A Film at 45 - Dusting Off '78 With Our Top 5!

0:00 Hello everyone, I'm Jeff Johnson, and welcome to a very special episode from a Film by podcast. Following the popularity of our limited series nineteen eighty six, we asked two of the breakout stars to come back and give us something different, and so for the past six months, David Burns and Scott Hoffman have been looking at some of Hollywood's biggest and best movies that are celebrating a forty fifth anniversary this year. They are with me today to deliver their top five films of nineteen seventy eight. Hello everyone, and welcome to another episode of a Film at forty five. Let's get into a show that's dusting off the end of a decade that changed cinema forever with the fresh look at modern classics and hidden gem for we can't stop watching. There are a ton of gentlemen. Thank you for being here today, and actually thank you for what has been a fantastic series on nineteen seventy eight movies. It has been a pleasure. And I cannot believe how fast it went. Scott, I really can't me neither. Yeah, when you said six months, it's like, really, it's only been that long, But it's been that Long's it's been

1:32 crazy. No, I appreciate you giving us a chance to you know, take a run at this and looking back at some of these things we knew we were going to love. There's a bunch that run this list that are that are automatic favorites, but there are a bunch that we were discovering, you know, either for the first time or kind of with fresh eyes. And I think it's the right time to do it. I think there are a lot of people that are going to be looking for these movies. Um kind of struck by how long ago it actually was that they came out, in the fact we're still talking about them, right, And I hope a lot of people got enjoyment out of this, because I tell you, not only was it fun to do it with you, Scott, but um, I did not realize how much of an impact a lot of these movies in nineteen seventy eight had on everything that I have seen since after that. So, right, you know, I got something out of it as well, just going back and diving into these older films. So it was a fun time. Yeah. Yeah, it was also a little surprising how how little of nineteen seventy eight there actually was in these movies. I was expecting a lot more to like, you know, big hair and billbottoms and whatnot.

2:30 A lot of time machines is this year. So we did go back to the fifties a lot. Yeah, a little bit, A little bit. Yeah, well, you guys just should go back to the fifties. I mean, you went, you went on location to do an episode. You were you were at the House of Plastic, uh vintage toy store, and you had some some pretty uh, pretty awesome guests. I mean, let's let's take a few minutes just to just to talk about some of them. Um, and with Jerome. You know, you guys had a fantastic episode there at the House of Plastic talking about you know, talking about Paranha. Yeah, it's always a fun time to talk to Jerome. It's even better time when you get to visit his store and get to look at all the goodies that he has there. But you know, he always brings it when he comes to our podcast and talks about it. And that was a really good time because I knew when we were talking about doing seventy eight and we were talking about putting Paranha in there. Right away, I say you know what, Jerome's gonna be a perfect guest for this, and he sure was.

3:34 Yeah, he definitely was, especially when you think about the connection that he had to that movie and what it meant to him personally. I think that's one of the cool things that we kind of uncovered with some of these is you know, you might remember from seeing one, you know, late night or when I first came out or whatever, but there are also a lot of connections that people have to these things. And it is cool to hear that from from Jerome And absolutely one of the best places to shoot on location in the middle of Cincinnati's best shop for collectibles and toys to take you back m you know, being there and just being surrounded by all that memorabilia and all those kind of things. For something like this where we're just geeking out on pop culture, that's absolutely where you want to be. And he was one of the one of the one of my favorite, one of my favorite guests. And we've been lucky to have some amazing guests on this podcast.

4:27 Yeah, I would have been full of them. I want to talk about another another amazing guest. It's it's when you're talking about a film that is iconic for its character as much as as it is it's music. I cannot think of a better person for you guys to talk to. Um then composer and uh and horror model Chad Cochrane. You guys had him on Halloween of all movies that was that was a spectacular episode. I love that one. Yeah, Chad always brings it to when he talks about horror movies. I loved his insight on not just for the fact that you know, he got went to school, you know, to start learning filmmaking, and then his realization that when he was there that he actually appreciated and loved the music more. Uh, you know, which is saying a lot, because he loves making movies. And you know his talk about the difference between Jason and Michael, you know, in their mannerisms and stuff like that. And he performs extremely well when he does our photo films. But yeah, he was a great guest. I knew he would be bring it when he came on.

5:31 Yeah, and I mean, you know, talk about kind of having an influence and an impact. You know, this is one where you see personally how it influences somebody that not only loves the movie, but gets into the nuances of it, the intricacies of it to really analyze it. But looking at it fresh and knowing that it never gets stale for for Chad or for people like us. And then you go even further and you get some perspective from inside the suit, you know, um, having been that horror model as Michael being able to say, like you know, um, kind of give his perspective on what it means to kind of emulate what was happening there on the original movie. UM, and uh, how it has an impact on on what he does. So that was That was a great poll.

