Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom with Olivia Craighead

“Doom” isn’t just describing a Temple here, folks - it’s kind of the overarching vibe of this film! George Lucas is going through a bitter divorce. Steven Spielberg is dealing with PTSD from Twilight Zone: The Movie. Harrison Ford is suffering from a back injury from falling off an elephant or something. Kate Capshaw is there. A true cloud of doom hanging over this movie! Fortunately for you all, it’s only great vibes for us and Olivia Craighead *podcasting* about Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom. It’s the return of the “George Lucas got cucked by the stained glass man” lore, of course we’re gonna have a blast. Sign up for Check Book https://blankcheckpod.substack.com/welcome, the Blank Check newsletter featuring even more “real nerdy shit” to feed your pop culture obsession. Dossier excerpts, film biz AND burger reports, and even more exclusive content you won’t want to miss out on. Join our Patreon for franchise commentaries and bonus episodes. http://www.patreon.com/blankcheck Follow us @blankcheckpod on Twitter https://x.com/blankcheckpod?lang=en, Instagram https://www.instagram.com/blankcheckpod/?hl=en, Threads https://www.threads.net/@blankcheckpod?xmt=AQGzctAh4mbWTwYzCV1pzNT6AMV9o99EOfymi8TLR5mTde0 and Facebook https://www.facebook.com/blankcheckpodcast/! Buy some real nerdy merch https://kinshipgoods.com/blankcheck Connect with other Blankies on our Reddit https://www.reddit.com/r/blankies/s/gpcOkQr8Sv or Discord https://discord.gg/Q6YGSR3JrA For anything else, check out BlankCheckPod.com https://www.blankcheckpod.com/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy https://acast.com/privacy for more information.

Speaker names marked ? are inferred from speaking time and the show’s known hosts — they are not voice-verified.

• 0:02Griffin Newman?

  David.

• 0:03David Sims?

  Yep.

• 0:03Griffin Newman?

  We did a live show.

• 0:04David Sims?

  Yeah, remember?

• 0:05Griffin Newman?

  Ranking Scorsese at the Bell House in Brooklyn. We did the definitive power ranking of Martin Scorsese things.

• 0:12David Sims?

  Uh, it was so fun. Uh, it was very silly.

• 0:15Griffin Newman?

  Ben and Marie were with us and they're with us right now.

• 0:18David Sims?

  Yeah, hey.

• 0:18Speaker 02

  Hey, everyone, or should I say, oh?

• 0:20David Sims?

  Oh.

• 0:22Griffin Newman?

  And thanks to our friends at Dynasty Typewriter. It was livestreamed for the first time ever. But also, the replay is still up there, but only until October 30th.

• 0:31David Sims?

  So just a few more days.

• 0:33Griffin Newman?

  Yes.

• 0:33David Sims?

  You can get it at dynasty.tv.

• 0:36Griffin Newman?

  Dynasty.tv.

• 0:37David Sims?

  It's $20. We had a blast and the Spreadmaster really got to work.

• 0:43Griffin Newman?

  Oh, yeah. I was moving things around. Laptop was on.

• 0:46Speaker 02

  I don't know if I'd have seen you that happy.

• 0:48Griffin Newman?

  You were thrilled. You were like a pick and share.

• 0:50David Sims?

  I was locked in.

• 0:51Griffin Newman?

  Yeah, very locked in and you were funny.

• 0:53David Sims?

  Thank you. You were funny. You were also funny.

• 0:56Griffin Newman?

  Oh, thank you.

• 0:57David Sims?

  And if you want to see like, you know, Griffin's shine box on camera, it's the only way to see it.

• 1:02Griffin Newman?

  You might see me shine Marie's shoes.

• 1:04David Sims?

  Exactly.

• 1:05Speaker 02

  Yeah, if you're into that sort of content.

• 1:07Griffin Newman?

  If that gets you off.

• 1:09Speaker 02

  Okay.

• 1:10David Sims?

  So once again, that's at dynasty.tv.

• 1:39Speaker 03

  I was happy in Shanghai. I had a little house and a garden. My friends were rich. We went to parties all the time in limousines.

• 1:47David Sims?

  I hate being outside. I'm a podcaster. I could lose my voice.

• 1:55David Sims?

  I don't know. Maybe you need to be more hysterical.

• 1:58Griffin Newman?

  I think I was a little too muted in that performance.

• 2:00David Sims?

  That was very good, actually.

• 2:01Griffin Newman?

  This is a little bit like Lorraine Bracco in Medicine Man.

• 2:05David Sims?

  Yes.

• 2:05Griffin Newman?

  Where there is no way you can overdo.

• 2:09David Sims?

  Actually, she's louder than that. Great segue into what I wanted to talk about.

• 2:14Griffin Newman?

  Great. Okay, here we go.

• 2:15David Sims?

  There's an HBO Max documentary about David Chase directed by Alex Gibney, who directs like 18 documentaries a year.

• 2:21Griffin Newman?

  Yeah, sure.

• 2:22David Sims?

  Have you watched it called Wise Guy?

• 2:23Speaker 04

  No.

• 2:24David Sims?

  In which he's just interviewing David Chase about The Sopranos. But you like The Sopranos.

• 2:27Speaker 04

  I love The Sopranos.

• 2:28David Sims?

  Okay, so you should watch it.

• 2:29Speaker 04

  Okay.

• 2:29David Sims?

  Because even though it's recycling a fair amount of anecdotes I feel like we know about The Sopranos, David Chase is such an interesting, dark-ass motherfucker.

• 2:38Griffin Newman?

  Also, let's say, maybe the sleepiest-looking motherfucker of all time?

• 2:42David Sims?

  But, and like, truly incredibly eloquent, really interesting to hear him talking. Like, and like Gibney has like, you know, taped him to a chair and is basically like, talk, really candid about Gandolfini and how complicated the relationship was and how tough Gandolfini was on set. And all this shit's all great.

• 2:59Griffin Newman?

  Kind of a Willie Scott in that dynamic.

• 3:03David Sims?

  You're saying Gandolfini was the Willie?

• 3:05Griffin Newman?

  Was a Willie Scott to David Chase's Indiana Jones.

• 3:09David Sims?

  Are we sure?

• 3:10Griffin Newman?

  I don't know, go on. I shouldn't have cut you off.

• 3:12David Sims?

  No, it's fine.

• 3:13Griffin Newman?

  I reached a conclusion prematurely.

• 3:14David Sims?

  And Bracco is, they'll cut to Bracco sometimes and she's, she's very upfront too where she's like, "I'm so not like Melfi." And be like, and what she should be saying is like, "I'm really like Medicine Man lady." Like, that's my vibe.

• 3:26Griffin Newman?

  Yeah.

• 3:27David Sims?

  Because she is like, "La, la, la, la, la."

• 3:30Griffin Newman?

  Yeah.

• 3:30David Sims?

  And she's, you watch her talking and you're like, Melfi's an incredible performer. She like really likes, you know, anyway. And I, off mic, I was asking our guest, is Ham kind of the greatest TV performance?

• 3:42Speaker 04

  Yeah, I-

• 3:43David Sims?

  But then I think you do, you know, The Sopranos is very large.

• 3:46Speaker 04

  I think it's Gandolfini or Ham. Or I think you can make the argument for Jon Hamm. I was thinking-

• 3:51David Sims?

  Every time I really watch Mad Men.

• 3:53Speaker 04

  Literally earlier today, I think I saw like a post about Mad Men and I was like, "That's the great American novel."

• 3:59David Sims?

  It is. It kind of is.

• 4:01Griffin Newman?

  It's the best.

• 4:01David Sims?

  And obviously it's a seed that sprouted from The Sopranos, right? Like, you know, Weiner worked on Sopranos and all that. But, uh, but yeah, you gotta watch Wise Guy and text me about it.

• 4:11Griffin Newman?

  I've still not finished Sopranos.

• 4:13David Sims?

  Well, you made it.

• 4:14Speaker 04

  How far did you get?

• 4:15Griffin Newman?

  I was barreling through the first three seasons.

• 4:17David Sims?

  You made it to, right, to the point where I do think a lot of people are like, I'm a little overwhelmed. I need a break.

• 4:22Speaker 04

  Is that when like Ralphie shows up?

• 4:24David Sims?

  Ralphie shows up in season three.

• 4:25Griffin Newman?

  Yeah.

• 4:26David Sims?

  Season three is the really nasty, it's a great season, but it's where Chase feels like he's kinda like, I feel like you motherfuckers don't get that these are bad people.

• 4:33Griffin Newman?

  Well, but this is the other part of it, is that like, I don't love mob shit.

• 4:37David Sims?

  Right.

• 4:37Griffin Newman?

  And season three is when it starts to become clear that it's like, the therapy stuff-

• 4:41David Sims?

  Mob politics, right.

• 4:42Griffin Newman?

  Is kind of like subsiding. That stops being the superstructure of the show.

• 4:46Speaker 04

  That does, that whole part sort of does sort of fade away. And they're like, how do we keep Melphi in this show?

• 4:52Griffin Newman?

  I felt very disappointed by that, yeah.

• 4:54David Sims?

  But it is, it, it, much like real therapy, right? It's like a couple of years in, you are kinda, often having kinda the same conversations and there's only so much more dramatic.

• 5:03Griffin Newman?

  Speak for yourself, I got huge shit happening in therapy these days.

• 5:06David Sims?

  That's good, that's good, I'm very happy.

• 5:07Griffin Newman?

  Yeah, we got new showrunners came in and really have a new take on how to do it.

• 5:11David Sims?

  Man, David Chase though, he's just, he's a scary dude. If I had to work for him, I would, I would be so scared to work for that scary motherfucking guy. I don't know.

• 5:22Griffin Newman?

  Yeah, but scary in a very specific way.

• 5:25David Sims?

  In a sleepy way.

• 5:26Griffin Newman?

  In a very sleepy way.

• 5:27David Sims?

  But he feels like the kind of like dad you would never satisfy if you worked for him, where you'd be like, what about this? And he'd be like, no. And you're like, okay, and then he's like, I wrote this, and you're like, oh, that's, that's like incredible.

• 5:39Speaker 04

  Are Vince Gilligan and Matt Weiner both from Sopranos?

• 5:42David Sims?

  No, I think Gilligan is from the, um, X-Files.

• 5:45Speaker 04

  Oh, okay.

• 5:45David Sims?

  That's where, that's the tree he sprouted from.

• 5:47Speaker 04

  I know he was from somewhere.

• 5:48David Sims?

  Yes, you know, he was an X-Files alum. No, I feel like Chase's big alums are Terrence Winter, who did Boardwalk Empire and stuff and Vinyl, right?

• 5:56Griffin Newman?

  Mm-hmm. Uh, and- Now Tulsa King.

• 6:00David Sims?

  Yep, uh, and, uh, Matt Weiner, of course. Robin, uh, Green and Mitchell Burgess went on to create Blue Bloods, which has gone, gone on, is still on the air, right?

• 6:08Griffin Newman?

  I think just ended.

• 6:09David Sims?

  Okay. Was it, was Tom Selleck the police commissioner for like 14 seasons? Like, how many mayors did he serve under?

• 6:17Griffin Newman?

  I think he's-

• 6:18David Sims?

  How much time passed?

• 6:19Griffin Newman?

  I think he's retired at a certain point. Cause the dynasty was Len Karu was at the top of it.

• 6:24David Sims?

  Len Karu is the, is the retired former-

• 6:26Speaker 04

  How do you guys know this about Blue Bloods?

• 6:28Griffin Newman?

  Excuse me, I was on two episodes of Blue Bloods.

• 6:30Speaker 04

  Oh, my gosh, congrats.

• 6:31David Sims?

  Donnie didn't like him.

• 6:32Griffin Newman?

  As Detective Sam Wonderboy Johnson. Donnie did not like me. The first time he said, why'd we hire this guy? We could've cast anyone. And the second time, he said, why'd we bring this guy back?

• 6:41Speaker 04

  Are you playing the same guy? Are you saying this, playing the same guy both times?

• 6:45Griffin Newman?

  Yeah.

• 6:45Speaker 04

  Or is it like a Law and Order thing?

• 6:46Griffin Newman?

  No, no, I was playing, it was, it was-

• 6:48Speaker 04

  A recurring character?

• 6:49Griffin Newman?

  Possible recurring.

• 6:50David Sims?

  Right, that did not recur.

• 6:51Speaker 04

  And Donnie said, no.

• 6:52Griffin Newman?

  And he literally walked on set and went, we brought this guy back?

• 6:55Speaker 04

  Damn.

• 6:56Griffin Newman?

  Did not like me. Did not like the cut of my hair.

• 6:59David Sims?

  I love when a show like that runs so long. And you're like, yeah, I get the premise is right. Carrie uses the retired commissioner. Uh, Tom Selleck is the commissioner. Donnie Wahlberg is the son who's like a cop or whatever, right?

• 7:11Griffin Newman?

  This was, it was in Gene.

• 7:12David Sims?

  Will Estes?

• 7:13Speaker 04

  Is someone also like the DA?

• 7:14Griffin Newman?

  Yes.

• 7:15David Sims?

  Yeah, Bridget Moynihan?

• 7:16Griffin Newman?

  Bridget Moynihan. And then, by the way, this is Blank Check with Griffin and David. I'm Griffin.

• 7:19David Sims?

  I'm David.

• 7:20Griffin Newman?

  Podcast about filmography, he's director, was a massive success early on.

• 7:23David Sims?

  Steven Spielberg is the shit.

• 7:24Griffin Newman?

  Blank Check!

• 7:25David Sims?

  I'm sorry.

• 7:25Griffin Newman?

  So we can have our crazy passion projects they want, sometimes those check clear and sometimes they bounce. Baby, we're doing a major series on the films of Steven Spielberg. It's called Podrassic Cast. Today, we're talking about Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom.

• 7:36Speaker 04

  It's called what?

• 7:38Griffin Newman?

  Podrassic Cast.

• 7:40Speaker 04

  Okay.

• 7:41David Sims?

  Who's our guest?

• 7:42Griffin Newman?

  Podrassic Cast.

• 7:43David Sims?

  Who's our wonderful, wonderful guest in from out of town.

• 7:45Griffin Newman?

  Returning to the show, in from out of town.

• 7:46Speaker 04

  Hello.

• 7:47Griffin Newman?

  The incredible Olivia Craighead.

• 7:48Speaker 04

  Hi, guys.

• 7:49Griffin Newman?

  And pinning the conversation, we're getting back to the Blue Led's conversation in a second.

• 7:53David Sims?

  Sure.

• 7:53Griffin Newman?

  Someone recently brought to my attention.

• 7:56Griffin Newman?

  Has iconography been pulled from the internet?

• 7:58Speaker 04

  Oh, has it? I don't know. They didn't tell me.

• 8:01Griffin Newman?

  I saw-

• 8:02Speaker 04

  Don't think they told I either.

• 8:03Griffin Newman?

  There was a flare in the sky recently.

• 8:04Speaker 04

  Oh.

• 8:05Griffin Newman?

  I downloaded all the episodes.

• 8:07Speaker 04

  Well, I've got some.

• 8:08Griffin Newman?

  Like a year ago.

• 8:10Speaker 04

  I will say-

• 8:10Griffin Newman?

  I gotta worry. I have a feeling, a fear.

• 8:13Speaker 04

  I will say, ultimately, that might be for the best, because we were talking a lot, very candidly.

• 8:19Griffin Newman?

  But I can't think of one example of how that would possibly come back to bite either of you in the ass.

• 8:23Speaker 04

  It would really hurt my career, I think.

• 8:25Griffin Newman?

  That's the problem.

• 8:25Speaker 04

  I was talking some shit about famous people and it might get back to them.

• 8:29Griffin Newman?

  Doing you a mitzvah.

• 8:30Speaker 04

  Yeah.

• 8:31Griffin Newman?

  If she allowed the show to be taken down.

• 8:33David Sims?

  Last time you joined the Five Timers Club, Liv.

• 8:35Speaker 04

  Yes.

• 8:35David Sims?

  This time, it's just your sixth episode, so whatever.

• 8:37Speaker 04

  This time, I'm just chilling.

• 8:38David Sims?

  Yeah, you're just chilling.

• 8:39Griffin Newman?

  Look, dare I say it, this is, in a lot of ways, you're welcome to move support. Because there was a notion last time, do you have to retire?

• 8:47Speaker 04

  Yeah.

• 8:48Griffin Newman?

  You did. Your fifth episode was Steve Jobs.

• 8:51Speaker 04

  One of my favorite movies of all time. And now-

• 8:53Griffin Newman?

  Danny Boyle.

• 8:54Speaker 04

  We're here to just chat about kind of a movie.

• 8:56Griffin Newman?

  But also, in that episode, you revealed that you had left us a burger report.

• 9:01Speaker 04

  Oh, yeah.

• 9:01Griffin Newman?

  That was played on mic about Danny Boyle.

• 9:05David Sims?

  Yeah.

• 9:05Speaker 04

  So it is kind of like-

• 9:06Griffin Newman?

  Before we knew you.

• 9:07Speaker 04

  Yeah. It was kind of like, I made a half-court shot.

• 9:10David Sims?

  Yeah, right.

• 9:10Speaker 04

  And now, like, what, two years later?

• 9:13Griffin Newman?

  It was a full circle moment. How's it ever gonna get better than the same?

• 9:15David Sims?

  Right, you're back and you're just gonna like, be like, 12 and 8.

• 9:18Griffin Newman?

  It's much more. We're gonna try our best.

• 9:20David Sims?

  22 minutes.

• 9:22Griffin Newman?

  Blue Bloods, the brilliance of the show, Len Carrey, you retired.

• 9:25David Sims?

  Yeah, yeah, yeah.

• 9:25Griffin Newman?

  Right? Tom Selleck, Commissioner. And then the three kids were like, Beat Cop, Detective, and DA.

• 9:33David Sims?

  Lawyer, sure. So it's sort of like a Law and Order-style show with like, upper city hall politics.

• 9:38Griffin Newman?

  So there was always like, family dinner table, weekly family dinner where everyone comes around.

• 9:42Speaker 04

  I feel like the key art was always dinner table.

• 9:44Griffin Newman?

  Right. But then the show could always be like, there are two cases every week and they can be distributed across any of the characters.

• 9:51David Sims?

  Right.

• 9:51Griffin Newman?

  Different viewpoints.

• 9:52David Sims?

  But there could also be some soapy drama.

• 9:54Griffin Newman?

  Yes.

• 9:55David Sims?

  But like-

• 9:56Speaker 04

  Kind of a good idea for a show.

• 9:57David Sims?

  It's a brilliant idea. No wonder it ran for fucking like, zillion years.

• 10:00Griffin Newman?

  It's like a perfect idea for a TV show.

• 10:03David Sims?

  And like, um, you know, like Jack Ryan, right? You check in with like-

• 10:08Griffin Newman?

  The Shadow Recruit? You're talking about the Shadow Recruit?

• 10:09David Sims?

  Right. Like, what happened later with Jack Ryan?

• 10:11Griffin Newman?

  On the show?

• 10:12David Sims?

  No, no, the books that like, never got turned into movies. And you're like, yeah, he becomes the president. America goes to war with China. Like, all kinds of insane shit happens because he had to just keep writing stuff.

• 10:21Griffin Newman?

  Yeah.

• 10:22David Sims?

  So like, in Blue Bloods, season 10, yeah, it's like Donnie Wahlberg, the mayor. Like, no one will tell me because no one's checking in.

• 10:28Griffin Newman?

  Correct.

• 10:28David Sims?

  It's airing. It's, it's out there.

• 10:30Speaker 04

  At a certain point, after a TV show hits season seven, it's like, who knows what's hap- who knows what's happening at Grey's Anatomy?

• 10:36David Sims?

  Exactly. Where you're like, what happened? And they're like, ah, Lexie Grey, you know, has a Terminator eye. And you're like, she does? And they're like, yeah, come on, you knew about that. Surely she got it in the fourth musical episode.

• 10:44Griffin Newman?

  McDreamy came back as a ghost and then she dumped the ghost version of him because maybe the actor was difficult to work with? They thought he had humbled and he hadn't.

• 10:51Speaker 04

  I think he did come back as a ghost when she had COVID. And she was on the COVID beach.

• 10:55David Sims?

  Yes, there's the COVID beach season, right, where they acknowledge- and then don't they have this episode after that where they're like, COVID will no longer be mentioned on this show because we're sick of it?

• 11:03Griffin Newman?

  Yeah.

• 11:04David Sims?

  And that was that.

• 11:05Speaker 04

  I love the seasons of TV from like 2020 where it's like everyone's wearing a mask and like their Law and Order also does this where they're like Covid's here.

• 11:16David Sims?

  I do not, I guess, watch enough television.

• 11:19Speaker 04

  It happened on like network shows.

• 11:21David Sims?

  Yeah, exactly. I don't watch much. The only network show I watch is Abbott Elementary. I think that's the only network show I watch.

• 11:28Griffin Newman?

  Yeah.

• 11:29David Sims?

  Which rocks, to be clear. I watch it because it's good.

• 11:31Griffin Newman?

  Yeah.

• 11:31David Sims?

  But is there any other?

• 11:33Speaker 04

  You guys should get into Dr. Odyssey.

• 11:34David Sims?

  Well, you're not the first to tell me that.

• 11:37Griffin Newman?

  Speaking of Covid. Come aboard.

• 11:38Speaker 04

  Guys, you have to get on the Odyssey.

• 11:41David Sims?

  Bags.

• 11:41Speaker 04

  Oh, my God.

• 11:42David Sims?

  Everyone's like, Joshua Jackson's in a throuple and he's like fucking a cocktail. And I'm like, and this is

• 11:48Griffin Newman?

  He's fucking a cocktail? He's putting his penis in a martini?

• 11:52David Sims?

  His dick's in a martini, exactly. And I'm like, uh huh. And this is on Showtime? It's like, no, no, no, it's on fucking CBS or whatever. It's Fox?

• 11:59Speaker 04

  No, it's on ABC.

• 12:00Griffin Newman?

  It's on ABC?

• 12:01Speaker 04

  It's a riot. It's on the same night as 911.

• 12:04David Sims?

  But, okay, but then also I was told that in 911, or possibly the 911 spinoff, an asteroid hit Texas?

• 12:10Speaker 04

  That's 911 Lone Star.

• 12:12David Sims?

  But like, there was like a meteor that struck the Earth? Or did Rob Lowe stop it?

• 12:16Griffin Newman?

  And Jon Hamm played the meteor. It's a full season arc. We were talking about Jon Hamm's on too many TV shows. That's what led to the conversation about is he the best TV actor?

• 12:26David Sims?

  No, is it, is it the best TV performer? Because I like Hamm generally fine.

• 12:29Griffin Newman?

  Yeah, yeah.

• 12:30David Sims?

  But there's nothing like him as Draper.

• 12:34Griffin Newman?

  I agree.

• 12:34David Sims?

  Okay.

• 12:36Griffin Newman?

  The only network show I ostensibly watch, I would say, is The Connors, the best written comedy on television.

• 12:41David Sims?

  But that's wrapping up, right?

• 12:43Griffin Newman?

  It's just ending. And I had to stop watching it during the pandemic because they were doing episodes about the pandemic.

• 12:50David Sims?

  Right. As they should. It's topical.

• 12:51Griffin Newman?

  Multi-camera show, but with no audience now. Felt the difference.

• 12:55Speaker 04

  Yeah.

• 12:56Griffin Newman?

  Because I contend that that was the only live studio audience show where you felt. The, the interplay.

• 13:01David Sims?

  Uh huh.

• 13:02Griffin Newman?

  And I had to like wait three years and I finally have now made it through the COVID years of Connors, which are good, I think, well done, but I did not want to fucking watch them in 2020.

• 13:10David Sims?

  There's an NCIS Origins?

• 13:13Griffin Newman?

  Yeah.

• 13:13David Sims?

  I'm just looking at-

• 13:14Griffin Newman?

  It's young Grisham.

• 13:15Speaker 04

  I just like, what's on TV right now?

• 13:16David Sims?

  What's on the schedule?

• 13:17Speaker 04

  Isn't it young Jethro Gibbs?

• 13:18David Sims?

  It's young Mark Harmon, played by Austin Stole.

• 13:22Griffin Newman?

  I'm sorry, I thought you said CSI. Yes.

• 13:24David Sims?

  Yeah.

• 13:25Griffin Newman?

  Okay. And then we're gonna talk about Indiana Jones, a very big franchise.

• 13:28David Sims?

  We'll do it in a second.

• 13:29Griffin Newman?

  Mark Harmon's son was playing the younger version of his character across seasons. They would do occasional flashback episodes and his son played the role. And at some point, I think his son and Harmon together went to CBS as part of probably some renegotiation on Harmon's part. And we're like, we want to pitch the idea of doing a full NCIS Origins. And they were like, we love that idea.

• 13:54Speaker 04

  Not with it.

• 13:55Griffin Newman?

  Yeah. So he has been paid a tremendous amount of money.

• 13:58David Sims?

  To fuck off.

• 13:58Griffin Newman?

  Gets like a creator-producer credit.

• 14:00David Sims?

  Right.

• 14:00Griffin Newman?

  Has given a bunch of interviews being like, it was, they, I, it was time for me to step back.

• 14:06Speaker 04

  You know?

• 14:07Griffin Newman?

  And then they did a big casting search to find who the new young Mark Harmon was.

• 14:11David Sims?

  And it's this fucking Austin Stole.

• 14:13Griffin Newman?

  And he's probably gonna make one trillion dollars.

• 14:15Speaker 04

  It's a good for him. Then you don't have to star on a network TV show.

• 14:18Griffin Newman?

  Yeah.

• 14:18Speaker 04

  Which sounds like a lot of work.

• 14:19Griffin Newman?

  The worst job anyone could ever have.

• 14:22David Sims?

  Should I watch Saint Denis Medical? That's getting pushed on me.

• 14:26Griffin Newman?

  Yeah.

• 14:27Speaker 04

  I heard it's funny. I haven't watched it.

• 14:29David Sims?

  I haven't watched either.

• 14:30Griffin Newman?

  It's a good cast.

• 14:31David Sims?

  Yeah, right.

• 14:32Griffin Newman?

  Okay.

• 14:33David Sims?

  David Allen Greer.

• 14:34Griffin Newman?

  Yeah.

• 14:35David Sims?

  We love.

• 14:36Griffin Newman?

  Yes. In 1984, Steven Spielberg released a film called Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom. It was the, uh, direct sequel, although-

• 14:44Speaker 04

  It's a prequel.

• 14:45Griffin Newman?

  Quietly a prequel.

• 14:45Speaker 04

  Yeah.

• 14:46Griffin Newman?

  But let's say the direct follow-up.

• 14:47David Sims?

  Yes, direct follow-up.

• 14:49Griffin Newman?

  To-

• 14:51Griffin Newman?

  A wildly successful film called Raiders of the Lost Ark.

• 14:53David Sims?

  Yes, and in between he'd made some piece of shit called E.T. The Extraterrestrial.

• 14:57Griffin Newman?

  Yes.

• 14:58David Sims?

  So like, you know, it's, it's a, it's a exciting moment for young Steven Spielberg.

• 15:03Griffin Newman?

  I just think they're interesting. Like, he's going into Raiders being like, I gotta prove myself. 1941's haunting me. People were excited to see me fall.

• 15:12David Sims?

  Yes, right.

• 15:13Griffin Newman?

  I need to be responsible. I need to just make a movie properly and have a go out and be an unqualified success.

• 15:19David Sims?

  He was my age when this Temple of Doom came out.

• 15:23Griffin Newman?

  That is so fucking dumb.

• 15:25David Sims?

  It's pretty dumb.

• 15:25Speaker 04

  I watched the HBO Spielberg documentary, which really sends home how young all those guys were when they were just like hanging out.

• 15:34David Sims?

  It's why they're still hanging out.

• 15:36Speaker 04

  Yeah. It's so, and it blows my mind that he was just a kid when he made Jaws.

• 15:41David Sims?

  He's just 20 something.

• 15:42Speaker 04

  Completely insane.

• 15:43David Sims?

  Crazy. I know it's trite. I hate that documentary because it's like, and then he won the Oscar for Schindler's List, and then he made a few other movies.

• 15:49Speaker 04

  It's presented in a really weird way.

• 15:50David Sims?

  I wanna hear about the back half of his career. It's really interesting.

• 15:53Speaker 04

  A 10, 10-hour thing.

• 15:55Griffin Newman?

  It's one of the few things where it actually should be 10, one-hour installment.

• 15:59David Sims?

  Right, right. Anyway, Steven Spielberg, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, what was your point, Griffin?

• 16:05Griffin Newman?

  Raiders is such an unqualified triumph that now he's back and better than ever. And I think, as we said in our episode, from that moment on, he's minted. It's not that he doesn't ever have failures again, but it's like, congratulations, we're no longer questioning you. You're Steven Spielberg. You will be Steven Spielberg for life. Your next 20 movies could be close-ups of diarrhea. You're still like in the tapestry of cinema history. And he chooses to follow up Raiders of the Lost Ark with E.T., the highest grossing movie of all time, nominated for many Academy Awards, rudely perhaps not given them.

• 16:37Griffin Newman?

  And then it's interesting that he goes at a moment where he's like.

• 16:42David Sims?

  Could do anything.

• 16:43Griffin Newman?

  Anything, anything, anything.

• 16:45David Sims?

  Yeah.

• 16:45Griffin Newman?

  There is obviously this outstanding handshake agreement, part of the original deal to do Raiders, a thing that he needed at that moment in his career in 1980, but does not need in the same way now. But I think you're also starting to, at this moment, see the early stages of the bifurcation of Spielberg. Because another thing that happens in between the two Indiana Jones is. Twilight's own the movie.

• 17:08David Sims?

  Sure, sure.

• 17:09Griffin Newman?

  Which I do think starts to affect his headspace.

• 17:12David Sims?

  Yeah, sure.

• 17:13Griffin Newman?

  Right? It's just like, the stakes of this are different. What am I agreeing to do? What am I doing with my power and my career? Right? The responsibility of things. Uh, and then the second thing is, like, fucking Amblin's starting.

• 17:26David Sims?

  Yeah, well, yeah, that's right.

• 17:28Griffin Newman?

  Right?

• 17:28David Sims?

  So we'll talk about it, but that's-

• 17:30Griffin Newman?

  Culture Guys comes out the same year as E.T. Gremlins comes out within weeks-

• 17:35Speaker 04

  Yeah.

• 17:36Griffin Newman?

  Of Temple of Doom.

• 17:37David Sims?

  Yep. The two, the two PG-13 movies.

• 17:40Griffin Newman?

  Right.

• 17:40David Sims?

  You know, like, the, the two movies that prompted the creation of PG-13.

• 17:43Griffin Newman?

  Back to the Futures the year after this. Like, there's a, a shift you see from this movie on, where he's trying to, like, move past, can I get over just being on Wonder Spielberg? That I already feel in this movie, he's maybe trying to work past.

• 17:59Speaker 04

  Yeah. This movie is scary. Like, kind of upsetting-

• 18:04David Sims?

  Yes.

• 18:04Speaker 04

  -to watch.

• 18:05David Sims?

  I find this movie upsetting to watch at times.

• 18:06Griffin Newman?

  Olivia, what is your lifelong history with Dr. Henry Jones Jr.?

• 18:12Speaker 04

  Uh, Dr. Henry Jones Jr., Indiana, as you might call him.

• 18:15Griffin Newman?

  They call the guy Indiana, but yeah.

• 18:17Speaker 04

  I definitely owned, like, my family definitely owned the box set of all three. Um, and I think, I, Raiders is obviously the one we watched the most, followed by Last Crusade, because we also owned A League of Extraordinary Gentlemen on VHS, and so I liked Sean Connery.

• 18:39David Sims?

  Now, that's a VHS I hope you held on to. His pan and scan is how you want to experience that. Yeah, exactly.

