Amy Heckerling - Johnny Dangerously

0:00 Hey, everybody. We hope you have been enjoying our recent content as we celebrate Women's History Month. We're on the road this week, so we are bringing one of our favorite episodes out of the vault for you for a few reasons. Not only is this one of Amy Hackerling's most underrated comedies, Johnny Dangerously also happens to be celebrating its fortieth anniversary this year. It's a great film. It is currently streaming on Max, So check it out, then check out this episode and come back because we've got more in store. Brad. It is March. We're kicking off Women's History Month now, so I think it's it's only fitting that we talk about a certain kind of film, right, Yes, so let's talk about your testicles and you. No, that's that is That is not the document and I want to discuss but close.

1:03 No, actually, I want to talk about a film by Amy Heckerling, her nineteen eighty four gangster parody Johnny Dangerously. Hello, all you bastitches, and welcome back to the Film by podcast. I am Jeff Johnson and with me today is Fargain Brad Kozo. Brad, how are you you at school? I am doing great. Happy to talk about this film, Yeah, happy to talk. Yeah, it's March. Happy talk about arguably one of the better female directors. What are the funnier ones, right, Amy Heckerling. Yeah, I'd say definitely one of the most well known late eighties nineties women's directors, commercially successful. Yeah, and definitely the reason why we have some of the greatest eighties comedies, one of the greatest eighties comedies as far as I'm concerned. And I think also too, one of the reasons that we have some of the greatest movie stars in the world. Yeah.

2:34 All kind of started with working with Amy Heckerling. Yeah, all right, we got we got some fun stuff to talk about, all right. So it's it's this This this episode really feels like it almost feels like we're doing our limited series eighty six a little bit, a little bit. It has that vibe to it. So we got to I mean, this movie's hilarious and it definitely fits the bill for the nineteeny six series, even though it's actually a nineteen eighty four movies. So we'll have to Yeah, we'll have to try and keep it serious and uh and and focus up. I guess it we'll try during this. It's gonna be tough though. Yeah. Uh, I remember this movie. I remember loving this movie when I was a kid, me too, ah, And as an adult it holds up really well. And I actually think it's better because a lot of the jokes that went over my head when I was when I was eight years old, now I'm seeing them and I'm laughing and I'm getting them for the first time.

3:35 And even some of the sight gags, like did you know so many sight gags were in this Yeah? Yeah, a lot a lot of stuff going on in the background, a lot of signs and stuff like that. Yeah. When uh, when Tommy walks into the DA's office, uh da Burr, who's played who's just played by the amazing Danny Devitoll the first for the first time ever, I noticed that you can see a woman's legs sticking out from the bottom of his desk. Oh my god, I completely missed that, which obviously implies something that we're not going to say. But uh, yeah, it just there were so many site gags like this and uh and sexual and windows. I was just that was funny watching mister Mom run around like a gangster. Yeah, you know, and and some of the you know, this definitely has uh when we talked parody, and it's crazy because we're talking about a parody movie already again. You know, we just talked about nineteen forty one back in December. But yeah, this one, I know we talked about some of our parody I think we mentioned this one about some of other parody movies that we like. I think we did. And this time in the eighties was big for parody, especially with things like Airplane doing so well and Caddy Shack and so the parody was was good business at this time. Yeah, this is one of the better ones, right, Yeah, yeah, definitely one of the better ones. Yea. What I don't understand is, and we talked about just just recently, because I told you when I was looking for it on streaming, you can't find it.

5:06 Yes, it's a very hard movie to find, right Yeah. You if you want to watch this right now, you have got to order a DVD copy from Amazon for four dollars and ninety nine cents. And we, as a staff at a film buy or committed to quality, and we had to do that very same thing to get this episode to you. Guys. Yeah, I remember you like, I'll find it, I'll figure it out. And I was like, uh, you probably should order it because it's only five dollars, and yeah, let's face it, it's it's a good movie. It's fun. So and then that day you called, You're like, yeah, I ordered it. It's on its way, it's five dollars, it's an hour and a half, and it's and it's hysterical. Yeah. And there are so many great cameos in this. Well, before we even get to the cameas, let's let's talk about some of these actors. So this is nineteen eighty four. Michael Keaton had just done and Mister Mom, what like a year before. Yeah, I believe Billy Blaze and Night Shift was kind of his breakout movie one, and Mister Mom was kind of the commercial PG success. Do you think do you think the suits at Warner Brothers and specifically Tim Burton, when they're when they're shopping around trying to find their batman, are they looking at Johnny dangerously and watching how good Michael Keaton looks in a tuxedo? Hey, you might as well. He does. He looks dapper in a tuxedo. Yeah, it's it's great watching because this is this is just a few years before he plays Bruce Wayne, and it looks

6:38 he looks sensational and and Michael Keaton has a certain thing and it's a certain thing that only he can do. It's it's a certain kind of comedy that he does very well. And it really doesn't look like it's much, but it's very, very unique, and he's got a very unique quality to him. And I think that's one of the reasons that right now we're seeing this huge, huge, like comeback trail of Michael Keaton basically just taking over the world of doing great work after great work. He's everywhere. I mean, he's He's in the new Flash movie coming out late this year. He's on Hulu with Dope Sick. Yeah, he's He's in all these these hit movies.

