#68. 'Wild Things' Bonus Episode
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This short bonus episode is a rewatch of Wild Things (1998), the sweaty Florida neo-noir starring Denise Richards, Neve Campbell, Matt Dillon, Bill Murray, and Kevin Bacon, prompted by its sudden arrival on Netflix. Vic opens with his Quadrant scores — a B for plot (rescued only by the after-the-credits epilogue that explains who knew what), an A+ for duration, a B+ for action/violence, and a maxed-out A+++ for sex/nudity — before the trio dives into whether this Netflix cut is more explicit than what they each half-remember from seeing it as teenagers (JVL recounts driving to Lynchburg, Virginia to watch it in a theater with his baby sister, "deeply uncomfortable," after a formative Bloomin' Onion run at Outback Steakhouse). Sonny argues the movie is genuinely well-plotted but teeters right on the edge of unintentional camp, singling out Theresa Russell's soap-opera-quality acting as the mother, and doubts a movie built around two high schoolers faking a rape accusation could get made today; JVL pushes back hard, calling it a "tonal collage" where Denise Richards, Russell, Bill Murray (playing it like he's still in Ghostbusters), and a scheming Neve Campbell are each working in a wildly different register that somehow coheres, and marvels that the film is "better than it has to be" in every small choice, right down to Robert Wagner's line readings. The three also trade trivia — Robert Downey Jr. was once eyed for Matt Dillon's role, Denise Richards was pre-Starship Troopers, the cast reportedly drank before filming the pool threesome, and there are, astonishingly, three straight-to-video Wild Things sequels — before signing off with dueling verdicts on whether the motel or pool sex scene wins.
From the show notes
I think that title and this image pretty much speak for themselves.
Full transcript
Vic00:00:00Hello, and welcome to another bonus episode of the Sub-Beacon. I'm Victor Matus along with Jonathan V. Last and Sonny Bunch. Just a reminder, the Sub-Beacon is now available through Patreon, obviously you know that because you're here. Go to subbeacon.com, you'll find us. Please subscribe and tell your friends. Today we're talking about a very artsy, artsy movie from the late 90s called Wild Things from 1998 starring the ever talented Denise Richards. And we're discussing this now because it is suddenly on Netflix, 23 years later they don't make movies like this anymore.
Sonny00:00:55Whose idea was this? Somebody on Twitter was like, hey, Wild Things is on Netflix. I was like, oh, we should do that for a bonus episode.
JVL00:01:02The greatest quadrant movie ever. I think we should start with the quadrants.
Sonny00:01:07I want to predict. Yeah. I want to predict that plot.
JVL00:01:10Oh, very good, Sonny.
Sonny00:01:12Is a B. Oh, wow.
JVL00:01:16You know what? I will counter that because when you black out after 30 minutes and don't come to until the credits, you think that everything was fine plot wise.
Vic00:01:26Yeah. They were all in on it, but they were all they were all in on it and they all got away. Okay. Well, if you want to know this quadrant score, the plot study, I have it right here. It's a B. Look at that. It would have the plot. However, the B explain everything at the end, which is the plot was on its way to an F. Thank God for the explainer in the epilogue at the every movie should do this where everybody I don't care what the movie is. I don't care what the movie could be. The movie could be King Richard. And at the end, they're going to be like, oh, and this is how it happened. Oh, I see. You know, in between the credits, it was so helpful. I think I really think every movie should do that. Okay. Duration is an A plus. It was tight. Hour 45. Hour 45, including credits. Okay. Action violence is B plus. And sex. B plus? B plus. Only a B plus? You thought you had action violence? You thought it would be an A for the action?
Sonny00:02:21Yes. There's some good stuff in there. There's fighting. Yeah. There's shooting and stabbing.
Vic00:02:26Sex nudity. Bludgeoning? A plus. Plus. Plus. I do have a question.
Sonny00:02:32That's one less plus. A plus plus plus. Than French Dispatch.
