WEBVTT

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There's a part where one of the gray gorillas

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loses its arm from this laser. That's probably

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the campiest part of the whole movie. And also

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Laura Lenny's line where she says, put them on

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the endangered species list right before she

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like mows down the gorillas with the laser. Sublime.

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I love that part so much. Hello and welcome to

00:00:34.960 --> 00:00:38.079
Camp Kaiju Monster Movie Podcast. We're your

00:00:38.079 --> 00:00:42.399
hosts, Matt Levine. And Vincent Hannum. And we're

00:00:42.399 --> 00:00:44.619
talking about all of our favorite monster movies,

00:00:44.799 --> 00:00:47.520
the good, the bad, and the downright campy, and

00:00:47.520 --> 00:00:50.579
asking if they stand the test of time. Traditional

00:00:50.579 --> 00:00:53.359
kaiju, creature features, space invaders, the

00:00:53.359 --> 00:00:56.060
supernatural, and everything in between. All

00:00:56.060 --> 00:00:59.829
strange beasts are welcome here. Camp Kaiju is

00:00:59.829 --> 00:01:02.210
sponsored by Zach Linder and the Zach Pack, powered

00:01:02.210 --> 00:01:05.450
by Coldwell Banker Realty. Your source for real

00:01:05.450 --> 00:01:08.329
estate, home rehab, fixing and flipping for investor

00:01:08.329 --> 00:01:11.430
clients and residential buyers. Reach out to

00:01:11.430 --> 00:01:13.310
the Zach Pack today for real estate services.

00:01:13.709 --> 00:01:16.849
Follow the Zach Pack on social media and contact

00:01:16.849 --> 00:01:19.930
the Zach Pack for investment opportunities. Link

00:01:19.930 --> 00:01:38.540
in the show notes. for the world's most advanced

00:01:38.540 --> 00:01:42.620
communications technology. A shocking discovery

00:01:42.620 --> 00:01:45.459
has been made. What was that? Lock your remote.

00:01:45.540 --> 00:01:51.900
Give me a thermal reading result to 6 -6. It

00:01:51.900 --> 00:01:54.959
will take two young scientists into the heart

00:01:54.959 --> 00:01:59.480
of the African jungle. Where a secret hidden

00:01:59.480 --> 00:02:03.439
for 2 ,000 years holds the key to the future.

00:02:03.859 --> 00:02:07.900
This is Karen Ross. 1 -4 -5 -2, Houston, do you

00:02:07.900 --> 00:02:10.360
read? You used to work for the CIA, and now you're

00:02:10.360 --> 00:02:13.840
tropical. Some will come to it for science. This

00:02:13.840 --> 00:02:16.340
is a big deal, Charles. This is a big fight.

00:02:16.659 --> 00:02:20.719
Some for fortune. A diamond mine of incredible

00:02:20.719 --> 00:02:24.500
bounty. And some to return home. She doesn't

00:02:24.500 --> 00:02:27.000
really belong anywhere, does she? No, she belongs

00:02:27.000 --> 00:02:30.919
here. Together, they will search. My boss, he

00:02:30.919 --> 00:02:32.500
thought I wasn't going to make it. He sent another

00:02:32.500 --> 00:02:36.479
expedition. Drawn deep into a mystery. Camp destroyed,

00:02:36.979 --> 00:02:39.280
people dead, a gray gorilla or something. No

00:02:39.280 --> 00:02:41.280
such thing as a gray gorilla. Well, I saw one.

00:02:41.439 --> 00:02:45.039
And the more they discover. The same hieroglyphics

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over and over. The greater the danger. What do

00:02:49.020 --> 00:03:11.919
they say? We are watching you. See, they're smart.

00:03:12.139 --> 00:03:15.659
They're too damn smart. Watch out! Go! We're

00:03:15.659 --> 00:03:17.280
getting out of here. What about them? Put them

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on the endangered species list. From the best

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-selling novel by the author of Jurassic Park.

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The myth of the killer ape is true. Congo. Where

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you are the endangered species. Vincent, how

00:03:42.710 --> 00:03:46.770
you doing? Oh, so good. Here we are. Season five,

00:03:46.889 --> 00:03:51.409
part two, Hot Shots. And we are beginning this

00:03:51.409 --> 00:03:56.169
crazy second half of 2025 with Congo celebrating

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its 30th anniversary. Yeah, almost exactly. I

00:04:01.129 --> 00:04:03.490
think this came out in like late July of 95.

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Oh my gosh. Why aren't they getting back to us?

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The cast. Laura Linney, where are you? Yeah.

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Bruce Campbell, like he hasn't returned any of

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our hundreds of phone calls that we left for

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him. Come on. We just want to get you on the

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pod, you know? Bruce. Talk to me, baby. Come

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on. That seems like the kind of thing Bruce Campbell

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would say, actually. Yeah. Yeah. I just have

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to say right off the bat, I did not know Bruce

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Campbell was in this movie. I actually did a

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double take and I had to like lean forward at

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first and think, is that really Bruce Campbell?

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My man, it was so good. Yeah, it's a fun kind

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of cameo. Hopefully that's not too much of a

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spoiler, but he's a small role in this movie,

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but it's very fun to see him almost right off

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the bat. Yeah, yeah. We'll talk more about the

00:04:56.589 --> 00:04:58.709
cast in the movie, but lots of heavy hitters

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in this one. For sure. How are you doing? I'm

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doing well. We are recording this on the last

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day of July, although this probably will be released

00:05:07.250 --> 00:05:10.579
in early to mid -August. Summer's flying by,

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but it's mostly pretty good. Totally, totally.

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So August is August Bites here at Cam Kaiju.

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You know, it's the dog days of summer. It's getting

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a little hot out there. Maybe you're getting

00:05:23.740 --> 00:05:26.560
a little anxious about going back to school for

00:05:26.560 --> 00:05:28.740
all you students and teachers out there. And

00:05:28.740 --> 00:05:31.939
you're just thinking August can be great, but

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sometimes August bites. And we're here to provide

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you some animals that may. bite your head off

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what's the featured animal in congo well there

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are there's a good gorilla amy good gorilla there

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are some other good gorillas as well but then

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there are some vicious predatory bloodthirsty

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ancient unknown apes in this movie as well that

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may bite your head off and it's great if they're

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not mowed down with a laser gun before that Yeah.

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Put them on the endangered species list. Yep.

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I'm getting a little ahead of ourselves. Sorry.

00:06:11.579 --> 00:06:13.879
But there's so much fun stuff about this movie.

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It is basically a killer ape movie, but I don't

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know. The story is kind of weird. It's like a

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secret primitive race of apes, which does not

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sound good when I say it out loud. And I'm sure

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we'll dig into some of those issues in the movie

00:06:26.040 --> 00:06:29.600
as well. Yeah. Yeah. What movie are you bringing

00:06:29.600 --> 00:06:32.529
to Camp Kaiju for our next episode? Oh, next

00:06:32.529 --> 00:06:36.569
coming up in two weeks will be Jaws 2, the sequel

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starring Roy Scheider and directed by, I know

00:06:42.110 --> 00:06:45.589
he was the second unit director on Jaws. Nope,

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I am wrong about what I just said. Nick's what

00:06:48.550 --> 00:06:53.050
I just said. Jaws 2 is directed by Jeannot Swark.

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Check my pronunciation on that. Just alphabet

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soup of. that this man's name is, but he's a

00:07:00.899 --> 00:07:03.480
French director. Oh, he just died this past year.

00:07:04.240 --> 00:07:07.000
Okay, well, we're going to talk about him and

00:07:07.000 --> 00:07:12.540
his career next time on Jaws 2 here at Camp Kaiju.

00:07:13.480 --> 00:07:15.660
I can't wait. I saw that movie a long time ago,

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and this director, whose name I also don't know

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how to pronounce, Jeannot Schwark? I don't know

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if that's right, but I've heard that name a lot

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before, and I would like to learn a little bit

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more about him. I'll have to brush up before

00:07:28.040 --> 00:07:31.839
our next recording. You ought to. And everyone

00:07:31.839 --> 00:07:35.620
out there, brush up on your jaws. Get it? Yeah.

00:07:36.379 --> 00:07:40.079
Brush your jaws. Brush your jaws. Yeah, remember

00:07:40.079 --> 00:07:44.060
to floss, too. So many bad jokes already. This

00:07:44.060 --> 00:07:47.980
is a perfect way to kick off Season 5, Part 2

00:07:47.980 --> 00:07:50.300
with all of the bad jokes we can possibly provide.

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Woo! Yep, that's how we do it. I'm curious, have

00:07:55.750 --> 00:07:58.290
you seen the new Jurassic World movie yet? I

00:07:58.290 --> 00:08:00.569
have not, because I am terrible at getting out

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to the theaters. But, you know, I hear mixed

00:08:04.509 --> 00:08:08.629
to positive reviews, actually. So, you know,

00:08:08.629 --> 00:08:14.170
I'm not an eager beaver. I was burned by Jurassic

00:08:14.170 --> 00:08:18.350
World Dominion pretty bad. With that said, as

00:08:18.350 --> 00:08:21.149
soon as it's streaming, I will watch it. And

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I will save my judgment until then. Yeah, I've

00:08:23.990 --> 00:08:25.370
heard good things too, and I'm actually pretty

00:08:25.370 --> 00:08:28.250
excited about it, despite how much I disliked

00:08:28.250 --> 00:08:30.569
the last few Jurassic World movies. This one

00:08:30.569 --> 00:08:33.009
looks pretty good, and I might try to hit the

00:08:33.009 --> 00:08:35.350
theater sometime soon, so we'll have to get on

00:08:35.350 --> 00:08:38.629
that. Nice, get on that. What is Shockwaves?

00:08:39.190 --> 00:08:43.289
Yeah, Shockwaves is an older movie from 77, I

00:08:43.289 --> 00:08:46.669
believe. It just played at the Trilon. The plot

00:08:46.669 --> 00:08:49.429
can be summed up in two words, zombie Nazis.

00:08:50.320 --> 00:08:52.639
And I feel like a lot of monster movie fans out

00:08:52.639 --> 00:08:55.379
there probably know about it. It's really weird.

00:08:55.500 --> 00:08:59.440
It's like a slow burn, dreamlike, surreal, low

00:08:59.440 --> 00:09:02.960
budget, schlocky horror movie about, again, zombie

00:09:02.960 --> 00:09:05.899
Nazis. So check it out. It's not playing at the

00:09:05.899 --> 00:09:09.320
trial on anymore, but it's a weird, maybe not

00:09:09.320 --> 00:09:12.980
good, but very interesting movie. Okay. Okay.

00:09:13.159 --> 00:09:20.759
Yeah. You had me at zombie Nazis. Yeah. We were

00:09:20.759 --> 00:09:23.679
talking before the recording started. You've

00:09:23.679 --> 00:09:26.659
seen some monster movies recently as well, especially

00:09:26.659 --> 00:09:29.460
of the Italian horror variety. Oh, yeah. I saw

00:09:29.460 --> 00:09:33.340
Demons. I saw, which was not a Dario Argento

00:09:33.340 --> 00:09:36.919
picture, but was he involved? He was a producer,

00:09:37.159 --> 00:09:40.259
maybe? I think he was, yeah. And if I remember

00:09:40.259 --> 00:09:42.840
right, that was directed by Lamberto Bava, who

00:09:42.840 --> 00:09:45.100
is Mario Bava's son, but I could be wrong about

00:09:45.100 --> 00:09:47.480
that. Yes, and I need to do my homework on Mario

00:09:47.480 --> 00:09:50.470
Bava, too. Homework like it's a chore. No, I

00:09:50.470 --> 00:09:54.649
need to do my deep dive into Baba's work. But

00:09:54.649 --> 00:09:57.809
yeah, I like to go down rabbit holes when I watch

00:09:57.809 --> 00:10:02.370
movies. So Demons led me to Suspiria. Well, Demons,

00:10:02.409 --> 00:10:06.309
I got to Demons via Zombie or Dawn of the Dead

00:10:06.309 --> 00:10:10.289
2 as it was released originally in Italy, which

00:10:10.289 --> 00:10:12.899
is wild to me. that the Italians were like, yeah,

00:10:12.980 --> 00:10:15.379
this is a sequel to Dawn of the Dead. Like, no,

00:10:15.480 --> 00:10:20.120
it has nothing to do with Dawn of the Dead. Let's

00:10:20.120 --> 00:10:22.379
just slap that name on there and exploit that

00:10:22.379 --> 00:10:24.600
a little bit. Brilliant, brilliant, brilliant.

00:10:24.799 --> 00:10:27.500
I've actually heard from a certain listener,

00:10:27.580 --> 00:10:29.980
Jonathan Rasmussen. I know you're listening,

00:10:30.080 --> 00:10:34.360
but Jonathan has asked us if and when we ever

00:10:34.360 --> 00:10:37.000
get to zombie movies, he would love to be a part

00:10:37.000 --> 00:10:40.769
of that episode. And I said, absolutely. It's

00:10:40.769 --> 00:10:43.309
a genre we haven't covered as extensively as

00:10:43.309 --> 00:10:45.950
I'd like to because there's so much out there.

00:10:46.509 --> 00:10:50.389
Yeah, indeed. But hopefully soon to come on Camp

00:10:50.389 --> 00:10:53.629
Kaiju. We'll see. But again, tonight we are talking

00:10:53.629 --> 00:10:57.029
about Congo. Last time on Camp Kaiju, we talked

00:10:57.029 --> 00:11:00.470
about Ebira Horror of the Deep for Kaijulai,

00:11:00.570 --> 00:11:03.149
which was a fun episode. And then we announced

00:11:03.149 --> 00:11:06.649
our Season 5 Part 2 titles. So check out that

00:11:06.649 --> 00:11:08.490
little teaser if you haven't done so already.

00:11:09.000 --> 00:11:11.200
Oh, yeah. And we've got some great feedback from

00:11:11.200 --> 00:11:14.940
that episode I will share later on in Mania's

00:11:14.940 --> 00:11:19.059
mailbox. Awesome. Before we get any further in

00:11:19.059 --> 00:11:21.460
this episode, I do just want to cover a couple

00:11:21.460 --> 00:11:24.340
nuts and bolts here. We want to thank you all

00:11:24.340 --> 00:11:26.779
again so much for hanging out with us. Please

00:11:26.779 --> 00:11:29.200
rate and review Camp Kaiju wherever you listen.

00:11:29.340 --> 00:11:32.480
You can also send us listener comments at campkaiju

00:11:32.480 --> 00:11:36.419
at gmail .com. or on our Instagram page at camp

00:11:36.419 --> 00:11:40.379
underscore kaiju underscore podcast. If you would

00:11:40.379 --> 00:11:42.340
like to be a featured voice on the show, leave

00:11:42.340 --> 00:11:47.940
us a voicemail at 612 -470 -2612, telling us

00:11:47.940 --> 00:11:50.000
about all your favorite monster movies and memories.

00:11:50.320 --> 00:11:53.500
Please also check out our website, campkaijupodcast

00:11:53.500 --> 00:11:58.320
.com, for more reviews and special content. Also,

00:11:58.399 --> 00:12:00.700
you can check out some merchandise, including

00:12:00.700 --> 00:12:04.460
some awesome new shirts. at campkaiju .threadless

00:12:04.460 --> 00:12:07.139
.com. Relatively new. Maybe not super new at

00:12:07.139 --> 00:12:11.679
this point. And last but not least, please do

00:12:11.679 --> 00:12:15.639
become a patron at patreon .com slash campkaiju

00:12:15.639 --> 00:12:18.740
for discounts, priority comments, and access

00:12:18.740 --> 00:12:21.440
to any live events we have coming up. Hopefully

00:12:21.440 --> 00:12:23.899
more news about some of those events in the near

00:12:23.899 --> 00:12:28.039
future. And on that subject, I just wanted to

00:12:28.039 --> 00:12:30.500
give another very hearty thank you to our current

00:12:30.500 --> 00:12:35.710
patrons, Jason, Beast Drool, Chris B., Sean,

00:12:36.009 --> 00:12:38.570
Peggy, and our anonymous patron. Thank you all

00:12:38.570 --> 00:12:41.690
so much. 100%. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

00:12:42.190 --> 00:12:45.690
We'd love to hear from you and get any comments

00:12:45.690 --> 00:12:49.269
or questions or thoughts you all have on Menia's

00:12:49.269 --> 00:12:54.269
mailbox. Indeed. Yeah. Can't wait to read your

00:12:54.269 --> 00:12:57.120
thoughts and feedback. One thing I wanted to

00:12:57.120 --> 00:12:58.539
mention real quick, I think we might have mentioned

00:12:58.539 --> 00:13:01.860
this on the Eberra recording as well, but Shin

00:13:01.860 --> 00:13:04.000
Godzilla, one of my favorite recent Godzilla

00:13:04.000 --> 00:13:07.220
movies, will be re -released into theaters August

00:13:07.220 --> 00:13:10.399
14th, so coming up pretty soon. If you have not

00:13:10.399 --> 00:13:12.940
seen that, check it out. It is awesome. It's

00:13:12.940 --> 00:13:16.620
a very unique, creative, complicated Godzilla

00:13:16.620 --> 00:13:19.440
movie. I really love it. Love that complicated

00:13:19.440 --> 00:13:23.120
Godzilla movie. That's true. Maybe not a complicated

00:13:23.120 --> 00:13:25.559
movie, but there's a movie coming out August

00:13:25.559 --> 00:13:28.419
21st that I keep seeing ads for. It's called

00:13:28.419 --> 00:13:33.279
Primitive War. It is, let me read the brief synopsis

00:13:33.279 --> 00:13:36.659
via Google here. During the Vietnam War, a recon

00:13:36.659 --> 00:13:39.500
unit ventures to an isolated jungle valley to

00:13:39.500 --> 00:13:42.480
uncover the fate of a missing platoon. They soon

00:13:42.480 --> 00:13:44.759
find themselves in a fight for their lives against

00:13:44.759 --> 00:13:48.980
an unexpected enemy, prehistoric dinosaurs. But

00:13:48.980 --> 00:13:53.750
really, aren't all dinosaurs prehistoric? Yeah,

00:13:53.909 --> 00:13:58.309
you would think so. Yep. Not the modern kind

00:13:58.309 --> 00:14:00.889
of dinosaur, the prehistoric. Yeah, right. Not

00:14:00.889 --> 00:14:03.509
historical dinosaurs, prehistoric dinosaurs.

00:14:04.529 --> 00:14:11.049
That's pretty old. Dinosaurs are old. That's

00:14:11.049 --> 00:14:13.470
our takeaway of the night. That sounds great.

00:14:13.549 --> 00:14:15.809
I've seen like a teaser trailer for that movie

00:14:15.809 --> 00:14:18.049
before, but I did not know the whole synopsis.

00:14:18.049 --> 00:14:19.950
That sounds pretty cool. It looks like it's totally

00:14:19.950 --> 00:14:23.090
riding the Jurassic Park coattails, but you know

00:14:23.090 --> 00:14:26.470
what? Who cares? Let's get more dinosaur movies

00:14:26.470 --> 00:14:29.610
that aren't Jurassic Park. That's all I want.

00:14:29.769 --> 00:14:33.470
I just want more. As much as I love Jurassic

00:14:33.470 --> 00:14:39.009
Park, I want other dinosaur movies. Yeah, totally.

