Doug Loves Movies - Matt Belknap, Gabe Mollica and John-Michael Powell guest

Episode Date: October 27, 2025

Doug welcomes Matt Belknap, Gabe Mollica and John-Michael Powell to the show. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Hey, everybody. Before we start the show, let's do some Doug plugs. This Friday, Halloween, Douglowe's movies is at the punchline in Sacramento at 7.30 p.m. Wear a movie theme costume, if you want. And then the next day, I'm at the punchline in San Francisco at 4 o'clock doing stand-up. And the Benson movie interruption returns to Dynasty typewriter in L.A. on Tuesday, November. 4th and on Tuesday, November 11th, New York City, City Winery, Doug Loves Movies. First time there, super excited to do it. All of my dates and deeds are at Doug Lovesmovies.com. Enjoy the show.

Doug hates candy wrappers screening baby sticky seeds with 50 as a pop or kernels in his teeth. They're still not one that he won't see. The Doug's movies Hey, hey, hey, everybody. My name is Doug, and I love scary movies, all kinds of movies. This is Doug Loves Movies, recording on Sunday morning, October 26, 2025. This is an early one today. It's a brunch edition.

And my guests are Matt Belknap, Gabe Malika, and John Michael Powell. Hello. Hello. Hello. Hi. Let's meet them individually, alphabetically, by first name. He is a comedian and East Coast friend of the show who has his own new solo show. It's Gabe Malika.

Hey, Gabe. Hey, Doug. It's nice to be back here after hanging with you at the live show in New York. Yeah, you came out to the show at the Gramercy, and I always appreciate that kind of support and enthusiasm. And tell us about your new. your new project. Yeah, I have a new solo show that's going to open at the Gotham Story Festival in New York. We got three shows.

It's called The Big Picture. It's about a panic attack I had while looking at photo albums with my mom. Which will set off anybody, your mom. Yeah, yeah, on my birthday, on Valentine's Day. So, and then hopefully after these three shows, the plan is that it'll have an off-Broadway run in the spring, but I'm still. sort of working on it, so it's a good time to come check it out in the East Village. Have you seen the film Valentine's Day? No, I haven't, but I do feel like it's come up in a trivia on this show before, because

there's so many damn actors in it. Well, the whole movie's trivial, you know, it's just who's in it, a bunch of people, a bunch of names. Doug saw that and was like, this is for me. Yeah, but I just, I was just wondering, like, if a person, a person, you know, a person whose birthday is Valentine's Day managed to go you went your entire life without seeing the film

Valentine's Day. You'd think it would be more personal to you. Yeah. I can seek it out. I did see the third what's the Christian Gray? What's that? Fifty Shades of Grey. I saw the third one on my birthday. Yeah. Which was one

way to spend a birthday. I made my girlfriend watch a an impossible movie on her birthday one year, and it was probably a worst birthday of her life. It's okay. I got you guys beat. I took my wife to see, unknowingly, I could see a reprint of a character for a 7th samurai,

and she couldn't be more bothered by a movie in her entire life. And when she walked in, had no idea that it was a three-hour and 40-minute runtime. I almost destroyed her. Yeah, that's a day. It almost led to divorce. Yeah. well good luck with your new show and thank you for being here today another guest joining us is a first timer writer director of violent ends in theaters this friday a Halloween release it's john michael powell hey dude

hey man how are you thanks for having me uh thanks for doing it i uh we spoke before we started recording and uh you're actually quite familiar with this show. You're not one of those filmmakers that gets tricked into doing it. You're much more willing participant. And as you know, I frequently cite things that are going on on the

IMDB site. And it calls violent ends. Like a lot of movies, they'll have, like, it'll say seven or eight different things that it is, you know, comedy, comedy, horror, thriller, like they'll list a bunch of shit. But in the case of violent ends, it settles just on thriller.

Do you think that's accurate? Yeah, sure. It's a thriller. I mean, more specifically, it is a revenge thriller, so a subgenre of a thriller. But, you know, we had the premiere this past week. I will tell you this. And it was, it was amazing. So many people laughed.

There was a lot of, you know, there's a lot of my little dark humor peppered throughout. And I never really, you know, most people don't get it. It's mostly, you know, my wife laughing at my stupid jokes. But, yeah, I mean, there's a little bit of a lot of genres in the movie. I know Thriller makes it easy to sell, but I think I dip my toes in a lot of genres. Well, somebody might get into the IMDB and, like, add genres as people, you know, actually see the film, you know? Sure. But it's just, the thriller is interesting to me because that's like, it's kind of like saying,

suspense more than scary. Yeah. Yeah, no, I would say it's not your typical Halloween release. The story is not, you know, it's not a slasher film. It's not your typical, like, horror genre stuff. So we're trying to be that kind of, I mean, look, it's called Violent End, so I don't think I'm, I mean, you know what you're getting into. So it is violent, it's horror adjacent, but we're trying to be that movie where, you know,

if you want to go to the theaters on the Halloween weekend but you want to see something other than your typical, you know, Black Phone 2 or what have you, we're out there for you. They've seen Black Phone 2 already, you know? If you're into that movie, you've seen it. Like, it's time to move on. Exactly.