• 18:45Griffin Newman?

  A lot of, a lot of huge information here.

• 18:48Speaker 04

  Yeah.

• 18:48Griffin Newman?

  I'm, I'm pinning LXG for later. My question is, when you're watching Last Crusade, are you going, oh my god, it's the guy from LXG?

• 18:55Speaker 04

  Literally, yeah.

• 18:55Griffin Newman?

  Okay.

• 18:55David Sims?

  Corner means here.

• 18:56Speaker 04

  Yes. And then, and then, uh, Temple of Doom was scary, and my mom was always like, this is the movie that made PG-13, so it's like, we gotta pump it, the brakes, for like, these two children.

• 19:07Griffin Newman?

  But I imagine, for you, the type of person you are-

• 19:10Speaker 04

  Yes.

• 19:10Griffin Newman?

  -that, like, sticks in your craw immediately.

• 19:12Speaker 04

  Obviously, that is like, the trivia that is just, like, burrowed into my brain.

• 19:16Griffin Newman?

  But also that you're like- Like, what is it about that movie?

• 19:19Speaker 04

  Yes. And I think she, I remember my mom being like, a guy gets his heart ripped out in this movie. And I was like, that is scary.

• 19:27Speaker 04

  But I also think that Steven Spielberg was the first person I knew as a director.

• 19:32Griffin Newman?

  Basically had to be?

• 19:34Speaker 04

  Like, yeah.

• 19:35Griffin Newman?

  For anyone born after 1975?

• 19:38Speaker 04

  Yes, he was the first person where I was like, that is something a person can do as a job, I think.

• 19:42David Sims?

  Right, right.

• 19:43Speaker 04

  Because I was aware of Indiana Jones. And then I think as like a 10 year old, I was vaguely aware of like Schindler's List. It was like, sort of just in the air. And I was like, those are the same name. That's weird.

• 19:57Griffin Newman?

  But we were, we were talking in our Raiders episode with Brian Michael Bendis, who is, was of an age to be growing up as these films were coming out.

• 20:05David Sims?

  In theaters, yes.

• 20:06Griffin Newman?

  Right? He is a child, but these movies are being presented. Steven Spielberg is emerging in his lifetime. And he like put forward this thing I hadn't really considered because of us growing up, being born into a world where he is a given, that he was kind of the first filmmaker that was like, opening the book. Who was like playing the role of, I'm a filmmaker, I'm doing behind the scenes specials.

• 20:28David Sims?

  Let me tell you how this all works. Let me tell you what I do.

• 20:30Griffin Newman?

  I'm putting out fucking CD-ROMs. Like, there was a sense of not just like, he is the most successful filmmaker alive, but also he is a little more open source with it.

• 20:40Speaker 04

  I think you can, I think that obviously inspires a lot of the Amblin stuff too. Cause he is such a shepherd of other people's projects.

• 20:49Griffin Newman?

  Steven Spielberg presents. Yeah, but I also just feel like, that's the thing, we all know what Steven Spielberg looks like on set.

• 20:55Speaker 04

  That is the thing. I, I don't think I had ever known what a director would look like, but I knew, cause Steven Spielberg is always

• 21:02Griffin Newman?

  Yes.

• 21:03Speaker 04

  yapping on TV or whatever.

• 21:04Griffin Newman?

  But I think about that too, or like any cartoon show I watched that would parody like the filming of a movie.

• 21:09Speaker 04

  Yeah.

• 21:10Griffin Newman?

  Is doing some riff on Spielberg to a certain extent at that point, you know?

• 21:14David Sims?

  Yes.

• 21:14Griffin Newman?

  Or they're doing like some really old fuddy duddy guy.

• 21:17Speaker 04

  Like in the like riding pants and the boots.

• 21:19Griffin Newman?

  Right, with the fucking horn, yeah.

• 21:21David Sims?

  Which we should maybe bring back.

• 21:23Griffin Newman?

  But I do think there's that kind of like, you know, glasses, beard, hat, sort of doing the, the framing with the fingers kind of thing. Like, he was message to people as like, this is a director, this is what they do, this is what their job is. You could parody the way someone gives direction.

• 21:41Speaker 04

  Yeah.

• 21:42Griffin Newman?

  Based on like clips you're seeing circulated of Steven Spielberg making movies.

• 21:46David Sims?

  Um, he definitely is the first director I'm aware of. I think of him wearing hats.

• 21:51Griffin Newman?

  Yeah.

• 21:51David Sims?

  He wears like a hat with a battleship's name on it.

• 21:54Griffin Newman?

  Yeah.

• 21:54David Sims?

  And you're like, is he the captain of the battleship? It's like, no, he just wears hats.

• 21:57Speaker 04

  He, he kind of really looked cool in the seventies and eighties.

• 22:02David Sims?

  He's cool. I mean.

• 22:04Speaker 04

  He is a huge nerd.

• 22:05David Sims?

  Yeah, he's dorky.

• 22:06Speaker 04

  The biggest nerd alive. But he looked cool. He was dressing well. And also, this is kind of a tangent. He really, Gabriel LaBelle really looks like him.

• 22:15Griffin Newman?

  It's kind of wild.

• 22:16Speaker 04

  I was watching the like early Spielberg parts of the documentary and I was like, that does look like Gabriel LaBelle.

• 22:21Griffin Newman?

  To some, I think Gabriel LaBelle's very good.

• 22:23David Sims?

  Golden Globe nominee.

• 22:24Griffin Newman?

  Yes, this is what I was gonna say. I don't think he looks like Lorne Michaels. And yet there are moments in Saturday Night, risible movie, that I'm like, God, he looks so much like Lorne Michaels. I do think he's good at figuring out how to lock into some like cellular conjuring of people.

• 22:40Speaker 04

  I think he's such a fantastic actor and I don't know what is really gonna.

• 22:44Griffin Newman?

  I don't know.

• 22:44Speaker 04

  Send him to the moon.

• 22:45David Sims?

  Well, what's who's the next young guy in the seventies that he can play? Like, come on, like, give me, come on, give me another name.

• 22:51Griffin Newman?

  Richard Nixon.

• 22:52David Sims?

  No. He's just doing Secret Honor.

• 22:57Speaker 04

  I do think that it should have been The Fableman, the people, you know. My big take on The Fableman is that the poster ruins that movie.

• 23:05David Sims?

  I think the poster and trailer.

• 23:06Speaker 04

  Because the poster makes it look like, oh, this is about movies and it's like.

• 23:10David Sims?

  Cheesy schlock.

• 23:11Speaker 04

  This is actually, that's not what this movie is really about.

• 23:12David Sims?

  No, it's about being fucked up.

• 23:14Speaker 04

  It's about being.

• 23:14David Sims?

  When fucking cocks your whole goddamn family.

• 23:17Griffin Newman?

  And, and who amongst us can't relate to that? Uh, no, I was talking to someone about Gabriel LaBelle and being like, he's one away from Chadwick Boseman territory. Like, he can't do another playing an iconic person at a young age thing.

• 23:31David Sims?

  No, but come on.

• 23:32Speaker 04

  He should play Paul Simon next, cause he's short.

• 23:34Griffin Newman?

  He can't do that.

• 23:36David Sims?

  I think he should. I think he's gotta do that.

• 23:38Speaker 04

  I think that would be awesome.

• 23:39Griffin Newman?

  That's the exact danger.

• 23:40David Sims?

  Oh my God, the most like self-important cocksucking, uh, uh, movie about Paul Simon, like, breaking the apartheid embargo and going to South Africa to make Graceland.

• 23:50Speaker 04

  Not when we would.

• 23:51David Sims?

  I know, this is what I'm saying, I'm trying to think of the worst movie possible, where it's like, few dared to go like, hang out with Lady Smith Black Mambazo.

• 23:58Speaker 04

  They should do a movie that's about Paul Simon and Carrie Fisher being married.

• 24:01Griffin Newman?

  Yeah, that I'm interested in.

• 24:04David Sims?

  Anyway, there's so many jokes I could make right now, but unfortunately, now that we have said it, Gabriel LaBelle is definitely going to play Paul Simon in something. I'm sorry. It's definitely gonna happen.

• 24:14Griffin Newman?

  I'd like someone to write him an original role.

• 24:16David Sims?

  I would too. I would truly like-

• 24:17Speaker 04

  Did you guys see Snack Shack?

• 24:19Griffin Newman?

  I've heard wonderful things about it.

• 24:20David Sims?

  What the hell? What?

• 24:22Speaker 04

  This is one of-

• 24:23David Sims?

  What the hell is Snack Shack? You can't be making up movies right now.

• 24:27Griffin Newman?

  I want to make it clear, we, look, we will have a full episode discussion of Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom. We just haven't seen Olivia.

• 24:33Speaker 04

  I know, we're really just grabbing.

• 24:34Griffin Newman?

  We didn't do the pre-talk that we usually do before recording.

• 24:37Speaker 04

  I'm surprised you haven't heard of it because Sean Finacy is always talking about it.

• 24:40Griffin Newman?

  Yeah, Finacy and CR love this.

• 24:41David Sims?

  Okay, I'll watch it.

• 24:42Speaker 04

  You should watch it. Gabriel LaBelle is like the supporting role in it and he's really good in it. And for plot reasons, he's kind of not in the second half and the movie gets way worse when he's not there.

• 24:51David Sims?

  You feel the lack of-

• 24:52Griffin Newman?

  And he's like, I'm trying to think what the equivalent, he's not the booger, but he's like, he's like the Finacy fast-talking best friend.

• 25:00Speaker 04

  Yeah, there's like, there's like the anxious main protagonist and then there's like his cool, suave friend.

• 25:06David Sims?

  I'm a little out in the movie.

• 25:08Speaker 04

  Sure.

• 25:09David Sims?

  Scene this year because I had twins.

• 25:11Griffin Newman?

  Oh, wait a second.

• 25:11David Sims?

  Uh, my wife had twins, to be clear. I didn't do anything. Well, I tried, I tried to help as best I could.

• 25:16Griffin Newman?

  News to me.

• 25:17David Sims?

  Fun fact, as I said, I wanted to bring up on this, Olivia, one of the first people in my life to know that my wife is pregnant.

• 25:24Griffin Newman?

  I'm pretty curious about this.

• 25:25Speaker 04

  Fully on accident because I was, you were trying to show me a picture on your phone.

• 25:29Griffin Newman?

  Oh, and he sent.

• 25:30David Sims?

  Of my daughter, my ex-son's daughter at the time.

• 25:32Speaker 04

  And I saw a sonogram and I said, oh.

• 25:34Griffin Newman?

  Pre-existing sons.

• 25:35David Sims?

  Is that a sonogram? And I was like, Olivia, I'm just gonna put my cards on the table. It was like February. It was like, my longest like one month pregnant. Anyway, another movie that passed me by that everyone's now talking about, Christmas Eve in Miller's Point.

• 25:48Griffin Newman?

  Yeah, people like this.

• 25:49David Sims?

  I gotta check this movie out, I guess. It's some Christmas movie with Michael Sarah's in it. I don't, it's like a family-

• 25:55Griffin Newman?

  Francesca Scorsese?

• 25:58David Sims?

  Francesca Scorsese!

• 25:59Griffin Newman?

  Francesca Scorsese is in it?

• 26:01David Sims?

  Fantastic. I have no-

• 26:02Griffin Newman?

  You know who else is in it? Sawyer Spielberg, if I'm not mistaken.

• 26:06David Sims?

  Sawyer Spielberg's in it?

• 26:08Griffin Newman?

  Yeah.

• 26:09David Sims?

  Wow. Yeah. The son of Steven Spielberg and-

• 26:11Griffin Newman?

  Richard Brody loves it.

• 26:12David Sims?

  Kate Capshaw. Well done.

• 26:14Speaker 04

  Sawyer Spielberg, I think, is first billed. I'm looking at it now.

• 26:17Griffin Newman?

  It's got weird billing.

• 26:18Speaker 04

  Okay.

• 26:18Griffin Newman?

  Every time I see the trailer, it confuses me.

• 26:20David Sims?

  Just saw Richard at the critic circle vote. Always lovely to see Richard.

• 26:22Griffin Newman?

  Okay, listen. Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom.

• 26:26Speaker 04

  Sawyer Spielberg is kinda hot.

• 26:28Griffin Newman?

  Um.

• 26:29Speaker 04

  Hello.

• 26:30David Sims?

  Litigate, you're taken.

• 26:33Speaker 04

  Doesn't mean I can't.

• 26:34David Sims?

  A girl can dream about Sawyer Spielberg.

• 26:36Speaker 04

  About dating a Spielberg son.

• 26:39Griffin Newman?

  We litigated this in other Indiana Jones episodes, but I did not see any of these movies until I was nineteen or twenty.

• 26:45David Sims?

  You watched them all, as you said, in the Raiders app, basically in a weekend leading up to Crystal Skull.

• 26:49Griffin Newman?

  Yeah, as like, I gotta fix this blind spot.

• 26:52Speaker 04

  That's so interesting.

• 26:53David Sims?

  I think I had the experience that many a young child had with Temple of Doom, where I watched Raiders of the Lost Ark, liked it, had a great time, watched Temple of Doom,

• 27:04David Sims?

  and was allowed to, because my parents were like, right, Indiana Jones is in that, that's for children, right? And was a little perturbed by it.

• 27:12Speaker 04

  Yeah.

• 27:12David Sims?

  Like, and was just kinda like, I'm not having fun, even though there's like a kid in this, and like they're in minecarts, and Indiana Jones is here. I feel a little sad watching this, all freaked out. And that was, and yeah, I've seen this movie many, many, many times, because I guess it was just on TV and shit.

• 27:30Griffin Newman?

  And then did Last Crusade feel like a return to triumphant?

• 27:33David Sims?

  Oh, they're having fun again, Ben. This is a freak movie. I mean, you know, did you, did you vibe with the freakiness at all?

• 27:40Speaker 05

  I don't think I saw this until I was an adult.

• 27:44David Sims?

  So you didn't have.

• 27:44Speaker 05

  I think this was just one I totally missed.

• 27:47Griffin Newman?

  Ben, I don't know if you feel the same way, but this is the one where I'm like, I'm losing something by not having seen it as a child, because I think.

• 27:56David Sims?

  Right, it's not gonna upset you as much as a grownup, right?

• 27:59Griffin Newman?

  I think there's some power to this movie that I can't absorb, because I didn't see it at an age where it could actually unnerve me. And I think when people talk about the legacy of this movie, that's a huge part of it.

• 28:10Speaker 04

  So when you watch it, are you not like, ah, like, are you not, do you not find it scary or upsetting?

• 28:16Griffin Newman?

  I mean, here's, here's my experience. My old roommate Spike loans me his DVD set. When I in conversation mentioned I've never seen any of them, right? He's like, you gotta fucking watch these before Crystal Skull comes out. I live in the bedroom of the shitty apartment. I watch Raiders, I walk out, he goes, eh, pretty good, huh? I go, yeah, it's, it's, yeah, it's fun. He's like, that's one of the best movies ever made. I'm like, I guess I gotta study that more to figure it out, right? Then the next night, I watch Temple of Doom. I walk out, I'm like, that sucks. Like, I was sort of like, am I crazy for having that opinion? And he makes the whole, okay, no, it's weird because it's dark and it's this and it's that. But people do hate it. And I was like, oh, interesting. I had never caught wind of this.

• 28:56David Sims?

  Right.

• 28:56Griffin Newman?

  Even in the like Star Trek, you know, oh, the, the odd number movies are bad and evens are good. Kind of like, I had never gathered that one of them was unpopular, or at least more controversial.

• 29:08David Sims?

  Right.

• 29:09Griffin Newman?

  Uh, so then I was just like, well, I feel validated in my opinion that this is the one that sucks. And then I watched Last Crusade and I'm like, that one's my favorite because it's goofy and it's full of bits.

• 29:16Speaker 04

  Mm-hmm.

• 29:16Griffin Newman?

  That's where my like opinions form in that first week of watching.

• 29:19David Sims?

  This is full of bits too, brain bits.

• 29:21Griffin Newman?

  Well.

• 29:21David Sims?

  For you to gnaw on.

• 29:23Griffin Newman?

  So then I just held on to this like Temple of Doom sucks. We all agree that Temple Doom sucks, right? And I feel like especially in the last 10 or 15 years, I think there's been a rising as like the generation that saw it as children have taken over the discourse from the people who saw it as adults. And we're like, what the fuck is this? And I feel more like an adult grump who's like, what the fuck is this? It is the one I re-watch the most.

• 29:46Speaker 04

  Interesting.

• 29:47Griffin Newman?

  Because I so badly want to lock into it. And there are a couple key blocks I have with it.

• 29:53Speaker 04

  I don't know that it's a movie that anyone can really lock into. I know there are some people who really like it. I feel like there are a few people who out here who are like, that is my favorite Indiana Jones movie, which is.

• 30:05David Sims?

  It's a take.

• 30:06Speaker 04

  Uh, certainly a take. It's not one I have.

• 30:08David Sims?

  No.

• 30:09Speaker 04

  But I do know that some people like it, but I think it's a movie that kind of doesn't want you to lock into it.

• 30:15Griffin Newman?

  So here's my thing. I tend to love movies like that.

• 30:19Speaker 04

  Mm-hmm.

• 30:19Griffin Newman?

  To a degree where our listeners think that I am just a contrarian asshole, right? But there was something that really activates me in a sequel that feels like it's biting the hands of the people asking for it. Where any sort of like left-handed, we're zagging against your expectations, we're going darker, we're going weirder. We're withholding the thing you liked the most movies. I tend to always lean in, even if I think they don't work. There is like the Joker folly de facto where I'm like, but what this movie's trying to do is really interesting to me. That's the part of me that's surprised that I have such a struggle with this because I am. Usually such an easy lay for just the weird sort of like contrarian swing of an experimental sequel in any way.

• 31:04David Sims?

  But I wouldn't call this an experiment. I think this is a movie that got away from them.

• 31:08Speaker 04

  I think this is a movie that got away.

• 31:09Griffin Newman?

  That's how it plays to me when I watch it.

• 31:11Speaker 04

  I think this is a movie that makes a lot more sense when you realize that George Lucas and Spielberg were both like having crumbling marriages.

• 31:17David Sims?

  The divorce movie. But same with like, that's how I feel about The Abyss, where I'm like, this is a divorce movie. This is a movie that's just made with a black cloud over someone's head, and that's interesting.

• 31:26Griffin Newman?

  But let's state this right from the top. This is like the nadir of George Lucas's like personal life dissolving, right? This is like.

• 31:33David Sims?

  Right. Marcia Lucas left him for the stained glass person or whatever.

• 31:36Griffin Newman?

  Deep in the mits, right?

• 31:37David Sims?

  Has that come up before?

• 31:39Griffin Newman?

  Never.

• 31:39David Sims?

  You know, people bring it up all the time on the Reddit, I want to say, right? We've talked about this before, how I freak out at you about that. It's mostly because we had absolutely no time.

• 31:49Griffin Newman?

  Yes.

• 31:49David Sims?

  Because someone, it was like fucking, you know.

• 31:53Griffin Newman?

  Shannon O'Neill was.

• 31:54David Sims?

  Yeah, I don't want to speak ill of the UCB network, but it was time for like.

• 31:57Griffin Newman?

  There was the Matrix episodes where Shannon O'Neill knocked on the door, and that's why both those episodes are two minutes long or whatever. But there was something else going on that.

• 32:04David Sims?

  Like that. We had no time in our little closet.

• 32:07Griffin Newman?

  Am I wrong in thinking we recorded three episodes in that one day?

• 32:10David Sims?

  At least two. Like, we were certainly like sandwiching episodes together anyway. It's a million years ago.

• 32:15Griffin Newman?

  Mentioned was that.

• 32:16David Sims?

  And everyone was like, David's just like cutting Griffin off. And I was like, we were 40 minutes in and like, we hadn't gotten to like Jabba's palace or whatever.

• 32:23Griffin Newman?

  Look, you need to wear this failure like Flavor Flav wears a clock. But that's what Alec Baldwin says in Aloha.

• 32:34David Sims?

  That sounds like a terrible line then.

• 32:36Griffin Newman?

  Trying to work it back into the vernacular of the podcast. Blank check 10. A decade of dreams. Let's remember all the great moments.

• 32:47David Sims?

  Jesus Christ.

• 32:49Speaker 04

  I forgot. You guys did Cameron Crowe.

• 32:50David Sims?

  Yeah, we sure did. He was important.

• 32:52Griffin Newman?

  That's why I need to point back at the wall, Olivia, and go, remember when Alec Baldwin says, "You'll wear this like for your flavors, o'clock"? The point is, what was my point?

• 33:02David Sims?

  I have no fucking idea.

• 33:04Griffin Newman?

  Same last window man.

• 33:04David Sims?

  Yeah, yeah. George Lucas is having a tough time.

• 33:07Griffin Newman?

  George Lucas is in a dark as hell place.

• 33:09David Sims?

  Right.

• 33:09Griffin Newman?

  But here is a timeline that everyone gets wrong that I just want to remind people of.

• 33:13David Sims?

  Yep.

• 33:14Griffin Newman?

  Steven Spielberg dates Amy Irving for most of the 70s.

• 33:17David Sims?

  Friend of the show.

• 33:17Griffin Newman?

  On and off. Friend of the show. And what I am saying is just public record. This is not any inside information.

• 33:23David Sims?

  Right.

• 33:23Griffin Newman?

  I've had no conversations with her about this.

• 33:24David Sims?

  No, we did not grill Amy Irving about this.

• 33:26Griffin Newman?

  No, I'm just stating numbers. Steven Spielberg, Amy Irving, date on and off for most of the 70s, right? Then there's like a more serious breakup in 1979.

• 33:35David Sims?

  Yes, big breakup.

• 33:36Griffin Newman?

  Then in 1983, he films a movie called Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom,

• 33:40David Sims?

  Yep.

• 33:41Griffin Newman?

  starring Kate Capshaw as the female lead, a woman who we now know is Steven Spielberg's longtime wife.

• 33:48David Sims?

  His, they've been married for 30 plus years.

• 33:51Griffin Newman?

  And people are like, oh, that's where they met and they fell in love. Do you know what happens in 1985?

• 33:54Speaker 04

  He marries Amy.

• 33:56Griffin Newman?

  The year after this is released.

• 33:57David Sims?

  And impregnates her.

• 33:58Speaker 04

  Yes.

• 33:59David Sims?

  And as Amy Irving told us, and I forget if we put it on mic, Barbra Streisand took full credit.

• 34:03Griffin Newman?

  Yep. Barbra Streisand takes credit.

• 34:05David Sims?

  That, that made it.

• 34:06Speaker 04

  For getting them back together, for?

• 34:08David Sims?

  And for getting her knocked up specifically.

• 34:10Griffin Newman?

  Said, "You're gonna get pregnant."

• 34:12David Sims?

  Yes. Like truly Barbra Streisand was like, "I will listen to exist," and Amy Irving was like, "No, you didn't."

• 34:16Griffin Newman?

  We did cut one thing out of that episode that we'll tell you off mic because you deserve to hear.

• 34:19David Sims?

  Yes, it was incredible.

• 34:20Griffin Newman?

  But yes, marry, Temple of Doom released in 84. Amy Irving marriage 85. Their son, I think, is born later that year in 85 or 86?

• 34:28David Sims?

  Uh, yep.

• 34:29Griffin Newman?

  And then they don't divorce until 89.

• 34:31David Sims?

  Yep.

• 34:31Speaker 04

  But then when does he marry?

• 34:33Griffin Newman?

  1991.

• 34:34Speaker 04

  Okay.

• 34:34David Sims?

  But it's a little weird because he did meet her making this movie. So, yeah, I don't know.

• 34:39Speaker 04

  One of my favorite throwaway 30 Rock jokes is when Kenneth tells Tracy, "Steven Spielberg wants you to be in his next movie," and Tracy says, "Kate Capshaw's husband?"

• 34:48Griffin Newman?

  Incredible.

• 34:51Griffin Newman?

  I think I've-

• 34:51Speaker 04

  It's so stupid.

• 34:53Griffin Newman?

  I think I've talked about this before. But my beloved departed IMDb message boards, what used to be the most unhinged place on the internet.

• 35:00David Sims?

  Right.

• 35:01Griffin Newman?

  Where every single project or person who had any IMDb page had their own designated IMDb message board.

• 35:07David Sims?

  Right.

• 35:07Griffin Newman?

  Any like random PA had their own designated message board. And there was one guy who kept posting in the Kate Capshaw message boards, "I got this script that I really think has a perfect part for Kate. Does anyone know how to get through to Kate? I know she's been retired from acting. She doesn't have representation anymore. Is there any way to get through to Kate?" And this guy would post this like once every six months and people would go, "We fucking get it, man. You're trying to get Steven Spielberg to read your script."

• 35:31David Sims?

  Right.

• 35:32Griffin Newman?

  And you go, "I am not-

• 35:33David Sims?

  Kate!

• 35:34Griffin Newman?

  I have always loved Kate as an actor. Does anyone know if maybe because she doesn't have representation, who I could contact her husband's-

• 35:40David Sims?

  Her home address might be? Or I could drop it off?

• 35:44Griffin Newman?

  Maybe, I don't know. What does her husband do? Is he home a lot? Could I hand the script off to him? All I'm saying is-

• 35:51David Sims?

  It's more the Lucas divorce movie than it is the Spielberg divorce movie?

• 35:54Griffin Newman?

  Well, it's not the Spielberg divorce movie. Because everyone knows, oh, he was with Amy Irving and then he was with Kate Capshaw. People assume his marriage to Amy Irving is falling apart and out of the Phoenix comes Kate Capshaw. When in fact-

• 36:07Speaker 04

  The like timeline of that whole thing seems-

• 36:09Griffin Newman?

  It's very bizarre.

• 36:10Speaker 04

  Yeah.

• 36:11Griffin Newman?

  But it's like he's coming off of several years of being ostensibly single.

• 36:14Speaker 04

  Yeah.

• 36:14Griffin Newman?

  He meets her. Then he gets back together with his old on and off girlfriend, has a child, divorces, gets together with Kate Capshaw.

• 36:22David Sims?

  Hollywood's so messy.

• 36:22Griffin Newman?

  Whatever's going on with Steven Spielberg at this time is not divorce shit. I just think that needs to be cleanly stated.

• 36:27David Sims?

  Let's open the dossier to just get more into this, okay?

• 36:36Griffin Newman?

  David?

• 36:37David Sims?

  Yes?

• 36:37Griffin Newman?

  Mmm.

• 36:40David Sims?

  Is that the Cineas Cow?

• 36:42Griffin Newman?

  The Cineas Cow is back.

• 36:43David Sims?

  Haven't heard from her in a while.

• 36:44Griffin Newman?

  Yeah, she's reactivated because she's horny for chicken fingers.

• 36:50David Sims?

  Okay.

• 36:50Griffin Newman?

  And she's excited for the streaming debut of Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma.

• 36:54David Sims?

  Wow.

• 36:55Griffin Newman?

  The cow likes chicken.

• 36:57David Sims?

  Remember cow and chicken? Let's look it up. While you tell the great listeners- About the great stuff on movie.

• 37:04Griffin Newman?

  Well, MUBI is a global film company, bringing great cinema to the world and to you. Curating and elevating visionary filmmaking, all handpicked, always. That's what MUBI does. Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma, one of my favorite movies of the year.

• 37:17David Sims?

  Absolutely.

• 37:18Griffin Newman?

  You can feel the rush now at home. There's a hole at the bottom of the lake where the movies come from.

• 37:24David Sims?

  That is a line in the movie.

• 37:25Griffin Newman?

  In the new movie from Jane Schomburn, Past and Future Guest.

• 37:28David Sims?

  Past and Future Guest, a great filmmaker, a great podcast guest, a great friend.

• 37:33Griffin Newman?

  Yes.

• 37:34David Sims?

  This movie rocks. It's got, of course, it stars Hannah Einbinder and Gillian Anderson.

• 37:39Griffin Newman?

  Uh huh.

• 37:39David Sims?

  Legends, and I tip my cap, but Zach Cherry.

• 37:41Griffin Newman?

  Performances, friend of the show.

• 37:43David Sims?

  Friend of the show, Zach Cherry.

• 37:44Griffin Newman?

  Zach Cherry.

• 37:45David Sims?

  Also in it.

• 37:46Griffin Newman?

  This is true.

• 37:47David Sims?

  Such a cool movie. Won the Queer Palmitcan. If you haven't heard about this movie, I don't know what's going on with you, but like, it obviously has, it was out in theaters this summer and now it's on MUBI.

• 37:57Griffin Newman?

  Hannah Einbinder plays the filmmaker attempting to reboot the Camp Miasma franchise, trying to track down the original final girl from the first movie to, to make some sort of legacy sequel, who's played by Gillian Anderson, who lives at the summer camp.

• 38:12David Sims?

  Yes. And you know, and then they hang out and it's regular.

• 38:16Griffin Newman?

  What happens? It's, it's one of those Hollywood's out of ideas. No, it's very much a movie about Hollywood being out of ideas while being an example of there still being new stories to tell.

• 38:28David Sims?

  It's now streaming exclusively on MUBI and you can try MUBI free for 30 days at MUBI.com slash Blank Check. That's M U B I dot com slash Blank Check for a whole month of great cinema for free.

• 38:40Griffin Newman?

  They got so many great movies on there to watch, but worth it for 30 days for Miasma.

• 38:45David Sims?

  Damn right.

• 38:50Griffin Newman?

  David?

• 38:51David Sims?

  Yes?

• 38:51Griffin Newman?

  He lurks in shadow. He slips into dreams. He casts no reflection. Audible presents Bram Stoker's Dracula, a new full cast audio thriller starring Ella Purnell as Mina Harker, Jonathan Bailey as Dracula, and an A-list cast, including Maggie Gyllenhaal as Van Helsing, Amy Lou Wood as Lucy, David Johnson as Dr. Seward, and many more. That is an all-star cast.

• 39:12David Sims?

  Yeah, this new full cast thriller locks Mina Harker in a battle of minds with the Count. When Mina's fiance Jonathan Harker, Louis Partridge, vanishes in Transylvania, Mina pieces together letters, diary entries, and chilling testimony to hunt the predator stalking those she loves, only to discover Dracula's already hunting her.

• 39:32Griffin Newman?

  Joined by the enigmatic Van Helsing, Mina and a small fearless band race against time to stop this ancient terror. Using her intellect, her resolve, and a gift for drawing the unseen lines between clues, Mina may just hold the key to bring down the Count if he hasn't already found his way inside her mind.

• 39:48David Sims?

  Featuring a haunting original score by Elon Eschery and a spatial dolby Atmos sound design, Audible's Dracula invites you to welcome literature's most shadowy figure into your home. Feel the terror of being hunted and the thrill of the hunt. Don't miss this year's best new audio thriller, Bram Stoker's Dracula, Audible's new full cast original adaptation. Written by Robin Ahern, now on Audible. Listen to the darkness. Go to audible.com/listen2dracula.

• 40:23Griffin Newman?

  David?

• 40:23David Sims?

  Yes?

• 40:24Griffin Newman?

  Ugh.

• 40:25David Sims?

  Uh oh.

• 40:25Griffin Newman?

  It's November.

• 40:27David Sims?

  Ah!

• 40:28Griffin Newman?

  And you know what that means, the old stereotype about November.

• 40:31David Sims?

  Turkeys?

• 40:31Griffin Newman?

  One long sprint to the finish line.

• 40:33David Sims?

  Oh, of course.

• 40:35Griffin Newman?

  Packed schedule, questionable food choices, and somehow a social calendar that got way fuller than you planned. And I ain't talking about Sam Fuller. We're not covering him yet in the podcast.

• 40:43David Sims?

  No, although maybe we should.

• 40:44Griffin Newman?

  We might get there eventually.

• 40:46David Sims?