Vic00:02:35No, no, no. I think the max is the three pluses. Three pluses. Oh, okay. Because it's 0.125 on the quadrants. I don't have to get into the details. I don't have to get into details. But the bottom line is it's an A. It's an A. Question. The version that we saw on Netflix, was that like a director's cut? A director's cut? An unrated version? Or was that the kind that we all originally saw? JVL, what are you doing there? What did you do with your finger? You know what I'm saying? You mean the Kevin Bacon dong? Oh, no, no, no. That one I remember. That one I can't forget that one. No. But I'd say I don't remember Denise Richard's breasts in the-
Sonny00:03:17The threesome did feel a little bit more explicit in this version. Yes, didn't it? Than I remember it being in high school when I saw this when I was pregnant. I remember being disappointed. Yes.
Vic00:03:25When I was 15 years old. Yes, Sonny. I remember when I was ... I was at the standard, I guess. But I remember being disappointed to a certain extent because I was thinking that it would have been more ... I guess it was in my mind. But anyway, I don't remember this version on the Blockbuster videocassette that I read it is what I'm saying. Okay. So it was exactly like this. Really?
JVL00:03:48And I know this because I saw this movie with my baby sister because it was pre-internet when we didn't really know anything about what was in movies, right?
Vic00:03:58So you went to the theater. Did you rent it or you went to the theater? No, I went to the theater.
JVL00:04:01So my sister was in college. I was up in DC. I drove down to Lynchburg, Virginia to go see her for the weekend as I often did.
Sonny00:04:08In Liberty? You went to go see it in Liberty?
JVL00:04:10No. No, not Liberty. Longwood? Anyway, so we went to ... What's that? Where?
Sonny00:04:16Lynchburg.
JVL00:04:17Lynchburg College. Oh, okay. I know. And so we went to the Outback Steakhouse. We got a couple of Bloomin' Onions, whatever. Yeah.
Vic00:04:23And then we went to the ... A couple. A couple.
JVL00:04:25That's a little bit large. You gotta each have your own. Oh, my God. You gotta each have your own. And then we went ... One time, the two of us went to the Outback Steakhouse. They accidentally brought one that was burnt, and they were like, "Oh, we'll take it back and bring you a new one." And we're like, "Yeah, just leave that and bring a new one." Just leave that and bring a new one. The waiter was horrified. But anyway, so we went and it was like, "Hey, I want that."
Sonny00:04:49Did you eat all three? Wait, I'm sorry. We need to drill down on this Bloomin' Onions situation. Yeah. Did you bring out a third Bloomin' Onion?
JVL00:04:58Look, I'm not gonna apologize for what I've done.
Vic00:05:02I'm just saying mistakes were made. The shelf life is horrifying. The shelf life is horrifying. You gotta eat them fast. You gotta eat them fast. You gotta eat them fast. I mean, we're talking McDonald's, French Fries fast.
Sonny00:05:10If it's not burning your fingers and your mouth while you're eating it- No, it's not.
Vic00:05:14You're gonna realize what you're doing is killing yourself if you don't eat it in five
JVL00:05:17minutes. The point is, we're at the mall in Lynchburg, which is next to ... There's a strip mall next to the real mall. And we go over and like, "Hey, why don't we see a movie? What do we gotta do?" So I was like, "Wild things. I don't know. Let's go see that." It's supposed to be a noir murder mystery. Noir. I love film noir. Right. I love noir too. Neo-noir. We sat there and I was like, "Yeah, this is my baby sister.
Vic00:05:41Not sure I'm ... " That is awkward.
JVL00:05:45Yeah. But I'm telling you, I remember every minute of that because it was deeply uncomfortable.
Vic00:05:50Yes. That's what she said. Okay.
?00:05:53I'm sorry. I'm sorry.
Vic00:05:55What a bleep. Careful. Careful. Sorry. Not she or sister. I'm just saying generally. Just the general she. The royal she. The general she. WSS. Okay. So when did you see it most recently, Sonny? You just saw it. I just saw it two nights ago.
