How Did This Get Made? - Matinee Monday: The Wicker Man w/ Jonah Ray

Episode Date: October 3, 2022

The Wicker Man has a measly 15% on Rotten Tomatoes. Does it deserve this terrible score? Jonah Ray is in the studio to deconstruct and celebrate the ridiculousness of this Neil Labute remake disaster. We also get a call from Liam O’Donnell, one of the writers of Skyline, who defends his movie and offers an explanation of how it got made. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have a special ceremony to attend. (Originally released 09/27/2011) Listen to the latest Unspooled to hear Paul discuss Midsommar, another crazy pagan horror flick that's actually good. Check it out: www.earwolf.com/episode/midsommar/For more Matinee Monday content, visit Paul's YouTube page: https://www.youtube.com/c/PaulScheerFollow Paul on Letterboxd: https://letterboxd.com/paulscheer/HDTGM Discord: discord.gg/hdtgmPaul’s Discord: https://discord.gg/paulscheerCheck out Paul and Rob Huebel live on Twitch (https://www.twitch.tv/friendzone) every Thursday 8-10pm ESTSubscribe to The Deep Dive with Jessica St. Clair and June Diane Raphael here: listen.earwolf.com/deepdiveSubscribe to Unspooled with Paul Scheer and Amy Nicholson here: listen.earwolf.com/unspooledCheck out The Jane Club over at www.janeclub.comCheck out new HDTGM merch over at https://www.teepublic.com/stores/hdtgmWhere to Find Jason, June & Paul:@PaulScheer on Instagram & Twitter@Junediane on IG and @MsJuneDiane on TwitterJason is Not on Twitter

Nicholas Cage goes to a pagan island run by women to solve a crime of a girl that may or may not exist and Definitely not get stung by bees. We saw the wicker man. So you know what that means? Hello people of earth and welcome to how did this get made the show where we try to make sense of the movies that make no Sense we have actually a really big show for you today not only we're gonna talk about the wicker man But we have a special call-in guest That's right the producer and co-writer of skyline is gonna call in and talk a little bit about the movie Answer some of our questions and we will get to that a little bit later in the episode We got a lot of show today as always

I am Paul shear and I am joined by June Diane Raefiel and Jason Manzuk is how are you guys? Hello Nothing much for all of our new listeners here on ear wolf. This is how the show works. We watch a bad movie We sit around we talk about it. That's it each week. We have a special guest this week is no different We have a fantastically a fun fantastic Great guess, you know him from the Nerdist podcast. Please welcome Jonah Ray. Hello. How are you? Good to me fantastic Don't you ever call me fantastic? I like fantastic Well, all right guys the wicker man guys where do we start on this movie?

I mean well the beginning of the movie which has nothing to do with the rest of the movie opens up in this coffee shop And it's like he's looking at a self-help help book on tape But it's like the weird dialogue that was like written in a high school play like if I just hate one of them burgers I'd be in a trance, too. Like just yeah, it's like the bad part of a horror movie We're just like get to the horror part of the movie, you know, and you know that that guy was Aaron Eckhart in yeah Yeah, but that's all it's cuz it's a Neil Abute movie. I assumed I'm like, but I but it did that thing to me where I was like I'm so the guy at the diner was Aaron first guy not no not the cop the guy that pays first and leaves is Aaron Eckhart Yeah, and I was like, oh because it's Aaron Eckhart. I was like, well, that's part of the movie

It took me a long time. He's not coming back. Yeah. Yeah, it's almost like that opening scene was Just like hey, this is what happens when our characters are not in the movie Yeah, it was like it had nothing to do with anything just a small Somebody was like hey Aaron Eckhart's gonna stop by and say hi today. Should we just shoot a scene? Why not? I mean we've got some wardrobe. What if we just sat in that diner across the street? All right, I love the picture that was on the cover of the everything's okay I want to know who that is, you know what someone's friend or dad, you know I love it because this gesture was so like I know

I know it's not and that only comes back once yeah one time and then there's like a like a comedy of errors Or it's like it's called everything is okay. All right Well the years I mean basically the movie is starts off with Nicholas Cage as a motorcycle cop Who may or may not be bored with his job? I don't know what they were trying to step there But a girl throws a doll out the window He picks up the doll of a moving car. Yes. Yeah. Yes. Sorry. I'm a moving car He picks up the doll he pulls over the car and he gives the doll back to the girl who was very rude very rude girl Yes, very precocious girl and I think it'd be foreshadowing, but it's not really

Really and then she throws the doll back out the window of the car Nick Cage goes to pick it up and the car is promptly hit by a giant like tractor trailer and And the car explodes. Yeah killing two people inside not killing two people, but then not killing to be Wait a minute. This is immediately where the movie becomes like absolutely Untenable for me because I was like he's then like he's been given like commendations and awards Yes, for what though because he's like well They still haven't found the bodies in the car and they're like no the charred car had no bodies in it So basically he was exploded next to an empty car and got out citations for it. Yes, he got an effort effort