  I can't remember. Big red one. We could call it the Big Red Podcast.

• 40:49Griffin Newman?

  Listen, when things get complicated, not when life is easy and when you got time for a whole routine, right now when everything is full and something has to give one scoop cold water every morning before anything else, as I like to say, scoop there it is.

• 41:03David Sims?

  You do like to say that every morning you text me, scoop there it is. And that means I now know that you had your AG1.

• 41:09Griffin Newman?

  And I'm awake.

• 41:10David Sims?

  Uh, but yeah, you're, I know you're a daily AG1 user, and it's basically the glue that holds your internal organs together at this point.

• 41:18Griffin Newman?

  It's not just marketing. AG1 Next Gen is backed by four separate gold standard clinical trials. Not we did a study.

• 41:26David Sims?

  Thank you for that.

• 41:26Griffin Newman?

  Four independent studies with key nutrient levels improved within three months of consistent use. This is the thing I like about AG1. They're not resting on their laurels. They constantly work to better themselves.

• 41:38David Sims?

  Um, yes, AG1. They've got now AG1 Pro.

• 41:42Griffin Newman?

  For the professionals.

• 41:43David Sims?

  Same daily drink now with the performance and recovery layer built in. So you've got five grams of Cre vitalis, a premium German made creatine monohydrate, and one of the most studied compounds in sports science, plus CAH MB for muscle protection and zinc carnosine for gut support.

• 42:01Griffin Newman?

  Thank God.

• 42:02David Sims?

  Next gen is the foundation pro adds what your body needs to recover.

• 42:06Griffin Newman?

  You might be having some big meals this November. AG1 is what you need to keep your gut in check. Keep things, as I like to put it, regular.

• 42:14David Sims?

  Yes. So for a limited time, visit drink AG1.com slash check and get a free immune support bundle, including omega three, fish oil and vitamin D three plus K2 with your first subscription of AG1 next gen or AG1 Pro. That's drink AG1.com slash check. And after checkout, be sure to let them know that Belank check sent you.

• 42:44David Sims?

  Raiders of the Lost Ark.

• 42:46Griffin Newman?

  Successful.

• 42:46Speaker 04

  Perfect movie to me.

• 42:48David Sims?

  And because of its success, really never any doubt that it would have a sequel. And Lucas had always envisioned sequels, just like those old republic cereals that always had sequels.

• 42:57Griffin Newman?

  Well, and as we discussed, when Lucas presented this idea to Spielberg, I got an idea, I'd love for you to direct it. There's a handshake agreement of, but if you're doing this, you've got to make three of them. I want this to be an ongoing series.

• 43:07David Sims?

  But it is a handshake deal, not a contract.

• 43:10Griffin Newman?

  Deals with other people. Paramount is committed to three. I think Ford's committed to three. Is that correct?

• 43:14David Sims?

  Yes, but.

• 43:15Griffin Newman?

  But Spielberg's just a handshake.

• 43:16David Sims?

  But Spielberg also says that George had said like, well, I have ideas for other movies. And then when George was like, it's time for another movie. He didn't have any ideas for any other movies.

• 43:25Griffin Newman?

  Weird.

• 43:27David Sims?

  George Lucas starts pitching ideas.

• 43:29Griffin Newman?

  Web saves. So George Lucas told people publicly that he had a really big, long.

• 43:36David Sims?

  It all, the pod racing was always there.

• 43:39Griffin Newman?

  This just doesn't sound like my man.

• 43:41David Sims?

  He pitches an idea centered around a haunted castle in Scotland.

• 43:45Griffin Newman?

  I like that.

• 43:45David Sims?

  Sounds kind of fun.

• 43:46Griffin Newman?

  I think that sounds cool.

• 43:47David Sims?

  But Spielberg had just.

• 43:48Speaker 04

  Sounds like it would be less racist.

• 43:51David Sims?

  Well, racist in a fun way against the Scottish people.

• 43:54Griffin Newman?

  We could all laugh at that.

• 43:55David Sims?

  Oh, hi, there's a ghost, you know?

• 43:57Speaker 04

  The accents would be like funny.

• 43:59Griffin Newman?

  No, whatever gets offended by Shrek. Exactly. Has, has a single group complained about the representation in Shrek.

• 44:05Speaker 04

  They should do a Shrek, Indiana Jones crossover. Indiana Jones should take Shrek.

• 44:09David Sims?

  That sounds like the kind of poisonous shit that Hollywood would love to make.

• 44:15David Sims?

  So Spielberg's like, eh, I just-

• 44:16Griffin Newman?

  Deadline said Olivia has just been placed-

• 44:19Speaker 04

  Isn't Shrek DreamWorks?

• 44:19Griffin Newman?

  In charge of Paramount Pictures. Well, now-

• 44:21David Sims?

  Yeah, but now DreamWorks is owned by Universal or Paramount or whatever.

• 44:24Griffin Newman?

  Oh, you're right. It's fucking Universal. Yeah.

• 44:26David Sims?

  Spielberg had just worked on Poltergeist. He doesn't want to do a ghost story, so no.

• 44:30Griffin Newman?

  Oh, sure.

• 44:32David Sims?

  So instead, George throws the ideas to Willard. How do you say his name? Huck?

• 44:38Griffin Newman?

  Huck.

• 44:38David Sims?

  Yeah. And Gloria Katz, who obviously wrote American Graffiti with him and go on to make Howard the Duck.

• 44:44Griffin Newman?

  Yes. And I think-

• 44:45David Sims?

  And I think they'd done a little work on Star Wars.

• 44:47Griffin Newman?

  They'd absolutely done work on Star Wars. They were sort of his go-to married couple, writer, team friends.

• 44:53David Sims?

  And they pitch an idea called Indiana Jones and the Temple of Death. Submitting a 20-page story treatment that was set in India. They were very interested in Indian culture. They traveled there. They were collecting Indian art. And they were also really looking at the movie Gangadin, which of course is a really sensitive and textured portrayal of life in India. But I guess like that kind of an adventure story, right?

• 45:19Griffin Newman?

  Yes.

• 45:19David Sims?

  And, you know, the Himalayas or something.

• 45:22Griffin Newman?

  Now, let me say, Willian Gloria, I think their main role in the Lucasfilm ecosystem for many years was they were the people who understood characters and how human beings talked. And were the ones who put some sort of reasonable semblance of recognizable human emotion into his movies.

• 45:37Speaker 04

  Interesting.

• 45:39Griffin Newman?

  The times they were credited versus the times they were not, I think they were always that sort of counterbalance.

• 45:43David Sims?

  That was their role, sure.

• 45:44Griffin Newman?

  For them to be the primary writers on this, I don't think they were usually the ones who were figuring out story beats or the world building or all of that, right? Like Lawrence Kasdan was pretty unique in having a mind for both of those things. I think Kasdan, for him, was kind of one of those hires of like, you handle this shit and then I'll put the Lucas on top of it.

• 46:04David Sims?

  Right.

• 46:05Griffin Newman?

  Or I give you the Lucas stuff and you write within that structure.

• 46:07Speaker 04

  Didn't he offer to Kasdan first?

• 46:09David Sims?

  Kasdan, I think we'll get to it, but Kasdan was just not interested. And I think they also like said, like, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Death is set in India and Kasdan was immediately turned off.

• 46:18Griffin Newman?

  Right.

• 46:19David Sims?

  But we'll talk about it.

• 46:19Griffin Newman?

  But Kasdan's career is also like rolling now.

• 46:21David Sims?

  He's getting hot. Yeah, yeah, he's getting hot, but.

• 46:24Griffin Newman?

  It's just, I, re-watching it- Again, when the opening credits come up, I was just like, oh, right. It's just the two of them credited as the writers. There are other people credited for story, but it's a little surprising that it's just the two of them.

• 46:38David Sims?

  So they start to kind of be like, well, we could do all the stuff we wanted to do before. George, Steve, didn't you always want to like do a musical sequence? We could do like a Busby Berkeley musical.

• 46:49Griffin Newman?

  Yeah.

• 46:50David Sims?

  George, didn't you want Indy to like, wear a suit and go to a nightclub and kind of be like a sexy guy?

• 46:55Griffin Newman?

  Like be James Bond?

• 46:56David Sims?

  Right, we can do that. And like, right, Steve, didn't you always want to do a James Bond movie? We can like, kind of do a James Bond thing where we start in another mission before we start our main mission.

• 47:05Griffin Newman?

  It's like an appetizer sampler platter of a movie.

• 47:08David Sims?

  Yes.

• 47:08Speaker 04

  When this movie starts, which is when all of that stuff happens, I'm kind of on board.

• 47:13David Sims?

  You're on board.

• 47:14Speaker 04

  The first like 10 minutes, I'm like, this is awesome.

• 47:17Griffin Newman?

  The first 20 minutes, I would say, or at least 15, I love. And every time I'm like, am I going to 100% lock in? And then it falls off for me, but beyond that, when I look back at it, I'm like, everything I like in the first 15 minutes is not really a good Indiana Jones movie.

• 47:32Speaker 04

  No, it starts as kind of like a-

• 47:33David Sims?

  It's just well made.

• 47:34Speaker 04

  Good movie.

• 47:35Griffin Newman?

  There's a good musical number and then a great James Bond sequence.

• 47:39Speaker 04

  I love the musical number.

• 47:40Griffin Newman?

  It's so good.

• 47:41Speaker 04

  I think it's so fun. I think it's so well directed. I think it's crazy that it took him so long to make a musical after.

• 47:46David Sims?

  He should have made one per decade. Like, he really should have kept, yeah, I mean-

• 47:50Speaker 04

  He clearly wanted, or like loves the form, like is good at it.

• 47:56David Sims?

  I mean, look, the whole-

• 47:57Speaker 04

  That's kind of the peak of Kate Capshaw's performance.

• 47:58David Sims?

  It is. It's the best she's, I mean, it's probably why she was cast, because she's good at that shit.

• 48:02Griffin Newman?

  Yeah, but I'd also argue it's a problem because it starts so hot and then the second she isn't singing, I'm like, what the fuck?

• 48:08David Sims?

  Didn't she start singing again, please?

• 48:09Speaker 04

  He like leaves in this bit where she sort of trips going up the platform too, that I think is so-

• 48:15David Sims?

  Charming.

• 48:16Speaker 04

  Charming and fun. And then Indiana Jones throws a bunch of flaming ducks at a guy on the spear.

• 48:23Griffin Newman?

  I like all of this.

• 48:24Speaker 04

  Like, all of that stuff is really good.

• 48:25Griffin Newman?

  Yeah.

• 48:26David Sims?

  The whole thing with Temple to do my entire take is you are in the hands of a master pretty much the whole time. That's why it's very watchable.

• 48:34Griffin Newman?

  Yeah.

• 48:35David Sims?

  His grasp of everything at this point is total. See, he's always like a 10 out of 10 action filmmaker.

• 48:41Griffin Newman?

  Yeah.

• 48:41David Sims?

  And he's making a very fast paced action movie.

• 48:44Griffin Newman?

  Mm hmm.

• 48:45David Sims?

  And whenever that's happening, you're pretty, it's good.

• 48:48Speaker 04

  Yes. And then people will like talk and there's a plot and it kind of.

• 48:51David Sims?

  Right. Huge mistakes on that front.

• 48:54Speaker 04

  Here's the thing that like is weird to me from the jump from the beginning is that in that first scene in the restaurant, he's exchanging that like monkey figurine thing for a diamond.

• 49:06Griffin Newman?

  Yeah.

• 49:06Speaker 04

  Which doesn't make sense with who we know Indiana Jones to be.

• 49:10David Sims?

  He would be way more interested in the fucking monkey.

• 49:11Speaker 04

  Yeah, he would want to take that to a museum. Like the idea that like we know this guy to be professor by day and like adventurer by other day is completely kind of thrown away in this movie.

• 49:25Griffin Newman?

  I agree. I think the characterization is totally wrong.

• 49:28David Sims?

  Well, the prequel thing. Sort of the argument of like, oh, maybe he's learning how to be Indy, but they don't really hit that hard enough.

• 49:32Speaker 04

  That's the fucking problem. Raiders is this supposed to be?

• 49:34David Sims?

  Uh, it's a good question. I guess it's like six or seven, right? Like not many.

• 49:40Griffin Newman?

  There is a Chyron, is there not?

• 49:41Speaker 04

  Yeah.

• 49:42David Sims?

  I mean, it's 1935. I'm just trying to remember when Raiders takes place. Oh, 1936. Okay. So yeah, fuck me. It's just right before Raiders.

• 49:50Griffin Newman?

  Okay.

• 49:50David Sims?

  Yeah.

• 49:51Griffin Newman?

  Yeah.

• 49:51David Sims?

  Um, okay.

• 49:53Griffin Newman?

  But even still, I, I remember watching it when the year comes up and going like, wait a second, doing the math, being like, this is a prequel. And then I go, oh, so this is going to be that story. This is how Indiana Jones became Indiana Jones.

• 50:06David Sims?

  Right.

• 50:06Griffin Newman?

  That is not a movie they're interested in making. I even was like, oh, the reason Short Round is in this movie is because Short Round's going to experience a tragic death. This is going to be something that forms him. We're seeing the sidekick that he lost before we met him previously. No, incidental. By all accounts, the only reason this is a prequel, not a sequel, is that Spielberg didn't want to do Nazis.

• 50:23David Sims?

  He didn't want to do Nazis and I guess, but let me keep going on this. Okay.

• 50:27Griffin Newman?

  Okay.

• 50:28David Sims?

  George Lucas has already made Empire Strikes Back. So he's like, we should do what I did there again, where it's a darker movie. It's spookier. Let's do this like, you know, death cult thing, right? Let's just, let's lean into the dark.

• 50:39Griffin Newman?

  And I'm going to put the world's biggest pin in that.

• 50:42David Sims?

  Famously, the darker tone of Temple of Doom is ascribed to a few things. One, George Lucas's divorce from Marcia Lucas. Two, Steven Spielberg's breakup with On Again, Off Again, Bo, Amy Irving. Friend of the show, past guest, future guest. Three, and JJ was really hammering this, as you said, Twilight's on the movie. What a horrible experience Spielberg had, Spielberg had been associated with that, the death of Vic Morrow, and all that stuff. It's not like Spielberg was present for the death of Vic Morrow, but nonetheless, his name's on the movie.

• 51:12Griffin Newman?

  You know, basically willed that movie into being and then had to make a very haunted, terrible segment afterwards to complete his contractual obligations. But I think was just like deeply wounded by the entire, traumatized.

• 51:23David Sims?

  Lucas and Spielberg candidly say afterwards, like, we were in bad moods. We look back at the movie and we're like, maybe we took this to a bit of a dark extreme. Like, we were, you know, kind of in a, whatever, kind of, you know, a pall had been cast over things.

• 51:36Griffin Newman?

  But I agree with JJ's assessment that I do think the core darkness from Spielberg's end is coming from the shadow of Twilight's on the movie.

• 51:44David Sims?

  Spielberg's, another shadow he's dealing with, which is the first time he's making a sequel. And so you've got all the pressures of making a sequel to a beloved gigantic hit. And it's not like Star Wars where there's like, you know, like, yeah, we're gonna keep going. Like, what are midi-chlorians? No one's told me yet. Can someone tell me? Does anyone know? Indiana Jones, it's like, yes, you could make more, but there's not, it doesn't movie, the movie doesn't end with like, then what happens?

• 52:07Griffin Newman?

  So can I take my giant pen out here?

• 52:09David Sims?

  Sure.

• 52:09Griffin Newman?

  Cause you've set this up now. I, I get what Lucas is saying, especially because Empire Strikes Back is a triumph. Even if at the time, it was received with a little bit of confusion.

• 52:21David Sims?

  It was still giant.

• 52:21Griffin Newman?

  Not as extreme as Temple of Doom, but people were like, what's this? Why is it such a bummer? Why is it in a cliffhanger? Whatever, right? I get him being like, storytelling rules. Act two needs to be the dip, so there's a place for the heroes to come back and recover. I think that's fundamentally wrong for Indiana Jones, which is designed to be like serialized standalone adventures. It is not about character growth. That makes sense if you're making a trilogy of stories that are telling one greater saga.

• 52:46David Sims?

  I agree, sure.

• 52:47Griffin Newman?

  Which by design is not what he's trying to do. So I'm like, you can't do the middle darker. Entry when you're like, all of these are just whatever. They're adventures. I think the point becomes even less powerful when you're making it a prequel. So you're like, oh, it's the mid dark chapter before his like ultimate. You know, victory at the end. And I'm like, no, you're putting his darker stuff at the beginning. Which if you're gonna do that, then it's intentionally, I think you gotta do the like sort of casino Royale. What made him shit, which this movie is not doing at all.

• 53:17Speaker 04

  Completely uninterested.

• 53:18Griffin Newman?

  Last Crusade does a better job of 20 minutes of that at the beginning, which is one of my favorite sequences.

• 53:23David Sims?

  It's a great sequence.

• 53:24Griffin Newman?

  Right. But I'm like, you could start this from the place of like. Indiana Jones is an adult man, but here's how the persona grew, right? He had this sidekick he lost. Like anytime, the first time I'm watching this film, it sets up an element that I know isn't present Raiders. I'm like, there's gonna be some narrative beat to explain what changed him.

• 53:43Speaker 04

  There's no payoff from the fact that it's a prequel.

• 53:46Griffin Newman?

  It gains nothing from.

• 53:47Speaker 04

  It's complete. You could just, you could say that it was.

• 53:49David Sims?

  Relationships he makes.

• 53:50Griffin Newman?

  I think it's truly avoiding two things. I think they were like, A, don't want to make another Nazi movie. And B, doing another movie after Raiders with a different female lead.

• 54:01Speaker 04

  Yeah.

• 54:02Griffin Newman?

  Will piss people off because they like Marion and we don't want to make a movie of him in a serious relationship. So said it earlier.

• 54:08Speaker 04

  Yeah.

• 54:08Griffin Newman?

  Which doesn't help them because now we're gonna sit here going, who the fuck is this? And why isn't she Marion? Remember how we all liked Marion?

• 54:14Speaker 04

  Remember how we love that like cool woman who does things?

• 54:18Griffin Newman?

  Who liked being in Indiana Jones movies? Who wasn't like, stop the movie.

• 54:24David Sims?

  Kate Capshaw made a movie called A Little Sex.

• 54:27Griffin Newman?

  Hmm.

• 54:28David Sims?

  Oh my. Wait a second.

• 54:30Speaker 04

  I'm interested.

• 54:31David Sims?

  This movie has just a little.

• 54:34Griffin Newman?

  Why stop there?

• 54:34Speaker 04

  That's better than nothing. That's true.

• 54:36David Sims?

  A Bruce Paltrow movie, of course.

• 54:37Griffin Newman?

  Okay.

• 54:39David Sims?

  And was not interested in making a franchise, you know, sequel movie or whatever. But then she auditioned and she met this Steven Spielberg guy. She's kind of charmed by him. Anyway, they end up getting married and all that shit. Um, uh, you know, it's.

• 54:58Griffin Newman?

  What?

• 54:58David Sims?

  I mean.

• 55:00Griffin Newman?

  What?

• 55:02David Sims?

  It's just sort of like, I feel like Spielberg trying to like rationalize what he was doing and the kind of acting he was looking for. I'm just kind of like.

• 55:11Griffin Newman?

  Out of her.

• 55:12David Sims?

  You can't talk about how your wife is kind of bad in this movie.

• 55:15Speaker 04

  No.

• 55:15David Sims?

  You know, so it's like, I'm never gonna get a quote from Spielberg about Kate Capshaw and Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom.

• 55:19Speaker 04

  I feel like if you were out.

• 55:21David Sims?

  That's bidding like.

• 55:22Speaker 04

  If you were like friends with Kate Capshaw and it came up, she would be like.

• 55:27Griffin Newman?

  I think so.

• 55:28Speaker 04

  This is not.

• 55:28David Sims?

  I think she would.

• 55:29Speaker 04

  Yeah.

• 55:30Griffin Newman?

  I think she would.

• 55:30David Sims?

  And she would be like, huh, what happened to my career? I guess fucking, you know.

• 55:33Speaker 04

  And I think.

• 55:34Griffin Newman?

  She had good performances after this.

• 55:35David Sims?

  That's what I'm saying.

• 55:36Griffin Newman?

  Yeah.

• 55:36David Sims?

  But nonetheless, it's kind of like, what defines Kate Capshaw?

• 55:39Speaker 04

  Here's my other thing is that I think that is not a well-written role.

• 55:43Griffin Newman?

  Thank you. Okay.

• 55:44David Sims?

  No, it's not. Yeah, she does not have much to work with.

• 55:47Speaker 04

  It is not, she doesn't have much to work with and she doesn't do a great job of pulling out what they're like. My thing is that if this were Goldie Hawn, we would.

• 55:56David Sims?

  I mean.

• 55:57Griffin Newman?

  I've been sitting on this for two weeks.

• 55:59Speaker 04

  If this were Goldie Hawn, or if it were a couple of years later and it was Meg Ryan.

• 56:03Griffin Newman?

  Yeah.

• 56:04Speaker 04

  We would all, it would be kind of a different.

• 56:07Griffin Newman?

  But Goldie Hawn was my exact one that I've been suing.

• 56:09Speaker 04

  It is so obviously supposed to be Goldie Hawn to me.

• 56:13Griffin Newman?

  And fucking, he's in her first movie. We do the Sugarland episode where like, it's kind of weird. He never worked with her ever again.

• 56:19David Sims?

  I mean, she's too famous, I guess.

• 56:22Griffin Newman?

  For Indiana Jones?

• 56:23David Sims?

  I don't know. I don't know.

• 56:24Speaker 04

  The whole time, I'm just like.

• 56:26David Sims?

  Sequels are not cool back then.

• 56:27Griffin Newman?

  Yeah, but, but it's Indiana Jones. Star Wars has de-stigmatized sequels a little bit, right?

• 56:33Speaker 04

  Yeah.

• 56:34Griffin Newman?

  And what they're gonna get at for the third movie is, hey, two legends on the poster.

• 56:38David Sims?

  They get to that.

• 56:39Griffin Newman?

  They do. They should have gotten there on this one.

• 56:42Speaker 04

  I think if, I think if it's Goldie Hawn, the role probably gets beefed up.

• 56:46Griffin Newman?

  Yep.

• 56:46Speaker 04

  And she is so naturally funny.

• 56:50Griffin Newman?

  This is the.

• 56:51Speaker 04

  That it like, the whole thing with like, oh, the elephant is like playing with her hair and all the physical comedy, all of that stuff would be so much better just due to the fact that it is like one of the most naturally gifted comedians ever.

• 57:03Griffin Newman?

  I agree with you. She's the exact name I landed on and I'm like, I still think this character is. Misconceived.

• 57:08Speaker 04

  Yes.

• 57:09Griffin Newman?

  I think she's misconceived as a character, but also misconceived in relation to the movie in terms of what makes an Indiana Jones movie work. She is playing against a lot of what they need to motor this film across. The, her existence, Willie Scott as a character.

• 57:25Speaker 04

  The whole time she is just there to kind of get in the way.

• 57:29Griffin Newman?

  Yes.

• 57:29Speaker 04

  Which is not a good character.

• 57:31David Sims?

  She's a video game character who keeps like walking in front of your gun.

• 57:34Speaker 04

  Yeah.

• 57:35David Sims?

  The game is like, protect Willie Scott. You're like, well, she's just walking in front of me.

• 57:38Speaker 04

  Yeah, it's like, oh, it's like she can't help them because she's like scared of slimy stuff. And it's like, that is not.

• 57:43Griffin Newman?

  It, I, this like lives in my head forever, but Ben Edlund would always talk about this when we were working on The Tick, because he was trying to make a TV series with a refusal of the call arc. And he was like, it's always the struggle of not creating characters who exist to try to stop the show from happening.

• 57:58David Sims?

  Right, because then you're gonna hate them.

• 58:00Griffin Newman?

  That's the thing.

• 58:00David Sims?

  Yeah.

• 58:01Griffin Newman?

  It's like, even if there's a narrative purpose for that tension, the audience is like, fuck this guy.

• 58:06David Sims?

  Go away.

• 58:06Griffin Newman?

  Why is she being such a bummer? And Willie Scott is like a perfect example of a character who's like, I hate this, stop this, let me out of the movie.

• 58:14Speaker 04

  And I think it's like, I get that you have Marion in the first movie and she's cool and she can do her own thing and she's brunette. And so the next one, you're like, how do we make it different?

• 58:27David Sims?

  What if there was a bad character?

• 58:27Speaker 04

  What if she was blonde and couldn't do anything?

• 58:30Griffin Newman?

  It's the classic sequel thing of we should do the opposite of what we did last time.

• 58:33Speaker 04

  It's like, maybe we should find like a redhead with a skill. Like, that is maybe the middle ground.

• 58:38Griffin Newman?

  There are other ways to go.

• 58:39David Sims?

  Right, do the Witcher thing.

• 58:40Griffin Newman?

  Yeah.

• 58:40David Sims?

  Witcher 3, of course, the greatest video game of all time. All the ladies are, are confident, they're just different. Brunette, black hair, they're so different. Blonde.

• 58:50Griffin Newman?

  But look, we talked about this in the Raiders episode. It, it becomes clear to them that they're like, we had lightning in a bottle with Marion. No one wants to see him fall in love with anyone else, right? So the third movie makes the woman like a fake out and makes it a two-hander with his dad.

• 59:04David Sims?

  Yes.

• 59:05Griffin Newman?

  And then the fourth movie makes a two-hander with his son and brings Marion back. And then the fifth movie.

• 59:11David Sims?

  It's all on the movies, baby.

• 59:12Speaker 04

  I have not dialed in.

• 59:14David Sims?

  You wanna dial in?

• 59:15Speaker 04

  Should I?

• 59:15David Sims?

  Do I get that rotary phone?

• 59:16Griffin Newman?

  That's why you're the best, Olivia, because you you like to turn the titles into verbs.

• 59:20David Sims?

  Do you agree? Post Conclave, because this was a Olivia thing, that Tucci has the touch again?

• 59:26Speaker 04

  Okay, I'm glad we're talking about this. I do think that Conclave brought the Tucci touch back.

• 59:32David Sims?

  It was the first time in a while I felt it brushing against my shoulder.

• 59:35Speaker 04

  I was like, hello.

• 59:36David Sims?

  Who's touching me?

• 59:37Griffin Newman?

  Yeah.

• 59:37David Sims?

  Tucci?

• 59:37Speaker 04

  I'm, I hope that-

• 59:38Griffin Newman?

  It's a tickle. It's a tickle of the Tucci.

• 59:40Speaker 04

  I hope moving forward that he feels that. And I'm concerned because he's not getting a lot of like awards recognition.

• 59:46David Sims?

  He's not getting like noms.

• 59:47Griffin Newman?

  But can I say this? I think that might be a good thing.

• 59:50David Sims?

  Sure, get him thirsty again.

• 59:51Speaker 04

  Get him hungry for it?

• 59:52Griffin Newman?

  Right. I think if there, there is-

• 59:54David Sims?

  Unless he wants a James Beard Award for making spaghetti all the time, all sexy.

• 59:59Griffin Newman?

  Well, he does clearly want one of those.

• 1:00:00David Sims?

  I think he does.

• 1:00:01Griffin Newman?

  Rolling up the sleeves, getting his hands all flowery. I think there is an understandable impulse to overpraise and laud him-

• 1:00:12Speaker 04

  Fair.

• 1:00:12Griffin Newman?

  For giving us a little bit of the magic back. And I was like, is he gonna fucking like, have too good of an Oscar season where then he's happy just being at this level?

• 1:00:21Speaker 04

  Yeah.

• 1:00:22Griffin Newman?

  Which I'm like, Conclave's not your best work, my man, but you're getting back in the spirit of it.

• 1:00:25Speaker 04

  But he really has like a-

• 1:00:27Griffin Newman?

  Yeah, he's doing what you like and I'm like-

• 1:00:29David Sims?

  He used to give us one of those a year.

• 1:00:31Griffin Newman?

  Totally.

• 1:00:31David Sims?

  And now it's like the first in kind of three or four.

• 1:00:33Griffin Newman?

  Right. And I want to make him work a little harder to win his eventual Oscar.

• 1:00:37David Sims?

  Yeah, exactly. He does need one.

• 1:00:38Griffin Newman?

  He does. He should have won for Spotlight.

• 1:00:40Speaker 04

  Yes.

• 1:00:40David Sims?

  I mean, he's incredible in Spotlight.

• 1:00:42Speaker 04

  One of the great movies.

• 1:00:43David Sims?

  Ah, he's incredible. And I mean, I don't know. It's a good question. What I, what do I give? Do I give Tucci a win? Julia, Julia, he's amazing.

• 1:00:51Griffin Newman?

  I was going back through my records and I'm like, in retrospect, I give Tucci the win for the Spotlight year, a year where on mic I, of course, gave Supporting Actor Two, Michael Shannon for the night before.

• 1:01:02Speaker 04

  That's crazy. He is so good in Spotlight. He's also incredible in The Devil Wears Prada.

• 1:01:07Griffin Newman?

  Yeah.

• 1:01:08David Sims?

  Devil Wears Prada is kind of his best.

• 1:01:11Speaker 04

  And that's a true supporting character.

• 1:01:13Griffin Newman?

  Yes.

• 1:01:13Speaker 04

  When is this episode coming out?

• 1:01:14David Sims?

  That's just such a good question.

• 1:01:16Griffin Newman?

  March, April?

• 1:01:17David Sims?

  Kind of question that I can answer by opening the spreadsheet.

• 1:01:19Speaker 04

  I think probably by the time-

• 1:01:21David Sims?

  March second.

• 1:01:21Speaker 04

  By the time this comes out, there will have been a ton of category fraud at the Oscars, which usually I'm not upset about, but this year is pissing me off.

• 1:01:28David Sims?

  You're basically saying Kieran Culkin will have won an Oscar?

• 1:01:30Speaker 04

  I think Kieran Culkin will have won an Oscar. I think it's crazy that Zoe Saldana is being pitched as a supporting actress when she is the lead of that movie?

• 1:01:36David Sims?

  She is. That movie didn't work for me. I sort of know what they're saying with like, no, Emilia Perez is the, is the main character.

• 1:01:45Griffin Newman?

  Which is certainly the title.

• 1:01:46Speaker 04

  She's the title, but it's like-

• 1:01:47David Sims?

  And she's the title. And yes, Zoe Saldana's all over the movie, but she's kind of the narrator. She's, Zoe Saldana is the best performance in that movie.

• 1:01:54Speaker 04

  Yes. She's really good in it.

• 1:01:55David Sims?

  Because she's the only thing where I'm like, because me watching that movie, I'm like, what the fuck is going on here, guys? And she's the only one who's kind of-

• 1:02:01Griffin Newman?

  It's a really good impression of you watching that movie. You just transported to a different place.

• 1:02:06David Sims?

  I kind of, she's kind of making me buy it sometimes.

• 1:02:09Griffin Newman?

  Yeah. I still haven't watched it.

• 1:02:11David Sims?

  Oh, you need to watch it.

• 1:02:12Griffin Newman?

  Yeah. But here's the thing I think back on. I'm like, you pull up the 1995 Academy Award nominations, and you're like, Morgan Freeman for Best Actor? We used to be a proper country. The bullshit they'd be pulling today to go like, oh, Shawshank is one lead, one supporting.

• 1:02:29David Sims?

  They would pull that bullshit.

• 1:02:30Speaker 04

  It is. So, I just am like-

• 1:02:32Griffin Newman?

  And you're like, that man ended up where he belonged. A deserved nomination. No category fraud.

• 1:02:39David Sims?

  What were you gonna say?

• 1:02:40Speaker 04

  I just think the Academy needs to open their third eye and realize that sometimes a movie is about two men, and they can both be the lead.

• 1:02:48Griffin Newman?

