Happy Sad Confused - Taika Waititi

Episode Date: October 31, 2017

There's no rule that says film directors have to be as entertaining as their films but Taika Waititi is just that. His films, from "What We Do In The Shadows" to "Hunt for the Wilderpeople" are overflowing with charm and humor and the same can be said for the Kiwi director. All of which is to say, this is a fun episode of "Happy Sad Confused" with Waititi visiting Josh to talk about his thrilling new film, "Thor: Raganrok". Josh and Taika talk about the the influences on the film (and Taika himself), including "Flash Gordon" and "Big Trouble in Little China", why the director may take on "Akira" and what amazing flashback scene almost ended up in the Thor sequel. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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Get after him or have you shot You mean blow up the building From this moment on None of you are safe New episodes every Wednesday Wherever you get your podcasts Today on Happy Second Fuse, the end of days has come as Ragnarok is here. Tika YTD on Happy Second Fuse this week.

Hey guys, I'm Josh Horowitz. Welcome to the show. Sammy. Hi, everybody. We tried to get rid of her. I'm so happy. You can't get rid of me. I can't.

Sammy's back only because RWK Stah on. the iTunes page said the following. Let's hear it. Oh, they complained about the micing. Mm-hmm. Oh, guys, I'm working on the audio. This is a constant thing.

But, oh, so they are prompted to leave this review because I love, all caps, love Sammy, and her hardly restrained glee about things makes me crack up. Plus, Sammy does the best, look, out of any psychic i've seen it's important to know what taylor kitch's hair looks like you've got a fan five stars we did it thank you so much it's uh another person who likes the stupid things that you prefer that you refuse to mention i'm so happy to be back it was it was it wasn't it wasn't the same

it wasn't the same um to be fair you're busy lady yeah we were traveling the world we're traveling the world but we're back in business guys there i was just telling sammy we were going over the upcoming schedule it is stacked it's stacked it's crazy yeah so um there's a lot lot lot coming up so my favorite directors some cool actors um you know there are a lot of like award seasony things coming up so a lot of hattie's coming sure sure that's what sammy delivers is hottie talk um tyco wittiti could be considered a hottie oh i am all here for him after we saw him a Comic-Con. He made my heart a leap. He was...

Yeah, he had those adorable shorts on. Josh, you sound so stupid. He was wearing a male romper. What does that even mean? It's shorts and a shirt that are connected. He was not just wearing shorts. He was wearing a romp. Him. And it was everything. He's the tallest person

ever in this little printed romper. It was... I loved him. So you're going to love this extended conversation with Tyca, who has, of course, gone big time directing the latest Marvel film Thor Ragnarok opening up this week

as if you didn't know it I've seen it, it's great, it's a lot of fun it is a Thor movie unlike any Thor movie you've seen they really have like changed it up on this one and gone full comedy

probably as funny if not funnier than the Guardian's films Wow! Yeah, yeah they really make great use. I mean the trailers are so good they're really good it's gonna do really well

It's already done really well with the critics. And, yeah, check it out. Even if you're kind of just like a peripheral kind of Marvel fan, I think this one's going to bring in kind of like a different kind of audience because... We needed it. Yeah, it makes such good use of Hemsworth's comedic abilities. As we saw, you know, he's done little things here and there, like Ghostbusters. He was great.

But... Vacation. Yeah, he was good in it. Yeah. This, and like, everyone's so good in it. Goldblum, of course, is amazing. Hidleston, of course. Ruffalo, Tessa Thompson.

is really great. It's a... What about Kate Flanchette? Yes. Jesus. Yes. It's a stacked cast. So you don't need...

Idris? And he has more to do than the other two Thor films. Oh, God. I'm so excited. So, yeah, you put this high on your list as if it's not already to go check out Thor Ragnarock.

Yeah, it's great. And so thrilled to have Tycho YTD on this show. I mean, I was a huge fan even before Thor. I've probably gushed about what we do in the shadows and hunt for the Wilder people on this podcast.

podcast before. If you haven't seen those films, go back and check them out. They are so fun. He's got just a really nice touch as a filmmaker and cool, too. And this Marvel film feels like as much a Taika Waititi film as it does a Marvel film. So that's a testament to his ability and Marvel's ability to, or willingness to play with cool directors. I feel like he's someone who you have to say his whole name. Like, hello, Tyco YTTTD. Exactly. Exactly. What else should we talk? Is there anything else to catch up on semi-water headlines in your universe. Anything pop-culture-y,

as we tape this, Stranger Things has just debuted. Are you going to watch that this weekend? That's the big plan. Yeah. I don't know. I still have to watch. I have a lot of my list.

I haven't seen the new, the David Fincher show, Mind Hunter. Oh, I haven't seen that either. Is up my alley. I need to see that. Oh, I still like to see the American Vandal. Have you seen it yet?