He did yes, yeah, okay, so that's what he was commended for he was commended for not getting hit by that Mack truck I think and then it's like then the movie again. It's like have we started this movie I'm not sure like a cop comes over to his house. This is all just you're what am I watching like and he gets this letter from an X That he reads Nice quill pen writing I thought and Nicholas Cage gives one of his best reactions of all time like reading this letter Oh, the letter basically says we had a daughter I didn't tell you but now she's kidnapped come find her I live on this crazy island. Oh, she doesn't say that we had a daughter She's I had a daughter

We left and that was the story telling one of the many reveals Oh, I don't make her And then he brings the letter and shows it to his buddy and his buddy's like I mean ignore this right? I mean like who is this somebody she next girlfriend. He goes no Oh Ex-fiance and I was like no And then he says he's like my experience a we were close. Yeah. Oh, I'd hope so I'd hope you were close when before you got engaged to the lady

It was I feel like for like three quarters of this movie Neil It was secretly giving Nicholas Cage like Downers because his performance is like really kind of sleepy And then the last 30 minutes I feel like he just gave him like crack cocaine and it was just like go mental everything's crazy Well, yeah, because it feels like the the sleepiness feels like they tape the rehearsals They were there's like or I'm just reading this. I'm just reading this for the first time Yeah, okay. All right. Yeah, and everyone's saying stuff with importance

But I feel like no one really knows what they're saying It's like the guy his buddy though is the it's like a comic actor in the middle of a movie that has no comic Yeah, he's like, oh the plot thickens I didn't know there was a plot. Yeah, he goes. I didn't know you had a plot. I didn't know either Yeah, they're not realizing so he must have been suffering. He was he's suffering from anxiety before This all happened that why yeah, because then he was on medication after Sweaters and wearing comfy sweaters But is he suffering friend from anxiety or

Or does he just have crazy hallucinations because this whole movie he's having like his hallucinations have hallucinations Yeah, he hallucinates they jumps into the water to find a dead girl then he comes back out and then Then he like oh god that was a bad hallucination looks down finds a dead girl in his life Oh, he wakes up again. Oh, okay. I'm not but he does that reaction where it's like it's like it's like it happens all the time He's like, oh, man. Yeah again And he just has to pop a pill immediately whenever he has a hallucination Yeah, you think it's gonna be like a pain medication, but not like a crazy medication I feel like the movie every

15 minutes somebody or every couple of days somebody would whisper into Neil butte. You're like hey This is a horror movie and he'd be like oh fuck fuck. I'm sorry. Yeah, sorry I got we got to shoot something kind of scary today Yeah, you know like I feel like you would forget and then be like well Waterlog one of the kids and put him in cage's lap Let's roll on that do it do it It really makes those that seek so Nicholas Cage goes to find this girl who's on this pretty much female run Pagan Island that makes honey not the island where Wonder Woman is from no no no different different pagans

And he gets on the island by bribing a helicopter pilot is like I wouldn't want to I can't I can't risk my pilot's license I can't I can't get I can't bring you there. I can't bring you there and then Nick Cage is like how about Here hundred and fifty dollars hundred fifty bucks and he's like, oh, okay Yeah, sure. Yeah, that was it like this guy's whole life in contract Yeah, hundred fifty bucks and then like one of the worst green screen flying shots. Oh, just Yeah, terrible. Yeah, and it wasn't a helicopter. It was a seaplane. Oh, it was a seaplane You're right and now they get to this island run by women and this is where the movie takes off to full-on weird Yeah

My favorite one of my favorite lines as he arrives on the island He's like trying to walk He's trying to get his bearings and he goes to like the bar or whatever and the woman he's like this here is meed It's one of the pleasures of our island and I was like what? It's the same woman who when he says do you think you can swing it like the one Kathy Bates? Yeah Yeah, you guys do you think you can like I need a room for the night. Do you think you can swing it? And she's like swing it. What is that city talk? Yeah? I was like what? This movie this is like the island of furtive glances to everyone here

It's like a lot of close-ups on people's eyes going from left to right like And it's super weird like when he first gets to the island like these guys are carrying a bleeding bag And it's like as we're going around and they're talking to you like oh, you're a cop. Are you and he goes? What's in the bag a shark? No, the best was the the sassy 20s response like it's like I saw it helps to look at the picture when you're trying to figure Oh, yeah, and then there was like Oh, you know he keeps on asking everybody on that island where if they recognize this picture of Rohan It's like there are 12 people

