'80s Movie Montage

WarGames

• Anna Keizer & Derek Dehanke • Season 5 • Episode 16

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In this episode, Anna and Derek discuss computer nerds then and now, the movie trope of computers working so dang hard they spark out, and much more during their chat of the Matthew Broderick starrer WarGames (1983).

Connect with '80s Movie Montage on Facebook, Twitter/X or Instagram! It's the same handle for all three... @80smontagepod.

Anna Keizer and Derek Dehanke are the co-hosts of ‘80s Movie Montage. The idea for the podcast came when they realized just how much they talk – a lot – when watching films from their favorite cinematic era. Their wedding theme was “a light nod to the ‘80s,” so there’s that, too. Both hail from the Midwest but have called Los Angeles home for several years now. Anna is a writer who received her B.A. in Film/Video from Columbia College Chicago and M.A. in Film Studies from Chapman University. Her dark comedy short She Had It Coming was an Official Selection of 25 film festivals with several awards won for it among them. Derek is an attorney who also likes movies. It is a point of pride that most of their podcast episodes are longer than the movies they cover.

We'd love to hear from you! Send us a text message.

SPEAKER_00:

general do you really believe that the enemy would attack without provocation using so many missiles bombers and subs so that we would have no choice but to totally annihilate them one minute and 30 seconds to impact general you are listening to a machine do the world a favor and don't act like one

SPEAKER_03:

Whoa, and welcome to 80s Movie Montage. This is Derek.

SPEAKER_01:

And this is Anna.

SPEAKER_03:

And that was Professor Stephen Falcon. Correct. Talking to General Barringer. Correct. Trying to convince him to not annihilate the world in 1983's War Games.

SPEAKER_01:

War Games. War

SPEAKER_03:

Games. Would you like to play a game?

SPEAKER_01:

I know that's what you wanted. It

SPEAKER_03:

just didn't work out. Yeah. You know what? I actually loved that moment of the movie. It's one of those that you probably don't remember. It's not top of mind because you just think of like the first, would you like to play a game?

SPEAKER_04:

And

SPEAKER_03:

then strange game. The only way to win is to not play. Those are the quotes that you most normally think of. But I was surprised by like how great this movie really was.

SPEAKER_01:

Oh, it's fantastic. And I think that it's so interesting that, I mean, look at this point, the Cold War had been going on for a while, but that a film like this had this message to say about it, I thought was really interesting in the early 80s. Like, in Reagan's first term, and just a lot of kind of like, um... Not celebration, but there's like a weird vibe around the Cold War in terms of like us being the good guys, them being the bad guys. And so I just thought that this was such an interesting time for this film to come out. But in any case. It

SPEAKER_03:

was influenced by many, many close calls.

SPEAKER_01:

Oh,

SPEAKER_03:

for sure. You know, that was some of the inspiration for the writers.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah. Well, okay, let's get into it because then you can loop in those fun facts as we talk about them.

SPEAKER_03:

They are certainly facts.

SPEAKER_01:

Right.

SPEAKER_03:

I

SPEAKER_01:

don't know how much fun that is. is his name. And okay, so by the way, just in case, maybe nobody will notice at all, but we're both getting over COVID. So sorry if we sound- Welcome to

SPEAKER_03:

War Games, COVID edition.

SPEAKER_01:

COVID edition. So sorry if we sound a little odd, scratchy, what have you. Okay. Would

SPEAKER_03:

you like to stifle a

SPEAKER_01:

cough? Yeah, exactly. Would you like to blow your nose? Anyway.

SPEAKER_03:

Okay.

SPEAKER_01:

We're just getting started, folks. Lawrence Lasker. By the way, he and his writing partner for this script, Walter F. Parks, did get a Best Original Screenplay Oscar nomination for this film. Yeah. And this was also their first writing credit, so not too bad out the

SPEAKER_03:

gate. Hey, everyone. It's just that easy. It's

SPEAKER_01:

just that easy? Yeah. I mean, why can't you get an Oscar nom off your first script? Yeah. What are you doing with your life? Okay. Okay. So there will be overlap between the credits that I list for Lasker and Parks. Lasker has a little bit of a shorter filmography, actually. But among his credits, we have Project X. So that's another. Yeah. Yeah. So I I'm just bringing this up because I just wanted to give him acknowledgement for his his other Oscar nomination. It wasn't as a writer. He's also a producer. So he He got a Best Picture Oscar nom for Awakenings.

SPEAKER_03:

Oh, okay, with Robin Williams? Yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, so not a writing credit, but just wanted to bring that up. He was a writer and the creator of a TV series, Eddie Dodd, which I don't know, but-

SPEAKER_03:

I'm not familiar with the series.

SPEAKER_01:

Not familiar. He also wrote Sneakers. I do

SPEAKER_03:

like that movie.

SPEAKER_01:

Kind of feels familiar in terms of topic.

UNKNOWN:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

And then because of his credit for this film, he also has a credit for a video just called War Games The Dead Code.

SPEAKER_03:

Interesting. Yeah. From 2008. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah. These franchises, they find a way to keep going. So, Walter F. Parks, like I mentioned, he also got a shared Oscar nomination for Best Original Screenplay, also his first writing credit. So... Preceding this, he also has an interesting Oscar nom. It's for something called, it was Best Documentary Features,

SPEAKER_03:

and

SPEAKER_01:

it's called The California Reich.

SPEAKER_03:

Oh.

SPEAKER_01:

So, interesting credit there. He also shares with Lasker Project X. He also shares with Lasker that Best Picture Oscar nom for Awakenings. Land of Birds also shares the credit for war games the dead code and then more recently he also was the creator on a tv show called the slam i vaguely remember that oh my god

SPEAKER_03:

yeah no it's the one where um where they're at a party and a kid won't behave yeah an adult basically like slaps him and it throws literally everyone into existential crisis and there's like Arrests and lawsuits.

SPEAKER_01:

Fascinating that that's the concept. That they're like, yep, that's what we're going to green light. A guy slapping a kid and it causes... To think that you can create a TV series around that is kind of interesting.

SPEAKER_03:

Yeah, you can definitely create a parody sequel to it called The Slap 2, which is an amazing video on YouTube that I highly recommend where this guy just slaps everyone.

SPEAKER_01:

I mean, just go to the original Slap Shot. There

SPEAKER_03:

you

SPEAKER_01:

go. Excellent film. Not an 80s film, but excellent film. Okay, so moving on to the director. I never really got a handle on the correct pronunciation, but I'm going to say John Badham.

SPEAKER_03:

I think that works. Do you think the guy wants to be called John Badham? Probably

SPEAKER_01:

not. That's what I think.

SPEAKER_03:

I think on one hand, maybe it'd be super cool to be called Badham, but it's probably Badham.

SPEAKER_01:

Bat him. Yeah, I think so. So I apologize for giving a fun fact that's not really about him, but I do think it's notable. Do you know who his sister is? No, I don't. So his sister, Mary, what is really interesting about her story is that she was Scout in... To Kill Mockingbird.

SPEAKER_03:

Oh, that is a very

SPEAKER_01:

fun fact. Yeah. With Gregory Peck. That is interesting. And she got an Oscar nom for that role. So that's his sister. That is cool. She didn't really continue her acting career at great length. But hey, if you're going to have one notable performance, not a bad one to have. But back to John, who has had his own amazing career. I have... With one really notable exception. So he has done a ton of TV work. I have mostly films for him. The first of which, I just love this title, The Bingo Long-Traveling All-Stars and Motor Kings. Some of these titles. But a more probably recognizable film, Saturday Night Fever.

