'80s Movie Montage
Breaking down our favorite decade of flicks. Hosted by Anna Keizer and Derek Dehanke.
'80s Movie Montage
Planes, Trains & Automobiles
In this episode, Anna and Derek talk about whether they're more of a Neal or a Del, the communication and financial hiccups in the film that don't exist in today's world, and much more during their discussion of the John Hughes Thanksgiving classic Planes, Trains & Automobiles (1987).
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.
Why don't you try the airlines? It's a lot faster and you get a free meal. If I wanted a joke, I'd follow you into the john and watch you take a leak. Now, are you gonna help me or are you gonna stand there like a slab of meat with mittens?
SPEAKER_02:Hello and welcome to 80s Movie Montage. This is Derek.
SPEAKER_04:And this is Anna.
SPEAKER_02:And that was John Randolph Jones as the cab dispatcher knocking out Steve Martin as Neil Page in 1987's Planes, Trains, and Automobiles.
SPEAKER_04:Way to give a shout out to, what was his name again? John Randolph Jones.
SPEAKER_02:John Randolph Jones. Go John
SPEAKER_04:Randolph
SPEAKER_02:Jones. Yeah. Yeah.
SPEAKER_04:Yes. That might... No, I was going to say something kind of mean.
SPEAKER_02:Well... I was going to
SPEAKER_04:say that might be the only time he's ever been mentioned in this movie.
SPEAKER_02:He had a very small yet important part, I think. And... I usually don't keep the little bit of the music there. I like that. I can't even do it, but the... I sound like Fozzie Bear. Like the record scratching effect. They only had that super frenetic, aggressive music for that airport car rental whole thing.
SPEAKER_01:In...
SPEAKER_02:Oh, yeah. Once again, in 1987's Planes, Trains, and Animals. Yeah, I did say it the first time. You did. I just
SPEAKER_04:wanted to... Yes. Finally. Planes, trains, and automobiles. Finally, we're doing this movie.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah.
SPEAKER_04:In time for Thanksgiving. Happy Thanksgiving. This will drop. Yeah, this is going to drop just a couple days before the holiday itself.
SPEAKER_01:Okay.
SPEAKER_04:And this is one that, I don't know, is this going to be like a controversial episode? I don't think it is. Because I feel like we both kind of feel the same way about this movie.
SPEAKER_02:I remember liking it.
SPEAKER_01:Mm-hmm.
SPEAKER_02:When I saw it in the theater the first time I saw it, I thought it was funny mostly because I love John Candy and Steve Martin. So I thought it was really funny. There are jokes that for sure have not aged well at all. And we talked about this in the last episode, the end, that the premise itself just doesn't even make sense in today's world. Society with technology and like literally every problem they had would have been solved with like a mobile device.
SPEAKER_04:And also there's a little there are some things they take a little liberty with. Like I have myself taken the trip between St. Louis and Chicago many times. Many times. Yeah. And if I'm right about the route that they were probably taking, which was probably the 55, given that they were 100 miles out at one point, it does not take an additional like almost three to four hours to get to the city.
SPEAKER_02:It doesn't. But I'll say this much. John Hughes, when interviewed. No, I get it. And probably at that point in time, it
SPEAKER_04:was legitimate. I mean, for... Being made in 1987, it's probably really realistic to– in some ways. We'll get into all of that.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah.
SPEAKER_04:But let's dive in. So you just mentioned him, John Hughes.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah.
SPEAKER_04:And he is the writer and director of this film. You know what? It's actually been a minute since we've brought him up.
SPEAKER_02:It has been.
SPEAKER_04:And I think, though,
SPEAKER_02:the last– Shout out to our first episode. Please don't listen.
SPEAKER_04:We've brought him up a couple times since that very first episode. We have, yeah. Actually, you know what? Okay, let me slightly rephrase, because he did come up earlier this year, just not as a director, because he was the writer behind Mr. Mom. Okay, yeah. That was earlier this year. Go check that one out. You can go check that one out. I like that episode. Love Mr. Mom. Yeah. R.I.P. Terry Garr. She was amazing. Yeah. But yeah, it has been a minute since I think we've gone on a deep dive on his work, and the fact that he directed this film... I'm not going to say unusual, but I think people don't realize he was a far more prolific writer than he was director. Although he has such a stamp on things that I think even when he's not the director of something, if you hear that it's a John Hughes film in terms of him being behind the screenplay, you kind of just think of it as his film, if that makes any sense.
UNKNOWN:Yeah.
SPEAKER_02:Wouldn't really like this doesn't stand out to me as a John Hughes film in the way that some of the other films stand out for me. Really? Yeah, maybe because just like I'm used to like Breakfast Club, Weird Science, Uncle Buck is probably closer to Planes, Trains,
SPEAKER_04:Automobiles. Yeah. I mean, this to me does feel like a very John Hughes-ian film.
SPEAKER_02:There are moments where like Steve Martin's character just feels like more mean spirited.
SPEAKER_04:Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_02:In like a real way?
SPEAKER_04:That's so interesting to me because like– so Johnny Hughes was known for tapping the same actress for a lot of his stuff, especially the teen films. Yeah. I mean, Molly Ringwolf. Yeah. I don't know. Well, we'll go through his work in just like two seconds. I'm really curious about the collaboration between him and Steve Martin. I'd really love to pick Steve Martin's brain in terms of like how did he feel about working with Hughes. I mean, Hughes was far closer to John Candy. I think probably the last time we brought him up, I might have even mentioned then that after Candy passed away, I think Hughes went on record saying he had like Yeah. Yeah. that Steve Martin was part of. So I'm just, I would just be curious to be like, how was, how was that experience for you? But let's go through his work. So in terms of strictly writing credits, Hughes, as far as like IMDB is concerned, it has 53 writing credits. I think it's far, far more than that. It's just that they were never made.
SPEAKER_02:Oh, okay. Well, then I have, I have a hundred credits that were never made. Oh, sure.
SPEAKER_04:So, and it, it does make me really sad. Like he, he, He was such an interesting figure. Definitely in the last, I'm going to say almost, well, 15 years, I think, of his life. He passed away in 2009. He pulled away from Hollywood to a great degree. I don't think he ever lived in Los Angeles. He didn't like it. He stayed in the Midwest. I think, though, upon his passing, he was in New York for some reason. He, I think... kind of retreated from the spotlight a little bit and focused almost entirely, I think, on his writing career versus directing. I don't know how much of that was also a product of opportunities or lack thereof to direct. I don't know. But his later career is definitely far more focused on strictly his writing credits. And he goes through a really interesting trajectory of the kind of stories he told. We know that from his early work, It focuses predominantly on teen life. And then he kind of does a few films like this where it's much more adult. And then he pivots hard into like kiddie
SPEAKER_02:fare. Back the other direction. Yeah.
SPEAKER_04:So let's go through them. before he even directed two of his most well-known films. And this is why I think a lot of people are like, oh, that's a John Hughes film, even if he didn't direct it. He was the writer behind Mr. Mom, and he was the writer behind Vacation. Yeah,
SPEAKER_02:I always forget about that.
SPEAKER_04:Yeah, yeah. And all the Vacation movies, so to speak. Not necessarily Vegas.
SPEAKER_02:The first time you would have worked with Candy?
SPEAKER_04:Yeah, I love Candy's little cameo in that film. Yeah. He's great in that movie. So, yeah, those are two of his really early– and granted, you know, those are not about teen life. But then when he starts his directing career, we have 16 Candles, Breakfast Club. I'm still speaking about writing credits here.
SPEAKER_01:Mm-hmm.
SPEAKER_04:But he does have his writing credit also for European Vacation where we come back to teen flicks, Weird Science, Pretty in Pink, Ferris Bueller's Day Off, some kind of wonderful. So those are all boom, boom, boom, boom, boom.
UNKNOWN:Mm-hmm.
SPEAKER_04:Then we start to branch out. So we get a little bit more adult with She's Having a Baby, The Great Outdoors, Uncle Buck, Christmas Vacation. And then we kind of leave the 80s behind. One of his, well, arguably the biggest hit that he, I think, ever had as a writer, Home Alone. Oh, really? Yeah.
