Blank Check with Griffin & David - Swing Shift

Episode Date: December 1, 2019

What in the world is going on with this film that has two versions - of which the good one is not available anywhere? What is the titular "Shift" actually referring to? What happens when two stars  - gasp - fall in love? And why are Griff and Dave so off their game in a strange new studio? Find out all this and more in this episode of DEMME CONFESSIONALS. SFX: "SL50 Focus Lock" by sonoplastico; "Audio Cassette Tape Open Close Play Stop" by Bertrof; and "One Beep" by kwahmah_02. Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License.

Blank Check with Griffin and David Blank Check with Griffin and David Don't know what to say or to expect All you need to know is that the name of the show is Blank Check Each returning serviceman will get his job back when the war is won. And you girls and women, you'll be going home. Back to being housewives and mothers as you promised to do when you came to work with us. Your podcast will return to normal.

First Tobolowsky quote to lead off the show? Yep, I think so. We haven't done a Groundhog Day. I didn't do that much of an impression. I just felt kind of intimidated. There is an impression to be done. Age returning? No.

It's too squeaky. There's something, right? There's something. There's a voice. There's something. I don't have it. Quotes page for this movie is limited. Oh.

The tagline for this film is terrible. And what I was raking my brain to try to remember was there are a number of quotes I like in the director's cut for this film, but of course none of those are listed on IMDb. Interesting. There's a number of quotes from the director's cut you like. Yeah. Yeah. Right? I feel like there were like 10 lines that jumped out to me where I was like wow that's a good

line and they were surprisingly They were excised. Excised. Ben how are these levels doing? Yeah. Yeah it's fine okay we're in a new studio small studio

can you turn my volume a little bit? yeah you turned us all down I'm fussing with stuff this is a great episode yeah it's also a good start well I mean classic blank check you do one thing to change our completely ordinary routine and we're all just like this is pretty crazy we're at a different table we're in a

different room we've got a window again but it's gonna really hear the ventilation you can really hear the ventilation but that's ambiance. It is. I mean, look, maybe this episode will serve as a case study in the importance of podcast editing. Right. Much like Swing Shift is kind of an incredible case study in film editing. Yes. Because today we're talking about two cuts of the same movie. We are.

First time since I'll Do Anything. Pretty much. And those were two different episodes. That's true. And I feel like other times we've been like, eh, we're just watching the director's cut. Or, eh, we're just watching the theatrical. Yeah. And we'll pay a little lip service.

We'll have some chat. We'll have a little chat about, you know, different versions. Man's got different versions. Cameron's got different versions. But there are very few movies where, right, where there's like basically a different movie that exists the differences are this fundamental yes uh because i mean man rearranges stuff add stuff so track stuff but it doesn't feel as holy no it's twiddling right i mean with black black and with black hat that's the closest right sure black hat's the closest, right? Sure. Black Hat's the closest where he's like, I made a major, I didn't like, it's not like there's like 30 minutes on the cutting room floor, but I made a major sort of story change.

Right. But it's still, he's really just rearranging the pieces. That's all. This is an example of a movie that was finished. Yes. Then 30 new minutes were shot. Yes. Then about 30 minutes of the original film were cut. Right, because the because the cuts are very similar length and they're both about 100 minutes the scenes

that exist in both versions of the film are also cut differently yes yes that's a huge difference not all but there's a lot that are noticeably cut right right because something like black cat it's like okay big shift here you know and things like he'll be like, I changed a couple little things. Right. Or like the Aliens and Terminator 2 director's cuts. It's like those special editions are like, I added scenes that I think are important. Those are more right. It's like character, padding, like, you know, things like that.

But here's like a fundamental difference is that in the director's cut, you're like, man, this is a film of incredible fluid steadicicam shots, like long Steadicam shots. Right. And in the theatrical cut, no shot lasts longer than like 15 seconds. It's so choppy. It's one of the, yeah, there's no character to it. Even in the same scenes, they just cut up those Steadicam shots. I believe the score is also different. Everything's different, but we're getting ahead of ourselves.

Yeah, okay. Because you know what this is? Wait, what is it? It's Blank Check! With Griffin and David. Yes. I do feel totally thrown off, don't you? Yeah.

I'm not trying to, like, hurt on a thing. It's fine. Listen to our following episode, which is the first we recorded in a new studio last time. Oh, sure. And we're also, like, totally confused. It's weird. Yeah, our rhythms are odd. Oh, sure. And we're also like totally confused. It's weird. Yeah, our rhythms are odd. It's fine.

We'll be fine. Hello. Hi, I'm Griffin. I'm David. With us as always is producer Ben. Sitting between us. I'm between the boys. Producer Solomon.

He's got the, you know, he's the... Producer Solomon. Because it's like there's a divide, you you know he's sort of the king on the throne in between us I don't know I like to say Ben Sandwich yeah sure

it's a Ben Sandwich but yeah sorry guys we're in a smaller room oh it's fine turn on my mic it's not your fault my mic

I mean my headphones not my mic whatever it is there we go alright you got the juice boy turn it all up

turn it up. Okay, there we go. There we go. I feel like that sounds a little more. Guys, this is a careful process, okay? It's tricky. Because this is a podcast about filmographies. It's about directors who have massive success early on in their career and give a series of blank checks to make whatever crazy passion products they want.

And sometimes those checks clear and sometimes they swing, baby. Sure. Sometimes they shift. Well, sometimes they definitely shift. And this is an example of a shift. He should have been cashing a check after Melvin Howard. A small check. Well, isn't this the small check?

Or is this... They gave him a check. And then they repoed all his belongings that he bought with the check and then he just like wrote himself

another check the same year basically so I I did a lot of reading last night and this morning yep and

a thing I was reading an interview the Guardian interview is that the one you read I don't know if it was that one, but it seemed like it was transcribed from a print interview. Yeah.

Where, so the transcription was not perfect. Okay. But it seemed to imply that he was shooting Stop Making Sense the same time that he was shooting the reshoots on this. Hmm. I don't know about that. No, no no that's why i was confused no it's the interview you read the one with the elaine mays story yes okay well that's the one i read i think it's the only time he's ever really talked about it i think usually he'd be like hi you know that movie was taken

away from me and I just hate talking. Usually he just sort of shuts it down. But he tells the story in that about the shoot going long, him feeling like he wasn't going to wrap in time to make it to the show, and Ed Harris faked a headache so that they would wrap early. I remember that story. Right, you're right. And it seemed like he was saying.

I guess they came really close. But he says later, he says, I moved back to New York and made Stop Making Sense. That's what's weird. I think it was more just probably like they were close together. Sure. As we know, because this film comes out in 1984. Stop Making Sense comes out in 1984. Yes.

You know, so like, yeah. I mean, this is supposed to come out the year prior. It was supposed to be a big holiday awards-y movie and then it got like pushed to May and came out and didn't make much money and, you know, kind of got dumped. And then a year later in June, I came out. That is true.

That's a true thing. Birthday Benny. And only one cut there. Of the umbilical thing. Birthday Benny. And only one cut there of the umbilical gourd. Well, what about that little, you know. Well, I don't want to get into this. Oh yeah, we shouldn't. We should not get into this.

Let's pause that combo. That's a whole other complicated conversation. That can be a Patreon episode next year. Put it behind the paywall. Okay, fine. On a scale from one to 10, I just want to do a quick survey of the room. How insane do you feel right now?

Because I feel like a 10. You are clearly at a 10. I'm at a six. Ben? I would say. I actually got adjusted. Okay. Yeah, Ben's,

Ben's seems to be, it's like started at nine, but he's sort of like decelerating. Yeah. I'm working on it. It's okay. So, Melvin Howard comes out.

1980. Oh, I should say, this is my series on the films of Jonathan Damian. Yeah, that's true. It's called Stop Making Podcast. That's right. And we really should.

We really should. But no better evidence than today. It's almost like the universe is trying to tell us to stop making podcasts. Napsolutely not. We're going to make them forever. Napsolutely?

Napsolutely not. Napster-lutely not. Maybe on Napster you could have gotten the director's cut back in the day, right? Think about this as like a reality show. You know what I'm saying? Yes. Like we're showing all the behind the scenes, right? With the level checks like that came earlier in the episode.

Yes. But it's all out there, you know? We're not leaving it on the cutting room floor. It's like Survivor where every season they're like, but there's a twist this season. You have to do the thing

upside down. The boys and the girls are in different teams. You know? Yeah. Like this is the episode where they throw a curveball at us and we completely crumble.

Right. Exactly. We show that we We're not up to the task and we should not be on the island. Absolutely not. Kick us off.

Yep. Okay. So 1980, Melvin Howard. Melvin and Howard. Comes out. A modest box office performer, but an Oscar winner in two major categories. Yes. And it kind of announces the emergence of a new major voice in American cinema. Yeah, sure.

Right. Yeah. Goldie Hawn has a deal at Warner Brothers. She is at this point one of Hollywood's most beloved and reliable stars. Has been a huge movie star for 15 years. Has won an Oscar 15 years earlier.

Right. She won an Oscar, right, 13 years ago. Cactus Flower, I think it's 69. Sure. And has then just kind of an incredible run. We are disoriented by everything going on around us. She has an incredible run. Yeah. And by the early 80s, she has kind of honed in on what a Goldie Hawn movie is.

Sure. Right? Private Benjamin becomes like the platonic ideal of a Goldie Hawn comedy. Yeah, so I'm looking at her run in the late 70s. That's 1980 on the dot? That's 80, yeah. So you've got like Foul Play with Chevy Chase, which was a pretty big hit. She does scenes like Old Times with Chevy Chase,

so it's like, okay, they have a good thing going. As you say, you've got Private Benjamin in 80, which is a huge hit. Huge hit. She gets a Best Actress nomination. You've got Best Friends, the Burt Reynolds movie, I think is a couple years before Swing Shift. That's 82. Yes. Which is directed by Norman Jewison, but based on Robert Benton's relationship with Jane Curtin's sister, who is a writer for SNL.

You just pulled that out of a hat. That's pretty impressive. I was doing a Goldie Deeb last night. As you say, she's an Oscar winner with Private Benjamin. You have I feel like, I don't know, there's like a whole other level of legitimacy with that movie. That was one of the big performers of the

year. She got lead actress nomination. Eileen Brennan gets best supporting actress, right? Nomination. Yes, and it gets a screenplay nomination. And it gets a screenplay nomination. Nancy Meyers' only screenplay nomination. Of course. But that rare phenomenon in which.

Sixth biggest film of that year. Crazy. That rare phenomenon in which a mainstream studio comedy breaks into the Oscars. Right. Feels like its own insane level of success. Like the Bridesmaids thing. Mm-hmm. Where it's like, you're not just a big hit.

We're saying you're a legitimate movie. Because comedies so rarely do well. Yeah, usually they ignore, especially back then. And even the more successful a comedy is, the more it seems to get ignored. You know, it's then viewed as like populist whatever. So the fact that that movie makes that big of an impact, I think makes Goldie Hawn kind of unstoppable at this point in time. Sure. 100%.

