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Hello and welcome to the second episode of Screen Generation.
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I am and will be your host, Evan Hughes.
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Today we are talking about the 1999 film Arlington Road, and this movie has legs.
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Not only as an adult option in theaters for folks that were hoping to avoid pod races and gun guns, but also when word of mouth made it kind of a rental hit.
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This movie was made by Lakeshore, and it had intended to be distributed by Polygram, which is Universal's Parent Company.
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There are a few mess-ups during production, but at the time, the studio is considered an acquisition offer, and the marketing department basically gives away the plot of this film in the trailer.
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So Lakeshore is thinking, you know, we spent 30 million on this, uh, let's buy it back and we'll try to find someone else to distribute it for us.
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Sony, who is new to the business but has the handy Screen Gems label, choose to buy the rights for$6 million.
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And then they do just about the same thing.
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They give away with the advertising the entire plot of the story, the twist.
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And this is this makes rewatching it kind of fresh.
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Because I didn't see the trailer before I saw the movie, I just watched the movie, and it I'm betting it anyone who caught this on TV probably had a better time than people in the theater.
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All right.
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This is an age of twist endings.
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Uh, usual suspects, primal fear, bone collector, sixth sense, and my favorite conspiracy theory.
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And this might be a twist of my own.
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I love Mel Gibson.
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I mean, obviously for his horrendous politics, but more importantly, as an actor and a director, shoot, I love Clint Eastwood as well.
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I have such a soft spot for artists that let you down.
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And uh, in the same way, I think I like George Clooney, but I would love for him to shut the hell up.
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Separating an artist from the projects that hundreds of people worked on is important.
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I left out the Fincher movie 7 for my previous list of twists.
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Previous list of twists, that's fun to say.
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Because I left it out because Kevin Spacey erasure is real and warranted, and it's pretty undeniable the quality of a movie is amplified when he's in the cast, but he's it's a good thing not to uh use him as an example of uh what you would like to see in a movie.
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Arlington wrote, hey, that's what this episode is about.
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Uh, if you come into the movie without knowing how it goes, it absolutely kind of delivers.
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But the more you think about it, it's the strangest terror plot ever conceived.
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The motives of the terrorists are not clear, and I can't go further without ruining the plot, which is uh what I'm about to go over.
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The difference this movie has from previously covered limbo is the movie was based on a current issue that 25 years later is still an issue.
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Arlington Road is a terrorism movie that was made before 9-11.
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It's coming out at a time when the largest threat currently was coming from inside the house.
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So the Univarmor around now gets caught.
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There's the Olympic Park uh bombing and Oklahoma City, which is this movie's made in parallel.
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Um, so the story, homegrown terrorism in a suburban community near our nation's capital, it's a good pitch.
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And at the at the time the topic was very irrelevant.
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I guess in a parabolic arc, it's sort of relevant again.
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Two things do not age well in this movie.
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It's just a sign of the age the movie was made and what we consider progress.
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Tim Robbins is building a mall, which may have we've made we've made them obsolete with online shopping and the anti-socialization of the youths.
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Lastly, the reflecting pool in the Lincoln Memorial has water in it, which our current very competent administration can't seem to crack.
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Hey, it's not the most original take, but Donald Trump has ruined so many staples of films depicting the United States of America.
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Every helicopter, drone, or establishing shot of the White House is now evidence or like a sad symbol of an American institution being destroyed.
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I know I mentioned 9-11 a lot, like a Harmontown audience, but in a way, it's that like only terrorists could forever change the New York City skyline, he has ruined the White House, which according to race must be his favorite house.
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But also consider that every person from now on who has to play the president has an important question to ask themselves.
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Do you play it like a stiff, respectable, honestly pretty boring commander-in-chief?
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Or do you play the pussy grabber?
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It's weird, but the stakes are sort of removed in an intense action thriller if the president's an idiot.
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Spaceball is an idiocracy joke about this, but he's slowly ruining everything I enjoy or, I don't know, thought was traditional.
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Mark Pellington is the second hot filmmaker that Screen Gems has landed.
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His previous film, Going All the Way in 1998, blew up in Sundance.
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The cast of that film either became stars, fizzled out, or were assaulted by Harvey Weinstein.
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Pellington is an interesting guy, but it as with most independent filmmakers in the 90s, they're putting out comedies, dramas, and thrillers because CGI is still an expensive Hollywood delicacy.
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This movie has a loaded cast.
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With the exclusion of the opening scene, it's shot very clean.
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Tim Robbins uh has all sorts of range, but it does seem like this flavor is a role that will start to like occur or reoccur.
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When he gets creepy in a movie, it's in this movie, it's reminiscent of when he's creepy in Mystic River or uh Spielberg's War of the Worlds.
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And I think this is a disservice because I find him very funny and uh believably sweet.
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Matt Damon does this too, where they're like, why would they do this cameo performance?
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And I think the real thing is because he's a game, it's fun.
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So um here's him uh in a small part in Anchorman.
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Not so fast, you ingre! Public news team is taking a break from its flex drive to kick some ass.
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No commercials, no mercy!
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And here's him in Tenacious D in the pick of destiny.
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Get the fuck out of here!
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Nice to look forward now.
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Doctor picked over here, nice to over a whole.
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Then you might as well kill us, man.
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Because there is no way in hell we're giving you this fucking pick.
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Okay.
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So be it.
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Come over here.
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I'm going to fucking stab you.
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What?
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No.
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I mean, he's funny, he's got range.
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I I really like that um uh he's paired with uh Joan Cusack because he's worked with John Cusack like twice, and then he high fidelity and tape heads.
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But um and I think it's sad because I like him, I like his causes.
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I I think roles like like this really stopped him from being Shawshank or Hudsucker or Bull Durham again.
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And to me, he has too much range to be typecast as a creep, which he's still doing today.
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His creepiness has extended to Apple TV's silo, uh, where he's metastasized for three seasons.
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Slight tangent about dystopian entertainment.
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It was always a popular thing in science fiction literature, but the prevalence of people living in underground bunkers in pop culture is a sign of the optimism for the future.
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Amazon has Fallout, Hulu has paradise, the possibility of a future ruined by meaningless conflict and unrestricted capitalism is more likely an outcome than a far-fetched reality.
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Oh shit, Twisted Metal, another video game property, also exists in a totally real streaming service called Peacock.
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It's almost like because we can't have a Mad Max show, we get these diet soda versions.
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Um, the same way that I hate Tim Robbins being shorthand for creepy, sometimes he is just that.
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Uh, I'm gonna play um uh a clip.
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You tell me if it's from this movie or not.
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Governments are no more than men and women trying to do what is right in situations where too often so much is wrong.
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It is within this context that we often have to ask ourselves difficult questions.
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What would you do if someone wanted to destroy your country?
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What lines would you cross to protect what is precious to you?
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When the potential for violence surrounds you and the fear is everywhere, what actions might be considered justified that otherwise wouldn't be?
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Actually, that's not.
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That is uh Robbins using his own words, uh promoting a movie called Catch a Fire, working with Amnesty International.
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Please visit Amnesty International's website to learn more and take action.
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Right, sometimes he's intense.
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It's it's interesting because also uh um uh I love his advocacy.
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So um uh while I was watching Enterprise on UPN, uh I uh he would come up uh advocating for local libraries.
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So I uh I let's play that.
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Can you name the one place where you have access to nearly everything on the web and imprint and even have personal assistance to help find what you're looking for?
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It's right in your backyard, the library.
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Libraries have always been places for education and self-help.
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Today, they're at the forefront of the information age.
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Come see what's new at your library.
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See, not so creepy.
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He's a good dude.