SPEAKER_01:Okay.
SPEAKER_04:Chris Columbus directed that. But that feels like a very John Hughesian– that to me was like the perfect mashup of writer-director. So Home Alone, he has the writing credit for Lost in New York as well. I think he probably just his grandfathered into all the credits for Home Alone because he originated the material. But he does Dutch, still speaking about writing credits, Curly Sue. He had a pseudonym for some of his writing projects, Edmund Dantes. So he uses that for Beethoven.
SPEAKER_01:Okay.
SPEAKER_04:And then here we go with like, I mean, Curly Sue is also arguably for a younger audience, but he does Dennis the Menace, Baby's Day Out, 101 Dalmatians, Flubber. And then one of his last credits, we go a little bit out of the kiddie fair, was Mate in Manhattan.
UNKNOWN:Yeah.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, I mean, I know that those are very beloved films just for a different audience. Yes. And that kind of speaks to his ability and his talent to be able to write and direct so well in reaching so many different audiences.
SPEAKER_04:Yeah, I mean, look, I now, with more time having passed, can very much see... Yeah. Yeah. there's hardly a film that isn't well known that he was behind in terms of being a writer on it or director. I
SPEAKER_02:mean, the, the films are very much a product of their time. So sometimes like you'll watch something now, like watch the office for like the 20th time. And we're like, how in the hell did like this get made? Like how did they, I was
SPEAKER_04:only like maybe 15 years
SPEAKER_02:ago. Yeah, exactly. Yeah. But at the time, like no one, no, I'm not aware of anyone really batting an eye at a lot of those jokes. No, no, no.
SPEAKER_04:They weren't. They weren't. And as far as his directing credits go, so as opposed to his like 50-plus writing credits, he only had eight total directing credits, so far fewer credits. Most of them are his teen flicks. So he was the director of 16 Candles, Breakfast Club, Weird Science, Ferris Bueller's Day Off. And then the last three, in addition to this film, She's Having a Baby, Uncle Buck. And then his last directing credit was in 91. So that's what I meant by saying that like almost the last 20 years of his life were just about writing. So the last directing credit was Curly Sue.
SPEAKER_02:That was probably a huge relief for him.
UNKNOWN:Yeah.
SPEAKER_04:Yeah, I mean, again, such an interesting figure because he obviously was super talented as far as being a screenwriter and director. But something– and I get it. Something about just the Hollywood machine. He always pushed to have his films made outside of Los Angeles. Like he always petitioned, so to speak, to have them done in Chicago or elsewhere as much as he had control over that. So, yeah.
UNKNOWN:Wow.
SPEAKER_02:Also, huge Red Wings fan. Yeah.
SPEAKER_04:Yeah. Just thought I'd throw that out there. Okay, cinematography.
SPEAKER_01:All right.
SPEAKER_04:Moving on to Donald Peterman. And actually, he's come up a couple times and one of those not too long ago. So of the titles that we've spoken about, I mean, he is an Oscar-nominated. He didn't win, did he? No, just noms, a couple noms. He passed away in 2011, so he has been passed for a minute at this point. But some really well-known– do I have all films for him? I do. Some really well-known titles. So earlier in his career, he actually was the DP on When a Stranger Calls. Oh, wow. Yeah. So he did that. Again, Doctors in Love. So the film that more recently we've talked about with him, for which he did get a Best Cinematography Oscar nomination, Flashdance.
SPEAKER_02:Okay. I figured it was either that or Splash, but probably Flashdance.
SPEAKER_04:Yep, it was Flashdance, and that one we did just earlier this year, so please go check that one out. But also, yes, to your point, we've also covered Splash. That one was with Kelsey. That one was such a fun one to do. No Oscar nom for that one, but it's still a great film.
SPEAKER_02:It really is. Yeah, I
SPEAKER_04:love that movie.
SPEAKER_02:Way better than Mermaid Killer. Killer Mermaid. Yeah, way better.
SPEAKER_04:So go check that one out as well. A couple other 80s flicks that he shot, Cocoon.
SPEAKER_02:Are we going to cover that? I don't know. Cocoon? Yeah. How old do I want to feel?
SPEAKER_04:Wasn't Walter Grimley just like... Wasn't he only in his 40s or 50s when he did that movie? He always looked older. Yeah. Way older.
SPEAKER_02:The guy looked like he was probably in his 40s when he was 15. People
SPEAKER_04:aged much more quickly a couple generations ago. Yeah, they did. Maybe we'll do that one. He also shot Gung Ho. He did... So he has two nominations. The other Oscar nomination, again, Best Cinematography, was for Star Trek IV, The Voyage Home. I
SPEAKER_02:am going to say something controversial right now and say that I kind of think as The Voyage Home as being the end of a trilogy, if you will. Oh, my God, Derek. Okay. Moving on.
SPEAKER_04:Moving on. So now we're moving into the 90s. He did Point Break, Adam's Family Values, a favorite film of mine. He did Get Shorty. Men in Black, Mighty Joe Young. His final credit was How the Grinch Stole Christmas.
SPEAKER_02:The Jim Carrey one? Correct. Okay.
SPEAKER_04:Yeah. Okay. Moving on to music. So this is somebody that collaborated with Hughes a little bit, Ira Newborn.
SPEAKER_02:That's who we can thank for all the scratching and stuff.
SPEAKER_04:It has a good soundtrack.
SPEAKER_02:It does.
SPEAKER_04:It's wacky, but it's memorable. Yeah. Especially the more– you brought it up at some point where you were like, oh, here comes the sentimental music to let us know that.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah. The music does a great job of telling you how you should feel. It
SPEAKER_04:does. But it is something that to me is memorable. Like I can't even do it. I can't do the music that is like the– air quotes, sentimental music. But as soon as I hear it, I know it's from this film. So it is very memorable. And as far as his other credits go, I think again, I have like all, I wonder if like for everybody, I got like all films and not much television. Once we get to the actors, there's like television work. But I think for everybody behind the camera, for the most part, all film work. So he was also the composer on 16 Candles, Weird Science, Ferris Bueller's Day Off, Dragnet, Caddyshack, Oh, okay. This is kind of interesting. I mean, it's still like a comedy, but he also did Mallrats.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, that is wild. Like that was probably a good a good get for Kevin Smith, right?
SPEAKER_04:Yeah, I would think so. High school high basketball.
SPEAKER_02:Basketball is like a fever dream of a movie. It is such a bizarre movie because it's the guys that made South Park. Correct. Yeah. Yeah. So it's like that same kind of humor, live action. And it's like what what is happening?
SPEAKER_04:It translates well.
SPEAKER_02:I haven't seen it in a very long time, but knowing that humor, I'm willing to bet a lot of it has not aged that well. But like we said, it's kind of a product of that time. Yeah. So...
SPEAKER_04:And then I think at this point, he's probably retired. His last credit was in 2000, so almost 25 years ago. And it was the TV movie version of Angels. Well, actually, it's not even the same movie I was thinking of. It's Angels in the Enfield.
SPEAKER_02:Okay. Okay. So we got him out of the outfield. We've had a shift. Apparently. In the defense and brought him in the infield. Okay.
SPEAKER_04:Correct. Okay. Moving on to film editing, another familiar name, Paul Hirsch, another collaborator with John Hughes. on several projects. So we have brought him up a couple times. Some of his work includes, I say this every time this movie comes up, Carrie. I think that could have been, it's somebody's film, so we cannot do it. But it would have been an interesting film to do.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah.
SPEAKER_04:He is an Oscar winner. He won Best Film Editing for... Do
SPEAKER_02:you want me to guess?
SPEAKER_04:Yes.
UNKNOWN:Yes.
SPEAKER_02:Can you give me the year? 1977.