SPEAKER_03:

Family feel-good comedy.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, right? Yeah. I put this one in for you, if I'm remembering correctly, American Flyers.

SPEAKER_03:

Oh, we're definitely going to cover that. Okay. Yeah, that's happening.

SPEAKER_01:

Short Circuit, are we also definitely going to cover that?

SPEAKER_03:

Probably. I mean, Johnny Five is alive.

SPEAKER_01:

Super, I mean, look, almost every 80s film, problematic in some way. Yeah. That has a very notable problematic

SPEAKER_03:

issue. It has the most in-your-face, brown face, maybe of all time.

SPEAKER_04:

Mm-hmm. Because

SPEAKER_03:

it's not even like, oh, we're going to do this as a gag. It just was a legit, we're going to do this with the skin tone and the accent. It just goes... It's

SPEAKER_01:

not quite on the level of Soul Man, but it's right there.

SPEAKER_03:

Soul... Soul Man, that was like, it's not a good joke, but that was like kind of a joke, right? Sure, sure. So I think people would think like, well, that's not a very funny joke.

SPEAKER_01:

It's somewhere between Soul Man and, as much as I adore this film, Vasquez from Aliens.

SPEAKER_03:

It's closer to Vasquez. Vasquez, like that, I don't know if it gets a pass, but it doesn't really seem to come up. In the same way. Because it's... It's such a great

SPEAKER_01:

role. She knocked it out of the park. Yeah. In any case, American Flyers. American Flyers. Short Circuit. He did Stakeout and then did its sequel, another Stakeout, Bird on a Wire, The Hard Way, Point of No Return, Nick of Time. I put this in for you. He directed a couple episodes of Supernatural.

SPEAKER_03:

Well, he directed nine episodes of Supernatural. Yeah.

UNKNOWN:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

We should go find what episodes those were. It looks like they were later seasons. Oh, okay. Like,

SPEAKER_03:

I think I saw one, like, season nine. Okay. So, some of the, like, second half of the show. If, like, the first five were the original, like, storyline from the original creator.

SPEAKER_01:

Right. And then they just went on for another ten years.

SPEAKER_03:

Yeah. They made about... 16, 14 more seasons. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah. Well, all in, it was 15 seasons. Yeah,

SPEAKER_03:

you're right. Yeah. So not quite that many. It feels like that.

SPEAKER_01:

And he just, in general, has done a ton of TV work. Okay, moving on to cinematography, for which this film did get an Oscar nomination. Okay. William A. Fraker. And some really interesting credits to his name. So multi-Oscar nominated cinematographer. We'll get to a couple of his other acknowledgements in that regard. But he shot Rosemary's Baby. Have you ever seen Rosemary's Baby? I

SPEAKER_03:

have seen parts of it. I'm sure I've seen clips of it in anthologies or lists of horror movies. Sure. But I don't know that I've ever watched the full thing. I know it's not a favorite of yours.

SPEAKER_01:

It's not. And it's not

SPEAKER_03:

something where I'm looking for it.

SPEAKER_01:

Right. It's important in film history. It's important in horror history. I understand why so many people have such a love of the movie, and I also understand why this character is the way she is, but I cannot stand Mia Farrow. You don't like her. She's such a pushover. It infuriates me. I get it. I get that that is the story, that she's being manipulated by literally every single person around her, but it's infuriating to watch. I can't enjoy that movie, so... In any case, he shot that. He also shot Bullet. Here we go. Here's a horror film you have a particular distaste for. He shot Exorcist II The Heretic. You don't even acknowledge it.

SPEAKER_03:

It's real bad.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03:

It's real bad. If you just eliminate it, I'm sure I've said this many times, eliminate that, just watch one and three, and that's it. I don't even know.

SPEAKER_01:

It's like Exorcist, choose your adventure.

UNKNOWN:

Yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03:

Yeah, just reach the second movie, skip it, go to three.

SPEAKER_01:

so here we go with another oscar nom he got a best cinematography for looking for mr goodbar he follows that up he has like a very good run in a very short amount of time he gets another oscar nom shortly thereafter for heaven can wait and then this is so interesting because i know we without either of us really knowing this film very well we've panned it but he did get an oscar nomination for 1941 he got two in fact he got best cinematography and And best effects, visual effects.

SPEAKER_03:

We're going to have to watch it just to see whether or not we can legitimately hate on it more.

SPEAKER_01:

Right. I agree with that. He also shot, do I have all films for him? I do. And he still has another Oscar nom coming up. So he shot The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas. I can't.

SPEAKER_03:

Irreconcilable Differences?

SPEAKER_01:

Thank you. No worries. I always have a problem with that word. He gets that Oscar nom, best cinematography for Murphy's Romance. I was going to

SPEAKER_03:

guess that was the one with James Gardner.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah. Yeah, and Sally Field. This stretch of films, there's so many of his that we can cover still, like a ton of them, because he also did Space Camp, Baby Boom. I'd like to do Baby Boom. Maybe it won't come up. Maybe it will come up this season. We'll see.

SPEAKER_03:

Who knows?

SPEAKER_01:

Who knows? Who knows? Now we're moving into the 90s. He does The Freshman, Honeymoon in Vegas. He does

SPEAKER_03:

Tombstone. Oh, shit.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, he does Tombstone. The Island of Dr. Moreau. The

SPEAKER_03:

one with Val Kilmer and... Oh, my gosh.

SPEAKER_01:

Oh, my gosh. Are you forgetting his name? Yeah, I am. Are you blanking on one of the greatest actors of all time, his name? I

SPEAKER_03:

am. I love that you're not saying it, too.

SPEAKER_01:

From The Godfather? Oh,

SPEAKER_03:

God. You know, so I was just going to say Fat Brando, but Marlon Brando.

SPEAKER_01:

You got half of it right. Yeah. Yeah, Marlon Brando.

SPEAKER_03:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

He did Vegas Vacation, and then he's no longer with us. His final credit was Waking Up in Reno.

SPEAKER_03:

That sounds awful.

SPEAKER_01:

Okay, so moving on to music, Arthur B. Rubinstein. So let's see here. I don't think we've covered him before. He's interesting. I've said this before. A lot of people in entertainment... there's no shame at all in having your bread and butter be tv movies and that is certainly what this guy has done with his career a lot of tv movies i did a count of his 116 credits 77 are tv movies okay so there you go about two-thirds so we a little bit less in any case some of his credits on the right track that's a film a tv series called bring them back alive

SPEAKER_04:

this

SPEAKER_01:

one I think a lot of people would know. He scored the film Lost in America. He did Best of Times, a couple more TV series, Scarecrow, Mrs. King. What was that about? Such an interesting name. I

SPEAKER_03:

don't know, but the title is so familiar. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah. He did that. A TV series called The Wizard. So he was the composer on Stakeout and other Stakeouts. So he reteams with the director. So they must have had kind of a good professional relationship because he also scored The Hard Way and Nick of Time. And like I said, a lot of TV movies.

SPEAKER_03:

A lot of TV series, a lot of TV movies, including one episode of the TV series Sledgehammer, which was like a parody cop movie where the guy's catchphrase was, trust me, I know what I'm doing. And then he would just shoot something.