7:23 He's just he is. He's on fire. Like the Michael Keaton Renaissance is happening right now. Yeah, and very well deserved too. Yeah. Absolutely. Uh he's not alone though. Peter Boyle playing mob enforcer, mob boss Jocko Dundee. What a name, Jacko Dundee. Jocko Dundee. He's fun though, you know, I like him. You know, we got the very sultry and sexy Mary Lou Henter yep, Lil Sheridan, Lil Sheridan. Uh. And then uh, she's there's a little bit of a reunion here going on because, uh, you know, Danny DeVito shows up as d A Burr. Uh yeah, reunion. Yeah? Did you know?

8:07 Real quick? Did you notice after he dies? After d A Burr is killed and the newspapers are showing or announcing that he's dead. Yeah. The photo, the stock photo they use is of him in taxi. Yeah. I love I don't know if that's just being lazy or just having fun, but either way, I'm in for it. I love it. And it's also the first of two times that Michael Keaton kills Danny DeVito on screen. Yeah, this is this is the first time we see Batman take on the Penguin, right, Yeah, we'd get their reunion later. What was it, was it ninety two when they did Batman Returns? Yeah? Yeah, I love it. I absolutely love it. Uh. Who else you got, right? Who else you will to talk about? Well? Have you ever been a real big Joe Piscopo fan? Uh? You know, my my friends try to make me watch a Joe piscopa movie. Once yeah, once, once Yeah. He's I never really got his comedy, you know, I know he was kind of popular in the eighties, but he's awesome in this. You know, he's nineteen eighty four. It's kind of a weird time for Saturday Night Live. It's it's not the biggest cast in the World's kind of a you know, weird kind of cat. You got things like Anthony Michael Hall and early Robert Downey Junior kind of popping in and out of there. But I mean, Joe piscopal he holds his own in this movie. You know, it's he's he's there to be exactly what you need him there for. You're you're right about the SNL thing too, because if

9:41 you watched your four dollars and ninety nine cent DVD, if you watch the extras you could sell you could see the original trailer for Johnny Danishley, and it's a it's a Danny Erman. You know, Joe Piscopo's character kinda is doing like this break. He breaks the fourth wall and he's talking to the audience about the movie, the must see movie, and someone comes up and says, Hey, you're the guy from SNL and I was like, huh, I don't remember that, So yeah, you're right, he was SNL. And and you have him here, a guy that just doesn't show up in enough movies, but he's always just for some reason for me, really entertaining is Griffin Dune as Tommy Kelly. I love Griffin Dune as I always like him and I every once in a while I remember seeing him pop up in like a very small part as a doctor in Dallas Buyers Club, and even in like five minutes, he was really good. And of course we love him as you know Bobo. Yeah, yeah, the fast friend Bob, but you know American wereworfrom London after hours. Griffin you know, also a very successful director as well. Yeah. Well he's so good in this because you know, the the Tommy Kelly character that he plays is so so so morally upright and so chest Yeah. Uh, and he really sells you on that. You know, he's the ultimate like he if this again we're talking Batman before, but uh, he's like he's like Robin, Like he's

11:13 like he's like the the Batman sixty six Robin. Yeah, he's a crusader and he's always into the right thing. You know, he he has a problem he needs to get he needs to get Mark Kelly says, you want to you wanna hump your brains out? Yeah, And then Mark Kelly played by I believe it's now correct me if I'm wrong Maureen stabled him from the first episode of nineteen eighty six Money Pit, Am I correct? Oh? Wow? Yeah? She yeah, she she plays. Uh yeah, she's in the money Pit. Uh. She she sells him the house that turns the crap, And you know, you feel so sorry for until the end when you find out that she's actually you know, a con artist. Yeah, who was just you know, pushing these these dumps off on people.

12:01 Yeah, she is phenomenal and she is. Yeah. I love that. The movie opens, Johnny is bringing her a present for her her twenty ninth birthday. Yes, but she's clearly like what sixty. Yes, She's like, I only hope I make it to thirty. Yes, And I'm like, okay, is she I was waiting for him, like, okay, is she just telling them? I'm like, no, they're having her play thirty? Okay. It was it was, you know, it was the Great Depression. You know, this is this is during prohibition. So yeah, Ma Kelly Brad, she has got quite a few issues, wouldn't you say? She's got so many ailments, so many ailments that just seem to be right under that ninety nine point. You know, well, I got a list of them here, because really, when you think about it, Johnny's Johnny's life of crime, Johnny Kelly, he becomes Johnny Dangerously. His life of crime starts with the with the need to help his mother's uh, you know, pay for her her various operations over the years, and to put Tommy through law school. It all starts off, you know, Peter Boyle Jocko Dundee. He offers, what is he like eleven at the time, Johnny Danishly, he's he's like eleven year old kid, he's a paper boy. He offers him a quick fifty to help him out, and he says, no, I'm it breaks my poor mother's heart. And then you find out, you know, the doctor tells Johnny, your mother she's not

