick change. I actually I've been thinking about that as, my, hundred and first birthday is approaching. Wow. Hundred and one.

You're like you're like Bilbo. Big day. You're gonna disappear your game, Benjamin Button and Kathleen Kennedy and all sorts of folks. She produced that as as well as this movie. But, I've been thinking, do I wanna rewatch something that I held dear at one point or whatnot?

And I'm ping ponging between that and something that's, like, recent in my memory that I want somebody to talk through with me. Yeah. And so I'm waffling between the guest and something else. Oh, yeah. Sure.

And it should be something else also. You never know. I'm a bit of a wild card. A bit? A bit of a wild card.

On this Very nice. On this How are you doing? I'm doing alright. Life's life's going okay. Yeah?

Things are good. Good. It's summer now here in LA. We're finally hitting some hot weather. The June gloom doom got us a bit.

I miss it already. It's a little bit. We'll really miss it when we get into those, like, 95 degree days. It's absolutely accurate. And we live in the don't stalk us.

We live in the valley. You have admitted, like, almost exactly the implication of your home on this program. And I've been like, oh. I guess that's true. But there's still a lot to be you know what?

If someone really wanted to find us, it would not be that hard. No. It would not. Anybody they know our names. At a at a job, I had someone literally just, like, my first and last name, like, look me up on Google essentially and then went, oh, is this your address and whatnot?

And I was like, Lee, don't talk to me. Don't leave me alone. Yeah. Exactly. Go away.

The you're not off no one's off the grid. We're all No. Not at all. It's impossible at this point. If you're part of society whatsoever, you're in great Yeah.

To the grid. We're all in the same None of us none of us can be Ron Swanson. No. We were talking about this. I drive a car that is constantly monitoring everything in it around it, yada yada yada yada.

And I'm like, this is fine, which is so not my attitude Sky in any way. I know. I mean, I have all of my Amazon my Bezos machines all around my house that I let listen to my conversations. Before we talk about because there's so many TV legends in this book. So what are we watching?

Yeah. I was just gonna say really quick though. Apparently, people are hacking into folks' Alexos that have cameras and can, like, shop together audio and try to access other smart things in your home. Nice. If you wanna ever ever wanna go down that rabbit hole, listener, which you don't.

So I'm so glad you spent this time listening to me rant. Nice. Well, smart advice to be afraid. They wouldn't find Broadband. Interesting here in my house, but they can try.

Abode. Yeah. Do it's q though. What are we watching? It's so good every time.

I'm so glad that Matt Foskett made that for us. I love the progression of the what am I watching? Yeah. What are we watching? What are you watching?

Yeah. Like, just the kind of the insanity of the show of, like, where is this going? Is it progressing, digressing? Where am I? Yeah.

It's got, like, a dream pop feel to me. Go for it. You wanna start us off with what are you what are you watching? What am I watching? What am I watching?

What am I watching? I'm watching Love and Death on HBO right now. I don't know that. It is semi true story adapted from true story, what have you, with Elizabeth Olsen and Jesse Poynett. Oh, right.

Right. Right. The do you wanna have an affair? Right. Yeah.

Pretty solid. I like both of those actors. Oh, they're both phenomenal in it. And Yeah. I just it makes me wanna watch rewatch game night because I actually recently watched get too free.

How can that possibly be profitable for Frito Lay? Just one of the great deliveries of all time. I can't get it out of my head when I look at them. After I saw D and D, I went back and watched Game Night and found a new love in Infinity for that movie and made me realize why they were hired to do the Dungeons and Dragons movie. I liked it much more actually the second viewing of game night.

I the first time I saw it, I liked it, but I was like it was it was a big thing at the time, and everyone was kind of sucking its dick. And I was like, okay. Yeah. That was fine. And then I watched it recently.

Yeah. And I was like, oh, this is a phenomenal film. I went on a reluctant dick ride of that movie where I was like, this is like a three and a half star when I first saw it. Three, three and a half star, really fun, well paced, etcetera. Has, like, a fun, like, little boxes on the hillside look to the neighborhoods and stuff where everything's kinda similar.

Great looking movie. And then I went full speed dick ride, like, the second viewing. I'm like, this is like a four four and a half star movie. Yeah. That's how I felt.

Yeah. So great. And then other TV thing real quick. Yeah. If you're not on Righteous Gemstones, get on it.

This season is just, like, piping hot. It starts great, and it just continues on this, like, just momentum of excellence just in fucking That's I've never gotten into. And, like, every time I know it people talk about it. Nobody's perfect. No.

But people always tell me it's great. And I'm there's just something about it, like, the trailers that just does not really speak to me. And I'm sure it's good, and I might start it at some point. There's just something about it that I'm like, I I don't know. It feels I mean, I don't know.

It makes me feel kinda dirty. I think I get that. I think to whatever degree it's intentional, and I think just the idea of megachurches or that sort of thing is, like, kind of dirty, and it's maybe that's maybe intentional to some degree. Yeah. And it's just it's very gaudy and over the top and filthy at times.

And I don't know. It's one of those things where if you don't really like it through the pilot or by the second episode, you haven't invested that much time. Move on. But I can't imagine I do love John Goodman, like, quite a lot. Oh, boy.

He's one of my favorites. It this is one of the special, like, he takes a torch and runs with it type, like, character performances for him. It's really good. I'll die on the hill and say that he should have been nominated for Walter Sobchak in Big Lebowski. And I will for Fred Flintstones and Brian Levins, The Flintstones.

Yabba dabba doo. Or who replaced him in the sequel, the Viva Rockaways? Margatti? Viva Umante. That's exactly right.

Wow. Look at us go. Yeah. They also replaced, I believe, Rick Moranis with Steven Baldwin. Yeah.

The everyone's preferred Baldwin. The obvious choice, step down from Rick Moranis. Can we get a Baldwin? I miss Rick Moranis so much. Yeah.

I I did hear that he's coming back for that Honey, I Shrunk the Kids series. I didn't know that. I'd be so interested in that. That's what I heard. Okay.

But That's something exciting about TV. Yeah. I'll watch that. For me, what am I watching? We are watching The Bear season two.

Mhmm. Mhmm. That's Starting soon in my home. It's a great show. Stressful as someone who's worked in a restaurant industry.

And this season's stressful again. But I just love the writing of that show. I think that, performances are fucking great and Oh, yeah. And I'm also been on a deep rewatch of Parks and Recreation. Oh, good for you.

Did you go through the whole first and second season? Oh, yeah. I did. Deep rewatch. Okay.

I did. And And, obviously, the first season's only six episodes. It's still rough. It is super rough. Yeah.

It's still a it's still a rough ride. And it it's interesting because I've also been listening to their podcast, the Parks and Recollection, which goes by every episode. And it's interesting where the show got to and how long it took to get there, and where it started to know that, like, a big part of why it becomes what it does is is purely because of who they cast in the roles. And then what they had intended for the show, wasn't necessarily the show we got. Realizing the strengths of all of these different actors is sort of, like, why the show works so well.

It's Chris Pratt's best work. You know? Like Oh, he's so phenomenal. He's so phenomenal. He's doing he's doing a crazy amount of amazing work in that show.

Yeah. The network connectivity problems, line delivery Yeah. And the execution of that is incredible. Yeah. I also like one of my favorite lines of all time, just like lame jokes, and she as an actress and the character, and it's so perfect for the Leslie Knope character.

Oh, I didn't know your real name was Mark Brindana Quits. And I know it's early in the seas or in the show, and not a lot of people like that character or whatever. But that was, like, that was so in my lane. That because I went from that show from episode one season one and kept all the way through. So I got a very big payoff from that show.

Yeah. Because, yeah, that first season is tough. Yeah. It's a little tough, but I'm I'm in, like, season four now, and it's, it's like singing, you know, and Yeah. The show really takes off when when, Adam Scott and Rob Lowe show up.

Oh, dude. Now you're cooking with every type of heat that's Yeah. That possible. Rob Lowe's stellar, stellar in that performance. Yeah.

Just the level of consistency and the commitment to the energy and everything, like, that's gotta be One of the best line deliveries. Talk about something very tiring. One of the best line deliveries. Stop pooping. Just staring himself down in the mirror.