Enough of the phone booth out in the snow. You know, because that was the thing to me about that movie is the scariest part is that they, you know, really went out there and filmed it in some wintry spot. Like, you know, everyone working on It's like freezing all day. It's like The Revenant, but it's about a phone booth.

Right. I'm obsessed with people, movies that shoot in cold weather these days because it just seems like, you know, a stage with a green screen could probably get the job done. Right. Are you much of a trivia person, John Michael? I mean, I am. I'm saying that, and I feel like I'm loading, I'm setting myself up for failure.

but yes, I love trivia, and I love, you know, film trivia, but I'm sure you're going to stump me. Yeah, well, I mean, everybody gets stumped because it's ridiculous sometimes how hard these things are, but then also, you know, guessing is, you know, if you're a good guesser, that can help you out. But I have one more question about Violent Ends, because the other thing that's interesting about it is that the lead actor is Billy Magnuson, Yeah.

Who, you know, even in dramas tends to be like the comedic character. For sure. So is that also like what you sort of give a nod to that the movie, you know, has a wink to it because the leading man can be so funny? Yeah, maybe. I mean, Billy's just naturally charismatic and he's just funny. I mean, he's so good at that. But honestly, this is the first time Billy's been acting for years. And he always pops up in really great projects.

Like he was in the big short game night. And he always, like you said, tends to play the goofy guy. But this is the first movie he's ever been the lead of, the number one on the call sheet. And also, it's just such a wildly different role for him. I promise, when you watch the movie, you almost don't recognize Billy because he had just shot that Sam Mendy's TV show where he's, what was it called? The franchise where he's like, it's like spoofing Marvel. So he was bulked up like Captain America when he walked on our set, and he didn't look like the Billy I knew.

I mean, he's funny. Billy's very serious in the song. A lot of the sidebar characters are the good. Like, there's a character in my movie called Fiddle. So do the math. There's some goofballs in the movie, and they're kind of orbiting around Billy, and he gets to be serious while they get to be idiots.

Well, it's too early for math, so I'm going to move on to someone whose name is, one letter off from math he he was a winner on last week's episode and he's one of the producers he's pressing the buttons today it's matt bell nap hey matt hey Doug how's it going oh pretty good champ yeah this might be the first time i've ever it might be the first time i ever won anything last episode and this i don't think i've ever been a returning champ on the show so it's a it's a i'm a little i'm also a little nervous just like john michael and uh as you can tell my voice. I'm not used to being, uh, talking this early in the morning.

Yeah. This is a, this is an early morning record. Like you and I were saying, this might be the earliest DLM ever. It might be. Yeah. Except for maybe one time we had to go even earlier because we had somebody in, in Europe. Right. On the line. Um, all right. So, uh, congratulations on your win last week. And, uh, I'm grateful I was able to get you back. that this worked out before we play some games today uh i'd like each of you to recommend since it's still the month of october one scary movie we'll start with you matt what's a scary movie what did you recommend last week i already forgot um barbarian no what did i Man, I'm totally blanking.

No, I mean, I do love Barbarian. That's a great movie. Yeah, somebody else said Barbarian. I think so. Wait a second. When did you... Wow. I can't find it in my notes what you recommended.

That's so funny. I know I... Well, the thing is, I remember when we were coming in, I forgot that it was October. And so I was just thinking about recommending the Battle of Algiers, which is not a horror movie at all, but because I had just seen one battle after another. and it's sort of referenced in that movie. So that's all I remember. I don't remember what I ended up saying for horror.

And now I'm like, I'm scrambling because I'm in my head about like, I think I've done this before in a past October episode. I might have already recommended this, but I'll just do it anyway because I feel like it's one of the lesser anthology horror films, but it's one of my favorite anthology horror films, which is Tales from the Dark Side, the movie. Okay. That's the one that the framing device has Blondie. It has Debbie Harry is in it.

And that's always fun to see Debbie Harry acting, and it's kind of weird. But yeah, I don't know why that one, I always like that one better than like Twilight Zone and Creep Show. I don't know. It just spoke to me. And I think it was the only one I ever saw in a theater, which usually those movies were like rentals. You know, like when I was a kid, you just rent those movies. Oh, sure, sure. But yeah, that's a, if you haven't seen that one, and if you haven't seen that one,

And if you like horror anthology, I think it's, it's probably cheesy by modern standards, but it's kind of a fun, it's a fun watch. Also got James Remar. James Remar is in it. Oh, nice. Fun character actor. Yeah, so look for him. No, he's always, he's always kind of scary.

Yes. This just in, after you had to toss aside Battle of Algiers, you ended up landing on five nights at Freddy's. Oh, right, because, yeah, because I saw it with my son. It was like the first horror movie I took my son to because it's like a kiddie horror movie. Yeah. And whenever that came out, he was like 11 or something. But, yeah, I'll re-recommend that too. If you have kids and they want to dip their toe in horror, that's what I was, you know,

I definitely think it's better than I expected it to be, which I didn't expect much. So, you know, it's funny. This just popped into my head that another movie, that might be a good entry-level horror for a young person is uh uh it's called wallie's wonderland uh the nicholas cage thing i've never been heard of it because nicholas cage is in a like he's like a night janitor or something in a chucky cheese type place and the characters come to life and start trying to kill people and uh he has to fight them Cool.

