'80s Movie Montage

Strange Brew

• Anna Keizer & Derek Dehanke • Season 6 • Episode 3

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In this episode, Anna and Derek discuss the plot's necessary (?) riff off Hamlet, the purpose of Brewmeister Smith's enormous chompers, and much more during their chat of the hoser-rific Canadian comedy Strange Brew (1983).

Connect with '80s Movie Montage on Facebook, Bluesky 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.

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SPEAKER_04:

I have to go along with this. But don't worry, you won't get hurt. Your equipment should protect you.

SPEAKER_05:

Being on the same team as you is all the padding I need, Rosie. Are you okay? You okay, Rosie? I'm your father, Luke. Give in to the dark side of the force, you knob. He saw Jedi

SPEAKER_00:

17 times,

SPEAKER_05:

eh?

SPEAKER_00:

Hello and welcome to 80s Movie Montage, eh? This is Derek.

SPEAKER_01:

And this is Anna.

SPEAKER_00:

And that was Rick Moranis, Dave Thomas, and Angus McInnes from 1983's Strange Brew.

SPEAKER_03:

What a fucking Canadian fever dream of a movie. It

SPEAKER_00:

was way more insane than I remember it when I saw it as a kid. And I wonder, like, should I have seen it as a kid? I don't know, probably, maybe.

SPEAKER_03:

Yeah, I was saying that, uh... Off the record... I don't know why this is a movie I saw so much as a kid, but it was a movie that I saw quite a bit, although it has been a very long time since I've watched it again. So as we were watching it, these different core memories were coming up, especially I mentioned the hockey game. And then when Rick Moranis' character blows up, that is like for whatever reason, just like a very clear, prominent image in my mind from when I was a kid.

SPEAKER_00:

I remember the hockey stuff so well that I forgot there's a whole rest of the movie.

SPEAKER_03:

Well, you remembered the flying dog.

SPEAKER_00:

I remember the flying dog, although I was confused because they did kind of like a similar gag in Half Baked.

SPEAKER_03:

That's right. You did mention that. So, yeah, I mean, it's... I feel like this is unlike any other movie we're probably going to cover,

SPEAKER_00:

at

SPEAKER_03:

least up

SPEAKER_00:

to this point. It's almost difficult for me to articulate how bizarre this movie is. And then you mentioned at the end of our last episode that it was, in fact, loosely based on Hamlet.

SPEAKER_03:

I don't know why. I did a brief kind of overview of how the story came together. I don't know why Moranis and Thomas... wanted it to have like a Hamlet parallel. I don't know if they just thought that that would be funny. I guess it kind of is because it's such a ridiculous film to have any ties to Shakespeare is kind of bizarre.

SPEAKER_00:

It's it's interesting because it's probably as confusing to me as trying to think of actual Shakespeare. Yeah, it works there. I

SPEAKER_03:

mean, you know, some things are you I mean, you were saying in terms of like the name of the beer company. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03:

Which is?

SPEAKER_00:

Elsinore.

SPEAKER_03:

And the name of the castle in Hamlet is?

SPEAKER_00:

Elsinore.

SPEAKER_03:

There you go. Yeah. And just things like they pulled some names almost directly, like the mother is Gertrude in both stories. The uncle is like Claudius in Hamlet and Claude in this movie. I think they tried as best as they could to come up with the female version of Hamlet because Pamela shares a lot of the same letters.

SPEAKER_00:

You got the A and the M. The L. The L. Yeah. Yeah. You're almost there. And

SPEAKER_03:

the A. Mm-hmm. Yeah. So I think they did the best they probably could with finding a female name that very– like a very loose connection, but a connection nevertheless to the name Hamlet. Yeah. But I don't know if I– needed there to be a connection because it is such a crazy movie. Yeah. I

SPEAKER_00:

mean, that seemed to be the starting point and then everything just gets really wild.

SPEAKER_03:

Well, so let's put a pin in that because there was a starting point before the starting point that is completely disconnected from the rest of the story. Yeah, there is. And so, well, I want to make sure we talk about that, but let's dive in. So I think you mentioned 1983. Mm-hmm. And we're going to have a lot of repetition with some of the main players because this is very much the baby of Rick Moranis and Dave Thomas. So the two of them, I guess originally this came from, I want to say like a spoken album that they did.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah. They're Canadian. They're

SPEAKER_03:

actually Canadian.

SPEAKER_00:

And that's referenced in the very beginning.

SPEAKER_03:

Yes. Yeah. That section of the film. Yeah. I guess the album was called The Great White North. It was fairly popular. Then, as a lot of Canadian comedians do, they were part of the SCTV world. So SCTV brought those characters in for like a– Oh, really?

SPEAKER_00:

I don't think I realized that it went from those two having this, like, comedy album, basically, and then that got them in

SPEAKER_03:

those

SPEAKER_00:

characters on the

SPEAKER_03:

show. Okay.

SPEAKER_00:

Okay.

SPEAKER_03:

And in any case, they were basically like, oh, maybe we can do a movie about these characters. And I think there were like some legal hoops in terms of like who owned the rights to those characters. But in any case, they got it off the ground. They are two of the three credited writers. I'll start with the guy that is not Rick Moranis or Dave Thomas. His name is Steve DeJarnat.

SPEAKER_00:

DeJarnat.

SPEAKER_03:

I think that's probably more accurate.

SPEAKER_00:

Probably somewhere in between.

SPEAKER_03:

And I don't know if they brought him on because maybe they just thought that like he was maybe a more... They're comedians. They're also writers, of course, but maybe he was like a more proficient screenwriter.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03:

As far as like his filmography goes, though, it's not super extensive and it's a lot of television, actually. So a lot of like single episodes of different... Okay. Oh. Yeah. As far as their credits go, there is a lot of overlap because they both did come out of SCTV. So they both have credits for that TV series. There was like multiple iterations of SCTV. So they both have credits for SCTV Network. Thomas, not Moranis, but Thomas has a credit for SCTV Channel. And then they depart a little bit, although they come back because they basically share credit for these characters. Moranis, there was, I guess, a TV series called Bob and Doug. I think it was like animated.

SPEAKER_00:

Oh, okay.

SPEAKER_03:

Yeah. So they both share credits for that. But Dave Thomas is, you know, Rick Moranis, we'll... We'll go into his story once we get to the acting credits. I'll do that. But he is more so known as an actor than a writer.

SPEAKER_00:

There is one story that he has a credit for that we will almost certainly cover at some point.

SPEAKER_03:

Oh, the uncredited credit? Because he does have an uncredited credit for Ghostbusters.

SPEAKER_00:

And he also just has a story credit for Spies Like Us.

SPEAKER_03:

Oh, okay. So... Wait, we're talking about Moranis?

SPEAKER_00:

Nope, I messed up again. I'm talking about Dave Thomas.

SPEAKER_03:

Oh, no, I just probably misunderstood you. So Rick Moranis has the uncredited credit for Ghostbusters. That's as far as I know, like most of his writing credits. But you're absolutely right. Thomas does have a story by credit for Spies Like Us. And he is just the more, I think, proficient writer. Uh, I personally, have you, I haven't really seen him in front of the camera

SPEAKER_00:

for a while. I was thinking that while we were watching the movie, I'm like, oh, I wonder what he, what he's been doing.

SPEAKER_03:

Maybe he's like made appearances on stuff, but for the most part, I don't know. Maybe I'm speaking out of turn. We will get to his acting credits, but he has, uh, other writing credits, a TV movie called Ghost Mom.

SPEAKER_00:

Oh, are we talking about Miranda still?

SPEAKER_03:

Thomas. I'm done with Moranis. Moranis is done as far as writing credits go. So this is all Dave Thomas. And then it seems like he has done maybe a little bit more with the Bob and Doug property. He has a credit for a TV movie called Bob and Doug McKenzie's 2-4 Anniversary. I already mentioned Bob and Doug. And then This is super interesting to me. He has writing credits for the TV show Bones and the TV show The Blacklist.

SPEAKER_00:

That's so weird. I mean, well, it's not... Look, it's range, I suppose. Sure,

SPEAKER_03:

yeah. I just was like, huh, okay. All right. I mean... I never watched The Blacklist. I did for a period of time watch Bones. There is a fair amount of comedy in Bones. I shouldn't say that he would only be proficient at comedy. But it's interesting that like isn't The Blacklist like it was– that was the James Spader show and

SPEAKER_00:

it was like– He was like a darker Bobby California. Oh, OK. That's it. I think. I don't know. I

SPEAKER_03:

didn't watch the show. But in any case. So– The other thing that's really interesting, this was co-directed by Rick Moranis and Dave Thomas.