He's sweating bullets. And also, like, one of the great season series finales ever, in my opinion. Usually, time jumps don't work for me. Agreed. But that season really works for me.

Yeah. And did you ever see their, quarantine episode during COVID? No. I did not. Pretty cool.

I mean, you know, unlike other shows where they did, like, they read a past script where they come together on Zoom or whatever and, like like, Community did the episode where after, Chevy Chase's character died, they did that that episode, and they read it together, which was cool, but this was, like, a new episode. It was, like, a a new episode of Parks and Rec on Zoom as if it's during quarantine. And they're all just trying to reconnect with each other kind of a deal? Yeah. Yeah.

I would I should watch that. And Jerry is the mayor of Yes. Of Pawnee now. Great. And, I think at that point, she is Leslie is either president or was president.

Great. Because that's what's implied at the end of Yeah. Yeah. But, Adam Scott was the first gentleman in Yeah. The whole deal.

Well, that's part of the greatness of the series finale of that is Jerry who's like a punching bag for the whole show. Yeah. And at first, you don't really feel that bad about it and you laugh along. And then it just starts to feel, like, kind of mean. And then that he gets this beautiful ending as a character makes everything perfect for me on, like, that journey.

That man has the largest penis I've ever seen. It's so good. The largest penis I've ever seen. Alright. Well, that's a smooth transition.

Guess what this episode is brought to you by? You're gonna tell me. The largest peanuts. This episode is brought to you by the largest peanuts you have ever seen, which is different for everybody. Sure.

It woah. Yeah. Everybody has a different view. This episode is brought to you by perspectives. You're maybe about to hear some different ones.

Yeah. So the movie is Noise is Off, a touchstone Amblin picture, from 1992 is rated PG 13, and it is an hour and forty one minutes. The budget for this movie was 12,000,000, which adjusted is 30.1. That seems high to me. I I mean, it's all in the cast.

It's all in the cast. Yeah. For sure. Be. Opening weekend, 03/22/1992, made 980,000.

Adjusted is 2,100,000.0. Final gross North America, 2 Point 3 Million, and that's Oh. 5,000,000. I feel Not great. A little less dumb than when we watched Somewhere in Time, and you and Ben Burris were like, you don't know Noise is Off?

And I was like, not really. And now I feel a little better because it seems like it's a little more obscure than I thought. Sure. Yeah. I think it also is pretty niche for theater people because it is, like, this play is just so famous.

I think that is also part of it. Other releases this weekend, Alien three, Far and Away, and Encino Man. What My boy. Think about Alien three as we talk about those movies so much. It's been a while since I've seen it.

Been a while. It's been a while. I remember first look when I first learned that it was Fincher that kinda blew my mind. I think I learned that, like, in college. I think it's a step down from both those films from from me.

I think it's a fine science fiction thriller. Mhmm. But in compare when you're comparing it to the other two, it's it's pretty far step step down. I agree. I it definitely exist.

When I try to help it along in my mind to exist more on its own and be kind of a singular story. I'm on board with a lot of people that are, like, I really dislike the beginning and how certain characters or storylines are kind of thrown away. But that can also kind of be, like, life, like tragedies happen Sure. Etcetera. But also, like, I really love the way the movie shot.

I love Charles Dance in the movie. It's I agree where it's, like, it's nowhere near the first two. Yeah. But I still would give it it's like a three and a half star movie for me. I love the idea that the xenomorph, you know, goes into a dog and it looks and behaves and acts differently.

Yeah. There are some interesting ideas there, but I agree with, apparently, what Fincher says in terms of, like, if there weren't so much studio meddling, it could have been a much better movie. For me, with all those movies, I feel like it just starts starts to become, like, a facsimile of a facsimile, like, as they go on, and then it's, like, diminishing returns, especially as we get to, like, alien covenant Oh. Or, Prometheus. Yeah.

Like, at that point, you're like, what are we what what is the story we're even telling anymore? What are we even doing? And what's the timeline? Like The yeah. Like, Prometheus had a lot of cool ideas Yes.

That just were not executed. It looks beautiful at times. It's a gorgeous film. Yeah. That's about the end of it for me.

Yeah. I'll let you get back on track here. I was just curious. Weekend top five, Lethal Weapon three, Alien three, Far and Away, Encino Man, and Basic Instinct. Films a note from this year.

Wayne's World. Wayne's World. Party time. Excellent. Excellent.

Speaking of Rob Lowe and great Hell, yeah. Performances. Yeah. The player, Whiteman Can't Jump, one of Paul's favorites. Right.

Aladdin, father of the bride, house sitter hook, death becomes her, candy man, consenting adults, and sneakers. You did it you did it just exactly. It was on the teleprompter, everyone. I just read it. Top five films from this year, Batman Returns, Lethal Weapon three, Sister Act, Home Alone two, Lost in.

You you got it. Just like Wayne's work. You got it. You got it. Like a human man.

Starring Donald Trump. Yeah. A former SAG actor. Noises Off finished a 52. Letterbox average on this movie is 3.7.

Letterbox, you can follow me at run b m c. I'm Paul acts badly. You can see what dumb movies Paul is watching. If you're lucky enough to choose spending your time to follow me, you can see how I waste mine. It's fun.

You can see what random movies I go to the theater to see because that happens. And I I do that. Siskel and Ebert gave it two thumbs down. Oh, jeez. Haters, bro.

Haters. Yeah. Haters gonna hate. Haters gonna hate. This was directed by Peter Bogdanovich, r I p.

It has been mentioned on this show, I think, that this was a different director in a different era. I and or multiples of us were wrong. Yeah. This is the accurate information. Also directed the last picture show, Paper Moon and Targets.

Have you seen Paper Moon? I've never seen it. It's like a I know. O'Neil, Ryan O'Neil. She's, like, the youngest Oscar winner for it or something.

Oh, no. I haven't seen it. Oh, I I know the movie. I haven't seen it. Yeah.

I haven't seen it either. I gotta prioritize it more, I guess. Writers, Marty Kaplan for the screenplay. Striking Distance, The Return of Bruno on a Boat, starring Bruce Willis and the distinguished gentleman, Michael Frayn, the stage play. Yes.

Clockwise, Copenhagen First and last. The director of photography was Tim Sierstad. Office Space, well shot film. Mhmm. Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure.

Mhmm. The Wedding Singer. Oh, interesting. Music was Roy Budd, r I p. Get Carter, Paper Tiger, and Nightmare Honeymoon, another movie that it's like, does it exist?

Who knows? This is the thing about this movie with music. There's not much Yeah. And the credits are a little bit difficult. Another person named Phil Marshall is also credited.

Composer additional music on Arlington Road, Carpool starring my favorite and yours, Tom Arnold, and Sergeant Bilko with, Steve Martin? Probably. And then, the producers were, Bogdanovich, Kathleen Kennedy, Gremlins two, the new batch. Some would say the superior Gremlins film. Who knows?

Wow. This was just made out of lightning. I love it. Do it. It's in the movie.

The Flintstones, a little movie called Congo. Bad gorillas. Frank Marshall, Kathleen Kennedy's producing partner, Jurassic World Dominion, Swing Kids, and a little movie called Congo. Bad Gorillas. That's just a sound cue button that we had.

We really should get one for the best Gorillas. This. Mark O'Kine. Mark O'Kine. Was Lloyd I failed you.

The saves back up. Which he has done so many times in his career. Good Good for Michael Kine. Michael Kine. The Nolan Batman trilogy, Alfie.

Alfie. Get Carter. Get Carter. And the Steven Seagal film, On Deadly Ground. One of the worst movies ever made.

Of course, Muppets Christmas Carol. Oh, hell, yes. I knew you would bring this up. Yeah. I knew it.

Because this I believe, actually, Muppets Christmas Carol was the same year. Yes. No. Both '92. Yeah.

Yeah. You're right. Both really phenomenal performances. I don't Michael Caine. It's hard to find this guy, like, ever phoning it in.