I just looked it up out of curiosity. Willie's Wonderland. Willis. Wally World is the Wally World is what I'm explaining it with. The Moussa French should have told you. Okay. Gabe, what would you like to recommend? So I feel like I've been on this podcast so many times in October,

and I never have good horror recommendations because I don't watch them. And now I feel so much pressure. So I've been working on a CBS murder mystery show And I'm the youngest person in the room by like a lot of years And so I'm just like watching what they tell me to watch So I'm on like a real like Neil Simon kick So this is a non-heart movie Last night I watched The Prisoner of Second Avenue

Which is a Jack Lemon movie And Sylvester Stallone is in it Before Rocky is the fun fact To see Rob Like is he a some sort of criminal? It's so good. He bumps into Jack Lemon. Jack Lemon thinks Sylvester Stallone stole his wallet. So it's like 70-year-old Jack Lemon, chases him down, beats him up, takes his wallet, and realizes that he accidentally stole Sylvester Stallone's wallet, and his wallet was at home. Wow.

It's so good. Yeah, Sylvester Stallone was also memorably a thug in the early scene in the Woody Allen movie Bananas. where where like he confronts Woody Allen on a subway and then Woody Allen does the old trick at jumping off the subway

and then the doors close and so Esther Sloan's stuck inside but then like the subway often does the doors just reopen randomly I think that's I think that's the scene but anyway

that's so funny but Prisoner of Second Avenue I don't know if it's a straight up horror movie but it's definitely the protagonist has put through the ringer, right? Like a bunch of terrible stuff. Yeah, he just has anxiety

and like every bad thing happens to him and he's already complaining before bad things happen to him. And so it just like gets worse and worse and worse. But I love Jack Lemon. It was really great. Have you ever seen what's the other world?

Oh, the out of towners? I have not. That's also, it's so funny. That's also on the list. Yeah. That's him and him and oh gosh, I can't think

of her name right now, but a great actress like you know, stuck it, like travel pans gone awry. Like it's an absolute nightmare if you, you know, watch it today. It's very, it's a very

bleak movie reminding us how fragile, you know, travel in big city a big city can be. But they remade it with Goldie Han and Steve Martin, I think.

And as is often the case in those scenarios, it did not work out that great. Sure. Sandy Dennis. Sandy Dennis is the name of the actor. Okay. Yeah. Yeah.

That sounded like I have like an earpiece and somebody told me that I really Sandy Dennis. I thought of it on my own. Doug's doing a quiz show on his own game show. always always uh all right so john michael we've got uh arguably two not very scary films so far so what's your scary movie recommendation i'll try to go scarier i'm look i'm i'm i'm not the biggest horror aficionado but um you know i i tend to be i like movies where the you know

the the the horror is gets under your skin kind of thing more than uh you know the jump scares and all that stuff. And there's this Romanian film I saw this is going to be slightly obscure, but it's called Be My Cat. Have you guys ever heard of this movie? I have not, but I'm already in. It's like 10 years old, I think, something like that. And like I said, it's Romanian and basically a role around this guy who is an aspiring kind of filmmaker. And he starts meeting girls on the street who he wants to, you know, put into his movies. and kind of lures them into acting, you know, auditions and things. And then kind of slowly you start to realize this guy's got these weird pinks

and nefarious things going on. And he's kind of a serial filmmaker kind of actress abuser. And it's weird. It's not that sounds terrible and it is, but it's more like, you know, at one point, I vividly remember he, like, convinces some girl to dress up like a cat because he's got this cat kink thing going on. And meanwhile, he's always filming it with his camera. So the movie feels so real because it's presented as a documentary. And it's one of those things.

It's kind of like Blair Witch, like the first time you saw that where it just feels, I guess I haven't seen a movie since Blair Witch that kind of tricked me in that way, where this feels like somebody made a documentary where they're, you know, casting a movie that they're trying to make. and then slowly but surely these women kind of get put into these awful scenarios by this guy that leads to this, I don't want to give anything away, but this really crazy, climactic ending. But it's definitely one of the creepier movies I've ever seen. If you're creeped out by weirdos with cameras, this is your movie.

