#342. RIP, Robert Duvall
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JVL is off this week, so Mike and Sonny fly solo, opening with Mike's saga of coaching his son's short-handed second-grade basketball team (a blowout loss made worse by a rival coach who refused to pull his star player) and some Zydrunas Ilgauskas/George Muresan tangents before they turn to remembering Robert Duvall, who died this week at 95. Sonny walks through Duvall's career as one of the rare actors whose filmography is so stacked with classics (To Kill a Mockingbird, True Grit, THX 1138, both Godfather films, The Conversation, Apocalypse Now, Network, The Great Santini) that he actually forgot to mention Falling Down in his written obituary; both hosts trade favorite performances, with Sonny singling out Open Range and the underrated Gone in 60 Seconds remake and Mike praising Lonesome Dove and Duvall's small but memorable turn in Four Christmases. After a box-office check-in (Wuthering Heights leading over the Steph Curry basketball-goat animated film Goat, with Zootopia 2 still holding strong and Avatar 3 limping toward $400 million domestic), Sonny reviews the indie Canadian comedy Nirvana, the Band, the Show, the Movie, starring Matt Johnson and Jay McCarroll as two aspiring musicians who accidentally build a working time machine — a movie he calls both deeply, specifically Canadian and, despite its jokey pastiche of Back to the Future-style tropes, unexpectedly sincere and original, unlike the "AI slop" he rants against on the show.
From the show notes
JVL's off this week! Mike and Sonny said goodbye to Robert Duvall! Then they reviewed an indie comedy out of Canada! Exclamation points!
Full transcript
Guest00:00:00You smell that?
?00:00:01What?
Guest00:00:03Napalm, son. Nothing else in the world smells like that. I love the smell of napalm in the morning. You know one time we had a hail bomb? For 12 hours when it was all over I walked up. We didn't find one of them, not one stinking dink body. The smell, you know that gasoline smell? All hail. Smells like...
?00:00:37Victory.
Mike00:00:48Welcome to the Sub-Beacon Podcast. I'm your co-host Mike Warren. Joining me is my co-host who has been in a bidding war for hours on eBay over the last known unopened bottle of Orbitz soda, Sonny Bunch. Jonathan V. Last is off this week. So it's just the two of us. Join us over at Sub-Beacon.com. Tell your friends and family. Go to Sub-Beacon.com. Say hello to us on Instagram. New episodes every Friday morning at Sub-Beacon.com. We're going to be talking about what we're going to be talking about. Nirvana, the band, the show, the movie, and also a little Robert Duvall later on in the show. But first, Sonny, what's happening with you?
Sonny00:01:35Not a whole lot is happening with me. I'm talking very slowly to draw this out because we're missing one third of the show. So, you know, the second is going to go.
Mike00:01:45We can fan, but we don't have to do it. Do we need to signpost that we're better than here? I mean, I don't know.
Sonny00:01:52No, I don't know. What is going on? Not not a whole lot. Frankly, it's pretty pretty slow. In these neck of the woods. I will say that. Well, I thought we were going to do Robert Duvall kind of up top. I thought we were going to want to do Robert Duvall.
Mike00:02:07It's okay. The why are we why are we why are we wasting time? You know, people about our lives.
Sonny00:02:11Nobody wants to hear about. I don't even have a pinball machine. Nobody wants to hear about my my pathetic pathetic.
Mike00:02:17Well, okay before. Okay, then before we get to Robert Duvall, I'll just say a couple things that are going on in my life that I think people might find funny. One is that I woke up. On Saturday morning last week, which was the Saturday of a long weekend, particularly one day.
Sonny00:02:33Congratulations. You woke up. I know you didn't die in your sleep.
Mike00:02:37Big win.
Sonny00:02:38Did I win?
Mike00:02:39Was that a real win? Jury's out on that. But it's one of these long weekends because of President's Day. But for some strange reason, our school system also had the Tuesday off for some kind of planning reason. So basically, it's a four-day weekend. In in the middle of winter and I wake up to discover that in a few hours, the second grade basketball team that I coach will only have four players for this game. Kids are out of town for sure. What ski trips? Maybe there's a kid sick. My own my own my 11 year old. My fifth grader was sick and had to miss his basketball game. So
Sonny00:03:26tell him to you show him the Michael Jordan flu game. You say I know I trust me.
Mike00:03:31I thought about I thought about like but I don't coach him. So like it's sort of out of mind. We got whatever but my second graders. I'm like, oh, what am I going to do with four players and I email the league and I'm like, look, I just found out I'm missing two other players. I thought I had sort of have enough normally. I've got 10 players, which is perfect for a five-on-five. Yes, yes, sub amount, you know, basically
Sonny00:03:56pretty evenly whole squad in and out.
Mike00:03:58I've only had one game where I've had the entire squad and I could do that line shift. So the the league is like, well, you can either you can play four on four. Technically, it's a five-on-five at this level, but the rules allow for four on four and she said but or you could reach out to the other coach and have he can have some of his players join your team. If he's amenable to that, so I reached out the coach. I said, what do you want to do? It doesn't matter to me, frankly. I just want to make sure these kids get out there and play and he suggested a why don't we I'll get more my kids more playing time because I'm going to have 10 or 11 kids. How does he have 10 or 11 kids playing and I only have four. I don't know. I guess I just don't I don't they're more dedicated than you.
Sonny00:04:48I like you. It's that's a failure of leadership Michael. That's not you can't you can't blame the kids for that one.
Mike00:04:54Oh, trust me. It wasn't the only failure of leadership to happen this Saturday. Anyway, so I said fine. That's fine out. He said I'll send I'll give you to my kids in the first half and then two different kids in the second half and just get them out there playing and which was nice and he when we met up before the game, he said like what's the skill level of your kids? I said, these are kind of like these are my middle-of-the-road kids like my best players are not here. Some of my worst players are not here. So I've got my middle-of-the-road kids. He's like, okay. Okay. Okay. Not only did we are our team lose this game by more than 20 points. Really? I mean, I think I think my son scored a basket. I think maybe one other kid on our actual team scored a basket and the rest of the baskets that we scored were from the kids that he gave me which was demoralizing in a totally. Unique way. So, but I will say the thing that I was a little miffed about and maybe I shouldn't make too much of a big deal out of it, but I was a little annoyed that there was one kid on the other team, probably the coaches son, one of the coaches sons. I have the absolute best second grade basketball player. I've seen like in it like he's doing reverse layups like like it's like it's nothing and you know at a certain point. When the team goes up by 20 points, I thought like well, surely like we're playing we're barely holding on here. Like he's going to pull that kid out later. He doesn't need to have that kid play and he kept him in and I was just was like really like like you have to add insult to injury. Yes, and apparently the answer is yes.