SPEAKER_04:I'm going to
SPEAKER_02:say... Don't cheat. I'm already cheating. I already saw it before. Yeah, I see you
SPEAKER_04:looking at the screen. As soon as I say 77, you should know.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, it was Star Wars. And I'm just going to say this. At the time he won it, he won it for Star Wars. Correct. Not Star Wars Episode IV, A New Hope. It's awful. Yeah, it's just Star Wars. Yeah, at that point, he just got it for Star Wars. He
SPEAKER_04:just got it for Star Wars. Same thing as... was just Raiders of the Lost Ark when it first came out. So, yes, he won that, and it's a shared win with Marsha Lucas.
SPEAKER_01:Okay.
SPEAKER_04:And Richard Chu. So that was his only win. He does have another nomination, which I'll get to. He also cut The Empire Strikes Back. Now, here comes some– well, Empire Strikes Back, we've done– A couple other films that we could do or have done, I would like at some point to do Creepshow.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, probably next year, next Halloween, right? Possibly. I
SPEAKER_04:already have some spots taken.
SPEAKER_02:Really? Night
SPEAKER_04:of the Creeps I want to do, Halloween 3 I want to do.
SPEAKER_02:Okay, well, Creepshow's mine then.
SPEAKER_04:Okay, fair. Okay, I shouldn't say you can only do it. What else did I pick? You wanted, was it like a Dennis Quaid movie?
SPEAKER_02:Oh, uh, dreamscape. Yes. You
SPEAKER_04:wanted to do that one as well.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah. Okay. Well I got my two picks.
SPEAKER_04:Okay. There we go. We got one more, probably one more slot to fill.
SPEAKER_02:And it is November 16th. So I will forget. We have a whole
SPEAKER_04:year, a month, 10 months. We start in September.
SPEAKER_02:I will forget by the end of next week.
SPEAKER_04:We did cover Paul for Footloose. Go check that one out. That was with Vossen. That was a Great one. As well as Ferris Bueller's Day Off, which we did with Julia. Go check that one out. That's all the way in like season one, I think.
SPEAKER_02:That was like a whole therapy session. It was. It was. I
SPEAKER_04:was talking about our high school days. He cut, or yeah, cut Secret of My Success, Steel Magnolias. Now we're getting into the 90s. He did Dutch. Raising Cain, Falling Down. So he's all over the place with genre. I Love Trouble. He did the first Mission Impossible movie.
SPEAKER_02:Which was really good.
SPEAKER_04:Yeah.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah.
SPEAKER_04:It was. Mighty Joe Young, Mission to Mars. He gets his other film editing nomination.
SPEAKER_02:Let me guess. Let me guess it. Okay. Real quick. Is it for The Adventures of Pluto Nash?
SPEAKER_04:It is not. I don't even have that one down. Is that seriously one of his films? Yeah, it is. No, I don't have that one. Is that your only guess?
SPEAKER_02:Is it Rey? No.
SPEAKER_04:Yes.
SPEAKER_02:That was my, I figured. Okay, but were
SPEAKER_04:you cheating?
SPEAKER_02:No, it was one of those two. Yes, I was cheating.
SPEAKER_04:Man. Wow, you're a good liar.
SPEAKER_02:But I mean, I'm cheating in the sense that I can see the list of movies and I'm like, that's the one. It's gotta be that one.
SPEAKER_04:He also did Ghost Protocol. Oh, really? Okay. Yeah. And then his last credit is 2017's The Mummy.
SPEAKER_02:Oh man, that's one of my favorite movies. Brendan Fraser is amazing in that. That's
SPEAKER_04:the 99. What? The Mummy. Yeah, I wonder if he maybe, like I wonder if Tom Cruise liked him because he's cut a couple of Tom Cruise movies. That
SPEAKER_02:is probably true.
SPEAKER_04:Okay, moving on to the stars of this film. Okay, so this might, be the record for the least amount of credits. It is so centric.
SPEAKER_02:Oh.
SPEAKER_04:To Steve Martin and John Candy.
SPEAKER_02:Well, look, that's why I had to throw in John Randolph Jones.
SPEAKER_04:Yeah. Like, it's so centric to these two, although there are a fair amount of cameos by, like, fairly notable actors that I will do a quick overview.
SPEAKER_02:There are, yeah. Like, when I was looking for a clip, I was trying to... I was considering... one of those numerous little like cameos
SPEAKER_04:but and we'll get we'll get to some of those peeps but of course we are going to start with the two absolute stars of this film the first being steve martin he plays neil page so it's been a minute we have brought him up a couple times certainly there will be many more opportunities to bring him up he had a very busy 80s but steve martin uh It's so interesting to watch him now. I'm a little bit jumping the shark because, like, I'm thinking about the fact that just a couple weeks ago we watched the last season of Only Murders in the Building. He's still as, like, sharp as he ever was. It's really hard for me to think that he's, like, almost 40 years older than this film. Like, it's kind of crazy to think that. Like, yes, he looks older, but he– like, I love Steve Martin. I think he's great. I think– Yeah. Yeah. Amazing. Yeah. I like this. So he was in the Muppet movie. His credit? Insolent waiter. Which I think is fun. Then he definitely begins to pop in terms of getting on people's radar with the jerk.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, I'm so annoyed that that was 1979. Yeah,
SPEAKER_04:you've said that before. I say
SPEAKER_02:it every time. I probably say it every time. I apologize.
SPEAKER_04:One of the films that we covered with him... Dead men don't wear plaid.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah.
SPEAKER_04:That was with Howard. That was probably season two. Go check that one out.
SPEAKER_02:My favorite running joke in that movie was how he kept getting shot in like the same place. And he's like, this is never going to heal. Yeah.
SPEAKER_04:No, I love that too. The Man with Two Brains. So he had a really interesting early 80s where I'm not sure. I'm sure there's some kind of term for like his sense of humor. I mean, so much physical comedy from him that these films depict. He was in All of Me, Three Amigos. The other film that we've covered with him, which is a little bit of a departure, I think, from what chronologically people had seen from him up to that time, Little Shop of Horrors. Oh, yeah.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah.
SPEAKER_04:Where he's, like, the deranged dentist.
SPEAKER_02:It's such a weird movie and a weird role.
SPEAKER_04:Then he takes an even bigger, I think, departure where, like, he, for the first time, I think, does something not serious, but, like, more serious than the type of humor we had seen from him in Roxanne. Yeah, there's, like... It's a comedy, but it's not him being, like, kind of flailing all about and... Like it's a little bit more of a subdued performance. That's true. Is what I'll say. He's in Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, Parenthood. That definitely is like more along the lines of Roxanne in terms of the humor. L.A. Story. We're in the 90s now. Father of the Bride. So the remake of that. And he comes back for part two.
SPEAKER_02:The first– because did they like do additional remakes of that possibly?
SPEAKER_04:Yeah, there was one not too long ago. Yeah. And I think that even with– The Steve Martin-led version. There was some short Father of the Bride 3, but it wasn't a feature. I don't even know what it was about.
SPEAKER_02:Probably someone getting married. I
SPEAKER_04:don't know. I guess a lot of people consider this a Christmas film, Mixed Nuts. Oh,
SPEAKER_02:yeah.
SPEAKER_04:So he's in that. Bowfinger, Shop Girl, which I think he wrote the book from which that film came.
SPEAKER_02:Which one?
SPEAKER_04:Shop Girl.
SPEAKER_02:Okay, Bowfinger... I remember being like a real big thing because it was him and Murphy. Correct. For like the first time together in something. Did
SPEAKER_04:they ever overlap on SNL? I don't know. Yeah, I don't know either. So he reboots the Pink Panther.
SPEAKER_02:Inspector Crusoe.
SPEAKER_04:Yep. And he comes back for its sequel. And then, like I said, I'm skipping ahead a bit, but- I just put the next and last credit that I have for him right now is only murders. Okay. So. Okay. Moving on to John Candy. He plays Del Griffith. Not the first time that we've brought him up on this podcast either. No. He's come up a couple times. Yes. But, you know, I probably said this the other times that we brought him up. Would have loved to have seen what else he could have done. I think he could have done something really similar to, like, maybe not so far along the line of what Tom Hanks did in terms of, like, I don't know if I'd ever see John Candy in, like, a film like Saving Private Ryan, but I think he definitely had, like, as this film demonstrates, the capacity to do more dramatic fare.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, for sure. He was very talented. Very talented. He could have, yeah.