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Jeff Bridges is so handsome, you forget Rooster Cogburn and him are the same dude.
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And the dude's the same dude, whoa.
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Wait.
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The year before Bridges does Lebowski, and uh, like it's it has a lackluster critical response, which shouldn't have been a concern because the Conn brothers rarely miss.
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And being we're a podcast about distribution, that movie was practically mispackaged.
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But to see the transformation of Bridges from the dude to Professor McTerrorism is pretty amazing.
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And those characters unrecognizable, the parallels are pretty strong from the Lebowski to Arlington Road.
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So let's get up, bust out our Venn diagram, and I'm gonna only do the overlapping part, the compare, not the contrast.
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So one, put it in the center.
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It's a kidnapping plot.
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There's it's not even like it's not even a main thing, it's a subplot.
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And then uh hit him two, um, phalange amputation?
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I'm struggling because amputation suggests like a medical procedure.
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In Lebowski it's toes, in Arlington Road, it's fingers, and three, bridges.
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Just like a good metaphor, he connects the gaps between these films, and at both he's like acting at a 10.
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Just a wild performance.
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And I have one really big question about the opening scene, but I cannot arrive at it until I ruin this movie's plot.
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So I'm going to do that.
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So I'm not the biggest um Blake Snyder fan.
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Uh I think Save the Cat actually teaches the uh screenwriter some bad habits, but I think Pope in the Pool floats when it's cool, so um this movie has a great score, and I'm gonna play some uh some of the soundtrack over the synopsis, so hang on.
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So the film starts following a blonde child uh walking mid-street and the sound of children's voices in the background gently applying peer pressure.
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Driving home, Jeff Bridges stops in his neighborhood to speak to the child, and it's revealed he has injured his hand and it's bleeding profusely.
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You don't get to see the wound, and the editing style is really confusing, probably just because it's a traumatic situation.
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Um, cut to Bridges, uh taking him to the emergency room where he meets the his parents.
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Tim Robbins, who's a structural engineer, and Joan Cusack, who's a homemaker and she's an absolute fox in this movie.
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Um apparently they live across from one another.
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The children in the neighborhood pooled their fireworks, and their son was lighting the fuse when boom.
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Something in Bridges' performance hits that the trauma of the injured child triggered something internal, and we learned him and his son, played by Spencer Clark, who you might remember from uh Gladiator, and he's the son in Unbreakable.
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Um and his son are still mourning the loss of Bridges' wife, who was an FBI agent killed in the field.
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Despite their children being a fingerless pyromaniac, Bridges allows his son to start a friendship with his neighbor's children and they begin a Boy Scouts-esque extracurricular activity.
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The household is chaotic and friendly.
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Bridges, his son, and his new girlfriend, paid by the gorgeous Hope Davis, find comfort in having like a close connection and actually having friends that they can walk to.
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Bridges is described as a professor in conversation, but once you see a lecture he's giving, you realize studying extremism has fully unhinged him.
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And it's the beginning of every time he expresses concern or asks for help, people are just like, maybe you should stop teaching that crazy class, Mr.
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Crazy Man.
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It's frustrating and it builds attention really well.
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Um the paranoia is all seated at like a barbecue early in the relationship where Robbins gives Bridges his life story with a few specific bullet points, and everyone is dialed up to a nine in this movie.
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So after a beer or two, Robbins is like, tell me about your dead cop wife.
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And Fingerless is going full Nazi and like with a little pillow for it.
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Bridges uh becomes Benoit Blanc for uh like five minutes and starts using microfiche to find out how Robbins changed his name and tried to blow up a government building with a pipe bomb, but he's not a terrorist.
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If anything, Bridges is professor terrorism and he's a hammer, and everyone looks like a terrorist nail now.
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So the scouts go camping, and here's where the story not to say it falls apart, it actually starts going somewhere.
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Hope Davis sees Robbins changed vehicles at the mall.
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Malls, man.
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I try to try to think like how would like a young Bridges, malls, man, and then an old Bridges, Malls, man! Tony Stark made this in a mall with scraps.
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Okay, sorry.
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Um she follows him, Robbins is uh up to some shady business, he calls Bridges on a payphone and turns around, bam, Joan Cusack.
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To talk about Cusack in this movie, it is a great role for her.
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She sort of loses her recognizable speech delivery, and you can turn on this Stepford wife performance.
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It's it's really good.
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Um watching this makes me think that she'd be really good doing the Kathy Bates part in misery.
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There's something incredibly sinister about weaponizing how polite she is.
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And especially because she is so affiliated with beloved children's properties, it's amazing her being so off-menu.
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Later that night, horrible uh local broadcast of a car accident on super small TV, and yes, kids, TVs were square in the 90s.
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This movie is now hopeless, meaning they got Davis as soon as she started believing Bridges.
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And so, Bridges is consoled by the people who obviously murdered her.
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A convenient series of events has Bridges uh learning of a plot to blow up the FBI headquarters with explosive vans, which he must stop himself because to oh noes, they have the kid from Gladiator.
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There's a well-shot and destructive chase scene, good driving sequences bookend this movie.
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It starts with a bang and ends exciting as well.
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And at the end of this chase, it seems Bridges lost the shell game because the van he's following to the J.
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Erger Hoover building doesn't have his son or a bomb in it, but his car does.
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And the film ends with uh Bridges' son leaving a distant family new coverage.
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Bridges is a lone terrorist upset with the wrongful death of his wife.
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One of his students is clearly a part of Robinson's conspiracy, which is a great moment.
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And then Robinson Cusack and Fingerless are uh selling their house, you know, to scout the next target.
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My question is did Robinson Cusack blow off Fingerless's hand?
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Like just to meet the neighbor?
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That's not a good plan.
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Make a casserole or go across the street.
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Our kids are the same age, they can play.
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You don't have to do that.
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Like it it's the strangest opening because it it it what it does is it does show you that um uh bridges will react before thinking.
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And so during something traumatic, he just uh immediately activated himself and decided to act.
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And with that, you can see how it's like, oh, maybe we could trick him into delivering the explosive for us.
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But my bigger question is it like, kid, hold on to the M80, close your hand, be a good boy, now light it.
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And it's just like rub some dirt on it, Brady.
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Oh, yeah, fingerless's name is Brady, but I know you don't care.
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Um now, not to out myself as a monster, but I would do everything in my power to avoid a child in the street.
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With a very high success rate, I avoid children.
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It is uh insane to hinge the success of your terrorist plot on an excitable Jeff Bridges who doesn't think before he acts, as I said.
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If we're to believe the story, this terrorist group is identifying people who have understandable grievances with the government and then pinning the attacks on them.
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Shoot, let's just do this.
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It's a quick history lesson.
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Osama bin Laden had a goal for the 9-11 attacks to destroy a symbol of capitalism and to draw us in an unwinnable conflict.
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The years following the attacks were breeding grounds for conspiracy theories, the most popular being the US government knew or were cooperating with the terrorists to slowly rob us of our freedoms and enable the government to set up a police state.
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Score one for the people with aluminum hats.
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Alright, like uh incredible prediction.
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I It doesn't matter if it's true or not, because standing at the finish line, we have a private police force, disappearing people, and surveillance in every streetlight.
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This movie is like a guy who teaches people to identify red flags, but it turns out he's actually colorblind and falls for like the stupidest trick.
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It feels clever when the credits are rolling, but I should have not paid as much attention to this.
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It's it's just not coming together like the usual suspects.
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Which is something to keep in mind, because the guy who wrote the script does eventually go on to work with Christopher Macquarie.
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The guy's name is Aaron Kruger, it's not spelled the way you think it is, but um uh it's Ren E-H-R-E-N, not A-A-Ron.