Yes. As you say, has to deal with Warner Brothers. Big star. This is all context for the fact that she essentially was the sort of number one person in the movie. And sabotaged it. Her producing partner right around Swing Shift. I think I don't know if she's working with her at the time of Private

Benjamins, but I'm sure it happens right after that is this woman whose name I'm forgetting now, Anitha

Anthea Jones, perhaps. I will pull up the name in a second, but I don't want to get my phone

because I'm worried about changing my position in relation to the microphone because everything we're doing right now is very tenuous. And Thea Silbert.

Thank you. Yes. She was a costume designer. She was. Did Chinatown. She did. Got an Oscar nomination for that. That's right.

Another film she got an Oscar nomination for that I'm forgetting. Thank you. You're really going to have to work that computer. I always work the computer. Famous costume designer who also produced half a dozen Goldie Hawn movies, essentially. Right, she becomes her partner. Like Overboard and Wildcats.

And I'm jumping all around here, but I think there is... I have witnessed this a lot. There are two things that can fuck up a movie star and by proxy, the films a movie star is making, their vehicles. Okay. One is if they team up with someone whose job was ostensibly to make them look good. Okay.

In a capacity outside of that job. What are you thinking of? I mean, the John Peters Barbra Streisand thing is a perfect example. Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes. Where then they suddenly have— He's her stylist, and he—yeah. You have a right-hand person whose job is just to say, like, they're making you look bad. Right, right.

You should be winning this movie, essentially. Right. In both a visual sense and in sort of a star power sense. Yes. And in the same way, when I say making them look good, it can be a makeup artist and it can be a personal assistant, right? But people whose jobs were to just help a movie star be the best movie star they could be,

then suddenly becoming producers on a film, usually spells trouble. Right. The other thing that usually fucks up a movie is when the two leads fall in love. Well, that's, you know. This is a really weird scenario. Everything about this scenario is weird.

Okay, like, yeah. This is a very unusual situation. It's not that expensive a movie. It's not being made. Although, it goes way over budget. Well, because they re-shot it. Of course. That always puts a burden on a film.

Sure, but it's really an unusual movie. It's like, Goldie Hawn is the unambiguous powerhouse. Jonathan Demme is still a young director who basically has made like one legitimate movie, you know, after coming up with Corman. She is with Kurt Russell, who

is still, well, no, he's already a big deal. He is, because he had done the oldest miniseries. You know, no, but right, like and all that you know no but right like all that stuff's come out uh like his john carpenter stuff he's like deep in that sure i'm just double checking yeah like you know the thing is a couple years earlier but that i guess big trouble in little china's later but you know escape from new york has already come right you know he's but to kirk russell context very quickly he is a a Disney star. Well, I was trying to argue, I was going to argue like, oh, this is like him coming out of his Disney boyish, but now he's already come out of that.

No, I'd argue it's like this is a different shift for him, which is he's a Disney star in the period of the live action Disney films that now are being rediscovered thanks to the Disney plus Twitter thread, which I think won the Pulitzer Prize for literature this year. It was good. I liked it. It's a good thread. But all those sorts of movies that were modest performers at the time that no one took seriously. And he was the. And he was a boyish. He was the teenage Dean Jones.

He was the squeaky clean, bright smile, blue eyed sort of dude. And then he does the Elvis May macy's the carpenter directs which kind of redefines his career and then carpenter goes you're my muse and makes him the sort of winking self-knowing right action hero for his sort of sly satire puts him in a ton of stuff right right but this is kind of the the john carpenter films are such a hard swing in the other direction from the disney right that This is him being like a face again. You're like, can he be like a charming. But he's not in this movie.

He's supposed to be a jerk. Totally. But anyway, but yes. I'm just laying out all the problems. I know. That's another problem is that then they fall in love and they went, why doesn't this movie reflect the chemistry we have in real life? And why isn't Kurt as charming as I find him to be? I don't think it was just that, though.

I also think it was the studio being like, holy shit we've got a genuine publicity situation where two movie stars have fallen in love, two beautiful movie stars who are going to make a child who's going to really get David revved up one day

He gets you revved up? I love Wyatt Russell He rules! It's also just one of those classic like children where you're like, we squished these two handsome people together. And look, a third handsome person who looks like both of them. He's such a funny version, like, combination of the two of them. It's like Pokemon, you know? Because it's a weird thing where, like, Kurt Russell is notoriously kind of... What are you saying?

What is this? Kurt Russell was notoriously this kind of square guy. Oh saying? What is this? Her Russell was notoriously this kind of square guy. Oh, sure, sure. Okay. With somewhat square politics. Sure. Who is borderline jingoistic in his love of America. Yeah, he does love America. And Goldie Hawn

becomes famous for being literally the flower child. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And they're such a weird couple in that sense, aside from them both being incredibly, like, preternaturally charismatic and beautiful. And he's talked about it, right? Like, he's been like, oh, she wanted nothing to do with me.

Like, we'd known each other because we'd worked each other. They were in a Disney film together when they were one of the 60s ones. And she was just like, he has some cute sort of meet cutie story about how, like, at the beginning of the movie,

she was, like, not not interested and by the end they were in love right and then Wyatt Russell is the perfect combination of the two of them he's like a hippie jock it's true oh god him and everybody wants some he's so good yes he is anyway David was

like holding on to his eyebrows like he was trying to rip them off his head it looked like his Twitter photo. But yes, I'm just trying to set up all the different elements that come into play. I think that was really working against Demi. Obviously, as you say, Goldie is working against

him. Now there's a really good sight and sound piece. I think that was published after Demi died called Swing Shift, The Unmaking of a Masterpiece. This guy has seemingly watched both cuts 40 times. I think that was published after Demi died called swing shift, the unmaking of a masterpiece, um, which this guy has seemingly watched both cuts 40 times. Uh, yes,

but I will say I know the first site and sound pieces from a long time ago. Cause Demi references it. Oh, you're right. It was just, I think it was republished because of that. Okay. Yeah. Um,

but yes, there's a very detailed, and sound piece that's essentially like really going through all the differences. But it's also just like Swingshift is a not very good movie. And Swingshift, the DemiCut, is like one of the great American films of its decade. That's his argument. He's not just like, this is a curio. No. He's basically like a masterpiece was lost.

And, you know, and it was like, it was this like heartbreaking thing. Who wrote that article? Just because I want to give them credit because I'm going to be leapfrogging a lot of the stuff that they said, along with. Steven Berg. Steinberg. The Guardian article. And then there's also a BFI entry on the film that has a weird amount of detail. Here's the stuff I pieced together from all three. Writer of this film.

The original writer on the film. Sure. Nancy Dowd. Who wrote the original draft of Coming Home which was then rewritten. She's somewhat disowned. She also wrote Slapshot. She also wrote Slapshot. She had a bunch of uncredited

Yeah, she's a writer. She had a bunch of uncredited... Yeah, she's a writer. She had a bunch of story credits. Worked in SNL one year. Big deal in the 70s, right? She writes Swing Shift as an original screenplay, I think somewhat as a corrective to what she felt, how they had sentimentalized Coming Home. Right, people point out that it has a very similar narrative spine to Coming Home.

Now, originally, by all accounts, her script was about Lucky and the Christine Lottie character, but a different name at the time. Sure. And the Goldie Hawn character was very much a supporting character.

It was not a love triangle as much as it was a film about the two of them. It kicks around for years. It almost gets made at some point in the late 70s with a combination of people I'm forgetting. And then in the early 80s,

Goldie Hawn finds it. And she likes it, and she says, this is what I'd like to do, and she reaches out to Demi, because she likes Melvin Howard. Yeah, and he just won an actress an Oscar. And yeah, he's a young and exciting director. They hire Ron Nygaard. Is that his name?

Yes. You mean Ron Nyswanner. Yes. Who later goes on to write Philadelphia for Demi to rewrite the script. Because the more she worked on it with Demi, she realized she didn't want to play the christine lottie part because it kind of conflicted with her image goldie hawn's thing was

you know being the cutesy ball of light right in the world and the entire crux of christine lottie's character is her fighting to retain agency in a world that views her as a tramp. And that was a little too hard-edged and a little too morally dubious for Goldie Hawn. So they rewrite the script and make this supporting character now the lead of the film. And it becomes more coming home-ish then. Yeah, and Nieswaner is the script. That's what everyone says.

Everyone says that when... Demi was shooting off of that script. That's what everyone says. Everyone says that when... Emmy was shooting off of that script. That was his draft. The weird thing is that the film ends up with one solo screenwriting credit, which is a person who doesn't exist. Right. Which is weird. It's very weird.

It's a pseudonym. It's like an Alan Smithy, but it's not that. They shoot this film. Yeah. They test it. I think audiences are a little confused. Mostly probably because

they're like where's the Goldie Hawn comedy here. Right. Where's the fish out of water. Where's the she changes people with her effervescence.

You know. Mm hmm. Mm hmm. And Warner Brothers freaks out. And Goldie Hawn of all freaks out. And they're looking at

the Kurt Russell of it all. And they're going, why isn't this having more of like Hepburn and Tracy energy? Right, right, right. So they bring in a bunch of screenwriters to try to rewrite the movie to make it more of like an oil and vinegar, like screwball rom-com. And one of the first people they bring in is Elaine May. Can I read this? I've got it up. Okay. and one of the first people they bring in is Elaine May. Can I read this? I've got it up.

Okay. So this is Jonathan Demme talking about how this movie was essentially, I don't even know if they had a test screening. I read that there was a test screen, but everyone should read this Gardigan interview, which is so good if you can find it. Yeah. But you know, cause like essentially the executives definitely tested the movie and they

were like, no, thank you. Like the right, they were sort of all the problems you're talking about. Like this is goldie hawn should be you know the the the lovable dits that's like you know like gonna be an overboard in a couple years like that's you know the goldie hawn everyone's asking for and overboard is what i think they wanted out of this which is like kurt's a man and goldie's a woman and god they can't get along until they do.

So first he says that some other high-priced Hollywood writer who he won't mention comes in and writes some scenes. Robert Towne apparently was brought in. I believe that's who he's referring to. But then he also says that was the second person. The first person they went to was Elaine May. Obvious first choice this time.

She'll write you screwball comedy, of course. Elaine may comes in to see the movie she has lunch with goldie and uh goldie's partner whoever i was trying to totally threw me off i was trying to non-terrific thank you for my final little just just say it because it just it just makes me think that something's wrong okay so elaine may comes in she watches the movie in the original form just edit it out come on guys it's okay right it's of course it's okay it's just such a fucking shitty situation it's fine come on if anything we'll cut in a testimonial everyone back to zero please all right thank you elaine comes in she watches the movie she meets with goldie

walks in i think uh sees jonathan and says are you jonathan what a wonderful movie this is fabulous are you guys out of your mind so she sees the movie and is basically like this is a great movie like you don't need me you already have a product right here done release it and they start talking to her like they want more of a tracy and hepburn kind of thing is what demi's saying right which is what you're talking about uh and she says well those that sounds great for some movie right but they go completely against the ecology of this movies that now exists and you'll never pull it off and demi remarks like i've i love that phrase the ecology of a movie but it's so spot on because you watch the two cuts and so much of it is like, I've been

thinking a lot about when, when Reese was on the show on our Spirited Away episode. And he said that he feels like most movies, especially most good movies are either puzzles or dreams, right? It's resonated. It's a great, it's a great thought. Yes. And watching this, I had this thought that most great directors, or at least interesting directors, are either anthropologists or engineers. I'm kind of on something here, right?