Sonny00:06:43So I am so it's funny. It's funny. You mentioned this because the other the so my son who is in first grade is on a basketball team. They were playing and like his team is is has. Gotten better. They've been playing together for three years now. So you're two or two or three years now. So they you know, they've gotten better. They know who can shoot and who can't and you know, and like what everybody's kind of various skills are which I think is like that goes a long way toward the team being good like understanding who can actually just knowing who can actually play the game, but we were we were our team was up by like our team was up by 20 and one of our dads was operating the scoreboard and with like four or five minutes left. He just stopped adding. Points to our side of the movie was like, you know, well, this
Mike00:07:28is actually a rule by the way in my in our league, which is after 20 points, you're supposed to zero out the score and not keep any more score. It's just the rules and like I barely had it together enough to like even pay attention to what the score was and feel the team. And so I didn't make an issue of that. But like I guess I could have but what I but Anyway, I'm so sorry. That's that's this that the kids had a good time.
Sonny00:07:57Yeah.
Mike00:07:57I mean, you know, yeah, they all enjoy it.
Sonny00:07:59The kids it's it's about the kids. It's the kids, you know, that that's that's who they are future.
Mike00:08:05My my son's line was we would have kept that close if we had had more of our players. I was like, yeah, you're probably right. Like some our two top scorers were gone.
Sonny00:08:15So, you know, always look on the bright side of life, you know?
Mike00:08:17So anyway, that's that's that's all that's going on. If anybody has any out there. Has any recommendations for what to do when you don't have enough players, I guess you should have gone out and got a got a ringer.
Sonny00:08:28I don't know. I should have done the or gotten the ladybugs route found found like a girl and put a put her in a boy's uniform reverse ladybugs reverse
Mike00:08:37ladybugs what what I what I could have done was if my my fifth grader wasn't sick, I could have had. Yeah. Do you want a woman? There you go. Or what was the one with the late Amanda Bynes? Where she plays soccer and she's a man. I don't remember. She's a man or something. She's she's the man. She's the man that she's the man that she's a man. Totally different. She's a man. That's that's his Ventura. But anyway, but I if he had been well, I would have put my fifth grader in there as a ringer and like he's like he's like the top of the second call is tallest kid on his team of fifth graders. Like he would have just like towered over everybody. Not fair. All right. Anyway, let's move on.
Sonny00:09:26Put Zydrunas Elgascus out there.
Mike00:09:28He's a Victor way. Yeah, exactly.
Sonny00:09:32I'm glad I'm glad I could make that 15 year old football basketball reference by the way. Yeah, Victor Williams. Zydrunas Elgascus. When's the last time Zydrunas was even in the league? Was that 10 years? When did he retire 10 years ago?
Mike00:09:41Gosh, I don't know or what about I mean, you could have gone. How do you say his name? The Murasan, George Murasan. George Murasan or he died.
Sonny00:09:55He's still alive.
Mike00:09:56No, he's still alive. He's still doing commercials for like paisanos pizza or something.
Sonny00:10:00Hey, I miss paisanos pizza. I'll say that's one of the few things one of the few dining options. I really miss about DC paisanos pizza. Good good pizza paisanos.
Mike00:10:09You remember? Do you remember by the way, the movie my giant with Billy Crystal?
Sonny00:10:13Yeah, sorry, Billy Crystal and George Mershon.
Mike00:10:16Okay, let's move on though and because we need to talk about a loss that we experienced us movie lovers and America really this week. The 95 year old Robert Duvall died this week. I did not realize I maybe I knew this in the back of my head that he lives and lived in Northern Virginia and that's like where he was and that's where he died.
Sonny00:10:39Yeah. Yeah. Well not Northern Virginia more more Central Virginia. He lives in Middleburg Middleburg.
Mike00:10:44That's that's that's in that's in Loudoun County.
Sonny00:10:46That's that Northern Virginia is like I when I think of Northern Virginia, I think like inside the beltway. It wasn't inside the beltway.
Mike00:10:52No, but okay. Well say sorry. He was in Northwest outside the beltway, Virginia regardless. So I had no idea that he was so close. He died.
Sonny00:11:03Well, he was big in the remember when they were trying to put that Walmart. Yes, they were trying to put a Walmart near Wilderness Battlefield. I think and then like Disney wanted to build like a Civil War theme park or something. Yes, in the in the Northern Virginia area and Robert Duvall was like Robert Duvall said something like you wouldn't put it. We wouldn't put a theme park next to Auschwitz. You shouldn't put one next to the and I was like, well, that's not 100% the same but it's it's not not right like it's not wrong precisely like directionally correct directionally if I will
Mike00:11:36say correct if if if Auschwitz have been in America there probably
Sonny00:11:39would be a theme park next to next to 100% would be a combo KFC Taco Bell in the Auschwitz America Center.
Mike00:11:49No, but he also pushed back. Like two years ago. I saw he had pushed back against a data center, you know, being put and well, we see we see who won that battle.
Sonny00:12:01Is that that did that data center go in?
Mike00:12:02I don't know if that data center went up but they're just went
Sonny00:12:05somewhere else just went to Addington, New Mexico.
Mike00:12:07Exactly. Anyway, but Sonny, why don't you why don't you talk to a little bit about your thoughts on Robert Duvall? I mean again, this is not a he was 95 years old, but he has this long career behind. Behind him and just it's it's incredible. Once you put it into perspective just how many movies he was in and how many was just an indelible part of what are your thoughts?
