John Milius - Big Wednesday

WEBVTT

1
00:00:00.480 --> 00:00:04.240
Back in February, we mentioned one
of our listeners from the UK, Trev

2
00:00:04.320 --> 00:00:08.519
Lewis you remember that I do.
Trev discovered us when he found our Jaws

3
00:00:08.519 --> 00:00:12.839
two episode. Thanks No, thanks
to you and Scott. That's right,

4
00:00:14.320 --> 00:00:18.719
you know. During our email exchange, he wrote, quote, A film

5
00:00:18.760 --> 00:00:22.920
I would love you to have a
deep dive into is one that doesn't get

6
00:00:23.000 --> 00:00:27.399
much of a mention in movie podcasts
that I listened to. In fact,

7
00:00:27.640 --> 00:00:32.240
it rarely gets mentioned at all.
It's an underrated gem from the nineteen seventies

8
00:00:32.359 --> 00:00:40.280
from writer director John Mealius Big Wednesday, a biographical surfer pick starring Jan Michael,

9
00:00:40.359 --> 00:00:45.119
Vincent, William Kat and Gary Busey. If you get around to this

10
00:00:45.159 --> 00:00:50.119
one at some point, I'd absolutely
love it. End quote, Well,

11
00:00:50.119 --> 00:00:52.079
I think we're gonna get around to
it, aren't we. I think it's

12
00:00:52.079 --> 00:00:55.840
time we get around to it.
So let's talk about a film by John

13
00:00:55.880 --> 00:01:25.959
Milias, his nineteen seventy eight coming
of age surfing classic Big Wednesday. He's

14
00:01:26.040 --> 00:01:29.920
one of the con men. You
can hear him on our Film at forty

15
00:01:29.959 --> 00:01:34.599
five series celebrating the forty fifth anniversary
of Hollywood's Big Movies. He's also on

16
00:01:34.640 --> 00:01:40.640
the bridge of our star Trek pod
Phasers set to stun talking all things Trek

17
00:01:41.359 --> 00:01:46.159
and thankfully he's making time to stop
by and talk with me. Here today,

18
00:01:46.680 --> 00:01:49.599
David Burns is with us. That's
right, I'm here in the studio,

19
00:01:51.480 --> 00:01:56.920
Dave. The film's title is derived
from the popular myth that all great

20
00:01:56.959 --> 00:01:59.799
surf days fall on Wednesdays. Did
you know that? I did not know

21
00:01:59.920 --> 00:02:05.000
that. Well, I'll tell you
what I gotta think. Outside of Trev

22
00:02:05.640 --> 00:02:07.319
and the two of us, there's
probably a lot of people that don't even

23
00:02:07.360 --> 00:02:09.599
know what this movie is. Oh, I would say, because I had

24
00:02:09.639 --> 00:02:13.000
no clue what this was. Yeah, you want you want to give us

25
00:02:13.000 --> 00:02:15.919
a little synopsis? Yeah? Absolutely
So grab your surfboards, everyone, and

26
00:02:16.000 --> 00:02:21.400
let's head to the beach to join
Matt, Jack and Leroy and with them

27
00:02:21.520 --> 00:02:24.439
hit some of the best waves.
Imaginable. Life growing up in the nineteen

28
00:02:24.520 --> 00:02:29.639
sixties is nothing but partying, girls, music, and surfing. Of course,

29
00:02:30.120 --> 00:02:32.120
everything is perfect. It seems like
nothing would come between them having the

30
00:02:32.159 --> 00:02:37.199
times of their lives. That is, until reality strikes and life changes them

31
00:02:37.599 --> 00:02:40.599
and the ones they love. Will
these friends manage to make it and will

32
00:02:40.599 --> 00:02:46.520
they find them the mythical day known
as Big Wednesday, when the greatest wave

33
00:02:46.560 --> 00:02:52.960
of all time will come. We're
talking about myths. We we have to

34
00:02:53.000 --> 00:02:58.719
talk about the the legendary agreement that
John Milis makes with his friends about the

35
00:02:58.759 --> 00:03:01.080
film's profit points. You know what, Yes, I do. Important film

36
00:03:01.120 --> 00:03:07.000
will come out on top on this
one. Wow. So George Lucas and

37
00:03:07.039 --> 00:03:15.080
Steven Spielberg are such big believers in
this film and they believe it's going to

38
00:03:15.120 --> 00:03:17.879
become what they call the American Graffiti
of surfing films. And I can see

39
00:03:17.919 --> 00:03:22.599
that after seeing this film. Absolutely, I could totally see what Steve and

40
00:03:22.639 --> 00:03:28.120
George are thinking. So they trade
profit points with him against their upcoming films.

41
00:03:28.479 --> 00:03:32.000
So if you didn't, I'm sure
you know this. But Lucas is

42
00:03:32.000 --> 00:03:37.840
working on a little space movie called
Star Wars. Meanwhile, off the red

43
00:03:37.840 --> 00:03:42.759
hot success of Jaws, Spielberg's got
one called Close Encounters of the Third Kind,

44
00:03:43.800 --> 00:03:46.800
another another little small space film.
So they tell John, hey,

45
00:03:46.840 --> 00:03:51.439
look, you give us points on
Big Wednesday. Give us your points on

46
00:03:51.479 --> 00:03:55.360
Big Wednesday. We'll give you our
points on Star Wars and Close Encounters.

47
00:03:55.479 --> 00:04:03.280
He says, yes, suckers.
Big Wednesday does four point five million on

48
00:04:03.319 --> 00:04:08.080
a budget, of eleven million,
so they get nothing the bomb yep.

49
00:04:08.159 --> 00:04:11.159
Miles. On the other hand,
how many millions do you think he got

50
00:04:11.199 --> 00:04:14.080
out of that deal? Oh my
gosh, I can't imagine. It had

51
00:04:14.120 --> 00:04:18.839
to be well more movie. I
would think so. And you know.

52
00:04:18.920 --> 00:04:24.519
During the nineteen seventy nine interview with
Roger Ebert, William Cat suggested that the

53
00:04:24.560 --> 00:04:29.240
film's box office failure was due to
poor marketing because it focused on the fighting

54
00:04:29.279 --> 00:04:32.360
scenes and the surfing angle. You've
seen the trailers for this, right,

55
00:04:32.480 --> 00:04:36.720
Yeah, and I can see that
it looks like a fifties beach blanket bingo

56
00:04:38.160 --> 00:04:41.000
type of movie. Yeah. And
that's like, that's all you're going to

57
00:04:41.040 --> 00:04:44.040
see is fighting and surfing, which
could not be further from the truth.

58
00:04:44.120 --> 00:04:47.360
Correct it is? You're right,
Yeah, I agree with William Cat.

59
00:04:48.000 --> 00:04:54.600
He's absolutely right. Yeah. Speaking
of William Cat and Dave, we just

60
00:04:54.680 --> 00:04:59.399
talked to him a couple months ago. We did. I wish we would

61
00:04:59.399 --> 00:05:00.759
have said something about Big Wednesday.
I wouldn't even thinking about it. I

62
00:05:00.759 --> 00:05:04.399
didn't know anything about this meeting,
what you know, And now that I

63
00:05:04.480 --> 00:05:06.319
have your right, I'm like,
man, it would have been really cool

64
00:05:06.360 --> 00:05:09.319
to talk to him about this movie. Because he probably doesn't get asked a

65
00:05:09.360 --> 00:05:11.720
lot about it. I'm sure he
does it if we we meet him again,

66
00:05:11.879 --> 00:05:14.199
I'm sure we will next time.
Next time we talked to him,

67
00:05:14.480 --> 00:05:16.360
we got to do a little big
Wednesday spot. Yeah, I'm sure he

68
00:05:16.360 --> 00:05:19.720
would love to talk about it.
He'll dig that, right. Let's talk

69
00:05:19.759 --> 00:05:24.680
like William Katt. He plays He
plays Jack Barlow. His character is based

70
00:05:25.160 --> 00:05:29.040
off a real surfer named Kemp Aberg. You know, you know a little

71
00:05:29.040 --> 00:05:31.040
bit about Kemp. No, I
know, he was like a really famous

72
00:05:31.040 --> 00:05:36.560
surfer, that's all I know.
Initially served as a goofy footer before switching

73
00:05:36.959 --> 00:05:42.079
to the regular footstance on account of
Malibu's right breaking waves. Oh okay,

74
00:05:42.199 --> 00:05:46.160
so goofy. Like I did a
little surfing homework. Goofy footing is when

75
00:05:46.079 --> 00:05:48.399
you it's almost like if you're a
box and you're you're a South Paul.

76
00:05:48.720 --> 00:05:54.000
Yeah, so you're you're backwards basically, Okay, you know, kind of

77
00:05:54.000 --> 00:05:56.120
like bat and left handed in a
way. Oh wow, that could be

78
00:05:56.160 --> 00:06:00.360
very complicated. Yeah, but that's
that's just how he learned. But when

79
00:06:00.399 --> 00:06:03.000
he moves to Malibu, waves break
to the rights, so he has to

80
00:06:03.000 --> 00:06:08.839
switch to what's called regular foot stance
on the board, but he's also known

81
00:06:08.839 --> 00:06:12.759
for his iconic back arch back arch
stance. Yeah. Uh. It became

82
00:06:12.879 --> 00:06:16.439
the logo for Surfer magazine in nineteen
sixty one. And it's actually his younger

83
00:06:16.439 --> 00:06:20.639
brother Dennis, who co wrote the
film with John Milis. Okay, Yeah,

84
00:06:20.680 --> 00:06:24.079
and I think isn't isn't that One
of the reasons why this got called

85
00:06:24.079 --> 00:06:28.759
Big Wednesday was because of the there
was a documentary. I think it was

86
00:06:28.800 --> 00:06:30.399
We're gonna get to that here in
a little bit. I got, I've

87
00:06:30.399 --> 00:06:33.360
got something on that for you.
William Katt been he's been surfing his whole

88
00:06:33.399 --> 00:06:38.000
life though, so he got I
gotta be honest, like the scenes that

89
00:06:38.000 --> 00:06:42.800
you see him in the surf,
Yeah, he looks very he looks right

90
00:06:42.839 --> 00:06:46.439
at home. He looks natural.
He does. And I know we're gonna

91
00:06:46.439 --> 00:06:49.120
bring this up, but I mean, holy cow, have you ever seen

92
00:06:49.839 --> 00:06:54.759
William kat or Gary Busey or Jim
Michael Vincent in this kind of shape?