SPEAKER_00:

Okay. Makes sense. Might explain. I

SPEAKER_03:

think it's like the proof is in the pudding. They're great performers. They're great comedians. I don't know directing. I think they should have brought in an outside person, but I know that it was their characters. I think they improv'd a ton. Oh,

SPEAKER_00:

they did. It felt like... It felt like it wasn't just them improv-ing, but it felt like some scenes were just allowed to like, no, just keep on going. Just keep on, like when the nurses and the hospital started like fighting with each other and you're like, what's happening?

SPEAKER_03:

It had a little bit of an airplane vibe.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_03:

Because it was just like total randomness.

SPEAKER_00:

Which is fun, but I think I mentioned like halfway through the film, I'm like, I'm kind of exhausted.

SPEAKER_03:

Yeah. Yeah. I think Airplane did a much better job of like, yes, there's technically speaking a story that we're following, but it's just a bunch of bits.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_03:

And this film, I think also, it's like they just didn't, I think, strike as good of a balance as Airplane did, where it's like each scene is kind of a bit, but it's also kind of like, it's like they're trying to do two things at once and it doesn't,

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, no, and there's, like, such a change in tone from one scene to the next where even if it is intended just to be going, like, bit to bit, it just– it wasn't as, like, cohesive as what you get in Airplane.

SPEAKER_03:

But I was saying also, like, for one, I'm really not bashing the movie because it's kind of just a wild ride. You just kind of have to lean into it and

SPEAKER_00:

–

SPEAKER_03:

Go for it.

SPEAKER_00:

So

SPEAKER_03:

again, for whatever reason, I must have like really had a liking for it as a kid because I watched it a ton. Like

SPEAKER_00:

bashing it is definitely not what I'm doing. Yeah. In fact, I think bashing it would be pointless.

SPEAKER_03:

Yes.

SPEAKER_00:

Because this is a movie that definitely does not care.

SPEAKER_03:

Does not take itself seriously.

SPEAKER_00:

Exactly. At all. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03:

And I think also maybe, just maybe, there is something... that we probably are not part of culturally. Like, I think it is a really funny movie. I think there's enough we pick up on. But from what I've read, these characters were intentionally created to combine all of the most, like, ridiculous stereotypes about Canadians. So that was the reason why these characters were created. I

SPEAKER_00:

mean, I had some cousins that lived in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, so they were basically Canadian.

SPEAKER_03:

Yeah, I mean, I'm... I'm from the Midwest. Yeah. And I feel like, I don't know, I think maybe proximity does help you maybe a little bit understand the stereotypes a little bit better.

SPEAKER_00:

I think that's one of the reasons why my dad enjoys this movie so much is because he thought of Bob and Doug very much the same way he thought about those relatives that lived up in the peninsula, in the Oopers.

SPEAKER_03:

This is kind of a ridiculous thing to say. It really is. But the fact that you and I both enjoy hockey, watching hockey, hockey is traditionally known as a Canadian sport. I feel like we have... in a very roundabout way exposed ourselves to other types of Canadian whatever. Sure. I don't know. There's a familiarity about it, yet at the same time, we're not Canadian. So probably some things went over our head even now.

SPEAKER_00:

I mean, the hockey scenes... Went over my head because I wasn't sure what game they were playing, even though they all had on hockey gear. But they had the weirdest hockey gear that

SPEAKER_03:

you will ever

SPEAKER_00:

see. Yeah,

SPEAKER_03:

yeah. Okay, so getting back to the fact that Rick Moranis and Dave Thomas directed this, this is Rick Moranis' only directing credit.

SPEAKER_01:

Okay.

SPEAKER_03:

Dave Thomas, he has in total 18 different directing credits. This was his first, but of the ones that are probably the most notable outside of this film... a movie called The Experts. Don't know it. He did actually direct that TV movie, Ghost Mom. And also, this is kind of fun. He has directed on that TV series that was like, was it like Stop Motion, Celebrity Deathmatch?

SPEAKER_00:

Oh, okay. Yeah. Yeah, that's fun.

SPEAKER_03:

He directed some of those.

SPEAKER_00:

It was like Stop Animation. I don't know if it was Claymation or just Stop Animation. Something like that, though.

SPEAKER_03:

So moving on to cinematography, Steve Poster is... And interesting filmography. I mean, you mentioned the term range a minute ago, and I would say that definitely applies to him. I have mostly films, but– so we're going to start in the 80s. So I don't know why this– I don't know. I don't know if we're ever going to cover this movie. He shot the film Spring Break. It's come up a

SPEAKER_01:

couple of

SPEAKER_03:

times, just in passing of other people being connected to it. But he shot The Heavenly Kid, Big Top Peewee. He did that.

SPEAKER_00:

The sequel, Peewee sequel?

SPEAKER_03:

I think so,

SPEAKER_00:

yeah.

SPEAKER_03:

So here's what's, to me, super notable, because I do remember this being a huge deal when it happened. Madonna's Like a Prayer music video.

SPEAKER_00:

That video... drove people insane. I

SPEAKER_03:

mean, now it's like, oh, how wholesome in comparison to... I mean, maybe

SPEAKER_00:

like 10, 15 years ago, we would have considered. I feel like at this point, it's gone right back around to triggering a lot of people in 2025.

SPEAKER_03:

Yeah, I can understand.

SPEAKER_00:

But definitely understand what you mean. At the time, it was like Madonna. It was a

SPEAKER_01:

huge

SPEAKER_00:

deal. Madonna is literally the antichrist. Huge deal, yeah. Yeah, she is responsible for all of the bad things.

SPEAKER_03:

And he shot it. He shot that music video, which honestly, probably for the time was a ballsy move.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03:

I wonder how many people maybe turned down that opportunity because of what was probably expected to be a lot of pushback. So he did that. I have some more movies for him. Next of Kin.

SPEAKER_00:

Next of Kin. Opportunity

SPEAKER_03:

Knocks. So really all over the place as far as genre. He shot Rocky V. Okay. So he did that. I guess, you know, I never watched this TV series. I know it has, like, really good– People speak well of it. I didn't realize that the show Roswell, I think, was first based off of a TV movie.

SPEAKER_00:

Oh, I don't think I realized it either. Is it like an Aliens thing? Yes. Okay.

SPEAKER_03:

It's like, what is it, Area?

SPEAKER_00:

Aliens. I'm doing the hands thing for people that can't see, which is everyone. Is

SPEAKER_03:

it Area 451? What is it? I think

SPEAKER_00:

it's just Area 50. I

SPEAKER_03:

increased it.

SPEAKER_00:

451? I don't know why

SPEAKER_03:

that came to

SPEAKER_00:

mind. Is that like the Fahrenheit thing?

SPEAKER_03:

That's what I'm thinking. Yep, that's exactly what I'm thinking. Okay, so he did that. He did very, I know this film was like very acclaimed for different reasons. He shot Donnie Darko.

SPEAKER_00:

Man, that movie is, yeah, it is wild, but I just love the intro and the intro echo in the Bunnymen song is amazing. Anyways, the rest of the movie is good too. Love that intro.

SPEAKER_03:

He also shot Amityville. colon, The Awakening.

SPEAKER_00:

Oh.

SPEAKER_03:

Yeah, not the one that our friend is in. And Scared to Death. Okay. So, okay, moving on to music, Gentleman by the Name of Charles Fox. What an interesting career this guy had. So, yeah, I mean, I do have some films, but most– and even he's an Oscar-nominated– composer, but a lot of really iconic TV shows he was a part of. So here's the thing. He has a credit for The Tonight Show starring Johnny Carson.

SPEAKER_01:

Okay.

SPEAKER_03:

However, they make a point of noting that his contribution to that show was background music. So I don't think he was the composer for that iconic...

SPEAKER_00:

The theme. Yes, yeah.

SPEAKER_03:

Yeah, that's great.

SPEAKER_00:

Good job.

SPEAKER_03:

So I don't think that was what he was part of, but he did work on that show. Really interesting film. He was part of Barbarella, so he composed for that. I've brought this up before. He composed for the film version of A Separate Piece. I think you've told me you didn't have to read that in school. I had to read that in school.

SPEAKER_00:

It's a brutal book. I did not. What's it about?

SPEAKER_03:

So it's interesting because, like, there's a lot of books that– I mean, I guess that's what makes them compelling, where your protagonist, the person that you are kind of forced to follow along because it's their POV, they're not really the best people. It's kind of what this book is about. So it's about these, like, boarding school kids. Okay. And the person that we're following is– you know, kind of like a nerd, kind of a quiet guy. He rooms with somebody who's incredibly popular, very charismatic, and he kind of like resents him for that. And I'm a little fuzzy on the details because I literally haven't read this book in decades, but basically the popular kid, I think the first time he gets hurt, I think it's an accident, but it And being a popular kid, he also was like kind of a jock. And so that kind of killed any aspirations of being a professional athlete in some way. He

SPEAKER_00:

probably wasn't going to make it anyways.