00:14:39.190 --> 00:14:43.009
Yep. Before we get into Congo itself, one of

00:14:43.009 --> 00:14:45.370
my favorite features we do here on Camp Kaiju

00:14:45.370 --> 00:14:48.909
is today or this month in monster movie history,

00:14:49.009 --> 00:14:52.029
I have a list of movies, monster movies that

00:14:52.029 --> 00:14:55.070
came out in early to mid -August on our Google

00:14:55.070 --> 00:14:57.529
Doc here. Did any of those titles jump out at

00:14:57.529 --> 00:15:02.990
you? Yes. Let me look at these. There's so many

00:15:02.990 --> 00:15:05.090
good ones. Jason and the Argonauts, Frankenstein

00:15:05.090 --> 00:15:07.389
Conquers the World, The Brain That Wouldn't Die,

00:15:07.509 --> 00:15:14.950
Dinosaurus. Black Sunday. Is that a Mario Bava

00:15:14.950 --> 00:15:18.090
film? It sure is. Yeah, it's a great one. We

00:15:18.090 --> 00:15:21.710
are connecting dots here tonight. Yeah, I started

00:15:21.710 --> 00:15:25.190
this movie last year and I never finished it,

00:15:25.250 --> 00:15:30.009
but I was definitely riveted. It's just for its

00:15:30.009 --> 00:15:32.350
time. It's 1960. It's black and white, but it's

00:15:32.350 --> 00:15:39.200
gory. It's really visually visceral. I need to

00:15:39.200 --> 00:15:41.100
go back and finish that. So this is me saying

00:15:41.100 --> 00:15:44.299
to everybody, I will finish Black Sunday before

00:15:44.299 --> 00:15:47.659
our next recording. Black Sunday is great. That's

00:15:47.659 --> 00:15:49.440
the one that I was going to choose as well. Huge

00:15:49.440 --> 00:15:52.600
Mario Bava fan. Really beautiful. Like you said,

00:15:52.659 --> 00:15:55.720
very gory and intense, especially for 1960, which

00:15:55.720 --> 00:15:57.639
in my opinion is the year that modern horror

00:15:57.639 --> 00:16:00.779
began. That's the year of Psycho, Eyes Without

00:16:00.779 --> 00:16:04.559
a Face, Peeping Tom, the British movie. Jigoku,

00:16:04.679 --> 00:16:06.899
a really great Japanese horror movie. So 1960,

00:16:07.340 --> 00:16:10.659
maybe my favorite year in movie history. Wow.

00:16:10.820 --> 00:16:13.440
All right. But since you chose my title, let's

00:16:13.440 --> 00:16:14.820
see which one am I going to come up with next?

00:16:15.759 --> 00:16:17.860
I'm going to go with City of the Living Dead

00:16:17.860 --> 00:16:20.919
from 1980, which is another Lucio Fulci movie.

00:16:21.139 --> 00:16:22.960
I think it's the one that he made right before

00:16:22.960 --> 00:16:26.879
The Beyond, which is very disgusting. And yeah,

00:16:26.940 --> 00:16:29.519
City of the Living Dead, another like. Kind of

00:16:29.519 --> 00:16:32.259
trashy, kind of sleazy, very gory zombie horror

00:16:32.259 --> 00:16:34.779
movie, but like really stylish and entertaining

00:16:34.779 --> 00:16:37.139
at the same time. So you're right. Everything

00:16:37.139 --> 00:16:39.840
is connecting. Mario Bava, Lucio Fulci. It all

00:16:39.840 --> 00:16:42.940
comes together. Zombies. I've heard of that movie,

00:16:43.000 --> 00:16:47.500
too. Yeah. Yeah. Cool. Cool. Good stuff. Yeah.

00:16:48.519 --> 00:16:51.220
Again, tonight we are talking about the movie

00:16:51.220 --> 00:16:54.019
Congo, directed by Frank Marshall from 1995.

00:16:55.200 --> 00:16:57.360
Vincent, what is your history with this movie?

00:16:59.080 --> 00:17:02.700
not long not extensive when we started this podcast

00:17:02.700 --> 00:17:07.099
you mentioned it from time to time and in my

00:17:07.099 --> 00:17:09.740
mind it was always in that wheelhouse of the

00:17:09.740 --> 00:17:14.519
relic of the island of dr moreau from the 90s

00:17:14.519 --> 00:17:18.359
species we've talked about this with on both

00:17:18.359 --> 00:17:21.880
those episodes species and dr moreau how it seemed

00:17:21.880 --> 00:17:25.500
like after jurassic park in the 90s there was

00:17:25.500 --> 00:17:30.359
a there was a wave of monster movies related

00:17:30.359 --> 00:17:36.279
to genetics and science gone awry, often featuring

00:17:36.279 --> 00:17:39.660
like tropical, foreign, exotic, if you will,

00:17:39.779 --> 00:17:45.119
lands. So I think Congo, which also is another

00:17:45.119 --> 00:17:49.559
Michael Crichton novel, is right within that

00:17:49.559 --> 00:17:57.039
wave of 90s movies that are so... That wouldn't

00:17:57.039 --> 00:17:59.180
have never been made if not for the success of

00:17:59.180 --> 00:18:03.119
Jurassic Park. Yeah, you're totally right about

00:18:03.119 --> 00:18:05.240
that. Yeah. And I think there's something very

00:18:05.240 --> 00:18:08.400
like comforting and very fun, almost kind of

00:18:08.400 --> 00:18:10.279
innocent about some of those movies, even if

00:18:10.279 --> 00:18:12.160
they have like very questionable themes sometimes.

00:18:12.779 --> 00:18:15.099
But, you know, part of that, I think, is just

00:18:15.099 --> 00:18:18.119
like the 90s were a different era of Hollywood

00:18:18.119 --> 00:18:22.180
filmmaking than what we are in today. You know,

00:18:22.220 --> 00:18:24.380
it's not all superhero movies. It's not all CGI.

00:18:24.440 --> 00:18:27.039
I think there was maybe a little bit more imagination

00:18:27.039 --> 00:18:30.839
back then. Things weren't all rosy and great.

00:18:30.900 --> 00:18:33.160
There were some bad movies too, but it's fun

00:18:33.160 --> 00:18:35.039
to look back on that time. And a lot of it is

00:18:35.039 --> 00:18:38.339
just nostalgia too. Like I was 11 years old when

00:18:38.339 --> 00:18:40.880
Congo came out. My friends and I watched it all

00:18:40.880 --> 00:18:43.640
the time in middle school. Shout out to my friend

00:18:43.640 --> 00:18:46.480
Chris who made a board game based on the movie

00:18:46.480 --> 00:18:49.539
Congo, which is so much fun. Yeah. So we, we

00:18:49.539 --> 00:18:51.579
loved this movie and like still reference it

00:18:51.579 --> 00:18:54.460
all the time. And almost nobody ever knows what

00:18:54.460 --> 00:18:56.799
we're talking about. Cause like, you know, nobody

00:18:56.799 --> 00:18:58.599
really remembers this movie all that much anymore.

00:18:58.880 --> 00:19:03.299
I love that, man. I, that's great because I have

00:19:03.299 --> 00:19:08.240
movies like that too. And that, that if I showed

00:19:08.240 --> 00:19:10.720
you, you'd be like, I don't get it. Not saying

00:19:10.720 --> 00:19:13.200
that I don't get Congo, but maybe I don't have,

00:19:13.259 --> 00:19:16.200
well, not maybe I am missing that nostalgia piece.

00:19:16.910 --> 00:19:20.750
which might be important in understanding my

00:19:20.750 --> 00:19:26.210
final rating for this movie. Fair enough. But

00:19:26.210 --> 00:19:29.710
I get it. I get the appeal. Some of these lines

00:19:29.710 --> 00:19:32.730
and the way they're delivered, they're just ripe

00:19:32.730 --> 00:19:38.630
for the teenage mind to grab onto. Yeah. Absolutely.

00:19:38.849 --> 00:19:41.430
And I mean, talk about camp. This movie really

00:19:41.430 --> 00:19:43.869
puts the camp and camp kaiju. There's so much

00:19:43.869 --> 00:19:46.430
campy humor in this movie. Most of it intentional,

00:19:46.730 --> 00:19:49.690
I would say. All right. Some of it, maybe not

00:19:49.690 --> 00:19:54.430
so much. Well, camp camp is both intentional

00:19:54.430 --> 00:19:57.809
and unintentional. Yeah, indeed. Yeah, right.

00:19:57.930 --> 00:20:00.990
It just depends. Just real quick with your you're

00:20:00.990 --> 00:20:04.049
talking about 90s, you know, like you with the

00:20:04.049 --> 00:20:06.950
lack of superhero movies, I think. Just to add

00:20:06.950 --> 00:20:10.410
on to that, I think what the what the criticism

00:20:10.410 --> 00:20:13.970
is today is that these studio movies, everything

00:20:13.970 --> 00:20:16.809
that comes out is just it's just so franchise

00:20:16.809 --> 00:20:20.230
heavy. Like everything is part of a universe,

00:20:20.529 --> 00:20:25.910
part of a greater connection. And in the 90s

00:20:25.910 --> 00:20:30.109
and I guess just before the 2010s, you didn't

00:20:30.109 --> 00:20:33.009
have that. You just made a one off. Maybe if

00:20:33.009 --> 00:20:34.670
you made a superhero movie, it was just like

00:20:34.670 --> 00:20:37.220
a one and done thing. And now let's move on to

00:20:37.220 --> 00:20:40.039
our, our Oscar drama and let's move on to our

00:20:40.039 --> 00:20:42.759
stoner comedy, which I, you know, not saying

00:20:42.759 --> 00:20:45.319
those don't exist now, but they were more common.

00:20:45.359 --> 00:20:49.859
I feel like at the theaters. Yeah, I think so

00:20:49.859 --> 00:20:52.619
too. And maybe looking back on things with rose

00:20:52.619 --> 00:20:55.160
colored glasses or whatever, but like, yeah,

00:20:55.240 --> 00:20:57.079
I think there was more imagination and like,

00:20:57.119 --> 00:21:00.069
even if. you know, Hollywood studios still try

00:21:00.069 --> 00:21:02.769
to, like, capitalize on, like, well -known names

00:21:02.769 --> 00:21:05.430
or, like, entities or whatever. You know, like,

00:21:05.529 --> 00:21:08.009
I think it's fair to say that Congo is a ripoff

00:21:08.009 --> 00:21:09.549
of Jurassic Park, so there's a little bit of

00:21:09.549 --> 00:21:12.269
that to it as well. But, like, still, I find

00:21:12.269 --> 00:21:15.109
so much, like, imagination and humor and, like,

00:21:15.150 --> 00:21:18.329
you know, visual beauty in a lot of these movies,

00:21:18.470 --> 00:21:21.710
even the not great movies, that I just don't

00:21:21.710 --> 00:21:25.220
see as much in movies that come out today. But

00:21:25.220 --> 00:21:27.119
that makes me sound like just a grumpy old man.

00:21:27.279 --> 00:21:29.079
So there's a lot of good stuff today, too, you

00:21:29.079 --> 00:21:31.619
know. But I agree with you. And I think a lot

00:21:31.619 --> 00:21:34.799
of people do as well. So let us know what you

00:21:34.799 --> 00:21:37.980
think, everybody. Let us know. Yeah, indeed.

00:21:38.099 --> 00:21:41.559
And I do love revisiting these 90s monster movies.

00:21:41.660 --> 00:21:50.220
So excited to talk about Congo with you. The

00:21:50.220 --> 00:21:52.960
Jennings family has just moved to the small town

00:21:52.960 --> 00:21:59.369
of Canaan. Oh, Ross, smell that air. Oh, God.

00:21:59.750 --> 00:22:02.569
In search of a simpler life. Want to blow up

00:22:02.569 --> 00:22:06.029
a bullfrog? Okay. It's the perfect place. Goodbye

00:22:06.029 --> 00:22:09.230
crime, goodbye grime. Except for one pesty little

00:22:09.230 --> 00:22:11.569
problem. Come with me and look at the web. The

00:22:11.569 --> 00:22:15.529
web? I have terrible fear of spiders. Come on,

00:22:15.529 --> 00:22:17.430
we live in a country now. It's time to work through

00:22:17.430 --> 00:22:21.390
this irrational, paralyzed terror. It's not irrational.

00:22:24.569 --> 00:22:26.970
Hollywood Pictures and Amblin Entertainment present

00:22:26.970 --> 00:22:30.130
Jeff Daniels. We're in the living room. We need

00:22:30.130 --> 00:22:35.269
you to kill a spider. And John Goodman. I caused

00:22:35.269 --> 00:22:37.849
just a spider. Would anybody object if I tore

00:22:37.849 --> 00:22:41.190
this floor out? I would. False alarm, then leave

00:22:41.190 --> 00:22:44.009
on. There's no spider here. Every so often in

00:22:44.009 --> 00:22:46.329
a little town somewhere, there is a health scare.

00:22:46.589 --> 00:22:48.490
There's a rumor going around that some kind of

00:22:48.490 --> 00:22:52.279
spider might have killed Sam Metcalf. Spiders

00:22:52.279 --> 00:22:55.559
make convenient pulp. There's no spider here.

00:22:55.680 --> 00:22:57.980
I think one of your Venezuelan spiders hitched

00:22:57.980 --> 00:23:00.559
a ride here. There may be some spiders around

00:23:00.559 --> 00:23:02.900
here that are very dangerous. Yeah, chill out.

00:23:03.240 --> 00:23:05.859
Just run. They spread out from a central nest

00:23:05.859 --> 00:23:08.380
in a web -like pattern and dominate the entire

00:23:08.380 --> 00:23:12.720
area. When that happens, this town is dead. Better

00:23:12.720 --> 00:23:24.119
record my private stock. Hollywood Pictures and

00:23:24.119 --> 00:23:29.339
Amblin Entertainment present Arachnophobia. Eight

00:23:29.339 --> 00:23:33.039
legs, two fangs, and an attitude. Perk up, Lloyd.

00:23:33.240 --> 00:23:35.160
If we find the spider that did this, you can

00:23:35.160 --> 00:23:46.579
arrest him. Arachnophobia. A thrill -omedy. They

00:23:46.579 --> 00:23:50.019
were orphaned from childhood. Promise me you'll

00:23:50.019 --> 00:23:53.710
protect her. I promise. Best friends for life.

00:23:54.390 --> 00:23:58.049
He's playing with you. Hide and seek. You found

00:23:58.049 --> 00:24:01.269
me. Good thing Joe didn't want to play doctor.

00:24:02.890 --> 00:24:05.690
You think he's okay back there? He's doing fine.

00:24:08.029 --> 00:24:11.910
Now, after 20 years. Look at him. He won't eat.

00:24:11.990 --> 00:24:15.130
If he stays in here, he'll die. Their greatest

00:24:15.130 --> 00:24:19.789
adventure is about to begin. Oh, my God. All

00:24:19.789 --> 00:24:30.930
right, Jose. Joe needs me. Once you meet him,

00:24:31.009 --> 00:24:40.390
you'll never forget Joe! Disney's Mighty Joe

00:24:40.390 --> 00:24:43.769
Young. Can you get him to put me down? Joe, drop

00:24:43.769 --> 00:25:06.119
him. to Jurassic Park. We've made living biological

00:25:06.119 --> 00:25:08.980
attractions so astounding that they'll capture

00:25:08.980 --> 00:25:12.200
the imagination of the entire planet. The most

00:25:12.200 --> 00:25:15.980
phenomenal discovery of our time How'd you do

00:25:15.980 --> 00:25:20.099
that? becomes the greatest adventure of all time.

00:25:21.599 --> 00:25:27.039
Can I touch it? Sure. Universal Pictures presents

00:25:27.039 --> 00:25:32.640
You feel that? Hold on to your butts. A Steven

00:25:32.640 --> 00:25:37.059
Spielberg film. Senses of failing all over the

00:25:37.059 --> 00:25:40.619
park. Yeah, that's nice. Gotta go. An adventure.

00:25:41.059 --> 00:25:45.240
Look out! No! I can't get Jurassic Park back

00:25:45.240 --> 00:25:52.240
online. 65 million years in the making. Jurassic

00:25:52.240 --> 00:25:57.640
Park. So let's dive into the crew a little bit.

00:25:57.740 --> 00:26:01.079
The director, Frank Marshall. is probably a little

00:26:01.079 --> 00:26:04.380
bit better known as a producer. He founded Amblin

00:26:04.380 --> 00:26:06.799
Entertainment with his wife, Kathleen Kennedy,

00:26:07.000 --> 00:26:10.640
and with Steven Spielberg in 1980. Frank Marshall

00:26:10.640 --> 00:26:13.680
has produced a lot of movies by a lot of notable

00:26:13.680 --> 00:26:16.980
directors. Spielberg, Bogdanovich, David Fincher,

00:26:17.119 --> 00:26:20.039
M. Night Shyamalan, Robert Zemeckis, many others.

00:26:20.420 --> 00:26:23.220
Some of his movies that he produced were the

00:26:23.220 --> 00:26:25.640
Indiana Jones movies, Back to the Future, and

00:26:25.640 --> 00:26:28.500
Jurassic Park. So he's kind of ripping his own...

00:26:28.960 --> 00:26:31.640
product off here a little bit. But yeah, he's

00:26:31.640 --> 00:26:35.980
a super producer for sure. But he's also directed

00:26:35.980 --> 00:26:38.880
a couple of his own movies, including a film

00:26:38.880 --> 00:26:40.539
that we've talked about in the podcast before.

00:26:40.720 --> 00:26:42.000
Do you want to talk about that movie at all,

00:26:42.059 --> 00:26:44.680
Vincent? Well, it's your favorite movie. So I

00:26:44.680 --> 00:26:47.859
mean, it's arachnophobia, your favorite creature

00:26:47.859 --> 00:26:51.380
of the animal kingdom. Yeah. And I think arachnophobia

00:26:51.380 --> 00:26:55.519
and Congo are just so perfectly suited for comparing

00:26:55.519 --> 00:26:58.529
and contrasting. Because we had criticisms about

00:26:58.529 --> 00:27:03.109
the tone sometimes with arachnophobia, comedy

00:27:03.109 --> 00:27:10.009
versus horror. And I think that question is going

00:27:10.009 --> 00:27:13.710
to come back again even stronger with Congo for

00:27:13.710 --> 00:27:17.890
me. Again, is this a comedy or a horror film?

00:27:18.009 --> 00:27:23.309
Is it both? When is it the respective genre?

00:27:23.950 --> 00:27:28.200
Yeah. Frank Marshall. What are you doing sometimes?

00:27:29.640 --> 00:27:34.220
Yeah. A fair question, I think. Yeah. I would

00:27:34.220 --> 00:27:36.380
say the emphasis is definitely on comedy over

00:27:36.380 --> 00:27:39.359
horror in Congo, in my opinion, but we'll talk

00:27:39.359 --> 00:27:42.920
about that more. Yeah, absolutely. The screenplay

00:27:42.920 --> 00:27:46.160
is by John Patrick Shanley, a successful screenwriter

00:27:46.160 --> 00:27:48.900
who wrote scripts for Moonstruck. That was his

00:27:48.900 --> 00:27:51.019
second screenplay, and he won the Oscar for it,

00:27:51.039 --> 00:27:53.960
as well as Joe vs. the Volcano and a couple other

00:27:53.960 --> 00:27:56.500
movies. He's also a playwright. He's written

00:27:56.500 --> 00:27:59.900
over 23 plays, including Doubt, which was made

00:27:59.900 --> 00:28:02.279
into a movie. He also wrote the screenplay for

00:28:02.279 --> 00:28:05.319
the film adaptation of Doubt as well. So a fairly

00:28:05.319 --> 00:28:07.660
well -known name. I have to just say, this is

00:28:07.660 --> 00:28:11.240
my background as an actor. John Patrick Shanley

00:28:11.240 --> 00:28:13.519
is one of my favorite playwrights of all time.

00:28:14.000 --> 00:28:16.500
I have a number of his plays on my shelf. He

00:28:16.500 --> 00:28:19.599
has just a beautiful way of, not Doubt so much,

00:28:19.700 --> 00:28:23.539
but his other works just have like a... A beautiful

00:28:23.539 --> 00:28:27.880
sentimentality that's also grounded. It's just

00:28:27.880 --> 00:28:32.519
like very sincere and kind of off kilter, but

00:28:32.519 --> 00:28:37.900
always grounded. And I did not know he wrote

00:28:37.900 --> 00:28:40.799
this movie until after I watched it. And I went,

00:28:40.980 --> 00:28:44.099
John Patrick Shanley, I don't think this is your

00:28:44.099 --> 00:28:49.599
genre, man. You don't find the grounded empathy

00:28:49.599 --> 00:28:54.690
so much in this movie? Not so much, but I will

00:28:54.690 --> 00:28:57.829
say it all made sense because there was an exchange

00:28:57.829 --> 00:29:00.789
between the lead character, and I forget his

00:29:00.789 --> 00:29:04.109
name, and Laura Linney, who I might have a crush

00:29:04.109 --> 00:29:10.130
on. And the male protagonist says something about

00:29:10.130 --> 00:29:13.250
the lonely impulse of delight as his reason for

00:29:13.250 --> 00:29:17.390
pursuing this sign language experiment with the

00:29:17.390 --> 00:29:21.589
gorilla. And like the script goes off into like

00:29:21.589 --> 00:29:26.609
30 second tangent on this poetry by Yates. And

00:29:26.609 --> 00:29:31.329
that's Shanley. And I'll catch the chase here.