6:24 I'm glad we got it in yep, me too. I want to talk about two other guys here, So you had to you had to go to when when when we're talking about the mother of all college comedies, you had to go to the number one fan for for Animal House. I'm talking about Dayton Johnson from the Docking Base seventy seven podcast. Again, fantastic episode, a lot of fun. Uh, talking about a film I I hadn't seen in probably thirty years, and I you know, just hearing hearing Dayton, hearing you guys talk about that one, I couldn't wait to pull that one up and uh and give it another watch. It's always a good time to talk to Dayton. Uh. You know, I was enjoying my time on docu Base seventy seven when we're breaking down movies and stuff like that together.

7:12 But to get to him to join us on a film at forty five to talk about Animal House was just it had to be done. You know, we all knew the love that Dayton had for that film, so clearly he was gonna be the one that was gonna, you know, guess with us. But you know, just getting to talk to him about a film that, just like you said, Jeff, that I have not seen in an extremely long time. You know, sometimes when you haven't seen him in twenty fifteen, thirty, you know, thirty years, whatever, they're almost like new to you again, you know, they're like fresh. And getting to see those and those those new set of eyes again with somebody who loves the movie so much was just an absolute blast. Yeah. I mean, for for a movie that is as much about the film as it is about the soundtrack, Dayton is absolutely who you want to talk to. It's always a blast joining him for for Doctor Bay seventy seven, but also just listening to the episodes that he has where he gets into the different albums and movies and how they kind of come together. For for me, a movie like Animal House is something where, um, I'm I'm more familiar with it in clips than I am the entire movie, you know what I mean. There's so many iconicum scenes that you just automatically know, and for anybody who's never seen it, it's almost like you've you've practically seen the movie because it's so much into the pop culture today. But um, to talk about that with him and um and and how much he loves that movie that was that was a big treat. Dave. You just you you just mentioned, uh,

8:46 seeing seeing things new again, UM, one that I thought was great because you guys, this wasn't seeing it new again for you, this was seeing it new for the first time. You guys had a chance to talk with Jason Colvin from the Sureley You Can't Be Serious podcast on one of his favorite films of nineteen seventy eight. Um, uh the Mystery, the comedy Mystery foul Play. That that was all again just hearing you know, Jason's been on the show several times. You guys were always like, we never get to talk to Jason, and we finally got got that opportunity to get the three of you together again. Another another great episode. Fun to hear the three of you interact for the first time, you know it. Uh, you're right. I told Jason I believe during the podcast. You know, it's about time that we get some Jason time in talking to him during the podcast to foul play. But what what not better way film and better film than to explore with him than foul Play? Um, you're right. The first time I've seen this movie. Um, I knew about it, but I never watched it. So getting to see it for the first time in talking to Jason about it just, uh, you know, it opened minds on how good that movie was. I laughed so much in that movie and it kind of like, I can't believe I haven't seen this until now.

10:05 It's almost embarrassing, you know, and the love that Jason has for it. It was nice to explore it. But yeah, what a great time with Jason Scott. I'm just wondering, because it's been it's been about a month now, is the Barry Manilow song still stuck in your head like it is mine. Oh yeah, yeah, for sure, it's rolling around in my head right now. I was ready to take a chance again with that movie. Yeah. I mean, you know, absolute aunitor to be on with with Jason, because surely you can't be serious. Podcast to me is one of the podcasts that I look up to as one of those gold standards of you know, how to do a podcast extremely well. And you know, knowing that he's a friend of ours, a friend of the podcast, getting to talk to him for the first time was absolutely a highlight. He definitely brings the background that in FO I'm always amazed at how well Jason and d get into the u to everything that they cover, from music to movies.

11:07 It's a pop culture theme songs. Those episodes blew me away. But yeah, getting into foul play, you know again, you know, it's one that wasn't near and dear to me, but hearing somebody talk from that perspective and kind of share what they mean, what it means to them, but also to you know, get into some of these places where we were kind of discovering some artists on there for the first time. It was such a young chevy. It's such a young Goldie Hawn in that movie. It was It was great to get into that um. It definitely was a murder mystery comedy that had a lot of twists and turns um and it was really cool to explore with them, and it was definitely far out. I know, I know our listeners are anxious to hear about these the that's the five films that you guys are gonna say are the best of nineteen seventy eight.