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And I have a pretty low opinion of him, which I don't want to be rude, but uh because his movies have functional scripts, but they are pretty charmless.
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I also hope this doesn't hurt his feelings, but uh I don't think rich people care what I think.
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Um here are some of his credits.
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Example Aaron Kruger is credited on Transformers, Revenge of the Fallen.
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You have fought for Optimus, our last descendant, with courage and with sacrifice, the virtues of a leader.
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A leader worthy of our secret.
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The matrix of leadership is not found, it is earned.
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Aaron Kruger is credited on Transformers Dark of the Moon.
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For today, in the name of freedom, we take the battle to them.
00:17:23.599 --> 00:17:28.240
Aaron Kruger is credited on Transformers Age of Extinction.
00:17:28.480 --> 00:17:30.640
Come on, B, take him out.
00:17:37.200 --> 00:17:42.559
I mean, I guess the point I'm trying to make is with that much sound design, how much of a a use do you have for a script?
00:17:42.640 --> 00:17:43.839
Like how much do you need it?
00:17:44.000 --> 00:17:46.480
Bam! Pew pew pew pew pew pew pew.
00:17:46.880 --> 00:17:50.720
I love sound design too, but also I like a good script, and I don't think this guy can write one.
00:17:50.880 --> 00:17:56.640
He also wrote the whitewashy Ghost in the Shell adaptation bomb, but the two most recent titles are egregious.
00:17:56.720 --> 00:17:58.960
He's credited for Top Gun Maverick and F1.
00:17:59.279 --> 00:18:03.599
Two movies that reverse engineer a plot around set pieces and have a room of dudes writing.
00:18:03.759 --> 00:18:07.200
I understand I'm not showing a ton of respect, but he's doing fine in Hollywood.
00:18:07.279 --> 00:18:09.440
He doesn't need this podcast kissing his ass.
00:18:09.599 --> 00:18:13.039
And his movies are the strongest argument for AI to destroy this industry.
00:18:13.359 --> 00:18:15.200
I think Pellington does a very good job.
00:18:15.279 --> 00:18:20.880
Mark Pellington does a very good job pacing this movie, and it's I I was gonna say it's kind of his flavor.
00:18:21.039 --> 00:18:26.799
He's a prolific music video director, shot a ton of documentaries, which makes me think he just loves following bands around.
00:18:26.960 --> 00:18:33.200
Some filmmakers are pretty honest that documentaries are often an excuse to get access and have a reason to hang around interesting people.
00:18:33.359 --> 00:18:41.839
His film work is very serious, straightforward, and doesn't have the stylized editing and needle drops that Fincher or as we'll see in a few films, Guy Ritchie with Snatch.
00:18:42.000 --> 00:18:44.559
That movie is dictated and paced by the music.
00:18:44.720 --> 00:18:47.920
There is a a gloomy theme to Pellington's work.
00:18:48.079 --> 00:18:55.200
He shot U2's one, Pearl Jams, Jeremy, and his movies are usually about characters experiencing loss.
00:18:55.440 --> 00:18:59.599
Soon we'll cover the Mothman Prophecies, which is another one of his films with a grieving husband.
00:18:59.759 --> 00:19:08.720
Henry Poole's here, it's like a sad guy, you know, terminal prognosis, Jesus in a wall, I melt with you, sad guys doing drugs, maybe offing themselves.
00:19:08.880 --> 00:19:15.440
But especially with the sophomore 2, there were distributed under screen gems, they made plenty of money, and they had a name for themselves.
00:19:16.079 --> 00:19:19.039
And the box office wasn't the only measurement of success at this time.
00:19:19.200 --> 00:19:21.359
Especially for smaller budget movies like this.
00:19:21.519 --> 00:19:28.480
At the time, it was a golden age of video rentals, and eventually cable channels needed something to play, so this became a staple on TV.
00:19:28.640 --> 00:19:33.440
I watched this as God intended on Tubi with an advertisement every 15 minutes.
00:19:33.599 --> 00:19:38.799
It was really jarring how a hymns ad would stop all momentum that this movie was building.
00:19:38.960 --> 00:19:45.039
For that reason, I've ended up buying most of the gems on DVD, and secondhand market for these things is pretty laughable.
00:19:45.200 --> 00:19:46.240
Most are very cheap.
00:19:46.400 --> 00:19:48.160
Some of them are worth 50 cents.
00:19:48.240 --> 00:19:50.880
Uh, an example, I got five Resident Evil movies for$4.
00:19:52.000 --> 00:19:54.799
Now I gave last week, I gave Limbo a seven.
00:19:54.880 --> 00:19:57.759
Uh, despite the bummer ending, this is a comfortable eight.
00:19:58.079 --> 00:19:58.880
This movie is good.
00:19:58.960 --> 00:20:01.279
It's great if you don't think about it as much as I have.
00:20:01.519 --> 00:20:05.839
And when I find it, it will be joining my collection, and I look forward to revisiting it.
00:20:06.000 --> 00:20:09.279
Maybe in, you know, sooner than 25 years.
00:20:09.759 --> 00:20:12.400
Now, thank you for listening to Screen Generation.
00:20:12.559 --> 00:20:13.839
I'm your host, Evan Hughes.
00:20:13.920 --> 00:20:17.680
Join me next week for my first cursed film, Black and White, by James Tobak.
00:20:18.000 --> 00:20:23.839
My name is Sam Doniger, and this is my husband, Terry Doniger, and I'm a freelance documentary filmmaker.
00:20:23.920 --> 00:20:28.880
I'm doing a project on white high school kids who imitate black hip hop life.
00:20:30.480 --> 00:20:32.079
Can you change who you are?
00:20:32.240 --> 00:20:34.000
If you're black, can you bleach your life?
00:20:34.079 --> 00:20:35.279
Just so young.
00:20:35.599 --> 00:20:37.039
If you're white, can you die?
00:20:37.440 --> 00:20:38.400
That's where you've been, Troy.
00:20:38.559 --> 00:20:39.039
Hi, Daddy.
00:20:39.119 --> 00:20:40.240
I've been at the library.
00:20:40.400 --> 00:20:41.839
Oh, I've told you.
00:20:42.000 --> 00:20:45.680
If you must wear that ridiculous go-to, do it not in my house.
00:20:45.920 --> 00:20:47.519
Life is just crazy, man.
00:20:47.759 --> 00:20:50.000
Can you be ghetto without living in a ghetto?
00:20:50.079 --> 00:20:52.079
What do you think these white people really want from us?
00:20:52.240 --> 00:20:55.200
Trying to imitate us, trying to rap, trying to dress black?
00:20:55.599 --> 00:20:56.319
Can it be?
00:20:56.480 --> 00:20:57.279
All so simple.
00:20:57.440 --> 00:20:58.319
It ain't that simple.
00:20:58.400 --> 00:20:58.960
You know what I mean?
00:20:59.200 --> 00:21:01.279
Can you look within and embrace your soul or not?
00:21:01.440 --> 00:21:02.640
I'm here to sell records for you.
00:21:02.720 --> 00:21:04.319
If I do the video, it's gonna cross over.
00:21:04.480 --> 00:21:07.519
He's gonna make it look like it's Hollywood, even though it ain't Hollywood.
00:21:08.720 --> 00:21:09.279
Dean, right?
00:21:09.440 --> 00:21:09.680
Yeah.
00:21:09.839 --> 00:21:11.119
Point guard on the writer team.
00:21:11.200 --> 00:21:14.079
I just wondered if you wanted to make uh$50,000.
00:21:14.880 --> 00:21:17.680
I think they think they're gonna get some kind of life force.