It's like a Nicolas Cage thing where it's like, he can work on whatever, and it's almost always delightful. I think the only time is, like, in he shows up for, like, a brief minute in Tenet where I'm like haven't seen it? Yeah. I mean, it's not a good movie, but he It's I mean, I love I love a lot of Nolan movies. I Sure.

Sure. I don't like that movie, but he shows up briefly, and I'm like, was he was that necessary? I just needed Mark all kind of for him to die. I think he's technically retired now. Oh, is he really?

I that would make a lot of sense. I mean, I think he's 90 or close to it. Yeah. One yeah. Year or two north or south of it.

Television legend, great actress, great writer, etcetera, etcetera. Carol Burnett was Dottie. Annie, health in the four seasons. Have you gotten to Hall Elliott? Burnett on Better Call Saul?

Better Call Saul. Yeah. I was so stoked. Yeah. When she showed up, that was great.

And I love the ultimate payoff for her in the end is really good too. A good character arc. Denholm Elliott was sales den trading places, a room with a view, and he speaks in 10 languages. So he He'll blend in. Disappear.

With any luck, he's got the grill already. Does anybody speak English? English or ancient Greek? No. I don't want your water fish have sex in it.

Henry. Henry. Henry. The pen. I'm a fit to see you from television.

Then the soul. Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. Christopher Reeve, RIP, as Freddy, Superman, Village of the Damned, somewhere in time. Hey. It's June 27.

It's 06/27/1990. I Who? That's isn't that the date that he goes back to June 27? I'm pretty sure it is. And today is June 27.

Uh-huh. I knew one of us was gonna bring it up, and I was gonna not do my little Illuminati thing, but here we are. I'm just kidding. I was gonna oh, okay. Julie Hagerty.

That's Poppy. Mhmm. Airplane, Marriage Story, Freddy Got Fingered. Another one of the worst movies ever made. Mary Lou Henner as Belinda, LA Story, Johnny Dangerously, and Perfect.

And a definitive television show from the seventies, a sitcom called Taxi. Oh, yeah. This movie looks like a TV show in widescreen pretty much the entire time to me. Sure. And sometimes I was finding myself thinking about Taxi or Cheers or Frasier, which post dates.

But Sure. Especially when Frasier would go on vacation to a cabin or whatever with his family, and it's just a bunch of doors closing and people coming in and out Mhmm. Which was kind of a fun little reminder. Yeah. Yeah.

Not too shabby. John Ritter. R I P. John Ritter. R I P.

As Gary. Bad Santa Love that movie. Sling Blade and Problem Child. He was in Sling Blade. Great movies.

Stay Tuned. Yeah. Dude, phenomenal, which I think we brought up on this podcast. Yeah. Such a fun fun movie.

Like a he he You know, movie movie. Just like a movie. You know? He's kind of a comic genius. God.

He's amazing. Like, his clown physical work is just I feel more relaxed and engaged and on a steady road with him or Michael Caine being the focus of whatever moment for whatever reason, this movie is so frantic. It was really hard for me to keep up with so many things. Yeah. And even though he's frantic, John Ritter.

Yeah. It grounds me somehow. Mark Lynn Baker is Tim, my favorite year, the August, going to the chapel, perfect strangers. Nicolette Sheridan as Brooks by heart, the karate dog, and Beverly Hills Ninja. Nice.

Awards and nominations, Not. Not. Not. Zip. Fun facts about this original playwright, Michael Frayn, was quoted saying Bogdanovich's movie is virtually the same as the play.

With a new bit at the end and at the beginning, he shot it with great bravura. Whether people will like it or not, I don't know. But he's had a pretty good go at it and is also quoted as saying that he actually thought the movie was pretty solid. The Dottie role was originally offered to Audrey Hepburn. That's so weird.

Yeah. I was a little bit, surprised to read. Yeah. It's like to me, it's iconically Carol Burnett. Yeah.

I I get that. Peter Bogdanovich says that this is his most personal of all his projects. Oh, wow. John Ritter mispronounces Dottie's name, last name seven times. That's hilarious.

Missus Crockett, missus Clockett, missus Crockett, missus Black Blackett, missus Sprocket, missus Spratchet, missus Splotchet. The original production of Noise Is Off opened on 1983, running for 553 performances. Cast included Victor Garber. Stan Victor Garber. Yep.

Dorothy Loudon received a nomination in '84 for the Tony Award for best play. Yeah. Ben, now we've actually come to the point. Fuck is this movie about? The cast of a stage farce struggle on stage and off stage to keep up the reality of this the world.

I don't know. There's some of this in there, I think. A traveling theater group finds so much action going on behind the scenes, they almost ruin the performances. Almost. Both.

It's very important. Before we take a wait. Do we take a break now and then I'll talk about my first experience and everything? Should we do that? Yeah.

Break and then talk about it? Yeah. And then we'll talk about our current experience. Okay. Yeah.

Okay. We almost missed kind of your first, didn't we? Yeah. I wanna know about your first time. You wanna know about my first time?

I wanna know about your first time. This episode is brought to us by first times. I thought it was brought to us by perspective. I think it probably is. What is your perspective on your first time?

Oh. Like if I'm watching it from above. It's sad it's gonna be tough to write. So let's take a quick break. Think get to we're gonna give you a chance to Get some perspective.

And And subscribe. And you know what that means. Subscribe. And go to the Instagram right now. Do it.

Get some perspective. Feel better about yourself. Idiot. As time ticks forward and we get older, like I am today because it's my birthday, our perspectives change. Sometimes our perspectives change on things that we love, movies we love, and we like to address those perspective changes here on the Review Review podcast.

So if you're interested in changing perspectives, go ahead and keep listening to us just like you are right now. But also tell your friends, tell your family, tell everybody about this great little podcast that you know called the Review Review and follow us at reviewx2podcast on the Instagram. That's basically it. Have your perspective changed and change others. Back to the show.

Is that all his opinions are correct? That's a lot of people's perspectives I think. Right? Especially on the Internet. Oh, yeah.

Of course. Which he's not very active on which is good for all of us. The Internet is a bad place to get perspective. It really is. Come here.

Come to us. Subscribe to the review review for your opinions. Yeah. Take hours and give them to people as if they are your own, crediting no one. Or, you know, listen to us and disagree.

Yeah. And shout at your at your computer or your phone or your listening device and say, Paul, you're an idiot. Like Ben does. Forty seconds ago when we were off mic. You idiot.

You idiot. Yeah. That's our relationship here. Yeah. Pretty much.

I have no experience with this movie other than, like, just now having watched it. Yeah. You obviously have strong feelings. This is like a it seems like a foundational thing for you the way you've talked about it a little bit. Yeah.

My as most people know, probably that I'm an actor, and that I have been an actor for a long since I was a kid. You know, I did school plays. And in high school, my senior year, we had two advisers. I'm going on the way back machine. Do it.

I like it. And I mean, it's it's it's June 27. Fuck it. It's true. There are no rules.

I'm gonna we're gonna halluc we're gonna hypnotize ourselves back in time. The suit looks great on you, by the way. Thank you. Yeah. My my tan my tan The pinstripes suit.

We're both wearing pinstripes suits, and we look very tall. Yeah. And we're just waiting for the the rest of the world to go back into back in time. Oh, yeah. I forgot.

I owed you this money here. Oh my god. We're back in the present. Oh, no. No.

So I had two advisers in high school, drum advisers. Her name is Amy and Phoenix, and they're a married couple. And they we Weren't hippies. Kinda hippies. Yeah.

And they were super cool. And they they went to Cornish College of the Arts, which is where I learned about that school. And I had no intention of going to college right away, but I sort of late in the season decided I wanted to and I knew of Cornish because of them and I auditioned and I got in and they were a big part of that. Fast forward to my freshman year of college Can you pause for a second? You have to be pretty good at this to go where Ben went to school.

Ben's good at this. Degrees. I just wanna say it is his birthday. Oh, thank you. So I just wanna mention, this is this is pretty cool.

So listen. Thank you. My freshman year of college, I had moved to Seattle. I was 18, and I grabbed coffee with them. And it was a cool really cool moment for me.

It was like I was feeling like an adult, you know, and, like, going to college, and I'm living on Capitol Hill in Seattle. And it's, like, acting cool, being a good guy. And they were, like, three movies that you have to see, and they were all theater movie. They were all based on plays. Okay.