00:29:31.630 --> 00:29:33.990
John Patrick Shanley has a collection of plays

00:29:33.990 --> 00:29:36.450
called A Lonely Impulse of Delight. He has a

00:29:36.450 --> 00:29:39.470
play called A Lonely Impulse of Delight. Wow.

00:29:39.650 --> 00:29:42.569
And now I went, if I ever meet John Patrick Shanley,

00:29:42.650 --> 00:29:46.150
I'm going to tell him, sir, I watch Congo and

00:29:46.150 --> 00:29:50.670
I see what you did there. That's, I had no idea.

00:29:50.730 --> 00:29:53.470
That's amazing. I, you know, my background is

00:29:53.470 --> 00:29:55.930
not really in theater or playwrights all that

00:29:55.930 --> 00:29:57.569
much. So I love getting that insight. That's

00:29:57.569 --> 00:30:01.529
fascinating. Just such a, such a obscure Easter

00:30:01.529 --> 00:30:06.990
egg for acting nerds like me. Wow. That is so

00:30:06.990 --> 00:30:10.529
cool. Yeah. You're right. That moment's really

00:30:10.529 --> 00:30:13.009
out of place in this movie and in a good way,

00:30:13.049 --> 00:30:16.019
I think. You know, maybe like little bits here

00:30:16.019 --> 00:30:17.960
and there where like Laura Linney has like a

00:30:17.960 --> 00:30:21.920
combative relationship with the father of her

00:30:21.920 --> 00:30:25.039
ex -fiance, who also happens to be the CEO of

00:30:25.039 --> 00:30:27.160
the company that she works for. And they have

00:30:27.160 --> 00:30:29.700
this like little conflict where he's like, go

00:30:29.700 --> 00:30:32.279
to the jungles of Africa to like find this diamond

00:30:32.279 --> 00:30:36.420
that can create this communications invention

00:30:36.420 --> 00:30:38.890
that will make us rich. the story's a little

00:30:38.890 --> 00:30:41.690
preposterous. And she's like, oh, and also find

00:30:41.690 --> 00:30:44.029
your son's body, right? Like, aren't you interested

00:30:44.029 --> 00:30:46.329
in that too? And he's like, oh yeah, that also,

00:30:46.450 --> 00:30:48.809
but the diamond. And like, you know, it's not

00:30:48.809 --> 00:30:50.809
grounded by any means, but there's like a little

00:30:50.809 --> 00:30:54.009
bit of that character dynamic that's momentarily,

00:30:54.029 --> 00:30:57.710
it provides some conflict, you know? Maybe not

00:30:57.710 --> 00:30:59.589
at the level of John Patrick Shanley's other

00:30:59.589 --> 00:31:03.069
plays though, or plays in general. It did provide,

00:31:03.150 --> 00:31:08.140
no, it gave conflict. I don't know if it provided

00:31:08.140 --> 00:31:12.779
conflict. It's the barest semblance of a plot

00:31:12.779 --> 00:31:14.500
device, perhaps. That's a better way to put it.

00:31:15.880 --> 00:31:18.059
All right. Fair enough. I'm being too kind to

00:31:18.059 --> 00:31:21.319
this movie, perhaps. Well, it is. We'll go on.

00:31:22.220 --> 00:31:25.319
Yeah. More on that later. It is based on a book

00:31:25.319 --> 00:31:27.740
by Michael Crichton. Of course, Crichton also

00:31:27.740 --> 00:31:31.440
wrote the book Jurassic Park and many other extremely

00:31:31.440 --> 00:31:34.240
well -known novels that eventually were turned

00:31:34.240 --> 00:31:37.720
into movies. The Andromeda Strain. Sphere, Rising

00:31:37.720 --> 00:31:40.960
Sun, many others. You know, I would say he's

00:31:40.960 --> 00:31:42.900
like kind of in the Stephen King stratosphere

00:31:42.900 --> 00:31:46.099
of like celebrity authors. And there aren't probably

00:31:46.099 --> 00:31:48.180
too many of those. Unfortunately, there should

00:31:48.180 --> 00:31:50.420
be more of them. But he didn't really have much

00:31:50.420 --> 00:31:52.539
to do with the making of Congo, but he did write

00:31:52.539 --> 00:31:54.920
the book that it's based on. He did. Did he not

00:31:54.920 --> 00:31:58.740
have a hand in the screenplay? Well, initially

00:31:58.740 --> 00:32:01.160
he did. We'll maybe talk about this more in the

00:32:01.160 --> 00:32:04.230
production backstory. He had like the initial

00:32:04.230 --> 00:32:07.069
idea that gave rise to the project. But in the

00:32:07.069 --> 00:32:09.910
finished version, he basically had nothing to

00:32:09.910 --> 00:32:12.289
do with the screenplay or almost anything else

00:32:12.289 --> 00:32:15.029
in the movie. Hey, great. See, John Patrick,

00:32:15.269 --> 00:32:21.910
this is on you, brother. It's all Shanley. And,

00:32:22.009 --> 00:32:23.750
you know, it is based on the Crichton book. So

00:32:23.750 --> 00:32:26.269
there's he's he had a role in that way. But yeah.

00:32:27.699 --> 00:32:29.539
Just real quick, there are some big names in

00:32:29.539 --> 00:32:31.460
the rest of the crew of the movie, so I wanted

00:32:31.460 --> 00:32:33.279
to talk about them a little bit as well. The

00:32:33.279 --> 00:32:36.319
cinematographer is Alan Daviau, who worked with

00:32:36.319 --> 00:32:38.000
Spielberg a lot in the 80s, actually, before

00:32:38.000 --> 00:32:41.059
Spielberg started working with Janusz Kaminski

00:32:41.059 --> 00:32:43.099
pretty much all the time. He worked with Alan

00:32:43.099 --> 00:32:46.420
Daviau on E .T., The Color Purple, and Empire

00:32:46.420 --> 00:32:49.420
of the Sun. You know, pretty big names, obviously.

00:32:50.109 --> 00:32:52.710
Daviau also shot Harry and the Hendersons, Defending

00:32:52.710 --> 00:32:55.089
Your Life, and Bugsy, among some other movies.

00:32:55.250 --> 00:32:58.069
So a pretty big cinematographer in the 80s and

00:32:58.069 --> 00:33:03.509
90s. The editor is Annie Coates. Sorry, Anne

00:33:03.509 --> 00:33:06.509
Coates. She won an Oscar for editing Lawrence

00:33:06.509 --> 00:33:09.769
of Arabia, just a little movie some of you may

00:33:09.769 --> 00:33:13.289
have heard of. She also edited such classics

00:33:13.289 --> 00:33:16.240
as The Horse's Mouth. Beckett, The Elephant Man,

00:33:16.420 --> 00:33:19.240
Out of Sight, Aaron Brockovich, and many others.

00:33:20.059 --> 00:33:23.960
Yeah, big name there. Yeah. Other big names.

00:33:24.220 --> 00:33:27.279
Sorry, go ahead. Yeah, music is by Jerry Goldsmith.

00:33:27.559 --> 00:33:31.619
We talked about him last season. He scored Gremlins.

00:33:32.220 --> 00:33:35.160
But here he is directing Congo. He has scored

00:33:35.160 --> 00:33:38.299
over 200 films and TV programs. Just look at

00:33:38.299 --> 00:33:41.559
his Wikipedia page. As Matt, you say, a ridiculous

00:33:41.559 --> 00:33:45.190
list of well -known projects. Yeah. I started

00:33:45.190 --> 00:33:46.869
listing all of them on the Google Doc, and I

00:33:46.869 --> 00:33:49.029
was like, well, just look it up. I mean, it's

00:33:49.029 --> 00:33:53.029
an absurd list of movies and TV shows that everybody

00:33:53.029 --> 00:33:55.450
knows about. Jerry Goldsmith probably did the

00:33:55.450 --> 00:33:57.630
music for it. It's incredible. Another big name,

00:33:57.769 --> 00:33:59.569
last big name that we'll talk about on the crew

00:33:59.569 --> 00:34:02.089
is Stan Winston, of course, an extremely well

00:34:02.089 --> 00:34:04.369
-known special effects designer and makeup designer.

00:34:04.549 --> 00:34:06.670
We've talked about him numerous times on the

00:34:06.670 --> 00:34:09.230
podcast. He had just won an Oscar for his work

00:34:09.230 --> 00:34:13.420
on Jurassic Park two years before Congo. Yeah,

00:34:13.460 --> 00:34:15.639
tries to duplicate that success here. We'll talk

00:34:15.639 --> 00:34:18.000
a little bit more about his special effects later

00:34:18.000 --> 00:34:21.940
in the episode. Yeah. For whatever that's worth.

00:34:24.039 --> 00:34:27.099
Some big names in the cast, too. You mentioned

00:34:27.099 --> 00:34:28.860
you might have a little bit of a crush on Laura

00:34:28.860 --> 00:34:30.239
Linney. Do you want to talk about her at all?

00:34:30.559 --> 00:34:35.280
I mean, look up her Wikipedia page. No, no. I

00:34:35.280 --> 00:34:39.179
mean, I don't know her extensive work, but...

00:34:40.000 --> 00:34:44.320
My two favorite things she's in, she plays Abigail

00:34:44.320 --> 00:34:47.840
Adams in the HBO miniseries John Adams opposite

00:34:47.840 --> 00:34:50.440
Paul Giamatti. She's incredible in that. It's

00:34:50.440 --> 00:34:53.300
when I first got to know her. Got to know her.

00:34:53.340 --> 00:34:57.019
We're friends. And then she's just so much fun

00:34:57.019 --> 00:35:00.219
in The Truman Show. Yeah. Jim Carrey's wife.

00:35:01.780 --> 00:35:03.980
Truman Show is great. She's wonderful in that

00:35:03.980 --> 00:35:06.679
movie. Yeah. She just has like a really wonderful

00:35:06.679 --> 00:35:10.039
screen presence. Like she can drop it in and

00:35:10.039 --> 00:35:15.659
be really tough as nails. While also being like

00:35:15.659 --> 00:35:19.159
having a really sweet persona, blonde, blue eyes,

00:35:19.280 --> 00:35:22.699
kind of a, you know, a gentle face. But if you

00:35:22.699 --> 00:35:25.800
cross her again, she can be very tough as nails.

00:35:25.980 --> 00:35:28.019
So she kind of brings that same energy here.

00:35:28.079 --> 00:35:30.460
She plays Karen Ross, a communications expert.

00:35:31.679 --> 00:35:35.909
Yeah. So here she is doing her thing. Yeah. I

00:35:35.909 --> 00:35:37.670
really love her performance in You Can Count

00:35:37.670 --> 00:35:40.250
on Me, which is from the early 2000s. Mark Ruffalo

00:35:40.250 --> 00:35:44.710
is in that movie as well. Kind of a quiet, slow

00:35:44.710 --> 00:35:48.409
-paced drama, like a family drama. But she's

00:35:48.409 --> 00:35:50.849
really incredible, as is Mark Ruffalo. Very,

00:35:50.929 --> 00:35:53.050
very good movie. She's really good in Kinsey.

00:35:53.090 --> 00:35:56.369
She's great in a lot of stuff. Excuse me. Sorry.

00:35:57.190 --> 00:36:00.719
Well, that's all right. The cast also features

00:36:00.719 --> 00:36:04.599
Dylan Walsh as primatologist Peter Elliott. He's

00:36:04.599 --> 00:36:06.860
kind of well -known from Nip Tuck, the TV show.

00:36:07.000 --> 00:36:09.440
I feel like maybe he didn't have as huge of a

00:36:09.440 --> 00:36:11.659
film career as some of the other names in this

00:36:11.659 --> 00:36:15.940
cast, but here he is in Congo. I feel like my

00:36:15.940 --> 00:36:18.280
favorite performance in this movie, I don't know

00:36:18.280 --> 00:36:20.559
how you feel about this, but Ernie Hudson plays

00:36:20.559 --> 00:36:23.019
Captain Monroe Kelly, who's kind of like the

00:36:23.019 --> 00:36:27.360
adventurer who leads this motley crew of scientists

00:36:28.760 --> 00:36:31.659
congolese jungle and he's great he's very charismatic

00:36:31.659 --> 00:36:35.400
in this movie two things another another nerd

00:36:35.400 --> 00:36:38.420
alert here for theater folks but also we have

00:36:38.420 --> 00:36:44.659
a minnesota alert ernie hudson did live in minneapolis

00:36:44.659 --> 00:36:49.500
for a spell in the 70s i believe and here is

00:36:49.500 --> 00:36:55.059
some twin cities theater lore you ready so those

00:36:55.059 --> 00:36:58.369
of you don't know In Minneapolis, there is a

00:36:58.369 --> 00:37:01.309
very well -known community theater called Theater

00:37:01.309 --> 00:37:03.590
in the Round Players. I think they're in their

00:37:03.590 --> 00:37:06.070
80 -something season. So they've been around

00:37:06.070 --> 00:37:08.730
for almost a century. Now, they are community

00:37:08.730 --> 00:37:11.829
theater. They're in the heart of the city, surrounded

00:37:11.829 --> 00:37:15.610
by a number of for -profit theaters. But they

00:37:15.610 --> 00:37:17.389
are community theater, which means they do not

00:37:17.389 --> 00:37:20.530
pay their actors. For right or wrong, that's

00:37:20.530 --> 00:37:22.090
just the way community theater works, right?

00:37:22.750 --> 00:37:27.219
Ernie Hudson was in a play. at Theater on the

00:37:27.219 --> 00:37:29.619
Round in the 1970s called The Great White Hope,

00:37:29.780 --> 00:37:34.000
which is a play from the 70s. It's a boxing drama.

00:37:35.199 --> 00:37:38.820
And yes, he does refer to himself as the Great

00:37:38.820 --> 00:37:42.280
White Hope in Congo as well. So, John Patrick

00:37:42.280 --> 00:37:46.639
Stanley, I see you again. In the Twin Cities

00:37:46.639 --> 00:37:48.739
theater lore, Ernie Hudson is the only actor

00:37:48.739 --> 00:37:51.280
to have ever been paid at Theater on the Round.

00:37:51.820 --> 00:37:54.539
Because he was cast and then he said, no, I'm

00:37:54.539 --> 00:37:56.579
going to quit unless you pay me. And he was just

00:37:56.579 --> 00:37:58.960
a nobody actor. He was just trying to support

00:37:58.960 --> 00:38:03.519
his family in Minneapolis. And apparently Theater

00:38:03.519 --> 00:38:06.940
in the Round acquiesced and gave him money. So

00:38:06.940 --> 00:38:09.920
when I moved to the Twin Cities as an actor,

00:38:10.099 --> 00:38:13.199
I heard this story. Ernie Hudson's the only actor

00:38:13.199 --> 00:38:17.480
to get paid at Theater in the Round. That's amazing.

00:38:17.960 --> 00:38:20.559
Money well spent. I mean, I'm sure he was he

00:38:20.559 --> 00:38:25.159
was deserving of it, you know? Absolutely. He's

00:38:25.159 --> 00:38:28.539
so much fun. Ghostbusters aside. I mean, again,

00:38:28.659 --> 00:38:33.280
he just brings a very sincere warmth, I think,

00:38:33.280 --> 00:38:37.239
to his performances. Yeah, I think he's clearly

00:38:37.239 --> 00:38:39.679
having fun in the role. He actually said it in

00:38:39.679 --> 00:38:41.579
an interview that this was his favorite role

00:38:41.579 --> 00:38:43.900
that he ever played in a movie anyway, which

00:38:43.900 --> 00:38:49.219
is surprising. I think. Yeah, because, you know,

00:38:49.260 --> 00:38:51.599
I mean, he's been in other better movies and

00:38:51.599 --> 00:38:53.980
TV shows, but I mean, he's clearly having fun

00:38:53.980 --> 00:38:55.340
here and it's a lot of fun to watch him in this

00:38:55.340 --> 00:38:58.619
movie. Yeah, yeah. And I will talk about this

00:38:58.619 --> 00:39:00.960
more, but and you alluded to this, Vincent, but

00:39:00.960 --> 00:39:03.639
like the character type that he's playing is

00:39:03.639 --> 00:39:06.420
like the great white hunter who like ventures

00:39:06.420 --> 00:39:09.380
into the jungles of, you know, Africa and like

00:39:09.380 --> 00:39:12.699
conquers nature and like is more powerful than

00:39:12.699 --> 00:39:15.329
everybody else. And like. I feel like Ernie Hudson

00:39:15.329 --> 00:39:20.269
knows the power and the kind of intentionality

00:39:20.269 --> 00:39:22.789
of like having him play this role. I think the

00:39:22.789 --> 00:39:24.869
role, the line that you alluded to, he says like,

00:39:24.989 --> 00:39:27.489
I'm the great white hunter who also happens to

00:39:27.489 --> 00:39:29.929
be black. And it's just, it's one of the more,

00:39:30.010 --> 00:39:32.230
it's not like brilliant or anything, but it's

00:39:32.230 --> 00:39:33.690
one of the more clever lines in the movie, I

00:39:33.690 --> 00:39:36.550
would say. Yeah. And along those lines, they

00:39:36.550 --> 00:39:39.789
come across a group of natives in the jungle

00:39:39.789 --> 00:39:43.369
and they. The natives are taken aback that the

00:39:43.369 --> 00:39:46.889
leader of the expedition is Ernie Hudson, a black

00:39:46.889 --> 00:39:51.210
man. And Hudson says to the white members of

00:39:51.210 --> 00:39:54.190
his crew, he says, they're laughing because the

00:39:54.190 --> 00:39:57.829
leaders are usually white. And they didn't believe

00:39:57.829 --> 00:40:02.130
that I would be leading you all. Again, I don't

00:40:02.130 --> 00:40:05.750
think it's like the most profound line, but I

00:40:05.750 --> 00:40:07.769
do think it is more clever than a lot of other

00:40:07.769 --> 00:40:12.260
lines in this movie. Yeah, that's a backhanded

00:40:12.260 --> 00:40:13.900
compliment. But yeah, I would agree with that.

00:40:14.400 --> 00:40:17.579
No, you're right. I think the movie is at least

00:40:17.579 --> 00:40:21.139
aware of some of those tropes and tries very

00:40:21.139 --> 00:40:23.539
lazily to like subvert them a little bit, you

00:40:23.539 --> 00:40:26.239
know? Yeah, yeah, yeah. But it's good. And yeah,

00:40:26.340 --> 00:40:29.940
Ernie Hudson is a delight to see in this movie.

00:40:30.320 --> 00:40:32.809
Yeah, for sure. Lots of other big names in the

00:40:32.809 --> 00:40:35.369
cast as well. Maybe we'll just kind of blaze

00:40:35.369 --> 00:40:37.690
through the rest of these real quick. Tim Curry,

00:40:37.909 --> 00:40:41.489
the legendary Tim Curry, stars as Herkimer Homolka,

00:40:41.670 --> 00:40:44.050
which is maybe my favorite character name of

00:40:44.050 --> 00:40:46.969
all time. Really love that name, Herkimer Homolka.

00:40:47.369 --> 00:40:50.530
Tim Curry's great in this movie. You have Joe

00:40:50.530 --> 00:40:54.070
Don Baker as the CEO of Travacom. I know him

00:40:54.070 --> 00:40:55.869
most of all from several different James Bond

00:40:55.869 --> 00:40:58.949
movies. He's always a fun presence. Do you want

00:40:58.949 --> 00:41:00.349
to talk about a couple of the actors here as

00:41:00.349 --> 00:41:04.079
well? Sure. I just want to say Tim Curry, I don't

00:41:04.079 --> 00:41:06.679
know, maybe to a generation best known for Home

00:41:06.679 --> 00:41:10.760
Alone 2, Lost in New York. But no, more importantly,

00:41:10.940 --> 00:41:14.099
his role as Dr. Frankenfurter in the Rocky Horror

00:41:14.099 --> 00:41:17.860
Picture Show is iconic. And if you haven't seen

00:41:17.860 --> 00:41:20.679
that movie, it is also celebrating its 50th anniversary

00:41:20.679 --> 00:41:25.639
this year and is just an iconic piece of filmmaking.