SPEAKER_01:

Wow.

SPEAKER_03:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

Okay.

SPEAKER_03:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

So film editing, Tom, do you think it's Rolf? Yeah. Okay. So we have not brought him up before. However, there is one really notable film that I hope we do sooner than later that he cut. So among his credits earlier in his career, he cut on a TV series called The Big Valley, which I just think this is a fantastic title. He cut a film called The Man Who Loved Cat Dancing. He did that. Did you know that there's actually a film, and it has nothing to do with the TV show, a 1973 film called The Last American Hero?

SPEAKER_03:

Oh,

SPEAKER_01:

that was The Greatest American Hero is what we were watching. Yeah, yeah. Okay,

SPEAKER_03:

different. Sorry. That's why I was like, huh.

SPEAKER_01:

COVID head. Sorry. But he did that. So very notable. He cut the film Taxi Driver.

SPEAKER_03:

I've heard of it.

SPEAKER_01:

He did Heaven's Gate. Here's the film that I would love to do at some point, Ghost Story. Oh, yeah. I really liked that film. I just thought it was so interesting, so atmospheric, and has some acting legends in it.

SPEAKER_03:

It really does.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah. He does get not only a nomination, he actually wins Best Editing for The Right Stuff.

SPEAKER_03:

Yep, that would have been my guess. I think Ed Harris is in a spacesuit in that.

SPEAKER_01:

There's a lot of people in a space suit, but he's one of them.

SPEAKER_03:

Chances are, if you see Ed

SPEAKER_01:

Harris in a movie... Oh, yeah, that's your joke.

SPEAKER_03:

He's either in a spacesuit or around people that are.

SPEAKER_01:

He does do a lot of spacesuit movies. Even in

SPEAKER_03:

The Abyss, he's basically a spacesuit.

SPEAKER_01:

Basically a spacesuit, yeah. Which, this is funny. And look, you take the jobs you get, man. But he goes from The Right Stuff in an Oscar win to Nine and a Half Weeks. Okay. So he did that. He did Outrageous Fortune, The Great Outdoors. So some of these films we can't cover. A film that we've brought up before because of your interest in it, Jacob's Ladder? I

SPEAKER_03:

don't know if it's my interest as much as... First of all, it's 1990, so we wouldn't be able to cover it. We can't cover it, yeah. But the effect that they use, it's like you see these horror movies or movies where... someone just figured out like a new trick to do with the camera or with the VFX. And it's just this like hyper fast movement all the time. So someone's head will start like shaking around. It's just very like, like, uh, uncomfortable to watch. And it happens over and over again. So you're like, Oh, this movie. Okay. Uh, also it's also quite creepy in addition.

SPEAKER_01:

I've heard. And it's, um, what's his name? From Shawshank, right?

SPEAKER_03:

Tim

SPEAKER_01:

Robbins? Yeah, Tim Robbins.

SPEAKER_03:

Yeah, he is the main character. And I think by the end, sorry, spoilers, it's a super old movie, but I think it's all just like an acid or like acid

SPEAKER_01:

induced trip. I hate when they do that. He's

SPEAKER_03:

actually like dying or something. Oh, okay. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

Okay, so film editing, continuing with Tom Rolfe. He also did Sneakers, The Pelican Brief, Dangerous Minds. He cut, so we just brought up somebody who shot Tombstone. This guy cut Heat, another one of our favorite films.

SPEAKER_03:

Yeah, I mean, War Games is full of very talented

SPEAKER_01:

people. Yeah, I'm... Honestly, now that I'm looking at his filmography, kind of surprised he didn't get any. Well, that film. Did anybody get anything from Heat? Like, did anybody get any Oscar attention? Because I think that that's a brilliantly edited film.

SPEAKER_03:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

So crazy that he didn't even get a nomination for that. But in any case, he also cut Windtalkers. And then he's no longer with us. His final credit was a TV series called Admiral.

UNKNOWN:

Hmm.

SPEAKER_01:

All right, we are already at the stars of the film, of course, starting with Mr. Matthew Broderick, who plays David. So he's our protagonist, so to speak.

SPEAKER_03:

He plays David Bueller.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, essentially. Ferris' little brother. So yeah, this is preceding Ferris. This is even preceding Ladyhawk.

SPEAKER_03:

Really?

SPEAKER_01:

Yes, this is 83 and Ladyhawk is 85.

SPEAKER_03:

Okay, he looks younger. But maybe it's just like the...

SPEAKER_01:

In Ladyhawk,

SPEAKER_03:

you think? Yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

Oh, I think he looks younger here.

SPEAKER_03:

Huh. Maybe it's just like his voice. He's kind of doing this higher-pitched voice thing in Ladyhawk because he is the rat. Sure. Yeah, no, I'm surprised.

SPEAKER_01:

But you're absolutely right that he just... When he was in his teen years... Or teenish. I don't know exactly what his age was. I feel pretty confident saying he was an actual teenager when he shot this. Yeah. But he just has this mischievous thing about him that works really well. He's cast really well in a lot of these roles. So obviously Ferris is... the one that everybody thinks of but he is really good in this he's really fun because he's just yeah he's look the way that they described him who was I reading where they were talking about oh I think it's when somebody was giving like a overview of him in the film and they called him like an outsider or kind of like like i know they said that he was estranged from his parents where i was like i don't think that that's exactly the case it's just kind of a normal teenager parent relationship is the way that i interpreted it

SPEAKER_03:

yeah i know i didn't get that sense at all like yeah

SPEAKER_01:

but they kind of described him as like a little bit of an outsider i don't think they go too hard on that point in terms of the way that they show him in school i didn't get the sense that he was like ostracized from any of the other students he's just like super nerdy and into computers I

SPEAKER_03:

think they're just saying he's a bit of an outsider because that's what you generally would say about someone that you're trying to label as a terrorist

SPEAKER_01:

sure

SPEAKER_03:

which is what they thought that he was

SPEAKER_01:

yeah yeah it just bumped me a little bit but he's super fun in this role very believable I totally bought that he's this kid who's honestly very smart and he

SPEAKER_03:

is the computer that he was that he was given for purposes of like shooting and Some instructions were lost, so he saved a day of shooting by figuring out a programming sequence for the keyboard himself.

SPEAKER_01:

Matthew Broderick did.

SPEAKER_03:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

Holy shit. So he really is this guy.

SPEAKER_03:

I mean, he's close to that guy.

SPEAKER_01:

Wow. That's super impressive. Yeah. I couldn't do that. I mean, I always think these films are really fun, even if they're maybe a stretch, like probably the most egregious examples, weird science, obviously, but like,

SPEAKER_03:

I mean, that's a, it's a great point. And, um, Some of the fun facts, I guess. At the time this movie was made, his activity was not actually illegal. It actually prompted Congress to put together legislation to criminalize this. And after this movie came out, it was so successful and really touched a nerve because suddenly people were more interested in computers and hacking. Mm-hmm. it prompted a lot of like software and other entities to take like security seriously. Like things weren't even password protected because people didn't realize that other people could try to like dial in and remotely access some of the stuff. So like in a way the movie was like ahead of where things were. And then it actually kind of like, It

SPEAKER_01:

had this, like, positive ripple effect. Yeah, yeah. He does also a lot... So, like, if you go through his credits, it doesn't... Like, he has a good number of credits. Not as many as maybe you would think for somebody who's been in the industry for 40 years. But that's also because he does a ton of, like, live performance. Yeah. So he has, throughout the course of his career, not just done, like, film and television, but also a ton of, like, Broadway. So... But among his credits, we did do Lady Hawk. That was... Last Fall, so go check that one out.