Well, I certainly am, so I'm going to check it out. do you think do you think it has a cooler name in Romanian do you think me my cat was just like you know that's the best they could do to translate it something definitely lost in translation for sure

it sounds like you know before you described it it sounded like it could be kind of cute you know but it turns out not so much yeah more like the darker side of being a furry right well it's it's a definitely another tale from the dark side and uh t a i'll yeah thanks for those recommendations we're going to play some games after these scary messages

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We're back. Wow, that was a frightening amount of time. The first game we're going to be playing today is a slight revamp of a game we play quite often. I just added one word to the title, and it's called Whose Scary Tagline Is It Anyway? I'll say a tagline from a scary movie, and then you guess which one it is. You have to get the accurate, correct title, and Gabe will go first, and then if he doesn't get it, then John Michael gets a shot at it, and if he doesn't get it, then Matt gets a crack at it, and if nobody, did I say Matt is a crack addict? it's so early

so then if nobody gets it nobody gets the point first person at two points or most points after four rounds is our winner Gabe are you ready

I am ready here we go what movie out of all the movies do you think has the tagline the trick is to stay alive the trick is to stay alive the trick

is to stay alive. I'm going to say, oh, goodness, I don't know the answer, so I'm going to guess. My guess is, I know what you did last summer. Terrific guess is, you know, it's the correct genre. And this is, you know, pretty vague tagline, but it is not. I know what you did last summer.

Okay. John Michael, do you know what this is? Geez, I don't, I mean, my logical brain is, the trick is to stay able to the game. I'm going to guess, I'm going to be very on the nose, trick or treat? You know, sometimes that happens, where the word, you know, a word in the tagline.

line will actually also be in the title. It's not unheard of. Makes for maybe a little too easy of a game. So unfortunately, that is incorrect. Matt. Yeah, I was trying to logic it out too, and I was trying to think of, is there a horror movie

about a magician who kills? And I couldn't think of one. So I guess I'll just go back along the same lines as John Michael and I'll say, Halloween. I mean, they're all, you know, you know, all of these serial killers in these movies are magicians because they, you know, they make entire bodies. That's true.

The ultimate trick. You know, yeah, they really get you. But, you know, sometimes you just got to take a wild swing in this game and you are correct, Matt. Whoa. Wow. Oh, Matt. Oh, my God. What?

Halloween from 1978, you know, a lot of the taglines, because, you know, these movies have, you know, multiple taglines. and a lot of them are, you know, referencing Michael Myers in some way, but this was one that was a little bit more generic. And so, Matt, you are on the board. Crazy. But Gabe, you have got a shot now. What movie do you think has the tagline, Evil had a destiny?

Is it final? destination didn't we just go over this no it's not final destination and all you know just to make it easier for everybody it's not any movie from the final destination thank you for saying that I was absolutely going to guess whichever final destination was left on the board

those are hard to get the correct title oh yeah I don't know any of me yeah which one's Tokyo drift that's one of those franchises where they like you know some of them have a number some of them don't some of them have a subtitle

some don't John Michael do you have a guess well based on the fact that Matt's wild guess I'm just going to go with a wild guess

and I'm going to guess Friday the 13th not a terrible guess not the title I'm looking for but that character certainly is evil. Matt, you got another wild swing for us? Yeah, I mean, to me, the tagline itself gives no clue as to what it is.

So I'm going to, again, follow the lead of John Michael and just take another shot at a classic franchise. I'll say, A Nightmare on Elm Street. Oh, that is a classic franchise. I think that would be evil had a destiny, it would be a little too vague. It's very random for that movie. It doesn't fit at all. But that's the thing, Doug. Sometimes in the 70s and 80s, the taglines didn't seem to fit the movie because

they're just, some marketing person slaps it on there without really knowing what they're doing. No, it's true. And I agree. This particular one is just very slapped on. It is from the second time that they decided to make a film called Halloween. Oh, God. Oh, my God. The remake?

For 2007. We got the Rob Zombie one? The Rob Zombie one. Oh, man. Came up with, after all the history of Mike Myers and Halloween movies, they came up with Evil, had a destiny. What is Michael Myers' destiny? That makes no sense.

Yeah, that's weird. It's really, but it's a bad one. But that's part of the fun, I like to say. Back to you, Gabe. first crack at this one just when you thought it was safe to go trick or treating um

is it Halloween 2 that is correct from that movie 981 I think we see a team here yeah you figured it out John Michael

here's your chance to get on the board Oh, God. You can do it. What movie do you think has the tagline? Family is forever. Oh, God, family is forever? Yeah. Oh, God.

Well, we've got a theme going on here. I don't know, H-2O? I'm thinking of the bad Halloween. I'm like, what, what happens? How many? That just to me sounded like, you know, there's a movie about water. I don't know. No idea.

But that, that, there's, that title, I don't even know it offhand, but I think it's Halloween H2O is the following H-2O is the following H-2O. The most clever of the Halloween titles. It was the 20th anniversary. Don't you get it? It's so clever. Yeah, it's so weird. Wait, what was your guess?

Well, I guess Halloween H2O, but if you're hinting me, I don't know, Adams family, geez forgot about the H2O, no, it's not H2O, Matt. All right, you might ding me for not knowing the year, but I'm going to say the other, the one after the Rob Zombie Halloween remake, what was that, like 2016 or something? That's a David Gordon Green one? Yeah, the David Gordon Green one. Yeah, that was a good one. Yeah, yeah, actually, I liked that one, too.

He started fresh and just called it Halloween, right? Yeah, exactly. Yeah. Incorrect, Gabe. Damn it. Oh, God. Shit. Is there a Halloween three?