  Impossible.

• 1:02:48Speaker 04

  Or perhaps even two women.

• 1:02:51David Sims?

  Or, oh, well, that's crazy.

• 1:02:52Griffin Newman?

  Well, that's my-

• 1:02:53Speaker 04

  I know, that's pushing it too far.

• 1:02:54David Sims?

  That kind of sick sexual nonsense doesn't happen in our Hollywood movies. Two women. Emilia Perez and lawyer. I forget her name. Lawyer person?

• 1:03:04Speaker 04

  I don't, I watched the movie like three days ago, and I don't remember her name. Anyway.

• 1:03:07David Sims?

  It's just one of those movies where I'm like, I think this movie is taking itself deeply seriously.

• 1:03:13Speaker 04

  It's, it's a French guy. Like, that's all.

• 1:03:16David Sims?

  I mean, how, how, how better to put it?

• 1:03:18Speaker 04

  I, I hate to be anti-French, but-

• 1:03:22Speaker 04

  Whenever they make a movie that like makes its way over here.

• 1:03:24Griffin Newman?

  Yeah.

• 1:03:25Speaker 04

  It's like, what is?

• 1:03:27David Sims?

  What are you guys doing over there?

• 1:03:29Griffin Newman?

  French, yeah. If Indiana Jones went to France and did some French shit and the movie was making fun of French people.

• 1:03:34Speaker 04

  Yeah.

• 1:03:35Griffin Newman?

  We'd all be hooting and hollering.

• 1:03:36David Sims?

  We would, if it was like.

• 1:03:37Speaker 04

  Okay, wait.

• 1:03:38David Sims?

  He's serving them snails and it was like, oh, we'd be like, ah, French people are weird. Fuck this.

• 1:03:43Griffin Newman?

  Movie would have aged perfectly.

• 1:03:46David Sims?

  Okay, Catherine's going like, ah, frog's legs.

• 1:03:48Griffin Newman?

  Yeah.

• 1:03:49Speaker 04

  That's good.

• 1:03:50Griffin Newman?

  If Catherine de Nure was playing Willy Skunk.

• 1:03:53Speaker 04

  And there's so much old shit in France.

• 1:03:55Griffin Newman?

  Yeah.

• 1:03:56David Sims?

  Okay, I mean, you guys are so desperate for Indiana Jones to go to a castle. I mean, Harrison Ford's a, uh, eighty-four or whatever.

• 1:04:02Speaker 04

  Here's what I am actually desperate for. As I was watching this movie, I was like, I could just watch a movie that's like a guy going on an adventure every year. And that sort of thing.

• 1:04:12David Sims?

  We don't get enough of it.

• 1:04:13Speaker 04

  Yeah.

• 1:04:14Griffin Newman?

  Yeah.

• 1:04:15David Sims?

  I mean, obviously.

• 1:04:16Speaker 04

  Obviously, there's like James Bond.

• 1:04:17David Sims?

  Yeah, but that doesn't count. Because James Bond now, it's like he's haunted by trauma and women.

• 1:04:23Speaker 04

  Yeah.

• 1:04:23David Sims?

  And like, he has to wear the right watch and drive a Jaguar.

• 1:04:26Speaker 04

  I'm not like anti-franchise, but I want a new one. I want like a new character to exist.

• 1:04:32David Sims?

  The Brendan Fraser mummy, where they're just like, we're kind of doing Indiana Jones and we mix it with a couple other things and enjoy it. I'm like, I will. Thank you very much.

• 1:04:39Griffin Newman?

  But isn't the other problem here that like these movies need to justify? They won't make these movies unless they think they can be billion dollar movies, which means they need to cost three hundred million dollars, which means they need to be ten things.

• 1:04:52David Sims?

  This is part of the problem, but it's like, why? Like, okay, you know, there's that tweet about how like there's the Marvel movies that are fun to take drugs and watch. And then there's the baseball cap ones, right?

• 1:05:02Griffin Newman?

  The baseball cap?

• 1:05:03David Sims?

  Yeah, like where, and it's just a picture of Chris Evans in a baseball cap where you're like, why is like half this movie just like people in clothes? It's like, isn't this supposed to be about superheroes?

• 1:05:11Speaker 04

  Are those the, are those the ones where they're like, this is the parallax view?

• 1:05:14David Sims?

  Yeah, you know, exactly with like, it's kind of inspired by a seventies conspiracy thriller. I'm like, it looks like a fucking Epsom commercial, but okay. Um.

• 1:05:23David Sims?

  And like, that's like, why is the Tom Cruise mummy, it's like, it's like about a guy in pants and a shirt.

• 1:05:29Griffin Newman?

  Right.

• 1:05:29David Sims?

  Like, why is it not about, you know, why, why, why didn't you look at the Brendan Fraser mummy and go like, yeah, people like throwbacks and whatever. Whatever. I'm sure, I'm sure Brent, the mummy returns once again has been announced by the time, right? Like that, that's in the works.

• 1:05:44Griffin Newman?

  I keep hearing things.

• 1:05:45David Sims?

  Yeah, come on.

• 1:05:46Griffin Newman?

  It feels obvious, but um, no, Willie Scott conversation, right? I agree, it's like, the idea is wrong for what kind of, how do we make this different from Marion? It works against the movie. In trying to solve it in my mind, I was like, the only way this works is if it's like, Goldie Hawn is the only name that comes to mind who could have done this. But someone who has a pre-existing comedic persona.

• 1:06:12David Sims?

  What about Shelley Long?

• 1:06:14Speaker 04

  I think that would maybe work.

• 1:06:15Griffin Newman?

  Yeah, I think it could maybe work.

• 1:06:17David Sims?

  I'm trying to think about people at that moment.

• 1:06:18Griffin Newman?

  Well, here's, here's my argument, okay? Like Shelley Long, I think could have performed it well, but would still struggle to overcome some of the.

• 1:06:26David Sims?

  Characterization.

• 1:06:27Griffin Newman?

  Right.

• 1:06:28David Sims?

  What about Dana, Dana Wheeler Nicholson, Fletch? Oh, yeah. I like that.

• 1:06:33Griffin Newman?

  My point is.

• 1:06:34David Sims?

  But I'm biased.

• 1:06:34Griffin Newman?

  Yeah. This being post Private Benjamin, right? If the poster is, hey, it's Indiana Jones and Goldie Hawn, and Goldie Hawn's holding up like a broken high heel. And she's got like a sideways smirk. The audience goes, I get it, I know what I'm paying to see. I know what this is, I can play it out in my mind, here's the funny scenario, right? Goldie probably plays it as well as anyone could. And also probably has enough clout to be able to like, push back and make like, story contributions, whatever, which Shelley Long would not have. But also just puts the audience at ease of, I get it, it's a Goldie Hawn type. That's the version of it that probably works the best.

• 1:07:13David Sims?

  Sure. But you're talking about something that, and my guess is Goldie Hawn's off making swing shift and she's like, no, I am Goldie Hawn, the entire brand, and I will not be some lady who's hanging out with Indiana Jones.

• 1:07:24Griffin Newman?

  It has to be someone who is as iconic as Harrison Ford.

• 1:07:27David Sims?

  They got Kate Capshaw, what do you think of it?

• 1:07:29Speaker 04

  And then she got a beautiful, long marriage out of it.

• 1:07:31David Sims?

  Right, seven years later.

• 1:07:33Griffin Newman?

  Now, here's the other thing, as you said, that like.

• 1:07:34David Sims?

  And apparently, one of their kids is fucking.

• 1:07:36Speaker 04

  Is hot.

• 1:07:37David Sims?

  Libby is about to dump. I don't want to dox your boyfriend, but he's out of here.

• 1:07:44Griffin Newman?

  Spielberg seems loath to say anything critical about her performance in the press, which I get.

• 1:07:48David Sims?

  Yeah.

• 1:07:49Speaker 04

  Of course. I would be, here's the thing, if I'm Kate Capshaw, I would be like, I can say I'm bad in this movie. My husband, who directed me in this movie, is not allowed to say that I'm bad in this

• 1:07:58Griffin Newman?

  movie. But there's this other aspect to it, which is just, and like, Brian was talking about this in our Raiders episode, when you watch the behind the scenes of the movie, and he's like, "Come on, do this scene with the bugs, come on." And he's like, being flirty and like, making bargains with her.

• 1:08:11David Sims?

  But they can't be like, this is the movie where we met and fell in love, because it's kind of not.

• 1:08:15Griffin Newman?

  There's that part of it, even if no lines were crossed on set in 1983, right? It is clear that the two of them have like, a flirtation with each other, that is getting in the way of perhaps the most disciplined processing of work. Like, I think he is directing her differently than he has directed any other actor he has ever worked with.

• 1:08:34Speaker 04

  Well, okay, yes, because the thing about him is that there aren't really like, bad performances in Steven Spielberg movies, so that this kind of sticks out so bad.

• 1:08:43David Sims?

  Like, it's like Justin Chatwin in War of the Worlds, where it rarely happens until it does.

• 1:08:47Griffin Newman?

  Julia Roberts in Hook, which is a notorious, like, both of them now go like, "We were going through our own shit, and that was a bad deal."

• 1:08:53David Sims?

  Yeah.

• 1:08:53Griffin Newman?

  Yeah.

• 1:08:54David Sims?

  What do you think of Julia Roberts in Hook?

• 1:08:56Speaker 04

  I mean, I was a child, so I, I kind of liked what was going on there. I haven't really watched it as an adult, but.

• 1:09:02Griffin Newman?

  Olivia, on set, they called her Tinker Hell.

• 1:09:04Speaker 04

  Well, here's.

• 1:09:05David Sims?

  Well, that's just too easy a joke. So they had to make it.

• 1:09:08Speaker 04

  I think Julia Roberts in the 90s seems like, she had a lot of stuff going on.

• 1:09:13David Sims?

  She had so much fucking, it's so crazy how she had so much stuff going on, and then she like, monastically swore off of stuff. Like, you know, she was like, "I'm done with stuff going on with me."

• 1:09:23Griffin Newman?

  She's basically been stuff-free for the last 25 years.

• 1:09:26David Sims?

  She'll show up and things, and you're like, "Hey, it's Julie."

• 1:09:28Speaker 04

  And she lives like, a very chill life, like.

• 1:09:31Griffin Newman?

  But also, like, you know, she falls in love with a married cinematographer on the set of a movie, breaks up that marriage.

• 1:09:36Speaker 04

  That is kind of the end of her mess.

• 1:09:37Griffin Newman?

  Marries him, has twins, that didn't really constitute stuff. Like, at the time, that was not processed as stuff.

• 1:09:43Speaker 04

  Well, she wore that bitchy t-shirt, which is kind of stuff.

• 1:09:45Griffin Newman?

  It was treated a little bit as like, "Thank God Julia finally found love."

• 1:09:49David Sims?

  Yeah, everyone's just kind of happy for her.

• 1:09:51Griffin Newman?

  I do think there's a rewriting of the Julia narrative, where people are like, in 1990, she becomes a movie star and remained a movie star, and it's like, there are five years where people were like, "Shut the fuck up."

• 1:10:02David Sims?

  Go to-

• 1:10:03Griffin Newman?

  We're so tired of her in the press. They were tired of the movies. They were tired of her whole thing. And then she just like rebounded so hard, 97 to 2001.

• 1:10:13David Sims?

  It's one of the great runs.

• 1:10:14Griffin Newman?

  Yeah.

• 1:10:15David Sims?

  Anyway, she's not in this movie. Kehu Quan is in this movie, of course. He was, uh, his brother auditioned.

• 1:10:21Griffin Newman?

  Yes.

• 1:10:21David Sims?

  And he tagged along. Kathleen Kennedy was like, I like that kid. Gets him in front of Steven Spielberg. He dresses up, right? Like he was like in a little suit. For this meeting. And they were like, Steven's like, please come back looking more casual. Like this is not what we were thinking.

• 1:10:38Griffin Newman?

  Yeah.

• 1:10:38David Sims?

  Comes back as more of a kid and Steven Spielberg was like, you got the problem.

• 1:10:41Griffin Newman?

  I mean, he is.

• 1:10:42Speaker 04

  He's really good.

• 1:10:44Griffin Newman?

  So precious.

• 1:10:44Speaker 04

  And he's so cute. I also think, here's my other, my other, so not to shit on Kate Capshaw so much, to shit on Willie Scott, actually.

• 1:10:51Griffin Newman?

  Yeah, yeah. That's the thing. I want to make it clear. Willie Scott's a problem.

• 1:10:54Speaker 04

  Yes.

• 1:10:55Griffin Newman?

  And Kate Capshaw is only partially responsible for that.

• 1:10:57Speaker 04

  Okay, here's my, with the, with the three of them. Harrison Ford has so much more chemistry with Kehu Quan than he does with Kate Capshaw. And so like,

• 1:11:06Griffin Newman?

  This is the fucking thing.

• 1:11:07Speaker 04

  I want to see just them two.

• 1:11:09Griffin Newman?

  Okay.

• 1:11:09Speaker 04

  For the movie.

• 1:11:10David Sims?

  I think you're right, but here's the thing that's right, even crazier. It's like Temple of Doom. Everyone's like, no one likes that. Because it added an annoying kid psychic and everyone's like, actually, no, Short Round kind of works.

• 1:11:20Griffin Newman?

  The kid's not the problem. No.

• 1:11:21David Sims?

  And, and I feel like at the time, maybe there was a little bit of grousing about like, ah, kid psychic. Like George Lucas always, you know, these days, everything's so kid friendly. But Short Round completely works.

• 1:11:32Griffin Newman?

  I think so.

• 1:11:33David Sims?

  It's an incredibly lovely, natural performance. And like you say, Harrison Ford has genuine chemistry with him. It's just weird that that's not the problem with this movie.

• 1:11:41Griffin Newman?

  I would rather see this movie with, I'd rather see this movie, uh, taking place after Raiders.

• 1:11:49David Sims?

  Sure.

• 1:11:50Griffin Newman?

  With Marion.

• 1:11:51David Sims?

  Sure.

• 1:11:51Griffin Newman?

  And the entire Short Round arc happens in it. Like the, the attempted pickpocketing happens at the beginning.

• 1:11:57Speaker 04

  Yeah.

• 1:11:58Griffin Newman?

  Yeah. Like, I just feel like their arc starts in exactly the wrong place. They are really good together. But in a movie where the romantic relationship is a disaster.

• 1:12:08Speaker 04

  Yeah.

• 1:12:08Griffin Newman?

  You'd rather see that relationship develop as a new thing and grow over the course of a movie. Rather than just have him be like, here's my guy.

• 1:12:15Speaker 04

  I do love when he, the reveal of Short Round where there's a kid driving the car.

• 1:12:20Griffin Newman?

  I mean, it's hold on to your potatoes. Look, let's also say, it is a lot like, it is a much nicer experience watching this movie now on the other side of like Haekwon's like ultimate triumph comeback shit. Where I do, it didn't feel like haunted before, but there was this feeling of watching this movie for a long time and being like, and what the fuck happened to him?

• 1:12:41David Sims?

  I mean, he's in the Goonies.

• 1:12:42Griffin Newman?

  Well, he was so big for a couple of years in the eighties to watch this film in the nineties or the two thousands or the twenty teens. You were a little like, hey, I'm glad he didn't die of a drug overdose, but it's a little bit weird that this guy disappeared. And now it just feels like triumphant.

• 1:12:56Speaker 04

  Oh, great.

• 1:12:56David Sims?

  It does.

• 1:12:57Griffin Newman?

  Yeah.

• 1:12:57David Sims?

  It's odd, I know they considered putting him in Dial of Destiny and James Mangold, who often has really good instincts on this stuff, was like, eh, that's like shitty legacy sequel stuff. Like, I don't want to do it. But it's kind of crazy. He did not come back for either legacy sequel.

• 1:13:13Griffin Newman?

  No, it's crazy.

• 1:13:14David Sims?

  Like Crystal Skull, I guess he had not really reemerged as an adult actor yet. But like, why is he not in Dial of Destiny?

• 1:13:21Griffin Newman?

  No, no, I agree with you, but also, I mean, if I'm not mistaken, because, uh, whatchamacallit. Everything Everywhere All at Once finishes filming, I think, January twenty twenty.

• 1:13:33David Sims?

  Right. It took a while to come out because of young pandemic.

• 1:13:37Griffin Newman?

  I believe all of principal photography was finished on Dial of Destiny before Everything Everywhere came out.

• 1:13:45David Sims?

  Oh, really? Oh, okay. Okay. So it's weird, but I know they considered it.

• 1:13:49Griffin Newman?

  Of course.

• 1:13:50David Sims?

  Like, they definitely.

• 1:13:50Griffin Newman?

  They definitely considered it before, but he was not on their radar as look how good this guy is now.

• 1:13:55David Sims?

  Well, they should.

• 1:13:55Griffin Newman?

  Even still, they should have considered it, or they should have fucking done reshoots. Like, I'm like.

• 1:14:00David Sims?

  Indiana Jones and the Star Sixty Nine. What's another phone thing?

• 1:14:06Griffin Newman?

  That's the one.

• 1:14:06David Sims?

  Call waiting?

• 1:14:07Griffin Newman?

  Yeah, Star sixty-nine.

• 1:14:09David Sims?

  Okay, fine, forget it.

• 1:14:11Speaker 05

  One eight hundred, collect?

• 1:14:12David Sims?

  Yeah, what, Roshan Seth?

• 1:14:14Speaker 04

  That was good, Ben.

• 1:14:15David Sims?

  Who plays the villain.

• 1:14:15Speaker 05

  Thanks, Olivia.

• 1:14:17David Sims?

  Sort of, sort of the, the, sort of, the face villain in a way, right? Like, you know.

• 1:14:23Speaker 04

  Great face on that guy.

• 1:14:24Griffin Newman?

  You're talking about All Around?

• 1:14:26David Sims?

  No, I am not. That's Amish, Amish period.

• 1:14:29Griffin Newman?

  Yeah, who I'm talking about.

• 1:14:30David Sims?

  The Prime Minister guy, you know, the, the guy at the dinner.

• 1:14:32Griffin Newman?

  Oh, sure. Who's sort of the Belloc equivalent.

• 1:14:35David Sims?

  He feels bad about this movie, a little bit.

• 1:14:38Griffin Newman?

  Yeah.

• 1:14:39David Sims?

  Because obviously this movie was widely castigated at the time for being kind of like retrograde in its presentation of India and like.

• 1:14:46Griffin Newman?

  That's sort of evil exoticism.

• 1:14:47David Sims?

  Right.

• 1:14:48Griffin Newman?

  Yeah.

• 1:14:48David Sims?

  And he's like, we really, I really think the whole point of like the banquet scene and stuff was a joke about that. Is like, they are leaning into stereotypes, like, you know, they think.

• 1:15:00Griffin Newman?

  Trying to freak him out.

• 1:15:01David Sims?

  Westerners only, exactly, would only expect like this kind of stuff. And I think that stuff's just too subtle for that movie. George Lucas, on the other hand, is kind of like, eh, we're kind of like doing the Abbott and Costello or like Thin Man, like this kind of old fashioned humor or whatever.

• 1:15:14Griffin Newman?

  George Lucas like loves old fashioned humor.

• 1:15:16David Sims?

  It's outrageous, right?

• 1:15:16Griffin Newman?

  And then he points to the stuff he loves and you're like, that's just abject racism.

• 1:15:20David Sims?

  It's like, George, it's different now. Um, I mean, that's George Lucas's defense about everything where he's just like, what? It's fun. Who cares? For children. Fuck you.

• 1:15:28Griffin Newman?

  Yes.

• 1:15:28Speaker 04

  But it's also not even like a good joke.

• 1:15:32David Sims?

  It doesn't work.

• 1:15:33Speaker 04

  It's not like, it's not like something where someone could be like, that's racist, but someone else could equally be like, but it's so funny, like.

• 1:15:40Griffin Newman?

  The scene is so endless, too.

• 1:15:42Speaker 04

  It's so long.

• 1:15:43Griffin Newman?

  It's got twenty beats.

• 1:15:44Speaker 05

  And just the snake thing doesn't make sense.

• 1:15:47Speaker 04

  Oh, the snakes inside the others?

• 1:15:48David Sims?

  Yeah, how, like, how did they prepare this dish?

• 1:15:51Griffin Newman?

  But also.

• 1:15:52Speaker 05

  Or is the snake pregnant?

• 1:15:53Griffin Newman?

  But you're like.

• 1:15:54Speaker 05

  Did they cook the snake?

• 1:15:55Griffin Newman?

  This is a dish? What am I, am I supposed to eat the live snakes that are escaping or is I supposed to eat the husks of the dead snakes there?

• 1:16:00Speaker 04

  My other thing is like, you, you can't do this with India, a, a country that is famous for having like some of the best.

• 1:16:09David Sims?

  Yeah, I know. That, it doesn't make any. Look.

• 1:16:12Speaker 04

  They should just be eating dolls.

• 1:16:13Griffin Newman?

  Also, the snake bit happens and like Willie's freaking out, right? Shore round's freaking out. Indy's the guy at the table who's like pretty calm and civil and is like, eat your monkey brains or whatever, right? And I'm like, God, watch how hard he's gonna flip out when he sees the snakes. He's acting like he's above it all.

• 1:16:29Speaker 04

  They don't even.

• 1:16:30Griffin Newman?

  He never clocks the fucking snakes. Like, what are we doing here? What's the point?

• 1:16:35David Sims?

  So, my other problem with Temple of Doom, I said this to Olivia already.

• 1:16:38Griffin Newman?

  Yeah.

• 1:16:39David Sims?

  Um, I don't know if you agree with me. Does this movie take place over like eight hours?

• 1:16:43Griffin Newman?

  Kind of feels like.

• 1:16:44David Sims?

  It's weirdly, like, the pacing of it is very odd where it's like, we're right from this, you know, initial set piece, right? Then we're in the plane, then we crash, and then it's like, now we're in India. What's the deal, India? Well, there's this thing going on with the kids that have been taken by this cult and Indiana Jones is like on it. And then he's like right on it, and then that's kind of that.

• 1:17:02Griffin Newman?

  Yes.

• 1:17:02David Sims?

  And I'm like, so this just took place over like a couple of days, maybe?

• 1:17:05Speaker 05

  It seems like they travel from the top of Mount Everest to India in 10 minutes.

• 1:17:10David Sims?

  Yes. And so there's almost no time for anyone to really grow.

• 1:17:14Speaker 04

  Where it's just like, there is snow on the ground and then there is not. So like, that is.

• 1:17:18Griffin Newman?

  But it's also, most of it is not very propulsive, which is.

• 1:17:22Speaker 04

  Yes.

• 1:17:22Griffin Newman?

  The most impressive thing about Raiders, right? It's just like how it keeps fucking moving and moving in a way that feels justified. Whereas setting up the sort of like proper Rube Goldberg machine, cause and effect thing. This movie opens with your classic Indiana Jones cold open adventure sequence. And then in the part in Raiders where he has to go back home and teach and meet with Brody and get assigned the next mission, the sort of like moment to rest and reset to show the other side of his personality, which is really important, which this movie in its design fucks up. Basically leaves out of the equation. I feel like him at the dinner table is them trying to get in Professor Jones mode.

• 1:17:59David Sims?

  Right.

• 1:18:00Griffin Newman?

  Right? Oh, I'm gonna change to a suit and I'm gonna talk in a very quiet voice and not do action movie stuff. And I'm like, but it doesn't work here. You're not doing the like, what I said in our Raiders episode of like, the thing I think is so good about the characterization of Indiana Jones is that his professor persona is not a persona. It's not an act. It's not a Clark Kent misdirect. Both of these are valid sides. Sides of his personality. This movie starts with him in James Bond mode, not even in Indiana Jones adventure.

• 1:18:26Speaker 04

  No, full James Bond tuxedo.

• 1:18:29David Sims?

  Right, white tuxedo, right?

• 1:18:30Griffin Newman?

  Escapes by the sin of his teeth, a great sequence.

• 1:18:32David Sims?

  Yeah.

• 1:18:33Griffin Newman?

  Right?

• 1:18:33Speaker 04

  At the Obi-Wan cafe or whatever?

• 1:18:35Griffin Newman?

  Right, jumps out the window, short round his driving, and then just like, the movie's off and running now. He's off and running. He's trying to escape. He gets on the plane. He's with Willie Scott. They crash land. Now they're given their new assignment. But the new assignment isn't like, you gotta keep running. People are after you.

• 1:18:49David Sims?

  No, it's go save these children in this place. And it is kind of a James Bond mission, like go have dinner with the villain. Go get the lay of the land, uncover the evil beneath.

• 1:18:58Griffin Newman?

  Yes.

• 1:18:59David Sims?

  Blow everything up.

• 1:18:59Griffin Newman?

  This one's so much more structured like a James Bond movie than the rules they had established for what an Indiana Jones movie is and how it's different from a James Bond movie. And then there's really no like sense of immediate danger, I would say, between them getting on the plane and when they're kidnapped by the thuggies, right? There's sort of this extended James Bond-y, like, let me try to figure out what's going on here. And a lot of that is also just, let me fight with Willie Scott a bunch. And then you get into this extended, like, super dark set piece, which I think there's something weird about this movie doing this, like, here's his kid's sidekick, here's the movie being more family friendly.

• 1:19:40David Sims?

  Right.

• 1:19:40Griffin Newman?

  Pulling it further away from an adult world. Even the way that Willie and Indy interact with each other feels like six-year-olds with a crush on each other.

• 1:19:49Speaker 04

  Yeah.

• 1:19:49Griffin Newman?

  Like fighting on the playground versus Raiders, which gives you like a kind of adult relationship? And then it just goes into this incredibly dark place that feels like it's trying to create nightmares, which I love conceptually. But at this point in the movie, I just am like, what the fuck is going on here?

• 1:20:08David Sims?

  I, um, I do like some of the nasty stuff, just in terms of like, it's effective.

• 1:20:15Griffin Newman?

  Yes.

• 1:20:16David Sims?

  Like, it's. It's kind of fun that it's gnarly. It just doesn't vibe with everything else like you're saying very well.

• 1:20:24Speaker 04

  I think the bit where Short Round and Indy are like stuck in that room and the ceiling is coming down. I think that is cool. I think Willie's being annoying. But I do think that that sort of, I'm like, that is the Indiana Jones thing. He is in imminent danger and someone has to figure it out really quick.

• 1:20:42David Sims?

  And he's doing the like, little faster kind of.

• 1:20:44Speaker 04

  Exactly. This is what I want to see.

• 1:20:47David Sims?

  This is what we want to see. Traps, right? And propulsive, you know, like, we gotta go, we gotta go.

• 1:20:52Griffin Newman?

  One thing leads to the next, yeah.

• 1:20:53David Sims?

  And I think they were somewhat hampered by Harrison Ford fucked up his back. The only time he ever injured himself on set, riding an elephant. And they had to do a lot of stuff with his stunt man.

• 1:21:05Griffin Newman?

  Okay.

• 1:21:06David Sims?

  Doubling Vic Armstrong, sort of a famous sort of double.

• 1:21:09Griffin Newman?

  His lifelong, yeah.

• 1:21:10David Sims?

  Right.

• 1:21:12David Sims?

  And they, you know, Lucas says like that was a major drama. So I know it was not just like some bullshit, but I don't know if it affected the story.

• 1:21:19Griffin Newman?

  I was gonna say, I'm sure it made production more difficult. All my biggest problems with this movie are in dialogue scenes.

• 1:21:24David Sims?

  I completely agree because.

• 1:21:25Speaker 04

  It really is just like not a great script.

• 1:21:28Griffin Newman?

  I'm basically fine with any and all of the set pieces. I think they work on their own sort of terms.

• 1:21:34David Sims?

  I think it's fair to say the minecart sequence is the best action sequence in all of Indiana Jones. I'm not saying that's like a, you can't argue with me position. I'm saying it's a position you can take.

• 1:21:45Griffin Newman?

  You can take the position.

• 1:21:46David Sims?

  I'll take the position.

• 1:21:47Griffin Newman?

  Sure.

• 1:21:47David Sims?

  I'm taking it right now.

• 1:21:48Griffin Newman?

  It's also one of those things where like just an astonishing, how did they pull this off in 1984?

• 1:21:54Speaker 04

  It's incredible.

• 1:21:55Griffin Newman?

  Yeah.

• 1:21:55Speaker 04

  The whole thing is thrilling to watch and it's, to use y'alls word, propulsive. Because every time they're like, we did it, another thing is happening.

• 1:22:05Griffin Newman?

  That's literally, like structurally, how you want these movies to work is like they're on rails and then someone flips a switch and you go off in a different direction. And now there's a new issue and you're upside down. Like that's how Indiana Jones movies should play out.

• 1:22:16Speaker 04

  Yeah.

• 1:22:21Griffin Newman?

  David?

• 1:22:22David Sims?

  Yeah.

• 1:22:22Griffin Newman?

  This episode is brought to you by XYZ Films and the acclaimed new documentary, Capturing Bigfoot.

• 1:22:28David Sims?

  Hmm.

• 1:22:28Griffin Newman?

  On October 20th, 1967, Roger Patterson captured 59 seconds of film showing a creature walking through the Northern California woods. I wonder if you can log that on Letterboxd?

• 1:22:39David Sims?

  It is an iconic video.

• 1:22:40Griffin Newman?

  Footage that became the most analyzed and debated in history. 59 years later, a reel of 16 millimeter film discovered in a safe changes everything. Capturing Bigfoot reveals the untold story behind the world's greatest mystery told for the first time by Patterson's own son and the people who were there. This is a story about family legacy, broken friendships, and how far people will go to protect a secret.

• 1:23:03David Sims?

  Of course, you got the classic, what they call Patterson Gimlin film everyone knows, of Bigfoot out in the woods, like the famous Bigfoot picture. This has other stuff shot by him that no one's ever seen. That's what makes this movie different.

• 1:23:15Griffin Newman?

  But we're also talking brand new 4K scans of the original film taken from the Patterson family archives that some historians have called the best rendering of the footage ever seen.

• 1:23:24David Sims?

  I feel like we've all seen that footage as like grainy.

• 1:23:26Griffin Newman?

  Yes.

• 1:23:27David Sims?

  You know, that you see, you know, whatever, you see it in a documentary for two seconds. But this is restoring it and making it look much more clear.

• 1:23:34Griffin Newman?

  There's also a companion podcast, the Capturing Bigfoot Podcast, which goes deeper into the legend and lore of Bigfoot and the Patterson Gimlin film, featuring weekly episodes with experts in cryptozoology, urban legends, and filmmaking.

• 1:23:48David Sims?

  I'm something of an expert in cryptozoology.

• 1:23:50Griffin Newman?

  Well, of course, yes, but that's more of a hobby.

• 1:23:52David Sims?

  Yeah, this podcast, Capturing Bigfoot Podcast, is hosted by the director of the film, Mark Evans, and it's available for free on YouTube and Spotify with exclusive episodes and content available on Patreon to members of the Capturing Bigfoot Society.

• 1:24:08Griffin Newman?

  Capturing Bigfoot is now available to rent or own on Amazon Prime Video. Learn more about Capturing Bigfoot at capturingbigfoot.com.

• 1:24:24Griffin Newman?

  David?

• 1:24:24David Sims?

  Yes?

• 1:24:25Griffin Newman?

  Uh, uh, who are you wearing?

• 1:24:27David Sims?

  Uh, who am I wearing?

• 1:24:28Griffin Newman?

  I'm doing like an impression of a red carpet correspondent, asking who you're wearing right now.

• 1:24:32David Sims?

  Well, I am wearing Quince.

• 1:24:35Griffin Newman?

  Well, well, well, what a Quince, Quincy dense.

• 1:24:39David Sims?

  It's a Mongolian cashmere zip sweater.

• 1:24:43Griffin Newman?

  Okay.

• 1:24:44David Sims?

  It's a sort of a brown. Would you agree?