Sonny00:06:12I mean, I probably haven't seen it since college. Yes. I would say that I almost certainly saw it on DVD in a dorm room or fraternity house situation.
JVL00:06:22Oh, during ...
Sonny00:06:23Oogie on my cookie. During ... The elephant walk. During a ... Hazing. Initiation of some sort. But no, I haven't seen ... I probably haven't seen that movie in ... I haven't seen this movie in at least 18 years. To the extent that aside from the sex scene that we all know and love, I could not remember anything about it except for the very end where ... Oh, what's her name? Neve Campbell. Neve Campbell. Neve Campbell walks off with the money given to her by Bill Murray. That was literally the only thing I could remember happening in the movie except, again, for the sex scenes. So ...
JVL00:07:06Should we start by ranking the two sex scenes? Pool versus motel?
Vic00:07:13Oh, I was going to say ...
JVL00:07:16Had you blacked out by the time the pool scene came?
Sonny00:07:21What about the scene with the mom?
Vic00:07:23That was like a surprise bonus on that. Again, I forgot. No, that's a bonus. That's why it's such a bonus. I had this written here.
JVL00:07:30Victorino, how, on a scale of one to 10, how grossed out were you by the mom when she comes out to hit on Matt Dillon? Grossed out? Teresa Russell. No, no, no. Teresa Russell.
Vic00:07:44How grossed out were you? No, no, no, no. It's all fine.
JVL00:07:47It's all good. It's all good. Because Teresa Russell is 40 years old in that scene.
Vic00:07:51Yeah. Well, you know what? Ace Richards is now 50.
JVL00:07:56That's the worst thing it did. Can I just posit this before we go into it?
Vic00:08:03This movie is fantastic. It's an amazing movie. Yeah. They don't make movies like this. And in fact- It's a great movie. I seem to remember even all the movie critics really loved it, including one that we know. But it's in the archives. I don't know if you have that.
Sonny00:08:23Wait, hold on, I got it.
Vic00:08:29Wild Things is a lurid tale of love, betrayal, and murder that's dripping with suspense. Student Denise Richards is mounds of talent, but gets her panties in a bunch and accuses the teacher Matt Dillon of giving her the old after school special. Michael gets in on the action, and suddenly the girl from Party of Five is in a party of three. Kevin Bacon plays the cocksure cop who plays both sides, a real swinging dick, as in Detective. Wild Things takes place in fictional Blue Bay, Florida, but it's more like Wet n' Wild. I give it four stars. I'll be back next week with a review of Meet the Deedles. And now, back to the weather with Willard Scott. Oh, Willard Scott. Meet the Deedles came out the following weekend. That's what my...
Sonny00:09:35I don't even know what Meet the Deedles is.
Vic00:09:38That was a Disney movie starring Paul Walker.
Sonny00:09:40Yeah. Wow. Yeah. RIP. Wow. Anyway. So, I would say...
Vic00:09:47What a great movie.
JVL00:09:48Let me just say this. We thought Paul Walker would die before Willard Scott.
Vic00:09:50Yeah, I know. It's crazy. And also, whatever you do, don't look up... Don't type in Denise Richards today. Don't type that in.
JVL00:09:58Oh, no, no, no, no, no, no, no.
Vic00:10:00Because the thinness... Because she's still thin. She's still thin. She's still amazingly thin. But it's just not...
Sonny00:10:06Yeah. I want to talk about this, again, movie qua movie very, very quickly. The thing about Wild Things is, A, it is very competently plotted in a way that a lot of movies kind of avoid being... Being competently plotted right now. It's like a very classic noir with twists and turns and they all pay off and, granted, it needs a little bit of an epilogue there at the end to make sure all of the dots connect, but that's all right. But the... I will say that watching it last, or I don't know, a couple of nights ago, watching it, I was struck by how incredibly close to pure camp it was, like some of the early lines, like, I don't know, just the mom...