13:35 doing so well. She needs a new pancrass. It's gonna cost forty nine ninety five so, which just under fifty dollars, just under fifty. So he starts his life of crime. But but poor Ma Kelly throughout the course of the movie needs a needs a pancreas operation for forty nine ninety five. She needs a thyroid search operation for nine hundred ninety nine dollars. What what's wrong with what's wrong with the thug? Ward? We can't find it. We gotta we gotta do a search. Uh. She needs a blocked salvatory gland operation for seventy five hundred, to which Johnny says, Oh, it'd be nice to see her spit again. Yeah, and then uh, she mentions off collar. Uh, she's got problems with her arthritis. She's got a calf muscle that's that is shrinking, and she gets the occasional bypass and transplant. I just, yeah, this woman well gone through all of it.

14:31 The doctor that keeps diagnosing her with that. I don't know if you notice, but that is Jaws screenwriter Carl Gottlieb. Are you kidding me? Yeah? It's Carl Gottlieb. The He didn't didn't he play one of the the reporters and Jaws also, Yeah, he also played one of the reporters. He was kind of like the guy that made like the journal of like Jaws, like the Companion, Oh yeah, look and stuff like that. What about the Beaches Chief? Yeah? Yeah, okay, all right, but well, do we want to kind of set up this this synopsis of this crazy parody, Brad tell us what Johnny Dangerously is about? Well, what weird to believe is that basically this is a parody of these great gangster films of the you know, Warner Brothers are even though this movie is made by Fox. You know, the Cagnes, the You ever seen some of those like Roaring twenties, White Heat Public, I mean someone are pretty good.

15:26 Yeah he why he's not bad? I was, and it's on my list. But I've always wanted to see the original Scarface. I just haven't yet. Yeah, And the movie basically plays on not just making fun of gangster films at the time, but the way they're acted, the consequences that come into it. You know, of course, one bad brother, one lawyer, you know, brother Goodie tissues that just is gonna get married, and and the only way out of you know, into crime was saving the mom's life. So it works on so many levels of making fun of a lot of different areas of the gangster picture. Besides just they make fun of the actors, they make fun of the accents. We'll talk later about how they busher the language, and even almost kind of the the when someone is hit by a bullet, they tend to freeze in mid air for so long before they actually fall down, you know. But you know, this film just I don't know if people were wanting a parody of the gangster film of the nineteen thirties at the time, but I mean, it's still a fun movie. And of course, Johnny being Johnny Kelly, has to help out his mother and doing that helps out Peter Boyle's Jacko Dundee crime family and becomes Johnny dangerously one of the most respected, dapper and fun gangsters to watch.

16:57 Yeah, and he falls into this the Dundee mob is at war with the Maroney Mob, yes, right, which I love the joke. I never I never understood the joke as a kid. But Moroney, we can't really figure out where he's from. No, he's got a weird accent, and he does this thing, and we were kind of having some fun with it in our cold open Obviously, his profanity is it's ridiculous because he's using the wrong words, but they're so close that that you know, you're smart enough to know what he's trying to say. Yeah, And I love the fact that, you know, they get away with it in this movie, you know, because it's like a PG thirteen movie. I think. Yeah.

17:44 Now, PG thirteen had just really come aboard with this year with Temple of Doom. Yeah, so it was still kind of new. So that means this film was teetering on r Yeah, and I think, honestly, when you watch it, I'm pretty sure the PG thirteen and the potential our rating is because of the sexuality, you know, and and all the the conversation around you know, sexual activity. I don't think it has anything to do with Maroney because even though the MPa knows what he what's going on, they can't do anything because you know, when he's calling someone a cork sucker, yeah, it's well, okay, he didn't say it. You know that cork is not a bad word. So but Brad, actually, this is a thing. This is a real thing. It's called malapropism, and it's when we make the mistake of saying the wrong word. But it's close enough that someone that's listening to us understands what we meant to say and can appreciate the comedic effect of us saying the wrong thing, you know, and Maroney does it beautifully. And even when he gets kicked out of the country like they deported him to they I think the paper says he's deported to Sweden.

19:03 Yeah, and his his quote is I'm not even from there. Yeah, it's like, you know, his his opening statement though to d A Kelly when when he's under his statement is great, dear isols. When he so there's the scene where he just goes off when you know, Jocko and his crew are ripping off Maroni and Maroney just goes off in this just tangent of screaming. I was hysterically laughing so hard during that scene because I hadn't seen it in so long and forgot about it. But during his entire rent, I was just giggling so hard. It was so funny. I challenge anybody not to watch that scene and not just start cracking up. It's hilarious.