Sonny00:12:33Well, they're like when you alright, so when you are a film critic and you're writing the obituary of a famous actor, there are two kinds of obituaries that you end up writing. One is one is the one where you have to like go to the IMDb page and remind yourself like okay, what were all the things he was in? And that happened like that. I had to do that for the my the one I wrote about Diane Keaton who like I remembered being in several big movies, but I was like what else what else was she in a way? Like how do I you know, how am I going to fill fill the rest of this out after I talk about the the Godfather and you know, what's it? Annie Hall Annie Hall. And then there's the other type which is which is what Robert Duvall is which is where like just off the top of your head you could name 50 movies using or you know, 20 20 great movies 20 like memorable movies and like 10 all-time classics and that's that's kind of where I come down on Robert Duvall is that like he was in so many actual classic movies that I accidentally forgot movies of his that I really liked and and therefore did not mention in the in the obituary one of them being falling down like, you know falling down the Michael Douglas. You know man man go working man goes crazy and and Robert Duvall plays the detective who was trying to track him down during his day of Rampage and Los Angeles and and I just like I just totally spaced on it because I didn't I was so busy writing about all the other movies. He was in I mean I like you know, you go back to you can go back to to kill a mockingbird, which I think is, you know, a lot of people it to kill a mockingbird is what I what I sometimes think of as like a middle school classic not just in terms of the book, but also in terms like that's a movie that teachers will show you in middle in middle school or you know, whatever because it's it's you know, it's solid PG but he's in that he's Boo Radley.
Mike00:14:37He's yeah, it's his first film his first film.
Sonny00:14:39It's his first credited film role. He's a kid in that and you know, that's 1960 what 263 something like that. And then and then seven years later, he is in True Grit and he plays the he plays the villain in True Grit. He plays like the leader of the the gang that John Wayne is there to track down and and that is kind of what he looks like for the rest of his life. I mean like obviously he gets older and you know, whatever but like he is like he shows up in that movie and he's already got like kind of the thinning hair and he's you know, got the in his face. And like he just that's what he looks like and from that point, I mean True Grit itself is a classic, you know, John Wayne Western. It's great movie based on a based on a great book and much beloved and was on TCM and TNT all the time, you know on weekend weekend mornings. That's that's one of those ones that you just you turn on the television and somebody somewhere AMC or TCM or whatever is playing True Grit particularly in like the early night. I had that movie was on all the time anyway.
Mike00:15:52By the way, so many so many great names in that movie to be on Robert Duvall, right? I mean besides Glen Campbell Dennis Hoppers in it and who else who's the girl? I will. I don't know Kim Darby, but just I love that movie. Go ahead. Great movie.
Sonny00:16:10And then, you know, a couple years after that he's in he's in THX. 1138, which is like I it's funny. I'm reading a book about Coppola and Lucas and Spielberg right now and THX 1138 1138 is a weird movie. I have never really cared for it. Frankly. I don't it's it's too it's too weird and art housey for me. I've never I've never much liked it to be totally honest with you know, but that was that was a that was a you know, people were expecting. A lot out of that movie. It was one of the first American Zoetrope films. One of the you know, one of the movies that Francis Ford Coppola had, you know, kind of staked says as the thing that was going to, you know, put his company on the map and it's a disaster. It bombs. Nobody. Nobody goes to see it. It becomes a classic. It is like rediscovered post Star Wars, you know, people come around to it because it's directed by George Lucas level, but he falls in with that group Robert Duvall does. So Robert Duvall is in that movie and then he of course is in the Godfather Godfather Part 2 the conversation apocalypse. Now in the midst of all this. He's also in, you know, Network and and a bunch of other things great Santini and the great Santini, which is I believe what he won his Oscar for him on that. I don't think you know, Tender Mercy for that.
Mike00:17:38Yeah, he was he was nominated for Santini anyway, but he so so
Sonny00:17:46Duvall like again Duvall Duvall has been in the world of is been like a an enormous major figure in the world of film film for literally my entire life. It's it's it's what he's one of these guys who's just part of the firmament is it's like hard to it's hard to imagine not only my own history as a filmmaker or film lover film watcher without thinking of movies. He was in and that. You know, it's just it's it's not it's not even sad. Like it's he's 95. It's not like it's a sad. It's not like it's sad that he's he is he has died. I mean, it's sad in the sense that it's always sad, but but
Mike00:18:29it's a it's a marker right of sort of the passage of somebody who was a who has been there for you said for your whole life my whole life for for all the movies like going back to sort of when the movies that we really. You know connect with he's like he's he's in the yeah, he's in the tapestry of it.
Sonny00:18:53He's just he's just there all this. I mean like apocalypse now is a perfect example. So he is in apocalypse now for I believe 11 minutes of screen time. I actually looked it up because I was I was he is in the movie for 11 minutes of screen time and if you mentioned the movie apocalypse now to me, I basically he is in like all of my memories of that film, you know, it's it's not a short movie. It's you know, three hours. I don't what it's two hours 40 minutes in the theatrical cut. I think it's like three hours 30 minutes in the director's cut the final cuts more manageable three hours something like that. He's he's he's barely in the movie is my point. He is not in he's in the movie for a tiny percentage of the runtime and when I think of that film, I think of I think of his sequence his scenes as Lieutenant Colonel Kilgore and I think of Marlon Brando at the end of the film like those are those are there. So it's like. Robert Duvall and Marlon Brando. It's not a bad not bad company to be in question.
Mike00:19:50And yeah, why do I agree with your assessment of sort of like how he stands out? Why do you think that is? Why was he why did he make even small parts so memorable?
Sonny00:20:04Well, he's got what he in this in this case. It's because he has the best lines. He has the best lines in the movie. Charlie don't surf, you know, Etc. I mean, like it just it's, you know, I love, you know, napalm in the morning. I you know, it that's like he has there. There are like four all-time quotes from that movie and he has three of them.
Mike00:20:26So so I mean, but that's I mean, but but then you think I saw somebody on Twitter share the scene from Network where he sort of goes off and he fires. What's his name? In the office and the whole that whole scene and this person pointed out that. You know in a lesser actor or certainly a different actors hands. Those lines could have been overdone. They could have been sort of actory and if you watch the scene and you watch him in Apocalypse Now, or you watch him in the Godfather like there is it seems to me. I'm curious what your thoughts on this there. There is there is not a bit of actoriness in how he does great lines. For instance, he has great lines. But he like he makes it feel very natural. He makes it feel very much like this is a guy who really did just walk off the street and up to the floor of the you know of his office at the high-rise of this television network and like said these words because that's who he is. I mean, yeah, that's I guess what every actor wants to do. But like it there's a verisimilitude to him that I pick up on as a kind of a newb.