SPEAKER_04:And he passed so early. I think he was only in his 40s, right? He was very
SPEAKER_01:young. He was young, yeah.
SPEAKER_04:So not... To dissimilar from the start of Steve Martin's career in terms of like comedy work, he was on the Canadian version of SNL, SCTV. So he did that. And then now we are jumping into film. So he was in 1941. Okay, I
SPEAKER_02:guess we're gonna have to watch it.
SPEAKER_04:We did talk about him for the Blues Brothers.
SPEAKER_02:Yep.
SPEAKER_04:Go check that one out. That was several seasons ago. I'm kind of surprised we haven't done Stripes yet.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, me too. We should.
SPEAKER_04:Maybe season six. We will do that.
SPEAKER_02:Fingers crossed.
SPEAKER_04:So fingers crossed. He does have a really fun cameo. I really love his cameo in Vacation.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, we mentioned that earlier. Yeah, I
SPEAKER_04:forgot. Probably, and I know it's a smaller role, but probably one of my absolute favorite roles of his is Splash. Love him in that movie. He's great. So go check that out again. Summer rental, volunteers. He also has a minor role in Little Shop of Horrors. Okay. But I don't know if we talked about him in that episode. I can't remember, to be honest. He is in– I mean, I know you've said that this isn't a favorite of yours, but I feel like at some point we probably have to do Spaceballs.
SPEAKER_02:Oh, yeah. We can totally– I mean– I
SPEAKER_04:actually had that on the other day.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah. Barf.
SPEAKER_04:Barf, yeah. So he's in that, The Great Outdoors, Who's Harry Crumb, Uncle Buck. He also– I'd like to know how many movies– John Candy was in where he's like at an airport because he also was in Home Alone where he comes across the mom in the airport. That's right. Only the Lonely. I mean, I never saw this movie, so I don't know how big of a role he has in it, but he was in JFK. So that is... By all means, a drama.
SPEAKER_02:It's not as often referenced as a comedy.
SPEAKER_04:No, it's not. If at all. Cool Runnings, Wagons East, and then his last film credit was Canadian Bacon. I
SPEAKER_02:love Cool Runnings so much. Yeah? Yeah. So
SPEAKER_04:good. Okay. So these two guys... So the film, I think, comes in at like an hour 33 minutes. They are... I think almost in every single scene, except for when you cut away to the wife, Susan Page, who most of the time is laying in bed or on the phone.
SPEAKER_02:Just look concerned about the unknown whereabouts of your husband.
SPEAKER_04:Yeah, and I think anybody who's even vaguely familiar with this film probably has heard there was a whole storyline that was cut out, which helps to explain why some people might think that her... her whole demeanor in the film is, like, maybe slightly off because there's supposed to be this storyline where she thinks he's– she thinks Neil is having an affair. And– necessarily disagree with the decision to cut it but it's kind of like Al Pacino and Heat where it's like they cut the whole storyline about him being a coke addict so you're like why is he acting that way throughout the whole film why is he like give me all you got yeah and it's kind of the same way about her where you're like why is she acting so weird about the fact that he's delayed
SPEAKER_02:and there's that moment at one point where John Candy Dell says like trouble trouble yeah yeah like and those things kind of make more sense or add more context if there was actually something going on.
SPEAKER_04:And as the film stands, we said this when it's the closing scene and they come back home, she doesn't have a lot to do in this movie, unfortunately. They don't really utilize her to a
SPEAKER_02:great deal. She emotes like no one else.
SPEAKER_04:She emotes well. So the actress who plays Susan Page is, I think it's pronounced Layla, Layla Robbins. Okay. Very busy to this day. Very busy, especially in television.
SPEAKER_02:Oh, yeah. No, I know. I know her from. I
SPEAKER_04:know what you're going to say.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah. Well, then I won't say it.
SPEAKER_04:You can say it. Well, okay, when we get to it, okay?
SPEAKER_02:Okay.
SPEAKER_04:Okay. So some of the early credits that I have for her, it's actually kind of reversed of a lot of people. I have like early credits being film and then later credits being television. So she was in Welcome Home, Roxy Carmichael, Live, Nude Girls. I guess that was a film. The Good Shepherd, August, and now she goes heavy into television. So some of the series that she was on for quite a while, Bored to Death, Homeland.
SPEAKER_02:Oh, Bored to Death, I... recognize that one at
SPEAKER_04:least oh yeah
SPEAKER_02:yeah
SPEAKER_04:murder in the first deception so she has like a lot of like criminal type shows the blacklist uh i guess she was on the walking dead for a while okay probably long after we abandoned that movie
SPEAKER_02:yeah
SPEAKER_04:our show
SPEAKER_02:i wish it was a movie
SPEAKER_04:uh okay so tell me what's the show that you know her from i
SPEAKER_02:know her from the boys
SPEAKER_04:there you go
SPEAKER_02:yeah
SPEAKER_04:and who is she there
SPEAKER_02:She is like an FBI or like an agent or something. Do you
SPEAKER_04:recognize her? Does she?
SPEAKER_02:I didn't until like I saw her IMDb photo. And usually like the photos are more current than like what you see in like an 80s movie. So once I saw her there, I'm like, oh, it's that lady from The Boys.
SPEAKER_04:Yeah. Got it. And yeah, just in general, tons of TV work.
SPEAKER_02:There is one title that I think we've brought up before that I will bring it up again because it always makes me laugh. She was in Multiple Sarcasms.
SPEAKER_04:Oh, that's funny.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah.
SPEAKER_04:So I could have just stopped here. Okay.
SPEAKER_02:Thanks everyone for listening.
SPEAKER_04:With, with like the real prominent actors in this film. I
SPEAKER_02:think the kid gets to say more than, than she does.
SPEAKER_04:Oh, the daughter? Yeah. Yeah, you might be right. So the other two people that I was like, okay, we'll do a quick run through of their filmographies.
SPEAKER_02:We've talked about both of them a lot in the past, I think. One of
SPEAKER_04:them for sure. The other one, she has been brought up.
SPEAKER_02:Okay.
SPEAKER_04:But the first, Michael McKeon. So... Arguably, both of these people, these are cameos. They don't have a prominent part in the film, but they have very memorable small parts. So Michael McKeon, he was the state trooper that pulls them over, and they're like burned out husk of a car.
SPEAKER_02:He asks them, like, what is this? And they're like, well, you know, we had a little fire, but we got it out just in the nick of time. And he asked them like, do you know how fast you're going? No, no, all of our gauges are actually melted.
SPEAKER_04:So Michael McKeon, super busy dude. Up to this point, he has over 250 acting credits. Still going strong for sure. I do have some films, but mostly television I have for him. And then he has one really interesting little asterisk with one of his credits. Okay. So some of his credits do include, he also was in 1941. Okay, we
SPEAKER_02:gotta watch this movie.
SPEAKER_04:Yeah, maybe. He early was, there's definitely probably a generation that knows him from Laverne and Shirley.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, he was Lenny, right?
SPEAKER_04:He was Lenny, I believe.
SPEAKER_02:Not Squiggy?
SPEAKER_04:No. Okay. We did bring him up. when we spoke with Andy about one of her favorite movies, which happens to be Clue.
SPEAKER_03:Yes. So go
SPEAKER_04:check that one out. He came up then. Also, of course, one of my favorite films. This is Spinal Tap. So David St. I can't remember the last name. But anyway, he's the lead singer of the group and probably my favorite role of his.
SPEAKER_02:That movie was definitely like way ahead of its time.