Vic00:10:54Is it pure camp only now in retrospect, but at the time it was pure itself?
Sonny00:10:58No, no, no, no, no. It was not... I mean, Denise Richards is not... Teresa Russell is doing... ...a good actress. Teresa Russell is doing like soap opera quality work. Yes. I disagree about Denise Russell and Denise Richards.
Vic00:11:07I had that feeling watching the mom too, the acting was like something you would see on Cinemax after dark.
JVL00:11:13So can I just... Sonny, I see where you're going with this. And I would like to stick up for the movie because one of the things that is fabulous about this is that it is like a tonal collage. You have Denise Richards, who I think is, A, doing the best work of her career. Agreed. But also... Does she have any lines in that movie? ...she's doing really competent femme fatales. Her first line is to shout, "Fuck off." Yes. Which is just fantastic. She's great in it. But then you have Teresa Russell... Where do you keep your hoes? I love that one. ...who is doing very cute... Yeah. ...and campy stuff. When she's talking about her husband who has committed suicide, she goes, "Well, he didn't have to kill himself, Kelly."
Sonny00:12:01I mean, that line, I almost fell out of my couch. It's great.
JVL00:12:05I was like... But it is purposeful. And then you get Bill Murray, and Bill Murray is acting as if he's in Ghostbusters.
Vic00:12:12The Bill Murray part is... Was it already in the middle of the Murray songs?
JVL00:12:17No. This was the beginning of the Murray songs.
Vic00:12:19Right. Because he had... This is years before Lost in Translation.
JVL00:12:21And I am telling you now that Bill Murray is acting as if he is in a comedy, and then you have Nev Campbell. But all of these, every tone, every actor is working in a slightly different tonal color scheme here. Oh, that's interesting. Yeah. But it works, and it's better because of it.
?00:12:44Yeah.
Sonny00:12:45I mean, look, the whole thing works. Don't get me wrong. I think it is a very good movie. Yeah. But when I say that it's very close to camp and may actually be camp, it's for this precise reason. It's like it is unintentionally discordant in ways that I think are unintentionally sometimes very, very funny. And we've had this discussion before. I don't believe that you can intentionally do camp. I don't. I don't think Flash Gordon doesn't work because they're trying to do a campy thing. But this movie is not that. It's a very different sort of thing. And Denise Richards, I am less enamored of her ability to deliver dialogue than you are, I think, JBL. I think she is not great any time and especially in this. Neve Campbell is like doing something incredible, is doing like, again, is in like a very different movie where she's just playing a crazy person. It's like she's like the craft she's playing. She's playing like the craft like you remember the the movie. I remember the craft. I remember the craft.
JVL00:14:01But she's she's like a character out of that. She's I mean, this is like the most actory role Neve Campbell, because she's playing like three different levels of the same character. Is this pre-Scream?
Vic00:14:13Is this pre-Scream or post-Scream? Pre-Scream. Pre-Scream.
JVL00:14:16And she is, you know, it's like the end of Boogie Nights. It's where it's Mark Wahlberg pretending to be Dirk Diggler pretending to be Jake LaMotta, you know, like that's that's the level she work. Here's the thing, though. The reason I think that the the off kilter like the Teresa Russell and the Bill Murray stuff works is because if you don't have an element of absurdist comedy to it, then this story is too dark. Too dark. Yeah. Right. I mean, because stripped down to its elements, when you just describe it to somebody. This is an unbelievably dark. It's. It's a story about two high school girls pretending to be raped by a teacher, but one of them is a psychopathic killer. And then these other two, it just becomes too much if you don't have some leavening
Sonny00:15:04aspect. Imagine trying to make this movie today where I was going to say, can you make a high school girl? You could make it today. I don't know where to one of my high school. Two high school girls fake a claim of rape and then turn out to be deranged psychopathic murderers. One of them is a psychopath themselves. And one who just wants the money from the mother. You could not make that movie today without being dragged all up and down Twitter and then Hollywood. Oh my God.
