Nuclear Annihilation is the theme this weak. First, "On the beach provide a yawning stare into oblivion. We suggest some ways it could be spiced up (hint/: Ava Gardner is involved). Next up, Sidney Lumet's "Fail Safe" manages to do a lot with just old guys talking in rooms (26:34). Probably not in Lumet's top 5, but it entertains to the last scene. And we learn never to cross Walter Matthau.
Next week: In and Out of Jail w/ The Friends of Eddie Coyle (1973) and Straight Time (1978).
Have your own recommendations? Contact the show:
24theroadshow@gmail.com
Nuclear Annihilation is the theme this weak. First, "On the beach provide a yawning stare into oblivion. We suggest some ways it could be spiced up (hint/: Ava Gardner is involved). Next up, Sidney Lumet's "Fail Safe" manages to do a lot with just old guys talking in rooms (26:34). Probably not in Lumet's top 5, but it entertains to the last scene. And we learn never to cross Walter Matthau.
Next week: In and Out of Jail w/ The Friends of Eddie Coyle (1973) and Straight Time (1978).
Have your own recommendations? Contact the show:
24theroadshow@gmail.com
Uno, uno, dos. Welcome to Two for the Road, Movies with Matt and Adam. I'm Matt. And I'm Adam. We are a podcast. We do once in a while. I used to say weekly, but it's been tough this summer. Yeah. You know, we got COVID and it's just. Anyway, we are a podcast, ever so often podcast that will, movie pairing podcast, and we will choose a theme, recommend a movie to the other guy based on the theme, watch, and discuss. And we have a 25 year age difference, so we come with a different set of movies to give each other, so. And this week it's, what is it, nuclear war? Yeah, it was like in honor of, like we thought we would be putting this out Right around when Oppenheimer came out. Yeah, about a month ago. Yeah, we got waylaid by the way. You know what? It's all good, Matt. Yeah. Oppenheimer's still in the theater. I just saw it last week. Yeah. You know, it's fine. Okay. It's fine. I'm cracking a beer. We're going to be good. All right. So our movies this week are a couple of, I would say, I mean, are they classics? Are they classics of the genre? I think so of the Cold War genre. I think that's pretty much both of them. The first one was 1959 I believe, On the Beach, which I'd never seen. Gregory Peck, Ava Gardner, Fred Astaire and Anthony Perkins who's constantly miscast in his roles. Okay, well let's start with the cast. So Gregory Peck, I've heard of him. I think I've seen a movie with him. Yeah, he's in Cape Fear. Yeah, he was a dad in Cape Fear. He's killed Mockingbird's most famous for. Okay, maybe that's where I could recognize him. That's the one that was written for him. All right, perfect. Because whenever I see him in movies I'm like, you're nothing. You're nothing. Right. You're so boring. I'm bored watching you talk. And the problem is this movie is so boring. Is that your take? Yeah. I was bored to death watching this. Okay. It's like the anti-Blood Simple. Just too much talking going on. Nobody's saying anything. Well, it's a really interesting concept. Right. and then it's the way they did it is yeah directed by Stanley Kramer who usually does big big movies with a lot of people in them but you know mostly boring movies I guess well this is not a lot of talking so yeah if you don't like talking this movie's not for you right I mean the second one had a lot of talking but it was interesting, I think. Yeah, the talking led to things. Yeah, yeah. I mean, OK, the quick synopsis of the movie, the nuclear wars happened. The only place left on Earth for people have survived is Australia. But the cloud is coming soon to kill everybody. And there's a United States nuclear submarine that's docked there. so there's some Americans there hanging out. I don't know, nobody seemed to be in any rush to do anything. Well, what are you gonna do? I mean, there was no, I mean, I didn't, to me, there was no... No big conflict? No, yeah, it was, not that, not just that, it's just, it was, everybody was kind of resigned to what was gonna happen, and that was it. I didn't see any emotion, there wasn't much emotion in this movie. Of course, you get Gregory Peck, who's emotionless. Right. He was a problem. Anthony Perkins was a problem. This is Norman Bates, right? Yeah, Norman Bates, perfect for, but he was a guy that was constantly miscast in movies. Fear Strikes Out about a baseball player named Jimmy Pearsall. He couldn't even throw a ball. Is this like a Nick Cage thing? Is he connected to someone? Is this like, is this fella's last name really something else? I don't know. He did a few things with Hitchcock, like, you know, but, you know, he was supposed to be a naval officer, an Australian naval officer, I think. Oh, he was Australian? I believe so. Oh, good, good, good accent, buddy. Yeah, there was no accent. I mean, I think there was one scene where he tried an accent and he said, oh, fuck that, I can't do that. And he's so thin, you know, he kind of looks like somebody just got out of concentration camp. He's so thin, he doesn't look like a military officer. He's a slight fella. He is. You know, I don't know. I just found him, why not put somebody in there that has a little, hmm. Well his big plot point was he wanted his wife to kill their kid. Right, before. Before the cloud came. Yeah. Which is a dark topic. Yeah, the government's handing out pills. You know, to everybody who wants them. No, they weren't handing