And they told me I had to see Baz Luhrmann's Romeo and Juliet, Julie Taymor's Titus Oh. And this movie. Okay. And those were the three movies they're like, you you need to go watch this. And, obviously, I'd already seen Baz Luhrmann's Romeo and Juliet.

That was something I liked in high school. So I went to and I know we talk a lot about the Hollywood videos and your blockbusters and your whatnots and your but I on Capitol Hill, there was a place called Broadway Video. Yeah. And that's where I used to rent movies early, in, you know, 02/2004, '2 thousand '5. Rented that this from there.

And I met Bruce Campbell there. He did a signing there. Oh, really? He signed my, my audio book of Make Love the Bruce Campbell Way, which, like, is a book I actually really enjoy. That's amazing.

B movie actors, like, the shit. That's the foundational from him. Did you ever seen, Bubba Ho Tep? Oh, yeah. I really like that movie.

I like Don Coscarelli in general. You know I like horror. I like phantasm. Yeah. I rented this movie, and that was the first time I'd seen it.

I hadn't read the play. I hadn't seen the play yet. And immediately, I was like, this is hilarious. I wanna do this. I wanna be in this.

I love the farce. I I I love when a farce works. I love the absurdity of it. I love, when when slapstick comedy works. I think that it's Sure.

It's it's it's it's a hard thing to do. I think physical slapstick comedy is really, really hard to sell. I then saw this play later, and I, I really enjoyed it. And I still to this day want to do this play pretty badly. I could imagine.

Yeah. So that was sort of I would say when I saw it in college, I would probably put it at, like I probably would have said, like, four and a half plates of sardines. Okay. That was where I that's where I was at that point. Okay.

I hadn't seen this movie in a lot. Do you want me to talk about the the new viewing? I think it's your birthday. You get to pick. You're you're you're our own guest here.

You can do me now or you now. I'll just keep going. So going into it, this reviewing, I I hadn't seen it in over a decade maybe. Yeah. And, you know, I think, like, all of us going into seeing watching a movie from the nineties, there was a a slight, hesitancy of, like, oh, no.

This is not gonna hold up. We just experienced this last night. Yeah. Exactly. We got set up a bonus for success.

They don't know that yet because they, like, knew that it's I know. This is beautiful. I actually watched this immediately after watching the movie that we talked about last night. Holy shit. Oh, man.

So that was an interesting Yeah. How was therapy after fucking egg? That's a great question. Oh my god. Therapy, you should go to therapy.

Oh, yeah. I yeah. For all the time forever. Yeah. As someone who's in therapy, I think you should go to I think you should go to therapy.

I had more problems with the movie, this viewing, than I had in the past. Oh, my stress level just went down. It was I think the structure, I think, is semi sound in terms of the play. The play is a three act structure. You know, there's the the first act where we're seeing the the final dress rehearsal.

The second act, happens entirely backstage on and they rotate the stage on if it's on a if it's on a play. So you'd see the backstage. And then the third act is just a shit show of of epic proportions of what the fuck has happened on stage. That's when it's really fun. That is when it's really fun.

That's when yeah. I think for me, a lot of the, individual bits are what stood out into my head when I re when I would remember this movie. And those bits are what would would remind me, like, make me giggle or laugh, you know. Like, everyone, please take your seats. The play will begin in one minute.

Everyone, please take your seat. The play will begin in three minutes. Yeah. Everyone and then it keeps going. And then and then it breaks with two minutes?

One minute. And it breaks with Michael Caine coming back going, what the fuck is going on? And that's a bit that's always stood out in my head, and I've always giggled about it. I think that it I think that as a movie, I think that it suffers a little bit from pacing. I think that the the way it's shot actually doesn't do it much service.

I think that there's times, especially in the second act, when we're theoretically, everyone's silent backstage, and we're just hearing the people on stage and The noise is off. And it's a lot of comedy backstage, physical comedy. The bottle moving around. It doesn't it doesn't play as well at on on screen as it would on on a stage. Right.

Because if you watch that on a stage, you know, you're watching all of these different things happen so quickly, and it's impressive. Yeah. They're happening backstage, and they're staying so quiet. They're so precise. Yeah.

There's so much precision in that. And I think that's about that's the that's the crux of a farce is that it needs to have have so much precision and detail. So I think after rewatching it, I came down to three and a half plates of sardines. Still still enjoyed it. Still less than they were normally moving around in the movie.

Right? Because it was four plates going in and out in the movie. Yeah. I think so. I think so.

Oh, okay. So that that was me. What are you, Paul? I think it's a damn fine score, ultimately. This was my first experience as we've said.

Ben went to Cornish as he mentioned. He went to the same school as, recent Oscar winner, Brendan Fraser. True. Who was in a movie that is based on a play called The Whale. True.

And That we saw together? Issues with The Whale is that the way that, like, people move or the way that it is staged, not only is it unnatural, you can kind of anticipate things that are going to happen. Mhmm. This happens really natural in a really frenetic, high stress, high energy way. But I feel like I can still anticipate maybe even sometimes the next person that's gonna talk, especially once I get to the point where I understand what people's little ticks are, where their moment is gonna happen.

Yeah. Like, where Christopher Reeve is, like, you know I'm stupid about doors. You know I'm stupid about this. You know I'm stupid about that. What's my motivation?

I kinda understand how his character's wired and that we're gonna kinda do we kind of do a herald in this movie. Sure. Where we do one beat, do two beats, and then kind of do the third beat, but also, like, give some sort of a payoff or, like, have it sort of, tie off the story Yeah. One way or another. I actually really like the way this movie is shot.

I don't think you can do any of this better than it was done. For actually, untrue. Chicago is maybe, in my opinion, the greatest transition or movie or whatever that they're like, okay. This is a stage play in a movie and they kind of intermix it and move it around and it really works for me. This though, I was saying, it feels like a TV show that shot in widescreen.

So it's not particularly pretty, but I also am like how as a nobody again, how the fuck else do you do this other than the way it was done? So I wanna give it credit for a lot of things. Partially, we were talking about precision. It is extremely tiring to watch partly because I think I'm on the ride with the actors, where it's like you've gotta be, like, dying by the like, at the end of the third, you know, act or whatnot when everything breaks down. Yeah.

And I'm just imagining try to keep the energy that John Ritter has or respect that Michael Caine has at times. It's like Yeah. Holy smokes or Carol Burnett at times. I don't I I'm so torn. It's like, I wanna watch this again because I laughed a lot throughout partially because of it's a farce and people just say farcical ridiculous stuff.

Yeah. And I catch a lot of that and it tickles me. But also, I would be reluctant to watch it again because I finished it. And while watching it, just felt, like, tired. Mhmm.

But is that also what the movie's going for? So should I give it more credit for that? I don't know. I don't think I care. So Sure.

I give it three newspapers. Newspaper. Three newspapers. You leave the sardines. You take the newspaper.

I take the newspaper. Take down the receiver. Take the newspaper. The second act where they're in Miami. Mhmm.

That was shot at the Pasadena Playhouse. Oh, cool. Okay. Which is like a very big deal in the LA area if you're an LA Theater person. If you're working something at the Playhouse, you're doing something that people are wanting to see.

And that was, like, act literally on location. The stuff that was supposed to be in the theater elsewhere was on the Universal lot. Oh, okay. That makes sense too. Yeah.

I, I'm gonna admit this to you. I did my very best to keep up with this movie and, damn it, I almost were like, I feel like I need to watch this twice because not only did I miss a lot of things, as we mentioned, like, kind of the order, it's hard to keep up with where they are. It is and it isn't. I don't know. I feel like I just had to pay, like, close attention, and as a result, I almost missed things.

I think part of that is the translation from stage to screen. Yes. You know, I think there are few farces that work on screen. I think, obviously, the biggest one that does work is Clue. Mhmm.

But I I almost think that this would succeed more. I mean, I think it obviously succeeds more as a stage play. And I think if you're to watch it not on stage or at home, it would be more of, like, a national theater at home, like, a recording of a stage play Yeah. Okay. That's recorded that's filmed well, you know, but that we are fully engaged in recognizing that this is a play.