It's so good. You're going to love it. That's up my alley. Because you're a fucking weird. Oh, yeah. It's great. It's great. There's too much good stuff.

out there, guys. You love a good penis joke. So you're going to be all in an American Mandel. I do. Yeah, I love true crime and penis jokes. So this is right up my alley. Truly. Yeah, it's good. And there's a lot of good stuff out there movie-wise. So, like, I don't know where, I don't have the time. No one has the time, but it's good. You got to make the time somehow. It's, yeah. Forget your family and friends this holiday season. Forget Neal. And watch American Vandal. Watch a penis show on Netflix. And then Stranger Things. Oh, you know, it's really, here's my recommendation of the week. This is a random one. It's a weird kind of

little thing. Oh, boy. No, it's a documentary that's on Hulu. It's called Too Funny to Fail. And it's about the Dana Carvey show, which was a show that had only eight episodes about, I don't even know, 20 years ago, something like that. And it was like a sketch comedy show. Dana Carvey, of course,

was the main guy, but it also had this amazing staff. Louis C.K., Stephen Colbert, Steve Carrell, and Robert Smigel, who's a brilliant writer. And it's a really, it's a funny documentary just to see how this show went wrong and how it was the wrong fit for ABC. If you love cool, weird comedy,

check it out on Hulu. Was it as funny as like The Keepers? Yeah, it's a lot of. It's the worst of The Keepers. Yeah, I love those kind of documentaries. Okay. That's why we keep Sammy around. I'm kidding, The Keepers.

isn't funny. Is that your recommendation of the week? The Keepers? No, that was an recommendation of like a couple months ago. My recommendation of the week is probably probably American Vandalks. I just did that. So you took that for me. Okay. I mean, end the new season of Below Deck on Bravo. Okay, okay. We should probably wrap it up. I'm so sorry, Tech O ICTT. Welcome back, Sammy. Thank you so much. Now to the main event, the wonderfully charming. What was he wearing again? A romp him, a male romper.

Okay, I'm going to wear that to the next taping of the intro. You're an idiot. If you don't. Like a picture. Let's say his whole name. Here he is. Tyco Waititi. Sounds weird coming out of here.

It's so good. Okay. She really enjoyed herself. T-D rummaging through my Halloween candy. I'm not going to be using any sugar. No sugar. You don't need sugar. You've got the sugary goodness of a blockbuster movie to keep you going. What a success.

You did it. You did it. You've done it internationally. Now the US just needs to follow suit. We need to figure it out. Fuck the you. I'm going to be like shit. What the US fuck. Hey, you know I was weird? I was just like, my friend sent me this fake news. Fake news

Back to the Future remake starring Tom Holland directed by Tyke White City Oh that's I would watch that From Entertainment Weekly Wait was this like I suppose a news story Someone was trying to pass off as real Or just a joke

It's one of those sites Those sites Those Twitter accounts It's like It says Entertainment Weekly But the actual accounts Gotcha W E A K

Why This could be something That is secreted into the universe No Five years later We're going to be laughing at this. This is how the project began. You've got zombie stance.

What he was pointing? Oh, you're pointing at my Big Trouble Little China poster. My man. I mean, I know. When I heard you were coming in, and I looked around my office, I'm like, I have all the components of Tyco Waititi's new film here. I've got Big Trouble Little China. I've got E.T. I've got E.T.

I've got Mr. Hiddleston over here. I got a Jeff Goldblum bit over here. This is your wife, Tyco Waititi. This is my life, and this is my wife. That is my wife. Jeff Goblin was my wife. He's the best. I did a sketch with Jeff

where he played every role running a restaurant called Goblooms, and he was, as you know by now, the most delightful charming man on the planet. He is the most charming man on the planet. You've got a Willow comic. I do. Does Willow have a special place in your heart?

Not a special place. Just a place. Just a place. It occupies my memory. A couple of kilobytes. You grew up in the 80s. You're a child of the 80s like myself. Yeah.

It doesn't mean it's like what it's movies. You're a willow hater, aren't you? No, yeah. Willow was fucking horrible. No, that's not true. Do you mean that? We were friends for the first two minutes of this, and now we're enemies.

Hey, I've got one of these. Yeah, yeah. You're putting in my little apparatus. That's recording your voice for posterity. You know, fancy because you go to the Zoom box, but, you know, it turns out, all you have to do is drop. 200 bucks on a Zoom box and suddenly you're qualified to have a podcast.

I never said I was any better than anybody else. Never said it. But it was implied, my manner. Oh yeah, look at me. I project superior. Blue and white stripes. Not many people can pull that off. Did I, am I pulling it off?

I was confident and arrogant people can pull that off. How are you doing? This is the end of the, you're near the end of the press store. Have we started? Oh, we're well into it. Oh, far out, cool. I'm just talking about your Jackie poster. Oh, there's a Jackie poster.

It's a depressing film, isn't it? That was a little depressing. But she's great. She is, she is. She didn't make the cut of your film. Well. Yeah. No, she didn't.