them out, he had to seek it out. Yeah, yeah, that's right. He had to find a guy. Yeah, he had to find a guy who knew a guy. I mean, not to be super dark, but like, you got a pistol that's got a bunch of pills right in it, buddy. You could all be taken out pretty quickly if that's your role. I mean, if death is certain, which it is, and you're resigned to that, why put that on your wife? Man up. Yeah. Yeah, he was just, eh. I didn't like his character. I didn't like him. I didn't like his acting. I thought it was just, you know, it was, God. I don't use the word weasel-y lightly, but he was weasel-y. So you got that. And then the life of this film comes from Ava Gardner, who I had no I don't think I've ever seen anything that she's ever been in So she's good. She's quite the dame. Yeah Married up Frank Sinatra. I think at one time and Mickey Rooney. I think That's a quite a swing Also, I saw I saw this story and maybe it's apocryphal or whatever But apparently she swam nude in Hemingway's pool one time and he ordered that the water would never be changed I love that story. Which is gross, it's like, okay, all right, Ernest, what the hell are you up to? So yeah, so she was quite the gallivanter, I guess we'll say. I mean, she was fine in this movie. She was age appropriate, I think. It wasn't like Gregory Peck was hitting on some 22-year-old nurse or something. I think they were fine together, you know? But still, it didn't go anywhere. I mean, she played a pretty upfront, sassy girl. Well, I was gonna say slutty, but maybe sassy is better. You know, I'm not trying to say, obviously, if whatever, there's connotations, like stud versus slut, whatever. But yeah, she was just down to bang, pretty much. Yeah, she was prepared for the end. Yeah, she was gonna have fun. Yeah, Gregory Peck was like, no. He was like diluting himself into this belief that his wife and kids were still alive. Right. That was a weird thing that was never totally explored. He just kind of snapped out of it one day. Yeah, and then he's all hot for her. Yeah. He's like, actually, I am horny. I can't resist Ava Gardner. Right. You know, I've never seen his wife, but she's probably no Ava Gardner. You, ma'am, no Ava Gardner. And then Fred Astaire shows up. Yeah. Also, this is also my first Fred Astaire movie. No tap dancing. Okay, so I had never actually even, maybe I'd seen Fred Astaire, but I had no mental image of what Fred Astaire looked like. This was not it. No. He's like a short guy, skinny. He's not a skinny guy. Yeah, just kinda like, I don't know, he looked like a villain. He could've played a villain. Yeah, he's another Weasley, but you know, 1959, he's probably in his 50s. This is well after Singing in the Rain. Yeah, yeah. Oh, he was born in 1899, so he was 60. 18? Okay, I think this is the first time on the show where an actor's birthday started with 18. 1899. So he was 60 years old. Okay. He was 60? Yeah. We look good for six. Yeah, well, you know dance action dance in all his life. Yeah Yeah, he's fine. He's a good actor. He's he's you know, it is He was in one of the weirdest races I've ever seen on screen. I loved it Yeah, that was the best part of the movie this cars flaming out and burning and I love that Everyone's going for it. I might as well die here. I'm gonna die. Yeah, it was just it was just chaos just death all around and He had the best Yeah, definitely, you know, it's like some death wish kind of thing, you know some death race That was the best part of the movie the most exciting the only time I really enjoyed the movies when they were on out at the Sea, I Thought that was interesting when they went to San Francisco They were checking that place out. Yeah, it made it a little more interest. But you know when they were in Australia just Felt flat to me. There were some interesting parts. I thought like the There's this bar And like they're running out of wine and they're kind of talking about that. Yeah. Yeah, I Don't know like people on the beach having a good time It's like it just made me think like what would I do right if I knew that a couple months down the road? You were gonna be dead. Yeah, cuz we talked about a movie. I think was called. I think it's called last night I can't remember what we've talked about on the show with With oh, yeah. Yeah Sandra Oh Sandra Oh, and yeah, so she you know, and that's what it's like It's happening at this time this day that you know, so it's like a little bit more definite but this one's more like It's coming like we can't tell you exactly when but they're gonna start getting sick Yeah, no telling when everybody's gonna die. It's not gonna happen all at the same time you want it does come right? So it was just interesting that people were just like well I guess it just makes sense to go to the beach you don't we're doing and plus it also makes sense as Australia because yeah those People just vibrate at a different frequency than the rest of the humanity They're just weird you you would you would think you think everybody would just be drunk Yeah Maybe they did that. Maybe we're past that phase. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, maybe they're like me That's why they're running out of wine like yeah, we did the drunk thing for a few months and now we're just sort of Waiting it out. Yeah, we're just waiting it out. And like there's like some religious stuff in there. There's a couple of things that were interesting, but I feel like those threads weren't totally pulled. They were never explored in a way that like made it really interesting. Yeah, I guess I just felt like where are we going with this? I mean, okay, everybody's gonna die at some point, but I just felt it was so slow and plotting and just nobody Nobody was interesting except Ava Gardner You know, but I don't know. I think Gregory Peck wasn't interesting. Is he ever he was good and kill a mockingbird. But I don't know. I just. I just felt like a I don't know, I just didn't feel like it was a very good movie. I don't know how many Stanley Kramer's done some good movies like Judgment and Nuremberg Inherit the Wind. I guess who's coming to dinner, which I don't like but you know It's done some better movies than this Yeah, I guess The takeaway from this movie. I think the thing that you could appreciate about it is It's just about like going out on your own terms, right? Right. Everyone's got their own way that they want to do it Everyone gets what they want except Ava Gardner Yeah Yeah, and she wants Gregory Peck. Yeah, which is It's like he decides to go with his crew out to sea and die that way. What a stupid decision, right? Could have taken her Happy or you get break you point. Oh, hey, guess what? We're breaking protocol. Yeah, we're bringing a woman aboard Maybe that would cause other problems. Yeah, it would have probably As men like them there, so there you go, but like couldn't just be like all right, man This is why I have a second in command You take them out right? Oh, what are you doing? Like we're all dead in three days. What are you who cares? Like why are we still standing on going out banging me? Yeah I'm Gregory Peck Yeah, have you seen Ava Gardner? Yeah Yeah, she wants me more than I want her. Yeah. Have you heard the Hemingway pool story? Yeah, come on gonna bang Yeah, so that was weird that he just like he's like well, I gotta do what the men say cuz that's what a leader does Yeah, so he takes off and sails into nothing Fred Astaire just the old Car exhaust in the right. Yeah, he has his race car kill himself and then our boy Anthony Perkins he you know whole family murder-suicide thing cool and then Ava Gardner just left there just by herself yeah she gets the shaft on that one yeah but I mean she wanted the shaft but she got the whatever she got the other shaft yeah yeah yeah she got the short end of the stick so yes at the end she's watching and this sub slink off into the sunset. And that's it. What did you think about the way that they kind of yada yada'd America has been destroyed? Yeah, it's like, that's another thing. There was no feeling. There was no feeling, and I think that was the problem with this film. I think there was no feeling to it, you know? And that's pretty much what they did was like, okay, everybody's dead. All our families are dead. It's interesting you say that because I feel like the second movie definitely has no feeling. But I think this movie at least tried. Like this movie tried to give a story to the characters. The second movie is like a manual of like how you handle a nuclear disaster. At least this one they like, you know, there was some stuff, like there's like the scene where Gregory Peck is like flirting with Ava Gardner, then like somehow like his dead wife gets brought up and like, ooh, awkward. But it wasn't much of anything. You get to see Ava Gardner drunk, trying to flirt with him. I mean, there is some stuff where it's like, okay, this is like hell. She had to do some acting. Yeah. She had to do some acting. Nobody else in this movie did. That's how humans might actually exist in the world. But um, yeah overall it was just it just I mean, yeah, Anthony Perkins and Gregory Beck What the what do you expect to bis cast? Yeah. Yeah Fred Astaire, what's what's he up to? I mean he was fine. Yeah. Yeah, he was he was weird and interesting and like he had like a I mean, I don't know why he chose this role. But yeah, it's weird. He was even in it it's like you're gonna be a a scientist? A scientist who drives a race car. You know, like most scientists. The nerdy race car driver. Yeah, I don't know. I get it, it did try it. It did try for some things, some feeling, but I just didn't feel it at all, you know? I mean, the only one who really, the guy that got off the ship, off the sub and swam, you know? Yeah, he was he's ready. Yeah, so that that is one of the best scenes where he's like, you know what? Again, I'm going out on my own terms, right? I'm I'm from San Francisco. We're here I'm gonna go check it out. See if the reports are true I mean from what they could see from the shore They probably are and he's like, you know If I'm gonna die I'm gonna die then like you have this weird contraption where like the periscope goes up and they're like, hello sailor Are you sure you're okay? And he's like, yeah, I'm just fishing He's like, all right, don't eat anything, see you later. That was a weird scene. It's stupid. Then they have this other scene where they are investigating this weird signal that's coming from somewhere. And this whole subplot was so stupid to me. Like why have, and it was just like some bottle caught in a curtain or something. It's like, why even have that? That meant, well, it got them there. It got them there. It was the only thing that they went to investigate. to see if anybody was still alive. Because somebody was sending signals. It wasn't anything they could read or anything like that. But yeah. But I think they