I think that would actually make this story and the script work better. 100% agree with that statement in terms of especially because there's no real music other than the beginning and end. Yeah. And and you'd be there with an audience. And that's what's really cool about those theater national theater lives is that they're doing it in front of a live audience.

Yeah. And, like, I think that helps. I think it helps with a farce to have a natural progression of this story or in terms of, like, watching a play fall apart. There's a play called The Play That Goes Wrong Okay. Which came out in, like, I wanna say, like, 02/2012 on the West End in London, maybe later.

But, Jess and I saw that in London. And that is a similar idea. Obviously, a natural progression of this, but it's like a small community theater is doing this, like, murder mystery. Idea that everyone is so in, like, when Michael Caine is like, are you in to Brooke? And she's like, what?

Yeah. And he just he's like, okay. You're obviously not. But by the end, everyone is so in. It does not matter what happens.

They're so dedicated. They're just going to push through this. Yeah. That's the I think the third act is really the funniest act Yes. Because that's when everyone is sort of just the actor personas in this movie have all pretty much kinda given up.

And it's like there's but they're still trying to, like, push the narrative forward. Especially Dottie at the beginning is just purely just like, I don't give a fuck anymore. And this is it's it's funny to watch that. But and I but I think we do need the first act to understand what it's supposed to be Yeah. For that to work.

That's when Michael Caine is the most, like, dedicated and really doing the directing and Yeah. Trying to have a slightly softer hand before he kind of starts to lose it. Because, like, by the end, which is I'm gonna say this before we talk about the end of the movie. We're gonna go through this chronologically, I see. But I saw a stage performance, at a theater here locally in Los Angeles where one of the sketches was 30 Erin Brockovich's, and they're all moving at the same time wearing the same outfits, all, like, doing the speech to Albert Finney Okay.

From Erin Brockovich, and it was hilarious. Yeah. And there's at the end of this movie when everybody's Denholm Elliott and moving and talking, I'm dying. Yeah. I'm dying.

That's one of the best bits for sure. Really, really good. Especially every time I talk chronological about it. So the top of this is the I think the stuff they added, which is it's on Broadway. Yeah.

And Michael over. Caine's character the voiceover Michael Caine's character is leaving the opening because he's worried. He knows it's gonna be terrible. He knows it's gonna be terrible. Like, every director knows.

And that's an addition as so and it's a weird addition that I think is, kind of unnecessary. That first bookend, I don't like as much as the final bookend. Sure. Yeah. And then we cut to the dress rehearsal before months before when they because they were It's not the tech rehearsal?

Yeah. Which is also terrifying as an actor and anyone Right. Because a dress rehearsal should theoretically not be interrupted. You should be just doing it as if you're doing it in front of an audience. And so this is a dress rehearsal that from the beginning is absolute chaos.

Mhmm. And that they say they've only had two weeks of rehearsal? I believe so. Which is insane. Mostly focused on how little time they have left.

Oh, yeah. They're, like, six hours. Yeah. And and the lateness of the evening also. Yeah.

We're introduced to their play, which is called Nothing On. Nothing On. Nothing On, which is basically like a sex farce. Yep. Because everyone's fucking each other anyway, apparently.

Yeah. Yeah. Exactly. We meet Dottie, which is the character that Carol Burnett's actor persona is playing, who is the housekeeper in this, like, beautiful British Sixteen hundreds era Yeah. Something around here.

Countryside mansion. Yeah. She thinks that she has the place to herself. I believe so. And she's Everybody thinks that.

Everybody Yeah. Getting it. Yeah. She's, like, eating sardines, talking on the phone. About Spain and how she's not there?

Yeah. Yeah. You're immediately set up that this is, like, going to probably be ridiculous. Right. And it's a far and, like, I don't know a lot of I'm not a deep dive canon farce person.

Like, there's a lot of random British farces, and a lot of them have to do with sex and door slamming and mistaken identities. And it's all it all you can all bring it back to, like, Moliere or Shakespeare in that regard. But they're all very similar. A lot of especially of the sixties farces. So I think this is sort of pulling from all all of them in a weird way.

And there's sort of for a lot of audiences, maybe there's a, understanding of what those plays are. So there's a little bit more. And for us, I think contemporary audience, we're not as familiar, you know, with that genre. And so I think we lose a little bit in terms of, like, what they're sort of, like, lampooning. What you're talking about when they're what they're lampooning, like, what does it matter in terms of I don't understand why everything is about the sardines because then it can be mashed bananas, but also, like, they're lampooning the importance of these, like, unimportant things.

Yeah. And as Michael Caine is like, sardines and those are life. Like and it's like the motivations that everybody gets or just the things that a lot of people are saying, they I think everybody gets, like, some sort of good exchange with somebody Mhmm. Which I really like. Like, everybody kinda gets a moment.

And, you know, Ritter, I think, gets a couple. Kane gets a couple, but everybody gets at least one. But even that very beginning where we can basically tell that even though John Ritter's accusing everyone of being a sex criminal, especially Christopher Reeve, that he is the sex criminal. Like, because he's talking through the movie Yeah. Well, we'll get it in.

I mean, well, I gotta take some measurements. I mean, we gotta when we do it, I mean, like and he's it's almost like a tick that he says, like, inappropriate things multiple times and can't phrase anything properly. And again, like, I'm trying to pay attention to so many things, but just like in this play, there are so many things happening and, like, none of it is necessarily important outside of, like I think what it's trying to tell us is, like, all like, the interpersonal relationships. Mhmm. I guess, not only between them, but, like, the people in their lives.

Like, poor Freddie's wife left him that morning. Yeah. That morning. I guess. I don't know.

Yeah. I mean, I think that it is a fart. Like, the the noises are like, the as well as it is a the play that they're doing is a farce, the whole thing is a farce. Yes. And I think that in in a farce, like, it is hard to grab grasp onto anything that's really truly human because it's it's Yeah.

It's really just more of a of a kinda comedy whiz bang. Mhmm. And that's totally fine. Like, there there's something that's totally fine about just, like, letting go and being, you know, letting something wash over you, and it's just silly. I think you're hitting a really great point there.

I really I think that's Michael Caine's character arc is that, you know, control and being a control freak. Uh-huh. And, like, the precision isn't necessarily where the genius is. Sometimes the genius lies in just the uncontrollable humanity, and that's where he finds himself kind of being the happiest. Like, I mean, again, no spoilers.

This is fucking 30 years old, so calm down everybody. Yeah. But, at that very beginning, did you notice or do you know that Peter Bogdanovich would wear those, like, ascots? He's, like, dressed like Oh, I didn't know that. Michael Caine's dressed like Peter Bogdanovich.

And you can tell he's just so overwhelmed and so sick of telling these actors, like, why do I why do I have to carry the groceries into the study? And it's like, well, it's about the income tax. And it's like and he also is, like, being extremely fucking brutal to them in between. Yeah. But the tone doesn't change in terms of the delivery.

It's all just so matter of fact. Yeah. And and that's part of why it's fun to try to keep up with it and why I'm okay with being a little confused. I'm still annoyed by being a little confused. Sure.

But it's like a fun annoyance. I this was a very singular experience. And and getting to catch little lines, like, when he Michael Caine says to Poppy, like, be fruitful and multiply and fetch Tim to fix the doors. Like, there are more of you. Like, I shouldn't be having to tell you how to make this happen.

Like, just go do it. Yeah. The, you know, the really setting us up at the in this first act of all of these bits within within the play that need to occur. Like, she needs to take the sardines off, that Freddie needs to take the groceries off, that the bag needs to show up on the table and then needs to disappear. And all and there's so much that relies on prop work and that people being on their game that if something were to be thrown off, like, the language, the text doesn't make sense, and then the actors have to sort of, like, figure it out.

It is like the comedy works within the precision even though they're clearly, like, not ready for an audience. They're clearly, like, very, very much needing so let's just all the characters we meet, we meet John Ritter's character and his and he And he's Sheridan, Brooke? He work what? Brooke? The one that's working.

Yeah. And he works for the law firm that owns this mansion? I think it's the law firm. I was like, wait. Is it a law firm or a real estate agency or a bank?