SPEAKER_03:

I mean, that also featured Professor Stephen

SPEAKER_01:

Falcon. Yes, yeah, they re-team in that movie. So this was their first film together. Of course, as I mentioned, his most famous role, Ferris Bueller's Day Off, and we did that. That was season one, right?

SPEAKER_03:

I think it might have been.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah. Yeah. Because that was with Julia. So go check that one out. We can still do Project X. That will probably happen at some point. He's had success in other types of roles. I think he's fantastic in Glory. That is right on the cusp of the 80s. But I don't want to just be weeping throughout an episode of this podcast. So I don't know if we'll ever do that one. But he's in that. The Freshman. The Cable Guy. Yeah. He is almost notoriously in the 1998 Godzilla.

SPEAKER_03:

Notoriously? I

SPEAKER_01:

mean, I do remember that getting so much buzz, and then it just, like, didn't... I mean, I didn't, like...

SPEAKER_03:

It's not my favorite Godzilla. I haven't

SPEAKER_01:

seen all the Godzillas, but... Sure, but it's just a stupid tentpole. Like, just have fun with it. You don't have to think too much about

SPEAKER_03:

it. They didn't.

SPEAKER_01:

It's Godzilla. I know. I know. It has, well... Persona non grata, but it did have a good song from Diddy that was attached to it. Really? Yeah, it did. No idea. It did. Anyway. He also, maybe, maybe his second most famous role is Election, you think?

SPEAKER_03:

Hmm. It might be.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03:

It's possible.

SPEAKER_01:

I mean, it's a brilliant kind of wink and a nod song. in terms of the character he plays in contrast to the character he was in Ferris.

SPEAKER_03:

Very much so, yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

So he's in that, Inspector Gadget, Strangers with Candy, Manchester by the Sea, and then more recently he has done a lot of TV work. He's been on The Conners, Better Things, Daybreak, and then we really love this show, and he's had a really fun kind of multi... He's not a recurring character per se, but he... was on only murders in the building a couple of times as himself, but like this really over the top version of himself. So I love that he was game to do that. Yeah. Okay. I mean, I was just, I do, I do too. I mean, you liked it too. I did. Right. Okay. All right. Moving on to Dabney Coleman. So unfortunately, although he had a wonderful career, a good long life, he just passed away in May.

SPEAKER_03:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

He is McKittrick. Am I saying that right?

SPEAKER_03:

McKittrick? Yeah. I think it's McKittrick.

SPEAKER_01:

So we have covered him before, but it's actually been a couple seasons, I think, since we have. And we will cover him again for sure. Oh, I wonder what one you're talking about. I

SPEAKER_03:

talk about it all the time. You do?

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, I do. Okay, we'll see. So as far as his filmography, started out his career with a ton of TV work, some of his earlier credits. This is actually a film. Interesting title, The Scalp Hunters.

SPEAKER_03:

Interesting.

SPEAKER_01:

So he plays... I mean, this isn't unusual even now, but I feel like... I'm going to say back in the day, they would take a character and then... The Mary Tyler Moore show is maybe one of the most famous examples where almost every person from that show got their own spinoff.

SPEAKER_03:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

And so these characters lived on different shows. I don't know the details of this, but he was on a TV show called Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman, which I know that's come up before. Yes,

SPEAKER_03:

yes.

SPEAKER_01:

And then he plays the same character on a different TV show called Forever Fernwood.

SPEAKER_04:

Oh.

SPEAKER_01:

So he had that.

SPEAKER_04:

Okay.

SPEAKER_01:

So... This was the second time we brought him up, but he was... Of course, he has the most fun role in 9 to 5. He is just...

SPEAKER_03:

He's a terrible boss.

SPEAKER_01:

He's a terrible boss. Yeah. We covered that one with Susan a couple seasons ago. Go check that one out. He's also... I don't think you're talking about on Golden Pond. I'm not. No, I'm not. But he's in that, and we can cover that at some point. He was in... Is it Young Doctors in Love?

UNKNOWN:

Yes.

SPEAKER_03:

No, I was not aware of that title. It sounds... It is not the one that

SPEAKER_01:

I'm talking about. Not the one you're talking about? Okay, well, the first time we brought him up, A film that we, well, I don't want to speak on your behalf, but I do love this movie, Tootsie. That was with Tiana.

SPEAKER_03:

He was great in that,

SPEAKER_01:

yeah. He's amazing in it. Yeah. Not too far off from his character in 9 to 5.

SPEAKER_03:

There are some similarities.

SPEAKER_01:

There's a lot of overlap there, but he is in that, so go check that one out. TV series he was on for a while, Buffalo Bill. He also, is this a 90s movie? Are you talking about Dragnet?

SPEAKER_03:

No, I'm

SPEAKER_01:

not. What are you talking about then?

SPEAKER_03:

I'm talking about Cloak and Dagger.

SPEAKER_01:

Oh, okay. I didn't even have that one listed. Sorry.

SPEAKER_03:

How dare you? Okay,

SPEAKER_01:

we'll do that. We will do that at some point. So some of his, more of his TV work, the Slap Maxwell story, don't know it.

SPEAKER_03:

Not related to the Slap at all. Not

SPEAKER_01:

related to the Slap at all. I do vaguely remember the title of this show, Drexel's Class.

UNKNOWN:

Hmm.

SPEAKER_01:

I think maybe he's a teacher. I don't know. Madman of the people. More film work. You've got mail. I guess he had a role in Inspector Gadget. I can't say I ever saw that. So he kind of do reteams with...

SPEAKER_03:

I can say it. I never saw it.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah.

UNKNOWN:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03:

What did I say? You can't say you ever saw it, which is the same as saying I can't say I never saw it. Okay. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

So he's in that. More recently, The Guardian, Boardwalk Empire. And then it was just one episode, but it was his final credit. He was on Yellowstone.

SPEAKER_03:

And one I just want to bring up, for some reason, this movie cracked up my dad so much. It was from 1990, so we wouldn't cover it, but it was called Short Time.

SPEAKER_02:

Okay.

SPEAKER_03:

And he plays a detective, and it's this trope of he goes to the doctor and whoops, the medical blood tests get switched, and they think he's dying.

SPEAKER_02:

Oh.

SPEAKER_03:

And so to try to get the police pension or whatever to pay out for his family, he has to die on duty. So he becomes increasingly reckless and any... anything he's responding to as a cop, but it's actually a comedy. Hilarity

SPEAKER_01:

ensues. He gets

SPEAKER_03:

ready for a high-speed chase, and he intentionally unbuckles the buckle and then speeds off. It was so ridiculous. My dad was laughing the whole way through.

SPEAKER_01:

All right, moving on. John Wood. So he is the gentleman that you referenced at the top of the conversation. He's in that clip. He is Professor Falcon, and... And he's great in this movie.

SPEAKER_03:

He is great. That character was fashioned from Professor Stephen Hawking.

SPEAKER_01:

No way. Who

SPEAKER_03:

they approached to be in the film. Really? And he just, he didn't want to. He didn't want his disability to be... A

SPEAKER_02:

focus?

SPEAKER_03:

Yes. Or to be sensationalized in the movie.