were going for something bigger about this idea of how hope can actually be a bad thing. But it just didn't land. You know what I mean? That was my vibe there. The whole premise of how it was happening was just stupid. Agreed. Another good scene, the Fiery Grand Prix. Mary talks about that. Yep. Ava Gardner and Gregory Peck finally bang. Yep. Good for them. Good for them. I'm sure it was very lovely for them both. Then we finally get the scene where one of the soldiers, one of the crewmen, I guess I should say, has radiation poisoning, and I realize that is going to be the end for our ... He's the one I want to shore, I think, to check out the signal. I guess his outfit didn't work. I was disappointed in this, I thought it would be, I had heard about it, I thought it would be better. I think I liked it more than you, and I think I liked the concepts more than the execution. It's based on a novel, right? The novel's probably way better than the movie. Oh, I agree, I think it has an interesting concept, I just don't think it was done very well you know I think with a couple cash changes and you know some more feelings more whatever I think would be a lot better yeah well that is I guess all we have to say on the beach I think I was hyped up it's like everything I was reading was like oh this is a classic it's great and you watch it and the overall takeaway is it's just kind of boring it is yeah Yeah, that's the way I look at it. All right, let's do some, you want to guess the scores? I'm out of practice. IMDb, right, that's where we start. So only 14,000 people checking in. Hold on, let me make sure I have the right one here. Yes. Yep. I will say seven, three. Seven, one. Yeah, that's more realistic. I was thinking they were gonna give it a little higher. That's an interesting movie poster. It's like a red cloud. Right. Red clouds coming. It says drama romance but sci-fi. I don't see any of that. A little romance. Oh, one other scene that we did not mention is when Ava Gardner comes onto the ship and it's just like boners. There's a whole lot, all the dudes are like, hey! But when those men go to, I mean, when you go to the mainland and just be like, like, why are you still on the ship? You know you're gonna die. When you just be like, listen, I'm out. Right, I'm out for the night. Like, you're gonna court-martial me? Yeah. Like, what are you even talking about? Like, that justice system doesn't exist. It's based in Washington, D.C. They've been incinerated. I'm just gonna go out can meet a lovely lady. I'm gonna have a lovely time. Yeah, I mean in Australia That's you know That must have been a blast, but they weren't allowed off the ship I guess or they just chose not to be ridiculous how like these these systems and guidelines are still in place Yes, I don't think I don't think that's how it would have gone down. No I don't know that I have that much trust in the the men and women in the military to keep their composure with imminent death. All right, Rotten Tomatoes, we have 23 critics. Go 81. 78, and just 2,500 audience. 73. 69. You've gone high on everything. Yeah, I've given a little more than I should. You're relying on the reputation of the film. Yeah. There is no critics consensus about this movie. Here we go. Chicago Reader 2007. I think you would agree with this. A tiresome, talky, 1959 film. That's exactly what I thought. Too much talking going on. And here we go. Roger Moore from Movie Nation. Counterpunch. One of the most influential films ever made. and the saddest, is this the saddest movie ever made? It's no Brian song. I've never seen that either. But I mean, this is not the saddest movie ever made. I didn't feel sad at all. Go back, you know, stay with Ava Gardner, you dumb ass. You wanted to say bang, but you censored yourself. Yeah. Go out with a bang, don't go out with a bunch of dudes they're just gonna be like all weepy and weird when they're dying in the middle of the ocean. That call. All right, so. That's that. Yeah, it's kind of funny, because I was watching this, I was like, I kind of see the appeal of this movie, I kind of see like, it's an interesting concept, and then through this conversation, I realized, yeah, it's probably not that good. Yeah, I just, I didn't think it was, I like the concept, I just don't think it was done very well. Look give us more Ava Gardner It's like We always say like don't commit two crimes at the same time Don't cast a movie with Gregory Peck and Anthony Perkins. You can't have both You get one their conversations were dreadful Hey, if you cast Gregory Peck, you better cast Robert Mitchum. Yeah Something yeah Alright, are you ready to take a break? Yep. I will come back and we will talk about failsafe. And we're back our second movie of the week for near or full total nuclear Holocaust is 1964's Failsafe. Henry Fonda, Walter Matthau, character actors and Sidney Lumet is the director. Walter Matthau in a role that I never thought I'd see him in. He was good. Yeah he was good. He was good as a hawkish political science professor who is at parties that end at 530 a.m. Right and there's no cocaine. Those guys still awake. They're all drinking. Nobody seems stewed. Right exactly. What are they drinking like it now you said there wasn't cocaine, but maybe there was yeah, okay. Yeah, there might have been some 64 rich people who knows yeah. Yeah. I thought that was an interesting conversation at that party Remind me. Yeah, I Don't know somebody just asked