Population of 20 people And is immediately treats everyone like they're a hostile witness He is has a no jurisdiction none. Yeah, they keep on telling them that to music I'm a cop from the mainland like you're from California. We're an island off of Washington This is private property. Yeah, he has no business being there It's also like he meet and I just don't understand why he didn't question what the fuck was happening on this island Never this child is the least of our yeah There's systematic child abuse. Yeah, and potentially really there are bigger things happening

Well, look when he goes to the shark bag when he goes what's in the bag the shark and they open it for him He looks they go, huh, and then you don't see it We don't laugh at him. They laugh at him. But what was in that fucking bag embarrassment for Nick Cage I really wanted him to I kept on imagine the movie was a lot more fun for me when I imagine him as the same character from bad Lieutenant. Oh, yeah, this is a prequel to him. Exactly. This is before he gets really into drugs and really crazy I also love that he wore that wool suit like every every day Yeah, and that terrible hair every day to get up and put that horrible hair That hair was like jet black. That was a black that does not occur at me

Yeah, no no once again like these people are being weird to him, but they're not being outright Lee They're not being outright me mean to him and when he does that thing with the mead He takes the glass of mead and there's banging it on the thing like a galica All right, you're all yes, I'm interviewing all of you Have you ever had me Paul? Oh, it's crazy. It's tough stuff I just thought like I was like, well, of course they want to kill this guy. He's abusing them I might have a clip actually from when Nicholas Cage breaks into a schoolhouse to question a teacher and kindergarten students He gets all the girls from Village of the Dab. Yes. Will you tell us what man represents in his purest form?

Yes Symbol phallic symbol Stand there and frighten my children. Sorry, I'm Edward Maylis from California. Oh, I'm a policeman. What my bad Sorry, you're gonna have to bear with me Little liars He's accusing the kids and you're the biggest liar of them all I am warning you you tell me another and I'll rest you myself That is a promise Miss Rose sister, of course another plant rose

That is the level of dialogue that you're getting that at the scene where he interrogates people in a school Okay, like he said girls from the children of the dam. Yeah, and he's calling everybody What is can been cut out of that scene? Yes, I mean like I can't believe we didn't keep it in shame on us Is the part where he opens a desk and finds a bird? Well, I was gonna. Oh, yeah, I was gonna leave that in But it would you can't you can't you can't see it. He opens up a desk. Yeah, and it goes Oh, why was that crow in there? It's like because we were trying to keep it and see how long it would live inside that desk And he's like what a terrible assignment Everybody's weird also like erases the blackboard and writes his own yeah

I like what I had a fantasy that that island was there just to try and figure out a theorem like a mathematical Yeah, I was gonna solve world hunger and they almost had he's like hold on. Hey, this erases all the work Well, I can he writes nothing important now. This is the name And then like and then like he goes and gets the They say no they never heard this girl They never heard this girl and then he gets the the class registry and he sees her name It was beautifully written. Yeah, you know, and then just let's just cross that with Can I ask you guys a question because there was something I was not tracking in this movie for a while

I felt like they were saying she had Already been killed the year prior and that's why the harvest was so bad And then it was that she was going to be killed now because the harvest was so bad I somebody's playing that to me. I I think there's a rebirth and birthing Didn't they have that whole thing where they're like of dad the celebration of death and we rebirth Yeah, so maybe she was killed and then rebirth, but then I have to kill her again because the harvest I don't know. I couldn't figure out because I was like at a certain point. I was like, oh, that's kind of cool She's dead already. Yeah, so he's searching for a dead girl. Yeah, cool. Okay, and then nope. She's not dead

No, why well, who knows and the mother's just like that's not her grave and he's like, okay I guess I believe you know That red sweater showed up in like five different Condition well, he definitely is having these hallucinations But then the hallucinations turn out not to be hallucinations because they are real like yeah He is finding the red sweater all over the place like he is seeing this girl And I mean the whole the island is terrible about hiding clues by the way, too If they wanted to cover up that this girl was here when the guy comes to the island just hide that I'll hide all the clues

A lot of brush you can put over things. Yeah, basically every everywhere he went. It was like, I've got to find a picture Oh, here it is like I mean like without spoiling the end of the movie spoiler alert to kill him That being said like I'm assuming like that's the point of it They want him to find these clues they want to put him through But who fucking knows why are we going through all this Because it just to burn him in the wicker man, which spoiler alert but that I mean that's basically the end They burn him alive in the wicker man. They go you came here to be burned as part of yeah

And you realize like I'll like hit the last you know ten years Yeah, we're all set up for this moment, which is crazy I mean first of all I want I want to go back to one other thing, too Which is about 25 minutes into the movie they do black and white flashbacks to the first 25 minutes of the movie Like literally they have a five-minute sequence that relives the first ten minutes of the film It's like that crappy friends like remember when we were at that party Yeah, man, it was great It was a good time. I love that there's this shit in this movie where Nick Cage