19:52 My my favorite Maroney moment, again with the site Gags, is the one where it almost very it very much feels like a Tunes cartoon. Yeah, because he's on the street with his his his number two guy, and he's talking about how they got to make their club bigger, and he's like, knock down that wall, knock down that wall, and knocked down this fargin wall. And meanwhile Johnny is got like a plane and the guy drops like a bomb. He's like it explodes and then like the dust clears. He's got that blown up look to him and he's like, Okay, this is fargin war. And then you acually smashed to the newspaper print like the headline is fargin War. It's yeah, I just I love That's my favorite Maroony bit. I think so more more cameos. We let's let's talk about some of these cameos. Amy Heckerling had Let's just say she had a phenomenal cast for Fast Times originally high in nineteen eight two. Well, I know, we'll talk about that during her filmography, but I love the fact that she pulled so many people from Fast Times into this. One of my favorite probably Tailor Negron, who played the pizza guy. He delivered pizza to Spacoli.

21:03 That's right, yeah yeah, and we we know and love him from the Last Boy Scout Milo Ilo from the last Boy Scout. But I love the fact that he plays a delivery guy again. Yeah, he's like, yeah, there's a you know what, there's posted. You know what, I'll you know, I'll take care of the posters when they all pull their guns on him. You got Scott Thomas who worked worked with Brad at the All American Burger and we know him from Police Academy obviously. Uh. Vincent Chavali and Ray Walston are in there. Uh in small roles. What Walston's got like a little bit of the bigger role because he plays the the newspaper. Yeah, guy who gets he gets hit, he can he can't see. Then he's blind, he's death and yeah he can't remember who he is a lot of fun. Like every time you turn around, there's someone, Yeah that's in it. You know. I even noticed and I don't remember his name, Brad, but uh, Goodfellas of Corse. He's good Fellaws, you know, remember the one gangster. Yeah yeah, and I thought see more of him and never saw him again. But I have to say I do love the Dom delaisee a cameo as the Pope. Oh yes, the Pope. He was actually really good. What was Dom Delawase nineteen eighty four.

22:17 That was that was pretty big for a cameo. That's the height of Dom Deluise's uh celebrity, right, you know, he's he's coming off all the Burt Rentalds stuff and yeah, the Cannonball Run Movies, Run movies and all that. Yeah. So I mean, yeah, he's only on the screen for like a minute, but it's a fun minute. Yeah. Now you also have some cameos in here that you kind of think you might know, but you're not really sure, Like the death sergeant that does the calling all cars calling all cars, So I know who that is? You're like, that guy's familiar. Who is that guy? And even with that hat, Yes, that is the skipper from Gilligan's Island. Alan Allen Hale Junior Allen Hale Junior, Yeah, calling old cars calling. Of course. You know, if you're gonna get him, they should have just got Bob Denver to play one, like one of the beat cops that's in the background somewhere.

23:07 Yeah, that would have been nice. What you think of getting back to the main the main cast, What did you think of Mary lou Hinter? You know what, it was a very Merry Lou Renner type of part. There wasn't much to do with it. I don't think that she had a lot to do comedically. It was really just look sexy, you know, in this she didn't really get any great jokes. No, I mean she she plays that the love interest, you know. Yeah, No, and there's and you're right, there's not a whole lot for her to do, which is unfortunate. Yeah, because in the in the I mean in this movie, I mean, there's not a lot of I mean, I know we're talking about Women's Issue month, but there's not a lot of strong female characters in this side besides yeah Ma Ma Kelly. Yeah. Yeah, because even uh, even Tommy's wife. I think she only has one line in the whole movie. Yeah. That's when they're uh, they're just married and they're they run off to the janitor's closet to yeah, to uh to get to get busy. She's not happy about it. No, she did not like the way he consummated the marriage. Yeah he uh, you know the janitor ten seconds later who walked in. I think he yeah, yeah, he's like he walks, he like walks in singing a Bible hym and then he's like, praise Jesus h Joe Piscopo's villain, Danny Verman, he's

24:40 got his uh, he's he's a scumbag, right, I mean, that's it. Even he even says that he that turned out to be a real big scumbag. Yeah. He shoots at crowds that go to the opera. Yep, you know, he's got his his custom made eighty eight magnet. Eighty eight magnet uh uh which uh, it's it's weird because I know the last time I saw it, I remember they had to cut. It was like on Comedy Central or something like that, but they had cut, you know, and you're thinking, what what are they There's no language in this what are they cutting? But I remember he has that that joke that has not aged well. But when he did him, yeah, he's like, this will shoot to a school. Yeah, I'm surprised. Maybe that's one of the reasons why the film is not available streaming at the moment right now.