him about you know nuclear war and he said well You know so many people are gonna get killed and and we just needed to keep it at this number or something. There's gonna be so many people who survive and blah, blah, blah. So, I don't know, I just thought it was kind of interesting. Yeah, his character's interesting because he approached everything from a very matter of fact. Right, no emotions. Yeah, totally emotionless. Right. Then he gets hit on. What's Sidney Lumet in Slappin' Women in the movie? Yeah. Okay, that was weird. Like okay, well, we'll get into the regular movie the rest of the beer, but there was this yeah, that was weird that So Also wolf yeah, okay first of all Matt who is this day? I have never seen her before this new name. Do you do new Dame all right well? Yeah, she was The only did well there was one other Dame later, but she's basically the only Dame in this movie right and yeah, she's hitting on watching Mathow and And she grabs his wiener and he slaps the shit out of her. It's like, what? He let her have it. Why are we, okay, first of all, there's a way. Walter, Walter, if I can talk to you. There's a polite way to decline an unwanted and unwarranted wiener grab. Right you take the person lady or fella whoever it is. Yeah, you take their hand you gently move it away, and you say I'm not interested right, but I do appreciate your I Appreciate I I appreciate this as a compliment, but I'm not interested in pursuing this any further. Yeah, that's all you gotta do You don't slap the fucking shit out of someone I wouldn't Yeah, she is Her name is Nancy Berg Was her name in the movie or her real? That's her real. Her name is Ilsa Wolf in the movie. Oh, yeah, it'll so Wolf Yeah, that's what Also wolf is the most made-up sounding name I've ever heard Character Ilsa, you know, so wolf with an E on the end. She did mostly Television, okay. Well Claim to fame that slapped by Walter Matthau after grabbing his weenie How many women do you think Walter Matthau has slapped off camera? Is it more or less than four? Probably right around. I'd go with over under. Now we're besmirching Walter Matthau, who I actually really like. This movie is weird because it starts with people and then it totally becomes process. Right like we we we we meet Walter Matthau. Okay. This is a very calculated man He's a man of high moral standards. He's a Weiner grab he does not extend a guy's ear. Yep. You know he's there. You know he's the only real non-military person in the meeting and even backing up we meet like this general who wakes up sweaty general black Having this matador dream. Yeah, so we meet him and see that But we see this other colonel who's dealing with these drunk parents and he's got his own thing going on with that. So you feel like, okay, this is like, we're going to really dive into who these characters are and how their relationships evolve. Then we get into the war room. That's where it stops. And it's just like, look at the screen. Look at these blips and bloops and what's happening. That's really what we're gonna talk about right? Yeah, it's interesting how that unfolded Yeah, I mean, you know, we we learn a little bit about the people during the whole, you know You know When everything when the shit hits the fan, you know, we learn about the president a little bit who's played by Henry Fonda We learned that his wife is in New York City We learned that General Black's family's in New York City and that comes home to roost later on, you know, that kind of stuff. But yeah, it's mostly, after that, it's mostly, we gotta stop this no matter what, you know. And then there's Larry Hagman, who's the. Who's that? Which one is he? He's the pilot? No, he was the interpreter. Oh, okay. He was. Buck, yeah. He's Buck. and Dallas, he was J.R., that's what I think he's most famous for. If they remade this movie, Buck would be the central focus of the movie, and he would be played by Dennis Quaid's kid. I forget his name, but he's in the TV show called, ugh, I forget the name of the TV show, but it's not a show you would like. No. It's all superheroes. No, I think it might be called. Superheroes. No, it's called, anyway. The Boys, it's called The Boys. You would not like it. Doesn't sound like it. No. But yeah, I mean, would it be different if it was made today? I'm sure it would've, yeah. Yeah, it would have to be person-focused. I think, I mean, I'm saying this, and then I've just seen Oppenheimer, and it's very similar to the movies we're watching for this week. It's people talking in rooms. Yeah, a lot of talking Where I felt the first one The talking didn't go anywhere at least this I enjoyed the conversations in this one but for the most part some of them are it get a little crazy the colonel goes a little nuts and it's It's it's his commanding officer But yeah, I think for this one the talking was more interesting first of all, it's just better written The pacing was better. I mean it's Sidney, right? He knows a thing or two about a thing or two. And it all mattered, right? Whether or not Gregory Peck bangs Ava Gardner outside on a porch the first time they meet doesn't really matter. It'd be better if he did. Yeah, it'd be a better movie. Right, but it doesn't actually matter. All these conversations, like they actually, you felt like the weight of something that could potentially happen. Right. It was emotions involved. Yeah. Things, this is gonna, this is not good. This is not gonna be good. It's not