93
00:06:54.879 --> 00:06:57.439
No? It kind of threw me
back when I was watching this films,

94
00:06:57.439 --> 00:07:00.680
like, Wow, these guys were
young and really good. It's like that

95
00:07:00.160 --> 00:07:03.120
is that beaucy? Really? Like, yeah, everyone of them have a

96
00:07:03.160 --> 00:07:09.839
six pack It's crazy man. And
this film came out in seventy eight,

97
00:07:10.639 --> 00:07:14.439
so we were doing a film at
forty five celebrating seventy eight, and we

98
00:07:14.519 --> 00:07:16.639
did the Buddy Holly Story. Yes, and he was so close you couldn't

99
00:07:16.639 --> 00:07:19.800
see what kind of shape he was
Inly this movie show is what kind of

100
00:07:19.839 --> 00:07:23.120
shapey? Oh? Yeah, yeah, we'll get the bucy here in a

101
00:07:23.160 --> 00:07:29.920
second. This role. Tom Barringer
auditioned for the part. Now he's now

102
00:07:29.959 --> 00:07:33.360
think about Barringer is a is a
terrific actor. He is at this point

103
00:07:33.360 --> 00:07:35.839
though, when he's reading for this, he's only been on like one Life

104
00:07:35.839 --> 00:07:41.680
to Live for two years, right, So I gotta say though, between

105
00:07:41.720 --> 00:07:44.639
him and William Catt, it's gotta
Willam Kass William William ktt all the way,

106
00:07:44.720 --> 00:07:48.639
all the way, William kat He
said of this role, quote,

107
00:07:48.879 --> 00:07:53.759
it was the most personal film I
had done. I'd lived that life since

108
00:07:53.800 --> 00:07:57.800
I was ten, and his performance
is so genuine. Because of that,

109
00:07:57.839 --> 00:08:01.839
I think, yeah, it definitely
comes off on screen and it does show

110
00:08:01.519 --> 00:08:05.680
that he's natural in that environment.
You know who he reminds me of this

111
00:08:05.720 --> 00:08:09.439
movie. He reminds me a lot
of Tommy Howe in the Outsiders. Yeah,

112
00:08:09.519 --> 00:08:11.680
yeah, I could see now we've
got the voice over. He's the

113
00:08:11.720 --> 00:08:16.240
innocent one of the group. Yeah, he's the moral compass of the group.

114
00:08:16.399 --> 00:08:20.319
Yeah he's he's really he's got a
real pony boy vibe. He absolutely

115
00:08:20.399 --> 00:08:22.079
does. Yeah, he's the leader
of the group if you really look at

116
00:08:22.079 --> 00:08:24.800
it that way. Well, okay, I'm glad you say that, because

117
00:08:26.480 --> 00:08:28.879
I go back and forth when I'm
watching it. Something. Through most of

118
00:08:28.879 --> 00:08:33.240
the movie it feels like it's William
Kat's movie. Yeah, but for almost

119
00:08:33.279 --> 00:08:35.799
like the back half of it,
I kind of feel like it's j.

120
00:08:35.960 --> 00:08:39.120
Michael Vincent's move it becomes Matt's story. It's about Yeah at that point,

121
00:08:39.240 --> 00:08:41.840
You're right, it does. It
does a switch on you. And the

122
00:08:41.919 --> 00:08:46.879
reason it does that switch is if
you didn't pay attention to the film.

123
00:08:46.919 --> 00:08:50.000
And it is one of my that
I want to talk about a point in

124
00:08:50.039 --> 00:08:54.200
this film that makes this film.
You know how we always talk about we

125
00:08:54.240 --> 00:08:58.279
have that one scene, oh yeah, that we feel is the one scene

126
00:08:58.279 --> 00:09:00.879
that you know, this film couldn't
do with that you're talking about a pivotal

127
00:09:00.919 --> 00:09:03.080
moment. Pivotal moment. Yes,
uh, that's the scene. And I'll

128
00:09:03.080 --> 00:09:05.320
go ahead and say itnown since we're
talking about it, go for it.

129
00:09:05.799 --> 00:09:11.120
The scene where he's going off to
Vietnam, Yeah, Jack is, and

130
00:09:11.240 --> 00:09:13.639
Jack has that conversation. You know, they're all celebrating it's his last night

131
00:09:15.360 --> 00:09:18.200
to the military. Yeah, and
you know he grabs Matt and tells them,

132
00:09:18.240 --> 00:09:22.240
you know, take care of these
people. Yes, because and that

133
00:09:22.279 --> 00:09:26.000
shows you're right there. Jack was
the leader. He was taking care of

134
00:09:26.039 --> 00:09:30.000
everybody in that group, that the
females, the males, everybody. At

135
00:09:30.039 --> 00:09:33.720
that pivotal moment, he turns he
turns that over to Matt. At that

136
00:09:33.799 --> 00:09:39.559
point. I never even thought about
the passing of a torch type of situation

137
00:09:39.200 --> 00:09:43.879
that these these two guys have in
that moment that because think of the stuff

138
00:09:43.919 --> 00:09:46.559
Matt was going through in the first
half drunk. You know, he couldn't

139
00:09:46.600 --> 00:09:50.559
keep it, the gay hanging on
by barely hanging on. Yeah, and

140
00:09:50.600 --> 00:09:54.519
then look at the complete reversal he
has in the second half of this film.

141
00:09:54.679 --> 00:09:58.080
Yeah, Okay, so it does
it becomes his movie, It does,

142
00:09:58.159 --> 00:10:01.639
absolutely, it does. H Yeah, jam Michael Vincent playing Matt Johnson.

143
00:10:03.080 --> 00:10:05.960
I love that I did some surfing
homework because now that I know that

144
00:10:07.000 --> 00:10:09.600
you don't know anything about Kemp.
Maybe you don't know what I got coming

145
00:10:09.679 --> 00:10:13.480
up here. I'm excited, tell
me so. Matt Johnson is a character

146
00:10:13.519 --> 00:10:20.080
based on another famous surfer, Lance
Carson. Suffering from spinal biffida as a

147
00:10:20.120 --> 00:10:26.200
baby, doctors told his parents that
water exercise would stimulate bone growth, so

148
00:10:26.240 --> 00:10:31.639
he begins surfing at age four after
his dad makes a custom four foot surfboard

149
00:10:31.679 --> 00:10:35.600
for him, Dave. He goes
on to become one of the top surfers

150
00:10:35.600 --> 00:10:39.960
in the world. Like the character
of Matt, he does suffer from alcoholism,

151
00:10:41.120 --> 00:10:45.720
yeah, and like the character did
get himself back together. He goes

152
00:10:45.720 --> 00:10:50.320
on to create the Lance Carson Surfboards
label and launched the Surf Writer Foundation,

153
00:10:52.159 --> 00:10:58.080
which is a nonprofit organization dedicated to
protecting and preserving the world's oceans. Wow,

154
00:10:58.120 --> 00:11:01.080
that's impressive. How impressive that?
Yeah? Yeah, I can definitely

155
00:11:01.080 --> 00:11:05.159
see why they used him as an
inspiration for this character. Matt absolutely film,

156
00:11:05.200 --> 00:11:09.240
because it really does parallel quite well. I want to speak a little

157
00:11:09.240 --> 00:11:13.200
bit about Jim Michael love Vincent,
go for it. I always remember him

158
00:11:13.200 --> 00:11:18.399
as a kid playing an airwolf.
You remember him, Yes, It's it's

159
00:11:18.519 --> 00:11:24.440
very strange on how his life parallels
the character of Matt. I don't know

160
00:11:24.480 --> 00:11:28.879
if you know this, Jeff,
but John Michael Vincent struggled with alcoholism,

161
00:11:28.679 --> 00:11:33.200
which is why Airwolf fell apart.
Is that that's why we lost Airwolf.

162
00:11:33.279 --> 00:11:35.960
That's why we lost Airwolf. And
he was supposed to be this big upcoming

163
00:11:37.000 --> 00:11:41.960
star and he he was. He
was very, very popular, and unfortunately

164
00:11:41.159 --> 00:11:46.639
alcoholism took over his life as Matt
does in this film in the beginning of

165
00:11:46.679 --> 00:11:52.279
the film, and everything fell apart
from him. So that's why Airwolf was

166
00:11:52.320 --> 00:11:56.639
canceled and we really didn't see much
of this actor anymore. It never made

167
00:11:56.720 --> 00:11:58.440
sense to me, man, because
like watch that, you know, you're

168
00:11:58.440 --> 00:12:01.759
a kid, you're an Airwolf,
and you just assume that this is gonna

169
00:12:01.799 --> 00:12:05.720
be a the deck, Like what
where's Airwolf the movie? And where's where's

170
00:12:05.720 --> 00:12:09.840
all the Jan Michael Vincent movies.
I never knew that about his situation.

171
00:12:09.840 --> 00:12:15.720
He would show up iniberated where the
scenes being shot. Apparently it became a

172
00:12:15.720 --> 00:12:18.000
big old mess. But you know, later in life he struggled, Man.

173
00:12:18.679 --> 00:12:22.960
There he lost I believe he lost
the below his one of his legs,

174
00:12:22.039 --> 00:12:26.519
blow his knee what in an accident, I believe, And then something

175
00:12:26.559 --> 00:12:31.919
happened to his vocal cord. I
mean it's he's had a rough life,

176
00:12:33.240 --> 00:12:37.159
he really has. But it's interesting
that he plays Matt in the struggles that

177
00:12:37.200 --> 00:12:41.919
Matt has in this film. That's
sad. Well, let's let's uh,

178
00:12:41.080 --> 00:12:46.120
let's catch a new wave with jam
Michael Vincent. So he's doubled. Now.

179
00:12:46.159 --> 00:12:48.840
He's a good surfer too, he
grew up surfing. But some of

180
00:12:48.840 --> 00:12:54.000
the stuff these guys do, it's
just incredible and absolutely so. So.

181
00:12:54.519 --> 00:13:00.799
Jan Michael is doubled by sixties surfing
legend Bill Hamilton. Dave. He's the

182
00:13:00.840 --> 00:13:07.120
stepfather of arguably the best big wave
surfer in history. Talking about Laird Hamilton,

183
00:13:07.200 --> 00:13:09.240
Yeah you know that name. I
don't know that name. You want

184
00:13:09.279 --> 00:13:11.240
a fun fact about Laird? Sure, because he did get He has a

185
00:13:11.240 --> 00:13:13.960
little bit of a history with the
movies. You know, he's he was

186
00:13:13.960 --> 00:13:18.799
like a surf He was a surf
coordinator for Die Another Day, and he's

187
00:13:18.840 --> 00:13:22.360
done some stunt coordination with some other
films. The fun fact about Laird Hamilton

188
00:13:24.000 --> 00:13:28.480
he was the top choice to replace
Dolph Lungren for the Masters of the Universe

189
00:13:28.559 --> 00:13:33.080
sequel that never happened. Dude would
take when you take a look at him.

190
00:13:33.279 --> 00:13:37.480
Yeah, in like late eighties,
early nineties. Yeah, he does

191
00:13:37.519 --> 00:13:39.039
look like he Man. He more
so than Dolph Lunger. And he has

192
00:13:39.080 --> 00:13:43.919
that he is wearing the he Man
haircut, and like if you look him

193
00:13:43.000 --> 00:13:48.200
up on IMDb, dude, he's
he Man. So I totally see where

194
00:13:48.200 --> 00:13:50.039
they went with that. I do. I can see that as well.

195
00:13:50.120 --> 00:13:52.759
Interesting. You know who was up
for Matt Hamilton and turned it down?

196
00:13:54.120 --> 00:13:56.840
I do, actually, okay,
Jeff Bridges. So why does Bridges turn

197
00:13:56.919 --> 00:14:01.039
something like this down? I don't
no, to be honest with you,

198
00:14:01.080 --> 00:14:03.080
I don't know what was going on
in his life, if he had any

199
00:14:03.080 --> 00:14:05.240
other kind of roles, or he
just didn't see something in the script.