SPEAKER_03:

Maybe. But it also made him more vulnerable physically. Like it was a really bad– it was like a leg break or something like that. Then– He is in some circumstance where like the nerdy quiet kid, I think, had the opportunity. He was like in a tree or something. He had the opportunity to save him. He didn't take that opportunity. So the popular kid like fell again and died.

SPEAKER_00:

What book is this again?

SPEAKER_03:

Summer in Peace.

SPEAKER_00:

Okay. I'll be sure to write that down. I

SPEAKER_03:

remember being like, what the fuck am I reading? It's an acclaimed book. Obviously, I didn't take to it. And there's probably so many people out there who are like, it's a wonderful book. But it just wasn't my cup of tea.

SPEAKER_00:

All right. Welcome back to our podcast of Strange Brew, eh?

UNKNOWN:

Sorry.

SPEAKER_03:

That was a very long aside. All to say, Charles Fox was the composer on the film version of it. So there you go. He also composed for the TV show Love, American Style. He gets his first Oscar nom. It was her best original song for a film called The Other Side of the Mountain. Here we go. Here are two really popular shows. He was the composer for Laverne and Shirley as well as Happy Days.

SPEAKER_00:

I know of those.

SPEAKER_03:

Yeah. He gets another Oscar nomination, again, for Best Original Song for a film called Foul Play. And so this isn't the first time we've brought him up. It just has been quite a while. He was the composer on Little Darlings, which I think that's early 80s, so we probably could cover that. But he was the composer on 9 to 5. Oh, really? Yeah.

UNKNOWN:

Okay.

SPEAKER_03:

So that's where we have spoken of him first. Go check that episode out. He also was the composer on National Lampoon's European Vacation, the TV show The Love Boat. The Love Boat. And then I didn't even know this was a show. How'd that go again? I'm not very good at that. So that's going to be the first and only time I do it. He was the composer for the TV series Conan the Adventurer.

SPEAKER_00:

He also apparently was the composer of NFL Monday Night Football.

SPEAKER_03:

Oh, wow.

SPEAKER_00:

Going all the way back to 1970.

SPEAKER_03:

Wow.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03:

Good call out. Okay. So moving on to film editing, Patrick McMahon. Some interesting credits for him as well. And I will say, like, confidently, we haven't brought it up before, but he will come up again. He will.

SPEAKER_00:

Oh, yeah.

SPEAKER_03:

So some of his credits, early TV work, Kojak.

UNKNOWN:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

Oh, yeah, that guy, Telly Savalas. Telly Savalas

SPEAKER_03:

with the lollipop,

SPEAKER_00:

right?

SPEAKER_03:

That's all I know about that show. So he was the editor on that. I don't know this film. I just thought it was kind of an interesting title. He cut a film called Gas Pump Girls. Okay. As well as a film called Night Kill. Here we go. He'll come up again because he was the editor on A Nightmare on Elm Street.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, we'll definitely cover that, right? 100%.

SPEAKER_03:

Are

SPEAKER_00:

we covering it this year?

SPEAKER_03:

Maybe we should because at this point we've done the other two major–

SPEAKER_00:

Like franchises? Franchises

SPEAKER_03:

because we have covered Halloween. We had to do Halloween 2 because the first one obviously is in the 70s, but we did do Friday the 13th, this past Halloween series. So maybe, if not this year, next year for sure. Those slots for the Halloween series, they get snatched up real quick.

SPEAKER_00:

Highly coveted.

SPEAKER_03:

Highly coveted. He also, and this is why we will probably cover him more than once, he also cut the film Little Monsters. I could see us doing that at some point. Yeah, I think so. And then I brought these up because of you. He was the editor. I thought this was really interesting. He cut both The Stand and The Shining. And those are both Stephen King, right?

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, there were like TV miniseries versions of those. And for like The Stand, I think that's all there's ever been. I don't know if there's...

SPEAKER_03:

Yeah, this is both for the TV miniseries. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah. I think Rob Lowe... Is in the TV... The stand? Yeah, I think

SPEAKER_01:

he

SPEAKER_00:

is. Okay. It was okay. It is probably the standout, and it hasn't aged well. I think just that's the nature of looking at TV series. They don't really stack up with modern stuff. The early

SPEAKER_03:

90s were such a popular time for Stephen King miniseries.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah. Yeah, they were. But now, I'm way off track again, but... My hope is that some of these get redone, like the movie version of The Dark Tower was abysmal, but they are working on putting together just like a proper series on a streaming service. That would make way more sense. Anyways.

SPEAKER_03:

No, that's great. So he also just a couple more credits for him. I brought this one in because of the other credit we talked about. He cut the TV series of Roswell and then a film called, I'm going to say, Silencio.

SPEAKER_00:

Okay. Oh, yeah. Silencio.

SPEAKER_03:

Yeah, right?

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, that's

SPEAKER_03:

exactly... Okay. So, stars of the film. We have talked about them at length already. However, let's do it. So, first up, we have Rick Moranis. He is Bob McKenzie. So, okay, in case... I strongly feel that you should watch this movie before you would listen to this podcast. Otherwise, just like it's already nonsensical. And if you haven't seen the movie, it would just be, I think, very hard to follow along.

SPEAKER_00:

If you have not seen the movie yet and you're listening to this, what are you doing? Why? How? How did we even get here? Because

SPEAKER_03:

we're just that... Maybe we... We make it compelling.

SPEAKER_00:

So watch the movie.

SPEAKER_03:

But watch the movie. Watch the movie. So Rick Moranis and Dave Thomas are brothers. The characters are brothers. Yes. And Rick Moranis is, I guess, the younger brother, Bob McKenzie. And as far as... Once we also cover Dave Thomas, we can go into the story more so. But as far as I mentioned earlier in this episode, Rick Moranis, I think anybody who... has any kind of passing interest in film is probably somewhat aware of the fact that Rick Moranis in large part stepped away from the industry. Not in totality. If you actually look at his filmography, even in the mid to late 90s... He's doing some voice stuff. He's doing some stuff. Yeah. Because some people are like, oh, he just retired from Hollywood. That's not really true. However... Unfortunately, he lost his wife when they had two very small children. And so he did this amazing thing where, I mean, that is what you would hope any competent parent would do.

SPEAKER_00:

He was a dad.

SPEAKER_03:

He was a dad.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03:

And so he became a single parent and needed to be there for his kids. So he, I think, just became very selective about what he was going to do so that he could be there for them. So that's amazing. That is an amazing thing to do because he was like– I mean, I would say the late 80s, early 90s, and I think his wife did pass around like maybe 91. He was like at the height of his popularity.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah. So– I mean, he could have done what– Some celebrities, wealthy people do and just get like a nanny and then have a few more kids with like a few more different people and not also take care of them either. Yeah. Wait, I'm thinking of some professional athletes, I think. Oh, well.

SPEAKER_03:

A lot of people. Politicians.

SPEAKER_00:

Oh,

SPEAKER_03:

yeah. So, yeah, there's a lot of people that take that route.

SPEAKER_00:

He went the other way. He

SPEAKER_03:

went the other way. And, you know. Anyway, I don't want to wax on about it, but that's why we haven't seen as much of him as maybe we would have. However, we're 30 years removed at this point, which is kind of incredible to say, from when his wife passed. You hear here and there about projects that might be in whatever stage of development that he might be attached to, but as far as what I have— pulled as far as his filmography goes. So a lot of the things that we've already talked about, the fact that he was on SCTV as well as SCTV Network. Of course, he is beloved as Louis Tully from Ghostbusters, and he comes back for the sequel, Ghostbusters 2. I think probably a lot of people also know that that role was supposed... And it was given. It was given to John Candy. It's just that Candy had an idea... of how he wanted to play that character that just didn't seem to vibe with... Do you know the story? No,

SPEAKER_00:

I don't. I mean, I could see either one of them being in that role, so I'm curious what he did different.

SPEAKER_03:

I guess... Now, I haven't taken a deep dive in researching what went down. But basically, Candy wanted to be like a German character. So he's going to have this like really strong accent and just have like this whole idea of how he wanted to do this character. And Ivan Reitman was just like, no.

SPEAKER_00:

So if an actor has an idea like that and like Reitman or a director is like, no, no. Wouldn't there be like an opera? Like, is there a chance to be like, oh, OK, well, I'll do it this other way? Or is that just is it like Eric Stoltz on Back to the Future? And they're like, no, man, get out.