It's it's it's lost at its worst when something obvious happens that you should just ask a definitive question about and you simply don't It's like he's talking to Molly Parker in the school, right? Yeah, the teacher then he walks down the hill and sees Molly Parker again because apparently there's twins everywhere on this island Oh, yeah, he sees Molly Parker again. Oh, maybe the little girl was a twin I mean, I was thinking that there was two of them. Yeah, bunch of twins and the creepy blind twins Anyway, so he sees Molly Parker again, and he goes hey wait, didn't I just talk to you and she's like no He's like, all right. Yeah Like I'm like wait you are literally the worst police officer

You're a police detective and you are doing the worst job. Well, it's like when I was a bike cop I mean cuz you're right. There were twins everywhere. He went all he saw were twins. Yeah, so yeah, he's not there's nothing connected There's also like Francis Connery talks to Francis Connery in her house She's the doctor and photographer and then two girls in beekeeper outfits show up and like escort her away I'm like scary scary beekeeper And instead of following the people he breaks into her house I was a little bit hiding behind the bush and running The worst yeah

I also the back of the scene with the bar when he he's like yelling at everybody Yeah, and then the bee goes and like he slams the mug down. Yeah bee and kills it She's like, why would you do that? I really like when I first saw the movie I was like, they're all bees in human form. Oh, it's gonna be great Debbie. Nope. No, I did love though During the end harvest festival when they're all in their costumes getting ready to kill the wicker man That there were two little girls dressed up as bees. Oh, yeah, no my girlfriend Deanna Which is he's like we have to be those bees for Halloween All these elaborate weird like carnival costumes and then just like

To like blind melon Well, I mean the whole idea too that I mean this is this is like the whole rub of the story is that Nicholas Cage is Allergic to be and he's going to an island where their main output is honey and bees Yeah, I like that shot of him putting like he has his gun in and then he gets like the little bee Allergy and stuff like he has an EpiPen with him and his EpiPen by the way is giant Like he has like a metal box with two like it was like a comical sized box of EpiPen It's like all right. Well, I feel like they made so many like Wickedly obvious moves to be like and here is his bee medicine

You better have this and but he also doesn't travel with his bee medicine. No With his tapes though Craziest moment then the morning that he woke up in that hotel lodge place He looks downstairs over the banister and those two fucking creepy twins start talking in unison and his responses Who moved my everything okay day? He's like that is really worried about who took his and why did they take his audio book? Take his gun take his gun away from me Maybe that'll make him feel safer one of the best moments though is toward the end when sister Rose is I think she purchased him on our bicycle. Yeah, he gets so mad at her

He pulls a gun out of woman To take her bike step away from the bicycle my favorite was a callback to Conair step away from the bunny rabbit That's amazing. My one of my favorite things is anytime Nicholas Cage was anywhere and heard a sound. He would think it was his daughter It's just like who has no connection. He's on a fucking island. He's never birds and animals And I mean also he loves to get information, but cut people off at the same time I'm just tell me what I need to know. It's like, okay. Well, listen, okay. Where's the thing? I'll tell you now. We all go over here. No, okay. Shut up. Where do you go? Like he's cutting them off in the middle what there's I love the bike riding every time he was on a bike

Me and Deanna would just crack an old-school bike Yeah, right and they don't even see when he originally gets the bike is no he just shows up on a bike Can we also talk about his love interest who looks like a Fiona Apple? Yeah, and they met 10 years ago, which means that she was like in her early 20s if not younger She's a child and Nicholas Gage is just like oh 10 years ago like they met and she they have the most Also him being like what happened, you know like he wants to talk about how she left him at the altar Whatever. Yeah, her daughter is missing like yeah, you know There are things that are more important right now than her giving you an excuse as to why she left

What about the Tungless men? Yeah? Yeah, there were so many other bigger things going on on this island, but like and he was only concerned with the very basis Oh, yeah, like why are you calling some backup? I mean first of all, he doesn't have a phone that works Which is I didn't get reception. Yeah, they don't get reception after a break But this is one of the scenes he finds the doll that was thrown out the window earlier in the movie He digs through a grave and then finds that doll again But the face is slightly burnt off of it And also he thinks at this point the girl was burned to death. Maybe maybe right so she was burned with the doll

She will or she will be or she will be burned to death because Molly Parker's like she'll burn to death And he was like, what did you say? And she said she'll she she she burns to death. Oh, I uh Pulling out her collar. Yeah, like really like really off. She's right behind me I'm sorry to backtrack. Can someone explain to me the word play of the day of tomorrow? Oh, I wrote that down. I don't I don't understand. He was like what happens the day after tomorrow. I took oh in two days Yeah, nothing. No, no, I mean tomorrow. Oh tomorrow It was like there was some weird answer and then take me with you. Yeah, really so be eski All right, well, this is a clip of him trying to get some information about the burnt doll from the movie became amazing