00:41:25.880 --> 00:41:29.260
So plug there for that. Yeah, that's a good point.

00:41:29.340 --> 00:41:32.300
My favorite Tim Curry performance is as the devil

00:41:32.300 --> 00:41:35.099
in the movie Legend by Ridley Scott. I actually

00:41:35.099 --> 00:41:36.860
really love that movie. My favorite Ridley Scott

00:41:36.860 --> 00:41:39.639
movie, maybe except for Alien. But Legend is

00:41:39.639 --> 00:41:41.940
awesome. And Tim Curry is so cool in that movie.

00:41:42.119 --> 00:41:46.980
Yeah, big Curry fan there. What are we talking

00:41:46.980 --> 00:41:50.019
about? We're talking about Delroy Lindo as Captain

00:41:50.019 --> 00:41:53.579
Wanta. Uncredited for some reason, but the same

00:41:53.579 --> 00:41:55.940
year he also starred in the excellent Spike Lee

00:41:55.940 --> 00:42:01.099
movie Clockers. We have Joe Pantoliono. He was

00:42:01.099 --> 00:42:04.300
in The Fugitive, Bad Boys, The Matrix. Oh, that's

00:42:04.300 --> 00:42:09.500
right. Baby's Day Out. Don't forget. I was going

00:42:09.500 --> 00:42:11.039
to put that on here and then I was like, why

00:42:11.039 --> 00:42:12.659
would I put that on here? Who cares about that

00:42:12.659 --> 00:42:14.860
movie? Apparently I was wrong. Sorry, Vincent.

00:42:15.000 --> 00:42:17.760
Who cares about Baby's Day? Who cares about The

00:42:17.760 --> 00:42:22.380
Matrix? No. Come on. I just want. Sorry, I hit

00:42:22.380 --> 00:42:24.019
a nerve there. No, I like The Matrix. I just

00:42:24.019 --> 00:42:27.869
revisited it. And yeah, he's really. He's really

00:42:27.869 --> 00:42:30.329
a villain, like dastardly in that movie, like

00:42:30.329 --> 00:42:32.769
in a bad way. He's like, he's a bad, he's a bad

00:42:32.769 --> 00:42:36.130
man. He plays a good weasel. Yeah, he does. That's

00:42:36.130 --> 00:42:39.650
the word. Great weasel. Also small roles for

00:42:39.650 --> 00:42:42.849
John Hawks. I don't know how to pronounce this

00:42:42.849 --> 00:42:48.929
name. Yeah. Who's well known from a lot of TV

00:42:48.929 --> 00:42:52.150
shows like Lost and Oz and some other shows.

00:42:52.469 --> 00:42:55.389
He has a small role here. Yeah. Long time stage

00:42:55.389 --> 00:42:58.559
actor as well. I was a big Lost fan in the day,

00:42:58.639 --> 00:43:02.840
so I recognized him and was a fan. But Bruce

00:43:02.840 --> 00:43:05.659
Campbell, we have yet to talk about it. This

00:43:05.659 --> 00:43:08.519
is our first Bruce Campbell movie on Camp Kaiju.

00:43:09.179 --> 00:43:13.949
Wow. I guess you're right. Weird. I guess it

00:43:13.949 --> 00:43:15.489
might have been better for a different Bruce

00:43:15.489 --> 00:43:17.269
Campbell movie to be our first one that we talk

00:43:17.269 --> 00:43:20.329
about on Camp Kaiju. But it's, yeah, we might

00:43:20.329 --> 00:43:22.170
have briefly mentioned his name before. He has

00:43:22.170 --> 00:43:25.429
a small cameo at the beginning. And I feel like

00:43:25.429 --> 00:43:28.530
that's kind of just like throwing a bone to the

00:43:28.530 --> 00:43:30.989
monster movie fans, the horror fans in the audience,

00:43:31.190 --> 00:43:33.429
you know, to see him right away. Yeah, yeah.

00:43:33.690 --> 00:43:38.269
Horror icon. The Evil Dead series. He's in an

00:43:38.269 --> 00:43:43.079
offbeat movie called Bubba Hotep. He's just he's

00:43:43.079 --> 00:43:47.500
he's a legend in his own time. And he's I actually

00:43:47.500 --> 00:43:51.340
follow him on Instagram or some like official

00:43:51.340 --> 00:43:54.320
Bruce Campbell account. But he's always talking

00:43:54.320 --> 00:43:57.780
at conventions about these movies and about Hollywood.

00:43:57.820 --> 00:44:01.980
And, you know, I think I think he also has some

00:44:01.980 --> 00:44:04.039
insight because like he never made it as an A

00:44:04.039 --> 00:44:07.139
-lister. He's very well suited for these types

00:44:07.139 --> 00:44:10.030
of supporting roles that you see in Congo. Where

00:44:10.030 --> 00:44:12.090
he's a little goofy, he's a little charming,

00:44:12.309 --> 00:44:16.090
but he's also a hunk, you know? So he's not,

00:44:16.190 --> 00:44:20.730
yeah, like he looks like a leading man, but he

00:44:20.730 --> 00:44:24.130
has the energy of a supporting player. That's

00:44:24.130 --> 00:44:26.170
a great way to put it, yeah. I feel like the

00:44:26.170 --> 00:44:28.190
Evil Dead movies were really perfect for him

00:44:28.190 --> 00:44:31.389
because like they just suit, like the sense of

00:44:31.389 --> 00:44:35.369
humor in those movies suits his. persona so well.

00:44:35.650 --> 00:44:37.670
Those are the only movies where he could play

00:44:37.670 --> 00:44:42.030
the lead and get away with it. In Congo, he auditioned

00:44:42.030 --> 00:44:45.170
for the Dylan Walsh character, the primatologist,

00:44:45.309 --> 00:44:48.210
who's the main male lead in the movie. He was

00:44:48.210 --> 00:44:50.690
not cast in that role, but he did have this two

00:44:50.690 --> 00:44:52.650
-minute cameo at the beginning. For a movie like

00:44:52.650 --> 00:44:56.329
this, that's probably the ideal usage for him.

00:44:56.929 --> 00:45:01.650
At the same time, and this is me jumping ahead

00:45:01.650 --> 00:45:04.639
a little bit, I feel like the actor who plays

00:45:04.639 --> 00:45:10.119
Peter, Dylan Walsh. I feel like he, unfortunately,

00:45:10.179 --> 00:45:16.980
is forgettable amidst this ensemble of either

00:45:16.980 --> 00:45:21.420
kooky characters like Tim Curry, like Ernie Hudson.

00:45:21.880 --> 00:45:24.579
Laura Linney's not kooky, but she has tremendous

00:45:24.579 --> 00:45:27.320
screen presence. And I feel like Dylan Walsh

00:45:27.320 --> 00:45:30.039
just kind of gets lost. I mean, he's certainly

00:45:30.039 --> 00:45:33.349
upstaged by his gorilla. yeah which is hilarious

00:45:33.349 --> 00:45:36.949
so so i don't know i don't know maybe maybe for

00:45:36.949 --> 00:45:41.210
me bruce campbell in that role while he would

00:45:41.210 --> 00:45:43.289
have been over the top maybe that's the energy

00:45:43.289 --> 00:45:47.630
i i wanted more of from this character the dylan

00:45:47.630 --> 00:45:50.849
wall yeah i think that's fair his character the

00:45:50.849 --> 00:45:53.449
dylan walsh character is very bland and forgettable

00:45:53.449 --> 00:45:56.389
in this movie i think he's kind of meant to be

00:45:56.389 --> 00:45:59.860
like the emotional anchor a little bit like he

00:45:59.860 --> 00:46:01.900
has this very sincere relationship with amy the

00:46:01.900 --> 00:46:05.059
gorilla that he communicates with and has this

00:46:05.059 --> 00:46:08.119
kind of father -daughter relationship with almost

00:46:08.119 --> 00:46:10.719
but yeah i mean it's just kind of boring and

00:46:10.719 --> 00:46:12.099
like with everything else going on it's like

00:46:12.099 --> 00:46:13.800
who cares about this guy let's get back to like

00:46:13.800 --> 00:46:16.039
the killer apes you know yeah so i agree with

00:46:16.039 --> 00:46:18.039
you yeah but if bruce campbell had played that

00:46:18.039 --> 00:46:19.699
role it almost might have been like too much

00:46:19.699 --> 00:46:21.239
like everything in this movie would have been

00:46:21.239 --> 00:46:23.460
like over the top you know i also agree with

00:46:23.460 --> 00:46:27.880
that statement so i don't know man I would like

00:46:27.880 --> 00:46:30.079
to see that version of this movie. It probably

00:46:30.079 --> 00:46:32.780
would have been pretty awesome. We'll never know.

00:46:34.159 --> 00:46:35.980
I did just want to mention real quick that there

00:46:35.980 --> 00:46:38.679
is also a team of actors in the creature suits

00:46:38.679 --> 00:46:41.340
playing Amy the gorilla and the other gorillas

00:46:41.340 --> 00:46:44.599
as well. So it's not purely animatronic. Some

00:46:44.599 --> 00:46:47.780
of them are actors in suits. And I think it comes

00:46:47.780 --> 00:46:50.340
off pretty well. I do too. Great special effects.

00:46:50.780 --> 00:46:54.679
And something that today would be CGI. Yeah.

00:46:54.719 --> 00:46:57.409
And I think you lose something. the tangibility

00:46:57.409 --> 00:47:02.610
going the computer route. Exactly. Yep. I, I've,

00:47:02.730 --> 00:47:05.710
you know, made my opinions about that clear many

00:47:05.710 --> 00:47:08.030
times on Camp Kaiju, but I, this, this movie

00:47:08.030 --> 00:47:10.369
reminds me of that again. And like, you know,

00:47:10.409 --> 00:47:13.489
I see the CGI and like Godzilla X Kong, whatever

00:47:13.489 --> 00:47:15.670
the full title of that movie is. And it's like,

00:47:15.789 --> 00:47:19.250
yeah, give me an actor in a suit over CGI any

00:47:19.250 --> 00:47:23.829
day. Yeah. In my day. Yeah. I'll, I'll leave

00:47:23.829 --> 00:47:28.360
it at that. So diving into the production backstory

00:47:28.360 --> 00:47:30.739
of the film a little bit, as I mentioned earlier,

00:47:30.900 --> 00:47:33.579
Michael Crichton did come up with the idea for

00:47:33.579 --> 00:47:37.260
Congo. It actually started with a movie from

00:47:37.260 --> 00:47:41.039
1978 called The First Great Train Robbery that

00:47:41.039 --> 00:47:43.059
Crichton wrote and directed, and it was based

00:47:43.059 --> 00:47:46.139
on his own novel. So he played a major role in

00:47:46.139 --> 00:47:48.980
that movie. Sean Connery was in that one. That

00:47:48.980 --> 00:47:50.699
movie did pretty well, so Crichton wanted to

00:47:50.699 --> 00:47:52.880
work with Sean Connery again. He came up with

00:47:52.880 --> 00:47:56.320
an idea to kind of update. King Solomon's Mines,

00:47:56.340 --> 00:47:59.980
the 1885 novel for a modern setting. And he wanted

00:47:59.980 --> 00:48:02.820
Connery to play this kind of great white hunter

00:48:02.820 --> 00:48:05.780
inspired by the Alan Quartermain character from

00:48:05.780 --> 00:48:08.840
that book. Creighton also said he was interested

00:48:08.840 --> 00:48:12.099
in new sign language communication techniques

00:48:12.099 --> 00:48:15.579
used with primates around that time. So that

00:48:15.579 --> 00:48:18.119
was where the genesis of the idea first came

00:48:18.119 --> 00:48:21.659
from in the late 1970s. He actually did pitch

00:48:21.659 --> 00:48:24.559
that idea to 20th Century Fox, and they wanted

00:48:24.559 --> 00:48:26.840
to make it. They were ready to give him the money,

00:48:26.900 --> 00:48:29.800
especially with Sean Connery attached. But they

00:48:29.800 --> 00:48:32.019
would not let Crichton use an actual gorilla

00:48:32.019 --> 00:48:34.719
in the role of Amy. And that apparently was a

00:48:34.719 --> 00:48:36.880
deal breaker for Crichton. So he was like, nope,

00:48:36.980 --> 00:48:38.940
not going to do it. If I can't have a real gorilla,

00:48:39.079 --> 00:48:41.699
I'm out of this project. So he did step away.

00:48:41.860 --> 00:48:43.980
He did write the book Congo, which was published

00:48:43.980 --> 00:48:47.079
in 1980. seems like kind of a weird hell to die

00:48:47.079 --> 00:48:49.019
on to me. I know it was the late seventies slash

00:48:49.019 --> 00:48:52.019
early eighties, but you know, you had movies

00:48:52.019 --> 00:48:55.199
like King Kong, you had like special effects

00:48:55.199 --> 00:48:57.900
was like advancing pretty rapidly at the time.

00:48:57.900 --> 00:48:59.500
So it just seems weird to me that he would step

00:48:59.500 --> 00:49:03.960
away for that reason. It does. Does he, I mean,

00:49:03.980 --> 00:49:05.800
we'll get into this. I will get into this with

00:49:05.800 --> 00:49:09.179
some of my criticisms later on, but I, you know,

00:49:09.179 --> 00:49:13.050
a real gorilla might not be the. Easiest animal

00:49:13.050 --> 00:49:20.269
to handle on set, Michael Crichton. Yeah. There

00:49:20.269 --> 00:49:23.829
might be a reason they're not used in movies.

00:49:26.489 --> 00:49:30.789
I don't know. I'm not trying to make fun of Michael

00:49:30.789 --> 00:49:33.539
Crichton, but it's like... I feel like he was

00:49:33.539 --> 00:49:35.480
just like, oh, it'll be fine. I can do it. I've

00:49:35.480 --> 00:49:37.099
never worked with gorillas before, but I'm a

00:49:37.099 --> 00:49:40.239
movie director. I can do anything like I. Yeah,

00:49:40.340 --> 00:49:42.280
like I feel like the studio might have made the

00:49:42.280 --> 00:49:44.340
right decision in that case. Almost definitely.

00:49:44.860 --> 00:49:48.159
Yeah. Yeah. Well, well, Michael Crichton turns

00:49:48.159 --> 00:49:52.699
out all right in the end. Yes. Yeah. Yeah. He's

00:49:52.699 --> 00:49:56.329
doing OK for himself. 20th Century Fox did still

00:49:56.329 --> 00:49:57.789
want to move ahead with the production of the

00:49:57.789 --> 00:50:00.250
film, though. Steven Spielberg and John Carpenter

00:50:00.250 --> 00:50:03.650
were both attached to direct very briefly in

00:50:03.650 --> 00:50:06.349
the early 80s, but those plans kind of fell apart

00:50:06.349 --> 00:50:08.789
and it just never really got off the ground in

00:50:08.789 --> 00:50:11.929
the 80s. Yeah. Do you want to talk a little bit

00:50:11.929 --> 00:50:14.309
about the production after Frank Marshall got

00:50:14.309 --> 00:50:17.590
on board? Sure. Frank Marshall revitalized the

00:50:17.590 --> 00:50:20.570
projects in the 1990s, perhaps inspired by the

00:50:20.570 --> 00:50:23.510
success of Jurassic Park. And although Crichton

00:50:23.510 --> 00:50:25.989
was publicized as the film's co -writer, he had

00:50:25.989 --> 00:50:29.010
little to no involvement with it. Filming took

00:50:29.010 --> 00:50:31.250
place mostly in California, with limited footage

00:50:31.250 --> 00:50:35.289
shot in Costa Rica, Tanzania, Kenya, and Uganda.

00:50:36.389 --> 00:50:40.250
Stan Winston's team designed the suits and animatronics

00:50:40.250 --> 00:50:44.130
for Amy, the gray gorillas, a .k .a. those mutant...

00:50:44.130 --> 00:50:46.389
No, they're not mutant gorillas so much, but

00:50:46.389 --> 00:50:49.190
they're the bloodthirsty, vicious gorillas at

00:50:49.190 --> 00:50:53.579
the end. And the hippopotamus! Yeah, their boats

00:50:53.579 --> 00:50:57.460
get attacked by hippos, which is a wild scene,

00:50:57.599 --> 00:51:01.900
and the hippos are all puppets or animatronics,

00:51:02.139 --> 00:51:06.840
which is fun. I've never seen hippos attack in

00:51:06.840 --> 00:51:10.519
a movie before. Yeah, it's a cool scene. It takes

00:51:10.519 --> 00:51:13.320
place at night, and they're trying to cross a

00:51:13.320 --> 00:51:16.000
river, so it's hard to tell what's going on,

00:51:16.099 --> 00:51:18.719
and I feel like maybe that's too... cover up

00:51:18.719 --> 00:51:20.440
the special effects a little bit, but like it

00:51:20.440 --> 00:51:23.239
still works pretty well. Yeah. Yeah. It's a fun

00:51:23.239 --> 00:51:26.000
moment of action. Now, however, Stan Winston

00:51:26.000 --> 00:51:29.699
did regret giving Amy the quote cuter features

00:51:29.699 --> 00:51:32.420
of a lowland gorilla rather than the mountain

00:51:32.420 --> 00:51:35.539
gorilla that she was supposed to be. And Matt,

00:51:35.619 --> 00:51:38.380
you've added a source that provides interesting

00:51:38.380 --> 00:51:41.320
info about Amy's design. So you all listeners

00:51:41.320 --> 00:51:44.440
can check that out in the show notes. Yeah, and

00:51:44.440 --> 00:51:47.760
that source will be, or it is like, it's from

00:51:47.760 --> 00:51:50.159
Stan Winston's website, like his company's website.

00:51:50.340 --> 00:51:52.480
And it goes into a lot of detail about the special

00:51:52.480 --> 00:51:54.619
effects in the movie. So pretty fascinating.

00:51:54.699 --> 00:51:56.800
We don't really have time to cover all that in

00:51:56.800 --> 00:51:59.219
the episode, but check out that resource if you

00:51:59.219 --> 00:52:01.960
want to take a look. Sweet. But the thing about

00:52:01.960 --> 00:52:05.489
Stan Winston regretting giving Amy... like the

00:52:05.489 --> 00:52:07.989
cuter features of a lowland gorilla instead of

00:52:07.989 --> 00:52:09.849
a mountain gorilla. He was like, I was probably

00:52:09.849 --> 00:52:12.309
a mistake because it like, you know, took away

00:52:12.309 --> 00:52:14.969
from the realism of the movie, which I just think

00:52:14.969 --> 00:52:17.429
is a really hilarious quote. Like that's not

00:52:17.429 --> 00:52:19.469
what's taking away from the realism of this movie,

00:52:19.550 --> 00:52:22.409
Stan Winston. Like nobody really cares if it

00:52:22.409 --> 00:52:24.269
looks like a lowland gorilla or a mountain gorilla.

00:52:24.309 --> 00:52:26.590
And I'm being a little, a little sarcastic right

00:52:26.590 --> 00:52:28.690
now, but like this movie is not going for realism,

00:52:28.750 --> 00:52:30.989
you know? Well, that's very true. I gotta be

00:52:30.989 --> 00:52:33.949
honest. I couldn't, I could not tell a lowland

00:52:33.949 --> 00:52:36.869
gorilla from a mountain gorilla. You, I watched

00:52:36.869 --> 00:52:41.190
this movie and I see gorillas. Right. And I don't

00:52:41.190 --> 00:52:42.989
think anybody would watch this movie and be like,

00:52:43.070 --> 00:52:45.730
you know, I was convinced I was on board the

00:52:45.730 --> 00:52:48.989
entire time, except that gorilla Amy did not

00:52:48.989 --> 00:52:50.989
look like a mountain gorilla. I don't think anybody

00:52:50.989 --> 00:52:53.489
would have had that thought, but Stan Winston

00:52:53.489 --> 00:52:56.389
apparently did. Yeah. Which is why, I mean, that's,

00:52:56.389 --> 00:52:58.429
that's great. He's like all about realism and

00:52:58.429 --> 00:53:01.010
perfection. And that's what a film artist should

00:53:01.010 --> 00:53:03.440
be, you know? But then again, I'm sure Jane Goodall

00:53:03.440 --> 00:53:07.000
saw this movie and immediately knew the difference.