What about this one? Ghostbusters 2? Oh, I'm a big fan of that painting from Ghostbusters 2. Big of the Carpathies. Especially with you. when the eyes The eyes move I'm just now looking at your list of people

What do you think that denotes I'm not on there You're not, I'll tell you why Can I tell you why? Because I'm not famous No, you are super famous Oh these are New Yorkers I'm too famous

Do you have a place in New York, Tyca? Where you rest your head? Yeah I've got a couple of couches A couple of sofas When I come and sit down in I need proof of residency Kevin Clark

Why suddenly gone green? That means nothing That just means I had a marker That was green Oh okay Don't overthink my process I'm just trying to think of people I've met None of them

None of these Mark Ruffalo Yeah you probably Jessica Chastain met her She's pretty awesome Ginger Yeah these are identifying characteristics That is it

No one else What about we? Radcliffe Who's it? Dan Radcliffe Emma Stone You rubbed shoulders With the Hollywood elite

No no I don't I've never met any of these people Rose I know Rose Risber. It does occur to me that Thor Ragnarok, this is like the first time

you've directed big, big, big time movie stars. I mean, Sam Neal's a big time star, but like... Here's the thing. Here's the thing. Josh, these big timers, they're not big, they're nothing. They think there's something. They think there's something.

They're nothing. They're just a name. There's just, you know, good-looking faces who happen to be, you know, they haven't had the skills. to have words come out of their mouths in a convincing way. How do you cut down someone like Kate Blanchett

or Anthony Hopkins down to size so that they don't? I said to Anthony Hopkins I said cut I came up and he said it was too much I said yeah it's a bit over the top mate and he goes

yeah no I knew it was I knew it was a bit it was a bit too much I'll bring it down next time sorry then Chris put me saying he goes I was like, remember that time you told Anthony Hopkins? He was over the top. Tony, bring it down a notch.

I was not realizing. I was like, oh, shit. But that's why I realized, like, with the, I'm used to working with my friends. You know, people are just like, my mates, and I can tell them anything. We can, you know, give each other shit, you know, they'll say, I'll say, that was shit acting.

They'll say, well, that was shit directing. Right. And, you know, and that's the nature of collaboration. This is how it happens. happens. Yeah, you're all, like, seeking out the best work possible. And then I realized, oh, no, everyone else is exactly the same, you know. And Tony is the same. And, and Kate is most definitely the same. She, you know, she's like, how do I say this line. I don't know how to say this line. I'm not going to give you a line reading. You know, you're Kate. She's like, no, I literally don't know how to say it. Tell me how to say it. Just tell me how to say it. Because I would appreciate if you did. I find that the same kind of lesson applies to my side of the business over the years and talking to people is like the greatest success I've had and I think the greatest failure for other people to interview people

is not talking to people like they're human beings that like you're as you say your mates like that you grew up with just talk to people like they're fucking people exactly exactly and then they respect that and even on like these press tours like you see people and you can see interviews on film I have nothing to do with and I've seen these these interviews with these celebrities and you see

that they're being asked the same question again again and they have zero so their answers don't have any life in them there's nothing interesting what they're saying but the interesting interviews are the ones with two mates and getting together high-fiving and just

shooting the shit just sitting on Willow left and right oh hey I didn't realize that we were recording when I said that oh look yeah There's a lot of Michael Shannon You love Michael Shannon Have you met Michael?

No, but I already love him Because he called you a honky It's accurate, I mean And you are a honky Yeah, no, it's true Yeah, that's my general Zodd action figure Clearly is his finest role There also, I got today

A box of Stranger Things outfits If you want to dress up as your favorite Stranger Things, a character, feel free to take a You mean you got a box of props from 80s movies yeah exactly

exactly have you had time don't ask me to dress up as something from a stranger thing if you want to dress up as someone from any TV show

or movie prior to 1992 there's a box there props and costumes is Halloween a big holiday back home

it used to be when I was a kid but do you know what Guy Fawkes is yes so Guy Fawkes mask and everything, yeah. Yeah.

What? Isn't that the V for Vandetta mask? The guy, it is. It is. But more than that, it's a fireworks festival in, well, I know in New Zealand we do it, and I think Australia they probably do it. Anyway, we, I don't know why we celebrate it, but it's some reason we hate the crown and the government,

and we celebrate this guy who tried to, you know, blow it all up. Seems natural. Almost like putting up Confederate statues in the United States. Almost. Nearly.

So, Guy Fawkes happens a week after Halloween. So as a kid in the 80s, we would go trick or treating and just for a couple of years. I don't know why it became popular and suddenly in the 80s. It was the thing to do.

We'd dress up and mummies and zombies and vampires. Our thing was, we'd go to people's houses and then open their door and it was a trick or treat and they go oh a trick please

and then we'll throw fireworks into their into their front door and throw like fireworks at them oh that's adorable and then run away didn't get many

streaks in return no I would imagine when you light a stranger's house a stranger's house on fire just tricks they don't respond to that so trick or not trick or felony

trick or nothing you mentioned vampires I know we're going to talk a lot about Thor. I'm sure you hear this a lot. I feel like what we do in the shadows is kind of become an instant classic in Reese Sears. It's one of my favorite comedies in the last. Instantaneous classic and it only took five years from its release to become an instant hit. I don't know if it took five years. I think it was a year or two as people started to, and probably box office it did fine. Yeah, no, I understand that. It's not

instant though, is it? But, but... Dramatic pause. I'm not cutting that down in the I was like, hey, I've never actually heard a podcast with like a big giant pause. No, I feel like it's, it's getting more, it's like gaining more of a kind of a life now. I think so. Even later on, like, you know, five years ago we made that. Did that come out of a grade of? Five years ago, we made that.