Yeah, at this point it kicks in here in the third act where it goes bonkers here you go How to get burned how to get burned How to get burned how to get burned. I don't know Can we just play it again? Yeah, cuz I need to hear this. Yeah Wait a second, is he talking to the fion apple? Oh my god, I forgot about that Who do you don't know where she's coming from the entire time? The entire time you're like is she just really bad at covering up the conspiracy? Is she happy that he's gonna die? My favorite part is when he gets these interrogating someone and like and they're doing gardening and some bugs fly into his face

So he's like asking her questions and a bug flies into his eyes That's foreshadowing I love that it's the middle of the day. He finally was talking to Ellen Burstin who runs the place, right? Yes Yeah, and I'm looking beautiful looking Radiant until she's wearing like Cheering on like like fucking Utah The cheerleader for Miami Dolphins there. I was gonna say it was a little kind of like a brave heart because yeah I'm a bunch of people. They may never take our lives, but they'll never take our honey

Anyway, he's talking to Ellen Burstin He's like so do I have your permission to dig up the grave and she's like well I think I already gave it to you right it's the middle of the afternoon and it's like okay Gotta dig up that grave guess. I'll do it in the middle of the night near the cemetery literally goes and digs up a child Like you're a police officer like there's a worse time to gather evidence Yeah, well, I said to June I said like I felt this whole movie was like Shot like they shot it in order and then they edited it way out of order. It's like when did he get the bike? Why is it night? How many days has he been here? Like is it night?

All right, like what is he doing to pass this time during like how he was planning on enforcing should he figure out this crime? Like what was the plan beyond like figuring it out? Oh, you could not enforce anything. No power But when does I guess what I'm my biggest question still is what is a hallucination and what is not a hallucination because he gets Stung by bees he Yeah, he runs into this like beep field and he's like oh And he starts running and he runs deeper into the bee field gets more stings He passes out and he wakes up with only one bee sting on him

Oh, yeah, and then and then and then Francis Conner is like we did it the old-fashioned way and I was like what is that? Interested in that and then he walks around the house and he opens up all these weird doors of the beard And there's a beard a woman with a bee beard and then a guy in a bed with like bee stings all over his face I'm missing. Yeah, and I was wondering and then he walks by Ellen Burstin's room and doesn't go in No, and he's trying to find her and Ellen Burstin is in a bed That's like like a shining light and she's like sitting in this beautiful. She's the queen bee. Yeah, it's oh, let's be honest The the movie is The movie is pretty gorgeous though. It's like if you're not paying attention

It seems like a capable really well shot movie. Yeah, the science of the sets. Yeah, like the locations was all it's all very I want to go there wherever that is Beautiful Disney's summer I'll summer I'll I did think that one of the cool moments in the movie that I did enjoy actually is when he's getting Stung by the bees and is like racing through the bee fields and then it pulls out into like an overhead shot And the trails that walk through that area are all honeycomb. That was like so like the whole field looks like a honeycomb I thought that was neat. So I'm sorry. Did we ever find out what the old-fashioned way was to my my theory on it You guys watch the unrated cut. Well, I didn't my theory was that he that she transferred all of his bee stings to that guy in

The room who had all the bee stings because he had no bee stings on him Like he was getting stung in the face and he like two minutes later. He's totally fine. I don't get it guys All right, but now I did I really wish I did guys I think there's something there, but you just got to be real dumb Third act kicks in it's amazing like he's having a full-on milk that he gets into like a karate fight with Lily Sob yes, yeah, like literally kicking her in the gut and she flies back with the weirdest longest pass out scene where she just keeps By the way, what was her in-game because she seemed to want out and then she didn't Upset the patriarchy I don't understand man

It made no sense and then the best part of the movie in my opinion is after he cold cocks another woman He steals her bear costume. Oh, yeah Yeah, he puts on a bear costume to to get me processional of other people that's where the bee costumes were he's in a bear costume That's the only bear though. He's the only bear because it's because he's stealing the mother sister beat sister beaches Yeah costume, which is a great conversation. They have oh, I can't fit in the bear guys. I'm gonna have to get some bear That is so crazy because that is one of the only scenes in the movie in which we're watching people that aren't Nicholas Cage And it's stuck out like like you almost never have scenes that are that don't feature him in it, right? Because that would miss they'll be missing, but there is one scene where sister beach and the other woman are talking and it's all