Sonny00:21:42Well, he so I again I'm reading I'm reading this book. He came from the school of Actors that they thought the most important thing in an acting performance is not the words on the page was not your own kind of conception of what the character was but who you were interacting with in the scene in front of you like the words the words on the page or the guide but you know, it's it's the relationship that you have with the person who you are acting across that actually brings out the performance and I think that that is That is you see that in his movies because again, he kind of he does to say he disappears into every role is wrong because that's that's not it's not like you're ever like, oh my God, that's that's Robert Duvall. I never would have imagined that that has never been him but at the same time he does fit. There's never been a movie where you watch it and you're like, why why was he in this? He's the wrong. He's wrong for this. There's he was never wrong for a movie and you know this this I don't know this it's it's it's an interest. It's a real talent. It's a real skill and he is he is one of the greats and like I the the first example I used in my obit was just a movie that I have loved for a long time and was not expecting to love when I saw it and one of the main reasons I loved it was because of how good he was in it and that's open range the the Western with Kevin Costner. Oh yeah, I am so he's in he's in he's in open range and he he's like kind of the he's. Kind of the you know, the old hand the you know, kind of crusty old cowboy with a with a you know heart of gold but still a spine of steel and it's a it's a stock role in lots of ways. It's a stock role in lots of ways, but he is he is funny enough and clever enough and and unique enough that it stands out as as just this just this. Really great performance and I don't even know how to I don't even know what to put a finger on in it. It's it's it's not just you know how he looks and how he moves but that's a big part of it. Yeah, you know, there's this there's this this I always think about this this one sequence this very little just brief shot in the movie where he like kind of mimics like he's thrusting his hips a little bit. He's like dancing like a chorus girl or something and it was just like it's just this you know, it may it like makes Kevin Costner laugh. In this. Sequence and like it's which is something his character doesn't really do right and I just I the whole thing is the whole thing is wonderful. Anyway, I you know, it's it's it's interesting to. I don't know. It's it's really it. I don't know what to say other than like he was great at what he does and he was in great movies and he was in so many great movies. I can't even really count them all.
Mike00:24:40Do you have a favorite or it doesn't have to be the best but a favorite Robert. Ball performance. You go first. Well, I have I have three so I I think he's fantastic in both Godfathers. I actually I like him more and Godfather 2 actually this is no no shade to the original. I just I think he's he's terrific and it's a real shame that he never that he couldn't get an agreement on Godfather 3 because I mean not that maybe the movie still would have been terrible, but it could have been less terrible with him in it. The second one is the miniseries Lonesome Dove. I saw that miniseries like at a great time. I was like a teenager and it just it was it stuck with me and his performances that you know, it's he's in his element. It's a Western and and he gets to be, you know, he gets to be this. That the cowboy that he always excelled at playing and I just I I loved him in it and you know, I appreciate that like a miniseries, you know, wasn't beneath this this guy, which I guess, you know, I gather there was a time when like TV was sort of like less than it's not like now it was less than movies and then I love I think I mentioned this on one of our Christmas time episodes for Christmases, which is just a really fun. You haven't seen it, but it's a really fun goofy comedy. He plays one of the one of the parents that that Reese Witherspoon and and and Vince Vaughn have to go to Christmas with and he's like kind of the redneck II white trashy dad and he like this. It's a hilarious sequence where they buy him satellite for satellite TV and they try to go install it and the brothers who are like Tim McGraw and I can't remember who the other brother is like they're white trash to you know, and they're like picking on Vince Vaughn who's their brother and and and Robert Duvall like doesn't want this satellite TV and he's complaining about the whole time and he's just it was great. It makes me laugh and just it was the first thing I thought of when when he died actually was that that which is kind of a silly throwaway role, but yeah, I love it. How about you?
Sonny00:27:07No, I the the last one I will just highlight here is gone in 60 seconds the remake not the original so I've always I've always had a real soft spot for God in 60 seconds and I don't know why I think I just it just hit at the right time for me. It was like it came out in 2000 and I you know was went and saw it with my friends. We all had a great time. It was but he and it's also like God in 60 seconds is one of these I described it to John Ralston on Twitter as it is a movie that is a lot like Congo. The movie Congo in that. It's not a good movie precisely, but it is it is a movie with a great cast and it's a movie with a cast that's so good that it kind of papers over a lot of the flaws of the thing like again, it's you know, it's Robert Duvall, but it's also Timothy Oliphant and Nick Cage and Angelina Jolie and and Giovanni Rabisi and Christopher Eccleston and Kai McBride Scott. I can't or Scott Kahn and oh, who am I? Oh the and Delroy Lindo, of course, who was also in Congo like it's it's just this is this ridiculously stacked cast. That's a lot of fun to watch and it's got you know, it's got cars and they're driving fast whatever and like the plot is the plot is ludicrous and like the car chases aren't even very good in it and like doesn't really succeed at the thing that it's the one thing. It's supposed to be very good at which is car chases it but it is a good hangout. Movie. It's just fun to like be with all of these people all of these actors having a good time and I and he is he is it he is a key part of that again as like kind of the you know, the the crusty old car thieving vet who you know is trying to trying to walk them through this and also protect the younger kids. I just it's again. It's a silly nothing part. There's this there's this great moment where he is he Delroy Lindo and Timothy Oliphant who are the cops they come to the chop shop and they're like, hey, what what's going on here and in the scene this the sequence before in one of the cars that they boosted they found like a you know, a bunch of cocaine or something and so like there was there's like cocaine all over the floor of this place and and and and and they see it he sees it on the floor and he's trying to get he's trying to and Robert I was trying to get Delroy Lindo to rev the engine to like blow it away and it's just like it's just as again stupid the scene the whole sequence is stupid, but it's a lot of fun because all of these actors are so good and that is that is look that's the sign of a good actor. You can be in a really dumb movie like the sixth day or kicking and screaming or you know, whatever and like John Q a more serious stupid film, but a stupid film nonetheless and it like elevates the whole. Well, it elevates the whole thing. That's what he that that's what he was great at.