00:21:18.079 --> 00:21:19.759
I wanna tell me what the crew can offer you.
00:21:19.920 --> 00:21:21.200
They offer us like safety.
00:21:21.440 --> 00:21:23.759
You offer me$50,000 to throw a game.
00:21:23.839 --> 00:21:24.880
Should I do it or not?
00:21:25.039 --> 00:21:26.799
Just be true to yourself.
00:21:28.880 --> 00:21:29.839
Is that Mike Tyson?
00:21:32.960 --> 00:21:34.079
I'm on parole, brother.
00:21:34.799 --> 00:21:36.880
Only dream you reporting when that's happening.
00:21:38.799 --> 00:21:40.400
You can look at me as long as you want.
00:21:42.240 --> 00:21:43.119
Trust me, what did I do?
00:21:43.200 --> 00:21:44.480
I didn't know that you knew these people.
00:21:44.640 --> 00:21:45.839
Why don't you get back downtown?
00:21:45.920 --> 00:21:46.400
Why don't you do it?
00:21:46.559 --> 00:21:47.759
I don't want to pretend anymore.
00:21:47.920 --> 00:21:49.039
Richard, I'm gay.
00:21:49.200 --> 00:21:50.720
Okay, Richard does not care.
00:21:50.880 --> 00:21:53.119
But I'll always be me and you always be you.
00:21:53.279 --> 00:21:56.559
I'm just trying to give you a reality check on how you're living right now.
00:21:56.799 --> 00:21:58.960
White people are as different from each other as black people.
00:21:59.119 --> 00:21:59.759
What are you gonna do?
00:21:59.839 --> 00:22:01.119
Kill a guy who's myself tonight.
00:22:01.279 --> 00:22:02.079
Don't feel no problem.
00:22:02.400 --> 00:22:03.039
You gonna do it?
00:22:03.119 --> 00:22:03.359
Yeah.
00:22:03.519 --> 00:22:05.920
You can't send no child to do a man's job.
00:22:06.880 --> 00:22:07.920
Yo, yo, relax.
00:22:17.279 --> 00:22:18.480
I can do whatever I want.
00:22:18.720 --> 00:22:19.920
I'm a kid in America.
00:22:20.079 --> 00:22:21.359
Let me just introduce myself to you.
00:22:21.519 --> 00:22:22.640
In all honesty, I'm a fan of the family.
00:22:22.799 --> 00:22:24.000
This time I'm from a different culture.
00:22:24.319 --> 00:22:24.960
Want me to turn it off?
00:22:25.279 --> 00:22:26.559
This is not a study of animals.
00:22:26.799 --> 00:22:27.279
It's off.
00:22:28.079 --> 00:22:29.519
You've got beautiful eyes.
00:22:34.079 --> 00:22:38.640
Yeah, I am not looking forward to that, but I think I found a perfect guest, uh, if there ever was one.
00:22:38.799 --> 00:22:41.039
And uh as usual, thank you for listening.
00:22:41.200 --> 00:22:45.039
Resist the administration, refuse AI, and I'll see you next week.
00:00:00.320 --> 00:00:02.959
Hello and welcome to the second episode of Screen Generation.
00:00:03.040 --> 00:00:04.959
I am and will be your host, Evan Hughes.
00:00:05.040 --> 00:00:09.199
Today we are talking about the 1999 film Arlington Road, and this movie has legs.
00:00:09.279 --> 00:00:16.000
Not only as an adult option in theaters for folks that were hoping to avoid pod races and gun guns, but also when word of mouth made it kind of a rental hit.
00:00:16.160 --> 00:00:21.600
This movie was made by Lakeshore, and it had intended to be distributed by Polygram, which is Universal's Parent Company.
00:00:21.760 --> 00:00:30.399
There are a few mess-ups during production, but at the time, the studio is considered an acquisition offer, and the marketing department basically gives away the plot of this film in the trailer.
00:00:30.559 --> 00:00:37.119
So Lakeshore is thinking, you know, we spent 30 million on this, uh, let's buy it back and we'll try to find someone else to distribute it for us.
00:00:37.280 --> 00:00:42.880
Sony, who is new to the business but has the handy Screen Gems label, choose to buy the rights for$6 million.
00:00:43.439 --> 00:00:45.359
And then they do just about the same thing.
00:00:45.520 --> 00:00:49.840
They give away with the advertising the entire plot of the story, the twist.
00:00:50.079 --> 00:00:53.280
And this is this makes rewatching it kind of fresh.
00:00:53.520 --> 00:01:02.799
Because I didn't see the trailer before I saw the movie, I just watched the movie, and it I'm betting it anyone who caught this on TV probably had a better time than people in the theater.
00:01:02.960 --> 00:01:03.359
All right.
00:01:03.439 --> 00:01:05.280
This is an age of twist endings.
00:01:05.439 --> 00:01:10.959
Uh, usual suspects, primal fear, bone collector, sixth sense, and my favorite conspiracy theory.
00:01:11.120 --> 00:01:12.879
And this might be a twist of my own.
00:01:13.040 --> 00:01:14.239
I love Mel Gibson.
00:01:14.560 --> 00:01:21.519
I mean, obviously for his horrendous politics, but more importantly, as an actor and a director, shoot, I love Clint Eastwood as well.
00:01:21.599 --> 00:01:23.920
I have such a soft spot for artists that let you down.
00:01:24.000 --> 00:01:28.560
And uh, in the same way, I think I like George Clooney, but I would love for him to shut the hell up.
00:01:28.719 --> 00:01:32.640
Separating an artist from the projects that hundreds of people worked on is important.
00:01:32.959 --> 00:01:36.640
I left out the Fincher movie 7 for my previous list of twists.
00:01:36.879 --> 00:01:38.879
Previous list of twists, that's fun to say.
00:01:39.040 --> 00:01:53.760
Because I left it out because Kevin Spacey erasure is real and warranted, and it's pretty undeniable the quality of a movie is amplified when he's in the cast, but he's it's a good thing not to uh use him as an example of uh what you would like to see in a movie.
00:01:54.000 --> 00:01:56.560
Arlington wrote, hey, that's what this episode is about.
00:01:56.719 --> 00:02:00.480
Uh, if you come into the movie without knowing how it goes, it absolutely kind of delivers.
00:02:00.640 --> 00:02:04.560
But the more you think about it, it's the strangest terror plot ever conceived.
00:02:04.640 --> 00:02:11.520
The motives of the terrorists are not clear, and I can't go further without ruining the plot, which is uh what I'm about to go over.
00:02:11.840 --> 00:02:18.879
The difference this movie has from previously covered limbo is the movie was based on a current issue that 25 years later is still an issue.
00:02:19.120 --> 00:02:22.080
Arlington Road is a terrorism movie that was made before 9-11.
00:02:22.159 --> 00:02:26.080
It's coming out at a time when the largest threat currently was coming from inside the house.
00:02:26.240 --> 00:02:28.719
So the Univarmor around now gets caught.
00:02:28.800 --> 00:02:34.159
There's the Olympic Park uh bombing and Oklahoma City, which is this movie's made in parallel.
00:02:34.319 --> 00:02:40.159
Um, so the story, homegrown terrorism in a suburban community near our nation's capital, it's a good pitch.
00:02:40.319 --> 00:02:42.800
And at the at the time the topic was very irrelevant.
00:02:42.879 --> 00:02:46.400
I guess in a parabolic arc, it's sort of relevant again.
00:02:46.560 --> 00:02:48.400
Two things do not age well in this movie.
00:02:48.560 --> 00:02:51.840
It's just a sign of the age the movie was made and what we consider progress.
00:02:52.000 --> 00:02:59.759
Tim Robbins is building a mall, which may have we've made we've made them obsolete with online shopping and the anti-socialization of the youths.