There is. Yeah, Season of the Witch. Season of the full title, if I was holding out for a full title, and also if that were the correct answer, but it is not. You all three were like fantastic guessers on this one, but this was

the Rob Zombie Halloween 2. The son of a bitch. The people coming up with the tagline for that one, when they heard evil had a destiny, they're like hold of our beers. family

forever makes no sense it doesn't take any sense at all it might even that might have just been a typo on IMDB all right so this is this is end up being very

exciting competition because we're currently in a tie and that means John Michael you'll just have to sit the rest of this one out but we'll be back to you in mirror moments because Matt, it comes down

to you. And this next one, if you get it right, you win this game. If you get it wrong, Gabe gets a crack at it. If you both get it wrong, and then nobody wins this game, which is fine, but I like to have a winner

because that person gets to go first in our next game. So here it is, Matt. 40 years later, evil returns home i mean it can only it can only be one of two things which is the aforementioned david gordon halloween or did rob zombie make a third halloween i don't remember i don't think he did and if he did it that would have been that would have been 2008 which is when his first wait Boy, I'm all tangled up now.

40 years after the first one would have been 2008, right? Or no, no, 2018. I'm going to say, I'm going to say David Gordon Green's Halloween final answer. That is, you got there. That is the right answer. Yes. Nice. It came out in 2018, and the original Halloween was 1978.

Right. But that's where I just, I'm completely lost as to I thought David Gordon Green's Halloween's well I guess they didn't I guess they do pick up 40 years later yes and Laurie Strode is in it but it's just so funny to just call it Halloween doesn't make any sense because it feels like it's just another remake of the first one they were riding that crazy wave of every reboot is also a sequel you know like like the force awakens and like some of these movies they're just like it's it's the same movie as the first one but also it's a it's a continuation of the story at the same time which is very strange all right well we have a winner thank goodness uh way to go matt

thank you i can't believe i'm going to be the champ again guys i'm going to have to come back and produce the next episode well that's you're really uh putting the card before the horse because you still have a whole other game to win because you only all you won for winning that first one is the opportunity to go first in the next game that we will play right after this break we'll be right back we are back and I'm excited about

our big final game today because it's called Mr. Hitchcock Oh boy yeah I went and found on Rotten Tomatoes

their ranking it was so hard to find Rod Tomatoes has listed they ranked all 51 Alfred Hitchcock movies based on the critical response. The top 10 movies, number 10 has 95% on Rod Tomatoes. That's how many movies he had that scored 95% or better, the top 10. his worst at 51 was a 38%. So to be a filmmaker and make 51 movies and the worst reviewed one is 38% on the RT is pretty impressive because even a lot of the great directors have some real low ones on there.

But that being said, if you get, you're going to take turns, the three of you, guessing movies you think will have landed in the top 10. If you get the number one movie, it's worth 10 points. The number 10 movie is worth one point, and you'll each get three guesses total. Starting with Matt, then John Michael, then Gabe. How are you feeling about this, Matt? Are you a big Hitchcock fan? I watched a bunch.

I haven't seen them all. Yeah, I like, I like, yeah, he's, he's great. He's one of the best, I think, right? I mean, it's hard to argue. He sounds like he was maybe a huge creep going back to Be My Cat. He might have been one of that kind of guys. But, yeah, no, that's the thing that's interesting is that, you know, sort of the weirdo obsessed characters in some of his movies, you know, clearly a reflection of his own weirdness.

Yes. And on that note, Doug, I will jump right in. I have to say, if it's not, if this isn't the number one, then some critics weren't doing their job because it's a stone cold classic, one of the greatest films ever made, in my opinion, Vertigo. Right? Right. Who doesn't love Vertigo? Both the movie and the sensation. Um, yeah, just, uh, you know, a shot that we've seen in movies ever since, the vertigo zoom. Yeah. You know, yeah. You know, in a movie that do it down that stairwell, the camera, you know, what is, what is it? Pushing forward while zooming out. You either, you either, in while you dolly out or zoom out while you dolly in, I guess you could do it.

Yeah. Yeah, either or like the, the, the, my favorite one, of course, is in Jaws, the one where, uh, sheriff's on the beach, yeah. Um, okay, so, uh, I'm afraid to say, Vertigo just missed the cutoff. What? Seriously? What are you talking about? Vertigo's number 12. Oh my God.

Wow. And this list is absolutely bonkers. That what are you even doing? But that's like with, uh, you know, a 93%, uh, you know, wow. Score. You know, it's a very high score because he's, he made so many. I thought that was a slam dunk for number one. Not even like, oh, it's definitely top 10, which I assumed it was.

But I thought no one's even, I thought everyone's going to get mad at me for getting to go first because I just took it. Layup. It's supposed to create an advantage for you, but you took that advantage and just squandered it. Absolutely squandered it. And what a shame that you came up with a total lame answer. Can we just talk for one sec? Let's just talk about how this might have happened. if critics of the did critics of the day not get it or not like it like were they

creeped out or just confused i don't know what could have happened here well here's the other thing you know the way that it works if a critic gives a movie a i thought i thought it was okay then that ends up being in the plus side if you go oh it wasn't that great then it ends up be you know and of course at the time there might have been naysayers because you know there might have been some people that didn't want to watch Jimmy Stewart silently stalk a woman for two hours. You know what I mean? Like, I didn't want to hear that guy talk because he's got a funny, you know, funny way of talking. But, yeah, I don't know, because that's the other thing is that Rotten Tomatoes, it feels like they add into an aggregate more recent reviews of older movies.