Keep going. Keep going. Because there's like, you know, the Fincher, Coen brothers, Hitchcock, Precision. They're making a machine for you. I'm going to have everything perfectly worked out and I hire people who are professionals and they know how to exactly execute what I want to do. And they can see a shot in their head and all that magic. Right, and you just have to

execute that. And they'll work with people but they'll work with people to execute the very specific thing they have in their mind. And there are people like Demi who just kind of and Ang Lee is another example of this who want to like sit down and feel the room and let actors define their roles and bring in collaborators who can bring him ideas that he never even would have had on his own. And just sit and wait and study and experiment and wait for the results to come in.

I think that's why this was so traumatic for him. Yes. Because it really seems like it was a very traumatic experience for him. Mm-hmm. Because it's one thing, so many of these situations...

What was some director's cut recently? I feel like this was just coming up. The Snyder cut? I mean, there's that. Sure. That's not even the worst example where it's like... The Midsommar director's cut.

No, that's different. I mean, there's like a thousand examples. Talk about the snowman Cut Talk about that snowman Talk about that snowman But the Justice League is a good example Midsommar, the Director's Cut is like basically like I have more and I like it

and I understand that movies have to be a certain length but if you're interested that's more the sort of more the man or Cameron Cotton Club, is you're more like the man or Cameron. Cotton Club, is that the one you were thinking of? Well, that's an interesting one. That's an interesting one.

That's more along the lines of this. But no, the Justice League thing is more like, that's a great example of like, the movie is probably a mess no matter what. Right? Sure. That's a film where there was a sort of unsalvageable energy. And in trying to salvage it, the studio is probably just making it more unsalvageable, right? Cause it's,

you know, you've just got this mess on your hands, right? This is the thing where he made a movie. It was good. Yes. People watched it and were like, Hmm,

I don't like this movie. It's bad. And he was like, I think it's good. And they were like, no, no, right.

They'll do anything. Example is you watch the theatrical cut of it. I'll do anything. That's another one. That's a perfect, right. It's where it's like, those are two messes, right? you want to cut the director's cut

must make sense of this yeah exactly no no it's like it's actually a salvage job it's actually worse right that's what's so crazy right that's what's so bizarre about this and let's let's say here i as a thought experiment had us watch these in different orders that's right that's right this is griffin's idea it idea. It was a fun idea. Thank you. So I watched the director's cut first and then watched the Goldie Hawn cut. And you did the opposite. That's right.

The director's cut has never been commercially released. No. No, no. It is like an open mat VHS quality transfer that has been digitized and certainly has diminished. It is a little hard to make out and hear. Oh, for 100%. No, it's not in good shape. It's in bad shape.

It's watchable. It is watchable. I would say maybe more watchable than whatever the fucking I'll Do Anything cut I watched was. But, you know, similar lines. Yeah, similar lines. Of course, I'll Do Anything also was a musical, so it really would have benefited from you being able to, like,

you know, hear things clearly and all that. Oh, you want to hear Albert Brooks belting it out in perfect 5.1 Dolby Digital surround sound. But still, nonetheless, there is a cut. It is this, yes, it's this sort of VHS thing. Right. And you watch that. Yes.

It's been going around for years. Demi seems to think, or seemed to think, when he rarely spoke of this film, that it would be impossible that it's all gone now there are many films in our lifetime that were thought to be all gone in the same kind of way

the thought is that Warner Brothers literally threw out that footage that's insane it's insane they trashed his but the tapes do exist the tapes do exist. I mean, he's, you know.

The tapes exist off of. He's thinking in a more pre-digital sense. Like you can put something online, you know, it'll last forever. Yes. I mean, not forever. I pray that someday someone fucking finds this. Oh, sure. Like if you could actually like restore the movie.

Because there was, it's not like it only ever existed on like an avid. claim is is no for sure right so it would have to be some old executive it's like oh actually i i did right it'd have to be one of those weird like actually i had a whole i kept it but that guardian interviews from like 2002 uh i don't know it's early it's him either promoting i think. Jesus Christ, it's 98. Yeah. So, I mean, shortly after that, not shortly after that, but in the six, seven years after that,

Warner Brothers does a kick of doing a lot of restorations where they take, like, the big red one and they restore the removed scenes from The Exorcist. Like, they start doing a lot of... That's true, that's true. And people kept on thinking, like,

is Swing Shift going to be next in the mix? But an example that, like, gives me hope is that for years and years, everyone thought the original cut of Little Shop of Horrors was dead. To a degree that the first DVD was released with the black and white VHS quality version of the ending.

Right. And David Geffen had them pull the DVD from the shelves because he said, I don't want people seeing it in this quality. I won't release it until it exists in perfect quality. And like five years ago they found it. So maybe someday they'll find it. Maybe someday they'll find it.

But as it is right now, you can really only watch like a bootleg of the director's cut and nonetheless, so you watched that first. I watched that first. So was watching uh a process of subtraction i was watching the proper film then seeing what got removed and you were watching the addition of the elements that make the film coherent you know ran of the damn thing on itunes queued it up watch it with my uh partner we watched together we were like humblebrag it's back baby uh and um we were just i think my experience with the movie uh let me speak about it i'm gonna speak on this speak on this so uh

i watched this movie i am very fascinated by that period in american life it is so crazy to think about basically that like most american men from the age of like 20 to 35 vanished from the country it is such a bizarre thing to think about i was recently re-watching a league of their own which is like a light and wonderful movie but it's also about the same thing where it's like imagine just like everyone is old like you know like you know like you go to like the dance hall and it's a bunch of retired right like that weird sort of surreal lynchian kind of like it's like the premise of why the last man and and yeah exactly and then so beyond that obviously you know you have all these like very real things that women had to deal with

especially you know women who are suddenly like in this household they had to run all by themselves and they had to earn money and all this shit so this is if i love this period i love this uh concept yes and so the first 45 minutes of the movie we're watching i. So this is, I love this period. I love this concept. Yes. And so the first 45 minutes of the movie we're watching, I'm like, this is good.

This is a good movie. Like I love seeing this and like Christine Lottie is fucking killing it. And Goldie, I am kind of like, what? She doesn't know what,

she doesn't have a handle on this. Like, cause she's not playing sort of classic Goldie character, right? She seems a little lost. She's not great with the melancholy stuff she's trying to be funny but like there's not really a lot of funny stuff that's what you're thinking watching the theatrical theatrical yeah that kurt shows up and i'm like well i want to fuck this guy so i keep

yelling about how i want to fuck him his bone structure is insane it is um and then i would say like halfway through the movie we really both started every 10 minutes, like looking at each other and being like, what is this about? Where's this going unravels. And there's the pivotal thing that Ed Harris comes home. We'll talk about it, but you know,

there's a scene where Ed Harris comes off. He's on shore leave or whatever. He just sees them together, the three of them. And then we sort of cut ahead and like, he just knows, right? Like, you know then we sort of cut ahead and he just knows. There's these additional scenes and he just kind of figures it out. And Joanna

was like, so he just figured it out? And I was like, yeah, I guess he just figured it out. He just kind of got the vibe. But both of us are kind of a little unfulfilled by that. The whole movie feels like that. We're like, I guess, I don't know. There's a lot of mental leaps that you can make because it's a movie.

And in the last half of the movie, that's what's happening. Like, there's this scene where people are where Holly Hunter is a new guy. And I'm like, wait, when did she get the new guy? Because previously her only big scene was her crying. When she learns her husband has died. And so you're just like, I think that was the guy

who delivered the news. The director's cut has a lot of scenes that sort of sprinkle in more context and And so you're just like, I think that was the guy who delivered the news was her new boyfriend. All this, the director's cut has a lot of scenes that sort of sprinkle in more context. And it's just a movie that makes more sense. It was assembled that way. Yeah. And so we watch it by the end. I'm just like,

when the fuck is this thing over? And it's not a long movie. Yeah. And I'm, I really got frustrated. They're a hundred minutes. They're a hundred minutes each. Right.

I think the director's cuts 101. Like it's literally like that. And we turn it off. Both cuts are pretty much the same length. They're 100 minutes. They're 100 minutes each. Right. I think the director's cut's 101. Like, it's literally like that. And we turn it off, and we were just like, I don't know. We were both, like, a little frustrated. And that, obviously,

I'm saying to her, like, ah, there's actually this director's cut. She doesn't give a shit. But, like, She knows that she's leaving you. No, but it is, I can imagine if you're watching it in that order,

you're like, do I just have to watch this movie again with more scenes added to it so I queue it up it's just gonna be an expanded version

so I queue up the director's cut and I'm like the next day I just did give myself a break I watched them back to back

like a lunatic that is lunatic that's lunatic level but that's classic you well I'm a lunatic and the first half of the director's cut is so similar to the actual movie not like on its face broadly that i was almost like

like this this has been overhyped for me sure like because i'm noticing little editing changes and stuff but i'm still like get out of here masterpiece yeah or whatever you know like get out of here sight and sound guy who's like, you won't believe it. It's one of the great American movies. And then suddenly everything changes and starts to make sense. Right. And I recommend you should go back and watch them both again.

The other way. I'm thinking about it. Honestly, like I'm so fascinated by these two films. And I could not believe how good the movie was. Yeah. Um, on rewatching it in this

director's cut that basically just like there's all kinds of changes that we can try and talk about but it just sort of it feels like a jonathan demi movie i guess is the best way to describe it it feels empathetic it feels like a slice of life about a bunch of people it feels like it's more about this workplace and this relationship between Hazel and Kay. You know, Kurt Russell is very much a supporting character. Like all the men in the movie, all the men in the movie are very much supporting characters who are sort of in and out. They're disruptive. They're emotional, but they're not like, you know, we don't care about them in the same way.

And I turned around and I was like, I can't believe it. I could not believe it. I texted you immediately. Yeah. Like stunned. So the other sort of legend about the recut is that Goldie Hawn felt insecure. This is a legend. A legend. An unconfirmed legend.

Unconfirmed legend. But worth acknowledging that this had always been a whisper. Because even at the time of this film's making, it was being written up a lot as this year-long battle between Goldie Hawn and this up-and-coming director. That she apparently felt that Christine Lottie was outshining her in the movie. Yeah. Which Christine Lottie is in that position where it's just like, here's an actor who has the goods and is finally being given their first big role and they're just ready for it it's one of those like lightning in a bottle things where it's like this is just someone who is right there is so prepared for this moment and shows up

and makes the most of it it is not an incredibly showy performance an incredible performance but it's an incredibly good performance right it? I think it's really incredible. And it is one of those classic, right, you're just like, who is this and how do I get more of them? Like, right, you know, like, that emerging thing. It's like Carey Mulligan in an education

where it's just like, okay, you're a new person now, great. You're here, good, welcome. So tall. Keep making movies. So tall. There's that incredible shot in the director's cut, I think,

where her, Lottie, Goldie Hawn, and Holly Hunter are all standing together. And Lottie is like five foot 11. Yes. And Goldie Hawn is like, Goldie's like five six.

She's like regular sort of. Right. And Holly Hunter is like two five. Yeah. Right. And it is like small, medium, large.