Ten years ago, we wrote it. Did you do like a, did you do a short or something prior to that? Yes, in 2004, we made a little short. A little 20 minutes short. And Stu, we all know Stu. He, oh man, I've got some stories about Stu. He was just helping out. He was just like a kind of a runner on our little short.

Amazing. Somehow I saw him standing. It was like sitting on some steps texting. We pointed the camera at him. And man, that was all she wrote. He was suddenly a movie star. And he, in for Ragnarok, sorry to bring it around to this movie. Just shameless, disgusting.

But the, you know, the Valkyry flashback sequence, that's a big lighting sequence that he and my friend Carla, two of my old friends from high school, invented, which is like bullet time lighting. So, you know, bullet time cameras, they're just stringed together, 15-900 cameras, is bullet-time strobe. So it throws shadows,

that shadows move around the subject, and the light wraps around the subject. And, yeah, you do the mess. I was going to say, here's something I was actually legitimately surprised about when I saw the film, which I loved, by the way, the new one, Ragnar Rock, is I was confident going in, I was going to enjoy, like, the tone of it, the comedy, whatever. The action is great. Like, it really is.

Like, it's really well-composed, like, and, you know, Marvel has kind of gotten some shit sometimes a little bit of the sameness of their films. And their action is kind of solid. and I enjoy it. But you really like approach these sequences in very novel ways, both in terms of the way you shot it and the use of music. I'm really happy you said that. Because I didn't know what I was doing.

I was going to say, who directed those sequences? Whenever someone compliments the action, I'm like, wow. That's good because I was mainly concentrating on the dialogue and the jokes. But going in, were you feeling it like, oh shit, like I can handle this part, but how am I going to actually keep up with the action stuff? A little bit. My main thing was really, I was just wanted, like,

we've got some good storyboards going, and I would work with the artists and say, I really want, like, you know, this frame. I want this kind of thing. There's your painting background coming in. Yeah, I was like, like, compositionally, I want these, like, key frames, and then we'll have to figure out a way to get between them all.

So there are a few things in the film where I'm like, I was very specific. The Valkyrie Flashback has to be one of those. Delphrey Flashback for jumping down on the bridge. ridge going into the mass of the zombie army, which is a very kind of dark night sort of Wolverine versus the ninja's kind of graphic image. The, what is it?

Thor and Valkyrie jumping across the ships and all that sort of stuff. So there are certain, like, and there really are just key frames, really. Yeah. So I thought, oh, yeah. That's an interesting way to work backwards, though, to start with, like, the iconic shot and then...

Totally, totally. It's like, you know, that thing they say, it's like, oh, when you write a movie, um, uh, do the poster first. Right. That's what I felt like that.

I kind of also love the fact that like two of the films that you've referenced and certainly came to mind when I was watching the film are two of my favorites that are kind of notorious, um, bombs. One is right behind me, big trouble in little China. And the other is Flash Gordon. I mean, neither of these films were successes at the time and they are two of your biggest influences on this ginormous film.

Yeah. It's kind of crazy. I don't realize that. I didn't think about it. I didn't think about it. Yeah. Well, I feel like when I got this job, when I ran into it, I was very nervous. And I felt like, you know, this was going to be the thing to destroy the cool track record of Marvel.

And but then I remembered that I felt like that on all my movies. I felt very nervous and like there was going to be the end of my career and it's going to be a big failure. and I think that's when you start making good work so David Bowie he talks about the creative place and he says it's like when you walk out in the ocean and your feet are just skirting the bottom of the sand

and barely barely standing and the water's just a kind of at your chin now he says that's the place you want to get to and that's where all the good creative stuff comes from and I felt like that for two years it's interesting to me that like drowning until now now you can just feel

relaxed in that peace in the world but it's interesting I know people have brought up like you know and you talked to Jess on Twitter that Star Wars stuff like there was the Han Solo situation right with Lord Miller who it seems like you know we don't know the whole story of that but it seems like they were let go for kind of like coming

into like a big franchise and kind of fucking around with it in a way and kind of pushing at it and doing a lot of improv and stuff if you believe the reports. Yeah. I could accurately, that kind of describes

what you did. Maybe they were molesters. Stop. That's horrible. We won't, who knows? It's horrible. Oh, look,

I'm not putting it out there. I'm just saying maybe. I thought you couldn't get more controversial than hating on Willow. No, but you kind of have done that with Thor.

This is as like... They might have molested Donald Glover. That's just not appropriate. Okay, we'll delete it then. I won't. This is running raw. Raw.