00:53:09.059 --> 00:53:13.179
You might be right about that. I hope she did

00:53:13.179 --> 00:53:15.179
see this movie. I would be fascinated to hear

00:53:15.179 --> 00:53:17.380
her thoughts about it. Maybe she loves it. She's

00:53:17.380 --> 00:53:22.099
like a secret fan of trashy ape movies. Yeah.

00:53:22.519 --> 00:53:25.280
I would be delighted if that were the case. I

00:53:25.280 --> 00:53:31.190
hope that is true. Oh, man. We're having a little

00:53:31.190 --> 00:53:33.789
fun with this movie, and that's maybe not too

00:53:33.789 --> 00:53:35.630
surprising because this movie was kind of critically

00:53:35.630 --> 00:53:38.130
reviled when it came out. It got pretty bad reviews.

00:53:38.449 --> 00:53:41.429
A lot of critics, you know, attacked the thin

00:53:41.429 --> 00:53:44.769
characters, the cheesy special effects, the unoriginality

00:53:44.769 --> 00:53:47.449
in some of the camp humor, which I personally

00:53:47.449 --> 00:53:49.869
am okay with. But yeah, this movie got a lot

00:53:49.869 --> 00:53:53.289
of bad reviews. It was nominated for seven Razzies

00:53:53.289 --> 00:53:57.389
or Golden Raspberry Awards, which celebrate or

00:53:57.389 --> 00:54:00.219
dishonor the worst movies of the year. So critically,

00:54:00.260 --> 00:54:03.420
it did not do too well. So even though Congo

00:54:03.420 --> 00:54:06.800
was not a critical success, it was surprisingly

00:54:06.800 --> 00:54:10.639
a commercial success. It grossed $24 .6 million

00:54:10.639 --> 00:54:13.579
in its first weekend. It was the number one film

00:54:13.579 --> 00:54:16.320
at the box office that weekend. Far exceeding

00:54:16.320 --> 00:54:20.159
expectations. Ultimately grossed about $152 million

00:54:20.159 --> 00:54:24.800
against a $50 million budget. So commercial success

00:54:24.800 --> 00:54:28.360
way beyond what the studio expected. A lot of

00:54:28.360 --> 00:54:30.039
that had to do with all the kind of promotional

00:54:30.039 --> 00:54:33.400
tie -ins that Congo had. They had marketing deals

00:54:33.400 --> 00:54:36.780
with Taco Bell and Pepsi. There was a 1996 Sega

00:54:36.780 --> 00:54:39.400
game that came out based on the movie, a computer

00:54:39.400 --> 00:54:43.059
game, even a pinball machine game that came out

00:54:43.059 --> 00:54:46.960
as a tie -in to Congo. So yeah, not a critical

00:54:46.960 --> 00:54:50.420
success, but commercially, in terms of marketing

00:54:50.420 --> 00:54:55.219
promotions, huge success. Which I... love, no

00:54:55.219 --> 00:54:57.340
matter how I feel about this movie, this is the

00:54:57.340 --> 00:54:59.960
type of movie I love talking about on Camp Kaiju,

00:55:00.059 --> 00:55:04.059
where it was a hit in its day, and 30 years later,

00:55:04.199 --> 00:55:09.699
is it worth still watching, talking about? Does

00:55:09.699 --> 00:55:11.960
it stand the test of time? We will find out.

00:55:12.579 --> 00:55:16.059
You and I will give our expert opinions on Congo.

00:55:16.639 --> 00:55:19.039
Oh yeah, we will indeed. I'm already starting

00:55:19.039 --> 00:55:21.000
to sense they might diverge a little bit, but

00:55:21.000 --> 00:55:24.659
that's quite alright. Roger Ebert, Gave this

00:55:24.659 --> 00:55:29.480
high marks. Did you read that? I did. Yeah. Three

00:55:29.480 --> 00:55:31.739
out of four. So like relatively high, higher

00:55:31.739 --> 00:55:34.639
than most other critics. And so much higher than

00:55:34.639 --> 00:55:38.000
he usually gives these types of movies. Yeah.

00:55:38.039 --> 00:55:40.659
I feel like he did sometimes like kind of cheesy

00:55:40.659 --> 00:55:43.940
popcorn entertainment, but yeah, usually if they're

00:55:43.940 --> 00:55:46.159
this, this ridiculous, he doesn't, doesn't usually

00:55:46.159 --> 00:55:48.980
like them all that much. Yeah. Yeah. But, you

00:55:48.980 --> 00:55:51.119
know, I feel compelled to say that this movie

00:55:51.119 --> 00:55:53.300
does have a little bit of a cult following now.

00:55:53.579 --> 00:55:55.639
Some recent reviews have been a little bit more

00:55:55.639 --> 00:55:58.159
positive. There's a writer for the A .V. Club,

00:55:58.300 --> 00:56:00.739
which doesn't exist anymore, sadly, but his name

00:56:00.739 --> 00:56:04.920
is Ignaty Vishnevetsky, and he had a really positive

00:56:04.920 --> 00:56:08.219
review of the movie Congo. The A .V. Club used

00:56:08.219 --> 00:56:10.019
to have this series where they would, like, revisit

00:56:10.019 --> 00:56:13.199
notorious bombs back in the day, and he gave

00:56:13.199 --> 00:56:15.500
this one a good review, and he said, I'll just

00:56:15.500 --> 00:56:18.000
call out one line of his review. He said, is

00:56:18.000 --> 00:56:20.800
Congo a good film? It's certainly a good time.

00:56:21.480 --> 00:56:23.239
And that's like an obvious thing to say, but

00:56:23.239 --> 00:56:25.440
I love it. That kind of speaks to the, to why

00:56:25.440 --> 00:56:28.219
I like this movie so much as well. Cool. Cool.

00:56:28.340 --> 00:56:32.199
Yeah. Bit of a cold movie. Maybe. Awesome. I

00:56:32.199 --> 00:56:34.940
remember talking in our ever a conversation about,

00:56:35.099 --> 00:56:40.480
you know, tastes and what we enjoy is so individualistic

00:56:40.480 --> 00:56:43.340
because some people love ever a horror of the

00:56:43.340 --> 00:56:48.599
deep. We do not. And you know, that's, that's

00:56:48.599 --> 00:56:53.039
what art is. And especially pop art, you know,

00:56:53.059 --> 00:56:55.960
can be that divisive. And I think that's, that's

00:56:55.960 --> 00:56:59.519
a wonderful thing. Absolutely. It's subjective.

00:56:59.699 --> 00:57:03.019
And that's why people should feel strongly about

00:57:03.019 --> 00:57:05.800
the movies they love or hate, but you know, preferably

00:57:05.800 --> 00:57:09.619
the movies they love. Yeah. I just want to add

00:57:09.619 --> 00:57:12.239
that, you know, I was watching Congo and I was

00:57:12.239 --> 00:57:16.139
thinking, I feel like the nineties were a big

00:57:16.139 --> 00:57:21.760
time for ape monkey movies. Hmm. How do you feel

00:57:21.760 --> 00:57:24.300
about that statement? Yep. There was mighty Joe

00:57:24.300 --> 00:57:27.440
young. Let me go through a list for you. Yeah.

00:57:27.539 --> 00:57:31.000
First of all, there's George of the jungle, which

00:57:31.000 --> 00:57:35.179
features ape or actors in ape costumes, right?

00:57:35.699 --> 00:57:42.099
You had Dunstan checks in. You had. Movies called

00:57:42.099 --> 00:57:46.079
Monkey Trouble, Monkey Business. There's a movie

00:57:46.079 --> 00:57:49.400
called Ed with Matt LeBlanc. It looks like a

00:57:49.400 --> 00:57:52.920
baseball movie with a chimpanzee. I'm not saying

00:57:52.920 --> 00:57:55.340
these were like wide released films, but I've

00:57:55.340 --> 00:57:59.179
heard of some of these. Summer of the Monkeys

00:57:59.179 --> 00:58:07.440
from 1998. I think it was a thing. Yeah, that's

00:58:07.440 --> 00:58:09.880
a good point. Now that you mention it, George

00:58:09.880 --> 00:58:12.159
of the Jungle, Ed, I definitely remember those.

00:58:12.199 --> 00:58:15.420
Mighty Joe Young, like I said. Why do you think

00:58:15.420 --> 00:58:18.980
that is? Was there something? I don't know. Something

00:58:18.980 --> 00:58:22.519
socially? Politically or in the air? I don't

00:58:22.519 --> 00:58:25.840
know. I feel like in the 80s, you had an explosion

00:58:25.840 --> 00:58:28.659
of body horror films. I feel like because the

00:58:28.659 --> 00:58:33.519
technology now allowed you to make those effects.

00:58:33.699 --> 00:58:39.139
So maybe by the 90s, ape acting. In suits and

00:58:39.139 --> 00:58:43.059
puppetry and animatronics, we're just at a point

00:58:43.059 --> 00:58:45.659
where, you know, we could do this. We could bring

00:58:45.659 --> 00:58:49.840
apes and gorillas to the screen, believably.

00:58:50.659 --> 00:58:53.539
Yeah. I think you're probably right that it's

00:58:53.539 --> 00:58:55.739
mostly about the special effects and just like

00:58:55.739 --> 00:58:57.800
seeing what they could accomplish with like the

00:58:57.800 --> 00:59:01.079
new technologies and stuff. But it is fascinating.

00:59:01.179 --> 00:59:03.619
I mean, there was kind of a first wave of ape

00:59:03.619 --> 00:59:08.119
movies and like. The late 1920s and 1930s, King

00:59:08.119 --> 00:59:09.960
Kong obviously being the most obvious example.

00:59:10.280 --> 00:59:12.219
And there, you know, that reflects some like

00:59:12.219 --> 00:59:16.739
pretty bad social and racial like worldviews

00:59:16.739 --> 00:59:19.960
at the time, just about like civilization and

00:59:19.960 --> 00:59:23.519
like the allure of the jungle and exoticism and

00:59:23.519 --> 00:59:25.699
stuff like that. But you wouldn't think that

00:59:25.699 --> 00:59:28.860
that would come back so prevalently in the 1990s.

00:59:29.099 --> 00:59:32.719
I don't know if that would be why. Yeah, I don't

00:59:32.719 --> 00:59:34.690
know. I'm going to have to think about that more.

00:59:34.869 --> 00:59:38.090
You have a book. How's that book? Yeah, I've

00:59:38.090 --> 00:59:40.309
just leafed through it. And it's very much about

00:59:40.309 --> 00:59:42.409
those older movies from the 20s and 30s, maybe

00:59:42.409 --> 00:59:45.309
some from the 40s too. And it goes into those

00:59:45.309 --> 00:59:51.130
pretty toxic and harmful tropes about race and

00:59:51.130 --> 00:59:56.170
gender and humans versus animals, some of those

00:59:56.170 --> 00:59:59.889
themes that were... unfortunately pretty popular

00:59:59.889 --> 01:00:02.530
at the time for like, you know, not great reasons.

01:00:03.210 --> 01:00:06.510
So it's a fascinating book. And now I'm just,

01:00:06.530 --> 01:00:08.489
my mind is running circles trying to think about

01:00:08.489 --> 01:00:13.349
why and how that might recur in the 1990s. But

01:00:13.349 --> 01:00:15.329
maybe it's just a special. I don't know. I think

01:00:15.329 --> 01:00:17.309
we can put a pin in it because we are also talking

01:00:17.309 --> 01:00:19.989
about a baseball movie with Matt LeBlanc and

01:00:19.989 --> 01:00:25.250
a chimney. They're like, you know. which speaks

01:00:25.250 --> 01:00:29.730
volumes about society and politics. Class. I'm

01:00:29.730 --> 01:00:33.050
just going to get into America. Yeah, exactly.

01:00:34.050 --> 01:00:37.190
I mean, if anybody out there wants to send us

01:00:37.190 --> 01:00:39.010
your thoughts on that, please let us know because

01:00:39.010 --> 01:00:41.510
I would love to read that. Oh, man. Yeah, that's

01:00:41.510 --> 01:00:48.159
great. And so, so, so niche. Yeah. That's what

01:00:48.159 --> 01:00:51.440
we're about here. Yeah. Yeah. On that note. Camp

01:00:51.440 --> 01:00:53.460
Kaiju is sponsored by Zach Linder and the Zach

01:00:53.460 --> 01:00:56.079
Pack, powered by Coldwell Banker Realty. Your

01:00:56.079 --> 01:00:58.940
source for real estate, home rehab, fixing and

01:00:58.940 --> 01:01:01.000
flipping for investor clients and residential

01:01:01.000 --> 01:01:03.900
buyers. Reach out to the Zach Pack today for

01:01:03.900 --> 01:01:06.420
real estate services. Follow the Zach Pack on

01:01:06.420 --> 01:01:09.500
social media and contact the Zach Pack for investment

01:01:09.500 --> 01:01:13.539
opportunities. Link in the show notes. Vincent,

01:01:13.559 --> 01:01:17.000
how is Mimi's mailbox looking today? Cool. And

01:01:17.000 --> 01:01:18.500
you know what? I'm going to read more than just

01:01:18.500 --> 01:01:22.280
one comment today because in response to our

01:01:22.280 --> 01:01:25.320
episode on Eberra, in response to our season

01:01:25.320 --> 01:01:28.500
five part two announcements on Instagram, I just

01:01:28.500 --> 01:01:31.000
had some great comments that I wanted to share.

01:01:31.099 --> 01:01:34.000
Just share the love. First off, we have Mart

01:01:34.000 --> 01:01:39.039
Kingsley and Mart Kingsley comments. Great episode.

01:01:39.099 --> 01:01:41.960
Looking forward to the upcoming titles. Some

01:01:41.960 --> 01:01:46.829
interesting choices. So I love that. Yeah. Yeah.

01:01:47.670 --> 01:01:51.650
We have Don, super fan Don, comments, great episode,

01:01:51.869 --> 01:01:55.670
helping me get through working today. We appreciate

01:01:55.670 --> 01:02:01.750
that. Yeah, for sure. We have Beth, our guest

01:02:01.750 --> 01:02:04.869
host and friend of the pod, founder of Godzilla

01:02:04.869 --> 01:02:08.570
Days in Bloomington, Indiana. She says, it was

01:02:08.570 --> 01:02:10.909
so much fun to talk post -GFest with you guys.

01:02:11.090 --> 01:02:15.380
Maybe we can talk Pulgasari next. And Pulgasari

01:02:15.380 --> 01:02:19.500
is a North Korean kaiju film, which in and of

01:02:19.500 --> 01:02:22.280
itself, that's worthy of a conversation right

01:02:22.280 --> 01:02:26.639
there. Yes, that's a great idea. Yeah. And then

01:02:26.639 --> 01:02:30.980
Podcast Buddies from Monster Candy Podcast says,

01:02:31.119 --> 01:02:34.139
Matt totally chose one of my next movie picks,

01:02:34.440 --> 01:02:38.559
Humanoids from the Deep. Oh. It's my fave of

01:02:38.559 --> 01:02:41.440
the Corman produced films. Yin's gonna dig it.

01:02:41.659 --> 01:02:44.599
All right. To be determined. I'm still kind of

01:02:44.599 --> 01:02:46.760
waffling on that choice a little bit. Honestly,

01:02:46.940 --> 01:02:49.320
I might be a little scared to watch it, but all

01:02:49.320 --> 01:02:51.380
right. I think that comment might mean that we

01:02:51.380 --> 01:02:54.199
have to bring it back. We'll see. Yeah. Well,

01:02:54.300 --> 01:02:57.579
like you said, Matt, I fully support your TBD

01:02:57.579 --> 01:03:01.000
on that one, but got to watch it for yourself

01:03:01.000 --> 01:03:03.699
and then you can make a call. Totally. It's never

01:03:03.699 --> 01:03:05.480
a good idea to judge a movie before you watch

01:03:05.480 --> 01:03:08.960
it. So more to come on that. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

01:03:09.769 --> 01:03:12.530
Well, I got to tell you about Peter Lorre here.

01:03:12.710 --> 01:03:17.969
He is reviewing a movie, a Golden Age ape movie

01:03:17.969 --> 01:03:22.110
starring Bela Lugosa called The Ape Man from

01:03:22.110 --> 01:03:28.510
1943. Mr. Lugosi plays a scientist who, through

01:03:28.510 --> 01:03:32.389
some sort of science gone awry, injects himself

01:03:32.389 --> 01:03:34.849
with an ape serum and turns into an ape man.

01:03:35.469 --> 01:03:39.409
Whoa. That sounds great. That sounds, it's perfect

01:03:39.409 --> 01:03:42.590
for Congo. Lined up perfectly. Thank Mr. Laurie

01:03:42.590 --> 01:03:46.570
for that work. I know he is in a bit of a jam

01:03:46.570 --> 01:03:50.409
dealing with this lilac. My mental connection,

01:03:50.590 --> 01:03:53.869
my telepathic connection is beeping danger signals

01:03:53.869 --> 01:03:57.730
right now. Can you do anything to help him? Can

01:03:57.730 --> 01:04:01.879
you get into that room? Is it still locked? It

01:04:01.879 --> 01:04:04.780
is still locked, yeah. I mean, I can do something

01:04:04.780 --> 01:04:06.920
to help him. Do I want to? That's another question.

01:04:07.059 --> 01:04:12.039
I don't know. But I feel I can already see like

01:04:12.039 --> 01:04:15.239
the petals and like the tendrils of the lilac

01:04:15.239 --> 01:04:17.480
like creeping out of the door. So I'm a little

01:04:17.480 --> 01:04:19.099
freaked out. I don't know if I want to go in

01:04:19.099 --> 01:04:22.079
there right now. But, you know, I don't need

01:04:22.079 --> 01:04:23.760
a telepathic connection to know that he's in

01:04:23.760 --> 01:04:25.860
danger. So I might check on him after this episode

01:04:25.860 --> 01:04:29.760
just to make sure. Okay. Okay. We'll check back.

01:04:30.509 --> 01:04:33.690
Next time, to see how he's doing, how you're

01:04:33.690 --> 01:04:38.469
doing, the world might be in danger. You're next,

01:04:38.550 --> 01:04:42.429
everybody. You're next. Look out for that lilac,

01:04:42.429 --> 01:04:45.889
yeah. While I'm in there, I'll ask Mr. Laurie

01:04:45.889 --> 01:04:47.610
if he has any thoughts about why there are so

01:04:47.610 --> 01:04:49.789
many monkey movies in the 1990s. He probably

01:04:49.789 --> 01:04:51.610
has some thoughts on that. Might have. Yeah,

01:04:51.710 --> 01:04:56.900
he might have. We'll see. But he might be also

01:04:56.900 --> 01:05:00.179
too busy trying to escape from the constricting

01:05:00.179 --> 01:05:02.440
limbs of the lilac. So we'll see. We'll see how

01:05:02.440 --> 01:05:04.780
he's doing. Yeah, just bring your machete in

01:05:04.780 --> 01:05:08.300
there with you. Yeah, exactly. Well, awesome.

01:05:08.380 --> 01:05:10.679
I can't wait to hear Mr. Laurie's thoughts on

01:05:10.679 --> 01:05:13.099
that. Hopefully he's still alive. We'll find

01:05:13.099 --> 01:05:28.960
out. Welcome to the Poverty Row Studios on the

01:05:28.960 --> 01:05:31.980
other side of Hollywood. Where the stars were

01:05:31.980 --> 01:05:34.599
dimmer and the red carpets dripped with blood.

01:05:35.039 --> 01:05:37.960
Together we will watch the best of the worst.

01:05:38.300 --> 01:05:41.940
Movies known for their limited budgets, outlandish

01:05:41.940 --> 01:05:45.199
concepts, and questionable performances. But

01:05:45.199 --> 01:05:48.619
with enough haunted houses, zombies, ape men,

01:05:48.840 --> 01:05:52.400
and devil bats to keep you up at night. This

01:05:52.400 --> 01:05:56.099
is the Poverty Row Picture Show, and I dare you

01:05:56.099 --> 01:06:03.780
to sleep through these nightmares. Hello there.

01:06:04.960 --> 01:06:08.400
I am Peter Lorre, and I have but minutes to live.

01:06:08.800 --> 01:06:12.159
As you can hear, I am in a little bit of a pickle.

01:06:12.360 --> 01:06:15.900
You see, my fiendish friend, my botanical buddy,

01:06:16.119 --> 01:06:20.019
my platonic plant, my lilac, has turned on me.