25:27 Could be, could be, but it's it's in the DVD version that we Yes, yeah it is, because I was like, whoa can they and then I thought, wait a minute, that's what's happened exactly like, oh, that didn't age well, yeah, terrible. But uh but Episcopo in this uh definitely does not age terrible. He ages quite well. He's he's a fun villain to hate because he is. He's he is kind of like the Coyote and the Lining Tunes cartoons, like you yeah, yeah, very much. Just want to see him, you know, lose time after time. His face and the movie is very caricaturesque, you know, with the pencil mustache and the way his eyes move and his facial espressions. So I mean, like I said, he does a good job for the part that he's given. And he's got that he's got that catchphraseh no. Yeah, anytime someone's doing something that he doesn't like, you know, you should And each in each one of those works, not one of them is like that one's not as good as the last one. It was like each one of those jokes, even though it's a repeated joke, it still works all the way up into the last time you see it. Yeah. I think my favorite one is probably when he's trying to take over the gang and Johnny like threatens him in a way and hangs him on the on the coat hook.

26:48 He's, yeah, you shouldn't hang me on a coat Johnny, coat hook, Johnny, my father hugged me, and he just he doesn't even let him finish. He just opens the door. Yeah, the whole once. I'd say the strongest women's presence that this film has on it is its director Amy Heckerling. Absolutely. I mean, look at the cast she gets. She gets these stellar casts for all these films. I mean you look at everybody in this film. I mean they obviously love to work with her. And now I remember really just two kind of women directors as we were growing up that had commercial success. One was Penelope Sirius who did Wayne's World and Stuff, which would love to do an episode about her in the near future, and the other one was Amy Heckerling. It was a name that I remember seeing, you know, you know when you start to remember those things that catching your eye and really kind of noticing there. I mean, yeah, we have, you know, some a lot of women female directors now, but I mean we just didn't have that much then, and she was able to make a lot of commercial success from her career, I mean more so than a many many many film directors. Well can we can we get into her filmography because it's yeah, as good as it is, it's small, Yeah, it is small, but you know, quality over quantity, I say, I will agree. So, you know, she got

28:19 a master's from American Film Institute and was just really having a hard time finding work until a book by Cameron Crowe came along called Fast Time as a Ridgemont High and it just I mean, you guys talked about it on a document seventy center like it's just became this quintessential, definitive high school movie. I remember, I think that was one of the first episodes that docum Base seventy seven had. Yeah, that I and I was I was fortunate to be on that that episode. The topic was top five high school movies. Yeah and I yeah, Fast Times at Ridgement High was my It was the number one, you know, it had to be. Yeah, And being able to kind of see that balance that she took with Cameron Crowe's script, having both I mean, because you're talking about, you know, the male sexual experience and the female sexual experience of high school, but you have both male and female balancing it out so good, you know, And that was a huge hit. And I believe that this was her second film, was Johnny Dangerously, Yeah, she followed Fast Times up with Johnny Yeah. And I think the the cool thing here is, I don't think Fast Times. I think if it would have been directed, if you would have had a male director on Fast Times, you would have got something more akin to like Porky's or Avenge of the Nerds. I think you needed a female director for Fast Times because of the Jennifer Jason Lee character, who you know. I've always

29:53 said that movie's kind of it's about two different, two different groups. There. You've got the freshman that are kind of coming into their own in high school, you know Rattner and Mark Ratner and and Jennifer Jason Lee's character, and then you've got the the seniors that are about to leave, which you know Judge ry Holden phob Kate's with what Jennifer ja What Jennifer Jason Lee's character goes through in that movie, the major you know, situations in life that she encounters. You have to have a female, a strong female, giving us that point of view, because I don't think I don't think a male director can can capture that. We can speak to it right and she's able to do that with the guys in the film too, Yeah, and well and the fun thing with Johnny Dangerously, which she does two years later.

30:44 Like we were talking, there's not there's not really a strong female voice in this besides mat Kelly. But I think this is a situation where again, given it's a parody of the gangster films, Heckerling is having a good time, yes, just showing how absurd the male perspective is about women's sexuality and what is considered smart and sexy and strong, right, you know, I mean, look at Mary lou Hinter, like we yeah, yeah, she doesn't really have a whole lot to work with, but you know, she's the nightclub singer who has to look vivacious, and you know, all the guys are after you know, there's it almost you know. I think she does a good job of showing the buffoonery of men and what they think is is acceptable at the time. And then she gets into more buffoonery after Dangerously and does National Lampoon's European Vacation, which is always kind of looked at one of the weaker films in that cluster, but it is not an awful film.