JVL00:15:31Yeah. I don't think you could make this movie. Yeah.
Sonny00:15:34For the record, Scream came out in 1996. This came out in 1998.
JVL00:15:37Oh, okay. Okay. All right. What I want to say briefly is that from the very first frame where the camera is a helicopter flying over the glades, right? Shot after shot of this moving close.
Sonny00:15:54This great George Clinton score. Oh yeah. It is a great score. It's very. Just amazing.
JVL00:16:00Sultry. And from the very beginning, as you're, it's constantly moving forward. Every frame of this movie makes you feel like you are watching a trap and the trap is closing and you know it's closing, but you can't tell who it's closing on or who is springing the trap. Yes. And it isn't until. That Dylan shows up in the hotel room and the two girls show up and we get that first crazy sex scene. And the first crazy sex scene is a great sex scene, but it's also this incredibly disorienting moment because everything you have known about the story is now being flipped over on its head and not for the last time. And I just think I look at this and I can't believe that this basically ended John McNaughton's career. I mean, he never worked.
Vic00:16:49I looked. Uh, you know, his filmography and you're right. You know, there's not much after that.
JVL00:16:54I mean, never worked for more meaningfully after, after this. And I can't believe that because it's such a good flick.
Vic00:17:01Oh, it's very enjoyable. Although again, it, it bears, it bears rewatching, not just for the obvious reasons, but because, you know, when you have these dialogue scenes, it changes everything. Now you knowing, uh, how it ends and who knew about what particularly I find confusing is Kevin Bacon's role in this. Did he know, uh, in terms of Denise Richards as well as, uh, and Neve Campbell and his relationship to the plot. Right. And, and so I find it very confusing and then, and then, and then in the end when he kills Denise Richards, but, uh, and then, and then Matt Dillon says that that's, you know, that wasn't part of the plan. And then you go back in the credits and clearly there was no struggle. Uh, he just kills her, but, uh, then somehow thinks that it's just going to be him and Matt Dillon in the end. And then.
Sonny00:17:48Because at that point. Yeah. Neve Campbell's already supposed to be dead as well.
Vic00:17:52Exactly. And so, but I mean, there are weird, I mean, there were weird scenes where they're talking to each other and now I'm like, you know, knowing that they know certain aspects of the plot. And of course, Neve Campbell is the mastermind of the entire thing. Right.
JVL00:18:04And, and, and Kevin Bacon's partner from the very beginning, she thinks that something's not right here, but she can't figure out what it is. She knows that something doesn't smell right. And Neve Campbell's character has. Understood that to mastermind a plot like that. The key is that you have to seem like you're the Patsy, right? In order to get away with it, the mastermind has to look like the Patsy. There is a element of, uh, verbal Kent to this. Right. And I, I don't know, I just, I, I remember really liking it and rewatching it. Rewatching it again for again, the first time, probably 18 years, Sonny, man. I loved it.
Sonny00:18:55Yeah. I it's, it's really good. It's it's a really good, like neo-noir drama thriller for adults of the sort that they don't really make anymore. You, you don't, you don't get movies like this in the multiplex anymore that open on you. Don't even get on Netflix.
Vic00:19:13Netflix does not make a movie like this, but there's no reason it couldn't. That's right. Because it's not a budget issue. There's not much. I was really young in this movie. It was really, it was really quite great. Uh, I found it interesting, no reading a little bit about the backstory of it, how, uh, they all kind of got drunk before the threesome scene in order to calm their nerves in order to film it. I would not need any alcohol. That's all. Oh boy. I just probably would've had to do before that seed because it would've been really a very, that's too crazy.
JVL00:19:45But you know, it's a disappointed Victorino were you that Neve Campbell isn't a, no, that's
Vic00:19:49what I remember. But you know what? It's interesting. I think I watched it. I don't remember. Had I known Denise Richards already before that movie? I'm trying to think, was she in starship was starship troopers before that?