Mike00:30:15Well, and just not we're talking a lot about gone in 60 seconds for a stupid movie, but I saw that movie. I'm a little younger than you and like ice, but I saw that movie. I remember seeing it in the theater. I remember renting it afterward and it was again sort of you know, it was like, oh I was watching movies with intent now, you know, I was watching a little more grown-up movies and like Robert Duvall like it was like, oh. Like that guy is is a part of this world that I'm sort of movies that I'm now seeing and and like his performance and it just his appearance in that movie is like a huge part of it. So then, you know sometime in the next six to 12 months that when I watched The Godfather for the first time I was like, oh there he is, you know, and and I got a greater appreciation for for movies like picking up on on stuff like that.
Sonny00:31:07So we spent we spent more time on gone in 60 seconds. In The Godfather, which is you know about about par for the course for the show, but the but the but the but the I mean it is he is so good in The Godfather and like he's doing he's doing a thing in that movie that is just watch watch his face in that movie because there are so many shots where he is just smiling and reaction to something that like Sonny has done. Yes, or that Fredo is fucked up or the you know, Michael has said and the tension between the real tension. In the second half of that movie is between Michael and and Tom Hagen and Tom Hagen in a very real way. Like Michael wants to fight Tom wants to make a deal and and because of that tension. It breaks their whole relationship and that carries into the second one as well. I like it just it's a really interesting performance to watch. It's a really interesting performance. To watch because you in in Tom Hagen. You have a guy who has been trained to take over the family business in a real way. Like he's not a he's not one of the brothers, but he is a kind of an adopted brother and he is he is considered part of the family and he is the family consigliere and he is the one who. Has been trained in the kind of fine arts of all this stuff and yet here comes Michael who was never supposed to be part of the family business who was never who kind of parachutes in and is like actually we're going to do it this way. And and he and again, it's just it's a really interesting performance to watch because you see you see. Michael take over through Tom Hagen's eyes in a real way and that is not a perspective. You would have necessarily expected going into the movie, but it's a it's a it like kind of tells the whole story which is again at 100% interesting interesting and it's and he does.
Mike00:33:08He has to do the thing which is like. He knows Tom Hagen knows he actually can never take over the family. He's not paisano, right? Like he's not like he and yet what you described as he's like everything that he's his life has been leading up to doing it. And so when Michael comes in the guy who the son who wasn't supposed to be in charge ever but has more claim to it than Tom does it gets a that's there's a complexity there and and he would you watch it with that knowledge and you can kind of see that coming through in his portrayal. I also love I love I said, I liked him even more in two than one but my favorite scene with Tom Hagen is at the end of of one where he says he where he says goodbye to Tessio and he's the one who delivers the message, you know, basically to test here that you're about to. You're about to be knocked off and just the way that they've got, you know, you know, for old time's sake and Tom's just his can't do it. Sal. I love the way he delivers that line. It's so it's so businesslike and workmanlike and it's kind of horrifying. It's great.
Sonny00:34:32And there's just he just has to smile like, you know, nice like
Mike00:34:37a nice try but But but can't can't do it. Anyway, all right. RIP love love Robert Duvall and I guess that's all there is to say. Should we move on talk about the box office because number one at the box office this week is Wuthering Heights coming in at almost 33 million dollars and it's opening weekend. Interestingly goat, which I feel like I did not get a lot of sort of pre-awareness of this movie until Like the week before when it kind of filtered through my youth basketball world a little bit. This is the Steph Curry movie animated movie about a goat who plays basketball kind of a one-two punch. Hey, we got we got some like some people went to the movies this past weekend. It's not a ton but it's better than recent weeks.
Sonny00:35:32Yeah, well Wuthering Heights Wuthering Heights is kind of interesting because some tracking numbers have had the the four-day up around like 60 70 million dollars. So like this is, you know, Warner Brothers the whole time was saying 40 40 is the number and it that's about what it came in to over the four-day for the goat goats interesting because it almost ended up beating Wuthering Heights over the weekend. It was 37.5 to 35 million, which I don't think anybody would have expected necessarily, you know, a month ago. I've seen I've seen the trailers for goat about 7,000 times myself. So I'm you were well aware of it. I was well. Aware of it. My son was also very aware of it again. He's playing basketball. He really wanted to go see it. So it was a it was it was they my kids really enjoyed it. So, you know, good for good for good for that movie. Good for them. That's a solid. That's a that's a very solid number and I bet it holds pretty well. The kids the kids all seem to like it again. We don't we just don't have that many kids movies. I friggin Zootopia 2 Zootopia 2 is let me hold on. We've got four.
Mike00:36:39419 419 is the total gross.
Sonny00:36:42Yeah, but it dropped Zootopia 2 dropped just 4.8% this this this weekend. Now now that's the three-day weekend is a hard one to compare especially for something like Zootopia because there was no you know, there nobody went to go see the movies on Sunday of last weekend because of the Super Bowl, but you know the the but still, you know, it lost 500 screens and only dropped 4%. That's a that's a very that's a very good number Avatar 3 is kind of limping towards 400 million. It'll probably get there. I it'll get there but it'll you know, it's that's that's a that's a bad result all around for that movie under 1.5 billion, you know, considering it probably cost 400 million dollars to make you know, another 200 million dollars market. It'll make money but just just barely so so can we can we talk
Mike00:37:29a little bit about Wuthering Heights just because I there's I'm curious who the marketing seems to be toward like Millennial women. Is that is that the idea here?
Sonny00:37:40It's a movie for it's a movie for ladies, which is why we're not talking about it.
Mike00:37:45Yeah, it's a movie for women, but like but the reason I ask is
Sonny00:37:50audience was 75% female.
Mike00:37:53Yeah, opening week, but like but like younger women like it's not this is not for when maybe not. I don't know.
Sonny00:38:01Yeah. Yeah. No, I mean, it's it's for Millennial. It's for it's for middle-aged women. Frankly, it's for it's for for women our age, but but
Mike00:38:08younger younger than like the app like the movie going crowd is generally older than than than average. And so in a general sense, right? Like old people like to go to movies, right? No, am I wrong?
Sonny00:38:22No, you're not wrong. Well, I mean, it's okay, middle-aged, whatever it depends on depends on the genre. It depends on a lot of different things. But I mean, I would say it's aimed at this is a definitely a movie that is aimed at like 30 year old professional women who spend a lot of time on Instagram and Tik Tok. Yeah, I'll put it that way.
Mike00:38:42Okay, put it that way.