At one point, someone tried to rivet Holly Hunter into a plane. They did. Because they just thought she was a little rivet. They put her on a rivet. Yeah. Now that ain't a piss, Pam. And she fit.

That's Holly Hunter. What was I going to say? The Lottie thing, though, is fascinating because Lottie gets a Best Supporting Actress nomination for this movie. Anyway. Even though this movie came out in May, was a flop, and is surrounded by death, she's still so good that she gets an Oscar nomination. Totally. And in a weird way, if one of the goals had been to minimize Christine Lottie by centering

Goldie Hawn more, the movie becomes so jumbled that Christine Lottie comes out of the Warner Brothers cut as one of the only coherent elements. Yes, it's true. So she rises to the top but it's one reason I don't actually buy that it was like Sort of an actor war thing I think it's more Just Lottie is going to suffer because

Goldie is like this Should be a rom-com this should be a love Triangle this should be a you know Me Kurt and Then like Ed Harris or whoever you know you're the Third spoke like we got To put in more Kurt we got to put in more Kurt Sure Me, Kurt, and then Ed Harris or whoever, the third spoke. We got to put in more Kurt. We got to put in more Kurt.

Sure. Why have us? Yes. Yeah. And then so the Hazel relationship just kind of diminishes. And then there are moments in the movie, in the Goldie cut, where Lottie and Goldie's relationship is really important. And you're like, do they even care about each other? I don't get this. The ecology comment is fascinating because there are things watching these two

cuts back to back that feel like the Kuleshev effect where you're watching the exact same scene You're talking about the Kaminsky method. I'm sorry. It feels like the Kaminsky method, America's favorite comedy series. The Kuleshev Effect.

You know what I'm talking about. No. You don't know about, you're going to know when I explain what this is. But it was that test done by like the Russians. But like the study in sort of the art montage. Oh, yeah, no, I know. Right, yeah, yeah. Where they filmed a close-up of like the most famous actress of the art of montage. Oh, yeah, I know. Right, yeah, yeah. Where they filmed a close-up of the most famous actress of the time in Russia

and just said, with a blank expression, we're just going to film you for like two minutes. It's an actor, I believe. I believe it's a lady. Am I wrong about this? I think you're wrong. Okay. Isn't it a man?

I think it's a lady. It's a man. This man. Well, I'm not wearing my glasses and computers on the other side of the screen. Excuse me while I put my spectacles on. Okay, it is. I'm sorry. I'll eat a turd. The point is, it's a man sitting with a totally blank neutral expression,

and then they keep on cutting to other things within his sight line. A little girl in a casket, a bowl of soup. The third one here is a pretty lady on a fainting couch. And the idea is that if you cut between these things, the audience projects onto that face how they think he would respond to those things. The sadness of a child being dead, the hunger in a bowl of soup, the lust in looking at a woman, right? It's a good movie. But he's doing that. This movie slaps.

Yes, yes, yes, yes. And there's this weird thing where like there are scenes in this that I watch in the director's cut and I go,

oh, this is an incredible performance from Goldie Hawn in this scene. And then the exact same scene happens in the Warner Brothers cut, unfucked with, and the performance feels totally flat. Right.

And is entirely about what scenes happen before and after. And not just in terms of, oh, story details are missing, but even, as Elaine May would say, the ecology of the movie being different. It really is that. It's like you're in Australia

and you brought a frog and now all the frogs are multiplying and they're eating the you know bamboo or whatever it is that happened right like it's like they brought in these extra kurt russell scenes everyone's like well everyone likes kurt russell he's sexy what the hell how bad could this be and then suddenly it's like oh my god like all the levels are off and they can't get him back in line what's weird is it's not just extra Kurt Russell scenes it's also like the score is different yes well right

the score is very annoying really fucking stupid in the Goldie Cut yeah yeah yeah really annoying just one of those classic like

ah I get it like totally over there you didn't have to right and like when it's a comedy the score is like too chipper

when it's a romance the score is like too swooning When it's a romance, the score is like too swooning. When there's tension, it becomes a fucking like Z-grade Bernard Herrmann score. Yeah, yeah, right, right. There's the thing where there's the motor that's going to fall on the woman. Yeah. And in the regular version, there's no score and it's just the tension of Goldie noticing it. Right.

And in the Warner Brothers cut, they literally play like shitty Vertigo-esque music. Right. But also, they, Tak Fujimoto, regular collaborator of Demi, gets fired

for the reshoots because they thought he was making Goldie look too old. Huh. Sure. So there's like

the 30 minutes of scenes added and sometimes even the little pieces in the scene, you can tell the difference because she is so much more brightly and gauzy lit.

The scenes are more flat. But the other thing is in the Demi version, Fujimoto, it's like so much steadicam. Yeah. Yeah. Which is and there's also these like these wipe montages. She does weird wipes that she hasn't done since Cage T. I know. I know.

Where they're weird like triangle wipes and things. But it is like it's this very fluid movie. This very fluid movie of camera movements guiding you through a larger space and being able to observe the behavior of all these different people. And in the Warner Brothers cut, even in the first half of the movie, where there is not a lot changed on a story level, those are cut down.

And it feels like Goldie Hawn doesn't want this much of the movie where she is not at the center of the frame. Look, you're right. I don't know. I'd love someone who hasn't... She's never talked about it, right? Never. I feel like she talked about it at the time and she said like look this is an ego thing she

was very much like i was trying to rescue a movie yeah she was like the film he screamed was a mess there i was trying to save it and whatever i could i didn't succeed but no one could have fixed this thing right right she was sort of doing the what i'm talking about the the i'll do the justice right it's like look, it's the best I could. We had to lose him. He had to amputate him. Which is not what happened, as Demi has said. He's basically like, I presented

them with a complete movie that was good and they made me shoot more scenes that were bad. And then I cut them in and it was worse. Or they cut them, you know. He contractually had to shoot them. Yes. Or else lose his status as director of the film they made him fire his screenwriter he knew that new editors were going to come on

yeah he says I had to cooperate them I had to shoot them because of the contract and he talked about and I was trying to protect the movie in a way this is a lot of Demi being a mensch but he talked about it's like it was such a terrible thing to do and it's not just about the ego of look at my vision it's about they were erasing the work that everyone trusted me with actors are giving me performances and cinematographers are giving me images and

people are writing a score for me and i'm telling them that i'm going to protect it and keep it intact and all these things are getting fucked with were replaced entirely i just remember finding myself sitting in the bathtub at 6.30 in the morning just crying is one thing he's saying when he's talking about all the things you're talking about. And he said, yeah, they hired someone to write the reshoot scenes. It was a writer he does not name who eventually got hired, who did it because he was trying to get Warner Brothers to greenlight another script he had written. So he thought they would put him in good graces.

Right. And he delivered the pages, and they thought they were bad, so then they had someone else rewrite them, and they shot him over four days, and he was there, and he was like, look, I have not my DP, some other guy they hired. Bill Fraker, who he likes. Who he likes. Yeah.

But is now mostly hired to try to make all the actors look younger and prettier. Yes, yes. Because the original version had too much grit. Okay. And the actors, Goldie is primarily concerned with coming off like classic Goldie. And so he was like, I would just sit there

and I would go to the cinematographer and say so what do you want to do? And they'd show me when they were done and I would go, okay. And I would go, Goldie, what do you want to do? And she would tell me and I would go, okay. And I would go, Goldie, what do you want to do? And she would tell me and I would go, okay. And I was just sitting there and babysitting. And it just sounds like this fucking miserable experience.

They look at it. The new stuff doesn't work. He's like, I will happily take two of these minutes. There are two of the 30 minutes we shot that I think I could use and they went, fuck you. And at that point he was essentially off the movie and it was out of his hands.

They trashed the score at that point. Right. He's like, look, I'm going to go make, stop making sense. Right. Which you realized was kind of the movie that saved him.

Yeah, very much so. And also as a movie where he's like, can we celebrate pure creativity? Right. And can I do it in a way that's full collaboration not just with David Byrne but with everyone on stage

and really highlight the work of everyone on stage. And they says from 84 on I made a rule that I wasn't going to make a movie that wasn't fun I wasn't going to work with people

that I don't like. Yeah. Let me find it. And something wild feels like such a celebration of like I'm going to have fucking fun. I would continue.

I would hope to continue making movies, but only with people I like. So that's my new rule since 1984. I wonder if he, I, yeah, I feel, I mean,

he's never had a legendarily bad experience making a movie again, obviously. Like, no, there's another situation like this. Those two interviews are done before, uh, truth about Charlie.

Yeah. Uh, so who knows? I don't know how he felt about that film. I don't think he felt bad about that movie. I think America felt bad about that movie. But I don't think he was like

this is a mess, I'm sorry. I think he made the movie he wanted to make. I think after this he's basically there's I can't actually say on mic, but there's one movie I heard about that he did not love making. Interesting. I'll tell you off mic. Okay. I shouldn't even. I'll tell you off mic.

Here's what for me the demi-cut of the movie is about. And it takes a little while to crystallize but when you realize what it's sort of saying and what it's interested in it feels very cogent. Yeah. And cohesive. Right? This weird fucking period in American history as you said saying and what it's interested in it feels very cogent yeah and cohesive right this weird

fucking period american history as you said where like suddenly 80 of our males disappear and society is now like actual children old men sure uh people who are sick yeah people who are like were 4f and probably had like a chip on their shoulder about it. Totally. They couldn't go serve. So they're men who feel somewhat emasculated. 100%. People with money and status

able to sort of circumvent the system at a certain level. Although I think in World War II... Not that much. Yeah, because it was cowardice. It's not like Vietnam where it was a little more like, look, no one wants to go over there.

That's a small group and they are mostly the proud cowards. They are proud to be cowards. Right? And then you have sort of like fucking political radicals like you know, I mean, Kurt Russell jokes that he's a communist and that's why he's not in the war. Right. He says

he's a Japanese spy. Yes. But no, but in the whatchamacallit, in the the longer version he goes on a longer run he makes a bunch of jokes clearly in that way of like he doesn't really want to talk about it so he has like a bunch of funny lines totally right but it's mostly yes men who feel emasculated by the fact that they're

not physically fit enough to join the war and old men and so in this weird period women were asked to step up and join the workforce and replace their husbands in their jobs, especially building planes and such, which is why Rosie the

Riveter became such a fucking iconic image. But it was this weird contradictory thing of the government saying, women, you need to join the workforce. Our country needs you. But the second they showed up to work, all the men went,

fuck you, you don't belong here. Sure. Don't think we accept you. Sure. That's what I love all that stuff. Love all that stuff. Charles Napier is sort of in this movie. Love all that stuff.

The hostile. Right. And Goldie Hawn and her husband, Ed Harris, are two fairly boring, waspy, conservative people. Sure. They live in a little cul-de-sac.

They have a quiet life. She doesn't seem to have that much of a personality because it feels like she's never had the chance to figure out who she was. 100%. Because she was kind of told.

So many women of her generation. You don't worry yourself about that. You don't need to have an inner life. And there's this person, her neighbor, who's always walking by in these fabulous outfits. And Harris is always

calling her Tramp. And Harris is like, ah, that Tramp. That fucking Tramp. And she's like, isn't she a singer? And he's like, singer, my foot.