• 1:24:46Griffin Newman?

  Yeah, it's like, maybe like a, what would you, a chocolate?

• 1:24:49David Sims?

  Sure. I have been seated next to people wearing this item of clothing and they have brushed against me, not to brag, and gone like, so soft.

• 1:24:57Griffin Newman?

  Oh, a soft boy. But listen, the best pieces in your closet are the ones that you can count on, whether you're heading to work, going out, or keeping things casual. And this time of year, Quince makes finding something great for everyone else just as easy. This holiday season, it's where I'm shopping for myself and everyone on my list.

• 1:25:13David Sims?

  Quince does rock. It's got high-quality staples made with these premium materials like 100% Mongolian cashmere.

• 1:25:20Griffin Newman?

  Like you're wearing red hair?

• 1:25:21David Sims?

  14 karat gold, Italian leather.

• 1:25:25Griffin Newman?

  Mama mia.

• 1:25:25David Sims?

  All timeless, versatile pieces that feel special to unwrap and become everyday favorites long after the holidays. These cashmere sweaters, like the one I'm wearing, start at just $60. Lineup doesn't stop there. You've got premium down jackets, wool outerwear, cashmere accessories, everything your loved ones need to stay warm and look put together all season long.

• 1:25:45Griffin Newman?

  And everything at Quince is priced 50 to 80% less than similar brands. They work directly with ethical factories and cut out the middlemen, so you can give luxury quality pieces without the luxury price tag.

• 1:25:58David Sims?

  Um, so yeah, obviously I'm wearing Quince sweater right now. I've got Quince bedding at home. Ooh, they've got Christmas stockings.

• 1:26:05Griffin Newman?

  Oh, well, well, well.

• 1:26:06David Sims?

  They got tree skirts. Garlands, if you want to go Christmas mode.

• 1:26:10Griffin Newman?

  Your tree deserves to be dressed in Quince as well. And when it comes to gifting, Quince has a lot more than clothing. Think fine jewelry, leather bags, the aforementioned hotel-quality bedding, chef-grade cookware, and five-star luggage. Basically, plenty of ways to find something special for everyone on your list. If you want to give the gift of quality this holiday season, download the Quince app for app-exclusive offers or go to quince.com. Get free shipping on your order and 365-day returns, that's a year, now available in Canada and the UK too. Ding dong. And when Quint's asked where you heard about them, let them know it was blank check. It's the best way to support the show.

• 1:26:58Speaker 06

  Welcome to 215 Maple Drive. We just put this property on the market.

• 1:27:04Griffin Newman?

  Love the crown molding.

• 1:27:05Speaker 06

  Oh, wait until you see the walk-in closets and the bathroom tile.

• 1:27:09Griffin Newman?

  Does it have Verizon FiOS? You know, 100% fiber internet.

• 1:27:13Speaker 06

  No FiOS, but it looks like it's got cable. Let's check out the kitchen.

• 1:27:16Griffin Newman?

  No FiOS? Yeah. No, thank you.

• 1:27:20Speaker 06

  Don't you want to see the rest? Okay. Bye-bye. Get Verizon FiOS because when you're moving, it's 100% or nothing.

• 1:27:31Griffin Newman?

  I kind of am cool with the last like 20 minutes.

• 1:27:34David Sims?

  Well, you know what's also good about the last 20 minutes?

• 1:27:36Griffin Newman?

  Because there's also the drawstring, the drawbridge of the...

• 1:27:38David Sims?

  And what's happening there, Olivia?

• 1:27:40Griffin Newman?

  What do you mean what's happening?

• 1:27:41David Sims?

  We're outside. So much of this movie is inside or subterranean. And Spielberg himself has acknowledged, like, that's becomes kind of a bummer.

• 1:27:49Griffin Newman?

  Yeah.

• 1:27:49David Sims?

  Indiana Jones should have some vistas, like should have a sense of being in places. And as much as some of those cavern sets are kind of cool and big.

• 1:27:58Griffin Newman?

  Beautiful.

• 1:27:59David Sims?

  You kind of at a certain point are like, you know, like, can I see the sunshine a little bit? Like, I think it gets to you.

• 1:28:05Griffin Newman?

  Club Obi-Wan, great set.

• 1:28:06David Sims?

  Sure.

• 1:28:06Griffin Newman?

  Cool to have a musical number, good opening, but you're like, not only is it starting in this like very James Bond-y world, but we're starting the first 10 minutes of the movie like in a room.

• 1:28:15David Sims?

  In a room, not yet in some exotic locale. Yes, we are in an exotic locale, but not in the same way.

• 1:28:21Griffin Newman?

  Right.

• 1:28:21David Sims?

  Like Raiders of the Lost Ark, all the location stuff is so cool.

• 1:28:24Griffin Newman?

  Yeah. And like first 10 minutes of Raiders, he's like fucking outrunning a boulder, getting on a biplane.

• 1:28:29David Sims?

  At the same time, we've just been complaining about this movie for an hour plus, right? And that's what people do about Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom.

• 1:28:36Griffin Newman?

  Uh huh.

• 1:28:36David Sims?

  Like, right, like that, of course, there are defenders, Tarantino is always going on about how it's the best one. You know, there, there's all the contrarian, you know, takes that have emerged over the last 40 years. This movie is fun to watch and I watch, I've watched it many, many times. It's a totally watchable movie. Harrison Ford is maybe at his sexiest in it.

• 1:28:53Speaker 04

  Okay, that is something we have to talk about because they let him take his shirt off.

• 1:28:56David Sims?

  Yes, he's really, because it's like this witness, like, uh, working girl, like, it's really him at absolute peak.

• 1:29:02Speaker 04

  He looks hotter in this one than he does in Raiders.

• 1:29:04David Sims?

  Yes, and he looks fucking hot in Raiders.

• 1:29:07Griffin Newman?

  I think there's a major step down in his performance, and I think a lot of it is the setup of the story and the...

• 1:29:12Speaker 04

  He also probably was like dealing with back pain the whole time.

• 1:29:15Griffin Newman?

  I was gonna say, that also fills in a lot, he does look unbelievable.

• 1:29:19Speaker 04

  I also, I was, I was watching this, I was watching this with my boyfriend and we, humble brag, and he...

• 1:29:26David Sims?

  Did you tell him about Sawyer or Spielberg already for that?

• 1:29:28Speaker 04

  He was, and he was like, oh, he looks just kind of like a normal guy. He doesn't have, he looks jacked, but he...

• 1:29:36Griffin Newman?

  We talked about this in the Raiders episode.

• 1:29:37Speaker 04

  Yeah, he looks jacked in a way that is completely attainable.

• 1:29:40Griffin Newman?

  Brian Michael Bennett was saying that he remembers as a child how much press to do there was about the regiment.

• 1:29:46Speaker 04

  Yeah.

• 1:29:47Griffin Newman?

  That Harrison Ford went on, you're not gonna believe how big he is in this movie. And that that was the big, oh, fucking Drew Strozen painting of him with the ripped off sleeve and the chest exposed and all the images and everything. And people were like, holy shit, like fanning themselves down. And you're like, this is what the comic relief looks like.

• 1:30:05Speaker 04

  Yeah.

• 1:30:05Griffin Newman?

  Now.

• 1:30:06David Sims?

  Right, this is Jake Johnson in, uh, in The Mummy 2017.

• 1:30:10Griffin Newman?

  Jake Johnson's twice as big in The Mummy as Harrison Ford is in this.

• 1:30:12Speaker 04

  He looks incredible, though.

• 1:30:14Griffin Newman?

  But that, he does, he looks like a...

• 1:30:15Speaker 04

  He looks so good.

• 1:30:15Griffin Newman?

  You know why? Because he looks like a real person.

• 1:30:17Speaker 04

  Yeah.

• 1:30:17Griffin Newman?

  He looks like the best a real person can look.

• 1:30:20Speaker 04

  He literally looks like a hot professor.

• 1:30:23Griffin Newman?

  Yeah.

• 1:30:23Speaker 04

  Like, if you have ever had a hot professor, he kind of looks like Harrison Ford in the 80s.

• 1:30:29David Sims?

  He can lecture me.

• 1:30:30Speaker 04

  I also think the reason that we've kind of been shitting on this movie is because you have nothing that you have to compare it to Raiders.

• 1:30:38Griffin Newman?

  You have to.

• 1:30:39Speaker 04

  And it just is such a kind of steep.

• 1:30:41Griffin Newman?

  Yes.

• 1:30:42Speaker 04

  Fall off from that movie.

• 1:30:44Griffin Newman?

  Even like, I'm watching these on like successive days.

• 1:30:47Speaker 04

  Yeah.

• 1:30:47Griffin Newman?

  Right? Like, I'm, I'm only living with Raiders for maximum forty-eight hours before I watched Temple of Doom. And I just immediately was like, what's going on with this one? Like, explain to me what the deal is with this one.

• 1:31:00David Sims?

  Yeah.

• 1:31:00Griffin Newman?

  And you saying about watching a lot and being very watchable, I like largely agree, except I would say Willie Scott annoys me more than most characters in the history.

• 1:31:11David Sims?

  She's tough. She's tough. I'm not, I'm not here to truly stick up for, yeah, Willie Scott.

• 1:31:15Griffin Newman?

  And every time I re-watch it, I'm like, am I overreacting? Am I being too hard? Do I need to fucking cool it and watch it with fresh eyes? And it does just feel like she keeps saying like, stop the movie, I want to get off.

• 1:31:27Speaker 04

  Yeah.

• 1:31:27Griffin Newman?

  Yeah.

• 1:31:28Speaker 04

  I also am kind of like, I think the, the, like, thuggy villain thing is not totally coherent to me. It doesn't like, first of all, it's like, there's a lot of like scholarly skepticism about thuggies in general.

• 1:31:43David Sims?

  If they even exist, where they just sort of a fake villain created by the British Empire.

• 1:31:47Speaker 04

  Right. Why is there like a voodoo doll? I'm like, that is Haitian. Like, what are we, we're pulling from so many different places and I get that maybe it's a commentary on.

• 1:31:57David Sims?

  I don't think so. No, I think it's more the George Lucas thing of like, no, these movies all had like a bunch of fantasy shit in them.

• 1:32:02Speaker 04

  I think it's all like, oh, if you are like, an evil person of color in one of those movies, you had like some weird, you could access all of it. And it's like, I, I, I think if it were more honed in, maybe I would.

• 1:32:16Griffin Newman?

  I also think, not to like, once again, complain about what it does, that I feel like the, the rules of the Indiana Jones movies, right? But you're like, the fun of this is to me, Indiana Jones versus a different type of like shitty, like colonizer.

• 1:32:31Speaker 04

  Yeah.

• 1:32:31Griffin Newman?

  Right? It's like, there is a central, there is a mythology, there is a history, there's objects, there is culture, but he can't be fighting with that. Culture.

• 1:32:39Speaker 04

  Right.

• 1:32:40Griffin Newman?

  He has to be fighting with someone else, fighting over their interpretation of the culture. And this is sort of trying to do that where it's like the small village saying, bring our stones back. But they're basically activating him like he's a superhero.

• 1:32:52David Sims?

  Right.

• 1:32:53Griffin Newman?

  Being like, Indiana Jones, we contribute here to our mission.

• 1:32:56David Sims?

  Trouble on the mountain. Yes.

• 1:32:57Griffin Newman?

  Right. You just spend an afternoon with us and now please go off and like save our stones.

• 1:33:01David Sims?

  But can I ask?

• 1:33:02Griffin Newman?

  Yeah.

• 1:33:03David Sims?

  Did anyone ever think, like, I think the first time I saw it, I kind of thought that Indiana Jones, his motivation was to keep the stone.

• 1:33:13Griffin Newman?

  Sure. Is he?

• 1:33:14David Sims?

  It feels like it's not clear.

• 1:33:16Speaker 04

  It should be that.

• 1:33:18David Sims?

  Or maybe, or at least maybe that's a crisis.

• 1:33:20Griffin Newman?

  Because it's a prequel, it should be like this was his earlier, like, I just want fucking treasures and sell them phase.

• 1:33:26Speaker 04

  But instead, he just wants to get the stone to bring back, to bring back to the village, to like, bring the kids back.

• 1:33:33David Sims?

  But he says some line of like, like, like glory and something.

• 1:33:36Griffin Newman?

  Yeah.

• 1:33:37Speaker 04

  Fame and glory. But again, this is, this is the thing of like the movie, you have seen Raiders and you have an idea of this guy loves to go get things and bring them back to his museum. That is what he loves to do. Great.

• 1:33:49Griffin Newman?

  But this guy-

• 1:33:49Speaker 04

  And then this movie is like, he actually doesn't care about that right now.

• 1:33:52Griffin Newman?

  And also this guy hasn't done Raiders yet. So you're like, if you're not going to answer to me the differences between that guy and this guy, then what are we doing here? Uh, like this movie needs Brody being like, hey, I got an interesting message.

• 1:34:08Speaker 04

  Yeah.

• 1:34:08Griffin Newman?

  There's a small village.

• 1:34:09David Sims?

  Right.

• 1:34:10Griffin Newman?

  They're looking for someone, you know?

• 1:34:12David Sims?

  You just miss Brody. As do I. Where is he?

• 1:34:15Griffin Newman?

  But I agree with you that Ford is playing it darker as well. And perhaps that is part of the like, uh, the darkness, uh, triangle of like Marshall Lucas divorce, Twilight Zone death and Harrison Ford's back injury. But it, the whole movie feels like he's playing it in a more menacing way. And the ultimate manifestation of that being him having to play possessed Indy and like potentially put this child in harm. It feels like he's leaning into something darker the whole time where I keep on waiting for that of like some scene where he's like, you know what? It should belong in a museum. I've learned.

• 1:34:51David Sims?

  Yeah. Well, I almost like that these movies don't try that hard to be, right? Like it's more like, no, it's just Indiana has an adventure. Don't worry, worry about it. But-

• 1:35:05David Sims?

  Why have it be a prequel?

• 1:35:06Speaker 04

  I think the prequel of it is like getting in the way.

• 1:35:09Griffin Newman?

  That's why it shouldn't be a prequel and it shouldn't be the darker middle entry because that's meaningless.

• 1:35:13Speaker 04

  I also think that if you had just told me that this, well, I guess the Marion thing kind of gets in the way. If you just like tell me, don't put a year on it. Just kind of say, or say that like, say that like, I don't know, Marion has like come to her senses and wants a man with a stable job or whatever.

• 1:35:30David Sims?

  Yeah, Marion left me because I'm a pain in the ass. I'm always getting jewels.

• 1:35:33Speaker 04

  And now I'm in a bad mood.

• 1:35:34Griffin Newman?

  It turned out she was a fembot. I found out in our honeymoon.

• 1:35:37David Sims?

  That is really, that's, that's, that's really good writing. That's the kind, no, but that's the kind of brilliant screenwriting that maybe Lucas and Silver couldn't get access to.

• 1:35:45Speaker 04

  But I, I do think that like the prequel of it gets in the way.

• 1:35:50Griffin Newman?

  Yeah, I agree with you. And I, and I also think that like, here's, here's another issue I have with the darker middle entry thing, right? Empire, Lucas is justifying that shit so well. Like here's the meeting with the father. Your reality falling out, right? Your character's being tested, them coming up against their own limitations. None of the darkness of this movie is connected to Indiana Jones as a character. Because Indiana Jones is a character who doesn't go through serious arcs, right?

• 1:36:16Speaker 04

  He's, he stays the same and that's what's cool about the movie.

• 1:36:19Griffin Newman?

  And the only thing that can change Indiana Jones is his relationship to a character, right? People pushing him a little bit in one direction or another, challenging him a little bit. But he's got such high status on Willie the entire movie where he's just kind of like, you know, the thin man equation of like, oh, part of this is working in this sort of screwball back and forth. She can, you know, give it just as hard as she takes it kind of banter shit. Doesn't work if like the thin man is a detective and his wife who hates mysteries.

• 1:36:51Speaker 04

  Well, that's why I think that like the scene.

• 1:36:53David Sims?

  Screams whenever anyone has a gun.

• 1:36:55Speaker 04

  Oh my God, she screams so much. It's crazy. Um, but I think the scene where him and Short Round are playing poker is so good because it's like, oh, here's someone who's getting one over on Indiana, something we don't see that often.

• 1:37:09Griffin Newman?

  Also wants to be an Indiana Jones movie, but has a slightly different way about it, which is the right kind. Kind of Indiana Jones pairings. Uh, and, but starting this movie with their relationship mid swing and ending it on a note of, and of course, we'll go on adventures forever, dot, dot, dot. Doesn't really service like putting Indy through anything. As much as we don't want to see him grow or change significantly. There are like small arcs that can happen. And the darkness is just like, they literally just descend into a dark temple. You know, like the darker middle entry shit is only, they move into a space where darker shit is happening. They literally go underground and then fucked up things happen in front of their eyes. And then they go back above ground and they're like, whoo, enough of that darkness.

• 1:37:53David Sims?

  Kind of, yeah.

• 1:37:54Griffin Newman?

  So it just feels kind of unearned to me versus like Batman Returns is a classic like, Biting the Hand darker sequel.

• 1:38:03David Sims?

  Yeah.

• 1:38:03Griffin Newman?

  That I adore, that feels dark in a like holistic psychological way.

• 1:38:09David Sims?

  Yeah, rather than just like, right, it's like basically everyone's the same. It's just the locale and the vibes are a little darker. I don't know. I, it's, I just feel this way, the same I do about, like I said already about Lost World where I'm just like, like you're in the hands, you're in the safest hands.

• 1:38:25Griffin Newman?

  It has like four of the best directed sequences you'll ever see in your life.

• 1:38:28David Sims?

  Like, you know, Lost World, I can watch anytime because I'm like, well, I know this is coming up. But I can also watch it the whole time being like, this doesn't really make a lot of sense that this would happen. Like, you know, and like, I, yeah, did anyone check in on, and the answer is kind of like, eh, they had to do a sequel and so they did their best in a, you know, whatever timeframe they had. And this is what they gave you. And after the fact, maybe they can be like, well, you know what, like fucking, you know, Marcia Lucas though. I was pissed off. It's like, yeah, maybe you just made an okay sequel.

• 1:39:01Griffin Newman?

  It's interesting to me.

• 1:39:02David Sims?

  That's flawed.

• 1:39:03Griffin Newman?

  Jumping ahead, we've recorded our Jurassic episode already, even though it's far off because of guest availability. And there was a thing in the dossier that really jumped out to me.

• 1:39:10David Sims?

  Blue from Jurassic World was our guest.

• 1:39:11Griffin Newman?

  We booked Blue.

• 1:39:12David Sims?

  The, the raptor. That's huge. The whole episode is us going like.

• 1:39:16Griffin Newman?

  For the listener, David is doing the iconic arm gesture of Owen Grady, raptor trainer.

• 1:39:23David Sims?

  Remember me?

• 1:39:24Griffin Newman?

  Yeah.

• 1:39:24Speaker 05

  Oh, I was gonna say more like a Johnny Bravo.

• 1:39:26Griffin Newman?

  Click, click.

• 1:39:28David Sims?

  Do the monkey with me.

• 1:39:28Griffin Newman?

  He is doing, David's doing the monkey.

• 1:39:30David Sims?

  No, Johnny Bravo is gonna be on our Color Purple episode.

• 1:39:38Griffin Newman?

  David just mimed a fucking three-point shot.

• 1:39:42David Sims?

  Fresh. That was fun. Just imagine it.

• 1:39:44Griffin Newman?

  Yeah.

• 1:39:45David Sims?

  Yep.

• 1:39:45Griffin Newman?

  A quote that has really stuck with me. I'd never really considered before. Jaws spawns a bunch of sequels.

• 1:39:52David Sims?

  Do the monkey with me.

• 1:39:53Griffin Newman?

  Spielberg. Yeah, that was a quote.

• 1:39:55David Sims?

  Oh, mama.

• 1:39:58Griffin Newman?

  Spielberg wants nothing to do with the Jaws sequels, right?

• 1:40:00David Sims?

  Yeah.

• 1:40:01Griffin Newman?

  He develops E.T. 2.

• 1:40:04David Sims?

  And is wisely like, I cannot think of a reason for this.

• 1:40:07Griffin Newman?

  Right? Uh, and there's this quote about why, why did he do Lost World? And he was like, you know, I got so many letters from kids being like, when are you making the next Jurassic Park?

• 1:40:18David Sims?

  And I got this one letter from Universal being like, 20 million dollars. So carry on, carry on.

• 1:40:22Griffin Newman?

  But he was like, when that was asked of me of E.T., I went through the thought experiment. I was like, this is too precious. I don't have anything new to say. It's sacred. I don't want to touch it.

• 1:40:30David Sims?

  Right.

• 1:40:30Griffin Newman?

  Right? Jaws, they wanted to make them. I didn't want to touch them. I couldn't stop them from making them at that point, but I had nothing new to say. Indiana Jones was different because I had made this agreement and I'd promised George I'd make three of them. Jurassic was the first time where I was like, you know what? I actually don't feel that precious about this. So what reason is there for me to stand in the way of a sequel? Where he basically admits that he's just like, I don't know. Like Jurassic wasn't super personal for me.

• 1:40:57David Sims?

  Yeah, like fuck it. Who cares?

• 1:40:58Griffin Newman?

  Why don't I try it again?

• 1:41:00David Sims?

  Right.

• 1:41:00Griffin Newman?

  And I wonder like what the timeline is like in which Steven Spielberg makes a third Jurassic movie.

• 1:41:09David Sims?

  Right.

• 1:41:09Griffin Newman?

  Because I like Last Crusade so much and I know a lot of people are like, that's when it sort of got kiddified and silly and the tension goes out and this and that. But I do think it's kind of a return to form for him. And it feels in that way that you see like the arcs of Spielberg's career when he feels like he has something to prove. It's always really interesting when he's either trying to do a thing he hasn't done before or like recover from a setback. And Last Crusade definitely has the energy of him being like. I need to make another good Indiana Jones movie to like, reset everything.

• 1:41:44Speaker 04

  Yeah, to like, reset the dials, just like, totally get back to baseline.

• 1:41:49Griffin Newman?

  And that's the third one, and we ended on a good note. I want to end it on a good note. And like, in between this and Last Crusade, he does Color Purple, and he does-

• 1:41:58Speaker 04

  Does Color Purple come out the year after this, or is it, when is, when does he jump to the-

• 1:42:04David Sims?

  Color Purple is 85, so it's two years after this.

• 1:42:07Griffin Newman?

  Empire of the Sun is after Color Purple.

• 1:42:08David Sims?

  Correct, yeah.

• 1:42:08Griffin Newman?

  And then Always and Last Crusade are in the same year.

• 1:42:12David Sims?

  Which is the first time he does the, uh, two movies in one year trick.

• 1:42:16Griffin Newman?

  But it's like, him doing three grown-up movies in a row. Like, two harder dramas and like, one grown-up comedy, in between two Indiana Jones entries.

• 1:42:25David Sims?

  Yes.

• 1:42:27Griffin Newman?

  Where, at that point, it feels like he's going back to like, and I'm gonna do Spielberg magician, wonder maker mode. Dream worker, if you will.

• 1:42:35David Sims?

  I'm sort of like, sitting in a moon and kind of fishing for something.

• 1:42:38Griffin Newman?

  Olivia raised her eyebrows.

• 1:42:39David Sims?

  No, I mean, I, his whole late 80s, I think, is, is suspect at the time. People are like, the only true hit is, I mean, Color Purple makes a lot of money.

• 1:42:50Griffin Newman?

  Yes.

• 1:42:50David Sims?

  And gets a lot of Oscar nominations, and it's honestly an incredibly important movie.

• 1:42:54Griffin Newman?

  Mm-hmm.

• 1:42:54David Sims?

  But, you know, it's not quite, it's not what he wanted it to be, which is like-

• 1:42:58Griffin Newman?

  But I get a feeling of him walking away from this being like, I can't keep doing the Spielberg shit.

• 1:43:02David Sims?

  No, I agree.

• 1:43:03Griffin Newman?

  I gotta try some other stuff.

• 1:43:04David Sims?

  But he doesn't, until Jurassic Park, he doesn't quite have the undeniable Spielberg thing he has.

• 1:43:11Griffin Newman?

  No.

• 1:43:11David Sims?

  You know, when he's doing Raiders.

• 1:43:12Griffin Newman?

  Last Crusade was close, Hook was not it at the time.

• 1:43:15Speaker 04

  The run is, India is Temple of Doom, Color Purple, Empire of the Sun, Last Crusade, Always.

• 1:43:20Griffin Newman?

  Yeah, Hook.

• 1:43:20Speaker 04

  Hook.

• 1:43:21David Sims?

  Yes.

• 1:43:21Speaker 04

  What's up with Always? Have you guys done that one yet?

• 1:43:23David Sims?

  No, we haven't done that one yet.

• 1:43:24Griffin Newman?

  I haven't seen it.

• 1:43:25David Sims?

  You've never seen it?

• 1:43:26Griffin Newman?

  Never seen it.

• 1:43:26Speaker 04

  I've never seen it either.

• 1:43:27David Sims?

  It's him remaking one of his most favorite movies, and it's basically him trying to do Frank Capra.

• 1:43:32Griffin Newman?

  Yeah.

• 1:43:32David Sims?

  And it's just like, it's syrup on syrup. Like, you can't, you know, it's wrong.

• 1:43:36Griffin Newman?

  Audrey Hepburn's last performance. It's like his real, right, kind of pastiche-y.

• 1:43:40David Sims?

  Uh, it also suffered, Dreyfus, in my opinion, is, is not good in it. Holly Hunter, amazing in it.

• 1:43:45Griffin Newman?

  What's your problem with Dreyfus? Too quiet? Too calm?

• 1:43:50David Sims?

  Um, but Jurassic Park Schindler's List.

• 1:43:53Griffin Newman?

  Yeah.

• 1:43:54David Sims?

  It's not like Spielberg had become a failure.

• 1:43:58Griffin Newman?

  No.

• 1:43:58David Sims?

  But that is people being like, oh, yeah, shit, right?

• 1:44:01Griffin Newman?

  It's undeniable. That's an undeniable year.

• 1:44:03David Sims?

  And yes, every child loves Hook now, every child by child, I mean, person in their 30s who lives in Bushwick. But I mean, at the time when Hook came out, people were like, he's a little cooked. Like, this is embarrassing. This is getting a little embarrassing.

• 1:44:15Griffin Newman?

  Which probably helped Jurassic.

• 1:44:16David Sims?

  Yes, for sure.

• 1:44:17Griffin Newman?

  Right? Like, this movie is hurt by coming off of E.T. Where I think to some degree, he doesn't have anything to prove. He went from Indiana Jones to E.T. And E.T. has a greater level of psychological depth just by design.

• 1:44:31Speaker 04

  E.T.'s just like so good.

• 1:44:33Griffin Newman?

  E.T.

• 1:44:33Speaker 04

  I, when I was watching the documentary, they just show the clip at, from the end of E.T. Where E.T.'s like, I live in here. And I was like about to start crying.

• 1:44:43David Sims?

  No.

• 1:44:44Speaker 04

  It's so perfect.

• 1:44:45David Sims?

  E.T. is the one time I've been asked, and it was on my like, you know, 14th watch.

• 1:44:49Griffin Newman?

  Yeah.

• 1:44:50David Sims?

  Like, are you okay? Because I was like sobbing. Like, by the person, I think my mother, like, not even like some, like, date I was on.

• 1:44:58Griffin Newman?

  But it's like a miracle movie. And it must have been a little weird to make E.T. and then go like, oh, I guess I gotta make another Indiana Jones now.

• 1:45:06David Sims?

  It must have been.

• 1:45:07Griffin Newman?

  That's a step backwards by design.

• 1:45:09David Sims?

  Someone should rip someone's heart out in this movie.

• 1:45:10Speaker 04

  Because is E.T. the first one where he's like? No, I guess it's not the first one where he's like, it sucks that my parents got divorced. But like, it is really him putting his heart on his sleeve in like a really big way.

• 1:45:21David Sims?

  It's the most personal. He's, well, Close Encounters is in his way.

• 1:45:24Speaker 04

  I was gonna say, Close Encounters is really like him trying that, but E.T. is just so sentimental. But E.T.'s so complimentary.

• 1:45:30David Sims?

  Whereas, right, Hook is so sentimental, not complimentary.

• 1:45:33Griffin Newman?

  Right.

• 1:45:34David Sims?

  Hook is, you know, we'll talk about Hook, but like, the shit that sucks in Hook is Robin Williams, like, with his eyes shimmering, being like, I should work less hard. And I'm like, Steven, talk to a therapist. I want to watch a Peter Pan movie with sword fights. I don't need this shit. And like, in Hook, the stuff I like is Dustin Hoffman and Bob Hoskins doing like a Carry On movie. I'm like, that's fun. Like, that's silly. I just don't need Robin Williams being like, my cellphone. I'm like, fuck your cellphones.

• 1:46:02Griffin Newman?

  Yeah, I think there's also, look, we'll talk about this in a Hook episode. But there's perhaps a thing where people are like, oh, my God, Steven Spielberg making the Peter Pan movie, that's perfect.

• 1:46:11David Sims?

  Right, the child at heart.

• 1:46:12Speaker 04

  It's so, it's so on the nose.

• 1:46:14Griffin Newman?

  Right.

• 1:46:14David Sims?

  It's too on the nose. So he's like, I'm too much of a child at heart. And again, I'm.

• 1:46:18Griffin Newman?

  And here's the second problem. The, the hook to Hook, if you will, is what if Peter Pan did grow up and became a boring adult and had to reconnect with being Peter Pan? And I'm like, huh, that's a thing that Steven Spielberg can't relate to. That's the one perspective that's gonna make zero sense to him.

• 1:46:35Speaker 04

  Is Hoffman kind of cooking in that movie? Or was I like a kid?

• 1:46:38David Sims?

  Hoffman has a cauldron the size of a purse. It is, he is cooking so, he is fucking incredible in Hook. It is, and here's my other.

• 1:46:47Speaker 04

  I remember that from being a child. I remember being like, something is cool here.

• 1:46:51Griffin Newman?

  You're right, but Bob Hoskins is fucking Gordon Ramsay in that movie.

• 1:46:54David Sims?

  No, that's what I was about to say, and I will advance this argument again on a Hook episode, but I want to say it now. Every Steven Spielberg movie would be better if you added Bob Hoskins as me just in the movie. Like, if Bob Hoskins as me was in this movie somewhere, that'd be great.

• 1:47:07Griffin Newman?

  If Bob Hoskins as me was Willie Scott?

• 1:47:10Speaker 04

  Oh, well, I was gonna say Bob Hoskins as me in The Post.

• 1:47:13David Sims?

  Yeah, that'd be great. For files. You know, just that.

• 1:47:17Griffin Newman?

  Let me just play out a scene for you, right?

• 1:47:19David Sims?

  Pentagon bakers.

• 1:47:20Griffin Newman?

  Okay, Indiana Jones is on an elephant, not breaking his back, right? Fortune and glory, short round, fortune and glory. Then other elephant pulls up, it's Bob Hoskins as me. Hey, I was an opera singer, me was, back in Shanghai, I had my friends. What am I doing here in the back of an elephant with you?

• 1:47:37David Sims?

  He's hot stuff.

• 1:47:38Griffin Newman?

  That would rule.

• 1:47:40Speaker 04

  I have a couple of things to say. One, your hair support is really good.

• 1:47:42Griffin Newman?

  You know what? I think it's usually good, and I couldn't get it in the Raiders episode, and it's been haunting me. It's the one where I lost control.

• 1:47:48Speaker 04

  Well, I'll say it on this one, it's good. Two, I like that their elephants are all, uh, to their size. Indiana Jones is on a big one, the medium one, and then short round's on a small one.

• 1:48:00Speaker 04

  And that was kind of my two things.