SPEAKER_01:

So we're talking early 80s. And I'm sorry, I'm not... Exploiting, yeah. I'm not super... familiar with the progression of Hawking's... I'm not

SPEAKER_03:

sure what kind of condition or what his status would have been back then. Got it. Yeah, I'm not sure.

SPEAKER_01:

Interesting. Okay. Well, John Wood did a great job.

SPEAKER_03:

I think he did an amazing job. I think we've seen him in two things. They might be the only two things that I really remember seeing him in, and he's been excellent in both of them.

SPEAKER_01:

Agreed. So... His credit works. So he came up also last fall because we covered him for Ladyhawk.

SPEAKER_03:

He's such a dick in that movie.

SPEAKER_01:

Oh, he's terrible. My

SPEAKER_03:

God.

SPEAKER_01:

The guy had range.

SPEAKER_03:

Yeah, because he's so sweet in this movie.

SPEAKER_01:

He's so sweet. He's amazing in this film. One of his earliest credits is a TV movie from 1957, A Man for All Seasons, which later on won the Oscar as a film. He also was in the film Just Like a Woman. Don't know what that means. But Nicholas and Alexandra, somebody killed her husband. Oh. So the purple rose of Cairo. Ladyhawk, Heartburn. Heartburn is a film we could do. I don't know if it's like a, certainly not a fun feel good kind of movie. It certainly

SPEAKER_03:

would be a choice.

SPEAKER_01:

But it does have Meryl Streep and Jack Nicholson in it. So it has like two amazing actors and others as well. I think John Lithgow is in it.

SPEAKER_03:

It's such a, like, let's give the title of this movie a name that's instantly going to make you be like, I don't want that.

SPEAKER_01:

That's correct. That's a good point.

SPEAKER_03:

I'm not looking forward to this heartburn.

SPEAKER_01:

He's also in Jumpin' Jack Flash, Shadowlands, The Madness of King George. Oh, these are all films. Sabrina, the remake of Sabrina, Jane Eyre, Chocolat.

SPEAKER_03:

Oh, yeah, you've seen that. Do you remember him in it?

SPEAKER_01:

No.

SPEAKER_03:

I don't think I've even seen

SPEAKER_01:

Chocolat. And just a ton of TV work over the course of his career. So, unfortunately, he's also... No longer with us. Moving on to Ally Sheedy. She plays Jennifer, which I guess, yeah, she is David's love interest, but it's an interesting dynamic between the two of them.

SPEAKER_03:

Yeah, it is. There's like a little bit of a romance there, but they're like high schoolers. So it's like, you know, they never really. It doesn't go too far, which I'm

SPEAKER_01:

happy for. They're just kids.

SPEAKER_03:

If this movie was made now, it probably would.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, probably. And

SPEAKER_03:

the roles would also be played by people in their mid to late 20s

SPEAKER_01:

acting as teenagers. I mean, she's an interesting character. So this is preceding The Breakfast Club for her, which is probably her most notable role. I don't dislike her in this film, but they kind of make her this like...

SPEAKER_04:

I

SPEAKER_01:

don't even know. Kind of giggly. Yeah. Kind of just not so smart person. girl. Here's what I think she has going for her.

SPEAKER_03:

She's a dancer and she runs.

SPEAKER_01:

She's very athletic. She's constantly doing

SPEAKER_03:

something.

SPEAKER_01:

Every scene. To the point where I was like, does she have an issue that needs to be addressed? But what I think she brings to this film is that she's a little bit of a prompt for David.

SPEAKER_03:

She

SPEAKER_01:

kind of pushes things a little bit along. And I think that that's maybe the biggest thing that she brings to her role. I think you could have had this film if you had made some minor adjustments without her at all. But, you know, it's fine. I think they could have maybe given her a little bit more, but...

SPEAKER_03:

Yeah, that's interesting. I mean, I didn't...

SPEAKER_01:

Like the giggling in class, I'm like, come on, enough already. And just like, I don't expect her to be a computer expert in the same way David is, but it seems like she generally just is always like, what's that? What's happening? What's going on? I'm like, okay.

SPEAKER_03:

But no, I get what you're saying. The reason she acts that way is so that he can then explain to the audience why something is happening or what he's doing.

SPEAKER_01:

In a film where... Not too different from First Blood, where there's majority male characters. There's a couple notable female characters in this film. I think I only have two, though. Her and... I'll bring her up in a second. But it's like... I mean,

SPEAKER_03:

whoever told us there was a minute and 30 seconds left to impact...

SPEAKER_01:

Sure, she's in it.

SPEAKER_03:

Throw her in there,

SPEAKER_01:

too. There you go. I just wish that there had been more nuance to her character. But in any case... Ally Sheedy. So, of course, one of probably the more famous members of the Brat Pack of the 80s. There's that. I still haven't seen it, but there's that documentary that just came out not too long ago about all of that. I have mostly films for her. Oxford Blues, The Breakfast Club, which was our very first episode.

SPEAKER_03:

Don't listen to it. Leave that

SPEAKER_01:

one alone. We were just babies ourselves, just getting our footing. She's in, we still haven't done this one yet, St. Elmo's Fire. Oh,

SPEAKER_03:

yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

She's in Short Circuit.

SPEAKER_03:

Yep, that's why we're going to have to talk about it.

SPEAKER_01:

That's why we're going to have to.

SPEAKER_03:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

Made to Order, Betsy's Wedding, Only the Lonely, High Art. I remember her getting acclaim for that film, High Art. More recently, the TV movie Citizen Jane. Not that recent, but more recently. And then the TV series Single Drunk Female. Okay. Okay. So moving on to the other gentleman that was highlighted in the clip that you pulled, General Beringer?

SPEAKER_03:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah. Yeah. And played by Barry Corbin, who is still very much going strong.

SPEAKER_03:

He sure is.

SPEAKER_01:

Over 220 acting credits so far.

SPEAKER_03:

And counting.

SPEAKER_01:

Here's what's so interesting. A ton of acting credits. His first, though, his very first acting credit was... Okay. Yeah. Among his credits, I have a pretty good mix of film and television. So we have Urban Cowboy, Stir Crazy, Any Which Way You Can.

SPEAKER_03:

Oh yeah, those movies with Clint Eastwood and an orangutan.

SPEAKER_01:

And you brought that up last night. I'm going to bring it up every

SPEAKER_03:

time because it's like, that's the movie. You're a trucker and your trucking companion is an orangutan. And you make money by getting in like street fights. What the hell? It's

SPEAKER_01:

because it's Clint

SPEAKER_03:

Eastwood. It's such a crazy concept

SPEAKER_01:

for a movie. It's greenlit because it's Clint. Yeah. I do want to do this. I brought it before. He is in the film The Night the Lights Went Out in Georgia. The reason why I want to do that is I think it'd be very interesting because it's Mark Hamill in the prime of his Luke Skywalker first trilogy, Star Wars Days.

SPEAKER_02:

Okay.

SPEAKER_01:

And it also has Christy McNichol and I want to say Dennis Quaid in it. I don't think people realize how popular Christy McNichol was in her own heyday.

SPEAKER_03:

I'm sure they don't.

SPEAKER_01:

So I just think that that would be an interesting film to cover. He is also in The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas. He's in a lot of these like kind of southern, something called Honky Tonk Man. Oh,

SPEAKER_03:

yeah. For some reason, that title is not... Unfamiliar to me, but I can't remember what it's about.