200
00:14:05.679 --> 00:14:07.559
I mean, this is this is
a couple of years before Tron correct where

201
00:14:07.600 --> 00:14:11.960
he like explodes in popularity. I'm
I'm wondering if he you know, I

202
00:14:13.000 --> 00:14:16.200
didn't do my homework on Jeff Bridges
his fhmography. I'm wondering what you know,

203
00:14:16.240 --> 00:14:18.919
what's his what's his pre tron filmography
look like? Where he would say,

204
00:14:18.960 --> 00:14:22.200
nah, this isn't for me.
Yeah, and it could just be

205
00:14:22.240 --> 00:14:24.120
something that's simple too. He looked
at the script and say this is just

206
00:14:24.159 --> 00:14:26.639
not for me. I get it. You know, maybe he wanted nothing

207
00:14:26.639 --> 00:14:30.519
to do with surfing, so that's
why it turned him off. No things.

208
00:14:31.039 --> 00:14:33.840
Well, I'll tell you someone who
had nothing to do with surfing was

209
00:14:33.879 --> 00:14:41.320
Gary Busey. He's playing Leroy Smith. Bucy learned how to surf just to

210
00:14:41.320 --> 00:14:43.320
do this movie. And you couldn't
tell because he looks that good. He

211
00:14:43.399 --> 00:14:46.279
looks that good. This is a
big year for the Tulsa, Oklahoma native.

212
00:14:48.080 --> 00:14:50.600
He learns how to surf for Big
Wednesday. Meanwhile, he's learning to

213
00:14:50.639 --> 00:14:54.279
sing and play the guitar for his
Oscar nominated performance as Buddy Holly and the

214
00:14:54.320 --> 00:14:58.840
Buddy Holly Story that you got.
You guys covered that, yep. And

215
00:14:58.879 --> 00:15:01.799
he's amazing and Buddy h he is
so amazing Buddy Holly. But then you

216
00:15:01.840 --> 00:15:05.159
see this movie, it's this is
coming out. I think this one comes

217
00:15:05.200 --> 00:15:09.759
out in May. Buddy Holly come
out in September. Yep. It's incredible

218
00:15:09.799 --> 00:15:15.399
that he is this good. He
looks this good on a surfboard. He's

219
00:15:15.440 --> 00:15:16.720
having fun. This is I mean
this, this is a fun character.

220
00:15:16.879 --> 00:15:20.960
It is absolutely is and you could
tell he was totally into that character.

221
00:15:20.039 --> 00:15:24.679
Yeah, and I don't mean to
turn this into an outsider's podcast. But

222
00:15:24.679 --> 00:15:28.799
but he gives me. He reminds
me a lot of two bit uh Milius

223
00:15:28.960 --> 00:15:31.200
as his character. Yeah, he's
the clown of the group. You know,

224
00:15:31.279 --> 00:15:33.279
he's what's the what's the the nickname
he gives himself. He wears it

225
00:15:33.279 --> 00:15:39.039
on the back of his shirt.
He's the the the misfit or the enforcer,

226
00:15:39.440 --> 00:15:43.320
something like that. It's something that
I can't remember that I can't remember

227
00:15:43.360 --> 00:15:46.360
it. It's funny. Uh.
I mentioned I mentioned Tulsa, Oklahoma because

228
00:15:48.240 --> 00:15:52.039
he's from you know, he's from
Tulsa and jam Michael Vincent's character tells Bucy's

229
00:15:52.120 --> 00:15:56.120
character he has an Oklahoma attitude?
Yeah, did you catch At the beginning?

230
00:15:56.240 --> 00:15:58.360
I was like, I said,
why would he say that. That's

231
00:15:58.360 --> 00:16:00.679
a weird thing. That's like UC's
kind of come plaining about something. And

232
00:16:00.759 --> 00:16:04.279
Vincent says, that's at Oklahoma attitude
of yours. That's weird, man.

233
00:16:04.279 --> 00:16:11.120
It is. Yeah, good old
Bucy. I don't know about you,

234
00:16:11.440 --> 00:16:15.039
but after seeing Bucy in this,
I could not wait to watch Point Break,

235
00:16:15.440 --> 00:16:18.000
you know, because he's in Point
Break. Yeah, and I mean

236
00:16:18.039 --> 00:16:19.639
he doesn't do any surfing in it, but still it's a surf movie.

237
00:16:19.960 --> 00:16:26.240
It's exactly that involves Gary Busey.
It's almost like Lee Roy grows up after

238
00:16:26.279 --> 00:16:30.440
Big Wednesday, he grows up,
joins the Academy, you know, he

239
00:16:30.519 --> 00:16:37.679
becomes Angelo Pappus. How about this, Dave, could you imagine if Point

240
00:16:37.679 --> 00:16:40.840
Break was made in nineteen seventy eight
and Bucy would have been been the Johnny

241
00:16:40.919 --> 00:16:42.080
Utah character, then oh wow,
yeah you would have. I mean he

242
00:16:42.080 --> 00:16:45.440
would have looked good, he would
have looked fantastic. And yeah, he

243
00:16:45.440 --> 00:16:48.519
would have one other there's a couple
other people. I got to talk about

244
00:16:49.919 --> 00:16:52.600
this one. It's a bit ahead. Listen, it's a bit of a

245
00:16:52.639 --> 00:16:56.759
head scratcher for me. I'm not
taking anything away from the performance. Yeah,

246
00:16:56.799 --> 00:17:04.519
Sam Melville plays Bear. So Mileys
had intended to play this part himself

247
00:17:04.680 --> 00:17:10.759
but realized it was too big for
him. So Tommy Lee Jones, who

248
00:17:11.480 --> 00:17:14.839
at that point was doing One Life
to Live, just coming off Rolling Thunder

249
00:17:14.920 --> 00:17:21.880
nineteen seventy seven, he reads for
it. Robert Duvall, who is an

250
00:17:21.960 --> 00:17:26.039
obviously is an accomplished actor. He's
a television star at this point, he's

251
00:17:26.039 --> 00:17:29.519
got he's had big film roles,
and The Godfather one and two he's just

252
00:17:29.519 --> 00:17:34.359
coming off network. They both auditioned
for the role and they don't get it,

253
00:17:36.640 --> 00:17:40.599
and this guy, Sam Melville does, and I just don't. I

254
00:17:40.599 --> 00:17:42.720
don't get I don't like Maybe Tommy
Lee Jones, you don't give it to

255
00:17:42.799 --> 00:17:48.079
him because maybe he just hasn't done
enough. But Robert Duvall wants to play

256
00:17:48.079 --> 00:17:49.799
Bear, and you turn him down
and you give it to Sam Melville.

257
00:17:51.400 --> 00:17:56.079
Melville like the only thing I looked
it up, the only thing I had

258
00:17:56.119 --> 00:18:00.200
seen him, and I really don't
remember Scarecrow Missus King. But here's the

259
00:18:00.200 --> 00:18:03.680
thing. Sometimes you want to take
that chance on a no name. You

260
00:18:03.720 --> 00:18:07.240
want to take a chance because a
lot of people don't know who that is.

261
00:18:07.720 --> 00:18:10.440
But let's be honest here, we
don't know what happened in the casting

262
00:18:10.519 --> 00:18:15.240
room. That's true. You know, maybe the director saw something in Sam

263
00:18:17.359 --> 00:18:21.160
that he didn't see in Robert,
even though Robert is a very very good

264
00:18:21.160 --> 00:18:22.640
actor. By no means am I
going to take that away from him.

265
00:18:23.119 --> 00:18:26.680
But maybe he just wanted that freshness
that Sam brought. The other thing I

266
00:18:26.720 --> 00:18:32.880
noticed, if you look at this
guy in the movie, he looks a

267
00:18:33.000 --> 00:18:38.200
lot like nineteen seventies john My Lace. Oh yeah, so maybe John's just

268
00:18:38.200 --> 00:18:41.960
look at him going, yeah,
that's the guy. Yeah, he's I

269
00:18:41.000 --> 00:18:44.920
don't know. But and again I'm
not taking anything away from his performance.

270
00:18:44.960 --> 00:18:49.160
I thought Bear was an incredible character. Loved that he was. You know,

271
00:18:49.200 --> 00:18:52.000
this movie kind of goes through the
seasons. You know, we even

272
00:18:52.000 --> 00:18:56.759
get like the title cards, the
chapter the ches fantastic, which is fantastic.

273
00:18:56.799 --> 00:19:00.799
I really enjoyed that, and I
like that Bear is kind of ever

274
00:19:00.920 --> 00:19:06.519
changing with those chapters and his life
falls apart. It's a complete reversal of

275
00:19:06.519 --> 00:19:11.519
Matt. Complete reversal. Yeah.
I just cracked together at the beginning of

276
00:19:11.519 --> 00:19:15.119
this movie. And then he has
his own serf shop, creating the Bear,

277
00:19:15.559 --> 00:19:18.119
the Bear, which is real,
Jeff, and it's still to this

278
00:19:18.240 --> 00:19:22.559
day real. We okay, uh, I'll put a pin in that because

279
00:19:22.559 --> 00:19:26.279
I don't want to that. We'll
come back to that in just a minute

280
00:19:26.319 --> 00:19:33.039
here. But I I gotta say
that the end Bear broke my heart when

281
00:19:33.079 --> 00:19:36.839
he was on the dock, came
out to visit him, to talk to

282
00:19:36.880 --> 00:19:41.079
him. That that did break my
heart. You're right, I didn't.

283
00:19:41.400 --> 00:19:44.559
I knew his life was calling apart
because we've already seen a little bit of

284
00:19:44.599 --> 00:19:47.240
that and they were talking about it
that he had lost his wife, he

285
00:19:47.279 --> 00:19:52.160
lost his serf shop at that point, and Matt was doing his best to

286
00:19:52.200 --> 00:19:53.440
get in, Hey, come on, come on, come come with family,

287
00:19:53.559 --> 00:19:56.359
you know, come with us,
you know, well, you know,

288
00:19:56.920 --> 00:20:00.119
come place somewhere warm, you know, and safe. But he just

289
00:20:00.160 --> 00:20:02.039
didn't one anything to do with it. Man. But I mean, well,

290
00:20:02.079 --> 00:20:04.680
that was that broke my heart.
But it broke my heart in a

291
00:20:04.720 --> 00:20:08.599
good way. At the end when
the one kid looks at him and says,

292
00:20:08.880 --> 00:20:12.000
you a surfer, and he's like, no, I'm just a garbage.

293
00:20:12.039 --> 00:20:15.960
I'm just a garbage. Yeah,
that was pretty sad too. But

294
00:20:15.000 --> 00:20:19.839
he has he has like he has
this this smile on his face and he's

295
00:20:21.000 --> 00:20:23.759
you can tell he's so full of
pride, like you're you're, like I

296
00:20:23.799 --> 00:20:27.279
said, my heart's breaking for him
in that moment, but in a way

297
00:20:27.279 --> 00:20:32.759
where I feel like he's going to
be he's redeemed. You know, he's

298
00:20:32.759 --> 00:20:34.920
gonna he's gonna be okay. Right, well, even even to go,

299
00:20:36.039 --> 00:20:37.799
you know, that was really sad. And the you know, the scene

300
00:20:37.839 --> 00:20:41.680
I was talking about two with the
docks building up to that point, you

301
00:20:41.720 --> 00:20:45.880
know, Matt went out there,
you know, he's basically a Bears was

302
00:20:45.920 --> 00:20:51.640
more concerned about Leroy and Jack showing
up than anything else. And you know,

303
00:20:51.839 --> 00:20:53.319
basically Matt finally had had it,
you know, and he says,

304
00:20:53.359 --> 00:20:56.799
you know they aren't coming, you
know, they're they are gone. It's

305
00:20:56.839 --> 00:21:00.720
it's just us. It's over.
You know. That's a whole sequence right

306
00:21:00.720 --> 00:21:03.480
there. I mean, luckily,
you know, Jack and Lee Roy do

307
00:21:03.599 --> 00:21:07.519
show up, which was a really
cool scene in itself. But yeah,

308
00:21:07.559 --> 00:21:11.440
man, my heart broke completely for
Bear. Yeah, really did well.