That's what I was counting on. I was counting on the more recent reviews being like, well, everybody now agrees. this is maybe one of the top 10 best films ever made. But then how many people are genuinely doing a new, you know, like almost like the movie needs a big re-release to get like a wave of new news, you know. So anyway, this will inform everybody's choice of moving forward. I would probably think because it really is just kind of a crapshoot. John Michael, what's your first guess?

Well, I'm going to go back. I'm going to lean on your Jimmy Stewart being a creep. And I'm going to go rear window. Well, you know, he was, he had a, you know, he had a broken leg or whatever. Yeah, let's give him the benefit of the day. What else is he going to do? That woman, the woman leaves her drapes open. She's dancing around all the time.

Her fault. She had it coming, Doug. He wants to be seen. Well, but now we're talking number two on the list. Wow. Oh, wow. Number two. Rear window with 90.

percent positive reviews from from 1954 which is you know obviously it's very set bound because it takes place all in his apartment

and what he can see from his apartment but it is still like you know doesn't feel like that old you know like it feels super contemporary and watchable

I mean Grace Kelly that's just you know that's ridiculous whenever you know wherever she walks in it's just like holy shit this guy. I know. He needs to, that leg needs to heal.

You guys got business to take care of. All right. So that means John Michael has a whopping nine points out of the gate. The only thing that can stop him, well, not the only thing. You can get two, you know, two correct answers and possibly top his score. But naming that number one movie would really do it for you, Gabe. What do you think the number one Hitchcock movie is. So my favorite is rear window, but if I had to guess what beat it, I'm

going to say Psycho. I mean, that to me was like Vertigo. That to me was like, oh, there's no way that that isn't going to be way up there. And then just to let you know how many

well-reviewed films he has, Psycho is number seven. Jesus Christ. Once Vertigo was not in the top 10, I was like, well, now Psycho can't. Like I thought I thought one, two, three was going to be like, yeah, Vertigo's Psycho. But like, that's another movie that I could see critics of the time being a little creeped out by and upset by. And like, yeah, you can't do that.

You can't kill the main character 30 minutes into the movie or whatever. Sure. Anyway, okay. Wow. Yeah. It's like that's the thing is. I think some of these movies were better received through time than they were initially. And also, keep in mind, we're talking, it's at 97%.

It's not like they said, like, fucking psycho sucks. Like, it's very, it's very high up there. We're talking about four guys. Yeah, exactly. To his other movies. And these are such slight degrees of, you know, difference of love that they share for these films. so Matt with all of this in mind

oh my god it's like it's almost like it's too much like how do you process I know but I had another thought and I was I'm glad that Gabe didn't take it because this was my my thesis here is that another movie that I feel like

invented a genre maybe Psycho could be lay claim to that title too but North by Northwest it's still being imitated today It's the prototypical thriller, and it's amazing. And I think it's more crowd-pleasing, maybe. I think maybe even people of the time would have been like, hey, this was so fun.

This is amazing. So I'm going to say north by northwest. It'll be especially nostalgic when Trump adds his face to Mount Rushmore. I'll be able to go back and look at when Mount Rushmore was, you know, those other four dudes. Because I think they'll, like, the ballroom at the White House, they'll make his head way, way bigger than the other four. It'll be on top of the other four. Yeah.

But North by Northwest, you're right, is really an absolute certifiable classic and finish lower than you'd think, but still a respectable six on the list. Oh, Jesus, Christ. Yeah, so, Matt, you're on the board of five points. This really is anybody's game now. But John Michael could really run away with it. If you name the number one movie right now, it's pretty much over. I have no clue.

You'll have an insurmountable score. But you can think of other Hitchcock movies, right? Sure. Yeah, no, I can, I love Hitchcock, so I like all the way. That would be the scary part is if I had anybody playing that just were blanking on the Hitchcock movies. No. The other question is, you know, throw that.

that dart at the wall and see, uh, that's the thing. There's like, it, we're talking about decimal points here. Um, it feels like, it feels like the horror stuff isn't as well regarded. I mean, I know we're talking about 97 versus 90. So like, it feels like the thriller kind of, you know,

who done it is the stuff that's leaning towards the top. Um, I'm gonna go, I'm just kind of take a, I have a feeling it's going to be something that we had not even thinking about. I'm going to go strangers on a train. I like the way you work that out. Made a lot of sense. Made a lot of sense on paper.

But missed entirely is what you're saying. When I look at the paper with all the movies on it, I'm just teasing it's number four on the list. Oh, wow. Well, now he is on, now he's unstoppable, right? It seems like, well, not quite, but it's, yeah, you've, Gabe and Matt, you need to really step up now. One of us needs to get number one, right? And even then, I don't know that it's doable, is it?