Yeah. Sings the Tramp blues. They both end up at the same factory. Yes. Working the same line. Working the swing shift. And they sort of slowly

reluctantly become friends although Goldie makes the first overture because she doesn't understand the idea that this woman could be hurt

because she doesn't think about someone having that much self-respect sure 100% yeah she just tries to do this sort of like hey we're in the

we're in the apis and she's like do you think I'm mute like do you think I'm deaf dumb and blind? You call me a tramp every single day of my life. But

the shift of the movie is I mean, the titular swing shift is not just the hours they are working. Four to twelve. Swing shift. Working four to twelve. I had a job working that. Worked a swing shift working 4 2 12 i had a job you worked a shift yeah really overnight at fedex loading trucks you worked loading trucks at fedex how was it i lasted three months it sounds like it'd be really tough it was

the worst when was this well the problem was I would party before I went to work. What an absolutely ridiculously bad idea. You would party up until 4 p.m.? 3 a.m. And then I would show up and I never really... Oh, you worked the opposite. You worked 4 a.m. to noon? That's what I thought they were doing. No, they're working 4 p.m. to midnight.

Cut it all out. No, but I like this FedEx stuff. So you were basically working the night shift. I mean, you're working the deep night. I believe they call that the graveyard shift. Yeah, the graveyard, exactly. Yeah, so I was a graveyard man, and I got fired because I was sleeping in a truck,

and the boxes were just piling up on the conveyor belt. I will say, unfortunately, I think grounds for dismissal. He wasn't doing his job because of sleep. Yes. But is there also, was there just like a culture of like, I feel like the guys who work that job are just like salty dogs. They're salt boys. And like, it's a lot of, a lot of chatter. Yeah.

Smoke a blunt. Sure. Sure. Cool stuff. Speak on that. Speak on that. Sure. Dutch master. I am indeed. Who are your blunts? well sure sure cool stuff speak on that speak on that sure Dutchmaster

I am indeed who are your blunts Dutchmaster I don't know Dutchmaster Philly White Owl Optimo

gotcha actually pretty surprised how many blunts brands I know go back to the movie so they're on the swing shift. You're saying the swing is, you know,

metaphorical. The swing is in the absence of a husband and society where now suddenly they are more involved. Sure. Goldie Hawn starts to figure out who she is as a person. And they are a community in a way that like they haven't really been before. Right.

Christine Lottie sort of swings her over to a different way of living where she actually experiments with who she could be for the first time. Yes. And Kurt Russell is but a part of that. Mm-hmm. You know, he's this charming sort of cat.

The Goldie Cut is very much like, this is a movie about a girl who works a job, makes a couple friends, but in working that job, has an affair with the hottest guy. Yes. And whereas the, yeah, the movie we,

the director's cut is much more right. He's, he's very peripheral. Cause I think she was trying to make it like wild cats. Like, wouldn't it be funny if Goldie Hawn ran a football team? Like what's a place Goldie shouldn't be? You know?

Sure. Sure, sure. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And there is this little bit of triumph in terms of her becoming, like, the lead man, but it's not a fish-out-of-water comedy. Not at all. And what works so well... It's very collective. Her performance, which I think is incredibly good in the Demi cut. It's better in the Demi cut. I think it's incredibly

good. I don't know if I agree. I do. I was watching it, and I was like, this is so interesting. I've never seen her do anything like this before. But that also might be a symptom of our flip. I think so. That I agree. I do. I was watching it and I was like, this is so interesting. I've never seen her do anything like this before. But that also might be a symptom of our flip. I think so. That I was so against her performance in the Goldie cut. I think so. Oh, because in the theatrical cut it's a nightmare. It makes zero sense as a character. And it feels very

forced. What I found interesting in the Demi cut was, she's playing someone kind of devoid of the natural light and charisma that Goldie Hawn has. And there's the scene where Kurt Russell asks her about herself, and she starts talking about Jack, her husband, and their life. He said, I didn't ask about Jack. I asked about you.

And she goes, well, I'm not interesting. I don't have anything going on. Right. And it's like she's a person who her entire life is defined by the relationship she has with her husband. And in the absence of her husband, she doesn't know who she is. Yes. Her husband's boring too. He's fine. He's fine. He's fine. He's a basic bitch.

Yeah, he's a bit of a basic bitch. He's a bit of a basic bitch. But it's this weird shift in society in which women figure out who they are for the first time. This woman finds out who she is for the first time. Has a friend for the first time. Sure. Autonomy for the first time. You're making money.

Yeah. But then this weird thing of, of course then, the war ends and the men come back and they're expected to go back home. Scram. It's not just expected.

They were obliged. They were contractually obliged to give up their jobs when the war was over. Don't let the door hit you on the way out. You helped us keep the economy alive. You helped us keep our boys up in the air. But also, we're never going to give you any credit for You helped us keep our boys up in the air. But also,

we're never going to give you any credit for it and now go back to working in the kitchen. That scene, which I believe is in both cuts, of where the planes are flying over, I think they come at different times. And she said, I made that. And we made that. It's great. It's great. The difference is... This is what fascinates me. Anyway, yes. The difference is... Yes. The Lottie version ends with her back together with Jack. Or the...

The Goldie cut. Call it the Goldie cut. No, no, no. I'm sorry. The Warner Brothers cut is what I mean. Yeah, the Goldie cut. I'm getting all confused. The Demi cut.

There's a Demi cut and a Goldie cut. No, I know which one's a which. I forgot which one I was saying. Cancel the episode. The Demi cut ends with her and Lottie on the beach. I know what this works. And it's a beautiful, beautiful final shot.

It is. What are you freaking out about? I'm not freaking out. I fucked up and then you got the leapfrog. The thing I was going to say. I completed your thought because you were clearly. I didn't middle it. I had a middle.

So wait. Because that wasn't in. I watched the Warner Brothers cut. I mean, the. So wait, because that wasn't in, I watched the Warner Brothers cut. I mean, the Goldie cut. It was in the first frame of them hugging. She's like kissing the dog

and then she walks up and she's like, I'm sorry. And then the last line is, we really showed them. It is very much like me finishing a college essay where I'm like,

in conclusion, it's a land of contrast. Okay. So in the Demi cut, It is very much like me finishing a college essay where I'm like, in conclusion, it's a land of contrasts. Okay. So in the Demi cut, Christine Lottie has a weird on-again, off-again relationship with Fred Ward playing a character named Biscuits. Biscuits. Yeah, of course. Right.

We stand a legend. Cool guy. Cool name, cool guy. Yeah, exactly. He's actually not a cool guy. No, he's like a dummy with a temper who runs a nightclub. Yes. Right.

And wants to be a big shot. I mean, a classic Fred Ward performance. Like, I mean, well cast. Yes. Right. And wants to be a big shot. I mean, a classic like Fred Ward perform. Like, I mean, well cast. Yes. Excellent work. In the Demi cut, he hits her. Yeah. He slaps her.

She slaps him back. He slaps her again or whatever. Maybe she slaps him. They have a little sort of exchange of blows. But it is a little bit harrowing. Oh, it's no good. And it makes you realize she should be away from this guy. Right.

She needs to figure out what the fuck she's doing with her life, which is probably one of the only reasons that she's even opens herself up eventually to Goldie in the first place. Is because she realizes she needs to shift. That was the main club she used to perform at. She can't perform there anymore. Their fight is over him being like, now that there's a war on, I can make so much money from this club. Am I wrong in thinking that the Goldie Hut removes the hits and just makes him like oh he's sleeping with other women. He kind of knocks her

down off of a bike. Sure. That comes later but here you know what I'm going to queue up the fucking cut right now I'm going to check it. Okay. But there is I don't recall I watched this morning I don't believe that other than that you see his character. Yeah because there's like a moment of struggling violence,

and it feels like the Warren Brothers cut kind of sands him down a little bit. Because there's something to the fact that when he like shows up again at the ball, and he's in uniform, and he's about to ship out the next day, and his friends are calling him by a different name, and he actually seems like apologetic like he's

tried to remake himself that you really don't know whether or not to trust this guy and in the Warner Brothers cut it's sort of arguing like he's cute yeah he kind of just comes back and is like I fixed myself up please forgive me the end well the thing I find kind of bittersweet

and it feels like in terms of the ecology not being fucked up is coherent in the demi version is it feels kind of sad that goldie stays with jack sure and that lottie ends up married to biscuits yeah because both of them feel like men who are limiting in many ways all of what we're talking about out yeah the slaps are gone right they have a fight at the table they have the fight at the bar table. And then it cuts straight to Goldie in the theater looking at a newsreel. Right. It's so stupid.

They both end up in these relationships that you feel kind of shitty about. It feels like a depressing ending. Sure. All the women are in the kitchen showing off their new model dishwashers and everything. model dishwashers and everything. And then right after the wedding, Lottie and Goldie Hawn escape and go to the beach and sit on the beach and drink beers together. Yes.

And the whole point is this is a rom-com about the two of them. It's a love story about friendship. It's two women that never had friends before. And how their lives were upended. But, you know, the post-war era, America was not like, yeah, it turns out we, we love women's liberation and women should have jobs.

And, you know, we're just going to totally up in the social. There was active resentment of like the husband's coming home and being like, I can't believe you've been working. Well, and beyond that, it's just the fifties are such a clear reactionary fit.

Like, you know, it's beyond just like, well, back to normal, back to normal. It's more like we, we must reassert that it's beyond just like, well, back to normal. It's more like we must reassert. It's like, yes, the family unit is

important. This is America. We are the beacon of civilization. Who would have known those ideals to this day, very day, are still very much a problem on our society. Oh, yeah. Everything's terrible. Everyone's the worst. Right. That's the worst. Right.

That's almost like a thing now for blankies, like for bingo or whatever. Yeah, like anytime Griffin referenced that, everything is bad, the world's terrible. It's all the worst, yes. There is this weird sort of bittersweet ending, which is like they're still trapped by society. They're still going to be trapped in these shitty relationships in many ways, but

the thing they get to carry with them going forward is their relationship. That these two women have each other, which they didn't have before. They both feel isolated in different ways. You're absolutely right. Yes, yes, yes, yes. And that's very poignant. In the director's cut, in Demi's cut,

there is the scenes with Ed Harris after he returns there's this scene where they walk on the beach together yes and they have more of a

genuine reckoning about how they've changed and she says there's another guy which is all of this is gone from the

yes from the Goldie cut which is why that's sort of that Ed then suddenly flips and realizes everything. Just always,

it just feels a little quick and a little easy. In the Demi version, car pulls up, Ed Harris gets out, he knocks on the door. She doesn't respond. He immediately starts to seem pissed off. Right.

He starts banging on the door more and more aggressively. He's super suspicious. He walks up into the other, into Lottie's home and Goldie Hawn and Kurt Russell come out of the back like dancing together yeah yeah that shot is in both cuts yeah

of them all dancing together right in in the Warner Brothers version he like walks up to the door holding Rose's like a big dope

and when she's not there he's like okay well on to the next door well I guess I'll check next door right like he comes off as like totally oblivious.

Right. And then when he sees them, they weirdly throw in one extra shot where he throws a glance back to Kurt Russell and tries to figure out what's going on. But then they also have that scene where he's going through her clothes. Right. And she's got the lead man jersey. And he's like, who's this lead man? She's like, what do you believe?