Sonny00:38:43So it's it's I saw it. It's fine. It's interesting. It's kind of interesting. I never have you read the book?
Mike00:38:50No, but my wife has and she's she was quite skeptical that they could make it into a good movie.
Sonny00:38:57Well, they didn't really make the book. So I haven't read the book either. So take all this with a grain of salt. But my understanding is that it is not that close of an adaptation. Really? It's correct. Yes, it's fairly. It's fairly far off. And they skip like the whole second half of the book, which like is
Mike00:39:12like about the second generation of these these characters, right?
Sonny00:39:15Whatever. So I don't I don't have strong thoughts on it as a work of adaptation. It was fine. I like it's it's a movie. It's it's a it's a movie that one would describe as horny, right? But for women, it's it's women. It's it's women's horniness, which is very different than male horniness. It's needles to say. Very different Beast.
Mike00:39:39All right. Well, we're not talking about this movie for Millennial women. We're going to talk about a movie for Millennial men. Yeah, this week number 12 at the box office Nirvana, the band, the show, the movie. Welcome to Nirvana, the band, the show, the movie, the podcast. This earned what like little over a million dollars. It was what it was. I guess it's getting a wider release.
Sonny00:40:04Yeah, it was on 365 screens. It wasn't it wasn't playing. Playing that that wide. So it's this is niche. This is a niche. Yeah, I'll say this is a niche topic. A niche, niche movie for a niche. Show hours hours.
Mike00:40:21Yeah, exactly. A niche podcast. Why don't you give us a if you can a big boy review of Nirvana, the band, the show, the movie.
Sonny00:40:32Nirvana, the band, the show, the movie starring Matt Johnson and Jay McCarroll. Who are two Canadians. It's really all you need to know to Canadians who so I will be honest. I've never watched the I never watched the web series on which this was based and I never watched the the Viceland TV show that this is based on. So like this is this. There's a whole pedigree of stuff that is leading up to this, but I never watched any of it and I will say one of the things this movie does very well is setting the scene and setting the stage for people like me. Who have never seen the thing because I like coming into it again. I wasn't sure I knew I kind of knew it was a show but I didn't I didn't really know anything about it. All I knew was that Matt Johnson is the guy who directed and co-starred in Blackberry, which I love. I think one of the best movies of 2002 whenever that came out big that was a great movie. This is different. So Nirvana Nirvana. The band the show the movie is about these two guys who are in a band. They're a band but like they don't actually have any songs. They don't have any albums. They don't have anything to promote. They don't have any shows. They want to they want to get a show which is kind of where the the this movie starts is them trying to figure out how to functionally trick the Rivoli which is a Canadian which is a real Canadian club where like kids in the hall got their start. Mike Myers. Sure. I'm sure many famous Canadians have gotten their start at the Rivoli. I don't I couldn't I couldn't name them but the we got to there. Well, I guess six with the kids in the hall. And the plan the plan that he comes up with that plan that Matt Johnson comes up with is to go to the top of the CN Tower, which is the big like Space Needle thing in Toronto and jump off. It into the Sky Dome with parachutes parachute into it. Not just jump off, but you know parachute during during a Blue Jays game during a Blue Jays game and say we're going to be at the Rivoli. Come see us and his his friend Jay says, well, are we going to be at the Rivoli? He said, well after we do this, they'll have to let us be at the Rivoli. That'll be a which is which is again a very funny, but my point here is that the the movie does a very good job of setting up these the relationship that these two have. Matt is a dumb schemer with full of idiot plans. Jay is like kind of a long for the ride, but also the actual musical talent of the insofar as this this pair has any musical talent. He is the one who can actually play the piano and and and sing and stuff and and and we're off from there. So that's the first plan and it fails and then the second plan is involves creating a fake time machine and trying to trick the Rivoli into believing that they are from the past and they must play the show to say, I don't save the world or something and again, it's really stupid and it gets even stupider because the time machine actually accidentally works and sends them back in time to 2008 and I have to say I should can I should I spoil the should I spoil the joke of how they figure it out here because I don't I like I don't want to like ruin it for people but it is one of the funniest things I've ever seen. I like I laugh so hard in the theater.
Mike00:44:11Yes, go ahead.
Sonny00:44:13I'll put all I'll just say this I the the the way that Matt comes to realize that they are in the past. In the recent past and not the distant past but the very recent 17
Mike00:44:25years ago.
Sonny00:44:26Yeah is is so funny that I I like almost fell out of my seat laughing just because it's so it's so it's like spot-on. It's spot-on perfect, not just as a not just as a plot device, but as like a kind of perfect commentary commentary on how quickly things change over a very short period of time. I'll just leave it at that. Anyway, so they go back in time. They got to figure out how to get get back forward in time and yada yada yada. I don't want to I don't want to I'm not going to spoil anything else. I'm not gonna talk about any of the other plot points here. I want to say two things and I don't know precisely how to phrase the second of them. But the first thing is it's it's it is a time travel movie. Yes, but it's also just like a really great relationship movie. It's just like it's this movie about like it's a really sweet movie. Really? It's for his dumb and as ridiculous as all of this is it's a really sweet movie about friendship and and like the way the things we will put up with from our idiot friends and whether and and kind of how that reveals our own idiocy. I don't know. I maybe that's not a good way to put it either but I it's just it's just a very sweet very pleasant very nice movie and the other thing is that it's an incredibly Canadian film and and it's not just that it's two Canadians and it's not just that it's set in Toronto like even the very that so like the very basic fundamental parts of the plot right are like, okay, so these guys. So Matt builds a fake DeLorean time with a flux capacitor and everything right in this RV and how do they accidentally get it to work? They spill some clearly or they spilled some orbits on it right right now. I don't know if you know this about orbits, but orbits is actually was made by clearly Canadian the company that makes clearly Canadian. Yeah, it's like it's like it's it's an incredibly Canadian thing, but it's the sort of thing that you would not really think about. Unless you were thinking about how Canadian this movie is again. It's like it's it's it is, you know, the they're going to jump off the CN Tower, which is they're going to go into the skydome there. It's the revolt, the Rivoli, which itself is like a Canadian landmark and and everybody is just so nice in it. It's every everyone's always like saying. Oh, sorry. Sorry. Thanks. Sorry.
Mike00:46:58Sorry and like it's it's it reminded me a lot of I don't.