About how sister beach can't fit in the bear costume anymore, and it's really big and blah blah blah, and then oh Here's Nicholas Cage. Yeah, this is the conversation. I was like this is a absolute insanity that this is what they're doing It's so crazy. I mean, but he's even in when he's in that bear costume. You can see his face Oh, yeah, you can clearly see it's not sister beach But he then when he runs into Fiona apple Yes lifts the mask up to be like even though we're walking in public with everybody else around threatening Island I'm going to show you my face so you know hey, it's me I thought I thought I told you to stay at the house and she's like I had to come because we're about to kill you you maniac

By the way, I found this out today looking on Wikipedia Who were two actors in the movie? They were bar patrons. Did you see it? Oh, no. Well, did you James Franco? Yes, yeah, and someone else Jason Ritter, right Jason Ritter. Yeah, both. I did not see that Where were they I looked at Wikipedia too, and I think it was a deleted scene Wait, it was in my movie. What do you think when the Lili sobiesky and And yeah, and you know Apple goes to a bar. Yeah, see that's what happens that I read that and I was waiting for it Um, wait, so we didn't see this so we are because I didn't see the bees scene. Oh, wow There's two cuts of this movie out there. All right, so yeah

The movie Okay, at the end of the movie, right they kill Nicholas Cage in the wicker man. Yes That's the thing the legs did they break his legs in your version. I didn't see it. You just hear him a dr Live, that's the thing. Oh my legs. Yeah, they do the unrated version. They break his legs violent with a man Oh, really they hobble him like yeah, Kathy Bates, okay So so they burn him in the wicker man, and then it cuts to six months later Okay, there's a tag this is six months later And it's a bar scene and it's James Franco and Jason Ritter and they're sitting there like oh man this sucks

Yeah, man, they're looking around It's all like yuppies or whatever and then one of them catch a sight of a hot girl walk by and they're like come on Let's go. Yeah, bro, and they walk over and it's Lili sobiesky and Fiona Apple are sitting there And they just Instantaneously sit down and they're like thank God you guys are here. We thought this place was all lawyers and stuff and they're like Hey And then the guys are like instantly the girls are like DTF Jersey Shore

The girls are DTF and the conversation they have is absolute insanity Whoa, James Franco pairs up with Lili so basically it turns out they're gonna do to these two guys what they did to Nicholas Cage Right. These guys are also the next wicker man. They're the next wicker man. These guys also inexplicably Just graduated from the police academy So they also pray on Well, it's because they'll have the drive till I be I This time why to they had a really bad harvest they need

They gotta set it up years in advance. You never know what's gonna happen. Oh, that's true, right? Yeah, exactly. It's so dumb. So they gotta hang out with them And then get pregnant by them and then almost get married almost get married bail and then other girls come and Join the force as well Wow, that's pretty you know, that was revealed. Yeah. Yeah, that the female cop was the one. Yeah, the weird like buddy Yeah, yeah, who came in to visit him to give him the letter. Yeah, she gave him the letter She have a lot of weird looks if you watch this usually because she's has like a The effort that these women have gone to to just get honey

I mean like the effort they've gone to for their harvest is I mean like millions of dollars were spent on this Yeah, like the woman had to get a pull a job as a police woman Send him to the mainland and also in a very specific. It's not even off the shore of Washington, DC. No, California Yeah, away. Well, Jason, you missed the part that we saw which I actually do have a clip of so we can we play that clip of This is the torture scene that happens. So this was not in the He is getting his legs broken by mallets in this you can't see it Oh my god And you're doing it for nothing. They're putting a bee thing on his head. What is that? What is it?

I Knew I was gonna be killed and the first thing I felt was bees. I think I'd be actually kind of relieved Yeah, like oh this will kill me before I burn, but then they do they revive them and then just Yeah, they revive him. She co she shows up the lady who did the old show shows up with one of his things where they go Oh my god, yeah, and then like goes up. She's like, okay, we'll do it your way this time Well, you know, they bring make them alive so they can burn him alive now. Holy shit That's insane. None of that was in the cut. I saw how about the fact that at the end of the movie It is dedicated to Johnny Ramon. Oh, yeah

All right, now it's time for a second opinion Here are some reviews from Amazon from people who like the movie I Can't believe the negative reviews. So what he punched three females. It was required get over it Put yourself into his situation. He's trapped in a cult and discovering he can't escape So you feminist groups need to chill out and stop bashing this film. Yeah Feminist groups really were against his movie spooky chick wrote. I love it Oh my god, well, I'm not lucky enough to be a mother myself. I dream of birthing children So this type of story really hit all small windows of just the sad lives

Did she like this movie because she hasn't had children she goes You can really feel the agony of this woman's lost daughter, especially if you're a parent or half Or or if you have extensive childcare experience like me Wait, this is so this is a Rebecca de Mornay from And then the final one I like this I like this is a guy agrees with you Jenna I like the settings. I like the colors the acting was excellent the plot confusing the end gross four stars Wow Oh my gosh now you may think what what it was Nicholas Cage think about this movie and