31:47 It does have a lot of funny moments and great scenes. It is it great as the first film or the Christmas Vacation, of course not, but it is still a I think, a very funny movie. So I know a lot of people I would say that that's the worst film until the sequel, the Christmas Vacation sequel came out that was just about cousin Eddie's character, and even before that, the Vegas Vacation film. I think Your Pan Vacation is far better than Vegas Vacation. And yeah, is it is it? It's not as it's not as good as the first one, and truthfully, none of them are. The first one is the best, the Christmas one. It's it's hard, it's it's almost unfair to compare it, even though it's part of that that right, that that that group of films, because it's a Christmas movie first and foremost. But I love European Vacation for the just the almost sickening way it begins with the game show to be a pig game show, because yeah, you had a fun rusty you know, running off, you know, to be amazed. It's it's fun. And let's not forget Brad Audrey's boyfriend is played by one of my favorites, William Zobka of Cobra Kai. So any movie that has William zopkain it automatically is

33:21 worth watching as far as I'm concerned. And then I remember this was very brief that actually they tried to they take they do a fast times television show. Yeah, have you seen this? I can't findly remember it. I can't remember it, but yeah, I think there was only three episodes of it, but it obviously didn't last very long. The only way you could do a fast times TV show is if it's like on a streaming network to where they can do what they want to do. And you know, trying to do Fast Times on a network that's safe for primetime, there's no way. And you know, I'd love to see it because I understand. My understanding is that Ray Walston and Vincent Chavali reprised their roles as mister and mister vargas the teachers, so it'd be worth I'd like to see it, just as find out, you know, is it really that bad? I don't know. Now comes in nineteen eighty nine, a film about an unmarried pregnant woman who is going to have a child with a man that's already married, and that film is going to be called Look Who's Talking and become a gigantic hit. This is a blockbuster, right, blockbuster, but for some of the weirdest reasons. Why Now do you know why this film was made?

34:44 I don't know. I don't know why it was made. I'm glad it was people. I don't know why this was revealed. Now this might break your heart a little bit. But during nineteen eighty five, probably during the making of European Vacation, Amy Heckerling had a relationship with a young Harold Ramis at the time, and Harold Ramis and Amy Heckerling ended up having a child together, and her experience of dealing with Harold Ramis being a married man is how she came up with the script for lak Who's Talking? No, Yes, so she does have a daughter with Harold Ramis. Is this this is factual? This is factual, Yes, the daughter and everybody knows, yes, this is I guess revealed a couple of years ago. Gone Spangler, He gone Spangler. Yeah, I can't believe that. Yeah, but I mean, look at what somebody like Amy Heckerling did with that. She took all that frustration and all that stuff that life had given her and she made you know, this giant you know, comedy out of it. Yeah.

35:55 I just like the guy Christi Alli, like the the guy that plays Albert. He's such a slime in the movie that George, Yeah, George Sagall, Like Molly, I raised my kids and she's like, they're eleven and nine. Yeah, yeah, he's a he's a he's a turd in that movie. Uh, I just can't I can't see. I can't see Harold remis like that that ever that it's a bummer in a way. You know, it's just you know, things happen certain ways, and you know things turn out that way, and then you know a year later, and I was worried about this with her when we got look who's talking to well, before we before you, before we get to the sequel, though, we just real quick because I've never understood this for sure. We're growing up when we were when we were in high school. Pulp fiction was the the comeback of John Travolta, right, So look who's talking in eighty nine though, because that's like five years before m uh was he still was that, like he's still popular at this time? Was that like small comeback for that was a kind of a real small comeback. I mean, if you look at it, the biggest name in that film was really Bruce Willis. John Travolta's box office stuff had kind of started to slide down with things like Perfect and Two of a Kind with Olivia Noon John and then you know, just some

37:25 of the other things because like Staying Alive and blow Out and like all those all those there's was like that was seventies. That was gritty seventies stuff right well, like Blowout, I think it was eighty two, Okay, So like during the eighties he wasn't doing is kind of much as maybe some of those guys were. You know. So yeah, once once I remember seeing Look Who's Talking, I was like, I haven't seen John Travolta in a while. So I knew it had been a while since we've seen him in something big, and I knew this was kind of the biggest thing he could get at the time, but did get him noticed. Yeah, now you're about to talk about because they you know, she starts this franchise, this look Who's Talking franchise because a year later we got Look Who's Talking Too?

38:08 Yeah, because now John Jravolta, the John Volta character, and Christy all are having a baby together. Right, Correct me if I'm wrong, because I I want to remember this, but I can't for sure. I thought, wasn't there like a little stinger, a little little easter egg at the end of Look Who's Talking? Where it was Joan Rivers who said and the whole thing was can we talk? Which was like her kind of phrase. But then in the sequel, isn't it Roseanne? I think so, yeah, because that's you know, the Roseanne's like a massive hit at this point on ABC, and I thought they got her. You knowne Roseanne Barr was kind of making a play for Hollywood. She had like She Devil and a couple other things. No, I think it was just she was it just Okay, I think it was just She Devil. That's the only movie.