SPEAKER_01:

Okay. My Science Project, Critters 2, colon, The Main Course.

SPEAKER_03:

Mm-hmm. They eat things. They eat people. They eat people. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

Who's Harry Crumb? And then some TV work, Northern Exposure, as well as The Big Easy. He's in No Country for Old Men.

SPEAKER_03:

Okay.

SPEAKER_01:

In the Valley of, is it Ila? I think.

SPEAKER_03:

Sure. Sure.

SPEAKER_01:

A lot of TV work. He was on One Tree Hill, The Closer, Suit Up, Anger Management, The Ranch, Tulsa King. And then just last year, he was also in Killers of the Flower Moon. Oh, okay. So this guy, he is working, working, working. Okay. Our final credit for acting. Apologies if I am not saying her name as it should be. Wanan?

UNKNOWN:

Wanan?

SPEAKER_01:

Do you think that's Juan and Clay?

SPEAKER_03:

Juanine?

SPEAKER_01:

Juanine.

SPEAKER_03:

Maybe. I don't know. You're right. You're absolutely right. Juanine and Clay. I was guessing, but sure. That could work.

SPEAKER_01:

So she plays Pat Healy. She's the woman who I guess works alongside McKittrick.

SPEAKER_03:

Yes.

SPEAKER_01:

And I don't know if we get a lot about what exactly her role is, but she's the other predominant female character.

SPEAKER_03:

They both just work on the Whopper.

SPEAKER_01:

Yes.

SPEAKER_03:

Which, by the way, is a callback to a system that Nora had actually used called Berger.

SPEAKER_02:

Oh, that's

SPEAKER_03:

fine. B-R-G-R. So that's what they named Whopper after. Oh,

SPEAKER_01:

I like that. Yeah. So, unfortunately, I have a pretty short filmography for her because she passed away in 1995 at just 45 years old. So, a couple of her credits, though. This title... Cheaper to Keeper.

SPEAKER_03:

Yeah, that's like the name of a song, even. Is it? Yeah, there's like a whole... Have

SPEAKER_01:

we brought this up before?

SPEAKER_03:

It's a song...

SPEAKER_01:

I'm feeling deja vu. It's

SPEAKER_03:

like a whole musical number in Blues Brothers 2000.

SPEAKER_01:

Oh, maybe that's why it came up. She also was in the film The Legend of the Lone Ranger. And then over the course of her career, which again was cut very short, a lot of TV appearances.

SPEAKER_03:

Yeah, she was in one episode of Buck Rogers in the 25th century.

SPEAKER_01:

There you go.

SPEAKER_03:

Which was like a really cheesy sci-fi TV show when all you had was like a few linear TV channels. You're like, okay,

SPEAKER_01:

all right. Film synopsis.

SPEAKER_03:

What

SPEAKER_01:

do we got? A young man finds a back door into a military central computer in which reality is confused with game playing, possibly starting World War III.

SPEAKER_03:

Yeah, it's a little, it's a little, like, wordy, kind of, but...

SPEAKER_01:

It would have made more sense if it said a young man possibly starts World War III by finding a back door into, like, the... The structure of the sentence isn't correct, but in any case.

SPEAKER_03:

I just love that it all begins because they're having dinner and he sees an ad for a gaming company and he wants to get a sneak peek at some of their upcoming games because that... That happens now still. People are still hacking into Rockstar to get leaks on Grand Theft Auto 6 or trying to hack into Nintendo or any other big game developer. So I just love that that's what started World War III almost.

SPEAKER_01:

It felt very realistic.

SPEAKER_03:

Yeah, it did. It felt like, well, this is something that someone would try to do. And back then before it was even illegal, sure. Just like... Set it up in an auto loop where you're just going to keep on like trying different numbers to see if you get the right connection.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah. No, I thought that that was a very organically motivated plot point.

SPEAKER_03:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

And worked for that character and was a great way of setting things off.

SPEAKER_03:

I love how they just kept saying like, he's trying to break into a toy company. I'm like, well, I guess.

SPEAKER_01:

That must have been the general. Are you doing the general? I'm

SPEAKER_03:

just doing the general. Not like the insurance general, but like General Berenger. I would never try to imitate the general.

SPEAKER_01:

But yeah, I thought that it works really well. It pretty much sets up entirely what the film is. I mean, I... I don't know when the first time was that I saw this movie. This kind of feels like one of those movies. It's not like a film that I revisit a ton, to be honest. Yeah. But it's a film that I feel like I've always just known. Like I must have seen it young.

SPEAKER_03:

Because we've seen it so many times at this point. At least for me. I know I've seen it so many times, I can't even tell you. I don't think I've seen it in the movie theater. I don't think that was the first time because those experiences I usually am able to call back on. So I don't know when the first time I saw War Games was, but I know that I've seen it so many times that I've kind of taken for granted that. watching the whole movie from start to finish.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03:

Like I, you just kind of like think of the main points, but if you watch it from beginning to end, it's actually, it was better than I expected it to be. And I already liked it.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03:

A couple of more fun points on like their, their like command center.

SPEAKER_01:

Yes.

SPEAKER_03:

The, like the tunnel where they would get in there, Griffith park.

SPEAKER_04:

Oh

SPEAKER_03:

yeah. They've, they've also used it, I think for, uh, who framed Roger rabbit, um, that, that, Correct. Yes. Yes. Not how it was supposed to work out.

SPEAKER_02:

Oh, that just happened?

SPEAKER_03:

The stunt didn't work out the way it was supposed to, but they kept it in. They thought it worked.

SPEAKER_02:

Everybody was okay?

SPEAKER_03:

Yeah, yeah. And then once you get into NORAD, they, of course, were not given any access to the real life NORAD. And what they created was described as like, this would have been like... the dream scenario for actual NORAD. It was way... Over the top? Way over the top, way more sophisticated, way just bigger in terms of what the actual NORAD would have

SPEAKER_01:

had at that time. Well, I mean, I... I guess I kind of presumed that on some level. I mean, all the computer screens, it... Little things, though, sorry if I'm jumping around, but, like, something that always bugs me is, like, at one point, you know, it's... Pre the final climax where like he's trying to get him to figure out the game.

SPEAKER_03:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

And it's when I think they, is it around there? I don't know. When like there's sparks

SPEAKER_03:

off of the computer and everything. Holy shit. This computer's playing tic-tac-toe so hard he fucking blew out the monitors. Yeah. It's like. Damn. Damn. That is some serious tic-tac-toeing.

SPEAKER_01:

That kind of stuff. Have you ever

SPEAKER_03:

tic-tac-toed that hard? I haven't.

SPEAKER_01:

That's the kind of stuff where I'm like, that I could have done without. You

SPEAKER_03:

always need that, though. Like, look, if there's a ghost anywhere around, light bulbs, gotta

SPEAKER_01:

fucking bust. I mean, it's just like we're in science again. Like, it's like straight out of that. But overall, I think that it's... But, you know, and other little things, too. Like, you brought up a really good point when they're like... You know, the professor convinces the general, like, hey, this isn't happening. This is all a simulation. And so the general... Takes a chance on believing him. And so they're doing the countdown. But they're... Preceding that countdown had talked to three other... What would you call them? Locations. Locations, bunkers.

SPEAKER_03:

Sure.