Sonny00:20:01Because yeah. Okay.
Vic00:20:03So then I would've wanted to see her. And I get into sunny. I'm with you. I don't remember seeing her that much of that scene.
Sonny00:20:09I don't remember. I, I, I don't either. I don't either.
Vic00:20:12I do remember being disappointed because it was just Neve Campbell's back, but that's because she had a, you know, she was still doing party of five. She was not allowed to do that sort of a thing. And that's why they didn't do it. That's interesting. Yes. That's what they said. And again, and I, I love to see her because I obviously I was a huge, huge fan of party of five. Although I was a bigger fan of Jennifer Love Hewitt, obviously Sarah Reeves, just melt, just melting in any event. That was really interesting. And the other thing is that I heard is that the actors were constantly going back to McNaughton, just re reminding them, okay, what do I know? What do I don't know? Because it's, it was that confusing sort of to keep track of all the different things going on. So again, when I say it bears rewatching, I really do mean that and it's, it's enjoyable and it has this sort of lazy, hot, humid sort of, you know, sweltery, except that it's very
JVL00:21:10efficient and it moves very quick.
Vic00:21:12Oh yeah, no, no, no. And you know, there's so much that you can see a schlock version of this that's basically
JVL00:21:19a B movie. Mm hmm.
Vic00:21:21Sure. And instead, everything in this is better than it has to be.
JVL00:21:25You know, like Robert Wagner is better than he has to be, right? Yeah. He's great. A guy having Jeff Perry, the, the care thing, you know, a character actor who we all know by sight playing the da better than he has to be right. Uh, all of the, the little buttons on scenes, you know, I, I joked in the main, the main show, the, so you're the new chicken liquor, right? That's the button on the scene where Matt Dillon is brought to. Prison.
Vic00:21:49That's a due time in jail.
JVL00:21:50In order to get this money, but that, so that's a funny, funny line and it's better than it
Sonny00:21:56has to be.
JVL00:21:57Right. A lazier script would have gotten you out of that scene in a different way. And I don't know, like Bill Murray, when they were in court, first of all, Bill Murray shows up to the courthouse in a taxi for the trial, which is hysterical. I know. And he waves, nobody's there to like, he, he's doing a wave, but of course nobody's there for him. But so his, when the courtroom, when he's cross-examining Neve Campbell and things go right. The look on his face of utter surprise is hysterical. Right. It's like he is as surprised as anybody else in the courtroom that he has won a case, but,
Vic00:22:31but he's in on it at that point. He's in on it at that point. I don't know.
JVL00:22:35Unclear. I don't, it's unclear if he's in on that yet or not, but then he tosses the neck brace, you know? Yes.
Vic00:22:41Of course. Yeah. Yeah. Cause he's about to cash in cause he cashes in and you want him to cash in. You want him to cash in. It's great. Did you also, uh, hear that? Uh, they were before Matt Dillon, they were, had thought about Robert Downey jr. For that role, but that, because he had gotten out of, there was insurance issues with him.
Sonny00:22:58I don't think that would have worked.
JVL00:22:59Yeah. Matt Dillon's better in that for that role.
Sonny00:23:02Matt Dillon is better because he's dumber. Yes. He's like, he's like, he's like a, he, he comes across as a, I mean, I don't know if Matt Dillon is dumb, but he comes across as more of a meathead than, than Robert Downey jr. Robert Downey, like Robert Downey jr. Just looks like a clever, too clever by half. And like, I think that would, I think that would have kind of undermined the surprise of it. Did you guys know that there are four films in the wild things series? I do. I do.
Vic00:23:33But I have not seen the other ones.
Sonny00:23:34There's wild things too. Wild things, diamonds in the rough and then wild things for some, they're taking it up a notch.
JVL00:23:42Does one of these star Dominique, Dominique, help me Victorino. Swayne? Dominique Swayne? Or is that a poison Ivy sequel that I'm thinking of?