It's a raw file. well look here's the thing with those guys I'm freaking like can you swear on this thing I fucking yeah I fucking love those guys and I remember when they were casting that and they were like you know I was chatting

I was chatting to them and I was so excited by this idea that they could come in to style to come to something that was so established and it had its own voice and like twist it because that's exactly what I was trying to do with this Marvel thing

You had already been You were already at I was in pre-production Yeah And so I But then I realized I think with Marvel It's like a

And with comic books in general It's not as It's not as religious Yeah There are fans And they're like Well this happened in like Issue 220

You know Blah blah blah It's like yeah But then in issue 4007 Everything changed And they turned the main character Into a woman

You know, so it's like, so they reinvent themselves all the time, which is really exciting. And I think that's why we've, you know, we're kind of, in keeping with that tradition, we're doing this. But with Star Wars, I think it's just, yeah, at least right now it's still like, it's one kind of, yeah, they haven't gone so far. I mean, Rogue one is a little bit different, but not so far. But the tone is complete, the tone is always the same. Yeah. So talk to me about, okay, so the fact that, you know, it's well known by now, you know, how much was, you know, improvised and, and, and, and, you know, and the looseness on the set

was that built into the schedule like did they know going in like okay we're going to need three extra hours every day to fuck around and kind of for Tyka to toss in lines and for Jeff to riff for an hour about it was it wasn't the conversation that it felt a little bit like

they didn't really understand the way that I worked until I started working you know I kept saying to them I kept saying to everyone I was like yeah well at least some time we'll be loose and we'll like, you know, the script's going to be a suggestion, you know,

and we'll figure it out on the day. And you can see them, going to figure it out on the day, what are you talking about? But once we got in there and started doing stuff and they realized that, you know, just how much fun we're having

and what humor was coming out of it, it all changed. And I think, and they did create that space. But my old thing was like, all these studio films and these Hollywood films, the jokes always feel like,

they've been written like a year before he started shooting there's a little bit of a staleness too yeah it's like that's the

quip yeah a bit de bing boom and so yeah uh huh yeah we've been planning this

for nine months this stupid line this made the writer's room crack up yeah exactly I'm imagining these stupid freaking writers

in the writer's room high-fiving each other back now yeah this is gonna be awesome when he says only on a Tuesday.

They're like, trailer moment. Exactly, exactly. And then we would get into the set, totally, we get into the set and we're like, yeah, you know, I think we could improve on this joke like 500%. We just think about it here

in the moment and figure it out. So the, I want to talk a little bit about a few of the actors and the characters in the film because I think one smart thing you've done in the approach to Thor himself and this disgusting, perfect creation that has Mr. Chris Hemsworth is that I think Thor works in tandem with other people. Like he's maybe not so funny on his own, but like the absurdity of Thor is him in juxtaposition to these other characters.

You're right. You're right. He's a great and like our mate Kurt. Like Jack Burton in the film. Like Jack Burden who asks about 400 questions in the movie. Have you seen that YouTube thing? I don't know if I have. Someone stuck together all of the questions that he asks in the movie.

and it's five minutes long and it says what is this who's that what the hell is this where the hell are we where's my truck who's this girl

he's that sometimes I feel like are you crazy his role can be like summarized in like huh what what's going on like he's like the most

like indecisive hero I love it and that's exactly what I was like you've got to be asking the questions that the audience is asking because this film

like big trouble is full of so many wackado absurd elements you know all these zombies and giant wolves and women with antlers and stuff. I mean, it's, you know, when you like pick all of them out, it's, it's, they should, none of it should work.

Totally. And so, Chris is a great, um, reactionary actor. Yeah. Because acting is reacting. Oh, I've never, is that, is that, is that, is that, is that? Yeah, actors say that. Assholes. So, acting.

Acting is reacting. Acting is reacting. basically they're saying basically here's a secret to acting everyone just fucking listen just show up listen to the other person

that's it that's all you need to do and then you get an Oscar have you ever not like jelled with an actor where like they're not like they're not speaking Chevy Chase stop this

have you been with Chevy Chase in any of the commercial and I did a commercial and that's sort of like a promo thing for NBC oh no he's got a reputation you're not alone he was an asshole what he did

Speaking out of school, everybody knows Chubby Chase is an asshole. This is like common. No, no, no, he was just an asshole with me. Not a jerk. How dare he? And I love Fletch. Do you love Fletch on U.S. now? I don't think I've seen it.

What? What 80s films were you watching? I've seen the other one where he's like got their family and they're traveling around. Right. Vacation. What's called? Family vacation. Vacation.

Yeah. Maybe they renamed it Family Vacation in New Zealand. National Lampoons. Vacation. I think it's called Family Vacation in New Zealand. Seriously? Yeah. maybe that's why I heard it.

Family European vacation and family Christian vacation? It doesn't roll off the tongue. Family vacation goes to vacation in Europe. Maybe that's why it bombed in New Zealand. What's the one where they drive around the Arc de Triumph? That's family European vacation. Family vacation. I like that without ruining too much,

we can allude to this at least. I'm glad that we know that Dr. Strange figures into a small part of this, that you gave Cumberbatch and Hiddleston a moment. I feel like the fans needed that. Was that tough to kind of arrive at, like, how much to kind of reward that real-life relationship in terms of a... Oh, sort of.