SPEAKER_03:

You're out of here. I

SPEAKER_00:

think

SPEAKER_03:

it depends. I mean, I would like to think at this point, because like Candy and Reitman and Harold Ramis and Bill Murray and like all those guys that were part of that film, they all had been working together and they all knew each other. I'd like to think that there was a conversation had and maybe when Reitman was like this isn't exactly what I envisioned this isn't what I want and Candy is like well this is the way I'd like to do the character hopefully they amicably were like okay well then

SPEAKER_01:

yeah I'm just not interested it's not gonna work for us

SPEAKER_03:

okay so I'd like to think that's the way it panned out I don't know if that's the case so all I know is that Candy had an idea of the character that overall was just like not gonna work for the film so In any case, Rick Moranis kind of at the 11th hour stepped in, and I think we're lucky for it. No shade to John Candy. No. But Rick Moranis is like, he steals that movie, honestly. And that's saying something when you have people like Bill Murray, Harold Ramis, and Dan Aykroyd in that film. I'm

SPEAKER_00:

just thinking of how amazing it would have been seeing Sigourney Weaver and John Candy as the gatekeeper and key master.

SPEAKER_03:

I mean, it still would have been funny but okay so and I do have almost entirely all film credits for him he I mean he had an incredible 80s and this is not the first time we've brought him up he did Brewster's Millions the other title so far oh and of course we did Ghostbusters yeah goes without saying but The other title besides Ghostbusters that we've already covered with him is Little Shop of Horrors. So definitely go check that one out. I'm sure at some point we will do Spaceballs. In fact, I don't know. It might be in the lineup for this year, for later on this year.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, I'm kind of shocked that we haven't. When I looked at the date, I'm like, oh, how have we not done that?

SPEAKER_03:

Now that I'm thinking about it, how odd that he's in two films that both spoof Star Wars.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03:

Kind of interesting, huh? Yeah. with that franchise that, you know, you'll see his name attached, like, I think like shorts or things like that. So he's been part of that. I would also really love to do Parenthood. That one's, I think, just under the wire. I think that's$89 million. Oh, you're right. Yeah. Yeah, he is the

SPEAKER_00:

DJ or the guy running the mud wrestling place, right?

SPEAKER_03:

I think so. Yeah. Yeah. So he is in that. He also has done a ton of voice work. So some different series that he's voiced on, Raw Tunage and King of the Hill. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

Oh, yeah. I love that show.

SPEAKER_03:

And most recently, a show, I don't know it, but I'm guessing it's like a kids maybe thing, Fast and Furious Spy Racers.

SPEAKER_00:

I... had done when I was still with the marketing group, some like clearance and review of stuff associated with that. So yeah.

SPEAKER_03:

Is it animated?

SPEAKER_00:

It is. Yeah. It's a DreamWorks. It's a DreamWorks animated show that follows like a relative of Toretto.

SPEAKER_03:

Got it. Yeah. But it's a cartoon.

SPEAKER_00:

Yes.

SPEAKER_03:

Interesting.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03:

So other acting credits for him. I know for a while, I never watched the show because I was just too young to be into it. Grace Under Fire. Hmm. So he was on that for a while. Also, I should have put this under the voice work, Justice League. Oh, okay. Yeah, some stuff on that. I don't know if I'm going to get heat for this. I actually never really watched the show Arrested Development. Not because I was against it. It just never really was part of my viewing experience. Whatever.

SPEAKER_00:

It's one of those shows where I think it... I think there was, like, a split or something. It got, like, picked up by Netflix.

SPEAKER_03:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

It was kind of

SPEAKER_03:

one of the first instances of that, right?

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah. And I really enjoyed the first, like, season or so. When it got over to Netflix, I tried watching it, and it felt like it was just... I don't know. It lost me at that point. But there are some, like, really amazingly funny episodes.

SPEAKER_03:

Those are all the shows where, like... I mean, I think that was... Jason Bateman's big return.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, I think so. Like, that's really

SPEAKER_03:

what kicked off kind of the second half of his career.

SPEAKER_00:

And what's his name from Lego Masters? Will Arnett. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03:

And also Tony Hale, right? He's

SPEAKER_00:

the other brother. Yeah, I think so. And he's gone on to do so many other things from, like, Veep to, like, his own, like, animation writing and stuff. Oh, interesting. Yeah, he created something that was on DreamWorks as well.

SPEAKER_03:

Oh, okay.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03:

And then... The other credits I have for him are coming back to this property. So, of course, he was part of Bob and Doug McKenzie's 2-4 anniversary and then voiced Doug as part of Bob and Doug. Okay, moving on to maybe the wildest casting decision ever for a film. The fact that Max von Sydow– am I saying it right?

SPEAKER_00:

Max von Sydow. Sydow.

SPEAKER_03:

Just say it quickly, Anna.

UNKNOWN:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03:

Von Sadow is in this movie, kind of breaks my brain.

SPEAKER_00:

They wrote the part for him, but never thought they'd get him.

SPEAKER_03:

Which is the most, like the highest compliment that both that they are like, we want to write it for this guy and the fact that he took it. Like, hopefully he had fun. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

You know, part of what helped was that his kid was a huge SCTV fan.

SPEAKER_03:

Gotcha.

SPEAKER_00:

And that played a big part.

SPEAKER_03:

That's a great little fun fact. Thanks

SPEAKER_00:

for that. That fact is fun.

SPEAKER_03:

So he is Brewmeister Smith, which I can't really think of a parallel to Hamlet. So it's like that's kind of where I think it ends, the Hamlet story. I

SPEAKER_00:

don't know why they did something to his teeth.

SPEAKER_03:

Yeah. Yeah. I mean, I don't know if that's...

SPEAKER_00:

Chompers.

SPEAKER_03:

Chompers. And I don't know if that also then impacted... He has a very commanding voice to begin with.

SPEAKER_00:

Was it to accentuate an accent or something? I think so. I

SPEAKER_03:

think so. But it's just so fucking bizarre that this guy is in this movie for a million reasons. Yeah. I mean, he is an Oscar-nominated actor, and... You know, had been– I really wonder what people were thinking when he– when this film was announced and they were like, oh, and by the way, Max von Sydow. I feel like I'm always tripping up on that. Oh, well. That he– I'm going to call him Max, Maxie. That he was part of this because, first of all, his first credit was in 1949 for a film called Only a Mother. And then his huge– creative association for a huge part of his career is with Igmar Bergman, of all people. Oh, wow. Highly acclaimed Swedish director. I mean, Max is also Swedish. So that's, I think, kind of where that collaboration comes from.

SPEAKER_00:

Some of the titles in his history, you're not even going to try to say. Oh,

SPEAKER_03:

for sure. For sure I'm not. But he was in like over a dozen movies. Like, and this, I'm talking like, it's like, I am, I am not an expert at all on international cinema, but Igmar Bergman is a highly regarded, critically acclaimed actor. film director. Yeah. And they obviously had a longstanding professional relationship. He was in films like The Seventh Seal, Wild Strawberries. Those are two of the most well-known films for me of Bergman's. So he's part of... First of all, he's part of that. So that's part of his career history. Then probably a huge segment of film fans... know him from The Exorcist. He is The Exorcist. I guess you can argue Father Paris is too. But they both are. But yeah. So, I mean, it's like insane that the guy from The Exorcist and what's his father?

SPEAKER_00:

Dyer?

SPEAKER_03:

Yes. Thank

SPEAKER_00:

you.

SPEAKER_03:

Yeah. That he is part of this film. It's just like hilarious to me. Well,

SPEAKER_00:

we're going to cover him in some other movies later. I'm sure of it.

SPEAKER_03:

Yeah, probably one this year because you have requested and I have to honor that to do a film that I'll bring up in a second. But actually, there will be a couple films. I'd like to think that maybe later in his career, he's like, let's just fucking have some fun with some of the– because like Bergman– okay, look, Bergman, great director. His movies aren't fun. So– They almost, for me, for my aesthetic, almost border sometimes on experimental in terms of storytelling and

SPEAKER_01:

that sort of thing.

SPEAKER_03:

Okay. But in any case, so he did come back. I know that this movie, and you hate this movie.

SPEAKER_00:

Oh, what?

SPEAKER_03:

Because he did come back for Exorcist II, The Heretic.

SPEAKER_00:

It's terrible.

SPEAKER_03:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

Wait, Father Marin? Okay, Father Marin. Who's Father Dyer?

SPEAKER_03:

Oh, Father Dyer is Karis's buddy.

SPEAKER_00:

Okay. Yeah. Okay. Yep. That's who he is. Corrections and retractions. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03:

So he does come back for that. He is in Three Days of the Condor. And then here's where I'm like, let's just have fun. He's in Flash Gordon.