12:05 But one last guest that I'd like to bring up, Uh, you guys had a super time talking with with uh, not only the one and only Aaron Smolinsky, who just happened to be in Superman the movie. You know, that's an experience I never thought I would get. U You know, if I could go back and tell my like young self, that Hey, you're gonna get to talk to somebody who is in this movie, I would just blew my mind as a kid, And it blew my mind too as an adult that I get to, you know, talk to somebody who actually was in the Superman movie. What an experience that was. What a treat it was to talk to Aaron about his experience working on that movie. And you know, in talking about his career. But one of the things that he mentioned that just gave me chills was when he was talking about he got the see Christopher Reeve fly. That just gave me chosen. He's good, me chosen now, you know, just just talking about that and hearing what he had to say about that, just my goodness, just it makes me giddy. Yeah, yeah, Dave, this is one of those telepathic moments when you read my mind. Man, Um, wait, can you read my mind? Interesting? But yeah, no, I was. I was thinking of the exact same thing. You know. Um, we were.

13:26 We were honored by two surprise guests thanks to Jeff. We had that lovely interro from Valerie Bryan m that the Jeff spoke about earlier in the podcast. If you haven't caught that episode, please check that out. But somebody who grew up with a direct personal experience with Superman, you know you mentioned that that scene, you know, um, being right there in the moment when he literally sees Christopher Reeve take off and fly, and you know, he knows about the rig, he knows how it happens, but to be there in that moment and to see what he but Christopher, he put into that is unforgettable. And he had so many great experiences talking about his connection to the legacy of Superman for when he was baby kellel to the more recent experience with a Man of Steel and his own projects that he's working on where he's stepping into the shoes of Alex Luthor. He was amazing to speak with.

14:31 I'm so happy we got that time. I feel like I could have talked to him for hours about that kind of stuff. But yeah, he was. He was amazing. So thank you for joining us therein all right, well, I think it's time to find out what are the top five for you guys when it comes to nineteen seventy eight. Now you both, you know, are unaware of your picks. You know you know each other's picks. I gotta be honest. At first, I was surprised to see how different your list were, and then and then I wasn't surprised because I started thinking about all the great films in this in this year and all the great ones that you covered, And then it became a situation of man, how do you leave that one off? Or how do you how do you not talk about that one? And you know, so um, where where there are some obvious uh similarities towards the top of the list. Um, you guys definitely took different paths getting there. So let's start off with your number five picks. Okay, uh, we're because we're talking about a ragtag group of soldiers and a rock and roll biopick. So Scott, let's talk about your number five the Buddy Holly story. Yeah. So um, for me, I went back to the beginning of this, you know, thinking about

16:03 movies that I probably never would have picked up off the shelf. Working at Suncoast, I saw Gary Busey like staring at me with his you know, guitar in hand and kind of that that cock eyed look. But it's never it's never one that I pulled. And then once I saw this, I was amazed at how good the movie actually was as a movie. I think it was very well done. You get the acting, the directing, the soundtrack obviously is something that's pretty iconic. But then learning more about Buddy Holly's life pretty early in our in our review of all these movies, this is one that I went back to a couple of times, not to just kind of refresh my memory and get ready for the show, but because I wanted to see it a couple of times and it had me looking more into Buddy Holly's life and more of his music. So as far as an impact that I had on me, this is one that I felt like deserved to be in the in the top five slot. Dave your number five pick. This was the last episode, this was the last movie that you guys covered, So I'm not sure. I'll just ask because I'm sure I know the answer.

17:17 But is it just it was it freshen your head? Or is it that fourced ten from Navarone is just that good to be in the top five. To me, it deserves to be in the top five because well, you know my love of history, so you know, it's not surprised that I've got a historical film that's going to be in my top five. But this incredible cast that you got in this movie, and not only that, but I got I finally got to see the what what they saw in Harrison Ford to become Indiana Jones. There's so many connections to this movie that you will see later on, actors and stuff like that. He would pop up in Indiana Jones later on. But I got to see Harrison Ford in something else in his younger days, that's not Star Wars, that's not any and A Jones, And I got to see, you know, I got to see him in a in a role that you know, I didn't expect, you know, Like I said in the podcast, I you know, I remember to hit them bits of this, but I didn't remember a lot of it. So going back and getting to see it again, you know, really refreshed that in my mind. But um, you know, Carl Weathers, you know, I don't remember much of him from the movie, but seeing that again and getting getting to see how good he was in that film, you know, watching the scene that where he was at the truck and he you know, they were in a hurry but he didn't want to leave.