It's me? I'm the lead man. He's like, okay, where's my stuff? And she goes, it's like, here, God, I got all these airplane parts here. Why does she have fucking airplane? She wouldn't have airplane parts. This is clearly like someone rewriting this

with like three hours to go, right? Airplane parts in the closet. You don't see any airplane parts. Anyway, it doesn't matter. There's this beautiful thing of like, they flip every balance of terms of when he's suspicious and when he's oblivious in the two versions right so then he comes over and goldie hawn is like as quickly as possible trying to fix everything in the house to make it look like she hasn't been having fun on her own right it's less even the evidence of a man

and more just like the evidence of like a life being lived yes and that is what they talk about on the beach and things like that right and he's like what what's going on? And then when they're on the beach and they're talking about stuff, she makes a bunch of comments. He calls Christine Lottie a tramp a bunch of times. And she's like, you can't call her that. You're not allowed. And Ed Harris says, she's like, brainwash you. You've changed. You're different now. She's gotten to you somehow. And she's like, I am

different now. And that's when she like turns her back on him and says like, there's another man. But in the... Which he was never going to suspect he is so blindly trusting they sort of present him as Lottie's guy like that's their trick yes right and

to be clear in the studio cut she does have an affair she has sexy sex with Mr. Kurt Russell she cries like when they're having sex she cries and it's seemingly because of the with Mr. Kurt Russell. But she cries. Like when they're having sex, she cries. And it's seemingly because of the intimacy. Sure.

There's a scene where he's behind her and he's grabbing her boobs and she's very, you can tell, sort of like mixed up about it all that's in the director's cut only. Right. There's nudity in both.

Mixed up more about like she's so uncomfortable with her own sense of sexuality. Not even the morality of the thing as much. There is nudity in the director's cut, both in Goldie Hawn sleeping with Kurt Russell and Christine Lottie sleeping with Kurt Russell. That's cut out of the Kurt Russell's tush. Yeah. Tight tush.

It's a little more of a sort of sordid shot. It's like rather than them under the covers, it's Russell is face down, but up. Totally exposed. No covers. And then she's got the covers up to her shoulders. She's got the covers, but they sort of fall away. You know, it's a little more natural in the demi-cut than in the director's cut.

But that's a big thing is like, they're drunk, they go out together, they make it this clear thing that he's been hitting on her for months and months and months and months and months. Time is an interesting thing in both because this is five-ish years being covered and they only sort of acknowledge it sometimes. Which they, in the demi-cut, she says, you've been asking me out every day for the last three months right right

right right there's stuff like that in the warner brothers cut i think she says five months and it's literally just dubbed over like they want to make her seem a little more virtuous oh great they're so worried about like goldie fans turning on her for having an affair but that's the whole point of the movie is the murkiness of it that she feels very guilty about it. It's not her being like fun and fancy free. But right. The movie was rated PG to be clear when it was released. Whereas the

director's cut probably would have been, certainly would have been an R I would have thought. Yes. Her guard comes down. They get intimate that night. He gives her the ride home. It's raining. She starts crying. She wakes her the ride home. It's raining. She starts crying. She wakes up the next morning and

reaches for him and looks over and then recognizes that it's not her husband's butt. And it's this beautiful moment where it's like she for a second thinks she has woken up in her life from a year ago and realizes this is a different man and has a complete existential panic. Okay, but in the studio Kurt puts on a bathrobe and realizes this is a different man that has a complete existential panic. Okay.

But in the studio cut, uh, Kurt puts on a bathrobe and makes her an omelet. I mean, to be fair, it's pretty sexy. Kurt in the bathrobe. And they have some like,

I'm a man and you're a woman fight. Yeah. Yeah. Remember that all of that is not in it. It's so weird. Would you like the nightgown or the bathrobe? And he's like, I'd rather be drowned. I'd rather be wet.

And then you cut to him in the bathrobe with the apron, making the cheese omelet. And it's weird because it makes it seem like the affair is more of a conscious, deliberate decision on her part, but then she stands up for her own integrity. Because they still have these scenes

that are from the other cut where she's like more conflicted and I'm married and this is wrong and I'm not sure what to do about myself. And they keep having an affair. There's the scene where they're giving the sort of tribute to Holly Hunter who's so good in this and has so much more to do in a demi version. And they sneak away to make out. Is this – where is Holly Hunter in her career? This is three years before. Well, Blood Simple. She's a voice in

Blood Simple and Uncredited. Yeah, this is her second movie. She's in The Burning. In, I think, a small role. But yeah, so she's nobody. Nobody. Because in 87, which is pretty much her next movie, is the Raising Arizona Broadcast News year.

Which is crazy. I should go home and watch broadcast news right now. Yeah, I probably will. Do you want to just stay in here and do it? Yeah, let's just do it. This is such a good room. This guy has such great energy. It's hard to even remember all the little differences of how these things are presented.

Well, no, it's very hard to remember all, but we have covered a lot of the main differences. The other thing I was going to say is, so then when Jack comes home, Kurt Russell is very hurt. They have a number of conversations in the Demi version where he's like, why are you acting weird? And she's like, I'm married. And he's like, so? And she's like, you don't.

You've got to live your own life. I'm married. What do you not understand? Like, this matters to me. I care about this. And he both sort of starts to back off a little bit and gets very personally hurt by it. Right. His sort of wounded ego of not being the number one guy.

So then there's this scene that is so well acted where he kind of very knowingly asks Christine Lottie if she wants to come see him play in the club that night. And it's one of those scenes where like him saying that is pretty much him saying, do you want to fuck? Right, right. Like you're alone now and I'm alone now. Do you want to fuck? And they both kind of go like, yeah, let's go

to your show tonight. You know, and they go through the motions and they sleep together and she wakes up the next morning and has Ben's holding up fingers what do you have to say we're going to skip over Kurt Russell playing trumpet

he learned to play the trumpet for this movie and his trumpet teacher I looked up because Joanna was instantly like can he play the trumpet and I was like let's find out it doesn't seem like he's really no he's playing the trumpet get out yes because this it's i found a very long article that was by like some trumpet guy

who's like worst fake trumpeting in movies like here we go he was like fuck this fuck that you know like lots of you could tell their mark because i was doing it i was definitely watching him on the valves and trying to see his lips were getting tighter, looser. Because this movie is so not that big a deal. So buried in this article was him being like, now Kurt Russell on Swing Shaped is actually doing it. And I found an interview with his trumpet teacher who said he was really good and worked on it for three months. So like, you know. I'm impressed.

Because man, not only is he very hot but then getting him on some hot brass the man comes oh oh boy anyway as you say yes where he gets with Lottie

you know which is in both cuts right but there's something too in in the Warner Brothers cut it just cuts at one point

and they're waking up in bed the next morning yes and she sees him you see her come in yeah and he's playing like kind of sad jazz yeah and then it's just like all this is much longer in the lead up of them having like him inviting her and he goes out together this is a sentimental song about people who've been in love you know what i mean

remember he has that whole monologue where he's introducing the song and then how does yes how does Goldie find out in the demicot cause in the Warren Brothers cut there's a weird thing

where she takes a taxi to I don't remember Lucky's trailer yeah and then sees them and then gets back in the cab

I don't remember I don't know so fucking sloppy but then there's the scene that is largely the same in both versions, but in one version it means something, and the other version it seems completely out of nowhere.

Where they fight. Well, Goldie, Lottie comes over to Goldie's house, and she makes her tea, and they're, like, sort of not talking about it. Yeah. And Lottie apologizes and is like, so what are we going to do about it? And Goldie's like, it's one thing.

It'll never happen again. We're just going to continue being friends. The three of us are we going to do about it? It's one thing, it'll never happen again. We're just going to continue being friends. The three of us are just going to be friends. Right, right, right. And then they go out to the club and she like totally collapses and freaks out. And Joanna,

when she says that, like was like, so at that point, you're so baffled by the movie. She's like, is it going to be like a threesome? Like, is it going to be like a plural relationship?

And I was like, no, I think she's in denial. But like, it doesn't matter. At that point, that's when Kurt Russell's like, I'm going to be like a plural relationship. And I was like, no, I think she's in denial. But like, it doesn't matter at that point. That's when Kurt Russell's like, I'm going to go. Right.

It makes sense when you're watching the Demi version, because you're like, this woman is so ill equipped to deal with this, that she optimistically thinks that she can just ignore it and move on. Also, it's a movie about people leading your lives, which is, whereas the,

the studio cut is more about Goldie and Kurt's like crazy relationship. And then Kurt leaves the movie and the movie just sort of keeps going for a while. And you're like, Jesus. And Demi's whole point was like, the movie was about him being like a cat and a piece of shit. And he's kind of manipulating both of them. Yeah, Demi says he's supposed to be a jerk. It's about women learning autonomy and like falling in love with each other and, you know and forming an important relationship. It was turned into a movie that negates all of the feminist

leanings of the film. It undercuts all of it because it has to be like, look at Goldie. She's a go-getter. It's baffling. It's baffling. I'm trying to think of the other major differences. We've covered all the major differences.

Not all of them. Not all the differences, but we have covered a lot of the major differences. Well, not all of them. No, no. Not all the differences, but we have covered, I feel like, a lot of the major differences. Sure. Yeah. But it is, I mean, every scene feels different, either because every scene is fucked with or the scenes surrounding that scene are so fucked with that the scenes don't have the same power. It's the ecology. Because that sort of fight scene, when I watched the original version, I'm like, that's Goldie's best acting I've ever seen.

Right. And then when you watch the, the Warner brothers version, you're like, this makes no fucking sense. Yes. And it is that weird thing of like, uh,

it does. I mean, this movie freaks you out a little bit. I've read that like a lot of, I'm going to read from the site. This is just about the fight scene. Yeah. Han is fantastic here.

She looks dazzled by the pain of having lost. She thinks her lover and her best friend in a single blow. about the fight scene. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Han is fantastic here. She looks dazzled by the pain of having lost, she thinks, her lover and her best friend in a single blow. That's what her reading of I Was In Love means. Yeah.

That's the whole meaning. And the edit changes all the meaning of that scene and that line. Yes. There's just a coherent, very specifically observed woman

in the Demi version who's usually not the kind of woman that people make movies about. And in the Demi version who's usually not the kind of woman that people make movies about and in the Warner Brothers version it is a Frankenstein character that makes no sense and it's one of those weird things where it's like they're trying to make I think they're

fighting against the idea like oh our audience is not going to like Goldie for cheating on her husband a thousand percent and the way they try to you made a movie about a woman cheating on her husband I'm sorry that's the premise that's the script you picked but also the way they try you made a movie about a woman cheating on her husband i'm sorry that's the premise that's a script you picked yeah but also the way they try to counteract that is to sometimes make her more of an innocent and sometimes make her more sort of self-righteous in a way that makes no sense yes you know that she goes from being both like a total like you know pushover to being like the rah, rah, like, well,

well, listen to me. I live my life now when in reality it's someone who just kind of is living for the first time and is making mistakes and is confused and traffic or who she is. I think as the sight and sound article argues that Russell is actually the actor who suffers the most between cuts. He gets flattened out. He gets completely everything.