SPEAKER_00:

Okay. As Emperor Ming. Yeah. Okay.

SPEAKER_03:

He is in Conan the Barbarian. There's actually a lot of movies from the 80s. Conan the Barbarian. Okay.

UNKNOWN:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03:

But he's in that. I don't know what character he is.

SPEAKER_00:

Never Say Never Again. Okay. Oh, Never Say Never Again, when they got Sean Connery to come back as James Bond. Yeah,

SPEAKER_03:

which is why that title is so fun. Here we go. He is in Dreamscape. Fuck yeah. So probably will be coming up again. Very timely. He was in David Lynch's Dune, who, as of this recording, Lynch passed away maybe about a week ago. So he is in that. Hannah and her sisters. So he does so much in his career, and it's only at this stage of it that he gets his very first Oscar nomination. Best actor for Pele the Conqueror. So that's the first one. He ultimately has two nominations before he passes away. He actually, I thought, I guess technically speaking we could cover that film, but I don't. think we would for a while. He is uncredited as the voice of Vigo in Ghostbusters 2. That's

SPEAKER_00:

crazy.

SPEAKER_03:

Right?

UNKNOWN:

Yeah, it is.

SPEAKER_00:

And also, yeah, no, I'm not beating down any doors to cover that. There are just a lot of other movies that we could probably get to before we're like Ghostbusters 2.

SPEAKER_03:

Or Pele the Conqueror, because that one's awesome.

SPEAKER_00:

Pele the Conqueror is definitely going to happen before Ghostbusters 2. Before

SPEAKER_03:

Ghostbusters 2. Yeah. He is in Awakenings, the first Judge Dredd, What Dreams May Come. You know, I do like this movie, although I don't throw it on a ton. He's in Minority Report.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, that movie is like shockingly accurate in some of its depictions of like a future. Yeah. Always on a camera state. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03:

He is in The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, Shutter Island. He gets his second Oscar nom, this time for Best Supporting Actor, for Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close. He is in... And then he becomes part of the Star Wars world. He is in Star Wars Episode VII, The Force Awakens.

SPEAKER_00:

Okay.

SPEAKER_03:

He was on... Now, I... Don't know if I remember what character he was, but he was on Game of Thrones.

SPEAKER_00:

I can't remember who or what. You're going to have to look up

SPEAKER_03:

the name. Was he the tree? I don't know if the name would help me. Oh, yeah, right. Yep, yep, yep. He is the three-eyed raven. Yeah. Yep. Thank you. Thank you for... He's the tree guy. Yeah, he's the tree guy. Okay. And then his final credit was a film called Echoes of the Past.

SPEAKER_00:

And then he was also in another Stephen King adaptation, Needful Things.

SPEAKER_03:

Oh, thank you for that.

SPEAKER_00:

I always catch those.

SPEAKER_03:

Yeah. No, it's good. Paul Dooley. Crazy eyebrows in this movie. I think they... Did they dye his eyebrows? Crazy eyebrows. He does not look like that literally a year later in 16 Candles.

SPEAKER_00:

No, that's– why could I not remember him?

SPEAKER_03:

So it's like what the fuck did they do with his– anyway. So he is Claude Elsinore. Claudius. Claudius, if we're going to reference his character counterpart in the play. He is the brother– I actually wish they would have leaned more into this, although I think that would take away from like the comedy– He is the brother who I think in in the play, he and Gertrude very much do murder the king. And this one, he doesn't. directly murder his brother, once his brother's already dead, he sets up the body to look like he's been electrocuted. Yeah. So, but he's complicit. He doesn't try to stop Brewmeister Smith from killing him. I think he's aware of what is going to happen to his brother.

SPEAKER_02:

Mm-hmm.

SPEAKER_03:

And then it's like, fucking hell, he marries the wife the very next day. So it's like, okay. Not cool. Not sus at all. Paul Dooley... He is still very much with us, still acting at 96 years old. Shit, that's

SPEAKER_00:

awesome. That's super cool. It's amazing. I

SPEAKER_03:

love that people like Betty White and everyone of that generation gets their props. He needs to get some props. He's fucking 96 years old. He's still acting. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03:

I mean, come on. What's a guy got to do to get some attention for that? Yeah. Obviously, he's had a super long career. Some of the highlights that I've noted, he was in the film Slapshot. This—well, a couple films, honestly, might come up on our radar with him in it. We saw this not too long ago, although we haven't covered it yet, for the podcast Popeye.

SPEAKER_00:

How— We've seen it, but we haven't covered it. We haven't covered it yet. Yeah. I

SPEAKER_03:

think we're holding out to see if our friend will do it with us. So yes, at some point we will. It is kind of funny that like of all the John Hughes films, we haven't covered 16 Candles yet, but he is in that. He is Samantha's father. And honestly, he plays a super sweet character.

SPEAKER_00:

That'll be the last episode we ever do. Just have a good bookend between that. And it's

SPEAKER_03:

actually not a bad idea.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03:

So he has, of course, done some TV work. I don't know this show, but he's on a show called Coming of Age, Dream On. He also was on Grace Under Fire. He is part of the Star Trek world, Star Trek Deep Space Nine.

SPEAKER_00:

I've heard good things about that. I never got into it, but maybe one day. I

SPEAKER_03:

mean, he's been on so much. I'm going to circle back to some films. He was in the movie Shakes the Clown. Huh? That's the one with– I say everything wrong. Bobcat Goldthwaite.

SPEAKER_00:

Oh, Bobcat Goldthwaite.

SPEAKER_03:

Yeah. Did I get that out right? I think you got it out perfectly. Oh, shit. He's in that. Okay. Runaway Bride. More TV work. Once and again, The Practice ER. Curb Your Enthusiasm. And then he has his own franchise as well because– He's part of the Cars universe.

SPEAKER_00:

Oh, really? Okay. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03:

So Cars, I think as far as like feature length films are concerned, there's been Cars 1, 2, and 3. But then that is another franchise that's just had all these other things that have spun off from it. And he's been part of it, I think almost all of it. He's in the film For Your Consideration. And then lately, more TV work, the show Huge, as well as The Kids Are Alright. Wow.

SPEAKER_00:

Good for him.

SPEAKER_03:

Yeah, right? Okay. Moving on. We got two more people. First, Pamela Elsinore. Like I said, I think they did their best to try to mimic Hamlet, but a girl. I'm glad they switched it up to a chick. Pamlet? Pamlet. Kind of funny. Lynn Griffin.

UNKNOWN:

Okay.

SPEAKER_03:

And she's still working as well. Oh, that's so funny because something I misspoke on, she actually was in. I'll get to that in a second. Okay. So she is still very much working. In 2024 alone, she had eight credits. So very busy up to this day. Some of her credits include, I'm also going to get some flack for this because I'm not a huge fan of it. She was in the film Black Christmas.

SPEAKER_00:

No, yeah.

SPEAKER_03:

I don't even know which of the women she was, but... I can appreciate that

SPEAKER_00:

it's like— Maybe she was the one that's basically in the attic dead the whole time. I don't think she is. No? Okay. I don't

SPEAKER_03:

think that's her, but I don't know for sure. I know that film has an important part in horror history. It's just—

SPEAKER_00:

I may have expected something, and that's not what it was, and maybe that impacts how I look at it. But yeah, it wasn't a favorite of mine.

SPEAKER_03:

Same. She was in The Heavenly Kid. She has also done some voice work. She did some voice work for a show called Naughty. Don't know that. N-O-D-D-Y. She was on a TV show called Wind at My Back. This is interesting. I didn't even know this existed. And it is not part of the cast of characters that I watched growing up. But she was in a TV movie called Anne of Green Gables, A New Beginning.

SPEAKER_00:

Oh, wow. No.

SPEAKER_03:

No.

SPEAKER_00:

No? I

SPEAKER_03:

don't want to watch it.

SPEAKER_00:

Okay. To be clear, I've just thought, how exciting for you.

SPEAKER_03:

How exciting. Yeah. So she was on that. Here we go. So she was in the film version of the book adaptation, Fahrenheit 451. Oh,

SPEAKER_00:

okay.

SPEAKER_03:

That's the actual-

SPEAKER_00:

Just like the aliens.

SPEAKER_03:

Just like the aliens.

SPEAKER_00:

The aliens place is Area 451. Exactly. Okay.

SPEAKER_03:

Exactly that. And just in general, a lot of TV work. So she's been busy. So good for her. Okay, moving on to our final credit. This makes me really sad because he literally just passed away. Oh. Angus McGinnis.