I don't really listen. I don't really listen to the fans. That's my... No, honestly, I was like, well, people are either going to, like, hassle me for, you know, being a New Zealander and they're coming in and, like, you know, tainting their precious thaw.

Or, you know, gonna be on my case about like some moment from some run of the comic in like 1982 that they're in love with and so I just I'll do my thing I want to make the movie I want to make and and Marvel

can like deal with that you can deal with like the source material and honoring certain things that they feel like you know they want to put into the movie so was there any was there any moment like was there one movie in my moment which is when actor actor Loki and actor Thor

in the play referenced Loki turning the floor into a frog which is a famous moment in the comments from the Walt Simonson were you aware of that or they were like

No I knew that this might be good to be I've written in there got it so were there moments like on the flip side where like Figey had to like

call you on the bat phone and be like this is the footage looks great but here's just something that you may be going a little too far did you have to rein you in at any point

like was there I'm not sure he saw any footage until we started editing I mean I know you probably saw some dailies here and there but it just felt like we were doing our thing and he turned up to set in Australia we were in Australia

no one could really touch us he turned out and there was the last week of shooting when it was too late to change anything we're all dancing a jig it's like hey you know what you guys have ruined this I hate this okay well that's a wrap because we've been shooting for 85 days

and I'm leaving the country tomorrow You have an extra $150 million to spend? I don't think so. Here's your movie. Day one. Does this give you like a... There's your slinky. That's complimentary.

You can have that. Really? You've done so well. You've earned it. This is the sound of a slinky. You don't know what he's doing with it where it is. What part of the body is attached to? What?

You perverted a lovely childhood. Boy, it's a grossness. Is this one of those things that went, I know they haven't, like, announced, like, another Thor movie, nor have you said, you've said you're open to doing another Marvel movie, but nothing's, like, happening. That, like, when the movie makes $300 million opening weekend, suddenly there's going to be a big announcement

that Tiger Waity is back for Thor for? Well, I would definitely do one. Well, no, I'm not. I'm not. I'm not. I'm struck that. I won't do one. So that they can offer me more money. Yeah. And try and really get me in to do it.

Team YTT is very wise. Oh, yeah. The team. Team YTT. A bunch of people I just pay lots of money to. Here's the thing, though. By the time

another Thor movie rolls around, Hemsworth might not even be Thor. Next couple of Avengers movies, I think we're going to swap out some of these... What else is he going to do? Well, that's one...

And that's not the issue, first of all. We might have a new Captain America. We might have a new Thor. Well, true. I mean... Would you want to do a Thor without... I'll say it here first, you know. I'd love to see a female for.

But, played by Chris Simpson. Man can do anything. I only want to work with Chris. He's probably an attractive woman, too, that jerk. I know. It's so upsetting. It's so upsetting. I don't remember this bit in the movie.

When General Zod has two giant green pieces of, I don't know what he's doing there. Shannon sat in your seat and wondered the same thing. He's like, I don't remember doing this in the movie. It's a fair criticism Yeah, yeah, yeah I think it's Cryptonite That's not Cryptonite

You clearly never read a DC comic You're Marvel all the way I'll have you know I was a big collector of Batman And Detective Comics Clearly you referenced the Dark Knight earlier You've got your bona fides Yes, no

I have the second printing of Dark Night My friend has a first printing Of Dark Night returns What's my other favorite Of the Batman run as well obviously an arc of asylum, death in the family. Did you vote to kill Robin, or did you vote? Remember that?

How you could do that? Yeah. That was a long distance call probably for you back in New Zealand. Well, yeah. In New Zealand, we didn't get to find out what happened until... Three years like that. Jason talked to that. What?

Oh, that kid, that annoying kid's dead. You sent it by snail mail. Wasn't he annoying? He was. He was. But even by Robin standards, he was the more annoying. Robin. Yeah, totally.

I was just so ungrateful. Living with a billionaire. Have some respect. Um, what else? What should we talk about? What do you want to talk about, Tyca? DC Comics. Oh yeah, so we're talking about DC Comics.

So, oh, here's my question. Hey, here's a move. What do you guys think? I don't say you guys. There's only one person. I'm literally the only person here. One of my favorite novels, all the collections, Havoc and Wolverine.

Remember that one? I don't remember that. one it's a um it's Havoc and Wolverine on R&R they um take a break from and actually watching Logan I actually realized I was like oh yeah maybe it borrows a bit from that tonally right it's got it's similar you know Havok and Wolverine um you know what who drew that who drew that it's got a real sort of um who the hell was it who the hell was it it's got a kind of sink of it you kind of feel but it's not him uh it's like real paint The entire thing is painted.

Oh, it's really amazing. So have you ever gone up for a comic book movie before this? You must have had a, you didn't have one meeting about anything like this. A franchise? Yes. Nothing. Really? Nothing.