38:57 How many Look Who's Talking movies do they do? Because I would think they did like three or four, but fortunately she only did two. Okay, only did first? Right, Yeah, because she had bigger plans yea, And I think you know what that bigger plan was, and that was an updated version of Jane Austen's Emma with nineteen ninety five's Clueless. Yes, and I also look at it like it like I see her going, Hey, my most popular, the biggest hit I ever had was Fast Times at Ridgement High. How do you do a Fast Times style movie in nineteen ninety five but make it safe for everyone to see it and too real? Two different types of decades? Oh yeah, you know, it's like that's tough.

39:47 Yeah, Okay, she could probably do all the eighties type. She could have done a couple of those. She could have went the route of just doing eighties high school comedies her whole career, and then to do one that's a nice one and so nineties esque, like nothing eighties in it at all. It's amazing. Have you I mean, have you watched Clueless, like in the last couple of years or not next couple of years. I mean probably maybe four or five years ago. But I mean it's done with this kind of brightness of the nineties, of getting every attitude and every click and cliche in there again she did it again, which she did it with Franstimes, with the cliches and the clicks, and then she does it again, so she and it's clueless is perfect for that. Yeah, it's almost it's almost a little cringey though watching it now, because that was our clueless is our time in high school, right, I mean that's you know that when that came out in ninety five, right, you know that senior year.

40:57 Yeah, and when you go back and you look at that, you're like, wow, we did dress like that. That's the music we were listening to. Those are the the expressions we we're using. And I mean, I hate to be the get off my lawn old man, but I'm like, damn, we were stupid. Yeah, you know, but I don't help categorize some things too though. It was like okay, that's that type of guy. But also too, it was a lifestyle that we didn't know too much, the you know, the upper class Los Angeles lifestyle. Yeah, so yes, some of it was related to but you're also stepping in. You're allowing yourself to be in this world of rich and you know, all these things and stuff, but without making the characters look mean, girl, ask I guess you know, making them look sympathetic. You like to share all of her faults, is you know, is weird? And superficial as she was. You loved share, she was great. I loved Cher's father, Yeah, Dan Adeo. Yeah, I remember the first time I saw this, I thought, wow, that guy does a good American accent because I was so used to him in Commando. Yeah, playing the uh the deposed dictator that goes up against the Arnold Schwarzenegger. I've always loved him as Nick Tortelli from Cheers, Carlos First, Carlos First, Yeah, Nick

42:27 Tortelly. I forget about that. Uh all right, so look, uh fast forward a couple of years two thousand, Uh, she does Loser, Yeah with uh is it Jason Biggs? It was Jason Biggs and meaning souvari. Now, I never saw this film and always kind of wanted to, but just ran out of you know, kind of ran out of time or just forgot about it. I I don't it's I I love that you said that, because every time I even had a close opportunity to watch it, I've been like, I just don't really have time right now. Yeah, And for some reason, it just it's just it just seems unappealing. I don't know if it's the way it was marketed or the trailer. But it's probably a good movie, but I just don't know. I don't know because I haven't seen it. Well. With something like American Pie being such a huge hit in ninety nine and then a year later, throwing two of those stars from that movie in a film directed by the director of Cluis and Fast Times Rigemond high sounds you know, like a winner. That's a that's a can't miss, right, Yeah, yeah, it sounds like a can't mess.

43:34 But we missed it. Yeah, I don't. I don't know why. But I think that is the last film that I at least that I had heard of like coming out theatrically. She had some other stuff come out, but I think this is a point where she kind of goes into TV work. Yeah, because one of the last things I know, and I want to know, I know, I can, I just I didn't look it up. But uh, I know. In two thousand and five she did, uh she directed some of the Office. Yeah, hot Girl? Was it Hot Girl that she did? Yeah? Okay with a young the young Amy Adams at the time, right, yeah, okay? Did she do others or was it just Hot Girl? I just see the one that said that she directed Hot Girl. Okay, all right, that makes sense.

44:17 I I I could see that because that's a very gem centric episode. Yea, when not the when I'm thinking of Fire Guy where they're doing their their desert their top five desert island things and oh yeah, yeah yeah, so she did Hot Girl. That's kind of cool. All right, Yeah, but she directed a lot of TV then and you know, still going strong though, you know, so all this TV. So that leads me to the question Bra that we like to talk about on this on this podcast. What would you want because obviously she's still she's still busy, she's still working. What would you want to see Amy Heckling do I would want I would want to see her close out her high School trilogy with a high school about today's teenagers. You have a bench that is that is the perfect answer that because that's about fargin perfect or what that is? Farging perfect? Yeah, that's that's exactly what I want to see, like a a third high school movie from her, And uh, I want to see it just because it would help, you know, I think it helped people like us like understand kids today. Yeah, I mean, and that's what it is, you know, with Fast Times. With Clueless, you you start to learn a little bit about you know, the younger generation, the you know, the obviously the pressures that go through and the wanting to be accepted thing.