SPEAKER_00:

Rosie. Rosie. From the intro clip,

SPEAKER_03:

yeah. Yeah. I guess his, like, so his next name's Rosie, but Jean LaRose is the character's name. He, the actor, just passed away on December 23rd.

SPEAKER_00:

Oh, my

SPEAKER_03:

God. So very, very recent. Yeah. And I mean, it's such an interesting inclusion of this character. So and just even the backstory, like he, I guess, is a or was a professional hockey player, but for whatever reason, had a nervous breakdown.

SPEAKER_00:

Yes.

SPEAKER_03:

And so now he works at the factory.

SPEAKER_00:

Well, it also. But he's been brainwashed, right? And it landed him. I think the I think it has something to do with like. the mental institution that's next to the brewery. You're right,

SPEAKER_03:

you're right.

SPEAKER_00:

So I think he might have been like a patient of...

SPEAKER_03:

You're right.

SPEAKER_00:

Because the brewmaster, Max von Sydow, is also... Like, does he run?

SPEAKER_03:

Like managing this like, you know, what they were probably calling at the time like an insane asylum.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03:

So, yeah, it's... Yeah, yeah. So let's get through his credits and then we'll dive into this story. So... McGinnis, here's what's fascinating to me is some of these films that he's been part of. So even well before this film, he is gold leader. That's right. In Star Wars episode 4, A New Hope. Otherwise known as Star Wars. Otherwise, I know. You like to say that. So he is gold leader in that film. He also is a prison warden in Superman 2.

SPEAKER_01:

Mm-hmm.

SPEAKER_03:

He– I don't know to what degree– like, okay, so we know those films pretty well. You know, no small roles, only small actors or whatever they say. But, like, minor roles he had in those films. I don't know to what degree he had more significant roles because I'm not super familiar with the rest of these films. Although– No, we did not watch this. We watched Presumed Denison. The other Harrison Ford film, Witness.

SPEAKER_00:

I'm pretty sure I remember his character in that because there is like a... Is he

SPEAKER_03:

Amish?

SPEAKER_00:

He's not. He's one of the bad guys, I'm pretty sure. Oh, okay. And I think if I remember, this is just off the top of my head, that Harrison Ford somehow tricks him into getting into one of the silos and they just dump everything down on him. So you're just watching him... Unable to find a way out because of all the dust. And then he's like buried alive. And you just see him like struggling to try to get out. Oh, that's actually– I think that's the guy. That's

SPEAKER_03:

like a legit nightmare to die that way. That's

SPEAKER_00:

why I still have that memory, I think. I still remember that.

SPEAKER_03:

That's horrifying. I've seen scenes like that in a couple movies. Same thing in the Superman– or not Superman. Spider-Man movie. Where– what's the– He becomes a baddie.

SPEAKER_00:

The Sandman guy?

SPEAKER_03:

Sandman. Like the same thing. Oh, it's horrifying. Horrifying. Yeah. Those scenes.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah. That moment from Witness, I'm like, oh my God. So if we watch it.

SPEAKER_03:

No. You might. I mean, it's a good movie. Turn me off of it. So he's in that. He's in Gross Anatomy. He also was in Judge Dredd.

SPEAKER_00:

The first one was Stallone? Correct. Okay.

SPEAKER_03:

Hellboy. Hellboy. He is in The Black Dahlia, more recently Captain Phillips, and then I love this. So I don't know if they just pulled old footage, or I should say like audio, but he reprises his role as Gold Leader, the voice of Gold Leader, in Rogue One A Star Wars Story.

SPEAKER_00:

That's awesome.

SPEAKER_03:

So I love that they did that. And yeah, over the course of his career, like I said, he's recently passed, but a lot of TV work, so... All right. Okay. Film synopsis.

SPEAKER_00:

What is the point of a film synopsis? Like, how? Here we go. Okay.

SPEAKER_03:

We're just going to do it. Canada's two most famous hosers, Bob and Doug McKenzie, get jobs at the Elsinore Brewery only to learn that something is rotten with the state of it.

SPEAKER_00:

Okay. Okay. OK, that's that something is rotten in the state of Denmark. Kind of. Yes, correct. I picked up what they put down. I like that.

SPEAKER_03:

Yeah, it's fun. I mean, the fact that somebody is able to put together a coherent little blurb about what this movie is about. Yeah,

SPEAKER_00:

that might be one of them. Honestly, that's one of the more impressive synopses.

SPEAKER_03:

Yeah,

SPEAKER_00:

that that we've seen.

SPEAKER_03:

Because I, and I know I often do forget when I'm like, oh, let's put a put in that. I'm going to remember this time. So before we even get into the Elsinore part of the story, you, I mean, you were talking about it as we were watching it. So there's this whole. Like

SPEAKER_00:

five or 10 minutes. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03:

It's like a cold open.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03:

And it has nothing to do with the rest of the film.

SPEAKER_00:

It's basically two cold opens because it's almost like, hey, you know us from this spoken word thing. Yes, they are definitely

SPEAKER_03:

going off the assumption that we are familiar with the characters.

SPEAKER_00:

And now we're in this movie theater premiering our movie and their movie is like shockingly good. It's intentionally bad.

SPEAKER_03:

Correct.

SPEAKER_00:

But even for that. It's

SPEAKER_03:

like mutants from AD 2051 or something like that.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah. Is the movie. The plot was even more nonsensical than the actual plot of the real movie that was after the movie within a movie. Yes. Yeah. But by the time the crowd begins to riot because of how awful this movie is, then you get to them like getting in the van and. Taking off opening credits.

SPEAKER_03:

Yes.

SPEAKER_00:

Music by Dave Thomas's brother. Performed by his brother. Oh,

SPEAKER_03:

that is so fun. That song. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, look, personally, I think the bit goes on a little too long.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, it does. It very much does. I

SPEAKER_03:

guess maybe it's supposed to establish like. show you who these two characters are, kind of how dense they are, the loving animosity between the two of them, the way they interact with each other. But the bit itself is just a little too long. It is. And it is really surreal because it's like, okay, so they're talking directly to the screen. So it's as if they're breaking the fourth wall.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, you see the theater crowd. At a certain point.

SPEAKER_03:

But that's what's so weird about it is that it doesn't open that way. You think that they're like– not that you actually think they're talking to us, but they're just talking to the camera. And they're talking to the camera to introduce a film that they've done. So it's a movie about– A movie. Within a movie. Initially. And then once they introduce that an audience is watching this, now it's a movie in a movie in a movie.

SPEAKER_00:

And they're in that movie.

SPEAKER_03:

And they're in that movie.

SPEAKER_00:

Watching themselves. Yes. On that movie that's showing another movie. Yes. Oh, my God.

SPEAKER_03:

It's very...

SPEAKER_00:

Super meta. Convoluted. Yes.

SPEAKER_03:

So, yes, you're absolutely right. It doesn't work out. Not only is it a bad movie, but then the movie breaks. So, the... Mutants from AD51 breaks. The movie of the brothers viewing the movie doesn't break. That's still playing on the screen. But the audience is like fucking over it. And so, yes, they riot essentially. The brothers get away. And then it turns into a totally different movie where they

SPEAKER_00:

go home. Well, the only thing that connects it is because Rick Moranis gives– the dad's beer money to

SPEAKER_03:

someone

SPEAKER_00:

as like a refund for their movie tickets. Wow,

SPEAKER_03:

the most tenuous of connections.

SPEAKER_00:

Then they get home and their dad, who of course is voiced by someone that we didn't listen to credits, but it's Mel Blanc.

SPEAKER_03:

Yes.

SPEAKER_00:

From Blanc, Blanc?

SPEAKER_03:

I think it's Blanc.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah. Yeah. So that's why they have to try to get beer and they use the trick with the mouse in the beer bottle.

SPEAKER_03:

You know what's kind of fun about Mel Blanc? So, like, okay, so if you

SPEAKER_00:

don't know... So many things.

SPEAKER_03:

Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck. So those are his two main characters. But I just looked it up. He also did Barney Rubble, which is fun because Rick Moranis played Barney Rubble in the live version of The Flintstones.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, that is fun.

SPEAKER_03:

Yeah. So I'm sorry to interrupt.

SPEAKER_00:

Oh, I don't even know what I was saying.

SPEAKER_03:

Well, you were actually...

SPEAKER_00:

Yes,

SPEAKER_03:

positing that the cold open does connect to the rest of the film.

SPEAKER_00:

There probably is an easier way for Rick Moranis' character to lose the 15 bucks from his dad.

SPEAKER_03:

Yeah. Yeah. And it's, you know, I think they probably are supposed to be the definition of lovable losers. They're unemployed. They live at home. They just kind of spend their days drinking beer and eating doughnuts. is what it appears to be. Is

SPEAKER_00:

that not just a Canadian way of life?