SPEAKER_01:

And I love how... You made a really excellent point where it's like, just keep talking to them. And they all stop. They all go radio silence. Hey, everyone. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03:

The world might end in 30 seconds. Let's just all stop talking right now. And then in maybe 35 seconds, I'll reach out. Yeah. And then maybe we'll

SPEAKER_01:

see if everyone's- And it'll take them a couple more seconds. Why not

SPEAKER_03:

just like, let's just keep on talking. Let's just keep on talking through it.

SPEAKER_01:

I thought that, I mean, obviously it's for the purposes of the drama, but it's really funny that- Maybe.

SPEAKER_03:

I don't know. Oh, yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah. Are you there? Are you there? There's so many

SPEAKER_03:

different ways that movies do that. The car won't start on time. This person's getting CPR for five hours. Let's use the defibrillator for like 50 times. And then the car always starts. The person comes back. And guess what? The world did not end at

SPEAKER_01:

the end of War Games. So I do find that's really funny. I mean, the film... goes along at a pretty good clip. I feel like there's not really a lull in anything happening. I will say that maybe the biggest thing for me... So we talked a little bit earlier about David's relationship with his parents. And they're both... They're kind of just checked out parents. They do... They're

SPEAKER_03:

classic 80s parents of a high schooler. Like, look, kid, you're basically living your own life now. We're living ours. Just stay out of trouble.

SPEAKER_01:

His mom is like very... And it's funny because that's his mom. Not the same actress, but the same job. Role or character. Yes. She's also a realtor. So she's very focused on her career. The dad's kind of a doofus.

SPEAKER_03:

Classic 80s dad. He looks like he is the 80s dad. He's like the dad from stranger things.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah. Like the Coke bottle glasses. Um, they're not bad people by any means. I didn't take them to be,

SPEAKER_04:

no,

SPEAKER_01:

but it is really funny to me that as like we progressed through the story of this film, they just kind of go away. Like, wouldn't you be kind of concerned if your kid,

SPEAKER_03:

you know what I appreciate is that when, um, when Ally Sheedy's character comes in and just like walks in, um, they didn't do that kind of, like, 80s movie, or maybe not just 80s movie, but thing where they're, like, they're so shocked that their son has a... A female interest. Because he's, like, kind of a nerdy guy. So the fact that she just, like, walks in, I thought that they would have... had some other reaction. Instead, I think he was just asking her for a crossword. Yeah, he's a little confused. He's a little like, huh.

UNKNOWN:

But they don't overplay that point.

SPEAKER_03:

They don't, yeah. I appreciated that.

SPEAKER_01:

Me too. I also thought, you know, David obviously comes from... Well, first of all, his family can afford for him to have all this tech, so that's saying something to begin with. And then also, he happens to have a bedroom with its own en suite bathroom. So he comes from... a pretty privileged background that is something that, to varying degrees, I clock in films in terms of like, yep, everybody's white, everybody's affluent. It's of its time.

SPEAKER_03:

You've just defined an entire decade of movies.

SPEAKER_01:

Right, right. So there's that in terms of like, I think that also would have– and I'm not saying right or wrong, but that I think would have been a pivot if this movie was– this movie was never remade, right? I think that was talked about a bit. I don't think so.

SPEAKER_03:

I

SPEAKER_01:

don't know

SPEAKER_03:

how you would because this movie resulted in so many things being changed. I guess you could find a way to–

SPEAKER_01:

Update it.

SPEAKER_03:

You can find a way to do anything if you want to. They might still remake Big Trouble in Little China, so anything is possible.

SPEAKER_01:

Sure. And look, I love Matthew Broderick. Again, I think he was perfectly cast for this role. He's super entertaining. I don't know if they would have gone in that direction nowadays. Yeah. But even to bring up a film that's a little bit more than 10 years removed, Hackers. So still a white kid, but comes from a much more troubled background. This

SPEAKER_03:

movie is so much more believable than Hackers, and it almost starts World War III.

SPEAKER_01:

Hackers is a fun time, though. I love Hackers.

SPEAKER_03:

Hackers is like a fever dream.

SPEAKER_01:

Matthew Lillard steals every scene that he's in. It's fun. But, I mean, I think that part of the reason why this film... At least, okay, so my opinion. The reason why this film has staying power is because... Look, we were really little, but growing up in the era where there was still very much a Cold War and still very much

SPEAKER_03:

this fear. Yeah, we were constantly thinking about the possibility of nuclear war.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

And unfortunately, here and there, that's never really gone away. We

SPEAKER_03:

thought it did.

SPEAKER_01:

We thought it did. But it turns

SPEAKER_03:

out... Nope.

SPEAKER_01:

Every once in a while you hear news about North Korea or, you know, whatever. And obviously things going on with Russia right now. And so it's this film that on the one hand is very much of its era, but still is like kind of relevant.

SPEAKER_03:

Have we have we actually yet learned the lesson that this movie so in your face gives you at the end? I don't think we have.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03:

But.

SPEAKER_01:

I mean, that's why I think it's a really interesting film because of... Of course, off the top of my head, I'm not going to remember one, but we've talked about movies where we're like, oh, it's just such an 80s movie. It's just so much of its time. And on occasion with guests in the past, we've always asked them, do you think this film would be made today? Or do you think this film still holds up for today? And sometimes they do, but this one does in just a really interesting way. In a way that I don't think we've covered before. No,

SPEAKER_03:

I think it does because it starts off from at least a believable perspective on how the tech is used at that time. So you can look at it and think about how different things are now. And then with AI being such an issue for so many different reasons now, that's essentially what Joshua was. I don't think they weren't using that kind of vernacular, but that's basically what it was, is they wanted to have this AI... taking care of the strategy in the event of like a nuclear war.

SPEAKER_01:

Maybe there's something you can explain to me too, because I don't know if I've ever really kind of thought it out. So Falcon was the creator of this program

SPEAKER_04:

and

SPEAKER_01:

named it after his son who tragically like passed away when he was very young. But what was, can you clarify for me why he was like essentially dismissed and classified as like being dead and given a new identity?

SPEAKER_03:

I feel like they do bring it up briefly. I feel like it was just a difference in opinion in how...

SPEAKER_01:

How to use the tech?

SPEAKER_03:

Yeah, I think so. I could be wrong on that.

SPEAKER_01:

And then he basically washed his hands of it and said, fine, I can't control what you do with it, but I don't want to be a part of it.

SPEAKER_03:

Yeah, and it's weird. Joshua was the password. That was the backdoor password, but then they just used that to just call it Joshua. To call it Joshua. And Falcon didn't... disagree with that. So at that point on, they just all call this program Joshua.

SPEAKER_01:

I mean, it's really interesting because in this film, I think you do get really, there's some very nuanced characters. I think Falcon is a very nuanced character. I think David is. I thought

SPEAKER_03:

Dabney Coleman would get more to do.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, that was the one thing that on this rewatch, it really came to light where I'm like, oh, he's actually not doing as much as I kind of remembered him doing.

SPEAKER_03:

Yeah. He just... He just basically had to give, like... unending support to Whopper and like this computer can't be wrong. If it's saying there are all these missiles, then they're out there.

SPEAKER_01:

Then they're there. But then you do have a character, which I guess this falls in line with the era, but then also just the way that often these characters are portrayed. Like the general is such a caricature. Yeah. Yeah,

SPEAKER_03:

he is. He ad-libbed most of his lines.