01:06:20.809 --> 01:06:24.070
Oh, and it is currently squeezing me to death.

01:06:24.449 --> 01:06:27.949
But damn it all to hell if I do not continue

01:06:27.949 --> 01:06:32.610
reviewing these poverty row movies. If I am to

01:06:32.610 --> 01:06:35.849
go out, I can think of no better way than discussing

01:06:35.849 --> 01:06:39.610
The Ape Man whilst being munched on by a monster

01:06:39.610 --> 01:06:47.420
flower. Here we go. The Ape Man stars... Bela

01:06:47.420 --> 01:06:50.639
Lugosi and was shot within a week at Monogram

01:06:50.639 --> 01:06:54.860
Studios. The story is rather derivative. A scientist

01:06:54.860 --> 01:06:58.460
injects himself with spinal fluid from a gorilla

01:06:58.460 --> 01:07:01.380
and what you know he turns into an ape himself.

01:07:01.800 --> 01:07:05.019
And of course the cure lies in the spinal fluid

01:07:05.019 --> 01:07:09.159
of regular old human beings. Thus begins the

01:07:09.159 --> 01:07:12.000
murder spree as Lugosi preys on the innocent

01:07:12.000 --> 01:07:15.159
with the help of his sidekick, an actual gorilla.

01:07:16.039 --> 01:07:18.699
Now, this gorilla was a costuming portrayed by

01:07:18.699 --> 01:07:23.139
veteran ape actor Emil Van Horn. Sunshine Sammy

01:07:23.139 --> 01:07:25.400
Morris, for what it's worth of the East End kids,

01:07:25.559 --> 01:07:31.340
also makes an appearance. Now, if the above sounds

01:07:31.340 --> 01:07:34.440
like Monogram's previous film called The Ape

01:07:34.440 --> 01:07:37.880
with Boris Karloff, you would be on the money.

01:07:38.280 --> 01:07:40.440
Look, if you've got the gorilla costume, you

01:07:40.440 --> 01:07:43.679
might as well use it. And as Matthew and Vincent

01:07:43.679 --> 01:07:46.360
discussed, such pictures were popular at this

01:07:46.360 --> 01:07:50.320
time. I do not know anything about the 1990s,

01:07:50.320 --> 01:07:53.239
however, to venture a guess about that decade's

01:07:53.239 --> 01:07:57.960
interest in cinematic simians. Now, despite the

01:07:57.960 --> 01:08:01.420
predictable story, The Ape Man is not a terrible

01:08:01.420 --> 01:08:05.199
movie, all things considered. Mr. Lugosi, ever

01:08:05.199 --> 01:08:08.679
the professional, gives it his all. God bless

01:08:08.679 --> 01:08:12.260
that man. It is interesting to note that Legosi's

01:08:12.260 --> 01:08:15.019
previous gig was playing the Frankenstein monster

01:08:15.019 --> 01:08:18.119
in Universal's Frankenstein Meets the Wolfman.

01:08:18.279 --> 01:08:21.319
However, Universal did not call him back for

01:08:21.319 --> 01:08:25.319
their next project, Son of Dracula. Ironic, eh?

01:08:25.479 --> 01:08:28.699
Well, the Universal brass shared little of the

01:08:28.699 --> 01:08:33.020
respect Monogram had for Legosi. However hammy

01:08:33.020 --> 01:08:36.090
he may be in these movies, They are made that

01:08:36.090 --> 01:08:39.550
much more enjoyable with this presence. So seek

01:08:39.550 --> 01:08:43.090
out the ape man. And if I survive my present

01:08:43.090 --> 01:08:49.109
ordeal, I'd love to hear from you. Oh, that's

01:08:49.109 --> 01:08:57.770
the spot. That one didn't feel too bad. Nope.

01:08:58.069 --> 01:09:02.289
No. No, that one hurt. Here it is, listeners.

01:09:02.510 --> 01:09:06.260
I face the deep, dark depths. Of the Lilacs Maw.

01:09:08.979 --> 01:09:12.439
And before I get eaten. We'll see you next week.

01:09:12.979 --> 01:09:16.319
For Sunshine Sammy Morris. And those other East

01:09:16.319 --> 01:09:20.579
End kids. In a 1943 movie called Ghosts. On the

01:09:20.579 --> 01:09:31.539
loose. At practice. I was an ace. I couldn't

01:09:31.539 --> 01:09:35.840
miss. but in the game tell me you ain't gonna

01:09:35.840 --> 01:09:38.960
throw the curve tip ain't gonna throw the curve

01:09:38.960 --> 01:09:42.520
tip things are going from bad to worse a little

01:09:42.520 --> 01:09:46.779
word to the wise you choke you croak until someone

01:09:46.779 --> 01:09:49.260
came along i'm supposed to pick up a ball player

01:09:49.260 --> 01:09:58.420
to lend me a hand meet ed sullivan you can catch

01:10:24.410 --> 01:10:27.750
He's a ball player. Ball players get traded.

01:10:27.970 --> 01:10:33.569
I'm going to bring him home. From Universal Pictures.

01:10:35.149 --> 01:10:37.470
He is not one that monkey in this game. Comes

01:10:37.470 --> 01:10:40.449
the story of two ball players who share one dream.

01:10:40.689 --> 01:10:47.449
There's one. And one very small apartment. Not

01:10:47.449 --> 01:10:50.529
my bathroom. Don't you do it. Friends, Matt LeBlanc.

01:10:52.329 --> 01:11:06.170
Bad monkey. Back to Congo. Are there any themes

01:11:06.170 --> 01:11:08.189
in this movie? I don't know if there are. It's

01:11:08.189 --> 01:11:10.850
not the deepest movie in the world. Well, you

01:11:10.850 --> 01:11:12.949
have some great ones there. I do see. I'm going

01:11:12.949 --> 01:11:15.750
to just look at my notes real quick. Themes of

01:11:15.750 --> 01:11:19.369
belonging. A search for home. Amy the gorilla.

01:11:20.310 --> 01:11:23.649
You know, the whole, this whole, the whole inciting

01:11:23.649 --> 01:11:28.310
incident of this movie is Peter. Is he a doctor?

01:11:28.409 --> 01:11:31.189
Is he a scientist? I was actually unclear about

01:11:31.189 --> 01:11:34.560
his role. He's a scientist. He's a primatologist.

01:11:34.600 --> 01:11:36.460
That's right. Yeah. Yeah. A hundred percent.

01:11:36.479 --> 01:11:38.119
He is a, he is a doctor too. I remember that

01:11:38.119 --> 01:11:41.520
he introduced himself, but he has Amy who can

01:11:41.520 --> 01:11:45.319
communicate through sign language and then through

01:11:45.319 --> 01:11:50.100
a machine verbally. But Amy is longing for the

01:11:50.100 --> 01:11:52.699
Congo to get back to her home because she was,

01:11:52.779 --> 01:11:56.399
she's been in captivity for so long. So that

01:11:56.399 --> 01:11:58.979
in and of itself is a theme, the captivity of

01:11:58.979 --> 01:12:02.970
animals for scientific research. But but the

01:12:02.970 --> 01:12:07.029
inciting incident then is Peter gets a team together

01:12:07.029 --> 01:12:13.670
to take Amy back to the Congo. Yeah. Yeah. And

01:12:13.670 --> 01:12:16.010
there is, you know, not provide too many spoilers,

01:12:16.170 --> 01:12:19.130
but there's pretty touching or it's supposed

01:12:19.130 --> 01:12:23.409
to be touching ending where, you know, Amy ends

01:12:23.409 --> 01:12:25.430
up in her rightful place at the end of the movie.

01:12:25.510 --> 01:12:27.210
And I think that kind of conveys that theme.

01:12:27.350 --> 01:12:29.869
I do, too. Yeah, that was that was nicely done.

01:12:30.270 --> 01:12:33.220
Yeah. Yeah. I think kind of along those lines,

01:12:33.279 --> 01:12:34.979
maybe there's like a little bit of a theme about

01:12:34.979 --> 01:12:38.100
humans and animals like interacting, not just

01:12:38.100 --> 01:12:42.239
communicating, but also like power dynamics between

01:12:42.239 --> 01:12:44.739
human beings and animals. You know, like the

01:12:44.739 --> 01:12:48.399
gray killer apes came to be because many, many

01:12:48.399 --> 01:12:51.699
years ago, like an ancient tribe found this mine,

01:12:51.800 --> 01:12:54.600
like a diamond mine filled with all these riches.

01:12:54.640 --> 01:12:57.659
And then they bred. These gorillas to be extremely

01:12:57.659 --> 01:12:59.699
violent and aggressive and just attack anybody

01:12:59.699 --> 01:13:02.159
that came near them. And then, of course, the

01:13:02.159 --> 01:13:04.760
apes turned on their masters. And that's how

01:13:04.760 --> 01:13:07.579
this kind of secretive race of primates came

01:13:07.579 --> 01:13:09.779
to be. And I don't think there's really all that

01:13:09.779 --> 01:13:12.960
much depth to that. I think it's just like we

01:13:12.960 --> 01:13:15.319
need a plot contrivance to like explain what

01:13:15.319 --> 01:13:17.300
these things are. But there's a little bit of

01:13:17.300 --> 01:13:19.760
like, you know, humans thought they could control

01:13:19.760 --> 01:13:22.350
nature. And then, of course. nature rises up

01:13:22.350 --> 01:13:24.810
to, to bite them in the ass essentially, which

01:13:24.810 --> 01:13:27.449
is kind of a theme of Jurassic park too. Yeah.

01:13:27.449 --> 01:13:32.050
Yeah, for sure. So not original, but there at

01:13:32.050 --> 01:13:36.050
least a movie like this, you know, the genre

01:13:36.050 --> 01:13:38.090
just feeds on itself. So I'm not going to dock

01:13:38.090 --> 01:13:41.649
it points for that quote unquote on originality.

01:13:42.050 --> 01:13:47.050
Yeah. But is it, is it executed to the level

01:13:47.050 --> 01:13:50.329
of something else? That's. That's something I'll

01:13:50.329 --> 01:13:53.670
get into in my breakdown later. Yeah. Fair question.

01:13:53.970 --> 01:13:56.409
And the answer is probably no, but we'll find

01:13:56.409 --> 01:14:01.090
out more soon. And I do think one of the major

01:14:01.090 --> 01:14:03.890
questions of the movie, not necessarily like

01:14:03.890 --> 01:14:06.890
an intentional theme, but, you know, what are

01:14:06.890 --> 01:14:09.390
we supposed to feel about the racial dynamics

01:14:09.390 --> 01:14:12.250
in this movie? Like, is it racist, essentially?

01:14:12.800 --> 01:14:14.819
And that's, you know, that question's a little

01:14:14.819 --> 01:14:17.279
bit too easy and glib. I don't, you know, it's

01:14:17.279 --> 01:14:19.119
a hard question to answer, but like we already

01:14:19.119 --> 01:14:22.159
talked about how the Ernie Hudson character is

01:14:22.159 --> 01:14:25.380
meant to like flip some of those outdated tropes

01:14:25.380 --> 01:14:27.359
on their head, like the great white hunter, like

01:14:27.359 --> 01:14:30.359
in this case is a black man who's leading all

01:14:30.359 --> 01:14:33.180
of these white people into the jungle who are

01:14:33.180 --> 01:14:35.880
pretty much inept, pretty much powerless if it

01:14:35.880 --> 01:14:37.720
weren't for him. So there's that little bit of

01:14:37.720 --> 01:14:41.760
like subversion there. And yet at the same time,

01:14:42.430 --> 01:14:45.069
You have depictions of, like, all these white

01:14:45.069 --> 01:14:47.689
Americans landing in Uganda. And, like, immediately,

01:14:47.850 --> 01:14:50.930
as soon as they step off the plane, like, entering

01:14:50.930 --> 01:14:53.710
into a civil war with, like, explosions and shootouts.

01:14:53.949 --> 01:14:56.229
And then they have to pay off this warlord to,

01:14:56.329 --> 01:14:58.390
like, get into the jungle. And you have, like,

01:14:58.449 --> 01:15:01.550
one of the warlords, like, henchmen, like, fondling

01:15:01.550 --> 01:15:05.029
Laura Linney's blonde hair. And it's like, how

01:15:05.029 --> 01:15:07.609
can the movie be, like, aware of these tropes

01:15:07.609 --> 01:15:09.569
and yet, like, play into them at the same time,

01:15:09.609 --> 01:15:12.489
you know? Yeah. And I think the idea of the great

01:15:12.489 --> 01:15:16.670
white hunter, that exoticism, I mean, this is

01:15:16.670 --> 01:15:19.949
a topic of interest that I'm actually really

01:15:19.949 --> 01:15:22.869
interested in. And you go back to the Tarzan

01:15:22.869 --> 01:15:26.630
novels from the early 20th century, but the 1800s,

01:15:26.630 --> 01:15:31.609
Europe's fascination with dark Africa, the heart

01:15:31.609 --> 01:15:35.930
of darkness, and this depiction that still lives

01:15:35.930 --> 01:15:40.289
in our, I think, general mental construct as...

01:15:40.760 --> 01:15:44.140
In the Western world, white Westerners, we view

01:15:44.140 --> 01:15:48.460
the middle of Africa as this foreboding, dark

01:15:48.460 --> 01:15:54.079
place full of unknowns. And the people who live

01:15:54.079 --> 01:15:58.579
there are not as civilized and cultured, quote

01:15:58.579 --> 01:16:02.279
unquote. So I think, and so along those lines,

01:16:02.479 --> 01:16:05.659
I did read that Michael Crichton wanted to write

01:16:05.659 --> 01:16:09.239
such a pulpy story. Well, the trade -off for

01:16:09.239 --> 01:16:13.460
that is, those pulp stories like Tarzan and others

01:16:13.460 --> 01:16:19.159
were written in another time. Right. All those

01:16:19.159 --> 01:16:24.000
stereotypes and tropes were based on a world

01:16:24.000 --> 01:16:28.060
construct that was very structured, stratified

01:16:28.060 --> 01:16:32.939
whites versus everyone else. So you have a really

01:16:32.939 --> 01:16:38.159
hell of a time trying to update that. Those conceits

01:16:38.159 --> 01:16:41.699
and tropes for a modern audience in the 90s is

01:16:41.699 --> 01:16:44.920
modern enough to know better. Right. So I think

01:16:44.920 --> 01:16:46.760
it's just a tricky line. I'm not saying it can't

01:16:46.760 --> 01:16:50.579
be done. I think there are modern examples like

01:16:50.579 --> 01:16:54.760
Kong Skull Island. They depict the natives as

01:16:54.760 --> 01:17:01.359
actual real people instead of monsters. But it's

01:17:01.359 --> 01:17:04.500
a tricky... subject that i think you just have

01:17:04.500 --> 01:17:07.579
to be uber aware of and i don't think michael

01:17:07.579 --> 01:17:11.500
crichton or frank marshall is they're not interested

01:17:11.500 --> 01:17:13.800
in it they're just like temple of doom route

01:17:13.800 --> 01:17:18.800
let's just go for the pulp people of color you're

01:17:18.800 --> 01:17:21.020
you're not people you're not fleshed out characters

01:17:21.020 --> 01:17:24.119
you're just here to serve the pulpy adventure

01:17:24.119 --> 01:17:28.840
yeah you're like well does that pass muster these

01:17:28.840 --> 01:17:32.439
days who knows Yeah, probably not anymore, or

01:17:32.439 --> 01:17:34.079
at least it probably shouldn't, you know, and

01:17:34.079 --> 01:17:36.439
I think there are some other movies from the

01:17:36.439 --> 01:17:39.199
90s that, you know, like The Mummy, which we

01:17:39.199 --> 01:17:41.399
talked about in the late 90s, I think kind of

01:17:41.399 --> 01:17:43.819
does a similar thing. Island of Dr. Moreau, which

01:17:43.819 --> 01:17:45.520
we talked about kind of does a similar thing

01:17:45.520 --> 01:17:48.079
where it's like, you know, if those movies and

01:17:48.079 --> 01:17:50.640
Congo had been a little bit more like ambitious

01:17:50.640 --> 01:17:54.630
or sensitive, respectful, like maybe. it would

01:17:54.630 --> 01:17:56.850
have gone into more depth about any of the characters

01:17:56.850 --> 01:17:59.810
of color or like what's actually going on in

01:17:59.810 --> 01:18:02.569
the civil war in Uganda. Like what, what actually

01:18:02.569 --> 01:18:04.909
is the context of that? But like, yeah, these

01:18:04.909 --> 01:18:07.689
movies are not interested in that kind of like,

01:18:07.729 --> 01:18:10.729
you know, depth and complexity at all. Right.

01:18:10.750 --> 01:18:15.609
Right. So it's a product of it's it's genre,

01:18:15.810 --> 01:18:18.369
which has all the trappings I just mentioned.

01:18:18.430 --> 01:18:23.619
So yeah. Yeah. So definitely, definitely justified

01:18:23.619 --> 01:18:27.500
to bring all that up. Yeah. Yeah. I think in

01:18:27.500 --> 01:18:29.119
a movie like this, you kind of have to ask that

01:18:29.119 --> 01:18:32.159
question. And I think like, you know, if the

01:18:32.159 --> 01:18:34.420
creative team, if the director or the writer,

01:18:34.659 --> 01:18:37.760
you know, if any of them were artists of color,

01:18:37.819 --> 01:18:39.600
that might have helped a little bit to like lend

01:18:39.600 --> 01:18:42.399
a certain perspective and a certain depth to

01:18:42.399 --> 01:18:45.680
this portrayal. But and, you know, I think. Nowadays,

01:18:45.680 --> 01:18:47.359
if this movie was made, that almost certainly

01:18:47.359 --> 01:18:48.859
would happen. And I think that would be a great

01:18:48.859 --> 01:18:51.000
thing. But like, yeah, this movie does not achieve

01:18:51.000 --> 01:18:54.680
that for sure. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Anything to

01:18:54.680 --> 01:18:57.239
talk about with the form and the aesthetic or

01:18:57.239 --> 01:18:58.640
any other themes that you wanted to bring up?

01:18:58.779 --> 01:19:01.800
So Matt has a great point here. Other lines of

01:19:01.800 --> 01:19:04.359
dialogue refer to the killer ape cliche, referring

01:19:04.359 --> 01:19:06.880
specifically to King Kong, which is mentioned

01:19:06.880 --> 01:19:09.220
in the screenplay, and the idea that gorillas

01:19:09.220 --> 01:19:13.460
are dangerous. And Matt, as you say, though,

01:19:13.520 --> 01:19:16.779
that idea has larger racial connotations, which

01:19:16.779 --> 01:19:19.199
taps into exactly what we were talking about.

01:19:19.279 --> 01:19:22.939
Those golden age gorilla pictures from the 20s,

01:19:22.939 --> 01:19:26.500
30s and 40s. And you know what? That's such a

01:19:26.500 --> 01:19:32.979
niche genre that I don't blame Marshall or John

01:19:32.979 --> 01:19:36.659
Patrick Shanley or Crichton for not maybe not

01:19:36.659 --> 01:19:38.979
even realizing what they were, the tradition

01:19:38.979 --> 01:19:43.649
they were inadvertently. tapping into yeah like

01:19:43.649 --> 01:19:45.890
like king kong's a perfect example because king

01:19:45.890 --> 01:19:49.569
kong fits within that narrative of killer apes

01:19:49.569 --> 01:19:53.170
lusting after white women we don't ever think

01:19:53.170 --> 01:19:57.569
about king kong like that and yet you dig not

01:19:57.569 --> 01:20:02.590
too far and it it is exactly within that that

01:20:02.590 --> 01:20:07.010
racial context the the the the weaponized racial

01:20:07.010 --> 01:20:10.579
context that white america put black black people

01:20:10.579 --> 01:20:14.060
in. Yeah. Oh yeah. I don't, I don't think Congo

01:20:14.060 --> 01:20:18.979
even realizes what it's perpetuating. Yeah. I

01:20:18.979 --> 01:20:21.920
think you're right. Yeah. I mean, You know, I

01:20:21.920 --> 01:20:24.239
love a lot of Spielberg movies, but I feel like

01:20:24.239 --> 01:20:26.779
with the Indiana Jones movies, for example, you

01:20:26.779 --> 01:20:29.699
raise the point of Temple of Doom. Like, you

01:20:29.699 --> 01:20:31.699
know, I think Spielberg and the producer George

01:20:31.699 --> 01:20:34.680
Lucas, like, wanted to, like, make their version

01:20:34.680 --> 01:20:37.159
of a 40s adventure serial. They did not go any

01:20:37.159 --> 01:20:38.899
deeper than that. Like, they weren't trying to,

01:20:38.920 --> 01:20:41.739
like, expose the deeper, like, social contexts

01:20:41.739 --> 01:20:44.319
of it, you know, or subtexts or whatever. And

01:20:44.319 --> 01:20:46.199
it might have been nice if they had done so a

01:20:46.199 --> 01:20:49.960
little bit more, but, like, not but. And, like...