Sonny00:47:04I don't think I don't know if you've seen it, but the 28 years later, the first one that came out last year 28 years later, which is this incredibly British movie. Sure. It's it's it's Danny Boyle is doing this very specifically British thing about British identity. I'm like what it means to be a Britain in in modernity facing, you know, the challenges of the outside world. This is a very explicitly Canadian film. Yes, and that's the only way I like that's the. The only lens through which I can really explain, you know, how a lot of it feels. It just feels very Canadian and like Blackberry is a very similar. Obviously Blackberry, of course, was a Canadian. RIM was a Canadian company and right and there's a there's a lot about Waterloo and you know, all that all that stuff up and lots
Mike00:47:55of NHL talk, you know, lots of NHL talk.
Sonny00:47:58One of the characters wants to buy an NHL team and move it and like and like it's a whole thing. But again, like these are very these are very Canadian products and we don't really I mean I as an American, I never think about Canadian. I don't care about Canadian identity, right? But this is this is a movie that is very much interested in and kind of defined by Canadian-ness in a way that is deeply unusual, which I find which I get. I just found very interesting.
Mike00:48:32Yeah, I think that's a fair way to put it. I like you was that was not a viewer of Nirvana the band the show. But I did you you asked me if I had seen it before we before we started recording earlier and I had sent you the only bit of Nirvana the band the show content that I have ever seen which is become something of a meme online in recent years, which is from their original web series again from like 15 plus years ago. Which is just the stupid but kind of earworm II thing where the where Jay Jay sings the theme to the Nintendo. We shop theme song. He sings like the names of video games that you can buy in the Wii shop to that tune and it's just very goofy and very funny and very specific not just to like that time period but sort of I said I introduced this as being sort of Millennial Mayo. It's interesting. You focused on the Canadian this of it, which is totally true, but it's also very much a Millennial early internet video kind of has that sensibility to the entire movie. It's got it's got like a Canadian II maybe more Millennial II version of Jackass and Tom Green at work here, right? Because there's so much of this. This movie which I believe is based on how they put the show together originally is like man on the street type of like we're going to improvise with people that we talked to on the street and build something funny out of those interactions. It's much less pranky and much more kind of can we get comedy out of us being ridiculous and real people reacting from from that go ahead.
Sonny00:50:32I will say as. As I was watching it, I was I I literally could not tell how much of it was like obviously Matt Johnson and Jay McCarroll and like the guys who are playing the cameraman and whatever like those are actors. Yes, there's those are actors acting. I genuinely could not tell how many of like the man on the street things were like real people versus you know extras.
Mike00:50:58Yeah, I mean I think what I have since learned about the show is that. They are real like they are man on the street like that that there is there is not like the the interaction they have in like the in like the tool shop at the beginning while they're getting ready to jump off the CN Tower with like the clerk and they're basically like asking him would these be good for for cutting through the harness that you wear when you do the top of the CN Tower tour basically like would we be able to cut ourselves? Loose? Loose from a safety harness and jump hundreds of feet with the with this particular tool and the guy I think it's real the guys like I mean, I wouldn't advise you do that. But I mean you do what you want to like that whole I don't think that interaction. I think it's true that it's it's it's it's a real interaction but like you couldn't get something that weird and funny from an extra or from a from an actor. It's like it's it's to you know, at one point. He's like, I mean, I'm a libertarian so you do. Whatever you want, but but I wouldn't do it. But hey, go ahead. If this is this is the one you want it just the whole that whole scene is so I think a part of like internet video kind of gonzo we internet video culture. Yeah, and that that that appealed to me quite a bit.
Sonny00:52:22And there's definitely there's also just a lot of like music culture stuff in this which is kind of interesting but I like have no real no real peg on I like I don't I don't have a handhold on.
Mike00:52:33That well, interestingly one of the things that they did was there's a scene and I will again. I won't spoil this because this was my other big laugh was what happened preceding this scene. But there's a there's a scene where there's a police press conference outside of a mansion because of something that happens and that's a real Prescott police press conference that they were kind of like took advantage of at the time because that was when there was you may not I kind of forgot. That this happened but like that was Drake's that's Drake's house and there was a shooting at Drake's house during the whole Drake Kendrick Lamar feud and so the they use that police press conference, which was a real police press conference in the movie and made it seem like it fit into their the story that they were telling and their movie.
Sonny00:53:27It's what the thing that they have done with this movie. I didn't actually know that and it's really interesting. Because this this this movie is past past each in a real way like they're they're pulling things from back to the future, but also like butterfly effect and primer and like a bunch of other stuff. They're like they're playing. They're playing with ideas from lots of different things, but they're also just using stuff from the real world like
Mike00:53:53that and like I and I found it really interesting and I'm
Sonny00:53:58trying to figure out how to phrase this in my review that I'm writing right now. Not I mean not during this episode, but you know, I mean he could be but the but the when I'm when when Mike's talking. I'm just sitting here writing trying to block him out frankly. No, I but when I'm trying to figure out how to write this and like we spend a lot of time right now thinking about originality because of AI we spent a lot of time like every time I turn on Twitter. Somebody's doing a has put up a clip of some AI shit and it's like Hollywood. Is so. Scared right now look at this and it's the worst shit you've ever seen in your life of like fanfic reimagining of you know, the the end of Game of Thrones or like what if what if Lord of the Rings was only 16 seconds long and the Eagles just dropped the the ring of the and it would and it's AI version of that and like go fuck yourselves. None of this is good or interesting and I hope you all die. That's that's what I think every time I see one of these clips every time I see one of these clips and the jackasses like applauding themselves. For how clever they are. I'm like your fan fiction is shit every shipper in the universe should be put in a prison camp and all of your all of your garbage makes me want to die and this is and but this is a movie that that you could if you you could look at my critique and be like, well, what do you why do you like this movie then it's not original there. They're just stealing from back to the future back to the future is literally in it. Wouldn't it be more creative to do an AI version of you know, and like it. Wouldn't actually though is the thing and but the reason but the reason the movie works the reason the movie is good and interesting and kind of entertaining and enjoyable is because it has that human soul at the heart of it that really it's a it's not about back to the future and it's not about that
Mike00:55:53is that is the window dressing that is that that is how that how you dress it up to tell a story about because what it really is to go back to my millennial male. Theme here it's about it's about men our age who are friends who have been through a lot and maybe things haven't always worked out the way they wanted it to or thought it could and like how they kind of you know, but but but they've also like how to life, you know in a friendship together and it's sort of about about that. It's about appreciating.