SPEAKER_03:

Well, that's just it, yeah. It's not, but that's the... I didn't know that eating donuts was a Canadian stereotype, but it's very prominent throughout the film.

SPEAKER_00:

There are a lot of donuts. A lot of donuts. They bribe that lady with donuts.

SPEAKER_03:

And that's why some of these things, I mean, a lot of things don't hold up, but that doesn't hold up where it's like, okay, so they're bribing somebody who, if we're going to go down that route, is like a... more voluptuous, larger. And so it's like, okay, that's the cheap joke is that you can lure information out of somebody like that with a donut.

SPEAKER_00:

That was, but honestly, in this movie, there were fewer of those kinds of jokes than I would have expected.

SPEAKER_03:

Yeah. I mean, Pamela is a very strong character, although, I mean, she's very strong until, like, I guess it makes sense, you know, when Brewmeister Smith and the uncle incapacitate her. I got the sense that he was like the older brewer or whatever, head brewer for Elsinore. It's like, why didn't you just kill them? Because they end up putting them in kegs anyway with the intention that– I guess they– were going to frame Bob and Doug.

SPEAKER_00:

That's exactly it, yeah.

SPEAKER_03:

But they could have just killed them to be assured that nobody was going to, you know, because exactly the most implausible thing happens.

SPEAKER_00:

If they were able to dress up as Doug and Bob when they kidnapped them. Which was actually kind of funny. Yeah, but if they were able to do that, they could have just killed them while dressed up as Doug and Bob with the video that had the timestamp showing that it was totally not faked.

UNKNOWN:

Right.

SPEAKER_03:

Which is hilarious when they're in the courtroom and the uncle makes a point of saying that and Brumeister-Smith just does the whole, like...

SPEAKER_00:

Max Ronsonau is just having this look on his face like, what the

SPEAKER_03:

fuck, man? Like, you fucking idiot.

SPEAKER_00:

Shut up about it.

SPEAKER_03:

But that actually brings up my absolute favorite part of the entire film, which is... The supernatural component.

SPEAKER_00:

There's no scientific explanation for this.

SPEAKER_03:

I love... And then that is another legitimate Hamlet connection. Yes. Because the ghost of his father visits him. Yeah. And tries to alert him to what's happened. And I do love so much that Pamela's father does the same thing via... Initially... Initially via a video game, an arcade game. Yep. And then it goes well beyond that where like he does somewhat materialize, but he materializes in like an electronic form kind of.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03:

Can't talk, which I think that does... adhere to Hamlet's story. I don't think his father can talk.

SPEAKER_00:

So it's like vision? I think so.

SPEAKER_03:

I haven't read my Hamlet in a while either.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, I haven't. It's been a couple weeks at least.

SPEAKER_03:

It's been a couple weeks. But I think it's the same. So I do find that super interesting and I love so much that they have this common refrain of the way that they show his face on like a video screen. Something about it just like... I just really like it. So that to me was super fun. Maybe it's because I just love anything supernatural.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03:

Yeah. So it was kind of a fun part of it. I mean, Pamela, I think she is a, again, very competent character until they basically render her catatonic after the keg incident.

SPEAKER_00:

I didn't fully understand that. I

SPEAKER_03:

don't know if it was just like she hit her head or something.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03:

I

SPEAKER_00:

thought it was like the second dart they hit her with did something, but it could have just been all of it. Oh, you're

SPEAKER_03:

right. That actually could have been, yes, because I think she was lucid and was about to tell them

SPEAKER_00:

what was going to happen. Yeah, and then Max von Sydow had like the sniper tranq dart.

SPEAKER_03:

Yes, yes. And for some reason that... scrambled her brains.

SPEAKER_00:

And the cop immediately, when she got hit by it, she just passes out. And the cop, the detective was like,

SPEAKER_03:

all right, she's passed out. She's chained head. Um, let's move on. Let's move on. So her, the story between her and Rosie is whatever, like he, he is a very likable character. Honestly, um, Yeah, he's great. I love this character. Depending on what we're talking about in the movie, more likable than the brothers. Yeah. Sometimes the brothers are a little too much.

SPEAKER_00:

It was a little Big Trouble in Little China-esque where they weren't even really the main characters. He was the protagonist along with Pamela.

SPEAKER_03:

You're absolutely right. So I don't honestly know which... Okay, so in terms of story, if we're trying to break it down, they need to get their dad beer. And they want it, of course, themselves.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03:

They don't have money. The dad's not going to give them any more money. They don't have jobs. So they don't have any money.

SPEAKER_00:

Apparently, the store that they went to, they had to just make that up themselves because the actual beer store, which wasn't called the beer store. In the movie, they called it the beer store. But the real life one that wouldn't let them do that then later changed their name to the beer store.

SPEAKER_03:

Oh, interesting.

SPEAKER_00:

But yeah, I thought that just looked a really interesting way of purchasing beer.

SPEAKER_03:

The whole setup was... Really? That's one of those things where I'm like, that's definitely over our head. Maybe that is like a Canadian thing. I felt bad because it did seem like they were very much using a real mouse in a beer can, beer bottle. And so that's what they claim. Like, oh, I found this mouse in my beer. We want free beer.

SPEAKER_00:

So we heard like you get like a free case, eh?

SPEAKER_03:

You're really good at that. So the guy's like, fuck off. If you want free beer, go to the brewery. So they do. That's when... They somewhat take their fake complaint seriously. So they end up becoming Laverne and Shirley and get jobs on the line to check the beer for mice. Quality

SPEAKER_00:

assurance. Quality assurance. Yes.

SPEAKER_03:

So that's when that happens. But then... they go into some backroom where they kind of figure out Brewmeister Smith's master plan to control the human race through contaminated beer.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, I wasn't really sure what his endgame was there.

SPEAKER_03:

Yeah, but I was saying it's like a funny, like a... A less thought out version of the Samuel L. Jackson character from The Kingsman because it's kind of the same thing.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, it is. It is a little bit. Yeah. Because you're

SPEAKER_03:

controlling them. Yeah. You're controlling behavior with something that's like, apparently just everybody in the world is going to drink Elsinore beer.

SPEAKER_00:

And then listen to like a... Yeah, I don't

SPEAKER_03:

know how they were going to blast that out across the world, but anyway.

SPEAKER_00:

It's all the organ music that all the Canadians would hear at hockey games, apparently. Oh,

SPEAKER_03:

maybe. Yeah. I don't know. That's when they're put on trial because they're so fucking bizarre. The judge declares a mistrial and sends them to that insane asylum.

SPEAKER_00:

Where they just start doing steamrollers on each other.

SPEAKER_03:

It actually was funny. And then, oh, my God. This is where I kind of lose track. So, like, Brewmeister Smith, I guess, is going to try to kill all of them.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_03:

Uh, he specifically tries to kill Bob and Pamela by putting them in this room. And then the, the, the idea is he's going to drown them in beer.

SPEAKER_00:

Yes. Yes. That is what, that is what was going to happen.

SPEAKER_03:

Okay. However, what does happen?

SPEAKER_00:

Rick Moranis first pees in the beer.

SPEAKER_03:

Oh my God, it's

SPEAKER_00:

so gross.

SPEAKER_01:

At first,

SPEAKER_00:

they were gonna wait for the beer to fill up so they could maybe just like tread water, float all the way up to the port and open it up, get out. Instead, he pees in it first because Pam is like, did it just suddenly get warmer? Ugh. And then he drinks all the beer.

SPEAKER_03:

Yes, that's why it's so fucking gross.

SPEAKER_00:

But honestly, like a whole giant vat of beer, you probably wouldn't even notice the difference.

SPEAKER_03:

It's so gross. Anyway, and I think maybe that's why that scene sticks in my head. Because maybe even as a kid, I was like, that is fucking disgusting. Yeah,

SPEAKER_00:

he's giant. It's like in a movie where not much makes sense, that scene. somehow even stretches the limits. Yes.

SPEAKER_03:

Of even what's been established as reality in that movie.

SPEAKER_00:

But then watching everyone try to get him out and whenever anyone would like touch him near like his like lower abdomen, you just hear him go like, oh, don't touch me there. Jesus.

SPEAKER_03:

So I guess the brewery catches on fire. He puts it out with his pee.

SPEAKER_00:

What he did in two minutes would have taken them two hours.

SPEAKER_03:

Yes.

SPEAKER_00:

I think is what the firefighters say.