309
00:21:12.519 --> 00:21:19.880
One more person that we need to
address is this Freddy Krueger. I'm talking

310
00:21:19.880 --> 00:21:25.240
about Fly that's right, who happens
to be played by a guy who played

311
00:21:25.240 --> 00:21:29.279
Freddy Krueger. What in the heck
is Robert England doing in this movie?

312
00:21:29.599 --> 00:21:33.000
No, but I tell you the
funniest moment I saw him is when they

313
00:21:33.039 --> 00:21:34.440
were all in line to go into
the military. Did you see him?

314
00:21:36.759 --> 00:21:38.920
He's got the cup and the cane
and he's yeah, that's another thing I

315
00:21:38.920 --> 00:21:41.400
want. I want to talk about
that scene here in a minute. I'll

316
00:21:41.400 --> 00:21:45.519
tell you what. Let's let's take
a quick break and when we get back,

317
00:21:45.640 --> 00:21:47.680
we'll get into this film a little
bit more and we'll talk about some

318
00:21:47.680 --> 00:21:56.359
of these scenes. So we're back
talking about Big Wednesday, brought to our

319
00:21:56.359 --> 00:22:00.000
attention by listener Trev Lewis. Trevor, thank you again, absolutely, thank

320
00:22:00.000 --> 00:22:03.160
you so much for let me see
this film, because I would have never

321
00:22:03.200 --> 00:22:07.519
have got everyone never would have got
this one. Milas writes the script with

322
00:22:07.640 --> 00:22:11.279
his friend and fellow surfer Danny Aberg, who we mentioned earlier. It's based

323
00:22:11.279 --> 00:22:15.799
off a short story that Aberg published
in Surfer Magazine in nineteen seventy four titled

324
00:22:15.799 --> 00:22:21.799
No Pants Mance, about a group
of friends who used to surf. Dave.

325
00:22:21.839 --> 00:22:26.839
This is very personal. This is
very autobiographical for Milas, and you

326
00:22:26.839 --> 00:22:30.599
can see it. Yeah, he's
like a lot of his experiences are put

327
00:22:30.599 --> 00:22:37.079
into this movie. H Mileas.
He has a bit of a he's known,

328
00:22:37.200 --> 00:22:40.799
you know he he he says some
things sometimes that maybe he shouldn't.

329
00:22:41.079 --> 00:22:45.119
You know who he is though,
that's who he is. I gotta,

330
00:22:45.200 --> 00:22:48.519
I know, I know we'll get
to a quote from mylas, but I

331
00:22:48.519 --> 00:22:53.240
gotta I gotta drop this milest quote
here he once said, quote because I

332
00:22:53.359 --> 00:22:57.640
surfed. I'm the only director in
the world who could have made this picture.

333
00:22:59.279 --> 00:23:02.759
And I can tell you it's so
hard. No one will ever make

334
00:23:02.799 --> 00:23:08.200
it again, Okay, all right, I mean he's not really known in

335
00:23:08.279 --> 00:23:14.680
nineteen seventy eight, Dillinger basically.
Yeah, it's kind of a smack in

336
00:23:14.680 --> 00:23:18.359
the face and towards a lot of
big directors at the time. Right.

337
00:23:18.440 --> 00:23:19.799
Yeah, Well, I mean,
and so much fell a part on this

338
00:23:19.839 --> 00:23:25.000
film too, Oh gosha, I
mean the whole second unity they sent to

339
00:23:25.599 --> 00:23:30.480
El Salvador to film the big surfing
and then the waves didn't show up,

340
00:23:30.559 --> 00:23:33.319
and then their equipment got stolen and
the military was giving him a hard way

341
00:23:33.359 --> 00:23:36.759
to go. How much it cost
us, dude, to what half a

342
00:23:36.920 --> 00:23:40.000
million dollars just down the drain?
Yeah? What they get? Like,

343
00:23:40.200 --> 00:23:42.519
they got like what three minutes for
minute? It wasn't very much. Oh,

344
00:23:42.559 --> 00:23:47.279
i'd be the studio execs. You
know, that's that's almost something that

345
00:23:47.319 --> 00:23:49.839
would just shut an entire production down. You know, you're done, it's

346
00:23:49.880 --> 00:23:53.720
over. How this didn't get shut
down again? Yeah? He is not

347
00:23:53.839 --> 00:23:56.880
a big, no, well known
director at this point in his career.

348
00:23:57.000 --> 00:24:06.920
Yeah. The script originally titled We
Are Gods not popular with Warner Brothers.

349
00:24:07.559 --> 00:24:11.759
Uh yeah, so Milas he approaches
Surfer Magazine founder John Severson, to acquire

350
00:24:11.759 --> 00:24:17.319
the naming rights from his nineteen sixty
one surf film Big Wednesday, which you

351
00:24:17.359 --> 00:24:19.599
talked about. I'm kind of curious. I wonder they have that that shot

352
00:24:19.640 --> 00:24:23.680
where Matt takes his family to see
the surf documentary that he's in. Yeah,

353
00:24:25.519 --> 00:24:27.000
is that is that the sixty one
Big Week? Believe is? I

354
00:24:27.000 --> 00:24:30.920
think that is? It has to
be right, Yeah, I think that's

355
00:24:30.920 --> 00:24:33.119
cool. I couldn't. I couldn't. I couldn't confirm that, but I

356
00:24:33.160 --> 00:24:38.400
want that to be true. Honestly. Back to the studio and they're they're

357
00:24:38.519 --> 00:24:45.599
their their unhappiness with this, so
they set the budget for five million dollars.

358
00:24:47.119 --> 00:24:51.440
Malia spends more than double that,
with the final budget coming in at

359
00:24:51.440 --> 00:24:57.000
eleven million. And I thought this
was fantastic. In a Boston Globe interview

360
00:24:57.000 --> 00:25:02.640
in nineteen eighty one, one of
the the executives said the film was quote

361
00:25:02.960 --> 00:25:07.799
a classic example of an egomaniacal man
going over budget and not listening to anyone.

362
00:25:11.079 --> 00:25:14.359
How did he get away with it? He again, he made a

363
00:25:14.400 --> 00:25:17.440
big hit. Yeah, I don't
know how. There's no way you would

364
00:25:17.440 --> 00:25:21.880
get away with that today. There's
no way back then. I mean,

365
00:25:22.039 --> 00:25:26.839
it's it's hard to say, but
I mean, let's look at Steven Spielberg

366
00:25:26.920 --> 00:25:30.279
here, who pushed his way into
Hollywood on his own, just getting his

367
00:25:30.319 --> 00:25:33.319
own office on Universal. So I
mean, I guess this was a time

368
00:25:33.319 --> 00:25:34.799
period it was a little bit easy. This well, it's it's the time

369
00:25:34.839 --> 00:25:38.160
of the Mavericks. Yeah, right, this is Hollywood's changing. You know,

370
00:25:38.480 --> 00:25:41.119
these directors are they're doing whatever they
want. Like look at Coppola when

371
00:25:41.160 --> 00:25:45.480
he's making Apocalypse Now. I mean
he will talk about a film completely getting

372
00:25:45.519 --> 00:25:49.079
away from a studio and you know
which I may want to, you know,

373
00:25:49.119 --> 00:25:52.680
tell the viewers that is coming up
at a film at forty five,

374
00:25:52.720 --> 00:25:55.400
Oh, Scott, and I'll be
talking about you guys listen. I know

375
00:25:55.440 --> 00:25:57.599
there's only so much I can make
you do, but I was I was

376
00:25:57.640 --> 00:26:02.240
hoping that that was going to be
a just an automatic that you have to

377
00:26:02.240 --> 00:26:04.160
do. Apocalypse Now excellent. I
can't wait for you guys to cover that

378
00:26:04.160 --> 00:26:11.200
one. You mentioned the Bear brand
surfboards, yes, sir so, which

379
00:26:11.240 --> 00:26:15.400
was created for this film. Yeah, but Jeff, please enlighten us on

380
00:26:15.200 --> 00:26:21.359
where this went. This is incredible. Milas makes he creates the Bear brand

381
00:26:21.440 --> 00:26:26.000
surfboards out of he just comes up
with it, and this movie comes out

382
00:26:26.599 --> 00:26:33.000
and it explodes in popularity, and
everyone is wanting a Bear brand surfboard.

383
00:26:33.000 --> 00:26:37.079
They're wanting the T shirts because,
like you see, there's Bear brand merchandise

384
00:26:37.759 --> 00:26:41.240
all over the place. There's a
huge demand for it. Everyone wants that

385
00:26:41.279 --> 00:26:47.039
logo on their board. So Milas
turns it into a real company and it's

386
00:26:47.079 --> 00:26:51.039
still in business today to this day, still and going strong. Yeah,

387
00:26:51.319 --> 00:26:53.680
you know what bums me out though. I immediately looked it up because I

388
00:26:53.680 --> 00:26:56.519
was like, I gotta have a
I gotta have a Bear Surfboards T shirt.

389
00:26:57.319 --> 00:27:02.039
And I know I can get one, but it's like a European company.

390
00:27:02.160 --> 00:27:07.599
Yeah, So like I'm looking,
I'm like, well, I don't

391
00:27:07.640 --> 00:27:11.119
want the dollar two euro equivalent it
is. But either this shirt's gonna be

392
00:27:11.160 --> 00:27:14.200
a heck of a bargain or I'm
gonna spend like one hundred and fifty dollars

393
00:27:14.200 --> 00:27:17.799
on a T shirt. I don't
know, but I might have to find

394
00:27:17.839 --> 00:27:21.440
out. I think we need some
Bears barrow a T shirts man. Yeah.

395
00:27:21.559 --> 00:27:27.039
He Uh. Filming locations you mentioned
Salvador. They also shot Hollister Ranch

396
00:27:27.039 --> 00:27:32.680
near Santa Barbara. They're in Malibu, obviously, film takes place in Malibu,

397
00:27:32.960 --> 00:27:37.160
Ventura. Most notably, though,
it's Sunset Beach in Hawaii where they

398
00:27:37.160 --> 00:27:41.079
filmed that big epic epic for Now. Oh man, have you ever seen

399
00:27:41.680 --> 00:27:47.680
more gorgeous film when it comes to
surf? No, I haven't. You

400
00:27:47.720 --> 00:27:49.240
know, In watching those scenes at
the end of that movie, I was

401
00:27:49.359 --> 00:27:56.119
just pulled into the movie just in
awe at the cinematography here weeks. Yeah,

402
00:27:56.240 --> 00:28:00.200
it was so impressive. Yeah,
that's one thing I didn't expect.