• 1:48:01David Sims?

  Hoffman is cooking so hard. That scene in Hook where they're bringing the hook up to him on the pillow and all the pirates, you, you are like, this is pure liquid sex cinema, it's so good.

• 1:48:12Griffin Newman?

  Save it for a Hook episode.

• 1:48:13David Sims?

  And then there's fucking two hours of Robin Williams being like, I don't know how to have fun. And I'm like, yes, you do, you're Robin Williams.

• 1:48:17Griffin Newman?

  We got a really good guest for the Hook episode.

• 1:48:19David Sims?

  I hope he shows up.

• 1:48:20Griffin Newman?

  Yeah, I did, you sent him an email?

• 1:48:23David Sims?

  He's busy, he's busy. I want to send it when he's gonna look at his inbox.

• 1:48:27Griffin Newman?

  The shoe's on the other foot.

• 1:48:30Griffin Newman?

  In terms of not sending emails.

• 1:48:31Speaker 05

  Oh, okay. Yes, yes, yes.

• 1:48:33David Sims?

  Is there anything else we want to talk about?

• 1:48:34Speaker 04

  Yeah, there's a lot more we need to talk about.

• 1:48:35David Sims?

  Okay, well, then let's talk about it.

• 1:48:37Speaker 04

  What's Harrison, what does Harrison, what is Harrison Ford up to now? Does he just like fly his planes?

• 1:48:41Griffin Newman?

  He's on four TV shows.

• 1:48:43David Sims?

  Do you mean right now or do you mean in 1980s?

• 1:48:45Speaker 04

  Presently, because I know he's like sort of on his big run in the 80s.

• 1:48:49Griffin Newman?

  Yeah.

• 1:48:50David Sims?

  But I mean, right, right now, he's doing Apple shows and he's smoking weed.

• 1:48:54Speaker 04

  Oh, right. He's on Shrinking and isn't he on a Sheridan show?

• 1:48:56Griffin Newman?

  He's on Yellowstone?

• 1:48:57David Sims?

  I think they're doing the same series. 1983 and it's about, yep.

• 1:49:01Speaker 04

  Weed is expensive with the taxes and everything.

• 1:49:04David Sims?

  Um, but for you.

• 1:49:05Speaker 04

  No, I, for him. He loves to smoke weed.

• 1:49:07Griffin Newman?

  Yeah.

• 1:49:08Speaker 05

  I need more weed.

• 1:49:09Griffin Newman?

  What else does he have going on in pictures? Does he have pictures coming up?

• 1:49:11David Sims?

  New motion pictures?

• 1:49:13Griffin Newman?

  Yeah.

• 1:49:13David Sims?

  A little movie called Captain America: Colin Breathe New World, in which he rohlks out.

• 1:49:18Griffin Newman?

  The president.

• 1:49:19Speaker 04

  He should do, here's my pitch to Harrison Ford, Morning Glory 2. Let's get the gang back in on that.

• 1:49:24David Sims?

  But he should be about.

• 1:49:25Griffin Newman?

  So regularly maintained.

• 1:49:27Speaker 04

  Looking at his filmography last night, I was like, fuck, that movie is so good.

• 1:49:30Griffin Newman?

  I agree. I talk about it all the time. I think he should have gotten nominated for that.

• 1:49:34Speaker 04

  He's so good in it.

• 1:49:35Griffin Newman?

  He maybe should have won for that.

• 1:49:36David Sims?

  I don't think he should have won for it, but he is good.

• 1:49:38Griffin Newman?

  He has only one other movie listed upcoming on IMDb called The Miserable Adventures of Bert Squire. And it has no other information connected to it.

• 1:49:48David Sims?

  That's probably something that doesn't exist.

• 1:49:49Griffin Newman?

  But it doesn't seem like there's anything else that he's even like attached to and development on.

• 1:49:54David Sims?

  Yeah, The Miserable Adventures of Bert Squire is an STX project that he signed on to with Ed Helms in 2020. Me thinks that one is going to get shipwrecked. I don't think it's gonna make it. Uh, he is a rooster in Secret Life of Pets 2. Thoughts, thoughts?

• 1:50:11Griffin Newman?

  I thought he was a dog and that's the dog named Rooster.

• 1:50:13David Sims?

  Maybe the dog's named Rooster.

• 1:50:14Speaker 05

  How about the dog movie, though, the two-hander that he's in?

• 1:50:17David Sims?

  Call of the Wild.

• 1:50:18Speaker 05

  Call of the Wild.

• 1:50:18David Sims?

  I never saw it.

• 1:50:19Speaker 05

  I watched it, uh, when I was on a trip recently and I just like needed to put something on.

• 1:50:26Griffin Newman?

  Sure.

• 1:50:26Speaker 05

  It is, um.

• 1:50:28David Sims?

  Not good.

• 1:50:29Griffin Newman?

  Did you cry?

• 1:50:30David Sims?

  Did I cry? Yes.

• 1:50:31Griffin Newman?

  Yep.

• 1:50:32David Sims?

  Yeah. The dog and stuff. It's a dog and they're friends.

• 1:50:35Griffin Newman?

  I gotta say, single most damning review of Moana 2. We go to see it with our friend Ben David Grabinsky.

• 1:50:41David Sims?

  Yeah.

• 1:50:41Griffin Newman?

  Who had never had the pleasure of going to see a movie with Mr. Hozly before.

• 1:50:45David Sims?

  Oh, sure.

• 1:50:45Griffin Newman?

  We're seeing in 4DX. I'm priming the pump. I'm like, Ben David, get ready to watch Ben cry. You were gonna watch Ben cry tonight.

• 1:50:51David Sims?

  I'm an easy crier.

• 1:50:51Griffin Newman?

  Right. And he was like, for Moana 2, everyone says it sucks. And I was like, you're, this is the point I'm making. I guarantee you, there will be one thing that will happen. It will develop within the span of five seconds. Ben will go from normal to quickly sobbing.

• 1:51:06David Sims?

  While being jostled.

• 1:51:07Griffin Newman?

  A moment of kindness towards an animal, or someone saying they're proud of someone else, and it will happen, right?

• 1:51:13David Sims?

  Yeah.

• 1:51:13Griffin Newman?

  Like, just the faucet will turn. And walked out, I said, Ben, how are you feeling? He went dry as a bone. And that's 4DX. There's water sprayed on his face.

• 1:51:21David Sims?

  He's been sprayed.

• 1:51:21Griffin Newman?

  And I was like, this thing really doesn't work if it couldn't even get Ben crying for three seconds?

• 1:51:27David Sims?

  Yeah.

• 1:51:27Griffin Newman?

  Yeah.

• 1:51:28David Sims?

  Give me other Temple of Doom thoughts, because I'm feeling us all be like, eh, can we just talk about other stuff? Like, I am feeling us already hitting, you know, uh, dry ground on our Temple of Doom, like, dig. Like, that's a bad metaphor. You know what I'm trying to say?

• 1:51:44Griffin Newman?

  Yeah.

• 1:51:44David Sims?

  We're all kinda like, eh.

• 1:51:45Griffin Newman?

  I'm scrubbing through the movie here. Hold on.

• 1:51:47David Sims?

  You know, like, I think the rope bridge scene is really fun.

• 1:51:51Speaker 04

  I do too.

• 1:51:52David Sims?

  Uh, I think Amish Puri as, uh, Puri as Mole Ram, it's an incredibly one-no performance. He's one of the most famous Bollywood, like, villain actors of all time. He's got theatricality and presence.

• 1:52:03Speaker 04

  I think he looks cool.

• 1:52:04David Sims?

  Yeah.

• 1:52:04Speaker 04

  I think he has a great face. I like when Harrison Ford is possessed and then becomes unpossessed and winks at short round as he's saving him.

• 1:52:12David Sims?

  Cause fucking hot.

• 1:52:13Speaker 04

  Yeah.

• 1:52:13Speaker 05

  What do we think about when Willie and Indiana are like, gonna hook up, but then they keep like, being annoying to each other?

• 1:52:21David Sims?

  That should be more fun. I know. It really should. It should work.

• 1:52:24Speaker 04

  The whole, like, the like, five minutes thing is fun on paper, and then he gets attacked and she's like, he's not coming over.

• 1:52:30David Sims?

  Right. That should be like a fun screwball sequence in the middle. Like, it's like, it's a different kind of action sequence. It's a romantic action sequence. We're having that, and instead it feels... I mean, she's kind of, you're just kind of a little annoyed with her.

• 1:52:41Speaker 04

  Not to be cinemasins about it, why is she wearing normal pajamas?

• 1:52:45David Sims?

  Interesting.

• 1:52:45Speaker 04

  She's wearing like a bathrobe and normal pajamas when she was in like a whole-

• 1:52:49David Sims?

  American apparel sweats.

• 1:52:50Speaker 04

  Yeah.

• 1:52:50Griffin Newman?

  It's also weird because she's like, in, she's in that sort of like extravagant dress that they give her, right?

• 1:52:57Speaker 04

  Yeah.

• 1:52:57Griffin Newman?

  Then she changes into like her jammies.

• 1:52:59Speaker 04

  Yes.

• 1:53:00Griffin Newman?

  And then when they're in the temple, she's back in the nice dress. Yeah.

• 1:53:03David Sims?

  Do you guys like the evil little prince?

• 1:53:06Speaker 04

  No, it makes me sad.

• 1:53:07David Sims?

  Maharaja? Me too. Kind of a bummer.

• 1:53:09Speaker 04

  It makes me sad. At one point, he's whipping short round and I don't like to see that.

• 1:53:12David Sims?

  Short round's so great, though. What a cutie pie. He's just so, he's so charming.

• 1:53:17Griffin Newman?

  This is kind of an interesting quote from Spielberg.

• 1:53:19David Sims?

  Sure.

• 1:53:20Griffin Newman?

  He said, "I think Temple of Doom was ahead of its time for my own sensibility and exactly right on schedule for George's." "George was going through a dark period. He certainly inspired Kershner, shoot a very dark second act in the first Star Wars. He wanted the second Indiana Jones to be very, very dark, and I wasn't there. I'm certainly there now in my filmmaking."

• 1:53:35David Sims?

  That makes sense.

• 1:53:36Griffin Newman?

  "As you've probably witnessed ever since Schindler's List, before that, it was a bit of a struggle against common sense to go as dark as we did."

• 1:53:42David Sims?

  What's weird about that-

• 1:53:42Griffin Newman?

  He goes dark on the next movie.

• 1:53:44Speaker 04

  Yeah.

• 1:53:45Griffin Newman?

  And then stays there.

• 1:53:47David Sims?

  Uh, wait, I'm in, sorry, he goes dark on which movie? On, um-

• 1:53:50Griffin Newman?

  The next film's Color Purple.

• 1:53:51David Sims?

  Oh, oh, yeah, yeah, but no-

• 1:53:52Griffin Newman?

  And the film after that's Empire of the Sun.

• 1:53:53David Sims?

  Yeah, yeah, yeah, but I feel like what he's saying post Schindler is, you know, like this early 2000s Spielberg, where he's still making rip-roaring adventures like Minority Report or whatever, but it's much darker, much more cynical tone and all that. But then he makes Crystal Skull, which is not like that.

• 1:54:08Griffin Newman?

  No.

• 1:54:08David Sims?

  Crystal Skull, honestly, I liked a lot of that movie more than some, but like can't pick a tone really.

• 1:54:14Griffin Newman?

  No.

• 1:54:15David Sims?

  And like kind of has a lot of nostalgia stuff and is kind of about how you can't, you know-

• 1:54:18Griffin Newman?

  This is my complaint-

• 1:54:19David Sims?

  Recreate old glories and all that.

• 1:54:21Griffin Newman?

  With Ready Player One as well. David Krummhold's favorite movie of all time.

• 1:54:24David Sims?

  Good movie. Krummhold's agree.

• 1:54:25Griffin Newman?

  Yeah. My, I feel this issue with Ready Player One as well, which it's like Spielberg doing an impression of himself, being like, wouldn't it be fun to do one of the fun ones again? And this feels like he's in a mode where he wants to make a fun one again, and he's being pushed into something darker.

• 1:54:40David Sims?

  Sure.

• 1:54:41Griffin Newman?

  Then he spends his next like four or five years trying to make darker, more grown-up movies-

• 1:54:45David Sims?

  Serious movies.

• 1:54:46Griffin Newman?

  About serious things.

• 1:54:47David Sims?

  Right.

• 1:54:47Griffin Newman?

  And people at the time- Or like, he's like a little kid. What is it? He doesn't have an adult understanding of this stuff. He's not there. And Schindler was the first time that I think people were like, he's processing events like an adult. He is making movies about serious subject matter with a proper sense of like, weight and maturity.

• 1:55:04Speaker 04

  The movie does kind of feel like, what, like, a little kid playing dress up to be like, dark and spooky. Like, it doesn't, like, when we talk about it being like a dark movie, it's like, it's not like Indiana Jones is like, going through personal torment or anything. He's not, it's just like, there's some dark and spooky shit happening underground.

• 1:55:27Griffin Newman?

  Yes.

• 1:55:28Speaker 04

  And like, it's kind of scary if you're eight.

• 1:55:30Griffin Newman?

  Yes.

• 1:55:31Speaker 04

  And then, so I, I, I, yeah.

• 1:55:34Griffin Newman?

  It's also like, asking a small child, like, what's the scariest thing that could ever happen? They're like, I don't know. Your heart.

• 1:55:40Speaker 04

  Your heart gets out and then you get pushed into a pit of fire.

• 1:55:44Griffin Newman?

  And you have to work.

• 1:55:45Speaker 04

  And a girl is screaming. And there's bugs? And you cut a snake open and there's more snakes?

• 1:55:52Griffin Newman?

  This is my problem with the like, it's so dark. It's such a dark movie. And I'm like, scary things happen in it. I don't think it's like, a dark movie textually, in any way.

• 1:56:01Speaker 04

  It's not a dark movie in the way that like, Schindler's List is a dark movie.

• 1:56:06Griffin Newman?

  But even like, in the way that like, dark popcorn sequels are that I like, that are like, and this movie deals with some fucked up psychology.

• 1:56:14Speaker 04

  Yeah.

• 1:56:15Griffin Newman?

  And audiences weren't ready for it.

• 1:56:16David Sims?

  I also feel like, every Indiana Jones movie, we'll see about Last Crusade, but usually the tone is kind of Spielberg being like, look, George, this is George's thing. And later it becomes like, this is George and Harrison's thing. And I want to make a good movie and I'm here, but I'm a little bit like, working with them versus like, all his other projects. And so, I feel like when the movies don't work, he kind of is like, well, you know, that was George's idea.

• 1:56:41Griffin Newman?

  It's what I find so fascinating about Tintin, is Tintin feels like him being burned by like, George is giving me bad things now.

• 1:56:48David Sims?

  Right.

• 1:56:48Griffin Newman?

  So what if I treat Urge as my George?

• 1:56:51David Sims?

  Right. What if I do a Tintin-y, like, Indiana?

• 1:56:53Griffin Newman?

  And that movie weirdly feels like a for hire movie for him, but him being excited that he's starting with good material.

• 1:56:59David Sims?

  I wish someone would make another Tintin movie.

• 1:57:01Griffin Newman?

  I do too. Oh, you don't want to do a Tintin?

• 1:57:05David Sims?

  Not really. I mean, I would go for that if that's what's happening.

• 1:57:08Griffin Newman?

  Yeah.

• 1:57:09David Sims?

  But I don't know. I don't know. I don't know.

• 1:57:11Griffin Newman?

  It is just weird that it's been like a casual 12 years since Tintin. Is that right? Was it 2012?

• 1:57:18David Sims?

  Yeah, or 2011, I think.

• 1:57:19Griffin Newman?

  Yeah.

• 1:57:20David Sims?

  Peter Jackson's too busy sifting through, you know, 800 hours of Beatles sessions or whatever.

• 1:57:24Griffin Newman?

  But he's about to find something really good.

• 1:57:28David Sims?

  Can they look more like jelly?

• 1:57:30Griffin Newman?

  It is fascinating to be like, does that guy ever make a scripted fictional film again?

• 1:57:36David Sims?

  I don't know.

• 1:57:36Speaker 04

  No, I don't think he wants to.

• 1:57:37Griffin Newman?

  No, but it's just funny that it might truly never happen again.

• 1:57:42David Sims?

  Well, we should do him on the podcast.

• 1:57:45Speaker 05

  Here's a question.

• 1:57:46David Sims?

  Sure.

• 1:57:46Speaker 05

  What do these stones do?

• 1:57:48David Sims?

  They're, they're, it seems like they just.

• 1:57:50Speaker 05

  Stones do? They just light up the skull. It seems like.

• 1:57:54Speaker 04

  I think they do extend it at some point.

• 1:57:55Griffin Newman?

  Great question.

• 1:57:56Speaker 04

  Well, okay, here is again, another issue is that it's like the Ark of the Covenant. I'm like, I get it. I get what this thing is. They put the Ten Commandments in it. Like, that's crazy. Last Crusade, it's the Holy Grail. I get it. I get what that is. I got the same question as Ben. I'm like, what's up with these stones?

• 1:58:15David Sims?

  They're, they are, you know, it's a real thing from, you know, Hindu like mysticism and, you know, they're, I'm not an expert on, despite in the seventh grade, doing a 40-page project on Hinduism that I got a very good grade on.

• 1:58:30Speaker 04

  They made you do a 40-page project in the seventh grade?

• 1:58:32Griffin Newman?

  In the history of this podcast, when people brag about how good their papers were when they were young.

• 1:58:36David Sims?

  No, we had to do a project on a religion for my religious education class in the, what you would think of as the seventh grade year eight.

• 1:58:45Griffin Newman?

  What you would think of as the seventh grade?

• 1:58:47David Sims?

  What Americans would call seventh grade. Uh, but, but it is, it is a, a, you know, they're, they're working with real, you know, sort of mythos like two, you know, and then just turning it into weird Indiana Jones magic shit.

• 1:58:59Griffin Newman?

  I agree with you that it's like probably helpful that the first two movies are dealing with like biblical nothorian legends.

• 1:59:05Speaker 04

  Western things for the.

• 1:59:07Griffin Newman?

  I understand this is a very western viewpoint for western movies primarily made for westerners, but.

• 1:59:12Speaker 04

  Yeah.

• 1:59:13David Sims?

  Well, I mean.

• 1:59:13Speaker 04

  What kind of ar- archaeology? Like, it's not like archaeologists do like all of them.

• 1:59:18David Sims?

  Well, if you're gonna come back at me with like, well, no, it's good that Indiana Jones like explored like Hinduism and stuff. It's like, no, it's not because this movie is like very simplistic and kind of racist. Everyone was kind of mad about that, so.

• 1:59:30Griffin Newman?

  This village is basically like, this stone is sacred to us. It like keeps us balanced. It was stolen by the thuggies. They're doing something bad with it. Can you go find it? Right? And then he goes and finds it and brings it back and he's like, they were indeed doing real bad shit with it. Here are all the stones. Have a good one.

• 1:59:45Speaker 04

  I do like when the kids all come running back and like the village is now very verdant and beautiful and sunny and like.

• 1:59:51Griffin Newman?

  But you do feel like you'd rather the story be that like Brody says, and I know I'm just harping for my man Brody here.

• 1:59:58David Sims?

  You fucking, yeah, you're like, Dan, home, Dan, home.

• 2:00:00Griffin Newman?

  But that Brody's like, I got a great lead on these stones. And he goes to find the stones and he wants them to be in a museum. And then this village is like, these stones mean something to us.

• 2:00:08David Sims?

  Sure.

• 2:00:09Griffin Newman?

  And he has the growth of being like, the stones should stay here. It feels a little weird to have it be like kind of Indiana Jones for hire. Can you do this mission for us? But also the, the bad things that are happening are more about the thuggies being shitty than the power of the stones?

• 2:00:25David Sims?

  Well, cause here's the thing too with the kids. We've mentioned the, the, the child slaves.

• 2:00:31Griffin Newman?

  Yes.

• 2:00:31David Sims?

  Who are mining for the other two missing stones.

• 2:00:34Griffin Newman?

  Mm-hmm.

• 2:00:35David Sims?

  Why, why, why kids? They're, they're, I mean, get adults to do it.

• 2:00:38David Sims?

  You're just saying like they don't do as good a job. It makes no sense.

• 2:00:42Griffin Newman?

  Yeah, they're bad people.

• 2:00:44David Sims?

  And that's what you're showing.

• 2:00:45Griffin Newman?

  And they're bad businessmen.

• 2:00:46David Sims?

  And they're bad businessmen.

• 2:00:47Griffin Newman?

  Their employee hiring practices are terrible. They should try and do it.

• 2:00:51Speaker 05

  It's just, yeah, it's not, it doesn't make sense to me, but again, it's just a silly adventure. I understand that, but it's just like fucked up.

• 2:00:58Griffin Newman?

  This is another thing that's dumb about this movie being a quiet prequel is that it does feel like there's something profound in Raiders to the arc of Indy being like supernatural shit isn't real. What are you talking about?

• 2:01:11Speaker 05

  Sure.

• 2:01:12Griffin Newman?

  Right? And then he sees the face of God and he's a little changed and the movie ends. And this movie is like, oh, by the way, like two years early, Indiana Jones got possessed by a stone.

• 2:01:27Speaker 04

  That is such a good point.

• 2:01:28Griffin Newman?

  But it like wasn't in the Bible, so he didn't take it seriously, right? Like his whole posture in Raiders is like, by the way, these are objects. They hold no power. I just like collecting things.

• 2:01:40Speaker 05

  I mean, it was possessed by blood.

• 2:01:42Griffin Newman?

  I get it, but yeah.

• 2:01:44Speaker 05

  That came out of a dead man's head.

• 2:01:50Speaker 06

  Welcome to 215 Maple Drive. We just put this property on the market. Love the crown molding. Oh, wait until you see the walk-in closets and the bathroom tile. Does it have Verizon FiOS? You know, 100% fiber internet? No FiOS, but it looks like it's got cable. Let's check out the kitchen. No FiOS? Yeah, no, thank you. Don't you want to see the rest? Okay. Bye-bye. Get Verizon FiOS because when you're moving, it's 100% or nothing.

• 2:02:24Speaker 04

  I have a question, sort of just Spielberg related. Does he have anything in the hopper right now?

• 2:02:28Griffin Newman?

  Great question.

• 2:02:29Speaker 05

  He's making this like a sci-fi movie, right?

• 2:02:31Griffin Newman?

  It's called The Dish. Josh O'Connor, Emily Blunt, Quentin Domingo.

• 2:02:35Speaker 04

  Oh, my God.

• 2:02:36Griffin Newman?

  Wyatt Russell. It's like a fucking, it's a beautiful cast.

• 2:02:40Speaker 05

  It's a great cast.

• 2:02:41Griffin Newman?

  It's a David Cap script.

• 2:02:42Speaker 05

  It's an event movie, so it's.

• 2:02:43Griffin Newman?

  It will be released in IMAX. It is in some way relating to UFOs, extraterrestrial life. He's going back there.

• 2:02:49Speaker 05

  It sounds cool.

• 2:02:49Griffin Newman?

  It's an original film.

• 2:02:51Speaker 04

  I'm all for it.

• 2:02:52Griffin Newman?

  Based on no pre-existing material, but it is interesting that he has slowed way the fuck down. He was always a one or two a year guy. And when he was posting on one movie, he was prepping the next. You always knew like, here are the five movies he has in development and which one will he pick? And then in the post-Fableman's era, it's always been like. Oh, he Bradley Cooper talking about doing Bullet?

• 2:03:15Speaker 04

  Yeah.

• 2:03:16Griffin Newman?

  But who knows what's gonna happen?

• 2:03:17Speaker 04

  I wonder if he feels kind of like burned by the weird circumstances for like West Side Story and The Fableman, both kind of being two movies that I think are incredible, but for some reason.

• 2:03:30David Sims?

  Amazing movies. And I do feel like he's like, I give you these jewels and you're kind of like.

• 2:03:35Griffin Newman?

  They gave him kind of like perfunctory passive aggressive Oscar nominations.

• 2:03:38David Sims?

  Right. It was like, best director.

• 2:03:41Griffin Newman?

  It's enclosed.

• 2:03:42Speaker 04

  Cause I imagine if you're, if you're Steven Spielberg and you make The Fableman, you're like, this is my entire.

• 2:03:48David Sims?

  Opening my chest for you people.

• 2:03:50Speaker 04

  I'm like Temple of Doom, opening my heart and handing it to you.

• 2:03:54David Sims?

  Rogan Cactus.

• 2:03:55Speaker 04

  And then people are like, what is this bullshit about the magic of the movies? It's like, I would be a little pissed off.

• 2:04:00Griffin Newman?

  It was kind of his Steve Jobs, Danny Boyle episode. And people are like, he really wants to go back and try another thing. That's kind of a good. That is the reason I think people were like, is this his last movie? He's got nothing in development. It feels like the ultimate statement. It's just an interesting place for him to be.

• 2:04:16David Sims?

  Yeah. I mean, he lost to Jane Campion and the Daniels.

• 2:04:19Griffin Newman?

  Yeah.

• 2:04:20David Sims?

  I don't think he's like, you know, steamed that he didn't like get another Oscar.

• 2:04:25Speaker 04

  I don't even think it's about like the Oscars. I think it's kind of like.

• 2:04:28Griffin Newman?

  It was the general reception.

• 2:04:29David Sims?

  Yeah. It's just like, oh, they just made like 30 million dollars. Like Fableman's was just like on VOD after a month. Like I know.

• 2:04:36Griffin Newman?

  Made like 60 domestic and Bridge of Spies made like 70 or 80 domestic. Like it's a real snapshot of how much adult film going culture changed over the pandemic.

• 2:04:46David Sims?

  It's shifting.

• 2:04:47Griffin Newman?

  Hopefully it's getting a little bit back.

• 2:04:48David Sims?

  Yeah.

• 2:04:49Griffin Newman?

  But it did just feel like.

• 2:04:52David Sims?

  Post made 81.

• 2:04:53Griffin Newman?

  Insane.

• 2:04:53Speaker 04

  That's so.

• 2:04:54Griffin Newman?

  And Bridge of Spies made 70.

• 2:04:56David Sims?

  Bridge of Spies made $1 billion in my heart.

• 2:04:58Speaker 04

  Yeah. In my household, that movie has gone triple platinum.

• 2:05:01David Sims?

  He's kind of cold. What else do you want to say about Temple of Doom? Before I make my point about its release and commercial success.

• 2:05:07Griffin Newman?

  My, the thing I wanted to say to finish this point was just that, uh, it felt like even when Spielberg would have whiffs or movies that did not totally connect with the public or the Oscars or whatever, there was like an undeniable event to a new Steven Spielberg film. And as you said, like children, just know that's the name of the person who makes movies. And even if I'm not seeing that one, I understand it's a thing. It does feel like the post 2020 movies, there's just a sense of like, what is that?

• 2:05:34Speaker 04

  In a way that like I-

• 2:05:35Griffin Newman?

  There's no even importance placed on like-

• 2:05:37Speaker 04

  Even like-

• 2:05:37Griffin Newman?

  Spielberg has a new film in theater.

• 2:05:39David Sims?

  That's Nolan now. Nolan just has that.

• 2:05:41Griffin Newman?

  It is.

• 2:05:42Speaker 04

  But even like, I feel like Killers of the Flower Moon had more of a thing of like-

• 2:05:47David Sims?

  A little bit.

• 2:05:48Speaker 04

  Martin, there's a Martin Scorsese movie out and it has Leonardo DiCaprio in it and like-

• 2:05:52Griffin Newman?

  I had this argument with, uh, Michael Toberski, friend of the podcast.

• 2:05:56David Sims?

  Mm-hmm.

• 2:05:57Griffin Newman?

  Great filmmaker.

• 2:05:57David Sims?

  Yeah.

• 2:05:58Griffin Newman?

  Uh, Turn Me On coming out sometime in 2025.

• 2:06:00David Sims?

  Absolutely.

• 2:06:01Griffin Newman?

  Um, but we were like, who are like the four most important filmmakers in that sense?

• 2:06:08David Sims?

  Right.

• 2:06:08Griffin Newman?

  In that sort of like cultural sense. And the argument they were posing to me, uh, was it was, it was Michael and our friend Jason Ankatson sign.

• 2:06:17David Sims?

  Mm-hmm.

• 2:06:17Griffin Newman?

  And they were like, we want to see if you're going to leave Spielberg off the list as well.

• 2:06:21David Sims?

  Sure.

• 2:06:21Griffin Newman?

  And I was like, I think he's just not there anymore.

• 2:06:24Speaker 04

  Yeah.

• 2:06:24Griffin Newman?

  I think we're all angry that it feels like people-

• 2:06:27David Sims?

  So who is it?

• 2:06:28Griffin Newman?

  I was like, I think it's kind of undeniably Nolan, Scorsese, Gerwig, Peel.

• 2:06:35Speaker 04

  Yeah, that, I was gonna say Gerwig and Peel.

• 2:06:37David Sims?

  I think Peel is no question and Gerwig, it's like, yeah.

• 2:06:40Speaker 04

  See how those Chronicles of Narnia movies-

• 2:06:42Griffin Newman?

  Right, I mean like-

• 2:06:42David Sims?

  It's the only problem I have with Gerwig, right.

• 2:06:44Griffin Newman?

  Gerwig and Peel, it's like, they could lose it. They're not like-

• 2:06:48David Sims?

  It's not that they could lose, it's like just Jordan Peele makes original movies that are a Jordan Peele movie.

• 2:06:52Griffin Newman?

  Yeah.

• 2:06:52David Sims?

  Gerwig, it's like she made a Barbie movie, now she's making a Narnia movie. I do think people are very interested in what she does, but it's a, there, there's a little less of that.

• 2:07:00Griffin Newman?

  Yes.

• 2:07:00David Sims?

  You almost wish there was more.

• 2:07:02Griffin Newman?

  But I also think you can make a joke in a room full of a hundred people about a Greta Gerwig movie or a Jordan Peele movie and it immediately makes something, it makes sense in their mind. Scorsese still has that. That's the name you use for a serious movie. And even if something like Killers of the Flower Moon does not connect on the level everyone hoped, that would show much more respect than Fableman's or West Side Story. And it felt like the public engaged with that movie way more. It made-

• 2:07:25David Sims?

  It also, to be, and it's, it had Leonardo DiCaprio in it, not, no offense to him, Gabriella Bell or Anselel Gore, like, you know, where it's like, it was Marty and Leo.

• 2:07:35Griffin Newman?

  Totally.

• 2:07:36David Sims?

  It was this big American epic.

• 2:07:37Griffin Newman?

  Like, if Spielberg makes another Tom Cruise movie, if they re-team again.

• 2:07:41David Sims?

  That'd be fun.

• 2:07:41Griffin Newman?

  It'd be fun. And who knows if that would like send the shock way- But but it is interesting that I'm like, I I would argue there's a certain like, there's more around the idea of a new Denis Villeneuve movie than there is maybe around Spielberg.

• 2:07:55David Sims?

  I think Denis is getting close. He's got to sort of finish his dunes and then then he'll be there.

• 2:08:00Griffin Newman?

  I think Scorsese is the only elder statesman who's like there still.

• 2:08:05David Sims?

  But will he make another movie? Probably. Will it be a big movie? Maybe not. Like, maybe it'll be something smaller.

• 2:08:11Griffin Newman?

  He's certainly talking in like a in wind down mode.

• 2:08:15Speaker 04

  Did you guys know that Francis Ford Coppola wants is making a musical next year?

• 2:08:19David Sims?

  He's making a he's adapting.

• 2:08:23David Sims?

  Funny, very funny.

• 2:08:24Griffin Newman?

  Thank you.

• 2:08:25David Sims?