SPEAKER_01:

Oh, did he? Yeah. He's the most... I'll put it this way. He's the least grounded of any of the characters. I would have been interested in seeing a little bit more of a grounded performance from him but that was perhaps the direction he was given for it because I think that that like speaks to the way that the military was kind of perceived at that time in a lot of ways or like the choice of the filmmaker to depict it that way I think says a lot about what the filmmaker thought about and the writers for that matter

SPEAKER_03:

you know who he didn't bring up that I just want to give I just want to give like a super quick shout out to who? principal... What's his name from Back

SPEAKER_01:

to the Future? Oh, my God. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03:

Yeah. James Tolkien.

SPEAKER_01:

There is a couple fun... James Tolkien. A couple fun little cameos. Like, these people would just pop up for, like, two seconds.

SPEAKER_03:

I mean, he basically runs in and calls Matthew Broderick a slacker, and then...

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, yeah, yeah. He's in there. And then you brought up... I don't know if I would have clocked it at the very beginning. Michael Madsen?

SPEAKER_03:

Yes. Well, he's in the very... Very, very, very beginning. Very intro scene with the two, like... He is one of two like operators that have to like turn the like put in the key, turn the key.

SPEAKER_01:

It's always you got to have that synchronized key turning.

SPEAKER_03:

Yeah. To launch a nuclear strike. And the other guy wouldn't. So he was going to shoot him. Yeah. I guess he didn't. But that's what leads them to think. It wasn't just those two. It was a significant number of these individuals not being willing to turn the key, even whether they know it's a test or not. They're not supposed to know. Right. And that's what leads us to Whopper.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

Okay. Yep. That all checks out. I mean, again, it's a film. I think I brought this up at the end of the last episode where I get into these moods where I kind of just have a movie on almost ad nauseum. in the background while i'm doing whatever this has been that film for a while um it it does hold up even though and i think it's a really interesting snapshot of its time while still being really entertaining today so i

SPEAKER_03:

have one final credit that's uncredited sure that i didn't i didn't even see him oh okay William H. Macy is a NORAD officer. No

SPEAKER_01:

way!

SPEAKER_03:

And maybe he was the NORAD officer in charge of things when almost the most unrealistic thing that happens in this movie, in my mind, is that Matthew Broderick's character escapes NORAD.

SPEAKER_01:

I know. I know. It's kind of hilarious. That's the

SPEAKER_03:

wildest

SPEAKER_01:

part. I'm actually really glad you brought that up, though.

SPEAKER_03:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

because that one guy who wears that like crazy getup, that crazy military getup, that was another part of the film where, again, okay. He only

SPEAKER_03:

escaped because that guy was such a creep.

SPEAKER_01:

He was such a creep. I do, I guess, appreciate that the woman kept saying like, you're bothering me, leave me alone. But he was so fucking creepy and I was so annoyed with that character. I guess they had to do that to give Broderick the opportunity to get away but I just kind of hated that guy and I hated what that little minor character was like dealing with with him

SPEAKER_03:

same

SPEAKER_01:

in any case call to action

SPEAKER_03:

yeah what do we got

SPEAKER_01:

I don't think we've like usually along the way we've like talked about something that would lend itself to being the call to action I mean I'm curious for people who are like younger and weren't like actually around when this film came out if they've seen the movie, how they feel about the depiction of World War III. Because I don't think like, I mean, look, Cold War ends, Berlin Wall comes down, all these things start happening at the end of the 80s, early 90s. And so as we go into the 90s, off the top of my head, I can't think of a film that deals with this kind of subject matter because there wasn't that like threat anymore.

SPEAKER_03:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah. So I'm just curious if for people who are a little bit younger, does this seem all just kind of fantastical to them? Because honestly, there is a lot of it that feels very grounded in a manner of speaking. That's a

SPEAKER_03:

good one. I don't know. I can't top that. I'm not going to try. Okay. Okay.

SPEAKER_01:

So if you want to get in touch with us, we'd love to hear from you. You can reach out through Facebook. I saw this recently. I don't know if I'm going to say it. Zitter. Instead of Twitter, Zitter. It could be like

SPEAKER_03:

Xitter.

SPEAKER_01:

Xitter. And Instagram, it's the same handle for all three. It is at 80s Montage Pod and 80s is 80S. Okay, Derek. So... The next film, I'm really excited for two reasons. One, I'm excited to cover this film, and also this is the last film before we go into our Halloween series. That

SPEAKER_03:

is exciting. I've not seen this movie in a very, very long time, and I've probably only seen it once.

SPEAKER_01:

Which is so interesting, because when you told me that, I was like, no way. This is another... Way. This is another one of those films that, again, I don't remember a time where I didn't know it

SPEAKER_03:

yeah

SPEAKER_01:

and it feels more so kind of a in the most literal sense like an at home kind of movie to me because it's set in the chicago suburbs

SPEAKER_03:

yeah yeah i remember you mentioned that i i like i said like i know i know of it but i don't even know what to expect like i just know the title but i don't really know what happens and what is that title That title is Lucas.

SPEAKER_01:

Lucas!

SPEAKER_03:

Yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

Starring Corey Haim, who is no longer with us. And I also chose this because I did like- And then

SPEAKER_03:

what's her name from Goonies,

SPEAKER_01:

right? Yeah, Carrie Green. Yeah. And Charlie Sheen. Yeah. Yeah. It has a lot of people in it. Courtney Thorne-Smith and Jeremy Piven. And it has... Really? Yeah.

SPEAKER_03:

Does he have hair? He

SPEAKER_01:

does have hair. Holy shit. I can't wait. Yeah. He looks nothing like a high school student, but he does have hair. And part of the reason why I picked this, this was... So in passing, when other films have been discussed and this film gets mentioned, I've always said, oh, I'd love to cover that. I do really love this film. It was a last minute swap because we were... I was this close. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03:

Like... You're showing me it's very close. Very close. For the listeners, very

SPEAKER_01:

close. Very close to doing Teen Wolf, but we just covered Michael J. Fox so recently for Back to the Future Part II. Yeah. I do love that movie too, so we'll get that up there at some point. But it also is cicada season in the Chicago area. And so I think in the film... I saw some video of cicadas.

SPEAKER_03:

What's that?

SPEAKER_01:

I'm trying to think if they call them... I'm not remembering in the film if they call them cicadas or locusts. But cicada season, for people who... are from areas or grew up in areas where there's... They're loud. There's so loud. I love them. I'm going to be kind of probably annoying when we actually do the episode because I think cicadas are so fucking cool. They don't scare me at all. And I love them. Have you seen that video

SPEAKER_03:

of them, like, of cicadas in trees and they're just peeing on people?

SPEAKER_01:

That's never been my experience.

SPEAKER_03:

Yeah, I saw a video. Growing up? It definitely made me feel differently

SPEAKER_01:

about them. Feel a different kind of way? Yeah. I saw, I think, a post about it. Yeah. And I was like... Gosh, I don't remember that at all. Yeah, I don't

SPEAKER_03:

remember getting pissed on by a bunch of cicadas.

SPEAKER_01:

I don't remember... that in any way, shape, or form. But we're going to talk about Lucas. We're going to talk about cicadas. It's going to be a real good time. So in the meantime, thank you to everybody for choosing to listen to our podcast. We know that you have many choices out there. So thank you for making that choice to listen to ours. And we will talk to you again in two weeks' time.