And I think I think I decided or it made sense in the end that it was a law firm, especially when the partners are mentioned. Yeah. I mean, it could be a real estate agency, but he's basically thinking that it's open and that he's brought this girl Hot young babe. To to bone. Yeah.

And then they disappear into a room. And then as they're gone, Christopher Reeve shows up, and he also works for the, same company. I believe so. And he's there with his wife. Right?

No. Because she left Or girlfriend. Wait. Yeah. Girlfriend.

Wait. Yeah. Girlfriend. Okay. Girlfriend.

I guess he's about his real life and character. Yeah. The real life so many layers. Yes. It's like an unused It's it's very meta.

Yeah. It's meta. There's the big farce of, like, they the coming in and out of doors at certain times, not knowing that the each other are there, pants coming down, falling downstairs, naked or nearly naked women who can't find their dress. Yeah. Poppy is meanwhile all the way, like, running around.

She's the only one that knows that someone else is there. I think so. And then we also meet Denold Elliot's character who's like an old drunk. That's my favorite. I haven't done a lot of stage work in my life.

I did Inherit the Wind Okay. Years ago. I played Bert Cates, had an okay time. It's an okay role. It's pretty pretty alright.

We had an old, like, drunk guy who would just, like, check out that was supposed to be, like, the prison guard or whatever, like a similar role, like the burglar. His actual name, Jack Daniels. Oh my god. And he was kind of our Denholm Elliott where he'd just, like, pop up from behind some seats and be like, so what's going on? Rehearsal?

No thanks. That's amazing. We should rehearse. Yeah. And this is that's like they can't find this guy, and they're worried where he is.

And he's, like, been sleeping under the stage Yeah. Waiting for his cue. And he plays this burglar because, of course, you have another element that you and that's the thing about farce. I did a farce in between freshman year and sophomore year that my friend, You were a farce. A birth Ben, sophomore year that my friend, You were a farce.

Ben or Ben Burrows, another, who was also in it. Somewhere in time. Yeah. It was called, Next Time Don't Invite Me. And I love the titles of so many of these.

And it was basically, like they're they're all have a very similar you know, there's, like, a house party, and then there was, like, a a police element, FBI element. Honestly, I don't really remember what it was, but it was very similar in this in terms of, like, slamming doors, mistaken identities. I I did work on one farce, Arsenic and Old Lace. Oh, yeah. Totally.

Yeah. Yeah. Lot of slamming doors, and I wish I could stop the ones that keep going off in my head because this movie just wow. Drilled that sound into my goddamn brain. That's the first act.

We see what this play is supposed to be, and we see how far away from from what it's supposed to be they are at this point. Like, they're they have a lot of work to do. Well, and they've done a good job of, in that first act, which, like, I I largely enjoy. Like, pretty solid. You they it builds the foundation.

This is ridiculous. This is a farce. We're leaning into this. Here's what Christopher Reeves' wiring is. Here's what Mary Lou Harris' wiring is.

Getting those leads? Yeah. As Belinda, as she's just like, yes, love. Yes, darling. You're so deep.

You're so smart. You're so great. Like, she's her character is kind of established as, like, the definitive personalities that you work with when you work in community or traveling theater. The only traveling theater I've ever seen is Evil Dead the Musical. Catch It.

It's awesome. Oh. But, I had the best time. But it does have this one big issue for me, like, the indicating pieces. And it's like, I like that Michael Caine is literally Winky in the movie.

Mhmm. But there's, like, a comment about somebody's girl she would you get hired, Poppy? Are you somebody's girlfriend? And it's, like, Michael Caine kind of making an in joke for the two of them. And I'm like, oh, they're dating.

Yeah. There is a weird I think the weird interpersonal stuff between the cast is this is a good transition into the second act because the second act takes place a couple weeks or months into the run. They're traveling Hard to say. At this point, but this is in Miami, and it's mostly all backstage. And there's been, it's understand that Carol Burnett and John Ritter's character are dating.

Yeah. Gary and Dottie. Are dating. Yep. But then One of many couples.

John Ritter thinks that Dottie and Christopher Reeve were together Yes. Even though they were just there talking as friends according to him. Yeah. She was there till four in the morning just, like, talking. They're just buds.

Yeah. And so there's, like, this confusion as to whether or not Dottie will go on or if, John Ritter's character will go on. And I think this is where I've just got an English degree. I don't know anything. This is where this I think the the the stage play works better because I think that when you pull back and you just watch all of these things happening in, like, a wide, and it doesn't play it wouldn't play as well on screen.

Right. But seeing just the backstage of the theater of the set that you've already seen and knowing what the play is happening on the other side and hearing that's the only, like, text you hear because they're all being trying to be quiet backstage. Right. And it's just a it's just a, like, lotsy after lotsy after lotsy of physical gags and clowning and bits. And, Can you explain lazzie?

Sure. A lazzie is, comes from, like, the, clowning from, like, Italian clowning. Mhmm. And that they're usually small, sort of compact complete, jokes, physical jokes that that have a beginning, middle, and end Got it. That, you know, can kinda, like, burst off and then disappear and burst off and disappear.

And so, like, a Lotziah being, you know, the the ax showing up and Yeah. Cutting off the, tie. Got it. Like, there's a little Lottie for you. Thank you.

Yeah. Burris, our, friend Ben Burris is, is very good at franchise. At clowning and and and, especially that kind of clown. Physical, physical actor. Yeah.

So I think that this is for me where, again, like, what's really I've said this before. You know, the biggest difference between between stage and film is that film is a visual medium. Mhmm. But at the end of the day, the you are seeing what the editor wants you to see. You're seeing what the director wants you to see.

Stage is an audible medium. You are listening. You are engaged mostly by listening, and you're free to pretty much look wherever you want. Yeah. You're not being forced to look in one certain place.

You're you're sort of your own director, at least director photography. Yeah. With this kind of physical comedy work, if you are taking a lot of these moments in close-up and showing us where the comedy bits are, they don't land as they're not as funny. Yeah. I think if you if you blow it up and you and you're hearing the play, but you're watching you're watching this backstage, and it's just, like, moment after moment and after moment after moment of, like, ridiculous physical comedy of people pulling someone off stage, coming on stage, going on stage, hitting somebody, you know, and it's happening like that.

I think that that's funnier. And you're you're able to sort of absorb it in a way that is not as like, look at this being funny. Look at this being funny. Look at that shot. Look at this.

Look what's happening. You know, you're not told this is funny. You're just watching it and you know the stakes are they're trying to keep up the reality of the play out there and yet all of this is happening back here. It's the energy for me. Like, the energy of what's happening pulls me in.

The commitment of the actors Yeah. To the farce and, like, we we keep saying precision and perspective. Yeah. Like Brought to you by perspective. Yeah.

Also, physicality of Christopher Reeve in Somewhere in Time. I love his physicality in this where it changes when he gets a nosebleed and the way, you know, changes his walking and the shuffling Yeah. When he's carrying something, when he trips over a phone. Like, wow. What a gifted physical actor this man was.

Yeah. Like, when he's trying to rub the thing off his pants that he thinks is gonna eat through the fabric and then thusly through everything Yeah. Is so great. And I just I feel like I didn't give enough credit when Burris was kind of showering credit on the physical performance in Somewhere in Time. I'm not reconsidering that movie at all.

No. Sure. No. No. No.

This isn't where it's June 27. It's just a coincidence. Is it is it though, Paul? Is it a coincidence? Or is it a top secret?

It is my top secret. Yeah. Can't tell you. But it's kinda like the Lloyd and Brooke and Lloyd and Poppy and Lloyd. Everybody's fucking everybody.

But that's the top secret that Lloyd has is he doesn't want Poppy and Brooke to, like, find out about each other as he's sleeping with the young, sexy blonde that's wearing next to nothing and the stage manager? Yeah. That's Poppy's job. Right? Yeah.

Yeah. The the yeah. The whole yeah. There's a lot of I mean, I think you again, if you're talking about, like, the sixties farces, that was a big part of it is the sex Yeah. Of it all.