403
00:28:02.079 --> 00:28:03.200
I knew we you know, we'd
see some surfing, but I didn't know

404
00:28:03.200 --> 00:28:06.480
that we were going to be out
in the water with them. I didn't

405
00:28:06.519 --> 00:28:11.480
either. There's one shot that just
blew me away, and it's the shot

406
00:28:11.519 --> 00:28:15.440
where Matt was on his board and
the wave was overtaking him. Yeah,

407
00:28:15.519 --> 00:28:18.400
and the camera was just going through
the wave pipeline as the wave is coming

408
00:28:18.480 --> 00:28:22.400
right over the top of the camera. Dude, that was so incredibly well

409
00:28:22.400 --> 00:28:26.599
done. I don't know about you. I watched this on Amazon. Could

410
00:28:26.599 --> 00:28:32.640
you imagine seeing a four K blu
ray of this film? Gorgeous and it

411
00:28:32.640 --> 00:28:33.839
needs to be done. If it's
not done yet, I hope someone does

412
00:28:33.880 --> 00:28:37.519
it. Yeah, please absolutely.
Jeff I want to talk about a little

413
00:28:37.519 --> 00:28:42.279
bit about the h you mentioned earlier
about the chapters and how this story was

414
00:28:42.319 --> 00:28:47.039
broken up. I thought that was
really unique on how they did this.

415
00:28:47.319 --> 00:28:48.720
I mean, I know some movies
have done that, the whole chapter thing,

416
00:28:48.799 --> 00:28:52.559
but you know, we've got what
five chapters I believe is Yeah,

417
00:28:52.759 --> 00:28:56.119
and it's all about the swell.
Yeah, it's like the Southwell, the

418
00:28:56.119 --> 00:29:00.319
West Swell, the Northwell, the
Great Swell, and then of course Big

419
00:29:00.359 --> 00:29:03.039
Wednesday, Big Wednesday, which is
at the end of the film. And

420
00:29:03.079 --> 00:29:06.359
I just I love how they just
broke it down that way and you could

421
00:29:06.400 --> 00:29:08.640
just see the changes. It was
almost like the changes of the seasons.

422
00:29:08.759 --> 00:29:12.519
It's the changes of the swells.
Yeah, you see as the film progresses.

423
00:29:14.279 --> 00:29:18.880
I thought that was written extremely well. Didn't you love Cat's narration also

424
00:29:18.000 --> 00:29:22.960
where he's he's explaining to us we
get the title card of what the swell

425
00:29:22.039 --> 00:29:29.559
is in the year yeah, and
Cat gives us this amazing explanation on what

426
00:29:29.599 --> 00:29:32.880
that swell is and what the weather's
like. Yeah, And I love that

427
00:29:32.960 --> 00:29:37.079
it kind of translates to the time
in these three guys' lives, it does,

428
00:29:37.160 --> 00:29:41.000
and what they're going through. Yeah. And as they as they're aging.

429
00:29:41.039 --> 00:29:42.559
You know, this is it's like
whatever, like the course of ten

430
00:29:42.640 --> 00:29:45.160
years, I think this story unfolds. Yeah, it went from sixty two

431
00:29:45.240 --> 00:29:49.799
to I think like seventy four,
twelve years that. Yeah, there was

432
00:29:49.880 --> 00:29:52.839
there's one narration. I don't remember
which swell it was. I want to

433
00:29:52.839 --> 00:29:56.759
say it was the West Swell it
was. It was it was the West

434
00:29:56.759 --> 00:30:00.039
Well where he says things are changing
and he said swell that you have to

435
00:30:00.079 --> 00:30:06.440
do alone. Yeah, you know
that tells you right there on just the

436
00:30:06.559 --> 00:30:08.440
changes of things that are happening for
everybody. Jeff, it happens to all

437
00:30:08.480 --> 00:30:11.559
of us, right, Oh,
absolutely, you know it's what this film

438
00:30:11.599 --> 00:30:14.960
is about. I mean, we
all have this group of friends that we

439
00:30:15.039 --> 00:30:18.920
had when we were young, right. Granted we probably weren't all, but

440
00:30:19.000 --> 00:30:22.039
you know, very similar situations.
Manah, I mean we were all young.

441
00:30:22.160 --> 00:30:25.799
We were all partying, having a
good time. Life was great.

442
00:30:26.119 --> 00:30:29.119
Yeah, this is it's this is
This film is stand by Me with surfboards.

443
00:30:29.119 --> 00:30:33.160
It's exactly what it is. Yeah. Oh man, just like that

444
00:30:33.279 --> 00:30:38.200
movie has an amazing soundtrack. I
hit you up. I was not even

445
00:30:38.240 --> 00:30:41.079
halfway through watching it for my first
watch. Yeah, and I was already

446
00:30:41.079 --> 00:30:45.279
blowing you up saying this soundtrack.
We got to talk about this soundtrack.

447
00:30:47.359 --> 00:30:51.039
Okay, So first off, the
score is composed by one of my favorites

448
00:30:51.640 --> 00:30:56.079
real yeah, oh yeah, regular
collaborator with Miless, good old Basil is

449
00:30:56.119 --> 00:31:04.200
it was Basil Politerius, terrible.
We're probably butchering his name, but I've

450
00:31:04.200 --> 00:31:07.960
always thought it was pullod Ors.
It might be Polodar. I hope he's

451
00:31:07.000 --> 00:31:11.599
pullod Or. So I sound good, but it sounds really cool. I

452
00:31:11.599 --> 00:31:14.680
don't care what it is, but
no, mean, his music was fantastic.

453
00:31:14.960 --> 00:31:18.480
His music is fantastic. And this
is one of those amazing moments where

454
00:31:18.519 --> 00:31:26.599
a composer, We've talked about this
recently too, a composer takes existing popular

455
00:31:26.680 --> 00:31:30.000
music and kind of blends his his
score into it. We talked about that

456
00:31:30.440 --> 00:31:36.759
John right now. I discussed that
h with with Tyler Bates on the Atomic

457
00:31:36.759 --> 00:31:40.640
Lond soundtrack. Listen to this.
If you haven't seen this movie, and

458
00:31:40.920 --> 00:31:44.000
Dave, I would, I told
I think I told you something like this

459
00:31:44.039 --> 00:31:47.440
one gives Forrest Gump a run for
the money. It gives stand by Me

460
00:31:47.480 --> 00:31:49.920
a run for the money. Listen
to this lineup, and I know some

461
00:31:49.960 --> 00:31:53.680
of our listeners that like classics and
the oldies, they'll definitely appreciate this one.

462
00:31:53.960 --> 00:32:00.359
So throughout this movie we're gonna get
treated to What I Say by Ray

463
00:32:00.440 --> 00:32:05.960
Charles, the Locomotion by Little Eva, Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow?

464
00:32:06.119 --> 00:32:12.039
By The Charell's Sherry by Frankie Valley, in the Four Seasons, Green Onions

465
00:32:12.200 --> 00:32:15.559
by Booker t which I I've been
in love with that piece of music since

466
00:32:15.559 --> 00:32:21.039
the Sandlot used it. We Got
Money, That's what I Want by the

467
00:32:21.440 --> 00:32:24.279
by Barrett Strong, and The Twist
by Chubby Checker. And I know I'm

468
00:32:24.359 --> 00:32:29.559
leaving a couple of them out,
but that is that's a hell That's a

469
00:32:29.599 --> 00:32:34.559
hell of a lineup for a movie
that takes place in the in the sixties.

470
00:32:34.720 --> 00:32:37.480
I will argue that it is a
great lineup, great music. And

471
00:32:37.480 --> 00:32:40.240
you're right if you if you love
oldies, you're gonna love listening to these

472
00:32:42.000 --> 00:32:45.759
in this movie. I still feel
that staying by Me and Forrest Compon did

473
00:32:45.799 --> 00:32:47.440
it better? Okay, Hey,
that's fair. I'm just saying this is

474
00:32:47.920 --> 00:32:52.160
you got to put this in the
conversation because now that I know it exists,

475
00:32:52.200 --> 00:32:53.240
I'm like, yeah, have you
heard Big Wednesday? Right now.

476
00:32:53.279 --> 00:32:55.079
That's that's what I'm out with it. And it's funny is when you made

477
00:32:55.079 --> 00:32:59.440
that comment to me before I had
seen it, I was anticipating it,

478
00:32:59.480 --> 00:33:00.960
and they say, oh, here
we go. Yeah. I believe your

479
00:33:00.960 --> 00:33:06.119
response was we'll see laugh out loud. I was like, yeah, we'll

480
00:33:06.160 --> 00:33:08.759
see who laughs last pal. No, it was a really good lineup,

481
00:33:09.079 --> 00:33:12.519
good music all around. A couple
of scenes I want to talk about.

482
00:33:13.079 --> 00:33:15.119
In the beginning. We get the
house party at Jack's. I heard you're

483
00:33:15.119 --> 00:33:20.319
having a party the whole time.
Everybody comes up and then they don't even

484
00:33:20.400 --> 00:33:23.039
know it and he didn't even know
them a party. I love that.

485
00:33:23.119 --> 00:33:25.400
I love that she's like, who
are all these people? He's like,

486
00:33:25.440 --> 00:33:32.880
I don't know her, poor house, allowing your son to have your party

487
00:33:32.920 --> 00:33:36.880
in your house. And it turns
into is this woman is this woman the

488
00:33:36.920 --> 00:33:40.640
coolest mom on the planet? Absolutely
she is. She's she's just what.

489
00:33:40.759 --> 00:33:46.160
She's upstairs reading a book in her
room. Crashes are going downstairs, fights

490
00:33:46.160 --> 00:33:51.559
are going on. Let's talk about
that fight real quick. Uh. Swite

491
00:33:51.559 --> 00:33:54.559
Tech from Miami Vice walks in and
he's clearly like one of the squares,

492
00:33:54.559 --> 00:33:59.519
like he just like all these all
these squares show up yep to crash there

493
00:33:59.559 --> 00:34:05.839
and then it's like party crashers,
Like you get this epic rumble where the

494
00:34:04.640 --> 00:34:12.199
the squares are going up against the
surfers. I'm like, what what what

495
00:34:12.480 --> 00:34:15.679
movie am I watching? Like?
This is crazy? Man? It was,

496
00:34:15.239 --> 00:34:17.159
and it kind of reminded me a
little bit of an Animal House,

497
00:34:17.280 --> 00:34:21.480
a little bit like it's as crazy
as it got. But I got a

498
00:34:21.559 --> 00:34:24.920
question for you, though, Why
was Leeroy wanting to bake himself? I

499
00:34:28.800 --> 00:34:35.119
ucy is getting lathered up in what
like crisco or something like grease. He's

500
00:34:35.199 --> 00:34:37.840
like, he's like like ramming speed. He is diving into the oven.

501
00:34:39.000 --> 00:34:43.960
I again, he is the he's
the clown of the group, piece of

502
00:34:44.159 --> 00:34:47.079
the funny one. But man,
I'll tell you what. He walks out

503
00:34:47.079 --> 00:34:50.719
to fight, all greased up.
He looks like he's ready for the UFC.

504
00:34:50.880 --> 00:34:52.440
He's ready to go. There's no
doubt about that. You know what

505
00:34:52.480 --> 00:34:58.239
you mentioned Animal House? I just
mentioned UFC, and I just realized put

506
00:34:58.400 --> 00:35:01.000
put a pin in those two where
because I got I got something on both

507
00:35:01.000 --> 00:35:04.760
of those. All right, looking
forward to it, I'll tell you what

508
00:35:04.760 --> 00:35:10.440
I'm not looking forward to ever.
Tijuana Tijuana is not a good time.