SPEAKER_04:Oh, for sure. Like, I think that really did kick off. And actually, I apologize because like that came before Clue. So I had them slightly out of order chronologically. But probably kicked off the mockumentary. And it was like one of those things where it's like, what's the saying? Yeah. Oh, my gosh. The director of that film. Rob Reiner. Rob Reiner. Yeah. Rob Reiner walked so that Christopher Guest could run because that's kind of what happened. He kind of like took over. So Christopher Guest is in the film. Yeah. But then he goes on to have his own super prolific career as a writer and director of all these other mockumentaries, of which Michael McKeon is in at least one of them.
SPEAKER_02:And then you have all the, like, TV series mockumentaries, The Office, Trailer Park Boys, Parks and Rec, and now, like, all the newer ones. Yeah. Yeah.
SPEAKER_04:So, gonna keep it moving. I don't know this TV show, but McKeon was on a show called Grand, the film Man Trouble. So, he also, he does, like... voice work I mean yes he's done a lot of it in fact one of the earlier ones I have for him was on the TV series dinosaurs okay so he did some voices there like multiple he was on the TV show dream on he also has been on SNL he also has done Saturday night I don't know if it's like a like what do they call them um not like a regular cast member I don't think Maybe like a guest cast member. In any case, Tracy Takes On. That was a TV series. So he was in the film Mystery Alaska. I remember liking that movie. Yeah, me too. I don't think I've watched it since the first time I watched
SPEAKER_02:it, but I liked it. Yeah, with Gladiator as a hockey player in Alaska.
SPEAKER_04:Yeah.
SPEAKER_02:Who do they play? They play like the Rangers, I think.
SPEAKER_04:Do they? I
SPEAKER_02:don't remember. Yeah, they play like an NHL team. It's all pretty possible.
SPEAKER_04:So here we go. A Christopher Guest mockumentary best in show. Probably the one that people, the most beloved, although they're all great. That's the one that probably gets the most attention. He was, I guess, on the Ox Files. Okay. For a while. I don't think I knew that. Here's that little asterisk that I was talking about. So this is another Christopher Guest film, A Mighty Wind. Oh, yeah. Michael McKeon has a Oscar nomination for best original song from that movie. And I actually remember watching the Oscars and I'm pretty sure he performed it. It was like a duet, I'm pretty sure. He was on the TV series Primetime Glick, another Christopher Guest for your consideration. And then later in his career, so a show that I kind of fell off this show after maybe I didn't watch the last season, Grace and Frankie. Oh, yeah. He was on that. And then a show that you know that you really like him on.
SPEAKER_02:Man, he is so insanely good as Chuck McGill, as Jimmy's older brother on Better Call Saul. The whole way that they portray the law firm that they're a part of in New Mexico, I've worked with attorneys who have acted very much like some of them did. It was crazy. And his character has real weird mental health issues. things going on, but his performance, his character is just insanely good.
SPEAKER_04:He has strong dramatic chops, huh?
SPEAKER_02:Very much so. Yeah.
SPEAKER_04:Did he get an Emmy nomination? He
SPEAKER_02:should have. Maybe. I don't know. I don't know for sure. Unless we get a
SPEAKER_04:turn, but I feel like I saw that. Yeah. He also was in Weird Colon, the Elle Yankovic story. Weird Colon? Yeah. Weird colon, yeah. He's also done voices for the TV show Rugrats. And then this show's like on right now. I think the newest season just premiered. He's on the TV show The Diplomat. I think he's the president, in fact. Oh,
SPEAKER_02:yeah, he is. Yeah, yeah. If only. I don't know nothing about that show or his character. But I'm going to
SPEAKER_04:take a guess that he's probably a better president than...
SPEAKER_02:Indeed. Yeah.
SPEAKER_04:Okay.
UNKNOWN:Yeah.
SPEAKER_04:So the last person that we're going to spotlight, so to speak, is Edie McClurg. Okay. And they have her listed just as car rental agent. Yeah. But she also is super, super busy. So far, 227 acting credits. I don't think I know who she was in this, but she also was in Carrie.
SPEAKER_01:Oh, okay.
SPEAKER_04:Yeah, the movie Carrie,
SPEAKER_01:the original. I don't think I realized that, yeah.
SPEAKER_04:I don't know who she would have been in that film, but...
SPEAKER_02:I know she was not Carrie.
SPEAKER_04:She was not Carrie.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, that's all I know.
SPEAKER_04:She was on a TV show, Harper Valley PTA.
SPEAKER_02:Oh, yeah, I know that show. You do? I've seen that show. Oh, okay. Yeah, look, there were fewer choices when we were kids.
SPEAKER_04:She was one of the voices in The Secret of Nimh.
SPEAKER_02:Really?
SPEAKER_04:Yeah, so we might do that at some point. She has another... Really small role. So she must have had a good relationship, I'm going to say, with John Hughes. She has done a lot of work also. Oh, yes. Yes, she sure has. Because she's been featured in a couple of his films. So in Mr. Mom, if I'm remembering correctly, she's the grocery store checkout
SPEAKER_02:person. Oh, yeah. Okay.
SPEAKER_04:She's in that. Yeah. I'm going to go out on a limb, but I don't know if it's that big of a limb, and say that most people know her as the secretary in Ferris Bueller's Day Off. Grace. Grace. Grace! Yeah, she's amazing in that. She's in Back to School. She was on the TV show Small Wonder. I think she was maybe a neighbor. I don't know. She's having a baby, so another John Hughes film. Elvira, Mistress of the Dark. She also, tons of voice work. Yeah. So she's done voice work on the TV show Snorks.
SPEAKER_02:Holy shit, the Snorks.
SPEAKER_04:Snorks. Yeah. Yeah. She did voice work on The Little Mermaid. She was on the TV show Valerie. So that was like preceding its transformation into the Hogan family. Okay. When Valerie Harper left. She also was in Curly Sue. I don't know if I remember. I haven't seen this movie in a really long time. But she's in A River Runs Through It. It's a very different kind of film. Another very different kind of film. She's in Natural Born Killers. Okay. Yeah. Flubber. More voice work. The TV series Bobby's World. Another TV show, Life with Louie. A couple films here. She's in Hanging Up, Van Wilder. More voice work for Clifford the Big Red Dog. Hickley Town Heroes, also the film Cars, as well as Cars 2, so this is all voice work. Wreck-It Ralph, Frozen, and I just have in all caps, so much TV work. Very busy. Very busy person. Okay, so before we move on, just a couple cameos that I want to highlight. I think it's interesting because I was like, huh, I wonder why some of these people were plucked to do cameos. Maybe they just... It's fun for them. I
SPEAKER_02:don't know. Well, I'm going to let you go through them, but I hope that one of them is the one that I'm looking at right now.
SPEAKER_04:Okay. I think I probably don't have them exactly in chronological order according to how we see them, but maybe. That's
SPEAKER_02:okay. Who you got?
SPEAKER_04:Kevin Bacon. Kevin Bacon.
SPEAKER_02:Well, yeah. Yes.
SPEAKER_04:So he's the guy. I don't know if he has a line though in the entire film.
SPEAKER_02:I don't think he does.
SPEAKER_04:Because he just sees Steve Martin from across the street
SPEAKER_02:and they
SPEAKER_04:both clock each other and know they're going after the same taxi. So that's who Kevin Bacon is. Then Dylan Baker. So Dylan Baker is, what's like a polite way to describe him? He's the gentleman who initially picks up John Candy and Steve Martin. He's the one that tries to get his wife to pick up Candy's trunk. The thing that, because you were like, where do I know him from? He's just done a shit ton of work. The thing that first came to mind for me is he's in Trick or Treat. And he's like, basically, I think he's like the principal. He's like a serial killer principal.
SPEAKER_01:He like kills kids.
SPEAKER_04:Next cameo I have, Martin Ferrero. So he is the hotel slash motel manager.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, I didn't recognize him. I know that you did as soon as we got to that scene.
SPEAKER_04:Because the thing that I love him in, although it's a small role, gets shorty.
SPEAKER_02:That's it, yeah.
SPEAKER_04:So he's in that. I don't know if I know Doobie. He plays character Doobie, Larry Hankin. It's hard to explain who he would be. Let's see. What's like another film? Oh, you know what? You know who I think I know him? So he was in Friends.