good. It's not good, and it just keeps getting worse and worse and worse, where the other movie was like, okay. Yeah, we're all gonna die, but. Yeah, a gas cloud is coming. It's like, okay, well, I'm still going to the beach. Yeah, we drank all the wine, so there's that, but yeah, I think this, I mean, because at that time in 1964, we were still in the middle of the, you know, the Cold War with the Russians and stuff like that. Duck and cover, man. Yeah, duck and cover. I remember doing that, you know, like that was going to help any of us, you know, especially Especially in 62 during the Bay of Pigs, that whole thing, the blockade and all that, we were scared to death because we were in Florida. Who goes first if they start firing missiles off? We do. Yeah. You made it. And none of it was going to help. So this movie, so we talked about this party, we get to meet Walter Matthau, and then this somebody really sort of becomes what it is once they, and they're showing around like a senator and like an arms dealer or whatever, like a military contractor, sorry. Yeah, he's a military contractor. I'm showing my leftist. Yeah, and it was a senator. Yeah, and they're talking about like, we got this fail-safe system. Let me do an exposition dump for three minutes and explain to you what this is. I still don't fucking understand what it was. Like planes fly to a certain spot, and then if something does not happen, then they just decide to bomb Moscow, right? There's more than that, but yeah, that's it Yeah, yeah, and then they're allowed to you know it gets to a certain point. They're not allowed to take radio messages. I mean Come on that the whole movie sort of hinges on a a very thin plot device, which is this quote unquote failsafe system. But if you just kind of forget about that, it's a great movie. I think it's the point of the movie. It's like, yeah, this is probably real, the failsafe thing. It doesn't work. Yeah, maybe that is the point. Yeah, I mean, it didn't work here, you know, and I think that's the whole point is we're not safe. You may call it fail-safe, but we're not safe. It's not going to work. Right. It all comes down to individuals. Right. Exactly. I mean, why didn't this guy with his pilot, when his wife gets on the horn, why doesn't he believe her? Why doesn't he say something like, tell me where we first had our first kiss? You know, something like that. Where only she would know. Right. Right. Yeah, I mean, that's obvious, the question somebody should have asked. Yeah, something like that. Yeah, you know, that was a big plot hole that you could drive a big truck through. Yeah, I get it. And I believe it's the president. I mean, you know, it could be Rich Little doing the president. I know, but like, it's not like we don't even have I mean, even like now, like the age of A.I., we don't have great, no great technology to like, you know, you can have like a fake Barack Obama, but you like it sounds fake, you know, like it's close, but it still sounds fake. Today they would be pictures I think. Yeah, but the whole thing with his wife, honey we had our first date here, believe me. You ordered this, you ordered the chocolate mall and I said oh you should probably get the video and you changed your mind. You know those little things that like only that person would know. Like just bring that up but no she sucked. Nobody around her was fell under the- She wasn't bringing the heat. It's almost like she's never done that before. Trying to stop nuclear war. So, yeah, so this fail-safe system doesn't work. The president gets on the horn with the Russian leader. He kept calling him chairman. Yeah. I think that's- Was that accurate? Yeah, I think that's chairman. All right. Yeah. Didn't give him his name. I don't remember his name. Maybe he said it. I don't think he, I don't know, maybe he didn't say it. Let's say Ivan. Yeah, and it's very, in a way, without the comedy, it's very similar to Dr. Strangelove, the feel of it. Yeah, the war room. The planes, yeah. Lumet, every time they show the planes or missiles or something, it's done in a negative. What do you mean? The picture, it looks like a negative of a film. It's all black and white, and it's dark and it's shadowy. Do you mean the blips on the screen? No, no, I'm talking about the pilots. I mean, when they show a plane streaking through the air or a missile going through the air, it was all done in this kind of black and white, which I thought was kind of interesting, the way he did it. Yeah, you don't really see the colorful planes or anything. I think it's more like they're just objects. So they're getting on the horn, Moscow's gonna be bombed, so the president agrees. Well, so before that, there is this recognition that Moscow can't stop it. Like, even we're telling them, like, they're coming here from here, like, it's beyond our capability to actually stop you. And they don't wanna admit it. Right. Yeah, so yeah, there's nothing we oh you don't have been capabilities of stopping us, huh? That's interesting. Right, so everyone so each side is sort of like revealing these things that are sensitive and so we could I'm saying we as if like I'm now I'm like Team America like we could have just been like oh you can't stop it. Interesting. Maybe we'll just keep going. We have more to do. But no, as you were getting to... It doesn't work, so the president agrees that they will, that he'll have his planes blow up New York City. Pit for tat. Yeah. A controversial