Well, you know what, Matt, you're right. You, you are, unfortunately, I'm eliminated, right? You're not going to make it. But I can stop Gabe from winning if I name the number one. Exactly. What would that accomplish? Yeah. But it's Gabe's turn now.

So let's see if Gabe can start an inch closer to to John Michael. Yeah. So one of the things about being the youngest person in this writer's room is we watch a lot of Hitchcock. Like we're like constantly looking at stuff. That's what? Yeah, yeah.

It's fun. So, but we, this one I just don't think is number one. So, but I'm going to do another one. Let's say the birds. Ooh, that's a fun one. that's so fun it's probably too much fun too much fun

you know there might have been some critics at the time they were just like how can you Suzanne Plaget is a national treasure how can you just peck her eyes out like that that's all as a kid when I watched a Bob Newhart show

or anything she was in I was just always like but she got her eyes picked out in the birds could not stop thinking of that image and obviously well regarded probably at the time and through through you know up until now but unfortunately Gabe

it's number 11 oh no point and what percentage is number like what's what is that 11th is like what 95% or something like 94 95 yeah it's wow geez that's incredible yeah

No, wait till you hear all of these. The results are pretty amazing, and I'm very thrilled that we had a competitive game because with, you know, you just never know. I could have had three people on. They were just like, you know, not into Hitchcock. Sure. I mean, the most recent movie of his we've been discussing is Psycho from 1960. Right.

So when people start using, though, that was before I was born, excuse. That's when I start to feel super old. But Matt, do you want to take a swing just for a fun? Sure, yeah. I think this one, I think it's going to be one of these ones that I probably haven't even seen, but I, you know, like a couple of titles are floating around on my head. Maybe I said, well, so one thing, one thing popped into my head is dial him for murder, but I don't know that that's going to be that.

I mean, it's good and it's another kind of classic. But I think the one that keeps coming back to my mind is Rebecca. Yeah. It's a good one. And I don't, I'm not, I don't even remember if I saw it or not, but it just seems like one of those ones that people, probably people of the day probably thought was great. And it kind of universally agreed upon as a great movie.

Based on a play, I think. I think it was also a play because I think I did like a scene from it and like seeing class or something and it is a 98% or number 3. Oh wow awesome. Man Becca. Yeah. So the

other other thought I had along those lines was spellbound. Is that is that in? Well, hang on. We still got more players. Oh, shit. I forgot. I thought I thought. So the game is the game is already. John Michael can push his When I lose in a game, I start screaming

out answers too. Like I'm a little You're eliminated. Right. I'll take this whole game down. You just did a version of flipping the board. Yes. That is the Zoom equivalent of the tabletop flip. But that was still a pretty impressive comeback.

You're only, you know, three away from John Michael. We can all agree that Vertigo should be number one. So I really do win the game, don't I? Yes. I mean, I, you know, I think a lot of these. deserve to be number one over the actual number one. But before we reveal it, let's play this out. What's your third guess, John Michael?

I'm going to guess. Oh, man, I'm like trying to think of his filmography. I'm going to guess, shadow of a doubt, maybe. Interesting. Yeah. What? Why did that one flash into your head? Well, I was doing that in 39.

Those are just two of my favorites. Yeah, I thought 39 steps because that was another big way. I think at the time was very, very successful. Yeah. And then I had rope in the back of my head, too, because of the way they shot it. I felt like that would do well with critics. Who's in shadow of a doubt? I don't even remember.

Who's in shadow of a doubt? Yeah, I don't know offhand. but I was surprised to see and especially delighted to hear, you guess it, because it is number one. What? Oh shit! Seriously?

How? Shadow of a doubt from 1943 is 100% on rotten tomatoes. Yeah, that's higher than vertigo? Unbelievable. Yes. Yes. Very well received, which makes me feel like

it's probably the most middle of the road thing that Alphan had trapped ever. did. Yeah. No, it's good. It's good. I mean, I'm sure it's good, but I'm saying, you know, in terms of like offending anybody, you know, like, every one of these movies has something that could, you know, be a trigger for a person, uh, but in that, you know, or feel like a stunt or, you know, whatever, but, uh, shadow of the doubt's probably just a very straightforward, well-told, uh, story. I've got the cast for you, Doug, if you want to. Okay. Yeah. Here we go. Teresa Wright, Joseph Cotton. Or, oh, Joseph Cotton.

above the title and then with mcdonald carry patricia collinge henry travers and wallace ford the poster warns us not suitable for general exhibition oh this is before the mpa i guess they just had to sort of mourn you well yeah and also like that was hitchcock's hitchcock was always like you know making trailers that would basically tell you do not you cannot see this if you're you know if you get scared easily and even even his movies that were more thrillers than scary like they would really promote them like some fucked up stuff was going to happen um Gabe do you have one last guess um I so I was going to say torn curtain but I actually don't think it was well reviewed that's one of the few I haven't actually seen it was if it was a nice curtain you know if

didn't have a big rip in it then you know that's your is that your guess your final answer Let's make that my guess. That's not anywhere. Okay, so. They don't even acknowledge it as a Hitchcock film. That's how bad. Yeah, no love for Paul Newman. I wrote down a bunch of them, but I didn't write that one down,

so I couldn't tell you where it landed. But it's definitely not number 51, because that was a movie called Juno and the Peacock. Just a catchy title. Yeah. I mean, that would throw off. I bet you could trick a lot of people. think there are Hitchcock fans

with that one. I'd never heard of that. Okay, so congratulations John Michael, first appearance on the show, and you took the win in a huge way. 26 points in that last game.