  He's adapting glimpses of the moon or whatever. I mean, he's whatever. Like, is there is there a point? And I I enjoyed Megalopolis a lot, and I'm really happy, you know, like that I got to see that.

• 2:08:34Griffin Newman?

  Yeah, you lop it off.

• 2:08:36David Sims?

  It's like the 30 Rock where they where they tell Tracy he's going to the moon. Like, Francis Ford Coppola's just on his head being like, no, do this. Someone's like, yeah, we're gonna film this and everything.

• 2:08:45Griffin Newman?

  Second Tracy reference in one episode.

• 2:08:46David Sims?

  These fucking rocks. Is there anything else you want to say about Temple of Doom?

• 2:08:53Griffin Newman?

  Just I'm screwing up.

• 2:08:54David Sims?

  Throw in this challenge at you guys, because I think, all right, I'm gonna make my.

• 2:08:57Speaker 04

  I'm sorry. The movie I was thinking about a bit when I watched this movie was a shared favorite of yours and mine, which is Tenet. Because that is a movie where I think even even if you're like, this plot makes no sense to me and I hate it, which I disagree with, obviously, but.

• 2:09:17David Sims?

  He ordered his hot sauce an hour half an hour ago.

• 2:09:19Speaker 04

  The set pieces are awesome. And so the set pieces are mostly a guy being like, I want to do something really fucking cool.

• 2:09:25Griffin Newman?

  Yes.

• 2:09:26Speaker 04

  And you're gonna watch that. And I actually kind of, whatever else is going on doesn't matter. Like, in this one, it's the mind cart. And it's like, that is cool as shit. In Tenet, it's kind of like all of it. But like, look at them on this cool, rich person.

• 2:09:37David Sims?

  But Tenet is the number one where you're just like, even if you don't, if you can do whatever you want with Tenet, but if you're just sort of like, I'm just gonna love the vibes and not think about anything, you can have an amazing time with Tenet.

• 2:09:48Griffin Newman?

  Think Tenet would have been received differently if it were an Inception sequel. Like, he could have very easily made it Inception 2.

• 2:09:56David Sims?

  Uh huh.

• 2:09:56Griffin Newman?

  This time it's time or fucking whatever, you know?

• 2:10:00David Sims?

  Time it's backwards.

• 2:10:01Griffin Newman?

  And there was, even when the first Tenet trailer came out and it was like, it's time for a new protagonist. And it was a mystery box. There were some people being like, is this weird sideways inception universe?

• 2:10:10David Sims?

  Yeah, there was speculation.

• 2:10:11Griffin Newman?

  Shit, it has a similar vibe. I think Tenet would have been judged more harshly. If it was like, oh, so it's like it's inception without the emotional arc. It doesn't have the missing kids.

• 2:10:21David Sims?

  It has a pretty great emotional arc. It's about two boys.

• 2:10:24Griffin Newman?

  In a different way.

• 2:10:25David Sims?

  Ah, Tenet's the best. Just thinking about Tenet right now.

• 2:10:27Griffin Newman?

  I texted this to Sims today and he didn't respond because I think, I text him one of our group texts. This was a post in the Blank Check subreddit. A subreddit, by the way, I never read.

• 2:10:36David Sims?

  The highest grossing Hollywood original.

• 2:10:39Griffin Newman?

  Live action.

• 2:10:40David Sims?

  But this is.

• 2:10:41Speaker 04

  What does that mean?

• 2:10:42David Sims?

  Exactly. This shit starts to get annoying for me because the number one thing that, and I've already said this, you're like, Oppenheimer counts as original. That, there's people like, oh, Hollywood doesn't make any original. And I'm like, making a movie about a guy who existed?

• 2:10:55Griffin Newman?

  Uh huh.

• 2:10:56David Sims?

  That's not IP.

• 2:10:56Speaker 04

  Making a movie based on like.

• 2:10:58David Sims?

  You can't be like, oh, well, it had the Oppenheimer bump.

• 2:11:01Speaker 04

  Fiction biography.

• 2:11:02Griffin Newman?

  It's based on a book that James Woods recommended. That's not nothing.

• 2:11:06Speaker 04

  Ugh, that's such a good fun fact about Oppenheimer.

• 2:11:10Griffin Newman?

  It's actually the best. You know what? It's the reason I love the movie. It's my favorite part. No, I sent David this thing like a couple of weeks ago that was referencing that Elemental is the highest grossing original film of the post pandemic era.

• 2:11:24David Sims?

  Yes.

• 2:11:25Griffin Newman?

  And David pushed back on that.

• 2:11:26David Sims?

  I'm like, really? That's Oppenheimer. But then, right, but then the thing you sent as well where it's like the, all the caveats of like Hollywood, live action, where I'm like, right, because we're not talking about Chinese movies, of which there are many that have made way more money than any of these Hollywood movies.

• 2:11:39Griffin Newman?

  And by the way, what's the other thing we're not talking about?

• 2:11:41David Sims?

  What?

• 2:11:42Griffin Newman?

  Everything Everywhere All at Once, which outgrossed Tenet.

• 2:11:45David Sims?

  Didn't globally not?

• 2:11:46Griffin Newman?

  Domestic.

• 2:11:46David Sims?

  But not globally.

• 2:11:47Griffin Newman?

  But this quote was domestic, if I'm not mistaken.

• 2:11:50David Sims?

  Oh, I don't know. I can't remember.

• 2:11:52Griffin Newman?

  Let me compare the two while you're talking.

• 2:11:54David Sims?

  That's no fair because Tenet came out when theaters were closed.

• 2:11:56Speaker 04

  Didn't it come out in like October of 2020?

• 2:11:58Griffin Newman?

  That was the point. The point was like, oh, it's a little bleak that Tenet in the most compromised, stressed, barely reopened theatrical landscape, still has hit a number that nothing else has hit. Why am I bringing this up in this episode?

• 2:12:11David Sims?

  That's going by its global performance. It's going by worldwide.

• 2:12:14Griffin Newman?

  Okay, there's something a little tempting about Dish where I'm like, next year, there's a Steven Spielberg UFO. I'm, is it next year or 26?

• 2:12:23David Sims?

  I think Dish might be 26, but next year, we've got a new Coogler movie. We've got Jordan Peele coming. We've got, you know.

• 2:12:29Speaker 04

  I think it's like, I think it's kind of like the, the strike backlog is coming out.

• 2:12:34David Sims?

  A little bit of that.

• 2:12:35Griffin Newman?

  A little bit of delayed Oppenheimer. Like, do people actually want to see new shit?

• 2:12:38David Sims?

  And a little bit of like, even the Hunter is really the end of like Hollywood being like, can we sell you any old shit?

• 2:12:44Griffin Newman?

  It feels like the end of a lot of shit.

• 2:12:46David Sims?

  Yeah.

• 2:12:46Speaker 04

  And in its defense, it was shot in 1982.

• 2:12:49David Sims?

  Exactly. But like, where it's like, next year, we have Superman and Fantastic Four. It's not like we don't have comic book movies, but it feels a little slower. And a little bit more like, do you like Superman?

• 2:13:00Griffin Newman?

  Well, you're forgetting, we have something else.

• 2:13:01David Sims?

  Rip. Rolk. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

• 2:13:05Griffin Newman?

  Without the mustache. No, but there's something to like, the two big superhero movies next year are the original DC character and the original Marvel character.

• 2:13:12David Sims?

  Yes, exactly.

• 2:13:13Griffin Newman?

  It's like the most totemic, early nostalgic, not even nostalgic.

• 2:13:16David Sims?

  And both of those feel like projects where it's like, if they flop, maybe it's time to start packing things up.

• 2:13:21Speaker 04

  I also, I also think that in the last year, there was Tenet IMAX re-release.

• 2:13:27David Sims?

  Yes.

• 2:13:27Speaker 04

  Which I went to and had an incredible time at. My boyfriend said, you're the only person who brought a boy to this instead of the other way around.

• 2:13:35David Sims?

  Cause like, your boyfriend and I, we vibe on like Master and Commander. Like, we have a lot of shared tastes, but sometimes you're a little more the boy.

• 2:13:42Griffin Newman?

  We bond on masturbating.

• 2:13:43David Sims?

  We do bond on masturbating. Maybe we do. We have a discussion.

• 2:13:46Griffin Newman?

  I thought that's what you were gonna say, and I was shocked it was going in that direction.

• 2:13:49Speaker 04

  But Tenet.

• 2:13:49Griffin Newman?

  Olivia, can you please pass along 1 million comedy points to your boyfriend?

• 2:13:54Speaker 04

  Tenet re-release in IMAX made a decent amount of money.

• 2:13:57Griffin Newman?

  Like 5 million dollars?

• 2:13:58Speaker 04

  Interstellar is crushing in IMAX.

• 2:14:00Griffin Newman?

  Oh, the Interstellar one was 5 million.

• 2:14:02Speaker 04

  I'm just saying that people have, maybe it's just for Nolan, but people like seeing these big, bold, original, great looking movies on a big ass screen.

• 2:14:10Griffin Newman?

  Just happened. Fucking Coraline, which has been re-released every year, this year made like 30 million dollars.

• 2:14:17David Sims?

  It made a lot of money. I mean, that's of course got. You know, kid factor, but yes, absolutely.

• 2:14:21Griffin Newman?

  But they've been re-releasing it every year and every year making the release wider and longer. And it keeps making more money, like there is-

• 2:14:29Speaker 04

  My thing is like, people like when movies are cool and good. Can you imagine?

• 2:14:32Griffin Newman?

  This is also what the fucking film scene was like in the seventies and the eighties, where it was like, there was a balance of the classics coming back to theaters. And people would go back to theaters to see them again. Star Wars was like, re-released every year for a long time, you know? It was like, a healthy part of distribution.

• 2:14:49David Sims?

  On this-

• 2:14:50Griffin Newman?

  Yes.

• 2:14:51David Sims?

  Temple of Doom, as I bring us to the box office game.

• 2:14:54Griffin Newman?

  Why?

• 2:14:55David Sims?

  This movie came out in 1984 and was a hit. It got, I would say, mixed reviews.

• 2:15:00Griffin Newman?

  Sure.

• 2:15:01David Sims?

  But it was the highest first weekend of 1984, you know, opening weekend of 1984. And it made a hundred and eighty million dollars, so it was the third highest grocer at the US box office. Behind what?

• 2:15:11Griffin Newman?

  Okay, 1984. 1984. Do, do, do, do, do. It's not...

• 2:15:20Griffin Newman?

  It's not Rocky IV, is it?

• 2:15:21David Sims?

  No, it's two movies we've covered on this show.

• 2:15:22Griffin Newman?

  It's two movies we've covered on this show.

• 2:15:24David Sims?

  One main and one Patreon.

• 2:15:25Griffin Newman?

  One main and one Patreon, the top two films of the year.

• 2:15:28David Sims?

  They're movies you love.

• 2:15:29Griffin Newman?

  One main and one Patreon, they're movies that I love.

• 2:15:33David Sims?

  Well, this is taking too long.

• 2:15:34Griffin Newman?

  We're doing good on time.

• 2:15:36David Sims?

  No, we gotta go.

• 2:15:37Griffin Newman?

  We're doing good on time. David, give me a look and acknowledge that we're doing pretty good on time.

• 2:15:42David Sims?

  Just 'cause I'm fucking...

• 2:15:45David Sims?

  Huh? It's me trying to land the plane really fast.

• 2:15:48Griffin Newman?

  Okay, is the number one film the main feeder, the Patreon?

• 2:15:50David Sims?

  Uh, oh god, uh, the Patreon, I think.

• 2:15:53Griffin Newman?

  It's not Star Trek.

• 2:15:54David Sims?

  No.

• 2:15:56Griffin Newman?

  It's the Patreon.

• 2:15:56David Sims?

  Come on, you love this movie. It's a huge Griffin movie. Start of a franchise that continues to this day.

• 2:16:02Griffin Newman?

  It's not The Terminator.

• 2:16:03David Sims?

  No.

• 2:16:04Griffin Newman?

  It's not-

• 2:16:05David Sims?

  Had a great release this year.

• 2:16:07Griffin Newman?

  It had a-

• 2:16:07David Sims?

  Slightly sarcastic.

• 2:16:10Griffin Newman?

  There was a bad one this year.

• 2:16:12David Sims?

  I thought it was okay.

• 2:16:13Griffin Newman?

  You thought it was okay?

• 2:16:14David Sims?

  A lot of people hated it.

• 2:16:15Griffin Newman?

  Yeah, how did I feel about it?

• 2:16:16David Sims?

  You thought it was okay.

• 2:16:17Griffin Newman?

  I thought it was o-

• 2:16:18David Sims?

  You thought it was better than the prior one, which we both hated.

• 2:16:21Griffin Newman?

  Right, it's not Alien.

• 2:16:22David Sims?

  No, come on, come on, Griffin, Griffin, Griffin.

• 2:16:26Griffin Newman?

  It's not Toy Story.

• 2:16:27David Sims?

  No, what's the other one?

• 2:16:29Griffin Newman?

  What's the other one?

• 2:16:30David Sims?

  Yeah.

• 2:16:31Griffin Newman?

  It's not Robocop?

• 2:16:32David Sims?

  No.

• 2:16:33Griffin Newman?

  It's only one of those.

• 2:16:34David Sims?

  For kids.

• 2:16:34Griffin Newman?

  For kids.

• 2:16:36David Sims?

  And grownups.

• 2:16:37Griffin Newman?

  For kids and grownups.

• 2:16:40Griffin Newman?

  You gotta give me something here.

• 2:16:42David Sims?

  Yeah, he's looking at the toys. Both of these stars, two of your favorite.

• 2:16:45Griffin Newman?

  Oh, it's a Ghostbusters movie. It's the movie Ghostbusters. It's 1984. It's the movie Ghostbusters.

• 2:16:48David Sims?

  And what's the other one?

• 2:16:49Griffin Newman?

  And then is Gremlins number two?

• 2:16:50David Sims?

  No, no, come on.

• 2:16:52Griffin Newman?

  The other one, which we've covered on main feed.

• 2:16:55David Sims?

  True, yeah.

• 2:16:55Griffin Newman?

  It's not a franchise.

• 2:16:56David Sims?

  Yes, it is. Started a franchise. They've made, they made another one this year. They made a fucking like a sequel to it this year. Long Dormant. It's another huge Griffin movie, huge Griffin star.

• 2:17:09Griffin Newman?

  And did I not like the new one?

• 2:17:10David Sims?

  We thought it was okay. It was on fucking Netflix. What are you supposed to do?

• 2:17:13Griffin Newman?

  Well, you know what? I liked it quite a bit.

• 2:17:15David Sims?

  I did too.

• 2:17:15Griffin Newman?

  I think it's the second best.

• 2:17:17David Sims?

  Yeah, sure.

• 2:17:18Griffin Newman?

  Yeah, but I don't like two or three very much.

• 2:17:20David Sims?

  You don't like two. I like two.

• 2:17:22Griffin Newman?

  Two looks good. It is a Beverly Hills cop.

• 2:17:25David Sims?

  So here's the thing.

• 2:17:26Griffin Newman?

  Yeah.

• 2:17:27David Sims?

  It feels a little bit to me like those are a new kind of movie now. The eighties are here.

• 2:17:33Griffin Newman?

  Yeah.

• 2:17:33David Sims?

  Our movies are gonna be a little snarkier. They're gonna be comic.

• 2:17:37Griffin Newman?

  Let's say this.

• 2:17:37David Sims?

  They're gonna be action packed.

• 2:17:39Griffin Newman?

  Those movies are also edgier than Temple of Doom.

• 2:17:41David Sims?

  Right, they are gonna be edgy.

• 2:17:42Griffin Newman?

  Temple of Doom is quote unquote dark.

• 2:17:44David Sims?

  Ghost fellatio.

• 2:17:45Griffin Newman?

  Yeah. Crossed eyes.

• 2:17:46David Sims?

  Bananas and tailpipes.

• 2:17:47Griffin Newman?

  The darkest shit on the vegetable. But those are movies with like.

• 2:17:51David Sims?

  They're a little grown up.

• 2:17:52Griffin Newman?

  Yep.

• 2:17:52David Sims?

  And like Temple of Doom is a little bit like Indiana Jones and it's like Kate Caster going, ah! And everyone's like, eh, Edgar Murphy and Bill Murray are cooler than this.

• 2:18:00Speaker 04

  The thing that it's referencing is for old people.

• 2:18:03Griffin Newman?

  Yeah, but also a weird case of it being like too scary for children and too babyish for grownups at the same time. Like you're like adding a kid and.

• 2:18:11Speaker 04

  It's the Red One problem.

• 2:18:13Griffin Newman?

  It's the Red One problem.

• 2:18:14David Sims?

  And that movie had no other problems.

• 2:18:15Griffin Newman?

  Olivia, have you seen Red One?

• 2:18:16Speaker 04

  No, but I've, you know.

• 2:18:17David Sims?

  I'm gonna watch it now that it's.

• 2:18:19Speaker 04

  I've consumed some content about it.

• 2:18:19Griffin Newman?

  I, I don't say this lightly. It's one of the worst things to ever happen in this country.

• 2:18:23Speaker 04

  I did enjoy, again, shout out to the big picture, the episode where Sean was like, who is this for?

• 2:18:28David Sims?

  Yeah, I mean, I.

• 2:18:29Speaker 04

  What is the point?

• 2:18:29David Sims?

  I do think it's a true who. I haven't seen it yet, but it strikes me as real. Who is this for movie?

• 2:18:33Griffin Newman?

  It's the ultimate, it's the most extreme example of this thing where you're like, half of the movie is designed to be boring, off putting, or scary to children, and the other half of it is such pure baby shit that no grownup would wanna sit through it.

• 2:18:47David Sims?

  It's like The Rock is like, what if I could do a Christmas movie, but like for kids, but then I could advertise on like Super Bowl Sunday? And it's just like, that's for nobody.

• 2:18:55Griffin Newman?

  It's the most algorithmic, like, let's put all the pieces people like in movies and all those pieces are fighting each other with knives.

• 2:19:03David Sims?

  This movie came out Memorial Day weekend, 1984.

• 2:19:05Griffin Newman?

  Okay.

• 2:19:06David Sims?

  Uh, big opening weekend, but a little, JJ points out, a little fudgy because it had like a five day, you know, whatever, they, you know, they, back in the day, that was frowned upon.

• 2:19:15Griffin Newman?

  We were doing the year, we weren't even doing the weekend.

• 2:19:17David Sims?

  This is the weekend.

• 2:19:18Griffin Newman?

  This is the weekend.

• 2:19:19David Sims?

  Number one at the box office, though, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom.

• 2:19:21Griffin Newman?

  And what was the number?

• 2:19:22David Sims?

  Thirty-three.

• 2:19:23Griffin Newman?

  Thirty-three, okay.

• 2:19:23David Sims?

  At the time, you know.

• 2:19:25Griffin Newman?

  Yeah.

• 2:19:26David Sims?

  It's a lot of money.

• 2:19:26Griffin Newman?

  I'm excited to do eighty-nine.

• 2:19:27David Sims?

  It's more than the budget.

• 2:19:28Griffin Newman?

  Last Crusade, because that's a weekend where records keep getting broken.

• 2:19:31David Sims?

  Fair enough.

• 2:19:31Griffin Newman?

  Where it's Last Crusade, Batman, and, uh, Ghostbusters 2, I think, all break the records.

• 2:19:38David Sims?

  Well, that's a sign of how things had changed.

• 2:19:40Griffin Newman?

  Yes.

• 2:19:40David Sims?

  Because when you look at this one, you're, you're seeing Indiana Jones and the Temple do number one. Number two, it's a sports movie, but it's a movie for grownups.

• 2:19:47Griffin Newman?

  Hmm.

• 2:19:48David Sims?

  It's a movie I love.

• 2:19:49Griffin Newman?

  Based on a true...

• 2:19:51David Sims?

  Based on a true novel.

• 2:19:53Griffin Newman?

  It's based on a true novel.

• 2:19:54David Sims?

  It's on a novel.

• 2:19:55Griffin Newman?

  It's based on a novel, but not based on a real athlete. It's, it's not The Natural, is it?

• 2:19:59David Sims?

  It is The Natural.

• 2:20:00Griffin Newman?

  It is The Natural.

• 2:20:02David Sims?

  Uh, Barry Levinson's The Natural, a movie I adore. Have you ever seen The Natural?

• 2:20:05Speaker 04

  I've never seen The Natural.

• 2:20:06Griffin Newman?

  Olivia?

• 2:20:06Speaker 04

  I love baseball movies.

• 2:20:07Griffin Newman?

  The crack of the bat.

• 2:20:08Speaker 04

  Yeah.

• 2:20:09Griffin Newman?

  Has never...

• 2:20:09Speaker 04

  I did that baseball movie, for love of the game, with you guys.

• 2:20:12Griffin Newman?

  Yes, that's a movie about a magical bat.

• 2:20:14Speaker 04

  Yeah.

• 2:20:16David Sims?

  Um, a movie I think rocks, a lot of people don't like it because it, it takes a movie, a book with a downbeat ending and, and flips it. I think that's the right move.

• 2:20:24Griffin Newman?

  Checking my notes here, the name for those people is, uh, losers?

• 2:20:28David Sims?

  Not, well, maybe cover Levinson one day.

• 2:20:30Griffin Newman?

  You were so rude to him last year in March Madness.

• 2:20:33David Sims?

  Was I?

• 2:20:34Speaker 04

  Yeah, that's like, that's like a long one.

• 2:20:36Griffin Newman?

  We did our preview and you were like, vote for Barry Levinson if you like dumb shit and you're a fucking idiot.

• 2:20:41Speaker 04

  You guys have to do Soderbergh before you do Levinson, if you're gonna do a long one.

• 2:20:44David Sims?

  That's a long one. Or Clint.

• 2:20:46Speaker 04

  They split it up, you know?

• 2:20:47Griffin Newman?

  Yeah.

• 2:20:47David Sims?

  Uh, number three at the box office.

• 2:20:48Griffin Newman?

  We did the split up and it took us seven years to get back around to the first half of Spielberg.

• 2:20:52Speaker 04

  I think it's nice that you're kind of like looping back after a long time.

• 2:20:55David Sims?

  Maybe the split's kind of nice.

• 2:20:56Griffin Newman?

  Blank check, ten, a decade of dreams.

• 2:20:58David Sims?

  I think with Clint, it's the problem is you have to do like four.

• 2:21:01Speaker 04

  Oh, Clint, Clint would be too much, I think.

• 2:21:03David Sims?

  Oh, it'd be so fun. There's just some point when we're like in our forties, where we're just like, this year is Clint.

• 2:21:09Griffin Newman?

  Yeah.

• 2:21:10David Sims?

  No further questions. We're just, the whole year is him. If you don't like it, go eat some cheese. I don't care.

• 2:21:16Griffin Newman?

  Can I say something? I've been holding back on saying this out loud, but I feel like I need to say it now.

• 2:21:20David Sims?

  What?

• 2:21:21Griffin Newman?

  Our buddy Connor Ralliff made a very profound statement to me recently.

• 2:21:24David Sims?

  Okay, off.

• 2:21:25Griffin Newman?

  But I was thinking the other day, I don't know which will end first, Blank Check or The Tonight Show?

• 2:21:32Speaker 04

  Just the Tonight Show broadly.

• 2:21:33Griffin Newman?

  As, as an institution, he was like, that might go firmly.

• 2:21:36David Sims?

  Blank Check's not going anywhere.

• 2:21:37Griffin Newman?

  Off the air before Blank Check. That was his point.

• 2:21:39David Sims?

  And the Tonight Show, there is the question of like, when they're finally like, all right, enough with you Fallon. Are they just kind of like, should we stop?

• 2:21:46Griffin Newman?

  Yeah, right.

• 2:21:48David Sims?

  Do they maybe not, out of embarrassment of being like, Fallon can't be the guy who brought it to an end?

• 2:21:53Speaker 04

  Who would even?

• 2:21:54Griffin Newman?

  I, I think the bigger question too is like, do the other shows end before Fallon would step down?

• 2:22:00David Sims?

  Yeah, and it starts to fold into just like, yeah, there's really just one late night show at this point.

• 2:22:04Griffin Newman?

  I think their dream would be, we just outlast and we become the one stop shopping. And there's an ecosystem that can support one televised.

• 2:22:11David Sims?

  You need your guests, right? You need your, yeah, I don't know.

• 2:22:14Speaker 05

  They rebrand as TikTok tonight.

• 2:22:17David Sims?

  Wait a second.

• 2:22:18Griffin Newman?

  Wait a second.

• 2:22:19Speaker 04

  There's an idea.

• 2:22:19Griffin Newman?

  Hosted by Ben Hesley.

• 2:22:21Speaker 05

  No, I don't know anything about social media.

• 2:22:25Speaker 04

  That's cool. That's actually awesome.

• 2:22:26Griffin Newman?

  That's what makes you cool.

• 2:22:27David Sims?

  Number, yeah, cause Stephen Colbert knows so much about stuff like, you know, like his Fallon. Did you see Fallon at the Macy's Thanksgiving Day just fucking out to lunch? You're just like, it's another, it's sort of like the same thing with the network shows. Where you're like, what, there's just some show called Pussy Eater and it's like CBS 8:30? And you're like, is anyone minding the store? The same with Fallon's just kind of out there looking strung out.

• 2:22:51Griffin Newman?

  Glenn Close? Glenn Close is the Pussy Eater, APO Tuesdays on CBS.

• 2:22:59David Sims?

  And like.

• 2:22:59Speaker 04

  No, and then a year later, there's like, young Pussy Eater.

• 2:23:03David Sims?

  Right, exactly. Pussy Eater, Pussy Eater New Orleans.

• 2:23:09David Sims?

  But you're just like, like, in a way, the Tonight Show ended years ago, right? It's like, nobody fucking watches that anymore. And I know that's not true. I know people do watch it and it has YouTube clips and all that, you know?

• 2:23:20Speaker 04

  The Tonight Show was that just, just like, when you have the other guys who are doing it so much better than Fallon is, it's like, why would you watch the Tonight Show?

• 2:23:27David Sims?

  Damn, let's not talk. I mean, when you have Seth, who is great, but like, Seth, like, you know, I almost just don't want him to have to deal with the Tonight Show. It's better that he just like has his show where he does his thing.

• 2:23:37Griffin Newman?

  And also like, once a month Seth Meyers is like, so new thing, our show no longer has chairs.

• 2:23:42David Sims?

  That's true.

• 2:23:45David Sims?

  My, my, my clothes budget is gone, so I'll just be pixelated from now on.

• 2:23:51David Sims?

  Um, number three at the box office that year. Network TV is just weird. We're watching something die and like it, we understand why it's dying.

• 2:23:59Griffin Newman?

  But Conan posing it to me that way was weird. Where I was like, right, because we don't have like a fucking operating budget like the Tonight Show. Where at some point it becomes like that.

• 2:24:07Speaker 04

  I mean, I think that's also just like, I feel like every week a clip from like Conan's podcast goes viral.

• 2:24:12David Sims?

  Because it's good.

• 2:24:13Speaker 04

  Yeah. And it's like, well, this is all you really need. If you're like, if you're as talented as Conan, you don't need the whole thing.

• 2:24:18Griffin Newman?

  The last six years of his show on television, he was still doing good shit and it rarely caught fire.

• 2:24:24David Sims?

  But I would have great days. And we talked about this, we were just talking about this on the Dillboys thread. Like of just being like, I'm gonna watch every Clueless Gamer and have a great time. I'm gonna watch every Jordan Shlansky bit and have a great time. Harrison Ford smashing the Millennium Falcon in front of Jordan. That's so funny.

• 2:24:39Griffin Newman?

  One of the funniest things of all time.

• 2:24:40David Sims?

  The funniest shit in the world.

• 2:24:41Griffin Newman?

  Yes.

• 2:24:42David Sims?

  If anyone has watched it, go watch it.

• 2:24:43Griffin Newman?

  Voice about that? Are you familiar with that segment?

• 2:24:46Speaker 04

  Yes, I'm upset. Uh, we went through like a big phase in my house of watching all the Jordan Shlansky.

• 2:24:50Griffin Newman?

  You gotta do a yearly Shlansky watch.

• 2:24:53David Sims?

  Did you watch the podcast? Did you listen to the podcast where it's just him and Conan's yelling at each other?

• 2:24:58Griffin Newman?

  I've been saving it.

• 2:24:58David Sims?

  It's one of those things where you're immediately like, this isn't a bit. They're really just pissy.

• 2:25:02Griffin Newman?

  Have you seen the segment then?

• 2:25:04Speaker 05

  No, I have not.

• 2:25:04Griffin Newman?

  Do they do the thing where like, especially when Harrison Ford came out, because Shlansky is such a big Star Wars and Indiana Jones fan would come out and like grill Harrison Ford on some question about the makeup of the whip?

• 2:25:16Speaker 05

  Sure.

• 2:25:16Griffin Newman?

  And being like, in the second film, the whip was like this. And in the third film, it was like this. So which? And then Harrison Ford would just look at the camera and go, who gives a shit?

• 2:25:24David Sims?

  Right.

• 2:25:24Griffin Newman?

  Or something like that. Or you fucking nerd. Right. And then they stamp a nerd thing on Shlansky's forehead and it was great. So when Force Awakens came out, he came in, he was like, we have a, someone on staff here, he loves you. He wants to show you something. He brings out the like deluxe most ultimate Lego Millennium Falcon and was like, this cost $800. It took me nine months to construct. It's like five million pieces. And I was wondering if you'd sign it? And he's like, absolutely. And he takes it in his lap and you like know where it's going, but Harrison Ford makes the choice rather than to just drop it. From his seated position on the floor, he flips it over.

• 2:26:03David Sims?

  It's so funny.

• 2:26:03Griffin Newman?

  He's like looking at it and then he goes, "Wah."

• 2:26:06David Sims?

  It's so fucking funny. And Shlansky is just one of those guys where you're like, he, I understand he's quote unquote, playing it straight, but it just seems so.

• 2:26:15Griffin Newman?

  It hurts him.

• 2:26:16David Sims?

  Yes, it really hurt him. Anyway, number three at the box office is a dancing movie?

• 2:26:20Griffin Newman?

  Is it Lombarda?

• 2:26:22David Sims?

  Nope.

• 2:26:23Griffin Newman?

  Is it the other one?

• 2:26:25David Sims?

  What's the other one?

• 2:26:26Speaker 05

  Is it one of the breaking?

• 2:26:27David Sims?

  It is.

• 2:26:28Griffin Newman?

  Breaking Two?

• 2:26:29David Sims?

  Nope.

• 2:26:30Griffin Newman?

  Oh, it's just breaking. It's just breaking.

• 2:26:32David Sims?

  Just breaking.

• 2:26:33Griffin Newman?

  The guarantor for Breaking Two.

• 2:26:35David Sims?

  Yeah.

• 2:26:37David Sims?

  Starring, uh, Shabadoo.

• 2:26:39Griffin Newman?

  Of course.

• 2:26:40David Sims?

  And Boogaloo. I'm not joking. These are the names of the dancers.

• 2:26:43Griffin Newman?

  Probably their best film together.

• 2:26:45David Sims?

  I have never seen Breaking. I feel like now for our generation that didn't grow up watching movies in the eighties, it's only famous for the sequels having a hilarious title.

• 2:26:52Speaker 04

  Wait, it stars Boogaloo?

• 2:26:54David Sims?

  Yeah.

• 2:26:54Speaker 04

  So he's the one that gets electric?

• 2:26:56David Sims?

  I assume in the, in the second movie, he gets plugged in to a wall or something like a wall.

• 2:27:00Speaker 04

  At the Newport Folk Festival.

• 2:27:04David Sims?

  Traitor! You're supposed to do analog dancing. Oh God. Have you seen Complete Unknown yet?

• 2:27:11Speaker 04

  Not yet. I'm excited to though.

• 2:27:12David Sims?