01:20:50.460 --> 01:20:52.340
You know, I mean, they were just trying to make

01:20:52.340 --> 01:20:55.319
their version of the movies that they loved as

01:20:55.319 --> 01:20:58.859
a kid. And like, you know, I that's not to let

01:20:58.859 --> 01:21:00.239
them off the hook. They shouldn't get a free

01:21:00.239 --> 01:21:01.920
pass like they should investigate some of those

01:21:01.920 --> 01:21:03.819
themes a little bit more. But I think you're

01:21:03.819 --> 01:21:05.560
totally right that Congo is doing the same thing.

01:21:05.699 --> 01:21:08.420
Yeah. And I agree with you. I don't fault them

01:21:08.420 --> 01:21:12.840
for doing that because I also admittedly not

01:21:12.840 --> 01:21:16.140
the like overtly racist garbage that was produced

01:21:16.140 --> 01:21:18.899
by some of these Hollywood studios. But I do

01:21:18.899 --> 01:21:21.760
love King Kong. And I do love Tarzan. And I do

01:21:21.760 --> 01:21:25.020
love these action movies. I love Temple of Doom.

01:21:25.199 --> 01:21:31.039
So sue me, people. No, same. I mean, that's the

01:21:31.039 --> 01:21:33.539
horror movie of the Indiana Jones trilogy. And

01:21:33.539 --> 01:21:34.979
I kind of love it for that reason, you know?

01:21:35.079 --> 01:21:38.020
Yeah, yeah. Even though there's a lot. I love

01:21:38.020 --> 01:21:41.859
this stuff while also recognizing some question

01:21:41.859 --> 01:21:45.479
marks. Exactly. And that's, you know, I mean.

01:21:46.109 --> 01:21:48.130
You have to recognize both like the good things

01:21:48.130 --> 01:21:50.189
about it and the bad things about it. And that's

01:21:50.189 --> 01:21:51.930
why movies are complicated. Like they're social

01:21:51.930 --> 01:21:54.869
texts, you know? Yeah. Yeah. Fun to talk about.

01:21:55.390 --> 01:22:00.210
Ooh, here we go. Okay. So our breakdowns, the

01:22:00.210 --> 01:22:02.329
good, the bad, and the campy. Well, let's start

01:22:02.329 --> 01:22:06.130
with the good. Yeah. All right. You can, you

01:22:06.130 --> 01:22:10.210
can start, you can lead off here. I, yeah, there's.

01:22:10.880 --> 01:22:13.180
Legitimately, a lot I like about this movie.

01:22:13.279 --> 01:22:16.340
I feel like it has a great sense of visual imagination.

01:22:16.800 --> 01:22:20.520
I think when we do finally encounter the lost

01:22:20.520 --> 01:22:23.840
city of Zinj, it looks really fun, in kind of

01:22:23.840 --> 01:22:26.859
like an amusement park way, but that's not necessarily

01:22:26.859 --> 01:22:29.239
a criticism. I think that's what the movie is

01:22:29.239 --> 01:22:31.859
going for. There's also a really good scene where

01:22:31.859 --> 01:22:35.060
the whole... crew is camping out and they have

01:22:35.060 --> 01:22:37.140
all these kind of like lasers set up and like

01:22:37.140 --> 01:22:39.840
automatic sentry guns. And that's like the first

01:22:39.840 --> 01:22:41.600
time they're really attacked by the gray killer

01:22:41.600 --> 01:22:44.760
ape gorillas. And that scene looks fantastic.

01:22:44.760 --> 01:22:47.359
It's beautifully lit, beautifully shot, really

01:22:47.359 --> 01:22:50.899
exciting. I love the camp humor in this movie.

01:22:50.979 --> 01:22:53.659
I think Tim Curry and Ernie Hudson, especially

01:22:53.659 --> 01:22:56.239
like do a great job of delivering that. And I

01:22:56.239 --> 01:22:58.439
feel like most of that dialogue is intentionally

01:22:58.439 --> 01:23:02.550
supposed to be funny. And some dialogue is just

01:23:02.550 --> 01:23:04.449
bad. There's no doubt about that. But like a

01:23:04.449 --> 01:23:06.470
lot of it, I think, is intentionally comedic.

01:23:07.149 --> 01:23:10.630
I mean, it's really entertaining. It's yeah,

01:23:10.789 --> 01:23:13.010
I don't know. And like, I will admit nostalgia

01:23:13.010 --> 01:23:16.189
does play a big role for me and how much I like

01:23:16.189 --> 01:23:18.729
this movie. But I don't know. It has a lot of

01:23:18.729 --> 01:23:22.689
imagination, a lot of humor. It's it's not boring

01:23:22.689 --> 01:23:26.869
for a second. Hmm. Yeah, I I first of all, I

01:23:26.869 --> 01:23:31.899
think nostalgia is a valid reason to. to, to

01:23:31.899 --> 01:23:35.640
enjoy anything. So I wish I had it with this

01:23:35.640 --> 01:23:41.859
movie, but I did like a lot about this movie.

01:23:41.960 --> 01:23:46.819
I loved the cast aside from Dylan Walsh. I actually

01:23:46.819 --> 01:23:50.000
liked the cast a lot. Like these, these are,

01:23:50.039 --> 01:23:54.039
these aren't mega star actors, right? But they,

01:23:54.119 --> 01:23:58.560
they bring what they, that intangible something

01:23:58.560 --> 01:24:02.460
to, to the screen. Tim Curry, Ernie Hudson, Laura

01:24:02.460 --> 01:24:06.840
Linney, all the supporting cast. I love Amy and

01:24:06.840 --> 01:24:09.260
shout out again to the actors who portrayed the

01:24:09.260 --> 01:24:14.039
apes, but Amy is portrayed as a toddler in this

01:24:14.039 --> 01:24:16.699
movie. And as someone who has a one and a half

01:24:16.699 --> 01:24:19.859
year old right now, it was so real. Like it was

01:24:19.859 --> 01:24:23.359
on the nose, the, how petty Amy is. And she gets

01:24:23.359 --> 01:24:25.800
jealous. She throws things at Laura Linney and

01:24:25.800 --> 01:24:30.210
calls her names and just like, I'm like, yeah,

01:24:30.250 --> 01:24:33.890
that's what a toddler does. Throws little temper

01:24:33.890 --> 01:24:36.189
tantrums when they don't get their martinis.

01:24:36.649 --> 01:24:39.430
No, when they don't get what they want. So yeah,

01:24:39.569 --> 01:24:43.289
I enjoyed that portrayal of Amy. Yeah, I love,

01:24:43.489 --> 01:24:48.069
this is the campy thing that I love because it's

01:24:48.069 --> 01:24:51.329
so ridiculous. I don't know if it works, but

01:24:51.329 --> 01:24:55.409
who cares? The fact that we have a laser gun

01:24:55.409 --> 01:24:58.970
and we're slicing these gorillas in half. All

01:24:58.970 --> 01:25:02.770
while a volcano is erupting and there's a river

01:25:02.770 --> 01:25:07.510
of lava. I'm like, yeah, this jumped the shark

01:25:07.510 --> 01:25:10.930
in so many ways. And I love that. I love, I wish

01:25:10.930 --> 01:25:15.729
movies would be more as, as bold as that sometimes.

01:25:16.689 --> 01:25:19.810
Cause that's what you remember. Yeah. All right.

01:25:19.869 --> 01:25:22.529
Awesome. So there's, you know, you like, you

01:25:22.529 --> 01:25:24.430
like some stuff in it. That's good. I like to

01:25:24.430 --> 01:25:27.289
hear. Yeah. Yeah. Cool. I feel like you're going

01:25:27.289 --> 01:25:29.489
to have more stuff in the bad category than I

01:25:29.489 --> 01:25:33.550
am. So, you know, I do wish if this had been

01:25:33.550 --> 01:25:36.029
like a truly remarkable movie, it would have

01:25:36.029 --> 01:25:38.850
like questioned some of those racial tropes a

01:25:38.850 --> 01:25:41.510
little bit more. It would have like set this

01:25:41.510 --> 01:25:44.289
movie in like a recognizable real world where

01:25:44.289 --> 01:25:46.909
like the supporting characters are like real

01:25:46.909 --> 01:25:50.670
people and not just like exotic background, you

01:25:50.670 --> 01:25:53.729
know, pray for the gorillas to attack. So I would

01:25:53.729 --> 01:25:56.390
have loved to have seen that. I'm just going

01:25:56.390 --> 01:25:58.689
to leave it at that for the bad for me. Yeah.

01:25:58.770 --> 01:26:03.869
Okay. Great. Do I have the floor? Sorry. I'm

01:26:03.869 --> 01:26:05.729
going to try to, I'm going to try to be, you

01:26:05.729 --> 01:26:07.449
know, as professional as possible. Right. Cause

01:26:07.449 --> 01:26:10.930
I think is this movie easy to pick apart? Yes.

01:26:11.750 --> 01:26:17.630
Can I try to be as, as precise as possible? I

01:26:17.630 --> 01:26:20.550
will try. First of all, I think the problems

01:26:20.550 --> 01:26:24.010
start with the script, but not even that. I feel

01:26:24.010 --> 01:26:27.430
like. You can have wonky and wooden dialogue,

01:26:27.529 --> 01:26:32.630
but the actors, I don't think they are, they

01:26:32.630 --> 01:26:35.109
are really, they're phoning in it. I think Laura

01:26:35.109 --> 01:26:37.630
Linney has, she, her, like her character is given

01:26:37.630 --> 01:26:42.829
moments of, of, of demanding real emotion. Like

01:26:42.829 --> 01:26:45.909
her fiance has been killed and I can see Laura

01:26:45.909 --> 01:26:48.430
Linney. I can see her eye, like behind her eyes.

01:26:48.489 --> 01:26:51.220
She's thinking, I know I need to cry here. And

01:26:51.220 --> 01:26:53.840
she can't, she's just not even like, she doesn't

01:26:53.840 --> 01:26:57.739
cry when she's supposed to. And she just acts.

01:26:57.800 --> 01:27:00.600
So it's just like very phoned in and wooden much

01:27:00.600 --> 01:27:03.119
of the time, especially with her. Cause she's

01:27:03.119 --> 01:27:06.260
supposed to be such an emotional anchor. She,

01:27:06.340 --> 01:27:09.760
for example, she finds the carcass of her fiance

01:27:09.760 --> 01:27:13.340
on a pile of bones and we get nothing. And Frank

01:27:13.340 --> 01:27:15.579
Marshall's not interested. He just cuts away.

01:27:15.819 --> 01:27:17.699
Cause it's just a plot point at that point. And

01:27:17.699 --> 01:27:21.779
I'm like, yo, this should be, a really serious

01:27:21.779 --> 01:27:25.939
moment. You're right that the movie doesn't have

01:27:25.939 --> 01:27:28.619
any interest in that. And like that, that is

01:27:28.619 --> 01:27:31.260
probably a flaw, but it's also like, let's get

01:27:31.260 --> 01:27:33.500
onto like the slicing apart monkeys with a laser,

01:27:33.560 --> 01:27:36.899
you know? Right, right. So my direction then,

01:27:36.960 --> 01:27:40.500
if I were the director, cause I think, I think

01:27:40.500 --> 01:27:43.000
a huge role of the director of a movie is the

01:27:43.000 --> 01:27:45.619
tone, right? So what is the tone of this movie?

01:27:46.039 --> 01:27:48.560
If you're not going to invest in the emotional

01:27:48.560 --> 01:27:52.890
moments, That's fine. You need to tell Laura

01:27:52.890 --> 01:27:56.670
Linney to stop trying so hard then. You need

01:27:56.670 --> 01:27:59.270
the actors on board then with that. Now, Tim

01:27:59.270 --> 01:28:01.390
Curry, he's fully on board with the tone of this

01:28:01.390 --> 01:28:03.689
movie. So much so that he's in his own movie.

01:28:04.210 --> 01:28:10.770
He's like a Romanian circus carnival guy who

01:28:10.770 --> 01:28:14.050
comes in. I'm like, I love it. I'm here for it.

01:28:14.550 --> 01:28:17.939
But it's inconsistent with the rest. With what

01:28:17.939 --> 01:28:19.899
other people are doing, I should say. What other

01:28:19.899 --> 01:28:23.260
actors are doing. Yeah. The accent's not great.

01:28:23.479 --> 01:28:26.220
But I can forgive it because Tim Curry knows

01:28:26.220 --> 01:28:30.399
the assignment. Yo. Ernie Hudson's accent is

01:28:30.399 --> 01:28:33.380
not great. He's doing a British thing. And sometimes

01:28:33.380 --> 01:28:36.579
he slips into just Ernie Hudson from Ghostbusters.

01:28:37.260 --> 01:28:42.039
I'm like, yeah, man, I don't know. Cut the accent

01:28:42.039 --> 01:28:47.020
or just make it wildly over the top. See, I got

01:28:47.020 --> 01:28:52.500
really specific notes here. Dylan Walsh as Peter.

01:28:53.079 --> 01:28:55.859
You mentioned he's supposed to be like an anchor

01:28:55.859 --> 01:28:58.520
of this film. Yeah. There's a stretch of this

01:28:58.520 --> 01:29:01.300
movie where every one of his lines is something

01:29:01.300 --> 01:29:04.960
like, what's going on? Who's that? Where are

01:29:04.960 --> 01:29:08.739
we? Yeah. Look, you can be the stand in for the

01:29:08.739 --> 01:29:13.609
audience, but this is so lazy. Yeah. And I think

01:29:13.609 --> 01:29:15.729
in a couple of those instances, like other characters'

01:29:15.850 --> 01:29:18.489
responses are, I don't know, over and over again.

01:29:18.550 --> 01:29:20.289
And it's like, you could have cut all that out

01:29:20.289 --> 01:29:22.890
of the movie. We didn't need any of that. If

01:29:22.890 --> 01:29:25.510
you don't know, then what purpose does that serve,

01:29:25.590 --> 01:29:27.829
you know? And I love in a movie, and this is

01:29:27.829 --> 01:29:30.729
funny, this is funny, this can't be, when unintentionally

01:29:30.729 --> 01:29:33.609
in a movie where your hero is in the middle of

01:29:33.609 --> 01:29:37.409
nowhere and he says, I'm out of here. I can't

01:29:37.409 --> 01:29:40.329
do this. I can't go any further. And that's what

01:29:40.329 --> 01:29:41.909
he does. And Ernie Hudson's like, where are you

01:29:41.909 --> 01:29:43.350
going to go? Like you're in the middle of the

01:29:43.350 --> 01:29:47.569
jungle. And I'm like, yeah, you're this doctor.

01:29:47.609 --> 01:29:50.869
The supposed man of intellect is unbelievably

01:29:50.869 --> 01:29:57.909
clueless in my, in my estimation. Yeah. But then

01:29:57.909 --> 01:30:00.569
you're totally right. And, but then I do kind

01:30:00.569 --> 01:30:03.029
of like how Ernie said, like you just said, Ernie

01:30:03.029 --> 01:30:05.829
Hudson is like. you dumbass, where are you going

01:30:05.829 --> 01:30:08.329
to go? Like he's, he's the only one who's competent

01:30:08.329 --> 01:30:10.250
out of all of them. And like maybe him and Laura

01:30:10.250 --> 01:30:12.810
Linney, you know? Yeah. And I, I'm not saying

01:30:12.810 --> 01:30:14.529
that's like a deep theme of the movie, but it's

01:30:14.529 --> 01:30:16.210
like, Oh, that's, that's kind of fun. I enjoyed

01:30:16.210 --> 01:30:20.229
that, you know? Yeah. This is all just my, my,

01:30:20.390 --> 01:30:23.810
my subjective opinion. Of course. And I'm, I'm

01:30:23.810 --> 01:30:26.109
sorry to, I'm just offering my own rebuttal.

01:30:26.130 --> 01:30:29.710
No, no, sorry. Yeah. I, I, it's not often. I,

01:30:29.710 --> 01:30:33.899
I, I'm this critical with a movie. But it's so

01:30:33.899 --> 01:30:36.340
much fun to make fun of. I love it. Yeah, totally.

01:30:36.539 --> 01:30:38.920
Peter and Karen, the Dylan Walsh, Laura Linney

01:30:38.920 --> 01:30:42.819
characters. There's like two or three moments

01:30:42.819 --> 01:30:45.979
where maybe they're flirting with each other.

01:30:46.039 --> 01:30:50.520
Maybe there's some interest. That's wrong because

01:30:50.520 --> 01:30:56.239
her fiance is the whole incentive why she's going

01:30:56.239 --> 01:30:59.159
there. Her mission should be to save Bruce Campbell.

01:30:59.539 --> 01:31:04.100
And she forgets that a lot. So that's tone again.

01:31:04.159 --> 01:31:07.600
That's tone. Like, what is this? Will they, won't

01:31:07.600 --> 01:31:10.979
they? Frank, Marshall, will you, won't you? Like,

01:31:11.020 --> 01:31:14.180
you're waffling here and I need you to commit,

01:31:14.279 --> 01:31:17.880
buddy. Okay. Fair. Very fair. Yeah. Two more

01:31:17.880 --> 01:31:22.140
things. This whole thing about the killer gorilla

01:31:22.140 --> 01:31:24.960
myth. Now, I could be wrong. I am not an expert

01:31:24.960 --> 01:31:29.180
on apes and gorillas. Supposedly, Dylan Walsh

01:31:29.180 --> 01:31:35.060
is. He plays Doctor Who. He is so adamant about

01:31:35.060 --> 01:31:39.119
defending gorillas as peaceful creatures. Like,

01:31:39.140 --> 01:31:42.520
it's a major argument in the film. Yeah. And

01:31:42.520 --> 01:31:44.939
I'm thinking about, like, what was the gorilla

01:31:44.939 --> 01:31:47.939
that was killed at the Cincinnati Zoo shot? Because

01:31:47.939 --> 01:31:52.500
a child fell into the gorilla enclosure. Yeah.

01:31:52.840 --> 01:31:55.819
Because from what I know, there is nothing peaceful

01:31:55.819 --> 01:32:00.039
about a gorilla. They are dangerous wild animals

01:32:00.039 --> 01:32:01.939
that could rip your head off. Like literally.

01:32:03.300 --> 01:32:05.899
So I don't, and again, maybe that's not true.

01:32:05.979 --> 01:32:09.140
Maybe they are peaceful creatures, but that was

01:32:09.140 --> 01:32:13.279
like really bothering me that this primatologist

01:32:13.279 --> 01:32:17.899
was so adamant that gorillas are not capable

01:32:17.899 --> 01:32:22.189
of killing humans. Especially when all the evidence...

01:32:22.189 --> 01:32:25.210
Oh, sorry. I was going to interject. There's

01:32:25.210 --> 01:32:28.069
visual evidence that gorillas did kill these

01:32:28.069 --> 01:32:31.609
people. It's caught on camera. And Peter Elliott,

01:32:31.829 --> 01:32:33.909
the primatologist, is like, oh, it couldn't be.