18:33 That scene really stuck with me, you know, in his performance, in his acting. Again. I know he's coming off a rocky of his success, but this isn't another movie that I never really remember seeing him in, So on top of the rest of the cast, it was just a very phenomenal experience to see again was a fresh in my mind when I went through the top five. Sure, maybe, but looking at it all, the whole thing as a big picture. Now it deserves me in the top five. Well, let's talk about your number four picks. Now, you guys could not have gone uh, you could not have gone further away from each other on genre here, which I'm glad to hear, by the way, because Dave, I gotta say, like, when I was honestly putting this list together, I was like, oh, but is he going to pick this one? We're always talking about all this ye. So, so Scott picks a Scott picks a remake of a of a classic classic sci fi horror film, and uh, and Dave goes back to campus. So Scott, let's talk about Invasion of the Body Snatchers. Yeah, this is This is one of the first ones that I watched for the show, um, you know, before, way before we even covered it. Once I saw it was available, I had to check it out. And this one blew me away. Like as far as being something that um was surprising, captivating, fresh, um, the the special effects and the acting and the tension, um it was it was so well done. Um. Whenever I think

20:07 about this series, this is always one of the standouts to me because it still creeps me out, just kind of thinking about especially the scene with Donald settling on the patio and he's seeing, you know, his own pod and old other kind of stuff. It was. It was done so well. Um that this is one where you know, if anybody's going to ask about, what are something that I should see, what are something that kind of stand out? Um, this is one that I that I highly recommend pretty early and often, especially because I know that some of these other movies that we've covered are very very iconic and a lot of people know them, things like Grease and Superman and things like that. But this is one where you know, again kind of like Buddy Holly. It was always kind of looking at me from the shelf, but I've never gone to pick it up, and I'm glad we did because it was it was one of the best in my opinion. Well to that, I would ask you this, Scott, this because Invasion of the Body Snatchers has been done four times. We had the original in the fifties, we had this one in seventy eight, you get another one in the nineties, and then late two thousand or what two thousand and six, two thousand and seven, we get one. Where does this one rank as far as the four of them. Is this at the top of the list for you or is it? Yeah, I'd say this is the top of the list. You know, you would think that more recent iterations would be would kind of knock it out of its top spot with you know, advancements in special effects and obviously people kind of learning from it

21:42 and kind of building on it. But this is one of those where it feels like it never really it kind of builds on where they are going with the original, but it doesn't necessarily replace it. Even with the you know, you would think it would be so dated that it would be so easy to see the wires and all this other kind of stuff that it would be laughable, But absolutely not the case. I think it's one of the ones that has the best heart and the best you know, standing quality of those visual effects for this one. So yeah, for me, it's always the one from seventy eight, Dave who put all the Phizzies in the swimming pool good Bye Animal House, Dave. That's right. This has to be my top five just for what it did to the comedy genre to you know, college, those kind of things. The experience I have with you know, talking to Dayton about it. But you know John Belushi and himself, you know what he brought to that movie. And you know, mentioning in that podcast I talk about I wish he got to live, you know, longer, because you know, I really think that if they had done a biopic on Abbott and Costello that obviously he would have been in that, and he probably would have been nominated for an Academy Award for being in that, because you know, I never really I didn't realize that until I watched his performance again in Animal House and preparing for the podcast. But you know, so much, so many one liners in that movie, so many scenes in that

23:15 movie. You just remember that. You know, I was just thinking about him. You're just gonna start giggling and laughing again, you know. You know I would revisit some of those scenes on YouTube, and I have since we watched and we did that podcast, I've pulled him up on YouTube and watch some of those scenes again. And because you can watch them over and over and over and it never wears itself out. You know, again, another Donald Sutherland movie, since we were just talking about that with Scott, but um, you know, so many good actors came from that movie. You know, Kevin Bacon getting you know, his role going on. Let's talk about Karen Allen again. I'm gonna back to any Inna Jones. It seems like we keep wrapping back around to that because you know, getting to see her in her underties, and you obviously could see marying in her. But just such a great comedy that Again, if listen, if you've not seen this movie, please go back and watch it. You are going to have a good time. You're going to laugh, and it definitely deserve to be my top five. Yeah, and I think there's a lot of great behind the scenes things that take you back to that, right, Like you were mentioning John Blushi's performance, the amount of ad living that he did with this, and you know what we talked about with them saying like no, no, no, just keep the cameras rolling. Le's see what he does.

24:21 Let's see where he goes with them build up to the food fight scene. That makes it so much more interesting just to think about, like that's not him and you know rehearsed form or anything else like that. That's just you know, pure comedic focus and it was just it was great. That's one of those where it's you know, if you have a chance to go out and watch the movie, if it's one that you've seen again, get into some of the behind the scenes things, right, get into the commentary kind of track, and listen to some of the things that they say about it. It gives you a whole new way to see it and revisit it. Well, if we didn't have Anyone House and we didn't have John Blushan, that we wouldn't we got to the Blue Brothers, right, You've got to think the things that it came out of that we wouldn't have gotten if we didn't have that movie right, Right, And you mentioned Karen Allen being so much of an iconic part of Indiana and Jones but in her own rate, being such a great actress and getting you know, getting more of Karen Allen is that's always a good idea. I gotta agree with that. All Right, let's talk about your number three picks, because you guys have been you know, starkly different here. But here's where you guys start to start to get on the same path because you're both heading to the water, just different bodies of water. Because Scott, let's talk about Piranha for a second.