Let's let him explain. He has a horse voice, but you can hear it. There is a mischievous mind at work On the wicker man, you know, you know what I mean, but and I finally kind of said, yeah I I might have known that that movie was meant to be Absurd, you know But saying that now after the fact is okay But to say it before the fact is not you know because like you got a lot of the look the movie have its own life You know you have to let the audience have its own connection and Bash it or not pass it or love it. Whatever they want to do with it. That's up to the audience

It's pretty pretty pretty pretty Peggy Sue. Oh, thank you. Sue boys. He had He is full blue. He is like one Second away from Gary. Oh my gosh. Well, we have a very special segment here on the show today Two weeks ago. We reviewed our two episodes ago We reviewed the movie skyline and we were contacted on Twitter by the writer and producer of skyline Liam O'Donnell, so we're gonna go to the phone to him right now to talk to him about skyline Please welcome Liam O'Donnell. Hello. How are you? I'm good. Thanks for having me Yeah, I'm a long time fan of human giant. I was followed Paul on Twitter

I saw it come up and dreaded it for two weeks, but ended up actually enjoying All the things you guys had to say about the movie and got a real kick out of it Did you take issue with anything that we said? Were you were you did where we mean? Did you feel like we were mean or no, I didn't feel like it was me I thought I thought it was like one of the there was a couple I like that you guys at least acknowledge that it was done with this kind of independent spirit and that there was a There's like a lot of cool things about the world, but it just didn't really come together the way Way you wanted which is kind of I think how how we feel about it too

So it was at the end of the day. I kind of you know, I see all the criticisms So correct me if I'm wrong, but it seemed like you put this whole project together fairly quickly kind of outside the traditional studio system Yeah, we really just kind of did it on our own and it's kind of like we had like a three to five page treatment and like some artwork and people were already like gave us like We already got like investments for like 800 grand like go do it because it was all gonna be set in In Greg's Greg's apartment. So there was really like and it was so low budget So I think it was one of those things where you got like such early success off of like minimal amount of

Figuring things all the way through like you guys even said you're making fun of phase-ons quote about like yeah They wrote in a month like we literally did write it in a month There was a point where we're gonna just do improv and we're like, yeah, maybe we should write something down So we wrote a draft in a month and then kind of rewrote it in another month And then it was like already cast and ready to go And so yeah, I think it was just one of those situations of being so frustrated with Development and how long it takes to get something done and then being like I have we have the cameras We have we have this visual effects facility. We have the setting, you know, we've got talent signed up

Let's just go go go and there was really no reason to go so quickly other than our own kind of like You know ambition and naivete about how difficult it was gonna be I didn't know what Donald phase-on did was he a movie star. No, no, here's a visual effects guy It'd be wasn't it. Yeah, you're right. He's a visual effects guy. He's actually based on just one hundred dollars He's based on you. He's based on Greg Strauss one of the directors and you're saying that that was Greg Strauss's apartment You guys shot it in. Yeah, it was his apartment. It's his Ferrari and And it's automatic blinds Yeah, it is a it is kind of attitude my other my co-writer

Joshua Cortez like it's kind of when he came out here like ten years ago It was kind of the Wild West days of visual effects and they were there was like, you know All these kind of young nerds with all this money, but you know, that gets translated into like Cooler stars with money. Yeah That was the real story. Okay, and then my other question that we were talking about in the movie was how did they How the we there is a kind of a question of the cheating right cuz in the beginning of the movie like they Guys, yeah, you guys totally ripped apart this like this whole thing that got cut It was a whole different location and like a dancing scene at a night club. We missed dancing

Yes, how dare you cut out dancing Liam. How dare you so they Exactly cut around it. You guys like how did they warp upstairs and people are in the bathroom It is one of those things where you're like, you know, just hands over your eyes in the editing bay, but uh Yeah, so they're that that whole parts a bit of a mess. Okay, so that was just just cutting for time I imagine you're cutting for time you cut a whole scene where there was like a more conflict between them before that fight and And uh, and yeah, and and it made sense you you actually saw a phase on kind of a pair off with the The younger girl Crystal Reed was the actress and and go into the bathroom and as far as the camera

She she was established as it was actually her camera And all the stuff got cut you're answering all of our questions answering all over it was actually her camera It wasn't the the New York guys camera because she was supposed to be Oh, kind of a young photo girl who worked for him in the visual effects all on the editing room floor But all right very stewed viewers that you guys Now is there is their potential for the sequel because I feel like it's set up so clearly for a sequel It was successful at the box office wasn't it? Yeah, I mean it was it was disappointing But it it ended up making around 80 million worldwide. It's amazing