And so that means you get to do, before I reveal all the other answers, although you did a great job, everybody, of knocking off most of the top 10. But before I reveal what you missed. John Michael, do your plug.

Violent ends is in theaters this Friday. Yeah, it's in theaters Halloween. Spooky. So, yeah, the plug is, you know, it's a revenge film that's set in Arkansas where I was raised. So it's a you know, it's got,

if you're familiar with like Blue Ruin, green room, it's got Jeremy Solonyé vibes. And if you're into action and vengeance, it's a fun one. And it stars Billy Magnuson, Nick Stahl, James Badgedale, Kate Burton and Alexandra Shipp. And it's, yeah, it's a fun ride. Yeah, that's a great cast, and I'm excited to see it, and I'm sure, as

they do these days, it'll be available Thursday night if you want to see it. It is, yes. As your pre-Hllowing tree, if you've got pre-amble, yeah. Halloween plans. Thank you for being here, dude. Thanks for having me. I enjoyed it. I'm glad you had a good time, because now I'm about to ruin everybody's bun with some crazy crazy things that are on this list. I wrote down all the way to

I thought it was interesting that number 16 was frenzy which was a pretty disturbing movie. That might be his last film? I think that was his last one, yeah. A necktie killer. So you see people like with their own

tongue hanging out because they got strangled. so hard with the necktie in a frenzy clearly number 15 is one of his funniest silliest movies and i i enjoyed it very much as a kid because it's it's not terribly scary it's called family plot oh yeah so bruce durn is very funny in it he's great yeah and then um uh to catch a thief was number 14 that was a little out of that wasn't a normal hitchcock because it was kind of a, you know, sexy cat burglar movie. And then 13 was the aforementioned rope. And then, one of the birds.

Ten was French correspondent. I would never have guessed that. That's incredible. That's incredible. That's great reviews, yeah. Nine, one, I'm surprised, didn't come up, notorious. Oh, yeah. Yeah, it's a very well-title.

It's a good one. Well-known title. I would dare even call it notorious. is. And then number eight was, I think Gabe mentioned it, the 39 steps. Yeah. Yeah. Or that came in number eight. And then another one that slipped in there, again, probably not too scary or thrilling, but very well reviewed, the lady vanishes. Oh, yeah. That's a title that always sticks out. Yeah. But now if they remade it, instead of a lady vanishes, they would call it the

Irish goodbye. All right. So congratulations once again to John Michael, but let's get some plugs out of these other fellas. Gabe Malika, tell us again the deeds for your new one-man show. Yeah, I got a new one-man show.

It's called The Big Picture. It's running November 4, 7, and 16 at the Gotham Storytelling Festival in New York. And it's all on my Instagram at Gabe Malika. thank you thanks for being here Gabe always a pleasure thanks for having me Doug Matt Bellknap before you press the stop button on this recording session yeah what would you like to promote well since you're at the end of this podcast it's time to find another one to listen to and you might as well check out never not funny wherever you get your podcasts that's Jimmy Pardo's show that I co-host

and produce always a good time if you just want to have a silly laugh that's what we're going over there. So yeah, check that out. And then I'll see you guys at the, you know, at the library where I'll be studying my Hitchcock so I can do better next time. You know, Hitchcock may never come up again on this show. You never know. So if I'm ever back again, I'm going to be like thinking, okay, what other, because you did Spielberg the last time I was on. So it's like, Spielberg, Hitchcock, who's the next director, Doug's going to play this game with? Yeah, but I don't play a game every. It's like, it's like going on the price is right, hoping you get to put Plinko.

I know. It's right with Chiru. I want to do that mountain, get that mountain climber game out here. Cliff hangers. It's one guy, but it's called Cliff Hangers with S. Yeah. I think they just screwed up when they made the, you know, physically made the mountain.

There's no cliff involved. He's just, he's just hiking up a mountain. Well, he falls off the cliff. Oh, right. If they don't get the prices. Okay. Fair enough. Yeah.

Yes. My, I love it when he. falls off the cliff. I wish they would add the the Wilhelm scream. Screaming. Oh, hoo hoee! That's how they like goofy. Yeah, exactly.

Douglasmovies.com so you could go to get deeds for all of my upcoming shows in places like Sacramento, San Francisco, Houston. Those are all punchlines, actually, punchline comedy clubs. But there's lots of other stuff on there, too. So check it out. Thank you. Once again,

to my guest, Matt Belknap, John Michael Powell, Gabe Malica, and as always, oh, honey, come on. Now it's time for Doug to watch another talkie. Eyes of Gold is viewing prowess makes him cocky. There's no room in his heart for you because Doug loves movies.