25:45 Yeah, so aside from what we already mentioned with having great guests, and this was kind of a tough list to put together because at first I was like, all right, I'll just gonna pick all the ones at head guests because we had fantastic guests. Um. But you know, and Paranha is definitely in that camp. But this is another one that surprised me. Um. You know, when we thought about talking about Piranha, it seemed like one where I was going to be like, all right, this is probably going to be you know, a little bit more of a B movie, kind of a Corman kind of romp that that's not really going to do much, and honestly it let's do it. But it's so much fun. It says like relax, have a cheeseburger from time to time, you know.

26:27 Um. But the sound designed, the sound effects, the you know that ending sting where it's kind of like looking directly at the camera kind of kind of a cheese moment. But we got that tin of little bonus, um, a little bit of Dante magic with some you know, some Ray Harry House inm of getting in there with that sneaky little creature that was kind of going through um being able to talk about that kind of stuff. And aside from the movie itself, just the conversation with Jerome was so much fun and talking about his genuine fear of the water because of this movie. And you know, Jeff, you talked about like having that soundtrack in your in your head whenever I talk about Paranha, I can't help but hear that like nibbling noise the yeah, exactly. Yeah, So yeah, I was.

27:18 I was surprised that this is going to be in the top five, knocking out some of the other powerhouses that we talked about this year, but I think it deserves a spot. I wanted to cue the underdogs up a little. Well, Dave, what about you, well, Dave, feeling where you're going? Yea, yeah. If if Piranha wasn't enough to keep you out of the water in nineteen seventy eight, I'm pretty sure Dave's number three pick was Dave, let's talk about Jaws too. Oh yeah, So, you know, making a sequel to something as big as Jaws was with Steven Spielberg was probably not going to live up to it. But to me, I have so many fond memories of this movie. When I was a kid of watching this and just loving this movie. I thought it was an incredible follow up to the original Jaws. You know, getting a Roy Schier to come back. I know he didn't want to do it, but he was contract to do it and so he was kind of forced into it. I thought he did a fantastic job in this movie. But you know, the camera work that was in this movie. We get the continuation score from John Williams where he gets to explore that score more just added so much more depth to what I already knew from the original Jaws. And again, I know you're not going to top the original, but you know this this was a fun film. You know, we get to when they go out on the boats and they go way out and you know, and Roy had to go after go after him and after his kids. You know, it's just was just a fun time on the water. And again I'll go back to talking about the camera work that we got. You know, some of it was

28:52 very Spielberg esque, even though he wasn't involved with it. You know, you still got that camera where you're just floating on the water, just so smooth, just calling the Shark, and we get the different types of camera work too weird Today, you know, you get a lot of CGI, and you get a lot of stuff on the sets and studios and stuff like that. You don't actually get to go actually out on location where you have to compete with you know, the weather. You got to compete with the water. And that's what they did with Joss too. You know, they were filming on the actual ocean, so they had to come up with unique waves to get the camera work that they needed done. And I thought they it was great and you know, again, you're right, I don't want to go back in that water after another experience with the shark, come on now. So yes, that's my number three. Well, I love the fact that we both picked, you know, these movies that both I think had an impact on what followed with that aquatic genre, the aquatic monster genre.

29:47 And um, I think we had said it in Piranha. There was kind of that endorsement, wasn't there from Spielberg? All the dark off that you know, I get this one a stamp of approval. Both of these kept that going. Well, I started with Jaws, and I think it's it's cool that we both picked this for the number three at the same time. That's a good touch. All right, guys, there's just two films to talk about at this point because you both we're in sync on your number two pick and your number one picks. Um. But there are some huge movies, uh still still out there that that that could make it. So I wasn't surprised. Some of the our listeners might be surprised. We're gonna find out because the number two overall pick for for a film at forty five is all about the night he came home. That's right, you know, Scott, I struggled with putting one, and you know, even Jeff when I sent my top five, Jeff, I'm kind of surprised on what you pick for your number one, and I'm like, well, you know, I struggled with it. I really did, because I wanted Halloween to be there. But you know, they're more thought about it, and we'll talk about Inner one little bit later. But you know, Halloween means so much to me. You know, we had obviously we had another great guest with Chad, but you know, this is one of those movies It has just

31:18 set in with me and has become my favorite horror franchise of all times. And every time, you know, we get into that season with Halloween, my brain immediately goes to Michael Myers. It immediately goes to John Carpenter and what he did and what he gave us, because I mean, let's be honest here, you know, you can say this is what the film that truly started the slasher franchise. So you know, it gave birth to Friday the thirteenth, It gave birth to Nightmare I'm Straight, and on and on and on. So so much came out of this movie. But what I love about this film, and what I love about independent films, is the filmmakers work harder and you have two or three you have one person to wing two or three jobs. And I mean even Deborah Hill and John Carpenter, you know, we're doing other things on this movie because they had to because of the budget. It forced them to be creative. It forced them to give us something that became such an amazing experience that it's hard to capture that again. You know, when it comes to the lighting stuff, because they didn't have the budget for lighting, so they dimly lit a lot of those scenes. But they were in it came off so incredibly well. You know, I'll talk about when Michael came out of the shadows there to stab Laurie Strode for the first time and she falls down the steps. Just that little nod of the dimmer switch where you just see his face the mask come out of the shadows was just incredible and a lot of movies lose that today.