00:02:59.919 --> 00:03:06.159
Lastly, the reflecting pool in the Lincoln Memorial has water in it, which our current very competent administration can't seem to crack.
00:03:06.319 --> 00:03:11.759
Hey, it's not the most original take, but Donald Trump has ruined so many staples of films depicting the United States of America.
00:03:11.919 --> 00:03:19.439
Every helicopter, drone, or establishing shot of the White House is now evidence or like a sad symbol of an American institution being destroyed.
00:03:19.599 --> 00:03:32.000
I know I mentioned 9-11 a lot, like a Harmontown audience, but in a way, it's that like only terrorists could forever change the New York City skyline, he has ruined the White House, which according to race must be his favorite house.
00:03:32.159 --> 00:03:37.520
But also consider that every person from now on who has to play the president has an important question to ask themselves.
00:03:37.680 --> 00:03:41.360
Do you play it like a stiff, respectable, honestly pretty boring commander-in-chief?
00:03:41.599 --> 00:03:43.360
Or do you play the pussy grabber?
00:03:43.520 --> 00:03:48.319
It's weird, but the stakes are sort of removed in an intense action thriller if the president's an idiot.
00:03:48.479 --> 00:03:55.039
Spaceball is an idiocracy joke about this, but he's slowly ruining everything I enjoy or, I don't know, thought was traditional.
00:03:55.439 --> 00:03:58.479
Mark Pellington is the second hot filmmaker that Screen Gems has landed.
00:03:58.639 --> 00:04:01.680
His previous film, Going All the Way in 1998, blew up in Sundance.
00:04:01.759 --> 00:04:06.319
The cast of that film either became stars, fizzled out, or were assaulted by Harvey Weinstein.
00:04:06.479 --> 00:04:15.520
Pellington is an interesting guy, but it as with most independent filmmakers in the 90s, they're putting out comedies, dramas, and thrillers because CGI is still an expensive Hollywood delicacy.
00:04:15.840 --> 00:04:17.600
This movie has a loaded cast.
00:04:17.759 --> 00:04:20.800
With the exclusion of the opening scene, it's shot very clean.
00:04:21.360 --> 00:04:28.959
Tim Robbins uh has all sorts of range, but it does seem like this flavor is a role that will start to like occur or reoccur.
00:04:29.040 --> 00:04:36.160
When he gets creepy in a movie, it's in this movie, it's reminiscent of when he's creepy in Mystic River or uh Spielberg's War of the Worlds.
00:04:36.319 --> 00:04:41.199
And I think this is a disservice because I find him very funny and uh believably sweet.
00:04:41.360 --> 00:04:44.879
Matt Damon does this too, where they're like, why would they do this cameo performance?
00:04:45.040 --> 00:04:47.680
And I think the real thing is because he's a game, it's fun.
00:04:47.839 --> 00:04:50.879
So um here's him uh in a small part in Anchorman.
00:04:52.000 --> 00:04:59.680
Not so fast, you ingre! Public news team is taking a break from its flex drive to kick some ass.
00:05:00.160 --> 00:05:02.560
No commercials, no mercy!
00:05:04.959 --> 00:05:08.240
And here's him in Tenacious D in the pick of destiny.
00:05:08.560 --> 00:05:09.920
Get the fuck out of here!
00:05:13.519 --> 00:05:15.759
Nice to look forward now.
00:05:16.959 --> 00:05:23.279
Doctor picked over here, nice to over a whole.
00:05:24.639 --> 00:05:26.319
Then you might as well kill us, man.
00:05:26.800 --> 00:05:30.079
Because there is no way in hell we're giving you this fucking pick.
00:05:30.399 --> 00:05:30.720
Okay.
00:05:32.000 --> 00:05:33.279
So be it.
00:05:33.920 --> 00:05:35.120
Come over here.
00:05:36.079 --> 00:05:38.160
I'm going to fucking stab you.
00:05:40.079 --> 00:05:40.720
What?
00:05:42.399 --> 00:05:42.720
No.
00:05:44.800 --> 00:05:46.399
I mean, he's funny, he's got range.
00:05:46.480 --> 00:05:53.839
I I really like that um uh he's paired with uh Joan Cusack because he's worked with John Cusack like twice, and then he high fidelity and tape heads.
00:05:54.000 --> 00:05:57.279
But um and I think it's sad because I like him, I like his causes.
00:05:57.439 --> 00:06:03.279
I I think roles like like this really stopped him from being Shawshank or Hudsucker or Bull Durham again.
00:06:03.360 --> 00:06:08.800
And to me, he has too much range to be typecast as a creep, which he's still doing today.
00:06:08.959 --> 00:06:14.319
His creepiness has extended to Apple TV's silo, uh, where he's metastasized for three seasons.
00:06:15.199 --> 00:06:18.160
Slight tangent about dystopian entertainment.
00:06:18.399 --> 00:06:26.879
It was always a popular thing in science fiction literature, but the prevalence of people living in underground bunkers in pop culture is a sign of the optimism for the future.
00:06:27.120 --> 00:06:36.800
Amazon has Fallout, Hulu has paradise, the possibility of a future ruined by meaningless conflict and unrestricted capitalism is more likely an outcome than a far-fetched reality.
00:06:37.040 --> 00:06:42.879
Oh shit, Twisted Metal, another video game property, also exists in a totally real streaming service called Peacock.
00:06:43.040 --> 00:06:48.160
It's almost like because we can't have a Mad Max show, we get these diet soda versions.
00:06:48.800 --> 00:06:54.319
Um, the same way that I hate Tim Robbins being shorthand for creepy, sometimes he is just that.
00:06:54.480 --> 00:06:56.800
Uh, I'm gonna play um uh a clip.
00:06:56.959 --> 00:06:58.480
You tell me if it's from this movie or not.
00:06:58.800 --> 00:07:04.800
Governments are no more than men and women trying to do what is right in situations where too often so much is wrong.
00:07:05.040 --> 00:07:09.759
It is within this context that we often have to ask ourselves difficult questions.
00:07:10.000 --> 00:07:12.879
What would you do if someone wanted to destroy your country?
00:07:13.120 --> 00:07:16.560
What lines would you cross to protect what is precious to you?
00:07:16.959 --> 00:07:24.399
When the potential for violence surrounds you and the fear is everywhere, what actions might be considered justified that otherwise wouldn't be?
00:07:24.720 --> 00:07:25.600
Actually, that's not.
00:07:25.759 --> 00:07:33.439
That is uh Robbins using his own words, uh promoting a movie called Catch a Fire, working with Amnesty International.
00:07:33.920 --> 00:07:38.720
Please visit Amnesty International's website to learn more and take action.
00:07:39.040 --> 00:07:40.639
Right, sometimes he's intense.
00:07:40.800 --> 00:07:44.879
It's it's interesting because also uh um uh I love his advocacy.
00:07:44.959 --> 00:07:52.959
So um uh while I was watching Enterprise on UPN, uh I uh he would come up uh advocating for local libraries.
00:07:53.040 --> 00:07:55.279
So I uh I let's play that.
00:07:56.319 --> 00:08:04.639
Can you name the one place where you have access to nearly everything on the web and imprint and even have personal assistance to help find what you're looking for?
00:08:04.800 --> 00:08:07.279
It's right in your backyard, the library.
00:08:07.680 --> 00:08:11.040
Libraries have always been places for education and self-help.
00:08:11.439 --> 00:08:14.480
Today, they're at the forefront of the information age.
00:08:14.720 --> 00:08:17.279
Come see what's new at your library.
00:08:22.240 --> 00:08:23.759
See, not so creepy.