Because I would imagine you're pitching Thor, right? And like at the time were you in love with doing it or were you kind of just testing your own resolve? Were you like deciding? I was really testing it. I actually, I was in Hawaii editing Hunt for the World of People. and they'd set up this meeting to pitch and

whoever's listening to this can't see I'm doing that thing with your fingers when I say pitch right what do you say quotes quotes yeah

pitch which is they had no story so they had nothing to pitch other than the sizzle reel that I cut together which is basically torrenting clips from movies

and what kind of clips was it the big trouble big trouble um big trouble of China, 16 Candles, breakfast club,

I think it was Woodnell and I. So what were you trying to convey in the John Hugh? In the John Hughes stuff, what were we trying to convey? What's that part? Well, I wanted this little thing,

and if we ever do a Thor for, maybe we could have it in this next one. But I wanted to do, like, some flashbacks to when Thor was a kid, and he was a fat little kid. And it was like an 80s version of, like, Asgard, where they'd have math.

of shoulder pads and stuff and like you and like all and they everyone had mullets so thor was the fat kid yeah it was a fat kid and the whole idea was like oh so Valkery like like Thor and Valkyrie me

and he's like hey I know you and she's like yeah I remember you and then it cuts back to this thing and he's just like this pudgy little little kid walking around with a mullet and being picked up by like other kid And, like, Loki's, like, this little, like, goth, that's emo gauph for hanging out by himself.

Yeah, he was like that kid, what's in Harry Potter? Yeah, the, the Malk, Mouthoy. Yeah, yeah, yeah. When did that get dropped? I love that. It was just, the problem was, like, we... There's a lot, a lot of stuff, too. Yeah, well, we needed him to not know Valky in the film and stuff.

And then it became less and less of a thing to have a flashback. It just, we would have been forcing it. So it would have been a situation where, like, we're having a pointless flashback just for a joke. That's what the fourth movie's in a franchisor for, the pointless flashbacks. Yeah, the point of day, exactly. It does strike me, actually.

One of the things I noticed, because I went back, the one film I hadn't seen of yours was Boy, which I caught up on, which was excellent as well, was that, like, invariably, you've worked a lot with kids in your films. And this one, I don't think, I'm trying to remember. I don't remember any kids in this one, but apparently you wanted to,

it just didn't make the final iteration. I wanted the scene. I don't necessarily like working with kids. it's just the they're just less hassle than grown-ups it's all on the spectrum they're still assholes there's still assholes

every actor is an asshole it's more that the yeah with kids like you know they'll give you something really amazing and you know they won't really question it

and they won't oh just do what you say right and um grown-ups overthinking everything and well yeah why am I picking up

this sandwich man because you're fucking hungry dude Your character is fucking hungry Eat the fucking sandwich That's an actual argument I'm not sure I'm not sure if I would be eating a sandwich In this situation

You know I kind of feel like My character Sort of like He would like Have a cigarette And like Pull out a gun

And then just like Look at the sandwich All actors want to do Is like Hold a gun And smoke cigarettes Because I think that's Fucking

Acting That's cool what are your acting aspirations now you're a hell of a performer yourself thank you i was waiting for that i mean i was sort of fishing for that but i could tell you took the bait um uh acting wise well i i only really like did my thing because um no one else would give me any role so i just sort of became a director and now i'm sort of like i have the power of a god um and i can control everything and give myself those roles i would like to do more stuff but um i actually

actually I'm only really comfortable doing stuff for myself or for my friends. Because you know your own voice? Because other people are not... Well, the time to work with it, a director is that I don't know. I feel like that no one never really listens. Because you were telling them you want to come to the scene with the gun. And have a gun. You want to do that one.

Hey, Martin. In this person's scene. In this scene, I could have a cigarette and hold a piss. well you're dead you're dead you just want to ask Green Lantern where the ring came from

why do you need a gun it just feels right you did the ring come from an alien okay and scene I was terrible in that movie

I mean I was terrible acting but also I was terrible in that you are the least of that movie's problems don't worry

I read we should change it something no I just remember I was like oh you know what I read the script and I was like

I don't know if I should be I don't know if I'm I need to be in the scene you know I'd say that It's not a good question ask as an actor Well I know I know that now But I went and I was like Because I was like you know I'm a filmmaker

I'm going to help you know Help the production out you know It's like hey guys I Yeah I read the scene I like yeah it seems kind of pointless For me to be in it You know maybe I should You know like just

Shut up And say these lines and save them fast. We are trying to fix the ending of this movie right now. We're trying to write anything. Exactly.