And I think that doesn't really play anymore Right. In a big way. Yeah. Poppy being pregnant and that basically being the thing that drives them together, despite the fact that Lloyd is, like, kind of a shitbag. Yeah.

Kind of a, poop sled. Yeah. But I yeah. Totally. But, but I I do think that's like, the second act doesn't play as well.

That's basically what I'm saying is, like, in this Yeah. In this medium, it doesn't it doesn't work as well as it would on stage. Yeah. For me, it's, like, right when Christopher Reeve, like, comes out as the sheik, and I'm really, like, realizing this is the Herald. And, like, the beats are kind of repeating.

Like, the second act beats, like, the the first attempted escalation, a lot of that just kinda falls. Yeah. Like, it's just kinda flat for me. Yeah. For sure.

I mean, I'm I love the third act payoff, but overall and I do I love that Michael Caine consistently just, like, has teeth and but all of it's, like, thrown away. Like, again, like, everything's just kinda monotone when he's not yelling. And so even when he's being, like, really sharp, when he's saying to Brooke, when he's trying to get her back on stage, keep her on stage, whatever it was, he says, you've performed in London in some of the very classy places, and they let you make everything up as you go along. But here, the writer's words are important. Like, it's like the classy places in London let you say whatever the fuck you want.

I got a very hearty laugh out of that. Yeah. And it's, like, constant need for coffee breaks and that everyone's kinda making fun of the way he talks. Like, when he's like, Takeda, Paducah, Pittsburgh, newspaper, the tenth the receiver, and everyone's saying it like him. I love that too.

Very fun. When Carol Burnett's like, I take the newspaper. You take the newspaper. You hang up the phone. Yeah.

Drop the receiver. And then when he the first act where she goes, okay, and just drops it on the floor, like, I don't fucking care. It just walks away. It's like, it just keeps reminding me of the trip with Steve Coogan and, where they're doing their Winterbottom. Where they're doing their, their Michael Caine impressions to try to impress the two girls in the bar.

It's just one of the best best. One of the greats. Yeah. One of the greats. Those two actors together are just I mean, it's it's us and then maybe them as number two.

Oh, yeah. I yeah. Yeah. I think that's right. I think this is at least bigger than the trip to Greece at this point.

This podcast? Yes. Oh. Easily. I don't think I saw that.

I've seen two of them or maybe three of they all blend together at some point. They do to a degree. I I actually have a an important question, or I think it's an important question for you. Okay. What is your favorite exchange or moment in this movie?

Because I feel like certain exchanges, certain moments, like, really stand out, but there are a lot of good ones. Sure. I I think I I think the I I don't know. I mean, I think that, like, for me, it's really the third act and the the the the shit show of all of it. Like you said, the bit of all three of the Denholm Elliott's or, the the bit with the the play was starting one minute, the play was starting three minutes.

What the fuck is going on? I think it's, like, for me, that's what stood out mostly is as I've as I've gone on is the is the comedy bits. Mhmm. Because I I don't know how much I care about the interpersonal relationships. Yeah.

I I I it doesn't really matter to me as much as as the comedy does. So I think, you know, I think John Ritter falling down the stairs Oh, man. Is fucking funny as hell. Dude, RIP. Like, seriously.

Several times through this movie, I was like, wow, what a gifted actor in general, but, like, as a physical comedian, just wow. Just from the beginning the third act to me is where the script really sings because I think from you know, everything that's they're doing is in direct contrast to what their words what they're saying. And we're watching we're watching them having so, like, from the we get in the third act, they're, like, several years or several, sorry, weeks into the run, and we're now back on the main like like, we can see them on stage. And it's when John Ritter shows up. She, Carol Burnett has taken the phone receiver off stage with her, which has pulling, no.

She's taken sorry. The hand the receiver is still on stage. The cord is pulled taut through the door, and it's being, like she's, like, pulling on it. And you can see that it's, like, it's still very present on stage. And his first line when he walks on stage is, we have the whole place to our self.

And it's like this phone is being, like, tugged tugged. And he, like, goes to put it on the on the desk. And he's like, yes, some I forget what he says, but then it gets pulled again and it hits him in the nuts. It's so that is so good. Yeah.

I got a hardy I got a hardy life, America's funniest, shots in the nuts out of that one for sure. I don't wanna skip over actually my Oh, sorry. No. No. I, my favorite part of the movie, I just very briefly, the Markland Baker and Michael Caine exchange outside to set up the third act Oh.

Where it's like, this is who I am. This is what I'm going through. I'm not here. I'm going to New York. Like Yeah.

That that all just feels like so honest and like very raw, but still like very funny and tennis like ball, like boom boom boom boom boom boom boom. That's the thing too is like, this is like, this is like, That's the thing too. It's, like, this movie just never stops fucking moving. And part of that is the energy that everybody has. And and the energy that carries through to the time to curtain microphone gag that's kind of at that similar Yeah.

Point. Yeah. And gag that's kind of at that similar Yeah. Point and the shots and the nuts. And John Ritter doing an incredible job of, like, being in in terms of the, like, there's a knocking.

A knocking where he's knocking everyone from upstairs. Yeah. Yeah. I love that. Nothing but black sheets.

Because he goes through the linen closet. Like Yeah. It's so good. They do a lot with this set that, like, leads to nowhere other than these personal exchanges backstage and the Jim Beam moving around and Denholm Elliott trying to get drunk and Yeah. And the whole thing.

And that the physical comedy there works to a degree because they're supposed to be being quiet. Like, that's part of the joke. Yeah. But it would work more for me with music. I miss music.

I think I think music would be the right move in a movie. Yep. I don't think music would work on stage. I watched a movie. No.

I know. I know. Totally. I I but I think that was the I think that's you know, they're trying to lean into it be the same as it does on stage, and I think that that was not the right move in adapting. Almost dedicating too hard, leaning too hard.

Like, too much of a personal perspective of how this should go. Perspectives. Yeah. I just think the perspective of, making a film a film and a movie a movie, that was part of my issue with the whale. Yeah.

Give us, you know, give us some, you know, Buster Keaton esque, little tunes to, like, go along with the physical bits. Yeah. Because we're not we're not at again, it's a visual medium. And it's not an audible medium. We're not as tuned in to the fact that they have to be quiet.

Yeah. I agree. When we we'll go in the in the way way back machine. Get my pen. It's June 27.

I'm ready. Okay. It's like Streetcar Named Desire. It's Marlon Brando. Like, that that is an adaptation of a stage work, a play.

Yeah. That is nearly a perfect film because it its goal is to be a film. Yeah. Well and, you know, there was a time where the the the difference wasn't that all that different. It was, you know That is a strength it it does have.

Yeah. It has that advantage. Yeah. And now, you know, especially into the nineties, we're pretty far from from that. From, like, stage and film are very far apart at that point.

Right. Is that a good point? But I do I do agree, you know, like, yeah, there I think that is where this film fail fails is is not adapting it properly to the medium and and holding on too tightly to what the stage play does. I agree. It's it's the perspective is a little too close.

It's a little too personal. I do love a message that kind of carries through on all acts for me anyway. The places are different, but the people and the problems are largely the same. Mhmm. Just like in real fucking life.

Yeah. Like, you are the same person most of the time. Yeah. And your perspective is the same a lot of the time. Yeah.

I and then, you know, like and the third act has just so many great bits where, like, Poppy has to come on to play Brooke at some point. And Lloyd has to come on to play Denholm Elliott as well as Martin Baker. Yeah. There's three of them and they're saying the lines altogether. Nosebleeds and phones and bathrooms.

And I love how the play is supposed to end where, like, we don't know what we have no idea what the second act even is. That's where it becomes really fun. It's Yeah. Yeah. It breaks the pattern.

Yeah. And And, like, that we know where the play ends, which is we see the three couples, and somehow Poppy and Denholm Elliott's character end up boning. It's whatever. Denholm Elliott's a legend, dude. Yeah.

The fact that there had to be three wait. Three. That's three points. What what's that? It's triangle.

Woah. Interesting. And then the cops come in and, like, who knows why the cops are there? But yeah. So Who who fucking knows?