SPEAKER_02:Okay.
SPEAKER_04:And he was like the neighbor that constantly told Monica and- Okay. Okay. And Rachel, they were being too loud, and then he dies. They have a really sentimental episode where– anyway, that's who he is. Okay.
UNKNOWN:So–
SPEAKER_04:So that's him. Gary Riley. Yes.
SPEAKER_02:That was the one.
SPEAKER_04:Oh, okay. So go ahead and say who he is.
SPEAKER_02:He is the thief that breaks into their hotel room.
SPEAKER_04:Totally unrealistic that neither of them would have woken up,
SPEAKER_02:but. But Steve Martin didn't wake up in that whole car ride thing. Also
SPEAKER_04:unrealistic. Okay.
SPEAKER_02:It's true. Yeah. So he was the one who broke in and he is also from Stand By Me.
SPEAKER_04:Yes.
SPEAKER_02:He was also one of the two horror movie people from summer school. Yes. And that's all I got.
SPEAKER_04:Okay.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah.
SPEAKER_04:I was like, oh, what's going to be the third one?
SPEAKER_02:Because I don't know the third one. I mean, he was in Ruthless People, but we haven't talked about that yet. We
SPEAKER_04:haven't.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah. Yeah.
SPEAKER_04:And then the last cameo I have listed is Ben Stein.
SPEAKER_02:Oh, yeah. Yeah.
SPEAKER_04:So- Arguably his most famous role outside of like he's had shows. And I think he may be.
SPEAKER_02:Yes.
SPEAKER_04:Yeah.
SPEAKER_02:So we'll just call. Yeah, we'll leave it at that.
SPEAKER_04:But he's Bueller.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah.
SPEAKER_04:Bueller.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah. The whole game show thing. Yes, he did. When Ben Stein's money. Yep.
SPEAKER_04:Yep. Yep. So those are. Did you have any other cameos?
SPEAKER_02:No, that was it. I just want to make sure we talked about Gary Riley.
SPEAKER_04:Okay. I'm so glad we did.
SPEAKER_02:Me too.
SPEAKER_04:Okay. Film synopsis. A Chicago advertising man. must struggle to travel home from New York for Thanksgiving with a lovable oaf of a shower curtain ring salesman as his only companion.
SPEAKER_02:Sure, whatever. I mean, look, John Candy's character legit did some stuff that was just like, that's like gross. That's like, what are you doing? How are you not aware of like... how offensive this might be. So saying that he's just like this lovable oaf is like really overly simplifying it. I don't know. I mean, if we just talk about our thoughts on the movie generally, I kind of tie that to this synopsis. And his character has gone through a lot And you don't really know that until the end. So it kind of feels like you have the rug pulled out a little bit. Like you're kind of annoyed, but you kind of he's endearing, even though he does like this super gross stuff all the time. And Steve Martin's character, it like felt almost like like a weird twist of like a traditional like Christmas carol or Christmas movie, even though it's based on Thanksgiving, because we're all supposed to learn a lesson here, which is to be a little bit considerate of what You know, someone else that you may not know that well is going through.
SPEAKER_04:Yeah. In fact, at the end, when they're saying their goodbyes to each other, Dell, I think, kind of apologizes for how hard he made it. Yeah. And Neil's like, I think, you know, he I think he's being sincere. He's like, no, it's OK. Like, I'm a little bit wiser. Yeah, yeah. And so, like, you're right. Like, it is supposed to be kind of this, like—
SPEAKER_02:They both learn a little bit. You learn
SPEAKER_04:something along the way, you know,
SPEAKER_02:but— The real—
SPEAKER_04:Yeah,
SPEAKER_02:yeah. The real Thanksgiving were the friends we meet along the way.
SPEAKER_04:Exactly. But you're right. I mean, when we were watching the movie for this, I said, you know, it was in a way kind of brave for Steve Martin to take this role because I think— A cursory glance, you would be like, oh, he's just such an asshole. But if I'm being really honest, I'm way more of a Neil than I am Adele in terms of like having the things that Adele does really annoy me.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah.
SPEAKER_04:And there are a lot of things where you're like, come on. Like the fact that he takes all the towels in the hotel, although– If Neil took a shower after him, he would have seen that. So, like, that was also kind of like, hmm. Yeah. How would you not have noticed that before?
SPEAKER_02:Del didn't just sneak in there while he was in the shower.
SPEAKER_04:Yeah. So, it's like, really, you think that's okay? You took all the towels. You're using the sink for your gross socks. You took off your shoes and socks on the plane. Spilled all the beer on the bed. Spilled all the beer on the bed. You smoke everywhere. Like, yeah. Yes, he is a very friendly, personable guy. But I don't think that excuses away a lot of the things that he does that would be, I think, frustrating for anybody. Yeah. So maybe that's something that's just, like, not talked about a lot but is supposed to be also, like, a conceit of the film. Like, that's how... I don't know how to put it. Like, even the playing field between him and Neil. Like, maybe other people do feel that way. It's just, like, not... Like, everybody just thinks of John Candy in this film as, like, this, like, lovable guy. But there are legitimate things that he does that are frustrating. And I don't blame Neil at
SPEAKER_02:all for... I don't blame him for being frustrated, but the way that he handled it...
SPEAKER_04:Sure.
SPEAKER_02:You know?
SPEAKER_04:Sure. I mean, initially, like, when they very first were... Like, when they were put on the plane next to each other, Neil... pretty quickly is like hey I'm sorry I'm just like not much of a conversationalist you know so he does try to uh to use like kind of a 2020 just try to like assert his boundaries yes um early in the film and Del just ignores them like he just is oblivious to that so it's true I think that is partly why Neil blows up the way he does now in the scene when they're in the hotel and Neil goes probably too long and too far with the way that he berates Del.
SPEAKER_02:About two to three times harder than necessary.
SPEAKER_04:Yeah. To be fair, Del starts it. Yeah. Del's the one that, like, because he's, like, fucking doing whatever he's doing with his sinuses. Yes. And so in that moment, I'm sorry I'm siding with Neil that I also would have jumped out of bed and be like, I got to get the fuck out of here. Yeah. And then Del is the one who's like, you're such a tight ass, you're such a this, you're such a that. And I'm like, okay, he's kind of starting this argument. But Neil just doubles down on... That
SPEAKER_02:moment, I think, is in some ways the peak of how frustrating the movie makes you feel. And then it does change up a little bit to where it gets a little bit more... not wholesome, but like you're, you're on this journey with them. So you're, there are a few more laughs and you're just like along for the ride. But up to that point, I'm like, I, this movie is just like making me feel anxiety the entire time. And then watching this confrontation is just like too much. And then it wisely steps off the gas a little bit and then moves more into just like, you know, uh, more slapstick comedy stuff, you know, the hand in the pillows, those aren't pillows.
SPEAKER_04:Yeah. Which,
SPEAKER_02:et cetera.
SPEAKER_04:Uh, we'll just like say it right now. Okay. Funny. But, um, funny for the delivery of the two actors.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah.
SPEAKER_04:Doing that scene.
SPEAKER_02:It was funny that they were like, they, they fall asleep, wake up. He's like cuddling. He kisses you. Yeah. And then like, where's your hand? Why are you holding my hand?
UNKNOWN:Um,
SPEAKER_02:Yeah. Yeah.
SPEAKER_04:And he's like, no.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah.
SPEAKER_04:And he's like, no, no, no, no. And I'm like, OK, OK, let's take it down with like the homophobic whatever, you know, like.
SPEAKER_02:It went real hard into that real
SPEAKER_04:fast. Yeah, like it didn't even have to go to that place about it. But in any case.
SPEAKER_02:But I guarantee you when that happened, when the movie first released, people were losing it.
SPEAKER_04:Yeah.
SPEAKER_02:Like dying of laughter.