His performance is ruined. Yeah. Adding basically like make adding scenes where he is playing a different He gets flattened out. He gets completely, everything, his performance is ruined. Yeah. Adding, basically like make, adding scenes where he is playing a different character, fucks things up the most. Totally. Um,

because Lottie, as we've said, basically shines brightest in both cuts anyway. Yeah. Like obviously they're trying to fuck with that. She has better scenes that are cut out, but her character is less fundamentally changed. Um, and Han,

yeah, I mean like everything you've said about Han is very interesting. Right. Yeah. I was just going to say that watching this. There's also there's that remember there's that final scene that only the studio cut has where Kurt's on the bus. Oh yeah.

Another thing they just kind of splice in. And the letters. And Harris' letter is very different in the. Right. The Warner Brothers cut for his character. He feels like a, like, I don't know, like a manic or just like a pixie daddy.

You know what I'm saying? Like it's magical. Like you're not a real person type of like just representational kind of character more than anything else. Here's some of the things I'm going to, now I'm just reading this article. Okay. There's a montage of her fixing

things in the house. Remember that? Like a toaster or percolator or whatever. Which I think is them just being like look how good she is at machines now. Sure. The scene where she cuts her hair is preceded by. Oh yes because in the original version she takes

the bath with the goggles on and then gets up, looks in the mirror and decides to cut her hair and it's a sense of just her trying something different for the first time and in the theatrical version they have a fucking voice over the Pierre

go like remember all women must cut their hair which doesn't explain the fact that the rest of the women in the movie don't cut their hair no because they're

wearing hair nuts but they're also depriving her of autonomy they're making her hair cut I don't know why they did that I don't know why they did that. I don't know why they did that. A mandated decision.

There's shit like that that's nuts. There's something, Holly Hunter's character. Yes. There's this pivotal scene in both movies where she is excited to hear from her, I don't know if it's husband or- She gets a letter a couple weeks late from her husband.

Husband or sweetheart, whoever. You know, like her. I think it's her husband. It's her husband. And then immediately is told her husband is killed sweetheart, whoever, you know, like her, I think it's her husband. It's her husband. Um, and then, and then immediately is told her husband is killed. It's incredible moment in both where the guy delivering the news has, he's never done it before and is clearly like,

can't handle her crying and hugging him. But then there's in the Demi cut, there's this scene of her. Tavolosky kind of bragging about how she would hurt her cute tear stained face was on the cover of life. And like, she's like smiling about it, but like,stained face was on the cover of Life. And she's like smiling about it, but it is a very ironic and sort of dark scene.

She's become a superstar. Her grief has become like, yeah, promotional material for the war. And then the camera pans across the catwalk where Goldie Hawn and Kurt Russell are making out. Right. There's this cynical tone about the sort of patriotic manipulation of everything.

Yeah. And that these friendships and these, you know, transformations happened anyway. But at no point is the movie like, wasn't America great for giving these ladies shots? You know, like no point is the Debbie movie. Yeah. There's the scene where Lottie sees Fred Ward at the ball right before he's about to ship out. Please, call him Biscuits.

I'm sorry, Biscuits at the ball. The biscuit ball. And she's been dancing with a higher ranking man in the military. Yes. And he's sort of trying to butt in. Yeah. And, you know,

there's a disagreement where the higher up who is now dancing with Biscuit's ex-girlfriend is told that he needs to refer to him as his superior. And in the original version, it is much more tense. It is. It is a fucking fast and complicated scene with this guy who used to think that he was a big time. Right, and now he's like an endless sea in the navy and the guy is like, you know Know your fucking place. Yeah, exactly.

Your woman's gone. Right, you've lost everything. And in the studio version it's totally recut around it and the performance takes they pick are goofy. And it just sort of becomes like a two line joke. Right. That like his status has changed. There's just like depth and meaning cut out of every moment,

like just gutted from it, scooped out from the center. It does make you think though about like how rarely we discuss editing in this way because people think about things in terms of like, oh, that scene's well edited or like, oh, it's smart of them to add this thing in or cut this thing out. You're watching the same performances, just having the center like removed from them. It's so strange. You realize how much every performance is like either totally supported or destroyed

by an editor. One thing, you know, and sometimes actors will say that when they get nominated for an Oscar and people think it's like, oh, it's like self-effacing, self-deprecating stuff, where they're like, I mean, I'm just so grateful that the editor picked the right choices because if they picked the wrong takes, I wouldn't be here today. And it is a true thing where it's like the editor and the director have so much power. It's a thing that some actors find terrifying about working in film as opposed to theater. It's a thing that I find kind of exhilarating about how sort of piecemeal it is.

But you really are giving someone else the power to totally like redefine your performance because you can do things that will just never make it into the film that are the difference between your character being coherent or not. And there are also tons of cases where an actor is terrible on set and in the editing room, somehow they find a way to go, oh, if you use this and this and this, it looks like that's a thing. And you make a coherent performance as something that was not coherent on the day. The Swing Shift story is a Hollywood tragedy. That's what Steve Weinberg says. He says it echoes what RKO did to Orson Welles' The Magnificent Ambersons, but the difference is that even the fucked up version of Ambersons, which is the only version that exists,

is a masterpiece. Whereas the fucked up version of Swing Shift is, like you say, it's Frankenstein. It just, you know, it can function in that weird Hollywood way that you're talking about where like, yeah, okay, you could sit down and watch that and come out and be like,

well, I guess I just saw a not very good movie. Sure. That's how I felt. And if no one ever told you it got fucked with, you'd just sort of be like, well, I guess I just saw a not very good movie. Sure. That's how I felt. And if no one ever told you it got fucked with, you'd just sort of be like, well, yeah, they just, whatever. They weren't balancing the tones, right? Which Demi talks about. That was the thing that hurt him the most, was he felt like he had had his breakthrough movie

and then he read these reviews that were like, Swing Shift's a mess. It's a shame. Demi really seemed like he was going to be the guy. And he was saying, like, reading it, like, attacking him personally. Sure. As, like, I guess we misread this guy's potential. And for him to have to sit back and not be able to comment on it and not say, this isn't my movie.

You cannot like it. I don't like it either. But this is fundamentally not the movie I made. In every regard. I think it kind of broke him, but out of that comes like the new even purer sort of following his own whims, Demi. Which is true of many a director we've covered. Yes.

There's often that traumatic moment earlier in the career that sort of casts a shadow. The chrysalis. You know, like Shyamalan and Wide Awake, which is we all know was about a tie-tie boy it's so tired uh and james cameron i'm proud of too like right there are many examples like that where directors suffer some kind of loss of control and codifies for them yeah that uh they need to be in charge um but then demi is no. I mean, that's the thing about him that's so special.

It's like, never. His reputation is always the grand collaborator. Right. So as some directors, I guess, like the Camerons of the world or the Shamans would be like, yeah, the lesson I've learned is that I'm in charge. I get final cut. Don't fuck with me. Yeah. And the lesson Demi learns

is like, I should just work with my friends. Yep. It's interesting. What a weird fucking thing. Why that box office game? Oh, this will be fun. It will. It's good.

It's a good box office game. 84. April 13th, 1984. Okay. We've got the film Swing Shift opening with 2.7 million, 2.2 million, I'm sorry. Number nine at the box office. It is not a major player. It eventually topped out at,

let's see, 6.6. That is bad. Not very good. Okay. So that's that. Number nine, naughty number nine.

Number one at the box office at yon box office is the fourth i'm gonna triple check this because it's the fourth the fourth or or whatever his name is on the brain um i believe it's the fourth yes in a horror franchise okay but it's got one of those confusing titles like it's not like you know x4 sure it's it has a title that suggests something different um but it is the fourth in a very long-running horror franchise is it friday the 13th the final chapter correct which like where they were like friday the 13th the gimmick is it's friday the 13th here's final chapter? Which like where they were like Friday the 13th. The gimmick is it's Friday the 13th.

Here's a horror movie. And then Friday the 13th part two, they were like, you love that one? Part two. It's the same thing. And then three, three D, right? That was their gimmick that time. And four, they were like, fuck, what do we do? Let's just say it's the last one.

We milk this, right? There's no more juice left in Jason. And then that meant that for five, they could be like, Jason's back. You know, they could be like. No, because five is like the last one. We milked this, right? There's no more juice left in Jason. And then that meant that for five they could be like, Jason's back! You know, they could be like. No, because five is

like the new beginning. Yeah, new beginning. Jason's back. No, but you know, do you not know what the plot of five is?

Oh, right. It's six where Jason lives. Right, right, right. Five's the guy who wears a Jason suit.

Yeah, no, it's Tommy or whatever. It's Tommy Jarvis. It's like, six is the one where. Or Roy, Roy, Jason, I don't know, whatever. No, it's Tommy or whatever. It's Tommy Jarvis. It's like... Six is the one where... Roy Jason? I don't know.

No, it's Tommy Jarvis. Number six is Jason Lives, right? Yes. That's where Jason's... Isn't that the one where they sort of explicitly start being like, he's like a demon, right? Like, you know, where they're all in on like,

he has magical powers. He's like a mentally handicapped Satan. I have been watching those movies because of the I discovered the Paul Rust Matt Gourley Voorhees podcast and it's been fun watching them but I haven't gotten to 4 yet

so I was more of a Freddy guy I was always more of a Michael Myers guy interesting that was my franchise Freddy's my dude of the 3 big slasher I'm bad on those I'm'm bad on the Freddys. Really? Freddy, I like know backwards and forwards. I think I've seen one, two, and a three,

and then maybe New Nightmare. Oh, wow. I'm a Hellraiser guy. Pinhead. Well, I mean, nothing has ever made more sense than that. It's true. All right, so that, you know, opening, and it's just one of those classic things.

No Freddy movie has ever made a ton of money. I mean, sorry, Jason movie. No, no Friday the 30th. Sure. I think the highest grossing, if you exclude like the remake, is the first one made like 30. But they just would make them every fucking year for two million bucks and they'd always make like 20.

But that's the equivalent of like. 100%. It was just like, yeah. That's all the horror movies that come out today that make like 50 or 60 but it was the establishment of that model basically it's just like look yeah i don't know fucking cold friday the 13th yeah kill some teens make sure it's out by october yeah see you later because it was paramount but they were just like i think it was like it was like the junior dusty office uh-huh and it would just be like yeah come get out in the woods. I don't know, get a camera.

What, you need a camera now? Fine, get a camera. You need a camera to make a movie? So it opens to $11 million. I mean, big opening. And it made $32 million. Number two at the box office is one of the big comedies of the year.

And it does start a franchise. It starts a comedy franchise. It does. Ben's nodding. It does. It starts a franchise. How many are in the franchise? A lot?

Yeah. Six at this point? Oh, I think there's more. Is it Police Academy? Yeah. The original Police Academy. How many are there? Seven.

Seven. Can I see if I can name them all? Yeah. Let me just queue them up, please. One second. Okay. the original police Academy. How many are there? Seven. Can I see if I can name them all? Uh, yeah. Let me just queue them up, please. Um, one second.

Okay. Name them all, please. There are seven. Okay. Police Academy. Well, good job.

You got that one. Oh boy. Uh, police Academy to their first assignment. Correct. Uh, police Academy three back to basics. Close.