SPEAKER_03:

However, Brewmeister Smith has already sent the contaminated beer to some Oktoberfest. So then that's when, I mean, this is when it gets even more bizarre. They decide the way to save the day is to put a white stripe down... Their

SPEAKER_00:

dog, Hosehead. Their

SPEAKER_03:

Hosehead.

SPEAKER_00:

Yes.

SPEAKER_03:

And apparently they know that this dog flies.

SPEAKER_00:

Well, I don't know if they even knew that, but... They show him a map. So I think they expected him to follow the map, not as the crow flies kind of thing. But they paint the stripes so that he looks like a skunk. They tell him how to get there. I think they promise him sausages and beer.

SPEAKER_01:

Okay.

SPEAKER_00:

Which we know that Hosehead loves beer and all dogs love sausages. So then he takes off running and fucking flies and sprouts a cape.

SPEAKER_03:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

and flies to the Oktoberfest. It is,

SPEAKER_03:

it is just a bonkers fucking movie.

SPEAKER_00:

We don't often go through like this much of the, of the actual like plot and story, but I feel like it's necessary just to get out how crazy I need to get this out of my head somehow. That's

SPEAKER_03:

why I literally opened by saying this is the fever dream of a movie.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03:

Because it is so off the wall. The fact that a major, major minor studio like MGM backed it is kind of insane. Uh, It would never be made today. Can

SPEAKER_00:

you imagine if it was a David Lynch movie? How much weirder it could have got?

SPEAKER_03:

That's interesting. I mean, yeah. But even today, I mean, not to get too serious about it, but many high-profile independent directors like Jim Jarmusch and stuff have said they just can't get anything funded anymore. So even, I think, if you were still

SPEAKER_00:

with us... I have no idea how a movie like this would be made today,

SPEAKER_03:

yeah. Yeah. Like, it's just insanity that they threw money at this movie to get made. I

SPEAKER_00:

mean, look, the fall guy got made. Yeah. And that made very little sense.

SPEAKER_03:

Yeah. Well, so that's pretty much it. So then Hosehead saves the day because everybody's like, oh, my God, a skunk. And

SPEAKER_00:

they take off. Because it's a giant skunk. Because it's a giant skunk. Hosehead proceeds to just eat tables of sausages. I'm sure that's going to end well.

SPEAKER_03:

And then they like give the beer to Bob and like the brothers to drink.

SPEAKER_00:

The brothers ask Rosie about the actual like, hey, is it like poison or like, can we just take this and drink it? And he's like, well, not really. They're like beauty. And they hop in the truck and take off credits.

SPEAKER_03:

Credits.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03:

And Rosie and Pamela live happily ever after as well. Yep. Oh, yeah. One thing we're overlooking is what happens to the uncle? I just remember him being covered in, like, shipping stickers or something like that. The... Brewmeister Smith dies because the father essentially gets his revenge because Brewmeister Smith falls upon a, like, light board of, like, the United States and it electrocutes him.

SPEAKER_00:

And the uncle is... basically assaulted by the patients that were

SPEAKER_01:

like, Oh,

SPEAKER_00:

okay. Right. That were dressing up for the hockey, for the crazy hockey games. Okay. And they, they, they treat him pretty easily. Actually. Like he doesn't. Yeah. I mean,

SPEAKER_03:

the reason why these things are all like, Oh yeah, that's right. And this, this happens, this happened because it's not, it's not really a coherent film. It actually, again, it's a fever dream. It's fun. It's have it on at a party. Um, It's a hard film to like sit down. It actually, you know, we talk all the time about how many films we just kept playing in the background and that it's always interesting when we finally get the chance, even for films we think we know really well, to like sit down and just focus on it and watch it from start to finish. This is definitely a film that is much better, I think, ingested when you're not trying to just concentrate on it and sit down and focus solely on it.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, it was. Like I think I mentioned before, like you kind of get like this... Like comedy fatigue.

SPEAKER_01:

Yes.

SPEAKER_00:

Which is kind of what I felt watching Airplane, honestly. Some of these movies, the runtime makes it difficult to stay invested with jokes, just the pace of the jokes. And this, honestly, not many movies really match the pace at which you're hit with jokes like Airplane.

SPEAKER_01:

Absolutely.

SPEAKER_00:

But this one just... because you couldn't really tell where it was going because so much of it didn't make much sense. You're like, I don't know. The end could be in like five minutes or three hours. I have no idea. Totally agree with you. And that is kind of how it ended. Like it just ended. And then like you hear the music and you're like, I guess it's over.

SPEAKER_03:

And that's it.

SPEAKER_00:

Thank you for listening.

SPEAKER_03:

So call to action. I mean... I honestly like I don't think this is a super obscure film, but I am curious how many people are familiar with it and

SPEAKER_00:

like what their thoughts are. I think a lot of people are aware of it, but probably fewer people have like sat down and watched the whole damn thing. Especially recently.

SPEAKER_03:

So we would love to hear what you have to say about it. If you want to reach out. You can reach out through Instagram, Facebook, or Blue Sky. Oh,

SPEAKER_00:

wow. I feel like there may have been one that you used to say that you didn't say again.

SPEAKER_03:

We are now on Blue Sky, no longer X. But it is still the same handle for all three. So it is at 80s Montage Pod and 80s is 80S.

SPEAKER_00:

Fuck those hosers.

SPEAKER_03:

Yeah, big time. So sneak peek. Per usual for this season, I have not told you what

SPEAKER_01:

the next film was going to be.

SPEAKER_00:

I was going to ask you before we started recording, but I realized I would have just forgot by the time we are going through the whole thing. So no, I have no idea.

SPEAKER_03:

Well, I don't think this is going to be much help at

SPEAKER_00:

all. Perfect. That's my favorite kind of clue.

SPEAKER_03:

Okay, so moving from one critically acclaimed Shakespearean adaptation to another. Oh,

SPEAKER_00:

okay. Okay. Hmm. Is that the clue?

SPEAKER_03:

Yeah, but you almost certainly are not going to get it off of it. Oh, man. It's another very tenuous connection to a Shakespeare play. I

SPEAKER_00:

will. I'm going to need a little more.

SPEAKER_03:

Okay. So, oh, my gosh. His name. What's his name? Johnny Lawrence, but the actual actor. Zapka?

SPEAKER_00:

From Cobra Kai?

SPEAKER_03:

Yes. So, this is part of the William Zabka trilogy of bullies. If those two clues can get. So.

SPEAKER_00:

Is it Can't Buy Me Love? No. Oh, damn.

SPEAKER_03:

But you are, like, you're getting warm. You're getting warm. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So, teen flick.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03:

So, very, very, very loose Shakespearean adaptation. William Zabka is. Okay. And, okay, so let me think of a third clue. And then that's all I got. Then you're going to have to take a shot. Well, I guess you did take a shot with Can't Buy My Love. High school film. Well, I guess you would assume so. I guess you would assume so. With William Zabka.

SPEAKER_00:

What is the movie?

SPEAKER_03:

Just One of the Guys.

SPEAKER_00:

Oh, I was not going to get that. Okay. All right.

SPEAKER_03:

This is one that, again... Wait, what?

SPEAKER_00:

Never seen it.

SPEAKER_03:

I am just learning this information right now.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, I'm aware of it. I've probably seen clips, but I've never seen the whole thing.

SPEAKER_03:

Holy shit. Okay. Yeah, this is another one of those. Actually, I have a very clear memory of when I saw this because I saw this with my family and it was a super embarrassing moment seeing it with them. It's

SPEAKER_00:

like when I watch Tropic Thunder with my family.

SPEAKER_03:

Yeah, unlocking another core memory of embarrassment. Just one of the guys. So this one is, I mean, at least Strange Brew includes names and plot lines. Well, okay, Just One of the Guys includes plot lines too. But it's like they have direct pulls in Strange Brew like Elsinore

SPEAKER_01:

and things like that. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_03:

Just One of the Guys is a very, very loose adaptation of Twelfth Night.

SPEAKER_01:

Oh. Yeah. Okay. So,

SPEAKER_03:

all to say, gonna be super problematic, probably. Oh,

SPEAKER_00:

very much. Especially

SPEAKER_03:

the brother. The brother in this movie is super problematic.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_03:

But you haven't seen it, right?

SPEAKER_00:

No, but I know the concept of it, so I can only assume it's gonna be like, oh, there's gonna be, hmm, yeah.

SPEAKER_03:

But it's gonna be, I think, fun to talk about. So, on that note, thank you to everyone for... Yeah. I am overwhelmed by the number of podcasts because I love listening to podcasts. And there's so many out there. There's

SPEAKER_00:

so many. Take off those. There's so

SPEAKER_03:

many. And you're way better at that than I am. So thank you for making the choice to listen to ours. We really appreciate it. And we will talk to you again in two weeks' time.