509
00:35:12.400 --> 00:35:16.000
Ain't what they did in that car. There's another point in this movie that

510
00:35:16.119 --> 00:35:24.159
broke my freaking heart because apparently that
car was the nineteen fifty two Chrysler Saratoga

511
00:35:24.239 --> 00:35:27.760
Town and Country. I've never seen
one before. I hadn't either, but

512
00:35:27.800 --> 00:35:32.920
apparently they only made thirteen hundred of
them, Jeff, and so in twenty

513
00:35:34.000 --> 00:35:37.239
twenty that car would be extremely valuable. To this day, it would be

514
00:35:37.239 --> 00:35:42.119
extremely valuable. And they destroy it, and they destroyed it in that movie.

515
00:35:42.280 --> 00:35:46.440
Oh my heart broke. Did you
catch the cameo in Tijuana? Maybe

516
00:35:46.440 --> 00:35:50.800
I missed it? What is it? Do you remember the marijuana dealer that

517
00:35:50.880 --> 00:35:53.400
tried to sell them some weed?
That's John Milis? Was that that was

518
00:35:53.480 --> 00:35:55.960
him? I missing it? Okay? He didn't feel like he was right

519
00:35:55.960 --> 00:36:01.320
for the part of bear weed dealer
in Tijuana. Is something he feels he

520
00:36:01.320 --> 00:36:05.000
can handle is what he can handle
it? Clearly, all right, clearly

521
00:36:05.039 --> 00:36:06.960
he can handle it. That that
scene, though, like I'm watching,

522
00:36:07.000 --> 00:36:10.480
I'm like, yeah, I'm never
going to Tijuan because this is a movie.

523
00:36:12.039 --> 00:36:15.880
Like you remember a LaBamba, you
know, Bob takes Richie to Tijuana?

524
00:36:15.519 --> 00:36:17.440
Looked like it was a good time. You know, woke up in

525
00:36:17.480 --> 00:36:23.880
a in a TP with a tattoo
and strange Native American. But Jeff Arluck,

526
00:36:23.920 --> 00:36:27.840
we wake up with a kidney missing. So let's yeah, yeah after

527
00:36:28.239 --> 00:36:31.079
if I was thinking Tijuana after La
Bamba, I'm definitely not thinking Tijuana after

528
00:36:31.119 --> 00:36:37.599
Big Wednesday. We talked about you
kind of when we were talking about Robert

529
00:36:37.639 --> 00:36:43.199
England. We started to get in
on induction day. These guys, this

530
00:36:43.239 --> 00:36:49.039
is ridiculous. They're they're faking physical
and mental disabilities, They're faking homosexuality.

531
00:36:49.880 --> 00:36:53.079
Uh, Nazi propaganda. Everyone's doing
it. Besides Jack, you know William

532
00:36:53.159 --> 00:36:57.239
Cat He's there, he's again,
He's on the office. Yeah, taking

533
00:36:57.239 --> 00:37:01.119
it serious again being the leader at
that point. And why is Leroy combing

534
00:37:01.159 --> 00:37:06.079
his hair with a fish? Let's
let's talk about Lee Roy, Let's talk

535
00:37:06.079 --> 00:37:12.440
about let's talk about Gary Busey versus
Joe Spanell. I. Spanell's one of

536
00:37:12.440 --> 00:37:15.360
those seventies character actors. In the
eighties, you know Gazo from Rocky,

537
00:37:15.440 --> 00:37:22.280
he was a was he Frank Zito
in Maniac I remember in Taxi Driver,

538
00:37:22.320 --> 00:37:25.880
He's he's always popping up that scene
where Bucy is just trying to push his

539
00:37:25.960 --> 00:37:31.079
buttons, like by taking the cigarettes
and then just lighting them, dropping on

540
00:37:31.280 --> 00:37:35.559
yeah, don't take my lighter,
don't take my life. And then he

541
00:37:35.639 --> 00:37:37.880
just goes crazy and then they have
to like carry him out of there.

542
00:37:37.920 --> 00:37:39.679
Basically, well, yeah, it
kind of goes it. You know,

543
00:37:40.039 --> 00:37:43.800
it doesn't work out too well for
him because they literally strap him down there

544
00:37:44.079 --> 00:37:49.320
and they take him to the the
to the hospital. Like he oversold himself

545
00:37:49.400 --> 00:37:53.559
on that one. Yeah. Uh
that scene though, Like you gotta wonder

546
00:37:55.320 --> 00:38:00.840
how often is that happening? Uh
during the Vietnam back then? The Yeah,

547
00:38:00.880 --> 00:38:02.280
even Matt Johnson, who at that
point where we're like, okay,

548
00:38:02.280 --> 00:38:06.440
he's he's kind of getting himself back
together. Yea, even he's like faking

549
00:38:06.480 --> 00:38:09.039
leg injuries and how long he wanted
this? Uh this what was it?

550
00:38:09.119 --> 00:38:13.199
Like that metal brace he had on? Yeah, you know he's he's making

551
00:38:13.239 --> 00:38:16.639
them hit him before he walks in. It's just ridiculous, it is.

552
00:38:17.000 --> 00:38:20.760
I think the one that we got
to talk about mostly though, is is

553
00:38:20.880 --> 00:38:25.119
Big Wednesday talking about the chapters.
Yeah, the finale of the Man again,

554
00:38:25.239 --> 00:38:30.159
the epic surfing that was caught on
film. Those waves were gigantic,

555
00:38:30.320 --> 00:38:34.239
Jeff, Like they scared me they
were so big because I'm like, I

556
00:38:34.239 --> 00:38:36.719
cannot imagine if I was out there
in the middle of that no, thank

557
00:38:36.760 --> 00:38:40.000
you, no way. That makes
the fact like they do this heroes walk.

558
00:38:40.760 --> 00:38:45.519
It's almost like they're the It's like
Gunfighter, the Ok Corral or the

559
00:38:45.559 --> 00:38:47.960
Magnificent Seven. Yeah. Yeah,
everyone is lined up on the on the

560
00:38:49.000 --> 00:38:52.199
shore, the police or everyone get
out, stay out, and these guys

561
00:38:52.199 --> 00:38:57.079
come walking up like they're I mean, they're they're doing like the hero walk.

562
00:38:57.320 --> 00:38:59.760
I can't I can't call anything other
than that. Yeah, exactly what

563
00:38:59.840 --> 00:39:01.639
it And Jeff, that brings up
another point that I would like to make

564
00:39:01.719 --> 00:39:06.360
right here, we have the complete
opposite of Matt's character here. Remember at

565
00:39:06.360 --> 00:39:08.199
the beginning of the film, he
could barely make it through that gate,

566
00:39:08.239 --> 00:39:12.440
down those broken steps, and they
told him, you have to do this

567
00:39:12.559 --> 00:39:15.960
on your own. But he barely
could do it because he was so enimberated,

568
00:39:15.360 --> 00:39:19.039
and you know, he had to
do it on his own. Here

569
00:39:19.079 --> 00:39:22.039
at the end, he's got everything
together again. You know, he's not

570
00:39:22.119 --> 00:39:25.840
drunk anymore, he's not an alcohol
and he comes down them steps and I

571
00:39:25.880 --> 00:39:30.400
love that shot as he comes down
the steps, and then we get Leroy

572
00:39:30.440 --> 00:39:34.079
and Jack come out from the side
of the screen to meet him. I

573
00:39:34.119 --> 00:39:39.280
love that. It's so great that
that moment, this scene is worth a

574
00:39:39.480 --> 00:39:43.920
three ninety nine. You'll spin on
Amazon Prime to rent it as far as

575
00:39:43.960 --> 00:39:50.199
I'm concerned. Also, did you
catch another another cameo there? They kind

576
00:39:50.199 --> 00:39:55.920
of allude to this guy, Jerry
Lopez. Jerry Lopez is a real person.

577
00:39:57.000 --> 00:39:59.960
He is one of the greatest surfers
of all time. He's a two

578
00:40:00.199 --> 00:40:02.440
time Pipeline Master's Champion. Actually,
and that was really him out there too,

579
00:40:02.480 --> 00:40:07.239
really him out there. He's playing
himself. He goes on. He

580
00:40:07.320 --> 00:40:10.320
kind of pops up in Meloe films
before, like, I recognize him immediately

581
00:40:10.320 --> 00:40:14.239
because hes Suba Thai and Conan and
the barbarian. That's where it was like,

582
00:40:14.599 --> 00:40:15.199
you're right, yeah, I was
like, well, you know,

583
00:40:15.440 --> 00:40:19.679
and if you also get that because
everybody was focused on him when he was

584
00:40:19.679 --> 00:40:22.679
coming into the parking lot and Matt's
like looking around at him, you know,

585
00:40:22.800 --> 00:40:25.000
because that used to be Matt.
Remember, Yeah, that was Matt.

586
00:40:25.079 --> 00:40:28.800
Everybody was focused on Matt when he
showed up. But now no,

587
00:40:29.000 --> 00:40:35.519
not anymore. Dave. Let's take
one more break and then uh we'll we'll

588
00:40:35.559 --> 00:40:37.519
catch another wave here with the with
John Milis. We'll talk about a little

589
00:40:37.519 --> 00:40:45.199
bit about John Milss himself. All
right, we're back, dave a couple

590
00:40:45.159 --> 00:40:50.599
of things about John Milis. Yeah, and then I got a great quote

591
00:40:50.760 --> 00:40:58.360
for you. So first off,
he wrote, we know he's this amazing

592
00:40:58.360 --> 00:41:02.559
writer. He's written more than he's
dire. He wrote the line go ahead,

593
00:41:02.760 --> 00:41:07.159
make my day for Clint Eastwoods,
dirty, hairy character and sudden impact.

594
00:41:07.400 --> 00:41:13.880
As well as the USS Indianapolis scene
in Jawles. Wow, that is

595
00:41:14.039 --> 00:41:17.079
mindless. That is huge because we
know what that seems like. That that

596
00:41:17.159 --> 00:41:22.840
might be pound for pound, that
might be one of the greatest scenes in

597
00:41:22.880 --> 00:41:29.800
a film ever. Oh yeah,
and he's the guy giving us that that

598
00:41:29.880 --> 00:41:35.079
speech. That's pretty impressive. Yeah, more impressive. He's a close friend

599
00:41:35.159 --> 00:41:38.400
of the Gracie family, so much
so he was one of the original founders

600
00:41:38.559 --> 00:41:43.760
of the UFC. It was actually
his suggestion that they make the Ring an

601
00:41:43.760 --> 00:41:50.639
octagon. Wow. Yeah, we
talked talked UFC earlier. Yeah, so

602
00:41:50.679 --> 00:41:53.079
how about that. Man, he's
really got a lot going on besides movies.

603
00:41:53.400 --> 00:41:57.559
Yeah, that's pretty impressive. This
one. Once I read this,

604
00:41:57.800 --> 00:42:02.119
you can't unsee it. It's so
obvious. He's also he's he's close friends

605
00:42:02.119 --> 00:42:07.880
with the Cohen brothers. The character
of Walter and the big Lebowski, they

606
00:42:07.880 --> 00:42:10.039
wrote that as him. They just
named him Walter because they could't call him

607
00:42:10.079 --> 00:42:15.280
JHN Miles. When you see think
about think about Goodman in that role.