00:08:23.839 --> 00:08:25.040
He's a good dude.
00:08:25.519 --> 00:08:30.160
Jeff Bridges is so handsome, you forget Rooster Cogburn and him are the same dude.
00:08:30.319 --> 00:08:31.759
And the dude's the same dude, whoa.
00:08:32.000 --> 00:08:32.320
Wait.
00:08:32.559 --> 00:08:41.519
The year before Bridges does Lebowski, and uh, like it's it has a lackluster critical response, which shouldn't have been a concern because the Conn brothers rarely miss.
00:08:41.679 --> 00:08:46.000
And being we're a podcast about distribution, that movie was practically mispackaged.
00:08:46.159 --> 00:08:51.120
But to see the transformation of Bridges from the dude to Professor McTerrorism is pretty amazing.
00:08:51.279 --> 00:08:56.240
And those characters unrecognizable, the parallels are pretty strong from the Lebowski to Arlington Road.
00:08:56.320 --> 00:09:02.320
So let's get up, bust out our Venn diagram, and I'm gonna only do the overlapping part, the compare, not the contrast.
00:09:02.559 --> 00:09:04.240
So one, put it in the center.
00:09:04.399 --> 00:09:05.600
It's a kidnapping plot.
00:09:05.759 --> 00:09:09.600
There's it's not even like it's not even a main thing, it's a subplot.
00:09:09.759 --> 00:09:13.279
And then uh hit him two, um, phalange amputation?
00:09:13.440 --> 00:09:16.480
I'm struggling because amputation suggests like a medical procedure.
00:09:16.559 --> 00:09:21.039
In Lebowski it's toes, in Arlington Road, it's fingers, and three, bridges.
00:09:21.200 --> 00:09:26.639
Just like a good metaphor, he connects the gaps between these films, and at both he's like acting at a 10.
00:09:26.879 --> 00:09:29.120
Just a wild performance.
00:09:29.279 --> 00:09:34.799
And I have one really big question about the opening scene, but I cannot arrive at it until I ruin this movie's plot.
00:09:34.960 --> 00:09:36.240
So I'm going to do that.
00:09:36.879 --> 00:09:39.679
So I'm not the biggest um Blake Snyder fan.
00:09:39.759 --> 00:09:54.320
Uh I think Save the Cat actually teaches the uh screenwriter some bad habits, but I think Pope in the Pool floats when it's cool, so um this movie has a great score, and I'm gonna play some uh some of the soundtrack over the synopsis, so hang on.
00:09:55.279 --> 00:10:02.240
So the film starts following a blonde child uh walking mid-street and the sound of children's voices in the background gently applying peer pressure.
00:10:02.399 --> 00:10:08.399
Driving home, Jeff Bridges stops in his neighborhood to speak to the child, and it's revealed he has injured his hand and it's bleeding profusely.
00:10:08.639 --> 00:10:14.799
You don't get to see the wound, and the editing style is really confusing, probably just because it's a traumatic situation.
00:10:15.039 --> 00:10:19.120
Um, cut to Bridges, uh taking him to the emergency room where he meets the his parents.
00:10:19.279 --> 00:10:24.879
Tim Robbins, who's a structural engineer, and Joan Cusack, who's a homemaker and she's an absolute fox in this movie.
00:10:25.039 --> 00:10:27.039
Um apparently they live across from one another.
00:10:27.200 --> 00:10:31.360
The children in the neighborhood pooled their fireworks, and their son was lighting the fuse when boom.
00:10:31.519 --> 00:10:43.600
Something in Bridges' performance hits that the trauma of the injured child triggered something internal, and we learned him and his son, played by Spencer Clark, who you might remember from uh Gladiator, and he's the son in Unbreakable.
00:10:43.679 --> 00:10:48.559
Um and his son are still mourning the loss of Bridges' wife, who was an FBI agent killed in the field.
00:10:48.720 --> 00:10:57.759
Despite their children being a fingerless pyromaniac, Bridges allows his son to start a friendship with his neighbor's children and they begin a Boy Scouts-esque extracurricular activity.
00:10:58.000 --> 00:11:00.000
The household is chaotic and friendly.
00:11:00.159 --> 00:11:08.960
Bridges, his son, and his new girlfriend, paid by the gorgeous Hope Davis, find comfort in having like a close connection and actually having friends that they can walk to.
00:11:09.120 --> 00:11:16.320
Bridges is described as a professor in conversation, but once you see a lecture he's giving, you realize studying extremism has fully unhinged him.
00:11:16.480 --> 00:11:24.320
And it's the beginning of every time he expresses concern or asks for help, people are just like, maybe you should stop teaching that crazy class, Mr.
00:11:24.399 --> 00:11:24.960
Crazy Man.
00:11:25.360 --> 00:11:27.440
It's frustrating and it builds attention really well.
00:11:27.519 --> 00:11:38.720
Um the paranoia is all seated at like a barbecue early in the relationship where Robbins gives Bridges his life story with a few specific bullet points, and everyone is dialed up to a nine in this movie.
00:11:38.799 --> 00:11:43.200
So after a beer or two, Robbins is like, tell me about your dead cop wife.
00:11:43.360 --> 00:11:47.279
And Fingerless is going full Nazi and like with a little pillow for it.
00:11:47.519 --> 00:12:00.960
Bridges uh becomes Benoit Blanc for uh like five minutes and starts using microfiche to find out how Robbins changed his name and tried to blow up a government building with a pipe bomb, but he's not a terrorist.
00:12:01.200 --> 00:12:06.960
If anything, Bridges is professor terrorism and he's a hammer, and everyone looks like a terrorist nail now.
00:12:07.200 --> 00:12:12.240
So the scouts go camping, and here's where the story not to say it falls apart, it actually starts going somewhere.
00:12:12.399 --> 00:12:15.120
Hope Davis sees Robbins changed vehicles at the mall.
00:12:15.279 --> 00:12:16.320
Malls, man.
00:12:16.480 --> 00:12:26.320
I try to try to think like how would like a young Bridges, malls, man, and then an old Bridges, Malls, man! Tony Stark made this in a mall with scraps.
00:12:26.799 --> 00:12:27.600
Okay, sorry.
00:12:27.679 --> 00:12:35.279
Um she follows him, Robbins is uh up to some shady business, he calls Bridges on a payphone and turns around, bam, Joan Cusack.
00:12:35.679 --> 00:12:39.360
To talk about Cusack in this movie, it is a great role for her.
00:12:39.519 --> 00:12:45.519
She sort of loses her recognizable speech delivery, and you can turn on this Stepford wife performance.
00:12:45.600 --> 00:12:46.639
It's it's really good.
00:12:46.799 --> 00:12:51.759
Um watching this makes me think that she'd be really good doing the Kathy Bates part in misery.
00:12:51.840 --> 00:12:55.200
There's something incredibly sinister about weaponizing how polite she is.
00:12:55.360 --> 00:13:01.279
And especially because she is so affiliated with beloved children's properties, it's amazing her being so off-menu.
00:13:01.440 --> 00:13:08.720
Later that night, horrible uh local broadcast of a car accident on super small TV, and yes, kids, TVs were square in the 90s.
00:13:08.960 --> 00:13:13.440
This movie is now hopeless, meaning they got Davis as soon as she started believing Bridges.
00:13:13.519 --> 00:13:17.120
And so, Bridges is consoled by the people who obviously murdered her.
00:13:17.360 --> 00:13:28.399
A convenient series of events has Bridges uh learning of a plot to blow up the FBI headquarters with explosive vans, which he must stop himself because to oh noes, they have the kid from Gladiator.