Back to training. Back in training. Back in training back in training which really jeez one assignment and they're back in training number four mission of moscow no that's number seven fuck you're you're now you're spiraling operation miami beach that's five okay which i believe is assignment miami beach is this citizens on patrol four, that's right. Okay. Five is Assignment Miami Beach.

What's six? Six is way more serious sounding than Assignment Miami Beach. Yes. And Seven's Mission to Moscow. Six sounds like an escalation. Seven's Mission to Moscow. Five is like, we assigned you Miami Beach. I don't know.

Check it out. Six is like, uh-oh. Oh, no. 9-11? Police Academy 9-11. No, it is Police Academy 6, City Under Siege. Oh, of course. What's happening to the city?

I don't know. It's under siege. That does not sound like a comedy. No, not at all. Yeah. Anyway, but this is the first Police Academy. Do you remember how one of the cast members, his whole thing is he just made sounds with his mouth of course

that's like the only thing anyone remembers about Police Academy right? Is that Sweet Truck? Is that his character? I don't fucking know what happened to that kind of comedy? it was the 6th highest grossing movie of the year that's crazy you know? and it's made, look, it's been out for 4 weeks

it's made 37 million dollars it's gonna make like 90 so it's to bring it back. And it's made, look, it's been out for four weeks. It's made $37 million. It's going to make like 90. So it's like, you know. It is kind of crazy. This is the last of the pre-VHS. It is kind of crazy. In that period of time, someone can get up there and just do really good sound effects on stage at like the improv for 10 minutes. And people are like, you should put him in movies.

What does he play? Cop who's good at sound effects. Like you could have an act that was totally incompatible with narrative comedy. And they'd still figure out a reason why they could put you in a movie. Number three at the box office. A good movie from a director we could cover someday. Mm. Mm.

Mm. I would call it an adventure. Oh, an adventure. Is that the only thing you'd call it? Sort of with, it's got some romance. Hmm. It's not romancing the stuff. It is romancing the stuff.

Well, okay. Good movie. Yeah, good movie. Douglas, Turner, Zemeckis. Let's do Zemeckis. It's not romancing the stone. It is romancing the stone. Well, okay. Good movie. Yeah, good movie. Douglas, Turner, Zemeckis. Let's do Zemeckis. It's just long. It's fucking long. It's fucking long.

Like how long? 22. Oh, boy. It's long. Yeah, and I don't know where you cut. I don't think you can cut. That's the problem. I don't think you can cut.

One day. One day. Right? Because what? Because what? You want to cut And not do Marwyn That's the problem No we can't

We gotta do Marwyn Are you kidding me We must be welcomed Yeah And so wait You're not gonna cut The early ones Cause those are the ones

That everyone likes the most Um His early run is great Cause what It's I wanna hold your hand Then use cars Then romancing the stone Then back to the future

Yeah You're not gonna start late No Not at all You're not gonna get out early Honestly No, not at all. You're not going to get out early. Honestly, the ones you combine are the fucking cartoons. That's what you do. What are the cartoons?

You know, like Polar Express, Christmas Carol, Beowulf, where he keeps doing these 3D... Yeah, I never heard of those movies. I think all three grossed over $100 million. I don't think Beowulf made it there. The other two definitely did. Beowulf probably made $87 million. I'm guessing.

Well, now I'm going to have to find out. I'm going to have to find out. Okay. Yeah, $82 million domestic. Can I guess the other ones? I think Polar Express is $170 million. Well, just give me a second. Jesus Christ.

Polar. I don't know why it didn't just click on Zomacus. Well, because Box Office Mojo has changed its interface. I'm trying to deal with it. They're clearly thrown off by the studio ships as well. I always root for Grendel. 187? That's insane.

And then Christmas Carol is 110. It definitely snuck over 100. Let's find out. There's lots of them. It made 137. Whoa. But they were also expensive. That was sort of the hit on that, right?

Polar Express, I think, didn't lose money, especially because they kept re-releasing it. The other ones were so expensive. That was sort of the hit on that. Polar Express, I think, didn't lose money, especially because they kept re-releasing it. The other ones were so expensive. And he was about to do Yellow Submarine. Jesus. With Peter Serafowicz. Was going to play John Lennon, I think. Or Paul McCartney. I forget which one he was going to play.

Anyway. Weird idea. Bad idea. Weird idea. I idea. Weird idea. I think Zemeckis is kind of just has bad ideas these days. Well. He has ideas. Tell that to Allied. A movie that rules.

You're a real ally. All right. Number four. The only real ally. Is another. The only real ally. Yes. Number four.

No, he's got his stance. You know, they'll never leave him. Number four is an adventure adventure film a throwback a real throwback hmm a real throwback what kind of star are we looking at here um it's it he is a star he was a star um still alive or just no longer still alive definitely no longer a star. Still alive or just no longer? Still alive. Definitely no longer a star, like a Euro kind of star, kind of like a Rucker Hauer type.

It's not Dave Pardue. No, no, no. Think a little less classy than Lambert. Wilson. You're, you're thinking you're,

you, you, you are correct. There you go. Thank you. Yeah. Christopher Lambert. It's not Highlander,

not Highlander. Highlander comes later. This is in Graystone. Yes. Gray stroke.? Legend of Tarzan? Yes. Greystroke, The Legend of Tarzan, comma, Lord of the Apes. Long title. Too long.

An Oscar-nominated film. Ralph Richardson, I believe. And Rick Baker, I think. Rick Baker. Sure, sure, sure. And those monkeys. So just every 10 years or so, I think some studios just like, let's do a Tarzan.

We were talking about this, Tarzan, Peter Pan, like, no, not seven years can go by without someone being like, can we?

And it's not like there are people out there who are like, I'm a real Tarzan head. Yeah. I love Tarzan. Yeah. Like even like Godzilla or whatever, there are people who are like,

I worship that series. I know all of its intricacies, right? No one's like, I love the lore of Tarzan. Remember there's a live action Tarzan movie that grossed $120 million less than five years ago. Yeah. That no one talks about.

David Yates talks about it when he's talking to his financial planner. Number five is a comedy that I had on VHS and I watched all the time. Um, can you a little more than that? I don't remember. He's got a big star who's still very much in his comedy phase, his comedy phase. So now he's moved out. Is it a Hanks?

Is it the money pit? I'm shaking my head. Lagging their fingers. But it is Hanks. It is Hanks it is Hanks and it's too early to be big that's right

but it's not little no it's a big one it's not turning one day there would be a completely separate movie called A Bigger one of these

oh okay yeah but I wanted to do that clue because it's funny yeah it's a funny clue the movie's called Splash the film that saved Disney god I've seen that movie a bunch the film that saved disney well that's weird it's also the creation of touchdown is it yeah um and do you know that splash mountain

was originally supposed to be a splash ride nope did not know that that's crazy and said it's a ride based on, of course, path of least resistance, song of the South, which is pretty much their only acknowledgement of song in the South. Right. Like, yeah,

that. And I guess I did have a VHS when I was a kid of zippity do da. It would be part of the sing along. Exactly. Right. But not, of course, no other.

And even my parents, even when I was five, we're like, is there a tricky one? I was like, what song of even when I was five were like this is a tricky one I was like what song of the south and they were like hmm how do we there's so much context to give you here

for more tune into you must remember this season the five or six or whatever Ron Howard film guy falls in love with a mermaid Daryl Hannah. Brian Grazer said he came up with the idea for that movie because he felt like he, quote,

couldn't meet a nice girl in LA. All these girls were trashy, so he dreamed that he could meet a mermaid. Great. Have you seen Splash? I saw it many times as a child. I probably have not seen it in so many years. Since 1996?

I think, honestly, same. I used to watch it on the Disney Channel. It has so many people in it, though. It has a cable movie. Eugene Levy,

John Candy. I mean, John Candy, Eugene Levy, right, and Richard Schiff shows up. Like, all these people pop up.

Yeah. Yeah. I hate Richard Schiff. We'll do Ron Howard. Some other movies. We're not going to do Ron Howard. Maybe he's in the bracket, though. He might be. We could put him in there. Some other movies. We're not going to do Ron Howard. Maybe he's in the bracket though. He might be.

We could put him in there. He might be. There's an argument for him. There's an argument. You got Moscow on the Hudson. Ah, yes. Classic in those. There's so many of those 80s comedies.

It's like. Didn't Yakov Smirnoff sue Robin Williams for that movie thing? Should have. Yeah. In Soviet America, Yakov sues you. What a country. Number seven, Terms of Endearment, which is obviously still running the table. Right, from the previous year.

Yep. It's just won an Oscar, though. You've got Swing Shift. You've got Footloose. Ah, everybody got to get Footloose. Footloose. You've got Whereing Shift. You've got Footloose. Ah, everybody got to get Footloose. Cut Footloose. You've got Where the Boys Are. The Barbara, not Barbara, Bette Midler movie?

No, you're thinking of For the Boys. Yes, what's Where the Boys Are? It appears to be a film about sexy ladies in bathing suits on the beach. I don't know. It's like a sex comedy. It's called Where the Boys Are? Yeah. Note to self buy all remaining copies

that's it great that's the scene well perfect episode final thoughts I think it's a fascinating story what happened to this movie it was genuinely

fun to watch both cuts which I thought would be sort of a pain in the ass. I agree. I'll do anything. It was a pain in the ass. And I watched those cuts probably like six months apart. Yeah. I also think it's a fascinating story.

What happened to my brain being in this different studio? Cause I feel upside down. I'm sorry, no, it's not your fault. I'm not saying I didn't, I don't mean it as any sort of a slight. I know.

I'm just saying more as an apologetic. I don't want to see you all turned upside down, inside out, mixed up upside down. I mean, now it's fun though. Yeah. Isn't it weird though?

Like so much of just like our, we, we've been doing this for so long now. Coming up on five years. True. This podcast. Yeah, this podcast is going to kindergarten. About to hit 250. That's crazy.

What should we do for 250? I don't know. Do you remember my original idea for 200? What was it? I don't want to restate it because maybe it's a surprise for 250. Okay, fine. I'll say it off mic. That's fine.

I'll tell you what movie Jonathan Demme didn't love making off mic that sounds like we should end this episode I think so alright see ya folks well hey come on that's just my classic sign off see ya folks that I do all the time

when I'm in this room apparently it is weird though how much like it's like if you work in an office everyday and then one day you go in and the desks are flipped you know and you're just like my entire sense of where things are is so tied to the specific setup Hosley out just wanted to do my sign off that I do only in this room but uh please continue with uh the outro of the episode thank you all for listening please remember to rate review subscribe the episode thank you all for listening please remember

to rate, review, subscribe thanks to Andrew Goodo for our social media they're high-fiving now? yeah! woo! thank you Montgomery for a theme song

Joe Bonaparte for artwork go to tpublic.com for some real nerdy shirts next week tune in for Stop Making Sense with Demi Adichie-Webe

amazing episode amazing movie Demi on Demi Demi Adichie amazing episode amazing movie Demi on Demi Demi on Demi Demi squared D squared

I need to I don't know either take a nap or have five more cups of coffee or run or lie down or something

and as always my classic sign off a nap or have five more cups of coffee or run or lie down or something. And as always, my classic sign-off, I'll hear you when I see you. And as always, Ponyo loves ham. And as always, Ponyo loves ham.