608
00:42:15.119 --> 00:42:20.400
How much he looks like John Milis
now. And he's wearing the the like

609
00:42:20.480 --> 00:42:22.960
the fisherman's jacket with all the AMMO
packs and all that stuff. He's always

610
00:42:22.960 --> 00:42:30.639
got guns. He's you know,
it's just amazing. Here's a here's a

611
00:42:30.639 --> 00:42:34.239
good quote for you because he has
this is what this is a guy who

612
00:42:34.280 --> 00:42:37.440
always has something to say. Mm
hm h. And I like, I

613
00:42:37.480 --> 00:42:38.400
was like, you know what,
let's find a quote, a good Milas

614
00:42:38.480 --> 00:42:40.320
quote. I was like, you
know what, there's a lot of good

615
00:42:40.320 --> 00:42:45.559
ones out there, but let's focus
on something for this movie. So when

616
00:42:45.599 --> 00:42:51.239
it comes to Big Wednesday, he
said quote. When I did Big Wednesday,

617
00:42:51.880 --> 00:42:54.280
my first impressions were that I was
going to do this coming of age

618
00:42:54.320 --> 00:43:00.840
story with Arthurian overtones about surfers that
nobody took seriously, their troubled lives made

619
00:43:00.960 --> 00:43:07.800
larger than life by their experience with
the sea. And that's what the movie

620
00:43:07.880 --> 00:43:12.599
is it never straight from that.
There was a lot of pressure to make

621
00:43:12.639 --> 00:43:15.920
it more like Animal House. But
the movie has a huge following now because

622
00:43:16.199 --> 00:43:21.679
it did have loftier ambitions. It
wasn't just a story about somebody trying to

623
00:43:21.760 --> 00:43:27.840
ride the biggest wave or something that's
not enough. So again, even in

624
00:43:27.920 --> 00:43:30.320
something even in that paragraph that he
that I just read that he you know

625
00:43:30.440 --> 00:43:37.320
his words. Yeah, you can
tell just how passionate he was for for

626
00:43:37.360 --> 00:43:39.320
this story. Yeah. Absolutely.
It's funny that he mentions the Animal House

627
00:43:39.320 --> 00:43:43.039
as we mentioned that earlier. Yeah, that's when you said, when you

628
00:43:43.039 --> 00:43:45.360
said Animal housees like, oh,
I got something about Animalhouse for you.

629
00:43:45.840 --> 00:43:49.639
Wait, wait to hear what he
says about this. Let's talk a little

630
00:43:49.639 --> 00:43:52.760
bit about his philmography though, Oh, he's got some good stuff. He's

631
00:43:52.800 --> 00:43:57.159
got some great stuff. You know. We again we talked about how much

632
00:43:57.159 --> 00:44:00.280
of a amazing writer he is.
But let's focus on his films. As

633
00:44:00.320 --> 00:44:06.199
I said, he I think Dillinger
was the first movie that kind of put

634
00:44:06.239 --> 00:44:10.400
him on the map. In nineteen
seventy three, one of Tarantino's favorite films.

635
00:44:10.559 --> 00:44:15.440
By the way, he thinks of
Dillinger, QT said it was probably

636
00:44:15.440 --> 00:44:19.840
his best work, you know,
not his favorite picture, but is definitely

637
00:44:19.880 --> 00:44:23.599
his best. The Wind in the
Wind in the Lion nineteen seventy five.

638
00:44:23.639 --> 00:44:25.880
Did you happen to catch that one? I have seen that movie, but

639
00:44:25.920 --> 00:44:30.119
it's been a really long time and
knew was was that Sean Connery? That

640
00:44:30.280 --> 00:44:37.880
was that was Sean Connery, Cannis
Bergen, fran Keith John Houston's in it.

641
00:44:37.000 --> 00:44:42.480
Yeah, like it takes place in
the desert and he's like, I

642
00:44:42.480 --> 00:44:45.199
forgot the kind of role he is. But she goes out there and I

643
00:44:45.199 --> 00:44:49.599
guess they fall in love and like, yeah, oh, it's all about

644
00:44:49.639 --> 00:44:53.800
it's all about Roosevelt. Roosevelt.
Oh yeah, okay, yeah, it's

645
00:44:53.840 --> 00:44:58.800
like he's like a chieftain. Uh
that's what. There's a big, big

646
00:44:58.840 --> 00:45:04.519
situation happens Theodore Roosevelt gets involved,
you know. Yeah, that's right.

647
00:45:05.280 --> 00:45:07.679
I think it's worth a rewatch.
I haven't seen it probably since I was

648
00:45:07.719 --> 00:45:09.239
a little kid, and probably didn't
like it because you think because I think

649
00:45:09.280 --> 00:45:12.480
I'm like you. I thought it
when I was a kid, and I

650
00:45:12.519 --> 00:45:15.840
didn't appreciate what I was watching.
Yeah, and watching it now, as

651
00:45:15.920 --> 00:45:16.920
much as I love history and stuff, I would get a lot more out

652
00:45:16.960 --> 00:45:21.079
of it now for sure. Well, his next two films I did see

653
00:45:21.199 --> 00:45:24.079
as a kid, and I definitely
appreciated both of them, I hope,

654
00:45:24.519 --> 00:45:31.119
and to this day I appreciate him. Nineteen eighty two Conan the Barbario.

655
00:45:31.199 --> 00:45:38.280
Oh yeah, that's score, that
score by Bazipolados. Yep again, I

656
00:45:38.360 --> 00:45:42.519
hope I'm saying that right. Yeah, forgive us if we're not. Could

657
00:45:42.519 --> 00:45:45.159
you believe me we are fans of
his work. I mean I couldn't.

658
00:45:45.239 --> 00:45:50.840
I couldn't imagine this movie not happening
without Arnold Schwarzenegger. Oh yeah, no,

659
00:45:50.880 --> 00:45:53.800
not at all. And I think
when I was doing my homework on

660
00:45:53.920 --> 00:45:59.159
my this, he even said,
if Arnold Schwartzeninger didn't exist, they would

661
00:45:59.159 --> 00:46:02.199
have had to go make him,
meaning like we'll go into the gyms,

662
00:46:02.239 --> 00:46:06.320
we'll find someone, because he was
wanting someone larger than life. This is

663
00:46:07.039 --> 00:46:08.679
this is kind of the beginning.
You know, I know, Steve Reid's

664
00:46:08.920 --> 00:46:12.800
had did it and like the you
know, Hercules goes to New York and

665
00:46:12.800 --> 00:46:15.519
that kind of stuff. Correct,
But this is you know, this is

666
00:46:15.559 --> 00:46:22.039
still the seventies, late seventies where
the ideal male hero looks like Chuck Heston.

667
00:46:22.400 --> 00:46:27.199
You know, just kind of lean. So this is like I think

668
00:46:27.239 --> 00:46:31.960
Conan is what starts the whole bulging
muscles and biceps. Yeah, man,

669
00:46:32.559 --> 00:46:36.840
codin the Barbarian and just makes me
fall in love with this sword and sandal

670
00:46:36.960 --> 00:46:39.840
kind of thing. And you know
that that that period, It just I

671
00:46:39.880 --> 00:46:43.440
love it because it made me fall
in love with the beast Master thanks to

672
00:46:43.480 --> 00:46:46.880
Cone. Yeah, I'll say this
from my money. When you're talking fantasy

673
00:46:46.920 --> 00:46:51.599
like swords and sandals, fantasy stuff, Conan is the best. Yeah,

674
00:46:51.679 --> 00:46:54.400
there's some great ones in that in
that genre, but yes, Conan is

675
00:46:54.440 --> 00:47:01.480
the ultimate. Let's talk nineteen eighty
four. What I'm gonna say is my

676
00:47:01.519 --> 00:47:05.639
all time favorite war film. I'm
sure you're talking about Red Dawn, Red

677
00:47:05.679 --> 00:47:13.960
don another memorable score. I mean, this is the brat This is a

678
00:47:13.960 --> 00:47:17.559
different kind of brat pack, you
know. But think think of the lineup

679
00:47:17.920 --> 00:47:23.320
in Red Dawn. I mean,
and I hate to think that anyone out

680
00:47:23.320 --> 00:47:30.440
there has never seen Red Dawn,
but Patrick Swayze, Charlie Sheen, Leah

681
00:47:30.440 --> 00:47:35.480
Thompson, Tommy Howe, Jennifer Gray. Yeah, this is this is Patrick

682
00:47:35.480 --> 00:47:40.880
Swayze and Jennifer Gray A couple of
years before Dirty Dancing this is Think about

683
00:47:40.880 --> 00:47:45.119
this. When this movie came out, It's not that every kid wanted it.

684
00:47:45.119 --> 00:47:50.480
It's that every kid hoped Russia was
dumb enough to invade. Come on,

685
00:47:50.719 --> 00:47:52.320
we all want to be Wolfverine.
We all wanted to be woo want.

686
00:47:52.679 --> 00:47:57.920
Every one of us wanted to take
our dad's shotgun and go off into

687
00:47:57.920 --> 00:48:04.760
the woods and and fight and fight
Russians. Yeah, this film powers booth,

688
00:48:04.960 --> 00:48:08.239
by the way, playing the the
pilot, play the pilot. Yeah,

689
00:48:08.760 --> 00:48:13.119
ah man, there's a lot in
that film. I can't. I

690
00:48:13.280 --> 00:48:15.599
I could, we could. We
could turn this into Red don Red real

691
00:48:15.639 --> 00:48:21.639
quick. You know Harry Dean's Danton
Boys. Avenge me. You know what

692
00:48:21.679 --> 00:48:25.960
I'm gonna say it. Red Dawn
is celebrating its fortieth anniversary. I'll go

693
00:48:25.920 --> 00:48:30.119
ahead and tell you we are doing
a Red Dawn episode on Patreon. I

694
00:48:30.400 --> 00:48:36.639
hope so this fall our buddy deaf
Dave stop by, because I know he's

695
00:48:36.719 --> 00:48:38.960
he's a bit of a fan of
this movie too. Yeah, I'm gonna

696
00:48:39.239 --> 00:48:45.199
do it justice. I'll tell you
what. Come November, we're gonna get

697
00:48:45.199 --> 00:48:49.440
the shotguns. I'm gonna grab a
couple of days, go up in the

698
00:48:49.480 --> 00:48:52.159
mountains, go up in the Mountains
do a podcast on Red Don's fortieth anniversary.

699
00:48:52.360 --> 00:48:54.800
That sounds like a good time to
count count on it, Man,

700
00:48:55.320 --> 00:49:06.199
count on It a Red Dawn he
did. He did some episodes on twilight

701
00:49:06.280 --> 00:49:09.039
Zone nineteen ninety one. We let's
let's head it. In the nineties ninety

702
00:49:09.119 --> 00:49:12.840
ninety one he does a Flight of
the Intruder with Danny Glover. Yep,

703
00:49:13.400 --> 00:49:15.760
it's been for ever since. I
don't remember too much about that film.

704
00:49:15.800 --> 00:49:19.400
Listen. I don't know why that
movie doesn't get talked about more. Yeah,

705
00:49:19.719 --> 00:49:22.679
because doing doing research for this,
I was like, oh, hey,

706
00:49:22.679 --> 00:49:24.639
that's on Max or no, what
on Max? It was on a

707
00:49:24.760 --> 00:49:29.719
Paramount plus correct. Yeah. I
was like, I'm watching it. It

708
00:49:29.800 --> 00:49:32.519
holds up. It's a good movie. Willem Defoe. You got Roseanna cat.