00:13:28.639 --> 00:13:33.600
There's a well-shot and destructive chase scene, good driving sequences bookend this movie.
00:13:33.679 --> 00:13:35.919
It starts with a bang and ends exciting as well.
00:13:36.240 --> 00:13:41.039
And at the end of this chase, it seems Bridges lost the shell game because the van he's following to the J.
00:13:41.200 --> 00:13:45.519
Erger Hoover building doesn't have his son or a bomb in it, but his car does.
00:13:50.960 --> 00:13:55.840
And the film ends with uh Bridges' son leaving a distant family new coverage.
00:13:56.399 --> 00:13:59.679
Bridges is a lone terrorist upset with the wrongful death of his wife.
00:13:59.919 --> 00:14:04.000
One of his students is clearly a part of Robinson's conspiracy, which is a great moment.
00:14:04.159 --> 00:14:09.919
And then Robinson Cusack and Fingerless are uh selling their house, you know, to scout the next target.
00:14:10.480 --> 00:14:14.879
My question is did Robinson Cusack blow off Fingerless's hand?
00:14:15.279 --> 00:14:16.879
Like just to meet the neighbor?
00:14:18.000 --> 00:14:19.600
That's not a good plan.
00:14:19.919 --> 00:14:22.080
Make a casserole or go across the street.
00:14:22.480 --> 00:14:24.240
Our kids are the same age, they can play.
00:14:24.399 --> 00:14:25.360
You don't have to do that.
00:14:25.519 --> 00:14:33.840
Like it it's the strangest opening because it it it what it does is it does show you that um uh bridges will react before thinking.
00:14:34.080 --> 00:14:38.879
And so during something traumatic, he just uh immediately activated himself and decided to act.
00:14:39.120 --> 00:14:45.360
And with that, you can see how it's like, oh, maybe we could trick him into delivering the explosive for us.
00:14:45.519 --> 00:14:53.120
But my bigger question is it like, kid, hold on to the M80, close your hand, be a good boy, now light it.
00:14:53.200 --> 00:14:56.240
And it's just like rub some dirt on it, Brady.
00:14:56.399 --> 00:14:58.960
Oh, yeah, fingerless's name is Brady, but I know you don't care.
00:14:59.200 --> 00:15:06.000
Um now, not to out myself as a monster, but I would do everything in my power to avoid a child in the street.
00:15:06.320 --> 00:15:09.120
With a very high success rate, I avoid children.
00:15:09.360 --> 00:15:16.480
It is uh insane to hinge the success of your terrorist plot on an excitable Jeff Bridges who doesn't think before he acts, as I said.
00:15:16.639 --> 00:15:24.960
If we're to believe the story, this terrorist group is identifying people who have understandable grievances with the government and then pinning the attacks on them.
00:15:25.919 --> 00:15:26.879
Shoot, let's just do this.
00:15:26.960 --> 00:15:27.759
It's a quick history lesson.
00:15:27.919 --> 00:15:34.720
Osama bin Laden had a goal for the 9-11 attacks to destroy a symbol of capitalism and to draw us in an unwinnable conflict.
00:15:35.039 --> 00:15:46.000
The years following the attacks were breeding grounds for conspiracy theories, the most popular being the US government knew or were cooperating with the terrorists to slowly rob us of our freedoms and enable the government to set up a police state.
00:15:46.320 --> 00:15:48.720
Score one for the people with aluminum hats.
00:15:49.039 --> 00:15:51.039
Alright, like uh incredible prediction.
00:15:51.120 --> 00:16:00.080
I It doesn't matter if it's true or not, because standing at the finish line, we have a private police force, disappearing people, and surveillance in every streetlight.
00:16:00.879 --> 00:16:08.080
This movie is like a guy who teaches people to identify red flags, but it turns out he's actually colorblind and falls for like the stupidest trick.
00:16:08.240 --> 00:16:12.879
It feels clever when the credits are rolling, but I should have not paid as much attention to this.
00:16:13.039 --> 00:16:15.679
It's it's just not coming together like the usual suspects.
00:16:15.840 --> 00:16:21.039
Which is something to keep in mind, because the guy who wrote the script does eventually go on to work with Christopher Macquarie.
00:16:21.360 --> 00:16:29.759
The guy's name is Aaron Kruger, it's not spelled the way you think it is, but um uh it's Ren E-H-R-E-N, not A-A-Ron.
00:16:29.919 --> 00:16:36.879
And I have a pretty low opinion of him, which I don't want to be rude, but uh because his movies have functional scripts, but they are pretty charmless.
00:16:37.039 --> 00:16:40.879
I also hope this doesn't hurt his feelings, but uh I don't think rich people care what I think.
00:16:40.960 --> 00:16:42.639
Um here are some of his credits.
00:16:43.039 --> 00:16:46.960
Example Aaron Kruger is credited on Transformers, Revenge of the Fallen.
00:16:51.360 --> 00:17:00.960
You have fought for Optimus, our last descendant, with courage and with sacrifice, the virtues of a leader.
00:17:01.679 --> 00:17:04.400
A leader worthy of our secret.
00:17:04.799 --> 00:17:09.680
The matrix of leadership is not found, it is earned.
00:17:10.400 --> 00:17:14.400
Aaron Kruger is credited on Transformers Dark of the Moon.
00:17:14.640 --> 00:17:20.319
For today, in the name of freedom, we take the battle to them.
00:17:23.599 --> 00:17:28.240
Aaron Kruger is credited on Transformers Age of Extinction.
00:17:28.480 --> 00:17:30.640
Come on, B, take him out.
00:17:37.200 --> 00:17:42.559
I mean, I guess the point I'm trying to make is with that much sound design, how much of a a use do you have for a script?
00:17:42.640 --> 00:17:43.839
Like how much do you need it?
00:17:44.000 --> 00:17:46.480
Bam! Pew pew pew pew pew pew pew.
00:17:46.880 --> 00:17:50.720
I love sound design too, but also I like a good script, and I don't think this guy can write one.
00:17:50.880 --> 00:17:56.640
He also wrote the whitewashy Ghost in the Shell adaptation bomb, but the two most recent titles are egregious.
00:17:56.720 --> 00:17:58.960
He's credited for Top Gun Maverick and F1.
00:17:59.279 --> 00:18:03.599
Two movies that reverse engineer a plot around set pieces and have a room of dudes writing.
00:18:03.759 --> 00:18:07.200
I understand I'm not showing a ton of respect, but he's doing fine in Hollywood.
00:18:07.279 --> 00:18:09.440
He doesn't need this podcast kissing his ass.
00:18:09.599 --> 00:18:13.039
And his movies are the strongest argument for AI to destroy this industry.
00:18:13.359 --> 00:18:15.200
I think Pellington does a very good job.
00:18:15.279 --> 00:18:20.880
Mark Pellington does a very good job pacing this movie, and it's I I was gonna say it's kind of his flavor.
00:18:21.039 --> 00:18:26.799
He's a prolific music video director, shot a ton of documentaries, which makes me think he just loves following bands around.
00:18:26.960 --> 00:18:33.200
Some filmmakers are pretty honest that documentaries are often an excuse to get access and have a reason to hang around interesting people.
00:18:33.359 --> 00:18:41.839
His film work is very serious, straightforward, and doesn't have the stylized editing and needle drops that Fincher or as we'll see in a few films, Guy Ritchie with Snatch.
00:18:42.000 --> 00:18:44.559
That movie is dictated and paced by the music.
00:18:44.720 --> 00:18:47.920
There is a a gloomy theme to Pellington's work.
00:18:48.079 --> 00:18:55.200
He shot U2's one, Pearl Jams, Jeremy, and his movies are usually about characters experiencing loss.