Sonny00:56:32Whether you're middle-aged regrets should be regrets or not. Yes, you know in a way and again like, you know, say middle-age like these guys are in their 30s like they're like 40 and
Mike00:56:4341 for it.
Sonny00:56:44Yeah, so like they're you know, they're they're my age again old they're old and it's you know, but it is like it is it is just because it is pastiche and just because it uses things that we are familiar with that doesn't mean that it's not original. And the originality kind of lies in the interesting remixing and remelding of all of those things and I just like it's it's
Mike00:57:12just like it's just such a different again.
Sonny00:57:15There's no it's it's what's the line about pornography, you know, when you see it like it's just like the this is this is not this is not the same thing as as AI crap Sonny.
Mike00:57:27It has the spark. That's what it is. It's got that's. Spark of life. Yes, has the spark of human life and also not that we need to be contrasting this with AI slop, but like watch an AI slop film or three minutes of it or whatever. There's no question about what you're watching. You're never going like, how do they do that? It's like, well, how they do that. The computers did it. Yeah, this movie like there were multiple times where I was like, how did they do that? Because I mean, this is not spoiling anything to say. Like when they go back in time, they incredibly integrate themselves filming this in 2025 with real video clips of themselves in 2008 that were filmed and they even do something really clever. And this is I love this. They go back to 2020 to 2008 and their cameraman like they're about to leave to go investigate whatever they're they're looking for something. And right before they leave their little time machine RV. They go wait your camera is too modern. You're going to have to you're going to have to like they'll recognize it as being from the future and he picks up the camera that would be not out of place in 2008 and so everything that then from that point on that you see in the film is of the same kind of camera quality because it matches the actual footage which they actually shot. In 2008 that they into it's like it's moved in a in its own weird small niche way. It's like movie magic and I did it.
Sonny00:59:11Loved it. I know how they did it though. How AI?
Mike00:59:15Oh, yeah, that's right. That's the computers did it.
Sonny00:59:17They just put it in the computer. Put us in prompt. Put us grok. Put us in 2008 video clip with ourselves.
Mike00:59:25They're using Claude Sonny. Come on. They've got they got they've got more self-respect than to use. Is that true rock? Anybody who like actually asked anybody questions.
Sonny00:59:37Anybody who unironically types is that true grok should be castrated. They should be castrated and have and and have their nuts thrown in the ocean for the fish to eat. So they don't reproduce.
Mike00:59:51Anyway, I don't know. I highly it's such a weird movie. I will say this again. Nobody needs to know anything about. Yes, this to to to appreciate it.
Sonny01:00:04I think honestly like it's more important to have seen back to the future one and two than it is to have watched watch the show like, you know, in all seriousness, I think that's the you don't even really need to do that either.
Mike01:00:16Like it just, you know, it's it stands on its own. It's great and I'm happy that I'm happy that this movie is out there and hopefully, you know, who knows? Maybe people will pick it up on some whatever the version of the, you know, blockbuster cable movie classic that, you know, people will like find this somewhere on streaming and enjoy it. Any other thoughts on Nirvana, the band, the show, the movie, though, they'll
Sonny01:00:39watch it 90 seconds at a time on Tik Tok. It'll be a hundred hundred ninety second clips of it on Tik Tok.
Mike01:00:48All right. I'm just going to walk off the ledge now. Okay, go over the thoughts.
Sonny01:00:53No, no. My only other thought was I can't believe they let you do that on top of the CN Tower. The I mean, it's pretty well in America. I can't imagine they would let you do that.
Mike01:01:03That's a you mean make crazy people do the movie thing or the just the thing that where they've got everybody on a harness.
Sonny01:01:10No, where they got everybody on a harness out there in real life. Like I was like, I was like, that's the that's the worst thing I've ever seen. I couldn't I could not pot. You couldn't pay me to go up there. You would have to pay me. You would have to pay me like I I'm not even you would have to pay me like a million dollars to do that. I could I would I would be pissing myself the whole time.
Mike01:01:28It was I will say it. Was anxiety inducing that I did not want to do not want I was watching
Sonny01:01:37this thing. I was like, no, do not do not want I want it. Did they actually jump off that like this another movie magic. I like did they did they I mean obviously Matt and Jay didn't jump off the thing I would assume but they did they did did people actually jump off that did they snip themselves and then jump off for their parachutes. I don't know.
Mike01:01:56I don't know.
Sonny01:01:57But you know what I want to buy the 4k and I want to watch all the behind-the-scenes footage of this movie. I would I like this is a movie that in if this movie had come out in 2000 there would be a new line presents like three disc making of you know, yes, it would be right there with the Boogie Nights set totally
Mike01:02:19totally though. This is like this is like again like jackass or something like you people would be like looking for all the outtakes all that stuff. All right. Any other thoughts? No, no, no. All right. Well, that is all the time we are giving. Into this episode. Not bad for just two of us sunny. Join us over at sub beacon.com. Tell your friends and family and we will talk to you next time. Yeah, I just I cannot stop thinking about the the tour bus scene that that's the you know, where he's outside of his house and he pulls the little little Chekhov's gun.
Sonny01:03:03Yeah, like it's very funny. Very funny. I again, I laughed. I guffawed in my theater to the extent that I was worried that I was worried that people would think I was weird for laughing at what I was laughing at.
Mike01:03:12But it had the exact same experience where I was like laughing and nobody else around me was laughing as hard as I was or as much and I was like, am I am I something wrong with me?
Sonny01:03:23I would say this movie is very calibrated toward our particular senses of humor.
Mike01:03:28100% I like.
Sonny01:03:30It's funny. I don't I don't know.
Mike01:03:32I'm honestly, I don't think JVL would have liked this.
Sonny01:03:35No, no, I don't. Well, maybe I don't know. Maybe but it was a it's it's such a strange weird movie. And again, I there were there were moments when I was like, wait, what are what are they doing here? Well, what are is this real? Are they really talking to this drunk guy? Is he is he like drunk for real? Anyway, I don't know. I'm sure it's fine.
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