709
00:49:32.960 --> 00:49:37.239
It's got a great cat. Great
cat that. Yeah, and just

710
00:49:38.119 --> 00:49:40.559
you know, the the the the
idea of the plot. You know,

711
00:49:42.440 --> 00:49:47.559
it's a Vietnam Vietnam war and uh
Obamba pilot does a kind of does an

712
00:49:47.639 --> 00:49:52.920
unauthorized air strike on Hanoi. Yeah, so I'll send him more. Yeah,

713
00:49:52.440 --> 00:49:55.119
you can watch it, and you
know, not saying what they did

714
00:49:55.159 --> 00:50:00.719
was right, well, of course, but I'm saying, so I endraw

715
00:50:00.760 --> 00:50:07.000
your own conclusions. Uh, you
know the sad thing here is that's kind

716
00:50:07.000 --> 00:50:12.360
of as far as the director goes, that's kind of like the end.

717
00:50:13.280 --> 00:50:17.440
He does a couple of TV movies, does the Rough Riders the mini series

718
00:50:17.599 --> 00:50:22.599
he wrote? Didn't he write Geronimo
the American Legend? American Legend? With

719
00:50:22.679 --> 00:50:24.119
West Study. I want to say, I want to say you're right,

720
00:50:24.320 --> 00:50:30.440
because I like that film. Again, a history buff that am was is

721
00:50:30.440 --> 00:50:31.840
always a big fan of that one. Got it. That's a very unusual

722
00:50:31.920 --> 00:50:37.119
score too, highly recommend that movie. Well, let's see. Uh,

723
00:50:37.159 --> 00:50:39.519
you know, I'm gonna make time
for this. He wrote Magnum Force.

724
00:50:39.719 --> 00:50:45.039
Oh yeah, he wrote Apocalypse Now
he gave he gave Spielberg the story for

725
00:50:45.119 --> 00:50:51.320
nineteen forty one. Yeah, which
you know you already took Spilberg's Close Encounters

726
00:50:51.360 --> 00:50:52.079
money. You don't have to you
don't have to give him. You don't

727
00:50:52.079 --> 00:50:54.280
have to, you don't have to
back. You don't have to add insult

728
00:50:54.280 --> 00:50:59.760
to injury with give him that terrible
movie. I know, I know a

729
00:50:59.760 --> 00:51:01.840
couple listeners that follow us that well, that we happen to know that.

730
00:51:01.880 --> 00:51:07.760
He also did some TV work for
Mimmy Vice did some writing, Baby Vice.

731
00:51:08.679 --> 00:51:10.960
Yeah, and I think he did. Didn't he do Lonesome Dove?

732
00:51:13.519 --> 00:51:16.000
I don't think so. I'm not
seeing it here you are right there.

733
00:51:16.039 --> 00:51:20.599
Nineteenth ninety three, he does Geronimo, an American legend. Yes, he

734
00:51:20.639 --> 00:51:25.199
wrote the screenplay for Clear and Present
Danger. He worked on Rome, the

735
00:51:25.639 --> 00:51:32.239
TV series Hbos Rome Ethic Series.
Yeah, so he's he's keeping busy.

736
00:51:32.239 --> 00:51:35.920
But man, i'd love to see
him at his age. I don't know

737
00:51:35.920 --> 00:51:39.320
that he's gonna direct anymore. But
no, And it's unfortunate because you know,

738
00:51:39.400 --> 00:51:42.840
we always talk about what we would
want to see from the director.

739
00:51:43.239 --> 00:51:45.480
I really wanted to see another Conehan. Jeff. Well, I know we

740
00:51:45.519 --> 00:51:49.239
couldn't get it with Arnold anymore.
I mean we can't. Kind of,

741
00:51:49.400 --> 00:51:52.920
yes, let's let's just do this. So as far as like what's next

742
00:51:52.960 --> 00:51:55.840
or what we want to see,
he is in pre production. He's credited

743
00:51:55.840 --> 00:52:01.039
as the writer for a movie called
Ginghis Khan. Yeah, so obviously he's

744
00:52:01.039 --> 00:52:05.360
in his will house there. He
is, absolutely, but before it's too

745
00:52:05.440 --> 00:52:12.280
late, for the love of God, please give us give us King Conan

746
00:52:12.440 --> 00:52:15.599
Crown of Iron. He was working
on it in the early two thousands.

747
00:52:15.599 --> 00:52:19.360
I know, I know, Dave, it's time to complete the trilogy.

748
00:52:19.440 --> 00:52:22.239
It is, it started, it
started any too. Let's let's let's bring

749
00:52:22.280 --> 00:52:28.239
it full circle. I agree,
and think about this, the the the

750
00:52:28.280 --> 00:52:31.519
epilogue to Conan the Barbarian. You
see Arnold, Old and Gray sitting in

751
00:52:31.599 --> 00:52:36.519
the thorn on the throne. It
would make sense. We could do that

752
00:52:36.599 --> 00:52:39.239
now. We could totally do that
right now. And listen, I get

753
00:52:39.239 --> 00:52:44.840
it. If you don't have the
energy to direct, but he could write

754
00:52:44.880 --> 00:52:51.840
this. We could give it to
any number of amazing directors out there and

755
00:52:51.840 --> 00:52:55.760
and let Arnold play it absolutely.
You know, he's We've been talking about

756
00:52:55.760 --> 00:53:00.079
this surf movie. Catherine Bigelow gives
us one of the greatest surf movies with

757
00:53:00.159 --> 00:53:06.719
Point Break. Could you imagine a
Catherine Bigelow directed King Conan starring Arnold with

758
00:53:06.760 --> 00:53:08.840
a screenplay by John Miliss. That
would be pretty fantastic. I would be

759
00:53:08.840 --> 00:53:12.000
all over watching that one, for
sure. That's a layup. Come on,

760
00:53:14.000 --> 00:53:20.199
get your act together, right,
Yeah, Dave. Sadly, it's

761
00:53:20.239 --> 00:53:22.199
not streaming no anywhere, but you
can rent it. You can rent,

762
00:53:22.239 --> 00:53:25.480
and it's worth a rent. It's
definitely worth the rent. Going back My

763
00:53:25.559 --> 00:53:29.639
only regret is, you know,
Amazon Prime gives you the option you can

764
00:53:29.679 --> 00:53:31.119
rent it or you can buy it. Kind of wish I would have bought

765
00:53:31.159 --> 00:53:32.880
this. Yeah, and it wasn't
that much more to buy it. It's

766
00:53:32.920 --> 00:53:37.480
like ten bucks. Yeah, I
should have bought it too. Yeah,

767
00:53:36.920 --> 00:53:40.480
your recommendation, would do you go
go rent it? Watch this film?

768
00:53:40.800 --> 00:53:45.079
You know it caught me by surprise. I'm glad it was recommended to us

769
00:53:45.119 --> 00:53:49.199
to watch this because I never would
have seen this film if it wasn't.

770
00:53:49.239 --> 00:53:51.360
You know, hey, can we
do this? And thanks for that?

771
00:53:51.559 --> 00:53:55.079
Yeah, it's worth it. Trevor
Lewis listening to us in the United Kingdom.

772
00:53:55.280 --> 00:54:00.199
Ye, had it not been for
him reaching out, we would not

773
00:54:00.239 --> 00:54:05.920
have seen this amazing John Milis movie. And you know clearly we love his

774
00:54:06.000 --> 00:54:08.159
work, So you had a home
run for us. Absolutely, Big Wednesday.

775
00:54:09.199 --> 00:54:12.760
As far as I'm concerned, it's
it's all about the transition we make

776
00:54:12.880 --> 00:54:16.320
from innocence to adulthood. Absolutely.
The characters navigate their way through the carefree

777
00:54:16.400 --> 00:54:22.480
days of house parties and surfing,
the responsibilities of marriage, parenting, the

778
00:54:22.519 --> 00:54:28.679
war, to the understanding that while
times change, friendships, they don't know.

779
00:54:29.360 --> 00:54:32.280
So that's it. Might not be
my favorite John Milers film, but

780
00:54:34.000 --> 00:54:37.119
it may just be his best work. I think I can say that,

781
00:54:37.840 --> 00:54:42.639
So if you haven't seen it,
I recommend this one. As listeners,

782
00:54:42.960 --> 00:54:47.119
what do you think of Big Wednesday
in John Milis's work? You can let

783
00:54:47.159 --> 00:54:52.320
us know on social media. We're
on Facebook, Instagram, and x You

784
00:54:52.320 --> 00:54:55.079
can check out a Film by Podcast
dot com for all of our episodes,

785
00:54:55.079 --> 00:55:00.639
which are streaming free on the platform
of your choice. You can write to

786
00:55:00.719 --> 00:55:04.159
us at a Film by Podcast at
gmail dot com with your questions, comments

787
00:55:04.199 --> 00:55:07.199
and concerns. We may just read
your response on the show and send you

788
00:55:07.239 --> 00:55:12.079
some a film by swag, or
maybe we'll just take your suggestion and do

789
00:55:12.119 --> 00:55:15.239
an episode like we did for trav
Lewis, who did just that. He

790
00:55:15.320 --> 00:55:20.320
emailed us and let us know what
he thought. So well. Join us

791
00:55:20.360 --> 00:55:24.119
tomorrow for our Star Trek theme series, Phasers Set the Stun, Wayne,

792
00:55:24.480 --> 00:55:30.599
David, and Scott are continuing their
recap of Discovery's final season. What is

793
00:55:30.159 --> 00:55:34.880
like the eighth episode tomorrow? Yeah? Wow, you guys are burning through

794
00:55:34.920 --> 00:55:37.480
that speed right, He's only ten
episodes, so we're getting close to the

795
00:55:37.559 --> 00:55:42.719
end of it. Yeah, I'm
you guys almost got me convinced to check

796
00:55:42.760 --> 00:55:45.880
out Discovery. I'm I'm on the
I'm on the edge. They had a

797
00:55:45.920 --> 00:55:50.039
rough couple of seasons, but this
season's been pretty solid. Okay, yep,

798
00:55:50.559 --> 00:55:53.320
all right, excellent. Well,
before you get back to the bridge.

799
00:55:54.400 --> 00:56:00.480
On Friday, our limited series nineteen
ninety six returns with a look young

800
00:56:00.760 --> 00:56:06.599
Leonardo DiCaprio and a tale of Starcross
lovers and tragedy in Baz Lorman's Romeo and

801
00:56:06.679 --> 00:56:13.280
Juliet. And next time on a
film by something wicked This way comes when

802
00:56:13.320 --> 00:56:16.760
Amber Lewis and I talk about a
film by George Miller, his nineteen eighty

803
00:56:16.760 --> 00:56:23.559
seven supernatural comedy The Witches of Eastwick. Dave, it's always a pleasure,

804
00:56:23.599 --> 00:56:28.159
man, always. Thanks for having
me, absolutely, And to those of

805
00:56:28.159 --> 00:56:31.239
you listening, hitting the like subscribe
and follow buttons, And to all of

806
00:56:31.280 --> 00:56:38.039
you subscribing or following our Patreon for
the exclusive content, we thank you.