China in Japan, but domestic. Yeah, I was just it was a obviously would have been a little more because you know When you do an independent like this you sell all the foreign and you're making me go. Oh, that sucks And so But yeah, I know there I mean it that's a big enough number that it's possible. It's just Trying to figure out How to get something, you know that that tells the kind of more epic Story that we're trying to uh, you know, yeah when we when the movie ends when the movie ends They're like deep inside the sky Jaina, you know, I feel like that's that sets it up perfectly

Yeah, and it's it's one of those things were like the script like it was originally like okay They just get sucked in and we want to end super bleak and that's it and then like, you know Your team is like you got to do something at the ending and we we started with like, okay How about she just wakes up and there's like a mysterious voice on there and where you know We'll get to that later And then I just kept getting people wanted more and more of what was on the ship And then it ends up being like it's an entire prologue for another movie, which is where it all all kind of ended up Yeah, we just get and his brain was effected his brain was affected because he had seen it

Enough that he became like that's how his brain became that hybrid Yeah, it's just like it like like venom, you know, like you know bitten by enough snakes and it you know, the idea was that he had Been exposed enough that he was no longer affected. But yeah So that's why it ends up being like it's like it feels like it's beginning to another act and then it kind of ends But yeah, but it was a kick-ass ending I mean, it's like it comes because you don't think that that's gonna happen I mean, there's like great scene at the end where they kind of get sucked up, which is really awesome to look at and then It just goes on. Yeah, and it really takes a turn there. I really enjoyed it when

Well, I felt like it was really bleak when they ripped when you guys ripped Eric Balfour's head off. Yeah So much better before the NPA got it because it was in the wide and it we cut to a close-up And you really saw his head get ripped off and I do like throwing his limp body into the waist Is there anything else that was cut out or anything that you couldn't do for the theatrical cut? Yeah, the the whole red brain blue brain thing which is just completely asinine that is because of the NPA It was actually like just kind of wet normal brains and his brain had kind of the veiny effect on it Uh-huh, and they said you can't do that. You have to make these brains look sci-fi So we had to add really well, but then when they're all glowing blue. How could you tell his part and someone's bright idea?

Was make it red so That's one of those things that that really pisses me off from the NPA and just there was cooler brain ripping shots From David's ass in the garage and and stuff like that They just said it was to like prolonged violence to like yeah I think you might have beat up that the big vagina drone for a longer period of time Oh, you got to beat up those big vagina Begging for it and David Davis said you wrote the part for him. Did you know him before the film now?

We didn't know him. We just knew dexter. Oh, you know what there is something else that got cut off because the whole like Pregnancy from the first act that was a reshoot because Originally they had known they were pregnant, but they weren't sure if they were gonna keep it and that's why Zayas's character was kind of a The the tension between him and Bella for he was a little bit of a traditional Catholic Okay bad ass and so they had they had a different scene together at night where he was kind of Giving a little shit and of course the studio when they bought it They didn't want to touch any like abortion thing with the 10-foot Paul which I don't necessarily blame them

But right so so that all got cut out and and that that might have helped explain some of them I think it was a little bit more of a media role for David But yeah, we were big fans of dexter and so we wrote one now I see here that you are you're producing a movie right now. That's directed by Barry Levinson. What's that? Yeah, that's that's kind of more That through just kind of us doing the visual effects for it Okay, and not not really as much of a creative impact, but it is an awesome script and it's gonna be Really really creepy. It's kind of the the next step of the the found footage movie kind of making that a little bit more epic

Oh, that's cool. Now what it what is coming up? What is the thing that you're most excited about that's coming up next for you? What is the movie you're doing that you hope we don't do on this show? I think it's kind of perfect for the show even if it's successful because it's it's a kind of gonzo crazy concept It's called War of the Ages and so it's pretty much like Bill and Ted meets 300 all of the emperors and In Conquerors from history kind of get brought together into a big epic battle royale So you're bringing in that's amazing. This is this movie sounds amazing

So you're bringing in all like famous people from history to fight each other It's like Genghis Khan Napoleon Julius Caesar and Alexander the Great and and it's it's a lot of you know big epic battles like that, but it's it's with its sense of fun It's not but I actually met Keanu Reeves once and I was telling him about it And I pitched it as Bill and Ted meets 300 and he he put his hands over his head like the guitar thing and did like excellent That's awesome. That is amazing. Liam. Thank you so much for calling in and talking to us

Yeah, thank you guys keep up the good work and you know, hopefully I'm not on the next one See you later. Bye. Thanks so much for listening to this week's matinee Monday And you know what we've been trying to do certain things connect these movies to other movies If you haven't listened to unspooled yet this movie wicker man connects beautifully with our current unspooled film mid Sommar mid Sommar is the good wicker man also the fucked up wicker man How could that be take a listen watch the movies do whatever you want to do but get it where your podcasts are heard Unspooled and we just had a great dark night episode too, but that has nothing to do with wicker man