45:45 And she's just very good at laying that all out and a really great balancer of multiple characters, you know, I mean, you know, even in Lewis, Yes, share is the main part of Cluis, but he still balanced out everyone else, and especially with Fast Times. And that's an ensemble movie, an ensemble movie of what turned out to be breakout performances and a lot of people from you know, look at Clueless too. I mean, besides the leashsip, I mean you you got you got the station, Yes, you got obviously you got Paul Rudd, the immortal Paul Rudd. Yeah, they said you got Paul Rudd, and you got the guy from Scrubs, Donald Fazin. Yes, am, yeah, So I mean you get those people you got, Oh, don't forget Jeremy Sisto. Jeremy Sisto has a huge career, big career, and he's doing some awesome voice work.

46:38 Have you have you seen any of these uh these DC animated movies where he does there's a lot of them though. Yeah, his his Batman in the New Frontier Outside Outside of the the Kevin Conroy Batman is without a doubt the best Batman animated Batman. That's just the comic book geeking me. Maybe not play real quick, but yeah, but you're right, there's a lot of a lot of great a lot of great talent came out of Clueless. Now that I'm thinking about it, yeah, I mean, like I said, with very little women directors that came out at that time. I mean she I totally remember her, and she made a major, major mark, not just you know, yes she did important films, but she did successful commercial hits with stars. And that's what makes me wonder why we haven't seen an Amy Heckerling movie on the big screen in the in the last ten ten years or so, fifteen years, whatever it's been twenty years. If we're going back to Loser, I'd say that's a whole bigger conversation. But I think she even would like to know the same thing, because I have a feeling she's got some stuff to say. Well, she is an amazing talent and a great uh. She always has great soundtracks in all of her films always.

48:08 Well, I'm glad that you mentioned that, because let's not forget that the the theme to Johnny Dangerously is sung by none other than weird Al Yankovic. That's right, Yeah, well Johnny Dangerously. Any any final thoughts about this one? Uh? You know what? This movie is an hour and a half of just pure ridiculous parody fun and it's a good time and not to be because it's a parody. It's not to be taken seriously. And I guarantee you will have a fun time. And if you can keep a straight face while the Maroni uh SmackDown is going on, then you you have no soul, no soul, you have no fargin soul. You are nothing but the corksilker. I I gotta, I gotta say, as far as pair films go, one thing that you're gonna get time after time. With most of them, you're gonna get boobs, You're gonna get fart jokes.

49:08 This movie has neither, and is hilarious and still does the site gags and still has fun with it. So yeah, it's if you like the mel Brooks stuff, if you like things like Airplane and you know, no who loves this movie is Brian de Palma. Brian de Palma thinks it is one of the funniest movies to come out of the eighties. Brian de Palma likes Johnny James, loves Johnny dangerously. He loved the gangster films of Warner Brothers, and he says this is a great uh spoof on him. We're talking about him later this summer too when we uh, I think we're talking body double with him, so we might have to get back into that. But wow, it is officially March, Brad, and we have got this is this is probably our biggest month ever. We have got a lot coming out because it's one of those things where there just happens to be a fifth Tuesday.

50:01 So and it's women's history months, so I know we uh, we've we're talking about Catherine Hardwick yep coming up. We're talking about Sophia Coppola mm hmm, eighty six on the nineteen eighty six series. I know we're we got well, I think we're doing Wildcats right, yes, yeah, with the Docking based seventy seven's Dayton Johnson. We'll be back because we like a year ago we talked about Fast Times we did Betimes, the Times, Kurt Russell. Now we're gonna talk about Kurt Russell's lady friend, Yeah, and her football film that's gonna be good, and see how they compare and contrast. Oh, this is gonna be this is gonna be a good month.

50:42 Yeah. And we got we got more. I'm not even talking about all of them yet, but we got we got a lot. Yep, we got a lot. All right, well, listen, we do got a lot. And if you want to check out any of our episodes from the past three seasons, uh, head on over to www dot a film by podcast dot com. You can always reach out to us at a film by Podcast at gmail dot com, or on social media. If you're on Twitter or Facebook, you can find us at a film by Podcast. Let's not forget brad people that are giving us the reviews, the these awesome five star reviews. All they got to do is contact us and say, hey, I just put my review up on Apple or I just gave you a five star on Spotify, whatever the case may, whether you're on Good Pods or Podbean, there's a ton of them now, and you get some you get some swag. Right, We're sending out some swags stuff we all get.

51:42 We love it, you know. And we just had last night. We just had another person. I think it was Facebook that they contacted us, gave us a really good suggestion that I know they did last night. Yeah, we got to talk a little bit more about that one. But I think I that one's too good to pass up. So until next time, though, yep, And remember kids, crime doesn't pay. But like Johnny Densers laves, it pays a little. Pays will it will it pays a little? All right? Take care? I eat the lame john seven time of day about don't filled with harry A. What can't I say? This is a life. I buy a dozen cars when I'm in the food, I buyre somebody to chew my food. I'm I'm gonna smobile who This is a lie? They say that funny of you, But I can't read it till I got the whole world at my feet and I paint its read as well. I got women I done outside my store. David Waite