SPEAKER_04:So there's a little bit of that. I mean, yeah. I want to circle back to something that you said earlier in terms of like getting the rug kind of pulled out from underneath you. I don't know what was happening in terms of, like, for instance, I already referenced the fact that they cut down the storyline about Neil's wife thinking that he was having an affair. I don't know what else might have been cut down or even not filmed for the sake of brevity. I don't know if there was some kind of, like, mandate that this film needed to come in. Probably, you know,
SPEAKER_02:it's a comedy. There probably was, yeah.
SPEAKER_04:Yeah, so, like, probably there was, like, hey, we can't have a two-hour movie. But I also feel like... I don't know, like the scene that you were talking about where– off mic– where at the very end, Neil is sitting on the L, kind of just relaying what's happened over the last two days. And he begins to put two and two together and realizing like something's off about the way that Del was talking about like his home life and his wife. Yeah. I don't know if that was quite there in the movie. Yeah. It wasn't. The most that I got from Del before that reveal is made that his wife has been passed for several years and he, quote, doesn't have a home. Yeah. Is, you know, he looks very longingly at the picture of his wife that he keeps with him. The most I got out of that before I, you know, to my recollection of seeing this film the first time was like he misses his wife.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah. Especially, you know, he doesn't. I don't know, he could have a photo in his wallet or something, but that didn't really stand out to me. That wasn't gonna... help me make that leap to like his wife's been dead for seven years.
SPEAKER_04:And given the way they set up his character eight, the way that they set up his character, it made sense to me that he would have like a full framed picture of
SPEAKER_02:her with him.
SPEAKER_04:So that
SPEAKER_02:just thought that was a John Hughes thing because in home alone, you know, the, you know, what's his name's brother has like the picture of his girlfriend.
SPEAKER_04:Yeah. Back in the day, people used to frame a lot more pictures. Um, so, um, I don't know if that quite landed for me that Neil, yes, he's grown wiser and I could understand why he'd finally have a moment to himself on the L and be thinking about what's happened over the last couple of days. I don't know if I quite buy into him being like, wait a minute, you know, and turning around to, to figure out like what, what's going on. But, um, if
SPEAKER_02:I'm being honest at that point, I was happy with anything that resolved anything. things enough to end the movie.
SPEAKER_04:I will say this. So like it had been, I mean, I feel like this movie is kind of always like on at some point in the background this time of year, but it's been a really long time since I've like sat down
SPEAKER_03:to
SPEAKER_04:really watch it. And I will say that this time around, I was like, oh, I guess some of the things that, as far as like the actual travel complications go, somewhat made a little bit more sense to me and weren't so completely contrived. Although with some caveats, like for instance, when they're on the plane, they wouldn't just fucking land in another city without them telling them that that was going to happen. Like, I feel like you... I don't know, maybe the laws were different in 87. I don't know why they... But I feel like you gotta tell people you're not going
SPEAKER_02:to Chicago. Yeah. Like, I don't know why they didn't just have that announcement over the PA.
SPEAKER_04:It changes nothing about the story.
SPEAKER_02:You could still have the joke that Dell made about, like, you know, I bet six bucks in my right nut that we're not landing in Chicago.
SPEAKER_04:Exactly.
SPEAKER_02:And then immediately have the...
SPEAKER_04:Exactly. That would have been a good joke. Yeah. So, like, I was like, okay, I don't know why they... had to surprise them with the fact that they were landing in Wichita. Also, when the train has whatever complication it has and everybody, I find it very hard to believe. They actually did use Amtrak. They did use that company, I'm pretty sure.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, because they couldn't find a car rental agency willing to look so incompetent. So I guess Amtrak was cool with it.
SPEAKER_04:I'm pretty sure Zamtrak,
SPEAKER_02:yeah.
SPEAKER_04:So when, I guess there's maybe a fire on the train? They just talk about, like, smoke.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, the engineers did something, like, something broke down, because they're, like, fighting, they're, like, not fighting, but they're, like, arguing over, like, what someone did.
SPEAKER_04:They would not just tell everybody, okay, go on your merry way, and make them, like, walk off across some field, like...
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, it looks like something out of like a war movie with like refugees
SPEAKER_04:trying to like. Even for 87, they would have brought out vehicles to take those people wherever they needed to go. Or take them to a collective spot.
SPEAKER_02:Get them off the train, get them to a safe spot, have everyone wait until. They'd
SPEAKER_04:probably just take them to the next station.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah.
SPEAKER_04:So that was like kind of contrived. And
SPEAKER_02:you know what? I bet they would also be like, just let us know where you're trying to get to. And because of this, we'll help you get you there.
SPEAKER_04:Yeah. So I was like, I mean. some of the other stuff this was i feel like a very 87 thing you know they did a fair amount of like to some degree hitchhiking
SPEAKER_02:yeah yeah kind of
SPEAKER_04:like like with the dylan baker like the weirdo guy who picks him up with
SPEAKER_02:his you know i remember that guy from spider-man 2 he's one of the
SPEAKER_04:oh he's the professor
SPEAKER_02:yeah
SPEAKER_04:yeah that's what that's what i right okay yep that's a good call um So that, the whole like sitting in the back of that frozen truck.
SPEAKER_02:The best was when Steve Martin's character picks up the glove and a dog just pops out of the hay. Yeah,
SPEAKER_04:poor doggy. It's amazing. And they're all frozen when they get to their destination.
SPEAKER_02:It just shows each of their faces and the dog snarling frozen. Yeah. Amazing.
SPEAKER_04:But yeah, so it's like, it didn't quite bump me as hard as I remember it bumping me. There's still things that are like, eh, I don't know about that. But- I mean, look, getting rerouted because of weather, very real thing. I suppose train things can happen as well. But it was like a little bit of mix of things that could legitimately happen and a little bit of mix of things for... Movie magic.
SPEAKER_02:I think maybe if John Candy was still with us, we could have like a credit card or smartphone commercial, kind of like what they do with Martin Short and Steve Martin, you know, as co-stars from Only Murders. And they would have one that is basically like a sequel to Planes, Trains and Automobiles, where they have a flight canceled and they immediately just get rerouted.
SPEAKER_04:It makes me really sad because the fact that both John Candy and John Hughes have at this point passed away I'm sure it's been talked about in some room somewhere in Los Angeles. But if both of those two gentlemen were still living, I think that actually could have been an incredible sequel. That's one of the only sequels that I would have been completely behind for doing 30 to 40 years later to see what they could do.
UNKNOWN:Yeah.
SPEAKER_04:in terms of something in today's world where they're not able to get to where they need to go. And that could have been a great film. So that's the only thing that I'm kind of sad
SPEAKER_02:about. You have a better title than Planes, Trains, and Ovals 2. I don't know what it would be.
SPEAKER_04:It'd be like Uber's... I mean, it'd be like Uber's Drones for some reason. And like, yeah, I don't know. But... We'll work on that. We'll work on that. But yeah, I mean, the strength of this film... Are the two actors in it...
SPEAKER_02:That could not be more right. Yeah. Without the two of them, why am I watching this? Exactly. Yeah.
SPEAKER_04:Because even as we were... I don't even know if we're halfway through, but I was like, you know, when you think about it, not a lot happens in this movie. It literally is just them traveling and little things happening, like the car catches on fire or whatever. I will say, though, that that was probably... if, if, uh, I don't know if you'll agree with me, but like our biggest LOL moment was when he is going backwards on, or, um, he's going the wrong way on the highway.
SPEAKER_02:And it's, it reminded me of like the scene from psycho when, when they're killed the top of the stairs and it just shows like all this like random image, like weird imagery. Cause you see candy and Martin as like skeleton. You see like skulls.
SPEAKER_04:That's the moment where I laugh the
SPEAKER_02:hardest. You see John candy dressed as the
SPEAKER_04:devil. Yeah. So, So that that to me, I wish they maybe had
SPEAKER_02:more of those moments. Yeah.
SPEAKER_04:Yeah. But all in all, it is something that I think for just like collective nostalgia, like I know so many people love this movie. I don't have any problem with people loving this movie. It's not quite the movie that I, even at this time of year, am like, oh, I have to watch this movie. But I don't mind having it on the background. That kind of thing. I'm
SPEAKER_02:just sad that we did not wait until the credits were over because we would have seen at the very end their boss just like still looking at the ads, at the creative that he was looking at at the very beginning.