decision to say the least. Which if they rewrote this for today it'd never happen. Why do you say that? Nobody has the courage to do anything like that. That's true. You know I mean it takes a courageous act to say we're gonna save the rest of the country. I know my wife is in New York. I know General Black's wife and children are in New York but this is to save the country. Maybe this is like a long way for this dude to not deal with his wife. He's like, you know what, it's fine. Blackie, your wife's in New York. Yeah, good. All right, well, here we go. Bomb him. And then Blackie was in the plane, right? Right. He's the general. He and the president knew each other. I know, but generals don't fly planes. Yes, they do. What? Yeah. Okay, no, no, no, they don't. They they can yes. Yes. Yes, they can yeah, but they don't Yeah, probably not I guess maybe you wouldn't want to trust anyone else with that That's what the whole situation was he didn't trust anybody else to do it. He knew that he would do it He said I need your help. Yeah, I need you to Kill millions of people right cool. I'm on it president. They probably died too, so Yeah, well didn't he like he took he took like he like it took like some weird injections. I assumed he was killing himself. Yeah So yeah, these men were all gonna die too or maybe maybe it will fly home I don't know but his men like looked at him like Yeah, so that's gonna happen and I guess like what what I liked most about this movie was probably the conversations between the president and Moscow. I thought that was the most interesting. Done very well, very Sidney Lumet-like, you know, just matter-of-factly. You got Henry Fonda, who was in 12 Angry Men for him, you know, that kind of stuff, so. Yeah, and we don't get really, we don't really hear the chairman, you know, only in, You know, but the the character of Buck Really strengthened that that's those scenes, you know, just have him translate the way he did, you know He's anything like he sounds uncertain. Yeah, it sounds like he's faltering, you know, like that kind of shit. Yeah Yeah, yeah, he and the president said, you know, I want you to do more than just translate. I want you to tell me What's he really saying? You know so that was pretty cool, and there's some moments between the two like where the president's like you know They're just chillin and looks like I have some drinks for like water I thought it's gonna be whiskey some water, and then you know the chairman's or I was a chairman the president's like When I was like outside right now. He said for rain What else we gonna talk about yeah the lowest form of conversation We're getting ready to blow up the world and we're talking about the weather yep, yeah Which made it more interesting, I think, because it made it more like real life. I mean, if you're sitting there, it's kind of uncomfortable sitting there with each other. You're not friends, you're not, you know, you've just agreed to blow up New York or something. Yeah, what do you say? Yeah, it's gonna rain. Yeah, that was good. And, yeah, really, Henry Fonda's performance, like, as soon as he got on the screen, It's like wow this guy's he is the president. This guy's got it. Yeah. Yeah, he's the president. Yeah Yeah, I haven't seen a lot of his stuff. Yeah, but I think I need to go check some more out cuz he he's so great You know, he's he's the anti Gregory Peck You know and then Henry Fonda could have been Atticus Finch too I think if anybody any other actor could have been it would could have been Henry Fonda Cuz he is Tremendous and pretty much everything he does Henry Fonda would have banged Ava Gardner on that patio. He would have banged her, would have banged her friend, would have banged her mom. He would have, yeah, stupid Gregory Peck. All right, and then kind of like wrapping up, we get like Walter Matthau, like he's like we need to save the financial records. He's just like damn man, this guy is like just cold blooded. No feeling at all. Yeah, he's like let's just, you know. Yeah he wanted to blow up the world pretty much or 60% of it. Pretty much. According to my calculations, he's the Thanos, which is a reference you don't get. There's another great conversation, or part of conversation, between the two world leaders where the Moscow guy is like, this is nobody's And then Henry Fonda's like, uh-uh, this is our fault. It's our fault. You and me are at fault for this. And so I thought that was noteworthy. Yeah, we don't have precedents like that anymore. I don't think so. I think if we're recording this in August of 2023, the current president and the potential nominees are not really up to task, I think, for this kind of conversation. And so I thought this movie ended with a really great montage. Yeah. Just like scenes of New York City as they're counting down and then just cutting like so violently. Yeah. Sidney Lumet. Knows what he's doing. He's one of the best, one of the greatest ever. So, yeah, I really, I really, really liked this movie a lot more than the other one. So I thought it was much more interesting. and it held my, and I had not seen it since, I probably hadn't seen it since the 70s. Okay. You know, and it held my attention the whole time. It's a little bit stiff in like the war room type stuff and like the screen, like that stuff is like a little bit like, oh come on. Yeah, yeah. This is like, it's like, ugh, like this is really like the technology is so dated. Yeah. But you get