So speaking of a big Hollywood blockbusters, your name's been linked to Akira. That's not 100% you're thinking about it. Something I was thinking about it. I was talking to them about it and it just became a

thing. It got out a little early. Yeah, got out early. And I know how that kind of stuff happens. What's the appeal of that if that does go forward? Like what would you want? to bring to Akira that's special to you as a fan well that's well my whole thing is

um it i don't think if you're going to make this film a live action film it shouldn't be it's not a remake you can't make you can't do a remake of the um of the film yeah the film is great um it's got to be an adaptation of the books and there's so much cool stuff in the in the next five books that hasn't been addressed at all in that film and I think a lot of critics a lot of these little nerdy little pieces of shit they haven't even read the fucking books

and they're like oh don't remake the movie man leave it alone it's a classic it's like have you read the books then let's talk. Read the fucking books they're amazing and they're better than the movie and you know and so that's my it's like if I was to ever approach to the whole thing

it would be that I would want to do a proper adaptation of the books gotcha so there's no script or anything right now it was like literally a meeting that they've been something there have probably been scripts for like 15 years yeah i mean i've heard castings a different like gary olman was going to be in christian stew it was like all these different things it else was going to be in i mean this this this conversation chris evers was going to be in it um garret headland they know was attached there a ton of and um decaprio briefly was going to do it he's a big nerd i think i'm surprised decaprio's never done i know he's a big twilight zone fan he was going to produce a twilight zone movie really

Yeah. He might still be attached to that. Maybe he'll be interested in this one that Jermaine and I are trying to do, which is a TV show. So, um, sort of like a freaky Twilight Zone TV show. Nice. No. Like the night gallery. Excellent.

A black mirror fan? What do you think of that? I am a black mirror fan, but it's not funny. No. It's the opposite of funny. Yeah. It's just, it's, it's very good. It's very good.

I'm, I'm making a real, like, I'm, I'm trying to own my, um, my confident move away from enjoying depressing films and TV because I have to be honest with myself I don't enjoy that stuff anymore now more than ever

more than ever I want to see things that are fun more more hey no never a fart joke you will never see a fart joke

really you don't find fart jokes funny no interesting you're a classy man classier than I at Sarah Silverman in the other week she loves a good fart joke I don't

that's fair teach us on I'm not gonna apologize right now Tyca okay I'm so and that is the first and last part joke from Tyco Waititi

another one that became a big internet headline was that you're apparently well on your way to directing a Black Widow movie that's obviously not true but someone asked you about I'm fucking hell no I know someone asked me what character you'd be interested in yeah I like black

only because I like Scarlett Johansson. And next thing I said, oh, fuck he's going to try and do, like, what a... No, because she'll be a female director. Are you still in the Marvel family? Did they consult you at all in terms of like Thor when it came to like the next Avengers movies? Or was it kind of like you did your job

and then they did their thing? They did consult. What was cool was that, the Rousseau's had heard what we were doing to Thor and what we were doing to Bruce Banner and so we had to show them footage. and they understood what we're you know like

and they loved it they were really supportive and it was cool because you know in all honesty Bruce Banner was pretty boring before and Thor

was not the best thing about all the movies but you know I've had a lot of I really loved Chris you know and all the stuff he's done

even like especially in Rush I think it was amazing in that and Ghostbust is incredible. So, yeah, I was really happy to be able to, like, kind of reboot these characters without recasting. Totally.

I know you're running around, so I won't keep you any longer than it's necessary, but what? Calm down. This is rap-up voice. Can you tell Josh's rap-up voice? I've heard about Josh's a rap-out. Among the many stories about Josh.

I don't think it would happen to me today. It happens to everybody, buddy. Don't be like that. We had a good time It was nice You can have the candy You can have the toys over here You have you slinky

I've got a slinky Nice guys DVD What's the DVDs you've got here Tarzan The Dark Horse, have you seen that? I've heard that's good I never saw it It's very good

It's my mate Cliff Curtis Yeah good act Very very good actor War dogs I've not seen it Todd Phillips It's all right It's all right

Nice guys Who directed that? That's Todd Phillips Oh he directed it Yeah I said it like three seconds ago I wasn't listening I haven't really been listening to you Nice guys, that's a good movie

Shane Black Smart witty man Some humor in there I like nice guys Another controversial statement I'm full of them today I think Russell Crow is One of my favorite actors

That's the controversial I'm not being I'm not facetious You're not only saying that because Russell's a big fan of the show. I mean, I'm sure he's going to appreciate that. Of course not. Why would he listen to this show?

Well, he might be bored. Thor Ragnarok. I think that's the film, right? Not necessarily. You're not really selling your film well. Not necessarily. No, it actually is. It doesn't.

It sells itself. Oh! How arrogant is that? No, Thor Ragnarok is the movie that I've made. It's a small little independent film from the Disney Corporation. in conjunction with Marvel Studio Enterprises It's the little movie that could

It's a little movie that Better It's a wonderful film Honestly, I had a blast with it I'm going to see it many more times Congratulations on the film man Thank you man And I hope to catch up with you again soon

Yes! We did it! We did it Thank you brother Thanks buddy another edition of Happy, Sad, Confused. Remember to review, rate, and subscribe to this show on iTunes or wherever you get your podcasts. I'm a big podcast person.

I'm Daisy Ridley, and I definitely wasn't pressured to do this by Josh. American history is full of infamous tales that continue to captivate audiences, decades, or even hundreds of years after they happened. On the Infamous America podcast, you'll hear the true story. of the Salem Witch Trials and the escape attempts from Alcatraz, of bank robbers like John Dillinger and Pretty Boy Floyd, of killers like Lizzie Borden and Charles Starkweather, of mysteries like the Black Dahlia and D.B. Cooper,

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