SPEAKER_04:Yeah.
SPEAKER_02:But you got to wait. It's like Ferris Bueller. You got to wait until the very end. And
SPEAKER_04:another cameo, Ferris' dad.
UNKNOWN:Yeah.
SPEAKER_02:Oh, yeah, that's right.
SPEAKER_04:Is in it as well.
SPEAKER_02:I
SPEAKER_04:mean, so I just said my piece about how I feel about this film. What about you?
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, I mean, we own it, so I'll probably watch it again. I'm not sure why
SPEAKER_04:we do.
SPEAKER_02:I don't think we really wanted to see it, and then we got it, and then we're like, what?
SPEAKER_04:I guess so.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah. I had like a... Possibly more of like a negative impression or just like I know how this movie just is like one anxious situation or frustrating situation after another. But like I don't I don't hate this movie. No. And there are like genuinely like funny, great moments in it. But it's hard to get past like how like we talked about how like certain jokes don't age as well. But just like. the underlying premise of the movie. Like it's crazy how there's like a movie where like so many different things have all been solved just through the passage of time.
SPEAKER_04:You know, that's the last thing I'll say is the thing that I think sticks with me the most is like, oh my God, I, what a pain in the ass it's going to be like with his wallet and like all the expenses. I was like, holy shit. Like he's going to get a new driver's license. His credit cards are gone.
SPEAKER_02:He bought a car basically. Yeah. That rental car.
SPEAKER_04:Oh man, that's going to really hit him in the pocket with all the expenses.
SPEAKER_02:You know, one thing I've never seen before that was in this, like not just that it was a rotary phone. Cause I have seen and used a rotary phone, but I've never seen a lock on the phone. Like he couldn't even like turn it. I've never seen that before.
SPEAKER_04:Is that in a hotel?
SPEAKER_02:Yeah.
SPEAKER_04:I think, yeah. To your point, too, like, I never was in a hotel that had, like, the- Magic. Yeah, yeah. Magic fingers or magic- Yeah, exactly. No. So, call to action. Yeah. Well, this is something that I was mentioning last night, maybe even before we watched the movie. I'm very curious how many people under the age of 30 like this movie.
SPEAKER_02:Yes, and my follow-up call to action is, how many people under the age of 30 listen to this
SPEAKER_04:podcast?
UNKNOWN:Aww.
SPEAKER_04:Don't... That's mean. That's mean towards us. But I am... I would love, love to do a poll. Like, let's take 10 people under the age of 30, make them watch this movie, and get their thoughts on it. Because I feel like it is as foreign to them that this would happen as, like, aliens landing. Like, it just is so far out of their... Like, even just the communication between Neil and his wife.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah. I mean, look, it... For its time, what they went through not only would be feasible, but it obviously actually happened to Hughes, which was the inspiration for the story. But looking back at it now, it's hard to imagine, like, oh yeah, you could have been totally shit out of luck.
SPEAKER_04:I mean, the actual travel incidents... You know, there's still things like when you're flying on a plane, you might get rerouted because of weather. Yeah. Things like that. That still happens, obviously, every day. But everyone's just
SPEAKER_02:gotten better
SPEAKER_04:at managing it. I think the two things that stand out the most is, like, how outdated... the communication between people is in this movie um namely neil and his wife and
SPEAKER_02:the fact that you just send a text
SPEAKER_04:yeah there's like literally two dozen ways he can communicate with her um so there's that and then the financial component
SPEAKER_01:yeah
SPEAKER_04:of like them running out of money not having credit cards there's like so many ways that you can address that today yeah so unless you literally have not even if you don't have anything in in your bank account if you have a credit card you know so it's set up something on your phone
SPEAKER_02:for like a contactless pay or whatever. Yeah. There's so
SPEAKER_04:many things you
SPEAKER_02:can do. Even if you don't use it all the time. If you lose your wallet, then you got something. Yeah.
SPEAKER_04:Yeah. So those are the two things that stand out the most, actually. And
SPEAKER_02:also like, oh, yeah, I threw away my car rental contract. Let me just pull up the email. Exactly.
SPEAKER_04:Exactly. And I got to say, though, when he did that, I was like, why the fuck would you have thrown that away?
SPEAKER_02:Yeah. Why would you do it then?
SPEAKER_04:Why would you have thrown it away?
SPEAKER_02:That's all you got.
SPEAKER_04:That to me was almost the most egregious. Like, come on, man.
SPEAKER_02:You're just asking for it, Steve. Yeah.
SPEAKER_04:So. If you want to get in touch with us, we would love to hear from you. You can reach out. So definitely Facebook, definitely Instagram. As of right now, Axe. Not sure how much longer we're going to stay on Axe.
SPEAKER_02:Stephen King left it.
SPEAKER_04:He sure did. Yeah. The reason I've held on is because I've said it before. There's actually a couple really lovely people that I've met through Axe that, like, anyway, we'll see. But please reach out. It's the same handle for all three. It is at 80smontagepod and 80s is 8080.
SPEAKER_01:Mm-hmm.
SPEAKER_04:Next film. Okay, so we're moving into Thanksgiving.
SPEAKER_01:Okay.
SPEAKER_04:This is a film that, like, okay, it's not quite on my radar as a Christmas movie. Okay. I think some people, the way that, like, we more so lean into, like, yeah, of course Die Hard is a Christmas movie. Other people are like, yeah, of course this movie is a Christmas movie. Oh. But I don't think it gets us quite the amount of conversation around that.
SPEAKER_02:Interesting. Yeah. That's not enough for me.
SPEAKER_04:Okay. Richard Donner. I'm trying not to be too obvious
SPEAKER_02:with the guesses. Okay. Richard Donner movie that is or is not. Also set
SPEAKER_04:in L.A., I believe.
SPEAKER_02:What the? In L.A.?
UNKNOWN:?
SPEAKER_02:set richard donner he eventually
SPEAKER_04:went on to direct three sequels to this movie
SPEAKER_02:i'm pretty sure he directed all of them i don't i'm not gonna get it i'm not gonna get this one
SPEAKER_04:really no
SPEAKER_02:leave a weapon oh really yeah i would have never gotten that
SPEAKER_04:oh
SPEAKER_02:okay yeah all right i wasn't gonna get it um okay all right this is
SPEAKER_04:our penultimate episode of the season
SPEAKER_02:when was the sequel made
SPEAKER_04:I'm sorry, Lethal Weapon 2. I don't know.
SPEAKER_02:Is that 80s? Because I feel like that's the one with Joe Pesci. Is
SPEAKER_04:he in the second one?
SPEAKER_02:I think he's in the second one. He's on the second or third. Chris Rock's in the third one, I think. Oh,
SPEAKER_04:really?
SPEAKER_02:He's in one of them, the third one.
SPEAKER_04:I'm going to put it out there right now. Do not know this franchise that well.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, I haven't seen him in a really long time. I just know that it's like... Way, way over the top action.
SPEAKER_04:What I have heard, and I honestly don't know if I've ever sat down and watched the entire first film start to finish. I feel like I've seen a lot of it. Also, from what I've heard, the first one is far more, so to speak, grounded than the rest of the films. The rest of them begin to really go over the top. But this one is like... Not quite there. It's like kind of like Raiders where like the first Raiders is like pretty serious.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah.
SPEAKER_04:And then they get like a little bit sillier as you go along.
SPEAKER_02:And then suddenly aliens.
SPEAKER_04:Yeah.
SPEAKER_02:It's like what Fast, the Fast franchise has done also. They probably got it from Lethal Weapon, honestly.
SPEAKER_04:So that's our next movie.
SPEAKER_02:Okay.
SPEAKER_04:And in the meantime, thank you to everyone for taking the time to listen to us. We really appreciate it. We know you have tons of other choices. So thank you for making the choice to listen to ours. And we will talk to you again in two weeks time.