  It fucks so hard. It's so good. You should, you should watch it next to Jordan Hoffman. That's like 40x Complete Unknown. Just him being like, "That's Dave Van Ronk." And I'm like, "Yeah, I know, Jordan."

• 2:27:23David Sims?

  Number four at the box office, and this is interesting, Griffin, is an Indiana Jones type movie. That we've covered on this podcast.

• 2:27:30Speaker 04

  Is it Romancing the Stone?

• 2:27:32Griffin Newman?

  Wow.

• 2:27:33Speaker 04

  I was thinking about that the whole time I was watching this too.

• 2:27:35David Sims?

  And I imagine a lot of people are walking around Temple Doom being like, "You know what? I had more fun like three weeks ago with Romancing the Stone."

• 2:27:41Griffin Newman?

  Kathleen Turner doing a much better version of a Willie Scott type thing. Yeah, that's crazy. They were out the same time.

• 2:27:47David Sims?

  Isn't that crazy?

• 2:27:48Griffin Newman?

  That's crazy.

• 2:27:49David Sims?

  And of course Danny DeVito literally in it after supposed to be in Raiders.

• 2:27:53Griffin Newman?

  Yeah, that kind of blew my mind.

• 2:27:54David Sims?

  Number five at the box office is an iconic, uh, teen film.

• 2:28:00David Sims?

  With, uh, yeah, you know, that's really good.

• 2:28:04Griffin Newman?

  Is it a Hughes?

• 2:28:05David Sims?

  It's a Hughes.

• 2:28:05Griffin Newman?

  Is it The Breakfast Club?

• 2:28:06David Sims?

  No, and it has, it has one hugely problematic element that doesn't really work.

• 2:28:10Griffin Newman?

  Sixteen Candles?

• 2:28:10David Sims?

  Sixteen.

• 2:28:11Griffin Newman?

  This is, yeah, the first big one.

• 2:28:12David Sims?

  And it has kind of a doofy guy, you know, the guy is doofy. He's alright.

• 2:28:16Griffin Newman?

  I also like that he just like never acted again.

• 2:28:18David Sims?

  Yeah, he's just like, what?

• 2:28:19Speaker 04

  He's very hot, too.

• 2:28:21David Sims?

  Yeah, pretty hot. Um, but, uh, I love Sixteen Candles, cause Molly Ringwald's so good in it. And like, the family stuff is good. It's a good movie, right?

• 2:28:29Griffin Newman?

  See, he used to be a real stick in the mud about the idea of doing Hughes.

• 2:28:32David Sims?

  Oh, just being kind of, eh.

• 2:28:33Griffin Newman?

  I'd push it.

• 2:28:33David Sims?

  Yeah.

• 2:28:34Griffin Newman?

  And you'd push back.

• 2:28:35David Sims?

  You'd push back.

• 2:28:35Griffin Newman?

  It's not that many, though, that he only directed.

• 2:28:38David Sims?

  What is it? Let's see.

• 2:28:39Griffin Newman?

  Sixteen Candles?

• 2:28:40David Sims?

  My whole problem is, um, that I fucking hate Ferris Bueller.

• 2:28:45Speaker 04

  You hate Ferris Bueller?

• 2:28:46David Sims?

  He's such a piece of shit.

• 2:28:48Griffin Newman?

  You're one of those.

• 2:28:49Speaker 04

  Oh my god.

• 2:28:49Griffin Newman?

  Sixteen Candles?

• 2:28:50David Sims?

  I mean, I love the movie about his sister that exists in my mind.

• 2:28:54Griffin Newman?

  Breakfast Club, Weird Science, Ferris Bueller.

• 2:28:57David Sims?

  Wait, wait, it's Sixteen Candles, Breakfast Club, yeah. Weird Science, Ferris Bueller, Planes, Trains and Automobiles, great movie. She's having a baby, bacon.

• 2:29:04Griffin Newman?

  Curly Sue?

• 2:29:05David Sims?

  Uncle Buck.

• 2:29:05Griffin Newman?

  Or Uncle Buck, Curly Sue.

• 2:29:06David Sims?

  And then Curly Sue.

• 2:29:06Speaker 04

  Wait, that's really fun.

• 2:29:08David Sims?

  It's only a- And my roommate Molly would have to be on the Uncle Buck episode.

• 2:29:12Griffin Newman?

  Sure.

• 2:29:12David Sims?

  My former roommate, I mean, she doesn't live with me anymore. I got married, she got married.

• 2:29:16Griffin Newman?

  I was gonna say, wait, what do you mean, your wife?

• 2:29:19Griffin Newman?

  Um, yeah, and Ben would go off on the Uncle Buck episode.

• 2:29:22David Sims?

  My god.

• 2:29:22Griffin Newman?

  That's a funny, that's just two, that's just two months. That's just two months.

• 2:29:26David Sims?

  Fine, let's do it, I don't know. We have to talk about Chicago a lot. Fran will be on that.

• 2:29:30Griffin Newman?

  Yeah.

• 2:29:31David Sims?

  Fran will have to be on one, Big Chicago. And Shannon will have to be on one.

• 2:29:34Griffin Newman?

  You're ten, decade of dreams.

• 2:29:36Speaker 04

  Shannon is in Michael Shannon?

• 2:29:38David Sims?

  Yeah, Big Chicago. Number six is, uh, the original Police Academy.

• 2:29:43Griffin Newman?

  Okay.

• 2:29:43David Sims?

  Number one.

• 2:29:44Griffin Newman?

  Mm-hmm.

• 2:29:44David Sims?

  Number seven, the Drew Barrymore. Yeah. Uh, go tell him, Griffin.

• 2:29:49Griffin Newman?

  Yeah, I, I just, I couldn't stand by idly.

• 2:29:52David Sims?

  Me saying the word, police.

• 2:29:56Griffin Newman?

  People think these policemen know how to walk without slipping. Without any hijinks, and that movie proves otherwise.

• 2:30:03Speaker 05

  And can they make sound effects with their mouth?

• 2:30:05David Sims?

  I've always wondered, is there a cop who can make sound effects with his mouth?

• 2:30:07Griffin Newman?

  They only speak in full words.

• 2:30:09David Sims?

  What if Eric Adams was like, "Great news, I'm reforming the NYPD, I got Michael Winslow."

• 2:30:15David Sims?

  He's gonna zoos everything up.

• 2:30:17Griffin Newman?

  I'd maybe vote for him.

• 2:30:18David Sims?

  Eric Adams might have been out of office by the time this episode comes out.

• 2:30:22Griffin Newman?

  Yeah.

• 2:30:22Speaker 04

  He might get a pardon.

• 2:30:25David Sims?

  25 is gonna suck so fuck.

• 2:30:27Speaker 05

  Decade of dreams!

• 2:30:28David Sims?

  Yay! Uh, number seven at the box office is Firestarter, which you know, I've never seen.

• 2:30:33Griffin Newman?

  I've never seen it either.

• 2:30:34David Sims?

  Well, maybe we should watch it.

• 2:30:35Griffin Newman?

  Yeah. You wanna light up?

• 2:30:38David Sims?

  Spark up?

• 2:30:40Griffin Newman?

  We could do a King's Things series, we could do some camera shots.

• 2:30:44Speaker 04

  Is that the one they made with Zac Efron?

• 2:30:45David Sims?

  They sure did. Yeah, that was a real like, even Peacock doesn't want you to see that one.

• 2:30:49Griffin Newman?

  And John Carpenter did the score.

• 2:30:51David Sims?

  Yeah, I think you're right.

• 2:30:52Griffin Newman?

  With his son.

• 2:30:53David Sims?

  Mark Lester movie.

• 2:30:53Griffin Newman?

  Yeah.

• 2:30:54David Sims?

  Uh, number eight is Splash, a movie I've seen so many times.

• 2:30:57Griffin Newman?

  Yeah.

• 2:30:57David Sims?

  Uh, as a kid.

• 2:30:58Griffin Newman?

  I was just watching, I don't know what drove me there, but on YouTube, the side-by-side comparison of the Splash theatrical versus the Disney Plus hair butt. Do you remember the hair butt cut?

• 2:31:07Speaker 04

  One of the funniest things that's ever happened. It's so funny.

• 2:31:11Griffin Newman?

  It's so bad. Do you know about this, Ben?

• 2:31:13David Sims?

  Yeah, they, we've definitely talked about the hair butt, alright, I'll.

• 2:31:16Griffin Newman?

  Do you know about the new scandal?

• 2:31:17Speaker 04

  I feel like you're just applying the hair butt.

• 2:31:19Griffin Newman?

  Shout Factory put Riddick out on 4K for the first time.

• 2:31:22David Sims?

  I saw that, yeah. Here's Daryl Hannah's hair butt.

• 2:31:26Speaker 05

  Whoa, wait, that's actually insane. That's so bad.

• 2:31:29Griffin Newman?

  And it's in motion, it's worse.

• 2:31:31David Sims?

  It's surprising.

• 2:31:32Griffin Newman?

  Cause it was done very hastily. They just added an extra six inches of hair that looks like it was glued onto her butt cheeks and doesn't move properly. Riddick.

• 2:31:41David Sims?

  Yeah.

• 2:31:42Griffin Newman?

  A movie about a man whose actions I do not holistically endorse.

• 2:31:46David Sims?

  No, he's a little problematic.

• 2:31:47Griffin Newman?

  Could be a little bit of a cad, this guy.

• 2:31:49David Sims?

  Uh, sure.

• 2:31:50Griffin Newman?

  There was a moment at the end of the film in which he squeezes Katie Seoff's, uh, rear end.

• 2:31:54David Sims?

  Mm-hmm.

• 2:31:54Griffin Newman?

  And this 4K comes out and people are now up in arms.

• 2:31:57David Sims?

  They've removed that?

• 2:31:58Griffin Newman?

  On the coolest, most chill, physical media subreddit. "I have taken out my old copy, my Universal disc, I've compared both the theatrical and the unrated."

• 2:32:08David Sims?

  And these are very gender-balanced subreddits, too. Right where it's like fifty fifty.

• 2:32:11Griffin Newman?

  There is a premature fade out. Shout Factory must release the butt cut and explain what happened. And it's now this thing where half the people are getting really angry about like film censorship. And they need to be explicit in these things and preservation is important. And the other half of the people are like, it's really funny that you noticed this. It's funny that you noticed this and that you took the time to compare four versions of the movie. And are getting up in arms about Riddick squeezing a butt one time.

• 2:32:42David Sims?

  Number nine at the box office, Footloose.

• 2:32:44Griffin Newman?

  Oh, sure. Mm hmm. Two dancing movies in the top ten.

• 2:32:46David Sims?

  It was hot. And number ten, Grey Stroke, The Legend of Tarzan and the Apes.

• 2:32:50Griffin Newman?

  Yeah.

• 2:32:51David Sims?

  Which is the one with Christopher Lambert, right?

• 2:32:54Griffin Newman?

  We could do a little Tarzan series.

• 2:32:56David Sims?

  That might get repetitive, right? Like.

• 2:32:59Griffin Newman?

  Think of all the yelling bits we do.

• 2:33:03David Sims?

  Uh, which got a Oscar nominee for.

• 2:33:06Griffin Newman?

  Well, for.

• 2:33:07David Sims?

  Ralph Richardson, right? Is that, it got like an old legend Oscar.

• 2:33:10Griffin Newman?

  But got a makeup nom. The, the gorilla work's pretty good in that film.

• 2:33:15David Sims?

  You're right, Rick Baker.

• 2:33:16Griffin Newman?

  Thank you.

• 2:33:19Griffin Newman?

  I know some of these things.

• 2:33:20David Sims?

  You'd certainly know about Rick Baker, but he lost to Amadeus. So fuck you, Baker.

• 2:33:23Griffin Newman?

  Oh, sure.

• 2:33:24David Sims?

  Do you think he was like Salieri in the stands?

• 2:33:25Griffin Newman?

  Yeah. Well, the, yeah, he also sat in the stands wearing old age makeup.

• 2:33:31David Sims?

  I can do better.

• 2:33:34Griffin Newman?

  Uh, what, what were, give me the rundown of the Temple of Doom Oscar nominations. It did get a visual effects, I think.

• 2:33:39David Sims?

  I think it got only two. I'll double check that. It got a best score nomination.

• 2:33:44Griffin Newman?

  Okay.

• 2:33:44David Sims?

  You know.

• 2:33:45Griffin Newman?

  The score is.

• 2:33:46David Sims?

  Fantastic score.

• 2:33:47Griffin Newman?

  I'll say this, for how much I'm like sitting there and the existence of Willie Scott is irking me at every moment. Close my eyes, I listen to that score and I'm fucking heaven.

• 2:33:54Speaker 04

  It's just, I'm sure you guys talked about it on Raiders, but dun, da, dun, dun is like, it's like, wow, you're a genius.

• 2:34:01Griffin Newman?

  Yeah.

• 2:34:01Speaker 04

  It's like the most brilliant thing ever. And it's not like that complex, but it is just like, oh, that's, I can't believe no one thought of that.

• 2:34:08Griffin Newman?

  But then like Shore Round's theme in this is like so lush and beautiful and complicated.

• 2:34:13David Sims?

  Right. As you realize, like, oh yeah, he actually just churned out like six iconic brilliant things.

• 2:34:17Griffin Newman?

  We had this thing watching Jaws where it's like, oh. Right, the brilliance of just being two notes. And then you listen to John.

• 2:34:22Speaker 04

  And then the rest of it is like.

• 2:34:24Griffin Newman?

  It's like the most beautiful, sweeping orca theme.

• 2:34:26Speaker 04

  He's incredible with the theme.

• 2:34:28Griffin Newman?

  Yeah, and he'll come up with like nine bangers in one score.

• 2:34:31David Sims?

  It lost best score to A Passage to India, Maurice Shar. I don't actually know that score. I assume it's very big and David Leany. Randy Newman nominated for the natural there. Kind of insane he does not win. That is one of the most iconic pieces of music in movie history.

• 2:34:46Griffin Newman?

  He was one of the most losing.

• 2:34:48David Sims?

  I know, I know, but it's like, why did he lose here?

• 2:34:50Griffin Newman?

  No, I agree.

• 2:34:51David Sims?

  He da da, da da da da.

• 2:34:54Griffin Newman?

  Yeah.

• 2:34:54David Sims?

  Da da. You want me to keep going?

• 2:34:55Griffin Newman?

  Yeah, please.

• 2:34:56David Sims?

  Da da da.

• 2:34:57Griffin Newman?

  Yeah.

• 2:34:57David Sims?

  Da da, da da.

• 2:34:58Griffin Newman?

  He also fucking lost your Toy Story.

• 2:35:00David Sims?

  Well, sure.

• 2:35:01Speaker 05

  Can I pitch?

• 2:35:01Griffin Newman?

  Don't well, sure me.

• 2:35:03David Sims?

  Uh, and it won visual, visual effects over Ghostbusters and 2010.

• 2:35:09Speaker 05

  Can I pitch a porn idea?

• 2:35:11Griffin Newman?

  Yeah.

• 2:35:11David Sims?

  I thought you just said, can I pitch?

• 2:35:12Griffin Newman?

  But those are the only two nominations?

• 2:35:13David Sims?

  Only two.

• 2:35:13Griffin Newman?

  Wow.

• 2:35:14David Sims?

  Uh, I thought you just said, can I pitch a porn idea?

• 2:35:17Speaker 05

  All right, so there's a guy.

• 2:35:18Griffin Newman?

  Hmm.

• 2:35:19David Sims?

  Indiana Jones and the.

• 2:35:20Speaker 04

  Temple of Poon.

• 2:35:21Speaker 05

  Fuck.

• 2:35:23Griffin Newman?

  Indiana Bones.

• 2:35:24Speaker 04

  Indiana Bones and the Temple of Poon.

• 2:35:26David Sims?

  And that's, that's how you make the big bucks in this industry.

• 2:35:28Griffin Newman?

  In her panty, Bones?

• 2:35:29David Sims?

  All right, now we've gone too far.

• 2:35:30Griffin Newman?

  And the Temple of Poon.

• 2:35:31David Sims?

  It's time to break for lunch.

• 2:35:33Speaker 05

  A theme restaurant.

• 2:35:34Griffin Newman?

  Okay.

• 2:35:36Speaker 05

  About the career of John Williams.

• 2:35:39Griffin Newman?

  Go.

• 2:35:39Speaker 04

  I'm listening.

• 2:35:41Speaker 05

  So.

• 2:35:41David Sims?

  My stomach is rumbling.

• 2:35:43Speaker 05

  It showcases all of his different themes.

• 2:35:46David Sims?

  Uh huh, and this translates to food how?

• 2:35:48Griffin Newman?

  Yeah.

• 2:35:49Speaker 05

  Bumpa da bum.

• 2:35:51David Sims?

  Uh huh.

• 2:35:52Speaker 05

  Hamburger, french fries.

• 2:35:54David Sims?

  Now, this is just one of those classic Ben ideas where you're like, it doesn't make a lick of sense.

• 2:36:00Griffin Newman?

  You could do it.

• 2:36:01David Sims?

  But I'm in. Griffin is on the floor. I just wanted to say that for the listener.

• 2:36:07Speaker 04

  How would you, how would you write that out, Ben?

• 2:36:09David Sims?

  I don't know.

• 2:36:09Speaker 04

  For like.

• 2:36:10Griffin Newman?

  The waiter tells.

• 2:36:11David Sims?

  This four waiter. Every time like, hey, can I have a hamburger? And he's like, no, it's.

• 2:36:19Speaker 04

  It's like when there's something like, yeah, when there's something crazy on the menu and you have to be like, can I get the like slap your mama tongue twister, whatever. But it would instead be like, can I get the hamburger fries?

• 2:36:32David Sims?

  Hamburger fries. How do you want that cooked?

• 2:36:38Griffin Newman?

  I do not have the hubris to think that I can predict where Ben is ever going.

• 2:36:43David Sims?

  Truly like, it doesn't make any, what did he just say? It doesn't make any fucking sense.

• 2:36:48Griffin Newman?

  Anytime he is.

• 2:36:51Speaker 04

  No, but there's so many more options we could go with.

• 2:36:53Griffin Newman?

  Anytime he is teeing a bit up, I, I sit back with humility and I go, I'm in his hands. I have no control over this, but God, I was so confident that ba da da da was going to lead into something that starts with a ba or a da.

• 2:37:09Speaker 04

  No, I think.

• 2:37:10Griffin Newman?

  He's, he's surely not just gonna take a different food item and break it into the rhythm of the theme. It'll be like ba ba ba, bolognese or some shit.

• 2:37:19David Sims?

  We can't make the menu too challenging.

• 2:37:21Speaker 04

  No, but I think it's so brilliant because.

• 2:37:23David Sims?

  What are the rules?

• 2:37:24Speaker 04

  No, we can't.

• 2:37:26David Sims?

  All right.

• 2:37:26Speaker 04

  Because you get brilliant because, because the themes are so, uh, recognizable that you could do like, dun dun, dun dun, dun dun dun dun dun dun, chicken tender.

• 2:37:36David Sims?

  Well, that was good. Ben, what do you think? I like it. All right, good. I just, I'm just imagining some like Saudi financier where you're like, I need 800 million dollars for a franchise, you know, across the world.

• 2:37:48Griffin Newman?

  Big Loris, your ears are burning right now.

• 2:37:50David Sims?

  And you're like, hamburger fries. The guy's like, security.

• 2:37:56David Sims?

  Hammering that silent alarm.

• 2:37:58Griffin Newman?

  I texted this to Blank though, but I had an incredible dream recently that the Times Square Planet Hollywood reopened and every floor was a different property. And they were like, and we're doing TV now. And one floor was The Sopranos.

• 2:38:13David Sims?

  Sure.

• 2:38:13Griffin Newman?

  Full circle. But then it was like, here's the spider verse floor. And like, the menus are different, and the theming's crazy. But they weren't singing.

• 2:38:22Speaker 04

  That was, that's the flaw.

• 2:38:23Griffin Newman?

  My brain couldn't think that.

• 2:38:25David Sims?

  Right.

• 2:38:25Griffin Newman?

  That why.

• 2:38:26David Sims?

  Right.

• 2:38:26Griffin Newman?

  Yeah.

• 2:38:27David Sims?

  Yeah. You couldn't turn off the dark?

• 2:38:29Griffin Newman?

  I couldn't turn off the dark. Is that the end of the top ten?

• 2:38:32David Sims?

  Yeah.

• 2:38:33Griffin Newman?

  David, can you just, uh, tell me what the other films in the top five of the year for eighty-four were?

• 2:38:40David Sims?

  Uh.

• 2:38:40Griffin Newman?

  Out of curiosity.

• 2:38:41David Sims?

  Yeah, you had nineteen eighty-four domestic box office, so we have Ghostbusters.

• 2:38:46Griffin Newman?

  Beverly Hills Cop, Indiana Jones at the top.

• 2:38:49David Sims?

  Yeah, and then, um. Fucking box office mojo is missing.

• 2:38:53Griffin Newman?

  I don't know what you're talking about. It's a great website. It works. It works properly.

• 2:38:57David Sims?

  Numbers. Here we go.

• 2:38:58Griffin Newman?

  Okay.

• 2:38:58David Sims?

  Much better. Um, Gremlins is number four.

• 2:39:01Griffin Newman?

  Okay.

• 2:39:01David Sims?

  The only other hundred million grocer of the year.

• 2:39:04Griffin Newman?

  Was Gremlins?

• 2:39:04David Sims?

  Yes.

• 2:39:05Griffin Newman?

  Gremlins ended up at?

• 2:39:06David Sims?

  Uh, a hundred and fifty-one.

• 2:39:08Griffin Newman?

  Yeah, so.

• 2:39:09David Sims?

  That's crazy.

• 2:39:09Griffin Newman?

  It was so big. Yeah.

• 2:39:11David Sims?

  Uh, number five is The Karate Kid.

• 2:39:14Griffin Newman?

  Okay.

• 2:39:14David Sims?

  Number six is. We already mentioned it, and then please get your rejoinder ready, Police Academy.

• 2:39:21Griffin Newman?

  A cap.

• 2:39:23David Sims?

  Number seven is Footloose.

• 2:39:25Griffin Newman?

  Uh huh.

• 2:39:26David Sims?

  Number eight is Star Trek Three: The Search for Spock.

• 2:39:28Griffin Newman?

  Yeah.

• 2:39:28David Sims?

  Spock, not Spot. Spot is under the rug.

• 2:39:31Griffin Newman?

  Uh huh.

• 2:39:31David Sims?

  If I've read Spock, where Spock many, many times.

• 2:39:33Griffin Newman?

  Mm-hmm.

• 2:39:34David Sims?

  Or is he in the basket? Can't remember. Uh, number nine is Romancing the Stone, and number ten is Purple Rain.

• 2:39:41Griffin Newman?

  That's a pretty, that's a pretty fascinating snapshot ten.

• 2:39:43David Sims?

  Yeah, I mean, it's a pretty good year.

• 2:39:45Griffin Newman?

  It is. Yeah.

• 2:39:46David Sims?

  Yeah, I don't know. I mean, it's a lot of movies that got sequelized.

• 2:39:50Griffin Newman?

  I was gonna say, yeah. Every one of those movies is either continuing a franchise or becomes some sort of.

• 2:39:56David Sims?

  Except for Footloose.

• 2:39:57Griffin Newman?

  Footloose gets a remake and a Broadway show.

• 2:39:59David Sims?

  It does.

• 2:39:59Griffin Newman?

  Like it does.

• 2:40:00David Sims?

  Much later.

• 2:40:01Griffin Newman?

  But it becomes a.

• 2:40:02David Sims?

  And Purple Rain gets a sort of quasi-sequel in a weird way.

• 2:40:06Griffin Newman?

  Sure.

• 2:40:06David Sims?

  Not a bad movie.

• 2:40:08Griffin Newman?

  We talked about covering him. Maybe he'll be on March Madness again. At this point, it'll be settled. I think.

• 2:40:13David Sims?

  I think he will be, right?

• 2:40:14Griffin Newman?

  I think he will be.

• 2:40:15David Sims?

  Right? The format we're going for, I think he's in it.

• 2:40:17Griffin Newman?

  The format we're going for, he'll be there. People will know. It's March. It's March.

• 2:40:22David Sims?

  Yay.

• 2:40:23Griffin Newman?

  Olivia.

• 2:40:24Speaker 04

  Yeah.

• 2:40:25Griffin Newman?

  Thank you so much for being here.

• 2:40:25Speaker 04

  Oh, my God, guys. I know.

• 2:40:27David Sims?

  Move back to New York.

• 2:40:28Speaker 04

  I will move back to New York in a year and a half. But in the meantime, if you're blanking and you see me at the Elmwood Rialto in Berkeley, California.

• 2:40:35Griffin Newman?

  Yeah.

• 2:40:36Speaker 04

  Say hi.

• 2:40:37David Sims?

  Oh, please do say, and, and call in any burger reports, please.

• 2:40:41Griffin Newman?

  Please.

• 2:40:41Speaker 04

  True. There aren't a lot of celebs in the East Bay.

• 2:40:44David Sims?

  There's gotta be one or two.

• 2:40:45Griffin Newman?

  Couple trying to hide out.

• 2:40:46Speaker 04

  Actually, Booth Riley lives in Oakland, so I'll probably see him at some point.

• 2:40:49David Sims?

  He's finally working on another movie, right?

• 2:40:50Griffin Newman?

  Yeah. Yeah. Uh, anything you want to plug?

• 2:40:53Speaker 04

  Um, I work at thecut.com.

• 2:40:55Griffin Newman?

  Hell, yeah.

• 2:40:55Speaker 04

  I'm the person who picks the essays. Just kidding. Um.

• 2:40:59Griffin Newman?

  I, I love the.

• 2:41:01David Sims?

  I'm anonymous.

• 2:41:02Griffin Newman?

  I love choosing the essays.

• 2:41:04Speaker 04

  I'm the one who, everyone sends in their essays and I say, this one. No, I.

• 2:41:08Griffin Newman?

  Anytime I read one, I go, well picked.

• 2:41:11Speaker 04

  Uh, I'm in the, I'm blogging every day at The Cut, so you can just type that into your phone and you'll find me. Fab.

• 2:41:19David Sims?

  I gotta go make pasta.

• 2:41:20Speaker 04

  Yeah, I gotta go see a musical.

• 2:41:22David Sims?

  Which one?

• 2:41:23Speaker 04

  Maybe Happy Ending, the Darren Criss one.

• 2:41:25Griffin Newman?

  Hmm.

• 2:41:26David Sims?

  No sense of if that's good or not.

• 2:41:27Speaker 04

  Neither do I, so I'm excited.

• 2:41:29Griffin Newman?

  Pesto pasta?

• 2:41:30David Sims?

  No, I'm making a ragu.

• 2:41:32Griffin Newman?

  That feels, is that a recent shift?

• 2:41:35David Sims?

  I mean, it's not for my daughter. She'll just.

• 2:41:37Griffin Newman?

  It's not for your daughter?

• 2:41:37David Sims?

  No, it's for everyone else. I mean, my daughter will, I'm sure, eat mac and cheese or pesto like she does every single night.

• 2:41:43Griffin Newman?

  Okay, so see, that's why I was guessing pesto because.

• 2:41:44David Sims?

  No, no, it's a fair guess. It's a fair guess.

• 2:41:46Griffin Newman?

  Thank you very much. Thank you all for listening.

• 2:41:47David Sims?

  I have a deck I have to make.

• 2:41:49Griffin Newman?

  You have a deck you have to make?

• 2:41:50David Sims?

  I'm not talking about wanna test your house. I'm talking about a creative deck, baby.

• 2:41:55Griffin Newman?

  For us?

• 2:41:56David Sims?

  They're just walking away.

• 2:41:57Griffin Newman?

  I don't know what's going on. This is kind of a weird, things have taken a Temple of Doom turn.

• 2:42:03Speaker 04

  We gotta get back above ground.

• 2:42:05Griffin Newman?

  We gotta get back above ground.

• 2:42:06David Sims?

  Um, on the Patreon right now?

• 2:42:08Griffin Newman?

  Yes.

• 2:42:09David Sims?

  We just recently did, just yesterday.

• 2:42:12Griffin Newman?

  Hmm, analyze, no, we'll be doing.

• 2:42:14David Sims?

  We are now, we did our second entry in the Star Trek.

• 2:42:19Griffin Newman?

  Yes, The Next Generation.

• 2:42:20David Sims?

  Card era.

• 2:42:22Griffin Newman?

  Mm-hmm.

• 2:42:22Speaker 04

  Fun.

• 2:42:23Griffin Newman?

  But we're including Galaxy Quest with that.

• 2:42:25Speaker 04

  I love that movie.

• 2:42:26Griffin Newman?

  It's a perfect movie, and I just found out that Ben has never seen it. We're gonna get.

• 2:42:29Speaker 04

  You've never seen it?

• 2:42:30Griffin Newman?

  A fresh on like first time watch.

• 2:42:32Speaker 04

  Oh, my God, you're gonna love it.

• 2:42:33Griffin Newman?

  I think it's gonna kind of blow his mind.

• 2:42:34Speaker 04

  Yeah.

• 2:42:35Griffin Newman?

  I told him it, it is one of the perfect movies in my mind.

• 2:42:39Speaker 04

  Alan Rickman is incredible in that movie.

• 2:42:40Griffin Newman?

  The thing is, every time I watch it, I'm like, who's my best supporting actor pick? And it changes every time.

• 2:42:45Speaker 04

  Yeah.

• 2:42:47Speaker 04

  Everyone is good in it.

• 2:42:48Griffin Newman?

  Everyone's great in it. It's incredible. Anyway, look forward to that.

• 2:42:51Speaker 05

  Hell, yeah.

• 2:42:52Griffin Newman?

  In April?

• 2:42:53Speaker 05

  Yeah, that'll be in.

• 2:42:54Griffin Newman?

  April 1st, is that right?

• 2:42:55Speaker 05

  April 21st.

• 2:42:56Griffin Newman?

  Okay, a little later.

• 2:42:57Speaker 05

  Uh, also then, later this month, we'll do a Spielberg bonus episode about the Twilight Zone, the movie, as well as.

• 2:43:08Griffin Newman?

  Only his segment.

• 2:43:09Speaker 05

  Right.

• 2:43:09Griffin Newman?

  But then his two amazing story segments.

• 2:43:11Speaker 05

  Correct.

• 2:43:12Griffin Newman?

  Yes, Spielberg anthologies. Yeah. Uh, and tune in next week for an episode on The Color Purple. A movie.

• 2:43:20Speaker 04

  Probably be just as goofy as this.

• 2:43:22Griffin Newman?

  I was gonna say.

• 2:43:23Speaker 04

  I imagine.

• 2:43:24Griffin Newman?

  And you know what? You're allowed to make that joke, and I'm glad you did. Uh, thank you all. And as always.

• 2:43:32Griffin Newman?

  Bum bum bum bum. Hamburger.

• 2:43:42Speaker 05

  Blank Check with Griffin and David is hosted by Griffin Newman and David Sims. Our executive producer is me, Ben Hostly. Our creative producer is Marie Bardi Salinas, and our associate producer is A.J. McKeon. This show is mixed and edited by A.J. McKeon and Alan Smithy. Research by J.J. Birch. Our theme song is by Lain Montgomery and The Great American Novel, with additional music by Alex Mitchell. Artwork by Joe Bowen, Holly Moss, and Pat Reynolds. Our production assistant is Minnick. Special thanks to David Cho, Jordan Fish, and Nate Patterson for their production help. Head over to BlankCheckPod.com for links to all of the real nerdy shit. Join our Patreon Blank Check Special Features

• 2:44:24Speaker 05

  for exclusive franchise commentaries and bonus episodes. Follow us on social at BlankCheckPod. Subscribe to our weekly newsletter, Checkbook, on Substack. This podcast is created and produced by Blank Check Productions.