over that pretty quickly, I think. Yeah. and you can recognize that this is like a master class in like this kind of movie. It's like this is essentially taking place in one room. It's very controlled. The conversations are like captivating and it's awesome. It's almost all men. Oh yeah, there's two dames in this movie. One gets her face slapped and the other one fails. and his kids dies in the end. Yeah, and it's pretty goes... It's accurate. Yeah, it's accurate. You know, the people who are responsible for this are almost all men. Yeah, yeah, it checks out. It checks out, yeah. All right, man, and also noteworthy for, I think kind of both movies, like soundtrack minimal. Yeah, I don't even remember any of it. No. There's no music, really. There's no... Wait a minute the first movie the music was too loud. Oh, that was especially in the beginning I couldn't understand what people were saying. Hmm. Oh, I watch everything with subtitles. That's that's that's I remember now I can't hear what they're saying. It's like whoever did the sound for this You know, they put the music too loud cuz I can't hear it was cuz my hearing maybe was Christopher Nolan Yeah, yeah, I can't hear I don't know what the other guy says. Yeah, but I thought it was too loud. But the fail safe, I don't even remember music at all. I don't either. It was very quiet. I don't even know if there's music when they're stabbing the bull. Well, okay, so let's pull back. Like, what did you make of the matador bull killing dream? Well, I think he saw it at the end, as he's the one that, he's the matador, right? He was gonna kill the bull. I don't know. I don't know. What did that all mean I? Didn't get and so I watched this in chunks like one big chunk another big chunk And so when I was watching the second chunk, I was like who was it that had I couldn't remember yeah but I Don't know it didn't Doesn't work. It didn't mean a lot to me I guess is what I'd say and maybe someone could have a five-minute conversation with me and explain it in a way that Totally illuminates things that I've never thought of and that would be great, but as of right now I'm just like I don't really know what that meant and yeah, I think I'm not a stupid person, but maybe I'm just not Thinking in the right way. I don't know No, I agree with you. I don't really know what I meant. All right, Sydney. Yeah, no more mysteries All right, Matt. You want to get some scores? I am DB. We have 23,000 people checking in Seven, eight. Eight. Eight-oh. We hit the eight. We hit the eights. We're in rarefied air. Yeah, we like that. There are not many eights on this website. I think it's pretty much right, I think. Yeah. I don't know. It's high sevens. I think seven, eight would have been ... Yeah, it's certainly high sevens. Is it an eight? I'm not sure. Right. I don't know. One thing that I respect is that they had the freaking balls to blow up New York. Right. like yeah that's impressive I wonder how that went over at the time right I guess it was a real box-office bomb no pun intended really yeah I think it was this is right in the heart of like 1964 is like Vietnam era stuff it's like yeah yeah hey you wanna go see that movie where they blow up New York City it's the beginning of Vietnam. Yeah. Huh. Yeah, I don't know. I can't read it. It won't let me read it. I was going to look up. Yeah, so this is IMDb, so who knows how accurate this is. Box office gross, 3.9 million. I have no idea what that means in 1964 money. Sounds like a lot. It might be a lot. Henry Fonda was a big star then. Yeah. Yeah. Walter Matthau. Yeah. Gotta go see the movie where he slaps it, Dane. All right, rolling over to Rotten Tomatoes. The Tomatometer, 28 reviews. 91. 93. And I will go 88. 91 for the audience. And this is the Critic's Consensus. It's not very, it's not much, but, Failsafe strikes an impressive chord with its grim, high-minded exploration of the ultimate doomsday scenario. It was the doomsday. In Dr. Strangelove, it was the doomsday machine. Yeah, exactly. Yeah, I'm just looking over some of these critiques. Here we go, it's the New York Times. It packs a melodramatic wallop that will rattle a lot of shattering teeth. I regret reading that, I don't know what it means. Oh, I like this guy, Adam Neyman. This is the guy from The Ringer. Failsafe imagines a no-win situation backing a sturdy, dependable American president in the proverbial corner, where, in a bit of sentimental and masochistically crowd-pleasing fantasy, he manages to do the right thing. Again, that's not gonna happen today. Right, cool. All right, Matt, next week. We're gonna do... I say next week. I mean next time next time in and out of jail You know, I think we've got a couple 70s. We've got Robert Mitchum and the friends of Eddie Coyle and Dustin Hoffman in straight time. All right, some really good ones from the 70s. I've never seen either. Okay, sounds good Peace. Bye. He's a philistine. What's a philistine? It's a guy who doesn't care about books or interesting films and things. Then I'm a philistine. No, you're interested in books and things. No, I'm a philistine. You've been shitting in my yard. I have not. You want me to hold the chicken, huh? I want you to hold the chicken. You gotta hold it between your knees. So, Jake, what you do here in effect is a count of owners. I am......a revenue snake! I come in the kitchen. You in the kitchen. I was born as hell, and I'm not gonna take this anymore! It's, it's, it's, it's fun!