00:18:55.440 --> 00:18:59.599
Soon we'll cover the Mothman Prophecies, which is another one of his films with a grieving husband.
00:18:59.759 --> 00:19:08.720
Henry Poole's here, it's like a sad guy, you know, terminal prognosis, Jesus in a wall, I melt with you, sad guys doing drugs, maybe offing themselves.
00:19:08.880 --> 00:19:15.440
But especially with the sophomore 2, there were distributed under screen gems, they made plenty of money, and they had a name for themselves.
00:19:16.079 --> 00:19:19.039
And the box office wasn't the only measurement of success at this time.
00:19:19.200 --> 00:19:21.359
Especially for smaller budget movies like this.
00:19:21.519 --> 00:19:28.480
At the time, it was a golden age of video rentals, and eventually cable channels needed something to play, so this became a staple on TV.
00:19:28.640 --> 00:19:33.440
I watched this as God intended on Tubi with an advertisement every 15 minutes.
00:19:33.599 --> 00:19:38.799
It was really jarring how a hymns ad would stop all momentum that this movie was building.
00:19:38.960 --> 00:19:45.039
For that reason, I've ended up buying most of the gems on DVD, and secondhand market for these things is pretty laughable.
00:19:45.200 --> 00:19:46.240
Most are very cheap.
00:19:46.400 --> 00:19:48.160
Some of them are worth 50 cents.
00:19:48.240 --> 00:19:50.880
Uh, an example, I got five Resident Evil movies for$4.
00:19:52.000 --> 00:19:54.799
Now I gave last week, I gave Limbo a seven.
00:19:54.880 --> 00:19:57.759
Uh, despite the bummer ending, this is a comfortable eight.
00:19:58.079 --> 00:19:58.880
This movie is good.
00:19:58.960 --> 00:20:01.279
It's great if you don't think about it as much as I have.
00:20:01.519 --> 00:20:05.839
And when I find it, it will be joining my collection, and I look forward to revisiting it.
00:20:06.000 --> 00:20:09.279
Maybe in, you know, sooner than 25 years.
00:20:09.759 --> 00:20:12.400
Now, thank you for listening to Screen Generation.
00:20:12.559 --> 00:20:13.839
I'm your host, Evan Hughes.
00:20:13.920 --> 00:20:17.680
Join me next week for my first cursed film, Black and White, by James Tobak.
00:20:18.000 --> 00:20:23.839
My name is Sam Doniger, and this is my husband, Terry Doniger, and I'm a freelance documentary filmmaker.
00:20:23.920 --> 00:20:28.880
I'm doing a project on white high school kids who imitate black hip hop life.
00:20:30.480 --> 00:20:32.079
Can you change who you are?
00:20:32.240 --> 00:20:34.000
If you're black, can you bleach your life?
00:20:34.079 --> 00:20:35.279
Just so young.
00:20:35.599 --> 00:20:37.039
If you're white, can you die?
00:20:37.440 --> 00:20:38.400
That's where you've been, Troy.
00:20:38.559 --> 00:20:39.039
Hi, Daddy.
00:20:39.119 --> 00:20:40.240
I've been at the library.
00:20:40.400 --> 00:20:41.839
Oh, I've told you.
00:20:42.000 --> 00:20:45.680
If you must wear that ridiculous go-to, do it not in my house.
00:20:45.920 --> 00:20:47.519
Life is just crazy, man.
00:20:47.759 --> 00:20:50.000
Can you be ghetto without living in a ghetto?
00:20:50.079 --> 00:20:52.079
What do you think these white people really want from us?
00:20:52.240 --> 00:20:55.200
Trying to imitate us, trying to rap, trying to dress black?
00:20:55.599 --> 00:20:56.319
Can it be?
00:20:56.480 --> 00:20:57.279
All so simple.
00:20:57.440 --> 00:20:58.319
It ain't that simple.
00:20:58.400 --> 00:20:58.960
You know what I mean?
00:20:59.200 --> 00:21:01.279
Can you look within and embrace your soul or not?
00:21:01.440 --> 00:21:02.640
I'm here to sell records for you.
00:21:02.720 --> 00:21:04.319
If I do the video, it's gonna cross over.
00:21:04.480 --> 00:21:07.519
He's gonna make it look like it's Hollywood, even though it ain't Hollywood.
00:21:08.720 --> 00:21:09.279
Dean, right?
00:21:09.440 --> 00:21:09.680
Yeah.
00:21:09.839 --> 00:21:11.119
Point guard on the writer team.
00:21:11.200 --> 00:21:14.079
I just wondered if you wanted to make uh$50,000.
00:21:14.880 --> 00:21:17.680
I think they think they're gonna get some kind of life force.
00:21:18.079 --> 00:21:19.759
I wanna tell me what the crew can offer you.
00:21:19.920 --> 00:21:21.200
They offer us like safety.
00:21:21.440 --> 00:21:23.759
You offer me$50,000 to throw a game.
00:21:23.839 --> 00:21:24.880
Should I do it or not?
00:21:25.039 --> 00:21:26.799
Just be true to yourself.
00:21:28.880 --> 00:21:29.839
Is that Mike Tyson?
00:21:32.960 --> 00:21:34.079
I'm on parole, brother.
00:21:34.799 --> 00:21:36.880
Only dream you reporting when that's happening.
00:21:38.799 --> 00:21:40.400
You can look at me as long as you want.
00:21:42.240 --> 00:21:43.119
Trust me, what did I do?
00:21:43.200 --> 00:21:44.480
I didn't know that you knew these people.
00:21:44.640 --> 00:21:45.839
Why don't you get back downtown?
00:21:45.920 --> 00:21:46.400
Why don't you do it?
00:21:46.559 --> 00:21:47.759
I don't want to pretend anymore.
00:21:47.920 --> 00:21:49.039
Richard, I'm gay.
00:21:49.200 --> 00:21:50.720
Okay, Richard does not care.
00:21:50.880 --> 00:21:53.119
But I'll always be me and you always be you.
00:21:53.279 --> 00:21:56.559
I'm just trying to give you a reality check on how you're living right now.
00:21:56.799 --> 00:21:58.960
White people are as different from each other as black people.
00:21:59.119 --> 00:21:59.759
What are you gonna do?
00:21:59.839 --> 00:22:01.119
Kill a guy who's myself tonight.
00:22:01.279 --> 00:22:02.079
Don't feel no problem.
00:22:02.400 --> 00:22:03.039
You gonna do it?
00:22:03.119 --> 00:22:03.359
Yeah.
00:22:03.519 --> 00:22:05.920
You can't send no child to do a man's job.
00:22:06.880 --> 00:22:07.920
Yo, yo, relax.
00:22:17.279 --> 00:22:18.480
I can do whatever I want.
00:22:18.720 --> 00:22:19.920
I'm a kid in America.
00:22:20.079 --> 00:22:21.359
Let me just introduce myself to you.
00:22:21.519 --> 00:22:22.640
In all honesty, I'm a fan of the family.
00:22:22.799 --> 00:22:24.000
This time I'm from a different culture.
00:22:24.319 --> 00:22:24.960
Want me to turn it off?
00:22:25.279 --> 00:22:26.559
This is not a study of animals.
00:22:26.799 --> 00:22:27.279
It's off.
00:22:28.079 --> 00:22:29.519
You've got beautiful eyes.
00:22:34.079 --> 00:22:38.640
Yeah, I am not looking forward to that, but I think I found a perfect guest, uh, if there ever was one.
00:22:38.799 --> 00:22:41.039
And uh as usual, thank you for listening.
00:22:41.200 --> 00:22:45.039
Resist the administration, refuse AI, and I'll see you next week.