32:45 So that's why this movie was such an experience. And you know, I love it so much. Again, I could talk about this for hours, an hour and hours about this movie because it's just so fantastic. And of course John Carpenter's score, you have to talk about that as well, and that's why I made this my number two. Yeah. No, I mean, you know, speaking of something that has a lasting impact, this absolutely does. For everything you already mentioned. And knowing that this was an Indian movie, you know, we've talked from time to time about you know, great effects aren't necessarily hiding the wires as much as they're you know, making you not care about the wires that you can see. I think a lot of the effects hold up very well because they did care so much about hiding the you know, how they're doing the effects and making it so that it's not so necessarily apparent how that's done, but you can see how much care they put into it because of the limited technology they had at the time, limited budget they had at a time. So for something like this that still holds up as the best of the entire franchise that has lasted for a long time, speaking of something that has had so many iterations that have followed, and not to disparage the rest of those, they've all done very well, but knowing that this first original still stands the test of time speaks to how well it was done in every element of it. So looking at all the heavy hitters we had with this, to rank an independent movie so highly is

34:21 says a lot about the impact, and it says a lot about the influence of people who believed that they could do the same thing or similar at least try to but knowing that it was possible to do so independently, and probably inspiring people like Chad to say like, all right, well, I want to pursue composition with this. I want to pursue different aspects of filmmaking or acting with this, and continuing to go back to the original. I think one of the great things about being able to do a show like this is being able to get into the behind the scenes. I mean, there's tons of places where you can find facts and and things like that, but to kind of take a deep dive and have a chat about it between you know, two people that love movies so much. It's it's it's part of what I love about being able to do this kind of thing is learning new things about something that you feel like you've seen so many times and read about so many times. You probably know it up and down on sideways, but there's always something new, And I think that's one of the great aspects of you know, going back to a movie that we've been watching for forty five years, is to say, there probably is something new that I could figure out, something else that I could learn, or something else that I want to kind of experience with this movie. This absolutely deserves to be in one of the top two because there's so much to learn about it, so many commentary tracks and whatnot. You could easily get a fresh look with any of those

35:51 kind of things just by taking a couple of hours and stepping back into it. So yeah, I was I was surprised. I was wondered about this, Dave, because I was like, oh man, I'm pretty sure his top number one is gonna be Halloween, but I'm not surprised that it's in our top two absolutely spot yet. Well, listeners, there's only one more film to talk about on this top five list. But before we do that, I'm going to pose a question to UH, to the two of you, because when we when we started this series, there were there were a couple of movies you guys were just chomping at the bit to talk about, and then there were some movies you were You guys were like, what is that? What? What's it called? So Dave will start with you of the films that you watched for this series, UH, specifically the ones that you had not seen before, which one surprised you the most as far as something that you thought, Wow, how how did I go forty five years without ever seeing this movie? Um? I think Jason Colvin's gonna be very proud of me when I provide this answer. It was clearly it was clearly foul play. That one caught me by surprise when I had never seen it before. And like I said, I was embarrassed. I hadn't after I watched it, because I was like, man, this was actually really funny.

37:10 I did not know it was Dudley Moore's first American film, so seeing his scenes and again I'll say it, I was crying. I was laughing so hard at his scenes. And you know, that one stood out the most to me for sure. Okay, Scott, any anyone take you by surprise? I think the one that took me by surprise is probably going to be forced ten just because that's one that I knew who was in it, and I was I'll go back to that phrase. It never really jumped off the shelf for me because I had not heard that much about it. Because it didn't get much pressed and very much play. They kind of felt like, well, it's gonna be maybe not a great movie, right, because you never really hear about it. So maybe that's why I've never really you know, seeing it all the way through, or I've never really kind of paid attention to it. But once I did, I was like, wow, I want to watch this a couple of times. Um, you know obviously, um, you know there's a more of a want to do that with um, you know, Harrison Ford and with you know, with Indiana Jones and and all that popularity sparkling backup, and with Carl Weathers and the Mandalorian and you know, obviously seeing how much of the Creed franchise is kind of taking its own life or taking on a life of its own. Um, you know, that's when where you can see you know, absolutely these these actors had a lasting impact. But you know, knowing that this is something that kind of broke a mold for the both of them that I think

38:43 had already been cast. And it's not a bad mold to have, like um being you know, Apollo Creed or Han Solo. You're you're doing all right if if if you keep doing that for a while. Um, but Dave, like you said, you know, seeing them m kind of branch out and become more than what it seemed like they might be typecast into being, but knowing that they could still hold onto those iconic roles, that was one where I was I was very glad to discover it. And it's one that I absolutely want people to go and check out if they haven't had a chance, because I think it deserves it. I think it got kind of an unfair shake when it first came out and it doesn't get much pressed.