01:32:33.989 --> 01:32:35.369
They're peaceful creatures. It's like, dude,

01:32:35.449 --> 01:32:38.909
look at the video. Clearly it is. So proving

01:32:38.909 --> 01:32:41.609
your point. Yes, it is ridiculous for sure. So

01:32:41.609 --> 01:32:46.270
that was a little hard for me to buy, even in

01:32:46.270 --> 01:32:49.890
this movie. And that gorilla at the Cincinnati

01:32:49.890 --> 01:32:55.529
Zoo was Harambe. Justice for Harambe. Sounds

01:32:55.529 --> 01:32:58.569
familiar. Yeah. Was that in like the 90s? Late

01:32:58.569 --> 01:33:03.189
90s? No, that was 2001, I think. Okay. Early

01:33:03.189 --> 01:33:07.710
2000s. Early 2020s. Okay. My last note. This

01:33:07.710 --> 01:33:09.829
is a big overarching thing. Because at the end

01:33:09.829 --> 01:33:11.729
of this movie, I was thinking about like, why

01:33:11.729 --> 01:33:18.359
am I left kind of not feeling... I want to feel

01:33:18.359 --> 01:33:22.579
like this is a movie that rocks and I want to

01:33:22.579 --> 01:33:24.560
watch it again. And I was thinking about The

01:33:24.560 --> 01:33:28.939
Mummy from 1999 because that's also a similar

01:33:28.939 --> 01:33:31.920
adventure type of story with a cast of characters

01:33:31.920 --> 01:33:34.819
and quirky characters and you have emotional

01:33:34.819 --> 01:33:41.859
leads. Here's my analysis. In The Mummy, you

01:33:41.859 --> 01:33:44.520
have leads who are larger than life, but they

01:33:44.520 --> 01:33:49.600
still... But what brings them together is a shared

01:33:49.600 --> 01:33:52.640
interest in each other and supporting each other.

01:33:52.859 --> 01:33:56.739
And there's a real sense of teamwork with those

01:33:56.739 --> 01:34:00.600
characters. In Congo, I realized none of the

01:34:00.600 --> 01:34:05.000
characters are interested in helping each other.

01:34:05.279 --> 01:34:09.300
I feel like they're all siloed in their own mission.

01:34:11.539 --> 01:34:14.260
Any one of them could leave and go go off on

01:34:14.260 --> 01:34:18.520
their own and nobody would miss each other. Except

01:34:18.520 --> 01:34:21.680
for Laura Linney and Dylan Walsh, maybe. But

01:34:21.680 --> 01:34:26.600
maybe not. Maybe not. Yeah. So that's an interesting

01:34:26.600 --> 01:34:28.699
point. Yeah. I feel like with some characters

01:34:28.699 --> 01:34:31.020
that kind of works like the Monroe Kelly character

01:34:31.020 --> 01:34:34.100
and the Herkimer Homolka character. But yeah,

01:34:34.159 --> 01:34:38.460
it's an interesting point. Yeah. Yeah. So. And

01:34:38.460 --> 01:34:41.880
I'm a playwright, too. So I just I just. I look

01:34:41.880 --> 01:34:45.420
at relationships between characters. That's just

01:34:45.420 --> 01:34:48.180
how I'm trained. And I just think that could

01:34:48.180 --> 01:34:51.840
have been strengthened a lot to increase my investment

01:34:51.840 --> 01:34:55.279
in their investment in each other. Yeah. All

01:34:55.279 --> 01:34:57.399
definitely fair criticisms. I was going to bring

01:34:57.399 --> 01:35:00.380
up The Mummy as well because I feel like you

01:35:00.380 --> 01:35:02.840
feel about The Mummy how I feel about Congo a

01:35:02.840 --> 01:35:05.680
little bit, you know? I feel like our opinions

01:35:05.680 --> 01:35:08.239
have reversed a little bit where I'm like, yeah,

01:35:08.340 --> 01:35:10.800
this movie is not very good. And it's so fun.

01:35:11.289 --> 01:35:13.529
And I like it more than I should, maybe because

01:35:13.529 --> 01:35:16.590
of like the I remember seeing it when it first

01:35:16.590 --> 01:35:18.770
came out, you know, and like, yeah, feeling of

01:35:18.770 --> 01:35:21.569
adventure and imagination that I had. And, you

01:35:21.569 --> 01:35:23.670
know, like I'm I'm a little bit older than you.

01:35:23.729 --> 01:35:26.630
So maybe like there's a gap of four years in

01:35:26.630 --> 01:35:29.329
between Congo and the mummies. So maybe you had

01:35:29.329 --> 01:35:31.329
that same experience with the mummy when you

01:35:31.329 --> 01:35:33.149
saw it, you know? Yeah. Like, I wonder if maybe

01:35:33.149 --> 01:35:35.029
that plays a role in that, you know? Maybe that's

01:35:35.029 --> 01:35:37.210
a movie I quote with my buddies and I've seen

01:35:37.210 --> 01:35:41.460
it so many times. And yeah. that's nostalgia

01:35:41.460 --> 01:35:46.119
um as a and informing our opinions and that's

01:35:46.119 --> 01:35:49.600
okay i think it's totally okay i like we should

01:35:49.600 --> 01:35:52.000
all you know like as i think we're doing like

01:35:52.000 --> 01:35:54.319
objectively sort of like analyze the movie and

01:35:54.319 --> 01:35:56.399
figure out its strengths and weaknesses but also

01:35:56.399 --> 01:35:59.260
everything is subjective like your response to

01:35:59.260 --> 01:36:01.979
movies is autobiographical and i think if you

01:36:01.979 --> 01:36:05.909
have that like nostalgic sort of maybe misguided

01:36:05.909 --> 01:36:08.489
response it's like yeah embrace that you know

01:36:08.489 --> 01:36:11.289
that's that's part of your life i love that not

01:36:11.289 --> 01:36:13.729
to get too like you know fanciful about it but

01:36:13.729 --> 01:36:16.329
you've already brought up some campy stuff any

01:36:16.329 --> 01:36:19.069
other camp humor that you wanted to to mention

01:36:19.069 --> 01:36:23.810
oh yeah what haven't i mentioned aside from tim

01:36:23.810 --> 01:36:30.489
curry and the lava and the laser gun i love it

01:36:31.059 --> 01:36:34.159
I think the biggest camp line for me is at the

01:36:34.159 --> 01:36:37.739
end when Laura Linney is radioing back to her

01:36:37.739 --> 01:36:41.000
boss, also the father of the guy who was killed,

01:36:41.079 --> 01:36:44.279
and who is only interested in the diamonds, not

01:36:44.279 --> 01:36:48.199
interested in his son's death. Yeah. He yells,

01:36:48.479 --> 01:36:54.520
did you get the diamond? It's a good villainous

01:36:54.520 --> 01:36:59.520
thing to say. It's just that the level is like

01:36:59.520 --> 01:37:03.260
at a one and immediately goes to an 11 with that

01:37:03.260 --> 01:37:07.020
line. It was right at the end of the movie. It's

01:37:07.020 --> 01:37:13.880
just, yeah, like that's great. Love it. Yeah,

01:37:14.000 --> 01:37:16.680
that's ridiculous for sure. The moment after

01:37:16.680 --> 01:37:18.859
that is also extremely ridiculous when like they

01:37:18.859 --> 01:37:21.100
have this huge diamond on the hot air balloon.

01:37:21.380 --> 01:37:23.500
This is giving away the ending, so I apologize.

01:37:23.560 --> 01:37:25.680
We can maybe cut this out. But like, you know,

01:37:25.680 --> 01:37:26.859
it's the end of the movie and like they have

01:37:26.859 --> 01:37:30.000
this huge diamond and they could just like sell

01:37:30.000 --> 01:37:33.250
it. give it to me give it to a museum like it

01:37:33.250 --> 01:37:35.590
would benefit them but instead laura lenny just

01:37:35.590 --> 01:37:38.529
makes this decision to be like as a principled

01:37:38.529 --> 01:37:40.630
stand i'm gonna throw this diamond in the middle

01:37:40.630 --> 01:37:42.850
of nowhere in the african jungle it's like you've

01:37:42.850 --> 01:37:45.329
already escaped the gorillas just keep the diamond

01:37:45.329 --> 01:37:47.590
why would you do that you know i just thought

01:37:47.590 --> 01:37:50.770
that was so stupid maybe that's you know greedy

01:37:50.770 --> 01:37:54.229
of me but ridiculous utterly ridiculous knowledge

01:37:54.229 --> 01:37:59.430
was the real treasure all along You would hope

01:37:59.430 --> 01:38:01.189
the friendships they made along the way, but

01:38:01.189 --> 01:38:02.789
they didn't make any friendships. So I guess

01:38:02.789 --> 01:38:07.689
that's not the case. Yeah. Yeah. There's a part

01:38:07.689 --> 01:38:12.010
where one of the gray gorillas loses its arm

01:38:12.010 --> 01:38:16.829
from this laser. And I was like, yes, this is

01:38:16.829 --> 01:38:19.409
the tone. Maybe the whole movie should have had.

01:38:19.550 --> 01:38:24.060
This is awesome. yeah the gray gorillas probably

01:38:24.060 --> 01:38:25.979
should have appeared a little bit earlier they're

01:38:25.979 --> 01:38:27.760
really just only in like the last 20 minutes

01:38:27.760 --> 01:38:30.039
of the movie you know yeah that was also another

01:38:30.039 --> 01:38:33.220
thought i had i would have liked to have seen

01:38:33.220 --> 01:38:37.119
more of the ostensible villains of this movie

01:38:37.119 --> 01:38:40.659
the monsters if you will otherwise amy's really

01:38:40.659 --> 01:38:44.060
the only strange beast in this movie and she's

01:38:44.060 --> 01:38:46.319
fine she gives a yeah she's great she's drinking

01:38:46.319 --> 01:38:51.699
a martini that's that's camp There it is. I love

01:38:51.699 --> 01:38:54.939
it. Yeah, you're right. That's probably the campiest

01:38:54.939 --> 01:38:57.260
part of the whole movie. And also Laura Lenny's

01:38:57.260 --> 01:38:58.960
line where she says, put them on the endangered

01:38:58.960 --> 01:39:01.659
species list right before she like mows down

01:39:01.659 --> 01:39:04.560
the gorillas with the laser. Sublime. I love

01:39:04.560 --> 01:39:07.399
that part so much. So good. I can watch the last

01:39:07.399 --> 01:39:11.560
20 minutes of this movie over and over and over

01:39:11.560 --> 01:39:14.840
again. Yeah. And the pretty bad special effects.

01:39:14.939 --> 01:39:16.979
You already mentioned the lava and stuff like

01:39:16.979 --> 01:39:19.819
that. Yeah. I love it when Amy eats the banana

01:39:19.819 --> 01:39:22.140
with the like dope in it. There's even like a

01:39:22.140 --> 01:39:23.819
line about that where one of the scientists is

01:39:23.819 --> 01:39:27.279
like, uh, you know, some, yeah, it's exactly

01:39:27.279 --> 01:39:28.720
what I just said basically. And I just thought

01:39:28.720 --> 01:39:31.560
that was ridiculous. Yeah. There's, there's like

01:39:31.560 --> 01:39:35.520
a funny line too, where it's like trying to be

01:39:35.520 --> 01:39:37.659
funny. I still don't know if it works or not,

01:39:37.720 --> 01:39:40.840
but like one guy is like, this is so Kafka when

01:39:40.840 --> 01:39:43.340
they're in like the warlords, like manner or

01:39:43.340 --> 01:39:46.729
whatever. And one of the henchmen is like, Who

01:39:46.729 --> 01:39:49.750
the hell is Kafka? Tell me, who is Kafka? And

01:39:49.750 --> 01:39:51.350
I was like, oh, that's kind of funny. All right,

01:39:51.369 --> 01:39:52.930
that's pretty ridiculous. That was funny, yeah.

01:39:53.689 --> 01:39:56.750
I like that moment. So there's some funny intentional

01:39:56.750 --> 01:40:00.350
humor, I think, here as well. But that's about

01:40:00.350 --> 01:40:02.449
all the campy stuff that I have. I mean, there's

01:40:02.449 --> 01:40:04.350
a lot. There's a lot of camp in this movie. And

01:40:04.350 --> 01:40:07.409
I think, well, okay, I'll save it for my final

01:40:07.409 --> 01:40:10.609
summation. But yeah, let's go ahead and move

01:40:10.609 --> 01:40:13.270
on. Yeah, it's about that time. Yeah, so our

01:40:13.270 --> 01:40:16.420
ratings on Camp Kaiju. As always, our number

01:40:16.420 --> 01:40:18.899
one rating, it's a timeless classic. It definitely

01:40:18.899 --> 01:40:21.680
stands the test of time. Number two, there may

01:40:21.680 --> 01:40:23.659
be some antiquated moments, but overall it's

01:40:23.659 --> 01:40:26.579
great. It stands the test of time. Number three,

01:40:26.600 --> 01:40:29.020
it may be historically significant or just fun,

01:40:29.199 --> 01:40:32.079
but it does not stand the test of time. And our

01:40:32.079 --> 01:40:34.859
lowest rating, it is not worth revisiting. It

01:40:34.859 --> 01:40:40.439
definitely does not stand the test of time. What

01:40:40.439 --> 01:40:43.539
do you think? Okay, okay, okay. I'm going to

01:40:43.539 --> 01:40:45.460
be honest. I'm going to be honest. I was torn

01:40:45.460 --> 01:40:48.920
between it not standing the test of time at all,

01:40:49.060 --> 01:40:52.760
like don't even watch this movie, or there are

01:40:52.760 --> 01:40:55.000
some fun moments. I'm not going to say it's historically

01:40:55.000 --> 01:40:58.840
significant, but I will say there are some fun

01:40:58.840 --> 01:41:02.539
moments. As a film by its own merits, I don't

01:41:02.539 --> 01:41:05.500
think it stands the test of time, but I think

01:41:05.500 --> 01:41:09.899
there are enough entertaining moments, intentionally

01:41:09.899 --> 01:41:14.119
or not. that make this worth watching, especially

01:41:14.119 --> 01:41:17.619
with a group of friends. I think for me, I think

01:41:17.619 --> 01:41:22.079
I thought I was going to watch something more

01:41:22.079 --> 01:41:27.180
serious in tone, something more horrific in tone,

01:41:27.319 --> 01:41:31.699
maybe like The Relic. And instead, I got something

01:41:31.699 --> 01:41:36.279
way more lighthearted, way sillier than I thought

01:41:36.279 --> 01:41:39.539
I was going to get. And I think that messed with...

01:41:40.210 --> 01:41:44.369
my ultimate viewing of this film. Yeah, I think

01:41:44.369 --> 01:41:46.710
that's fair. It's definitely lighthearted. I

01:41:46.710 --> 01:41:48.670
wouldn't say it's scary at all, even remotely.

01:41:49.090 --> 01:41:51.189
I'm tempted to give it our highest rating just

01:41:51.189 --> 01:41:52.850
to like stick up for this movie, but I'm not

01:41:52.850 --> 01:41:54.670
going to do that. I will not do that. That's

01:41:54.670 --> 01:41:57.289
just ridiculous. But I am going to give this

01:41:57.289 --> 01:41:59.869
our second highest rating. I do think it stands

01:41:59.869 --> 01:42:02.409
the test of time, in my opinion. I will fully

01:42:02.409 --> 01:42:04.529
recognize that a lot of that might just be like,

01:42:04.630 --> 01:42:07.579
you know, my personal... experience and history

01:42:07.579 --> 01:42:09.460
with the movie, the nostalgic love that I have

01:42:09.460 --> 01:42:12.079
for it. But I do think it has a lot of imagination,

01:42:12.439 --> 01:42:14.699
a lot of camp humor that I find really entertaining.

01:42:15.199 --> 01:42:17.359
I do like several of the performances a lot.

01:42:17.460 --> 01:42:19.920
I like Ernie Hudson, Tim Curry. I like Laura

01:42:19.920 --> 01:42:22.859
Linney, even if her character is like non -existent,

01:42:22.859 --> 01:42:24.979
like doesn't make any sense. I definitely get

01:42:24.979 --> 01:42:27.680
all that, but I don't know. I do feel the need

01:42:27.680 --> 01:42:29.699
to, like, I want to stick up for it a little

01:42:29.699 --> 01:42:34.800
bit. And I, I really do love like, you know,

01:42:35.149 --> 01:42:37.369
popcorn entertainment of the 90s because it feels

01:42:37.369 --> 01:42:40.529
so different from like most of the like big budget

01:42:40.529 --> 01:42:43.510
blockbusters that we see nowadays. So I don't

01:42:43.510 --> 01:42:47.289
know. It's this is not a very good movie objectively.

01:42:47.710 --> 01:42:50.529
And yet I still love it. I think it's great in

01:42:50.529 --> 01:42:54.130
its own way. For me, it almost gets better as

01:42:54.130 --> 01:42:57.090
time goes on. So for me, it does stand the test

01:42:57.090 --> 01:43:01.229
of time. That's great. I if this movie is ever

01:43:01.229 --> 01:43:04.750
playing on a screen, I'm there. I'm going to

01:43:04.750 --> 01:43:08.649
be first in line. Yeah. But yeah, like in a theater,

01:43:08.710 --> 01:43:10.649
I bet it would be so much fun to watch. And like,

01:43:10.729 --> 01:43:12.529
you know, at home with some friends, like you

01:43:12.529 --> 01:43:15.229
said, I think that'd be great. Yeah. I've had

01:43:15.229 --> 01:43:18.229
that viewing many times. Cool. I actually kind

01:43:18.229 --> 01:43:20.090
of like when we disagree a little bit, we can't

01:43:20.090 --> 01:43:22.409
agree on everything, you know? We'll see. Yeah.

01:43:22.510 --> 01:43:24.989
I mean, I think, I think our upcoming lineup

01:43:24.989 --> 01:43:30.109
is going to offer more of this diverging opinion

01:43:30.109 --> 01:43:34.180
type of conversation. I can't wait. I'm excited.

01:43:34.819 --> 01:43:38.439
Me too, yeah. Starting with Jaws 2, our next

01:43:38.439 --> 01:43:44.119
episode. Electric Boogaloo. Yeah. I never understood

01:43:44.119 --> 01:43:46.319
the full title of Jaws 2, Electric Boogaloo.

01:43:46.380 --> 01:43:47.960
Where does the boogaloo come in? I guess we'll

01:43:47.960 --> 01:43:51.819
find out. We'll find out. Might be a French thing.

01:43:51.960 --> 01:43:56.039
Who knows? Yeah, probably. That'll be great.

01:43:56.119 --> 01:44:00.609
I'm excited for Jaws 2. Thank you all so much

01:44:00.609 --> 01:44:02.869
for hanging out, friends. Please rate and review

01:44:02.869 --> 01:44:04.909
wherever you listen. You can also share this

01:44:04.909 --> 01:44:07.489
podcast with a friend, subscribe to the website,

01:44:07.729 --> 01:44:10.869
and send us listener comments at campkaiju at

01:44:10.869 --> 01:44:13.810
gmail .com or on Instagram. Links are in the

01:44:13.810 --> 01:44:16.050
show notes. If you would like to be a featured

01:44:16.050 --> 01:44:20.130
voice on the show, leave a voicemail at 612 -470

01:44:20.130 --> 01:44:23.810
-2612 telling us about your favorite monster

01:44:23.810 --> 01:44:26.319
movies and memories. Please check out our website,

01:44:26.539 --> 01:44:29.420
campkaijupodcast .com, for more information.

01:44:30.239 --> 01:44:32.979
Camp Kaiju is recorded in Minneapolis, St. Paul,

01:44:33.060 --> 01:44:35.739
with Mina's mailbox music by Ben Cook -Felts.

01:44:36.279 --> 01:44:39.279
Thanks, friends, and until next time, stay campy.

01:44:39.479 --> 01:44:41.840
Camp Kaiju is sponsored by Zach Linder and the

01:44:41.840 --> 01:44:44.079
Zach Pack, powered by Coldwell Banker Realty,

01:44:44.239 --> 01:44:47.279
your source for real estate, home rehab, fixing

01:44:47.279 --> 01:44:49.859
and flipping for investor clients, and residential

01:44:49.859 --> 01:44:52.520
buyers. Reach out to the Zach Pack today for

01:44:52.520 --> 01:44:55.119
real estate services, follow the Zach Pack on

01:44:55.119 --> 01:44:58.020
social media, and contact the Zach Pack for investment

01:44:58.020 --> 01:45:01.390
opportunities. Links in the show notes. That's

01:45:01.390 --> 01:45:03.609
not my fault. Where's my gorilla? The gorilla

01:45:03.609 --> 01:45:06.210
will be kept on the truck while we... Isn't this

01:45:06.210 --> 01:45:10.029
a hospital? So this one's decided to speak. This

01:45:10.029 --> 01:45:12.770
is pure Kafka. Who's Kafka? Tell me!