I don't really care anymore. The end of the play the the the book end of the end is is that it does really well on Broadway. I I love that the thing that gets me fully on board, it's a payoff at the very end where it's like, fuck this. Who knows? And kind of the fun that that ride is of the fuck this, who knows.

Yeah. Who cares? Yeah. We're we're in. Let's go.

Mhmm. That's when it's when it's at its most fun. And that, again, as you were saying, it gets, like, these rave reviews. Yeah. Everybody loves it.

Which is, you know sure. I think I think, you know, I think that, again, when you see it on stage, you just see the those three acts. Right? And it's it's, again, not about anything except for the comedy. Yeah.

And I think that is fine. Like, comedy is so hard, I think. I think comedy is is Absolutely. You know, they say comedy is tragedy plus timing. Yeah.

And I think that, like, timing is something that is really hard to teach. I think timing is something that you either know it. You know? Mhmm. It's, like, ingrained and especially physical comedy is just getting a whole another level.

It's a different investment. Yeah. It's just it's a it's a different beast, and it's You look like a different type of fool. Yeah. I mean, and and you you can't, you you know, you can train and train and train in it, but it it is it's a muscle that is hard to really master.

And there that's why we, you know, it's why willingness that comes along with it. Yeah. And I think, like, those that are so skilled at it, we recognize, but we also there's, you know, there's lack. I think in general, our society is not as recognizing recognize that comedy is as as hard, if not harder, than than tragedy. I think comedy, especially American comedies, because it just starts to become, like, not great, I guess, for lack of a better That's kinda how I feel about the ending actually now that we're talking about this and we scratched this a little bit.

Poppy's just like, I'm pregnant. We're gonna get married. Lloyd and and Poppy get married. Yeah. She's pregnant.

And it kinda becomes, I guess, a little Americanized, where to me, it's like, no. This is almost where it's like, so Poppy left. I went back to England. And and we see little Henry. I see him every couple of months or whatever.

Yeah. Because that's a little more, like, real, especially to the time. This movie, I must must date it for an eighties movie several times. I think that's partially because it looks like one. Sure.

Yeah. A lot of the time. Yeah. But it just that perspective feels a little outdated. Yeah.

I would have liked better if Julie Hagerty were like, I understand your job is stressful, but also, like, kinda fuck you. Also, stage manager job is more stressful than a director's job. Oh, I wouldn't know, but I wouldn't doubt. Yeah. I mean, I think the stage manager is technically the boss.

Yeah. The stage manager is the boss of the director. Fouls. Like, the that they're the ones who are are in control. So anyway, yeah.

That was Where are we now? Where are we Christmas? Why can't I find you? You have to take off, mister Cratchit. A Bob Cratchit excuse.

I hope that the next person who says Merry Christmas. What does he say? I don't remember. Is boiled in their own pudding and buried with a stick of holly through their heart. So yeah.

I think Mister Johnny Feelgood. What's his real name? Oh, Mister Finklewitz? Oh, what? God.

It just slipped my mind. Maurice Micklewhite. Yes. Well done. Maurice Micklewhite.

Very well done. Challenge accepted and challenge overcome. Yeah. Sometimes sometimes my brain works well in a in a pinch. Yeah.

Let's shake hands. Alright. Yeah. Well done. We just shook hands.

We have to describe it. I know. Still haven't gotten on that YouTube channel. That was a promise. Yeah.

That then they would know that we're sitting here naked the whole time. It's true. Yeah. We're very comfortable. Yeah.

It's my birthday, so I was like, we're gonna wear our birthday suits. Yeah. And here we are. I'm wearing a single penny. Guess where?

It's hiding his perspective. From my third eye. I went all the way. I went all the way. So thanks for leaving it.

Thanks for watching this movie for my birthday. Yeah. I had a pretty good time. Yeah. I mean, you know, again, I think I it was the right movie that I wanted to pick because I I hadn't seen it in a while.

I'm a little bummed it didn't hold up as much as I used to love it, but but I am glad that I got to rewatch it. I still want to do it at some point. I don't know if this will I don't think it's produced much anymore at all. Again, I think the the the newer the new new is the play that the play that goes wrong, which is a very similar, feel and and and comedy. So I'm gonna stick with my three and a half plates of sardines.

I feel pretty I feel pretty good, with that ranking. Yeah. I mean, if you haven't seen this movie, I I do recommend watching it. Yeah. But I would say that if there's a stage production somewhere in your city ever, I would probably say take that instead.

Way to go with taking the concept of the show and really putting it on yourself as, like, we're all trying everybody that's kind of all of our mission. Right? Yeah. When we're guests. So we'll see.

It it puts me on a different level in terms of my decision making for me being in your seat in six weeks from now or what. Sure. Yeah. Movie itself. Had a pretty good time, but also as as you adopted the attitude that we want from our guests, I'm trying to adopt the attitude of, like, how do I really feel pretty hard as we're coming off of, another episode that's coming after this, where it's like, how do I really feel?

And I'm feeling kind of empowered in that. And that leads you to think I'm gonna go big dip. We're gonna go two and a half news pay pass. Okay. We're gonna take two and then a sports page Sure.

Kind of a thing. Yeah. It this is successful where the whale isn't, where it's like, I'm gonna lean really hard into the perspective that this I'm gonna adapt the stage play as close as possible. Yeah. But I can anticipate a little bit less.

It's more fun. I like looking at it a little bit more. Good performances. Yeah. And Brendan Fraser's great in the whale.

Absolutely. Well deserved accolades there. No question. But, drama adopted that way, I think, works less unless it's like 12 angry men or 12 angry men. There are Solid film.

Specific examples that have been earlier, film and stage were closer in terms of, like, cost and ability of production and things like that. And there was an I think there was an advantage there. Yeah. But I don't think I wanna watch this again Sure. Because it was a lot of work.

I felt tired and I also did not like the payoff Yeah. At the end. But I had the best time. Would you So two and a half. Would you see a stage version if it was available to you?

I would. In a in a second. I think it would translate so much better for me, partially. Again, to your fucking crown on your stupid birthday, the auditory piece of it, I think, would work so much better for me. And I also feel there would be music even in the stage version depending.

I don't think there would be on that backstage thing. I think that it it would play. It doesn't work as well necessarily. Yeah. Underscoring in theaters is not as is not as prominent and not as I I don't think it works as well.

It depends. It depends on the moments. But but in my opinion, I think score on stage is usually more reserved for transitions, and sort of interludes than it is for for underscoring. But but cool. I think the the transitional music between acts that would happen Yeah.

That set tones sometimes Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Would probably just carry better for me Yeah.

In the environment. And there is something to say to watch a stay to watch a set rotate Yeah. If it's that big of you know, to see that happen Yes. And to then see what's the backstage. That is a pretty cool, you know, effect that that, you know, a lot of these big Broadway musicals for a long time was, like, what is the what is the big thing?

What is the big effect? And, you know, like, Miss Saigon had a helicopter they brought on stage. Right. Oh, yeah. The Phantom of the Opera had the the dropping of the chandelier.

Mhmm. Like, these are big set pieces that people were drawn to. And I'm always sort of, like, meh about that kind of thing. Okay. It's it's it's to me, I'm like See, I'm not.

But you're, like, a super theater person and I'm, like, a theater novice. I guess. Like, I saw Miss Saigon and the helicopter showed up and I was like, okay. Cool. Cool.

But how much is that, like, the Jurassic Park effect for certain people or whatever where you're just, like, it takes more to impress? Yeah. Maybe. I but I also just think that, like, tell me a good story. Show me a good play.

Yeah. If you have a cool thing, set piece, cool. But if The Crucible. If not, Crucible is a great great play. I say god is dead.

That's what I would love to do. Oh, man. Talk about challenges. Yeah. Well, I had I had a great time doing this.

Again, with the movie, I had a pretty good time. Yeah. That's sort of where I am too. And I'm, I am glad I watched it. And, I think in the similar boat, I I probably won't watch it again.

Yeah. But maybe miss John Ritter, maybe miss Christopher Reeve. Yeah. Peter Bogdanovich. Peter Bogdanovich.

Folks involved, of course. So thanks, Paul. Hey. Thank thank you for being born and doing this show with me. I'm glad I was born.

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