39:29 I think because it didn't perform very well at the box office. It has this misconception of not being a good movie, and it is. Obviously it has some things that could probably be refined. But you know, if you're if you're a fan of Apolocret, if you're a fan of Indiana Jones for more than just Harrison Ford and obviously you know Robert Shaw and all the rest of the great cast, especially since this is the Robit Shaw's last movie, I'm glad we got to cover it and I'm glad we dusted it off. Well, let's talk about the number one pick, you guys. In nineteen seventy eight, there was one movie that made us believe a man could fly. Yeah, the Five Deadly Venoms. Superman, Scott, come on, Superman, Yeah, yeah, absolutely, Superman. You know, obviously this is always going to be my number one, even just looking at the list, right, Jeff, and I'm sure you knew this. This is one where I was like, well, I think we're definitely gonna have Jeff on as a guest on this because he's gonna want to talk for days and days.

40:35 But you know, yeah, let's go back to the guests, getting an unforgettable intro from Valerie, getting some amazing time with Aaron. We've already talked a little bit about the guests, but I'll get back into it again. To have the opportunity to talk to somebody who grew up with Kalel and had so much experience with you know, the different iterations, but you know, being there from the beginning and getting that inside look at a movie that I've seen so many times. I could probably, you know, just ride off the dialogue from I could just ride off the dialogue from cover to cover and Jeff, you know, this is one that's near and dear to your heart, Dave, and that one that's close to YouTube. But you know, to be able to have that that guest insight was absolutely unforgettable. And you know, I'll go back to effects. You're you're not looking for how they did it. You're not distracted by the technology of nineteen seventy eight.

41:37 It's seamless. It definitely holds up. And you know, getting into one of those scenes that Aaron talked about with seeing him take off in person and him selling that, Christopher selling that with how he took off and what he put into how he held his arms in his hands with a pilot's mentality, right, knowing that that is what went into helping us believe that a man could fly. It's not just you know, special green screen effects or wires or anything else like that. It's his own belief in that character. Aaron talking about how much you know as a as an actor, how much Chris really embodied not only Clark but Kalel and the differences between those characters. I think it's one of the most important aspects of the characters that that absolutely sets the bar for for every person that's stepped into the Cape since then. I've mentioned, you know, Superman and Lois. I think is a really surprising show where they've had a great balance of Clark and Kalel, and I don't think we'd have that without Christopher Reeve so to be able to get into that.

42:58 And that's just one actor among you know, Gene Hackman, Marlon Brando, you know all these big names that rounded out the rest of the cast. Ned Beatty, Valerie Parryn, you know everybody that made that such a such an iconic movie. And I think it's one where if anybody is introducing somebody to the Superman character. It's absolutely one that continued to go back to even forty five years later, and you can see that in every every version of Superman that's ever been made. So for this to be the first big splash, if there's a big breakout that that really happened, I think it's one that there's no way there could be anything else in that number one spot for me. Dabled about you, Yeah, So, I mean we talk about our our top two, all the movies that we talked about, and soon he had an impact on Hollywood over the years, but clearly our top two or the two that I feel had the biggest impact on changing Hollywood.

44:02 Superman can really truly be said to be the father of hero films. It is the one who created you know what we have today. I mean, people who love Marvel, people who love all the DC movies you know, really owe it to Richard Donner and Christopher Reeve and all everyone else he was involved with this movie, to Superman because the success of this movie, because let's be honest there, Hollywood hadn't seen a film like this yet, and the risk the studios was taking, the producers were taking, you know, to get a guy named Christopher Reeve to you know, allow Richard Donner to make this film and in such a big budget way. You know, they took a risk and it was very, very successful, and it showed Hollywood, hey, what else do we have out there? And eventually, you know, we would get that. But you know, Christopher Reeve and himself was just phenomenal in this role. No one's ever going to top him, and no one ever should try. You know, he is the definitive Superman in my eyes and always will be. John Williams score would match Christopher Reeve in being Superman because his music would become the definitive superhero music. You know.