Sonny00:23:52You know, I don't. Dina Meyer is in the third one.
Vic00:23:56Okay.
Sonny00:23:57Thank you.
Vic00:23:58She a little bit too old for that by then. Is that straight to video? Well, here's a, you know, the last three were all straight Denise Richards was 27 when she played that role, which is interesting because she's very convincingly. She does not look 27. No, she does not.
JVL00:24:13I'll never forget the, uh, in the commentary track. On Starship Troopers from Paul Verhoeven towards the end of the movie, as he's trying to justify why his movie flopped. He says the reason, the reason it didn't do well at the box office, he says, I'm convinced it's because I killed the wrong girl.
Sonny00:24:33Yeah.
JVL00:24:34I, I killed Dina Meyer and I should have killed Denise Richards.
Sonny00:24:39The audience, the audience wanted Denise Richards dead. Well, no, because the audience, because the audience loved Dina Meyer cause she stuck by Johnny Rico the whole time. Yup. And Denise Richards was the stuck up rich girl who abandoned him for, uh, you know,
Vic00:24:54the, the Nazi pilot, Nazi pilot for the Condor squad, the Condor, the Condor legion. Uh, also the shower scene, Denise Richards is not, it's, it's, it's Dina Meyer.
JVL00:25:02We should do Starship Troopers, which is, I love Starship Troopers. Is that okay to say, can you still love Starship Troopers?
Sonny00:25:09No. Well, I mean, Starship Trooper. Well, Starship Troopers is a very interesting movie cause it's ball. It's Paul Verhoeven essentially doing a, uh, Lenny Riefenstein. A, a, uh, a, a propaganda film, like an American military propaganda film, but as if the characters were all Nazis.
Vic00:25:26Did you see the most ridiculous part about that is that they have when Neil Patrick Harris emerges and he's wearing like a, like a literal SS, uh, trench coat with a, with a hat.
JVL00:25:40If you have not listened to the Paul Verhoeven commentary track too, you have to, there's a moment in it where he talks about how. Well, growing up in, in the Netherlands with his Faja there, the, the, he remembers when the allies shelled his, shelled his village, he says, because of friendly fire, it was friendly fire. And he's very, very worked up about insisting that the audience knows that when the allies fired at his village, it was friendly fire. He was not on the side of the Nazis.
Sonny00:26:08Well, this is, this is, if we do an episode on this, we can talk about this because he and Steven Hunter, the, the, the Washington Post, he spends 20, he spends 20 minutes in
JVL00:26:17commentary track. Commentary track.
Sonny00:26:19Yelling about Steven Hunter. He's like Steven Hunter did not understand this movie. Uh, like it was a, but it's, it's very interesting because Steven Hunter, I mean, isn't, isn't a, is a novelist in his own right. And like a, a Pulitzer prize winning critic.
JVL00:26:31And he was, he was not happy with the review of starship triggers is amazing.
Sonny00:26:35Yeah. Not happy with the way Verhoeven treated the source material, which is a, like, is a more, I would say traditionally, uh, patriotic sort of, uh, picture. More.
JVL00:26:48But anyway, Sonny, can you even imagine as a film critic having so much influence over the director that in the commentary track put down for all time about their movie, they spend 20 minutes of it yelling about you.
Sonny00:27:02That's power. One time, one time, well, this is not exactly the same, but one time Adam McKay, uh, on the Chapo trap house podcast, apparently spent five minutes talking about the time I went on morning Joe to talk about vice and how it was a great movie about a good father. Right. Which was fun. I was, I was glad to hear that.
?00:27:20Okay.
JVL00:27:21All right. So listen, before we go, I need you guys to give me a greater sign, lesser than sign motel
Sonny00:27:27or pool, um, motel, greater sign pool.
Vic00:27:31Yes. Agreed.
JVL00:27:33Because you, you see more pool, greater sign motel, ah, ah, that's not fine.
?00:27:46you
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