45:14 In talking in Documents seventy seven's top seven scores, John Williams was my third favorite score because it has to be. You know, when you when you make a score that literally says the title in it, without saying the title, you just hear it in the notes of the music, just goes to show you how powerful that score really is. And when you think of this movie, your brain immediately goes to that music to show you how powerful that actually is. But yeah, just to uh, you know, copy what you're saying about you know, having Aaron and the intro by Valerie just topped this movie for me and this experience being a little kid when I saw this movie. I mean, come on, Jeff, I know you were Scott, I know you when we were little kids. We were trying to fly around in our backyards and flying around in our house, you know, try to copy Christopher Reeve, you know, because he had set that impact on us. Beginning to have this experience again with this movie, you know, when I was forty nine going on fifty years old, made me feel like a little kid again, and it made me how much I realized I love this movie and it had to be my number one. It was a struggle. Like I said earlier, you know, I wanted Halloween to be number one so much. But when I really look at both of them in depth, Superman has to take the crown just because of everything it has going for it, everything it still has going for it. No one's ever going to capture that movie again ever. Yeah, and David, I'm not surprised that you talk about music, and I'm glad you did because John Williams theme on that. I mean, it's it's I think for me, you know,

46:49 a lot of this movie is not only you know, believing that a man could fly, but of believing that that you can kind of take on the qualities of this person who is known as a hero. UM. And this, you know, it's it's so much about the person in the suit. It's not just about the suit, but who that person is and the choices they make and the things that they do. So when you combine that with such a powerful score. UM, you know, if you're if you're like me, when you hear that theme, it gives you a sense of resolve. It gives you a sense of, you know, feeling powerful and not you know, the ability to you know, leave buildings or anything else like that, but to do more than you think you can. And UM.

47:38 For for us to to get that in our lifetime is um is amazing. And UM to have something that continues to generate that feeling UM is is just unforgettable. And yeah, when when you combine all those aspects, this is absolutely one where you know, you've probably seen it. I'm sure that everybody has seen this, you know, once or twice. But again it's one that deserves another look, but it also deserves a closer look. There's tons of documentaries out there, there's tons of you know, we got so much inside information from Aaron, especially talking about how he would that Chris would just sit down with everybody else and have lunch because he wanted to be, you know, close to people, and he wasn't like, I'm not going to get on some kind of pedestal just because of the Cape. I'm going to be who I am. I'm going to be Clark right and and spending time with the cast. You know, when you hear things like that and then you watch the movie again, it gives you a whole different aspect.

48:45 And that's one of the greatest things about looking back at these kind of things is knowing a little bit more about what went into it gives you the chance to think a little bit more about what it means to you personally. Yep, um, and I mean so much more than me after having this, uh, this this chance in this experience absolutely animals. So Jeff, thank you for setting all that up. Well, you are welcome, and uh, guys, fantastic options for your top five of nineteen seventy eight. Um, let's talk about what you guys are you know, what you're currently working on now? Because you just you just started a fun little, uh, fun little venture, right we did. You're you're you've gone uh, you're you're going beyond you might say, you might bold You're you're boldly going where no podcast has gone before. Right, that's right, We're going to space the Final Frontier. Right, yeah, exactly. No. We we are visiting Strange New Worlds season two with the podcast Strange New Wednesdays, So we hope that you're joining us, uh and listening to our talk about out the previous week's episode where Scott, Wayne and I are breaking down what we like about the episodes, what we enjoyed, and uh, you know, get to talk about what we love you know, Star Trek yep, yep.

50:12 We're timing it right in that sweet spot so we can take you back to where we were in the last episode and talk a little bit about what's coming up in the next one. So, um, if that, if that's your cup of tea, go ahead and join us for that. And you know, if you're somebody who has never gotten into Star Trek before, this is absolutely a great way to give it a shot. Strange New Worlds is doing a fantastic job keeping the franchise alive and it's it's definitely something that has something for everybody. Absolutely I would agree to that. So I got one more, one more question for you guys before I let you go, and I'm gonna I'm gonna quote Scott Hoffman. Here something something we've heard. We've heard every with every episode. You know, you guys, Scott, you've always talked about in your in your intro, you've always talked about how you guys are dusting off the end of a decade that changed cinema forever with a fresh look at modern classics and hidden gems. We can't stop watching even forty five years later. I love that you say that's Scott. And then you know, I don't love that the series has has come to a close.

51:28 And then it dawned on me. You know, we talk about the end of a decade, and there's still one more year in the nineteen seventies. So I'm gonna go, I'm gonna put you guys on the spot and just ask, like, any any chance you might come back and do do another one? Yeah? Yeah, I think you know there's there's one or two big ones there in nineteen seventy nine, just a couple. I think you just a few yeah, I mean you know it's yeah. I say, let's do it. Let's do it. Let's do one more year until our film reels start rolling again. In nineteen seventy nine. Go out, watch something new, watch something different, and who knows what you will discover next.